#two women fighting over the life/destiny of a young girl

[echantedtoon]

In The Moon's Shadow (Yandere Kokushibo x Reader) Ch13 A Vow

(Secondly this chapter will span again over the course of a few months and be mostly in Kokushibo's pov. Will have League of Legends references.

Warnings: Death, killing, some gore, blood mentioned, fighting, etc.)

A shriek pierced the blackness. 

Dusk having taken over the skies above and shrouded the skies above ...but glowfles from embers and fires lit up the night's darkness. 

Chaos was had as women clutched their children screaming as they ran trying to protect their young. Men were slaughtered and lying dead on the ground as the monsters rummaged about and pillaged and plundered what they came to get. A cackling monster held up a woman kicking and screaming hitting the creature with six arms no avail. 

"I like them feisty ones!" The girl sobbed and cowered as two others joined the monster's side as it hissed and lashed them away. "She's MINE!! BACK OFF AND FIND YOUR OWN- AAAAHHH!!" 

An inhuman screech went off into the night as a stronger forced ripped away arms from torso. Eyes turned and stared into the bloodlust abyss of six bloodshot eyes. A mix of shrieks echoed out into the darkened night above. So much blood spilt in that night that it might've even spilt into the moon illuminating red down on everything. 

R E D

That was the war paint splattered proudly across his body and coating his skin like a devil from the very flames that he walked through. Blood. Vengeance. C A R N A G E.

"It's not just an ambush.. IT'S THE ENTIRE KIBUTSUJI ARMY!!", a distant voice cried out to the bloodlust driven demon.

Throngs of monsters marched towards hell. Rows up on rows. Harbingers of fear and death towards his smaller glimmer of hope. Death would be plentiful surely. But not for his side..Darkness had come back to claim it's rightful place above these bringers of death.

"LORD TSUGIKUNI, WE SHOULD RETREAT! THERE'S TOO MANY FORCES COMING IN!! WE NEED TO REJOIN reinforcements!!"

"We march to battle."

Stakes were high. Hope fleeting. A redness never before felt cursed ran through blood. Bloodlust demanding the taste of flesh and sting of pain. Destruction of lives. Debowlbent of their very soul. The hands raking through the coals of fires and carving his deadly signature into this moment in time.

"FOLLOW ME INTO DESTRUCTION! I OFFER YOU VICTORY!!"

Deathly smiled directed at him offered nothing but death unknowing that it was they that met their death bringer..Their DEATHS tonight. A fate he was more than happy to give whether it be by bare handed flesh or stinging of steeled sword. He'll still taste the sweet copper red.

"COME. TAKE YOUR VENGEANCE!! TAKE EVERYTHING FROM THEM! BE THEIR WORLD ENDER!!"

The beasts had taken so much from them already. So much time lost. So many lives taken. The very land they walked up on was sucked dry of nutrients from their dark presence. So much already taken that will never be saved. Preserved. Grown back. They shall learn that there was things darker than their hearts with the abyss he would become. They would take back the innocence lost and stolen by them.  

An innocence filled smile came to mind to perfectly represent that innocence. Sparkling turquoise colors dancing his reddened vision.

"THIS IS YOUR DESTINY!! LET BLOOD BE OUR SACREMENT!! FIGHT OR BE FORGOTTEN!!" 

R E D 

The color clouded vision beyond reasoning. Inhuman yells of pain and murder carved way by him. One by one. Body by body. Life by life. Flesh torn from bone. Blood cleaved from muscles. Arms from torso. Limb from limb. He was a beast tonight. The thirst for blood was not just a want but a need. For tonight he was not a man. Not a demon. Nor anything else comprehendable by human thought.

F O R   T O N I G H T  H E  W A S  D E A T H   A N D  H E  W A S  B R I N G I N G  H E L L  W I T H   H I M. 

The darkness both swallowed him up and closed off the ways both in front and behind him making each end of the pathay difficult to see with the already limited vision he had. Heightened senses were one thing he had been thankful to have retained from years of harsh training to his body and mind. Closing off all senses to be more enlightened to one's world in a different light. Each echo of his footfalls ringing in his mind as the airways of his body forced himself to absorb more oxygen out of the air and each heart beat thudding against his ribcage. Throbbing sensation reaching from his head to his feet with every passing second he was surrounded by the buzzing swarm of danger. Enlightened by the stings of fear. Danger. Dread. Doom. Like many wasps penetrating his most basic human emotions and swelling them up to the point of combusting dangerously all over the peeping, teasing darkness. The soft silk touch of his yakata met his hand. It was hard to move...Hard to will it to move running along the soft fabric to something more smooth and hard. Both basic instinct wasps forcing him to do something so familiar to combat the combustible feelings. To grab at which to protect him and cut it away like a sickeningly sweet cake of misery and despair. Instincts wailing to protect himself from dangers he had yet to see. Had yet to reveal themselves to him. Hopefully to be chased away by the sounds of the silver blade being unsheathed and held out into the darkness to cut it's tainting self down a notch. That his willpower will always prevail over it. Each burning home slowly passing a tainting gateway. Each with a promise of safety behind it and perhaps even it had occupants inside using it. taking up it's offering of safety from the darkness now dead asleep highly unaware of the sword wielding warrier just roaming outside arm outstretched and staring down the one that dared teased him the most with it's fake promise of protection. 

And that promise he would soon come to learn was broken and not even promise to one individual soon enough. As sweat formed on his skin in an attempt to cool it from the harsh tainting from the moment he was face to face with the door that broke it's sacred promise. At first glance to one in the dark it was as taunting as all the others he had just passed, but if one took time to see it's true mockery and failure hidden by the teasing darkness they would've seen it. The remnants of a beast. Looking as though it had clawed and kicked it's way at the door's sacred locks to be allowed entry inside the room beyond it. In it's wake leaving the door in misery and ruins. A slight opening between itself and the wall where one could look into the room beyond it and see nothing but more darkness laughing back at you.

It begged for him to open it further, to peek further into the darkness beyond the door that should have protected the occupant inside. The surprising unburnt home was still, quite, far too quite for his liking. The broken splintered door only left so little to memory, and with cautious pushed aside he shoved the door open to reveal the horror to his eyes. His eyes widened. There where obvious signs of ransacking, evident by the turned over coffee table and the furniture pieces that lay toppled on their side as though someone had carelessly kicked it over in its rampage. The demon treaded carefully inside the ruined home, his shoe crunching on the remains of a picture frame that had been knocked over, its broken shiny cover a perfect match of the doorway half hanging from its hinges - the cover to what lay beyond broken to bits

What once was undoubtedly a very nice-to-stay-in room inviting for visitors was now reduced to what might've been a break in sight following the discovery of a murder. Which made the situation even more worse. A small gasp noise left his throat as his foot caught onto something. And the something that dared to trip him up happened to be a piece of fabric. MANY pieces of fabric in the form of clothing strew about in the darkness of the floor he hadn't seen at first among the shattered frame glass. Heart throbbing sensation still hammering his entire body as he turned and twisted his body around the room. 

CCCRRREEEAAA-

 In just one second his body reacted on it's own. twisting his body and holding his arm out to defend against the intruder...Only to let his nerves relax when discovering it was just the poor broken door slowly closing back to it's original poor position he had found it in. Internally cursing to himself at the overreaction it had caused him. At least...That was until he saw what was on the other side of the door he had missed upon initial entry. The gleam of a familiar metallic silver caught his eyes in the limited darkness he was able to make out and the shock at seeing it at first melted his sight and his mind raced. The door being the only thing to answer his shocked mind as it finally creaked back into place. 

The demon approaches slowly, one hand still gripped at his sword, fingers strumming against the wooden handle as if his nerves where itching to use it. Yet he remained stoic despite the clouds that where casting gathering to add to the storm inside his head. Upon closer inspection the knife in the door was too purposeful for this to be an improvised job, this job - this attack, this entire army had been planned from the start just as his father said. His eyes narrowed, other hand ripping the knife free from the blade that held it in place against the doorframe. The shining metal reflected the red staining his body and the eyes strained with hatred..

A inhuman scream tore through the night. An already broken door kicked off it's hinges as the demon walked back into the night seeking answers.

"What is the progress report?!"

"Lord Tsugikuni, Sir! All the survivors are rounded up as you asked!"

"The women! Did you check their eyes!?"

"Y-Y-Yes, Sir!," the soldier quivered and shook under the beasts drenched in blood. "N-No l-living woman has the eyes Y-You described."

"Did you even check the DEAD?!"

He ducked from fear and nodded. "Yes! Yes! Everything! We checked everyone! Everywhere! She's not here! I-If she was s-she must've fled already!"

A broken door was grabbed with an inhuman screech. Flown across the old pathway and into the remains of a still burning house. He was panting heavily... but he forced himself to relax. Now was not the time to lose his mind. Now was the time to think. Rationally. Logically.

"It does not matter now." Eyes much calmer from the heat of battle beforehand looked at the general. "Round up the men and send a message to my father to send more reinforcements here. In the meantime gather all the dead and bury them all. Does these flames. And begin tearing down the town. We'll rebuild this as a new in my own vision."

"And what of the survivors?"

"...I shall decide after I see them."

The demon turned casting the feeble blade to the ground as he marched off to a different area of the ruined town. A small clearing of grass filled with frightened people. Surrounding them were his men making them stay in place until they were ordered to do something with them. Most survivors were women and children. Most of the men in the village were killed protecting their families in the raid before he had arrived. They should be grateful to him but instead the children screamed and clung to their mother's and women cowered in fright upon seeing the demon dosed in the blood of their shared enemies. What few men were left stared in horror at him. Of course he was already expecting this but didn't care.

"Sir, it seems none of the women or children of the village were killed in the struggle." The demon's head snapped to the nearest soldier who flinched.

"Is that so? Why?

"Apparently according to a prisoner they were ordered to be taken in unharmed by one of Kibutsuji's general. General Akaza Hakuji. "

So she wouldn't have been killed. A  quick scan around told him she wasn't there. So where was she?

"Send a message to my brother that he will be receiving more survivors of war. Immediately." The demon turned back to the scared crowd of people. Pathetic. "I am looking for a woman who lived amongst you all." A hand stained with red pointed at his own terrifying eyes. "A woman in her early twenties with turquoise eyes. She's not here...Where is she?"

Terrified people did not speak other than the sobbing of women and the crying of children who clung to their parents and grandparents in desperation.

"I assure you no harm shall come to anyone who wishes to speak up. I only want to know the location of one person. She answers to the name of Y/n."

"The sick girl?" 

It was not but a whisper. No normal human would've been able to hear it, but the demon did. The bone cracking sound going off as he snapped his head to one young man sent the town doctor jumping. In a blink of an eye the demon was on him grabbing the front of his coat sending another wave of screams and fear through the crowd. The doctor yelled out as he was pulled mere inches away from the shifting eyes.

"This 'sick girl'. Where is she?"

"I-I don't know!" His grip tightened making his face pale like the corpses from battle. "I-I SWEAR TO YOU TO THE GODS!! I-I REALLY D-DONT KNOW!! N-NO ONE'S SEEN HER F-FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS!!"

A widening of surprise the eyes gave. "Two months?"

The absolutely frightened man nodded completely fearful. "S-She came to me four months ago after getting constantly sick!" He slammed his eyes closed and turned away as he was pulled closer. "Shortly after she was diagnosed pregnant she disappeared and n-n-no one's seen her since!! I swear to you that's the truth!! I don't know what became of her!!"

Silence rang supreme.

The whimper and crying around him went silent as a ringing sensation filled his ears and one by one slowly every eye blinked at the shaking, crying man who was on the verge of tears now. 

"....What..was her diagnosis?"

"Pregnant! S-She was two months p-p-pregnant! S-S-She must be near four o-or five by now wherever she is! P-Please.." a sob left his mouth. "Please D-Dont kill me.."

Thud. A body was dropped to the ground...The lumbering form of the demon stepped away numbly. Stiffly. Staring at nothing as the world went quiet and a ringing went off through his mind.  The word ringing around his head and being unable to wrap his mind around the concept.

Pregnant 

The concept was lost. The word not having no meaning but yet...A deep feeling of pride and hope swelled in his chest that had him clutching the flesh hard enough to draw blood to his fingertips. The woman he had come to love and want..was carrying the next chapter of their lives together. And yet...The reality of the situation hit him harder than any enemy's sword. She was gone and she had their children. Vanished without a trace.

"LORD TSUGIKUNI!!," a desperate man ran up to him with a horror filled expression. "We just received word back from the east! The ambush here was just a distraction!! The real army is making their way through the east riverbank towards your city!! Your father's been killed!!"

The demon hardly flinched. Hardly moved at the desperation in his voice.

"LORD TSUGIKUNI WHAT IS YOUR ORDERS!?"

"....Send the survivors to Yorichii. Tell him to send reinforcements." The demon turned back towards the whimpering women. Eyes locking onto three individuals. "... Except those three." A hand pointed out three people. A terrified old woman, and a middle aged couple. "Take those three to one of the prisons. They are to be sentenced to the hardest labor until their dying breaths."

"Sir, where will you be going?"

"I tire of this endless war. If they insist on pushing them I shall end it once and for all. Even if the ground runs red with blood."

The white snow ran red with blood. Many lives were lost during the heats of battles. Many others lost at his terrible hands. Clawing and clawing and tearing and tearing until they had no choice but to flee ..to retreat. To wave the white flag and finally it was over.

Three bloodied years of conflict and pain. And it was over in a matter of months by his hands instead of following any of his father's plans. His mind was in a haze for so long. His father's body was recovered in the middle of the battlefield and taken back to his home to be buried. His mother wept for days following after the funeral but he didn't shed a tear. He was too busy with the whirlwind of responsibilities thrusted upon him. As his father's heir, he was now head of his family. He did not have time for useless tears and feelings concerning one who was already dead. During this time Yorichii was silent and kept distance from him which was a blessing. Knowing his brother he must've sensed the tension shrouding his form and wished to give him space as he sorted out everything there was to be taken cared of. He'd still have to see the Kibutsuji head of clan to see where they would go from here. His mother urged him to seek peace finally ...For her sake (and what was left of his sanity's sake) he would go that route. But one thing kept revolving around in his mind. One thing he wanted. One thing he NEEDED most of all.

"I vow to find her. Even if I have to dig my way to hell and drag  her from the flames. Even if I have to claw my way to the heavens and fight the gods for her. I will find her and bring her back to me......I love her."

His mother had been concerned about his state of mind and for once he confided in her. Burdening her as he held her frailer form close and buried tear stricken eyes into her shoulder.  

"I knew there was something deeper to this." Her soothing voice shushed him as her weak hands gently held him. "There, there. Everything is going to be alright."

"I should not have left her. I should have stayed."

"You were being followed. If you had stayed and they found you there then she would have been in more danger. You were only trying to protect her," Akeno 's words did little to comfort her son.

"They did follow me! That's why they attacked that village! The end results would not have changed! She must think I have abandoned her! She has my child!....And for once...I am lost for an answer. I do not know what to do."

"The answer is simple, Michikatsu."

Soft hands gently reached out to pull the tearful face from her shoulder. Six eyes lost staring at the stern look of the woman who looked firmly. Spoke sternly.

"You pull yourself together and you go find her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Months passed since the bloodshed that had unknowingly spilt on the other side of the mountain.

Spring was the first season after a harsh long winter's nap. The second month into this season was already producing little buds blooming amongst the tree branches and pretty little flowers pushed their way from the once cold ground from a long deserved slumber. A single cottage with its doors and windows wide open was already welcoming in the warmer air as the occupants were hard at work cleaning the home after a long winter stuck inside. A series of bubbles were thrown out of a soapy bucket of water. The woman handling the bucket paying no mind as she cleaned the hardwood floors beneath her. The bubbles flew through the air hitting the light of the warm sun making them sparkle as they flew through the air and towards the sanctuary of a pile of blankets.

Eyes filled with wonder stared up at the sparkling floating objects. Wondering little hands reaching out to them as if they were some gift from the skies. A small noise of curiosity being given as the biggest bubble missed the hands and stopped in front of the wide eyed..And popped startling the big eyes.

".....Aaaaaaahhhaaaahaaaa-"

"Oh, Yuichiro. Not again." Two hands reached out to pull the infant from the bed he laid up on and began to lightly bounce the crying baby. "Shh. Shh. It's just a bubble. You shouldn't be afraid of such a harmless thing."

Despite his mother's comforting words, the baby still cried startling his brother's sleeping form awake and whimpering confused at the sounds of his brother making their mother sigh.

"Not easy having twins is it?" Their mother shot a glare at the man who chuckled. "Just kidding."

Rolling her eyes their mother looked back to the whimpering baby who sniffled staring at her with the same turquoise eyes. "Silly boy. You're going to be a troublemaker when you grow up."

#kokushibo x reader #yandere kokushibo #kny kokushibo #kokushibo #kokushibou #yandere kokushibou #yandere michikatsu x reader #yandere kokushibo x reader #yandere michikatsu tsugikuni #demon slayer michikatsu #michikatsu x reader #kny michikatsu #michikatsu tsugikuni #Kny #kimetsu gakuen #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #in the moon's shadow

[autolenaphilia]

"She leans forward, smiling gently, adopting the air of a concerned guidance counsellor. “Stef, if I may be blunt — and everyone around me is, constantly, so I believe I shall indulge — you are a woman. You have always been a woman, whatever your external appearance might suggest. You have, therefore, experienced masculinity, and particularly the kind of grasping, possessive, abusive masculinity that we as a society have decided is appropriate to teach our young men, as nothing but a curse, correct? An unpleasant and often entirely irrational system of behaviour to which you have been expected to conform, and uphold in others.”

“Um,” Stefan says, trying to control his reaction to being called a woman, to having his womanhood recognised so casually, acknowledged so completely. “Yes, I suppose.”

“Would you agree that your compliance with masculinity has been, shall we say, coerced? Not something you would have chosen for yourself?”

Stefan nods, and carefully avoids getting lost in memories.

“Then I suspect you will find it hard to believe how… seductive it can be,” Beatrice says. “Imagine that you are a boy. Masculinity, as expressed by the patriarchy, all the way from the repulsive man who currently occupies the office of the prime minister down to your peers at school, your family, and the men you see on the television, tells you what you are. It dictates your behaviour, lays out the rules around which you must structure your life. But in return it offers power. Power over other men, should you make yourself strong enough; power over women, almost by default. ‘You are strong,’ it whispers to you, as you grow taller than the girls at your school. ‘You are powerful,’ it tells you, as you get into your first fight. ‘You deserve her,’ it insists, as you look at a pretty woman at a bar or in the street. And, to those who will listen, it says, ‘Even if she refuses you, she is nonetheless yours. Take her!’” Stefan jumps a little when she raises her voice. “‘Take her and do with her what you will, for it is your right.’

“Most men, of course, are not so ruled by their desires that they will act on every impulse. And many men are capable of ignoring those messages entirely, filtering them, discovering a healthy masculinity inside the radioactive dust that infests our social atmosphere. But, as you have seen, there are men who are overwhelmed by these messages. Who are shaped by them so completely that there is practically nothing else left inside them. They are… broken people. Excellent vessels for the — oh, what did that absurd scientist with the honey fixation call it? — the meme of masculinity. The infectious idea that burrows into the brain and takes over.

“The problem for these men is that masculinity — toxic masculinity, if you will; violent, virulent masculinity — is a seductive lover but an abusive husband. Once you are in its grip, you can never be strong enough, never exercise enough power, never hurt enough people. You find yourself trapped between two destinies.

“Some of these broken men, they despise themselves. They victimise others because they are too weak not to, and they loathe their weakness. Many of them manage to put up a front — brusqueness; belligerence; humour — but the self-hatred eats away at them, and eventually they will be destroyed by it, consumed by the parasite.

“Others become nothing but the violence. They have contempt for their victims, and admire only strength and cruelty. They are, essentially, monsters."

Alyson Greaves - The Sisters of Dorley, Chapter 14: The Sense God Gave Her

#the sisters of dorley #alyson greaves #rape mention #this is so good #i love this novel #it gives me this intelligent discussion of gender #and the context is a character justifying why she force-fems people #absolutely brilliant book

[talktomeinclexa]

On The Ground All Can Hear You Scream

By: TalktomeinClexa

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Violence, Blood and Injury

Status: WIP

Summary: Novitiate Lexa is captured by reapers and wakes up locked in a cage, not knowing that the blonde who finds her there will change her destiny. Unless this enemy turns out to be who Fate had in store for her?

***

Chapter 5: Meet Heda

The sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, swallowed by the forest spreading west of Polis. An unstoppable reminder of time’s passing, of the cycle of day and night even Praimfaya hadn’t changed or interrupted. Men and women lived and died, loved and cried, none of which mattered to the star. It continued its journey, oblivious to the pleading and suffering of the people staring at it.

Not unlike Heda used to be before Lexa ascended and changed the rules. Before the girl dared to take one step down the stairs leading to her pedestal to be closer to her people. She ruled them strictly, enforcing the same laws her predecessors had, but fairly. With her guards at a distance, she walked through the market during the day and listened to the merchants, the visitors, and the children tell her about their day, their concerns, their joys. She visited the clans allied to Trikru and met with the others’ ambassadors to negotiate agreements and treaties. Everything she could do to ease their burden and offer them a better life.

Much to Titus’s displeasure, she also chose to spend time with her novitiates. To be a better, warmer example to them than the three previous Heda had been to her. To be involved in their lives and lessons rather than delegate it all to the Flamekeeper, his apprentices, and the fos she assigned them. Her devotion to her people aside, the one thing she hoped to impart to them was her love for books and the knowledge they contained. Something too few warriors valued.

After spending the six colder months of the year in Polis, Aden, Nina, and Seth — the oldest Natblida — were back to traveling the clans with their fos. They would return in two seasons, eyes shining and minds full of the adventures they had gone through. And she would be there to welcome them and hear all about what new skills they had learned. But in the meantime, she focused on her younger charges. The two girls and the boy too young yet to have a mentor. Lira, Kali, and Gael.

“Why did Vren kom Sankru end his clan alliance with Yujleda?” she asked as the four of them sat in the throne room, alone apart for Gustus and Max standing guard.

Of all the things she made sure to teach them, their people’s history was her favorite topic. She could discuss it for hours, often watching over them as they fell asleep in their beds, listening to her voice. A strange habit that the guards and servants pretended not to notice, none of them daring to question their Heda.

