#its like they tried to kill those ships

[glitterbuns]

This whole debate about where Link lives is funny because:

1) there's nowhere else where it's implied that he lives (and he needs to live somewhere ??? Lol. Also, he can sleep in Zelda's bed, but not in any other NPC's bed)

2) it is canon that he's practically always with Zelda (so it isn't practical for him to live far away from her)

3) it is also canon that Zelda made that secret room to concentrate better when she works alone (why would she need an extra room if she lives alone?)

Edit to add: 4) she hid her gift for Link outside the house so he wouldn't find it until after their investigations (I'm citing the text from Zelda's diary). If he doesn't live in the Hateno house there would be no risk of him finding it and no need to hide it outside

I think Nintendo just made it ambiguous because they'd rather being killed than making a main character ship canon, lol

#also they paired Sidon and Paya with other characters when they were the other alive characters that were mainly shipped with him #its like they tried to kill those ships #but either way no matter what you ship your headcanons come first🗣️ #botw #tears of the kingdom #the legend of zelda #breath of the wild #zelda #zelink #hateno village #loz totk #loz tears of the kingdom #i changed unalived for killed because people were being annoying i hope they can sleep peacefully tonight

[senseiwu]

"Whys lloyd nicer to harumi than his dad"

I think you just answered the question right there. His dad.

Meant to love and support and be there for him

But Lloyd's whole life has been marked by things his father has done. And then s8 onwards kicks it up a whole bunch of notches.

He doesn't have to accept any changes, after all his father has done.

He's also like a thousand/s of years old.

It's probably easier to think that someone around your age, who's only been doing bad things the past few years, who you know is hurt too, can change more. That might hurt less.

...there's also the whole thing of. Manipulation having lasting effects lmao

#just to be clear #i dont like the ship #and i dont know where people get the idea that theyre together #i just wish people in this fandom would TRY and understand complicated relationships with parents #do you know how much it hurts to have a parent be nicer to other kids than to you #now imagine those other kids are someone who tried to kill you and your friends. #and. #a fucking plant. #my basic point is #stuff hurts more from your parents than other people #maybe im projecting too much but... i dont like how some people treat lloyd in crystalised #hes allowed to be angry with his dad #especially when he tricked him into thinking he was dead so hed do something that he was terrified of???? #hello??? #imagine if wu had done that. youd never hear the end of how awful he is. #anyway. #ive only seen the season once but i dont think its as ooc as people seem to think #...i think a lot of them are wearing... shall we say... purple coloured glasses lmao

[heartfullofleeches]

Yan arena beasts/fighters + handler reader. Reader is an average human working at a zoo/shelters abducted and thrown into a life of caring for a galactic tyrant's playthings due to their experience with animals. Not an idea choice for the job, but with everyone who's had the job before being maimed, killed, or worse they were running out of options. Reader does the best with what they're given. They find solitude with the other captives to an extent and some of the more feral creatures remind them of stray cats and dogs they knew back home. They treat those who allow as those same poor creatures out of habit and to cope with their new life. Others are so aggressive they have to be blindfold and sedated to even get close. Reader still tries to comfort them despite the many scratches and bites they receive

A little mix up happens where a warrior meant to fight the big bad of the area had already been slain by the beast. With no alternative, reader gets sent out instead as sacrifice to appease the blood hungry masses. They cower in the corner as the beast's mask is removed, praying their battered body at least gets shipped home so they have a proper burial and their family has some clue to what happened to them. They cast their small dagger away still unable to defend themselves against what they only see as a frightened animal protecting its own skin. The beast lifts them off the ground like a ragdoll holding them high for the crowd to see as its fangs draw from its scarred lips - breaking the band around its wrist that would seal reader's victory.

The beast ties the rope around reader's neck as the announcer declares them victor by default. The crowd boos, but as the beast snaps the neck of one of the guards and throws the limb body into the arena their demands are met. Reader quakes from the sheer disbelief of the whole ordeal, and still being trapped in the beast's arms as it coos. It takes over a dozen guards to get them to separate the two. They try again with another beast reader has care for and the same thing happens. Watching the live footage closely it's clear to experts the skilled fighters allow themselves to get injured to be coddled and tended to by reader. When rations are given they try to feed reader a share of their meals. The number of casualties skyrocket when reader's taken away or new caretakers are introduced. The beasts demand their head pats and ear scratches for their winnings and they want it from one source alone.

-

The emperor is quite amused by this revelation. It perfectly masks his paranoia in the case of his pets rising against him for whatever reason and choosing the earthling as their new overlord which few have spoken of in whispers. He's torn between killing them to null his fears and befriending them to puppeteer his pets craftfully from the shadows. He decides on the latter since getting rid of them would only anger his pets. That and it would be so easy to trick the human with his charms. Few can resist the words and body of a king, after all.

"Y/n, darling, it's so good to see you! So glad you could make it. How have things been, hm?"

"I'd like to go home, please."

"Hahaha! Oh, you're so cute with your little jokes! You may enjoy your meal in due time, but I have a favor to ask of you from a friend to a king. In the case of I don't know - my pets slaughtering my entire legion and storming my castle walls to behead me and crown you ruler - would you pretty please ask them to - not do that?"

"That....sounds like it would be out of my hands."

"Right. Changing subject, you are aware I have been topless this whole conversation and my bed is right behind me. Why haven't you attempted to have your way with me by now? Not saying you could - but you can always try."

The emperor upgrades their room to one right next to his, but they hardly sleep there favoring their time caring for the others and because they'd rather stay there than see him in a state of undress on their mattress. The emperor mimics the cooing that gets wounded beasts extra smothering from their handler, but reader mostly ignores him. He grows jealous seeing them fast asleep in a cell kept warm by the body heat of the battle scarred creatures around them. He's been scarred by attempted assassinations in the past - why doesn't he get cuddles too? Combats this jealously by making a royal decree that reader has to sit with him during every battle and on his lap if they wish to stay out of his sight afterwards. Requests for reader's fredom and hand in marriage and when a champion is chosen are banned almost immediately.

#yandere imagines #yandere headcanons #yandere scenarios #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere blurb #yandere insert #yandere oc #yandere emperor #yandere harem

[asterlark]

me and den @unloneliest were just talking about murderbot and ART's relationship and i want to discuss how they quite literally complete each other's sensory and emotional experience of the world!!

there's a few great posts on here such as this one about how murderbot uses drones to fully and properly experience the world around it (it also accesses security cameras/other systems for this same purpose). but i haven't seen anyone so far talk about how once MB stops working for the company and consequently doesn't have a hubsystem/secsystem to connect to anymore (which for its entire existence up to that point had been how it was used to interacting with its environment/doing its job), after it meets ART, ART starts to fill that gap.

ART gives MB access to more cameras, systems, and information archives than it would normally be able to connect with while MB is on its own outside of ART's... body(? lol), but also directly gives MB access to its own cameras, drones, archives, facilities, and processing space. additionally, so much of ART's function is dedicated to analysis, lateral thinking, and logical reasoning, and it not only uses those skills in service of reaching murderbot's goals, it teaches murderbot how to use those same skills. (ART might be a bit of an asshole about how it does this, but that doesn't negate just how much it does for murderbot for no reason other than it's bored/interested in MB as an individual.)

we all love goofing about how artificial condition can basically be boiled down to "two robots in a trench coat trying to get through a job interview" (which is entirely accurate tbh) but that's also such a great example of ART fulfilling the role of both murderbot's "hubsystem" and "secsystem", allowing it to fully experience its environment/ succeed in its goals. ART provides MB with crucial information, context, and constructive criticism, and uses its significant processing power to act as MB's backup and support system while they work together.

from ART's side of things, we get a very explicit explanation of how it needs the context of murderbot's emotional reactions to media in order to fully understand and experience the media as intended. it tried to watch media with its humans, and it didn't completely understand just by studying their reactions. but when it's in a feed connection with murderbot, who isn't human but has human neural tissue, ART is finally able to thoroughly process the emotional aspects of media (side note, once it actually understands the emotional stakes in a way that makes sense for it, it's so frightened by the possibility of the fictional ship/crew in worldhoppers being catastrophically injured or killed that it makes murderbot pause for a significant amount of time before it feels prepared to go on. like!! ART really fucking loves its crew, that is all).

looking at things further from ART's perspective: its relationship with murderbot is ostensibly the very first relationship it's been able to establish with not only someone outside of its crew, but also with any construct at all. while ART loves its crew very much (see previous point re: being so so scared for the fate of the fictional crew of worldhoppers), it never had a choice in forming relationships with them. it was quite literally programmed to build those relationships with its crew and students. ART loves its function, its job, and nearly all of the humans that spend time inside of it, but its relationship with murderbot is the first time it's able to choose to make a new friend. that new friend is also someone who, due to its partial machine intelligence, is able to understand and know ART on a whole other level of intimacy that humans simply aren't capable of. (that part goes for murderbot, too, obviously; ART is its first actual friend outside of the presaux team, and its first bot friend ever.)

and because murderbot is murderbot, and not a "nice/polite to ART most of the time" human, this is also one of the first times that ART gets real feedback from a friend about the ways that its actions impact others. after the whole situation in network effect, when the truth of the kidnapping comes to light and murderbot hides in the bathroom refusing to talk to ART (and admittedly ART doesn't handle this well lol) - ART is forced to confront that despite it making the only call it felt able to make in that horrifying situation, despite it thinking that that was the right call, its actions hurt murderbot, and several other humans were caught in the crossfire. what's most scary to ART in that moment is the idea that murderbot might never forgive it, might never want to talk to it again. it's already so attached to this friendship, so concerned with murderbot's wellbeing, that the thought of that friendship being over because of its own behavior is terrifying. (to me, this almost mirrors murderbot's complete emotional collapse when it thinks that ART has been killed. the other more overt mirror is ART fully intending on bombing the colony to get murderbot back.)

in den's words, they both increase the other's capacity to feel: ART by acting as a part of murderbot's sensory system, and murderbot by acting as a means by which ART can access emotion. they love one another so much they would do pretty much anything to keep each other safe/avenge each other, but what's more, they unequivocally make each other more whole.

#the murderbot diaries #murderbot #asshole research transport #network effect #mine #idk what else to tag lol #BIG thanks to den unloneliest for helping so much with the drafting/editing of this!!! #we both were having some brain fog issues yesterday so we joked that with our combined forces we can make one (1) post lol #just like mb and ART fr!!!! #anyway im so fucking emotional over themmmmm #murderbot meta #the murderbot diaries meta

[multific]

All He Wanted

Assassin Predator x Reader

Warning: Smut

Part 2

Summary: Being at the wrong place at the wrong time was your speciality, however, you never imagined that a creature like him would take you.

He was a bad blood.

He killed his own kind.

Yet, he never even imagined hurting you.

His small, vulnerable human.

You were his prize. He won you after his completed mission. He not only killed the fugitive, got the weapon but also a little human.

You didn't even mean to be there.

But the huge alien got you and into a cage in a matter of seconds. You were on its ship as it started the engine and off he went.

You were terrified. This being was huge and ruthless. You could only imagine the things it would do to you.

When you arrived back at its home, it made you wear a collar. Which it showed you, it could shock you with. It was similar to the one the dog creature was wearing. You nodded, you understood what it might do if you don't follow its rules.

Why would it think you would run anyway?

You didn't know how to fly their ships. You didn't know what to do or where to go anyway.

With the collar around your neck, you stayed in its home.

The dog creature had an eye on you at all times. Even when its owner was out of the home.

---

He was made to kill.

A creature born to destroy and conquer. His purpose was to carry out the missions he was sent on.

Missions no one else wanted to go on. Which meant a lot given Yautja was a fearless kind.

And yet, he had a conscious of his own. A character.

He liked his dogs, well now he only had one, he liked to hunt and he liked to eat. He liked his bed even if it was a little small for his size. And he liked you.

His little human.

He was always very curious about you. Watching you as you moved around his home. He knew if you would try anything, his dog would stop you. Not like you were strong enough to do anything to him, but the idea still made him watch out.

It made him look up humans and behaviours, he learned a lot.

And if he had to be honest, many aspects excited him to no end.

One was that he learned humans were fragile. Which he saw when he was sent to Earth. But females were said to be able to handle pain a lot better than males. This caught his attention, so perhaps, because you were a female, you handled this situation a lot better than any man could.

It made sense why you didn't do anything to him when he was sleeping or why you didn't try and escape.

Another interesting thing he learned was that when he looked at your biology and his, he could easily deduce that you could potentially carry an offspring of his. Although it was never done before, and he thought you might die due to the infant, it was something that still interested him.

Possibly an issue would be the act itself, you were so small compared to him. Another would be the child itself, it could be that your body would attack his DNA.

It was so interesting, but he didn't want to test these things without knowing it was safe for you.

Then, something that people called, making love.

In his world sex was more like a fight. Yautja males fought females to prove they were strong.

In yours, sex was more like a pleasurable thing. Something to do when you were bored even.

And he liked that. He preferred this idea over the claws.

He also learned that human females were hard to charm. He learned about gifts, and courting techniques.

If he was honest he rather fight a female to bare a child than get those chocolate things... but if that is what you liked. He can create his own version.

And he also knew that because of how he was born no Yautja female would want to carry his child. He tried courting before, but always failed.

---

You had a love-hate relationship with your new life.

You liked that you weren't dead, and you got used to the huge alien's presence but you hated the fact that you were a pet.

Much like the dog you spend every night looking at, fearing it might eat you.

You were sure that if you let your guard down for a second it would attack.

You weren't sure how long you were on this planet.

You would say months, but time was different here.

The huge alien sometimes left for days, only leaving food behind.

During this time, you always ate silently in a corner. Then the dog-like creature decided one day, that he would sit down in front of you and watch you.

It didn't leave, but you slowly gave him the bones, which he appreciated.

You two started to grow closer.

---

Assassin arrived back at his home from yet another successful mission.

And the scene he found was burned into his brain.

It was you and his dog.

Sleeping.

You had your back against the wall as the dog's head was in your lap, one of your hands on its head as you both slept soundly.

This vicious killer tracker dog of his looked like your lap dog right now.

He didn't know if he should be amazed or not.

After all, the dog was to keep you in check when he wasn't around and yet, here it was, cuddling you. And in a weird way, this still counted as keeping you in check.

How did you manage to do that?

After that day, the dog became your protector. He watched as it moved with you.

Also, it didn't take long to figure out how you did it.

Food.

These creatures were easy, of course, you lulled one in with food.

But somehow, he didn't mind it.

Lately, there had been an uproar amongst the tribe against him.

Telling him how he wasn't natural, that he was made and so he doesn't deserve the Yautja title.

Others didn't like the fact that he killed another, calling him a bad blood. Even if he was only carrying out the mission he was told to.

So, he expected others to try and get into his home. Possibly to kill him or to kill the things he kept. He wasn't sure, but if the dog stayed with you, that meant at least you had some little protection if others were to come.

---

One morning, he gathered all of his things and left for another planet.

He choose a rather scary one but it was to keep the others away.

And they stayed away.

He had been there for a week, yet no one came looking for him. And he built a house, mainly staying on the ship to sleep, soon you were able to move into the new home.

This planet was different but not in a bad way.

He showed you many things to avoid, without words proving just how dangerous this planet was.

