#he's totally capable of holding his own and flying solo

[regulatedstrawberry]

Tails' Solo Adventure - Prologue

Rating: T (But so far, it's reading as G) Summary: Tails decides to embark on his own journey, without Sonic. Takes place after the events of Sonic Frontiers. Chapters: 6/? (In-progress) Total word count: 5.4k Read the Prologue on AO3!

“Alrighty everyone, prepare for landing!”

After what had been hours flying above the ocean, and a pit stop at Angel Island to drop off Knuckles, Tails, the trusty pilot of the Tornado, began preparing for descent towards their home. In some ways, this was his favorite part about flying, after takeoff and maintaining altitude. Aside from the stunt of it all, it was nice to see the detail of the world below come into view - the sparkling waves of the ocean, and the outline of Green Hill, just in view. “Sonic, you might want to hold on!”

“Hold on?” Sonic, standing on the left wing of the plane, looked over at Tails with that charismatic grin of his. “But I’m having such a great time up here!” Playfully, Sonic spread his arms out in defiance. With the wind blowing through his quills, and the sun glowing against him, it was as if he had never been touched by the cyber corruption that had nearly taken him over just earlier.

“Sonic, be careful!” Amy pleaded from the passenger’s seat. While Sonic was quick to move on, for Amy, their adventure in the Starfall Islands literally just ended about five hours ago. Sure, they were used to saving the world by the skin of their teeth, but the last thing she needed was for Sonic to meet his end just because he was acting reckless. “You know there’s just ocean below us, right?”

“Eh, fiiine,” Sonic sighed, rolling his eyes but not really - he knew Amy was just looking out for him. With an easygoing smile, he lowered himself from standing to sitting on the wing of the plane, hands gripping the edge. “But even if I fell, Tails would’ve caught me, right buddy?”

Tails caught Sonic’s mischievous smile in a brief glance, before focusing on the skies ahead, keeping his eye on the nose of the plane. “Mm, if I felt like it,” he joked, shooting Sonic another glance. “Nah, I’m kidding- of course I would!”

The three of them laughed, as the plane flew steadily towards their island home. The air felt sweet with the scent of the ocean, the sun beginning to dip towards the horizon. This ending felt so good, Tails thought, that he wished he could stay like this forever.

---

After what was a solid four hours of tuneups, minor repairs, and refueling, Tails slumped himself into the chair of his workshop’s hangar, hands and face covered in sweat and grease. It was pretty standard routine after an adventure, but it didn’t make it less taxing.

Besides, he needed to make sure the Tornado was in tip-top shape before he left tomorrow morning. His duffel bag was packed with all the essentials — some food and water for the road, toothbrush, some advanced weapons, and a jacket just in case, to name a few. It was going to be one of his first adventures on his own, without Sonic, or really, anyone he knew.

In some ways he was dreading it. Was he really ready for this? The decision to call this off was tempting. But no, he needed to do this. He can’t keep relying on Sonic to save him forever. He needs to put everything he’s learned to the test, and see what he’s truly capable of.

The weight of it all was coming down on Tails as he sank into the chair. Slowly, he closed his eyes, letting out a deep, full body sigh. This chair felt softer, more comfortable than usual. He could almost fall—

“Hey Tails!”

Sonic’s voice rang out from the front of the hangar. It jolted Tails awake, as he sat up straight with his heart racing, a fox in the headlights. “Amy’s heading out soon!”

That’s right, Amy was coming up today to say goodbye. Not even four days after they’ve arrived back, Amy was headed on a road trip with Sticks and Cream towards Spagonia. Although, according to Amy, ‘We’ll see where we end up!”

“Coming!” Tails called out, pulling himself up from his chair. He quickly made his way to the sink in the back of the room, washing the grease off his hands and hastily wiping it against the towel, before heading to the entrance.

---

Under the midday sun, Sonic and Amy watched as Tails ran out to greet them. Amy was all set for the occasion, wearing a straw hat and neck scarf, accompanied by her hammer and a singular large briefcase.

“Tails!” Amy smiled, dropping the suitcase to approach him first. The two were quick to give each other a big hug — Tails could feel Amy squeezing him more than usual. “Oh Tails, I’m going to miss you so much!”

“Oof- I’m going to miss you too!” Tails’s voice was muffled, as he was getting crushed under Amy’s killer hug. Once she loosened her grip, he pulled away to look up at her sunny face. She really was like a big sister to him, in some ways. He wasn’t going to cry, because he knew they would see each other soon, but his heart was hurting just a little. “I hope you guys have a lot of fun! I wanna see all of your pictures!”

“You know it!” Amy beamed, her voice giddy at the taste of adventure. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

“Tell Sticks and Cream we said hi!” Sonic added, giving Amy a warm smile. “You guys are gonna have a blast. I’m excited for you.” 

Amy smiled wistfully at Sonic, her shoulders lowering slightly. “I will, Sonic. Thank you.”

She walked over to give Sonic a gentle hug, and Tails could see Sonic look down in slight surprise. Then, after a moment, Sonic let out a small sigh, and put his arms around her lightly, reciprocating the gesture. It made Tails smile a little, knowing how awkward Sonic normally is to physical affection.

“I should probably get going,” Amy sighed wistfully, bending down to pick up her suitcase and hammer. “I told Sticks and Cream I’d be there soon to pick them up.”

“Don’t let us hold you back, Ames,” Sonic reassured. “We’ll see you soon.”

---

As they watched Amy drive off, Tails felt a pit in his stomach, realizing that this would be some of his final few moments together with Sonic for a while. He looked up at the hedgehog with a sad expression on his face. Sonic was like a big brother, having practically raised him. His heart was racing with anxiety, the thought of just ditching the plan taking over in his brain. Maybe Sonic would ask him to stay! And they wouldn’t have to say bye.

“You doing okay, buddy?” Sonic asked, snapping Tails back to reality. Sonic reached over to put a hand on Tails’ shoulder. “You look like you got something on your mind.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Tails looked down at the ground, his ears flattening. It was getting harder to speak. “I dunno.”

“Hey, look at me.”

Tails looked up to see Sonic with that same, warm smile on his face, although there was definitely something hidden behind it.

“You’re gonna do great,” Sonic said confidently, putting his other hand on Tails’ shoulder. “I definitely wanna hear all about your big adventure when you get back. I'm gonna miss you buddy, but I know you’re ready for this.”

Tails felt his eyes turn bleary. It wasn’t fair how easy Sonic was able to clock him, but Tails knew he wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it. “I know,” he sniffed, quickly bringing a wrist to his eye. “I guess— I guess I’m still kind of nervous,” he admitted.

“That’s okay,” Sonic reassured. “But you’ll be fine, I know it. It doesn’t matter where you are, I know you’re smart enough to figure out a way.” He put his right hand on Tails’ head, playfully messing it up a little. “And if you need anything, you can call me. I’ll be there before you know it. I promise.”

Tails laughed a little, feeling comforted by the gesture. He was going to miss it. “Thank you, Sonic,” he said, more strength in his voice. He looked up at Sonic, standing a little taller this time. “I’ll be so much stronger when I get back. You’ll see.”

“That’s the spirit,” Sonic grinned, giving Tails a healthy pat on the shoulder. “I can’t wait.”

Interested? Please give kudos and read Chapter 1 on AO3!

#sonic the hedgehog #tails the fox #miles 'tails' prower #sonic fanfiction #sth #sonic frontiers #sth fanfic

[kunstvogel-archive]

Also uh

We’re all sleeping on Roy’s past as a MERCENARY and how badass it is that he slipped himself out of ankle chains all on his own and came back home to Jason in time for dinner like it was nbd

#roy harper #speedy #arsenal #red hood/arsenal #dc comics #fuck i love him #he's totally capable of holding his own and flying solo #it's just bad for his mental health #relatable

[ppersonna]

indulgence - jjk | m

love of mine, won't you lay by my side and rest your weary eyes before we're out of time? give me one last kiss for soon such distance will stretch between our lips - as much as i ever could, city and colour

↳ summary- Sometimes your boyfriend Jungkook reminds you how much you love him by doing absolutely nothing at all.

↳ rating- explicit / 18+

↳ word count- 3.8k

↳ pairing- jungkook x reader

↳ genre- fluffy smut, smutty fluff, whatever you wanna call it. its got fluff and smut, established relationship

↳ warnings- oral sex (m receiving), penetrative sex, real hot love making, squirting? sure, unprotected sex (condoms are cool use them)

↳ a/n- lindy is in her feels apparently because this was supposed to be hot and kinky and i just made it real romantic but whatever dskgjkg. thanks to @sugarly-laysa​ for requesting jk smut i hope this is good for you, booboo  ily all thanks for reading!! feel free to come chat with me, request smth, tell me how your day is, etc etc etc.  enjoy cute babie jk being cute.

You’re not sure why the universe decided you are lucky enough to be the one to love Jeon Jungkook, but as you trudge into your apartment after an inexplicably horrific day at work, you realize you should thank your lucky stars for aligning just right to make him yours.

Jungkook doesn’t realize you’re home.  He’s too distracted at the sink, hands soapy as he scrubs at the dishes from the day.  He’s wearing those jeans you love, the ones that fit him tightly and show off his perfectly shaped ass and toned thighs.  He’s singing off key to his own songs, hips rolling in a minute version of his carefully practiced choreography.  He performs for the dishes only, unaware of the audience of one in the doorway.  

A smile that hasn’t broken through the cloud of despair all day makes its way on to your lips without you even noticing.

Jungkook is like the lighthouse in the storm.  He guides you home and keeps you safe from crashing and burning. His presence brings you safe harbor and you find yourself able to be at peace no matter what, as long as he’s there keeping his light on for you.

You don’t announce your presence.  You’re unwilling to end his show too early.  He continues scrubbing at pots, often flinging his watery hands around the room as he continues to dance like he’s performing at Seoul Olympic Stadium all over again.  Although his movements are jerky and unrefined now in his multitasking and his singing is definitely a pitch or two off, he pours his heart into the private performance.  

It makes your heart clench.  You love how much he loves his career, his life.  He’s grown up in it—it's the only world he knows and yet it still hasn’t tainted him.  He grew into a man capable of so much more than just singing and dancing, and you loved watching him blossom with every passing year.

Jungkook has clearly taken care to clean the entire house today.  You hadn’t asked him, and truthfully you never needed to.  He was as good of a partner as you could get.  He never felt you should be responsible for household tasks.  He took care of his own things, like a grown man should.  He adored it when you helped, washed his clothes for him or cleaned up his mess after a night of gaming, but whatever you gave to him, he did back for you plus some.

As you lean against the wall, staring at the love of your life popstar boyfriend pretending to be a popstar, wooden spoon as microphone and all, you recognize you’re the luckiest girl in Korea.  Maybe even the world.

Jungkook is pirouetting around as he hits his high notes of ‘ON’ and shakily ends his solo in a deep lunge.  It breaks you from your silent role, a laugh finally making its way out and he snaps his eyes open and blushes.

“Hi,” he says sheepishly.  He holds the spoon in both clasped hands, as if to signify he totally wasn’t just singing into it like a microphone.

“Hi,” you reply.  Your coat and shoes come off, bag hung on the hook, and you make your way to him. 

“You washed the dishes,” you state as you approach.  He looks confused for a moment.

“Yeah, I made lunch earlier so I wanted to get them cleaned up.”  His confusion is apparent, unable to decipher the look in your eyes.

You’re staring at him with heat, an undeniable hunger.  The fact that Jeon Jungkook is yours and is in your kitchen doing his own dishes hits you hard.  It soaks you to the core.  Maybe it’s the domestic side of you, but you’re absolutely salivating at the thought he cleaned the kitchen and his mess with no problem.  He didn’t even do it to impress you, he just did it.  And you’re aching for him.

You’re slowly lowering yourself to your knees and Jungkook’s eyes widen.

“Wh-what are you doing? You just got home from work.” 

“I’m going to suck your cock.”  Your words are simple, and it makes him shiver.

“But why?”  The bulge in his pants grows regardless of his suspicion.

Your hands make their way up his solid thighs, muscles rippling under your favorite pair of jeans he owns, until they land at his button and fly.

“Because I really, really, really want to suck your cock until you cum down my throat.  Then I might do it again.”

He stifles a groan and nearly drops the wooden makeshift microphone from his grip.  

“Not that I’m complainin-ahhh...” he gasps as you pull his pants and underwear down to his knees and his cock springs free. “Shit—I mean I’m down but is there a reason?”

Your hands rub at his thighs once more and you smile sweetly at him.  

“Because I am in love with you.”

Jungkook is still confused. You know he wants to ask more, but your hand grips his length and all questions fly out of his mind as fast as they enter. 

“Okaaayy,” he sighs.  

He wants to tip his head back in bliss as you pump your hand, but he also wants to maintain eye contact with you.  How can he not? You’re gazing up at him as if he’s the one responsible for putting all the stars in the sky—like he lit every single one of them for you.  The intensity is intoxicating to both of you.

You can’t move your eyes away from him.  They trace over the lines of his face, the smoothness of his skin, the way his hair falls onto his forehead with just the perfect swoop.  You’re seeing him through fresh eyes for a moment, and it feels like you’re drunk.

“I love you,” you murmur as your lips move closer to him.  Jungkook sighs and lets his eyes close for a moment.  He can feel the heat of your breath on his tip, you’re sure of that, and as much fun as it is to tease him you can’t bring yourself to do it tonight when you’re so desperate to make him feel good.

“I love you too,” he coos. “Especially when you come home and wanna blow me immediately.”  He grins cheekily as he opens his eyes back up and looks at you.  Jungkook can’t stay serious in a situation to save his life.  Leave it to him to still try to make you smile when you’re about to milk his cock dry with your mouth.

“I should do it more often,” you assess as your tongue flicks out at the head.  You let it rub gently at the slit at the top where moisture has accumulated.  It tastes salty, it tastes like him.  

“You should?” He questions with a hiss at the feel of you.  “I mean, yeah, you should.”  He corrects himself and bites his lip.  Your tongue is still laving at the surface of his head, a sweet torture that makes his knees feel weak. 

“You did the dishes,” you repeat as your tongue now slides down his shaft.  It follows down the underside, the vein guiding you towards his pelvis and down to his balls.  You allow yourself to spend some time there, licking and sucking at them lightly.

“Oh f-fuck,” he gasps. “If this is what I get for doing the dishes, I’ll do them m-more.”  

You hum in reply as you suction them into your mouth and swirl them gently.  Your hand remains on his thick length, gently pumping and caressing him to keep him stimulated.  You can tell he’s losing his mind.  He’s been caught off guard and is now getting his cock worshipped by you.  You’re still in your work clothes—oxford shirt and tight skirt.  It makes Jungkook even harder, if that is possible.  He likes the idea that you literally couldn’t wait another second to get his dick in your hot little mouth.

You release him from your mouth and he moans at the feeling of the air on the moistened skin.  

“Fuck,” he whines. “You’re so hot.”

You smile up at him again as you kiss his length, punctuating each spot on his dick with a press of your lips. You trail back up to the head where he’s leaked more pre-cum, and you waste no time in wrapping your lips around the tip and suckling lightly.

“Shit!” He yelps at the sudden pleasure.  “Oh, my god.”

He’s going to lose the ability to speak coherently, you both know it.  He can last until you’re taking him into your throat, then he may as well be speaking a foreign language.  You never understand what he’s saying except the occasional gasp of your name.  You can’t wait until he gets there tonight.  You love sucking him stupid.

Your mouth accepts more of him in, tongue lapping at any surface it can as you pull him in deeper to your mouth.  He’s sighing his ‘please’s and ‘thank you’s like a proper gentleman, and one soapy hand comes to rest at your hair.  He gently pushes back any bangs or stray sections of hair that threaten to impede your pursuit.  He holds your hair back gently and watches you close.

Doe's eyes look back at him and soon you’ve got him buried inside you.  Tip to the back of your throat, your nose buried in the light splatters of hair at his base.  He is whimpering now, can’t believe a few minutes ago he was washing the dishes and now he’s balls deep in your throat.  

“Babe, oh my god,” he’s trying hard not to stutter.  He feels like he could cum, but he wants more.  He begs his body to behave, to let you have your way with him.  “S-so good.”

It pleases you; the approval rolling over your body like fine silk.  His voice is shaky and getting close to the sexy, fucked out sound that has you dripping.  

You allow him to rest inside your throat for a moment, swallowing around him to allow him the feel of the tightness, before you’re pulling away and starting a pace of bobbing your head up and down on him.  You never let your eyes leave his.  Even when he’s closing them in pleasure, you maintain constant contact with his.

He looks back down at you and feels his body quake.  You look incredible, still all dressed up and made up, red lips wrapped around his cock and bobbing a pace that gets him closer to the edge than he’d like to admit.  

His cock feels heavy on your tongue and it’s exhilarating.  You almost wish you could be attached to his cock at all times, sucking him until he’s had his fill for a few moments, then returning to the action.  You kick yourself for all the times you’ve not been sucking his dick.

Your hand joins in to assist your plight, fist gripping the areas of his cock you cannot reach with your mouth alone and pumping in time with your head bobs.  His cock quickly slicks up with your saliva and it’s easy to stroke him with the lubrication.

“Ohhhhh, fuuuu-,” he whines.  You smile at yourself.  You’ve made it.  You’re at the place where Jungkook forgets his native language and begins speaking a new one that only he is capable of translating.  He groans out unintelligible syllables, and it makes you go even faster knowing he’s past the point of no return.  

