#as someone on ao3 has coined this ship

[ivyscribblez]

it’s a snowy day in patience ❄️

hello resident alien fans. all 5 of you. and hello to the d’arcy x asta enjoyers. all 0.7 of you

[theglamorousferal]

Persephone's Binding Part 2

Hardcover/Anger Management ship Sacrificial Bride au

AO3 Prompt Part 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

(Things get a bit angsty here for a bit, but don't worry, it gets back to some of the cracky-goodness!)

After allowing himself to relax for a bit and actually letting his muscles loosen for once, Jason rose from the bath and rinsed himself off under a piping hot and strong shower. He finished the rinse off with a flash of cold water to focus back up and made his way to the vanity where there was basic hotel amenities. He attempted to style his hair and after at least drying it, pulled on the fluffiest robe he has felt since he first moved into the manor all those years ago.

Fuck. The family. The Outlaws...

Jason put his face in both his hands and took a deep breath, then allowed his shoulders to slump as he dragged his hands from his face to his sides. He marched in a lazy manor over to the end of the large bed where he flopped face down. Surprisingly, it wasn't as fluffy as he was expecting and he silently thanked whatever force there was that he wouldn't have to resort to sleeping on the floor or a chair for the familiarity. Though, he turned his head to face the windows, that little reading nook looks like I could easily fall asleep there.

No, stop it. Do I remember the Dimensional Code for home?

Jason contemplated. On one hand, it could be useful, on the other, they could have an entirely different category system here. He spent the next however long trying to remember the dimensional code for his Earth and tracing the swirls of purples and greens out the large windows. A knock startled him.

"Jason? Are you decent?" He stood quickly and pulled the robe tighter together, not quite ready to show his autopsy scars to his soul-owner? A literal goddess? He wasn't quite sure what she was yet.

"Uh, yes, come in, I'm covered." He tried to stand casually next to the bed when he had just been sitting, his hands now in his pockets.

"Hi, so one of my aides figured one thing out about the ritual that is somewhat concerning and also something I probably also should have brought up. Mind if we sit at the window?" She strode in and settled herself with a pillow against the window and waited for him to do the same. Once he was settled, she hesitated for a moment before sighing and looking out the window to the haunting site outside.

"The Infinite Realms has another name, one coined from my Earth." She licked her lips before she spoke again. "It's also known as the Ghost Zone. As the dimension between dimensions, it is also where beings known as ghosts, the Restless Dead, Neverborn, Gods, and all sorts of other beings that thrive off a substance known as ectoplasm reside. As such, I am current Queen Regent of Ghosts." She let him think for a moment before turning to him. "That means I can tell when someone is death-touched." Jason froze. "I didn't mention it before because I know it's super personal, but then my aide figured out that the ritual only worked because of the fact you are and especially since you had spent time here-" She cut herself off as his eyes just bugged out larger with every word that spilled from her lips. "Sorry, I just, I'm death-touched too. I haven't died yet, but I have been around death magic, or radiation, or whatever it is, since before conception. I don't know exactly what you went through, but I know it was deeply traumatic. I can have my healers take a look at your soul and see if it's alright because it kinda radiates a bit how traumatic it was." She bit her lip with one hand raised near her chin.

Jason closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and clenching his jaw tight and blowing the air harshly out his nose. He fell back against the window, allowing his head to knock against the glass. It was warm, as though the sunlight was gently shining upon it. "Yeah." He croaked. "Yeah, I died." He said softer. "I was dead for roughly six months." He dipped his head forward to block his face with his bangs. "Crawled outta my own grave." He laughed bitterly. "Spent a while wandering, a while more in a coma." He swallowed tickly. "Got picked up by my dad's vindictive ex and trained for a while to be an assassin." He looked up at her, making eye contact. "She dunked me in this pit of magic shit, we call it a Lazarus pit in my dimension. It cures those near death and kills the healthy. Fixed me up the rest of the way, or at least the scars and issues I had pre-death. I got to keep these." He allowed the top of the robe to fall away, showing the tops of the large y-shaped scar that ran the length of his torso. She gasped, both hands coming to cover her mouth, tears began to form in her eyes. She reached out as if to touch them and stopped herself, her face turning determined.

"I, Jazmine Nightingale, High Queen Regent of the Infinite Realms, the Mediator, the Caretaker, and all those other titles." She waved her wrist. "Declare that I will help you however you deem necessary. Whether that be helping your soul, returning you to your dimension, breaking this binding, or whatever. You are currently bound to you, and as such that makes you my responsibilities." She paused in her speech for a moment, thinking. "I mean, you're already technically one of my subjects because I think you qualify as one of the Restless Dead, but we'll figure out your classification when we take you to a healer. For now, it has been a long day. I will have one of my aides come to get your measurements for some clothes, I'm sure we have some around here somewhere that should fit you at least for dinner. The aides can get any style you like and it can be made quickly by the seamstresses we have on staff." At his hesitation she added with a smile, "They work in supernatural means, they will not overwork themselves by making an entire wardrobe in a few hours."

She patted the cushion in front of her and stood. "I will meet you at dinner, it's not formal at all, don't worry about dressing fancy, I'm just still in this getup from 'official queen stuff'" she said with air quotes looking tired. "I'll see you in a bit Jason!"

"Yes, um, your majesty." He stood to bow, the robe making it a bit difficult."

"Just Jazz please, for the love of the Ancients." She said with a pained look on her face.

