#she's not okay and honestly i think she should be allowed to kill about it

[cacklefrendly]

Kir should get to act murder-y more. as a treat.

[sinstear]

── you sunk your teeth into me, oh, bloodsucker.

my brain is itching at the thought of vi x vampire!reader like i just can’t stop. god. 18+ fingering, vi!receiving, dirty talk, blood (not much, i think), vampire!reader, dom!reader, kinda softdom! reader, sub!vi, needy!vi, squirting. two idiots in love with each other honestly.

the secluded bedroom of the castle was off limits to everyone. no one was allowed in or out without your say-so. what kind of queen would you be if you willingly let people into the room that you’re safest in? let them see beyond the darkness that you carry? the secrets you bury to stay hidden?

violet was the only exception. the only one allowed in your safe quarters without having to ask. the sweetest human you’ve ever met. one that hasn’t tried to kill you … yet. you’re sure she might any second. you aren’t sure, maybe she’ll release the strong grip she has on your shoulder and push you away, curse you out for your relentless teasing on her and her cunt. but she doesn’t, not yet, she just sinks more into the messy sheets below her, throws an arm over her face and whimpers into the cold air.

you don’t know where to look. remove her arm to look at her face? watch the way her teeth sink into her bottom swollen plump lip? take note of the way her chest heads with each breath as you curl your fingers inside her? lean up and take one of her hard nipples in your mouth, bit down on the soft bud until she cries out for more? there’s so many options, but your brain answers for you when you look back down to between her legs, walls clamping around your long fingers tightly, pulling you back in without restraint and vi chokes on a whine when you’re scoffing under your breath, muttering about how pretty her cunt is taking you so well. “poor baby needs to cum, hm?” you cooed, trailing your lips up her inner thigh, enjoying the twitch beneath.

violet’s arm flies away from her face, reaches down and grips the sheet in a tight fist, knuckles turning white and she grits her teeth. “stop teasin’ me, i beg of you, just—” there’s a silent pause, it’s heavy, her eyes meet yours and her pulse jumps when she catches you, feels you, slowly brushing the sharp fang across her skin. she should be scared, right? push you away and never let you do that again? but she doesn’t, her cunt clenches around your fingers even tighter, confirming she was okay, and her lips part with a soft breathless gasp.

and she curses at herself when your lips curl into a devilish yet knowing smirk. she likes it way too much.

nipping at her skin, you hum at her pleas and gasps, thumb reaching up and rubbing slow, rhythmical circles on her clit. there’s a glint in your eye, a sparkle even, vi notices without having to look hard enough and it causes her heart to thump in her chest. you hear it loudly— too loudly, you also hear the pumping of her blood beneath your lips, and for a second, she has to sink her teeth into her lip to stop the whimper that’s clawing at her throat when your eyes darken, shimmers of red taking their rightful place again.

“so dirty making those pretty sounds for me when you know how badly i wanna taste you, how badly i control myself around you, you love it don’t you? you love being my weakness,” you murmur in a soft growl, not taking your eyes off her.

“yes,” she answers too quickly, not sparing the consequences when you’re sliding your fingers out, and then back in before she can blink, fingertips brushing against her walls deliciously. “fuckk,” she cries, hips bucking into you, hand gripping the sheet tighter and involuntarily pushing her thigh closer to your mouth. “stop teasing me, please, please.”

your eyebrow quirks up, teeth nipping harder at her skin and your body bursts with warmth when her hands fly off and away from the sheet, and cups the back of your head. “patience, pretty, let me have my fun with you first, hm?” you grin, eyes flickering back to her cunt, slick dripping down her folds, coating your knuckles and the blood rushes to your head at the obscene squelching. “you’re so wet. so wet when you’re thinkin’ about letting me sink teeth into you, letting me taste you.” vi’s whimper makes your cunt clench around nothing and you smirk at the way her clit throbs beneath your thumb. “so impatient, so needy to cum, aren’t you, sweet?”

vi’s body blooms with a blush, she nods, waits to feel your teeth against her skin again and her eyes flutter closed when you’re sinking your fingers deeper, curling them against all the right spots inside her that has her toes curling and body trembling. her breath trembles, hands clamp up with sweat at the subtle sounds coming from between her legs mixed with your groans and growls, watching her take you so easily. “just… just like that, please,” she hums, licks her lips and slowly grinds her hips, meeting your thrusts effortlessly. “oh fuck, shit—” 

you shamelessly watch the way your fingers disappear and reappear, coming out wetter each time, the sight causing a growl to rumble in your chest. you’re hot headed, even vi isn’t sure how you’ve managed to control every single one of your desires, your need for her, but you have and the thought alone has her squeezing around your fingers, slick oozing and coating your fingers.

“fuck, that’s pretty,” you groaned, screwing your eyes shut and planting sloppy kisses right on the favoured spot of her inner thigh. listening to the thumping of blood. “you’re so— shit, you’re just so sweet all over, ain’t ya?”

it’s small, but vi let’s it happen, she nudges her thigh even more into your mouth, her clit throbs and her walls flutter around your fingers; her heart thumps faster, and she gasps when you growl against the blooming hickey, and you wish she could hear the way your cunt practically screams when she whimpers out a small please, and nudges her thigh dangerously close. the sharp fang grazing that spot you’ve had your eye on all night. “need it, need you to.”

your eyes find hers, and she inhales sharply; your eyes are asking the silent question. she’s known you long enough to figure you out. are you sure you know what you’re asking for? and when she nods, not trusting her voice, you slide your fingers in deeper, curling them, nudging the spot inside her that has her gasping, quicker and faster than she’s ever felt before. vi’s eyes flutter closer, her hand coming down to cup the back of your neck and her blunt nails dig into your skin.

the pinch is barely there at first, nothing too drastic, just a nip and a lick, but then she feels it. she feels the way your sharp fangs suddenly puncture her skin, her eyes snapping shut, her cunt practically clamping and spasming around your fingers, her back arches off the bed, hips bucking up into you and her body goes rigid when she cums over your fingers with a wailed cry. “oh my fuck—”

violet’s body trembles beneath your hold, weakly pushes herself up on her elbows and looks down at you. a thick sheet of sweat coats your forehead, your fingers moving at a relentless pace, still curling and fucking into her, but it’s your face. the way your eyebrows pinch forward in a tight frown, eyes flutter closed and she can’t hold back the whimper, which mixed with your guttural moan, that tears through her throat as you sink your fangs deeper into her thigh and suck harder. 

“baby, fuck, need you to—” the words die on her throat, her mind and body too focused on the feeling of her stomach fluttering again due to your fingers fucking into her cunt like it was made for you, her hips grinding back against yours fingers and you’re lost in her taste. you can’t focus, won’t focus, you’re not too bothered by the fact she’s gonna cum again, too busy letting your body ignite with the taste of her in your veins, all in your mouth, fuck even running down your throat. 

“gonna cum—” you don’t stop, keep your fingers moving, and her thigh jerks, taking you out of your sudden trance to look up and her looking down at you with flushed cheeks, plump lips and a trembling breath. it’s different for her, feels different, and vi’s scrambling to hold onto you again, tighter than humanly possible, a final curl of your fingers has her body thrashing, vision whitening and her eyes rolling into the back of her head. spurts of sticky spray coat your wrist, drenching your shirt and violet whines loudly when your mouth is on her. greedly, and messily licling and sucking at her clit, taking more and more from her. “s’too much,” she cries, still grinding against your mouth. “fuckkkk.”

you stay there for a few minutes, lazily sucking her clit and fucking her through her orgasm until she moans softly, thighs clenching around your head and her breath quivers when you sit up slowly, carefully removing your fingers from her. “you are—” you pause to catch your breath and stroke her hip. “insatiable.”

“shut up,” she murmurs and covers her face with her arms shyly. unaware of your gaze at her, then shifting to the bite mark on her thigh. her heart thumps again, cunt clenches around nothing when she feels your fingers brushing over it lightly, like a feather. “are you—”

“i didn’t hurt you, did i?” you asked, suddenly nervous.

violet shakes her head quickly, reaching out and grabbing your hand and interlocking her fingers with yours. “no, you didn’t hurt me, could never hurt me,” she admitted softly and stroked your knuckles. “promise.”

you study your interlocked hands, then you meet her eyes; they’re soft, gazing into yours like you’re the only person who exists in her world and you smile when she kisses your hand. “you’re so pretty,” you found yourself murmuring.

“i look like a mess.” 

reaching up and cupping her face with your free hand, you smiled and shook your head. “a pretty mess.” you admitted. 

violet looked at you for a few minutes, as did you, just staring and admiring. it was a comfortable silence. the sound of yours and her breathing could be heard, the sound of crows outside the window, and she found herself sitting up and shuffling closer to you. a look gleamed in her eye. “what are you thinking?” 

sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, which didn’t go unnoticed by you, vi shook her head and squeezed your hand. “s’nothing—”

“sure as hell looks like something,”

“i just— can you fuck me?” so shy and pliant. 

quirking your eyebrow, you couldn’t help but laugh at her question. “fuck you? did i not just make you cum and squirt?”

“no! i know, i just, with—”

“oh,” you paused and nodded your head. letting go of her cheek, you gripped her chin between your fingers and stroked her bottom lip. “you wanna be fucked with my cock don’t you?” 

her cheeks flush, voice wavers and eyes flutter closed, shyly nodding under your intense gaze. “yes, please.” violet whimpers.

“such pretty manners,” your lips find her neck, her pulse jumps and your clit throbs. your eyes flutter closed, inhaling deeply and brushing your fangs against the curve in her neck that meets her shoulder. “gonna take my cock like a good girl?”

violet nods pathetically, and then opens her mouth. “yes, whatever you want, but please, need you to fuck me, please.”

she doesn’t miss the way your smirk widens and your eyes darken the seconds the pleas are rushing out her mouth. nor does she miss the way you lick of the dried blood on your chin. the sight has her weak in the knees and clenching around nothing. pathetic. “m’gonna fuck you so good that you’ll be thinking of me whenever you touch yourself. gonna ruin you for anyone else, sweet.”

[avionvadion]

Eleanora is going to be teaching all the boys the lyrics and moves to This Is Halloween and she's putting Sebek in the front of it all because he's the only one who actually made it to the hill and talked sense into Skully. XD

He is the best boy. She might actually ask the Mayor if he can make a "best boy award" because it be Sebek. Malleus is pouting, but he knows Sebek deserves the praise. Little does Sebek know, this event most likely earns him the honor (cough punishment cough) of being Eleanora's bodyguard via Malleus' orders.

Also, Skully is going to be the missing son of the "Halloween King" in my fanfic so he'll be very much alive.

For those curious (I'm taking many creative liberties with these events, goodness gracious) about the timeline: Skully happens in November. We meet Fellow and Gidel in October, but they don't join NRC until January because Fellow needs time to think about and realize some stuff before catching Kalim and asking if his previous offer was still open.

...Fellow is going to be Vice Dorm Leader. NO LISTEN OKAY HEAR ME OUT, IT MAKES SENSE.

He and Eleanora actually have a lot in common. Charismatic, are usually able to talk their way out of most situations, oldest of the group, big sibling figures, kind of jaded, and are both struggling but doing their best to survive despite circumstances and are incredibly extremely broke. Also his coat matches the Ramshackle blue and he has the little hat. He'd be able to keep Skully and Grim in line when Eleanora isn't there, and Gidel already listens to him! It just makes sense, y'know? XD In like the goofiest way. Also they both have canes.

...Honestly surprised no one's asked why El has a cane yet. I mentioned it before, but nothing. Hmm. Oh, well.

Also I might have drawn Gidel a bit too small since I headcanon him around ten or twelve-ish, but he is probably malnourished so him being shorter than he actually should be checks out.

Fellow is doing his best given he probably found Gidel when he was a teenager and the tiny child was probably a toddler then, but if tiny child doesn't get enough to eat (and we know there are days the two of them go without eating, based on the SSR vignette) then tiny child isn't gonna grow properly. So he being smoll makes sense.

CAN WE PLEASE MENTION THAT FELLOW PROBABLY CUTS GIDEL'S HAIR HIMSELF!??? LOOK AT THE BACKS OF THEIR HAIR. (Not in my drawing because it's my first time drawing them and I definitely got some of their hair wrong, so look at their actual official art) THEY'RE SO SIMILAR. FELLOW BE CUTTING GIDEL'S HAIR AND TRYING TO TEACH HIM WHAT LITTLE HE KNOWS OF THE ALPHABET/WHAT LITTLE HE KNOWS HOW TO READ AND PROBABLY JUST SAW THIS TINY TODDLER ON THE STREET AND WENT, "Okay, you're my little brother now" AND DECIDED TO RAISE HIM. THAT'S SO FREAKING CUTE. OH MY GODS.

Anyways, I love them. :3

The only one not going to be allowed at Ramshackle is Rollo XD boy tried to KILL Eleanora's dragon boyfriend. She has a grudge. Oh, he wants to be a visiting student? Hell nah. Screw you, Crowley, go ahead and blackmail her, she has Poma and Divus on her side. Rollo can find somewhere else to stay.

NO ROLLO IN RAMSHACKLE, SHE HAS A SWORD IN HER CANE AND SHE WILL USE IT ON HIM. (Thanks Ortho.)

[cosmerelists]

How Cosmere Characters Would Deal With Getting a Bad Haircut

1. Shallan

She and her alters have a big fight about it.

Shallan: Look, it's all fine. I'll lightweave my hair to look normal. Forever. Veil: Hats, Shallan. H-A-T-S. Hats hide all sins! Shallan: I don't wear hats as Shallan! Radiant: [hopefully holds up a pair of scissors and a shaving razor] No hair? No bad haircut! Shallan: I AM NOT SHAVING MY HEAD

2. Sarene

Asks everybody if they like her new haircut, just to be a little shit.

Sarene (talking to a hapless court lady): Yeah, the style was my idea. I'm SO glad you like it! Sarene: You should get the same one when you go!

3. Dalinar

Honestly and sincerely does not care.

Navani: You know that I love you, but it looks as though your hair was cut by an assassin trying to scalp you with a rusty knife. Dalinar: Used to cut my hair myself with a knife. Dalinar: Honestly, it looked better then. Dalinar: But eh.

4. Tress

Immediately regrets her impulse to be accommodating in all situations.

Tress: ...and then I said I loved it... 😞 Charlie (putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder): W-We'll get someone else to fix it!

5. Leshwi

Floats ever higher in the sky.

Leshwi: From up here, no one can see my terrible haircut. Leshwi: Yes, the train of my robe is approximately 47 pounds, but it is a small price to pay. Kaladin: Hello! Leshwi: ...Almost no one.

6. Steris

Withdraws from society for exactly 16 days.

Steris: It is how long it takes for my hair to look presentable again. Wax: I really don't think it's that noticeable!

7. Adolin

Goes to another hairdresser to get it fixed. He does allow everyone to playfully roast him in the meantime, though.

Shallan: I think you should have kept it. Shallan: Men everywhere would have felt just a little bit better about themselves. Kaladin: It would have been a great advantage in battle, too. Kaladin: Scaring your opponent right off the bat. Adolin: I wear a helmet in battle, you know. Kaladin: Eh, that's a bit less scary than the hair was.

8. Vin

Let's be real. Sazed would never give her a bad haircut and if he did, he would fix it.

Sazed: I am sorry, again, that I sneezed while cutting your hair. Vin: It's really okay. Sazed: I think we can make the half shaved, half long haircut into a new style if we play it right. Sazed: We'll call it "punk." Elend: I think it looks nice. Sazed: See? It's already trending.

9. Jasnah

Kills her hairdresser. Just kidding! Probably.

Wit (holding a pair of scissors): Would it help if I told you that this, uh, style is all the rage on the far-off planet of Nalthis? Jasnah: Tell me. How confident are you in your immortality? Wit: Never less confident than in this moment.

10. Kaladin

Despite how horribly botched his haircut was, Kaladin's hair somehow looks entirely normal.

Kaladin: [standing nearby, hair blowing dramatically in the breeze] Adolin (muttering): How does he do it?? Shallan: It is honestly infuriating.

[district4loading]

Twice's Tour Chronicles (WLW)

Twice x Twice : Sana!dom x Dahyun!sub | Jihyo!dom x Tzuyu!sub | Nayeon!dom x Momo!dom x Mina!sub

6K Words

Content Warning: smut, threesome, member x member, toys, face riding, oral

Minors DNI

A/N: The person that asked for the twice members shower situation requested that I continued the scenario so here it is. This is my first time doing member x member stuff but it was fun and I can't wait to do some more of it.

Enjoy!!

-

"Okay, I'll say it since no one else will"

Jeongyeon starts off, looking around the room to make sure that all eyes are on her, including the managers and the staff "If the driver is going to take another hour to get here, we might as well kill the time by showering here"

The statement gets mixed reactions. Sana's the first one to twist herself in Dahyun's lap and say "Yeah, I'm in desperate need of a shower right now." There's a few other girls that nod and hum in agreement while some others are hesitant to give a proper response or even acknowledge it.