If she didn’t expect Gael, who had only seen three summers, to pay much attention to the question or remember the story she had told them the night before, she was pleased when Lira answered.

“Because Yujleda didn’t respect the terms of their agreement. They sent less meat than promised.”

“Very good.”

Lexa nodded at the girl. Lira reminded her of her as a child. Always interested in learning, not so much in fighting. If her fellow Trikru hadn’t been born a Natblida, she would undoubtedly have become a scholar.

“And why was that an issue, Kali?” 

The Ingranronakru girl hesitated, her small head cocked to the side. Unlike her older blood sister, Kali preferred physical activities to long lectures and rarely volunteered answers.

“Because Yujleda wasn’t honorable?” she tried, her voice low. When Lexa smiled gently, encouraging her to dig deeper, she spoke again. “Because they needed food. There aren’t many animals in Sangeda.”

The young woman nodded, pleased to see that the girl remembered her lesson after all. Trade was an essential component between the clans, especially for those less fortunate in resources. If they couldn’t peacefully obtain enough to feed their goufa, what other solution would they have than resorting to war and pillage? As potential future Heda, the novitiates needed to keep that in mind, or the Coalition she hoped to build wouldn’t outlive her.

“Well done. That is all for today. You may return to your room and go to bed. Tomorrow, we will practice with staffs.”

The three children hurried out of the room, but not before wishing her good night. Gael waved at her, his curls bouncing around his head, and she grinned at him.

If he were around, Titus would advise her not to treat them too gently. They weren’t normal goufa; they were Natblida. Warriors destined to die young. They didn’t have the luxury of being soft. She knew that better than most, the seven circles inked on her back a cruel reminder of the lives lost when Heda’s Spirit chose her. Still, despite herself, she wished they could have known a different, kinder existence. One that revolved around more than lessons, training, and death.

Keep Reading

#day 3 6 years later #clexa #fanfiction #maunon clarke #heda lexa #clexaweek22 day 3

[cielrouge]

YA SFF Books by Black Authors 

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow: About the strength of black sisterhood set in Portland, OR, best friends Tavi and Effie discover their true supernatural identity when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical siren voice during a police stop.

A Chorus Rises (A Song Below Water #2) by Bethany C. Morrow: Teen influencer Naema Bradshaw is an Eloko, a person who’s gifted with a song that woos anyone who hears it. Everyone loves her — well, until she's cast as the awful person who exposed Tavia’s secret siren powers. When a new, flourishing segment of Naema’s online supporters start targeting black girls, however, Naema must discover the true purpose of her magical voice.

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown: Inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess, Karina, and a desperate refugee, Malik, find themselves on a collision course to murder each other, despite their growing attraction.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor: Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.

Akata Warrior (Akata Witch #2) by Nnedi Okorafor: Now stronger, feistier, and a bit older, Sunny Nwazue, along with her friends from the the Leopard Society, travel through worlds, both visible and invisible, to the mysterious town of Osisi, where they fight in a climactic battle to save humanity.

Bad Witch Burning by Jessica Lewis: For fans of Us and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comes a witchy story full of black girl magic as one girl’s dark ability to summon the dead offers her a chance at a new life, while revealing to her an even darker future.

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi: After he eats the sin of a royal, Taj, a talented aki, or sin-eater who consumes the guilt of others whose transgressions are exorcised from them by powerful but corrupt Mages, is drawn into a plot to destroy the city, and he must fight to save the princess he loves and his own life.

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray: Two Black teenagers, talented Beastkeeper Koffi and warrior-in-training Ekon, must trek into a magical jungle to take down an ancient creature menacing the city of Lkossa, before they become the hunted.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton: In the opulent world of Orléans, where Beauty is a commodity only a few control, Belle Camellia Beauregard will learn the dark secrets behind her powers, and rise up to change the world. 

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney: A whimsical and butt-kicking Alice in Wonderland retelling featuring a black teen heroine who battles Nightmares in the dark and terrifying dream realm known as Wonderland. 

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves: 16-year-old Hanna reunites with her estranged mother in an East Texas town that is haunted with doors to dimensions of the dead and protected by demon hunters called Mortmaine.

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury: Set in near-future Toronto in which, after failing to come into her powers, 16-year-old Black witch Voya Thomas must choose between losing her family’s magic forever or murdering her first love.

The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley: Set in Victorian England, African tightrope walker Iris cannot die; but soon gets drafted in the fight-to-the-death tournament of freaks where she learns the terrible truth of who and what she really is.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris: A gripping, evocative novel about Black teen Alex Rufus, who has the power to see into the future, and whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi: 17-year-old Zélie and companions journey to a mythic island seeking a chance to bring back magic to the land of Orïsha, in a fantasy world infused with the textures of West Africa.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2) by Tomi Adeyemi: After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But with civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: 16-year-old Sophia would much rather marry Erin, her childhood best friend, than parade in front of suitors. At the ball, Sophia flees, hiding in Cinderella’s mausoleum. There, she meets Constance, the last known descendant of Cinderella and her step sisters. Together they vow to bring down the king once and for all.

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris: A gripping, evocative novel about Black teen Alex Rufus, who has the power to see into the future, and whose life turns upside down when he foresees his younger brother’s imminent death.

Crown of Thunder (Beasts Made of Night #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi: Taj has escaped Kos, but Queen Karima will go to any means necessary--including using the most deadly magic--to track him down. 

A Crown So Cursed (Nightmare Verse #3) by L.L. McKinney: Alice is ready to jump into battle when she learns that someone is building an army of Nightmares to attack the mortal world, before she learns of a personal connection to Wonderland.

Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron: In Jim Crow South, black teen Evalene Deschamps finds her place among a family of women gifted with magical abilities, known as jubilation - a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery.

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland: The Civil War is over, but mostly because the dead rose at Gettysburg—and then started rising everywhere else. Fighting the undead is a breeze for Jane McKenne, an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. But the fight for freedom? That’s a different story.

Deathless Divide (Dread Nation #2) by Justina Ireland: After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler. But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to Nicodermus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880’s America.

A Dream So Dark (Nightmare Verse #2) by L.L. McKinney: Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates) Alice must cross the Veil to rescue her friends and stop the Black Knight once and for all in Wonderland.

Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds: Jamal’s best friend Q is brought back to life after a freak accident … but they only have a short time together before he will die again.  How can Jamal fix his friendship without the truth?

Fate of Flames by Sarah Raughley:  Before they can save the world from the monstrous phantoms, four girls who have the power to control the classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water must first try to figure out how to work together. 

For All Time by Shanna Miles: Tamar and Fayard, two Black teens, are fated to repeat their love story across hundreds of lifetimes, from 14th-century Mali to the distant future, as they struggle to break the cycle.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna: Inspired by the culture of West Africa, a feminist fantasy debut traces the experiences of 16-year-old Deka, who is invited to leave her discriminatory village to join the emperor’s army of near-immortal women warriors.

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis: The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls--they know their luck is anything but. Sold to a "welcome house" as children and branded with cursed markings. When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape to find freedom, justice, and revenge.

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron: Set in a West African-inspired fantasy kingdom, Arrah comes from a long line of powerful witchdoctors, yet fails at magic. When Arrah trade years off her life for magic to stop the Demon King from destroying the world—that is if it doesn’t kill her first.

Legacy of Light (The Effgies #3) by Sarah Raughley: After Saul’s strike on Oslo—one seemingly led by Maia herself—the Effigies’ reputation is in shambles. Belle has gone rogue, Chae Rin and Lake have disappeared, and the Sect is being dismantled and replaced by a terrifying new world order helmed by Blackwell. If the Effigies can’t put the pieces together soon, there may not be much left of the world they’ve fought so desperately to save.

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn: In this King Arthur retelling, Black teen Bree Matthews infiltrates a secret society of powerful magic wielders to find out the truth behind her mother’s untimely death.

Mem by Bethany C. Morrow: In alternate reality Montreal (1925), a young woman’s personality is the result of a startling experimental procedure, leaving her to struggle with the question of who she really is.

Miles Morales, Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds: But Miles Morales accidentally discovers a villainous teacher's plan to turn good kids bad, he will need to come to terms with his own destiny as the new Spider-man. 

Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard: Half-mortal teenager Helen Thomas goes to live with her father—who is Zeus, masquerading as a university professor—and must do her best to keep the family secret intact.

The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds: After falling for Kate, her unexpected death sends Jack back in time to the moment they first met, but he soon learns that his actions have consequences when someone else close to him dies.

Orleans by Sherri L. Smith: Set in a futuristic, hostile Orleans landscape, Fen de la Guerre must deliver her tribe leader's baby over the Wall into the Outer States before her blood becomes tainted with Delta Fever. 

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney & Robyn Smith: When Nubia’s best friend, Quisha, is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia will risk it all—her safety, her home, and her crush on that cute kid in English class—to become the hero society tells her she isn’t.

A Phoenix First Must Burn: 16 Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope edited by Patrice Caldwell: Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels.

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron: In this contemporary fantasy inspired by The Secret Garden, Black teen Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants with a single touch. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family, when a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir.

A Psalm of Storm and Silence (A Song of Wraiths and Ruin #2) by Roseanne A. Brown: As the fabric holding Sonande together begins to tear, Malik and Karina once again find themselves torn between their duties and their desires.

A Queen of Gilded Horns (A River of Royal Blood #2) by Amanda Joy: After learning the truth of her heritage, Eva is on the run with her sister Isa as her captive, but with the Queendom of Myre on the brink of revolution, Eva and Isa must make peace with each other to save their kingdom.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko: In a West African-inspired empire, Tarisai is raised by The Lady and sent to kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?

Redemptor (Raybearer #2) by Jordan Ifueko: For the first time, an Empress Redemptor sits on Aritsar's throne. To appease the sinister spirits of the dead, Tarisai must now anoint a council of her own, coming into her full power as a Raybearer.

The Ravens by Danielle Page & Kass Morgan: The sisters of Kappu Rho Nu share a secret: they’re a coven of witches. For Vivi Deveraux, being one of Kappa Rho Nu’s Ravens means getting a chance to redefine herself. For Scarlett Winters, a bonafide Raven and daughter of a legacy Raven. When Vivi and Scarlett are paired as big and little for initiation, they find themselves sinking into the sinister world of blood oaths and betrayals.

Rebel Sisters (War Girls #2) by Tochi Onyebuchi: Though they are working toward common goals of helping those who suffered, Ify and Uzo are worlds apart. But when a mysterious virus breaks out among the children in the Space Colonies, their paths collide.

Reaper of Souls (Kingdom of Souls #2) by Rena Barron: After so many years yearning for the gift of magic, Arrah has the one thing she’s always wanted—at a terrible price. But the Demon King’s shadow looms closer than she thinks. And as Arrah struggles to unravel her connection to him, defeating him begins to seem more and more impossible.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy: A North African-inspired feminist fantasy in which two sisters, Eva and Isa must compete in a magical duel to the death for the right to inherit the queendom of Myre.  

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves: In Portero, Texas, teens Kit and Fancy Cordelle, daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, bring two boys with similar tendencies to a world of endless possibilities they have discovered behind a mysterious door.

Siege of Shadows (The Effigies #2) by Sarah Raughley:  After Saul reappears with an army of soldiers with Effigy-like abilities, threatening to unleash the monstrous Phantoms, e-year-old Maia and the other Effigies hope to defeat him by discovering the source of their power over the four classical elements, but they are betrayed by the Sect and bogged down by questions about the previous Fire Effigy's murder.

The Sisters of Reckoning (The Good Luck Girls #2) by Charlotte Nicole Davis: The blockbuster sequel to an alternate Old West-set commercial fantasy adventure.

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow: Set in the near-future, in which a captive teen human and a young alien leader—bonded by their love of forbidden books and music—embark on a desperate road trip as they attempt to overturn alien rule and save humankind. 

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi: Set in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria, sisters Onyii and Ify, separated by a devastating civil war, must fight their way back to each other against all odds.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst: When the goddess Bayla fails to take over Liyana's body, Liyana's people abandon her in the desert to find a more worthy vessel, but she soon meets Korbyn, who says the souls of seven deities have been stolen and he needs Liyana's help to find them.

The Weight of Stars by K. Ancrum: After a horrific accident brings loners Ryann and Alexandria together, Ryann learns that Alexandria's mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson: Black teen Marigold and her blended family move into a newly renovated, picture-perfect home in a dilapidated Midwestern city, and are haunted by what she thinks are ghosts, but might be far worse.

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle: Black teen Rue, from a poor neighborhood who, after learning she is half-human, half-goddess, must embrace both sides of her heritage to unlock her magic and destroy the racist gods poisoning her neighborhood with violence, drugs, and crime.

Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Thomas: In this Jamaican-inspired fantasy debut, two witches from enemy castes—one seeking power, and one seeking revenge—will stop at nothing to overthrow the witch queen, even if it means forming an alliance with each other and unleashing chaos on their island nation.

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood: An Ethiopian-inspired Jane Eyre retelling in which an unlicensed debtera, or exorcist, Andromeda, is hired to rid a castle of its dangerous curses, only to fall in love with Magnus Rochester, a boy whose life hangs in the balance.

Yesterday Is History by Kosoko Jackson: Black teen Andre Cobb undergoes a liver transplant and as a side effect winds up slipping through time from present-day Boston to 1969 NYC on the eve of the Stonewall riots, delivering a story that is part romance, part gay history, and part time-travel drama, exploring how far we have and haven't come. 

#yalit #black authors #ya sff #black ya sff #booklr #book recs #book recommendations

[love-sapphirerose]

Inuyasha: Why Falling in Love Caused Kikyo’s Powers to Weaken

Inuyasha's Kikyo is known for her powerful legacy and her tragic downfall, the latter of which may be tied to her occupation as a historical miko.

BY DIANE DARCY

Kikyo, the tragic miko (shrine maiden) of Inuyasha, is something of a legend within the story’s canon, leaving behind a powerful legacy even protagonist Kagome has trouble upholding. Along with being one of the more powerful miko who ever lived, Kikyo is especially remembered for her tragic downfall by falling in love with Inuyasha.

At first, it may seem strange that love would be the thing to destroy Kikyo, especially considering the same didn't happen to Kagome. But there's really no comparison for one simple but significant reason: Kikyo is a historical miko and Kagome is not. While Kagome may have inherited Kikyo’s spiritual powers and kyūdō skills as her reincarnation, she's also a woman of her time and was never subjected to any of Kikyo's training for a miko living in Japan's Sengoku era.

Historically, Kikyo Began Her Miko Training In Childhood

Historically, miko in Japan fulfilled a very different role from their modern counterparts. While today's miko are seen assisting priests at Shinto shrines, in the past they were actually shaman women. As such, they maintained a position of power and authority within their respective communities. As practitioners of Shinto, their job description included performing divinations, exorcisms and communicating with the kami (spirits and deities) of their respective communities. That last one entailed allowing kami to possess their bodies and convey their messages through a trance-like dance that is performed today as kagura or miko mai.

Within Inuyasha canon, Kikyo is seen performing many functions of the historical miko, most notably exorcisms with her asuza yumi (sacred bow) and hama ya (exorcism arrows). To become a miko, however, Kikyo couldn't just be anyone. She either had to be the daughter of a shaman or had to possess strong spiritual potential. While nothing is known about Kikyo's parents, she does, have a reputation for immense spiritual strength. That power is most likely how she got selected by her community to train to become a miko.

Per Japan's own history, to become a miko, Kikyo would've begun training at a very young age and undergone a series of purification rituals. Since training lasted anywhere from three to seven years, Kikyo would've started her training at age 10 or 11 if she was approximately 17 or 18 at the time she met Inuyasha. The completion of her training would've ended with a ceremony to symbolize her bond with the kami Kikyo would commit to serving, which was the reason she had to remain a virgin. Since purity is central to the Shinto belief system, maintaining sexual purity was essential to Kikyo fulfilling her role as a medium for her community's kami.

Being A Miko Was At Odds With Kikyo's Humanity

Despite Kikyo's training paying off and establishing herself as one of the more powerful miko known throughout Japan, her life was also at odds with her humanity. Kikyo was more than aware of what she was sacrificing to fulfill her responsibilities to her community and the kami she vowed to serve. This internal conflict became a major source of unhappiness for Kikyo, who was still a teenaged girl, and was explored in detail in the Inuyasha anime spring special "Tragic Love Song of Destiny".

In the spring special, Kikyo's powers and talents another miko's envy -- Tsubaki, whom she trained with. At the start of the special, Tsubaki went out of her way to remind Kikyo of what her training entailed and why she couldn't fall in love with a man if she intended to maintain her spiritual strength. This was Tsubaki's no-so-underhanded way of reminding Kikyo how quickly she can lose all that she has worked hard for the moment she compromises her sexual purity. In fact, she was counting on that happening given Kikyo's youth.

While Kikyo brushed off Tsubaki's "advice" as placing a curse on her, it was established in both the Inuyasha manga and anime that -- as the more powerful miko of the two -- Tsubaki's curses don't have an effect on Kikyo. Still, Tsubaki wasn't off in her prediction given Kikyo's own internal conflict in reconciling her humanity with her miko existence. More than anything, this was the reason Kikyo refused to kill Inuyasha every time he pestered her for the Shikon no Tama (apart from recognizing he was a hanyō and not a full yōkai) and what led to her bonding with him.

Falling In Love Led To Kikyo's Sexual Awakening

Over the course of their friendship, Inuyasha and Kikyo developed mutual romantic feelings. This led to them spending more time together, and to Kikyo becoming more emotionally vulnerable. One thing Tsubaki noticed in her next encounter with Kikyo was how much her spiritual powers had weakened since meeting Inuyasha. She once again reminded her of what she was compromising by allowing herself to fall in love. This implies Kikyo started experiencing sexual desire, which Tsubaki then attempted to exploit by unleashing her famous snake curse. Though the attack was easily deflected, Tsubaki still was not wrong in her predictions.

Not long after this encounter, Kikyo began experiencing the full extent of what her romantic relationship with Inuyasha was costing her. She was becoming less powerful and effective in fights against yōkai, one of which resulted in the loss of her sister's eye in the anime. This forced Kikyo to make a decision: give up her life as a miko and become an ordinary woman, or give up her romantic relationship to regain her strength as a miko. She ended up choosing the former, which led to her proposing that Inuyasha use the Shikon no Tama to become human. If he did, the jewel could be purified while Kikyo could be relieved of her responsibilities to it. After some thought, Inuyasha accepted Kikyo's proposal, which led to their first kiss in the anime special.

Kikyo's Downfall Is Linked To Loss Of Sexual Purity

Although the kiss in the anime was depicted as an affirmation of Inuyasha and Kikyo's love for one another, when examined through Japan's historical context, it was even more significant than that. In Kikyo's time, people in Japan did not kiss as part of romantic expression, but as part of sexual interaction. Since Kikyo is a woman of her time with no knowledge of western European notions of love, this means that when she kissed Inuyasha on the boat dock, she was initiating a sexual encounter. This happened during the daytime and Inuyasha was later seen escorting Kikyo back to her village late at night.

While the anime does not detail what Inuyasha and Kikyo did during those in-between hours, plenty of contextual clues in the aftermath hint at them having engaged in sexual activity. The first clue was Kikyo not detecting Naraku's distinct aura when he visited her at the shrine disguised as Inuyasha. Since Kikyo is skilled at detecting different yōkai auras (and especially Naraku's distinct aura post-resurrection), this is a strong indicator of how much her spiritual powers weakened. This was confirmed by Naraku later on -- in both the Inuyasha manga and anime -- as the reason he was able to attack and kill Kikyo. Had he encountered her while she was still at peak spiritual strength, he would not have succeeded in his plan to tear both her and Inuyasha apart.

Revisiting the question of why Kikyo's powers diminished by falling in love when the same didn't happen to Kagome, it boils down to the fact Kikyo is a historical miko, whereas Kagome is a modern miko. As a historical miko, Kikyo was bound by the rules of her occupation, which at the time entailed maintaining sexual purity. Kagome, by contrast, is not bound by those same rules as modern miko in Japan are no longer required to remain sexually pure to assist priests at Shinto shrines. As a 20th century girl, this is the perspective Kagome brings to the Sengoku era.

#pro inukik #inukik #inuyasha x kikyo #inuyasha kikyo #inukyo #anti inukag #anti kagome

[wonderellawhisper]

Cara & Madeline Deneuve for @mystelise‘s Love For The Holidays!

«Hello, I’m Cara Deneuve: nice to meet you. I was born in 1820 in Windenburg, my parents were the Earls of the city and that should have been my destiny. Unfortunately I was young and naive, I fell in love with a man much older than me. My parents got very angry, I ruined my family name by running away with that man. I married him in a hurry, before a scandal. Having obtained my father’s money, lands and title, he decided to get rid of me: he let me bleed to death. It was Madeline who saved me by turning me into a vampire, I owe my life to her. Things didn't go well for my husband then, he was my first victim. An impulse gesture, dictated by anger and so I also burned my residence, The Von Haunt Estate. Everything about my family disappeared and we became a legend in Windenburg. I repeat, I was a little girl. For a long time I ran away from love, but it’s totally useless. I’m not destined not to love. Maybe it’s time to try again, step by step. Elodie, I know the weight of power. I know what it feels like to face the constant expectations of others, it’s hard. I could help you, but most of all I want to prove you wrong: love is power. The two of us could be that power together»

Cara’s facts:

She/her - she’s still trying to figure out who she’s attracted to;

Her aspiration is good vampire, she has yet to learn to control her impulses;

Her traits are music lover, ambitious and self-absorbed;

She is 201 yo, but she became a vampire at the age of 15;

«Hi! I’m Madeline Deneuve, how are you? I was born in 1790 in Windenburg, my family served Cara’s family for generations. Some women in my family are special, we are spellcasters, I’m one of them. My grandmother taught me everything, she always told me: “An ye harm none, do what ye will”. I’m very fond of practical magic and alchemy, I have been mastering these arts for a long time. I want to help people if I can. I saw Cara being born and saw her being born again, when everything was taken away from her. I turned her into a vampire with an ancient alchemical potion and took care of her, we are now a family. Now the time has finally come to expand the family, so Cara convinced me to participate.  Casey I don’t have much experience with love, I usually always end up being the friend. You’re nice and I think we could really get along. I’m afraid of losing Cara by giving my attention to someone else, but I believe that family is important to you too and that you will understand me. We will have fun and I could teach you a few tricks»

Madeline’s facts:

She/her - pansexual

Her aspiration is purveyor of potions;

Her traits are creative, loves outdoors and outgoing;

She continues to drink the potion of youth, she started when she was 28;

«We are still us, we hope not to bore you! We wanted to describe our days a little bit… We own a caravan, we are nomads. We never stay in one place for too long, we love to travel but that could change if we fall in love. We don’t look much alike and over the years we have always changed stories, but now we introduce ourselves and consider ourselves as sisters. None of us have the surname “Deneuve”, we borrowed it on one of our trips to Champs Les Sims. Maybe we’re a little…vintage for this era, but our clothing isn’t modern at all. We like it that way, we’re a little…eccentric. We spend our days helping others, if necessary we treat and medicate people and animals. Madeline, if she can, offers them some potions to make their dreams come true or to fight curses. Cara plays some instruments, bringing some cheer into the air. Madeline likes to go to the woods or to the beaches, looking for ingredients for alchemy while Cara controls her thirst. It’s a simple life, but we’re ready for a big change. We can’t wait to meet you!»

