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messy-crisantemo · 1 year

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Since we’ve entered a Gentan renaissance, I figured I should make a

🍉 GenTan fic recommendation list 🎴

Note that this is a list of personal favorites based on my likes and the many (yet not all existent) fics I’ve read. They’re not put in any particular order and they’re all completed fics. I’m adding some of the tags, but not all of them since I don’t want to make this post extra long, so please read them again once you go to the Ao3 link. And finally, if anyone is anime-only, even if a fic is spoiler free, it’s likely that it’ll have some reference to Genya’s abilities or family relationships, so be careful.

That being said, we proceed!

Don’t Talk to Me by 125389, 9k

(Red Light District Arc, Canon-Typical Violence, Meet-Cute, Strangers to friends to enemies to ???, Humor, Crushes)

A second impression, a star-crossed meeting, a misunderstanding. Each was there to do his job, to keep matters strictly business, but when have things ever been that simple?

Beautifully written, fantastic humor, and just GenTan inevitably falling for each other (both romantically and literally).

To Be The Piece You Need by Gilberrts, 11k

(Alternate Universe - High School, Dialogue Heavy, Friends to Lovers)

Shinazugawa Genya's life is in a downward spiral. He has no friends, his grades are on thin ice, and he can't seem to stop outgrowing his clothes. Then, when his relationship with his brother finally hits rock bottom, Genya has a strange encounter with the sole member of the school's cooking club.

Hurt-Comfort scenario where, of course, Tanjirou is the comfort.

Rest + Recovery by aizetsus, 2k

(genya is stressed, post Swordsmith Village Arc)

Genya gets overwhelmed pretty easily. Especially when faced with a cute boy.

It wouldn’t be a GenTan rec list without our traditional, fluffy scenario of Genya pining for Tanjirou.

Cardinals by bluejelly245, 8k

(Modern AU, Wakes & Funerals, Hurt/Comfort, Conversations, Friendship/Love, Past Abuse)

Genya and his family attend the funeral wake for Tanjiro’s father, much to the younger Shinazugawa boy’s dismay. The last thing he wanted to do was spend his evening surrounded by tears and grief, but what he least expected, was to end up on Tanijro’s bedroom floor, comforting the strange boy after his loss.

Genya discovers he is a good person, so sweet despite the gloomy scenario.

loveholic by mimimimi (reiiiiii), 81k

(Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, CEO Genya, Slow Burn, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Aged-Up Character(s), Strangers to Lovers, No Spoilers, Relationship Study)

Tanjirou lives a normal life as a university student on his last year, struggling financially to maintain a life that's not affordable anymore. On the other side, Genya is back to Japan after 17 years living overseas, ready to ruin his father's attempts to save face after several mistakes.

Both are on the edge, about to fall apart.

What will happen once their different worlds collide?

One of those fics that make you squirm under the blankets at 2am because you just can’t stop reading.

A tale of young love and starry nights by kenmagoesblep, 3k

(Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, Fix-it, Fluff and Humor, Getting together, Love Confessions, Festivals, Minor Spoilers)

The sun is already down by the time they arrive and the colorful paper lanterns bathe the streets with a faint whimsical warm glow, highlighting the easy smiles of the festival attendees and the natural glisten of the fresh food in the stalls. Their eyes immediately go to the makeshift gate made with bent bamboo, all adorned with people’s written wishes, to be sent to the heavens by the end of the night.

Genya’s handwriting is shaky but hopefully the crooked words will carry his wish just fine.

Sweet, sweet, sweet.

diet soda society by beecalm, 6k

(Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Humor, Genya makes bad life choices, Brunch, No Spoilers)

Genya knows he should just tell the truth. He got frustrated, and thought that strong words of persuasion would revive his bike from the dead. Non-judgemental as he is, Tanjiro would probably just laugh it off and walk home with a smile on his face.

“I got into a fight,” Genya lies, instead.

(or; Genya yells at his bike, lies about his ability to kick ass, and gets indoctrinated into Kamado Tanjiro’s Saturday morning brunch club.)

GenTan + friends in a super silly and funny scenario.

July by 125389, 45k

(Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Canon Compliant, Modern Setting, Reincarnation, Manga Finale Spoilers)

It could've been just another weekend, just another month, just another season passing by, but instead they made that summer theirs.

Two teens discovering love naturally and intensely. Tears were shed and hearts were healed. It might or might not be a Fix-it.

Tonight’s sky by Wild_Quetzal, 6k

(Canon Compliant, Missing Scene, Hashira Training Arc, Introspection, Pining, Arguing, Light Angst, Fluff, First Dates, First Kiss, Hopeful Ending)

Tanjirou didn’t recall having watched so many people gathered before, not even when his sister and him went to Asakusa. Everything was so appealing and, at the same time, disorienting for him.

He would’ve been feeling lost if it wasn’t because Genya was beside him.

(Or, sharing a night at a festival with Genya should’ve been easy, if it wasn’t for an unexpected event and Tanjirou himself getting in the way)

Yes, we got to the self-promotion part. I’m especially proud of this one <3

And last but not least!

Todo empezó con (un beso) una despedida by Dogchasingcars, 20k

(Manga Spoilers, Post-Canon, First Kiss, Love Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, Reunited and it feels so good, Family Bonding, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Lo que inicia como una breve despedida y la promesa de reunirse pronto (sellada con un beso), termina volviéndose una larga espera para volver a verse.

Because we’re not gonna leave the Spanish-speaking side of the fandom empty handed and it’s one of my favorite GenTan fics of all time. Melancólico y dulce, todo el dolor vale la pena.

#I highly recommend checking out more of these authors’ works!#they’re all amazing!#gentan #genya x tanjirou #genya shinazugawa #tanjirou kamado #kny genya #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #kny #kny fanfic #kny fic #demon slayer fanfic #fanfic rec #ao3 link

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severusloveslily · 1 year

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potions & parchment || snamione AU

Severus stalked back into Hogwarts, a scowl on his face. He had just made the always lovely trek to the Ministry and had, yet again, been thwarted by the dunderheads that make up their government.

Since the Dark Lord’s downfall, he had spent a year or so recovering from his injuries. He was still trying to work out the odds of how the hell he’d managed to survive. Despite his best efforts, he was still alive, so he decided he ought to at least try and enjoy his freedom. Following his recovery, he dusted off many of his stalled research projects and had gone to work. Nearly a decade later, he was ready to present them to the Ministry.

However, he was hitting roadblocks at every bloody turn. Though he’d been awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, they still didn’t particularly like ex-Death Eaters. He couldn’t say he blamed them, but it was frustrating. He didn’t want to be stuck teaching for the rest of his life. It was a means to an end at this point.

“Severus?”

The man stopped and turned to see his boss, Minerva McGonagall, approaching him. He waited for her to catch up, before he continued walking. “I’m not in the mood right now, Minerva.”

“How did the meeting go?” she asked. “Not well?”

“You astound me with your deduction skills,” he muttered. “I want to be alone.”

“Why did they turn you down?” she pressed, struggling to keep up with his long stride.

“You know why, Minerva,” Severus drawled. “In any case, I suppose I’ll just have to fund my projects personally. It will take much longer, but... one day, perhaps I’ll get there. Unless someone else beats me to it,” he muttered. He was trying to develop a serum to numb the effects of the Cruciatus curse. Though the Dark Lord was gone, his followers remained, and there were still people recovering from the war. It would also help Aurors on their mission.

