#(i imagine it is one thing she and lance have in common)

[cool-and-grizzled]

keith and making friends with ppl other than lance or shiro, requested by @mementomary (i didn't forget, the keith fic just had me in a chokehold lol), so here's some pidge and keith bonding, enjoy!!!

When Keith walks into the common room, it's to Pidge curled up in the corner of the couch, her small frame looking even smaller than usual - her legs drawn close to her chest, her cheek resting on the top of her knees as she stares unseeingly out the small window.

He gently sits next to her, not wanting to startle her. He doesn't know what to say to her, and he's not sure she'd appreciate any kind of talking now, so he just pulls up a book on the data pad he brought with him, and starts reading it.

Eventually, Pidge turns her face towards him. "I really miss Bae Bae."

"Bae Bae?" Keith asks, lowering the data pad.

"My dog. He's a grey pitbull and he would get his face stuck in a yoghurt container and walk around like that."

Keith smiles. "He sounds fun."

"He is. One time he tried to come inside with a stick three times his size and then got surprised he couldn't fit through the door," Pidge says, a small smile on her face. "Another time he saw Matt stomp on the ice on a lake and he tried doing the same thing, but he slipped and fell."

"That sounds like something that would happen to Lance," Keith says with a snort.

It draws a small chuckle out of Pidge, finally a grin on her face. "Lance would definitely be one of those high-energy border collies."

"Imagine having to deal with that."

They lapse into a silence, and Pidge slowly unfurls, leaning against his side, her head falling on his shoulder. "He's already kinda like that."

Keith just hums, because in a way she's right - Lance is a whirlwind, but he's also someone that keeps the team together, rounds them up one by one until they're together, and only then will he settle.

Moments later, the doors burst open, and Lance marches in with Hunk in tow, already talking a mile a minute, gestures wide.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Keith says, his tone flat.

Pidge snorts, but looks at him with a small, grateful smile. "Thanks, Keith."

[kidge-planet]

lil fanfic :)

It was a quiet, uneventful day aboard the Atlas. No emergencies, no alien threats, no missions—just the steady hum of the engines echoing through the hallways.

Around 12 AM, most of the paladins gathered in the dining area for lunch. Well… almost all of them. Pidge and Keith were noticeably absent.

“What’s the deal with Mullet and Pidgeon skipping lunch today?” Lance asked as he dropped into a seat next to his girlfriend.

“I’m pretty sure they already had lunch earlier,” Hunk replied, casually, as he started on his plate.

Lance choked on his water. “Like a date?!” He joked.

He looked caught somewhere between laughter and pure gossip interest.

Allura smiled, looking up from her food, “It’s not the first time they’ve eaten together.”

“Right!” Hunk chimed in. “Do you remeber few days ago, when that space octopus attacked? They were eating together before it happened. Looked like they were having a pretty animated conversation—until Nadia and Ryan interrupted them for that movie interview thing. Keith immediately shut down again after that.” He took another bite of his food, chewing thoughtfully. “Honestly, it was kinda cute. I was baking nearby, and she was rambling about something technical while he just sat there, listening with a stupid grin. At first I thought it was because he didn’t get what she was saying… but now I think he just enjoys listening to her talk. Adorable.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Lance cut in. “Am I the only one who didn’t know they’re practically orbiting each other like that?..”

Everyone else nodded.

“I saw them in the common area the other night,” Shiro added. “She had her screen out, and he was just sitting beside her, quiet. Not doing anything. Just… there. With her.”

There was a brief silence as they all reflected on that.

“Sounds like something’s going on,” Allura said softly. “Though I doubt Keith even realizes it. She could be holding his hand, and he’d probably think she just needed help balancing her tablet.”

Lance sighed, shaking his head. “He’s hopeless. He really is.”

“Do you think we should interfere?” Hunk asked, only half-joking.

Shiro chuckled. “No need. They’ll figure it out on their own. If Keith doesn’t make the first move, Katie will. Besides, we're just assuming things right now...”

“That wouldn’t be very romantic…” Allura frowned lightly. “She might not look like it, but I’m sure that kind of gesture—being asked out by the guy she likes—would mean a lot to her.”

“Maybe,” Hunk said with a nod. “But I bet she wouldn’t mind doing it herself if it means finally getting there. As long as they end up together.”

Everyone fell silent again, the kind of silence.

With these two, they figured It was only a matter of time.

(took them 3 years to finally get together, everyone thought it wasn't going to happen after all, since during these years, nothing happened. Everyone went to their own lives, so it was complicated to imagine them ever getting together now... Let's say they still managed to surprise everyone.)

[lukedanger]

Owlcatober - Day 5 - Forgiveness (WotR)

Fifth day of @owlcatober

[Ao3 Link]

“I thought you’d be celebrating with Arueshalae.”

Elaina looked to the side, grimacing as she had to lower her right wing to see properly. Seelah, with two bottles in hand, one of which was already uncorked.

“Who’s to say we haven’t already?”

The other paladin chuckled, settling down on the ledge next to her. The army - both the celestial reinforcements they had brought to Iz and the mortal one they had managed to extract from the ruined city - was camped around a small plateau which was used as its center. The Sword of Valor flew proudly above, alas still not returned to Iomedae’s colors and crest even as it bathed the camp in heavenly light.

“So, that’s a second demon lord to your tally,” Seelah continued as she handed one of the bottles to her. 

Elaina gave the common ale a quick sniff, then took a drink. “You say it like I was the only one fighting them. The Holy Wardens contained Baphomet, and I seem to recall Deskari being brought low by a couched lance while I was pinned against a building.”

Seelah shrugged at first, loudly thanks to her plate harness, but smiled. “It’ll be a good story for the next fair, then. Might even be a good painting one day.”

They fell into relative silence, especially in contrast to the rest of the camp in various states of good spirit. Some of it were happy songs and reunions, others were in joyful tears as celestials walked among the crusaders again, and in strength rather than just the Hand’s select company or those summoned by clerics.

One angel was coming from the camp, clad in black robes with bronze trim, a halo like a north-south compass overhead as he (they?) glided over the ridge and landed several meters past them. Both paladins looked back and saw that they were striding towards the Sword of Valor. Or, perhaps, towards the former inquisitor kneeling beneath it.

“Balisse, right?” Seelah asked as she turned back.

Elaina nodded.

“Guess he needs a lot of forgiveness,” Seelah shook her head. “Speaking of that - are you really burying the hatchet with the Queen?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I remember how angry you were in the Abyss,” Seelah explained as she leaned forward. “Even with my own problems I could tell it hurt. You don’t have to actually forgive her, even if you gotta play politics.”

“I know,” she admitted, feeling her new wings flap in anticipation. “But what she said, back at the library? That was the last few pieces.”

“Come again?”

“You’re right, it did hurt. I had looked up to her since the abbey - we all enjoyed imagining ourselves a hero like her, Yaniel, or Zacharius. I had archived it away with all the other ‘what if’ dreams I had as a child, then, well,” Elaina held out her free hand, the light of Lariel’s sword materializing for a moment.

“You actually got to do it,” Seelah nodded as the light faded. “So, what she said about destiny and duty was what convinced you?”

“Somewhat,” Elaina admitted as she took another swig from her bottle. “Do you want me to walk you through it? It might be the easiest way to explain it.”

“Do I need to get Nenio first? For the Encyclopedia, of course.”

Elaina chuckled, “Maybe, but I’m sure she’ll pester it out of me later if she wants it.” The paladin sobered up. “At first I couldn’t understand it. What had I done wrong? Was it because of how I was trying to reform the Crusader ranks into something more cohesive? Was it Konomi, especially after she told me to treat Konomi’s words as her own?”

Seelah nodded along. She was well familiar with Elaina and Konomi going head to head over the Isger issue or the Knight-Commander endorsing the Royal Council, and how Sosiel’s suggested compromises were barely keeping things from escalating. The possibility that Galfrey had actually been in agreement with Konomi?

“In the end, you saw what she tried to use. Arueshalae and the Sword of Valor. As if the mission itself might not be enough to warrant it, temporarily. If we ever came back. I started to think the queen was more concerned about her own power, just like the Royal Council or the noble families. About being right rather than doing the right thing.”

“So what changed?”

“Something Yaniel said - that Galfrey was still much the same decades later, but broken. As if the decades had worn her down.”

Elaina took a long drink from her bottle. This was getting to the heart of the matter.

“You started to feel bad for her, didn’t you?”

“Somewhat,” Elaina admitted, “but I think what I really started to do was ask how she could have ended up like that. Started trying to see what I was doing from her perspective. Started thinking about some of the older brothers and sisters at the abbey, and how worn they were. How much worse is it for someone who has seen generations grow up and die under the shadow of the Worldwound? And without victories like Drezen along the way?”

“I get it: she was tired, then we showed up and yanked the rug out from under her, didn’t we?”

“Exactly. All while she was still stuck in the same rut of holding Mendev together while someone else won all the victories. And you know as well as I do how people refuse to consider keeping the Abyss contained a form of victory.”

“That’s the jealousy she mentioned,” Seelah was catching on now. “And after decades of just going through the motions, something in her snapped? She tried to step up again, but couldn’t as long as we were there. As long as you were Knight-Commander.”