The girls are backstage at the MetLife Stadium and they just finished performing a show that will probably go down in history as one of their best. Usually, they'd be on their way back to the hotel by now but unfortunately the van that's supposed to pick them up had some mechanical issues. Meaning that their ride is delayed for another hour as Jeongyeon said.

Manager-unnie crosses her arms and stops to think for a bit as the girls watch her silently. "There should be a communal shower just down the hall. I'll check to see if we'll be able to use it"

Dahyun winces a bit when she hears the word "communal" and Sana's the first to notice it. "It's fine I'll just shower when I get back to the hotel" Dahyun shrugs her shoulders.

Tzuyu and Mina nod along with a hum "Me too" The taller girl insists.

Sana slides out of Dahyun's lap "but you hate being sweaty" She says it in that cute little voice of hers and it sounds innocent but if anyone knows Sana, they'd know it's far from it.

"Yeah but.. communal showers aren't my thing you know. It'll be weird"

"It's going to be fine..." Sana leans into Dahyun's ear and says something that nobody else can hear.

Momo and Nayeon watch the two of them and the older girl just catches the way that Momo rolls her eyes "Those two might as well just kiss" she mutters, causing Nayeon to laugh and playfully tap her arm.

"How do you feel about this communal showers thing?" Nayeon questions her.

Momo only shrugs "I just wanna get clean honestly"

So like the strong leader she is, Jihyo gets everyones attention "We've all seen each other naked before, it's really no big deal if we shower together" She looks at the members who are still unsure, although it's looking like Dahyun is about to change her mind with the way Sana has her smiling now.

"Fine" Tzuyu looks at Mina for a moment "I need a shower too, I don't think I can wait"

Then it doesn't take much convincing for Mina to shrug her shoulders and say "Fuck it"

-

So there they are, naked in the communal showers trying to get clean. Chaeyoung really only minds her business and so does Tzuyu, Jihyo and Dahyun because they're more focused on the way the warm water soothes their skin and their sore muscles.

But Mina, no matter how much she tries can't stop sneaking looks at Momo and Nayeon who are to her left and right. All she has to do is turn her head a little bit and she can't help herself when she allows herself to stare at their breasts or the perfect curve of their ass. She's embarrassed by it and she can feel her cheeks burn red the moment she locks eyes with Nayeon.

She turns her head away to face forwards when she suddenly feels someones presence next to her. It's Momo and she's snaking her arms around Mina's waist "Momo, what are you-" She gasps, feeling her nails dig into her skin.

"I thought I'd come over here since you wouldn't stop looking my way"

Momo looks over to Nayeon and winks, beckoning her to come over as well. So she does and now poor little Mina is practically cornered by these two vixens. Nayeon puts a hand on Mina's breast while Momo kisses on her neck. The younger girl closes her eyes, not knowing what the hell she's gotten herself into.

She's being fondled by two people at once and no matter how much she whines their names, she knows she wants more.

Meanwhile Sana's sneaking up behind an unsuspecting Dahyun who almost yelps when she feels a pair of small hands grab her ass. "That's not funny" She huffs to Sana who only giggles and wraps her arms around the younger girls body. "Seriously" Dahyun tries not to smile but it's prevalent in her tone and the subtle quiver on her lips.

"Aw c'mon Dahyunnie, you know I can't stay away from you for more than a minute"

Their wet bodies are completely flush together, smooth wet skin against smooth wet skin. "So clingy" Dahyun taps her arm "If you want me to help you shower then just say that"

Jeongyeon holds in a laugh and turns to Jihyo "Hey, leader. Aren't you gonna do something? The members are about to fuck"

The acclaimed leader only snorts "If I get involved, we all might end up unable to look into each others eyes for the rest of the tour" Then she finds herself staring at whatever Momo, Mina and Nayeon have going on across the room.

"I'm sure Mina and Nayeon won't mind if you steal Momo away from them for a moment" Jeongyeon shrugs, her words causing Jihyo's cheeks to burn.

She turns over "I was not staring at Momo"

It's very unconvincing the way she says it because it sounds like she's trying to convince herself of that more that she's trying to convince Jeongyeon. "I didn't say you were I just-"

"Just what?" The leader snaps

"Nothing" Jeongyeon tries to hold in a laugh, figuring that maybe she shouldn't try to open that can of worms again.

Chaeyoung looks over to Tzuyu "See, I could've predicted that this would happen"

"What?"

"Sana and Dahyun.. Mina between Nayeon and Momo... I saw it happening" She shrugs causing Tzuyu to laugh a bit "When we get back to the hotel I wouldn't be surprised if some of them spent the night together"

"I've only been looking, I don't think I could bring myself to actually.." She trails off but the older girl catches the drift and nods.

It's something that the youngest has thought about a few times, although she'd never actually act on anything. She was too shy and too awkward to do so. As opposed to Chaeyoung, who didn't really have any interest in hooking up with the members. But she wasn't one to judge, in fact she says "You should try it out"

Tzuyu only shakes her head and continues to scrub her body, feeling herself turn red at just the thought of...

-

"Jihyo-unnie!" The leader hears the familiar voice of the one and only maknae echoing loud in the hallway of the hotel. She turns around to see none other than Tzuyu walking past the door to her own room and straight to her.

Jihyo's immediately curious, stopping to look at Tzuyu with her arms crossed "What's up?" 

"Can we talk?" Jihyo nods, then waits for the youngest to speak "In private" Tzuyu clarifies.

First Jihyo's a bit hesitant but she reaches for the door knob and she opens it anyways. As Twice's leader she knows every one of her members inside and out. So she'll always keep her door open if a member is in need of any guidance or anything of the sort.

They both sit next to each other on the edge of the bed and Jihyo notices that Tzuyu's not looking her in the eye. So she starts things off "Whats on your mind Tzu?" She tilts her head, placing her hand on the younger girls thigh. It wasn't anything more than a simple act of assurance to get her comfortable and Tzuyu knows that. Still, her ears burn red from the contact.

"I..." She swallows and turns to meet the leaders eyes "Have you ever uh... like.." Jihyo nods along, holding eye contact intensely a bit worried about the girl in fronr of her. Tzuyu takes a deep breath, noticing how pathetic she seems not being able to form a proper sentence "Have you ever been with one of the members. Like sexually?" She blurts the words out, although the question wasn't really necessary.

Everyone knew that Jihyos been with Momo and she's gotten with Sana too. She asked it to get the conversation going so she can make a move.

Jihyo just chuckles, relaxing the tensions in her body once she realizes what this is about "I mean.. yeah. Why?"

"I think I'm... curious about it but I don't know. I've never been with a girl before" Tzuyu admits, breaking eye contact before she can even finish her sentence.

"So who are you interested in? I could maybe help you set something up with her" 

Tzuyu only smiles, her cheeks turning red as she looks at Jihyo, putting her hand over hers that's on her thigh "How about you show me the ropes first. Then we can talk about the others" Somehow she's able to smoothen out her tone when she says it, sounding a little bit more confident.

Jihyo's eyes widen, she wasn't expecting this at all. "Tzu... are you sure?"

"Y..Yeah" Tzuyu nods reluctantly, finding Jihyo's surprise a little discouraging.

Jihyo holds Tzuyu's chin, forcing her to look her in the eye "I want you to be completely 100% sure about it first, show me that confidence again"

"I want to" Tzuyu looks into her eyes when she says it, causing Jihyo to give her a satisfied smile. Her hand moves to caress Tzuyu's soft cheek and she just has to admire the younger girl's face a bit. 

She's beautiful.

"Can I kiss you?" Jihyo asks softly and Tzuyu nods immediately.

So Jihyo leans in, eager to get her lips on Tzuyu's. The maknae doesn't waste any time to reciprocate the kiss. She moves her lips nice and slow against Jihyo's, allowing herself to taste and smudge the lipgloss that's on her lips. 

As things heat up, Tzuyu finds herself moaning softly into Jihyo's mouth. The pretty sounds she makes on her lips causes the leader to feel a familiar heat inside of her body. Jihyo begins to kiss her harder and a bit faster, saliva finding it's way at the corners of the girls' lips and sliding down their chins.

There's nothing like a good make-out session to Jihyo. She could spend a good while doing it. Especially when she feels Tzuyu's hands wandering to where she's always wanted them to be in the first place. Tzuyu cups Jihyo's full breasts in her hands, feeling how soft they are, just like she thought they'd be. 

Jihyo's hands deviate too, slipping underneath Tzuyu's T-shirt to hold and feel the skin on her slim waist. The sounds of the smacking of their lips and their eager moans fill the warm lit room room as they grow hungrier for each other. 

She tugs at the hem of Tzuyu's top and they have to break the kiss for the first time to get it off. Tzuyu bites her lip, already missing the taste of Jihyo's when she begins to take off her own top. She can't help but look at the leaders breasts and how they nearly burst out of her bra, it's got her cheeks hot. Jihyo giggles as she reaches back to unclasp her bra "You can touch them if you'd like" She offers welcomingly with a smirk.

Tzuyu hesitates a bit but then her hands reach out to touch them. She holds them both in her hands and they feel much better, warmer and even softer without clothes over them. "Can... can I suck them?" The curiosity in Tzuyu's tone has Jihyo nearly swooning because she's so unbearably cute and endearing.

"Go ahead" She nods and Tzuyu scoots forwards, ducking her head down to get the nipple in her mouth. Jihyo moans softly, the sensitivity her nipples harbor only enhances the pleasure for her. It's obvious Tzuyu's never done this before, the way she's moving her tongue and sucking feels so amateur in the cutest way possible.

So Jihyo giggles, allowing her to explore and do her own thing until she's ready to stop. Soon she comes up "Now what?" Tzuyu asks and Jihyo has to sit and think a bit before she scoots further onto the bed, then spreads her legs and taps the spot in front of her.

"Come sit here" Jihyo smiles warmly. Tzuyu does as she's told, then and she presses her back against Jihyo. "Let me help you take these off" She offers, tugging and pulling at the waistband of her sweats so she lifts her hips and helps get them all the way off. "Can I touch you here?" 

Tzuyu nods "Yes, please" as Jihyo kisses along her neck, fingers ghosting over her underwear.

"So Tzu... how come all of a sudden you're interested in me"

"Well-" A soft moan stops her mid sentence when Jihyo puts some actual pressure on her panties "Well, I saw that Dahyun and Sana and the others were having a good time. I got curious" She shrugs, causing Jihyo to hum in response.

"But why'd you choose me?"

"I thought you were the most trustworthy, you know me the most"

Jihyo smiles as she slides Tzuyu's panties to the side, running the tip of her finger up her slit. From the feel of it, just a bit of kissing and nipple play has got Tzuyu all dripping and ready for her leader. It boosts her confidence through the roof.

She hears a small little whine come from the younger girl when she begins to circle her clit "How does that feel?" Jihyo mutters against her skin soft skin.

"Good" She hums, then spreads her legs a bit wider to give better access. Without another word, Jihyo slides two whole fingers inside of Tzuyu's aching heat, hearing a loud moan escape her lips full of pleasure and surprise. "Ah- Jihyo" She has to shush the younger a bit as she begins to glide her fingers in and out, curling them perfectly for her.

"You're so wet, just look how easy it's going in and out" Jihyo whispers, looking over Tzuyu's shoulder. Tzuyu looks down also, unable to take her eyes off the sight in front of her. Something tells her that she should be embarrassed because just look at her, a moaning and squirming mess on Jihyo's fingers and she's only just started.

But it feels too good for her to have any sort of shame. Right now there's only pleasure and she's absolutely drunk with it. "Please- Jihyo right there" She sobs, eyes threatening to roll back each time Jihyo buries her fingers to the hilt.

When Tzuyu woke up this morning, this isn't how she envisioned the following night going. Like always she'd keep to herself and stay in her room to recharge after a long concert. Instead she's in Jihyo's room getting fingered and fondled with her head in the clouds. Each squeeze of her petite breasts gets her gushing and when Jihyo kisses her neck so sweetly it's almost too much.

"What was that Tzu?" Jihyo sinks her teeth into the younger girl's neck, then licks over her red teeth marks "Go on, tell me how it feels" Jihyo hums, noticing the stutter in each breath she takes in. Jihyo says the words so slowly, her voice deep and soulful like she means it and God Tzuyu's mind just fucking breaks.

"I- It's so fucking good... fuck- how are you doing that?" She moans, turning her head towards Jihyo the best she can for some answers. Tzuyu can't understand it at all, how Jihyo can get her like this just with two of her fingers. No guy she's been with could ever make her feel pleasure so intense and earth-shattering that she can't even focus on making her moans sound pretty. They're labored and broken but Jihyo likes it that way, she likes her this way.

Then Jihyo's hand slides down from Tzuyu's breast and she brings it to the throbbing bud that's begging for attention. She slaps it, not once, but twice and with each one Tzuyu's entire body jerks "Again" she nods. It's the first time that she's said something with so much conviction so far. "Fuck!" She squeals when Jihyo does it a bit harder this time, then she rubs it to ease the pain.

"I would've never pegged you to be the type to like being slapped down there" Jihyo snickers so arrogantly, like she knows how badly she's fucking this poor girl up tonight. 

Tzuyu doesn't respond, she just can't. Not when both of Jihyo's hands are doing all the right things. She tries to move because the pleasure's got her close but Jihyo's strong arms are constricting her, holding her in place so that the only thing she can do right now is take it. "Jihyo" It comes out as a helpless and breathy whisper "I'm almost there" The warning is pleading, like she needs her to take her to the finish line so badly.

"Yeah?" Jihyo nods 

Tzuyu nods back, moaning a louder "Yeah" back as she turns to face her the best she can. Jihyo can tell what she needs right now, there's no need to ask for it. So she leans and cranes her neck the best she can to get their lips together. She swallows all of the maknae's moans, kissing her nice and slow as she gets her to the point of no return.

She hums a sweet and encouraging "mm-hm" on the other girls lips right when her body begins shaking.

And with a particularly loud and hoarse moan Tzuyu cums all over Jihyo's fingers, her cunt helplessly clenching and pulsing around them. At this point she's stopped kissing back and Jihyo's the one doing all the work, fucking her through her orgasm as she sucks and bites on her lips. 

It's all so worth it to make Tzuyu fall apart on her fingers.

-

So there they are, laying in bed together after Tzuyu timidly requested to stay the night. She lays in Jihyo's arms a little exhausted and weak from their activities. "Next time can I try topping?" Jihyo only laughs for a moment because it's the first words she's said since they decided to ask. When she hears it, her ears go red "I'm sorry, I was just saying what I was thinking"

Jihyo runs her hand through her hair "No Tzu don't be sorry. You're just cute" She breathes in a bit and she smiles warmly "Yeah, I'll let you top me"

"You'll have to teach me" She clears her throat, the embarrassment starts flooding in. Being this inexperienced at her age, feeling all the things Jihyo made her feel for the first time tonight--it all made her feel like she's missing out on the better parts of life and now she's hoping that Jihyo will be patient with her.

"We'll take things slow, I won't rush you into anything" Jihyo assures her, pulling her in closer for comfort. 

It's just peaceful when they fall asleep in each others arms.

-

Sana and Dahyun were all over each other getting to the hotel, they decided to stop by the open bar downstairs to maybe get a few drinks. 

On their way back, Sana's naughty giggles could be heard from all the way down the hall as she fiddled with the lock to the younger members room. Once they make it inside, Sana wastes no time to press the smaller girl up against the nearest wall. She presses their lips together once, then twice "I think I'm obsessed with you" Sana mutters on Dahyun's lips as she reaches for the buttons on her jeans.

"You think?" Dahyun suppresses a moan as Sana dips her head into her neck, kissing and licking on the soft and pale skin "No marks" she winces when the brown haired girl attacks her skin a little too rough with her mouth. 

She doesn't respond, only shoves her hand into Dahyun's panties, getting a feel of the wet warmth she's been harboring the entire ride back to the hotel. "Oh- looks like someones been ready for me a while" Sana smirks, kissing her once more as she circles her cunt.

Like the tease she is, she slips her hand out and places her sticky fingers into her mouth, humming erotically at the sweet taste. Sana leans in, allowing their lips to collide once more with a grip on the younger's waist. She then guides her, walking her all the way to the bedroom where she can push her onto the bed to lay down. "Clothes off" She orders, still standing as she pulls her hoodie over her head.

In a flash, Dahyun's wiggles herself out of her clothes and they end up somewhere on the floor. Sana giggles as she reaches to unclasp her bra, letting her small breasts go free. Now that they're both bare, Sana's ready to allow their bodies to come together again. She crawls on top of the smaller girl, kissing along her jawline, then all the way down to her kneck and chest.

Dahyun's got a great body. It's probably why Sana's so obsessed. She could spend hours just sucking on those perfect nipples of hers without getting bored or tired. Ask Dahyun, she's done it before. "Unnie" Dahyun moans, the pure unadulterated pleasure coursing throughout her body when she feels Sana's warm tongue on her nipple.

She flicks the muscle on the stiff peaks, massaging the other breast gently with her hand, careful not to dig her nails into the skin. Sana was mindful about things like that. It's part of the reason why Dahyun's only trusted Sana with her body thus far. "My perfect girl" Sana mutters as she moves to the next nipple, treating it with the same care and affection.