“Be-,..” he gasps. “Bayb-... Gonna cum.”  He warns.  His thighs are quivering and you allow the hand that isn’t stroking his perfect cock to completion to rest on one solid muscle, hoping it will help still the seizing in his legs.   You don’t slow down, don’t stop for a single second as you know he’s so near the edge.

You can tell by his facial expressions when he’s about to hit his high.  His moans go from loud and echoing around the room to silent, mouth agape in noiseless rapture.  His eyes close tight and his body tenses.  If he was naked, like he normally is when you’re doing this, you would see his abs tense so hard that a defined six-pack is on display like a little reward for sucking his dick so well.  His neck veins become more prominent and you can tell that with just a few more sucks, a little lick here and a nice hard pump there,

He’s cumming.  You feel the heat of his seed spill into your mouth and you slow your motions but don’t stop, never stop, as you coax as much of him out as you can.  His silence is broken as he groans in time with each pulse of his cock.

It’s a few seconds later when he comes back to reality, when he’s restored with the ability to speak a language you both know.

You pull away from him only when you feel his cock weaken, soften, inside of your mouth.  You release him and give him a show of your open mouth and hot white cum loaded on your tongue.  Like you want to savor each drop, not let a single drip go uncherished. It’s a fine dessert, you want to appreciate the flavor forever.

The act makes Jungkook groan.

“What the fuck,” he pants.  “That was so fucking good.”

You smile and close your mouth, allowing the pooled liquid to slide down your tongue.  For the first time that night, you allow yourself to close your eyes and relish.  It’s a familiar taste, the flavor of Jeon Jungkook that is incredibly addictive.  It tastes like home.  It tastes like love.  A high rushes through your veins, more powerful than any drug, of that you’re certain.  You feel drunk and euphoric.

He notices this and smiles at you.  His cock is still out, hanging out of his jeans awkwardly, but neither of you care.  He cups a hand on the side of your face and lets his thumb stroke your cheek gently.  

“You’re so good to me,” he whispers.  You open your eyes now, level them to look at the man above you.  He holds your face delicately and the penetrating stare he returns is adoring.  You are his prized possession—in his eyes you are appraised higher than any of the glittering gold awards lining your shelves.  

“I love you,” he states.  “Not just because you sucked the life out of me.”

There it is again, his cheeky jesting that captured you in the first place.  You slip a laugh from your lips as your hands unbutton your top.  You’re staring at each other and intention is written in the gaze.  He never wavers from your watch.  He doesn’t move his glance elsewhere as your top falls to the floor and your bra soon joins it.  He’s maintaining his firm sight as you slip the skirt off.  

Jungkook pushes the jeans to the floor and steps out of them.  There’s no talking, no dialogue.  No dirty talk, no kinky banter.  His plain shirt joins the rest of the discarded clothing items and he stalks to you and lays you down on the hardwood floor of your kitchen. 

It’s so heated, the surrounding energy, that it warms your skin in the otherwise cool air.  Jungkook radiates so much it’s palpable.  He presses his lips to yours and kisses you deeply, tongue immediately sliding inside as he’s desperate to taste himself on you, to solidify the notion you are his and he is inside you, both physically and metaphorically.  

His hand runs down your body as you kiss and suck at each other's lips.  It’s like kissing him for the first time all over again the way your body reacts.  Your veins feel as if they’ve been dipped into lava, it boils through your entire body and threatens to melt your core.  His fingers rub at your breasts for a moment.  He’d ordinarily spend time on them, but tonight is different.  Tonight there is one mission between the two of you, and that is to have him buried inside your tiny cunt as soon as he can.

The hand slips further. It caresses the smooth skin of your stomach and slowly sweeps down to your core where he feels the full extent of your love, of your arousal.  You’re drenched and have been since you first spotted him with his hands deep in soapy water and his own lyrics belting out of his mouth.   He doesn’t bother with foreplay—there’s no need tonight.  He’s sure he’ll be able to slip inside you with ease.  He allows a finger to run over your clit and gather up wetness there, before he drags it up and pulls away from your lips to lick your taste into his mouth.  It’s only fair he has you inside as you do him.  

The act has you gasping for air, lungs feeling as if you’re breathing underwater.  

He lines his cock up easily, finding it as if it’s magnetized to point to the true north of your center.  

His lips press against yours again as he pushes into you.  The stretch burns, matching the burning of the blood and the heat on your skin.  The feeling of him stretching you and filling you make you feel whole and complete.  You love the way his head nudges at your cervix, the way it kisses the tip with each thrust.

Jungkook sighs happily as he sinks in to the hilt.  You’re replying with your own assortment of moans and praises, kissing his lips hungrily as he starts movement between your hips.  His pace is slow and gentle.  He pulls out nearly all the way before he spears himself in again. He keeps his eyes on yours, watches the way your plump lips still covered in red lipstick opens and closes in awe and in fulfillment.  You’re boring into his own gaze, attempting to convey just how right he feels, how you’ve never felt an intense love-making as the one you’re engaged in now on the hardwood of your kitchen. 

You’re tight around him and he’s sure he’s close to the edge again.  He feels your channel tighten with each thrust in and it encourages him to ever so gently increase his speed until the sound of skin slapping is timing out a pace like a metronome.  He indulges in the feeling of your silken walls and the way it slicks up his cock and pulls him back in tight, desperately.

He lets a hand run back down you, meets your joined centers at the hood of your clit where he rubs circles around the nub.  It hits you hard as he murmurs his love and affection for you.  He whispers his devotion to you, to your body and soul, to your cunt.  He tells you he never wants to pull out of you, wishes he could bury himself inside the wet heat of your pussy for eternity. He’s never felt like this before, and he lets you know with each thrust of his hips, each roll of your clit around his finger.  

Your orgasm is approaching, you feel it not just in your core but nearly to your very bones.  It’s slithering its way up and wraps around your body, threatening to take over at any moment's notice.  You notice your words have run dry, that the sounds leaving you are as unintelligible as his and you realize you’re not so different.  He’s fucking you stupid and you feel it. 

“C-cumming!” You whine as your thighs tighten.  He powers through and continues his motions. 

“Cum for me,” he whispers.  “Cum, my love.  I love making you cum.”  

He doesn’t want to be dirty, doesn’t want to make you think of whips or chains that are fun on other nights right now.  He wants you to think of him.  Only him and the way the simple act of him being inside you and loving you has you coming completely undone.  You need no more, your body listens to Jungkook’s coaxing and releases you completely.  It hits like a hurricane and makes your body shake.  You feel wetness flooding your legs and if you were conscious enough, you’d recognize you’re quite literally squirting, but all you can feel is hot, white, deeply rooted pleasure that has you screaming and your body singing.  

Jungkook loses it as you soak his cock.  His body reacts to the knowledge he just made you squirt all over his dick from his slow and methodical pace, and he’s losing himself inside you.  His cock pulses with the intensity of his orgasm, as if it hadn’t just been given one earlier that rocked him entirely.  He pumps himself into you and stills as he feels himself finally stop filling you.  He doesn’t leave, still desires the ability to remain inside you all day, every day.

He kisses you again.  You’re panting and slick and wet and realizing now that you’ve just creamed yourself and your boyfriend on the floor of your kitchen, but when he kisses you, it doesn’t matter.  You don’t care as he presses his chest into yours and kisses you so hard he forgets to breathe, forgets he needs anything at all other than you. His body reminds him of his mortality and he pulls away, cum slicked hand coming up to move your sweaty hair from your face.

There’s no talking. There isn’t a need. You exchange enough between each other with the passion in your eyes and the softness in your grasp.

He holds you like he’s afraid to lose you and he lays himself down on the floor beside you, cock still resting inside your warmth.  He strokes his hand through your hair and down your back and over the hills and valleys of your curves. He sketches into your skin his love by the graze of his fingers and sucks your lips to his to embrace you fully.  He loves you.  You love him.  You both have never felt a love like this, one that encompasses you completely and shelters you from anything else.

Jungkook, always unable to maintain a sense of decorum, idly thinks he should wash the dishes more often.

© ppersonna - 2020 - do not repost on any site, or translate without express permission from author.

#bts smut #bts jungkook #bts fic #bts jk #maknaesmutsociety #ksmutclub #bangtanarmynet #btswriterscollective #btswritersnet #plotsofpastel #ficswithluv #jungkook smut

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 21, second part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Flute Solo

For some reason Wei Wuxian has decided to take a walk outside of the fortress, or behind the fortress, or something? Can people just take a stroll outside during wartime? Seems unwise.

There are guards and these extra-bossy crows herding some Wen prisoners along, and Wei Wuxian stands up above and gets totally overwhelmed by resentful energy.  

He falls to one knee while clutching his chest, in the spot where all cultivators seem to stow a bag of holding. I guess this is the Xuanwu sword? Or maybe it's his surgical incision; those things can take a while to finish healing. I think the golden core is further down in the abdomen, though; this is right over his heart. 

Wen Qing, Granny, and Fourth Uncle are in the group, but Wen Qing has her hood up so Wei Wuxian can't see her, and he's unlikely to remember the other two, since he only saw them that one time at the shrine, and he doesn't remember people he's literally had dinner with.  

The guards decide to be assholes and beat the shit out of a prisoner because he fell down, which inspires some extra aggressive crows to swoop in and attack the not-dead guy on the ground. That is...not how carrion-eaters behave, generally. They're pretty good about waiting for you to stop moving.

Wei Wuxian continues to struggle, obviously having an orgasm in a lot of pain, and starting to leak resentful energy.

(more after the cut)

He brings his flute up and starts playing it, which causes the wind to rise, rocks to fall from a nearby cliff, and the whole group of people on the ground under him to start having Yin Iron lines crawling up their faces.

Would Wen Qing be a beautiful fierce corpse? She would. 

Eventually Wei Wuxian stops torturing everybody, having gotten it out of his system for a bit, and stands up.  The group gets up, skin clearing up, and starts moving along again, a little shook. Wen Qing looks up and sees Wei Wuxian and hides her face in anguish.

She was there in the dungeon, listening to the same flute music, when he was resentfully slaughtering everyone around her in Yiling. Does she understand what she’s seeing, what he’s become? 

Her hood is off and it seems that he sees her, or at least that he is trying to figure out what he's seeing. But Jiang Yanli arrives before he can do more than look puzzled and cast his eyes around.  

Jiang Yanli asks him what just happened and he laughs and says it was the strong wind, in an extremely transparent lie that Yanli nearly chokes trying to swallow. She drags him back to the meeting while he continues to look troubled.

War Council

Meanwhile, the war council is meeting. This is mostly a boring rehash of stuff we already know, but someone has drawn a nice big map that's been installed in a custom frame. Because apparently the table with the mountains on it is not a good enough representation of "and then we will walk from our house to Wen Ruohan's house," which is basically their plan. The gist of this scene is that Wen Ruohan having the Yin Iron gives him an advantage, in case we needed to be reminded of that. 

The doors fly open and Wei Wuxian and his fabulous ass literally blow into the room. 

Everyone reacts in a comically extreme way. 

He casts his eyes malevolently and/or sexily over to Lan Wangji, who is still grumpy with him, while Jiang Cheng comes up and stands almost as close to him as Lan Wangji used to.

He tells everybody that he might have something to counteract the yin iron.

Everybody: Really? Do tell!  

Wei Wuxian: Happy to!

Wei Wuxian: *theatrical side-eye at judgy ex boyfriend* 

Wei Wuxian: Actually, nope.

He says "we'll see in about a month" while fondling whatever is hidden next to his ribcage.

This behavior, while ridiculous, isn't quite as absurd as it seems from a corporate-meeting standpoint. Part of what cultivators do is invent and refine spiritual tools. So when Wei Wuxian makes this speech, the people in the meeting are going to infer that he is creating a spiritual tool to counter the Yin Iron.

Now it's Lan Xichen's turn to ask everybody’s favorite question. Lan Xichen wasn’t at the party when everyone else asked him, and we're apparently supposed to believe these gossips haven't been talking about the not-sword-carrying 24x7.

Wei Wuxian says he's just not in the mood, and we get to see Lan Xichen's impressive ability to hold his face completely still while he represses his desire to slap someone.

Jin Zixun complains about Wei Wuxian after he leaves, but for once his bitching is on point; he correctly surmises that the counter to yin iron is...yin iron. 

Now, to be fair, the yin tiger amulet is different from the yin iron because it exists in the novel Wei Wuxian specially refines it to be more manageable than the sword it started from. And maybe it’s gel coated to be easier on the stomach. But it's basically the same shit.

Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue exchange intense gazes, just to prove that the young people aren’t the only ones who know how to eye fuck. 

Lying Is Forbidden 

Lan Xichen talks to Lan Wangji, and we discover that Lan Wangji is perfectly capable of lying. He manages to maintain a reputation for not lying but I think the trick is that he just avoids talking in general, so when, for example, people in later years say "who's your masked boyfriend" he just doesn't answer, which isn't really lying. (How many times did Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen ask “where did you get this kid?” and just not get an answer, I wonder.) 

At other times he actually directly lies, as when he claims he is “just passing through” Yiling on a night hunt. The current conversation with Lan Xichen definitely involves actual lying.

Let's play multiple choice answers with the Lan brothers!

Q:  Why is WWX so confident we can have Yin Iron against WRH in a month? 

a.) Because he's been walking around with that Xuanwu sword for months, and it is obviously made of Yin iron b.) because he used a fucking ghost flute to flay Wen Chao more or less in front of me, so he is clearly down with some dark magics c.) I don’t know

Q: Was the death of people in the Yiling supervisory office really related to yin iron?

a.) obviously b.) maybe he was using some other source of overwhelming necromantic power c.) no, he’s not like that

Q. When you approached Yiling, was there anything unusual?

a.) yes, the talismans had been altered to draw in evil spirits b.) yes, everyone except his particular friend Wen Qing had killed themselves in horrifying, outlandish ways c.) are there rules already set for everything in the world?

Xichen, bless him, actually lets Lan Wangji change the subject like that and answers his question honestly.

Xichen: Actually, rules are pretty much shit Wangji: fucking hell, you're telling me this NOW? What have I been doing for the past 18 years then?

They both look just ridiculously beautiful in this conversation. Lan Wangji’s affect with his brother is so interesting. He’s trusting, emotionally open, willing to be seen...but only because he knows Lan Xichen won’t push past his barriers, won’t force him to speak the truth of what’s on his mind.

Awkwardness

The Yunmeng bros roll up, and awkwardness ensues. 

Wangji is frowning hard. His frowns are of the micro variety just like his smiles, but boy they are consistent and Wei Wuxian and Xichen both know how to read them.

Wei Wuxian gives Lan Xichen a small, sunny smile--it seems genuine, not like the fake ones he's trotting out on demand for his family. 

Then he gives Lan Wangji a pointed gaze of yearning and reproachfulness, which Lan Wangji returns, switching from frowning to a softer expression that seems about equal parts hurt, apology, and thirst.

Wei Wuxian reacts to that by bowing again and leaving, with Jiang Cheng quickly following, wondering what the fuck just happened.

Lans Xichen and Wangji pivot gracefully to watch them go, which Lan Wangji should know is not correct post-breakup behavior; you're supposed to act disinterested, my dude. 

And then Lan Xichen asks Lan Wangji what the fuck is going on. Lan Wangji gets one more lie in, saying he's not worried about Wei Wuxian, before reapplying his frown and walking away from the conversation.

Macroexpression Brothers

OP was wrong about Wei Wuxian not hugging Jiang Cheng any more--here he is hanging on him just like the old days, and Jiang Cheng is shoving him off, just like the old days. However, it emerges that this is mostly an act that WWX is putting on to seem normal. 

Jiang Cheng wants to know what's wrong between him and Lan Wangji, and asks why they broke up. Wei Wuxian points out that Jiang Cheng didn't like him dating Lan Wangji before, so why is he pushing him to get back together with him now, and Jiang Cheng says that now they're allies in a war, so Wei Wuxian needs to do his duty and help keep Lan Wangji in fighting trim, nudge nudge. 

Then he starts lecturing Wei Wuxian about sword cultivation and generally good behavior, and Wei Wuxian theatrically nods and give him appraising looks, telling him he really seems like a clan leader now.

Jiang Cheng headshakes this away. Wei Wuxian actually giving Jiang Cheng a sincere compliment here, disguised as teasing, and he's not wrong. Jiang Cheng has matured and is becoming a strong leader. Not strong enough to ignore peer pressure, but that’s true of most clan leaders in this environment. They’re not supposed to ignore peer pressure. 

Wei Wuxian is pointing it out for his own reasons - he doesn't want to be having this conversation - but it's nice to see him giving his clan leader his due.

Jiang Cheng walks away as Wei Wuxian smiles after him; as soon as he's out of sight the smile falls off of Wei Wuxian's face as fast as fast as gravity can take it. It's like someone snuffed a candle.

No one bites back as hard On their anger None of my pain and woe Can show through

But my dreams, they aren't as empty As my conscience seems to be I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance that's never free

More Awkwardness

Lan Wangji and his ambivalence come looking for Wei Wuxian, standing outside his door and raising a hand to knock before changing his mind and fleeing. 

Lan Wangji is on the back foot for the first time in his relationship with Wei Wuxian; this boy who pursued and pursued and PURSUED him is now a man who won't speak to him.  This boy who hung on every one of his words, and saw through all of his minute facial expressions, has become a man who won't listen to him. Lan Wangji is in the position of pursuer, now, and it's not a role he's well equipped for.