This planet had different seasons as well.

You realized it soon when after a warm day, winter hit. Or at least it was something you would call winter.

The wind was blowing and you noticed something that was like rain.

It made the home extremely cold. The fact that besides his bed everything was made out of metal didn't help your situation.

Your sleeping place, a single fur on the floor, was now wrapped around your shoulder. You were really really cold.

Freezing.

But both he and his dog were sleeping soundly while you were shivering.

You looked at him, sleeping in his warm bed and you were jealous. Extremely jealous of the furs and also for his thick skin.

He must have noticed you watching because the next thing you knew, he clicked, making you jump a little.

"I-I'm cold." you explained as you watched his eyes in the dark. He didn't move.

You started to turn away, deciding to find a corner and try to sleep. But a huge hand stopped you.

It pulled on the fur you had wrapped around yourself and made you turn back.

You locked eyes with him once more as he was now very close. He started to pull you closer until you were kneeling on the bed, the fur fell from your shoulders as he pulled you in.

He laid down and made you lay next to him.

Very awkwardly, you laid with your back against his side as his arm was under your head.

This truly made you realize just how huge this being was.

He could rip your spine out with one movement, and yet he didn't.

He just let you lay there as he placed multiple furs on you.

His body heat and the warmth of the furs soon lulled you to sleep.

Before you fell asleep you couldn't help but think just how strange he behaved.

A being as huge as him, yet he was careful and soft with you. Then he moved a little, making your head move up his arm onto his biceps, as his forearm was now resting on you, his hand grabbing at your thigh. He caged you in.

But if you were honest, never in your life have you ever sleep as well as you did on that night.

Next morning, you woke up in the same position.

You were even more scared to move. You though possibly he was in a haze last night so he pulled you in, but reality might set in now that he will wake up soon.

You didn't realize that he was awake for some time now.

He listened to your soft snores as you didn't even move an inch, you slept so well and so deep. He didn't even dare to move an inch, afraid he would wake you.

He just knew, from that day on, you would have to sleep with him always.

But he didn't communicate that, so that evening when you got ready to sleep on your usual spot, he scooped you up, as if you were a baby and put you into his bed.

This time, he slept on his stomach with an arm on your stomach. You felt like a stuffed toy.

You noticed he didn't mind you touching him. So, your fingers found his scales as you started to run random patterns on them. You enjoyed his slightly cold skin against yours.

It became a routine, you tracing his scales as he was falling asleep. He often made a noise, something that reminded you of a cat purring as he fell asleep.

How interesting was he.

A completely different species, and yet, you had a feeling he could be more human than some of the humans on Earth.

Sure, you were only a pet for him, sure he killed everything in his path as he pleased. Yet, he never hurt you.

Not even when he forced you into a cage so he could take you from Earth.

You fully expected him to hunt you or torture you, but he never. He treated you as if you were his most precious trophy he had.  

The next morning, you woke up and he was missing. Something that never happened so it made you worry a little.

You got out of the bed and walked over to the door. He stood outside, this is when you noticed a ship was about to land. He growled and it made you lock yourself inside the house you got the dog and crouched in a corner.

He will deal with this. He will deal with them.

He will keep you safe.

You heard growling outside, you heard the audible sounds of fighting.

He will have to win. He was big and strong right?

He can take a couple of them at the same time, can't he?

He could, but not without injury.

He sent back word, and asked them to leave him be if they plan on living.

He hoped it would scare the others enough to not come again? He couldn't risk it.

Once inside, he noticed you were in a corner, the dog in front of you protecting you. Exactly how he was supposed to.

And once again, he was on the run.

You were a bit sad to leave that house behind. You started to get used to the layout and the surroundings pretty well.

But you understood the situation.

During the flight, he moved you to the screen.

'We go, they followed. I will make sure this time they won't find us.' it read. You nodded at him, he handed you a device. 'Translator' he said.

"Thank you. For keeping me safe."

This time he nodded.

"Eat." said the robotic voice later when he handed you a bowl. You accepted and ate without any further questions.

Finding a new planet, which was mostly not filled with dangerous creatures was difficult, he knew he would be fine, but he couldn't chance you getting hurt.

But he managed to finally find one. After weeks of looking.

A new planet a new start.

---

He spent months on this home.

He made it bigger.

Which you noticed. He added more rooms.

"Why did you add so many rooms?" you asked one late evening.

"Offsprings." the translator said, it made you freeze. Of course, he would want to take a female. You should have expected this, after all, you were only a pet for him.

He noticed the sadness in your eyes.

"Why sad?"

"I'm not. Should I cook?" he nodded.

Of course, you would be sad. You were his pet, sure but at the same time, you wanted nothing more than to be his. So, to hear him talking about offspring you were sure he wanted to take a female now.

You cooked the meal and ate in silence.

"Are you not ready for offspring?" now this made you super confused.

"Me?"

"Yes. Do you not want offspring?" you blinked a couple times before moving a little.

"What do you mean?"

"I can prove I'm worthy male for offsprings with you. I hunt, I protect."

"What do you mean?"

"I want... baby with you. Do you not?" you looked at him as if he grew a second head or something. Confusion was a light word.

He wanted a baby with you? Would it even work?

"I don't think we can."

"I checked. Our biology can be combined. You can survive birth. I checked."

"Has it been done before?"

"No."

"Then how do you know that either me or the baby won't die?"

"I checked. I played scenarios, in each, even the worst, I could save you."

"Both me and the baby?"

He nodded.

Was it truly possible?

"I gave gifts, courting gifts. Hoped to win you over." Sure he did give you a lot of bones but you thought those were... toys for his pet?

Did he not see you as a pet? Did he really see you as an equal? As a female who can bring his children into this world?

Was that even possible?

Or were you just too hopeful?

Too naive?

Was he serious?

He was, you didn't know but Yautja didn't joke.

You nodded at him.

"You won me over. But but WAIT! WHAT?! How big are you?! You wouldn't fit me!"

"I checked."

"How did you check?"

"Human biology."

"How would your... thing fit me?"

"My...thing... not fully. But it could bring you pleasure if you practice." your head was spinning. Was he really saying this. "We need to stretch you so I won't hurt you, then you can take me and we can have baby."

"Fuck it, let's do it."

After all, what did you have to lose?

---

Of course, he had done his research. Every movement was calculated, and the main goal was not to hurt you.

You didn't dare to ask how he found the... stretchers.

You were no virgin but even so, as the size got bigger and bigger, you were nervous.

After a couple of tries however, you were surprised just how easily a size could fit you.

And soon, he was able to be inside you. Opening you up as you moaned in pleasure. He never made a wrong movement.

He was so gentle.

It made you feel as if you were made out of porcelain, he was so caring and kind.

He did bite your neck and back. Saying they were marks.

Not like you had others to show your mark to. But he liked to cover you in them.

Unfortunately, your baby had other ideas. While you couldn't wait to carry a little one, no baby.

You wanted to give up trying and just accept that it won't happen but your Mate had other ideas.

He blamed himself while you blamed yourself.

He thought the issue was the fact that he was created not born. But then why did all his scenarios all end with a baby?

He slammed the table, making you jump at the loud noise. He looked over at you from his screen.

You knew why he was agitated.

You knew how much he wanted a baby.

"On my planet... if a couple can't have a baby, they say it wasn't meant to be. It will happen on its own. We just have to keep trying and hope for the best." you said into the translator as he listened to your words.

"It is meant to be. I checked every scenario."

"Yes, but you didn't check the scenario in which the baby isn't ready."

"Infants don't have conscious. Can't make decisions like that."

"I'm aware, but as I said, we just have to keep trying, it will happen once. Would you be disappointed in me if I couldn't give you a child?"

"Mate can provide. Checked. You are able to provide. You cannot disappoint me."

You reached over and placed your hand on his.

"We keep trying. It will happen I know it." he nodded once.

---

Keep trying you did.

Then another wave of winter hit, and this planet was worse a lot worse than the one before. You were so incredibly cold, it ended up with you getting sick.

You couldn't hold anything in your stomach.

Your Mate had to check you with his devices and this is when he saw it.

A fetus.

Undeniably.

You looked at the screen when he froze and saw the baby yourself.

You finally did it!

You finally got pregnant!

But... why wasn't he happy?

You looked at him as his golden eyes looked back at you. He leaned over turning the screen to you. You nodded before he grabbed the translator.

"This is why you are sick."

"Yes, pregnancy tends to do that, but why are you... not happy?"

"Baby made you very sick. I don't think you can keep baby."

"What? WHY?" he didn't need a translator for that one.

"Baby makes you too weak. Both of you in danger."

"I'm NOT letting you kill my baby! I want this child, you wanted this child! You said you checked every scenario, every solution! How come you didn't know then?"

"Because in my scenarios, you were healthy, not ill."

"I just have a cold. It will go away in a couple days. Please don't... give me time, give me medicine."

"You could die."

"We tried so hard for this baby. I cannot lose them just because I'm ill."

"If it becomes too dangerous..."

"Give me a week." he nodded.

A week to get better, you cannot lose this little one. Your eyes were glued to the monitor in front of you. Admiring this little alien baby that you had inside you.

You must have gone insane.

No, you went insane when you realized that you actually had deep feelings towards an 11foot tall alien.

In a week's time, you did start to feel better.

But the Predator was surely disappointed in himself.

He was ready to get the fetus out of you the second he realized that it was making you more and more sick. Without thinking he would have done that.

He could have many children in the future, but there is only one You.

He checked you daily. He noticed you were getting better. And he also noticed that you smiled a lot more. You looked at the screen which he paused on the fetus.

No distinguishable features so far. But the little bean on screen already had you wrapped around their entire being.

Both literally and figuratively.

Your Mate kept a close eye on you. Even the dog became more protective as the baby grew.

Your small form changed a lot, he noticed. And he liked it very much. It was his greatest pride.

He always watched you on the bed, sleeping with your belly round, he felt like the proudest Yautja. He would stay up and just watch you, never once touching you, just observing as you slept. Ever so often you moved a little.

It was still winter, the harsh weather making you curl under the furs. He watched as one fell off of you, causing you to get cold as you soon woke up to get your warmth back.

You spotted him sitting in the dark. Although it wasn't unusual, you were very cold. You held your hand out to him as he stood up and walked over. laying down next to you on his side while you glued yourself to his side. You placed his arm on your belly.

He was huge, scary, murdered man and his own kind. And yet, this is what he wanted, a female and a child.

Part 2

More Yautja

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~Masterlist~

ˇAO3ˇ

             DO NOT REPOST OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORKS

#predator #alien vs predator #predator x reader #predator x you #predator imagine #predator imagines #yautja #yautja x reader #yautja x human #yautja x you #yautja imagine #yautja imagines #The Predator #slasher #slasher x reader #slasher imagine #slasher imagines #slasher smut #predator smut #predator x human reader

[wifeofsnowbaird]

Can you write something with Katniss meeting Coriolanus wife. And she's like 'he wasn't always like this' ???

thats so depressinggggg but absolutely its my job. sorry its so short tho, i tried but this felt like an end ykwim?

He was my man, but now he's just a stranger...

(no ship ig, kinda Hunger Games trilogy! Coryo x wife!reader)

Queen of Hearts vibes

Summary: Katniss meets the First Lady of Panem.

Meeting [Name] Snow was a slow anticipated reach into the tresses of the Capital 'nobility'.

Katniss was slightly terrified, having heard that she was a scary woman who would order Peacekeepers to cut your head if you even passed her.

All Snow's are Lions, she'd learned, aiming for nothing but the kill.

But looking at her now, with her long, shimmering, dark blue dress cascading over her frame and her sad [e/c] eyes gazing into the bright rose garden, she had nothing but sympathy in her veins for Snow's wife. By her tensed body, Katniss knew she noticed her walk into the room.

"You know, that rose garden and I, we aren't much different. He prizes us but he says we do nothing but wither." She gazed at the brunette, analyzing Katniss' emotions through her bright green eyes.

" He wasn't always like this...I miss those times."

Katniss burst into laughter, shaking her head as disbelief struck her core.

" No, a man like Snow was born evil, and they deserve to rot in hell."

A slow, sad sigh fell from the First Lady's lips, reminiscing about the life she had with Snow before his yearning for power.

" That's what I thought too, till I fell for nothing but his sweet smile..."

#ballad of songbirds and snakes #tom blyth #coriolanus snow x reader #tom blyth imagine #the hunger games trilogy #the hunger games #fear and hunger #cruelty #President Snow's wife #president snow #tbosas fanfiction #thg fanfiction #thg series #hunger games #thg movies #district 12 #the capital

[atlabeth]

bad luck - nikolai lantsov

summary: you have little hope after being captured by slavers in the depths of ravka. but then your ship is commandeered, and you get a little more than you bargained for with your privateer savior.

a/n: sorry that it has been a while since ive posted anything on here and sorry about my neglect for my other series but i am a nikolai lover first a writer second and a person third!!! apparently i cannot write a normal length one shot with this man but i hope you enjoy

wc: 5.3k

warning(s): fem!reader, sturmhond!nikolai, reader is captured by slavers but there is no detail, mentions of fighting and killing, mentions of arranged marriages, reader is highkey annoyed by sturmhond lmao, but a fluffy (and lowkey steamy) ending

At first, you’d thought you were hallucinating. 

You couldn’t remember the last time your captors had given you, given anyone in the brig, water, and the beginning of a spiral into insanity wouldn’t have exactly surprised you. 

Explosions, gunshots, the screams of dying men. You’d imagined the entire crew dropping dead many times so it wasn’t a shock that this was where your madness would begin. You just closed your eyes, tried to pretend you weren’t in chains, and reveled in the sound. 

And then the door to the brig was broken down, and your eyes shot open. You moved to the front of your cell, gripping the cold bars as you looked to see what sort of new danger had been brought upon you. 

Instead, you were met with a cocky-looking man—though he hardly appeared old enough to be called a man—a pistol in his relaxed grip and another hanging by his side. His bright teal frock coat didn’t belong in a dingy place such as this. 

“Hello, all,” he said pleasantly. “I am happy to say this ship has been commandeered.”

Your grip slackened. “What?”

Your question was drowned out by immediate rioting by all the other prisoners, and the man glanced at the woman by his side. She took one of her two axes from its place at her hip and walked over to your cell. Her golden eyes gleamed, and her axe moved in a barely visible flash. She’d chopped the lock clean off, and the cell door creaked open. The whole brig had fallen silent. 

You took another step back, eyes still wide. The man walked up next to her, peering inside your cell at all the prisoners bunched in together, but when his eyes met yours, they widened. His entire body went rigid for a moment, so imperceptible that you thought you’d imagined it when he looked away. 

“I have no desire to keep you all here against your will,” he said. “Call me your liberator, call me your savior, call me a captain who just hates slavers—it doesn’t matter to me right now. The only thing that matters to me right now is that this is my ship.”

“Are we free?” you asked.

Again, the captain’s expression changed ever so slightly when he looked at you—this time, you knew you hadn’t imagined it. 

“Yes,” he said, the corner of his mouth turning up in a slight smile. “You’re free.”

You couldn’t help but smile yourself, and the chains around your wrists felt lighter knowing they would be off soon.