"Right, sorry," he stammered, straightening, "See you later, Jazz." She smiled softly before leaving him to himself. He smacked his hand to his face groaning at himself before flopping face-first into the bed again. "She's the ruler of the dead and she's so determined and nice, what the actual hell? She's so earnest, it's so cute!" he sat up leaning his elbow on his knee. "Okay, operation Romance Plot is go. She isn't put off by the fact you died, this is good, I can work with this. Okay, so castle, let's go with that aesthetic. I'm thinking let's go with a poet shirt and some black slacks for dinner tonight." He claps his hands in front of him, decision made.

As if summoned by his words, there was another knock at the door. A man with bright sky blue skin and a deep plum butler's uniform opened the door, a measuring tape casually thrown over his shoulders.

"Yes, hello good sir. What aesthetic are we thinking for this evening?" he said in a posh accent.

Jason clasped his hands together. "What should I call you? Would you possibly have a poet's shirt and a pair of black formal slacks for this evening?"

"You may call me Jeeves. Yes that Jeeves. I am the personification of the trope of the helpful butler, and as such my power set includes anything and everything that could help me complete the duties of head butler of the High Family's home. We absolutely do have that attire on hand, it would be but a moment for someone to fetch it for us. Now did you have any ideas about future attire?" Jeeves snapped his fingers and a skeleton manifested in a swirl of dust to obey his silent command to gather the requested clothing.

Jason paused for a moment, considering. "How does the Queen usually dress casually around the castle? I know she said she was from an Earth. I don't know where in the timeline her Earth is from and she mentioned that what she was wearing earlier was mostly for special occasions, so I don't want to look like an idiot." He explained.

"Very good sir, she typically dresses in either a less formal toga if she's to be seen anywhere near the public areas of the castle, her armor whilst sparring with her knights, the High Princes and Princess, and if she is only going between her room and study then her far less formal Earth clothing which is a long sleeved blouse and lightwash jeans, typical of the late 1990's and early 2000's."

Jason thought for a moment. He didn't know how long he would be stuck here, but decided that clothes enough to last a fortnight should work. For all he knew, time flowed differently between here and his home dimension. Decision made, he told the butler what he wanted. Measurements were taken, the skeleton arrived with the requested clothes and Jason was left to change into his clothes for the evening. He still is wearing his combat boots because he forgot to ask for a pair of shoes.

Once changed, he realized that he still probably had a bit before dinner and he walked over to one of the bookshelves browsing the titles. There were several classics that he recognized, his favorite, Pride and Prejudice, was there. There were a few as well with Jane Austen's name, but not titles he recognized. He decided to come back to those later and pulled what looked like a collection of fairy tales from the shelf then settled himself lounging in the window nook to read for the next few hours.

[cinnbar-bun]

Together (Benn Beckman x Reader)

Summary: As the "mom" and "dad" of the Red-Hair Pirates, you and Beckman have a lot of work on your plates. (Un)Luckily for you two, your crew decides to meddle with your relationship (again).

A/n: A gift for my friend, @fanaticsnail . Enjoy the first mate, darling <3.

Notes: F!Reader, kinda of a will they-won't they type thing. Everyone is shipping it just Beck and Reader lowkey refuse to admit it. Lots of fluff and teasing. Reader is referred to as 'mom' and Beck as 'dad'.

Word Count: ~3k

You can read on my AO3 here!

“Dad! Mom’s being mean to me again!” Shanks loudly yelled while he was chugging more bottles of rum. The first mate sighed at the nickname but didn’t even bother to turn around and face his captain. 

“(Y/n)?” Beckman called out. 

“Yes?” You replied, the other members of the crew staring at you both with wide smiles and bated breath. 

“Smack him for me,” Beckman chuckled. Shanks let out a faux-offended gasp as the deck erupted with laughter.

“You’re so mean to me! How could my own first mate do this to me?!” Shanks whined as you pat your poor captain’s head. He pouted like a little kid before he took another swig of his alcohol. 

“That’s just what you get, Captain!” Lucky Roux laughed. “You know Beck won’t ever disagree with (Y/n)!” 

“Well some of us need to be the adults around here,” Beckman retorted. He held two mugs in his hand, one filled with his coffee, the other prepared just for you. For the first mate, it was practically routine to make your morning drinks for you. He silently handed off your mug to you, and you took it with a hushed ‘thank you’. “Are you still making the list?” 

You nodded while going over the notepad in your hand. “Tomatoes, potatoes, onions…” 

“Don’t forget to add some carrots, since someone,” Beckman’s eyes narrowed at Limejuice, “burned them all.” 

“Hey! It wasn’t my fault! I thought you eat them if they were black!” Limejuice tries to explain. 

“They’re carrots, you can eat them raw!” Beckman shouted in exasperation. “You guys are going to kill me one day!” 

“Oh, don’t be too harsh on them, Beck,” you try to soothe the first mate. “I can always take care of cooking duties, anyways.” 

The men nodded, eager to have your cooking as a guarantee instead of whatever slop they would make in their often drunken stupor. 

“Thanks, mom!” Yasopp cheered. “You know we love your cooking!” 

“Not happening,” Beckman deadpanned. The men slunk their shoulders and groaned. 

“Why not? (Y/n) makes the best food!” 

Beckman rested a hand on his hips. “Because (Y/n) is already busy taking care of a majority of the duties on this ship. I’m not having her overwork herself because you guys couldn’t figure out that carrots are edible.” 

Shanks put down his drink and nodded. “I have to admit, it’s pretty true. Beck has a point.” 

“Thanks, Capta-” 

“So I guess if you want (Y/n) to cook, you need to start picking up the slack!” Shanks proclaimed. “That’s a good compromise, right?” 

You shrugged. “I-I mean, it’s really not necessary, I can cook, too.” 

Beckman placed a hand on your shoulder and shook his head. “(Y/n), they’re grown men, they can do their own laundry and dishes. You don’t need to do everything.” 

“I could say the same thing to you,” you chuckle. “‘Dad’.”

