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opluffys · 3 years

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Surprise! - Killer x Reader

school is fucking hard. i don’t like how this turned out tbh but this is for my one piece people :) . thank you for being so patient, i appreciate it. like all the other fics here, this was posted to my archive account too, luffys. sorry i’m too lazy to find a gif, forgive me ;( . pls let me know if it copied weird/if there are errors, sometimes that happens. pls enjoy!!

-smut/nsfw-

Wrapped thinly in the cool sheets, your legs spread wide while your agile fingers dipped into your soaked folds. Eyes closed, mouth agape, practically screaming.

Not a care in the world who could hear you, not a single care if that rickety door creaked open and suddenly, you were hosting a show.

Not a single care when someone had walked in.

One of your glossy eyes popped open, in shock, and hidden arousal. When you had seen who it was, you only smiled and continued your ministrations.

"Surprise." You grinned, slipping two fingers deep inside of yourself, mewling at the feeling.

He stayed silent, large figure obscuring the flood of bright stars that painted the night sky. You could just hardly tell, but you knew he was looking at you. His head just barely turned in your general direction.

"You're not supposed to be here."

You laughed, "Yes, I'm aware."

"You belong to the surgeons crew."

"Are you going to tell on me? Summon red hair to see the horrible things I'm doing?" You gasped, faking a worried tone.

"You couldn't go to someone else's room?" He asked, shutting the door quite harshly, you tightened your legs.

"I don't know this ship. This happened by chance." You paused, looking him over. He is a very attractive man, and that uniform he has on is doing him nothing but justice.

"How about you enjoy yourself a little, before your captain gets you killed." You spread yourself for him, whining at the cool air.

He laughed.

It was a very distinct sound, but you honestly could care less. You've heard many laughs in your lifetime. One shouldn't be judged for the sound they make out of joy.

"Nervous?" You teased, rubbing yourself slowly.

"Not at all."

"Liar."

He approached you slowly, like an animal hunting prey. Holding your soft thighs with scarred skin, subconsciously, you moved closer. His thick fingers coated with your arousal, he pushed into your tight walls. You squeezed your legs tightly, not wanting just his fingers.

"You can barely handle two fingers. Yet, you're begging for me." He chuckled quietly.

Moaning when he curled his fingers inside of you, you nearly came right there.

"Fine, since you want it so bad..." He mumbled, you looked up at him, then the leather pants of the outfit. You nearly drooled when you noticed the print of his erection. You imagined a thousand different ways of how he could fuck you.

He noticed you looking, and started palming at it, making you grow impatient. Just to get you really riled up, he would deeply groan or sigh.

You sat up, trying to get him to pay attention to you, just to result him in pushing you back down. You huffed. "No doll. I'm calling the shots here, in case you haven't figured that out yet."

Agonisingly slow, he lowered the material of his garments, basically becoming a striptease.

Your breathing quickened, you hadn't been so excited in so damn long. Your body yearned for his hands anywhere on you.

Pressing his tip to your anxious folds, he slowly stretched you open, inch by inch. You whimpered at the feeling, you're not sure you've ever slept with anyone of this size before.

"Relax. I can't fit if you're squeezing me the entire damn time." He groaned almost silently, he was right, but it felt so good, you couldn't control yourself.

The problem wasn't with how aroused you were, no. You were soaking wet, pretty much leaking over his cock. It was his fucking size, he was so big. You wouldn't tell him, though. Screw his ego.

With a few deep breaths, you relaxed your body, lightly spasming on his length as he tried to push himself deeper within you.

Screaming out in pure pleasure, you finally felt him bottom out. You were crying, it was a little painful, but it hurt so good.

"Fuck, you're good."

You nearly purred in response, happy to hear such a thing come from someone like him. You knew he was just talking about how your pussy feels, but it's still apart of you, no?

He pulled out of you slowly after thrusting his hips a couple of times, not interested in this kind of position. It was boring, the only good thing is he could see the way your face contorts into bliss when he stretches your tight cunt, as well as your soft breasts bounce gently with every single move he made.

He helped you to sit up, and flip over so your stomach was touching the bed. You arched your back when you felt his calloused hands tracing blemishes on your smooth skin.

"Look how soft you are..." He had almost growled in want, "That soft skin of yours won't last a day with me, girl."

"Prove it."

That shit grin on your face dissipated instantly when you felt his harsh grip on your hips yank you closer to him. His large hands groping and squeezing the curve of your ass. Whimpering in want, you backed your hips behind you, a silent sign that you wanted more of him.

"Impatient."

You grinned, "I'm not the only one." You felt his length behind you, slowly pushing in. You hummed, your body finally feeling contented bliss.

Your soft and slick walls fluttered around his cock with every swift movement, screaming in pleasure as he hit all the right places inside you.

"You're amazing, you're so fucking amazing..!" You gasped, insides grabbing him in a vice grip. He groaned lowly, he was seeing stars fucking into you. Watching your small body eat him up greedily while you begged for more, fuck...

Picking up the pace, your cries were muffled by the comforter below you. He was fucking you deep into the mattress, and hell, you wouldn't dare complain. It felt fucking phenomenal, being bent in such a way you thought you couldn't achieve. His strong arms on each side of you, watching the muscles flex with every thrust.

You tried to quiet yourself down so you could try to hear him, he was so damn silent, you had to question yourself if you were any good for him.

"You're pretty quiet." You whimpered, feeling him waver for a moment, stopping while still comfortably inside your warmth.

"Want me to scream like you, babe?"

You giggled, "Maybe. Would be nice to know if I'm making you feel any good back there..."

"You being alive up to this point is an affirmation of that, isn't it?" He asked, bringing you up to straddle him.

"I can say the same to you. Just because I'm smaller than you doesn't mean you're stronger."

He smiled, unbeknownst to you, of course. "Is that so..?"

"It is. You made a mistake by switching positions, see," You placed your hands on his broad, muscular shoulders. "now I'm in control. I have you in the palm of my fucking hand, babe." You smiled, teasing his earlier pet name.

Raising your hips to slowly lower yourself onto him, his grip on the bedsheets tightened, he was reacting even more than you were!

"Look at you, such an untamed, wild thing. Sitting calmly under a woman's touch- a woman's body. I caged you, albeit temporarily." You heard him snarl deeply, unable to speak while you rode him slowly.

"Imagine if Eustass saw you like this, crying under me," his hand trailed slowly to your waist, bruising in the grip it held. Your smeared lipstick followed the curve of your lips as best as it could, "Angry? Don't be, it's just you and I. I'm yours, yet loyal to one man." Your hands snaked to his back, nails sinking into the muscle.

"Imagine if Trafalgar saw you like this, sleeping with the enemy." He chuckled, "Think twice about how you want to talk to the second in command, doll." Easily overpowering you, he began to move your body up and down as he liked, sliding you over his cock. You couldn't even fight him on it, the pleasure too much for you to even think logically.

"Ohh, oh fuck. You're gonna kill me. You're gonna fucking kill me..." You moaned, leaning closer to him as he assisted your ride. "Hey," he slowed down for a second, still pumping into you every so often, "kiss m-me..." you whimpered, hot tears pouring over your smooth skin.

"I won't look. I promise." You placed your hands on his shoulders delicately, grinning devilishly when you noticed him flinch.

"Please..?" You smiled warmly at him, giving him such an odd feeling, how could he say no?

"If you look, I won't hesitate to slice you in two. Understand?" He threatened, his voice dropping to a darker tone. Subconsciously, it made you squeeze around him tighter, feeling a new high behind the threat. He felt this, of course, shaking his head a bit.

You closed your eyes, feeling his warm lips barely connect with yours, the both of you pushing closer to close that nonexistent gap in between you. His taste drove you feral, nearly growling and making other animalistic sounds while pathetically bouncing on him.

You wanted to see him, desperately, fucking badly. But you made a promise.

And pirates don't make promises.

"You're fucking hot..." You mumbled, not completely on accident, you haven't even noticed, immediately regretting your decision when you noticed the shift of mood.

His grasp shifted from your waist and hips, to tightly around your neck.

Gasping and struggling for air, you wrapped your legs as tightly as you could around him, it hurt like hell for you, but it obviously restricted his breathing as well. Just barely, though...

"I'm s...sorry." You whispered, voice sounding unfamiliar to even you.

The grip on your throat loosened, just enough for you to inhale the cool air into your burning lungs. The muscles and tendons of your thighs and calves were burning, sighing contently when you released him.

"I know you're angry,"

"Angry?" He chuckled, his blonde lashes falling delicately over the tanned skin of his cheek, "Angry doesn't begin to describe it, babe." He growled, squeezing your hips hard.

"but," A wolfish grin spread onto your lips, looking up at him with lust burning in your irises, "what kind of pirate would I be if I kept my promises..?"

"I should use you as a shield in Onigashima."

You laughed, wrapping your arms around his wide stature, "Sure, if that's what you really want. But tell me, how many have seen your face and lived through it? Maybe think about keeping me around for a little while longer. Pretty please?" You teased, resting your cheek against his pectoral muscle.

He grimaced, you had a point. He hadn't remembered the last time he's had such an intimate partner like you.

"Fine."

"Fine?" You questioned, not moving from your surprisingly comfortable spot on his muscled thighs.

"After we're done here, you go back to Trafalgar."

You frowned, that isn't what you had expected him to say at all.

"Relax, it isn't like we won't cross paths in the future." He rocked his hips into your own gently, making you softly gasp and moan into his chest.

After the two of you decided that talking time was over, he quickly pushed you onto the mattress once again, your ass in the air while your shaky legs barely held you.

His grip on the supple and soft skin of your hips was painfully bruising, which only added to the pleasure he provided.

You placed your hands behind your back in offering of him holding onto those instead, he grabbed them instantly, gripping your wrists to anchor himself to you.

Hot tears pricked your eyes once more when you felt him snug against your cervix, cursing the barrier that prevented him from going on further. He didn't mind, though. He enjoyed what he could fit into you just fine.

Panting and groaning deeply, he was much more audible with the mask off. He was entranced by the way your cunt took him in, your juices coating more and more of his dick every time he slammed back into you.

Even though you really couldn't take all of him, your soaking warmth wanted nothing more than to feel his imprint deep inside of you. He didn't want to harm you though, so he pushed in just what you could handle.

He watched as your ass jiggled with every thrust, his calloused and large hand groping and kneading the soft flesh.

You whimpered under him, feeling your velvety walls squish his cock as tightly as humanly possible, you lost count of how many times you had orgasmed, each one more powerful than the last.

Your spine curved to the point it was uncomfortable, face buried in the scratchy material of the sheets, your toes curled, hands turning a burning white around Killer's large hand, you screamed, moaned, groaned, pretty much every sound imaginable as your orgasmed ripped through you once again.

He was surprised at the sheer force of your orgasm, groaning as he felt his cock twitch from deep within your slick heat.

You whimpered and babbled incoherent words at the feeling of overstimulation burning your nerves. Your pussy still squeezing and convulsing around his hard cock.

He cursed deeply under his breath, your tight warmth sucking him back in protest of feeling him pull out.

He too felt his release sneaking from behind, just a small push and he'd be diving into that ocean of pleasure.

You spurred him on with words of praise, mumbling how good he felt, gasping at how he stretched and filled you perfectly.

His hips stuttered, dick twitching deep inside as his hard muscles made contact with your softer back. He groaned deeply as he pushed himself inside once more as deeply as possible, dragging his cock against your walls as he marked you with his release.

Feeling your abused hole get stuffed full of his cum pushed you over the edge, just the feeling of being deliciously full made you convulse under him again, squealing in a mixture of pleasure and pain.

He pulled out of you agonizingly slow, making you whimper with a hidden need of wanting to be pinned under him again. He hovered over you a moment, fighting that exact same urge while watching your pussy leak his seed. He smiled to himself, knowing deep down that no other man could make you feel as he did.

He pushed two digits inside your sore cunt, stopping the flow of his cum onto your spread thighs. You made a sound, even unknown to you what it was, you knew you just couldn't take it anymore.

He pulled his fingers out, digits glistening of your juices mixed with his own. He brought them to your agape mouth, humming to himself as you wrapped your swollen lips around his fingers. Sucking them clean with a smile while attempting to tease him while circling your tongue over his fingers.

He lay next to your drained body, a thin sheet of sweat covering the two of you. Pulling you to his chest, you smiled while laying next to him.

Looks like he'd keep you around for a while.

#one piece #one piece x reader #one piece smut #one piece killer #killer x reader #smut #fanfic

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goldenspecter · 3 years

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Cosmo’s TMNT Masterpost

(Rise, 2003, 2012, and others)

Here’s where you can find pretty much everything I’ve ever made for the TMNT fandom! Fanfics here[haven’t gotten the courage to post fanart here yet], hope you guys enjoy my work. Reblogs are appreciated!

Fanfics

1. Finding my way home(and moving forward)

Out of sheer curiosity, Leonardo and Donatello looked up, and there it was.

A portal.

Had the Universe really taken pity on them? Had it really heard his desperate prayers for one more chance?

It was not like the ones they had seen before, it was an irregular circle made up of several shades of blue, completely different from the perfect and symmetrical pink triangles of the Kraang.

Leonardo and Donatello looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, "Should we go in?" Donatello asked, almost shouting, drawing the attention of the others, who quickly turned to the portal and to see each other, then the two brothers in question.

"It's our best bet, and our only chance," replied Leonardo.

Or rather, with the 2012 kids' home gone, they end up in the Rise verse after a strange portal shows up. Therapy is needed, and start the slow process of healing from their trauma.

(Rise/2012, Work in Progress, written with @keeryd )

2. Strawberry Cookies:

"Mikey here was just about to tell me what we could do to cheer Raph up while he's sick," Donnie says. "Mikey continue?"

Now that Mikey had both of his older brothers attention, he grins. "I was thinking we make strawberry cookies!" He does his jazz hands as he says this and is met with looks of something that he can only put as disapproval. "What?"

"You do know that everytime that we have tried to make it-" Donnie starts.

"We mess it up and Raph has to come in and save our butts from burning the cookies?" Leo finishes, "What would be different this time?"

Mikey huffs, "We are doing this so we can cheer him up and to prove that we can do something on our own!" he says, "That's what got Raph sick in the first place!"

Or rather, Raph gets sick after helping his brothers recover from the poisoned pizza puffs. Mikey, Donnie, and Leo take a shot at baking cookies for Raph while trying not to burn their kitchen down.

(One shot, complete)

3. Chicken Fried Rice:

“I only poured in half a pot of rice,” Donnie complained.

Mikey stared at him, really stared at him before he spoke. “You do realize that rice expands when cooked right?” he said, “You do realize that?”

Donnie was silent, looking away from Mikey.

“Donnie!”

Donnie makes chicken fried rice. Mikey watches over. Shenanigans and brotherly fluff ensue.

one shot in which Donnie is in the kitchen, cooking rice and Mikey, Mikey is positive he should have gotten Donnies braincell.

(One shot, complete)

4. Tea Time with Hortense and Patty:

"Sooo," Raph starts. She's always been weird with awkward silences. "Are these grandma kinning hours?"

"Grandma hours!" Mikey exclaims excitedly. "Grandma time!!!"

"Ah, if it isn't our favorite girl and her little brother!" Hortense tilts her head over in their direction slightly. "Are you going to join us? We were just about done arguing," she says.

---

Today is Tea Time. Two old ladies have a tea party, one of them forgets to bring the food, and they are joined by Mikey and Raph. A good time is still had.

(One Shot, Complete)

5. One of those Days

When Donnie woke up this morning, he woke up with the familiar thrum of anger and irritation running through his body with more intensity than normal. Rubbing the crust out of the corners of his sleep-addled eyes, he jerkily grabbed his phone and turned off the alarm. It's one of Those Days, Donnie noted. Those Days where Donnie isn't capable of handling Mikey's over-enthusiastic optimism or Leon's chaotic trickster nature. His safest bet is to hang out with Raph, his calm and mellow demeanor always helped calm down before Donnie went on a rage fest and say anything he couldn't take back.

Or, Donnie and Raph help each other out, balance each other, and make things a little less difficult.

(One Shot, Complete)

6. Gift Hunting:

“It’s Leo. Tiny Leo,” the voice answers. “I need your help with something.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t say until you say yes first,” Leo says. “It’s really important though.”

Angelo is silent, weighing his options. He could say no, he really could-

“Please, Angelo, you’re the only one who can really help me with this,” Leo pleads.

Rather, Angelo and Leonardo go out in the streets of New York to help the blue banded turtle find gifts for his brothers' sixteenth mutation day. Bonding and fluff ensues.

(One Shot, Complete)

7. Aftermath:

“Raphie bear?” Mikey called out, gently tapping Raph, with relief washing him when Raph turned his head to face him. “What’s the matter teddy bear?”

“Th-thi-this doesn’t feel real.” Raph stuttered out, his voice cracking as a sob broke through. “I’m not really here. Neither are you and everyone else. I’m still alone with Draxum and his minions. No one’s coming to save me because I was stupid enough to get captured and no one wants such a worthless turtle like me.”

In which Raph was kidnapped and tortured by Baron Draxum and his family has to deal with the aftermath of it.

(One Shot, Complete)

8. To Be the Eldest

Donnie, the second youngest in his family, wishes he was the eldest for once. Then one night, Donnie gets his wish granted and now he was three small turtles in his care.

Donnie adjusts to being the eldest, comes to some realizations, and makes a promise to his (now) younger brothers.

(Work In Progress)

9. Wanted: Snaggletooth

Dr. Noel bent down on his knees in front of Raph, a manic smile that showed too many teeth coming about on his face speaking of pain and suffering that has yet to come. He stretched out his hand towards Raph’s face, placing a thumb under his mouth, pressing into his snaggletooth. “Beautiful. Just as I expected,” he crooned, pulling out a syringe and injecting it into Raph’s neck, pushing the contents of the syringe into his system.

Raph’s eyes fluttered as he started losing consciousness, watching through hooded eyes as Dr. Noel's smile grew even wider, with his last thought right as darkness consumed him being that he hoped his family would find him before it was too late.

Post S2 Finale, Dr. Noel remembers Raphael, his snaggletooth, and manages to find and capture the red masked turtle. It doesn't end well for Raphael.

(Work In Progress)

10. Dimensional Differences:

They bow. Not like one of those pretentious bows like she would do at Yokai parties and not like the ones she would do with her brothers when they hosted tea parties. They bowed deeply, heads stopping at her stomach, one hand closing around their fists. This spoke of respect and honor.

And that unnerved her a little bit. Why are they bowing so deeply?

“Thank you,” they said in unison. It’s unnerving to April and she felt the uneasiness coming from her brothers too.

“Why are you thanking me?” She said finally, voice sounding foreign to her.

“You saved my life?” Baby Leo said slowly, voice tinged with confusion. “That was an honorable thing to do?”

April blinked, “It shouldn’t be considered honorable for doing what any big sister would do,” she said. “That’s not honor, that’s just being a good older sibling.”

In which April, Sunita, Casey, and the turtles end up in the 2012 verse after a mishap with Leo's ōdachi and stay with the 2012 turtles until they can go home. They find out a lot of things that don't quite jive with them. Some things are the same, some things are different and they're not quite sure how to handle those differences.

(Rise/2012, Work In Progress)

11. Mind Meld Part Deux:

“Oh thank Galileo that you all are back to normal!”

“What do you mean we’re back to normal?” Raph questioned, pulling back from the hug. Mikey and Leo also pulled back to stare at Donnie. “We’ve-we’ve always been like this?”

Donnie went quiet. He shouldn’t have said that.

“Donnie, what did you do?”

The brothers found out about Donnie’s Mental Intelligence Reprogrammulator. Arguments are had, words are said, words that tear a rift between him and his family, and it’s up to Donnie to earn his brothers’ forgiveness. The only thing is, will he get it?

(Work In Progress)

12. I'm a little kid and so are you(don't you go and grow up before I do):

The 2003 turtles somehow, someway ended up in the Rise verse, with Rise Splinter and his turtle tots, and stay with them while the boys try to figure out their way home. 2003 Raphael got attached to his tiny counterpart the moment he laid eyes on the tot. (Raph centric)

(Rise/2003, Work In Progress)

13. Dimensional Self-Isolation

Post S2 Finale, Raph finds himself trapped in the 2012 universe and has a difficult time coping with all of the differences that this world has in store for him. From new villains, unfamiliar familiar faces, and the way the 2012 boys and Splinter treat each other and him, Raph has a heavy plate on his hands during his long term stay.

(Rise/2012, Work In Progress)

14. A Collection of Turtle Thoughts

A collection of drabbles and ficlets about Turtles I've been writing since October 2020. Ranges from humor to hurt/comfort, I have it all.

Requests are open. SFW only though.

(All Iterations, Work in Progress)

If y’all reblog, read, and share my work, I’d really appreciate that! Anything and everything is appreciated, money or not! Thanks folks 🐢💕

#tmnt #tmnt fanfiction #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2003

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wornoutmouse · 3 years

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Dio x black reader (18+)

Honestly, this is just my headcanon of Dio experiencing black girl magic for the first time. And throughout re-reading it I can't tell if I'm supposed to be horny, moved, or amused. I think this is my longest one

Chav: White Trash/Low ClassLove

Divots: Love handles but I wanted to be fancy

You were a cop that loved your job no matter the hardships.

Walking the streets of England was risky business as both a woman and a person of color so you had experienced numerous close calls with criminals that didn't take your training seriously. Your co-workers were peaceful enough, but you didn't miss the lustful glazes you would receive as you walked through the office every morning. Your boss, on the other hand, was a menace. Ever since you denied his advances when you first arrived, he's been making it his mission in life to make your life miserable.

He, of course, was the reason you were standing outside at 11:00 in the night shivering under a night post. "That bloody chav, just wait till I move up in ranks!" you growled wrapping your trenchcoat tightly around your body as a soft gust of wind blew against you.

