#a pirate fairy's queue

[askfairyromano]

ITS BEEN FOREVER HOWS IT GOING BABE. i hope youve missed me! wouldnt blame you if you didn't, but i mean who else is teasing you about your (lack of) sex life? speaking of, have you gotten into any mischief since ive been away? please, spare no detail if you have! especially if it involved discovering more about this hand kink you totally don't have going on! ah, my schedule as finally calmed down a little, so now i have plenty of time to torment you <3 or joking poke, if that makes you feel better! now, as for this golden cage of yours, my darling. i think you need to give yourself more credit. youre older than you were when things happened back then, right? stronger, too. smarter. youre more capable, more intelligent, more perceptive. i think maybe you should consider your ability to get out of situations like that. youre not so weak anymore, and you shouldnt doubt your capabilities. now thats not to say totally throw away everything you have! thats a huge decision that shouldnt be taken lightly. but i dont know, don't let your doubt in yourself be the thing that holds you back from considering all the options you have at your disposal, hmm? you deserve to give yourself every available option~ and who knows. maybe that is your way of finding someone with those big hands to make you feel safe, right? at least give yourself the freedom to consider it.

(i gotta say, with how busy my schedule has been lately, checking your art has been such a highlight for me, so thank you for updating so promptly. you really have been carrying my will to power through this adult bullshit lately 😭♥️ if i want to send in one of those nsfw prompts for you, do you want me to specify a character to go with roma or would you prefer free reign and you can do whoever you want? im down for whatever, i want you to have fun! hope youve been well, dear!!)

[nerdieforpedro]

Weekend update 05/05/2024

Hello! It’s been awhile since Nerdie has done one of these. 👀

Yes it has! Why have you only been lurking and popping up with random things?

Well, my smut fairy is playing hide and seek. Has been more hidden as of late. Inspiration has led to different fics than I planned on. And I’ve queued so many posts that my current queue is posting things up until June 5th. 😂

How does one even queue that many things? And what do you mean the smut fairy has been playing hide and seek? We read that Frankie series! And that Dieter update! Nerdie, stop trying to be coy, it doesn’t suit you dear.

I’m not sure how to respond to that. And yeah both of those had smut but it was….I did say the fairy was playing hide and seek. I did not say they were hidden the entire time. 🫣

Details, details. You also changed the title graphic color, why?

Stories are made by their details. Wise advice said by…some smart person somewhere. It reminds Nerdie of a bahama mama. It’s a drink that she enjoys like a pirate. Yohoho! 🏴‍☠️(I’m very sorry. 😣)

Anyway, thank you to the following lovely people who sent me beautiful person asks and who reached out when I was not doing so hot. I know better than to argue with any of you:

@rhoorl @yourcoolauntie @grogusmum @avastrasposts @megamindsecretlair

@westside-rot @laurfilijames @inept-the-magnificent @bitchwitch1981 @secretelephanttattoo

@angelofsmalldeath-codeine @connectioneverywhere @604to647 @mysterious-moonstruck-musings @morallyinept

@yorksgirl @sweetercalypso @schnarfer @soft-persephone @maggiemayhemnj

@magpiepills @paulmescal-s @lotusbxtch @wannab-urs

As for Nerdie’s fic recommendations, they are here! She’s keeping track of them and is going to put the whole list out at the end of the month because, promoting fics is fun and means she can type more randomness. 😆

1. Torment Part 1 Fear by @djarinmuse (Din Djarin x fem OC)

2. Tempered by the Fire by @ladamedusoif (Din Djarin x f reader)

3. Talk Dirty to Me by @morallyinept (Marcus Pike x fem reader)

4. Nightingale by @rosecentaur1916 (Miguel O’Hara x plus size fem reader)

5. Daffodil by @starstruckunknown-princess (Javi G. X reader)

6. Into the Deep End by @magpiepills (Joel Miller: the hole filler x AFAB reader)

7. your favorite kryptonite by @kedsandtubesocks (Comic Bookstore Owner!Dieter Bravo x F!Reader)

8. Kings & Queens by @joels-shitty-puns (Joel Miller x reader)

9. Insatiable by @lowlights (Pero Tovar x fem reader)

10. Top Me, I deserve it by @for-a-longlongtime (Santiago Garcia x Francisco Morales)

11. Fifteen Minutes by @whocaresstillthelouvre (Din Djarin x fem reader)

12. Raining in Baltimore by @schnarfer (Marcus Pike x f reader)

Nerdie did post a bit this week. She’s mainly been posting on AO3 since it takes less time and she can slap things up there with reckless abandon (and sufficient tags).

Part VIII of Only Parts of you Mr. Morales (Frankie Morales) *completed*

The Intended determines their Meaning (Javier Gutierrez)

Sure inside, but will you stay for more after we’re done? Chapter 5 of Weddings 101 with Dieter (Dieter Bravo)

Lastly there are a few ongoing challenges and fun things. Make sure to read individual challenge rules and fun things.

1. Help Wanted: Summer Reading with @strang3lov3 They’re asking for self-recs, recs of fics that have stuck with you, fics that you think others should read. Send them your Pedro boy goods. The best kind of summer reading.

2. Jett’s Flora and Fauna Challenge by @morallyinept It’s the incomparable Jett! Making her own challenge to being your fics, art, Moodboards or all any combinations. It just has to have a Pedro character and flowers. Any length (because we like all kinds here) and can be as many submissions as you want.

3. Jamie’s Ocean Challenge by @mermaidgirl30 Pedro characters, the ocean, fun, fics and moodboards mixed together for this one. Again any length (all are welcome and enjoyed), must have a Pedro character and the ocean in your fic or Moodboard.

4. @pedroscouts The Pedro Scouts have descended upon us to give us badges (gotta collect ‘em all), fun tasks and general tomfoolery to make Tumblr fun! Make sure to read through the rules if you’d like to join.

5. May Drabble Challenge courtesy of the @dieterbravobrainrotclub It features our favorite Kit Kat lover Dieter Bravo and aliens 👽 with a meet-cute. 👀 Not weird enough for you? Then write it extra strange.

So that’s about it. There was a lot of ground to cover but we got it done. Nerdie is going to go see a man about a goat 🐐 and also another guy about some teasing or edging? Maybe it counts as edging. Nerdie is 🫤 unsure. She’s only wrote like one of these before. 😆 She also has to look for boots, maybe she’s gonna go to her second concert 🎵

Stay safe and hydrated everyone!

Love Nerdie! ❤️ ❤️❤️

[thecutestgrotto]

Navigation & Support Sets // WIP & Queue

Aesthetic Divider Sets:

Blue Doodles -> Magenta Version

Geodes

Stars

Cute Coquette

Books -> Pink and Purple Books -> Royal Academia

Legos

Art Supplies

Firefighters

Pink Royalty -> Elegant Royalty

Bubbles

Glitter

Cute Bows

Red Decorative Lines

Rainbow Clouds

Fairytales

Pirates

Celestial Sun and Moons

Pixel Arcade

Black Lace -> Green Lace -> Pink Lace

Music and Radios

Jewel Toned Lines

Black and Purple Witchy Aesthetic

Steampunk

Black Bold Lines -> Blue Version

Rose Gold

Mermaids and Sirens

Cigars and Cigarettes

Fairies

Angels and Demons

Scrolls and Quills

Polka Dots

Baseball

Hot Pink Dividers

Apocalypse

Media Control Buttons

Poker

Smoke and Fire

Science and Research

Hockey

Romantic Couple Silhouettes

Kawaii Dividers

Golden Elegant Décor

[barbwritesstuff]

Mermaids. I actually do want to get mermaid scales tattooed on leg. But what's up with all the talk about mermaids? I love mermaids. How did I miss mermaid news?

There is no mermaid news. Not unless someone wants to call themselves executive producer and bankroll a dark, erotic, mermaid pirate thriller from me. I am open to being bankrolled (please, my rent is so expensive, what even is the economy? 😭), but at this stage my writing work queue is:

1. Try not to panic about Blood Moon's impending release.

2. Try to find an agent for the WEREWOLVES IN SPACE novel I wrote last year.

3. Try to finish Something a Little Super (SALS) despite an internet connection that has decided it doesn't like me.

4. Final edits on A Fairy Tale so it's all sleek and sexy for when the sprites are finished.

5. Wait! Short stories for KoFi! Stop forgetting about those!

6. If Blood Moon does well, be ready to immediately jump on the vampire bandwagon with Thicker Than.

I did get excited about the mermaid idea and plot out a storyline and and some ROs* 😅, but practically, I'm not sure I can reasonably commit to it.

*one which would be the villain of the story, one which is pretty much an eldrich being, and another which is totally Carrie 2.0 but wet this time.

[longstoryoongi]

lost in paradise? ✧･ﾟ:*

welcome to romy’s bts fanfiction reading blog.

below you’ll find my chaotic library. feel free to browse through fics by member, pairing, reader type, genre, alternate universes and tropes. after you’ve read a fic, make sure to reblog it in order to support the writer. happy browsing, dear visitor!

SEARCH THE LIBRARY ✧･ﾟ:*

➳ by member.

kim namjoon kim seokjin min yoongi jung hoseok park jimin kim taehyung jeon jungkook

➳ by reader x pairing.

namjin • sope • taegi • jikook yoonmin • namseok • yoonkook • minimoni taekook • taejoon • 2seok • yoonjin vmin • taejin • vhope • jinkook • ot7 hyung line • maknae line vocal line • rap line

➳ by type.

drabble • one-shot • two-shot • series

➳ by reader-type.

gender-neutral reader • female reader

➳ by genre.

fluff • angst • smut • pwp • comedy • dark content slice of life • drama • mystery • horror supernatural • science fiction • fantasy dystopia • thriller • psychological

➳ by alternate universes.

idolverse!au • sugar daddy!au • racer!au • ceo!au college | university!au • soulmate!au • criminal!au vampire!au • werewolf!au • witch!au • demon!au angel!au • ghost!au • monster!au • fairy!au pirate!au • royal!au • apocalyptic!au zombie apocalypse!au • alien!au • space!au time travel!au • superhero!au • supervillain!au mythology!au • folklore!au • fairytale!au

➳ by tropes.

friends to lovers • rivals to lovers • enemies to lovers lovers to enemies • established relationship arranged marriage • fake dating • mutual pining

➳ romy’s fic reviews.