He had also tweaked his Wolfsbane recipe and he found it was more effective than the one before. Though he wasn’t fond of Remus Lupin, it opened his eyes to the horribly lonely world of people stricken with lycanthropy. He was trying to help.

“You know,” McGonagall started, “Hermione will be here for her semi-annual visit next week. Why don’t you speak to her about it? That could be your way in. If you get the Minister for Magic on your side, they can’t say no. Right?”

Severus stopped walking and pondered that. He’d rather rip his hair out than ask a third of the Golden Trio for help, but he had his back against the wall at this point. “Perhaps,” he murmured. It wasn’t a bad idea, but she never really came to speak to him anyway. She hardly even observed him when she was here. He was glad she was taking such a proactive approach to the school, no other minister in his memory had done that. She was doing the world of good for their society, and fit the job to a tee. The country was better off with her at the helm.

#adultpara #potionsparchmentchapter1 #snamione

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bluejaysandblackbats · 3 months

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Catch and Release

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: AU where Jason doesn't die in the explosion and he and Tim end up attending the same high school months later.

Chapters: 9/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Sebastian Ives, Jack Drake, Janet Drake

Relationships: TBA

Additional Tag: Jason Todd Lives, Jason Todd-centric, POV Jason Todd, POV First Person, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake Has Issues, Tim Drake is Not Robin, Jason Todd is Not Robin (Anymore), Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Alfred Pennyworth Knows, Stalker Tim Drake, Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain, Jason Todd Has PTSD, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unlikely Friends, Injury Recovery, Emotional Baggage, Rage, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating

Chapter Nine: Phone Call Home

When I woke up, I wanted to talk to Tim, but I felt so sick I spent half an hour in the bathroom running cool water over my head. Once I felt well enough, I traveled down the hall, looking for Tim... And I stumbled upon his darkroom. Tim was weird. I understood, but I didn't expect to see pictures of me in and out of costume. I turned on the red light. I looked around until I found a peg board with photos of Dick, Bruce, and me. He had several notes written underneath the pictures, pinned to the board. He must've been following us for years. He even had news clippings. I stumbled back. He already knew. He knew things that even I didn't. I left the room and shut the door before finding Tim and yanking him out of bed. "Jason, what's-?"

I shushed him. "When were you gonna tell me that you-? Tim, come with me," I commanded gently.

I dragged Tim behind me and gestured for him to open the darkroom door. Tim shook his head. "Tim, open the door. I want to talk to you in that room right now," I whispered.

"Before we go in there, I have something to tell you-."

"Tim, don't stall," I warned him. Tim shook his head.

"I'm not-." Tim took a deep breath in the dark hallway and looked down at his feet. "I'm not stalling. Jason, you're my best friend... And you're about to see things that aren't representative-. I want to be friends. I didn't know we'd get along so well... So I need you to know it was never my intention to use you."

Tears streamed down my cheeks. I wanted to be mad at him, but he wasn't lying. "Tim, you knew this whole time?" I asked. Tim nodded.

"I wanted you to know the world-." Tim ushered me into the darkroom. "I needed you to know the world needed Robin... I had no idea that the world needs Jason too."

"Do you still think that I should be Robin?" I questioned.

Tim chewed his lip. "I believe you are Robin," Tim whispered. I wiped my tears away, and I embraced him.

I finally had someone in my life who believed in me. Tim froze up. "Tim, you are the only person that hasn't shut me down... Thank you," I whispered.

"Were you guys arguing about that?" Tim questioned. I nodded, and Tim pulled up two chairs. I told him everything. I told him how I felt and how desperate I was to return to my normal. I cried through most of it, but he listened. He cared, but he didn't pity me. He didn't even flinch when I asked him to destroy the evidence of our secret identities. "Can do. Jason, you can stay here as long as you want, and once you get your cast off... I wouldn't mind helping you with whatever you want to do."

That's when it started. My plan. After Tim went to bed, I sat up all night planning ―which made my headache even worse― but I came up with something so perfectly chaotic that it would only require half the student body at my high school. I showered and changed into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Then I returned to sleep. When I woke up, Ives was arguing with Tim in a soft whisper. I took my medication out of the duffel and opened the door. "Do you guys have anything I can eat? I'm not supposed to take these on an empty stomach," I requested. Tim nodded and ran downstairs, leaving Ives with me. Ives was a nice guy.

"You okay? I hope we weren't too weird or anything yesterday... We really were excited to have you there," Ives smiled.

"Uh-huh, I'm okay... I haven't had fun in a long time, and I hope I can join you guys again sometime," I replied. Ives smiled.

"Yeah, that'd be sick. I swore Hudson was gonna cry when you chose to stand by him in battle," Ives chuckled. I laughed too. Tim's friends were alright. Even Hudson. He was a bit of a knucklehead, though.

Tim returned with pizza, and we ate it cold, straight out of the box. I took my medication and checked the calendar on my phone to look at my appointments. Ives' mom came to pick him up after breakfast, but he gave me his number first.

After he left, I played video games with Tim in the living room. "Are we okay?" Tim asked.

"We're better than that. We're brothers now," I replied. Tim grinned.

"Cool," Tim replied.

My phone rang. I wouldn't have answered, but it was Alfred. "Hey, Tim. Pause. This is Alfred," I whispered. He obeyed, and I answered the phone.

"Master Jason, are you somewhere safe?" Alfred asked.

"Mhm, I'm at my friend's house. He said I could stay here for a while... And Alfred, I'm sorry about the porch," I apologized, "And don't tell Bruce where I am."

"I wouldn't think of doing such a thing. Stay out of trouble, and tell your friend I said hello," Alfred whispered before hanging up.

"Alfred says hi, Tim," I announced. Tim smiled.

"Jason, did you sleep last night?" Tim questioned.

"No, but I was thinking about the pictures on your wall... Do you actually think a high school kid hacked WayneTech earlier this year?" I asked. Tim nodded. "Do you think you can figure out who he is?"

"Probably... Why?" Tim asked.

"I want to piss off some very important people, and I think this hacker might have what we need," I replied.

"Jason, can I ask what you're-?"

I shook my head. "It's not that I don't trust you... It's-. This won't work unless you're in the dark for most of it... Also, I need to help you make a replica of my old costume because you're gonna have to be my Robin," I explained. I don't think Tim heard anything after that. He got up and started buzzing around his room, looking for his laptop. I felt sick again, so I went to his bathroom and stuck my head in the sink again. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I bumped my head on the faucet.

"Ouch! Jesus... Hello," I snapped as I answered the phone. I put it on speaker.

"Jason, you know I don't like to get involved in your stuff with Bruce-."

"Then don't," I replied. I had never talked to Barbara like that, but I was pissed.

"I get that you're mad and Bruce is being a complete bonehead... But you're acting like a child. If you want to prove him wrong, do that. Don't throw tantrums and run away from home. You're better than that," Barbara stated.

"You weren't there, Babs. I'd been swallowing my feelings on this for months. I'm sick of him. I've earned the right to flip out on him. How would you feel if he told you what he told me?" I asked.

"Jay, go home. Be pissed off if you wanna be. That's your right, but don't be childish-."