The wind howled past your ears and for once you were glad for wearing your nautural hair out today as it braced fiercely against the strong winter winds. The night was quiet as everyone in their right mind had headed inside for the night but you couldn't help but feel as though eyes were trained on you. "Must be my nerves acting up again." you muttered rubbing your gloved hands together. You huffed causing cool white air to form in front of you.

"Meow."

Shifting where you stood, you look around with only your eyes, trying to find the source of what you hope to be a newfound friend. A few feet to your right stood a thin tom cat walking hesitantly towards you. You crouch lowly, opening your coat to the feline, "Join me oh furry one, let us share our life source with each other!"

You chuckle at your own foolishness but stop as you watch in amazement as the cat seemed to be convinced as it stalks towards you. The cat was within your very grasp but before you could grab it, it jerked its head to gaze behind you, hissing with its back arched before it scampered off. "Huh, that's funny."

You stand back up before yelping as you back into someone standing behind you. "Oh excuse me." you say stepping to the side. "No need for apologize woman." a deep voice responds to you. The man was tall and you had to crane your neck just to simply gaze up at him.

Blue eyes gazed down at you through golden locks that fell beautifully over his face. Even though he had shown no sign of hostility, you felt great unease by simply standing near him. "Your declaration of neutrality for the cat moved me deeply." the strange man declared, and you couldn't help but giggle awkwardly at the obvious joke. "Yeah well, during times of need it's best to set aside differences." The man raised his hand to his chin in thought. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

The man had yet to leave as his gaze became even more unsettling. His eyes traveled down and settled on your curvacious hips. "Um, can I help you sir?" you ask backing up slightly only for the tall man to evade the space once again. Under his breath, you could hear the man mutter, "Yes, you are perfect."

You look up at the man one more time as your eyesight begins to fades to black.

When you came to, you find yourself lying down on a bed that was not your own. You were dressed loosely in nothing but a silk slip and you could feel goosebumps along your skin from being exposed to the cool air. "Wha-what?" You jerk your head at the shift in movement to your right. At first glance, you couldn't see anything residing in the dark shadows of the room. But having years of experience with being in dark places, your eyes quickly adjusted as you noticed the unfamiliar ways the shadows blended together.

You stare blankly into the darkness, positive that something resided within the cover of it. You suck in a breath as you feel a small shift in temperature move past your face and you quickly turn your face to the other side of the room.

"As I thought, you adjust quickly to your surroundings." a voice rumbled from the darkness and you could hear your heart thump in your ears as two bright red eyes peered at you from the end of the bed. You brought your legs to your chest as you felt the bed dip. You watched with fearful eyes as your assailant crawled towards you. From the darkness, a hand reaches out at lightning speed taking hold of your ankle, dragging you towards them. "What do you want?!"

As if oblivious to your agitation, a calloused hand takes hold of your thigh, gripping the large expanse of skin tightly. "While you are larger than preferred, I assume it is a given if I desire a woman with hips wide enough to effectively deliver me respectable offspring." You sputter as you feel your face warm, "Offspring?! What in the hell are you talking about you deviant!" You attempt to throw a punch only for your wrists to be taken captive by much larger ones. "This temper of yours may be a problem however." The man chuckled, "Though I supposed that too is a given due to your, 'ethnic' background." You glare through the darkness up at the deranged man, "You have some nerve."

As if finally acknowledging you as a sentient being, he gazes up at you, eyebrows furrowed and red glowing eyes determined. "Young woman, fear not and rejoice for you have been chosen for the highest honor imaginable!" You tense as the man comes closer to your face, 'Damn it, it's always the pretty ones.' you silently think to yourself. Though there was a large shift in eye color, this was indeed the man you met outside.

"You have been chosen personally by I Dio Brando! To become his queen in the new empire I shall forge in my own image!"

Many emotions flowed through your mind at that bold statement, but in the end, humor won out as you burst into laughter in the man, Dio's face. Dio tilted his head in slight confusion before moving on, dawning a triumphant face one again.

"I know not what you find amusing, but I am ready to implant my seed deep inside your womb!" At that, you suddenly realize the reality of the situation you were in, "You can't be serious, release me now!" Dio chuckled humorously, "It is okay to feel frightened, but I assure you, I will make this pleasurable for you as well." You open your mouth to retort, Dio, serges forward latching onto your lips with painful passion. You feel a shiver journey up your spine as Dio's larger hands hold your waist squeezing your love divots.

Dio releases you from his lip-lock with a loud smack as a thin strand of saliva connects the two of you. You blink; slightly dazed as you take in Dio's equally as flushed face, "What's the matter playboy? Cat got your tongue?" Dio frowned at your teasing as he shifted in place, "Have you somehow cast a spell on me? There is no other way to explain how someone with such prestige as me could possibly become undone by a simple kiss."

Dio serges forward once again capturing your plump lips into his own with such fervor, you would think he was searching for something. You moan softly into the kiss as Dio's tongue explored your mouth, caressing every inch of it with purpose. Tugging your lower lip in between his teeth as he retreats. He looks at you for a while with visible confusion before speaking again, "The only other answer for this is obvious. You were bestowed onto me by the gods carved perfectly to aid me on my journey"

You quirked an eyebrow as you breathe shallowly, mind seemingly clouded with your newfound lust. "I don't know much about what your babbling on about, but I'll let you carry on." You fell back as you are folded over by Dio, legs propped high in the air. "Though I feel that cunnilingus isn't needed for the task at hand, I hold the desire to taste you." You roll your eyes as you listened to the monologue 'Dio' declared to himself.

Internally, you knew that this was a bad idea and only evil could follow you in being involved with this man but some unseen force was keeping you from resisting as you lied compliant under the larger man. Maybe he was right and 'the gods' placed you here for a purpose. Or maybe you were drugged. The most obvious answer, though you hate to admit, was the fact that you hadn't gotten laid in so long, you were willing to accept charity cases.

Dip looked down at you with an emotion that even I, the author am unable to describe. While I would love to say it was fondness, that just wasn't possible for how short of a time you've known each other. The only other word I can think out would maybe be admiration.

Dio was one to go above and beyond putting his heart into everything he did, but your simplicity aroused him so greatly it was rather concerning. Your attitude towards him ensured that you would be the perfect queen when he molded you accordingly. Your looks were only a bonus, slender legs heightening your perspective making you at least 6 feet in height though that was no novelty considering his large build.

Plump lips with a curious sliver of pink covering the entrance of your bottom lip as they parted so beautifully. The taste of them sent his head spinning as if he was addicted, the best kind of addiction. Your skin though shrouded in darkness, shined so brightly in the moonlight that he would have thought you were glowing with an otherwordly power. Dio once again bows his head and captures your luscious lips within his to experience the euphoria once again.

He may have said that you should be honored to be in his presence but at the moment he felt the greatest honor for being one of the few and one of the last men that would be allowed to bed you. The small whimpers you released as he explored your mouth tasted like the sweetest nectar. He released you and watched your breast heave from the passion he released.

He would never admit to these claims but at that moment Dio looked as if he had struck gold as he pulled up your slip and kissed into the crevices of your stomach. You shiver as more skin was exposed to the cool air and you would have sworn Dio was even colder. "If you would, please allow me to taste you."

Your eyes widened for even you could tell that this manner of speaking was not the norm for Dio. His face was unusually flushed as his red eyes gazed up at you pleading for your permission. "Carry on." was all you said before he continued on his journey, kissing your inner thighs which to your horror, were bare as the day you were born. "Sir, may I ask where my undergarments reside?!" you ask thoroughly embarrassed causing Dio to dawn that shit-eating smirk he has carried since the moment you met.

"I saw no point to them as I knew they would be off soon enough." You pouted as Dio peppered kisses on your navel before finally licking your clitoris with his rather rough tongue. Dio felt as though he reached Nirvana as he drank in your pleasured moans. The taste of you on his tongue was like the finest wine and he couldn't tell if it was from his carnivorous attributes or were you truly a diamond in the rough.

You grip the sheets below you as Dio used his tongue to caress your folds before delving deeper into your warm heat. Dio had long since grown used to the feeling of being cold but the way your warmth surrounded him made him miss the feeling. Internally he debated with himself if this is what love felt like or if this was just the effects of having your thick thighs clamped around his head. While feasting, Dio couldn't help by growl lowly as your nimble finger-combed through his hair only to clench as he made a peculiar lick to your upper walls.

Feeling satisfied for now he sits up chuckling at your whine as you reached out for him. "I was not going to undress more than necessary for this but I feel as though you have earned it my pet." Dio removed his jacket and shirt exposing his impressive muscles. You salivate thinking of the power behind each pectoral that would now be used on you.

Dio once again takes hold of your legs, but instead of positioning to enter you, he lifts you off the bed holding you in his arms. "I shall honor this experience by trying a position I have never done before." You are slightly woozy from the shift in elevation as you wrap your arms around Dio's neck with such a force and normal man would have cried out.

(but not dio cause he isn't like other girls)

Dio kisses you as he presses a hesitant finger inside of you. You moan as he trails kisses down your neck. He was extremely hesitant to even nibble you due to his fangs but the way your looked drowning in pleasure was too great to not take advantage of. You jump as you feel something sharp pierce your neck but not deep enough to draw blood. You spasm on his fingers as your first orgasm takes over you. "God yes!" Dio smirked at your blissed face as he once again takes your lower lip into his mouth.

"Yes, thank your God for giving you such satisfa-" before he could finish, you lifted yourself and wrapped your legs around his neck, putting all your weight on him in order to cause him to fall back on the ground. "Don't ruin this please." You say looking down at him.

Dio couldn't look more in love as he takes hold of your ass molding it in between his large hands. You scoot down to Dio's still clocked cock. Massaging it gently, before reaching in and pulling it out, you release a loud gasp at the sight. His cock was enormous, far bigger than any you had seen before. "Don't look so surprised my dear, from now on only expect the most of me."

You gulp shallowly as you shyly lick the shaft trying to find a way to lube the monstrosity. Dio grits his teeth and closes his eyes as a way to truly feel the pleasure you were delivering to him. You knew you couldn't take him all the way in but damn it if you weren't going to try. As you sucked down, you felt a hand come to rest on your head pushing you forward as Dio grunted. "Take it pet, you can do it."

You whimper as you feel the head of his cock touch the back of your throat and continuing down. You do your best to breathe out your nose since it was obvious that Dio wasn't letting you stop anytime soon. You had only a little left to go but you knew you wouldn't be able to so you tapped out. Dio smirked grabbing your waist and sitting you down on his cock. Briefly, you rock back and forth covering it in your fluids before you feel like your ready.

"Because you've been so good for me pet, I'll allow you this gift though I personally feel that simply being in my presence you should be wetter than the ocean!" in his had, there is a small box containing a flask. "Alcohol?" you asked sniffing lightly over the entrance. Before you can raise the drink to your lips, Dio snatches it away, "It's oils my dear." you laugh a little scratching the back of your head.

Dio's face reddened from the sound of your laughter but he shook his self out of his stupor before you could notice. Taking the lube back, you pour a generous amount on your hand before massaging it along with Dio's cock which had now turned a bit pink from being unattended for so long. "How long is this thing?" you mutter silently to yourself making Dio smirk flicking his hair haughtily. "I don't think I should tell you for your mortal mind would not be able to comprehend its glor-" Dio choked on his words quickly reaching out to hold your plush thighs as you slid down a 5th of the way on his cock.

"Sl-Slow down, pet, w-wouldn't want you to hurt yourself!" Dio moaned as you lightly bounced holding your thighs in a vice grip. Throughout the dark and empty room, you could the high moans you released as you slowly but surely impaled yourself further. "D-Dio, I'm tired!" you stuttered out taking time to catch your breath. "Good." was all Dio said before he began fucking up into you pushing the rest of his member inside of you.

Tear's welled up in your eyes as you felt as if you were being split into by his brute strength. You fell forward on Dio's chest having no strength left in your body to hold yourself up as his pelvis slammed into you rhythmically. "Feel me. Feel as your body molds itself perfectly for my cock!" Dio grabs your arms and yanks them back forcing you to sit up and bounce on his cock subsequently making him sheath deeper into you. "Christ!" you cried out as you felt his cock reach impossibly deep inside of you. Your walls trembled with each push of your cervix.

You were dripping limitlessly on Dio's stomach as your fluids combined together in a swirl of emotion. An emotion so great, neither of you could deny what was there. The way that this otherwise complete stranger was enraptured with you as he watched you boil over with ecstasy was an emotion unmeasured by any science the world would ever be able to come up with. "I'm coming!" Dio declared as he slammed your hip down as he reached his peak, spilling his seed deep within you just as he promised. You shiver as you felt a new kind of warmth filling you to the brim. Dio bends towards you, once again taking your lips within his as he circles your clit bringing you to a satisfying orgasm.

#black y/n #blackreader #kinktober #jojo part 1 #dio brando #dio x reader #jojo bizarre adventure #anime smut #anime imagines

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qqueenofhades · 4 years

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Do you have an estimation how much racism or xenophobia Yusuf would have encountered traveling with Nicolo across Europe up to the modern ages? This is a very vague ask, forgive me. I wonder how much the concept of racism has changed over time. I have the vague impression that pre-modern European societies were always more diverse than one might assume nowadays, but I have little factual historic knowledge. I also wonder how much xenophobia Nicolo would have encountered.

And you would be correct! Because the “medieval ages were all lily-white and anyone placing POC in them is Wrong” is yet again, surprise surprise, another total lie that is a product of right-wing reactionary revisionism and not based on actual historical evidence. A couple years ago, I wrote a very lengthy post about historical people of color in Europe, starting from the Roman era and going down to about the 19th century (everything prior to the 20th century, basically). Obviously, it only discussed each example briefly, but there’s definitely more than enough there to debunk any idea that medieval Europe was monochromatically white. Iberia, Sicily, and other “crossroad” kingdoms had the most visibly and long-term settled diverse populations, but major cities such as London were ethnically diverse from their founding (which if you know anything about the Romans, truly, is obvious). There is extensive evidence for Africans and Muslims traveling to, if perhaps not settling in, early medieval Ireland and Britain (though sometimes they did do this, as there is a record of at least one African abbot of an English religious house). I also have this list of readings on the golden age of medieval Africa, including the richest king of all time and the various powerful empires that existed particularly in West Africa.

As noted in the Historical People of Color post, the crusades themselves, despite their obvious violence and bloodshed, were vehicles for cross-cultural exchange, which resulted in both Islamic ideas traveling to the west and western ideas traveling to the Islamic world. Medieval Christians were fascinated by “Saracens” as much as they were frightened by them, and there was a flourishing genre of “Saracen romances,” such as Parzival (one of the most popular romances of German medieval literature,which features the half-Muslim hero Feirefiz) and The King of Tars. These romances obviously display complicated attitudes about race and religion; the Saracen heroes are usually depicted as having to forsake their mistaken beliefs (usually some jumbled combination of paganistic polytheism rather than actual Islam) to complete their moral and emotional journey, and in King of Tars specifically, that results in an actual physical transformation for the Muslim sultan, the Christian princess’ husband, from black-skinned to white-skinned as a symbol of his newly gained virtue. Obviously there is an element of colorism at play; I wouldn’t call it racism because racism as a scientific term and “biological” concept was invented in the 19th century when, yet again, the West was busy concocting “impartial” reasons for its colonialism and “civilization” of supposedly inferior people. In the Saracen romances, however, the Saracen characters are not unsympathetic (if misguided), and the star-crossed lovers trope between Christian princesses and gallant Muslim warriors is played pretty much as you would expect it to go (with the implication that we’re supposed to root for him converting to Christianity so they can be together). As long as religious identity is correct, skin color doesn’t really matter or is at least less important, is viewed as mutable and changeable, and not the only marker of a person’s identity.

So in that sense, Yusuf and Nicolo would not be unfamiliar as characters in their very own star-crossed Saracen romance, and since we’ve already discussed the bonds between knights and how deeply romantic and emotional friendships were often the case even between men who WEREN’T lovers, it’s entirely possible that people would have understood them in that context. It also depends on how much time they spent in medieval Europe (as in DVLA, I have them traveling across the Eastern world for several hundred years after the crusades and not getting back to Europe until the Renaissance, when ideas and attitudes toward race and religion were once more undergoing huge transformation). Obviously, yes, there would be an element of xenophobia throughout history, and England (aha, hello Ancestors of Brexit) has in fact pretty much always been known for hating foreigners. But these weren’t necessarily foreigners of color; white Europeans from France, Italy, the Low Countries, Flanders, Bohemia, etc could all be viewed suspiciously by the English, especially post-Henry VIII and the religious break from Rome. (But this was, again, also the case before that happened, because apparently the English just suck like that.) This plays into the fact that as has been pointed out before, racism in Europe is cultured along very different lines from how it is in America, and takes into account geographical, cultural, religious, and other factors, as well as simply skin color. (Though colorism is usually also unfortunately part of it pretty much everywhere, since the ideal medieval woman was often thought to be blonde and blue-eyed, and fair coloring has always been positively correlated with morality -- just look at “Dark Magic” and “Black Magic” and all those other fantasy tropes of the villain being Dark.)

So basically, Yusuf and Nicolo would probably have been equally mistrusted in, say, 16th-century England (such as when they go there in the attempt to rescue Andy and Quynh in DVLA). They’re sodomites, for a start (this is right about when male homosexuality starts to enter the books as a capital crime), and Nicolo is Italian and therefore deeply suspicious as a possible papal agent. Yusuf might have actually made out better in that case, because Elizabethan England had fairly friendly diplomatic relations with the Ottoman and Persian empires (this is written about in the Historical People of Color post) and there was even an idea of Protestant England and Muslim North Africa allying together to attack their mutual enemy, Catholic Spain. Othello is obviously a product of this cultural context, with its dashing but doomed and tragic Moorish captain (see once again: the character himself is not unsympathetic, and is misled by the evil Iago). So many Elizabethan Englishmen settled in Muslim societies that there were attempted royal incentives to lure them back, and Yusuf would probably have been an exotic curiosity more than an existential danger. (As noted, they would almost certainly hate Nicolo more.)

In places such as Constantinople, where I had them live for a while in chapter 4, Nicolo would also be the more obviously mistrusted party. In a Greek Orthodox city that had substantial and long-term populations of Muslims and Jews, a Latin Catholic would be more the Enemy, because... well, sometimes we hate the people who are almost like us more than we hate the people who are obviously very different and therefore cannot be compared. Emperor Alexios Komnenos of Byzantium helped launch the First Crusade, at least in part in hopes of getting formerly Byzantine lands back from the Turks, but very quickly realized that he couldn’t control the crusaders and things went sour long before the trauma of 1204 and the sack of Constantinople; relations between Latin and Greek Christians had been at the brink of outright hostility for most of the crusades (though of course hostility was not the only experience between them). The Byzantine emperors were used to diplomacy and negotiation and trade agreements with their counterparts in the Islamic world, all of which was viewed as “consorting with the enemy” by the West. Besides, the Great Schism in 1054 had already broken the Western and Eastern churches apart after centuries of bitter theological disputes (these arguments may look like the most mind-bogglingly boring and tiny and insignificant details ever, but the battle over defining heresy and orthodoxy RAGED almost from the founding of Christianity in the first century). Edited to add further discussion on the nuances and complexities of the Eastern-Western Christian relationship.

So yes. As ever, the reception that they would have encountered is complicated, and it would not be immediately analogous to modern racism and Islamophobia. It would also be intensely mediated by their cultural, chronological, and geographic location, where sometimes Nicolo would (paradoxically) be MORE mistrusted by other white Christian Europeans. Not to say that Yusuf wouldn’t have encountered prejudice too, because he would, but not quite in the same ways as he would now, or that we would expect.

Thanks for the question!

#history #medieval history #history of racism #joe x nicky #sunrise-on-callisto #ask #the old guard meta

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roqueamadi · 3 years

Text

Planning for a LotR Regency AU (Boromir/OFC)

I'm not going to tag this because it's going to make me look completely insane, but I thought @scyllas-revenge and @trenko-heart you guys might be interested... I have spent way too much time on this (ngl it was fun though xD )

The challenge: How to convert the LotR characters into Jane Austen-style regency characters? I've watched the entire Ellie Dashwood YouTube series to try to ensure I correctly understand how titles and lineages work. Here were my problems and the ways I've decided to tackle them as I plan this fic - some of this may change once I actually start writing, but this is my thought process!

Problem 1: In the regency, people (ie peers/gentry) didn't refer to others by their first names. I had to choose between either: ignoring this historical fact and letting my characters use other characters' first names; making their 'known names' into their titles (eg Lord Boromir is the 'Duke of Boromir'); or, assigning them surnames and having characters refer to each other by names unfamiliar to readers.

I decided to go with the last option which is more historically accurate, principally because if I tried the second option, I would still run into trouble with siblings and parent-children relationships (Faramir is the brother of the Duke of Boromir?? No) - therefore, I'll need to accept that it might be hard for readers to follow who is who in this fic, at first. Eg (as explained below) most other characters will call Boromir 'Lord Ithilien', 'the Lord of Ithilien' or 'Coloniel Hurin'. And to be honest, now that I've stared at this for a few hours I'm actually starting to not mind it that much. I also think it feels more 'Jane Austen-y' for characters to have lots of confusing titles :p However, I think I'll at least let my protagonist 'think of people' by their first names in the narrative, which will assist with clarity.

Problem 2: Most of the characters don't have last names.

Problem 1 leads to this. My answer: I made them up. I tried to pick names from their lineage or alternative names that sounded right. For Denethor's line, I picked 'Hurin'; Aragorn's = 'Telcontar'; Elrond's = 'Peredhel'; Theoden's = 'Eorl' and Eomer+Eowyn's = 'Steelsheen'. I also gave Sauron a first name ('Mairon') and picked a random surname for my protag Cin ('Eradan').

Problem 3: It's extremely unlikely a Steward would be ruling in place of a King.

The more likely scenario (as seen in the regency period itself) is that a Prince Regent rules in place of a King because of illness, absence or minority. I decided to go with the latter - so my idea is that Aragorn's parents died when he was not yet of age and so a Prince Regent took over. This would most likely be his closest living relative - so I decided to make Denethor related to him (I've ended up making Denethor Aragorn's first cousin once removed - any closer and Aragorn would share a surname with Boromir and Faramir, which I didn't want).

