#(somewhat like people who can’t find fic they want could also just make their own but yknow 🤭💋)

[hopecomesbacktolife]

I’m not going to reblog the post itself because I don’t want that behavior on my blog, but oh my god I just saw a post about “looking for fics about your favorite character on ao3” and good lord the amount of bad takes both in that post and in the notes?? I have to just ramble about this for a moment because oh my god. it was ludicrous.

people were complaining that, and get this, unfinished fics exist. and that if you read an unfinished fic you’ll have to, get this, wait to read more until it’s published next. they were allll up in arms that there’s fics for a character that don’t cater to their specific interests. that they involve other characters and either do/don’t put them in a romantic relationship when they want the opposite for the character.

like at this point, most of you people in the notes on that post are 1) just being mean and condescending about FREE WORKS you can, may I remind you, READ FOR FREE and EXIT at ANY time! if you don’t like it!, don’t read it!, it’s so simple!, and 2) straight up do not know how ao3 works lmao

like I saw soooo many people in the notes complaining about a certain ship, dynamic, tag, etc, and like… y’all know you can filter by romantic vs platonic pairings, by ratings, by excluding certain tags or other qualifiers, etc etc etc… you know about ao3’s actually incredibly usable filtering and searching system… right… right??

at this point I’m just convinced a lot of these people are spoiled by large fandoms with 100k+ works for their characters and have decided to just be mean and condescending for no reason on main, about literally free fan works you can read for free any time that people spend hours and hours pouring their free time into out of sheer love for their craft. cuckoo bananas behavior if you ask me 🫠

I was legit so close to commenting that maybe they should try shipping two characters with <10 fics, with 0 fics, try liking a rare pair, try hyperfocusing on a character or niche type of fandom with a tiny but lovely circle of fans, and stop treating fan works and fic as Content TM that they deserve to have handed to them that caters to exactly what they want for free and maybe they’ll calm down lmao

like y’all aren’t cool you’re just being mean. we fundamentally approach fic in wildly different ways and honestly the way you do sounds exhausting. literally could not be me, I’m to busy finding joy in shared love for characters and not flipping the table in a rage because there’s one (1) element of the fic that isn’t specifically catered to me, maybe try that and you’ll feel better, hmm?

and yeah I’m aware that last sentence is me being condescending towards them, but frankly it’s warranted when so many people are being that mean and haughty for no reason lmao but truly those takes were horrific. fellow fic writers and even fellow fic readers I interact with, am mutuals with, authors whose works I read, readers who comment and interact with my works, fans of niche fandom subsets that run in the same circles as me— I hope you know this is so wildly not how I approach fics, I love just finding fics for my characters and forming these lil communities where we share our interests and love for them and hype each other up. I love what we have in these fandom niches and I hope you know I would never dream of being so mean and condescending towards y’all. fic writers and readers and fan communities are so special and I cherish it even if clearly there’s people in the notes on that other post who don’t know how to do that lmao. I love your unfinished WIPs, I love your fics that may only partially be what I’m looking for, I love when you write characters in a way I wouldn’t expect but shows your love for your particular headcanon, I love the variety and diversity and variance in fic. I love us. genuinely. fic writer moots I am hugging all of you and I frequently reread your works, even the unfinished ones. ♡

[sspidrwebz]

🎧 Airpods | Gwen x Fem!Reader 

word count | 1785 notes | fluff, wlw, no physical desc of reader, no mention of y/n

also this is my first fic!! feel free to req anything or give me constructive criticism!!

fluff under the cut!! <33

You were bored and lonely this weekend, so you decided to make the relatively short journey to your friend Gwen’s house. Her dad was gone for what you could only assume would be most of the day, and you figured it would be nice to have some calming alone time with her.

Now, you’re both laying on her bed, sharing a pair of Airpods and listening to soft indie music together. You��ve been like this for a long time, staring at the ceiling without a word said for hours. That is, until you catch her staring at you with a faint smile on her face.

You can’t help smiling a bit back at her as you turn to face her. “What’re you smiling about?” you ask curiously.

There’s a certain brightness to her eyes that gives you a warm feeling. “Just looking at you,” she replies, before pausing for a few moments, looking into your eyes unblinkingly, a sort of calm focus on you. “Probably a little weird to say, but I've honestly never really had the chance to just stare at you, y'know?”

Your smile grows a bit wider at her answer, and you find yourself blushing a little. "O-Oh, well.. I suppose not, huh?" you agree with a flustered laugh, having been caught off guard by the comment.

"Mhm." She keeps smiling at you before looking out the window, seeming to think for a little bit in silence. "This is really nice, y'know?" She looks back over to you. "Just… us. Like this." And she motioned to both you and the bed. "This is probably the most relaxed I've felt in a while. It's nice being able to just exist next to you."

Her words create a warm feeling in your heart that you couldn't ignore if you wanted to, and for a minute you just look at her happily before sighing pleasantly and looking back up to the ceiling in thought. 

You two remain in the comfortable silence for a few moments before Gwen decides to speak up again, her voice soft and sweet. "This probably sounds stupid, but..." She sighs softly. "Is it alright if I hold your hand?" she mumbles, not looking over at you as if to hide her slight embarrassment at her own request.

The blush on your face is definitely noticeable after that, but your voice is still somewhat calm, calm enough to not be read as easily as your face. "Yeah, that's fine with me," you simply reply, letting your hand lay palm facing up on the bed as your arm reaches out for her.

Without even hesitating, she reaches out her hand to take yours. Immediately, she feels safe. There’s something about her best friend being so close, so warm, so comforting that makes her feel a little more at ease. Gwen squeezes your hand lightly and brings it slightly closer to her side, placing her free hand underneath it. It’s a small gesture, but a loving and tender one.

After a few minutes of more silence, you finally speak up again. When you do, your voice is soft and gentle, and you don't bother looking away from the ceiling as you talk to her. "You make me feel safe." There's a bit of a pause as you think to yourself. "I've always been the girl who just… I don’t know. It’s just hard to make, like- genuine friends, you know? I used to dream of having these kinds of moments with people, and I guess I’m just… really happy I get to have it with you."

Her lips curve up in a slightly embarrassed smile. She knows it’s cheesy as hell what she’s about to say and knows she’s going to cringe at herself afterwards, but she doesn’t care. "I always thought a boyfriend was supposed to be the one who made me feel safe, but if I'm being honest I've felt the most safe and at home with you." She squeezes your hand again. "I know that's probably so lame and cliche, but I can't help it. It's just the truth."

You snicker softly in response. "Can't relate to that much, especially since I'm gay as hell," I add with another slight laugh. "But I get what you mean, and... I'm glad we can be like that."

Gwen chuckles with you. Your response was unexpected, but it was a good mood lifter. She brings her thumb up to slowly run it along the outside of your hand and the top of your wrist. The movement is small, but it’s comforting.

"Do you think this is what a boyfriend feels like?" She asks you curiously. "I know some people say it's a completely different feeling between a friendship and, like- an actual relationship, but… the way we are kinda feels like one of those romance books sometimes.”

You shrug a little. "Maybe. I honestly wouldn't know. Never had a girlfriend myself, so I have no clue what romance even is at this point. My brain just kinda says 'women are cool' and just skips out on the instructions for how to get one or something.”

She chuckles again. "Same, honestly. I just look at girls and think they're cute." She paused, her brows furrowing in thought. "I've always wondered how it would feel to be with a girl. Like, is it that much different from being with a guy or…? I've never really had the balls to ask that question or test it myself so, there's that.”

You shrug again, thinking to yourself as I answer her. "I dunno. I mean, I always kinda hated men, so I'm kinda biased to make a statement on it. But if I were to guess, yeah; it's probably different. Maybe not too much, but enough."

She hums, her brows knitting again. "It's crazy that we're like, almost the same." She giggled and looked over at you with a playful smile. "Like, have you ever kissed a girl before?"

She hesitates. "Sorry, I know that's a loaded question but I'm trying to test this boyfriend feeling I have."

You nod with a smile, turning to her finally. "Yeah. Only once, though."

Gwen's heart speeds up as she tries not to get too excited with the answer you gave her. "I was hoping you would say that." She takes a deep breath. "Can I ask you to do something for me?"

I turn a little more toward her after she asks me this. "Yeah, sure. What's up?"

Gwen's cheeks pink instantly as she speaks her next words quietly. "Would you be willing to kind of… show me what it's like to kiss a girl? I've always wondered what it's like, and I trust you a lot so I know you probably won’t hate me if I ask..” She looks away from you slightly, embarrassed by her request. "Sorry if that's weird."

Your face goes red for a moment, but you smile in a bit of amusement to better hide your flustered state. "Oh! Well... well, do you want to? I can if you want me to, I just wanna, like... make sure."

Gwen's face lights up with relief and excitement. "Oh, yeah! I mean, if you're up to it." There’s a moment of silence, Gwen's eyes looking away from you while she’s thinking. Finally, she looks back over at you with a grin, getting closer to you on the bed. "Just… don’t make fun of me if I'm bad at this."

You chuckle softly. "Nah, I wouldn't do that to you," I say, smiling as I sit up from my spot for a moment. “Besides, everyone’s bad at romance and stuff at some point, right?”

She giggles quietly, bringing her face over towards you and closing the distance between them to mere inches. Her blue eyes, now with flecks of green in them when exposed to the sunlight from the window, stare directly into yours. Her lips look soft and pillowy, and she wants nothing more than to feel your mouth against hers, though she can’t quite tell why. "So… how is this supposed to work? Can I just kiss you, or… do we wait for the three seconds of staring like we’re in a Hallmark movie?”

 You can't help laughing again at her joke. "Don't be silly, Gwen, Hallmark doesn't have the balls to be gay," you say before going silent and just staring between her eyes and her lips, slowly leaning in.

Gwen's eyes close in anticipation as she feels you starting to lean in. Her heart is beating so fast it’s all she can feel. She’s so close that she can feel your breath against her lips. When you finally close the gap, your lips meeting hers with just enough pressure for you both to feel it. Gwen breathes out softly and lets a small moan slip out. The feeling of your lips against hers is electric. She feels like the world has temporarily stopped and that nothing exists but herself and you.

The sound she makes genuinely sends a shock through you, and a good one too. You kiss her slow and gentle, but there's something so intimate about the moment itself that you could never describe even with all the words in the world.

It’s as if she could feel every part of your body against hers. Your arms around her, your hands grazing against her body, your face touching hers. The moment is all she could think about. You were everything.

Her hands rest on the back of your neck as she tilts her head slightly to the side for the most optimal spot for kissing. It’s better than any romance movie, any kiss she’s ever had with a guy, any dream she's had about being with a woman. This is real and she couldn't be more grateful for it.

You could go on like this forever if you wanted to, but after a few more seconds you force yourself to slowly pull away from the kiss, from her, and as you do your eyes slowly open again and the entire time, they're locked on hers.

Up until now, the music in your ear had faded into the background, and your brain hadn’t been recognizing any other sound except your thoughts. But now, as you finally allow yourself to listen, eyes still locked on hers, you recognize the song almost immediately. Girls by Girl in Red. Of course. You smile widely.

“Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy, you listen to Girl In Red? And still thought you were straight?” you tease, nudging her very lightly. She just smiles back, face as red as yours, if not more. 

“I think it’s safe to say I’m definitely not.”

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im probably gonna do a hobie one next, so stay tuned if you wanna see that!! love yall, see ya soon!!

[writing-for-life]

Give me your head-canons:

How do you solve the Orpheus problem?

[And as always: Send me asks about everything Sandman-related!]

As in: It’s the elephant in the room in so many canon-compliant or -adjacent fanfics I read (we obviously don’t need to talk about coffee shop AUs) and Orpheus either keeps on existing somehow (and no one cares, because Dream and whatever love interest just literally fuck off into the sunset and pretend everything’s okay), or he gets killed by someone else who quite strictly wouldn’t be able to kill him.

Is it a solvable problem?

If he keeps existing as a severed head, it’s honestly a bit shite for him, isn’t it? So these are the fics where we keep on visiting severed heads. I don’t know, I find that… dissatisfying.

If Dream kills him, it’s over. Unless he stays in the Dreaming and lets the storm blow over. Will it though? I mean yeah, he could sit there for all eternity (groan), not take Death’s hand and make sure he doesn’t conveniently leave so the Kindly Ones get in and start ripping the Dreaming to shreds. But that doesn’t really sound like a solution to me either, because the problem won’t go away. Also: Probably no meetings in the waking world with you-know-who ever again. Plot hole, people, it doesn’t work that way.

If someone else kills him: Who? Please don’t say Hob, I know he’s immortal (so was Murphy), but the very idea is that no one can kill the poor kid because he made a deal with Death, which she apparently can’t revoke. Is there an entity who could? Which links in to the question: Why could Dream (somewhat rhetorical question)? Could any similar entity do it if they also had to grant him a boon? But don’t forget: Can’t be one of the Endless, they’re all family. Unless one sacrifices themselves. I mean, I think I’ve seen Death doing that in a fic somewhere, I think the assumption was she’s okay with dying a mortal death, but I also felt that’s not quite right, since it’s just not the same (also: in her mortal form, she wouldn’t have those powers). Does it have to be The Presence/Glory? Why would they care?

Yeah, he could use the Saeculum I guess, but really? If the problem never existed, it would also feel… wrong? Plus, we all know that changing the past always has implications on the future that go far beyond the thing we want to change. Plus plus: I honestly think it would be a bit OOC for him because he’d feel there’s not enough at stake (like a whole universe imploding) to ever justify that. So no, that’s, IMHO, making him into someone he really isn’t (can of course be an option in fanfic I guess).

Same goes for the Dream of a Thousand Cats Spiel. Someone who is so wrapped up in his duty just wouldn’t do that for his own personal gain, and not even for one loved one (he also wouldn’t be allowed to kick it off by telling anyone, and what 1,000 dreamers would dream that? I mean, WE all would, but that’s a bit… meta?😂). I said what I said.

Or is it some sort of magic? Like, he’s still a severed head, but we make him *think* he isn’t, give him back a body (in his own mind, or maybe even for real)? But that’s also… not great and feels like gaslighting him. Really not keen.

So what say you?

Is this just a case of: Unsolvable problem, hence we might as well pretend we solve it in some ridiculous way or pretend it doesn’t exist in the first place?

[zabberzim]

Fic ideas for the LanDot nation

The many LanDot ideas I have but never got to write (it’s midterms now ;-;)

I’ll classify this into spoilers and non spoilers for the manga so anyone can read this :3

No Spoilers fanwork ideas

Dot gets told that his love life will flourish by a prophet and he is HYPED

Based off the official fan book info where he spends his pocket money on monthly prophet magazines.

Astrology guy x Astronomy guy

Shenanigans ensue

Dot has a nightmare where he is surrounded by Anna dolls

The dolls tell him to confess/make sense of his feelings like the Christmas ghost of the past, the future and the present

Could be a reoccurring nightmare or just a one time thing, both give Dot a sense of “???huh???” But being a little bit of a believer, he really thinks about it and what it could mean.

Feelings realisation with the help of a little girl he’s never personally met

Lance makes merch for Anna and made one of Dot to get back at him

It was funny until it wasn’t, Lance feels like he has to make it look perfect and struggles on how none of the pictures he had does Dot justice. Some of them are goofy in a dorky way, some others are just him being angry, and there are just some that he can’t bring himself to make merch of…

A little bit of feelings realisation, as a treat

And or he can try to get a good photo

Established relationship, Dot and Lance try to keep it low, but their matching earrings/accessories gave it away…

and it’s prequel

Established relationship, the origin of the matching accessories

I HC Lance to show affection through gifts or materialistic means more than Dot (see. His merch collection)

Early in the relationship, a pair of matching accessories catch Lance’s attention. He buys it for himself and Dot to wear together.

Dot was initially a bit bashful but gives in.

Their friends begin to notice this and starts to wonder what’s going on between the two.

There’s a little cut out of Dot in the lower right corner of Lance’s pendant now

RPG AU (based off of light novel/choose your own adventure books 2&3) Dot has his tummy exposed, Lance dotes him on it

On the cover of the 2nd LN/CYOA book, Dot, presumably with the class barbarian, doesn’t have his clothes cover him properly. Being the older brother that he is, Lance dotes on him.

An exposed tummy leaves one with a higher chance of being sick , Lance offers Dot his cape.

Dot is flattered by this but ends up getting sick anyway

Established/Developing relationship: meeting the family

Either Dot brings Lance to meet his family to get semi-interrogated by Malta (Dot’s grandma and mother watch from the sidelines, his grandma is also surprisingly capable of being intimidating)

Or Lance gets Dot to meet Anna, Dot gets seriously interrogated by a 12 year old over tea.