“That was the last piece that put it all together. But I was already prepared to forgive her, because…” Elaina finished the bottle. “I would have been no better in her place. I hope I would be better, but if I had to go through the same thing? If I outlived all my friends and only had followers left? I probably would have made the same mistake.”

Seelah stayed silent, unsure of what to say in response to that. She settled for finishing her bottle as well.

[normiematsu]

concept for angel killer yumemi ^_^ the au i have thought the most about storywise! she's an angel in training who gets corrupted by choro. i made a playlist for it here that serves as a moodboard/audio version of the whole story when you listen to it chronologically! i need to type up a proper retelling of it and create real ref sheets but have some unformatted thoughts/minificlet below...

yumemi is an angel in training tasked with learning more about how humans live. unfortunately for her she ends up at choro's cathedral and he's immediately able to clock her as an angel. even more unfortunate is the interest he takes in her...

shes super trusting and willing to put aside any suspicions she has about choro since she likes him. gets scolded a lot for not being that great at hiding her own identity - what would everyone think if they saw her wings!! her halo!! humans aren't ready to handle that - so choro keeps her close by. she's like a lost lamb that dutifully follows him around the cathedral, never openly questioning the odd things that happen when they're out of sight from the congregation. she thinks there's a lot to learn from him, a man so willing to teach her about humanity, while not questioning how little he shares about himself...

eventually she figures out he's belphegor and despite feeling betrayed she abandons her mission and decides she's going to save him, no matter the cost! love always wins!! she genuinely thinks she can fix choro and he's like... "do you know who i am? what i am?" for a while lots of fighting ensues. shes not that strong though so all her threats fall on deaf ears, and he knows she doesn't have it in her to put her lance through his heart. (he kind of wishes she would tho, since he's a demented freak)

choro could kill her so easily. he's never met someone with so little common sense... he can't imagine her ever completing her mission or being in charge of anything important... so he decides to start up his own little game. testing the limits of how much he can get away with. before he knows it, he's already claimed her soul, not thinking of the consequences...

and then one night he gets too riled up and accidentally kills her during one of their fights. he didn't even mean to do it, honest! suddenly he's hit with the realization he wasn't quite ready for their game to end... he's toyed with keeping undead humans around before, but they never lasted long after reviving them. he's never resurrected an angel but he figures it's worth a shot trying. the result is... not quite what he was expecting.

he manages to get her revived, but not as an angel - she's some strange and twisted thing fresh out of purgatory. violent. bloodthirsty. she wants nothing more than to get revenge for what he's done! even in this state though she's not powerful enough to finish him off, not like she could anyway since he'd just regenerate... begging god for forgiveness gets her nowhere either. she's committed an unforgivable sin by abandoning her mission and knowingly pursuing a relationship with a demon.

choro takes great pride in telling her she wasn't his first plaything, but he didn't think she'd be his last - and now she's bound to him for eternity...

[xoxogeorgiegirl]

ive returned from the war so. FOR THE GET TO KNOW YOUR FIC WRITER ASK GAME THING!!!!!!!!!!

13. 16. 20. 23. 40. 54. :D

13. a common writing tip you almost always follow

Show don't tell - it IS good advice but i overcorrect occasionally....as they say in chicago first section fell victimmm to it i fear but I'd already committed...

16. how many fic ideas do you have rn + share one

Oh good lord okkk uhh. I counted these the other day and motorsport wips added up to 14ish... ANYWAY share one: pierresteban why women kill au! inherent toxicity of 1960s hetero childhood sweethearts ft career woman este and a bunchhh of incredibly random side characters giving notsohelpful advice (and background yuri lance/esteban. I could nawttt write the sequel to my femslash fest fic without any femslash.. just on principle)

20. any patterns within your fics? words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Glaring at you rn.. making me out myself on main when you knowww this one... anyway I have written and published no less than four murder fics, which isn't a lot but is statistically unlikely when you look at the amount of published fics i have. With that said in terms of settings I also loveee writing fuckoff rich people aus (although in motorsport they kind of are just. wealthy lmao...)...just truly horrible people with money doing nefarious things <- makes the logistics of murder easier to figure out if bribery is an option

23. best writing advice for other writers?

ummmm. not reallyyyy advice but like personally it is ALWAYS better to have something written down even if it's trash. like I can spend ages dismissing sentences staring at a blank page but it truly helps sooo much to just have a reference point of even an absolutely terrible sentence and work from there

40. if someone were to make fanart of your fic, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

i have better answers than this but truly georgie in galex r63 au.... specifically that one scene where she wakes alex up with "her hands on her hips and her hair tied off her face with a bandanna like a 60s housewife".... it's suchhhh a vivid mental image to me

54. your favourite part about the fanfiction writing process?

the scenes where things just CLICK in my head and it's sooo easy ... my fics are almost always written off the back of one specific and vividly imagined scene that lives rent free for a few days

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Beautiful Blood -- Sadistic Vampire Whumper Keeping Human Pets part 14

TW: violence, blood drinking, intimate Vampire whump, death, forced servitude

It was a while before Asher came back to his senses, and the first thing he became aware of was the bite of metal cuffs digging into his wrists, holding him up with his arms stretched to either side. He groaned, his fingers twitching as he regained mobility, terror seizing his heart. He couldn't be here again... the terrible place he'd been kept on his first day...

Blasting pain wracked his whole body, stealing his breath with every slight movement. Each breath hurt like daggers stabbing his lungs and throat from all the screaming, and blood crusted in his nose, which fortunately wasn't broken anymore thanks to his gift.

He could feel every bruise, every ache lancing his battered body. He must have been unconscious for quite some time, he realized, because his stomach rumbled hungrily. That must be partially why he was healing so slowly. His regenerative abilities sapped a lot of his strength, and he had to eat frequently to have the energy to support and fuel the healing process. Otherwise his powers ran out of steam and wouldn't heal him anymore. He flinched when the door to the prison room swung open, and Nyx herself came striding in, flanked by two servants carrying rags and bowls of water.

"Ah, you're finally awake," she said flatly. "I was worried for a minute there I might have accidentally killed you." She chuckled as though she'd made a funny joke, smiling like a viper. "I did warn you on your first day here, that privileges can be both given, and taken away." She wagged a mocking finger at him like a parent punishing their disobedient child. So degrading. "That was pretty bold of you, attempting to take my immortal life. It's as admirable as it was stupid." She gestured to her humans.

"Get him cleaned up and presentable, I'm having a visitor over later who paid a lot to see him, for exclusive access."

Asher shuddered, his gut twisting violently at the thought. So now he was being rented out to other vampires who wanted a taste of his blood? It was sickening to imagine.

Nyx left her servants to their work as they approached him, dipping their rags into the bowls of water before gently dabbing at the blood on his skin.

Asher cried out and twitched in pain every time he was touched, and the servants winced sympathetically. The whole process was pure agony for him to endure. He was only half-conscious when they finally finished, his head and body drooping forward against the restraints with exhaustion and pain as he let himself drift off to sleep. He knew he'd need the rest to face whatever horrors were waiting for him in the near future.

He awoke with a jolt the instant the prison door opened again, recoiling from the harsh light that bathed him, a startling contrast to the pitch darkness he'd been kept in. When his eyes adjusted, he saw that Nyx had brought a friend who had the same characteristic silver eyes that she did, giving him away as another vampire.

Asher knew what was coming, and he shivered apprehensively.

"This... This is the regenerate you speak so highly of?" The man asked skeptically, eyeing his scar-marred skin, his unassuming appearance. "He doesn't look like much."

"Looks can be deceiving, Darius," Nyx said with an eye roll. "Never be too quick to judge. You paid me a handsome sum, and I'm giving you what you asked for. One feeding." She pointedly emphasized the 'one', as though she were worried Darius might forget it.

Darius stepped up to the front of Asher and roughly grabbed his chin in a calloused hand, staring deep into his eyes for a long moment with a calculating expression, as though trying to read answers straight from his soul, examining him like one would a priceless artifact, or a common animal for sale. Like an intriguing specimen.

"Hmph. It better be worth the price," he muttered, half to himself. He ran a finger along the side of Asher's neck, finding that precious pulse point, before tilting Asher's head back as far as it would go, uncomfortably and painfully so that he was staring at the ceiling.

Asher squeezed his eyes shut in dreadful anticipation, swallowing hard and bracing himself. He felt so vulnerable, so exposed, completely helpless.

Unlike Nyx, there was no warning, no sign before the piercing, agonizing pain of sharp fangs plunging into his throat. Much rougher, more needy than even Nyx ever was. Which was remarkable, considering how violently she treated everyone around her.

The pain exploded through Asher's whole body, and he gasped loudly, squeezing his eyes shut tighter, hands twitching feebly against the restraints holding him in place.

Darius started to drink in large gulps, too fast to keep up with. It was barely a minute before Nyx stepped in, placing a firm hand on Darius' broad shoulder, noticing Asher losing strength too fast for comfort. "All right, that's enough," she ordered.

But Darius only clamped down harder with a greedy, possessive growl, blood-hungry instinct taking over and overriding reason and rational thought. Asher groaned, slowly going limp.