#lsy_ficmarked: to be read

#lsy_bookshelf: currently reading

#lsy_romy reviews.txt: my comments on other people’s writing

#lys_romy hearts this fic: personal favourites

#jamais queue: my queued tag

want me to read your fic? use the tag #useromy on your writing & i’ll be sure to check your creations out.

© longstoryoongi / romy, 2023. — last updated: april 3rd, 2023

[you-are-only-mine-vn]

BEFORE YOU CONTINUE

"You Are Only Mine" is a large yandere collection. Because it's yandere it obviously contains sensitive topic like stalking, unhealthy relationships, and murder. There are many other triggering topics in this series like self harm, abuse, disturbing imagery(eyes, gore, etc) More will be added as I write for it.

You Are Only Mine is a series of yandere stories!

There is no one specific plot to you are mine, it serves to hold a a bunch of different yandere stories and characters. For example "Heart of the Sea" which is the first story I will be working on will not have characters that interact with any character from "Our Happy Ever After" because they are in a different story in his series. Not all characters in the stories will interact though.

FAQ

If I make "You Are Only Mine" content, can I tag you in it?- Yup! I would LOVE to be tagged in any fan content! It makes me so happy and overjoyed to see people making stuff for You Are Only Mine. I'm happy that others are interested in my stories and characters.

Are we allowed to send asks interacting with the Li's? - Yeah! I think it would also help me write the characters better for when I write their routes.

STORIES

Heart of the Sea- An ocean themed vn! Y/n is part of a pirate crew, exploring the seas with them. In most routes, the crew runs into a storm, you lose your footing, and fall into the ocean. However you don't die, not even when you're on the ocean floor.

Our Happy Ever After- A fairytale themed vn! The love interests are based off of fairy tale characters. The protagonists, the side characters, and even the villains! But how'd you get to these worlds?

more to be added- I currently have 15 other story idea to add to this but there's no name currently and that's fine since I mainly want to focus on Heart of the Sea

TAGS

#Heartoftheseavn

#Happilyeveraftervn

#💌-fan content

#🔞-minors dni

#🎤-Asks

#🥀-Angst

#☁️-Fluff

#🌟-abt star

DNI/RULES

Proship

Ageless in bio(either put your age/birthday in your bio, or you can send me a message telling me your age, if none of those I’ll block you)

I won’t be writing any gross out kink or anything like that.

If you’re a minor please don’t interact with my content that is 18+, especially since the base content won’t be 18+ so you can still get content.

Please be patient with me

I’d prefer it if younger kids(14-) didn’t interact with this blog because there will be swearing and triggering topics, thank you.

I’m happy to take criticism on anything and will take it into consideration. What I won’t listen to is any hate comments without criticism, I’ll just block you.

If you're going to send in an NSFW ask, please turn off anon, otherwise I'm not gonna respond to it or I'll make it SFW, thank you!

More might be added/changed to most sections as I develop this

EXTRA LINKS/INFO

This is a side account so any other interaction will come from @starswirlfoxgames

I also have a Twitter that will be STRICTLY 18+: https://twitter.com/Starsw1rlF0x

Ask box is always gonna be open unless I say otherwise so feel free to spam me with asks!

I typically try to do asks in order from which I get them but one might be late if I'm struggling with ideas. I wanna try and have a posting schedule which will be 10 am and 5 pm.

Asks: 0 Queue: 0

[grumpygreenwitch]

The Fairy and the Prince #2

Part 1 - Part 2 - Parts 3 & 4 - Part 5 - Part 6, 7 & 8 - Part 9 & 10 - Part 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 16 - Part 17, 18, & 19 - Part 20, 21 & 22 - Part 23, 24, 25 & 26 - Part 27, 28, 29 & 30 - Part 31, 32, 33 & 34 - Part 35, 36 & 37 - Part 38, 39, 40 & 41 - Part 42 & 43 - Part 44 & 45 - Part 46 & 47 - Part 48, 49, 50 & 51 - Part, 52, 53 & 54 - Part 55 & 56 - Part 57, 58, 59 & 60 - Part 61, 62, 63, 64 & 65 - Part 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 & 72

Well, here’s where we try to figure out if I can do the tumblr queue thing.

I do have a Ko-fi, if anyone would like to help me pay for rent and bills. An It may not be, uh, organized, and I’m not sure how I’m going to make it easy to find in order. But you won’t have to pay for it. I’d put it on AO3 but I don’t think they allow for original writing and I don’t want to get them in trouble, they’re embattled enough. Ko-Fi link’s on my profile and at the end of the post.

By the time someone noticed the youngest prince in the palace was missing, it was suppertime. By the time he was found, seven people had been fired, three had been threatened with beheading, and the Dowager had written increasingly scathing letters to the monastery that provided her with teachers. Adam was dragged into a bath, sunburnt and windburnt and eyes full of wild glee, soot-black from where he'd made his way into an unused chimney and climbed down and out through the hearth. Linden had shown him the chimney, and watched him begin his descent. "Be careful, Adam," they'd warned the prince, those shattered eyes gleaming in the setting sunlight. "I can't catch you if you fall here."

"There's steps, it's fine. A baby could climb this. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Maybe." Linden had laughed. "You know where to find me."

He was grounded, and quickly forgotten once again. The problem with that, of course, is that it's hard to keep a young boy in a giant palace grounded if you start ignoring him. He slipped out through the cellar once, when he'd been given punishment duty there. The master-at-arms lost track of him in the training yard, busy with the older boys whom he actually had faith in. He climbed up the beams in the stables when he was supposed to be doing punishment detail shoveling hay, and slipped out through the open shutters where hay bales where shuttled back and forth. Twice he climbed out of windows, his own and the one in the secondary library. He nearly fell once.

Linden was always there to catch him, with a merry laugh and those shattered, many-colored eyes. The palace rooftop and the cool dark woods were their playground, and they went everywhere together. In shallow cisterns and tiny pools carved out of the stumps of fallen forest giants Linden showed him impossible fish that spoke in tiny strings of bubbles, like pearls from a spilling necklace. They fought with imaginary swords, back to back, defending against savage barbarians and wicked pirates and murderous raiders, legions upon legions of them. It was always his ideas that they chased after, but Linden never seemed to mind falling in with the young prince's wild imaginings.

In the end, with summer growing heady and sweet and hot, he got grounded for good, his windows barred shut while the sour-faced, pinched-mouthed man that handled the princes made "other accommodations". His door was barred and there was a guard set upon it, and he couldn't force the windows open even a little bit. He'd tried to climb out of his hearth, but it shared a chimney with something that had a fire going at all hours of the day.

So he'd hid in the laundry pannier.

The staff panicked. How had their charge slipped out? How had he made it past the guard, the barred windows, the locked door? People dashed in and out, but no one thought twice of the laundry basket, least of all the burly-armed maid that carried it down to the boiling pools of lye water. Someone shouted when Adam squirmed his way free, but in the vast forests of laundry hung to dry hardly anyone could see him, let alone catch him. He scrabbled over a stone wall and raced along the top, leapt onto the low eaves of the kitchen, sprinted away and clambered up a gutter, thanking each water spout he passed by name, as Linden had taught him. He was almost to the top when his feet went out from under him and he slammed against the edge of a steep roof with punishing force, blowing all the breath out of him. His grip slipped.

A strong, tiny, brown hand caught him by the wrist. "Are you ever gonna get any better at this?" Linden accused him cheerfully.

"I hope so," he admitted, groaning.

"That took forever!" Linden helped him onto the roof, and Adam flopped down on his stomach to catch his breath. "What happened, where have you been?"

"They locked me up." Adam sighed.

"Uuuuugh!" Linden dropped to sit next to him, playing with the black curls of his hair. "Are they even allowed to do that? You're their prince!"

"I'm one of, like, fifty princes, Linden." Adam felt himself relax at last under that familiar, friendly touch, like a bird making a nest of his hair. "And I'm the youngest. I'm never gonna be king, so they don't care."

"If they don't care, why'd they lock you up?" Linden sprawled on their back next to him.

Adam turned his head to look at them, frowning a little as he put his words together; that, he'd learned from no teacher in the palace, but from his mother, who hadn't wanted to leave him behind. "Because I made them look bad," he explained at last. "When you're a prince, they have to know where you are and what you're doing, always and always. And if I told them about you, they'd say it's too dangerous and wouldn't let me do any of it."

"That's so dumb."

"Right?" Adam was silent for a long moment. "What about you? What does your family think of me?"

"They think I'm very silly for spending time with you," Linden tucked their arms under the gold-tipped burst of their white hair. "But they've always thought I'm silly."

"You're not silly!"

"Well, of course not." Linden looked pleased at Adam's staunch and immediate defense. "But they think everyone that's young is silly, and I'm the youngest, and you're the youngest. So we're twice the silly."

"Ugh." Adam was very familiar with that sort of thinking, and kept as much distance between himself and it as possible.

"And who cares what they think anyway." Linden whipped upright. "Now come on, I found a stork's nest!"

Adam sprung up to a sitting position. "With storks?!"

"How else would I know it's a stork's nest? Come on!"