"I'm not being childish. I'm not going home because I don't feel at home there anymore. He told me that he couldn't handle being around me, that Gotham needed Batman, but do you know what he didn't say? The one thing that would've let me accept it all. He never once said he needed me or loved me. He didn't even say he wanted better for me. This is all about him and his ego. I'm his ghost, his failure, his fuel.

You have no idea how that feels. Bruce respects you. I'm barely even a person to him right now. Why would I give up my humanity to be someone's pathetic little rescue?" I interrupted.

"He could make you come home if he wanted to... But he hasn't. Bruce is trying. He sucks at it, but he's doing the best he can. If you can't control your temper or face him right now, at least let him know where you are," Barbara replied.

"Yeah, okay... You were probably gonna tell him where I am anyway. I'll text him, but I'm not going home. I'm staying put," I replied. Barbara didn't get it, but I couldn't fault her for it. I texted Bruce as I promised her, and I spit up in the sink.

"Jason? Are you alright?" Tim asked through the bathroom door.

"Yeah! I'm fine," I answered. The truth. I was only queasy from my migraine. I washed up and dried my hair before returning to Tim's room. He sat next to me on his bed, working on something on his computer, and the gentle click-clacking of his fingers on the keyboard lulled me to sleep.

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twinkleallnight · 1 year

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False Truth-2

Book: TRR AU

Pairings: Drake x Riley, Drake x Olivia, Liam x Riley .

Word count:3075

Disclaimer: All characters belong to pixelberry.

Rating: Mature

Warning: mental health, mention of death.

Catch up here for chapter 1

A/N: Thanks a ton @lizzybeth1986 for holding my hand and bringing this to reality. This is a mini series of 6 chapters loosely weaved around themes for the days of drake-walker-appreciation week.

Prompt: Day2: Throwback @drake-walker-appreciation week

3 months ago……

Sirens blared through the roads as one ambulance after another zipped through the Capitol city of Cordonia. Olivia was frantically driving her SUV, accelerating at a deadly speed towards the ruckus in the city. She wanted to reach the hospital, right now! The usually composed Duchess could not digest the blow of the phone call that she received an hour ago.

'The Crown Prince's convoy has been attacked while heading to the palace from the airport. The prince and his chief of guards were reported injured. They have been rushed to the hospital. Conditions currently unstable.'

She had almost dropped her phone but her training had kicked in and she had rushed to the garage without waiting for any assistance.

After driving for almost an hour, she hit the brakes, her vehicle screeching to a halt in the parking lot of the City hospital.

She dashed to the ER but froze at the chaos she witnessed. There were shrieks and shrills, screams and shouts, wounded and attendings, cries and tears, pain and panic, all together overwhelming her senses.

She tried to peer through the plethora of people in search of her husband, her friend….. maybe even a receptionist who could guide her.

She caught hold of the nearest person in the hospital uniform.

"Excuse me, I am looking for my husband, Drake Walker."

The person filled her in quickly, "Ma'am, there was an attack on a whole convoy, we have thirteen injured and two deaths. I would suggest you to please connect with the front desk over there."

She felt a chill run down her spine. 'Two deaths' her mind reverberated the words. With heavy steps, she crossed the distance to reach the desk. Her lips parted but her voice was choked. 'Two deaths?' she was questioning herself. Was she prepared for the worst? NO.NEVER! Her thoughts screamed back at her.

She cleared her throat loudly enough to crush down her fears and to gain attention. She asked the relevant details. Thankfully, this time she was guided well till the entrance gates of ICU where Liam and Drake were being treated.

Constantine and Regina were already seated there. They were holding each other's hands in silent prayers, waiting to receive the news of the well being of their son. Olivia greeted them both with a downcast face and stood in a corner. They gave her a meek smile.

Moments passed to make minutes and minutes passed into hours. Nothing moved, except for the shuffling of security around the royals. Savannah slipped in next to her sometime in between. But there was no effort to break the silence. Worried eyes met anxious ones, then shied away to hide their fear.

After what seemed like ages, the glass doors slid open. The doctors stepped in the waiting area to let everyone know that things were under control. But, it was going to be a long road to recovery.

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

Present day ……

The ivorine winged-back chair looked tempting with plush cushions. Olivia lowered herself into the softness of the upholstery. Her hands rested naturally on the arms of the chair. She let her head relax back while her long porcelain legs pointed out. She closed her eyes and stretched out with a moan.

"Feels better?"

She wasn't ready for any intrusion yet. But that was the whole reason to visit this place. Her heart was stalling the process of greeting the person in front of her, but she knew time was precious. She opened her eyes with quite an unwillingness. She adjusted herself to prop up on the chair with modesty. "How I wish!"

Her interviewer sat down on a sofa across the spacious room. She didn't understand why they needed such a big room when the conversation could have very well been conducted in a small office across a desk. Her eyes traversed the gap between them, creeping over the fine carpets, hopping across the center table, revolving around the coffee mug to land on the clipboard they held. The click of their pen demanded her attention back to the present. Now. Here.

"It didn't go well?" The stream of questions started.

She shook her head in defeat. Her eyes trained low on the rug, lest her audience could see the tears floating over her emerald orbs.

"What did he say?"

She swallowed thickly before replying, "It was as if he didn't care. As if he had not even read the letter."

"Are you sure he read the letter?"

" It was lying open on his table. No one else visited the room. So, yes, he did read it."

"But he refused to acknowledge it?"

"He stomped away as soon as I went into his room."

"Did he call you or did you go on your own?"

" He was talking to someone again."

"On the phone?"

"No, his phone was on the stand."

"So, whom do you think he was talking to?"

Olivia turned her head to the side and let out a sigh. "It was her." She swallowed over the lump in her throat. "He called out her name, again and again and laughed like a maniac. It scared the hell out of me."

"What else did u hear him say?"

"I knocked on the door only when I heard his laughter and her name in his voice. I don't know what conspired between them, before that."

"Between whom? Are you saying you believe there is a woman named Riley in Drake's life?"

Olivia leapt ahead in her chair with a snarl. "What do you expect me to say?"

"Whatever is coming to your mind. What you feel is the truth." A calm reply came.

Olivia stomped her foot on the rug and stood up. " The truth is, I am losing him. Every passing day." She said through her clenched teeth. "He is living in a delusion."

She got up and went behind the chair to create a safe barricade between them as she faced her interrogator. She wasn't sure she could control her actions. She clutched the back of the chair hard and lashed out, "The truth is that damn accident snatched away everything from me. I lost my friend, my love...my husband, my peace of mind...my happiness. Everything! All I am left to do is, struggle day and night. I have to remind the only man in my life…. Of who he is and who I am."

She paused but her chest was heaving with the burden. She was puffing out hot air to calm herself. She dug her nails deeper into the leather. "This isn't helping Dr June!"

"Olivia, we have discussed this earlier too, there is no magic wand that I can use and get you the results. It is a slow process and it needs a lot of patience, especially from your end."

Olivia hung her head in despair. She had no other option. She had tried every possible measure to get Drake out of his dreamland. Dr June , psychiatrist and behavioral psychologist was her last resort after much research. She had helped relieve Drake from the nightmares that had followed after the accident. Drake was on the recovery path, though with a memory loss. Olivia knew better, so she composed herself and came back to take her seat.

"Thank you." Dr June nodded. "Now, can you tell me any special moments that you had spent together? Just the two of you. A moment that you think may have a deep impact on Drake's mind. Some place that he may still remember is related to you?"