Problem 4: Leading on from problem 3... I don't want Boromir to be too closely related to my protag Cin (for obvious reasons!)

I was originally going to make her Aragorn's younger sister, but that would make her and Boromir second cousins. That's a bit too close! So I made her Aragorn's first cousin on his mother's side - so Cin and Boromir are both cousins to Aragorn but have no blood connection to each other. Whew!

Problem 5: I wanted to somehow convert the main conflict of Sauron versus the West into the 'Jane Austen' realm - ie the 'battles' occur mostly during conversations.

I decided to include a plot point like this: Denethor has done something to disgrace himself and get kicked out of the role of Prince Regent (this feeds into Boromir's feelings of inadequacy regarding his line). The next closest relative steps into the role - Sauron! Oh no! This will be the main world conflict of the fic and is the prompt for Aragorn, who is now of age, to return and take up his role, and save his people from the ravages of this unqualified leader. I squeezed Sauron into the family tree as Aragorn's first cousin twice removed.

Problem 6: But, I still want some battles, if not 'on screen' then at least referenced.

This is straight from Sharpe, but my idea is that there is a war going on and many peers' sons have commissions in the Army. Boromir is a Colonel (the highest rank you could purchase), Faramir is a Major (because there's no way in hell Denethor would fork out for a higher rank than that), Theodred was also a Major before he died, Eomer and Legolas are both Captains. And they all go off to fight together, mainly so that Boromir can get injured and give us the opportunity for some h/c xD

Problem 7: So, what happened to Aragorn (and Cin) after his parents died, then? How come Sauron is able to step in and take over?

Sticking reasonably closely to the canon storyline, I decided to make it that Elrond (ALSO a distant relation of Aragorn - second cousin once removed, making Arwen Aragorn's third cousin, which is far enough removed to be okay, I think) stepped in to take care of Aragorn. My idea is that his parents were killed in the same 'accident' as Cin's, so Elrond takes both in as wards. He hides them from society in order to protect them both.

Problem 8: If Aragorn is the Prince, Denethor must be a sufficiently senior peer in order to hold the Prince Regent position (for a time, at least) - even though in Jane Austen most characters are not this senior in rank.

I mean, there's Lady Catherine de Bourgh and a few other mentions of Knights and Earls, etc. But I'm okay with adding peerage titles into this fic because it's fun and I think it fits - the various families must be sufficiently senior otherwise it's not realistic that they're all hanging out together. So I've made Denethor a Duke, which is the most senior rank in the peerage without being actually royal (I went with 'Duke of Osgiliath'). Dukes normally have secondary titles which they lend to their son and heir, so for Boromir I picked 'Earl of Ithilien' (as I mentioned above). I made Elrond a Marquess, and his heir Elladan a Baron, and I made Theoden a Viscount. So all those characters get to be referred to by weird titles!

So, this is becoming a crazy long post, but here's the result of my work:

I think this is going to be too small to see in one image, so I've broken it down. Here is the key and a helpful 'cousin chart', because this gets complex:

And here are the segments.

Here is the line of kings, including Aragorn and Cin (my protag) plus Sauron:

Here is Denethor's line, with our main love interest:

Here is Elrond's line - things are getting a bit awkward for anyone who really deeply knows the canon family trees, but I'm saying that Dior was the younger brother of Argonui (who was Aragorn's great grandfather):

And finally, here is Theoden's line, separate from the rest at the start of the fic, but obviously they ultimately join up in two places (Eowyn = Faramir and later Eomer = Lothiriel:

So that's it. Let me know what you think guys, I had fun thinking through all this. Now I just need to actually write it :p

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thesoutherngems · 3 years

Text

Short Stories

"WONDER GIRLS"

By: Lovely T. Duroca

June 12, 2021

It was 3 years ago. I still remember how it felt like going to college for the first time, I was nervous, my heart was beating so fast and it felt like my stomach would turn upside down, anytime soon because anxiety and excitement was building up deep inside me. College is a strange thing for me, it seems like it's a place where everyone battles for their dreams, and according to my some posts that i've read in social media, it's a place where you will get lots of sleepless nights, breakdowns and that surely, you will experience crying yourself out because of school works and tasks, with that, I became scared and I asked myself, will I be able to survive college? Will I be able to get through it alive and still sane? But still, with a nervous smile and a pale face, I walked into my university thinking of my mom and my grandparent's happy and smiling faces. I told myself that I will overcome this, and I will survive and will fight for my dreams because I have those supportive people right behind my back, my hardworking mom, my lolo who has been there with me since I was young, and my lola, a strong woman, who helped my mom raised me to become that lady that I am today, I will fight and get through college for them, that's what I told myself before entering the school's entrance.

But little did I know, the world I was stepping into by that time is so scary, it's unfamiliar, lots of unknown and new faces of students are surrounding me, it's suffocating and it feels like i'm running out of breath, i'm having a hard time breathing, but still, with my nervous and anxious eyes on the ground, I continued walking towards my college department, and I didn't notice that I was holding unto the strap of my bag tightly that it makes my knuckles turns white. I took a deep breath and forced myself to think of positive and happy thoughts, but deep inside, I know I was praying really hard, for that day to be over, I just wanted to go home, crawl into my small bed and hug my fluffy pillow, I just wanted to stay and bring myself back to my comfort zone. I really didn't like going out, surrounding myself with people, because I prefer to be alone and have my own peace of mind. I am an introvert who always chooses to lock myself up in my room, read books, watch my favorite tv series or just listen to music. I hate noise and I have my own world, but the fact that it isn't always like that, that I need to go out, socialize and meet other people because it is necessary, it's hard, but here I am, trying my best out and catching my breaths, forcing my heartbeat to be normal because I have goals, and dreams that I need to reach and fulfill.

Walking in the corridor and seeing that the rooms are becoming nearer each time I took a step forward, my heart started to beat even faster, and when I finally saw the classroom number that was assigned to my com, I was hesitant to go inside, I don't know anyone around and all I can see are unknown faces of students. I saw that there are already students inside, some are just sitting, busy scrolling with their phones, and others are talking to their friends, I inhaled deeply and with a sweaty palm, I step into that room, suddenly, I felt like it became quite, the noise that I heard earlier disappears and I can sense that they're looking at me and it makes me feel more nervous and scared. It seems like I was stepping into a territory that is very foreign and new to me. I continued walking and then I spotted an empty seat on the back, I immediately walked towards that seat and when finally, I was able to sit down, I somehow felt relaxed and a bit at ease. I took my earphones, plugged it in and listened to my favorite music since the professor hadn't arrived yet. I was singing along with the song inside my head when suddenly, I felt like someone poked my shoulder, I turned my head to see who it was and I saw a girl with a long black hair and an eyeglasses, she smiles at me and said,

"Is this seat taken?"

I smiled back awkwardly and replied,

"No, I'm just the only one sitting here."

"Great, then now, we can sit together with you." she exclaimed happily.

I don't know what she meant when she said the word "we" but when I heard that she called a group of three girls, that's when I realized that she's with her friends.

"Hey, girls, here. Let's sit here, together?"

She turned to me and I guessed that she's asking my name. So I said,

"Love, my name's love" while shrugging off the embarrassment that I felt because I really didn't like my name.

"Love, you got such a cute name, my name's Hale by the way, and these are my friends, Jas, Yel, and Miah." she said pointing to the girls behind her, I waved my hands to the girls and said,

"Hello, nice to meet you all."

They smiled at me in return and also said hi.

And those girls eventually became my first friends in college. And I was really relieved that I met them, happy at the same time because finally, I can now have friends that I can be with while we're all battling for our dreams. The professor came in minutes later and he just talked about some rules and regulations and we introduced ourselves one by one to the class. I really didn't like that part, I'm really shy and when it comes to speaking up in front, I'm afraid I might stutter and will just stood there frozen and unable to say anything, but my new friends told me that there is nothing to be afraid of, because we are all the same, we're all students and we're all humans, so when it is already my turn to speak, I held my head high, and I introduced myself to the class, I just imagined that it was just me and no one else in that room, and luckily, I was able to pull it off and I was so relieved after I finished speaking and was able to finally sit down again on my sit. The girls were smiling and said that,

"See, you can do that. You did great."

I smiled and thanked them in return.

Hours passed and it was already lunch time, we were talking and discussing where we should eat and what are we going to eat, then Jas, the girl with braces and shoulder level hair said,

"Let's just go to the cafeteria, there are many food kiosks there, we can choose and decide later."

We all agreed and we immediately went there. But unfortunately, there were no vacant table for us, all are occupied, so we decided to just wait for them to finish eating so we can eat after them, but just when we were about to turn back, someone approached us, I recognized her as one of our classmates as well, the girl with a chinky eyes and chubby cheeks, I just forgot her name when she introduced herself earlier, I'm not really good at remembering names.

"Classmates, you can sit with us, there are still vacant seats on our table."

Yel, the one with curly hair and voluptuous physique, replied,

"Really! Omg! thank you, I'm already hungry."

"Yeah, let's go, our table's over there."

We walked to where their table is and I saw that there are two girls sitting in there and there are also six, vacant seats so it'll surely be perfect for us.

The girls at the table waved their hands at us, one of them with blonde hair and eyeglasses and the other one with braces and pink cheeks.

"Hey, sit down now classmates," said the one with blonde hair.

"Thank you, luckily you guys found us." said Miah, the pretty girl with long straight hair and pale white skin, among us, she's the one who looks foreign, and I think she's half american.

We all sat down and started chattering.

"By the way, what's your name, guys?" I asked them.

"Sorry, I couldn't really remember when you introduced yourself earlier, I'm not good with names."

"Oh it's fine, I'm Sha, these two are my friends, Chaw and Cassie."

After that brief introduction, we decided to go buy our food so we can finally eat our lunch. We continued chatting while eating and my heart is just so happy being with those girls, they're fun to be with and they're full of interesting and funny stories, and little did I know that I was already becoming comfortable with their presence and i'm not my usual quiet and shy self anymore, I also talked with them and laugh with them.

After that 1 hour lunch, we decided to go back to our classroom and we also decided that the eight of us should sit together. We sat on the back and that spot has become our usual seat from then on. College has become easy and fun because of them. Having friends really helped me to survive the days, weeks and months of being a freshman student and as time passed, our friendship also became stronger. We are always together and one of our professor even named our group, WONDER GIRLS, because he noticed that we always hang around each other, that the eight of us wouldn't be complete without one another, we help each other with school works, and we always lift each other up and of course, the best thing is our after school hangouts where we always go to places and try different foods. Each one of us has different characteristics, but that didn't stop us to become friends, instead, it makes our friendship unique and more interesting, and now, we are already in our senior year in college, just two more semesters to go and college will be over, but the friendship that we built along the way, and the memories that we gathered since the first day of school during our freshmen years, will forever be treasured and buried deep inside our hearts. Wonder Girls will always be the best thing that has happened to me in my college years and I will forever be proud and thankful of my girls.

THE END

#short stories #thesoutherngems

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shinydelirium · 3 years

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MLQC Season 2 Chapter 12 (Kiro) Part 8 [Lighthouse] & [Gaze of Time] Translation [CN]

***SPOILERS*** THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR CONTENT NOT YET RELEASED ON EN SERVER!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!***

For previous translations of Season 2 Chapter 12: Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7

I combined two parts for this post. Enjoy~

[Lighthouse]

As we stood on the last step, we were only able to see some faint pictures.

The run-down walls looked extremely gloomy and terrible in the endless darkness.

It seems to be much bigger than we thought.

MC: Did we uncover a tomb that hasn’t been dug up? Those tomb raider novels are written like this… ***I’m getting Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider vibes***

Helios: Stay here.

With those few words, Helios walked towards the visible wall in the distance.

MC: Be careful.

I looked around cautiously, walked down the steps carefully and stepped on the ground where Helios was before.

At the same time, a thin golden thread lit up between the floor tiles. It stretched outward like an electric current.

Helios: What are you doing?!

MC: …Taking a step forward?

Helios came back to me in an instant, dragging me onto the transparent steps and looking around with cold eyes.

As the lines of light gradually brighten the building like a pulse, the mysterious symbols on the walls appeared like the eyes of a giant beast slowly opening in the dark.

??: We have been waiting for you for a long time.

??: Welcome to the lighthouse.

Lighthouse? Hearing this unfamiliar word, I froze.

The long synthetic sound came from far away. All the lines began to converge into a certain pattern and rearranged themselves. At the same time, some of the text on the wall gradually disappeared.

In this space constructed entirely of golden light, all the shadows connected with the outline of the sliding lines, forming a peculiar shadow on the dark background—

As if—there is an invisible person standing there.

Helios: It’s a trick.

??: This is a misunderstanding.

The lines swayed slightly with the sound. It looked like…it was politely bowing and I couldn’t help leaning against Helios’ back.

MC: ….Is there someone over there?

Helios: Visual dislocation.

MC: What do you mean?

Helios: It’s just a projection made up of lines of electric currents and light.

Helios: Nothing is there.

He even took out the knife in his hand, approached the “shadow figure”, arrogantly positioned the knife where the neck would be, and swiped vigorously.

However, the blade didn’t touch anything and the “human figure” flickered and transported onto another wall.

??: Signal upload, information has been updated.

??: Enable smart trigger mechanism to ensure information synchronization.

??: Data is uploading….update complete.

The mechanical language doesn’t carry any emotion and there was a “didi” sound at the end of the conversation.

??: Human beings will be full of hostility towards the unknown. This is understandable.

??: Don’t worry, there is nothing in the lighthouse that can hurt you.

??: Of course we will not hurt you, special people. ***It knows about Evolvers but its not referring to them as that term. So were they called something else?***

The amiable electronic voice reverberated in the entire space. At the end of the sentence, there was a completely unintelligible language. ***Like the same unintelligible language that was heard in part 6 of Behind the Curtain?***

The light continues to flow and reorganize, making the “human figure” look like it’s stretching out its hands, signaling to us that there is no threat.

Its outline slowly became bright and thick and the entire “shadow” became clearer.

The accentuated light dispersed into light patterns and text around the area, illuminating the interior of the whole lighthouse.***Changed the wording***

??: It seems that you wandered into the lighthouse by accident but it does not matter.

??: Once again, I welcome you and your companion. I am the lighthouse’s legacy—

??: 19.

I cautiously ran to Helios’ side and pulled his shoulders slightly to reach his ears.

MC: ….Why do I find this scary…

Helios: If you know, don’t mess around.

Helios’ fixed his eyes on the figure. His whole body is tense as if he didn’t believe it.

Helios: There is no value in trusting things that are so cryptic.

??: It does not matter. I have a lot of patience to prove to you that we are not malicious.

??: After all, compared to the time of waiting, this kind of time is nothing.

The “figure” stayed in place quietly. The lines on its body trembling slightly. It gave off the impression of a kind, old man.

I poked my head out from behind Helios.

Helios: You just said this is a lighthouse?

??: Yes.

??: Actually, I want to chat with that girl. Your attitude does not look very good.

MC: ….Pfft.

Seeing the swaying lines, I couldn’t help laughing.

MC: How should I address you as? Is 19 all right?

19: You are so polite and cute, of course you can. Where we are from, you will surely be liked by many people.

Helios: Do people there like to talk so much nonsense?

19: That won’t do.

The originally tense air immediately became alive, wafting with the laughter I tried to restrain.

MC: 19, what is a lighthouse? And you just said that you are the legacy here. What....are you again?

19: I am the residual intelligence waiting to meet you.

MC: ?!

19: As for the lighthouse….

19 slowly raised its hand and the floating patterns of light began to surge, turning into indistinguishable graphics and textures.

On the huge wall behind us, a magnificent and unfamiliar picture formed.

19: These are our remnants.

The pattern of light is constantly changing and evolving with different characters and designs that are completely incomprehensible.

It seems to be showing something but it’s so obscure.

As the lines jumped around, huge and unfamiliar buildings were built high and collapsed into nothingness.

A crowd of people gathered and scattered about as if they were roaring and struggling. Finally the images on the wall disappeared one by one.

MC: ….What was that?

19: That was our world.

19: Before your world came, the last civilization.

My brain stopped working for a while and I was stunned. I pinched myself hard and thought that everything in front of me was just a dream.

Residual intelligence? The last civilization?

I turned my head to look Helios. He also seemed to frown deeply at 19’s words.

I thought the restart of time was absurd enough, but I didn’t expect that the world seemed to prefer the moment when people were caught by surprise.

MC: ….Are you also “human beings”?

As soon as I asked, the question sounded a bit absurd even to me.

19: If you use your language and judgment criteria, yes. ***What, so they’re not human beings? Extra-terrestrials? Space aliens??? Istg, if the game introduces aliens into the story, I will lose it...in a good way.***

Helios: Can you prove it?

19: Nothing can be proved.

As it spoke, the sound of gears turned again and the stone slabs on the wall made a loose sound.

Helios immediately held me in his arms, took a step back, and carefully looked in 19’s direction.

While the wall vibrated, the stone slab was slowly opened.

The undisturbed dust rises in the long-lost light, as if waiting has exhausted all their once glory and splendor.

Now, it can only use this last touch of floating dust to meet this world again after a long absence.

Then, it fell silently, mixing with the ash that was already covering it.

Its appearance was hardly recognizable.

19: Can you see anything?

Neither Helios nor I spoke, but looked at 19 quietly.

19: Nothing at all, right?

19: We also know.

19 gently stretched out its hand. The line was deformed as if its palm stopped in the air.

In fact, it touched nothing. At that moment, its hollow shadow looked tired and relieved.

The lines are constantly deforming and flowing, as if with incomparable nostalgia, touching the most cherished traces that have been here.

19: Nothing can escape the erosion of time. The lighthouse is something we can keep in this world….***Their technology must be quite advanced to be able to make this lighthouse and survive all this time for it to be discovered. Something like this is definitely right up Kiro’s expertise.***

19: The greatest miracle.

Helios: If that’s the case…

Helios: With your technical ability, why would it disappear?

A long laugh echoed in the lighthouse with a hint of weariness.

19: We are not the first civilization to disappear in this world.

19: Likewise, it will not be the last one.

[Gaze of Time]

My brain went blank.

I don’t know whether I should believe in such a strange and ridiculous voice and to believe that this world was as prosperous as it was hundreds of millions of years ago.

There may be people who are similar to us, have landscapes, and have the same or different world. They have existed in a real and vivid way.

And there was more than one such world.

Helios: What was the reason for your destruction?

19: It was because we lacked the necessary conditions. ***CORE, the QUEEN gene perhaps....?***

Helios: What do you mean?

19’s body leaned towards me and in that shadow, I seemed to feel a certain kind of gaze coming from the ancient years.

19: It is not up to “me” to answer your question. But other than that, I have a gift for you.

The lines flickered, skipped along the wall, and turned into a passageway.

I subconsciously stepped forward, trying to follow it, but Helios held me back.

Helios: What are you doing?

MC: It seems it wants us to follow.

Helios: Are you so easily fooled?

MC: ….

I met Helios’ mocking gaze, looked back at the flickering symbols on the wall, pursed my lips together, and kept my gaze firm.

MC: Although I don’t quite believe what it says, I think it is very sincere.

Helios: Insincere disguise is only a joke.

MC: Are you talking about yourself?

Helios: ….

He squinted his eyes and raised his head arrogantly, as if he wanted to conceal the emotions.

MC: And I would love to see what the gift is.

Helios: Be careful that you don’t get killed by ignorant curiosity.

His hands weren’t actually too stiff. I stared at him and stretched out my fingers toward the electric light that ran between the two of us.

MC: Helios, do you know what will happen if you cross this line?

He didn’t say a word. He only glanced at the ground and then his gaze returned to my face.

I smiled, and then gently pulled his hand with some force. Helios unexpectedly didn’t resist so I stepped towards the line with my strength.

MC: It seems that nothing happened.

Helios: It’s just a line.

MC: Maybe many things are just a line. Only to be crossed over. ***Changed some wording***

Helios: And if it can’t?

MC: Then think of a way. Two people will always have a way. ***Can’t help but get Light Pursuit date vibes from this scene***

There seemed to be a tremor in Helios’ eyes, holding my hand. His fingertips slowly turning white from his grip.

At last, he laughed softly, with a bit of self-deprecation and helplessness.

Helios: (chuckles lightly) You really don’t know how to give up.

Helios: Then don’t let go.

Before I could reply, he took my hand and walked forward in front of me.

Turning around, we found that the figure had been waiting silently.

19: She is brave.

Helios: Just useless courage.

19: It is precisely because human beings are born with courage that we have to learn to avoid all unknowns and risks.

19 slowly moved along the wall. The mechanisms opened by the rotation of gears paved the way for us.

Looking at its figure, I felt like someone was walking beside me, telling me some age-old stories.

19: It allows you to greet the unknown even if you feel scared and to overcome all the pain for the sake of hope. ***Changed some wording***

19: It allows us to meet you at the end of departure. ***This line reminds me a lot of one of Kiro’s karma bylines from his karma “Stranger”: “I await you at the end of the opposite path.”***

As 19 talked, I found myself arriving in a wider space.

We seem to have come to a place closer to the ground, surrounded by ruins. It seems that someone has been here and there have been signs of explosions.

Unknowingly, it was nighttime. The faint moonlight came in, making me a little startled for a moment.

19’s hand “gracefully” raised, and the patterns of light crossed every fragment of the ruins along the ground and merged together.

Only this time, it’s better than the magnificent picture from before, more refined and more….real.

The entire ruins turned into a theater in a blink of an eye and it seemed to be identical to our current theater.

In the center of the empty stage, there are some small but peculiar instruments that looked like microphones.

19: People of the future, there are not many things in this world that have escaped time.

19: There are many more lighthouses like this one.

19: We try to keep all of civilization in the lighthouse, hoping to leave behind the stories, voices, predictions, and music we hear.

