#'you haven't heard about the sword in the stone??'

[adhd-merlin]

arthur: merlin, why are you telling me all this nonsense about some stupid sword

merlin, about to make up a whole new piece of arthurian legend: oh you haven't heard?

[weaponizedducks]

bbc merlin popped off making the whole sword in the stone lore something merlin made up to pep talk arthur

[eddie-van-munson]

The Princess Bride (Farmhand!Eddie Munson x Princess!Reader)

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Warnings: Mentions of Blood (Nothing Graphic), Kissing, One Subtle Allusion to Smut, Childhood Best Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn...I think that's it?

Summary: You've been best friends with the stable boy since childhood, but when a suitor comes from across the sea to ask for your hand in marriage, you're forced to finally confront your feelings for him.

A/N: I hope y'all like this! I've had this in my drafts for literally over a year, but people seemed interested when I asked, so here it is! Please, Please, Please leave a comment! It will keep me writing!

Six Years Old

Your earliest memory of him was from the stream. 

His head was a mess of wild brown curls, so thick they nearly covered his eyes, and his pants had been rolled up past his knees. You'd been sitting in the gardens, ignoring your tutor's endless lesson on etiquette, when you spotted him through the clearing. He wobbled as he waded further, jumping forward suddenly as he tried to catch a fish with his hands. You had to hide your giggle with a polite cough, lest you be scolded.

The boy heard you, though. He stared at you as you obediently walked along the bank behind a man with a large nose. 

You made eye contact with him, and as soon as he noticed he'd won your attention, it became a game. Suddenly, he was pulling funny faces and splashing around the creek like a giant. He held your gaze all the while, flashing you a two-front-toothless grin when you finally fell into a fit of giggles. 

You'd had to recite forty lines that afternoon because of him, but it was well worth it to share a laugh as he mucked about in the water.

***********

Six Years Old

The next time you saw the boy, you'd fallen ill with fever. It'd been a few months since the stream, and you almost didn't recognize him as he plopped a bundle of healing herbs down on your bedside table. 

"You don't look like a Princess." He crossed his arms before him as he eyed you suspiciously. "You're awfully pale…And you're not even wearing a crown or a dress or anything." 

"I'm sick, you knob." You frowned, "No one wears a crown to bed." 

He hummed, sticking up his nose. "I thought Princesses had to be grown-ups." 

"I'll be queen when I'm a grown up." You announced, bossily. "And you'll have to do everything I say, or I'll send you to jail." 

He scoffed, "Not if I'm the King! The Queen has to do what the King says!" 

You rolled your eyes, "Well, you can't be King." 

"Yes, I can! Haven't you ever read King Arthur?" He pointed, brows raising. "I just have to find an enchanted sword and pull it out of a stone. Then I'll be the King, and I'll send you to jail." 

Your cheeks went pink as you argued, "King Arthur isn't even real!" 

"Yes, he is! And I'll be just like him! King Edward the First!" You giggled, and the boy flipped around from where he'd started strutting around the room, proudly. "What?"

"Edward is a funny name." 

As wildly offended as the boy was by this comment, he had to hide the smile that crept to his face at the sound of your hoarse laughter. "It is not!" 

"Yes, it is! Who's ever heard of a King called Ed? King Eddie!" You held your stomach, falling into another fit of giggles. 

He turned from you indignantly, "Fine! Stay here all alone with your smelly herbs, then! I don't need any silly ole' princess!" 

"No!" You croaked, sitting up in bed. "Don't go. It's so boring up here. I can hardly stand it." 

He sighed, putting a hand on his hip, and thought for a moment. "Only because you'll have me beheaded if I don't." 

***********

Ten Years Old 

"Oh goodness…You've gotten mud on your dress!" 

Your mother fussed over the little blue dress you were wearing, kneeling beside you to get a better look at the damage. Splotches of brown had been smeared over your front. Even your hair had a few streaks of dirt. 

"I got in a mud fight with Eddie." You informed her, as if the mess was perfectly justified by this. 

She chuckled, "I see. It looks like he may have won this time, hm?" She gave your cheek a gentle pinch, making your nose scrunch. 

"No, he didn't!" You turned, pointing at your friend. He dragged his feet behind you, looking defeated. 

Your mother burst into pretty laughter at the sight of him, resting a hand on her stomach. "Oh lamb…come here." 

The poor boy was absolutely caked in dirt. Not an inch of him was left unscathed. His wild curls were sopping with heavy mud, and you couldn't even see the embarrassed flush on his pouty face. He looked like he'd rolled around in the pig pen.  

The queen tutted affectionately, smirking. "Oh what am I going to do with you two?" 

***********

Thirteen Years Old

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Tears welled in your eyes as you sat in the windowsill in your room, watching Eddie as he walked quietly by himself in the distant fields, below. "I don't like seeing him cry." 

"He'll be alright, love." Your mother cooed, taking a seat beside you. "I know it's hard to see him in pain, but the poor dear's lost his mother. It might take some time for him to feel like himself again." 

You sniffled, holding your knees. The words trembled when you spoke again.  "He'll be sent away, won't he? He won't be allowed to stay at the palace anymore." 

The Queen frowned, stroking your hair. "Why do you say that?" 

"His mother worked in the laundry. That's why he's lived here so long. Without her, he-" You trailed off, voice cracking as you gave a soft sob. 

"Oh, silly girl." She chuckled softly as she dried your tears. "You think we'd throw Eddie out all on his own?" 

Your brow furrowed, confused. 

"Eddie's a strong boy, sweetheart. He works very hard in the stables and takes good care of the horses. He holds his own…and even if he didn't, he's family. We'd never send him away." 

Your whole demeanor relaxed, "You really mean it?" 

Your mother smiled, "Of course." 

Still, your eyes didn't leave him. You sighed, "He's so sad...He's sad and I don't know how to fix it. 

"I wish we could fix it for him, darling, but that's not how these things work. You can't take away that hurt. You just have to let him feel it." She straightened her dress as she stood, giving your hand a loving squeeze. "But that doesn't mean he couldn't use a friend." 

***********

Fourteen Years Old 

"I didn't know Princesses were allowed to climb trees." Eddie's grin was stained sweet and red, his legs crossed over a branch lazily as you plucked another strawberry from the bushel you'd collected that morning. 

Your etiquette teachers would be appalled if they could see you now, wearing little more than a chemise in the summer heat as you straddled a thick tree branch. Your feet were bare and dirty where they hung in the breeze. You smirked, "They are if nobody sees them." 

Eddie laughed, and it was such a clear sweet sound that you wished you could keep it tucked inside a locket. You sighed, longing to freeze time and keep things just the way they were forever.

You relaxed against a branch, "I've got my whole life to do what royalty is supposed to do. I've got to do fun things while I can still get away with it."

Eddie chuckled, "Maybe I'm a bad influence on you, after all.

You frowned, "Did someone say that to you?" 

He shrugged, unbothered. "The maids whisper it. They say a young lady shouldn't be left alone with a young man." He put on his best 'prim' voice, making you giggle. "I'm a threat to your innocence!" 

You held your stomach, laughing. "A threat to my innocence? That's horrible!" 

He grinned, "You're telling me!" 

The breeze rustled the leaves in the tree as you lounged, breathing in the sweet summer air. 

Eddie had strawberry juice on his lips. For the first time, the tiny, ant-sized thought of kissing it away crawled into your brain. You squished the ant. 

A bad influence, indeed. 

***********

Fifteen Years Old 

"Tag!" 

Eddie sprang up from the corner of the barn, sprinting after you as you ran off into the fields. 

You lost him quickly, cutting down and into the gardens. The morning dew was cool as the grass tickled your bare feet, and you nearly slipped as you ran over the stone path. A gloved hand grabbed your elbow to steady you. You turned to see a member of the palace guard; his brows furrowed. "There you are, Princess. Your Mother-" 

It all happened so quickly. Eddie ran through the bushes, a playful grin tugging his lips, and grabbed you from behind, "I've got you!" He yelled, drowning out your giggles. 

Before you realized what was happening, the guard ripped you from his hold, tossing you aside. Eddie was thrown onto the stone path, his temple hitting hard against the tile. Distantly, he heard you shriek. His vision was fuzzy and starry when he felt the weight of the guard pin him down, a drawn sword shoved against his throat. "You shall not touch her!”

"Stop! Stop it!' You grabbed the guard's arm, But he threw you back down. Eddie choked your name. 

"Stay back!" The guard barked at you, pressing harder against the blade. Eddie could feel blood trickling from his head. He was trembling, eyes closed tight. Still, the guard yelled in his face, “Who are you? Hands by your side!” 

"He's my friend!" You screamed hoarsely.

"Get off of him this instant!"

You'd never been so happy to hear your mother's voice in your life. The guard dropped his sword at the sight of her rushing towards him. Immediately, his face drained pale as a ghost. "Y-Your majesty!" 

"Get off of the boy, for god sakes, he's a child! Get off!" The man clambered off of Eddie as your mother knelt beside him, fussing over him dotingly, "Oh sweetheart, your head…You're shaking like a leaf…" 

He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. The queen turned to the guard as you pitifully crawled over to your friend, pushing his curls back off of his forehead. "I'm sorry I'm sorry-" 

The guard searched for an explanation, "Your majesty, I thought the boy was-" 

"I know what you thought!" She snapped, sternly. She was well aware of the whispers surrounding yours and Eddie's friendship. Your mother's lips were pursed, cheeks red. You'd never seen her like that before in your life. "It gave you no right to hold a weapon to that child's throat!" 

"Your highness, I-" 

Your mother ignored the guard, turning back to you. "Help me get him inside." You nodded obediently as she squeezed Eddie's shaking hand, "I'll send for a doctor to check your head, darling."  

Eddie nodded, dizzily. 

You sat with him later that night when the doctor had gone and his head had cleared. The mark on his forehead would scar, no doubt, but it had been well tended, and any concussion he suffered was minor. This knowledge, of course, did nothing to soothe his nasty headache. 

"You're not a very good sport, you know." He groaned as you took his hand, smirking. "Siccing the palace guards on me just because I tagged you?" He tutted, "What a sore loser." 

***********

Sixteen Years Old 

"You have to tell!" You ran after Eddie as he hauled a sack of oats through the gardens to the stable. 

He ignored you, holding his nose high. "No, I don't. I don't have to tell you everything just because you're a princess."

You crossed your arms, "You have to tell me because I'm your best friend, you knob. Best friends don't keep secrets!" 

"Sure, they do. You mean to tell me you've never kept a secret from me?" 

You groaned, "That's different! You have to tell me if you fancy someone!" 

Eddie sighed, turning to face you, and dropped the sack of oats. "Why do you want to know so bad?" 

You blushed, stammering. "I…I want to help you confess your love!" 

Eddie laughed, "What a lie! You just want to tease me!" 

"Oh, Come on!" You pouted, putting your hands on his shoulders. If you tell me who it is, I'll tell you a secret, too."

"Tempting." He sighed, picking up the sack again and throwing it over his shoulder. "But no." 

***********

Eighteen Years Old

"You've got to keep it down…"

You scoffed, rolling your eyes as he guided you towards the stables. "Why?" 

He laughed, "If I told you why, then it wouldn't be a surprise." 

He smirked when you groaned, reaching for the latch on the barn door. “You know I don't like surpris-..." 

 You went silent as he led you inside slowly, revealing a soft colored mare, and below her, her newborn foal.

"Oh!" You gasped, a smile creeping to your face. You stepped forward, wanting to approach the baby, but Eddie took your arm, gently pulling you back.

"You've got to be careful...the mare's protective of her. I nearly got kicked in the teeth this morning." He chuckled, enjoying the amazement in your eyes as you watched the mother and baby interact. 

"She's beautiful." You mumbled, grinning. 

Eddie couldn't help but smile, "She's strong too..." He paused, breath fanning your neck as he spoke just loud enough for you to hear. "She'll make a good riding horse, one day." 

You met his brown eyed gaze, biting your lip shyly as he nudged your arm with his elbow. 

You could feel him admiring you. 

You liked it.

***********

Nineteen Years Old

"Oh, Eddie. He was horrible…You wouldn't have been able to stop laughing!" 

Eddie clutched his stomach, laying back against the grass as he toyed with a wildflower. "That's because it's funny!" 

Your fingers fumbled with the ends of your hair, untangling the intricate hairstyle it's been tied up in. "It's not so funny when it's you!" 

Eddie grinned, looking starry eyed, "It really just fell off of his head?" 

"During dinner!" You exclaimed. Eddie fell into another fit of laughter. "Right onto his plate in front of everyone!" 

Your friend sighed, wiping his happy tears as he sat up to gather a handful of clovers. "I can't believe he wore an honest to God wig. The poor lamb." 

You laughed at his faux sympathy, watching his hands as he wove together stems. 

He looked so different from the little boy you'd befriended as a child. His wild curls had grown just past his shoulders now, his bangs often covering the scar on his temple. His arms and back were beautiful, muscles sloping gently beneath his skin, and while he was a hint more bronze than he had been as a boy, his freckles remained. His nose and his dimples had never changed in the slightest, and those big brown eyes reassured you that no matter how much Eddie had grown up, he'd always be that silly little boy, deep down. He'd always be your Eddie. 

"But what's the verdict?" He chuckled, "You never said. Is he the one?" 

You groaned, "You're mocking my pain." 

"I am not!" He fought a smirk. "I didn't want to assume. Maybe he was a wonderful conversationalist." 

You giggled, yawning. "I wouldn't know. I didn't catch a word he said after his hair went into his soup. 

Eddie gave you a fond smile, laying on his elbow beside you, "Here you are, princess. A crown." 

Your heart felt oddly achey as he draped a handmade crown of wildflowers over your head. You smiled, affection in your eyes. 

Your throat was tight when you spoke, "You're better than any prince, Eddie Munson." 

His cheeks flushed faintly. "Well, I don't know about that…" He tapped your nose playfully. "Most princes don't smell like a barn." 

***********

Twenty Years Old 

"Eddie, darling!" Your mother had called to him as he cut through the gardens back to the stable. His brows raised when he turned to find the Queen accompanied by you and the King. A man Eddie had never seen before held your arm, an unreadable expression on your face. Eddie bristled. 

"Your Majesties." Eddie nodded his head politely as the group approached, his muscles stiff with wariness. 

Your father gave a proud smile, gesturing to the stranger on your arm. "Son, let us Introduce you to Prince Carver the Fourth: Heir to the Throne of Hawkins."  

"An honor to meet you, Your Highness." Again, Eddie bowed his head. He'd never seen someone that looked so stiff. The two of you would have fun joking about it, later. 

Prince Carver was older than you, and by the looks of him, he'd never been outside a day in his life. Every last one of his blonde hairs had been tediously placed, as if he'd been sculpted out of clay, and his boots were perfectly polished black leather. The blonde eyed Eddie with disdain, crinkling his nose at the sight of his work clothes. "Yes, I'm sure." 

Eddie fought an eye roll. Another suitor, he assumed. The Royals were only being polite by offering him a tour, seeing as he'd travelled so far only to be rejected.

The Queen stepped towards him, glancing at the prince. "Eddie has become a very dear friend to our daughter, Prince Carver. Perhaps he would make a nice addition to your staff. He's served us so well in our stables." 

Confusion was visible in Eddie's face. An addition to his staff? What was going on? He looked to you for help, but your eyes were cast down into the grass. 

Prince Carver cleared his throat, "Unfortunately, we aren't lacking any farmhands at the moment, but you need not worry about the princess, your highness. She'll find much companionship in Hawkins, once we are wed."

Eddie felt his blood go cold. Absolutely frigid. 

Once we are wed. Once we are wed. Once we are wed.

His mouth opened to say something, but he couldn't find a single word. He was desperate to look you in the eyes, but his gaze was only met by a small shimmer on your left hand. An engagement ring. 

"Please excuse me, Your Majesties." 

****

Eddie hadn't cried like this since his mother died. 

He hadn't felt the blow of such terrible loss since he'd been orphaned. 

He sat alone in the barn on a stool, tears rolling down his cheeks as he gently stroked his fingers through the mane of the foal he'd surprised you with two years ago.

It was a pretty horse…full grown now and patterned with soft brown spots across her back. You'd named her "Sweetheart" after hearing Eddie call her that. 

Come're, Sweetheart. 

Here you go, Sweetheart. 

Good job, Sweetheart…That's it. 

Pain shot through his chest at the realization that the horse would probably get to go with you to your new home. 

But not Eddie. Eddie would be left behind. 

He clenched his jaw, eyes burning as he buried his fists in his curls and tugged. He was angry. He couldn't help but feel angry. It wasn't fair. His whole heart was being shipped off to God knows where, and there wasn't a word he could say about it. 

It wasn't your fault. You were a princess. Your hand in marriage was a pawn in a game of political chess. It had been since the beginning. Both of you knew this. You always had. So why weren't the two of you happy that this inevitable union was one that would lead the country to thrive? 