The gang gets an invite to Macaron’s Orchestra when Dot gets to perform as the violinist, Lance is surprised and slightly moved by the music

Dot is good at the violin, of course he should perform.

Lance wasn’t there at the scene where he was playing, so I want him to be the only one slightly surprised at this reveal and very surprised that Dot can actually play well.

Fantasy AU: knights and dragons( Dot is the knight and Lance is the Dragon)

In this fantasy AU, princesses being locked in towers is still something that happens, albeit somewhat rare.

Due to her age and politics of her kingdom, Princess Anna was sent to escape with her brother when their kingdom was under attack. Lance can transform into a dragon because of some potion he took in order to better protect Anna. He keeps her in the tower most of the time for safety, but Anna still gets lonely, so she makes paper airplanes and flies them out to try to find people occasionally (Despite her brother’s disapproval, she does it while he isn’t looking)

Aspiring young knight of a nearby kingdom, who wishes nothing more to find a princess of his own stumbles upon one of these planes (after many attempts to save tower princesses and proposing to girls, royalty or not)

When reaching the tower while Lance was away, it was clear Anna isn’t the princess he’s looking for, but he still plays with her before her brother comes back. (Big scare)

Semi-domestic fluff: Since Anna isn’t the right princess, maybe her brother is ?

Demon AU: Demon Dot and Human Lance

Dot, a demon, accidentally gets summoned when Lance, a human, wanted to summon a guardian Angel for his sister.

With no real return button, Dot’s just stuck there I guess. Lance makes Dot act as Anna’s guardian Angel despite knowing the fact that he’s a demon

(Angels, demons, similar spell; this Demon that he summoned is the best he can get atm, and he technically still has to fulfil his wish of keeping his sister safe. Plus, he’s got some little bits of feathers on his wings, it’s like a discounted Angel at worst)

Other people can see Dot, not his wings, tail or horns though

More details here hehe

(WINGS WINGS WINGS

Hi, I was a Destiel fan , can you tell?)

Excessive use of the Ira Kruez makes Dot ill, team mom Lance is here to help

Sick fic! Using Ira Kruez in the rain causes Dot to have a magical burnout. Lance takes care of him in a sick fic way

Alternatively:

Dot falls from the fucking sky because of a broom mishap, Lance takes care of him with bad pick up lines and more

Mash gets challenged by Lloyd Cavill’s goons and Dot takes up the challenge for his friend. The competition was rigged and a broom mishap happened half way through, leaving Dot badly injured.

Lance is the only one who can take care of him periodically because 1. He’s good with class so he can skip skip sometimes 2. He’s the most capable at take care of people amongst their group of friends.

The bad pick up line part came from “laughter is the best medicine”, it’s advice the others gave to Lance when Dot is still in a magic coma, amongst many other dumb suggestions.

“Did it hurt?”

“Huh??”

“When you fell out of the sky and got a concussion “

A little more display of affection, Dot eating it up.

They are both dumb

Modern AU: Doctor Lance and less successful/ failing musician Dot; And they were roommates

Years after graduation, the gang goes their separate ways. Mash becomes an unconventional cream puff baker, Finn becomes a public servant, Lemon works in her family’s bookshop suspiciously close to Mash’s bakery. Lance works at a high paying job as a successful doctor, and no one really knows what Dot is up to…

A chance meeting after work leads Lance to find out (fuck around, find out)

Lance bumps into Dot at a convenience store. It wasn’t a route he passed by much, so it was a surprise to see the spiky red haired boy there, handing in… something and looking dejected.

Upon meeting Lance’s eyes, Dot hopped over with faux-familiarity and an air of awkwardness when he offered to grab dinner, dragging him by the elbow to leave.

Over some fried rice with a few cups of beer, Dot vents his troubles in finding work after his ambitions to start a band failed; he got kicked out from his last apartment for late rent and his sister is starting to nag him to move out of hers. Lance just pats Dot’s back as he wails shitfaced. In the end, Lance brings Dot home so he can rest.

Naturally, Lance paid for that meal.

In this AU, the gang are all adults, so I HC Anna to be in junior/high school.

Anna obviously would live with Lance. Idk if i should make Anna’s illness a thing in this AU.

The Crown family is middle high class, fairly influential,

Despite Lance’s success, they cut ties with him (homophobia? )

Anyways that my idea

TBC

Spoilers to manga)

Lance has difficulty balancing work as a new DV, Dot offers to help out as his assistant DV

Between Anna, school work and DV work, life has been hard to handle as of late. Shortly after a chat with Orter Madl, unlikely help appears in the form of Dot Barrett!

Dot’s reason for volunteering as his assistant :

It’d look good on his CV

He can spend more time at the Bureau of Magic, maybe the three of them can get lunch tgt more often

It’s a good opportunity to poke fun at Lance

Established relationship: PTSD or nightmares of the final battle

The scene was so all too familiar to him: Lance rushing forward to block the projectiles before he could even react; his warm body slumping down on his as the smell of iron, the liquidy feeling of warm blood seeps through the cape into his palms, now stained red. What if Lance died that day? Why is he always putting himself in danger?

Memories of the final battle twist into nightmares in Dot’s mind

Dot finds a pin with his face on it among the many other Anna pins

Short and sweet, possible sequel to Lance making Dot merch fic idea.

Remember the sea of Anna pins that acted as chain mail for Lance? Imagine Lance changing it every once in a while.

As roommates, Dot might notice something special when Lance leaves his cloak on his bed one day

Lance and Dot buy back to school products for Anna

As a newly enrolled student of Easton Academy, it’s necessary to buy new things to get ready for this brand new school life.

After no one else being willing to go, Lance drags Dot along with him with the promise of treating him to something nice

It turns into a shopping date

Future AU :they get married

They get married and boom Ira kreuz

TBC

*funny thing is that I’ve written the start to some of these already, I’ve just never gotten around to finishing them…

[thyluvcupix]

Sakuatsu fic recs!

im very picky on what i label to be a 'good fic' most of the ones are amazing but only a few will get bookmarkerd by me and here they are! My ao3 acc that has many more book marks mostly nsfw i diddnt put here

1

A liar's truth 49k words

okay this one is just breathtaking? if you havent read this pls do i cried sm😭

summary:

In which Sakusa Kiyoomi is raised to believe that gay people go to hell but then takes one look at Miya Atsumu and thinks, then why the hell did God make them so fucking hot?

2

I'll see you in court, motherfucker 2k words

its short and funny def worth a read if you wanna giggle

Summary:

“You’re still a fraud. You’re—you’re a scammer, is what you are. I don’t know how you convinced the hospital administration that you’re my husband, or that we even have a relationship, but I have—” Fuck, what’s the word? “Lawyers,” Kiyoomi says triumphantly, “I have lawyers, and if you’re trying to con me for some ulterior motive, I’ll have you know—” “Oh my god, Omi,” Miya says, sounding equal parts exasperated and horribly fond. “How can you be so cute?”

A pleasant side effect of being down one vestigial organ is forgetting the existence of your hot Olympic athlete husband

3

The 28 post cards you left me 8k words

Honestly, if i ever break up with someone this is exactly what i want from them? Like omg?? pls send me post cards, Super cute

Summary:

Atsumu takes texting your ex to a new level by sending Sakusa postcards in Animal Crossing instead.

4

The art of the thrist trap 4k words

naughty naughty, but other than that this fic is so funny? like ask ur brother how to rizz someone up

Summary:

“Samu, I’ve got a big problem.”

“Here we fuckin’ go. What is it this time?”

Atsumu needs to think strategically about how he’s going to phrase this. One wrong word and Osamu will hang up on him and Atsumu will be forced to wade through the hell of his own mind by himself.

“I jerked off to one of my teammates.”

Osamu hangs up.

5

Problem 5k words

super cute sleepy omi is something else

Summary:

Atsumu has a problem— somehow, he finds every version of Sakusa Kiyoomi adorable.

In which Atsumu realizes that Sakusa Kiyoomi gets very quiet and very adorable when he's tired. Things simply go downhill from there.

6

Take me where the music aint to loud 2k words

Protetive sakusa>>

Summary:

Winning against the Adlers must have meant something of a great deal to Sakusa, as usually he wouldn’t even consider going out with the rest of his team after the game.

Yet, here he is, in a somewhat crowded club, wearing a black button up shirt rolled up around his wrists and sweating a little under the bright lights.

Atsumu thinks he looks beautiful.

He wanders over to where Sakusa is standing with Meian, hoping that tonight, with a little bit of influence from alcohol, he might be able to get more conversation out of him than he can usually get outside of practice.

But of course, Atsumu can’t have anything good, ever. Because, blocking the way is his ex-boyfriend.

--

or; atsumu runs into his ex in the club, and sakusa has to rescue him

7

ROAD RAGE 2k words

This is funny on so many levels poor atsumu he fears for his life

Summary:

For a man who preaches at any given opportunity about the importance of good self-care practices, Sakusa certainly displays an astounding lack of self-preservation when behind the wheel.

Sakusa Kiyoomi has a driver’s license. Sakusa Kiyoomi cannot drive.

The two are not mutually exclusive.

8

The ascent to love (or descent) 3k words

Im always a sucker for hurt/comfort and this fic gives me that, its also funny as well so its a win-win type thing

Summary:

Stuck in an elevator with his boyfriend after a fight, Sakusa Kiyoomi couldn't think of anything worse. Working through their issues?  Maybe he could think of one thing.

9

Take me home 10k words

i just cannont stress how good this is, like its soul healing on so may levels gosh

Summary:

Turns out, Miya Atsumu never did a good thing in his life – his love was one-sided. And so, he was running away, hoping to meet some friendly people, take a bunch of pretty pictures and get over Kita Shinsuke.

In which Miya Atsumu is an exchange student in Italy, and Sakusa Kiyoomi is the only one knowing Japanese, forced to take care of the new student.

10

Hope is the thing with feathers 10k words

Two dummies taking care of some birds is honestly to good

Summary:

Kiyoomi wakes to Miya banging on his door, yelling words that put the fear of god in him.

“Omi-kun, get out here, we’re gonna be fathers.”

11

In the stars 1k words

In all honesty it made me think of the other side of love i never thought about

Summary:

Miya Atsumu is a romantic. He always had been. He believes in soulmates and destiny and true love in the stars. Sakusa Kiyoomi believes none of that.

My ao3↵

[hollygl125]

On the adventure endgame, and why I support Sara leaving the lab:

From an inside-the-show perspective, I 110% support Sara’s decision to leave the lab to go off on an epic eco-adventure with Grissom, just as he once decided to leave the lab to go off on an epic eco-adventure with her.  I would totally make that choice in her circumstances.  From an outside-the-show perspective, I also support the narrative choice to have Sara and Grissom go off on an adventure together rather than stay together in Vegas.

While GSR-fic writing, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about why I support this ending, so I’ve outlined some of the (terribly rambling) reasons below the cut.

I honestly—though, yes, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit it—love (the GSR of) “Immortality” (16): it’s its own little self-contained Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom love story of angst, yearning, wistful glances, and happy endings, and I have spent more time rewatching that last dock scene than I should willingly admit to anyone.  (And JF and WP are so beautiful together—so beautiful!)

I honestly—though, yes, I am somewhat embarrassed to admit it—love (the GSR of) “Immortality” (16): it’s its own little self-contained Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom love story of angst, yearning, wistful glances, and happy endings, and I have spent more time rewatching that last dock scene than I should willingly admit to anyone.  (And JF and WP are so beautiful together—so beautiful!)

But this also highlights how bizarre the whole later-season GSR storyline was.  These people were crazy for each other!  They had no conception of personal space!  They wanted nothing more than to stand on top of each other!  They wanted nothing more than to breathe each other’s air!

Of course, as an episode of CSI, “Immortality” (16) is also pretty ridiculous.  Whenever I get to the “you turned her heart” line I almost always have to pause the show for a minute just to digest the ridiculousness (or sometimes to do a little rant to myself or whoever’s near).

But (returning to the positive vibes here)….  According to Zuiker’s DVD commentary (if I’m remembering it correctly), the team had very little time or resources to put together the finale, plus all the sets had already been taken down.  (Is that right?)  Yet they gave us bomb tests and butterflies and bees and a boat (completely with a Moby Dick reference) and a happy ending to what was basically, in the end, the GSR story.  Zuiker also (again according to my memory of his DVD commentary) insisted on filming a scene I consider crucial to the ending and on editing out a scene that would have distracted from it.  So, overall, I’m very grateful.

Anyway, here’s why I like the adventure endgame:

*Speaking personally, for my own life, if I could use my background and skills to go off on an eco-adventure with the love of my life, I would 100% make that choice.  I will admit that bias.  (Maybe that’s the whole ballgame?  I’m not sure.)

*If I were Sara Sidle, and I could use my background and skills to go off on an eco-adventure with the love of my life, I again would 100% make that choice.  Making that choice is consistent with Sara’s characterization.

*Jorja Fox said long ago that she thought Sara would choose love over work: “Sara, by virtue of being a realist, is also very much a romantic. So I think if she really was in love with someone, and it came down to a choice between work and love, I think she’d go in the direction of love” (TV Guide, 2006).  (I definitely think WP was being coy in his answer to the same question.)

*In this case at least, love > job.  Specifically for Sara, as someone on Tumblr pointed out (I can’t find the reference right now), because of who she is, she is more likely to find another good, interesting, intellectually challenging job than she is to find another love, let alone another love of her life.  Man she’s loved quite madly for seventeen years is a pretty irreplaceable role.  It’s not like she’s choosing between some guy she met online a few weeks ago and a job for which she’s been working her whole life.

*Sara doesn’t have to choose between love and the job, though.  Grissom clearly wants to talk to her throughout “Immortality” (16) but doesn’t think he deserves to ask to be in her life again.  He would totally return to Vegas for her, but she wants to join him on the adventure.

(If he told her the only way for them to be together was for her to give up the job and follow him, that would be a completely different story, but that would also be totally inconsistent with his characterization and what “Immortality” (16) shows us.)

Moreover, once the two of them are back together, (1) he would not be good with either one of them getting anywhere near any bombs, and (2) they would be total partners in whatever adventure they undertook.

*Sara would want and enjoy an (eco-)adventure; she would not enjoy being lab director.

*Sara has proven herself, at a minimum, amenable to change.  She has previously picked up and moved her life on basically a moment’s notice.  Sara either picks up her whole life and leaves or threatens to do so on several occasions throughout the course of the show, so Sara either likes or is open to change (at least change she initiates—i.e., she is the agent of change, rather than change is imposed upon her).

*Sara is the most progressive of the CSIs.  She had (extremely dysfunctional, yes) hippie parents and spent most of her first three decades near or in San Francisco.  She cares about animals and wildlife, she’s a vegetarian, she likes vegetation, and she cares about the environment.  (In 2007, as shown in “Living Doll” (07x24), she drives a 2006 Toyota Prius II; at the time, the Prius, a hybrid, was among the cleanest vehicles sold in the United States on the basis of smog-forming emissions.)

*Sara has previously wanted an adventure (e.g., the Sea Shepherd, the Galapagos) and has acted accordingly (going off on a marine research vessel then doing research in the Costa Rican rainforest).

*Sara’s happy (work) place is doing fun science and investigations with Grissom, not doing administrative work while Grissom does something else in Vegas (even though Sara working as a CSI while Grissom does something else in Vegas would have been far preferable to what happened in the later seasons).  They like working together (and they’ve already wasted enough time they should have spent together).

*Sara would not enjoy being lab director, and I’m quite certain she knows it.  She doesn’t exactly look thrilled to be completing her application for the position.

Although later seasons of CSI made Russell both lab director and night shift supervisor, that’s not realistic for the top crime lab in the U.S. outside Quantico.  Lab director would be an administrative/managerial job.  Season 5 is more realistic.  As soon as Ecklie gets promoted to assistant lab director, he stops doing lab or field work (to the extent of refusing to cross the crime scene tape because then he would have to testify) and starts doing administrative and managerial tasks, as he explains at least a couple times throughout that season.

In “Nesting Dolls” (05x13), Sara tells Ecklie, “You couldn't hack it in the field, so you fail your way up”; similarly, in “Secrets & Flies” (06x06), in response to McKeen querying whether he might be interested in more responsibility or a promotion, Grissom says, “You know, Oscar Wilde once said, ‘Ambition is the last refuge of failure.’  I'm fine.  Thanks.”  Both Sara and Grissom like science and fieldwork and hate (and, honestly, probably have a fair bit of contempt for) the kind of work being lab director would entail.