19: We want to fight against time and prove to the world….

19: We have existed.

19: However, only one in ten million can be left behind.

19 opened its hands gently, as if embracing something.

19: But even if one person believes it, we will be successful.

19: Thank you all.

A faint melody came from the empty stage, making me freeze for a moment.

MC: This is….

Helios: It’s a song.

Helios’ voice was soft, with some unnoticeable bewilderment and doubt in his words. His always-alert expression finally began to loosen.

I listened to this song quietly. I couldn’t tell what instruments were and the rhythm itself was very strange. The obscure language and timbre are so distant that I can’t figure out the pronunciation or the content.

I don’t know what is being sung, and I can’t even understand its sustenance or calling.

But I seem to be able to tell from this song that the remote and mysterious world is very real and alive at this moment.

This song is so desperate as if gathering all the hatred. Even if the world collapses, it will leave the last trace of unwilling cry.

But it is full of hope. Even if everything is dead, it still firmly believes that it can be done again.

It carries countless eyes, straddling the endless dark night, and breaking free from hundreds and millions of years.

Finally, reaching to us.

19: Thank you all.

The melody ended. Softly, 19 repeated the phrase again.

19: This is the last song we left in this world. Now it has completed its mission and it shall disappear with me.

Helios: Play it again.

Amidst the emotion of 19, on the empty ruins, Helios suddenly spoke up in a voice that seemed particularly indifferent.

19: I do not quite understand what you mean.

Helios: The song just now, play it again.

19 shook its head, not knowing what he was thinking.

After a period of silence, the same melody and singing was played again. I stared in confusion at Helios with his eyes closed, not knowing what he was going to do.

When the music ended, Helios slowly opened his eyes. He quietly looked at the empty stage like a frozen statue for a long time.

At last, he started walking towards the stage in the middle of the ruins, with some hesitation full of contradictions and some resoluteness that I didn’t understand.

When he stood on the stage, he glanced around, kneeling down reverently and touching the stage with his fingers gently.

Clearly, it was just a projection but at that moment, I suddenly felt as if he really touched the unreachable world.

Helios stood in front of the transparent microphone, his fingers trembling slightly. He lowered his head to watch the transparent phantom and gently covered his fingers.

The cold moonlight was shining down upon his head, as if the spotlight from this world was leaning on him without any cover.

The night sky was full of stars. The theater and stage reflected by the patterns of light flickered with specks of light, which merged into a sea of stars.

Helios closed his eyes and sang softly. The melody that had just circulated in the theater now became his sonata piece.

19: This is….

He almost perfectly restored all the pronunciation and inflection. The arcane and unfamiliar language seemed to be surging with fresh vitality.

All the hatred and love, hope and despair are deeply condensed in his singing.

Helios stands in the brightest place in the world.

His entire being is glowing.

At that moment, I knew that the person standing on the stage was Helios and even Kiro.

I’ve heard that when human beings create language, they make a voice of their own to the world.

As a result, human civilization emerged and it began to expand and pass on the basis of language.

This foreign language is so mysterious and difficult to understand that even now, it cannot be explained. It seems so fragile and meaningless.

But Kiro wrote it down completely. In endless silent times, the world once again heard the voice from that distant civilization.

He is in this world, using his voice to leave a song that only belongs to that era.

He used his method to let that far-off voice pass through the long and ancient night. For the first time, it reverberated.

Helios slowly opened his eyes and stood in front of 19.

Helios: All of you still exist.

The lines on 19’s body trembled and some rustling mechanical noises broke and rang, seeming to be on the verge of losing control.

It seemed to be shock beyond understanding and calculation. It seemed to be joy.

19: Th…thank, thank you. Thank you all.

In the distance, there seemed to be light patterns stretching out and spreading towards the darkness, slowly drawing the outline of a ship, as if it was setting sail.

19: We have always believed that there is one person who is the last piece of the puzzle to break the cycle. The future we cannot push towards, maybe you can reach it.

19: Go. Go to other lighthouses. There are countless people’s research, countless people’s attempts, and countless people’s hopes.

19: After you leave, everything will automatically be destroyed.

19: We…no, the civilization of generations will always bless you.

19: May our failure be a lighthouse to guide you to the future path.

19: Until the next lighthouse, farewell for now.

As the voice of 19 gradually faded into the air, there seemed to be some mechanical clicking sound echoing leisurely in the dark.

-End of Part 8-

***The introduction of the lighthouse has to be the most fascinating and interesting thing that has happened in the entirety of the MLQC story. Actually, I think it’s the ONLY interesting thing that has happened yet. So much info dump and my mind spinning. It took a whole season and 12 chapters of season 2 to finally get to the nitty-gritty stuff. There was definitely some references to Kiro’s R&S: Lonely like the sound of gears turning, countless civilizations, destruction. Plus the “roaring/crying” was mentioned before, vaguely, in season 1 chapter 17. Also, that infinity symbol (8) with all the thorns on it must represent this endless cycle of fate where these previous civilizations always seem to meet their end/destruction after reaching a certain high point and a new one is created in its place and the old one is forgotten or never existed. Hence the existence of the lighthouse- to preserve the civilization in some way and pass on its legacy to the next one. It begs the question of “why”. If anything, the world of season 2 might just suffer the same fate just like season 1. Does that mean MC will have to go back in time to save it and the guys will have to lose their memories once again? How many times will the world restart in order to prevent destruction? I don’t think I can deal with another round of that. The cycle has to end but how exactly? I’m very excited and anxious to find out more about what happens next. When is the next lighthouse?***

#spoilers #mlqc #mlqc spoilers #mlqc season 2 #mlqc season 2 spoilers #translations #mlqc translations #mlqc season 2 translations #kiro #kiro spoilers #helios #helios spoilers #love and producer #koi to producer #mr love queen's choice #mr love game #mr love dream date #mldd

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azwriting · 4 years

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Starlight (Captain Rex x FemJedi!Reader) Part 2/4

A/N: And we’e back! The feedback on the first part of this was amazing and I’m sorry it took so long to post this part but here it is :) I’m also splitting this up because it was just getting to be too long so extra part! Hope you enjoy! Also season 7 has me fucked up, that is all.

Summary: After the events of Order 66, Rex with the help of Ahsoka ventures out into the galaxy in search of the Jedi he cares deeply about and relives moments shared between the two.

Word Count: 3460

Warning(s): Typical order 66 angst, Rex being an angsty boy, me making up GAR “rules”

The ballad of battle flooded the ears of the 501st as they took cover behind large deposits of rock and debris. Separatist droids had surrounded the remaining members of Torrent company on Christophsis as they attempted to hold their ground on the bridge. They could not afford to lose it.

Rex crouched down among his brothers, gripping his blasters tightly as he heaved in deep sporadic breaths.

Through the smoke of blaster shots, war was an illusion painted vibrantly. The sight comparable to the paintings he had come by on his deployments, especially on Naboo. But war was not vibrant and rich with life like those paintings. No, war was an image destroyed and never completely whole, where branches of death and despair weaved in and out of a dutiful life.

Rex had imagined a life like that painting on Naboo and in the smoke of the battlefield he could almost reach out to touch it. A bitter laugh lodged itself in his throat, a man created to fight a war dreaming of life without it, something he’d never known. Not yet…

“These clankers are gaining Captain!” Jesse shouted from his side, bucket lit by streams of blasts whirling by. His voice brings the Captain of the 501st back to reality.

“Sir as much as I love a game of count the clanker down,” On his left, Fives paused springing up from his place of cover to take a few shots at closing in droids. Each shot striking true. “I have to agree this is getting to be a bit much.”

“We need reinforcements!” Echo added alongside Fives, causing the other men to nod in agreement. It took a lot for the Torrent company to admit they needed help…

Rex knew his vods were becoming weary, this “stealth operation” to gain intel unfortunately turning into a long drawn out shoot out, but they had to hold out just for a little longer.

“General said to hang in there boys! Said he had something big plan-” Before Rex could finish his words of encouragement a shadow moved in his line of vision.

Eyes whipping beneath his helmet in search of the movement, Rex expected to find an ambush mounting their assault on the unassuming soldiers from their rear, not … a civilian?

A figure was pressed low into the ground seeking cover behind the makeshift shelter his men were currently occupying. A tattered and distressed cloak concealed most of the unknown figure, but Rex could make out a hand hidden in a large draping sleeve clutching something tightly.

What in the Maker… where had they come from?

“Someone get the civilian out of here!” Rex shouted over the buzz of combat, eyes jumping back over to the person who had somehow successfully maneuvered themselves to crouch down besides him. The Captain froze in surprise, catching the way narrowed eyes peeking out from the hood were illuminated by streaks of red and blue.

“It’s not safe.” He spoke thickly to the civilian, unsure why they had chosen to inch closer to danger.

As if to further his claim, an explosion sounded off from the enemies line. A cloud of smoke erupted from the blast’s origin and came hurtling towards the 501st. A spray of debris showered across the bridge as the men ducked, hands cradling concealed heads as they attempted to shroud themselves from the ricochet of the explosion.

Rex’s ears rang as the echo of the blast faded into nothing but white noise. Several blue painted helmets peered over the barrier of debris to find all the clankers collapsed to the ground, circuits fried, and parts in disarray.

The armored assault tank that aided in overwhelming the Republic forces, now laid in a bed of flames, General Skywalker perched on top of it. In one hand was his ignited lightsaber, the very lightsaber that had been used to save the Republic from defeat far too many times, its blue hue casting a shadow onto his smirking face. In the other hand, a droid popper was cradled with great care. Rex could identify it as one of those droid poppers that that mechanic Fives was so smitten with had been designing alongside the General. Their power doubled and they covered far more square footage. The Captain supposed it had finally been time to test it in action and it could not have arrived at a better time.

“Nice timing General!” Hardcase laughed, voicing Rex’s very thoughts. He could only chuckle along at the flair of his Jedi, vaguely aware of the figure who had shielded themselves besides him during the blast, now standing to their full height. They took a step forward out of the safety the shelter provided and the blonde clone began to ponder if this civilian had a death wish. Although there were no current threats, that did not guarantee that another wave of clankers was not on its way.

“Skywalker, you trying to blow my cover?” A woman’s voice called out from beneath the cloak and Rex’s mouth opened a gap, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“Pssh, please (Y/L/N)!” General Skywalker grinned jumping down from the assault tank. “I’m just trying to liven up this battle!”

The two walked towards each other as Rex stayed in his position, embarrassment transforming his limbs into solid blocks of ice, rendering him motionless. The last name General Skywalker spoke doing so to the flustered Captain of the 501st.

“You mean you wanted to make an entrance?” The General rolled his eyes and ignored the question, instead turning to his troops, who all watched the peculiar scene before them.

“Men! This is General (Y/N) (Y/L/N), she along with the 481st have come to aid us!” Skywalker announced and shocked whispers spread across the brothers of the Torrent company like wildfire.

The hooded figure turned to the small group, the hood dropping to reveal you, the Jedi General the 501st and every other legion had heard so much about. The Jedi who was well revered by fellow officers and the Jedi Council at such a young age, who had the highest clone trooper survival rate only seconding to General Kenobi and General Koon, who along with the elite 481st legion had led separatists goons and their clankers to their ultimate destruction. Rex’s eyes watched you intently as you smiled brightly at his men and his chest seemed to constrict with an overwhelming amount of respect. Torrent company was in good hands.

“(Y/L/N) as in Dawnfire (Y/L/N)?” Echo spoke the names almost hushed, like they belonged to the legends told beneath the moonlight across the galaxy.

Removing his bucket, Echo approached the two Generals, an excitable grin consuming the face of the knowledgeable ARC trooper. The Dawnfire was a highly regarded Republic Cruiser, one that had yet to see defeat and was where many prototype weapons first saw daylight.

“Yes.” You nodded a low smirk forming on your lips. “It pays to not have an ongoing game of let’s see how many times you can damage your ship during a siege.” Your eyes traveled back over to your fellow Jedi, the man only offering you a sheepish grin and a light toss of the droid popper he still carried.

“Careful Anakin, wouldn’t want you to fry the circuits of your arm, again.” You teased and Anakin glared at you while Fives and Hardcase tried to cover their laughter with a fit of coughing.

“Anyways!” Anakin turned the conversation away from his beloved Resolute and his bad luck with his hand, gesturing to the ARC trooper. “This is Echo.”

You allowed for the change in topic, outstretching a hand to shake Echo’s firmly, “Nice to meet you Echo.”

“Likewise General.”

“I’m Fives!” The other ARC trooper jumped forward offering his hand as well as a half witted smirk.

You only chuckled, shaking his hand as well, “Nice to meet you too Fives!”

You greeted each man asking for their names, taking no assigned number as an answer, and leaving each trooper with a smile. A sweet haze clouded the minds of the 501st men as they watched the new General weave her way through the company. Your energy unlike anything the men had ever encountered.

With the guidance of General Skywalker, you were finally pointed back in the direction of the pile of debris Rex now stood patiently in front of, the same debris you had emerged from, “This is my first in command, Captain Rex.”

Your head pivoted to look at the mortified Captain, your comfortable smile stretching into a smirk.

“Oh I do believe we’ve had the pleasure.”

Your words did not attempt to hide your slyness and your eyes twinkled with a familiar mischievousness. Rex’s face warmed in abashment as he gripped the back of his covered neck, “Uh, sorry about that General.”

A light laugh slipped out from the Jedi who only shook her head, “Not a problem Rex, I’ll admit my civvies hide my true origin quite well.” As you dismissed his apology your free hand removed the tattered cloak concealing most of your figure revealing the familiar robes worn by the Jedi. Although a rich blue tunic served as a sharp contrast against the muted browns, brought out even more by the silver toned armor protecting your shoulders and torso.

Rex nodded silently, not trusting himself to be able to form a coherent sentence as his mind replayed the way his name had dripped from your lips with such liveliness. Through the tinted visor of his bucket all he could do was stare at you, the familiar weight of his blasters in his hands dissipated into nothing, the weight of the war slipping away for a moment. It was unfamiliar, especially to a man bred for war, but Rex could only surrender to it’s cosmic power.

“Speaking of, did you gather the intel?” Anakin's expression turned serious, his question slicing through the tension.

Your eyelashes fluttered as you blinked away your own daze, face quickly mirroring Anakin’s.

“Got what I could.” Your opposite hand extended outward to reveal a data chip cradled in your gloved palm. “Damn seppies only had a select amount of outposts and droid factory locations stored, a smart move for once.”

Anakin sighed but gently took the chip from your hand, “It’s something.” You two shared a hesitant smile, bother eager for this war to be waged and won.

“Sorry to interrupt Generals but we’ve spotted incoming on the North side of the city.” Jesse cut in handing a pair of binocs over to his Captain. Rex pulled his gaze away from the Jedi to look through the binoculars to confirm that they had a cluster of droids closing in on their location just a few parsecs away on the other side of the bridge and already destroyed clankers, courtesy of General Skywalker and the brothers of the 501st.

“He’s right General, seem to be closing in quickly too.” At his confirmation, Rex felt another set of eyes on him but he could not surrender to them again so he held onto General Skywalker who nodded in response to his Captain.

“Thank you Jesse, Artoo!” Anakin called out for the notorious little blue droid that rarely ever left his side. A chorus of enthusiastic beeps were heard as the blue droid appeared out from behind his own shelter of rubble.

“Hey buddy, I need you to take this.” General Skywalker handed his astromech the data chip recovered by you for safekeeping and the small mechanical arm of Artoo’s took it happily.

“I already sent my commander a backup of the intel, just in case.” You added with a light shrug.

“Where is Commander Glitch?”

“Glitch is still on the Dawnfire, instructing the dispatched companies. We got fighters supporting in the aerial confrontation and there are two groups entering from the west and the south to converge on our location.”

Anakin’s eyes flickered over to Rex, both men sharing an impressed nod, the 481st already living up to their standards.

You moved past Anakin towards Artoo, eyes dancing between the incoming clankers and the droid, “I also believe you have something of mine, given to you by one of my men, Webs?”

Artoo chirped and his body shook a little, the small opening on the top of his domed head opening. Something long and narrow shooting out, followed shortly by another, you catching each item with a comfortable ease.

“Thanks Artoo, it’s good to see you too!”

Rex surveyed as you gripped the two identical black and silver lightsabers, fingers brushing against the smooth durasteel with a distinct intimacy that could only come from years spent mastering the use of the weapon. With a stroke of your fingers, the lightsabers ignited a bright blue and a sharp green.

“So,” You twirled the two lightsabers eyeing the marching battalion of droids, “how do you want to play this?”

Anakin was quiet for a moment before raising an eyebrow and that comfortable smirk of his fell onto his face, Rex was well acquainted with the face that made rash decisions. “Do you remember the negotiations on Lothal we were sent to supervise during our padawan days?”

You groaned, head falling back dramatically, it seemed you were familiarized with the General’s intriguing way of accomplishing things too. Your head rolled over onto your left shoulder to stare up at your longtime friend, “That maneuver will never work.”

As you spoke, a blast whirled by followed shortly by another and then another. The rain of fire quickly restoring the bridge to the battlefield it once was.

General Skywalker was hasty in reigniting his own saber, “We’ve got nothing to lose!”

“Oh, just our lives and perhaps the war!” Your words did not reach Anakin though as he took off running toward the awaiting battle, flanked by the rest of Torrent. A soft groan escaped your mouth before you turned to Rex, “You got my six Captain?”

He looked down ensnaring your eyes with his own, not that you would have known, and gave a curt nod.

“Always General.”

His words brought a bright smile to your face and Rex mimicked you from beneath the safety of his helmet, saving the sight and burning feeling inside for later when the shooting had seized and he could freely dissect what it was that he felt at this very moment.

With that the Captain of the 501st spun his blasters in his hands before the two of you raced into the war zone side by side.

Rex swallowed thickly, eyes scrunching close in an attempt to focus back on his current reality. His gloved hands were secured tightly around the sides of the ladder, one foot perched on the lowest step. Slowly he unfolded each finger wrapped around the bar, each finger crying out with an unbearable stiffness from the intensity of his restraint. The blonde clone groaned lowly as he flexed his cramped hands, amber eyes drifting around to catch sight of the Togruta watching him expectantly from the gunner seat in the Y Wing.

Rex quirked up an eyebrow, silently questioning what she was looking at him for, Ahsoka only letting out a small hum.

“I asked if you were okay.” She repeated, her voice soft and still uneasy as if the ground below her threatened to give out any moment. Her question made Rex inhale roughly, shaky coughs following as he recalled only hours ago when she had asked him the same question, when she had saved him, when he had shot his brothers to save her.

He attempted to clear his throat, hoping any remnants of the discomfort within would slip away as easy as the tickle in his throat. But he knew it was hopeless, the pain of the past, present, and the future made itself known with a biting sting in his heart. Something he knew would stay with him, perhaps until death, especially with the uncertainty that lied ahead of him. He never asked the Maker for much, but kriff did he hope you were okay.

Rex knew it would be useless to try and lie to his long time Commander and friend, so instead he stayed silent choosing to focus on climbing into the pilot seat.

Because Rex was not okay, he was far from it.

Ahsoka did not ask again, rather shifting the conversation to the one of dire importance.

“Do you know where they were?” Her voice cut through the speaker in the cockpit and Rex sighed, sinking into his seat, a hand roughly rubbing his brow in the privacy of the pilot seat. He did not want for her to accompany him on this trip, but it was hard to fight Ahsoka, she was too stubborn. Something she had no doubtedly gotten from -

Rex cut off the train of thought, banishing the name that formed in his thoughts. He was not ready for the possible grief that would follow, not until he knew of your fate. He could barely handle the searing hot anguish tearing him apart, he did not want to double it.

“Heading back from the outer rim sieges, last I heard…” Rex trailed off, eyes prickling with unshed tears.

“Commander huh? Commander Rex has a nice ring to it, but you’ll always be my Captain.”

It was the last he had heard from you, just before the ships had left for Mandalore. He had not heard your voice in far too many rotations and the slight buzz of the hologram had been enough to give him some peace of mind. You had told him that the 481st and you would be sent back to Coruscant soon for rest and refuel, secretly hoping that the stars would align and perhaps the two of you would arrive back home at the same time.

A hope he had shared.

Such ignorance…

Rex was grateful for the seat beneath him because Maker, he could not support himself, could not breathe at the thought of something happening to you. And with each settling minute, each heavily taken breath Rex could feel the unease settling into his soul, something was wrong.

He was not Force sensitive but he could feel it in the air, could taste it on his tongue. Something bad had happened. He just hoped the stars had not claimed you yet, taking back their fallen star that had slipped through their fingers and graced his existence. There had not been enough time, he needed more time.

Through the small speaker, a rhythmic tapping mixed with the electrical hum of life broke through the stale silence surrounding him and Rex sighed dragging a coarse glove over his face in an attempt to get rid of the dampness that had gathered.

A clone bred to not fall ill, to have endurance in the battlefield, to strategize an outcome to any problem, and keep up with the Jedi was not meant to be crumbling in despair.

But he was also a clone bred to be surrounded by death and Rex knew better than anyone that death did not discriminate. It always took the good ones.

“It seems that their last reported location was coming out of hyperspace in the Abrion sector.” Ahsoka’s voice cut into Rex’s gloom and the soldier abruptly stuffed his pain down, needing to focus on the task at hand. A feeble facade of the clone Captain he once was, was stretched thinly over a breaking man.

“Abrion?” His eyebrows furrowed, “How do you know that?”

The static of the speaker died down, “ Um, hacked into the Cruiser's main datapad. Most sister ships share locations.”

Rex nodded slowly to himself, the Dawnfire and the Resolute did often work closely together along with the Negotiator. The three ships were often referred to as sisters because of it.

“Abrion.” He whispered to himself still confused. The Captain was well informed on many of the Star systems and it was why he was deeply perplexed. You were not supposed to be out there…

“That system is part of the Outer Rim territories, they were supposed to be well on their way unless… ” Rex trailed off staring blankly at the panels before him, his finger dragging slowly across the schematics of the Dawnfire projected onto the small screen.