The captain cleared his throat as he turned away, looking at the rest of the prisoners. “Now, do any of you know where they keep the keys on this ship? If we can’t find them, Tamar here will use those handy axes on your shackles.”

Someone spoke up and the captain sent one of his men off to retrieve them, then he looked at the golden-eyed woman. Shu, no doubt. “Tamar, get the rest of these cells open then bring them above deck. I’d like to make a speech.”

She nodded and got to work. Soon enough, you were breathing in salty air and reveling in the wind on your face. You’d been below deck for far too long, and the feeling of sunlight on your skin was glorious. You allowed yourself a moment to close your eyes and just enjoy it. Your mind blocked out the spilled blood and dead bodies of the crew that you had to walk through. You wouldn’t shed any tears for them, but you weren’t accustomed to the brutality that your parents sheltered you from. 

“I’d like to introduce myself to you all.” You opened your eyes and the captain was speaking, standing in front of the orderly line you’d all formed. The Shu woman from before—Tamar, he called her—stood at his left, and a similarly golden-eyed man had just joined them. Between his size and her axes, you were quite thankful they were—at least for now—on your side. 

“You can call me Sturmhond,” he said. “Perhaps you’ve heard of me, perhaps you haven’t. I don’t particularly care. As you likely saw, each and every man and woman previously aboard this ship is dead, in case you doubted my promises to your freedom. That is what I care about.” 

The thought would have normally made bile rise in your throat. You may not have been accustomed, but you liked to believe you weren’t wholly naive. 

“But I want to be clear,” the captain said, “this is not a rescue. This is an opportunity.” 

Sturmhond gestured with his head and a woman stepped forward, lithe with wispy hair divided into two braids. She moved her hands apart and concentrated, and with a few concise movements, the cuffs around your wrists broke apart and fell to the ground. Your eyes widened, and the exacerbated clatter made you glance down the line, same as some of the others—she removed everyone’s shackles at once. 

Sturmhond kept company with Grisha. You knew the captain was Ravkan from his accent, but any connection to the Grand Palace and the King sent unease trickling down your spine. The chances were small, what with how much time Grisha spent in the Little Palace—Saints, the Fabrikator might not even be Ravkan—but there was still a chance. The last thing you needed was to be recognized. 

“We didn’t really need the keys,” Sturmhond said with a boyish smile. Again, you were struck by how out of place he looked—he should have been in university, not heading operations like this. “I just wanted to make you all squirm a little. Tamar’s axes are quite terrifying.” 

“Who says we want any part of your opportunities?” asked a man from down the line. 

“Because I’m allowing you the choice,” the captain said. “Those of you who wish to be free of the sea and her constraints, we are by the Zemeni border. You will be dropped at the nearest harbor, and your fate will be back in your control.”

There were grumblings throughout your fellow prisoners and you glanced at them. It was a better offer than any of you would have gotten, a chance for freedom that you thought was long past you. Novyi Zem had no grief with Ravka, so you would be safe enough there. You could get a job working the fields or in a factory, and once you had enough you could book passage back to Ravka. You could find your family again. 

Your throat tightened. You ran from them—that was why you were here in the first place. Maybe it would be better to try and start a new life all together, nameless in Novyi Zem. No one would ask questions, you were sure of it. You would be in control of your fate again. 

And then the captain got a glint in his eye. Your spine straightened almost on instinct. 

“As for those of you who want revenge,” he tilted his head, “you can earn a place in my crew.” 

“Why would we work for you?” a woman from across the brig shouted. “We’ve got our freedom!” 

“Because there is little more satisfying than causing the destruction of those who tried to destroy you,” Sturmhond said. “And because the sea is rather lovely when you’re not a captive.” 

“That is my opportunity to you all.” He clasped his hands together, the wind ruffling his red hair. “A chance to help those like you, and put slavers at the bottom of the ocean where they belong.” 

“Why would we want to work with pirates?” you spoke up. “We have lives to get back to. And half of us aren’t fighters.” 

You didn’t know what it was about you that made Sturmhond’s expression shift just so each time he looked at you, but it was beginning to irk you. 

“Privateer, actually,” he corrected. His voice was annoyingly smooth, and his unyielding confidence even more irritating. “As I said, it’s your choice. And it will take us three days to reach Novyi Zem, so you will have time to decide.” 

You huffed a laugh, but decided to stay silent. You’d dealt with too many men like him, but it wasn’t a bother—in three days, you would be back in the same position you were in before your bad luck struck. 

“Now,” the captain said with an equally smooth smile, folding his hands behind his back, “any questions?”

Nobody spoke up. Whether it was out of fear or simple ambivalence you didn’t know, but you didn’t feel like getting on the captain’s bad side. You planned to keep your head down for three days and figure it all out in Novyi Zem. 

“Wonderful. We’ll divide our forces between this ship and the Volkvolny,” he said. “Any of you who wish to transfer ships will be allowed.” His lip curled as he looked around the dingy conditions of the slaver ship. “I doubt you want to spend much more time on board this wreck.”

“Some of my crew will get you situated as we prepare to set sail,” Sturmhond continued. “If you find you have any burning questions later, save them or direct them to Tolya here.” He gestured to the Shu man as tall as a tree standing by him, and he only looked slightly irritated to be given up like that. 

“I suppose the only thing left to do is officially welcome you aboard.” Sturmhond swept an arm through the air. “I hope you’ve all earned your sea legs.”

He walked off, Tolya and Tamar following him. They must’ve been his first mates—you were immensely glad they weren’t against you, what with his size and her axes.  

But as he did, you couldn’t help but stare. The strangest feeling had come over you during his speech, one that was exacerbated every time he passed the slightest glance at you, every time his expression changed. He was just… unnatural. Unsettling.

You allowed yourself a deep breath and shook your head, trying to focus on the crewmember that was speaking to you all. You didn’t care if he was unnatural or unsettling—you would be gone in three days. 

All you had to do was keep your head down. 

-

Sleep wasn’t easy after the day you’d had, but your tired limbs won out after an hour or so of staring at the ceiling. The cot you’d been assigned wasn’t much for comfort, but it might as well have been the plushest mattress you’d ever felt after what you’d been sleeping on before.

You slowly opened your eyes, your grogginess fighting against you at every step, because you had the dimmest feeling that something was wrong. When you saw golden eyes above you, you nearly screamed.

You thankfully held it in, but you could feel your heart hammering in your chest. 

“What are you doing here?” you whispered.

“Sturmhond wishes to speak to you,” Tamar said, wholly unfazed as if she did this all the time. She probably did. 

“Why?” 

“My job isn’t to ask questions,” Tamar said. She left it at that, and you sighed as you pulled yourself out of the hammock. You followed her, squinting in an attempt not to bump into anything in the darkness. The Volkvolny wasn’t familiar to you yet, but it was easier once you were above deck. You rubbed the grogginess out of your eyes when she opened the door to the captain’s quarters for you. 

She didn’t follow you in, and you didn’t know whether it was a relief or not. 

“Ah. You’re here.” Sturmhond turned around from a cabinet, holding a bottle of kvas, a slight smile on his lips. “Drink?” 

“You didn’t just invite me here for a nightcap,” you said placidly, “did you?” 

“Of course not,” he said. “I thought it would remind you of home.” 

You frowned. “You’re Ravkan. Who’s to say I am too?” 

“How did you know I was Ravkan?” 

“Your accent.” 

“Then how do you think I knew you were Ravkan?” 

“Maybe I will need a drink,” you said bitterly. “It’s the only way I think I can keep dealing with you.” 

Sturmhond sighed as he poured a fair amount into two cups. “Such harsh words for a noble girl. Quite a stroke of bad luck for the daughter of a duke to end up on a slaver’s ship.” 

“Who’s to say I’m the daughter of a duke?” you asked. 

He arched an eyebrow. “Do you really want to keep playing this game?” 

You crossed your arms in response, and he shook his head with a chuckle. 

“An accent gives quite a bit away,” Sturmhond said. “It’s also obvious to anyone that looks at you—and I assume you have quite a few admirers. You speak Ravkan like a princess, like you were taught in schools rather than the streets. You have a gleam in your eye that says you still have hope. And,” he looked you up and down, “you carry yourself with confidence despite your position. Not the attitude of a girl on the other side of the ditch.” 

Your lip curled. “How astute of you.” 

“Thank you,” he said with a smile. 

“Born and raised in Os Alta,” you acquiesced. You offered a thin smile of your own back. “And I suppose you’re correct. Bad luck seems to follow me as of late.”

“You wound me,” he said, pressing a hand to his chest. “Are you claiming that my rescuing you is a continuation of your bad luck?”

“I thought you said this wasn’t a rescue, captain.”

“Sturmhond,” he said.

Your lips twitched in a momentary smile. “I thought you said this wasn’t a rescue, Sturmhond.”

“It isn’t,” he agreed, taking a sip of kvas, “it’s an opportunity. I’m just curious of what drove your choice.” 

You crossed your arms. “Strange of a pirate to be so curious about a prisoner.” 

“Privateer,” Sturmhond corrected, “and you’re no longer a prisoner.”

“My point still stands,” you said wryly. 

“Is it wrong of me to be curious?” he asked. 

“It’s pointless,” you said. “And if you’re done with your little interrogation, I’d like to get back to sleep.” 

“I’m not here to be your enemy.” He sat up, taking another sip of his drink. “Surely you understand that.”

“I understand it perfectly well,” you said. “I just don’t see why you care.”

“Fine,” he amended, “I’ll let you be. Just one more question.” Sturmhond sat up in his chair, leaning forward as he looked you straight in the eye. His were the strangest shade of green. “Why did you run?” 

You actually recoiled at his question, your reflex winning over any desire to hold back your emotions. “Excuse me?” 

He didn’t waver. “I thought my question was quite clear.”  

You picked up the cup he’d poured for you and threw it back. The kvas burned your throat—your tolerance never was all that—but it didn’t make much difference with the scowl already on your face. 

“You don’t get to ask me questions, pirate.” 

“Privateer,” you heard him correct, and it only made you slam the door harder on your way out. 

-

Three days of keeping your head down should have been easy. Sturmhond, however, appeared to have a different agenda. 

He ignored you for the entire next day, but that night, Tamar was waiting for you before you could even get to the barracks. 

“Seriously?” you asked. “Did he not get my message clearly enough last night?”

She shrugged. “He just asked to see you again. I don’t know why.”

You sighed and made an offhanded gesture. “Fine. Let’s go.”

You opened the door yourself this time when she got you there, not even bothering to shut it as you stared at Sturmhond.

“What are you playing at?” you demanded. 

“Good evening to you as well,” he said. “How did you sleep?”

“What are you playing at,” you repeated flatly. 

“I’m not playing at anything,” he said. “Is it a crime to enjoy your company?” 

Your jaw ticked, and your hands clenched into fists. “If you’re after what I—”

“I’m not after anything,” he assured with a frown, “and certainly not what you’re thinking.”

His interruption peeved you, but you found that you actually believed him. The tension eased from your shoulders ever so slightly.

“…Good,” you said after a moment. “But I still don’t understand the need for these meetings. I plan to be gone by tomorrow.”

“Because I know you,” he said. “You may not know me, but I consider myself generally knowledgeable of Ravka and its upper class.”

“What,” you said wryly, “do you want my advice on how best to rob them?”

“Of course not,” Sturmhond said. “I wouldn’t need your advice for that.”

You huffed a laugh. “So what do you want?”

“I’ve been at sea for quite some time,” he said, “and you’ve only just left Ravka. I’d very much appreciate it if you could share some of your insider knowledge on the Lantsovs.”

“You assume I have any.”

“I assume that the woman who used to be Nikolai Lantsov’s betrothed would have some,” Sturmhond replied smoothly.

Your heart stuttered for a beat at the mention of Nikolai. Any doubt Sturmhond might have had over his claim had to have dissolved with your expression. 

He arched an eyebrow. “Well?”

You allowed yourself a deep breath before you finally took the seat across from him.

“Fine,” you said. “You’ve got me. I’m the daughter of a Ravkan duke and I used to be engaged to a Lantsov prince. Did you just want to prove your knowledge?”

“Not at all.” Sturmhond wisely poured an additional glass—brandy rather than kvas, thankfully. You needed something stronger if you were to deal with this. “I want your knowledge.” 

“My being betrothed to Nikolai is why I don’t know as much as you think,” you said. You downed half the glass at once and your chest burned less than the memory. “Nikolai and I were to be wed when we were of age, yes, but he disappeared before I got the chance.”

“Disappeared?”

You nodded. “He was meant to come back after his service so we could prepare for the wedding. Instead,” your lips curled in a disdainful smile, “he up and left. The king broke off our engagement and I haven’t heard a word from Nikolai since.”

Sturmhond frowned. “My deepest apologies.”

You shrugged. “He made his choice. Apparently he’s in Ketterdam studying, but I very much doubt that. He was never good at sitting still. But wherever he is, I hope he’s still alive.” You huffed a laugh. “I cannot imagine Vasily taking the throne.”

“I’m sure he is still alive,” Sturmhond said. “And I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten you.”

“How kind of you,” you said dryly.

He was silent for a long moment before he spoke again. “You say you plan to be gone by tomorrow. Does your plan include returning to Ravka?”

“I don’t know,” you admitted. “But I ran from my family and my fate, and that’s why I ended up here. I don’t think I can go back just yet.”

“And what fate did you run from?” Sturmhond asked.

“A marriage I didn’t want,” you said plainly.

“As opposed to the marriage you did want.”

“Are we done here?” you asked. “Because I don’t think you need to know more of my personal life.”

Sturmhond smiled after a moment and nodded. “Yes. But I’d like to see you one more time tomorrow, before we officially part ways.”

“You’re not going to change my mind,” you said.

“And I don’t intend to. There’s just one last thing I wish to share with you.”

“And you can’t do that now?” you asked wryly.

“Patience is a virtue, darling.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He held up his hands. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“You’re very strange for a pirate,” you said.

“I’m quite normal for a privateer,” Sturmhond said.

You huffed a laugh and shook your head as you stood. “Enjoy the rest of your night, privateer.”

You felt his eyes on you as you left, and now more than ever you couldn’t shake that feeling. You looked at Tamar as you shut the door. 

“How long have you been part of his crew?”

“A few years,” she said.

“Do you ever get used to him?”

Her lips quirked into a smile. “No.”

You sighed as the two of you started to walk. “What a surprise.”

-

You were at Sturmhond’s door the next afternoon, Tamar by your side. She hadn’t come to deliver you, but on your way there she told you she would be joining you. You certainly weren’t going to refuse her.

As usual, you didn’t bother to knock. As usual, Sturmhond was sitting at his desk. Tamar followed you in and shut the door, not as usual. Your brows knit together slightly. 

“You actually came,” he said.

“Consider me intrigued,” you said. “I couldn’t just walk off and never know what you wanted to ‘share with me’.” 

The corner of his mouth curled up into an achingly familiar smile. “You’re just as fiery as I remember.”

“We just met,” you said dryly.

“On the contrary.” Sturmhond sat up, and he removed his jacket. A metal pin glinted on his vest, a crowned double eagle. The Lantsov coat of arms. Your frown deepened. “You spent the other day describing our lost time together.”

“I’m…” you blinked and shook your head. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m Nikolai Lantsov,” he said. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make me say all my titles, though.” 