I can’t see either Sara or Grissom wanting to rise above the position of shift supervisor.  I can see Sara enjoying a promotion that would give her more responsibility and autonomy in her role as a criminalist (which is how I understood the season 4 promotion for which she and Nick apply) but not one that takes her away from that work.  Hence it’s not all that surprising that in seasons 5-15 she never appears to try to rise up the ranks at all.

I also think Sara would have to contort and to suppress a lot of her personality, her instincts, and just generally herself for that kind of administrative/managerial role, and (though she could have succeeded if it were what she really wanted) it would ultimately have made her pretty miserable.

*Sara, if we’re being honest, does not at all have the experience necessary to be director of the top non-federal crime lab in the U.S.  (I love Sara!  But this is still true!)  Sara is a great criminalist!  Sara has no administrative or managerial experience!  Probably even Nick becoming a lab director in San Diego with only a couple years as assistant shift supervisor (a role from which he was demoted) under his belt is unrealistic.  But Sara, a known non-people person, with no relevant administrative or managerial experience, getting the job as director of the country’s top non-federal lab is beyond unrealistic.

Maybe going from CSI to lab director could make sense for someone who is clearly a gifted future administrator and manager (I honestly don’t know!), but that is not Sara.  That is maybe the opposite of Sara.  Sara is a shit-disturber.  Sara is awkward.  Sara’s brilliant manipulation of Nora Cross in CSIV, for example, is quite beyond what CSI Sara could pull off.  (Sure, she can persuade Grissom, but that’s because he never doesn’t want to sleep with her, and even then it took her years.)

Ecklie would have other internal options (the other shifts’ supervisors and assistant supervisors), he could look at external candidates, and he could appoint an interim director if he needed more time.  I’m not saying Sara could never become lab director (I think she could if she really wanted the position and seriously pursued it on a longer-term basis), but at the time of “Immortality” (16) she doesn’t have the necessary experience or even a demonstrated interest in that kind of role.

(Like, seriously, when Grissom says she deserves the promotion, that can only be because he sees little gold stars floating everywhere and hears symphonies playing every time he looks at her.)

*Sara being appointed lab director is so clearly an unrealistic contrivance for the sake of the finale plot that I can’t really care in the slightest that she gives up the job.  First, of course, there’s the two points above (she wouldn’t want or be qualified for the position).  Then there’s the timeline in “Immortality” (16).

Sara is completing her application at what I presume is the start of her shift (at the beginning of the finale).  That’s the same shift when the bomb goes off in the casino.  Russell gives her the case because she’s applying for the position.  He suggests it will help her application, even though, again, her competency as a criminalist really says nothing about her readiness to take on a high-level administrative/managerial role.

Based on their clothes (mostly, Sara’s striped t-shirt), they work on the case all night, all day, and through to the next night.  Then the next day (I presume it’s the next day based on Heather still wearing the same clothes from the day before), immediately after the case is solved, Sara gets the promotion.  This also coincidentally happens to be Russell’s last day, from the look of things (him packing up his to-go box).

Russell has clearly given prior notice of his departure, but Sara submits her application only maybe 36 hours before he is leaving, and, within those same 36 hours (while a crazy bombing plot is going on in the city and making international news), Ecklie hires her.

Being lab director is clearly an important role.  (In season 5, Ecklie gets a huge black-tie dinner with speeches just for being named assistant lab director).  The hiring of a lab director would absolutely be a more significant endeavour than this.

So, Sara applying for the job at the beginning of the episode and getting it at the end provides a nice framing for the episode.  Sara getting the promotion leads into a nice Sara/Grissom scene near the end.  Sara getting the promotion adds more suspense to the ultimate will they/won’t they question.  But, logistically speaking, it doesn’t work.

(As an aside, in terms of logistics, I think the story could have made more sense if they’d already chosen a new lab director and Ecklie was still just deciding who would step in as night-shift supervisor.  Sara’s running of the case would then have some significance, she’d maybe actually want that job, and she would presumably be sufficiently qualified to get that job.  They could still have found an excuse for the final photo-op—her having been the lead on the bombing case and then getting the promotion would make for a nice story.  It would also be an even clearer parallel with whatever promotion Grissom got (I think—this show is so muddled in places) at the beginning of the series.)

*Finales are often a time of transition.  Sara’s found family has largely moved on (or is moving on), and it makes sense for Sara to be doing the same.  I love workplace found families (The West Wing, Sports Night, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, etc.), but finales often involve transitions (usually symbolizing personal growth) for the characters in those found families (The West Wing, Parks and Recreation, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, etc.).  (Occasionally characters realize they shouldn’t be moving on—à la Russell Sam Malone in Cheers—but that’s less common).

Most of Sara’s crime lab found family has moved on or is moving on.  Warrick died.  Grissom left the lab.  Wendy left.  Catherine left (although she seems to be coming back).  Brass retired.  Nick left.  Finlay died.  Russell is leaving.  To my mind, Greg and Morgan are moving on together (meaning Sara’s importance in Greg’s life will inevitably ultimately diminish), though they may be staying at the lab for the time-being.  (Morgan is wearing a huge sparkly ring on her left ring finger in her final scene, in which she embraces Greg after they defuse the bombs in the parking garage.  I’ve always taken this to mean they finally got together.)  Nick has moved to California, and there’s probably a decent chance of Greg and Morgan ultimately moving back to California, since they are both from the L.A. area.  (Unless we learn otherwise, I’m assuming that’s where they are now.)  (Many thanks to the second season of CSI: Vegas for ruining my Greg/Morgan headcanons, but the above was true at the time.)

Sara has already left the lab once, and it makes sense for her to be doing the same again.  Plus, in 2015, it’s not exactly hard to stay in touch with people long-distance, and Sara has practice.  (Long-distance friendships are presumably a lot easier to maintain than a long-distance marriage, though I’ve never tried the latter.)

*For me, the two biggest ongoing narrative arcs (journeys) of the first nine seasons are Sara and Grissom’s romance and the (related) personal growth of Grissom, the show’s protagonist.  Both those stories culminate with Grissom finding Sara in the rainforest, which gives us one of my favourite scenes of the entire series.  It’s a great ending for both.  (In my opinion, the whole show could have ended right then and there; its narrative arc was complete.)  But Jorja Fox’s return, and TPTB’s handling of it, sort of threw a wrench in things, and then ultimately we got season 13, and I don’t think I need to say any more about that.  To my mind, Sara and Grissom going off on an adventure together best restores the happily-ever-after ending they originally received—and deserved.

*Whatever she later claims, Sara in “Goodbye and Good Luck” (08x07) clearly intends a permanent departure from the lab, and in season 9 she wants an adventure (e.g., the Sea Shepherd, the Galapagos).  She goes off on some sort of research vessel then goes to do research in the rainforest in Costa Rica.  She wants an adventure (preferably with Grissom).

After he and Sara divorce, Grissom picks a path that coincides with what Sara had wanted (a Sea Shepherd-like organization) and names his boat after one of their favourite books.  I don’t think he ever expects her to join him, yet he chooses a cause she would like.  He subconsciously selects something that might best entice her to join him (if she had any clue he wanted her around).  (Even when she’s not around, everything he does, he does for her, or with her in mind; he’s always thinking of her.)

*I don’t blame anyone but TPTB for the divorce.  (Sometimes things are so out of character that I cannot blame the characters; I have to blame the TPTB.)  But the precipitating event really is Sara’s return to Vegas.  After that, as far as I am concerned, they are like boiling frogs (i.e., their marriage disintegrates so slowly that they don’t even notice until it’s too late, and then Grissom thinks he is doing the right thing by setting Sara free).  So, to undo that mess, it makes sense that they would again leave Vegas and continue their intended adventure together.

*From a narrative standpoint, Sara leaving the lab to go after Grissom parallels Grissom leaving the lab to go after Sara.  It’s balanced.  It’s symmetrical.

Although Sara originally comes to Vegas for Grissom, those are different circumstances.  That (Sara moving to Vegas post-“Cool Change” (01x02)) is guy she’s secretly kind of in love with offering her a great job opportunity and her accepting.  That is not “you are the love of my life and I will give up everything I hold dear for you,” which is what “One to Go” (09x10) and “Immortality” (16) both are.

Additionally, in both “One to Go” (09x10) and “Immortality” (16), Grissom and Sara (respectively) each go after the other only after the other has tried to set them free, reinforcing the parallel.

Moreover, while Sara gives up a lot in leaving the lab for Grissom, Grissom would have had more difficulty reaching a point where he could give up everything in his well-structured life for Sara.  Sara has proven herself more amenable to change.  In contrast to the actual ending, having Grissom follow Sara away from Vegas (“One to Go,” 09x10) only to end up following her back to Vegas (“Immortality,” 16) would feel very one-sided.

*Finally, the symbolism of the adventure is good.

While deserts can be extremely biodiverse places with their own ecosystems and life (on which I am very much not an expert), in this story the desert is associated with death; it’s the setting of this particular show about death; it’s where Sara is taken to die; and, in the eighth season, Sara literally has to leave Las Vegas and the desert to say goodbye to her ghosts.

Sara has a lot of ghosts.  Sara and Grissom have both spent their lives with death.  Their fathers die when they are young, which strongly influences their upbringings.  They graduate early, which means they begin their jobs early, with both starting out in the coroner’s office in their respective cities and then moving on to different crime labs.  Both are obsessed with their jobs, jobs that revolve around death.

Before they meet each other, neither Sara nor Grissom is fully living; before they meet each other, neither is fully invested in the human experience.  But they meet, and they fall in love, and ultimately they choose life.  (They lift their heads up out of their microscopes, although Sara has always been more prepared to do this than Grissom.)

In “One to Go” (09x10), Sara and Grissom reunite in the tropical rainforest in Costa Rica, an incredibly green, lush, biodiverse place, and honestly I cannot think of a better metaphor for life; I couldn’t find any great stats, but one website I visited stated that the Costa Rican rainforest ranks first in the world in biodiversity per area unit.  The rainforest is also the place Grissom wanted to visit before he died, as stated in “Way to Go” (06x24), where it is thus initially contrasted with death.

Then, in “Immortality” (16), they once again leave the desert, but this time for the ocean.  Again, contrasted with the desert, for our purposes the ocean symbolizes life.  They’ll be working on the conservation of marine life.  They choose life.   They choose the adventure.  Together.

Sara and Grissom reunite in the coastal state where they first met (and where they were both born and raised); they have come full circle.  They sail off into the sunset.  The end (but not actually the end of the story I’m currently telling).

And, lucky for us, we then get an epilogue that shows us just how perfectly magical they are when they are finally allowed to become old(ish) and married together!

Those are my (very rough) thoughts; obviously your perspective may differ! 💛

[ourlonelymoon]

I just want you to know that I think this is the nicest offer! Obviously, you don’t need to give us anything beyond what you have already written. However, I will say I absolutely adore that you do analysis of your own writing in the end notes! It makes me super happy to see why you do stuff and I get giggly when I notice things that you did on purpose and I’m like, “I SAW THAT!”

If you want to talk about your fic as a way of engaging with us, maybe you could answer one or more of these random questions? Literally no pressure, I’m just trying to make sure you know I’m obsessed with your story.

1. Do you have a favorite line or section so far? Why?

2. Do you have a section you wish more people commented on? If so, maybe we just missed it. What makes it something you want to discuss?

3. Do you have any questions for us, as readers?

4. If you (as yourself, just like a part of the adventure family) were on the skiff with all our faves, what would you be up to? What would you think about what’s going on with Kit?

5. Why do you write (or read) whump? (Seriously, can you break down why this stuff makes me feral. I love whump but I don’t understand it psychologically. Is it the catharsis?)

6. What do you think Kenneth thinks about all of Kits screaming? Does he care, or is he just a good boy?

Bonus Question: Can you tell I typed this without my glasses because they fell under my bed and I can’t find my glasses without my glasses? I have literally no idea if there are a million typos because I can’t edit my writing without glasses because everything is tripled and fading in and out of my left eye’s one focus spot.

I’m glad you enjoy the analysis of each chapter - I keep a list of things I want to say as I write so it’s nice to know you appreciate it! Also thank you for the questions, I’m going to answer them all while I’m bored in the car.

1. I really enjoyed the hallucination chapter from a creative perspective because there was literally no limits. It was so fun to write anything and everything that came to mind and find ways to weave reality with Kit’s experience. My favourite scenes are yet to come, both involving Kit. One is with Jade in the next chapter and the other is with another character in the penultimate chapter - I’m not going to tell you who! The fake escape attempt right at the beginning is also a favourite!

2. People have been so nice with comments and generally pick up on the main points of each chapter. Usually I’d say if something goes under the radar it’s because there’s a bigger plot point happening so I don’t mind if it doesn’t get picked up on.

3. This is a really interesting question. I guess it would be interesting to know if you have any theories on where the story is going? Or if you think that there was a smaller plot point that could have been expanded on?

4. I think I’d be pretty useless here I’ll be honest. I’m a chronic worrier, very clumsy and have not exercised properly in ages so I think I’d probably be the weak link. I reckon I could read a map? Is that helpful?

5. I think the appeal of whump for me is the comfort aspect of it, especially as a reader. Maybe that’s surprising given how many chapters I spent beating the shit out of Kit. In terms of writing it, I’ve always found it somewhat easier to write very angsty things. This fic was born because I wanted to read a Kit torture fic and there wasn’t any out there when I started it.

6. I think Kenneth remains unbothered. He’s lived with Zeb, who has been tortured by the Crone for an unspecified number of years, so I reckon he’s used to the dramatics. Besides, water is pretty good at blocking out noise.

[tbyfandoms]

Rapunzel | Dramione

Pairing: draco malfoy x hermione granger

Word Count: 2.7k

Summary: stuck with the inability to meet with her boyfriend face to face on her own, hermione enlists the help of her best friend to get her there. meanwhile, stuck in a meeting of star-crossed lovers and nothing better to do, harry has a few quips for draco up his sleeve

Warnings: mild swearing

Masterlist | Ask/Tell/Request

A/N: my first work for dramione! i’ve loved this pair for so long and i'm so happy to have finally sat down and written a short fic for them. i would’ve never had the idea for this story without seeing this amazing artwork (shown in the header) by @fghartwork ! i saw it on my recommended and the idea immediately came to mind. please check out their page and the original art work here. they’re very talented and also very kind for letting me use their work in my header <3 i hope you all enjoy the story and lmk what you think! :)

“Harry be careful!” Hermione shrieks as she clings to the back of her best friend, her heart rate spiking every time he makes a sudden turn in the air.

She never did like flying.

“Hermione you’re fine, just hold on!” Harry replies with a chuckle. He can tell how frightened she is by the way her arms clutch tightly around his stomach each time he dips the broom.

“Oh trust me, I’m holding on,” she mumbles, squeezing her eyes shut as they swoop past one of the pillars on the castle. “This is so unbelievably terrifying and dangerous, I don’t get why you like it so much.”

“It’s thrilling! The wind in your hair and on your face. The way you can speed through the air and feel just like a bird, it’s brilliant!” He muses. There are few things Harry Potter finds absolute, indescribable joy in and flying is most definitely one of them. In a teasing tone he adds; “Need I remind you, you’re the one who wanted to do this.”

“Come on, Harry! You know I wouldn’t if it wasn’t my absolute last option. This is the only way I can see Draco before we leave for break. After tonight who knows how long until I’ll be able to see him again face to face.”

It was just their luck that the final day Hermione and Draco would be able to see each other, the Malfoy boy would land himself in detention. There wasn’t any way around it and no time to meet in the morning before everyone leaves. If the couple wanted to see each other one last time, this is the only way it could be done.

The only downside to the plan was that Hermione would have to travel by broom to get to Draco. There wasn’t a chance she’d be let in the room, so meeting in secret by the window was the best bet. Too bad Draco’s serving his detention in a classroom way at the top of the castle, which is how Hermione has found herself holding on to Harry for dear life as he takes her to see him.

“The two of you really can’t meet up during the break? This is honestly the last chance you’ve got to spend time with him before we leave?” Harry questions.

“Sadly, yes. With the way our personal schedules line up, there doesn’t seem to be a day we can have to ourselves. Any day I’m free he’ll be busy and any day he’s free I’ll be busy. We could always try to floo or apparate to each other during spare time, but considering how on edge everyone still is regarding our relationship, it doesn’t seem possible,” Hermione sighs. No matter how hard she tries to show everyone how much Draco has changed and grown, it doesn’t seem to change anything. Harry truly seems to be one of the only people who has somewhat accepted their relationship, besides Ginny.