Yanli stops him as he's bailing. He looks so relieved to see her, but he tries to escape immediately after greeting her. She stops him so she can ask what the fuck is going on. 

Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian rolls up while Lan Wangji is in the middle of talking to her.  He's telling her about the heterodox cultivation, and Wei Wuxian busts him. Wei Wuxian steps up and asks what he was telling her, and Lan Wangji says "Wei Ying," but doesn't get much further than that.

Nunya

Wei Wuxian reminds him that he told him to stay out of Jiang Clan business. Now, here I want to mention that "private" and "not your bidness" are culturally specific concepts. OP, for example, grew up in version of Irish-American culture so secretive that the problems of a person's life and (often) the cause of their death are things only discovered by whoever inherits their papers. [OP inherited 3 generations of letters a few years ago, and HOO BOY]

In the version of Chinese culture which we see in this drama, your choices, thoughts & troubles belong to the family and clan, not just to you.  Wei Wuxian, in shutting his elder sister out of his struggles, is not family-ing correctly. Jiang Yanli is right to try to get around that by asking his friend. His friend is also right to give her--in sanitized form--the information she is asking for. 

Wei Wuxian has zero trust in Lan Wangji at this point, unfortunately. He doesn’t know that Lan Wangji has been lying to cover for him; he just knows he’s being a grumpy aggressive holy roller. Now, when Lan Wangji has just been given permission to disregard all 3000 rules and look at a person’s heart, that person’s heart has been hardened against him. 

Yanli is used to dealing with Wei Wuxian's moods at this point -- after all, a lifetime of Jiang Cheng has got her used to volatile little brothers, and Wei Wuxian is clearly a new, not-improved man since his return. 

She tries to get him to chill out while Lan Wangji gives him a death glare -- not a return to the earlier generalized frown, more of a specific "I can't believe how full of shit you are" frown.

Wei Wuxian calls him Lan Er Gongzi, like a dick. Lan Wangji started this but at this point Wei Wuxian is kind of in the lead for who is being The Worst. Lan Wangji executes a beautiful 180 and walks away at top speed. 

Wei Wuxian asks Yanli if he talked about Yiling and when she says he didn't, he realizes he fucked up. 

He goes running after him and calls him Lan Zhan and says "listen to me" but Lan Wangji is no longer in a listening mood. 

Eat A Dick Sword

Lan Wangji is so far in his feelings at this point that he just hauls out his sword and goes after Wei Wuxian, taking complete control of the interaction and forcing Wei Wuxian to concede the fight. Aww, he’s so angry! I love him. 

This is a rough moment for Wei Wuxian. He really genuinely can't hold his own against Lan Wangji, unless he's going to directly use necromancy against him the way he does later in their final confrontation. 

When they first met he was able to defend himself on the rooftop without drawing his sword, but he's weaker now; Chenqing is an adequate hand weapon against most cultivators and puppets, but it's not a match for Lan Wangji's full attack. 

Wei Wuxian is not enjoying this fight, and can’t win in, so he just throws in the towel, exposing his throat and trusting Lan Wangji's control.

On the surface, this fight appears to re-establish their former rapport, but it puts them on such an uneven footing it might actually drive a larger wedge between them.  I think that Lan Wangji has made a strategic error in doing this.  

Lan Wangji seems to want to prove to Wei Wuxian that his new style of cultivation is inadequate, that he would do better with a sword. Swordplay was the beginning of their relationship; their matched power was the source of their mutual attraction. Lan Wangji can't accept that Wei Wuxian has given it up; he doesn't (yet) respect his agency enough to assume that he has a good reason.

This fight functions as yet another punishment that Lan Wangji doles out to Wei Wuxian; not a physical one, this time, but a psychological one, and their relationship pays the price. 

By attacking Wei Wuxian and forcing him to concede, Lan Wangji is showing that they're unequal. By criticizing Wei Wuxian's lack of progress and asking him the same goddamn question everybody else is asking him -- where is your sword? -- Lan Wangji is humiliating him. 

This encounter does not re-establish Wei Wuxian’s trust in him; it just forces him to accept Lan Wangji’s authority, for now. Which is not what either of them really wants. 

Soundtrack: Behind Blue Eyes, by The Who

Writing Prompt: What would Wei Wuxian have said if Lan Wangji had listened to him instead of drawing his sword?

#the untamed #the untamed gifs #wangxian #the untamed meta #cql #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #my gifs #2810 word count

[tadpole-san]

are we still friends? ;  d.g. part two pairing: titans!dick grayson x reader, on-and-off relationship warnings: dick being his therapy-needing titans self, slight canon divergence from titans 1x06, and an ending that may or may not lead to a part two a/n: i will never let go of my personal dick grayson grudge, but this exists solely because i love @capricorn-stark

The last time you had seen Dick Grayson, he’d outfitted himself with packed belongings and a one-way ticket to Detroit, Michigan. Seeing him off at the airport would turn out to be the last time you saw him for a year - a fact you hadn’t picked up on at the time, but did, in fact, predict. To a degree.

“You could come visit,” he’d offered, just steps away from his gate. “You - well, you said you had plans to go to Chicago, right? The drive’s not too bad.” It was hard to say no.

Because this was Dick Grayson, and he had to be so earnest about everything he did. Even when it was asking you to come see him as he was moving hundreds of miles away from Gotham (hundreds of miles away from you, a part of your mind whispered, even as you reminded yourself that this didn’t have anything to do with you so much as it had to do with his fractured relationship with Bruce). Because he was trying to make things work.

“How are you able to be friends with your exes?” you’d asked, bemused and flabbergasted all at once. It wasn’t the first time. “I really try to hate you, you know.” That got him to laugh - which was nice. You felt as though you hadn’t really smiled in a long time.

“Maybe that’s my superpower.”

“Your superpower is super annoying,” you’d deadpanned, before leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you around, Grayson.”

An empty promise neither of you acknowledged.

After that, it was all too easy to fall out of touch with Dick - one too many missed calls, excuses of taking more shifts at his police station when you were more than capable of keeping up with the news that spoke of a vigilant Robin without its bat, until eventually, total radio silence. And you were happy to leave it at that, knowing that whatever Dick was working through, he’d clearly rather do it on his own.

So when even the Robin sightings in Detroit stopped entirely, you didn’t push things. Maybe he’d finally done it: give up the costume for good, leave the life behind like he said he would do, but never actually committed to.

This was probably a sign. That you need to go see him, like you said you would do, but never committed to.

Which means that the last thing you expect, on your morning coffee run in Chicago, was to quite literally run into the man of the hour himself.

“Dick?” The word comes in a way that is akin to a strangled duck squawking.  You wonder if the man before you is real - if you’re not just imagining the figure that stands before you, cuts and bruises littering his face. As if he’s been in a fight.

With his track record, there probably was a fight. With him, there’s always the fight.

“Sup?” Dick’s not the one who answers you first. It’s the kid standing at his side, walking with a swagger that speaks volumes to the confidence of a kid who’s filling out the big boy shoes with his own ego. You try not to judge too much - there’s always a story behind a stance like his. “Jason Todd, at your service.”

A train passes on the overhead, the sound drawing you out of your thoughts. You realize his hand is still offered to you, and you shake it, still staring at Dick. He’s tense, shoulders drawn, hunched in on himself and bracing for a fight.

Something’s up. And with the Boy Wonder, it’s always something big, and possibly earth-shattering. Inwardly, you sigh. On the outside, you smile wryly and introduce yourself to Jason.

“You probably know who I am,” you say, letting go of Jason’s hand and stepping back. Your grip on your bag tightens. “Dick’s a big storyteller, once you get him going.” Dick verbally steps in before Jason can say anything to either confirm or deny your words.

“I could use your help.”

He doesn’t say we.

“I can see that,” you deadpan, motioning to his face. Your hand stops shy of actually touching the bruise blossoming against tanned skin. “A personal favor, then?” He turns his head away from you, and you spot the (quite frankly) atrocious brown car parked on the curb.

“That’s my ride.” He’s defensive, and you get the feeling that it isn’t about the car. You raise your hand in surrender, but he doesn’t relax - in a way, it’s nice to know that you’re probably not the reason he looks ready to pull a Flash and run as soon as the chance to do so opened up for him.

“You’re parked in front of my ride,” you reply, reaching into your bag and pulling the keys out. You let them twirl around your finger as you turn and walk towards your car, looking over your shoulder at him. “Am I going to need to make a stop at home to get the old suit out?” Somehow, that actually brings a smile to Dick’s face, and he ducks his head slightly as he chuckles.

“I just need you,” he calls out, finally pulling a hand out of his pockets and raising it in your direction to let you see the phone in his palm that’s open to your texts with him. There’s a new one that is likely the address of whatever safehouse he was holed up in.

You try not to linger on his words for too long.

“They’re hot,” you hear Jason say. It’s followed immediately by a yelp - presumably from Dick either elbowing him or punching his arm - and a “you’re way too young for that.” Despite yourself, you grin.

You’d missed him. Even if you weren’t going to admit it to his face.

When you finally make it to the address Dick sends you, he’s not even the one who lets you pass Bruce’s more-than-extensive security system. It’s Jason who does that.

Instead, you find Dick bent over the bathroom sink, the blade of a scalpel pressed to the skin of his arm. There’s also an unconscious body cuffed to the shower behind him, but you compartmentalize that for later.

“Are you okay?” At the sound of your voice, DIck freezes - like a deer caught in headlights - and looks up at you. You can see him visibly relax as he lets out a sigh that works to relieve some of the tension wound up in his body. You raise an eyebrow, and walk over to him.

“It’s not what you think,” he tells you, then uses the scalpel to motion towards the device discarded on the white porcelain. You pick it up, turning it over in your hands. “Bruce planted a tracker, in me, and I’m trying to-”

“Cut him out?” you finish, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Cut it out,” he corrects.

“I know what I said.” You watch through the mirror’s reflection as he finally makes the incision, thick red blood pouring down his arm and dripping into the sink. You’re already opening the cabinet to find gauze to wrap his arm with. “Let me see that-” The ringtone coming from the phone between you two cuts you off. You look at him. And then you look down at the screen. The name Kori flashes across it.

“New girlfriend?” you dare to ask, meeting his eyes in the mirror. Dick purses his lips, swiping a bloody thumb over the screen to deny the call before he’s reaching for the tweezers.

“No,” He grits his teeth, maneuvering the metal tweezers in the wound he made. “We just met,” Dick adds, meeting your eyes again. For his sake, you offer a tentative smile. He sighs, and finally retracts a tracker that resembles a battery watch. It falls into your open hand. You’re glad for the distraction, because - shit.

Those eyes.

Dick possesses what you swear is the most beautiful shade of eyes you’ve ever seen, and he models them beautifully. Those baby blues were always going to be your downfall, and seeing them had been enough for you to call in a precious sick day at work so you could help him out on whatever case brings him to Chicago. They’re the reason you have a case in your car trunk containing a suit you swore to leave in the closet.

They make you realize you can be so weak.

“I’m not dating right now,” Dick continues, filling in the space of your prolonged silence. He doesn’t take the gauze from your hand - even though he could - and instead, holds his arm out towards you so you can wrap it yourself. “Actually, I haven’t really seen anyone since I was with you.”

“I think that says less about what our relationship was, and more about you going full lone-wolf.” You hesitate to finish, and you keep a loose grip on his arm. His skin is warm. “The more you try to be the anti-Bruce, the more you’re becoming like him. You know that, right?” He’s not looking you in the eye anymore. Anger isn’t what drives him to do that, you think - it’s more like a combination of guilt, of the expression of a kid who thinks he’s a disappointment to the people leaning on him. People shouldn’t lean on a kid.

“I’m working on it.”

“I know.” Finally, you set the roll of gauze aside and release his arm. It allows you to take the chance to reach for him and make him look at you again. “And thank you,” you add. “For coming to see me.” He manages another smile, reaching up to cover your hand in his. You know what he would do if you were still dating. He would’ve pressed a kiss to your hand, and he would laugh it off, probably with some sort of cheeky quip. A I knew you missed me too much or I’d come by to see you any day.

You’re not dating anymore. And it’s confusing as hell, because sometimes it feels like you still are. On the rare days that he still calls you for no reason to tell you about a case from work he’s stuck on, or to remind you that you made a promise to see him, pairing it with a good tease about how seeing him in the new uniform would probably be too much for you. On those nights, Robin isn’t flying solo on the streets of Detroit.

“The lead brought me to Chicago,” he explains, tilting his head in the direction of the man lying in the shower.

“Is it a work case?”

“Not exactly. It’s-” you anticipate the familiar complicated. The word doesn’t come. “There’s a lot I need to update you on,” he settles on saying instead, running stained hands under the sink. “And if it’s Chicago, you’re going to be my number one. Right?”

“Right,” you agree, traces of amusement seeping into your tone as you cross your arms. “I called in sick at work,” you add. “Am I going to need to make up an excuse for the rest of the week?” The question, lighthearted as it’s supposed to be, holds weight to it that neither of you acknowledge.

“I’m probably going to be out of the state in a couple of days,” Dick says instead of answering, drying his hands off with a towel. He lets it drop in the sink, walking back out in the hallway with you. “You don’t need to - it’s a lot. And there’s these guys I’m kind of traveling with-”

“Dick.”

When he faces you, it’s your turn to shove hands in your pockets to avoid wringing them out in front of him. You take a deep breath, leaning back on your heels to look at him. “You didn’t need to find me,” you tell him. “That Jason kid? He wouldn’t be sticking around if he couldn’t be decent backup for this.”

“Are you detective-ing me out right now?” Dick’s actually trying not to laugh. You’re not sure if you should hit him or not.

“That’s not a word!”

“You know what I mean! And yes! I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with you!” By now, he’s actually laughing - and even if a part of you is annoyed, sure, there’s more of you that just feels relief. Because you can’t remember the last time he’d laughed like that, either, and it gives you a bit of hope.

Hope that the parts of him you fell in love with aren’t as lost as you thought.

“There’s a lot,” he admits, shifting his weight and trying to step back so he isn’t crowding you in the hall. “I know - the Bruce thing, you’re sick of that bullshit. I got a lot going on.” His phone starts up again, and this time, he pulls it out. The fluorescent light washes out his skin, but you can see his expression sober up. “I need to take this.” The traces of laughter in his voice are gone, and it feels like he’s slipping away again. There’s frustration that must show on your face, because he reaches out to you and moves a stray lock of hair out of your eyes in a silent apology.

“Go.” You manage not to sound as bitter as you feel - and with him, it’s not a bitterness that’s always there, but it inevitably creeps up on you. The same way the shadow of a bat hangs over him. Dick nods, and you start to walk away when he grabs your wrist again.

“You aren’t my backup for this,” he says firmly, and you know you’re fucked. Because he’s looking at you with those eyes, and it’s like you’re in that airport with him all over again, with nothing but empty promises and a broken relationship the two of you are hanging onto by a thread. “You’re-” he falters. He hesitates, and you’re ready to watch Dick Grayson walk away from you again.

“You’re everything.”

DC Taglist:

@cipheress-to-k-pop

#🌙 #📰.dc #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagines #nightwing x reader #nightwing imagines #dick grayson x you #nightwing x you #dc imagines #dick grayson fic #titans imagines #reader imagines #gender neutral reader #dick grayson #nightwing #titans #dc comics

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Robin in DnD 5e

I’ve built Raven and Starfire, so now it’s time to move on to the boys, starting with the level-headed leader of the team: Dick Grayson, better known as the first Robin to serve under the caped crusader. We trained under a great detective, and we need to reflect that in the way we build ourselves.

The Boy Wonder is your garden variety human, no reanimated corpses here. So, we’ll treat Robin as a Standard Human. If you want to nitpick that Robin could kick Cinderblock without shattering his leg bones, then I guess go with Variant Human, but I’ll be balancing him as a Standard Human for this build.

Before we were Robin we were part of the Flying Graysons, a circus act. We’ll take the Entertainer Background as an Acrobat for Acrobatics and Performance. But if you’d rather focus on Robin’s tutelage under a master detective, take the Investigator Background for Athletics and Insight (but not Investigation for some reason). As a Rogue, we’ll take Investigation, Stealth, Perception, and Deception for our skills of choice, and put our Expertise into Investigation, Acrobatics/Athletics, Stealth, and Deception.

For Alignment, we can get pretty obsessive and unhinged when dealing with Slade, enough that Raven had to pin us down to keep us from injuring a civilian. We also went undercover as a villain to get close to Slade and fought our own friends to keep up the disguise. We’re Chaotic Good. Stopping the bad guy is all that matters by any means necessary.

ROGUE

Arcane Trickster. While this might seem like an odd choice, as Robin is not a wizard, there are a lot of Wizard spells that could be re-skinned as Robin’s tools, such as Fog Cloud for smokescreens, Jump, Longstrider, Spider Climb, and Haste for mobility. Darkvision for night vision goggles. Even more fantastic spells are within Robin’s skill sets by his building of Red X’s suit with things like teleportation (Misty Step), nets and pastes (Hold Person), Silencers (Silence) or holograph duplicates (Mirror Image).

Inquisitive. The Inquisitive Rogue is a natural detective, with an eye for details and an ear for deceit, they excel at solving mysteries and getting to the truth. You can even analyze your opponent, and develop a strategy to have advantage on an opponent, even without allies flanking the enemy, great for one-on-one combat.

Mastermind. A master of deception and strategy, playing the role of a tactician and a spy. You can pass yourself off as someone else by mimicking their voice and disguising yourself, you can Help an ally as a bonus action, and you can learn when an enemy creature’s INT, WIS, or CHA is higher, lower, or equal to your own.