“Not you, too,” he groaned. “You know I hate that nickname.” 

“I know, but it fits you.” 

“‘Mom’ fits you as well.” 

“Okay, you two, get a room!” Shanks laughed. Beckman glared while Shanks waved him off. “Anyways, why don’t you two take care of the shopping today? The men and I will handle things back here.” 

“Are you sure? But Yasopp was saying-” 

“Bah!” Shanks laughs off your concern before rummaging for a bag of coins. “Yasopp wasn’t planning on doing anything. Just take your time and get whatever you guys want. I better see you two relaxed and having fun when you get back!” 

Beckman made a puzzled face as he took the bag of money. “You’re not slick, Shanks.” 

“What’re ya talking about, Beck! I’m just saying, you two should take it easy today. You guys keep this ship and crew running. As captain, it’s only natural I let my best mateys have a day off every once in a while. I’m not some tyrant, you know?” 

You stifle the laughter in your throat and and close your notepad. “Well, we really can’t complain, Beck. Let’s enjoy shopping for a bit.” 

“Sure thing,” Beckman relented. He made sure his pistol was strapped to his belt and put the money into his pocket. “You got the list?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Good. I heard this island is supposedly famous for their bread. If we’re early enough, we might be able to snag some right from the oven,” Beckman comments. Your eyes widen. 

“Really? We gotta hurry then.” 

“Bye mom, bye dad!” Shanks waves with his remaining arm, causing the other members to rush back to the deck to see you off. 

“Bye, you two!” Lucky Roux waves his stick of meat. “Don’t have too much fun!” 

“Don’t stay out too late, lovebirds!” Yasopp jokes. 

“Keep talking like that and I’ll not bring any rum back,” Beckman threatens. 

“Aghhhhh! MOM! Do something about him!” The men whine to you while some of them boo and chide Beckman. 

“Bad, Beckman, bad,” you chuckle as you and Beck begin to walk down the ship. 

“You’re right,” Beckman plays along. “I’m just a horrible, terrible first mate.” 

“The cruelest first mate around.” 

“Mhm. And what does that make you? Just as bad?” 

“Probably.” 

You two go through the streets of the island, taking in the sights. It isn’t long before the sweet smell of bread begins wafting through the air and taking hold of the both of you. 

“Oh man, they weren’t kidding,” Beckman mumbled after inhaling the smell. 

“I think that means we came just in time,” you grin, excitedly walking up to the door of the bakery. You marveled at the selections within the store, as well as some of the bakers making the bread behind the counter. 

“Wow…” you tap your chin. “Maybe we should get some brioche.” 

“They do have flatbreads, too. We could get those for a meal,” Beckman hums thoughtfully. 

“With tuna?” “Now you’re cooking. Add that to the list for our next stop,” he commented, and you nodded before writing ‘tuna’ on your list. 

“I’ll add some rice as well,” you say. 

Soon, it is you and Beckman’s turn to order, and you two greet the old woman working at the counter. 

“And what can I get you two?” You begin to place your order, before turning to Beckman. 

“Do you think we should get anything else?” You ask, glancing back toward the display of pastries. Of course the first mate caught that and nodded. 

“Two pastries,” he added. “You want that one, right?” Beckman pointed at your favorite pastry and you smile bashfully at the fact he knew what you liked without you having to say a thing. 

“Yep, that one,” you confirm. The old woman grins at you two and begins to package your bread. Beck takes the box of it to carry, and promptly thanks the woman. Afterwards, she puts your two pastries in a small, wax paper bag and hands it to you. She sighs contentedly and has a nostalgic look on her face. 

“Oh, you two remind me of the good ol’ days. May your love stay with you forever,” she wishes. The sentiment catches you off-guard for a brief moment. “Sorry, we’re actually-” 

“Thank you, ma’am,” Beckman thanks her. Your eyes widen as he smiles at you, and you can’t help the smile forming on your lips, either. You wave goodbye to the woman and exit the bakery with Beckman. 

“Why’d you say that?” You ask, curious of his intentions. He shrugs, but there’s still a playful grin on his face. 

“Felt natural,” is all he says as you two continue down the street. You rummage through the paper bag and get out the pastry he ordered for himself, one made with figs, and hold it to his lips. He stops his mindless chattering about things to get and leans down to take a bite. 

“Mm, that’s so good. They got good figs,” he mumbles with a mouth full of pastry. You laugh at his silly behavior and wipe some of the crumbs off his chin. 

“Let me try mine.” You take out yours and bite into it, melting at the exquisite taste of the pastry. “Oh, that’s amazing.” 

“Right?” He says enthusiastically. “We have to come back here again and get some more another day.” 

“We should bring some back for the crew next time.” 

“Nah. Let’s keep this one our little secret,” he winks at you. 

“You’re a very cruel first mate, Beck,” you tease. 

“Well, can you blame me? They won’t taste as good without you eating them with me.” 

“I think I have to agree.” 

The day continues on like this, with you two continuing to shop and cart around box after box of supplies for the ship. Beckman and you have practically inspected every item for the freshest produce, meat, and fruits for the crew. Thankfully, you two are the most organized and efficient members of the crew and are practically finished before lunch. 

“Did we grab coffee beans?” You ask, looking at your list again. 

“Right here, dear,” he answers, showing you one of the bags. 

“Okay, good,” you check off another box. “Is that really it?” 

Beckman looks over your shoulder to see the list and the boxes all around you. “Would you look at that… guess we really did get everything.” 

“I mean, this looks like all we need, but we did it so quick,” you say, admittedly wanting to spend more time with the first mate. 

