#Oops type there I meant SAIL

[dontyouworrydaddy]

hi!! i stumbled across ur blog and i loved ur writing so i thought i’d drop a request ^_^

so…. 141 x famous! reader

like…. HEHHEHE

like im talking realllyyy famous

celebrity type

ESPECIALLY WITH SOMEONE LIKE SIMON… POLAR OPPOSITES

ofc there would be some problems but whenever they get on leave reader just immediately frees up her schedule for the time he’ll be back !!

concert? sorry…..

touring? oops…

YK? HEHEH :3

𝐀 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫

Task Force 141 x gn! reader

YOU ARE A GENIUSSSSS!!!! OH MY GODDD I absolutely love this idea and I‘m soooo excited to write about it.

Thank you so much! I hope you love this one💘

♛ ♕ ♚ ♔ ♜ ♖ ♝ ♗ ♞ ♘ ♟ ♙

Simon Riley

Simon had always been the quiet and private person. Just a simple guy in the army who has a high position.

You, known simply as "Little Star" for the world, which you got the name from Simon, are a phenomenal actor and song writer, making millions out of acting in songs you produce.

It was a love that had surprised everyone, including themselves. Polar opposites in every sense, but they say opposites attract, and in your case, it couldn't be truer.

"Hey my little star." Simon murmured as he walked through the door of your shared apartment. He had just returned from a long, grueling mission.

You looked up from the colorful bouquet you were arranging, your face lighting up as you rushed into his arms. "Simon! You're back! I've been counting the minutes."

Simon's usually stern expression softened as he held you close. "I missed you too," he admitted quietly.

Months passed the last time you saw him and it wasn't always easy, of course. Simon's work often kept him away for long stretches, and the secrecy surrounding it meant that there were many moments he couldn't share with you. But whenever he had leave, you had a knack for freeing up your schedule, as if nothing else in the world was as important as those moments with him.

"Hey, y/n.." Simon would say, his voice filled with a mix of gratitude and love. "I can't believe you're here with me."

You'd smile and reply, "Of course, Simon. You're my priority when you're home."

It wasn't always smooth sailing. You were the extrovert, and Simon was the introvert. He preferred quiet nights in, while you loved going out with friends. But you learned to compromise, to find joy in the little things.

One evening, you sat on the couch with a pile of board games in front of you. "Come on, Ghosty, let's have some fun tonight."

Simon raised an eyebrow but couldn't resist your infectious enthusiasm. "Alright, little star. You're on."

The game night ended up being filled with laughter, playful arguments, and a hot make out sessions. But amidst the chaos, there was a connection that ran deeper than any mission or song/show.

Ad you both lie on the bed, out of breath, you notice Simon looking… distracted by something. "What's on your mind, Simon?"

He sighed, looking at you. "Sometimes, I wonder if I'm cut out for this. The darkness, the secrecy... it's a lonely path."

You sat down beside him and took his hand. "Simon, you're more than your job and past. You're a person with a heart, with emotions, and you have me. I'll be your light in the darkness."

Tears welled up in Simon's eyes, and he pulled you close. "I don't know what I'd do without you, You."

Love was the force that held you two together. It was in the simple moments like cooking dinner together, sharing stories about your day, and in the way Simon's eyes lit up when he saw you waiting for him.

Simon looked at you with an intensity that made your heart skip a beat. "You mean everything to me," he said. "I don't say it enough, but I love you more than words can express."

Tears welled up in your eyes as you replied, "I love you too, Simon, more than anything in this world."

John MacTavish

The first time you met, it was in a bar on the outskirts of a small town. John had just returned from a covert mission, weary and battle-scarred. You were seated at the corner of the bar, reading a book and sipping a glass of wine. John couldn't help but be drawn to you, the serenity in your eyes a stark contrast to the chaos he had witnessed.

"Can I join you?" he asked, his voice gruff from days in the field.

You looked up from your book and gave him a soft smile. "Of course, you can. You seem like you could use some company."

That night marked the beginning of a connection that would change both your lives. You and John spent hours talking, discovering that you had little in common on the surface, but something profound connected you deep within. He regaled you with stories of his missions, and you listened with unwavering attention. You spoke of your passions and dreams, and he hung onto every word.

Despite the challenges of John's career, you made it work. Your relationship was a blend of late-night phone calls, handwritten letters, and stolen moments whenever he was on leave… and some moments with you and him in his car, somewhere quiet. There were also times when it seemed impossible, the worlds you inhabited so far apart, but every time he was home, you dropped everything just to be with him.

One evening, as the two of you sat on a quiet beach, watching the sun dip below the horizon, John took your hand in his and said, "I can't believe you make time for me every single time I come home. It means the world to me."

You smiled, leaning your head on his shoulder. "You're worth it, John. You make my life feel complete, even in the midst of chaos.. where I‘m stressed with my open life."

Your relationship was a rollercoaster of emotions. There were nights of tears and longing, but there were also days of pure happiness. When John was deployed, your world revolved around waiting for his safe return and it was also the time you weren’t really home because of you tourings. And when he was back, you created moments that felt like a lifetime's worth of love in every stolen kiss and embrace.

One night you whispered to your boyfriend, "John, I never thought I'd find someone who understands me so completely. This is why my upcoming Album is about you."

John held you close, his voice full of love, "You, my love. I can't imagine facing the world without you by my side. I‘ll make sure to listen to it even if I‘m in the middle of a battlefield "

You both laughed as you laid in each other's arms, you both found love and solace amidst the chaos of your worlds.

John Price

In a chaotic city of England, you and John Price were a match that shouldn't have worked, yet somehow, you complemented each other perfectly. Your life, filled with the fame and glamour of the city, was a whirlwind of events and you touring through the UK.

Despite your wildly different lives, your love was undeniable. John would often tease you, saying, "I still can't believe you make time for a rough old captain like me." And every time, you'd respond with a smile, "You're worth every second, John."

In the evening, you stood on the balcony of your penthouse apartment, gazing at the city lights. John wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing a tender kiss to your neck. "I can't believe you've cleared your schedule for my leave again."

You turned to face him, placing your hands on his chest. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be, babe."

He smiled, his blue eyes filled with warmth. "You know, I never thought I'd find someone like you."

"You're my everything, John," you confessed, your fingers tracing his stubbled jaw. "I love you."

His lips met yours in a passionate kiss, and for a moment, the world around you disappeared. In the midst of this whirlwind romance, love was the constant that held you both together.

Over the years, you faced your fair share of challenges. John's demanding career and your busy social life often pulled you in different directions, but whenever he was on leave, your schedules aligned.

As you cuddled on the couch, John traced a finger along your cheek. "You're everything I've ever wanted," he said, his voice filled with emotion.

Tears welled up in your eyes as you replied, "And you're my rock, John."

Kyle Garrick

It was one of those rare moments when you both had some time off. Kyle, exhausted from his rigorous military duties, looked forward to spending his leave with you. You, on the other hand, were in the middle of an art project, but you knew just how much he needed this break. So, you cleared your schedule with a quick text that read, "I'm all yours when you're back, love."

As you waited for him, your mind wandered back to the first time you met. It had been at an art gallery where your work was being showcased. Kyle had stood there, captivated by the vibrant colors and abstract forms on the canvases. He approached you, and your worlds collided in a beautiful mess of colors and light. You'd never met anyone like him, and he'd never met anyone quite like you.

Now, as you prepared for his return, you couldn't help but smile at the memories that flooded your mind. The first time he'd attempted to sing with you, ending up with cringing as he heard himself singing over your instrumentals and how you'd laughed until your sides ached. He, in turn, had shown you the discipline and honor that came with his job, and you admired him for it.

Finally, the day came when Kyle returned home. The excitement in your heart was palpable as you rushed to the airport to greet him. When you saw him walking towards you in his uniform, it was like something out of a movie. You rushed into his arms, your emotions bubbling over.

"I missed you," you whispered, your voice filled with love.

Kyle held you close, his strong arms wrapping around you. "I missed you more, you have no idea."

The drive back home was filled with laughter and stories of what you both had been up to. Kyle had a knack for making even the most mundane military anecdotes sound fascinating. You, in turn, shared the progress on your latest album, and he glanced at your creativity.

Once you were home, you cooked his favorite meal, and you both sat down to eat. As you sipped wine and shared stories, the hours slipped away. The love and connection you both felt were undeniable.

Later, you found yourselves snuggled on the couch, watching a movie. Kyle's fingers traced lazy circles on your hand as he said, "I can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life. You make everything look so normal, even in the midst of chaos."

You smiled and nestled closer, your head resting on his shoulder. "And you bring a sense of order and purpose into my world. Together, we make the perfect blend of chaos and discipline."

As the night wore on, you realized that this was where you both belonged – in each other's arms.

[shatterthefragments]

🎵💛🌴

🎵 Last song you listened to?

Bad Omens’ Kingdom of Cards (I’ve been singing it to myself all day at work whenever alone ish) (I typed this yesterday after work but passed out)

(Like I am half considering recording myself singing this and seeing if it’s any good as I continue to think about my “record one song” mini project/assigned resolution plus once I figure out which daw I’ll use I can practice layering vocal lines for this too… but also I have been Very Wrong about all significant amount of lyrics oops) (…or I could just play Stardew valley it’s been so long 😭)

But also The Room Below’s Blood Sport video that I need to queue still UPDATE I HAVE QUEUED IT ♥️😭

But since I’m sort of going back and forth between tumblr and working on writing this I am BACK to kingdom of cards 💖

(When this fades a bit I’ll be back to Turntail probably or perhaps listen to something I’ve intended to or the new music from artists I follow or something. But today again has been Kingdom of Cards)

💛 Do you have any piercings?

I do not!

But I may get my ears done so that I can eventually switch to little gay silver hoop earrings arrrrrrr (<- meant to be read like a gay pirate)

Even my sister is so enabling of this that she has offered (unsure if still willing to) pay for it but I couldn’t take her up on it because it’s Jump In The Ocean Sail Away time for me soon!! (She has several ear piercings)

If I didn’t have major hang ups over stuff being inside my body and healing I would’ve probably had several many ear piercings by now at the least. (And started getting tattoos before uh. This year ✌️) but in my head I WILL get at least the one hopefully :) (fuck I want to do a semi impulse trip to go get another (my artist is in [redacted from public] which I love but that means I have to travel there… but I think I can make it work… if they haven’t filled up all their space for tomorrow…)

🌴 Desert island item?

I adore your answer of a sturdy knife. 100/10 very practical, so I’m going to go for some whimsy and rambling!

I’d love a ship. If it’s too cheating for it to be like. A yacht that has capabilities to make it easier to sail on one’s own (wait am I alone on the island or do I have a friend? If so: a nice, sturdy house) then a semi-cheat is a tall ship. It has enough space for me and all my stuff (probably) but is too difficult/LITERALLY NOT MADE (or able??) to be sailed on one’s own. (Literally the crew has to be at least 6 or seven people and we the 30+ trainees have to help too bc otherwise the whole thing doesn’t really work.)

Or if it’s not cheating to have to sail a ship on my own. Then a small sailboat that in theory can be sailed on one’s own. (I am… not a good skipper based on my dinghy sailing. I am good at following directions from the actual captains of tall ships. I primarily rely on other people knowing more than me bc even if I *should* be one with the ocean, I don’t truly retain enough of the knowledge I’d need to safely and reliably sail myself any distance. But if given long enough (and if there’s a desalinator on board 👀) with the sheets mostly in so I can keep relative control and uh. Hopefully not die. It could maybe be possible? Us sailing with only the jib on stormy days has opened up Options. (I was with a coach though so we got to go ZOOM and hike out and that was super fun!! Would be less fun if not with an expert though ahaha. Like these people have sailed since before they reached double digits. I started at. 22 I think)

If that or the house is too cheating.

Then. A lifetime supply of Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory cookies. (The single best thing I’ve ever eaten …honestly I think I just want one right now brb I have had one 😌)

Or An indestructible book with all the knowledge I’d need to survive (if I can’t refer back to something does that information truly exist?? It goes POOF!)

Or A storage container I guess.

Or for my entertainment (Assuming I have a dry space) a cello 👀 strings my BELOVED!!

Actually. Adding desalinator. Dehydration incapacitates me by lowering the threshold for my headaches by a lot so that would probably be the most important thing for me.

[uwua3]

Yo! Can i ask for a cute Pirate AU with an adventure seeking MC pirate captain, who, when she and her crew are making a stop at some port, meets her childhood friend, Tenma, with whom she has romantic tension, only Tenma is a big blushing tsundere mess, and MC is verrrryyy oblivious to his blushiness, but accidentally innocently flirts with him?? If that makes sense? Also oops the soldiers have seen me, the wanted pirate, wanna get out of here and join my crew?

summary: a deal is made between a pirate captain haunted by their legacy and an island medium who wants to go home

warnings: alcohol, death (mentions), cops/police, crime, fights (physical/arguments), fires, ghosts, military, near–death experiences, pirates, slow-burn, swords, unrequited love/love triangle

author’s note: thank you so much for your patience requesting this pirate story~ i did my best to do this justice, as i love pirates more than anything! .*:ﾟ（｀・ω・´）ゝﾟ:*. this was a jolly good time to write, thank you! (please let me know if you would like a part 02 to this, as it ran longer than expected)! thank you!! :D

word count: 6,163

music: ship in a bottle – fin

captain, let’s make a deal.

☀️🌻 sumeragi tenma

even out at sea, you couldn’t escape the fire that destroyed your town years ago. the fire that made you become a pirate captain

you were born by a local village by the coast, where the air tasted like salt no matter what and trade was your community’s main economy

it was home. a place where everyone knew each other as family, where the sun was hot upon even warmer smiles and the euphoric laughter of children surrounded the island. this was the land of the happy, the free, and the united

it wasn’t until the damn navy—your first enemy until death—came

according to heresay, pirates were supposed to plunder and pillage without mercy. pirates were the villain and yet, what would the navy be then? after what they did to you, they were anything but heroes

yonaguni was made of tall palm trees that provided shade during the eternal summer that sunburnt your skin, floating markets by the pier with tricky elderly and learning apprentinces in the family business, and rare wildlife not found anywhere else

now, it was nothing more than hell. you could remember it all—how the flames licked the open wounds from navy seamen, the screams of the innocent replacing what would’ve been last words meant for decades later, the sound of crashing trees blocking every available escape route as birds flew away in the distance

you were just a yonaguni native, and now, there was nothing left of your hometown. it was permanently erased from world history forever, and you were the sole survivor of the island, making you the most wanted vigilante alive

it had been years since you last had a nightmare of the attack. was haunting your brain and traumautizing you for life during every waking hour not enough?

but, you knew the answer why you couldn’t stop mourning the loss of yonaguni

it was nearing the anniversary of your friend, sumeragi tenma’s, death

and, as you climbed to the crow’s nest with the power of the ocean running through your salted veins and spite overwhelming you in the deepest, darkest parts of yourself, you could see it over the horizon

the navy said dead men tell no tales, but you were alive, and you would be a legend

“all hands ahoy or you’ll be given no quarter!” (everyone on deck or you’ll be shown no mercy)

“aye, captain!” your crew replied eagerly, their loyalty unwavering and strong as always. you stood atop of the main mast, surrounded by vast ocean bordering a blue, cloudless sky. even without your telescope, you could see everything in the world

beneath you sounded the swing of the lines (rope) against the wind before two feet landed in the crow’s nest. the sailor had the type of agility that only came from a boy born on sea

“cap, don’t tell me ya forgot about me?” your quartermaster, rurikawa yuki, grinned (a rare sight that only came when the ocean smelt strongest of salt and treasure), standing at the ledge whilst holding onto the lines with one hand. any other novice would’ve immediately fallen off with how strong the random gusts of wind were, but yuki was an enigma and your second in command for a reason

“ahoy, yuki! so long as the jolly rodger waves, this crew will always be ready to set sail.” you responded, sliding down the mast to be in the crow’s nest as well. yuki just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and leaning upon your frame like it was nothing

“don’t hornswaggle (cheat) me, cap. what are you thinking about?” yuki read you like a map, as expected of the second best cartographer (after master boatswain muku, of course) in all the seven seas. you tried to remain present in the moment, with the wind flowing and sky clear, but it wasn’t enough

“... tell me, yuki. is it so easy to read the distraught upon my face?” you joked, but it fell flat as yuki raised an unimpressed eyebrow at your facade. yuki didn’t take bullshit from anyone, not even his own captain

“aye, do not be acting as if you’re feeding the fish (about to die), captain.” yuki carefully watched if any of their small crew was eavesdropping, but the rest were doing their proper tasks for the morning. cartographer muku was happily reading directions to helmsman misumi. the two were a fantastic pair, considering the “sky” ship hasn’t sunken

surgeon kazunari was dutifully sanitizing his medical tools besides them, taking some time to laugh loudly at some story misumi was dramatically reenacting as he spun the wheel skillfully

“boom about!” yuki called out without looking away, already feeling it in his bones moments before anyone else could. his intuition was unheard of, and you watched no one hesitate as they ducked just in time

“sorry~!” misumi responded without any apologetic tone to his voice whatsoever. his sailor’s grin was infectious and wide, a smile only those accustomed to the fatal winds and waves of the ocean could make. just like everyone else on the “sky” ship, they all were forged by the sea

“smartly make way to land before i toss you off myself!” yuki snapped, but it held no malice. he rolled his eyes unimpressed when kazunari laughed at misumi’s sarcastic salute, knowing pirates did no such navy thing without mockery

“oh, dear yuki, how could i drown with you by my side?” you reached over to ruffle his hair, the precarious creak of the wooden mast the last thing on your mind as yuki swatted at your hand, irritated by the littlest of things as always

“you’re right, i’ll have your head first anyways.” yuki said with no malice, giving you a small frown as his calculating eyes glanced over you once more, trying to find any cracks in your confident visage. when he found nothing, he climbed back down, seemingly unsatisfied when you didn’t break under his stare

(you were one of the few on the crew who didn’t flinch. the other was misumi, who just had no fear towards anything, so it wasn’t personal. after all, misumi was the finest swashbuckler around!)

ahead, your acute sight narrowed in on the growing formation in the distance, your gut tensing before realizing it was far too large to be another ship

with a grin, you hanged over the edge (a habit that no longer scares your crew), your voice amplified as it was carried downward by the wind. it was to be expected, of course, as a yonaguni native, your town always had a special connection to nature that no one else did

“my men, turn your heads and look forward into the horizon! what do you see?”

“land, captain!”

“then let us sail faster! the sooner we reach the shores, the quicker you all can take a damn shower!”

with a shared lighthearted laugh, everyone focused on their role and position towards the land mass ahead. whether it was the possibility of smelling like something else other than a siren’s cove or something more, you smiled, forgetting about last night’s sleepless disturbances

up ahead was fukusaki, sky crew’s next location for the night

after three months or so on sea, your crew’s resources were dwindling (much faster since everyone had a bottomless appetite). it was time to visit a port town to stock up and set sail the next sunrise

sure, it was a rushed habit of yours, but it was never good to stay in one place for too long. that came with the risk of losing again...

besides, who liked a crew of pirates to suddenly come to the town square in their stained clothing and gleaming swords?

after barely securing a place to tie down the great beauty known as “sky”, entering fukusaki was like any other town. merchants upon the docks were experts at haggling prices, civilians went by with their day to day life, and the sun burned everyone’s skin just the same

but as you placed your leather boot upon the wooden dock, something inside you turned. like something had suddenly shifted in the town but you had no idea what

yuki seemed to have felt the same thing, even if his facial expression didn’t change. as kazunari kept muku from fighting with a seller for a map of the local area (misumi was unfortunately encouraging him), yuki inched closer to you, his brows furrowed

“you feel that? something isn’t right.” yuki bluntly stated, eyes scanning his surroundings like usual. except he didn’t know what he was looking for, so a frustrated sigh left his lips

“aye, feels as if someone’s running a rig (playing a trick) on us...” you murmured under your breath, careful not to alarm the returning muku with haughtiness ablaze in his eyes and sheepishness from an apologizing but relieved kazunari (it was hard to believe muku used to be shy prior to joining)

“keep a look out. let you know if somethin’s amiss.” yuki peeled away, checking in with muku asking where the closest tavern was. at the mention of alcohol, misumi jumped in, rambling about how he had already talked to a local about all the best spots

you took a moment to take a deep breath in, the scent of palm trees and fruit replacing your usual endless seas. it wasn’t unsettling, just new. your sea legs itched to return to somewhere always changing, always new, but you knew you couldn’t do that to your friends

you straightened your back and walked with the confidence of a true pirate captain, swinging both your arms around kazunari and misumi, peering down at the map with an easy smile

“alright my hearties, where to?”

this gut feeling could wait, you had a few hours to relax before everything turned upside down

of course the captain got the most inconvenient yet boring jobs that could’ve been assigned

(yuki didn’t look sorry as he happily enjoyed your childish huff at being the grocery shopper, knowing how much you hated to interact with people outside of the crew)

due to your very limited people skills, you awkwardly tried to summon your confidence to come back around all the fukusaki shop vendors. when you were with your crew, all eyes were on you and how high your head was held. but, when alone... a captain was nothing without its crew, you supposed

a messily scrawled list by kazunari was in your hand (never ask a doctor to write anything) as you tried to decipher the words, holding it up to the sun to figure out what the hell he wanted

after getting the main idea of what each person wanted within budget, you stood on the outskirts of the town square, desperately trying to decide what was the best way to approach this situation

you couldn’t appear helpless or confused! how were you supposed to haggle in this state of mind?! as you slowly spun around in a circle to view all of the sellers before settling on a rather small, unimpressive stand

maybe that meant cheaper prices! you thought cleverly, walking over with the poise of a seasoned native. with a neutral expression, you reached a wooden display with a certain swagger to your step

however... there was nothing. as you stood in the front of the set-up and realized no one was there, you couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. what kind of service was this? was there no one actually here to sell anything?

before you could leave, a flash of orange appeared in front of you, purple eyes wide as if surprised they even received a customer. “w-wait!” he called out, nearly falling over his own table. this kid would clearly not make it upon a ship, you thought

for whatever reason, you stopped, looking over your shoulder with an unimpressed expression at the simple boy. he was tall and lean, wearing a bandana around his orange hair and an unbuttoned shirt. it was a casual appearance unfit for a merchant

“what is it? i’ve got places to be and there’s nothing here to be sold.” you stated, a wave of shock passing over his face before solidifying in a stubborn crease in his forehead

“huh? what are you talking about? haven’t you come here to get rid of that?”

when he reached out, you jolted back, a surge of energy visible in your body. you felt that strongly, what the hell did this random merchant do to you?!

“w—calm down! stop moving or i can’t remove the yokai! you’re making this difficult.” he demanded roughly, his proper words clipped from an accent unlike any other on this island. there was a certain... twang, to his vocabulary. as if it didn’t sit right, as if it was on the tip of his tongue

so much for customer service! you didn’t listen, dodging his hand like your life depended on it. as you ducked beneath his arm, you gripped his bicep with a death glare. at your narrowed eyes, the orange-haired boy gulped and stared back with astonishment

clearly, fukusaki natives weren’t this rude

“yokai? what the hell are you blubberin’ about, kid?” you questioned, your patience thin like a century-old rope worn down by salt. he set his lips in a straight line, as if trying to assess if you were serious or not. when you didn’t budge, he yanked his arm back and rubbed the sore spot, giving in

“ghosts. you got more spirits than normal around you, they’ve been there for a long time.”

you were about to retort, but fell silent at the remembrance of yonaguni. had your ancestors been with you all this time? you almost couldn’t believe you’ve been actually haunted by their deaths for this long

“i have no ghosts. do not try to scam me.” you flatly said before turning on your heel, intent on leaving the possibility of ghosts behind before tenma took a hold on your arm this time

“but, they’re trying to tell you—”

before tenma could finish, an irritated and offended voice boomed just down the cobblestone pathway

“you dare lay your hand on our captain?!”

