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welllpthisishappening · 3 years

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Welllp This is...Books. Lots and Lots of Books

That gif is something of a lie. Some of these books were not great. But! Some of them were very good! And some of them were marketed weird — seriously, what does qualify as YA — and some of them I read in, like, six hours and some of them I raged about for six hours after I finished them.

Or: 2020!Laura reverted to 2004!Laura and read just a lot of books and then her husband got her a Kindle and she read even more books and has thoughts on most of those books that she is now going to share with the internet while also making absurd category names. Note that these are only books I read for the first time this year. So, the list is missing some of the stuff I used as coping devices. ALSO SOME SPOILERS AHEAD, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

FAVORITE BOOKS THAT MADE A SHITTY YEAR SLIGHTLY BETTER AND ALSO LIKELY MADE ME SWOON A BIT

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he's not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

— I kid you not, I had to do a lap around the apartment after reading the second book in this series. Why didn’t I read this before? Why isn’t there more fic? Why I am constantly falling for dark-haired sad dudes in love with their wives??? I cannot rec this series enough. It’s got world building and found families, and that dark-haired sad dude, and magic and lore and banter, and it’s so good and I don’t understand why it was marketed as YA. The literary world is weird, guys.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (and the Heroes of Olympus) by Rick Riordan

Accompany the son of the sea god Poseidon and his other demigod friends as they go on a series of quests that will have them facing monsters, gods, and conniving figures from Greek mythology. Do they have what it takes to save the Olympians from an ancient enemy?

— Straight up, how did you guys cope with Percy and Annabeth when you were kids reading this? I would have been OBSESSED. Quarantine felt like the perfect time to finally read all of these books, and I know it’s sacrilegious to like Heroes of Olympus, but I might have liked parts of that series more? Just because it felt like they were older and I was super into Percabeth being properly in love. Also, now I get why everyone was so upset about the movies. Fair.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl. . . .Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She's a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister's illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai's, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world's future.

— Yet another YA series that I will admit to loving this year. Started off a little slow, but once the world building really got underway —and it gets underway — I was hooked. If I had read this at an age-appropriate time I would have been super in love Captain Carswell Thorne. I was still kind of in love with Captan Carswell Thorne. So it should come as no surprise that Cress was my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed the whole thing, really.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

— YO. Y O. THIS WAS SO GOOD. World building! Magic! Marriage of convenience! Well-written enemies to lovers! As soon as I finished this, I bought the sequel. And then got upset the third book in the series isn’t out yet! That’s a frustrating theme for me this year.

The Roommate by Rosie Danan

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She's the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara's childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it's also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there's a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn't looked him up on the Internet...

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton's most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they're lucky, they'll help everyone else get lucky too.

— I LOVED IT. L O V E D. As I told Justin “there was more porn than I was expecting,” in that porn and the adult film industry was a legitimate plot point and not just a part of Josh’s character, but it was incredibly well written and interesting and I cared about the plot. Sometimes I also wanted to shake Clara, but that was kind of the point.

The Marriage Game by Sara Desai

After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn't know he's arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door...

As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he's forced to share his space with the owner's beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life.

As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.

— More well-written enemies to lovers! It’s possible! Seriously, the banter was so good. The kissing was even better. Ridiculous and interfering family is one of my favorite things, and this had it in SPADES. It also made me want to eat samosas, which is kind of my base setting, but I really wanted Indian food whenever I was reading this. Also, the end scene was so goddamn cute I cannot believe it actually happened.

Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev

— The one that got away is one of my favorite tropes, and this modern version of Persuasion did it so well. Everyone was annoying, but in an almost understandable way that made me ache and I just wanted them TO KISS. And then they did kiss! And it was so good! Plus, at the risk of being a little self-indulgent, it was kind of Out of the Frying Pan esque and I liked that a lot. If there is a downside: it’s how quickly the relationship starts up again, like zero to 60 in two seconds flat, and that there were a lot of POVs. Which wouldn’t have been an issue if they’d been labeled, or weren’t bouncing around the timeline randomly. Sometimes I’d have to be like—wait, who’s talking about what?

Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn't a complete screw up? When she's asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She's a chef, what's the worst that could happen?Rico Silva, that's what.Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn't too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he's definitely over her.But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce...and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion...?

The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting

Lilah isn't sure what hurt worse: the day Ethan left her to focus on his hockey career or the day he came back eight years later. He might think they can pick up just where they left off, but she's no longer that same girl and never wants to be again.

Just when Lilah might finally be ready to let Ethan in, though, she finds out their reunion might have nothing to do with love and everything to do with improving his game. But Ethan's already lost her once, and even if it costs him his career, he'll do anything to keep from losing her again.

— HOCKEY ROM COM. HOCKEY. ROM. COM. Apparently this lady is regarded as the queen of “hockey romance,” which I kind of take offense to, but will give a pass on because this was a very cute book and everyone was cute in it and I was only marginally frustrated by those same people being idiots. As is required by rom coms. Hockey, or otherwise.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Fall in love, break the curse. It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom. A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

— Beauty and the Beast AU!!! Fantasy! Magic! Romance! I loved this, even when Rhen was being a whiny idiot. But he was also cursed, so like—fair. This dives into the politics of a cursed kingdom, puts a fun spin on the original fairy tale and also has a sequel. Which I read, and possibly enjoyed more. Only to realize the third book isn’t published yet, and then got annoyed by that.

QUESTIONABLY-GOOD FREE FANTASY BOOKS ON AMAZON

The Silver and Orchids Collection by Shari L Tapscott

What happens when a feisty adventuress, a lord looking to make his own way in the world, and a handsome sea captain set out to find Kalae’s rarest and most valuable flower?

Trouble—and lots of it.

— Snarky flirting! Adventure! Sword fights! Listen, this is not prize-winning fiction, but Lucia is a fun heroine, the rest of her adventure-seeking friends are an absolute delight and you don’t have to think too much while reading it. All four books wrap up their individual storylines, but help set up the next one and while the ending felt a little forced (and way too quick) I didn’t hate it enough to throw the Kindle across the room.

Forest of Firelight by Shari L. Tapscsott

After the sudden death of her brother, Princess Amalia is charged with what feels like an impossible task—she must choose the next king. Youthful thoughts of love are pushed aside as she accepts her fate, setting upon a quest throughout the kingdom to find a man worthy of her father’s throne.

Little does Amalia know, someone has already set his sights on her.

Rhys is a man of secrets, and his mission is simple: befriend the princess of Renove. Coax her to trust him, convince her to follow him.

Betray her when it’s time.

All goes according to plan until Rhys meets the princess. Amalia is a disaster. Never has he met someone so drawn to trouble. Never has he met someone so irritatingly likable.

He’s not allowed to fall for her.

She could never entrust him with a crown.

But, unbeknownst to them, their unlikely partnership might be the key to saving their entire world from a darkness that’s slowly creeping from the wounded earth that separates one kingdom from the next.

— FORBIDDEN LOVE! It’s good! Real good! I read this whole series (or the three books in it, so far) in a questionably short amount of time. Again, not the deepest story, and Amalia is occasionally frustratingly dumb. While Rhys is also sort of all-knowing in that fantasy hero sort of way? Y’know what I mean? Still, they banter very well, and eventually kiss even better.

LESS GOOD FANTASY BOOKS THAT PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE JUST BEEN AVAILABLE FOR FREE ON AMAZON

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia's family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess—a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner.

For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She's endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside.

Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her hands and all hope of reclaiming her throne lost, she realizes that surviving is no longer enough. But she does have a weapon: her mind is sharper than any sword. And power isn't always won on the battlefield.

For ten years, the Ash Princess has seen her land pillaged and her people enslaved. That all ends here.

— I wanted to love this series. So much so that I read the whole thing. All three books. And I’m still not sure why. The world building, maybe. Which was very good, and the politics actually kept me interested, but every single character was the absolute worst and I kind of wanted them all to die. That’s not even an exaggeration. Spoiler, they didn’t all die. I was only marginally disappointed.

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller

When the ruthless Pirate King learns of a legendary treasure map hidden on an enemy ship, his daughter, Alosa, knows that there's only one pirate for the job—herself. Leaving behind her beloved ship and crew, Alosa deliberately facilitates her own kidnapping to ensure her passage on the enemy ship. After all, who's going to suspect a seventeen-year-old girl locked in a cell?Then she meets the (surprisingly perceptive and unfairly attractive) first mate, Riden, who is charged with finding out all her secrets. Now it's down to a battle of wits and will... Can Alosa find the map and escape before Riden figures out her plan?

— Alosa was kind of the worst? Like, STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER who had to keep reminding you how strong she was because she would kill anyone, and had an all female pirate crew. And the whole time I was just like, ok...cool. Still, I read the sequel too and that was slightly better.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.

2) Marry him.

3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King's power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she's going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra's not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

— I cannot explain this book any way except to tell you it is so weird. Like, sometimes I remember I read this and all I can think is: why did this book happen? It felt like it started in the middle of the story, which is not a knock on the story itself, but mostly on the world building. Which was lacking to say the least. Also the resolution was super rushed and even more weird and I was like—why does he like her??? I still don’t know, honestly.

The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne

Engagement season is in the air. Eighteen-year-old Princess Leonie "Leo" Kolburg, heir to a faded European spaceship, has only one thing on her mind: which lucky bachelor can save her family from financial ruin?

But when Leo's childhood friend and first love, Elliot, returns as the captain of a successful whiskey ship, everything changes. Elliot was the one who got away, the boy Leo's family deemed to be unsuitable for marriage. Now he's the biggest catch of the season and he seems determined to make Leo's life miserable. But old habits die hard, and as Leo navigates the glittering balls of the Valg Season, she finds herself falling for her first love in a game of love, lies, and past regrets.

— Another book whose lack of world building hurt it. Stuff just happened, and we were expected to understand it and be into it and I was neither. I had no reason to care about anyone in this book, especially Elliot who seemed like an asshole.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian's heart to the Sea Queen and or remain a human forever.The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it's his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she's more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind's greatest enemy?

— This book did not go the way I thought it was going to. Not a bad thing, but also not the best and the ending was...bleh. The middle, though? That was legit, and the action was good. I am always a fan of sword fights. Still, there was something that left me waiting for the final push towards great and it just never really came.

ROM-COMS WITH ONLY PASSABLY FRUSTRATING PLOTS AND GOOD KISSING

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory

Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe's mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm. But when she meets a gorgeous man at a hotel bar and they spend the entire night flirting, she discovers too late that he is none other than hotshot junior senator Max Powell. Olivia has zero interest in dating a politician, but when a cake arrives at her office with the cutest message, she can't resist—it is chocolate cake, after all.

Olivia is surprised to find that Max is sweet, funny, and noble—not just some privileged white politician, as she assumed him to be. Because of Max's high-profile job, they start seeing each other secretly, which leads to clandestine dates and silly disguises. But when they finally go public, the intense media scrutiny means people are now digging up her rocky past and criticizing her job, even her suitability as a trophy girlfriend. Olivia knows what she has with Max is something special, but is it strong enough to survive the heat of the spotlight?

— It was cute. Max was occasionally an idiot. The kissing was legit. Most of their problems could have very easily been solved, but that’s kind of this genre’s schtick.

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

A wedding planner left at the altar? Yeah, the irony isn't lost on Carolina Santos, either. But despite that embarrassing blip from her past, Lina's offered an opportunity that could change her life. There's just one hitch... she has to collaborate with the best (make that worst) man from her own failed nuptials. Marketing expert Max Hartley is determined to make his mark with a coveted hotel client looking to expand its brand. Then he learns he'll be working with his brother's whip-smart, stunning—absolutely off-limits—ex-fiancée. And she loathes him.If they can nail their presentation without killing each other, they'll both come out ahead. Except Max has been public enemy number one ever since he encouraged his brother to jilt the bride, and Lina's ready to dish out a little payback of her own.Soon Lina and Max discover animosity may not be the only emotion creating sparks between them. Still, this star-crossed couple can never be more than temporary playmates because Lina isn't interested in falling in love and Max refuses to play runner-up to his brother ever again...

— Once you got past the hooking up with your ex’s brother thing, it was cute. Max was endearing in an earnest sort of way, even when Lina was STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER in a cliche sort of way. More solid kissing. Side note, why are so many rom com dudes named Max? Does it sound hip? Passably cool, but also approachable? Discuss.

Not that Kind of Guy by Andie J. Christopher

State attorney Bridget Nolan is successful in all aspects of her life—except romance. After breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, she's been slow to reenter the dating scene. To be honest, she has more important things to do like putting bad guys behind bars. But with her brother's wedding right around the corner, she suddenly needs a date and fast. Lucky for Bridget, the legal intern is almost done with his program.

Matt Kido is dumbstruck by Bridget—total love at first sight—but there's one problem. She's totally off-limits while she's his boss. But the moment he no longer reports to her, Matt asks her on a date. An impulsive decision takes them to Las Vegas where, as the saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Unless you put a ring on it.

— Having written the “wake up in Vegas married” trope before, I know it’s difficult to do right. Consent’s a thing, y’know? And stuff gets dicy with forgotten memories, and all that, but mostly what kept me from truly loving this book was the intern thing. Don’t date your interns guys, it’s weird and off-putting. Literally if he’d just been a junior partner, or a visiting partner or something else I would have been all in.

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

Kailyn Flowers was always calm, rational, and controlled—until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. Then she did the unthinkable: She became a mortifying fangirl in five seconds flat, which may or may not have included professing her undying love. And oddly, he didn't run away. In fact, their meet cute led to a friendship she never saw coming. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming, either...Now Dax needs her help. As guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister, he's in way over his head. And though Kailyn hasn't forgiven Dax, she isn't heartless enough to make him fend for himself, either. Soon their friendly meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?

— Once again here for the one that got away trope, even if this comes with dead parents and some sad storylines. It still managed to be cute. Everyone was cute in it. Occasionally Daxton was a dick. As rom com male leads are apt to be.

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane

If faking love is this easy... how do you know when it's real?When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex's pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.Jamie Carter doesn't believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumor mill something else to talk about. It's the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there's a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...