"Hey! I said fangs off!" Nyx wasn't known for second warnings. A short dagger appeared in her hand, and she pressed it against Darius's own throat, hard enough to draw a thin line of vampire blood. It worked. The prick of the blade was enough to snap him out of it, and he staggered back from Asher, chest heaving and pupils heavily dilated.

"You... weren't kidding..." He panted.

"I already told you, I never lie when it comes to business," Nyx snarled, angrier than ever. She turned and brushed light fingers over the fresh puncture wounds in Asher's neck, examining them, noting that they weren't healing fast like usual. "I don't think I'll be doing business with you again in the future," she said flatly in a clipped tone, swiveling back to Darius.

"I bet a larger paycheck would fix that," Darius answered with a crooked smile, licking blood from his fangs, looking delighted and greedy.

"No. You're finished. I'm not letting you near my prize again. You are dismissed." Nyx stood her ground and shot Darius a fiery glare that could wilt the petals off of roses. Full of fury and wrath, how DARE he almost kill her pet. Only Nyx herself was allowed to bring Asher that close to death, because she knew she could consciously stop herself from drinking too much. She'd gotten much better control over her thirst with practice.

Darius looked like he was about to argue, but another venomous glare from Nyx silenced him, and he slunk dejectedly out of the room.

Nyx had some more servants come and make sure Asher would live, they helped feed him and gave him water, a huge relief from the torment Asher had been through. After getting food, his gift finally started working again, slowly healing him bit by bit until he was fully restored, aside from some new scars.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

Masterlist

[eternclsunshine]

🤍 whatever you have the muse the answer + feel free to add anything else <3

Did any of Gemma’s acquaintances try to slide in Dakota’s DM’s to poach him from her? Who would possibly be the hardest person for him to win over? How do her siblings feel about their relationship?

Has Camille let Fallon meet any of her family members, or is it all too complicated? Would any of them be invited to the wedding or even know that they got engaged in the first place? Would Camille avoid Fallon’s?

Adonis and Valeria are more low key, but do they have people in their business? How would she feel about him not wanting his family involved in his life? Athena would try to at least be cordial, but would Valeria be too uncomfortable to even try?

send 🤍 + a ship for any random thoughts, headcanons, & worldbuilding !

the worlds longest post ever under the cut <3 lowkey wishing I’d broken this up into separate posts lol

Gemma & Dakota.

surprisingly, no. at least no one within her inner circle. if anything, some of her friends (and random opportunistic acquaintances who'd jump out of the woodwork) would probably just approach gemma herself and be like "hiiiii love <3 does your boyfriend have any friends or teammates who are single??" or something like that. if anyone tried to poach dakota it would most likely be girls who she has beef with, but she doesn't know bc she's not checking on them LOL

the hardest to win over is her older sister audrie, who is basically a mom figure for gemma. audrie is very much aware that gemma cycles through boyfriends quicker than outdated fashion trends, and that a lot of them have been douchey and not very good to her. dakota is definitely the poster boy of what gemma's into - hot, rich, athletic, fuck boy tendencies, etc. audrie sees right through that and isn't exactly moved or impressed by him, and automatically assumes his intentions are bad. she'll be cordial and polite with dakota, but she's not jumping at the chance to get to know him. it’s nothing personal, she just doesn’t want gemma to get her heartbroken.

when gemma first told her family about her dating dakota, they thought she was joking. the yoons don't exactly follow sports, but they've seen him on a nike ad or in the press once or twice so the name and face was somewhat familiar. but when gemma showed them actually proof / when the news broke out they were more so “oh okay. wtf?” . and like I mentioned earlier, audrie isn’t the biggest fan of their relationship. she thinks it’s full of power imbalances and doesn’t trust if dakota really cares for her sister. lance is usually whatever about whoever his sisters are dating, especially when it comes to gemma who’s rarely ever serious about her boyfriends. he has a neutral to positive opinion about dakota but doesn’t think they have anything in common or anything to talk about. I can imagine an interaction between them being like “oh I’m learning a debussy piece–” “is that a gay sex thing?” “? I think that’s *a* bussy. debussy is a composer” “ok man” lmfao

If / when her dad meets dakota, he’d be a fan and get along with him well! he doesn’t really follow sports or pop culture, so he’d treat dakota in a refreshingly human manner. doesn’t focus on the celebrity aspect of things and just sees him as “a nice kid”. mr yoon is honestly just a dork and doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

Camille & Fallon.

oh god lmao. so I constantly have this headcanon in my mind that when fallon and camille first started dating long term, she told her mom (angelica) about it and she was just soooo passive aggressive and the tiniest bit dismissive. like “I’m happy you found a friend” and constantly referring to fallon as camille’s friend for the longest time. so camille wasn’t even thinking about introducing fallon to her family members at all. with the drama between her dad and siblings too, she just wasn’t doing it. they would be invited to the wedding out of politeness, but one or two members probably skipped it. ever since they got married angelica loves to be so fake and call fallon her “daughter” and the most over the top tryhard comments ever. she probably wants to / tries so hard to be fake best friends with estelle too.

I feel like camille actually does have a soft spot for the castillos and mostly likes them, mainly estelle and manny. she thinks of them as very extra but thinks they’re genuinely good people underneath the flair. has a very neutral opinion on benito, neither dislikes or loves him. as a whole she likes them better than her own family and doesn’t mind spending time with them.

Valeria & Adonis.

okay so let me preface this with my own personal headcanon: I feel like prior to meeting Adonis, Valeria had some crossover with Zeus Entertainment. I’m sure her management wanted her to sign a publicity deal through them to make her a big name, but she declined because she isn’t into playing dirty or tarnishing other artists (unless it’s personal). so I wouldn’t be surprised if iris and elijah (possibly athena) have something against her. though I believe she didn’t know Adonis was connected with them until he told her about it.

the only people in their business are likely just paparazzi looking for any damn story. potentially even people looking for adonis.

after hearing about the history between adonis and his family, val understands where he’s coming from and respects his decision to be no contact. based on what she knows she wants no part of them in her life either. athena is someone she can work with though, as long as she’s respectful enough not to get the parents involved or generally stress out adonis.

plus she has plenty family of her own to share and spend time with <3 even though her family doesn’t speak much english, they like adonis a lot and think highly of him. her parents surely tease adonis a lot (lovingly) and have a cute spanish nickname they call him by. her siblings are also a fan of him, but wishes he’d talk more or be more involved. generally favorable opinions of him though! they’d be happy val finally found someone who isn’t completely toxic.

[like-sands-of-time]

All right heres the thing that's been bugging me since I watched season four.

I love morgana in season one. I find her introduction absolutely fascinating. She feels like a very important character, but we don't know how yet. I love that we see her picking fights with Uther from the first, for it to all culminate in her attempting to kill him by the first season finale, all in a way that is so believable and sympathetic to me (and Merlin) that I was honestly hoping Merlin would just, slip on one of those hills and watch her kill him, because we now know three characters who wouldnt mourn the loss of the king. Who are angry at him for the unforgivable things he's done even recently. At that point arthur is most willing to work with magic and common men, and morgana (with Merlin) have had a clear impact on his growth as a man. I love that.

I... Don't see the rest of the shows arc (s3 and on) as believable for who she was then. I'm sorry but either she was caring about the citizens of Camelot and their suffering, or it was all a lie, that doesn't go away just because you're angry at one guy. I'll leave that alone, it's for another time. BUT. even if they wanted to show that dragons have free will and could befriend who they wished, regardless of dragon blood, I still don't think the entirety of that season makes any sense.

Why would Merlin have hatched the egg right then if he wasn't willing or able to raise the hatchling? They said multiple times the egg would last. And if Kilgharrah wasn't willing to raise the egg why did he convince Merlin to do it. It what world would the characters of Kilgharrah and Merlin as we know them at this point just leave an infant dragon to do it's own thing anyway? Let alone go work with a sorceress they believe to be evil consumed. That.... Doesn't make sense. Not even in a tragic but realistic way, it just simply doesn't make sense to me. Merlin could have safely put the egg where Kilgharrah used to be imprisoned if no one visits there, or Kilgharrah could have found another cave or safe place to keep it. Those make sense. Hatching it only to both leave and forget about the child doesn't really make sense for either of them?

The writers wanted morgana to have a dragon ally, be an equal to Merlin visually in their ultimate fight, and I get it....... but make Aithusa choosing morgana make sense. Develop their relationship in any way..? And while we're at it make morgana trying repeatedly to kill Arthur make any sense because it the show I watched I never saw any reason for her to want anything other than 1) uther dead and 2) magic free in Camelot once more. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. You can't have characters just Do Things because you want them to happen lmao that's not how people work.

This show loves to tell me instead of showing me. I know what they want me to think because they make it glaringly freaking obvious but I'm sorry .. you have to actually develop character arcs or relationships (whether it's between a dragon and the main villain, or Arthur and Guinevere, because sunbursts and cute music isn't doing anything for me lol. They didn't even develop lance either. She had two love interests shown to us and we just have to use our imagination I guess.