#sims 4 bc #the sims 4 bc #ts4 bc #holidaybc

[animeyanderelover]

Yandere Fairy Tail Hc’s

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, delusions, clinginess, overprotective behavior, manipulation, stalking, blackmailing, threatening, sabotage, kidnapping, killing

Hibiki Lates

✨Hibiki is a semi-delusional Yandere. I admit it, he obviously is quite perceptive and intelligent so he isn't a fully delusional Yandere. Still though he can't help, but think of his darling as something more. He's a womanizer and rumors say that he's had many different girlfriends at the same time. But with the sudden entrance of his darling something seemed to change. He suddenly turned extremely obsessive, wanted to know everything about them and he could never stop thinking about them ever since. So even if he knows that some things he does aren't technically right, he views this whole situation as some sort of destiny and that his darling is his only one. He's quite infatuated with his darling for that reason.

✨Manipulative and overprotective. Hibiki obviously has his charm upon his sleeve and there is a reason he's been voted for several years in a row as a boyfriend every girl would like to have. Problem is that if his darling is looking for a serious relationship, they might ditch him since he is a womanizer and they wouldn't want to be with someone who hangs out with numerous women at the same time. Hibiki has to prove something in here and he is aware of that. But he's a determined and persistent man and he will make sure that he'll court his darling successfully and he isn't above making himself look better than other possible competitors. And a man has to protect his lover after all so of course he is more protective, though he overdoes it in order to look more like a gentleman.

✨Hibiki might just experience for the very first time in his life how real jealousy feels like when you have someone you want to love and cherish for the rest of your life. As someone who is constantly being talked over and the knowledge that he is everyone's dream man give him a certain confidence and since he is a polite man, he never really lashes out on someone. But he learns quickly that he dislikes it when someone else tries to charm his darling the way he does and that e likes it even less when they react flattered by it. Such experiences never really fail to make him a bit more possessive since it's a brilliant reminder that he wants no one else to steal you away from him.

✨He ensures protection as good as he can, but if his darling is a mage themselves he naturally admires their strength and respects it when they can kick someone's asses all by their own. We did see in the Grand Magic Games that he isn't exactly strong when it comes to brute strength so in that aspect his darling might actually surpass him, but he is smart and great in other things. He has without a doubt his own little fanbase and has influence due to his popularity so it may very well be that he uses this against people he views as serious threats and destroys their reputation just like this. He does this more with people who harrassed the s/o or make their life hard rather than people who try to snatch his darling away and make them theirs. In such cases he rather trusts his own looks and charms.

✨Assuming that he does manage to become his darling's boyfriend, it might be not very likely that they would break up very fast since Hibiki almost appears to be the prefect boyfriend, he's probably just a bit too much. But since Hibiki views the whole reason you two met in the first place as fate he of course doesn't plan on letting his darling leave now that he's found true love. He uses manipulation over violence since he sees himself above such brute methods and in general he prefers blackmailing and bribing over physical force the moment he fails to solve an issue the normal way.

✨It's really not seen as anything serious when he first is seen in public with you, but when it is suddenly made clear soon after that he stopped looking at other women and stopped flirting with every women he's encountering, it's made clear that this is due to his relationship with you. His teammates and Ichiya congratulate him soon after for having found the real passionate love. Hibiki is actually a bit careful around his teammates when you're with him since they are womanizers as well and for that might behave the same with you which does make him jealous a bit. I think he has no real problem being extremely cheesy and romantic with you even in front of others. That guy does give his darling space even if he can be rather clingy from time to time, but if he misses them he tends to try to communicate per telepathy.

Eve Tearm

💛Eve is pretty much alike to Hibiki in this matter. He as well is a semi-delusional Yandere. However, he isn't like Hibiki a more intellectual character yet and different from Hibiki lacks the more serious side. He is younger after all and views that as part of his charm so he has a far more stronger side to himself than Hibiki has. Because Eve falls much more faster in love than Hibiki does and for that has a much more stronger view on destiny and that him and his darling are meant to be. He is protective as well. He might be younger and maybe less experienced than his other friends, but he as well wants to prove his dedication and love to the s/o.

💛Obsessive which should be obvious. What kind of lover would he be if he wouldn't know how to make you happy and how to always surprise you pleasantly. Something that still marks a big difference between him and Hibiki is the fact that Eve actually turns out to be more on the shy side once he's really fallen hard for his darling which is why he at first tends to be a bit more on the stalkerish side before Ichiya, Ren and Hibiki encourage the young man to go for this beaty before someone else takes them away from Eve. That includes them as well, they are womanizers. Eve uses manipulation less than Hibiki does since he is surprisingly bashful, but he will sweet talk things more harmless and appealing if he has too.

💛Eve is less possessive than Hibiki is and overall is less jealous. His darling gets their freedom and can talk to others all they like, he can endure them having friends and spending time with others. He is somewhat more cautios around other members of The Trimens for clear reasons. It isn't like Hibiki and Ren don't respect the fact that yo are Eve's lover, but being charming and flirting with women runs simply through their blood and so they might subconsciously accidentally and up doing just that. Eve of course is respectful with his friends and they understand him and stop quickly as well. In front of strangers flirting he still retains that more mature approach similar to Hibiki, but just like him he shares the dislike of seeing other people being all gentleman and nice to you the same way he is. He's not shy when it comes to making it to others clear that you already have him.

💛Similar to Hibiki he will share the same respect and admiration in case you are a wizard yourself and for that have spells up your own sleeves to fight for yourself, though in case of a sudden battle Eve would like to fight right besides you. Even with his whole soulmate belief Eve still mostly turns away from the idea of killing someone as long as it isn’t an emergency situation. He likes discussing it out as well and in the case that someone does try to cause troubles, you have a guild ready to help you out since Eve naturally won’t let anyone harm you. He can sabotage certain situations as well where odds are put against the person he views as a threat.

💛Assuming that you are part of Blue Pegasus, you two would already spend a lot of time together so there would be no need for him to kidnap you since he constantly hangs around you in the guild, regarding clinginess he can be more extreme than Hibiki is. He is younger and more delusional after all. And since he is seen from everyone in the guild as sie sort of younger brother he would definitely be able to count on their help in case something should have happened that caused you to be mad at him.

💛The wizard, despite higher clinginess, still respects the fact to hold back in public more than Hibiki would. Ren and Hibiki most likely triggered him to go out of his way and talk to his darling way back when he was still a secret admirer and didn’t know how to set up a good scenario and how to talk to them. Has a more submissive nature to him so he would like his darling to be the one to lead this relationship whilst he follows along and does in the meantime things to please them and make them happy. But similar to Hibiki he stops flirting with other women as we for the sake of you.

Ren Akatsuki

🎆Funnily from all three of them, he probably is the most lucid one. But he still only is a semi-aware Yandere to have, he's stained ith the same delusions as his team members. He can view many of his habits as rather unusual and he knows that as well, but in the end his belief in the greater love manages to overcome most of his doubts and insecurities whether he's wrong about his feelings or not. He mostly tries to show his feelings in a more tsunderish form, but in the end he as well is far too much lovestruck to come over as very cold and his darling can tease him greatly for it. From The Trimens he's notably the most possessive Yandere to have.

🎆Protective and manipulative. No matter how cold he may try to act, he'll always defend you from others and save you when you do trip into some issues and even if he complains afterwards that you should have been more careful, he was very worried and that's evident. Ren is subtle about his manipulations as well, mainly because he wants his darling to love him without him having to use bribing and other sorts of lies and tricks, but similar to Eve he will do it when there would be the need for it.

🎆He doesn't get along very well with other men except Ichiya, Hibiki and Eve for the real funny reasons because he views other guys as his rivals in love (don't expect girls to be safe from this either, he'll merely be more polite). And Ren is the most rude about his jealousy because even if he is more embarrassed to show how much he really do loves you, he sure as hell won't have others flirt with you and take you away from him. He's the passive-aggressive type with such people and his feelings for his darling are always made obvious during such times. In front of people like Hibiki and Eve he is less harsh, but it doesn't stop him from shooing them away when they are suddenly all over you as well.

🎆He might just be the one who would be the easiest triggered from all of them to act when someone starts looking more and more like potential troubles for the s/o and the relationship. I would say that with love rivals he wouldn't be violent, more focused on just scaring them away and use threats and warnings to stay away the moment someone becomes very persistent on having his darling. If it comes to people such as bullies or perverts he has a faster way to react because simple flirting isn't anywhere near as worse as being catcalled or otheriwse humiliated. But just like with Hibiki and Eve I really only see him killing someone when the circumstances are very bad and the person turns out to be a possible death sentence for his darling if he doesn't do something. Anything can happen in the heat f a battle.

🎆Despite his tries to come over as a Tsundere, he still spends a lot of time with his darling which kind of blows his cover up, but that really isn't something new. Ren isn't necessarily clingy unless someone triggered his jealousy extremely or recently something bad happened to his darling and for that reason he decides to accompany them for safety reasons. Kidnapping is still something he wouldn't really consider since, as already mentioned, he is the most self-conscious Yandere to have from those three.

🎆How you can tease him about his constant tries to come over as a Tsundere despite easily getting flustered around you is really funny. Ren wants to look cool in front of his darling which means he obviously doesn't want to embarrass himself whilst you're watching so he always tries his best. He cools his interactions with other girls extremely down after he's courted you since he obviously cares about you more than anyone else. He might still fall back into the habit of simple flirting, but he learned his lessons quickly when you had enough of it, avoided him and did the exact same thing with Hibiki and Eve who naturally flirted back. He got quite mad at them afterwards for this, though they only helped you giving Ren a taste of his own medicine.

#yandere fairy tail #yandere hibiki #yandere hibiki lates #yandere eve #yandere eve tearm #yandere ren #yandere ren akatsuki

[chudleycanonficfest]

Rewrite the Stars

Day 7, Post #1 is by @adenei

Title: Rewrite the Stars

Author: adenei

Pairing: Ron/Hermione (Romione)

Prompt: Songfic

Rating: PG 

TW: Depiction of blood purity/discussion of prejudices against Muggleborns, Violence/Murder mentioned (but not graphic)

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

*This fic is inspired not only by the song, but also Anne and Philip's relationship in the movie The Greatest Showman.*

Summary: AU In a world where there’s no Voldemort, but blood purity is strictly enforced, Ron and Hermione must navigate their budding relationship, and all the trials and tribulations that come with it.

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

“Are you sure this is alright?” Hermione asks as she smooths the front of her dress, checking for wrinkles for the fifth time in as many minutes.

  “Yes, it’s fine! You look beautiful,” Ron assures her.

  He places a warm, comforting hand on the small of her back as they enter the grandiose ballroom where the Auror department is hosting their annual dinner. A handful of Aurors are honored for their achievements, but over the years, it’s turned into an event for the upper classes and Purebloods.

  Hermione knows she doesn’t belong here, amongst the men and women whose wealth and social status put them leagues ahead of anyone else, and it’s rare to receive an invitation to such an event even as a Halfblood. But as a Muggleborn, Hermione braces herself for an onslaught of jeers and slurs. If Ron wasn’t being honored for his success on a case he’d worked six months to solve, she wouldn’t be here at all.

  Ron has always encouraged Hermione to follow her dreams, even during their Hogwarts days. Though they were sorted into different houses, the two shared many Prefect rounds together. Being named Head Boy and Girl also brought them closer together, where they began seeing each other in secret . Neither had intended to break things off upon graduation, but when Hermione received rejection after rejection for potential jobs within the Ministry, she pushed him away too. 

  There was a time years ago when she hoped to be working within the Magical Law Department with dreams of making the magical world a more accepting place for every witch and wizard, no matter their blood status. But those bright-eyed and bushy-tailed dreams have long since dissipated. The rules are archaic, and there’s no chance of overturning something so set in stone until there’s a new Minister of Magic who would be open to the possibility. 

  So, for now, Hermione tends to a job that gives her equal satisfaction. She teaches young Muggleborn students in a special school that she founded with the help of Professor McGonagall. Hermione earned her certification to teach the primary levels at University after graduating from Hogwarts, and now works with Professor McGonagall to teach those students between the ages of five and eleven how to prepare for the world they’ll enter when they’re old enough to go to Hogwarts. This is in addition to all of the regular courses that Muggle England expects them to study.

  The prep school is what reconnected the pair, when Ron was assigned to work the case of an eight-year-old that disappeared last year. It was determined that the child was abducted by Fenrir Greyback and turned into a werewolf. Ron found the boy’s body deep in the Forest of Dean, where it was determined that Fenrir became too bloodthirsty on that particular hunt. 

  Hermione was distraught over the outcome and took comfort in Ron, who was equally shaken by the case. As the weeks following the case progressed, Hermione found herself spending more and more time with Ron. Slowly but surely, they found their way back to each other and had only just rekindled their relationship a couple of months ago.

  Since their relationship still feels so new to Hermione, they’ve kept things quiet. But she knows how important tonight is for Ron, and she wants to be there for him. To support him the same way he supports her. Hermione knows he will be by her side through it all, and has assured  her that no one will make any comments. 

  Ron leads them around the room, exchanging pleasantries and mingling with people Hermione’s only heard stories about. Thus far, everyone she’s encountered has been polite. They are about to make their way to their table when a voice calls out to them.

  “Ron! There you are, dear! We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  Hermione turns to see a plump woman with hair the same shade of red as Ron’s. A man follows in her wake who peers at them through half-moon spectacles with the same cerulean eyes that she’s so familiar with, only they’re attached to a different face. They’re much colder than the warmth Ron’s eyes emit, and that’s when the dread begins to expand from the pit in her stomach.

  “Oh, I didn’t realize you were both attending tonight,” Ron attempts to hide the surprise as he greets his parents.

  “And miss the opportunity to see our son receive an award for his hard work? Don’t be silly,” his father responds with a wave of his hand.

  Hermione has yet to meet Ron’s parents. A chill crawls up her spine as they talk to their son as if he is standing by himself. Suddenly, all of Ron’s promises become emptier than the desk of her former student.

  “Er, right. Mum, Dad, I’d like you to meet someone.” Ron gestures toward Hermione.

  She can see his mouth moving, but no sound comes out, at least not that she hears. The blood drains from her ears, causing momentary deafness as she stands under the scrutinizing stares of his parents. Hermione holds her head high as his mother admonishes his choice of a date. There’s no empathy for them whatsoever.

  “...What will everyone think? You come from a certain class of people, and we need to uphold our status. At least go for a Halfblood, darling.”

  Years of following the mantra ‘hold your head high, don’t let it bother you, stay in your lane’ have still not prepared Hermione to endure this moment. She is a strong-willed woman, she fights for what is right, and she refuses to stand here and take this woman’s judgmental words all because of the family she was born into. 

  This is the exact reason why Hermione insisted on keeping their relationship private. Her feet move on their own accord as Hermione tears herself away from Ron’s side and weaves in and out of the clumps of people. She manages to find the visitor’s entrance and exits to the bustling streets of London. Refusing to cry, she rushes along the cobblestone sidewalk and down a deserted alleyway. 

  Hermione forces herself to forget the sound of Ron’s voice calling after her as she disapparates away from the Ministry of Magic. She finds herself in her classroom, staring at all the empty desks in front of her. Desks of students who would be forced to meet the same unfair limitations that she lives day to day. She feels so helpless, not knowing what to do in an effort to make their lives easier. 

  Looking down at the elegant maroon ball gown she’s still wearing, she feels dirty. This isn’t the life she’s meant for, no matter how many assurances Ron can give her. She doesn’t belong in his world. Thank goodness she keeps an extra outfit in her coat closet, which she rushes toward before shedding the expensive formalwear from her body. 

  Once she’s changed, Hermione sits down at her desk, staring at the piles of papers left to be graded. Ron insisted she leave them there so they could spend their weekend together. A heartbreaking realization enters her mind as she thinks of his name.

  We can’t be together. This is never going to work.

  It’s as if he knows that she’s thinking of him as the floo lights up and he stumbles out. Ron sheds his dress robes, leaving him in his starched white dress shirt and pressed black trousers. She refuses to look up even though she can feel his gaze boring into her as he stands at the head of her desk.

  “Hermione.”

  She says nothing because what is there to say?

  “They’re small-minded people. What do you care what they think?”*

  He reaches for her hand, but she tugs it away as she sits back in her chair.

  “It’s not just them, Ron. You haven’t lived this life. You don’t know what I’ve been up against. You’ll never know what it feels like to be looked at the way your parents looked at me tonight. The way they spoke down about me to my face. I can’t—I can’t be subjected to that. The way people will look at us because we’re together. I don’t deserve to feel that way.”

  Hermione stands up and exits the classroom, stepping into the abandoned hallway. She can’t do this anymore— it’s too painful. She’s learned to pick and choose her battles. It’s better to let people like the Weasleys think they’ve won while she keeps fighting on her own.

  You know I want you, it’s not a secret I try to hide.

I know you want me, so don’t keep saying our hands are tied.

You claim it’s not in the cards, that fate is pulling you miles away and out of reach from me,

But you’re here in my heart, so who can stop me if I decide that you’re my destiny?

  “Hermione, don’t do this. Please. I don’t care what they think. I want you, and nothing else matters.”

  She stops and only turns her head slightly to see him leaning out of the doorway, his hand gripping the door jamb as he calls after her.

  What if we rewrite the stars, say you were made to be mine

Nothing could keep us apart, you’d be the one I was meant to find.

It’s up to you, it’s up to me, no one can say what we get to be

So why don’t we rewrite the stars, maybe the world could be ours tonight.

  “Please, love, don’t let them dictate what our life looks like.”

  The desperation in Ron’s voice is what makes Hermione turn all the way around to face him. She begins to walk a few paces toward him before the voices in her head get a hold of her. He’d become an outcast if she stayed with him. She can’t let him risk everything he’s gained by choosing her.

  You think it’s easy? You think I don’t want to run to you?

But there are mountains, and there are doors that we can’t walk through.

I know you’re wondering why because we’re able to be just you and me within these walls

But when we go outside you’re gonna wake up and see that it was hopeless after all.

  “You know it’s not that easy. We can’t just run away from everything so we can be happy. Your family would never forgive you, or me for that matter! Everyone will do everything in their power to tear us apart. It’s not worth it.”

  “So, what? You’re saying we’re not worth it?”

  No one can rewrite the stars. How can you say you’ll be mine?

Everything keeps us apart, and I’m not the one you were meant to find.

It’s not up to you, it’s not up to me, when everyone tells us what we can be.

How can we rewrite the stars? Say that the world can be ours tonight.

  Hermione reaches out and clasps his hands with her own. “No, you’re not listening to me. You’re worth so much to me that I have to let you go.”

  “But what if I don’t want to let go?”

  All I want is to fly with you. 

All I want is to fall with you. 

So just give me all of you.

It feels impossible (It’s not impossible). 

Is it impossible? (Say that it’s possible.)

  “I don’t want to let go, either, Ron, but I have to. You mean too much to me.” 

  She knows it’s better to be hurt on her own terms than to let someone else hurt her instead. Ron will see reason eventually. He has to. Hermione wraps her arms around him, tighter than ever before, putting all her feelings into one single embrace, hoping that he can understand. 

  How do we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine?

Nothing can keep us apart, cause you are the one I was meant to find.

It’s up to you and it’s up to me, no one can say what we get to be

And why don’t we rewrite the stars, changing the world to be ours… 

  There are many things she can change, but her blood status isn’t one. Above all else, she’s proud of being a Muggleborn, and she’ll keep teaching her students to be proud of their roots as well. She’ll keep her memories of Ron and how wonderful he is locked up tight as she finds a way to navigate this world without him. Hermione has made her decision as she kisses his cheek and lets go. Perhaps in another lifetime, they’ll be able to be together with nothing standing in their way.

  You know I want you.

It’s not a secret I try to hide.

But I can’t have you.

We’re bound to break and our hands are tied.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Her voice leaves the faintest echo among the abandoned halls. Before she loses her nerve, she turns on the spot and apparates away, leaving the hurt look that is etched on Ron’s face burned into her mind as she leaves him alone.

#chudleycanonficfest2021 #HP fest #hp canon pairings #canon fest romantic #submission #romione #ron x hermione #tw: blood purity #tw: prejudice #tw: violence (non graphic) #tw: murder (non graphic)

[magicalgirlgrimoire]

Genesis of a Genre: Part 1

Defining the four key archetypes of Magical Girl characters found in Japanese Magical Girl media.

I feel this wouldn’t be a great body of research without outlining some kind of historical context for the media were talking about! In this mini-series of essays I’ll be going over the first part of my research, which seeks to define the key influences of the Magical Genre, including industry and production influences, and provide an outline for reoccurring archetypes and conventions found in the narratives. This focuses mainly on Japanese Media, but I might do one about the history of western Magical Girl stuff too!

I pose there are four key archetypes for the protagonist (and sometimes supporting characters) of any Magical Girl franchise: The Witch, The Princess, The Warrior and the Idol. Any given Magical Girl may be one or a combination of several; for example Usagi (Sailor Moon)  is a combination of the Warrior and Princess while Akko (Little Witch Academia) is the Witch.

