#vote down below a) that was mean of her and you are a princess who has done nothing wrong b) megan i fear you might just be a bit dramatic

[hisnhers]

told my irl how depressed i felt about not getting a job and she left me on read and then started talking about other stuff ookkkayyyy

#vote down below a) that was mean of her and you are a princess who has done nothing wrong b) megan i fear you might just be a bit dramatic

[rose-bride-bracket]

alright, while I work on deciding who to include in the bracket (+ other things), here are all the utena submissions I got. only one shall survive to the actual bracket. I could make a mini-bracket, since there are 8 different characters, but I don't really feel like it. therefore,

propaganda below (note - some of these characters had multiple submissions, so if they are eliminated here, the rest of their propaganda will be released afterwards):

shiori: You wouldn't really vote against Shiori, would you? 🥺 Even if she knows you must hate her, don't you want to mend your relationship? 🥺 When she's depending on you with all her heart? 🥺 She knows what she wants this time, really; this must be it. She's winning, right?

touga: Victim of CSA forced to perform an impossible gender expectation that is unhealthy for him and will ultimately kill him(metaphorically or literally depending on how you view him in Adolescence). Betraying the only people in your life that may have ever seen even a sliver of vulnerability from you and manipulating them for both your own goals and playing your role as a pawn in Akio's fucked up game. Honestly? It's about being forced into a position of inferiority and a feeling of being used and using that vitriol to hurt and manipulate others to gain back that sense of power no matter how superficial. Just kinda choosing to live in your coffin because the idea of anything else is so foreign that it's terrifying and feels like a death in itself and to make that choice would mean abandoning everything youve done to adapt to the current system.

kanae: shes soooo rosebride. shes so desperate for the princess role which she technically has achieved but which she'll never actually have. the way she's compelled to blame anthy. ough

idk who this is but it's not mamiya guys right. mamiya has purple hair and he set the fire and both of us are alive and we will obtain eternity together right guys. right: hes such a rose bride. literally. but to me hes his own kind of rose bride. at least before. yknow

juri: Underrated as Rose Bride to Ruka. Forced to swallow down her emotions because he decided he knew what's good for her.

saionji: he needs a W. but also he's kind of a rose bride in relation to touga specifically--being manipulated by him to continue playing the role he's been given

nanami: oh you know ;) (ridiculously loyal little sister being manipulated by her older brother)

utena: 39 episode run of Akio trying to rose bride her

#csa mention #utena #revolutionary girl utena #rgu #brackets #tournament polls #the rose bride bracket #uhh I gotta tag them all uhhh #shiori takatsuki #touga kiryuu #kanae ohtori #mamiya chida #juri arisugawa #kyouichi saionji #nanami kiryuu #utena tenjou

[obxologies]

𝘚𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘖𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩  𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯

warnings: none

requested?: no

author's note: the amount of times i rewrote this imagine...anyways lol. voting for next imagine will be in a few.

Sarah Cameron didn't have good luck when it came to relationships. The boys she had gotten involved with had never been the nicest. They usually only wanted to get into her pants or earn status points for being seen with the Kook princess. Most of the boys she never even actually dated. She had only ever had two real boyfriends.

Her first boyfriend, Gabe, only seemed to date her because his friends thought it was a good idea. He acted like jerk to her most of the time, and he never once made an effort to seem interested in anything she had to say. They dated for five months. Sarah wasn't sure she liked him either if she was being honest, but all of her other friends had boyfriends. It only felt like she needed one, too.

Her second boyfriend, Topper, was friends with her older brother, Rafe. He was always nice to her and started conversations with her any chance he got. When he asked her out she said yes. He was the only who had ever been nice to her and not seem to want to get in her pants on the first date. Their relationship started out perfect. They were the prince and princess of Figure Eight, but soon enough Sarah realized what his plan had been all along. He wanted to be seen with her. With Sarah Cameron by his side he was bound to draw attention.

Sarah had thought that she just wasn't destined to find someone who loved her for her, but then she met, y/n, a Pogue who was friends with Kiara Carrera.

y/n y/l/n was everything Sarah had dreamed of. She loved Sarah how she had always wished to be loved. y/n wasn't interested in her for her body or for the attention she received. She liked to listen to Sarah talk. She could sit in front of Sarah and watched her ramble on for hours; something Sarah had never really experienced before. It was all sort of surreal.

"Come on, Sarah!" y/n exclaimed in a whisper tone. "It's gonna be fun. Please, come with us." She begged.

"Fine." Sarah sighed grabbing her jacket and slipping it on while y/n smiled and gave the Pogues below them a victorious thumb's up.

"Be careful coming down." y/n told Sarah as she moved to jump back to the ground while Sarah carefully climbed out of the window and quietly pulled it down.

"I've done this a thousand times." Sarah stated with a roll of her eyes. She climbed down to the ground with ease. "I can't be gone too long."

"We'll just go for a couple of hours." y/n promised.

"My dad will ground me all over again if he finds out I snuck out." Sarah explained.

"I know, Sarah." y/n stopped them and pulled her closer. She gently grabbed her face in her hands. "I just want to be with you. You've been locked up in your house all week. I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Sarah smiled placing her hand over y/n's.

"I'll have you back before you're dad notices, promise." y/n kissed her cheek. "If we take too long JJ will blame us for missing all the good waves."

"I'm gonna go join the boys." Kiara said standing up from her spot in the sand.

"Have fun." y/n waved as she jogged out to the water to go swim with the boys. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Sarah nodded keeping her head on y/n's chest.

"You're quiet." y/n pointed out.

"I'm just thinking." Sarah shrugged.

"About?" y/n asked. Sarah sighed and pushed herself off y/n's chest. "Sarah?"

"Did you bring me out here just sit in the sand?" Sarah asked.

"I mean we can get in the water if you want." y/n chuckled. "Why?"

"No other reason?" Sarah quirked an eyebrow. "You just wanted to hang out?"

"Yeah," y/n laughed. "You're my girlfriend. Why wouldn't I wanna hang out with you?"

"It's just different." Sarah said softly. "People I've dated in the past, they always had another motive."

"Like to sleep with you?" y/n said.

"Yeah," Sarah nodded, "Or to be seen with me. But you don't seem to want anything from me."

"All I want is to spend time with you, Sarah." y/n grabbed her hands in hers. "I don't care about being seen with you. I just wanna be with you. And I don't want to do anything until we're both ready to move forward that way."

Sarah's lips quirked up and she leaned forward wrapping her arms around y/n. She hugged her tight, burying her face in her shoulder.

"I love you." Sarah whispered.

"I love you, too."

#obxologies #outer banks #obx #outer banks x reader #imagines #sarah cameron imagine #sarah cameron #sarah cameron x fem!reader #sarah cameron one shot #sarah cameron oneshot #sarah cameron x reader #sarah cameron fic #x reader

[kintatsujo]

LoZ AU- The Courage of Running Away Part THIRTEEN

Don’t worry this is not the bad luck post!!  That’s the next two

#AU August

#LoZ AU: The Courage of Running Away

[Image Descriptions: Still coming off the previous scene, Queen Zelda puts a hand to her forehead and sighs heavily, dragging it into the statement “What a MESS.”  A heavyset middle aged Sheikah woman rushes up from further down the hallway, a thin youth with a Sheikah Eye on their clothing trailing behind her.  “Zelda what in the WORLD,” she says, but it’s more a statement than a question.  “Impa,” Queen Zelda greets, “Excellent.”  She seems weary.  “You have more experience with boys, set this child up with a room while I figure out how to apologize for trying to murder his FATHER.”  She puts a hand on her daughter’s hand, still on her arm.  “Dove, go with Auntie Impa and Link, stick to Gray for a while.”  Princess Zelda, jaw set, nods.  Impa makes a strangling motion with both hands.  “ON GODS, Zelda,” she says.  Link stares in astonishment. Outside the hole in the wall, King Aldway says “I suppose I’LL just go find someone to CLEAN UP THIS MESS.”  Queen Zelda starts, as if only now realizing he witnessed the entire debacle.  “ALDWAY!  Oh darling, I’m SORRY, I’ll walk with you!”  She puts a hand to her chin pensively.  “You’re supposed to be GENTLER with boys, right?” she mutters, and then goes to join him, as Impa puts a hand to her face in exasperation.  Princess Zelda wraps her arms around Link in a hug.  “Here,” she says.  “You look like you NEED one.”  Link is startled and blushes, while Impa and the youth look on with sad but fond expressions.  End ID.]

Impa has been many women at this point; from old to young, rail thin to “someone on Capcom’s LoZ team has a real THING for extremely round MILFs.”  She’s been Zelda’s nanny, her de facto mother, her servant, and her best friend.  This Impa is about Queen Zelda’s age and one of her literal job descriptions is “not taking the queen’s bullshit,” hence their dynamic.  She is also still very much a ninja because I wanted very badly to draw her doing ninja things.  Her son, Gray, is more or less Sheik as his own identity; I am having my Zorlda cake and eating it too.  (”Zelda” is short for “Griselda,” which means “Gray Battle Maiden,” so he’s even named after her.)

[Image description: Impa standing on a pole with a bust of Gray and a sketch of him interacting with Princess Zelda to the side.  Impa is heavyset with a round face.  She has red eyes, white hair pulled into a half ponytail, dark thick eyebrows, and light skin.  She is wearing a cream colored jacket with loose sleeves and red trim, belted shut over a black dress, the hem of which stops just below her knees.  She is wearing black boots with a split toe and black arm guards.  Her hands are on her hips.  Gray has the same red eyes, light skin and white hair as his mother, thin black eyebrows and a black mark of makeup under his right eye.  His left eye is hidden by one of his bangs.  His hair is in a bun and he is wearing a blue sleeveless turtleneck.  In the sketch with Princess Zelda, both he and she have been mussed, with feathers in their hair, and he looks embarrassed.  “It’s not what it looks like!” he’s saying.  “Really?” asks an unseen speaker, “Because it LOOKS like you two have been PILLOWFIGHTING.”  Gray says “Okay it’s EXACTLY what it looks like.”  Princess Zelda is grinning.  “I’m winning,” she says.  There is a note that describes them as “Basically siblings.” End ID.]

It’s not EXACTLY that Gray is supposed to be Zelda’s bodyguard; he’s only seventeen himself, but he’s been her de-facto babysitter and chaperone around town for the last two or three years and he thinks of himself that way.  

I was a little concerned when I hit on this idea of his character design versus Ghirahim, but I think I’ve sorted it out so they look sufficiently different!

That said no I don’t know what’s up with his eye.  There’s a sketch somewhere in my hand-written notes where Impa’s asking if he thinks he’s the hidden princess (as a more direct reference to OoT, you know) so maybe he just thinks it looks cool.  

Also I have at least one vote for Gray as Link’s love interest, not that love interests for anyone are a high priority in this AU.  XD

Anyway, so obviously Impa and Gray and Princess Zelda work on getting Link settled.  There’s a few days where he kind of finds his way around the castle, gets apologized to by the guards that were at the door when Astramorus caught up to him, worries about what his father might be up to, and has some Genuine Serious Talks with the queen about things like the last few things Astramorus was saying and about his mother.

”He must mean the Gerudo Prince,” Zelda says of Astramorus’s warning.  “Dinravi’s been calling me auntie since he could talk, I’m not worried about him, I’ve been paying reparations to the Gerudo for most of my reign, but this talk of a demon....I’ll look into it.”  

And of Link’s mother, she says, “You jumped off a sky island with no idea where you’d land and you’ve been saving people left and right and endearing yourself to everyone you meet ever since.  You’re pretty much exactly your mother’s son.”  

And speaking of endearing himself to people, Marla and Tonbo finally catch up, just like Marla promised:

[Image description: Marla has her arms fully around Link from behind and is thoroughly squishing him into her torso protectively, looking over his startled face at Queen Zelda, who has a hand to her mouth and is trying not to laugh.  “You’d better be TAKING CARE OF HIM, Missus Queen Hyrule,” Marla says, “This is the SADDEST BOY.”  She kisses the top of Link’s head.  “RIGHT Tonbo isn’t he the saddest of boys?”  Tonbo answers dryly, “The very saddest.”  Link grins, close to tears, looking tired.  “I missed you guys too,” he says.  End ID.]

#loz #loz au #Loz au: the courage of running away #my art #au august

[seraphsurvival]

prologue : 𝙬𝙝𝙤’𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡 ?

following weeks of anticipation and dozens of applications it’s time to finally pick our final 12 angels to compete on 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇. have you made the right decision for our top 12 ? find out on the first episode of the most interactive koc survival show 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇.

nova and yen stood beside each other in coordinated outfits as they had their final touch ups made before making their first official appearance as the hosts of the ultimate kpop project group survival show ‘seraph’. nova and yen had been anticipating this day since they were approached to be the hosts weeks ago. who would turn down an opportunity to be a part of pop culture history? the hosts were just as excited as the audience and the score of contestants that were waiting anxiously backstage for the competition to finally begin. 

the producer stood beside the cameraman with a clipboard in her hand, she silently counted them down. both girls turned to each other and silently wished each other good luck before plastering on their best smiles. 

on queue the shows intro music played along with the designed graphics before the camera focused on the hosts. 

“hello and welcome to ‘seraph’ !” the two girls announce in unison as they cheer finally being able to unleash all their wong up excitement. 

“it’s your favourite princess nova of inter-stellar ” she spoke with a typically royal wave before turning to yen beside her , “ and your devilish angel, yen of triptych!” yen gave the camera a finger gun shot before turning to her co-host.

 “and we are your hosts of ‘seraph’!” they cheered in unison, their smiles sparkling. 

“today is a special day as we will finally discover who are the nation's angels !” yen continued on , nova nodded along focusing her attention on the shorter girl as she awaited her queue. she elegantly brushed her hair behind her ear.

“for those of you who do not understand how this part of the  show works here’s a short rundown. we sent out an announcement and dozens of idols within the industry have sent in their audition tapes to prove why they believe they deserve to be your favourite angel. we then opened up voting and let you decide who the top 12 are and we will be announcing them tonight !” 

“but before we get to the angels let’s introduce our amazing judges ! “she smiled charmingly to the camera before it panned to reveal the panel of judges.

“first up we have the outstanding performer and ex wonder girl sunmi !” sunmi stood up with a smile as she waved to the camera and the audience before sitting back in her seat. 

“next to her we have the queen of stage presence and rap herself hyuna !” the rapper stood up covering her mouth as she blushed. she bowed before taking her seat again. 

“and lastly we have the multi talented dance master : bts’ j-hope !” he struck a pose as he stood up ,  his face broke out into its iconic heart shaped smile as he bowed respectfully and sat back down.

the camera panned back to the girls as they applauded each of the insanely talented judges they had lined up.

the applause died down and the giant projector screen behind the hosts showed the collection of thumbnails of the audition tapes the show had received.

“all of the videos behind us were uploaded to the ‘seraph’ official youtube and website and you as the audience were able to vote all through the week. there was so much talent to pick from but only 12 have made it as your angels. who will spread their wings and who will have their wings cut ? “ yen nails the dramatic tone of the statement as her words builds up the tension in the studio. 

nova clears her throat before she spoke , “in no particular order these are your angels :” she paused for 3 theatric seconds before finally announcing the competition lineup.

“our first angel is ricky of @unholiied​ !” the entire room applauded as ricky’s audition tape played on the giant screen.  she walked up onto the platform from backstage in complete shock. her hands covered her face the entire time as she stood as the first angel. 

“next up we have mimi and eden of @inter-stellar-jyp​ !” nova couldn’t mask the pride in her voice as she watched two of the youngest members of her group move up onto the platform. their auditions played side by side as mimi stood eyes huge and jaw dropped. she was not expecting to be announced. eden bounced excitedly holding onto mimi’s hand as they stood beside ricky. ricky gave the two newest additions a polite bow and round of applause.

the studio’s attention was on the hosts once again as they awaited the next angel. “ our next angel’s are  dahlia of @d3adfl0wers​ and chloe kwon ( @chloekwon​ ) !” the studio applauded as both girls excitedly made their way to the platform bowing along their way . they took their spots beside the already present angels as they tried to mask their excitement and shock. 

“next we have jay of @dulcetgg !” the sixth angel’s squeal could be heard faintly off camera as she just about skipped up to the platform. her audition played behind her as she bowed taking her position. 

“we’re already half way through the angels. judges, how are you feeling looking at our beautiful angels so far?” yen asked. the camera switched to the judges panel and focused on sunmi. 

sunmi chuckled softly as she looked up at the girls. “i think the audience has picked an outstanding amount of talent tonight. all of these girls deserve to be where they are.” 

hyuna and j-hope nod from the seats beside the other judge. 

“definitely! there is so much range and talent on the stage right now and we’re just getting started! i can’t wait to see what they have to show us,” hyuna added on making all the current angels bow with bashful smiles.  

“the angels are already the strongest lineup in history! i’m so excited i want to know the next six. i’m dying at this point.” j-hope joked, making the studio laugh lightly as the camera focused back on nova and yen. 

“thank you, judges.” yen nodded in appreciation before turning her attention back to the main camera. “it’s time to reveal our final six angels.” 