Idk, write morgana to be the darkest, cruellest, most insane bitch you want that's fine with me. It's all medieval fanfiction but ... It has to be plausible. Give me any reason at all why bbc morgana hated Arthur or Camelot or Gwen or anything. Do tragic, do.. "she was always meant to be against him" if you must, but also? It's all fanfiction so have morgana being Arthurs sorceress .. powerful just like Merlin but in her own way and they're both loyal to Arthur.

[obstinaterixatrix]

For the fic ask game! 18+6 in general, and 25 x 3 from fics of your own choosing

6. How did you decide what tense and POV(s) to use?

I generally default to third person present unless there’s some kind of meta element I want to toy with. I feel like it’s a lot easier to figure out past/present/future tenses from that starting point, whereas starting from past tense it can be harder to keep track of past tense (current) and past tense (pluperfect/past continuous/etc whatever).

As for what point of view character, it ranges from ‘barely a decision because the fic inherently needs to be from this character’s perspective’ to ‘going back and forth writing snippets of scenes from different perspectives to find out what works’ but in the end, the decision’s made based on what perspective drives the fic the furthest and the easiest. I might be swapping a pov of a wip to see if it goes further..

18. Talk about your editing and revision process

I generally don’t write in a way where I do major revisions, I usually have a Very Specific Idea about the atmosphere and the intention I have for a scene, so it’s more about filling in gaps and fine-tuning something. I remember a while ago I had a foxskull fic where the emotional cohesion wasn’t working out, and air was like ‘I think it’d make more sense if there was conflict here’ & while they were right about that as a possible solution, and while I love conflict, I was like. no. I think what ended up happening was pushing the vibe to more extremes, like cautiously defusing an emotional bomb.

If I can, I like getting a pal who can read over and give notes on what works and what doesn’t. I like thorough notes on atmosphere and phrasing and pacing, and I need the positives to be pointed out so The Agonizing Process Of Being Edited is offset. Which is a pretty common experience of editing preference, I’d imagine. If I’m writing in isolation it’s easy for me to lose focus and motivation, but fortunately I’ve had friends who were willing to hype me up as I dragged my corpse over the finish line… there’s no way I would’ve finished night flowers without liz or april lol

25. Share your favorite line (x3)

I never like just one singular line so I’m gonna change it to ‘section’

from as it turns out, dying isn’t the romantic gesture you might think it is

Despite being explicitly told not to get involved, Shang Qinghua involves himself for a couple reasons, neither of them flattering.

Reason number one: jealousy.

Listen. It took years for Shang Qinghua to close the gap between him and Mobei Jun, to get them from an undefined relationship between strangers… to an undefined relationship between acquaintances. And that was fine. That was great. Who could ask for more, especially from someone like Mobei Jun?

Shen Qingqiu, apparently! In less than a day, fucking Shen Qingqiu swooped in from nowhere and usurped what Shang Qinghua had built over the better part of a decade! Who wouldn’t be bitter!! Who wouldn’t go mad!! Fuck!!

Reason number two: desperation.

I liked going all in on stupid bitter jealousy and resentment and then figuratively switching to the next powerpoint slide. I think I’m hysterical. In general, mo/shang is where some of my funniest writing is

from “I can’t stay” and other lies to tell

The thing about being a blindingly competent genius with a very specific skillset is that everyone wants to use Han Sooyoung in completely inconsequential ways. It’s a waste. It’s overkill. It’s as insulting as buying a sword from a master craftsman and using it to chop vegetables.

“I’m not editing your essay,” she says, looking up from the three sheets of paper that Lee Gilyoung had shoved into her hands.

I love when sooyoung is annoying <3

from reprise, refrain

“Then it sounds like we’re all on the same page!” Lance claps his hands together, clearly pleased with himself. “All we have to do is get in the cat-stack and we’ll be fine, right?”

this is buried in a vld gen fic which means hardly anyone would’ve seen it. I still really love lance describing voltron as ‘the cat-stack’ and it’s one of my favorite lines I’ve written for him even though I’ve for sure written much more overtly funny lines for him.

[tc-doherty]

Book One | Chapter Five

Index | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Tag list: @bloodlessheirbyjacques @magefaery @did-i-do-this-write @marrowwife @rainbow-snow-writes @muddshadow @outpost51 @full-on-sam @bluberimufim @unclear-contributions @talesfromtheunknowable @guessillcallitart @flowerprose

(Ask to be added or removed)

Patrice's impassive attitude vanished as soon as they arrived at the edge of the estate.

Overnight the grounds had changed. Colorful tents had sprouted across the ground like wildflowers, stretching from where they stood all the way back into the meadows, only stopped by the tree line. The space between the tents was full of knights, squires, and horses; of busking bards, of peddlers attempting to sell their wares, of nobles hurrying to speak to knights before the tournament began. The air was full of noise from every direction, the music, conversation, and sounds of armor and horses merging into a wall almost as solid as the castle itself. Faced with all this, Patrice could only gape.

Maria smirked. "I told you it's an important festival, and even commoners get to come! A lot of craftspeople come too, hoping to catch the eye of a noble patron."

"What sort of things do they sell, these craftspeople?" Patrice asked, glancing around her. She could scarcely keep her eye on one thing, there was so much to look at.

"Oh, a bit of everything," said Maria. "We ought to come down here later and buy fabric to make you some dresses of your own. Come this way." Maria chattered on as they made their way down the makeshift streets.

Patrice stared at the tents, which sold every kind of good imaginable and many which she could not have imagined. There were blacksmiths, which made sense for the horses, but also goldsmiths and silversmiths selling jewelry. There were cloth makers and dressmakers, potters and painters, glass workers and leather workers, and things Patrice couldn't even name in her borrowed human tongue.

Children and animals ran around the feet of the adults, weaving through the crowd like fish swimming through seaweed. Everywhere people yelled, trying to be heard over their neighbors.

"How does anyone ever find their way around this mess?" Patrice asked as they skirted a gaggle of shoppers and walked past a corral of destriers being readied for the matches. She could barely distinguish herself through the muddle of half understood conversations all around her.

"Knights are at the back, arranged by where they're from," Maria explained. "Naturally the vendors will be in the front because they want as many people to see them as possible, but after that you'll come to the local knights, the wanderers, and finally the foreign knights at the end."

"So we must walk through all of this?"

Maria nodded. "I heard from one of the duchess' ladies in waiting that the Serzek knights are farther away than any of the others and the duchess isn't happy about it. She started a row but it didn't accomplish anything."

“Serzek?”

“Oh, Lady Patrice...” Maria shook her head.

"Dragons are simply dragons," Patrice said. "We do not make things so complicated."

Maria pulled her aside to let a squire with an arm full of painted lances run past. "We're in Runeria. Dame Felicity is from Serze, which borders us to the Northeast. Both countries share a border with Juska."

It was Patrice's turn to shake her head as they marched back into the flow of traffic. "What does Juska have to do with Felisjyta? And this duchess?"

"Everything!" Maria punctuated the importance of the statement by throwing her hands in the air. "They've been acting up on our border, just minor skirmishes but that could easily change. Lord Vincent, second in line for the throne, is engaged to Duchess Rosalie – her Runerian name of course – who is sixth in line for the Serzek throne."

"So Felisjyta came here with the duchess?"

"Yes, along with about fourteen other knights. They've been here about a year. There will be a wedding and alliance, just in case."

Patrice sighed. "Dragons don't have rulers, or borders."

"There's more humans in this city than there are dragons altogether," Maria said with a laugh. "Of course it's easier for you." She patted Patrice on the shoulder. "Oh, I think this is it."

Patrice had no trouble picking out the difference as soon as they crossed over into the camp. The knights here talked and joked in their own language, unless they had to speak to a Runerian. If draconian words tasted of smoke and fire, and Runerian words felt like cotton in her mouth, then Serzek words surely burst across her tongue like ripe cranberries – each one distinct, sharp, and just a little bitter. Patrice had gotten a hint of it with the few words Felisjyta had spoken before, but now it washed over her completely, and the experience was just as overwhelming as it had been the first time hearing Runerian. She wasn’t sure this language was any better than the former.

Maria did not give her time to find her footing with the new language. She took Patrice's hand, and pulled her through the camp until they reached a small tent decorated with green and blue stripes.

Felisjyta stood outside the tent crooning to the dapple mare. As they approached the mare snorted and tossed her head. Felisjyta glanced up with a scowl on her face, though it changed to a grin when she saw who her visitors were. "Hello Patya. I didn't think you'd come."

Patrice stopped where she was. "Patya? I have only begun to accept Patrice."

"My apologies." Felisjyta gave a small bow.

Patrice couldn't tell whether it was meant to be mocking or not, so she ignored it. "May I approach? I have no wish to frighten your horse."

"Don't worry," said Felisjyta, slapping the mare on the shoulder. "Our mountain horses aren't as finicky as these high-strung Runerian beasts. Just give her this." The knight reached into an apron wrapped around her waist and tossed a chunk of carrot to Patrice.

Patrice caught it easily, but did not move forward. "Prey animals rarely like me," she warned.

"Just hold your hand out like this with the carrot." Felisjyta held her hand out palm up, completely flat, for demonstration.

Patrice did so and took a step forward. The mare rolled her eyes and flicked her ears, but did not move. Patrice stopped again.