Girl Witches and Growing up

Many writer have cited the Witch as the first true Magical Girl Archetype; Sally the Witch and Magical Akko-chan are often regarded as the progenitors of the Genre. Both were published in the notable shoujo magazine Ribon in the 60’s and both were adapted into anime by Toei; Ribon notably also published several of Arina Tenemura’s works, including the Magical girl series Full Moon while Toei is the studio behind Sailor Moon’s anime in the 90’s, as well as creating both the Ojamo Doremi and Pretty Cure franchises in the late 90’s and 2000’s respectively. Sally was influenced by the popular American sit-com Bewitched, but reimagined to focus on an adolescent girl-witch who must keep her identity secret. She was often alone in her quest too, perhaps with a magical pet confidant, unlike future entries where Magical Girls would be a part of a team or have complex relationships to others with powers. There were ideas of destinies or even secret royal birth-rights, but ultimately the protagonist was simply a girl, who was born with magical powers.

These early entries set off the precedent for Magical Girl as a genre being inherently linked to themes of coming of age; the magic of the young characters often being allegorical for childhood innocence and ultimately being abandoned or given up as a part of their growing up. It’s notable at this point in the genre, very few or no women worked in these spaces; both Sally and Akko are written by men. I wonder how the genre may have been different if it was not the case; could these young girls be allowed to grow up magical if a woman wrote their stories? I feel this is a reoccurring theme in so many future works, so stick a pin in that.

In the contemporary sense, while Magical Witches aren’t quite as frequent as they were in at the start of the genre, there are still several shows that carry on the tradition. Ojamo Doremi, while borrowing several features from later warrior/sentai styled shows like Sailor Moon, has the lead characters as girl witches again. Madoka, though stylistically more a Warrior styled show, also alludes to the history of magical girl as a genre with the naming of it’s initial antagonistic characters being “witches” while the leads are “puella magi” or literally maiden witches, though the way it explores these themes is a conversation for another essay. Lastly, Little Witch Academia is the most recent notable example of the pure Magical Girl Witch. The franchise is like a true homecoming for the genre; I could wax on about how it’s a culmination of everything the genre’s gone through in the last 60 years. From it’s allusions to flashy transformation sequences, to it’s shift in focus to friendships between girls, Little Witch Academia is an absolute treat; it’s main character being named Akko undoubtedly a homage to her ancestor of the same name.

Idol Aspirations

As the genre progressed, women were…allowed into the magazine offices. The genre was reinvigorated in the 70’s, and with these new author came a shift in focus. Stories began to take more elements from Shoujo staples, with more focus given to interpersonal relationships and aspirations of the characters coming into place. 

The Magical Idol singer is this weird niche specific thing that sort of came from this period of time, though I think she signifies more than  her actual appearances across the genre. Authors for the first time wanted to create stories that reflected the goals of its readers- and at the time that meant Idol culture and aspirations of being a singer or celebrity. While contemporary examples of a by-the-book idol character is a bit rare since values have changed over time, she was the first step in magical powers for Magical Girls no longer being a part of a divine destiny or something to grow out of but instead powers being the means for Girls to achieve their goals. Magical Idol singers also often incorporate the characters noticeably aging up when turning into their alter egos, serving a duel purpose of giving younger viewers a sort of aspirational character to live through while also unfortunately allowing the animators to get away with fan servicey shots of the more mature looking character. 

The originator of this subgenre would be Magical Angel Creamy Mami, though Mermaid Melody would be an immediate example I’d personally think of for the Idol type character (with a big old additon of the Princess archetype too), a better example would be the aforementioned Full Moon, in which the sickly Mitsuki transforms into a Magical Idol singer to both live her dreams as a singer and to reunite with her childhood love. I’d also argue that series the Utena and Madoka follow along with this influence; in both cases the characters agree to engage with the magic of their worlds to achieve some kind of goal or dream. Still, I feel there’s lots of potential with this kind of outlook in Magical Girl stuff..!! Perhaps in the future we’ll get more magical girls focused on their careers… 

Warrior Princesses

I feel throughout this essay, I’ve been noting how the Warrior and Princess archetype often overlap with the other genres, as well as each other. I believe this is because the ancestor of these two defined archetypes is one and the same, and also the series I believe that actually started magical girl as a genre; that being, Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Princess Knight, and bare with me on this, is a story about a Princess born with both a “girl” and a “boy” heart. She forsakes her life as a princess to escape some cruel fate that’s in store for her, and masquerades as a prince by using her “boy” heart. While this is an extremely dated view on gender, it immediately gives us three defining features of magical girl as a genre: First, the Princess archetype, which often holds influence from european fairytales and magical destinies; Second, the Warrior Archetype, in which the lead character must don a more traditionally masculine role of protector against some evil power, and lead a double life; and lastly, the introduction of gender roles as a theme into the genre, and the role of femininity and masculinity in the identities of our characters.  

All of these tenets are then repeated in both Sailor Moon and Utena decades later, and it’s arguably these two series that carry it forward to influence future franchises. As the major examples of these archetypes are one and the same, it is difficult to parse the two apart, even though they are quite different. 

So I’ll try anyway! 

I believe the Magical Warrior is defined as a main character or team of characters who are joined by a destiny to fight against some greater evil, while the Magical Princess is defined as a character who is destined to inherit or reclaim a great power linked to a monarchical structure. Both may have themes linked to western fairytales and fantasy, though often Warrior type characters have a wider breadth of influences while Princesses remain closely linked with ideas of  fantasy and fairytale royalty.

While Magical Warrior is definitely the most prolific of the archetypes in modern times, arguably overlapping with nearly every storyline, I think Magical Princesses are fewer. For example, Tokyo Mew Mew is a clear cut Magical Warrior story; they girl’s aren’t born with powers (So not witches), they aren’t doing it for a personal goal (so not Idols) and none of them have some divine destiny (not princesses). However it’s a lot more difficult to find a pure Magical Princess story; in Mermaid Melody, but the story overlaps with both Warrior and Idol archetypes. Princess Tutu might be the best example, as it’s a story of retribution deeply linked with elements from european fantasy.  

#magical girl #sailor moon #tokyo mew mew #full moon wo sagashite #revolutionary girl utena #pretty cure #little witch academia #mermaid melody #essay #context #princess tutu #princess knight #ojamo doremi #puella magi madoka magica

[aspoonofsugar]

What is your opinion about the Maidens in RWBY and their importance?

Hello anon!

I like the Maidens and especially how they explore two main ideas:

1) The concept of cycles and generations.

2) The trope of the chosen one.

THE CYCLE OF SEASONS

I think it is clear Ozpin created the Maidens partly because he wanted guardians and partly as a way to grieve his four daughters. He has symbolically dragged them into the cycle with him and Salem.

In a sense, the story keeps repeating. Salem kills Ozpin, he is reborn and his daughters are victims of the conflict between them.

Because of this, the four Maidens have become one of the many symbols of this endless cycle, which is clealry breaking its protagonists more and more.

This is well conveyed by the Maidens having a season theme. Seasons are in fact linked to the repetition of time aka one of Ozpin’s motifs:

At the same time, the idea of an older woman passing the torch to a younger one can be easily read as a metaphor for a mother-daughter dynamic. This is not always the case, but so far this interpretation is important for two of our four Maidens:

Penny receiving the Maiden’s powers from Fria is important on multiple levels and it plays on Penny alluding to Pinocchio. Fria (The Blue Fairy) recognizes Penny as a real girl, something she has been struggling with since the beginning:

Penny: Ruby... I'm not a real girl.

And is still struggling with:

Cinder: I don’t serve anyone. And you wouldn’t either, if you were built that way.

That said, Penny is not only struggling with enemies that consider her a robot, but also with the (understandable) overprotectiveness of people who love her:

Pietro: I lost you before. Are you asking me to go through that again? No. No. I want the chance to watch you live your life.

Penny: But dad… I am trying to.

She is not only a robot, who wants to prove she is a real girl, but also a daughter, who wants to grow into her own person.

This idea is made even stronger by Penny having been “created” through Pietro’s aura. She is a part of Pietro becoming someone completely different and independent from him. Still, isn’t it what all children are?

Raven is instead Penny’s opposite since she is not a daughter, but a mother. Not only that, but she is a mother, who fails three times.

She fails her biological daughter Yang by abandoning her and putting her in danger.

She fails Vernal, who dies for her.

She fails the previous Spring Maiden, who clearly looked up to her and was betrayed:

Cinder: Vernal was a decoy the whole time. The last Spring Maiden must've trusted you a great deal before she died. I bet that was a mistake...

This is well conveyed by Raven’s case being the opposite of what should ideally happen. Normally an older Maiden should pass her power to a younger girl, so that the cycle keeps going and that a new generation can keep fighting for good. However, Raven steals the powers of the Maiden for herself, just like she uses her shape-shifting ability for selfish objectives:

Ozpin: Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest.

She presents herself as a mentor for young women, but in the end she is a failure because she is too self-centered.

In conclusion, Rwby is both a coming of age story and a story that deals with cycles. Let’s think about the many abusive cycles in the story or the damaging cycles present in society, for example. All these cycles need to be broken and I would not be surprised if this will be the case for the cycle of the Maidens as well.

THE CHOSEN ONES

Up until now, the person who should be a Maiden never becomes one.

a) Pyrrha was destined to be the Fall Maiden, but Cinder stole the power.

b) Vernal is foreshadowed to be the Spring Maiden, but Raven turns out to be the real one.

c) Winter has been preparing herself to inherit the Winter’s Maiden’s role, but Penny is the one chosen by Fria.

Why is that so?

The story is clearly playing with the idea of the “chosen one” and asking some questions.

Are people chosen by destiny:

Cinder: It’s unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours.

Or do they choose it?

Red-Haired Woman: She understood that she had a responsibility… to try. I don’t think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn’t a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.

What if the chosen person is the wrong one?

Lionheart: She was determined, at first, when she inherited her powers, but the weight of responsibility proved to be too much for the child. She... ran. Abandoned her training, everyone. That was over a decade ago. There's no telling where she could be now.

Finally, is it even right to choose a person?

Weiss: Doesn't it bother you? He practically groomed your entire military career.

Winter: It did at first, when the General first proposed it to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw it as a privilege, a chance to do some real good for Atlas. For Remnant.

Weiss: But your destiny was chosen for you, without your input.

So far each Maiden has explored this concept in a different way. Moreover, the story has highlighted many problems with the method used by Ozpin and his allies to select their guardians.

First of all there is the machine used to transmit aura:

Ironwood: We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it.

Qrow: Capture it and cram it into something else. (gestures to Pyrrha as she takes a second to realize what that means) Or in your case ...

Pyrrha: (to Ironwood) That's...

Ironwood: Classified.

Pyrrha: ... wrong!

This method has been presented in-universe as sketchy and unethical both for the person who is having her aura taken and for the person receiving it.

It is also interesting that this machine is basically the technological equivalent of the Grimm used by Salem and Cinder to steal the powers in the first place:

One is the product of destruction (The Brother’s Grimms), while the other is the result of creation (in-universe technology is linked to creation). However, they both do essentially the same thing. They steal another person’s aura and change the one absorbing it:

Raven: You turned yourself into a monster just for power.

Secondly, there is the fact that so far several Maidens have died or have been targeted in horrible ways.

Some of them were specifically attacked because young and less experienced than others, like Amber. Some others made their choice without truly understanding it, like the Spring Maiden. And some of them. like Pyrrha, were not even given all the elements to make an informed choice.

In short:

Hazel: You send children to their deaths for a cause that you know has no victory, no end!

It is true that Hazel is a hypocrite that feels anger for Ozpin sending students to their deaths only to be the one killing them. It is also true that he does not respect his sister’s choice:

Oscar: Did she know the risk of being a Huntress?

Hazel: She was only a child! She wasn't ready!!

Oscar: She made a choice! A choice to put others before herself! So do I.

However, the narrative harshly criticizes Ozpin for not giving people all the information, “the knowledge”, they need to make that choice:

Yang: There was so much you hadn't told us! How could you think that was okay?!

Finally, we arrive at the current volumes where we see how Ironwood has tried to control Penny, Winter and Fria aka all the three people involved in the passage of the Maidens powers...only to fail miserably.

And in this failure probably lies the true mistake which has been made over and over again. The whole point is that probably the whole cycle (thematically) can’t and should not be controlled to this extent:

Goodwitch: At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate.

Pyrrha: ... Intimate?

Goodwitch: As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power.

The powers are passed from a person to another through emotions. It is not by chance that the last person in a Maiden’s mind is the one who gets the power. It is because the power is linked to emotions and to ties and you should not try to weaponize them.

MAIDENS AND RELICS

Finally each Maiden is clearly linked to the theme represented by her respective relic.

Pyrrha and Cinder are both linked to the idea of destiny and choosing. I have shared some thoughts on them here.

I would say that Cinder wants to be chosen. She wants to be special and to be given value. This is probably why she is serving Salem. It is because Salem has chosen her for an important role:

Salem: When I chose you as my vessel for the Maidens, I put my trust in you.

This is not positive. It is dehumanizing:

Salem: This game is not yours to win, Cinder, it’s mine. Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn, does not make you a player.

But Cinder sees this as a chance.

Pyrrha is instead a person, who chooses her own destiny:

Pyrrha: When I think of destiny, I don’t think of a predetermined fate you can’t escape. But rather… some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life.

In other words, Pyrrha has an active role in her own destiny, while Cinder so far has accepted it passively.

This might seem ironic because all in all Cinder has been a pretty active character. She was born as nothing and fought to free herself and to become more powerful. However, she is still leaving her own life in the hands of another person, who is specifically coded as an abusive mother-figure. It is probable that her arc will be about taking back the agency Salem is clearly stealing from her.

This might very well be why she is the Maiden of choice. It is because in the end she’ll make an active choice to get her own freedom back.

At the same time, Pyrrha being active in her choices still leads to her demise. This is because she represents a choice without knowledge, as I have stated in the meta linked above:

She had been explained only a fragment of the truth, while the whole point is that one should learn, meet creation and destruction and then make a choice. This is why we have yet to meet the relic of choice.

As a matter of fact it is clear that knowledge and choice are complementary, just like destruction and creation.

This is highlighted also by their respective relics. On one hand the Lamp offers knowledge of the past. On the other hand the Crown gives its user a vision of a future choice.

This is because one has to know the past to change the future:

Bartholomew Oobleck : History is important, gentlemen! If you can't learn from it... you're destined to repeat it.

In a sense, knowledge is the passive condition of choice, while choice is the active goal of knowledge.

This is why one needs both to contribute to the world in the most effective way possible. If one acts without knowledge they might make the wrong choice. At the same time, knowledge without choice is just passiveness, as shown in The Indecisive King fairy tale.

Too much knowledge might lead to indeciveness or even cynism. This is why Raven is the Spring Maiden. It is because she is Pyrrha’s opposite aka knowledge without choice:

Yang: Which is it, mom? Are you merciful, or are you a survivor? Did you let me walk into that trap because you knew I could handle it, or because it meant you could get what you wanted?!

Raven keeps making decisions only to run away from them immediately after. Knowledge did not make her braver, but just a coward.

Finally we arrive to Penny and the idea of creation.

I have mentioned Penny in the meta linked above:

Penny is an artificial human, a creation who was given life because her father loved her so much that he sacrificed a part of his aura for her… twice. She is at the centre of the theme of creation and it represents the good sides of it. She is a creation with a soul, a child, the fruit of parental love. It is because of the love she received that she is willing to protect creation.

Penny is at the centre of the theme of creation in two ways.

a) She is a child, who wants independence.

b) She is a good declination of technology.

On one hand children are new lives that join the world. They are the embodyment of creation.

On the other hand technology is an expression of human creation and a way humans have to change and influence reality.

Penny is both. She is Pietro’s girl and a robot with a soul:

Pietro: When the General first challenged us to find the next breakthrough in defense technology, most of my colleagues pursued more obvious choices. I was one of the few who believed in looking inward for inspiration.

Ruby: You wanted a protector with a soul.

Pietro: I did. And when General Ironwood saw her, he did too. Much to my surprise, the Penny Project was chosen over all the other proposals.

Ironwood choosing Pietro’s project over others is very interesting and ambiguous. Did he choose this project because at the time he understood the importance of “a protector with a soul”?

Probably consciously yes, but the way he has treated Penny since volume 2 suggests also something different. It suggests a desire of domination. The idea that putting a soul into a metallic body would make it easier to control it.

After all:

Ironwood: For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint; how it works, what's it made of, how it can be used. We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it.

Each one of humanity’s gift has another side of itself. Knowledge can lead to fear and choice is linked to passivity/agency. When it comes to creation, this gift brings with itself the temptation of control.

Why shouldn’t a creator “own” theis creation? Why shouldn’t they be entitled to it? Why should they share it with the rest of the world?

If one looks at Ironwood, at Atlas and at the other protagonists of this volume this way, a lot of things resonate.

Atlas is the most technological advanced kingdom, but instead of sharing its resources it closes off. Ironwood’s embargo is just another declination of this same idea of losing control.

Similarly the Ace Ops and Winter are all repressing their emotions. They want perfect control over themselves. They are taught they should be like drones.

Technology itself is often misused by the characters. Technolofy should be like Penny. It should have humanity and a soul, but Ironwood likes it because he sees it as something logical that can be controlled (and of course he keeps losing control over it). Ironwood wants to become like he thinks Penny is aka a controllable soul. He fails to understand that Penny is special because she has her own free will.

Finally, this same desire of control is present also in familial relationship. It is not by chance that the Schnee Family is in Atlas. Weiss’s story has always been about exploring this specific idea of a family. A family, which is cold and controlling, just like ice. Weiss’s arc is about melting this ice, in herself first and now in others as well.

Technological control and the control of people. In short, the control over two aspects of creation. This is the the idea Atlas represents and this is why it is currently falling.

In short, the creation must be free and it is not by chance the world is in its current predicament because the Gods tried to control their creations with disastrous results.

CONCLUSION

These are my main thoughts on the Maidens so far. That said, they might chance since the story is far from over as the arcs of all the maidens we have met so far.

As a final note, I find interesting that so far none of our four protagonists is a Maiden. It is an interesting choice and I think that it lets the series make a good use of its ensemble cast.

That said, I wonder if our four protagonists will end up calling back the original Four Maidens instead.

The fairy tale is interesting on multiple levels.

In-universe, it is interesting because it tells us something about how Ozpin was probably inspired by the original Four Maidens to try to save the world again. Ozpin is inspired by four normal people, who are just trying their best to help others.

This is a recurring idea in Rwby and this might be why none of the four protagonists has been selected to be a Maiden yet.

If read as a stand-alone, the story is an interesting tale on how to overcome depression.

The story starts with the old man closed in his house and it shows how he progressively opens up until he himself is able to help others.

Winter is the one who teaches him how to work on his own interiority even when the world is cold.

Springs prepares the terrain for him to come out. It makes the garden more welcoming. It is like when a person has to find the right environment to open herself up.

Summer is the one who finally drags the man out and gives him energy.

Finally Fall is the one who makes the man realize he can now share his new found energy with others.

Theirs is a virtuous cycle and I would say it is very different of the tragic cycle that sees the current Maidens as protagonists. Who knows? Maybe it is about going back to that virtuosity.

Thank you for the ask!

#rwby #rwby meta #maidens #cinder fall #raven branwen #penny polendina #pyrrha nikos #asksfullofsugar #anonymous

[marvelsbetch]

Peter Parker’s field trip. Part 1

Warnings: Trans!Peter, Spidypool, sex references, superfamily, transphobia, supportive avengers

Tony POV

I was in my lab waiting for Peter, my newly adopted son, to come home from school when Friday told me I had an email from Peters school. Turning to my phone I opened the email and was completely annoyed. The email read

'Dear Parent/Carer of Patricia Parker,

We are delighted to inform you that we have a surprise field trip for the student to none other than Stark Laboratories. The trip with be a residential starting on March 7th with a trip to Stark Tower, staying the night there with Mr Tony Stark-Rodgers and then having a trip to the Avengers Tower where we will have the opportunity to meet the Avengers and ask them questions. This is a once in a life time opportunity and we hope you allow your daughter to attend. Also, we would like to keep the trip as a surprise for the student so we urge you not to tell them the destinations of the trip.

Yours Sincerely,

Mrs Robbins.'

I was livid. My child Peter is a boy. I do not have a daughter I have a son. I couldn't believe the nerve of this teacher so I stormed out of my lab and in to the main living area of the penthouse and saw my handsome husband lay on the couch watching tv. He looked so calm and collected but I feel this might change.

"Honey, I just got this email from Peters school that I think you should have a look at." I told him handing him my phone.

He looked confused at first but then the anger set in and by time my phone was placed back in my hand he had an evil smirk on his face. I had an idea of why he had that smirk but just to be sure I asked him,

"What's the smirk for?" I asked.

"Tell the teacher our son can go on the trip while I make a few phone calls. Nobody purposely misgenders my son and gets away with it." He is trusted before grabbing his cell phone and walking down the corridor to one of the training room. Probably going to blow off a little steam and anger. Might watch in a little while.

After a second I simply responded to the email stating'

I as Peters legal guardian allow my son to attend this field trip. Is there any additional information that we should be aware of?' It seemed like the appropriate response.

In all honesty I had Pepper invite the school to the towers as a reward for how well they did at the decathlon competition. I was not expecting to receive an email like this.

-5 hours later-

Peter arrived home shortly after the email incident and was greeted to everyone being in the room. Everyone being Me, Cap, Bucky, Nat, Banner, Pepper, Sam, T'Challa, Shuri, Rhodey, Wanda, Vision, Thor, Loki, Clint and Strange along with the Guardians on a Skype call on the tv. We told him it was a spur of the moment gathering as well all missed each other, not an entire lie, but in reality we were plotting to a) embarrass Peter as much as possible on the field trip and b) get back at the teacher for what they did.

We decided to order enough pizza for an entire 3rd world country and discuss Peter's school life as we ate.

"So Peter, has anyone been giving you trouble lately in School? You can tell us the truth." Steve, Peter's other father and my husband, asked.

"No everything just fine." He terribly lied.