“We did. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t send Roux and Yasopp to do the shopping.” You laugh as you remember the time when those two went to get the supplies, only to come back near midnight with only the most expensive of alcohols and hardly any food. From then on, Beckman had set a rule that if anyone messed up that bad again, they’d have to pay with their own coin. 

“Should we head back, then?” You ask. 

“If you want. I have no problems walking around the town with you,” he replies. 

“Considering you’re pushing that cart, I think we should go back and drop the supplies off.” 

“It’s not a problem, (Y/n). This is pretty easy to pull,” Beckman assures you. 

“Still, I-” you begin, before Beckman places a hand on your shoulder. 

“Hey. It’s okay,” he states. “I’m happy to keep walking with you. After all, even our captain said we should enjoy ourselves. I don’t see any issue with us taking a bit longer to go back.” 

“You really mean it?” Beckman nods. 

“I do mean it. I enjoy our time together, and it’s rare we get the time to just do as we please.” 

You hesitate for a moment then nod at him. It is true, as a pirate, especially in the crew of a notorious Yonko, moments of peace are rather rare and fleeting. Not having to fight for your life or the world is a nice change of pace every once in a while. 

“Okay. Where to next?” You ask as Beckman leads you deeper into the city. The shops are more refined compared to the street markets near the port, leading your eyes to wander. You gasp and stop in front of a display window when you see a gorgeous selection of bracelets. Some are made with gold, others silver, and another with a shiny, black material. Beckman notices you frozen at the display and makes his way to you. 

“Come on, let’s go in.” 

“Huh? Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m just looking.” 

“Don’t be so modest, (Y/n),” Beckman urges. “Go try one on.” 

“I don’t have the-” 

“Nope. No more excuses,” he shakes his head as he opens the door to let you in. You step into the store, amazed at the beautiful jewelry surrounding you. A salesperson greeted you and chatted with you about the bracelets you saw on display. They pulled out the displays for you to try on and you debated which one to pick. 

“Hm…I think I want to try that one on,” you point at the gold bracelet. The salesperson clasps the bracelet gently on your wrist and you marvel how it sparkles under the light. “Beck, what do you think?” 

You show off the bracelet to him and he stares at it with a surprised expression before he composes himself. “It looks great on you.” 

The excited look on your face makes his heart beat faster as you tell the salesperson you want to buy it. 

“Good choice. I do want to let you know we are currently doing a promotion for this particular set. If you buy another one, it’s 50% off.” 

You turn to Beckman expectantly. “Do you want to get one then, Beck? We can match!” 

He examines the bracelets. “I don’t know, I don’t think they’d look that good on me.” 

“Hey, you can’t pull that trick on me after you made me come in here!” 

“Fine, fine,” he chuckles. “I think I’ll try this one.” He picks out the black bracelet and puts it on. He looks impressed with the jewelry and his face softens as he looks into your eyes. 

“Well? Does it look alright on me? Definitely doesn’t look as good as it does on you,” he jokes. 

“It looks great,” you look back into his eyes as you press your wrists next to his. “I think this should be another of our little secrets.” 

“I’m starting to think my bad behavior is rubbing off on you,” he smirks, as he goes to pay for the jewelry. 

“Maybe it is, Beck,” you respond as your eyes are locked on your matching bracelets. 

The afternoon is spent wandering aimlessly in this town. You two visit nearly every shop, walking and chatting about everything under the sun. Things like memories, what the crew was possibly up to, to even the most mundane topics like sweets and how you like your eggs prepared. 

It feels simultaneously too short and like an eternity between the two of you. He continues to lug around the cart of supplies and other things you two bought in your impromptu shopping trip, never looking any worse for wear. He doesn’t care to focus on something like that when he’s with you. 

The sky is beginning to turn a bright orange and pink as the two of you finally manage to get back to the ship. 

“Wahhh! Mom and dad are back!” Roux yells as the men cheer. Shanks leans over the edge and smiles at you two. 

“Well, well, I didn’t think either of you had it in you to take a break!” Shanks admits. “We all started placing bets on if you would be back by noon.” 

“I was saying midnight, for the record,” Yasopp shouted. 

“You guys are so immature,” Beck chuckles while shaking his head. “We just explored some of the shops. Got a few things.” 

“Anything fun~?” Limejuice says. 

“Bowls?” You lift a few of the new bowls you bought at a store. 

The men throw their hands up and groan. “Really? Nothing else?” 

“Nope,” Beck lies, making them all quiet. He scans the deck and notices it’s rather clean compared to the smelly and alcohol-ridden floor. “So, you guys actually did clean up, hm?” 

“Yeah! Course we did!” Shanks proudly exclaims. “I told you we’d handle it. Now where’s the rum-” 

“When we have dinner.” 

“Ugh… why are you the worst?” 

“Don’t be like that, Shanks,” Beck crosses his arms. “(Y/n) and I won’t be around all the time to handle everything. It’s good for you guys to learn to take care of the ship.” 

Yasopp sighs. “Always so mature and level-headed, I tell you.” 

“You’re so lame, Beck! How does (Y/n) put up with you?” Limejuice whines. 

“Mom, tell Beck he’s boring and needs to be cooler!” Hongo cries. 

“Enough complaining, help put these supplies away,” Beckman points to the boxes. The crew begins to do as told while you and Beck start unloading some of the supplies. As you do so, Shanks calls your name. 

“Hey, gorgeous bracelet. Where’d you get it?” He asks, loving the gold on it. You jump when he mentions it and look at Beckman, who gives a simple nod. 

“Just got it from the shops. It was on sale.” 

Shanks nods and lifts your wrist closer to inspect the bracelet. “Wow, it really looks great on you.” 

“She would hardly step into the shop until I made her. She was eyeing that the whole time,” Beck teases you. 

