#and this man comes in promising a solution and she goes along because its all she wants and this guy seems fun and cool

[mbat]

also tbh if i ever did make a relativity falls au where mabel was the author, i wonder how different the concept would be between bill staying as a man or if i made him a woman instead

i just feel like a small change like that would affect how the whole thing felt by... a lot

[oncexinxmyxdreams]

Encanto OC Event Week 3: Efecto Mariposa AU. One Change.

Posted on Mercedes's birthday! 🎂This AU is if Mercedes never left the Encanto. It all changes by a choice. It's an Efecto Mariposa...a butterfly effect.🦋 Back in my story's canon, there's a point Bruno and Mercedes thought of looking into the future. Not for a bad outcome, but because they wanted to see how happy they'd be years later. They're 17, it's New Year's Day, and all looks bright. However, Bruno's fear of the future grasped him hard even though he wanted to suggest it. Mercedes thought about asking him, but decided not to and enjoy the moment.

This AU, they bring it up together and agree as a way to welcome the New Year. They won't worry about bad outcomes. When the festivities wind down, they find a sandy area in the jungle and Bruno performs the ritual. (Too risky to see such a vision in Casita.) It plunges into horror. Bruno sees Mercedes and her mother, Maria, fight. She and him tearfully saying goodbye. Mercedes leaving the Encanto and to a wedding altar with a stranger. The beloveds cling to each other scared and devastated of being torn apart. Bruno's not sure but is worried Mercedes will be forced into an arranged marriage. Mercedes is afraid, but can't believe her mother would do something that bad. They don't get along, but would she really? She suggests they try the vision again. Bruno complies, but it's a different man. They decide to try tomorrow and keep it secret. Every moment spent afterwards is more precious. Mercedes and Bruno forget they'd considered the next step in their relationship, being intimate, as this is more important. After a couple of weeks, there's no change. Bruno's checking the future over and over during free time. He even forgoes the outdoor location and into his vision cave hoping for better results.

It's mid-January when Mercedes talks with her mother, hoping it's not true, but Maria doesn't hide it. Worse, since it's been brought up, she wants Mercedes married off soon. Now she knows, why wait? She hasn't selected the right man yet, but she will. (That's why the visions showed different men.) Mercedes panics and goes to her stepfather, Armando. He's just as shocked and promises he'll talk to Maria. (In the canon, he found out like Mercedes: Out of the blue and when she's almost 20.) The talk doesn't work. Maria swears she always gets her way and Mercedes will obey her or else. Armando reassures Mercedes they'll work this out and she won't marry someone against her will.

The next night, Mercedes finds Bruno nearly passed out in his vision cave. He's overworked himself to exhaustion and sickliness. He admits he can't stop searching. Mercedes pleads him to stop because she can't have him in pain on her account. She brings Julieta's food and tearfully thanks him. Bruno says he doesn't mind the pain. He's more than ever determined to save her future and he can't rest until there's a way. She's all worth it. Now Casita knows their relationship...    

After she leaves, Bruno's left alone with his thoughts and Casita. He admits their serious 2 year relationship. The sentient house converses its own way and finally has a solution. They're in love and known each other for 7 years whole, so what's stopping them from tying the knot? Bruno's thought of it, but worries about Mercedes's reputation if she marries him. That's why they've secretly courted! With Casita's encouragement, Bruno makes a small bead ring. The colors of sage green and minty blue. When she comes back the next night, Bruno's waiting for her in the vision cave.

"Mercedes, would you take an engagement ring from anyone?"

"That would depend on who proposes to me," she said as steadily as possible. Her heart beat quick with anticipation and her eyes full of hope focused on him.

Bruno, clasping her hand and kneeling, takes the chance to alter the future...

"Mercedes, I don't know what'll happen in your future, but you deserve all the best." He swallowed. This sounded more romantic in his head. "If you will let me, it'd be my honor to join my future with yours."

Mercedes eyes watered. Her fingers squeezed his and she nodded. Bruno felt a rush of joy in his soul.

"Mercedes...will you please marry me?"

"Yes!" Mercedes sobbed. She fell to her knees and embraced him tightly. "Yes Bruno!"

They wanted to see the other in those visions, now it'll happen. After proposing, they confess to the Madrigals about their private courting. Pepa and Julieta are ecstatic! Alma's disappointed they didn't tell her, but happy. She also agrees that Mercedes shouldn't have to marry some stranger. Armando asks simple questions about Bruno marrying his stepdaughter and gives his blessing. Maria is outraged and swears Mercedes will be miserable with that bad omen! She will make sure Mercedes marries who she wants! Bruno and Mercedes ask if they can marry soon. Alma and Armando are hesitant but consent. Yes, 17 is very young, but they're confident this will work. Besides, they don't trust Maria at all and fear she'll try something irrational. Mercedes gains courage and stands up to Maria. She will marry her true love whether she likes it or not. On a happier note, she and Bruno are thrilled to be engaged and soon wed. They smoothly discuss possible plans. They don't need to be parents yet, but maybe in another few years. Mercedes can run her own studio and paint unique art for sale. Maybe they can have a little cottage for getaways.

They marry on March 10th since it's the month they first met, confessed growing feelings and now joined. Julieta and Pepa makw their new sister-in-law a wedding dress. Mercedes requests a green ribbon to match and symbolize Bruno. Armando gives her his grandmother's wedding veil, blue handkerchief, and white beaded jewelry. Bruno's the most spiffed up he's ever been: a white guayabera, brown slacks and dress shoes. He gives his bride a wedding ring with a single emerald. They're given a wedding candle etched with hourglasses, flowers, and butterflies. With Maria refusing to attend, there's no chaos. It's a beautiful day and wrapped up with a tender kiss at the altar. They engage in a sweet honeymoon night ending in each other's embrace with content sleep. It's the perfect beginning to a long marriage, but there's challenges coming their way. ⌛🎨

And let's hope I can get Spotify to work for the Bruno/Mercedes playlist I've been making!

@encanto-extended-edition

[becausewearebadmemories]

Kenyan Sponsors & Sex

A once respectful title given to large organizations that would give financial assistance to smaller, promising enterprises has been tarnished by the recent craze of calling older, rich, promiscuous men who love to lure younger women. The title: SPONSOR

Also Check Out: Rwandan rich sugar mummy sponsors

Why are men gladly taking up this title and why are women not ashamed to admit that they are enjoying this current trend? MONEY: God made man, man made money, money made man mad. Young ladies especially in university are pressuring each other to give in to this madness. It usually starts with a once simple lady from the village who comes to the city to be educated but along the way she meets an old rich man who promises to give her all the material possessions she desires. Her equally struggling friend realizes that she too can acquire material wealth if she finds an old rich man willing to give her what she wants. The two then use their social media to brag about all they have acquired and are not ashamed to say how they acquired it, encouraging other young girls to follow the same trend. Then to make it worse we have the likes of the singer Akothee going ahead and asking ladies what they call their “benefactor”. I have admired Akothee’s strength and resilience for a long time but after that song was released, I am no longer a fan.

The older perverted men on the other hand have discovered an easy way to get the ‘young, innocent p*ssy (for lack of a better word) that they have been desiring. They know all they need to do is spend money, & they completely disregard the impact on their wives and children. After all, who cares if you have an affair with your daughter’s age mate? Who cares about the humiliation your family will go through, the example that you set for your children, the diseases you will spread, or the reduced time, attention and love shown to your family? All that doesn’t matter to this mannerless babas because their daily 1.5 minutes (I doubt any of these bastards can go longer than this) of pleasure is what matters most to them.

So now we have men with mistresses and neither are ashamed of it. There is a detrimental effect to our society already witnessed by increased family killings. The likes of Joseph Kori and his mistress Wangui Mungai who are the main suspects behind the murder of Kori’s wife. If we continue this ‘sponsor’ trend, we will have the number of “deaths by mistress” competing with “death by road accidents” in this country. I wish I could give a concrete solution for this, but all I can say is we need to make it clear to our loved ones what’s most important in life. Fancy cars, holidays and houses are nice, but they have never and will never make anyone achieve self-actualization. If you are having issues with your wife, discuss it with her honestly and find a way to solve the issue instead of running away from the issue and blaming her for the failing marriage (same goes for women having issues with their husbands). The issue here being sex, since apparently that’s the only reason people have affairs. Communicate! Say what the issue is, discuss solutions, find a way to go about it…Sex is a two-way street, if it is not working, both are to blame in one way or another. Don’t go blaming the other person, there is something that YOU can do to make things better, & it’s not cheating.

“Money had never made man happy, nor will it, there is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more of it one has the more one wants.” Benjamin Franklin

[phoenixyfriend]

Rex and Anakin Raise a Family: Part Four

Part One, Part Two, Part Three – Chrono

Warnings: grief, resentment, lactation, animal death

----

For all that Anakin had said he could handle the twins, Rex still takes one in the sling as they go into town. They don't have a hoverpram yet, and neither of them could figure out a way to fold the fabric to securely hold the babies' heads up. Anakin takes Luke, and Rex takes Leia, and they ignore the whispers that still follow them.

The General keeps just behind his shoulder when they get to the hardware shop that carries the closest paint they can find in such a small town. It's not meant for armor, really, but speeder paint will do the trick for now. Rex's hands shake as he picks out the shades he needs, and the young Rodian at the register almost asks about it.

The issue isn't pressed.

They make their way back to the cottage, and Leia starts fussing fifteen minutes past the town's edge. Anakin looks like he wants to offer to take her back, but Rex is fine. He can comfort her. He can--

Anakin takes the paint, floating it along in the air before them, freeing Rex's hands to focus on the infant strapped to his chest.

"I'll feed her as soon as we get back," Anakin says, low and calm. "She's a little hungry."

Pacifier, then. They're only a few minutes out, by now. She can wait for them to get back to where exchanging the twins won't involve juggling.

Rex feels eyes on him, looks up and sees the soft, quiet smile on his General's face, and ducks his head back to Leia.

She glares up at him as well as a newborn can, sucking angrily on the paci in her mouth. Rex has no idea if she's actually upset or if her face just naturally follows such an expression, but it's adorable nonetheless. He hums to her, nonsense without words.

He's never learned lullabies; they picked up drinking songs in the field and from local soldiers, from their Jedi, war songs from their trainers, pop songs from the radio. A few learned lullabies, those who loved children and wanted their own, one day, brothers like Waxer who would have adopted Numa in a heartbeat if it had been an option.

He wants to learn lullabies. He wants to be able to sing children's songs to these tiny, helpless lives he holds in his hands, day in and day out. He wants to learn Mandalorian songs, real ones, not just battle chants and mourning melodies. He wants to be able to raise them with the childhood he didn't have.

"Rex? Door's open."

He looks up, and Anakin's standing on the porch, pulling the keys from the lock and gesturing in with his head. Rex hadn't even realized he'd stopped walking, subconsciously waiting for the blockage of the door to be handled. It's easier to focus on the children.

The paint gets sent to the backyard--trapped fumes wouldn’t be good for the children--and Rex lays Leia down in her crib. Anakin urges him to the backyard, says I’ll handle it about anything Rex uses to delay, and it’s only a few minutes later that Rex finds himself sitting on the grass, armor spread across a sheet of disposable flimsi, paints and brushes at the ready. He doesn’t quite remember setting it up, but he must have.

Anakin joins him, a twin in each arm and the Force laying out a picnic blanket. Leia’s nursing, swaddled up but content to suckle, and Luke seems happy to doze when Anakin sets him down on the cotton gingham. It’s a warm day, with a light breeze, and the babies are where the wind won’t carry the paint fumes.

“I’m here if you need me,” Anakin promises, though his attention drifts immediately to his daughter.

Rex begins to paint.

----

His remembrances are endless.

Every brother he’s ever known, every general he’s met, every small commander and random civilian, everyone he loved and knew. He lights a pyre, sings under his breath and tries not to break in a way that can’t be patched together. He mourns the tubies and cadets, the Jedi younglings, names he never learned and now never would.

Anakin gets Japor from somewhere, carves it whenever he’s too jittery to sleep and the twins are asleep. Rex recognizes a few symbols, like the open circle fleet, like Fives’ helmet eel, like Ahsoka’s markings. There are more, though, that are wholly unfamiliar, things he thinks are born of desert sands and binary suns, rough and painful and deeper in Anakin’s heart than even the Jedi.

He asks about the one for Fives, when he sees it.

He hides his anger.

Explanations, first.

“It’s an apology,” his General tells him, eyes distant. “I should have listened to him. I didn’t. The carvings are regrets, broken trust... that sort of thing. I’m part of why he died, and in that, part of why the rest is gone. He and his memory deserve a place of honor.”

Rex considers that, and accepts it.

Fives deserves an apology. The General recognizes that.

The General recognizes that he fucked up.

This is a good thing.

Rex lets go of his anger, still curled tight to his chest after months, as best he can.

He’s not very good at it, but he can try.

Luke starts crying, and Rex gets up to warm a bottle.

----

“I need to stay close to home until the twins are a little older,” Rex says. Teskarim, the woman at the childcare store, tilts her head to encourage him to continue. “I’m... I’ve never been anything but a soldier, and nobody here needs security services, but I can hunt. Do you know if there’s any kind of licenses required, or lists of which animals are legal hunt and which are endangered?”

“I... don’t,” she says, chewing her bottom lip. “But I think the butcher’s shop can probably point you in the right direction.”

Damn. He’d been hoping he wouldn’t have to talk to anyone new today.

“Thanks,” he sighs, and shells out some of the local currency for more formula.

----

The butcher has answers, and preferences. Rex isn’t much of a trapper, but he’s a hell of a shot, and decent enough scout and tracker. He listens to what there is to hear, and mentally takes all the notes he can. There aren’t any licenses needed in this hemisphere, but there are legally-defined hunting seasons for different creatures. The butcher knows when the optimal times of day are, which parts of the nearby forest and mountains are best to stake out, and so on.

Rex tells Anakin about his plan. He gets a slow blink in response, a cringe in what he thinks is guilt, and an offer to meditate for the best direction to take when he goes out. He accepts the offer in the spirit its meant, and sets out the next morning with the expectation that he may need to spend a few nights out under the leaves and stars.

The calm and quiet are their own kind of comfort. He’s loyal to Anakin, and he already loves the twins, but there’s a part of him that needs to be away from natborns right now. Anakin was a Jedi, a general, and fought in the metaphorical trenches with the rest of them, but he wasn’t a brother.

They grieve many of the same people, but they do not grieve the same way.

Rex needs the solitude. Not forever, not even for very long, but he needs it.

It takes two days, but he finds one of the in-season creatures, a creature shaped much like an Alderaan deer, but larger, and with longer fur. It’s darker in color, too, and he gives it a bit of time to wander about until he can be sure it’s a male, and he’s not about to leave some fawns without a mother. The shot is clean, and it doesn’t take him very long to tie it up and sling it over his shoulders to bring back to town.

The trek back takes hours, and the creature on his back is a pain to carry, but it’s almost worth the looks he gets from the civvies. Eyes bulge out the sockets at the sight of him, and he’s glad his helmet hides his smirk. He’s Kamino stock, hardened by over three years on the front lines, and there’s a pride in how easy the physical things are for him. It’s not impossible for a natborn to carry this kind of creature this far without help, but it’s uncommon.

He kind of likes the attention, now that it doesn’t come with the many prejudices that being a clone always had.

Anakin meets him at the butcher’s, one twin on his chest and the other on his back.

Seems he’s found a solution to that.

“Here to help me barter a fair payment?” Rex asks, and gets a too-charming grin in response.

“Well, I’ve been doing it most of my life,” Anakin says, cheery in a way that feels pasted on. “And I’ll have a trick to know if we’re being cheated.”

It’s a solid response, but Rex doesn’t like it. He takes note of the bags under Anakins eyes. “Have you been sleeping, sir?”

“Twins,” the man himself says. “And don’t call me ‘sir,’ Rex, we’ve been over this.”

“You need to sleep, General.”

Anakin pouts at him, probably because of the title. “I can handle two days alone, Captain.”

Rex rolls his eyes and sidles through the entrance of the butcher’s shop.

They’ve got this.

[musingsifyouwill]

A Dark Rise review

I just love the taste of nothing.

I picked up the book, recommendation of BookTok, and by chapter 4 I knew I was lied to. Honestly that’s on me because this was the 4th BookTok recommendation I’ve read and every single one of them has been a let down. 

The only thing I knew before reading was that there where queer characters and high fantasy elements, of course that caught my attention. The book delivered on those two fronts but everything else fell short. 

I could’t go into heavy detail since there are none, the whole premise of the book is good vs evil and while other authors create metaphors and tales around the two concepts, this author just decides to skip the trouble of coming up with clever ideas and just straight up call it Darkness and Light which feels lazy. 

That’s how I would describe the whole book, lazy storytelling. Things just happen because they need to happen, there’s no justification to the plot. The whole book feels like situations happening and happening and happening, there’s little correlation between them, if any. 

Apparently somewhere in the plot there’s the knowledge that there was a world where magic existed and it slowly banished, now the only ones that remember the ancient times are the Stewards who at some point where betrayed by the Kings. It's one of those situations where the author lets you know a word is important by using capital letters at the start of the name (Ex. Kings, Stewards, Lions, Darkness, Lady) which again feels lazy, because those are normal words, they just “modify” the meaning and hope that’s enough to cheat us into believing this magical world. 

Chapter after chapter feels like the author is just feeding us gibberish, an empty promise of some actual lore but nothing ever gets explained. We are constantly being presented with the facade of deep meaningful high magic, the stakes are high but we are never explained why or how. There are many moments where the plot could thicken but there’s always a quick coverup or a quick solution to it. 

You have the “classic” hero’s journey poorly executed. Out MC is Will who’s being chased down by the man who killed his mother, he does not have a personality whatsoever. Things just happen to him and he never actually reacts to anything. He gets a best friend, a mentor and a rival in the first 4 chapters, again all feeling rushed. His mentor dies a couple of chapters later, and while he mourns the loss we as the audience never really see them bond to care enough, which is a shame because along with the mentor pretty much everyone who is a Stewart (good guys) die and that means there are only about 4 characters that can save the world. It is important to know that 3 of these 4 characters knew nothing about the magical world they live in at the start of the book. 

I’d say that there are in total about 3 important characters: Will, Violet and James. In total there must be around 10 or so characters that we follow and know across the book but no one else really matters, they are just plot points, and very boring ones I’d say. 

For example we have Simon who’s the “baddie” of the book, he never shows up, everyone mentions him but we see him only once and it's at the end of the book. (Spoiler alert: he dies instantly). We are suppose to fear him but the only thing that we are constantly being told about him is that he is the Dark Lord descendant, other than that he sounds like a pretty normal man. 

You also have the background characters like Cyprian who’s the Stewarts golden child. He immediately hates Will when he arrives and that’s his whole thing. He never speaks unless its to hate on Will.

The only character that actually has a personality is Violet, the MC’s best friend. She goes through a major character arc and it actually is interesting enough, the sad part its that the author treats it like background so again we don’t go into depth with her. 

Now with my main problem with the book: 

There’s a huge plot twist in the story right at the end, one that feels that has some kind of sense but in going with that logic the whole book falls apart. All of the important sacrifices that happen in the story are for nothing. So not only does the author falls short on making us care about stuff that happens but at the end this feels like a slap on the face. As if they were telling us “Remember everything I told you mattered? Well I begged you to care for it but I lied” 

There are many other flaws that I didn’t mentioned, and the whole book feels like its right on the edge of something worth reading, maybe I’m asking too much of a YA fantasy novel. Book 2 its on the way and I can’t say too I’m excited for it. 

[issaxcharlie]

Falling like the stars✨

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Luke and Y/N never got to be a thing. Whatever they had ended abruptly when she settled on someone with far more status than the aspiring guitarist. Months later, now single, Luke entangles her in a scheme to make Sunset Curve more popular. The only thing she needs to do is fake date him for 2 weeks.

Songs used: Holy Ground by Taylor Swift, Loved You First by One Direction and Falling Like The Stars by James Arthur.

High school is a world by itself. It has its own system and everyone moves through it. It is something that although it is not discussed, everyone knows. Including the three members of Sunset Curve, who are lying in the yard trying to find a solution to their latest problem.

"We need more people to support our music. If we can't get this little school to support us, how are we going to fill clubs or sign with a label?” Reggie wonders aloud to himself, no matter how hard they try, they can't get the Los Feliz student body to listen to their band.

“We should have thought about it before, Reg. Now we're just the problem kids who most likely won't finish school. Why would they come to see us at those seedy little clubs when they can go show off at football games.” Luke stands up suddenly after Alex words, one of those huge smiles that comes out when he has a really bad idea on his face.

“Well it seems that the solution is easy, boys. We have to make them see us on the same level as those jocks.”

“Oh yeah, and how are we going to do that, genius?” Alex fiddles with his hands as he rests his head on Reggie, both tired of not being able to come even close to fulfilling their dream.

Luke points to the nearest post, on which there are at least 5 posters to support the homecoming king and queen.

“Really? Do you think someone would vote for you? Before all those star athletes who also have a cheerleader to back them up? You basically have just us and I don't think I can do one of those tricks.”

“We’ll think of something. Winning that stupid thing would put us directly in the top of the pyramid. We’ll find a way, we always do.” Before anyone can respond, some screaming and commotion can be heard.

“Savannah is accusing Y/N to mess with her man! Run, they are in the hall!" students mention as they start running to watch the discussion.

“Oh god, Y/N. I’ll better go and see if I can help her somehow.” Alex gets up and Reggie begins to follow him, but not before turning to make sure Luke is following too. The guitarist makes an irritated face but ends up walking behind his friends.

From the moment they enter the main hall they can hear the screeches of probably the most popular girl in school, Savannah Miller. One of those typical unbearable girls who for some reason always reach the top of the elite in schools despite treating everyone badly.

Y/N Y/L is on the other side of the discussion, she looks calm and even bored. The first thing Luke digests from Savannah's words is that she thinks Y/N was making out with her idiot of a boyfriend during third period. What's interesting about the situation is that Diego cheated on Y/N with Savannah maybe a week and a half ago and had been dating her ever since.

But that's not Y/N's style, no matter how angry she is.

Luke knows her well enough, or so he wants to believe. She was always good friends with Alex and Reggie, and her relationship with them remained strong over the years despite how unstable and fleeting her relationship with the guitarist was.

He's never going to admit how deeply he felt for her. How much it screwed him up that just when he finally began to believe they could be something else, she completely walked away from his life so she could date the man that would end up cheating on her just because he looked more promising at the time. Rich, popular, the quarterback of the football team, the ‘perfect guy’ she said to the boys.

But hey, that's past.

Luke looks up to meet Y/N's eyes on him. In the moment she realizes she was caught, she sneakily turns to Alex, who is just inches from the guitarist and smiles at him.

“Are you actually smiling? You think this is funny?” The girl looks furious, but she's smart enough not to make this a battle of strength.

“I already told you, Savannah. It wasn’t me.”

“I can count, Y/N. Neither you nor Diego were in class."

And that’s when it hits him. The possibility of getting to the top of the pyramid in front of him. Because maybe Y/N is not the most popular, but it is undoubtedly one of the most loved by everyone. Intelligent, caring, beautiful, talented. And she certainly has the status after dating Diego Hernandez for one semester. No one had managed more than 3 months with him and the guitarist thinks that was a good sign that that idiot is not a good idea but well, it wasn’t his choice.

Luke begins to walk towards the center of the circle, Alex tries to stop him but cannot catch his arm in time. Both girls turn to see him surprised, but neither says anything.

"You can go find culprits elsewhere, Y/N was busy with me at the time. You can ask whoever you want and they'll tell you that I wasn't in class during third period either."

Of course, he wasn't there because the trio got into Reggie's old truck to get some hotdogs but no one has to know that.

His hand goes to take her firmly by the hip, just like all those nights that now only remain as memories. He is looking at every inch of her face, searching for her reaction, and is surprised by the naturalness with which the girl accepts the gesture. As if his hand belongs there. And maybe, just maybe, it does.

“Do you really want me to believe this?” Savannah asks, clearly annoyed.

“Y/N and Patterson? There’s just no way in hell. C’mon babe, he’s just pathetic, you could do better.” Diego says out loud as he approaches the scene in the middle of Y/N and Savannah.

There's something about the disgruntled way they both said it that makes Luke want to prove that a girl like her could want him. He doesn’t know how to distinguish if it is pride or insecurity but at the moment he is not interested.

He's barely going to open his mouth to defend himself when Y/N starts talking. "No. You can speak as badly as you want of me but you're not going to bring Luke into this."

Luke lets go of her so he can step back a few inches and see her from a better angle. She’s definitely not calm anymore. Her face looks altered and she is undoubtedly in protective mode. She turns to see him when she feels his hand leave her body but he offers her his hand and she intertwines it between her fingers without hesitation. At this rate she is taking control of the situation so he is going to let her continue and try to achieve his goal along the way.

“I know you need a partner to have any hope of winning the crown, but choosing Patterson is a desperate move.”

And that’s his cue. "If my baby wants that crown I will get it for her. It's that easy.”

“What? I do-” At that moment Luke panics and pulls her by the hand that they have intertwined and with the other holds her face while bringing their lips together. When he reacts to what he is doing he is afraid that Y/N will push him in front of everyone but to his surprise she kisses him back instantly, releasing his hand to bring him closer to the neck.

The kiss is passionate and almost desperate, but it only lasts a few seconds since a voice brings them back.

"This feels like deja vu." Reggie whispers to Alex, they both walked during the discussion towards the circle and are so close that Luke and Y/N heard him clearly.

“Well, we already clarified that she was not with your boyfriend so, I’ll take my girl. It was a pleasure, we should repeat this another day... said no one ever." Luke takes her hand and leads her to the nearest empty living room, Reggie and Alex locking the door behind him.

“What the hell was that crown bullshit? Why did you even cover for me? What are you up to? At least tell me is fun... or that includes you shirtless.” She jokes, a cheeky smile spreads in Luke’s face.

“I need a favor and thought you’ll appreciate an alibi.” She raises her eyebrow in reflex.

“Why would I help you, Lucas?” Luke can only think of how she makes a name as simple and boring as Lucas sound so sexy when she says it. Is incredible.

“Cut the act, beautiful. We both know you've never been able to resist me.” Y/N laughs amused at the boy’s sassiness. She won't admit it but she missed his eyes on her. She missed the way he uses that cocky stupid voice that melts her when he wants something. How he gets closer with each sentence, or his lips on her mouth.

Before she can counter attack, Alex stands in front of the guitarist raising his hands. “I know he’s an idiot, but we really need your help, Y/N. If we want Sunset Curve to gain popularity we have to start here, and this is our last year. Gaining popularity among the elite of the school would help us a lot.”

“We are getting desparate.” Reggie adds, a sad smile on his face.

“And pretending I made out with Luke in third period and getting to be homecoming dance queen and king helps you... why?”

“That crown is literally a test of popularity and status. It would put Luke on the same level as the popular kids like Savannah and Diego. People would be more interested in Sunset Curve after that. For now, for them we are only three good for nothing that one day will not appear around here again. You heard yourself that those two didn't think Luke was good enough."

Her face flushes with anger as soon as she remembers the contemptuous tone of voice they used to refer to Luke. If they hadn't been in the middle of the hall, she probably would have said a lot more than she did. That single comment is enough to make her decide, so without thinking Y/N asks “What do you need me to do?”

“Just play perfect couple with Luke until homecoming dance. Then you are queen and king, Sunset Curve gets the fans we deserve, you get to laugh at Savannah’s face and you can separate next day if you want to.”

“I’m not sure If someone is going to believe it.” She blurts out loud as she glances at the guitarist.

“Oh please, you know each others mouth better than your own names.” Reggie says without thinking, Luke snorted with laughter and Y/N blushes like crazy.

“Yeah, and you used to spend a lot of time together too, two weeks shouldn’t be that hard.” Alex tries to recover the seriousness of the situation to close the deal.

“Okay then. If I can help Sunset Curve and get that smirk of superiority off Savannah's face then sounds good to me. Are you willing to date me, Patterson?”

Their eyes meet again and without a sign of hesitation her now officially boyfriend for the next two weeks, answers.

“Beautiful, you have no idea.”