Eddie took a deep breath, relaxing his hands from his hair and rubbing tears from his face. 

You'd daydreamed with Eddie before. Lots of times. It was always the same thing.

I wish we could just run off and live in the woods, Eds. Just you and me. We could build a little cottage beside a stream. That way, we could swim in the summertime. You could finally teach me to fish, too. 

Is that what he'd been expecting? Had he hoped, deep down, that he'd somehow end up in that cottage after all, spending summer days with you by a stream? 

Maybe. Or maybe he'd just wanted you. 

He'd dreamt up hundreds of different futures for himself. There were countless paths he'd wandered down curiously in his head, over the years. Some were outlandish and fantastic…some were more modest. As much as they varied from day to day, he was realizing now that his hopes for the future had always held something in common. 

He'd always had you. 

****

The next week seemed never ending. 

Eddie didn't see you once. You were avoiding him. That much was obvious. 

Before the proposal, you made a habit of visiting Sweetheart at least once every day. You liked to brush her as you talked with Eddie, twisting braids into her coarse hair. She was spoiled rotten, no doubt, but that didn't leave the horse feeling any less deprived of attention with the sudden loss of your quality time. She'd gotten fussy over the week, whinnying and pacing in her stall. She'd even started kicking again, when she was feeling particularly agitated. 

Still, you made no appearance at the stable. Eddie was surprised, however, to look over the gate one evening to find Prince Carver walking swiftly through the grass. 

"Your highness." Eddie nodded, spotting the green apple in the man's hand. "Have you come to feed the horses?" 

"Certainly not." Carver scoffed, "I've come on behalf of the Princess. I find it inappropriate for her, as a lady, to be spending time in the stables. 

 I've reassured her that I'll take it upon myself to fulfill any required visits with Sugarplum." 

Eddie frowned, " Forgive me Your Highness, but I think you might be thinking of Sweetheart." 

The man scoffed, slapping the apple down in Eddie's hand before storming off.

 "Whatever the damned thing's name is." 

Eddie swallowed hard, calling after him. "Would you like me to show you how to feed her, Prince Carver?" 

The man laughed cruelly, "Heavens no. That's your job, is it not?" 

**********

"What on earth are you-! Edward Munson!" You gasped, immediately dipping over the stone ledge of your window to reach for him. He laughed, flashing you a boyish grin as he took your hand, pulling himself up and over the sill. 

Christ, you'll crack your skull one day!" You muttered, the both of you giving way to the effort and falling to the floor with a thump. 

"For the present my skull remains intact." He reassured, giving a faux bow of his head. 

You snorted, plucking dead leaves and briars from his thick dark curls. "What on earth put it in your head to climb all the way-" 

Eddie caught your hand, his eyes landing on your engagement ring. His thumb brushed over its stone as your heart sank into your belly. 

"Oh." 

Eddie studied the ring for a moment, taking in its details. There was a long silence. Finally, you spoke. 

"It's a dreadfully heavy thing." You pulled it off, placing it on your bedside table. "It catches on my gown, anyways."

A knowing smile crept to Eddie's lips. He sat in the silence for a moment before reaching into his pocket. 

A small wooden ring was produced, painted delicately along the band with tiny white flowers. He slipped it onto your marriage finger. "How's that one?"

You were breathless. "It..it's..." 

It was perfect. It was the most beautiful ring you'd ever seen, though you couldn't find the words to say so. 

Eddie's thumb brushes over the flowers, "I carved that for you when we were sixteen."

Tears welled in your eyes.

"I had it in my mind to propose to you then. The gardener stopped me when he discovered my plan." He gave a sad chuckle. A comfortable silence hung between you. Eddie took your hand, humming. "Would you have said yes?" 

"Eddie..." A tear rolled down your cheek, only to be brushed away carefully by his ever-gentle hand. You gave a sad laugh, your thumb stroking over his wrist. "You're not being fair." 

"Maybe not." He whispered, "But any man should be damned if he saw you and didn't want to keep you."

"It's cruel." Your voice wavered with emotion. "You know I've loved you since we were children...nothing can be done about it, Eddie."

"Nothing can be done about it?" Eddie gave a humorless laugh, "You're going to be Queen. Everything can be done about it." 

"What would you have me do?" Your brow furrowed. "Tell my father to end our alliance with Hawkins?"

"Yes! Hawkins only seeks to use us for our resources. Forest Hills is better off without their partnership." 

You swallowed thickly. The cicadas sang their response from the Glenside below. Again, Eddie wiped your tears. 

"Love is not something to be kept only for common folk. Your father will understand that. So will your kingdom." 

Something in you crumbled under his gaze. You drew closer, letting him envelope you in his arms. He held you for a long time, stroking your back, sweetly. 

"I spoke to your mother." He cooed, pressing a soft kiss to your hair. Your head tilted back; eyes wide as you stared up at him. 

"Did you?" 

"Yes." His eyes were so warm and brown. You had admired them many times before this, but never quite so closely before. "I knew I was to ask for your hand...I couldn’t very well ask for your father's blessing, so I felt your mother's would be just as valuable. To us, at least."

You smiled, your forehead resting against his. "What did she say?" 

Eddie chuckled at the memory, "She pinched my cheek red. I wish you could've seen it. She cried and held my hand...told me she'd always known I would ask her one day." 

You gave a watery laugh, your fingers lacing tightly with his.

"She said she didn’t know if it was possible for me to make you mine, but that nothing would make her happier." 

There was a long silence. Eddie cradled your face, "Do you feel the same, little Princess?" Your pretty eyes fluttered at his whisper. "Do you love me the way I love you?" 

"How could you even ask?" 

Eddie chuckled, "Because I've done nothing but profess my feelings for you tonight, and now I'd like to hear you do the same." 

You chuckled, your smile fading with thought. 

"I knew...I knew I loved you about five summers ago." Eddie smiled fondly, his cheeks going pink. "We practically lived outside then...the world seemed so bright and warm and I didn't realize then that it was all because of you." You reached up, carding her fingers through his messy hair.  "The sun turned your curls golden on the edges-" 

Before you could finish your sentence, he was kissing you. He was soft and warm and strong, holding you close as you melted for one another. Eddie laughed, breathless, when you parted. "I'm afraid I win, then. I've loved you far longer than that." 

You laughed brightly as he kissed you again, working his way down your jaw to the column of your throat. "When?" You breathed, whimpering as he nipped at the crook of your neck. 

"It's hard to say." He moaned softly as you coaxed him back up to your lips, your hands lacing in his hair. "All I know is that I've never loved you more than I do right now." 

Another tear rolled down his love's cheek. He kissed it away. 

"But why these tears, now? Am I really that terrible?" 

You gave a watery laugh. "No. Not at all I...I just..." You gave a little sob. "I want to marry you. I want to be your bride and keep you always, but I can't-" 

"Marry me, then. Right now." 

You frowned, tucking a strand of his curls behind his ear. "What?" 

Eddie thumbed your ring as he caught your hand. "Do we not have a ring? A gown?" He swallows thickly, eyes darting between your night clothes and the mattress beside you.  "A marriage bed?" 

Slowly, You stood, guiding Eddie to stand before you. "We...we have to make a vow" 

"What kind of vow? I've never been to a wedding." 

You stared up at him, eyes brimming with love. "S-Something about.... For richer and for poorer. Through sickness and in health. From each sun to each moon." 

"May I write my own?" 

A tear rolled down your cheek as you nodded. 

He looked down at your hands, so soft and perfect in his rough ones. "I wish I could tell you that as my wife, you will want for nothing. I wish I could make you flowery promises about how you won't have a care in the world...but since I can't make you those promises, I'll make you the ones I can." 

He knelt before you, gazing up into your eyes. 

"I promise to you that no matter how hot the summer's day, I'll always climb to the highest branches to find you perfect, sun-spotted apples."

You giggled, a grin splitting your cheeks.

"I promise to let you spoil your horse as badly as you wish. Never again will I deprive her of a single sugar cube." 

Another giggle. Eddie kissed your knuckles.

"I promise to kiss you...often and abundantly...until you can't bear to kiss me even once more."

Eddie grinned at your blush. 

"I can't build you castles, but I promise you a home. I promise you food to eat and sturdy walls to keep you warm. I promise you children to nurse and adore." 

Eddie paused, heart fluttering.

"And I promise you love. The same love for you that I've held long since before I even knew what I was feeling." 

His voice wavers. 

"I promise that at the end of our lives, I will still feel it." 

Eddie clasped your hand with his, "So, Princess. If you'll have me...then with this ring, I thee wed." 

You repeated his words, falling to your knees to embrace him. Eddie caught you in his arms as he stood, peppering kisses to your nose, then your cheeks, and finally, your lips. 

His thumb brushed your new ring, gently. "I can't tell you how it feels to see you wearing it." He gave a watery laugh. "It's been sitting on my nightstand for four years now." 

"I wish I could wear it always..." 

"Why can't you?" He pulled back to meet your eyes.

Your expression sunk, "I'm afraid I'm still scheduled to be wed tomorrow morning." 

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." He hummed. "You think I'd allow another man to marry my wife?"

"Eddie..." He scooped you up, laying you gently upon your mattress before sitting beside you. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid tomorrow." 

He chuckled as you combed through his curls with your fingers. "When have I ever been known to do stupid things?" 

"I mean it. You remember what happened the last time someone thought you were a threat to my innocence. It would kill me to see you hurt." Your fingertips grazed the scar on his temple, stiffening at the memory of his head hitting stone. 

There was a long silence as Eddie gazed at the ring. He kissed each of your fingertips slowly. "Do you trust me?" 

"More than anything." 

Eddie smiled at this, holding your hand to his heart, "Then don't worry." 

You gave a hesitant smile. Eddie cradled your body against his, gently combing through your hair. 

"We must leave tonight." He whispered. "Disappear into the woods. If we rode as far as we could on Sweetheart, it would be nearly impossible for them to find us by the time morning came. It would be difficult, but we'd be free." 

Immediately, you tensed. "Eddie, no. He could have you killed if they found us." 

"Then you'd better hold me awfully tight for as long as you can, my love." 

**********

You woke to the sound of water rushing beside you. You laid upon a bed of moss; a thick blanket tucked around you. You felt shade cover you as a figure knelt as your side. A hand on your head, pushing your bangs back lovingly. You stretched and groaned in response, not wishing to leave behind the warmth of your blanket, and kept your eyes closed.

"What a shame." Eddie cooed with a smirk, seeing right through your fib. "My little wife is simply too weak and exhausted to carry on. I suppose I must leave her behind..."

Your eyes flew open, taking his bait. "Leave her behind!?"

Eddie laughed brightly, pulling you into a smiley kiss. You were beginning to think nothing in the world felt better than kissing him.

Eddie's nose nudged against yours as he hummed passively. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

Your jaw dropped, "I do not, Eddie Munson."

He giggled, "You most certainly do, Mrs. Munson. We had a whole conversation whilst you slept."

"What about, pray tell?"

Eddie laid on his back beside her, letting her rest against his chest as he tucked his arms behind his head. "How handsome I am."

You smirked, rolling your eyes as you kissed him. The sun was warm and the cool earth beneath you felt like silk beneath your skin.

"I feel like I could do anything I wanted out here. No one could stop me."

"You could." Eddie smirked with another peck. "But I'm afraid we must keep traveling, my love. We still have a long way to go."

"How far are we going?

He tucked hair behind your ear, "So far they'll never find you. So far that it will be impossible for them to take you from me."

You nodded, curling in against him.

"And once we have finally traveled far enough..." Eddie grinned down at you. "I shall build you our cottage by the stream." 

***********

@ali-r3n

@stephanie-nicks76

@penandpage

@the-local-pendeja

@blindbisexualgoose

@eddiemunsonsgf2

@panickedpanko

[afro-hispwriter]

Letters(Aemond Targaryen)

Aemond Targaryen x Targaryen!Reader

Summary- Aemond and daemons daughter have been secretly seeing each other and sending letters and at the dinner aemond asks for her hand shocking everyone and making daemon furious.

Warnings- angst, daemon just trying to be a good dad;(

Request by anonymous 

wc- 1.6k

-

When a crow landed on the stone of your window you jumped out of your bed. You took the wrapped letter off its claw and it flew off. You tore the ribbon off of it and opened the little paper.

My love,

I've received news that you will be coming to Kings Landing to sort out the issue with Driftmark. Words cannot begin to describe how excited i am to see you again.

From your lover,

AT 

You practically jumped up and squealed. It had been so long since you've seen any of your family that resided in Kings Landing. But of course you were more excited to see Aemond.

The carriage ride into Kingslanding was uneventful. There weren't people on the sidelines cheering for the arrival of the Blacks. They announced your arrivals, you didn't see Aemond anywhere. He said a long time ago in a letter saying he now wore an eyepatch. But you haven't caught sight of your eye patched cousin. 

-

They advised you and your siblings to see ser Criston who was currently training on of the princes. You walked quickly to the yard.

"Slow down sister, no need to rush." Jace said with a sly smile. He was the only one who knew about Aemond. You scoffed at him but slowed down. You saw a crowd and heard swords clashing. As you got closer you day the wiping of white hair flying around. You pushed through people and some glared until they noticed your white hair and averted their eyes. The person fighting Ser Criston was tall, and moved swiftly. He blocked Cristons weapon and moved around to a crouch letting you take notice who it was.

Eye Patch. Aemond.

He looked over the crowd until his eyes fell upon you. But he turned his attention back to Cristion and decided it was time to stop playing around. It quick ease Aemond disarmed Criston, still holding his 

"Well done Aemond, you'll be winning Tournaments in no time." Said Criston and Aemond scoffs.

"I dont give a shit about tourneys. Nephews. Cousin. Have you come to train?" He asks and sets down his sword. He turns to you and your stepbrothers but his eyes stayed on you. Jace looked shocked and immediately shook his head.

"Only if you will be the one doing the training." You say and raise an eyebrow at him and he smirked. 

"It depends." He said and sheathes his sword and starts stepping towards you. "Are you up for the hard work?" He stopped in front of you and leaned down so your faces were close together. "Because I guarantee you, you will be hot and sweaty in the end along with pain... in so many parts of your body." He whispered the last part in your ear and you shuddered. "I missed you."

He didn't let you respond before he left you there, flustered and wanting. Jace and Luke looked at you with raised eyebrows.

"Im not sure Daemon would like what we just saw." Said Luke and you roll your eyes and shove him playfully. 

-

Viserys requested the family have dinner together and you didn't know if you were dreading it or looking for to it. The Greens were already at the table waiting foe the Blacks. You sat on the end of the table next to your father with Baela and at the other end sat Aemond. A maid came and filled your cup with wine and you picked it up and looked at Aemond. He raised his towards you and brought the cup up to his lips. You did the same but smiled behind your cup. 

This action didn’t go unnoticed by Rhaenerya, she smiled slightly at seeing her stepdaughter and half-brother interact. 

Dinner was served, Alicent gave a prayer and after that. Everything went well. Everyone talked like nothing ever happened, they laughed with each other. Alicent and Rhaenerya actually struck up a conversation. Aemond wasn’t saying anything just continued eating and drinking, but he kept glancing at you at any given chance. Eventually he stopped eating and just stared at you. You felt his stare and looked up to him. He cocked his head to the side with a sly smile, you furrowed your eyebrows in confusion but there was amusement placed on your face.

“What?” You mouthed but he didn’t do anything. Your father noticed who you were talking to and took notice to your face, he nudged your foot with his, bringing your attention back. Aemond drowned the rest if his wine and suddenly stood up, making all conversations stop and look up at him. 

“I have something to say, well more ask my dear Uncle.” He says and Daemon leans back in his chair and squints his eyes. You look at Aemond in confusion, not knowing what he needed to ask your father. “For the last few months I’ve been sending letters to your oldest daughter, your beautiful Y/n.” Your eyes widened.

“Aemond.” You say and Daemon looks at you with now wide eyes. 

“I’ve developed a love for her.” Aemond stopped right behind Daemon and Daemon couldn’t look at him just tightening his jaw. “So I want to ask for her hand in marriage.” Everyone stayed quiet and waited for Daemon to react but Viserys answered first.

“I think thats a mighty fine idea.” He said and coughed. “It would surely help secure our bloodline more, and as well help end this feud before it grows into something bigger.” Still nobody said anything but you watched Daemon grip his knife.

“Father-.” But you were to late to stop him. He had Aemond on the ground with a knife to his neck. 

“How dare you ask for my daughter’s hand? Do you think I haven’t heard the rumors? Why would I put my daughter in danger?” Aemond gulped and licked his lips.

“I would never hurt your daughter, I wouldn’t dream it.” 

“Daemon.” He heard Rhaenerya’s soft voice behind him and a hand on his shoulder. He slowly pulled back and stood up, you ran to Aemond side and bent down next to him, Alicent appearing as well.