"It's all right," Felisjyta repeated.

Patrice wasn't sure if the knight was speaking to her or the horse, but she took another few steps, stopping just close enough for the mare to reach the treat in her hand.

The mare considered for a moment, and the two of them stood there studying one another. Then greed got the better part of her caution and she stretched her neck as far as it would go to snatch up the offering. Her whispery lips tickled Patrice's hand as she took a snack. She only waited a moment before bumping her nose into Patrice's hand, looking for more.

"She's too greedy to resist a snack, no matter who offers it."

"She's so soft!" Patrice said, patting the horse's nose gently. Felisjyta bobbed her head in agreement, a small smile on her face. "But if the other knights are riding destriers, will she be able to keep up?"

Felisjyta laughed and Maria, who had been standing by awkwardly as the two women conversed in Serzek, jumped. "No one breeds better horses than us," Felisjyta said, and gave the mare an affectionate pat on the rump. "You don't have to worry about my little Vasya here. But you didn't brave the crowds to talk to me about horseflesh."

"I came to give you this," Patrice said. She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, white with red lace sewn around the edges. A few small crumbles of stone came with it – the tiny dragon was vanishing already.

Felisjyta raised her eyebrows but took the cloth. "What's this supposed to be?"

Patrice gave a sigh. "Maria said that the knights joust under a lady's favor and if I did not find someone to bestow it on, someone undesirable might try to claim it." She shrugged and continued to pet Vasya's nose. "I would give it to you before any other."

"I would be honored to take it," Felisjyta said with another small bow, "even though I am aware I'm the only knight you actually know." She slipped the folded handkerchief into a pocket on her apron. "But you should go if you want a decent seat, and I only have an hour to finish getting ready." She winked and turned back to her horse.

Patrice looked at Maria and switched back to Runerian – perhaps it was less pleasant after all, but still easier for her to speak due to practice. "I think I will need your help to get to the arena now."

"It's this way," Maria said, pointing back through the crowd. Then, after they rejoined the masses, she spoke again. "I didn't know that you spoke Serzek."

"Dragons understand all spoken word," Patrice said with a dignity that belied how chaotic that understanding really was. Nothing her mother had told her had prepared her for the reality of it – suddenly finding hundreds of words in her mind, only loosely connected to any real meaning or anything she already knew. But perhaps it was easier for true dragons, perhaps that was just one more aspect that her heritage made more difficult for her.

Maria did not need to know about that confusion. She seemed suitably impressed just by the bare facts. "You dragons really are incredible, huh?" She asked cheerfully, before

turning her attention to finding an easy path to the arena.

"Indeed," Patrice said, with the same dignity as before. But Maria, focused on practical matters, was no longer listening.

Maria waited just long enough to make sure that Patrice was seated comfortably before vanishing as if she had never been.

The stands were small sets of padded wooden seats which gave a raised view of the arena. Each set was covered with a cloth awning, so the seats were nearly as brightly, chaotically colorful as the tents. They ringed the arena completely, several feet back from the sand. In between the seats and the sand, common people were standing, ready to watch. A wooden fence stood at the edge of the arena to keep the spectators from spilling out onto the sand.

Already they were beginning to settle in, both in the stands and on the grounds below. Now Patrice could more readily tell the difference between the nobles and the common folk. The common women wore kirtles even as she did, and kept their hair in simple styles – braids or queues under their veils. The noble women wore the more complicated dresses that Patrice had refused, dresses with tight, heavily embroidered bodices and wide sleeves nearly as long as their skirts. Their hair was pinned and sewn into complicated styles and heavily decorated. Common men wore short tunics and knee-length trews over their hosen, though they did not tuck in their tunics as Felisjyta did. The noblemen wore longer tunics, but no trews, except for the knights. Noblemen and women alike covered their faces with paints and powders to make sure they stood out.

A heavyset woman dressed in white and gold sat down directly to Patrice’s right as she was contemplating these differences.

The stranger spoke. "What an unusual sight."

Patrice looked at her, then to the crowd, and finally the arena. She saw nothing that a human would consider unusual.

"I meant your dress," the other woman said, not deterred by Patrice's lack of response. "Hardly fashionable, but I suppose young things like you can prance around in anything they please."

A man and his friend sat down to Patrice's left, cutting off her escape route. She was beginning to regret telling Maria that she could leave. She sighed. "The other clothing is too complicated for my taste." Her words were polite, but cold.

The woman did not seem to mind this either. She pulled a fan out of her pocket and snapped it open. "Fashionable women follow the queen's example," she said. "To truly be a lady of the court, you must never be late in appreciating what the others appreciate. Though I suppose not everyone would be interested in such things. Fashionable or otherwise, you could stand to fill out your dress a bit better. As they say, a well bred woman is a well fed woman."

Patrice narrowed her eyes at this insult to her appearance. "Who are you?" She asked, without bothering to try and hide her annoyance.

The woman let out a little titter of laughter as she fanned herself. "The day is already quite warm enough without you growing so heated. You will never survive here at this rate."

Patrice gave up and turned back to the arena. However the woman only let things lie for a few moments before interrupting her thoughts again.

"I'm Countess Elizabet, my dear. And you, I know, are Lady Patrice Drake. Forgive me, I could not resist an urge to tweak your tail, as it were."

"Wise humans know better than to do so," Patrice said. "Foolish ones rarely get a chance to learn." She did not look up while she spoke. She was watching the two knights below, who were just now taking their places at either end of the sand.

Their horses were both destriers, one blue roan and the other a shining gold bay. The mounts wore barding, perfectly shined, and caparisons in their knight's colors: the blue roan in navy and silver, the bay in green and white. The knights wore gambesons in the same colors and the armor they wore over it was highly ornamented with paint and metal foils – much fancier and less practical than the armor knights had worn to fight her mother.

She did wonder why they appeared to be bare headed, as in all her experience knights had always worn helmets. She could see that one of them had more common red gold hair tied into a small tail, but the other one had much darker brown coloration. Not as dark as her, but he still stood out.

Elizabet did not rise to Patrice’s implied threat. “I suppose a dragon wouldn’t have attended any jousts before? Dreadful sport, but it’s one of the only times that handsome young knights pay attention to old women like me.”

Patrice did not respond.

"I look forward to it each year," said the countess. "I can't turn down going to the feast with a young man on my arm. I suppose you are fetching enough even given your race, I imagine that you had several knights after you, hm?"

"I gave my favor to Dame Felisjyta."

Elizabet tittered again and fanned herself. "Well, I suppose no one would expect a dragon to understand the rules under which civilized folk live. I'd be more than willing to teach you, my dear. After this season is over you simply must come stay with me in the country."

"The season?" Patrice asked. She had heard that several times, but no one had explained to her what it meant. Elizabet did not explain it either.

Trumpets blared and all the gathered nobles stood. Patrice followed their example, and their gaze. The royal family had arrived, and were taking their seats in a much fancier stand at the closer end of the arena.

Patrice hadn't seen the royal family before – her arrival at court had been handled by a steward, and she hadn't yet attended any of the court dinners. The queen and king-consort were both on the portly side. The heirs, five in all, took strongly after their parents – tall, broad, pale, and blonde.

The duchess stood out from them all in stature and in fashion. Patrice didn't know which of the two royal sons was to be the duchess' mate, but even the younger of the two stood taller than she did, causing her to look less like a person and more like an elaborately decked doll. While the duchess did wear a court gown, she bypassed the more typical necklaces for strand upon strand of white and blue beads – so many that her neck was hardly visible. Her copper hair hung down in a loose braid, and she wore a ribbon around her head hung with strands of glimmering gems which sparkled whenever she moved. As no one else wore anything similar, Patrice assumed this was some sort of Serzek fashion. It seemed hardly more practical to her than anything else humans did.

Trumpets blared again as the royal family sat, and the nobles followed suit, eyes now riveted on the field. The creak of leather and clink of metal signaled that the knights had mounted. Now, as the knights put on first cowl, then maile, then helm, did Patrice realize why they had not worn them before. It was merely another method to try to avoid the heat.

The roan and bay destriers trotted out into the sand. They were impressive specimens – large, well fed, and groomed until they shone. They could kill a human easily, but stood as docile as lambs under their rider's control. From that, Patrice could tell that these two were among the best of the best, even if their being selected out of hundreds had not.

A small man clothed in white and scarlet livery stood up at the opposite end of the field from the royal box. His voice did not match his size, and Patrice could hear it as clear as if he stood right next to her.

"Sir Rothert of Sonern, fighting with the favor of her royal highness, Princess Emilia." He gestured to the knight closest to Patrice, the dark one riding the blue roan. The knight gave a half bow in his saddle and the crowd erupted into cheers.

"Sir Johan of Berker, fighting with the favor of Marquess Helle Rook." Here he gestured to the blonde knight on the gold bay, who also bowed. The cheer for this knight was just as intense.

The little man dropped his hand, and the knights moved to take their places on either end of the barrier in the middle of the arena.

The crowd held its breath.

"Start!" He said.

Both knights spurred their horses. The destriers threw themselves into a gallop. Sand flew and seats vibrated slightly from the force of hooves pounding against the ground. Both knights lowered lances painted in their own colors.