For a moment, you just stared at him. And then you laughed in complete disbelief. 

“Is that what this is? You consider me a fool?”

“On the contrary,” he repeated. “It is because of your intelligence that I deigned to reveal myself.” He offered a wry smile. “And because you don’t hate me the way you should.”

“You cannot just say something so absurd and expect to believe it,” you said. “Anyone can rummage up a coat of arms. I have not heard and or received a single word from Nikolai, and now I am supposed to believe that he is right in front of me?”

“It sounds absurd when you put it like that,” Sturmhond said with a frown. 

“Because it is absurd,” you enunciated. “I actually thank you for this, because now I know I’m making the correct choice. You may be a good captain, but you are a complete blackguard.” 

You turned and offered a tight smile to Tamar. “Please move. I’d like to leave.” 

“He speaks the truth,” Tamar said. “I promise you. He’s Nikolai Lantsov. My brother tailored him into Sturmhond at the beginning of all this, when we joined his crew. ” 

You paused and looked back at the pirate claiming to be the man you loved. “What?” 

“Nikolai Lantsov is much more valuable as a hostage on the seas,” he said. “No one spares a second glance at Sturmhond.” 

“Then change him back,” you said, looking back at Tamar. “Get your brother and make him change him back if you want even the slightest chance of me believing these lies.” 

“They are not lies,” she insisted. “And I’m not the best tailor.” 

“You’re both Grisha,” you said flatly. 

“Heartrenders,” Sturmhond (Nikolai?) supplied. “My most trusted crew. Come on, Tamar— I believe in you. Work your magic.” 

She rolled her eyes as she walked over to him, and though your immediate instinct was to take the exit you’d been given, you crossed your arms and waited as she did her work. It didn’t take long for his muddy green eyes to change to hazel, his red hair to blonde. A slightly less broken nose. 

He… he looked like the Nikolai you knew. It was staggering to just be standing across from him—or at least a mirror image of him—after so long apart. Older, more weathered, but with the same glint in his eye. The same glint that you looked forward to with each day, the glint that you remembered when you didn’t have him anymore. 

“That doesn’t mean much,” you finally said, glancing away. “If you can tailor him into Sturmhond, surely you can tailor him into a Lantsov.” 

“You overestimate my tailoring abilities,” Tamar said dryly. 

“I still don’t trust it,” you said, and you started again for the door. 

“When we were seven, I convinced you to sneak out of our etiquette lessons and go down to the river,” he suddenly said. Your hand froze on the door. “You scraped yourself on a particularly sharp rock while we were traversing the waters—you still have the scar on your ankle.”

You turned around. “How do you know that?” 

“My father held a party and your family attended,” he continued. “We were ten and it was the most boring night possible. We evaded our parents’ attention and snuck off to the kitchens.” He smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever had so many pastries in my life.” 

A smile of your own, almost subconscious, began to form on your lips. You hadn’t thought of that party in years. 

“And when I was fifteen, the year before I enlisted, I did the worst thing I could have done to your father.” He chuckled and shook his head. “I took one of his prized swords and did all sorts of moves trying to impress you—I only managed to dent it and get banned from your home for months.” 

“I can’t believe you remember that,” you murmured. 

“And…” he sighed and opened his drawer, rummaging around for a moment. He held a ring between his fingers when he emerged, and your heart stopped beating for a second. “I still have this.” 

Your hand was shaking when you reached beneath your collar and took hold of the string around your neck. You pulled it into view, and the ring hanging on the bottom glinted in the light. 

Your engagement rings still matched perfectly. 

Nikolai’s smile was bright as you remembered as the realization hit. “And you still have yours.” 

“Of course I do,” you said. “It was a lot of work to keep it in my possession.” 

“I’m glad you went through it, then.”

“It really is you,” you whispered, letting your makeshift necklace fall back against your skin. “I— I just don’t understand. Why are you here? Why are you playing pretend as a pirate?” 

“Privateer,” he corrected. He glanced over at Tamar, still holding her post. “Could you give us a moment alone?” 

She nodded and left, shutting the door behind her. The room felt smaller with just you and Nikolai in it, with the man you were meant to marry who left you in the past. 

“I do this because I can do much more to help Ravka from the seas as Sturmhond than gallivanting around court as a second son—a bastard son at that. My parents appreciate Sturmhond much more than they would Prince Nikolai.” 

“I appreciated Prince Nikolai,” you said. “I appreciated just Nikolai. You could have at least sent a letter.” 

“I know,” Nikolai said. To his credit, he did look mournful. “If there is one thing I regret about all of this, it is how I left you. I said what I said the other day because it’s true—I have not forgotten you. I never did.” 

“Then why go through all of this with me?” you asked. “Why annoy me into spending time with you?” 

“Because I’ve always been quite good at annoying you,” Nikolai said wryly, then his expression sobered. “And because… I didn’t know how you would feel about me after all this time. Everything you said yesterday was true—I did leave you, and I haven’t said a word to you since. I wouldn’t be surprised if you hated me, and if you did, I didn’t want to force myself back into your life.” He managed another small smile. “Fortunately for me, you did not hate me.” 

“I could never hate you, Nikolai,” you murmured. “I— I loved you. For a long time, and I think I still might.” 

“Even more fortunate for me,” he said softly. 

“So why didn’t you come back?” you asked. 

“I…” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Still cut in a military style. “You talked about how you despised your parents for forcing you into a marriage at such a young age. I didn’t want to force you into a life with me. If I had known you—” he chuckled, a boyish smile on his lips— “if I had known you loved me, I don’t know if Sturmhond would have ever come into fruition.” 

“You are the reason I was here,” you said. “My parents thought they struck gold when the king agreed to a marriage between us. I thought I had struck gold as well, in you—a marriage my parents wanted couldn’t have been all bad if you were meant to be my husband. But you left that in the dust, and they still wanted a husband for me.” 

“A marriage you didn’t want,” he echoed, his eyes soft. 

You nodded. “They did all the work behind the scenes—I was going to meet him on our wedding day, some Kerch banker’s son. And I just… couldn’t face a life like that. So I ran. And with all the luck in the world—” you gestured lazily— “I ended up here.”

“Then I suppose it’s only fair that I ended up rescuing you,” Nikolai said. 

“I thought this wasn’t a rescue,” you said wryly. 

He chuckled and shook his head. “No. It’s still an opportunity— one I think you’ll like much more.” 

You arched an eyebrow. “Oh?” 

“I plan to go back and take the throne someday,” Nikolai said, moving around his desk to be closer to you. “But I don’t want to miss another moment with you, not now. So until then,” he took your hand, encasing it between his own, and the warmth it provided was something you’d sorely missed, “will you do me the honor of sailing by my side?” 

“I’m not a sailor,” you said with a breathy laugh. 

“I can teach you,” he said eagerly. “I can teach you everything I know until you’re a better privateer than me. And you can teach me everything I’ve missed while being at sea—all the noble things I ought to know for when I return home.” 

Your lips quirked in a smile, hardly able to contain the giddiness bursting in your chest. Your life went from destruction at the hands of slavers to renewal with Nikolai Lantsov by your side once more. 

“How can I refuse?” 

Nikolai grinned, and he tugged on your intertwined hands to pull you into a kiss. It wasn’t the first one you’d shared, but it was surely the best. It felt like a promise of something new—the promise that he wouldn’t let you go like he did before. 

You were breathless when you pulled away, and the sight of Nikolai, blonde hair slightly ruffled because of you, his lips slightly red because of you, made you kiss him even harder the second time. 

Your back hit the side of his desk and Nikolai was practically on top of you, seven years of lost love pouring through him all at once. 

“And if it wasn’t clear,” Nikolai murmured between kisses, “I never stopped loving you for one moment.” 

You groaned and pulled him even closer, your hands clenched tight around the fabric of his jacket. “You wear too many clothes.” 

“Then fix it.” His voice was sultry in your ear and you didn’t know how you went seven years without him. 

You were very thankful that he asked Tamar to leave. 

#nikolai lantsov x reader #nikolai lantsov x you #nikolai lantsov #nikolai lantsov fic #nikolai lantsov fluff #nikolai lantsov angst #shadow and bone x reader #shadow and bone fic #grishaverse x reader #sadie writes

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: What use is honor in war?

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

*Clouds of ash part to reveal burnt out husks of barracks complexes, shatter communication towers, and looming over all of it was the crumbling structure of the once proud command center itself.*

*Setting down in front of the command building a small squad of human soldiers approach and form a cordon to either side of the lowering boarding ramp.*

*General Marius Fimble slowly walks down the ramp flanked by a pair of black clad honor guard. His robotic left foot slamming against the ramp with a resounding cannon like echo until he reaches the bottom*

Colonel: *Salutes* General.

Marius: *Returns salute lazily while scanning surroundings* Colonel.

Colonel: You can relax sir; we’ve cleared the area of all resistance.

Marius: Complacency breeds overconfidence; never forget that.

Colonel: Sir!

Marius: Do you have him?

Colonel: We are keeping him in the main building to prevent escape.

Marius: *Confused* Have they made attempts?

Colonel: First one he killed three and injured twelve.

Marius: First?

Colonel: Second he killed seven and injured six, then again three hours later with eight injured.

Marius: He’s tried escaping three times already?

Colonel: Oh no.

Colonel: Those were all within the first seven hours of capture; we’re on twenty seven attempts by now.

Marius: *Grunts*

Marius: Let’s get this over with then before he kills any more of my men.

*Colonel escorts the general and his guards inside the command center. Descending three flights of stairs the group comes to an armored door guarded by twenty soldiers and an auto turret pointed at the doorframe*

Marius: Open it.

*The armored door slowly creeks open as all twenty guards take aim at the opening. The auto turret slowly begins spinning its turrets in preparation to fire as the general walks by.*

Marius: *Waves his bodyguards* Wait here.

Colonel: I would not recommend that, sir.

Marius: *Walks past Colonel and into the room* Noted.

*The door slams behind Marius as he takes in the surroundings. A single light hangs from the ceiling illuminating a lone figure secured firmly to the ground my numerous heavy chains*

Marius: Commandant Fring, we meet at last.

Fring: *Spits out glob of purple blood at Marius’s feet*

Marius: *Steps over it without acknowledging it*

Marius: I had heard tales of the great Grung military back in my academy days and I must say after fighting you, I am deeply underwhelmed.

Fring: *Low growl*

Marius: *Circling the room* Over a thousand years of military prowess and I took you apart in less than a day.

Fring: YOU STRUCK WITHOUT HONOR!

*Fring lunges at Marius who doesn’t flinch. The chains straining under the sudden pressure with Fring just out of reach of Marius’s throat*

*Marius watches in silence as Fring continues for several minutes before relenting*

Marius: I never understood that.

Fring: What?

Marius: Honor.

Fring: You do not understand it because you have never held it.

Fring: You preach of taking down our military when you attacked like cowards and thieves in the dead of night! Slaughtering my warriors while they slept rather than dying by their hands on the field of battle!

Marius: The purpose of war is to win.

Marius: Everything else takes a back seat to that one concept; because if you don’t win nothing you were fighting for matters.

Fring: And yet it is the manner of how you fight that defines who you are.

Fring: And you are a coward!

Marius: So you justify your incompetence by claiming I am a coward?

Fring: You dare!?!

Marius: You were unprepared for an attack despite declaring war on my people. They should have been mustering for war and already onboard troop ships heading out of system; instead they were…how did you put it? Ah yes, they were sleeping.

Marius: *Leans in close to Fring who lunges again only to be grabbed by the general’s hand*

*The general’s grip is iron and Fring claws at it as he gasps for air. There is no emotion behind the eyes of the human leader as he watches his foe*

Marius: Honor, is a novelty for those who can afford it. A justification to fight in a manner of combat they prefer regardless of how many souls die by the outdated ideal that is “Honor”. I fight to win wars, and though my victories seem beneath you I ensure that my men, my soldiers, will return home safe and sound because I fought using my head and not my heart.

*Marius let’s go of Fring who collapses to the ground*

Marius: *Looks down at Fring* You fought with your heart and you lost five field army’s worth of soldiers in a single night.

Fring: Do you keep me alive just to mock me? End me then, for I will hear none of this.

Marius: *Chuckles* I’m sure I had a reason for keeping you alive, but seeing you now I can’t for the life of me wonder why I thought it was worth the effort.

Marius: *bangs on door and the door opens*

Marius: *motions to the soldiers* kill him.

#humans are insane #humans are weird #humans are space oddities #humans are space orcs #scifi #story #writing #original writing #niqhtlord01

[merakiui]

thinking about the stitch event again and,,,,,, alien floyb thoughts are on my mind. orz

alien floyd who escapes his planet to avoid the responsibilities his father is trying to shove onto him. he wants to explore the cosmos, not remain shackled to a single planet. so he steals a ship for himself and takes off into the starry outer space, eventually crash-landing on earth.

alien floyd who camouflages himself to blend into this new environment with its bipedal creatures. walking on two legs is difficult, but he doesn’t give up. perhaps you stumble upon him and help him to your home so that you can check him over for any injuries. he looks so lost and confused, so dazed… you wonder if he’s okay. floyd watches you silently the entire time. you’re…strange. he’s immediately curious.

alien floyd who takes to living alongside you rather quickly. he doesn’t have anywhere else to go, and you were kind enough to let him stay. in return, he helps you where he can. though most of his help is misread. he hunted those pesky birds who sit on the clothesline and chirp every single morning and brought their carcasses to you, awfully proud of himself. now there’s no more noise in the morning! aren’t you happy? :D but you shake your head at him and tell him he can’t just senselessly kill living creatures.

alien floyd who tries to be good for your sake. he’s an alien, so he often forgets his own strength when compared to that of a human’s. (he’s sorry for breaking the tv remote or the window or the coffee maker or the microwave… ;;;;) what’s more is that you don’t know he’s an alien. you just think he’s a human like you. floyd’s not sure he wants to tell you the truth. you’re already such good friends. would you fear him if you knew who he was—that beneath the softness of his human veneer there are predatory features and a strength that could kill you in seconds? so he continues masquerading as a human. it’s safer this way.

alien floyd who finds himself falling for you. he keeps these feelings to himself, mostly. although it’s difficult to truly hide them when he’s so expressive. he can quell monstrous urges for the most part, but he’s certain that if you were to bring home a person and he mistook them for a potential mate…… floyd would kill them. ruthlessly.

alien jade who is somewhat envious, for he had been hoping to escape on his own one day. floyd beat him to it and now he’s stuck having to clean up the mess his twin’s made. >_< so when jade’s given clearance to track him down and he learns floyd’s been cozying up to a particularly cute human on earth……. well, if jade had any apprehensions about leaving for good before he doesn’t anymore. :)

aliens floyd and jade who love their human more than anything. if earth is taken over by their overlord of a father, it’s okay because they’ll keep you safe. <3

#meraki mumbles

[bluegalaxygirl]

The real reason (KidKiller X Reader) P1

Plot: Ever since you started dating Kid and Killer, the captain has refused to visit any brothels. That wouldn't normally be a problem but the crew isn't aloud to go without their captains and first mates supervision causing the crew to resent you eventhough your not stopping the captain from going. Its time for you to force the reason out of him.