It was no joke that she could spend and hour doing it. The devilish smirk on her face and the intense eye contact she makes tells Dahyun that much. "Sana Unnie" Dahyun whines, hands weakly trying to push Sana down to where she needed her the most. 

Sana opens her mouth and starts licking around and between the younger girls breasts, coating her body with her saliva. She hums "Well what?" She plants a kiss between her tits "You keep calling me, but you won't tell me what you want"

Something that Sana loves to do? Tease. No matter if she was topping or bottoming, the girl is a tease. She know's how shy and red Dahyun can get once she's got her begging and pleading for her to do the nastiest things to her body. She really gets off on it. The whining, the whimpering, it's all like fuel to her when she hears the way the adorable sounds come out of Dahyun's mouth.

"Need your tongue... need your fingers" She squirms under Sana's weight, trying to achieve just the tiny bit of friction that'll be enough to at least ease the ache in between her legs. She can feel that her inner thighs are already all slippery with her arousal and it makes it all the more embarrassing. "Please, inside unnie" Her hips grind up into nothing.

Sana smirks "Whatever you want." Then she's going lower, still keeping that eye-contact as she kisses her way down Dahyun's sleek body. Down to her belly, all the way to her wanting cunt. Sana blows on it first, giggling at the sudden twitch her leg gives to the contact. Then Sana makes duck lips to plant soft kisses on her outer lips, coating them with her wetness "You would make a great lipgloss" Sana jokes.

Dahyun can't laugh, nor can she even acknowledge the joke that Sana made. Just her lips, Sana's soft fucking lips has Dahyun a whining mess. She needs more but she's so sensitive that each small kiss is almost too pleasureful. Thankfully, Sana stops teasing, she gets a good grip on Dahyun's plump thighs before flattening her tongue on her clit. "Oh- Yes Sana!" Dahyun says her name like she's the only girl in the world.

That's certainly what it felt like

She keeps going, licking, flicking and swirling her tongue on the sweet bundle of nerves between Dahyun's legs. She's going crazy, moaning and squirming with her fingers tangled in Sana's hair. She has to stop herself from pulling, but it feels so good she almost needs to. "S-Sana!" She whimpers, voice shaking as she moans the older girls name. It's like music to her ears.

"Mhm" Sana can only really hum to let Dahyun know that she's there and she hears her because her mouth is currently occupied. It doesn't take long for the younger girl to break eye contact, she throws her head back, hand covering her flushed face as she lay flat on the mattress.

She can swear up and down right now that nobody can eat her out like Sana. She knows her body inside and out, it's almost unfair.

Sana brings up her hand, prodding Dahyun's tight entrance with the long digit. As soon as she feels it she moans "Please!" Needing to feel Sana's fingers pounding and stretching her just the way she likes.

The older pulls her head back and spits on the sloppy cunt in front of her, spreading it around until she inevitably slides a finger inside. Dahyun grips the sheets so tight, it's probably done damage "So tight Dahyunnie" Sana murmurs before getting her mouth back on Dahyuns clit, making the girl choke out a moan.

Sana pumps her finger in and out, nice and slow so she's careful not to hurt her. She makes sure to curl it just the way Dahyun likes before she begins to swirl her tongue around. Figure eight motions will always get her going as Sana remembers, so thats exactly what she does, not at all caring if her tongue gets tired or sore. Dahyun tastes too good for her to stop and she sounds too good for her to stop.

The noises that fill the room are just obscene. Loud and aggressive slimy sounds at each flick of Sana's tongue and fingers. Then there's dahyun's pretty moans that she's given up on hiding at this point. It's hot, she's hot.

"Can I add another?" Sana detatches her lips for a moment to ask

"Yes please" Dahyun nods frantically and the look on her face is pure wreckage. Eyes squinted like she's about to cry when she throws her head back at the stretch of Sana's second finger. "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank- ah!" That's the moment Sana hits her g-spot. 

Sana lowers her head again, wrapping her moist lips around Dahyun's clit to suck on the bud as hard as she can. It'll send her over the edge, she knows it. "Sanaaaa Fu-ah!" Dahyun grabs a pillow and puts it over her face, squeezing the soft object with all her strengh. 

Now Sana has to try a bit harder to hold Dahyun down with her free hand because she's moving around more. She holds strong though, working her fingers into the girl like her sole purpose in life is to make Dahyun cum as hard as she can.

By the looks of it, she was on the way there. With her moans going up an octave and the pillow not doing a very good job at quieting her down, her body begins to tremble. Sana hums and the vibrations immediately stimulate Dahyun's nerves in a way that sends her off of the edge almost immediately. "Sana... I'm cumming!" She moans out loud and proud through the pillow, hips stuttering and bucking in Sana's mouth as she tries to ride out her orgasm. It's so good it has her words getting stuck in her throat.

She begins to breath as if she's hyperventilating as her orgasm knocks the wind out of her. "God" She groans long and low. When she finally comes down from her high and Sana slips her fingers out and withdraws her mouth from the tired girl. 

Sana gets level with her, then puts her lips on hers "Thank you" Dahyun murmurs tiredly. 

Then Sana giggles a bit "No problem" her hand begins to slide down her body again but Dahyun weakly pushes her hand away because she's sensitive "Aw you don't want to have any more fun with me?"

Dahyun shakes her head "Mm-mm Unnie I'm tired" 

Sana only kisses her cheek and allows her to fall asleep in her arms, she deserves it.

-

In Nayeon's room, there's something a bit more sinister going on.

"What do you think Nayeon unnie? Should we give this pervert a break, or do you think she needs to cum one more time?" Momo giggles, allowing the purple vibrator in her hands graze Mina's clit ever so slightly. The younger girl can only whine and pull weakly at the handcuffs around her wrists.

Nayeon rubs her hand along Mina's sweaty body, tweaking her stiff nipples in between her fingers "I think our little Minari can handle a little more" The eldest leans in, putting her lips on Mina's to kiss her softly. While their lips move together in unison and their tongues begin to invade each others mouths, Momo slips the toy inside of Mina's tight hole. The way she moans into Nayeon's mouth makes the two giggle as the vibrator goes in and out of Mina's sopping cunt.

The poor girl can barely even keep up with the kiss. With Momo's punishing pace and Nayeon's wandering hands that knead her small breasts--it's all too much. Mina's hips buck and shake. In that moment her legs nearly shut. Momo glares, then slaps her thigh "remember what happens if you close your legs, slut" She says before angling the toy differently to fuck it into her just a bit deeper.

"I-I know, I didn't - fuck - I didn't close them" Mina moans, holding onto Nayeon's arm as she moves down to kiss against the quiet girls neck. 

"So greedy Mina" Nayeon makes a tsk noise "You've got both your little holes filled and it still doesn't seem like you're satisfied" She's referring to the butt plug that's been stretching Mina out since they started "How about we fill that loud mouth?" 

Momo laughs when she realizes where Nayeon's going with this but she doesn't say anything as she shifts to her knees to straddle Mina's face. If her face wasn't already red, it is now because the view she has of Nayeon's body right now is insane. Not to mention the taste when she actually gets herself seated. 

Like a good girl, Mina begins licking and sucking the best she can and it's already got Nayeon biting her lip. She turns to Momo "She doesn't get to cum until i'm finished, alright?" 

"And you call me mean" Momo stops to lower the vibrations, then she slows down the pace. She allows the dildo to slowly drag in and out of Mina, making sloppy sticky noises each time she buries it in her. 

The way Mina's moaning on Nayeon's cunt has her squeezing her eyes shut, rocking her hips back and forth on the younger girls perfect mouth. "I swear to fucking god... Mina you're amazing" Nayeon breathes, allowing one of her hands to come up to knead her own breasts. 

Momo can't just watch all of this unfold in front of her. It's just too fucking hot, the way Nayeon's groping her sweaty body, abs making an appearance from the absolute workout it is to ride face. Her body's perfect, Momo can mostly see the back, her perfectly round ass jiggling with each rut she makes against Mina's face.

The muffled noises that Mina's making isn't anything to ignore either, she sounds to eager to do well, all so she can cum on this toy for the fourth time tonight. So soon enough, Momo's fingers find her own cunt and she begins to rub her clit, moaning softly at the contact. It's not like she's been untouched either. Nayeon quite literally just finished eating her out, but still she wants to cum again.

So Momo figures she'll multi-task

"Fuck-k-king hell, Mina" Nayeon throws her head back, brown damp locks following in the air as silent moans escape her lips. Momo notices that familiar shake of Mina's legs so she pulls the dildo out and slaps it against Mina's cunt.

"You have to make your unnie cum first, darling" Momo teases as she slips her own fingers inside of herself. She glances at Nayeon "It seems like she's almost there" She gasps hotly as she curls her fingers, pressing on her g-spot and almost immediately losing her train of thought. 

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" Nayeon freezes for a moment, then she keeps going, chanting the same words over and over. She's so hot when she gets like this, when she holds her orgasm for as long as possible to ride that edge. She likes to keep herself in that state for reasons that Momo can never figure out, all she knows is that it's hot.

She slips the toy back into Mina's wet heat, turning the vibrator up to the highest setting, she thinks it'll be poetic if the pair can cum together. She's not too far behind either, with the way her fingers are smashing into her needy cunt. 

Surprisingly, with a loud squeal, Nayeon's already cumming, shaking and stuttering on Mina's mouth. It seems she just couldn't hold back tonight. "Oh G-God! Oh fuck! Oh God!" She gapes as her orgasm hits her. She falls forwards, hands planted on the mattress as she grinds her cunt on Mina's lips. It's long and thorough, something that has Momo watching with pure adoration in her big eyes as she absentmindedly fucks Mina with the dildo, still using her free hand to play with herself.

When Nayeon finishes, she gets off of Mina and drapes her arm over her body "Good girl, Mina" She kisses her cheek, tasting remnants of her cum on the soft flesh. Mina only moans as Momo drives the fake cock deep into her cunt, filling her all the way. "Your turn, go ahead and cum for us darling. You've earned it" Nayeon reaches her hand down to circle Mina's clit.

Her eyes roll to the back of her skull and her back arches "I c-can't" She keens, legs shaking. 

When Nayeon notices it she gasps in excitement. "Oh look at our baby, Momo. Doesn't she fall apart so beautifully?" 

"She absolutely does" Momo bites her lip and that's when Mina's chest begins to rise and fall erratically, breaths audible as she takes them through her nose. 

"I'm cumming" Mina warns and right as she does, her entire body shakes with pleasure as it hits her. Nayeon only encourages her, smiling proudly as the girl cums right before her eyes. Soon, Momo crashes too, letting go of the dildo to instead grip the sheets as her legs slam shut against her wrists. As all the lust withers away, the pungent--but addicting--smell of sex becomes more noticeable.

"We need another shower I think" Momo swallows, taking hard and deep breaths as she stares into the ceiling.

[falciesystemessays]

I honestly think that Dizzy's entrance to Guilty Gear Strive should be as much of A Moment for plural systems as Bridget's was for trans women. The character's not out yet, but every bit of promotional material for the character points in a very promising direction. So for people who don't go here, or who have only played Strive, allow me to tell you why a character trailer for a three-year-old game put me on the verge of tears.

For some quick context, plurality in a person is essentially the state of having multiple entities in one's head. The most commonly known form of this comes from having dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personalities. But plenty within the plural community (including me) have a broader umbrella for the term. The main terminology you'll want to know for this is that a "system" is a group of entities within one body (I for example am part of the Fal'cie System), and "aspects" are entities that aren't quite separable from the host, because they're the manifestation of specific parts of them. For the record I am very aware of how buckwild this sounds to an outsider, and I frequently get existential about it. A lot of characters in anime and games are incidentally plural due to their layers of fantasy nonsense. Some examples of this in action are Yami and Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh, Sora gaining Ventus's heart in Kingdom Hearts, and the explicit dissociative identity of the Storyteller System in Ace Attorney.

Now then! To sum up Dizzy's backstory real quick, Dizzy is a Gear, basically a living weapon, and the daughter of original antagonist Justice. Most of her character up until this point has been desperately trying to cover that and live among humans, to... mixed avail. In the series' story mode she manages to start a family with the human deuteragonist Ky Kiske, who loves her a lot despite formerly being one of the best Gear-slayers. Ky is such a wonderful character, because throughout the series we see him go from hating Gears to tolerating a few of them to having a kid with one and actually becoming a little bit Gear himself. But this essay isn't about Ky Kiske.

In actual gameplay, as in the 1v1 fighting game battles, the main thing stopping her from relative normalcy is her two wings, Necro and Undine. The reason I say this character is a plural dub is because these wings are actually aspects of Dizzy, Necro being her rage and Undine her compassion. A lot of Dizzy's attack animations in Guilty Gear XX (the one where I've played Dizzy a lot) actually have Necro doing violent things while Dizzy herself is either distracted or afraid. This continued in Guilty Gear Xrd, where her instant kill move (every character gets one) has Necro unleashing a fuckoff gamma ray while Dizzy begs him to stop. Worth noting also that gamma rays are one of the moves her mother Justice used. Dizzy and Necro have clearly not been getting along, and while it's fun as a fighting game character bit, there is a certain level of sadness to it.

But in Strive? Oh my god, she looks so happy now! So at peace with herself and with her system. Lemme just rattle stuff off right now.

-Dizzy's attack animations all put her in control. Necro and Undine do a lot of fighting still, but never without Dizzy's control. They are fighting in tandem.

-Dizzy's victory animation has her hold out two hands. Undine naturally puts her whole hand onto one, and Necro finally puts a single finger on the other with a smile.

-Their super move, Gamma Ray, starts out with Necro and Undine firing a beam, and Dizzy getting scared. But after glancing at them and realizing it's okay, she joins in on the beam attack.

-She has a new move now, Michael Sword (Pronounced Mik-hai-ull), a full-screen slash that Justice used to have, indicating that she's come to terms with her origins and wants to use them for good.

-God, her opening animation and taunt where she communes with the animals like a Disney princess. Her new beautiful design. Her new theme song! She has never been this happy in her life!

The thing is, right, I can imagine people saying that this character growth isn't remotely the same kind of moment as Bridget's, because Dizzy's whole thing is based in sci-fantasy that could never be real in the same way that like, dissociative identity is real. Plenty more would deny that plurality exists at all outside some deluded roleplayers. And, I mean, was series director Daisuke Ishiwatari really thinking about people like me when choosing to take the character this way? I don't know, honestly. But I do know that Dizzy's character arc is authentic, to me. If there's one thing Guilty Gear Strive's story is really good at, it's giving long-suffering characters some well-earned peace. And if this is how Strive Season 4 is starting, I can't wait to see what they do next.

[syndrossi]

"An eight-year-old with a handheld flamethrower, what could possibly go wrong? Daemon's lucky Jon's not just an eight-year-old, really!" -- you, in response to a comment on the new chapter on AO3

All I could think on reading this comment was that Resonant!Jon with Shadow is nothing compared to the Lynda's Letter AU. 🤣

At least, at the moment. Shadow will eventually be bigger than Vermithor... but Jon will be older by then, I assume, so the point stands.

Okay, I'm very excited for the inevitable ficlets you provide in-between chapters, but I also REALLY REALLY WANT THE NEXT CHAPTER, lmao. Daemon is injured! Viserys is PISSED. Larys is gonna make Reyne squeal! Ser Arryk is gonna cry (about stubborn princes)! Ser Kelwyn is (never) going to get a break! Ser Perkins is sooooo close to arriving! Rhaenyra is going to get a "so this happened" letter and BREATHE FIRE (also, return to KL, I assume!? Her favorite uncle got SHOT and she left her babies in a clearly dangerous place???).

It's very exiting times here in the Red Keep, is all.

If the current commander of the gold cloaks gets kicked to the curb (I hope not, honestly, but see: Viserys being pissed), what are the chances Jon gets to take the job? 😅

Also, I don't know if you ever have plans to include something like this, but I'd love to get a glimpse of Arryk's POV during or after the attack. Or Erryk's, even though he wasn't there, I assume he hears quickly about all of it. I could see Arryk exhaustedly complaining about crazy assassination attempts after his surprise!18-hour shift finally ends, lol.

Man, the whole castle must be in such a clusterfuck mode right now. Somebody had the guts to INFILTRATE and attempt to ASSASSINATE the royal family in their own keep. The absolute insanity that is happening in Westeros right now, omg.

I think one of my favorite parts of this chapter was Shadow's pride at burning that guy to death. He's just such a happy and accomplished little hatchling. Killing people already. Speaking of which, will the other royal children be very impressed by their murder-happy cousin? Will the kingsguard? Viserys? Alicent? aI feel like there should be some sort of commentary on Jon killing people at such a young age and Daemon obviously doesn't count. 😂

Of course, Caraxes basically dropping the dead corpse of a bad guy at Daemon's feet like a cat that caught a canary is also great.

Such a good chapter!! You did really well with the sudden assassination attempt, that first arrow came out of nowhere and the whole scene after was just *chef's kiss* so good.

See, the one thing Shadow + Resonant!Jon have right now on Vermithor + Letter!Jon is that Letter!Jon can't carry Vermithor everywhere. He truly is more of a distant nuke, while Shadow is right there ready to melt your face off.