“yuki, wait!” the crew clambered after him, hands always short of his shirt fabric as yuki’s sword made a sickening sound when pulled out of its sheath. the orange-haired boy let go immediately, attempting to make a run for it before coming face to face with misumi, whose previous smile was cold and nonexistent

it was as if the other merchants disappeared, fearing a start of a fight would be terrible for business. tenma was caught in the middle of a 5-person circle, with yuki pointing the tip of his sword at his throat

“state your name and business for grabbing our captain like that!” yuki was adamant on proving his sword was real by putting it closer to the boy’s adam’s apple. he tried not to shake under the pressure, but you noticed how his feet had no shoes and looked ready to run to anywhere but here

“um... t—johnny. it’s johnny, and i simply belong to a family of fukusaki mediums, that’s all.” johnny(?) said, as if trying to convince himself. all of you secretly exchanged a look, trying to decide whether or not to believe this so-called johnny

“you see ghosts?” yuki scoffed, his position already clear on the issue. ever since you two have met, you knew yuki never believed in anything involving the supernatural. after all, so many mysteries were hidden in the ocean, yuki doubted anything could scare him on land

but, you... you’re starting to believe johnny as you notice his eyes waver towards you. maybe not so much you, but whatever was surrounding you

“yes, sir. i can communicate with them as well. ever since i was a young boy, i’ve brought peace to the dead.” your head snapped towards him at that, something inside of you turning

that boy could bring your ancestors peace? could it be too good to be true? as if hearing your thoughts, johnny nodded to reaffirm your beliefs

before anyone else can join in on the questioning, you held your hand up and everyone fell silent, waiting for your next words. you could easily tell yuki to kill this boy and he would... but you won’t

“how much are your services?”

johnny blinked, clearly not used to this question as he mentally calculated whatever in his head. “uh... i usually don’t get paid.”

“if we took you on your ship, how much then?” (you immediately hushed a protesting yuki and wary crew)

“my payment wouldn’t be money.” johnny quickly said, almost shocking himself with how fast that answer came. you raised an eyebrow at that, about to question his terms before muku turned, eyebrows furrowed

“there’s someone coming.” muku whispered in a hush, immediately on guard as everyone shifted to a defensive position. at the first sound of a boot on ground, kazunari’s eyes widened. a telltale sign of the cop’s traditional uniform, which kazunari knew better than most

“go! go! go!” you ordered, everyone taking off running. without thinking, you took a hold of johnny’s hand. he squeezed it without flinching, turning and impressively staying by your side even as you got faster and faster

you were fast, but you despised running with a passion. if you closed your eyes longer than a blink, you could almost smell the smoke and crack of the tree trunks. for some reason, johnny smelt like coconut, and that humored you to a certain extent as your crew ran for their lives from the officers. someone must’ve alerted local authorities nearby...

even with a map, muku was lost to the island’s complex system. despite being quick on his feet, muku’s eyes frantically analyzed the outdated lines and pressed his lips into a straight line out of frustration. you knew you should’ve stepped in, but what could you have done?

“follow me!” johnny whispered hurriedly, turning into a waypoint before stopping and looking back. your crew subconsciously looked towards you as well, as if asking if this fukasaki native was trustworthy

though, it’s not like you had a choice now

you ran with johnny, the rest of your crew following suit. when you reached a dead end, you expected this to be a mistake before johnny nimbly flung himself up the ivy-covered wall, landing with a hard thud as if he hadn’t done so in a long time. ignoring the pain, johnny extended his hand an impressive height away

“grab my hand and we’ll be free!” pirates weren’t one to say no to freedom (or put all their coins in one chest...), so you got down to provide a boost to your crew mates. it wasn’t a time to be noble, so they all took your support without complaining, easily being able to run past johnny

when it was your turn, the sound of polished boots grew increasingly closer, much to your chagrin. you backed up quietly, gulping and trying not to look behind you as you glanced up. both johnny and yuki were standing there, their hands extended as you got a running start

you closed your eyes, breathed in the imaginary smoke, and leaped, feeling the grip of both their hands upon yours as they helped you up. just as you ducked beneath the foliage, you breathed a sigh of relief as the officers ran by without sparing a second look

when you opened your eyes, you noticed johnny was still holding your hand, his fist tight around yours as you could practically feel his heartbeat through leaning on his shoulder

you got up to thank johnny before noticing yuki’s uncharacteristic quietness and the way his eyes looked between you and johnny... as if he was betrayed

you didn’t think more of it despite the sinking feeling in your stomach

it was a night to celebrate! escaping the cops was no easy feat, especially on a foreign island. your crew, who had taken a liking to johnny’s ability to hold his own, invited him to drinks (not that they needed guidance to the safest tavern, of course...)

you nursed your own drink of choice at a rickety table with the crew, watching as they became less like pirates and more like their own ages with a few drinks and good music. yuki didn’t drink, which was something that had always occurred no matter where they went

johnny was flustered under all the attention, or it was the alcohol everyone insisted he could keep down. you stifled a chuckle when kazunari hooked his arm around tenma’s neck and ruffled his hair, the look upon his face priceless

you took a sip before lowering the cup’s rim, noticing yuki’s wary gaze. he met your eye with a frown, as if hesitating on what to say next. once again, how strange

“captain,” at that, you tried not to outwardly wince. it wasn’t common for yuki to be so... formal with you, at least. “do you truly intend on bringing this stranger with us?”

“johnny is no stranger anymore, yuki. he saved our lives, we are indebted to him.” you flatly said, glancing at johnny once more. yuki huffed, clearly disagreeing with your opinion as he rolled his eyes

“we would’ve been just fine without him. plus, he’s a medium! how do you know he’s the real deal, anyways?”

“i just... know.” you tried to elaborate, but it fell on deaf ears. there were some parts of your past you just couldn’t elaborate on, some parts that wouldn’t make sense to a non-yonaguni native

yuki slammed his water on the wooden table, a sound barely distinguishable in the rowdy atmosphere before getting up with a skid of the stool. he silently left, no doubt heading back to the docks where the stars shined the brightest and moon made things shrouded in dark more visible

you got up and followed without speaking another word. the crew knew disagreements between you & yuki were far and few, so there was no time to ask silly questions

when you reached the outside, the salt in the air and muffled sound of everyone having fun made you stop. behind you, you noticed the door didn’t slam completely as a quick-footed pair of feet made their way besides you

“are... you okay?” johnny asked, his hands in his linen pockets as you exhaled, nodding as you leaned onto the wall. johnny stiffly stood by the door, as if guarding it

“yeah, yeah. i am... just a little tussle, that’s all.” you sounded as if you were trying to convince yourself, but neither of you pointed it out. a few moments of awkward silence passed, before johnny cleared his throat

“okay, i didn’t hear nothin’. just... heard the spirits around you get loud.”

there he went again about the ghosts and spirits! you subconsciously patted your hair down flat, turning to look at johnny with yuki-like skepticism in your narrowed eyes

“how can you see there are ghosts on me? how do i know you’re not pullin’ my leg?” you suspiciously questioned, watching as johnny bristled under the attention. it seemed as if the island natives didn’t question his credibility as a medium

“you know i’m right. you have tens, maybe more, spirits attached to you. i can help you take them away, for a price, of course.”

“which is?”

“i want to find an island lost to me long ago.”

if you blinked, you could’ve sworn you were talking to a past-version of yourself. why did that request seem so familiar?

“do you know its name?”

“nay... my family refuses to tell me anything about where i’m from. all i know is the navy is the reason i lost my parents.”

“mine too.” you admitted with a breath and the conversation paused, you two sharing an understanding expression of sympathy but unshakable faith. you two understood each other despite knowing one another for a few hours

“then, is it settled?” johnny held out his hand, which you took with a firm grip. his palms were soft for an islander, funny enough. he must’ve thought differently since this was one of the few times you took off your leather gloves

“as long as you bring peace to my ancestors, you’re comin’ with me.”

when the hours became late and you ultimately decided everyone passed their limit a long time ago, you and johnny led them all to their barracks with laughs and humor in the air

when you reached the docks, yuki was barely noticeable in the night as he stood upon the mast of the ship, his hair waving in the wind like a flag

he didn’t look at you, not once, so you didn’t climb up. how could you when johnny was holding your hand with his eyes flickering back to you, or whatever was around you?

you introduced johnny to his new quarters and left him to be, feeling free for once in your life that night

morning came with the unfurling of your sails and your position in the crow’s nest. the sky was blue and cloudless, just like everyone predicted as the sea welcomed your crew into its arms

“ahoy, my hearties! off we go to find our next treasure!” you commanded joyously, the crew hurrah-ing in return at your enthusiasm. like most pirates did, your crew’s goal when off-land was to find a ship to rob and make off with their goods

you turned to the side, about to say something before realizing yuki wasn’t next to you. he must’ve slept in, that’s all. you didn’t question it even if he was always on time the years you knew him

disguising your expression of disappointment, you left your crew to their own means, sliding down the mast as per usual. when you landed, you noticed johnny standing awkwardly to the side as everyone was doing their own job

“hey, johnny! what are you muckin’ around for?” you questioned lightheartedly, slamming your freshly-shined boots (after an unfortunate drunk throw-up incident) upon the oak boards. johnny flinched from the sound, unaccustomed to the constantly-busy atmosphere of a large ship

“do you... need any help? i kinda, feel guilty just lazing about in my quarters.” johnny confessed, a red flush against his face as he rubbed the back of his permanently-sunburned neck. you were taken back for a moment, not used to being offered help

“um... you seem to know how to throw a person off their rhythm! i have nothing on mind as of now, hmmm....” after much consideration, you snapped your fingers with a start. “perhaps consider shadowing me for today! get the feel of a captain’s life—”

“no need, captain. i will take him off your hands for you.”

you turned to see yuki besides you, his feet silent and eyes attentive as always. you sensed the tension still imbedded between you two, gulping as you tugged at the collar of your shirt. for some reason, you immediately felt disappointed at the missing opportunity of tenma being with you

why were you feeling this way?! there was no reason to think like that as a busy, efficient pirate captain!

“thank you, yuki. return him in one piece, alright?” you joked, turning away to review what needed to be done that day. as you left, you didn’t notice yuki place a cold grip on johnny’s shoulder with an uncharacteristically eerie stoic pose

johnny looked after you, wondering what was behind that shroud of spirits who wanted nothing more than to see you freed of them

“you’re quite lucky the captain has taken quite a liking to you, johnny, was it?”

yuki & johnny found themselves ending the ship’s tour in the underground of the main deck, located along the cannons placed in their corresponding holes. the smell of gunpowder and flint was nearly suffocating, but yuki moved with ease and seemed to revel in johnny’s tight expression

“y-yes... the captain is very kind and charitable to take me on board.” johnny managed to get out without coughing, his eyes inspecting the materials and wondered how loud it truly was during battle

“you agreed to come so soon. you have no family of your own?” yuki asked innocently, mindlessly fixing the placements of the bombs behind the barrels. johnny shook his head, explaining it wasn’t an emotional attachment he had to fukusaki

“how... suspiciously fortunate.” yuki deadpanned, suddenly whipping around with a blank stare. it caught johnny off guard, who nearly stumbled back into a cannon. yuki wasn’t armed, but his tense demeanor and personality change was jarring

“listen, kid, i’ve got no clue who you are, but you have no reason to be upon this ship.” with every word, yuki seemed to come closer until his pointer finger pushed in the center of johnny’s chest

“you may have fooled everyone else, but our captain has always been too naive. i see right through you, johnny. who are you, really?”

johnny shuddered, backed against the wall and desperately holding onto anything that can keep his wobbly legs up. he didn’t know if it was the rocky seas or yuki’s simmering anger, but he felt like he was staring straight into one of those cannons

“i’m johnny, an island medium who sees ghosts on your captain. it is my duty to let them go, that’s all.”

a moment passed, before yuki took a few steps back. before johnny could react, he found the tip of a real sword pointed at his neck once again

“you’re lying, i know it. do not make me ask you again, who are you?”

johnny tried to remain placid in the face of a weapon, but he gritted his teeth and couldn’t help himself

“why the hell does it matter to you? are you in love with your captain or something?!”

silence, then yuki lowered his sword. he sheathed it back, before turning and leaving without another word. johnny let out a deep breath, sinking to the floor as he closed his eyes

if johnny listened hard enough, he could hear your spirits try to communicate with him. but, their voices were garbled and unlike anything he’s heard before. who were you and why was he here?

the first time you & johnny met in terms of spirits was two weeks after a pattern of sleepless nights

he already found you teetering close to the edge, your hands folded as you searched for something, or someone, past the blackened seas

it was as if some savage sea monster had spilt its ink-like blood into the waters, the once blue surface that reflected lucky skies now murky and as mysterious as the dark side of the moon

with your usual guarded glint now gone, you still seemed just as capable to be the one responsible for such dark seas

“good evening.” johnny mumbled lowly, placing the lantern besides his feet as he made his way next to you. you hummed, not particularly fazed by his sudden appearance despite not paying attention. it’s as if you had eyes in the back of your head, like a sea monster

“i suppose fukusaki isn’t used to the rocking of wooden ships?” you retorted, to which johnny sharply exhaled through his nose, a sign of amusement at your observation

“nay, but... i haven’t been able to properly maintain my sleep schedule ever since boarding. your spirits... are rather loud for ghosts.”

you full-on laughed at this, disturbing the intimate atmosphere between you two. johnny couldn’t help but smile at your worn-down exterior. you presented yourself like you were made of a glass bottle, but you were as intricate as a carved artisan ship

“try living with them your whole life, boy, then you can start complaining about their volume.” you jested lightheartedly, offering a soft smile at the newest recruit. as you leaned back onto the railing of the ship, you watched the constant surface of the waves, as if you could anchor your endless thoughts to davey jone’s locker

johnny mimicked your position, his elbow knocking into yours. his hands were much too soft for a seasoned sailor, you noticed this in the dim lantern light. for a moment, you let your impulses take over and you wondered how they felt against yours

“pardon my words, but when will you let me speak to them? i can never find you through the day...” johnny began to ask, but trailed off when your salted eyes and weariness became apparent in the way you exhaled quietly

“it is not your fault but mine, johnny. this is my ship and i am the captain, that’s all. i cannot allow myself to suddenly become weak in case i am needed.” you spoke like a true hero, well, as much of a hero a pirate could be

johnny didn’t exactly understand, considering he just got up and left his entire life on a whim of a promise to find out who he was. but, he nodded anyways, watching blurred movements of entities swirl around your head like troubled smoke

“what about now? will you let me—?” when johnny reached out, you immediately stepped back, your lips pressed in a straight line as if restraining your true reaction

“you look for every reason to touch me, don’t you?” you tried to force it out like it was nothing, but it was clear how your boots twisted like they were prepared to run away

when was the last time someone physically comforted you in any sense? or... comforted you at all?

“captain...” johnny mumbled, eyes wide with pity and you couldn’t stand it. he called you captain, but he didn’t revere you like a typical person would. he didn’t flinch at your sword or head held high, it was unnerving

“what is the purpose of having a crew if they cannot help you through this?”

the wind wailing against your ears reminded you of how little time there was in a day, and how the sun would rise soon and this cycle of pretending everything was okay would begin again

it was maddening, to live the same day again and again with no change

johnny perhaps was someone you looked forward to, a diversion from the expected

“do you consider yourself apart of my crew, then?” when johnny took a moment to think, you wondered what he was remembering. was it the night where misumi pretended to fall over board to scare everyone or was it when kazunari didn’t react to seeing a skeleton that time? was it when muku could predict every type of weather for the next day without fail or when yuki finally cracked at a joke after a hour of pretending nothing was funny?

or, was it when you two shared glances across the deck, clinked your glasses a little too long, or when your hands ghosted over another when pulling lines?

“yes, your crew is my own as well. and like them, i wish to help you, if you’d let me.”

you always found yourself unsure around johnny, unaware of how to respond in a way worthy of your pirate captain title. as you hesitated, johnny looked you in the eyes and his eyes reminded you of storm clouds thundering in the distance

“why else would you take me on the ‘sky’? if you didn’t want help?”

perhaps those were words you would reveal later, but you couldn’t bring yourself to share the real answer. it was a gut feeling that your world would be turned upside down, and you were right when you felt your throat dry at johnny’s hopeful gaze

johnny continued on, straightening his usual bent posture and his voice carried, like he was one with nature. as if they supported him unconditionally

“i know this is your own battle to win and this is your ship and you are my—our captain, but please... let’s make a deal.”

you stood, intrigued, as you witnessed a side of johnny never seen before. once meek, once easily intimidated, now talked to you like an equal

“let’s promise to say things we both really feel. be honest with me, do you want me to help? to remove the spirits and let them move on?” when you nodded, johnny let out a breath of relief and moved closer, gathering your hands in his. when you didn’t pull away and only tensed, he spoke as if he was sure things would change

“i can help you, i can make them go away. you bring me back to my home, i let your spirits go home. deal?”

“is that how you truly feel?”

“and more.” johnny’s eyes glanced down, and you felt your heart stutter as if the surface rocked

“i feel the same way. i wish to help you.”

that night, you remembered for the first time in a long time, a captain was nothing without its crew

[izabellq]

Costumes -> Tamaki Amajiki

summary: you accidentally match costumes with tamaki. prepare yourself for a whole day of endless shenanigans.

contains: MAJOR FLUFF, language if you squint (ik canonically, mirio is in 3-B, but for the sake of this plot, the big three are all in 3-A) also, i tried to make this gender-neutral, so if there’s any specified pronouns, let me know and i’ll fix it ASAP!

THIS IS MY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! (im very much aware i posted this a day late oop)

UA had decided to hold a special event where students could wear their Halloween costume to school. You weren’t planning anything special or unique, just something to get the job done. So, you decided to dress like a cute puppy. It was only a simple onesie: topped with cute floppy dog ears on your hood, and a tail that attached from the bottom. You weren’t expecting to get a lot of attention, which was perfectly fine with you because you were never the type to seek the stage. You topped off the simple look with a black spot on your nose and one around your eye. And just like, you were good to go.

When you walked into school, you couldn’t help but feel a tad bit insecure. It seemed like everyone had decked out for this special occasion. You passed by some anime cosplay, food costumes, group oriented costumes — everything you could possibly think of. And as you made your way to your class, you wondered what Tamaki would be wearing.

You couldn’t help yourself. It was undeniably true that you had a rather large crush on him. Everything about him was enticing. He was so shy that it was usually you who initiated conversation, but that wasn’t enough to make you falter. You understood he wasn’t the most socially active person around. To be frank, it was rather comforting to know that not everyone at UA was a egotistical narcissist.

Finding your assigned seat, you scanned the class. Some of your peers also took the simple route which put some of your thoughts at ease. Others, the more competitive students, were quite impressive themselves.

You turn towards the doorway when Mirio’s booming voice gathers the room’s attention. He was wearing a... whoopie cushion? Oh dear lord. Mirio was a stickler for humor, so of course, he’d wear practically anything that could rise a laugh out of someone. Only, his jokes kind of sucked and no doubt would the class of 3-A be subject to awful fart jokes for the rest of the day. You weren’t so worried about that as you were worried about the two other students usually attached to his hip. One of them being Tamaki Amajiki.

The next one to stop into class was Nejire Hado who was absolutely breathtaking. Her costume, which was nothing more than a fairy, seemed to capture her true personality perfectly. Although, an angel would also be very accurate in her case. She turned towards the entrance way and stuck her head out into the hallway, “Tamaki! Don’t be shy! You look so cute!”

Your heart began to beat just a little bit faster.

“Mirio! Come help me out with him,” Nejire stomped into the hallway, the fluttering of her makeshift wings dissappeared, only to be followed by a laughing Mirio.

When they returned, their hands were clasped over Tamaki’s wrists, forbidding him from turning around and sulking out in the hallway. When you saw him, you’re taken aback. The smallest of gasps erupt from your lips when you notice his costume choice. A onesie, similar to yours, but instead of the dog ears; replaced with cat ones, and a longer tail attached to the back. He had the same minimal face paint (lined whiskers and a nose) as you did, curtesy of Nejire.

When he looked up, his cheeks were flamed with embarrassment. He found your gaze, and if it were possible, he became even more sheepish. You weren’t any different. The thought of having a matching costume with Tamaki, despite not having any prior arrangements, made you equally embarrassed. Now, all you wondered was, did he notice?

Well, if he didn’t before, he sure did now when Nejire spoke up, “Hey Y/N! Oh my– are you a puppy? How cute! Wait! You’re matching with Tamaki! Now you two look like an adorable couple!”

Her excitement, plus her lack of censorship, made the class laugh— everyone’s attention on you and Tamaki. “Nejire...” Tamaki muttered. He stared at the floor, wishing it’d just swallow him whole.

“You guys should take a picture together,” Mirio suggested, walking over to where you sat and giving you a hand. You hesitantly took it, positive that you looked about ready to vomit or pass out. Maybe both. In that order.

Dragged to stand next to Tamaki, you spare him a single glance. He has his left hand up to his face, doing a shoty job at covering his red cheeks. To you, he seemed... more embarrassed than usual? Perhaps he just didn’t wanted to match costumes with you. It saddened you, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it now.

Nejire laughed, “Say cheese!”

Tamaki mumbled something that you could only assume was in response to Nejire. In a small pickle of confidence, you grabbed his hand and entangled your fingers with his just before the camera went off.

“Cheese!”

That was first period.

When lunch rolled around, Tamaki had face planted himself on the table.

Nejire and Mirio sent each other a knowing look before moving to console him.

“I don’t understand why you’re not happy, Tamaki! You’re matching costumes with them, you got a picture with them, and they also held your hand!” Nejire listed off the things that happened before the bell rang, signaling the start of first period.

“I am happy...” Tamaki muttered, lifting himself up from the table, “But they probably hate me now.”

“I wouldn’t say that!” Mirio added, “Haven’t I told you that they most definitely have a crush on you?”

“No offense Mirio... but I’m not too keen on taking advice from a literal walking whoopie cushion.” Tamaki propped his arm on the table, before leaning his head into the palm of his hand. The same one you had so eagerly held. He wished to repeat the notion a million more times. Only now, he was afraid he had messed up his one and only opportunity.

Mirio gasped, “I’ll have you know that I got many compliments today!”

Nejire giggled before turning back to Tamaki. “Why don’t we just call them over here?”

“I- um, no... I’d rather not do that,” Tamaki rushed out. He wasn’t sure if he could handle another awkward occurrence with you. You’d surely find him weird.

“Where are they anyways?” Mirio asked, not before sinking his teeth on the apple provided on his lunch tray.

“Oh I see them!” Nejire not-so-subtly pointed at you. Tamaki couldn’t help himself as he turned to look in your direction.

You were laughing at something someone had said before adding your own little quip. You were so cute, he thought. Nejire was the one who suggested he wear a cat-themed costume due to the running joke that he was a ‘cute little kitten’. He was prepared to arrive in his normal uniform but Nejire’s persistence was unwavering. And if he knew what you’d be wearing— would he have accepted the costume more easily? You deserved better than him, he knew, but a small part of him fantasized about the ways you’d love him in a way no one else had before.

“Earth to Tamaki,” Nejire sang, snapping him out of his thoughts. “They’re coming over here, straighten up!”

“Hey Y/N, care to sit?” Mirio asked.

Tamaki’s looking down by the time you got there, so he barely registers it when you sit beside him. Your shoulder rubs against his in brief contact and it makes him shudder. He hopes you didn’t notice.

“What’s up guys?” You brought over a juice box from your other table, sipping on the straw of your drink rather intently.

“Tell Tamaki that my costume is funny!” Mirio piped up, distracted from the match-making he was SUPPOSED to be doing.

You nervously giggled, “Well... your costume is certainly an attention-grabber!”