There is something about relationships that never get to happen that make the heart weigh more, that nostalgia to be stronger, the person more difficult to forget. Luke can't help but remember during the last periods of the day just how good it felt to taste the girl's lips again. Feelings of desire, of familiarity, of belonging. All colliding and going deep into his bones.

He decided a long time ago he didn't do relationships, but if he did, it would have been with her. He was willing to break that rule for her, but she had the final decision and it wasn't him. He accidentally put himself in the perfect situation though. All those what if’s will finally have an answer.

For two weeks he can test what it would have been if Y/N Y/L had chosen him. And when he finally tries the experience he will be free. Free from all the what if’s, free from her, from her memory. And there's also the part of how much the band will benefit. The main objective of doing this, obviously.

The last hour is finally over and Luke sped off toward Reggie's truck. In front of it is Alex already waiting and he can see Reggie and Y/N also walking in the same direction. The four of them regroup and Y/N starts to discuss game plan.

“If we are going to do this, we are going to do it well. There will be a party at Finch's house this Saturday and the three of you are coming with me."

The three members of Sunset Curve make an annoyed face at the words of their friend. "That's exactly why no one supports you. You think you are too cool to hang out with the people but then you want everyone to happily buy your shirts and listen to your music."

“She has a point there.” Alex agrees, and puts his arm around her shoulder.

“Okay, let’s do this. If you all come with me, we can leave early and crash one of those places you usually play. Maybe even have some people of the party to come with us and hear you rock the shit out of that place.” All three smile with bright eyes In response.

“You got yourself a deal, pretty lady.” Reggie says in a flirting tone and winks at her. Luke gives him a light punch on the arm.

"I'll see you on Saturday in my house then, at nine. Goodbye boys." She winks at Luke and walks over to her car, making sure to do a perfect walk because she knows pretty well that the guitarist isn't going to stop watching her until she pulls out of the parking lot.

Luke gives her a perfect smile one last time before Y/N leaves school. These two weeks are going to be weird.

The four members of the band are in the truck, Bobby decided to get out of school recently but a party and a gig sounds like a rad Saturday. Luke gets out and walks to the door to wait for Y/N to come out. When she finally comes down he feels like all the air is coming out of his lungs.

She's wearing the black Sunset Curve t-shirt that he forgot one of the many times he climbed up to the second floor of the house to see her. A short black skirt and one of his red flannels that he probably left there several months ago as well. Black fishnets stockings which he can't help but imagine ripping out with his teeth, her lips in that tone of red that drives him crazy, and her classic black boots that he hadn't seen since she started dating the cheating idiot.

“Genius huh? Is there anything that says more ‘Luke Patterson’s property’ than this? I don’t think so." She smiles proudly and blushes when she notices Luke's gaze locked on her legs. Fishnets may have been included in the outfit due to a certain weakness that the musician has towards them.

The hair that the guitarist is used to seeing in a perfect bun lately, is now loose and tousled. As rebellious as the day he met her, moving in harmonious tune to the rhythm of Now or Never.

Luke reaches out to to entwine his hand in her hair and whispers slowly into her ear “You look... fucking hell, you are not playing fair, baby.” Lightly biting her lobe when he’s done speaking.

They both linger in a trance for a few seconds, considering whether they should just walk in and lock the door. But before they can decide, the boys that already know this story pretty well and are sick of waiting for them while they flirt, get out of the truck. Reggie carries Y/N like a sack of potatoes and between Bobby and Alex take Luke by the arms, putting them in the vehicle so they can finally get to the lame party and then, the gig.

When they finally arrive, the eyes of almost all the girls go to the members of the band, who are definitely dressed for the occasion. Y/N can't help but notice how most of the cheerleaders wink at her boyfriend. Yeah, it’s not real and will last two weeks, but for now she justs wants to forget that part and enjoy the feeling of him being hers.

So she makes a small, harmless gesture to mark territory and puts her hand in the guitarist's back pocket.

Luke turns to see her, an amused smirk on his face. “Jealousy looks so hot on you, I wouldn't mind if you marked my lips with that red lipstick too."

That statement resonates in Y/N’s head. All the times Diego refused to kiss her so as not to stain himself and even forbade her to use that lipstick that for her was part of her brand returning to her head. Followed quickly by every night Luke came down after finishing playing and instantly attacked her lips with his, caring for nothing more than the feel of their tongues fighting for control.

“Not jealousy, just a quick reminder to everyone. You are all mine tonight.” She puts a little more pressure on the hand in his pocket and stands on her tiptoes to kiss the corner of his lips.

“Dance with me?” She asks innocently while giving him a flirtatious smile.

“With you, always beautiful.” He smiles back, winking charmingly.

His hands find hers and she begins to dance and jump gracefully to the rhythm of the music as he spins her around, both singing the lyrics to each other with unmatched energy, happy to be together.

“Tonight I'm gonna dance, for all that we've been through.” She sings with a determined voice, taking the musician by the hair and bringing their faces closer.

“But I don't wanna dance, If I'm not dancing with you.” Luke returns the verse with the same passion, just inches separating their lips. His beautiful and trained voice tends to sound like a more country vibe when he gets carried away and especially in more pop melodies like this, and honestly drives her crazy.

The fact that the rocker at heart gave in to listen to other genres for her and even remembered the lyrics was enough to melt her heart. The last time she was able to let herself go and sing at the top of her lungs like this was with him, listening to a mix of their favorite songs in his car while going for their favorite icecream. Whatever they had was a lot more deeper than what they are willing to admit.

“Did we really just see Luke sing and dance to a pop-country song?” Reggie asks the band, Alex and Bobby behind him laughing at the guitarist who blushes and kisses his date's forehead. “I am not going to discuss this. I'll go get us something to drink." He winks at her and dissapears into the crowd.

“I’ll go too, be right back.” Bobby announces leaving Y/N with Alex and Reggie, who smirk at her.

“It seems that pretending is easier than you thought.” Alex can't stop smiling, Reggie playfully itches the girl's ribs who grins from ear to ear.

"Everything always fits when I'm with him. I ruined my chance. I'm totally aware, and I'm not expecting anything from him, because I honestly don't deserve it. But I plan to enjoy every second of these two weeks that came from heaven to the fullest.”

“You should explain hi-” Before Reggie can finish speaking, Diego appears behind Y/N and tries to forcefully pull her by the arm.

The guys manage to react quickly and release her arm while stepping in front of her. But right away his teammates get behind him.

“Save yourselves the pain, she is going with me.” Diego says confidently, his face showing arrogance.

“Guys, ple-” She tries to stop them from getting hurt, but both step a little forward, determined to protect her no matter the cost.

“You are not taking her, Diego. But you are more than welcome to try.” Alex's voice sounds cool and calm, but Y/N can see how much his hands are shaking and her heart hurts at the sight.

They are all so into their own business that nobody notices the guitarist's return until his lips collide with his girl, who is surprised for a few seconds but immediately recognizes him and gives him space for his tongue to taste her mouth.

They both lose themselves in the kiss for a few seconds longer than necessary and then slowly separate. Y/N grinning from ear to ear as she tries to wipe some of her lipstick off Luke's mouth. He just smirks, as happy as ever.

"Sorry guys, do you need something?" He plays the innocent card. After that kiss, most of the people at the party are watching the scene, so Diego, who looks furious, chooses to leave without saying anything. Right away they can hear a long restrained breath from Reggie and Alex.

“You are a cocky genius, I'm not sure we could have won that one.”

“I’m not sure? Did you seriously think we had a chance?” Alex asks, clearly anxious after what had just happened.

Y/N stands in front of them and throws herself into their arms, whispering how many thanks she can say in a row. They return the hug and begin to relax in each others arms. Bobby and Luke join in the hug, and Luke whispers his own thanks to his friends.

The band decides that it’s time to go and to their surprise, when they let people know that they are going to play at a small club in the center of the city, some decide to follow them. On the way, Y/N spends her time wiping her lipstick off Luke’s face with some wipes she had in her bag, struggling not to press her lips against his every time he made her an adorable grimace or a flirtatious smile.

“You know the drill, beautiful.” Luke turns to see her directly in the eyes, concern on his face just like every time before.

“Front row, not a second out of your sight, so if I need something better wait for you guys to finish performing to get it. Better safe than sorry." She recites, proud to remember every word.

“Thank you, baby.” He smiles a little more calmly, gives her a light kiss on the cheek and starts to help take out the instruments.

They are only doing a few songs from their repertoire, but the energy they transmit drives everyone in the little club crazy. The Sunset Curve members look at a Luke they haven't seen in a long time. The energy and passion in his voice dedicated entirely to the little woman in the front row who sings with all her strength every word and melody, imitating Luke's guitar solos or Alex's drums with her arms.

The 15 students who decided to attend are close to Y/N, trying to get her attention from time to time but nothing can take her eyes off her friends. Not even she knew how much she had missed seeing them play. The look of maximum happiness on their faces.

The last song is one that the little club seems quite familiar with, but she had never heard it before. So it must have been written in the last six months.

“Had my chances, could've been where he is standing.

That's what hurts the most, girl, I came so close

But now you'll never know. Baby, I loved you first.”

The lyrics leave her breathless. Luke, who had made contact with her practically all night, now seems to avoid her eyes like a plague. She definitely has to ask Alex about this song before getting any ideas.

The four bow and get off the stage, Luke launches immediately for Y/N, some of the girls try to get his attention and even try to grab him by the arm or waist but he remains firm until his hands meet his girl's hip.

“What do you think?” Luke's fingers shaking in the grip on her waist tell her he's nervous. The fact that her opinion of them matters so much to him that it makes him feel insecure makes her heart skip a beat.

“It was amazing as always, rockstar.” A huge smile appears on the guitarist's face, who gently takes her face with his hands and kisses her nose. After all, he has to remember that they are only pretending to date and for now he has no good reason to push his lips against hers. It doesn't matter how much he needs her.

The way home is uneventful, Y/N sleeping in Luke's arms while Alex puts the guitarist's red flannel over her.

“Will they ever stop pretending they're ridiculously in love with each other?” Bobby asks Reggie as he turns his head to see the couple.

“They are both stubborn and allergic to real feelings. Especially love. They are so terrified that they have to sabotage themselves somehow.” Alex answers for Reggie who just nods without taking his eyes off the road.

"Do you really have to talk like I'm not here?" Luke asks, resting his chin delicately on the head of the woman in his arms.

Tonight felt unreal. Felt practically like one of the many dreams he has had with the girl throughout these months. Seeing her in his clothes was enough to make the night special, but without a doubt dancing in her arms, savoring every inch of her mouth and seeing her energetically sing each of his songs to end the night with her in his arms is just perfect. Reggie parks at Y/N’s after dropping Alex and Bobby, and as Luke decides how to get her to bed without waking her she sinks deeper into his chest.

"Carry me to the door hotstuff, I like to be in your sexy arms." Luke lets out a cheeky laugh in surprise, another laugh coming from Reggie.

“She’s so asleep, I can’t. Adorable though.” Luke agrees and takes her bag before walking down with her in his arms and carrying her effortlessly to the door.

“Thank you for tonight. I didn’t think I could ever feel this happy and complete again.” She murmurs in his ear before giving him a sweet peck in the lips and enter the house.

What the two of them took from tonight is that indisputably, they are both still head over heels for each other. But it was like that the first time and it just wasn't enough.

Days go by with the couple being the school's favorite gossip. People talking in the hallways about the special way Luke looks at his girlfriend, comparisons about the dry way Y/N used to be with Diego compared to how she is with the guitarist, always touching him somehow and spending all the time with him as possible, visibly much happier. Some also talking about how good the band sounds and wondering why they hadn't heard it before. Everything going according to plan.

On Thursday afternoon, Luke arranged to pick her up for the two of them to find him something formal enough for the dance. When Y/N opened the door she met his beautiful greenish hazel eyes, and swears that for a second she forgot how to breathe.

She knows this scene. He smiles sweetly at her, takes her hand and opens the door of the car for her. Multiple interesting memories inside this car coming back to her mind. His firm hands on her legs, his tongue testing her mouth, his hot moans after biting his lower lip...

“Beautiful? Whatcha thinking?” Luke's voice brings her back to the present, his hand goes directly to her thigh as all that many midnight drives and without saying anything he plays the girl's favorite album.

That’s it. If she wants a chance with him, she needs to make this right. “I- We really need to talk.” Hearing the tone of her voice, Luke senses what is coming. He was here before. So he turns off the car that hadn't even started to move yet and turns to look at her.

"I know we've been putting it off, but we have to talk about how it all ended, I-"

Luke interrupts her before she can finish, his voice sounds broken, sad, angry. "I really don't want to talk about how you preferred an idiot for whom you don't feel the remotest thing just because he'll get a football scholarship and this perfect future.”

She spends a few seconds processing his words. Did he really say what she thinks he said? "It wasn't like that, Luke."

"I know it looks like I can't compete with him, but I would have done anything for you. And I thought you knew that.”

She doesn't know what to do or say. She was so unconscious, so selfish, so heartless, that she didn't even think about how he could have understood the situation. In how much he must have suffered these months watching her with Diego, believing he wasn’t good enough. Believing that she chose someone who wasn’t him, because he wasn’t good enough.

He stays quiet, examining the girl who seems about to cling to tears. The anger evaporates instantly and he leans into her seat to wrap his arms tightly around her. She starts sobbing, but seems determined to talk.

“R- Remember the night we met? It was the first Sunset Curve presentation. I had just entered the little club, but your voice dragged me to the front row like a magnet. And when I was finally in front of the stage, I knew it. It was you. The butterflies that everyone talks about for the first time in my stomach. I knew I could never feel again something even close to what I was feeling at that moment.

I got carried away in your voice, dancing to the rhythm of the melody and recording every sound in my head. And when I opened my eyes again, yours were staring at me. And I understood that you felt it too. It was me, and you knew it. It was so natural, powerful, magnetic, deep. I loved you since the first day, Luke. How is that not going to scare me?

When the feelings started to get so strong they burned, I knew I had to run. You always made it very clear that relationships were not your thing, I could not continue to wait for something that from the beginning you made it clear you could not give.

Then Diego arrived at the right time to give me an exit, and I took it. I knew he just wanted to have me around to raise his good boy status, and feeling nothing was safer than feeling too much. So I lied. I lied to you, to me, to everyone. And I’m sorry, but I was so scared. I was a coward who should have done things differently.”

When she finally finishes pulling out what she's been saving for months, she pulls away from Luke to see his face. His eyes look crystal clear, his cheeks red. But his beautiful white smile lights up his face.

"Next time you love me so much that you can't bear it, let me know, please? I can step on your foot or sneeze in your face. I was literally going to ask you to be my girlfriend that weekend. I even wrote you a song."

“You were? The one you sang the other night?”

“Okay, I wrote you a lot of songs. Maybe too many. But the one I'm talking about is different. Maybe I'll let you listen to it one day. If you stick around long enough this time.”

She smirks and kiss him lightly on the lips, enjoying the feeling of being able to. He knows he reacted way too chill. But he also understands her feelings. What is the point of reproaching her for something they can no longer change? A bad decision made by a love so immense that it left her blind. He is simply not willing to waste any more time. They are finally going to do things right. Neither of them is going to self-sabotage it this time, and since he doesn't trust it, he'll put Alex and Reggie in charge to make sure.

The night of the dance arrives. Y/N is wearing a beautiful black dress and her classic red lips. Luke tried his best to look fancy and he's wearing a pretty cool suit but in a sleeveless version. His still fake girlfriend couldn't stop smiling when she saw him. Just perfect.

Dancing in his arms, letting him go only once in a while to dance with the other three members of Sunset Curve made the night amazing. The rest of these two weeks they spent it talking, laughing... making out. Enjoying the most of the time they lost. Even completely forgetting why they were faking it in the first place, until they ask the candidates to take the stage.

"And your king are queen are... Y/N Y/L and Diego Hernandez!"

They all turn to see Luke in shock. Just hearing their names together is enough to make him frustrated, but there's not much he can do right now. And that's when he remembers what he asked the boys to play for the king and queen's first dance. Great, now dance they’ll dance to his song together. Just his damn luck. He sabotaged himself again without imagining it.

They are crowned and Diego offers her his hand, not without first throwing a face of superiority to the guitarist. She walks but continues straight until she is in front of her lover.

Luke looks at her strangely, she smiles at him.

“But I don't wanna dance, If I'm not dancing with you. Remember?” She sings happily in his ear, and offers her hand.

“Dance with me?” He looks at her adoringly and takes her hand.

“Always, beautiful.”

They walk to the center of the floor, Alex begins to sing the first verse. Y/N rests her head on Luke's chest, her hands around his neck, as he presses her against him by the hip, wrapping her in his arms. His head bent to sing the song in her ear.

“I swear to God, I can see... you're still the girl in the club.”

Tears of happiness begin to flow from Y/N, the words that she never had the opportunity to know, finally getting revealed. Luke's sweet, soft voice in her ear. The perfect melody and the beautiful voice of Reggie and Alex in the background.

“And I need you to know that we're fallin' so fast

We're fallin' like the stars, fallin' in love.”

The moment he sings in love, Y/N lifts her head to meet his eyes. He lifts his hands to her cheeks to wipe her tears, gently holding her face to make sure she sees him recite every word.

“And I'm not scared to say those words. With you, I'm safe.

We're fallin' like the stars, we're fallin' in love.”

The second Luke finishes singing, Y/N stands on tiptoe and pushes her lips against his. Tears of happiness continue to fall from her face, wrapped in a passionate, slow, deep kiss. He's all she wants. Her heart chose him since the very first day.

“I can’t believe one of Luke’s random ideas it's what made them find their way back to each other. Reg, we tried for 6 months and we were never even close. Two weeks ‘pretending’ and bam! they are just fine.”

Both watch the happy couple dance now that they are official.

"You know what they say, Fake it till you make it.” Reggie smirks while watching Luke happily kiss Y/N.

“Fair. At least everything was fixed before we shoved Luke into the pool to see if Y/N would rescue him with a mouth-to-mouth kiss."

“We still could try, you know... for science.”

“Cool. Monday works for me. Do you think that even though he didn't win, we still have a chance to win some more fans?”

Reggie raises his head before answering, a smile appears when he sees the bunch of girls and boys who are spying on them just a few meters away. Probably waiting for them to finish talking to get closer.

“I think Sunset Curve will be just fine too, Alex.”

Thank you for reading✨

Taglist: @writerinlearning , @ghostofmgg, @strangerthanfanfiction713, @thebloodthirstyvampress, @kinda-really-lost, @kcd15, @magnet-girl, @aliandthephantoms, @stxrkspidey, @pinkrockstar19, @s0uz4s, @shycupcakealissa @cookiebuba, @fangirlangioma, @sageellsworth05, @twist3dtinkerbell, @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve, @caitsymichelle13, @ifilwtmfc, @luckylouiebug, @bibliophilewednesday, @totomoshi, @siennanoelle01, @lunashadow6955, @bookfrog247, @morganayennefertyrell, @kiss-themoongoodbye, @rachelle3musicals, @imsydneywalker, @really-dont-forget-it @agentstarkid @talksoprettyjjx @kaitieskidmore1

[perriwinklesblog]

I know some people prefer consistent content but I like to take it as it comes and sometimes life happens and other projects need to take priority. 

So right now, I consider this to be a mid season break. Techno going into the prison was like the midseason finale for the Dream Prison Arc and Wilbur and Ranboo’s stuff was like their midseason finale and the Red Banquet where the egg was contained, was a midseason finale and alllllllll the mini episodes we’ve had since there are like specials etc. 

You know, like how in Dr Who you can go a few years without a solid season but get a special at Christmas and New Year? You know like that. 

So like all other programs, stories, videos I watch, I am coming up with ways in which the next bit could go. Some are a bit out there and definitely not happening, others I could see happening. 

This is long and pointless and full or errors both grammatically and spelling wise but I had fun thinking of what could happen next. Read if you want.

Dream escapes prison with Technoblades help. A server wide man hunt comes for Dream but unlike his videos he had stolen the spare armour in the prison and so is pretty OP making it easier for him to put distance between his enemies and himself. 

Technoblade returns to the artic and him, Phil and Will come to an in pass, a slight disagreement. Philza whilst having sided with Dream before, knows he’s not a good guy. Only used him to help destroy lmanburg for his own morals. It was not because he agreed with Dream. In his eyes, he was using Dream for his own goals. Plus, now he’s seen the aftermath of Dream’s terror on the citizens he realises the man perhaps shouldn’t be set to run entirely free. This slightly goes against Techno’s beliefs but the main issue of tension between them is Technoblade willingly placing himself in danger when he didn’t need too and helping release the man who tortured Tommy and clearly has something going on with Ranboo thats bad. 

Wilbur is angry because Techno won’t say where Dream has gone due to an agreement between the two and Technoblade is a man of his word. Wilbur wishes to thank and meet the man who saved him. This also worries Philza because he’s worried he’ll revert back to the man he saw the day he blew up L’Manburg. Over all tension between the three

Niki and Wilbur finally meet and it is as heartbreaking as it is beautifully tragic. Wilbur apologises but misses the mark, misses what hurt her which hurts her more. There’s an explosion with their argument that leaves a stunned silence. Niki asks Wilbur to leave. He does so. 

This leads to a Wilbur and Ranboo conversation where Ranboo tries to reason with Wilbur about Niki’s side. Wilbur brushes it off because much like the blue counterpart we all miss, he’s not a fan of the negative emotion. He tries to focus on the business etc and let’s slip that Dream has escaped somehow. Ranboo leaves. Wilbur is confused but distracted by a confrontation with Quackity.

Ranboo then starts his stream and he’s in the fucking panic room and he’s panicking because there are signs so many signs and they don’t make sense. Theres lesson rules, asking about the missing journal and it’s like every issue he’s ever faced is staring right back at him because Ranboo has never really resolved any issue, just pushed and moved on. He’s tried but that usually failed and for a while he’s ignored all the issues and here they are in front of him, all at one. A big volcanic eruption of anxiety and stress, and it ain’t sitting with him. 

Dream appears. But is it really him? We never know because after a conflict and a back and fourth about everyone in Ranboo’s life eventually landing on a threat about Michael and Tubbo, he blacks out and the stream ends. 

Quackity is livid with everything thats happening, the careful empire he’s building is falling apart and he’s shifting the blame around from person to person. He manipulates everyone around them into believing this is somehow their own fault and that they must make it up to him because he has been nothing but kind and loving to them. He gave them a place, a roof on their head when they had nothing. He misses out the parts where he insulted and or destroyed their homes, but it works and his employee “family” become the main bounty hunters for Dream, with Bad and Ant tagging along since they’re guards. 

Now the streams relating to the manhunt displays everyones wants. They’re all doing this wanting something, and whilst it’s to gain Quackity’s favour back they’re all doing that for different reasons. Their motivations are somewhat different even if on the surface they are the same and so on the man hunts, because there will be many, this is slowly picked apart and through that the manipulation of Quackity is revealed and then we see a parrallel between Quackity and previous people in power where they start to get desperate to keep control over the thing they’ve created. Because that’s been one of (not the only) issues with every leader on the server, the control and their feeling of lack of, even if thats not truly the case. But you get these moments between all the characters where they’re trying to outwit one another, trying to figure it out without blatantly saying it. Maybe Foolish does. He’s a bit of a himbo. 

Ponk always said he’d leave the door open for Sam and I truly think something happens, whether it be a look in the mirror with one of his guards going too far with someone or a conversation with Quackity where Quackity holds the mirror up to Sam maliciously, that causes him to hit the rock bottom and just break and I want that breakdown in front of Ponk. And I want Ponk not necessarily to give him the second chance off the bat but give him that peace offering, give him that hand to pull him up. I want him to take Sam to Niki and explain to Niki we’ve done bad things in the past, this is a safe haven and I believe Sam needs help and a place he can truly feel safe and for a moment Sam does and this begins his raid to redemption in gaining back the trust of the people in his lives. He becomes Tubbo 2.0 spying on Quackity like Tubbo did for Wilbur, but maybe less... bad.

But what of the Fiances? Wellllll,. With Dream escaping him and George meet in secret. George confesses he doesn’t believe it’s real and for a long time has been struggling with reality. He misses the early days, misses when they’d just have fun. Dream says he was having fun and George says I wasn’t. Dream shows true regret for George but says its too late now, can’t change the past. George agrees. Dream asks him what he’s going to do and he simply replies with “Sleep” Ending stream. 

Sapanps stream is a lot more WE ARE GOING ON A DREAM HUNT WE’RE GOING TO CATCH A BIG ONE, I’M NOT SCARED. vibes. He’s gearing up, he’s suiting up and he’s saluting pets on the way. He made a promise and with everything else going on in his life, he’s ready to throw himself into a distraction. He tries to convince George to help him but he waves him off saying, what’s the point? and mumbles something about divine powers and dreams which Sapnap just shakes off. He tries to find Karl in Kinoko but instead comes across Quackity. They have a blow up about how They abandoned each other, both did wrong but neither see the other side of things and eventually he tells him to leave. Quackity says okay, and the place blows up. Foolish cries in the corner. All that heard work but the boss said so. Sapnap ends the whole thing saying at least he’s there for Karl and Quackity pauses and is like why? And Sapnap is all like you care. Just go, you’ve done enough damage, I can’t have you damaging him too. And after a little more but but but between the two, Quackity goes. Sapnap leaves the place to burn, going to find Dream and hopefully Karl on the way. 

Karls in space. That’s where his latest travels have taken him and where the other side decided was his time to visit. Here I see a Wizard in Oz scenario where solutions to some issues will be revealed for Karl in relation to the other side. When it comes to his Dream SMP stuff, he starts confusing names and people more and Sapnap is worried about him, considering keeping him in a safe place. The only place that survived was the library with Karls books. Karl says he’ll stay there. Thats where the answers are anyway. Sapnap is unsure and gets bad vibes but is distracted by a lead on Dream and agrees, he tells him he’ll be back soon. 

They don’t see each other for a long ass time 

I’m not sure on the egg stuff but I do feel Niki and Puffy should have a conversation about all the shit thats happened and Puffy trying to help Niki and vice versa. I feel like Puffy should reach out to Foolish and try and comprehend what the fuck is he doing with Quackity. They have a little argument but it comes to a point where Puffy realises she cannot shield Foolish from harm and that her son ,just make his own decisions. All she can do is guide him where she can and hope that when it comes down to it he will make the right choice. She hopes she didn’t fail this dependant like she did with Dream her duckling. Though only she sees it as failure. 

Jack and Niki finally talk. She goes searching for some things and comes to his new place, he tells her to fuck off and that he doesn’t need anyone. They all abandon him. Niki pretty much does the verbal equivalent of slap some sense into him as she and him discuss how he is not the centre of everything, how he is not the sun. She was hurting, and he didn’t bother, no instead they just fed off each others anger and once he couldn’t feed of her or anyone else he isolated himself. She tries to convince him there are better things in life, there are better ways to place your energy etc. A lot of healing talk with Jack being stubborn. Eventually Jack finds himself at the door of Quackity after sticking to stubbornness, not quite ready to heal and he becomes the next member of Las Nevadas. A big blow to Wilbur too. 

They finally destroy the egg with magic. I dunno how but either destroy or hatch. Either or would be great. Red comes out the thing and I want a gay ass villain please. Bring it Red. Let’s go. Invite him to the server, bring the fire, bring the plant power Red. He can be the villain that unites everyone in a begrudging way. Like they all hate each other but fine i guess we’ll team to stop Red and Ant. 

Skeppy’s dead. 

Tubbo and Ranboo have a fight but Ranboo says “Weren’t we enough?” and it’s in relation to him and Michael (this happens before panic room). Thats when Tubbo realises where the wires got crossed and he immediately rectifies it but explaining he’s happy with the two of them but he wanted a job, something to work towards. Family wise he’s got it all, he’s content with it all but he wanted a project and one that didn’t incite violence. Fun rivalry sure, but he’s done with violence, he’s doesn’t want to add to the nightmares he already has. He wants competition but not one that will put all he loves in danger. So they talk it out and Ranboo feels more confident and Tubbo asks him to tell him if he ever takes anything too far because he can get a little carried away sometimes. Ranboo agrees and then they have a cute playdate with Michael. Then Ranboo does the thing with Wilbur and ends up in panic room.