“our seventh angel is ...” nova paused as she looked over at yen expectedly. “ame of @triptychexe !” yen’s face lit up as she turned to see her group mates reaction. ame shook her head in disbelief as she walked to the platform. behind her, her audition tape played. yen didn’t even bother to hide her pride as she gave ame a smile and a thumbs up. 

“our next set of angels are… summer of @se4sonz,  jade of @nct-krown and haeju of @hcney-moon!” yen announced. the 3 girls walked out one after the other, their proud smiles mirroring each other as they moved onto the platform. the other angels congratulated them as they joined the flock. just as the energy in the studio had reached it’s peak, the lights overhead dimmed, hushing the audience and the contestants into silence. a sudden tension draped over the studio as nova brought the microphone to her lips. 

“on the platform behind us we have 10 beautiful angels. there are only 2 spots left. for many of our applicants this is the end of the road.” nova said somberly. “who will be the final 2 angels?” nova’s seriousness created anticipation as she looked over at yen, who had the task of announcing the most anticipated angels. 

“and our final angels are ...” she paused with a deep breath yen looked down at her cards before looking into the camera once again with a knowing gleam in her eyes. “baebi of @whileinvenus and yuri of @cube-vivid !” 

the final 2 girls came out hand in hand. baebi waved at the judges and audience as she walked up to the platform confidently, a stark contrast to the glossy eyed yuri beside her. her shock and relief was evident as she looked up at her audition and wiped at her eyes before waving along with baebi. the 2 took the positions at the very front of the flock completing the angels of ‘seraph’. 

“yuri , what has made you so emotional this evening?” hyuna asked from her spot at the judges panel. 

yuri was handed a mic from a staff member as she thought of a coherent reply. “ um,” she laughed softly as baebi wiped at her eyes, gently  trying to save her makeup. 

“i’m just so thankful to have made it, i didn’t think i would.” she replied, her eyes already welling up again. 

hyuna nodded , “but now look !” 

“you’ve made it , you all have !” nova rhapsodized making the studio fill with praises and cheers. 

“you’ve made it girls- i mean angels ,” sunmi broke out into a wide smile as soon as she corrected herself and that smile reflected on each of their faces. 

“congratulations angels !” j-hope exclaimed into the mic. the angels yelled in excitement on the stage matching his energy. 

“ladies and gentlemen, your angels of ‘seraph’!” yen and nova chorused gesturing to the platform allowing for the cameras to fully focus on each of the contestants.  the shows official music is played as they each got their solo shots with their names and groups written beside them. 

“that’s it for this episode! stay tuned to see how the angels spread their wings and soar through weekly challenges and compete to be a part of the ultimate koc super group  !” yen announced with a bright smile as she threw an arm around nova’s shoulders, bringing the other girl in for an adorable side hug. 

“thanks to everyone who participated and we’ll see you next week !” she laughed brightly  copying yen’s movements. 

“bye !” the 2 hosts waved at the camera before it focused on the rest of the people in the studio. 

the camera cut between the judges standing  up from their chairs to applaud the girls and chatting amongst themselves and the angels on the platform as they happily hugged one another.  the excitement was so thick in the atmosphere it was palpable. the sound of congratulations and the official ‘seraph’ track played as the credits rolled. 

‘seraph’ has officially begun.

*results below ! *

#[ 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇 ] : ゝ ʚ fly me to the moon ɞ #aeskocnet #bbkoc #kpop idol au #kpop idol oc #idol!oc #idol!addition #idol au

[dc41896]

Stupid Roses

Pairing: Ransom DrysdalexBlack Reader

⚠️: None, just some soft!Ransom feels💕

Reaching the middle landing of the floating stairs, his hands grip the metal railing giving an impressive view of his toned arms in his baby blue short sleeve shirt as he shakes his head at the sight below him.

“I thought you were supposed to be watching the game with me?”

“I will,” you sit up from your comfy position, bringing your boyfriends cashmere blanket down from your face. “I forgot the Bachelor comes on tonight though, so when this goes off I’ll come upstairs.”

“The Bachelor? You mean that God awful show about women throwing themselves at some random guy and claiming they love him on the second day?”

“For someone so disgusted by it, you seem to know quite a bit,” you smirk.

“Only because I had an ex who was obsessed with it,” he answers descending the staircase. “That’s all she wanted to watch day and night.”

“Aww was someone jealous?,” you pout.

“Ha! Definitely not. She deleted a golf tournament I recorded so there’d be more room for some announcement special, and that was the last time I ever spoke to her.”

“So, I take it you won’t be watching with me anytime soon?” A deep chuckle vibrates through his chest leaning down to brush his lips against your ear causing a shiver to run down your spine.

“Princess, I’d rather go on a week long vacation with my parents,” he whispers against your skin before moving to kiss your neck.

“Fine, but it’s not that bad if you give it a chance.”

“Yea okay,” he snorts before disappearing in the kitchen to get his new box of Biscoff cookies.

Leaning over to pour yourself a glass of wine, your’re quickly sucked back into the tv screen now showing the remainder of last nights rose ceremony that left on a cliffhanger. You’re not too distracted though to not notice your boyfriend’s looming figure slowly make his way back to the staircase with eyes fixed on the formal looking man holding a single red rose, and the camera switching between those who had yet to receive one.

It took every ounce of willpower in you to stifle your laugh hearing him quietly curse one of the steps he tripped over being so entranced with the previews of the next date.

Throughout the episode, those long, “secretive glances would continue during his journey back and forth from the kitchen getting chips to counter the sweet taste in his mouth. Then a beer. Then napkins to clean up said beer when he tripped over the same step once again.

This is how you both ultimately ended up on the couch with the game being long forgotten. You, sat between his legs holding the half eaten box of cookies and bag of chips, and him draping an arm in front of your chest pulling you closer to his broad chest as you discussed your thoughts on the contestants.

“So far my faves are Kelly, Sarah M, Traci, and Lara. I definitely feel like they’ll make it close to the end.”

“Hm okay,” he nods. “And which ones are they?”

“Sarah M is the one in the black, floor length gown there. Then Lara is in the yellow- ugh, why would he give a rose to Veronica?! What does he see in her, no one likes her! All she does is cause drama.”

“And she has no sense of style. Where’d she get that dress from, the side of the road?,” Ransom adds, nudging your cheek with his nose so you’ll feed him a cookie after getting one yourself. “No wonder she chooses violence.”

There’s a comfortable silence as you both continue to watch the rest of the evening play out and girls become frustrated when they feel they didn’t get enough time before being interrupted. Gazing at the side of your face, a small smile forms on his lips watching your features scrunch and react to the different sets of interactions being shown. While he wasn’t one for trashy reality shows, he’d sit and watch you get adorably worked up and invested in people you’d never meet all day.

Well, maybe not all day.

“Let’s say I was the bachelor,” he states lying his chin on your shoulder. “Would you try out?”

“Well I think when you try out, you don’t know who the bachelor is,” you giggle as his lips peck your neck.

“Alright say you did, and we weren’t together of course.”

“I honestly don’t know-,” you answer causing him to sit up looking a bit puzzled as he shifted to look you directly in your face.

“You don’t know?”

“Let me finish,” you laugh before kissing the furrowed spot between his brows to relax his face. “I don’t know because I feel like me competing with a bunch of other women who look like supermodels and pageant queens, I’d probably be sent home on night one. Plus you know I don’t really have the same personality type as them either.”

You had a point. Unlike the women on the screen, it took you a bit longer to be open with people due to your shy nature. When you and Ransom first started dating, at least once a week Ransom would start to mentally question if you really liked him as much as he liked you. He’d even become frustrated sitting alone in his modern home as he thought he was possibly missing signals that showed him this.

It was as if you had been reading his mind when you brought it up over a private, candlelit dinner one night at quite possibly the best restaurant in town that, before, you could only dream of going to.

“I-I know I’m probably not as open about my feelings as the other girls you’ve been with,” you spoke nervously fiddling with the extra cloth napkin beside your plate. “I promise it’s not that I don’t like you or anything because I do! It’s just I get in my head, and don’t want to potentially mess up anything and I’m sorry-,”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he interrupts placing his larger hand on top of yours. Was he used to his prior dates and girlfriends telling every feeling and emotion from day one? Yes, but now he understood that until you were comfortable those feelings and thoughts would probably stay held in. And he didn’t mind waiting.

“You don’t need to apologize. I’ll tell you now that you don’t have to be afraid about sharing how you feel with me, but if you need time I get it. Don’t worry I’ll still be here.”

With a soft “aw” as his hand caresses your cheek and thumb grazes your skin, he leans in to kiss your lips only separating briefly before stealing a couple more.

“You’re right, you wouldn’t last long.”

Now was your turn to lean back, looking at him puzzled as you scoffed. “Wow thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I say that because I’d know you were the one I wanted on night one, so there wouldn’t be any rose ceremonies. It’d be the shortest season in history,” he smiles capturing your smirking lips once more.

“You’d really know on night one?”

You weren’t questioning his loyalty, but you also weren’t gonna forget about his past playboy ways in this hypothetical situation of him being single and surrounded by 30 or so gorgeous women.

“Mhmm. Knowing how long you take to get ready though, you’d probably be the last to arrive but I’d still know,” he chuckles as you lightly smack his chest.

Taglist: @fumbling-fanfics @honeychicanawrites @honeychicana @lady-olive-oil @themyscxiras @melinda-january @lovelymari4 @maxcullen @literaturefeen @damnitaa @curlyhairclub @plokyu23 @fullofmelaninsarcasmandepression @nunubug99 @felicity-x0 @ellixthea @jojolu @jnk-812 @brwn-sgr @captainsamwlsn @wildfirecracker @nina-sj @iammyownlover @chaneajoyyy @secretmysteriousperson @scoop93535

If anybody wants to be tagged, has asked to be tagged but don’t see your name, only want to be tagged for certain people I write for (can be found in masterlist), or no longer wish to be tagged just let me know🤓!

#ransomxwoc #ransomxreader #ransom drysdale #ransomxblackreader #chrisxblackreader #chrisxwoc #chrisxreader #chris evans #knives out

[pokedashwarrior55]

Raincloud HC and Mini Fic

BENTHOMAAR/VANIA HC DUMP.

 CAN BE READ PLATONIC OR ROMANTIC BUT THESE TWO WOULD BE PERFECT FOR EACHOTHER EITHER WAY

Inspired By @parachutingkitten

- They saw each other at the nya tribute but didn't get to actually meet

-Bentho became king of merlopians but struggles with citizens seeing him as a real king, as many still are distrustful of the surface world

-He has gluttonous there as the royal scientist and Gripe helps him out, but the citizens still don’t view him has a true king after what happened with Kalmaar

-Bentho and Vania have a cordial meeting for royal business

-Vania is struggling less with her people and more with her city economically recovering.

-Bentho wants to bind the kingdoms somehow, since her kingdom is so inland that if they had good relations with a mountainous region it's one step closer to accepting him.

-They are skeptical of SURFACE DWELLERS not humans so it's a good try. 

-establishes trade and economic relations with each other. Maybe trade or sell deepstone and bioluminescent stones for jewelry and architecture in return for some shintaro product unavailable under the sea. Maybe a metal or type of cuisine? Not sure. Flowers perhaps since they have so many in the garden. 

-Both relate to having less than respectable family members and share experiences with defeating them

-share new ruler problems they face and can relate to each other very well

-benthomaar can keep up with the bubbly energy of Vania and they both have a backbone to keep their bond from being too unhealthy, fluffy and overly optimistic.

-bentho has trauma from kalmaar's abuse and goes overboard to try and impress vania and thinks he has to be the best damn guy and best royal ally possible to keep her current friendship

-Vania is pretty easily impressed and is very vocal with her admiration so he'll be overwhelmingly happy and confused when she latches on so quickly.

-she'll show him around the sky city, bentho never been so high up, and can introduce him to her allies down below.

-Bentho loves the caves much more than the city in the sense that it's more comforting and all the underwater streams and lakes remind him of home.

-all streams lead to the ocean so I'm not surprised if they find out the water is connected to merlopian seas some how

- this can also work to compliment the kingdoms

- Like Merlopia can reach out and achieve diplomacy with another kingdom instead of being so islationist, and shintaro struggles with moving on from a unsustainable and horrific economic system so they could help eachother alot. 

-Both very isolated so coming together may be a good step for both countries’

-Merlopians could be accepting of geckles and munce since they live below the surface, and the shintarins live high above it (so they couldn’t flood it even if they wanted to). It’s baby steps towards liking the rest of NINJAGO as a continent. 

-When they become closer friends she Opts for calling him Ben or Benny, since she is so outgoing and bubbly like that, but immediately backtracks and asks if it was ok and apologizes, saying she went over the line

- He would stand up for himself and deny BENNY but I think Ben would be a cute name between the two uwu

-Benthomaar is naturally formal in his ruling and has to push himself to relax while Vania is very lax and friendly with her ruling but needs to push herself to be demanding and formal (She took awhile to use the “Princess” card against Halmaar, opting instead for mutual understanding)

-ok quasi-fic time

___________________________________________________________

FIC SKELETON (might finish writing someday but here’s the basics with some interaction)

 summary: : They spend the day learning about each other kingdoms, and in turn eachother. 

________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 1: Shintaro

Vania goes about giving Bentho a tour of her city and he is overly courteous of her. She finds it cute at first but then she starts worrying if Benthomaar thinks she can’t handle herself.

Introduces Bentho to Chompy. He finds the dragon very cute and that gets a big smile out of him, really showing off his very sharp teeth. Chompy loves him immediately and starts to climb over him and sit on his head and stuff. Bentho reciprocates pretty much immediately, no stranger to the values of an animal's unconditional love. (The only love that ever seems unconditional in his experience.)

 He has trust issues from Kalmaar and tries extra hard to earn love so he goes overboard sometimes, he’ll be the sort to open doors literally all the time, agree with her ideas more aggressively than is really needed, go out of his way to try and physically protect her from perceived threats, etc. Not knowing this fact, and being insecure about her own leadership skills, she thinks he is babying her, or worse, pitying her. She eventually tells him that she can indeed handle herself. 

“I can handle myself Benthomaar, you don’t have to do all these things for me.”

“I… Know that”

“You’re very sweet and I appreciate your generosity but… this”, gestures to all the things he bought or given or made for her, and gestures to the situation they were in where he immediately went to protect her from, “simply is too much”

The walk back is a tad awkward after that. Bentho remarks he’s never been so high up before and he does seem very dry from the heavy winds and cold air. 

Good thing it’s about time to show him the lower parts of the Kingdom anyway. 

“Halmar, I am escorting Benthomaar down through the mountain. Can you be in charge while I’m gone.”

“As you wish my queen”

Benthomaar looked the armored man up and down. “Halmaar? Are you of royal blood too?” he asked.

“What?” Halmar bluntly questioned aloud to the merlopean king before sputtering out in a bow, “I mean, Pardon?... Your majesty” 

“Benthomaar this is Halmar. My right hand advisor and head of our defensive force.”

“Oh. In my people, -Maar is given to that of royalty. ‘Halmaar’ means Brave Sea. ”

“Well I can assure you he’s very brave.” Vania beamed as Halmar recovered from his bow. “And will protect the city while I'm gone” she reminded him playfully, as she moved benthomaar out of the temple. 

________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 2: The Dungeons

Going through the dungeons vania remarks on her father’s previous ruling over it. They share stories and struggles. 

Talks about her father and how the ninja came to help. Goes into the topic of her ruling struggles. 

“Now that I have helped bring King Vangelis, my father I mean, to justice, people expect me to fix everything. They come to me asking for plans to retain Shintaro's glory, or with pleas for more funds. The people put so much faith in my father and, although his actions were Terrible… it made the city so wonderful for everyone living here. I don’t think I’ll be able to make Shintaro prosper the way he did. I love my people but they expect so much of me all at once. I admit It is very difficult to keep track of it all.”

“That sounds rough, but at least your subjects care for you. The people of Merlopia don’t see me as their king...and they have every right to. I helped the surface dwellers and my actions led to Kalmaar’s death. In their eyes I am a traitor…. Many don’t follow my commands unless they are directed through Gripe. It’s understandable they won’t respect me… I was adopted after all...”

“Well I respect you. Why, from the past--” counts on her fingers with a tongue sticking out “-- three hours I’ve officially known you, I’d say you’re a wonderful ruler! I hereby royally dub you a great king! You can tell your people that!”

*Small air laugh recovering from his Sadness* “Thank you, Vania. I don’t know how much they’ll regard a compliment from the mouth of a ‘surface dweller’, though”  

*Smol vania /hj sad pout to one side*

“But I appreciate it, really!!” He corrected arms waving at his front, trying to recover from his previous, in his eyes, disrespectful remark (also in his eyes failing horribly at doing so. He needs to queen to like him. This isn’t going well and-)

“I know you do.” she beamed, “ Now Come on, I see the cart tracks we’re getting closer!!” she happily stated, almost skipping past the new King.  

Bentho looked onward at the long haired blond who was trying to walk and balance on the rim of the track, and smiled with relief that she is so easy going at him. He essentially disregarded her royal decree to her face and she brushed it off like nothing. Trimaar had always honored heavy respect towards other royals but it seems this Queen runs things very differently. Even the day had been tame. It felt more like some playdate than an official royal gathering,but with how stressful becoming King had been it was a pleasant change of pace. 