“... unless you never made it that far.” His voice was no louder than a whisper, the terror welling up inside of him.

What was that last part?” Ahsoka questioned through the speaker. Rex was quiet as he casted one last glance out the viewport to the settling smoke of the cruiser and swallowed thickly, a silent goodbye shared between him and his lost brothers.

“Setting course for the Abrion system. Buckle up kid.”

Taglist:

@000ayfh @questforgalas @kyjoraven

#captain rex #captain rex x reader #clone wars imagine #star wars imagine #star wars fanfiction #SW TCW #tcw

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mithrilwren · 4 years

Note

For the Soulmate AU prompt thing: shadowgast & 15 or 2

This one really ran away from me - I meant to write a scene, and ended up with a whole finished one-shot! I’ll post it on Ao3 later, but here you go! Thank you for your patience, having some pining Essek in recompense :)

soulmate au prompts: the one where you have your soulmate’s name written on your body.

—

Essek expected, for most of his life, that the day of his marking would be a joyous one.

When the cloth was pulled away, he gazed without worry on the script beneath - four simple letters, curved in elegant gold - and felt a rush of excitement swelling in his chest. To be given something all his own… some piece apart from the rest, to cherish and to long for… a great hope, not for his people, but for himself. It was worth far more to him than he knew before that moment.

“Bren,” he whispered aloud. A soft sound, not biting or sharp like his own name. Masculine, he noted hopefully, and his happiness grew.

Then he looked up, and saw the look in the Umavi’s eyes - or Mother, as he’d been taught to say, not by her - and what excitement had kindled within him withered to ash.

“No,” she said, with cold finality. “You will not speak that name again.”

“Why?” he asked, still too young to be wary of posing the question. His curious spirit had not yet been driven into the darkest parts of himself. He still considered civil disagreement an achievable goal.

He still believed that whatever he asked, he would be heard.

“It is a name that does not belong to this country.” But it belongs to me, a small voice within Essek cried out. “You will not lay claim to it. You will not speak it.”

Don’t be so naive. Nothing belongs to you alone.

Essek fingered the split sleeves of his tunic, the flowing silk caught at the elbow with silver thread, the golden glimmer of those four letters just below the crook, not dimmed in the slightest by the sheer fabric. “But… how can I hide this?”

The Umavi - Mother, Mother, he reminded himself - stood and turned away. “You have tailors to spare, ready at your call. Cover your arms and be done with it.”

The others of the Den knew, of course, that this was to be his day. He was of the age for it. The whispers started the moment they returned to the manor house, a quiet clamour of well mannered gossip spreading through the halls. Only the boldest stepped forward to ask directly, and the Uma- Mother brushed them off with a grimace of practiced heartache.

“Nothing but a burn mark,” she said, in that special soft voice, the kind that was meant to carry. “Blackened, and unfresh. I’m afraid the lover must have died long ago.”

And perhaps, in a way, her words were true. Something had indeed died that day: the one last dwindling hope of the Umavi, for himself. That if he could not be the recipient of an honoured soul, perhaps he could have been the concubine of one.

“How unfortunate,” the askers simpered, looking at him sidelong all the while, with pity in their eyes.

How he would rather have been called ‘unlucky’.

From that day on, Essek wrapped his arms in long mantles and dark sleeves, and scoured books for the word he dared not speak aloud. In all his searching, he found nothing. No historical figures, no linguistic root, no cause for the disgust in the Umavi’s - in Mother’s - eyes.

He asked his tutor, weeks later, and now desperate enough to set aside caution. The question was set under the guise of parsing some obscure tome, and he received a single word in reply, before the conversation faded into a disgusted silence.

“Zemnian.”

It was a disgust he couldn’t bring himself to share, though he knew in his marrow, without being told, that he should.

Looking back he suspected that conversation, in what was soon to be a schism between him and his community as wide as the Ashkeepers themselves, was the first crack.

—

There was a man, a new man, by the Martinet’s side at their second meeting. Dark black hair, fading to grey at the roots, and a cruel smile. No names were supplied, and none taken in return. That was expected. Essek still believed, at that time, that his anonymity was secure. He still considered his safety a guarded condition of the arrangement.

Still, the new man’s accent was strange, and though every oiled word he spoke oozed uneasiness into Essek’s throat, curiousity overrode courteousness by the end of the negotiation.

“I must ask,” he said, the arcanist’s chalk already slipped from his long sleeve, shadows of familiar circles and equations rendered dizzyingly mundane with the promise of more illicit knowledge to come. “Your way of speaking is… unfamiliar to me. Where do you call home?”

The man’s smile turned up and widened, so like a desert snake whose jaw unhinges to swallow its prey whole. “I am surprised you do not know it; an accomplished practitioner of magic such as yourself. My accent is Zemnian.”

For a moment, Essek’s heart seized in terror quite beyond the apprehension he already felt at the nature of the meeting. “I see,” he said softly, turning away before the tension in his jaw could betray him.

“Sir Thelyss… Essek,” came the accented voice again, “why do you ask?” And the fear grew, and grew, for if this man knew his name, and hadn’t been told…

But surely, then, the Martinet must have told him-

“I merely prefer to know a little of the men I do business with,” Essek said, “Mr. -?”

The Martinet regarded him sharply. Questioning was not part of his allowance of freedom, not at home, and not here. But Essek ignored the look and focused only on the other man, willing his hands not to tremble. If he did not ask, he could not know, and if he did not know, then how could he plan his escape?

“Ikithon,” said the man. “Trent Ikithon.” His smile widened all the more, and Essek smiled weakly in return, both relieved beyond measure, and deeply ashamed at his own foolishness.

Essek derided himself later that night, in the comfort of his own house. What a childish fear it had been: to believe that this man could have been his promised lover, in a sea of thousands.

But better that the lover really had died, as the Umavi claimed to her court, than to be bound to a man like that. Against all odds, to find the one he was meant for, and discover that person to be as heartless and cold-eyed as himself? What a pointedly cruel irony that would be.

Not that it mattered, truly. Essek was already quite comfortable in the knowledge that he would spend this life alone. Preferred the idea, in fact, over fate’s whim deciding his state of companionship.

It did not do to think too long on what had already been decided for him, and by who.

—

Essek met more with that accent, of course, over the years. As his position within the Dynasty expanded, so too did the breadth of his pool of liasons within the Empire. He spoke with many Zemnians, men and women and those without gender, but none bearing the name ‘Bren’.

Essek no longer hoped to find the one promised to him, though the mark had not faded from his skin, mocking him in the brief moments of bathing and undressing where he dared to bare his arms. Its presence meant the person was still alive, somewhere in the world. But again, it mattered little. His work was the only goal worth striving toward. Love was far from his mind.

Through his work, he also learned more of the customs and cultures outside the Dynasty. Premierely, that the soulmate mark was a peculiarity of the Beacons’ influence, and not an inherent biological process as he’d once assumed. No other races experienced the process, at least not naturally. Instead, they found their love willingly, without presumption or prescription in the choosing. It seemed to Essek a less orderly, but perhaps more romantic, way of doing things.

None within the Dynasty would ever receive a mark again. His own actions had seen to that. It was a side effect he hadn’t anticipated, too lost in the promise of all he could gain to truly grasp the implications of the Beacons’ absence.

He chose to believe it a blessing, once he had the presence of mind to consider the matter rationally. It was one more restriction of the state religion, gone. Freedom to choose, when there was none before. No more children made to feel ashamed of the shape of the letters seared into their skin - of something they could only hide, and not change.

Progress.

They said now that the only children who would receive a mark were the lost ones. That their first calling home would be the letters inscribed in their inner arms, where there had been none before: a badge to prove their right to belong to someone, somewhere. And now they belonged to a country as well, one that would welcome them home with open arms, regardless of the name they bore.

How times had changed since he was young.

Essek was loath to label the feeling in his chest when he thought of those children as ‘jealousy’, but it burned all the same.

The past is not important, he reminded himself, again and again, only the future, and put the thought out of his mind.

—

The red-haired human spoke with a familiar voice, as he held Essek’s very life in his hands, unknowingly offering up the means of his destruction in a soft accent Essek had once associated with hope.

Essek had no hope now. As the stranger held the Beacon aloft, Essek watched the foundations of his lie crumble from beneath him. Did this man - dressed in slave’s garb but standing so tall - did he know? He was of the Empire, or so he claimed. Was he sent by the Martinet?

This wouldn’t have been the first time in the last decade that things had shifted so dramatically without Essek being told. It seemed that all the promises the Empire had made to him were built on quicksand, and perhaps this was to be his final test. How much more was Essek willing to endure?

Anything, it turned out, for the Bright Queen named him as their chaperone, and he endured that indignity without protest, gathering favours all the while in the vain hope that it could save him when this all turned sideways. He stayed close, as close as he dared, and closest still to the man who spoke with Ikithon’s accent, and waited to see if his words held the echo of the Martinet’s voice as well.

Caleb.

It had not occurred to Essek to seek for Bren in decades, and so there was no disappointment in learning the name, and in learning more of him besides. An apt pupil, brilliant and eager, and even after weeks, Essek could suss no trace of the Assembly’s influence over his new charge.

The other things he learned of Caleb were far less important, and somehow, far more. That he didn’t shrink back from a challenge. That his hair often pulled from its tie in a most endearing way when his hands grew too restless. That he was braver than Essek by far, for Caleb no longer felt the need to cover his arms as he did when he arrived in Rosohna, to hide the shame etched into his skin. His scars, caught in brief glimpses over spellbooks and offered drinks, were horrific, and telling, and Essek wanted to learn more, share more, be more when he was with him. He had never wanted something like that in his life.

But there was something about the man, something Essek could not tear himself away from.

If this were another reality, he might have believed himself in love. But the name ‘Caleb’ did not belong to him. He could not bring himself to forget that. It assaulted him in his weakest moments: the knowledge that even if all he had done could be overlooked, even if every barrier between them was removed, it meant nothing. Caleb was out of reach, while Bren was alive.

That certainty was not an intellectual one, but emotional. It was born of years of smothered hope and longing. It belonged to the narrative of Essek’s life - inextricable, even if logic dictated that he’d made no bargain, signed no devil’s deal that prevented him from being with Caleb in a meaningful way. He had lived for so long in the knowledge that Bren was lost to him, and that that meant he would be alone, that to imagine anything else was impossible.

And still…

And still, Jester lent him a book, a month or so into their acquaintance, and insisted he must read it. He didn’t have time for such diversions, truthfully, but he read it all the same, because he found he could not say no to her. First in snatches, then with voracious abandon, by the end he was up till all hours turning the pages, so fast they might have caught fire. The prose was sparse, the descriptions obvious, but the story gripped him in a way he had never been gripped by fiction before.

The Courting of the Crick. An offensive title, hiding a more offensive story within. Ostensibly, a propaganda piece, condemning the bloodthirsty regime of the Dynasty while extolling the saving grace of the civilized Empire. Beneath, the tale of a Kryn woman, who dared to choose a life with the Dwendalian man she loved. She made no mention of the mark on her arm other than to say that she cared not for the name given to her, or the man who owned it. She elected not to be bound by tradition, or country, but by her own heart.

He had not realized, until reading that story, that there were others who might once have felt the same ache as him.

—

The first time Caleb showed Essek his scars properly was a week or so after the Nein had returned to Rosohna, following the peace talks. With no assassins at their door or cultists to quell, they could all collectively take a breath, and begin to sort out the shattered fragments of their former relationship.

Caleb arrived at his house alone, which was surprising to Essek. He could only conclude that the rest of the Nein didn’t know he’d come, because he did not believe Beau would have allowed him to without argument.

They stood in silence for a long moment, facing each other over the dining table where he’d once served cheese and crackers in a paltry imitation of good manners, to a group of people who had still trusted him, foolishly-

No, not foolishly. Hopefully. There was a difference. He had learned it the hard way. Destroying the hope of someone he cared for, it turned out, hurt immeasurably more than any other pain he’d caused in his life.

“I want to show you, so you understand,” Caleb said, as he removed his clothes. First his scarf, then his coat. The hostlers, the tunic, until only a thin undershirt remained. His arms fell loosely at his sides. No close examination was needed - Essek could see the precise lines very clearly from this distance, cuts so deep that neither time nor magic would ever heal the wounds.

“I gave everything of myself to Ikithon, willingly, without reservation, but when my usefulness to him waned, he found a new purpose for me. My body became an experiment, and it was more than I could bear. That was the first time I fought him, but it did not matter. He had my friends hold me down, and they did what he told them without question, because none of us dared refuse a single thing he asked of us. All the power was in his hands, always.” Caleb paused. “Do you understand?”

Essek wanted to nod, but he couldn’t stop staring at the lines - delivered by the despicable man he had worked for without coercion, solely for his own benefit. What was there to say?

When he didn’t respond, Caleb continued.

“You are in his clutches now. His hold over you remains as long as he is alive, and I think you know that. So I will warn you, Essek. There will come a time when he will ask something of you, and you will think that you cannot refuse. You will believe there is no other option. And you will be wrong. There is always another choice.”

“Even if that choice leads to my death?” Essek said.

“Yes,” Caleb answered, without hesitation, and began to pull his tunic back over his head. As his arms raised up, Essek caught the faintest glimmer of silver just below the elbow. Other lines, broken by scars, and so dim that one without eyes attuned to seeing in the darkness would likely have missed it, but-

All other thoughts flew away as Caleb stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Essek’s shoulders, pulling him close to his chest.

“Don’t let it come to that,” he murmured, and Essek shivered in his arms. “The world would not be made better by your death. And I- I would not be better.”

Then Caleb was gone, and Essek sat at the table alone, and thought in darkness, for many, many hours.

—

Months went by. The world changed, and didn’t. The Nein came and went, pastries were gifted, messages sent, fragile trust rebuilt. Essek stumbled, and pulled himself back up, and through it all Caleb was there to show him the way forward.

And through it all, Essek began to understand how to care for him as well.

Caleb returned with new magic to share, and Essek shared his time, and his mind, and his passion, and together they built a great many things - not hidden in secrecy and solitude, but eagerly shared. He learned how to make Caleb laugh, and counted that his greatest success of all.

And still…

And still, Essek counted himself blessed to be held in his esteem at all, and asked for nothing more. Deserved nothing more.

But, of course, Caleb’s impatience outgrew his own.

He had never kissed another soul in his life, but to be kissed was a magic of a new kind.

There was a twinge of guilt in the afterglow, but it swiftly faded in the too-short days before the Nein left Xhorhas again. Caleb bid him goodbye with a soft press of lips, and Essek couldn’t find it in himself to care about the name on his arm, when at last there was something real in the world to long for, a hope without equal despair: a love he had chosen, without being told.

The group returned a week later with their prize: the final Beacon, wrested from the grasp of the Assembly at last. Essek had known it was the purpose of their visit, and expected a summons to the chamber of the Bright Queen on their return, to share in the spoils and adulation heaped upon their shoulders. Heroes of the Dynasty, well and truly. Their reward would be immeasurably rich.

What he did not expect was Caleb’s bedraggled form appearing on his doorstep near to midnight. He was sopping wet from the evening downpour, and smiling happily. “Hello,” Caleb said, in that soft tone that never failed to make Essek’s ears warm, and let himself in.

He dripped rainwater all the way up to Essek’s laboratory, and Essek followed in his footprints, so accustomed to walking in Caleb’s presence now that he almost forgot there was a solution to his wet socks until they’d nearly reached the stairs. Shaking his head as he realized his error, he floated the rest of the way up, and avoided the last of the puddles.

Once settled, Caleb shrugged off his coat and threw it across a chair before pulling out five damp pieces of amber from his pocket. “I have something to show you,” he said, almost mischievous, and Essek leaned in closer as Caleb whispered a single word. A lead box appeared on the table before them. Carefully, Caleb drew back the lid, and Essek’s eyes widened.

There, in all its glory, was the final Beacon, the only one he knew of that remained untouched by the Dynasty’s hands. A true relic, steeped in the mysteries of the Age of Arcanum: all he had ever wanted. He started to reach out, but stalled his hand, turning his eyes instead to Caleb.

“Is this…?” he asked.

“I know the Cerberus Assembly did not uphold their end of the bargain, and you paid their price in full. It seems only fair that you should have the first crack at it.”

It was a kindness Caleb didn’t have to give, that Essek would never have expected after all he’d done, and for the first time in his life, Essek was the one to extend his arms. “Thank you,” he whispered, as Caleb stepped into them without hesitation, and didn’t mind the cold water seeping through his robes at all.

The next number of minutes were lost in the exhilaration of discovery, as he sunk his consciousness into the Beacon’s pull and was transported to a universe of possibilities he had never considered. Pasts and futures beyond his understanding floated through his mind, and by the time he emerged, Essek was giddy with excitement. By that time too, Caleb had shucked the last of his soaked clothing and stood by the table with arms and shoulders bare, the fond look in his blue eyes reflecting back the light of the crystal between them.

Another flicker caught Essek’s gaze. He frowned, staring at the inside of Caleb’s forearm that was currently braced on the table’s edge. A faint light was shining there beneath the skin, growing brighter and brighter with each passing second, until even Caleb took notice of the change. He glanced down, following Essek’s eyes to the spot of brilliance. “What on earth…”

Essek spun around the table, taking Caleb’s hand and turning his palm up, until they could both see the full length of the inscription: silver lines flowering from where the Beacon’s light fell, blooming to form five elegant letters.

“Essek…” Caleb said, reading and asking in the same breath. Essek shook his head, scarcely daring to breathe himself.

“Caleb,” he said, so quietly that no spy or sparrow could have heard him speak. “What does the name ‘Bren’ mean to you?”

Caleb didn’t answer, but his hand, still entwined with Essek’s, started to tremble as much as his own.

Fingers shaking, Essek reached up with his other hand, and began to undo the buttons on his cloak.

#critical role #shadowgast #essek thelyss #my writing #metaphors for being in the closet? in MY writing?#it's more likely than you think #i had SO much fun writing this omg

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glittering-snowfall · 3 years

Text

When talking to people about the ice boat scene from different corners of the fandom, I found it fascinating that both the Elsanna shippers I’ve talked to and the Kristanna shippers I’ve talked to are incredibly pained and devastated by it.

The Elsanna shippers I’ve talked to describe a sense of pain and heartbreak that Elsa would push Anna away again. I’ve talked with people who’ve described watching the scene in horror, in grief, because, “Elsa, what are you doing? You promised Anna you’d do this together! Don’t push her away again! Elsa, please, don’t do this!”

I know that I, as an Elsanna shipper, felt that devastation in my heart. Watching the ice boat scene feels crushing to me because it feels like a betrayal. The sisters were able to heal Arendelle in the first film because they came together, because Elsa finally let her heart feel what her heart had been yearning for, for years, and let Anna in. All those years in the first film, trusting the prescripts of others instead of your own heart, and you’re able to help heal the land when you stop putting p walls against your sister. Their love, their faith in each other, gives them both strength in the first film and saves the land.

Elsanna shippers feel hurt because the ice boat scene feels like Elsa putting up those walls again. And many Elsanna shippers sympathize deeply with Anna’s position in Frozen 2. They sympathize deeply with Anna. Anna, who has been talking good sense this whole movie: “Elsa, don’t be reckless. Don’t be rash. Don’t run into fire. You don’t have to go this alone. We’re stronger together,” while Elsa hasn’t been listening. It’s heartbreaking for them to watch, especially as the movie emphasizes Anna having to learn things (apologizing for leaving Kristoff behind because she was just so desperate to protect Elsa) when it seems like, Anna doesn’t have to learn anything. Anna is in the right. Anna is in the right. And yet the film frames it as her having to come to terms with change and her sister operating out of her sphere when really, the conflict rests on trust.

There’s a definite sense from Elsanna shippers (myself included) that Elsa should be better than this - that she shouldn’t have pushed Anna and Olaf away. There were other ways, ways that were more rooted in actually “doing this together” - in making a mission plan together even if it meant Elsa going on alone. And there’s also a sense that - even if Elsa isn’t better than this because it logically makes sense that she’s in a traumatic situation and does not want her loved ones to die - she should have more clearly apologized for her actions.

It does genuinely feel out-of-character for Elsa to me - at least to a degree. I’m not one of those people who claims, “Elsa was completely rewritten in F2!” In fact, seeing Elsa relapse into bad choices that were ingrained in her from childhood seems very in-character for Elsa during a crisis. People don’t outgrow things like that easily - and having Elsa completely outgrow that conditioning would be unrealistic. But it feels off to me that Elsa wouldn’t apologize immediately upon reunion with Anna and Olaf. And, I know, the filmmakers wanted Elsa to be less apologetic in this movie. But they also wrote her doing something that they wanted to stress was so intense that they had Olaf get angry about it. Elsa apologizing for her actions in this one scene wouldn’t be like the times she’s apologized for existing.

(On that note, to the people who used the post about the ice boat scene I wrote on my other blog to claim that “Elsa never apologizes because Elsa never feels she’s done something wrong,” your assessment of Elsa is factually incorrect. Elsa feels she does things wrong constantly, sometimes to a crippling degree. Elsa has apologized multiple times throughout the franchise and that anxiety and pain on Elsa’s part is why the filmmaker’s desire for her to be less apologetic makes a certain degree of sense. It doesn’t make sense in the context of the ice boat scene and its aftermath, however, because of the specific way the filmmakers frame the moment for Anna and Olaf... meaning that we as the audience want Anna and Olaf to get closure and then... the film doesn’t give it to them.

And that’s the thing: the sentiment of pain, grief, and anger from Elsanna shippers over the ice boat scene isn’t irrational. In fact, it’s very rational because the film itself frames the moment as a kind of betrayal. The film wants the moment to be a gut-punch. That’s why it goes so far to have Olaf, the most innocent of characters, express anger at Elsa’s actions. So Elsanna shippers aren’t just angry because our headcanons/hopes of the sisters genuinely working together were dashed. We’re feeling what the film explicitly wants us to feel and conditions us to feel.