[pyladeshungover]

intro post

Tara // 29 // Australia

she / her / hers

oops i got into hockey sorry guys

my url is from approximately 2013 when I was a les mis blog, and my pfp is athelstan from vikings in a flower crown because that was cool in 2015. title is from the boat that rocked. I've been here forever.

i'm very not normal about sidney crosby, matthew tkachuk, and travis konecny

i'm slightly more normal but still unhinged about claude giroux and jamie drysdale

i do occassionally lb the hockey - pens lb, flyers lb, sometimes panthers lb

23/24 stanley cup bracket (hope not belief):

tag lists also i do tend to be pretty good about tagging everything so if you blacklist nothing should slip through

I did not realise you can only access that page on desktop but also the hyperlinks won't work in this post so here's the list:

FROM THE SELF

my face; sort of - my face and my thoughts

university life - university/college experiences

adulthood - attempts to function as a successful adult

millennials - the Adulthood Experience™ specific to millennials

life is hard - depression tag

so not straight - i am queer

mine - shit i’ve made or drawn

tumblr - i’ve been on this godforsaken website since i was 15 and i hate everything about that

RELIGION

blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord - christianity

jc and the boys - jesus and the apostles

jc and the girls - ladies of the disciples

upon this rock - history of, stories about, and images of the church

do not be afraid - angels 

your kingdom come - prophets, saints, and the apocalypse

the old gods are dead - graeco-roman mythology

folklore - local folk and fairy-tales 

WORLD AFFAIRS/CULTURE

straya - things about Australia

auspol - Australian politics

uspol - US politics

i’m a pathetic history major - general world and cultural history

who likes bad jokes - especially awful attempts at humour

words - poetry, quotes, literature

reclaiming the women - feminist re-tellings of fictional women

humanity - the good and incredible things about humans and community (also includes human and alien speculative fiction)

christmas - i love christmas

covid 19 - self explanatory

2020 - see above

2021 - mamma mia, here we go again

2022 - we’re three years into The Great Loneliness

FANDOM

fandom / fanfic

# - 911

A - abfab

B - brooklyn 99 / black books / beauty and the beast / birds of prey /buffy

C - criminal minds / code black

D - dirk gently / doctor who / disney / derry girls

E - elementary

F - firefly / fresh off the boat / friends / fleabag

G - great british bake off / grace and frankie / greys anatomy / galavant / game of thrones / gilmore girls / the great / the good place

H - holes / hunt for the wilderpeople / the hobbit / hannibal / hamilton / harry potter

I - inside llewyn davis

J - jurassic park / jesus christ superstar

K - kingsman / killing eve

L - lethal weapon / lucifer / lotr / les mis

M - moulin rouge / mamma mia / moana / mad max / the man from u.n.c.l.e. / mindhunter / miss fisher’s murder mysteries / the marvelous mrs maisel

N - narnia / nhl

O - the office / the old guard / oitnb

P - pushing daisies / parks and rec / the princess bride / psych / the prince of egypt / the parent trap / pirates of the caribbean / pride / prodigal son / phantom of the opera

Q - queer eye

S - spn / star wars / scrubs / the song of achilles / schitts creek / santa clarita diet / six the musical

T - teen wolf / twilight / to all the boys i’ve loved before /

U - umbrella academy

V - vikings / venom

W - what we do in the shadows / the witcher / wonder woman

X - xfiles

Players (i’m in the process of switching old tags to initialsjerseynumber and have to wait for my queue to go through before they’re complete) -

HOCKEY

nhl

hrpf

the rituals are intricate (n-h-is-for-for-homosexuality-l)

they’re so stupid 🥹 (memes)

hockey narratives

hockey art

hockey poetry

hockey vid edit

include but are not limited to: am34 auston matthews / an39 nedeljkovic / ao8 ovi / bm63 brad marchand / bt7 brady tkachuk / cb98 connor bedard / cg28 giroux / cm97 mcdavid / ek65 erik karlsson / em71 geno / jd9 jamie drysdale / jh86 jack hughes / jj68 jaromir jagr / js1 jeremy swayman / kl58 letang / ld29 leon draisaitl / lh43 luke hughes / maf29 flower / mt19 matthew tkachuk / mm16 mitch marner / nh13 nico hischier / np19 nolpat / qh43 quinn hughes / rg27 ryan graves / sc87 sid / tj35 jarry / tk11 travis konecny / ts91 seguin / ts18 tim stutzle / tz11 trevor zegras / wg99 wayne gretzky

Other player tags - hughes bros / love thy goalie 

Ships - tknp / sidgeno / drygras / mattdrai / brioux / mike likes jeff but jeff loves mike / swaymark

Teams - bruins / ducks / flyers / gritty / leafs / oilers / pens / sens / stars / yotes

Liveblogging semiregularly - pens lb

Liveblogging very occassionally -  flyers lb / sens lb / panthers lb

[radarsteddybear]

Hello, dear! You've been visited by the random character question fairy! :D ~☆

What 'big', abstract fear (fear of being abandoned, of not being good enough, of never finding love, etc.) scares your character the most? What events from their past have shaped this fear? How does this fear affect their actions?

A lot of my OCs have a fear of being abandoned/losing their loved ones, which probably says something about me but we’re not going to unpack that right now.

In Elsie’s case, this largely due to her own history of doing awful things (except she was brainwashed because what is Elsie but a Bucky Barnes knockoff, so they weren’t truly her fault), and she’s afraid that either her loved ones will hate her for it or she’ll start doing those sorts of things again and hurt them.

I’ve got an OC named Andy with a similar fear of abandonment, but that’s because she’s desperate for friends and for people to like her.  She’s constantly afraid that everyone will leave her, and ironically, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as she surrounds herself by people who only care for her wealth and fame who then leave her as soon as someone better comes along.  She also tends to be rather possessive of her friends (namely Kate, her best friend and songwriter), which winds up pushing them away.

Minnow’s got a fear of...I guess not being good enough.  Too much of her self-image is wrapped up in what she can do and what she’s accomplished.  She’s not arrogant about her accomplishments, but she does tend to believe that she’s not worth much of anything as a person without them.  This comes back to bite her in the behind in the future.

I haven’t really thought of Cass’ fears much, but they’re probably along the lines of not being able to protect her loved ones.  She tends to be one of the physically strongest people in any given context, and she’s very protective.  I’m not sure yet why that is, though it could simply lead back to protecting classmates from schoolyard bullies.  She’s adopted that role, she owns it, and she takes it very seriously, especially now that the stakes are generally fairly high.  Usually, it works out just fine.  Usually.

The Captain’s fear is similar, but it plays out differently.  She knows that her crew can take care of themselves.  She doesn’t jump in and try to neutralize threats before fights can even get started.  She knows that members of her crew can and will get wounded, and she’s accepted that fact (she still worries when it happens, but she accepts it).  I don’t think she’s prepared for anyone to die, though.  While she does recognize how serious and dangerous piracy is, on some level, it’s all a game to her.  An adrenaline rush.  Luckily, I don’t think anyone’s going to die in this story, but now maybe I have to think about killing someone off to explore this facet of the Captain’s personality... (maybe not until the sequel, though.)

If you were to ask this question of Nellie at the beginning of her story, she would answer “pirates.”  This doesn’t quite fit the prompt, and she knows this, but she would answer “pirates” anyway.  Once she gets over that, it’s back to that fear of abandonment, though it takes a long time for her to stop saying “pirates.”  Which is, again, ironic, because at that point, she’s afraid that the pirates she’s taken up with are going to turn around and say, “Man, you suck, Nellie, and you only drag us down.  We’re dumping you at the first port we come to” (or, if she’s really unlucky, straight into the ocean).  She was never able to really be herself back home, so she is desperately trying to hold onto that while also expecting them to suddenly disapprove of her.  Ergo, she is one of the hardest workers on that ship and is constantly trying to prove herself as not completely incompetent. 

[thunderheadfred]

🤚The Second Worst (Pt. 1/?)🤚

Part 2 of my Shigaraki Thesis Headcanons. HC's // The Second Worst: 1 - 2

The half-mad ghost of Shimura Tenko is in love with you, and your life is about to become a tragic wreck. -- AKA here's when I gave up on bullet points and went off the fuckin rails

I'm self-conscious about writing so much, so uhhhh, please be kind, hahaaa. This is rather long and involved. Are these still even HCs or just a self-indulgent AU outline? There are some mysteries we may never solve.

This is on AO3 now, if you prefer reading there. Anyway. Minors do not interact.

- - - - -

You met Tenko before the League existed.

Believe it or not, there are a million ways it might have happened, but in the end: you were both bargain-binning in Akihabara.

You reached for a copy of a collectible bullet-hell cute-'em-up (near-mint! CIB!!!) and accidentally bonked hands with a complete stranger. He flinched about five million feet away from you. Ouch. You're just a nobody, quirkless and average, but you didn't think you were THAT repulsive.

(You're not. Hell, even if you were, this guy couldn't care less. He barely registers that you have a face.)

(Shigaraki is accustomed to getting in and out of this shop in seconds. He always comes in before anyone else and goes straight home. -- Is that really home? Is 'home' a real place? -- ANYWAY he's already pirated this shit, god, why does he even care? He doesn't need to be here. Father doesn't like it. Is that why he's here? Just to do something Father doesn't like? That's pathetic.)

He's had at least ten complete internal arguments with himself before he so much as looks at you.

You know in the tenth of a second he actually meets your eyes... this fucker is going to fight you to the death over this game.

- - - The death match ends in a draw. He was not expecting you to know the first fucking thing about this game. Nobody knows about it, even in Japan. Who the fuck do you even think you are? Oh, no, he's still taking it. But... maybe he can show you how to play it it. He'll give you a little taste, just to make you jealous. He's got his hoodie pulled down like he's going to commit an act of terrorism. What little you can see of his face looks twitchy and messed up. If you have any survival instincts at all, they're kicking in right about now. But... why not. You're not going anywhere with this dude unsupervised, so you suggest a crowded web cafe down the street. The cafe has the necessary console... but the retro gaming booth is laughably small. The TV is about four inches across and you end up having to practically sit in his lap. You were sure this guy was a nasty fucking creep, but he's................ only mostly terrible. Way too angry, for sure. Has no idea how to have a normal, friendly conversation. Inadvertently insults you every other sentence and seems to have a deep-seated persecution complex.

You'd prefer to be mad about the awful company, but... he's obviously deprived of human contact. When it's established that you two share a lot of media fixations, he calms down and starts treating you a little more like a human being. Or at least like a fellow elite.

Wherever he came from, he doesn't seem to want to go back. He keeps pushing you to play one more level, pretending he wants to beat your score. You feel kinda bad for him. You get the distinct feeling that his life is a disaster. He looks like he's never had a full night of sleep in his life. He trips your trigger hairs in that 'is he gonna follow me home?' kind of way, but... up close, he's a lot more depressing than scary. At the very least, you want to buy him a stupidly cute dessert. Just... as thanks. For letting you try out the game and stuff. It's not a big deal, so just pick a flavor, okay? The world isn't actually that awful, y'know.

It's not even that impressive... Definitely not a great cafe. But he takes practically a full hour to eat a single slice of strawberry cake.