Tommy and Tubbo discuss everything and lay it all out on the table because Tommy doesn’t want to be on the other side again with Tubbo. Tubbo doesn’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal about his burger business and Tommy tries to explain the issues with Quackity and the level of intensity he’s seen with Wilbur but Tubbo just laughs it off. They eventually talk about Ranboo and Tommy relents saying he likes Ranboo although he does sometimes get jealous of how Tubbo seems to have it all. Tubbo tells Tommy of his nightmares and so does Tommy to Tubbo. They come to an understanding with each other and understand that no matter how long they go apart, there is always a space shaped to fit them perfectly in their lives for them. Tubbo and Tommy then go play some pranks. 

Wilbur is unhappy with the pranks and gives a lecture and they get into a fight. This leads to Wilbur talking man to man to Quackity. Theres some weird sexual tension. Once again they’re trying to outwit one another. That when we get to the crazy stuff. 

And here’s where I get crazy with my stuff. 

Ponk is digging in his lil cave when he accidentally breaks through to a random room buried deep underground. Tommy’s there trying to scam him out of something he has. Tubbo and Ranboo too. When they get to this room Ranboo thinking it’s the panic one and freaks out, but the others calm him down. Ponk thinking theres diamonds in the room storms ahead setting off some traps but surviving. Tubbo opens one of the chests and just says theres a bucket in there. Ponk pulls it out and says it has a named fish in it. 

You see where I’m going. 

They empty the bucket whilst asking what the fish is called. They are interrupted by a voice. It’s Sally. 

Dream had captured her and bound her to a bucket and put her in the chest and hid her from Wilbur. 

She has been released. She freaks out over how much time has past because for her nothing has changed at all. She thought it might have been a couple of hours or something since Dream pulled that prank on her but clearly not. 

They all catch up and the season ends with Sally and Wilbur meeting in front of Quackity, Dream in the shadows and Sally and Wilbur turning to see Fundy who just freaks the fuck out. 

Oh and just a side, Callahan is the last member of the syndicate and God of the server and is having fun playing with the mortals. 

And then I have the next season planned out and how I’d end the whole thing but like until then. This is it. Mid Season to finale. How I picture things happening. 

None of this will happen but isn’t it fun to imagine? 

[femalechibiblogger]

My Top 10 Underrated Anime Series

1. Welcome to the NHK

Plot: The main protagonist is Tatsuhiro Satō, a university dropout entering his fourth year of unemployment. He leads a reclusive life as a hikikomori, ultimately coming to the conclusion that this happened due to some sort of conspiracy. One day just when his life seems entirely unchanging, he meets Misaki Nakahara, a mysterious girl who claims to be able to cure Tatsuhiro of his hikikomori ways. She presents him with a contract basically outlining that once a day they would meet in the evening in a local park where Misaki would lecture to Tatsuhiro in an effort to rid him of his lifestyle. During these outings, many subjects are discussed, though they almost always pertain in some way to psychology or psychoanalysis. One of their first meetings in fact deals with interpreting Tatsuhiro's recent dreams. Both Tatsuhiro and Misaki, however, have a tendency of over-doing things, such as hiding the truth, especially from each other and themselves. Despite Misaki's offer and pressing attempts at salvation, it is Tatsuhiro's neighbor and high school friend, Kaoru Yamazaki, whom Tatsuhiro often turns to in moments of need and support. Despite his own idiosyncrasies, Yamazaki is one of the more stable characters in the story.

While many may not know about this series, those who do know of its existence can see it’s appeal. This anime shows that some people, like the main character, are shut-in’s due to social anxiety holding them back from living a regular life. The anime deals with subjects such as social anxiety, hiding depression from loved ones, paranoia, and a crippling fear of never being accepted by the outside world. 

Throughout the series, Sato tries to go outside more often and is pushed to do this by a high school girl, Misaki, and his old classmate now neighbor, Kaoru. All the while, Sato meets some people from his past who cause him to go down a different path, such as becoming part of a ponzi scheme or joining a suicide group, because they themselves have problems that he unknowingly becomes a part of. This goes to show that if you have struggles with batting depression or have family problems...seek proper help before bringing others down with you.

2. Tiger & Bunny

Plot: The series takes place in "NC 1978" in a fictional, re-imagined version of New York City called Stern Bild City, where 45 years before, superpowered individuals known as "NEXT" (an acronym standing for Noted Entities with eXtraordinary Talents) started appearing and some of them became superheroes. Each of the city's most famous superheroes work for a sponsor company and their uniforms also contain advertising for real-life companies. Their heroic activity is broadcast on the popular television show "Hero TV", where they accumulate points for each heroic feat accomplished (arresting criminals or saving civilians, for example) and the best ranked hero of the season is crowned "King of Heroes". The story mainly focuses on veteran hero Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a.k.a. Wild Tiger, who is assigned a new partner: a young man named Barnaby Brooks, Jr. However, Barnaby and Kotetsu have trouble working together, as they have conflicting opinions on how a superhero should act, while at the same time they are trying to crack the mystery of the murder of Barnaby's parents. In addition, the appearance of a homicidal vigilante NEXT named "Lunatic" stirs up the public and makes them question the place of heroes in the city. 

The main heroes, Kotetsu and Barnaby, do not like each other at first...but a strong bond grows between them as they protect the city and help each other from the tragic moments of their pasts. They even help each other with the problems that they face within the series’ current timeline: Kotetsu slowly losing his powers, and Barnaby being manipulated by someone who he thought of like family. 

While not as big as My Hero Academia, this series still has lots of good moments, terrific super heroes, and powerful storylines. Tiger & Bunny is definitely worth watching for anyone who loves superheroes and anime.

3. My Roommate Is A Cat

Plot: Novelist Subaru Mikazuki, who is shy and not good with other people, and Haru, the cat that has been living a severe stray life. This is a story of them suddenly living together and describes the happiness of living together from both point of views.

This series is definitely underrated. My Roommate is a Cat is filled shows how much of an impact a person...or in this case a cat...can have on a person who has lived a life of solitude and books. The main character, Subaru Mikazuki, begins to slowly open up to those around him thanks to the help of a stray cat: Haru. From Haru’s point of view, Subaru is someone whom she desires to protect and take care of, as she fears that he cannot survive without her. Subaru also comes to term with his parents’ deaths and learns to move past his guilt, and realizes that there are many people who love and care for him.

This series shows that it’s ok to open up to the people around you, and that no one is truly alone.

4. And Yet The Town Moves

Plot: Hotori Arashiyama loves mysteries, but there’s one she just can’t solve: why does the solution to one problem inevitably seem to lead to another? Like how when Hotori has to start working at the Seaside Maid Cafe after school to pay off a debt and her friend Toshiko fortunately knows exactly how a Maid Cafe should be run. Which is fortunate since Hotori has no clue. Except that, unfortunately, Toshiko has no interest in working at the cafe—until she discovers that Hotori’s childhood friend Hiroyuki is a regular. Which SEEMS fortunate. Except that Hotori doesn’t know that, while Toshiko likes Hiroyuki, Hiroyuki secretly likes Hotori, while Hotori secretly has a crush on… No, no more spoilers!But if that’s not enough drama, there’s work, angst with a certain math teacher, table tennis between her classmates, her younger brother versus the school’s bad girl… And yet, even though everything seems like it’s going to crash at any moment, somehow Hotori’s life keeps going hilariously forward.

Sure...it doesn’t have sexy and cute maids that most maid-theme anime has... But And Yet The Town Moves is still a series worth watching. The series features cute, slice-of-life storylines filled with antics by the mystery-loving Hotori Arashiyama. Because of her crazy antics and goofy nature, Hotori brings laughter and new experiences to those around her. 

If you want an anime featuring klutzy maids and funny slice of life, then And Yet The Town Moves is definitely the right choice. 

5. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!

Plot: Midori Asakusa wants to create an anime, but she's too disheartened to make that first step by herself. By pure chance, she meets Tsubame Mizusaki, an up-and-coming socialite secretly dreaming of becoming an animator. Together with Midori's money-loving best friend Sayaka Kanamori, the energetic trio start the "Eizouken" club and slowly work towards making their "greatest world" a reality.

This anime is truly a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! has animation that is truly breathtaking and filled with the imaginations of aspiring animators. Throughout the series, our three protagonists: Midori, Sayaki, Tsubame experience the hardships of running their own studio, all the while dealing with the Student Council and School Board who wish to shut down Eizouken. But no matter how hard they try, there is no stopping these three girls from making anime and running their studio. 

Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! has such brilliant animation, creative storylines, and normal looking characters who viewers can relate to. If your dream is to become an animator, than you certainly learn a lot from this series.

6. Angels of Death

Plot: 13-year old Rachel awakens to find herself trapped in the basement of an abandoned building. Without any memories, or even a clue as to where she could be, she wanders the building, lost and dizzy. In her search, she comes across a man covered in bandages. He introduces himself as Zack and he wields a grim-reaper like sickle.A strange bond is struck between them, strengthened by strange, crazy promises…These two, trapped in this strange building, don’t know why fate has placed them there. But they will work together desperately to find a way out…

Rachel and Zack are quite an unlikely duo...yet their skills and personalities are what complete each other: Rachel is calm and calculating, while Zack is aggressive and strong. But they have something in common: They both suffered their whole lives, became killers, and being killers is what got them trapped in the mysterious building in the first place. Together, they face various serial killers who want to keep them from escaping: A doctor with an eye fetish, a pumpkin-headed child who wants to bury Rachel in his graveyard, a female-prison warden who’s obsessed with punishing ‘sinners’, and a faithless priest whose goal is to test the faith of those who fall victim to the killers within the building. 

Angels of Death is filled with such mystery and psychological thrills. While it is not for the faint of heart...it is definitely for those who wish to find a good psychological thriller to watch.

7. Zombieland Saga

Plot: In the year 2008, high school student Sakura Minamoto is abruptly killed by a truck on the morning she plans to submit an idol application. Ten years later, Sakura, along with six "legendary" girls from various eras of Japan's history, are brought back as zombies by a man named Kotaro Tatsumi, who seeks to revitalize Saga Prefecture by putting together an all-zombie idol group known as Franchouchou.

Unlike most ‘pop idol’ anime series, that feature cute girls whose music can save the world...this one features cute girls who are zombies who were brought back to life to save a city as a pop idol group. While it seems unusual, Zombieland Saga shows the viewers all the things that Saga has to offer...because it basically advertises the entire prefecture. The members of Franchouchou: Sakura, Saki, Ai, Junko, Lily, Yugiri, and Tae...are determined to become a great idol group while keeping their true identities a secret. Thanks to their mysterious manager, Kotaro Tatsumi, they are given a second chance at life and learn more about each other...but they also help each other move on from their deaths and give closure to the loved ones that they had to leave behind. 

If you are looking for a ‘pop idol girl’ anime that is different from others...then Zombieland Saga is definitely a good choice, as it does differ from the usual plots that anime featuring pop idol groups has.

8. Mitsuboshi Colors

Plot: Set in Ueno. The series follows three elementary school girls, Yui, Sat-chan, and Kotoha, who together form an organization known as "Colors". Together, they perform various deeds and errands to protect the peace in their town.

This series is very adorable and is filled with a lot of hilarity. What makes it hilarious, are the crazy antics of the crybaby Yui, the rambunctious Sat-chan, and the dark-humored Kotoha as they try to help others and maintain the peace in the town that they love so much. They recieve help from local shop owner, Pops, who gives them clues to solve, and are often coming into conflict with police officer Saito, who sees them as nothing but trouble while dealing with their childish antics. 

Mitsuboshi Colors really does make you want to go to the real Ueno in Japan, and see all the shops featured within this series.

9. Lovely Muco

Plot: The series depicts the life of the pet dog Muco and his owner Komatsu, who lives in his glass-making workshop in the mountains.

Lovely Muco shows life through the eyes of Muco, a shiba inu who lives in a mountain town with her owner, Komatsu, who works as a glass blower. Muco is an energetic dog who finds everything around her fascinating. Muco loves Komatsu more than anything in the world, who gives her lots of love in return. Muco also interacts with other people such as Komatsu’s long-time friend, Ushikou-san, bar owner Bouda and his energetic daughter Rena. 

Lovely Muco shows the viewer how the world looks through the eyes of a dog, and what goes through their curious minds.

10. Chi’s Sweet Home

Plot: A grey and white kitten with black stripes wanders away from her mother and siblings one day while enjoying a walk outside with her family. Lost in her surroundings, the kitten struggles to find her family and instead is found by a young boy, Youhei, and his mother. They take the kitten home, but, as pets are not allowed in their housing complex, they try to find her a new home. This proves to be difficult, and the family decides to keep the kitten. While being housebroken, the kitten mistakenly answers to "Chi" (as in shi- from shikko, the Japanese word for "urine") and this becomes her name. Chi then lives with her new family, learning about different things and meeting new people and animals.

This series is filled with so much love and cuteness that it could give you diabetes. Chi’s New Home shows viewers how the world looks through the eyes young kitten ‘Chi’, as she grows to love her human family and makes new friends along the way. Chi and her family love each other greatly, and cannot imagine living without each other.

Chi’s Sweet Home shows us just how important family is, and how a new member of one’s family can bring so much love and joy into one’s life.

[normal-thoughts-official]

Take a different turn

Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV)

Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood Magnus Bane & Raphael Santiago (mentioned) Alec Lightwood & Izzy Lightwood (mentioned) Izzy Lightwood/Meliorn (mentioned)

Alec Lightwood is a practical man, who happens to have an all-black house because it just makes things easier for him.

Magnus Bane is the witch that lives across the street from him, in a house covered in flowers and plants, always with a smile on.

And Magnus' clients keep knocking on the wrong house.

Read it on Ao3

Alec looks up from the book he was reading right in time to see that the latest client has just left his neighbor's house. The woman is leaving with a smile on her face, but it is no match for the one on the man that she's talking to. He waves at her, and she waves back, laughing, and one would think they are long time friends were it not for the vial of purple liquid she holds in her hand, making it unmistakable what this visit truly was, and what Magnus' line of work is.

Alec's neighbor is a witch, and the woman came to him for a potion. It's not like it's supposed to be a secret; there are signs along the nearest road advertising his line of work, and they even give his address - correctly, Alec has already checked plenty of times.

He waits until the woman has rounded the corner and Magnus has gone back into the house, and then precisely five minutes so the guy has some room to breathe, before getting up and crossing the street to talk to him.

The guy's house is nice - more than nice. Its walls are light yellow, not so bright that it hurts the eyes or even calls that much attention, but upbeat enough that it gives the place a happy kind of air. There are plants all around it and inside, some of which reach out from the windows. One particular tree has a branch that goes all the way outside, where it touches another's, where their branches almost curl around each other. There are a lot of flowers in neatly arranged little pots outside, all in constant bloom, of bright and beautiful colors. Anyone would think Magnus uses magic to keep them always beautiful, but Alec's seen him manually watering and pruning them, smiling and talking to them all the while.

I could use magic to keep them alive, but the plants need care and contact to be truly healthy. Why do you think Peter Plant and Perry the Plant-ypus are always holding hands? They need connection, he had said. Just like all of us, he added, in a much smaller voice.

The house is clearly well-lit, and there is sweet fruit hanging from some of the trees, which have little signs that read "feel free to take some!". Alec supposes it's a lot more fruit than anyone could eat or use on their own. All in all, Magnus' house is beautiful, and has an aura of kindness and happiness that sticks to it.

Alec's house is all black, because that way it isn't as obvious when it gets dirty.

Which is why they are stuck in their current predicament: every time Magnus has a client over - and man, does Magnus get a lot of clients. Alec wonders when he even eats - they go to Alec's house instead, because they "figured the address in the signs was mistaken".

Just like that last client, which Alec had been waiting to leave so he could talk to Magnus about how they could fix this. Again.

It's a little annoying, but Alec would be a lot more upset about it if Magnus weren't so genuinely nice to talk to. Alec has never been friends with any of his neighbors before, and it turns out that he likes it.

Still, Magnus' business can't prosper if the clients keep going to the wrong address, and Alec needs to work without being interrupted every hour or so to point people the right way to his neighbor's house. And assure them that yes, the yellow flowery house is where the witch lives. Yes, he is sure.

So, he knocks on the door, corners of his lips already tugging a bit as he hears the quick approaching footsteps of said witch.

Magnus is the most gorgeous guy Alec's ever seen, but that is fine because Alec already knows this and therefore won't act completely braindead. His hair is always changing style, length, and color, which would have cemented any doubts Alec could have had about whether or not he's the real deal. His real eyes have slitted pupils - which, okay, now that Alec thinks about it, that should have cemented whether or not he's the real deal - but he usually hides them behind a warm, rich brown that sparkles in the light as it assesses Alec, just like it's doing right now. Alec thinks the glamour is kind of a pity, because the golden eyes are also gorgeous. His hair has light blue streaks today, matching his eyeliner and vest, contrasting nicely with the yellow shirt that definitely doesn't hide the muscles of his arms, dear lord. His lips are a deep pink as he talks, just like the details in the shirt Alec can't quite make out; definitely courtesy of some kind of balm. His eyes are worried as they focus on Alec, and he snaps his fingers gently.

"Alexander, are you okay?"

Alec blinks. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"You aren't saying anything."

Step one failed, Alec thinks. "Ah," he says, eloquently, before pulling himself back together, "yes, sorry, I just wanted to ask," his voice sounds that weird kind of forced pleasant that he wears sometimes when he needs it, and the idea of using it with this guy makes him cringe internally, but well, he wants a conversation starter and he's bad at sounding natural, sue him, "are you sure that you aren't hiding the house or something? I mean, it's the third time today."

Magnus brings his eyebrows together, amused. "Well, you can see it, can't you?". He shakes his head slightly, and it would be challenging, but the guy has a way of making you feel like he was laughing with you.

Still, Alec huffs. "Fair point. Still, I thought your- solution would have worked out by now."

Magnus' "solution" to their little problem was to snap his fingers and make some kind of tower appear on the side of the house. The tower has a triangular roof, and it kinda looks like a witch hat, Alec will give him that.

But it's also light pink.

Magnus purses his lips, seeming genuinely lost. "So did I," he agrees, scrunching his nose a little as he thinks. "Maybe some kind of spell where only someone who knows what to look for can find it?" he says hesitantly. He then reaches out with his hands, scanning his own house with his magic thoughtfully. His head tilts slightly in thought as he does it, and flowers or no flowers, no one would doubt that Magnus Bane is a witch at that point. The way that he holds himself, the grace in every tilt of his head, the not at all exaggerated - now that he's actually concentrating and not showing off - movements of his fingers that are still so purposeful and fluid it's impossible not to look. Then his hand drops, and he sighs. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it," he says. "What about your solution?"

Alec's solution was to place a hundred thousand signs near his door that said This is not the witch's house! The witch lives across the street and Yes in the yellow house with all the flowers, and yes THAT one I promise you it's the one you're looking at, and don't knock to confirm just go there. But Alec's other neighbor, Meliorn, just so happens to be a fairy, and takes great pleasure in stealing them whenever they can. Superglue hadn't stopped them, nailing the signs to the door hadn't stopped them, not even painting them directly on the walls had stopped them. And Alec can't use the usual seelie-shooers to keep them away because they are dating Alec's goddamn sister, who will not ask them to stop. Hell, Alec's not even entirely sure she's not the one asking Meliorn to do this in the first place. She might be more of a trickster than they are, at least when it comes to Alec.

Match made in Heaven, Alec scoffs to himself before replying.

"Still no luck with Meliorn," is all he says.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help more with that," Magnus says, and he sounds so genuinely regretful Alec couldn't be upset about it if he tried. Magnus tried to talk to Meliorn about it, but he said they looked so happy with all the stolen signs he couldn't even bring it up. It's a fairy's nature, he had said, and Meliorn seems to have gotten pretty attached to the signs. They have a special place in their house and everything.

Meliorn's house, Alec can't help but note, is exactly what one would expect from a fairy. It's covered in vines and exotic-looking flowers, not that different from the ones Magnus grows, but that unnervingly follow you as you walk past. And, of course, it is filled with their treasure. Just Alec's luck.

Magnus purses his lips again. "I could change your house into something a little more like mine, so people at least won't keep coming to you- okay, I see the face you're making, and I'll have you know I'm offended. My house is beautiful, if I do say so myself," he winks, smile bright.

"Of course it is," Alec says, making a dismissing gesture with his hand, because the idea that it wouldn't be is ridiculous. Magnus softens in a way Alec can't quite understand, his face warmer than it looked even as he grinned, "it's just- not quite my style. Besides, I wouldn't want to kill all the plants. Also, I don't like big changes in the environment," he says, scratching the back of his neck. Magnus is the opposite, always changing something here and there, even if the core theme of the place never changes, "And black is nice. I just didn't think that there would be a witch next door people would mistake me for."

Magnus scoffs. "I still don't get what that's about. Black is the worst color for a witch. Absorbs all kinds of energies, you don't want that when you're using magic. Yellow is a lot better, irradiates pretty nicely and absorbs the good things. Besides, my tower has a witch hat now! And there are plants!" he gestures widely, in an almost offended way. Alec doesn't know how to tell him that no one associates plants with witches, at least not the kind of pretty, bright colored flowers and fruits that he grows.

"I guess people expect witch's plants to be less…" He pauses for a second, looking for the perfect word, "voluptuous".

Magnus scoffs. "Then how would I get my ingredients??"

Alec shrugs. He has no idea. He doesn't know how witches work.

"Besides," Magnus continues, "why do people not expect a witch's house to look approachable? Why would you seek help from someone that doesn't look trustworthy? I work to cure the sick, bring good fortune, keep plants and people healthy, keep away bad energies. It's not like I work with bad energies or take those stupid," he emphasizes the word with a tilt of his head, "requests, like 'Hex my neighbor's grass!'" He says that in a demanding voice, snapping his fingers and grimacing a little as he impersonates that kind of client. Alec knows for a fact that his mom has hired witches to hex their neighbor's grass more than once, and Magnus' imitation is surprisingly similar. The fact that this guy has unknowingly talked shit about Alec's mom only makes Alec like him more.

Once upon a time, he would have felt guilty about that feeling. He doesn't anymore, and it's a nice change.

Magnus looks at him, squinting slightly, "you have hexed your neighbor's grass, haven't you?," he says.

"What? No," Alec grimaces, disgusted, "you are my neighbor."

Magnus gives a little laugh. "Fair point. I suppose I'd have to charge a lot for that one. Starting with even getting a lawn to be hexed. That would need considerably more space. I am not getting rid of my plants, I'll warn you." He says playfully, pointing a finger at Alec. It stops just shy of poking him. Magnus seems to be very careful when it comes to personal space, which Alec appreciates so much he finds that he wouldn't mind if he actually touched him.

Alec smiles, because he can't help it. "I don't have a lawn either, so I don't think that's necessary. No, it's uh, my mom who has hexed the neighbor. And I agree with you, it's stupid."

"Glad we're on the same page," Magnus replies, raising his eyebrows playfully for emphasis.

They fall silent for a while, but it's comfortable, and Alec's smile lingers on his face as he watches Magnus look at his own house in concentration. It's like a puzzle he can't figure out. Alec supposes pop culture has been lying to people about witches more than he ever thought, if this guy's completely clueless expression is any indication. His house has pastel colors.

"I mean, look, logical or not, you could change the front a bit to look more like people expect, right? Make it a darker color or something, put the plants on the back? If people want unapproachable, give them what they want, you know."

Magnus sighs, and he says, in a small voice, "but I want people to visit."

This is exactly the kind of conversation that would make Alec freeze up, not knowing what to respond, usually. But instead, he finds that he actually knows what to do and grabs Magnus' hand almost on instinct. Magnus looks at him with wide eyes, shock and sadness and the kind of guarded hope that means fear, and Alec just looks back at him, gathering words.

But it still seems to be the right thing to do, because Magnus says, "Raphael just moved out. I had never lived outside of the village before, but because he's not a witch, I thought it best to come to a neutral place. But everything is so different, and now that he's gone… The house feels empty." Then he quickly takes his hand from Alec's, and a smile is back in place, bright as ever, but it makes Alec feel a lot less warm. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be putting this on you. I promise I'm not usually such a woe-y old man, you just… Caught me by surprise."

"No, no, I like it," Alec says, because it's true. "And well… I can visit, if you want." Magnus looks at him with doubt in his eyes, so Alec quickly amends, "I've always wanted to know what a witch's work is like."

That's not really true. Alec hasn't always wanted to know what a witch's work is like, more like he's wanted to know what a witch's work is like ever since he's met Magnus. But potato, potatoh.

And if he didn't want to know before, well. He definitely does once Magnus' smile blooms with brightness, his fingers almost twitching as he goes to show him the plants he grows and what they do.

[guardmesherlock-rowan]

Zombie Apocalypse headcanon

I honestly love this!  Though if there is a zombie apocalypse I’ll be honest, you do not want me on your team.  I will most likely be among the first to go, I have my own zombie apocalypse plans which revolves around experiments. 

I wonder how the guys handle this!

Sherlock Holmes

At first there were small incidents and he would accuse Mycroft of covering it up.  But eventually the outbreak would be so severe there would be no avoiding it getting out of control.  Sherlock would learn to recognize the traits people would start to exhibit if they were infected and hiding it.  Of course he would be taken out of ground zero by his brother to hide away in a military complex.  Although Sherlock would much prefer to be on his own without his brother or the military ‘protecting’ him.  He would also rather be out there looking for John.  It would be a battle of wits of Sherlock trying to get out so he could find John, who would undoubtedly be alive.

John Watson

John would be out the door trying to help protect people.  He would shoot at the zombies, and be separated from Sherlock when he got picked up by Mycroft.  John would find a group to stay with.  With his field medical training he would be invaluable to the group, along with the little things he picked up from living with Sherlock, such as helping to recognize when someone may not be telling the group the whole truth.  However, John would become harder over time as members of the group left, joined, died.  With his PTSD getting worse.   

James Moriarty

He’s fine.  He has friends in places of power, and some that are still alive on top of that.  He was one of the first people made aware that the government couldn’t stop it this time, and he did not delay in taking precautions.  He has his own methods of getting somewhere safe, away from people, own emergency supply.  Plus he has the help he needs.

Mycroft Holmes

You would never have known if he could help it.  In a world with different experiments going at once, and so much focus on living longer it isn’t ridiculous for there to have been a few undead incidents.  However, once it goes out of control he would have teams mobilized to pick up those most important.  It would kill him if he couldn’t get to everyone on his list, it would be inevitable and he wouldn’t let it show that it bothered him, but he would remember.

Jack Stillman

He would long to be out there, on his own, an artist among monsters, who would be there to stop him from having his own fun?  The answer would be Moriarty.  Which would be the better bet in long term survival, but Jack does have his preferences.  Staying with M would mean the group would have a doctor on hand, and additional support in dealing with other survivors they come across.

Sebastian Moran

Two Words: Head shot.  He would be in charge of keeping M safe.  This man would take the most shifts as look out, sniping any zombie he saw.  The problem would be the cats.  Others would be concerned about them carrying the disease into the group.  James pulled some strings and got a military doctor to come and examine the cats to make sure they were not infected or carrying it and to help in how to plan to keep them safe.  If he would have to leave them behind, he would have to leave them behind.  Cats are resilient, he knew this.  Though he would prefer to take them with, James knows that.

Jeremy Cassel

He is on Mycroft’s list, though it is seemingly more for sentimental purposes than survival.  And while Jeremy is happy to tease Mycroft about caring, he doesn’t waste time before he figures out how to sneak out.  The Phantom Thief is now doing what he can to help protect others who are not in a position to help themselves.   Most likely he would end up going missing from where Mycroft wanted him to be, and Mycroft would accept that.  Hoping to see him when this was all over.  

Hercule Poirot

Also on Mycroft’s list, and he takes it.  Doing what he can to help find a solution to fix the problem, scolding those who let it get to this point, if they are still alive.  When they find more survivors he would be among the representatives talking with them and making sure no one was infected.

Arthur Hastings

Surprisingly also finds himself safe, though more because he was already with them when things happened.  No one would say for sure if he would’ve been on Mycroft’s list, though Hercule promises that Arthur would’ve been on his.  He helps with checking the CCTVs to spot survivors.