Although Harry can’t see her face, he can tell Hermione is frowning behind him, wishing things could be different and still struggling with the heartache of the people she loves most not accepting the boy she’s fallen for. It took a long time for Harry to grasp the idea of their relationship, but of course with help from Ginny, he was able to come to terms with it and focus on the fact Hermione is happier than ever before. After the past few years they’ve had that’s truly all he could hope for, his best friend’s happiness.

Harry still doesn’t get how it even happened, but he guesses all of them coming back for an eighth year allowed unexpected relationships to form between people. It was weird at first, but he sees how much good it’s actually done and he’s glad he came back along with so many of his other classmates. In a way it’s been healing for him even if these walls have witnessed so much loss and destruction, and if Hermione finding comfort and love in being with Malfoy is part of her healing, then who’s he to judge her?

“Don’t worry, Hermione, I’m sure the two of you will figure it out. I can tell you both care for each other a lot and not being able to see each other in person for a while isn’t going to change that. There’s ways around your obstacles and if anyone will figure it out it’ll be you. Besides, I’m here for you if and when you need me again. I mean look at us now! If you would’ve told me a year ago I’d be helping you meet up with Malfoy I would’ve said you’re mad! Yet here we are.” The two Gryffindors laugh and Hermione fights the tears prickling in her eyes over Harry’s words. She truly doesn’t know where she’d be without him and she’s so incredibly grateful to have him in her life.

“Thank you, Harry,” she says softly as the raven-haired boy takes them around a pillar and begins to slow down as their destination comes into view.

“You’re welcome, Hermione,” he replies, lining his broom up against the side of the castle and slowly lifting the both of them up under a window that’s wide open. "Okay, now that we're here, climb up on my shoulders and I'll keep you steady while you 'talk' to Malfoy."

Hermione nearly falls off the broom over the statement alone. "What!? Why in the world would I do that when I can keep my little stability by just staying where I am, sat behind you!"

"No offense, Hermione, but I really don't wanna be sitting right next to you while you make out with your boyfriend." Hermione's face flushes fiercely and she does her best to try and gather herself before replying.

"Well, alright then. If you really want me to, I will." With a firm nod, even though Harry can't see her, Hermione decides the task won't be so bad. She's a witch for God's sake! She could handle a little challenge.

Grabbing onto Harry's shoulders, Hermione begins to lift herself up off the broom. With shaky hands, she grabs the edge of the window above her, using it to balance as she lifts one leg over Harry's shoulder, and then the other. Harry grabs onto Hermione's shins and allows her time to adjust.

"See, not so bad, right?" Harry grunts out. Hermione isn't heavy by any means, but he didn't think through all the added extra weight. Harry may be one of Hogwart's best seekers, but he's sure never flown a broom with someone sitting on his shoulders before. He'd get used to the feeling in a minute though, he's sure...hopefully.

"Right! This is fine, I'm steady, it's good!" Hermione doesn't know who she's trying to convince, Harry or herself, but it definitely seems more like the latter.

Looking up, Hermione realizes she's still a little under the window, not exactly head level with it. "Harry, can you fly us up a little bit? I can't quite see through the window."

In an instant, Hermione finds herself rising upwards. The sudden movement, although expected, startles her and causes her to let out a tiny yelp.

"Granger? Is that you?" Looking into the open window, Hermione smiles when she sees her boyfriend standing there.

"Draco!" She exclaims, leaning in closer to the windowsill and resting her arms on the ledge.

"What in the bloody hell are you doing!?" Rushing to the window, Draco leans out of it slightly, looking down to see how exactly his girlfriend has found her way up here. "Is that Potter?"

"Evening, Malfoy!" Harry grins while looking up and throwing Draco a peace sign. The blonde can't help the bemused smile that makes it's way onto his face. Of course it would be Potter to help with something like this.

"I knew we wouldn't be able to see each other before we left tomorrow, so this is the best plan I could come up with. It's probably not the best one I've ever thought of, but so be it, I'm here and now we can be together for a moment!"

Draco smiles at the girl before him. He doesn't understand how in the world he got so lucky to be with someone like her. If you would've told him when he first came to Hogwarts that he'd end up with the bushy haired girl from Gryffindor, he would've laughed in your face. But now, here he is, completely and utterly in love with her.

"Granger, you're brilliant! If anything this is your best plan yet, love." Draco reaches over and grabs one of Hermione's hands, rubbing his fingers over her knuckles and looking at her with those big grey eyes she's come to love.

A thought pops into Hermione's head, instantly sending her heart racing. "Wait, McGonagall isn't in there is she? I would hate to get you into more trouble!" The brunette tries to look through the window, but Draco immediately shakes his head, trying to calm her nerves.

"No, she stepped out for a moment. I'm not sure when she'll be back, though. We might not have much time, I-"

"You're both fine, don't worry. McGonagall's in her office talking to Flitwick. You've probably got loads of time," Harry says, leading to Draco and Hermione to look down at him questioningly.

"And how do you know that, Potter?" Draco questions, raising a brow at Harry's supposed fact.

Without speaking a word, the boy holds up a piece of folded paper he had in his pocket. Hermione hums and smirks when she realizes what it is. "Marauder's map. You've still got that thing, Harry?"

"Of course I do, it's useful, you know that." Harry goes back to looking at the map, definitely not keeping his eye on the spot of a certain red head girl.

Turning back to the blonde, Hermione leans her head on her fist, staring at Draco with nothing but adoration. "So, tell me about your day of solitude."

Laughing, Draco settles himself on the windowsill, ready to spend every possible moment he can with the girl who stole his heart and taught him what real love is all about.

*****

"You're lying!" Hermione can't help the laugh that escapes her lips. "There's no way she made you do that!"

"Granger, I swear she did! This detention is by far the worst I've ever received."

Hermione just shakes her head at her boyfriend's words. She loves how at ease she feels with him. That sounds ridiculous considering who it is she's talking about, but it's true. Draco makes her feel a sense of comfort she's never felt before. It took a long time for them to get to this point, but she wouldn't take any of it back. She's glad after all these years they found their way to each other, found healing and love within each other. It took everyone by surprise, even them, but it's perfectly imperfect, and that's enough for them.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Draco," Hermione says, barely above a whisper. She tries to give him a smile but it's weak. Hermione never was very good with trying to hide her emotions.

"I'm going to miss you too, Hermione." Draco reaches out and cups the girl's cheeks with his palms, swiping this thumbs lightly back and forth. "We're going to figure this out, don't worry. I won't allow anyone to keep you away from me. I mean c'mon, even detention couldn't stop us from seeing each other."

The Gryffindor girl lights up at the Slytherin's words, letting out a small giggle.

"There's that smile and laugh I love so much," Draco beams, loving the way Hermione gets shy at his words. Closing the distance, the Malfoy heir connects his lips with hers, and she wastes no time in reciprocating the action.

Almost instantly Hermione finds herself lost in Draco's soft lips and warm aura. She's reaching up and dragging one hand through his hair while the other grasps onto the front of his shirt, wanting him as close as possible.

It's when Draco softly bites down on Hermione's bottom lip that she really loses it. Her thighs move to rub together, wanting to create any sort of friction, but the action is immediately halted, rapid taps on her knees breaking her from the spell that is Draco Malfoy.

"Hermione!" Harry squeaks from below and Hermione's eyes go wide as she realizes what's happening.

"Sorry, Harry!" The girl rushes out, heat rushing up her neck and face as she quickly releases the death grip her thighs have around Harry's neck.

"It's fine," the raven haired boy coughs out. After rubbing his neck as best he can to soothe the dull pain, while simultaneously holding onto Hermione and trying to keep the broom upright, he says, "I hate to break this up but either tell Rapunzel to let down his hair and have you climb up, or we've got to go. McGonagall's coming."

Hermione laughs at the boy's joke, but covers it with her hand as she turns and notices Draco's confusion and hard stare.

"What did you just call me, Scarhead?" Draco's eyebrows are furrowed and even though he and Harry have long since settled their 'rivalry', the nicknames still pop up here and there, and Draco is quick to revert back to them when feeling intimidated, as is Harry.

Before her two favorite boys can begin bickering, Hermione interjects. "It's just from a fairy tale, Draco. It's Rapunzel, have you ever heard of it?"

Malfoy shakes his head and Hermione's left surprised. She knew the Wizarding world was different than that of the Muggles, but she figured at least the fairy tales would've been prominent in both.

"Basically it's a story about a girl trapped in a tower and she has incredibly long hair that she lets down for her lover to climb in order to reach her. I'm shocked you don't know it."

Draco shakes his head and relaxes at the fact it wasn't anything too insulting. "Never heard of it."

"Basically, it's a joke, Malfoy. You should learn to take one!" Harry teases from below and Hermione gasps before lightly smacking the side of his head.

"Harry! Be nice!" Hermione starts to make her way off her friend's shoulders, slowly settling back on the broom. Harry rubs the spot on his head, but continues to chuckle as he flies the broom up a bit higher, allowing Hermione to be able to say goodbye.

"Very funny, Potter. We'll see who's the one laughing when I beat your ass in the next quidditch match," Draco smirks and Harry rolls his eyes in return.

"We'll see about that one, Malfoy"

"If you two are done trying to one up each other, I'd like to say goodbye to my boyfriend before we get caught," Hermione says, side-eyeing the both of them. Boys.

Turning back to face Draco, Hermione smiles and leans in one final time for a kiss, this time not letting it get too out of hand.

After pulling away, Draco is the first to speak. "I promise to write to you as much as possible, even if it's about something boring. I'll write about it just so you know I'm still thinking of you."

The brunette girl laughs and nods her head. "I'll love every second of reading them, I'm sure. I love you, Draco."

The blonde's usual steel grey eyes soften as they take in every inch of the girl before them. Airily, Draco replies, "I love you too, Hermione."

A moment passes between them before suddenly the door to the classroom is being opened and the Headmistress' voice can be heard.

"Mr. Malfoy, what are you doing by the window?" The couple's eyes go wide. Draco immediately steps back and Hermione lightly urges Harry to take off.

"Nothing, Headmistress," Draco says, watching as his girlfriend begins to descend back to the ground. He winks at her and then says, "Just thought I heard something."

Hermione's stomach fills with butterflies at his action, she grins and waves at him before holding on to Harry for dear life once more.

"Thank you for doing this, Harry. It really means so much to me," the witch says, lightly squeezing Harry a bit extra for a moment in appreciation.

"You're welcome, Hermione. Anything for you and your Rapunzel." The boy laughs and Hermione gasps but can't help to do the same.

"Harry!"

[substituted-shinigami]

Writing Update: Creative Corner April 2023

Welcome back to “Writing Updates”, which I’m thinking of renaming to Creative Corner, but uh we’ll see! (I tend to go back and forth on these things😅) My thought process is that instead of doing the “Good News/Bad News” format I’ve done in the past, I’m going to do a “Writing Corner” and an “Art Corner” instead. I’ll try it out and see how I feel about it. Anyway, let’s get on with the news!

TL:DR Version: I’m taking this month off…kind of. Last month was busy, but really fun!😁 This month was busy, but uh, not at all fun…long story.😅 Anyway, so no new one-shots this month. However! I did find some RenRuki fluff drabbles that I think you all might like, so I put them together in their own series. They’re perfect for a rainy day when you just want to feel good!🥰 They should be out later this month!

Read on if you want the long version:

Writing Corner: 

*Sighs heavily* Alright, I’m gonna be honest, this month sucked. Between burnout, family stuff, and depression, I barely wrote at all. I have a nearly completed piece that I could try to rush edit and finish in time, and would at least come out okay. But I thought about it, and realized that while I do like the piece, it’s not at all what I felt like reading right now. I don’t read a “hurt/comfort with a bit of angst” piece when I’m sad, I read fluff, lots of fluff. In fact, I had a google doc with a couple of fluff scraps that didn’t fit anywhere else that I would sometimes go back to and read whenever I was sad just because it made me feel good. And then I thought, what if this month was bad for other people too? Would these pieces make them feel good? So I’ve decided to release these instead in a brand new collection I’m going to call “Soft Moments”. Admittedly, they are more like eating a sugary sweet dessert than having a hearty protein filled one-shot meal, but that’s exactly what they are for! They are there for people who need to read something nice on a hard day. Anyway, they aren’t exactly a one-shot, so that’s why I decided to put them in their own collection, rather than adding them to “We Can’t All Be Winners”. In the end, I’ve decided to release the “hurt/comfort” piece another time. This also works out well for my new (ever changing😅) schedule for WCABW, where I am going to do 3 months on, 1 off, 3 on, and so forth! 

Art Corner: While I haven’t done much writing this month, I have gone back to my roots on this blog somewhat and started working on comics again. If you saw one of my earlier posts, you will know that I’m taking a crack at human based comics. They…are absolutely not proportional. But um…variety is the spice of life, right?!?! Anyway, hopefully they will at least be funny, but uh, we’ll see! That said, I'm thinking of eventually switching to digital art so that I don’t have to redraw backgrounds and unmoving characters, but that requires me to figure out how to draw with photoshop on my mini touch screen laptop so uh…………..

Bloodlines Corner (because let’s be honest, it gets its own spot at this point): 

Me: *glares to some far off corner in my google docs* You do realize it’s been months now, right?

Bloodlines: *shrugs innocently*

So I’ve realized I haven’t actually explained the premise of this story to most people on this blog, so here we go. Originally, Bloodlines was a one-shot in its own series of one-shots based on the idea of “What would happen if Rukia got Hisana’s illness?” However, I realized that I hadn’t really thought it out well enough for an entire series. So then I was going to make it a one off one-shot in a series of one off one shots, thus spawning WCABW. However, it clearly needed more editing, so I decided to release “prestigious school au” instead. Fast forward several months and not only am I still editing it, but that one-shot turned first into a multi-part and eventually a multi-chapter fic, all the while the events of the story still staying within the same time period, and therefore taking place over the course of one day. It is… utterly ridiculous. 

So anyway, it’s pretty long now, (well for me anyway, it’s almost 30 pages), which makes it take forever to edit. Unfortunately, I think that has caused the back chapters to suffer a bit, because for some reason I always prefer to edit things in order, so by the time I get to the end I’m pretty mentally exhausted. Therefore, I’ve decided to divide it up by only editing one chapter a day to make it easier on myself. Hopefully this will work out, and I can have it out by like August or something, but we will see! (Not being done until December is unfortunately still probable! 😅)

*Sigh* Welp, this has gotten long, but this month has been even longer so I guess it’s appropriate. In any case, thank you all for reading! The new fluff-filled anthology series should be out by the end of the month. Like I said earlier, it’s more like having dessert than dinner, but sometimes that's just what you need! See you all next month! 😊

[josiebelladonna]

re: ao3 isn’t a social media site and this new generation of… i’m not even going to call them writers because most of what they post on there barely qualifies as writing, it’s akin to the meme-y bullshit you’d see top trending over on wattpad for no reason because that too is a story site

i’m starting to be a little reluctant going on ao3 anymore even, all because of that and most of what i said in the previous post.

the other day, when i announced my hiatus, i just so happened to see a post talking about me and you-know-who, someone who follows her and stalks me because of course, lamenting why i don’t just give up already because like loving the dead has 7000 reads now whereas dead man walking and blood & chocolate have a tenth of that, with an implication that the algorithm must have some kind of fault to raise her up but not bury me—fic people in 2023 have this annoying mindset that “you have to say something nice or don’t say anything at all!” okay, fine, i won’t, seeing as you’re going to be totally belligerent about it out the gate.

but, sir, or ma’am, let me spell this out for you to understand. ao3 does not have an algorithm. it’s an archive—it’s even in the name, for god’s sake, archive of our own. because of the absence of an algorithm, reads are practically meaningless on ao3. she could get millions of reads and it quite literally wouldn’t make a difference on there. and arguably, reads on wattpad don’t really matter, either, because they are all about making money. they see shit on there with thousands of hits and all they see is dollar signs no matter how terrible and/or plagiarized it is.

it’s all so influencer-y, and you know how we (and by we, i mean people like me, who’ve been acquainted with sites like this for a long time) all love those.