"Come on kid. I've known you for almost two years now, don't try and lie. If there's anyone giving you any type of shit for whatever reason please know that you can tell us." I explained to him all of a sudden getting very serious. I could see him fighting with himself on weather to tell us something or not but decided not to as he then said he had homework to do and went to his room.

"So, he's either lying or the teacher isn't as bad as we think." Loki observed.

"No, he was lying. I could feel his conflict and pain in remembrance of what people have said to him. I'm not one for violence but someone needs to pay for what he's been dealing with." Wanda told us with tears in her eyes.

Cap and Barton walked over to comfort her and hopefully stop her crying. My blood started boiling, Wanda was a strong person and if what Peter's going through brings her to tears then that's a lot for one person to go through. What else has this teacher or student done? Why won't he tell us? Does he not trust us? That last question broke my heart.

"Baby, you okay?" I hear Steve ask moving towards me and holding both my hands in his.

"No. I'm pissed. I'm pissed at any one who hurt my son. I'm pissed at us for not making sure he knows he can talk to us. And I'm pissed at the world for making his go through all of this." I told him with tears coming to my eyes.

Steve pulled me close to my chest and held me tight. He stroked his hands through my hair as he tried to calm me down. I could tell he was mad to, we all were, but he was trying to hold it in despite everyone being here to essentially punish this teacher was his idea. Embarrassing Peter was mine.

"Right, so what do we do about this? I'm not letting anyone hurt my nephew and get away with it." Nat said sitting up and pulling a knife from who knows where to sharped her nails. That women scares me so much.

"How about we just drop in during the day and make sure one of us is always with him. If he has one of us always there and we make it apparent that we know and support him the I doubt even someone as bigoted as his teacher is going to say something. Then we can embarrass him when we're with him." Sam suggested.

"I like that. Where are we all going to be stationed?" Loki asked.

"Well if I speak to the tour guide I could get Banner to give them a lesson on Gamma radiation as the first. Then, Barton or somebody drops in. After that they will be taken to a different lab with Shuri and T'Challa. By that time it should be lunch where Thor and Loki could drop in and the guardians land near the level 7 outside cafeteria. Then we can have Sam drop some stuff from above like a water balloon or something and Bucky bake his favourite cookies to bring to him. After Lunch they're looking around some other labs where Shuri could also be along with Banner. I think they're also going to be visiting the training rooms so Nat, Cap, Bucky and T'Challa could be fighting and Wanda, Vision and Strange could be training their magic." I suggested feeling better now that we were planning this.

March 6th

-Peter's POV-

I was in Chemistry faintly heading the teacher, Mrs Robbins, drone on and on about ionic bonding and how it differs to covalent bonding. It was something I already knew so I didn't need to listen until Ned started hitting my arm. Turning to look at him he simply nodded to the direction of the teacher. I turned around just to catch two words that made my heart drop.

"-Field trip!" Our teacher cheered with a big smile on her face.

Field trip? To where and why?

"That's right, we have organised a surprise field trip for you all as a reward for how well you've all done on your recent exams. Only the top 20 student of the entire school will have the privilege of going. The destination will be a surprise but I will say to bring an overnight bag and money for food and such. You're parents have already got an email consenting for your attendance and the bus will be leaving at 8am tomorrow so don't be late." She further explained.

The whole surprise field trip thing made me nervous beyond all belief. I may not technically be a Parker anymore but the luck definitely followed me and the idea of having to go on an overnight field trip made me terrified. Also, our parents got an email. This means that either Dad (Tony) or Pops (Steve) knew about this probably weeks ago and didn't tell me, this only fulled my anxiety.

Soon the bell went signalling the end of the day and our temporary liberation from this educational prison. On the way out Mrs Robins pulled me aside. It confused me at first until she put our most recent test infront of me. My name circled in big red circles, I know what's about to happen.

"Patricia, you must stop this. You're name is not Peter, you're not a boy. You were born a girl and therefore are, there is no picking and choosing with what God gave you. You must understand this by now. This little joke has gone too far that you're name has been requested to change on our register. Get it through you're head that you are not a boy and you will go to hell for thinking otherwise. One more incident like this and you'll have detention for the rest of the year. Got it?" She basically shouted at me pointing to my circled name on the test.

"No. My name is Peter and I am a boy, I don't care what God assigned me because he got it wrong. I am a boy and my name is Peter as we have gotten it legally changed." I rebutted getting impatient with her ignorance.

"Don't speak to me like that young man. You have no right to change Gods idea and destiny for you. Just thing, you're a girl meaning you can have kids and spread God's message to others and have many kids. Just what God planned for all women." She told me trying to sound sweet but came off and incredibly patronising.

At this point I was too angry to listen to her bulls**t (Gotta keep it Steve friendly people) so I stormed out the room. She started yelling for me to come back to the classroom but I didn't listen and continued walking till I reached the car Happy was in to take me home.

I got in the car and started telling Happy about my day while playing classic songs on my phone such as Highway to Hell, You gave love a bad name and Living on a Prayer. He pretended like he didn't care but I could tell he was listening and hanging onto every word I was saying. I love that about Happy, he acts like he doesn't care but in reality he does and he does a lot. He once caught Flash saying stuff about me and threatened to hit him with the car, he almost did as well but we were running late to a meeting I had to go to with Dad. Of course that didn't stop Flash as he still likes to torment me daily but he now does it more secretly making it more bearable.

We soon made it home and I found all of my dysfunctional family,minus the guardians who were on a Skype call, sat in the living room watching a movie on the tv. I quickly set my bag down on the kitchen island and settled right next to Tony (Dad) who was cuddling Cap (Pops). Everyone was asking me questions about my day and school life in general. They focused mostly on if people were bullying on me. It worried me a little because as much as I know I can go to them, I don't want to because I know that if I tell them everything that's happened they'll kill people and I don't want that for my family. Half of them only just got pardoned and I don't want the governments to revoke that.

"Sorry guys but I got homework. The pizza was delicious, is it okay if I invite Wade around?" I pleaded with Pops knowing he's more likely to say yes.

"Yes but that door stays open hound man. Do I make myself clear?" Pops asked in a stern voice.

"Crystal." I responded before taking out my phone to call Wade, grabbed my bag and walked to my room.

"Hey Baby Boy, what's up?" Wade asked after picking up his phone.

"Not much, Pops said you could come around." I told him making him slightly squeal.

"Okay Baby Boy, I'll be there in 10 minutes. I love you." Wade informed.

"I love you to Babe." I said before hanging up with a smile on my face.

-10 minutes later-

I was sat at my desk finishing my algebra homework when I heard someone knock on the window. Knowing it was Wade I turned with a smile on my face and let him in.

"Hey Baby Boy, how was your day?" Wade asked making himself comfortable on my bed.

"It was fine, quite boring if I'm honest. We did get told about this residential field trip tomorrow though. Sorry I won't be here for most of the weekend. I'm sure my Dads will love having you around." I joked sitting on his lap and cuddling into his chest.

"It's fine Pete. I'll just have to savour our time together now." He said wiggling his eyebrows and kissing me passionately.

"My Pops said to keep the door open." I told him pulling away with a massive blush spread across my cheeks.

"Does that rule apply to your en-suite?" Wade asked.

"I don't believe so." I answered getting up from his lap and dragging him into my en-suite, which is where we stayed for the rest of the night.

To be continued...

#adopted peter parker #bi peter parker #gay peter parker #peter parker #spidypool #superfamily #supportive avengers #gay steve rodgers #steve x tony #steveony #ironfam #lqbtq #lgbt pride #trans peter parker #wade wilson #deadpool #pansexual deadpool #field trip #peter parker field trip

[ladyeliot]

Do it.

Request: @imerdwarf​  : Hi my dear friend ❤️ I was wondering if I could send in a small request? 🥺 a friends to lovers with Bucky - reader has loved him for a long time but he’s always with other girls and just feels like he doesn’t like her that way but it isn’t until she starts crying he learns the truth? 🥺 your writing is amazing and I’m glad to have found your blog ❤️

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader (40s)

Warning: Fluff, fluff, fluff and maybe sad.

Word count: 2243

Notes:  Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

New York City, 1943

The clarity with which you heard the words that came out of the radio distressed you. There wasn't much good news coming from across the ocean, but you knew that's where you wanted to be. The courage of the many soldiers who passed through your hands encouraged and comforted you, they had hope, everything that was needed in those times. Your main task was to vaccinate and check that each and every soldier who went to war was in good physical condition. There were many times when you had to refuse their permission, and you watched as frustration set in.

But things changed when a loved one came before you to give your approval of their good physical health. Bucky Barnes was more than a Sergeant in the United States Army, he was your friend and confidant for a couple of years when Bucky showed up at the medical centre after becoming the third YMCA welterweight boxing champion. From that moment on you both discovered that you had many things in common, and perhaps it was because of that and the constant casual coincidences you had over the next few months that you became good friends.

"Done," the curtain that separated your cubicle from another nurse's cubicle opened, letting a smiling Bucky through.

You jumped up suddenly when you saw how he had snuck into that place, and the soldier you were poking at the top of his buttock was surprised too. But Bucky didn't seem to mind.

"What are you doing here?" you asked, offering the soldier cotton wool with alcohol.

"I've just had my destiny confirmed" Bucky picked up a series of confidential papers, which he shouldn't show you.

The soldier you were vaccinating reluctantly left by pulling up his trousers, and Bucky took the seat he had left on the stretcher. You took the papers he was offering you and discovered that first thing tomorrow morning he would be leaving for Europe. His departure took you somewhat by surprise, as you at least expected him not to leave until September, but he was determined. He was leaving tomorrow and you still hadn't received your assignment orders, even though your application had been sent for months.

"So you're leaving first thing tomorrow morning for London," you confirm by looking at the documents.

With every gesture on his face, Bucky showed that happiness and pride you were used to seeing in each of your patients. It was clear that there was nothing better than news like that to cheer up the American people, their courageous men and women fighting for their country.

"Well, what do you plan to do on your last night of freedom, Sergeant?" Your question had a specific purpose, to discover Bucky's priorities, among which you clearly knew was his best friend, Steve Rogers.

James took the papers again from your hands and got up from the stretcher practically in one jump.

"Enjoy this wonderful city and its pleasures," he said cheerfully. "Tonight I have a double date with Steve, we'll take Connie and Bonnie to Stark Expo and then dance.

You arched one eyebrow smiling at the plan he had just proposed, the smile was not really the best expression to show your feelings, but it was perfect to hide them. You were not prone to show your affection in front of the people you loved, maybe that's why you accepted to dedicate yourself to nursing, you preferred to show your affection with strangers. That and running away from your small town.

"So, a double date? That sounds wonderful."

As Bucky played with the papers in his hands you wondered whether you should say goodbye to him now, whether that would be the last time you would see him before he left first thing the next day, and whether you would not see him again until the war was over and everyone returned home, if he survived.

"So... is this goodbye?" you asked with a sour smile.

Just as Bucky was about to take the step and respond, the white curtain opened showing a young private waiting to be vaccinated. Bucky showing his stripes informed him to wait a moment.

"Of course, Sergeant."

Just as the private had disappeared again, Bucky resumed the conversation.

"I think so, this is goodbye," Bucky kept the papers. "Goodbyes... I'm not very good at them."

"Don't worry, Sergeant," you said, looking at his blue eyes as you leaned on the stretcher. "You just focus on being good at what matters, and come back safe and sound."

"Of course ma'am," Bucky gave you one last smile before disappearing through the curtain and informing the soldier that he could pass.

The rest of tomorrow you functioned as if you were part of an assembly line, soldiers and vaccines, vaccines and soldiers, your mind was lost elsewhere, wandering between various thoughts. Practically all your friendships were thousands of miles away from you, you only knew about them through a few lines that came to you with every correspondence at the beginning of the month. Your life was becoming a nuisance, and now he was leaving too. You wanted to be there, in the front line if necessary, to help, even if you regretted it every day later. That situation was frustrating.

With the sunset you started to pick up your belongings, there was nothing more you could do for today, just take off your uniform and go home to sit on the couch while you kept your mind distracted listening to the radio. The girls were going out that night to dance with a lieutenant and his mates, but you just needed a bit of calm.

The number five bus soon passed, and after crossing the Manhattan bridge you were on your way back to Brooklyn. You were living in a small rented flat in North Brooklyn, and every night when you arrived Mrs. Ferris would come over to say good night to you, although you knew that she just wanted to check that you didn't have a companion, as the rental contract forbade it.

"Good evening, Mrs. Ferris," you said as you walked up the stairs to the first floor. "Have a nice evening."

After having said your farewell, as always, you went into the house and prepared to open the window of the living room, just to listen to the atmosphere of the neighbourhood and to discover that you were not alone in that place. The radio news had finished and a Harry James song "I've Heard That Song Before" began to play, a song that made you think of Bucky and that at that very moment he would be dancing with Connie or Bonnie, or maybe both. You couldn't blame him for anything, in the first place he didn't know your feelings, and secondly first thing tomorrow morning he would be going off on the most dangerous adventure of his life, surely if you were in his position you would have done the same.

You stood silently by the window frame, listening to the sweet melody coming from the radio and contemplating all the windows lit in the buildings opposite. It took you longer than usual to realize that someone on the pavement, just below your window, was calling your attention, because you were transfixed by the Brooklyn night.

"What the hell are you doing here, Bucky?" The tone of surprise came in your words, but it was so faint that I probably wouldn't have heard you.

Bucky pointed to the front door of the building, emphasizing that he wanted you to let him in. You shook your head quickly, it was impossible for Bucky to get up to your house without Mrs. Ferris noticing. Your friend made a nagging gesture, but quickly indicated that you should go down to the street, where he was. With a charming smile he waited for your answer, and you no doubt pleased him by coming down quickly.

"I hope you're not late, Miss Y/S/N," Mrs. Ferris quickly opened the door. "And if you do, take off your shoes to go up the stairs."

"Of course, Mrs. Ferris, enjoy the evening."

With a little chuckle you opened the front door of the building and found Sergeant Barnes waiting for you at the entrance.

"What are you doing here?" you said with a scowl. "I thought you were in some bar in Queens dancing until dawn before a ship takes you to England."

"Well, let's say Steve has left and it's my turn to take care of the two ladies," he said, taking off his cap.

"Can't Sergeant Barnes handle two ladies?" Your mischief came out, if Mrs. Ferris had heard such a comment she would have kicked you to the curb, but Bucky was used to it.

Bucky did not respond, he just smiled and put his cap back on completing his uniform again.

"Would you like to go for a walk?" you asked when you realized that the conversation was limited.

"Please," he said, raising his hand to get you started.

You knew that neighbourhood perfectly, you had lived there since you moved to New York, and you had walked those streets day after day. As if you were taking an exam, you were trying to answer the question: Why did Bucky suddenly appear that night? Maybe it was true, Steve had left and didn't want to be with two young ladies. "Really?" you thought to yourself, it was James Barnes, he would have been thrilled with that situation.

"Have you received the answer to the relocation request today?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Not yet," you said with regret in your voice. "I hope to receive it next week, I wouldn't like to stay another month in New York.

The lampposts opened past you on your night out, there was practically no one there except those groups of young people who were returning to their homes.

"You're looking forward to going to the frontline," he said, placing his hands behind him and looking ahead.

"Aren’t you?" you smiled melancholyly, staring at him. "It's not me who's leaving tomorrow."

Bucky kept walking as he looked straight ahead.

"You know," you started. "Maybe it's stupid, but I feel like my work here is useless. I became a nurse three years ago to escape that Missouri town and see the world, and I enlisted in the army nursing corps to serve my country and do something worthwhile in my life. But I've been doing medical examinations on soldiers and giving injections for three years.”

You did not know at what moment you stopped, but you were in the middle of an alleyway illuminated only by a pair of street lights. Bucky was watching you carefully as you let your thoughts flow. 

"Practically everyone I know is struggling somewhere in the remote world, and I feel like I'm stuck and can't do anything to help," your mind went fast as your hands tried to express how you felt. "And tomorrow you're going thousands of miles away too and I'll still be here, getting up like I do every morning and giving medical check-ups to people who may not be with us for months.”

Your eyes became watery as you spoke. Finally you looked up from the floor and discovered that Bucky was looking serious as he listened to you, his expression made you nervous.

"I know, it's stupid," you quickly wiped away the tear that was going to fall down your throat by looking away and biting your tongue hard.

"No," Bucky denied with his face removing his cap. "Nothing you just said is stupid."

At the time you were a little embarrassed to have exposed how you felt, but your companion's reaction made you realise that he had hidden feelings too, and was not very likely to expose them either. Bucky raised his hand slowly, as if afraid of scaring you, and stroked your cheek. His caress made you shudder; it was so delicate that you closed your eyes to enjoy the time it lasted.

"You're looking forward to war," he whispered, staring into your eyes. "And I'm wishing you wouldn't."

You felt those words inside you too, they were a clear reflection of what you wanted, you didn't want him to go to the front tomorrow either.

"I'd kiss you right now," he whispered, focusing his gaze on your lips.

"Do it."

As if it were an order from a superior, Bucky accepted it and quickly shortened the distance between your lips. You had wanted to live that moment so many times and now it was happening, a few hours before his departure, and that was reflected in the need for that kiss. Your lips were opening up to each other, causing a more agitated breathing. It did not matter to you if someone was passing by or a curious person was watching through a window, it was your moment.

It was not until you parted that you discovered the fear you both felt within yourselves, the fear of not seeing each other again, and this was present in the kisses you gave each other until dawn.

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#bucky barnes #james barnes #steve rogers #40s #captain america #au #winter soldier #fanfic #marvel #mcu #masterlist #fluff #war #fan fiction #bucky barnes x reader #y/n #female reader

[pillage-and-lute]

The Courting Ways of Wolves (Part 2)

It’s back! Dumb boys in love! Also Grandpa Vesemir gets some feels and Geralt does some math. Part 1, (here) Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Epilogue

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Watching Winter at Kaer Morhen melt into early spring was always a beautiful process, but this year brought Geralt trepidation as well. Watching Ciri train had been wonderful, helping her learn the basics kept all the wolves on their toes, for the first time in many years actually thinking about motions that normally came from muscle memory. 

Yennefer had flourished into her role as “Aunty Yen,” not sweetly nurturing, the way one often thought about with children, but a clever tongue and tough love that Ciri, granddaughter of the Lioness, seemed completely at home with. 

Geralt was doing his best too. Ciri had started calling him dad about halfway through the winter, the first time happening at dinner and he’d very nearly choked on his ale. It sent something warm running through his veins every time, like good brandy that burned all the way down. 

He was trying, words still didn’t come naturally, but somehow Ciri always seemed to be able to see exactly what he meant. Maybe it was Destiny, maybe just a hurt, lost child clinging to whoever was consistent in her life, but Geralt hoped it was more. More than anything, he hoped Ciri truly understood how cared for she was, not just by himself, but all the wolves, Jaskier, and Yennefer.

Ciri had whispered to him one day, still panting after training, asking if he thought Yen would mind if she called her mom.

Geralt had replied that he didn’t think Yennefer would mind at all.

Yennefer came to him later, a tender look in her eyes. There was something, not fragile in her eyes, but Jaskier had pointed out in a marketplace once, a beautiful porcelain vase that had been broken and artfully repaired with gold. Yen’s expression reminded him of that. 

They sat for a while, then Yennefer said, “Will you be able to let go of her in the spring?” 

“Yes,” Geralt said, although he was less than sure that parting from Ciri would be so easy. “She needs you, and time away from me. And to be around women.”

Yennefer nodded, gave Geralt a pat on the shoulder, and left. Geralt stayed, cloak wrapped around him as he sat looking out over the walls. 

There was much that would happen in the spring, and his life, which had been pretty stagnant before, was changing more in these past few years than it ever had. He felt like Kaer Morhen itself, built to last and yet crumbling still, the weight of change and time and destiny tearing down walls. 

He watched the sun go down. 

Vesemir joined him, carrying two bowls of stew. Geralt took a bite of his and winced. It had been Eskel’s turn to cook. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vesemir’s mustache twitch with a hint of a smile. They ate the oversalted meal in silence.

“You know,” Vesemir said, and in the starlight the crags on his face looked carved in. “I come up here to think too.” 

Geralt knew, but Vesemir wasn’t interested in talking about the battlements, he could tell. 

“I think, most nights, about the ghosts within these walls. All of the little boys who died so that the School of the Wolf could be.” The wind picked up, howling like, with an excellent sense of the dramatic, a wolf. 

“The Trials haunt me, Geralt. More than anything in my life, and it has been a long life indeed.” 

“You saved me,” Geralt said. “Saved Eskel.” But he too remembered the still bodies carried out and buried in the night. How few boys remained. Remembered the screaming in the night, unsure how much of the sound was torn from his own throat, and what came from his brothers dying around him.

“I let them put you through it twice. That wasn’t salvation, lad.” Vesemir sighed. “I couldn’t have put a stop to the Trials, don’t know if I would have if it were possible, there have to be Trials to be witchers, and the world needs us, whatever it may believe. But maybe there was a better way. A kinder way. You were boys, little lads who went through so much pain.”

Geralt was startled to see a tear fall down the craggy face, burying in the moustache. Witchers could cry, but it happened rarely, tears could blur vision in a fight, and only very strong emotion, the sort they had been taught to suppress,  could override the mutations. 

And then Vesemir put an arm around Geralt’s shoulder and gave him an oddly nice hug. It could have cracked a boulder.

“Someone should have held you boys more,” Vesemir said, a touch abashedly. They looked out over the walls some more and Geralt wondered if the conversation was over, but Vesemir didn’t take the arm away.

“Ciri called me Grandpa today.”

Ah. That would explain a lot. Watching Vesemir interact with Ciri over the winter had been a delight and a surprise to the wolves. He’d even sat her on his knee and told her stories of when Lambert, Eskel, and Geralt were young like a, well, like a doting grandfather. Jaskier had been enthralled as well, naturally, but seeing Vesemir so soft, and sometimes looking a little sad, around Ciri, had been an education for the men who would always think of themselves as ‘Vesemir’s Little Lads’.

“She won’t be a witcher,” Vesemir said. “Couldn’t be even if we would want it, and I never would.”

“No,” Geralt said.

No,” agreed Vesemir. They looked out over the darkened landscape.