— FAKE DATING THAT LEADS TO REAL FEELINGS. The ex-boyfriend was an assssss, the fake boyfriend was charming, everything was good AND THEN WE GOT TO THE END. Which felt more than a little rushed, unexpected and not really in line with the rest of the book?? Give ‘em a slightly better, in-character ending, and I would have been sold.

BOOKS THAT I WAS LIKE...EH, OK

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

— I think this book was too smart for me. The prose was gorgeous, and the whole thing was very pretty and I definitely swooned when Marco said he wished for Celia. And yet. By the end I was like...eh, ok. Maybe it was the timeline? Jumping around, or how little dialogue there was. I wanted to like it all so badly, and I’m just not sure I did.

Acting on Impulse by Mia Sosa

After a very public breakup with a media-hungry politician, fitness trainer Tori Alvarez escapes to Aruba for rest, relaxation, and copious amounts of sex on the beach—the cocktail, that is. She vows to keep her vacation a man-free zone but when a cute guy is seated next to her on the plane, Tori can't resist a little harmless flirting.Hollywood heartthrob Carter Stone underwent a dramatic physical transformation for his latest role and it's clear his stunning seat mate doesn't recognize the man beneath the shaggy beard and extra lean frame. Now Carter needs help rebuilding his buff physique and Tori is perfect for the job. It doesn't hurt that she makes his pulse pound in more ways than one.Sparks are flying, until a pesky paparazzo reveals Carter's identity. Tori is hurt and pissed. She wants nothing to do with another man in the limelight, but she's still got to whip him into shape. Can Carter convince Tori he's worth the threat to her privacy that comes with dating a famous actor, or will Tori chisel him down to nothing before he even gets the chance?

— Dudes have gotta stop lying about who they are. It’s not a great trope. Other than that, the kissing was good. The romance was like...eh. I honestly don’t remember much else.

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

During a whirlwind two-week vacation abroad, Sam and Tate fell for each other in only the way that first loves do: sharing all of their hopes, dreams, and deepest secrets along the way. Sam was the first, and only, person that Tate—the long-lost daughter of one of the world's biggest film stars—ever revealed her identity to. So when it became clear her trust was misplaced, her world shattered for good.

Fourteen years later, Tate, now an up-and-coming actress, only thinks about her first love every once in a blue moon. When she steps onto the set of her first big break, he's the last person she expects to see. Yet here Sam is, the same charming, confident man she knew, but even more alluring than she remembered. Forced to confront the man who betrayed her, Tate must ask herself if it's possible to do the wrong thing for the right reason... and whether "once in a lifetime" can come around twice.

— This book was...weird. The early romance was wonderful and delightful, but then shit hit the fan and Sam and Tate are adults and...weird. Like, I cannot come up with another word for it. Also, they didn’t really talk much? As adults? Working on the same movie set? W e i r d.

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

Fixie Farr has always lived by her father’s motto: “Family first.” And since her dad passed away, leaving his charming housewares store in the hands of his wife and children, Fixie spends all her time picking up the slack from her siblings instead of striking out on her own. The way Fixie sees it, if she doesn’t take care of her father’s legacy, who will?

It’s simply not in Fixie’s nature to say no to people. So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, she not only agrees—she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank Fixie for her quick thinking, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, an investment manager, scribbles an IOU on a coffee sleeve and attaches his business card. Fixie laughs it off—she’d never actually claim an IOU from a stranger. Would she?

But then Fixie’s childhood crush, Ryan, comes back into her life, and his lack of a profession pushes all of Fixie’s buttons. As always, she wants nothing for herself—but she’d love Seb to give Ryan a job. No sooner has Seb agreed than the tables are turned once more and a new series of IOUs between Seb and Fixie—from small favors to life-changing moments—ensues. Soon Fixie, Ms. Fixit for everyone else, is torn between her family and the life she really wants. Does she have the courage to take a stand? Will she finally grab the life, and love, she really wants?

— Let’s be upfront, I’ve read a lot of Sophie Kinsella in my life, and more often than not I enjoy what she writes. I mostly did here. It was a book. With obvious rom com problems, that could have very easily been solved, but it wasn’t horrible. So, that was good, I guess.

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

Maddie and Theo have two things in common:

1. Alexa is their best friend

2. They hate each other

After an "oops, we made a mistake" night together, neither one can stop thinking about the other. With Alexa's wedding rapidly approaching, Maddie and Theo both share bridal party responsibilities that require more interaction with each other than they're comfortable with. Underneath the sharp barbs they toss at each other is a simmering attraction that won't fade. It builds until they find themselves sneaking off together to release some tension when Alexa isn't looking, agreeing they would end it once the wedding is over. When it's suddenly pushed up and they only have a few months left of secret rendezvouses, they find themselves regretting that the end is near. Two people this different can't possibly have a connection other than the purely physical, right?

But as with any engagement with a nemesis, there are unspoken rules that must be abided by. First and foremost, don't fall in love.

— Eh, this book happened. I still have no idea why they couldn’t be together from the get. Obstacles for the sake of plot, I guess. Also political side stories? I don’t know, guys.

WEIRD POST-ENDING FEELINGS WERE INDUCED

Beach Read by Emily Henry

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They're polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She'll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he'll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

— Listen, I enjoyed this a lot. For the most part. It was funny, and introspective in a way that didn’t make me want to gag too much, and I wanted to defend January’s love of love with everything in me. But, then it—ended. And it was like...all tied up with this nice little ribbon and happily ever after, and I was like...oh, ok. Part of me that it was glad it ended like that, mostly because of who I am as a person, but the rest of me was also confused that after everything January and Augustus had been through and how messy their lives were it could just get all wrapped up in this HEA.

HITTING JUST A BIT TOO CLOSE TO HOME

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. The world may know him as Aeneas, star of the biggest show on television, but fanfiction readers call him something else: Book!AeneasWouldNever. Marcus gets out his frustrations with the show through anonymous stories about the internet's favorite couple, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone discovered his online persona, he'd be finished in Hollywood.April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she's long hidden her fanfic and cosplay hobbies from her "real life"—but not anymore. When she dares to post her latest costume creation on Twitter, her plus-size take goes viral. And when Marcus asks her out to spite her internet critics, truth officially becomes stranger than fanfiction. On their date, Marcus quickly realizes he wants more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. But when he discovers she's Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to keep from her.With love and Marcus's career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

— Here for plus-size heroines who get the guy and don’t have their (entire) storyline defined by their looks. Less here for the weird fandom culture, the ensuing second-hand embarrassment that came from that and the thankfulness that both Colin O’Donoghue and Bob Morley appear to be happily married so it seems very unlikely they’re writing fic about their characters under pseudonyms. Stop using Ao3 in actual published stories 2k4ever.

RAGE-INDUCING BOOKS OF ABSOLUTE FURY

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

Kristen Peterson doesn't do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don't get her. She's also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her to have children.Planning her best friend's wedding is bittersweet for Kristen — especially when she meets the best man, Josh Copeland. He's funny, sexy, never offended by her mile-wide streak of sarcasm, and always one chicken enchilada ahead of her hangry. Even her dog, Stuntman Mike, adores him. The only catch: Josh wants a big family someday. Kristen knows he'd be better off with someone else, but as their attraction grows, it's harder and harder to keep him at arm's length.The Friend Zone will have you laughing one moment and grabbing for tissues the next as it tackles the realities of infertility and loss with wit, heart, and a lot of sass.

— LISTEN THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE, BUT I FEEL LIKE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THEM BECAUSE THIS BOOK IS A SECRET GUT PUNCH AND PEOPLE SHOULD BE AWARE. Not only is infertility, like, the defining theme of this book, but the BEST FRIEND DIES. Just—dies. It’s horrible. Absolutely God awful depressing. And for a second he looks like he won’t, and it’ll be fine, but then it is not and he’s just D E A D. I know, I know that sets up the sequel, but this was so goddamn heavy in an unsuspecting way that I have absolutely no intention of reading the next one.

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon's family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn't have time for Emily's lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she's in her revealing wench's costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they're portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can't seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

— FUCK THIS BOOK. And fuck Simon, specifically. Oh, you have a sad story? Cool, you’re still a dick. He was a dick. Listen, I know enemies to lovers is a hard trope to write, but it’s even harder to accept when those enemies just announce I LIKED YOU THE WHOLE TIME and then everyone starts ripping off their clothes. No, it’s dumb. I hate it. Apparently there’s a sequel to this book. Maybe that’s better.

Kiss My Cupcake by Helena Hunting

Blaire Calloway has planned every Instagram-worthy moment of her cupcake and cocktails shop launch down to the tiniest detail. What she didn't plan on? Ronan Knight and his old-school sports bar next door opening on the very same day. He may be super swoony, but Blaire hasn't spent years obsessing over buttercream and bourbon to have him ruin her chance at success.From axe throwing (his place) to frosting contests (hers), Blaire and Ronan are constantly trying to one-up each other in a battle to win new customers. But with every clash, there's also an undeniable chemistry. When an even bigger threat to their business comes to town, they're forced to call a temporary time-out on their own war and work together. And the more time Blaire spends getting to know the real Ronan, the more she wonders if it's possible to have her cupcake and eat it too.

— Listen, I wanted to like this one. There were plenty other Helena Hunting books on this list, so like—I don’t hate her. I just hate poorly executed enemies to lovers plot lines. Give me at least one moment where they are interested in each other aside from just being attracted to each other. Also: Stop Having Dudes Be Dicks Because Of Their Sad Backstory 2k4ever.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

You always remember your first love... don't you?If there's anything worse than being fired from the worst restaurant in town, it's coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else. Reeling from the humiliation of a double dumping in one day, Georgina takes the next job that comes her way—bartender in a newly opened pub. There's only one problem: it's run by the guy she fell in love with years ago. And—make that two problems—he doesn't remember her. At all. But she has fabulous friends and her signature hot pink fur coat... what more could a girl really need?Lucas McCarthy has not only grown into a broodingly handsome man, but he's also turned into an actual grown-up, with a thriving business and a dog along the way. Crossing paths with him again throws Georgina's rocky present into sharp relief—and brings a secret from her past bubbling to the surface. Only she knows what happened twelve years ago, and why she's allowed the memories to chase her ever since. But maybe it's not too late for the truth... or a second chance with the one that got away?

— HE WAS JUST PRETENDING NOT TO REMEMBER HER THE WHOLE TIME???? WHAT?? WHY??? D U M B. Dumb boys are dumb.

Not the Girl You Marry by Andie J. Christopher

Jack Nolan is a gentleman, a journalist, and unlucky in love. His viral success has pigeon-holed him as the how-to guy for a buzzy, internet media company instead of covering hard-hitting politics. Fed up with his fluffy articles and the app-based dating scene as well, he strikes a deal with his boss to write a final piece de resistance: How to Lose a Girl. Easier said than done when the girl he meets is Hannah Mayfield, and he's not sure he wants her to dump him.

Hannah is an extremely successful event planner who's focused on climbing the career ladder. Her firm is one of the most prestigious in the city, and she's determined to secure her next promotion. But Hannah has a bit of an image problem. She needs to show her boss that she has range, including planning dreaded, romantic weddings. Enter Jack. He's the perfect man to date for a couple weeks to prove to her boss that she's not scared of feelings.

Before Jack and Hannah know it, their fake relationship starts to feel all too real—and neither of them can stand to lose each other.

— This is actually the prequel to Not That Kind of Guy and I honestly can’t believe I read that after hating this book so much. They were awful to each other! Their whole relationship was based on lies! Mean lies! Horrible lies! Don’t lie to your significant other!

#book recs #fiction recs #rom com recs #fantasy recs #or: i read solely fantasy and rom com books in 2020 #this does not include any david eddings or meg cabot rereads #which also happened #and i endorse them wholeheartedly too #if you have read any of these books PLEASE share your thoughts with me #i am desperate for them #or your own recs of what you read this year #laura reads books #welllp these are books

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of-forossa · 3 years

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❝ the dagger reversed, death claims you ❞ (MERCY KILL AND DESPAIR. LET'S GOOOOO) It was with regret and little hesitation that she raised her rifle and watched him struggle now, gurgling on his own blood and bile. Watched him with beneath his own monsterous weight. He could no longer stand, no longer form words, just harrowing growls that bubbled up from his gullet and spilled through split and slavering, broken, jaws.

@derjaegermond // to the bitter end we rage and fight, till hope burns out in that dying light // not accepting.

Yharnam lives. Beneath the light of a moon now pale and pure, the town and her people have been wounded and scarred by the ordeals they've only just been delivered from. In the crumbling safety of their homes, husbands and wives hold each other for comfort, parents huddle with their frightened children, and the few of them that remain wholly sane and not taken by the hunger of the blood hold one another entirely ignorant of their salvation. For once all is still in these dreaded streets, the howls and snarls of the wolf-things silenced and the crackling of any loose flames dying as both are deprived of something to gnaw upon.

For all horrors of the unending night, for the beasts and bastards and belligerent gods, the hunt is at long last over... and all that remains is for that knight of the dawn to clean up what remains before morning can truly come.

"There's one last thing, Helena." Time is nearly up, he knows, not only for himself and their partnership but for this entire cursed town. From the windows a harsh light pours in, hideous and malformed from that paleblood sky and the moon that sits upon it-- proof enough to him that the end has well and truly come. "You know what you have to do. What you may have to become... and where you have to go. To a place where I cannot follow."

Truly, truly, he is a terrible thing to behold. Even in all the hellish glory bestowed upon him by these gifts gods-given, he would have been a sight that would haunt and stalk the dreams of even the bravest hunter. From the sheer bulk of his muscular, monstrous frame that could crush brick and mortar with a mere swipe of a hideous paw to that slavering-slick maw that could swallow a man whole and crush him between macabre jaws, the beast that had once been holy knight and determined conspirator and Brom resembled nothing of the sort as he growled with a sound not unlike thunder and roared so fierce it shattered the windows of the buildings between he and her.

His grasp in hers is fierce, crooked claws tightly clenched against her hand, not from anger but for fear. Fear for her, for what could befall her far from the reach of his sword and strength. "You may save this wretched place, these ungrateful people, but there will still be monsters stalking the streets even should you succeed. Enough to leave this city a blood-soaked tomb with or without your intervention." With a tug he urges her to sit, and from the window that same paleblood light reveals truths he'd have rather kept hidden. Brom's tattered eyes burn low, filled with the shadows of a restless and tormented mind. His breaths are heavy, uneven things, and his once well-kept appearance is haggard and frayed-- his hair is matted and loosened from their braids, his once stalwart face gaunt and pale with fears writhing beneath the surface... all that remains of the man he once was is the determination in his tone no matter how it shakes. "Leave them to me."