As they reached the middle of the arena the lances made contact.

Johan's lance hit right on the center of Rothert's shield, and shattered in a spray of wood chips and paint. Rothert's lance hit toward the top of Johan's shield, then slid up to land a ringing hit on the other knight’s helm. Both men teetered slightly, but kept their seats and reigned their horses back around. The big beasts pranced and shook their heads, and the knights took a short respite while squires fetched them new lances and cleaned the field.

"What are they attempting to do?" Patrice asked.

The countess sighed. "Ideally they want to unhorse their opponent. Barring that, the one with the most broken lances will win," she said. "A joust can also end in a duel by sword, which these two will probably do. They love the theatrics more than the jousting."

"I see," said Patrice just as the knights took to the field again. Now she understood the metal breastplates. Gambeson, maile and leather would protect from most slashes and stabs, but probably wouldn't hold up against this kind of foolishness.

This time both lances broke, and Johan came dangerously close to losing his seat.

On the third pass, only Rothert's lance broke. Both knights dismounted, and enthusiastic cheers rose from the crowd.

Countess Elizabet sighed again. "These jousts used to be serious wargames, but the rules have changed in recent years. Every season they become more dramatic and less realistic. Duels didn't used to be part of it all." She fanned herself with more force, punctuating each phrase with a swish of silk. "If both dismount, that's a duel. A tie will lead either to a duel or a fourth pass, it's up to the knights."

“Mhm,” Patrice responded, watching the duel. The jousting had not been overly exciting, but there was something in watching two humans fight one another afoot. She had seen fighting before, but only when knights were fighting her mother and that hardly compared to this at all. Her mother, she thought, certainly would've enjoyed this. She leaned forward to get a better view.

"They're far too dramatic," Elizabet said as the duel dragged on past the five minute mark. "I seem to recall that they’ve been in trouble before for rigging up their fights a certain way. Only together, mind. Against other knights they aren't nearly so...excitable."

"So they do it on purpose?" Patrice asked. She was still watching the strange sport – so like the way dragons danced and play fought in the air and so completely different at the same time. The movements were different, but no less graceful. The ring of steel on steel was different than claw on scale, but just as musical. There was a rhythm to the fight that tugged at her heart and made her blood dance.

Elizabet’s reply pulled her out of her hypnotic fascination. "To the shame of their families, I'm sure," she said. "That's why they’reat the beginning now, so only one gets a chance to compete. Last time it was Rothert, so he will let Johan win." She fanned herself idly for a while before speaking again. "As I recall Johan is engaged now, but even if he does get married to that backwoods country lord, I'm sure that he'll always show up in time for this. I don't know why the royal family let's them get away with it."

Patrice tuned the countess out as she continued to witter on about the personal lives of people that she neither knew nor cared about. She only wanted to watch the fighting, but even as Elizabet was speaking the duel drew to a close. It went as the countess had predicted it would.

Johan disarmed Rothert with a flourish that Patrice was certain had been much more dramatic than necessary. The spectators cheered the two knights as they bowed to each other and the royal family. The two men collected their materials and left the field to the next combatants.

Index | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

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[violasgamingpalace]

Been theory crafting a version of Three Houses where Byleth makes the route choice at Chapter 12 instead of the prologue, and as part of that imagining the students picking their professor instead of the professor picking the house they want to teach. This is my attempt at figuring out your starting class. Wanted to keep characters similar to their canon personalities. (not the biggest three houses nerd so let me know if you disagree on placements)

Hanneman's Class

Linhardt- Crest research

Edelgard- crests research

Hubert- follows edelgard, but hanneman also knows reason magic.

Claude- Hanneman because he figures he'll learn the most secrets that way? (I'm sorry but no way he picks Byleth, merc knows NOTHING)

Hilda- follows Claude

Annette-Has a support with Hanneman?

Mercedes - Wants to go Hanneman to be with Annette

Ignatz-is here to be a Knight and Hanneman could help with that???

Manuela's Class

Ferdinand- looks up to Manuela

Dorothea- looks up to Manuela even more, obvious choice.

Lythesia- no to hanneman for crests, She likes Faith, so Manuela.

Lorenz- Noble man wants to go Hanneman, but does have support with Manuela? And means he can be with Ferdinand.

Dimitri-goes Manuela to follow Ingrid/Sylvain

Ingrid-manuela, I guess? No knight professor

Sylvain- Manuela? I guess? He has a support and does auto-join F/Byleth. Sylvain wanting to see boobs brings the Blue Lion friend group along

Caspar-Manuela, but just to have a place to be

Byleth's Class

Petra- Sword connection, and dont think petra REALLY would learn much from other profs?

Bernie- too anxious to sign up, so ends up with Byleth

Raphael- forgets to go to signups, Byleth it is!

Leonie- Byleth for sure. Jeralt connection and she wants to be a Merc.

Dedue-Wants to go Manuela to Follow Dimitri but the school said the class was full (Feels vaguely racially motivated)

Felix-Byleth no question

Ashe-no Knight professor, but Ashe is just happy to be here, doesnt really care about professor.

Marianne- Horse girl wants to go with Hannerman but crests are to blame for going Byleth

Things I like- Wanted the Byleth class to feel like the weirdo group with very little going for them, and thats def this class. Everyone is either anti-social, a commoner with low expectations, or racially marked as other. Now white clouds focuses on you replacing them by recuiting the elite of fodlan society teaching to your student's strengths and making them capable.

Three black Eagles in class ensues that Byleth will have to fight their old students if they go on most routes, and if they go Black Eagles they'll still fight old students they taught

Ashe in class for Lonato Chapter

Things i dont like- skill proficiency wasnt set up with this in mind. While we have 1 tank and 1 mage, no one else can REALLY be trained as a reason mage, we have fourish archers, twoish lance users, two speedy sword users (three if ashe goes thief!), and a lot of units that want to go riding.

Its really hard to imagine Dimitri being so casually cruel to Dedue. Maybe we get a scene where Dimitri heroically sacrficies hanging out with Sylbain and Ingrid so Dedue can be with Manuela for a bit?

Edelgard and claude in the same class despite their total lack of connection. But! Edelgard and Hilda in the same class? Let us see how much Hilda HATES edelgard. It would be funny.

[plethoraofpokegals-archive]

“What’s wrong, @champofpallet? Are you having a stroke? Speak English Japanese [PokemonVerseAssumedCommonLanguage]!”

[pansy-picnics]

how did unknighted dream react to varian coming out/bringing home hugo lol

LMAOOO OK so this is one of my favorite things ever solely bc theres SO MANY different ways it can go and literally all of them are fucking gold

i feel like they always knew varian was Not Straight. im a big fan of the idea that varian transitions after qfad and has a big mental breakdown haircut when his dad gets trapped and considering his feelings towards both eugene and cass i think it was always this unspoken thing all of them knew about. rapunzel and eugene however were obviously Not expecting him to bring home a whole ass boyfriend

of course varian wrote tons of letters home so they both heard everything about the new friends he was making, but varian was insistent on not telling them ANYTHING about his crush because god knows how rapunzel would react if she found out about That. she was suspicious when he came back for the light trial but decided to keep her mouth shut until they were all finished with their work there

i love rapunzel and eugene being super supportive but also a Little protective. and its not really anything to do with anything hugo’s done, they’re all about second chances after all but they’re obviously not ready to see their baby brother grow up so fast. ive seen a lot of fics where one or both of them are very defensive and suspicious towards hugo and it ends with a VERY yummy confrontation from varian where he tells them they need to learn that he’s an adult now and is able to make his own choices and they have to be okay with that. but the route of them being so excited and supportive that it ends up being overbearing is also super funny and in character

i think rapunzel at first would be super excited varian is finding love, and very welcoming towards hugo on a surface level- but as time goes on the tiniest things start to make her paranoid, and she worries a lot about varian getting hurt in some way. cue her snooping around a lot just to make sure he’s okay, varian eventually confronting her about it and her apologizing and promising to recognize varian’s maturity and be more accepting of his choices.

when rapunzel actually starts to see hugo on a deeper level she starts to recognize a lot of his similarities to varian, eugene, and especially herself, and she’s now basically like “oh ok!!! new baby brother!! :)”

she then tries to be a lot more welcoming towards hugo, trying to help him settle into the castle without being too overbearing. of course from hugo’s perspective her seemingly constant mood swings make him very hesitant to trust her, but eventually through varian the two are able to bond and find a lot of common ground

eugene on the other hand is fun bc he’s way more versatile and it can go a LOT of different ways depending on how they’re introduced or how their past together is established. i love the idea of him basically becoming Cass 2.0 and being super overprotective of varian but i also like to imagine he’s mostly just so hostile towards hugo bc he recognizes so much of his younger self and is Cringing about it (he would literally NEVER admit it though). like he’s like “i cannot STAND that kid he always acts so cocky and like he’s sooo much better than me” and cass is like “lmao yeah right? he’s exactly like you when you first came here” and eugene’s just “😐”

anyways they’re best friends (they literally cant stand each other)

no they do start to get along eventually though and i have so many thoughts about the potential friendship between the former thieves, lance hugo and eugene would be SUCH a dynamic and this fandom is sleeping on it fr

and then theres cass. GOD cass is my favorite in this situation by far bc shes way more logical and is like the only grounding force between rapunzel and eugene. new dream are the overemotional parents/older siblings in this situation and cass is like. the wine aunt.

bc see cass already ran into varian at some point during his journey and has already processed most of these changes ahead of time. she already recognized how much varian had matured and how much this trip had changed him. and most importantly she recognized what was going on between him and hugo a Long time ago and literally Did Not Care

in fact cass’s main concern is literally just that she thinks hugo is annoying. its not like she’s suspicious of him at all bc she fully trusts varians judgement and also knows varian is capable of handling himself. she’s aware that varian clearly saw something in hugo and chose him for a reason. she just doesn’t like him solely out of personal bias

cass doesn’t straight up tell raps and eugene what the problem is because she knows they need to hear it from varian more than anything but she does try to kind of push them in that direction. she reminds them like “hey maybe you should try to give the kid more credit. i think he knows what he’s doing” yk that kind of thing.

ironically enough though hugo is WAY more scared of her than he is of anyone else. shes like on the same level as quirin on his list of threats which is hilarious because they are the main 2 people who have like, basically nothing against him

hugo: so is this the part where you tell me you’ll kill me if i hurt varian

cass: ? what?? oh no that bitch is fully capable of killing you himself if he wanted to

hugo: …….yeah thats fair actually.