Warning: Sexual themes but no smut (NSFW) stuff, bad language, Drinking, Making out and Past trauma

Reader is Female (sorry), Kid X Killer X Reader, poly relationship, established relationship.

P2 - P3

At least once a month this happens, some of the crew begs their captain to let them go to a brothel to drink and have some fun, Kid used to be all in on that kind of thing but slowly started to back away from it after officially being in a relationship with Killer and then even more when you joined the relationship, some thought it was because you were jealous but that wasn't the case, in fact no one, not even you and Killer know the reason why Kid is so against brothels now. He just states that he's not interested, or he's not in the mood instead of answering anyone's questions about it. It doesn't bother you weather he likes them or not, what bothers you is the crew can't go without supervision as per captains orders and the only people who are trusted to do that job is Kid and Killer. One of which refuses to go meaning the crew can't go, sometimes the crew asking over and over again gets too much, so he has no chose but to let them go while he supervises them. When there he makes sure to keep close to you or Killer refusing to look at the girls in skimpy outfits, he's even shoved a few off him that haven't taken the hit and tried to sit on his lap. Killer was never really a fan of those places, it was a good place to drink and hang out with the crew, but he mainly went to keep an eye on everyone and to look after any of the crew that got too drunk to walk back onto the ship. The first mate never really had an interest in the girls, he would always be talking to one of the crew and ignored any girl that came his way but on the rare occasion that he would take the girls up on their offers everyone knew it was because he was stressed.

After starting to date Kid, the masked man never got with any of the girls, no one really noticed a change since it was so rare already, when you joined the relationship he would always have you close to his side if you were there with them, he didn't want any drunk men getting the wrong idea but it also kept the other girls away from him seeing a girl on his arm. You never really minded those places, as long as you can join your crew and have a laugh your happy, the only thing you hate about brothels is when a drunk man thinks either you or one of your female crew member's is one of the working girls, its even worse when they don't take no for an answer and you have to beat their ass. It surprises most of the girls in the brothels that you and some of your female crew mates actually go either to have fun or join your crew but some of the girls are into other girls, or they just like the vibe. You always try and be nice to the working girls since their only doing their jobs, and they seem to get hit on my really fugly drunk men but there have been times when you wanted to kill one for either making a stupid comment towards Killer or trying to sit with Kid when he didn't want it. You never acted on it though other than giving death stares that usually make the girls back off, it was subtle but when you joined the relationship Kid and Killer you made it more known no longer keeping your glares a secret.

You love your boys and the crew to death but after joining their relationship the crew started to go less and less to brothels which made you very confused and made some of the crew resent you a little. You didn't mind going or letting Kid and Killer go to one since you know they would never cheat, you've seen the way the two acted while in a relationship with each other, as soon as it was official both of them never took a girl up on her offer and flat out rejected any kind of touch from the girls. So now here you are leaning against the railing of the Victoria punk watching as Kid is storming away from several members of his crew that are begging to go to the brothel down the road. Their not normally pushy but apparently this place has the best booze and the best girls along with some kind of show but like always Kid flat out refuses while not giving a reason why. You can't stand the yelling back and forth between Kid and the crew so make your way over managing to speak loud enough to get their attention. "Come on Captain" You sigh crossing your arms over your chest, the crew sighs and looks down gritting their teeth not happy that you might back up Kid on this while Kid's shoulders relax thinking he's been saved from his pushy crew. "Let them go, it's been a while and plus it'll be fun" You smile watching as their facial expressions change, the crew's angry faces turn into big smiles as they look between you and the captain hoping you will change his mind while Kid's shoulders tense up again his eyes widen in surprise.

It's the first time you've said anything about the situation in front of the crew, behind closed doors you and Killer have been trying to find out the real reason why hoping that it can be fixed but the red head gets angry and either storms off or tell the two of you to Fuck off. Kid sighs running his hand threw his red hair, he knows your not lying when ever you say it'll be fine, but he has his own reasons for not going. "Please Captain" The crew beg trying to get him to say yes after so long, with a grumble Kid looks down at his crew. "Fine... But if even one of you causes trouble everyone is leaving" He glares at the crew who cheer before running off to tell the others, some of them thanking you on the way. It's a welcome change to what you normally get, when ever the Captain says no they tend to lash out at you, not physically more mentally by either ignoring you, saying mean things in passing, giving you glares or making your jobs ten times harder than needed. You could tell Kid and Killer about this, and they would quickly sort it out but as much as you hate hiding things from them you don't want the crew to get punished for it. You understand they have pent-up energy and needs that they need to deal with and Kid has been flat out refusing ever since you started dating him, put it all together and of course their gonna blame you. A shadow falls over you get you to look up at your pissed off Captain making the happy smile fade from your face. "Word, now" He demands before storming off, you take a breath before following trying to clam yourself down before having to be yelled at by Kid.

Killer was tying his shoe getting ready to head out to help with some chores only for the bedroom door to slam open, jumping slightly he goes to grab his mask on the side table only to hear Kid's angry grumble as he storms into the room. Walking in behind the red head you quickly close the door before giving the blonde a sorry look but Killer sighs and relaxes putting his mask down before sitting back on the bed to finish tying his shoes. Kid paces back and forth in the middle of the room while growling to himself as you make your way over to the bed perching on the end of it and waiting for the captain to flip out at you. "What happened?" Killer asks after finishing tying his shoes and leaning towards you, wondering what you did to make Kid so angry "The crew wanted to go to that Brothel down the road, Kid said no but i thought it would be a good idea" You sigh turning to the blonde who sighs as well while looking down at the bed covers knowing what same argument is going to come up again. "He said yes, didn't he" It was more of a statement than a question but you nod confirming why Kid is so angry "You think i wanted to say yes?" Kid snaps getting the two of you to look up at the captain as he continues to angrily pace "I said no for a reason" He yells again turning to storm towards you only stopping when his legs are touching your knees.

Taking in a calming breath you know better than to meet Kid head on in anger, it'll just make things worse. "You never give the reason though... the real reason i mean" You state making Kid roll his eyes at you while running a hand through his hair slightly gripping it "We are not having the conversation again, there is no reason other than i'm not interested" He growls down at you but you don't flinch, just keep looking up at him "Everyone knows thats not the real reason but either way i don't see the problem in letting the crew go and have some fun, get rid of some of that pent-up energy." You try to convince the captain only for him to growl again but this time walk away from you, Killer sighs seeing your not getting anywhere so places a hand on your shoulder trying to get you to stop with a pleading look but you shake your head not wanting to give up on this, you've had enough of the crew resenting you after getting denied going by Kid. You know what your about to say will cause some issues and maybe make both of them angry but you need something to change, if not for your sake then the crews. "Tell you what Kid, lets make a deal" You state standing up catching both boys by surprise, the captain turns raising his brow at you before laughing and shaking his head, before he can protest you give him the deal. "You tell me the real reason why and... I'll tell you what I've been hiding" You try to stay calm as Kid's eyes widen, his laughter stopping immediately as his eyes land you, a look of shock then anger and then amusement covers his face.

Killer's heart drops at your words and quickly stands up before stepping closer to you, grabbing your arm the blonde pull you close to him worry spreading across his face. "Y/N, since when?" The blonde asks looking you up and down looking for any sign that you got hurt or if someone did something, you understand the reason for their reaction, you've never hidden anything from them even some stuff you have never told another living soul or gravestone. "Your lying, you don't hide things from us" Kid crosses his arms over his chest with a smug smile trying to call your bluff but as your eyes shift over to him and then back to Killer giving a sorry look they both know your telling the truth making Kid's smirk drop. This is way out of character for you which means it must be serious, Killer places his hand on your cheek searching your eyes for any hint of what your hiding but you don't give him anything, the worry welling up inside him soon turning into anger as the blonde turns to look at a very surprised Kid "What are you waiting for?" Killer almost yells snapping Kid out of his shocked state, gritting his teeth the captain walking over to you giving in to your demand as worry also fills him. He doesn't let it show though instead choosing to act annoyed. "Fine, deal, now tell me" The captain stops in front of you but you shake your head at him while taking Killers hand off your cheek to hold it, in a way trying to clam yourself for what's about to come "That's not the deal, you first" Your eyes lock with Kid who growls in anger before his breath hitches in his throat.

Clench his teeth the red head struggles to get the words out, he didn't want the two of you to think he's stupid or wave him off with what he has to say. "Kid" Killer sighs placing a hand on the captains shoulder trying to get him to talk, Kid looks away from the two of you finding it easier to say it without looking at your faces. "There's more than one reason.... I don't like the drunk asshole thinking your a whore, Y/n, i don't like the girls flirting with me and not taking no for an answer and... I don't like the way you two are always on guard in there, you both don't relax like you do at other bars" Your heart sinks at his confession, everything he said was true, but he never showed it bothered him at all. Killer reaches his hand over and grabs Kids chin pulling his face to look at the two of you "All of that can be fix one way or another, all you had to do was tell us" The blonde state making the captains cheeks go a little red, nodding in agreement you place your hand on the red head's chest "Killer's right, we can make things better, we'll try and relax more, maybe letting the others fuck up will teach them to not do it in the future." You let out a small laugh hoping to ease his worries, it seems to work since Kid's shoulders start to relax, and he lets out a huff of amusement. "Your normally on the outside and Y/N on my arm, so they tend to leave me alone, so she can either sit on your lap or you can sit in between us" Killer releases Kids chin running his hand down the captains arm to his hand where the red head quickly grabs it to stop the blonde from pulling away.

All those ideas made going a lot easier and it also helped that the two of you didn't think different of him for feeling and thinking this way but there was still one problem. "What about the drunk assholes?" Kid asks looking between the two of you hoping for a simple solution that will work where ever they go, with a blush spreading across your cheeks you move your hand up Kids chest to his neck lightly rubbing his jaw line with your thumb as your other hand lets go of Killers hand letting it travel up his arm and to his cheek. Stepping closer to the two you let a sweet smile form on your lips "Well thats an easy fix, either i don't get up to get drink or... I can wear something that shows i'm yours" You whisper to the two before giving a wink making Kid smile wide and Killer let out a small laugh "That sounds like a good idea" The captain chuckles while leaning into your neck making you shiver at his breath on your neck, Killer steps closer wrapping his arm around your waist to keep your chest pressed into his "I like that idea, although, i think it's going to take more than a simple hickey" The blonde smirks leaning down to brush his lips against yours as Kid starts kissing and biting your neck trying to find the perfect spot to leave his mark. You can't but let out a breathy moan when the red head finally finds a spot biting hard while his metal arm squeezes your ass, "What else do you have in mind?" You ask Killer who lightly kisses your lips before locking eyes with you "Will tell you but first i want to know what your hiding" The blonde glares slightly making you gulp.

#one piece #polly relationship #kid eustass #eustass kid #one piece kid #kid x reader #eustass x reader #kid pirates #eustass kid x reader #kid x killer #killer one piece #op killer #massacre soldier killer #one piece killer #killer x reader #killer x kid #kid x reader x killer #killer x reader x kid #KidKiller #Op KidKiller #One piece KidKiller #KidKiller X Reader

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Yandere Imposter: Neige LeBlanche

He’s the shining crewmate in cyan

With a reputation of snow

He’s innocent in any situation 

There's always an out 

Even if he’s found with blood splashed on his suit

He’s nothing but an unfortunate witness traumatized beyond belief

So traumatized he can’t recall who it was

Until its most convenient

“I-i’m so sorry everyone…I witness something so horrible the least I should do is be able to help…I-i’ll try my best for everyone.”

So it's best if he travels with you

The crewmate so determined to find the imposter

Or even the unconvinced crewmate who keeps giving him the side-eye

So why don’t you pair up with him?

Despite his flawless alibi, overwhelming lack of evidence, and testimony from trusted crewmates your friends

Somehow he can’t get you close enough

wHy ARe yOu BeINg sO dIfFiCUlt!?

At this rate, he’ll the imposter have to kill the whole crew before you give him anything but a passing gaze glare

But he’s a good crewmate liar

You’ll have no choice but to believe him when they eject the ‘real’ imposter:

You stared through the impact glass at the vastness of the space and the decreasing figure of the purple suit. A haze of finality and unreaching, endlessness ebbing your resolve, you tightened your fists; digging your nails into your palms. It hardly did much to distract you from the feeling in your heart but you’d take what you could.

“(Y/n), Rook set a course back to Innersloth…we’re going home.”

You ignored him, not even bothering to look at his worried reflection behind you, keeping your eyes on the spot you last found the supposed imposter’s floating body. The news brought nothing but guilt and rage. At who? You, the remaining crewmates, the dead, Neige? Even with the evidence pointing to your dearest friend and the innocence proclaimed to him you couldn’t ignore the feeling in your gut. 

The same one that told you to stay with your friend, even when he insisted you two split up for just a second. The same push that had you doubting the one in cyan from the very beginning. Even with his innocence being proven every time without fail, you couldn’t disregard the compass that held tried and true for this whole nightmare.

“(Y/n), maybe you should join me in the cafeteria! I recently made a pie for everyone to enjoy!”

“...Not everyone.”

Neige stiffened before letting his eyes and lips curve into a smile as he shed a tear. 

“You’re right *sniff* Not for everyone…but maybe in their honor?”

You resisted the urge to sneer at him. That voice. That face. Those tears. He was doing it again! Whether it was acting or mimicry it didn’t sit right with you; it never did. And even now in the wake of the majority of your crew’s death, it didn’t incur the empathy he so often elicited from onlookers. In your deepest of hearts you rationalized that was why he seemed so insistent on trying his tactics on you. 

“You can enjoy it without me…who’s to say the imposter really is off the ship anyway?”

At those words he made a face, puckering his lips and folding his hands to protest. You spoke, glaring at the despicable reflection of yourself in the window.

“ We’ve been wrong before. What’s to say we aren’t again?”

“B-but nothing has been broken! And we’ve split up many a time before and none of us have died! Don’t you think that means we finally got rid of the—”

“Imposter? Please, it make more sense to stay hidden now since they want a free ride to headquarters.”

Tightly closing your eyes,  you turned narrowly missing the ungloved hand attempting to grab your shoulder. Making your way out of the bay you went for the door, flashing a look toward Neige who hadn’t turned around and was still facing the window. You turned your attention officially storming off, to do whatever it was you felt like doing without his presence. 

The imposter stood still, blankly smiling at the star system as he tightly clenched his fists. Of course, it’d be like you to suspect such a plan. Only you. But you were just so uptight how could you go bringing such negativity to the Innersloth head quarters after such a hefty loss? It’d be best for him everyone if you had a relaxant relaxed a little. Smiling a bit after such dark times was healthy. And only a good crewmate would keep their remaining teammates healthy, even if their suspicions were debilitating to that health.

Right?

#yandere neige leblanche #yandere rsa #yandere x reader #yandere x you #lovelyyandereaddictionpoint #yanderexrea #yandere #yanderes #yandere twisted wonderland #yandere harem #yandere twst #yandere twst neige #yandere neige #yandere imposter #yandere among us #yandere among us neige leblanche

[saphushia]

do you have any fic recs for dp/dc? ive been interested in reading good ones but its kinda hard to shuffle thru them all.

oh fuck yeah you know i do. i'm just gonna make a list of good ones until i get bored or tired lets see how long this gets lmao

also personal preference wise i'm not big on the danny-gets-adopted fics so u gotta ask someone else if u want recs of those ones lmao

⭐= my absolute favorites all fics are gen unless a ship is listed make sure u check fic tags for CWs b4 reading 👍

=ONESHOTS=

⭐It all Started at a Convention tim meets danny at a tech convention and they have a surprisingly nice afternoon together. and then tim comes to a realization about some things danny said...