They war against one another as though from a tale torn from myth or legend, a desperate knight turning cleaver and rifle against the bloodthirsty dragon that this town and his own willful ignorance has turned him into. Cobblestones torn up from frenzied swipes of dagger-claws, gunshots that crack against thick hide and thicker bone, jaws outstretched to seize her slighter form and swallow whole this worn and weary woman only to be deterred with the baring of silver sword against wretched fangs-- they tear one another apart with a savagery beyond men but more terrible than proper beasts of the earth and wild, hot blood spilling onto the streets in a river of wasted life.

"Our... compatriot gave me this, should my sword alone not be enough." From with his tattered and stained cloak, once as pure and white as fresh-fallen snow, he withdraws a lump of molded flesh. Immediately what remains of his pupils dilate, claws flexing involuntarily, and the ominous creaking of his jaw echoes loud and harsh enough to be audibly heard at merely the scent of this last resort. "You know what this is, don't you?" It's not framed as a question, not hardly as he stuffs it away and sucks in one deep breath after another to steady himself. "A beast blood pellet, forbidden and for good reason. Where or how that ragged scarecrow came about this, I don't care to know." He swallows hard, thickly, and the resignation in his face is clear even despite the small smile he offers her. "He gave me three, Helena. More than enough to... to ensure a change. One I won't be returning from."

He's slowing now. Even before the jagged teeth of her cleaver hacks again and again into the thick meat of his tendons, even before her rifle scores one blow after another upon his enormous skull, the sluggishness from a night of slaughtering his kindred doomed and damned has taken its toll on him. Their vengeful claws and desperate teeth had found purchase time and again, an entire city of monsters fighting for survival against the one he'd become, and for the dried blood on his gaping maw and the litany of wounds he carried before their battle even began it's clear that dominance didn't come without a price. Every snap of the jaws that misses and is returned with gunfire, every swipe of fiendish claws that crashes against only stone, they all weigh against him until at last he stumbles before the weight of the night and the blows she has rained upon him, his great bulk crashing to the cobblestones with a shuddering quake.

"I know what you'll say," and those ruined eyes for all their weakness and weariness are firm in this, in dissuading her from turning from her task as that small smile departs. "That there is still a chance. That with the break of dawn I may yet become something more than I ever could've been beneath the weight of my misguided faith, beneath the very convictions that brought me to the cusp of madness I teeter upon even now... it was a nice dream, Mephistopheles. I'm glad you shared it with me, after everything I've done. I hardly deserved it, after all, and this... even this is more fitting an end than I have any right to claim." Brom's hand in hers trembles, for weakness or sorrow, and if the gentle squeeze he offers her is more so for himself then he doesn't admit it. Carefully, he reaches for the twine hanging around his neck and withdraws a single hunter's badge-- his own sword hunter badge, still somehow pure and radiant despite all the slaying and butchery these nights have foisted upon him. With a tug it snaps free easily, and he turns her own hand palm up before pressing it into her grasp, closing her claw-tipped fingers around the proof of his former convictions; of what he should have been for all those lost to the blood and horror of the endless hunt. "Take it," he says quietly, hoarsely. "For you have done more in the name of the people here than I ever could have, Helena. You who have healed them and tended to them when their shepherds grew fur and fangs and turned their teeth to them. You who would lay down your life for a people that will not thank you for it, for all you have given up for them..." Another pair of claws cradle her own, and he presses a kiss to her knuckles soft and chaste before letting her go, the strength seemingly sapped from him. "Goodbye, my dear friend... and thank you. For everything."

What once was a man had become far less, and what had been far less has become something even feebler with its shallow breaths and helpless gurgles and growls. Blood and bile spill from between its slavering jaws onto the already filth-laden street, the Oedon-twisted bones of that fearful face fractured by her careful aim and further flayed by the teeth of her cruel cleaver. Forelimbs powerful enough to reduce brick and mortar to mere dust have been torn apart, not even strong enough to raise the bloodied bulk from the ground, and every breath from the beast seemed harder fought for than the last. Tattered eyes, ruined things that seemed less like burning coals and more the last cinders of a snuffed flame peer at her hazily, unseeingly as she approaches. There's an attempt for it to struggle onto its malformed paws, to snap or snarl, but all it can manage is a frail whimper and whine as she levels her rifle for what once was the face of a friend.

"Strange, isn't it? This pact of ours, I mean. For all your talk and supposed intent..."

Cool metal rests against that massive skull as the barrel is pressed against its temple, hammer pulled back with a resounding click. A single, malformed eyes swivels up to meet her own at the sound.

"... somehow I seem to have come away with more than you, Mephistopheles. But... that's not how the story is supposed to--"

Her rifle kicks against her shoulder, the shot shattering bone and pulping the flesh beneath. Beastly eyes still with a sudden jerk, a breath stilling in hideous lungs and a grisly heart stills its beating at long last.

#derjaegermond #verse; holy blade ( bb. )#// one of brom's canon endings in this verse.#// been sitting on this one for some times... to get it out feels pretty good rofl

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salt-warrior · 4 years

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OMG CAN YOU DO A FIC WHERE CINDER TELLS KAI SHE'S PREGNANT!!!

Okay, fine. I’ll finally write the fic…

In Denial

Summary: Cinder discovers she is pregnant and tells Kai the news. (WC: 1.6k)

“Hey,” Kai whispered to Cinder during their world leaders meeting. His hand rested on her back, rubbing gentle circles there in such a comforting way that Cinder almost forgot all the nausea roiling inside of her. She turned her face toward him and saw concerned copper eyes with hair falling into them in such a way that Cinder itched to brush it back.

“Huh?”

“I think you should skip the next meeting,” Kai murmured, his fingers reaching up and twirling in her half-down hair. His knee began to bounce in a way that let Cinder know that he was anxious. “I can handle it by myself, and you can go take a nap.”

Cinder leaned closer to Kai, longing for him to hold her but knowing that she had to keep her well-practiced posture in order for a certain someone— cough Queen Camilla cough— to take her seriously.

“Kai, the next meeting is for cyborg rights. I can’t miss that— it literally concerns my rights,” Cinder placed her hand on Kai’s knee, stopping it from bouncing up and down.

Kai winced, his nose twitching at Cinder’s catch in his anxiety. He leaned his head even closer to her. “After being married to you for five years, I think that I’m just as concerned about cyborg rights as you are. I can handle it alone— trust me.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you…” Cinder started, but trailed off as Kai’s eyes bore into hers. She let out a sigh. “Fine, you go to the meeting and I’ll go…”

“Take a nap,” Kai finished for her, his fingers writing N-A-P across her back. “You haven’t been sleeping and look dead on your feet.”

“Thanks,” Cinder glared.

“No no,” Kai rolled his eyes. “It’s just that— well, if you’re not sleeping, you’re not going to feel great. So get some sleep and maybe you won’t feel so sick. I just want for you to feel good. It’s been rough the past couple of weeks.”

Cinder let out a sigh but nodded her head all the same. She’d felt ill for about ten days now, and was pretty much over it. Never had Cinder been good at the lying in bed thing— even after being stabbed through the heart. So while she agreed to Kai’s offer of a nap, she knew she wasn’t going to take one. She had other plans.

The idea had been nibbling at her for the past few days when she realized that she hadn’t had her period in— well, a couple of months. She wasn’t much for tracking her cycle in the first place due to its unreliability, but even this was a little out of place for her.

She and Kai had talked about kids— they wanted them for sure— but they hadn’t been trying either. It was something to think about in the future— not now while they were still so young. Sure, they had been married for half a decade, but they had also gotten married at ages nineteen and twenty-one.

It no longer mattered though— she was going to take a pregnancy test.

***

Cinder stared at the stick in shock, unsure what to think or feel. She had thought that maybe… but seeing it in reality was more than she had ever expected. The two pink lines running down the panel, showing that she most definitely had a creature living within her— a baby.

Her hands shook as she set the test down on the sink counter of her bathroom. Her brain panel warned her of rising hormones, but Cinder brushed them away— no duh she felt a rush of adrenaline and the like.

She ducked her head into her hands, feeling a swell of emotions rising within her. Everything from shock to fear to indescribable joy hit her in a wave so fierce that her eyes began to throb with her lack of tears. It was both the most exciting and the scariest thing to have ever happened to her— and she had once gone up against her tyrannical, mind controlling aunt with her own life and her friend’s lives all at stake. But this was so much different.

“Hey, Cinder,” a knock sounded outside the door and Cinder froze. She tried to stand, but her legs gave out on her and she fell back down to the ground. “Are you okay in there?”

“Uh-huh,” Cinder gasped, barely audible. She finally managed to grab hold of the sink and drag herself up to her feet. She opened a drawer and threw the pregnancy test inside next to Iko’s meticulously arranged hair products for Cinder that she had never once used.

“I know you hate to admit defeat, and I really admire that about you,” Kai said, his voice gentle in that way it only ever was with her. Not that he was a demanding man with anyone, but he had that air of authority about him that suited his rank. “But I think that you should see a doctor. Just to make sure that everything’s okay.”

Cinder rested her hand on the handle of the door. Her body shook all over and she knew that if she opened the door in that moment then there would be no way she’d be able to hold back what she had just discovered.

When Cinder didn’t respond, Kai kept talking. “We have some really good doctors— I don’t even think any of them are spies like Dr. Erland was. And the guy who diagnosed you with summer allergies, I totally think he’s right, even if you believe him a liar. I see you sneezing in the summer. You’re just in denial. But you don’t have to see him. You can see Dr. Blanchard or- or someone else, I don’t know.”

Cinder let out a little sigh— Kai was such an idiot sometimes, but quite possibly the most wonderful person upon the face of the earth or Luna. He loved her, and she loved him.

She turned the door handle and stepped out. Her body quivered just a little bit, and Kai stared at her, as if by looking at her he could figure out what was wrong.

“I’m not sick,” Cinder said, though her voice was barely over a whisper.

“Cinder-”

“I’m not sick, Kai,” she took his hands, trying to smile, though her lips hardly twitched. “There’s something else.”

“What do you mean?” Kai asked, taking a step closer to her. “What else could it be?”

“I…” Cinder swallowed, unable to get the words out of her mouth. I’m pregnant. How does one say such words? How do they get them out?

Kai stepped forward, concern scrawled across his face. He placed a hand on her forehead as if to feel for a fever. Cinder let out a laugh and reached up to take his hand from her face.

“I’m not sick, Kai,” Cinder repeated, pulling his hand to her lips and kissing it. “I’m— we— I don’t know how to say this.”

Kai’s face went pale, and he pulled Cinder closer to him. She could see the gears turning within his head, calculating her symptoms and everything that she couldn’t seem to say.

“I’m pregnant.”

Kai’s jaw dropped, then a smile took over his entire countenance accompanied by the tears that Cinder herself hadn’t been able to cry. He threw his arms around her in the tightest hug that she had ever received, lifting her off the ground in his excitement.

He suddenly pulled away, his hands upon his shoulder and dewey eyes piercing Cinder’s own. “Are you sure?”

Cinder nodded vigorously, a smile overcoming her face despite her lack of words.

“Are you okay? Do you feel okay?”

She smiled at him and nodded slowly. She’d never felt so happy in her entire life. Kai grinned and pulled her close to him again, his hands playing with the loose strands of her hair.

“We’re having a baby?” Kai asked, though it was less of a question and more of an exclamation. “When did you find out?”

“Just now,” Cinder whispered into his shoulder. She breathed in the soft, clean scent of him, reveling in the feeling of being in his arms and him just being close to her and loving her. She would have never believed a love so strong could be held in regard to herself a decade before, but alas, here she was, being held by the one person who had given her the whole world and so much more.

“Are you scared?”

“Terrified,” Cinder grinned. “You?”

“I’m so happy that I don’t really know what else to do than hug you until the excitement wears off.” Kai cupped the back of her head in his hand, then kissed the top of her head. “The only thing is, I don’t know if my excitement will ever wear off.

“Mine too,” Cinder sighed, then she leaned her head back and kissed Kai. She would never understand how she had gotten so lucky— maybe it was for all that she had done for Luna and cyborgs and people who had suffered. But for whatever reason fate decided to shine kindly upon Cinder, she was grateful for her happily ever after.

Tag list: @cerenoya @strawberry-seraph @jacihayle @horton-hears-a-who @cindersnightmare

#salt warrior stories #kaider #linh cinder #emperor kai #prince kai #kaider fanfiction #tlc fanfiction #marissa meyer #tlc #the lunar chronicles #canon compliant

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annietheseawitch · 3 years

Text

The Moon’s Not That Far Away

written for the day one of @mechsalbumweek , Once Upon a Time (In Space)

(also on Ao3)

The new prison commander comes down to Cinders’ cell, and her steps are quiet compared to the echo of the stories the fallen princess had heard the guards tell of her. They say she is the finest soldier in the king’s army, the finest soldier to have ever lived. They say her hand never wavers, her shot never misses, her hair is as red as the blood that she spills. They say she was a princess too, once upon a time, or something akin to that, before she left her palace and her planet and her crown and took up the sword.

Cinders had seen her when she arrived, just for a moment. A flash of scarlet hair, and a feeling could not name. Now the commander comes down to her, and Cinders looks up and stops breathing.

It feels like seeing the stars again.

The people, in New Constantinople, talk of Snow's beauty. The soldiers on both sides, in their camps, Speak of Rose’s fierceness, of the terror she inspires. Cinders, in her lonely cell, watches her new guard and thinks, she must be the most beautiful woman in all the worlds.

With her dark uniform and the scar down the side of her face, she doesn’t look like a princess. but then, neither does Cinders, anymore. it’s a wide, odd galaxy, and maybe the commander made the wise choice. Cinders knows better that anyone just how little royalty means when the soldiers come a-marching.

The beautiful commander finishes talking to the guards and turns to Cinders.

“Is there something you wish to say?” she asks. Her voice is quiet. There is no bite to it, no poison.