[pansyparkinsonsworld]

THE LONE WOLF AND THE LAUGHING DRAGON

Rhaella was the youngest daughter of the King, Viserys I Targaryen, and his wife, Alicent Hightower. At the age of twelve, Rhaella was sent to Winterfell for a betrothal to the young Cregan Stark.

CHAPTER ONE: the winter kiss

Rhaella bowed down, before the Northman, looking a little taken aback by how massive he looked. He was as tall as she had thought, but he was too tall. "M-my.." She stuttered. "My young Lord to be.."

He raised a hand to halt her as she began to bow. "My Lady, there is no need for bowing. I am nothing more than a common lord, one who is only concerned about the safety of the realm." He paused for a moment before asking his next question. "Lady Targaryen?" He assumed she was who she was. "Am I correct in assuming that you are a Targaryen?"

"Yes, my Lord." She smiled. "I am that of Princess Rhaella of House Targaryen, third born daughter of King Viserys and Queen Alicent. Princess Rhaella Viserra of House Targaryen."

His eyes widened slightly when he heard her full name, before nodding and smiling. "I see, it is an honor to meet a Princess of House Targaryen." He hesitated for a moment before asking the question he so badly wanted to ask. "If I may be so bold, Princess, may I ask you a question?"

"Yes, my Lord." She nodded, as she stepped forth. She only wore a black dress, topped with a thick fur coat that almost buried her face. "Any question would be preferred."

He was silent for a moment, thinking to myself as he looked at the Princess. Finally, he spoke up. "This is a hard question to ask, but…do you control a dragon? Are all Princesses of House Targaryen bonded with dragons?"

She hesitated, before nodding. "Yes.. What can I call you? You are not yet a Lord, as you are certainly not of age.. We have an age difference, you and I. A slim difference of a year and two moons."

He paused for a moment. "I am Cregan Stark." I said simply. We were both too young to truly need titles, so perhaps it was better this way. "You can call me Cregan, if you would like."

He paused for a moment, unsure if he should ask about the dragons. Would a Targaryen Princess be too offended if her answer was too honest? But he felt he had to know. "What is your dragon's name?"

"Silverwing, that of the late Queen Alysanne's mount." She smiled. She placed a hand on Cregan's long brown hair and giggled, as she touched it. "Your hair.. It's.. beautiful, my Lord. I really like it,"

He could feel his face start to turn red as she started to touch his hair. He was not used to having a beautiful Princess of the Targaryen dynasty pay him attention, and the contact of her hand in his hair only made him blush more than he already was. He stuttered for a moment before getting it out. "Y-you think so? Your hair is beautiful as well."

"I really think it is beautiful, Cregan.." She whispered, her voice low. The winds blew, and Rhaella's hair flew to the right, and she giggled. "Gods!" She giggled. "Thank you for the compliment, Cregan." She smiled at the end.

He smiled as she giggled. He had not really had many interactions with girls his age, so this was a big thing for him. He was almost completely flustered as he spoke. "W-well, it is true." He stuttered. "I can't imagine many girls who have better hair or who are more beautiful than yourself, my lady."

She took Cregan's rough hands to her soft ones, and she looked at his hands. "Gods, what is of your hands? They look rough, and.." She noted. "Have you come out of training? M-my brothers usually have hands like these when they come out of training.."

His face turned even more red as she held my hands. She was right, his hands were rough, and his fingers were scarred from a lifetime of swords and shields and bows and lances. He held up his hands and looked at them. "A lifetime of fighting, my lady." He nodded. "I learned to fight as soon as I could walk, as every Lord of the North does. We are born warriors." He squeezed her hands. They were so soft. "Have you been training as well?"

She shook her head. "I am not allowed to train with a sword. Only my brothers can.." She explained. "I do not mind. My septa says that I knit well, especially by the fire."

He smiled and nodded. "Knitting can be very calming, I am sure. It is never too late to learn the sword though. I am sure your father would allow you to be trained in the blade for self defense should the need ever arise." He paused as I looked at Rhaella. "Would you want to learn, my lady? I would be happy to teach you if your father were to allow it, and if you wanted to."

"I have asked my Father, the King." She explained. But she laughed. "Mother had forbidden me from ever touching a blade or a lance. Helaena thinks of it as horrifying, given that she's rather.. fragile."

He shrugged. "Your mother does what she feels is best for you. That is all any parent may hope to do, but to know how to defend yourself might one day be vital. If the dragons were ever to die out, then the Targaryens would need to be able to defend themselves, just as everyone else must."

He smiled and squeezed Rhaella's hand again. "But if you aren't interested in that, then perhaps I could teach you to ride? We Northerners have many wild horses that you can only find in our lands. I bet I could find you a beautiful filly from the stables."

"I have my sworn sword, Cregan." She giggled. "And I have Silverwing, why would I have a need to ride a horse?" Her sworn sword was that of Ser Clatton of House Vypren. "Is there a silver filly, though? I might want to look at that.."

He grinned as she mentioned her sworn sword and her dragon. She was right. What would she need a horse for when she had the most dangerous beast in the realm? "I suppose you are right." He nodded. "Would you like to see some horses, though? I have plenty of fine breeds in my stable, and I would love to take you on a ride through the woods around Winterfell. I imagine you have seen nothing as grand and beautiful as the Godswoods, have you?"

"I have not seen the Godswoods yet, but.." She took a breath. "I am sure that it is beautiful, as you claim it is." She smiled, and looked at the Stark. He was only three-and-ten, and her.. two-and-ten.

When she smiled, his heart skipped a beat. Was it really possible that I had such an effect on the beautiful Targaryen Princess? She was a Targaryen! And from what he had seen of them, most of them were rather cold and aloof. However, Rhaella seemed to be as warm and gentle as the summer.

He smiled widely, and squeezed her hand once more. "It is beautiful. The old trees there are massive, and the roots of the trees are like the fingers of old gods themselves, sprawling below. It is beautiful and peaceful, and I would be honoured to take you there."

"So, take me there." She giggled, placing a hand on his heart. "Take me to the heart of Winterfell. I want to ride a horse with you, it seems like fun."

He blinked in surprise for a moment, but then he nodded and chuckled. "Of course I will, my lady." He squeezed her hand once more. "And I assure you it is a fun ride. There is no animal as majestic and beautiful as a horse. They are swift and they are strong. You shall enjoy it."

He leaned in a bit, whispering in her ear. "Would you want to ride alone?" he asked. "My guards can keep their distance, and we can have…privacy."

Rhaella's heart fluttered, as he leaned in and whispered. "I would love to ride with you, Cregan." She whispered. "It is only fit for us to ride, since.. we are betrothed, after all."

His heart stopped and then raced as she spoke those words. His voice was shaky and his hands trembled as he leaned in and kissed her on her soft lips. She was right, they were promised to each other, and this would be only the first of many things we would do together as husband and wife. "Perhaps it is only fitting," He whispered. "It is only proper."

She blinked, as he let go of her lips. "My… M-my." She stammered, she has never been kissed before, but to be kissed by her betrothed was worth it. "How old are you? I am only two-and-ten!"

He smiled as he leaned back and looked at her. This was her first kiss? For a Targaryen Princess I would have expected there to have been many before me, but perhaps most boys were too scared of her house and her dragons to try. I couldn't blame them.

He considered her question for a moment. "I am three and ten," he admitted. "I am a year older. I hope it is okay?"

"Yes, of course." She stammered. She was still nervous, as Cregan had just kissed her not too long ago. "I.. I am still in shock—. Cregan.. You have just—. You have just kissed me, my Lord!"

He laughed a bit as she stuttered out her words. This was certainly an odd situation, but he was enjoying it. He squeezed her hand again and smiled. "This was your first kiss? I am glad that I could be the one to give it." He leaned in once more and kissed her again, much to his delight. "Does this one shock you as much, my lady? Or is it something you are starting to enjoy?"