“Are you ok?” You ask him and inspect his neck. He nods and waves you off. You then look up at your father to see Rhaenerya calming him down. You stood up and angrily walked to him. “Why does everything have to be violence with you? Why cant you just talk like a normal human being!? Why cant you be happy that I found someone I love?” You sped off after that leaving everyone in shock. 

Aemond stood up and tried to follow you but Daemon stopped him.

“No. I’ll talk to her.” He said and nodded to Rhaenerya who nodded back and gave him a smile. He went of to go find and comfort his child. 

-

He knew exactly where you were. When you lived in Kings Landing you always spent your free time in the gardens. He heard sniffles coming from the direction  of the fountain. 

He saw his daughter hunched over with a flower in her hands. 

“Y/n.” He says and you whipped your head around to your father. 

“Why are you here?” You ask and wipe you eye. Daemon sits down next to you.

“Im sorry, for what I did.” He says and you look at him in shock. “Sorry for how I reacted, you’re right i shouldn’t have handled it that way.”  He placed an arm around your shoulders and pulled you in close. “I will give my nephew my blessing to marry you.” You raised your head to him with an open mouth. 

“You’re serious?” You ask and he nods. You stand up and smile brightly down at him. “Thank you.” You bent down and kissed his cheek before running off but before you could get far his fingers wrapped around your wrist and tugged you back.

“Just know, if he hurts you, trust that no one will be able save him.” He says and his face goes back to seriousness. 

“You wont regret it father.” You ran inside the castle, running through the halls. You saw Alicent walking quickly down the hall. “Queen Alicent!” They turned around and immediate concern flashed on their faces.

“Child whats wrong?” Asks Alicnet and places her hands on your shoulders. 

“Wheres Aemond?” You say out of breath and she cocked her head to the side.

“Training outside.” 

“Thank you.” You say and run outside to the training area. You heard grunting and loud sounds of wood getting hit. You saw Aemond whipping around flawlessly. “AEMOND!” He turned around at the scream of his name.

“Y/n?” You jumped into him and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“He said yes, he’s going to give you his blessing to marry me.” You say and and pull back. And for the first time in a long time Aemond smiled, this time with love. He dropped his sword and grabbed your face and slammed his lips down on yours. You both closed your eyes, melting into the kiss. He opened his eyes for a split second to check his surroundings and saw Daemon, standing by the entrance with his hands in front of him, smiling that his daughter found love.

-

The following week you were marrying Aemond in the traditional Old Velaryon way. Cutting your lips with dragon glass, followed by your hands and held them together, then wiping a stray of blood on each others foreheads. A kiss was shared, your bloods mixing in your mouths, signifying the security of another bloodline and also one of the few marriages done for love.

[legendofmorons]

Savior (Time)

This is part of my 100 followers event for @pinkittwice !

Pairing: Time x reader

Rating: G

Summary: When you find yourself captured by an unknown enemy, it's really just a matter of time until you're saved by your lover.

Warnings: Canon typical violence, protective Time

Other: If I missed anything, please let me know

-------

Today has not been your day. You could sit and review how you ended up here but that would be a waste of time. You're better off trying to get out of this site.

The ropes are tight around your wrists and ankles, all sharp objects taken away.

You don't even remember what exactly brought you here, just the screaming of Time as you fell unconscious.

You hope he's okay. Your lover has always been reckless with his own life if it meant someone he cared about would be okay.

The barred window is not a viable escape option, but it allows you to watch the sun drift across the sky aimlessly. The sky is vast. And your cell-

Your cell is anything but vast.

The stone floor leeches all of your body heat away from you. And to top off this great experience - they took your boots.

Great.

You'd try to chew through your ropes but your hands are behind your back and bending the way you would have to to get your ankles is hard without being tied up.

Goddess Hylia above.

You hope the boys kick your captor around extra hard. This is a disgrace of prison treatment.

Ugh.

You hear the first of the rain patters onto the roof above you. The soft nature sounds comforting.

At least you still have nature to give you songs.

You can imagine it now, the boys have always been a little protective of you. You aren't a chosen Hero like them.

Even if you can hold your own in a fight the boys still want to keep you safe. Unless someone is hurt super bad you're always the first to receive healing.

Mostly because Time insists, your lover has always been cautious with you.

Hopefully he finds you fast. Because you're half dehydrated and your head is giving a protest headache.

Not to mention being held hostage never leads to a happy outcome for the hostage.

What a mess.

"Holy shi-" someone's voice calls in fear.

"Where is (Y/n)?" Time's voice asks sharply.

You smile softly, he's here. Which means you're safe.

"I don't know who that is!" Calls back the first voice "Please put the sword down-"

"Where. Is. (Y/n)?" Time demands again, angrier.

Huh. You haven't really heard him this mad before.

Is it really because someone took you?

That's both really sweet and kinda weird. You'll have to unpack that later.

"The last cell!"

Footsteps come towards you. Quick and barely heard.

In fact- the footsteps are familiar.

Hands land on the bars of your cell, pulling at them with a hiss.

"(Y/n)!" Time calls when he sees you, something fragile in his voice.

"Time!" You smile, glad to see him and finally feeling fully safe.

"You're hurt." Time says, his eyes roving your form and cataloging each shallow scratch, bruise, and skinned knee.

His eyes seem to darken at what he finds. Obviously displeased with your injuries and imprisonment.

"It's … Not bad."

The try at reassurance doesn't do anything to help Time feel better.

"Let me get this door open and then we'll get you healed and safe."

"Okay."

Even as Time uses all the tricks he can, including his tools, he can't get the door open.

"Hylia-"

"It's okay. I'm sure Four or Wind can get the lock." You say, exhaustion catching up to you as your body realizes how safe you are now.

Time mutters under his breath, trying to slam the door open with his shoulder, Armour denting as he does.

"It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna get you out." Time says again, trying to figure out the best way to approach this.

"I know. "

"Sailor!" Time barks out, "Can you break the lock?"

"I can pick it." Wind says as he comes into view, already procuring a lockpick kit.

"Hurry." Time grits out, eyes holding yours even as the world starts to swim around you.

You swallow back your spit as you try to refocus. The world has spots swimming all over it.

Oh.

You've been running on adrenaline.

Huh.

You watch something launch at Time only to be harshly dispatched. The snarl he gives is harsh.

"No one touches them." Time says sharply.

Wind pops the door's lock right open. He pushes it open before stepping away.

Time rushes towards you as your vision goes dark, eyes closing.

You feel Time pick you up gently in a bridal carry. His voice is heard but not processed.

Your eyes refuse to open. You try again. And again.

And again.

They won't open.

"Link." You manage to whisper.

He says something but it's lost to the darkness.

You fall unconscious to Time's heartbeat pounding against your side. And it's okay.

Because you're safe.

……..

You wake slowly, to someone's hand holding your own. The person has rough calluses across their palm.

"Link- Time?" You ask, hoping it is your Link.

"(Y/n)." Time says with a relieved sigh.

You pry your eyes open, gaze landing on a very haggard Time. He looks exhausted.

But his gaze is soft and loving as he takes in the sight of you and how okay you are. That you're safe and with him.

"You saved me." You say, mind supplying the way he had held you close.

"I'll always save you." Time says evenly, his own voice thick.

"Thank you."

"Of course, (Y/n). I'm just sorry it took so long."

"It's okay. I'm here now."

"I know."

"You were angrier than I'd ever heard- what happened?" You ask, recalling the sheer callousness of the voice he'd used on the guard you couldn't see.

"They kidnapped you." Time says slowly, his gaze narrowing as he becomes sour.

The very thought seems to unlock an unfettered rage you've never witnessed. It's intense- but you also know that he would never turn his rage on you.

Ever.

"Hey, it's okay." You say, knowing he has some sort of undisclosed trauma fueling this particularly issue.

"I know. I'm just glad you're safe. I was so worried."

"I'm glad to be back with you."

"I'm glad too."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel okay. I'm just tired."

"Good."

You smile softly, sitting up from the covers before standing up from the bed.

You walk the few steps it takes to get to Time before hugging him tightly.

“Thank you.”

Time smiles gently, his eyes clear of worry this time. “Any time, (Y/n).”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Time leans in, kissing you gently.

And for him- it’s all okay. You are safe, and here. He didn’t fail.

[nerdalmighty]

BG3 Tag Game!

I was tagged by @khywren!!! Thank you!!!!!!

I'm going to tag @vanilkaplays @okthisway @maladaptive-menace @riddlerosehearts @starkspi and anyone else who wants to play along!

Favorite romance: It will surprise no one to know that it's Astarion. I find his backstory so incredibly interesting and I love his dumbass personality. At the end of the day, he just wants to do whatever is the most hilarious and I adore that. I especially love how soft he gets when you get together in Act 2. I could go on and on but I'll never be able to fully articulate my love for him.

Favorite class to play: Bard! I love that they're really the jack of all trades and are pretty good at everything, including spells and sword fighting. Persuasion and deception are SO helpful in this game, plus playing music to distract crowds and cause shenanigans in Baldur's Gate is wonderful.

Favorite NPC: I think Raphael. While yeah he absolutely SUCKS, I'm obsessed with his obsession with his own voice. He's a thespian, he's a freak, he's an idiot. I love it. But yes, I did kill his ass.

Favorite song off the soundtrack: Probably the Harpy Song. I listen to it a lot in my spare time, especially when I'm working on a specific fic I'm attempting to write. I'm a big fan of haunting melodies and, unsurprisingly, the concept of hypnotizing music.

Tell us a little about your Tav: I wrote a pretty long post about her here, but my Tav is named Birdie and she's a bard who was born and raised at the Water Queen's House. Previous iterations of her had her as a siren (hence the deep love of the Harpy Song), but I'm still not 100% sure if this version of her is. Basically, she's a mermaid ass goof whose main gang of idiots include Astarion, Gale, and Shadowheart. Chaos often ensues.

Something you wish was in the game: I know this game is huge. I know there's probably stuff people haven't even discovered yet. But god would I love some more camp animations. More interactions between the companions AT camp. Cut scenes where there should probably be cut scenes (The second time Astarion drinks your blood, Wyll celebrating the defeat of Ansur, etc). I really really love this game, but I'd love to hang out with my friends EVEN MORE.

Do you create fanworks? Share something with us: Oh boy I'm TRYING. I've never really written fanfiction before but the stupid vampire has inspired me to do so. I'm in the process of writing two different fics (one multi-chapter, one one-shot on the longer side) and am having a blast but I'm not sure if/when I'll post them. I've noticed my writing style is very similar to the way I write scripts, which is what I went to college for, so they're full of dialogue and quick, dumb banter. It might not be for everyone, but I'm having The Most Fun! Let me know if you'd maybe want to see more? Here's a silly excerpt from the one-shot (she may or may not get smutty later on 👀):

There was no sign of the vampire, save for an open hatch beneath the stone of the tower leading into what you presumed was a cellar of sorts. Off to the side was a discarded set of Thieves’ Tools. Yup, that’ll be him.

Rolling your eyes affectionately, you began to descend into the basement below. 

Before you could even make it to the bottom, however, you heard Astarion’s voice tinged with annoyance. “Don’t bother, darling. I was just coming back up.”

You paused on the ladder and looked down at him. “That bad?”

“Eh, a few coins, some food. Nothing worth risking one’s life over. Foolish gnome.”

“Shame,” you pouted down at him, not an ounce of real sympathy behind the word.

He smirked as he met your eye. “Go,” he said, indicating you should climb back up the ladder. “There was a rather large amount of smoke powder though. That could be fun.”

When you emerged back into the early evening air, you turned to help Astarion out. “Maybe you can blow up a quaint little gnomish village.”

Astarion’s eyes glittered with delight. “Oh, do you think there’s one around here? That would be- Oh. You’re joking.”

You nodded.

“Gods, you’re no fun.” He sighed dramatically and then started back towards the Blighted Village proper. 

You scoffed in mock offense. “I’m a lot of fun!”

Astarion tsked. “If you have to say you’re a lot of fun, odds are, you’re lying to yourself.” He shot a challenging half smile at you from over his shoulder.

“How dare you,” you laughed.

“Such a pity, too,” he went on. “Aren’t bards supposed to be entertaining?”

You made a sound of agony, which had Astarion fully turning back to look at you. You threw a hand to your heart and staggered towards him. “You wound me, Astarion. Look upon me with pity and remember me fondly!” You set an arm on his shoulder and let your body weight go, as if collapsing from a killing blow. 

Astarion was quick to catch you under your arms. He made a show of groaning about how heavy you were now that your body had gone completely limp. After you’d hung loosely from his grip for a few seconds, he finally yielded. “Alright, enough.” 

You resumed control of your body and stood up straight, a smug look on your face. “I’m fun.”

“Dramatic.”

“Theatrical.”

“Annoying.”

“Endearing.”

“Loud.”

“Enthusiastic-”

Just then, a loud howl came from a barn a little ways off. 

You and Astarion eyed each other.

“Was that you?” Astarion asked.

“‘Was that me?!’ I’m not THAT loud.”

“Could have fooled me.”

You rolled your eyes. “Come on.” You started in a light jog towards the barn.

Astarion groaned. “You can’t be serious.” He caught up with you easily. “Haven’t we done enough heroing for today?”

You looked at him thoughtfully. “One more act of heroism probably won’t kill you.”

“It might!”

“Oh, now who’s being dramatic?” You came to a stop at the double doors.

“I-” Astarion floundered, then pursed his lips and crossed his arms.

“That’s what I thought.”

[athena-theunicorn]

Okay, I don't usually make super long posts but I had to explain these out in detail and have people tell me I'm not crazy.

TL;DR: Why Tears of the Kingdom could be the end of the timeline (not necessarily a circle end, either), and why our theories saying Zelda was Hylia during the trailer era were right.

First order of buisness, I don't watch many theory videos. I haven't seen anyone talk about this here or on reddit, so I assume it's not a very well known thought, but I could be wrong. I could also just be spouting bullshit. The only three games I've completed have been SS, BotW, and TotK.

How is totk the end of the timeline?

Excellent question. Thus begins my tedtalk.

So, we know that Ganondorf was a Gerudo King, yes. He was esentially sealed away by Rauru because at the time they didn't have a working master sword to kill him with. Ganondorf lay in stasis in the depths of the first castle for probably many millennia. Zelda is able to tell them all of this because she's seen it all happen before, right in front of her eyes. So she is able to prepare them for war accordingly.

But since Ganondorf in this time was only sealed, it means he never died. And we don't know all exactly what Rauru's power is capable of. We don't know if, for example, bits of Ganondorf's power was able to escape and create figureheads to aid in the destruction of men named Link and Princesses named Zelda.

You heard that right. I think that Ganondorf was the first Evil Incarnate to grace the Kingdom of Hyrule. He was somehow able to reach bits of his magic and create weaker versions of himself to hopefully end or at the very least terrorize the future generations of the Kingdom he wanted so desperately. He created Demise to warn the generations of the terror he would cause. It was never a curse, but more like a promise.

It explains the (somewhat silly) health bar during the final battle. It explains why when he was disturbed for the first time in eons his was brittle, dehydrated, and weak to the Sword. Using his magic to make lesser versions of himself drained him, leaving him with a mummy. But when he finally awakened he was able to revive himself while Link was running around Hyrule looking for his Zelda.

But now that Ganondorf is vanquished once and for all with the Master Sword, I believe he is no longer able to send bits of himself out to terrorize people, thus ending the timeline for good.

Whooh. Okay.

Why is TotK Zelda actually Hylia?

This point is only slightly connected, so bare with me.

So, in Skyward Sword we know that it is explained that Hylia sent Hyrule to the sky to ward off a great evil and such. And in the Dragon Tear scenes on totk there are no sky islands, thus letting us believe this is before the islands were sent to the sky, if this is truly the first generation in a land called Hyrule.

In the final dragon tear scene ( I know, I'm sorry to bring it up, it still makes me cry too), Zelda - or the Light Dragon - is seen flying through the cloud barrier.

We aren't shown this part, but I think that hen Zelda flew above the cloud barrier, parts of the land broke off and went with her, ascending to the skys like how Skyward Sword described. Execpt Skyward Sword said that Hylia was the one to make Skyloft. But whos to say they're not one in the same?

Do you need more evidence? Well sure.

The other three known dragons (Farosh, Naydra, and Dinnral) are named after the three golden goddesses, the ones that left Hyrule in Hylia's care. Now, we don't know how these dragons came to be, if they were always there, if they're the goddesses spirits, or if they actually ate secret stones themselves. But you know who doesn't have a dragon? Hylia. And the Light Dragon has no name other than that. Because Hylia was the one to eat the secret stone, and Zelda didn't know she was Hylia herself.

Additionally, this explains why Zelda had such a hard time in Breath of the Wild reaching her powers. Because she was praying to nobody, and when she finally looked into herself for the answers she was able to finally reach that power. Hylia had nothing to do with it, and praying to her was all a lost cause anyway.