“I never wanted a family,” Vesemir said after a while where their breaths hung in the air before them. “‘O course, witchers aren’t supposed to, but you’ve built a nice little family for yourself, laddie. It’s not as may be, not like you’d find in villages or in your pet bard’s fancy songs. But you’ve a brave and rather headstrong daughter, and she has a mum, and a dad, and two already very protective uncles.”

“And a grandpa,” Geralt cut in.

“And a grandpa,” Vesemir agreed. “But a family needs a little more than that. There’s gotta be someone to teach the lass how to love.”

Geralt was about to protest that he’d seen plenty of loveless marriages, but then considered the results in the children. Jaskier was one, he knew. The sort of lost way Jaskier sucked up approval, when they’d first met, the way he’d drank up compliments like a man with water in the desert, whenever Geralt thought on it there was a sort of humming ache. He’d consulted with Eskel on the feeling, concerned it was illness. Apparently, it was just what happened when someone you loved was hurting and it wasn’t something you could kill or fix.

“It doesn’t need to be romantic love,” Vesemir said, obviously seeing Geralt’s face. “And she’ll know how to love family fine, and how to love friends, as you and Yennefer figure that out between the two of you. But your bard loves you, and the way you love him can teach her how to love others and herself. And if Ciri has another dad maybe you can worry less.”

Geralt chuckled. Ciri could have fifty parents, and Geralt would still lose sleep worrying. Vesemir smiled back at him, eyes crinkling and moustache lifting like a bristle brush that had learned to fly. Then he slapped Geralt on the back, and Geralt, the White Wolf of Rivia, Butcher of Blaviken, the witcher who had twice survived the Trials, felt his spine compress like a spring and he was sure he felt a rib creak.

“Love Jaskier, lad. Hold tight to him. We rarely get good things.”

Then Vesemir walked back inside and Geralt stared after him. There weren’t many old witchers, dangers of the job and all that, but Vesemir was proof that witchers, like oak wood, only solidified with age. 

Geralt followed him inside. 

The next days passed in a flurry of activity. Ciri had been let off of training with the wolves to pack for her journey with Yennefer, and to be quickly given the rundown of the basics of magic. The wolves were packing as well, preparing to leave Kaer Morhen. In between final preparations and weapon repair, Geralt checked over The List.

The List was supposed to help him court Jaskier. It was the combined brainchild of everyone (except Jaskier, of course) at Kaer Morhen. More importantly, his intention to court Jaskier met with Ciri’s approval. 

When the day arrived, Geralt felt a curious lump in his throat. He watched Ciri say goodbye to Eskel and Lambert, the latter picking her up and swinging her in an arc, letting her joyful whoop echo about the courtyard. Then she hugged Vesemir, and he crushed her very gently to him. And then she turned to him and Jaskier. 

He was thankful that Ciri bade Jaskier goodbye first, watching the bard wipe a surupticious tear away as he held the blonde girl. It was Geralt’s turn and he didn’t know what to do. He cleared his throat.

“Follow Yennefer’s instructions,” he said. That didn’t seem like enough. “And don’t talk to strangers,” he said. It still seemed insufficient but he was out of advice so he stuck out his hand to shake. Ciri laughed and leapt at him, throwing her arms around his neck.

He held her there, reveling in hugging his daughter, his child surprise, who was so full of surprises and he felt, for the first time in many years, the feeling of rather full tear ducts. He blinked them away. 

“Good luck,” Ciri whispered in his ear. Jaskier wouldn’t have heard, but the witchers with their enhanced hearing surely had. Geralt nodded and set her down.

He coughed awkwardly and pulled out a little packet wrapped in burlap and some rough twine. Ciri beamed and pulled at the string so that the packaging fell away. A long piece of metal, bent into a thin U shape lay in his palm, the ends were surprisingly sharp. Ciri picked it up and examined it, then looked up at him questioningly. 

“Hair pin,” Geralt said gruffly. “For your hair. And stabbing.” He mimed a clumsy, underhanded stab. “Eskel helped me silver plate it. For monsters. But also men, if they’re close enough.” He trailed off, knowing he sounded awkward. Who gave a self defense implement as a gift?

Ciri beamed at him again. “I love it,” she said, also miming a few stabs. He supposed that as a parent he shouldn’t be so proud of the light in his daughter’s eyes when she talked about stabbing, but he was almost certain that she got that trait from Jaskier, who tended to get...pointed about disagreements in pubs.

Yennefer stepped forward and carefully took the hair pin from their daughter, swooping her silver blonde hair back into a twist and sliding it in place. She placed a hand on Ciri’s shoulder and smiled at Geralt, and he was reminded again of that vase, stronger and more beautiful for the cracks in the facade. She then gave him a quick side hug and and even one for Jaskier, and opened a portal.

Geralt stared after his friend and his daughter long after the portal closed, until Jaskier, hand wrapped in a heavy mitten, gently took his wrist. They waved to the other wolves, and left, Roach walking obediently alongside. 

And then it was just the two of them. Again. Just like the last twenty years. That thought occupied him as they made it down the Killer. The path down from Kaer Morhen was deadly, but that year Geralt made it down without thinking, keeping half a thought to Jaskier’s ambling form as he went.

How old was Jaskier? 

He’d been eighteen or so when they met. Eighteen plus twenty-two was forty. Forty wasn’t that old for a human but Jaskier didn’t look too much different than he had at...Geralt did the math. Twenty-five? But there were signs. A few lines here and there, although Jaskier was insistent about his skincare. A line of silver, just a few hairs, probably unnoticable except to Geralt’s enhanced eyes. He was aging better than a human should.

Or perhaps not. Time was tricky for witchers, never staying in one place, never knowing people long enough to watch them age, he didn’t really know what to compare Jaskier to. 

He did know how long humans lived though. And at the base of the mountain he came to a resolution, felt it settle in to his bones as deep as his mutations, deeper, even. 

Twenty years, or nearly, where he hadn’t known Jaskier. Twenty more where he hadn’t admitted they were friends, or that he loved him. Eighty years in a human life span. And Geralt would love Jaskier, and make sure he knew he was loved, for the next four decades, give or take. He looked at his companion, paused as they were to give their feet and Roach a rest. The weak, watery sun of the early spring day fell on Jaskier’s face, dappled through the branches, which as of yet held no buds.

He pictured lines appearing, laugh lines, smile lines, crinkles carving themselves into the landscape of the familiar features. He pictured silver through the hair, more, in thicker streaks at the temples. Geralt saw a lifetime, Jaskier’s lifetime, in an instant. Silver covered warm brown, strong legs grew shakey, lines crowned a forehead and swept about clear eyes. 

What would happen, Geralt thought, when Jaskier could no longer keep up? But Geralt knew what would happen. He’d take Jaskier to Kaer Morhen, or go with him to Oxenfurt, and spend his days with him. It had been a few short months since he’d realized he was in love with Jaskier, but that was only because Geralt’s skill with emotions was roughly similar to Jaskier’s apparent self preservation. Why had he let the lad talk to him in a pub? Had he loved him then? He remembered the shock of not being feared, of looking into clear, bright eyes and seeing admiration, the fierce protectiveness that had flared when he woke and saw the fool tied to him in an elven lair. Had it been love? 

Watching Jaskier whisper softly to Roach as snow melted around him, Geralt was sure it had been. Destiny, Fate, the two bit tart who kept fucking him over, had given him his greatest blessing in a form that Geralt, up until that very second had considered a myth. Love at first sight. Love had brought him Jaskier, and Ciri, and a fast friendship with the most powerful mage on the Continent. Love had brought him a family in the form of a wayward bard with bread in his pants. And Geralt had forty more years to cherish him. 

Step One the list had said in Eskel’s clear writing. Kiss his hand. Being mindful of Step Two, to mind his manners, Geralt crossed the clearing to Jaskier and took the thick woolen mitten in his gloved hand. 

“May I?” he said. Jaskier gave him a baffled look, but nodded.

Geralt pressed chapped lips to a palm wrapped in knitted wool, and Jaskier smiled, albeit a little confusedly. It didn’t matter. Geralt wanted to spend the next forty years wrapped in that smile. 

Then Jaskier asked him if he was feeling well.

#its a lot #tons of feels #did i shed a tear writing this? #no these falsies dont put up with water #but it was a close thing #grandpa vesemir #good mom yennefer #lowkey buffskier but not yet #geraskier #dyslexic Geralt #he's doing his best but emotions are hard

[sesskagarchive]

Do you know any sesskag dubcon/rape fics?

Hello anon, thanks for asking.

We decided to compile a list so here are some recommended fics for Dubcon/rape. Some of these even come with Sequels! Happy Reading!

Admin Wicked/k9plus1

DUBCON LIST:

A Curse of Lust by Squash/Fearless miko:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net,  Rating: MA Summary: A lusty curse leaves the females in Inuyasha's group running for their lives...and towards their destiny! 

A Mere Digression, by elle6778:

Posted on: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: A digression was what Sesshoumaru called it. ‘It’ being the heated encounters between him and Kagome which took place simply because neither of them could resist. Heed warnings and notes in the first chapter.

A Woman!, by sugar0o:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net , Rating: M Summary: Based somewhat off the idea of Mulan, staring our fav paring Sess/kags, AU, their both demons, because well it makes it easier, and I don’t want to make Sess human, its not right! [lemon w/a plot] this has 2 points, I want to write a lemon to get more comfortable with them, also I want to explore detailing my writing, I will ask that you give serious reviews/critiques, bc I want to learn from this, not just entertain and enthrall. *COMPLETE as of 9/3/9*

Acquisition, Possession, Seduction, by Mistress Sianna: 

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net Rating: M Summary: “Do not think for one moment that you can escape me.” he said slowly, deliberately. \"You Higurashi Kagome, are mine! Only I will decide if you will stay, if you will go, if you will live or if you will die.\"

Alpha, by Lyra/ lyrainthedark:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net Rating: M Summary: Kagome mates Inuyasha...but Inuyasha was reluctant. Why? Pack politics...and his brother, who is Alpha. What that means will take time to learn, if Kagome can only live long enough for the lessons... Finally Complete!

Bound by Corruption, by BelovedStranger/ Two Hearts:

Posted On: Dokuga. AO3, FF.net   Rating: M Summary: Inside every individual, darkness dwelled large or small. A young woman, cast under her elder sister’s shadow, was bent on proving her worth. A terrible threat hung over her village, giving Kagome the opportunity she had been waiting for. On a mission to save them all from the hearts of evil men, she journeyed to the Inu no Kami’s temple to beseech divine intervention. Instead, danger befell the headstrong woman. Rather than obtaining help from a merciful god, another stepped in to slaughter her enemies, but for a price. An Inugami did nothing for free. Status: Completed

Detrimental Desires, by Mistress Sianna:

Posted on: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: The idea was to make Inuyasha kill Kagome. Little did Naraku know, that on the night of the new moon, Inuyasha looses his demonic powers. Instead, Sesshoumaru and Kagome will be forced to succumb to their most detrimental desires.

Fix It, by Smortz:

Posted On: Dokuga. Rating: M Summary:  When Sesshomaru needs Kagome to help him, she takes advantage of the dog demon now in her debt. As they set out on a new journey, will Kagome be able to overcome the problem that arises? Pun Intended.

He Must be Breeding, by ChaoticReverie:

Posted On: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru requires the perfect female to bear his heir, and Kagome… well, she doesn’t know how she gets herself into these messes.

Heated Blood by Imani Joain:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary: Kagome cannot help but try to fix anything she finds broken, even if it is not in her best interest to do so. When she comes across Sesshomaru in dire need of assistance, she cannot deny herself. She only hopes that he won't kill her for it. Rated MA for graphic intimacy. Staus: WIP

House of Ill Repute, by Aurora Antheia Raine:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary:  "I will never be yours." // "But you will be, miko," he nearly purred, "you will be when this Sesshoumaru is finished with you."

Irresistible Temptation, by DestinysTears:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net     Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru finds he cannot ignore this inexplicable temptation. (Oneshot)

Just Another Lemon, by Tiegrsi: 

Posted on: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru has gone into heat, and finds Kagome willing to put up with his antics. Kagome thinks he was unable to find a suitable woman, and came to her as a last resort. Perhaps there are some things Kagome needs to learn

Lair, Lair, by susie: 

Posted On: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: After nearly being nearly absorbed, Sesshoumaru's Bakusaiga is forged, and we all know the rest of the story... or do we? In a deal with Sunrise to accelerate the events of TFA, part of the infamous manga was left on the cutting room floor. Though the hack job began well before that. For the sake of public decency, and in accordance with Japan's obscenity laws, the spiciest and most controversial scenes from the original manga were banned from ever seeing the light of day. Until now. On the condition of anonymity, a diligent hacker provided via email a copy of the raw version you were never meant to see. This is Inuyasha Nights – The Lost Chapter *Dubcon

Macaria, by mythicamagic:

Posted on: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary: Post-apocalyptic AU. Human women were all but wiped out when the demons took over. What few remain have gone into hiding or concealed their true gender. When Kagome hears news of an orphaned little girl, she'll stop at nothing to protect her from the dangers of the world- including the city of demons and the infamous Killing Perfection. But is he friend or foe? Status: WIP

Not Impervious, by Oroyukae: 

Posted On: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: He was supposed to be the most powerful demon in existence; one that none could best in any situation, at any time. That was not entirely accurate, it would seem. One error in judgment at the most vulnerable of times, and all that he knows lay in jeopardy. Just what would said being be willing to agree to in the direst of circumstances? {FIN}

Passion, by CiraArana:

Posted On: Spark, Rating: M Summary: Sesshomaru turned to her and gazed back. He did nothing else, just standing there, looking at her... As he kept his eyes on her, his lust for blood and killing faded away, leaving behind another lust. For her. Status: Abandoned

Poison of Erised!, by Vyncent:

Posted On: Dokuga, Rating: M Summary: Tomorrow night, brother moon would be witness to the music that he heard, and felt in his very soul, as he howled his conquest to his blood red face. Tomorrow his hunger would be fed by the blood and flesh that he hungered for, and the world would know of his claim. Status: Abandoned

Poison Within, by Angelic Memories:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net    Rating: MA Summary: *Two-Shot* Due to a nasty bite Kagome is poisoned and fights for her life. Inuyasha can only think of one person who might be able to help her but there’s a problem he didn’t consider.

Secret Possession. By SakuraAngel1:

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Sesshoumaru is forced to put his mating plans into action a lot sooner than expected, and has Kagome kidnapped in order to fulfill it. When Kagome awakens, she finds herself as the new Lady of the Western Lands...with no Lord in sight… Status: Abandoned

Sleeping Beauty, by Catalina:

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Based loosely on the Disney movie, but darker and a bit twisted. Sesshoumaru is betrothed to a little human princess who is delivered a curse by the hanyou Naraku, Kikyo, Miroku, and Kaede agree to raise the child in safety. Smuts in final chapter. Status: Completed

Striking a Deal With the Devil, by Smortz:

Posted On:  Dokuga, FF.net,   Rating: M Summary: Does anything sound funner? Kagome needs help from the new Commissioner. A man that gave 'bad reputation' its standards. However, will Kagome be able to pay the price he demands when a life is on the line? Status: Completed

The Sacrifice, by Catalina:

Posted On: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: Kagome is lured to a strange village, where she finds herself in an unpleasant situation. She is to be a sacrifice to an as yet unnamed youkai. Semi-non-consensual. Status: Completed

Trapped, Breeder, by sesshou_lover:

Posted on: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: N/A Status: Completed

Virginity of the Soul, by Madison

Posted on: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3 Rating: M Summary: Fresh from a betrayal that shattered her world, she was lured into getting even. Alas, the ones we trust and love aren’t always the ones we should. Semi-PWP. COMPLETE Staus: Complete

The Western Breeding, By Blackthorn:

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, Rating: M Summary: The end has come. Demons have found that certain humans can breed pure blooded demon pups. Sesshomaru is leading with Kagome running from the demon lord. Once she is at his side can she learn to love her captor for the sake of her unborn pup or find a way out? Status: Abandoned

RAPE LIST:

Blood Stained, by Madison: 

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3  Rating: M Summary: COMPLETE! A sudden loss of control intertwined their fates. It dragged her through hell and he couldn't have cared less. She tried to escape her fears but the only way to do it was to face him through time and love.

Heat of Exchange, by Catalina: 

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: It is that time of year for demon women, but Kagome is experiencing something very strange. Sesshoumaru arrives to help her, against her wishes. Freshly beta'd now.

Hell’s Shadows, by Catalina:

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: MA Summary: Formerly named "Ghost of Death" Sesshoumaru lives in hell requiring human women to increase his own power. Kagome falls into his waiting claws, while all of hell is turned upside down by her.DARK. NON CONSENSUAL.

His Wife, by Aries_heart: 

Posted On: Dokuga, FF.net, AO3,    Rating: MA Summary: "With a kiss on her shaking lips, he would leave for work and once the door was closed she would allow herself to cry once more. And then the cycle will repeat."

I Don’t Want a Mate, MLMonty: 

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Sesshoumaru goes into heat during mating season and rapes Kagome. Now she's pregnant and wants nothing to do with him. Should Sesshoumaru respect her wishes and leave her unguarded while she carries his heir?  Status: Abandoned 

Kagome’s Trust, by Fire_and_Earth_Sorceress55/Huntress-of-Flames-55:

Posted On: FF.net, AO3   Rating: M Summary: When Kagome is raped by Sesshomaru on the night of the new moon. Kagome goes home to the future as finds out that she is pregnant with pups? PUPS! Now one year later, she decides to go back to the feudal era.

Paper Cranes, by midori Haru: 

Posted On: FF.net  Rating: M Summary: Meeting, attraction, courting, commitment. For most of the world relationships form in the normal fashion from start to culmination. Naturally normal isn't enough for Sesshoumaru. And he wonders why he runs into problems trying to build a relationship from the wrong end.

Principal Life, by Catalina: 

Posted On: Dokuga Rating: M Summary: Kagome is dating the principal's brother, and he finds out about it. What can an untrained miko hope to accomplish when she is so ignorant of youkai mating traditions? Story is dark and now involves non consensual situations, with more to come. Status: Abandoned

Rise Again, by Catalina: 

Posted on: Dokuga   Rating: M Summary: Youkai have become weak and feeble but are attempting to strengthen their population. Sesshoumaru leads them, and discovers the solution to their problem in an unwilling human. VERY non-consensual stuff happens. Frequently.

S t a s i s, by wonderbug: 

Posted On: Dokuga, AO3  Rating: M Summary: Love, he tells her, as he trails a claw along the pathway of her shivering spine, is only a human notion. [VERY dark; drabble-ish CU/AR]

The Breeder, TexanLady: 

Posted On: Dokuga  Rating: M Summary: There is more to Kagome than anyone could ever imagine. After learning of her destiny Sesshoumaru swears to make her his at any cost. Once forced to his side can Kagome teach him to love or learn to love him. Status: Abandoned

#sesskag #messages #requested rec list #sesskag fic recs #admin Wicked #dubcon #rape #tw: rape #tw: dubcon

[rithalie-sideblog]

The daughters of Dracula

When Vlad Dracula first hears the prophecy he laughs and bellows with a voice that shakes his castle to the bone. 

Him? Falling in love with a mortal woman? Inconceivable, unheard of, simply a figment of an old man's scribbling imagination.

But then Vlad Dracula starts to think. And wonder. Because for all of his wealth and goods he managed to accumulate he was born a beggar and a thinker, as such happens when one learns life on the streets.

Prophecies have power.

So Vlad Dracula devises a plan. To make sure, he won't fall for the novelty that is a mortal woman, much less give her a son to fulfil the damned prophecy.

The first step he takes, he scours the village for his prey.

Mortal women, of all height and weight, from the plump daughter of the baker to the muscled heiress of the mercenary group. He kidnaps them from ungrateful families and bargains for them and soon his castle is filled with women's voices, their whimpers and terrified sobs. 

He avoids the young ones, as pretty as they might appear because Vlad Dracula might be a monster, but even he had rules by which to live his immortal life.

He never harms the women, despite their hostility and suspicion towards him. He leaves them be for the longest of times and watches as they slowly make the castle their home.

The women clean the spider webs, dust the old forgotten rooms and chambers. 

As they slowly grow more bold, they begin to take down the most horrid paintings from the walls, wash their clothes in the well in the middle of the cursed garden, stringing lines of laundry between the sculptures of demons and gargoyles.

Vlad watches it all happen from his tower, curiosity taking over him as he waits. Observes. Studies.

Finally, one woman seeks him out.

A pretty one, with her hair the color of honey, tangled way past her knees with her unable to cut it without any sharp object.

She demands a knife with a trembling voice and desperation laced with fear.

"Give it back soon." Says Dracula in his velvet voice as he gives her a dagger.

The woman never takes her eyes off of him as she backs away from the room, weapon held tightly in her hand.

By the end of the next week, most women have their hair cut, or braided into something new.

The honey-colored woman comes back with the dagger, placing it delicately in Vlad's outstretched hand. 

And she stays to talk.

A few years pass before most of the women warm up to Dracula, even if for him, it hadn't been much more than a blink.

They smile at him when he passes the corridors of his once gloomy castle, some wave to him, kneeled over the freshly planted potatoes in the gardens that once hosted the most exquisite of Louvre's hedges.

They come to him for his judgement, they trust him with their pleas and for his part, Dracula does his best to judge fairly. Years after Dracula's decision, the first woman wishes for more. He does not chase her away, even if his dark heart remains unchanged, curiosity driving him dangerously close to the edge of destiny's sword.

Vlad wonders if he should kill the woman before she can give birth to his descendant. If she were to bear a boy, the prophecy would come true and everything Dracula had done would have been for naught.

"It's a girl." announces one of the women as she comes out of the birth chamber, hands covered in blood up to her elbows. Vlad tries to not stare at them much as the relief washes over him.

A daughter, no son to slay him, no vengeance to come forth from his mother's mistreatment.

His plan is saved.

There are two more births that follow, and with each child being born a female Vlad grows more confident. Convinced he managed to beat the prophecy, he once again disappears into his tower.

He meets his daughters sometimes.

Pretty creatures, not a flaw to be seen on them. With hair the color of honey, mahogany and obsidian, they look at him with eyes of crimson and sunlight and moonlight, their sharpened ears uncovered proudly in the safety of his home, his vast galleries and libraries.