When the hoodie comes down. He's all shriveled and dried out, like someone left him him in the desert to die. He chews on his peeling bottom lip and nervously scratches his neck. He doesn't thank you for the cake. Which is fine. It's not a big deal. Actually, you wish he would eat faster; you feel weirdly responsible for him now.

Under all that mess he's... gorgeous? His hair is stunning: a bright, gleaming silver that catches the light. His bone structure is flawless. If it weren't for all the scars and the misanthropic slouch, he'd look like a fairy fucking prince.

You were not prepared for that. In another life he could have been a model, the type of guy who would never even look at you. But something bad happened to him. Something... very bad. Do you even want to know? You have no idea how to ask. Has anyone ever been nice to him? It doesn't seem like it. Should YOU be nice to him? You sort of want to try. - - - This becomes a regular thing. This weird little secret. You should probably tell someone when you see him, just in case you don't come back one day, but you say nothing; how the hell would you explain why you want to see him so bad? You don't know his full name. Maybe he's on a watch list. When he gives you a long string of random numbers so you can schedule meet-ups (is THAT his e-mail, really?) he tells you to just... call him Tenko. Or whatever. It doesn't matter. (He sneaks out when Father is deep in his plots. As long as he comes home on time, it doesn't really matter where he goes, right?) He brings a different game every time. He has an insane collection. Where does he get the money for all this? You know he doesn't work. God, is it drugs? It's probably drugs. Wherever these hidden gems came from, he proudly shows them off to you, like he's never had an audience before. It's sort of cringe-inducing, the way he one-ups and rubs every little victory in your face, desperate for attention.

But at the same time, you are becoming too... something...to mind. Do you... like him? He's not funny, but he thinks you are. His mouth is huge when he laughs. He seems to hate everyone but you, and you've had to earn the distinction of being merely tolerable. Still, he gets really excited about random shit like the garage kit black market and haunted dolls and the price of weed on the dark web.

And... strawberry cake. The realization hits you both at the same time when the waitress brings one piece with two forks. God, what the fuck, are you... are you dating? Quick, think. You look forward to seeing him, and don't even mind sitting close to him anymore. Sometimes you push your leg up against him just to see if he'll still flinch away... and he doesn't.

You jealously notice the way he touches everything but you: with delicate precision, one finger at a time. His large, elegant hands always have a pinky up like he's aspiring for a fiefdom, and you wonder what his skin feels like. You go home and dwell on the way he plucks flowering weeds out of the pavement in front of the cafe. The way he stands rooted to the spot as you leave, just... looking at nothing, unsmiling.

You watch his lips too much, and not just because you want to buy him chapstick. You catch him gaping at you all the time. You thought he was just creepy like that, but maybe... Yeah. I guess you are dating him. Shit. - - - Okay, so, yeah. Bringing him back to your place was definitely a bad idea. You know you shouldn't trust him, even if he is... apparently... your boyfriend? Sort of? You still don't have his phone number. So. Um. What now? You order overpriced pizza and queue up a campy horror movie. What the fuck are you even doing. You don't really think he's going to murder you anymore, but... still. Is the suburban massacre scene gonna give him ideas? Turns out, no. He doesn't like gore, even when the blood is neon pink. He gets upset. Like, really upset. Shaky and green, like he might puke on you. He can't stop scratching that scaly spot on his neck.

Tenko, are you crying? Fucking hell, did you just trigger him? Of course he has a traumatic past, it's carved all over his face. You're so fucking stupid. You don't know how to make it right. You want to hug him, kiss him... anything. But he's never really touched you, and you're too afraid to push now. It ruins the whole night. He leaves without explaining anything. Doesn't even say goodbye. He just. Leaves. Maybe you'll never see him again. Maybe that's for the best. Your chest hurts. - - - He shows up at your door a few weeks later. You haven't heard from him since that disastrous movie night. You had pretty much accepted that you'd broken up with a boyfriend you never actually had. But no. Apparently not.

This time, he’s brought his own entertainment. He's holding a boxed set of some show you're not familiar with. You're distracted by these weird little half-gloves he's wearing, like a cyberpunk hacker. That's a new look, and even if it's a bit edgelord adjacent, he makes it look cool. You tell him as much. It's the first time you've let on how attractive you find him. He's wearing a tight black shirt with a deep, deep V-neck. That's distracting too.

He clears his slender throat and doesn't look at you.

You try to apologize for before, but he's acting like it never happened. What are you even talking about? Have you seen this OVA or not? Get out of the way and let him in already. You've watched three episodes now, but you still have no idea what this stupid anime is about. You can't pay attention to a single frame. All you can think about is how his arm has crept up behind your shoulders. A few inches more and he'll be holding you. Does he... want to hold you? You lean toward him so slowly your spine creaks. One molecule at a time. After a thousand years, your head slides nervously under his chin. His arm comes down, locking you in, fingers clutching your sleeve in a death grip. Even that snobby little pinky. His head tucks down into you hair. A sharp collarbone bites into your cheek. His heartbeat is hard, fast, and irregular. There's not a scrap of fat on him, and as you wrap your arm around his stomach, you think you see a twitch in his pants. Is that just you being desperate? Or... hopeful? This is really happening. --- Soon, you learn that Tenko is a clumsy kisser. It doesn't matter; the fact that he's kissing you at all is good enough for now. His lips are dry, but not half as dry as you expected. There's a slick of menthol helping things along; he's been using something medicated on his lips. Plus, his mouth tastes like he drank a gallon of mouthwash.

All this thrills you more than a little, because it means he came here wanting to impress you. Wanting you. Full stop. Underneath that minty sting is a strange, worrisome aftertaste, like something rotten. Your brain fires off an alarm. Stop kissing him. Right now. This thing will make you sick. But his hands nervously slide over your body... and you decide not to worry about it. Instead, you kiss him deeper. He makes a sweet, startled little noise. Your brain is a fucking liar. It occurs to you he's probably never done this before.

When you lace your fingers in his and try to pull one of his gloves off, he rips his hand away.

Don't. That’s the only explanation he gives.

No need to ask if it's a quirk thing or a trauma thing. Judging by how jittery he gets, it's probably both. You remember the way his hands almost float over objects without ever holding them. Maybe his touch is dangerous. Maybe that's why his face looks like that.

Maybe you should learn more about him before things go way too far...

No. It can't be that bad. Now that he's in your arms, everything frightening about him evaporates. He's vulnerable. He's alone. He's shaking a little. Has anyone else ever seen this side of him? You want to keep him all to yourself, just like this.

So what if he has to touch you with gloves on? You've heard of worse quirk-related inconveniences.

It's okay, Tenko. Do you want to keep going?

You put his hands back on you and wait for him to kiss you again. It doesn't take long.

---

You open his pants. He's long and thin, calloused even here. Every part of him feels untouched, unloved. You hold him tight and squeeze.

It doesn't seem to occur to him to please you in return. He looks afraid. Confused. You're sure you scared him earlier with the glove thing. Is this too much? No. He gasps and leans into you. The tiniest, broken please.

He cums in your hand right away, face buried in your shoulder, his eyes wet and hidden.

I have to go, he says. Over and over and over.

It's okay, Tenko.

You know he doesn't want to.

- - - - - (oops I wrote more)

[aftgficrec]

Jah, ok, this was in the queue ready for posting and disappeared. So, let’s try again:

While researching this ask, I found myself connecting with Andrew and Kevin on a whole new level and devouring fics that I might otherwise have missed, so turning that love right back at you, anon. There’s some fun fluff in here, but man some of these pack an emotional wallop and will stay with you. - A

Kevin & Andrew friendship

Andrew & Kevin friendship here

Kevin as Andrew’s best friend here

Kevin & Andrew’s relationship here

Kevin’s friendship with Andreil here

Andrew helping Kevin through panic attack here

‘wreck my plans’ here

‘How to Lose an Enemy in Ten Steps’ here

‘Was Sorta Hopin' That You'd Stay’ here

‘After Time’ here

‘Bedroom Voices’ here

‘Trust Me’ here

‘Dawning on Me’ (since updated) here

‘Eighteen Wheels And Three Beating Hearts’ here

‘Fractures’ (since updated) here

‘i take flight (but you hold me)’ (dragons) here

Kandrew focused with Andrew caring for Kev

Kandrew fluff & smut here

‘Zen's Tumblr Prompts Chapter 2: KANDREW — hands’ and  ‘Chapter 10: KANDREW — hair stroking’ here, plus ‘Chapter 6: KANDREW — pirate au’ here

‘the name of the game’ (kandreil) here

‘how did i get here’ (kandreil, since updated) here

‘die-hard valentines’ (kandreil) here

some shy(ish) Kevin

‘Twenty Something: Frat Boy Remix’ here

‘all that glitters is gold…’ (kevaaron) here

‘Picture Perfect’ (kevaaron) here

‘Just Kevin’ (kevineil) here 

‘We Should Just Kiss Like Real People Do’ (keremy) here

‘with the sun (we rise)’ and ‘Apple Picking Day’ (keremy) here

‘hold courage to your chest’ (kerejean) here

Andrew & Kevin Friendship

N for nebulous by minyards (carxies) [Rated T, 125820 Words, Incomplete, Updated May 2021]

Andrew only wishes for one last peaceful summer with his family. The stranger on the road in the middle of nowhere didn't get the memo

tw: violence, tw: panic attacks, tw: nightmares, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: drug use, tw: implied/referenced drug addiction, tw: alcohol, tw: implied/referenced alcoholism, tw: vomit, tw: blood, tw: graphic referenced suicide, tw: implied/referenced murder, tw: homophobia, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: suicidal ideation, tw: withdrawal, tw: impliedreferenced torture 

And Then There Was One by RosebudBasilton [Rated T, 2502 Words, Complete, 2018]

Kevin Day. #2. Starting striker for the Palmetto State Foxes. Kayleigh Day's legacy.

David Wymack's son. Though, no one knew that.

(or: a Fix-It Fic for when Kevin came clean to Wymack and no one cared that Kevin has feelings.)