Cinders hesitates, then dares.

“Commander,” She says. “It grows cold at night, in these cells. Will you give me a coat?”

She had made the same request of two of the guards, and later of the former commander. All had ignored her. But this new commander is stolen starlight and strangeness, and there is no way to know what futures and paths she holds, and Cinders has been cold for so long.

The commander meets her eyes, and after a moment, nods. “you will have it.”

She leaves shortly after that. The coat arrives that evening – simple and soft. It is brought by someone else, and Cinders does not question it, when she finds her relief mixed with a pang of disappointment.

She had hoped to see the princess commander again.

The commander returns the next day with the food. As she passes it through the door, her eyes flicker to the coat, then to Cinders’ face. For a moment they look at each other silently, and the she is gone.

She shows up again the day after that. On the third day, when it looks like she is about to leave, Cinders breaks the silence.

“Commander,“ She says, not knowing why. “The days here are long and empty. Will you give me some books?”

The commander blinks in surprise, then nods. “You will have them.”

This time, in the evening, the commander comes herself. She is carrying a small pile of books, all from different genres and sources, clearly collected from all around. Her fingers linger, reluctant, on the last of them, a small book with a simple, dark cover, but eventually she lays it beside the rest.

“Thank you.” Cinders says. She means it, and it has been so long since she spoke to someone else with a genuine emotion that wasn’t bitterness.

“I hope you like them.” Says the other woman. Her face is unreadable, but there is a vulnerability to the words that cinders did not expect. She isn’t sure quite what to do with it.

The commander is gone before she can decide.

The small book contains poetry. Not something local – the words carry the odd beauty and strangeness of something from a faraway planet. On the first page, written by hand, is the dedication: if you ever have time to read. Happy 22 to both of us. Love, S.

The pages are worn from use. Cinders turns the book again and again in her hands through the night, the other books forgotten. It's content, it’s weight, somehow turn her new guard from a dream into a flesh-and-blood woman in a way even the scars couldn’t do.

She wonders who S is.

In the morning, when the commander comes down with the food, Cinders rushes to the cell’s door. “I read the books.” She says, reaching a hand to take the tray. “The poetry was beautiful.”

Their hands touch.

Cinders freezes, barely stopping a gasp. On the other side of the bars, the commander freezes, too.

It has been a long time since Cinders touched another person, and the commander’s hand feels like it is burning. A flesh-and-blood woman, she had thought last night, and well, here is her proof, long fingers pressed against her on the cold metal. Her hand is not soft – it is a warrior's hand. Cinders wants to hold it forever.

For an eternity, neither of them moves. When eternity ends, the commander pulls her hand back and says “I’m glad.” before turning and not-quite-running away.

Her voice shakes, just a little. Cinders wonders if it’s been a long time since she touched another person, too.

When she comes back the next day, Cinders is waiting by the door. She reaches for the tray slowly, deliberately, giving the commander time to back away.

She doesn’t.

With their fingers intwined, Cinders speaks.

“Commander,” She asks, quietly. “Will you give me your name?”

The commander smiles, and the stars shine brighter.

“You can call me Rose.”

She sees Rose every day, after. They don’t talk much – there are guards everywhere, and they both know the yet-nameless thing between them is not allowed. But Rose come to her every day, and looks in her eyes and smiles, just for her. Their hands always meet.

Cinders keeps requesting things, just to give her reasons to return. Small things, always – but small things matter, too.

“You will have it.” Rose says, every time.

“Rose, will you give me a hairbrush?”

“Rose, will you give me a screen?”

“Rose, will you give me news of the world?”

My Rose, will you give me your heart?

She doesn’t dare to ask.

(Rose was sixteen when she packed her bags, kissed her sister goodbye and left for the army.

“They don’t need me here.” She told Snow before she left. “I don’t belong here. I’m not like you. I can’t fight for our people here, not like I could from there. They need me there.”

Snow didn’t say, I need you here. Maybe she didn’t.

She needs her now, though. In a world full of lies and treacherous words and courtesy and the bloodlust underneath it, Snow is a master at her craft and a little girl lost in the woods all at once, and Rose is her path. Rose is her reason. Her sister calls her after a battle from a distant planet, specks of blood near-invisible in her short hair, and the tension melts from her shoulders, and maybe Rose needs her too (maybe for the same reasons).

Snow’s sister is a flickering shade, there and then gone, only hers for brief moments. She dreams, sometimes, of bringing an end to the war that keep taking her away. She cannot imagine, even in those fantasies, the person Rose will be without it. But it helps her remember why she is doing all this – why she is arguing and preaching and persuading and struggling, fighting to change an empire as old as the sun.

She is doing it for their people, and she’s doing it for Rose.

Rose deserves to be happy.

Rose always smiles when she talks about Cinders. Rose smiles more often, these days, when she calls to talk.

Snow will do anything to keep that smile there.

She arrives at Rose’s door two hours before midnight.

“I have a plan.” She says.

Rose smiles. Not one of her Cinders-smiles. A Smile that’s just for Snow.

“My brilliant sister.” She says. “Of course you do.”)

“We have to hurry.” Says the woman in white. She doesn’t tell Cinders her name as she leads her out of the prison and into the pale starlight, as she tells her of her plan, as she promises her freedom and her Rose if she only makes it before midnight. She doesn't have to. Cinders recognizes the familiar shape of her face, clean of scars. Rose’s sister looks like her, like an odd, dark haired reflection. In her beautiful white dress, with her gentle hands and unmarred skin and the same sharp steel in her eyes, S looks like a princess.

And so does Cinders, now. There’s a dress for her, more beautiful, even, than anything she wore in her childhood. The feeling of the silk against her skin is familiar and foreign all at once, nearly forgotten. She doesn’t know how to be a princess, anymore. S pushes her into the carriage and presses the ring to her hand. “go now, quickly.” She orders. “I will see you there.”

Cinders wants to ask for her name, but there is no time. (there will be time, she tells herself. There will be forever to know her new sister, after midnight.)

And then there is the altar, and there is Rose.

“I will love you,” she vows, “for as long as I live.”

Rose slips the ring onto her finger. Her smile is one Cinders has never seen before, and she would look at it forever, if they only had time. Instead, she holds out the other ring.

“My love,” She asks. “will you give me your hand?”

Rose meets her eyes. “you will have it.”

A gunshot rings.

#ouat(is)#the mechanisms #my writing #mechs album week

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xbellaxcarolinax · 4 years

Text

Forging A Heart (Ivar the Boneless) 24- Let Them Come

Pairings: Ivar x Artemis (OFC)

Word Count: 3134

Warnings: Corpse burning.

AN: I found this GIF a long time ago on tumblr and I have no idea who made, but credit to them.

23- Silver Fox

... The makeshift pyre was constructed in a matter of hours. Dabria was secured tightly against the wood with mountains of hay surrounding her corpse. Artemis's eyes followed the dancing flames as they licked at the dead woman's feet.

She stood beside Ivar and all the people behind them, to watch her burn. The colorful flames illuminated the night sky and the smell of scorching flesh lingered in the air.

Dabria's face was a mangled mess of loose beating red flesh. Her skull was visible under all the flapping skin, cracked and deformed. It did not bother Artemis in the least, not as it would have before. She assumed her heart would ache, or at the very least, grieve the death of a misfortunate woman. But she didn't. Her heart hardened and her eyes were blank. Perhaps it was because the woman was not alive, but merely a corpse. The dead could not feel anymore pain.

Ivar looked dissatisfied, almost disappointed, at the lack of torture and pain. He would have preferred the woman alive, begging and screaming for her life for daring to hurt his wife. Instead he watched a lifeless body become cinders. To him, it was a dull affair, but it was enough to send a message.

He turns to look at Artemis. Even with the hood of her cloak on he could still make out her expression in the night. Apathetic. It made him smile. She was becoming stronger.

"Let the people watch if they wish," She tells him, her voice low, "I tire of watching her burn." She absentmindedly places her hand on her wounded shoulder, the wrappings easily felt through the fabric of her cloak. Ivar nods, bringing her hand to his lips and placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles.

"As you wish, baby bird." The king raises a hand, signaling the guard of their departure. Walking away from the docks, Artemis takes one last look at the pyre. She was happy to see her burn.

...

"Strike me." Artemis raises a brow at Ivar, looking down at the sword in her hands. It was Hvitserk's, one of his prized possessions. She's worked on it more than a few times, the handle already familiar in her hands.

It had been decided that she should receive training in self defense. So far, she had done well on her own, but it had been sheer luck, likely divine intervention from the gods.

"Well?" Ivar smirks. He sat upon the tree stump located in the old training grounds of his youth. He held a blue shield covering his left side and his favored axe held in his right. He sat perfectly still, resembling a statue, legs bound together as he had no need for his metal cages.

"Do you think it wise...?" She begins to ask, and Hvitserk laughs, crossing his arms.

"My brother deserves a beating, use that strength," Ivar scowls at his older brother before smacking his axe against his shield.

"Come now, wife." Ivar calls out to her. Artemis was some distance away, but not far enough to ignore her husband's taunting smile. He wanted to raise an anger out of her, make her attack him like some kind of berserker.

She takes a cautious step forward, and then another before running at full speed in the way Hvitserk had taught her. She intended a quick strike, though she knew Ivar would block it with ease. Raising the large sword, she brings it down with all her might. It was an attempt at a slash, and just as she predicted, Ivar deflected the blow with his shield. The wood splintered slightly at the pressure of her force, and Ivar used his shield to smack it from her hands.

With a quickness he swings his axe, to which Artemis blocks with her own shield, pushing at him. She was heaving, chest rising and falling under her leather vest. Raising her shield, she attempts to strike him with it, but he was much faster, embedding his axe into the wood, successfully lodging it in deeply.

He pulls with all his might, bringing her forward with his brute strength. She lets out a yelp, body colliding atop of his, dropping her now useless shield.

"So, this is what you prefer, hmm?" Ivar says from under her, looking up at her with his infuriating smirk and sparkling eyes. He drops his weapons in favor of placing his large hands on her waist, using his thumbs to stroke her sides under her training tunic.

"Shut up," She retorts, pushing his face away from her own. She rolls off of him comically, body softly landing on the grass. Hvitserk laughs something fierce, arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

Training would prove to be difficult.

...

The days began to shorten and the nights grew long. The cold swept over Kattegat unmercifully, changing its leaves into different shades of red, yellow, and brown until there was nothing left but thin branches.

Then autumn was set aside for winter, its icy grip coating every inch of the town in snow. Trade had decreased for the time being, children played about less frequently, and families remained inside their homes where their hearth would keep them warm against the harsh elements.

That did not stop their Queen from stepping out to speak with the people. Though she was never an admirer of Kattegat's winters, she was slowly learning to embrace her new home and culture.

Artemis shivers from the cold despite wearing her warmest fur lined cloak, a luxury she was grateful for. Her newest guard Tordis, a shieldmaiden, follows behind her. Tordis was stoic, tall and brooding just like Heahmund, with dark eyes and thin lips set in a tight line. She wasn't the best company as Dafi had been, but Ivar trusted her enough to be Artemis's new shadow.

The marketplace buzzed with activity despite the slow oncoming snowstorm. Light flurries fell from the sky, a welcomed distraction from the noisy docks. The people crowded by the pier, all pushing at each other to take a look at the ship nearing their harbor.

"My Queen," Tordis says to her, "I think it's best we head back to the hall." Artemis had just finished speaking with an elderly woman, the wife of a farmer.

"I haven't finished making my rounds," Artemis tells her, smiling in farewell to the old woman before peeking up at the tall shieldmaiden, "I haven't even spoken to the fishermen yet. One of the wives is with child, you know." Tordis sighs.

"But the ship, my Queen."

"Ship?" It was only then that she noticed the people rushing towards their small dock. She whips around to get a glance herself, but she was far too short to see over the others.

"The King would want you with him in the hall. The people can wait." Tordis urges. Artemis sighs but nods, walking the familiar path towards the hall.

Already Aria comes skittering out from the kitchens once she is informed of the Queen's arrival. The redhead seemed nervous, wasting no time in removing the snow covered cloak from Artemis's shoulders.

"What's wrong?" She asks Aria immediately, already sensing the girls discomfort. Before she can answer, Heahmund hurriedly rushes over to them, his steps matching a soldier's march.

"Queen Artemis," Heahmund greets her, the sound of his voice clashing with that of yelling in the background, "Perhaps we should take a walk together?"

"Bishop. I've just come from outside." She says to him with a roll of her eyes, but stops short after hearing more yelling. The recognizable tone was unmistakably Ivar.

"Why is he in a rage?" She attempts to walk towards the sound of her angry husband, but Heahmund blocks her way.

"Heahmund," She huffs out, "Move."

"He's merely having a discussion with Hvitserk." Something shatters.

"That's a discussion to you?" She raises a brow and makes to walk around him but again he blocks her.

"He is angry."

"Oh? I haven't noticed!"

"Hvitserk will deal with him."

"But there is a ship intending to dock soon." Artemis says exasperated.

"He knows. That is why he is in a rage."

"I did not see their banners, are they friend or foe?" She asks worriedly, turning to look towards Tordis.

"I could not tell, my Queen." The shieldmaiden says to her. Artemis sighs but dismisses her before turning to Heahmund.

"What are you not telling me?" She switches to her native tongue, in case he was worried about others hearing. Heahmund scratches at his cropped hair before dropping his hand atop the pommel of his notorious sword out of habit.

"His brothers are due to dock by tonight." The shouting continues, Ivar's and Hvitserk’s voices seeming to come from deep within the hall, perhaps from the council chambers.

"His brothers?" She asks in disbelief, "Are they a threat?"

"They come with one ship. A messenger was sent ahead. They wish to discuss things peacefully."

"Peacefully? The last time they all saw each other was during war!"

"Which is why your husband is in a rage." With a sigh, Artemis walks towards the council chambers, but Heahmund reaches out to grab her arm, halting her movements. She shakes his grip off and he rolls his eyes.

One could not miss the yelling that threatened to knock down the chamber doors. Thralls scurried about, frightened, just as Aria had been. Artemis knocks on the door before opening it slowly. Hvitserk rushes forward, attempting to close it back.

"Hvitserk, let me in."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Artemis." He says hastily through the crack of the door.