George Lestrade

In the first wave he jumped in, fearful, shaking, but he got to work protecting those he could, and trying to escort people away from the zombies.  He wasn’t a great shot with the gun, but he could get the job done.  Definitely threw up a time or two when he could catch a breath or when he went to check on survivors only to find the recently eaten.  He would have himself a few quiet sobs, but mostly he would give a lopsided faked confident grin to those he was trying to protect.  However, I fear he would not last long if he didn’t start checking those survivors for bite marks.

Mikah Hudson

Ideally he would be picked up with Sherlock. Ideally Mycroft would send team after team to find him.  Ideally he would’ve been at home.  However, if he was at school, he would have found a small group to be with and have barricaded themselves in.  Leaving him to rely on the skills taught to him by the grown ups in his life.  He would be a reliable member of the group, but it would not be without its own dangers.  They would steal what food they could from the cafeterias, but someone would have to be able to sneak out to get it.  

Henry Jekyll

He was one of the first to be moved to a protected spot, even before it got out of control.  They needed his research for further experiments.  It would seem no different than others times he would be hunkered down for security reasons, although it might go a little longer than he’d like.  Additionally, he would make an addition to the list of people to be on the lookout for to pick up. 

Edward Hyde

At first he thought they were messing with him.  Zombies?  Probably a prank, maybe even a prank show!  But with the first zombie he had to fight off and that thought was gone.  He would shout at the military personnel who would come for him about how they were idiots for putting people in danger with these experiments, he would check that his brother is alright.  But he would decline to come with, even to the point of running away.  He would find his own way to survive, even gain a few tag along members to his ‘not a group’ group.  

‘Irene’

What the bloody hell do you mean Zombies?!  She would be quick to get away from them and hide during the initial wave.  She considered trying to go to Moriarty for help but decided she’d rather be a zombie with a chance of biting the man than ask for a favor.  With a smile and a few soft words she would travel group to group, getting along most with Edward in his, being careful to avoid John when she heard he was also alive and somewhere out there.  

[Where is MC?]

Sherlock - Would’ve made sure you were either picked up first, or refuse to go until you were with him.

John - Once you were with him, he would always keep you within arms reach, sleeping with his arms wrapped around you, waking up often to make sure you were still okay.

James - With him of course.  Doing his best to make sure you never saw a single zombie.

Mycroft - Immediately he would come to get you with a group of soldiers, not that he didn’t trust them but more he didn’t trust them not to make a mistake and put you in danger.

Jack - With him.  Although he would make sure you were aware of what was going on, he would be teaching you what he knew just in case.

Sebastian - Also with him, but you would hardly ever see him.  Mostly you would be startled awake in the middle of the night when he would crawl into bed next to you, though he would be gone before you woke up the next day.  He had many precious people he needed to protect.

Jeremy - he would’ve left you with Mycroft.  While he would want to be out protecting people and helping he would rather you stay safe.  Though he would be happy to have the help if you followed, he would make sure you stayed with those you were helping to protect if the undead approached.

Hercule - He would make sure you were safe first, and while he helped he would ask that you stay away, just in case someone infected came in.

Arthur - He would want you safe, he would demand that he either be allowed to go get you or that you were picked up.  If they refused to go get you he would leave to find you.

George - He would bring the survivors he found back to you and do what he could to protect you all.

Mikah - If you’re brought in together because he was home, he would stay by your side, trying to take your mind off of things.  If he was away at school he would pray every night for your safety.

Henry - You are also on his list, though he would hardly ever see you making sure you were kept in a place where you could be comfortable and safe.

Edward - Offer you his place when the soldiers came, asking you to go somewhere safe.  If not, he would make sure you were protected.  Teaching you self defense whenever he had a chance.

‘Irene’ - you are her first stop.  Her first priority.  She would find you and help you hide, checking over you to make sure she wasn’t too late.  She’d do what she could to help make sure that you two were accepted into whatever group you two came across, but always insisted to keep moving, never staying with one group for too long.

[lore-of-the-silvereyes-rwby]

The Hero that was never meant to be

I’m going to ask you guys a quick question. Think back to the volume 2 season finale in 2014. Or before Salem's debut. Once all of the antagonists are defeated and you're now left asking; Who's going to be the next antagonist for the series?

Before we proceed with this inquiry let's take a look at what exactly distinguishes a hero, from a villain.

Hero/Villain/Anti;who knows?

Below are multiple examples/definitions and meanings of heroes and villains as well as their anti sub groups.

Hero

a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.

the chief character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities, and with whom the reader is expected to sympathize.

“a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities." Heroes come in many forms in life, ranging from one's family and friends to athletes to movie stars. A person's heroes can change over time.

Villain

(in a film, novel, or play) a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot.

 a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel. 

a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot.

Anti-Hero

a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes.

is 'a central character in a story, film, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes'. These missing attributes include idealism, courage, and morality. Anti-heroes can sometimes do the right thing, but it is usually because it serves their interests to do so.

Anti-Villain

is the opposite of an Anti-Hero — a character with heroic goals, personality traits, and/or virtues who is ultimately the villain. Their desired ends are mostly good, but their means of getting there range from evil to undesirable.

Now that we have some measure of clarity about this let's get to the point.  Basically Ironwood is a Anti-Villain character

If you think back to the things we have learned throughout the series, all the people we have met, you will find that all of Ironwood’s traits align better with Salem, Cinder, Jacques, and Adam.  All of them have this hunger for power and/or control, all of them are trying to protect themselves and increase their control.  

All of them use a level of manipulation and none of them really cared about the damage it would do to others.  Ironwood might be a little better because, at first, it was something he kind of thought about.  Kind of. He had trouble relating to the idea that protecting more was better than protecting less, and it seems that he had been struggling to find his heart since the beginning. 

Ironwood is a well intentioned and desperate man who wants to protect Atlas against Salem, but he can reach extreme means to do so. By the end of Volume 7, he's willing to abandon both Mantle to die and throw away humanity's best chance of survival by leaving Amity Tower; he also falls far enough to shoot a teenager for comparing him to Salem.

Going hand in hand with his Never My Fault tendencies. Ironwood hates anyone bringing up how his ways don't work, with extreme annoyance being the best reaction possible. It doesn't matter if someone is simply stating the objective tangible negatives of his actions, he will not hear it. He gets into a shouting match with Nora when she calls him out on how much damage he's doing to Mantle and only stops when she points out his proposed solution to deal with the current unrest (martial law) is just going to cause far worse problems if he goes through with it.

While he demands complete loyalty from others, Ironwood has repeatedly betrayed the trust of others in the name of the greater good. If someone is an obstacle to accomplishing what he believes is necessary, he will use political or even military power to enforce his will.

Ironwood has helped Ozpin fight Salem for years but they disagreed over the best way to defend Vale; Ironwood secretly convenes a meeting of the Vale and Atlesian councils to report Ozpin's behavior, resulting in Vale removing Ozpin from overseeing the Vytal Festival security in favor of Ironwood. Qrow later tells Ironwood that he has a strange idea of showing gratitude if he responds to Ozpin bringing him into the fight against Salem by betraying him. Even after being confronted, Ironwood insists that he had no other choice.

Ironwood spends most of Volume 7 promising that the Kingdom of Atlas is safe and that Mantle can count on him to protect them. However, when he discovers Salem is arriving in person to attack Atlas, he decides to abandon Mantle to the Grimm in favour of raising the floating city of Atlas higher in the atmosphere where the Grimm can't go. When Ruby tries warning her allies about Ironwood's plan, he disables her scroll, and has Teams RWBY, JNR, Oscar and Qrow arrested.

Ironwood's a man with good intentions, but he seems to believe the best way to handle any sort of situation is if he is in full control of it. This is seen as early as Volume 2, where he both brings a large fleet (composed mainly of machines) along with students for security and later has the Vale and Atlas Councils transfer security control of the Vytal Festival from Ozpin to himself. 

After the Fall of Beacon, James continues to tighten Atlas' defenses with a Dust embargo and closing of its borders, and by the time the heroes arrive in Mantle, there are broadcasts of the general practically saying that as long as they cooperate with his laws, he can and will keep them safe. 

As Salem's forces continue to sow discord and increase his paranoia, and when he discovers that Team RWBY has consistently hidden important information from him, Ironwood decides to invoke martial law and raise Atlas out of Salem's reach, under his control. When Ruby warns the others of his plans, he shuts off her call with his own Scroll.

Ironwood is noted for being a man who never gives up pursuing his vision of how people should be protected. When his attempts to convince Ozpin that they're on the wrong path fail, he convinces the Atlesian and Vale councils to override Ozpin's authority and give him direct control of protecting the Vytal Festival Tournament. 

In Volume 7, he is willing to pursue his goal of protecting the Kingdom of Atlas against Salem no matter how bad his public reputation becomes with the citizens.

To be clear Ironwood is an Anti- Villain type character in the RWBY story. He may have good intentions but it is unknown as to their extent of what they are. His methods to achieve those methods have only made things worse.

I couldn’t let you breath, cause I didn’t wanna Die

We all say we would die for something but do we actually mean it?

“I would die without regret I offer up my life”

It is hypothetical but not in the way you suggest. The difference between using would or will is not about whether the speaker is being disingenuous about their offer, it’s about whether the speaker knows if they are ever going to be in a position to fulfil their promise

It is hypothetical because the speaker does not know whether there will ever be a situation where they would be in a position to give their life to save you. If they were to use will, it implies they are anticipating that they will be in a position to give their life to save you 

When someone says “I would die for you if you need it,” is it just a hypothesis that's never going to happen,  the subject doesn’t want to die at all, otherwise they’ll use “will” instead of “would”?

Kill or be killed

All the weapons in rwby appeal to the audience as they have options when it comes to fighting. Ironwoods does not. His weapon is only designed to kill as a reflection of his inability to see reason. As opposed to other characters that show that when they kill it would be a last resort option.

(Think of the Jedi's preference for lightsabers instead of blasters)

Ironwood has a revolver  -  reliable, never jams. high attack power, similar to his mentality on robotics in general and how he values them focusing on the characteristics of the revolver is the important part, and you see it in another Atlesian character--Weiss Myrtenaster is a Rapier and a Revolver as well, and revolvers are still used nowadays because of their reliability. They'll never jam, and when it comes to a gun all that really matters is hitting the target on a pragmatic mindset at least, and ultimately in the show the weapons used by characters say a lot about them. For example;

Qrow has a scythe - not a weapon, a farmer's tool, alluding to the scarecrow. The actual weapon would be the sword mode, and is inspired by the grim reaper, who uses a scythe because he reaps souls like one would reap what was sown(or harvest)

Jaunes shield and sword are both offensive and defensive weapons which offers a variety of options as to handle conflict

Ozpin's cane symbolically conveys the message that it's okay to be weak and its normal to accept help and support from others

Yang's gauntlets are basically Bruise but don’t kill type weapon as such they give her  more control of the damage that is inflicted on her opponents

As ruby put it the Weapons in the show are an extension of the characters. The extent of Ironwoods weapon is that it conveys his blunt, and cold methods that he can’t or won’t embrace alternatives solutions or anyone else's ideas to problems

This can also be seen with his use of militarized Huntsmen and the use of mindless android soldiers. As I stated in I am power Ironwood’s personnel combat abilities are mediocre to non-existent with his true power stemming from the consent of the people to die for his cause instead of him since it's guaranteed that he will die instantly due to his lack of unique or special combat abilities. 

(Pretty self explanatory considering he had to sacrifice an arm to beat a nerd)

Fear of death is basic human instinct

Ironwood believes that he is this chosen savior and can’t die and he believes his life is more important than others and would instead sacrifice everyone else instead of him if it would mean victory

Now you're probably asking why does Ironwood not want to die when he said he would? As stated before he doesn’t trust anyone but himself to do the job right. His narcissism and ego prohibit him from trusting others and having faith that people besides him can win. 

This has been hinted as early as his debut in V2 where he asks Ozpin;

“Do you honestly believe that your children can win a war?”

Because of this and his Nihilism for rejecting the truth, he believes that he is the most important piece on the bored and everyone should listen and die for whatever he needs if it would mean victory

Ambitions and desires of a broken kingdom

A character without motivation is a really boring character as opposed to one who does. But to realize what their motivation is or what it is truly is another. Ironwood is no different but what exactly is his personal motivation that is unique to him one must wonder?

That's just it, he has no real personal motivation. Like what does he have to lose? What does he have to gain? What is so important that he is willing to go to such lengths that clash with the ideas of Ozpin and the heroes? To answer Atlas. After all, what is Ironwood without Atlas?

 It is important to know the effects of a characters home and origins to better understand a character's personality. Ironwood's plans have always been in line with Atlas, whose intentions are that of Ancient Mantle. Now what exactly are the intentions of the former capital that would live through Ironwood.

Atlas as I stated before is more or less a Technocratic Conservatives society led by Authoritative totalitarians with a focus of becoming an Extreme Militaristic Oligarchy that had originally started out as a Resource driven Empire out of necessity and without restriction 

To clarify, Ironwood is a byproduct, and enforcer of Mantle’s(later Atlas) Philosophical Ideology and Culture. The effects of one's origins can have a very lasting impact on one's life. Ironwood’s life has been heavily affected by his homeland to the point that he will die for it, and sacrifice whatever he deems necessary for it. 

Because of this Ironwoods alignment is that of Lawful Evil because of his Atlas ideology

A Lawful Evil character is an evil character who either tries to impose or uphold a lawful system on others without regard for their wishes, and/or adheres to a particular code. They believe in order, but mostly because they believe it is the best way of realizing their evil wishes.

In other words Ironwood will always be the loyal son of his Kingdom and will do anything to save it.

Now that clears his main motivation and the scale of what he is willing to do to achieve it but what motivates him personally?

Well that's just it there is none. His primary motivation is pretty shared by most of the heroes and main characters and as is the common clause of save the world stories everybody knows they can’t let that happen as peter quill would say;

“Why do you want to save the Galaxy?”

“Because I'm one of the idiots who lives in it.”

So with that in mind what's in it for him that he can’t lose or let the world be destroyed?

You overstepped your boundaries

To help understand his character it is important to understand what exactly his role in the plot was originally and how he ended up biting off more than he can chew when he broke away from it.

Essentially Ironwood was meant to be the overseer and guardian of the relic of creation as well as the trainer of the next generation of huntsman/huntresses. Meaning the only position of power that he should only have is Headmaster of Atlas academy. As I stated in I am machine Ironwood's heroism stems from a lack of trust and in doing so has burdened him with more responsibility than he can handle.

The catalyst 

All of the events and conflicts that plague remnant at the shows present can all be traced to Ironwood. An argument can be made for Salem but to me she seems more of an opportunist instead of an actual evil master mine. Being the opportunist she is she needs ammo for which she is otherwise incapable of making on her own. Thanks to Ironwood she has plenty of it to enact her plans and reach her goals 

Below is a list of events and conflicts as well as characters that have been affected by Ironwood

(Whether Directly or Indirectly)

The Schnee Dust Companies Immoral and shady practices

I know Jaques is mostly to blame for all of this but one must ask; Why didn’t anyone stop him before V7? 

It's already been established in the show that the S.D.C. and Atlas Military have a corporate alliance to mass produce Weapons and ammunition. The most prominent weapons to come out of this alliance was the paladin assault mechs. Now how important was this alliance to Ironwood?

In short, they are the best choice to provide for his needs for war. As long as he gets weapons and all that he needs to sustain a war he doesn't care what the giver has to do to meet his demand. As such Ironwood had enabled Jaques and allowed him to continue his immoral ways so long as he gets what he needs. On the other hand Jaques seems to be at least a decade older than Ironwood so there is a possibility that the corporate alliance has already been there long before Ironwood ever came to power.

But I ask again why didn’t Ironwood who was aligned with a man like Ozpin didn’t stop him? As the Volume 7 commentary stated Ironwood doesn’t care for Ozpin's rules and sees being efficient is more important than being morally good. Because of this Ironwood had been more focused on starting a war first and caring about people second thus he has only spread misery by enabling Jaques’s greed just to have his war. The crimes of the S.D.C. are also Ironwood’s 

The family strain of the Schnee family and Winters abandoning

While we’re still on the subject of the Schnee's let's talk about how essentially Ironwood made Winter the Blake to his Adam

As I stated before in “You had me with your words”  we don’t exactly know why Winter would be so loyal to Ironwood to the point of saying that her life doesn’t matter in V7 and why she would be so against her family to the point that she makes no effort to see Weiss, and Whitely included and only bothering to be apart of Weiss’s life only because she seems to be following the same path of defiance against their father. In other words she only chooses to interact with her sister only if she is rebelling against their father. If she is not, then Winter wants nothing to do with her. 

Now who or what exactly would cause Winter to have this unhealthy mindset in regards to her own personal existence and relationships?

The answer being Ironwood. 

If we were to consider Jaques words being serious than it is more than likely the truth. Ironwood did steal Winter, not just from her father but from the rest of her family. I don’t know what exactly Ironwood said or did to turn winter away from her family but it wasn’t out of the kindness of his heart. He did this  just to have a loyal subordinate with incredible power( her hereditary semblance) & status( her grandfather's legacy and accomplishments) just to give his power and status more legitimacy.

By doing so Ironwood made Winter  believe that her family as well as herself is beyond redemption due to the actions of her father thus leading her to abandon them and only believing Ironwood can redeem her hence why she values her life so little and is willing to die for whatever Ironwoods says.

I understand that winter joined the military to get away from her dad but she had options besides the military and like weiss she could have went to the other academies to get away from her dad but she didn't which i consider Winters greatest flaw is that she has no idea of an actual healthy relationship

The White Fang

This is also speculative but not unlikely as the show has clearly shown; Faunus and Atlas don’t mix. 

Same thing with the S.D.C. this can really be seen as indifference on Ironwood’s part and lack of care  but still Ironwood didn’t do anything to settle the racial inequality in Atlas even though he is allied in a secret circle that's supposed to keep the peace.

Especially when that inequality was being used to help legitimize a terrorist organization that can be used as a disposable army for Salem which it did.

Watts’s Defection & the P.E.N.N.Y. Project

Ironwood commissioned 5 scientists including Watts and Pietro to make Weapons for war.

Even though Watts is an egotistical bastard it really makes you wonder how someone as smart as him would work for a literal demon lady hell bent on conquest. The same can also be said about why he chose Penny instead of any other actual and practical projects ideal for war.

One thing to note is the possibility that Ironwood did not tell the 5 about the real reason as to why they’re making these weapons in the first place. For example would Pietro really want Penny the closest thing to an actual child that he may have had to be used as one of Ironwoods militarized assets?

We’ve seen what Pietro is like and that he really cares about Penny and if it were his choice Penny wouldn’t be in the situations that Ironwood would place her in. Ironwood had basically taken and drafted Penny without her or Pietro's consent and made her a tool for war and much more.

In semi canon sources(Amity Arena) the general consensus is that the Paladins were Watts’s idea and project. One of the misconceptions is that it was a contest for whose idea would be made but since we see both the Paladins being used and Penny that's not the case. All 5 projects were going to be used but only 1 would take top priority first before others and that project was Penny. 

This might actually explain why the paladins were ugly and incomplete in V2 as opposed to their slicker and finished versions in V3. The Penny project took both praise and priority first before the others. Once penny was finished the other projects would begin that may also explain why the Paladins weren’t first revealed until the events of V2 even though Pietro said that the commissions for the projects including the Paladins were almost a decade ago as of  V7 ep 7 

To Watts he felt insulted that his (to him) practical project was being postponed for a sad man's personal self indulgent pet project. This and due to not really knowing as to why these projects were going to be used for. Because of this and Ironwood’s lack of concern for people He had essentially driven Watts to Salem and made him one of her most valuable assets that she ever had. Salem herself even states that she should have employed his services years ago that alone tells us how valuable an asset Watts was and Ironwood discarded it. Which led to the fall of Beacon and the civil unrest in Mantle With Watts out of the way let's move to the next question

Why the Penny Project?

We all know at this point that Penny is the Pinochio for Pietro’s jopedo. So why would Ironwood approve a project that seems the least efficient and effective for war? There have been many theories as to why but two of them stand out the most; Potential vessel for the maiden powers and Espionage

It has been made clear that Ironwood has been readying for war against other people Salem specifically but how does one go about that? The first of which can be explained as Ironwood trying to make the ultimate artificial warrior with incredible power. As Ironwood has more faith in machines than people he would see Penny as the ultimate super soldier that he can use in his war

The second theory as to why he chose penny could be for spy and espionage purposes. As stated by cinder in volume 3 where this theory originates from; why would Atlas make a robot look like an innocent little girl? We know why Pietro made Penny look human but why would Ironwood go along with making a T800 complete with realistic skin and hair?  Besides Pietro there was no logical reason to make penny look as humanly as possible. Like the Terminators who were designed for infiltration and assassination missions and Ironwood being a paranoid individual who sees the world as one of two things; you’re either an asset or a threat / Penny or similar models would have been used to spy and eliminate potential threats in the other kingdoms. With the possibility as to what Ironwood would use penny for before her reveal in V3 clear let's move on to the last part of this bullet point

Why didn’t Ozpin know about Penny?

Prior to the truth of her origins being revealed via her death by Pyrah the only people who knew she was an android are cinder’s team, Ruby, Pietro, and Ironwood. The villains knew that truth after being fortunate enough to have Ironwoods scroll infected by the virus and Ruby found out by accident from penny. 

So officially the only people that were allowed to know the truth about Penny were Pietro and Ironwood. Winter and the Ace-opts don’t count as Volume 7 confirmed that they were brought into the fold after the fall of beacon along with penny so by the time of the fall of beacon they had no idea about salem or that was the sole purpose as to why penny was made.

 The same can be said for Watts too since Penny was still an idea being developed along with being assumed dead and not seen in atlas for years. Thus Watts never even knew what penny looked liked. Had he known i'm pretty sure he would’ve revealed that to Salem who would have given it to cinder for use in her mission. But as V3 shows Cinder finds out after getting access to Ironwood's personal scroll. Meaning that Ironwood kept Penny so secret that he never even bothered or considered to tell Ozpin.

By the end of PVP Ironwood sounded like a terrified child who got caught while trying to explain to a pissed off Ozpin about Penny only to be coldly told in a threatening tone to use the army that he brought to clean up his mess or else. That alone is proof enough from Ironwood that he never told Ozpin about Penny and was scared of what Ozpin would do to him for catching him on his secrets and lies.

So why didn’t Ironwood tell Ozpin about Penny? Short answer Ozpin would never approve the use of Penny. It was already established in V3 ep 6 that Atlas has been doing unethical experiments with Aura. Ozpin and most of the inner circle don’t really approve of such practices but can tolerate it  and use it if they have to. But most likely not to the extent of using it to make artificial living beings just to be soldiers.

This would be a similar moral dilemma as the clone troopers from star wars who were bred and mass produced at an accelerated rate to fight  in a war that they didn’t even understand or have a choice to fight in with the mindset and innocents of a child. The Umbara arc from season 4 of the clone wars series perfectly depicts the unhealthy amount of abuse the clones faced and the length of being taken advantage they were forced to endure

Now apply that to an army of pennies with the same childlike innocence and naivety and sentience being deployed into combat without much preparation and are expected to die just to buy time for the real heroes to win.

Now who is more likely to use a clone army without concern for the morality and ethics about making it let alone not care for the well being of those clones

A key important factor to remember is that until V7’s end Ironwood was pro war as he thought he could win against Salem if he had the largest army at his disposal. Penny was no exception and Ironwood only saw her as a potential part needed for his war machine. Because of the war centric views of Volume 2 & 3 Ironwood and lack of concern for the safety of others Ironwood had set the stage perfectly for volume 3’s finale

The Fall of Beacon

The points above actually help validate and contribute to the Fall of Beacon, but it's true Beginning for its fall started when Ironwood arrived at Beacon in Volume 2. As stated by Oz in Ironwoods first appearance Headmasters don’t usually attend the vytal festival with their students. Given what we now know about the importance of the academies, Ironwood pretty much abandoned his post and risked the safety of the relic under his charge.

All in what appears to be an effort to make a power grab against Ozpin and promote Atlas.(That’s probably speculative but not far off the bat given Ironwoods doubts and actions by the end of V2).Ever since his debut Ironwood has always been a character that contradicts the main characters that are suppose to be the heroes

He seems to only believe the best way to handle any sort of situation is if he is in full control of it. This is seen as early as Volume 2, where he both brings a large fleet (composed mainly of machines) along with students for security. Ironwood has helped Ozpin fight Salem for years but they disagreed over the best way to defend Vale; Ironwood secretly convenes a meeting of the Vale and Atlesian councils to report Ozpin's behavior, resulting in Vale removing Ozpin from overseeing the Vytal Festival security in favor of Ironwood. 

 Volume 2 also has Ironwood reveal to Glynda that he thinks Ozpin is hiding something from them. Glynda points out that he's part of the inner circle that's hiding things from the rest of the world and that he needs to stop talking about trust and learn how to trust others. Ignoring her advice, he secretly collaborates with the Vale Council to strip Ozpin of his control over the Vytal Festival security, then tells Ozpin to trust him.

This also brought up the possibility that Ozpin would be removed as Headmaster of Beacon academy. Not only was Ironwood willing to depose the leader he was following from his position of power but also remove an important ally from safeguarding one of the most important and crucial places in all of the world that also holds probably the most important relic of all of them(The Crown of Choice)  

I already talked about how Penny’s secret had contributed to the fall so I’ll be talking about how Watts contributed to it since I forgot to include in the last bullet point. Its a very small Easter egg but on Cinders scroll as she was rigging the vytal tournament for CVFY’s match and discovering Penny’s android nature there is a small cursive W at the corner of her scroll. The small W that Watts uses as a holographic icon when he calls Leo in V5. RT has said that they had WTCH in their back pocket for years until they were revealed taking that into account it is clear that the virus that infected Beacons CCT Ironwoods scroll and forcing the droid army to commit order 66 was made by Watts.

The virus and the cyber warfare aside the next final contribution on Ironwood’s part was the imprisonment of Roman Torchwick

It's pretty much been clear that Torchwicks' imprisonment was an improvised plan on the villains part to get an inside man aboard a warship. Basically it was like Heath Ledger's joker in the dark knight; he wanted to get caught. Torchwick himself said that he is where he wants to be to Ironwood at the end of V2. As V3 showed Torchwick and Neo took over what can be assumed to be Ironwood’s personal flag ship and used it to destroy the rest of the air naval section that was brought for the Vytal security team. 

This could have been avoided had Torchwick not been released into Ironwood's custody or at the very least kept somewhere else that should he escape he couldn’t have done so much damage. The Airships aside it was also possible that Roman had used the onboard artillery on the city as well that means that innocent civilians weren’t just being mowed down by hacked robots but being carpet bombed as well increasing the death toll at the fall of Beacon.

The Dust embargo and closing of borders

Since the fall of Beacon Academy, Ironwood has become increasingly unstable and paranoid, making more and more ethically questionable decisions that he repeatedly justifies as the greater good; by his own admission, he will do anything it takes to stop Salem. 

This however does not fare well with the rest of Remnant though.

As Atlas is the primary location for most of Remnants Industry as well as having a monopoly on Dust; Remnant’s most crucial resource that everyone needs in order to survive, the other  kingdoms rely heavily on Atlas for technology, resources and weapons. By placing an embargo he has cut off everyone in the world from their most valued resource. Though he did this to stop the enemies chain of supply he is still letting people suffer and die by with-holding the one thing they need to live and survive. 

Which brings us to the borders

Though it could have eased tensions after the fall of Beacon it just lasted too long as well as the fact that Ironwood had essentially turned his back on the world and refused to help the other kingdoms in their time of need. In the CFVY book spin-off all of the Beacon students either went to Haven or Shade academy to finish their training. As well as the Vale refugees going to other kingdoms as well. But due to Atlas closing its borders none of the students or the people went to Atlas for help. Basically due to Ironwood’s orders the Kingdom of Atlas was forced to not help the other kingdoms when they needed it the most.