A Monsterous Kind of Love [tim/danny] tim's a vampire. danny's a full ghost. tim gets to kill a few hunters in a frenzied rage to keep danny safe. as a treat <3

You've Got My Heart (I've Got Your Soul) [tim/tucker] congrats tim! you met your soulmate! why's he trying to kill you. hm. maybe you fucked up, buddy

Of loss, longing and long duration. [danny/bruce] of danny falling in love with bruce, breaking up with bruce, and proceeding to still be adored by all bruce's kids, past and present.

You Are a Monster (But So Am I) [danny/duke] duke's not a monster fucker- he's not! he swears! it's just this one, specific, really pretty eldritch snow monster-

If I had a nickel for every billionaire that tried to kidnap me, I’d have two nickels- which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice bruce is very tired. it's not his fault he accidentally kidnapped some teenager. aka danny's very bad wierd and stressful afternoon.

=ONGOING=

If You Give a Bat a Burger danny's just trying to lay low while keeping gotham's spirit infestation under control- of course nothing ever is simple for him. meanwhile, the bats all have their hands full with what seem to be unconnected cases, but nothing's ever simple for them either.

Rooftop Express [danny/jason] danny is bored and starts his own version of doordash in gotham. red hood keeps putting in orders so he can see the cute delivery boy <3 what do you mean he's a halfa

⭐Bus to Nowhere danny's adventures being a homeless teen in gotham on the run from his parents and the GIW. he's called dumpster tommy now, and he can't seem to stop befriending criminal and attracting vigilantes desperate to help him

An Interesting Family Tree [danny/tim] danny left the league of assassins years ago, but he can't seem to keep his nose out of it when he finds out red robin's being targeted by them. (canon divergence of tim's search for bruce in the red robin comics, where danny joins him. don't need to read the comic to read the fic)

⭐Grave Promises after an identity reveal gone wrong, danny has no one to turn to. no one, except, maybe, the hero who got stuck in the ghost zone years ago, who became danny's friend, danny's mentor, before they finally got him returned to his timeline. nightwing.

Our Empty Graves [jason/danny] danny, mute, injured, and on the run, is saved from a tight spot by red hood. he quickly becomes jason's problem, and jason makes the mistake of becoming endeared to this snarky shit.

Night Circus [dick/danny] dick hits it off with danny, a circus performer who just came to gotham. dick's thrilled- aside from the fact that circus gothica seems to be connected to the string of robberies that's suddenly hit gotham, and the bizarre thief dressed like the grim reaper...

Secretary Danny danny accidentally gets himself hired as the personal secretary of tim drake, wayne industries CEO. he's surprisingly ok with this, actually. and he's scarily good at it.

ok it's late i need to go eepies now have funnnn <3

#fic rec #answers #dcdp #anonymous #i have too much time to trawl thru fics lmao #<- guy who regularly just. goes thru every single page of fics when they get into a new fandom

[jpitha]

Rescue Party

The war was tough.

But that’s not news. Wars are always tough. 

What is news - at least to me - was how involved the humans were with the war. It wasn’t even their war, yet when they heard about what the Gren were doing, they immediately offered to help. 

Contact had been not one Solar Cycle ago - around two of their ‘years’ - and we didn’t really know what to expect. Other sapient species in the Coalition fought each other, but those wars were a long time ago. 

The Gren were different. They, like the humans were not part of the Colation, but were the humans were interested in community and friendship, the Gren were interested in conquest. Tall, imposing, with reverse articulated legs and a complicated jointed exoskeleton, they were frightening to us. The short, dense humans with their soft skin and fuzzy hair on the tops of their heads were much less outwardly scary.

At least until you saw them angry, or upset.

When I learned that the Gren had captured the Sefigan freighter Hamin on the suspicion that they were “smuggling” my fur lost its luster and I was unable to sleep fully. Parts of my familial line owned that ship and I feared the worst. I tried to make it through my day, completing my tasks, but it was just too difficult. I asked for permission to take a short leave until I heard the final word about my family and it was granted. Without the daily responsibilities of work however, I had surplus time to worry and fret. I would walk around the station, just for something to do. 

One day, not long after their capture, my lower legs carried me to a human bar. I don’t even know why I was there. I couldn’t drink their main intoxicant. Ethanol will kill me. The human bartender was kind and let me sit at the bar, drinking water with some of their more compatible fruit pureed inside. She called it a “fruity pleaser” and said it was popular with humans who also didn’t consume ethanol. She put a small, brightly colored umbrella in the drink.

While I wallowed, two humans walked up to the bar. They were still wearing uniforms, only just having come off their shift. Glancing over, I didn’t recognize what they were a part of, but I knew enough about humans to know that these were two young, fit, above average specimens of their species. They received their drinks and took notice of me and my fruity drink. I met their eyes and tried out their gesture of greeting. I waved.

They waved back and came over. “Do you mind if we sit with you?” One of them asked.

“I do not mind. I must admit though I may be poor company. I received word that much of my familial group was captured by the Gren recently, and I have not heard word of their fate. I sit here and worry and wallow and can do nothing about it.”

“The Gren? When was this?” The other was strangely interested in my family’s fate.

“It was 4 cycles ago or so. The Sefrigan freighter Hamin was carrying them, plus cargo and was captured by the Gren on suspicion of smuggling. The Gren news channels announced it all over this sector of space, and spoke long on how the ‘traitors’ would ‘stand trial for their crimes.’ 

The first human looked at the second. Their faces no longer jovial, the second human sipped their drink thoughtfully. 

“What’s your name, friend?” The first hadn’t touched their drink, instead concentrating on me.

“I’m Cal’ina.”

“Hi Cal’ina, I’m Mary, and my friend here is Jan.” Mary looked at Jan who glanced at me, then back at Mary and shook her head. Mary made a facial expression I didn’t recognize and then Jan scoffed and said “Fine. Ask them.”

“Cal’ina… have you ever been on the Hamin?”

“Sure. My father’s brother was chief engineer. He probably knew those engines more than anyone else. I spent many solar cycles aboard.”

“So, you know your way around.”

I sipped my fruity drink again to buy time to answer. What was going on? “Yes. I can make my way around that ship in my sleep.”

This time Mary made the same face at Jan again, but this time Jan didn’t scoff. Instead, she turned to me. “Cal’ina. Would you be interested in helping to rescue your family?”

I looked up at them, disbelieving. “How could I do that? They’ve been captured by the Gren, they are probably going to be executed in a few cycles!”

“If you could though, would you want to help?”

I drained the rest of my drink. The noise of the air coming through the empty straw sounded loud in the bar. “Yes. If I could help, I would. I would do anything to help.”

Mary stood. “Anything? Good enough for me. Come on Jan, Cal’ina. Let’s go rescue your family.”

I was dumfounded. What they were saying sounded completely without sense. 

And yet.

I couldn’t say no now could I? They said they could help me to see my family again. I would do anything to see them again.

I followed.

Four cycles later, I was fitted with a human made armored pressure suit, given a human chemically operated slug thrower which had been sized down for my smaller hands, and placed onboard a very small and very crowded human vessel. 

I had learned that my family was in fact smuggling - for the humans - and that their cargo was extremely precious. In addition to weapons and technology for the war effort, there were two humans in suspended animation cabinets among the cargo. Mary and Jan had explained that since the Gren hadn’t announced their discovery and capture, they hadn’t gone through the cargo yet. That meant there was probably still time to rescue everyone and the humans in the cabinets. 

It also meant that the humans needed that cargo back as soon as possible.

We were all strapped into acceleration couches while we boosted before flipping over to the Gren Warfinder. Human ships either had lower quality compensators, or would run theirs at such outlandish power outputs that they simply couldn’t keep up. The price was that we spent much of the trip strapped into special couches that supported our bodies against the punishing weight of acceleration.

“Cal. When we get onboard the Warfinder, we’re going to cut a path to your families ship. Reports indicate that your family has been confined onboard and not separated from it. Ideally, we’ll get in, get the ship out, and flip away before anyone even notices we’re there.”

“So you’ve said. I sincerely hope you’re right, but I still don’t understand how we’re going to get onboard the Warfinder. It’s a massive warship with very strong defenses. Even if we get in, they have at least two battalions of Gren Deathseekers.”

Mary laughed from her chair. “Cal, the Gren can’t throw. They never developed any throwing weapons at all. They fight with swords and knifes and spears. They’re from a world that has three quarters the gravitational pull as Earth. Getting in and getting to the Hamin will be the easy part.”

The navacomputer interrupted our conversation. “Brace for Flip. Brace for Flip. We will Flip in one minute.”

Mary and Jan’s seats sat more upright. I toggled a switch on mine, and was brought to a more upright position as well. “How long after we Flip before we attempt to… get onboard the Warfinder?”

Jan grinned wide, showing two rows of white teeth. It was unsettling. “Seconds. You’ll see. It’ll be fun.”

The ships of the Colation use FlashWarp drives. I don’t really know how they work, just that they’re very old, very stable and tend to take many cycles to go from system to system. The humans don’t use them. They have their own faster-than-light technology, the Flip Drive. I know even less about it than I do FlashWarp. All I can figure out is that their complicated computers finds a navigation solution and they… flip… from this location to their destination in less than an instant.

We Flipped.

As soon as we appeared back in space, my screen showed the Warfinder, terrifyingly close. I squeaked without meaning to, and threw up my forward arms to futilely protect my face. When disintegration didn’t come, I looked out and saw Jan grinning agin, this time with her mouth closed. “Don’t worry Cal, we’re supposed to be this close. We Flipped a few hundred meters away. That gives us enough room to do this.”

I was pressed back into my chair with tremendous weight. We were being subjected to withering acceleration. Watching on the screen, we were close enough that I could make out individual windows on the Warfinder. I could make out maneuvering jets. We were thrusting towards the Warfinder and seemingly making no concessions about stopping. 

With a tremendous bang, we made contact with the Warfinder. It wasn’t the world-ending collision I thought it would be, but rather a strong, but controlled strike.

The pilot came over the intercom. “Contact! We have contact! Boarding Party to the bow. Boarding Party to the bow.”

Quickly and efficiently, Mary and Jan got up from their couches. “Come on Cal, that’s our cue. It’s time for us to go.”

We had practiced this part dozens of times before we even left the station, I was surprised how easily it came to me. I unbuckled my couch, went over to the armory locker, and retried my pressure suit, stepped in and commenced diagnostics while it folded and molded around me. Diagnostics green - that meant everything was fine with human UIs - and I was able to collect my sidearm and rifle. Jan came over in her glossy black armored pressure suit and checked mine while I checked hers. Then, Mary checked both of ours. Jan was carrying a larger version of my rifle while Mary had two smaller submachine guns attached to her hip and she had two countermeasure antenna that came out of the top of her helmet. Jan had told me that they looked like ‘rabbit ears’ but I didn’t know what that was.

Quickly but without running, we made our way to the bow of the ship. In front of us was what looked like a regular airlock door, but peering inside, I could see there was no door on the other side. Just… the hull of the Warfinder. This was not part of the training. 

“Mary, I thought we were going to contact the Warfinder’s hull at a door? There’s no door here.”

I couldn’t see Mary’s face through her darkened helmet, but the suit AR put an overlay on my vision so I could see her. It looked as if her helmed had ceased, but it was a video effect. She was grinning wildly. “Doors? Doors are too predictable Cal. We’re going to make our own door!” And she slapped a button next to the airlock cycle. There was a whirr and the buzzing crackle of electricity.

A few moments later, a large, pressure door slid down from the ceiling behind us and closed with finality. “Just in case.” Jan said, when I looked at her. The door to the Gren ship opened and through the smoke and haze I could see that nearly a perfect circle had been cut into the hull. We had connected in a cargo hold.

Jan and Mary stepped in confidently, and I realized that we hadn’t cut into any cargo hold, we had cut into the cargo hold.. I could see the Hamin not ten meters away, intact, on its landing studs, sitting there. 

The two Gren who were guarding it who were very surprised to learn about our presence. That surprise was short lived, as Jan’s rifle chattered and roared, filling the cargo hold with smoke and noise. The Gren were… gone. Only a stain remained.

Mary’s ‘ears’ were twitching and moving while she worked. “We have incoming hostiles. Two minutes or so. I’m locking doors and sealing the cargo hold. It should buy us time, but we need to move now. Cal! You’re up.”

At Mary’s order, I ran over to the Hamin and plugged a little box into an access port near the door. The encryption broken, I had control over their audio systems. “Hello? Uncle Li?” Are you there?”

The radio crackled to life and relief washed over me when I heard my Uncle. “Cal’ina? Is that you? What are you doing?”

“I’m with some humans. We’re here to rescue you.”

“Rescue? How? The cargo…”

“Yes, I know about the cargo. We’re going to cut another hole in the hull and get the Hamin out. Can you warm up the engines?”

“Another hole? I- er, okay yes. Yes, I will do this Cal. You know the drive output is toxic though, right?”

“It’s all right Uncle. I’m in a human made armored pressure suit. We’ll all be fine. Get the engines warmed up.

While Uncle Li began the process to warm the engines, I ran around the ship attaching the three pods that the mysterious human commander had entrusted to me. They stuck to the ship easily, almost as if they were magnetic. “Field generators Cal. They’re field generators. They’ll make it so that we can get the Hamin out of the cargo hold.” Even then, it felt like he wasn’t telling me the whole truth, but it didn’t matter, not really. I did as I was trained, and attached the ‘field generators’ to the Hamin.

As I finished and stepped away,  the active noise cancelling of my suit reduced the external sounds to less than a whisper, and all I heard was the whirr of the cooling fan of my suit. Glancing back, I saw that the ANC had blocked the noise of a concussion. The Gren had broken through the cargo door and were trying to rush in. 

Trying really was the word for it. Jan stood a fair distance away, firing her rifle until it was empty, reloading, and firing again. The Gren had purchased projectile weapons on the open market when they had learned about them, but they still hadn’t been trained very well in their use. They tended to go rushing in towards battle. Jan used this knowledge - and her species millennia of experience with projectiles - to just cut them down mercilessly. 

“Mary! Jan! I made contact with Uncle Li and attached the field generators. He’s warming the engines now. The exhaust is toxic but…”

“But our suits will be fine, yes. The Gren will have a hard time with it unless they’re suited up too. I’m almost done here as well.” Mary’s ‘ears’ were vibrating with activity so much they were almost a blur. After a moment, her ears stopped. “Data acquired. Jan, it’s time to delta!”

Jan fired into the… pile of Gren one more time and put her rifle down. I could see smoke rising up from the barrel. She trotted over to us, and we made it back onboard the ship.

“What about the Hamin? How are we going to get it out?”

“Oh that? We’ll let our pilots take care of that. Jan touched a spot on her wrist pad, and the pods on the Hamin came to life. I watched, fascinated as they unfolded and unfurled into three complicated looking… things… almost like the branches of a plant. After they finished unfurling, they blurred and…

And almost like it pirouetted in place, it disappeared. For the life of me, it looked like my uncle’s ship spun in place once and before it returned to its original position it was gone.