MONK

Kensei. Robin is all about weapon combat. His tool belt is his greatest advantage, and the Kensei Monk hides a few extra tricks up its sleeve. This subclass gives Robin more tactics to employ, not unlike the Maneuvers of the Battle Master Fighter.

Shadow. The ninja subclass of DnD 5e, the Shadow Monk is highly focused on stealth and infiltration, with spells for sneaking and disarming, rather than dealing damage, which is perfect for an espionage-heavy campaign. The ability to teleport between shadows means that no amount of large windows letting in the moonlight will ever expose him.

FIGHTER

Battle Master. The Battle Master is all about not just fighting but fighting smartly. You get proficiency with an artisan’s tools, we’ll pick Tinkerer’s Tools to dabble with technology. Later, we can study a creature and whether their Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Hit Points, Armor Class, total Class levels (if any), and total Fighter Levels (if Any) are greater, less than, or equal to our own.

BATTLE MASTER MANEUVERS Ambush (UA). Add your superiority die to a stealth check or an initiative roll, helping Robin get the first punch more often. Bait and Switch (UA). You switch places with a nearby ally, letting you switch the target from you to a teammate who can tank the hit better (like Cyborg, Starfire, or wildshaped Beast Boy) Commander’s Strike. If it didn’t specify your teammates make a weapon attack, this feature would be great. Because there’s just going to be times when Robin’s not as effective against an enemy, and he can give one of his attacks to a teammate. If your DM is willing to homebrew this to work better, great. but as is, this sin’t a great option for him. Disarming Attack. A good strategy, making enemies drop their weapons, arcane focus, or magic items. It’s also made with a Strength score, which after Intelligence I’ve tended to find that STR is the second most commonly dropped stat, meaning it’ll likely be an effective tactic. Feinting Attack. You gain advantage against a creature and add your Superiority die roll to your damage. Thus, giving Robin a way to fight one-on-one and still make use of his Sneak Attack. Granted, you should usually have your party with you, but in the case of tournaments, solo-missions, and party separation, Robin doesn’t lose a cornerstone of his combat capability. Maneuvering Attack. Decent for repositioning your teammates. Get Starfire or Raven out of Melee range, or help Beast Boy and Cyborg bridge the gap between themselves and other creatures. Robin can also help move low HP character closer to Raven for healing, allowing them to disngage from hostile creatures. Parry. Reduce melee damage by superiority die + DEX. This plus Evasion will really make Robin hard to take out. Rally. Basically Inspiring Leader, but Robin’s not Charismatic enough. But you could build him to make better use of it if you want. Reposte. A counter attack you’ll get great use out of with a high enough AC. Sweeping Attack. This lets you attack two enemies that are near each other, making it easier to mow through Slade’s robot minions.

FIGHTING STYLE Blinding Fighting (learned from the snake master in “The Quest”) Duelist (one-handed quarterstaff) Great Weapon Fighting (two-handed quarterstaff) Thrown Weapon Fighting (UA) (darts) Two-Weapon Fighting (twin shock clubs) Unarmed Combat (UA) (1d8+STR)

CLERIC

Light. This one’s a bit of a silly option, but potentially viable, a 1 level dip into Cleric can allow Robin to use Warding Flare like a flash grenade equal to his WIS mod, giving enemies that attack him disadvantage.

TACTICAL MASTERMIND Mastermind Rogue (12) Battle Master Fighter (7) Monk (1)

STR 10 DEX 20 CON 14 INT 18 WIS 18 CHA 9

FIGHTING STYLE Dueling

MANEUVERS Disarming Attack Feinting Attack Maneuvering Attack Parry Reposte

The benefit of mixing these classes together is two-fold: The Battle Master can pick Maneuvers that aid and utilize their teammates, and the Mastermind’s Master of Tactics is great for Teamwork, allowing you to Aid your teammates. As team leader, Robin needs to be able to direct his teammates, which is why I made sure to give him Maneuvering Attack. Secondly, Robin can read any kind of enemy, getting a feel for their stats, and how best to fight them. I decided to neglect Monk as all it really offers is unarmed combat, a higher AC, and the same Evasion feature Robin already gets as a Rogue and the same Extra Attack he gets from being a Fighter. While Inquisitive Rogue was tempting, Feinting Attack also gives Robin advantage on an opponent, so it’s the best of both worlds. If your DM is willing to alter Commander’s Strike to work for spells and ranged attacks (such as with Cyborg’s Eldritch Canon), it becomes a lot more useful, and can replace either Disarming Attack or Parry, and lets Robin get help from his teammates. Because when the enemy is weak to Fire damage, you want to give Starfire as many attacks as possible.

I find that this build of Robin achieves everything we set out to accomplish. He’s a strategic fighter, with an excellent blend of stealth, sleuthing, and combat prowess. He’s a decisive leader who can direct his teammates on the battlefield, and yet, he can also handle one-on-one fights as well. This results in Robin being exceptionally well-rounded. The Fighter levels also go a long way to making Robin far more durable than a straight Rogue or Monk would have. Higher HP means Robin can fight on the front lines with greater ease.

#robin #teen titans #dick grayson #nightwing #dungeons and dragons #dnd 5e #dungeons & dragons #5e #dnd #d&d #d&d 5e #fifth edition #5th edition #dnd 5th edition #dnd fifth edition #d&d 5th edition #d&d fifth edition #WoTC #wizards of the coast #cartoon network #dc #dc comics #new teen titans #rogue #monk #fighter

[ao719]

Sit Still, Look Pretty (Part 2)

Sit Still, Look Pretty (Part 2)

This is a part of a TRR A/U called Cordonians Gone Wild created with @speedyoperarascalparty, @leelee10898, @cocomaxley, @riseandshinelittleblossom and myself. Thanks for the laughs ladies!

Summary: Liam tries helping Anitah, but instead digs himself a gigantic 🕳

A/N: This is a flashback fic taking place shortly after they were married.

Tag List: @annekebbphotography @carabeth @moneyfordiamonds @give-me-ernest-sinclaire @3pawandme @indiacater @ooo-barff-ooo @ownworldresident @tornbetween2loves @perfectprofessorherokid @stopforamoment @editboutique @wannabemc2 @zaffrenotes @enmchoices @lauradowning29 @lodberg @smalltalk88 @laniquelove-blog @gibbles82 @heatherfilliez @drakesensworld @nikkis1983 @sweetest-marbear @classylady1234 @daniv2278 @rainbowsinthestorm @jared2612 @liamxs-world @notoriouscs @blubutterflyy @captain-kingliamsqueen @whenyourheartskipsabeat @lynne1993 @coldcollectornight08 @be-still-my-aching-heart @kennaxval @iplaydrake @the-soot-sprite @hopefulmoonobject

Rashad looked at Liam after telling him to have a seat. “Liam...as your friend, you need to listen to me,” Rashad spoke and he and Liam sat on the stools at the kitchen counter.

“Rashad, I just need to speak to her. It’s fine,” Liam waved him off.

“I really need you to be the one that does the listening...she’s really upset with you and I know why. I don’t think you do.”

“Because I was interrupting her in the meeting. I know. I was just trying to help. You know how Neville can be.”

“This isn’t about Neville! This is about you...and not just interrupting her. Liam, I’m trying to do you a favor before you get your head ripped off...or worse, your nuts kicked by both Genevieve and Anitah.”

Liam looked at Rashad confused. “Ok...what?” He scoffed.

"When you interrupted her to answer the questions for her, she felt incapable and you made her feel like a fool. A woman like Anitah doesn't need someone to speak for her. She does a good job expressing herself on her own. Then when she tried to tell you how it made her feel, you brushed it off...and...um...basically told her she was only meant to sit there and look pretty. Had that been me with Gen, I would have gotten slapped in the meeting without a doubt. She’s my girlfriend not my wife. So I don’t even want to think what she’d do to me if we were actually married. Be aware there is probably a hit on your life right now, unless you listen to your wife and apologize for being...well, an egotistical man.”

Liam shook his head. “Rashad, that is ridiculous! I didn’t mean it that way! I’m not going to apologize because she took my words out of context! All she had to do was ask me about it. Not go out and get drunk because she was angry with me because she misunderstood.”

“I really wish you’d listen to me...I saw the look on her face. I observed from an unbiased point of view. She wanted to hurt you. Then she got drunk and wanted to murder you. She’s usually a happy, fun drunk.” Rashad looked at Liam thoughtfully. “Don’t you remember a while ago when I told Gen our relationship was a mistake? I was lucky that she took me back and forgave me. I knew what I did was wrong and totally out of line. You seem to think that what you said and did was chivalrous. Please believe me when I say that it wasn’t. Let me ask you this...is it treason if the Queen and her tiny gang of friends kills the King?”

Liam rolled his eyes. “Rashad, it’s not that big of a deal. I’ll just explain to her that’s not what I meant. That she took it out of context. I’ve got this. I know how to handle my wife.”

Rashad shook his head. “You really are stubborn. Good luck, man. I’ll see you at the ball later tonight.” Rashad stood up and started to walk from the kitchen, but stopped and turned around. “One last thing...doesn’t Domvallier take the throne if there’s no heir?” He left the room chuckling shaking his head.

Liam sat there for a moment taking in his friends words, but he didn’t see why he couldn’t just explain to Anitah that she was the one who took his words out of context. He by no means meant that she was supposed to sit there and just look pretty. He knew there were some members of the court, like Neville and Madeline, who would try to undermine her being that she was still considered an outsider and she was also new to being Queen.

He was afraid that if he didn’t show up to that meeting, and step in when he did, that Neville along with a few others would try to purposely make her look foolish, to get her worked up knowing that this was her first solo proposal to the council. She just misinterpreted what he was saying and his reasons behind doing what he did. He was only trying to keep the vultures at bay, he was helping her, and he couldn’t understand why she would see it differently.

As far as the picture of his gorgeous Queen comment, Anitah had the ability to rope people into conversation, most diplomats and nobility drawn to her before she even spoke a word to them. And that was why he said they made the perfect team. She could talk to practically anyone striking up conversation, leading them into the topic at hand and Liam would be the one to seal the deal in the end with negotiations and deals. Play to each of our strengths, he thought to himself. That’s all he meant, there was no foulness behind what he was thinking or what he said.

Liam heard Genevieve and Anitah talking in the foyer and walked out, her purse thrown over her shoulder. “I’ll see you tonight,” she gave Genevieve a hug. “Thanks for letting me stay here last night.”

“No problem,” Genevieve shot Liam a glare and he subtly rolled his eyes. He would try and talk to her once they were in the SUV.

Liam said his goodbyes to Rashad and Genevieve and he and Anitah walked to the waiting SUV where Bastien was waiting with Brad. Anitah slid in and Brad turned and looked at her and she tucked her lips between her teeth. “Morning, Brad,” she sheepishly grinned.

“Your majesty,” he tried hiding his smile as he shook his head and turned back around.

Liam slid in and shut the door, the vehicle heading back to the palace. “Love...” Liam took her hand in his and she side eyed him. “I think we need to talk...”

“I think we need to wait until we’re alone,” she motioned to Bastien and Brad.

Liam smiled and she arched her brow, his smile fading at her not so happy expression. “Oh...right, ok.”

The ride back to the palace was silent and once they pulled up Anitah hopped out, not waiting for someone to open her door and walked inside, Liam hot on her tail. They entered their quarters and she walked to their room straight to her closet sifting through her dresses trying to find one to wear to the ball that night. “

“Anitah...”

“Liam...” She didn’t turn to face him.

“Can we talk now, please?”

“Go ahead. Talk...”

He closed his eyes for a moment. “Look...I understand that you’re upset with me about the council meeting yest-“

“Liam...the council meeting is least of my concerns.”

“And with what I said after the meeting...but you took what I said out of context, my love.”

She finally turned to look at him. “Please explain to me how I took you telling me that I’m ‘very good at looking pretty’ out of context...”

“I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, Anitah. I know that you’re not a trophy wife. I simply meant that we each have our own strengths to work with. You and your ability to draw people in and me with negotiating skills.”

“Are...are you hearing yourself right now?” She leaned forward, hands in her hips. “So you’re saying that I draw people in with my what, Liam? My good looks? Because no one could possibly be interested in having a conversation with me for what I have to say, it’s all about this,” she circled her hand around her face.

“No,” he dropped his head pinching the bridge of his nose. “Love, I know that you are far more than a pretty face!”

“But no one else does in your opinion...so instead of letting me handle things and show that I actually know what the fuck I’m doing, we’ll just let other people assume that I’m just a pretty face. Is that right?” She shook her head and turned plucking a gold sheath gown off the rack. “Is this ok for tonight? Will I make you shine with me on your arm wearing this?” She threw the dress at him. “Or how about this one?” She plucked a black off the shoulder gown down throwing it into his arms. “Or this?” A navy blue gown went flying across the small room smacking Liam in the face. “Please, Liam, tell me which dress I can wear that will make you look your damn best with your pretty wife on your arm!”

Liam dropped the dresses to the floor at his feet narrowing his eyes at his wife. “Stop, Anitah! I’m only trying to help you! To protect you from people at court and outside of court who choose to believe or doubt certain things about you and your abilities!”

“Like I told you yesterday, Liam, I don’t need saving! I’m not a damsel in distress! I need my husband to stand by me and support me and not when it’s just the two of us and no one can hear him say it, but publicly! And you don’t! You tell me I’m capable behind closed doors, but then when we’re in front of others you act the complete opposite! I don’t need you to hold my hand like a child! I need you to back me up! But instead of doing that, you have this mindset that it’s ok to allow people to believe that I’m nothing more than your pretty, insignificant Queen!” She stepped past him and out of the closet as he turned to go after her. “Do not follow me!” She shouted before she slammed the bedroom door shut behind her.

Anitah spent the rest of the day avoiding Liam as she seethed from their earlier conversation. He wasn’t getting her point at all and it was absolutely infuriating to her. And he had yet to even apologize for anything that he had done or said which was only making her more irritated.

She stood in the bedroom getting dressed in the gold gown she had thrown at Liam earlier. She fixed her hair into loose curls and slipped on her jewelry and heels before grabbing her clutch and walking out of the room. Her phone went off, Alicia telling her that the girls were all waiting for her downstairs in the foyer. She walked to their quarters door and opened it, Liam on the other side about to open it as well coming to get her.

“Love,” he softly spoke as he looked over her, a smile spreading on his lips. “You look-“

“Pretty? Thanks...” she stepped past him and walked down the hall. He let out a heavy exhale as he shut their door and walked behind her.

Anitah met the other girls down in the foyer and they all walked into the ballroom as the guys waited for Liam to come down. They watched as their King slowly slumped down the steps, his eyes locked on Anitah as she disappeared into the ballroom, each one of them trying to stifle their laugh.

“Hey, Li...I hear you’re in the dog house...” Drake chuckled.

“How did you hear...never mind.” Liam shook his head knowing Pam had said something. Rashad was right, these woman were like a small gang, and if one of them was pissed, they all were pissed. “It’s ridiculous! I tried talking to her earlier,” he spoke quietly as they all walked into the ballroom, “and she threw her dresses at me.”

They made it up to the bar, each one ordering their drinks. “Did you apologize?” Rashad asked.

“I didn’t get that far...”

They all shook their heads. “Well Alicia was going off about it to me,” Leo said.

“Same with Pam. I think her exact words were ‘he’s a disgusting chauvinist pig and should have his testicles removed and shoved down his throat’.”

Liam shot them all a look as they laughed. “She took what I said and what I did the wrong way! As I told Rashad, I was only trying to help.”

“She can handle her own, Li. She has no problem putting people in their place...just like she’s doing with you right now,” Leo laughed.

Liam glanced over to see Anitah making her rounds greeting the other members of court figuring he needed to do the same. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He set his drink down and began mingling.

The night continued on and Liam made all his needed rounds before deciding to take a break. He glanced over to see the guys standing at the bar with the other girls as Anitah approached them getting herself a drink. He walked up to them greeting the other ladies, getting stares from each of them and fake smiles as they tried playing nice even though he knew each one of them had him on their radars.

“Ladies, you all look beautiful tonight.”

“Yes, Liam knows a pretty one when he sees one, girls.” Anitah tossed back her almost full glass of champagne. “Now, just make sure you all stand here tonight and look pretty.” She set her glass down, Liam’s eyes locked on her. “Excuse me.” She walked away from the bar.

Liam went wide eyed. “What did I do now?”

As he said the words the girls all rounded on him, each one looking up at him through narrowed eyes. Drake, Rashad, Leo and Maxwell’s eyes went wide.

“Liam’s gonna die, isn’t he?” Maxwell whispered to Leo out of the corner of his mouth as Leo subtly nodded his head in agreement as they all stood and watched.

“Seriously Liam, what is your problem? The weight of the big ass crown must have dulled your common sense,” Alicia shook her head walking after Anitah.

“Are all Cordonian men this dense, or is it a Rhys brother specialty?” Stephanie asked.

“Hey!” Leo looked over at her as Liam stared as well.

“I’m serious, Liam! I’d like to snatch a knot in your ass right about now,” she shook her head walking away following Alicia.

“What did you do?” Pam scoffed. “Smart guy like you should have figured it out by now, right? You have all the answers. Tell me, Liam, it’s not enough power for you to run a country? To have everyone at your beck and call? You really need to strip Anitah of any ability she has to contribute to this great monarch of yours? But that's just the point isn’t it, your majesty. It’s YOUR monarch, YOUR council and YOUR country. Good thing you have a smart, educated and capable woman by your side to sit there and look pretty.” Pam turned walking away following the other two.