And the fact that Olaf’s anger and Anna’s anger never gets brought up again? That’s a legitimate flaw in the film. I know I’ve seen people’s defenses of it saying, “It makes sense in-universe that Anna would be too relieved to be angry at that moment, and they must have talked it over at a later time,” but that’s an excuse for a dangling plot thread, not a resolution to the plot thread. It’s headcanon.

So Elsanna shippers have to sit back and watch, while agreeing with the sensible things Anna is saying, and suffer through the film trying to teach Anna a lesson when Anna’s protectiveness of Elsa (Elsa, who is doing increasingly reckless things without consulting her family much at all) makes the most sense onscreen.

Meanwhile, Kristanna shippers can be incredibly devastated by the ice boat scene as well. (I’m specifically referring to a specific number of Anna fans, most of whom ship KA, hence my initially describing them by ship and not just calling them “Anna fans” - because there are Anna fans who ship Elsanna too and I don’t want to be needlessly confusing.)

And, interestingly, these KA shippers’ frustrations often mirror the EA shippers’ frustrations in key ways. They relate to Anna’s pain deeply. Like the grieving Elsanna shippers, they also feel, Anna is in the right, Anna is in the right and I’ve talked to people in this circle who feel the most agonizing thing about F2 is watching Anna try to hold her family together while being torn apart at the seams. And I sympathize with that deeply. It also stings me to see Anna leaving Kristoff behind.

But, where the EA shippers tend to feel, “Elsa should be better than this,” there’s sometimes a tendency among these KA shippers to be like, “Elsa should be better than this - and, because she isn’t, that proves that Elsa is a horrible person and Anna needs to break free of her.”

Where the EA shippers see Elsa’s actions as out-of-character (or, at least, in-character but a character flaw that needs resolution by the film’s end... which the film doesn’t give), this group seems to see Elsa’s actions as validation of something they’ve been arguing since before F2 - that there are unhealthy aspects to the sisters’ dynamic and/or awkward elements in the way the franchise writes that dynamic. And, judging from F2, there are uncomfortable and negative aspects to the sisters’ dynamic (which the film doesn’t really give any firm closure on - yes, they’re in different places now, but did they talk about what happened with the ice boat? Did anyone get closure on that, and what does that say about both of them?) And, yes, the franchise can sometimes idealize Elsa at the expense of Anna. These are valid critiques.

Still, as someone who remembers cracks about “Elsa never letting Anna enjoy a party” before F2 came out, I feel that some of the negativity towards Elsa is born of these people’s own biases. (For those unfamiliar, there was a post going around before F2 came out “joking” about how Elsa never lets Anna enjoy a party. First she flees the coronation ball and Anna has to go after her. Then she gets sick in Frozen Fever and Anna has to be stressed about her all the time. Then she shuts the door on Anna in OFA. Of these examples in the “joke,” I feel the first two are very much unfounded. Elsa’s powers were revealed at the coronation ball and she was fleeing for her life; she didn’t “ruin the party” out of spite. Also, how dare Elsa... get sick and still want to give Anna a happy experience on her birthday? However, I don’t like the moment in OFA either, myself, especially considering the visible pain on Anna’s face seeing that door close again. Regarding the “Elsa never lets Anna enjoy a party” comments, I mentioned to a friend that I found them mean-spirited. She told me they were “just a joke” and I was overreacting.)

EDIT: A friend came to me, frustrated that I was bringing up the “Elsa never lets Anna enjoy a party post from years ago - even though I made clear that the post was from years ago by saying that it was from before F2 came out. I realize that it is unfair to equate the negativity towards Elsa in that post with the negativity I have seen in recent weeks towards Elsa. So I want to make clear again that I didn’t mean to EQUATE that negativity with the anti-Elsa negativity I’ve seen from certain people recently.

I mean, I tried to make that clear by making a deliberate distinction between people who are critical of Elsa for valid reasons and extreme people - and by “extreme people,” I mean people who put things like this in their bios:

I didn’t want to bring up this individual, even though they ship KA, because I didn’t want people to feel I was generalizing all KA shippers as being like this person. I know all KA shippers are NOT like this person, that’s why I describe people like this person as “extremists” and “people on the other extreme.”

I brought up the party meme, not to dredge up old wounds, but because the party meme was a lesser example of negativity towards Elsa that didn’t feel as incendiary as bringing this person up.

I’ll also admit, I was trying to convey a sense of the history of negativity towards Elsa by bringing up a time before F2 and all of its controversial choices came out, when people were still making what I felt to be unfair statements about Elsa that are contradicted by looking back at the actual text of the franchise.

I’m sorry to those that felt hurt by me mentioning this again. I’m sorry that I still feel that the old joke was in poor taste and distorted and twisted canon for the sake of snark.

I do feel, though, that the extremist negativity towards Elsa that is around today doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It didn’t just emerge fully formed out of the blue - and citing something from the past can highlight that. it can prove that there was undue negativity towards Elsa in certain circles even before F2 came out.

And I know it was just a joke and I don’t mean to rain on your fun years later, but I still feel it’s a joke rooted in a deliberate misreading of the text. If people years ago said, “Elsa was being hurtful to Anna by fleeing for her life” and “Elsa was being hurtful to Anna by trying to make her birthday a happy one even at the expense of Elsa’s own health,” then that’s a deliberate misreading of the text, especially in the first instance, even if it was just a joke, a lark (jokes can still be in poor taste, or based on falseness, however old they may be) - and such misreadings of the text have only gotten worse in the intervening years.

But I NEVER meant to equate the joke from years ago with the “Elsa should have been killed off” attitude.

And I apologize - because I know all too well what it’s like to be lumped in with extremists. People do it to Elsanna shippers all the time. Again, that’s why, across the post, I made distinctions between the beliefs of extremists and the beliefs of people who have genuine frustrations based on the franchise’s flaws.

Forgive me, I meant for this post to highlight connections between disparate groups of people - and I went out of my way to express sympathy and solidarity with KA shippers who have valid critiques. The purpose of this post was meant to be connective, not disruptive - and I’m sorry I failed in that.

END OF EDIT

I don’t believe the filmmakers intended to make Elsa a horrible person. I also don’t believe the filmmakers meant to portray the sisters’ bond as inherently toxic.

But, like the EA shippers, these KA shippers are reacting to legitimate flaws in the text, loose ends that the film doesn’t return to. If the ice boat scene was important enough for there to be a visible turning of Olaf’s emotions, something that is so notable that even the film takes note of it, then the fact that the scene is brushed aside later in the movie feels... off. Like we’re not getting resolution or conclusion. Besides the sentiment, “It makes sense that no one would bring it up at the end because that would kill the mood (even though it seems emotionally important for all involved) and of course it was all resolved offscreen somewhere more fully instead of being resolved onscreen.” And I can sympathize with that, even if I fundamentally disagree with those that overly-demonize Elsa.

Interestingly, when I wrote my old post about the ice boat scene on my other blog, Isa of all people reblogged it (as did several KA shippers) - but I get the feeling her take on the ice boat scene is probably something like, “Yes, it’s out of character for Elsa... but that means the filmmakers hate Elsa and want to prop up Anna.” Which is wrong. Like, really wrong. Isa’s tone can also be surprisingly callous towards Anna - which is why I didn’t include her in my discussion of EA shippers whose heartbreak about the scene stems mainly from their empathizing with Anna. Her racist rhetoric and her fury is corrosive to everyone.

Likewise, the people on the other extreme who feel that Elsa is abusive and that the filmmakers hate Anna and love Elsa are wrong. (Note: I am not equating people’s Bad Takes on Elsa with racism. But the Bad Elsa takes are still wrong.)

I think extremists need to shake the idea that filmmakers “hate” their characters. Sometimes, bad writing is just bad writing.

Sometimes, bad ramifications can come from good intentions.

Like, I’ve spent a great deal of this post criticizing the ice boat scene - and especially criticizing the way the aftermath is handled onscreen. But the scene itself also has many merits. It’s complicated. It’s a moment of crisis. And both sisters are partly right and partly wrong. In and of itself, the scene actually displays good writing. But the fact the film later brushes aside the complicated themes it introduces in that moment, undermines the good in the scene taken alone. It leaves that aspect of the narrative feeling emotionally unsatisfying.

Sometimes, the flaws in a film are complicated.

And sometimes, people can agree on certain things without even realizing it. Because I’ve referenced ways that two groups of people with opposite ships actually have similar frustrations about the scene.

And I know, I’m not “on the outside looking in” when it comes to any of this. I ship EA and KA, so I’m in the thick of it and I’m not trying to portray myself as a neutral third party. That’s why I wrote about my own grief and frustrations with the scene.

And to everyone who was aggrieved that my post about the ice boat scene from ages ago furthered anti-Elsa sentiment because it was reblogged by negative people, that was never my intention. And I hope this post comes across as more neutral and well-argued.

Thank you.

#frozen #frozen 2

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chloebeale · 4 years

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UNTIL I’M OKAY (preview)

AUTHORS: @bottombeca & @snowbritt. RATING: M. PAIRING: Bechloe. WORDS: 1,794. ABOUT: Bechloe ‘Dead To Me’ AU.

This is purely a preview of chapter one, the entirety of which will be posted shortly. While this fic is based heavily on the show Dead To Me, it has been altered, adjusted and added to to create a Bechloe story and universe.

We hope you enjoy the below preview of our collaborative baby!

Warnings: Mentions of death and miscarriage.

***

All morning, there have been signs; signs that Beca shouldn’t be here. Firstly, Ryder’s cheeks had looked a little more flushed than usual. No, maybe he didn’t have a fever or anything, but Beca is not a doctor, he totally could be getting sick. Maybe she should’ve kept him home from school for the day, stuck around to take care of him.

Next, the Atlanta traffic, typically insufferable anyway, had been even worse this morning somehow.

It also doesn’t help that this isn’t necessarily voluntary on her part—court-ordered attendance doesn’t care about signs, or so the judge told her the last time she skipped.

And now this: a broken coffee machine. At least, Beca thinks it’s broken… She is positive there is no way anybody would try to pass off what she can only consider the sludge floating around in her styrofoam cup as actual coffee, right? Not that she has tasted it yet. Rather, she simply eyes it with a scrutinizingly raised brow, attention shifting distractedly to the view ahead.

If she has to endure cheap coffee and even cheaper cliches, at least there’s a view. The river will be a nice distraction when everything inevitably starts to get a little too weepy for her tolerance, she supposes.

Perhaps Beca is a little too caught up in the serenity of it all, in fact—the aforementioned view—because she seems to lose herself for the briefest of moments, at least long enough to bring the coffee cup up to her lips.

Instantly, she regrets it.

“Dude, what the—” She doesn’t know if she should choke it down or spit it back in the cup.

“That bad, huh?”

The voice to break into her quiet outburst is an unfamiliar one, though it comes from close enough by to have Beca’s attention drifting toward its owner. She is unfamiliar, too. Beca doesn’t register her own blank expression until the other woman speaks again.

“The coffee…” There is a distinct lightness to the nameless face’s voice, one that Beca really does not have the energy for this morning. “Kind of looks like you’re not enjoying it.”

“Oh, right,” Beca nods, tone disinterested. “Yeah. It tastes like shit.”

The melodic giggle to ring out from the stranger’s lips seems somewhat misplaced, all things considered. “Guess I’ll avoid it then,” she says, tucking a chunk of curled red hair behind her ear. She hesitates for the shortest moment, before pushing a bright, welcoming smile to her lips. “I’m Chloe, by the way. This is…” Chloe motions vaguely around them, “Kind of new to me.”

Beca is not here to make friends. In fact, she doesn’t even want to be here. Regardless, she nods politely in response to Chloe’s introduction—it is really not her fault Beca cannot control her temper, after all. “Beca.”

“Beca…” Chloe repeats in a breezy tone, almost as if trying to commit it to memory. “Pretty.”

Though Beca’s brows tug together slightly, she offers Chloe a small smile, one that definitely does not meet her eyes—then again, when does Beca’s smile meet her eyes these days?

Chloe’s wide gaze seems to be staring at her expectantly, as if awaiting a response. What is she even supposed to say to that?

Fortunately—if anything about this situation can be considered fortunate—a new voice cuts into their conversation.

“Ready to join the circle?”

If Jesse were here, Beca would make a mumbled comment to him about how semi-threatening the request sounds. But, he isn’t… And that is why Beca is even here at all. So, exchanging a brief glance with Chloe, whose subtle amusement appears evident, Beca sets down her cup of lukewarm sludge, before dutifully making her way toward an empty seat.

“Looks like we have a few fresh faces here today,” the previous voice announces cheerfully.

Beca glances up to the blonde wearing the neatly pressed Fallen Leaves t-shirt, taking note of the way she is now looking expectantly between Beca and the redhead seated beside her.

Taking no further prompting, Chloe sends a small wave toward the group, before introducing herself with a polite, “Hi. I’m Chloe.”

Following a brief silence, Beca registers the countless sets of eyes now training on her.

“Oh. Um, hi. I’m Beca,” she says awkwardly to the group, the distinct difference between she and Chloe’s greetings palpable. The way she straightens in her chair seems to display her level of discomfort, if the way the blonde shoots a sympathetic look her way is anything to go by.

“Well, welcome to Fallen Leaves,” she says, evidently taking over, “My name is Aubrey. As some of you know, I like to start out our grief group by sharing the loss that got me into this work.”

Beca braces herself for the first of what she’s sure will be many sob stories to come, though she takes comfort in the focus no longer being on her.

“During an acapella competition in college, under extreme pressure, I violently vomited on stage,” Aubrey begins to explain somberly. “My co-captain slipped in it and fell off the stage, breaking her neck in the process. It happened with the whole crowd watching, not to mention on live television.” She pauses briefly, giving the group a moment to digest the information and evidently ignoring the look of mild horror displayed across Beca’s face. “And I live with that every day.”

Shrinking back into her chair a little bit, Beca is beginning to regret everything that led to her being here today. She doesn’t want to talk about it with anyone—let alone someone who anxiety-puked their way into killing someone.

“Oh, my god,” Chloe murmurs sympathetically.

Aubrey presses her lips together. “Thank you. Is there a loss you’ve had that you’d like to share with us today?” Her gaze moves toward Beca briefly, though Beca is quick to shake her head in response.

“I do,” the voice beside her pipes up. The group’s attention, Beca and Aubrey’s included, moves toward Chloe, and Beca finds that she is grateful to lose the spotlight yet again.

Apparently, Chloe doesn’t share Beca’s disdain for all eyes on her. She looks comfortable enough as she shoots a small smile toward her audience. “Okay,” Chloe begins, straightening slightly in her seat. Just because she seems to be okay with the attention does not mean that whatever she is about to say is something she is comfortable with. In fact, it becomes quickly evident that it is not. “Well, um, my fiancé and I—ex fiancé—were trying to start a family. We tried a bunch of times, in fact,” Chloe explains, settling into her story.

Beca notes the way her gaze lowers, as if she is mentally disappearing somewhere else.

“About eight weeks ago, our baby died. It was sudden. Really sudden. I was…” Chloe’s voice gets small and strained as she wrings her fingers together.

Beca is about the least affectionate woman in all of Atlanta, but something about Chloe’s small voice and shrinking demeanor almost makes her want to reach out and settle a comforting hand against her shoulder. She doesn’t, of course; she just focuses her own sad gaze on Chloe as she continues.

“I was five months along, so we weren’t really expecting it, you know? Maybe we should have been. There were four before this. And the miscarriages… No one prepares you for how hard they really are. But this time, I guess I just thought we’d made it. That I was really going to have a family.”

Chloe is looking down at her hands, folded into each other to keep from fidgeting. “This time we’d set up the nursery. We hadn’t done that before, not since the first…” She clears her throat. “I keep coming back to this baby blanket that I’ll never get to wrap around my baby. Or lift it to my nose and breathe in her smell when I miss her.” She blinks a few times and looks back up, like she is coming back to the present. Beca notes that her eyes are a little harder to look into now. “So, yeah,” Chloe murmurs. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”

That same somber expression, already familiar, has returned almost automatically to Aubrey’s face. “We’re here for you, Chloe,” she says, a genuine air to her comforting tone. “Let’s hear it for Chloe, guys.”

Like conditioned robots reading from a brief handed out before Beca’s arrival, everyone except for Beca, who is unintentionally watching Chloe, says in monotone, “We’re here for you, Chloe.”

Beca’s is the lone voice to say, much more personally, “That sucks. I’m really sorry.”

Despite the sea of eyes trained on Chloe, Chloe’s gaze lifts to meet Beca’s, auburn brows drawn tightly together. They seem to relax a little as she looks at Beca, though. Eventually, she just says, “Thank you,” quietly, a small nod of appreciation accompanying her words.

A moment passes between them before Aubrey speaks. “Thank you for sharing that.” While Beca may not be used to this, to people opening up so deeply and personally, Aubrey evidently is. It seems to be business as usual for her as she continues in a clear voice. “Last week, we started talking about the F-word.”

Instantly, Beca’s eyebrows jump up. She glances around at everyone else, but they don’t seem to find anything strange about this—something Beca finds strange in and of itself. Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe’s gaze catches Beca’s, and Beca notes that it looks as though she’s trying to suppress a confused chuckle.

“That’s right. Forgiveness,” Aubrey says. “Forgiveness can be really difficult. It can even take a lifetime. But no matter the circumstances, everyone is deserving of forgiveness.”

Beca can’t keep the indignant scoff from leaving her lips even if she wants to. Aubrey stops talking, her mouth slightly open in offense, while piercing eyes seem to narrow in on Beca directly.

“Do you have anything to share about forgiveness, Beca?”

Beca’s lips purse, armor falling briefly. “Yeah, I do,” she nods. “How do you forgive someone who hits your husband with their car and then drives away, leaving him to bleed to death on the side of the road?” Beca mutters flatly. “How do you forgive the person responsible for you lying awake every night, wondering how your boys are supposed to cope without their father? How do you forgive that?”

Wide eyes stare her way incredulously, but before anyone has the chance to respond, she leans back in her chair, closing herself off to further conversation. “You know what, I actually don’t want to get into it, so someone else can go,” Beca exhales sharply, trying to push her anger back into its usual box, stored up on the highest shelf where it belongs.

#beca mitchell #chloe beale #bechloe #bechloe fic #bechloe fanfic #dead to me #until i'm okay #bottombeca #collab:bottombeca #mine #mine:writing

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hoothalcyon · 4 years

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Nyx and Ethari as Travel Companions: How They Could Work

seeing as I love both characters, I thought it’d be interesting to explore the ways in which they’re different as well as what kind of travel companions they’d be! credit for this idea goes to @beautifulterriblequeen :)

i’m having trouble coming up with where exactly they’d be headed, so for this post I’ll be looking into the current states of their characters and the ways in which they could help each other.

this post is LONG so beware lmao

the first idea i can think of is how blatantly opposite the two are. Nyx’s entire character represents being free and living without constraints, and her wings help her achieve this unique lifestyle. she’s a nomad and a thief, relinquishing herself from: a stable, down to earth lifestyle, and proper morals. she does what she wants because she finds entertainment in it as well as a means of providing for herself and living. she steals because she has to and wants to. I’ll get more into how this could also cause her to face disadvantages later on.

ethari is so very different. in s3 we see how he is bound to his devastating grief for runaan and the societal expectations that the silvergrove imposes. he ghosts rayla because he does not have the luxury of autonomy and individual choice, and he regrets it. as I mentioned earlier, he is in heavy grief, which no doubt has taken over his life, due to everything he considered so significant in his life shattering and breaking before his eyes. although the silvergrove has provided many benefits to his life in the past, such as meeting his husband and friend group, keeping him and the other elves safe, giving him a stable occupation which he seems to like, it can also be accounted when recognizing the negatives present in his life.

back to how nyx’s lifestyle could affect her negatively. the state of her day to day is ambiguous, and whether she has a group of other skywing friends or she is completely by herself is up for debate and to the audience’s imagination. personally, i like to hc she’s completely alone it’s for the angst, so it’s no surprise to anyone how this can affect someone negatively. loneliness is debilitating, and it affects one’s self worth and general mood. i definitely headcanon that underneath nyx’s zany and cunning exterior, there’s a somber, lonely elf.

what caused me to think this? weeelll~

the simple act of her asking why rayla saved her along with her reacting like that when callum started talking about how much he loves and adores rayla tells me that she was not only surprised by the fact that someone thought she was worthy enough to be saved, but that seeing callum love rayla so deeply and adoringly made her realize/remember what a gap she has in her life, and how she doesn’t have someone to be the callum to her rayla. she’s faced with a number of realizations in this scene, and they all pertain to the absent spaces in her personal life. she also probably blames herself for this, so ouch.

this would be very different if nyx and ethari’s roles were reversed in this scenario. ethari would be gazing at what he has lost, rather than never had. he’d be hit with the all-too-real memories of having a close and warm love like rayla and callum do.

so, what can nyx and ethari do for each other? i’ll start with what ethari can do for our lonely rogue.

ethari is no doubt a warm person, his caring nature is unavoidable, and he has a positive outlook in general and on everyone he meets for the first time, and this radiates outwardly. he provides a welcoming aura, and makes you want to be honest and good. this is probably what began to break down runaan’s walls when they met and started courting. ethari’s inherent warmth brought runaan out of his shell, and if he can do that for the repressed leader of the assassins, he can do it for anyone.

ethari would look at this lanky, winged elf and continually give her the benefit of the doubt/leeway, even after she’s given him reason not to and shown her shiftiness. ethari is married to runaan, who knows all the tricks of stealth and achieving what you want while still deceiving your victim/onlookers. nyx could probably only trick ethari once without him having expected it, and then he would begin to see her internal planning and know when she’s about to strike. but like i said, he wouldn’t get mad at her like rayla or anyone else would, and it’s not because of how her resources can help him.

this would surprise nyx, as she’s used to her victims being either surprised, mad, or any other negative emotion. she wouldn’t let this catch up to her until later, when she’s finally been forced to be vulnerable and unable to keep her feelings and thoughts inside, which says a lot, considering how she keeps it all concealed under a zany exterior.