Rhaella gasped, as he kissed her once more. "My L—Lord.." She gasped, as she touched her lips. "You just kissed me!" She stammered. She was getting to enjoy the kisses, but that was unexpected.

He smiled, and squeezed her hand. "Indeed I did, Rhaella. And you enjoyed it, didn't you? I am starting to enjoy giving them, as well." He leaned down to her again, and whispered in her ear. "Do you want me to kiss you again?"

She began to stutter, and looked at him. "My.. My L–Lord.." She stuttered. She was nervous, and began to fidget the coat that she had on. "You.." He laughed as she stuttered. It was obvious that she was nervous, but the laughter was not in response to that. A beautiful Targaryen Princess stammering? It was such a foreign and yet so adorable sight that he could not help but laugh.

"What is it?" He asked her with a smile. "Are you too nervous?" he squeezed her hand, hoping to calm her down. "It is okay if so. You do not have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, my lady. And yet…" He leaned in once more, whispering in her ear. "May I kiss you one more time?"

She bit her lip, and looked away from Cregan for a moment. She needed to breathe, and she needed it. She thought of it, for a moment. If she were to kiss him, it would seal the marriage alliance. After a moment, she walked forward and kissed him. Both her cold and soft hands on his face.

He was not expecting her to be the one to initiate the kiss this time, and he could feel myself start to blush. Once her lips met his, his confidence returned, and he grabbed her around the waist before pulling her closer to him and kissing her back. He closed my eyes, and let himself get caught up in the moment, before eventually pulling away and breathlessly whispering in her ear. "Is this what you wanted? Does this make you happy, my lady?"

"Very–." She giggled and smiled. Cregan's big hands were placed on her waist, and it covered a big portion of her waist. "Now.. Can we ride?"

He smiled and gently stroked her silver hair as she spoke. "If you wish, my lady. We can ride all you like." He laughed as he spoke, and smiled down at her. "We can ride through the Godswood, or ride around on my horse, or you can fly on your dragon." He laughed again. "How would you like to ride?"

"Ride around on your horse, it sounds like a brilliant idea, my Lord." She smiled, as he laughed. He smiled as I squeezed her hand one more time. "Then let us go to the stables, my dear. I promise you that my horse is a fine animal indeed. If you enjoy riding, I think it may even be better than riding a dragon." He laughed, and winked at her as he said it.

With that, he began to lead Rhaella to the stables, where he had an especially fine horse, who would be perfect for a Targaryen Princess.

[steel--fairy]

Character Headcanons #1

champions and the leadup to them becoming champions!

lance started his journey at 14, the traditional age in the dragon clan to let kids go out on journeys. they have to pass a certain test in order to receive a dragon type and he did (clair failed the first time rip). his first pokemon was a dratini ofc. he did all the johto gyms, beat the e4 and made champion rank, then went on to the kanto gyms (which i see as being a common thing among high level trainers from kanto and johto. you do your own region and make it to the champion level if you can then try the other 8 across the mountain). he travelled the world for a few years and after he returned, he joined the e4 at about 24ish and made his way up to being the leader of the e4. he was pretty content in that position but wasn't too upset to become sitting champion when red unexpectedly left.

steven became a trainer a bit older than most expect. he was content to travel and mine rocks and never really considered being a trainer until a bit after he turned 16 and his dad was like "well you're old enough to start learning how to take over from me someday : )" and steven was immediately like "actually i think im gonna try being a trainer I'll come back latermaybebye" and yeeted himself out of rustboro faster than you can say electrode. he ended up being very good at training which was just a bonus. shortly into his journey he learned about mega evolution and completely halted doing the hoenn gyms to yeet himself to kalos to learn about it properly. when he gets back he basically just. curbstomps everyone with the fairly unknown mega evolution ability and becomes champion at around 19ish.

wallace comes from a family thats very established in the contest circuit, with several older sisters who were all master ranks coordinators. he started young (10 or so) and very quickly rose to being a top coordinator in hoenn. however his older sisters all eventually stopped competing leaving him miles ahead of the rest. its very boring when you're basically just competing against yourself so he was like "well im going to try being a trainer now : )" at 16ish and was instantly successful at that too. it also scratched his competitive itch a bit better, especially when he became a gym trainer (and later gym leader) for juan as he liked the challenge of trying to fit his team to the challengers level. it got even better when this one guy managed to absolutely destroy everyone in the gym despite having a pretty severe type disadvantage and they became best friends and rivals : ) as for being champion, he takes over from steven shortly after the whole team magma-aqua fiasco.

cynthia had a very protagonist like journey. she set out at 12ish with her gible, got a pokedex from prof rowan and set about filling it (though she had already gotten a badge or two by the time she ran into rowan), had some grand adventure, became champion very young (13 or so) and has held onto her title ever since.

alder is super interesting to think about because he's old lol i imagine that the unova league was still fairly newish at that point in time so the concept of going to a gym to battle was very thrilling and unique, though not everyone thought it was a good thing. alder started his journey pretty young (13ish?) and took his sweet time doing the challenge as he just loved exploring so much. he only became champion at like 18 or 19 and not because he was bad at battling. he was probably one of the first champions in unova and reigned for quite a few years. then of course his first partner volcarona died. he resigned from battling for a long while until pulled back in a bit before bw starts. the previous champion unexpectedly retired due to illness, and since they hadn't been ousted by battle, all the members of the pokemon league voted for a new champion. alder was fairly surprised when he got a call saying he was up for champion duties round 2 if he wanted them, but agreed to come back until a new champion won the title.

iris challenged alder and won : ) haha, she's just a bit too young to have as much history as the others lol she wasn't ever a gym leader, but she did work as a gym trainer for her grandpa which was great practice.

diantha came from a rich family who wanted her to focus more on her acting career than battling but diantha was insistent on taking time off to try the gym challenge. (her parents were mortified. it's one thing to have a few leisurely battles at the battle maison where you can make connections but to join the rabble in the gym challenge? eugh.) but her parents bought her a specially bred ralts and off she went. she was young enough (14 or so) but by that point she had a decent acting career which led to her being noticed every so often. she quickly became champion (diantha's good and kalos doesn't exactly have a strong battling culture) which caused a huuuuuge argument between her and her parents who were still very stage parenting her.

leon is like cynthia. he was basically another little 10 year old protagonist prodigy who quickly rose to the top. but for some hc's, he got his sponsorship from kabu. motostoke was the closest gym so he and sonia took the train there to ask for it. kabu, as most gym leaders do, asked for a battle to see if they were good enough and was blown away by leon's already evident skill with his charmander.

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

The List has been updated, Gang!!

A few have been crossed out, but to make up for it, I’ve added 7 new ones!!

Check which ones have been crossed out!

and to make things easier on y’all, here are the new ones:

58.     The Knights ask Merlin just how close he and Morgana used to be (which they all find incredibly weird because, bar Leon, none of them met Morgana more than in passing before she went batshit insane). They push him too far and he decides he’s sick of lying. ULTRA angst, FORMER Mergana :( Everyone is super surprised, especially Arthur, but also sympathetic, because they can’t imagine how hard this has been.

59.     Merlin is Tristan Du Bois’ son?? Making him Arthur’s cousin?? He came to Camelot knowing full well who he was, with the intention of killing Uther in revenge, but accidentally fell in love with someone (Gwen? Morgana? Leon?) and decided to give Arthur a chance. The Gang find out when they’re captured and the truth is revealed. Arthur isn’t too mad because his bestie is actually related to him!! :D

60.     Merlin as a very unsettling Guardian angel, revealed by Morgause when everyone gets captured.

61.     Really short fluff fic of Leon telling Arthur all about Igraine. Brotherly bonding and fluff :D

62.     The gang sort through Lancelot’s room a few days after he dies, and discover that he had a secret partner. Merlin finally reveals that it was him when they find a certain something in amongst the stuff, and everyone feels like shit because… he’s been grieving alone and no one knew. Super angst, but also a fluffy part two in which they save Lance (something to do with the Shade and very strong magic).

63.     Merlin taking a REALLY blasé attitude towards the magic reveal, in which the gang are talking about magic and how bad it is until he scoffs and goes “Y’all clueless, magic is common, useful, and loved everywhere except Camelot, you knobs”. Cue “… you grew up outside of Camelot, right? Can you do magic?”, which results in Merlin looking at them all dumbfounded, going “of course I can do magic?? I’m actually very good at it?? I use it every time I go home to help out my mum? Did you think I couldn’t do magic??!” and everyone is so taken aback that they just… leave that as it is.

64.     FREYLIN!! In which Merlin managed to save Freya, and after a few years of sneaking away to visit her every couple of weeks, finally decides Fuck Destiny and Fuck Arthur and Fuck Camelot and runs away to live with her. Merlin manages to lift her curse and they get married and build their perfect little home and have a very adorable child, but it all comes crashing down when King Arthur and his closest knights, one of whom is very badly injured, stumble upon their home. Magic!! Love!! Reconciliation!!

~

Let me know if these change any of your votes!! I am sorta desperate to write #58 at some point soon, but don’t worry, I shall finish #7, #49, and hopefully #32 and #48 before then!