But the sounds the twins' dragons must make from a distance when their riders are upset must make everyone in KL sweat.

There is so much coming up! I'm hoping to limit the AU ficlets this time around because the aftermath is so juicy! To the point where we're all literally cheering Larys on. 😅 Oh, but truly, can you imagine Rhaenyra receiving word about an assassination attempt right after a kidnapping attempt, both in broad daylight within the Red Keep and her babies are in there???

As to who will fill the shoes of Lord Commander of the Watch, Jon's pretty up there as far as qualified individuals go, hilariously, though no one else knows. I wonder if he'll try to convince Viserys to let him help select the candidates. (And by select I mean grill them extensively because no one is allowed to kill Daemon. His primary concern is choosing a candidate who he believes would be best at preventing that.)

Oof, yes, let poor Arryk sleep! At least with Daemon knocked out with milk of the poppy he might get some rest? Especially with Ser Kelwyn around to help take shifts with the boys. I'm pretty sure a Ser Arryk POV would be 90% him internally screaming because his CHARGE won't let him DO HIS JOB and he HAS AN ARROW IN HIM OH GODS. (And he has to also wrangle two hatchlings and two children, this is literally worse than herding cats.)

Shadow got so much positive reinforcement for his spot of murder. 😂 You can bet he got a dragon high-five over his little bond with Caraxes, and then Daemon's praise, and of course Jon's, and the shared emotions over their bond. I do think that someone (likely Alicent) will raise concerns about a child roaming about the holdfast with other children with a hatchling that can kill on command. I'm not sure that anyone else knows what to think. Obviously, dragons are meant to kill. Especially with fire. Is it normal for a baby hatchling to do so? Does anyone know what the heck is normal for Targaryens and their dragons? Viserys hasn't has a dragon in years. Daemon thinks everything his sons and their hatchlings do is simultaneously expected and extraordinary.

As to whether the kill is counted as Shadow's or Jon's...I'm betting credit mostly goes to Shadow, but Jon did very loudly shout his command. Ironically, the people most likely to understand how that might affect a child (Rhaenyra, Laenor) aren't there. Daemon has lived the wartime dracarys life for so long it must seem perfectly normal.

Speaking of which. Caraxes! I had fun incorporating him a little more in the chapter. I realized a bit late in edits that Daemon being shot by an arrow is literally this poor dragon's trauma after Aemon. He needed to see that Daemon was all right, and needed Daemon to see that he killed the nasty flinger of sticks.

I've been waiting to write that assassination attempt for so long! It wasn't quite as fully fleshed out in my mind as the Jephyro-Perzōñys-Daemon-twins confrontation in chapter 13, which was the first scene I imagined after coming up with Resonant's concept. But I knew it would involve Daemon being shot in the yard with his children present, Jon would scream, and Shadow would get his dragonflame.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Okay, I honestly have to talk about this because this post doesn't give me peace.

I can't reblog it because OP blocked me (for good reason, I'm sure), but I saw it and now I have to talk about it because I found it fascinating.

So this is a reference to the ME3(!) scene that happens after Tuchanka(!!), where Joker and Garrus participate in the joke battle, telling mildly racist jokes about Humans and Turians.

One of the jokes is about Joker himself:

"Why does the Alliance hire pilots with Brittle-Bone Disease?" and the punchline is: "So their marines can beat someone in hand-to-hand drills."

Another is about how to tell when a turian is out of ammo. And the answer is: "He switches to the stick up his ass as a backup weapon."

Personally, I don't think this is a shining example of a failure to criticize racism. In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. Their bonding activity here isn't about being racist, it's about making fun of militant racism among friends. They're literally joking about racist stereotypes here.

Joker: What do you call it when a turian gets killed by a horrible spiky monster? Garrus: Friendly fire. Come on, that one goes back to Shanxi. Joker: Eh, you gotta respect the classics.

I think it's pretty obvious what this dialog is really about, but okay, I could be wrong.

It's like the "you missed the point by idolizing them" meme, but in reverse, I think.

Every single culture in Mass Effect is depicted as xenophobic. The Asari, despite being galactic mediators, have a huge superiority complex. The Turians are a militant empire that believes in striking first and talking later. The Hanar believe that they are the enlightened ones, and they have a subservient intelligent species that they use for their purposes. Salarians believe they can perform inhumane experiments on members of intelligent species because... well, because they can and no one can really stop them. Every Volus we meet thinks they are superior to everyone else. Every Batarian... shall I even talk about the Batarians and how pathetic the excuse is to exclude them from the Council alliance when planets like Illium exist and thrive? How about Krogans?

Everyone here is racist. Everyone. That's the point. You can and should examine how you feel about that.

There isn't a nation on this good old planet Earth that is any different. There's something very animalistic about it, right? We are sort of born with xenophobic attitudes (don't trust people outside your group), and we have to actively unlearn this reaction to people and things we consider dangerous. That's why the portrayal of xenophobia in fiction is so important. It allows us to safely examine these prejudices and unlearn these behaviors. It's not Mass Effect's fault that you see this very clear message as enabling.

Again, it's not the game's fault, it's the fandom's fault. They vilify the Virmire survivor for standing up to this Shepard's decision. But I have to agree that instead of giving us 10 mildly interesting companions in ME2, the game probably should have explored the fuckery of Shepard joining Cerberus and the whole resurrection business much, much further. Still, the VS is right, and the fandom chooses to ignore it.

Let's talk about Ashley first.

Is she really racist? Because she literally goes ballistic when accused of supporting the human supremacist group. She is very, very polite to every alien companion in ME1. She also immediately becomes protective of Tali because of the way she's been treated, and it's pretty easy to tell from her dialogue that she can relate to Tali's experience (Williams' curse, huh?).

Humanity is the dog in the story she tells Shepard, and she's also right in her assessment of the Council and their willingness to help Shepard's cause. Her distrust of aliens is also a very reasonable thing. She's the officer on the super-secret military starship, she knows the protocol, and she should question Shepard's decision to allow aliens near the ship's critical systems. It's literally her job, and if Shepard doesn't want to sabotage their mission, they should be grateful that Ash is keeping them in check. That's what officers do. She's also right about this, because Tali does end up stealing the super-secret information from the Normandy.

So… is Ashley really racist? My answer is no. She doesn't need this thing to be part of her character arc, and it's not part of it at all. Ashley's story is about her family's legacy, about the prejudice and hardship she faced at every step of her career. She treated Tali like a little sister in 1, and she treats her the same way in 3.

Now Garrus.

Yes. He's racist. He was raised that way. Turians really believe in their superiority, and he acts and thinks accordingly. And you know what? You're supposed to be uncomfortable with that. You're supposed to see how fucked up his behavior and his views are. You're not supposed to root for him and his actions on Citadel and with Saleon and later on Omega.

You're supposed to see him for what he is: a broken, lost, traumatized person who can only see the world in black and white. And the most interesting and beautiful thing is that he knows that. He knows his flaws, and he tells them to Shepard, and depending on who your Shepard is as a person, they can reflect on that and see that about Garrus, and they can help him, or they can ignore it, they can actively enable it, they can be so stupid and so caught up in their own shit that they don't even understand it. Shepard's romance with him is supposed to be a little toxic, a little unsettling because of the power dynamics and because it starts when they are both extremely vulnerable. It's not supposed to be cutesy. They're both fucked up.

And there's a real interest in exploring how fucked up that is, how fucked up he is. Him joking with Joker and Wrex is an example. Him finally apologizing to Tali for his previous behavior is another. Him supporting Shepard when they decide to sabotage the cure is also an amazing example.

Again, you're supposed to be uncomfortable with that. Garrus talks to Shepard about the calculus of war. If siding with the Salarians gives the Palaven a fighting chance, he can live with that, and you know what? This is GOOD writing. It's very realistic, and it's something that feels like Garrus.

We're talking about a galactic war that no Council species has won in any of the previous cycles. Everyone is grasping at straws. The Krogan are literally going, "Reverse the genophage or we won't help you." It's everybody's Hail Mary.

In times of crisis, everyone becomes more xenophobic. That's literally what's happening in the world right now. The economic crisis makes people more conservative and more focused on short-term goals. Can we really blame Garrus for remaining xenophobic in such an environment? Is this a time for him to reflect on his biases?

Or would it have been better if Shepard had said, "Stop being racist, Garrus," and he had just stopped? Is that how character development works? We can literally see him letting go of some of his prejudices, but it's a long, long process, and the galactic war is not the best time for it, if I'm being honest.

This is where I agree with this post 100%, because this is a problem for this fandom. People are infantilizing Garrus and being incredibly misogynistic towards Ashley. But these games are begging you to question Garrus' behavior, and I don't think it's the fault of the games or the writers that the fandom just ignores all the not-so-subtle messages and makes posts about how Garrus hasn't really done anything wrong, and posts about how Ashley is racist, and posts about how the narrative isn't interested in exploring how troubling Garrus' racism is, and how this series fails to critique racism at all.

Phew. I'm done.

Honestly, if I were the OP and hadn't blocked me yet, I would have done so by now. I really don't want to be an ass to them, so I won't tag them or anything, but I found this post so interesting that I couldn't help myself. Hope you found it interesting as well. Pls don't send anything nasty to the OP or alert them of this post, I don't want to ruin their day or anything. I'm just doing my reading comprehension duty here.

[vodika-vibes]

An Informed Choice

Summary: Since the day you met Tech, you’re greatest fear was that one day he would leave. And now, nearly two years after he was found near death, Tech has regained all of his memories and he’s healthy enough to travel.

Pairing: TBB Tech x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1149

Warnings: Reader is mute

A/N: So, I kind of really like this idea, and I hope that you all do to. I will also mention that I did almost no research on this, so I apologize if it isn't accurate. Italics are signing.

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You should be at home.

You know that your parents are going to be looking for you. They still see you as a helpless child, even though you’ve been wholly independent since you were a young teenager.

But you don’t want to go back to the house.

If you go back to the house you’ll have to go to bed, and if you go to bed it means that Tech leaving will come even faster.

You’re not stupid. You know that Tech is going to leave whether you go home or not. But, for now, you’re okay with lying to yourself.

Besides, sitting here by the lake is relaxing.

“I thought that I would find you here.” You start in surprise at the sudden voice behind you, and you lean to the side to peer around the trunk of the tree you’re leaning against.

Tech is standing only a few feet away. He’s wearing the casual clothes that he prefers when he’s not working, graphic tees and jeans, though you can’t help but notice the grease smears on the side of his pants and the scrapes on his hands.

You roll your eyes, You’ve been working without safety gear again, haven’t you? You sign to him.

His lips curl up into a smile and he walks over to you, leaning his arm against the tree over your head, “I needed to check on something.”

You roll your eyes again and tap the ground next to you, Stubborn man. You need to take better care of yourself.

“So you keep telling me.” Tech slides down the tree to sit next to you, and you dig into your bag—which you brought with you solely for snacks and drinks—to grab your tiny first aid kit. “A little scrape has never killed anyone.”

An infection caused by an ignored little scrape has. You counter quickly as you pull out an alcohol wipe and start to clean his hands, Honestly, Tech, it’s like you don’t care about you own well-being at all. You add as you pause from your cleaning to actually examine his injuries.

“Maybe I like it when you dote on me.” He replies, and you can feel his gaze on the top of your head. Though you don’t look up.

Well, I’m not going to Pabu with you, so maybe learn to be more careful.

“You could.” You lift your gaze to meet his and shoot him a confused look, “Come to Pabu with me, I mean.”

You really think Mother will allow that? I can barely get her to let me go to the store by myself.

“Your mother worries too much,” Tech replies with a roll of his eyes, “Honestly, you are not five.”

You finish washing his hands, and start applying colorful bandages to the scrapes, cheerfully choosing the brightest colors for him. Mother can’t help herself. You know what she’s like.

Tech grimaces, “I do. And I appreciated it, when I was at my most injured, but now it just feels smothering.”

Well, you can’t spell “smother” without “mother”, right? You quip with a small grin. And, you’re all set.

“Did you have to pick neon pink for the bandages?”

Yes.

“Of course you did.”

It’s not my fault that you look amazing in pink.

He shoots you a look, though you can see the amusement playing on his lips, so you’re not worried about him actually being mad. You pick up the small amount of trash from the alcohol wipes and the bandages, and put them with the rest of the trash from today, and turn to slide your first aid kit back into place, when you feel Tech’s hand on your wrist.

You pause, and turn back to him, What’s wrong?

Tech doesn’t answer you. It’s not like him to ignore you, though, so you wait for him to say something.

But he surprises you. Instead of a verbal answer, he presses the palm of his hand against yours and slowly threads his fingers with yours.

It’s the easiest thing in the world to close your hand around his. His hand is warm and rough, and he’s kind of breaking your heart right now.

Tech? What’s wrong?

“Pabu is a tropical planet,” He says, “There is not a lot of cold weather. There might not be many people who know sign language, but they are kind people who will learn—”

Tech, what are you talking about?

“I do not want to leave you behind.” Tech says quietly, “The people here treat you like you are incapable, and every time I think about leaving you behind my chest gets tight.”

For a moment you just stare at him, and then you sigh, Tech. You have a life and a family waiting for you. I’m sure you have a girlfriend or someone waiting for you. Do you think they’ll be happy that you’re bringing a stray home?

“You are not a stray.” Tech counters. “You are—” He trails off, and his free hand comes up to press against your cheek, “Do you really have no idea how much you mean to me?”

You can do better than someone like me.

“So you do know how important you are to me.”

You have been a bit obvious.

“Then you should also know this,” Tech says, “I have been thinking about this for weeks. This is not some spur of the moment idea I just had.” His hand tightens around yours, “You are an adult. If you want to leave, no one can make you stay.”

What if we get to Pabu and you change your mind?

“I would never.”

You can’t know that.

“I can know that. And I do.” Tech trails his fingers down your cheek to your jaw, “Then, let me do it this way. Do you want to stay here?”

You hesitate for a moment, No.

He releases a noise that you can only call a pleased hum, “And do you accept the fact that I love you?”

You never said that.

“Stubborn,” He lightly bumps his forehead against yours, “Fine. Then here is this. I love you. I am in love with you. I want to plan a future together with you. I have planned a future together with you.”

Oh.

“I want you to come to Pabu with me. I want to build a life with you on Pabu. Please?”

Alright. You reply after a long moment of not responding, But you have to tell my mother.

“Deal.” And then, as if he’s been waiting for it, Tech tilts his head and gently presses his lips against yours. At first you freeze, not expecting it at all, but then you relax and wrap your free arm around his neck to hold him closer.

Tech has always been your choice. It’s nice to know that he feels the same way.

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[tcoaal]

Is it okay to ask about your thoughts on Andrew and Julia's relationship? The circumstances of how it started and the different ways it ends in chapter 3. Her letter to Andrew gave me chills.

it's honestly just... really sad. every aspect of Andrew's and Julia's relationship is ultimately rooted in lies and her being a convenient, useful existence for him. i typed up "expendable" at first but deleted it because that's not true- she's a very important person to Andrew but not for any reason rooted in good intentions or mutual affection.

Julia has had feelings for him since they were young and was willing to put up with. so much abuse from Ashley in particular later on near the end, and Andrew always dragging his feet and leaving her hanging on almost every stage of their relationship. Andrew would always play the role of a perfect boyfriend but never actually show genuine, true affection- but give lots of little promises that one day we're going to get there, one day it'll just be you and me, one day Ashley won't be a problem in this and they'll just be these little hardships.

Julia was important to Andrew because it made him feel normal so he could pretend he wasn't romantically in love with his sister and ease the Andrew Fucks His Sisters rumor (the later of which worked perfectly). and also, if he could make her happy, he could alleviate his own guilt for Nina's death instead of turning himself in even though it'd give her family and Julia closure. i don't have the screenshots on me, but it's all but stated Julia's first time was a bad experience for her and Andrew is willing to casually joke about it in Shots and Such, as well as a mention in the Cliffhanger End that he would fantasize about kicking her teeth in so she'd give better head. she was useful to him as an outlet for his sexual desires and to ease his own guilt and i think that was about it.

a really important thing i think though that Andrew appeared to have massively miscalculated was how perceptive Julia actually was, that Julia was always just eating everything he ate like candy and that there was no chance she couldn't ever know better.

but we can see like in chapter 2 that Julia like, was already starting to get fed up with this nonsense given it's been happening for likely 5+ years which resulted in her breaking up with him. and i think something that always stood out to me is like... how little Andrew cared when they broke up other than annoyance, and then again in Shots and Such.

he's only at best kind of annoyed. you can literally check out the call girl numbers on the wall nearby in S&S and he'll be like fuck i should've tried harder maybe she would've let me hit it one last time. after also casually contemplating knocking her up just to seal the deal. i think like. literally anyone who actually cared about their ex in even the smallest amount after a letter like that (and when it was all your fault) would be resisting the urge to run into traffic. but he just kinda. casually says huh yeah that sucks oh well.