"Lythikan rites." Olivia blurted out without a second thought.

"What rites?" Dr June asked, confused.

"It's an old, obsolete tradition from my province, which has been illegal for half a century. The Lythikan Rite of Union. An unmarried couple traverses the icy peaks of the Alps and on the dawn of the thirtieth day, they are wed, their officiant being survival itself."

"Interesting…" Dr June encouraged her to continue.

"I was always fascinated with it. Two years ago, when we decided to get married, Drake decided to do it for me."

She spoke as if in a trance, reminiscing those moments. "The very next day that we started our journey, I was in a mess. I was frustrated to not have my lady in waiting to manage my tousled hair.

When he saw me struggling, he unfeignedly took my comb from my hands. He walked me to a small rock nearby and sat down on the rock, his legs firm on the ground. He then pulled me closer, my back flush with his chest and made me settle against him. He started releasing the knots in my hair. He gently raked his fingers through my tangles. He then delicately brushed it smooth."

Her gaze shifted to Dr June. "Do you know, I have never felt so much loved ever. He made me feel special. My world had zeroed down on him at that moment."

Olivia had a smile dancing on her lips, her eyes transfixed into a dtstant space, as she spoke again. "I had never seen him so jovial before. He was humming. Drake Walker was humming a song!... for me!...while he neatly interweaved my tresses into a braid. He then cupped my face and said, 'I like them this way, so that, I can drown into the oceans of your green eyes. Olivia Vanderwal Nevrakis, I love you more than my life. I don't want to say till death do us apart because I can never forget you even if this body fades away.'

Olivia suddenly paused looking puzzled at Dr June . "He was never supposed to forget me, doctor. What went wrong?" Her pain broke out through her words.

"We will find it out soon and correct it, Olivia." She reassured her. " Until then remember what he did for you back then. He took good care of you."

Olivia nodded in agreement, dwelling into the past. "It was cold for him, snowy, harsh, yet I had him, all the time, beside me.…..holding my hand."

She peered through the lone window to her left. Her eyes were dreamy, looking far away across the greens of the landscape outside. Her voice was soft and low. "Our hearts felt exhilarated. Our bodies shared the warmth. Our minds had an adrenaline rush."

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

"It was cold…." Drake started narrating. "Snowy, harsh but it didn't matter to me. Riley was beside me……holding my hand. She said she felt exhilarated. And the warmth she felt with me would pull her through. She felt the adrenaline rush, she said."

Dr June listened calmly. This was another session where Drake was imagining Riley, she was sure now. His description matched what Olivia had narrated earlier. Dr June had to be careful.

Getting Drake into the sessions had been difficult enough.

"Why am I here?" He would ask every time.

"You met with an accident. You have a memory loss and I have been appointed by your kin, as your doctor." She would remind him of every appointment.

"Oh!" He would look around disoriented and then just settle down for his family's sake.

Dr June knew one thing for sure, Drake would go to any extent for his family. But wasn't it the same for Olivia too? She was somehow washed away from his memory after the accident. And an unknown identity Riley had taken her place.

The question was, who was Riley? Where did she come from? No one had ever heard of her.

What Dr June had gathered from Drake was that Riley was a brunette as against his red-haired wife. She had honey brown eyes unlike Olivia's green eyes. She was dusky but Olivia was pale as a pearl. She was merely five feet as against Olivia's taller stature. Everything about Riley was in stark contrast to Olivia.

Was Drake attracted to a different person altogether and was he done with Olivia?

"I don't understand it." Olivia had repeated it umpteen times and Dr June always had tried to explain.

" No one does, Olivia. We claim a lot in medicine, still, for the most part, the brain remains an unknown frontier. The human mind is a very complex area. Neuroscientists don't yet fully understand how information is processed by the brain of a worm that has few hundred neurons, let alone by the brain of a human that has 100 billion neurons. You never know where and how it gets jumbled up into a thick heavy ball that's impossible to untangle."

Olivia stared at her in dismay. Dr June held her hand to show her support and give her some strength. "All we can do is TRY."

And so they kept trying.

"Where is Riley from?" Dr June planned to test the waters in today's session, asking Drake the details of his imaginary girlfriend.

"New york." He answered casually. His thoughts seemed very well sorted.

She further asked, "Where did you meet her?"

"At a bar." That didn't give much detail. She anyway noted his answer.

"How long have you known each other?"

"Almost a year now." This was a surprise for her. Olivia did not even know and Drake claimed to know Riley for a year now.

"Where does she stay?"

"Here, with me."

Dead end. She again hit a wall in her investigation. But today she had planned to dig deeper. So she continued, "Is she here with you today?"

"Yes, I requested her to wait outside."

"Please bring her in."

Drake got up promptly and opened the door to call her in. He came back a bit worried. "She is not there. Do you mind if I look around and get her?"

"Sure. I will see you in ten minutes."

Drake wandered around the place for sometime while,in a neighboring room, Dr June filled in Olivia with the new information that she had.

"New york?" Olivia tried to assimilate the newly received details.

Dr June nodded. "Past one year."

Olivia looked wide eyed. She started pacing the room.

Dr June asked, "Any accomplice who can throw some light on what his itinerary was like? Whom he met? Which places did he visit?"

Olivia stopped and turned to Dr June. "He never visited New York. Past two years Drake has been busy managing the role of head of security guards here in Cordonia."

"Hmm." Dr June pondered. They both stood in silence in their grappling mess. A knock on the door startled Olivia. She scurried behind the door before it opened.

Drake peeped in. "Dr June, I found Riley. She was in the gardens. I just came to inform you that we will be waiting for you in your counseling room."

"Sure, I will be there in a minute." Dr June forced a smile.

Drake left. Dr June shifted her gaze to the left of the open door. Olivia had hid herself there and now she stood there stunned. Riley was here. Again.

Dr June took a deep breath and stepped ahead. She patted Olivia's shoulder in reassurance.

"What are you going to do now?" Olivia questioned with teary eyes.

"Let's see. Maybe burst his bubble."

As much as she wanted Drake to come back to reality, she didn't want to see him hurt and in pain. "He has been through a lot, Dr June. Is there no easy way?"

"We are trying our best." She asserted and moved on.

When Dr June entered her counseling room, Drake was alone sitting in his chair. She could judge his anxiety by his continuously shaking left leg.

"Is Riley not joining us?" Dr June asked.

"She started feeling dizzy and wanted some rest, so I sent her home. Maybe you can meet her later?"

"Sure. Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, please."

"Sometime ago you mentioned your trip to the Alps. Do you remember any special moment you spent with Riley there that she really loved?"

Drake smiled,"I hunted for her, I practiced making s'mores for her. "

"Something you still do for her and she misses?"

Dr June observed the change in his demeanor. He was deep in his thoughts, his eyes had focused on the bouquet of red roses that brightened one of the dull corners of the room.

"Her hair, they were always so bunched up. She still loves it when I comb and brush them for her." He was captivated when he uttered, " Her thick red mane! I just love them.. but i love them weaved into a braid. It shows her bright green eyes so clearly, you can drown in them." He smiled shaking his head.

"You mean Olivia's hair."

"No, I said Riley's." He looked at her suddenly with a jerk.

"But you said red hair?"

"No I did not! " He protested.

"You just now said 'her thick red mane."

He stared at the doctor while she warmly looked at him and continued, "her thick red Mane, bright green eyes.