“Not the whole time, exactly,” you try to explain. “It just was pretty, is all.” 

Beckman lifts a box up to a shelf and Roux loudly gasps, surprising everyone. 

“Beck!” 

“What? What’s wrong?” You and Beck say at the same time. Roux has a knowing smirk on his face as he points to Beckman. 

“You got a matching bracelet, too!” Roux shouts. Shanks and the other men gasp and move in closer to look at it. As Roux said, the black bracelet on Beck’s wrist matches yours perfectly, and the men howl in laughter. Some even begin to exchange money as you and Beck are mortified at their behavior. 

“You guys seriously made bets?!” You cried. 

“It was just a simple one!” Hongo admitted. 

“And who was the one who said they were doing more than just shopping for food?” Yasopp rhetorically asks. 

“You were also the guy who said they’d return at midnight. You lose half,” Roux retorts as he takes the money in Yasopp’s hand. Shanks huffs as he also gives some money to Roux. 

“So like, did you two confess?” Shanks asks hopefully. 

“For the last time- we’re not dating!” You and Beck shout in unison. 

“Could’ve fooled me. You guys act like you’re married.” 

“You guys are in so much trouble,” Beck sternly tells the men as he steps closer to them. 

Some of the men begin to scream in horror. “Whaaaaa! Mom! Save us!”

[yaut-jaknowit]

Really just all around interested in the background to some of your characters. How Vic and Uihoy came to know each other or a story of how they got together. Which one of those dummies confessed first, etc.

Chance of Fate

Pairing: Uihoy (Male Yautja) x Vic'tao (Male Yautja)

Warnings: racism (BUT it works out in the end)

Word Count: 2070

Summary: These two met longer before meeting you. Their meeting themselves was really rough around the edges. Who doesn't like an enemies to lovers trope.

Author Note: I just realized I wrote this slightly like enemies to lovers... that's my favorite trope too. Welp, dug my grave now I'm gonna lay in it.

Masterlist

Ao3

These two are dumbasses. I assure you. It was dumb luck their lives were intertwined with each other.

First off, there are two major differences between Yautjas (in my world). Those home world born and those born off world (mostly on motherships). I believe there’s a little bit of racism between these groups. Each believing they are better than the other.

I’ll let the story below reveal who is who.

As for Uihoy, he wasn’t always our sweet baby boy. Maybe his older years have softened his hide and heart to Vic’tao and you. Vic’tao… hasn’t changed much. Dynamic and static characters.

Hate to say it, but Uihoy acts a tad bit racist in this. BUT we all know he loves Vic’tao in the end. He overcomes these thoughts he was raised with after learning more about Vic’tao.

In the bustling crowd, Uihoy stalked his way through. Smaller than the average male, he’s able to slip between others to make his way through. No pays him any mind. In this city, he wasn’t known for being a big shot back in his home village. Here, he was just a random male, surfing the crowd.

Not that he minded. Uihoy wasn’t going to be showboating in the city of Kov. Mating season was far out. All he needed was a few items of interest before taking his ship back home.

A city like this had his scales itching. Far too many people, too many smells that forced a headache to rouse behind his eyes. It wasn’t a place he wanted to be but a necessary evil for him. Unfortunately. He needed fabrics from the clans of the coast. Kov was the closest city to sell them, being one of the larger cities on Yautja Prime.

As a male at seven hundred years old and higher status within his clan, his coin pouch was heavy on his side. His shorter, yet bulky build was able to move along the crowds with ease. He came to a halt before a known vendor he’s dealt with a few times before.

Ke’nt, a lanky, tall Yautja with light blue accented with white stood in his mediocre booth. Before Ke’nt stood an obvious young blood arguing with the vendor. Uihoy couldn’t help the roll of his bright eyes at the display.

Young bloods. They always thought they were the shit until someone came in and shoved their head into the pile of stink they created. The purple Yautja has done it countless times. A sight he loved to create.

The yellow and blue, unnamed male slammed his fist down on the table keeping the two from tearing into each other’s throats. “This price for these damned fabrics isn’t what you told me!” he shouted at Ke’nt, fury flashing in yellow irises. “You cannot change them in the time it takes me to grab the coins.”

Uihoy deals with Ke’nt occasionally. What the yellow Yautja accused Ke’nt of was an action he’s been known to do with Uihoy. After time, Uihoy has learned how to ensure this middle aged Yautja knows his place with a nearing elder. Violence is always the answer. Words are never enough.

The shoes Uihoy wears make next to no noise as he struts over to the arguing pair and saddling up next to the unnamed Yautja. Before either of them could vaguely tell him to either bug off or just simply ignore him, Uihoy released a bellow of his dominance. Both younger Yautjas paused their dealings and snapped their heads to find Uihoy at the table.

His piercing eyes were locked onto the older Yautja of the two. “Ke’nt,” Uihoy growled the name in a low tone. “Are you pulling the tactic that has failed on me?” The purple Yautja had his chin level, not showing off his throat nor bowing his head while staring Ke’nt with fire.

Said Yautja grunted his displeasure and stepped back from the table. His mainly white arms spread out. “Come on, Uihoy. You are ruining the fun. A male’s gotta make a living,” Ke’nt explained his reasonings while attempting to calm the situation. Uihoy was a male he loved the money but hated how smart he was. Nothing passed those sharp orange eyes of his. Damn him!

Despite the height difference, Uihoy glared from underneath his brows at the taller male. The other Yautja at his side stayed silent for the time being. But the shifting of his impatient body was growing tiresome. Young bloods.

“Your tricks have failed in the past. I can always find another for fabrics. I come here for mere convenience but I’m not below finding another vendor for what I need.” Uihoy ensured his words were stern, letting Ke’nt he wasn’t fooling around with his tomfoolery. “Now, finish up the deal with original price with him.” Uihoy jerked his head to the taller Yautja next to him. “Then, you know what I require.”