Anderw's and Julia's entire relationship was one of a complete disregard for one party's wellbeing and comfort for years outside of a superficial fashion and Andrew deserved every single word of that letter and quite frankly, much more. and the fact he can barely care at all other than being sort of annoyed really speaks to how little he actually gave a rat's ass about her other than the ways she was useful to him (a way to make himself free normal, a way to try to ease his anxiety and guilt, and a sexual outlet for his desires) speaks volumes of how much better off she is without him in her life. from the circumstances of when it started all the way to the bitter end it absolutely fucking sucked for Julia and i think she should be allowed to kill him and Ashley with hammers

[white-wolf-buckaroo]

Where the Flowers Don't Grow - Chapter 5

Word Count: 6.7 k oops

Warnings: basically everything you should be warned about with TLOU, honestly

Notes: This one might also be one of my faves (which happens every time Joel slightly acts like a dad... so yeah).

Fic Masterlist

In November, things got better.

Faith got back to her feet. She still wasn’t at a hundred percent, not quite, but she could walk for hours again without wheezing or stumbling. Joel made sure they stopped often enough for her to rest, though—no arguments allowed. Not from her, not from Ellie, not even from himself.

Ellie was ecstatic about the improvement.

“I’m so glad you didn’t die,” she said one cold morning, stuffing the last of her things into her pack at their latest campsite.

Faith raised an eyebrow. “Uh… thanks?”

“Dying would’ve sucked for you, obviously,” Ellie added, brushing a few pine needles off her jacket. “But like, if you’d died I’d be back to bein’ alone with Mr. Sunshine over there.”

She tilted her head toward Joel, who was crouched by the remains of the fire packing up the last of their supplies. He didn’t react, didn’t even glance up.

“Like, dude, it wouldn’t kill him to smile a bit more, don’t you think?”

“Let’s leave the talk about death for another moment, m’kay?” Faith said with a snort.

Joel stood, slinging his rifle across his back. “Move out in five.”

“See?” Ellie muttered to Faith. “Sunshine.”

They kept going. The forests of Nebraska slowly thinned into fields, into small towns swallowed up by vines and silence. Faith wasn’t sure exactly where they were most days, but they were moving west. Wyoming still felt impossibly far, but at least the weight in her chest was gone now, replaced by normal aches and cold.

Joel would sometimes walk next to her, now. Not all the time. But enough that she noticed.

And Ellie—Ellie talked a lot. She told Faith everything she knew about the Fireflies. How they wanted to make a cure. How they were waiting for her. How the world might change if they could just get out there and make it.

“It’s not bullshit,” she insisted one night as they sat by the fire, Faith sharpening a stick into something vaguely spear-like. “They have doctors and labs and all that. I’m immune, okay? That’s gotta’ mean something.”

Faith nodded, holding her gaze. “I believe you.”

Ellie blinked, caught off guard. “…Thanks.”

“I think it does mean something,” Faith added. “I think you’ll get there. And I think they’ll figure it out.”

Ellie looked down, biting her lip. “Yeah. We’ll get there. And they’ll do.”

(…)

A few days later, Joel couldn’t sleep.

Faith couldn’t either. They were both awake when the fire had burned down to coals and Ellie snored softly, wrapped up in her sleeping bag after finishing the last of her “secret” stash of the emergency beef jerky she’d hoarded for herself.

Joel sat at the edge of camp, his back against a tree. Faith walked over slowly and sat near him, leaving space between them.

It was Faith who spoke first.

“You always this quiet, or is it just with us?”

Joel gave her a sideways look. “Depends.”

“On what?”

“Whether talkin’s worth the trouble.”

Faith huffed a laugh, rubbing her hands together for warmth. “Ellie’d say no.”

“That kid’s got more words in her than most libraries.”

“She says you don’t smile much.”

“She’s right.”

Faith smiled to herself. “You should. Sometimes.”

Joel didn’t answer. But he didn’t look annoyed either. That was something.

After a pause, he said, “Tommy used to say the same thing.”

She perked up slightly. “Your brother?”

He nodded. “He’s the reason we’re headed to Wyomin’. Haven’t seen him in a long time.”

“Think he’ll still be there?”

Joel hesitated. “Hope so.”

Faith pulled her knees to her chest, watching the smoke curl up into the starless sky. “You talk about him like you miss him.”

“I do.”

“Why haven’t you seen him in so long?”

“We, uh… Disagreed on some stuff,” he explained vaguely. “Tommy and I… We did things to survive that… Weren’t good. Stuff we weren’t proud of. We weren’t the bad guys, but also not very good ones. He ditched me for the fireflies, and haven’t seen him since. We talked on the radio from time to time, but one day he just… stopped.”

“And you’re tryin’ to find him to make sure he’s okay?” Joel nodded. “I guess you’re the oldest?”

“What gives it away?”

“I was also the older sibling, remember? I know that feeling of… always trying to protect the younger ones. I guess it’s got to be in our blood, or somethin’ like that.”

Joel hummed. Another silence. Then—

“I also miss my sister,” she said softly. “When I was all alone, before meeting you and Ellie, I, uh… I would have these really bad thoughts. About… Well, if sticking around was worth it without her or my mom or my dad here,” she paused for a few seconds, thinking of the right words to say. “But then I’d wake up to a clear blue sky, or trek through the mountains, eat wild strawberries while watching a sunset or glance at the stars at night, and I… I got so mad at the world, you know? Because it’s still fucking beautiful. Even with all the shit that happens every day… It makes it feel worth it to stay around.”

Joel was quiet for a long time after that.

He didn’t shift, didn’t grunt in disagreement or try to fill the silence with something gruff and dismissive. He just stared out at the darkness beyond the camp, as if the words she’d said were still circling in the trees.

Finally, he said, low and almost more to himself than to her, “Sometimes even all that beauty isn’t enough to make you want to stay, though.” he mumbled. “… I’ve had those thoughts too.”

He looked down at his hands, rubbed at the knuckles like he was trying to work something out of them. Thinking about who he’d lost… who should still be there to see it all.

The fire cracked, soft and slow, embers curling upward like ghosts.

After a while, she added, “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re still here.”

Joel turned his head just slightly, his profile faint in the glow of dying coals. “That makes one of us.”

“Bullshit,” Faith said, but gently. “You keep Ellie alive like it’s your job. You didn’t let me die from a fever out in that old shack. You’re still walking. Still breathing. That’s gotta’ mean something.”

Joel didn’t answer right away. He looked over at her,—like he was trying to figure something out he hadn’t quite decided on yet.

Eventually, he said, “Maybe.”

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Faith’s mouth. “Wow. Progress. I should make a note in my journal.”

Joel grunted. “You don’t have a journal, only your mom’s.”

“I might get one just to write this down.”

“You won’t.”

She laughed under her breath, and for a second, she could swear Joel looked like he was smiling too.

(…)

The next day, they hit another dead town.

Boarded windows. Long-dead cars half-swallowed by weeds and dry fungus. A gas station stripped of anything valuable, but with one working vending machine Ellie immediately tried to crack open with a rock (she failed).

Joel left them behind to scout out a nearby hardware store.

Faith and Ellie sat on a bench outside the station, soaking in the weak autumn sunlight.

“You two were talking last night,” Ellie said, not looking at her.

Faith blinked. “We were.”

“What about?”

Faith hesitated. “Stuff. Grown up stuff.”

“Dude, you’re only two years older than me,” she huffed.

“Fuck off,” she shoved Ellie’s shoulder softly with her own. “Nothing bad, don’t worry.”

Ellie narrowed her eyes. “That sounds suspiciously vague.”

“Because it is.”

“Joel hates to talk. I’m shocked he even lets you talk to him.”

Faith shrugged. “Guess he’s warming up.”

“To you,” Ellie muttered. Then she looked down, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve. “I’m glad.”

Faith glanced sideways at her. “Yeah?”

Ellie kicked at a chunk of broken pavement. “Yeah. I mean… it’s good. For him. You know. You’ve seen it too. Seems like he’s been carrying a lot of shit for a long time. I don’t think he even realizes how heavy and obvious it is.”

Faith didn’t say anything at first. Then, quietly, “You care about him.”

Ellie scoffed. “No shit.”

They sat in silence for a while after that. Not uncomfortable. Just… there.

“I think I’m starting to care about him, too.”

Joel came back a while later with a half-bag of canned peaches, duct tape, and a pair of decent winter gloves to replace Faith’s old pair.

They moved on by late afternoon, sun low in the sky and clouds rolling in heavy behind them.

Ellie glanced at Joel as they walked. “You ever played guitar?”

He gave her a look like she’d asked if he’d ever flown a spaceship.

“Yeah,” he said eventually. “Used to, at least. Why?”

“Saw an old shop in that town and it made me think,” she shrugged. “What’s your favourite song?”

He didn’t answer. Seemed like it got too personal.

“I haven’t got a favourite,” said Ellie, filling the silence. “I don’t really know many songs. I’d like to learn how to play a guitar, though. Hey Joel, would you teach me?”

“Oh yeah,” he said. “Just wait a minute while I take out the orchestra I’ve got packed away in my backpack.”

“Funny,” she tsked her tongue, then turned to Faith. “Do you have a favourite song?”

“I don’t really like music,” she admitted. Ellie’s face showed utter and complete shock. “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t listen to much when I was a kid, that’s all. Never got used to it.”

“You’re technically still a kid, y’know?”

“Same goes for you, then.”

Ellie groaned dramatically. “Ugh. That’s not the point, Faith. The point is—how can you not like music? That’s like saying you don’t like breathing.”

Faith snorted. “I like breathing just fine, thanks. Music just… never really did it for me.”

“What about humming? You said your sister used to do that all the time,” Ellie pressed. “Or whistling? Or, like, tapping your fingers on something when you’re bored?”

Faith considered. “Okay, I’ll give you the humming. And there was this one camp I stayed at for a while—this old guy had a banjo. He played at night sometimes when there was no danger in sight. That was kinda nice.”

“Kinda nice, she says,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes. “We’re gonna fix this. We’re gonna teach you how to love music, even if it kills us. Right Joel?” he didn’t answer. Ellie just rolled her eyes again.

“Pretty sure there are more important survival priorities,” Faith deadpanned.

“Yeah,” Joel cut in dryly from ahead of them, glancing over his shoulder, “like not making noise that gets us all killed.”

Ellie raised a hand. “Okay, fine, stealth music appreciation lessons. Deal?”

Faith raised an eyebrow. “You planning to sing lullabies in whispers or something?”

Joel muttered, “Jesus christ,” but there was no heat in it. Ellie grinned triumphantly, like she’d won something.

“I’m gonna find you a song,” Ellie declared. “One day, I’m gonna hear something and think, ‘That’s Faith’s song.’ And when I do, you have to listen to it.”

“Deal,” Faith said with a smirk. “As long as you promise not to pick something with a tuba solo.”

Ellie looked mock-offended. “Now you’ve insulted the tuba. The most majestic of all instruments.”

“You can’t really mean that.”

“Dude, the tuba is superior.”

“It’s horrible. It’s like listening to a walrus choke on a traffic cone.”

Ellie lost it—doubling over, laughing so hard she nearly fell from stumbling with her own feet.

“I’m serious!” Faith went on, grinning now. “It’s just blaring nonsense. Like the tune to being chased by a very large duck in slow motion.”

“That’s exactly why it’s great!” Ellie gasped, wiping tears from her eyes. “It’s dramatic. It’s bold. It doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks.”

“It also sounds like it’s farting into the void.”

“Art is subjective,” Ellie declared.

“Not when it sounds like the void’s farting back.”

Joel finally let out a quiet huff—barely a laugh, but enough to make Ellie elbow Faith triumphantly.

“Boom. You heard that? That was a laugh. A Joel laugh.”

“It counts if it’s audible,” Faith said.

Joel just shook his head. “It’s like travellin’ with two stray cats.”

“Rude,” said Ellie.

“Absolutely,” agreed Faith.

“I’m gonna find a tuba just to spite you now,” Ellie added, shouldering her pack.

“Great. I’ll throw it at a clicker.”

The girls ended up walking side by side next to Joel, who just kept walking silently, but Faith swore—swore—she saw the corner of his mouth twitch.

Maybe it wasn’t a big smile, just a little one.

But it was definitely there.

(…)

One morning, near the end of November, it was cold.

Not quite biting yet, but getting there. A dull frost clung to the dead leaves and crept over the fallen logs like a whisper. The trees were bare — all jagged fingers and tangled branches, reaching for a sky that hadn’t quite decided if it wanted to snow yet.

Joel moved through the underbrush with practiced quiet. Faith was already ahead.

She didn’t look back to check on him. She didn’t need to.

They’d left Ellie at the camp after a careful sweep of the surrounding area. The girl had protested, of course, but Faith gave her a no-nonsense look she was good at that ended all debates. Joel added the quiet “you’re staying” that sealed it. Ellie muttered something about fascists and pulled her blanket over her head.

Now, it was just the two of them hunting— the sound of boots on frozen leaves, the light snap of a twig here and there, and the subtle hush that always followed snowfall that hadn’t yet come.

Faith moved with that same kind of quiet control Joel recognized in himself. Nothing wasted — not a step, not a glance. She was lighter on her feet than he was, but her knife was always in easy reach, and her eyes tracked the woods like they’d been carved into them.

Joel didn’t teach her how to hunt. She didn’t need it.

If anything, they just… adjusted. Fell into pace.

At one point, she paused near a set of faint tracks. Bent low, brushed her fingers over the ground. Rabbit, maybe. Small, fresh enough. She looked back and gave Joel a nod, the kind that said we’re moving this way, and he followed without question.

They walked for maybe half a mile in silence. Joel adjusted his grip on the rifle slung across his back. Faith crouched near a fallen log, scanning the underbrush. He crouched next to her, scanning the treeline. There was a faint rustling in the distance — not wind. Something small.

Faith stilled. Waited.

Then moved, just a few paces to the left, crouching low behind the thicket. Joel circled right, flanking whatever it was with a quiet surety that didn’t need planning anymore. They moved like two parts of the same clockwork.

A flicker of brown — rabbit.

Joel raised the rifle, but before he could steady the shot, Faith flicked her wrist. A knife. Fast and precise.

The rabbit dropped without a sound.

Joel stood slowly, nodding.

“Clean.”

She shrugged, retrieving the blade and the kill. “Thanks.”

Joel watched her for a moment as she wiped the knife clean on her jeans. Not cold, not cruel — just efficient. Focused.

“You always that quick with it?” he asked, only half-teasing.

“Depends,” she said. “Animals don’t give you second chances. Neither do people.”

Joel nodded. “You’re not wrong.” He wondered what kind of people she had encountered for her to say that. He didn’t dare to ask.

Later, they paused at a small ridge overlooking a frozen creek. They sat without speaking, sharing a half-broken thermos of lukewarm tea Faith had brewed with pine needles and some berries. Tasted like earth and bitterness.

“You think she’s alright?” Faith asked finally.

“She’s better than alright,” Joel replied. “She’s pissed we left her behind. That’s a good sign.”

He smiled, just barely.

Faith added, “She’s at this dumb age where you don’t like being treated like a kid anymore.”

“Yeah,” Joel said quietly. “I know.”

“I’ve been through it. It gets better, don’t worry.”

“You’re still a kid yourself,” he reminded her. He had noticed how easy it was for her to forget how young she really was. In his eyes, she was basically the same as Ellie: a kid. Maybe an older kid, but still, a kid.

“I’m basically a grown up,” she said, and he had to snort. She shoved him on the shoulder, a smile appearing on her face too. “Don’t laugh! It’s true!”

“Sure,” he shook his head, still laughing softly. “Next thing after this you’ll be payin’ taxes and workin’ nine to five.”

“I don’t really know what taxes are or how they work but there is nothing like that in the apocalypse, so I’m safe,” she joked, finishing her tea.

They made their way back slowly, moving through the trees still on the lookout for another potential rabbit or squirrel they could catch. The air was sharp, but the early afternoon light bled with a light hue now between bare branches, warming the forest in patches. Joel walked a few paces ahead, rifle slung in his hands, every so often casting a glance back to make sure Faith was keeping up.

She was. She always did.

“Your jacket’s open again,” he muttered without turning fully.

Faith rolled her eyes but zipped it up without protest. “You sound like a grandpa.”

Joel gave a low grunt that might’ve been a laugh. “You sound like someone who nearly coughed up a lung for a week and still thinks she’s invincible.”

Faith shrugged, adjusting the strap of her pack. “Yeah, well… someone had to keep things interesting,” she said. “I was fine, I’ve had worse.”

“For two nights you were half-delirious and called me ‘old man’ five times in less than ten minutes.”

“… Only five?”

Joel snorted quietly. “Smartass.”

He stopped near a fallen log and crouched low, motioning for her to do the same. She joined him silently, scanning the tree line. Nothing yet. Just a couple of squirrel tracks and the brittle skeleton of a deer print, maybe days old.

After a while, Faith asked, “Did you ever go to the movies?”

Joel blinked at the question, then turned to look at her. “What?”

“Before the outbreak,” she said. “Like, did you go to a theatre? Buy popcorn, that kinda thing.”

He scratched his jaw, voice low. “Yeah. Not all the time, but… yeah. Sometimes.”

“What was it like?” she’d been to an old theatre, once. She couldn’t imagine how it had been like back when everything was still all right in the world, though.