Dear god my brain hurts. But this was fun low key.

[hereforreadandwrite]

Chapter Four

Masterlist

You haven't been back to Sindri's house since Tire was liberated. You didn't want to face him. Thinking about this man always made you uncomfortable and tugged at your scars. You placed your hand against your shoulder. You didn't like it. You sighed, running your hands over your face. Have the Norns decided to challenge you? If so, they were really cruel to you. Although they told you once, they were just spectators of the spectacle that the Aesir Gods and mortals gave them.

So that was your life. A spectacle of tragedy that entertained the Norns.

“What a shitty life,” you muttered, slamming your knife into the belly of the deer you hunted.

You opened the poor beast's belly, removing its organs so you could harvest the meat. You were going to be able to last a few weeks with that. You froze as you felt a divine and threatening presence. You groaned as you approached the bucket full of water to clean your hands. You looked closely at your hands soaking in blood. The last time you had this much blood on your hands was when you took out your anger on a troll who had broken into the Valkyrie council. The creature didn't stand a chance against your rage and sadness. You remembered being covered in his blood from head to toe. You didn't get any satisfaction from this confrontation. You dipped your hands in the cold water, removing the blood from your hands.

You couldn't help but feel uncomfortable thinking about what happened in Svartalfheim. The liberation of Tyr did not bring you the relief and joy you hoped for. You dreamed so much of his return and you were disappointed by the reaction and behavior of the one who was your husband. No, this man was not your husband. Your husband was dead when he left your home for Asgard.

You grabbed your knife, moving closer to your game when you felt your hair stand up at the base of your neck. You saw a strange shape crossing the sky at full speed.

Had you dreamed or had you just seen Vanadís?

You dropped your work, rushing to the Mystique door. You walked through the door. You knew where she was going. You had heard the little boy talking about her with his father. If she was in such a hurry, that meant that Kratos and Atreus weren't far away. What could they have done to upset Vanadís? You passed the door arriving in front of a house. You heard the sound of weapons clashing when you heard Atreus screaming and bear howls. You rushed into the backyard to see Kratos holding back a grizzly bear.

"Atreus! You do not want this! Calm your mind. Control it!" he said holding the bear down. “She was our friend.”

Freya turned her back on the father and son. She was conflicted. Atreus returned to his human form. Kratos helped him up, asking if he was hurt. The Vanir Goddess felt rage invade her, her breathing accelerated. Freya screamed, turning to face Kratos. She used her Vanir magic, conjuring up a vine that wrapped itself around the rock next to the Spartan's head. The vine squeezed the rock until it exploded. Kratos protected Atreus from the flying stones. Freya faced them. Her rage was palpable. But she didn't always seem capable of killing someone. Was she still cursed or did she not have the courage?

"Maybe… for the moment… you're of no more use to me… alive," she said, putting away her sword.

Kratos stood up, grabbing Atreus' arm, forcing him to do the same. The Spartan ordered the teenager to return to Sindri's house. Which, obviously, Atreus didn't like. Not surprisingly, Sindri and Brok came out from behind a rock. You rolled your eyes as you saw Atreus' sidekick say they were taking him home and saw him bow to Freya. Kratos pushed Atreus towards the dwarves, telling them not to lose sight of him. You watched Sindri and the teenager pass not far from you. Atreus looked at you surprised to see you there, but Sindri made him understand that this was not the time to upset his father. The two headed towards the mystic gate, leaving Midgard. Something interesting seemed to have happened while you were gone. You returned your attention to the deities who were getting dangerously closer, sizing each other up with their eyes.

“What is it you want?” Kratos asked.

"I refuse to remain bound to this Realm. We travel to Vanaheim," Freya announced.

Vanaheim?

Wasn't that where Sköll and Hati were? Was it a Norn trick? But the dream you had. Did Tyr plan all this?

“(Y/N)?” Freya asked, looking at you in surprise.

You were brought out of your thoughts when you heard the Goddess. She was looking at you as if she had just seen a ghost. You looked at Kratos. The Spartan moved closer to your person, eyeing you severely.

"What are you doing here?"

"I saw a furious Goddess speeding past my house. Only Vanadís was in such a hurry. And it was only you she could fight," you said. while looking at Kratos. “You lost sight of your little boy again, didn’t you?”

“That’s none of your business,” he said, moving next to you.

"Of course. But your little one set something in motion. And there are some things I need to check out. I'm coming with it to Vanaheim. Your brother is still there right?" you asked, turning your attention back to Freya. “I have a few questions to ask him.”

"What do you want to know?" asked Kratos who was near Brok.

"I imagine you haven't been idle since… Tyr was freed. Am I wrong? I need to know what you found and what happened."

"For what?" asked Freya perplexed.

"Ragnarok is almost here. There are some things I need to know."

"Would you have a role to play during Ragnarok, daughter?" Mimir asked uneasily.

"I… I don't know. But in Vanaheim… there's one thing I have to see."

"What?" Kratos asked.

"I just need to go check something out. Without Tyr being around."

“You still don’t trust him?” asked Mimir.

"No."

“Tyr is alive?” asked Freya in surprise.

“Not really,” you replied, heading towards the mystical door. “This man is not Tyr.”

Freya gave Kratos a look that said they were going to have to discuss this. Brok finished opening the passage, allowing the group to travel to Vanaheim.

Vanaheim.

This Realm was a huge jungle, filled with dangerous vegetation that attacked any outsiders. The smell of humidity and plants invaded your nostrils. It was strange. The last time you came to this Realm was for Freya and Odin's wedding. Like everyone else, you had bitter memories of it. Everyone was angry with Freya and with Mimir. Freyr had caused a scandal during the ceremony.

"Oh no. Something's wrong," Freya said, snapping you out of your thoughts. "My spell. I can feel it slipping."

"Well. That's Fimbulvetr for ya!" Brok said.

"You don't understand. I'll be torn from the Realm."

“What can be done?” Kratos asked, looking at Freya who was muttering under her breath.

"Something I was hoping to avoid… Seems I have much choice."

Before everyone's eyes, Freya transformed into a hawk. Mimir asked her if she could circumvent Odin's spell from the beginning, to which the Goddess replied that she discovered it when they opened the passage between the realms. It was not a solution and this form was extremely restrictive for her. In this form, she couldn't fight.

The journey took place under Brok's stupid jokes and Mimir's answers. Kratos, Brok and you killed every plant that had become more aggressive with the humidity and creatures that emerged from the shadows to stop them.

Everything here was in ruins. Nothing has been rebuilt. Which saddened Freya.

Was it also surprising?

“Whare has everyone gone, I wonder…?” Mimir began, perplexed.

“They must have withdrawn. Hidden themselves out in the wilds, and covered their tracks with magic,” Freya replied. “No way of knowing how many are left, or how to reach them.”

“Aesir ran cockshod all over this place, huh?” Brok commented.

“You can thank Mimir for that,” Freya commented sarcastically.

“War with the Vanir was NEVER my idea!” exclaimed Mimir. “MY idea was brokering the marriage to end it!”

“A great success that was!”

“Like many of his ideas,” you said darkly.

"Darling. I assure you it was to protect you."

"Of course. Keep convincing yourself," you said with a chuckle.

"Enough! Let's keep moving," Kratos growled.

The rest of the trip was done in silence. The trio followed Freya through the Vanaheim jungle until Brok was caught by a trap that dragged him to an unknown location. You glanced at Kratos, who did the same. You and him were going to have to save Brok's blue butt. Kratos went first, telling you to be careful. You arrived in a deserted place. Brok hung in midair, grunting as he tried to free himself from the trap. Kratos told him to shut up. It was way too quiet.

"Now what do we have here? Ol' One-Eye send another God and to a little girl to do dirty work?"

You and Kratos turned towards a man who lit a torch, allowing you to see his face better. You recognized him as Freyr, Freya's brother.

“Thor too busy?”

"We do not serve Odin," Kratos said.

“No?” Freyr asked, moving closer. “Picked a dangerous place for sightseeing, then. Am I right?”

Freyr's men emerged from the shadows, surrounding the two coming. You made your sword appear, revealing your nightmarish form. You were ready to fight.

“This form and this sword,” Freyr said, eyeing you carefully. "Little Valkyrie. I never thought I'd see you again, kiddo."

“There are two of us, Freyr,” you said, getting into a fighting stance.

“Now, now,” said Mimir. "No need for threats."

"Oh. I know that voice…," Freyr said as Kratos unhooked Mimir from his belt so he could see him. "You know, I'd cut off your head… but it seems somebody beat me to it."

"Aye. Oh, quit watching, brother," the head replied.

"No, you're no brother of mine. You sold my sister to that… prick!"

“We brokered a peace!”

"Oh! Did you now? Where is it? Hmm? And where is my sister? Some dungeon in Asgard? Is she even alive? ANSWER ME!"

Freyr got too close to Mimir, Kratos pointed his ax at the Vanir God, making him understand that he was too close. Freyr laughed, backing away from the trap that held Brok. He took his weapon from his belt, saying that blood would flow. At that moment, Freya yelled for her brother to stop. She landed on a perch, looking down at Freyr who was looking at her perplexed.

"What is that? Why do you speak in her voice?" he asked without looking away from the hawk.

"It's me, Yngvi. There's no time to explain. Just listen. These person are in my service. I'm here to reclaim what's been taken from me."

"It's too late. You can't' undo what's been done," Freyr replied.

"I can. I will. Now let them pass."

Freya took off from her perch, leaving the camp. Freyr didn't take his eyes off her. He didn't seem to believe that his sister had returned to him. The Vanir God turned to the duo, asking if they served his sister. Kratos growled in response as you transformed back into your normal form, vanishing your sword. Freyr sneered, commenting that they were all serving her. He turned to Lunda, ordering her to free Brok from this trap. The dwarf brought her knife down on the rope, cutting it cleanly. Brok fell heavily to the ground. Kratos hooked Mimir back onto his belt. You approached Brok, helping him up while Kratos approached Freyr.

“Nothing broken?” you asked, helping Brok up.

"I'm fine. I've seen worse than that fall," he said, turning to Lunda. "What's with leaving me hanging like that, ya crusty hag?"

"Oh can it, Blábr! C'mere…," she said before giving Brok a hug.

"Well! Found who I was lookin' for. Think I'm gonna stay and catch up," Brok said before following Lunda to her forge.

“Oh, are you now?”

“Do as you wish,” you replied, watching the two dwarves walk away.

You sighed, going to join the Elves of Alfheim and a man dressed in armor and armed with a huge sword. You took a seat on a log, glancing at Freyr's henchmen. The man named Birgir told you that they wanted the camp to remain secret. You replied that it would stay that way. You weren't going to leave camp anyway. You didn't care what Freya was looking for. You just had to know something.

"Are Sköll and Hati in Vanaheim?" you asked, looking at Birgir.

"Why this question?"

"I just need to know if they are here and if there was any strange phenomenon. Wasn't there a solar eclipse?"

“It’s been several centuries since there was one,” Beyla replied, catching your attention. "The wolves continue to chase the Sun and the Moon. They are fine."

"I need to go check on them. I need to make sure they're okay. Where is their lair?"

“Whose lair?”

You jumped, turning to Freyr who was holding Mimir. The Vanir God settled down next to you, giving you back what was left of your father. You looked at Mimir uncertainly. You reached out your hand, taking the rope to place him at your side.

“I have to go see Sköll and Hati,” you said, looking at Freyr.

"For what?"

"I have to make sure they're okay and that nothing bad happens to them."

Freyr looked at Birgir, Beyla and Byggvir. The camp leader sighed and stood up, gesturing for you to follow him to the table. You grabbed Mimir, following Freyr who showed you a map. He explained to you which path you had to take to get to the wolves' den. Freyr looked at you intently. You took off your cloak, putting it in a corner, so you could tie Mimir to your waist. Your wings. No doubt a move from Odin. He remembered you. After all, you have always been the pride of the Valkyries and Mimir. Everyone knew you. He had seen you as a child. He even played with you and learned some pranks to play on your father. Until Heimdal decided to burn it and leave Asgard.

“Why do you want to make sure the wolves are okay?” Freyr asked, folding the map.

"I know they were imprisoned by Odin. I just need to make sure nothing curious happens," you said, heading towards the portal.

“Wait!” Freyr exclaimed, following you. "Are you sure it's a good idea to go alone? How long has it been since you last came to Vanaheim?"

“Do you think I’m that weak, Freyr?” you asked, stopping near the gate.

"I didn't say you're weak, little Valkyrie. I'm just saying it's not a good idea to go alone. Fimbulvetr hasn't spared this Kingdom and there are many Einharjes who is swarming around."

"You don't have to worry. After the Valkyries, someone else taught me some techniques," you said as you passed through the portal. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

You moved away from Freyr's camp, deep into the jungle of Vanaheim. You took the path indicated by Freyr. According to him, Sköll and Hati were not far away. Mimir glanced at you a few times. Should he speak or not? You were still mad at him. Well Named.

"Honey… I know you don't want to talk to me, but I wish you would listen to me. Your mother and I… we really thought we were protecting you by sending you back to Midgard. We wanted to keep you away from Odin and his madness. But… it didn't go as we hoped. I don't know what he did or how he was able to find you, but… I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you the way I wanted. The day he imprisoned me and cursed the Valkyries… they brought us your wings. Daughter… please. I want you to know, I'm sorry. This pain will torment me all my life. The only thing that calms me is knowing that you are alive."

You stopped when you heard Mimir's apology. He asked you for forgiveness? He wanted you to forgive him for abandoning you? You unhooked your head from your belt, placing it on a rock. Mimir could see from your expression that you were not happy with this request. You turned your back on Mimir, taking a few steps away. You ran your hands over your face, running them through your hair. Did he dare to ask you for forgiveness? He dared to make such a request to you?

“You and Mother forced me to return to Midgard,” you began softly, turning to Mimir. “You and Mother never came to see me. Never! You and Mother failed me! You You gave up without the slightest remorse! I was all alone! I had no one… do you know what I did when I found out that mother was locked up? I protected her. I did the only one that you and her didn't do. I stayed with her and protected that damn breach at the risk of my life! So no! No. I could never forgive you. Or her ."

Mimir sighed, dejected. Everything you just told him was true. It was normal that you refused to forgive him. With their statue as Sigrun's Queen of the Valkyries and Odin's role as advisor, they never had time to make sure you were well established in Midgard. He had been busy making sure the marriage between Odin and Freya worked to ensure some semblance of peace. Which has always been a big joke.

“That’s what I told myself when he took my wings and in Tyr when he found me,” you said with a sigh.

“I… I beg your pardon?” Mimir asked, looking at you surprised.

You approached the rock where you had placed Mimir. You sat down in front of him, looking him over. Mimir was struck by your state. Since he was able to see you again, this was the first time he was able to see you properly. Your eyes were watery, you had dark bags under your eyes, that sparkle of mischief that you had as a child was gone. You have become a woman tired of this miserable life. You sighed, running your hands over your face.

"I obeyed. I returned to Midgard. I knew that you and mother wanted to protect me from Odin. But that wasn't enough. Do you want to know what he did? He pretended to be you. He took on your appearance and I let my guard down. That's how he managed to take my wings. When he did… I called. . You and mother… I called for someone to come and help me…"

“But no one came…”

“No… no one,” you said, sighing. "I found Mother's breach. I tried to ignore her, but… I kept coming back to her. I couldn't… get used to the idea to left her alone and helpless. Until Tyr found me and helped me. He trained me. He loved me. He saved me. I was happy again. But so was he, he abandoned me. That man at Sindri's… he's not my Tyr. He's not my husband."

"But… that doesn't explain why you want to see Sköll and Hati."

"I had a dream not long ago. I was with Tyr. We were going hunting and then… he disappeared. At that moment, a lightning bolt tore through the sky and everything became red. The moon was hiding the Sun. Then I saw two pairs of eyes and some growling noises and in the end, Tyr appeared and asked me to help him."

"It's strange. A premonitory dream perhaps," replied Mimir perplexed. "You helped Tyr, in a way, and we're going to see the wolves. But an eclipse? That's strange. I'll think about it, darling."

“Thank you,” you said, smiling at Mimir. “Father.”

"I'll make it up to you (Y/N). I promise."

"No offense. You're just a head," you said, getting up and picking up Mimir.

"Ah! It doesn't just take brawn to succeed, Darling. I thought I taught you that."

“Yes, but from time to time, you have to know how to hit.”

“Okay, you’re right about that.”