Next to Uihoy, the yellow and blue male bristled. He didn’t need help. He could’ve handle this all by himself! From the corner of his bright yellow eyes, he glowered at this short… elder. Wait, not yet. Close though.

“I can handle this myself,” the young blood snarled to Uihoy. The latter just tweaked a brow up before snorting his annoyance. His clanmates wondered why he never offered to train the unblooded or newly bloodeds. The attitude they snarked at him was top of the list.

A huff surpassed Uihoy’s mandibles. But, Uihoy never paid the young Yautja any mind. His gaze was kept on the blue Yautja before him, a glare making the process speed up.

Another long moment passed before the exchange for currency and fabrics had completed. Now, it was Uihoy’s turn. Said male passed over the same amount of credits he’s paid for in the past. Ke’nt never made a peep about any inflation of prices. He’s learned his lesson over the years.

When a few hundred Nok’s away from the vendor’s booth, Uihoy inspected the fabric in his hand… only to realize this was from the coast. The short, thick whiskers along his jaw bristled as his body tensed.

On the verge of about-facing and marching back to Ke’nt, his keen eyes spot through the crowd a form he saw less than a few moments before. In lanky, well built arms held the coastal fabric he was meant to buy. Great, he thought to himself. Uihoy began his path, picking up the young blood’s scent, and beginning an impromptu hunt. The day becoming longer than he’s wanting.

.

Like the hunter he’s grown up to be, Uihoy found his way through nearly the entire city of Kov. The young blood’s scent bringing him to the public transport off world. His brows raised. Where was he going? But, Uihoy had to stop him before he left or else he’ll never get the fabrics he paid for.

Through shortcuts and alleys, Uihoy ended up towards the end of the transport station. These were for transports back to motherships. An off world born? He’s come across them in passing times but to speak with one… He huffed and hurried his pace before his items were lost among the many motherships that circulate across the universe.

The same flash of yellow had him jogging, dodging bodies. Before the young blood had a chance to slip onto the ship, Uihoy slapped a hand on his shoulder and yanked him back down the ramp. The yellow male snarled and reacted within a fair time. There was always room for improvement.

Claws swiped along the barrel chest of Uihoy. A firm grip encased the offending wrist and prevented said attack. Uihoy kept pushing until this Yautja was trapped to the landing gear of the ship. Chest to chest, swapping body heat. Uihoy forced to look up at the height advantage Yautja snarled at him. “You have something of mine,” he rumbled at the young blood. His hands tightened when he attempted to squirm his way free. Uihoy wasn’t letting him go. Not until he had his fabrics.

Trapped against the stronger male, he grunted while attempting to make his escape. It was futile. With a huff, the young blood settled down and glowered at the male he recognizes. He’s the one who he saw only moments before leaving Yautja Prime; at least, tried to. “What are you pauk-de talking about?” he snarked and raised his upper mandibles.

Uihoy’s hands increased their strength in retaliation for respect from this young blood. His own mandibles twitching as he did his best not to challenge this little gnat and shove his face into the ground.

A jerk of Uihoy’s head led the young blood to glance at the fabric in his hands. This wasn’t what he paid for. Something he couldn’t even afford! “That. That is what I’m talking about,” Uihoy snapped.

Similar to a Xy and a full moon, the trapped male peered down at Uihoy with wide eyes. The latter mentioned Yautja gave a deadpanned expression to him before letting his hands fall away. Uihoy stepped backwards to offer a respectful space between them.

In one hand, Uihoy offered what he had been given back to the yellow Yautja. The other limb held out a free palm, awaiting the item he had paid for. “Give.”

The young blood grunted and placed the silky fabric into Uihoy’s waiting palm. He grabbed what he emptied his coin pouch for and stared down the male before him. “Must have been a mixup,” he tried to ease the conflict after the problem had been solved.

A fight was the last he wanted to deal with. He didn’t want to nurse unnecessary wounds on the ride back to his mothership.

Uihoy snorted and rolled his bright orange eyes at the small comment. “Of course, an off world born wouldn’t have noticed,” he retorted, adding bit into his words.

From the depths of his chest, the young blood snarled and lowered his head, body drawn taunt. “Say that again. I’ll show you how much better we off world borns are compared to the same old, same old borns of this planet.” Now, the fight became necessary.

At his sides, Uihoy’s hands twitched, ready for the fight. “You have no danger while living freely on those ships. We have to fight to survive out in the wilds of our home planet. You have no planet to call home,” Uihoy growled and puffed up his chest.

Despite his smaller size yet bulky build, Uihoy has proven time and time again he’s capable to hold off his own against someone either larger in height or build.

As the offending Yautja goes to open his mouth, the ship’s captain announces its last call. It was the last one for the cycle. He couldn’t miss it.

Standing back up straight, the young blood flexed the muscles in his legs to launch himself back onto the ramp he was shoved off of. Uihoy followed his every move the whole time. The other male pointed at finger down at him. “Remember this face and name: Vic’tao of Loloor Mothership. I can’t wait to wipe my feet on you.” This ‘Vic’tao’ entered the ship, on the safety of a difference territory.

If Vic’tao hadn’t been so lucky, Uihoy would’ve dragged the male back out and teach him a harsh lesson. He’d rather not deal with the authorities if he fought on mothership grounds. Different rules and laws.

He snorted to himself before turning on his heels and following a path back to the private docks he parked his ship at. It was an event he would forget… but the name he would look up once back home in Qav’f. Only to satisfy his curiosity.

These two would keep meeting in passing times before their anger melted. It seems harsh but these are Yautjas we are talking about.