Mirio seemed pleased with that answer, not having considered the fact that you dodged the question the best way you knew how. Tamaki stared at you, adoration etched into his irises. He didn’t realize he had left out a soft laugh until you were staring at him.

He choked up, “Uh- sorry... I didn’t mean to laugh.”

You smiled, a picture definition of the word perfect. Everything about you, he loved. He just loved you in general. “You don’t need to apologize Tamaki! Your laugh is very cute!”

You pinched his cheek before continuing your previous conversation with Mirio and Nejire. Did you even realize what you were doing to him? He hid his face in his arms and rested on the lunch table. Tamaki knew his face was probably several shades of red and pink. He was only wondering how long it would take before you’d actually kill him with your presence.

And that concluded lunch.

The last period of the day came and went uneventfully. And soon enough, class 3A had returned to the dorms, agreeing to remain in their respective costumes until the clock striked midnight. Some students had decided to spend the night on a scary movie binge, while others payed no mind to the event by studying and finishing thier cumulated late assignments.

You on the other hand we’re stuck in the kitchen, preparing some coffee to get you through the night. Mirio and Nejire had wanted to pull an all-nighter as well, which meant you had to figure out a way to not fall alseep before midnight hit. You already had a messed up sleep schedule as it was, so one more added incentive should make the whole evening smooth sailing.

“Y-Y/N?”

You turn towards the kitchen doorway where Tamaki stood, a bit shellshocked from your presence. Still in that cat onesie, you could see his whiskers had become a bit smudged.

You smiled at him, an ache wrapped around your chest became noticeably present to you. “Amajiki! Shouldn’t you be up in Mirio’s room with Nejire? I’ll be up there in a second, I just gotta finish this.”

“Ah, well,” Tamaki moved into the kitchen, fidgeting with his fingers as he talked. “You were taking a while, so they sent me to check up on you. I’m glad you’re o-okay though.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, turning back to the light stirring of the coffee machine. Your fingers uncoordinatedly tapped the kitchen’s counter, a melodic beat strung to match your voice. Tamaki watched with amusement— nothing like the sight of you in your element could make him any happier.

Actually, there was one thing that would be slightly better.

Slowly, he approached you until he had occupied the space beside you. You noticed him almost immediately, but had pretended to take more interest in your coffee than him. Your heart rate picked up, leaving you to mentally curse your inability to remain calm.

“I have a question,” His voice was hushed, a bit unsure of itself. You turned to look at him but his vision remained on the counter.

“What’s up?” When the coffee machine stilled, you pulled your mug out and carefully placed it in front of you. The smell of the roasted beans infiltrated your nostrils and you couldn’t get enough of it.

“Do you- I mean... I think I’m... no that’s not right. I think it’d better if I just show you...” He bit the inside of his lip, whilst finally mustering the courage to look at you. You’re eyes were widened with curiosity, the reflection of the night settling in your skin.

He moves slightly closer, and when you don’t move away, he softly places his hand on your cheek, angling your face so your centimeters away from each other. Tamaki tries to speak, but he honestly didn’t even think he’d get this far. He’s left utterly speechless. Perhaps if Fatgum were here, he’d supply him with the confidence he needed to pull this off. His anxiety-prone thoughts began to take initiative and he starts to pull away, believing to have bit off more than he could chew. He really did believe you deserved better than him.

But your still there. You’ve always been there. In more ways than one. You grip the front of his onesie and pull him back to his previous spot. His hand recupped your face, and you take this opportunity of surprise to place your lips on his. Nothing more than a second long, only the brush of your lips before the tingling sensation had dissappeared all together.

It wasn’t enough. For either of you. You can’t remember who surged forward first, but it couldn’t have mattered less. The only thing that was being even remotely processed was the heat of your frenzied kisses. Tamaki poured all of his emotions into that moment; from the way he felt when seeing you in your puppy onesie to the butterflies that clouded his mind whenever he thought of you.

You were the first to pull back out of breath. You don’t care that your makeup is beyond repair, or that his is either. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you muttered six words into the smooth crevice of his skin, completely forgetting about the coffee you were prepping for yourself. “I love you, I always have.”

Tamaki smiled, though the nervousness hadn’t completely disappeared. “I love you too.” He admitted, feeling his heart flutter at the mutual affection. It wasn’t one-sided after all, not one bit.

Maybe he ought to take more advice from his friend the whoopie cushion.

Then again, maybe not.

“There waiting for us you know,” Your voice was a bit muffled, having been the after-effect of hiding your face in his neck. He understood you perfectly nonetheless.

“They can wait a little longer,” His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you impossibly closer.

“Kiss me again,” You pleaded.

And so, he did just that.

CHECK OUT MASTERLIST HERE!

[a-crimson-lion]

Oops, I Did It Again...

Moral Alignment (Shipping Edition)

Lawful Good: The Loyal Shipper

"I just like this particular pairing. Stuck with it since day one. It's fine if you ship other things, though."

-Has only one ship, is content.

-Thinks other ships are neat too, but isn't nearly as invested.

-Is respectful of other people's shipping opinions... most of the time.

Neutral Good: The Multishipper

"They all deserve so much love!!!"

-Has several ships, can't decide how to solve some of their love triangles.

-Heavily invested in the character dynamics.

-They are constantly at war with themselves because they have yet to hear of polyamory; they still stick by their ships, though.

Chaotic Good: The Mega-Poly Shipper

"Look at me. Look at me! I'm the captain now. And you can pry these ships from my cold, dead hands."

-OT3s, OT4s, Poly Ships, Harems, Reverse Harems, Giant Polyamories; they have no limits.

-Love triangle? You mean OT3. Master of polyamory.

-The Multishipper's next logical stage; probably has way too many emotions and/or hormones, but they're fine.

Lawful Neutral: The Casual Shipper

"Huh. They're kinda cute..."

-The type to get dragged into ships without any agency of their own.

-Doesn't ship often or as passionately compared to other shippers.

-Just going with the flow.

True Neutral: The "Agree To Disagree" Shipper

"I get where your coming from, but... it's just not my thing."

-Has a few ships for various personal reasons.

-Will respect your opinion on various ships they don't ship. Will also explain why they ship what they ship if you ask.

-Probably shouldn't push them to their limits; some people are slow to anger, not void of it.

Chaotic Neutral: The Whatever Shipper

"Eh, okay. I guess..."

-Really doesn't care about a ship, even if it's canon and/or heaviky reveered in canon.

-Doesn't look into ships often, so they usually stay out of the discourse.

-Will only give a ship the side eye if they belive something is GLARINGLY off about it.

Lawful Evil: The Callout Shipper

"This ship is WRONG because blah blah blah..."

-Tries to restrain themselves from attacking other ships, 50/50 chance they'll go off anyway.

-May or may no have legitimate points against the ship in question.

-Tolerated because they make an effort to not excessively criticize.

Neutral Evil: The Obsessive Shipper

"THIS IS THE HILL I WILL DIE ON, AND ALL YOU NAYSAYERS CAN DROWN ONCE MY SHIP SAILS!!!"

-Has only one ship, but is far less content than the Loyal Shipper. See quote, "This is why we can't have nice things..."

-Hates any ship that "gets in the way" of their ship. If you don't like their ship (or just don't actively ship it), prepare for spam and slander. They take no prisoners.

-Definitely the kind of person who'd hate a character for "ruining" their ship.

Chaotic Evil: The Ranking Shipper

"Lowly peasants. My ship is clearly superior to your senseless rubbish!"

-There's far, there's too far, and then there are these people.

-Will actively put down other ships (crack or otherwise) simply because they believe it's stupid; doesn't get certain AUs with different ships.

-Next level Obssessive Shipper. Almost always on a high horse; their fall will either be glorious or horrifying, depending on what happens afterwards.

Once again, these are not meant to be taken seriously! I just did this for fun. See y'all next time!

-Crimson Lion (24 April 2020)

[seoulnotes]

Luce in altis   |   vii. Another Choice

S Y N O P S I S | Passed down from centuries worth of history, the remnants of a hatred between two kings reside in a small village that serves as a border between their two feuding kingdoms. y/n lives in that village and must seek aid from one of the kings. Her trust is tested when she learns of the king that is truly wicked.

C H A R A C T E R S | Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin, reader (y/n) ; (mentions of other members)

G E N R E | fantasy, romance, drama — royalty au ; PG-15

W A R N I N G S (chapter specific) | cursing (like a word or two)

W O R D C O U N T | 5.4k (oops, i really dont know how it ended up being so long)

All parts here

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Strangely enough, the tension dissipated slightly by the time dinner came around. Although both kingdoms were nearly enemies, both courts dined at tables with laughter and conversation.

Taehyung sat at the end of the long table instilling that he was still the king that was hosting them in his palace.

I was sat next to Taehyung as he had requested. Jungkook had also joined the dinner sitting on the other side of me and Jimin was sitting across from me on Taehyung’s other side. Jungkook had given me a polite smile when we sat, but I was not sure whether to bring up what had happened a few weeks ago. We ended up not really talking although I wished to ask him what he saw when he held my palm.

Both brothers dined as if they had never gone at war with each other and severed their father’s land into two. Either it was that or they were acting very well. Taehyung was more than capable of such an act. I did not know Jimin long enough to guess if he could uphold such an act.

“Seeing as you might be tired after your travels, I would like to host a ball in honor of your arrival tomorrow night. What do you think about that, Jimin?” Taehyung rose a goblet of red wine to take a drink.

“Balls are always fun,” Jimin smiled widely, agreeing. “I was missing the beautiful winters here. Apologies for not sending you an earlier correspondence. If I knew you would be so extravagant with dinners and balls, I would have sent my correspondence a year in advance!”

Taehyung chuckled. “If you traveled so far, I’d like to make your stay worth it, dear brother.” I hoped my ears weren’t mistaken when I heard the edge in ‘dear brother’.

Jimin didn’t seem to have heard it. “It would have been worth it even if you made me sleep in my own carriage,” he joked to which both brothers chuckled after and toasted each other.

It was a heartwarming reunion of brothers, but there was just something that felt off about their conversations and actions towards each other. It did not seem as genuine as they set it out to be.

Maybe history was just exaggerated and there was never really such bad blood.

—

After the dinner, Taehyung had told me to follow him rather than returning to my quarters. He led me into a room I had never been in. He didn’t care about the secrecy, opening the hidden bookcase entrance with me behind him.

Leading to the room was a hallway with globes of light hung along the wall. When we arrived there, I noticed a pit of sand in the center and swords and armor that hung along the stone walls. Was this some type of training room?

“I want to teach you how to sail,” he stated, turning around with his hands clasped behind his back.

“I don’t want to learn magic,” I countered immediately and crossed my arms. I didn’t want to, truly. Finding out I possessed some type of power already scared me. What if I end up hurting someone with it?

“Well, you have powers whether you like it or not. Might as well put it to some use. Perhaps it will be useful to you in the future,,” he disappeared in the blink of an eye. Then he was behind me before I could notice. “Boo,” a warm breath beside my ear. His hand placed onto my shoulder causing me to jump slightly.

And when I noticed, I turned around and pushed him. Instead of a normal push, something powered through my veins, in my palms, there was enough force and wind that followed that caused Taehyung to end up on the floor many feet away. It was as if I had conjured up wind from nothing. It felt weird when such magic came to me and I’ll never forget the feeling of how it felt like it was crawling right under my skin.

He was surprised for a second before peering up at me with mischievousness in his eyes and a growing smirk on his lips as if to say I told you so.

My own mouth was agape and my eyes on my palms and then him. I did that.

Then in a dissolved smoke of black, he was gone once again. I should have known better when he was behind me once again. Except, this time, my irritation didn’t react fast enough when I turned to push him away, he was already gone in the other corner of the room with his arms crossed as he watched me with those dark eyes.

My patience was growing thin and he was really wearing it thin with this ‘lesson’. When I took one step towards him to confront him, he disappeared once again, reappearing in a different corner.

“Don’t you want to hit me again? Don’t you want to catch me?” He was teasing me, dangling my anger right in front of my face.

I did want to, I just didn’t know how to.

As if he answered my questions, he appeared behind me, arms wrapping around me at the waist and sailing with me in his hold to the center of the room on the sandpit.

“That wasn’t funny,” I nearly shouted, a hiss in my voice. I fell onto my knees and hands because the sailing gave me a wave of nausea as expected. He did it on purpose to irritate me further, enough to make me want to use my magic again.

“y/n,” he sang in a corner of the room once again. “If you wish to catch me, you’ll have to sail because your human feet won’t be fast enough.”

“I don’t know how to!” I cried. My frustration was growing because he was toying with me in the worst way. I used my hands and pushed myself from the ground, planting both feet firmly to keep me balanced.

“Imagine where you want to go and you’ll catch me… maybe,” he said in a taunting tone and another twisted smile. He didn’t move this time as if to test me.

I tried. I imagined moving to where he was. I didn’t move one bit.

“Try harder,” he taunted once again.

I closed my eyes, imagined being in front of his stupid smirking face, tackling him to the sand, and punching that smirk right off.

When I opened my eyes, I was where I intended, except Taehyung had moved again to the opposite side of the room.

Sailing myself was not as bad, but the nausea was still there. I grunted both from being angry and sick. When I looked at him, he waved. I attempted to catch him once again, but he was one step ahead of me.

I sailed successfully but missed my target.

He was back to his original spot, arms crossed. “Come on, you’ll have to try harder than that.” I hated how he was speaking.

I took a step towards him and he disappeared except I had been watching him bounce between different corners. I sailed one split second behind him and with a guess, I picked a corner.

I slammed into something hard, either a wall or Taehyung himself. With a grunt, he fell and I was on top of him, knees on either side of his now lying body.

Did I want to retch from this nauseousness? Yes. Did I want to do it right when I tackled Taehyung and possibly onto him? Yes. Yet, I was not cruel enough to do it.

Instead, I rolled over and whatever I ate for dinner was on the ground beside his head.

“Fuck you,” I never spoke such vulgar words, but after this, I felt the right to do so was mine.

He had already gotten up, offering a genuine smile as his hand reached down to help me up.

“Why did you do that? I said magic didn’t matter to me.” The back of my hand came up to wipe my mouth.

“It will come in handy,” he said. I didn’t know what he meant, but the way he said it felt like he knew I would need it soon. It gave me an unsettling feeling.

I was still slightly nauseous despite walking for a bit and having thrown up so Taehyung walked me to my bedroom.

“Get some rest. Practice it if you’d like to get better at it and have a more accurate sail,” the corners of his lips tugged into a smirk. “I will see you at the ball tomorrow.”

—

Just as Taehyung said, there would be a ball tonight. I had never seen the palace staff in such a hurry, rushing through hallways with handfuls of plates, glasses and an assortment of decorations. I was surprised there was even such a ballroom in a palace as dark as this one.

I, on the other hand, found myself in the least crowded place: the palace’s library. I hated reading as a child. When my school teacher assigned readings to grow our vocabulary and gave tests on the words, I always failed because I would rather be anywhere else and doing anything else than to be nose deep in a book for hours.

Perhaps, that was why my vocabulary is so limited now.

Now it was ironic, my favorite pastime since arriving at this palace was reading novels in the library. Instead of taking up precious time, they were helping to pass the time. Instead of boring stories that meant nothing to me, they became everything to me; they became stories that weren’t the reality I dreaded.

When it came time, I was summoned by Anna. She brought me back to my bedroom chambers. There I was stripped, bathed, and prepared for the ball.

My dress tonight was tenfold more extravagant and elegant than what I had been dressed thus far. Rather than a ballgown, the dress was tight, hugging the curves of my body with a plunging neckline. The material was smooth in my hands, reflecting the light with every move I made. It was a dark bronze.

Rather than plain pinks and reds being used for my complexion, a dust of silver highlighted my cheekbone and shimmering silver lined my eyes and was painted onto my lips. My hair was allowed to hang freely and loose, but a small crown was still the accessory.

I realized how much both kingdoms treasured their balls and such events for even servants had a different change of clothes just to serve drinks and food at the ball.

Taehyung didn’t meet me to attend the ball together, but I was told by Anna that I would meet him there amongst the people.

It was like a scene out of a fairytale; the moment when the main character arrived in her beautiful gown at the top of the stairs which led down to the floor of the ballroom and everyone turned their heads to steal a glance at her.

I became conscious of my presence, of my own mortality and how much of my body was exaggerated with the dress. It made me feel less comfortable in my skin when all eyes came to me. I was not as beautiful as the folk of the kingdom who even in their cruel fashion and ways had beautiful features. Everything about them outshined humans and their dullness.

They were gifted perfect skins like porcelain in a variety of shades. There was nothing like different pigmentation like birthmarks that humans had; they had no blemishes. They had perfect posture as if they never slouched once in their lifetime and walked with their heads raised and shoulders back.

Although most eyes watching me didn’t know I was not one of them, I was self-aware. I just hoped I was painted enough that I didn’t look like a dull human.

Thankfully, Taehyung was at the bottom of the stairs to give me an excuse to rush from the spotlight. The crown above his brow this time not angled casually, but in its rightful place, exuding simply, he is the king.

He reached for my hand and when I arrived at the landing, I curtsied. He kissed the back of my hand and looked up with daring eyes.

“Breathtaking as always,” a certain smile on his lips.

Even though the words might have been for an act or for the people to see, I felt a flutter in my chest like those words made me feel something and my cheeks heat red.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” I smiled back and thankfully, the blush on my cheeks made sense so I wasn’t worried about exposing my hidden feelings.

“Dance with me,” he said as he began to walk towards the center of the floor. Subjects and guests parted for him. In the background, the musicians began a new song, a waltz.

Oh no. I panicked slightly; I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself. “Are you sure?” I half-whispered, half loudly voiced.

He only continued and I had no choice but to trust him.

His left hand grabbed onto my right and his right hand onto my waist, allowing me to place my arm along his and hand onto his shoulder.

I realized why I was dressed this way with the silver and bronze. Taehyung was dressed in a suit jacket, the darkest shade of blue, almost black, with a satin black shirt beneath. He also had his silver dust on his cheekbones and a line of silver along his eyes. With Taehyung, I looked like the golden moon in the midnight sky, another symbol that I was his queen to be for everyone to see.

We didn’t speak during the dance, taking many turns and spins amongst the people. His eyes kept locked with mine and although no words were exchanged, I felt like it was enough. I had not felt this way since I last danced with him during the Winter Solstice.

I realized that no one else danced. Was it a kingdom tradition to have the king initiated the dance?

When the dancing slowed, Taehyung’s eyes left my gaze and to something behind me. I could see the shift in his eyes.

“Mind if I steal your partner?” It was Jimin.

“Not at all,” Taehyung replied, calm in his features. He released my hand and allowed Jimin to intercept.

Another dance began, slower, thankfully. My eyes followed Taehyung as he spoke with other members in his court, a champagne glass in his hand. Why did he have to leave me to make a fool of myself dancing with another king?

“Pardon me, my dancing is not the best,” Jimin spoke, drawing my attention back to him.

I returned an embarrassed smile. “I am not as well, Your Majesty.” He chuckled slightly. Silence for a second and I cleared my throat. “Are you enjoying your time at our kingdom?” It was funny how I spoke as if I was the real queen of this kingdom making sure her guests are accommodated properly.

“Of course,” he replied with a gentle smile. “It never fails me how beautiful the nights are here with the clear skies and only stars to shine. It isn’t the same in my kingdom, although we have much lovelier springs and summers opposed to here.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond and only gave a smile in return. “I don’t doubt it.”

Our dance came to an end and a song with notes that truly represented Erebus began. It wasn’t light and flowing, rather something with a more sinful melody similar to the music played at the betrothal announcement. I didn’t really want to continue to listen to it and didn’t know why the guests of another kingdom enjoyed it either. Maybe we all had some cruelness inside of us that we didn’t outright express.

Many of the kingdom’s subjects began their partying and I wandered to a more secluded hallway from the ballroom.

As I walked further, I found myself outside, enjoying the snow and bitter cold, rather than the ball inside. I was in the royal garden that was below my window where roses seemed to still bloom despite the winter, perhaps with the help of the magic from which it grew.

Every single rose was red and there were rows and rows of them.

“Your highness, why are you out here instead of inside enjoying the ball?” A voice surprised me and I turned to see Jimin. He unbuttoned his jacket and placed it onto my shoulders.

“Oh no, you don’t have to,” a small frown came onto my lips, though I couldn’t help but feel grateful.

“It’s much too cold for a future queen of a kingdom to freeze, especially with snow falling,” he smiled. He had very good kind smiles that made anyone believe his words for what they are.

“Thank you.” My hands raised to the lapels of the jacket to pull it tighter around my shoulders.

It felt wrong to be having a private conversation with him after Taehyung warned me to stay by his side and not trust Jimin. I caught myself and realized he was the one who left me to stray. This conversation was not my fault.

“In return, let me know why you ran away from the ball?” His eyes inquisitive, genuinely curious.

“To be honest, I don’t like the music they play during these events or any events,” I admitted truthfully and we began walking along the rows of roses. My eyes kept their stare at the lines of roses as my fingers grazed then drawing on the light coating of snow that soon melted on my fingertips.

“You should visit Hemera sometime then. You might prefer our balls instead. Our music choice is quite the opposite,” he chuckled thinking of the music choice of this kingdom. “It’s much warmer there as well,” he gestured to the snow falling.

“Perhaps,” I gave a small smile, not really considering the idea. An answer that didn’t really give an answer was better than a flat out ‘no’.

“I’m being serious. You might like the change in scenery.”

“I would have to talk to His Majesty about considering the idea,” I replied.

“Pardon my asking, but do you always listen to him? Ask him for his word and permission?” His tone was curious and cautious as if stepping on thin ice with such a question. He didn’t want to really question a future queen and her place within the court, but at the same time, the curiosity was there.

“He is my king and my husband to wed soon. I should be a dutiful queen and wife and listen to him.” It felt like bile in my mouth. The words I had to form for such a lie. I wanted to throw up because I was somewhat defending Taehyung in this situation. Mostly, I sounded like the prim and proper wife who listened to everything her husband had told her to do.

“He listens to me,” before when he wasn’t a king to me and gave me my freedom from marriage. “And it’s important to compromise for this to work.”

“I agree with that,” he nodded along, “A king and queen must work together for the better of a kingdom,” he nodded.

“My love, why are you out in the cold?” Taehyung interrupted the conversation. He had found us.

We weren’t doing anything that would be considered shameful, yet, being caught by my supposed fiance and king made just being alone with a foreign king feel like a sin like it was wrong. The way he spoke didn’t sound any better. “Brother, have you left the ball I threw in your honor?” There was a bite in his question, testing Jimin as if to ask truly, why he was out here talking to me privately.

“Of course, pardon my rudeness. I will be heading back there,” Jimin backed down. He surrendered like a subject to his king rather than being the king himself.

I began to question the dynamic between the two brothers. Jimin left my side and began his trip towards the palace.

Taehyung turned his head, waiting until Jimin disappeared behind the french doors and out of earshot.

“I have told you to stay by my side while he is visiting. Most importantly, have you forgotten that my brother is not a person to trust? I only mean well for you when I tell you such things.”

There it was. His constant scolding of me as if I was some lost child with absolutely nothing to fend myself with. Yet, I still gave in. I backed down like Jimin although the anger was beginning to simmer within me. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to get some fresh air from the ball.”

Taehyung’s eyes softened slightly. “Stay by my side. And where did you get this?” His hand went to the jacket on your shoulder.

“His Majesty gave it to me because of the cold.”

“Just call him Jimin if you are speaking to me about him.” He was annoyed. He was annoyed that I used Jimin’s title? “Return it back to him. If you wanted a jacket because of the cold, you could have asked Anna or anyone else in the palace. Do not go around as the future queen wearing another king’s clothing.”