Dracula goes down deep into the guts of his castle and brings up the jewelry, old dress materials and sewing kits for them to use. He does not care what they do with the gift, but something like pride flashes in his eyes as he catches a glimpse of them covered in gold and silk.

As they grow, they get more and more bold, coming to his tower and asking questions about the world and life outside their castle.

Their Inquiries rarely go unanswered.

Dracula begins to let the mortal women go, the youngest of them past the age of her prime now. Some of them leave, but some of them stay, unwilling to uproot their lives again and comfortable with what they learned. Dracula begins to travel, living his years free of the burden of the prophecy, confident that his fate has finally been changed.

So when an angry woman shows up at the door of the castle, a three-year-old with crimson eyes' hand, gripped in hers, it comes as quite a surprise.

Dracula kills the woman, for she was not one of his, one of them, despite the claim she made upon Dracula's paternal role in the child's life. 

The daughters that greeted her warmly once she arrived had not known such violence before. They lick their lips and wrangle their hands at the sight of blood before them, and when Dracula sees that he gives them the woman's body to feast upon.

The boy is spared, if only for the foolishness of one of the women who rushes him outside when the carnage begins. 

He runs and when Vlad finds out about it, he flies after him in hot pursuit, but the boy is nowhere to be found. The prophecy protects him and fate is on his side and no matter where Dracula looks he cannot find him.

No harm befalls the woman who helped him, but upon hearing about the prophecy she weeps, for she did not know what calamity she brought upon her host. She leaves the castle in shame.

Three daughters of the Dracula grow hungry for blood, their beauty shining in its ethereal light brighter than before. Vlad feeds them and begins to teach them. Slowly but steadily he allows them entrance upon his dark and shrunken heart. They become his confidants as Dracula admits his defeat against the prophecy, preparing for the final act of the play. 

If his daughters showed promise even unattended, they shine with brilliance under his attention. Soon the castle is alive with the sound of magic, verbal disputes and turned pages.

When the child, now a man fully grown, comes back, bearing the Alucard title, Dracula steps forward to battle his destiny. He makes his daughters swear not to join him, and stay far away from the fight, for he had made arrangements for his knowledge to live on in them were he to fail.

Alucard is strong, but not as strong as his father.

He is quick, but not as quick as Dracula.

He is vengeful and drunk on the prophecy's promises, but not quite as desperate as Vlad is.

And yet, what finally brings The almighty Dracula to his knees is the fact that Alucard isn't quite as honorable as him.

When the edge of Alucard's blade rests against the honey-haired daughter of the Dracula he stops fighting.

After many years of undead existence, his daughters became his legacy, and he refuses to lose even a slight part of it.

Dracula's pause gives Alucard a chance to defeat him, and as he does that, all three daughters cry out in anguish.

Dracula's body caves in itself and turns to ash, and as Alucard lifts his fist in triumph, ready to claim the castle and all of its wealth as he was promised, he is met not with the radiant smiles of the saved woman but with weeping and sneers. The woman may have hardly loved the monster who kidnapped them, but his presence meant safety. It meant freedom to pursue what they desired, no mortal husband or any kin present to dictate their lives.

Three daughters of the Dracula weep the loudest, and through their tears they growl and hiss, blind in their rage. They chase Alucard out of the castle, the man unable to defend himself against their fury.

The brown and dark-haired ones stay on the stairs of the castle, but the honey-colored one chases Alucard to the edge of the woods, red droplets of blood flying from the spot where he threatened her. She almost gets him, her claws marking the tree, behind which he ducked with three deep lines.

And when the dust finally settles and the castle stops trembling with the sobs of the grieving women, they all come together to plan.

The rumors grow, ones of an imposing castle deep in the woods, that one day disappeared from all maps. 

Some say it's still there, just concealed with the magic of a really powerful witch, no matter what the church claims about having burned them all.

Others think it crumbled to the ground, unable to stand any more without its master there to keep it together. 

The Vatican claims to have destroyed it in the name of God, the village men grow bold enough to boast about the treasure they supposedly stole from there.

Alucard's tale grows, even as the man shrinks into itself, once his prophecy has been fulfilled and his sole reason to exist finally slayed. 

Very few remember Vlad Dracula's daughters, but there are traces of them left in the history.

Hushed female voices telling each other stories over the fire. Tales of the place where husbands' heavy hand won't ever reach. 

Rumors of libraries and workshops where all the knowledge is at your fingertips, your fate finally yours to choose.

Whispered clues to find the farthest tree on the south of the main road, its bark marked with three fine lines in the shape of the hand, and to march three hundred steps north of it.

And finally, three names to call forth when you reach the clearing, given to their daughters by the desperate mothers who wish for a better life to happen upon them.

Do you know the names? 

Did you ever have to call for them, deep in the night, three hundred steps away from the tree where a daughter almost avenged her father's death?

Don't you know the heart of greed and entitled desires? Have you ever heard of self-fulfilled prophecies? Didn't you see the hate in the eyes of the people?

Don't let them know.

Whisper the daughters names in the night, gain their strength. 

And don't let the world know where we are.

#dracula #writing #short story #inspired by castlevania but has nothing else in canon #Alucard was also in the movies! #It's the term here #not a specified blond-maned character #short study #rithalie #rithalie writing #vampires

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Forever

One Shot: Bump In The Road

Summary: What should be a routine sexing scan for their latest baby throws up something a little more serious, and leaves Katie and Steve reeling. Warnings: Language! And some mega angst with a light sprinkling of fluff

A/N: What’s life in the Rogers household without drama… sorry…but this and the follow up chapter are a lead in to the mini series- Stark Spangled Destiny.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Forever Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 October 2029

It was meant to be a routine scan…they’d been to 3 of these already after all…a routine, 20 week scan to find out the sex of their latest addition. But as Steve sat there, the words of Katie’s ob-gyn made him feel nothing but numbness.

“I’m…I don’t understand?” Katie said, her voice quiet “You said at the last scan that it would most likely right itself.”

“And 9 times out of 10 Mrs Rogers it does.” Dr Kellet said, sadly “Normally a low lying placenta moves but it’s developed into something called placenta accreta, which is where it has grown too deep into the uterine wall. This means that it won’t detach during labour and can cause critical levels of blood loss.”

Steve swallowed and turned his attention from the small, blank screen which had moments before shown the image of their baby to the Doctor as Katie gripped his hand even tighter “So what does this mean?” he demanded.

Dr Kellet sighed “I won’t lie to either of you. It is considered a high risk complication. However, we are lucky in that we have caught it now. In a lot of cases as it often causes no signs or symptoms, we don’t realise until the mother is in labour which can have disastrous consequences for her and baby. As we have picked it up now, you’ll need careful monitoring for the rest of your pregnancy and we’ll have to perform an early C-section delivery…” she paused “Followed by a hysterectomy.”

“A hysterectomy?“ Steve said gently "as in…”

“Surgical removal of the womb yes.” Dr Kellet says “We do his at the time of the C-section, so you’ll be awake with your baby Mrs Rogers…it just means you’ll be in hospital for a few days, possibly a week or so to recover.”

Katie swallowed, taking a deep breath “You said early…”

The Doctor nodded. “Yes, anything form 34 weeks but again, that will be subject to how you go. Obviously the longer we leave it the better but…to be honest, all your babies have been fully baked, to use the popular term now-a-days, thanks to Dad’s enhanced DNA so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Worst case scenario they may need a few days in the Neonatal Unit but…”

Katie wiped at her eyes with her spare hand and Steve felt his heart contracting painfully at the sight of her as he bent over to kiss her head.

“I know this is a lot to take in…” Dr Kellet said, her tone sympathetic “But we’ve found it in time to deal with it. I assure you, it won’t make any difference to your baby’s development…it’s you it poses the biggest danger for. But, as we’re prepared, like I said, we can deal with it.”

Katie nodded and sniffed a little “Is there anything that causes it or…”

“No, not really.” Dr Kellet shook her head. “Women over 35 are more susceptible to suffering from an accreta but your placenta laying low is what’s done this. Like I say, it’s rare but not completely uncommon.”

“This is not your fault.” Steve looked at her, speaking sternly as he knew exactly what she was thinking. Her green eyes locked onto his and she gave him a small smile as he kissed the back of her hand.

“No,it isn’t.” Dr Kellet said, equally as sternly “This is just one of those things Mrs Rogers.”

The three of them fell silent and after a few seconds, Dr Kellet took a deep breath and looked at Katie.

“Ok, so…how about we get some good news huh?” she asked, picking up the wand and pressing it back to Katie’s stomach. “Let’s find out if it’s pink or blue.”

Once more the tiny profile of their baby filled the screen and Steve felt Katie’s fingers tighten around his again. He squeezed her hand back and Dr Kellet made a little noise in her throat. “Ahh, there we go…and it’s another little girl mom and dad…”

Katie’s face broke into a smile as did Steve’s and he pressed another kiss to her hand which he know held in both his, his elbows resting on the edge of the bed. As they both watched, their daughter moved her tiny little fist in front of her face, and Steve swallowed, blinking back tears.

After a little more discussion with the Doctor who told Katie to try and stay calm and to call her if she had any worries, they booked in with the receptionist on the Gyne Ward for another scan in a fortnights time and then after bidding Dr Kellet a final goodbye they made their way back to the ground floor, both lost in their thoughts. Steve kept shooting a side glance at Katie whose face was straight, but he could see the sadness in her eyes. He was fighting back the tears himself, he hated this. The thought that something could go wrong, something that meant he might lose her or their baby…but she would be in good hands. He trusted Dr Kellet implicitly afer the safe birth of the other 3 and, after all, like the woman said, early diagnosis made a huge difference. The elevator doors opened and they walked down the busy corridor towards the main doors of the building, and as they reached the main reception desk a young man and a heavily pregnant woman passed them going in the opposite direction. Katie’s eyes followed them and she stopped, the hand that wasn’t in Steve’s falling to her bump as she took a deep breath, and turned to look up at him Steve.

“Well…"she smiled softly as she spoke for the first time since leaving the Maternity Suite, “At least when all this is done there’s no chance you’ll impregnate me again.”

Steve spluttered a small chuckle, shaking his head “Seriously? You’re making that joke now?”

“I have to.” she said softly “Because if I don’t I’m gonna cry.”

Steve sighed and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. She buried her face into his chest and he softly rubbed at her back, pressing a kiss to her head “It’s gonna be fine Sweetheart.” he said, sounding braver than he felt “You heard Doc. They found it early, we can prepare.”

Katie nodded against his shirt, keeping her eyes scrunched shut “Yeah…”

“And you get a few more days recovery…relaxing, away from the rabble at home.”

Katie gave a watery laugh as she stepped back and looked up at him, “I’d rather be with them…”

“I know baby.” he said, wiping her tears with his thumbs as he cupped her face “I know.”

Katie took a deep, shaky breath and licked her lips before she smiled softly “Another girl though Stevie” and he gave a playful groan.

"Makes it 4 on 3, I’m outnumbered.”

“Nah, it’s 4 on 4 if you count Stark.”

“That’s true.” he grinned “Not sure how Jamie’s gonna take it though!”

“It’s Rori you’re gonna have to worry about.” Katie looked at him, smirking a little as she made to continue walking, and Steve was pleased to see her Stark sassiness was creeping back through.

“How so?”

"Because she’s suddenly going to have to cope with not being you only little princess anymore…there’s gonna be another girl fighting to wrap you around her pinkie.”

“Well…” Steve said, curling an arm round his wife’s shoulders as they walked out into the sunshine. “Let’s go break the news….”

“Kinda wish you still had the shield…” Katie mumbled, and at that he let out a loud laugh, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss to her temple.

***** It was after dinner that they told the kids about the sex of the baby. They all gathered in the sitting room, the youngest two in their pyjamas as Katie told them all that they should be ready to buy a lot more pink things.

“A girl?” Jamie looked at them both, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.” Steve smiled at his eldest son who was sat in the chair on the opposite side of the room. Rori was perched on his knee whilst Harry was sat on Katie’s, his little hand on her bump.

“Wow…” Harry mumbled, looking a Katie “Sister?”

“Yup.” she smiled, kissing his head as he smiled at her. She looked at Jamie who shrugged at her.

“Whatever.” he said, grinning “I don’t mind…as long as it doesn’t turn out like her.” he pointed to Rori.

“Shut up Jamie!” she glared at him as Steve sighed.

“Ok, come on guys…” he said his tone carried enough warning to shut them up “Don’t fight.”

“I think it’s awesome.” Emmy smiled, where she was slumped on the rug, tickling Stark. “Another Rogers girl eh Rori?”

Rori looked at Emmy, then to Steve, then to Katie’s bump before she shook her head “No. I don’t want it.” she said nonchalantly, jumping off Steve’s knee and heading to the door.

“Rori.” Katie said, and she stopped to turn to her. “Come here.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Aurora.” Steve frowned at her, his voice stern and she sighed, taking small steps back into the room. “Come on princess, this is a happy time.” She looked at him, her face sullen “Why do you have to have a girl?”

“We don’t pick honey.” Katie looked at her, Harry shifting in her lap a little, his hand tangling in her hair. “And it’s not something we can change.” “But I don’t want a girl!” she stamped her foot and Katie sighed, rubbing her forehead a little and Steve felt the nerve in his jaw twitching. After everything they’d been told and had to process today he was mentally drained and really NOT in the mood for one of her little temper tantrums.

“That’s enough!” he said loudly and she looked at him, her green eyes widening slightly before she recovered herself and fixed him with a filthy look. He saw Emmy and Jamie exchange a glance and Jamie stood up, backing to the door.

“I’m gonna go play on the computer in the den…” he said, before he hurried out of the room sensing an impending Diva meltdown. Which arrived seconds later.

“I hate it!” Rori glared at her father and then Katie “I hate the baby already and I don’t want it in this house.” “Aurora Sarah Natasha Rogers! That is a horrible thing to say.” Steve pointed at her, feeling his neck warming with anger. “You apologise right now”

“No.”

“Fine.” Steve said, standing up. He pointed to the door. “Go to your room.”

“No.” she repeated

“Rori…” Katie said, her voice cracking slightly as she blinked back her tears “Do what your father says.”

“Make me.” she folded her arms and looked at Katie, her chin raised defiantly and Steve let out a noise of frustration that vibrated in his throat like a growl. “Don’t tempt me.” he glowered at her and she turned her attention to him.  “You have until the count of 3 to get out of my sight and up those stairs before I drag you up them myself.”

Rori looked at him, blinking and he started his countdown.

“One…”

Nothing.

“Two…” his voice grew louder.

At that point, it was like something twigged in her brain and she suddenly understood exactly how pissed he was. Her eye filled with tears and she wheeled round, running from the rooms her sobs carrying to their ears as her feet stomped up the stairs. They heard the dull slam of her bedroom door and Steve’s hands fell to his hips and he took a deep sigh, looking at his feet.

Katie sniffed slightly and Harry looked at her, frowning.

“No cry momma…” he said softly, his hands wrapping around her neck. She pressed her face into his hair and kissed his head.

“I’m ok baby.” she said gently. Steve shook his head and looked at his wife, running his hand over his face.

“What’ going on?” Emmy asked, looking at her mom then to her dad.

“Nothing, just sick of her attitude…” Steve snapped back and Emmy looked at him.

“Don’t take it out on me.”

“Sorry I’m…I didn’t mean to.” he shook his head.

“What are you not telling me?” Emmy pressed “Don’t treat me like a kid!”

Katie looked at Steve then to Emmy before she sighed “The scan showed something up. I have a condition called placenta accreta. The baby is fine it just means that I will need a caesarean section…” she swallowed “And then a hysterectomy afterwards. But it’s gonna be ok, they picked it up and we have time to prepare.”

Emmy took a deep breath “So you’ll both be ok?” she asked “You and the baby?”

“Yeah.” Katie told her. “It was just a shock, for both of us to hear that’s all.”

“I can imagine.” Emmy said quietly “I’ll ring Pete, cancel tonight, I can stay…” “No,no…” Steve protested at the same time Katie shook her head.

“Em,you don’t need to do that.” Katie sighed “We don’t want you to…honestly there’s no need.” “Are you sure?” “There’s nothing you can do.” Steve said “There’s nothing any of us can do and there’s not point you worrying about it so…go out, enjoy yourself ok?”

She nodded and stood up, crossing to give her mom a hug before doing the same to Steve and heading out of the room. Steve looked at his wife for a moment before Harry glanced at him.

“Dadda mad?” he asked softly.

“Not with you pal.” he replied, crossing the room to sit besides them. Harry shifted and untangled himself from Katie before he crawled over into Steve’s lap.

“I get sister?” he asked looking at Steve and Steve smiled at him.

“Yeah buddy.”

Harry grinned and nodded before he tugged on Steve’s beard and Steve playfully snapped his teeth at the tot’s fingers in the way he always did.

“Snappy snappy crocodile!” Harry laughed and Steve let out a chuckle before he looked at Katie, his hand gently squeezing her knee.

“I’ll give her 10 minute and then I’ll go speak to her.” Steve said.

“Don’t think I’ve ever heard you shout at her like that.” Katie raised her eyebrow.

“She deserved it.” Steve said, blowing a breath out of his nose. “Her attitude stinks.” “She’s jealous.” Katie said simply “And we only have ourselves to blame.”

“What do you mean?” Steve frowned.

“I mean we ruin her.” Katie said simply “We indulge her little diva attitude, brush her tantrums off as amusing most of the time…she’s not a bad kid, I mean 9 time out of 10 she’s awesome and everyone comments on how well behaved she is, how all of them are for that matter, but…” she sighed “Things are about to change for her, and like I said she’s going to have to share you-“ “She shares me now…” “Yes but not with another little girl.”

“Yes she does, we have Emmy…” “Emmy isn’t little.” Katie shook her head. “She was a lot older when Rori was born and she’s been there for Rori’s entire life.” Katie reasoned “This is different. And it’s going to take some getting used to. I’m not excusing her behaviour before you say it…” she held her hand up to cut him off as he opened his mouth to speak. “She was really naughty then and you were absolutely right to do what you did…I guess, well we just need to be prepared to follow it through because I don’t think that’s the end of it.”

“So how do we deal with it?” Steve said after a moment’s deliberation.

“We keep her involved, try as much as we can to ensure she becomes interested in the baby.” Katie shrugged “And perhaps if you can get her to talk to you, admit what she’s feeling that might help.” “Easier said than done.” Steve looked at his wife “She’s as stubborn as you.

“Pot, Kettle Rogers.” Katie raised an eyebrow and Steve chuckled, leaning over to give Katie a soft kiss.

“Gross…” Harry mumbled, in a very Jamie like way.  Steve blew a raspberry on his cheek, making him giggle and scrunch his body up, pushing Steve away. They both spent a bit of time with the tot then, talking to him about Nursery, listening to what his limited vocabulary told them, before Katie headed into the den to check on Jamie and Steve jogged up the stairs to face the Star Spangled Diva.

“Rori…” he said, poking his head round the door.

“Go away.” She sniffed and he sighed, shaking his head.

“Sorry, can’t do that.” he said, stepping into the room. “It’s the law in this house that we don’t go to bed angry, remember?”

She looked up at him from where she sat on the floor, her Scrap Book (or the crap book as he and Jamie dubbed it) open on the floor at a page where she had been sticking in some pictures of animals from an old book he’d picked up in the University second hand shop for her to dissect. He noted she was labelling different parts of the animals with brightly coloured pens and smiled.

“You been doing animals at school?” he asked.

“No.” she shook her head “I just like them.” her voice fell quiet. Steve crossed the room and took a seat on her bed and she avoided his gaze again.

“Rori, look at me princess.”

She obeyed and her eyes locked onto his and he patted his knee “Come on.” She stood up and scrambled onto his lap and he wrapped his arms around her.

“Sorry for making you mad daddy.” she sniffed.

“And I’m sorry for shouting.” he replied, “But do you know why I did?”

“Because I said mean things.” “Yeah.” he nodded “You did. You wanna tell me why?”

She shrugged

“You know having a baby sister isn’t going to mean you miss out on anything.” he said softly “Me and Momma will still love you just as much. You know that right?”

“I guess so.” She shrugged again. Sensing he wasn’t going to get anything more out of her, he decided to leave it there and looked down at her, as she pulled back, her hand fiddling with the buttons on his shirt. “Do you think you need to apologise to someone else?”

“Momma.” she said quietly.

Steve nodded “Ok, go on then and come back up. It’s bed time for you.” “But…”

“Rori…you’ve been really naughty and apologising isn’t going to change that. So you can go say you’re sorry to momma and then it’s bed. We start again tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok Daddy.” she bowed her head and slid off his knee, heading out of the room and down the stairs. Steve gave her a second or so before he followed her down, almost bumping into Emmy who was dressed in a nice pair of jeans and a tight, low cut navy blue sweater under her black leather biker jacket. He looked at her and she shook her head

“Don’t bother.” she smirked “I’m 22 you can’t say it…” “I can and I am.” he arched an eyebrow “Cover yourself up.” “Bite me.” she grinned, and he nudged her with his elbow, chuckling as they headed down the stairs. Katie was in the kitchen crouched down, hugging a sobbing Rori.

“It’s ok.” she soothed “I forgive you baby.” Rori sniffed and pulled back, as Katie wiped her daughter’s tears with her fingers. “You know me and daddy love you don’t you?” She nodded and looked down at the floor, averting her gaze. “I know.” “Hey…” Emmy cut in, crossing the room and crouching down next to her mum. Katie stood up and looked at Steve who smiled at her. “You know what…when Mom and Dad told me they were having Jamie I got scared too.” “I’m not scared…” Rori said defiantly and Emmy shook her head.

“I’m not saying you are…I mean you’re way braver than me.” she smiled “But I thought having Jamie might mean there was no room for me anymore.” “There’s lots of room.” Rori looked at her confused. “We have a big home.”

“I know that now, but I didn’t at the time.” Emmy smoothed her little sister’s hair back. “I thought Mom and Dad wouldn’t love me as much because I wasn’t actually theirs but they did. And that was almost 10 years ago. I’m still here. And Jamie was so cool as a baby, we got to do loads of fun things, share stuff, play together.”

Rori looked at her sister and then looked down at her feet. “I’m not sharing my toys.” Emmy glanced up at her mom who shook her head, indicating that enough was enough. They’d had an apology and that was fine for tonight. Tempers needed to stay calm and they were in danger of spiralling again.