Wrong direction by Tainamoniques [Rated T, 3209 Words, Complete, 2020]

NB: find the original in Portuguese here

A biannual dinner of the entire fox team makes Kevin and Aaron reunite after 4 years without seeing each other. The last time they were in the same place, they were still a couple. For months, the two kept their relationship a secret, but it ended when Kevin graduated. Aaron, then, did everything to avoid seeing Kevin again. Kevin never got over his feelings for Aaron, but he believes that the other never felt the same way about him. The reunion can show the true feelings of the two and how the 4 years away affected each one.

Wear it to Eden's by IvyCoveredWalls (orphan_account) [Not Rated, 373 Words, Complete, 2019]

Kevin Day is nonbinary, Riko convinced them coming out wasn't an option. Andrew thinks they should wear their new skirt to Eden's.

Kandrew

Just Short Of A Fairy Tale by LittleWonderly [Rated T, 13761 Words, Complete, 2020]

The first time Andrew saw green eyes he didn’t see much of him at all.

tw: implied/referenced murder, tw: short graphic description of Tilda’s death, tw: attempted non-con, tw: anxiety, tw: panic attack, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: short graphic reference to Kevin’s injury, tw: implied/referenced self harm

Give me reasons we should be complete by sweetlikesugar [Rated G, 1403 Words, Compete. 2019]

Kevin reaches up to steal a cigarette from between Andrew’s fingers, careful to barely brush against his skin. His hands are cold, nails tinted blue. He inhales, holding the smoke in his throat and exhales air through his nose, letting the smoke crawl lazily out through his open lips. His eyes are vacant, unseeing, shining only with the reflected artificial lights of the bedrooms in the tower.

kiss prompt 13+kandrew prompt fill by @dayurno [Tumblr, 2020]

13 — Butterfly kisses against the other’s cheeks

anon... here’s some brazilian kevin day getting his nails painted by his mildly happy w life bf. have a great day

andrew likes spooning kevin hc by @whatmack [Tumblr, 2020]

andrew needs to protecc and also having arms around him would be not excellent while sleeping so once he gets comfortable enough to do this.....

Art

Kevin Day, Andrew Minyard art by @ppaniniart

Press-Duty animation by @linecrosser

nail painting cartoon by @kitkatartstuff-moved

Kissing Kandrew with prominent skiing accident scar art by @soulsupply

you’re a second skin to me art by @mugglebeans

pspspsp kandrew folks come get some food art by @cowboymoonking

late practice angst with Kandrew art by @gthechangeling​

[aptrathe]

Jane: You believe me?

Harriet: Jane, you are the last good person on this earth. I would believe cartoon birds helped you get dressed this morning.

[dvarapala]

idk if i’m back back, especially because school starts back up again for me next week and it’s going to be tests, and me being surly about the tests, and then regular lessons, and i know i did this before, too, but i’ve decided to just really commit to logging on, dropping ask replies and regular replies into the queue and going back to lurk mode and using ims and/or discord for talking and some writing xD 

i’ve decided that this time around, i’m really gonna focus on what makes me feel happy on this blog and in this space which means we’re going back to the basics, back to the roots, to aliens and soul reapers, pirates, vampires, werewolves, demigods, fairies and witches. and it also means i’m gonna lovingly yell about book series you all probably either don’t know or haven’t read. anyways, a couple of days away helped. they weren’t many because ofc they weren’t xP 

but all jokes aside, thank you so much for the support and i’m happy to continue to bring your (and my) favorite half alien gal to your dashes once more. having said that, idk when this queues but i’m gonna go read because i bought new books (i am always ready to talk about books of any kind) so i’ll see you all when i see you all! <3 

[killmebutneverinsultme]

I posted 3,143 times in 2021

1218 posts created (39%)

1925 posts reblogged (61%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.6 posts.

I added 2,925 tags in 2021

#jack sparrow - 554 posts

#!crack - 514 posts

#jack answers anons - 429 posts

#dash commentary - 317 posts

#why is the queue always gone? - 230 posts

#anonymous - 228 posts

#outofrum - 228 posts

#sparrington - 164 posts

#jack aesthetic - 140 posts

#v: at world's end - 121 posts

Longest Tag: 118 characters

#the whole not having a timely confrontation between your villain and main character is ignoring rule 101 screenwriting

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

44 notes • Posted 2021-02-15 21:05:13 GMT

#4

Been thinking about that gay version of Jolly Sailor Bold today and it forced my hand to a Sparrington version:

Jolly Pirate Bold

Upon one summer’s morning, I carefully did stray

Down by the port of St Kitts, where I met a pirate gay

Conversing with a captain, who seemed to be in pain

Saying Sparrow, when you go, I fear you’ll ne’er return again

His hair, it hangs in dreadlocks, his eyes so rimmed with kohl,

My happiness attend him, wherever he may go,

Singapore to Tortuga, I’ll wander, beg and moan,

All for my jolly pirate, until he sails home

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly pirate bold

For him I left my old life, and squandered my career

I’d do it all a thousand times, to him my heart did steer

Come all you men and fair maids, whoever you may be

Who love a jolly pirate bold that ploughs the raging sea

While up aloft in storm, from me his absence mourn

And pray never arrives the day he’s never more to roam

52 notes • Posted 2021-03-02 20:00:01 GMT

#3

No one asked for this meta on Elizabeth but I went off this morning talking to my wall so it’s going on my blog.

I’ve seen a lot of backlash about Lizzie choosing to go back to civilisation, seemingly throwing aside all that she had become and ‘reverting’ to a dress-wearing homebody ‘settling’ for the traditional gender role she’d defied. That’s a valid point of view and it can seem jarring. There have, of course, been comments to the contrary in the fandom, whereby there’s nothing wrong with Elizabeth making that choice for it’s just as valid.

Allow me to blather on my perception of it. Or don’t. It’s my blog, shoo.

I feel this all keys in with this commentary over here, that Elizabeth comes into the story seeking an escape from her rigid, mundane life that had planned her future for her. She dreamed of the ideal of piracy. When she met Barbossa, he was a culture shock to her, but her determination on moulding the world to be what she wanted in her fairy-tale world still had an impact. It affected Barbossa and somewhat brought him to heel. In turn, she learned from him. All the pirates around her, all of the men around her, responded to her desires and wanted to see them become real. At the heart of it, the pirates wanted to be what she imagined them, that noble cause, that freedom of spirit, that rebellious but somehow good person. Ironically, Jack embodied a lot of what she wanted, yet he disappointed her with a reality she did not accept and he lacked the want for a fight.

Elizabeth’s dream demanded to be obeyed and anyone who resisted met with a brutal fate, sometimes of her own choosing. The moment Elizabeth realises that she’s been faking it ‘til she makes it is when she’s killed Jack. At that point, she has crossed the line from fantasy to reality. Piracy isn’t a beautiful, childish fancy where men and women can run off and be whoever they want. She realises she doesn’t want to be a pirate, not a real one, not if it means betraying and hurting those she loves. And in the end, Jack isn’t a true pirate, not like the others. He is the closest to her fantasy to exist. He is the impossible, unique creature no one else can be, and she’s left him to die.

But she won’t give up the part she has played. She owes it to herself, and everyone to whom she has inadvertently lied, to follow the story to its end. She has to help them fight against Beckett and she has to save Jack. She has to get what she set out for and be with Will, because what else has this all been for?

And Lizzie manages it. The story becomes true. She brings joy and life and the ideal to the Brethren Court, she helps Will realise who he is (for good and ill), and brings forth Jack’s legend. She plays the part she imagined for as long as it is needed, and only that kind of power can bring down a regime such as Beckett’s. Her dream makes the outcome of the War possible.

When it’s all over, she is glad to retire it, to close that book. She can start afresh and have the parts of her original life she always wanted. A husband. A place to call home. Children. All that, knowing that she can be more, that she is more, and she lived that adventure.

TL;DR Pirates of the Caribbean (1-3) is a coming of age story about a young woman who wanted more from life and to discover the means to her own independence and choice, and she did that by dreaming so forcefully that the world believed in it, too. It took living through that to realise who she was, what she wanted, and the consequences of her naivety, as well as how wonderful the world can be and what it can learn from Elizabeth Swann.

52 notes • Posted 2021-10-27 18:21:45 GMT

#2

Jack: You know, the first thing you said to me was ‘on your feet’.

Norrington: ...

Jack: I bet you wish you’d said...

Norrington: Don’t you d-

Jack: On your knees :U

75 notes • Posted 2021-04-15 17:57:33 GMT

#1

154 notes • Posted 2021-05-31 13:10:52 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[loveofshows]

I posted 414 times in 2021

51 posts created (12%)

363 posts reblogged (88%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 7.1 posts.

I added 144 tags in 2021

#supergirl - 20 posts

#mary answers - 19 posts

#queue of some sort - 17 posts

#ask - 15 posts

#cyclone rachel - 15 posts

#querl dox - 14 posts

#my writing - 13 posts

#kara danvers - 11 posts

#brainiac 5 - 10 posts

#supergirl fic - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 95 characters

#like that scene in pirates of the caribbean when elizabeth asked will to marry her and all that

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

oooh, fairy Kara and elf prince Brainy

YES

They both don’t trust each other because they grew up with stories that paint a bad picture of their people.

When they’re kids, they meet by chance in the forest, near the elves part of the woods. Kara’s hurt and can’t fly and she’s scared so she just sits there hiding. But then she hears footsteps coming towards her and it’s Brainy peering over the bush she’s hiding behind.

Kara’s afraid of what he’ll do, and Brainy’s just curious about her (he never really believe the stories his mom told him) and once Kara isn’t as scared of Brainy, he helps her back home.

19 notes • Posted 2021-11-07 15:36:35 GMT

#4

Inspired by @padawanton redesign of Brainy's suit. It's short but it's all I've been thinking about since I saw the post.

--------

“Kara,” Alex called out for the fourth time, and sighed when her sister didn’t answer. She poked Kara’s cheek, and watched as she blinked. “Kara, you're staring.”

“I am not,” Kara answered, turning to look at Alex. Alex could only give her a doubtful look. Kara puffed out her cheeks and her eyes found Winn. She chuckled and pointed towards him. “If I’m staring, what do you call that?”

Alex rolled her eyes over to Winn and shook her head. “I call that drooling.” Kara only laughed as she watched Winn wipe his mouth and turned to glare at the two.