The anger I tried to keep in check slipped out a bit. “What? Does it hurt your reputation for me to do so? Or are you just jealous that I am wearing another man’s clothing instead of yours?” The last question was a stretch but I was kind of angry so in return, I wanted to bring it out in him. If he was really jealous, I had absolutely no idea.

He was thrown off by that question. “You can do as you wish with other men. Have them in your grace, have them entertain your bed, but as I stated, it is wise that if you choose another lover, my brother is the last person you want to trust and do not parade around in his clothing like it is a trophy. It revolts me and it will lessen the protection I can give you.”

“Go back to your chambers if you wish to not continue the ball,” he dismissed me. He dismissed me like a dog that he didn’t wish to play with at the moment. He snatched the jacket from me and left me in the hallway as he returned the jacket to Jimin.

—

I hated it. I hated how he could command me like I was any subject of his and always wave his protection like a piece of paper above my head like it was the most valuable thing to me. He used it as a threat to everything I did. He used it to force me into a fake marriage that I was not even sure if it was fake anymore.

I hated that I placed so much trust into coming here to find his help only to find myself stuck and without the help I wanted.

I wanted to hate him, but I just couldn’t find it in me to do so.

Instead, I found a way to ask servants where Jimin’s quarters were and found my knuckles rapping on his wooden door. Servants that passed by bowed quickly and as they walked further, I knew they were talking about how their future queen, betrothed to their king, was standing before another king’s door.

The door was opened by none other than Jimin himself. What did I expect? It was his chambers after all.

His hair was groomed and he was dressed. Was there an event today and I was not told of it?

“Your highness, what brings you all the way to the other side of the palace?” He opened the door wider to invite me in. “Please, come in. We can discuss in a more comfortable area than between the threshold of a room and hallway.”

Jimin gestured to the small living area with two sofas and a coffee table. “Take a seat if you’d like. This isn’t my palace nor my kingdom, but I’m sure I could get you tea if you’d like?” He suggested.

I shook my head to the offer but took a seat on one of the sofas.

“What brings you here?” He took a seat at the other sofa, an angle from the one I sat in and clasped his hands together.

“Remember the other night when you offered for me to visit your kingdom? Is it still a possibility?” I was hoping that there was a possibility I would be able to trust Jimin and that Taehyung was wrong. Perhaps if I went to his kingdom and spent time learning his personality, I would be able to tell him of my situation and ask for his help. I hated that my plans always had an unknown next part, but that’s cards I’ve been dealt with.

He seemed like a better choice than the rejection Taehyung had given me already.

I didn’t want to tell him of my situation just yet, perhaps I will. Besides that, I just wanted to leave this cruel kingdom and most importantly, I wanted to leave this kingdom’s cruel king.

Perhaps, I will end up staying rather than visiting and I will have to come up with an excuse then. I will when the time comes, now is just not the time.

“Of course,” Jimin was surprised, but still agreed. “This is given that you have spoken to His Majesty about it?”

I nodded, but couldn’t say yes. I didn’t want such a small lie to ruin my chance.

“Does His Majesty also wish to visit? It is only right for me to repay his favor for hosting me and my court.”

I found my voice and hoped my words would come out genuine. “He does not wish to come. He is busy with duties here.”

“Very well then,” he nodded. “When do you wish to visit? If you don’t have a date in mind, you can send me a message when you have one.”

“If it is possible to save trouble, I could travel with Your Majesty on your journey back,” I suggested. Please say yes, please say yes, or else I’m not sure when and how I will get to leave here.

“If it is suitable for you,” he replied.

“Yes, it would be great.” I sighed inside in relief. “Thank you.”

—

I got my escape through means of lies and some kind of deceit, but I was desperate enough to want to leave.

Taehyung was gone again and disappeared from his kingdom completely on some diplomatic duty as I was told. I was grateful that he came back right before Jimin was set to leave.

I was nervous. I was nervous to tell him I made my own decision against his to trust Jimin and stab him in the back by leaving to go to his kingdom.

I probably stood outside of his cabinet room for quite some time before Taehyung discovered me himself. He had opened the door with me standing before it, surprise in his features before he settled them coolly.

“y/n? Why are you outside of my cabinet room?”

I walked past him signaling the conversation was to be in private. He shut the door behind him.

“I’m going to leave with Jimin tomorrow,” I mentioned quietly. “To Hemera.” I didn’t fail to see the slight feather in the muscle of his jaw.

There was a moment of silence, a long one and Taehyung looked as if he was thinking. I thought he was considering saying no which might either be a relief to me or would just anger me more.

“If that is what you wish to do,” he replied bluntly. “Then do as you wish.”

“You’re not going to ask me why?” I think I wanted him to care when I asked that. Instead of turning and leaving after announcing my decision, I wanted to interrogate him just a bit longer and push this in his face; to make him feel uncomfortable with it and show some kind of reaction.

Even though I had made my decision already and wasn’t going to budge, I think a small part of me wanted to see him react at least once. To prove that he cared about what I did and cared what would happen to me.

“If you so desire, then,” his eyes rolled ever so slightly; I didn’t miss that either. “Why are you choosing to go to Hemera?”

This was it; this was my chance to shove everything I had felt down his throat, to tell him he didn’t care about what had happened whatsoever. To tell him that he wasn’t going to help me and he made that straight to me since day one and that he was only keeping me hostage without any intent to find my family.

“All you had done was parade me around like a trophy to plan the wedding. Instead of sending me away when you couldn’t offer help, you kept me here as your bride.” This was it; my victorious statement and it sounded like utter foolishness the moment my argument was stated.

“Don’t you think that as the king of a kingdom, I have the leisure time to spend scouring to the corners of this globe to find your people? A task that required me to look for mere humans of a defenseless village?” His words were sharp like each one was a knife sent plunging into my flesh. He scoffed at the end of it.

I would lie if his harsh rhetorical questions did not split my heart into two pieces; no, it was shattered. The moment those words left his lips, I felt my eyes begin to water, smudging the image I saw of him. My hands at my side began to curl, nails digging into my palm.

I might have been hurt previously by his lack of response and empathy towards my situation, but he had never outright declared my people, my family to be a bunch of nothingness. This was worse than his rejection. This was proof he was just another person from the kingdom who saw my village as nothing but an annoying insect that shared the land.

Sure, he was not our king or leader and we were not his responsibility, but it would have been better if those words remained in his thoughts or if he had put them less harshly. But he was right, he was not obligated to act upon this matter. I just wished he didn’t degrade me and my people in the process.

I was absolutely defeated with no choice but to nod my head, no rebuttal. “You’re absolutely right. You have no responsibility to my people. That is why I am choosing to find my own solution and help since you are not obligated to do so, it is your right.”

I didn’t like the way the words left my throat, but it was spoken in defeat.

Without giving him a second to reply, I turned my back towards him and raised a hand to wipe away the tears threatening to fall. I didn’t want them to fall at all.

I shifted my head to the side. “I appreciate all that you’ve done for me for the past couple of weeks. Truly.”

Even though he did not help me, he gave me a warm bed to sleep in and meals every day when I had nowhere to go. For that, I was grateful and I should thank him for it. Perhaps, the real Taehyung stepped out to make that decision.

He did not reply and his eyes blank, not letting emotion slip through. Although most of me never wanted to see him again after those harsh words, I knew I was not ready to let go of the memories I knew of Kim Taehyung before he was a king to me. Unfortunately, that small part of me wished he jumped out from this king of Erebus role and reached for my hand, telling me to not leave for whatever reason.

But he did not and that allowed me to settle my mind on my departure. It was a fair ending to the conversation.

He was not there for my departure. I understood why, but I had wished he was to at least say goodbye.

a/n

things have gone opposite, she left the kingdom! do you think that jimin is trustworthy and it was more wise to stay with taehyung or was it the right choice? *puts on thinking face*

also i’m curious (if anyone sees this), what was your most favorite scene so far? 

yours truly, Selene ♡

Copyright © 2020 Seoulnotes

feedback <3

[imaslowlearner-butilearn]

I'm now watching Black Sails because of you. I just need mild spoilers, Vance... he one of those characters, like a Garak, or a Mick. The type you're not supposed to like but oops he's super likable?

First off, yay!!!!!! I’m so glad I got someone else to watch Black Sails yesssssssss

And I’m assuming you meant to type ‘Vane’? He’s definitely not my favorite BUT that being said I think he’s super interesting and has some good qualities! Like he does seem very devoted to Eleanor and he has a lot of conviction. Also (I won’t give too much away but) he becomes even more sympathetic in season 3! In summary, I like him too lol

Also Zach McGowan is very hot

[taehyungsgrowl]

a thought: when sugar daddy!duncan is distracted with work all day and doesn't pay attention to his sugar babies jim and y/n, they decide to punish duncan a little fucking right in front of him without letting him join

Am I gonna kill two birds with one stone? (In theory, I would kill all the birds because I’m irrationally afraid of them)

also a shoutout to drunk anon (tqm amiga!) for always sending me asks ily ily ily and this a continuation of a beach house feat duncan x sugar babies ask she sent + some people requested a part 2 to it

this is beach!house!duncan being distracted when he’s supposed to be on vacation w his babies? I can guarantee you, they wouldn’t be too happy with that and would definitely have to punish him for it.

this wasnt meant to be this long but oops

word count: 1.7 k

warnings: smut smut smut, angst if you squint

 The first few days in paradise was nothing but fun in the sun for the three.

Nothing but sailing and surfing and sandcastles.

That was until duty called. On their third night at their beach house, Duncan got an emergency work call. He kicked at the sand below his feet, clearly frustrated with the news they were giving him on the other end of the call. “No. I can fix it.” he huffed.

Y/N and Jim looked up from the massive margaritas they were drinking to exchange a look a look of concern. They knew what that voice meant. Duncan had to report to keep his company afloat - which in turn meant that their slice of paradise with their favorite was being cut short. The entire point of this trip was for Duncan to leave work at work and enjoy time with his sugar babies.

But crisis never rests.

“I gotta go back to the house,” he frowned, wiping sand off his board shorts, “But you two stay here. Enjoy the sun - and your drinks,” he smirked. “I won’t be long,” he promised before retreating back to the house. He left Y/N and Jim to tan and relax. Well, relax as much as they could without him.

Soon an hour turned to three that then turned to five. With the sun beginning to set, Y/N and Jim knew Duncan had lost track of time. They picked up their things and stumbled back into the house, trailing bits of sand inside.

Jim lead Y/N back inside, wrapping his towel over her shoulders. He knew how much this was upsetting her. Of course he was disappointed too, but Y/N was the one who had begged Duncan for a getaway. A getaway from the hustle and bustle of D.C - a getaway from his stress. He kissed the top of her head inhaling the faint smell of sunscreen.

They padded their bare feet over the wooden floor into Duncan’s vacation home office. Ridiculous that he even had to have one.

“Duncan,” Y/N spoke softly, both Jim and her pouting from the doorframe.

He pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose; the wrinkle between his brows seemed permanent as he typed away at his laptop. “Hmm.” He didn’t bother looking up at them.

She rolled her eyes and let the towel drop from her shoulders. Jim cocked an eyebrow at her as she grabbed him hand and dragged him to the large leather couch in the office. Perfectly located in Duncan’s line of vision.

Duncan continued to work. It wasn’t uncommon that these two would keep him company while he did so. Needy little things, he thought.

Jim’s eyes widened as he fell back on the couch - or more like pushed down on the couch. Y/N shoved her hand on his bare chest, making him plop down. He had a puzzled look on his face at he looked up and her and glanced at Duncan. Before he could say a word, she sat on down on his lap - instinctively, his arms wrapped around her waist.

Y/N was going to get Duncan’s attention - Both her and Jim were. They were spoiled, she’d admit, but Duncan promised he’d be all theirs this trip. That he’d leave work in Washington and enjoy his time with his lovers on the beach. She leaned forward whipersing something that made Jim’s mouth hang open before the corners pulled up into a smirk.

“Jimmy..” she drew out his name, “Let’s play.” she giggled wrapping her arms around his neck. They heard the typing of keys come to a brief halt. They won’t, Duncan was sure. They know better.

His fingers moved fast on the keyboard again. Almost as fast as Jim’s fingers undoing the back knot in Y/N’s swimsuit.

She giggled and began moving her hips down on his lap. Jim was a different type of lover; he was playful and impatient. He still didn’t have patience or nature to tease and build up like Duncan. Duncan would often be reminded of his younger self when Jim was in that mood. Hasty and hungry. Duncan knew discipline and the power of edging his little ones to the point of shaking.

It didn’t take long for Jim to start hardening beneath her. Part of him had to admit that doing this to piss Duncan off turned him on. He imagined what Duncan would plan to do to him Y/N after they made him watch without joining. Y/N was the troublemaker of the two; the brat. She was always coming up with fun ways for her and Jim to get in trouble. Not that he minded. It made their dynamic all much more fun.

His hands glided up her body feeling the softness of her skin on his prune like fingers. They really did spend too much time in the water. “Want you so bad, Jim.” she whined, rutting her hips even harder. She could feel press against her swim bottoms as she grew wet. There was something so boy-next-door about Jim that turned her on. From the moment Duncan and her met him, she knew she wanted to help corrupt him.

So lost in each other for the moment, they didn’t notice that the annoying tapping had stopped. The typing sounds were now replaced by the sound of a zipper coming undone.

Jim buried his face in her chest, kissing and sucking at her flesh. The buzz from the alcohol he’d consumed earlier was now replaced with the electric feeling of having Y/N tease his cock with her movements.

“Oh..  You think you’re so clever,” Duncan chuckled, “My babies are feeling needy, hmm?” he grasped at his hardening cock. Watching the way Jim wrapped his plump pink lips on your nipples made him twitch in his pants. “Let daddy, help.”  he began walking around the desk, but halted when Jim’s head snapped up.

“No.”

“No?” a dumbfounded expression crossed Duncan’s features. His Jimmy.. saying no?

“Daddy is too busy…” Y/N purred before licking a stripe along Jim’s jawline, “We’re playing by ourselves tonight.” she turned back to face him with a fake pout on her lips.

His jaw slacked open. He slumped against the edge of his desk watching the scene unravel before him. “Babies..” he whined palming his pants, “Daddy’s sorry.”

Jim grabbed Y/N’s chin and instructed her to lift her hips off so he could shove his bottoms off. His cock sprung up proudly and he smirked at Duncan. “Maybe next time, daddy.” he roughly tugged Y/N’s swim bottoms to the side, exposing her wet pussy.

“Go back to work, Duncan.” Y/N giggled sinking down on Jim’s lap again. She grabbed the base of his lengthy cock, aligning her cunt with his head. Not wasting any time she lowered herself down on him - her walls stretching open for him.

Duncan’s soft moans rang in their ears and mixed with theirs. “Fuck, princess.” Jim moand out feeling his cock moisten with her arousal. “Who’s making you feel this good?” he stared at Duncan again.

“You baby.. You are..” she whined lightly bouncing down on him.

Duncan now had his hand was now tightly gripping his cock. Pumping at the pace of Y/N’s motions. Arousal flushed his skin and made his cock swell. He wanted to finish with them even if he couldn’t touch them. He knew this was part of their little game. And to be honest, he was deserving of their bratty behavior. That’s not to say there wouldn’t be consequences. But that was part of the fun, wasn’t it?

A firm pair of hands grabbed and squeezed Y/N’s ass. Jim slapped it a few times, grunting and pulling her down on his cock roughly. Duncan bit back any pointers he wanted to give. Jim didn’t need it. He was young and stamina coursed through him. He was desperate for the rush of the orgasm he was chasing.

With one final upward buck of his hips, Jim held Y/N down on his cock as they both came. His cum shot in her and her own coated his cock making it glisten as she hopped off of him. A cocktail of both his and her cum dripped down her thigh, staining Duncan’s leather couch.

Jim grabbed her swim top off the floor and dragged it up her thigh, cleaning her off. She laughed at the slight tickle sensation it provided, ruffling his hair playfully - to which he responded by kissing her hip bone.

“I think you two have proven your point.” Duncan’s voice made their heads snap up to face him - deep blushes coloring their faces. He huffed, his limp cock hanging out from his pants - a light trace of his cum squirted on his clothing and floor.

“What does daddy have to do to make it up to you, babies?”

Jim and Y/N shared a look between each other. It was simple. They didn’t need more of Duncan’s credit or clothes right now. They wanted the time he promised them.

“We want you, Duncan.” Jim pouted. Always the first to cave.

She nodded silently agreeing, “Work will be fine.. just… be with us.” Jim continued, not letting his voice waver.

Duncan walked to them and knelt in front of the couch they sat on. “Listen. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you two today. I promise, starting now, my attention is all yours.” he kissed Jim’s knee and held Y/N’s hand. How lucky was he to have found the best in both of them. He wouldn’t trade it for the world and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let anything ruin what he had. D.C has survived without Duncan Shepherd before; it can survive a week without him. Or so he hopes.

YEE hope you guys like this and idk why it took me so long to finish (ok tbh smut always takes me a long time to write like i’m? ok)

tagging: @langdonsdemon @lathraios @1-800-bitchcraft @michael-langdon-appreciation @yourkingcodyfern @ritualmichael @codyfernss @starwlkers @langdonsoceaneyes @daadddysprincesss @infernal-langdon @avesatanormalpeoplescareme @mega-combusken @maso-xchrist @bbyduncan @vampirefairyestelle @rocketgirl2410 @langdonshell @lovelylangdonx @jim-mason2 @ghostiesbedroom @wroteclassicaly @venusxxlangdon @queencocoakimmie @americanhorrorstudies @langdonsboots @divinelangdon @ticklish-leafy-plant 

[bowan-deflorentine]

Extremely detailed character sheet template

Character’s full name: Bowan deFlorentine

Reason or meaning of name: OOC I like gender-neutral or masc-leaning names for all characters, and thought it sounded cool at the time! I just took “Bowen” and added an “a” to make it slightly more feminine, visually.

Character’s nickname: “Bo”

Reason for nickname: It’s short and cute!

Birth date: January 23rd (the day she hit lvl 10 in-game :P I use that for all my Wow RP characters)

Physical appearance

Age: 37

How old do they appear: About the same

Weight: 145lb / 65kg, an average healthy weight if on the lighter side

Height: 5′11″ / 180cm, taller than average for cis women

Body build: Angular, long-legged, lean

Shape of face: Oval-shaped, with sharp cheekbones and a strong jawline and strong chin

Eye color: Dark brown

Glasses or contacts: neither

Skin tone: Medium brown

Distinguishing marks: Broken nose, blind & scarred right eye

Predominant features: Probably the nasty dead eye

Hair color: Black

Type of hair: Thick and wavy

Hairstyle: Wears it long and down, or in a low ponytail tied with a ribbon

Voice: Low & rich with a heavy Gilnean lowborn accent

Overall attractiveness: Super subjective, but she’s got that handsome aging roughed-up scoundrel sailor look if you’re into that  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

Physical disabilities: Blind on her right side

Usual fashion of dress: Heavy leather or canvas coats, high collars, heeled, thigh-high leather boots, wide-brimmed hats with feathers in the band, loose long-sleeved blouses tucked into a high waistline, fencer's gloves

Favorite outfit: TBH probably her old Cavalier uniform and coat; a dark- and steel-blue laced-up vest, leather, with gold and brown trimmings and a wide-brimmed hat with a white feather in it. Single blue leather pauldron with the gold Cavalier star on it

Jewelry or accessories: Very little, usually one or two small hoop earrings. A golden wedding ring on a chain necklace under her shirt. No rings or bracelets

Personality

Good personality traits: Motherly, caring, charming, helpful, protective, curious

Bad personality traits: Moody, impulsive, stubborn, reckless, anxious, violent

Mood character is most often in: Current day, bitter and melancholic

Sense of humor: Inside jokes, straight-faced funny comments, good-natured teasing.

Character’s greatest joy in life: Her seven-year-old son, Rory.

Character’s greatest fear: Losing either Rory or Jeán, her husband.

Why?: Because she loves them, and they’re the only family she has left in the entire world, and she’s lost/ given up everything else in her life to protect them and to make a life for her family.

What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil?: She’s numb to everything that’s not extreme at this point, so again, losing either Rory or Jeán

Character is most at ease when: When her family is not only happy but safe, as are her close friends, and she’s at home somewhere warm and dry and comfortable and there's no war going on

Most ill at ease when: Someone she loves is missing, or hurt, or in great danger, or when she doesn't know where she is / is lost

Enraged when: Something threatens the safety of her loved ones or children

Depressed or sad when: When she’s isolated away from people she loves.

Priorities: She’s been forced into survival mode lately, so #1 is her family’s and her own safety. Beyond that, her son’s happiness, her husband’s happiness, her friends’ happiness, and then protecting others. She's happy when others are happy.

Life philosophy: There’s some good left in the world, and it’s worth fighting for. But family always comes first.

If granted one wish, it would be: To bring Timira Redsummer back

Why?: She was her closest friend and now she’s dead, and she’s tired of losing people and having no control over all the loss in her life.

Character’s soft spot: Children, and music

Is this soft spot obvious to others?: OH absolutely, she’s SUCH a mom. Her rough grimdark rogue sailor deal just vanishes around kids and she’s making funny faces and listening very intently to their babytalk stories and crouching all the way down so they can take her hand and lead her around to show her interesting things, etc. The usual supercute little kid stuff. She loves children and is very good with them.

Greatest strength: Never ever giving up when it comes to protecting others, accomplishing her goals at any means necessary, even at the cost of her own safety or health (which crosses very quickly into one of her greatest weaknesses)

Greatest vulnerability or weakness: She can be on the self-destructive side, and is easily goaded into fights against her better judgement because she can just not back down from a threat or a challenge.

Biggest regret: Leaving Teldrassil during the War of Thorns before the attack, when it was just citizens and adventurers and soldiers helping to evacuate / fortify / bring supplies to the city, as they were expecting a siege. She left to go get her ship in Stormwind and bring it as a back-up to get escaping citizens out in case they needed to evacuate. She sailed back to a completely burning tree.

Minor regret: Not having a wedding with Jeán. They had been together for a few years and had talked about getting married, but were too busy with work. They got hastily married on paper before she left for Kul Tiras.

Biggest accomplishment: Founding the Stormwind Cavaliers with Jeán, and the few years she spent as the captain for them. They did a lot of good work for the city and for the people, especially in the surrounding territories like Elwynn, Westfall, and Duskwood. 

Minor accomplishment: She can make the meanest cup of Gilnean black lavender tea

Past failures they would be embarrassed to have people know about: Actively sheltering a rogue Uncrowned agent and trying to cover up all the VERY obvious murders they kept committing under her watch while working for the city guard, oops   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Why?: Because at the time, they were very close friends and she didn’t have the guts to make the tough calls.

Character’s darkest secret: As of now in the storyline, currently, hunting and sinking Horde ships out of revenge for Teldrassil. She hasn’t told a soul and uses an alias with the crew she works with.

Does anyone else know?: Not yet! 

Goals

Drives and motivations: She wants vengeance for all the lives lost in Teldrassil, but the root of it comes from wanting to protect her family and friends and loved ones. Second only to those feelings is her desire for freedom, and sees sailing and going rogue as an opportunity to kill three birds with one stone.

Immediate goals: Sink Horde ships.

Long term goals: Building a better world for her son and her friends’ children.

How the character plans to accomplish these goals: Gathering a crew of other disgruntled Alliance soldiers and hunting down as many Horde ships and soldiers as they can before they get caught and probably executed.

How other characters will be affected:  😬 Well Jeán was a pirate and gave up everything to live his life with Bowan, and to find she’s been doing basically piracy behind his back would be a big oof. Plus before it all she was a very proud soldier of the Alliance and strove to better herself and to be a good and kind person, so it would probably be very disturbing news to others. Then again, that’s only if they find out.

Past

Hometown: Keel Harbor, Gilneas. 