“it has 7000 reads”, so? that’s not the work of an algorithm, that’s people going back and revisiting it to bump up the read count thinking there’s an algorithm. that’s also why temple’s fics have gotten nowhere on there, too: she never tags her fics properly so they sink like a stone.

either you and everyone else who’s gotten an account on there since 2020/2021 don’t understand how archives work and tiktok has completely scrambled your brains into thinking all sites move so quickly and all sites operate by algorithms and likes thereby artificially creating a vacuum, or you simply fail to see this because you’ve been conditioned and you refuse to think critically. except i think petty scumbags like her with egos the size of planet earth really will cater to your gullibility and make you believe that reposting shit and dragging out petty drama when i stopped caring a long time ago for as long as possible is the right thing to do when i really don’t understand what she’s trying to prove when it’s pointless. and no, if anything, if i recall correctly, that’s actually against ao3’s terms of service. only repost if you absolutely have to, like what i did with blood & chocolate. and if nothing else, if the t.o.s. doesn’t forbid that, it’s just bad etiquette, like i’m somewhat surprised no one has said anything about it to her or temple because she’s reposted a few things, too (probably because she sees that “hate mail” but i can’t really say for certain. i gave up trying to dissect her logic a long time ago and i still can’t crack it 🤷🏻‍♀️).

the other thing to drive this home is look at this:

that’s just one example, too, there’s posts like this all over the place there, mainly in the band tags, which i find really interesting. yes, i’m as kinky as the next person but this is what i’m talking about with this new influx of users treating the place like just another social media site. listen, i come onto a site like ao3 like i’m going to the library or the bookstore, (especially where i live because the library in town completely sucks and i have to drive 50 miles just to even see a barnes and noble), not because i want more ~~~~m U t U a L s~~~~ good lord, you guys have seriously made that word and the word “partner” radioactive to me, like i’m going to die a slow painful death if i get exposed to enough grays of either one.

wattpad started falling victim to this about three years ago, except there you get shit like this taking the top spots in the tag and they rake in the money: on ao3, it just falls down the tag when a fic updates and it just winds up taking up space and it looks really bad as a result. yes, i opened up the death and exodus tags for you to have more people to hit you up, yes. you’re fucking welcome 🙃 (grateful i haven’t seen one of those in the testament and/or a.s.t. tags. the day there is, it’s all hands on deck.)

i’d say go to fetlife or, um… hello? WRITE A FIC THAT CATERS TO THAT KINK??? but i guess that would be asking too much, though, because not only does no one in this current generation listen but they apparently can’t read and string a coherent sentence together if the prevalence of “or whatever’s” and the like is anything to go by. and it’s just too much work, too, you’d be pulling from your trauma too much, it would hurt too much so you gloss over details and i feel incredibly short-changed—I don’t know if it’s because i’m older and in a different headspace, but i can’t be the only one who finds this weird: you put yourself in writing, absolutely without question, but heaven forbid anyone doesn’t like it. not everyone is going to like or understand you, and not everyone is as hypersensitive as you are that critical thinking goes right out the window, that’s just life. and storytelling is incredibly therapeutic, too, i speak from experience on that.

but really, when my mom was at her at-home job last year, she would get callers from around this age group (teenagers to about mid-20-somethings) and from what she’s told me about them, none of these people could speak coherently and they couldn’t think of the simplest things. “it’s this or something, whatever.” It’s the exact same story here. it makes me wonder when was the last time anyone in this age group has read a physical book, or a newspaper, an actual newspaper. when we were in monterey this past weekend, there were newsstands everywhere, and yup, you guessed it: most of the stacks of newspapers were fresh and full. most people are not buying them. most, anyway.

i see shit on twitter saying, “gen z is returning to physical books and flip phones from the 2000s!” but you look to find the gen z people they interviewed were well off to begin with so that’s not a good statistic to draw from, and where can you even find a flip phone anymore? i haven’t seen one of those in almost a decade. a digital camera, you can find, but i wouldn’t know where to find a flip phone anymore. the legit writers from this group that i do find every now and again are out there, but they’re not very visible. i have to sift through the inane illiterate bullshit that’s all but obliterated the very craft of writing a damn good story as well as my hope that i’m not really alone in this.

(or they follow the green druidess thinking she’s out here writing gone with the wind when her writing has gotten so bad in recent months. really, state of euphoria had what it had but i could follow it easily. i read like loving the dead out of morbid curiosity and i don’t remember anything that happened in that chapter.)

[loosesodamarble]

Devil Fausts AU Trivia

Some idea that I've had about the Devil Fausts AU (which is also shameless Faustsele content) from the fics here and here.

Josele meets the twins when she’s twenty. The twins physically appear to be in their twenties.

Morgen isn't considered a "good" devil because he wasn’t nearly as cruel as Nacht or other devils. While he is powerful, he was never inclined to hurt those weaker than him. Life in the Underworld made him to be jaded and cruel though.

Nacht was held in higher regard in the Underworld. He liked the thrill of fighting other devils. He used his strength and cruelty to defend Morgen as his brother was his only soft spot.

Morgen and Nacht like the human world because there, they’re the top dogs. But also they’re amazed by what the world is like.

Nacht is more direct in his fighting. He likes to deal as much damage as quickly as possible.

Morgen prefers to play with his enemies. Slowly chipping away at their strength and confidence until they’re begging to be defeated.

Josele allows the twins manifest whenever they please with restrictions to protect her privacy. They might have a contract with her but that doesn't mean they can just pop in on her any time they please.

At first, Julius wanted someone to always be around Josele to watch out for her. Josele said it wasn't necessary given the rules she set in her contract.

As long as the contract between Josele and the twins is in place, the twins aren't allowed to hurt her. It’d be bad to attack one’s master. Also, her death means they’re sent straight back to the Underworld after all.

However, Josele isn’t allowed to simply end the deal on a whim. She must be given a reason to do so.

The deal is somewhat vague but in general, Josele can’t end the contract unless the twins act against her direct wishes.

This creates a loophole where Morgen and Nacht can take actions on their own if Josele is unable to give orders.

Killing or irreversible damage (anything Josele or Owen can’t personally heal) is out of the question.

The twins got away with it once; killing the man who initiated the ritual that led to the trio’s contract. He wanted to take back the twins’ relics but neither they nor Josele were having that. Josele wasn’t sure if she could kill on her own so she gave the twins the go ahead.

Their early treatment of Josele wasn't exactly nice. Nacht would repeatedly try to scare Josele outright and Morgen would come to her defense before turning on her and mocking her weakness.

Josele gets used to their antics and eventually is able to brush off their antics in a calm manner that intrigues the twins.

But there is one incident where Nacht makes Josele think he is genuinely going to hurt her, contract be damned. She clings to Morgen and begs him to make Nacht stop. Morgen's buried gentleness is reawakened and Nacht regrets scaring her so much.

Nacht and Morgen also tried to get Josele to go wild with their magic, to fight evil using evil.

But Josele was determined to use the devils’ power in a righteous way.

Josele shows the twins how their powers can be used for good. How they’re good deep inside. Nacht did protect Morgen, and now protects Josele. And Morgen has always been kind and just needed to be around people who encouraged that side of him.

After Morgen and Nacht have become a little more docile, they take to sleeping with Josele in their small, familiar forms.

When not with Josele, the twins hang out with Yami.

Nacht likes Yami’s nonchalant attitude and learns about the dark underbelly of human society from him. Morgen can tell Yami is Josele's closest friend, and as he's finding his heart again, he wants to learn what kind of person Josele likes being around.

Josele teaches the devils how to do regular human things like cook and clean. They’re horrible at it at first.

Yami, William, and Marx aren’t close but they can all agree that two supreme devils fumbling to make a salad is objectively hilarious.

Nacht and Morgen have a fused form (like Namaah and Lilith did) which gets named Faust.

Separately or together, Nacht and Morgen can use their magic to create illusory human forms.

Faust has been introduced to Josele’s parents (Gwenith and Thomas both live longer in this au, yes). Neither parents have caught on that Faust is actually two devils.

Josele is much more tsundere in this au because she has to keep Nacht and Morgen in line. But she also wants to love them. She’s in trouble folks.

Morgen falls for Josele's strength of character, her ability to put up with him and Nacht and keep her moral compass. Helping him find his own again helps too.

Nacht falls for Josele's softer side, her gentle smiles and the source of her healing magic really enchant him. He falls for her kindness and wants to protect it.

The moment when Josele really starts falling for the twins is at a masquerade. The twins come in disguise and sweep her off her feet.

She doesn’t even recognize them until they pull her aside and reveal themselves.

Morgen would research human courting practices to impress Josele only for her to be annoyed that Morgen is pretending to be someone he's not.

Nacht just does what he likes but since he's always teasing Josele, she finds it difficult to tell if his feelings are genuine.

At some point, Yami confronts Josele about her relationship with the twins. He tells her “I’m all about surpassing limits but you’re crossing a line!”

Josele's unite form with Morgen turns her into an armored dancer. Simple armor and flowing silk woven from Morgen's light magic. She appears elegant, otherworldly, and (ironically) pure.

Josele's unite form with Nacht makes her look like a rogue/assassin. Form fitting clothes of shadows coupled with claws. This form is ominous and vicious in appearance and use.

If Josele were to unite with both Morgen and Nacht... Whoever brought that on should be saying their prayers. Josele becomes wreathed in the darkest shadows and unholy light. She is both too bright to look at directly and too dark to see properly. The first time Josele achieved this form, she immediately blacked out afterwards because of the strain on her body and mind.

[kidflashimpulse]

Hey! I wanted to ask this anonymously first before I embarrassed myself but I just started my first young justice blog and I really need some help coming up with fic ideas, with writing, with a lot of stuff I'm a complete mess, an I was wondering if it's not much trouble, could I get some help?

Hey :)) omg that’s so exciting! looking forward to checking out ur blog :D just saying in advance to hopefully squash any worries and to scale expectations, i’m not the best person with communication and can take a while to respond to messages (also sorry bout the slight delay with answering this one, i do hope u see it i can’t remember if anon questions notifies the sender 😭). I cant guarantee being the most helpful person either but i’d be happy to try to help where/if i can :)

in terms of general advice for fics/writing which i think tbh is the best one (that i use to try to motivate myself to write for fics) is to just start writing! like literally anything, as soon as u feel like even a second of inspiration or motivation just go with the flow. Whether it’s one sentence, a paragraph or 1000 words lol, just putting words on a page is a great start already. It doesn’t need to be perfect at all, my first fic (unposted) ended up being long with multiple chapters and all the writing throughout was so questionable lol but i was and still am so proud of it! It gave me experience and the learning curve was inspiring that i was excited to try to write even more stuff after. I noticed with each chapter i slowly found a rhythm and improved step by step. Even if it’s just tiny things that u learn, it makes all the difference. You 100% learn as u go, even now whenever i post something i’m like damn i could make a million changes or be annoyed/critical at something but ultimately i’m just happy to have posted something to share with others and contribute a little something to a community of people who share the same interests as me :) and that’s rlly all that matters and as u start doing that u can develop more ideas and “what ifs” to explore i.e more fic ideas etc

in terms of structure for working on fics id say it rlly depends on the individual. for me i usually write a rough outline/summary of what the fic is basically about. I usually try to have key details summarised where they all connect until the end of the fic, so that after that’s done, u can then flesh out the individual chapters or paragraphs out better. But things like plot can also really change whilst ur writing! It all boils down to what inspires u to write.

It’s not bad to have no ideas, i think it’s actually super cool for people to start out with a really simple/basic prompt (maybe something like: oh flash family go to a restaurant or zetaflash go to an arcade or outsiders play board games (lol)) something like that and then u can expand on the story with dialog/events/characterisation/description that really fills it up and makes up the chunkier part of the fic where it almost at times feels like it writes itself.

also fics really doesn’t need to be long at all if that’s something u might find intimidating, my stuff tends to be quite wordy because that’s just how i write (as u can see from most of my ask answers where i just go on and on like can i shut up for once? lmfao) if anything, i admire people who can get points/description/stories across through concise writing or short stories! that’s a real impressive skill too

if u want to start writing fics to post, 100% start writing anything, literally anything and eventually u will manage to figure out ur own workflow/style that suits u best :) i’m 100% still learning too, i mean i have yet to finish a multi chapter fic, but by reminding myself that any writing is a good step somewhere, despite the slow progress, i can still be motivated to keep working on it. i hope these general tips managed to help u somewhat 🙏 again rlly looking forward to checking out ur blog <3

[bitch-butter]

Directors cut thing on my story 😘

oh my god...🖤 you mean this story??

~ so much rambling down below ~

o b v i the inception for it was All You talking about myriad activities involving fingers, as one does, but my first instinct is always to take it to a place of webgott because they effectively live inside of me like my head is an apple and they're a worm slowly eating me alive. but the idea was also Very much suited to The AU, and I hadn't written any baberoe since down comes the night, so I took the plunge so to speak.

the thing about writing them in down comes the night is it was still sort of challenging, even though they're barely in it, because I find people either travel blind when it comes to baberoe or they show up with Many expectations, and I'm not really very good at writing to what people necessarily expect because I'm an insufferable contrarian at heart. so what I love the most about The AU is getting to come to a ship that (though I don't Know them as well as I know webgott) I think I'm pretty familiar with, but get to see them as somewhat removed from the expectations I was holding myself to writing them in another fic. that isn't to say it was Easy bc it was not, partially because it was a prompt from a friend, but also because their dynamic was incredibly new so I literally did some stretches (i.e. notes/exercises) and limbered up enough to try and get my hands on them, which was helped along by...

Sometimes when they’re together it’s like his head takes his heart by both shoulders and shakes his entire spirit back and forth yelling: you’re going too fast, you’re going too fucking fast. It can be a helpful brace, that little bit of bone-rattling doubt. Not of Babe. Never. Fucking again, he’s going too fast. He can’t help it that he’s never felt this for anyone else before, this weightless, incandescent, homecoming feeling he gets when he catches sight of Babe’s hair, a flick of his wrist like blades in the light, his smile, his smile, and all that lives inside of it. Maybe they’re going fast emotionally, but that should be allowed, shouldn’t it? If two guys move faster than the speed of light emotionally with each other but nobody is around to hear it does it make a sound? That second drink might have been a mistake.

the fact that Gene had a really accessible energy to me. dropping into him in a sense I got a lot of tension, but not any sort of rigidity, which created a really interesting tightrope of emotion that he moved across. because I hadn't worked with them really I could have chosen either of them, but I was drawn to the idea that both Babe and Gene are already fully immersed in not just the idea of each other but in realizing the sort of capital r Relationship they want with each other, and yet I got the sense that Gene was more push and pull about it solely because up until this point he hadn't had that kind of attraction to someone before. I see him in many combinations of humans but none really containing much substance, so to then be in a position where he's having Real feelings of connection, partnership, affection etc. it is understandably a little foreign to him. so there's that constant Yes No Yes No with him, because he's head over ass but he's flexing a completely new muscle for himself that he kind of needed Babe to bring out to begin with.

(a mentioned but unexplored tension at play is also the tension of Ari energy and Taylor energy, as they are both intensely powerful but they each trade and pass between each other in their themes, especially at the time the fic takes place, and I think that element adds to a specific rhythm.)

which obviously isn't to say there's any less happening internally with Babe, because he's having a battle of his own on the inside, but the sort of slow reveal of how they work and the story of the night I thought had a little more vicarious pleasure when taken in on the side of a guy who really would have just been happy to have a cocktail and spoon that night.

“Just surprised. Surprised at both of us.” Babe looked back to him with a gentle furrow in his brow. “Why surprised?” “I don’t think anyone has ever said that to me before,” Gene admitted, searching down through his own life, sex dotted all through it like stars in the sky, fucking legion, and tries to think of anything that can match what he and Babe have had in their beginning. “Never had to.” Mouth bunching at one corner, Babe took the words in with a slow nod. “I don’t think anyone has ever let me say it before, so.” It makes him pull Babe in close, leaning down so he can wrap his arms over his shoulders and kiss into the red shine of his hair in the dim kitchen light. “At least we’re in this together, huh?”

at least in my mind Babe entered into the night Knowing what he wanted to ask for, so everything on his side is leading up to the conversation they ultimately have. and on the surface obviously it's Just a conversation about phalanges but Because they've been taking things incredibly slow it's a statement for him to turn around and say he's going to take it there. which is a favorite trope of mine, I admit, when a truth gets brazenly spoken after being denied/rejected for so long, so obvi I had to shoehorn it here a little bit. because, again, Babe hasn't had a Relationship of this manner before, and has had a past where he was pretty disrespected and not really seen as being a Whole Person (as opposed to a Hole Person lol). so now being in a position with Gene where he's being recognized as a human with singular wants and needs and he's actually experiencing being Heard, it allows him the mobility to control the speed of their intimacy in a way. though it is mutual, I think Gene gives a lot of the power over to Babe at least in this way because not only are they still learning each other but he sees something in Babe's strength and his openness that is sort of humbling to him. so it made the most sense to me that not only should it be Gene's pov but Babe should be the one to ask.

you know I loved writing it, I love talking about it, and now I love writing baberoe (particularly spooky baberoe 🌙🖤)

(also, a Lot of this was written in my journal by the pool because I will admit you caught me at a vulnerable moment on vaca so I just spent days at the beach writing and it was truly heaven, I wrote most of this, I wrote the end of Rivers, I wrote like three prompts, I think I'm supposed to just live on vacation. so this fic is married in my mind to being incredibly relaxed, and feeling dreamy and warm and free of stress lol)

thx babe ~

[my1guilty1pleasures]

Strongest Rematch Rewrite

Okay, so I wrote a fic called 'Strongest Rematch' but I hadn't put my all into it and it showed. So here's a rewrite that I did put my all into. It's also more well thoughtout.