the event in which nyx would be vulnerable is when the two are having an intimate conversation, in which nyx tells ethari about how lonely her lifestyle is and what she’s left behind and omitted as a means of achieving this. i could see the topic of what ethari does for a living coming up, and as he goes into detail about everything he makes and how unique and customized everything is, nyx could have an oh shit moment; some of the things she steals aren’t just random trinkets, they could be customized gifts that someone got from their loved one or were going to give to a loved one. bonus points if one of the things ethari mentions is something he made for rayla or runaan--showing how the things we give to others can sometimes hold even deeper sentimental meaning. she begins to see these things as stories rather than items to be stolen.

another step in this conversation that i could see is nyx becoming slightly on board with accepting that maybe her lifestyle choices aren’t the best, but then retracting once she remembers that with friendships and emotional attachments comes emotional pain and turmoil. having heard ethari’s painful story of watching his husband’s lotus sink, she knows that letting yourself love and be loved often comes with detrimental results. she admits that she’s not sure if she’s ready for everything that friendships and relationships come with, especially the sad parts [insert her gesturing vaguely at ethari]. ethari quickly settles her worries by giving a heartfelt confession of how every minute that he spent basking in the wonderful and warm love he had with runaan was worth the terrible pain that the grief of him dying has left him with. after that, nyx admits another fear she has, one that rayla prodded out of her months before her and ethari’s journey; that she doesn’t know if she’s even worth someone’s attention or love. ethari yet again quickly shuts this down by using an analogy. His analogy involves him comparing the skywing to his crafts, and how his crafts aren’t worthy because of their use or even because of the effort he puts into them, but because they exist, and how that’s always for a reason.

now onto what nyx can do for ethari!

although ethari is a warm, loving person, he’s “in the worst grief of his life”, as stated by devon giehl on the HBMP podcast. his usual light has dimmed into one not as bright as his usual spark, as well as one more easily extinguished. this is where nyx comes in. ethari’s usual younger, larger than life female figure in his life (rayla) isn’t attainable yet, and could possibly be who he’s on his journey to find.

the skywing’s energy is infectious, and the impossibly heavy anchor of grief slowly begins easing up on him as he watches her carefree demeanour and looks across the desert; a place he’s probably only been to a few times. rayla would hate this fact, but nyx would remind ethari of rayla. she’s cunning, quick witted, skilled, and has her own ideals. her offhanded comments and determination would remind him of the many years he housed rayla and got to witness her grow as a person. his heart would soften quickly, and nyx would find herself a new, loyal moonshadow friend. any companionship for ethari is sorely needed by him, and the spirited and energetic skywing would be a perfect match.

ethari and nyx’s journey would provide a sense of a good kind of unfamiliarity to ethari, as he has the chance to guide himself how he wants, rather than how the silvergrove/his culture wants (runaan is obviously exempt from this, i mean like, he’d be free from the silvergrove’s expectations and limitations, not runaan’s). nyx would stress this, and would cheer and holler as the moonshadow begins to let go of his stubborn moonshadow-isms. she shares her outlooks and beliefs on life, and how she tells him it’s good for anyone, especially moonshadows, to begin to think for themselves and break barriers on what is expected of them. ethari finds this difficult, but considering how he’s hinted at being “softer/different than the others”, he might take to this more easily than other moonshadows (*cough* runaan).

that’s all for my thoughts on what kind of travel companions nyx and ethari could be for each other! i might add onto this later on if I think of anything

#tdp #the dragon prince #tdp meta #tdp theories #tdp theory #my posts #tdp nyx #tdp ethari #ethari #hoot writes meta

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superhero--imagines · 4 years

Text

A/N: So there will be at least 2 more parts after this one, it’s all too long to put into one post. LMK if you want to be tagged :)

The next part is going to be from His POV, and it’ll be posted tomorrow

Tags: @ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark @treestarrrrrrrr @jelly-snow-stark

<--- Part 1 Here! / Part 3 Here! --->

* Ben sighs as he takes in the tiny hut that’s his home now

* It’s all one room, and it’s smaller than his bedroom at home

* “Well it’ll have to do” he sighs, dropping his duffel bag to the ground

* “Ow!”

* He misses you so much he can even hear your voice

* “Ben if you’re alone you can stop pretending now!”

* His face breaks out into a grin, he should have dropped you a bit more gently

* He unzips the bag, and your head pops out

* “So how long have you known?” You ask, rubbing your aching limbs

* “In what galaxy would you let me leave without saying goodbye?” His grin broadens, as you climb out of the bag.

* “I figured you were hiding in the ship though, I didn’t think you hid in my bag” he admits, peering inside the bag

* “Where did my underwear go?”

* You didn’t come this far, to only come this far

* You had spent years trying to keep Ben from the dark side, and you weren’t about to leave him by himself just because of a small hiccup like this

* It’s pretty cozy with the two of you in that hut

* You hope back home Holdo, your mother, found your note

* All of this seemed a lot easier in the movies, going on spontaneous adventures, chasing after artifacts

* Oh well, at least you have people who love you

* You didn’t plan this very well, and neglected to bring many clothes, you are glad you brought underwear

* You mostly end up wearing Ben’s clothes

* “Aw come on, you know I wanted to wear that shirt today”

* “Do you want to wear one of mine?”

* Despite himself, he blushes when he see’s you roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt

* “No it’s fine” he says with a huff, he can’t help but think it looks cuter on you

* It’s still early on in the story, so Luke only has a handful of disciples currently

* You usually stay in the hut, until the late morning when the padawans go to the cliff to practice light saber training

* Then you run basic errands, like washing your clothes, bathing, cooking/catching/gathering lunch, reading and sleeping

* You and Ben will usually share meals together, he’ll either eat some of whatever you made, or share his rations for the day

* “You know, it’s like you’re an adult”

* You freeze when you hear Ben say that

* “What do you mean?” You try to stay calm as you breathe in deeply. Ben can read minds in the future with ease, it only hurts when the other person refuses to give him the information

* There’s no guarantee he hasn’t been able to read your mind all along, just going along with your wishes to keep you at ease

* “You hunt and gather like a pro,” he shrugs, taking a big bite of the stew you made. “It’s like you don’t even need my help”

* Oh, he’s sad

* You get it, in this body you’re younger than him.

* But your mind is much older, so you’ve always taken a more dominant position in your friendship

* But being here, somewhere you aren’t supposed to be. Ben had thought for once, he could take care of you

* But even here, you do the laundry for both of you, you cook for both of you, and you even cleaned the hut while he was training

* “Ben, the fact that you even want me here is more than enough”

* And it’s true, you can’t imagine anyone in your past life tolerating a bossy girl like you following them around

* Especially at this age

* “Of course I want you around, you’re my best friend” There’s a rosy tinge on his pale skin, eyes staring a hole into his bowl of stew

* Ben’s really special

* “I know”

* At night is when the work really comes

* You fumble around with a book, or embroidery, or sharpening your hunting tools, until Ben finally falls asleep

* Then you lean against the his bed frame, and stare at the door until dawns early light

* You don’t know exactly when Luke starts to suspect that there’s darkness in Ben, so this is how you’ll keep him safe

* You’ll be caught, but at least this way you can save him, even if it’s just prolonging the inevitable.

* “Why do you always sleep on the floor?”

* “Would you rather I sleep with you in your bed?” You ask, at which he stammers and blushes

* “N-no, I would sleep on the floor and you could sleep on the bed”

* You smile as you sharpen your spear, he’s still awfully kind to you

* “Nah, you have to train”

* You get caught after a week, maybe a month if you’re especially careful

* It’s the first time your mother slaps you

* But even after she can tell you’re not sorry

* “What were you thinking?”

* You know how it looks, that a stubborn child followed her best friend not thinking once about the people she was hurting

* You can’t tell them, you can’t tell them that all of this is to save them, to save Ben and to even save yourself

* “The force showed me, Ben is my prince and I’m his knight”

* So you tell a great big lie

* “You saw the future?” Luke sounds skeptical, you don’t blame him

* You nod

* “What else did you see”

* Well crap, you’ve already screwed up the timeline enough just by being so present in Ben’s life

* What’s something small you can tell them? You can’t tell them about Rey, a lonely girl in Jakku, not yet. You can’t tell them about Poe or Finn either, who even knows what they’re up to right now

* “There’s a droid, orange and white, BB8”

* “What about the droid?”

* Well fuck, you didn’t think they’d ask questions

* “It’ll be a key player in keeping balance in the force.”

* The adults don’t doubt you know what you say you do, but they agree that Luke isn’t the right master for you.

* From what they can tell you’re not particularly force sensitive

* You will learn under Leia as her senator

* You can only nod in agreement

* You fuss over Ben more than Leia does when you’re about to leave

* “This is my spear, for when the other kids bully you, or try to take your food”

* “The other kids don’t bully me”

* “And this is my cloak, for if you get cold at night”

* “I have my own cloak”

* “And this is my-“

* “I’m not going to miss your things,” Ben interrupts “I’m going to miss you”

* You can feel your eyes begin to sting

* “I’ll miss you too”

* You hug him long and tight, boarding your ship and returning home

* “You know Jedi can’t get married?” Luke asks his nephew

* “Grandfather did”

* “Yes, because that ended so well”

*”He had you and Mom didn’t he?”

* The years fly by, you study well under Leia. Showing an aptitude for politics and negotiation

* Your mother’s much happier now as well, now that you’re not spending every waking moment trying to save Ben Solo, you actually don’t cause any trouble

* You wonder how Ben is doing often, you haven’t seen him in years

* But you know there’s not much you can do for him

* You’re not Rey, you don’t have a force bond with him

* All you can do is hope he’s alive and happy somewhere

* You meet Poe in your early adolescence, it’s made very clear you aren’t to ask where he came from

* “What are you up to?”

* You glance over your shoulder, as you sit on the dock, Ben’s dock.

* “Just taking in some fresh air” you say back with a smile, you should work on getting on Poe’s good side

* “Makes sense,” he grins as he stands beside you, taking in the cerulean blue of the lake. The same lake Ben would practice using the force on “of course you’d want to be around what you are”

* You know you’re much older than 16, but you can’t help the blush that blooms on your cheeks

* “Mind if I join you?” He asks, and not trusting your mouth, you motion for him to sit beside you

* He grins and he sits next to you, his knee bumping against yours

* He’s just as funny and charming as he was in the movies

* You’re carrying back a basket full of fruit when you see him walking down the path, you’re about to greet him when he wordlessly takes the basket out of your hands

* Underestimating your strength, and how heavy the basket is, he accidentally spills fruit along the way, stumbling every few steps as he does

* You sigh, he’s just as reckless too

* But he’s your friend, you think with a smile, picking up the fruit that trails behind him, before walking by his side once more

* As time goes on, you lose your sense of urgency, absorbed in your lessons and your daily life

* Still you wonder every so often how Ben is doing

* Is he’s eating enough, if he’s managed to make any new friends

* You sigh

* You wish you could call him, or send him a text, anything

* Just to make sure he’s still alive

* A light bulb practically flashes over your head

* Maybe you could write him a letter!

* You pull out a piece of paper, so excited to tell him about everything that’s happened

* Your pen hovers over the paper, where do you even start?

* With Poe? The politics classes? How you were going to represent the planet as an ambassador?

* Or how much you miss him

* How much you think about him, and hope he’s doing well

* You sigh pushing away the paper and pen, some things you can only say in person

* “You’re all set, aren’t you?” Holdo asks you, and you nod “Got everything you need? Did you pack extra underwear?”

* “Mother!” Your fave erupts into flames, you can hear Poe laughing as he boards the ship

* “Don’t fuss over the girl Holdo” Leia says, “Now dear, you remember your etiquette lessons, yes? Don’t be afraid to stab a man right through the chest if he gets too close”

* Between the two of them, you don’t know who’s worse

* It’s all fairly standard once you land, you greet the king and queen of this planet, thank them. Greet your maids, chef and staff

* “We have a Knight for you as well ambassador”

* You’re about to tell him there’s no need, you’ll be fine on your own

* But then you look over to your Knight

* “We believe it’s someone you may know well”

* His face, it’s the same, and yet completely unfamiliar. He’s well built now, a large frame that towers over you

* “It’s been a while” He says, the hint of a smile playing in his face

* Those eyes haven’t changed, deep, and honest

* “Ben!”

* You nearly yelp, you feel tears prickle the corners of your eyes as you throw your arms around him

#star wars imagine #star wars fanfiction #kylo ren imagine #ben solo imagine #kylo ren x reader #ben solo x reader #ben solo x you #kylo ren x you #poe dameron imagine #poe demeron x reader #kylo ren headcanon #superhero--imagines

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kileyrose-2003 · 4 years

Text

Dan Torrance x Fem! Reader: Intro

A/N: Hello lovelies! This is the beginning of the fic I posted about earlier during the week that is going to be revolved alot around Rose. How many parts It'll turn out being, I don't know. Most of this fic, I'm doing in pretty big detail and I've never written anything like this before.

I am going on a date on Valentine's Day to most likely see Birds of Prey and from what I've heard about it, my sappy Bisexual heart already has a soft spot for Harley Quinn and Roman Sionis so I probably will begin accepting request for them as well as the Dr. Sleep characters I already write for. (Doctor Sleep Request are still open) I do have 2 Rose the Hat request am I working on rn. Anyways, Criticism is welcome on this one. I hope you enjoy and all is well.

Warnings: Child abuse, sexual tension, mentioned violence against children, gore, kidnapping, the usual.

Key: Dragă is the equivalent to sweetheart in Romanian

1980:

SNAP! Rose the Hat removed the top from one of their many full cannisters. "Eat well, live long," She whispered amorously before members of The True pushed her out of the way to get a whiff of their freshest thing of steam.

She stepped back, crossing her arms as she watched The True feast. This one's name was Anthony and she could remember juiceness in the taste of his steam. Yet, she didn't want him.

She missed the feel of the hunt and seeing the steamheads squirm underneath her. Rose felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and she smiled at Crow, kissing the crook of his neck. "Aren't we quite frisky?"

"Just in love with you." He kissed her cheek and rubbed up and down her sides. "Crow.." Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. "I want you Rosie..only if you're okay with it, of course."

"You idiot, you already know the answer to that question." She smashed her lips against his and the two of them stepped into her trailers.

The noises coming from her RV were not unfamiliar to anyone who belonged to The Knot. When all was said and done, the two laid in each other's arms. Having their typically late night talks.

"There's not as much steam." Rose rolled her eyes into the back of her head. "Oh please don't be daft." She rolled over and buried her head in his bare chest. "We have three empty cannisters, not a big deal."

"It is a big deal. That's all time low for us and the kids now are being taught the whole stranger danger things. It's not as easy to lure them in."

"Well then what do you suppose we do about it? Without turning anyone." Rose looked him in the eye.

"Well, I've been thinking about it for a while...I have an idea but I don't know if you're going to want to hear it. It's a little..unorthodox." Rose raised a brow and chuckled. "Oh? Do tell because now I'm curious.

"You're going to think I'm insane, Rosie." She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you of all people know I've seen it all. Just be honest and tell me."

"What if we got a baby or a kid?" He fiddled around with his hat. Rose had to fight the urge to laugh. "A baby? What the fuck would we both do with a baby?"

"Well not exactly a baby but look, I was thinking most rube children typically tend to relate to other rube children better than adults."

"And?"

"And what if we got a child, a particularly steamy one, to help us get what we need?" Rose thought about it for a moment. "That beats the whole point of not turning anyone though. Because I know you well enough to know that eventually you will get attached to it and you'll end up wanting to turn it."

"Rosie, they wouldn't be an it. They would be family. By the time they would be old enough to be turned the cannisters would be full and she-"

"She?" Rose questioned. "Assuming it's a girl. They don't have be a girl but anyways, by that point all the cannisters would be full because we'd have them to help us find the steamheads and it wouldn't be an issue turning them because we'd have such an easier time finding steam."

Rose sighed rubbed her face. "I don't know..it's just- Crow, I'm not fit, no- we're not fit to raise children. We kill them, Crow!"

"I know but we have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Worse case we wipe the kid's mind and everything goes back to normal or we kill 'em."

Rose stared deeply into Crow's eyes and pulled his face close to her's. "I'll think about it." She kissed the top of his head and looked up at the clock on the wall. "The rubes are probably wondering when they'll hear from you. Time you get ready to get on the road, big man."

"I know," He groaned and stood up, kissing the top of her. "Just think about it?" Rose made a humming noise and kissed his hand before watching him walk away.

Rose actually did think about it for a while before bringing up the matter with the Grampa Flick while Crow was away on business and the others were asleep.

"Well..it could be worth a shot. It's really up to you though, Rosie." She took a sip of her tea. "I'm not asking for pros and cons. I want to know what you think I should do."

He gripped his cane in his hand and sighed. "I think it's worth a shot. Even if it doesn't work out, we still do end up with extra steam and it's not like we hurt for money, Rosie."

"You're sure?" Rose held her hands in his. "I'm positive." She looked him up and down as if she was analyzing him. "Okay." She stood up from the lawn chair and kissed the top of Flick's head. "You won't mention anything to Crow when he comes back and make sure the rest of the family doesn't either?"

"Not a word," He coughed. "Not a word." She nodded and smirked as she walked away.

About two days after that conversation, Rose began her search for the perfect fit for The Knot. The first two weeks she hit nothing but finally she found something.

Just outside of a resort area in Colorado, Rose discovered a small row of cookie cutter homes located on the beginnings of a mountain. While she thought the houses were very rube like, she paid them no mind. What interested her more was what laid beyond those homes.

Farther up the road if you made a left, there was a long dirt driveway that after about a mile or two, lead up to a large cabin.

At first the house seemed like nothing but ordinary at first glance but to people who shined the way The True Knot did, it was a light shining to the moths searching meaninglessly in the dark.

Hardly anyone ever came in and out of the house and took Rose over a week to actually pin you as the steamhead in the house since you did have an older brother.

You were different from the rest of your family. "Special," Rose heard your mother mutter to you one night as she tucked you though she didn't have to be in her head to know special was not the word she was actually thinking of.

She was scared of you. Your whole family was scared of you and Rose couldn't understand why. You never were particularly domineering with your gifts and you always obeyed everything they asked of you. Even staying out of there heads when they felt their minds going adrift yet, they were terrified of you.

Rose watched you for weeks, constantly consulting back and forth with Grampa Flick about whether you'd be a good fit for a group. You didn't seem to notice though, as you were preoccupied with other things in your home life and wanted nothing but to hear from at least either of your parents that they loved you.

The one night in particular, Rose got to have a front row seat on your pain. She sat up on a tree branch, swinging her legs back and forth as she stared intensely at your bedroom window. The rest of the house was dark but your room was lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Now do you see why we're so stressed out?!" Your silhouette came into view from the light colored curtains shrouding your window and Rose could make out the outline of a male much taller than standing across from you.

"I-i'm sorry, daddy!" You screamed, terror brimming from everything to your voice to your posture. "I-i can't help...I wanna be normal!" You sobbed hysterically. "Come on, dad. She can't help she is, the way she is."

"Quiet, son!" Rose shook her head, still keeping her eyes fixed you. "Fucking rubes," She muttered under her breath.

Your father's fiery gaze turned back to you. "Then why can't you be normal?!!" Rose could see him gripping your wrist and closed her eyes as she heard the sound of a hand smacking against flesh followed by a scream. "Dad!" She heard your brother yell followed by another hit, except this time a male cry radiated through the house.

Rose could take no more and began her way back to the jeep as she seen your mother's figure enter view. "What the hell is going on in here?" She could hear from the distance, the further Rose went the more she blocked out the noise.

She got in the car and watched your house for a few moments. The light went out in your room and Rose could hear no more screams. She admitted a sigh of relief and covered her face. She knew it was unhealthy to feel so attached to you. She didn't even know you but that insecurness in your voice reminded her so much of yourself and how lonely she felt when she was younger. Rose had to have you. There was no option.

When Rose shared the news with the rest of The Knot, there was hesitance at first but eventually they gave in. Knowing that she was their leader and they'd do as she intended anyways.

The next couple of days were spent carefully meditating in her RV away from the rest of The Knot and planting little worms your head. While Rose didn't think you would give her much trouble leaving home once she got in your head, she was taking no chances.

The night before she planned on taking you, Crow finally came back from business and Rose still had no intentions of telling him what she was doing. Besides an extra add on steam, she figured she could also use you as sort of a gift to Crow. An 'I'm sorry I don't listen to you and here's me making up for it.'

He knew something up when she refused to speak anyone in The Knot but didn't question it. He figured she was going through one of her moods and decided it was probably best not to say anything to her at all.

The next morning when you woke up, you felt an almost magnetic pull on your body like something or someone wanted your attention from outside. It wasn't a scary pull like the ones from whatever stray lost souls were around. This pull felt warm and safe.

You unbraided your long, Y/c/h and threw on the first dress you seen in your closet before skipping downstairs. "Where do you think you're going?" Your mother called out from the kitchen. "Just to pick some flowers." You made up.

"Don't wander to far, please." You slipped on a pair of sneakers. "I won't. I promise. I'll see you soon, mama." You blew her kiss, hoping she'd return the gesture but the older woman refused to even look at you and you stepped onto your porch dejectedly.

You closed your eyes and focused your attention to the direction of the pull. It came from the woods and you hesitated, thinking of all the ghostie people you seen come from there yet something kept telling you to just go for it.

You walked off towards the edge of the woods, letting your shine be your guide. Even though it was still day, everything was so dark and desolate around you. You felt chills on your arms the further you went and just as you were about to turn around you felt the pull grow stronger, horribly strong.

"Well, hi there!" You jumped at the unexpected voice and spun around to look at Rose. You squeezed your eyes shut, expecting her to morph into one of the ghostie people but she didn't. Rose chuckled and you blushed. "..Hi." You toddled over to the much the taller woman, staring deeply into her gray eyes before she pulled you into a small hug.