Type of childhood: Strict-ish. Father was a sailor, mother was a wealthy merchant’s adopted daughter. Her father tried to teach her freedom and passion, her mother tried to teach her obedience and to be ladylike. Mother ultimately won and she was more or less prepared for marriage into her teen years until she ran away to escape the pressure.

Pets: A hound dog named Jager.

First memory: Meeting her maternal grandmother for the first- and last time. She was a harvest witch and disappeared to escape witch hunts. 

Most important childhood memory: Sailing with her father outside the harbor for the first time. It was a dangerous trip and they nearly capsized, but she loved every second of it. 

Why: While Bowan and her mother Louise loved eachother, they weren’t as close as she and her father, Bayne. Her father always encouraged her to be herself and to blaze her own path, and her mother told her that she would never find a husband acting like that. Really experiencing sailing and the sea made her realize that that was quite all right, because if being a good wife meant giving up exciting things like sailing then the choice was obvious for her. 

Childhood hero: Genn Greymane

Dream job: Professional bard! She *almost* achieved that after running away from home in Gilneas but never could quite make it happen.

Education: Homeschooling and a few years of attending a little bitty schoolhouse in the countryside. 

Religion: The lowkey Light worship Gilneas practiced, and some of the Old Ways.

Finances: Not poor, but her father had to work very hard to support them and tried not to let it show. 

Present

Current location: Kul Tiras

Currently living with: No one she’s close to, a crew of other soldiers unhappy with the way the war with the Horde was handled.

Pets: Ardis, her beautiful black mare, is stabled in Stormwind.

Religion: Same as her childhood, a bit of Old Ways and a bit of Light.

Occupation: Unofficially ex-Alliance soldier and guard, pirate

Finances: Actually doing pretty well from herself considering all the ships she’s robbed! :D 

Family

Mother: Louise Ollington

Relationship with her: Strained, but they were family at the end of the day. She was born into a family of harvest witches who were culled by some backwoods witch hunts. She was dropped off in Gilneas city and adopted by wealthy bookkeeping nobles. The entire experience still left her very unhappy and traumatized, so she clung very tightly to her new life and tried to make sure her daughter would be safe and not face the same challenges as she did when she went against tradition. 

Father: Bayne Arrow

Relationship with him: Very close. A sailor from Tanaris, he tried to make as comfortable of a life for Louise but could never really live up to her expectations. They still loved each other very much, and he adored his daughter and tried to instill in her the same love of adventure and the sea as his family had. Ultimately his teachings won over, but it cost the family a lot.

Siblings: None.

Relationship with them: n/a

Spouse: Jeán deFlorentine.

Relationship with them: Jeán were best friends long before the relationship became romantic. They’re perfect for eachother, both cocky swaggering rogues who love duel banter and sailing and getting into trouble. They had all sorts of wild adventures and hit rock bottom and bounced back together, and they bonded hard and fast. They never really bothered with marriage before because they didn’t feel like their relationship needed it, but they got married on paper before Bowan left for the war in Kul Tiras just so they didn’t leave any regrets in case she didn’t come back.

Children: Rory, her son. 

Relationship with them: He’s a bastard, but she doesn’t like to talk about it or his father. She loves him more than anything and is doing her best to raise him to be a good person. He’s a very gentle and sweet boy.  

Other important family members: None.

Favorites

Color: Dark grey-teal, the color of the sea during a storm. 

Least favorite color: Pink, only because it’s just very much not her color. 

Music: Fiddle and hurdy-gurdy.

Food: Pandaren cuisine, especially dumplings and spring rolls.

Literature: Romance, and inspiring heroic adventure novels. 

Form of entertainment: Music! She loves to sing and play her own instruments or listen to others perform. 

Mode of transportation: Her ship, a former Stormwind sloop with black sails. 

Most prized possession: Her Cavalier rapier, a gift from Jeán when the unit was founded. 

Habits

Hobbies: She used to practice minor medicinal alchemy when she was young. She likes to read and write for fun too, and riding her horse on the trails around Stormwind city when she still lived there.

Plays a musical instrument?: Yes! Mandolin and guitar. She’s a little rusty but she’s talented. 

Plays a sport?: Fencing! 

How they would spend a rainy day: Brewing tea and reading by the fireplace, either alone or to her son. OR sailing.

Smokes: Yes, occasionally.

Drinks: Too much these days, before also occasionally. 

Other drugs: None

What do they do too much of?: OVERTHINK

What do they do too little of?: Taking a goddamn breath and thinking things through before jumping into dangerous situations.

Extremely skilled at: Sailing. 

Extremely unskilled at: Cooking.

Nervous tics: Bouncing knee, cracking knuckles, drumming fingers 

Usual body posture: Confident but closed-off. 

Mannerisms: Lively even in poor moods, lots of expressive gestures and hand motions

Peculiarities: She seems fidgety and checks over her shoulder too much until she gets her back to a wall. She always goes for the wall seat and likes to face the door. 

Traits

Optimist or pessimist?: Tries to be an optimist but her natural state is pessimist. It’s just been beat out of her.

Introvert or extrovert?: Ambivert, she’s a social butterfly in good moods but gets moody fast and retreats to be alone often. 

Daredevil or cautious?: Some sort of unstable mix of both, anxious a lot and overthinks danger but then does stupid recklessly brave things like, for example, challenge old and terrifying pirate captains to duels she has ZERO hope of winnings (this has happened like three times now??)

Logical or emotional?: Emotional. She’s not controlled by her emotions but they are powerful. Listening to her heart and her gut keeps her alive.

Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat?: Surprisingly organized and neat. When she had her own desk at the Cavalier office it was fancy and extremely well-kept. 

Prefers working or relaxing?: Prefers working. She’s a bit of a workaholic, and doesn’t like to sit still for too long.

Confident or unsure of themself: Fairly confident these days.

Animal lover?: Yes, but not to the point to keep pets.

Self-perception

How they feel about themself: Her confidence isn’t low, but currently she’s felt helpless about her life and her path and is doing whatever she can to feel like she has some control. She knows some of the things she’s doing is wrong but feels like she has to make the hard calls for once and do the dirty work no one else is willing to do. 

One word the character would use to describe self: Ambitious.

What does the character consider their best personality trait?: Her dedication to her family. 

What does the character consider their worst personality trait?: Her inability to let go of the past. 

What does the character consider their best physical characteristic?: She loves her hair and takes pride in keeping it long and brushed and clean.

What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic?: Her broken nose that was never set right and healed crooked, and now her scarred eye. She thinks it’s ugly and will frighten children. 

How does the character think others perceive him/her: Hopefully, as someone they can trust and will be there for them when they need her, always.

What would the character most like to change about themself: Her paranoia and her anxiety. She’s been horribly wounded by the past and wants so badly to heal from it but she just can’t find the right way to do it yet. 

Relationships with others

Opinion of other people in general: Bowan has a low opinion of people as a whole, and views people in general as something to defend herself against, but believes in the good of individuals. 

Does the character hide their true opinions and emotions from others?: Sometimes. She’s the sort to hide her minor feelings from others to save their own feelings, and isn’t above lying to loved ones if she thinks it will protect them.

Person character most hates: Sylvanas Windrunner (now that Deathbreathe is dead). She wants her dead SO BAD.

Best friend(s): Timira Redsummer, Jeán deFlorentine, Watcher and Seeker, Reiko Al-Tariq.

Love interest(s): Jeán deFlorentine

Person character goes to for advice: Timira

Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Watcher and Seeker, the Twins. They used to be in a spy unit together but they’re a lot younger than she is and just wants them to be safe. All of the Cavaliers, too, present and former.

Person character feels shy or awkward around: No one, she’s over those feelings.

Person character openly admires: Lorna Crowley

Person character secretly admires: Princess Tess Greymane (secret due to her work for the Uncrowned).

Most important person in character’s life before story starts: Her father

After story starts: Rory, her son

found here

(( Okay I know this is a monster so I won’t tag anyone but please feel free to fill this out, it’s so fun and makes you really think about the details!! ))

[theonyxpath]

By Lauren Roy

Jo’s breath fogged the Perspex case, momentarily obscuring the prototype from view. Inside, the device lay dormant, all sleek silver curves and a blank interface awaiting its commands. On its own, Jo told herself, it was just a machine. It made no moral judgments. It saved lives or ended them, and the person who fed it the instructions was to thank or blame, not this lump of metal and wires.

Jo hated it a little bit anyway. She also needed it, and that made her hate it even more.

“Hey, kiddo, shake a leg, yeah?” Blake had been on edge all night. They’d gotten into DuttonTech so smoothly — fake badges letting them into restricted areas, Jo’s disguised tools sailing through security, green lights across every board. Blake trusted Jo and Dana to get them in, sure, but the fact he’d gone the last few hours without having to subdue so much as a slightly suspicious intern was making him antsy. Jo couldn’t blame him; Archangel never hired their crew for the cakewalk jobs.

But she wasn’t going to let Blake’s nerves unsteady her hands. She was elbow deep in the display case’s guts, only the last set of clamps and a weight sensor left to bypass. Easy peasy lemon-squeezy. She’d be home and in her pajamas in less than two hours, cracking a pint of victory ice cream and texting Leanne with the good news, that help was on its way. This was a killing machine in Dr. Alexander Dutton’s hands, but in Leanne’s possession? Jo’s sister could use it to save thousands.

She just had to unlatch the clamps.

Blake checked the cameras for the hundredth time. Downstairs, the security guards in their cozy little command room were watching the same looped feeds of Dutton’s lab Dana had set up hours ago. He knew the timing of their rounds, knew which guards just jiggled the occasional doorknob and which would swipe their access cards and look around the empty, after-hours rooms. He’d studied the dossiers Dana gathered for him over the last few weeks. The patrol team closest to their floor right now consisted of an ex-military type and a guy whose pre-DuttonTech police record was peppered with assault charges from bar fights. Ideally, Blake wouldn’t have to trade blows with either of them, but he believed in being prepared.

Waiting was killing him. He’d offered to smash the case when they first got here, just grab and go, but both Dana and Jo had shot him down. Something about delicately calibrated this and potentially volatile that. Of course, that described everything that DuttonTech put out these days, especially the volatile part. Blake had seen firsthand the damage the company’s products wrought. He’d wielded some of them himself, back in another life.

He’d never stop paying for that. Could never. But working for Archangel assuaged some of the guilt. He clenched his fists and tamped down the urge to find some other volatile thing and pitch it into anything that looked delicate.

Dana had six different data feeds scrolling past on her glasses’ left lens, telling her all DuttonTech systems were normal. She was jacked into the guard station’s audio, listening to two guards being wrong about the top five horror movies of all time. She’d set her little worm free on DuttonTech’s R&D servers — after, of course, she downloaded clean versions of the files to her own drive to peruse later. According to her own internal stopwatch (ONE one thousand, TWO one thousand) her team was right on schedule.

It was too bad they’d never be able to take credit for tonight, because damn, they were good. She imagined herself at some fancy Archangel cocktail party, regaling new cells with the story. Maybe she would embellish it, just a little, add in a tiny scuffle so Blake could have his crowning moment of awesome. Add in a few extra lasers for Jo to have to limbo under, and…

Click.

“Shit,” muttered Jo.

The lights in the lab went red.

There was an extra clamp. There was an extra freaking clamp, and it was so tiny and so obvious in hindsight, exactly where Jo would have put one if she wanted to protect her valuables from someone like herself. It hadn’t been on the blueprints Dana procured in one of her hacks, because of course it wasn’t. Dutton was notoriously paranoid. He’d either installed it himself, in secret, or had one of his lackeys do it and…what? Wiped their memory? Had them killed? Transferred them to a DuttonTech facility in Antarctica? Jo wouldn’t put any of that past him.

But that didn’t matter now. Their cover was blown. Dana was counting off the seconds until security got to them, her fingers flashing over her tablet’s screen. “We’re about to have company.”

Blake came and crouched beside Jo. He glanced at her hands, frozen on the prototype. “Kiddo, we’ve gotta run. Now. If you don’t have it free, you have to leave it.”

“I can’t.”

He frowned. “You stuck?”

“No.”

“Something gonna cut off your fingers if you move?”

“No.”

“What is it, then?”

Jo closed her eyes and pictured her sister’s face. “Leanne. She’s with the LRE in Caracas.”

Blake’s sharp inhale told her that he hadn’t known. Jo didn’t talk about Leanne much. He and Dana knew that Jo’s parents had been dissidents, murdered by their government for speaking out. They knew she and Leanne grew up in safe houses where they were never truly safe, and that Jo had turned to Archangel when she got old enough to be more than a charity case for the organization. That was about as much intel as Jo ever shared, because talking about Leanne made her worry. And worry had sharp, sharp teeth.

“You saw the emails Dana intercepted. Dutton’s going to sell this to the enemy, then that’s it for the resistance. This isn’t just about Leanne.”

Blake might let everyone else in Archangel think he was all muscle, minimal brains, but Jo knew better. He’d read the whole dossier, not just the guards’ vitals. “How long do you need?” His voice was deadly calm.

“However long you can buy me.”

“Get that thing out of there.” Then he was gone.

“We’re doing what now?” Dana gaped at Blake as he assessed the camera feeds on her tablet. She’d managed to lock the guards out of the elevators for the time being but couldn’t keep them out of the stairwells. One patrol had only been a few stories down.

He grunted as the patrol he was monitoring gained another landing. “We’re holding tight until Jo gets that damned thing free. What else can you do to keep them out of here?”

Dana peered around the lab. Until now, she hadn’t really let herself see everything. Sure, she knew the layout, and had a strong idea of what other projects DuttonTech’s brain trust were working on, but being here in meatspace? The temptation to start taking things apart would have distracted her from their mission. She’d kept her eyes firmly on her work and ignored the siren song of the shiny.

Now, though… She took it all in, performing a frantic inventory with a glance. “Get me a screwdriver,” she said, “and every inch of wire you can find.”

For a hasty build, it was impressive. Dana had to guess at what a quarter of the parts she found even were, but as she stared at the small mountain of electronics Blake dumped on the desk, the schematic came together in her head. The spliced wires and electrical tape meant it would never win any beauty pageants at the hackathon, but that didn’t matter.

As long as it did its job.

She dragged her cobbled-together creation out into the hall. It whined as it powered up; the highpitched tone of power gathering combined with a low, ominous hum. Dana listened a moment, until it sounded stable enough, and darted back inside. As Blake shoved a pair of desks across the doorway, Dana scuttled further into the lab and planted herself near Jo. The other woman nodded slightly, acknowledging her presence, but didn’t peel her eyes from the device inside the case.

“How are we looking?” Dana asked.

“There’s a wire on the last clamp. It’s what tripped the alarm. I’m trying to make sure it’s not going to fry the whole thing when I remove it.”

“Smart,” said Dana, then, “Oops, hang on, big noise.” On her tablet’s screen, the camera view showed two guards emerging from the stairwell. She counted (ONE one thousand, TWO one thousand, THREE) and yelled, “Blake, NOW!”

Across the lab, Blake slammed his fist down on the trigger Dana rigged. He dropped into a huddle, covering his ears.

The lab doors were, by necessity, prettied-up fire doors. Sure, deep-pocketed investors on a grand tour of DuttonTech could glance through the extra-thick glass to see scientists bustling about within, but if something exploded during a demo, those investors (and their wallets) would be safe. Now, those same doors muffled the worst of Dana’s sonic barrage. The pair of guards dropped to the ground, hands covering their ears as they writhed in pain.

The disruptor’s effects would only last for so long, though. Already, Dana could tell the pulses were losing their potency. “Thirty seconds, Jo. Then they’re back on their feet and super pissed.”

It was impossible. Jo held the wire pinched between her fingers, this hair-thin filament, and knew it was all for nothing.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Leanne, I’m sorry.

If she’d only taken one last look, she’d have spotted the trap. If she only had another five minutes, she could undo it. But time was well past up. Blake and Dana stood by the doors, their jaws set, their expressions grim. That awful thrumming pulse outside let out one last whump, and an eerie silence took its place.

If she was fast enough, faster than she’d ever been in her life, she could mitigate the damage. Not prevent it entirely, but… But enough.

Jo steadied the prototype with her left hand, readied the wire in her right.

She held her breath.

Pulled.

The spark traveled up her fingers, to her wrist, straight up to her elbow. The sharp tang of hot metal, melted plastic, and seared flesh filled the air. Had she taken the brunt of the jolt? She thought so but wouldn’t know until Dana got a look at the device later. When they were safe. Jo pulled the prototype free of its case and ignored the tingling in her fingertips. She joined Blake and Dana at the door. “Let’s go.”

In the hallway, the security guards were gaining their feet. Blake smiled.

The first one got up. He staggered as his balance betrayed him, but Blake wasn’t going to take that for granted. Guy like this? He had to fight after being pepper sprayed, tazed, or whatever the hell else they made Navy SEALs do. Sure, Dana’s device had done its damage, but Blake bet this guard was exaggerating its extent. It’s what he’d have done.

Three strides and Blake was in the ex-SEAL’s face. Sort of. The dude was a giant, six-and-half feet tall with a neck like a tree trunk. Blake only came up to his chest. His opponent swung, a short, sharp blow that would have knocked a weaker fighter flat. But Blake had training of his own. He deflected the jab, but as he’d suspected, the guard wasn’t as bad off as he’d pretended. More shots rained down, driving Blake backwards toward the lab.

A streak of red skittered down the hall toward him. Jo had liberated one of the lab’s fire extinguishers and shoved it his way. Blake danced out of the ex-SEAL’s reach and scooped it up. Only one shot at this. He swung it in a high haymaker arc, cranking the extinguisher’s heavy bottom into the ex-SEAL’s jaw. The big man went down in a graceless heap.

Blake looked back to where Dana and Jo huddled in the doorway and signaled them forward. Jo winced as she passed the first guard. Then she stopped short. “Uh. Blake?”

He thought the second guy was down for the count. It was the bar brawler, the one who should’ve been an easy takedown except…except he’d managed to unholster his sidearm and push himself to his feet. His arm wavered, but even if his aim was off, the hallway was narrow enough that he’d probably hit one of them.

“Easy, now,” said Blake. “Let’s all be calm.”

“Drop the extinguisher,” said the guard. “And you, put down the device.” He swung the gun toward Jo, and Blake felt his heart hit his stomach. That wasn’t a standard-issue piece. It was a DuttonTech special; destruction in Glock’s clothing. Blake had carried one of the previous generation himself. He’d seen what they could do, how the bullets tore up a body as they passed through.

“Okay.” Blake lowered the extinguisher, hoping to get the guard’s focus back on himself. “Look, we’re cooperating, see?”

“Oh, fuck that,” snarled Dana. She shoved past Blake, keeping to the other side of the hall from the guard — out of arm’s reach, but drawing his attention.

“I’ll shoot!” The guard whirled to follow her. His finger tensed on the trigger.

Blake barreled forward. He could never beat a bullet, but he had to try. The corridor seemed miles long, the air thickened like molasses. The guard might as well have been on the other side of the world, for all the good Blake could do. He saw the trigger pull back in agonizing detail, heard Jo screaming Dana’s name.

Dana just kept walking.

The gun didn’t fire.

Time started again, and Blake plowed into the guard at top speed. He drove him back and slammed his wrist against the wall until he dropped the weapon. Blake got a forearm across the guy’s neck and twisted to look at Dana. “What the hell?”

“Oh. Yeah.” She stopped fiddling with her eyepiece and came to stand beside him, still well out of the guard’s reach. She addressed the guard instead of Blake. “That thing that split your eardrums two minutes ago? I also had it resonating at the same frequency as the timing crystal in your shiny new gun. Probably cracked it. You shouldn’t pick it up again.” She gave Blake an apologetic grin. “I should have told you: I don’t make unitaskers. Learned it from a TV chef. Now will you knock him out, so we can go?”

Archangel paid damned well. Jo funneled most of her paychecks down to Leanne, helping to fund the revolution and keep her sister fed, clothed, and armed. With what was left, she bought tools to help with her craft. One of the first things she’d learned was, to be a good thief, you ought to have a good getaway car. So, she sunk a ridiculous amount of money into an old tank of a car and paid even more to have it tuned up, tricked out, and street legal. It had served her well so far, and now, with DuttonTech heavies chasing them through the city’s 3 A.M. streets, Jo prayed it’d get them home safe one more time.

It took 10 blocks for the black SUV to catch up to them. She’d figured a clean getaway was too much to ask, but Jo cursed the universe anyway. “Get ready,” she said, and jammed on the gas. Bullets hit the car’s frame like a sudden spate of rain. The back window spidered with cracks but held firm. She was glad she’d splurged on the bulletproofing.

The SUV sped up, drawing even with them. Jo stared ahead at the rain-slick street. The good thing about pulling off their heist so late at night was that no one drove in the business district at this hour. They had a good straightaway and, as she watched, all the lights turned green. In the rearview, Dana flashed her a thumbs-up.

Metal screamed, and the whole car shuddered as the SUV slammed into their side. Jo fought the wheel to keep them on the road. In the passenger seat, Blake swore as the door crunched inward.

PULL OVER, came a voice over the SUV’s bullhorn. RETURN WHAT YOU STOLE, AND WE’LL LET YOU GO.

Blake flipped them off.

Another sideswipe, and the car rode up on the curb. Jo swore and yanked them back onto the street, but not before she took out a row of newspaper boxes.

“You know what?” said Blake. “We’re risking our lives for this thing, I think we deserve a demo.” He pulled the prototype from the backpack Jo had shoved it in.

“Uhhhh.” Dana poked her head into the front seat. “Remember that talk we had about delicate and volatile?”

“She’s right. And I might have damaged it when I took it out of the case,” said Jo. “We don’t know what it’ll —”

But Blake was already pushing buttons, and the blank interface was responding to his touch. The options flashing by read stun, pulse, and stream, and a slider ran from low to high. Blake selected pulse and pushed the slider all the way up.

“Point it at them, not us!” Dana shrieked.

Blake turned the device and held the business end up to the window. Jo caught a glimpse of the SUV driver as he aimed. All the color drained out of the DuttonTech security woman’s face. She turned her wheel, disengaging the SUV from Jo’s car, but not soon enough. Blake slapped the automatic window button, and as soon as he could get the prototype’s nose through the gap, he fired.

THOOM.

They couldn’t see the pulse, but they felt it. Jo’s fillings buzzed. Every bone she’d ever broken ached like there was a storm overhead. The SUV flipped up and over, and for one terrible second, Jo could see what the pulse had done to the people inside, how none of their features were in the right places anymore. How everything had gone so very red. She’d be seeing that in her nightmares for years to come.

None of them said anything as they pulled away. In the rearview, Dana’s eyes were wide, her lips gone white. Blake let out a ragged sigh. The device’s interface blurred, cleared, then switched to one blinking red word:

Error.

The sun was coming up by the time they got back to their safehouse. Dana switched on the morning news while she examined the prototype. Not a word about their break-in at DuttonTech. Not a peep about a late-night car chase in the business district, nor any stories about a deadly crash. DuttonTech had covered it all up. Was that good for them, or bad?

Can’t worry about that just now. Let’s make sure we’re not going to explode first.

She handled the device gingerly, as if it might wake up and turn the three of them into human slag, but it turned out there wasn’t much chance of that. She could see the burn marks where Jo had pulled it from its kill switch. Once the casing came off, the insides were about as fried as she’d expected, even though Jo had taken some of the shock. “I don’t know how this even turned on in the car, let alone fired.”

“Is that it, then?” asked Jo. “All that work and it’s just…a hunk of metal?” She didn’t have to say her sister’s name for Dana to know she was thinking of Leanne, how she’d been counting on getting the prototype out intact to help her. Dana had made that connection long before she handed Jo and Blake their dossiers.

“Hey.” Dana set her tools aside. “First off, we’ve set DuttonTech back. They don’t have the physical prototype, and their IT group is going to have a miserable time sorting out the mess I uploaded to their servers before anyone there can even think about building another.”