"Artemis?" She hears Ivar question, already sensing his frustrations from the other side.

"I'm here, let me see you." She calls out to him, and after a whispered back and forth between him and Hvitserk, the elder brother reluctantly opens the door. He lets her and Heahmund through before softly shutting it.

The chamber was a complete mess. Parchments and maps strewn about and shattered pieces of things she could not identify littered the floor. The table was in disarray, with the candles used for nightly reading rolling off the surface. And in the center of it all was a very angry Ivar. He sat leaning over the table, body in a defensive mode, jaw clenched.

"Ivar," She begins softly, slowly making her way towards him as if he were a wounded animal. She carefully steps over the broken things that covered the floor, leaning up against him with a gentle hand on his back. This already seemed to calm him, though there was still a fire blazing in his eyes.

"They dare come to Kattegat!" He seethes for a moment, straightening his back to look her in the eyes, "They dare come here demanding peace?" His voice rose octaves, booming something fierce. Artemis quickly kneels to be at level with him.

"Do not strain yourself." She says, knowing fully well that he'd end up hurting his bones somehow. She places her cold hands on his heated face in an attempt to smooth out the angry lines, and for a moment it seemed to work. He then breathes out harshly, brows refusing to smooth over. He grits his teeth before speaking.

"You do not understand, wife." He was holding himself back, she could tell, from saying something offensive.

"I understand that you are angry, but your fury will cloud your judgement."

"I should execute them." He says suddenly, head raised as if he thought of the most brilliant plan.

"Ivar-" Hvitserk speaks up.

"I should have them executed the moment their feet touch the sand."

"They are our brothers!" Hvitserk roars, slamming both hands atop the wooden table.

"Yet they betrayed us, their kin!" Ivar roars back lurching forward, forgetting his own disability. The movement causes Artemis to step back with a frown. He turns to look at her, his wild eyes dimming at the sight of her. He plops back against his seat.

"I do not care for Ironside," He mutters, looking down for a moment towards the small dagger strapped to his side, "But perhaps I'll spare Ubbe." His tone was nonchalant.

"My king," Heahmund speaks up, "I believe you have a right to be suspicious," Hvitserk immediately turns to glare at the Bishop. Heahmund ignored him and continues, "But perhaps you should hear them out."

"And if it is a trap?" Ivar urges.

"We have the means to protect ourselves." Was the simple reply.

"They must be in dire need if they risk coming back to Kattegat," Artemis comments, flipping over a chair that was knocked over in Ivar's anger. She takes a seat beside him, grabbing his hand gently, making him look at her.

"Let them come," She tells them, "We shall then judge whether they come in pretense. What do you say?" She turns to look at Hvitserk, then Heahmund, who both look at each other, unsure.

"We can ready a few men," Hvitserk says after a moment, "And we meet them at shore."

"I will have your men at the ready, my King," Says Heahmund, "If you command it." Ivar drums his thick fingers against the table, his other hand in Artemis's grip. He then turns to look at her, as if searching her eyes for something.

"You need to be protected." He states.

"I need to be by your side, you mean," She counters, "I do not wish to appear weak."

"You are no warrior." His tone was finally softening, but there was still enough edge to understand that his decision would be final.

"I should be by your side to greet them!"

"Artemis is right," Hvitserk says, "If they do not see the Queen beside you, they will take it as a threat." Artemis smirks at Ivar's frown.

"She always gets in the way of danger," Ivar argues, "And it'll be more than an arrow to the ear or a slice to the shoulder. Lagertha's supporters rally with them."

"Tordis will be by my side," Artemis pleads, already setting that particular look she gave when she wanted something, "You trust her don't you?" Ivar huffs, sucking his teeth and ripping his hand away from her own to set it under his chin in thought.

"You are to come straight back to the hall with Tordis if danger does arise." Artemis nods her head enthusiastically and Ivar sighs.

"Very well," The king says, "Let them come."

...

The ship arrived late into the evening, just as the snow began to stick.

Ivar stood tall and proud, his eyes never leaving the sight of his brothers disembarking their ship. His jaw was clenched tight, his posture rigid and knuckles white from the tight grip on his crutch buried within the snow and through the sand.

Artemis shifts under the weight of her furs, the pelt of soft wolf hair heavy on her small shoulders. It was by far one of the most sumptuous articles of clothing that she had received. Ivar had made it a point that they were to be dressed in fine garments to display their wealth and power. It made her want to roll her eyes, as none of it was hers truly, but still, she indulged him. She stood to Ivar's right, the very vision of a beautiful queen with her dog beside her. Tordis stood behind her as agreed, one of the few things that eased Ivar's mind.

Hvitserk and Heahmund were on Ivar's left. Both were armed and ready incase of attack, though Hvitserk was far more apprehensive. He did not want to face his brothers in battle again. 20 armored men were lined up across the beach to protect their king. Some of the people stayed to watch while others scurried off home to avoid any potential conflict.

Torches were blazing along the edges of the docks to combat against the darkness. Only shadows could be seen disembarking the ship, one by one.

The tallest figure was Bjorn, who strides towards them with measured steps and a hand resting on his sword. He too was ready for any possible threat. He had hate emanating from his person, eyes a dead blue and lips tightly formed into a frown. He replaced his rope like hair with that of a shorter look, shaved down to his scalp. He looked frightening, as large as a bear standing on its hind legs. He quickly makes eye contact with Artemis, blue and grey clashing in an intense stare. Although his features did not betray him, there was a twinkle in his eye. He was surprised to see her.

Ubbe was behind him, hair as long as Bjorn's before he cut it, and a sadness in his eyes. Surely he missed his brothers. His eyes land on Ivar, though it was only for a fraction of a moment before he moves them to Hvitserk. They stared each other down for a few seconds, as if exchanging memories of their youth. Ubbe was not at all surprised by Artemis's appearance as Bjorn had been. Her cloak was finer than anything he'd ever seen her in. He knew she would elevate to her current position.

Behind him was Torvi the shieldmaiden and her children. She had a determination in her kohl lined eyes, a fire that could burn through all of them. Artemis focused her eyes on Torvi's children, afraid and gripping their mothers skirts. They had no fault in this.

"Brothers," Bjorn greets, crossing his hands over his front, "I see you've made the blacksmith a Queen." Bjorn's lips form a smirk, shifting his eyes to Heahmund, "And you've kept the bishop." Ivar snorts.

"Observant. Welcome back to Kattegat, brothers," Ivar's eyes land on the flaxen haired shieldmaiden, "And Torvi." The shieldmaiden glares, but does nothing more.

"To what do we owe...the pleasure of such a visit? Hmm?"

"Pleasantries." Says Bjorn, almost jokingly. If it weren't for the breeze and the loud crackling of the fires, anyone would have heard Ivar intake a breath of annoyance. He was certainly not amused.

"What do you want?" Ivar says, voice sharp as a whip.

"An alliance."

"I have enough of those. I don't need you."

"May we continue this inside? My children are cold." Ivar sucks his teeth, eyes shifting to the children in between Torvi's skirts. He feels Artemis tug on the sleeve of his tunic to get his attention.

"Don't turn the children away," She says to him, "They are innocent. Let them inside the hall." Ivar's nose flares, the furs wrapped around his shoulders making him look almost frightening. He licks his lips but nods reluctantly.

"You may enter my hall, but you must leave your weapons with my men."

Bjorn stares him down, before grunting and nodding his head.

"Agreed."

...

@heavenly1927 @didiintheblog @leilabeaux @jzr201 @inforapound @a-mess-of-fandoms @rastakami23 @ostra814 @zumzum96

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warsmith-38 · 3 years

Text

How I would do RWBY pt.8

Season eight.

Salem knows Cinder is coming back home.

Is patiently waiting for her to arrive with Myrmidon at her side.

Cinder shows up, hoping for mercy.

Salem suddenly has an inconvenient gap in her vocabulary when Cinder says that word.

Reminds Cinder that not only did she tell them her plan, she told them how to destroy said plan.

Cinder makes her excuses, “I had to. I didn’t have a choice. We can make another plan,” et cetera.

Salem decides to give Cinder one last chance after fucking up a plan that was older than she was.

Defeat Myrmidon and she can have her old position of number two again.

Myrmidon kicks the absolute shit out of her.

Cinder keeps making little mistakes, blames her new (metal) arm, and Myrmidon exploits every opening.

Myrmidon is sadistically playing with Cinder at this point.

Cinder pops smoke and runs the fuck away.

Myrmidon is stopped from chasing her, being told that Cinder’s execution can wait.

They must finish preparing Plan B.

She does in fact owe this latest plan to Cinder in a roundabout fashion.

The dramatics in Atlas have made Salem remember a little detail that has helped her in the past.

Nothing unites quite like a war.

The free peoples of the world either need a single enemy to face together or they need a factory reset apocalypse to recover from.

Either or, Salem isn’t picky.

The people will be all the stronger no matter which problem they have to overcome.

Ozpin getting directly involved is a snag, but she’s worked around him before.

Regardless of outcome she’ll go dormant for a few generations until most people forget she existed and then it’s back to work.

Her first target is Vacuo.

She would have preferred Vale, but she’s willing to compromise.

Grimm begin to swarm into Vacuo territory.

They had their own version of The Maginot Line, for all the good it does them.

Myrmidon is leading the charge and is the one that tears a big ass hole in their defenses.

Ozpin realizes that Salem has decided ‘fuck it’ on the whole illuminati conflict thing they’ve been doing.

Open warfare it is.

Ozpin has RWBY, JN(P)R, and SSSN sent to Vacuo to see if they can help while he calls the banners with the rest of his council.

RWBY, SSSN, and JN(P)R link up with the Vacuo Defense Force.

Meet the grimm assault with an assault of their own.

Fierce fighting pushes the grimm back to The Maginot Line.

Victory is at hand.

Everyone has a moment or two for a breather and conversations.

Then the second wave of grimm arrive.

They’re not acting like grimm usually do.

They’re using actual military tactics.

Feigning retreats, denying strategic points, and attacking weak spots you wouldn’t think would be weak.

The Black Myrmidon is directing them.

RWBY and JN(P)R have a go at her.

Myrmidon is giving a good fight, but it’s still eight on one.

Penny starts convulsing then starts attacking RWBY and JNR while saying she’s not in control.

Yang’s arm stops doing what she wants it to.

Suddenly nobody can land a hit.

Reminds people of old sparring matches.

Ren dumps his pistols and goes full kung-fu badass on Myrmidon.

Knocks off her helmet.

It’s Pyrrha. (Audience was meant to know because obvious. It’s more about the in story reveal)

She may be fucked up with grimm taint and looking like a mini-Salem, but it’s very much the Pyrrha they knew and mourned.

Everyone is stunned.

Grimm are starting to lose more ground.

Pyrrha sounds the retreat.

Grimm pull back and Grimm Blitzkrieg has been halted.

RWBY and JN(P)R are reeling from events.

Nora is inconsolable and even Ren is failing to hold it back.

Jaune is just quiet.

Penny is trying to help her new teammates as best as she can, but they’re only so much that she can do.

Ask Ozpin + The Council and EMN via video call if they knew anything about this. They didn’t.

Qrow theorizes that Tyrian was a prototype of what was done to Pyrrha.

A dead huntress revived and controlled via grimm corruption that emulates an aura.

Not only still capable as she was in life, still being able to use her semblance, and still as intelligent, but also being powered up by Salem herself.

The Council shudders to imagine an entire army of that.

To take their mind off of the thing, RWBY go scouting to see if they can find any sort of intel.

On mission they find a beaten and almost dead Cinder.

Ruby says there’s nothing to see here.

WBY say that she could have intel they could use.

Ruby says there’s nothing. To. See. Here.

WBY pick up Cinder and take her back to base.

Ruby wants it on record that this was munity from WBY.

Cinder regains consciousness and is genuinely shocked that they helped her.

Finally realizes that Salem does not give the faintest shit about her anymore if she ever really did.

Doesn’t really vibe with Ozpin, but wants to fuck over Salem as much as she can now.

Ozpin says he does not trust her, but does trust her desire for revenge.

Sends EMN, who are firmly on Ozpin’s side now (if only for self-preservation), as reinforcements and to try to help keep Cinder compliant.

Cinder tells Ruby not to worry.

After Salem is dealt with they can sort things out between them.

Cinder provides as much strategic and tactical advice as she can.

Her intel wins a few engagements and saves quite a few lives.

Despite this, Jaune says that he refuses to directly work with Cinder. Nora and Ren both mirror that statement.

They say that they’ll work with her intel, but can’t be held responsible for what might happen if they are left in the same room as her.

To them, the current situation with Pyrrha is actively Cinder’s fault.

It would have been less egregious if Pyrrha was just dead and not some insane zombie.

Penny volunteers to operate as the middlebot.

Ruby is on Jaune’s side and her clout helps keep Jaune at the strategist’s table.

The Myrmidon is spotted at a forward position without a large garrison.

JN(P)R take it on themselves to go to her despite everyone saying it’s bait.

JN(P)R fight through cursory amount of grimm and get to Myrmidon.

Conversation is mired with combat.

Nora says that Ozpin might be able to help her.

Pyrrha says that Ozpin ‘helping’ her is the reason she died.

Penny says that her team still love her and miss her.

Pyrrha says that they replaced her with a robot the first chance they got.

Ren tries to appeal to her sense of logic and morality that Salem is an evil shithead.

Pyrrha says that Ozpin is no better and would rather work with the one that brought her back to life and didn’t lead her to an early grave.

Gets to the point where N(P)R is down and Jaune is the only one standing.

Their duel is hard fought, but brief.

Jaune tells Pyrrha that he knows that even with Salem’s ‘enhancements’ she still won’t kill him.

If she does, then Pyrrha Nikos is still dead no matter what magic Salem does.

Pyrrha says that that’s one of Jaune’s worst plans ever.

He tells her to shut up and do it if she can actually do it.

Pyrrha is having troubles not talking and is clearly delaying herself.

Jaune is shouting ‘do it!’ Rorschach style.

Pyrrha doesn’t. Still gives Jaune a concussion to try and take him out of the strategic fight.

Jaune, when scolded for doing something so stupid, says that he now knows there’s still enough of Pyrrha in there that he believes he can plan around her style.