“Hey Bentho! We’re HEeeereee!” Vania waved excitedly as the other royal caught up to her standing near a steep ledge leading down to an opening with a large passageway. 

Have to go down a large mountainous trench first to reach the dungeons. Benthomaar prepares to scale down the cliff but Vania brings out her wings and tells bentho to hold on. She flies him down the cave--

(Flying is vaguely exciting, but also vaguely terrifying. He’s never really had to deal with the possibility of falling before. Buildings in Merlopia aren’t that tall and you literally can’t fall underwater, there’s always something supporting you.) 

The two meet up with the chancellor of the geckles first. He welcomes Queen Gania and her friend Genthomaar and he asks first for trial by mino, but Vania orders him off. Scoffing at her majesty’s boring overriding of their usual procedures he opts for a simple vote for bringing the new unfamiliar face to the munce queen. Bentho gets rocks thrown at him and the geckles cheer as they escort the two to where murtessa is. Vania giggles at him.

 Next up is the muntz. 

So she'd challenge him to a quick duel to see if he is a fitting ally. Naturally Benthomaar rocks with a spear, so he's good, but he'll be really confused at first and probably not want to fight her.

He doesn’t win, but Murtessa sees through his fighting that he has a good heart, and a brave one. She declares him an ally of the Munce. King Menthomaar. And then gives him a hearty slap on the back and invites them all to dinner. They politely decline (Vania, to preserve her stomach. Munce food is, ah, something else.) 

Murtessa thinks Bentho is a good kid and a good fighter. She thinks it's funny how polite he is, though. Gives him some royal advice that he’d be a little better off if he would carry himself like a king. “Confidence! Important in every Munce ruler!” 

Bentho finds her and Munce a bit...much, but they also kind of remind him of the Maaray back home so he also finds it kind of familiar. (Also he doesn’t know it, but shark Merlopians are kind of rough and tumble, too. Like Munce, but without tight knit families or a set kingdom.) 

________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 3: Merlopia

Goes back to the temple to discuss whats next. 

“If we are going to be partners in this royal engagement, I think you should see My homeland. Merlopia”

Vania just laughs at his wording

“What did I say?” Genuine confused babi just trying to be overly courteous cause he feels like he must be a GOOD KING. ULTRA KING.

Brings her to the beach. He signals her to wait there and he dives into the water to ask nya for some help in bringing Vania down the depths. She knew the bare basics of what happened but seeing nya in such a state made her a tad saddened. 

“Nya. Can you help bring my friend to Merlopia?”

Nya nods all slow and goddess like. “You helped me defeat Wojira, correct? For that I’ll grant you this.”

“Thank you, nya”

“That’s NYA??” 

“Do I… know you.”

She just frowns at that question. She knew she and nya were not super close but to be forgotten like that. Ouch. “I guess not”

Nya makes a large air bubble and descends quickly down the depths. And like cool camera pans and junk and bentho is riding the wave nya is making outta the bubble and vania sticks her head outta the bubble for a sec to meet his gaze and feel the current go by. Fluff insues

“Don’t worry there is air in the palace”

Vania just loudly exclaims in relief cause honestly she was prepared to be living in a bubble forever. 

Nya just...disintegrates. Which is a bit strange to see, even for Vania who usually likes weird stuff. But she doesn’t linger on it long because ooooohhh Merlopia is so pretty! I mean Shintaro is pretty too but this is a whole different kind of pretty. It’s like the gardens of Shintaro, but that’s the whole city. It’s so colorful compared to the flawless Ivory City. 

They tour around a little bit, with Vania looking at everything in interest. She even likes the Royal Ripper Sharks (who are being treated a bit nicer now that Kalmaar is gone, and are sicced on people far less frequently than before.) Benthomaar gets a bit nervous when Gripe runs up to him with a bunch of kingly concerns and kind of tells him a lot of noncommittal responses. 

Since they declined dinner with the Munce, Vania’s stomach starts rumbling, and she embarrassedly admits that she was pretty hungry. 

Benthomaar invites her to dinner in Merlopia. 

They eat  while discussing trade stuff and diplomacy? (And also their day and the G&M and such.) 

Also a fun chance to make up some Merlopian culture and food, and for him to share it with her. Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot of fish. But that’s honestly great because they don’t have a lot of that in Shintaro. There are a few streams a hike away that she's had every now and again, but for the most part fish isn’t something eaten often in Shintaro. 

Benthomaar is pretty happy with this set-up because he had been eating dinner all by himself which was very lonely and wistful.  It's much nicer with her company, and he needs her to know that, and really wants her to stay around and to like him so that they can do this again. So his super-manners-having-to-prove-himself-worthy-of-friendship kick in again and he starts getting super formal and passing her stuff and offering dishes a little overzealously and such and she's like "this again what the huh?"

“My lord, you're...doing it again.” 

“Sorry, I’ll do better.” 

“Better? You’re doing just fine. Really. The meal is great, the presentation is beautiful, and you’re being so kind. I just...don’t need this much attention at once, that’s all.” 

No I’m not it’s not good enough. I’m not good enough. * frowns silently * *internal screaming * 

They decide to meet again later to discuss trade and commerce deals and both bow goodbye after dinner, but soon as she leaves the dining room and gets lost roaming the temple (this palace is constructed like the caves how do they find anything) eventually ends back up at the dining room, where benthomaar is cleaning up the table and stacking the used dishes and they both realize that she can't get back up on her own. They share a laugh and Bentho promises to escort her back up.

Vania wonders why he is cleaning and not the palace servents so she decides to help him clean up, since it seems his people weren’t going to. 

The end

(Also Nya is busy being a goddess somewhere else, so they’ll have to get her transportation back at a later date. With any luck there’s an air-breather-friendly manta saddle that they can use for her.)

________________________________________________________________

They are too precious for this world someone please do more of thisssss

#ninjago #ns15 spoilers #ns15 #ninjago seabound #ninjago seabound spoilers #benthomaar #ninjago benthomaar #ninjago vania #vania #Vania X Benthomaar #raincloudshipping #ninjago raincloudshipping #raincloud #ninjago nya #nya smith

[burninghoneyatdusk]

creator tag game!

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020.

Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

A huge thank you to those who tagged me - you’re why I’ve loved t100 fandom so much 💞: @pawprinterfanfic | @sparklyfairymira | @hopskipaway | @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold | @bookwormforalways | @ruggedmurphy

1. HOMESICK (IT’S A BITTERSWEET FEELING)

When Bellamy looks up, he sees a young blonde girl with sky blue eyes sitting in a booth two down from his own with a man he assumes to be her father. Bellamy watches her ignore the food in front of her as she concentrates so hard on the picture she’s drawing that her brow is furrowed and there’s a determined little frown on her small heart-shaped face. This isn’t the first time he meets her, but it’s the first time the Griffins enter his little town and his little life.

Bellamy and Clarke can’t stand each other, which is only exasperated by the fact that as step siblings, they’re stuck in the same house. But when they’re paired up as lab partners, they grow closer and realize they may have more in common than they thought. Which really only complicates things further…

This fic really means a lot to me in that it’s both my first fic and the only finished WIP of mine that will change in a few weeks. I really wanted to write a story of forbidden love and went the step-siblings route, but also chose to use the small town setting that I grew up in. This fic will always be close to my heart and it makes my day when people discover and like it.

2. ALL BECAUSE OF YOU

When Clarke gets knocked up at 18 by her best friend's brother, her plans for the future go down the drain. She never would have guessed that seven years later, her and Bellamy would be successfully co-parenting their daughter as best friends. Best friends - nothing more, nothing less. Clarke has never let herself entertain the thought of anything more - she knows where Bellamy's stood since the beginning. It's time for her to move on, once and for all.

When Bellamy gets Clarke pregnant, he feels like he's ruined her life. He makes a promise to himself that he'll make sure his daughter and Clarke have the lives they both deserve- and he's sure Clarke deserves a hell of a lot more than him. He thinks he's done a good job pushing away his feelings for her for the last seven years, but when Clarke gets engaged, he wonders if he's made a mistake. He wonders if it's too late.

I really never imagined that people would enjoy this fic like they have - it’s literally that *before bed story I play in my head while trying to sleep* and writing it was really self-indulgent so the attention it has gotten is bewildering to me and I’m so grateful. I’m working on the last chapter now and although I’m definitely ready to put this fic to bed, I’ll be sad to see it end.

This fic won best angst wip, best modern au, best parenthood, and tied for best smut wip in the @bellarkeficawards which was really awesome and I’m so grateful to those who read it, enjoyed it, and voted 💙

3. VOICES IN THE WATER

In an attempt at establishing a more permanent peace between Trikru and Azgeda, Heda negotiates an arranged marriage between Trikru King Bellamy and Azgeda Princess Clarke, the dutiful niece of Queen Nia.

If only they knew that the princess spends her nights as the feared assassin Wanheda, the queen’s secret weapon and a wanted legend among the clans.

If only they knew that the queen has no intention of establishing peace with Trikru.

If only they knew the Trikru King is Wanheda’s next target.

This is the first canonverse fic I attempted - I really wanted to write a grounder!bellamy arranged marriage au & originally planned to have Clarke as part of the sky people like in the show, but it felt like that had been done several times over. I got the idea to have Clarke as an assassin when thinking about this fic and then seeing the script to screen for the s4 bellarke scene where Clarke is threatening to shoot Bellamy for opening the door to the bunker.

This fic won best canon wip, best grounder au, and best arranged marriage au for @bellarkeficawards so once again, a huge thanks to the readers for voting for this. I know it’s been a minute since it was updated but three chapter updates are in my @t100fic-for-blm queue and should be published in February.

4. CHASIN’ YOU

When Bellamy and Clarke fell in love as teenagers in small town Tennessee, it felt like they had the world at their feet. But when tragedy struck and Clarke lost everything, she ran.

Six years later, Bellamy Blake is a rising country star. Unbeknownst to his fans, the song that sent him to the top of the charts is a promise to the girl he never stopped loving. A promise that he’ll never stop looking for her, even if the only chance he has of finding her again is through the radio.

I really love this fic, even though it’s actually the fic with the second to lowest kudos. I’m hoping when I publish chapters 3 & 4 (both requested for @t100fic-for-blm) in March, it’ll get some more love since it really only got started and then I haven’t updated in a long time.

I’m really excited to write this because I think the way the story is being told hasn’t been done - it’s essentially Clarke in the present listening to Bellamy’s album, and each track is a chapter that will feature flashbacks that tell their story of falling in love and then falling apart, before eventually catching up with them in the present.

5. LET YOUR HEART BEAT HERE

The incredible above drawing is by @poppykru 💞

It’s wedding season and Clarke, as single as ever, is faced with the prospect of spending an entire summer at the singles’ table. The only person who might be more miserable than her is her best friend’s brother Bellamy, who just got dumped from a three year relationship.

Bellamy and Clarke have never gotten along, but to survive wedding season, they make a deal - double down on weddings by being each others’ plus ones. It’s only a mutually beneficial agreement, a way to avoid the singles’ tables and wingman each other. At least, that’s all it was supposed to be.

This fic is a Plus One au, although with an enemies to friends to lovers twist rather than just friends to lovers like in the movie. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an amazing movie that I’m a bit obsessed with. It’s one of the best rom coms I’ve ever seen in that it’s genuinely funny but grounded and realistic, and I really love the message it tells about love not needing to be perfect and certain for it to be real and worth it. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t recommend it enough.

I wrote this fic as part of the @t100fic-for-blm donation celebration, where we wrote fics based on tropes and themes voted on by prompters as a thank you for helping us reach $2,500 by the series finale

—————

One thing I wanted to remind people is that although I’m not accepting new prompts until I catch up on the ones on my list now, I am accepting WIP update requests via @t100fic-for-blm for Voices in the Water, Chasin’ You, and Let Your Heart Beat Here. You can view my current list/schedule on my pinned post and if you want to see more WIP chapters of a particular fic prioritized, requesting an update is a great way to make that happen!

✨Tagging/saying hi to some of the amazing writers and creators I’ve interacted with in this fandom✨ @animmortalist | @stealing-jasons-job | @poppykru | @eyessharpweaponshot | @icantloseyou-too | @blakecholls | @ohbellamy | @silvernyxa | @helloeurydice | @queenemori | @allysketches | @chronictonsillitis | @bellarkestitchdelena | @underbellamy | @broashwhat | @carrieeve | @writetheniteaway | @elora-lane | @excuseyouclarke | @nakey-cats-take-bathsss | @the-most-beautiful-broom | @gansxythethird | @queen-of-the-wallflowers15 | @useyourtelescope | @franklyineedcoffee | @thelegendofclarke

I’m forgetting so many people, so if you want to do this consider yourself tagged & tag me in your post! 💕

#bellarke #bellarke fanfiction #bellarke fanfic #the 100 #the 100 fanfiction #burninghoneyatdusk #my fics #homesick (it’s a bittersweet feeling) #all because of you #voices in the water #chasin’ you #let your heart beat here #tag games #fandom

[bedlamsbard]

Part 10 of the other side AU concept!  Next up will be the epilogue scenes.  As a reminder from Part 1, the current state of the New Republic here takes more from the EU than it does from the new canon (though has some nods in that direction), because I’m more familiar with the EU and like it more.

Previous: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

About 6.5K below the break.

***

Only General Airen Cracken, the head of Rebel Intelligence, and Leia Organa were present when Hera did her post-mission debrief.  She suspected that this op was going to be the kind whose reports were mysteriously lost – that if they ever existed at all – but as it was she gave Cracken and Leia the truth as best she could.

When she had finished, Cracken and Leia glanced at each other.  The small office was quiet for a long time, broken only by the hum of the air filters on the big warship and the sound of steps in the corridor beyond the closed door.

Cracken turned the data card with the Cluster-Prism files over in his fingers, frowning to himself. He was a human male with graying fair hair, his mild expression belying the sharpness in his eyes.  After a few moments, he said, “I would say that none of what you just told us leaves this room, but I assume under the circumstances you’ll be informing members of your old crew the details.”

“I could hardly not,” Hera said, forbearing to point out that most of them had been there when she had returned.  Luke and Ahsoka had taken Kanan off to talk to him privately; since Hera hadn’t heard any alarm klaxons yet, either they had all killed each other quietly or it was going as well as it could under the circumstances.  Luke and Ahsoka didn’t get along at the best of times and this wasn’t those.

Cracken tapped the edge of the data card on his desk, then shrugged and said, “This should get us a step ahead of Warlord Zsinj – several steps ahead, with any luck.  Will you be transferring back to the Lodestar?  You’re due some leave that I assume you’ll want to take under the circumstances.”

“Airen, you know as well as I do that a general never really gets to go on leave,” Hera said dryly, which made the corner of his mouth quirk up in a grin.

“I do that.”  He pulled open a desk drawer, removed something, and tossed it to her. “By the way, the Council vote was four days ago. Alliance commissions are automatically transferred to the New Republic, but if you did want a new assignment, this would be the time to ask.”

Hera caught the neat circle of embroidered fabric and inspected it; the new insignia was the Rebel Alliance starbird surrounded by fifteen starbursts.  She turned the patch over in her fingers, thinking.

“Hera?” Cracken said, when she had been silent too long for comfort.

Hera put the patch down on the desk in front of her, smoothing her fingers over the starbird, and looked up at Cracken. “I’m going to resign my commission.”

His sandy eyebrows shot up. “Why?”

“There’s something I’ve needed to do for a long time,” Hera said slowly, “and I’ve put it aside for far too long.  I can’t do that anymore.”

“You’re talking about Ezra Bridger,” Leia said.

Hera glanced at her. “Yes.”

Cracken rubbed a hand over his chin. “I’ve read those files.  Vanished off into the Unknown Regions with Grand Admiral Thrawn and what was left of the Seventh Fleet.”

Hera nodded.

“I met Thrawn, back in the old days,” Cracken remarked.  “If he ever returned, we could be in for a bigger fight than Zsinj and Isard and the rest of that lot have been giving us.  Do you have any reason to think they’re out there? Bridger, Thrawn, the Chimaera, any of the other ships from the Seventh?”

“No more reason than to think they’re not,” Hera said. “I won’t be alone.”

“Mmm.”  Cracken tapped his fingers on the table.  “Not being from Starfighter Command or representing High Command in this case, I can’t accept your resignation, General Syndulla. I will say that since the Council vote, we’ve already had a rash of personnel resigning, officers and enlisted alike.  Some of them aren’t interested in going legit, others believe that the Council vote means the war is over.”  He shook his head.  “As long as there’s even one Imperial Remnant ship or base out there, the war will never be over.  You’d be surprised at how many people don’t believe that, though.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

He snorted.  “No, you wouldn’t.  You’re like the rest of us old-timers.  We saw too much.  Kills our credibility as far as the kids who joined up after Yavin or even Endor think, let alone the ones who lived through Cinder.”  He leaned back in his chair, sharp eyes considering.  “You’re too good an officer to lose, Hera.”