And it has only gotten worse due to the events at Mistral in V5 as not only are the students of both Beacon and Haven going to shade, putting a strain on the academy but leaving the entirety of the worlds largest kingdom unguarded and undefended as it now lacks able huntsmen to protect it due to Ironwood’s refusal to help 

It should also be noted that when Ironwood closed the borders he had failed to inform any off his subordinates of who can and can’t enter the kingdom especially in regards to allies like Glynda or Qrow who again are allies against Salem and Ironwood made little to no effort in keeping contact with the other Oz members. This is made evident in V6 when the Argus soldiers refused to believe Qrow about being an ally to Ironwood. you could say that he was waiting on the amity project to make contact with the other members but  he had to have realized that they needed to get into atlas at some-point. But did he make it easy for them or any other ally to reach him? No he did not. 

The Mistral Huntsmen Genocide and the Battle of Haven

Second verse, same as the first, he had put them in a hearse. Another example of Ironwood’s indifference and hypocrisy that led to the death of allies and innocent people.

Due to the events of the Fall and it being broadcasted the enormous state of panic had spread throughout all of the kingdoms. The negative emotions in mass had attracted the Grimm and caused much havoc and loss throughout all of them and the worst to suffer from this mass hysteria was most likely Mistral due to its larger population and territory.

In V5 Lionheart had confirmed that Mistral losses were heavy and many of the local huntsmen including the Professors from Haven were killed in the initial grimm invasion that plagued Mistral following the fall of Beacon. After the initial panic had settled down the Mistral council had been employing Huntsmen in mass and restricted their activity to crucial and vital missions in high profile areas to ensure the safety and stability of the Kingdom.

Now the real question comes in where was Atlas?

In the world of remnants shorts  its confirmed that Mantle and Mistral have an alliance that eventually carried into Atlas. With that being said, where was Mistral’s ally during the fall out and what were they doing. We know in V5 that all Military Assets were recalled within the month prior to the battle of Haven. I know that the kingdoms are weary of Atlas at this point but given the state of the world after the fall, Mistral needed all the help they could get. As such Mistral would have to call upon the old alliance and have them honor their word and offer aid. 

Or at the very least transfer some assets over to Mistral to use it as needed. We have the base in Argus sure but that was just a forward border control base  that didn’t really help anybody. Prior to the recalling Ironwood had Winter gather intel on potential activity that would lead to a second fall of a huntsmen academy and he chose to do nothing. This is further proof of his hypocrisy and arrogance. Ironwood at this point is reading the military for war and with holding aid and support that was actually needed. 

His V4 self is a stark contrast to his V2&3 self as that version of himself was willing to manipulate and intervene in the affairs of other nations under the assumption that the ends justify the means and would see himself above the rules so long as it's for the greater good and stop the threat before it can escalate. That was exactly what Ironwood did at the end of V2 by stealing power from Oz and tried to enforce his own set of rules if it would prevent a disaster.

Now why did Ironwood not do the same thing with Mistral and try to prevent the potential fall of its academy regardless of the bad publicity that it would warrant? It's already been said by Ironwood that he doesn’t trust Leo to handle the situation at Mistral and based his dissection to close the borders on Winters report and decided to prepare for an potential attack on Atlas rather than sending a small task force to handle the threat at Mistral. 

Taking into consideration his plan for Amity it's quite possible that he wanted Leo to fail and Mistral to be ready to eat from his palm. In other words unless there is something to gain and benefit from he’s not going to do it.

Ironwood all the way till he was told the truth about Salem in V7 had a War is the Answer mentality and was hoarding everything and anything that would help sustain a long campaign as well as increasing the size of that force with the intent that  that the large numbers were enough to intimidate Salem and her faction into surrendering and eventual destruction. The only problem is that the people he needs were born in a time of relative peace.

Because of the 80 year age of peace that followed the Great War the Modern world of Remnant has had zero to no conflicts as large or damaging since that one war. There were small conflicts sure like the faunus war, the White fang terrorist cell, and the criminal underworld but they weren’t that much or a threat or concern to a majority of remnant it wasn’t until the Fall of Beacon that the foundation of this peace was shaken so intensely that the cracks started to show but it was still together if only held by a thread.

With the Peace in mind and the peoples faith still with the huntsman as their distrust for Atlas Military lingers no one in the world of remnant outside of Atlas would have any motivation or desire to mobilize for war let alone a war for a foreign leader of a foreign land that has recently come under suspicion. Ironwood was never going to be able to unite the Kingdoms and mobilize their people for his war after the fall of Beacon with Atlas being painted as the bad guy. Unless the situation went from worst to extreme.

Like if another academy were to fall with the same or greater results like Beacon. Then maybe people all around the world would consider following Ironwood’s lead and wipe out the threat before things can get even worse.

Because of this Ironwood had allowed Mistral and possibly the other Kingdoms to exhaust themselves so much that they would be unprepared for the next major Grimm invasion should they come after the next major hysteria induced panic. Panic like Ironwood’s original plan to unite the world and tell them about Salem causing the kingdoms to fall into further disarray only to be saved by the flying grace of Ironwood and his Military. And the only repayment for his help is that you join his fight.

I know this is all speculative and you can say Lionheart was the one who was responsible for mistrals problems after the fall, but remember Leo was the only Faunus on the council of a racist kingdom and only had one seat over the huntsmen and can only give out and approve mission assignments that would get them killed thus he had no real authority or power in Mistral  besides siding with the majority and even if he tried to talk the council into refusing Ironwoods help their racism wouldn’t listen to Leo and they would do the opposite and call for aid. 

But again Ironwood prior to the fall was willing to stop the threat at its source regardless of politics. But after the fall he had put all of his focus on preparing for war instead of helping people that needed his help at that moment. This may be due to his semblance(still dumb BTW) but ultimately he was focusing on his own needs first than the needs of others. Because of this he had ignored the issues of Mistral and failed to see the truth of what Lionheart was doing and had allowed Most if not all of the well trained and experienced huntsmen of that kingdom to die leaving the kingdom defenseless and unprepared for any conflict that would come.

 Like the Battle for Haven for example. Had Ironwood not recalled everyone back and had Winter and whatever Atlas personal that were with her its quite possible that the battle may never had happen, the truth about leo would have been discovered sooner and the genocide of Mistrals huntsmen wouldn’t have been as bad had Ironwood actually chose to help, Instead he  started to fall back and focus on the Amity Project and Atlas instead of spending any resource outside of them, due to a narrow focus to and putting everything on it just so he can have his Victory.

The Civil unrest in Mantle

A loved and respected leader will die by the side of his people: A feared and hated one will die by their hand. Short term closing the borders cloud have helped ease tensions between Atlas and the rest of the world but long term it had made things worse

Due to the fall of Beacon it's quite possible the initial attacks that came after can explain why Mantle's defensive wall was so destroyed and ruined by the time of V7. That means that potentially for almost over a year that wall has had no repairs or maintenance  and has had the bare minimum leaving the citizens in a state of constant peril and danger since the fall of beacon

This is further made worse when Ironwood closed off the borders and cut off the chain of supplies and trade not only to Atlas but also to Mantle as well making the kingdom suffer more than it had to. As the original capital, the rise of Atlas reduced Mantle to a shadow of its former self. Streets are run-down, technology is old, security defenses haven't been updated in years, and smog from the mines hangs heavy over the city. People struggle to eke out an existence, depend on dangerous mines for work and experience regular Grimm attacks that the city increasingly struggles to repel. Meanwhile, Atlas hangs in the sky above their heads; a constant reminder of the wealthy elite that is failing to share the wealth that Mantle creates, and a target of Mantle's growing resentment and anger at having been left so far behind.

Ironwood who is again allied with and a member of a secret circle that is supposed to keep the peace and prevent any social unrest that can cause a conflict.  Thus he should have tried to ease the tensions and made the conditions of Mantle better in order to maintain peace. Now I know it's not solely Ironwood’s fault for the state that Mantle is in as he hasn’t been in a position of power for long but still he should have focused on the people instead of preparing for a war that may have never come. A stark contrast to Ozpin’s way of preserving peace and handling threats

Because of his narrow focus and indifference he made things worse as he was only focusing on potential threats that have yet to come instead of focusing on the issues and preventing them before they escalated. After the fall, the embargo and closing of Borders Ironwood concerned himself with preparations for an assumed winnable war instead of trying to restore peace and keep the people on his side. Which is ironic as he was doing this to rally a large force and stop the threat but did not consider that he may have been pushing away potential troops and allies that he would have needed. And only stoked the people's frustrations 

This is mostly due to Ironwood never giving an estimate of time for how long the embargo and the borders would last as well as not giving a clear and believable reason as to why he was doing all of this in the first place. I know he was going to tell Mantle and the world about Salem eventually and he did in V7 but that was only because he was forced to and used it to take out potential threats by baiting them. This is also added with the fact that he really didn’t have any solid proof that would make the people believe him about Salem as well. Due to the frustration of the people it would just sound like made up propaganda and Ironwood shifting blame onto a fake enemy to drive people's attention onto something else. And yes the people believed it but remember they were being evacuated so i don’t think they were buying Ironwood's statement but were just glad that they were being saved.

And in the end it doesn’t even matter as ultimately Ironwood caved in to fear and decided to leave Mantle for dead. Which could have been avoided had Ironwood focused his attention to the needs of people rather than the needs of war. One of the constant themes of the show is that victory is not in strength or in mass numbers but within the small and willing hearts of those that will fight no matter what.

In conclusion Ironwood had played a pivotal role in contributing to all of the conflicts that plague the world of Remnant at present, even if it were minor role he nonetheless helped set the stage for the villains and Salem   

The reason why I say that; as stated in earlier sections: Despite all of his talk about the greater good for the world he really means the greater good of Atlas and by extension himself. He is prioritizing his kingdom above all else at the expense of the other kingdoms and exploits of their people for his kingdom's own personal gain. As well as with holding beneficial technology that could actually benefit and improve the living conditions and way of life of the other kingdoms.

Ironwood’s inability to trust and have faith in people and others to keep the peace ultimately led to him intervening in affairs that he had no right to and with his own belief that his way is what is best had caused the Fall of Beacon and the events and conflicts before and after it.

It was over before it started

Now the Question must be asked what was Ironwood’s plan?

Ironwood throughout the series believed that he could win against Salem, and by the end of volume 7 he still believed that he could win, but in reality he had already lost the moment he tried to start a war.

To quote Ruby as she asked Ozpin: what was Ironwood’s plan to stop Salem if he ever had one to begin with? As far back as Volume 2 to Volume 7 Ironwood’s ideas and plans to handle Salem seemed to be; gather a large force, blitz run her stronghold, and destroy her with WMD’s. Most of his plans stem from an appeal to force and intimidation tactics via large numbers with heavy armament. In any other circumstances this could have worked had it been a different kind of villain that wasn’t immortal. As V6 has revealed Salem can’t die through traditional means such as modern warfare thus making Ironwood’s plans and solutions moot and pointless. Once he is told the truth in V7 he still continues down the same path of thinking that has not only failed but enabled the villains goals as well. So it must be asked why does Ironwood not see that his way is flawed and that he was never going to win if he continues down this path?

 Ironwood's numerous conflicts throughout the series occur because he feels he does not need to follow the standards he sets for others; He demands people trust him while showing them none in return. He forces others to sacrifice much for the cause while giving up very little in return. He insists on loyalty when he has turned on others solely because they disagreed with him.

As Volume 7 progresses, he becomes willing to commit increasingly dubious actions in order to oppose Salem. He starts off by imposing a military embargo on Mantle despite the economic hardships said embargo is causing for the civilians on the ground and diverting resources that Mantle needs to rebuild its infrastructure to build a comm tower at Amity Colosseum. By the end of the volume, he's degenerated into declaring full martial law, abandoning Mantle to die, and either attacking or having arrested anyone who opposes him.

Salem and her faction were a tumor that can only be handled with the surgical precision of a scalpel not with the bulk of a fleet or large armies. The Huntsmen were that scalpel and to be specific the Huntsmen that Oz had chosen as they were meant to protect all people and prevent conflicts without personal bias or desire. Ironwood only acted in the self interest of Atlas and the benefits that he would gain from it

Ozpin’s priority had always been the people, no matter where they came from. However, I think he was once in Ironwood’s shoes.  I am pretty sure he tried everything, including the same things Ironwood did, and saw it fail horribly. Ozpin or at least the soul, has had centuries to millennia's of experience in fighting Salem and managing the world. The delicacy of the human mind and heart are something he is well acquainted with, and I think he already knew what type of person Ironwood was, or at least was becoming.  Near as I can tell, the big reason he kept Ironwood on at this point was because Ironwood had the resources and technology he needed to keep his plan moving forward and wouldn’t relinquish them.

Ozpin worked hard to maintain the peace and goodwill of the people.  Ironwood, so far, has not.  Having robot sentries on every corner without the concept of morals and stopping trade for a kingdom that can not easily generate its own resources, as well as hoarding those resources and preventing necessary repairs and aid to those people–those actions all show that he is not keeping this important aspect of leadership. He is not making sure that the people are on his side so when he needs them because he does not consider their needs as important unless they are in line with his own

Even with the Knowledge of the truth of Salem’s immortality he is still sacrificing everyone and everything else for nothing just to keep up the illusion that he is the hero and to keep his source of power high in the clouds away from anyone who really needs it

I may have been a little harsh on Ironwood for his actions, especially V7 and I understand the circumstances that led to escalation by the end of the volume.  He was making dubious decisions but he was trying to do better, he listened at times and tried to show an extension of trust, the kids with giving them the lamp back, and later with Robyn at the dinner. These were due to the positive influences of Oz.  He just fell back to old habits hard and turned to extremes when it became clear he had non control of what was happening by V7 end. He was struggling with old habits and opening up and was doing better that first part of the night a prime example of what the creators meant if Ironwood had been more open and trusting of others but when everything went down he was pushed over the edge in the latter half of the night cementing his fall and decent into an antagonist further making the problem worse as he has always done. This is mostly due to his primary source of influence; Atlas (which we can agree has been the biggest source of conflict in the show so far) and probably his lack of understanding and planning for what comes after all is said and done.

What did you think would happen?

The question must be asked; What happens after Salem? The fandom has pretty much each their own idea of what might happen after Salem is finally defeated. But do the characters know what happens after the war especially Ironwood? As the end of the hero’s journey goes; Nothings the same after you become a hero. And given Ironwood’s behavior and actions before his fall in Gravity, Ironwood seemed to have ambitions and plans in the works for the long run after Salem was no longer a threat. As stated before in I am Machine no one is truly altruistic to the point that they do something that doesn’t benefit them. So what exactly did Ironwood want after Salem was gone to the point that most if not all his actions and decisions were in the effort to reach and make those plans come true?

As stated in Broken Kingdom Ironwood doesn’t really have any personal desires or motivations that aren’t related to Atlas or the Heroes common goal to stop Salem. As far as we can tell Ironwood has no current family members at present and there's very little that tells us that he has anything in mind outside of either Atlas or Salem ,so what does Ironwood have to gain from this conflict?

All hail the conquering Hero

Ironwood’s biggest issue is that he has to be the center of everything, that he has to be in control. First he’s going to try and gain control with his army, while trying to wrangle anyone else back under his control. Then, when it becomes clear that anyone who has a plan that better and could work, he’s going to get competitive, come up with new and crazy superweapons to throw against the enemy in an attempt to prove that he can defeat Salem before the heroes can gather allies from across Remnant. He believes that He is strong, that He is brave, that He doesn’t need to run to anybody for help! He believes that he is the hero and is letting his self entitlement cloud his mind and it has gotten the better of him

 An In-Universe example of this false belief comes from RWBY: Amity Arena as it  gives bios to every character in the game compiled by the In-Universe developers. While many try to be objective, the ones representative of the Atlas Elite tend to demonstrate a notable bias, most prevalent with the General's. His bio is very defensive of him, calling him the "hero of our time" and that he wears the burden of the world on his shoulders, talking him up as a Hero with Bad Publicity. The bio goes as followed;

General Ironwood. The hero of our time and Atlas' greatest protector. Under the general, we have advanced to incredible heights, discovered new technologies, and created the world's first artificial intelligence. Though horrifyingly revealed at Amity Arena, Penny is our proud foray into sentient AI, and Ada is the culmination of the machine learning we have long developed in our labs.

As reviled as he was for his misguided attempt to protect Vale, how can the world fault our General when the culprits are out there? How can the victims be blamed for the sins of the perpetrators? Is incompetence somehow a greater sin than premeditated evil? Our General may have failed to protect Beacon, but he's not the one that hacked our weapons into hurting the innocent.

Yet... he wears that burden on his shoulders like he is alone in the world...

Ozpin, missing. Lionheart, dead. Theodore, uncertain. We say Atlas is the greatest, the mightiest... the city in the clouds, but what is first place when there is no competition? Yet, our kingdom and our General... we're the best chance that humanity's got... which scares us to death.

Menagerie?

...what about it?

After reading that you can probably see through the propaganda, hypocrisy and ego that are written in the bio. A key factor to note is that this was possibly made after the main heroes arrived in Atlas and before the election night. And since there's been no contact or travel between the kingdoms and Ironwood was aware of Leo's status by worst case scenario  it tells us that the heroes have shared everything with Ironwood in regards to those events concerning Haven.

 Since Ironwood is looked up to as a god by his subordinates and since he was the one of the only few to have known about them as well as to have the status to make any key choices since the app is made by atlas scientists contracted to the military. Thus Ironwood had used it and the blind loyalty of his loyalists to make propaganda and shift the blame from himself to something else as well as try to emotionally manipulate the people by making them sympathize with him while ignoring the truth.

He is not Remnant's only hope nor is he the best choice.

This is another example of his never my fault montra and he does things right and its further shown in the bio as it not only continues to discredit the other Headmasters(I am well aware of leo) but ignores all the good and actual heroism of other people like the Faunus of Menagerie as they are to the primary reason as to why Haven didn’t become the next Beacon and as stated before in an earlier section the opportunity for the Battle of Haven was in a way created by Ironwood who had chosen to flee and protect his city instead of preventing an attack like he had originally intended with Vale.

It may also show how much Ironwood believes in his own hype as it does paint him as some sort of de facto king of Atlas. Again he views himself as the chosen savior of the chosen people and that it is his destiny to rule and change the world as he sees fit. Or as Watts puts it the Giant that stands above all

I’m the Captain now

I think it's safe to say that almost everything he does is a twisted version of Ozpin's ways as well as to place himself as Remnant's ultimate leader as he believes he is the one that can ensure a safe and secure world. Ever since his debut he has undermined everything that Ozpin has done and stood for because he believes his ways aren’t efficient ( Or beneficial) to him and has been systematically taking power and control away from him and placing himself as the new big good.

He wants to be the New warrior king and change the world as he sees fit as he only sees Ozpin as either a failure or a hindrance to him and his plans. Combine that with his Atlas ideology and a lot of things make sense. I mentioned in the False chosen one that Ironwood may have been influenced and tried to emulate the Warrior king as to better rise and gain power and correct the supposed mistakes of Ozpin. Even though that he has claimed to be doing it for the greater good of all of Remnant but  he really means only Atlas and himself

A world Reborn in my image

A major factor to consider is that Ironwood is a by-product of Atlas that was a by-product of Ancient Mantle. Ironwood is essentially a living mouthpiece for Atlas. He pretty much the living embodiment of the kingdom if it were a character. That's the sad truth of Ironwood is that he is simply an extension of this toxic environment and tricked into believing that its this ideal society when  in truth it never was.  In other words a legacy of tyranny lives on through Ironwood

We’re all aware of the origins of Atlas and its rise to prominent power. It started out as Mantle that began with a handful of people that prospered by adapting to the harsh conditions by making advanced technology faster than the rest of the world. It eventually formed a trade  alliance with Mistral trading tech for food. A grimm  incident occurs and Mantle thought being cold emotionless robots was a perfect solution. It tried to force its toxic ideology onto other civilizations and was met with mixed results. The Great war happens they lose and all of their resources are spent forcing it to rebuild its economy that eventually gives way to Atlas

Now how does this affect Ironwood?

Well Mantle through its alliance with ancient Mistral possibly adopted their ideals of imperialism and expansion as Mistral was the world's largest territorial economic empire of its time. When it comes to the rise of an empire and the type they are as well as their need for expansion it can be summed up to these 3 

Economic empire

Ideological empire

Territorial empire

Due to Mantle's lack of essential resources like food and energy, its early days were more or less focused on establishing a strong economic trade empire in order to get the essential supplies needed to sustain life in solitas. After its great depression period after the War the kingdom's economy began to grow at a rapid rate that by the time the kingdom shifted to Atlas it had Remnants largest economic empire.

This is also an important factor to consider since the sad truth of it all is that as long people can make a stable income and support themselves, they are more than likely to turn a blind eye to any shady or immoral activities so long as there's something to gain. What does this have to do with Ironwood you ask? Well as his bio card said Ironwood has pretty much been proclaimed as the kingdoms benefactor for its prosperity. This may have been due to his Corperate alliance with The Schnee’s since it was Mostly Nicolas and Jaques as far as we know being the most prominent reason as to why Atlas has prospered. 

When Ironwood formed that alliance with the SDC it gave him at least half of the power and influence of the company that was truly responsible for the kingdom's wealth and claiming it as his own. Once he had gotten some control over the economy it was time to move onto the next step and increase the empire from economic to Ideological or Political expansion.

Empires change and adapt in order to satisfies their needs now that Ironwood is the de facto head of that empire and given what we know about him and Atlas it is quite possible that he has been indoctrinated to have this desire to create an empire for Atlas as the politics and ideologies of its people have given it a false sense of entitlement and need to have everything under their control.

When looking at it from V1 to V3, it looks as if Ironwood was trying to occupy without resorting to force then you're left asking the real questions like "Why is ironwood selling the people of Vale on Atlas military Technology?" "Why is it that when a breach happens in vale, Atlas Bots rush in?" "Why did Ironwood make a power play to become the security of the Vytal Tournament?" It all seems to point to the same thing, Ironwood wanted control over Vale

A section of Lyrics from the song “When it Falls” may help reveal Ironwoods true intentions since his introduction and to be honest they seem relevant only to him and given his actions this is mostly likely the truth as they go like this; 

“They play the part of allies

Claiming peace their only goal

But once the fight for power starts

They'll eat each other whole

Their iron gloves point fingers

They'll wage a war of blame

And mankind will wilt in pain”

As of V7 aren’t those words mostly relevant to Ironwood? After all, what has he done recently? He claims to be an ally with intentions of peace but he’s really trying to control those who buy that lie and escalates the situation to the extreme for no logical reason other than to set the stage for the next part in relation to the lyrics.

After all is said and done the fight for power will start and he wants to win and consume everyone before they can consume him. And as things go wrong he points his metal hands blaming everyone but himself as he tries to gain control and power, the world suffers.

Ever since his debut he has been trying to amass  Political power which would lead to a territorial empire under Atlasian control. Playing into the theory that he does want to be a better version of Oz he wouldn’t make the same mistakes that he assumed the king  did by letting the kingdoms remain independent instead of being under the control of one.

A king has his reign and then he dies

To continue on with the theory that he is essentially a bastardized version of Oz, Ironwood may have been trying to find ways as to make himself immortal 

Another reason as to why he would see Ozpin as inferior is due to the fact that for all his power he can’t stop himself from dying, or at least maintain the same amount of world power and status from his last life. This may have given Ironwood ideas and ambitions to pursue any methods that may yield results that may make him a true immortal version of Oz hence why he most likely authorized the research and development of the aura transfer technology as a means to artificial reincarnate till proper immortality was achieved.

This could also be another reason as to why he may have chosen the Penny project. As it could lead to a way of extending his life as a means of transhumanism; immortality through technology

To reiterate Ironwood doesn’t trust anyone to do things right so he micromanages everyone under his control and makes them dependent on him. This is best seen with Winter and Clover as Winter would side with a madman as opposed to siding with her sister and clover’s inability to think for himself led to his death. 

Due to his lack of faith in people Ironwood makes them less independent and make them rely on him as  he may believe if everyone is dependent on him then the more control that he will have over them as to better determine who is a threat as the people he controls are more or less robots now without a conscious or sense individuality and are less likely to commit evil acts. Similar to ancient Mantle’s anti life policies before the war.

If he believes that to be the case and since he only trusts himself to see it through he’s going to try and find ways to make him live as long as possible until his methods become autonomous. Because of his lack of faith for others Ironwood doesn’t understand or refuses to understand the fact that he is going to die one day and everything that he has ever accomplished will be undone by the ultimate victor; TIME.

This is sadly the likely outcome as everything changes through the passage of time. As time moves so does the advancement of decay upon the world. Ironwood is already dying by aging and all that he has achieved will be undone or outdone by others that will come after him. The same thing can be said for everyone else in the show as they already lost. 

Ruby, Oz, Cinder, even Salem herself have already lost to time. Everything they have or will achieve will be undone as well and one day they will all die. It’s just a matter of how and when. 

To better explain let's take a look at Epsilon’s final speech from RVB season 13;

“There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero... never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They'll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith.”

Does Ironwood have faith in anyone that's not under his control? 

People only do wrong when the perceived benefits outweigh the cost in that moment. Ironwood doesn’t just see an opportunity to stop Salem he also sees an opportunity to bring the world under Atlasian control with him at the top. Since he has amassed so much power and authority he sees himself above the rules that everyone respects and follows. Because of this Ironwood tries to hold unto that power because without he is nothing and would become a lesser and weaker being which would be an affront to his perfectionist ideologies

If your nothing without it then you don’t deserve it

Take away Ruby’s Silver eyes and what is she? Someone that will continue to fight no matter what

Take away Atlas from Ironwood and what is he? Nothing but a broken man who had this coming for a long time.

As I stated in I am power Ironwood by himself has nothing to contribute to the fight against Salem. Let's face it the only thing that he had going for him was the fact that he lead the Military and as we later find out that Military isn’t going to be useful against Salem since the key concept of the show since V1 was that there is no victory in strength but in the simpler things in life that start with simple and honest souls. 

How does this concern Ironwood? 

Well that's just it Ironwood was never going to win with his methods and he was never going to get the benefits that he wanted if he followed someone else with theirs. Again Ironwood had plans and ambitions after Salem that saw him as the ruler of the world instead of her, and controlled it so that a threat like her or any threat to his power would never come again. This is probably what he thought would happen before being told of her immortality. 

Now with the knowledge that he can’t destroy her and that she’s coming he decides to cut his losses and settle with ruling the city instead and leave the rest of the world in her mercy instead of accepting the fact that he is wrong and relinquishing power to someone that can handle the situation better. Remnant doesn’t need Ironwood to survive. This is the biggest problem with Ironwood that he thinks he is the hero so long as he is in control of Atlas. Because without it he is truly nothing and has defined his whole existence around it. And will continue to make whatever plans to keep himself in power and is willing to pay the price at the expense of others.

“What if all the plans you made,

Were not worth the price they paid?

Even with the lives you stole,

Still no closer to your...

Goal.”

He never cooled the fire but he still incites the crowd for he can't see what he has  become a crown with no kingdom

Ironwood had only played to win and he would laugh at the ones who lose while millions are shouting out for him to stop but he Still lit the fuse

He says he wants to fight but Then he always runs because he doesn't want to die yet he Still shoots the loaded gun escalating things for the worse

His refusal to see the faults in his own actions. Ironwood continually defaults to and relies on methods and actions that have repeatedly been proven to not work because he refuses to see the error in using said methods to begin with.

This isn’t your story James

One of the important aspects to remember is that this isn’t Ironwood’s story. His entire character and story revolves around the main protagonists and how he interacts with them and more importantly what role he played in it. Ironwood started out as a side character that ended up getting a lot of focus because the story of  Team RWBY and the show in general is to show how the last generation can fail the next and how that generation has to learn and grow so it can avoid the mistakes of the past. 

Before we delve further into Ironwood’s true character in the show let us explore whether or not he was an antagonistic or protagonistic force in the story. Keep in mind these terms are different from hero and villain. Below are several definitions and meanings for the 2 narrative characters types;

Antagonist

a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.

a person who is opposed to, struggles against, or competes with another; opponent; adversary. the adversary of the hero or protagonist of a drama or other literary work

Protagonist

the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text.

an advocate or champion of a particular cause or idea.