Once the two forgave their rage for another, the two decided to hunt together. When hunt brothers grow close… things could get messy. Feelings are spilt, miscommunication may happen, untruthful words are said but in the end, they figure it out.

During a night of boiling anger that two hurricanes fed into each other, Vic’tao spat out his confession to Uihoy, surprising himself….

Uihoy had known for a long time. Before even Vic’tao had known for himself.

It was Uihoy who fell first but Vic’tao fell the hardest.

[popjunkie42]

The Thief and the Rake: Chapter Five

Chapter Five: They Said I Did Something Bad II Read on AO3

Summary: Forgotten by all good society, the Archerons receive a surprise invitation from a distant relative that gives the sisters a chance for one single season in London. One single season to lie, scheme and attract a rich enough suitor to marry Miss Elain and pull them out of poverty for good. It's a lucky thing Feyre Archeron has perfected the skills of lifting the burden of extra wealth from those too laden to notice a few coins skimmed off the top. Unfortunately for her, the Viscount Rhysand Sterling catches her in the act...and then insists on hiring her for her services. Can the Archeron sisters make it through a London season alive and with their reputations intact? A Regency AU.

Chapter Five: Feyre goes hunting.

I hope you like Feysand banter! Rhysand is here and he is not going to fade into the shadows...

Thanks and love to @witch-and-her-witcher for the beta read and endless support.

Read on AO3 or have a Chapter 5 snippet under the cut!

The sweet sound of Elain’s laughter filled the dining hall in the Lambton manor, followed by the gaggle of gentlemen around her. A ridiculous sight, the one bright glowing lady amidst her many admirers.

Nesta and Feyre watched from a distance, small glasses of punch in their hands.

“So everything is going as planned, then?” Feyre asked.

Nesta took a dainty sip from the porcelain teacup. “If someone worthwhile comes around.”

Feyre laughed with shock. “The Grand Duke has visited twice. He’s on her dance card tonight.”

“We can’t put all our hopes on just one gentleman. Besides, he’s a man. They’re fickle.”

The sisters watched as Elain’s dance card fluttered from her wrist to fall onto the ground. One of her audience, a man in a smart brown jacket with long tails, kneeled to pick it up, offering it to her with a hopeful smile.

“What do you think they all talk about?” Feyre asked.

“Themselves, of course.”

Feyre scoffed. “Has no one’s caught your eye?”

Sometimes she swore she could feel the emotions of her sister like the shifting of the elements. The flame of her temper, the icy cold of her anger. Like the flare of the fireplace crackling with a new log against her face.

“We’re not here for me.”

“We could be. According to Elain, any of us could fall in love at any moment.”

A glance shared between them. The hint of a smile. Feyre swallowed against the hint of elation at Nesta’s approval, the two of them working together, watching their plan unfold.

Nesta wouldn’t have to know how close she was now to being caught and ruining everything. Let her sister think she’s succeeding, providing for them, just a little bit longer.

Feyre took a deep breath, fighting against the tightness between her shoulder blades. “I doubt anyone here could be found worthy of you. For you to find someone worthy of Elain will be hard enough.”

“And what about you, little sister? Walking around on the arm of that Viscount?”

Her face heated at the fire. The hint of an insult in her tone. Little feral Feyre.

“I’m not here to find a husband.” Too hopeful of Feyre to think her sister would offer her much kindness at all.

“What are you here for tonight, then?” Nesta eyed the glistening stones around her neck, worth more than everything in their closets and then some. “You’re not exactly being subtle.”

Feyre picked at a loose thread on her dress, unable to meet Nesta’s eyes. “I’m working.”

“It doesn’t seem like you’re working. It seems like you’re playing a game. Maybe a foolish one.”

Feyre’s eyes scanned the party. Looking for a now-familiar figure, clad in black.

“Maybe I’m hunting.”

Read the rest on AO3

Tag list:

@that-little-red-head @damedechance @rosanna-writer @fantasticalnonsense18 @dreamlandreader @captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship @annaskareninas @foundress0fnothing @areyoudreaminof @cauldronblssd @starfall-spirit

[badass-queer-couples-battle]

Gay wrongs tournament, round 1 of the major bracket

Propaganda:

For Legolas and Gimli:

They literally have a running competition between the two over who has more kills. And non-canon my ass, Legolas took Gimli to valinor

They kill alot of orcs together. They make it into a competition. Better minds than i have spoken about the couple ness

For Hannibal and Will:

Ive previously only heard the term "murder husbands" refer to hannigram so it feels flitting. The whole series culminated with a murder they did together bathing in blood. 

The show and ship that coined murder husbands. It’s in the text in s3 from a journalist side character. They do Many murders either together or as a message to each other. Usually this involves turning the dead body into an art piece. The show ends with them killing a guy together in a slo mo scene backed by porno music.

They're both batshit and manipulative.

ALRIGHT so they're not canonically together but it is HEAVILY implied and they have some sort of fucked up psychosexual obsession with each other. in the later parts of the show they start committing murder and cannibalism together and they're soooo unhinged but it's awesome

kill people for each other. maim each other. kill people together. most batshit insane metaphors. send each other to jail. ruin everyone’s lives. someone can probably say this better than me but these gay people are insane

Literally THE murder husbands. They kill for each other. They've tried to kill each other. They're canon in all but name, like the homoeroticism between these two is the driving force of the show.

one time hannibal folded a guy into an origami human heart

They are in love and they kill and eat people. They are called Murder Husbands in canon.