She stiffened, but he held up a finger to silence her before she could protest.

“Let me finish before you tell me to go to hell and flounce off with that resurrected boyfriend of yours.”

“I never flounce, Airen. And it’s fiancé.”

His eyebrows went up. “Congratulations are in order, I suppose.”  Then he frowned. “Is this for the damn pension?  Because as I recall, technically Jarrus was never an Alliance officer –”

Leia stirred and said, “It’s in the Articles that members of informal rebel cells have the right to apply for retroactive status if they couldn’t formally join the Alliance due to captivity, distance, or other reasons –”

“Such as being dead?” Cracken said.

Hera met his gaze. “Prove it.”

He massaged his forehead. “Oh, for love of the Force.”

“The last formal rank he held was commander,” Hera said.

“In the Grand Army of the Republic, I assume.”

“There’s precedent. Rex –”

Cracken waved a hand. “I’ll sign the datawork if that’s what you want.  If it’s just for the pension rather than actually finding him a command –” He tapped a finger on the data card. “This does count for something, but we’re a bit short of commands at the moment.”

“What, even with officers resigning left and right?” Hera asked.

“That’s not the problem. The Governing Council wants to reduce the size of the military, despite the fact that nothing actually changed after they had the vote and we’ve still got Zsinj and Gideon and half a dozen other warlords out there.”

Her voice very dry, Leia said, “There’s a faction in the Council that believes that once we have an established government again with a senate and maybe a chancellor or a president or whatever we decide to call it that most of the Remnant holdouts and the independents will fall in line.”

Hera rolled her eyes. “Has Borsk Fey’lya actually talked to any of the independents?”

“You can tell me if you think your father would pick up his calls.”

Hera snorted softly. Ryloth had refused the offer to formally join the Rebel Alliance until certain conditions were met, which the Alliance Council had been refusing to grant for the past year.  With the Curia in disarray after almost twenty years of the Empire doing its best to delegitimize it, Cham Syndulla had managed to get the bulk of political power on Ryloth in his own hands, for better or worse.  “Not the last time I spoke to him, which was only two weeks ago.  We’re getting off-topic, Airen.  And yes, the pension would be useful; just use the carbonite forms and leave the being dead part out of it; it isn’t like it’s never happened before.  But that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Starfighter Command won’t accept your resignation without a good reason, and maybe not even then,” Cracken said, with a wince at the words “carbonite forms.”  They hadn’t been used often, but they were a datawork nightmare for everyone involved.

“Why not?  I’m a decent combat commander, but there are plenty of others who are just as good or better, and you can’t tell me that some of the people thinking about retiring wouldn’t be just as happy training pilots, so I’m not exactly necessary there.”

He ticked off reasons on his fingers.  “You’re young, you’re pretty, you’re a woman, you’re not human, you’re a general – for that matter, you’re from one of the independent worlds in the Outer Rim and in high society back on Ryloth, even if most Core Worlders see that as the back of beyond – because most Core Worlders see that as the back of beyond –”

Hera frowned. “What does any of that have to do with it?”

“Apparently Ackbar had this conversation with Wedge Antilles while you were gone over some hot new project Antilles has in mind – nothing to do with you, but Antilles pointed out that most of the best-known officers in the Alliance – excuse me, the New Republic – are human, and mostly male.  Except for you,” he added to Leia, who grimaced.  “You, General Hera Syndulla,” Cracken went on, pointing at her, “are a PR officer’s dream.  I guarantee that whenever you get back to the Lodestar there will be a message waiting for you with orders to report for a HoloNet interview and probably a photoshoot.  All very reserved but sexy, to make it clear that the New Republic is open to everyone and that we’re not the Empire; even a Twi’lek woman can rise high.”

Hera fought down the memory of the younger Hera’s anguished voice saying, Most humans just think certain things about Twi’lek women. I’m sure even your Rebel Alliance is like that.  “If you’re trying to convince me not to resign, it’s not working.”

“It won’t matter, because Starfighter Command won’t accept your resignation, and Ackbar won’t for the same reason if you try to go over their heads to him.  He doesn’t look good on the front of a holomag unless you happen to be another Mon Cala.”

Hera rubbed a hand over her face.  “Please just stop talking or I won’t even bother with resigning and just desert.”

“Yes, please do,” Leia said dryly.  To Hera she added, “You’re not the only one, but I don’t work as well for it because I’m human and a princess of Alderaan.  And married, but a really good reporter could spin that if they wanted to.”

“I’m trying to get married,” Hera pointed out. “Get to the point, Airen.”

“You were seconded to Intelligence for this operation,” Cracken said. “I can’t accept your resignation, but I could give you a new assignment.  And right now no one’s going to notice if you’re transferred here permanently, with all the datawork chaos from the transition.”  He held up a hand to still her protest.  “You may need a New Republic general’s authority if you’re out in the Unknown Regions searching for a missing Imperial fleet.  We’ve had rumors about Thrawn for years; he’s been the bogeyman beneath the Alliance’s bed since well before Endor.  Since Jakku, more than a few Imperials have vanished, claiming they’re off to find him.  If he’s out there, then we need to find him before they do, and they have a head start.”

Hera leaned back in her chair, frowning.  “Starfighter Command is not going to like you poaching me anymore than they’ll like me resigning.”

Cracken and Leia exchanged a glance. “I can handle the fallout,” Leia said. “There’s enough else going on right now that no one is going to notice for a while, since you’re seconded already.”

Hera turned her frown on Cracken. “What do you get out of this?”

“We get someone out in the Unknown Regions looking for Thrawn,” Cracken said, raising an eyebrow. “Which I’ve been asking for since Endor, but we’ve never had the resources to send anyone out there.  We still don’t, but if you’re going anyway –”  He tilted his head.

Hera suspected there was a trap in here somewhere, but as it went Intelligence didn’t have so many generals in it that anyone but Cracken could give her orders.  “I agree with conditions,” she said.

“What are those?”

“I don’t answer to anyone but you – or Ackbar,” she had to concede, since as the commander-in-chief of the New Republic military he had precedence even over divisional commands, “– and my crew draws a salary.”

Cracken closed his eyes briefly, clearly annoyed, but just said, “Agreed.  We’ll discuss the specifics later.”

Hera and Leia left a few minutes after that, letting the door slide shut behind them as they stepped out into the corridor.

“I have something for you that I didn’t want to give you in front of General Cracken,” Hera told her quietly, drawing her aside into an empty room.  She withdrew the box Bail Organa had given her from the bag slung over her shoulder, holding it out to Leia.

For a long moment Leia just looked at it.  Eventually, she reached out, her fingers hovering just above the silver insignia inlaid in the fine wood of the lid, then she snatched her hand back as though she couldn’t bear to touch it.  Hera didn’t protest, just waited patiently as Leia stared at it.

She hadn’t left her meeting with Bail Organa out of her report, though she hadn’t conveyed the exact content of their conversation either, not having a Jedi’s near-eidetic memory.

Finally, Leia reached out with shaking hands and took the box from her.  She didn’t open it, just drew it in against herself, cradling it against her chest.  Her voice a little shaky, she said, “He was…well?”

“Yes,” Hera said.  She started to reach out, then hesitated, not certain if Leia wanted the comfort or not.

Leia didn’t seem to see her. She whispered, “They’ll live. They’ll all live.  Somewhere else, even if not…here.  They’ll live.”  She bit her lip, then looked up, her eyes brimming with tears.  “I’d like to be alone now.”

Hera nodded.  She touched Leia’s shoulder briefly and found that the younger woman was trembling; Hera squeezed her shoulder and then left her alone, letting the door slide closed behind her.

*

She was on her way back to the Ghost, docked in one of the massive warship’s several bays, when she ran into Ahsoka.  Hera stopped at the other woman’s gesture, stepping aside into a mostly empty wardroom.  The only two officers already there cleared out when they saw Hera’s general’s insignia, saluting her briefly before they left.

Hera eyed Ahsoka a bit warily.  While they had been friendly in the old days with Phoenix Squadron, Hera had never been able to feel anything other than resentful of Ahsoka’s return from Malachor, nor had she been able to shake the suspicion that the other woman was keeping something from her.  Something had changed there, something more drastic than the circumstances had suggested. Hera was vaguely aware that that was more than a little unfair, given what those circumstances had been, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.  It helped that since her return Ahsoka had avoided her and most of the other members of the Rebel Alliance, preferring to go off on her own rather than take any formal role.

“Before you ask,” Ahsoka said, “it was my decision to bring Jacen here.  Sabine went to get him from Ryloth.  I spoke to General Syndulla before she arrived.”

Hera felt the muscle in her jaw twitch.  Political reasons meant her father couldn’t set foot on a New Republic ship and thus couldn’t have come with Jacen; Ahsoka must have been very convincing to get him to agree to this.  “I hope you have a good explanation for why you thought my five-year-old son ought to be on a warship.”

Ahsoka tucked her hands behind her back, frowning. “Believe me, Hera, if I hadn’t thought it was necessary I never would have brought him here.  Rex didn’t find me until after you had already left.”

“That still doesn’t explain why my son is here,” Hera said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Because I didn’t think we would be able to get you back without him,” Ahsoka said. “And we nearly didn’t even with him here.”

Hera frowned at her. “Explain.”

Ahsoka sighed and looked around, then dropped into the nearest armchair and folded her legs in front of her.  Hera sat too, a little stiffly; the chairs and couches in the room were all mismatched and hard-worn, but comfortable enough compared to the inside of a cockpit.

“When Luke sent you away – sent you over there – he had to have a – for lack of a better word, an anchor, a target.  That was why they had to use you and not someone else.”  She rubbed briefly at her forehead, suddenly looking every day of her thirty-odd years.

Hera nodded warily. “No one else with a high enough clearance for this op could be relatively certain of being able to access the same place they probably were before Scarif. We weren’t even sure just using the Ghost would work, except it did.”

“She – the Hera Syndulla from that universe, I mean – was there when you arrived?” Ahsoka inquired, looking briefly curious.

“Not in the room.  She said she was just outside the ship – the Ghost was docked in a hangar on Naboo.”

“Hmm.”  Ahsoka smoothed the side of her thumb over the armor plate resting across her crossed legs, her expression academically curious for an instant before she drew herself back to the subject at hand. “Having her there, in the Ghost, in a specific time span, gave Luke something to aim for.  It could have been any number of other universes, too, other – other possibilities.”

Hera nodded.  “Kanan – the other Kanan – said that the reason Luke had to use those constraints because he wasn’t aiming for anything very, very specific.  He had to have a range, but not one which was too wide.”

Ahsoka frowned in thought. “I suppose.  I didn’t think about it like that, but the dialect on the artifact is very archaic. My grasp on it is better than Luke’s, but I came to the same conclusion he did.”  She looked up, her brows drawing together.  “The…other Kanan.  He didn’t use an artifact or a focus of any kind?”

Hera shook her head. “He said he didn’t need to.  He said that Jedi didn’t use artifacts like that for anything they couldn’t do naturally, those just made it easier, but he also didn’t think he would be able to manage it if he didn’t know who he was looking for or if I wasn’t there, because otherwise he would have to – to sort through all the options, and he didn’t think he could do that.”

The other woman nodded slowly, her frown deepening.  For a moment she looked like she was considering commenting on that, then she shook her head and said, “Anyway, that’s going there.  Coming back is harder, especially since you’re not a Force-user and can’t direct yourself.  Going there, the other Hera Syndulla could act as an anchor for you, to – to pull you into that universe.  But to come back to this universe – well, you’re not here.  You’re already gone.  One of the holocrons Luke found talked about people getting lost in the transition.”  She flattened her palms on her knees.  “We didn’t find the reference until after you had left.”

“What does Jacen have to with any of that?” Hera asked, deciding to worry about that later.

“Jacen is your son,” Ahsoka said. “Blood of your blood, bone of your bone, to be old-fashioned about it. Your father probably would have worked just as well, but –”

“But he can’t set foot on an Alliance – a New Republic ship unless Ryloth joins the New Republic,” Hera said, rubbing a hand over her face.  “You could have taken the Ghost to Ryloth instead of bringing Jacen here.”

Ahsoka shook her head. “The same reason but the other way around.  And General Cracken wouldn’t allow it, since this was an Intelligence operation.  I did ask.”

Hera ground her teeth and bit back her first few responses to that.  When she didn’t say anything, Ahsoka went on, “We thought that Jacen would be able to serve as an anchor for you in this universe, especially because he’s Force-sensitive.  We weren’t counting on –”

“Kanan?” Hera filled in for her when she hesitated, and Ahsoka winced.

“No.  He…probably helped you along, but it’s hard to tell. It’s not like any of this has been done in living memory.”  She glanced aside, clearly uncomfortable.

“Jacen is Kanan’s son too,” Hera pointed out.

“Yes,” Ahsoka admitted, looking even more uncomfortable. “I’m sure that helped.  I don’t know what would have happened if your father had been here instead of Jacen.”  She added with the ghost of a smile, “You should probably comm your father when you have a chance.”

“I’ll do that,” Hera said dryly. “He’d probably like to know that Kanan’s back and we’re getting married, too.”

Ahsoka sat up so abruptly that Hera heard her back pop. “What?”

“We’re getting married,” Hera repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Ahsoka pushed to her feet and paced the room, as if she suddenly couldn’t bear being seated any longer. Hera turned her head to watch her, frowning. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, of course not,” Ahsoka said, her voice strained and the words seemingly automatic; almost in the same breath she finished, “Yes.”

Hera felt the muscle in her jaw jump. “You and Kanan used to be friends.”  You and I used to be friends, she thought, but held back the words.  They weren’t enemies, but it had been a long time since they had been friends. Some of that was due to Hera’s inability to look at any Force-user without thinking, it should have been Kanan, but Ahsoka had pulled away from everyone except Rex after she had come back from Malachor.

Ahsoka stopped pacing. She was still facing away from Hera, but Hera could tell that she had her arms crossed over her chest, her shoulders hunched in.  “We were. We are.”

Hera rubbed a hand over her face.  She wanted to go back to the Ghost, reassure herself of Kanan’s presence, hug her son, and comm her father, but apparently she had to deal with this first. “Do you have something against my son?”

“Jacen’s a very nice boy,” Ahsoka said without turning around.  She was quiet for a long moment, then she said, “Do you know who Luke’s father is?”

“A Jedi Knight who was killed during the Purge,” Hera said.  She and Luke had talked about it a little when they had been stationed on Hoth together; he had sought her out after someone had told him about Kanan and Ezra.

“Anakin Skywalker,” Ahsoka said, a wealth of pain in her voice. “He was my master.  And he didn’t die during the Purge.”  She took a deep breath, then turned around to face Hera. “You might know him better as Darth Vader.”

Hera blinked rapidly.

“I don’t think – I know Kanan.  I knew Kanan. The situation isn’t the same.  I just –” Ahsoka bit her lower lip.

“You had better not be saying what it sounds like you’re saying,” Hera said quietly.

Ahsoka closed her eyes briefly. “After – Malachor – I did some digging.  During the Clone War I’d made assumptions – well, we all had. It’s not as though Jedi never had affairs, though we weren’t permitted commitments outside the Order.  And Padmé – Luke’s mother – had been a friend of mine. We all knew they were having an affair. Except it wasn’t an affair.  They had been married in secret just after the war started.”  There was agony on her face as she looked at Hera.  “Anakin broke his vows, and because of it the Order died.  They all died.”

Hera got to her feet. “Kanan isn’t him.”

“I know that!” Ahsoka snapped.  She took a deep breath, putting one hand on the back of the chair nearest her.

“And the Jedi Order is a generation in its grave.  There’s no one left but you and Kanan.”

“I know that too,” Ahsoka said.  She was clutching the back of the chair so tightly that Hera heard the suede of her gauntlets creak.

Hera crossed her arms over her chest. “Does Luke know you knew his father?”

Ahsoka shook her head. “Knowing wouldn’t serve any purpose.  The Anakin Skywalker I knew…”  She let the words trail off, then shook her head again.  “I can’t look at him and think of anything but what Anakin did, and I won’t burden him with that more than he is already.  That’s not a ghost he needs to carry with him.”

“Is it one that you need to?” Hera asked her quietly.

“If I could set it aside I would,” Ahsoka said.  She sounded unspeakably weary. “But everyone I know died.  That isn’t an exaggeration.  Everyone I know – except Rex – died because of him, because he decided to break his vows and we all loved him so much we let him.”  She rubbed a hand over her face, briefly dislodging her headband.  “Hera, it’s nothing against Kanan, truly, or you, or Jacen.  But Anakin was a good person too, and so was Padmé.  And – and everyone died.  All of them.  Padmé, Obi-Wan, the Order, the clones, the Republic – they all died because of Anakin. The Emperor as well, but – Anakin sided with that.  And I’ll never know why, not really.  I did what I could to find out, but – but everyone is dead.  There’s no one left who knows.  They’re all dead.  And Anakin did that.”

She looked up at Hera. “That’s what I see every time I look at Luke.  I won’t give him that burden, but I can’t set it aside either.”

“Is that what you think about Kanan and me?” Hera asked her. “That we’re on the knife’s edge of everyone dying?”