Genevieve shook her head at him. “Liam, Liam, Liam...you are in deep shit. You might only be married to Anitah, but you inherited all of us the day you said ‘I do’.” She pointed her finger at him then poked him in the middle of the chest. “So listen to me, and I swear the minute you open your mouth to interrupt me, I will kick you in the shin.” Drake and Rashad rubbed their hands over their mouths to stop the grins from showing as they watched. “You are a nice guy. You are a very sweet guy. And I like to think you’re intelligent, in most cases. But as a husband you are absolutely naive and stupid sometimes. You married her because she is the love of your life. Not only is she the love of your life, she’s also an amazing Queen and your biggest supporter. You made the one person that believes in you the most feel insignificant and incapable. If you can’t figure out that what you did was wrong, then maybe it’s time you start listening to someone other than yourself.” She kicked him in the shin before turning and stormed away.

Liam bent over grabbing his leg. “Son of b...aahhh!” He growled as the guys all snorted. “Does she have steel toed heels on?Jesus Christ!”

“I told you earlier, man, they’re like a tiny gang!” Rashad laughed. “I’ve been on the end of that before, and I do not want to be anywhere near it again.”

“Same,” the other three all answered in unison before looking at one another clinking their glasses together and tossing back their drinks.

“You better squash this, Liam. They can be be damn ruthless,” Leo warned him.

The night ended and Liam was saying goodnight to the last of the nobles leaving. He happened to glance up seeing as Anitah made her way to the top of the stairs before disappearing from view as she headed back to their quarters.

Liam followed a short time later, walking the corridors at a slow pace, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he thought back on what the girls had all said to him earlier. Something that Genevieve had said was lingering in the forefront of his mind, more than anything else that had been said. You made the one person that believes in you the most feel insignificant and incapable.

He never meant to make her feel that way, only feeling as though he was protecting her, helping her. Now he was realizing the way his words came across and why she felt the way she did about it, too blinded by his own pride to see it before. He shook his head cursing himself under his breath as he made it to their quarters door and walked inside.

He saw the bedroom light on and slowly walk down the hall and turned leaning into the door frame as he watched Anitah remove her jewelry, now in her pajamas. She glanced up seeing him and quickly looked away. He took a few steps inside the bedroom and softly cleared his throat and she looked up at him.

"Anitah, my love...I didn’t realize what I said was so bad until the girls made me feel about this big,” he held his thumb and pointer fingers close together. “I am so sorry I made you feel that way. Please know that was never my intention.” She looked down for a moment. “I have this need to protect you even though you don’t need it. I know that you don’t, but I can’t help it. I remember watching you during the social season and the engagement tour...and how you persevered despite everything. I’m sorry that it took our friends to remind me exactly how strong you are...and that you never needed me to stand up for you to begin with.” He walked up to her brushing his hand across her cheek staring into her blue eyes. “My Queen, please forgive me. I am a fool. And please don’t take my calling you pretty as an insult. Not only are you beautiful, you’re also smart, caring, resourceful and very capable. I’m a very lucky man...who got humbled by some very tiny women.”

Anitah let out a soft chuckle as she looked up at him. “I don’t need you to protect me all the time, Liam. I just need to know that you support me. That you have my back. I promise if I need help, I will ask for it. But I can handle myself. I know I’m new to all of this...but I’m never going to learn if you don’t allow me to figure it out on my own.”

“You have my support, always. And again...I’m sorry. I never meant to make you feel the way I did.” He leaned down pressing his lips to hers in a soft lingering kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Liam.”

A couple of days later Anitah and Liam were in the conference room with the rest of the council as they were coming to a decision on whether or not to pass her proposal for the library upgrades. Liam was sitting while Anitah stood ready to take last minute questions and concerns from the council members.

They were ready to vote and Neville cleared his throat motioning that he he had something to say and Anitah could already feel the annoyance rising as she called on him.

Neville not once looked at her, but to Liam instead who was sitting beside her standing form. “King Liam...you’re wife’s library proposal seems to be an unnecessary expense. Seeing how she was unable to answer any of my questions without your input at the last meeting, I vote that we forgo her project this year.”

Liam narrowed his eyes as he sat forward about to say something when he caught Rashad’s stare. Rashad swiped his hand subtly across his throat motioning for him to stay quiet, a smirk forming on his lips as he looked to the Queen. Liam followed his gaze to Anitah who was glaring at Neville and he sat back staying silent.

"Lord Neville, you seem to be mistaken. I am very well versed in my project, so if you could please address your comments to me that would be appreciated. My dear husband only wanted to ensure that the council knew it had the King’s full support. As far as an unnecessary expense...I believe it is clear that this project won't take money away from current initiatives and will be funded through fundraisers. So tell me, Lord Neville...do you dislike this project because it is the Queen’s idea or is it your wish to stunt the children’s enrichment because you want to increase tourism to your golf course?”

Neville’s eyes slightly widened as he stared at the Queen whose expression was stern as she glared back. Rashad cleared his throat and looked down trying to hide his smile as Liam didn’t attempt to hide it at all, a wide grin forming. Rashad finally composed himself and looked up at her as she caught his eye and her shot her a wink, a smirk tugging in the corner of her mouth.

At the end of the meeting, Anitah’s proposal was passed, even Neville having changed his vote. She and Liam said goodbye to the members and as the last one left Liam shut the door.

He grabbed her hips and pulled her flush to him. “That...was...” he trailed off in a whisper with a smirk before he leaned down capturing her lips in his. “Sexy,” he whispered again against her lips as she chuckled.

“Oh? How sexy?” She grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Let me show you,” his husky voice spoke as he reached over clicking the lock on the door.

#trr #trr fanfic #choices trr #the royal romance #trr mc #trr liam #king liam #liam rhys #choices liam x mc #trr liam x mc #liam x anitah #cordonians gone wild #cordoniansgonewild #cgw world #cgw #rashad x genevieve #alicia x leo #drake x pam #maxwell x stephanie #cordonia

[hcpefulmarshmallow]

V3 Spoilers under cut. Just some stuff that has been on my mind since I played the game. 

Okay, so I haven’t played it as much as the first two, and I really do adore Shuichi as a character. Let me get those two things out first because I don’t want any angry people in my inbox. This isn’t to complain about Shuichi, or that V3 took things in a different direction than the first two games. The third installment in any franchise has a tough job, balancing fan expectations and keeping the spirit of the story alive enough to please people who have been there since the beginning; while also being new and exciting enough as to not feel stale, and maybe even draw in a whole new crowd. I get that. Changing up a series is not, by default, a bad thing, and I don’t want to imply that DR should have stuck with the same old formula. I’m just saying that there was one glaring misuse of the characters that lowkey sucked. And for the purposes of not writing a whole novel, I’ll probably gloss over some big, important stuff in the interests of streamlining. Please don’t be mad. This is just the impression that the game gave me.

(And yeah, I’m talking like UDG didn’t exist. I still haven’t finished that game to be honest. It’s enjoyable in it’s own merits, and I’m loving the familiar faces and all, but at times it just doesn’t feel like Danganronpa. Yeah, I said it. Maybe that’s my own problem, though - the third-person adventure/horror aspect isn’t my style usually, unless the game is something else. But I digress.)

 So, onto our main point, I’m gonna come out and say it: Shuichi was a poor choice for a protagonist. 

 Let’s rewind for a minute to the first two games, shall we? Each cast was likable in their own ways, the different environments gave each story it’s own atmosphere while still retaining that unmistakable Danganronpa feeling. There were things we could rely on as we transitioned from one game to the other, and things we could be surprised by. One thing about DR is that it has the same trio over and over, right up until this game, where the roles are inexplicably changed. (And again, changing things up: not automatically invalid. But this was a large part of the soul of Danganronpa: the ability to feel like your ordinary self has become a part of this world of Ultimates, and the battle between hope and despair. It’s designed to make you a part of the game so you really feel the highs and lows and every little consequence; and nowhere is it as blatant as in this game, see the final trial. That’s why this change was so bizarre.)

 In the first game, it was Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya. In the second, it was Hajime, Chiaki and Nagito. Respectively, their roles were such:

 Your protagonist and POV character. They were relatable in many ways: feeling out of place in the presence of all this talent to which they felt they couldn’t compare, somewhat naive, always wanting to believe the best of others, never particularly keen to put anyone to death. They weren’t unintelligent by any means, but their self-doubt and desire to keep the group as a group would hold them back from difficult deductions. This would show in different degrees and in different ways in the characters, but it was always very much there. Much like the player: we didn’t want to put our faves to death, but we didn’t have a choice. For the most part, it was the protagonist who kept that human element to an otherwise fantastical environment, full of people who were only borderline believable. They kept the story grounded, presenting it through their respective viewpoints. The game doesn’t have to justify why it has this almost fictional quality to it’s story and characters, because Makoto and Hajime have both observed that it’s almost not real. But then they get close to the other characters and form attachments, and truly become a part of events themselves, and it all feels very real. It’s through this character that our ordinary selves can truly experience a world like the one in Danganronpa. 

 Next, you have the two sidekicks, performing polarizing roles. All very intelligent, often figuring out the case before our protagonist. You have Kyoko and Chiaki: dropping hints, assisting us along the way, serving as a moral compass of sorts. When we feel lost or confused in the class trial, it’s this character who usually helps us find our way to the truth. And you have Byakuya and Nagito, who exist to misdirect us. Forcing us to strive to be better; rather than relying on the work others do. (And yeah, I know all these characters are deeper than that -- I’m just talking about their basic function in relation to the protagonist). This allows the POV character, and by extension us, to navigate the class trials and the moral dilemma they present, not by providing answers, but by providing growth. By the end, out protagonists have gone from feeling overwhelmed and uncertain, to being able to stand up against the mastermind, even if we’ve lost our sidekicks by that point. 

 Now, let’s look at V3′s golden trio. I’ve seen some debate around this but, in terms of this particular dynamic, we’ve got: Kaede, Shuichi and Kokichi. Or at least, that’s who we should have.

 Kokichi is the obvious choice for an antagonistic character who forces us to up our anti a little bit. He’s constantly throwing us for a loop, constantly making things harder, but never sabotaging us to the point where the trial becomes literally impossible. Love him or hate him, he is a very good, complex character with exceptional narrative utility. I don’t think I need to go into depth with this one, because I don’t think anyone would disagree that this is his role. So moving on. 

 As for Shuichi, he does very much fit the description I gave above of the general layout of a Danganronpa protag: that he’s somewhat self-doubting, overwhelmed at the scope of the people he’s been put amongst, gets along with the others for the most part, doesn’t want to doubt his friends, and goes through extraordinary character growth. However, there are a few issues he has that the others do not. For starters: most of his relevant character growth in terms of what Hajime and Makoto went through happens in the first chapter. He learns from Kaede’s death to trust his own deductions and believe in his talent. He still has a lot of self-doubt, and is still very relatable, but from there, most of his story revolves around trusting others and working as a team, rather than his internal conflicts. That seems more in line with Kyoko’s arc of opening up to Makoto and letting the others in on what she learns rather than flying solo all the time; and of Chiaki’s arc of finally being able to tell Hajime the truth of who she is, and wanting to bring everyone together. Again, I’m kind of strawmanning the character here; but even if I’m dead wrong about his motivations (it sucks not being able to screenshot, you forget so much), there’s one more major flaw. His talent. 

 Through the class trials, our POV character goes in with about as much certainty as we have. And we, alongside them, uncover the truth of the case. We’re essentially experiencing the class trial through their eyes, experiencing being the key word here. Shuichi, however, is the smartest and most capable detective in the room, what with being the Ultimate Detective and all. The feeling I got from him wasn’t that I was solving the mystery through him, but rather that he would have all the answers at least a split-second before me, then the game just kind of waits for me to catch up. There was a lot more “I knew it!” and “As I thought!” kind of going on there, rather than “Aha! The answer can only be __!”  

 Furthermore, Shuichi isn’t terribly proactive. Which is fine, to an extent. The previous POV characters would kind of get thrust into situations too; but once they were there, they were an active part of events. Hajime didn’t want to go feed Nagito, but in doing so, became an active part of what was going on with his story, and learned early on about his manipulation of Mahiru. Makoto didn’t go out investigating Mukuro on his own, but once Kyoko told him about her, he used that information to his advantage, particularly in the Trials. And there were events for which they were active catalysts, too. Not too boring, but not pulling a lot of major strings, either: giving the player a front row seat to the action, letting something amazing play out for their ordinary selves to enjoy, but also making them feel like their actions matter. For Shuichi, he’s dragged into everything he’s involved in, and even then, he’s either just kind of there, present and accounted for while stuff happens; or he’s off on his own, even if someone else is physically present. For instance, when he and Kaito are investigating, Kaito might be there, but Shuichi is doing all the leg work, really. Not saying Kaito is useless, just...saying. And this is totally fine, and consistent with his character. He’s not very social until he gets to know someone well, and he’s definitely more intellectual and emotional than he is a physical being. But again, your protagonist needs to toe that line between being passive enough that stuff can still happen around them, and active enough that the player can engage with that stuff. And again: Shuichi more fits the mold of someone like Chiaki, who is often off on her own, and only intervenes in situations when she absolutely must; or Kyoko, who is also off on her own a lot, and isn’t sociable at all. In terms of free time events and stuff, I have no trouble believing Makoto or Hajime would make an effort to, out-of-the-blue, find and learn more about a fellow classmate; but Shuichi? Not so much. Again: he’s just not a person who is comfortable with other people. Which is all fine and relatable and good for him as a character. But as a POV? Sure he gets close with his little workout gang, but only because Kaito drags him along. Even Kaede spends most of the first chapter just pulling him around everywhere. After a while, all this adds up and makes you feel detached from events: less like you’re playing a game, and more like you’re watching a movie. 

 So we’ve established that, as far as the game goes, Shuichi is a good character but makes a better sidekick archetype than a POV protagonist. So what’s the difference between him and Kaede that makes her a great, Danganronpa-esque protag?

 Well...the opposite of everything I’ve said. 

 For starters, her talent. Thus far, our protagonists’ talents have been generally the least impressive of the group. (Okay, yeah, Hajime was eventually the Ultimate Everything, but we only find that out at the end. He spent all game being the Ultimate Nothing, and therefore had all his relevant character growth before that. By this point, we already experienced the events of the game through him, and have already grown accustomed to the very human, very fallible, Hajime. Tell me he’s Izuru, I’m just as easily gonna see the guy who passed out on the beach but over time became a badass.) Ultimate Pianist is kind of a niche talent, but I don’t think that makes it isolating. For one, like her predecessors, her talent is utterly useless in a trial setting. Unless there were some specific circumstances, knowing how to play piano will not help her find a killer. (Technically Makoto’s luck could have been useful, but I think it’s made pretty clear he and his class passed those trials through hard work, not luck). The most important thing for a protagonist has to be their ability to be relatable by being brave and true and all that Good Stuff, not to be born exceptional. How are you going to pander to a market who is trying to escape their dull lives if all they have to escape to are people who are fundamentally better than them in ways they could never relate to? Anyway can be brave, not anyone can be Sherlock. 

 Because Kaede’s character was built mostly around her traits and not her talent, she’s still easily relatable. She, like us, wants the best for her fellow characters. She’s moralistic, kind, and defiant of the circumstance she’s been thrust into, all things we can aspire to. She’s likeable, but not infallible or unbelievable. She can be bossy at times, her own personal sense of justice perhaps her biggest downfall. This idea of “good/hope MUST triumph over evil/despair” which has been pushed by the game itself, is used as it’s newest protagonist’s flaw, and is a viewpoint that will ultimately be subverted in the final trial.

 Kaede is, overall, more sociable and active. I buy that she spends her free time getting to know other people. She doesn’t always think with her head, and she is the type to stumble into situations by accident, meaning she’s a much more viable candidate to be just lucky enough to wind up in wacky hijinks, and just active enough to really become a part of them. Also, I’m gonna just mention the elephant in the room real quick: it sucks that the only female protagonist out of the main games had to be killed off. I liked the idea of a female protag.

 Okay, I know I said it was a bummer that Shuichi so quickly moved past doubting himself and his own talent much too quickly, especially when the protags we’re used to take most of the game to do that sort of thing. Kaede doesn’t really have much self-doubt, to be honest. She doesn’t struggle with the morality of the situation she’s in: instead, her solution is simplistic and naive: “We just won’t kill. Easy.” This is a polar opposite of our protagonists, but not invalid. Remember: not all changes are bad, and this is the third installment. We expect some shakeups to the formula. 

 This actually could’ve been used really well, if Kaede was given more time. After her idea of “we just won’t play!!1!” is crushed and she’s forced to endure an entire class trial and vote for someone to be executed, this would’ve shattered (or at least, damaged) her pure and perfect world view. She would be forced to look inward, and question her frankly childish sense of right and wrong, which ties in so much better with the eventual themes of the final trial. Rather than seeing only good and evil, she would be forced to confront the moral grey that exists within her, and within all situations. And she would have to do so without losing what makes her fundamentally Kaede - her optimism, her strength, and her trust in others. I’ve seen this done well rarely, but most notably in characters like Penelope Garcia. I truly feel like Danganronpa could’ve pulled this off. 

 “But Jenny! There’s a problem!! You said that it was after the first trial that Shuichi had the development to grow into a great Chiaki/Kyoko archetype, but that only happens through the death of Kaede!!! If she survived, he would still be hiding in her shadow!!”