“I was not,” Winn tried to defend, but they all knew.

“You both make it so obvious,” Alex stated, “it’s like you’re trying to let him know you’re ogling him openly.”

Both Winn and Kara flushed in embarrassment but didn’t bother trying to correct her. “It’s hard not to,” Kara mumbled, looking down at her hands. But even quickly, she threw them up and waved them towards Querl. “But have you seen him?” Winn eagerly nodded in agreement.

Alex made a show of turning to him and took a minute to think about it. “Of course, I’ve seen him, I work with him.” The statement caused the two to groan, making Alex smirk. “But I don’t see what you two are seeing.”

“He changed, Alex,” Kara stated like it’s the obvious thing in the world. It was, but Alex knew Kara meant more than the change.

“He cut his hair and redesigned his suit,” Winn clarified, “he has no business looking that good.”

“Oh my god,” Alex muttered, rubbing her temples. “I don’t need to hear this.” But they chose to ignore her in favour of turning to look at Querl. Who was walking around the D.E.O cortex ordering agents around. “You guys are disasters, I swear.”

Alex’s statement was further proven when Querl called for their help, and she could only watch, as Kara and Winn snapped out of attention and clumsily made their way over to him. And Alex could have sworn she saw Querl looking smug for a second.

26 notes • Posted 2021-05-25 03:58:23 GMT

#3

I have Kara/Brainy/Winn rot brain right now, so I went on the incorrect quotes generator and these are some of my favourites.

Honestly, most of these fit in my collage/soulmate au

28 notes • Posted 2021-03-25 15:52:15 GMT

#2

Winn: I told Brainy that his ears turn red when he lies. Kara: Do they? Winn: *laughs* No. Kara: Then why did you tell him that? Winn: Because I can do this. Winn: Hey Brainy! Do you love us? Brainy, with his hands over his ears: No

32 notes • Posted 2021-11-25 17:01:42 GMT

#1

Flowers and a Prince

My gift to @concha (but for some reason tumblr is not letting me tag you) Its for the Ichihime Fandom Exchange! Thank you @ichihimeisfuckingcanon for hosting!

----

Orihime wasn't sure when it had happened. Maybe it started after she caught him comforting one of his sisters, voice soft and determined, unwilling to leave until she stopped crying.

Perhaps it was how despite his scowl, he managed to befriend all the servants around the castle, and though he would slip up and go red with embarrassment when he forgot a person's name, he still considered everyone a friend.

It could've been from how Orihime observed him interacting with children, inside the castle or out. He seemed to have a weakness to them, going as far as to let them use him as a jungle gym, even when he would rather be anywhere else.

(A child named Nel especially seemed to appreciate that, Orihime would giggle seeing the two interact.)

Or maybe it was the way he would sit in the castle garden, those rare moments Orihime caught him alone. The kingdom on his shoulders, and his mom weighing heavy on his heart.

He would never let his guard down enough to cry, but his scowl would disappear, and he'd stare off into the distance, carrying a burden he would never pass to anyone else, even if he could. Those moments, Orihime wished to help with the burden.

Either way, Orihime has completely and utterly fallen in love with the crown prince, Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Tatsuki, what do I dooooooooooooo?" Orihime whined, complaining to her friend.

Tatsuki laughed as she smoothed the bedsheets. “Well for starters, you can help me instead of staring out the window.” Orihime made a face but turned around from the window. “You could always tell him,” Tatsuki said after a moment of silence.

Orihime turned beet red and shook her head frantically. “I couldn’t possibly!” she said, clutching the pillow. “It would be improper.”

Tatsuki hummed as she picked up the basket and made her way to the door, Orihime followed. “Well, I guess you’re stuck pinning after him then,” she teased.

Orihime sighed wistfully, not really hearing what her friend was saying. “Could you imagine though? The prince returning my feelings. Oh, it makes me giddy just thinking about it!”

“It’s not unheard of for that to happen, but it’s frowned upon in other places.” Orihime frowned but nodded. Silence fell between the friends as they made their way through the castle. “Did you hear? The prince is looking for the servant who’s taking care of the gardens,” Tatsuki said after a moment.

“Really?” Orihime replied, trying not to blush. “How come?”

“Apparently he wants to thank them, but every time he enters the garden hoping to find them, they’re not there,” Tatsuki said, side glancing at her friend. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it, hm?”

“Nope,” Orihime squealed, “but whoever they are just doesn’t want to be found out. So maybe they’re there before anyone is awake.”

“Right.” And the subject was dropped and the two continued their day like normal.

Okay, so maybe Orihime was the one taking care of the gardens. She loved to spend her time there, the stars fading away to bask the flowers in a beautiful orange light. In the moment, surrounded by the morning dew, Orihime felt magical, like anything could happen.

And it may also be where Orihime saw the object of her affections the most, even if Ichigo was not aware she was there.

But at this moment, as Orihime trimmed the flowers, humming a lullaby she used to hear long ago, she found herself a little distracted. Afterall, apparently Ichigo was looking for her, wanting to thank her for the work she was doing. She was just doing her job, surely there was no reason to thank her personally.

Yep, it was definitely that, and not the embarrassment of talking to her crush.

“Ah, so it is you,” a familiar voice suddenly spoke from behind.

An undignifying yelp left Orihime’s mouth. Though she was still facing forward, she could tell the prince was laughing. Although it was quiet.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly released it as she turned and bowed. “Your Majesty,” she greeted. Before Ichigo could say anything, Orihime gasped and quickly turned around.

She gently scooped up the flower she had accidentally snipped off. “Oh you poor thing,” she cooed, ignoring the prince. She just hoped she wouldn’t get in trouble for dismissing him so quickly. She started to gently smooth out it’s petals. “You had such a long life ahead of you. I'm sorry I cut it so short.”

The prince cleared his throat and Orihime blushed as if she had forgotten he was there. She did.

“Why do you apologize to something as small as a flower?” Ichigo asked as he watched Orihime shift around so she was facing him.

“My brother taught me to value life,” she answered, “no matter how small or insignificant or important people think it is. Every life is important and it should be valued.”

Ichigo fell silent as he listened and Orihime was okay with that. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do if he had interrupted her.

“That’s a good lesson to learn,” Ichigo spoke quietly, “my mother used to say the same thing.”

Orihime stayed quiet, unsure of how to answer. The topic of the Empress felt taboo within the castle; her death had hit the royal family hard.

Not just the royal family, Orihime thought. Everyone within the castle and outside had been affected. The mood following the Empress’s passing was dark. And Orihime knew from experience of losing someone close like that hurts.

“Your mother was very wise,” Orihime said softly. She had turned around and started tending to the flowers.

“So was your brother,” he replied and silence fell between them. She worked in the gardens in silence as Ichigo found a place to sit. As she worked, she felt eyes following her every move. She had half a mind to say something but she didn’t. She would let Ichigo start the conversation if he wanted to.

And to her delight, he did.

“Why do you work in the gardens so early?” Ichigo asked, and she was glad at the topic change.

Because it’s your place and I don’t want to intrude, she wanted to say. “I don’t want to bother anyone. And since I’m working alone, I get to spend more time here. I think the garden is my favourite place in the castle.”

Orihime turned to look at Ichigo, who was kneeling, a flower cupped in his hand. He looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. Instead, he said, “will you show me how to take care of the flowers?”

Orihime looked at him in surprise, though she was trying to fight off a smile.

“What?” he grumbled when he noticed the smile, and she knew she failed.

“You never struck me as someone who would want to,” she giggled. Nonetheless, she gestured for Ichigo to come closer.

Orihime felt tense as she began, but as she continued, she found herself relaxing. Ichigo kept his full attention on her, only interrupting when he was confused or had a question.

They worked together until late morning, only to be interrupted when another servant entered the garden.

“Ah, apologies for interrupting, You Highness, but your father is looking for you.”

Ichigo looked up as if just realizing the time. “Shit, I forgot,” he cursed quietly. “I’ll be there soon.”

The servant nodded, leaving with a promise he’ll let the Emperor know.

As soon as the servant left, Ichigo turned to Orihime, sheepishly. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I hope we can do this again sometime?”

Orhime beamed at him, already excited for next time. “Anytime you want!”

~

And they continued the gardening lessons at least once a week, sometimes it was more during the week. It all depended on whether or not Ichigo needed to relax after a stressful day.

Orihime couldn’t have been happier that they’re friendship was growing. Even though her crush on the prince hadn’t disappeared, she couldn’t bring herself to care. They were friends and she wouldn’t have changed that for the world. No matter what Tatsuki said.

On their next meeting, Orihime had decided to tend the gardens after she had finished her work around the castle.

“You weren’t here this morning,” a familiar voice stated. Orihime turned and shot him a grin. She turned back and ignored the way her heart thumped at knowing he came here to see her.

She shrugged and continued to work. “Well, I thought it would be better to work in the gardens after I finished my work,” she answered. Once finished pulling a weed out, she turned and bowed in greeting.

“Are you sure you didn’t want to see me?” Ichigo teased. Orihime hoped she wasn’t blushing too hard.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ichigo chuckled as he approached, settling next to her. “I hope you’re not working yourself too hard. Sometimes I worry about what you do.”

“No need to worry!” Orihime rushed out, “Tatsuki makes sure I’m taking care of myself. I’d think she’d be mad if I wasn’t.” Ichigo hummed in agreement.

The conversation flowed easily as they worked, and Orihime found talking to him a little easier. Which she was thankful for. She found herself opening up more, and laughing at the stories told about his friends. She felt bad when he told her about what his father loved to do when they were alone. But couldn’t bring herself to feel too bad when the Emperor asked for it. Jumping on his son to make sure he stayed aware of his surroundings seemed a little extreme.

“You’re finished after this right?” Ichigo asked after they had finished and started cleaning. “Are you doing anything after this?”

“I’m not, is something wrong?” Orihime glanced over at Ichigo, surprised to see his ears had gone red. Was he feeling unwell?

“No, nothing bad. I was just wondering if you’d like to go out for dinner? We’ve been working all evening, plus I wanted to thank you for the work you’ve done in the gardens.”