“No,” Ahsoka said. “No.  But when you said it –”  She hesitated, then went on, “– when you said it, it was the only thing I could think of. And I know you and I knew Kanan, but I knew Anakin too.”  She looked at the chair she was gripping, then sighed and moved around to drop into it. “I knew you and Kanan were involved before, but I didn’t – I didn’t have to know it, if that makes sense.  And I didn’t know about Anakin then.  When I came back, I did know, and – and you had Jacen.  And Luke was there too, and I couldn’t…I couldn’t bear it. I know it’s not fair,” she added defensively as Hera glared at her.

“No, it’s not.”  She tried to bite back the sarcasm in her voice, but suspected she didn’t succeed.  She stood there, looking at Ahsoka’s slumped form in the armchair, and said the first thing that came to mind, “Did you tell Kanan you were worried about him snapping and murdering us all?”

Ahsoka looked badly startled. “No, of course not.  We had other things to discuss.”  She grimaced, then added, “And Luke was there, and some of what I have to say to Kanan I won’t say in front of him.”

Oh, this should be good, Hera thought.  She had always thought of Ahsoka as fairly even-tempered, but the handful of occasions where she hadn’t managed to avoid Luke had been memorable for everyone with the misfortune to be in the vicinity. “Then if you’re not going to say it to me, I need to go comm my father.”

She was almost at the door when Ahsoka said slowly, “Hera –”

 She turned back. “What?”

Ahsoka bit her lower lip. She was quiet for a long moment, then she said, “Ezra could have brought Kanan back six years ago, when he brought me back, and I stopped him.”

Hera froze.

Ahsoka looked back at her, her gaze weary. “There was a reason –”

“I don’t care,” Hera said. Her mind felt as though it had gone blank with either shock or rage; she wasn’t sure which at this point.  She balled up her fists at her sides, not certain either whether she just needed something to do with her hands or if she was trying not to hit Ahsoka.  “I don’t care,” she said again, and was surprised to find that it was the truth. She took a shuddering breath, because Kanan was here now and it really didn’t matter as long as Ahsoka didn’t try to remedy what she clearly thought of as a mistake.  Then her mind caught up with the rest of what Ahsoka had said and she snapped, “Do you know where Ezra is?”

“No,” Ahsoka said. She had sat up straight, but not risen. “This was before he went missing – from what Sabine’s told me, from when he went inside the Jedi Temple on Lothal.”

Less than a day after Kanan had died.

Hera stared at her, trying to think of something to say.  She only realized she had put her hand over her stomach when she felt the edge of her belt buckle pressing into the side of her hand.  She had been pregnant then and only just beginning to realize it; she wouldn’t be certain for another few weeks.

Hera still had nightmares about that day.

“I told Ezra I would find him,” Ahsoka said.

“Don’t bother,” Hera said. “We’ll do that.”

She turned and left.

She felt as if she was having an out of body experience, her hands still shaking, the ordinary ship sounds around her strangely muted, even the recycled air moving across her face every time she passed a vent seemingly alien.  Whatever expression was on her face seemed to warn anyone off; passing crew members or pilots veered around her.

Slowly – painfully slowly – reality reasserted itself, and by the time she had reached the hangar bay where the Ghost was docked she was breathing normally again, the sound of her footsteps on the durasteel floor familiar instead of muffled.  When she tapped her code into the Ghost’s locking mechanism and waited for the ramp to lower she almost didn’t feel like screaming anymore.

Once inside she raised the ramp again, then just stood with her forehead tipped against the ladder leading up to the cockpit, aware of the sound of voices from up above.  Kanan’s was one of them, though several layers of deck and closed doors made it impossible for her to make out the words. She let the cool metal of the ladder leech out her remaining anger until she finally felt calm enough to climb up and follow the voices into the common room.

She stopped in the doorway, fighting back her instinct to burst into immediate tears.  Kanan was sitting on the floor with Jacen, his expression somewhere between stunned and awed.  Jacen had brought out the box of toys Hera kept on the Ghost, as well as some that he must have brought with him from Ryloth, and was gravely showing them to Kanan.  He did this by putting each one into Kanan’s left hand, then guiding Kanan’s right hand over the toy – at the moment it was a large stuffed anooba plush that Numa had made him several years earlier.  Sabine and Zeb were sitting at the holotable, watching them and looking like they weren’t terribly far from tears either.  Chopper was watching too, and somehow managed to look as emotional as it was possible for an astromech droid to get, though at Hera’s approach he chortled a greeting.

“Mama!” Jacen said gleefully, abandoning the anooba in Kanan’s hands, and scrambled up to run to her.

Hera hugged him, kissing his hair. “Hi, baby.  Are you and your father and Auntie Sabine and Uncle Zeb having fun?”

Jacen nodded enthusiastically and tugged her towards Kanan and the pile of toys. “Look what Grandpapa gave me!”

Hera sat down next to Kanan and leaned over to kiss him, then turned her attention to the delicately carved nunas-and-gutkurrs set Jacen showed her.  After he was certain she had seen it, he took each small animal out of the case to hand to Kanan, who inspected it solemnly with his fingers before passing it back and accepting the next one.  Hera had had a similar set when she was a child, but had lost most of the pieces by the time she was ten.

“So are you heading back to Starfighter Command now?” Zeb said eventually, his voice elaborately casual. Chopper echoed the question, curious.

“No,” Hera said. “I’m transferring permanently to Intelligence, and there’s something I need to talk to all of you about.”

Sabine, who had been slouching and picking at some peeling paint on her knuckle plates, sat up straight. “We’re going after Ezra?”

Hera stared at her. “I didn’t even say anything!”

Sabine waved a hand. “It’s the only thing it could be, now that Kanan’s back.”  She grinned happily at him.  “Unless you wanted to stay and help Luke with his mission to restore the Jedi.”

Kanan grimaced. “He seems like a nice kid, but I just spent three hours in the middle of a doctrinal dispute and I didn’t even think I still had standards for heresy.”

They all stared at him.

“…what,” Zeb said eventually.

He winced. “Don’t ask. I was afraid to because I’m pretty sure I disagree with both of them, but pointing that out just now seemed like it was asking for trouble.”

“Amateurs,” Sabine sniffed. “No one’s dead yet.  By Mandalorian standards that’s barely even a spirited debate.”

“To be fair, two of us were dead,” Kanan pointed out dryly. “We just happened to get better.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t die from the doctrinal debate, so it doesn’t count.”

“That’s because every time the Jedi have a doctrinal debate that results in someone dying it also results in a galactic civil war that lasts for years and kills hundreds of thousands of other people,” Kanan said. “So we try to avoid getting to that point.”

Sabine shrugged. “Maybe if you had those more often you’d have smaller civil wars.”

Zeb frowned at her. “Isn’t that why all you Mandalorians hate each other in the first place?”

“Not as much as we hate anyone who tries to interfere in our civil wars.”

Zeb gave Hera a pained expression.

“Don’t look at me,” Hera said, gathering Jacen into her lap. “Ryloth was still having blood feuds between clans three generations ago, and even now you shouldn’t try to get a Fenn and a Kru in the same room together if you don’t want trouble.”

Sabine pointed at her. “See, someone who understands me.”

“I don’t think anyone understands you,” Zeb muttered. “Back on Lasan – and Lira San – we all just sued each other.”

“Well, that sounds boring.”

“And dueling, but that’s been illegal for a century – two on Lira San.  And that’s only for extreme cases anyway.”

“Now we’re talking,” Sabine said, sounding more satisfied as Chopper chuckled agreement. “I was starting to get worried for a moment there.”

“About what?” Kanan wondered out loud. “It’s not like there aren’t lawyers on Mandalore.”

“Well, not anymore,” Sabine said.

Kanan raised an eyebrow at her, then visibly decided not to pursue that line of questioning any further and went on, “And I’m pretty sure under the circumstances trying to kill either Luke or Ahsoka would have been a bad idea.”

Hera felt the muscle in her jaw twitch again. Jacen turned his face up to her, feeling her sudden tension, and Hera hugged him.  Kanan picked up one of Jacen’s discarded toys, a small stuffed Loth-wolf, and balanced it briefly on the palm of his hand.  Then he turned his hand sideways, the Loth-wolf remaining suspended in mid-air, and sent the Loth-wolf galloping towards Jacen.  He bounced with glee, making Hera let out a soft oof, and caught it.

“I can do that too!” He narrowed his eyes in concentration, then sent the Loth-wolf back to Kanan.  It wobbled a little in mid-air, but Kanan caught it easily, grinning.  He picked up the anooba Jacen had shown him earlier.

Jacen put his hands out gleefully, not waiting for Kanan to send it to him. It sailed through the air to him and he hugged it, then he caught the Loth-wolf that Kanan sent after it.

“Hold that for a few minutes, love, we need to talk,” Hera told him.  She settled him more comfortably in her lap – he was heavier than she remembered him being, but then again she hadn’t seen him in person for several months – and looked at the rest of her crew.

Her crew.

She, Zeb, Sabine, and Chopper had only been in the same place a handful of times over the past six years, and Kanan hadn’t been there at all.  Hera had served with a number of people whom she had gotten along with, many of whom she had liked, but none of them were the three beings and one droid in the room with her now – in the Ghost with her now.  She had thought that she would go to her grave without ever having this again.

Hera swallowed past the lump in her throat.  “There have been rumors about Grand Admiral Thrawn and the Seventh Fleet for years,” she said.  Zeb knew some of this, but she didn’t think Sabine did and Kanan certainly didn’t. “Rebel Intelligence has never been able to confirm that they’re still out there or that Thrawn was in touch with the Emperor – or anyone from the Remnant, for that matter.  Because we’ve been busy dealing with the warlords since Endor, General Cracken – that’s the head of Intelligence,” she added for Kanan’s benefit, “– hasn’t been able to send anyone out into the Unknown Regions to investigate the rumors.”

“What happened to General Draven?” Kanan asked, startled; the previous head of Rebel Intelligence had been on Yavin while they had been there.

“He died,” Hera said. “Five years ago.”

Kanan winced.

“So since we’re going to be out there anyway, we might as well do it with Alliance – Republic – authority?” Sabine said.  She cocked an eyebrow at Hera. “That is what you said to Cracken?”

“More or less,” Hera said. “Doing it with Republic authority was his idea.  I was just going to resign.”  She hesitated, then added, “I can’t order you – any of you – to come. But I’ve let this go long enough and I won’t wait any longer.”  She couldn’t help but look at Kanan as she went on, “Ezra is family, and we’ve all lost enough family to the Empire.”

“I’m in,” Sabine said.

“Me too,” Zeb said. Chopper chortled agreement.

Kanan just leaned over and kissed her.

Hera let out her breath, relief making her shoulders slump. “All right,” she said. “Make your arrangements. We have to take Jacen back to Ryloth.” She smiled at Kanan. “And we’re getting married.”

That got them a round of back-slapping and congratulations and promising not to actually do it until both Sabine and Zeb could be there.  By the time they were all settled down again, Hera was flushed with happiness, leaning against Kanan’s shoulder with her other arm around her son.

We’re all right, she thought, looking around at her crew – at her family.  We’re all going to be all right.

#cut scenes and concept writing #other side au tag #also a peak example of 'I prefer to work things out in fic versus writing meta' re ahsoka here

[vaguewriting]

vague fic fragment #4

solangelo rwrb au

Will was seventeen when his mom became the president of the United States, and there were some things that he hated.

He hated moving out of his childhood home in Texas, even if it was incredibly cool that he got to live in the White House. He hated having to transfer schools for his last semester of high school (and had begged Naomi for the months leading up to her inauguration to let him finish school online). (She didn’t go for it.) He hated that they’d all been too busy with campaigning and then packing and then moving, and that when Will finally got his driver’s license, it said DC instead of Austin.

But everything else, well. That was all really cool. 

When they moved into the White House, back when Will felt like he had more reasons to feel bummed out than anything, he made himself a list. He liked making lists. They helped him relax, and they helped remind him of what was important - homework that was due the next day, or cities that they were visiting along the campaign trail. During the first year of his mother’s presidency, he made a new list. A list of every good and awesome and okay thing there was about being the First Son of the United States. 

First and foremost, Naomi had made history. In 2016, a female Democrat from the great state of Texas reached over 300 votes by the electoral college, and she had done it all without a husband by her side. And Will wasn’t going to let himself be upset about moving schools while his mother made history.

And point one, subsection A, there were now a good handful of states separating them from Will’s father.

His two best friends - Annabeth and Magnus Chase, daughter and nephew-turned-adopted-son of Vice President Frederick Chase. Annabeth had been helping her father’s campaign since she was old enough to speak, and had been crucial to Naomi’s ascent to the White House. Magnus had always been there to share his weed whenever Will got anxious. (The media had dubbed the three of them The White House Trio because they’d been so active in their parents’ campaign.) (Sometimes The Golden Trio, but that was usually more mocking.)

The three of them had all become something of minor celebrities. Sure, they were no Kardashians, but they got invited to events. The only event that Will could remember attending that wasn’t entirely political was his junior prom. 

They traveled - all over the world! Will was pretty sure he had no reason to tag along to some of the places that his mom went, but he’d barely left Texas before the campaign started. 

He got to meet so many amazing people. There were doctors who cured cancer and lawyers who fought for justice and so many people out in the world that wanted to help. Will had gotten teary eyed on more than one flight back to DC after some visits to different youth shelters across the country. 

Oh, and did he mention the plane? The private jet that he got to fly in? He’d never flown before, and he knew that Air Force One had definitely gotten him spoiled for air travel ever again.

He was going to meet royalty. 

His newest addition to the list was scribbled out in a rush after his mother announced that they would be attending the Olympics in Rio - and Will got to choose which events they got to see! (Well, some of them.) (Okay, he got to pick one, because they were only going to be there for a day or two.)

His choice was clear to him in an instant. He knew from some light social media stalking - he was a teenager who was suddenly famous, he didn’t know how things worked yet - that there was supposed to be a special guest at the soccer fields. And he knew exactly who that special guest would be. 

The Prince of England.

He had always known for as long as he could remember - for as long as he’d known what royalty was - that there was a prince about his age. There had been a girl in Will’s third grade class who had once told him that she was going to marry the prince and become a princess, and then someday, a queen. Well, Will didn’t want to rule a country. He was just on the hunt for a new friend.

And how cool would it be to have the Prince of England as a friend?

Suck it, Molly, Will couldn’t help but think as he, Annabeth, and Magnus wandered around the VIP area at the soccer fields. They were so high up above the stands that he didn’t understand how anybody could see anything that was happening in the game, but he figured it didn’t matter, since he wasn’t there to watch, anyway. He was there to search. 

“You know, chances of finding him here are ridiculously low,” Annabeth pointed out, not for the first time, as they started another lap around the stadium. “A prince is going to have a huge security detail, even bigger than ours, and everyone in this section is so surrounded by buff guys in suits that--” 

“And girls,” Magnus cut in.

“What?” 

“Guys and girls,” Magnus told her. “Or, sorry, women. Half of our security team is female, you can’t generalize like that.” 

Annabeth elbowed him and rolled her eyes. “Oh, whatever. You knew what I meant. And the point I was trying to make is that--” She cut herself off when she walked straight into Will’s unmoving form. “Will?” 

“That’s him,” Will whispered, eyes glued on a boy his age, standing beside a single bodyguard. 

Prince Nico was shorter than Will by a few inches, and was wearing a well-tailored black suit, as always. He tended to look like he was either on his way to a funeral, or on coming back from one. He stood with perfect posture, his pale hands clasped behind his back, though the way he held himself made Will think he wanted to lean over the rail to get a closer look at the game. Will knew he’d be here somewhere. Nico loved soccer. 

“I’m gonna go say hi,” Will mumbled, ignoring Magnus’s, “Maybe you shouldn’t--” because he was already walking. 

His first word to Nico was, “Um,” and then, “Hi, um, Your Highness.” 

Nico looked unimpressed. There was a pout to his lips and a coolness to his eyes that he never showed to the camera. (No, not coolness. Coldness.) 

“I’m Will,” he continued, unable to stop the words now that they’d already started, and he held out a hand. Nico didn’t take it. “Um. Will Solace, I’m the--” 

“I know who you are,” Nico told him. His voice was quiet, yet held commanding authority. Will wondered if that was something he’d learned alongside table manners and perfect posture. That authority in his voice was giving off a vibe of quit bothering me.

While Nico had clearly trained his tongue well, Will had never learned how to shut up. “You do?” he asked with a bright, genuine smile - he still hadn’t perfected a fake smile for the cameras - and looking at it seemed to cause Nico pain. “That’s… That’s crazy! I mean, I’m, like, a total nobody compared to you. Anyway, it’s nice to meet you! Can I hang around and watch the game with you?” 

Nico’s head turned back toward the field below, and Will took that as a yes, until he heard a whisper from beside him, voice accented in that way that nobody’s but Nico’s was: “Can you get rid of him?” 

Will’s heart plummeted. 

Thankfully, he didn’t get the opportunity to react (though he wouldn’t have minded a chance to apologize) before Annabeth was tugging on his arm. Above the thoughts suddenly swirling in his head, he thought he heard Annabeth saying, “Sorry, Your Highness, he didn’t mean to intrude,” before he was dragged away. 