He thought for a long moment. “Dark. Loud. Smelled like butter and... plastic. People talked too much. But when it was good… it was good. Felt like stepping into a whole different world.”

Faith rested her chin on her arms. “I think I’d like that.”

Joel studied her profile — a small scar near her temple, the way her eyes stayed fixed on the trees even as she talked. “You ever seen a movie?”

“Nah. Well, maybe… Back at the QZ. Power was spotty. I was eight tops, so… I don’t even remember much. It was something dumb, probably.” She hesitated, then added, “Weird to think there were places full of people just... watching stories.”

He nodded slowly. “Museums were like that too. Quiet. Still. Bunch of old stuff behind glass, but people came anyway. Guess we all liked to remember things. Or pretend we could hold onto ‘em.”

Faith was quiet for a beat, then smirked. “You a museum guy, Miller?”

He gave her a sidelong look. He remembered all the school trips he went to with Sarah’s class when she was younger, the mornings without enough coffee that seemed to stretch impossibly long as a museum guide explained how fossils were discovered to kids who were still half asleep. Sarah was usually interested, though. She always asked a lot of questions. Sometimes too many. But she’d turn back to him with bright eyes muttering something like ‘that is so cool!’ and he’d smile back at her as if he also thought that what they were listening to was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Not much,” he muttered. “Saw a couple growing up. Always figured they were more for city folks. But I liked some of‘em.”

“What were they about? The ones you liked?”

“Don’t know, uh… There was one in Austin that had dinosaur bones. Whole damn skeletons.”

“That sounds like the coolest thing in the world.”

Joel’s mouth curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile, but close. “Think you would’ve liked it?”

“Yeah. Quiet things like Museums, but also stuff like sitting down to watch a movie. Just something… calm, you know?” she shrugged. “That’s my thing.”

“You like the woods more, though.”

“True,” she said. “But there’s no dinosaur bones in the woods.”

Joel chuckled under his breath. “Guess not,” he shrugged now too. “But who knows? Maybe we’re walkin’ over a whole goddam T-Rex skeleton and we have no idea.”

Faith lingered on that idea for a long time as they made their way back to camp.

After a while, she began asking questions again. Not the way Ellie did… Or maybe exactly like Ellie did, but that she never really had. Just genuine wonder about things she’d never had a chance to talk about with anyone, or at least, hadn’t had the chance to in a long time, “What’s the worst job you ever had?”

Joel raised an eyebrow. “Besides surviving the apocalypse?”

She gave a small smile. “Besides that.”

He thought for a second. “Worked at a coffee shop for two months once. Thought it’d be easy money. Burned myself with the espresso machine twice and got yelled at by old ladies every morning.”

Faith laughed — really laughed. “Oh my god, I can’t even picture that.”

“Believe me, neither can I.”

She grinned. “That’s it. You’re officially more interesting than I thought.”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Gee, thanks.”

They fell into silence again, this time smiling just a little. The wind was picking up, and the clouds looked heavier. They returned to camp with the rabbit for lunch, finding Ellie sitting up in her blanket nest, pretending not to have been worried.

“You took forever,” she said.

Joel tossed the rabbit onto the tarp near the fire pit. “Next time, you do it.”

Ellie grinned. “Maybe I will.”

Faith gave her a pat on the head as she passed. “Sure thing, Hawthorn Berry.”

Ellie groaned. “That nickname is lame,” she complained. “Please change it?”

“Nope.”

Joel smirked, just faintly. Faith caught it. Didn’t call it out. Just let the warmth of it sink into the bones of the cold morning.

(…)

It started snowing during the first week of December. Not the light dusting they’d seen in occasionally throughout November — real snow now, thick and heavy, blanketing the trees and softening the world around them. Their campfire hissed whenever a flake drifted too low. Everything smelled like smoke and pine.

Faith crouched beside a half-frozen stump, Ellie opposite her, both of them gloved and bundled in too many layers, breath clouding between them.

“Grip’s too tight,” Faith said, tapping Ellie’s hand with her own. “You’ll tire out fast and your aim’ll suck.”

Ellie rolled her eyes but adjusted her fingers on the knife’s handle. “Like this?”

“Better. Here—” Faith leaned over, adjusting Ellie’s elbow. “You wanna feel where the knife wants to go. Not force it.”

“I’m not sure it has feelings.”

“Shut up,” Faith said, smirking. “You’ll get it.”

They practiced until the sky darkened, long after their fingers had gone stiff with cold and their laughter had chased off any small game still lurking nearby. Eventually, they retreated to the fire, huddled in their thick coats, sharing dry rations and a few muttered complaints about how cold their toes were.

Later that night, after the fire had burned low, Ellie curled up beside Faith, head in her lap, eyes barely open.

“You awake?” Faith asked quietly, glancing down.

“Barely,” Ellie mumbled. “Your lap’s bony.”

“Sorry I don’t come with extra padding.”

Ellie smirked, eyes closed.

The stars were bright that night — clearer than they’d been in weeks. The clouds had scattered and the snow had stopped, leaving the forest in stillness.

Faith looked up. “That one there—see it?”

Ellie cracked one eye open, followed her finger. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“Orion,” Faith said. “The hunter. You can see his belt, those three stars in a line.”

“Huh,” she took a few seconds, but eventually identified it. “I see it!”

“The one close to it, that's Canis Major. The dog. Pretty sure that’s Gemini too, those tiny ones. They’re the twins.”

“You know a lot about stars.”

“I used to look up a lot. Nothing else to do when you're hiding out in the woods. My dad taught me.”

Ellie didn’t say anything, just tucked in closer, hand clutching at the hem of Faith’s jacket. Faith never talked about her dad. There was the occasional comment about her mom, and even about her sister, but never about her dad.

Faith noticed how Ellie’s forehead was a little too warm, and that she had also been sniffling earlier, but Ellie had brushed it off.

Faith didn’t.

When Joel came back from his last sweep — silent as ever — he caught sight of the two of them. Ellie half-asleep, curled against Faith, who was tracing constellations in the air with quiet focus. He paused near the treeline, watching for a beat longer than usual. Then gave a soft exhale, nearly a sigh, and turned toward the fire.

Later, when Ellie started shivering in her sleep, Joel wordlessly tossed her his scarf. Faith bundled it tighter around her and rubbed her back until she settled again.

“You think she’s getting sick?” Joel murmured, sitting beside Faith now.

“She’s running hot. Probably,” Faith said. “She said she’s fine.”

Joel’s expression didn’t change. He just threw another log on the fire. “She would.”

The next day, Ellie had a slight fever and a stubborn refusal to admit it. Joel didn’t say anything, but he kept close. Checked the temperature of her canteen before handing it to her. Made sure the fire stayed burning all through the night.

Faith brewed the same pine-needle tea he’d made her drink when she was sick. Ellie said it tasted like boiled foot.

They still made her drink the whole thing. And they made sure she rested. Took the weight of the day off her shoulders until the worst of it passed.

They didn’t talk about it. Just… handled it. Together.

And when Ellie’s fever finally broke two days later, fortunately quicker than Faith’s back in that old shed at the abandoned gas station weeks ago, both Joel and Faith had it a bit easier to breathe again.

(…)

Finally, they reached Wyoming.

Turns out they’d been there for a while already. The lack of signs in the woods had made it difficult to realize when they’d crossed over, and they’d just kept walking west until they finally found a sign.

But they were here.

Fucking finally.

“Finally,” Ellie muttered, dragging her feet through the frost-packed grass. “You should carry me. It’s only fair.”

Joel grunted. “No chance.”

They’d skirted the edge of Cody earlier that morning.

“Why Cody?” asked Ellie, as they stopped by the sign that announced they’d reach the outskirts of the city.

Joel’s breath hitched as he answered. “Tommy,” he said. “His latest radio signal came from the area.”

Faith scoped the city first — scouted the outskirts from the hills, then came down pale and short on breath.

“Infected,” she’d said. “A lot.”

“How many?” Joel asked.

She didn’t answer right away. “Too many for us,” He nodded, not moving yet. Faith and Ellie shared a look, “It seems like it’s been like this for a long time. Your brother is probably somewhere safe, away from the city.”

“Yeah… I hope so.”

“We should better not get too close to town, though. Better draw a wide perimeter around it in case smaller groups are lurking through the outskirts.”

And that it. Joel trusted her judgment by now, especially when it came to risk. They all did.

So they went around.

The terrain got rougher as the day dragged on, the wind colder. When they stopped to check the map, Joel and Faith stood hunched over it while Ellie sat nearby, chewing on the last of their dried venison.

“We can’t go that way,” Faith said, tapping the creased paper. “That ridge is steep and exposed. If there’s anyone watching—infected or people—we’re sitting ducks.”

Joel’s jaw tightened. “We can’t go this way either. There’s no shelter. Nowhere to stop between here and the river crossing. If the weather turns—”

“We don’t have the gear for a long detour,” she argued. “This is the best call.”

“I said no.”

Faith huffed, stepping back. “You’ve got to stop thinking stubborn equals smart.”

“And you’ve gotta stop thinkin’ arguing means you’re right,” Joel shot back. “We’re not gambling on safety.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, the wind whipping Faith’s hair across her face. Neither moved. Neither blinked.

Ellie stood and stretched, groaning. “I swear to god, it’s like watching divorced parents fight over directions.”

Faith snorted. Joel muttered something under his breath. Then, finally, he jabbed a different part of the map.

“There,” he said. “Compromise. We cut across here. Get back to the tree line. Slower, but safer.”

Faith considered it. Then gave a single nod.

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

They camped that night in silence, but it wasn’t angry. Just tired.

Three days later, they found the cabin.

It was tucked between the trees, low and half-covered in snow, looking abandoned until they got close and spotted smoke rising from a metal chimney pipe. Faith reached for her gun automatically, and Joel already had his rifle in hand. They approached with caution — slow, deliberate steps.

Joel raised two fingers to Faith and nodded toward the front. She moved first, circling left, stepping around brittle branches half-buried in snow. Ellie followed close behind Joel, boots crunching softly on the frozen ground.

The cabin had a small path going to one of the doors. Someone had shovelled part of it recently. There were fresh boot prints in the snow close by, wide and shallow. A man’s maybe. Joel signalled again. They crept up onto the porch.

Faith tested the door. Unlocked.

She looked back at Joel. He gave a curt nod. She pushed it open.

The smell hit them first — not rot or mold like they feared, but woodsmoke, old leather, and something warm. A fireplace crackled low in the corner of a surprisingly well-kept sitting room. Knitted blankets were folded neatly on a faded green couch. Books stacked in uneven piles. The room was dim, but not neglected.

Joel stepped in first, rifle lowered but ready. Faith followed. Ellie waited outside.

The sound of a rocking chair greeted them as they made their way in. There was a woman sitting on it, who looked up at them when they stepped foot inside.

She was an older woman — fat, gray-haired, and bundled in several layers of wool —knitting something dark blue, and her hands never stopped moving, even as her eyes flicked up to meet Joel’s.

The silence held like breath.

“Well,” the woman said, calm as could be. “If you’re infected, you’re doing a hell of a job hidin’ it.”

Joel didn’t lower the rifle.

“We’re not infected,” Faith said, stepping out from behind him.

“Good to know,” the woman replied.

“We’re not here to rob you either,” Joel added finally, lowering the gun but not slinging it away.

The woman’s eyes flicked to each of them — sizing them up with no fear, just an easy steadiness. “You’d be dumb to try.”

They heard Ellie calling for them from outside:

“Can I come in? It’s fucking freezin’ out here!”

She stepped foot inside before either of them replied.

“We told you to wait outside,” snarled Joel, still with his rifle in hand.

Ellie shrugged, standing next to Faith now. “If there had been any danger there would’ve been a gunshot already. Nice house, by the way.” she looked at the woman, who smiled sweetly. She looked like someone’s grandma. Not anyone specific, just… What a grandma would look like.

The woman gave Ellie a look that said she liked her already.

“Mind shutting the door?” she added, casually. “Heat doesn’t keep itself in.”

Ellie turned and kicked the door shut with her heel. “There. Happy?”

“You’re letting your gun-hand freeze off,” Faith muttered as she passed her, seeing she had taken off her mittens. “Real smart.”

“Oh please, you were practically cuddling your rifle earlier like it was a cat.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were. It was kind of cute, in a feral raccoon sort of way.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “At least I don’t snore like a dying moose when I sleep.”

“Okay,” Joel cut in, voice sharp but not angry. Just tired. “Both of you — enough.”

Ellie opened her mouth to retort, then seemed to think better of it. Faith fell silent too, her rifle still in her hands. The woman raised her eyebrows at the display.

“They always like this?” she asked Joel, clearly amused. She was moving again, making the rocking chair squeak rhythmically.

 “Only every damn day.”

Then she nodded toward Faith and Ellie. “Are they yours?”

In unison, all three of them answered:

“No.”

“God, no.”

“Hell no.”

That made the old woman laugh. A full belly-laugh, surprisingly strong, like a fire catching. “You all bicker like family. That’s something.”

Joel gave a faint grunt and took a folded, weather-stained map from his coat pocket. He stepped toward her, carefully, holding it out like a peace offering.

“We’re just passing by,” he said. “Trying to find my brother. Show us where we are on the map.”

She set her knitting down across her lap and took the map without hesitation, unfolding it on the small table beside her. Her fingers were quick despite their age.

“Name’s Florence,” she said, not looking up. “My husband’s out checking traps. He’ll be back soon — unless he decides to follow rabbit tracks into the next damn county again.”

She tapped a spot on the map.

“You’re here,” she said. “Cody’s up north. Don’t go there. It’s crawling.”

“Yeah,” Joel muttered. “We saw.”

“Your brother, he out this way?”

Joel nodded once, leaving the map on the table. Florence let them put their bags next to the door, and soon after Faith and Ellie had stepped closer to the fire, both quiet now, watching the dance of flames with pink-tipped noses.

“You want soup?” Florence asked, standing up and stretching her back with a groan. Joel was sitting across from her, watching her stand up. She was a small round woman. She also seemed very kind. “Got elk bone and wild onion. Might still be enough to make more.”

Ellie perked up. “God, yes.”

Faith looked at Joel for a cue, and when he gave a slight shrug, she nodded too.

“You girls help me,” Florence said, gesturing at the two. “Chop vegetables, haul water…”

They followed her to her kitchen awkwardly, leaving their weapons with Joel, who watched the two girls suddenly go stiff as a stick, not knowing how to act.

Florence’s kitchen was small but well-used, with a narrow window fogged from the cold outside. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the rafters, and a large iron pot sat waiting atop a cast-iron stove. Ellie looked at it like it was a museum exhibit. Faith eyed the knives immediately.

“You know how to chop an onion?” Florence asked, pulling out a wooden crate of root vegetables from beneath a bench.

“Better than she does,” Faith said, taking one without hesitation.

“Oh yeah?” Ellie grabbed a smaller blade. “We’ll see about that.”

Florence chuckled softly, moving with quiet efficiency. “You keep talking like that, I’m putting you both on dish duty.”

That shut them up — for three seconds.

“Do we get dessert if we do it right?” Ellie asked, elbow-deep now in a bowl of scrubbed potatoes.

Florence smirked. “Only if you don’t burn my house down.”

Faith peeled carrots with practiced speed. She didn’t ask what Florence meant by “wild onion” or where the elk bones had come from. She knew better. But she did pause long enough to glance around the kitchen.

“This place is really… nice,” she said. “Homey.”

Florence’s eyes flicked to her for a moment. “Took a while to make it that way again. You make things livable with time. And stubbornness.”

Faith smiled faintly. “Yeah. I get that.”

Half an hour later, the girls emerged carrying mismatched bowls that smelled like heaven — steam rising from rich, golden broth with bits of meat, carrot, and something green floating in it. Joel was still sitting near the fire, tending to his rifle with his usual frown.

Ellie plopped down first, handing him one of the bowls. “Don’t say I never do anything for you.”

“Thanks,” he muttered, accepting it like he hadn’t just been starving.

Faith settled beside him on the floor, letting the heat of the flames soak into her spine. She had her own bowl of soup and handed Ellie hers when she sat down next to her. Joel eyed them suspiciously.

“You two cook this?”

“We more like… supervised,” Faith replied, deadpan.

“I stirred the pot,” Ellie added proudly.

“Once,” Faith said.

“But I stirred, didn’t I?”

Joel raised a hand before they could launch into another spat. “Enough.”

They all ate in silence for a few minutes — the kind of silence that didn’t feel heavy anymore. Florence reentered a moment later, drying her hands on a dishrag, and smiled at the little scene by the hearth.

She tilted her head and asked Joel, “So, what are your names?”

He glanced up, cautious. “I’m Joel. That one’s Ellie. This is Faith.”

Florence nodded, looking over them. “Sweet girls. Little mouthy, but sweet.”

“Hey!” Ellie squawked.

“Not untrue,” Faith mumbled around her spoon.

Florence ignored them, fixing Joel with a look that pierced right through him. “You’ve done well with them.”

Joel cleared his throat. “They’re not mine.” he repeated, once again.

“I know,” the woman smiled. “You want more soup? It’s still warm.”