Now begins the wait for the next offensive.

Cinder has moment with EMN, trying to continue as was, giving them orders and such.

EMN call her a shit and say that they ain’t got to do shit she says. Neo flips her off double deuce style.

Cinder has moment realizing just how hated she is by everyone.

Gets sad, then angry, then sad again.

Ruby and Jaune have a moment talking about their time as team leaders.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown type of thing.

The assault happens in the middle of the night.

Salem herself is leading the charge, riding a huge-ass T-rex looking grimm.

Gives a great big ultimatum to the defenders.

Surrender and join her crusade or die.

RWBY get on the loudspeaker.

Call her a bitch.

Salem does not appreciate their humor and signals the assault.

Myrmidon directing the grimm was bad enough but Salem is terrifyingly worse.

Myrmidon was connected to a sort of grimm hivemind, but Salem directly controls said hivemind.

Salem hits them like a truck on steroids.

The defenders formed a strategy, sure, but that strategy was for Myrmidon.

This was preparing for a linebacker to hit you then getting hit by, y’know, a truck on steroids.

The defensive line is swarmed, ripped apart, and overrun with little effort.

RWBY is separated by the horde.

The fighting is desperate and vicious.

Plenty of jobbers are killed or taken away behind enemy lines.

Then it stops.

The grimm just stop moving for a moment and then they retreat.

Salem then tells everyone that she did this to prove that she could kill all of them whenever she wants.

Does kowtowing sound a little more appealing now?

All the people that were just taken are released to further the point that Salem can do as she pleases.

She gives them all forty-eight hours before her next assault.

She also says that she won’t be taking prisoners that time.

Everyone has a collective moment of ‘wow, we are fucked’.

Cinder has an epiphany and takes it on herself to force a conversation with Jaune.

Jaune is about to try (and fail) to tear her head off when she says that she might have the solution to their problem.

Fuck the grimm, fuck mitigating loss, they need to snipe Salem herself with everything they have.

They can’t permanently kill her, no, but dropping her should send a sort of mental shock to the grimm and stun them for a good amount of time and make them vulnerable.

Vulnerable enough that the large amount of experienced hunters and defense troops will have the breathing space to kill as many as possible before they even get back to their default state.

It’s not much but having a window of working space before Salem gets back up is better than nothing.

Jaune asks her how the fuck are they going to manage to even touch Salem to begin with.

Cinder says to leave that to team CEMN.

He tells her to tell him or else he’s going to call in Ruby.

The plan is to exploit Salem’s fear of Ozpin using Emerald’s hallucinations and Neo’s illusions.

Salem is rarely scared, but when she is she is panicky and rather cowardly.

Cinder has only seen it once when Salem believed that Ozpin had somehow snuck into her sanctum.

They just need her to panic for a moment and then hit her with the biggest single hit they can muster.

Jaune says it’s a longshot and with the remaining forty hours they have he’ll be thinking of a better one.

But, y’know, needs must.

The next day Jaune, having failed to think of another plan, tells everyone of Cinder’s idea.

They do not care for it.

Everyone is skeptical of Cinder’s intentions (even EMN).

Cinder reminds them all that Salem wants to kill her more than most of the people present.

Even if she lets the rest of them live, ha ha, Salem is probably going to take the time to brutally execute her just to make a point.

That or Myrmidon will.

Her intention is doing the thing most likely to keep herself alive, despite the risk.

Ruby is about to threaten her until Ozpin (via video call) tells them to go through with it.

It’s basically all they have and they can’t spend their remaining time bitching about without a plan.

With great reluctance, they begin to work out a proper strategy.

One hour remains.

Weiss and Ruby have brief conversation.

Weiss commends Ruby on her maturity of being able to deal with Cinder in a non-violent manner.

Cinder has moment with EMN telling them not to take unnecessary risks.

The plan relies on them more than it does her and if they fail/die then she does too.

She also, believe it or not, cares enough about them to not want to see them die.

Salem arrives early.

She didn’t lie about the time of her attack, she just allotted about half an hour for a speech.

She gets interrupted.

By Ozpin.

Ozpin says that it’s time to settle things.

Salem wigs out a little and shies back from the front.

This behavior is mirrored by the grimm.

Defense forces strike out.

Salem is trying to organize and fight but her terror of Ozpin is keeping her on the ropes.

Eventually gets annoyed enough to try and send grimm to attack Ozpin.

Can’t land a hit.

Gets angry enough to try and attack Ozpin directly.

Lands a hit.

The illusion breaks away, revealing Neo and Emerald.

She gets attacked by Cinder and Mercury as a distraction.

Ruby has Salem in the scope of her rifle (have we all just forgotten the sniper part of Ruby’s weapon?).

Ruby has a specialized incendiary round that she can infuse with her white fire in the chamber.

She designed and fabricated it herself.

Takes the shot.

It gets blocked by Myrmidon’s thrown shield.

Myrmidon begins fighting CEMN.

Salem realizes just what has happened.

She’s impressed. Incredibly mad, but impressed.

She orders a halt to the combat.

Says that they deserve a token chance for their effort.

She will take one of the defenders for a one-on-one duel.

She’ll even hold back on her more overpowered abilities to make it more sporting.

If they win she will end her assault (and probably go somewhere else instead or just come back later).

If they lose she will continue her swarm into Vacuo.

Ruby volunteers.

WBY say that taking more than two seconds to make the decision might be a good idea.

Ruby volunteers.

JNPR, CEMN, SSSN, and the rest all agree with WBY that-

Ruby. Volunteers.

Salem has Ruby swarmed with bat/bug/whatever type grim and carries her into occupied territory.

Deep enough that they shouldn’t be easily interrupted.

Salem tells her that what she did to Summer was nothing personal, and now with the grimm nuke failed, there isn’t any reason for Salem to be against her personally.

The Cabal could use a few more capable members.

She reiterates her points on Ozpin.

He just wants to dominate the world ‘for its own good’.

Can’t have wars if you no longer have the mental ability to think for yourself.

Offer freedoms that Ozpin could nor would never give.

Tells her that she recognizes Ruby’s personality type.

She’s in love with combat.

Ruby admits that fighting makes her happy, that kicking ass gets her engines running.

Salem offers her war eternal, the chance to be fighting and winning for all time.

Ruby, once again, calls her a bitch.

Says that fighting is pointless without a good reason, like peace, to give it a purpose.

Also says that after they’ve all finally beaten her, Ozpin’s next.

Salem thought that the offer wouldn’t work but had to try.

Salem boss fight.

Salem is able to form myriad magic weapons out of thin air and change her fighting style at random.

Ruby fights as hard as she’s ever fought before.

Salem is, to her word, holding back a good amount.

It’s not helping that much.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

Myrmidon and the grimm were left to just awkwardly stand around the battlefield.

JN(P)R tries to approach her but she (conveniently) approaches CEMN.

She was told not to continue attacking the defensive line, not the bitch that killed her.

JN(P)R is now conflicted.

They could go and help an ally fight an enemy.

The problem is that that ally is Cinder and that enemy is Pyrrha.

Myrmidon has her hands full until she starts using her semblance.

Magnetism vs a team where two members have metal limbs, you do the math.

Cinder tells her to leave the rest of them alone. It’s her she wants.

Myrmidon says that since they got involved, they die too.

This is what prompts JN(P)R to action, saying it’s more about helping EMN than C.

Myrmidon grows enraged, turning her attention to JN(P)R in earnest.

In fact, everyone is so engaged that they don’t notice a dropship flying past them overhead.

Ruby is growing tired while Salem has quite literally godlike endurance.

Salem commends her for lasting far longer than she imagined.

She hasn’t been this worked up in ages.

But all good things must come to an end.

Tells her to say hello to Summer for her.

Right as she’s about to deal the final blow she gets cut off with a dropship ramming (crashing) into her.

WBY file out and scold Ruby for agreeing to try and solo a fucking demi-goddess.

Ruby apologizes but points at the dropship that Salem just threw past them.

Salem amends the fight conditions to welcome the new challengers.

RWBY vs Salem.

First real fight against the main antagonist.

Challenging fight, magic bullshit, brutal close combat, the whole nine yards.

Sways both ways until RWBY gains the upper hand.

Culminates in a big team hit that finishes the fight.

Salem congratulates them and begins pulling the grimm back from Vacuo.

She says that this is not over and reminds them that, no, she was not fighting as hard as she could have.

They eked out a win by the skin of their teeth mostly because of Salem’s survival of the fittest/fight smarter not harder type ideology was being pandered too.

Salem is then swept away in a swarm of bat/bug/bird/whatever grimm.

Myrmidon abruptly pulls away from the fight along with the grimm, giving JN(P)R one last glance.

Ozpin finally shows up in person, tardy to the party.

Gets reports from everyone that Salem has turned the Grimmland’s southern coast into a deathtrap.

If they’re going to get at her through Vacuo they’ll need a lot to dislodge her.

Ozpin tells them that he never said they were going to get her through Vacuo.

Season eight done.

#RWBY #Rewrite #Ruby Rose #Weiss Schnee #Blake Belladonna #Yang Xiao Long #Team JNPR #Pyrrha Nikos #Salem #Ozpin #Cinder Fall #Myrmidon #How I would do...#God tagging this every time is annoying

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insomniarambling · 4 years

Text

TLC Next Generation

Just some quick doodles of some of the NG characters. All are children of canon couples. This is 6/14-15 of them. I will do more in depth info but I haven’t quite figured the all out

Feel free to ask any questions!

Journey Throne 17

Has social anxiety but loves to travel

Especially loves the outdoors and hiking

They are NB and use they/them

Sasha is their bestie and travel buddy

They have been best friends with Sasha for as long as they can remember and have been dating for 4 years.

Sasha Benoit 17

Journey’s boyfriend and unlike his siblings did not beat around the bush and was very direct with Journey

Selectively mute

Not shy though

He will be petty and sassy when around close friends and family.

Hence the nickname Sassy

He doesn’t have many wolf traits but he does have very heightened senses which causes him to get overwhelmed in crowds.

Those tufts of hair will not flatten no matter what he does

Triplets with Briar and Sasha

Netta Benoit 17

Very fiery and hotheaded personality

Butts heads with Nova a lot

Fiercely protective over her brothers (specially Briar and Sasha because they are shyer)

Their triplet

Justice and her drive each other absolutely nuts but in a “I cant help but miss you when you aren’t driving my up the walls” type way.

Inherited the most wolf instincts

Very blunt and to the point which means sometimes she unintentionally hurts feelings

Justice Clay 19

Definitely the quiet kid that will pipe up and roast someone alive

Has the lunar gift but got the device after accidentally controlling and injuring Mason

Tends to attract the crazy crowd (Nowell, Love, Mason)

The mastermind behind Love and Nowell’s pranks

Generally does not show his thoughts or at least stays neutral in the antics

But Netta gets him fired up and will rope him in to participating in something stupid

Claims to hate her a bit but really doesn’t, they just fire each other up

Nova Benoit 25

Kinda rebellious but more against society rather than her parents because she loves her parents very much

Adopted at 12

Such a daddy’s girl

Kinda aggressive and has some anger issue

Dyes her hair

Has fang implants. Her parents didn’t really wanted her to get them but she thought they looked cool, plus her dad and siblings had them

She is half wolf herself

Her Aguilar jaw, sharp nails, and pointed ears give it away

She is a lesbian

Has an on and off again relationship with Love Throne

More on but off but Nova is a bit emotionally constipated and it clashes with Love’s bubbly and outgoing personality

Sees Justice as a little brother

Is a professional fighter (as well as doing a bit of underground fighting)

Love Throne 20

Loves to dye her hair and style it

Often rounds her siblings into crazy hair styles

On and off with Nova

She is a lesbian

Super bubbly

Named by Cinder

Loves Iko and they go out on shopping sprees and spa days.

Besties with Nowell and Journey

Troublemaker

Loved to play pranks and cause mischief

Harmless fun only, would actually cry if anyone actually gets hurt

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aeipathyreads · 4 years

Text

A Review on Scarlet

WITH SPOILERS

[ Scarlet is a continuation of Cinder, the 1st book of The Lunar Chronicles. ]⁣

In the beginning, we meet Scarlet Benoit, whose grandmother has gone missing, and Wolf, a street fighter with information that could serve as tools to knowing the grandmother’s whereabouts. ⁣

Despite her lack of trust with the stranger, she agrees to let him help in searching for her grandmother, and together they meet Cinder and Thorne, who broke out of prison and is on the run as wanted fugitives.⁣

The four band together to put an end to Levana's rule and to try to put a stop to a wedding that could potentially ruin both the lives of Earthen citizens and Lunars. ⁣

Scarlet is a fast-paced book with more adventures than Cinder, and although I didn’t like it more than the previous installment, it was a very enjoyable read.⁣

1+ Did the story develop well? [ 8 / 10 ]

Like Cinder, Scarlet is fast-paced.

When we got introduced to Scarlet, the building of the story was slow and steady. Nothing much was happening, and we were learning about her grandmother’s disappearance through her narrative.

It perhaps has something to do with Scarlet having a longer length than Cinder, but everything was going at a slower rate, and that’s not a bad thing, since we can really have the chance to see the story unfold.

The middle part of the book, from what I can recall, is when things really started to pick up.

Cinder and Thorne discovered and was, at that point, also looking for Michelle Benoit (the grandmother), Kai is firm in going through with the marriage alliance even though he can’t help but think of Cinder ALL the time, and Scarlet and Wolf finally getting some lead on the grandmother’s location.

It was from that point on that I literally couldn’t put the book down.

The climax was great too, and like Cinder, it ended in an absolute cliffhanger.

I remembered being so hurried in getting my hands on the next book, Cress (which I’ve finished reading by the time I wrote this review), just because I couldn’t get over Kai and that ending. (Also mentioning that IF you’re wondering whether Cress is any different in its ending, I’ll tell you now, it’s not. You’ll be surprised at how much of a cliffhanger the book ended.)

Overall, the story developed well, and the new information about the Lunar world given was enough to satisfy me.

There were some parts that were predictable and easy to guess was headed onto that path, but it was enjoyable reading until the end.

I loved how the story lines came together by the time the story concluded, and for that reason, I give the story development a rating of 8/10, despite its predictability.