You let out a light laugh as you attached Mimir to your waist. You set off again, finally reaching the wolves' den. You saw the wolf Hati who was sleeping. Sköll was still chasing the Sun. You slowly approached Hati. The wolf's ears twitched as he heard you approach. You kneeled in front of him. Hati raised his head, looking at you perplexed. At first glance, he seemed fine. You sat down, sighing in relief. Maybe the dream you had was nothing more than a dream. You held out your hand towards him. The giant wolf brought its snout closer, sniffing a little before standing up. You did the same, following him to the edge of the cliff. Hati sat up, looking at you with his red eyes. He began to scream before chasing the moon, giving way to the Sun. Sköll will run towards you, landing next to you. The wolf looked at you perplexed as you offered him your hand. He sniffed for a few seconds before going to lie down in his den, waiting for his brother to finish his endless chase.

“They are fine,” Mimir said. "It seems your dream is just a dream, daughter."

“Maybe,” you said, looking at Sköll.

"It's been a while since you've been away from camp. It's better to go back before they worry."

“Yes.”

You looked at Sköll one last time before leaving their lair to return to Freyr's camp. You were relieved to know that the wolves were okay. So why did you have this dream? It did not make sense. No, you didn't have to think about it anymore. You walked through the camp gate to see Freya and Freyr hugging. Apparently you missed something. You moved closer to Kratos, unhooking Mimir from your waist to return him to the Spartan.

"You finished?" you asked, looking at Kratos.

“Yes.”

“What’s the verdict?” Mimir asked.

“She will help us,” Kratos replied, looking at Mimir. “Did everything go well?”

“Oh yes,” the head replied. "Very well even. Now what? What do we do?"

"We're going back," Kratos replied, hanging Mimir back on his belt. "And you?"

"I'm coming. I have to do something," you replied uncomfortably.

"You want to talk to him? Are you sure?" asked Mimir worried.

“Yes, you have to.”

"I'm ready to go," Freya announced, approaching the group. "(Y/N)? Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yes. I have nothing more to do here."

"We're going back," Kratos said as he headed towards the entrance to the camp.

"Hey little Valkyrie! Come back and see us soon!" Freyr exclaimed.

"Yes, Freyr. I'll think about it," you replied before catching up with Freya and Kratos.

You liked Freyr, but he was always so loud and exhausting. At least it seemed that he and Freya had reconciled, and she and Kratos seemed to have put their differences aside. It was a good thing. At least, you hoped so. Now there was one thing left for you to do.

Talk to Tyr.

Just thinking about it made you uncomfortable. You felt your stomach twist and your hands become sweaty. It was so strange that you felt this way when thinking about your husband. You had to stay focused on your goal. But there was also another problem. According to Mimir, Atreus had disappeared for two days and he refused to say where he had been. This did not please the Spartan who announced that the boy was going to tell him everything and that there was nothing to add. Mimir looked at you, commenting that this was the famous Spartan diplomacy. But Freya's question sent shivers down your spine.

"Wait… did you say Odin invited him to Asgard and then he disappeared for two days?" asked the Goddess worriedly.

"What? Are you kidding?!" you exclaimed. "Odin invited the little boy to Asgard?!"

"Aye… but surely the lad's got more sense than to-" Mimir began before being cut off by Freya.

"Don't underestimate Odin's powers of persuasion. He filled my son's head with lies. Why wouldn't he do the same with yours?"

“It’s not just persuasion,” you said darkly. "If he feels that your little one is an obstacle to his plans, he will not hesitate to make him disappear. He has no limits."

“That too,” Freya replied softly, watching you struggle.

You preferred to ignore the look Freya gave you. You didn't need his pity. Not after all this time. You walked through the door, arriving in front of Sindri's house. Brok was arguing with Bitter Squirrel, one of Ratatoskr's alteregos. Kratos ignored the argument and entered the house. You followed the Spartan, with Brok and Freya. Kratos wasted no time entering his son's room. Sindri left the room, visibly upset. You went to sit at the table when Atreus came out of his room insulting his father. You heard Mimir exclaim that this was not how he was going to change his father's mind.

It looked bad.

"He doesn't have any faith in me! It's fine of he keeps secrets. It's fine is Mom did," exclaimed Atreus who came to sit at the table.

“It is NOT fine,” Kraots replied harshly as he followed his son. “Her secrets haunt every step of this path.”

"Oh, okay. So you don't believe in her anymore either?"

“His is not about your mother!” Kratos exclaimed, placing Mimir on the table. “What you have done is lie.”

“Wonder where I learned that?” the boy replied sarcastically.

“That’s quite enough!” exclaimed Mimir.

“Since when do you away take his side?” Atreus asked, looking at his angry head.

"Since he became the one making sense."

In the meantime, Tyr had approached the table. A pot full of stew in his hands.

"Look… I was only thinking about going to Odin. But I swear it's for a good reason…," explained the young man.

“There is no good reason to go to Odin,” Freya replied, approaching.

“He’ll only cloud your mind,” Tyr continued.

"But I'd be going for us. I gotta stop something bad from happening."

“Something bad did happen!” exclaimed Mimir, attracting the attention of the dwarves who approached in turn. "LOOK AT ME! At Freya. At Tyr. At (Y/N)! Odin did this to us!"

"What's got everyone caterwaulin' all a sudden?" Brok asked as he approached Atreus.

“Atreus wants to go Asgard,” Sindri replied.

"Asgard? Did he get kicked in the head or something?"

"Great. I guess everyone's against me now," Atreus growled, glaring at his father.

"You must choose who you are going to be," Kratos replied, approaching his son. "Are you going to continue to lie and keep things from me? Or are you my son?"

As he spoke, Kratos placed his hand on Atreus' shoulder. Hoping that his words finally reach him. But it didn't seem to have any impact on the boy. If anything, it seemed to upset him even more.

"Choose? I never get to choose. Just leave me alone."

Atreus wanted to walk away and end this discussion. But Kratos didn't think so. He grabbed the boy's arm, ordering him to listen. Atreus yelled at him to let go. He violently pushed Kratos away, but with his rage, he transformed into a bear. Freya rushed to Kratos, helping him up. Tyr had dropped the pot, grabbing your arm to pull you towards him. Unluckily for Sindri, Atreus was standing in front of him. The dwarf tried to reason with the boy. Without success. Atreus violently pushed him away with his paw before fleeing and breaking down the door of the house. He was running away. Kratos rushed to the door as Freya and Brok rushed to Sindri's side. You tried to break away from Tyr's hold, but he refused to let you go.

"He might come back," he said nervously.

"Let go of me!" you cried, pushing him away and watching him get annoyed. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

You quickly moved away from Tyr, approaching Sindri, Freya and Brok. According to the Goddess, there was nothing serious about the dwarf. Just scratches. Which was a relief in care. Your attention landed on the door. Kratos stood in the doorway. His fists were clenched and you seemed to see sparks flying. The Spartan slammed his fist against the doorway, making the house shake. You looked from Kratos, to Freya healing Sindri, to Brok who was cursing, and to Tyr who was standing nervously in the back of the room. You sighed, massaging your temples which were becoming sore.

And now what would happen?

Tag: @ladycrowsworld

[gatitties]

Please please please part 10 of the seijoh manager!!!

Manager Miniseries

─Aoba Josai x fem!reader

─Summary: you were trying to have a relaxing afternoon playing minecraft with the team and ended up making a new friend

─Warnings: none

It's your lucky day because I was thinking of updating this miniseries soon so… 👀

9 < 10 > 11

You sat on your chair, turning around a couple of times until decided that you should enter the Discord voice chat that you shared with the guys on the team, you didn't use it much, but it was fine when you all had to discuss some things about training. But today you weren't here for any of that. You clicked on the group icon, immediately being greeted by different voices.

"Are we all here?"

"I don't understand why I'm doing this."

"It will be fun Iwa-chan!"

You sighed silencing the group until you could enter the game,you had been very addicted these last few days playing Minecraft, so much so that you proposed to create a server to be able to connect with friends and play. You clicked on the logo waiting several minutes, when it was loaded you went back to Discord to let them know that they could enter the world now but you only heard screams and screams from your classmates calling you.

"(N)?"

"(Nn)? Have you forsaken us?"

"She's been online the whole time."

"Is she muted? It doesn't surprise who would want to listen to shittikawa?""

"Hey! shut up, I'll make a better house than yours and then I'll hunt you Iwa-chan!"

"That, that! Show him who's boss Oikawa."

Matsukawa's laughter was heard, encouraging the rivalry between friends.

"I don't think Iwaizumi will be defeated so easily, right?"

"I'll kill that idiot and have the best house."

"I bet on Oikawa."

"Huh? Really Makki? then I go for Iwaizumi."

"Oi don't bet on us!"

"Makki you have made a good choice! but what exactly are we betting?"

"Mmh, now that you mention it I don't know, any ideas guys?"

"Whoever loses pays for a dinner for the whole team."

Both parts agreed with the proposal that Kunimi had made, immediately reaching a deal, chaos would return to the chat if it weren't for a grunt and a blow, creating a silence, which you took advantage of to speak.

"Guys, you can join the server now."

"I'll win against Iwa-chan so that he and Mattsun pay!"

"I don't think it was a good idea to agree to join."

"Yahaba, don't be so negative, I'll help you with your house and get materials."

"Thank you (N), I really adore you."

"Could I also have some help?"

"Sure Kindaichi, I guess I'll have to help you with the main thing."

You all started with the basics, gather some wood, kill a couple of sheep, create a small house until it got dark. Right now you were playing alone without using voice chat, you were concentrating on mining until you heard an explosion followed by a message in the in-game chat.

[King_Oikawa has been blown up by a creeper]

You couldn't help but giggle as watched your companions foolishly die one after the other because of the creatures of the night.

[Makkinotfound has been killed by a zombie]

[Yahaba_pro has tried swimming in lava]

[xXKentaroXx has drowned]

[Mattsun777 exploded]

[Iwaplay has fallen from a very high place]

You came out of your house armed with a stone sword, killing some zombies and skeletons, you met the first year boys who were trying not to get killed by a mini zombie that was running around like a demon. You got into a voice chat where only the three of you were, you were trying to help them.

"Help us please, we haven't finished the house yet."

"Sure, what do you need?"

"How do you make a torch?"

"Oh, Kunimi, let me guide you while Kindaichi finishes filling that hole with this."

You tossed Kindaichi some wood, then you explain to his partner how to craft some things, Kunimi really got interested in how to build a bed while the turnip boy was trying not to get hit by arrows. After a long while and ending up helping the third year pranksters a bit as well, you muted the voice chat again. You frowned looking at the game screen where a new message had appeared, apparently no one had noticed that another person had entered the game.

[Applepie has entered]

'I forgot to put a password to the server? what if they're a hacker or something? Nah.'

[(N): hello??]

[Applepie: oh I think I got the wrong serv]

[(N): don't worry, at least you're not a hacker or something]

[(N): or so I hope…]

[Applepie: I'm not]

[Applepie: Some servers are down and I thought this would be fine, your IP was open]

[(N): well it's just a server between friends, but you can stay and play :)]

[Applepie: thanks]

[Applepie: I think I'll stay, no lag here]

[(N): feel comfortable in Seijoland]

[Applepie: I will]

[(N): maybe we could talk on discord? If you don't mind of course]

[(N): I would like to have a internet friend]

[Applepie: ok]

You practically spent the whole afternoon playing with the boy named Kenma, you both had a good time, apparently had some things in common.

"Then he left me in the tree for an hour."

"I should meet your friends, they seem interesting."

You laughed at Kenma's story, according to a very tall boy from his club, he left him on the branch of a tree to take a picture of him as if he were a kitten but forgot to come back for him.

"Your friends also seem… curious."

"Believe me, you couldn't bear to spend much time with them."

[King_Oikawa: i just finished my house]

[King_Oikawa: mattsun and Iwa will be paying the team a dinner!!]

[Mattsun777: sorry dude, i don't think so]

A 'tss' followed by an in-game explosion was heard, the characters of Kenma and you looked at each other silently wondering the same thing in their minds.

"Did they just blow up the house of that 'King Oikawa'?"

"Yeah, they're betting."

"I guess they take it very seriously."

"No one wants to pay a dinner for the entire team."

"Understandable."

You two continued to ignore the boys chatting about Oikawa's house, while you asked your online friend for help to build something like an area so they could fight for that dinner. The rest of the team seemed to be starting to understand the game more so they were exploring everything without any help from their manager.

"Kenma, are you playing again?"

A faint voice came over the call, as Kenma's character stopped.

"Don't you have to bother Lev or something?"

"No, I like to bother you." the voice was getting closer to the microphone "Are you playing with someone else?"

"Yes."

You laughed at the clear irritation of your recent friend, catching the newcomer's attention.

"Hey? Are you playing with a girl?"

"Yeah, and she's listening to you, so shut up."

"Hello! I'm Ku-"

There was a blow followed by curses, several whispers, and finally Kenma spoke again, irritation spilling over his tone.

"I'm disconnecting now, my friend is very annoying."

"Okay, see you Kenma."

"Bye (N)."

Before he could hang up you heard a scream over the line.

"Now I know her name!"

Returning to your team who were still arguing over who should pay, you decided that was enough. You went through all the houses not understanding how Mattsun and Makki had built a bunker out of diamond blocks, Kunimi and Kindaichi had accidentally burned down their house for trying to make a Nether portal, or how Kyotani was chasing Yahaba with a bucket of lava because apparently he had accidentally killed Kentaro's dog. You blinked a few times to laugh out loud hitting your desk and inadvertently joining the voice call again.

"What is (N) laughing at?"

"From your trash home Iwa-chan."

"The only garbage here is you."

[Iwaplay has killed King_Oikawa]

"Hey! That's cheating."

When your laughing fit stopped, you were able to speak correctly, still with a mocking smile on face, trying to stabilize yourself, since it began to hurt your chest from laughing so much.

"Guys, why are your houses totally blown up?"

Apparently neither Iwaizumi nor Oikawa were near their houses because just hearing what you said they screamed in surprise.

"WHAT?"

"NOO my house dude!"

[ominoose]

𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭

Characters: Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Jake Lockley x Reader Blurb: What each of the Moon Knight men would be like playing Minecraft.

☽ 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩 - The Builder

× Expect your Minecraft world to be 100% vegan. No animals are allowed to be harmed in this world because "There's enough of that in the real world!". When you first spawn in Steven will be off destroying all the grass in sight for seeds, leaving you to start breaking trees. If you gather any dropped saplings and apples to give to him he'll be endeared, promising to plant several trees at your future base in your honour.

× Building an actual base will take ages. Steven will be extremely picky about where you settle down and will force you to wander several biomes for several days to find somewhere worthy, somewhere with a view. His favourite place to set up camp would be next to a pyramid or sand village, but you'll have to force him to move on on account of there being no actual resources or places to grow the farm he's insistent on.

× When Steven's finally found somewhere worthy of a base, he'll get to building without asking, silently expecting you to go take care of everything else. If you've managed to convince him not to play on peaceful, your first port of call should be mining for coal to make torches to keep mobs away at night, then craft sheers because, again, no animals are allowed to be harmed ever (he will know and you will be hearing a loud "Oi!" down the mic).

× If he so much as clocks any sort of non animal or villager mob at any distance he'll be startled and shutting himself inside, shouting at you to "Kill it, bloody kill it!", his pacifist streak temporarily gone. When he's not under threat of zombies sitting under trees 70 blocks away in another biome, he'll be decorating your base with all the flowers he can find, covering every single block ("No, it's not a mess, it's art. You know the Egyptians believed-").

× He will not go into any caves, ever. You managed to coax him once, piquing his interest with the prospect of glowstone that he could decorate your shared home with, but the moment he heard a cave sound he got such a fright the headset fell off. Steven has never went back.

× When you're out doing literally everything else to keep both of you going, Steven has secretly moved your Minecraft bed next to his and adopted ten dogs and seven cats.

"What? What- No love your bed was always next to mine, remember? Yeah! Yeah, totally- totally always been there. Why are the beds dyed red and blue? Well... Well it's British, innit?"

☽ 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 - The Fighter

× Minecraft with Marc is serious. It's tactical. His aim is to have the Ender Dragon gone within five minecraft business days. That goal has never been obtained in that time frame but he's insistent that it's possible. When you first spawn in you're expected to be gathering wood and killing any sheep in sight, he want's a basic base of dirt created before night down and if you haven't at least got a set of stone tools, beds and torches he'll be brooding, "If you actually took things seriously, we could've been in The End right now.".

× If you don't like fighting mobs like zombies or skeletons Marc will be teasing you for it, for a good while at that. However, the moment you get hit by even a baby zombie he is charging over with an enchanted sword, full armor set, jumping and swinging at the enemy mob. From that moment on he will demand you to put on a full armour set if you haven't already, "I don't care about your stupid skin, put on the helmet now."

× Tries to be a red stone engineer every now and again, making automatic farms and tries to calculate how to properly take advantage of the villager economy but fails every time without fail, sending him into a huff. The only thing he can truly manage is carts, so if you can sort out some red stone contraptions for him he will be genuinely impressed, maybe even leaving some cool loot in your chests when you aren't looking.