I turned to Jan and Mary and just pointed silently.

Jan laughed. “That’s what a Flip looks like from the outside Cal. We attached a prototype Flip drive to the Hamin.” She looks down at her pad “Yup, it reappeared at the edge of the system. Come on Cal, let’s get out of here.”

We ran back to the ship, got aboard and backed off the Warfinder. As we disconnected, the hole we left caused all the air in the cargo hold to evacuate, which I’m sure caused a lot of trouble for the Gren.

****

“So.. what? After you just happened to tell some humans that your uncle’s ship was captured you went with those humans - who turned out to be some kind of  secret military group - to a Gren Warfinder, drilled a hole into their ship, and then rescued your Uncle’s cargo ship with a prototype Flip drive?” As the bartender recounted the high points of my story, he counted the points with his long fingers.

“Er, yes. That’s what happened.”

“Okay then, who were the humans in the hibernation cabinets?”

“They never told me.”

"What about the data the one with the ears was collecting?"

"They never told me."

“Did the Warfinder retaliate?”

“No, we Flipped away before they could react”

The stare of the bartender felt like it was boring into my body. My fur fluffed out, indignant. “It really happened.”

“Sure it did, friend. Doesn’t change the fact that you still need to close your tab. Thirty Skys, please.”

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #sci fi writing #humans are space oddities #humans are space capybaras #humans and aliens #jpitha #humans are space australians #writing

[veeagainsttheday]

Ed, Killing, and the Kraken in Our Flag Means Death S1 and S2

This meta contains a whole heckuva a lot of spoilers for Our Flag Means Death seasons 1 and 2. Thanks to @petrichorca who gave it a read through and left some helpful comments!

When we first get to know Ed in s1e4, the episode concludes with him telling his first mate, Izzy Hands, about his plans to murder Stede Bonnet and steal his identity so Ed can retire from piracy. Ed and Izzy discuss the plan in a casual manner, like this act isn't shocking or deviant from previous conversations and schemes Ed and Izzy have had before. This is consistent with how other characters, especially Black Pete, have described Blackbeard in previous episodes (‘when Blackbeard kills man, woman, or child…’). While Black Pete is (probably) lying, Buttons was with him until the flip. 

As the song ‘The Empty Boat’ by Caetano Veloso plays, Izzy tells Ed, 'You've still got it' and Ed says, 'I know,' turning away to face the empty deck. Only the audience witnesses his true facial expression - the Blackbeard mask falling, a kind of dead-eyed exhaustion (echoed by the lyrics of the song) taking its place. 

In s1e5, we see Ed threaten violence against the French captain, but he doesn't actually hurt the man himself. We also see him act as if he's about to go kill the French partygoers before Stede steps in and 'handles it'. At this point I think we the audience would, if asked, have said that Ed seems to have a casual attitude towards killing that you would expect from 'the legendary Blackbeard'. He's scary ('next one goes through your fucking eyeball') and almost cartoonishly violent ('skin him. And use the snail fork'). So we the audience maybe make some assumptions about where the show stands on violent killing - not only that Blackbeard is familiar with it, but that it's a commonplace act for him.

Then we come to a pivotal moment. In s1e6, Izzy pushes back on Ed for not killing Stede, there’s the conversation about doggy heaven, and Ed promises Izzy that he’ll be the one to do the killing. We see Ed hyping himself up (‘You’re a killer bro. So kill.’) and then holding his knife while standing next to Stede behind the curtain in the captain’s cabin. They’re interrupted by Lucius cutting off his finger. Ed doesn’t go through with it; the moment passes as Stede exits the curtain to announce the entrance of the Kraken. 

At this point, I as an audience member fully believed that Ed couldn’t kill Stede because of his feelings for him. I wasn’t yet sure what those feelings were, but I knew that Ed had a deep affection for Stede, and for a moment I believed that was all that was holding him back. Then, of course, we see Ed have a PTSD/panic attack trigger from the Kraken fuckery that sends him into Stede’s bathtub, hiding underneath Stede’s robe, where he and Stede have what I believe is the most intimate moment of the entire first season (a reading supported by s2e3). Ed tells Stede, ‘The Kraken didn’t kill my dad. I did.’ We are shown the flashbacks to the way Ed’s father abused him and his mother, and the Kraken story he told on deck earlier is shown again with the figure of the beast in the water replaced by himself, as a young teen, on the dock. 

Then Ed tells Stede, ‘If I’m being honest, I haven’t killed another man since.’ Stede tries to comfort him by reminding him how much he loves a good maim, but Ed is still preoccupied with how the fact that he killed his abusive father as a child means that he’s not a good person, and that this is why he doesn’t have any friends, aka, isn’t loveable. Stede tells him, ‘I’m your friend,’ in essence, To me, you are loveable, and Ed reacts by saying, ‘No,’ and banging his head against the tub.

The next important point happens in s1e8, when Jack invites himself to breakfast and regales Stede (very deliberately, as he’s trying to push Stede and Ed apart) with the tale of Ed setting a ship alight and killing many people. (Also note - the show’s first mention of Hornigold! ‘He treated us like dogs! Worse than dogs!’ and ‘Ground us down into nothing!’) While Jack emphasises the horror and brutality of what Ed did, Ed’s demeanour completely changes - ‘No, Stede doesn’t want to hear about that.’ Jack obviously doesn’t listen to Ed; Stede’s face passes from horrified listening to Jack to squinting at Ed like, ‘Is this - true?’ Ed looks thoroughly guilty as the story continues and Stede asks him, clearly doing his best to preserve Ed’s secret in front of Jack, ‘I thought you’d, uh, given up the killing?’ Ed surges forward in his seat and, not making eye contact with Stede, says, ‘Yeah, well, technically the fire killed those guys. Not me.’ The camera then cuts to Jack looking at Stede with a bit of an incredulous expression as if he’s both gauging Stede’s reaction to the entire thing and thinking, ‘Wow BB’s in deep here if he’s making up some weird story about not being the one who lit that fire.’  

I don’t think the show intends for us to believe that Ed was consciously lying to Stede in the bathtub scene in s1e6. Instead, we see the complex way that Ed - who is shown to be both brilliant and possessed of an internal monologue that just cannot shut up - has constructed mental barriers to protect himself from the trauma of killing while still achieving the highest possible status in a very violent profession and existing in a world marred by colonial violence perpetrated specifically against people like him. 

S1e9 shows Ed continuing to posture to everyone but Stede as Blackbeard, seasoned killer (for example, telling Chauncey that he barely remembers killing Nigel because he’s ‘a real “life is cheap” kinda guy’). At the Academy and briefly after, in the beginning of s1e10, Ed seems set to have given up killing and violence for real, but Izzy’s threats in the cabin in s1e10 send Ed reeling back to the Kraken persona he assumed when he killed his dad. The season concludes with him pushing Lucius off the ship and Krakening up to sail, rob, and raise hell forever - but the final shot shows Ed crying alone in his cabin, his Kraken makeup streaking down his face. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s one of my favourite scenes from a character perspective. Imagine if the season had ended with Ed fully transformed into the Kraken, rather than clearly miserable and heartbroken under his mask? 

Season 2 begins with Ed trying to set a record for most consecutive raids, working his crew to death under brutal and traumatic conditions. His list of crimes on his wanted poster certainly suggests a lot of violence and killing, yet the show is careful to show us Ed himself only seeming to kill one person - firing a gun into a man’s back during a raid - and if you look closely, you’ll see that the man was already dying with a dagger through his body. It feels vital to me that the only direct ‘killing’ action we see Ed taking is shooting a man who we presume he can justify as having been already on his way to death. 

In s2e1 and s2e2, Ed can’t kill Izzy, though he does try desperately to get Frenchie to do it for him. He can’t even kill himself, trying to get Izzy to do it instead. When he thinks Izzy has committed suicide with the gun he gave him, he says, ‘I loved you, best I could,’ as if any love Ed could give would by its nature not be good enough. 

Ed wakes in s2e3 in the care of his old captain, Hornigold; of course, he’s really in the gravy basket and Hornigold is serving as a Jacob Marley-esque psychopomp. They key to Ed realising that he’s really [Buttons voice] ‘down in the old gravy basket’ is the conversation that concludes his attempts to be Jeff the Innkeeper. Hornigold tells Ed that he’s not good with people - after all, he did strangle his father. Ed reacts first with disbelief then cold fury, saying he never told anyone that; Hornigold reminds him that he told one person and Ed flashes back to telling Stede in the bathtub in s1e6; then Hornigold reminds him that the one person he told left him, and we see Ed crying under his Kraken makeup at the end of s1e10. Later, when Ed (finally, even Calico Jack would have had it sooner) realises that Hornigold represents himself, he says that he’s unloveable. Here’s the crux of it - he believes that he is fundamentally unloveable because he killed his father, because he is the Kraken, the monstrous beast capable of lethal violence. That’s why Stede left, his brain is telling him even as he’s dying. 

Then Stede actually proves him wrong by returning, saving him from death, and telling him that he ‘love[s] everything about [him]’ in rapid succession. Whether or not Ed fully accepts this information, we do see him very quickly, yes, melt back into Stede’s arms. Which brings us to s2e6, and Stede’s killing of Ned Low. 

Quick digression into killing and Stede: Stede accidentally kills a man in s1e1, is haunted by his ghost in s1e2. He’s so haunted by dead Nigel that he spends a lot of s1e2 asking first Oluwande and Jim for advice on being a ‘mur-der-er’, and then asking Black Pete how his former employer, Blackbeard (!!!) handled killing. (How Pete says, ‘When Blackbeard kills man, woman, or child-’ lives in my head at all times, Matt Maher with the line deliveries of all time.) Finally in s1e2, during his court-mandated therapy with the tribal elder, Stede admits that he doesn’t feel bad about killing Nigel - he was a horrible person even when he was a child! Stede's guilt is coming from somewhere else. We see this again in s1e9, when Stede says it is time for him to face the consequences for what he’s done - it might seem like he means for killing Nigel, since that’s why he’s about to face the firing squad, but we know that Stede’s guilt is about abandoning his family (the people he’s hurt!). Similarly, when Stede kills Ned in s2e6, he seems to get over it very quickly. Ned is clearly a bad guy, and although the act of killing him was traumatic for Stede (much like the act of killing Nigel), Stede presumably reconciles it by knowing that he was protecting Ed and his crew (and avenging Calypso’s birthday). Stede as a character is shown to have a tremendous amount of natural resilience. We later see him immolate a guy and dispatch a number of British soldiers without hesitation. Stede is also one of the two main protagonists of the show, and his attitude towards killing seems to reflect the attitude of the show itself - killing colonisers and torturers to protect your loved ones is ok, actually. 

(Side note but I found this idea about how zero tolerance policies actually hurt victims very informative on the topic of why it's ok that Stede killed his childhood bully; I got that link from this very interesting post where several people are in conversation about how Ed is not Izzy's abuser.)

Back to Ed in s2e6. He asks Stede not to kill Ned; when Stede does anyway, Ed is visibly saddened and ignores Izzy telling him to give Stede a moment; instead he goes immediately to check in on Stede in his cabin. He knocks on the door and in that soft voice that he only ever uses with Stede, he starts to say, ‘Hey. You okay? Look, I was a wreck after my first kill as well.’ Then he pauses, before rambling, ‘I mean, well, it was my dad, so there's that,’ which feels like a little moment of self-reflection. Like. Yeah. Ed. Baby. You might be super fucked up about the act of killing because the first guy you killed was your dad, when you were a literal child! Also, Ed has never been to (as far as we know) court-mandated tribal elder therapy, so of course his decision to kill his father fucked Ed up for decades! Also as a very clever friend pointed out, we don’t know anything about what the consequences of that were for Ed - how did his mother react, is that why he ran away to sea, etc.

There's another important thing here that the audience knows, but that Ed has never told Stede (or, we have to assume, anyone) which is that the catalyst for Ed becoming the Kraken to kill his father was abuse. The audience is shown through his panic-attack-induced flashback that Ed's father physically and verbally abused his mother and presumably him too. All Ed has ever said to Stede or anyone about it, as far as we know, was his joke to the crew during scary story hour that his dad was a dick. Stede can probably infer roughly why Ed killed his dad, but he doesn't know the details, and he loves everything about Ed anyway, and now Ed knows that Stede does too. 

So Ed and Stede have sex, and as many metas have pointed out (like this one!), it's so meaningful that Ed feels safe enough to give up his Blackbeard/Kraken identity the very next morning. He attempts to get Stede to see that it might be nice to not be pirates anymore due to the high chance of death but Stede manages to completely misread it and laughs it off. (To be fair to Stede, they're both horrible at communicating and Ed is not saying what he wants in any direct manner.) Ed proceeds to have his big beautiful brain start to spiral out of control as Jackie points out how popular Stede is becoming as a pirate; Ed panics, tells Stede he doesn’t even know who he is, and leaves to become a fisherman before he can get left (again!). 

As Ed rows away from his failed career as a fisherman in s2e8, his boss Pop-Pop (who he has managed to recreate a fucked up father-son dynamic with that like so many things in his show is played for laughs but has pretty dark undertones) yells after him, 'If you were ever good at anything, go and do that, you bum.' Ed rows back into the port of the Republic of Pirates and sees the destruction Prince Ricky has wrought upon the pirate community. Ed's first thought is, Stede, and then he imagines Stede calling for help before straight up murdering two British soldiers. He remembers Pop-Pop's words and says, 'Have it your way,' before diving into the sea, retrieving his leather, putting it on underwater, and emerging from the waves fully dressed. It's fantastically hot and the exact level of drama I expect from this man. The Kraken musical cue is playing as it happens. 

We now see Ed murdering British soldiers in the coolest ways possible, demonstrating his skill at fighting in hand to hand combat. One way to read him taking Pop-Pop's advice is that this is what he's good at - killing and violence. 

But you know what Ed’s even better at? Protecting the people he loves. His mother, himself, and Stede. Each time Ed becomes the Kraken, he fulfils that. He protects his mother from his father, himself from Izzy after being warned that ‘[Edward] better watch his fucking step’, and Stede from the invading colonisers who want to destroy their freedom. But something has changed the third time he does it - this time, he can tell Stede that he loves him and he doesn't mean it as a tainted thing, but something that he knows Stede will treasure. He's both loveable and capable of loving. He always has been, of course, but now he knows it. The Kraken, the part of him that is capable of killing, was always a defence mechanism for Ed, but the third time he understands it and himself enough to know that it doesn’t make him a monster. 

#ofmd s2 #ofmd s2 meta #ofmd meta #edward teach #blackbeard #our flag means death meta #our flag means death

[avatarl0v3r]

NeteyamxFem!HumanReader Reincarnated part 1

Requested: Yes

Index: The readers parents were killed in the war between the sky people and the Na'vi they fought with the Na'vi the reader was trained to fight and survive by Jake she ended getting close to the Sully kids years later both her and the Sully family had to leave and find someone to stay to protect the clan from the next threat. Warnings: Character death, lots of angst, and cussing

"Go!" You say sternly turning to face Lo'ak, and Neteyam they both jumped into the water you following after shortly while being shot at.