2+ Were the characters developed well? [ 7 / 10 ]

In terms of character development, I’d say it wasn’t as neatly done, but it was, for the most part, okay.

Cinder, Kai, and Iko remained as main characters, but we didn’t really see much of them in the book, what with its multiple POVs and all, but I loved the moments they had.

The characters of Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf were done well, and I had a fun time reading about them, however, I fear that there just isn’t a lot to say about their (especially Scarlet’s) personality.

Thorne, with his funny banters and quirky character, served as a comic relief in the midst of all seriousness in the book, and because of that, he became one of my FAVORITES in the series.

Wolf was good too. He was shy and quiet, which was perfect to go along with Scarlet’s toughness, but when speaking of their romance as a whole, it didn’t feel as complete as Cinder and Kai’s crush-love.

Their romance was more of an insta-love. I’m not one to hate on that trope, and I think that if it’s done well, it is just as good as other romances. However, for Scarlet and Wolf, that wasn’t the case.

Their relationship didn’t seem realistic and felt forced, but they did have their own cute moments, so I won’t complain too much.

As for Cinder and Kai, they didn’t appear a lot, but in the scenes they did appear, nothing much was done in terms of their character development.

And unfortunately, unlike what I had hoped, Cinder and Kai didn’t interact (at all) in the book. That doesn’t mean I shipped them any less though. They WERE and still IS my No. 1 ship, and I can’t wait for the day Levana goes out of the picture and they finally get their happily ever after.

3+ Was the setting and world(s) well-built? [ 10 / 10 ]

Just like in the previous installment, the Lunar world still was as magical as ever, and I can’t help but wish I was in their world instead. (Maybe not in Luna, but somewhere in New Beijing.)

Some pointed out that the writing on the wolves wasn’t researched enough and the information given out was not accurate, but as I am not an expert in that, I wasn’t bothered at all.

For those who fancy the subject though, do be aware as you read through.

Anyway, there’s nothing much to say and my rating on the worldbuilding will still be 10/10.

4+ Did it give so many feels? Did you think about it all the time? [ 8 / 10 ]

I can’t begin to describe my emotions as I read through the book.

Excitement, happiness, angriness, a little bit of boredom, but complete enjoyment all the way to the end.

I lived for Cinder and Thorne��s cute interactions, and (apologies to Kai in advance) I couldn’t help but imagine if they were the ones that ended up together instead.

Cinder’s determination and fierce personality + Thorne’s quirkiness and flirty ways could blend together so perfectly and their ship would be so cute, however, my heart will be for #KaiDer forever.

Nonetheless, they make such an adorable side ship.

Scarlet and Wolf’s romance was heart-fluttering in some parts too, but as I said above, it just felt so insta-lovey that I couldn’t ship them as much as I wanted to.

The action-filled scenes were so exciting and so fast and it gave me so much adrenaline, which was the same for Cinder too. Those parts were probably one of the reasons I loved Marissa’s writing so much.

5+ Was it enjoyable enough to want to read again? [ 6 / 10 ]

Not as much as Cinder, but it definitely has the capability to entertain a reader all the way to the end.

But when the time comes for me to reread the series, I’d probably choose to skip this one, and read the other installments instead.

It’s enjoyable though, and I feel like this sequel was the perfect sequel to Cinder.

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elesianne · 4 years

Text

A Silmarillion fanfic, chapter three of seven – Carnistir/Tuilindien

Chapter length: ~2,100 words; Story rating: Teenage audiences

Some keywords for the whole fic: romance, marriage, family, some fluff, some angst, implied sex, years of the trees

A/N: A quick refresher on Tuilindien's family for this chapter: her mother is an advisor to Ingwë; father Ingolmo a scholar; older sister Lirulinë had a baby a little over a year before this chapter; younger sister Cantiel is pre-tweenish in human years; youngest sister Wilwarindëa, a toddler.

AO3 LINK

Chapter III // The joy of houseguests

Tuilindien tries not to get homesick for her old home. She writes to her family often, and gets to know Carnistir's family better, and has tea with Indis and her Vanyarin ladies twice a week, and is as sociable as she can be with new acquaintances that she hopes will become friends. It is often exhausting, and she still gets homesick.

Though she wants and tries to avoid self-pity, there are days when it is difficult to do any more than what she has committed to, days when she would rather stay at home and curl up in a blanket with Snowdrop purring in her lap and Cinder napping somewhere nearby, and Carnistir somewhere close enough that she can feel the warmth of his spirit touching hers.

It is colder in Tirion in the autumn than on Taniquetil or the plains of Valinor, where she and Carnistir again spent the latter half of summer on her grandparents' farm with her family. They enjoyed their time there immensely, but after the summer's end and the harvest festival, they returned home to Tirion and settled back into their own life.

It is the life I chose, Tuilindien tells herself day after day, and I do not regret it. And both of those of statements are true; should the truth of them not be enough to keep homesickness at bay?

Yet it is not, not though she loves Carnistir more every day that passes.

As the last remnants of summer are replaced by falling leaves on the streets of glittering white and a good harvest in their own orchard, Carnistir becomes worried about her.

'You spend too much time wandering in the garden or staring out the window into the rain when the weather is bad', he tells her one evening, his fierce black brows drawn to a tight frown aimed at her, a rare occurrence.

She slips into his lap on the living room settee. It is not yet dinner-time. 'I do not do those things all that much.'

His arms tighten protectively around her as she wiggles to find a good position. 'You do them too much.'

'I cannot help it. I wish I could. I tried to keep busy but I cannot do it all the time. I am not suited for that, and I prefer being at home with you to constantly seeking the company of people I hardly know anyway.'

'What can I do?' Carnistir asks.

'What more can you do, you mean. You already do so much.'

'I could –' he begins, but she interrupts him.

'I know that you refused supervising the building of the new distillery west of the city only because it would make your days longer to ride there and back every day. You were very interested in it, I know, I could tell. And you have still not finished all your planned little projects here at the house, either. I know that it vexes you that there are unfinished rooms here, yet you have chosen to spend more time with me instead. I do not want you to give up more.'

The set of his shoulders is bullish – that is the only way to describe it. It amuses Tuilindien. She smooths her thumbs over his frowning eyebrows.

'And I do not regret coming here to be yours, though I miss my old home and my family and friends', she says. 'I shall bear the missing, though it may take some more aimless wandering in the orchard and other such moments of wallowing in self-pitying waking memories.'

'But you will tell me if there is –' he begins, stubborn as a bull, too.

'I will', Tuilindien promises. These days all the promises he asks her to make are easy ones.

And she thinks that that will be the end of him worrying about her for that evening at least, but she should have known that he is too stubborn for that, too. When they are settled in their places before the dressing-table mirror hours later, his hands in her hair, taking apart her braids, he says, 'You should ask your family to visit.'

'I have thought about it.' She bends her head when a gentle pressure from Carnistir's palm at her neck indicates that she should, but keeps talking. 'Lirulinë won't come for some time because her baby is so young. She came to our wedding but it was an arduous journey for her with a baby so small and she would prefer not to make it again for a year or two, and I do not want to ask it of her. My mother won't come because she wants to stay close to Lirulinë, and because Wilwarindëa is still so young too. My father might come but won't enjoy it. He rarely enjoys things that are not very familiar and routine to him.'

'Hmm. What about Cantiel?'

Tuilindien meets his eyes in the mirror, thoughtful. 'She is rather young to leave home for longer periods of time.'

'But she is older than she was a year ago.' Carnistir adds, 'What I mean is, you have taken care of her for shorter periods of time before, haven't you? You two are very close. And she is a cheery and curious sort of child, you always say so. She might enjoy staying with us for a time. She could join your group of students.'

'And you like her, don't you?' Tuilindien smiles.

'She is a sweet girl. Much like her next oldest sister.'

He earns a brighter smile at that. 'She likes you, too', Tuilindien says. 'And she is indeed a cheery sort of girl, braver than me, so I think she would dare stay with us without my parents. Someone would have to bring her here, of course.'

'Perhaps for your well-being's sake your father could be bothered to leave his books and his comfortable chair in the garden for the ride back and forth, if he does not have to stay.'

'I appreciate your restraint in the amount of sarcasm you said that with', Tuilindien chuckles.

'I don't understand him as a person at all, but he has always treated me kindly so I cannot dislike him much despite my bewilderment.'

'He is a rather strange person', Tuilindien has to agree. 'And he dislikes leaving home but indeed, perhaps he might leave for long enough to bring Cantiel.'

'Write to him', Carnistir says, kissing the top of her head. 'The mere thought of Cantiel coming made you brighten and glow.'

'I will write to my mother since she is the one that makes things happen in my family', Tuilindien says.

Carnistir snorts and grins in answer to her grin.

Later, in bed, when they are relaxed and tired and quiet and twined around each other, Tuilindien whispers thanks to Carnistir for encouraging her to invite someone from her family to stay. 'I am too good at seeing only the obstacles', she says. 'You are good at running right through them, like a bull.'

'A bull?' She cannot see his brows but she knows they must be raised, by the tone of his voice. 'That is uncomplimentary enough to sound like something I might say.'

'It was meant as a compliment', she says, and burrows deeper under the covers and in his arms. 'You exhausted me with pleasure, Carnistir, I am barely capable of coherent speech and certainly not of well-formed compliments.'

'Then rest.' His voice is a pleased growl.

Tuilindien does. She walks on the slopes of Taniquetil with her sisters all night, Cantiel's small hand in hers, Lirulinë ahead of them keeping an eye for ripe berries.

After her father and sister arrive, Tuilindien and Carnistir's slow, peaceful mornings become less so.

Already before they come to Tirion, Tuilindien engages a drawing-master for Cantiel so that she can have lessons for the full duration of her stay. Nerdanel, who knows the artistic circles of Tirion, recommended a good one.

'I think that even in a relatively short time, she can learn much here that she couldn't at home', she says to Carnistir who doesn't seem to mind that one of their drawing rooms will be taken over by Cantiel's pursuit of art. He even gets her most of the supplies she'll need in advance, filling the room with artistic paraphernalia.

'Undoubtedly.' Carnistir's chest practically puffs up in Noldorin pride.

Tuilindien hides her smile.

The only unfortunate thing about Cantiel's lessons is how early they are. Tuilindien has to slip out of bed much earlier than she would like to, too early to savour their sleepy connection stirring back to life, or the warmth of Carnistir's body entwined with hers. She has to leave him there, grumbling and gathering the covers around himself as she leaves to have a hurried breakfast with Cantiel and take her to the lesson.

At least the lessons last all morning. Unless Tuilindien has lessons of her own to teach, she can slip back into bed with Carnistir when she gets back home, muttering a good morning to her father if she runs into him on her way back to the bedroom.

To everyone's surprise, Ingolmo expressed a desire to stay for a while, and he was of course welcome to do so, and Tuilindien very happy to keep him longer than she'd expected. Ingolmo is content to spend the days on his own, visiting libraries and scholars or just wandering around the house and appearing for dinner every day without failure. He is a very easy houseguest.

Except one morning, one of those when Tuilindien has slipped back to bed after taking Cantiel to her lesson, and pressed her winter-morning cold toes to her grumbling husband's calf, and greeted him with a wordless burst of affection, and laid her head on his bicep and closed her eyes.

There is a cheery voice from their bedroom door. 'Tuilindien!' And then, a few seconds later when Carnistir has already flown into panic, 'I'm going to the library.'

It's her father, who has never before felt the need to announce that he is leaving but now he has, even though Tuilindien is still in her bedroom. She rues her father's inconsistence and his forgetting that he should keep away from behind married daughters' doors.

She sighs and sits up, sending a wave of calm to Carnistir.

He has slept naked as always. As soon as he heard Ingolmo's voice he dove out of bed and began scrabbling for yesterday's clothes, covering himself in a sheet while he does so, resulting in a complicated, graceless hopping of a dance.

Tuilindien is dressed only in her shift. She sends another wave of calm to Carnistir and goes to the door but doesn't open it.

'That's very nice, father', she calls through the door. 'See you later.'

'Yes, I'll see you at dinner!'

And she comes back to bed. Carnistir, still beet-red, tosses away his clothes and lies down and she burrows to his side and closes her eyes and says to him, 'Let's wake slowly.'

He kisses the top of her head, and they both close their eyes. But within a minute it becomes clear that they cannot find any kind of rest anymore. Their hearts are beating too hard, their limbs no longer languorous, their minds wandering to the tasks of the day.

Carnistir groans. 'Right now, I regret telling you to invite your family.'

'I can understand that.' Tuilindien throws aside the covers, sits up and stretches. 'We have grown very accustomed and attached to our own habits and the rhythm of our life, it turns out.'

'Mm', says Carnistir, turning his flushed cheek to the pillow. 'I like our routines. And I never dealt well with deviation from routine.'

'My poor darling.' She looks at him lying there, naked and uncovered on the white sheets, the pale golden light of morning showing his freckles and his muscles and his long legs to a particular advantage.

She runs her hand down his cheek and his neck and his chest and to his waist. He opens his eyes and looks up at her through long, dark lashes.

'Is there something you want, Tuilindien?' And there is that soft-mischievous smile, too rare, that she loves, making an appearance at the corners of his lips.

'We cannot sleep, that is clear. But are you too irritated to…?' and she takes his hand and lifts it to her breast.

Something flashes in his eyes, and he doesn't bother giving a verbal answer, simply pressing her to the mattress at once and kissing her.

Not a bad morning, Tuilindien thinks as she kisses him back with equal enthusiasm, and winds her arms around his neck and into his thick black hair.

A/N: In the next chapter, there is a storm in Carnistir and Tuilindien's house. I'll update on Sunday.

#silmarillion fanfiction #tolkien fanfiction #caranthir #caranthir's wife #tuilindien #your spirit calling out to mine #this life that we've created #my fics #elesianne's fics

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spiteweaver · 4 years

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(Note: this story is a repost of an old piece, to accommodate for a shift in my lore’s timeline!)

“You’re nervous,” she says to him, and he does not question how she knows. The privacy of his mask hides nothing from her eyes, covered though they are--for they see into every heart, no matter how guarded.

Still, he feigns ignorance. “No,” he replies, “I’m restless. There’s a difference.”

“There is,” she agrees, “but you aren’t restless.”