They started back around the stadium, returning to their starting point - something of a suite that had been reserved for the US president and her guests. 

As he flopped down onto an empty couch, Will added one more item to the list of things he hated: Nico di Angelo.

#vague fic fragment #mine #nico di angelo #will solace

[khoicesbyk]

Heyyyyy it must be Sunday! Which means it’s Six Sentence (say it Al):

And this is very special Six Sentence Sunday for me. This is a snippet of the final chapter of Second Chance Romance.

I’m all over the place with this chapter.

Writing this series was a roller coaster ride for me. And I’m so in love with it. It brought my king to life for me. And I’m going to miss it. But it’s time to move on to bigger and better things.

Tag List: @shewillreadyou @choiceslady @aussieez @secretaryunpaid @bebepac @pixie88 @glaimtruelovealways @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @shanzay44 @lucy-268 @hopelessromanticmonie @choicesficwriterscreations

Below is Marquise and Shanelle as they try to figure out their wedding and reception seating charts.

With the parliamentary vote officially behind them and Marquise’s reign as king confirmed and secured, it’s time for them to plan their wedding. And Shanelle had a million and one ideas. But at the moment, she was trying to figure out the seating chart.

There she was sitting in the palace library, trying to figure out the seating arrangements for both the wedding and the reception.

"OK so Ambassador And Mrs. Vannaugh will be there. While Queen Gretchen and her family are here. But wait if I have them sitting there, where am I gonna put King and Queen Wilcox? And let's not forget Prime Minister Johann and his company. And I can’t forget Princess Erickson who just happens to be bringing the kids from the orphanage in Anthorak. And wait! I'm doing all this for his guests what in the hell am I gonna do with mine?!" she thought out loud.

"Ugh! I hate this! I told that man I needed a wedding planner! But no! He swore that I can do this with my eyes closed! And I’m the idiot who listened to him!" she fussed.

She didn’t hear him walk in.

“How is the wedding planning?” He asked.

“I know what you’re doing.” She replies.

“What am I doing, my love?” He asks.

“Being a smartass.” She replies.

“You love it and you know it.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Careful. I’d hate to have to lock you up for treason, my love.”

“If by ‘lock me up’ you mean chain me to your bed and slowly torture me…”

He winked at her.

“Is it really that hard my love?”

"Yes my dear darling fiancé. I'm stumped on these damn seating arrangements. Bah! Why do you have to be so damn popular and this palace so huge?" She replied with an accompanying sigh.

“Sadly it’s what happens when you rule a kingdom. You’re always a hot commodity.”

“Ugggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him.

“Don’t you have a council meeting to get ready for?” She asked.

“Pushed back until this evening.” He replied.

“When did you do that?” She asks.

“Just now. I texted Marco and had him push it back so I can help my bride with the seating arrangements for our wedding.” He replies.

“How noble of you my king.”

“Si ça aide ma reine, alors je suis heureux de le faire.”

He smiled at her as they went to work on figuring out where to sit everyone. Soon they were both lost.

"Okay! Ya know what? We’ll finish this later. Right now I need something to calm my nerves." She sighed.

“Hmmmm…come with me.”

“Where are we going?” She asks.

“There’s something I want to show you.” He replies.

He took her hand and led her to a secluded far corner of the library.

“Now where is it…” he thought out loud as he ran his hand along an old dusty bookshelf.

“Where is what?” She asked.

Soon his hand stopped searching and pressed on a button.

“This…”

Soon the wall moved revealing a secret passageway. Shanelle’s jaw dropped.

“WHAT?! How long has this been here?!” She asked.

“The palace hides many secrets, my queen. Thankfully I know most of them.” He replies holding his hand out.

“Shall we?” He asked.

“Definitely!” She replies excitedly.

He led her up a flight of old stone steps to an old wooden door.

“What’s behind the door?” She asks.

He took an old key out of his pocket and opened the door, revealing a well maintained medieval bedroom.

“It’s beautiful!”

“It is. I’m happy that I get to share it with you.”

She walked over to the window. It overlooked the hedge maze.

“How long has this been here?” She asked as she turned back to him.

“Since the time of King Gerard. He’s Queen Kendra’s grandfather. He had this bedroom constructed for his many mistresses. It was discovered 5 years ago, when they were restoring this part of the library.” He replied.

“So this was a harem?” She asks.

“That’s one way to put it. I’ve come up here every now and then just to get away from the noise.” He replies.

“And why are you just now showing it to me?” She asks with her hands on her hips.

Marquise rolled his eyes then replied, “because you never come to the library.”

“Touché.”

“Come sit down with me.”

She sat down on the very luxurious bed with him.

“I brought you here because I wanted to get your mind off of wedding planning. And I wanted to know how you’re feeling post parliamentary vote.”

She thought for a moment before answering.

#choices #pixelberry #choices stories you play #khoicesbyk #choices fanfiction #fanfic #the royal romance #queen of cordonia #king of cordonia #king marquise #queen shanelle #mr and mrs rys #king and queen of Cordonia #cfwc sunday six #six sentence sunday

[chimaerakitten]

(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2eF2BW8QhNO2UesloUNkuk?si=SfOWQO6CTQy28MPE0ndjMA)

so, now that I am officially free of both finals and my work on the TQT title sequence animation, I thought it would be a good time to turn to my other bit project for this fandom, Chi’s crazy-long chronological playlist. I started this. One week after ROTT came out. ONE WEEK. I thought I’d get it done and written up in two or three days. It is now. December the 15th. Two months. TWO MONTHS, THIS HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS

Bellow the cut: A writeup explaining the position of each song + a little bit more commentary on it from me (spoilers. everything is spoilers all the way through ROTT below the cut):

This is a mix of some pretty typical fanplaylist fare (there is. A lot of Bastille on here) some Queen’s Thief must-haves (can you really have a Queen of Attolia playlist without Achilles Come Down?) and my own really weird music taste (Filk like Tin Soldier and Courage Knows No Bounds)

Some of the ones I’m most proud of are Monster by Starset for the Mede camp scenes in ROTT (I mean, it starts with “Under the knife I surrendered” It’s kinda perfect) Laughter Lines for Relius and Teleus (I have it on good authority that that caused a lot of heart pain for other fans) and Soft to be Strong for Irene and Relius.

without further ado, the song list:

“Eddis”—Warriors

“Thief!”—Second Child, Restless Child

The Thief

Whatever it takes—“I can steal anything”

Tin Soldier—“Nobody would mistake you for anything but a tool, Gen.”

Centuries—“His name would be carved in stone on a stele outside the basilica, and mine would be written in the dust.”

Everybody Wants To Rule the World—“He doesn’t want the queen…He just wants the pass through the mountains so that he can invade Attolia.”

Patron Saint o’ Thieves—Eugenides and the Sky God’s Thunderbolts (I will be honest. This one was chosen based on title and Vibes, tm, not lyrics)

The Only Exception—“But if there hadn’t been one that I loved, I wouldn’t have landed myself in the king’s prison.”

Thief—Before braving the temple of the Aracthus.

Come Wayward Souls—Inside the temple.

History Has Its Eyes On You—The answered prayer for silence.

The Queen and the Soldier—“You are more beautiful, Your majesty... But she is more kind.”

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)—Walking to Eddis.

Stand By Me—“Oh, It’s you, Eugenides.”

Family—Helen, Eugenides, and the Minister of War.

“Destruction”—Dread Sovereign

The Queen of Attolia

Run Boy Run—The chase through the palace.

Icarus—Eugenides, caught.

When the Chips are Down—“I still think tradition might hold the best solution to my problems with you.”

Achilles Come Down—Eugenides, after returning to Eddis.

Heroes—The Secret War and the expectation that Eugenides will die soon.

Burn It Down—Burning Sounis’s navy.

Sit Still Look Pretty—“It was her fiancé who gave her the name shadow princess.”

Heroes and Thieves— “She pulled the bedclothes up as far as they would go and suppressed a perverse wish to have her old nurse come to chase away the darkness, perverse because she didn’t know if she wanted the shadows to be empty or not.”

Thousand Eyes—The plan to take Ephrata.

We Remain—“There’s an easier way for a man to become king,”

Black Water—“She reached up to push the wet hair out of her face, wondering when she had sunk so low that she had begun torturing boys.”

Simple Song—"I watched you walking between the rows of cabbages and then dancing under the orange trees. I was above you, in one of the trees.”

She’s Always a Woman—"Eugenides had accepted gladly and read carefully, trying to see whether Attolia could be the monster in human guise she was accused of being, or only a woman who ruled without the support of her barons.”

Queen of Peace—“Just asleep,” Eddis reassured her.”

I’m Not Calling You A Liar—“I sometimes believe his lies are the truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie.”

Losing My Religion—“You made a mistake,” Attolia agreed. “You trusted your gods. That was your mistake.”

Pompeii—The vision of the volcano.

All I’ve Ever Known—“Love I am not familiar with.”

Love Love Love—"Who am I, that you should love me?

A Healing In This Night—“And she believed him.”

The King of Attolia

Bow to the Crown— “He dropped to his knees before his queen and lowered his head almost to the floor.”

Shut up and Dance—"Her queen danced like a flame in the wind”

Carry Your Throne— It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife.”

It’s Alright—"If it was embarrassing to wake like a child screaming from a nightmare, how much more embarrassing to be the reason your husband woke screaming.”

Believer—“like a god revealed” and the fall of the house of Erondites.

I CHOOSE YOU— “He was very likable—Eddis would have married him.”

Hunger— “I did not say that I am afraid. He is, though, I think. Afraid of his own desire for power.”

Soft to Be Strong—"I have learned that there is a flaw in your philosophy. If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”

Gold—Eugenides on the crenellations.

True & Destined Prince—“He is an Annux, a king of kings.”

“Knife Dance”—Human

A Conspiracy of Kings

Things We Lost In The Fire—The raid on the villa.

Constellations—Sophos and Moira in the dream library.

Welcome Home, Son—“I didn’t want a choice; I wanted to stay right where I was and build walls and share poetry with an avid audience and enjoy a swim with friends, but I didn’t want it to be my choice.”

Words as Weapons— “Eugenides looked me in the eye as if I were a complete stranger and said, “The simplest way to end a war is to admit you have lost it.”

Share Your Address— “You made a proposal in your previous letter. Perhaps it was only hypothetical?” “It was not.”

I Love You—“When I was working in the fields, I knew how unfounded my hopes were,” he said. “I was a poor excuse for an heir of Sounis when I made the proposal and then became even less than that.”

Iron—“I will go to Melenze. And hope to delay the Medes long enough to find some other solution to their imperial expansion. Of course, that assumes the king and queen of Attolia intend to honor the laws of hospitality and allow me to travel safely to the border.”

Young Volcanoes—“Just what makes you think you can get away with that?” he asked the young man standing over him with a butter-won’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression incongruous on his scarred face.”

The Fates—Sophos’s naïve speech before the first vote.

Handmade Heaven—Shooting Hanaktos and Akretenesh, lifting a hand to the sky for a lightning bolt that will not come.

I Bet My Life—"There is no reason I can see that I would not be honored to join Eddis to you.”

Flaws—“Eddis stared at him for a long time, knowing that forgiving someone because you have to is not forgiving him at all.”

For The Dancing And The Dreaming—“Are you certain that you want to be my wife?” “Absolutely,” said Eddis, quietly. “Eternally certain.”

Blood Brothers—"He had been saved by the men Eugenides sent, though he did not yet know the ferocity with which the king of Attolia had stripped those men from other posts, the capital he had expended, the secrets that had been revealed in order to send help to Sounis.”

Thick as Thieves

I’ll Believe In Anything—"If there had been any alternative, I would have taken it, but I could see none, and there was no time for hesitation.”

You’ve Got A Friend In Me—“Head wounds bleed, but we can stitch it up, I’ve done it before, don’t be afraid. Kamet, I wouldn’t tell you this if it weren’t true. I swear to you, I am not going to leave your dead body beside the road to Perf. I didn’t come all the way to this godsforsaken cesspit so that I could go home and tell my king I failed him.”

Desert Song—Costis and Kamet crossing the empire, eating caggi.

Empire—"It would be possible, I supposed, for an outsider to see disruption and think the empire might collapse, but it was too all encompassing, too well sewn together to come apart. As each smaller nation was absorbed, it was integrated into the whole, enjoying all the benefits of being in the empire.”

Fell In Love With A Girl—Kamet’s story of Marin the dancing girl.

Foreigner’s God—Kamet’s encounter with Ennikar while Costis is in the well.

The Hell If I Go Home—Kamet trying to leave in Sukir.

Stray Italian Greyhound—“If you had told me in Sukir, I would have let you go.” / “Costis,” I said, using his name for the first time since he had told it to me, on board the riverboat at the start of our journey. “Costis, I’m sorry.”

Poet—"I began this narrative in the palace of Attolia but have only recently neared its completion. I will eventually send it to Relius, when I am sure it can be delivered without interception, and I hope he will be satisfied with my account, as I would be honored to have it added to his library.”

All This And Heaven Too—“Immakuk and Ennikar,” he said. “Where?” I snapped my head around to scan the dock, and he nudged me with his elbow. “Idiot. Us,” he said.”

Return of the Thief

How Far We’ve Come—Exordium.

The Great Escape—Pheris finding a place for himself.

The Heart Is a Muscle—“Someone loves me very much, even with all my faults”

I Will Wait—“His heart is unlikely to be in his work.”

Laughter Lines—Relius and Teleus saying goodbye.

Stole You Away—“Attolia says she leaves with you”

Poison & Wine—“I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes”

United at War—“Sounis will not run…nor Eddis.”

This is War—Arrival at Leonyla.

No Light, No Light—“All wars make men monsters, all wars and all men.”

Survivor’s Song—The Etisian winds came early.

Daniel in the Den—The ambush and the Mede Camp.

Monster—“Nahuseresh tells me I am not king. We’ll see if he really prefers the Thief.”

Natural—“Once, when I said he had saved me, you said I had saved him. From what?”

Tomorrow I Leave For Battle—Before the Naupent.

March of Cambreadth—The Naupent.

Courage Knows No Bounds—A pyre that burned for three days.

Bad Blood—The pardon of Sejanus.

Call the Names—The naming of Hector and Eugenia.

Here’s To Us—Dancing on the Roof.

I lived—Pheris, and the gods were pleased.

“Alyta’s Missing Earring”—Falling and Empire

final note: I did my best to have songs have at least one meaning in the pace they were put, plus more meaning when considering the series as a whole—for example, “Tin Soldier” appears early on in the context of the king of Sounis and the Magus using Gen as a tool, but if you loop back around to it after Return of the Thief, Gen being “weapon more than child” gains a whole new meaning. "She’s always a woman” is an Irene song in the context of QOA, but the more we learn about Helen, the more it applies to her, etc. etc. Not every song is like that, but I wanted to give the playlist at least a bit of re-listen value, in the spirit of the books’ reread value.

#TQT #QT #ROTT #return of the thief #the queen's thief #the thief #the queen of attolia #the king of attolia #a conspiracy of kings #thick as thieves #Spotify playlist

[royalsofeloda]

Eloda is governed by a Democratic Monarchy, meaning that Elodish citizens vote in a referendum for their monarch to ascend the throne. Elodish citizens also vote on members of council.  Eloda’s voting system is drawn out in its constitution, Magna Liberta. 

An Adapted Version is Below the Cut: 

Monarch

The reigning monarch has several responsibilities as King/Queen. Legislating laws and policies, approving acts and bills, as well as calling for war against another nation are just a few of the Monarch’s most important duties. As stated in Magna Liberta, members of the Royal House of Alexander have been given a higher capacity to make such decisions. However, it’s up to the people and Council to decide who among them is best fit. 

Council

Council is made up of dozens of elected officials who work as a general advisory board for the Monarch. Councilmen and Councilwomen gather the necessary means for the Monarch to make wise decisions. Once elected, Council members must serve no less than 5 years before stepping down or running for a different Council board. Council is meant to function as representatives for the many districts found within the four provinces of Eloda.  

If you think you might be interested in a position on Council here are just a few of the boards you can be elected into:

Chief Council

This is a single person council who has direct contact with the Monarch on all matters that concern Eloda. Unlike other positions, Chief Councilor is a life long commitment and often serves more than one Monarch in their lifetime.

Public Outreach

Keep a close eye on population statistics including polls of public opinion and birth or death rates. 

Elodish Health Service (EHS) 

Conserve the excellency of Eloda’s national socialized healthcare system 

Currently, there are nearly 160 different council boards in contrast to the four original boards established in Magna Liberta. But, it seems new ones are announced each year as Elodish society expands into modern times and obtains the need for more aspects of modern life. 

Election Day(s)

Council Day occurs every 5 years as Elodish citizens elect their next batch of Councilors. Elodish citizens can choose from list of names that appear on the ballot depending on the district they belong to.

Monarch Day takes place exactly 90 days after the death of the previous reigning monarch. Since the vote is referendum, there are only two options on the ballot; Remain and Transcend. Remain refers to remaining in the current Line of Succession while Transcend refers to transcending the line of succession. 