“Oh! I…” she trailed off; face flushed as she quickly busied herself with picking up her tools. “There’s no need for that!” she started, and without looking at him, she stood. “It’s my job and all! Plus, I love working in the gardens! It’s my favourite place to be and well. I made a promise,” she squeaked out.

She was ranting, she knew, and she should have stopped before she said something she might regret. But she was nervous and couldn’t. She didn’t realize what she had said until Ichigo spoke.

“A promise,” he repeated and Orihime’s face turned red. She thought of not answering and just leaving. But that wasn’t how she was raised, and Ichigo’s question stopped her. “You made a promise to work in the gardens? Why would you do that?”

Orihime was silent for a moment, thinking. She never promised she wouldn’t tell Ichigo, and she never was going to tell either. But the way Ichigo was staring at her, it felt like she didn’t have a choice.

With a sigh, she looked down at the ground. “I made a promise to the Empress,” she said quietly, wondering if he heard her. “I had tended the gardens before her passing and she caught me once. She asked why I didn’t work here during the day. I answered, saying that I didn’t want to disturb her time in the gardens. Especially when she was with you and your sisters.”

She paused briefly, and glanced up to see Ichigo’s reaction. There was a flash of surprise but it shifted to nothingness. A little disappointed, she glanced down again and continued.

“She asked if I was going to continue even after she had passed. I promised her I was. The garden is the place where peace had settled and I didn’t want that to go away for you or for your family.”

After finishing, she gathered enough courage to look at him. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting but it wasn’t the softness in his eyes. Or the little bit of sadness that slipped through.

Worn out, she bowed her goodbye and left, leaving the prince standing alone among the flowers.

~

After the confession in the garden, Orihime didn’t see Ichigo for nearly a month. Well, she saw him in passing, and they’d greet each other as they saw the other.

But Orihime hadn't seen Ichigo in the garden at that time, and she was starting to feel a little guilty for ruining his favourite place.

And she missed him terribly.

So, after a lot of debating with herself and hyping herself up, Orihime went in search of the prince.

She decided to start with his private quarters. She had been in this part of the castle before, but only to clean, never to visit her friend.

Could she consider them friends? Orihime wondered. She supposed she could, they were friendly and though they were only around each other in the gardens, she counted that as friendship.

Too soon, she found herself in front of his door and froze. She wasn’t sure what her plan was. Apologize for ruining the gardens for him? Yeah, that was a good start.

Before she could knock, voices drifted through the door. Against her better judgement, she opened the door slightly.

“I don’t know,” she heard a female voice say, “that sounds like a confession to me.”

“Yeah, that she knew my mother,” Ichigo grumbled. Orihime frowned, unsure if she should interrupt or not. She knew she should leave, but her curiosity didn’t let her.

“Everyone knew your mother, Ichigo,” she scoffed, “she was the type of person who made sure she personally knew everyone who worked in the castle.” Silence fell and Orihime knew Ichigo couldn’t argue that.

After a moment their conversation started again. “I can’t believe you fell in love with a servant.”

Orihime’s heart broke. Was it so wrong for a prince to fall in love with someone who has a lower social standing than him? And who were they talking about anyways?

“You fell in love with Renji!” Ichigo was quick to shout out. Ah, so he was talking to Princess Rukia.

“That’s different, he’s a knight!” Rukia yelled but Orihime heard enough. As quietly as she could, she closed the door and made her way to her room. She all but ran as she left, just barely holding back tears. She supposed it wasn’t too much of a surprise that Ichigo had fallen for someone else. Especially after she ruined the garden for him.

At least she was dealing with the rejection now, instead of later.

~

She made it a point of avoiding Ichigo since, and it hurt. But she'd rather hurt now, then face him while he was rejecting her in person.

Though with her avoidance, the mood had shifted around Orihime and Ichigo and no one could understand why. And as much as Tatsuki tried to pry it out of Orihime, she wouldn’t budge. This was something she didn’t want Tatsuki to know, afraid what her friend would do if she knew.

So, she kept to herself and went the other way when she noticed Ichigo was nearby. She even avoided the garden for a while. But the guilt from that started to chew at her, and so she started going to the gardens again.

Orihime tried to keep her visits short, and she was familiar enough with Ichigo's schedule that she could go when he was busy. But with each visit, she knew it was only a matter of time before her luck ran out.

“You’re here,” she heard him whisper. She tensed slightly, but bowed in greeting before turning her attention back to the flowers.

Though her hands shook as she was trying not to cry. She wasn’t sure why he was here and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Though a part of her did.

They were quiet as she worked. It wasn’t until she started to stand that the silence broke.

“I’m sorry,” he said before Orihime could take a step. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Why was he sorry?

She looked up at him and voiced her thoughts. “You have nothing to be sorry about. If anyone needs to apologize, it’s me.”

Orihime glanced away when he went to talk. But before he could, Orihime continued.

“About the confession,” she explained, “I didn’t want to tell you that in fear of you never wanting to come back, but I did. And I know the confession sounds like a proclamation of love, I didn’t mean too. And I’m sure whoever has your heart, is lucky and I hope the two of you are happy.”

She was ranting again, and she wasn’t sure if she could stop. Taking a deep breath, she turned to leave. Before she could step again, a gentle hand stopped her.

Gently tugging Orihime towards him, Ichigo cupped her face and wiped the tears away.

When did she start crying?

“Orihime,” he whispered softly, and something tugged at her heart. “You don’t have to apologize for that. It meant the world to me when you told me about it.”

“You’ll still come to the garden?” she whispered, eyes not quite looking at Ichigo.

“Everyday,” he answered, just as softly, “and the woman who has my heart is you.”

She blinked, letting the sentence sink in. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

He gently lifted her face so she was looking at him, and she was hit with so much love that she wasn't sure if it was coming from her or him. And she couldn’t deny his feelings, not when she openly stated hers.

“I’m going to kiss you now, is that okay?” She nodded slowly and Ichigo leaned down.

The kiss was everything she dreamed of and more.

78 notes • Posted 2021-10-15 05:21:43 GMT

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[cordoniantrash]

the seas within me

Hello one and all! There’s my day 4 submission for the Choices 12 Days of Fictmas (It’s my 2nd year doing this! Can you believe?!) . Huge thanks to  @leelee10898​ and @emichelle​ for hosting this year and to  @grenadineandsunshine​ for betaing this one (along with all my works here tbh)! 

Title from Notos by The Oh Hellos. Here’s some angst I guess?

Book: Distant Shores

Pairings: Oliver x f!MC

Rating: G

Warning: none

Words: 2770

It was snowing when they arrived. The rising sun at their back had splashed colour on the white piles of freshly fallen snow at their feet while the distant sea breeze froze them in place. Claire felt something tug at her heart. There was something about this place, an almost indescribable tingle, a feeling of a feeling, which reminded her of him. She felt like she could close her eyes and find him there. It was absurd. They haven’t even had the chance to spend a winter together. All her memories of him, of them, are tethered to the waves, the ever present salt in the air and the unrelenting heat of the sun. So why can she almost hear his voice in this cold, snow-covered place?

“Huh. Expected something fancier.”

Claire felt the corners of her lips turn into a frown. It was becoming a steady companion in this hare-brained scheme. Her frown deepened when that indistinct tugging faded at the sound of his voice. It took some effort to unclench her jaw and her fist. To bite back the venom in her retort. It wouldn’t do to annoy him out of helping me. And so, stealing herself, Claire took a deep breath and repeated the mantra that began the moment she agreed to this plan.

Just until I get back.

Just until I find them again.

Find him again.

“What time’s that tour supposed to start again?” she asked instead. Robert, ignoring the too long stretch of silence between them, stepped into her line of sight. Claire carefully wiped her face clean of emotion. Uneasy allies they might be, but she’ll be damned if she let him glimpse a crack, however small. Being betrayed once was enough for her.

If only the compass worked like last time! Suppressing a sigh, she turned back to the estate. She’d been optimistic when they reached out to touch the compass. After all, all it took for her to travel that first time was a simple touch. The devastation when nothing happened nearly sent her to her knees in the middle of the museum.  It was only a slight consolation to find out that Robert had expected the same thing.

A breeze ruffled past them, the air fresh and bitingly cold. Claire rubbed her numb nose, her frown forgotten. At the corner of her eye, she saw Robert trying to hide his shivering. Claire suppressed a smirk.

Silence once again stretched between them. A bus full of students pulled up near their rented car. Claire couldn’t help but smile at the little faces peering from the windows, all of them bundled up despite the light snow. The adults with them did not seem to mind the cold as much. Tightening her hold on her hand warmer, Claire tried not to feel jealous.

Maybe we got used to the Caribbean. Too used. Man, I really want to go back.

“Well,” Robert sighed as a staff member opened the door of the estate. “Here’s to hoping, I guess.”

“D’you think this’ll work?”

Robert glanced at her. Claire took it as her queue to walk.

“His family had the compass before some descendant of his thought it’ll be a good idea to donate it to the museum. If there’s anything that can explain why it’s not working now, it’s probably here.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Robert paused, letting the last of the children run past them. “All those records of you as a captain must mean we got back.”

Claire frowned, “And what about you?”

Robert’s profile seemed to blend with the snow clouds ahead.

“That’s what we’re here to figure out, isn’t it?”

**

Vice-Admiral Sir Oliver Francis Cochrane KCB (born c. 1722-24, Durham, England—died unknown) was an English naval officer most known for his short but successful maritime career where he had earned the moniker of “The Pirate Hunter” and his much speculated and scandalous personal life. Decades after his last known sighting, he had become a well-recognized literary romantic icon.

Despite his early moniker of “The Pirate Hunter”, Cochrane had occasionally worked with pirates, particularly with the crews of Captain Edward Mortimer and the much disputed Captain Claire Velis. Whereas association with pirates is enough grounds of treason, Cochrane retained his position and rose through the ranks of the navy for his work in exposing the crimes and treason of other naval officers, most notably, his own father Francis, often with the help of Mortimer, Velis and their pirate crew.

Excerpt from High Seas and Piracy: A History of English Maritime Advances 

**

The compass was silent.

Claire turned it over, as she had done again and again since she entered her hotel room. Robert had mumbled something about rum and a free bar before awkwardly hightailing out of the lobby. Claire felt too rung out to even think of a quip about pirates and alcohol.