In modern literature, the protagonist drives the story forward by pursuing a goal. 

The protagonist of a story is sometimes called the main character. 

Since this is RWBY’s story and to an extent Oz’s, Ironwood(and Atlas to an extent) was always meant to be an antagonistic force in opposition to the show's true ideals of  heroism and saviors. 

The antagonist is the principal source of conflict for the protagonist. Often, the antagonist is a bad guy, a villain, but he doesn't necessarily have to be. He may just be someone who has a different agenda. Antagonists might be one person, a group, or even an animal.

Due to the beliefs that his methods are for the best even though they contradict the intentions that were thought to be shared by the heroes Ironwood was always going to become an Antagonist for the series at some point

Volume 7 slowly sees him fall into this, as his paranoia and determination to stop Salem cause him to perform increasingly questionable decisions for the greater good. While Qrow, Oscar, and Teams RWBY and JNPR support Ironwood, they increasingly debate the merit of doing so, given how concerned they're becoming with his behavior. When Cinder breaks into his office and plants a black queen, Ironwood sends Winter to forcefully take the Winter Maiden's powers, and he begins to question every decision he's made and speculate whether he's played right into Salem's hands. His confrontation with Team RWBY over their decision to leak intel to Robyn triggers the appearance of a Seer Grimm, forcing him into a verbal confrontation with Salem. With the discovery that the conflict with Watts and Tyrian distracted them from realizing they'd lost long-range sensors and that Salem is already on her way to Atlas, Ironwood snaps. He orders the arrest of Qrow, Oscar, and Teams RWBY and JNPR, and decides to abandon Mantle to die in an effort to prevent the two Relics and the Winter Maiden from falling into Salem's hands. Volume 7 ends with him and the protagonists actively opposed to each other, as his refusal to acknowledge that his methods are flawed and his opposition towards anyone who might stand in his way solidifies him as an antagonist.

The events of Volume 7 slowly but surely tear away at the positive aspects of his character as he succumbs to fear and paranoia, and questions whether Salem's strength comes from her ability to strip away her humanity. By the end of the volume, he has degenerated into a paranoid tyrant who abandons Mantle in favor of saving Atlas, is willing to kill a dying Winter Maiden to protect the Relics from Salem, and arrests the heroes for disagreeing with him. At the end of the volume, Oscar even points out that Ironwood's actions and current mentality make him no better than Salem.

 His character deconstructs the mindset of the Necessary Evil character archetype. He declares his willingness to sacrifice his reputation and humanity for the greater good by forcing others to sacrifice for his cause. Characters constantly question the morality of his choices and his own actions create consequences that later bite him in the ass. His lack of concern over his image and the negativity his actions generate serve only to assist Salem's plans and increasingly alienate him from the heroes. He appoints himself the judge of what counts as the "greater good", he neglects Mantle's security and makes it increasingly vulnerable to attack by viewing it as less important than Atlas. Oscar lampshades the deconstruction by pointing out that being willing to sacrifice all of Remnant just so "a few can live" is making him just as dangerous a threat as Salem.

In a way Salem and Ironwood are also foils to each other as they appear to be dark lords from their respective genres 

Ironwood being the syfy equivalent clad in white to convey the false message of order and peace while masking evil intentions and crimes 

Salem being the Fantasy equivalent clad in black to emanate a sense of Mystery and fear of the unknown while using it to her advantage

Discussed between Ironwood and Oscar. Ironwood spends Volume 7 utterly haunted by how Leo's fear of Salem destroyed him and endangered Mistral and Haven. He is so determined not to end up like Leo, that he doesn't realize what mistakes his own fear of Salem is causing. While Leo completely submitted to Salem and became her puppet, he has full self-awareness and knows exactly how far he's fallen and why. Ironwood cannot accept that he has any fear of Salem at all and interprets the problem as possessing "humanity". He believes Salem is a threat because she has none and speculates that the solution is to become the same. He becomes increasingly controlling over his kingdom and his allies; regardless of how much suffering his methods cause, he persists in believing it's for "the greater good". While Leo is willing to give up the Relic of Knowledge and his kingdom's Huntsmen, Ironwood is so determined to prevent Salem getting the Relics, his Huntsmen and the Winter Maiden, and thereby avoid Leo's mistakes, that he travels in the opposite direction, becoming a dangerous authoritarian instead of a spineless coward.

Ironwood has made it clear that he will use whatever means necessary to defeat Salem. When Team RWBY calls out his decision to raise Atlas out of Salem's reach, he calmly says he's aware that he is essentially damning Mantle to her wrath. He later tells Oscar that he is done letting others' opinions hold him back from doing what he thinks is right. The boy warns him that he'd become as dangerous as Salem herself like that; the general simply nods to himself but doesn't deny it.

This is who he has always been. The only difference is the more desperate he becomes, the more extremes he goes to to maintain the illusion he is strong and in control of the situation.

During Ozpin's speech, notice how this unique line of dialogue is purposely inserted over Ironwood's last scene of  Volume 7.

“Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start? I suppose we all find out... sooner or later.”

As the other parts of the speech are relevant to the other characters shown in the montage This specific line cements the Truth of Ironwood's character being a threat that was planned for a very long time. Going with the show's themes of Grey morality and the balance of light and dark, we are to learn of the possibility that with the potential to do great good also comes with the potential to do great evil. 

As we were focused on the obvious threats in the show like the grimm, the white fang, Cinder, and Salem we are tricked to neglect the obvious signs of evil intent that are hidden and growing  among the heroes. The real monsters of the world aren’t the ones with fangs and red eyes hiding under your bed, No the real monsters of the world look just like you and me. After all if we assume everyone is like us then how can we tell who the real monsters are, that are hiding in plain sight. 

Ironwood’s evil nature and antagonism  was subtle and growing under the skewed perception that he was the hero and that he was right. But this comes down to the fact that he is only in it for himself and what he has to gain from it. 

I understand that James Ironwood was a tragic character even from his introduction, and the seeds for his volume 7 turn were planted in volume 2. I eventually recognized that RT was setting up this pivotal plot point way back in the day and now they are harvesting what they had sown.  

Ironwood didn’t snap when he found out RWBY lied to him. He was content, even after he defeated Watts. He snapped as soon as he saw Cinder’s present. The Queen piece. He unraveled immediately and, sure, the discovery of RWBY’s lies didn’t help,  but it wasn’t the cause for Ironwood’s descent.

 He genuinely means well in opposing Salem and her forces, but his severe paranoia complex, exacerbated by the stress of being one of the only ones in the know about Salem and having to explain his actions to the skeptical populace and council, cause his decisions to degenerate over time. By the end of Volume 7, he becomes willing to abandon everyone in Mantle to die, violently lashes out at anyone who opposes him, and manages to undo all of the hard work he's accomplished by second-guessing his own actions.

James Ironwood is undoubtedly a fascinating character that has this certain appeal to most people. I  can understand Ironwood's viewpoint but it is not the same as forgiving or condoning as good. Sure, I thought him intervening in affairs that he had no right to was a skewed perception, but I understood where he was coming from. I thought him ignoring the concerns and advice of people was reckless, but I also kind of understood  his limitations and his upbringing. But in all honesty I was neutral about Ironwood ever since he debuted and didn’t think he had much to contribute to the story besides being the guy with an army along with the pride and arrogance that comes with.

Because of that Ironwood was always an antagonistic force in RWBY with ideals and plans that contradict the established ideals and motivations that are already shared with the world of Remnant. He just simply couldn’t fit in and when he tried he didn’t like it. When he tried to change it and take charge he only made things worse. Ironwood had potential to be good and a proper hero due the influence of Oz but his pride and ego that he got from Atlas got the better of him and now the show's true heroes will have to fix the problems that he has caused.

Summary

[agoodpersonrose]

I was drawn to three of the meet-cute prompts. Maybe one of them will inspire you! #1 (sitting next to each other at a wedding), #43 (last umbrella), or #50 (amusement park ride).

Okay so of all these the umbrella one was just calling out to me so I wrote that one!! (this one is actually a meet-cute I promise) and I have already posted it on ao3 here! I really hope you enjoy!! ☔️

43. You both reach for the last umbrella in the store on a rainy day.

Today could physically not get any worse.

Not only has David had to lower himself to the mortifying standards of an interview at the Blouse Barn, but then Stevie, his only friend with a car (or only friend at all, depending on who you ask) had abandoned him to his fate after “taking too long” and “taking advantage of her generous spirit.”

So David had ended up spending the entire day, trawling across the shop floor in front of Wendy, trying to prove himself worthy to work in retail by suggesting the least offensive outfits for the town’s worst dressed townspeople. All the while, trying desperately not to show on his face how truly disgusted he is by more than half of their style choices.

And now, here he is, waiting on the curb side, storm clouds rolling in, and no Stevie in sight.

“Fuck,” David hisses as the first raindrops begin to fall thick and fast, immediately chilling David to the bone as he hurries away from the road and into the nearest store he can.

Billie’s Bobs and Bits is hardly a store name that fills him with hope, but he spots a stack of large umbrella’s in a stand in the back corner which he immediately hurries over to. There’s a single umbrella left, a horrible, gaudy, rainbow thing which David would usually never be seen dead with.

However, he also knows that if he doesn’t wait by the curb exactly where Stevie told him she would pick him up, she will leave him in Elmdale overnight. He cannot make the walk back on his own, and he will not wasting his precious final dollars on a cheap motel room only half an hour drive away from the cheap motel room he doesn’t have to pay for.

And so, the umbrella is his final hope.

He hurries across the store, his shoes squeaking wildly on the linoleum floor as he tries not to skid, finally reaching out his hand for the umbrella.

Only, another hand immediately covers his.

“Oh--”

“Hey!” David exclaims, furrowing his eyebrows at the drowned rat of a man standing before him. He clearly hadn’t managed to escape the rain quite as fast as David had; his fringe is slick on his head, and his light blue button up is soaked through, sticking tight to his torso and becoming almost see through in the process.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” the man says politely, though not letting his hand fall from where it is resting over David’s. “You don’t mind if I take this, do you? It’s just that I don’t have a jacket and I’m waiting for my roommate to come and pick me up- my car broke down, and he is not known for his patience. I don’t trust that he won’t get distracted and disappear somewhere else if I’m not where he’s expecting me to be.”

“Yeah, well? I need it,” David says, pulling the umbrella, and therefore their joint hands, further towards him. “This outfit probably cost--” he takes a judgemental look at the man’s cheap clothes and pulls a face. “Well, let’s say that it cost more money than you can quite comprehend.”

Surprisingly enough, the man actually laughs at this. His laugh is nice, all things considered, and his eyes crinkle around the corners in a way that makes David’s stomach erupt in flutters. Although of course he would never admit that to anyone, not even under durance.

“I don’t doubt that. It’s just- I’m kind of soaked, and if I get any more soaked, I’m scared I might catch hypothermia. Plus, I’m really terrified of hospitals, so--” the man winces exaggeratedly. “I’m in kind of a sticky situation here.”

“Huh, well. It looks like the only way to solve this is--”

“Dibs”

David opens his mouth in surprise, and then closes it, and then opens it again, but the man just continues to stare evenly at him, as if he hasn’t just lowered himself to the most childish of standards.

“Dibs doesn’t count.”

“Oh, I think it does.”

“Mm, you see, that’s where you’re wrong. Plus, I clearly had dibs, because my hand is on the umbrella, whereas your hand is just kind of holding- mine.”

David grins to himself when he catches the man’s ears slowly tinting a dark red colour, but his grip doesn’t waver, and he looks up with a determined glint in his eye.

“Does that mean I have dibs on you then?”

This shocks David to silence for a moment, but he soon recovers, and tilts his head. “Okay,” he says slowly. “As interesting as this conversation just got, I really do need to be by the road when my friend gets here, so can we hurry this to its inevitable conclusion maybe?”

“Inevitable conclusion?”

“Yeah, mhm, you let me buy the umbrella in return for my number?” David suggests cheekily, biting the inside of his lip to try and stop his smile from growing too big.

The man makes a soft gasping noise which David initially takes as a success, until he realises that he’s being teased again. “It’s going to be hard for me to date you from a hospital bed,” he says slowly.

“Ooh, did I say date? I meant you could have my number for you know, fashion advice, perhaps. Or as a first call for the next time you genuinely go to a store and pick up a braided belt.”

“I’m not particularly attached to the belt. I’m sure I could go without if you would prefer.”

“Ah- now who’s getting ahead of themselves. I don’t even know your name.”

The man is grinning now hopelessly now and looks down at the floor bashfully before tilting his head back up. “I’m Patrick.”

“David.”

“It’s nice to meet you, David. I’d shake your hand, but I fear that if I do that, I might lose my only stake on the umbrella.”

“Mm, your non-existent claim over it, of course.”

Patrick is silent for a minute, looking contemplatively at their hands, before finally coming up with a solution. “Here’s an idea, David. This umbrella seems pretty big. Perhaps we could split it and wait by the road together.”

David purses his lips in thought. It seems like the only solution other than a fist fight, and even if David knew how to punch, he doesn’t trust that he wouldn’t lessen his aim in order to protect the soft skin on the other man’s face.

“Come on, David. I’ll make sure the rain doesn’t get you.”

David wiggles a little but ultimately nods. “Ugh, fine! Buy the umbrella and let’s go.”

“I’m sorry, why exactly am I buying the umbrella?”

“Oh, because you were the one who asked me on a date,” David answers, unable to stop himself from smirking slightly in amusement. “And usually, the person who asked pays for the first date.”

“First--” Patrick’s voice is soft and filled with awe. “Okay, David. Thought I have to say, if I’d known I’d be going on a date this afternoon I would have picked a nicer shirt.”

“Do you have anything nicer than that?”

“You like my shirt?”

“No, I just, the fact that you’re wearing it says something about your standards in general and I--” Patrick is laughing again, and David trails off, unsure where to go from there. “Go and buy the umbrella, Patrick.”

He lets his hand fall from their joint grip, and watches as Patrick wanders over towards the cash desk, his shoes squeaking loudly as he goes. He keeps looking back as he pulls his wallet out the depths of his tight jeans, as if to check David hasn’t disappeared on him. Either that or to check that he hadn’t imagined David’s presence all along.

When the umbrella is bought, they head towards the doors and look out at the hammering rain. Patrick sticks the umbrella outside first and puts it up, making sure that David can step under it without being hit by any of the rain. It’s a gentlemanly gesture that makes David smile giddily, following Patrick out under the waterproof material, although not without noticing at the last minute the second rack of umbrella’s on sale right by the doors.

Oh well.

There is just enough room for the both of them under the umbrella, but it is a tight squeeze. David hunches his shoulders to try and stay close, and shivers, a move that Patrick clearly catches as he reaches an arm out and around David’s waist to keep them locked together as they return to the street corner.

The roads are almost empty of cars, and there’s an eery silence filling the small town under the hammering of the rain. When they come to a stop on the corner, Patrick seems to step just slightly closer, shivering as his wet clothes are accosted by the breeze brushing along the street and blowing the rain closer to their ankles despite the coverage from above.

David finds himself leaning closer into the body heat that Patrick provides, in a move he hopes appears to be a selfless act of protection for the other man, but actually provides him with equally as much comfort himself. Patrick’s arm is still around his waist, so David moves to put his own right arm loosely past his shoulders, rubbing at the wet fabric on his back as if to soothe him.

“Maybe we should have stayed inside for a while,” David muses. “I thought you were joking about the whole hypothermia thing.”

Patrick lets out a breath and nods. “Don’t worry, I think I’ll survive,” he says, though his teeth are chattering slightly. “Couldn’t let out first date end with a trip to the hospital now, could I?”

“You really need to stop calling this our first date, it doesn’t count.”

Patrick hums questioningly, and when David looks over at him, he notices his eyelashes are slightly wet from the rain still dripping down his forehead in slow, repetitive pats.

“I think we should probably have our first date indoors somewhere, don’t you? There’s no point in risking your life if we don’t need to.”

“So, where are you taking me then, David?”

“A restaurant, maybe. Or a café,” David replies, dropping his voice slightly. “And then, we’ll just have to see about after, depending on how well you do,” he murmurs directly into Patrick’s ear, hoping that this time, the shiver that erupts is more due to his statement than the cold. “You’ll be paying though, of course,” he carries on, this time at normal volume, looking away at the road and trying to appear casual.

“What- I paid for this!”

“Mm, and you only bought us one,” David says. “What kind of cheap date do you think I am?”

Patrick laughs slightly, his cheeks tinted red, and he shifts to look up at David better. “I don’t know, David, but I intend to find out.”

His head is tilted up cockily, and his eyes roam David’s face unreservedly, skimming from his eyes, to his lips, and back up, with absolutely no shame. David would be put off by how confident he seems if he couldn’t feel the way Patrick is shivering, and how his fist is clenched and turning white due to his grip on the umbrella handle.  

David nods to himself, already having made his mind up, and slowly as he possibly can, raises one hand to Patrick’s cheek. Patrick immediately lets out a throaty hum and leans into the contact, which gives David all the permission he needs to lean in and catch the other man’s lips in a quick kiss.

Well, it was supposed to be a quick kiss. An ‘I’m being serious please call me so we can go on this date’ kiss, an ‘I know we’ve only met but this is me saying I like you’ kiss.

Except, then Patrick opens his mouth, and David can’t resist following his lead, slipping his tongue just slightly between Patrick’s cold lips and into the heat of his mouth. Patrick is so responsive in the ways he pushes back, trying to force his way closer to David as if an insatiable hunger has overcome his senses and left him desperate for more.

And David feels it too. He feels it in the way Patrick is kissing him forcefully but gently, desperately but tenderly. Wanting more but unwilling to force it without David initiating.

David doesn’t know how long they stand there, connected at the mouth, his hand still holding Patrick’s cheek which is steadily growing warmer even despite the freezing weather. In fact, it’s only when two things happen in quick succession that he is finally forced to pull away.

First, the sound of a car he hadn’t noticed pull up beeping relentlessly from the curb only a few steps away startles them slightly and causes Patrick to stumble a step backward. David immediately reaches out and grabs the front of his shirt, keeping him close, but it’s too late.

The surprise causes Patrick to loosen his grip on the umbrella handle, tipping it sideways, and causing the water that had collected on top of it, as well as the rain that is still hammering down around them, to splash down, and soak both of them to the bone.

David opens his mouth in shock and horror as he feels the fabric of his black, dropped fabric sweatshirt slowly become sodden and heavy as the water is absorbed. His hair too is damp against his forehead, alerting David to the fact that his usual flawless quiff will be nothing more than a damp, tangled mess of curls even once dry.

Patrick is staring at him with a face full of guilt; his brown eyes are wide and terrified, and he immediately begins the apologies.

“David I- I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to- it was totally my fault I should have been paying more attention to the--”

David’s attention is drawn away to the sound of a familiar laugh coming from the car by the curb. He turns to find Stevie sat in the driver seat, the window rolled down as she cackles unreservedly to herself, clearly very proud of what had just happened.

Patrick trails off and follows his gaze, chewing his lip nervously all the while as he slowly tilts the umbrella back to cover their heads, despite the fact that the damage is long done.

“Are you coming?” Stevie yells once she has finally calmed down. “I wasn’t kidding when I said this is your final chance, I won’t hesitate to leave again.”

David bares his teeth at her and looks back at Patrick. “Look, I--”

“Oh, wait- Are you Patrick?” Stevie calls out again.

“Um, yeah?”

“Perfect, Ray asked me if I could pick you up while I was here. He says he had a surprise meeting with a man about some boudoir photos and I really didn’t want any more information, so I just agreed.”

“Your roommate is Ray?”

“You live in Schitt’s Creek?”

Both David and Patrick stare at each other for a second before Stevie beeps on the horn again in annoyance. “Are you quite finished?”

David nods, already shivering again from the cold and pulls Patrick over to the car. He climbs into the backseat and immediately pulls his sweater off before it can soak too far into the undershirt underneath. He folds it neatly and places it on his lap as Patrick follows, shaking the umbrella and stashing it in the foot well as he slides in next to David.

Stevie raises an eyebrow in the rear-view mirror but doesn’t say anything as she puts the car into gear and pulls away. The car heating rattles as it tries desperately to heat up, but it does soon enough, and David finds himself relaxing slightly in the warm air.

Even so, he can’t stop himself from shivering just slightly when he feels a rough hand slide across the back seat and lightly cover where his own is gripping the fabric. He looks over at Patrick in the corner of his eye and finds the other man smiling even as he stares determinedly out of the window.

David flips his hand over, interlaces their fingers, and squeezes back.

[solohux]

We’re almost halfway through the year so I felt in the mood to make a rec list, and what better fics to rec than the ones which have possibly been overlooked in 2020!

Please remember that this is my own rec list and not being on here does not reflect skill, enjoyment or anything else. It’s just my opinion!

Enjoy! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

• Pretty Little Bunny by funnylookinfella (2.2k, E) Kylo makes the 'mistake' of telling Hux he thinks bunnies are cute. Just a silly little smut fic for springtime!

• Kitten by koi_boi (3k, M) Hux sleeps in an orange cat onesie (which happens to match Millicent). Kylo catches him snoozing in said onesie. They cuddle.

•  Paintball Warriors by @rudbeckiasun​ (2k, E) Supreme Leader Kylo Ren decrees that all officers must have shore leave. Then someone suggests teambuilding activities. Hux isn’t convinced, but paintballing turns out to be far more entertaining than he ever imagined.

• You're My Fucked Up Remedy by @nonsensicalsoliloquy​ (15.7k, E) For years now, Hux had plans. For so many long, arduous years he’d schemed in the shadows, waging a silent war with the men who’d taken his life and diligently strived to have it suit their every desire. He thought himself prepared for anything. However, what Hux hadn’t planned for, what took over his messed up existence like it suddenly had any other meaning beyond vengeance…was Ren.

• Revenge is Best Served with Hesitation by @heresetrash (4.6k, E) Hux had never been one to do his own dirty work. He preferred to send others to perform those tasks for him. Not because he couldn't do them himself - he was more than capable - but such work was time-consuming and messy, and he had better things to do. Kylo, however, was different. This was personal. Hux didn't just want to kill him himself, he needed to.

• Matters of Efficiency by mundanecactus (4.3k, T) A diplomatic mission goes awry, and General Hux is forced to admit that maybe he doesn't have a protocol for everything...

• Sick Day by newh0pe (2.3k, T) Kylo Ren has killed Supreme Leader Snoke and become one of the most powerful men in the galaxy... but his boyfriend still has to drag him out of bed when he isn't feeling well and baby him.

• We Remain by @drxcomxlfoys​ (1.1k, G) Kylo finds Hux in the holding cell after Pryde shot him. They both decide to leave the First Order.

• Smirks and Cigarettes by @ashenpages​ (1.8k, T) The first time Hux has Ren light his cigarette, it isn’t planned or discussed, or even a sensible time to be smoking.

•  ghosts from the past by morlawny (<1k, T) It was the same nightmare he had been having for the past few months, and it was haunting him. His father’s voice, the look he gave him… The way his hand touched his face... Kylo released a deep, heavy sigh, causing the body next to him to stir.

• Regeneration by DaisyChainz (3.8k, E) Hux discovers Kylo Ren out in the woods practicing a local ritual to welcome their current planet's Vernal Equinox. Somehow he gets drawn into the rites and finds that, while he objects to the mess, there might be something to the idea of 'renewal'.

• You're Making Fun of Me by DeviantDarkBelle (<1k, M) Kissing something that shouldn't be kissed.

• A Murder on Starscatter Isle by @theweddingofthefoxes​ (WIP, 8.2k, M) Detective Armitage Hux has volunteered for the case of a lifetime -- solving the murder of Snoke, the leader of a mysterious and isolated commune. If he succeeds, he's sure to get promoted. But if he fails, he could be in for more than he ever expected. Is the new leader, Kylo Ren, a friend, a foe, or something else entirely?

• By the Grace of the Fire and the Flames by Mothwing (11.1k, E) The sight of the pale, sunken chest lifting, pausing, falling again as the valve released. Air escaped the slack mouth with a little huff. Hux’s eyes were sunken and closed. He looked so much smaller than Ben remembered, vulnerable, almost soft around the edges, all his wiry strength gone. Ben had strangled him with both the force and his bare hands before, in anger and in a lust that felt very much like anger. And even though it could have never been easier to end his life, something stopped Ben just as it had always stopped Kylo. Something about the dry patches on his hands. Something about the blue shadows under his eyes. It felt odd to say this, but there was simply no honour in killing this man. Nothing good would come from ending this life, even though, and Ben knew that, they both deserved to die. A little balance. A little justice. And you could not tell a corpse that it’d lost. Ben dismissed the thought. No one was even keeping score any more.

• Whole Worlds Fade by boomsherlocka (34.5k, M) Their first meeting was not noteworthy. Hux was not yet General, and Ren was not yet what he would eventually become.

• Watch This by DaisyChainz (2k, E) Hux had never had a lover like Kylo before: someone that wants Hux, and not just a random warm body. So Hux Really wants to give Kylo what he's asking for, but he's just so damn exhausted. Luckily, Kylo has a stimulating solution.

• Aural by @kyluxtrashpit​ (2.7k, E) Hux fucks Kylo's ear.

• let go by DarthKyloRen (1.8k, G) “You’re in pain,” Ben’s small voice broke the silence. Kylo nodded in agreement. “I am.” “You don’t have to be.” “Yes I do.”

•  The Bidding by tsar_saltans_swan (3.4k, T) "Going once, going twice, won't these gentlemen suffice?" Armitage, a young lawyer, is suddenly thrown into an auction house to atone for the crime of not finding a wife by 25. It's a living hell... until he meets Ben.

• My Jolly Sailor Bold by @ellalba​ (<1k, G) A ship wonders into the Knight’s of Ren territory and get taken down by Kylo and his knights. Kylo has always been fascinated by humans but never really gotten the opportunity to actually interact with one in a way that doesn’t end with bloody murder. So he spots his opportunity to keep one when he sees a survivor getting away in a rowboat. A survivor with red hair.

• Take A Jump And Pray, May The Force Guide You by @ggerisminth​ (5.5k, M) The Resistance won, there is peace, well their version of peace. It isn't peace, it isn't even stability. It's just as worse as it was if not worse. But the far greater tragedy is the death of her family, and she will do everything in her power to get them back, even if that means using a technology created by the Sith to take her back in time. Even if it means that it might not work, or that she can never come back. She will never stop fighting to get them back, that is a promise. A promise to the Force, the Stars, and the Moon.

• Stay or Go? by Lokisbestgirl (5k, M) Hux enters into an arranged marriage with General Pryde for power and protection, but he's not getting any satisfaction in the bedroom. When Kylo comes around, they start sleeping together behind Enric's back and Hux finds out he is expecting. The trick is to get Pryde to sleep with Armitage again before suspicion arises. Will Pryde find out or will they get away with it all?            

• Fixed by Offing (<1k, T) There was a small bottle sitting on the side table. It was clear, filled with a yellow liquid, and labeled simply, “Happiness”. A hypodermic needle sat next to it.    

• I Really Wish I Hated You by inquisitor_tohru (1.5k, T) In another galaxy far, far away, Kylo Ren becomes aware that the voices he's hearing may not be aIl that they seem and comes to the unfortunate conclusion that Hux may be his only hope.              

• Caim by Eiramma (20k, T) Hux is stolen from his academy bunk late one night and is dumped on the frozen waste land that is Ilum along with a small handful of his other classmates. Despite never having dreamed a night of his life, on his first night on this frozen planet, Hux finds himself in the body of an angry padawan, Ben Solo. As his stay on Ilum continues, it becomes apparent that pair of them share some sort of deep connection forged through mysticism of the Force, that permits them spend their dreams in one another's waking lives, and Hux has no idea why. But with danger lurking around every snow covered tree, Hux begins to wonder if he will be able to live long enough to understand the mystery of their bond, never mind deal with the growing fondness for the other boy that has begun to bloom in his heart.

• A War of Wages by R_Quarion (2.9k, M) When Kylo Ren kills Palpatine and the power is passed onto him, the Rebellion becomes a story of the past. With the First and Final Order in control of the galaxy, Hux cannot believe that he doesn't even have control over his own paychecks. Phasma is stubborn.