When the majority of the country votes Remain, then the Crown Prince/Princess will ascend the throne after his or her coronation. However, in the event that the majority votes Transcend all current members of Council from all council boards will vote to choose between those eligible. The latter is incredibly rare and has only occurred twice in the history of Magna Liberta’s existence. 

Ascension to the Elodish Throne is a complicated process - the Elodish secondary school curriculum includes an entire year long class to help the newer generations understand their own government. If you need more clarity on any particular aspect you can inquire here.  

#royal simblr #royal sims #royalsims #royalty sims #sim story #sims

[pricetagofficial]

The Archer -Part Three

Warnings: language, violence, some cringe (because I was still trying to figure out what I wanted for this story two months ago when I wrote) lil bits of fluff?

Part Two Part Four

Word Count: 2233

Tag List: @idkmanicantenglish​ @kishony-the-geek​ @catxsnow​ (you’d probably kick me if I didn’t tag you lol)

A/N: I cringe at little bits of this, and I am sorry for some of it. This was written over two months ago when I was still trying to get a feel for the story and how I wanted to write the characters, maybe I’ll throw up chapter four later???

Chapter Three

Rory looked around her new room, it was about the same size as her room back in Queen Manor. There was a bed with a neutral color bedspread and several pillows, with a night stand on both sides of the bed. Each nightstand had a lamp on it and a vase of flowers, probably put there by Alfred. Rory smiled at the Daisies in the vase, Oliver must have told him they were her favorite. Leaning down, she took in the sweet floral smell that reminded her of home. Across the room was a desk with a TV mounted on the wall above it with the remotes resting below it. To the left of it was a dresser set with a vanity, and to the right were two doors.

Walking over she opened one door and saw that it was a massive walk in closet full of racks and drawers and shelves all for her clothes. Did Rory even have enough clothes to fill this thing, she had no idea. All she brought were three suitcases of clothes and other necessities that she needed. Oliver told her that if she needed more, just to let him know and he would have it shipped immediately. Closing the closet door, she opened the second door and saw an attached bathroom with two sinks, a toilet and a shower with a tub.

Looking through the cabinets, they were stocked with the basic essentials. Of course, she had brought her own bathroom stuff, Rory preferred to use her stuff; it was best suited for her hair and it was her favorite scent.

Leaving the bathroom, Rory walked over to the large window and pulled back the curtains. She opened the balcony door and her jaw dropped, the view out her balcony was breathtaking. Of course, Wayne Manor was a ways away from Gotham City, but she could still see the skyline in the distance among the beautiful scenery. There was a forest, a waterfall with a small lake under it. Her view at Queen Manor was beautiful, but it was nothing like this.

Tim stood outside her bedroom door, debating if he wanted to knock or not. He was sure that Rory was settling herself in, but Bruce had wanted them all down in the Batcave for a meeting and that included Rory. After a few moments, he raised his hand and knocked.

There was no answer.

He knocked twice more, and still no answer.

At this point Tim decided to open the door ever so slightly and poke his head in and across the room stood Rory on her balcony, her brown hair blowing in the breeze. Deciding to invite himself in, he opened the door fully and walked across the room and stopped behind her. If Rory knew he was there, she didn’t show any sign.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and felt Rory tense at his touch.

Quickly, Rory grabbed his hand putting her elbow above his hand and turned, putting him into a wrist lock. Tim let out a yelp in surprise and craned his neck to look at her with wide eyes. “Rory, it’s just me.” He said quickly.

Immediately, Rory let him go. “Sorry Tim, just surprised.” She said with a shrug.

Tim let out a laugh. “Yeah, I can tell.” He stood up and circulated his shoulder. “Good hold though, but I could have totally kicked your ass if I wanted to.”

Rory rolled her eyes. “Sure, you could computer boy, what’d you need?” A smile graced her face, watching Tim stretch out his shoulder.

“Bruce wants us all down in the cave, so I came to get you.” He explained. “I think it has to do with patrol tonight.”

Rory gave him a nod “Lead the way youngling.” She grinned.

Tim huffed a laugh. “I am only 10 months younger than you; you know?” He led the way out of the room with Rory shutting the door behind them. The two of the walked down to the cave, Rory trying to memorize the way in the massive manor.

“Don’t worry, I got lost my first few weeks here. If you yell loud enough, someone will come find you.” He chuckled, watching Rory who responded by sticking her tongue out at him making him laugh harder.

“I’ll make sure that I yell loud enough so you can come rescue me.” She smiled, keeping step with him as they descended the stairs into the cave.

When they came into the opening, what Rory saw was much different than the Arrow Cave. First off, it was an actual cave and where those bats at the top? Oli always said that Bruce was one for the flair and aesthetic and boy he wasn’t kidding. The entire cave was dark, but still teched out.

There were several computers set ups, but the biggest was in the middle. Beyond that was where all the vehicles were with an exit to the cave.

Tim looked at Rory and saw the shocked look on her face and laughed again. “It’s a bit much on first glance, right?”

Rory gave him a nod. “Much different than the Arrow Cave, considering this is an actual cave. Arrow Cave is basically the basement.”

Looking below, there was a training section with multiple different assets to it designed to each member of the bat family and their attributes. Currently, Dick was working with Damian on hand to hand with Steph working on her own. Jason sat off to the side, cleaning something that Rory couldn’t see. Bruce was sat with Barbara at the computer, and looked up to see Rory and Tim walking down to them.

“Good, everyone is here. Let’s get started.” He called.

Dick, Damian and Steph all stopped what they were doing; Steph wiping the sweat from her brow. Jason made no move to get up, but lifted his head to see what was up. Tim and Rory stopped in front of Bruce, awaiting his instructions.

“As you might have figured out already, Rory will be working with us during patrol but we can not just send her out into the field without some kind of assessment. I’m not sure how Oliver ran things, but we do have rules here, Rory.” He said, turning his attention to her.

“I’ll be honest, I doubt they are much different than his. Main one is no killing, right?” she asked, crossing her arms.

Bruce gave her a nod. “Yes. I’m going to be testing you over the next few days to see if you are up to par with the others. Each of them fights differently, so it will show how well you adapt to other’s fighting technique.” He explained. “Do you understand so far?”

Rory gave him a salute. “Yes sir, Batman sir.”

Bruce narrowed his eyes, as everyone but Damian fought to keep their giggles in.

“I brought your suit down here already, it’s set up in its own case ready to go. First, we will be testing your fighting skills. Alfred already brought down some clothes for you to work out in. Go change and report back here.” He ordered.

Rory saluted him yet again and grabbed the clothes Alfred was holding and went to change. The outfit consisted of a straight black razor tank top with black leggings and of course black socks and shoes to match. Did this family wear anything other than black?

She walked back, and began putting her hair up in a ponytail so it would stay out of her face. Everyone was waiting for her outside the boxing ring and she could hear them talking quietly.

“How well do you think she is going to do?” Dick asked, his voice still hushed.

“I doubt she will be able to stop all of us, I mean she is Oliver’s.” Jason said, leaning against the ring.

“She seems formidable enough, she put me into a hold earlier. Her reflexes are quick.” Tim explained, crossing her arms.

Bruce stood there listening to their assessments and concerns. “You three are missing one very important point.” He said.

“What’s that? She looks like she can barely lift anything.” Damian huffed.

“I helped train her.”

The boys stood there with a shocked look on their face. They were about to open their mouths to ask questions, but Rory decided that this was the time to interrupt.

“He’s right. Bruce, Dinah and Oliver all trained me.” She said, crossing her arms with a raised brow.

The boys turned to look at her, Stephanie and Barbara trying to hide a laugh.

“You knew she was there the whole time didn’t you B?” Jason asked.

“Of course, I did. Now, who’s first?” Bruce asked, looking between them.

“I vote Jason, he needs knocked down a few pegs.” Tim piped up.

“Why you little-“ Jason started for Tim but Bruce stopped him.

“Go ahead Jason.” Bruce said, with a smile. Jason let out a huff and climbed into the ring. “You coming princess?” he called.

Rory rolled her eyes, and climbed into the ring. “What? Afraid that you’re going to get your ass beat by a girl half your size?” she taunted.

Jason laughed, “I’m not afraid of anything, sweetheart.”

Rory let a grin grow on her face. “We’ll test that theory.” She put out a hand and beckoned him forward.

The two of the charged at the other, Jason reaching for her shoulders. Rory dropped to the floor using her momentum and slid between his legs knocking them out from under him, sending Jason to the ground with a loud thud.

Dick winced, that sounded like it hurt.

Jason got up quickly and charged at her once again, making sure that she couldn’t go between his legs again. Expecting this, Rory went to punch his stomach. Jason caught her hands and turned her around so her back was pressed to his chest, holding her arms tight across her chest.

“Give up yet princess?” he taunted.

“Last chance Jason, give up and I’ll let your comment slide.” She countered, blowing a few strands out of her face.

“Not happening.”

Rory grinned once again and used her strength and Jason’s weight against him, bending forward as Jason flew over back and onto the floor. Wrapping herself around him, Rory had Jason in a head lock on the floor between her legs using all her strength to keep him pinned making him tap out after a few seconds.

Rory let him go and stood up, “Should have taken that chance, princess.” She grinned and grabbed her bottle of water taking a drink, watching Jason rub his neck.

“I’ll get you next time.” He said hopping out, making Rory laugh.

Jason was the quickest to be pinned, with Stephanie, Tim, Damian and Dick following respectively. Watching Dick do all those flips gave Rory a headache, but once she calculated where he was going to land after each flip Dick was down.

Stephanie was hard because she was just as small as Rory was, if not smaller and she could maneuver was easier than Rory had expected. Tim only took so long because he was analyzing her the way she analyzed him and the others and he was able to land a few hits on her. Damian was a struggle because he was smaller than her, but he had extensive training outside of Bruce and he was a force to be reckoned with.

Rory was taking another drink of water when Bruce climbed into the ring. “Ready to go down again, Bats?” she said, putting her bottle down.

Bruce let out a chuckle. “Think you can get lucky twice?”

“That wasn’t luck, you’re just losing your touch old man.” She taunted.

Everyone on the side let out a laugh, quickly trying to hide it. Bruce stood there, waiting for Rory to attack. Rory was quiet and watched his movements with narrowed eyes, the tension in the air rising.

Then it happened all at once, Rory went to land several punched but Bruce blocked them all and grabbed her hand. Quickly, Rory jumped up and kicked him back with both feet making Bruce release the hold on her fist as she rolled backwards away. Getting up, she charged again and kicked Bruce swinging her other leg around to land a hit on his head but he caught her foot.

Rory let out a sheepish smile. “Hey, now Bruce. I need that.”

“I know, that’s why I caught it.” He said and pulled it, making Rory lose her balance and fall to the floor with a thud. “I thought I taught you better.” He said.

Rory let out a chuckle. “You did.” When she fell, no one notice that she managed to slip one of her shoes off. Gripping it tight in her hand, she raised her arm and threw it at his head making Bruce catch it. While he was distracted catching it, Rory got up and jumped onto his shoulder and flipped him to the floor, ending the fight.

Rory stood up again and glanced at the onlookers who stood there in shock. Bruce was defeated by a shoe?

Grabbing her shoe, Rory put it on and hopped out of the ring as Bruce stood up rubbing his head. “Nice distraction.”

“Like you said, you taught me better.” She grinned and took a seat.

#Costly Affairs #Tim Drake #Timothy Drake #tim drake fanfic #tim drake fanfiction #DC comics #Red Robin #red robin fanfic #tim drake fic #Tim drake fanficition #tim drake x oc #red robin fanfiction #red robin fic #red robin x oc

[lankylevi]

Rating: E Relationships: Levi Ackerman & Eren Jaeger Tags: Kinktober 2019, Smut, Top Levi, Bottom Eren Yeager, Halloween Costumes, Werewolves.

Summary: Chapter 1: Overstimulation with Werewolf Levi: Top Levi & Bottom Eren.

Note: It’s officially the 15th here which means this is finally getting posted! Overstimulation is this month’s poll winner and this is also written for @ererismutprompts costume party prompt! (If you want early access to all my works and wanna vote on what I should write next, consider becoming my patreon for only $1! (Link in bio))

Read on AO3 or below

“I can’t believe I’m wearing this.”

“Your own idea backfired at you,” Jean snorted as Eren walked out of his room in a full sexy bunny costume. He didn’t even try to keep in his enjoyment and fell into a whole laughing fit while Eren tried to find a coat long enough so people wouldn’t think he was some type of hooker when they’d walk to the costume party.

Eren grumbled, “Since when are you even decent at Overwatch?” They had placed a bet, five games, the loser had to embarrass himself by wearing one of those slutty, pin up bunny costumes with huge ears to Hanji’s costume party on Friday. Meanwhile the other could just go as Batman.

“Since Armin taught me,” Jean said and Eren had to roll his eyes.

Armin, their mutual friend and the one who introduced them to Hanji, had been obviously flirting with Jean. And Jean cockily flirted back, but neither of them had the actual guts to make a move. “Just fucking date already.”

“Wha- me and Armin? You’re joking,” Jean feigned offense and Eren slapped him on his bicep.

“You better make a fucking move tonight or I’m telling.”

“So I take the attention away from your ass cheeks hanging out? Haha- Auw!”

Eren’s palm connected to the back of his roommate’s head as he glared at him. “Let’s just go and get this over with.”

At a quarter past eleven, they arrived at the party and Hanji eagerly opened the door to their apartment. Hanji was a chipper brunet, always acting like they were high on crack and tonight was no different.

“Welcome boys,” they slurred. The roommates already felt the vibrations of the music inside their chests and a wave of alcohol and weed hit them as Hanji leaned against the doorframe. “you’re smoking hot tonight.”

“Eren!” Armin wriggled his way through the dancing crowd, waving his hand enthusiastically, “Oh, and hi, Jean.” Of course, Armin would be dressed as Robin. As if they could be any more obvious.

Jean nodded and Eren waved back in response, shaking his head.

“Hanji, I think Levi needs your help.” Armin nudged their side with his elbow, “He’s about to make two girls cry.”

“Ugh, Leviiii.”

With that, Hanji disappeared back into the crowd and Armin showed them where they could hang their coats.

“Looks like Jean won, huh?” Armin said, trying to keep his snorts and giggles under control as Eren fumbled with the hem of his coat.

“‘S your fault. Look where your stupid crush got me.” Glaring, Eren finally got rid of the article of clothing after taking a long breath. No one would even bat an eye at him right now, he definitely wasn’t the only slutty something at this party. Fishnets also weren’t as comfortable as they looked and he was pretty sure half of the back of his costume had disappeared between his ass cheeks.

Armin chuckled, “Well, you look good. Maybe you’ll also... you know.”

“You can say “get laid” Ar,” Eren huffed, smirking when his best friend’s face got as red as a tomato. “What? You’re saying you’re not going on that horse cock tonight? Hahaha!”

“I swear to God, Eren,” Armin shushed him, “stop calling it a horse cock, I’m not a freak.”

Eren pressed his lips firmly together, trying to keep himself from bursting out laughing. “Right.” Armin wasn’t exactly the most vanilla person, he was in fact the reason why Eren had discovered some of his own kinks. Not together, no, no, they’d never. But Ar’s browsing history had revealed some of his own weird fetishes and that was how Eren actually found out there was this thing called ‘knotting’. Very sci-fi but hey, Armin couldn’t kinkshame him when he was into even weirder shit than he was.

All flustered, Armin dragged him through the dancing crowd till they found their usual group of friends. Mikasa was wearing a Marceline of Adventure Time costume while her girlfriend, Annie,  a Princess Bubblegum one; not looking entirely happy about it. It was cute though, cuter than the Batman and Robin Jean and Armin were trying to pull off while still convincing everyone there was nothing going on between them. Did they really think they were all blind?

Mikasa nodded at where Jean and Armin stood and Eren turned his head to see Horseface filling up Ar’s cup. Idiots, he thought before Annie couldn’t suppress the urge to comment on his outfit any longer. “Isn’t it a little too early for Easter?”

“That pink really evens out your bitterness, Annie.”

“Oeh-oh! What a burn.”

“Okay, easy you two,” Mikasa interrupted them for the millionth time. “Eren, go socialize with my cousin, he also lost a bet.”

Eren followed her stare and his eyes landed on a shirtless raven, angrily sipping on his cup. “Don’t mind if I do.” Did he seriously say that out loud?

“Gross,” Annie scrunched up her nose and Mikasa shook her head.

“Please don’t get it on with my cousin, Eren.”

“Why? Is he gay?” Eren looked at her expectantly with a wicked grin. Not caring to wait for her answer, he straightened his back and made sure to sway his hips a little as he strolled towards the shirtless man. Luckily his heels weren’t too high or he would’ve probably made a fool out of himself already. Please be gay, please be gay, please be gay.

“Oh, yes, he’s definitely not straight,” he mumbled to himself as he saw the raven’s eyes raking over his body while smirking with a raised brow. This meant he could go for his usual strategy; teasing, teasing and some more teasing.