He toys with the locket ‘round his neck. There is a picture inside of it, of himself and two other drakes. They are all older now than they once were. He wonders if he will recognize them; he wonders if they will recognize him; he wonders what expressions they will show him when he steps back into their lives unannounced, a painful memory they’d thought long buried.

“Dierdre,” he says, and the dam at his side places her hand upon his shoulder, “what will they think of me?”

“It isn’t in your nature to ask me for guidance,” Dierdre teases. “All these years we’ve known each other, you’ve never requested a reading.” She turns from him, gazing out over the golden countryside from beneath her shroud. “Absolom,” she says, “there are some things you must learn for yourself.”

Absolom clutches the locket tightly. “I had best go and learn them then.”

A Fae spreads his wings at the edge of the Tangled Wood, and golden afternoon sunlight catches against his vibrant skin, its warmth seeping into his bones. The air smells of honeysuckle and barley; he works his claws into the rich soil underfoot. Everything is as he remembers, yet somehow magnified by his long absence. The years he spent abroad feel now as if he were sleeping.

“Oh,” he coos, “I’ve missed the Summerlands!”

“You never know what you have until it’s gone.” Another Fae joins him, pulling her decorated cap down over her eyes to shield them. “I’m not sold just yet,” she says, “but anywhere has to be better than the circus.”

“We could have gone to Darkroot.”

“No.” The female shakes her head. “Too much competition. We’ll do better for ourselves in the Ruins.”

“Eileen...” The male nudges his head beneath the female’s chin. “You saved me,” he murmurs. “I’ll go where you go. It doesn’t have to be here; it doesn’t have to be now.”

“You are dangerously loyal, Etienne,” Eileen scolds. “This is why I’ve scared off all of your suitors.”

“Ah! So it was you!”

“They were all scoundrels,” she insists, “and you were too good to know any better.”

“I really liked that last guy! Um...” Etienne chews his lip thoughtfully. “What was his name...?”

Eileen grins, and takes flight in a flurry of dandelion seeds. “Forget him,” she calls, “there will be plenty of drakes in Feldspar!”

“The earth here is good,” the first Skydancer says.

“I could have told you that,” says the second.

The first, cloaked in leaves and dark leather, straightens. Dirt slips from between his fingers. It is wet from spring rains, but this far into the Ruins, it will lose its moisture come June. The farmers will have to work quickly for the best yield. He sees signs of them already; footpaths reforming after a long winter, the black silhouettes of scarecrows rising in the distance, the smell of metal and wood.

“This land is loved by those who till it,” he informs, “and it repays them threefold with kindness. The weather is always mild. The summers are never too hot, nor the winters too cold. There is always enough to eat and drink.” He turns to his partner, smiling at him from beneath his hood. “Our life here will be peaceful.”

The second Skydancer averts his gaze. “Ash,” he says, his voice low and mournful, “we don’t have to do this. We can go back to the Labyrinth. There must be a clan who will accept us.”

“Accept me?”

“Us,” the second says again, and takes the slighter male’s hands in his own. “Your burdens are mine, as mine are yours. That was the pact we made when we were bound before the Gladekeeper.”

“Bryn...” Ash leans forward. Their lips meet in a brief, chaste kiss. “This is what I want,” he assures when they part, “this is what I feel in my heart must be. I cannot remain in the Labyrinth, but you can. That choice has always been yours to make.”

“I made it,” Bryn replies through clenched teeth, “the day I took you as my mate.”

Ash dips his head, but Bryn catches him by the chin. “I love you,” he says, fiercely, desperately. “There is nothing in this world I love more than you. Where we go, we go together.”

“Then let’s go forward,” says Ash.

“You must rise, Ogun.”

The soot beneath her feet stirs. It parts where she walks, and as she squats before the fireplace, settles into neat rings around her. She reaches for the iron poker leaning on the mantle. “Don’t make me use this,” she warns.

“Oya.”

His voice is weak, rasping; his form wavers before her eyes. She sets the poker aside. It is not stubbornness that confines him to his bed of cinders. The flame inside of him is dying. Soon, it will go out, and all of the many years she has spent tending to him will be for naught.

That is why they must leave today.

“I’ve found us a new home,” she tells him. “Its ruler is powerful. Not even the Grand Circle would challenge them. We will be safe there, and you can rest.”

A sigh escapes him, so weary that Oya feels it in her marrow. The ashes recede to reveal his heart, and she plucks it from his crumbling chest. It is warm in her hands, but dim. He will not last long outside of his hearth. Already he grows cold, his light flickering behind her fingers.

“The Grand Circle will never use us again, Ogun,” she vows, “and when we are strong, we will return to finish what they started.”

They arrive in the capital to little fanfare. Dressed in traditional Light garb of white and gold, one would think them royalty--but they are greeted only by gawkers, who stop to admire the fineness of their clothes, and the smoky color of their hair.

The male carries himself with the air of one who knows he is of great import. His shoulders are straight, his head high, and he moves with the grace of a dancer. He pays no mind to onlookers, as if they are beneath him. They start to wonder if they aren’t, for he is so much more magnificent than any one of them, as radiant as the Beacon itself.

In contrast, the female is timid. She clings to his arm, her steps faltering on unfamiliar ground. Her eyes are covered in pale cloth, but her ears are sharp. Each sound is new to her; she has never heard the cry of merchants hawking their wares, nor the rattle of cartwheels on cobblestone. There is an almost childlike delight to the slight upward curve of her lips.

“We are not here for leisure, Cymbeline,” the male reminds her.

Her smile fades. “I’m sorry,” she says. “This is my first time--”

“It will be your last,” says the male, “if you do not concentrate. Ours is a mission that must not fail.”

“But Phoebus--” Cymbeline’s ears perk at the gentle twang of a lute being played, and a drake singing in a strange tongue-- “shouldn’t we engage with the locals? We’ll stand out if we don’t at least appear to be enjoying ourselves.”

She cannot see it, but she knows that Phoebus is scowling. “Yes,” he concedes, “I suppose it would be prudent.”

Cymbeline’s smile returns. She is glad it was Phoebus His Grace entrusted with her care. He is the only one of her clanmates who ever humors her. “I want to go and listen,” she says, “to that lovely music. It’s even prettier than the church choir at home.”

“It’s coming out of a tavern,” Phoebus says, clearly aghast.

“I’ve never been to a tavern before,” Cymbeline replies, and before Phoebus can protest, she drags him forward with newfound confidence. “I want to drink something other than wine for once!”

#flight rising #fr #zach writes #clan feldspar #feldspar lore #c: absolom #c: dierdre #c: eileen #c: etienne #c: ash #c: bryn #c: oya #c: ogun #c: phoebus #c: cymbeline #OKAY WE'RE GOOD

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darker-side-fanfiction · 4 years

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Modern(ish) Gangster AU featuring Masa: Part 1

Trigger warnings: light(?) torture

Short fic summary: A mole’s been found in gang. Guess what? They don’t like moles. Who knew?

Story beneath the cut:

Mmrgh. Everything...fuzzy...even the pounding in his skull was a distant drum. Chin upon chest tilted and swayed until a sharp intake of breath saw him more awake. One blue eye, before a keen predator’s gaze now bleary made an attempt to assess his situation. Nothing would come into focus and the harder he tried the more it slipped away. Instinct had him rising to his feet, or would have. The creak of ropes binding his arms, chest, and legs to the chair were a deterrent.

Crap. He knew he shouldn’t have come back. It was in the little things. A glance between two gang members, a smell...his gut said something was hinky, and his gut was never wrong. Neither was his nose. Ignoring both had come with the territory of being an undercover cop in one of the most notorious crime gangs in the region. Ieyasu was going to kill him should he make it through this. That thought brought a smirk to his face, right in time for a fist to wipe it away.

“Little pig, little pig, let me come in!”

The snarling beast of a man was infinitely more porcine in his features with his mouth all twisted up, but Masa kept that commentary to himself. Shifting his jaw was a new difficulty. Not broken, that was good. Man though! That ring sure packed a punch! He could feel a trickle of blood tracking down his cheek from the cut opened. Sure cleaned out the cobwebs, if adding a few more klaxons to the party.

“We thought you local cops had learned your lesson long time ago. Guess we’ll be leaving an anonymous reminder for the next time they get a bright idea.”

The sucker punch inflicted wasn’t allowed the reflexive action to curl in on himself; all the air whooshed from his lungs but the restraints kept him upright and vulnerable. Boy did the man have stamina! The only solace Masa could take between the blows raining down on him was how badly those bruised knuckles were going to hurt later. Course, thinking required breathing and that was going to be difficult for a while.

Mouthy comebacks and sarcastic remarks sat on the tip of his tongue and the brash and bold Date ‘the Dragon’ Masamune had a million of ‘em. His classes in undercover work went opposite of that. Which did he go with? Surprisingly, a little bit of both.

“Hey, Pete,” he had to spit blood out of his mouth to ungarble his words. “This is a barrel of laughs, but you can tell the hidden cameras to come out now. You and I both know I’m not a cop. Have you ever known one to be as reckless as me?”

Masa grinned, though there was nothing happy about it. Fierce and with deadly intent, the Dragon was legendary for what he did to repay those foolish enough to try crossing him. Despite he being the one bound, Pete felt the need to take a step back, eyes widening and Adam’s apple bobbing in fear.

As if on cue, the door to the warehouse’s small room swung open, reverberating off the wall with a bang that didn’t catch the spitfire racing to where Masa was restrained. No, Kitten...she shouldn’t be here! Masa’s head snapped back when her ire met his cheek. Not an open handed fist either, she was ticked! Half shrieking, half hitting wildly, no one had seen this side of her before. Of course not, because only he had been allowed anywhere close to where they assumed she had a heart. And he’d betrayed it.

“How could you?!? You never should have kissed me!! I never should have kissed you back. I thought you-you!! Why would you do this to me!?”

The shift was so abrupt and sudden, the two men in the room didn’t know what to make of it. Pete wasn’t about to get in the middle of the lover’s quarrel though. The lass went from out of control to calm in a second, like a switch had been flipped. She sat on Masa’s lap, trailing her fingers up his sweaty chest and towards his neck. Her unreadable expression and blank eyes would make most people squirm. Masa wasn’t most people...but not knowing was an uncomfortable place to be. With a sharp yank, she’d threaded her fingers through his unruly chocolate mane and exposed his neck. Masa growled and tried to glare, but she wouldn’t make eye contact. Instead her tongue traced along the pulse in his neck, stopping at the shell of his ear.

A whisper, supposed by any that might view to be a threat. None but the two of them would know the truth.

“Don’t tell them anything. Trust me.”

Confusion chased her words, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it long. Pete had gotten a little too curious, thinking himself sneaky to have shuffled closer to hear. The lass bit Masa’s earlobe, hard, causing a bellow nearly draconian in nature to echo through the room. If there had been any actual fire, Pete would be a cinder by now. As it was, he was holding his ringing ears in consternation. Serves him right.

His kitten slid off his lap, almost causing a groan of a different sort. Not the time or place, Masa! A double take revealed the creepy smile she wore wasn’t just a figment of his roaring headache or imagination. How many times was he going to be thrown for a loop with this one? To be fair...it was one of the things that had attracted him to her to begin with.

She’d pulled a knife from her boot and was angling it with purpose, the sizzling fluorescent lights glinting off the sharp blade. “I don’t think boss man will mind if you’re missing a few things when you’re dropped off. What do you think, Pete?”

If it hadn’t have been himself they were talking about, Masa would have found humor in watching the large man so frightened of the dainty looking kitten. She...wouldn’t actually do that though...right? She’d said to trust her, but Masa was going to find that difficult to do should she bring the knife anywhere close to what she’d been referring.

Shuffling on his feet, swallowing hard and trying to come up with any excuse not to have to watch, Pete was visibly relieved when the “boss man” himself strode through the door.

The room was getting a real crowded feeling. Any nerves Masamune might’ve felt were hidden behind an indomitable grin, one shared by the boss’s near mirrored but much less handsome mug. Also a bit less bloody, no bruises, and minus an eyepatch, but you get the picture.

“Ya’d think, after all we’ve done for them, they’d give us a little leeway to run things how we choose.” Boss man tutted, shaking his head slowly with that same grin. With snake-like reflexes, he struck out and encompassed the lass’s neck in a vise grip. She didn’t have a second to react. Her head hit the wall with a crack that made Masa wince, and her knife was wrenched from lax fingers.

Boss man spoke over the sound of the lass gasping for breath. It was as though he didn’t notice her hands scrabbling at his tightening around her throat. “Rumor was, we had a mole running around our humble operation. And some bright guy was a little too eager to accept what our rat in the local office said.” He turned his eyes to Pete, who scratched his neck and looked away ashamed. “Turns out, that was bad intel. Let ‘im loose, Pete.”

A wary Pete unpicked the knots holding Masa to the chair. He had every reason to be worried about what revenge might look like, but for once Masa was willing to wait. The kitten was looking a little blue, her struggles having settled into weak twitches.

“You going to explain how the lass fits into all this?”

Masa stretched cat-like, feigning nonchalance. In truth, he wanted to rip boss man away from his kitten and feed the man his teeth. A nasty chuckle covered the wheezing breathes a loosened grip allowed the woman pinned.

“Instead of a pig, what we have here is a FBI skank. We’re gonna find out exactly what she’s told her handlers, and you’re gonna help, Dragon. You’re up for the task, ain’t ya?”

Cracked knuckles and a fire burning in his singular blue eye were at odds with the sick roiling in his stomach. The surprise written in raised eyebrows was real though. FBI agent? Her? What had she done to get them to disbelieve their own mole in the police department?

However she’d managed it, she had kept him from being found out. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. They would all pay for what he was going to have to do next. They would pay very dearly.

Given the same order six months ago, he wouldn’t have had a second’s hesitation. He’d do whatever was necessary to protect his city, and that meant keeping his cover whatever the cost. Including torturing a woman. Undercover agents knew what they were signing on for. Somewhere along the way...when did that resolve waver?

He locked away his feelings far, far away. This was no longer the lass he’d spent half a year with, both of them watching the others’ back. She wasn’t his kitten...she was an enemy to break.

And pray she had a plan, because she would break.

A smile, “Let’s get the party started.”

#date masamune #ikesen masamune #cybird #cybird masamune #my writing #gangster au

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