2.8K words

    Gojo smiled as he and the others reminisced, his head perking up when he heard a woman’s voice over the intercom.

    “Now boarding flight 48, all passengers for flight 48, please make your way to the gate.” the voice called, Gojo watching as his friends stood. Nanami, Haibara, Yaga, Amanai, and Kuroi smiled at Gojo before walking over to one of the gates. It looked like it was time. Moving to take a step forward, he found himself stopped by Geto’s hand on his shoulder, the black haired young man giving him a somewhat mournful smile.

    “Sorry, Satoru, but the others still need you. Shoko, Mei, Utahime, and especially Megumi and Yuji. We’ll meet again on the other side of the gate, but right now, you need to make sure Sukuna doesn’t hurt anybody else.” Geto said, his heart aching. Gojo stared at his lifelong friend, the person who he’d done everything with. The man who’d walked away from him a decade ago, the one who he’d had to kill, the one who he had enjoyed seeing the most.

    “How am I supposed to do that? Did you forget what happened to me?” Gojo asked with an uncertain laugh, not sure what to do.

    “You really expect me to believe that? You’re the strongest, Satoru. I’ve seen you do the impossible before. How many times have you faced death and come back? Besides, you still need to answer my question. So when we meet again I want an answer. Are you the strongest because you’re Gojo Satoru or are you Gojo Satoru because you’re the strongest.” Geto said as the two stood there staring at each other for a moment. Gojo wrapped his arms around his friend the black haired male doing the same as they took a moment to simply enjoy being reunited, no matter how brief it had been.

     “Well I can’t exactly lose after a send off like this, now can I?” Gojo said with a laugh, trying and failing to hold back the tears at seeing his friends. The two separated as Geto headed towards the gate, waving goodbye as they separated once more.

     Yuji and Hiromi breathed heavily as they attacked the King of Curses. Gojo had lost, Kajimo had lost, but they couldn’t just give up, they had to kill him. Whatever Kenjaku had planned could wait for now, if they didn’t kill Sukuna, there’s no telling what he’d do if allowed to run free. They’d already lost enough people to Sukuna, they couldn’t let him roam free and they couldn’t let Gojo and Kajimo’s efforts go to waste. Still, it seemed as if he was toying with the two, which, to be fair, he probably was, but they couldn’t think about that, they couldn’t let themselves get disheartened by that. It wasn’t until they stood, worn and battered that they stopped, eyes widening as they watched a familiar mess of white hair and cocky smirk appear behind Sukuna. Interlacing his fingers, Gojo raised his hands above his head before bringing it crashing down on Sukuna’s sending the man tumbling and skidding away. Standing on the ruined remains of the city, he looked at the two males who had just been fighting Sukuna. The bottom half of his shirt was gone, his pants were stained with his own blood, and what looked like a scar ran across his entire upper torso where he’d been cut in half, but otherwise, he looked fine and completely uninjured. More blood still dotted his skin where cuts had once been, more still dripping from the corners of his mouth though the wounds had all been healed. Gojo quickly wiped the blood away from his mouth as he looked at the two beat up males.

     “Go find Kenjaku. I’ll take care of Sukuna. I can’t lose this time.” he said with a confident smile to his student. He wouldn’t say it, but the smile was more for his student’s comfort than for any confidence of beating Sukuna. The man wasn’t called the King of Curses for nothing and while Gojo had told Geto he couldn’t lose, he honestly wasn’t so sure. He was on borrowed time and borrowed curse energy, he couldn’t afford to be cocky or play around. To anybody else, it would seem as if his energy increased tenfold, as if his abilities, his power, his everything, was suddenly better than ever like some sort of Super Saiyan upgrade! But he knew it was all temporary, that it would have a price. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too high. 

     Taking a moment for Sukuna to shake off the daze, Gojo quickly teleported away before teleporting back in front of the four armed male.

     “Sukuna!” Gojo shouted, drawing his attention. He could see the surprise on Sukuna’s face, just like everyone, the king of curses had thought he was dead, “I’ll make a deal with you. I figure Megumi’s still in there somewhere, I’ll trade you.” he said, holding up the last of Sukuna’s fingers. It was the last bit Sukuna would need to regain his full power, the last thing he’d need before he was truly back again. Gojo was dropping the finger and catching the black haired boy that had formed before he could begin to fall, him and Sukuna trading places as Sukuna went after his last finger. He allowed Sukuna a moment to laugh and feel the abundance of power flow as he teleported away, leaving Megumi with Shoko before returning to the fight. The power that radiated off of Sukuna could kill a normal human, hell, even many of the students would probably have a hard time against the pure curse energy that seemed to permeate the very air around him.

     “Great, now that you’re not inhabiting Yuji or Megumi, I can go all out, and since you have all twenty fingers, I can kill you for good.” Gojo said, still grinning as if this was all just a giant game. Once more they were throwing punches at each other, Gojo barely dodging Sukuna’s blade as it left large fissures across the battlefield. The same blade, the same attack, that had left him split in two the first time. Perhaps it was lucky that Sukuna had cut him in half cut above the waist, had he split Gojo in half vertically, he would probably be on the other side of that gate with Geto. Now, at least, he could keep Sukuna from hurting anyone else. Activating his domain, he poured more energy into it than the first time. Sukuna was stronger, in his proper body, while he didn’t want to waste what energy he had, he couldn’t afford to not give it his everything. 

     Thankfully, with Megumi no longer a part of Sukuna, Sukuna couldn’t use Megumi’s abilities, Megumi’s shikigami. It was easier to fight the man one-on-one than to fight him and two other things. Blow after blow, they sent each other flying across the battlefield or sending out shockwaves of cursed energy. Knocking the blade out of Sukuna’s hand, Gojo caught the male’s weapon, smirking as stood across from Sukuna. Neither would admit it, but they were exhausted, their extended battle taking its toll on them. He could tell that Sukuna’s cursed energy was starting to run out, the waves of power no longer flowing from him, his attacks slowing, and his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. Had his own energy not been dwindling, he might have given a cocky smile, but he didn’t have much more than Sukuna did at this point. He could do it, he was certain he could do it, the cost would be high, but he knew the consequences when he came back for a second round. Activating his curse technique and reverse cursed technique, he watched Sukuna’s eyes narrow. They both knew that there was no getting out of this. If Sukuna tried to flee, Gojo would hold him down, not hesitating to sacrifice himself to bring down the ‘almighty king of curses’, if he stayed, he’d likely be obliterated, his only hope was that he could withstand the blast.

     Sand. That’s all that was left of a mile long radius of the blast site, all that remained in this part of the city. All the rubble, the concrete buildings, destroyed glass windows, everything had been reduced to sand from the attack. In the center lay 2 men, both barely conscious, both too worn and too battered to move a muscle. Gojo wasn’t entirely certain what was happening, but he knew that he’d taken down the king of curses. Even Utahime could kill him now. That thought made him want to laugh, a small smile playing on his lips as he stared up at the sky. The others could handle it from here. Mei-mei, Yuta, Kusakabe, Maki, any of them could take over. He didn’t know how much time passed before he felt something warm spreading throughout his body, a feeling he recognized. Shoko. She was using her reverse curse technique to heal him. As soon as his body was healed, he was, reluctantly, sitting up, despite Shoko’s hands trying to push him back down.

     “I… have one more… thing to do.” Gojo said between gasps of air, forcing himself to stand. Hopefully Kenjaku wouldn’t be hard to beat, because Gojo had a fraction of his cursed energy left and he’d already been working on borrowed energy. Looking around, Gojo smiled as he spotted Yuta. Hopefully Yuta wouldn’t protest, “Yuta! I have a request.” Gojo called, the boy running over to him.

     “What is it?” Yuta asked, looking up at the man he idolized, wondering what Gojo could possibly need him for. 

     “Just uh, borrowing a little cursed energy. Don’t ask, I don’t really know how it works either, but I still have some unfinished business.” Gojo said, watching the boy nod in confusion. The young man could feel his cursed energy draining, as if he’d just gone 2 rounds with Sukuna himself, stumbling and landing on his butt on the soft sand below him. 

     “Thanks, Yuta. Don’t worry, it’s temporary, you should be fine after you rest.” Gojo said, ruffling the boy’s hair before disappearing. He still had to take care of Kenjaku. 

    Standing in front of a gravemarker, Gojo sighed. They’d taken care of Geto’s body properly this time after dealing with Kenjaku. After everything that happened, he’d insisted on a good burial for his friend, one within the barriers of Jujutsu High. Having defeated Sukuna, the elders weren’t in much of a position to refuse him. It had been 3 years since then, the students who had lived to see the end were all special grade now, all except Megumi who was still in recovery and Yuji who, without Sukuna’s abilities, had been forced to start from square one, learning things that the others had learned a long time ago. Not that Yuji seemed to mind too much, the boy was happy to be learning from the ‘strongest’. Gojo chuckled at that. The strongest, while he still technically carried that title for defeating Sukuna, he was no longer the strongest sorcerer alive. 

     It was something he’d known would happen from the moment he came back. He’d been on borrowed time and borrowed energy, he’d borrowed further energy from Yuta. Bringing himself back to life, the enhanced energy gained to defeat Sukuna, defeating both Kenjaku and Sukuna, it had all left him unable to use cursed energy at all. He hadn’t just fried parts of his brain that allowed him to use cursed energy properly though, he’d fried just about everything that allowed a jujutsu sorcerer to be a jujutsu sorcerer. He could still see cursed spirits and had his six eyes, but everything else was gone. His infinity, his limitless, techniques red and blue, hollow purple, domains, reversed curse technique, it was all gone. Literal decades of training gone in what seemed like an instant. The cost of his fight with Sukuna, of his revival and seemingly enhanced cursed energy. As if he’d borrowed a lifetime of cursed energy for that one battle.

    Hearing an excited voice, Gojo turned and smiled to see a familiar pink haired young man running towards him.

    “Gojo-Sensei! I think I finally got it!” the boy shouted excitedly. Yuji was always so energetic, even after everything that had happened.

    “Oh? Well it would be about time. It’s only taken you 3 years.” Gojo teased, smiling at the boy. Lowering his sunglasses, he gestured for Yuji to show him what he’d accomplished. Quickly setting a soda can down on a bench, the boy took a deep breath, concentrating on the can. It took a moment, but soon the can twisted and crumpled, bringing an even bigger smile to Gojo’s face.

    “See! I finally got it! I told you I’d get it! Just you wait! I’m going to be the next strongest!” Yuji shouted cheerfully, only for Gojo to chuckle.

    “Nah. Pretty sure Megumi’s going to be the strongest. You can be second strongest though.” Gojo teased, ruffling the boy’s hair, it reminded him of him and Geto back when they were the strongest duo, “speaking of ‘Gumi, where is he?” Gojo asked, looking around.

    “He uh…. He’s been having nightmares again lately. I told him to take the day off, I’d cover for him for a little bit.” Yuji said nervously, rubbing his arm.

    Megumi hadn’t been the same after Sukuna. It had been hard on him. The boy had spent hours locked in his room, only eating or drinking when Gojo brought it to him and made sure he ate, sleeping as much as possible while waking from nightmares, and spending hours sobbing. Yuji had been next to him as much as possible, chatting with Megumi whenever he was awake, making sure Megumi still got some fresh air, and always offering a shoulder or ear should Megumi need it. Both Gojo and Yuji constantly reminded Megumi that, even with the people he’d lost, he wasn’t alone, he was never alone. It had taken a year but Megumi had gradually started coming out of his room, even if only for a short while, coming out for meals and the occasional visit to his sister and Nobara’s grave sites. These days, he came out more and more, occasionally he’d train with Yuji, though most of the time he’d sit under various trees and stare at the sky, thinking about the people they’d lost. Gojo did that too.

    Without his cursed energy, he had a lot more time on his hands, time to think. Think about what had happened with Geto, with Amanai, about Tengen, Kenjaku, and Sukuna, about Nanami and Haibara, Yaga, even the old geezer. It was something he hadn’t really done in the past. Always working to get stronger. Get stronger, don’t let another Toji situation happen, don’t let another Amanai situation happen; get stronger, don’t think about how Geto left him; get stronger so he could ignore what Geto was doing… get stronger so he’d never have to lose another friend like he lost Geto. Yet he’d still failed at that. He hadn’t just lost friends though, he’d lost Nanami, yes, but he’d also lost Nobara, Yaga, Tsukumo, and while he hadn’t known the Kyoto students that well, they’d also lost Mai and Kokichi. And now, without anything to distract him, he had time to think. There was no ‘getting stronger’, frequent checkups with Shoko had proven time and time again that his cursed energy wasn’t coming back, or if it did, it wouldn’t be any time soon. Training Yuji could only take up so much of his time, leaving him with too much time left to his thoughts.

    Looking up at the sky, he smiled, watching a plane fly overhead. He wondered when he’d meet Geto on the other side of that gate. He wasn’t the strongest anymore, meaning it could be at any time. Without his infinity, he didn’t have a constant barrier around him, anybody could kill him with ease if they wanted to. That thought made him chuckle.

    “How about a third option? I’m Gojo Satoru, regardless if I’m the strongest or not. I don’t have to be the strongest because I’m me and I don’t have to be me because I’m the strongest. I hope you don’t mind that answer too much.” he said softly as the breeze ruffled his hair.

    “Uh, Sensei? What are you talking about?” Yuji asked, redirecting Gojo’s attention back to his student.

    “Nothing you need to worry about, Yuji. Now come on, if you really want to surpass Megumi, you’re going to have to work a lot harder!” Gojo said, his excitement and energy seeming to return as he and Yuji walked away from the gravestone. It was a nice day, Geto wouldn’t want him to linger here, he had people here who needed him, maybe not for any world ending battles, but they needed him.

[saintlike78]

Hiii can you do a poly marauders x fem reader where girls are being mean to her like calling her ugly and saying she dosnt deserve them so she’s breaks up but they find out what’s been happening and they get back together . (I couldn’t see if your requests are closed) ❤️

Greedy [Poly Marauders]

A/N: Thank you so much for your request! You’re just fueling my addiction with writing poly Marauders fics… and I love it!!

Pairings: Poly! Marauders x Fem!reader

Words: 2.9k

Warnings: Fluff, polyamorous relationship, breakup, mentions of not eating, crying, reader being sad, mean girls. Lmk if I missed anything.

“Honestly you’re just being greedy!”

“They don’t even really like you; you were just the easiest.”

“You’re not even pretty enough for one of them, what makes you think you could have all three?”

“It’s only a matter of time before they get bored of you and trade you in for someone better and more deserving of their love.”

The words swarmed around your brain, a thick fog settling before your eyes as tears streamed down your face making everything blurry and wet. Your feet were clumsily transporting your body back to your dorm, trying your best to keep your head down avoiding the stares your fellow students were giving you.

You were trying to forget and ignore what those girls had said, but it kept playing on repeat in your mind. You knew that your three boys loved you, but the girl’s words filled your head with doubt. You knew that your boyfriends were too good for you, you didn’t deserve them, they would be better off without you or with somebody else. The thoughts were killing you; more tears escaped your eyes at the thought of them with somebody else tearing you apart, but it was necessary for their happiness. You could never make them happy; you could never be enough for them.

You ascended the stairs towards the girls’ dormitories but decided against it opting towards going to your boy’s dorm, wanting to feel the comfort of their room one last time.

You opened the wooden door but met by silence from the other side. The boys still had an hour of class left, leaving you to sit in sadness alone for a while longer before you would be breaking your own heart.