Drake gave her a confused look. She tried to explain.

" It was Olivia with you, Drake. Always. All this time. Riley is… she is someone in your subconscious mind, playing games with your conscience. She is a figment of your imagination."

Drake shook his head violently.

" No, no, no! That can't be." And he got up from his chair. "You are lying. You are all lying. You are trying to kill her. I won't let you. I will protect her. I promised, I will…" He ran out of the door.

Olivia rushed in as soon as he left. "What happened, Dr June? Why was he running away like that? "

Dr June replied, still staring at the door where he left from, a few moments ago. "He thinks Riley is in some danger. He wants to protect her, he said he promised he would." She then looked at Olivia. "Do you know whom he made promises as a chief of guard? To protect someone or to save someone?"

Olivia pondered, " As a chief of guard he was answerable only to the king." She peeped out of the door and asked, "Do you think he can be left alone in this situation? I feel I should go after him. He may need me. "

"Sure. We will meet later. Go." Dr June waved. Olivia turned around to leave, when Dr June called her. "And one more thing,Olivia…"

"What is it?" Olivia looked back.

"Somewhere deep inside, he still remembers you."

Tags: @3pawandme @alj4890 @angelasscribbles @bascmve01 @bebepac @busywoman @dcbbw @gkittylove99 @harleybeaumont @iaminlovewithtrr @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @lizzybeth1986 @lovingchoices14 @nestledonthaveone @neotericthemis @mom2000aggie @phoenixrising0308 @princess-geek @riseandshinelittleblossom @sazanes @secretaryunpaid @sfb123 @sillydg @tessa-liam @tinkie1973 @txemrn @walkerdrakewalker @yourmajesty09

#drake walker appreciation #drake #pixelberry #playchoices #the royal romance #trr fandom #trr #drake walker #olivia nevrakis #twinkleallnight

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obishenshenobi · 6 months

Note

trick or treat! 🎃🍭👻

You get a treat in form of a synopsis of a Lord of the Rings AU I started to write ages ago, then stalled out on :) Don't have the doc at hand or I'd have loved to share some of the actual writing :)

In a modern setting, Faramir is a world renowned dressage rider, set to go to the Olympic games. Here he's gonna run into Eowyn, princess of her country and one of the best show jumpers in the world, also set to compete. Faramir gets injured badly when he saves his horses from a burning barn, and Eowyn will have an accident at the tournament. When they spend their recovery together, more than their physical wounds will mend 😀

#happy halloweeeeeeen #ask me(me)#lord of the rings

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believerindaydreams · 1 year

Text

Thursday again: recovery edition

honestly I spent most of the week being extremely passive in bed, unsurprisingly.

Listening

Me: how long can it take to listen to some Kirby music?

YouTube: just the boss themes laid end to end will take three hours

Me: ...sounds like a Project!

Me much, much later: the penguin boss theme has claimed my soul

youtube

Eating

I can buy marble halvah by the pound at the international supermarket! Whoot whoot.

Drinking

Off the menu this week.

Reading

Every TV Tropes entry on my fave pink puffball Kirby. It took...awhile.

We are not in the universe where Meta Knight is played by Clint Eastwood and that's sad because he's absolutely a spaghetti western protagonist in the shape of an adorable ball.

Watching

As you may have inferred I have a pink puffball on the brain this week, so I went off to see if the fan translation of the Kirby anime had ever restarted from where they stalled out around episode 75.

(listen, I don't want my battle penguin to sound like George Bush. Japanese vocals all the way.)

answer: they finished! It's on Dailymotion! All hundred episodes! So I rewatched the pilot and was once again delighted with the story engine of "what if everything wrong with the universe up to and including Lovecraft monster squid was actually the fault of Amazon". Like. Solid premise.

I don't think I can binge watch these, but I will absolutely be coming back to them.

Writing

A mere month after finishing off Catching the Butterfly, I appear to once again be writing bits of the crossover from hell. might as well give in and name the series that, since it's gonna be one.

They will probably go on A03 eventually. But I need a title first. Which is partly a philosophical problem- as loosely as the story was following the plot of Genesis of the Daleks (not at all really) I did struggle my way to the end of that storyline, and it's over. Whatever storyline might shape up in the aftermath would be an entirely different tale and I don't know what name it bears yet. Also I'm moderately certain my ex is creeping my A03 account but not my Tumblr, and I'd kinda like to have an idea what I'm doing before it goes up over there.

wait. fuck. 50s aesthetic + Brits means skiffle.

*long sigh* I don't even like skiffle but the logic is inarguable.

On a related note, the Bad Ending Genesis AU I was having the sads about last week is now done. Sometimes you just end up writing the Cold Equations and it's like. oops.

you can really tell I spend my leisure time pounding the keyboard, huh.

(I have not figured out how to fic Kirby. Which is weird.

Puffball puffball puffball.

I'll stop now.)

#bye bye ne #thursday again #kirby

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liverpool-enjoyer · 1 year

Note

Prepare for a long-ass length ask:

Leo

YES. PSYCHIC/NORMAL 100%

"using calm mind 24/7" -> Love this

But also Belly Drum-

Lowkey picturing him as a Lioone for whatever reason-

Ney

Again, 100% agree! What else is there to say haha

BUT (as a gym leader) he has one random Ludicolo-

"Why do you have a Ludicolo when you're an electric type?"

"Because he's just a groovy lil' dude :("

Jordan

My bbg-

I'm so biased towards him it's pathetic-

Imagine: Flareon Jordan <3

Hidden ability Guts and a move pool consisting of Will-O-Wisp, Flare Blitz, Helping Hand, and Double-Edge

Works well with Poison Andy (more below!) and Grass Trent (more below!) to trigger Guts!!

And just like Jordan, this move set is all or nothing. Both Flare Blitz and Double-Edge have so much recoil damage, but Jordan is okay with being Poisoned or Paralyzed by Andy or Trent to boost the damage/recoil further.

And while he could open Helping Hand or WOW for a recovery move, how would he help Virgil?

The Team >>> Him. <- Or that's what he thinks at least...

Virgil

100% agree with the typings again!

"i realize this leaves him quad weak to fighting n fire" -> Which is why he's weak to Jordan haha

In a double battle with Jordan, I'd have him set up an Iron Defense first while Jordan burns with WOW.

Follow that up with a Helping Hand boosted Iron Head and it's over.

Luis

Nothing to say here when it explains itself haha

Andy

Love water type Andy!

But also consider: Water/Poison

Why? Andy is a nasty little bugger who will wear you down slowly over time. A defensive type but is capable of dealing big damage if you let him.

Imagine: Toxapex Andy with the Merciless ability and the move pool consisting of Baneful Bunker, Venoshock, Hydro Pump, and Recover.

I remember using a Toxapex like that in Pokemon Showdown. Always ends in a win or a rage quit by the other player lmao

Trent

Agree with you 100% once more

But consider: Remove Grassy Terrain and add Vine Whip for damage. Plus he does tend the whip the ball into the opponents box!

Him and Andy would be crazy together. It would be a stall-battle.

Sergio

Same as Luis haha

Millie

I raise you Rock/Fighting Millie

"how rock type gym leaders tend to be the first you face in the game as theyre meant to show new trainers the ropes" -> Yes but Millie as a Radical Red/Emerald Kaizo starting Rock gym leader-

AKA: Will shut you down before your nuzlock even begins.