Joel glanced over at the girls. Faith was already scraping the bottom of her bowl with a spoon, trying to get every last drop. Ellie had hers tipped almost vertical.

“They’ve been sick,” Joel said, voice low but honest. “Fever. Cough. They’ll take more soup if you’ve got it.”

Faith looked up quickly. “We don’t wanna take your food or anything—”

“But also it’s really, really good,” Ellie added without missing a beat.

Florence huffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. I got more elk in my freezer than I know what to do with. You want seconds, you’re gettin’ seconds.”

Faith hesitated just long enough to look polite. “Only if you’re sure.”

Florence waved a hand at them like she was batting away flies. “Child, you’re skin and bones. And she”—she gestured to Ellie—“looks like she’s about to take a bite out of the bowl.”

Ellie didn’t deny it.

Florence chuckled. “Sit tight. I’ll bring it over.”

She turned back to the kitchen, muttering something about ‘starving little critters’ and Joel leaned back against his seat, watching them both.

“Don’t gulp it this time,” he said gruffly. He had finished his own with the same hunger, though. “You’ll get a stomach ache.”

“Yes, sir,” Ellie grinned, nudging Faith.

Joel gave her a look. Faith smirked behind her spoon.

Florence returned with three more steaming bowls and handed them off without ceremony. “Eat slow. Warm up.”

Joel accepted the refill for himself with a nod. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Florence sat back down in her rocking chair, knitting once more like they weren’t strangers, like this wasn’t the end of the world.

Outside, the snow was still falling. Inside, their little circle by the fire stayed warm. Faith rested her head against the edge of the couch without quite realizing it. Ellie was curled with her knees up, both hands around her bowl. Joel sat between them.

Tommy was close. He could feel it. Maybe it was just hope mixed with desperation, but it was still a strong feeling inside his chest he couldn’t let go of. He was somewhere out there. He knew it.

He glanced down at the girls, though, and something else settled in his chest watching them eat by the fire next to each other on the floor, for once not on a cold hard rock but on a soft warm rug. They could use some rest. At least for a short while.

Florence’s husband would be coming back soon. Until then, he thought… he’d let them rest.

Next Chapter

Taglist: Taglist: @kitdjarin1@christinamadsen@abtjudex@hongjoong-titties @cokoladasljesnjakom

[rei-ismyname]

The (character) assassination of Wanda Maximoff by the coward Joe Quesada

Charles Xavier is not a psychotherapist

After giving her coworkers some unwelcome feedback, Wanda Maximoff is in a bit of a state. For some reason Xavier thinks he can help by shouting at her. He's a PHD in psychiatry but his record in nurturing the mental health of others is ... shit. He's really bad at this okay. There's a whole thing with Wanda's kids not existing and it doesn't make a lot of sense tbh. Whether by magic or reality warping she's not allowed to create kids for reasons unstated.

This back and forth goes on for a while but Chuck deems no progress made. Just ... Let her have the kids dude. Wanda reality warps to undo tragedy, harming nobody, and Chuck just yells at her to stop. It's profoundly cruel and unproductive. Marvel events play fast and loose with narrative causality and characterisation but House of M is so fucking egregious. The misogyny and ableism behind it is still felt today. Ironically, Charles Xavier is probably the worst parent on the island.

Generally speaking Magneto is a terrible parent but here and now he does want to be there for Wanda. When it was just him being supportive he read to her and spent time with her while she slept. As much as you can help someone with grief that's about all you can do. Now Wanda's powers are ... making her crazy? I guess? Let's not beat around the bush - it's ridiculous framing. House of M contains oh so much man pain compared to voicing the pain of Wanda.

Chuck has been telepathically drugging and sedating Wanda, and he's baffled as to why she's not magically getting better. Sounds like torture to me, frankly. Classic Chuck to first present it as inhumane, then not foolproof, then admit it's not working. If it was working you bet your bottom dollar he'd continue with what he's already doing. He says Magneto shouldn't blame himself (he should) and that she's a grown woman. That sounds like blaming Wanda to me. You'd think he'd have learnt his lesson from sedating and drugging his son David for years without improvement (by his metrics.) Nyet.

That's a pretty reductive summation of their history but the broad strokes are there. Mags was an abusive maniac to the twins before they knew they were related, and his behaviour since then has been... mixed, at best. His culpability is severe but it's often used to minimise anyone else's. The Avengers have been pretty awful here and there as well, especially here reproductive autonomy is concerned. Ask Carol about that one.

Mags casually walking on the sky is pretty damn cool and he should do it more often. IDK why he's doing it now, but good for him I guess.

Sometime shortly, The Avengers and X-Men get together to 'decide the fate' of Wanda. It's like they know they're in an event and dutifully summon everyone they know to argue. Their sources for this decision are not especially reliable, and a lot of people that should know better are either silent or absent.

Pietro knows what's up. The gathered heroes are just giving off that vibe. He's obviously not happy about the prospect at all, but Magneto is not much help. I find it hard to believe he'd think they may be right. He's a terrible father but he's not an idiot. He asks 'what would you have me do?' as if there aren't hundreds of options that don't involve killing Wanda. Let her have the kids! Take her to space or something. Isn't there a mutant cure kicking around ATM? None of these are mentioned.

Back at the brain trust zero progress has been made. Emma has Logan's script and advocates for killing her, and Logan obviously callously agrees. This frames the argument as 'kill Wanda: Y/N?' and magic/telepathy the only possible solutions. Pietro was right, honestly, but Wanda doesn't even get a voice. Cap insists that there's always another way, but nobody has one. In the end, everyone heads to Genosha to talk to Wanda but we'll never know how that would have gone. House of M isn't interested in asking those questions at all.

I'm skipping the entire event here because the focus is Wanda and she's not a character in the House of M reality. She's barely a character in 616 at this time, simplified into 'crazy mother.' I certainly blame Brian Michael Bendis, as the writer of this event, but it was Quesada's decision and the buck stops with him. Mutants (allegedly) needed to be decimated and Wanda was the means. After using her similarly for Avengers Disassembled it's wild in retrospect that they doubled down. Not surprising, of course, but considering how many people would have had the chance to say 'this is sexist and ableist garbage' before it went to print...

Worst of all, 'no more mutants' defined and derailed Wanda Maximoff's character for decades. I'd say she's only escaped the shadow of it in the last few years, but her peers never had to face their part in the tragedy. I was glad that she was being used as Krakoa's boogeyman because it highlighted how ridiculous the whole thing is. It also led to her reclaiming her narrative, which needed to happen but it's not a good look. I will do a part 2 covering that end soon.

[darkspellmaster]

I have a couple questions if you don’t mind?

1. Why do you ship Lizzy n ciel?/gen. I personally don’t ship them since they’re cousins and it could be considered a proship based on that-

2. Do you believe in the r!ciel is the mastermind theory?/gen

As interesting as it is, I don’t personally believe in it. But I’d love to hear your thoughts!!

I'm gonna answer two first because I thought a lot about it.

2. I think R!Ciel is and isn't the mastermind. What I mean is that I think he was part of the reason for the death of Vincent and Rachel, and why it happened, but he's also the victim of his own hubris and his actions as a child.

I honestly believe that R!Ciel has some sort of brother complex with O!Ciel. Every line he says regarding O!Ciel has an undercurrent of something being not okay with him allowing his brother space to be his own person. He's codependent in a lot off ways. When O!Ciel said he should play with Lizzie, R!Ciel basically told him he'd rather stay in and play with him. The going to the lake, it was clear that R!Ciel wanted to stay home too and felt sad when told to go with the family to have fun. He goes out of his way to get him stuff to help his cough (though that could also be him trying to make O!Ciel sick, but I doubt that), and we've seen that he insists on taking pictures and doesn't like it when O!Ciel leaves his side. The two biggest ones though is the Chapter where Dee is making food with R!Ciel and Vincent and when Vincent mentions Weston and having house brothers, R!Ciel gets this look in his eyes that is just blackness as he says that he doesn't want fake brothers. Then there was his whole freak out when O!Ciel told him he wanted to be a toy shop owner in London and insisted that he was going to do it too. My honest to god guess is that R!Ciel was convinced somehow, probably at a party, that the best thing to do was get rid of his father so that he could be Earl and order O!Ciel to stay with him. As he told O!Ciel even if he has Lizzie there he would rather be with him. Because Sebastian, the dog, was tied up, I think it would have had to have been R!Ciel, or someone the dog trusted and clearly he was locked up so he wouldn't be hurt. This is where I think R!Ciel comes in for being the Mastermind. My guess is that after his talk with Rachel, he realized that the only way to get what he wanted was to get his father out of the picture. He probably didn't want his mother to die, but she seems to have gotten in the way of the attack. I don't think he killed the dog either. What I think is that our main big bad came up with a way to kidnap Vincent, or told R!Ciel that was the plan, or at the very least intended to harm Vincent. The deal probably was that the person would make sure he and his brother would be together forever. So R!Ciel agreed, let the persons in, after locking up the dog, and probably attacked Tanaka when Tanaka caught him and realized what was going on. The person I think behind all of this is Viscount Druitt. He's in every important arc, either in person, a part of it, or mentioned. In the Red butler arc he was a suspect, in Curry arc he's a judge, in the Campania arc he's part of the Aurora society and tries to become an emperor. In Weston he's the way that Derrek Arden is alive. In the Green Witch he's show to be a Prefect and went to school with Vincent, Dee and the mysterious Violet House Prefect. (By the way Yana tends to like to hide things behind word balloons I've noticed or covering the eyes). We haven't seen him in the Blue Revenge or Blue Memory arc yet, but he'll likely show up at some point. So my money is on him manipulating everything from behind the scenes for some reason. 1. There's a lot of reasons I ship Lizzie and Ciel. The main one being I actually like how their personalities click. Ciel respects and cares about Lizzie. He's amazed by her and probably was a bit jealous of his twin due to their relationship, though he never seemed to show it. We know Ciel can get upset and jealous when it comes to Lizzie as he broke a damn vase when he couldn't draw her into the show. He's gone back for her and protected her a number of times: The bear, and the boat are the top two in the manga. Plus standing up for her at other points too.

Not only that but he also helped her to come out of her shell after the Campania and be her strong self as well. He lets her hug him and Sebastian pointed out that he only sleeps well when she's around.

Lizzie has shown protection for him too. In the Campania, rooting for him during the cricket match. And in the Demon Six issue she fought with Charles Grey to stop him from going after Ciel. So we know that she cares deeply about him. She brings out the best in O!Ciel and in turn he brings out the best in her.

Another reason I'm okay with the shipping is that traditionally in nobility it was common place to marry your first cousin. Queen Victoria and her husband Albert were first cousins. Several members of the royal family have married distant cousins over the years, even the late Queen Elizabeth and her husband prince Phillip were cousins. So that isn't something that bothers me. The way I see it it's following the tradition and it makes sense for the siblings to have Lizzie be with R!Ciel since the boy doesn't seem to be able to defend himself very well . And it would make sense for Lizzie to protect O!Ciel from others due to his illness. She nearly beat Sebastian until he had to go harder on her and she held up to one of his punches well enough that she was able to speak before passing out. The Girl broke glass with her sword going through it! I think she'd be a good defender to him. Lastly, I sort of see the pairing as maybe yana's way of doing the snow Queen. In a side chapter we've already seen Lizzie as Gerta, who is looking for her best friend Kai, who was taken by the snow Queen. Kai in this case, is Ciel, and the Queen is Sebastian. If you know anything about the story then you know that part of the tale is about two friends growing up to be adults through various adventures to find one another. Or Gerta to find Kai. Also Ciel has the mark on his right eye, the same place the Queen put an ice shard in Kai's eye to make him follow her. There's also the fact that Sebastian calls her the child of the sun, and one of the aspects about her is that Lizzie melts Ciel. So that's another reason why I ship them. As for the pro vs anti shipping thing, I tend to stay out of it. I'm not a fan of Ciel x Sebastian because he's a demon that wants to eat him, and it's strange to pair them up. But I'm not going to dictate to anyone who they can and can't ship. I'm very old school in the ship and let ship mindset. If I'm not a fan of the pairing I just move on, unless the story is just that good and then I'll skip over the pairing I don't like. Simple as that. I have nothing against people that don't like the Lizzie x Ciel pairing, just as I hope others don't have issue with my liking of it. Hope that answers your questions.

[harukamitsuki]

(spoilers ahead)

honestly, i think one of my biggest issues with my hero is how horikoshi is really good at setting things up, but fails in the execution of basically anything and everything. especially when everyone wants to see it prosper.

a world where everyone has quirks, except for our main character, who strives to be a hero despite that

the number two hero is anything but when behind closed doors.

the number one hero comes off as endlessly joyful, yet is more tired than anything

a world where your worth is based on your quirk

a world that is so obssessed with heroes that hidden crimes are just forgotten

a boy who was so hurt that he could only hurt in turn

a girl who was so restricted that she can't understand personal space

a boy who was neglected for being weak so he strives to become stronger and in turn only hurts himself more

a boy hated simply for looking different so he rejects the world for the world rejects him

and a boy hurt by everyone around him, but uses that to make the world a kinder place.

all of this is present within mha, but none of it is expanded on, or if it was, it felt like lip-service at best, and downright insulting at worst.

the powerless mc gets an incredibly powerful quirk and forgets he was ever quirkless.

the number two hero is abusive but it's totally okay because he regrets it and his abusive scenes are treated lightly later on

the number one hero goes back to his old ways when he finally gets a chance to be himself

there is no commentary on quirkless discrimination, and we barely see the impacts of having a 'weak' quirk

hidden crimes are explored, but there isn't anything regarding how the future generation will solve this issue

that boy who could only hurt after he was hurt so much? yeah he dies despite the mc wanting to save him so desperately, and there is no satisfaction in it. because he still didn't want to be saved

that girl who was so restricted that she couldn't understand personal space and boundaries? yeah, she never learns what they are, and nobody directly calls her out on this

that boy who was so neglected for being weak and only hurts himself the stronger he strives to become? well, it's actually his fault because he couldn't forgive his abusive father. his misplaced envy towards his abused brother is never delved into

that boy who rejected the world that hated him for being born? yeah, he's never shown any kindness from the people who should be showing it. instead, he's taken down while he's lost his mind and becomes a massive hypocrite

that boy who was hurt by everyone around him yet still wants to save others? yeah, he's still being hurt by everyone around him and is never praised for helping people, only scolded by others. he loses everything and isn't even allowed to work for it again.

the set-up for everything is so good, but the pay-off and the execution is just not.

i feel like horikoshi was winging it half of the time, hence why he forgot about the traitor plot point. something fans were speculating about for years, horikoshi just forgot. it's like - he set it up as early as the usj, forgot to build up aoyama's character, and speedran it. because of this, it didn't feel earned.

'you can still be a hero,' does not feel earned at all. why should we care about aoyama when the creator himself doesn't? the traitor could have been anyone, and it wouldn't have changed a thing, because the set-up was gone. by the time he'd remembered there was a traitor, everyone else forgot about it.

the same goes for the deaths.

i've seen people commend mha for killing people off, but, the things is, do we really care about who was killed off?

nighteye? he was a dick, and it was clear horikoshi was trying to do a whole 'redemption in death' thing, but let's be honest. we only care about the impact it had on mirio, which wasn't even much. it could have been anyone. nighteye surviving wouldn't have changed anything.

midnight? we did not spend nearly enough time with her to give two shits about her death. maybe if she were 1-a's homeroom teacher, as was originally planned, it may have meant more. as it was, who cared? she didn't even die on-screen. it could have been anyone.

native? i don't even need to explain. nobody cared.

star and stripe? did anyone really get attached to female all might? no, because there were no dimensions to her.

stain? what did his death serve? what would have changed if he survived? nothing

like, if you kill someone off, it has to mean something. what was learned by nighteye's death? heroes die? we learned that ages ago with the water hose heroes, and with stain's mini-arc. maybe it was to show, yeah, we're not afraid of killing people off.

but it didn't mean anything! at least have nighteye learn something. make it a proper tragedy - maybe he wants to apologise to all might but all might arrives too late. maybe he finally acknowledges that it was never his right to dictate who gets ofa and really apologises to izuku. maybe he can't even say goodbye to mirio.

maybe, in trying to do something, his sacrifice means nothing... until, when he's already dead, it's revealed that it did.

killing a character off to show how serious you're getting is fine... if it weren't already clear that it was serious.

people say killing off so many was mha being realistic, but they don't understand two things.

one: if you want to be realistic, kill someone off in the usj, because a bunch of kids just starting school should not be able to hold off against actual villain. if you want to be realistic, have the kids be shoved into counselling after the usj. if you want to be realistic, have aizawa die against the noumu. that's realistic

two: NOBODY GOES TO ANIME FOR REALISM!! seriously, if you want realism, go watch an indie movie or something. not anime, where everything is drawn and people have superpowers and tripping over means you accidentally grope someone.

the thing about killing characters off is that it has to mean something to both the characters and the audience. if we do not care if a character dies, it does not need to be there.

example: (spoilers for one piece ig) whitebeard from one piece. even now, people still quote his dying message. 'the one piece is real'. both this line and his death have a massive impact in-universe, and we the audienced cared, despite the relatively short time we go to know him. his death actually mattered. had whitebeard not died in marineford, i guarantee that nothing would be the same.

fishman island wouldn't have been taken over by big mom. marco and izou would not have appeared in wano, or if they did, the entire whitebeard alliance would have shown up too. there would still be a balance in the emperors. sengoku would not have retired.

there are ripple effects from whitebeard's death, and everyone one piece fan still remembers it clearly. and the same goes for every other death in one piece: ace, bellemere, kuina, hiriluk, tom, the rumbar pirates, rojer. every death had its meaning and affects either the world as a whole or specific characters who would go onto impact the world anyway.

mha just doesn't let you care about the characters it kills off, nor do their deaths have meaning, because there isn't a pay-off.

the set-up is there. the pay-off is not.

and that, guys, gals, and nonbinary pals, is my biggest issue with mha. horikoshi's execution.