 I’ve thought of that too. So say, instead, Kaede just comes really close to being killed in the trial. Say, the vote is split 50-50 between her and the real killer. Shuichi is the only one with the key information to sway the final voter/s, but he knows in doing so, he will condemn someone to death. He can do so and save Kaede, or close his eyes and leave it up to chance. In the end, he trusts his talent and uses what he knows to shed light on the truth. He has to come to terms with condemning someone, but he knows that he also saved an innocent person. Once again tying in so well with the final theme of how good and evil and right and wrong aren’t always distinguishable; and giving Shuichi a great character development moment that’s more than just “my girlfriend is dead so now I can grow, I’m so glad the franchise has never played this angle before or it would feel tired and kind of sexist :(”; and giving Kaede a chance to view first-hand that you can be a good person, and walk a grey line. I thought of that in two seconds. Just saying. 

 But anyway, that’s just one long-ass thought from someone who has played this game one and a half times. I want to play it again, and maybe I’ll change my own mind, who knows. But while I’m still of this mindset, I wanted it out there. 

#meta; #v3 spoilers #( that took entirely too long to write and I can't be bothered proofreading again so..have it )

[whosevoiceistht]

Magique - Solo 1 Part 2

The six foot ten shifter with shoulders as wide a football field smirked wider as he loosened his grip on her creamy, white throat. She let out an irritated scoff of complete and total impatience as she took a hold of the thick muscle of his wrist squeezing just enough to remind the bastard that despite him out weighing her by a hundred pounds of solid muscle, she was infinitely stronger than he was remotely capable of being. She upped the ante by giving the wrist a sharp twist and whipping him in a blur of motion against the rough, red brick of the outer wall of the bar with ease. She growled out fucking loud her impatience with him. "God fuck it, Jaz. I don't have time for this bullshit. It's an hour till I'm due at the fucking meeting in town. I have fifty-seven minutes to make myself presentable and put on fucking heels as tall as my own ass. What is so all fucking encompassing important?!" She shoved him into the brick hard as she pushed away from the wet dog smelling motherfucker, wiping her hand on her jeans again for the third time that night. He grumbled under his raw deer meat smelling breath and rubbed his cheek with a palm as he pulled away from the wall. "Whitmore needs you at the mansion in fifteen minutes. Said forget the meeting. This is top priority." His deep baritone was full of sour grapes, that much was obvious to her. She balked at the message, literally giving her still very buzzed head a shake, sending crimson strands flying for a second. "Whitmore? The head of the council wants me at the mansion in a quarter hour? I'm covered in blood and smell like cheap whiskey for fucks sake." She grabbed the sides of her fuzz filled head, groaning out loud as she raked her fingernails down her cheeks. "Fifteen  minutes? Fuck me, I gotta buzz like a fucking a super nova  to get there. It's a hour away." She didn't even glance at the mutt again, going full speed, blur style to the human eye, as she tried to beat the beat clock to the home of the head of the council of all supernaturals in this quarter of the country. How many kills was that in six months? Ten was the limit for safe passage in Whitmore's territory. More than ten, and your head was fucking decor in his living space for all to see. She hadn't told anyone about her existence. The locals thought she was a psycho slut with a blood fetish but nothing inhuman. She pushed her maximum limit for speed further as she could all but hear a clock ticking the seconds away in her eardrum. She came to less than graceful halt, damn near splitting a fifty foot wide oak in half. She rubbed her forehead gingerly, bringing blood back on her fingertips. "Great. I'm going into the council bleeding. Goddamn..  fucking perfect." She angrily as all fuck kicked a white decorative rock the size of her head fifty feet and took a deep, stabilizing breath. She'd only forgotten to keep humans alive 9 times in six months. She was not here for reprimand...hopefully. Whitmore was a more cold blooded psycho than she was though, so really there was no telling. She stepped forward to the black, wrought iron gate and pushed the buzzer for entry. "Enter, Miss, the master's expecting you." She rolled her golden honey brown eyes at Miss, at least it hadn't been ma'am, and headed through as the enormous gate opened.

TBC ...

#writer #roleplay #writing #rpg

[thehiddensemicolon]

Kacchako Fanfic: New Prey Chapter 22

I totally did not write this in like 30 minutes 

Don't judge me I do have a life.

(A/N the hero agencies for most of the pro heroes are unknown. So for the sake of this story. I'll be implying that popular pro heroes  have their own agencies. I hope you all don't mind. )

Everyone in Class A arrived to class sensing a different aura in the room.

For starters they were told to arrive to class in their athletic uniforms.

Today was the day that will determine their futures. What hero agencies will want them to be their next new heroes. The harsh reality of this test was, only the top hero agencies evaluated them, so that meant that they were going to be extra picky and they were warned that not every student would be picked or offered a position. They would have to apply at a lower division agency.

Monoma from Class B made sure to pour salt on their wounds. (To make their anxiety worse)

"Good luck top class! Remember don't mess up cause this is your only chance for your future. We will make sure to look at all your mistakes, because our evaluation is tomorrow! Thanks for taking one for the team!" Monoma "reassured" them and ran away when he heard Kendo's voice.

"Everyone disregard that inappropriate comment Monoma said. His words will not interfere our performances. We have trained together for three years and will not be stopped now!" Iida said.

"Yeah what class rep said! Everyone let's do our best!" Kirishima said.

"Hey Shouto how many people is your fathers agency recruiting?" Kaminari asked.

"I believe one or two." Shouto said.

"Wow that's bonkers. I guess competition really is tight.

"Yeah I heard that the top agencies will accept no more than 2 or 3 students. And that includes the other classes. So they will be extra picky with their selections." Ashido said.

"Am starting to feel the pressure now." Jirou said.

Aizawa walked in the classroom and the students began to immediately sit down on their seats.

"Alright today is the day is not hold anything back. This year they will be evaluating your status as a hero. For example how your quirks suits the situation the best. During your freshman year you were placed into categories your quirk falls into. Such as combat fighters, rescue team, support, defense, stealth, etc. they will be testing you based on what is registered in your accounts, plus an extra field of their choice. They want people who show greatness in multiple fields." Aizawa said.

The students looked confused from the last part of information.

Aizawa sighed and choose Tsuyu as an example.

"Since you all look confused. I'll use Tsuyu as an example." He looked at her files.

"Tsuyu was classified as a flood/water natural disaster rescuer. So the evaluation will test her based on that, in addition to a random field the pro heroes chosen as a group. In her case I would have voted to test her on, let's see... stealth abilities. Do you all get it now?" Aizawa said.

The students nodded and a lot of them were nervous.

"As you all may or may not know, the agencies all have their own needs on what type of quirks they want. Keep that in mind. My agency for example is looking for heroes who are able to do jobs in secrecy. Fast moving and a successful mission by not attracting attention." Aizawa said.

"Now don't fall into pressure. Don't preform any less that what you are all capable of. Yes there is competition, but don't let that get into your heads. Alright now everyone go to the USJ." Aizawa concluded.

The students started to walk towards the USJ.

"Man I wished that we could have worn our hero costumes for this man. My gear makes it so much easier to control electricity without a second thought. Now I have to be super cautious." Kaminari said.

"Its fucking because they want to see our skills without costumes you dumbass. What if we aren't working and we are fucking strolling along the city in our regular attire and a villain attacks the city right in front of us! Use your fucking brain for once. They want to know what we can do without extra gear, that may or may not be accessible during battle." Bakugou said.

"Well.. that does make sense. I just wished they know what we can do when we are at our best you know." Kaminari said.

"That is fucking why they have their newbie simulation at their own agencies when you first join you idiot! That when you fucking show them what your skills are like with your fucking costumes adjustments to excel your quirk! Gosh how can anyone not know that!" Bakugou yelled.

"You know.. you should have known that Kaminari. Its kinda both funny and sad you didn't." Jirou laughed.

Kaminari just sulked behind the pack.

"It must be hard for the people who need to rely on their costumes to control or enhance their quirks. I mean people like me just rely on natural talent." Mineta said.

"I dare you to say that again." Bakugou threatened.

And for once the students didn't stop him from threatening Grape Juice. Most of the students had to have their costumes to fix certain issues, their quirks had.

Mineta was now behind Kaminari with a bruise on top of his head.

"Am so glad my resistance from using my quirk is more controlled now." Uraraka said out loud.

"Yeah that is a good thing Uraraka. It would be embarrassing if you were to throw up rainbows in front of pros." Ashido said.

"Don't jinx me..." Uraraka sighed.

"Hey so has anyone thought of what Agency they would like to join? I know I want to join Fourth Kinds office" Kirishima proudly said.

the students began mumbling on what offices they would like.

Until they reached the USJ building.

As they entered the building, they didn't see any pro heroes, instead they saw a hand few of heroes who stood behind All Might.

"Hello students! One by one you will each be called into a different section of this building that best match up to your quirks. Am sure Aizawa mentioned the kind of test this will be! These heroic figures behind me, are all heroes that will help to show out your quirks. They will cause storms, building falling, floods, earthquakes, or will fight you fist to fist. They have been chosen to all test your quirks. The hero offices are all observing your performances from a private screening room. Now will you all enter the waiting room." All Might said.

~~~ At the waiting room~~~

"So we have to be cautious on what area we are in, as well as the other heroes quirks giving us trouble... thats so stressful." Uraraka said.

"Don't let it get to you." Bakugou told her.

The big screen in the room flashed and Todoroki's name appeared on screen.

"I guess am first." He calmly says.

He left the room and entered the landslide zone. The screen monitored the test for each student can see their peers.

It was ruthless. The evaluation was ruthless. No one ever expected Todoroki to use up all his strength in the test. There was a wind quirk user and a earth quirk user both making havoc for todoroki. The wind made his fire to dangerous to use freely and the earth quirk was breaking his ice, regardless he prevailed. The students were impressed that he was able to hold and exceed his own.

Some were worried that they wouldn't be able to top his performance if they came right after him.

Shouto entered the waiting room with torn up clothes and looked exhausted.

The students knew that Pro Heroes did not mess around with the evaluation tests.

Students were being called one by one.

The second to go was Tokoyami

Then Kirishima

Then Ashido

Then Jirou

Then Sero

After awhile, Deku was called.

Followed by Bakugou.

Uraraka wished him luck and he grinned with a confident smirk.

All Might met him by the entrance.

"Alright young Bakugou. Your test is evaluating your skills on combat and as well as what the Pros decided on ... defense. Now defense means your quirk cannot hurt those around you or building. you will see on the field what I mean. You will be placed in the ruins zone. So be cautious with this zone. Think about how you can fight and defend to you fullest potential." All Might said.

Katsuki just nodded and arrived on his zone.

The announcement that he will start in thirty seconds was announced.

He then understood what All Might meant by be worried about the area. Building were on the ground or on the verge of tipping point. There was stand by heroes that were dressed in civilian clothes (which he was guessing that he had to defend.

So am being tested on my max power and by the look of things, they are testing me on how well I can cautiously I can use my quirk by people and building. So they want me to not damage them or the building. Cause that can cause trouble if my quirk ends up destroying the area. Shit they really are testing me, because they think am nothing but destructiveness, Ill show them! I wonder what else they will throw at me? Bakugou thought.

Speaker: "Bakugou Katsuki, your test consists of a solo evaluation on the limits of your explosions and your capacity. When all targets are gone, you will be tested on your combat and defense skills"

All of a sudden huge boulders were falling from the sky.

His job was to make sure the target gets destroyed.

He sent off a huge explosion and crisped the boulder to pieces.

Then there was targets flying in the air. He glided his way in the air by using his quirk and quickly placed his hand on the target and exploded it.

He landed on the ground and just as he did, there was multiple missiles being launched at him.

He decided to use his AP Shot Auto Cannon to individually hit the multiple targets.

A water attack was suddenly in his vision.

All of a sudden the "civilian" actors began screaming.

Bakugou immediately used an explosion to hit the ground, the collateral damage stopped the water attack from bitted the civilians.

Gotta stop this fucker fast! Bakugou thought.

Bakugou quickly (but carefully) used his Blast Rush Turbo to propel and maneuver himself forward and behind his opponent.

As the hero turned his back, Bakugou released an explosion.

"Stun Grenade!" He said as he released a sphere of light and instantly blinded his opponent and he was knocked out.

Ice shards were being launched at the civilians.

He quickly launched himself to them.

Shit first water and now ice, they want to challenge me on the elements that mess up my quirk the most. Trying to wash off my sweat and now trying to freeze it. Fuck. He thought.

If he explodes it, the shards of ice can accidentally hit the bystanders.

I have to completely evaporate those shards of ice. I will prove that I can save people with my quirk! Not just destroy! Now is the time to use my new move. He thought.

He jumps in the air and unleashed a powerful but different explosion.

"Demolition Blast!" he yelled.

The explosion was much hotter and controlled than all his others. It cremated and vanished the huge ice shards threatening the civilians. There was nothing there. The civilians did not feel any heat or harm whatsoever. This was a move that made sure his explosions did not hurt his comrades, only destroy and cremate the target.

Other "villains" showed up and tested his offensive skills to the max, there was multiple villains teaming up against him. He showed raw combat skills and proved that he can save civilians and not destroy the area.

Speaker:"Bakugou Katsuki evaluation completed.

The students observed their class hot head through the screen. They were shocked that he didn't destroy anything but his targets. He actually saved people by his controlled explosion. He showed them up and they admitted it. He proved to everyone that he can save. He was quick to evaluation the situation and form a plan of attack.

Bakugou entered the waiting room.

"Congrats Katsuki you were so awesome out there. And you didn't even cuss! How surprising!" Uraraka said.

"Tch. I can stop fucking cussing whenever I want you shit." Bakugou said to his girlfriend.

Iida was called up next.

Followed by Momo

then Tsuyu

then Kaminari

and finally Uraraka was up next.

"Do your best Uraraka!" Deku said.

"Yes don't let the pressure get to your head Uraraka. I know you can do it." Iida said.

"Thank you guys so much!" Uraraka hugged them.

She looked at Bakugou and he smirked.

"Go kick ass Uraraka." He said.

She smiled and walked away.

"Alright young girl. You are ready to be tested? Now your quirk is classified as a defensive/support. What the pro heroes want to test you in addition to is if you can support yourself against powerful foes that can attack you physically. There will be more surprises up ahead. Good luck." All Might said.

"Thank you All Might." Uraraka said.

Uraraka walked up to her assigned zone. The ruins. Buildings that look unstable. Same thing with Bakugou and some of her friends, there are citizens on the stand by.

Speaker: "We will evaluate your quirk weight and time limits with you preventing the buildings from touching the floor. After all targets are safely dealt with, another test will occur."

There were "villains" who used their quirks to cause a huge building to crumble.

That's a huge building! Boy it's like 10 floors tall! Uraraka thought.

The building was falling right above the civilians.

Uraraka noticed that her job was to protect them and ran closer to the falling building and activated her quirk using one hand up.

Thank god I practiced my weight limits on my free time. Uraraka thanked herself.

Another building was being dropped and Uraraka immediately brought both hands up.

~~~ at the students waiting room ~~~ "Hey they aren't really serious right now. This is ridiculous man. That's two huge tall buildings. And they expect her to not drop it! Look they are throwing boulders her way too! Are they trying to kill her?" Kaminari said.

"Hey shut the hell up sparky. Uraraka isn't fucking weak." Bakugou said.

~~~ back to the training grounds ~~~ They really are testing me. Oh no boulders. I need to get that into my field. She thought to herself.

She moved her right pinky in hopes she decreased the gravity of the boulder. It did.

Speaker: Quirk weight and time test complete. You may now move on to the next test.

Thank god I passed. She thought.

She released the gravity on all the objects and gently dropped it.

All of a sudden she saw a man come out of the ground to grab her legs.

You are not going to get in my way! Uraraka thought.

She wrapped her legs around his head and twisted, to launch him on the ground.

Another crew of flying people came flying in the sky unleashing power winds that made it hard to stay in place.

"You are all coming down!" Uraraka yelled.

She increased the gravity on the flying crew and they all came crashing down to the ground unable to move.

~~~ at the waiting room ~~~ "Amazing Uraraka learned how to increase gravity. I expected only great things from her." Iida praised.

The students weren't aware of her new move so they cheered her own.

Bakugou just smirked and continued to look at the screeen.

~~~ Back in the training area ~~~ Oh no am starting to get in my limit. I can't continue to switch the  decreasing and increasing gravity any longer. I never practiced my limits this way. I need to go easy on my quirk and show the heroes I can fight too! Uraraka thought.

The earth guy from earlier mad earth clones that were running towards her.

She started to use martial art moves she learned from GunHead and she used battle fist to fist combat she learned from Katsuki.

There flying crew came back and the earth clones were being created at a rapid pace.

She decreased the gravity with the earth clones making them float high in the air.

She then increased the gravity on the flying crew and crashed them down to the surface.

Earth clones are still rocks and boulders. This is it. This has to work. Uraraka thought.

~~~ At the Waiting room ~~~

"Hey Bakugou does this bring back memories? Look those earth clones in the sky and those flying people on the ground. I think she is going to use that meteor  attack she did to you on the sports festival." Kirishima said.

"Yeah accept those fuckers are screwed. None of them can move a muscle." Bakugou said.

~~~ back at the training area~~~

"Release!" Uraraka yelled.

The earth clones came crashing down to the flying crew on the ground.

No one could move. There was no more buildings falling or an enemy on sight.

Speaker : "Uraraka Ochako test evaluation complete."

"I really did it." She smiled.