Klopp

Something is telling me to add a secondary Psychic typing.

Too bad this means Dark type Pep beats the shit out of him-

BUT nothing that a little Destiny Bond can't fix!

Alisson

If this is based off of @liverpoolfanfiction's Supernatural AU (I've stumbled across it before!) then...

Imagine: Cutiefly Alisson

OR Mawile Alisson except instead of a big mouth, it's a big glove haha

I really geeked out over this (particularly Jordan/Andy as you can tell haha), so thank you so much for accepting my request!! <3

EHEHEHEHE MORE SOCCER/POKEMON CROSSOVER TO GEEK OUT OVER THIS WAS A FUN READ TY LUV

ohmygosh i cant BELIEVE youre a showdown toxapex user LMAOOOO. i love using toxapex myself but playing AGAINST it??? every time i see that my opponent has one i hafta take a second to think abt whether i have the time for this, cause i KNOW im not going anywhere anytime soon

i actually considered making andy a poison type like real shit!!! but i didnt rlly know to put it into words without making him look like a DICK lmao

N NUZLOCKE KILLER MILLY IS SO ACCURATE LMAOOOO I LAUGHED

im feeling VERY inspired to do a "INSERTPLAYERHERE's pokemon team" series rn,,,

thank you so much for this lovely reaction/ask i am LOVING geeking out over pokemon n football w you <3

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tottwritesfanfic · 8 months

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so aside from my current "omg I'm so glad I'm taking it slow because I'm REALLY ENJOYING THIS" brainrot about the new Guild Wars 2 expansion, I am currently feeling pretty bowled over by feels for my HQ superpowers AU, but...

...well, I'm currently planning out a heap of character dynamics which are like, three major plot arcs away at this point. My brain is is..Frustrating. But also, and devoid of any context whatsoever, Miya Osamu is quickly becoming one of my favourite characters in this damn thing, and he's not even really IN those three plot arcs I just mentioned.

work on HF has stalled for.. Well, for stupid reasons, I can be honest about that. I am having difficulty picking a PoV to use, and it's rather hard to write a scene when you haven't made that decision yet. I dunno, so far each moment has called out to me who it should be, but this time it's just...it could be any one of four different characters. It's a problem, I'm sorry. I promise I'll wrangle myself into a decision at some point once I'm done overthinking every possible impact this could have on the fic. Which is not a lot, because (and this is probably the worst part), it's not even a major scene? Writing sucks sometimes, but hey, it means I actually started tinkering with Metanoia again so that's something?

...REALLY no promises about an update on that one yet. It's...it's another one of those "I have hit a wall and it is Hard" moments, and, well. I am not so far into my burnout recovery that I want to risk pushing too hard on those, you know? I like being able to write stuff again.

#progress update #my fanfic stuff #hope's fire #trinacriform #i need a tag for my powers au tbh

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doodleimprovement · 2 years

Photo

“Lady Irida!”

Ah, she was wondering when he’d be returning to the settlement

Irida turned around from feeding her Glaceon, only to be met with a scowling expression, and very, very dirty face being suspended roughly a foot and a half off the ground

Ingo was holding the young survey corps member under her arms, as if she was some kind of cranky little sneasel. He looked... bemused.

“Miss Akari had an... altercation with a swinub, and is in desperate need of bathing” He surmised “I found her wrestling with it bare-handed near Avalugg’s Legacy in the single patch of mud nearby”

Akari said nothing to argue the supposed events, just looking away like a child who wasn’t sorry they got caught stealing sweets.

Irida sighed, though not unfondly “.. The hot springs should be empty at this hour. Let me get her some spare clothes”

The warden simply nodded, turning towards the springs with Akari still in hand as if she’d dash off when placed on the ground. The clan leader heard him grumble as she turned back towards the settlement

“Honestly, you only have the one uniform”

“That swinub was asking for it!” She finally spoke

“It was a swinub. It wasn’t asking for anything”

“It was an alpha swinub!”

“Ah yes. The alpha swinub. truly the most vicious of all of the alphas”

“Don’t mock me!”

“I reserve the right to mock you until you no longer smell like a skuntank”

Irida couldn’t hold back a snort in amusement as she motioned for her Galceon to follow her.

This is canon to the “Stalled Recovery” AU btw

This was supposed to be just a warmup but I love how silly it came out.

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azems-familiar · 1 year

Note

🦅 🥺 ❌ ✅ 💔 for the ask game.

Thank you!

🥺 is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

hmmmm. this one is hard to answer because it's so... like, vague? like i generally write character interactions to spark feelings of some kind, so it's hard to... idk, define any specific ones without a what feeling it sparks. probably some of my most emotional ones involve my Revan and writing her recovery arcs - same with Illitha, and a couple other of my characters who get really fucked up. so i guess the themes of recovery and healing that i really like to write at the end of character arcs tend to hit me the most.

❌ what's a trope you will never write?

a/b/o and mpreg are MAJOR squicks for me. i don't read them and i don't write them. i also am not generally a fan of bodyswapping at all, for reasons i cannot articulate, and i dislike bodysharing unless done in a specific way.

✅ what's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean it to?

oh god. uh. well my most used tag is Mutual Pining, and something i often write a lot of, sometimes without meaning to, is symbolism - i know that's vague but it can range from masks to names to lightsabers to clothes to [gestures vaguely]. surprisingly though i haven't actually written much of my favorite tropes? .... i do keep accidentally making my OCs autistic, does that count? OH! themes of healing! i like to destroy my characters emotionally (and sometimes physically too), but i never feel satisfied ending an arc on that note, so there are a lot of redemption arcs after corruption arcs and notes of recovery and healing and moving forward. half of these aren't written but they are In My Head.

🦅 do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

weird mix of both, tbh. i used to be entirely a pantser, and full on planning has never worked for me, i don't write up entire outlines - but my writing process works best if i have someone to bounce ideas off where i can establish a direction for the fic through conversation and then develop the fic off that as i write. this is actually why my big mdzs fic stalled; despite the fact that i know where i'm going with it, i couldn't find a beta reader to help with fleshing out the details in between the major plot events, and so i've gotten... somewhat stuck.

💔 is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

yes, but it's old enough i won't rec it here because i'm no longer happy with any of it - but at the time i wrote it it was very, very painful. of my more recent stuff... hm. i was absolutely sobbing while writing up this fic, which the first half of focuses on Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma's big confrontation on Ossus (yes, it says it's a WIP and it is, but the first chapter can be read as a standalone). i've also cried several times over the hp au, knowing where it's going to go and discussing some of the characters in it, but very little of the actual relevant stuff to that has been actually written and posted yet!

#asked and answered #thank you!! these were very fun

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angsttan · 2 years

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Fibreglass Hearts || 01: Spring

After the death of his childhood sweetheart Yoongi, Seokjin is struggling to navigate the world.

Then he meets Kim Namjoon, a single dad who turns his world upside-down.

Pairing: Single Dad!Namjoon x Widow!Jin (side pairing of hopekook)

Genre: Strangers to lovers!AU | Romance, Fluff, Soft Smut, a lot of shyness and pining Warnings: character death, talks of mental health, public mourning, mentions of homophobia, discussions of single parenting, Taehyung is a child in this story, minor mentions of depression recovery, smut will be included in later chapters

Seokjin hates Spring. The sun beaming and luring out all of the families and young couples who never experienced a real responsibility, the flowers in bloom and bugs getting up in everyone’s business, and the kids. Oh god, the kids. If he saw one more child try to climb up the tree outside the apartment and then wail when they can’t get down… well, goodness knows what he’d do.