[tsuutarr]

I am actually so in love with all ur yandere ocs!!! putting their designs in the back of my mind for future reference :] who knows, maybe I'll draw them someday tehee :333 I am especially a sucker for yandere angels so ur doing gods work here fr (no pun intended) Anyways I am kinda curious as to how the guys would feel abt a non-binary MC considering so far you've only described them using "she/her" pronouns ^^'' no need to answer if ur not up to it. I won't think of u or the characters any less<3 I'm also curious how they would react to mc having a very close childhood friend. I mean.. Those type of friendships are very likely to lead to more after all uwu~

Tysm for liking my yandere OCs!! I'm very very pleased to hear that you enjoy them <3 I'd be flattered if you drew them!

Yandere angels are so fun b/c they're supposed to be the pinnacle of purity, but what if they get corrupted by their desires? Then they have to grapple with their morals and desires, though their desires eventually win over because they love love love you so much!

Also, I am totally okay with a gender-neutral reader! I try to write mostly gn!reader, actually, but my readers may read more feminine occasionally due my background.

As for the guys, they'd all be okay with a non-binary MC~ though, I think Jiu's story would probably work best with a female leaning MC since his whole thing is that he dresses up as a woman to chase guys away from MC. Otherwise, I can visualize any gender for any of my yanderes!

Now, what if MC had a childhood friend? Well, here's how my yanderes would react:

Jiu IS your childhood friend, so he's already chased anyone else away from being too close with you since you were both kids. He's super smart in that he lets you interact with people (and even have "friends"), but he manipulates the situation so that you're mostly spending time with him. When someone gets too close to you, though, he'll chase them away, either through anonymous blackmail, some "accident," or something else.

Finley would be so so so sad if you had a childhood friend that was super close to you. He's not really allowed to harm any human but... it's not his fault that your friend is so so so clumsy and fell into a manhole!

Tynan would just kill the guy, honestly. Nothing's stopping him from killing your childhood friend, after all. BUT, he's not stupid enough to make it obvious he did it. After all, how else will he console you over your stupid childhood friend's death?

The abandoned water god just kidnaps you so he could care less, frankly speaking. It's not like you can leave him, so why should he worry about some powerless human? Though, talk about your childhood friend too much and your friend may meet an untimely death related to water.

As for the farmer... oh, he'd hate your childhood friend. You're his sugarcube, you know? You're just so cute and defenseless, he has to protect you! So, well, whenever you try to call your childhood friend, the signals all wonky. When you want to drive to visit your friend, your tires are all punctured. And when your friend wants to visit? Oh! Well, your friend can't visit because the area's suddenly super dangerous and there's like fifty bears that might maul your friend!

So, long story short, your childhood friend isn't safe and probably never will be (except Jiu, who is your childhood friend)!

[anonymityisfunwriter]

There Is No Coming Back From This - Chapter 3

Characters: Stark!Reader, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes Summary: "It's her time, Tony. And I hate that as much as you do, but there's some things you can't fix. There is no coming back from this."

Bucky can't help but be really glad Steve refused to tell him anything about why he was going back to see Tony Stark and his kid.

Not that he really wanted to hear about anything about the Stark family anyway. 

He didn't have to watch the news for more than a minute to realize the breaking news was everywhere.

Tony Stark's daughter, a wanted fugitive, considered armed and dangerous, dosed with an untested serum of some kind, mysteriously disappeared from SWORD custody last night. 

And no matter how hard he tries not to, Bucky can't help but judge Tony for the actions that brought all this about. All he can think, who would willing test some serum on their own child? No one except Tony Stark.

And now he's implicated everyone around them. Including Steve. Who shouldn't have gone back in the first place. 

And now, all Bucky can do is hope that Steve made it out of there without getting caught up in another one of Tony Stark's messes. 

An urgent knock cuts through his watching session. He grumbles under his breath and flicks off the TV, listening for any signs of an unfriendly visitor. He quietly walks to the door, careful not to make a single sound. 

"Buck, it's me." Steve taps at the door in the intricate knocking patter only they knew. 

"Thank God, Steve." Bucky sighs in relief as he reaches the door. He swings the door open. "Honestly, I was worried you got mixed up with all that Stark nonsense. I mean, seriously, what is wrong with him? Testing a serum-"

"Bucky," Steve stops him, stepping a foot over the threshold. Bucky's smile drops as he finally notices the other person standing behind Steve. "I need your help."

Bucky shakes his head over and over and over. "Steve, tell me that is not who I think that is."

"Bucky, just hear me out."

"Steve, please, tell me that is not who I think it is!" Bucky begs, his eyes comically wide. He's not angry. In fact, he finds himself mostly concerned for Steve, who clearly seems to have lost his mind. 

"Please, we - I need your help. It's just for a little while."

"No!' Bucky hisses. "She can't stay here! Are you crazy?"

"Come on," Steve begs. "She's just a kid."

"She's a Stark! A Stark! She'll probably try to kill me in my sleep!"

"She can hear you," you sarcastically mutter, a little louder than intended. Both Steve and Bucky's eyes dart over to you, you immediately look away and feign innocence. 

"She's not going to kill you in your sleep," Steve promises. "She just got put in the middle of one of her father's messes. Something you, of all people, should be sympathetic to."

"I should be sympathetic? You want me to help the man that's very literally the reason we're both fugitives," Bucky scoffs. "No, this isn't my problem. I don't care."

"I'm not asking you to help him, I'm asking you to help me. I promised I'd keep her safe."

Bucky's hands fly up in frustration, "Well, why the hell would you promise that?"

"She's a good kid," Steve emphasizes, taking another step towards Bucky, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's just for a little while. Please?"

"Fine," Bucky acquiesces with a groan. He lets go of the door, allowing you both to enter. "Don't make me regret this, Steve." As you walk past the threshold, you can feel the ire radiating off of him, he sneers down at you, "Hope you're okay with sleeping on the floor, Princess."

"Well... this is gonna be fun," you sarcastically remark. 

"It won't be boring." Steve sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You should get some rest. It's been a long night." 

"It's 6 at night."

"And you've been on the run since 4 in the morning. Trust me, the adrenaline runs out."

And in spite of Bucky's promise, you didn't actually sleep on the floor. You take the small couch in the living room, curled up in the thin throw blanket with Steve rummaging through his bag. 

As it turns out, he was right about the adrenaline crash. The second you feel even remotely comfortable, you drift off into a restless sleep. As he sorts through his bag and plans out your next move, his eyes flicker back and forth to your sleeping figure. There was no hiding his concern. It was a lot to process, and he dreaded the moment the events of the last week hit you. In one week, you were dosed with a serum. Woke up from the brink of death with unfamiliar strength. You'd been forced out of your home and become a fugitive. 

It's no surprise to him that you toss and turn all night. Even bogged down by exhaustion, there's a part of him that wants to keep a close eye on you. He eventually dozes off, sleeping until the early morning light of the next morning. 

You're also woken up by the morning light streaming through the blinds of Bucky's hideout. You jolt up with a gasp at the unfamiliar scene. 

"Easy, kid," Steve mutters. "We're at Bucky's, remember?"

You shake your head, trying to clear the mental fog, "Right. Bucky. On the run."

"You alright?" Steve hedges. 

"Yeah, I'm fine." You rub your bleary eyes. You don't actually feel that rested. Still, you feel better than you did just last week. 

"Here," Steve offers, handing you a mug as you join him in the kitchenette. "Drink something."

"Thanks." You absentmindedly reach out and grab the mug. The second your hand closes around the mug, your grip shatters the mug. And as your luck would have it, it's at that moment that Bucky enters the room. 

He grimaces at you, then at shattered ceramic at your feet. "You broke my favorite mug."

"I-" you stammer in shock. 

"That was your only mug, Bucky," Steve reminds him. 

"This is exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about," Bucky glowers. "She can't be here. We'll all get caught."

Steve's eyes flicker between you and Bucky. Even as you try to pull on a brave face, you look scared out of your mind. Steve turns to you with an apologetic look, "Why don't you go get cleaned up?"

You nod, walking out of the room with another word. With the utmost concentration, you lightly touch the doorknob. You sigh in relief that you don't accidentally break it. You lightly grasp the doorknob, and without incident, you make it into the bathroom. You mostly take a moment to compose yourself. You take a mental inventory of yourself. Your face. Your eyes. Your cheekbones. You looked so much healthier than a week ago. A lot less... close to death. Healthy even. Healthy and a fugitive. Healthy and in exile. Healthy and unwanted. 

You shake away all those thoughts and force them back down. 

But you can't help but hear the loud argument happening right outside the paper thin walls. 

"This is what I'm talking about, Steve. That girl is a high profile, ticking time bomb. It doesn't matter what you do or where you take her, she's gonna stick out like a sore thumb."

"No, she's not," Steve insists. "Tony put a lot of time and effort into keeping her out of the public eye. And we'll get the breaking things under control. This is all so new, but Tony was working with her to get it under control."

"You seem to be putting a lot of stock into what Tony Stark did or didn't do."

"He messed up," Steve agrees. "I know that he messed up, but that's not the point. The kid is innocent in all of this. She was just ripped from everything that she's ever known because of her father's mistakes. Cut her a little slack."

"Slack?" Bucky incredulously repeats. "There is no slack out here! You were almost caught. I've almost been caught before. It's too much, Steve... Look, I'm not telling you to turn her in. All I'm saying is that maybe this isn't your problem."

"I made a promise."

"Forget about your promise!" Bucky protests. "Worry about yourself for once."

"I can't do that," Steve refuses with a firm shake of his head. "I won't turn my back on her again."

"Why? Why the hell not?"

"Because I can't!" Steve shouts. "I just can't. I've known that kid her entire life. I care about her. She's scared and she needs our help right now. She didn't have any say in anything that happened to her, but she's doing her best. She just needs a little help. Help we can give her."

Bucky groans, pinching the bridge of his nose, "You're killing me, Steve."

"She's a good kid. She's smart. A hell of a lot smarter than you or I were at 17. Just give her a chance, I promise she can hold her own."

"You're responsible for whatever happens," Bucky warns. "You hear me? Figure out how you're gonna make her blend in. And get the breaking things under control."

"I'll take care of it. Don't worry."

Bucky dubiously scoffs, snatching up his jacket and turning to walk out the door, "Sure, you will."

With the front door slammed shut, you figure it's probably safe to come out of hiding. You creak the door open, poking your head out into the hall. 

"How much of that did you hear?"

"Sorry." You walk back to the couch, taking a seat. "I tried not to, but the walls are paper thing. And you know, the weird serum flowing through my veins."

"Are you okay?"

You shrug, not quite sure how to answer his question. Physically, you were fine. Mentally and emotionally, you couldn't deny you were in a bit of weird spot, but who wouldn't be? "Serum flowing through my veins. On the lam. Pretty good considering."

Steve hangs his head apologetically, "I tried to tell him, but Tony would hear it."

"What?" you sarcastically gasp. "My father was being stubborn? I can't believe it."

"He wasn't ready to say goodbye. None of us were."

"I know." The smile on your face drops. You shake your head, thankful for the innate Stark ability to compartmentalize any negative emotion. You couldn't decide how you felt about what your father had done to you. He saved your life while also damning it all in one go. "It doesn't matter. What's done is done. We just roll with the punches."

Steve nods, watching you to gauge your feelings on the situation, "Right."

You hug your knees to your chest, "Bucky really doesn't want me here, does he?"

"He's a little rough around the edges, but he only acts like that when he's worried."

"About me. That I'll get you caught."

"Which you won't. We just have to be careful, maybe take a few more precautions. That's all."

"I have a feeling I'm not gonna like this, but I'll do anything if it keeps us safe."

"Well, right about now, they're probably plastering our faces all over the news. You might want to change up," He gestures to you. "You know, your look, as the kids call it."

You halfheartedly laugh, rolling your eyes, "That's not what the kids call it, Steve."

"You know what I mean," he snorts. "The harder you are to identify, the easier it is to lay low. I grew a beard. Natasha went blonde. That kind of thing."

"Anything else?"

"We're gonna have to move soon. The longer we stay in one place, the more likely it is that someone will spot us."

It's only a few hours later when you find yourself standing in the bathroom staring at the mirror before you, clutching a pair of scissors. You take a deep breath, desperately trying to find the nerve to do it. 

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I really don't care."

"It seems like you do. And that's okay, kid. Maybe you could dye it or something."

"It just grew back. This is the longest it's ever been since I was kid and I lost it all," you whisper. 

"Kid..." Steve begins to apologize. 

You shake your head again, forcing yourself to make the first cut. The scissors open and close with a resounding snip, taking off more than half of your hair in one go. Steve sucks in a sharp breath as your hair falls to the ground. "It's fine, Steve. I just didn't think I'd be cutting it again, but I also thought I'd be six feet under by now."

"That's not funny."

"Sure it is." You take the scissors and cut off another large chunk. "2 super soldiers and a Stark. All on the run together. It sounds like the start of a really, really bad joke."

He doesn't have any idea what to say as you continue hacking at your hair. He's not even sure if you want to be consoled, so he decides to give you a moment to gather yourself. "I'l give you a minute."

"Okay."

You pretend like every snip of the scissors doesn't bother you at all as you cut chunk after chunk of hair until you're sure it's mostly even. You look down at the bathroom floor to the clumps of hair on the floor. It takes you back to the time Pepper shaved your hair during your first rounds of chemo all those years ago. 

You throw all the hair away and leave the bathroom. The moment you enter the room, you hear Bucky's snarky remark waiting for you, "Guess the Princess finally finished."

"Leave her alone, Bucky," Steve scolds. "She's had it hard."

Bucky snorts, rolling his eyes, "Yeah, okay, 'hard'. What choosing between the steak or the lobster?"

You jokingly twist your mouth, "Actually, I'm allergic to shellfish."

"Not helping," Steve hisses.

You shrug, turning your attention to the sound of your father's familiar voice coming from the TV. You pad over to the living room, watching as he gives a press conference. 

Bucky scoffs, "He's giving press conferences when his daughter allegedly disappeared into thin air."

"He's playing his part, Bucky. Ease up."

You pay no mind to Bucky or his insults about your father. Tony points to a reporter in the first row. "You. Go."

"Is it true you experimented on your daughter with a serum of some sort?"

Tony grimaces, rolling his eyes, "Next question."

"How did your daughter escape custody?"

"I think the better question is how they had her in custody and lost her," he expertly retorts.

"Does it concern you that your daughter is now a fugitive?"

"It concerns me that my daughter is missing and no one seems to be doing anything about it."

"Reports say that Captain Steve Rogers was at the Avengers Compound when your daughter disappeared."

"I think you missed the part where you're supposed to ask a question," Tony remarks. 

"What's your daughter's relationship to Captain Rogers?"

Tony shakes his head in disbelief, his face contorting with disgust, "I'm sorry, what exactly are you implying?"

"Did your daughter run away with Captain Rogers because she was in a romantic relationship with him?" the reporter plainly asks. 

"Ew..." you cringe dramatically, your face contorting with repulsion. "No offense, Steve, but you're old enough to be my grandfather."

Steve's head vehemently shakes, pinching the bridge of his nose so tightly that you worry he might break it. "Considering I actually was friends with your grandfather, none taken."

All the while, Bucky is maniacally laughing harder than you've ever seen. It isn't until Steve slaps Bucky upside the head that he finally stops laughing while you turn your head back to the screen just in time to see your father speak with a resounding firmness. "I'm only going to say this one. My 17 year old daughter did not run away. While in the custody of the U.S. Government, she disappeared. I don't know where she is, and I want nothing more than for her to be found safe and sound."

"So you don't think it's too coincidental that they both disappeared last night? What was a known fugitive even doing at the Avengers Compound?" 

Tony holds a hand up, halting all further questions. "All I will say is that I have the utmost faith in Steve Rogers. I won't be taking anymore questions today."

The moment those words leave Tony's mouth, the screen goes dark. You turn around to see Steve with the remote in hand and a apologetic expression, "Sorry, kid, I just - I don't think you should be watching that. It's gonna get ugly."

You think about every person in your life. Your old life. Every person that will be raked over the coals because they were trying to save your life. Tony. Pepper. Peter. Bruce. Everyone. "You're right, it's going to get ugly."

AnonymityIsFun Masterlist 'There Is No Coming Back From This' Chapter List

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