Blake came in from the kitchen, carrying a tray with three coffee mugs and Jo’s pint of victory ice cream. He’d declared getting out alive a sufficient win, and Jo hadn’t argued the point. “She’s right, kiddo. We’re not even close to done. If Dana can’t get this thing up and running, someone in Archangel will know who can.”

“I have an idea about that.” Dana took her mug gratefully. She was bone tired but needed to stave off sleep as long as she could. There was too much to do. “The woman who taught me to do what I do, she studied alongside Dutton back in the day. If we can find her, I think she’ll be able to fill in a whole ton of gaps.”

Jo frowned. “‘If?’”

“No one’s heard from her for a while. She went off the grid, and we don’t know why. Last place she was spotted was Brussels.” Dana set the prototype aside and tapped her tablet awake. “Who’s up for a rescue mission?

The Trinity Continuum Core Rules and Trinity Continuum: Æon are available in print from Indie Press Revolution (core, Æon) or in PDF/print-on-demand from DriveThruRPG.

[pretty-needy]

the valentine-ache

This year’s Valentines was going to be dreadfully lonely. Although Muffy was prepared to stuff her face with store-bought chocolates, it still hurt to know that there was nothing else but a pity party she’d thrown alone on the most romantic time of the year. She thought about going out with the girls. Sofia, Lanna, Felicity, Agate, Flora—but that meant admitting she, the lovebird herself, was lonely on the big hearts’ day.

Muffy sighed. How could other people get by? Oh, right. They call tomorrow Single Awareness Day. Empowering, huh. 

The blonde paced back-and-forth in her room, bringing her fingernails between her teeth. Maybe she could see what Rock was up to tomorrow. No, he might have scored a date with someone. And she wasn’t in the mood to be teased about having no game again.

She groaned and flung herself down on her bed. Gosh, is no one going to ask her out? Did all of her exes and flings find someone better? Was she really difficult to love? Muffy grabbed a pillow and buried her face on it to soften her frustrated cry.

Eventually, she fell into a calm. Her fair head turned away from the pillow. Green eyes set on her phone. At that moment, time slowed down as she thought of him again: Jack. His boyish face surfaced in her mind. His cute smile. His tantalising brown eyes. His soothing voice.

In a daze, the blonde slowly reached out for her phone to text him. What if he was in Leuda tomorrow? Or if not, she could get a ticket to sail across the seas to see him at Arcadia. Her eyebrows creased. Hmm. Perhaps, not the latter. That was pushing it.

She scrolled back to see her last message. It was about the cruise. Muffy had told him how lovely that night was. The corners of her lips twitched to a smile and her heart sighed. She remembered how she didn’t want it to end. Chest-pounding, Muffy typed:

──────────── ≪ TO JACK ≫ ────────────  hi, jack! hehe, hope you’re doing okay. ❤  i can’t help but wonder... are you free to go on a date tomorrow? ❤❤❤ ───────────────────────────────

Her thumb hovered over the message to be sent—but wounded up backspacing. Oh, you dummy, she thought. Jack might be busy tomorrow. Or worse, he already had plans with someone else. Muffy sighed heavily and threw her phone down again.

After an hour of trying to read self-help books, the blonde tried again on her bed:

 ──────────── ≪ TO JACK ≫ ────────────  hi, farmer! ❤ hope you’re not too busy tomorrow bc i’d love to spend some time with you! how does a food trip sound? ❤❤❤ i saw a lot of resto deals good for couples the other day  ───────────────────────────────

Oops—she quickly deleted the message—that’s too much, Muffy! The blonde chastised herself with a reddened face. Why’d she typed that? Was she seriously flirting with Jack? He’s just a close guy friend. Okay, fine. Muffy did have a huge crush on him, but that was long, looong ago. She had already come to terms that he wasn’t allowed to be on her dating radar!

 ──────────── ≪ TO JACK ≫ ────────────  hi, jack. i liked you. right from the start. i think i still do. would you please be this girl’s valentine? ❤ ───────────────────────────────

Muffy stared at the glowing words and watched each of them disappear. Teehee, who was she kidding? Jack was too good to be with her. Right before she caught sight of the typing bubble from the other end, the blonde turned her phone off and got up.

She couldn’t believe it! This Valentine-ache almost got her to destroy a friendship that meant so much to her. Upset with herself, Muffy finally (albeit, begrudgingly) accepted that tomorrow night would be spent on her, herself, and no one else. A good detox with a tub of ice cream and natural-made face masks to kill the loneliness~♡ Yes, that’s what she’ll do. To forget about him and to keep herself from thinking about these silly what-ifs.

...But deep in her hopeless romantic heart, Muffy wondered, if Jack ever struggled to do the same.

[askygokindredshipping]

Themetober Day 2: Mermaid

Okay, so I made it Mermaid and Pirate day. Sue me.

Johan looked around the sandy bottom of the shallow water, his rainbow colored tail shimmering in the sunlight. He pouted a bit as he realized that he had neither hide nor tail of any of the oysters he was looking for to fix his favorite pearl strand that Judai had accidentally broke in their most recent… encounter. He wasn’t mad. It was purely an accident even if the situation had been anything but at the time. Judai, to his favor, had offered to do the dangerous work of finding new pearls to help fix it. Johan had politely turned him down. Risking his life over something meant nothing to him was ludicrous. Besides, it had been his hands that had originally put the strand together; it should be his to bring it back.

His eyes scanned again. Ah-ha! Finally! Johan spotted exactly the type of oyster he was looking for and he inched forward awkwardly since the water was far shallower in this area. The pearls here were of the highest quality. Definitely worth the risk!

Gently, he scooped up the creature before turning to a sitting-like position, his fin fanning out a bit in the waves. He took a shuddering breath as he breathed in air for the first time in a long time. The transition from salty-water to salty-air was a rush. It left a tingling cold feeling in his chest. The feeling soon passed. Carefully, he took one of his long claws and pried the tip into the divide of the oyster.

It didn’t budge.

Undisturbed, he moved it along the lip for several minutes until if finally gave way. Lucky him. The insides were perfect. One round, white pearl glistened from the center of it and with the same claw he had used to pry it open, he now carefully extracted it. Once done, he placed the oyster back down in the ocean where it promptly floated off.

Johan beamed. He placed the pearl inside of the bag at his hip before turning back to his hunt.

Daylight turned into evening. The sky turned a brilliant shade of deep purples, blues, and brilliant oranges and reds. He glanced up at it. How long had he been working?

His bag was halfway filled with his necessary supplies. His skin was starting to itch too; he’d been in shallow waters for too long and would need Judai’s help applying the medicine to his back. He sighed with a mixture of happiness and regret.

Before he could slip off, something caught his eyes. A great ship was approaching the island that he hunted around. It was too far away to see him but the sight of a human vessel made his blood run cold, causing him to freeze for a moment. A loud splash caught his attention. It woke him from his fear. Johan slipped into the deeper water but… he didn’t leave. Instead, he hovered just at the surface so that his eyes were above the water and he could see what was happening. A second splash, followed closely by a third. It seemed that there was a band of people leaving the boat and heading to the supposedly deserted island. Johan’s eyes went wide.

Among the group, one stood out. His hair was spiked and accented in gold, his face was well defined and chiseled, probably from his days at sea. His skin was a rich tone and his eyes were the richest color of sky he had ever seen. There was a playfulness in those eyes when he spoke to an orange haired crew member about something .

Johan’s breathing hitched. He ducked back under the water, confused as to what it was he was feeling. There was something about this man… something… not human and it drew him to him.

He looked between the darkened ocean floor and the island before heading back towards it.

*****

“Let’s hear it for Yusei! The greatest pirate captain to ever sail the seven seas,” the orange haired boy cheered. Around the fire that they had constructed, several people raised up a glass and a toast while the dark-haired captain, Yusei, beamed at them all. Johan had been watching for hours. The crew had landed on the shore and quickly set to building a camp where they planned to spend the next couple of days; while not a port of call, it was better than continually having to drag their feet over the open water like they had for the last two months. Even the most seasoned crew would eventually go mad.  A boy with teal colored hair walked up to the cheering boy.

“Aren’t you just a bit drunk already Crow,” he asked. Crow smirked and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. The boy tried to get away.

“Nah,” Crow slurred, “I haven’t even started yet Luka. But seriously, a cheer for Yusei for getting us through that storm in one piece.”

“That’s nothing to cheer about Crow,” a red head replied, “Yusei always gets us through the storms in one piece.”

“You might want to let my brother go. He’s starting to look blue,” a second girl smirked. Crow quickly looked down and released Luka when he realized it was true. He scratched one of the gold markings on his face.

“Oops.” Luka rubbed his neck before shooting an angry glare at him. Crow ignored him. Instead, he pointed at the red head, “You’re just jealous because he still manages to beat you at doing the main sails Aki. Face it, you’ll never be on his level.”

Now it was Aki’s turn to glare. Crow didn’t ignore it this time and he started to shrink on himself until she turned away with a huff, “I am not and I will beat him one day.”  She smiled at the other girl. “You have faith in me at least right Lua?”

The identical twin scratched her cheek, “Weeeeeell….” Aki looked hurt.

“Lua! How could you betray me?”

“Because she knows that Yusei’s always going to be the best,” chirped Luka. She gripped at her chest.

“I’m wounded! Crow, fill my mug. I need to heal.” Crow let out a laugh while he did as asked. The twins just shared a look before they too refilled their water cups (Yusei didn’t allow them to drink the hard liquor until they were much older).  Yusei smiled at the sight before he stood. Aki watched him. “Where you off to Yusei?”

He paused, “I just… I need a moment alone.” She nodded.

“Alright. You know what to do if you need us.” He smiled at her.

“Thanks Aki.” She nodded before turning back to the fire. Yusei stalked off into the darkness. The Island was quiet; it had no human life on it other than what he had brought with him. While he was glad and happy to have his crew, sometimes it was overwhelming. Especially for a guy who had grown up in near isolation. He enjoyed the quiet of the night. The stars dotted the sky, creating a path of stardust across it and the ocean as it was reflected back. There was a peace in the world at that moment and he revealed in the feeling of it as he walked along the shore and back into a little hidden lagoon. Yusei looked around. He carefully pulled his boots off before stepping into the water’s edge. He shivered at the feel of it lapping at his toes. He breathed in deep.

A sound caught his attention though. He opened his eyes quickly, looking out across the water and he briefly caught… was that a rainbow? He narrowed his eyes. Yusei reached for the gun at his side, “Who’s there? Come out!”

No response.

He raised the weapon and pointed in the general direction, “You have three seconds to come out or I will fire at you. Three… two….o….”

“Wait!”

Yusei froze. The voice he heard was musical. Just the one word was enough to ring in his ears and he took a sharp breath in. Never had he heard such a beautiful sound!

“Wait. I-I’ll come out. Please don’t hurt me!” Yusei sucked in a breath. He lowered his weapon and nodded, not daring himself to speak. Someone moved in the water, he could hear the splash of their arms as they came closer as he ordered. Yusei ducked down. Even in the gloom of the night, he could see a bright, almost illuminating glow about the person’s hair. His eyes were a sparkling green.

“Who are you,” Yusei whispered. The boy, no, not a boy. He was roughly the same age as him. Maybe? His face was beautiful and he had a hard time thinking straight. He rose up out of the water a bit more to reveal that he wasn’t wearing any kind of a shirt and Yusei couldn’t stop the flaming of his cheeks.

“My name’s Johan,” he returned cheerily, “Thanks for not hurting me Yusei.” Yusei narrowed his eyes.

“How do you know my name?”

The man in the water looked abashed, “I was eavesdropping. You humans are really fascinating to watch.”

Yusei blinked, “Human? Are you… are you a…?” Johan smirked, raising his tail out of the water enough to reveal the fin. Yusei sucked in a breath. It was gorgeous; it sparkled in the dim lighting of the night, revealing scales that glowed like a rainbow.

“I think you humans call us ‘mermaids.’”

Yusei nodded dumbly, “Yeah, mermaids.” He fell backwards onto the ground, a bit stunned by what he was seeing. Johan leaned his head to the side.

“Is everything alright?”

“Sure,” Yusei returned. He raised a hand to his face, pressing the palm to his eyes. Maybe he was sea sick. Was he suffering a delusion? He had been at sea for a really long time… He dropped his hand and blinked. Nope. He was still  there. “It’s a bit… much to think about. Your kind are just legends to us.”

Johan swam closer, crossing his arms under his chin as he looked up at him, “Really? Your kind like to put our image on your boats. I’ve seen them often.”

“That’s true,” Yusei mused. “I’m guessing this isn’t an everyday occasion right? Are you really supposed to be talking to me?” Johan scratched at his cheek.

“Well… uh…. Not really……” He flicked his tail. “I mean, it’s not exactly illegal…. Especially of we can trust the human but….” Yusei pointed to himself.

“You… trust me? We just met though.” Johan blushed. He looked away.

“Uh… how do I describe it? My kind have different abilities and, well, one of them is sensing emotions.” He paused. “I-I could tell how much your crew trusted you and how honest your emotions are so I figured you were a safe person to talk to….”

Yusei suddenly doubled forward. Johan turned back to face him, his eyes going wide. Yusei was laughing. It was a deep laugh which originated from his core and shook his whole body. It made Johan tingle at the sound. After a few minutes, he sat back up, wiping at his eyes. He tried to catch his breath.

“S-sorry,” he managed. “I’m completely honored you think that.” Johan beamed.

Suddenly, a twig snapped nearby. Johan immediately turned towards it, ducking back into the water as he murmured, “Someone’s coming. I don’t like this feeling. We can’t trust him.” Yusei stood immediately while he disappeared completely underwater. He narrowed his eyes into the darkness.

A man appeared from the darkness. He was taller than Yusei will blonde hair and he wore an all-white outfit that gleamed in the darkness. His face was sharp. So was his expression. He radiated an aura of darkness and Johan’s eyes went wide from under the water as he stopped several feet away, smirking at Yusei. Yusei squeezed his hand.

“Jack,” he hissed. “What are you doing here?”

The blonde man sneered, “Hello Yusei. Glad to see you too.” He spread his arms, “Don’t you miss your old pal Jack?”

“The only thing I missed is getting the chance to punch you in the face.”

Jack snickered, “How cute. You still think you’d have any chance against me.” He dropped his arms. “Face it Yusei. You’ll never be able to beat me. I am the pirate king and I’ll show the whole world I am.” Before Yusei could move, Jack pulled his gun from his hip, aiming directly at his heart. Yusei glared him down. He didn’t flinch. Jack’s expression remained twisted and cocky.  “I’ll be taking the Stardust Jewel now.”

“I didn’t bring it with me,” he said smoothly. Jack snickered again.

“Save it for someone who doesn’t know you. I know you Yusei Fudo. Unless you want your little pirate crew erased from the history books, I recommend you hand it over now.” Yusei gritted his teeth.

“You have to listen to me Jack, I really don’t have it….”

“Cut the bullshit Yusei,” he cut in. He pulled the trigger back, readying it. “Hand it over or forfeit your life!”  Yusei squeezed his hands.

“I don’t have it Jack! The jewel… It was already stolen from me!”

This news seemed to take the other man back for a second but he quickly regained himself. Without waiting, or further warning, Jack fired.

Yusei squeezed his eyes shut.  Hopefully this would be quick and painless. It would be devastating to the others but Crow and Aki were as capable as he was; he’d protect the twins and they’d get the rest of the crew to safety before Jack could do anymore harm. That was his final wish.

The water exploded. Jack let out a cry. There was a loud thud.

Yusei opened his eyes.

The scene in front of him was chaos. Jack was staring wide-eyed at the ground, his mouth agape. His frame shook. Yusei didn’t hesitate. He took the split second to run up on him and send him flying with the strongest punch he could manage. Jack staggered backwards. His head a smacked hard into a rock. He groaned once before slumping over. He didn’t move and Yusei didn’t care in that moment if he was dead or alive; adrenaline pumped through his body and he had to take several deep, calming breaths in order to get himself together.

That’s when he turned.

Johan was crumpled on the ground. A dark pool of blood oozed from underneath him. Yusei looked for only a second before he took off his jacket, wrapping it around his shoulders, and picked the merman up in his arms. Johan’s eyes fluttered.

“Are you alright,” he asked. Yusei looked down at him, squeezing his shoulders.

“I’m alright,” Yusei promised. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Johan smiled weakly.

“He was going to kill you.”

“Better me than you.” He started to walk quickly. Johan squirmed a bit.

“Yusei….”

“I’m taking you to my ship,” he soothed, “My crew won’t hurt you. We have a doctor that can help your wound.” He stopped talking. “I know it will be different. You’ll probably feel out of place but… I can’t leave you here. Jack saw you. He might make you his next target after he finishes with the Stardust Jewel.” He stepped over some rocks and let out a hiss as they cut into his bare feet. “Is this alright? Can I take you with us?”

Johan’s head spun. He wasn’t quite sure what the right decision was but he knew he couldn’t go back in the water as he was; he’d be shark food for sure. Clinging weakly to Yusei’s shoulder, he nodded and allowed the human to carry him back the way he’d come earlier.

His last thought was of Judai. Just before he passed out, he managed to think, I hope Judai doesn’t worry about me. I might be gone for a while.

[woozapooza]

Black Sails 1x01

Here we go!!! A new show!!! What a good pilot episode. So much happened, I can’t believe it’s only been one episode.

I was apprehensive about starting Black Sails because I’d been anticipating it for months and had built it up in my head. It’s the same apprehension I had starting Wynonna Earp. But once again, I have correctly judged from a tiny bit of information that a show is an excellent match for me. I’m not nearly as good as I’d like to be at following and remembering the events of shows, so after I finished the episode, I recounted as much of the plot as I could remember to myself. While doing that, I realized one thing that made it such a good way to start a show: it’s brimming with the theme of gambling, of making dangerous choices that may pay off hugely down the line or may end in disaster. Combine that with the numerous interesting characters, not to mention the fact that it’s a period drama about pirates I mean come on what’s better than that, and you’ve got the perfect recipe to make me keep watching. I hope everything in the following lil recap/review is factually correct but eh who knows.

Let’s start with Flint. The trope of angsty morally dubious loner captain dude, while cool in theory, does not always go over well for me (see Jack Harkness and Mal Reynolds, neither of whom is as questionable as Flint). But I think in Flint this trope (which probably has a name, or at least is an amalgam of a few tropes that have names) may finally work for me, and I’m not just saying that out of ginger solidarity, nor just because aesthetically Flint is #goals. Flint has been “gambling” for months before the show even starts: he’s been going after ships that don’t seem like good targets because he thinks they’ll lead him to the jackpot, the Urca de Lima. The result of him keeping his plan secret from the crew is low morale and the threat of mutiny. Flint has to walk the line between keeping the crew satisfied and pursuing a goal that will more than make up for the toll its pursuit takes. He fails to walk this line, but Singleton’s mutiny gives Flint the opportunity to change tactics while still very much gambling: by accusing Singleton of stealing the Urca’s schedule, he gets to fight and kill Singleton (he also had to bet on Singleton choosing a duel over a trial, but I’m assuming he knew Singleton well enough that it wasn’t a risky bet) and pretend to recover the schedule from Singleton’s corpse. Until he produced the blank sheet of paper, I really couldn’t guess whether he actually suspected Singleton or he was just looking for an excuse to put down the mutiny. I didn’t expect the trick with the blank paper. Flint may be the main character but you can’t always see into his head, so I expect he’ll be a lot of fun to watch. I enjoy his cleverness, his ruthlessness, and his moments of vulnerability. I’m still unsure whether he meant it at all when he apologized to the crew for keeping secrets from them. I’d like to think it wasn’t a complete lie, even though it was also a ploy to get them to like him again, but it’s not like he’s stopped lying to them. He has his crew’s loyalty back—fortunately he was right to gamble that Billy would play along and pretend Singleton really did have the schedule—but it will only last so long before they realize he doesn’t have it. He also has to hide the fact that Guthrie, who was key to getting the ship, is a) under arrest and b) so far, unwilling to help. Will Flint get the schedule for realsies before the crew figures out that he lied to them again?

Lying now and hoping he’ll have the means to make up for it later is not the worst thing Flint does in this episode. It’s the killing of Singleton that really shows that he’s not a straightforward hero. I wouldn’t say mutiny justifies murder, but then again I’m not a pirate. I also wouldn’t say theft merits the death penalty, but that’s how pirates do. What I’m getting at is, Flint may do questionable things (like, in addition to the very fact of piracy), but he’s not the only one. I guess pirates have their own morality and just because Flint does things I wouldn’t do doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some kind of code. He even acknowledges, speaking to Billy, that pirates have a way of life that makes sense to them but not to mainstream people (I know I’m making pirates sound like hipsters but it was the first phrasing that came to mind): “men who keep what is theirs and fear no one.” 

Speaking of Billy the boatswain, I really like him as well, and not just because he’s played by Tom Hopper. His type of gambling has to do with how much of his faith and loyalty he’s going to put into Flint. He pretends that Flint was correct to accuse Singleton of theft, but he’s by no means a sycophant. When Flint is brutally interrogating Richard Guthrie and tells Billy to point the gun at Guthrie, Billy has no problem pointing it at Flint instead. So if Billy is playing along with Flint’s scheme, he must have weighed the options and decided this was best. Billy, like Flint, thinks, speaks, and acts for himself. Also, he looks like Tom Hopper.

Silver is a bit of a weird character because he’s to some extent our point-of-view character, but he’s also absent for large parts of the episode. Regarding his role as the audience stand-in, it was cool to show him discovering all the information about the Urca de Lima at the same time that Flint’s voiceover was explaining the same information. Regarding Silver’s personality, I really enjoy his unapologetic selfishness and self-preservation. Everyone on the show has their ways of looking out for themselves, and for Silver, that happens to mean hiding below deck, killing the cook (in self-defense, to be fair), stealing the Urca’s schedule because he knows it’s valuable even though he doesn’t know why, and pretending he’s a cook so he gets to join the crew of the Walrus (I’m looking forward to find out whether he actually can cook). But when Flint kills Singleton, do I dare see in Silver’s face a hint of remorse that his actions might have gotten someone killed, or do I need to be more cynical? Anyway, his main gamble is to hold on to the schedule rather than hand it over to Flint. He also has to make the gamble to trust Max.

Max, who is pretty mysterious so far but very alluring, likewise has to gamble to trust Silver. I like their dynamic—good teamwork from two blatantly self-interested people. Her acquisition of the schedule parallels how Silver got it: he could tell the cook really wanted to hold onto it, she could tell he really wanted to hold onto it. Both of them are clearly good at identifying where profit lies and getting there. Silver says that when he sees an opportunity for gain, he can’t help but take it; when given the chance to back out of a partnership with him, Max isn’t tempted, which suggests that she is much the same. As for another of Max’s relationships, as I have said, one of the reasons I wanted to watch this show was that I knew it had quality gay/bi content and WOW it turns out they hit you with it right in the first episode! I ship her and Eleanor by default (and because of the line “Max is your harbor,” I’ve decided my ship tag will be “all I want is to be your harbor”) but their interaction was mostly sex, so I hope we get to see more depth to their relationship soon. However, one of the episode’s few tender moments was Max’s concern when she saw the bruise Vane left on Eleanor’s face, so that bodes well for her and for the two of them.

I think Eleanor might be my favorite character so far, largely because Hannah New is very attractive when she’s swearing. And in general. She gambles by funding Gates’ efforts at bribery (making their interaction also a gamble for Gates) and oops she almost won that gamble but not quite. She also has to choose between loyalty to Vane and loyalty to Flint. She chooses Flint. We’ll see how that turns out. She is undoubtedly and unapologetically self-interested, but without crossing the line into immorality. (I mean immorality relative to the show’s baseline morality.) Same goes for most of these characters, now that I think about it, including Max. In addition to their similarities, these ladies balance each other: Eleanor is gruffer but more emotional, while Max is more subtle and more sanguine. Ship ship ship.