Instead of walking straight at him, he went for a detour and grabbed himself some punch, making sure to stick out his butt as he filled his red cup with the green, witchy liquid. He looked over his shoulder, sending the raven a flirty grin before he turned on his heels and leaned against the nearest wall. He took small gulps of his drink, which actually wasn’t bad at all, kudos to Hanji taking extra bartending classes.

The raven still hadn’t moved from his spot, so Eren went to phase two. He side-eyed Mikasa’s cousin and while their eyes locked he seductively bit his lip as he ran a hand through his chocolate brown locks. Fucking finally. The raven walked towards him and while Eren was surprised by his short stature, he sure didn’t mind the perfect set of abs and scowl on his face. Emotional unavailability, count him in.

“So, what are you supposed to be?” Eren said while lowering his cup, not hiding the fact that he was eyeing him up and down like a piece of meat.

Rolling his eyes, the raven pointed at Hanji who was currently doing the limbo. “A werewolf, Hanji’s fault.”

“Where are your tail and ears then…?”

“Levi,” and he shook his head, “I left them at home. Plus, I’m supposed to be Jacob from that Twilight bullshit.”

“Ah, quality literature,” Eren nodded, chuckling under his breath before he took another sip of his drink. “All he did was walk around shirtless anyway and you’re certainly pulling it off.”

Levi scoffed and raised one of his brows, “I would almost think you’re hitting on me…?”

“Eren,” he smiled, “and so what if I am?”

“I’m not complaining,” Levi said and he took the brunet’s drink out of his hand, the brief skin to skin contact making the tips of Eren’s ears burn, and downed it in one go. “So, Eren.”

Clearing his throat, Eren tried to keep his composure as Levi sent him a toothy grin, he was gonna eat him alive wasn’t he? “Hmm?”

“I happen to like bunnies, so how about we go to my place?” The raven said and stretched an arm to touch Eren’s waist, gently digging his fingers into the soft skin. “Only to see my tail and ears of course.”

Gulping, Eren’s mouth went dry and he enthusiastically nodded his head as he felt the heat spread through his body and straight to his crotch. Embarrassing.

Within a matter of minutes, he found himself in the passenger seat of Levi’s car and the raven fastened his seat belt for him, whispering in his ear to behave if he wanted him to be nice. In all honesty, the thought of Levi fucking him roughly stirred him up more, making his cock strain against the confinements of his costume.

“Now be a good little bunny and sit still,” Levi smirked as he hovered over him before dipping down and hungrily clashing their lips together. Pants and moans spilled from the boy’s lips and he rutted his hips against Levi’s hand palming his cock. Eren whined in protest when the raven quickly pulled away before he slid in the driver’s seat. “Better not distract me while driving if you want to come tonight.”

Eren was almost certain he heard Levi purr when he wrung his hands together to keep them occupied and a shot of arousal slid up his spine. He really was gonna have him for dinner and nothing excited the brunet more.

With his legs wrapped around Levi’s waist, Eren didn’t pay any attention to where he actually was when he was slammed against the nearest wall. Levi’s tongue swiped roughly over Eren’s bottom lip and the raven ravished his mouth as he clawed at his clothes.

A surprised gasp spilled past the boy’s lips when Levi ripped his clothes with his nails and left a trail of shreds behind them as he was being carried down the hall to what he presumed was Levi’s bedroom. He was thrown on the bed and within seconds Levi hovered over him and pinned his hands above his head. “Little rabbit fell into my trap.”

Eren never thought he’d be into dirty talk, let alone roleplay, but with the pure animalistic lust Levi was treating him, he couldn’t help but get even more turned on. “Aren’t you going to be nice to me?” Eren bit his lip and Levi’s eyes went from soft grey to vibrant silver at his words.

“Not in the slightest,” Levi sent Eren another toothy grin and a wave of arousal coursed through Eren’s body at the sight. “You have a thing for my teeth?”

Pressing his lips firmly together and keeping himself from making embarrassing noises as he saw Levi swiping his tongue over the sharp edge of his canine, Eren nodded his head and shuddered under his hold.

“You won’t be able to keep quiet once I start having my fun with you, little rabbit,” Levi purred in his ear, rutting his hips so the fabric of his jeans slid roughly over Eren’s pink cock. Leaning down, he bit and sucked on one of Eren’s pierced nipples, rolling the bud between his teeth until the brunet was gasping and thrusting his hips up. “Sensitive? How cute.”

With every action and word Levi gave him, Eren felt his mouth go dryer and dryer and his cock grow impossibly harder. Pearly fluid leaked freely on his stomach, leaving a slick mess all over his chest as Levi hooked his hands under the back of Eren’s knees and pushed forward.

High pitched whimpers and moans spilled past Eren’s lips every time Levi darted out his tongue to lap over his sensitive hole. “L-Levi…” His voice came out shaking and broken as the raven wriggled his tongue past the tight ring of muscle and started thrusting it ever so slowly. Eren wasn’t going to last long.

As Levi bit into the round globe of Eren’s ass, the boy yelped and quickly succumbed under his touch as Levi slid one finger in slowly. He hummed at the tight heat with a smirk before planting another bitemark on the tanned skin. He added his tongue to the mess, alternating between pushing it deep into his ass as he hooked two fingers to spread his hole, and biting down onto his cheeks, close to breaking the skin.

With an angled thrust of Levi’s fingers, Eren tensed and cried out as thick ropes of come streaked over his red collarbones. His chest heaved, cock twitching as Levi milked his prostate dry and kept going until it left the boy completely shaking and blabbering, “L-Levi, I- I already came.”

“I know,” Levi said flatly, lapping over his hole again and angling his fingers, abusing the sensitive bundle of nerves inside Eren’s body until he started begging for him to stop. “Stop? I’m not even nearly done with you.”

Eren’s eyes blew wide at the words, cock growing hard again under the rough treatment of Levi’s tongue swiping over the seam of his balls and dipping into the slit. “I… can’t.”

“You’re a brave little human, you can take it,” Levi smirked as he shoved his nose into the neatly trimmed hairs at the base of Eren’s dick, taking in a deep breath. The action left Eren lost for words as the raven continued and unbuttoned his jeans to let his cock spring free.

It was nothing like Eren had ever seen in real life; Levi’s cock was slightly ribbed, thicker at the base and his cockhead had a pinkishly red sheen to it, just like the dildos he had seen on pornhub and both excitement and fear took over his body. He swallowed thickly, not knowing exactly what to say or do as the raven crawled closer and leaned down to leave a sloppy kiss just below his ear, “Never seen a real werewolf? Adorable.”

Eren’s world flipped upside down as he was pushed down onto his stomach, ass sticking up in the air. He immediately moaned at being so deliciously manhandled, previous worries left forgotten as Levi spread his cheeks and poured a decent amount of lube onto the crevice of his ass. He didn’t care at this point, he wanted to get fucked by Levi and his werewolf dick. Would he also have a knot?

With a slap on his ass, Eren yelped and looked back over his shoulder, blush turning crimson as Levi spanked him again. He was really hitting all of his kinks tonight and he didn’t even realize it.

“Stop thinking, brat,” Levi said as his palm connected to Eren’s ass cheek again, leaving a stinging burn in its wake before he slid three lubed up fingers inside the brunet. “I can smell you’re distracted, come back to me. All of you.”

Eren moaned loudly into the pillow as Levi grabbed his hips and buried his entire length inside of him in one smooth motion. The brunet felt every ridge and bump stroking across his walls with bruising force, clamping down on the thick cock. He got a well deserved minute to get used to his length and girth before the werewolf increased his pace slowly.

He felt everything, the claws digging into his hips, Levi’s cock moving in and out of his willing hole, his hot breath against his spine and his own cock roughly rubbing over the covers. Everything was too much and yet he wanted, craved more of Levi. An insatiable hunger he had never experienced before overrode all logical thought and he rocked his hips backward against Levi’s.

The sound of skin slapping on skin filled the room as Levi started moving with bruising force, letting the animal inside of him take over as the little human beneath him moved and moaned so willingly. “Uncover your mouth, let me hear your pretty noises, my brave rabbit.”

Eren titled his head slightly to the side, letting the werewolf’s ears pick up on the soft pants and moans he made as he buried himself deep inside his ass.

“Prepare yourself, boy.” Levi snarled, angling his hips to slam precisely against his prostate, turning Eren into a drooling, blabbering mess as the werewolf fucked him roughly.

Eren whined in overstimulation as his prostate was abused to the point his entire body trembled and tears rolled down his cheeks, feeling too good for words. He gasped at the sensation of Levi’s cock growing bigger, stretching his hole wider with each thrust.

With a deep rumble inside his chest, Levi launched forward and bit down on Eren’s nape, drawing blood, as he slammed his cock deep inside Eren. Knot growing to its full size, stretching the human impossibly wide, he came in the boy’s ass, painting his insides with thick ropes of his come.

He felt beyond full, cum and knot filling him up to the brim and when Levi’s teeth sank into his flesh, his second release crashed over him. He came untouched, cock twitching and spurting his come on his stomach and the covers. A sleepy smile spread across his face when Levi held his hips up as his body lost its final strength.

Completely satisfied, Levi planted a kiss on the back of Eren’s neck, whispering sweet praises in his ear as sleep washed over the little human. “My sweet Eren.”

It was dawn when Eren awoke, the sun peeking through the curtains. He was tucked in bed, clean, and with a pair of pajama pants on. The smell of tea and something sweet filling up his nostrils.

It took him a moment to recollect his thoughts, the vivid images of last night flashing before his eyes. As he stood, the heavy pain in his hips along with the purple bruises and red marks all over his body served as another reminder that all of it had been indeed, very real.

With a droopy grin, he got up from the bed and shuffled towards the source of the sweet, hearty smell, finding Levi sitting on one of the chairs in nothing but sweatpants and two sets of pancakes in front of him. Had he cooked breakfast?

Levi’s eyes shot up once Eren peaked his head past the doorframe and he instantly jumped up and wrapped his arms around the brunet’s waist. He held him gently, a purr rumbling in his chest as he nuzzled his nose in his human’s neck. “Morning.”

Overwhelmed by the sudden affection, Eren stammered, “Morning.” Levi was so gentle with him, a complete 180 compared to last night, but it honestly felt right? As if their bodies remembered each other from before and were finally reunited. Eren laughed under his breath, how silly of him.

#ereri #riren #eren x levi #levi ackerman #rivaere #eren jaeger #mywriting #kinktober #nff #toplevi #leave some love if you liked it <3 #werewolf!levi #fic

[troped-fanfic-challenge]

ROUND ONE

It’s time to VOTE!!

Hey guys! It’s officially time to vote in Round 1 of Chopped Madness! The structure is simple! The fifteen (15) fics we received this round have been paired up head-to-head. Your job is to go through the eight pairings and select which author of the two fics you think deserves to move on to Round 2! The first poll, you will be asked to rank all 15 fics, the way you did in the Qualifying Round. This will help us to break any ties, and we will use this ranking to reorder the authors for the Bunker Brackets for Round 2.

At the end of the voting period, we will announce the EIGHT (8) authors who have been Chopped!! If you are not Chopped, that means you will be moving on to the next round, so keep an eye out for that post to be sure! If you aren’t sure you can always send us a message to check!

You can vote here at the updated survey!

Updated Voting Link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QM5B5TP

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Unfortunately, one of our authors was unable to write. We have included a “BYE” in the position where their fic would be in the head to head, and informed their bracket partner. The author has been “Chopped”, and their Qualifying Round fic will be revealed in our Chopping Block post after the voting has ended.

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The 15 fics that we receieved for this round can be found below, or on AO3 here! Each fic follows the Theme [Angst], includes the Tropes [Strangers to Lovers] and [Roadtrip], and has a central Character focus on [Harper McIntyre]! When you vote, please be sure to take into consideration the USE of all these elements, because, as with all other Chopped events, the purpose is to select the authors who best utilize the requirements!

into a cloven pine (Rated T) [Harper/Maya]

Summary: Maya starts sitting with her at meals, shrugging aside the judgmental looks of delinquents and Mountain Men alike. When Harper tries to delicately suggest that she sit somewhere else for her own good, Maya levels her with an icy glare and threatens to kick her under the table.

For some reason, that makes Harper giggle and she figures that someone who makes her giggle must be alright to sit with.

So, she ignores Miller’s warning head shakes and Fox’s teary-eyed frowns and she plays footsie with Maya Vie. Life is weird.

She might as well just go with it.

I Need You (Like I Need a Gaping Head Wound) (Rated T) [Harper/Echo] *Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death*

Summary: “And that was the new track from Lou Bega: ‘Mambo No. 5' off his new album ‘A Little Bit of Mambo'. Stay tuned for Backstreet, Britney Spears, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers comin’ at’cha in the next hour.” 

Harper shuts off the radio and leans back in the driver’s seat, taking her hands off the wheel and rubbing her temples. Traffic is worse than normal today, meaning she’s gonna be late. She’s already 45 minutes late getting back from lunch, meaning that Roan will probably call her into his office. That’s the last thing she needs today. 

Harper nearly jumps out of her skin when the passenger door opens and a tall, brunette woman vaults into the car. 

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU D--” 

“Drive,” the woman says, voice barely above a whisper.

venus, planet of love was destroyed by global warming (Rated G) [Harper/Monty]

Summary: In a world tainted by darkness, Harper meets Monty.

Take back my life (Prove I’m alright) (Rated T) [Harper/Monty]

Summary: Harper and Monty have been married for ten years and she is beginning to notice the cracks in their marriage.  Will a road trip for a job interview be able to save their marriage?

Like dust behind the wagon (Rated T) [Harper/Monre] *Major Character Death*

Summary: Harper and her family were in search of a better life in Oregon when tragedy struck.  She didn't think she would ever recover, and then she met Monroe, a lone traveler looking for a ride to Fort Bridger.

you can bloom again (Rated T) [Harper/Clarke]

Summary: Harper's always been a survivor.

She's survived an orphaned childhood, kidnapping, and torture. When a wave of fire stretches across the sky, she knows that she'll survive this, too - but when she meets a girl with a smile brighter than the sun, Harper wonders if surviving alone is what she really wants.

The Hardest Thing (Rated T) [Harper/Emori]

Summary: After shooting Baylis and escaping to the woods, Emori was utterly alone. She travelled through the lands of the Coalition, stealing from anyone and everyone. All of that changed when she met the last sky girl after the Mountain Men wiped out the rest of her people.

Harper had a map to a peaceful village across the sea, and Emori had nothing to lose.

Release (Rated T) [Harper/Murphy]

Summary: Her whole body is still tense, but this long habit of distrust has been formed in her, is not native to her, and his lazy, laconic air tempts her to put herself at ease. And she is curious. Behind them, the Detention Center is teeming, yet the desolation of the dim light and barren highway makes Harper feel as if they were the only two on the wide Earth.

Upon being released from the Arkadia Juvenile Detention Center, Harper takes a road trip to California with an old friend, his boyfriend, and another recently released delinquent.

What the Hell is a Pulmonary Embolism? (Rated T) [Harper & Clarke/Murphy]

Summary: Harper McIntyre wasn’t trained for this.

She was just a tour guide, how was she supposed to deal with the bus crashing in the middle of nowhere?

something more than momentary (Rated T) [Harper/Murphy]

Summary: The first rule of working for the Princess Protection Program was, well, keep your princess safe no matter the cost.

The second rule was don't get attached. Agent Murphy had followed that rule to the letter for years and never had an issue.

But now he's stuck in a car for the foreseeable future with a princess and a gunshot wound, and everything he's ever believed in just might be changing.

and the road gets tough (Rated M) [Harper/Monty]

Summary: It’s the end of the world and Harper McIntyre is done running. She’s done fighting against a life that relentlessly keeps pushing her down. But she has her son to worry about and she desperately wants him to have a new life and to experience it all. When they hit the road, she’s helped by a kind stranger who changes the course of things. Monty Green represents a life she wished she had been able to have, but it might still be too late.

everyone’s a different flower (Rated T) [Harper/Monty]

Summary: Harper McIntyre's life on Earth has been a simple one, and she's always been happy with that. But with a single diagnosis, her simple life is completely upended.

Her best friends think that an intergalactic trip across the universe is just what she needs to get her mind off of things. Raven thinks the change in scenery will do Harper some good. Clarke thinks the girl time will help.

(Harper thinks the cute space-botanist she meets might just do the trick.)

I wanna shoot the whole day down (Rated T) [Harper/Monty] *Major Character Death*

Summary:  Tell me why I don't like Mondays...

Or Tuesdays, or Wednesdays, or any day since you left us.

Never Gonna Give You Up (Rated T) [Harper/Raven]

Summary: Unknown: Hey, Monty guilted me into a road trip with those damned puppy dog eyes and seeing as neither of you can be in the same car, I am your road trip Uber. Name's Raven.  

Harper: Rookie mistake, you never look Monty in the eyes. That's how you lose.  

A road trip, huh?

Macushla (Rated T) [Harper/Monty]

Summary: Harper Noelle Margaret McIntyre, Countess of Rothes, must survive the unthinkable, when the unsinkable ship hits an iceberg in the middle of the Atlantic

// aka the Titanic AU that isn't Jack and Rose

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#chopped madness #chopped madness: round 1 #round 1: angst