• Wookie Wash by @bostarsky​ & @sunnywritesstuff​ (5.6k, E) There had been posters, propaganda on the minuscule level. Nobody had been bold enough to do anything directly, but Hux could tell the decision had not been taken well by his men. That was when he had prompted the head of morale on base to do something about the insurrection, and she had told him she would fix it. Hoping he had finally washed his hands of the matter, Hux had gone back about his day as normal. That had been three days ago, before all the racket. The issue with the campaign was that the model who had been shown in the ad was... Incredibly attractive, to say the least, and apparently the morale officer said that that man was none other than Kylo Ren. Now, nobody had ever seen his face before, but everyone always assumed he was ugly. Hux loathed drama and gossip of all kinds, it distracted his officers from their important duties... But even he couldn't get over the ridiculousness of the new advertisement. There was no way in the galaxy that such an attractive man could be under that mask, and Hux wanted to get to the bottom of it.

• To be Licked, Topped and Loved by hexgoldyloins (2.1k, E) Ren wants to be licked, topped and loved. Hux is willing to explore that.

• For This One Night by Lady_Faulkner (<1k, T) As Starkiller Base nears its completion, Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux to go on vacation. The general isn’t pleased. At least he has Kylo Ren in a speedo to look at.

• Halloween Candles by @paperprinc3​ (1.3k, M) Ben convinces his friend Hux to help him with a ritual so that Ben can try and talk to his dead grandfather Anakin. The ritual requires a virgin host to take the spirit however Hux didn't think that it was meant literally.

• Fate Is A Cruel Thing by shinogi (<1k, T) What would happen if Kylo was on the steadfast during the events that took place to Hux?    

• An Eros Festival Gift by Lady_Faulkner (<1k, T) Hux has been away for two weeks, but he’s due back on the start the Eros Festival, a galaxy wide festival of love, and Kylo has the perfect gift for him. That is, he hopes he does.

• An Earned Reward by PrincessDesire (5.2k, E) Hux rewards his sub Ren for a successful mission.

• Snow Powered by IsaiahVirus (<1k, G) Kylo finds comfort in the snow and in Hux.

• Calligraphy by @emperorsvornskr​ (1.1k, T) Kylo goes back to an old form of meditation assistance, and asks Hux to participate to give them both some stress relief.

• He's Got the Whole World in his Hands by undernightlight  (<1k, G)   Finally, he is the Supreme Leader. He has the power he’s always deserved, the power that was promised to him, so then, why does he still feel hollow?    

• Twin Crowns by kylux_nonsense (<1k, G) Twin thrones, one black marble on white floor, one white marble on black floor. Twin crowns, one rests amongst long, dark hair, one sits atop fiery red. There is but one galaxy, and in all its infinite variety every corner owes its allegiance to one or the other.

• Eh, it's love by @abboh​ (<1k, G) Hux was never one to show love of any degree but then there was Kylo, who showed his love in his own little ways.

• Castles in the Sand by orphan_account (2.4k, T)   A depressed General Hux and his secretive obsessive pining for Kylo Ren.      

• The Duel of the Fates by mheb (31.2k, E) Hux’s datapad chimed again, a call from Kuat this time, and he sighed aloud at it, exasperated. “What?” Hux leaned back in his chair, eyeing the holographic figure seated across from him, the shadowy form of their TIE cockpit barely visible around their body, the entire image emitted from the steel inlay in the far wall that Hux used to transmit his speeches. Hux carelessly knocked over a good half of the physical chess pieces in front of him, putting his bare feet up on his desk. His projected guest scowled at him. But Hux paled at the words that met his ears through his datapad. 'Jedi are with the rebel group that bombed the fueling station...the girl is here.' He ended the call without a goodbye, returning to the other conversation he’d been having, up until this point quite pleasant. “Ren.”

• And They Were Bottoms! (~oh my God, they were bottoms~) by   Ki_Ken_Tai_Ichi (<1k, T) Kylo and Hux both had very similar -and yet very different- plans for how their first night of intimacy was going to go.

• Tough Games by ouigeneral (4k, E) Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux have been participating in a secret relationship for a while. Both men love power play and experimenting with bondage. One night Hux organises a surprise for Kylo. Kylo certainly is surprised.  

• Hate until you love by SuperEllen (<1k, T) Can you hate someone so much that you actually love them?            

• Mark Me, Burn Me (the sun is nothing compared to you) by                 DiamondCrystalInk (1.7k, T) Enjoying a morning on Coruscant, Hux gives Ren a proposition. It's time Hux leaves his mark.

• Put Your Money on Me by Asrael_Valtiri (2.5k, E, WIP) He felt Ren press against his back, wrap his arms around his waist. He couldn’t help himself; he leaned back into Ren’s broad chest. Hux was glad their full-length mirror was behind them; he didn’t want Ren to see his face. So Hux closed his eyes a moment, let himself pretend he possessed all he’d ever wanted. Power, security, order, galactic peace--and above all, Ren.

• deep by g4t1t0 (2.9k, T) snoke dies and kylo ren is lost. hux hates to see him this way, but for a reason he cant name/hux prefers to see ren enraged, violent, hungry/he gets what he wants

• Heads Will Roll by @pizzzazlut​ (2.3k, M) Hux and Kylo decide to venture into the notoriously haunted Arkanis Asylum one night to try and see if they can get actual evidence in their ongoing investigation into the question, are ghosts real?

• Grandfather of the Century by ashangel101010 (<1k, T) The Emperor of the Seven Sith Hells does his best to protect his grandson.

• Love and Fear by @abboh​ (<1k, G) Sometimes it is better to be feared than loved by your people. But, gazing down from above, love can be found amdist all that fear.

• Take A Moment To Ask Yourself, Is This How We Fall Apart? by @bumblebae8​ (1k, T) Take a moment to ask yourself… if this is how we fall apart?

• You Ruined It by ravenlights (1.1k, T) Kylo Ren is serious about home-baked muffins, and Hux, well. Hux ruins it.          

• Crevices Of Sanity by WynneWritesHQ (<1k, T) How late the hour was, or how ramshackle the small room in which General Hux had decided he would spend the night, did not matter anymore. Not when everything he could think about was the man kissing his neck, carrying him aloft and onto some crates that, miraculously, withstood the general disorder better than the dusty residues beneath his always-well-polished boots.

• Pygmalion by orphan_account (17.4k, T) This is a story inspired by the theme of artificial intelligence and explores Armitage Hux's feelings of loneliness and isolation in the First Order. Unable or unwilling to seek out human connections and relationships, Hux turns to a company which provides custom built androids as personal companions to satisfy his need for intimacy.

Adjacent Ship Recs

• Home for Dinner by DaisyChainz (2.9k, E) Matt is always so sweet and attentive to Techie. When he's having a bad day, Techie tries to be brave enough to make things better for him.

 • Icing on the (Strawberry) Cake by Luxuria_Ira (3.6k, G) On a rainy night in June, Clyde takes Stensland up into the rolling hills of West Virginia and asks him a question that's been on the tip of his tongue since they met.

• Better, Ren? by DeviantDarkBelle (1.5k, E) Before Hux and Kylo have to return from leave, Hux hopes he can treat Kylo to something nice. Of course, Thomas and Charlie are more than willing to help out.

• Someone could see us by DeviantDarkBelle (<1k, E) Thomas McGregor is on vacation in NYC. He runs into Charlie Barber. Somewhere along the way, feelings are caught.     

• Horny Hearts by Rattlesnake (9.5k, E, WIP) Techie has a new flatmate called Matt and all he can really think about is doing it with him.

• Leaving It Up to You by undernightlight (8k, E) Henry Beard had been staring at him all day - Flip wasn't blind. Once it was just the two of them in the office, Flip decided to casually confront him about why. He had a mild suspicion, but he wanted to know for sure. He likes to be proven right.

• The Might and Measure of Love by @atlinmerrick (1.2k, E) A clearer invitation to go poking around inside Mr Cheung's house was never made, so a minute later and sure enough Clyde found Stens in the bathroom making weird little frantic noises. Clyde knew those noises. They were 'trying desperately to get off because of awkwardly-timed stiffy' noises.

[musicprincess1990]

Hi! Are you still doing the trope duo list? 'coz I just found it this morning, and was hopping to make a request. I was going to ask for 41 and 43, then I thought, no... too obvious... then my head automatically goes to 1 and 2, but that's an easy one, so I end up with 1 and 11, would you take it? 😊

SHIT, HOW DID I MISS THIS??? I am soooo sorry for the wait, @rabbit-in-blue! Allow me to make it up to you with some Victorian!lock. I hope it will suffice!

1: Arranged Marriage; 11: Drunk!lock.  Taken from my trope duo prompt list.  As much fun as it’s been, I will not be accepting any more duo prompts at this time.  I have one more overlooked prompt in my inbox that I will fill soon, then prompts will be closed for a while.  Thanks everyone!

Alone No More

Molly awoke to the sound of a nearby thud and frowned into the darkness.  Damned cat, she thought grumpily to herself, thinking Toby had gotten himself into some mischief or other.  However, in the same moment that she realized Toby was, in fact, curled up against her leg, she heard another thud, followed by a colorful string of words spoken in a deep, very recognizable voice.

With a sigh, Molly slid from the warmth and comfort of her bed, pulling a thick tartan dressing gown on over her nightdress, before emerging into the sitting room and lighting the nearest lamp.  Indeed, there was Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, proper genius, and her husband, sprawled out on the floor like a sea star.  Before she could verbalize her annoyance (or quiet amusement), she noticed a slow stream of blood making its way along his temple, beginning at his eyebrow.  In addition, his eyes were shut, and he almost looked as though he might be unconscious.  Molly sighed again, quickly turning back to retrieve a bowl of water, and the bandages she knew he kept in one of the kitchen cabinets for this very purpose.

As she knelt beside him, his eyes opened and shot to her so abruptly she gave a small start.  He stared at her, his expression one of utter bewilderment.  “You are bleeding,” she supplied an explanation, though he had not asked for one.

“That explains the headache,” he drawled.

She nearly smiled at him, the corners of her mouth twitching as she fought it.  She could not explain it, but somehow, she felt if she laughed now, at this moment, it would suggest she approved of the situation—which she most certainly did not.  Particularly now that she was close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath.

“It will be worse in the morning,” she pointed out sharply.  “I didn’t think you liked to drink.”

Mr. Holmes scowled up at her.  “I am not drunk.  I had one—no, two—maybe three...” he trailed off, his brow crinkling as he tried to remember.

Molly raised an eyebrow.  “If it is that difficult to recall, I’d wager you’ve had more than enough.”  He rolled his eyes, then winced and hissed at the pain caused by the action.  Part of her took a bit of petty satisfaction at this, knowing he had brought it upon himself, but she quickly silenced that part of herself.  Deserved or not, he was injured and in pain, and he needed her help.  Molly doused a bit of cloth in the water, wrung out the excess, and dabbed at the wound.  He hissed again, but remained still.  When the silence between them became strained, she asked, “How exactly did this happen?”

“Watson,” he muttered, and his eyes slid shut.

She frowned at him.  “Watson… you mean your friend, Dr. Watson?”

He scoffed, and Molly grimaced at the more concentrated scent that wafted up to her nose.  “I don’t have friends,” he slurred.  “I have enemies and colleagues, and that is all it will ever be.”  He laughed suddenly, but there was no humor in his voice.  “According to Watson, I push everyone away, including my own wife!”

Molly stilled, a quiet gasp falling from her lips.  She watched his face carefully, waiting for it to dawn on him that he was speaking of the very woman who was at this moment tending to his wound.  When he gave no such indication, she returned to the task at hand, hoping to ignore the subject.

“He doesn’t understand,” her husband spoke again, his voice pitched low and rumbling.  “Alone is what I have.  Alone protects me.”

She paid no mind to the single tear that escaped from the corner of her eye and focused on applying the bandage.  Molly had been under no illusions upon entering her marriage.  Sherlock Holmes made his position on love abundantly clear from the moment they first met.  The only reason they were married at all was because of their mothers.  She knew not what threats Mrs. Holmes had imposed upon him, but they must have been dire indeed for him to have agreed to the union.

For Molly’s part, she had been aware of her family’s dwindling finances since her father died, leaving his widow and seventeen-year-old daughter with barely enough to survive. They had sold their home, and everything in it, save a recent portrait of the family of three, and a single suitcase full of her father’s favorite books.  With that money, they bought a small, seaside cottage in Sussex, near Brighton, large enough only for the two of them.  Molly and her mother learned to cook, clean, sew, light fires, and tend their small garden.  She had also learned how to manage their finances, ensuring that they had enough to get by.  And she learned they did not have sufficient funds to support themselves for long.  Even with careful scrimping and saving, they would run out within a few short years.

The solution, her mother had told her, was clear: she would have to marry into money.  Fortunately (or not so fortunate, depending on one’s viewpoint), Mrs. Hooper still maintained a steady friendship with one Violet Holmes, who was eager to see her younger son married and settled.  His inheritance was certainly less than what his elder brother, Mycroft, would receive, but the wealth of the Holmes family was quite substantial, and her marriage to the younger son would secure her well-being, and her mother’s, for many years to come.  In any case, the elder Mr. Holmes had married the previous year, and was therefore not an option.  Thus, she was promised, and duly married, to Sherlock Holmes.

Had she known what it would be like… had she suspected she would fall in love with the man…

No, she shook her head.  That knowledge would not have swayed her decision.  To refuse would be unforgivably selfish, as it was not merely her own situation under threat.  Though her unrequited feelings weighed on her heart, she could never have done such a thing to her mother.  A heavy heart was a struggle, but one she could bear.  Would bear.  No matter how infuriating her husband could be.

As if he knew her thoughts had strayed to him, Mr. Holmes opened his eyes again, his gaze landing upon her face.  Something in those eyes made her pause, her fingers still resting against his forehead, and found herself quite unable to move.  The air grew thick with mounting tension, and Molly knew… something was about to change.

“Why do you stay?” he breathed.

Molly blinked, frowning in confusion.  “Your wound needs tending”

“No,” he shook his head.  Slowly, he shifted into an upright position, his eyes never straying from hers for a moment.  Her throat grew dry as he leaned forward, inspecting her as though she were the most fascinating, bewildering puzzle.  “Why do you stay with me?”

Her heart thundered in her chest, and she drew a trembling breath through her lips.  “You are my husband.”

“Mycroft sees his wife twice each year—on Christmas Day, and on our mother’s birthday—and the remainder of the year, they live in separate homes, corresponding through the occasional letter.  Husband and wife are under no true obligations to one another, except those the law dictates.”  His eyes narrowed at her.  “Why.  Do.  You.  Stay?”

His meaning became clear to her then; he did not want her.  He wished for her to leave.  Another tear made its presence known, and she turned her head to hide its descent.  “If that is the sort of marriage you wish for,” she breathed, heart crumbling even as she spoke, “I will make arrangements to leave tomorrow.”

Molly moved away from him, unable to stomach the inevitable look of relief that would undoubtedly be written across his handsome face.  She was stopped, however, by a large, warm hand lightly encircling her wrist.  She looked down at it, then swallowed as she turned her eyes to the owner of the hand, and was astonished to find not relief, but fear.  Wild and furious panic blazed in his ice-colored eyes, the muscles in his jaw twitching.

“Mr. Holmes—” she began, but she was unable to finish her sentence as his free hand reached out, and the pads of his fingers lightly traced the contours of her face.  Molly drew a trembling breath, stunned by the contact.

He had not touched her since their wedding day, and one could hardly consider the quick, perfunctory pressing of his lips to hers as a real kiss.  At the time, she had thought nothing of it, having no more desire for his touch than he had desire to give it.  Her love for him had built slowly, so gradually that she could not determine a precise beginning.  Indeed, she had no notion of the change of her feelings, until the truth of them washed over her like the waves of the sea—sudden, bracing, overpowering. And despite his indifference toward her, it only served to grow over time.

And now, almost a year later, he was touching her, and she had to fight to keep her wits about her.

“Can it be…?” he whispered, leaning closer still.  “Is it possible, after all this time, all that you have endured, that you might… choose to be here?”

Molly heard the true question hidden behind his words, and her breath caught.  She searched his eyes, still wide and panicked, looking for any sign of indifference in him, and found none whatsoever.  He was afraid, yes, but in those crystalline eyes, fear mingled with desperate hope, the same hope she now felt bubbling up inside of her.

It was neither a declaration, nor a grand romantic gesture, but such things were not in his nature.  This, however, the look in his eyes, the warmth of his touch… was more than enough.

“Yes,” she answered him finally, baring her heart to him with a single word, and praying he would not trample it with his usual cutting words.

Mercifully, he seemed to have no intention of doing so.  The hopeful embers dancing in his gaze were fanned into a blaze, and in a move as fast as lightning, his hand cradled the back of her head and guided her lips to his.  The fire transferred into her through the contact, warming every inch of her, burning ever hotter with his continued touch.  Her hands moved of their own accord to his chest, relishing the feel of his racing heart beneath the tips of her fingers.  Not so indifferent, she thought with a smile.

Sherlock felt her smile and drew his head back to look at her. “Something amusing?”

Feeling emboldened, Molly inched closer, settling herself into his lap.  Her hands slid up around his neck and into the soft curls at the back of his head.  He sucked in a breath, eyes darkening with unmistakable lust.  She stopped just shy of kissing him, her lips hovering teasingly over his.  “I believe,” she murmured, “you like me, Mr. Holmes.”

His answering grin was decidedly wolfish as he wrapped his arms around her.  “An excellent deduction, Mrs. Holmes,” he replied, and moved to kiss her again, grunting in frustration when she leaned away

“Even though ‘alone is what you have’?” she quoted with a wry smile. “‘Alone protects you’?”

“Oh, sod what I said,” he grumbled, yanking her back towards him until her chest was flush against his, and the wall that had stood between them crumbled into dust and rubble.  “I’ve pushed you away long enough.  No more.”

Molly was moved to tears once again, though these were a much happier sort.  “Thank God,” she breathed, and his mouth captured hers once again.  He tasted of brandy and cigars and Sherlock, and she had never tasted anything so mouth-wateringly delicious.  His hands roamed her back, her sides, her neck, while hers buried themselves in his hair.  When she experimentally curled her fingers and lightly scraped his scalp with her nails, he groaned his approval into her mouth.  Then, in one astonishingly deft movement, he was on his feet, sweeping her up into his arms.

“I hope you don’t mind, Molly,” he said in a low growl, “but I’d very much like to take you to bed.”

Giggling softly, she pressed a fervent kiss to his lips.  “Get on with it, then.”

[wingedquill]

against the dying of the light, chapter one

@geraltwhumpweek

Title: against the dying of the light

Ships: Geralt/Jaskier (though not in this chapter)

Prompt Day: Day 5, Loneliness

Medium: Netflix

Warnings: Torture, Geralt is blinded very suddenly and violently. There is a lot of subsequent panic and internalized ableism about said blindness, and he's going to be very negative about it for quite a while (this chapter especially). This chapter in particular has a lot of panicked, disjointed writing/thinking so please proceed with caution.

Word Count: 2,830

Summary: When Geralt is captured by Nilfgaard and tortured for the whereabouts of his daughter, he tries to escape. Of course he does. It's in his nature. Nilfgaard comes up with a clever solution to stop him from running again. A caustic potion poured over his eyes. Time goes a bit funny after that.

Author’s Note: Chapter one of this was written for Geralt Whump Week, but this is set in the Juniper Verse. In case you haven't read that and don't feel like investing time in a long multichapter, all you need to know for this fic is that Geralt was kidnapped by Nilfgaard to protect Ciri, and that Jaskier is actually a witcher named Juniper. Chapters two and three (detailing Geralt's recovery and his and Juniper's budding relationship) will go up at some point soon-ish, but it's not really a priority for me right now, fic-wise, so don't be surprised if it takes a while.

Geralt tries to escape. Of course he does. He wasn’t made to sit quietly in a cage and let them hurt him. So as soon as he has the slightest sliver of an opportunity, he picks the locks on his chains, kills his guard with his bare hands, and sprints for the exit.

He should have waited, he thinks, when he throws open the door to the sounds of shouting and stampeding footsteps. He should have waited, he thinks, when Fringilla waves her hand and his legs lose all their strength. He should have waited, he thinks, when they drag him back to his cell and throw him on the bloodstained table. They don’t even bother to chain him down—Fringilla’s magic has left him completely motionless. Completely helpless.

He should have fucking waited.

Fringilla stalks into the room, spitting fury as her subordinates. Her magic presses down around him, heavy and oppressive. If she gets any angrier, he fears she’ll crack a rib. She stands over Geralt, grabbing his chin in her hand. Her magic is the only thing that stops him from flinching back, and shame curls in his gut, shame that he’s been reduced to beaten-animal reflex in so short a time.

“I have half a mind to keep you like this,” she snarls. “Paralyzed. On this table. Capable of nothing but hurting.”

One of her lackeys steps forward and hands her a clear jug filled with bright red liquid. Geralt expects her to force it down his throat. Expects it to be like the green potion that he’d been made to drink so many times, setting his nerves on fire without leaving a single mark on his body. Pain without the need for a healer. Convenient for his captors.

“But that would take a toll on me,” she continues, swirling the liquid around the glass. “And Nilfgaard needs me at my strongest. So this is my solution to stop you from running again, witcher. Do let me know what you think.”

She tilts her wrist and pours the red potion directly into Geralt’s eyes.

It burns.

He wants to scream, wants to thrash, wants to claw at his face and get it off,but he just lies limply on the table and stares up at the ceiling, at the face of his tormentor. And the room is cold, and gray, and dark, and getting darker.

The world is burning away from the edges of his vision and no, no, nothis can’t be happening to him, this can’t—

This can’t be the last thing he sees.

But it is.

Blackness overtakes everything and he hopes, stupidly, childishly, that he’s just fallen unconscious, except his eyes are stillon fire, shit, fuck, this isn’t real, he has to be dreaming. He hears Fringilla bark an order, feels rough hands grab at his limbs and lift. He’s dumped unceremoniously back on the ground and cold metal clicks shut around his wrists, ankles, neck.

He has motion again. A scream explodes out of his throat, animalistic, wounded, grieving a loss that he never thought he’d have to endure. He curls over himself, bringing his shackled hands up to rub frantically at his eyes. But it’s far too late. The damage is done. He’s—

He’s—

“We should have done this earlier,” he hears Fringilla say. Is she out of the room? How many people are here with him, how many people could hurt him? He doesn’t know, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know because he can’t fucking see. “I think this might be the thing that breaks him.”

Footsteps. Leaving him alone? Is he alone, or are they watching him sob, watching him wail like a child? He knows that his cell is small, but it feels very big, all of a sudden. The world is vast in its emptiness, and he thinks he might be the only person left in it. Stumbling through the void alone.

He wraps his arms around his knees and squeezes his eyes shut. As long as they’re closed, he can pretend that the blackness around him is there by his own choice.

***

For the first night, he tricks himself into thinking it might be temporary. He keeps his eyes closed for long stretches of time and tells himself that, when he opens them, he’ll be able to see again. Perhaps it will be blurry, perhaps it will be faded or colorless, but it’ll be more than endless nothing.

But he opens his eyes again. And again. And again. And every time, it’s nothing but darkness.

His own breaths are loud, loud, loud as thunder in his ears, and his heart is beating faster than it’s ever gone. Sweat covers him from head to toe and he’s shaking like an earthquake, like a small animal terrified of a thunderstorm. Is he dying? It feels like he might be dying.

He’s dying and falling and whirling away into the nothingness of the world.

No. It’s not nothingness. There is cold stone beneath his legs. A collar around his neck, chains on his limbs. Pain licking through his nerves, the aftershocks of the potion they’ve been forcing down his throat every day.

He’s here. He’s in this cell. He’s a prisoner of Nilfgaard and they’ve—

He’s not alone. That’s the point. The world hasn’t fallen away. There are still other people, lurking beyond the small cell filled with his desperate gaps. And he needs to remember that because those other people could hurt him even worse than he’s already been hurt. Want to hurt him worse, want to make him suffer.

He wonders if they’ll come back to give him the potion again, or if they’ll be content with watching him drift through the darkness, watching him cry (because he’s still crying, he can’t stop crying, it’s been hours now, and the tears still rush from him like a river) and whimper and claw at his eyes like that might lift the darkness away.

Maybe they’ll take your hearing.

He curls up even tighter.

Maybe they’ll take your tongue. Or your hands.

Tighter.

Maybe they’ll break your spine and leave you motionless and nerveless.

A sob bursts from his chest and the breaths rush from him, in and out like a runaway horse.

Maybe—

Maybe—

Maybe they weren’t content with—

His mind can dwell on a thousand different scenarios of what his torturers might do next, but it refuses to acknowledge what they’ve already done. It skates around the word, dances away from it.

They weren’t—

They want to do more than—

The breaths rush and rush, snatching control of his lungs away from him. He slumps down, shifting from a seated position to a lying one, his arms curled around his torso like that will do anything to protect him, his side pressing against the ground, his back against the wall. Anchor, anchor, anchor.

You’re on the world, you’re on the world, you’re here, you’re here, you’re just—

He uncurls his hand from his chest and presses his trembling fingers against the floor. Traces the cracks and dirt and tacky splotches he thinks are blood.

You’re here.

***

He sleeps, eventually. He doesn’t have much energy to begin with, these days, and his lungs running away from him sapped whatever was left.

When he opens his eyes, he thinks he might be dreaming at first. There is no other reason to wake to total darkness, not when his tormentors have been leaving torches burning constantly in his cell to fuck with his sleep. He’s used to opening his eyes to flames and gray stone, used to opening his eyes and seeing the fucking table that they like to strap him down on.

So. There’s no reason for this break in routine, unless he’s dreaming.

For a split second, he’s confused.

And then he remembers.

***

He cries the entire day. He thinks. Time is hard to mark when you’re—

***

Eventually he hears his cell door slamming open. He jumps at the suddenness of it, slamming his head against the wall. There’s laughter, cold and cruel, slipping into his void and crushing him from all sides. He doesn’t know who it belongs to, which guard has decided to visit him.

He almost asks.

He clenches his jaw shut. He won’t speak to them, not a single word. He promised himself that a long time ago, promised Ciri that a long time ago, and it’s not a promise he intends to break.

“Breakfast, puppy,” the man says. “Though I can see you didn’t want your dinner last night. Are we feeding you too much?”

Geralt doesn’t answer. Breakfast? But it was the evening wasn’t it? He’s been awake all day, he’s been crying for hours.

Time passes funny when you’re—

“I’ll take that as a yes,” the man laughs. Geralt hears a clatter as he sets the plate down. “I’ll pass along your message to Fringilla.”

Less food. When he can already feel his clothes hanging looser, when his hair has started to fall out, when his stomach is constantly screaming in pain.

He doesn’t answer.

“Eat up,” the man says, and the door slams shut again.

***

He needs to leave the corner.

***

He needs to leave the corner if he wants to eat now.

***

He needs to leave the corner if he doesn’t want them to cut his rations again.

***

He moves on his hands and knees, shivering the whole time. As soon as he gets a few feet—is it a few feet, is it more, is it less, is it?—away from the wall, his lungs run away from him again. He collapses in the middle of the floor, focusing all his energy on forcing his breathing steady.

In and out and in and out and in.

They must be laughing at him, the famous White Wolf reduced to hysterics at the mere act of crawling across a floor.

Is this going to be the rest of his life?

No. It can’t be. It’ll wear off, or Fringilla will get bored and remove it, or he’ll get out of here and find a mage who can fix him.

He’s not—

He’s just not.

***

He finds the food eventually. He thinks it takes him an hour. Maybe two.

Maybe more.

He eats, the raw meat already growing rancid, and steadies himself to return to his corner.

***

Time passes.

***

Time passes.

***

Time is funny when—

When—

He still can’t think the word.

***

His mind keeps circling around Ciri. Wondering where she is. Who she’s with. If she’s okay—gods please, please let her be okay. You can leave me in the darkness, but please let her be okay.

He remembers her as she was in the clearing, terrified, tears pooling in her eyes, refusing to leave him. Leaving him anyway.

It isn’t her fault. It isn’t. It isn’t. This was his choice. His and his alone. He can’t blame his child for this, he just—he can’t. If he does, he’s the kind of monster that deserves to be struck down by silver.