× Marc complains when you bring a single dog home, and only further complains when you bring home a whole pack, "I'm not feeding them or looking out for them when you get yourself blown up!". However, given some time, he will feed them and die for them. Marc is the first to name them, giving them cliche names like Buster, Lucky, Oreo, coupled with a few Star Wars themed ones like Chewy. If you draw too much attention to it he will deny it, but if you don't, and you're traveling together, you might hear him mutter a "Good boy." when he makes the dogs sit. What you won't hear is him speaking for a good ten minutes if one of the dogs die, and trying to get him to talk will only get you snippy responses.

"No. I'm not sad. No, I don't miss Woof2D2. Drop it."

☽ 𝙅𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙮 - The Miner

× Jake is the most casual Minecraft player. Nothing scares him, nothing startles him, it's almost uncanny how relaxed he is with the game. When you spawn in he's just ambling around, whistling as he breaks some trees, maybe even picking a few flowers, "Do a twirl amigo." as he throws them at you like he's at a strip club. When he passes some mobs he'll casually mutter greetings, "Hola vaca, hola oveja, hola enredadera," before he starts attacking them, still whistling. He'll be perfectly happy to build a 6x6 dirt base and live in it permanently, so you will have to take over base building.

× Whatever you want to do, Jake will go with it. You want to follow a treasure map? He's stocking on food. You want to fight the Ender Dragon? He's crafting arrows. You want to go fishing? He's overjoyed, already at the nearest body of water and singing a little tune. When you don't have a particular to-do list ready and you're both just hanging around, he'll be in the mines, and he will stay in the mines until you need anything. Unless you call him out, asking for supplies or wanting to go somewhere, he will be in there for days on end, crafting chests to empty his ever growing inventory. Cave sounds and creepers don't scare him at all, if you ever join him in the caves and get a fright he'll be letting out a full belly laugh at you, and every now and again will creep up on you shouting "Boo!" to spook you, giggling mischievously to himself.

× The plus side to him constantly yearning for the mines is your endless supplies of ingots, diamonds, obsidian, etc. By the fifth day in you are fully decked out in armour, compasses, shears and could power a working, life-sized, red stone television. It seems to sooth him, just being able to mind his own business wandering the caverns while hacking at stone with his pickaxe, so if you ever need a single thing from the caves he will be chomping at the bit to do it.

× Jake only has beef with one group of mobs, and it's the Pillagers. The first time he saw them scouting nearby with a flag he was confused, "¿Qué? Why are the ugly squid men here?", thinking they're stray villagers as he goes to trade some emeralds. For the first time ever he is startled when they attack him, thinking they are out to avenge all the Villagers he secretly bullied when you both found a village. Jake fights back viciously, for the first time in some sort of huff as he plays and cusses out the screen when he dies.

× It will take a bit for him to get back into his relaxed mood after the ordeal, if he comes back to the game at all. Coax him with some foods other than meat, like a cake, cookies, baked potato, etc and he'll cheer up as if you've actually baked something for him in real life,

"Oh? Gracias. I will use this as fuel when I go back to murder the rest of those calamares bastardos."

[missvelvetsstuff]

Just A Number

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Reader meets Bucky at a party and the attraction is more than either one of them wants to resist.

Notes: Since most stories are younger readers I felt like having a more mature reader could be a nice change of pace. Especially since I'm creeping up on senior discounts and want to believe Bucky could fall in love with someone like me.

I try to keep my readers description vague but, as always, she's female, tall and this one is obviously 40+

Chapter 3

Warnings: swearing, angst

3 weeks later......

Y/N was happy with her new job, not 'I love it I'm staying forever' happy but it was a pleasant enough job and should be a good stepping stone. She had more education and experience than her manager but knew better than to show off so early in her employment.

It was Wednesday morning and she was on the train to work with Dawn when her newly issued StarkTech phone rang. She didn't recognize the number but it had a Stark prefix so figured she had better answer it.

"This is Y/N."

Happy Hogan identified himself then went into a rambling diatribe about unreliable employees making his life harder and told her to meet him in HR as soon as she arrived at work.

She agreed and shook her head when he hung up.

Dawn looked over at her "Who was that?"

Y/N looked at her "Happy Hogan. He was talking so fast I barely understood any of it but something about unreliable employees. Told me to meet him in HR as soon as I get to work."

Dawn smiled "That was fast. What it means is someone fucked up and you are getting their job. It should be at least a small step up and raise. I told you they wouldn't let you rot in PR, not with your experience."

Y/N's eyes grew wide "I hope it's not anything crazy. I can't work in marketing with you, I'm so not suited for that kind of work."

Dawn shook her head "Nah, my team is all good. I heard Pepper Potts-Stark has been having a rough time finding an adequate assistant. That's a tough gig but there's travel and more of those fancy parties."

Y/N felt her stomach drop "I don't know that I'm up for that, she's one of the most powerful women in the country."

Dawn sighed "No, she's one of the most powerful women in the world. You would rock that job. I'm keeping my fingers crossed."

Y/N sighed "Doesn't she work with the Avengers a lot? Being a grunt in PR is stealth but her assistant? What if I see....?"

Dawn scoffed "Honey, you know how I feel about that. You should call him. I haven't spoken to Sam in a minute but I can ask him if you want."

Y/N shook her head "No, Sissy, please. He's an Avenger. If he was really interested he could have found me by now."

Dawn slapped her lightly on the shoulder "You make me crazy. You snuck out while he slept, maybe he thinks your lack of interest is clear."

Their station was called and Y/N sighed in relief "Saved by the bell."

Dawn glared at her "This isn't over. Make sure you text me after you talk to Happy."

They walked quickly to the building and separated when Y/N exited the elevator on the 3rd floor and walked into the HR office.

Happy Hogan greeted her when she entered. "Miss Walker?"

She nodded in response and listened carefully as he told her why he needed to talk to her. Her heart raced as she listened to the responsibilities of the position he was offering. Dawn was right, it was Pepper who needed a new assistant.

She nervously accepted the job and had to fill out a mountains worth of paperwork including a very strict NDA since she would be at the side of the head of the company and potentially interacting with Avengers and SWORD agents.

Once everything was in order, Happy led her up to Peppers office on one of the top floors and introduced her to Pepper.

Pepper greeted her with a smile "I want to be clear before we start. I know this is a difficult job so I try to be flexible when I can but I need you to keep up with me and be my memory when I need you. You're expected to wear professional attire unless I tell you otherwise and behave in a professional manner at all times. We are in this building most of the time but there is some traveling so you will need a passport. You will have an expense account to use for work related items including clothing, to ensure you are able to get what you need and keep your focus on the work.

Do you think you're up for it?"

Y/N's mouth was dry and her palms were clammy, this was a great opportunity but also a high stress environment. She cleared her throat.

"Yes ma'am. Since the Snap I've done a variety of jobs that have similar requirements."

They spoke for a few minutes before Pepper nodded and gave her a black card "I think you'll be a good fit. Happy will take you to security to update your access. After that you can get your desk set up however makes you comfortable, within reason. I'm leaving for an event at my daughter's school so you can settle in, learn your way around this floor and all I need you to do is answer the phone. I'll see you bright and early at 8. I'll text you my coffee order to grab from the shop downstairs, they'll put it on my tab. Get one for yourself, too."

Y/N nodded "Yes ma'am. Enjoy your daughter."

Pepper smiled "Thank you. You have kids?"

She nodded "Yes but mine are grown so no cute holiday shows or anything. They grow up way too fast so be there when you can."

Y/N spent the rest of the day wandering around Peppers floor, impressed by the amenities which included a small bedroom, a closet full of clothes, a bathroom, a fully stocked kitchen and a hot tub. Not to mention an amazing view of the city.

She went to her old desk and moved all her belongings to the new one and answered a few calls until her shift ended.

She met Dawn on her way out and they went out for drinks to celebrate her new job.

That weekend they went shopping for work clothes. Most of what Y/N had was showing its age so they looked for new office clothes and a couple of cocktail dresses to have in case something came up. Plus a haircut and manicure.

She felt guilty for spending almost $500 right after starting but wanted to make sure she put forth the right image that Pepper wanted.

When Y/N showed up at work on Monday morning, Pepper gushed over her new 'do and clothes which helped assuage her guilt.

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

Bucky was getting sick of chasing the damn Power Broker all over eastern Europe only to miss them every time. He was haunted by dreams of Y/N and the night they spent together.

Sam was getting sick of mopey, moody, angry Bucky but his nagging only made things worse and they bickered more than usual.

After 2 weeks Sam had enough "Look, man, I know you're pining over that woman but could you please keep your head in the game? Your constant distraction will get us both hurt. Put her aside and call when we get home."

Bucky scoffed "No one is getting hurt, stop being so dramatic. And I'm not pining over anything. It was one nite, one incredible nite, but that's it. I'm not going to chase down some woman who doesn't want me."

Sam shook his head "Then stop moping and help me get this job done."

Bucky shook his head "It's not my fault we can't find this power broker person. He's obviously good at hiding and has people scared to rat him out."

Sam groaned "Sharon told me we could find him here. With all the near misses we've had, I'm almost wondering if she's helping him. She spent a lot of time in Madripoor during the Blip, living on the wrong side of the law, maybe she got caught up with him?"

Bucky scoffed "Don't be stupid, Sam."

They went another 2 weeks like this without finding their prey before they packed up and headed for home.

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

2 weeks later

Y/N was getting along very well in her new job and Pepper was very pleased with her. It was a crazy job, hectic most days and occasionally slow but she was enjoying herself and learning all about Stark Industries and the business they did around the world.

They had already taken a 3 day trip to Spain and Y/N didn't think she would ever be able to stand flying commercial again. Not to mention the way Pepper was fawned over by every person they interacted with.

Today was Friday and when Y/N started work there was nothing going on until Pepper received a call from Bruce Banner. Five minutes after taking the call, Pepper buzzed her

"Grab your things, Bruce needs me to come up to the compound to check the status of his project. Be on the roof in 15. And cancel my meeting this afternoon."

Y/N felt her heart race and stomach drop. The Avengers compound. Pepper had mentioned it before and told her they would be going there on occasion but Y/N wasn't ready. She knew it was dumb, he lived in Brooklyn and wasn't there much so the odds of running into each other was slim. She hadn't told Pepper that she had met James, didn't seem important for a one night stand.

By the time she calmed her heart down she had to hurry to the roof before she was late. She climbed into the helicopter and strapped herself in.

Pepper was looking at her oddly "Are you ok? You seem a little stressed about going to the compound."

Y/N gave her the best smile she could muster and lied through her teeth "I'm fine, the helicopter makes me a little nervous but I'm alright."

Pepper nodded, unconvinced "Ok. I know I'm your boss but you can talk to me about non-work things. If you want, obviously you don't have to but you can trust me."

Y/N kept her grin up "I appreciate that, you've been a great boss. I don't want to burden you with my problems when you already have so much on your plate. It's it's fine. I'm fine." She stammered.

Pepper rubbed her arm "Well, I'm here if you need me."

They arrived at the compound and Y/N was relieved the conversation was interrupted because she felt herself weakening and almost spilled everything to Pepper.

Pepper filed it away to bring up another time and led the way to Bruce's lab.

Y/N stood quietly behind Pepper and Bruce as they spoke about some quantum thing she didnt understand but she kept notes of the entire conversation in case Pepper needed any of the info that was discussed.

When they were getting ready to leave they heard an announcement about an incoming jet and had to wait for it to land before the helicopter could leave.

Y/N was getting antsy and had that feeling in her stomach that something was coming and started hyperventilating, squeezing her eyes shut. She felt like she was in a tunnel before she felt Pepper gently take her hand, speaking softly. She opened her eyes and went along as Pepper deescalated her panic attack.

Pepper looked at her concerned "Are you alright? What happened?"

Y/N shook her head "I'm, yes, yes." Took a deep breath "No. I'm not alright." and proceeded to tell her about meeting James and every thought or feeling she had about him since. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you but it was my burden and you already have so much to deal with. A lovesick assistant shouldn't add to it, I'm supposed to help lighten your load not add to it."

Pepper scoffed softly "And you have done an amazing job of it. When I told you that you could talk to me it wasnt lip service. I meant it." She thought for a minute. "I could plan a party and you two could accidentally run into each other? Or something?"

Y/N chuckled "I don't think that's a good idea, he's obviously not interested. I don't want to force something."

Pepper smiled, like she caught the canary "You don't know that, he's a busy man. In fact the last I saw he's been overseas for awhile."

Her phone beeped "There's the pilot, that jet landed and we can go back to the Tower." they started walking towards the hangar.

Y/N smiled softly "Thanks for listening and not judging"

Pepper laughed "After my years with Tony, I've learned not to judge people for their lives."

When they entered the hangar Pepper was stopped by Sam Wilson who chatted for a minute and gave Y/N a too big smile when introduced. He made her nervous.

While they were talking to Sam, Y/N heard a voice she knew intimately coming from the jet that Sam had exited.

"You gonna help me with this equipment or stand there flirting with-" then she heard something heavy hit the ground.

Sam stepped aside but Y/N was looking at her own feet, afraid to see him, afraid to look until he spoke again "Y/N? Doll?"

She looked up nervously and felt her insides flutter and spin at how handsome he was, better than her memories, and her core heated up as she tried not to think about that nite.

She cleared her throat "Hi James."

@supraveng @cjand10 @440mxs-wife @kandis-mom

Chapter 4

[chronotsr]

No. 3 - G3, Hall of the Fire Giant King (July 1978)

Author(s): Gary Gygax Artist(s): Erol Otus, Dave C. Sutherland III (cover), David A. Trampier Level range: Average of 9, preferably 5+ players Theme: Standard Swords and Sorcery Major re-releases: G1-3 Against the Giants, GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders, Against the Giants: The Liberation of Geoff, Dungeon #200, Tales from the Yawning Portal

So that was a little disappointing. But maybe it just middles in the middle? C'mon Gary, let's see that special skill I've heard so much about.

G3 begins how G2 ended: teleporting conveniently on the outskirts of the fortress in such a way as to skip a trek without surprising the players. Meh. Our big bad this time is King Snurre -- I haven't mentioned the Chieftains yet because they're all just midbosses compared to the this guy. And, he's kind of famous isn't he?

For a guy who is functionally a one-off NPC that the party presumably kills, he ends up in a lot of paintings. Not that I'm complaining, that 4e art is amazing. In fact, broadly, 4e's art is a little underrated, it benefits from being less restrained than 5e. I don't think that's a knock on 5e's artists, more like…the art direction seems to be intentionally tamer. Anyway, thank you 4e art, I never realized there was a dog in the background of the 5e PHB until now. Neat.

Yada yada yada the setup is exactly the same as before, but now it's got ~mordor vibes~. As far as changes change, these fire giants (even the children) expressly do not do morale checks because apparently Snurre is such a motherfucker. Scary!

Anyway, we're already in the room-by-room, so let's begin the juicy part:

There's a scooby doo trap with a tapestry in the doorway having holes for eyes so a giant guard can alert the entire building if the players don't catch it. That's evil! But not unfair, which is a good balance. Naturally, there is a ballista tripwire on revisit that does some nasty damage, so this hallway is just The Troll Zone

Snurre has two pet hellhounds leashed to his throne, but also he's wearing a white dragonskin as a cloak at all times, which overcomes his natural aversion to cold with MAGIC. What an asshole! Also, as you look at that picture from the 5e cover, there's a bevy of (unimportant) changes from the original, like Snurre is no longer in his signature pitch-black platemail, but I think special mention should go to the fact that in the original he has literally 60k worth of precious stones on his person and scattered throughout the architecture of the throne room. This room should be GLEAMING.

A Gygaxism: Queen Frupy is a 'haradin', which roughly means 'scold', which. Ok. So, so much attention is given to how uggo she is (to Gary). Actually, I think the description of her armor is kinda cool, she wears black dragonskin, studded with iron (so by Runescape logic I guess she's good with a bow?). Reaper Minis did a character that sort-of resembles the description, but their Vanja has a spear where Frupy uses a scepter:

You can actually negotiate with her, the implication of the text is that she's unreasonable but…just ignore that. Lol.

She also has a magic mirror (implied to be a furniture mirror, not a hand mirror) that reveals invisible creatures in the reflection, which is kind of awesome. Good way to catch assassins! Somehow the drow are using a gifted necklace to spy on them, but I feel like the mirror probably should've revealed in some way (maybe the mirror was also a drow gift?) She's more astute than she lets on, because she has a huge stash of mind control crap in her dresser drawers for emergencies.

????????????????????????????