“Ok….come on.” Steve said, and Rori looked at him, her eyes pleading “Remember what I said.”

With a deep sigh she looked at her mom “Night momma.” she said, her eyes falling to the floor again.

“Night baby.” Katie said, bending down to give her head a kiss. She trudged to the door and looked up at her dad, batting her eyes at him and for a second Katie thought he might waver but he didn’t. Not a chance.

“Nice try.” he said, gesturing into the hall with his head. Rori gave an exasperated groan before she headed to the stairs.

“Sorry, I thought that might help.” Emmy looked round.

“Don’t be.” Katie looked at her “You know what she’s like. It’ll work out.” she rubbed at her eyes before she smiled “You look nice, where are you going?”

“Oh, just to play some pool and grab a burger.” Emmy said, “Brooke’s bringing Josh. I won’t be out long.” “Josh…” Katie mused “Double dating?”

“kinda.” Emmy shrugged “He’s a bit of a douche to be honest but, whatever, she seems to like him.” “Bucky doesn’t” Steve snorted.

“Uncle Bucky doesn’t like a lot of people.”  Emmy laughed and Steve chuckled.

“That’s true.” he admitted as she fished in her pocket for the keys to her BMW convertible, a 21st present from them both. He nodded to them and fixed her with a look “Drive safe.” She rolled her eyes and then grinning saluted him “Yes Captain.” He shook his head and snorted as she passed him in the doorway, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

“See you both later.” “Have a good time.” Katie called. Steve watched her go before he turned to his wife and stepped into the kitchen. She fell into his open arms and he kissed her head.

“Why don’t you go put Harry down, then have a bath and get in bed?” he suggested “I’ll spend a bit of time with Jamie before I send him up.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“Course.” he dropped a kiss to her head.

“Ok. That sounds great, I won’t lie.”

He smiled as she stepped back, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and headed out. He followed her with his eyes before he took a deep breath and pushed his worries to the back of the mind and wandered into the den.

“Right son…” he grinned “Fire up the Mario Karts…I’m gonna kick your butt this time.”

“No chance old man!” Jamie grinned, jumping up to switch the game in the console.

*****

An hour and a half or so and 15 round of karts later, Steve was down 6 games to 9, which was an improvement over all. He sighed, tossing the controller down, holding his hands up. “Ok, I yield…”

Jamie grinned “Told ya…”

“Yeah, yeah…” Steve rolled his eyes. “And now I’m telling you, bed time…you can watch TV for half an hour ok?” Jamie let out a little groan but stood up, obeying all the same. He turned off the TV and Stark followed him out of the room. Steve turned off the lights before he closed the door as Jamie turned to him in the hallway. .

“Night dad.” Jamie said, giving him a hug.

“Night bud, don’t forget to say night to your mom too.”

“I won’t.” he nodded, before he bounded off up the stairs.

Steve headed around the house, doing his usual lock down checks before he too made his way up to their room. Katie was sat propped up in bed, looking at her phone.

“You ok?” he asked, walking into their room.

“Yeah…” Katie looked up at Steve, “I’m fine.”

“Good.” He dropped a kiss to her lips. “What you looking at?”

“I was googling my condition.” She shrugged. “Then I decided to change the topic and was looking at names…”

“Any you like?” He asked, seizing the opportunity to talk about something positive to do with their baby. He sat down on the side of the bed, tilting slight so he was facing her, placing one arm over her so his palm was flat on the covers by her hip.

“One…but it’s a little old fashioned…but…I really like it” she looked at him a little shyly “Florence”

Steve looked at her for a moment and then then looked to her bump before he peeked back up at her, smiling softly “that was my grandmother’s name, on my dad’s side.”

“I know.” She looked at him “I think it’s beautiful. So many things we can shorten it to as well…”

“She was known as Flo.” He said, “I never met her…I only know from what Ma told me”

“Well I like Flo or Flossie…” she said, looking down at his hands as her fingers began to play with his.

“Flossie…” Steve played with the name. It was a little unusual, but he liked the way it rolled off his tongue “yeah.” He chuckled “Flossie Rogers”

“A 40s movie star name if ever there was one.” Katie smiled.

“I think Rori has dibs on the Diva title.” He chuckled.

Katie gave a small laugh and looked at where their hands were tangled together again before she glanced up at him, her eyes full of tears. “I’m scared Stevie.” She whispered and he sighed, shifting slightly to cup her face with his spare hand.

“I know.” He said gently “but you’re the strongest person I know. If anyone can get through this, you can.”

“I don’t feel strong.” She whispered

At that Steve took a deep breath and moved, wrapping his arms around her as she lay her head on his shoulder, her face pressing into his neck, her body shaking with silent sobs. He had been waiting for this, the moment she cracked. His hand gently rest on the back of her head, fingers softly tangling in her hair.

“I dont wanna be numb…” she said gently “the thought of them sticking needles into my back…not after…” she gulped and Steve closed his eyes, gently shushing her as he tried to stop his own tears. He knew full well about her fear of needles and anaesthetic which stemmed from the time Hydra had taken her. She had told him all about the fact they had injected her with stuff that left her paralysed from the waist down for hours, just to watch her lose her dignity and control. That was the reason she had refused epidurals for all their kids. The fact she was shouldering this, as well as knowing how she didn’t have a choice tore him in two.

“I’ll be with you, the whole time.” he said softly, looking down at her and pressing his forehead to hers. She smiled and nodded, wiping her eyes. “Do you want a drink or anything before I hit the shower?”

“I wouldn’t mind a camomile tea.”  she looked at him.

“Ok.” he dropped a kiss to her head and stood up. He made his way downstairs.

He flipped on the kettle and became that lot in his own thoughts he didn’t hear the security system announce Emmy had come home which was why her voice startled him slightly when she spoke.

“You ok pops?”

Steve spun round to see her watching him carefully as she leaned against the counter, her long hair hung around her heart shaped face, her eyes shining.

“You weren’t out long.” he commented and she shrugged.

“Brooke has an early shift tomorrow. We shot a few games and ate and…well that was it. It was fun.” “Good.” he smiled “Where’s Queens?”

“I dropped him home.” Emmy shrugged and she didn’t need to explain why. She was trying to give him and Katie some peace, which Steve was grateful for.

He took a moment to look at his eldest, taking in not for the first time how pretty she was. With her olive skin, ebony hair and deep brown eyes she looked nothing like him or Katie, which was to be expected as she wasn’t biologically theirs but still, she’d turned into a gorgeous young woman, but what he was most satisfied about was her compassion and drive. She’d aced university, working so hard and was now channelling her skills and her degree into becoming a Child Therapist, working alongside a local Children’s charity which the Stark Relief Fund had set up. Steve had no doubts that she’d end up running the Charity on behalf of SI at some point- she had the drive and passion to do so and she had been adamant since she was 17 that she wanted to work with kids who suffered from abuse, just as she had, using her own experiences to help others.

That he could attribute directly to Katie, and he couldn’t be more proud to do so if he tried.

“I’m fine honey.” He said, giving her a small smile and she chuckled.

“Liar.”

He sighed “you always call me out on my bullshit. You’re like your mother.”

She shrugged “There are worse people to be like”

“Very true.” He agreed, turning to the kettle as he picked it up and poured hot water over the teabag in the mug.

“Do you think you’ll get any more trouble from Rori?”

“Probably.” Steve licked his lips as he turned back to her. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Thank you for trying before by the way. I was a bit surprised you remembered all that to be honest”.

“Course I do.” She grinned “I was petrified you wouldn’t want me anymore.”

Steve shook his head “nothing could have been further from the truth”

“I know” she smiled “know what else I remember like yesterday?”

“The time you punched that jerk in the face at school?” Steve teased and she snorted

“Well yeah but that’s not what I was gonna say” she shook her head “I remember the day you got punched in the supermarket. You gave me the adoption papers that afternoon. It was Jamie’s birthday. Uncle Tony and Auntie Pep gave me my bracelet with my initials.”

Steve beamed “Yeah. Despite the punching that was a good day. You know, we’d had those papers for a week before we told you.”

Emmy took a deep breath “I don’t think I say this enough but I really am grateful you and mom took me in…”

“Em, you don’t need to-”

“I know.” she cut him off “But I am. You didn’t need to, but you did. And all of us, bump included are the luckiest kids around. You’re the best parents any kid could wish for.”

Steve felt his eyes misting over and he looked at Emmy, shaking his head “Come ‘ere.” he smiled and she pushed off the counter and walked towards him, stepping into his embrace “I know it might not seem like it at times with the others being as demanding as they are but we do love you with all our hearts Em.” he said, pressing a kiss to her head “You’ll always be our first baby.”

“Stop it!” she spluttered, stepping back to wipe her eyes.

He smiled and cupped her face before he took a deep breath “Anyway, I meant to ask…you and Queens still going to look at that apartment or…”

Emmy shrugged “It’s not important at the moment”

“Em.” Steve sighed “What’s going on with your mom, we don’t want that to impact on your plans.”

“No, I don’t mean that. Well, ok, that is important but, well,  I’m still training at work and Pete’s getting to grips with all the R&D department  at SI so we both kinda said if the right place appears then great, if not…well, we can wait.”

“Sensible decision.” he nodded, “You only just turned 22, and yes, I know…” he held his hand up to cut off what he knew full well was going to be her protest about wanting to be independent “You want to stand on your own two feet but, this is your home and always will be for as long as you want. And if you’re really desperate to be away from the chaos in here, well me and your mom had an idea that maybe we could do the Cabin up.”

“That’s your man cave.” she looked at him.

“I can move my art stuff into the attic or the garage.” he shrugged “We could use it and make you a little apartment. Just a thought to keep in mind.”

“Pete as well?” she asked and Steve looked at her, cocking his head to one side, taking a deep breath as he nodded.

“Queens as well.”

She smiled. “Thanks Dad. Maybe we can talk about it once everything has settled down.”

Steve nodded “Sounds like a plan.”

“You’d know, after all you are the star span-…”

“Yeah yeah.” he cut her off, rolling his eyes “And on that note I’m going to bed.” He picked up the mug containing Katie’s drink and stooped to give Emmy a peck on the cheek. “See you in the morning sweetie.”

“No don’t stay up too late?” she quipped in a deep voice as he walked past her. He chuckled and looked back over his shoulder.

“As you keep reminding me…” he dropped his chin to level her with a look “you’re a grown ass woman now.”

At that she let out a laugh and he smiled, before he left the room. Katie was in the en-suite when he got upstairs so he placed the mug down on her nightstand and then headed over to check on the kids. First off he stopped at Rori’s room and smiled as she was in her bed with Sparkles, her pink unicorn teddy clutched to her chest. He crossed the room and placed a kiss on her head, noting the tear tracks were still evident on her face. He felt a pang of guilt once more for his outburst at her earlier in the evening but really, she had deserved it, and he knew that tomorrow was a fresh start. He flicked off her lamp before he then headed over to check on Harry. He was led flat on his back, the covers tangled around his feet, his stuffed giraffe on the floor as always. Pulling the duvet up around his chin he tucked him in, errant giraffe placed by his side he dimmed thes night slightly, leaving it casting soft illuminated stars onto his ceiling, which was apt really as the boy was an absolute star of a kid. Then he headed over to Jamie’s room, the boy already asleep with Stark led by his feet.

“Down.” he instructed the dog, pointing to the basket in the corner of the room. The mutt gave him a reproachful look before he stood up and gave a huff as he jumped down and padded to his bed. Steve knew full well the dog would be back up there the minute he closed the door on his way out, but at least his conscience was clear when Katie moaned about dog hair on Jamie’s quilt. As he turned off Jamie’s TV it struck him how it seemed such a pointless thing to be complaining about all things considered.

Turning off the hall lights he made his way back into their bedroom where Katie was watching something on TV.

“They all ok?”

“Fast asleep” he smiled, pulling unbuttoning his plaid shirt before he tossed it into the hamper. He then shed his jeans and headed into the en-suite for a quick shower before he dried off, pulled on a clean pair of boxers and settled down into bed, Katie snuggling up to him, tossing her leg over his and laying her head on his chest. After a moment or so she moved, her hand dropping to her bump.

“You ok?”

“Yeah she’s kicking…” Katie smiled, “That’s the first time I’ve felt her doing that…she’s just been wriggling up until now.” She took Steve’s hand and he eagerly waited until he felt their baby give another little jab and he felt the grin spread across his face as he felt his daughter move for the first time. He shuffled down a little placing both hands either side of her bump.

“Hey Flossie…” he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the curve of Katie’s belly as her hand tangled into his hair.

“So we’re decided on Florence.” Katie chuckled and he peered up at her, smiling.

“Yeah, I think so.” he nodded, his hand feeling another kick and he gave another smile before he shuffled back upwards and lay on his side, looking at his wife .“Love you.” he said, sliding his nose against hers, seeking out her lips for a soft kiss.

“Love you too” she muttered against his mouth, unwilling to break away as his kiss grew a little more urgent. Eventually he pulled back, pressing his forehead to hers, his eyes closed.

“It’ll all be ok.” he muttered softly.

“You trying to convince me or yourself.” Katie asked.

“Bit of both.” he admitted.

She gave him another soft peck before she turned over, reaching for the remote. Flicking off the TV she shuffled back into his arms, her back pressed to his chest as Steve curled his arm around her, his hand cradling her bump and their precious cargo.

*****

November 2029

Things settled down a little after the initial shock of the news had sunk in. Katie was continuing to have regular scans and their baby was fine. Dr Kellet had suggested that they look to do the operation at 35 weeks, the point at which she was confident their baby would be absolutely fine. With that in mind they were given a provisional date of 9th January, subject to the situation remaining stable.

What didn’t improve, however, was Rori. Whilst there were no more outbursts or temper tantrums, her attitude had changed from one of anger to simple apathy. They’d told the kids what they were going to call their daughter, but Rori wasn’t interested. She wouldn’t talk to Katie’s bump, or feel it like the other kids did, she was just completely and utterly indifferent to the entire situation. And whilst it was better in some ways than her shouting and screaming, Steve could see it was starting to get to Katie which was why he had taken Rori out for the day to give Katie a bit of time where she didn’t have to worry or deal with her, and hopefully try to get the little girl to open up a bit more. She still hadn’t admitted to either of them what she was feeling and every time they tried to talk to her she simply changed the subject.

He’d taken her to the Natural History Museum in Manhattan, treating her to a ride on the subway which always fascinated her. They’d had a lovely afternoon, even if it had been a little cold outside, and she had enthusiastically looked at the exhibits on the dinosaurs and animals, her little face lighting up as she chatted away and completed the activity booklet she had been handed on their way in, tracking all the clues as they went.

There had been no mention of the baby, at all, and as they walked around in the gift shop, Rori browsing, Steve decided to raise it and see if she would talk to him and open up now they were alone and away from the house.

“Shall we pick something for Florence, ready for when she is born?” he asked her as she examined a shelf full of stuffed animals.

Rori looked at her dad and averted her eyes “if you want…”

“Don’t you want?“

She shrugged

“Ok…” Steve sighed, knowing when he was beat. “Come on then, let’s go home.”

Rori turned her eyes to his before he looked at the floor, her sneakers scuffing on the tiles of the gift shop. “I’m sorry…” She whispered, her lower lip wobbling.

“What for?” Steve asked, taking a deep breath as he crouched down and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, one of his hands gently resting along her rib cage.

“Being mean.”

“You’re not being mean.” he said gently, which was true. She wasn’t. “You’re sad though. I can tell.”

She shrugged again, still avoiding his eyes.

“Why does the baby upset you so much Princess?” He pressed gently. She looked at him, her eyes watering.

“Coz she’s gonna take you and momma away from me…”

“Oh Rori…” Steve sighed as her tears trickled down her face. Finally hearing her admit it out-loud meant he could confront it head on, give her the direct re-assurance she needed. “I told you already, that’s not gonna happen. Me and momma love you and that’s not gonna change.” She sniffled as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Harry was born after you, did he take us away from you?”

“No.” She sniffled.

“So why would the new baby be any different?”

“Coz she’s gonna be your new princess. I’m not gonna be special anymore.”

Steve felt his heart breaking as Rori began to sob.

“Ok…” he said, picking her up and carrying her out of the shop into the large foyer. She pressed her face into his neck and he gently rubbed her back as she cried whilst he walked them over to a bench at the side of the room where he sat silently with her, gently rocking her as she cried, Katie’s words from a few weeks ago echoing in his head.

“She’s jealous Steve. And we only have ourselves to blame.”

As much as Katie had said “we” she may as well have said “you”. Rori had been his little princess since the day they had found out they were having a girl, and Steve knew he indulged her, because he fucking loved her. He loved her craziness, her sassiness, the way she gave him so much back chat and general attitude…even if it did drive him mad. But most of all he adored the way she looked just like Katie and had inherited her mother’s tactile nature. She was always the first to reach him when he got home from work, racing down the hall to fling herself at him. She insisted on sitting on his knee at night as they watched TV, she would crawl into his and Katie’s bed between them on a Sunday morning for a cuddle before they got up. He was the one she went to when she had fallen over, unless he was out, and then Katie would suffice but he would get the full sympathy play when he got home. It was the exact role reversal to their two boys who sought Katie out for their bumps and scrapes but came to him for the fun and games. Both parents gave them all different things, which was how it was supposed to be and fuck, Rori would always be his little girl, as would Flossie, and a new baby sister should be filling her heart with love not worry and sadness. As he sat still, she hiccupped slightly, he sobs growing quieter and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“I’m gonna tell you something now sweetheart.” He said as she tightened the grip her little hands had on his jacket as he continued to gently rock her to and fro “you have no idea how special you are to me and your momma. You know we lost you once…”

“Lost me?” Rori sniffed “how?”

“Remember we told you about the bad man that made Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam go away…and how your Uncle Tony died with Natasha to bring them back?”

She nodded

“Well when he sent all those people away, you were in your momma’s tummy and he made you go away too. We were so upset when we found out.”

“But I came back?” She asked, her green eyes wide

“You sure did. You were our little magic baby” He smiled “And when you were born we were so happy to finally meet you because we had waited so long, Rori. And I remember thinking when I held his for the first time how beautiful and perfect you were.”

“So I am special?”

“Of course you are” he nodded “I mean how can you not be? Your birthday is the same as your Uncle Tony’s and you’re named after 2 other very special girls.” He smiled as she glanced down at her hands which were now playing with the buttons on his shirt. “Your nanna Sarah and Natasha.”

“And Princess Aurora” she looked at him.

“And Princess Aurora” he nodded.

“And I look like Momma.” Rori nodded back to him, “which makes me pretty too right Daddy?”

“Absolutely.” Steve smiled “your momma is the prettiest woman in the world.”

Rori looked at him for a moment before she smiled “Can we go back to the shop please Daddy? I want to get the baby something now.”

Steve smiled. “Sure, come on.”

She hopped off his lap and they headed back inside to the store, her little hand in his and she led him over to the soft toy section, her eyes roaming the shelves, brow furrowed in concentration.

“What should we get?” She asked, looking up at Steve.

“You pick.” He said, looking down at her. “I trust you. You are a princess after all so you know what princesses like…”

She contemplated his words before she glanced back at the shelves, scanning the plush toys. Steve stood patiently before she tugged on his hand and pointed to a zebra which sat on the shelf in her eye-line.

“That one.” She said firmly

“Sure?” He asked and she nodded.

“Zebras are like ponies daddy.” She said “and all princesses should have a pony”

“Alright. You wanna grab it?” He looked down at her, his spare hand gently cupping her cheek.

She nodded and turned back, plucking one down off the shelf.

“Do you want one?”

“No, I have a Sparkles” she shrugged “Unicorns are much better.”

Steve looked at her for a moment, and decided to let her have that little victory.

“I think we should call her Rolfina.” Rori said, handing it to him.

“Rolfina?” he frowned “Where on earth did you hear that?” “Dur, it’s the zebra in Zootopia.” she said and Steve rolled his eyes.

“Course it is.” he mumbled, heading to the till to pay.

***** “Momma!” Rori burst into the living room “Look…”

She held out the toy zebra as she made her way over to where Katie was sat, tapping at her laptop

“Wow!” she smiled, setting the computer down onto the coffee table. “Did you have a nice time?” “Yeah. I did the activity book and we did the treasure hunt and then we bought this…” she paused and Steve leaned in the doorway, bracing himself for her to clam up again but she continued, albeit her voice a little softer “…its for the baby.” Katie hid her shock well, Steve had to give his wife credit.

“She’ll love it.” Katie smiled “You can put it in her room if you like?”

Rori nodded and then hesitated before she climbed up onto the sofa and wrapped her arms around her Mother’s neck. Katie hugged her back and looked at Steve who flashed her a wink as he pushed off the door frame.

“Where are the boys?” “Playing lego in the den.” Katie smiled as Rori pulled back slightly.

“Can I say hi to the baby?” she asked shyly and Katie nodded.

“Of course you can.” Rori wriggled down a little, her cheek pressing to Katie’s bump over her t-shirt. She took a deep breath and spoke in a soft voice. “Hi Flossie…” There was a second pause and Katie felt a jab in her belly and Rori’s head flew up as her eyes widened and she squealed. “Momma she moved!”

“That’s because she heard you baby.” Katie smiled, thanking her lucky stars that Flossie had chosen that exact moment to give a harsh boot. Steve felt his heart swell as he watched Rori return her hands to Katie’s stomach.

“She can hear me?”

“Yeah, she can hear you all.” “So…” Rori sat up a little, her eyes downcast “Will she have heard me say those nasty things when I said I hated her?”

“And she will have also heard you say sorry.” Steve said, sitting down next to her. He wasn’t even going to try to explain that the baby wouldn’t be able to understand a word of what Rori was saying.

“And she knows its me?” Rori asked “For sure?” “For sure.” Rori gave a grin and jumped down running into the hallway.

“Hey losers!” she shouted, heading towards the den “I just talked to the baby and she listened and knows me coz she moved…” Whatever sarcastic reply Jamie shot back died as the door to the den shut and Katie looked at Steve.

“Ok, who is she and where’ the real Diva?” “What can I say, I just have that magic way with my girls…” he grinned. “Hmmm, sure you do.” Katie looked at him and he smiled, leaning over to give her a kiss.

“And maybe Rolfina had something to do with it.” he grinned, picking up the stuffed Zebra.

**Original Posting**

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