With a haste sigh slipping past his lips, he gently pushed the key into its lock and gave it a small twist to the right, letting his shoulders sink in relief from the burdensome day the second he stepped into the dimly lit home unit. Seokjin doesn’t call this place home anymore, because home vanished with his love’s final breath. Seokjin hates Spring. Because that’s when he lost Yoongi.

Holding hands with his feline-looking lover as they’d run down the halls to avoid their algebra classes, wrapping their bodies into a neat package and hiding in bathroom stalls to swipe sweet kisses and emitting small giggles at the riskiness of it all, Spring used to be the most melancholy of seasons. From High School to college, and sharing their first home together, the MinJin couple as they were branded by friends, were inseparable and the true definition of romance for so many.

They had everything going for them - Yoongi, a budding producer for a rising label called BIGHIT, and Jin, a fine craftsman with the glass, aspiring with his fiancé’s support to have a studio of his own to create the most delicate line of vases and glassware anyone had ever seen.

“Can you try this one?”

"What about this one?”

"Don’t you think they’re a little too wide?”

“Should this be pink or red?”

"And this one… this one fits a whole bottle of wine!”

Yoongi mused at the questioning and shook his head. “Baby, they’re perfect, because they were made by you.”

And when the Spring ended Seokjin was on top of the world, letting himself into their home with a delicate hum and his anniversary gift for Yoongi; a crystal cat the couple lined with rose petals from their first picnic together, pressed eight years prior to commemorate their college graduation. But within minutes, the glass and the petals were scattered across the floor. Shattered like Seokjin’s heart at the sight of his fiancée’s body limp on the ground.

“It isn’t easy being wheezy” , Yoongi would always joke, the latter’s light-hearted resilience to his terminal illness was something Seokjin could only marvel at, letting the negativity subdude into softer giggles in the midst of breathy coughs of blood. Lung disease was something irrelevant to the duo in their teens, Yoongi’s signs only prevalent in their final year of college, deeming him unable to graduate on time in the Summer and defer to the following Spring. It was a small celebration at home, with the fear of a crowded frat party possibly leading to Yoongi’s weak immune system being attacked from all areas, but it made no difference to the couple as that night he got on one knee, giving Seokjin the promise they’d always shared. Eternity together.

It was two days later that eternity was no more.

Story Masterlist

General Masterlist

#namjin #namjin au #namjoon #seokjin #namjoon au #Seokjin au #namjin smut #namjoon smut #Seokjin smut #bts fic #bts au #Yoongi #jimin #jungkoook #hoseok #taehyung #velvetineyoongi

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ponds-of-ink · 2 years

Text

Spooky AU Prelude/Interval: “A Brief Debate Over Metaphors”

Oh? A Spooky AU Monte Cristo thing on Tumblr?

Yes, it’s back again… kinda. Sorry for the unintended hiatus, but I think my brain just got stalled trying to write the next chapter and then I ditched it by mistake. Smh.

But, to make up for it, how’s about a little scene to fill in the gaps and serve as a recap?… Hopefully.

—

It was late into the night when most of the sailors hobbled down to the lower decks. The first mate, ever vigilant, remained on board to steer the ship and watch for any trouble. His eyes surveyed the empty world of wooden planks and tar-black sky before him. The only thing that broke this dismal view was the shadowy form of one of the younger members on-board. While the distance between them made it hard for the first mate to see who it was, the strange combination of a slumped-over posture yet somewhat-groomed hair told all. “What are you doing up here, Danglars?” the navigator cried out. “I thought you’d be down in the cellars double-checking the accountant’s assessments!”

The young man turned his head. “I would’ve, but the way the moon shines on this sea has beckoned me,” he answered, hardly raising his already salt-stricken voice. “I guess you could say the glimmer of diamonds can lure me in like a siren.” He shook his head as he smiled at his own joke.

“Well, don’t stay up here for too long,” the first mate advised, now readjusting to his own duty. “The fellows told me that there’ll be a fog rolling in an half-an-hour or so. And, since I’m sure our employer would not be pleased with one of his newest sailors’ faces being wrecked by a mast under my supervision, I’d say you may as well run to the lower decks for your own good. Maybe even tattle on those scallawags playing the Hornpipe down there, for all I care.”

Danglars gave a signal of affirmation, then returned to staring at the water below. As he stared, he almost became entranced with his reflection like Narcissus with his visage in the pool. But, instead of self-interested lust, his fixation seemed to be out of growing hatred. His scars, signs of storm-ridden voyages and many a close encounter with death itself, now felt like tears on an already-tarnished painting. Or, perhaps if one were to be more in line with his current thoughts, a painting as warped and battered as the waves’ current portrait of him. His legs quivered underneath him, threatening to give way to his bitter musings. He shut his eyes to block the image from his mind.

Then, like a bird song breaking through the ominous silence of the night, a strange idea stopped his spiral. He lifted his head and looked out into the water. “Forgive me for risking the crew’s safety through bringing up superstitions,” he spoke up, masking his recovery from desperation with his most casual tone of voice, “but am I right in saying that there is no exact rules on who can be lured by a siren?”

Auguste blinked in surprise. “From what little I know, I’m sure any temptress like that would only care if the prey is nourished,” he answered, his eyes only glancing at the youth for a moment. “Why are you in such a curious mood, Danglars? Do you want to volunteer for live bait?”

“No, no!” Danglars hurriedly answered, realizing his unintended implications that this question posed. “I was just wondering if these scaly creatures had a preference for certain sailors— Aside from a high gullibility or an acute fondness for well-sung odes.”

“Not to my knowledge,” Auguste responded, tilting his head to the side as if to mimic shrugging one’s shoulders. Then, processing what he saw from the corner of his eye, he sighed gravelly. “Look here, Danglars,” he resumed in a more gentile but concerned manner. “If you’re trying to say that you have a better chance at being caught by a twisted creature of the deep than getting a lass on shore, then I think you’re selling yourself too short. A bruised apple will still be fine food for someone, even if it is bruised. You, of all my younger crew mates, should know that.”

“But if the apple, say, doesn’t even look like an apple?”

“If the insides are fine, then what does it matter?” Auguste huffed, gripping the ship’s wheel tightly out of sheer self-restraint. “So long as you make sure that the seed’s poison doesn’t spread to the rest, then all’s well! Honestly, how much of a self-critic do you have to be at your age? You’re nineteen going on twenty! I’m about fifteen years older than you, and I’d say I’m in rougher shape than you’ve ever been!” And, with those silvery-white streaks in his hair, he already had a right to say this.

Danglars stepped away from the edge of the vessel, politely nodding while withholding every single rebuttal he wished to lash out. “Fair enough, i suppose,” he said with a slight grit of his teeth. “But I still think that you’ve aged far more gracefully that I ever will, sir.”

“Well, by that time, you should be married!”

“We shall see if I will even be a suitor, sir. I cannot promise what I run the risk of failing to deliver.”

Auguste fought the urge to abandon his post and drag the doubter towards the rest of the crew. Instead, he lowered his reddened face and shut his eyes. “Let me echo your ‘fair enough’ and leave you be, then,” he groaned. “But I’m still calling your bluff, to put it bluntly, stupid.”