~~~ at the waiting room~~~

"You did awesome Uraraka!" Deku said.

The students came to her and congratulated her.

The next student who got called up was Mineta

(But we don't really care for him, so no one noticed he left)

Uraraka came up to Bakugou and gave him a huge hug.

Bakugou blushed and told everyone to go die in a corner.

"I think we both did good. Thank you Bakugou." Uraraka said.

"I didn't help you Ochako, you did all of that yourself. Don't fucking sell yourself short." He said.

"Soooo Demolition Blast huh? How extra can you be." She laughed.

"Hey its a fucking badass name. Don't fucking judge it cause your basic and not name any moves. Watch people would be begging me one day to beat up a villain with the move and chant the whole time." Bakugou said.

"Katsuki.. just stop." Uraraka giggled.

A/N

Next chapter.. we find out the hero agencies guys! am excited and read all the comments deciding if they work together or not. I guess we find out tomorrow. I don't know when ill end this story... (I had someone ask me) but till then am going to continue to write. I was planning on writing a day at the beach for their graduation party...but readers want a camp out.. what should I do... both sound good.

#my hero academia #bakuraka #katsuki bakugou #uraraka ochako #kacchako #bakugou x uraraka

[founders-imagines]

Headcanons with drunk founders? In trio, alone and only with s/o. Sfw and nsfw ;)

I love it

Hashirama

In the trio, drunk Hashi is the funniest person omg. He’d be even more open about his somewhat eccentric behavior (like when he was like “who the hell are you?” at Minato when the Hokages were reanimated) and would totally be that guy to drunkenly gamble all his money he had with him away, because ofc he’s going to lose to Madara and Tobirama. Dude has no filter and can’t hold a poker face

Alone, he would be super chill and reminisce about his favorite memories. Totally the one to happy cry by himself if he gets too deep into the memories, but occasionally will slip into a sad phase that he would sleep off. He’s honestly not a solo drinker though, so this really happens maybe only once or twice

Only with his s/o, he’d be sooooo playful! Like, he’s going to pick them up and carry them around on his shoulders. He’d definitely be the guy to flirt like crazy with his s/o, even if it was just the two of them

nsfw

I don’t see him ding anything nsfw-ish when he’s with the trio? Like maybe he’d say something inappropriate or something like that lol but that’s it really

Hashi would totally just strip off all his clothing and walk around his house if he was drunk by himself. He’s just like, why not? If he could get away with being nude at home all the time he would tbh

Dude he’d be so sloppily hands-y, if his s/o was willing to take it from him. Like, he’d have his hands all over them and plant clumsy kisses all over their face. He would initiate the sweetest, clumsiest sex ever omg, just falling all over the place. If he tries to help his s/o undress, he’s going to get their shirt stuck on their head or can’t get their pants off their ankles lol.

Madara

In the trio, he’s just way more likely to pick petty fights with Tobirama tbh. Hashirama is the one to try and break them up, but it just never ends will for them at that point and their dudes night out is kinda ruined, until Hashirama can separate them and be so goofy he just can’t help but laugh at him and get over it, but he will shoot daggers with his eyes at Tobs the whole time

Madara really shouldn’t drink by himself honestly. It’s just not good for him. There’s nothing to distract him from all of his bad memories about the warring states time, and all of his doubts about himself and his capabilities in protecting the people he loves

Drinking alone with his s/o, he’d be too smooth. Damn this man, you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell he was drunk unless you got really close to them. He’d be more talkative, making all kinds of clever asshole comments

nsfw

Also wouldn’t do anything nsfw in the trio, except being really nasty with his insults at Tobirama if that even counts

Eh, not really anything nsfw by himself either if he was drunk alone. Unless, he just came from a really good night out where he really enjoyed himself (he’d also have to be really pent up and with his s/o), I could see him maybe, maaaaaybe jerking off by himself if he was drunk, but rarely. He’s not the type to do that anyway, he just thinks it’s messy and would rather just have sex, but if he’s really frustrated and coming drunk from a decent night he might indulge in himself

My dude. If he was alone with his s/o he’d totally try and get some. He’s just going to be more casual about it, but also less attentive in foreplay, and he’d be almost as clumsy about it as Hashirama. He’d leave a ton of marks behind, and be satisfied with himself in the morning after looking at the damage lol

Tobirama (I have the most difficulties writing him atm. Please forgive me if it’s not perfect, I’m just trying to keep it ic)

He’d be the grumpy one with the trio, even more so than Madara. At least Mads knows how to have a good time and relax a bit, but this man knows no chill. He’d let his sass flag fly and it’d be so savage. Honestly, watching/listening to him while he’s drunk with the trio would probably be really funny. They’d all be roasted so badly, poor Hashi lol

He’d be the one to go home drunk and immediately go to sleep it off. Tobi would just be out of energy and fucks to give, so it’s off to bed for him. 

He’s not that different with his s/o alone drunk. Still a total grump, still dishing out the sass. His s/o would have to have sooo much patience and bite their tongue with him. Tobi definitely means what he says, he just looses all tact when he’s drunk so things would come off harsher than he would ever intend them to

nsfw

Nothing in the trio here for this grumpy fluff

The most nsfw thing he would do drunk alone, would just be stripping himself before going the fuck to sleep lol. He’s just too grumpy to do anything else, even if he might be pent up

If his s/o wanted to mess around with him while he’s drunk, he would be really rough and sloppy with it. Tobirama is exactly an attentive lover anyway, but he’d be even less so in this state. He would also just be chasing his own orgasm, to the dismay of his lover. 

#hashirama #hashirama senju #madara #madara uchiha #tobirama #tobirama senju

[ruthdemoofins]

Cor Tutor - Chapter 1/? - Perc’ahlia

When Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third agrees to tutor a student for Professor Hydris’ statistics course, the last thing he expects to find is a witty, stubborn woman who’s not only completely intriguing on her own, but also has a handful of strange friends, including a giant bear and a terrifyingly protective older brother. Least of all, the last thing he expected was to find that she was the woman who’d approached him on the street the previous day, proclaiming him to be her boyfriend in front of her obsessive stalker, a man named Saundor.

Read on AO3: (X)

“I’m not meant to be here, brother. I should be out in those woods with Trinket, free as a bird,” her singsong voice and jazz hands only draw a groan from behind her. The skilled, brotherly hands braiding her hair grip into her locks and give a tug that evokes a yelp from Vex’ahlia. “Dick,” she mutters, crossing her arms tightly over her midriff in an ever-so-adult-like manner.

Vax'ildan only sighed, pursing his lips lightly, “When Syldor sent us here, he didn’t give a fuck what we made of ourselves, Vex’ahlia,” she cringes at the mention of their father, “He wanted us as far the fuck away from his new, perfect family as he could and I’m sure the last thing he expected us to do was get here, or at least, get you here.”

Admittedly, in the beginning, finding the footholds to attend university had been rough.  Vex and Vax had certainly made do with the deft hands they were born with, only running into the authorities on a few occasions. It’d taken a few years of hard (and often, illegal) work for them to find enough money to buy Vex'ahlia a place within the college and live a decently comfortable life in the meantime. They’d made do with the shitty financial aid offered to them and tried to ignore the fact that Syldor (the fuckhead) could’ve afforded to place them both within the university. Shitty fathers aside, Vex and Vax had rejoiced that they had the chance to make something of at least one of them, as one’s success was a shared happiness between the twins.

She’d always wanted to become a park ranger, ever since she was young. Vex'ahlia always wanted to protect the land that she’d grown up on, the rocks she’d scraped her knees on, the trees she’d learned to climb bare-footed. Most of all, she wanted to protect Trinket, but she’d never expected that she’d be sitting with goddamn statistics homework in front of her. She was studying environmental sciences, she should be in the sciences, not in complete duress over the mishmash of numbers and figures on the pages in front of her.

While, yes, Vex did quite enjoy Professor Hydris as a person and would love to get her completely head-over-heels wasted sometime, she did not enjoy the way she drew up horrifyingly confusing equations on the board. She definitely did not enjoy how most of the class seemed to understand it, while she struggled to resist the urge to flip her desk and scream.

“I don’t get it, brother. What the everloving fuck does this have to do with nature? It’s not like I’m going to be counting birds or some bullshit like that,” she moans, woefully passing the elastic band from her wrist to her brother as he gives her newly crafted braid a tug.

“Dunno,” he shrugs, quickly tying off her hair. He expertly hops to his feet, walking across the living-room/kitchen/bedroom of their small, shared flat to check his mobile. “What I do know is that Shaun’s expecting me and I don’t want to be late,” he tells her, rolling his eyes as her face furls in delight at the mention of Shaun. “Oh, Gilmore,” she sighs dreamily, resting her cheek against her clasped hands as she bats her lashes. “Of course you can’t leave Gilmore waiting, can you?” she coos, haphazardly nudging her statistics book away from her with her foot.

“Drop the shit, Stubby,” Vax’ildan huffs, jerking on his black pea-coat (the coat is so sulky and moody; completely perfect for Vax, in her opinion), “It’s work. Don’t fuck around with school, okay? You’ll work it out. You’re fucking stubborn, but you’re smart,” he walks over and leans down to press a kiss upon Vex’s head. “Try tutoring or some shit, yeah? They offer it for free. You know how we feel about freebies.”

Vex hides a smile under her hand as she rubs her nose, nodding compliantly, “Free shit is always good. Get out of here, give your boyfriend a kiss for me, all right?”

Vax stiffens at that, pausing to flick her forehead with his forefinger before expertly dancing away from the rebutting swing of her fist. He grabs the keys to his bike-chain and gives them twirl, shooting Vex a stern glare, “He’s not my boyfriend, twit.”

“Oh, is it Keyleth now? You’re so adorably bi, brother,” Vex grins ear to ear as her brother manages to cringe down into his jacket, so hesitant to talk about his relationships with her, his sister. The travesty of it all!

“What it is isn’t your goddamn business, yeah?” he shoots her a wide-eyed look of faux-annoyance (or maybe it is real, she doesn’t know)  before he’s out the door, leaving her to her misery.

Gilmore’s her favorite, really. When they were barely scraping by on the little money Syldor left them, literally taking free-samples from the grocery store for fucking dinner, Gilmore found her brother, offered him work. Of course, it wasn’t all entirely legal, but Gilmore was known for his merchandise, entirely legal or not. Though he acted it, the man wasn’t much older than them as it was (Vex'ahlia was quite the elderly junior), and he was glorious, as marketed. His sonorous tone and grand motions always had her on her toes, and not to mention the way he could make Vax blush. It was all too good.

He’d kept Vex doing some “recon work” for him, as he called it, but every so often, she’d tag along with her brother. They were always at their best when they worked together, but Vax had gone solo after she’d been dragged into uni.

She didn’t regret it, though, the uni part. She did, however, feel a horrible amount of guilt for Vax’ildan’s sacrifice. He claimed it made him happy, that their mum would’ve wanted this, but it was at his expense, really.

She knew Vax wasn’t a college kid, knew he’d get sick of all the curriculum bullshit and the pushing, but he did seem happy to be working for Gilmore, seemed happy to be around her friends from school (especially Keyleth).

Reverie wasn’t going to finish this horrible studying, though. With a grumble, Vex’ahlia flipped open her well-worn, brick of a laptop, pulling up her statistic class’s homepage to inquire about tutoring.

She fucking hated the idea of it, but at this point, the book seemed to be in an entire different language and she wasn’t going to waste Vax’s money on a shit semester.

On the bright side, it gave her the chance to communicate with the one and only Zahra Hydris (they would totally be best friends by the end of the semester).

“Percy, darling?”

Pervical Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third, jerked his head up from the book he’d been devouring (mentally, of course), feeling a lurch of impending doom as he spotted Professor Hydris at the edge of the table he occupied.

This certainly wasn’t going to be good. Not only had Zahra found him outside of class hours, but she’d found him in his secluded corner of the library with a smile on her face that was anything but hopeful for him. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever seen a smile on Professor Hydris’ face that offered any form of good fortune. She was the type of woman whom held a smile that was more of a baring of teeth, not exactly friendly, not exactly promising. He recalled freshmen spreading rumors that she’d had her incisors sharpened on purpose, though Zahra probably started that rumor herself.

She did love to terrify freshmen and Percy couldn’t object to that particular practice.

“Can I help you, Professor Hydris?” Mentally, he sorted through what he’s done lately. He was flying through her Research Methods course with bravado, he hadn’t fallen asleep in the student lounge for thirty-four hours since last year (he’d not slept an entire three days from working on studies of his own and studies for school before that particular hibernation) and he certainly hadn’t started a fire in the science center’s lab since freshman year.

Zahra’s smile eases up a bit at the hesitation in his voice, planting one hand on his occupied table and the other on her hip, “Remember when I said I’d forget that you fell asleep in class if you’d tutor for me in the beginning of the semester?” she questions.

“…Yes.”

“Remember when I said I’d probably never need to use you as a tutor anyway, so it was a…gracious deal…?” she winced lightly.

Ah.

Percy didn’t even remember how she’d convinced him into that in the first place. The idea of holding the slimmest chance of tutoring someone, someone who was entirely capable of being an asshole…How had she convinced him into that, anyway? She’d probably humbled him to the point of accepting without even quite realizing, damn her.

She takes his pause as the opportunity to continue, giving a soft huff of amusement, “It appears our patron-saint of tutoring is absolutely swamped,” Professor Hydris tuts softly, momentarily glancing about, probably for freshmen to terrify (they do call her the Dragon for a reason), before returning her piercing blue eyes to Percy. “Anyway, on top of her normal studies, Miss Trickfoot is well over her head with students to tutor and I was hoping you could take on just one student for me?” again, she winces lightly as she asks this, as if she understands the sacrifice it’ll require for him to actually mentor someone.

Percy does have plenty of free time this semester, admittedly. Enough for him to tinker, at least. The idea of mentoring a stranger, a potential asshole, spikes his nerves, but still, if it means he’s on her good side, it means he could get away with a few more naps after sleep-deprived nights of plotting. “I suppose I could,” he says. It might not be so bad, really. He’s not one to attempt to meet new people; meeting his only friend in the entire school, Keyleth, had been at her own expense, but he might as well have a go. This stranger/potential asshole might even be of use to him.

“Oh, good,” Zahra sighs, as though a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. She sinks into the seat across from him, rummaging through her messenger bag for a moment. “Her name is Vex’ahlia. A third year student in stats. I don’t know why, but apparently she’s required to take my course, even though she’s aiming to become a park ranger. Haven’t a clue what she’ll use it for, besides organizing a study on birds or something, but she reached out to me this morning, completely at a loss on what she’s looking at,” she explains, sliding a sheet of paper over to Percy. “Her number and email are there, I’ll leave the meeting times to you.”

Percy slides the paper closer with his index finger, nodding his head in response to Zahra where needed as she speaks.

“If she’s absolutely done for, let me know, but she’s a firebrand, at least from the few times she’s asked me for help,” Hydris wears a fond grin on her lips, eyes glossing over. Percy can’t imagine Zahra being anything but a firebrand at his age, probably had a chain of men behind her, to boot (he quickly wipes that particular mental image from his mind).

“I’ll contact her and see what I can do to help,” he assures, folding the paper and tucking it in the breast-pocket of his shirt.

“Thank you,” for the first time, she has an honest-to-Gods smile on her lips as she looks over to him. Percy can’t help but wonder if he’s truly been initiated as a senior now that he’s earned a smile from Zahra Hydris, but before he can ask aloud, Zahra is standing up and bidding him a good afternoon, bustling down towards the stairs.

Percy considered texting Vex'ahlia then and there, but the moment he flipped opened his ancient mobile, he was distracted by the array of texts from Keyleth, all including a ridiculously appropriate amount of emojis for her personality, and Cassandra, who was hoping that he could pick up dinner from their favorite takeout place.

He’d set up a meeting time later, he supposed. For now, he’d sit, read and pretend that he had no pending judgement to make on Vex'ahlia (still a potential asshole).

A buzz from his phone had him opening it again with a heavy, weary sigh, noting Keyleth had texted him, again (she’s a mother hen and he should expect this, he supposes).

“I’m coming to find you to bestow bagels upon you :)”

He hardly has time to sigh again, mourning the loss of a quiet afternoon of reading before Keyleth is approaching him, one arm precariously holding two sealed cups of what he’s hoping is coffee and the other, a bag of the apparent bagels-to-be.

She nearly spills both as she sinks down into the seat adjacent from him with a loud sigh, dropping the cups towards him and thankfully, it is coffee (how she doesn’t mind the scalding heat against her bare arms is unknown to him, but her dedication to cutting the sleeves off of everything she owns is admirable).

“So, Vax and me talked again,” she tells him with a bob of her head. The look on her face isn’t exactly confident, though Keyleth isn’t very confident to begin with, and Percy knows he’ll be here awhile.

Honestly, he’d never tell anyone, but he’s a little happier to spend the afternoon sitting, listening and pretending that he has no pending judgement to make on Vex'ahlia (the potential asshole).

So I got this idea in my head a week ago and it was like Scanlan sang me a sweet, sweet song about myself for inspiration dice or something because I am totally in love with writing this.

Anyway, I’m not entirely familiar with environmental science majors and I’m sure they don’t actually take statistics, but I also know that colleges love to put you in classes that aren’t your major and then blame you when…yaddayaddayadda. But yeah, don’t expect this to be 100% accurate for a legitimate park ranger hopeful.

Trigger-wise, I don’t think anything majorly /bad/ will be happening in this fic besides the whole stalking aspect. If that changes, I will leave a warning for sure.