While watching The 100 I often wondered if Roan was just a boring character or if there was an innate boringness to Zach McGowan. Now I can declare that Roan is just a boring character. Vane is not boring. He’s pretty frightening, really. Maybe ZM should just only ever play villains? I don’t know. Anyway, despite being set up as the antagonist, I’m not yet convinced that Vane is really much worse than Flint. We shall see. He’s got a plan of his own, though it doesn’t really fit the gambling theme: he tried to engineer the victory of Singleton’s mutiny so that, once the crew of the Walrus realized they no longer had a competent captain, they’d defect to Vane’s crew. That didn’t pan out since Flint took down Singleton and made up with his crew, but Vane didn’t really lose anything, at least not as far as we’ve seen. For that reason, he’s probably the character who came out of the pilot looking the least vulnerable.

Gates, like Flint, feels like a character type I have seen before: the practical, long-suffering but loyal second-in-command to the headstrong, risk-taking team leader. The only other example I can think of is Bennet Drake from Ripper Street, but I think I’ve seen it elsewhere as well. Gates is the one who puts into words the theme I’ve been talking about: he tells Eleanor that if she loans him money to ensure Flint retains the captaincy, it will be an “investment in the future.” I’m looking forward to seeing whose investments pay off and whose future wins out.

There’s a lot of conflict already, but there’s a lot of overlap of characters’ traits, I guess because they all know this piratey world quite well and what kind of person you have to be to survive and to thrive. Basically, the first episode sets up a rough world where everyone is looking out for themselves and making difficult choices that they think are for their own good but that might have explosive consequences down the line. We get a glimpse of what these characters want and what they’re willing to do to get it. Also there are pirates. What’s not to love?

WHO DOES RACKHAM REMIND ME OF? I looked up Toby Schmitz’s filmography and I don’t think I’ve see him in anything else but I swear he reminds me of someone!

Best dialogue of the episode:

Gates, to Billy: You’re a highly regarded member of this crew. The captain regards your input more than you know.

Gates, to Flint: Billy’s going with you.

Flint: Who’s Billy?

[survivormontenegro]

Episode 10: “It’s Like Giving A Baby A Glock” - Mo

I’ve been tricked, I’ve been backstabbed and, quite possibly, bamboozled.

So like here’s the thing, the person I thought going into merge I could trust the least is apparently now my closest ally. That’s Julia. I thought everyone was on the same page of voting out Tom like oh we’re gucci. But fucking quick fake out, no such thing as Tom getting voted out. I literally started hysterically laughing because no one was answering me when I asked what happened on the call. Now I don’t know what to do but I’m still just gonna have fun.

operation vote alex was a success. i feel really really awful because he looked so upset, but he was just too powerful and couldn't stick around any longer ahh. in other news sleeping beauty tom is so funny, he almost self-voted himself out of the game I am truly screaming. i was determined this season to make up for the last time we played together and i think i got to do that ahh.

in other news... i need to go into hiding. i have done way too much in both of the last votes, and its really gonna start getting me some attention unless i really really go under the radar. me and jules are the only people who voted both ian and alex, and on call with jason i think its obvious to him now that us two are close eek!

i feel like mo is a good next vote, he is much more of an outsider than jones and is an easy vote which is what i need since im in such a highlighted position at the moment eek, i really think i'm gonna go like 8th or something, so we will see how that little pickle goes eek!

New Goal Bootlist: Mo > Jones > Jason > Julia > Mitch > Me/Caeleb/Jules/Benj/Tom F5, ahh I love everyone left way too much this is gonna become such a pickle when I don't wanna vote out like.... half the tribe EEK. lets just hope its all smooth sailing till i idol someone out eek.

i do not expect to make FTC, but I just wanna use my idol correctly before I go askljdfa. Also new jury rankings if I get booted 10th:

Jules > Jason > Benj > Caeleb > Mitch > Jones > Julia > Tom > Mo

Caeleb shot up my rankings for being open to a move, Jason would be a major underdog if he makes it to FTC, Jules is too woke and deserves votes, and Benj is playing a super smart game ha! We will see, but I sure do not expect to last much longer in this game KLASDFA

HELLO!!! This game has been chaos lately. Firstly Ian gets blindsided and I knew it would be a split vote but had no clue he was leaving wow... but then this round all the people who organised that got blindsided with the Alex vote hehe. I didn't vote him bc my vote was publicized by Ian even tho I didn't vote him smh but I fully knew about it and kinda helped with it even tho its mainly caelebs move

Alex was super nice I liked him but it was purely for game he was the biggest threat and we were almost certain he had durmitor idol so! Even with tom self voting it worked wowow so I guess jules also voted with ali/caeleb/mitch/Jason

I don't talk to Julia or mo but IM SO SAD ABT JONES I DONT KNOW IF SHE KNOWS I KNEW OR NOT BUT I LOVE HER AND HOPE SHE DONT HATE ME

But whew this merge has been so crazy and I love it. Im kinda becoming floaterish again but that's fine bc we see threats leave early like ian and alex so! this should work for a while... altho im terrified to even make the end cuz its a live finale tribal AHHHH but idk if I will make it there anyway we will see. prob not .

Current rankings (strategically)

1. Ali - MY KINGGGG FOREVER!!!! Best duo ever and I don't think anyone knows it... we have voted differently again so its like perfect cuz despite doing diff stuff we still tell each other everything. and I hope we find merge idol so we have 2 hehe

2. Caeleb - Omg we have been working together a lot more closely lately and I really like it hes fun to work with im so sad I voted him 2 rounds ago LOL but its ok since its going to well now! king

3. Mitch - Only person ive been on every tribe with, usually always on the same page w stuff

4. Jones - LOVE HER QUEEN! she would be like tied 1st for personal but so far we have voted diff both times at merge oops! but still wanna go far with her

5/6. Jules/Tom - Without really talking about strategy we were still on the same page. Tom aussie king. JULES FRIENDLY QUEEN!

7/8/9. Jason/Julia/Mo - I just don't know how to talk to them really lol but all nice . my fault cuz maybe im so inactive... love u guys still

IDK WHATS NEXT BUT I WANNA MAKE TOP 9 ATLEAST!! Single digits again yus

Ok ok after tending to my needy cat, taking a shower, and taking a short 6 hour nap that others may call sleep,,, I’m 60% in the right headspace to gather my thoughts I think.

Last nights move was so good, I hated it Bc I wasn’t included in it but it was so good. But also seeing Alex literally on the verge of tears was NOT so good. That was actually depressing. Granted he WAS the biggest threat to win and he was on the verge of becoming an extremely controlling paranoid person - but dammit the combination of Mitch/Ali/Jason/Jules/Caeleb/Tom (to an extent) got us SO good.

BTW I can say with like 95% certainty that those were the 6 people involved w Alex going. It only makes sense to me that it would be? Ali/Mitch/Tom straight up TOLD me why they did what they did, Jason Bc why the fuck would he vote out Tom, Caeleb has expressed so much paranoia ab Alex that I’d be shocked if he wasn’t on board w it, and honestly Jules just hasn’t said anything ab anything and Alex went home w 5 votes, Benj and Julia voted Jason, Mo was VISIBLY shaken by Alex going, and I know I didn’t do it. So unless I’m missing someone in my process of elimination, those are the 6 people involved in the murder of Alexander Crooks.

Also on a couple unrelated notes - I’m thinking ab willing my vote cover to someone. I just don’t understand why I should be afraid of being exposed - I feel like I shouldn’t have anything to hide yk? Assuming I have to expose my vote I mean, hopefully I don’t! But ya

Also literally the round Before last round I think Caeleb actually exposed the plan to blindside Alex to me ? Like he was talking to me ab Tom and Ali wanting to get him out and then I approached Ali ab it and he was like no that’s not a thing BUT IT WAS A THING!! I think Alex was supposed to go last round, but Bc I confronted Ali ab it then it got pushed back??? Or it was legit just meant for this round smdmmdmd but um ya that’s might be the same plan?? So maybe I’ll expose Caeleb a bit hehehehe.

But honestly tho I think this could be really good for me in the sense that every single person thought of me as a duo w Alex - now I’m kind of a free agent who can do whatever the fuck I want!! Which is fun, the only true alliances I have w people now are just w benj and mo, which is cute and also I doubt anyone would target them anytime soon ? Tom seems like he’s still open to working w me, so are Ali and Mitch. Julia was also blindsided hardcore so maybe she’d be down to work out something too ? Right now I’m just holding out hope knowing for a fact that I CAN make this situation better. I’ve literally BEEN in this situation 2 times already?? I can do this! Just like Co-Star always tells me.

Wait just kidding on the Julia thing I can’t trust her either, I can only trust Jones at the moment.

So I found out from Benj that there was another split vote led by Alex. Last tribal he failed to tell me that they were going to vote out Ian instead of Jason. So this time around, when I found out that they were going to do the same thing to me again, I knew there was no going back with my new connection with Ali. The more I talked around with everyone the more the pieces started to align. Tom and Jason were targets so they would be easy to get involved. With me and Ali that's already 4. Mitch was going to be the fifth, and Jules as well if we felt like he wasn't going to go for it. I honestly wanted to vote Jules first tho, and I talked to Ali and Benj about that originally, but Ali had reservations as Jules is SUCH a flipper. AND THEN Julia voted so early, so I kinda went up to everyone in this new group and was like, "okay that was arrogant I think she's trying to be funny but thats enough for me to vote her," and Ali was way more into that so for a couple hours we had that going. BUT MITCH WAS NO WHERE TO BE SEEN. Like we had our four and we were ready but Mitch didn't come on line until like 40 min before tribal. And when he did he was like I'm voting Alex. I really didn't want to go for Alex right away because of a couple of reasons. One being that if he heard of this vote in anyyy way he might be able to get Jones to play her idol for him and that could destroy everything. SECONDLY, I knew that if we voted him then I was gonna have to do some SERIOUS damage control with Mo and Jones but if I had the opportunity to vote out Julia instead, I can go back to them and say that I knew I had to take the opportunity to be involved in the decisions but I didn't want it to be any of them. SOOO last 40 min I had to make a really big decision if I was gonna vote Alex or Tom and ultimately, I chose to vote out Alex. It just would put me in a better position.

I am so glad I did it to be honest. The moment I saw Alex's name five times I knew I made the right decision. I felt Happy and I felt Free. Alex was clearly using me as a failsafe, an easy first vote out once Me, Mo, Alex, Jones, Julia, Jules, and Ali were left. Now, this game is open up not just for me, but for everybody. I seriously think anyone can take control at this point. I don't need it to be me, I just need it to be someone who likes me. I think Jones is the most dangerous player right now, because of her idol. But I have kept that to myself, as well as her advantage, because while I might have to play the middle ground, I'm not a snitch.

Everyone is always so obsessed with being a hero or a villain. Going into Tumblr Survivor as a new player I really wanted to find out what type of player I was going to become. If I was gonna fit into one of those roles. I don't know what I am. I kinda feel like a villain because clearly that was a devious move, and I broke a strong alliance, but also I feel like I was a villain by default. I didn't necessarily want to be that player, I actually would've loved to have felt safe in that group. But trust has gotta go both ways, and if you show me two tribals in a row that you don't trust me to tell me the whole plan, I'm not gonna stick true with a group that sees me as expendable. So sure I was a villain, but it wasn't about vengeance or deceit or ill-will. It was to put this game back on a balance, and move me into a new spot that can work for me.

Okay, something I have learned about Survivor is that you have to put your Pride in Check. Tom is so nice to me, says a lot of things along the lines of "thanks for saving me," "you and I can go far in this," and such. And he told me he wasn't going to vote me in the first merge vote, and I think he believes that he fooled me. I know he voted me. He's literally the only person that would think voting me was the majority vote, except Ian and Jason. I wanna tell him that I know so badly so he doesn't think he's pulling one over me but I can't because I want him to think he can work with me, that I am in his pocket because he "stuck his neck out for me" or whatever.

Also ummm Mitch told me that Alex had a planned assassination on me for the last vote before merge. But he didn't tell me until after the Alex vote and said Jones was in on it. I know better than to trust what Mitch tells me for sure, so I don't think I will even go and fact check him on it. I honestly don't know how that would've helped Alex in the slightest so I don't know if its true, but also Alex likes to throw out my name as a "just in case" so god who knows. Regardless, I doubt I'll use this information for anything because it honestly doesn't matter going forward, other than that Mitch is a little bit of a snake.

hehe

So I won the reward challenge because I’m cool.

I

Have

No

Fucking clue

What to do with this

Like all three of the people voted Alex off without telling me about anything and I was in an alliance chat with all three of them (Ali & Jules in Space Jam, Caeleb in Durmitor Dominators) so like of course I was sad because that meant I was on the outs. Truth be told I kinda wish I didn’t win this because it’s like giving a baby a glock. Because I don’t know how to come out of this without people thinking I’m holding a grudge.

okay so mo won reward which is okay! I dont really wanna ask him to save me, because that will require making promises that I dont know if I'll be able to keep. I expect to be cursed this round.

touchy subjects is going to tank my game like CRAZY. I'm worried that Caeleb, Benj & Jules could all say they trust me most which is highkey terrifying, because if I win that it'll send red flags to all of them. I expect to win the shady game ones, about lying and flipping on alliances and stuff which is not as bad because I can just blame that on Space Jam which I told Caeleb about.

My big fear and this could just be ego-talking, like when I thought I was gonna win the lists challenge and then came second last but I'm so worried about getting the will win if they make it to the end category, thats... a death sentence in my opinion.

Wanna do like a quick update for each person too, just so I can look back when they all hate me at the end of the season:

Benj: my KING. He is such a legend, I love talking to me and do not think I would ever be able to vote for him, except at FTC! Wanna go super far with him, super super far!

Caeleb: Oh god I'm already realising the problem, which is that I love everyone. Caeleb I did not expect to get as close to, but he is so so fun to talk to! I'm really giving with him, and I think he is close to Benj too, so could be a good endgame person too. Will see on that one.

Jason: I love him! I for some reason convinced myself that he hated me during the swap, but I dont think... he does? he is SO smart and fun, I'd love to vote for him at an FTC. Ideally he needs to go before then, but I've lost Ian and Alex who were great shields so he acc probably needs to stick around.

Jones: Okay Jones is tough. Like... we stan becausee she is so much fun and I love talking to her. But talking game with her right now is tough because we have this weird poor communication and I'm conscious of not making empty promises when I want to see her go soon. I really like her on a personal, but I see either me voting her out or her voting me out.

Jules: what can I say except we stan. I talk to her and Benj the most by far, they are just consistently showing why we love them! I think they are such a threat, but I cant face the idea of voting them out eek! Wanna go super far with Jules because I LOVE THEM and they are a great friend and ally!

Julia: I messed up with Julia BAD. I should've told her about the Alex vote, I really think she would've been down, and it would've been so much better. Now she is upset and paranoid, and I feel so bad. I did her wrong and need to make it up to her, but I dont know if I will be able to eeek!

Mitch: he is so funny HDJDKDKD, like the way he talks is so funny. I've had a real rollercoaster relationship with him this season, but I could see some sort of alliance of me/Caeleb/Mitch/Benj coming together in the future! We will see ahh!

Mo: I've been quite harsh about Mo in confessionals this season but I feel like this vote gave him the kick he needs? Like he was playing it super safe and while it frustrates me seeing him say stuff like just keep me to F7 and such, he is, as always great to be around and a lotta fun!

Tom: Sleeping Beauty Tom. It's so funny to me that he stayed despite self-voting and sleeping. He is so much fun, I was determined to make up for our last game and I think I have ahh.

Summary is I wanna see Jones and Mo out next, then Mitch & Jason, then Julia leaving a F5 of Caeleb/ Me/ Benj/ Tom/ Jules? Thats the dream anyway ha!

Maybe I'm just paranoid but I feel like I've backstabbed/betrayed a good amount of people in this game and it's hard because sure they were moves that had to be made, but I hate being THAT PERSON. I don't know. Here's a confession Johnny, I'm trying but I'm bad at these.

So Mo said he was going to give me the reward tonight. He definitely doesn't talk to me as much and is much less excited and fun to talk to but I think I need to just accept that. The fact that he came up to me to tell me he's giving it to me, rather than me asking, makes me think he's telling the truth.

Plus I am being honest with him when I tell him that I don't want it to be him next. I hope he knows that.

Jones meanwhile has yet to say anything to me after last tribal. I finally messaged her last night, saying that I didn't mean anything towards her when I voted Alex. I hope she'll come around, but if not, then umm I kinda have no choice but to be wary of her and her idol and might have to do something about it. I don't want to though, I do wanna work with both her and Mo.

I actually think Julia is on my side. I can’t tell if she’s lying but she seemed upset because apparently no one talked to her about the plan to vote out Alex.

I'm bored at work. This tribal council is Odd as Hell. No one wants to throw out names, no one wants to seem too schemey, so everyone is just talking about being nervous and concerned. I honestly don't know who I want to go home because I think this vote is going to determine the course of this game post-Alex. I know I sure as hell don't want to come off as someone who is dictating the votes, so I'm trying to make it clear that I am willing to go with the flow with anyone who needs a vote rn.

I think there are people who have my back hopefully that will tell me if I need to be worried at least. Ali hopefully would, Tom *hopefully* would (but who knows hes sneaky), Mo was nice enough to give me the reward but um the Alex vote has changed him, I miss the old Mo. come back. Jones finally is talking to me again, but she's still trying to keep some secrets about the last couple of votes so I don't fully trust her. Benj hopefully would, but I was surprised he talks to Julia so much. Jason hopefully would, but now with Alex gone his game opens up tremendously. Julia would never tell me. Mitch wouldn't tell me unless it helped himself which I can't imagine happening. Jules probably wouldn't tell me because she's the easiest to convince into doing something no matter what Touchy Subjects said. She's literally flipped allegiances like every single vote ever. I hope I can survive tonight because I think this is going to be a pivotal vote and literally anyone can go home tonight (except Benj who has the sweet immunity).

HI um I think this game is broken? No one will say anything to anyone. Did I do this? Did I break this game? Or maybe we all did? Maybe Ali did maybe Jules did maybe Mitch did because us four are the middle people and we created an atmosphere where no one trusts anyone? or everyone trusts some people and none of that fits into a substantial person to vote?

I'm literally laughing rn. I am logging off. I am not going to focus on this game because literally every person just says "I don't want to throw a name out" "I haven't heard anything" "what have you heard" Like the gravity of this is crazy. This has gone on for HOURS. I don't know what to do so I am going to ignore my messages for like an hour and then reanalyze because Damn.

APPARENTLY NO ONES SAYING SHIT. But like part of me is like “Hm.... Yeah ok sure...” thinking it’s gonna be me. Because either everyone is lying to me or everyone’s genuinely confused.

okay i did a video confessionals that's uploading which has my thoughts from a couple of hours ago.

since then jules is pushing for mitch to go... but its so tough. mitch i think has my back, i just wanna vote mo and delay this war by a round. I just want someone like Mo or Jones gone, its getting tough. I'm playing the middle and am in a web of problems.

I have to have Jules back above all. Benj is safe, so I need to keep them safe. I need to get the vote on like Mo or someone, but Caeleb wants to vote Mitch or Jules too... ugh this is getting really messy and I'm worried and tired.

Idk if I sent this yet but

At the moment rightnow it seems like it’s Jules or Mitch, right now I think,,,, the best way to vote is Mitch. I’m Trying to get everyone on the path for mitch because I think Jules is falling in the “I’m a big threat wah” category and I want that to keep growing,,, I just feel,, so awful.

Mitch if you’re reading this ily w my whole heart and I still wanna crash Drew’s library w you some day

i am... what we call in the business, trash. i upset mitch and deserve to be voted out for it. i'm snappin' hearts on my way to FTC LORD.

[capricious-passions-blog]

By Author

Words, words, words.

Aaronna

With the Help of a Brother

Yes

5,638

3

Amnesiac Stanley. They get to the boat. Sad Ford. With a happy ending.

moosesmittens

A Grim Night

Yes

688

1

I could care less how short this is. It’s that Grim dog. I’m so glad this was written. Any and all ‘Grim’ fics about Stanley and this dog are blessings in my eyes.

bananabog

Balm

Yes

1,073

1

A one-shot that wasn’t meant to be more unfortunately, but has a very interesting premise about Bill not being gone from Stan’s head.

tallykale

A better place, a better time

Yes and No

First Posted

2015-12-02

Last updated

22 Feb 2016

49,002

3 works

Mystery Trio. Stanley and Stanford reunite. Help.

anonymousAlchemist

our past ghosts always haunting

Yes

1,347

1

Stanley never regains his memories. And it’s okay.

Neelh

Homologous

Yes

1,642

1

HA! I was wondering what ‘homologous’ even means. And then I saw the author’s note. Read my mind.

Reread it. I have no words. Monster. Angel. Blessing. Curse. How shall I describe this author?

HowAboutThatSnapback

Death Omen, Shmeath Omen

Yes

1,649

1

Just the title. Just the title on it’s own is enough. THAT TITLE.

fex_libris

Darkened Light, Starless Night

No -

First Posted

2016-10-03

Last updated

12 Dec 2016

5,531

2

BlindFaith Au. They get out of the cave, but things aren’t peachy.

pinesinthewoods

Blind Faith

Yes

21,027

4

Stanley and Stanford both land in the portal. Stanley loses his eyes. Blind Faith Au.

hapful

out

Yes

2,587

1

Amnesia Stanley. Andrew - ANDREW - *he thinks he’s andrew … * I can’t -

molossiamerica

2 AM

Yes

3,062

1

In relation to the title. One word. Relatable. But other than that - these two. I tell ya. Sea adventures.

eltigre221

Gravity Falls: Aspects of Stanley

Yes

3,321

1

500 Fords Au. In a hall of Fords, Stanley splits himself into parts of his personality. And Ford has to put that back together.

StoneSabre

So the Ocean Soothes Our Scars

No -

First Posted

2016-10-20

Last updated

27 Nov 2016

5,508

2 works

Grunkle Adventures at sea

Keleficent

Trust Me

Yes

6,528

6

It …

Well anyways. Stan falls into the portal and … just … BADness ensues. Ford gets him out, but … so yeah

TheLazyBAMF (TheGuardian219)

Fixing a Mistake

No -

First Posted

2015-12-13

Last updated

7 Nov 2016

8,334

7

Stanley uses a time wish to go back in time and relive his life so he doesn’t ruin Stanford’s. So … he’s in his kid body with his grumpy grandpa mind, and kid Ford wants to play all the time, but is smart enough to see something’s up. How could you not want this?

SilveryBeing

Key Moments

Yes

8,913

1

Stanford looking into different realities. Seeing the consequences of various actions over the course of his life. Post Weirdmeggedon. It’s good, but also full of Stanford hate propaganda NOPE THAT IS A LIE. Why am I lying like this?

MiniatureGlitterSoul

Searching For Stanford Pines

No -

First Posted

2016-04-17

Last updated

7 Jun 2016

9,805

6

Portal Ford.

Beleriandings

A Tale Of Three Stans

Yes

12,413

1

They’re in iceland. Stanley and Stanford get separated. Until Stanley runs into another portal Ford. This is a really nice read. Short, but not too short. In a fun setting, running around doing interesting stuff. Police get involved to some degree. Otherwise it wouldn’t be Stanley and Stanford.

biteinsane

Wearing the Working Man’s Clothes

No -

First Posted

2016-05-11

Last updated

25 May 2017

15,063

7

So it says Tiny Ford Au, and I was thrown off. I thought - the shrink ray stuff. But it’s kid Ford. And Kid Ford’s mind too. So it’s cute! But also - how can Cipher NOT take advantage of that? A One and a Half Stans, with Ford.