“As will I, sir,” Danglars retorted, bowing slightly out of what little respect he had for his superior at the moment. “Good night.”

—Many years later…—

Danglars now rummaged through these distant arguments as he stood before the window of this dingy Inn bedroom. Now about as old as Auguste himself (if not ahead of him by a few years), one would think that these pieces of an elder’s wisdom would’ve been confirmed through his own experiences.

Alas for him as well as those who think so, they did not. In fact, the opposite seemed to ring true. Even if the parts near the toxic seeds were as preserved as Auguste hoped, they still didn’t seem to matter. The bruised apple was still a bruised apple. Maybe not even an apple, at this rate.

However, Danglars had one last pithy statement that could serve as a counterpoint. “Gold still has value, no matter how old the coins are,” he muttered, as if he had finally found the answer to some lifelong riddle. “And jewels themselves, though cut down by knives— or whatever those gem-crafters use, are still cherished by those looking for them.” His eyes glistened as what lingering creative tendencies he had revived itself. “The apple metaphor was rubbish, but its application was close—!”

The creaking of the door cut off Danglars’ fevered ramblings. His slacked grin fell as soon as he saw a figure standing in the doorway. “Ah, I’m sorry,” he said before using a coughing to hide the tinge of embarrassment on his face (for once). “I was reminiscing on the past a bit too much, I suspect. What can I do to help you, sir?”

The stranger, still encased in shadows, shut the door and advanced a few steps forwards. “I was wanting to commiserate on your… unfortunate situation,” he admitted, feigning an air of somber grief. “But I see now why she left you for someone else.”

Danglars shuddered, but remained as indignant as ever. “If you wish to insult me, don’t try aiming for my countenance,” he scoffed, crossing his arms. “I’ve been aware of its horrid state for decades. If you must wish to make light of it, then please be original.”

“I will do my best,” the stranger answered with a sneering tone. “At least the moon’s light aids me in seeing you a lot better. A shame no one else must’ve thought that.”

#baron danglars #danglars #the count of monte cristo #spooky au #headcanons #probably #snippet #he’s baaaaack #the rat man

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essayofthoughts · 2 years

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2020 Creator Wrap: Favourite Works

Tagged by @tobermoriansass - I’m so sorry - TWO DAMN YEARS AGO. This is why I am where tag games go to die.

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I repeat, I am tagging no one because I am where tag games go to die.

I know this is two years late, but I’ll still limit this to whatever I wrote in 2020 - which isn’t as much as I thought. Makes sense tho, that was when I was shifting from Maximoff twins to Campaign 1 of Critical Role.

Favourite five of those would be...

That balance may return - Critical Role, Percy Whump, 34k - AO3 Link

You know when you have an idea and start writing it, realise it’s going to be longer than you thought, stall in a panic because you don’t write longfic and then manage to finish it anyway and have it be (what you think is) a pretty good study of trauma recovery? Yeah. That’s this. I’m incredibly proud of this fic, possibly because I used this fic a lot for my own processing of a few things; rereading this fic I don’t really recognise the person I was when I wrote it, which is interesting!

“Believe it or not,” Anna Ripley says, peeling off a bloodstained glove, “I rather like you alive, Percival.”

She smiles down at him and, with the light behind her, her hair is like a dark halo.

“Chin up,” she says, patting his cheek with metal fingers. “I’ll take good care of you.”

The premise is pretty simple - at some point after the Briarwoods Arc and with no dragons to cause Chroma Conclave Trouble, Ripley captures Percy and proceeds to fuck with him for a while (tw: being creepy, boundaries being crossed, persistent trauma-induced bad headspace, rape) but gets found and Percy freed by the end of the first chapter.

The whole rest of the fic is Percy recovering from that.

Ripley’s Assistant - Critical Role, VM AU, 58k - AO3 Link

Gods, I’m desperately proud of this fic. Proper fucking longfic! The chapter lengths are all over the show (still proud as all fuck of the Anders chapter though, thank you so much to @chamerionwrites for helping me find the right angle to approach it from). Just as with balance this fic is me processing certain things just from a very different angle.

“Percy,” Ripley says. Her hand is tight on his shoulder.

“They’re going to kill them,” he says.

“Yes,” she says. “And they’ll kill you too if you’re not careful. Come with me. Your family will listen to you. Talk to you. Maybe if they tell you what they know and you tell us, they might just live.”

This fic is an AU of canon where instead of Anders as Percy’s tutor, it’s Ripley. Things go a bit differently as a consequence. There’s two more arcs as follow-up, because the healing process is complicated, as well as side fics.

Gods, I’m proud of this fic.

needs not be spoken - Critical Role, Cassandra & Desmond, 1.6k - AO3 Link

A present for the wonderful chamerionwrites, sometimes you have a Thought when a friend mentions characters of interest and you proceed to write something with far more meat to it than you expected. I love the parallels you can make between Cass and Desmond - both shown kindness and cruelty by the Briarwoods, both with reasons to hate or resent Percy, both around the same age (Desmond is said to be around 18, like Cassandra) and Desmond’s fate is kind of left open, though the wiki states he lives.

Some think it strange, that Cassandra, as a Lady, is waited on by a manservant and not a lady’s maid.

So in this AU, Desmond returns to Whitestone with the Emon refugees with a maimed hand and a letter to ensure employment. Cassandra looks at this, realises Percy’s responsible and decides that if a de Rolo wronged Desmond then a de Rolo has to set it right.

And goddamnit, Percy, she’s going to set it right. It’s a character and relationship study from the two, when they’re still new to working with each other, and it’s just lovely and quiet and platonic.

kindness to cruelty - D&D, OCs, Hurt/Comfort, 20k - AO3 Link

So this is what I started to write for an exchange before I realised it had got vastly out of hand, wrote a shorter thing with similar bones to submit for the exchange, and then finished this because why not at that point. It starts with some pretty hefty hurt, the comfort is more slow and emotional than anything else - though there is some actual healing - and there’s some poking about the nature and stances of drow culture and the kind of indoctrination that’d go on from that.

If they keep their word then - perhaps - he can convince them he will keep his.

An adventuring company in the Underdark gets attacked by drow, they take one prisoner because the party member who took them down isn’t down with coldblooded murder, and they all slowly get to know each other. Also, there’s a language barrier.

finds and shall find me unafraid - Critical Role, Percy Whump, 9.7k - AO3 Link

@sparxwrites has an incredibly mean little oneshot called comprehension, and lack thereof where Ripley rapes a Feebleminded Percy where Vex can see. The concept of the aftermath of this didn’t leave me, especially given there’s no way Vex, furious as she would be, would just let it stand.

So I wrote aftermath.

It says something, Vex thinks, that even after the sickly green magic of Ripley’s wand of Feeblemind, after the cells and what Ripley did, after so many things that could so easily leave someone curled in a corner and avoiding all contact, Percy still so clearly trusts her.

The first chapter is them breaking out of the dungeons, Vex cajoling the still feebleminded Percy into helping her. The next chapter is Vex killing Ripley and getting in contact with the others. The chapter after is Keyleth restorationing Percy and Vex gently keeping Percy company. Chapter four is questionably healthy smut and chapter five is after-aftermath.

#tag games #tobermoriansass #queue

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