The gesture was surprising but it didn't bother you. It was her aura that bothered you. Something was off about her. "I was wondering when you were going to get here." She smiled and held out a flower in her left hand. "Do you want one?"

"Yes please," You hummed in the cutest little voice, getting the feeling that this was a person you didn't want to mess with yet you thought the top hat lady in front of you had to be probably the prettiest person you'd ever seen in your short existence.

Rose smiled and slipped the flower in your hand, but not before taking it gently in her own for a second. "There you are, Y/n." Your eyes widened and Rose chuckled. "What's the matter?"

"You know my name?" Rose smirked self assuredly and ran an empty hand through your hair. "Of course I do! I know everything about you. How else did you think I was able to get you here?" Her tone was questioning but hinted on a doting nature.

You pulled away from her, still a little frightened but Rose gently gripped your wrist. "There's no need to be scared, honey. I'm special, like you." You shook your head, thinking back to what your dad said the other week and looked down a little ashamed. "Oh...I-I'm not special." You tried to deny. "Oh yes, you are. You are a very talented little girl."

(You can hear me can't you, sweetie?)

At first a feeling of panic arose inside you but it sooned bubbled over with excitement.

(I thought I was the only one!)

Rose thought about scolding you over how loud your thought came out but let it go because she too knew how happy she felt the first she knew she wasn't alone.

(You are far from the only one, Y/n. There are alot of other special people out there.)

"My friends..my very, very best friends, they're all special like us. I bet you must have friends who are so magical like you." You shook your head. "No?"

"I don't have alot of friends and my family doesn't think I'm special," You pouted. "That's because they're jealous because not all people can be special like us. Besides, I wouldn't worry about them."

"Why?" You asked sweetly. "Because I'm here to take you away from all that. I'm here to give you a family. Don't you want a family, Y/n?"

"I-i already have a family." The look in Rose's eyes scared you. It was possessive and determined. "But they're not really family though. Tell me dear, when the last time you've heard either of your parents say they love you?" You felt a pang of sadness ringing through you. "I-i should get back to my mom." Rose gripped at your wrist again, this time enough to hurt. "No, no..stay a while. See more magic."

You shook your head and struggled. "Just a fresh new start with your real family. You don't remember me and your daddy?" She held your tiny hand in her's. "No.." You said softly but now you started to question yourself. Maybe you did. Pictures of a man with black hair flashed infront of your eyes. "He loves you so much. We love you so much and we want you to come home with us. You want to come home with." For a moment you found yourself taken back by the warmth and you thought maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go with her.

"N-no! I can't. I won't-" Rose shushed you, sending you calming waves that started to make you feel tired and sluggish. "Or maybe I-i do wanna go home." You mumbled hesitantly, still trying to keep some grip on reality. "You do want to go home. You're happy to come home."

Every piece of control you had began to fade and your mind went blank. "I-I'm happy." Your mind finally caved and Rose held her arms open to you and you stepped into them. "Good girl. Sleep well, Y/n.." You went limp in her arms and everything went black around you.

By the next hour, any memories you had of your family would be gone and everything you ever knew would be fabrications Rose made up in your head.

Part 1: The True Knot

The fire at The Knot's campground burned bright in the mix of the setting sun when Rose arrived back at home. She stepped out of the Jeep, slinging your stirring form over her shoulder. "Mhh..wha-what's happening?" Rose shushed you and walked down hill with you. "Nothing. We just got home." There was a pause. "Do you know who I am?"

You had to think about it for a moment. "M-mama?" You asked hesitantly. "Yes," Rose hummed and pressed a kiss to your temple.

You heard the crunching of leaves and turned to see people walking towards you. "Mommy?" You whispered nervously and held onto Rose's floral patterned shirt tightly, still feeling some of the residual emptiness from your true upbringing.

"Shh..it's okay, my sweet. They're family and they're just going to watch you for a few minutes. Mommy has someone she has to address in conversation and then I'll come get you. Okay?"

"O-okay." You nodded and let her hand you off to Silent Sarey as she walked off not to far in the distance to one of the larger size trailers, knocking on it before stepping inside.

"Crow?" He looked up from his copy of 'A Clockwork Orange' with a smile. "Yes, Rosie?" She plopped down in his lap. "I missed you." She kissed his ear, nipping at the cartilage. "How the business deal?"

"A waste of my time." He kissed her forehead. "Well, you were out I didn't waste my time." He raised a brow. "What are you playing at?" She smirked and turned her gaze in the opposite direction. "You can let her in now," She called out loudly.

The door to his trailer swung open and shut and you stepped inside. Crow's face went blank and he put a hand up to his chin. "Rosie, what the hell did you-"

Rose grinned and knelt down to your level. "Come here, Y/n. There's someone important I want you to meet."

You obeyed and approached Rose, letting her scoop you up in her arms. The two lovers exchanged glances but nothing was spoken out loud. "This is your daddy, Y/n."

"Hi." You smiled sweetly and Crow cracked a large grin. "Hi honey...Rosie, can I-" Rose nodded and shifted you over to Crow.

At first you tensed up but the closer you snuggled up to him, the more you relaxed. "My little darling." Rose smiled softly as he kissed the top of your head and rocked you in his arms. "I love you so much."

"I love you too daddy." Crow held you in silence for a few more minutes until he attempted to hand you off to Rose. You gripped onto his shirt tightly and buried your head in his chest. "Don't let me go," You begged. You were still so touch starved and he just felt so warm and kind.

Rose was slightly taken aback. You knew her more than Crow yet you were already attached to him. "I won't, I promise." He maneuvered you that way he was cradling you and he rocked you back and forth.

She felt a pang of jealousy growing inside her, feeling slightly threatened that you seemed to like Crow more than her but she didn't let it bother her too much. She had a feeling you were going to be a mommy's and daddy's girl.

It didn't take long for you to fall asleep, feeling soothed by Crow's presence. "So..are you happy?" Rose asked lowly.

"Very...Rosie?" She made a slight humming noise. "Where'd you find her?" He asked hesitantly. "A little outside the more touristy area of Colorado. The rubes she belonged to are nothing worth writing home about if you catch my drift."

He nodded solemnly. "How-what did you to her to make her-" Her warm grey eyes interlocked with his. "Do you care?" He decided he didn't. Sometimes it was best to not know anything at all.

Part 2: Danny

Your presence in The True Knot did not bring in that much of an increase in steam but you made it much easier to find steamheads which was extremely helpful to Crow in the long run.

No longer did he have to take an extra cannister for himself to find far away steamheads because all he'd have to do is ask you if you felt someone 'special like you,' close by and without knowing any better, you'd always say yes and immediately pointed him in the right direction.

Neither him or Rose let you near the rubes anymore, though. Not that long after Rose brought you home she had you try to lure a little girl over to her but the girl's parents, both big steamheads, knew better.

For you to be gone for a half an hour was normal, maybe even forty five minutes since you were a child after all and barely ever got to see kids your age, let alone like you but an hour was way too long.

What the rubes said or did to you neither Rose or Crow could figure out but the both of them agreed they didn't like the mortified expression on your face or the tears that stained your cheeks afterwards.

The two of them took turns securing their food, that way you wouldn't ever see what exactly it was that they did to your newly made friend but if Crow was being honest with himself, he probably would of admitted somewhere deep down he knew you probably knew the truth of what they did way before he would of liked you to know.

While Rose secured their meal he tried asking you alot of different ways what it was that they said or did to you but you wouldn't say. He let it slide for a while and settled on just comforting you for a while but made sure to bring up again later on when everything was all said and done with their hunt.

"You got to talk to me, Y/n," He tried his hardest to not sound like he was begging as he pulled the covers over your tiny. Rose stood in the corner of the RV and stared as if she was examining everything you said and did.

You shook your head avidly and nuzzled closely to his form. "I can't." He ran his fingers through your hair. "Why not? Honey, you know we're not mad and you're not in trouble."

"Because it would make you and mommy sad and I don't want to make either of you sad." Rose bit down on her lip as Crow thought of a reply. "Baby, you could never-"

"Leave her be, Crow," Rose interrupted. "She's had a long enough of a day and she doesn't need either of us interrogating her. When she's ready to talk about it, she will."

Crow let out a sigh and nodded. "Okay." He shut the light off above your bed and kissed both your cheeks. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

"Night daddy." He ran fingers through your hair one last time before stepping away.

The next morning when you woke up Rose sat across from you on your bed, lazily sipping on her tea. "Good morning, my sweet."

"Morning mommy." She plopped a kiss sloppily into your hair and handed you a cup of tea. "Can I have a little talk with you?" You nodded and set your cup of tea down on the ledge of the window.

You looked Rose deeply in the eyes and she took your tiny hands in her's. "I know you don't want to talk about what happened yesterday but I want you to know that not everything everyone says is necessarily true. You're understanding what I'm getting at?"

You nodded and Rose smiled. "Just know that no matter what, none of us would ever hurt you and we love you. Alright?"

"Okay." Rose reached inside the pocket of her jeans and pulled a necklace with a little crystal obelisk hanging from it. "This was given to me by someone very special a long time ago. You probably wouldn't know, but at one point I felt lonely like you. Maybe a little scared so they gave me this, along with my hat. My hat will always stay with me I think you need this more than I do."

She placed the necklace in your hand. "Whenever you feel, lost, scared, whatever. You squeeze that stone, and that stone will keep you safe. Got it?" You placed the necklace around your neck and nodded. "Thanks mommy." You hugged Rose tightly. "You're welcome, my dearest..I love you so much." She kissed your cheek. "I love you too, mama."

In that moment, Rose didn't care whether you even brought in steam or not. She truly just enjoyed you. It was the first time she could truly say she loved you. The whole Knot really did love you. They would do it all over again with raising you if they could and not change a thing about you or that entire duration of time. Except when they brought you to Florida.

December, 1980:

"Y/n, my love. It's morning." Rose gently shook your shoulders and you groaned. "Why are you all up so early?" You sat up and stretched. "We're going to move camp today." You raised a brow. "This early? I feel like we just got here," You whined sleepily.

"I know but daddy and I have some business to attend to." She ran her fingers through your hair. "You'll like the next place better. It has a pretty lake overlooking it and trees. There's lots of flowers there too." She paused and ran a thumb across your cheek. "We can pick some later if you want." You smiled softly. "I like flowers."

"I know you do, my sweet girl." Rose pulled you into her arms and held you for a few moments, kissing the top of your head. "Go get dressed and say good morning to daddy. He'll get aggravated if I keep asking him if we're ready to move."

You giggled and slid out of her lap. "Okay mama." You placed a tiny kiss on her cheek and picked out a bohemian dress from your dresser that Apron Annie sowed you once Rose gave her word you were the one.

"I don't think daddy could ever get mad at you." You mumbled as you slid the dress over your head. "He loves you alot. He doesn't even have to say it. I can see it in his mind." Rose smiled softly. "Daddy is a very loving man. He loves you alot too." You could tell she was trying to hide something from you and you attempted to get inside her head to figure out what she was thinking but she immediately shut you out.

"Mommy!" You whined. "Sorry sweetie. You're just not old enough yet." Rose ran a quick brush through your hair. "And then when you're old enough, you're not going to want to know." She plopped a kiss on the top of your head. "Now go on."

"Okay," You pouted and stepped outside. You seen Grampa Flick sitting outside on his lawn chair and waved. "Good morning, Grampa."

"Morning, dragă." He held his arms out to give you a hug which you immediately gave him. "Have you seen, papa?"

"His trailer." He pointed to the left. "Thanks Grampa." You kissed his cheeks and walked off in the other direction. You watched Crow fiddle a few of the bottom conpartments on his trailer before saying anything.

"Hi daddy!" Crow turned to look at you and smiled, stopping whatever he was doin. "Hey babe." He scooped you up in his arms and kissed your cheeks, his mustache tickling you slightly. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good. Mama and I cuddled last night so she kept me warm." You smiled happily. "She gives good cuddles, right?"

"The best!" You smiled and nuzzled closely to him. "Daddy, what's that for?" He turned his head to the side. "What's what for, sweetie?"

"That." You pointed to the rope by his feet and he kicked it aside quickly. "Oh..nothing you have to worry about." You furrowed your little brows curiously and he smiled gamely.

Was he trying to trick you or something? Crow chuckled and kissed your cheeks. "I don't have to be in your mind to know what you're thinking." He gently set you down on your feet and knelt down to your level. "We'll tell you when you're older, okay?"

"Okay, daddy." He placed a kiss on your forehead. "Good girl. Anyways-" He ran his fingers through your hair. "What do you need?"

"Mommy wanted to know if we were ready to go. She sent me because she was afraid to ask you. I don't know why though." Crow chuckled and shook his head. "You can tell mommy, I'll be ready in about thirty minutes. Got it?"

"Got it." You skipped away and Crow let out sigh, wondering just how much longer they could hide all this from you til you got too curious for your own good.

The ride to Florida was long and didn't have that much interesting scenery. The roads were long and straight and it didn't take you long to fall asleep in the passenger seat of Rose's colossal RV.

That whole time while she knew you were fast asleep, Rose used her radio system to formulate a plan on how they were going to trap Violet. Normally one of them would stay with you while other went with the rest of the group but this time they couldn't afford to have one of them stay. From what Rose could tell at the time, this kid was big steam all though it wouldn't be til years later it was in fact the wrong child she chose to take within just a few mile radius of each other.

Once you reached the campsite Rose quickly woke you up and informed you she had some business to attend to with Crow. "Y/n, stay inside while I'm out." You let out a groan. "But mama-"

"No buts." Rose knelt down to your level and ran her fingers through your hair. "It won't be that long."

"I don't like being by myself in here though. It's scary," You whined and nuzzled into her. You pointed to the cabinet she kept all the cannisters in. "I hear things in there and it makes me feel small and it's scary."

'And see things too.' You thought but wouldn't dare say outloud. You curled into Rose and she kissed the top of your head. "Hey, it's okay..Nothing can make you feel small unless you really feel small and tell me, what are you Y/n?"

"Tiny but mighty." Rose grinned proudly. "Exactly, so no. You are not afraid. Because I know whatever you hear coming from that cabinet, you can deal with. Right?" You nodded and she ran a hand through your hair. "You still have the necklace I gave you?"

"Yes mama." You squeezed the pendant hanging from your neck. "Good, that'll keep you nice and safe." You nodded and she pressed a kiss against your head, handing you her TV remote. "I'll be back, my flower."

She gave you a slight wave before slamming the door shut behind her. You quickly ran over to her bed and buried yourself under the covers as you turned the TV on.

'Snow White' was playing on one of those channels you were scrolling through and you settled down, snuggling into the blankets. You didn't know how long the movie was on when you felt a cold hand lace their hand on top of yours.

Your blood ran cold and you squeezed your eyes as your open hand squeezed the necklace your mother gave you. "You know, this movie used to be my favorite too when I was a little girl."

You seen the face of a bloodied and clearly beaten woman infront of you and you fell backwards off of Rose's bed. "When I was alive, I thought you were a freak but now I know you're special and I never got the chance to appreciate you, my special girl."

"Please..please, go away." You squeezed the necklace as hard as you could. If you weren't in Rose's possession, you would of known who the woman standing infront of you was automatically but now you hadn't a clue. "Stay safe, my little one." Your real mother bent down to kiss your head and you let out a scream before running as far as you could. "MAMA!!" You shrieked.

Not even 15 minutes later you were farther from Rose than you even were before and The True arrived back to where a majority of their trailers were parked with a hysterical Violet in tow.

"Please let me go! My mommy will be so worried about me. Please, please, please!" She begged. None of them paid her any mind though as they began to bound her. They were so used to the screams and begs by now, it didn't bother them.

"So where are we going after this?" Crow asked, as he threw a couple of items that they would need later to various unoccupied members of The True.

"I don't know. I was thinking maybe Massachusetts, because you know how Y/n loves the snow.." Rose continued to talk as Crow zoned out, putting the left over rope in the storage compartment of his RV. "..She is in your trailer, right?" Rose closed the door to her RV.

Crow furrowed his brows. "Who?" Rose sighed inwardly. "Y/n, Crow Daddy. She is in your trailer, I hope. Because she's not in mine." He closed the compartment and unlocked the door to the trailer. "Let me see."

He walked inside and shut the door behind him, examining the space for you. "Crow, she's there right?" You weren't. A spike of panic rised in him and he ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner, unlocking an almost unconfident reserve on his face. "Uh, yeah..she's in there," He lied through his teeth, desperate to save him and you from Rose's wrath. "Rosie, is it okay if I stop with her really quick to get some fresh air?" He asked. "I don't care what you do. You'll be able to find your way back?"

"Sure." He smiled through gritted teeth even though Rose couldn't see him and silently cursed you underneath his breath. "Okay..tell Y/n, I love her." Rose began to walk off to her RV after making sure Barry had everything with Violet handled.

"I will.." He watched the rest of the caravan leave before getting behind the wheel and closing his eye. "Alright Y/n, let's hope my instincts are good enough."

Meanwhile a few minutes away in driving distance, as you passed the lakeside view Rose told you about, you heard noise coming from the distance and jumped back.

The more you listened though, the more you realized there was mostly children there. You walked up the small hill and watched them for a second. "So many rubes.' You thought to yourself. 'None of them like well..or not?'

You began to feel that same magnetic pull you felt from Rose the first time you encountered her and you found your eyes fixated on a boy sitting by himself.

You felt attached to your family but never did you feel such a connection strangers and you didn't know why. It wouldn't be until years later, you would put two and two together and realize the person infront of you was in fact your soulmate.

Despite your fear of all the rubes around you carefully approached the stranger sitting on the bench, not daring to put your guard down.

"You mind if I sit next to you?" The little boy shook his head and you sat down next to him. "What's your name?"

"..Danny." You smiled. "That's a nice name. I'm Y/n, it's nice to meet you." He didn't say anything back but you didn't mind. Your parents were both mostly laid back but if there was a thing they were big on, it was respect.

"..nice to meet you too. Sorry, I'm just having an off day." You shrugged. "I'm okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

"No..you wouldn't understand." The more you looked at him the more, the more you could tell he wasn't exactly so rube like.

(Is it because of this?)

The boy sitting next to you looked at you blankly. "Danny, I know you can hear me," You said softly. "No..not because of that. Well..maybe a little. She'll just keep coming until she gets me. I don't care what Dick says."

"Who will come and get you?" You asked then blushed. "Sorry, I shouldn't of pried." Dan shrugged dismissively and looked up towards his apartment building and pointed to the bathroom. "The lady in the bathroom."

A decaying woman flashed infront of your eyes and your posture stiffened. "You can see her, right?"

"Yeah, I see her..If it makes you feel better, I see scary things too sometimes." You took his hand in your equally tiny ones. Dan felt the urge to pull away from you but there was this warm element to you that made him feel comforted by you.

"Really?" You nodded solemnly and moved your hand away from his to take a necklace of your neck. It had a little crystal obelisk hanging from the bottom if it. "My mommy gave this to me for when I get scared. If you squeeze the crystal, it's supposed to make you feel safe." He said nothing and you put the obelisk in his hand. "I think you need it more than I do."

"You're sure?" You nodded and for the first time in a while, Danny Torrance actually gave a hint of a smile.

(Thanks, Y/n.)

(You're welcome.)

"Y/n?" You could hear someone calling your name and you turned around. "Y/n, honey?" You looked at Dan. "That's my daddy. I have to go before I get in trouble. Bye Danny."

"Bye." He was a person of very few words but it didn't bother you in the slightest. All you knew was you didn't want your dad to see him. You didn't know what was going on but you knew something wasn't right.

"Y/n?" You sprinted towards him. "Daddy!" You exclaimed. Crow's eyes went wide with relief. "Y/n." Your father pulled you close to him. "Don't you run off like that EVER again. You understand me?" You could see his infrequent temper in his eyes and you were quick to nod. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I-i-" Crow didn't bother to wait for a response from you before he continued speaking.

"People out here are bad, Y/n. They'd hurt you in a heartbeat." He cupped the sides of your face. "Do you know or did you even think about how upset your mother and I would be if you just disappeared?"

You felt your heart sink and your lips trembled. You knew there was a possibility they might do bad things but that didn't mean you didn't love them because of it. You felt so selfish and cruel. "I-i didn't think about it. I'm sorry daddy.." Your eyes watered as you looked down at the ground and he sighed. "Just don't do it again, got it?" He wiped one of your tears away. "Yes daddy. Y-you're not going to tell mommy, are you?"

Crow kissed your cheeks gently. "No, I won't tell her. I think this can be our little secret. What do you think?" You let out a giggle and Crow smiled. "That's my girl. Come on, let's get you back to the caravan before mom notices we're gone because you know how she gets."

You nodded and held your arms out to Crow who immediately scooped you up. You wrapped your tiny arms around his neck and nuzzled closely to him as he carried you away.

(Y/n?)

You smiled softly as you felt that little ping in your head.

(Yeah, Danny?)

(Am I ever going to see you again?)

You paused before responding.

(Maybe. I hope so because I like you Danny.)

(Me too, Y/n.)

You felt one of Crow's finger poking your shoulder and you pulled yourself out of your thoughts. "Yes, daddy?" You asked. "Did you feel someone steamy?" He whispered in your ear.

You thought about telling the truth but thought of Danny. You only just met him but something deep down told you, you couldn't let him get hurt. Maybe..just maybe, all rubes weren't so bad after all. "No, daddy," You lied.

"You're sure?" He pressed. "I'm sure." Crow sighed and patted your back. It would of been nice to have double the amount of steamheads but he supposed Violet would be enough to sustain them for a while. Besides, beggars couldn't be choosers and he trusted you enough to think you wouldn't lie to him. "Okay, honey.."

The next time you would see Danny Torrance after that fateful December day, would be 26 years later and by that time any bridge you had built with The True Knot would be burned.

#fanfiction #stephen king #the shining #rose the hat #the true knot #crow daddy #dan torrance #wendy torrance #x female reader #fem reader #imagine #fanfic #doctor sleep #dr sleep

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