Walking across the room you stood in front of the mirror taking in your reflection, red puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks. Looking at yourself you understood what the girls saw, you had no idea how Remus, Sirius, and James had stayed with you as long as they had, but it was time you finally put them out of their misery even though it was killing you. Thinking about what would happen in less than an hour the tears pooled in your eyes once more, but you quickly grabbed a tissue from the box on Remus’ desk beside the mirror and wiped your eyes and the falling tears. You made your way into the connected bathroom, wanting to at least look somewhat presentable before the boys returned. You washed your face with cold water, the cool water washing away any redness, but not concealing the sadness that still lingered in your eyes.

The book in front of you could not hold your attention, your focus solely on the door of the dorm, just waiting. James’ soft blanket comforting you slightly but never distracting enough.

The door burst open and the loud chatter between the boys filled the quiet room. Their laughs warmed your heart, momentarily causing you to forget what was going to happen.

“Bunny, you’re here!” Remus just about shouted, running to you and getting on top of you kissing you all over your face.

You couldn’t help the giggle that left your lips, but sadness bubbled up within you at the fact that you would never experience this again.

You softly pushed Remus off of you making him sit on his calves looking at you in a very confused manner.

“I need to talk with all of you,” you said trying to keep your voice steady, hoping they couldn’t tell how much you had been crying.

Sirius and James made their way to the bed as well, sitting beside Remus.

“That sounds so serious… you aren’t breaking up with us are you, pup?” Sirius joked, but your eyes widened, and you opened your mouth to reply, but no sound came out.

“Wait?! Are you?” James asked worriedly, noticing your face and lack of words.

You were fiddling with your hands, not looking in their eyes.

“Uhm… well… the thing is…. Uhm… y-yes.”

Tears filled your eyes when you finally muttered the words, not believing this was real, but you knew it needed to be done.

“What?! No! I was just kidding, you can’t break up with us, why would you say that?!” Sirius exclaimed, not believing his own ears. Tears gathered in all of their eyes, unbeknownst to you, since you still refused to meet their eyes.

“Bunny… you don’t mean that,” Remus tried, his voice breaking slightly at the effort of trying to contain his tears.

“I-I do, I’m s-sorry, I can’t be with you anymore,” you stammered, tears now leaking down your face once more. Your hands were shaking, and your limbs felt heavy, your heart shattering into a million pieces. You quickly got off of the bed facing the door wanting nothing more than to leave, not wanting to look at their faces because you knew if you did you would break even more.

They all stood from the bed as well walking towards you. James reached for your arm, but Sirius stopped him.

“Please, y/n, don’t do this… we love you; don’t you love us?” James tried, not trying to conceal his tears any longer, letting them fall freely down his cheeks.

“It’s f-for the b-best.”

“Y/n, don’t you love us anymore?” Sirius repeated James’ question since you chose to not answer, not wanting to lie.

A long silence ensued, you didn’t want to lie, but you knew that it was what you had to do for them to hate you.

“… n-no,” you whispered.

All of their hearts collectively shattered. Both Remus and James were freely crying, but Sirius was fuming, angry tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Fine! Then leave!” Sirius shouted causing you to jump slightly. Sirius felt his heartbreak and he felt guilty for scaring you, but he was just so angry and sad, he didn’t know how to handle it.

You quickly walked towards the door opening it, but before you left you turned around letting yourself cave and get one last look. Your breath caught in your throat when you took in their tear-covered faces, your already shattered heart turned to dust.

Whispering an almost inaudible ‘I’m sorry, you slid out the door, leaving the boys heartbroken and most of all confused as to when you suddenly stopped loving them.

You raced towards your own dorm, opening and slamming the door shut as soon as you had made it inside. As soon as the door was completely shut your legs failed you and you crumbled on the floor, loud sobs leaving your quivering lips. You had never felt pain like this before, it felt like someone had cut your heart out and ripped it apart in front of you, leaving you a bleeding broken mess.

Lily, who was laying in her bed, was startled by your sudden entrance but was quickly by your side as soon as you collapsed.

“Y/n/n, what’s wrong? What did they do?” she asked, clearly expecting the boys to be behind this, but also not quite believing they could hurt you to this point.

“I-I b-brok-e up w-w-with them!” you sobbed out, hiccups making it much harder to formulate a decent-sounding sentence.

“You did what?! Why? Just yesterday you were madly in love… what happened?” Lily’s confusion shone clearly through her tone, not understanding why you would do such a thing.

“P-please, I j-just want to sl-sleep,” there was nothing you wanted more than to lay in your bed and just disappear.

Lily just nodded and helped you towards your bed, helping you remove your shoes and grabbing your sleepshirt, which happened to be one of the boys’ shirts.

“Do you want to sleep in this?” Lily asked carefully.

You instantly nodded and grabbed the shirt from her grasp, wanting nothing more than to be comforted by your boys, but since that wasn’t an option, you opted for this.

Slipping into the warmth of your blanket the tears never ceased, but your eyes still fell shut, wanting to sleep the pain away.

“Do you want me to grab dinner for you later?” Lily asked softly, but already knowing the answer.

“No thanks… can you close the curtains around my bed?”

Lily sighed but did as you asked, knowing you just needed time.

In their dorm, Remus and James were pacing around the room whilst Sirius sat on Remus’ bed, trying to calm himself before dinner.

“I don’t understand, we were all fine yesterday,” James muttered loudly enough for the two others to hear him as well.

“What is it you don’t understand, Prongs? She loved us and now she doesn’t, ‘s as simple as that,” Sirius stated, his tone laced with bitterness, choosing to be angry instead of letting the sadness consume him.

Remus stopped his pacing and looked at Sirius’ seated form, “you don’t really believe that do you, Pads? … Prongs is right, we were all fine yesterday.”

Sirius just let out a ‘humph’ and crossed his arms, rising from the bed.

“Whatever, let’s just go to dinner… she’ll probably be there celebrating her freedom from us.”

This time James stopped to look at Sirius, “you know she would never do that and besides something doesn’t seem right… it’s too out of the blue.”

Remus nodded and let out an agreeing hum and they both followed Sirius towards the door.

Days passed; you hadn’t left your bed unless you had to use the bathroom. You were drowning in tears the pain in your heart not subsiding.

The teachers were informed that you were “sick” and that you needed some time to recover from your sudden illness.

The only time you had gotten any form of nutarians was when Lily basically forced you to consume something, anything. She was growing more worried each passing day, having talked to the boys and keeping them updated on your situation, since they all were worried as well and asked her to keep an eye on you for them since they hadn’t seen you since the day of the breakup.

The news of your breakup spread like wildfire; people not used to see the three boys without even a trace of you.

Remus was the first to experience a couple of the girls flirting very aggressively with him, but he brushed it off, knowing they could never replace you; it was you or nothing. Sirius was the next, he was less nice and told the girls to leave him alone. Lastly was James, he almost cried, wishing he could get you back, so he could be free from any other girls.

The girls were growing agitated by the lack of attention they were getting from the three Marauders, clearly not understanding why they were so upset by losing you.

It had been more than a week; Lily was studying in the library when she heard your name spoken behind one of the bookshelves. She stood from her seat, moving closer to listen to the girls on the other side.

“Ugh, it’s so frustrating! Sirius totally dismissed me the other day,” one of the girls complained.

“I know! I don’t understand, it’s been a week, they should be over her by now.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll soon realize that she wasn’t even that great and then they’ll be all over us,” the last girl said with a proud smirk.

The wheels in Lily’s head turned as she absorbed the conversation and as the last cog clicked into place realization struck – her legs couldn’t have moved faster out of the library if she tried, but she was on a mission to find the three heartbroken Marauders.

“REMUS!” Lily was sprinting towards the black lake where the three boys had been residing most of the week.

“Woah, Lily, calm down, love,” Remus chuckled and got up from his seated position to be level with Lily.

Lily sputtered, trying to catch her breath, bending so her hands were on her knees.

“Y/n… y/n,” Lily started, still struggling to get a word in between her gasping breaths.

“What’s wrong with y/n? is she okay?” Sirius said as he and James stood, panic flooding between the three of them at the thought that something had happened to you.

“She’s… fine… hhhh…” Lily drew a deep breath, regaining her ability to speak, “I don’t think she wanted to break up with you.”

“What do you mean?” Remus cocked an eyebrow, hope blossoming in the pit of his stomach at the prospect of getting their bunny back.

“She obviously did, she said she doesn’t love us anymore, so that’s it,” Sirius crossed his arms, his sadness still concealed by anger.

“She does love you, a lot actually… she’s been crying the whole week, she hasn’t left her bed… or dorm room for that matter,” Lily explained.

“I heard some girls talking about you three and y/n; they were speaking very ill of her and though I’m not sure, I think there’s a connection with them and y/n’s sudden need to end it with you three.”

“Are you sure? We don’t want to get our hopes up for nothing… we just really miss her,” James said sadly, all of them scared that their hearts would be broken all over again.

“I’m certain… she never shuts up about how much she loves you, which was the reason I was so shocked when she came in crying saying she had ended it.”

Lily hadn’t had the chance to properly finish her explanation before Sirius was bolting towards the castle and towards Gryffindor tower, with Remus and James close on his heel.

When three boys entered your dorm room, all out of breath and red in their faces, you were asleep curled up on your bed, still wearing what the boys recognized as Sirius’ t-shirt. They couldn’t ignore the dried tears that stained your cheeks, your face red from the crying, your lips turned down in a sad frown, even in sleep.

Remus was the first to walk towards your bed, seating himself beside you, slowly stroking your cheek as to wake you. James and Sirius placed themselves on the bed as well, waiting for you to open your beautiful eyes.

“Puppy… you gotta wake up now,” Sirius spoke softly, rubbing your back gently.

You stirred and slowly opened your eyes, focusing on the three boys on your bed; instantly deciding that you were dreaming, not believing that they could really be there.

“Hi… Remmy, Siri, and Jamsie,” you grogged out, voice hoarse from the constant crying.

“I wish you were here in real life.”

“Baby, we are here, this is real life,” James chuckled softly, still scared that you really didn’t love them.

You quickly sat up, reaching out and touching Remus’ face, only to just as quickly retract your hand when you felt the very real Remus sitting in front of you.

“What are you doing here?” You breathed quickly, not wanting them to see you in your broken state.

“Lily was worried about you… and she overheard something interesting in the library from some girls… so we want you to tell us what happened,” Remus spoke slowly and reached out to take your fiddling hands in his.

“What do you mean?” you played dumb, not wanting to answer their question, knowing you would break again if you did.

“We want you to tell us why you broke up with us, and not to lie this time,” Sirius was trying to conceal his anger, not wanting to upset you even further.

You let out a shaky breath, not knowing where to start; you looked between them all, all of them eager to hear what you had to say and listening intently.

“I was talking to this group of girls, and they got into my head about how you're all too good for me I don't deserve you... I just feel like you guys deserve someone way better than me and more beautiful than me that's why I wanted to give you an opportunity to be free from me.”

The three boy’s eyes widened in shock at your words, all three of their jaws open wide almost hanging on the floor from pure disbelief.

“Bunny, you're the most beautiful girl we've ever known we love you so much more than you ever know... We are the ones who don't deserve you, you’re an absolute angel and you should never let any stupid lowlife girls tell you that you're not good enough,” Remus said reaching out and stroking your cheek softly, tears gathered in his eyes.

Sirius’s eyes flashed red, he was in two minds, keeping you company or going to murder the girls who made you believe such nonsense, but he chose the first option, scooting closer to you and engulfing you in his arms.

“Puppy, please never listen to those stupid girls again... This week without you has been pure agony I've been stuck with these two idiots for far too long,” Sirius whispered to you whilst stroking your hair.

“Does that mean that we can get back together,” James said with a shy grin.

“Of course, if you'll have me back,” you looked at all three of them hopefully knowing that they in no way were obligated to get back together with you after what you'd put them through.

“Of course, will have you, we can't imagine life without you… a week was way too long without you,” Sirius said, his fingers tilting your chin so that you're forced to look into his eyes, he leaned down and kissed your lips - a whole week's worth of passion translated into this kiss.

Remus and James both moved so that they could embrace both you and Sirius creating one big ball of love.

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Father of Mine – 2/2

Character: Bruce Wayne x Daughter!Reader

Summary: With the tragic passing of her mother, Y/N learns to the truth of who her father is.

Word Count: 4,100+

Warnings: absent father, subtle violence, mention of family death

A/N: The reader is described as tall in this fic. Bruce Wayne is 6′2 and I’m tall, so I’m indulging myself with no apologies. Read it or don’t.

Part 1

Bruce was working in the cave when Alfred interrupted him.

“Master Wayne, a guest has arrived unexpectedly.”

Bruce gave him a strange look. Hardly anyone showed up to the manor unannounced.

“Ms. Y/L/N,” Alfred added.

“Right,” Bruce sighed.

“She’s waiting for you in your office.”

Bruce found Y/N pacing in the room, refusing to take the seat that he was sure Alfred offered her.

“Y/N,” he greeted, remembering how she disliked the formalities last night.

She whipped around at his greeting. “Am I your charity case now?”

He feigned confusion. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

She looked offended by his lie. “Don’t insult my intelligence. You paid all of my outstanding expenses that my mother left me.”

Bruce opened his mouth.

“Don’t try to lie to me,” she warned.

Bruce closed his mouth.

“Look, I don’t need your help,” Y/N sighed in obvious irritation. “Did you or did you not pay them?”

He took in a shallow breath, “I did.”

Y/N clenched her jaw as Bruce finally admitted his deed.

“I was only trying to help.”

“You can’t just throw money at me and expect it to make up for being a no-show.”

Bruce tensed. 

Did that mean…Did she know?

“You read the letter?” He asked.

“No,” she clarified. “But I figured it out.”

“I had no idea,” he tried to tell her.

“I don’t care,” she almost snorted.

“You have ever right to be angry with me…”

“I’m not angry. I’m annoyed.”

She took a defiant step toward him and crossed her arms.

The heeled boots she had on caused her already tall height to make her be eye to eye with Bruce. 

How many people had faced off with Batman and cowered with fear? 

But she didn’t submit or show any signs of intimidation.

“Do you think I cried myself to sleep every night as a child, wondering where my dad was or why he didn’t want me?” Y/N hissed.

Bruce didn’t respond.

“You think I give a fuck about the father-daughter dances? Or whatever the hell people think dads are only capable of doing?” She narrowed her eyes. “The thing is…I didn’t need you. I didn’t need you then and I don’t need you now.”

Bruce felt sick as he listened to her.

“I have the sneaking suspicion that you wouldn’t have been there for those anyway,” she added roughly. “My mom loved me more than enough. I didn’t need anyone else. And she made damn sure of that.”

“So I’m not your charity case to make yourself feel better after my mom made it clear she thought it was better to keep me from you, than to ever tell you that I existed. Says a lot about what kind of person she thought you are, huh?”

When Y/N finally stopped, she was taking deep breaths.

Bruce wondered how long she had that all bottled up. He didn’t think anything she said was a lie. Y/N didn’t need him. That had become clear.

She had grown up to be a successful, intelligent, and independent young woman.

And she got that way without a father figure of any sort.

After a few moments, Bruce finally bowed his head and cleared his throat. “I never intended on making you feel like a charity case.”

Bruce saw as Y/N took in a deep breath and the guilt slowly took over her expression.  

“Look,” Y/N sighed, “we finally know the truth. Let’s just…let’s just move on with our lives. OK?”  

Bruce couldn’t deny that the suggestion hurt.

After processing the news over the past week or so, he realized he wanted to get to know her. This wasn’t the first time a child of his had been dropped on him far too late. He had failed Damian in so many ways because of it. 

But Y/N was a young woman, fully developed and independent now. And Bruce couldn’t help but wonder that him being absent from her childhood had only benefitted her.

“If that’s what you want,” he finally told her.

Y/N didn’t know him well enough to hear the underlying pain in his words.

So she simply nodded and walked past him, having nothing more to say.

——————

Bruce adjusted his tie. He wanted nothing more than to rip it off his neck.

But he was on his best behavior tonight.

This year, the Gotham Gazette was given the honor of hosting the Pulitzer Prizes. And since Bruce and Wayne Enterprises donated quite a large sum of money to the Gotham Gazette, they felt inclined to invite him.

Bruce had every intention of skipping, until he found out that Lois Lane was receiving an award and Clark would also be attending.

He figured the least he could do was congratulate her and say hi to both of them.

That’s why he was trying to find them as soon as possible so he could and get the hell out of there.

Bruce finally spotted Clark talking to a woman whose back was to him. All he saw of her was the black dress and y/h/c hair. 

He made his way over.

Clark noticed him when he was a few feet away.

“I see you’ve finally left your cave,” he teased with a lift of his brow. “I honestly didn’t expect you to show.”

But when the woman Clark was speaking to turned to look at him, Bruce swore he felt his heart stop.  