Keeping with the "giant leader's treasure sucks" tradition, Snurre's treasure is genuinely crazy. It occupies a FULL PAGE, and each INDIVIDUAL TRUNK has a listing and an explicit mention of the traps. Traps range from a standard scything trap to secret snakes to the treasure being invisible to contact poison. How the hell does Snurre use this room? You're telling me he never fucked up remembering which of the 13 chests were trapped in which way? Oh, also, they're pick-proof, because fuck you thief. Naturally, the loot itself is also a fucking trap, because while there is some truly amazing stuff in there (20 randomized magic items, a decent amount of valuables, a +3 ring of protection, and a ring of 3 wishes), there is also lots of troll items (statues with a stacking curse of -1 to all tests, ring of contrariness, ring of delusion). On the whole, a big fuck you to the party. Oh, and while the locks are unpickable, you can shoot them off with magic missile, which is…why?

Snurre's dwarf-slave-advisor is bizarrely well equipped and loyal, and given the opportunity to escape he will…backstab the party. As much as people complain about how early DND has too many save or die traps, I genuinely think the regularity with which rescued npcs betray the party is a waaaaaay dumber and more ridiculous trend. I simply cannot fathom why someone as smart as Obmi would choose to keep being a slave to Snurre when adventurers showed up with the ability to free him. Honestly? Take his big lie and make it true. The lie makes sense because it makes more sense than the canon character.

The scroll that finally tips at the motivation of the giants is, no kidding, scroll #68 of almost 450 paper items, none of which are mentioned. The weird need for a number baffles me.

The kitchen is doing some lateral thinking and using one of the gas vents as a gas stove, which is hilarious.

Oh, we're only now to level 2?

All of the former kings are entombed in a Giant Tomb, which, that is entirely too cool of a visual for them to have not included a visual. In a fucking grave mistake, this room is cut from the 4e remake, so there is no incredible art of it. There is no justice.

If you somehow didn't kill the hill giant chieftain AND you didn't get him in G2, he's here in G3. And he brought the pet bears!

Gary, you're such an asshole. No one would ever think to throw their cool mace into the lava pit mid combat. This is just trolling.

🤷 Guess I'll die

"The were-rats, if losing, will turn into rats and flee down the drain" That is, actually an incredible escape plan, except that we have pre-established that this Hall is founded upon LAVA AND COOKING-HOT GAS.

Fuck the party I guess

You often hear people who got into ADND in the late 1e/2e era talk about how people speculated that Hommlet must lead to Temple of Elemental Evil because of hints about the Elemental Eye and, honestly it just kind of feels like Gary defaults to the Eye. It has come up in every scenario he has written so far (which admittedly is 2 so far), but with the power of Knowing What Comes Next I can assure you that this is going to keep happening. Anyway, there is a temple to the Eye here, complete with human sacrifice, and the allusion to tentacles eating people is already starting to signpost what we now know is true: It's Tharizdun. The Eye is Tharizdun. It always comes back to Cthulhus!

A lot of early players clearly enjoyed Poking Random Shit because if you decide to touch the Elemental Eye's altar and also play every musical instrument in the room, you get to make every person in the room roll on this table, AND also execute whichever player is nearest to the altar (no save). But, hey, you will suddenly get whatever you want most on the altar. If you are somehow dumb enough to do it again, there's a 1 in 12 chance you get a +1 in all stats, a 2 in 12 chance of something extremely bad happening, and a 9 in 12 chance nothing happens.

Would genuinely like to know how many GMs bothered following this instruction. It does teleport you towards the final encounter, so that's something.

An entire page is dedicated to disarming the tentacle wall magic trap, which to be honest looks like it'd repel a significant percentage of players because you either need an evil cleric or some good magic to dispel the wall, and the wall punishes the shit out of you for trying to disarm it. To be a mild devil's advocate, the tentacle wall IS super suspiciously placed (the shape of the room implies it's going somewhere), so at least it's not also super esoteric. If you DO bypass it, you are now the proud winner of the "discover the drow" award! Woah, elves but they're ontologically evil??????????????????????????????????? Truly novel! Eclavdra, head of the drow here, hangs out doing nothing in particular, and you may unceremoniously execute her if you want to bring her storyline to an unceremonious end.

The frost giants are here from last module, if they survived. They really want you to kill these kings!

No really why did they used to draw trolls like that

This adventure just won't end. There's a surprising amount to say about this module given that it's only 22 pages of monster murder and motherfucker traps. Anyway, welcome to level 3!

There are fake dragons here to troll you into getting excited for loot

The fire giants also have a panic room? Every giant has a panic room. Why are panic rooms so normal in the G series?

A SECOND fake dragon that is actually a gorgon, which is almost funny

Finally, a REAL red dragon, which is frankly cruelty to fool me three times

After many, many drow are fought, you eventually run into a magic-fighter drow noble who has a wand of "viscid globs", which despite the suggestive name, is actually a superglue gun? You can literally rip yourself apart trying to separate yourself from a glued object. It's a really, really bizarre item. And it has a LOT of charges -- 79.

Mercifully, finally, something that could be potentially interesting: Eclavdra's rival is hanging out in the basement and can be sweetalked into helping the party screw over Eclavdra, which. FINALLY. However, if you displease her, it's demon time.

For reasons I cannot fathom, there are mind flayers here observing the drow, and the drow are not super bothered by that.

And that's basically it! at the very end they find a tube with a map and a wish leading to the D series, and a quick explainer on the then-new Drow. Well, not that quick, it's a page and a half, but the conceptualization of the drow is basically unchanged between then and now. Evil elves, forced underground, adapted to living there, dark skin, magic spidersilk clothes and adamantine weapons, sunlight sensitivity, drow spell list.

On the whole, G3 is, an adventure. While yes the Drow twist is kind of neat (but not special, since Drow are functionally Melniboneans and Elric was already decades old at this point), mostly this module lacks the fun of G1 and substitutes lots of murder traps for any genuine creativity with the scenario. On the whole, I consider it…crowd pleasingly boring? Your treasure goblins will love it for how much nice stuff they can find, if they survive.

We will end today with the back cover, which features some hippogriff mounts. People just don't give parties flying mounts anymore, it's honestly strange the tradition died. See you in the D series later. And if you're waiting for more obscure modules…I can only promise one in 1978.

[kumoriyami-xiuzhen]

Hakuoki Shinkai Tenun no Shou Stellaworth Booklet “Her Long Day” Part 6

Still haven't figured out what I should do next.... I sorta wanna go translate the Shimabara Disturbance drama, but the tl I found has some parts that are missing text, and I just don't wanna go look up what I ned to fill in those gaps...

whatever. maybe i won't do that. good night. 😂 i'm too tired to think right now. waking up before 6 am really messes me up unless i'm travelling.

Hakuoki Shinkai Tenun no Shou Stellaworth Booklet “Her Long Day” Part 6

Translation by KumoriYami

Chǒushí · Kazama Moment 《1~3 o'clock》

It was 3 o'clock, the time when all plants slept, and when the gates of the underworld [I guess?] were open.

If things were as usual, I would have fallen asleep long ago…

Unfortunately, today I woke up, perhaps from hearing the sound of insects.

"……Huh……？"

As I huddled under my blanket, I heard something outside… a minute sound.

The chirping of insects was wrapped in the sound of the wind and the sound of footsteps on gravel.

...Was that the sound of a cat or dog walking by…?

I lifted up my groggy head head, and opened the door a finger-wide crack, and looked outside——

"——I didn't think you'd be awake at this time."

"……Eh？"

"Could it be those watch dogs are forcing you to work day and night?"

"……!"

My weary mind immediately cleared up, and my eyes widened.

Standing there was the one who had repeatedly crossed swords with the Shinsengumi and declared that he was going to take me away—.

"Kazama-san——"

"——Be quiet."

"Wah!?"

Just as the yell was about to leave my throat, my mouth was covered, and I could only desperately twist my body.

But Kazama-san's arm was like it was made of stone, and I couldn't pull away at all.

"It's useless, although female oni have powerful/strong vitality, their strength cannot be compared to that of a male oni."

"Uh——"

"……Listen, just stay quiet. As long as you promise not to yell, I will let you go."

I did my best to nod, and to my surprise, Kazama-san really did let me go."

"Why are you come here at this time? Could it be that you wanted to take advantage of how everyone's asleep..."

"That's ridiculous. Do you think that I'm the sort of vulgar man who would attack a woman at night?"

“……”

What happened just now, I did really feel that this was similar to being attacked…. I always felt there was a sense of incredulity with this, so I asked again.

"….Then why did you come here? It doesn't seem like you've answered my question yet..."

"……This flower/These flowers."

Kazama-san hesitated for a moment and handed me a flower.

"This is… a sunflower/These are... sunflowers…?"

"That's right. Early this morning, beautiful sunflowers bloomed in the garden of a house in the Satsuma Domain, and since I thought it'd be a waste if only I admired them. Thinking that, I involuntarily thought of your face. You are surrounded by a group of insensitive men all day long, and have no opportunities to see such beautiful flowers."

"Um......"

If Kazama-san's words were true, he really came just to send me this flower/these flowers…

"…….Even if you say that, with you suddenly coming here, I can't believe it…"

"Why suddenly? Is there something strange about a husband who treasures his wife giving her flowers?"

"——Wife?"

"Of course, you are my wife."

…………As expected, I couldn't communicate with this person. Kazama-san slowly extend his hand towards me, who was at a complete loss for words.

"Of course, if you want me to take you away right now, isn't that another matter?"

"I don't....!"

I trembled and hurriedly took a step back.

Kazama-san's hand abruptly stopped.

".......?"

"Hmph… Who would have thought that there would be a watchdog awake at this time."

Kazama-san sighed, turned around, and then disappeared into the darkness.

"——Let's meet again someday in the future. Next time, it will have to be in a place where no one will disturb us."

Yinshi · Sannan Moment 《3~5 o'clock》

——At that moment, a voice came from the depths of headquarters.

"——Apparently an uninvited guest came?"

"Ah…… Sannan-san……!!"

"——Oya. To go as far as to intrude at this time, how truly careless."

Sannan-san looked in the direction Kazama-san disappeared in and lowered the hand he had on his sword.

At the same time, I collapsed to the ground, as if the ties around had me had been unraveled.

"……Fu……"

"It's alright, Yukimura-kun. Did you get injured?"

"Nn. I'm okay. Thank you……"

I sat paralyzed on the ground and looked up at Sannan-san,, and noticed tha tmy hands were shaking.

Although he was joking about that bitter experience, it really could have been quite dangerous.

——If Sannan-san hadn't come, what would have happened?"

While I trembled as I imagined that, Sannan-san, he——

"……Forgive me/I apologise."

He took hold of my hand, and slowly pulled me so I could stand up, then he wrapped both of his hands around my hands.

"——As expect you're terrified, your hands are still shaking now."

"……Yes. As soon as I thought that I was saved, all the fear came bursting forth……"

"I'm sorry. If I was able to notice a bit sooner, you wouldn't have been so scared."

"N-No, it's not Sannan-san's fault! You saved me…"

"……Hehe. Yes. At least the worse was avoided."

Sannan-san urged me to sit down, and the two of us sat by side in the corridor.

Even though my body was still shaking now, he smiled.

"It's alright, I'll sit with you here and accompany you until you calm down."

"……"

"Apparently, I'm meddling——"

"No….. if Sannan-san doesn't mind…. please."

Perhaps my words went against his expectations, so Sannan-san's eyes wiedened, and he was speechless.

".......Are your words sincere?"

"Nn... is that no good....."

".......You aren't afraid of me even though I've become a rasetsu?"

Sannan-san gazed into my eyes, and I laughed/smiled.

"......I think that genuinely scary people wouldn't say that sort of thing. Although it's true that Sannan-san hasbecome a rasetsu……."

"……But?"

"But, I think that your heart is the same as it was before."

Actually, until just now, Sannan-san had been saying consoling words to me,…. .

"......Oya. After hearing such adorable words, I can't do anything bad now."

Sannan-san stroked my head, as if to say that he had surrendered.

"Then… until you can peacefully fall asleep…"

Afterwards, Chizuru's moment

—Then, after that—

Sannan-san stayed and chatted with me until the sky faintly became green.

I completely calmed down and returned to my room as well.

"Today… I should say yesterday, a lot of things happened from morning until night……."

I got under the blankets again, and what happened all day long began to gradually resurfaced in my mind again.

"Waking up early, seeing Souma-kun, cooking together with Heisuke-kun…… going on patrol……"

If I fall asleep now, I didn't know if I'll be able to sleep before daybreak.

"......In the middle of the night, Kazama-san came over for some reason…. then… Ah, Hijikata-san…. I don't know if he'w awake after that…"

Incredibly, as soon as I was covered with the blanket, I immediately felt drowsy. Tired to the point where I couldn't resist.

"……"

With my narrowing field of vision, between the gaps of dreams of reality, I mumbled to myself.

"……Tomorrow too…… I'll work hard……"

Until I was woken up again shortly after by the sound of birds, a new day was about to start again. I finally slept peacefully again so I could get a moment's rest——.

----end----

[poetthewriter]

Hi! I'm not sure if you're taking requests or not but I had an idea! Would it be possible to do a bdubs x reader oneshot? Just some fluff or HCS will do! <3

Ello I would love to write for you this is actually my first request<3 please give me feedback and tell me how i did and how to fix and improve

If you request agian feel free to become someone on my anon list just leave an emoji

𝒜𝓁𝓁ℯ𝓎𝓈，𝓉ℯ𝒶𝓂𝓂𝒶𝓉ℯ，ℴ𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓃ℯ𝓇𝓈

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬=𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐬&𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐬🌶🥕🌽

limited life : Bdubs x reader

Here we are again, three hearts stain my arm and a clock on my communicator set to twenty four hours starts counting down. we once again stand in a circle and on the count of three we all run away from spawn, cowering around the area I pick up food, sugarcane and herbs along with an abundance of items that I will be sure too use later on. the whole server will be sure to team up with people soon so I better start looking out for who will be my ally's and enemies for this run through, my first thought is Bdubs as hard as it is to remember certain things about the last seasons I always remember Bdubs and how he has been loyal and kind to me even if I haven't been on his team so after I go mining he will be the first I search for.

17 diamonds, about a stack and a half of iron aswell as 33 gold is quite a good turn out for only a half an hour of my time and its certainly enough for a chest plate, a pair of nice new pants, and a sword. while I was in the caves a message had popped up on my communicator saying that Scott had killed Skizz and that another boogieman would be chosen so on my way out I better be sure to watch out and make sure that I stay weary of the people I keep around me, finally I can leave the caves to find my hopeful ally or maybe even teammate, as I reach me final steps I hear a voice above me as I lay on the grass, my eyes shoot open and I zip right up off the ground to look at who's talking to me.

"Timmy. . ."

"AHAHAHA WHAT HAPPEND TO YOUR HAIR" I yell out giggling at Timmy's slicked back hair, Tim's face changes as he looks down, an annoyed face covers him before speaking to me.

"what are you laughing at Y/n" he mumbles as Grian and Joel come behind him wearing matching outfits before I can say anything to them a message pops up again.

Skizzleman was slain by Bdoubleo100

shock covers all our faces again as we realize Skizz is now on around nineteen hours of time left, the boys stand there a little longer as more chats pop up including one saying "rematch at spawn NOW" typed by Skizz.

yells and chants are heard across the server and no one is in sight I run to the fight happening on the mountain as the suited man swings one last time before Bdubs falls to the ground and disappears, reappearing a few meters away from the fight circle. skizz walks towards the revived boy and starts attacking him again swinging and punching trying for even more hits but then i see skizz pull out a sword, it shimmers as he lifts it up and i run towards them slidding down just blocking the sword from hitting bdubs, i push skizz away well bduds clings and falls to my back i turn around and grab him running away well leading him to a little den in the hills of a meadow, I lay him down agianst the dirt and stone walls of cave and look around the land for crops and flowers to use in helping him.

red bloody cuts covered in yarrow to stop the bleeding as well as many other herbs and flowers blended nicely are now placed in a pot with boiling water over a hot seeping fire, a wooden tray with fresh honey, sugar and butterfly pea flower petals lays beside me and I start to place pieces of ice from a few biomes over on Bdubs bruises, he slowly shivers awake. I can see that he is looking at the moss bed and rhubarb leaves under the spot he lays and I now see him look at me, his eyes look confused and they shine at me I feel as if he is speechless at the moment.

he starts to lean towards me and he pulls me into one of the most heart felt and strong hugs I've ever been given he just lays his head into my shoulder, "thank you" he whispers, I just sit there hugging him back I don't exactly know what to do but I just cant seem to let go something just feels familiar.

"I was trying to find you, I just knew I needed someone like you on my team but I didn't expect to find you like this" I say quietly while chuckling but he still doesn't look up.

a few minutes go by and we finally get up and start walking around the forest as the sun slips away from the sky, we talk and talk about what ever we can including the odd days in this game and how its different then the other seasons as well as our ally's and who we might be able to trust, soon enough everything goes quite and he starts up again in a different tone.