But he thinks of the flash of her hair as she ran, her cloak furling out behind her. And he wonders, drifting in the darkness, if that was his last sight of her.

It wasn’the tells himself, as the days go on and on and on, and the darkness refuses to lighten. It can’t have been.

***

Other potential lasts.

Roach, eyes rolling madly in her head as she was dragged away by soldiers.

Yennefer, back to him, chest heaving as she realized what he had taken from her.

Jaskier, face twisted up in pain, trying desperately not to cry as Geralt dashed his heart on the ground.

They’re all shit.

They can’t be true lasts.

***

Time passes.

And passes.

***

Eventually, Fringilla does start giving him that potion again, the one that sets every nerve alight and makes him scream until his throat gives out.

He’s almost grateful for it, at first. It’s a distraction from the nothing, nothing, nothing.

***

He stops being grateful after—

After a while. Not sure how long.

***

Time passes.

And then.

***

Jaskier’s voice. Jaskier’s hands, pressing against his face, smoothing back his hair, tracing the skin around his eyes. Geralt leans into the touch, breathes in his scent, chases the melody of his voice. It might be a dream. A hallucination brought on by too much pain and too much nothingness. But he’ll drink it in while it’s here, savor it like a fine wine, a gracious lover, a peaceful day.

“We’re getting you out,” Jaskier whispers and—

Ciri is here, sobbing in his arms, a frantic litany of apologies that tug at his heart until he thinks it might snap clean in two. He holds her close, as tightly as he can with his sapped strength, and whispers reassurances in her hair. That it’s not her fault. That he’s proud of her.

(Though he’s terrified, that she’s here, because what the fuck was Jaskier thinking, bringing his child into this hell?)

And Yen is here too, tugging him to his feet, snarking at Jaskier like this is just another monster hunt. His family, here, around him, and they’re pulling him out of the cell, pressing him on step by step by agonizing step.

He wonders, briefly, if he might have died.

And then Fringilla appears, and Ciri steps forward, and he dismisses that thought entirely as his daughter turns his torturer into a tree.

Not even death would be that strange.

***

They drag him out of the shaking, screaming castle.

He struggles, weakly, pointlessly, because there’s one member of his family missing, and he can’t leave her, he can’t lose her, not after everything.

“It’s just a stupid horse,” Yennefer mutters, but Jaskier knows better.

***

He falls against her and breathes her in.

Life. Warmth.

His first and best anchor.

You’re on the world. You’re here. You’re not flying away.

“Sorry Roach,” he says against her neck. “Sorry. Bet you want to get back on the road again, huh?”

She nickers softly, he breath whooshing slowly and steadily beneath his ear.

“Yeah,” he agrees. “Me too.”

You’ll never be able to ride her again, and you know it. Not properly.

He closes his eyes. It doesn’t make a difference.

This is the first of a thousand griefs.

***

But maybe not. Maybe—

Maybe Yennefer can fix this.

Maybe you don’t have to be—

***

He doesn’t feel like he’s here with them, as they pile into Yennefer’s safe house, moving too quickly for him to track. They flutter around him like anxious birds, pressing hands against his skin, and he knows he should feel like he’s part of the world. He knows that they are trying to ground him. But he doesn’t—

He can’t—

He wants to see Jaskier’s smile, he wants to see Ciri’s excitable bounce as she reaches up to grab his hand, he wants to see Yennefer’s steady violet eyes. He wants the reminder that they’re here, and he’s here, and he wants the world to be concrete and steady and solid around him.

Yennefer puts her hands on his face.

“This won’t hurt,” she promises.

He flinches anyway, from a knowledge that might hurt more than any blow.

Please, he says to all the gods in the sky. Please please please please don’t let me be—

“I’m sorry,” Yennefer says.

***

Time shatters.

***

Nononononononononono

***

“Yennefer. Can you take Ciri out of here?”

***

NonononononononononononoNONONONO—

***

Jaskier’s arms are around him, Jaskier’s voice is around him, echoing and soothing and Geralt can’t even hear what he’s saying.

***

His lungs are running away and he’s crying and crying and he doesn’t think he’ll ever stop, it’s all his eyes are fucking good for anymore AND HE CAN’T—

***

“Breathe,” Jaskier says, and he doesn’t know how to do that. “Please breathe, sweetheart, please—”

***

Time is shattered, time is shattered, time doesn’t mean anything anymore, it could be noon or midnight, and he wouldn’t know because he’s—

***

“No,” he wails. “No, no, no, no, no. I can’t do this, Jaskier, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t—”

Jaskier is shaking beneath him and he thinks Jaskier might be crying too, but he can’t tell, he can’t, because he’s—

***

“I’m blind,” he sobs. His mind can’t slip around the word anymore. It can’t escape it. It’s made a home in his brain, and he doesn’t think it’ll ever leave. Doesn’t think it’ll ever stop echoing, around and around and around.

“I’m blind, I’m blind, I’m blind, Jaskier, I—”

“I know,” Jaskier says. His breath stutters against Geralt’s cheek. He rocks back and forth like Geralt is a newborn babe, like simple motion is the answer to his tears. But it isn’t. Because nothing will ever fix this.

Nothing will ever bring him back to the world.

[scentedsongrebel]

Broken Pieces (3/3)

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Summary: The aftermath of the mission.

Warnings: Cursing, dad Steve, Allusions to smut but no actual smut, mentions of labor pains... Tell me if I miss any.

Word Count: 5247

A/n: Here it is my first complete series!! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing this. The picture is some what of how I imagined the table.

SERIES MASTERLIST     MAIN MASTERLIST

Picture not mine.

PART 1    PART 2

With his hands on his waist and a scowl on his face he watches the dumb robot place the glass on the table and does something to it to fix it in place.

Max and Lana are sitting on the couch, a piece of pizza in both their hands as they eat while watching. Sam sits on the adjacent couch with both his 5 year old twin son and daughter on each of their father's leg, sipping from their tetra pack juice Steve had got for them.

"I want a Robo" Ryan whispers

"Me too!" Rachel shoots up and Sam winches as she bounces on his leg before climbing down and running towards the thing, her brother right behind her

Steve smirks as he turns to Sam who sighs

"Ask Papa, this is Uncle Tony's, Papa will know where to get you the same one" Sam says as Steve raises his eyebrows at him and Sam whispers so only Steve can hear "He doesn't cook dinner and then runs away, he sure is getting to deal with this robo thing"

"Good" Steve nods smirking "I'm completely on board"

"Dad, when is Papa gonna be home?" The children are now on Sam's feet

"Soon" he says but before he can add anything the robot makes an announcement

"Mr. Rogers, the work here is done, Mr. Stark asks me to tell you that there is no need for a spare piece of glass now. His inventions are better than you in this regard"

Steve grits his teeth and Sam barks out a laugh just as Steve picks up a pillow and throws it at the leaving robot. The pillow hits its back, having no effect as the machine goes out of the front door.

"Where did he go?" Rachel asks as she looks at the main entrance of the house from where the machine leaves

"I have no idea" Sam says, looking the same way "Shouldn't you like make sure it gets to Tony?"

"Its great enough to permanently fix the table, its great enough to get where ever its going on its own"

Sam raises his hands in surrender before he looks over at the table just as Max and Lana hop off the couch to get a look themselves.

"Wow" Max runs his hand over the glass "it looks exactly like the old one"

"I know right" Lana squeaks "Uncle Tony is the best"

Steve scowls from his place behind the children, his arms crossed as Sam looks at him, amused

"Tony always has the solution for everything doesn't he?"

Both the kids nod their heads excitedly, looking over at the table as Rachel and Ryan join them. The irritation and anger bubbling inside Steve grows. There was a time when he had just started his family with you and Tony had helped him retire and settle in this house when he had wondered why did he even disliked Tony to begin with. The thought was simple, accompanying the smile on his face as he watched Tony interact with his children.

Right now? with the blood in his vessels boiling and the rest of his body doing everything thing to calm it down, he knows exactly why he did not like the Iron Man to being with and if there was a chance, he would really like to have a “talk” with his past self for even thinking something like this. 

"Yup, Dad drives you all the way to the city and Uncle Tony is the one that gets things done"

Steve mumbles to himself and shakes his head when Max looks back and asks him what he said

"Nothing"

Max shrugs and turns back to the table before Lana sighs and turns to Steve

"Its better than our old one. Its got this beautiful shine to it"

Steve reluctantly gives his daughter a small nod as Max takes in a breath

"Its better than the old one" Max stands up and runs closer to Steve. 

"What?" Steve knits his eyebrows together trying to move a little bit back to put some distance between himself and his son. Said son seems to not understand this as he comes closer and takes hold of Steve's shoulders and shakes him vigorously

"The table is better than the last one dad!"

Steve places his hands on both of Max' shoulders and shakes him vigorously too

"I know son"

Max is shooting him a look and Steve finds himself not having anymore power to deal with all this. His anger was morphing itself into irritation and it was getting really hard to not take that irritation out on anyone in the room and so he takes a deep breath but before he can ask for more clarity on the subject Sam whispers

"Holy shit"

"Sam!"

"Sorry I mean Holy shirt" Sam looks down at his children who thankfully are invested in the design on the table to have noticed and decided to copy his mess up "Your original glass was not perfect"

"Yeah yeah" Steve growls "I know, Tony is the best. He got the perfect glass. Are we done?"

"Dad! Mom will know. She calls us crazy children because we destroy every nice thing she buys,if the table is perfect she will know something is wrong"

"So let me get this straight" Steve takes in a deep breath "You made me drive to the city, face a scary lady, deal with Tony and his big head, all for this glass and now you want to destroy it?"

"Yes!" Max nods his head just as Steve closes his eyes

"I don't think so"

"No you don't get it" Lana says as she turns to Rachel who now sits on the sofa along with her brother, watching the scene. Lana lovingly pulls out the tetra pack  out of the little girl's hand. "Can I have that Sweety, I promise to buy you two new ones tomorrow"

Rachel nods her head always wanting to do whatever her cousin sister asked of her. Lana gives her a small smile before turning towards the table

"Lana what are you-" a finger is raised to stop Steve from saying further and he finds himself out of words. What the heck?

She runs her hand through the smooth table one last time before squeezing the tetra pack to shoot out the drink on the table

Steve watches, his mouth completely open as Max claps his hands together excitedly before running towards the pizza box on the side table and picking up a piece and throwing its toppings on the table

Ryan has climbed down from his place on the couch and is copying Lana in the tetra pack emptying as Rachel runs her hands through the mess

"Wow" Sam whispers from besides Steve and Steve feels something akin to jealousy when unlike him Sam at least still has his words

"Well, might as well help" His friend smiles evily before himself sprinting towards the party

Sam picks up his daughter from the floor and stands her up on the table, holding her hands to help her balance on the slippery thing as Steve watches in shock

"Come on dad" Max calls out to his father and Steve looks at him and the others who have found other things to throw at the glass and rub on it. Lana is hitting a pillow on the thing as Max is rubbing his shoe on it, Sam holds tight to both his children as they sit on the messy thing and laugh.

A smile curves his lips as he shakes his head. If you told Steve Rogers when he woke up from ice that there would be a day where his heart won't hurt like a needle is sieving its way through, that his eyes won't shine from memories of time he belonged, that pain was something that he would seldom see. Steve would have given you an irritated look before deciding to never talk to you.

Yet here Steve Rogers was. In his house, away from the life he had left along with the memories of a different time, with the people that make his days worth waking up and children that make him wanna claw his ears out but who also make him wanna do every single thing he can just to hear the melody of their laughter.

He has a sudden urge to take you in his arms and thank you till the end of time for this heaven that you made possible for him. Maybe he will.

"Where are you going?" They've all stopped their craziness to look over at him as he steps towards the door that leads him out of the living room

"Yeah Steve come on its fun"

Steve shakes his head, looking over at all four of their dejected faces

"Gotta bring Aiden and Ana, can't let them miss on the fun can we now" there is a beat of silence after his words followed by a series of excited howls as Sam brings his phone and plays the music

When Steve is back with his other two children, the music blaring, all he can think of is how his family is crazy, how they challenge every strict resolve he tries to build up, how he would have to eventually clean this mess up himself and how he would never have it any other way.

And so he brings the tomatoes to join in on the Mission: Destroy the table again.

----------

There is a ring on the door before the jingling of keys sounds and the door is thrust open. Steve takes a defensive stance but quickly withdraws a mop of dark hair comes to his sight.

"Hey Stevie" Bucky waves as you close the door behind him and Steve scrunches his eyebrows, hesitantly waving back

"I don't know what's wrong with him" you say, shaking your head as Steve makes his way towards you, ignoring Bucky who tries to discreetly check the table out

"He's an idiot" Steve says as he wraps his arms around your waist, taking your lips in a quick kiss "How was your night Honey?"

You sigh as you pull away from Steve, sitting down on the couch to remove your high heels

"It was good. We had fun" you remove the heal off your foot by the strap and drop it down on the floor before sighing and leaning back to relax against the sofa.

"Yup, it was really fun" Bucky whistles and you turn to him in annoyance

"Correction. It was fun until he showed up. I have no idea why?"

"Hey!" Bucky looks at you offended "I was there to enhance the fun"

You just roll your eyes and turn to Steve, massaging your forehead

"I would have been home quicker but he kept insisting on proving he could drink as many shots as he likes without getting drunk. Even though no one challenged him and we knew he could. Nat had to produce her knife to stop him from saying any further"

"Then he made me go from one shop to the other in search of caramel flavor ice cream. Mind you not butterscotch. Caramel" You sigh "Because Rachel only likes Caramel even though I told him its Butterscotch"

"Rachel calls it caramel" Bucky defends himself "You have no idea the tantrum I have to face if I being the wrong one home"

"She's your daughter alright" Steve comments and Bucky glares at him

"We did find caramel though" Bucky says, crossing his arms

"Yes from that fucking hotel in the city" you turn to Steve "We were here, 5 minutes out when he turned the car and went towards the city again even though I begged him to drop me home"

"Hey! I just remembered where we get the caramel ice cream from" Bucky shrugs "I don't like going home empty handed when I stay away late at night"

"No one asked you to stay away" you grit your teeth and Bucky rolls his eyes

"I had other things to do in the city, just got in the bar for a quick drink when I saw you guys. You are not that important" He says "And you should be thankful to me for driving you home"

"I could have taken a cab" You grit your teeth "Way better than your stupid, stinky car"

Bucky takes a deep breath trying to say something

"Where are my babies?" you interrupt before Bucky can say anything

"Asleep" Steve turns back to you

"I really wanted to kiss them goodnight before they went to bed" you sigh "but someone made me late"

Bucky looks away as you turn to glare at him before going towards the sofa and sitting on it, analyzing the table.

"Wow this is beautiful" Bucky says as he moves his hand over the glass and Steve's eyes widen in fear. What the hell was Bucky even doing.

"Yeah" you give him a small smile before looking at him suspiciously "Why?"

You move ahead to have a look at said table yourself

"Nothing" Bucky shrugs "Just realized its good, that's all"

Experience warns there is more to the sudden fascination to a piece of furniture by a man who claims he does not care for this stuff but exhaustion pleads to let it go for now.

And so exhaustion does win as you look around

"Max and Lana in their rooms?"

"Yeah" Steve nods his head "Gone to sleep"

Your eyebrows knit together again in confusion as to turn to Steve

"Its summer" you say and Bucky snorts

"Yes and this couch is black"

You shake your head in annoyance, ignoring the idiot intent on testing every bound of your self control

"The older kids do not sleep so early in summer, its what" you look at the clock "1 am?"

Steve internally groans

"They were tired"

You look at him suspiciously but again exhaustion wins and you nod your head, heading towards the rooms

"I'm just gonna check up on the kids" You say as you exit the room

"Okay honey" Steve waves and watches you leave and when he is sure you are out of range he moves towards Bucky and punches his shoulder.

"What the fuck?" Bucky groans, massaging the injured area

Steve shakes his head deciding not to chastise is friend for the language right now

"What was that?" He asks annoyed "Why did you pull her attention towards the table?"

"The suspense was killing me" Bucky whispers back and Steve is left wondering if Bucky coming back in his life really is a good thing

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

The screeching of the door is followed Steve entering the room from the en-suite bathroom after having brushed his teeth. He pulls off his shirt, discarding it into the laundry basket and moving towards his bed.

You already lie there, on top of the blanket, not having made the effort to get inside the covers after having changed into your sleeping shorts and one of Steve's shirts. Your hand is thrown to cover your eyes from even the dim light that encompasses the room.

Steve smiles as he makes his way to your side of the bed, helping you hoist up and get inside the sheets before he jumps in from above you and you let out a laugh.

"You could have hurt me" you tease

"I will die before I hurt you" He says and you roll your eyes

"Drama queen" you lightly hit his hand "I seem to remember the immense pain I was in when Aiden was born"

"Yeah and your pregnancy pain is my fault" Steve rolls his eyes smiling

"Of course it is" You shift to face him while lying down and he copies your action "Were you not listening when I was telling this to you in the delivery room"

"You mean screaming?"

"Same thing baby" you shrug and Steve laughs before bringing his hand to your cheek.

"Well that is the only pain I will inflict on you"

You shake your head fondly and give him a small smile before placing a soft kiss on his mouth

"You seem eerily sober for a woman who just had girl' night"

"I'm tipsy, I guess" you shrug "couldn't drink too much"

"Why?" Steve asks furrowing his eyebrows

"Because I'm not ready to have a hangover when I have four kids intent on wrecking havoc around our house"

Steve frowns "I would have taken care of them"

"I know" You smile and place a hand on his cheek "How did it go today? Everything gone smoothly"

You ask and Steve feels his heart quicken his pace but he tries his best to keep his face even as he nods at you

"Nothing happened?" You ask and he shakes his head

"If by happened you mean we had so much fun so a lot happened" he says and quickly scolds himself internally. What the hell Steve?

"Nothing at all?" You look at him suspiciously and he shakes his head

"Oh come on" he laughs, a laugh that is so so fake that it could qualify for a cry. His heart beats fast and he is quickly reminded how he is physically incapable of lying to you "What could have possibly happened?”

"I don't know" You shrug "Maybe the fan was unhinged from the ceiling, maybe the kitchen was flooded"

You list off and Steve just rolls his eyes, internally sighing in relief. For a moment there he really was scared.

"Maybe the window of the living room was broken" Steve feels his eyes widen which he quickly controls but it is enough for your sharp spy eyes.

Steve tries to play it off like he did with your other comments but doesn't realize how that would not be possible after you say

"Maybe the glass of my beautiful center table was broken"

That had him and he furrows his brows, looking at you intently and the moment he catches the shine in your eyes, he quickly gets up from his position

"Wha-What?"

You sigh before getting up yourself to cross your legs on the bed, facing Steve. You move your hand to run your index finger along his cheeks. His eyes follow the motion

"Maybe the kids spilled water on it and broke the glass while cleaning it off" You smile and Steve suddenly chokes on his own spit

"How-How do you" he stammers and you smile fondly shaking your head

"Oh my Stevie" you move to sit on his lap and straddle your legs on either side of him as you face him "You really thought you could hide it from me?"

"How do you even?" he asks, moving a string of your hair and had fallen on your cheek to behind your ear

"I noticed the window had newspaper covering rather then the glass" you say as you blop his nose affectionately "Then I pieced it together with Bucky crashing my girl's night. I thought he got there because you were dealing with the broken glass"

He laughs at that and moves his hands around your waist to pull you closer

"God" he shakes his head fondly "That's why you should never marry a spy"

You playfully punch his shoulder as he laughs but a thought comes to mind which makes him pause his laughter

"Wait a minute" he says, holding out his finger in front of your face "How do you know about the table"

You smile again shaking your head

"Never reveal all your secrets"

"Come on" he whines, tightening his hold on your waist "I thought the new glass really looked like the old one"

"Oh yeah it does" you say "would have never even found out"

"Then how"

"I have little spies around the house"

Steve raises his eye brows at you before laughing out

"I should have known" he shakes his head "Which one?"

"Well when I went to check up on the kids after I got home, Ana was dead asleep and I kissed her forehead and left, I could tell Lana and Max were pretending to sleep but I was not in the mood to confront. Then when I went to Aiden's room and kissed his forehead he turned to me and started talking about how scared he was after the table broke and how upset his older sister was"

"Of course he did that Mama’s boy" Steve sighs "I forgot to tell him to not say anything to you"

"And you think he would have kept quiet?"

"Well at least you would have found out after like 2-3 days, not the moment you got here. You know how hard it was to get this new glass"

"That is what you get for plotting an elaborate scheme against me"

"Elaborate scheme" he uses his fingers to make the double quotes sigh "The kids didn't want to hurt your feelings"

"Really?" You tease, moving your dace closer to him and kissing his cheek "It had nothing to do with the fact that I had warned you against putting that table up by yourself"

"I hate you" he mumbles and you place a soft kiss right on the spot on his neck you know would give the desired result. And you are proven right as he groans and takes hold of your hands

"I love you too" You give him a wide, cheeky smile, showing all your teeth

"I have no idea why I put up with you"

"Its because I am awesome" You press a small wet kiss on his chest and he groans "And because I do this"

A small content smile takes over his face as your hands roam his body before your hand that is pulling on the waistband of his sweats pinches hard on his waist and he lets out a scream

"What the fuck?"

"Language Captain"

He stares at you wide eyed, open mouthed and you let out a laugh

"Aiden also told me about the impromptu party you guys had without me" you mock glare at him

"We were re- destroying the table" he massages the area you pinched

"I know that. And you woke up my babies to do it"

"You know I wouldn't leave any of my children behind"

You sigh, smiling at him

"You are a good father Steve” you pat his chest lightly “Are kids are so lucky to have you”

A little, involuntary curve takes over his lips as he softly kisses his wife. He pretends to ignore the shine of your eyes and the little shakiness in your voice just as you ignore his.

“I just wanted to do something for them” Steve whispers as he pulls you into a hug “So they could trust me to help them when they have other, more significant problems”

You pull away from him and place your hand on his cheek 

“I know sometimes  it feels like they don’t especially during one of those tantrums but those children love you dearly and it doesn’t even make me feel bad that I know you are the one they are gonna come to if they really are in trouble in life”

Steve gives you a small smile and shakes his head 

“But they will always love their mom more” He says, trying to lighten the atmosphere of the room and saying what he knows is the truth

“That is so true” you tease and then giggle and try to move away when he tries to tickle you “Stop stop, I have something to tell you”

He keeps ticking you, now placing you on your back and climbing up on you, continuing his tickle attack

“STOP, SORRY SORRY” You scream and he shakes his head through his laughs

“I like to hear the sound of your laughter” he says and keeps tickling you as you try to squirm away

“I’m pregnant” You scream and suddenly the tickles fade away as Steve stares at you, his eyes wide. Shock paints every inch of his handsome face and you give him a small, hesitant smile

“I went to the hospital today before meeting Nat and Wanda, that is why I did not get drunk” you say hesitantly “I know we did not talk about another one but I-I well I- you know-’

Your lips are stopped from producing any more words as Steve’s mouth claims your in an intense, passionate kiss. His hands roam your body before finally coming to rest behind your neck

“oh my god” he whispers before he pecks your lips again “This for real?” he asks and you nod your head “I love you. Thank you for this”

He sits up and places his hand on your not yet showing stomach and keeps his eyes fixated there

“Thank you” he whispers and you smile as a tear falls down his left eye

‘You should be saying sorry” you tease and he looks at you, his eyebrows knit together “I’m gonna be in pain because of you again”

“Good pain” he laughs and you narrow your eyes at him

“Its definitely not good”

“Then let me make it better” he whispers, his eyes dark as he moves closer to you “Let me thank you properly for this wonderful surprise my baby mama”

You close your eyes as his lips press against yours and moan through the kiss. Your hands roam his bare back, appreciating his sculpture before your hand takes hold of the waist band of his sweats but before you can yank it down, Steve suddenly pulls away, his eyes wide and you look at him with your eyebrows knitted together

“If its a girl, I’m keeping her and Ana away from you and Alanah” Steve says “I don’t think I can handle anymore mini you’s”

You laugh as he looks at you in all seriousness.

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

The strong aroma of sugar and eggs and the little smoke coming out of the kitchen causes him to knit his eyebrows in confusion.

Steve had just left your sleeping self in the bed for some much needed extra sleep and had gone down stairs to cook for the children he knew would be awake any second and maybe make you breakfast in bed too.

After the news he just got, you would be getting a lot of these breakfasts in bed.

A flutter runs down his body at the thought of his unborn baby and a new addition to his already crazy family. The new kid had no idea what's coming for them.

"Good morning Dad!" Max greets him as he enters the kitchen, flipping his omelette

"What are you doing?" He asks looking around the table to find Lana and Aiden sitting on their respective chairs on the dinning table and Ana sitting on the table itself.

Aiden is eating his pancake and Lana is eating hers and feeding some to Ana.

"Making breakfast" Max shrugs, bringing a plate and emptying the pan in a plate before the bread in the toaster pops up and he places it on the plate

Steve watches dumbfounded as all his children nonchalantly eat their breakfast as if it were a normal occurrence for their older brother to cook for them

"Here dad" Max places the plate of scrambled eggs in front of Steve's usual chair on the dining table

Steve stares at the thing before looking up at his son in complete bewilderment

Max rolls his eyes as he goes back to cook himself a plate of pancakes

"I can cook you know"

"But why are you?" Steve now picks up his plate and moves towards the stove, standing besides Max and watching his son pour pancake batter on the pan. A swell of pride blooms within himself as he watches the scene

"I just-" Max looks at Steve before looking back down at the stove "I well, I just wanted to say thank you"

Steve feels a little tug at his heart

"What for?"

"You just-" Max flips the pancake on the stove, still not making eye contact "I just- I know how hard it must have been for you and I don't know I just-. You lied to Mom for us and went to Uncle Tony even though he may have made fun of you and I just- Thank you for being my Dad"

He says at last shrugging his shoulders and trying to blink back the tears that Steve knows are forming in his eyes.

Steve rounds his arm around Max' shoulder and shakes his head

"Thank you for being my son" Steve whispers so only Max can hear "And I've always got your back"

Max turns his head to look over at Steve. Strands of the young boy’s hair fall on his forehead as his eyes shine and his lower lip trembles

"Even when the thing is fixing a broken table that your mother won't have even been very angry about because I know its important to you"

"I love you Dad"

"I love you more son" he gives Max a small side-ways hug and takes a bite of his eggs "This is amazing"

"Thank you"

"You guys having a party without me?"

"Mamamamam" Ana squeaks bouncing on the table and stretching her arms towards you so you can pick her up. You step in the kitchen and pick your daughter

"Am I not getting any pan cakes?" You ask the little girl, tickling her tummy as you kiss Aiden on the forehead who gives you a teethe smile. Ana lets out loud laughs and you kiss Lana on the forehead too

"Good morning Mom"

"Good morning"

Max places a plate of pan cakes with strawberries in front of you

"Oh wow, You made these honey?"

Max nods his head, smiling and you grin at him

"Don't" he warns but you still reach him and ruffle his hair as Ana laughs in your arm

"My little boy is growing up so fast, Stevie make it stop"

Steve laughs as Max whines when you pull his cheeks

"Moooooom"

"He has started having facial hair Stevie" you gasp and Max pulls away from you. Running his hand through his chin where few hair have started growing

"Why do you always have to do this?"

"Can't I even mourn the fact that my baby does not even need me to feed him anymore, now he had decided to cook breakfast for everyone"

Max rolls his eyes "Its a one time thing"

"We'll see" you tease and take a seat on the table besides Lana and give her a small smile, eating your pancakes yourself and feeding some to your daughter on your lap

When Max is done cooking for himself and has put on his stack of pancakes what seems like all the chocolate syrup in the house, he settles down and starts eating

He shoots Steve a small smile and Steve’s heart is full. 

You look over at Steve knowingly and he smiles back at you.

Life cannot get any better. With his family eating breakfast together, laughing, teasing, just just being themselves. He looks over at you and then at your stomach that is cut from his vision because of his younger daughter on your lap and suddenly he just can��t wait for his new child to come along and join their siblings in making Steve question every single resolve in his life.

THE END

Tags: @maravderofthephoenix​