The golden finish of the compass seemed to glow in the dark room, mocking her with the faint possibility of a return. Outside, the Christmas decorations glitter amidst the darkness and the sea breeze.

The tour hadn’t gone exactly as planned. For them, at least.

Not for the first time, doubt crashed and tumbled in her mind. Apparently there was a reason poets after his time found Oliver so fascinating. As someone who knew him, loved him, stayed and fought at his side, whose hands were stained with his blood—

Claire closed the compass with a snap.

Her heart felt heavy, an anchor dragging her down further into despair.

Charlie had made a name for herself, doing what she loves in freedom.

Charlie, who while being wily and nimble, ultimately could not outrun an empire.

Edward, doing more good and ascending into hero hood, depending whose side you ask.

Edward, who despite his strength and loyalty, was betrayed and handed over to the British.

Oliver, the successful navy officer. Loving father of two.

Oliver, who never got to rise to the ranks he deserved, who became a widower, ultimately becoming a figure of tragic romance, his final fate unknown.

All of them were shining brightly.

All of them doused before their time.

If I go back could I change things? Can I lift them up, move them forward? Or will they run aground because of me?

The edges of the compass dug into her hands, forming indents where hands softened by inactivity pressed into the compass’ sides.

Or will I just make things worse?

To return would mean chaos, but to stay where she was supposed to belong felt hollow.

Should she even go? Either way, it will turn her world inside out. She’d cause them all grief one way or another, the family she had in this present and the family she found back in time.

The tour guide’s words echoed in her mind:

“He left England a hero and an eligible bachelor to boot. Almost a decade later he returned a father of two small foreign looking children and claimed himself a widower. His ever loyal crew refused to shed light on what happened during those years at sea.”

Claire blinked. Tasting salt on her lips, she hastily wiped away the tears that splashed onto the compass.

Outside, the fairy lights continued to twinkle. Their rhythmic pulsing at odds with the raging sea within her.

What happened after I left?

**

Oliver Cochrane was a creature of contradiction. Of chaos, one might even say. On one side, he was an exceptional officer, a step away from becoming an Admiral before he mysteriously disappeared. On the other side, he was an excellent example of British hypocrisy.

Throughout his career, Cochrane toed the line between audacity and treason.

He had exposed numerous corrupt navy officials, while he also worked with pirates. What’s more, he had a rather well-known love affair with a pirate captain.

Records at that time proclaimed the affair short-lived, painting Captain Claire Velis in a rather unflattering light but contemporary evidence now opposes that idea and posits that the identity of his deceased wife (whom historians have precious few documents about) was none other than Captain Velis herself. Common consensus among society (and among historians) was that the mysterious mother of Cochrane’s children was the pirate captain herself. Further cementing Cochrane’s strange status in both 18th century Britain and in history.

This personal life aside, his apparent friendships with Captain Edward Mortemer and Captain Charlotte “Charlie” Smith was so prominent that one of the most salient theories to ultimate fate after his disappearance was that he himself became a pirate when he last left England’s shores, a contradiction to one so hailed for his honour and morals.

Excerpt from Cochrane: Behind the Myth

***

“Oh, hello dear.”

Claire turned and almost collided with a smaller figure. The tour guide from yesterday was standing in front of her. A glance at the pin on her blazer identified the older woman as Tina. In smaller letters under the name was the word CURATOR. Claire hastily stepped back.

The curator smiled.

“Aren’t you one of the people on the tour yesterday? The names Tina,” she said as she offered her hand. Claire found herself smiling as they shook hands.

“Uh, Claire Velis. Nice to meet you,” as soon as the words left her mouth, Claire felt herself freeze. Damn it! The hell was I thinking!

Tina’s eyes seemed to sparkle, “Claire Velis, you say? My, what a coincidence!”

Claire blushed.

“My parents were fans,” she mumbled.

“I’ll say!”

“Uh… yeah.”

“You must have loved the mention of your namesake then?”

Claire arranged her face into a smile.

“Right. Yeah. It was very interesting.”

“You know, I’ve always wanted to meet Captain Claire,” at Claire’s wide eyes, Tina let out a tinkling laugh. “Of course, I never thought it’ll be a namesake, but here we are. In fact, you look quite a lot like her drawings.”

Claire swallowed, “Is that so?”

Tina nodded, “Oh, would you like a cuppa? I noticed you were very interested in the tour yesterday. Besides, it’s almost the holidays,” she leaned in, smile growing. “We’ll have some tea and some mince pies as well! What do you say?”

“Oh! I wouldn’t want to impose –“

“Oh, pish posh! It’s no imposition at all, dear.  It isn’t often we get tourists here, you know what I mean? Usually it’s always field trips and the like. Sometimes academics, if we’re lucky. Besides, tea is just the thing when it’s this cold out. ”

Claire followed the curator inside the building, bewilderment and relief making her mind buzz.

As they passed by an open doorway, Claire felt something tug at her.

A familiar tug.

Claire stopped in her tracks.

The room looked similar to the public exhibitions, with glass boxes in pedestals displaying some artefact or another. The feeling, however, was leagues away from the public rooms.

It was tugging me here.

“Oh, what a lucky find!”

Claire jumped. Tina smiled as she leaned toward the doorway.

“It’s a special display, see? We’re going to show it to the public soon.”

“W-what’s in this one?”

Tina glanced at her, eyes twinkling again. “It’s a collection of Oliver Cochrane’s personal effects. Or what’s left of them. Would you like a peak?”

“I—are you sure?”

“Of course, dear,” Tina’s eyes seemed to droop. “Captain Claire may not have had the chance to see it. At least a namesake can. Wouldn’t you agree?”

 Throat suddenly dry, Claire offered a nod.

“Let’s go then!” Tina exclaimed as she entered the room.

Claire stepped forward.

The world seemed to blink.

“Claire? You alright? Hang on, I’ll call the nurse –“

“Wha—no, no, please. It’s fine.”

Tina’s eyebrows furrowed. Claire straightened, pointedly ignoring the twinge in her temples. The headache had taken her by surprise.

So different from the first time I travelled.

“—here, just sit down here for a moment.”

“I’m really fine—“

“Of course,” Tina smoothly interjected. The curator seemed to regain some composure. “But better safe than sorry, yes? I’ll get the nurse, dear. Be back in a jiffy.”

Claire sighed as Tina left the room, exchanging a couple of words with the security guard before waving back at Claire and rounding a corner.

Claire shook her head and looked around the room.

She froze.

There was a necklace inside the display in front of her (not the one she was currently wearing. The one that belonged to her grandmother). No, this necklace was obviously old and weathered besides. The shine of the silver peeking behind dark spots. The label under it calls it a Cochrane family heirloom.

And it was the same exact copy of the one hanging on her neck.

Except she wasn’t wearing this necklace when she travelled for the first time.

Outside, the waves crashed and crested. The snow kept falling.

Going forward will mean turbulent waters and uncertain winds.

But a ship cannot sail in becalmed waters.

Inside her, hope surged.

**

1752

“Will that work?”

“Well, we haven’t been twiddling our thumbs while you were off smooching with high society.”

“Charlie.” One word contained an entire conversation’s worth of chastisement. Charlie shrugged but fell silent.

Edward sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. But it seemed like the compass is lacking a catalyst of some sort.”

“A spark if you will.”

“That’s not a guarantee.”

“No. We’re groping in the dark here. But there has to be something that can work on this side.”

Oliver sighed. “I suppose it’s better than nothing.”

Charlie smiled, “That’s the spirit. We’ll get her back here yet.”

Oliver’s lips curled into a shadow of a smile.

**

The compass was humming.

Claire and Robert stand amidst a partially shattered exhibition room. Security alarms had just started blaring while some artifacts seemed to pulse with light. Beside her, Robert looked tense. But Claire felt calm. There seemed to be some form of energy in the room for the compass to actually come to life.

“Well. Here we are. Just in time for Christmas too.”

“Yeah. Whodathunk?”

“Certainly not me, Velis.” A particularly loud alarm blared. They both winced. “You ready?”

Claire took a deep breath. “As I’ll ever be.”

“… do it then.”

There was a flash of white light.

.

.

.

A moment later, the doors burst open. The staff looked around in shock and bewilderment. The room was in chaos, that much was clear.

But there was no one inside.

**

When I was younger, I used to pretend my mother was a mermaid. My older brother had indulged my fantasies and our imaginary mermaid mother would become a fixture in my make believe plays. On the days, months and years that bordered the beginnings of our fleeting visits and even shorter holidays, I, an imaginative child prone to wild fancies, would sometimes believe my own story. 

Before I understood what really was going on, I used to ask Father of her fate. He would humour me, a twinkle in his eye as he told me she was lost at sea, a romantic fate that contrasts with the pitying looks thrown our way when Father wasn’t looking. 

Perhaps it was one of his favourite sayings that stuck this particular fancy within me. After all, he always told Eddie and me that the sea was in our blood. My older brother, ever the man of reason, took that quite literally and followed in our Father’s footsteps, becoming a sailor as soon as he could.  Experiencing adventures that our parents surely had. Whereas I was content enough to experience adventure through the page, whether through my brother’s letters or my own pen. 

But sometimes, when I look out to the sea, I can’t help but wonder if there was any truth to my childhood fancies. But that probably is just sentiment talking. Father had always remarked that my stories should set foot on a stage of some kind, something that Aunt Adelia and Uncle Axton would heartily agree with. 

Over the years, I had often wondered at the irony of a navy officer’s daughter having pirates as aunts and uncles. An unforeseen consequence of being the Pirate Queen’s progeny, I’d imagine. 

Perhaps Mother was a mermaid masquerading as a pirate. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. 

All I know is that being lost at sea, for all its romance, does not quite fit my parent’s fate. 

I hope—no. I know—they must have found each other.

The sea is in our blood, after all. 

- Excerpt from the diary of Marcelline Somerset née Cochrane, Viscountess of Ashbourne

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A/N: This surprisingly had a lot of number wrangling that didn’t make the text (rip my last braincell - don’t get me started on the research and the excepts). Also had a bit of a crossover with The Unexpected Heiress (haven’t played it yet). Anyways, lemme know what you guys think!

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