KuroJanKazu

Reminiscence at Sea

No -

First Posted

2016-04-04

Last updated

29 Sep 2016

17,754

7

Reverse Falls. Stanford ends up in reverse falls in one of his trips through the multiverse. And really learns to like … Will Cipher.

runawaycartoonist

Gravity Falls: It’s Relative!

No -

First Posted

2016-05-04

Last updated

20,587

7

Stanley and Stanford go and visit their Great Auntie Mabel for the summer.

Vituperative_cupcakes

The Demolition Log of Stanford F. Pines

Yes

22,280

11

A really amazing, after Dipper and Mabel leave, but before they set sailing sort of random adventures of the Stans. Full of humor, fun, and if I have this right - proper flash-back angst?

orphan_account

The Ghost that Lives in Great Uncle Ford’s Basement

Yes

22,348

7

Stanley - GOES BACK IN TIME, and ends up as a ghost. But I think what’s most important here, is that he’s basically lived twice but looks young. And the ending. It finally makes Canon the better option in a not ‘rip your heart out and feed it to cannibals’ way.

highwayKing

Stannapped

Yes

22,508

11

The one where Stan’s old buddies catch up with him, shove him in a trunk again, and Ford has to find him. And he does! Wait … oops, spoiler.

roomapple

Liar To A Liar, For Lies Are His Coin

No -

First Posted

2016-10-19

Last updated

13 Mar 2017

23,456

10

Same Coin theory. Bill is back. Mucking about in Stanley’s head.

eosrealis (Aurorealis)

Cooperation is Mandatory

No -

First Posted

2015-10-09

Last updated

6 Nov 2015

26,024

6

Stanley is a werewolf. And yet outcast from all other werewolves - of course he couldn’t just get with the program, even as a wolf! And so Ford leaves Gravity Falls to study the phenomenon.

videogamelover99

A Different Form a Different Time

Yes and No

First Posted

2016-12-23

Last updated

16 Apr 2017

26,407

6 works

Based on Flat Dreams and Pengychan’s and doodledrawsthings probably ideas and drawings. Bill is stuck as a human and is mostly annoyed.

the_subpar_ghost

Gravity Falls Timestuck AU

Yes

26,761

11

Mabel trapped in the past and Stanley has to help her get back. Mostly through finding Stanford, and we all know how that goes down.

azhdarchidaen

In Search of Antidotes

Yes

30,200

11

Historical Au. It’s great. So Stanley goes to help Stanford and it’s all in 1892. Double thumbs up.

delcatty (Harlecat)

The Thing On the Doorstep

Yes

35,915

12

What is this - lovecraft? … Ha! I was right. I also don’t know much about lovecraft. But I do, however, know about this. And it’s Stanford getting himself into messes in a 1930’s setting and Stanley trying to help while overcoming Fiddleford’s phobia towards horrors of the eldritch type. The actual thing on the doorstep is … a mixture of a shiver down your spine and ‘bleck.’

Amydiddle

Theory of Relativity

Yes

39,151

21

Relative Falls. Au colliding with Canon. Stanley and Stanford end up in relativity falls on a boat trip. Actually, the kids meeting their older selves - that’s neat.

SandyQuinn

There’s an Endless Road

Yes

41,073

8

This one is so great. Who doesn’t love a road trip? With your annoying brother and archenemy? Stanford sure knows how to pick ‘em. Also, this tag - ‘horror that is completely undercut by humour.’ It’s adventure in an almost episodic way, but also not at all, and is just super fun while not simply ‘pure fluff’ in any way shape or form.

Giroshane

Gravity Falls Adventures

Yes. But you kinda wish no. Series is marked incomplete, so maybe?

44,073

3 works

The Adventure with ____

How else to describe? Hurt/Comfort.

Stanley, Stanford, Mabel, and Dipper. Post Weirdmeggedon/in Weirdmeggedon.

Fordanoia

Gotham Falls

No -

First Posted

2016-09-27

Last updated

18 May 2017

45,735

11

Batman, Gravity Falls crossover! What more do you people want?

asbelow

Time Has Changed Me (And Left Me Full Of Doubt)

No -

First Posted

2017-01-18

Last updated

13 May 2017

46,708

8

REALLY GOOD ONE GUYS. Everytime I think about - Stanley. Going through that portal. Coming out. And still not speaking to Ford for another couple of years. Having that kid. Dealing with trauma of having been on the other side of that portal. REALLY GOOD ONE. Major focus on awesome slice of life that just is REALLY GOOD.

dliriously

Changing Tides and Tribulations

No -

First Posted

2016-06-04

Last updated

23 Jun 2016

49,902

6

Really fantastic Stanley and Stanford post weirdmeggedon on their boat sail away and still deal with nightmares and disillusion and ‘what did Ford get up to in the portal?’ and STUFF!

PengyChan

Flat Dreams

Yes

53,940

16

Alright. Full disclosure. This is a really good fic. But … I’ve never understood the whole - ‘it makes Bill Cipher into a redeemable character’ thing. Bill feels well rounded and it gives Bill Cipher good motivations for the show. But … he’s still actually a rather genuinely rude person who does bad stuff with only slightly more understood reasons. If anything it just pulls him from psychopath to misguided. I don’t feel sorry for him, I’m just six times more interested in him as a character. But other than that - Man is this a really great fic.[Note to Self. Edit this description][Edit of the Edit: Ignore me. I know nothing]

Queen_Mab

Ad Astra

No -

First Posted

2016-07-29

Last updated

3 Jun 2017

54,200

11

Mabel falls into the Portal to find a new Grunkle. The selling point would have to be how amazing the portal Mabel bits are. Ford and Mabel. It’s just fantastic at times. And then in rolls the Dipper and Stan bits and everything is up in flames.

Sarah1281

A Time Wish

Yes

59,420

18

Stanley goes back in time to stop himself from landing Ford in the portal. He lands as a old mind in a young body and stays level headed as Ford wigs out. And proceeds to relieve the next thirty years.

embulalia

Two Old Men and the Sea

Yes

69,409

26

Boat adventures that head back to Gravity Falls. This one includes werewolves, nightmares, amnesia, seizures, Demonic possession, and torture. All from the tags, because for the life of me this blends in with other fics. I should probably reread this. (I remember the werewolves well enough …? and obviously liked it …)

babyblueavenger

Mystery Nerds AU

Yes and No

First Posted

2015-11-26

Last updated

2 Jun 2016

97,460

5 works

Series. It’s the last one that isn’t finished, with a 4 chaptered 46k word count hanging off the side.

EvilEkat

Versability

Yes

131,274

33

Stanley … strikes it rich, become an even worse person, and then gets the kids when his and Stanford’s names are mixed up.

Overall - Excellent. Very, very Excellent.

DisneyMuse, slytherintbh

The Demon’s Apprentice

Yes ish

149,836

2 major works, plus a drabble and alternate endings

Have I read this? I feel like I have, but I’m not sure. It’s where Dipper becomes Bill Cipher’s apprentice of magic and Ford is just not having it. But … have I read this?

***

The_Lionheart

One Sword

Yes and No

First Posted

2016-07-31

Last updated

9 May 2017

239,518

9 works

Oh, just lots. Portal adventures. Reimagining of canon episodes. Crossovers. But what I wanna know is how they get away with some of that purple prose stuff? Poetry? Different formats? It’s brilliant. How? Just - how?

The_Lionheart

Takin’ Care of Business

No -

First Posted

Last updated

19 Mar 2017

30,663

9

Modern … sort of Au. Where … Stanley goes to help Stanford. But Mabel and Dipper are more like niece and nephew - not great nibings. And … it’s really good. I really like The_Lionheart. They’re a really good writer.

The_Lionheart

The People That We Always Hoped We Would Be

Yes

11,546

1

Christmas Carol AU where everyone comes back into the past to get Stanford to reconcile with Stanley. Oh my gosh. THIS ONE. That one scene. WITH THE GUN.

The_Lionheart

Missing

Yes

4,103

1

How Stan has dentures. A basic recap of when and where he lost most of his teeth WITH CRIPPLING FEELS.

***

LogicalBookThief

A Pound of Flesh

Yes

10,918

4

I remember this mostly for the Clairvoyant. Post Weirdmeggedon boat adventures.

LogicalBookThief

Stan Protecting his Kids

No -

First Posted

2015-10-29

Last updated

6 Mar 2016

1,670

2 works

First one is Soos’s dad. The second is a tourist and Wendy. I actually thought the Soos and the dad bit was interesting. I never would have thought about it, but yeah. That could go down like that.

LogicalBookThief

One and a Half Stans Au

Yes

5,092

2 works

De-aged Stanley

LogicalBookThief

The Devil You Know

Yes

5,677

2

Possession. Mystery trio. Ford gets possessed before he realizes that’s not a good thing. And Stanley … obviously gets caught in the crosshairs.

***

scribefindegil

Fisherman’s Knot

No -

First Posted

2016-03-06

Last updated

27 May 2017

84,545

17

You think it’s over. And then there’s another twenty thousand words if not more. You don’t know how to handle these feelings.

scribefindegil

Nomenclature

Yes

1,133

1

Haha! - No, I’m sorry. This one. This one is great. Portal Ford.

***

impish_nature

Demonic Conman

Yes

26,385

8

Reverse One of Us Au. Stanley becomes the demon for Bill Cipher. What an exhausting ride. And the ending. Pretty much low-grade torture for the soul. As I recall, wasn’t there an alternate ending to this too?

impish_nature

Phobos

No -

First Posted

2016-01-03

Last updated

10 Feb 2016

24,721

7

Mystery trio and Stanley has issues from his time on the road. It is unfortunate that it is incomplete.

impish_nature

A Lot More Lost

Yes

9,620

1

Feral Ford Au. Stanley Amnesia.

impish_nature

Signs of a Well Lived Life

Yes

3,276

1

JOML AU @notllorstel

More Grim Au. I think they actually die in this one. Quote on Quote “Bittersweet and stuff”

impish_nature

Finding the Right Frequency

Yes

6,885

1

Ford, and that radio! Talking over the air! Him and Stanley! It hits the spot.

impish_nature

Sleight of Hand

Yes

1,638

1

Oh my gosh - MagicStanley! It’s beautiful.

impish_nature

Blind Rage

Yes

4,743

1

BlindFaith Au. Stanford goes off on some midnight attackers and Stanley isn’t handling heat of fire too well.

impish_nature

Seeing is Believing

Yes

5,136

1

BlindFaith Au. Stanley regains some of his sight

impish_nature

Silent Plea

Yes

2,070

1

BlindFaith Au. Stanley helps Stanford with cave flashbacks.

***

thesnadger

Axolotl

No -

First Posted

2016-02-18

Last updated

18 Jan 2017

32,458

11

Post Weirdmeggedon and Bill is back. The Stans head over to Gravity Falls from their sea voyage to let family comfort, and maybe find a solution.

thesnadger

Summer’s Over

Yes

10,604

3 works

I’m - no THEY’RE trying to kill you. And I quote “Making Ford Feel Guilty For Fun And Profit; Actually There’s No Profit; And No Fun; only pain”

thesnadger

Things You Can’t Take Back

Yes

5,058

1

Stanley in the Colombian forest. But why is Stanford there? Dun, Dun, DUUUN. But no, actually - the feels.

thesnadger

It’s A Great Idea (Who Are You To Judge?)

Yes

4,295

1

Relativity Falls. Grauntie Mabel and Grunkle Stan compare lives over drinks. Not the best idea.

***

Tell_Me_Tales

D-23:Guardian

No -

First Posted

2016-08-15

Last updated

23 May 2017

28,242

20

Carla McCorkle. Tell_Me_Tales adds a great addition of her as her own mystery trio in some of their work. Short chapters … that I feel get better as time goes on, but is that just me? Also - Gargoyle Stanley Au, but not monster Au.

Tell_Me_Tales

A Girl Named Carla

Yes

6,569

2

Carla McCorkle meets Stanford and it’s awkward, and funny, and adorable.

Tell_Me_Tales

Math is Money

No?

First Posted

2016-10-22

Last updated

28 Nov 2016

2,622

2

As I recall - this one was actually kind of adorable. Right? I don’t know why it’s marked unfinished unless the Tell_Me_Tales had more in mind. Otherwise it feels like a pretty cohesive pair of one-shots. And Filbrick is … normal.

***

Nicnac

Elementary Falls

Yes

48,665

15 works

Stanley and Stanford get an orphaned Dipper and Mabel. A lot of oneshots around this, filled with feels and fluff.

Nicnac

Lost and Found

Yes

12,687

2 works

Connected to Elementary Falls. “CanonFord!” lands in Elementary Falls universe. It creates TWO happy endings, so plus.

Nicnac

Five Years Older

No -

First Posted

2016-11-01

Last updated

10 Jan 2017

7,659

3

27 year old Mabel going into the past and finding Mullet Stan. Come on guys. This one is almost mandatory viewing.

Nicnac

Weep Not for the Memories

Yes

7,718

1

Scrapbook doesn’t work. Amnesia Stanley.

***

CCs_World

Mabel and Ford for Gravity Falls

No -

First Posted

2016-10-19

Last updated

22,889

12

Ford and Mabel Fluff as they try and save their kidnapped siblings. Apparently. Actually - you know what? I think it updated since I last saw it. I should … probably go read that.

CCs_World

And You Were Not So Old

No -

First Posted

2017-01-01

Last updated

10 Mar 2017

17,629

7

Stan contracts a serious illness and Ford is obviously extremely upsetted (yes I mean upsetted). Guys, right about now I’m banking on the lack of Major Death tag. Also how is this not longer? It feels longer. Huh.

***

WDW

A Thousand Natural Shocks

No -

First Posted

2015-10-09

Last updated

3 Aug 2016

53,750

14

Neverhuman AU. As in, ‘Stan Pines Dead’ Stanley actually died in that car crash and made a deal with a demon that wasn’t Bill Cipher and melded and is … no longer … human I guess.

WDW

Estranged, Lost, Found

Yes

5,047

2

This exists. And that is enough. I have no idea how this could have been thought up, but … I rather thought it was okay. You know. Once you get over the Stanley feels. What is it with this man. And my poor heart.

***

MaryPSue

Raising Stakes

No -

First Posted

2015-11-23

Last updated

4 Jun 2017

56,058

19

Vampire Stanley. Enough Said. Also Stanley showing up at his old ‘friend’s’ house when the guy is thinking about how harmless Stan Pines is. He was BEGGING to get his throat ripped out. That scene was so cool.

MaryPSue

Hive

Yes

32,368

2

Note: Have not read. Vaguely skimmed. Looks interesting. [Note to self: read]

Post Canon horror story with casual fluff and happy ending. I think. Wait - how is this in my history if I haven’t read it? *Sigh* I don’t even know anymore.

MaryPSue

Now You See

Yes

4,158

1

Stanford never feels like he has to ask for Stanley’s help to come to gravity falls. You can probably guess how well that goes. Cause he finishes the portal but how to keep the world from ending?

***

WinchesterWarrenSon

Motorbikes and Sailboats

Yes

114,378

3 works

Okay, so if you’ve ever heard of Jimmy Snakes being a jerk and being in cahoots with Stanley in any way shape or form … this was probably where those ideas came from. That and the original Jimmy Snakes character info from the show. This um … it breaks you. If I was going to warn against any of these fics. This is the one I’d seriously warn against. I’m serious. Parts of me wish … that I’d just glanced over this one. I don’t know if I’ll ever recover. You should finish it, bordering on tears if not outright crying. It’s good. Really, REALLY good. Almost too good. I’m warning you DO NOT READ THIS ONE (you’re gonna read it anyways aren’t you, well I tried)

WinchesterWarrenSon

Fractured Fingers

No -

First Posted

2015-12-14

Last updated

25 Aug 2016

15,631

15

I shouldn’t like this one so much, but um … I REALLY like this one. Stanley comes to help Stanford in Gravity Falls.

***

Kazriku

Silent Falls

No -

First Posted

2015-10-01

Last updated

26 Feb 2017

31,078

9

Absolutely no idea, but it’s got one helluva mystery element and it feels like it’s going someplace, but I’ve no idea where.

Kazriku

My Demons

No -

First Posted

2015-08-16

Last updated

28 Mar 2016

33,672

13

Mystery Twins.

Demonic Possession included. Kazriku also made a lyric video based on the same title and I recommend listening to it. Possibly while reading.

***

The Last Speecher (HeidiMelone)

Stanley McGucket

Yes

39,759

14

Stanley MCGUCKET. And that’s just PART ONE.

… wait. Guys. It UPDATED since I last saw it. I have so much to catch up on.

The Last Speecher (HeidiMelone)

In Another World

Yes

30,381

14

One shots of Portal Ford. Journal Style.

***

Kalajorn (Mortsyn)

And Then There Were Three

No -

First Posted

2016-04-19

Last updated

25 Jun 2016

21,450

12

Mystery Trio.

Kalajorn (Mortsyn)

The Black Dog

Yes

1,763

1

This one has Stanley befriending the grim because of an accident. It skirts the depressing and jumps into the Stanley is amazing.

[greysanatomyreaderinsertimagines]

Alex Karev Imagine 3

Alex Karev Imagine 3 1373 Words Suggestions: I have nothing against Jo, just FYI, but... okay, she kinda made me forget about her and want the Alex x Meredith ship to sail. (A/n: Yes, I ship it.) And also... FEELINGS!

You used to be happy. You used to be bright and shiny… now, you’re dark and twisty. Why? This all started over a guy. Who? Alex Karev. Why Alex Karev? Well, for one, he may be a jerk, but he’s so sweet when he cares for a patient. Now, you see his sweet is what made you so bright and shiny. You did everything to impress him. Now, here’s when you started crumbling. You were going to confess your feelings for him. At that moment, when you said you liked him, he rejected you. You were devastated, of course. The next day, you found out he kissed Jo Wilson, one of your greatest friends. Sure, you had some years on her, but you thought she was so sweet. Jo knew you had a crush on Alex, and she didn’t tell you that she liked. So, here’s where dark and twisty begins. You were a bit emotionless, but only at work. At home, you were sleeping, surfing the internet, and eating. Meredith, Maggie, and Amelia were a bit concerned, but when you explained, they just left you be… well… not really. They ended up devising a plan to get you together with Alex. You were at work when you were paged. You arrived to see Meredith.

“You paged,” You asked.

“Yeah, I need you to look at these X-Rays,” She nodded as she pulled up sheets onto a bright board.

You looked closely.

“What am I looking at,” You murmured.

“Oh, you know, just an object in the liver. I was wondering how to extract it without ruining the liver.”

“And you paged me why?”

“Because you’re skilled in getting things out of tricky places without damaging the organs.”

“…Why is the liver small?

“Mer, you paged,” A voice asked.

You froze, blinking twice.

“Yes, I need you and (Y/n) to help with this patient that has an object in his liver.”

You sighed.

“Meredith, if you don’t mind, I have to get to another patient,” You lied, slipping out of the room.

You took a few deep breaths when you closed the door.

‘Nope, nope, I’m good,’ You thought as you went down the hall.

“…Okay? Do you know why every time I walk in a room, she leaves,” Alex asked Meredith as he took a small glance at the door.

“Nope,” Meredith shook her head.

“She’s been avoiding me. You do know why.”

“Nope, I do not. She sleeps when she gets home and stays in her room. She doesn’t tell me, Amelia, or Maggie anything. I mean, you rejected her Alex, I think she needs her space.”

“She used to talk to me about anything. Now, she won’t even look at me. Not even a few words.”

“I need the both of you to scrub in on this surgery. Don’t mess it up, please?”

That’s how you ended up in that O.R. with little to no patience. The silence was killing you, really. Why couldn’t someone else do this? Because you’re the only one who can pull on something to save the organ itself. You sighed. When you pulled out the object, you stared at it.

“A flashy ball,” You hummed, placing it in a tray a nurse held out to you.

“Alright, I think we’re done here. We just need to repair the hole and close up,” Alex looked at you.

You nodded, not glancing at him. You looked down inside and blinked twice.

“…Is there more objects,” You murmured.

You took another hard look.

“Oh, my god,” You whispered.

“What are you looking at,” Alex asked.

You pointed.

“That’s a tumor, right by the kidney,” You said clearly.

“Do we take it out?”

“Yes, this boy wants to be healthy, his parents want him healthy, hell, I want him healthy. Let’s get on with this.”

When you removed the tumor, you took a deep breath as you held your hands up.

“Dr. Karev, can you close,” You asked.

“Sure, yeah,” He nodded.

You went to put up the surgical tools as Alex started closing him up. When you both finished, you left each other in silence.

After your shift, you were at home with Maggie, Amelia, and Meredith. You took deep breaths. 

‘I’m fine… I’m fine…’ “I’m not fine,” You whimpered, wiping your tears.

“Are you okay,” Amelia asked.

“No,” You started to cry.

Maggie gave you some tissues

“I got rejected and I thought I could be fine! I’m not! I’m not fine! I embarrassed myself in front of him. I liked him! Okay? I liked him and now I can’t even look at him without wanting to die on the inside for liking him in the first place.” You were having a mini freak out. You were crying, holding a pillow up to your chest and hiding your tears of shame.

“Want some tequila,” Meredith asked.

“Yeah,” You nodded, blowing your nose.

Chugs of tequila and throwing up later, you didn’t go to work. You didn’t want to. You just lied and said you’re sick. You sounded sick too, so that fit the part quite nicely.

“Where’s (Y/n),” Alex asked Meredith as he gave her a concerned look.

“Okay… so… she might not be fine,” Meredith winced as she looked at him. “What?”

“She sort-of freaked out yesterday and she’s hungover. Yeah… That’s not good with her.”

“Why the hell did she freak out?”

“Okay, I’m breaking my promise with her not to say anything to you about it. She regrets confessing to you. She can’t look at you without dying on the inside. She thought she was okay, and now, she isn’t. First of all, Alex, you rejected her. Second, the next day, she saw you kissing Jo. That meant that, one of her most trusted friends didn’t tell her she liked someone she liked, and you are the type of guy that can lead a girl the wrong way. She may have messed up, but this is other part is on you. Really on you.”

Without another word, Alex went.

“…Oops,” Meredith whispered.

You sat at the computer, watching Netflix when you heard the doorbell ring. You walked downstairs and answered it, before closing the door sharply. He caught his foot in the door.

“(Y/n), Let me in,” He demanded, banging the door a bit.

You didn’t want him to see you like this, so miserable and so… weak.

“No,” You replied hoarsely, realizing you threw up about 3 hours ago, and haven’t talked at all since you woke up this morning.

“Yes. Let me in. We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“There’s so much… I’m sorry.”

You froze. He’s apologizing.

“You don’t have to apologize,” You muttered.

You still sounded hoarse, so that didn’t come out right. You couldn’t put pressure on the door anymore and fell back onto your butt. The door opened.

“(Y/n)-.”

“Go away.”

“No.”

“Yeah. Go. Away. Leave. Don’t come back.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Alex, just go,” You whimpered, looking at him.

You looked down after seeing those eyes of care, those eyes that looked so concerned. A few tears slipped from your eyes as you quickly wiped them away. He got on his knees and wrapped his arms around you. You struggled against his grip, wanting him to let go. You didn’t want him to touch you, but emotionally, you couldn’t take it anymore. You placed your head on his chest and started crying again. Alcohol couldn’t help you this time. He rubbed circles on your back, reassuring you, wanting you to be okay. He planted a kiss on your cheek and picked you up. He placed you on his lap as he sat on the couch. You didn’t look at him.

“I’m sorry,” He whispered.

You shook your head.

“I was pulled in… don’t apologize.”

“I was the one that made you pull in… Talk to me again… love me again…”

“But you love Jo, don’t you?”

“Maybe that was a one-time thing and now it’s awkward,” He chuckled.

You smiled a bit.

“…Alex… I don’t know…”

“Give me a chance… I don’t wanna screw myself out of everything good. I’m starting with you.”

You leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek.

A/n: Should I do a part two?