As for the use of uber italics with Vex, it’s just how I hear her voice in my head and with Vax and Kiki and Gilmore, welp, who knows what that lil raven rascal will choose?

This is my first Critical Role fic and I’ve no beta, so please tell me how I’m doing! x

#critical role fanfic #perc'ahlia #percy de rolo #vex'ahlia #percival fredrickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii

[mankai-fanclub]

Gifter: Vantain Recipient: KT Character(s)/Pairing(s): Omi Fushimi/Itaru Chigasaki Rating: G Warnings: The slash is mild, practically squint-worthy Word Count: 1,368 AO3 Link: (TBA)

Message: Hi KT! I was just so intrigued this pair as per your suggested prompts. Not sure if I did it any kind of justice, but I really enjoyed writing it. Hope it’s to your taste! :D

—

Midnight Snacking is Good for the Soul, Not the Body

Before getting his start at MANKAI, Itaru’s long-haul gaming nights typically required either a call to the local pizza delivery or a trip to the convenience store. Now, the theater company affords him a couple of new, indispensable luxuries. First, there’s Kamekichi: the manager’s pet parrot who has willingly become Itaru’s winged delivery service for his smaller provisions. More importantly, with the addition of Autumn Troupe, there is now a capable in-house cook who is very eager to please.

At first, it’s all business. Itaru makes a request, Omi cooks it up, then Omi texts Itaru when he’s finished. If it’s something Omi can leave out, he’ll do so before attending to his own affairs. If it’s something better served hot, he’ll wait for the gamer to appear, plate the dish, and, if he’s not too busy, throw in a friendly chat before the fruits of his labor are whisked off to their inevitable end. This works just fine for Itaru, as he is very wary of strangers in his so-called “castle” and would rather enjoy his snackage on his own terms.

Soon, several late night talks and “For Itaru” notes later, Omi gets upgraded from “stranger” to somewhere between “delivery boy” and “friend” status. Itaru does the christening one night when he simply can’t remove himself from his controller for more than 2 seconds, time he uses to text Omi to leave his order by the door. It’s Misumi-proofed rice balls, which means they’ll keep for a while even if left unattended. Omi initially complies down to the letter, but as Itaru’s delivery requests increase, so does Omi’s time spent waiting in front of the door, until it becomes the norm for him to personally hand Itaru his midnight snack. In turn, it becomes the norm for Itaru to start eating in the doorway so he and Omi can talk about the weather, alternative menu options, and maybe their quirky families.

Slowly but surely, the “business” aspect of their midnight exchanges becomes threatened with extinction. Itaru stops requesting and learns to trust Omi’s impeccable taste, which exists even in what should be the crappy junk food category. Meanwhile, Omi weans himself off text signals and instead matches his preparations with Itaru’s strangely predictable playtime rhythm. It gets to the point where the visited will open the door just as the visitor is about to knock, and they’ll share a laugh about how weirdly perfect their timing is.

One fateful night, caution is finally thrown to the wind when Omi knocks on Itaru’s door, a tray of bite-sized sandwiches in tow. It’s odd, he begins to think, because it’s taken the gamer longer to respond than usual. He’s about to knock again when his phone alerts him to a very simple message: 

Come inside.

If it were anyone else they might have taken a moment to congratulate themselves for achieving such a milestone, but in Omi’s case, he doesn’t miss a beat and merely pushes open the door as if it’s the millionth time he’s done it. The darkness takes him instantly, although the television is kind enough to act as his beacon through the unfamiliar territory.

“Back up, back up!” Itaru’s voice barks suddenly. Omi freezes midstep.

“We agreed you take south exit! Are you even seeing the map?” This thought is punctuated with an exasperated sigh.

It takes Omi a few more seconds and a closer look to conclude that Itaru is not in fact talking to him, but rather whomever is on the other end of the earpiece he’s wearing. Relieved, the visitor ventures around the couch until he has a clear view of Itaru hunched over, feet firmly planted on the carpet as his fingers conduct a symphony on the controller.

Reading the atmosphere, Omi decides he should just leave the tray within reach on the table and be on his merry way. He only gets as far as laying the food down, though, when Itaru pointedly scoots over so an entire half of the couch is vacant. Then, as soon as Omi make residence on said prime real estate, he feels what turns out to be Itaru’s leg nudging his own rather aggressively.

“Aaaah~”

Omi looks up to find the gamer is still in his zone, but now with his head angled toward him and his mouth ajar. The whole thing comes off so comical that Omi can’t help but laugh as he touches one of the mini sandwiches to Itaru’s mouth and watches him scarf it down in seconds, eyes never once leaving the screen. After the third feeding, the former delinquent’s mischievous side hatches the simple but effective plan of holding the next sandwich a little further away than the others and using “Aaah~” as the signal for Itaru to open up. 

Sure enough, the gamer nets 0 percent sandwich and 100 percent air when his teeth clamp down. He bites valiantly 2 more times before Omi finally shows mercy amid amused laughs, except both of them overcompensate and Itaru nearly ends up with a side of fingers with his midnight snack. Luckily he’s able to put the brakes on when he feels the sensation of flesh on his lips, allowing Omi to retreat unscathed while the sandwich goes to its final resting place.

“Way to go,” Itaru sneers. He tears off the headset and dramatically places the controller on the table.

“Sorry, was that too much?” Omi’s still all smiles as he wipes his hands on one of the napkins he brought.

“Nah.” They finally make eye contact for the first time. “That match just reminded about why I prefer playing solo.” 

 “I see.” Omi watches as Itaru’s gaze falls onto his side of the couch and instinctively gives him room when he reaches over to grab his phone.

Although the visitor expects to be sidelined again, Itaru is kind enough to check on him while the loading screen is up on his mobile game. “Do you want to play something?” 

“Me? Games aren’t really my—”

“I have one I think you’ll like.” 

With that, Itaru is back on his controller navigating what looks to Omi like a space shuttle control panel on the screen. After the screen goes black a couple of clicks later, the pilot relinquishes his flying privileges to his bewildered passenger.

“Errr… are you sure I should be—"

Omi stops midsentence when the image of a girl holding a professional camera appears onscreen.

“It’s a game where you take pictures of cute animals. A piece of cake, I promise.” Itaru sinks back into the couch, fully engrossed in his phone. “Sorry, I’ve got an event starting now. Feel free to play around with it.”

More than happy to oblige, Omi begins his journey into the gaming world, which comes to a screeching halt when a system message prompts him to create a new save, because no previous data exists.   

…Which means that this game is either brand new, or Itaru’s never played it before. Not to read too far into it, but couldn’t that mean that the reason he even has this game is–

“Me?” Omi wonders aloud. The nonsensical comment passes under Itaru’s radar at first, so he reiterates himself while facing his benefactor.

“You’re a lot more generous than I thought.”

The gamer pauses. “You wound me.”

“Ah, I’m just surprised is all. This kind of thing might give off the wrong impression.”

 “Or the right one.” Their gazes meet as Itaru says this.

“…I’m starting to see why you’re so successful at work.”

“You should just play it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Omi returns to his task after a chuckle and genuinely becomes engrossed in the game thanks to the familiarity of the subject matter. He doesn’t know how much time passes, but at some point he feels Itaru shift until his side is slumped against him, head more on his upper arm than his shoulder. No one says anything about this, just continues doing his own thing as if this whole situation was totally normal.

Then it does become totally normal, and the other company members end up being collateral damage when the dinner menu mysteriously starts to cycle between pizza, ramen, and fried foods.

And that’s how the director reclaimed her curry’s rightful place as crowd favorite. …For like a day.

#rating: sfw #format: fic #a3hana2017 #chara: omi #chara: itaru #relationship: itaru/omi #submission

[mcneelamusic]

The Greatest Irish Fiddle Player of Our Time

The Greatest Irish Fiddle Player of Our Time

When people think of traditional Irish fiddle playing, they usually think of furious toe-tapping tunes played at a breakneck speed with fingers flying and bows bouncing off the strings. One Irish fiddle player is responsible for breaking the mould however, and inspiring countless generations in his wake.

Martin Hayes is regarded today as one of the greatest Irish fiddle players in existence. His unique playing style is recognised across the world. But how exactly has this musical legend innovated Irish fiddle playing?

Keep reading to learn about Hayes’ signature style. I’ll introduce you to some of his most iconic and innovative work and show you how you too can play like this master.

Take your playing to the next level with inspiration from the greatest Irish fiddle player of all time.

Contents

Late Night Kitchen Sessions

Child Prodigy

Angering the Purists

What Was the Cause of all the Fuss?

Slow is Sometimes Better than Fast

How to Play Like Martin Hayes

Possibly the Best Trad Music Partnership Ever

The Gloaming: A Worldwide Sensation

Follow in Hayes’ Footsteps

Learn a Tune by Playing Along with Hayes

Late Night Kitchen Sessions

Martin Hayes was born into a musical family in a small village in East Clare. Music sessions were commonplace in his household and he would often stay awake late into the night listening to the music coming from the kitchen. This immersion in Irish music and the tradition was the perfect breeding ground for his musical genius.

I grew up in a household filled with music in a locality with a rich musical heritage. My father PJ Hayes and my uncle Paddy Canny were both highly respected fiddle players in the world of Irish music. My father also led the Tulla Céilí Band for most of his adult life.

From the very beginning I loved this music and was eager to play. I got my first fiddle when I was seven and the slow process of imitation and absorption began in our kitchen with my Father as my teacher.

– Martin Hayes

Child Prodigy

Martin’s talent was recognised from a young age. At age 13, he won the All Ireland Fiddle Competition. This was but the first of many awards he was to receive throughout his life. Hayes was crowned an All Ireland Champion a grand total of six times – a huge achievement for any musician.

In 2000, he was awarded the prestigious Instrumentalist of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. He is also a recipient of both the coveted TG4 Gradam Ceoil award for Traditional Musician of the Year and RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Instrumentalist of the Year. In November 2019 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by National University of Ireland Galway in recognition of his contribution to the traditional arts.

While Martin Hayes is one of the most decorated traditional Irish fiddle players in the world, his music and playing style have not always received such high praise.

Angering the Purists

Today Martin Hayes’ soulful interpretations of traditional Irish tunes are recognised and celebrated the world over. This was not always the case however.

Hayes has faced criticism over the years, particularly in his early career, from Irish musicians who claimed his unique style is not representative of traditional Irish music. I for one have never agreed with this claim. (To be honest, trad purists will claim this about anything that’s the least bit innovative or outside the box.)

Hayes himself has always been well aware of this quiet judgment. Despite his successful music career, it wasn’t until he won the TG4 Gradam Ceoil in 2008 that he truly felt accepted by the tradition from which he came:

To me, it’s recognition from inside the world of the music itself, which I haven’t had in a long time. That vote of approval from the inner sanctum of the music is a very nice thing; it gives you a bit of strength going on.

– Martin Hayes

So what is it about his playing that so angered the gatekeepers of traditional Irish music?

What Was the Cause of all the Fuss?

Martin Hayes’ fiddle playing style is characterised by his unique laid back approach to the music. While he’s fully capable of playing tunes at a rip roaring pace (and occasionally does), more often than not, he chooses to drastically slow the tempo of the tunes he plays.

Why does he do this?

When you slow down a tune, you remove a lot of the rhythmic components on which traditional Irish music relies. Instead, the melody becomes the focus. This approach allowed the melody to shine through, taking pride of place. Suddenly, these simple melodies take on new shape and meaning:

While I can understand how it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no denying that Martin Hayes’ playing style comes from a place of great reverence for the music. His love for the tradition is evident in each note he plays. Never before has traditional Irish music been treated with such care.

Each note is carefully selected and played with the utmost sincerity. This is a man who respects his roots and wants to showcase the beauty of traditional Irish music:

In the learning process the dominant message always coming to me from my father and lots of the finest musicians of county Clare was their idea that music must first express feeling. In their opinion no amount of technical prowess could compensate for an absence of soulfulness.

I wasn’t content to simply imitate and reproduce, I needed to decipher the deeper musical aspirations of the older musicians. I needed to get to the heart of this music.

– Martin Hayes

Slow is Sometimes Better than Fast

Martin’s unique approach to Irish music has struck a chord with many.

In his music there is a sense of space and openness. The tunes he plays resonate differently than they would if played at a faster tempo. He allows the listener to engage with the melody, drawing them in with his haunting, soulful expression.

Hayes particularly excels at taking often overlooked tunes that people may dismiss as overly simplistic and giving them a new lease of life:

The melodies are sometimes deceptively simple but almost always beautiful and the rhythm is both understated and entrancing… My goal is to fully reveal the beauty and meaning of these tunes… My playing is focused on allowing the fullest expression of the melody.

The great genius of Irish music is therefore contained within the melody itself.

– Martin Hayes

One of my favourite tracks comes from Martin’s self titled debut album. Britches is his take on one of the best known Irish polkas in existence, The Britches Full of Stitches. Here, Hayes applies his signature touch, slowing the tune right down and exploring the melody and all it has to offer.

What emerges is a beautiful almost melancholy melody. The tune loses its polka feel, taking on a different persona entirely. It doesn’t lose any of its life or vitality however. Why not have a listen for yourself and see what your opinion is?

How to Play Like Martin Hayes

As you’ve probably noticed by now, Martin Hayes uses an awful lot of elongated sliding notes in his playing. These emphasised notes are also usually flattened slightly, sitting just below where the note should be pitched. This creates a vaguely minor tonality, adding an edgy quality to the tune. This stylistic feature has become synonymous with Martin’s playing.

Another distinctive aspect of Martin’s playing that is simple to emulate is the space he creates in tunes. He simply plays fewer notes. He lengthens the important structural notes within a melodic phrase and allows them to ring out. His melodies are never busy and he never overcrowds his playing with too many embellishments.

To truly learn how to emulate Martin’s iconic style however, why not learn from the master himself?

Learn a Tune by Playing Along with Hayes

Allow Hayes to teach you a tune on the fiddle as he takes you step by step through the traditional teaching method his own father taught him.

Possibly the Best Trad Music Partnership Ever

While it’s tough to choose a favourite (each of his albums is a gem), Martin’s 1997 collaboration with American guitarist Dennis Cahill definitely holds a special place in my heart.

Aptly titled, The Lonesome Touch might just be the best description I’ve ever heard for Martin’s own playing style. This album is a brilliant collaboration between two master musicians. I would argue it’s one of the best matched duets to ever exist.

Hayes’ and Cahill’s playing styles and sense of musicality perfectly complement one another. Like Hayes, Dennis Cahill plays just the right amount of notes. Nothing is ever too much. The care and focus with which he plays is evident throughout the album.

The Lonesome Touch offers twelve stunning tracks, each excelling in its own way. As on Martin’s solo albums, entire tracks are devoted to just one tune, rather than arranging them into selections (as is the norm).

The Kerfunken Jig is one such tune given this magical treatment. Played at half the speed one would expect to hear it performed at a session, this once ordinary jig is transformed. It takes on new life and a completely different energy. The tune is repeated with slight melodic variations and embellishments each time. Nothing complicated, yet the tune really sings:

Not all of Haye’s playing is quite so subdued however. This album also contains one of favourite renditions of the iconic reel, The Bucks of Oranmore. While still played at a slightly slower pace than usual, this version certainly isn’t lacking in drive or energy.

In this track you can hear that Hayes is not only a master of melody but also of his instrument. His performance, accompanied by Cahill’s flawless rhythmic guitar backing, is technically brilliant. A true lesson in virtuoso fiddle playing!

The Gloaming: A Worldwide Sensation

Once one knows the true essence of this music it is possible to absorb influences from almost anywhere and not alter the fundamental message of the tune… My collaborations with musicians of all backgrounds begins with the melody, with its universal appeal, its joy…

– Martin Hayes

Martin Hayes has collaborated with some of the greatest musicians in the world. His partnership with the outstanding Dennis Cahill was so powerful however that they decided to add a little more fire to the mix.

In 2011, Hayes formed the iconic ensemble, The Gloaming. In addition to Hayes and Cahill its members include sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionárd, fiddle player Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and pianist Thomas Bartlett. This all star lineup is a veritable who’s who of some of the greatest musicians not only in the world of traditional Irish music, but further afield.

While differing in so many ways, the members of The Gloaming all share a common thread in their exquisite musicality and their expressive approach to the music. The music they create together is haunting and tender. They extract the hidden beauty of each tune and song they perform. Their signature melancholy undertones succeed in bringing the listener on an emotional journey.

In 2014, the group won the Meteor Choice Music Prize for Irish Album of the Year. The innovative ensemble have continued to go from strength to strength, gaining further accolades along the way.

The iconic track Samhradh Samhradh is probably their most celebrated and it’s not difficult to hear why. This traditional Irish folk song is a celebration of the summer months. In The Gloaming’s hands however, it takes on a pensive, reflective mood. It perfectly evokes a sense of longing for the lost season and all that has gone with it. A true masterpiece:

Follow in Hayes’ Footsteps

If you’re not already a fiddle player and you’re feeling inspired by the magical fiddle playing of this legend, you might consider giving it a go yourself. It’s never too late to take up a new instrument and start learning traditional Irish music. Our Irish Fiddle Store has a wide range of fiddles and violins to suit all levels.

If you’re looking to take your playing to the next level, perhaps a new fiddle might be just what you need. The McNeela Maestro Violin will help transform you into a musical virtuoso in no time.

For more inspiration from some of the greatest fiddle players of our time, why not check out my blog post: Modern Day Traditional Irish Music Legends – Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.