"i was looking for you"

we continue walking but he just looks at me, why me? why was he looking for me? did I do something? I question and wonder off into my thoughts but I snap back when he hands my a tiny bouquet of wild flowers

he slowly looks down and starts to slowly talk again "i feel this way every season... i always want to be around you. its like i NEED to be around you even if we are not teamed". he spits as he tucks himself in to his sweater all embarrassed.

"really?" I just question I feel a little rosy as he continues to ruffle out but I cant help my self but saying that I was looking for him as well.

we sit down at a flowery river side and just look up, "I love you, you know that right? and I think more happened between us in previous games but I don't remember".

"why do you think more happened, what do you think happened between us".

"because I feel as if I love you like your oxygen, you are someone I know even if I cant remember how I know you" i fumble out.

"I think we know each other better then we remember to because I don't think I would want to kiss you if you were just a person I could trust", my heart jumps a little as he turns to me placing his hand behind my ear into my hair and he pulls him self in close to my face, we just lay there and the thing I've been waiting for him to say finally comes out of his mouth.

"want be my partner?"

"of course, lets go home"

[i-am-still-bb]

No. 28

“We might not make it to the morning; so go on and tell me now.” | Bloody Knife | Sacrifice | “You'll have to go through me.”

Pairing: Fili/Kili Rating: T Universe: Book Words: 2066

-

A/N: I haven't read The Hobbit in quite a while, so the sequence of events and the timing between them, etc. may not be accurate to the book.

-

The tunnel smelled strongly of dragon. Kili had not been expecting the smell. Fire? Yes. Claws? Yes. The smell? Absolutely not. It was like rotting meat and overturned earth. There was also the smell of smoke, but he had been expecting that smell. And it was not the main thing that you could smell. 

Everyone had laid out their bedrolls along the passage way. They were uncomfortable being too far from the hidden door and the crack of light that let in fresh air and a little bit of day light, but the exposure of it made them uncomfortable as well. And if they went deeper into the tunnel then they were closer to the opening that lead them into the throne room where Smaug lay curled on his hoard of gold while brooding and plotting. So they were situated nearly half way to between the two ends. 

They had to be quiet because any sound they made echoed down the tunnel. A kicked stone, a hissed curse made them all freeze. Waiting. Listening. To see if Smaug had heard them, if they were moments from discovery. When there was no rumbling or glow of fire they would relax enough to lay down or return to whatever hushed conversation they were having. 

Desiring some privacy there was some distance between different groups of them. Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur all sat together, talking, and sleeping as a group, while Oin and Gloin were bunked down with Ori, Nori, and Dori. 

Fili and Kili had set up their bedrolls some distance away from the others. Bombur snored and neither Fili nor Kili could sleep well if they were still awake when Bombur fell asleep.

Right now they were all waiting for Bilbo to come back with word about what he had seen and heard in the throne room. Some were sleeping, but Fili was slowly but steadily sharpening his swords, knives, and axes. They all started on his right side. And, when sharpened, he would set them down on his left. He was nearly done with the small pile by this point. 

“What do you think is going to happen?” Kili asked. 

Fili’s hand paused its continuous motion. “I don’t know, Kili.” He started running the whetstone down the length of the sword again. “There’s still a dragon to kill, so I imagine there will be fighting at some point. 

Kili sat down and scooted so that his back was against the smooth stone wall. He was impressed with the care that his ancestors had taken with crafting even this small hallway that was not meant to be used by many. They could have easily left rough edges, and an uneven floor, but Kili had looked and had been unable to find anything that could cause you to trip in the dark, or a chip in the wall that could slice open a finger as you felt your way along. He could not help but compare it to the halls of Ered Luin. He missed those halls. He had longed for their rough warmth more than once in the past months. But Erebor was something else entirely. If they were successful. If they reclaimed the mountain then things would not be the same. And there were bound to be good ways, but also bad ways. 

He probably would not get to see those halls again. Amad would travel with the rest of their kin to Erebor to take up residence in the halls of their fathers. 

“Do you think that there are enough of us?” Kili asked hesitantly. “We’ve never fought in a battle. Thorin, Dwalin, and Balin did, but that was a long time ago.”

“Gandalf seemed to think that fourteen was the right number.”

Kili hummed.

“What do you think it will be like if we do manage to evict Smaug the Terrible?”

“I think there will be a lot of work at first,” Fili replied.

Kili nodded and watched Fili’s hands continue their work while he spoke. 

“Obviously there will be a lot of cleaning to do, repairs to be carried out, furnishings, dealing with the hoard of treasure won’t be the least of all those tasks. I imagine Thorin is going to want the Arkenstone found as quickly as possible.”

“The Right to Rule.”

Fili nodded. “Then there will be dealing with the land around the mountain. Sorting out what to do with the ruins of Dale. Then there will be the political aspects of it all, Lake Town, the Elves of Mirkwood, and anyone else who lives nearby.”

“What about us?”

“I imagine we’ll be busy.”

“Yeah…” Kili trailed off, trying to think of how to phrase what he wanted to ask. What about them? What about their futures? Clearly living here was going to be very different from living in Ered Luin. There would be a great deal more pressure, a lot more expectations, more people watching and commenting on their actions. 

What about marriage?

Kili had never really thought about that before and, therefore, had not been bothered by the prospect of either of them marrying. But now, with Erebor, nearly within their grasp, the thought bothered him. Fili had been just his for so long. And the prospect of having to share Fili with another, much less multiple others of Fili had children with whomever he married, was… discomforting. 

“That’s not really what I—” Kili started to say.

He was distracted by Bilbo running down the corridor at full sprint, his cheeks pink, and he was breathing heavily. Everyone took notice, some standing up, others remaining seated, but their attention was clearly fixed on Kili.

“What’s happened?” Thorin demanded.

Bilbo was bent nearly double, hands on his knees while he fought to catch his breath.

“Smaug…” he gasped.

“Figured that much,” Dwalin growled. 

Bilbo saw the sliver of light at the end of the tunnel where the door was still propped open. “We should close the door.”

“What! Why?” Many of them exclaimed at once. 

Then they all heard the rumble and rush of wind as Smaug took flight via the main gate. They all looked at one another, their eyes wide with fear and surprise. Smaug had not left the mountain in nearly 60 years, or so they had heard. 

“Please shut the door,” Bilbo pleaded. “I fear that he will see it and know where we are.”

“But then we will be trapped in the mountain!” 

“With no way out!” 

“We’ll be stuck in here with Smaug until we either starve or he eats us.”

“Please!” Bilbo repeated. “You were not there—”

“Shut the door,” Thorin ordered. 

“But,” Nori started to protest. 

“Now,” Thorin barked. 

Dwalin and a few others went to the door and managed to heave it back into place. It closed with a sharp crack. And they were left in complete darkness. Kili had thought the air had been close, thick, and stuffy before, but without the fresh air and light from the outside it quickly became worse. 

They all stood in silence in the pitch black. Kili had never been comfortable with this level of darkness. He knew his eyes would eventually adjust and he would be able to see a little, but it had nothing to do with sunlight, starlight, or moonlight. And Bilbo’s eyes would not adjust to the same level, he would be left in the pitch black darkness of the pungent tunnel. 

The roar was closer.

Then the earth shook. 

Kili grabbed for Fili’s shoulder. 

“Kili?”

“I’m okay,” but Kili’s voice shook. There was the distinctive sound of metal on metal while Fili quickly returned all of his weapons to their sheaths. Fili knew each weapon by touch and worked quickly. 

The earth shook again. This time knocking some of them from their feet. Kili caught himself on the smooth wall. 

“Away from the door!” Thorin shouted.

There was the unmistakable sound of stone cracking. 

The plink of small stones that preceded a landslide. 

Fili dragged Kili down the tunnel by the placket of his borrowed jerkin. There was the metallic sound of at least one of Fili’s weapons being left behind on the floor of the tunnel as they ran. Kili was nearly jerked from his feet by Fili’s speed even before the next earthquake hit. The earth shook so violently that none of them were able to remain standing. 

“Keep moving!” Fili’s voice came from behind Kili, though how he had ended up there was a mystery.

“I’m trying,” Kili said before the moving earth pitched him sideways and then forward on to his face. Fili’s hands were on him, checking. “I’m not hurt,” Kili assured him, answering the silent question. 

Then it stopped. As quickly as the earthquakes began they ended. 

“Is everyone accounted for?” Thorin shouted from the front.

“More or less,” Bofur grumbled.

“Yes.”

“But we lost any of the supplies that we had brought inside.”

Everyone was present and accounted for and other than bumps and bruises, and a bloodied nose everyone was uninjured. 

“What exactly happened with Smaug?” someone demanded of Bilbo

And Bilbo told them.

… Smaug sticking his head in the hole

… the fire he had unleashed that had singged the back of Bilbo’s calves. 

A few of the dwarves went to check on the tunnel’s entrance. But it was thoroughly gone. Everything had been smashed and there was the scent of smoke even though there had been nothing to burn anywhere near the door. 

Kili wondered if dragon fire could melt solid rock. And he wished Gandalf was there, because he would probably know the answer. 

“That’s just great,” Nori grumbled. “We’re trapped between a cave in and a pissed off dragon who is interested in what Hobbit tastes like and is still willing to eat Dwarf even though he’s tired of it.”

“We’ll stay here and wait,” Thorin said authoritatively, interrupting any discontented grumbling. “Smaug might not come back. If he does not then we will find our way out through the treasure chamber.”

“And if he does come back?”

Thorin did not answer. 

They all settled down in the dark, overly warm tunnel to wait. 

“What were you going to say before?” Fili whispered. The tunnel echoed at this point, and the sound of the others’ breathing filled their ears along with the rumble of Bombur’s snoring, and Bofur’s cursing when he woke his brother every few minutes only for him to fall back to sleep shortly after waking. And then shortly after falling asleep he would start snoring again. 

Kili shook his head. “I’ll tell you later.”

“We might not make it to the morning; so go on and tell me now.” 

Kili swallowed hard. Then he reached for Fili in the dark. He could now see the outlines of Fili’s face, the broad gestures of his features in the dark. And the longer they were underground without any light, the more detailed his sight would become. 

“I just… I…” Kili struggled to find the words. 

Fili did not say anything. He listened and waited.

“I…” 

Fili squeezed Kili’s knee. Kili covered Fili’s hand with his own. 

“I love you,” Kili said so quietly that he could barely hear his own words over the sound of his own heart beating.

“I love you, too.” Fili replied. 

“Not like that—” Kili started to explain.

“I know.”

“You do?”

Kili could see the line of Fili’s jaw and his quick smile, and the glint of his eyes when he looked past Kili for a second. 

Fili kissed him then. 

Kili made a small surprised sound before he could stop himself. Fili’s lips were warm and soft, but there was a pressure to the kiss, and urgency. Fili’s beard rasped against Kili’s skin. Kili moved his hands to keep Fili close. He had stopped thinking full sentences or even anything coherent the moment that Fili’s tongue touched his lower lip. His fingers caught Fili's braids, tugging and tangling them. 

“Like that?” Fili asked on an exhale when they parted.

Kili nodded and took a deep breath. “Like that.”

Fili dropped his head forward so their foreheads were touching. 

Fili started to speak then, his fingers dancing on the neckline of Kili’s shirt. But his words were interrupted by Thorin starting to rouse the company. It had been a night and most of a day. It was time to move.

-

Taglist

Everything: @silvermoon-scrolls @metztlilua @i-am-pinkie

Fili/Kili @dubhlachen

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[lily-thesuriel]

Some Thoughts post ACOSF and pre HOFAS

I have just finished my re-reading of the Acotar saga and I come to make a "brainstorming" of data and ideas that I want to put down in writing before HOFAS

there is a lot of repetition of the dates "more than 10000 years ago" and especially in Acosf "since 15000 years ago" I suppose that they will be to match the dates of the world of Acotar with the world of CC, although there are certain things that do not fit at the moment.

There are several data that change from ACOWAR to ACOSF , why ? Because I believe that they will be relevant in the future, these data are (that I have seen) 1 that in ACOWAR Lucien does not arrive until the lake of koschei but in ACOSF it is said that yes he has arrived / 2 the recap of what happened in Sangravah / 3 the subject of Illyria and the difference between the teaser of ACOFAS and the first chapter of ACOSF

to this day I still don't understand Rhys's "you-always-have-a-choice" behavior in ACOSF, sorry I don't

The secret winged baby and Renesme 2.0 plot continues to be horrible.

I do not understand how people do not shipe Vassa and Jurian, simply with the phrase "do not call her queen that goes to her head" (not the literal phrase, I'm writing from memory do not eat me) I'm already sold, I can understand the ship of Jurian-Vassa-Lucien, I do not share it but I understand it but leave out the banter that has Vassa with Jurian? No,sorry

I don't want Rhys as High king, and I don't know why I think that because of the decline of Tamlin that it will happen.

Bryaxis hello ??? Where is he? He appeared in ACOFAS and then was never heard from again , and who or what was he before he was Bryaxis ???? Fionn??

I need to know the full story of Eris, I need to know what she hides, right now you tell me that ACOTAR5 is from her POV and I'll be happy to read it (very unlikely I know).

Why the carved beasts of hewn city are the same as the "beast form " of Rhys and at the same time are the same as the Hounds of the Great Hunt ?? And why is no one talking about this? I need answers

Narben, where are you ??? (maybe it is Danikq's sword ???)

Nesta can still use the 3 trove ???? Yes ? No? Will Elain use them ? Will Bryce use them ?(I think so ) what will happen when the 4 troves are united ????

The shipons and invoke stones work with firstlight, that "pure" and raw magic that the Illyrian have is actually firstlight, are they a failed experiment of the Daglan/Asteri ? Yes

Daglan= Asteri

Enalius died in a battle against the Daglan trying to protect Ramiel's black stone (or monolith), what is that???? Whyyy?

Ramiel is hollow (and has the Daglan palace??)

Touching Ramiel's stone when winning the great rite heals all the wounds of the one who touches it, Emerie's wings are healed ???? Will she fly again? I hope she will be healed (by Ramiel stome or by Thesan) because she said she was in pain from time to time.

The only thing this fandom agrees on is that Mor and Emerie are going to end up together and they haven't even spoken to each other (that we have seen) just because Emerie called Mor beautiful.

Controversial topic, I understand partly the Elriels. Does Azriel like Elain? Yes, in Acosf that is clear, in Acofas it is intuited although he still likes Mor. Does Elain like Azriel ? Yes, she does. Now I think they will end up together ? No. Why? Because of the scene in Acosf where Az says that the troves have a darkness that Elain shouldn't get close to and Cas responds but Nesta should ? (Not literal phrases, I'm writing without looking at the book ) sorry but what I like about the Maas guys is that they give you options, do you want to do something dangerous ? I don't really like it but if you do I support and help you , the ultimate example of this is Rhys. If you take away that possibility of choice for me that couple loses all appeal (that's why I haven't put up with Rhys half of Acosf) now well if the book ends up being Elriel ?(Which I don't think so and as of today I don't want to ) congrats to them, sure Mass makes me fall in love with their story too. (But at the level of the overall plot if what was said in 2021 is maintained, that the two remaining books of acotar were to be narrated each by a couple, it makes no sense that acotar5 is Elriel because then the trilogy closing ? Whose is it? Lucien's and Vassa's ? And you spend the last book (confirmed for the moment) without any POV of the IC, sorry but it does not attract me at all)

Elain, I really want Elain Book i need her Pov, I still think that Elain is going to end up with his mate ? Yes, that Elain doesn't want anything to do with Lucien ? Yes too. Why do I think they will end up together ( and that their story will be a sort of marriage of convenience / force proximity ) because when Cassian reveals his mate bond to Nesta, Nesta resents the word Mate because it would mean giving up the last of her humanity, Nesta. Now imagine the trauma of Elain who not only didn't want to be Fae but was also engaged and the first thing she learns is that she has become FAE (and therefore goodbye to her life as a human ) and that she has mate (which takes her away from her engagement ). To me Elain doesn't reject Lucien because of her persona, but because Lucien means accepting 100% that she is FAE and I think that's something Elain has not yet done.

Maas highlights interactions where Gwyn and Az appear and does not highlight any interaction between Az and Emerie (compare the two scenes when they go to cut the ribbon) why does she do that ? Well, let everyone draw their own conclusions

ACOTAR 5 : Azriel +gwyn

ACOTAR 6: Elain + Lucien ( koschei dies here , in charge of killing him Elain and Vassa )

Characters that I think are going to die in this saga: 1 Helion (sorry I love you but you have all the ballots to die ) 2 Amrem and Varian, I explain myself, I think the IC is not going to survive whole again, I think Azriel and Cassian are not going to die, Mor has a story to tell (from what is sensed in Acofas and Acosf) and the novella I think will be hers, so the options to die are Feyre and Rhys (who could because they already have an heir, but Mass loves Rhys so I doubt it) and finally Amrem who I think is the one who will die (this time for real) and Varían will also die because separating lovers is very cruel.

Sorry for any mistakes english is not my first language