Y/N’s eyes widened slightly, clearly just as surprised at seeing Bruce.

None of this went missed by Clark. “Oh, do you two know each other?”

Bruce didn’t know how to respond. What would Y/N want? 

So he hesitated.

“I shot him for a cover once,” Y/N answered quickly.

She was a shockingly smooth liar.

Maybe she got that from Bruce, too.

But she didn’t realize that Clark could hear her heart rate quicken, catching the fib.

“And how exactly do you two know each other?” Bruce asked, recovering quickly.

“Y/N works with Lois a lot,” Clark answered. “She basically refuses to work with any other photographer.”

Y/N managed to force a smile.

“I should actually go find her and say my congrats,” she answered. 

“And I need to hunt down a drink,” she mumbled. 

Both men caught it.

Clark was rather taken aback by how she fled.

The Y/N he knew was always charming and kind, usually life of the party. He’d never seen her dodge a conversation in such a way before.

As soon as she was out of hearing range, Clark gave a intimidating glare to Bruce.

“Want to tell me what that was about?” He asked Bruce.

But Bruce only clenched his jaw.

“Past fling?” Clark asked with a somewhat disappointed tilt of his head.

“No. Nothing like that,” Bruce quickly corrected.

Not only did the idea make him feel sick. But if rumors started of the two of them being romantically linked, Bruce knew it would only make Y/N hate him more than she clearly already did. 

Thankfully, Clark took his denial seriously.

“She’s not my biggest fan,” Bruce added darkly.

“Y/N is a good friend,” Clark told him – almost in warning. “Lois and her have become rather close over the years.”

Then Clark smirked. “She does know how to hold a grudge though. And she’ll make your life hell...if you deserve it.” 

Bruce’s brain hurt as he realized how easily Y/N and his path’s could’ve crossed. She had been friends with Clark and Lois this whole time?

“I’m happy for her,” Clark added.

“Happy for her?”

Clark looked at Bruce as if it was obvious. “She’s being awarded tonight, too.”

How could Bruce not have realized? Why didn’t he think of looking at the list of people being awarded tonight? He’d been dreading attending so much that he didn’t even consider it.

“Bruce?” Clark asked with concern.

“Hmm?” He was not one to hum or mumble.

“You alright?”

Bruce didn’t have a lot of friends.

But Clark Kent was one of them. And him and Diana had noticed how Bruce was acting off for weeks now. Bruce was notorious for remaining stoic and giving nothing for people to try and guess what he was thinking or feeling. But they both knew it was something different. 

Someone over Bruce’s shoulder suddenly waved Clark over.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Clark told Bruce politely.

Bruce’s first instinct was to leave now that he knew Y/N was also in attendance.

But he knew he couldn’t act so cowardly.

Was he really that scared of his own daughter?

His eyes glanced around the room looking for her.

He spotted Y/N at one of the bars.

Either her conversation with Lois had been quick, or she simply used that as an excuse to get away from Bruce.

Bruce walked up beside Y/N at the bar.

He knew she felt his arrival by the way her body tensed.

“Had I known you would be here I would not have attended,” he told her while looking straight ahead.

Y/N ignored his apology. “How do you know Clark?”

“He’s a friend,” Bruce answered casually.

Then he allowed himself to take a sideways glance at her.

Her jaw was clenched.

He wondered what thoughts she was holding back.

Y/N really did remind him of her mother.

When they were together, Bruce was convinced she was the prettiest girl in the world. He wondered if Y/N had found someone in her life who told her the same.

“Congratulations on being honored tonight,” Bruce offered sincerely.

“Thank you,” she answered shortly.

A beat passed between them.

Bruce was about to give up and leave her be.

“Does Clark think I’m one of your one-night stands now?”

Y/N might not know Bruce well, but everyone was familiar with his romantic history. He wasn’t one to keep the same woman around for long. 

“No,” he quickly answered. “I made sure to prevent such a rumor from starting.”

Y/N finally slowly turned to him, her annoyance clear. “And you’re convinced that he really believed you?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, Clark has always been rather good at detecting a lie.” His tone was so confident that it left little room for argument.

But Bruce knew a losing battle when he saw one.

He dipped his head. “Enjoy the rest of your night. Congratulations again.”

But Bruce lingered, debating if he wanted to say what was on my mind.

“You look very beautiful. Just like your mother.”

There was nothing creepy or contrived about it.

Y/N blinked at the compliment, completely taken aback.

“Goodnight, Y/N.” Bruce dipped his head and finally surrendered, leaving the party.

Y/N felt a presence behind her shoulder as he watched him leave.

“Was Bruce Wayne just hitting on you?” Lois asked with amusement.

“No. Not at all,” her tone was dazed and confused.

“He’s a good guy,” Lois told her lightly.

“Doubt it.”

“I mean it,” Lois insisted. “The media has given him a bad image. But I think he likes it that way,” she shrugged. “It’s not easy for him to open up. He’s not quick to trust.”

Lois thought she was building up a possible suitor for Y/N, having not a clue that she was describing Y/N’s father to her.

But Y/N was too busy thinking about how much Bruce sounded like her.

—————

A few weeks had gone by since Bruce and Y/N had run into each other at the ceremony.

It got Bruce to thinking: would he and Y/N had run into each other at some point in life – even without her mother’s posthumously confession?

Y/N knew Lois and Clark, lived in Gotham, seemed to know the same people through her work that Bruce was forced to interact with to keep up his persona.

Would he have sensed a connection had that been the case?

The possibilities kept Bruce up at night…along with the guilt that had already been eating away at him since he first read the later. And he’d read it 100 times more since.

Of all the boys, Dick was the only one that knew of Y/N’s existence. And if he hadn’t been at the right place at the right time, Bruce never would’ve told him. He had just been in shock after reading the letter that he blurted out the realization while Dick was in the same room.

Since then, Bruce didn’t linger in a room alone with him, knowing Dick would finally let all of his questions loose. And Bruce wasn’t ready to answer them.

While Tim was the one to connect them, he never followed through with what the situation was. He already had too much to deal with on a daily basis. Tim simply thought he was doing a nice favor for a beautiful woman. 

But if Bruce had told him, Tim would immediately do every possible background check on Y/N. He would be suspicious of the timing and underlying motives. He would probably assume that Y/N’s end goal was to get money or fame – or both. Bruce knew eventually Tim would come to the conclusion that Y/N wanted neither of those things. But it would still get an unnecessary rise out of the boy.

Bruce didn’t even want to think about how Damian would handle it. He knew his son felt a certain level of pride from being the only blood-son of his. Knowing he had a sibling – and an older sister at that – would most likely enrage him. And that wouldn’t make anything better. 

Jason…Well, Jason would get a kick out of Bruce letting down yet another child. And it would just be worse that she was blood related. He’d be curious about Y/N. Hell, he’d probably be tickled by the no-bullshit attitude Y/N had towards Bruce and her harsh efforts to keep him out of her life completely.

Now, Bruce sat at a Justice League meeting.

They were only a few minutes into a council session when his communicator started going off.

The boys knew not to contact him unless it was an emergency. So, he quickly excused himself and stood to leave the room.

“What is it?” Bruce answered, his Batman voice in full form.

“There’s been an attack at city hall,” Dick reported back hurriedly.

Bruce frowned. The boys had handled much worse things on their own before. There had to be more to it than that.

“Scarecrow,” Dick confirmed. “He released a fear toxin. It’s bad Bruce. The mayor has been infected, along with half of their staff. I think it’s a new string. Our antidote doesn’t seem to doing anything. Even if it did, we don’t have nearly enough for the amount of victims.”

“The others?” Bruce asked quickly – meaning Damian, Jason, and Tim.

“They’re fine. Jason’s trying to get everyone out before they inhale too much. Tim and Damian went after Scarecrow. GPD is in a panic.”

Bruce turned to see Clark had raced to his side. Clearly he had been eavesdropping on the conversation. But the expression in his face prevented Bruce from getting into an argument about it.

“What?” Bruce asked him, knowing something was wrong.

“Lois and Y/N were at that council meeting,” Clark breathed out.

“We’ll be there soon,” Bruce told Dick before hanging up.

—

Bruce thought he knew fear from the few times his boys had been in trouble. But it was nothing compared to the fear he had knowing it was Y/N this time. She wasn’t a trained vigilante; she was just an innocent civilian. Bruce had not insured that she was trained and could take care of herself.

As soon as Clark dropped them on the ground, they were in the midst of the chaos.

“Lois!” Clark yelled.

People were too distracted to notice Superman and Batman had arrived.

Bruce looked over to see Lois rushing to Clark. He could tell it took all of Clark’s willpower not to embrace Lois from his relief.

“Are you OK?” Clark asked as he dipped his head and his eyes raced across his wife’s body.

“I-I’m fine. I got lucky. Somehow I was out of range of the gas explosion.”

“Y/N?” Bruce interrupted. “Did you see Y/N?”

“She was helping these kids get out and I was getting shoved out of the building. I tried to get to her but it was impossible with everyone’s panic. I think she’s still in there.”

Before Bruce could turn to Clark to come up with a plan, Clark flew into the building. A few people finally noticed the presence of superheroes and started murmuring.

“Nightwing, Red Hood – I’m at the front entrance of City Hall.”

Clark flew back to them not even 30 seconds later.

Y/N was unconscious in his arms.

“Oh my god,” Lois muttered at Y/N’s condition.

“She’s gone into shock. We need to get her to the medics,” Clark informed them. “She was exposed to the toxin more than the others.”

But Bruce was already shaking his head. “They won’t be able to help her.”

Clark gently handed Y/N to Bruce as he explained, “There are others in there.”

Just then Nightwing and Red Hood dropped in front of them.

Nightwing immediately recognized Y/N and his eyes shot up to Bruce with worry.

“Nightwing, I need you to take her back to the cave,” he tried to sound as controlled as possible.

Bruce was confused why Dick hesitated to take Y/N out of his arms.

“Do you have the batmobile? I brought my motorcycle,” Dick sounded apologetic when he explained.

Jason stepped forward before Bruce could answer. “I got her.”

As if she were the most fragile being ever, Jason carefully took Y/N’s unconscious body from Bruce’s grip. He could see in Bruce’s gaze that she was someone special. How and why, Jason would figure out later. 

Jason had seen Y/N trying to help as many people before she was completely poisoned from the toxin. She’d risked her life to help. 

Watching Jason cradle her into his body caught Clark off guard, always seeing the brute strength and almost animalistic energy from Red Hood whenever they so happened to fight beside each other.

“Meet us at the cave,” Bruce clarified. “Alfred will know what to do. We have to help out here more.”

Jason nodded before he hurried away with her and rushed to his hidden car.  

——————

Y/N’s eyes snapped open and she shot up, sitting in a cot.

“Hey, hey, hey,” a voice she didn’t recognize said beside her. “You gotta relax.”

She turned to see a mammoth of a man sitting beside her, wearing vigilante gear with at least two guns being displayed at his sides. But it was the red helmet completely hiding his face and true voice that made Y/N feel uncomfortable.

“What the fuck,” she groaned at the sight of him.

Just a few seconds later, two men rushed into the room.

Bruce walked in still in his Batman uniform, but without his cowl – to Jason’s shock.

Clark was beside him, making Jason confused as to why he was still here. Surely he would want to be with Lois. 

Y/N took in the sight before her.

“You were poisoned with a new strand of Scarecrow’s toxin,” Superman explained.

Y/N had seen plenty of pictures and shaky video of him. But now that the man stood before her, she immediately recognized him.

“Clark?” She gasped.

He didn’t say anything. But his expression didn’t fight her realization, just silently waited for the truth to settle.

“Does Lois know?” Was her next question.

Clark smirked at that. “Of course.”

Y/N gave a slight nod.

But now her attention switched to Bruce. 

The Batman symbol was large across his chest, and his cape was still intact.

She looked around her surroundings and then up at the ceiling.

They were in a cave.

“You’re…you’re…” she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Batman,” Bruce finally offered.

Y/N’s eyes were wide with panic.

How was this possible?

Now that the others had exposed their identity, Jason felt inclined to take off his helmet. Clearly, it was making her uncomfortable.

The hiss of his helmet being removed caused Y/N to finally look away from her father and to Jason, who still wore a domino mask. But it was far less frightening than the helmet.

“We’ll give you two a moment alone,” Clark spoke for both him and Jason.

Jason nodded and stood up from the seat beside Y/N, and walked out. 

Clark lingered in the doorway. “I’ll be right outside if you need me,” he told her.

He might’ve revealed his Superman identity to her, but she was still his friend.

Y/N managed to nod in thanks, but was clearly still shook by all this news.

Bruce very slowly made his way to the chair that Jason had just been sitting in.

“How are you feeling?”

She shook her head. “Body’s sore. Migraine is killing me. What happened?”

“You were more exposed to the toxin more than the other victims. Jason brought you here. We had to make a new anecdote, and quickly.”

Bruce wanted to add that she could’ve died. But he didn’t see the use in scaring her.

“Oh,” was all she managed to mumble.

An awkward silence settled between them.

“Very few people know the truth about me,” Bruce explained.

Y/N’s gaze flickered up from her lap to look at him.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me. But I figured I couldn’t ask you to allow me into your world if I didn’t allow you into mine.”

She was silent.

“Y/N…” Bruce cleared his throat. The time had come. “The reason I left your mother was because I was starting this life. I pushed her away to protect her. I knew I couldn’t be the man she deserved while also being Batman. Had I known the truth…”

His words died out. It was starting to become harder to control his emotions.

He leaned forward in his chair, just getting slightly closer to her.

“Had I known about you, I would’ve…” He cleared his throat to try and hold back his tears. “I never would’ve abandoned you or your mother.”

He leaned back then. “But I know those are just words. And to you, they probably sound like empty promises for the past.”

“She never knew?” Y/N whispered.

In the few moments she was allowed to process this information, her mind immediately wondered if her mom had known about Bruce’s double life all along. And that’s why she kept him away from her.

Bruce shook his head.

“Thank you…for trusting me enough to tell me your secret,” Y/N finally told him. “I promise I’ll never tell anyone,” she quickly added, feeling like she just needed to clarify that to him.

He gave her a small small, “I know.”

Y/N winced as she thought about how terrible she’d been to him all this time. Now that she knew the truth – the whole truth – she was looking at everything with a new perspective. Even what she knew about Bruce Wayne, the spoiled socialite... it was clearly all wrong. 

He used it as a cover. It was all a cover.

“I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you,” she whispered shakily.

But Bruce shook his head before she could even get the apology out.

“Do you think it’s too late for us?” She breathed. 

Could they ever find any fragment of a father-daughter relationship?

Y/N was an adult – she had been for years now. And she made it clear she didn’t need nor want a father.

“Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me,” Bruce sighed.

Her brow furrowed. “This meaning…?”

“My son, Damian. His mother kept him a secret from me. She didn’t reveal his existence until he was nine. And she only did it in an attempt to disrupt my life.”

“This seems to be a rather strange pattern in your life,” Y/N couldn’t help but point out.

Bruce glared at her, causing her to chuckle.

“My point is,” he continued, “I don’t think it’s ever too late.” And he cleared his throat quickly. “That is, if you want to try.”

“I think I do,” she answered with a shy smile.

It was the first time she’d done so in his presence.

“I don’t know anything about raising a daughter,” Bruce rubbed his face as he attempted to make the joke. But she could tell there was sincerity there, too.

“Well, I’ve already been raised,” Y/N laughed.

There.

That laugh.

It brought Bruce back to his teenage years. It sounded so much like her mother. Her face lit up just like her’s had.

“You remind me so much of your mother,” he gasped.

Her face dropped at his confession.

“Really?”

He nodded. “She said you were just like me. But there’s more of her in you than I think she ever realized.”

Bruce saw his much his words effected her.

Y/N’s eyes were shiny with tears, but she managed to hold them back.

“So what now?” She quickly asked, obviously trying to distract herself so she wouldn’t have a complete emotional breakdown.

“Well, Alfred should have dinner ready soon. Would you stay?”

She gave him a tear-filled smile. “I’d like that.”

“You can meet the rest of them,” Bruce told her casually as he stood.

“The rest of them?”

He nodded. “Well, you only have to meet Damian now. You already met Jason, Dick, and Tim in passing.”

“And here I thought you had no idea how to be a father…” Y/N muttered with amusement.

Bruce helped her get out of bed, making sure she was alright to stand and walk on her own.

“Well, depending on which of them you ask, they might tell you that you’re right.”

--------------------

Thank you to everyone who read the first part. Let me know what you think <3

BONUS: This Game of Ours