As you come up for air you feel a sharp pain throughout your whole body mainly your chest Lo'ak and Neteyam are on the ilu Tisreya hanging on "You both are idiots you know that" You say your voice strained Tisreya looks at you her eyes widening at the sight "Y/n" Shock lasing her words.

Neteyam looks over "Shit" He pushed Lo'ak off the ilu and swam to you and grabbed you with Tisreyas help lifting you onto the ilu with him he rode away to a rock where he seen his dad.

"Dad, Dad its Y/n shes been shot," He helped lift you up with his dads help "watch her head" He kept repeating.

When you were laid down on the rock he jumped out the water and came and sat by your side holding your hand Jake lifted you a bit to see how deep the wound was "Fuck" He said laying you back down everyone was now next to you he grabbed Neteyams hands "Pressure! apply pressure" Neteyam put pressure on your wound you hissed in pain.

Neytiri showed up and seen you on the ground she jogged over and got on her knees worried about losing you.

"We're losing her!" You reach and grab Neteyams hand "Neteyam," you struggle to get air into your lungs as you try to finish your sentence "i-" Your gripped loosened completely Neytiri started to scream and cry uncontrollably Neteyam started to cry begging for you to come back.

Jake tried calming them down "Our work here isn't done, i need you back" He said as he grabbed Neytiri's face he then looked at Neteyam "Where are your sisters," he only looked at him "i said where are your sisters" He looked at the ship "On the ship" Jake and Neytiri went to go find their daughters leaving Neteyam with you.

Back at the village that night

Neteyam was swimming next to your body as it lay in a large leaf he watched as you body floated to the bottom of the sea "Mother always said all energy was borrowed and one day must be returned I guess this is what she meant"

Neteyam didn't have any reaction as he watched your body be swallowed by the sea later that night Tisreya took him to the tree of life he attached his queue and closed his eyes.

Neteyam opened his eyes to see you standing there where the two of you always sparred Neteyam ran to you and hugged you tightly not letting go "Neteyam you can not longer see me at the tree of life again" He looked at you confused by your words "I wish I could join you, but this will have to be enough" He grabbed your hand looking into your eyes "What do you mean? Cant I just see you again?".

You shook your head in response "Maybe in another life we'll meet again" Neteyam shook his head "And what if we don't" You smiled "We've met before, and we'll meet again in another life."

The present

10 year old you sits up in your bed sweating and crying the "nightmare" didn't scare you it never has it feels more like deja vu as if that had really happen you turned and laid back in your bed covering up.

The next morning you seen your friend Rebecca "Becca, i had that dream again the one about the blue aliens and humans at war" Rebecca looks at you interest in her eyes "Ouu was that boy in it again" You rolled your eyes and laughed at her "We both want to be in the military so who knows maybe those blue alien things are real and maybe one day we'll get to go to Pandora" you smiling at the end.

I love this request and there will be parts to this story and time skips.

Everyone that commented on this i will tag in the next part it’ll be posted at 1 am EST

THESE ARE THE OUTFITS SHE WEARS

i own non of these photos

HUMAN: AVATAR:

#avatar #avatar x reader #avatar way of water #neteyam #neteyam x reader #pandora #lo’ak #jake sully #neytiri

[fenricken]

You Keep Slipping From My Grasp 4/7

AO3

Ship: Spirit Halloween

first

prev

The rain fell heavily, washing the blood on the ground away as he stepped toward the woman. She was hunched over, sobbing, clutching her dead son to her chest. She glanced up at him as he approached, mouthing silent prayers.

“What happened here?” he asked, carefully ignoring the dead bodies around.

“They came… for a box my family has guarded for a long time. They killed my husband and my son, and they’ve taken my Catherine… They’ll torture her to make her speak its secrets. Please! Please, help her!”

She reached out a hand to him, imploringly. He crouched down to take it.

“I will.”

————

Danny stood before Clockwork, adjusting his new cowboy hat. Maddie and Jack stood behind Clockwork tinkering on the Fenton Omega Siphoner, and arguing over the aesthetics of the machine.

“I have already sent Dani out to help the Justice League locate Batman’s cape. Hopefully we should receive word on her success soon.” Clockwork began, “In the meantime, we do still need someone to make sure Batman doesn’t rush forward too quickly, lest he build up too much energy before we can stop him. Are you ready?”

“Always ready for bat-sitting duty. I’d hope he’s doing something  a bit calmer this time, but I suppose there’s no chance of that happening.” Danny responded, pointing to his hat.

Clockwork just gave his usual cryptic smile before opening a portal for Danny to step through.

————

“Roooooobin. Rooooooooobin.”

Tim whirled around, searching for the source of the noise.

“Oooh, new fit?” Poltergeist asked, stepping out of the shadows. “Ugly cowl, but I like the rest of it.”

Tim lowered his bo staff at her, readying himself for whatever chaotic ‘game’ she tried to rope him into this time.

“Your city’s on fire. You bats trying out some new defense mechanism or something? Like, you think no rogue would want to take over Gotham if it’s a pile of rubble and ash?” She turned in a circle, surveying the chaos Gotham was under.

“What do you want, Poltergeist?”

“Well, so like, Batman’s stuck in time, right? And-”

“How do you know that?!” Red Robin cut in. He had been struggling to convince everyone that Batman was still alive ever since he found those paintings on the walls of the Batcave. Suddenly, here was Poltergeist who seemed to know something about it, but he couldn’t trust her. She was unpredictable, and running into her could mean leaving with anything as benign yet uncomfortable as soaked socks or as irritating and hindering as being cursed to only speak dead languages for the next 3 days.

And things only got worse if she was tagging along with Klarion. Fortunately, he wasn’t in sight, so it's unlikely he was here with her.

“What do you want?”

She smiled slightly at him. “Oh! I want to get Batman back where he belongs before he dies or explodes everything.”

Explodes everything?

“I mean, Gotham’s got a grumpy quota and since you’re his mini-me I figured you’d start trying to take it on and that’d be so boring.” She raised her pointer fingers to the side of her head, imitating Batman’s cowl and adopted a nasally voice. “I don’t have time to play, Poltergeist. Gotham needs me. I have to go stalk Penguin, and then I need to go brood on my favorite gargoyle.”

“So you want to help me find Batman so that I will… be able to play with you?”

“Well, that, but also if he makes his way to the present day on his own, he’ll have built up enough of something called Omega Energy to make all of reality go ka-blooey, and I actually really like this universe. Top 10, easily.”

Tim held up his hand to stop the oncoming ramble while he compartmentalized.

First, Poltergeist knew Bruce was lost in the time stream and seemed to want to help.

Second, Bruce was making his way back to the present, and by doing so was becoming a living bomb

Third, Poltergeist is a multiversal being???

That last one can probably be ignored for now.

“If I were to let you help me find Batman, where do you suggest we start? I’ve been tracking down artifacts I think he’s left behind  to try and convince the Justice League to help us-”

“Psh. Justice League Shmustice League. My dad and my Nana and Pops are already working on it. We just need to find the cape he was sent back in time with for them. Besides, I can probably convince Wonder Woman to help us get the Justice Dorks to help out once we get the cape if we really need to.”

What.

“What?”

“My grandparents are building a thingy-thing to suck all the Omega Energy out of Batman so he’s not a bomb. My dad’s hanging out with him to keep him from dying or something, and we’re supposed to find his cape so we can safely yoink him out of the time stream.”

“I didn’t know you had parents??? What do they do while you’re here breaking things???”

Poltergeist shrugged “King things I guess. And I only have a dad.”

“King things???”

She rolled her eyes, “Anyway, Dad said he last saw Batman’s cape in the Batcave.”

“You didn’t answer my question, and I’m not taking you to the Batcave.”

Poltergeist landed on her feet, and stared at him with wide eyes. He stared back, caught in her gaze for what felt like an eternity, as he felt invisible fingers trickle up his spine. Whispers started low in his ears, building to a crescendo. It was getting too much to bear, until he broke eye contact and looked away. All of a sudden, it stopped. Tim heaved a big sigh.

“I’m… kinda fighting with the current Batman, so we’ll have to sneak in.”

She punched both arms into the air, “YES!”

Tim turned, flicking his cape and walking off, not waiting to see if she’d follow.

“Poltergeist, when this is over you are going to be answering my questions.”

He heard her blow a raspberry at his back, but kept walking.

————

He followed their trail easily enough, the rain trailing after him. As he reached his destination, men came out to fight him, readying pistols, but he made short work of them easily enough.

With his memory having returned in bits and pieces, it had been easy to fashion metal into bat shapes aerodynamic enough to hit true when thrown, and it was these he’d used to disarm the men.

These memories were useful. The ones of children with blurry faces less so, haunting him as they stayed just out of his complete grasp. A constant reminder of how lost and alone he was.

He steadily made his way to the headquarters, where he figured they were keeping Catherine. He whirled around, sensing someone approaching from behind. It was the man with white hair, again.

“Seems you’ve got this well enough in hand, but I hope you don’t mind if I’d tag along all the same.”

“Why?”

The white haired man smiled slightly. “Will you not believe that I just want to help you?”

He stared, unblinking and quiet. Memories from before had proven this a good method to get more information.

His target stared back, also quiet and unblinking. It wasn’t long before he started shifting, and not much longer before he finally spoke again. Under his breath, almost too quiet to hear, he muttered “Just like Dani, I swear…”

Louder, the man said, “I’ve not known you to be the kind of man to ever be on the wrong side of a cause. Whatever you’re up to, I just want to help.”

He squinted at the man, trying to find any evidence of a lie, but the man just appeared open and honest.

“No guns,” he says, before turning back around and leading the white haired man on towards the headquarters.

As they got closer, they noticed two men standing guard. He deployed smoke bombs to cover their approach, sneaking closer with his companion close behind. They were spotted, but the smoke did its work, scaring the two guards and allowing him and his companion to disappear from view again.

“How you gonna tell me there’s no such things as ghosts now???” One of them whimpered, apparently to his white-haired friend’s delight, as he broke out in giggles.

As the smoke continued to grow, he and his friend snuck around the two, tricking them into fighting each other.

He broke through into the offices in the back. They were unfortunately empty.

“Already gone!” He said, slamming a hand on the desk. His companion stood at the window.

“Not long though, look!”

When he spotted their carriage speeding away through the window, he knew he had to act quickly. He launched himself out of the window, and onto the tarp covering the wagon.

An explosion sounded behind him, but he focused on the task ahead of him. His friend always seemed to find his way back, so he’d have to trust he’d do it again.

The ensuing fight was nothing pretty, little more than mad scrambling as he fought to hold his balance, dodge bullets, and wrestle the men actually in the cart so he could get away with the Catherine and her family’s box.

Looking ahead, he saw they were quickly approaching the dock, and a man who was walking down it. Thinking quickly, he swung his body-weight around, tipping the wagon over and sending everyone sprawling. 

The man who had been at the dock had acted quickly, grabbing the young woman and holding her protectively behind him. He stood up, adding to the obstacles that stood protecting Catherine from her kidnappers. Only 3 men remained. From the snippets he heard as two of them fought, he figures the two fighting must’ve been the masterminds behind the plot and the third still in the distance was a gun-for-hire. Taking out his weapons of choice, he quickly dispatched the two men.

Catherine tugged on his cloak. He turned to face her, seeing that she had opened up the box, and was showing him what was inside.

It was Jack Valor’s journal.

He wanted to reach out–to see what Jack had added since they parted, but the gun-for-hire had caught up to them by then.

“My employers may have been dealt with, but I still have a reputation to uphold. Draw.”

He stood up straight, reaching for more of his weapon of choice. Over the shoulder of the gun-for-hire, he saw another man approaching quickly, white-haired. His friend.

A loud bang echoed, and he felt pain in his side. He stumbled, too close to the edge of the dock, and as he fell over he heard one last cry of ‘BAT–’.

And everything went dark.

————

Shit.

Shit. Shit. SHIT.

As if Batman stumbling towards the present through who-knows-when wasn’t bad enough, now he’s SHOT???

Danny quickly ripped a portal back to Clockwork’s lair.

“Please tell me you’ve almost got the machine ready.” Danny said after confirming his parents were in the room.

“Almost! Just one problem, sweetie…” His mom said, looking over at her husband so he’d finish.

“Batman needs to die. Or at least be very close to death!” Jack said, ending with a laugh.

“Basically, we can get this machine to suck out the Omega Energy, but it’s tightly bonded with Batman’s life energy, so it’s extremely risky unless we can find a way to diminish his life energy.”

Danny groaned, putting his face in his hands. “It’s just one thing after another! He’s just been shot. Would that bring him close enough?”

His dad tilted his head back and forth, considering. “Likely not, unless he was in a pretty bad way. In any case, we asked Sam and Tucker to take a look into it!”

“We’ve already found something, actually.” Sam said, having entered the room. Tucker followed behind her.

“There’s an herb that I was able to locate, which should slow his heart down to extreme levels, to the point his heartbeat would be pretty undetectable. Only problem is that his heart would have to be jump-started afterward by a great shock.”

“Clockwork let me take a closer look at his monitors into Batman’s original time and place, and I was able to determine that they have defibrillator technology that can administer an electrical shock needed to get his heart pumping again, as well as adrenaline injections in case we’d need the extra boost.” Tucker continued.

Maddie clapped her hands together. “Excellent! If we can get the Justice League to set up the anchor point on the Watchtower, we can pull Batman to that point and perform everything there! It’d probably work best to do it in his original time as well, to avoid any potential effects that could crop up from being in the wrong time when we remove the Omega Energy and try to stabilize his system.”

“Great, some good news.” Danny said, tension leaving his body. He turned to Clockwork, who had been quiet thus far. “How’s Dani’s work coming along? Will we be ready to proceed soon?”

“Dani and Red Robin have recovered Batman’s cape, and have moved it to the Watchtower. I believe Dani was able to recruit Wonder Woman’s help into getting the rest of the Justice League in line to receive Batman.”

 ————

“Red Robin! Did you seriously bring Poltergeist into the cave??? What were you thinking?”

Before Tim could reply, Poltergeist raised a hand to point at Dick-as-Batman.

“AAH! It’s the cops! Run!”

Poltergeist placed her hand on Tim’s shoulder, pulling him and the cape through the ceiling of the batcave and up in the open air of Gotham. As Tim caught sight of Wayne Manor his head whipped towards Poltergeist, hoping she wouldn’t make any connections.

She was staring at him, lips pressed together, looking a bit like a frog.

He was quiet, waiting for her to say something.

She blew a breath of air out, letting her lips buzz.

“Listen, you keep my secret, and I won’t tell anyone Batman’s secret id is some rich fruitloop.”

“...What secret?”

She pivoted them somewhere Southeast.

“That sometimes I can be responsible. Let’s go see Wonder Woman.”

AN:

It's definitely been longer than I had planned since the last update, rip.

Not going to lie, this is like my second ever fic and I definitely thought it'd be a bit easier to get back into the habit of writing. Thought I was making it easier on my self by strongly sticking to the plot of an existing story, but I think that's been an obstacle in and of itself.

Always a little worried that the language is a bit stuffy or things aren't being clear.

#dpxdc #dc x dp #batman comic rewrite basically #dp x dc crossover #spirit halloween ship