The original murder husbands (literally, that's not just their ship name, they get called that in canon)

The show begins with Will working for the FBI and trying to catch Hannibal, but because Hannibal is so intrigued by the way Will is able to see the world and the motives behind the killings so easily, it becomes a game of Hannibal isolating Will even more from the people around and seducing him to try and kill. By the time Will starts embracing the side of him that Hannibal sees, he starts oulling back and trying to distance himself so that when the time comes for Will to fully embrace himself and Hannibal, no one really suspects what they have planned. 

hannibal literally does murder as courtship and it works bc will is also a fucked up little guy

I'm actually quite offended they aren't included by default (joke). They are THE murder husbands!!!!!! (mod note: they should have been, but I wanted to see how many submissions they'd get. They got 19, making them a little more than 6% of total submission count).

do i have to say it. they literally get called murder husbands IN THE SHOW

There are 3201 works for Hannibal on ao3 tagged Murder Husbands. They are the ogs, they are the pioneers we owe it all to them.

THEE murder couple. You know it. I know it. They commit crimes at each other as courting and then commit crimes together and then fall off a cliff to wash up somewhere and live on to serve cunt. Get referred to as 'murder husbands' in canon. What more do you need

Hannigram were literally called Murder Husbands in canon, they are the og, they are THE blueprint. They were gay as hell and comitted so much murder so many crimes. THEY RAN OFF TO EUROPE TOGETHER.

[dustrose]

In Regards to the Final Bracket

Hey, all.

I'm what many would describe as a "lurker." I'm quite shy when it comes to things like this, that is, posting my opinion on the internet. It's not something I ever planned to do, nor something I'm confident in, but it is something I've been meaning to do for a few days now.

So why am I writing this? It's simple, really, I voted for SuleMio in the poll.

First of all, I want to get some disclaimers and the like out of the way, along with a TL:DR.

Destiel is absolutely sacred history, and it always will be. I do not mean to downplay its significance. It is important to not only lgbtq+ but also fandoms as a whole. Without Destiel, I doubt the internet would have developed in the same way, for better or worse. (I mean, we wouldn't have Tumblr, would we?)

With that being said, it is also important to mention that Destiel isn't the only history. History is ever-changing, there's always more being added, and in this case, that is SuleMio. While Destiel changed the course of the internet when it was popular, SuleMio is changing it now.

Okay, now for a quick TL:DR

Destiel is important for history, but SuleMio is important for the future. Neither is better than the other; they're amazing in their own ways. We really shouldn't be fighting over something we can easily agree on. They are both ships that revolutionized in their times, and they are both ships that deserve to be respected, as do the people supporting them.

-----

Now to start the rambling!

So, I created a Tumblr to vote in this bracket. When I first stumbled upon it and voted, I actually had no idea what Destiel was (later looked it up, and I've seen Supernatural, so y'know, "oh, neat.") More than that, I was only introduced to Gundam as a franchise in late March, being through a friend who recommended G_Witch to me (which I am ever-grateful for).

In a way, I'm absolutely an outsider. I haven't been with either ship for very long and haven't experienced the same things others have experienced. I haven't even finished Supernatural, nor was I there when Bandai said SuleMio was "up for interpretation."

And yet, I'm here, putting my thoughts on paper because I think this is important.

That is, respecting what came before and respecting what will come after.

Destiel and SuleMio are two sides of the same coin. We can sit here and whine about the little things...

But Destiel isn't canon!

But Sulemio didn't kiss!

Don't care, that's not the point here. The point is that both of these ships, these relationships, have affected many communities and have touched many hearts. There's no right or wrong, no "mine's better" or "yours is stupid," they're just ships, but more than that, they are history.

Let's start with one of the biggest things. Destiel is Tumblr, isn't it? I was too young when all of that happened to be on Tumblr, so frankly, I didn't know until recently that it was history, but even so, I can appreciate it. I never went on Tumblr, but I did like a lot of stuff on it (you guys are really funny.) What I mean is, I have no history with Tumblr, yet I can still appreciate what has happened.

Not to say that you have to, of course. I get being tired of Destiel, feeling like its beating a dead horse. But let's stop and imagine for a moment, heck, maybe even two moments, that in twenty years when SuleMio is old news, and there's a new, big queer ship on the table, there will be some people clinging onto what came before. In this case, I'm certain I'll still have a soft spot for SuleMio; I'll probably hang onto it until I die (24 fanfictions on AO3 doesn't go away that easily, y'know), but I'm also certain that the new ship would probably win.

It's as I mentioned earlier. History is ever-changing, ever being built upon. There's always something new, something someone begins with, and there's also something old and something someone has always been with, if that makes any sense?

Destiel is that something old; it's what came before, but just because it's not the present anymore doesn't mean its accomplishments should be overlooked. Furthermore, SuleMio isn't even a year old yet. It's fresh off the press, fresh in our minds, and it's definitely one of the most important pieces of media to be released in the 2020s. It's new, but like Destiel, its accomplishments shouldn't be overlooked because of how old it is.

In the end, this poll was just something silly to get our little gremlin minds going. I mean, we all knew it would end like this, didn't we? In discourse--when it comes to ships, it's always discourse.

Y'know, I was there for bmblb vs blacksun, and yikes.

Anyway, as I was saying, this isn't something we should be fighting about. Especially not calling people names, as I've seen a few people do. No matter what the case, insulting others for disagreeing with you will never do anything but make you look immature.

Ah, side tangent, my bad.

This is getting long, oopsies, but I thought it was important to get some of this on paper... er, computer? Because I hate to see a community in disarray when we should be celebrating both of these ships for what they've done and what they could do.

I think that's everything, yeah. Stay safe, drink water, consume lots of queer media, and have some fun. :3

-Rose

[waltangina]

Did you know that El Nolibusterismo was coined on 14 October 2014? That means THIS YEAR IS THE 10TH YEAR OF THE FANDOM! WOOOOO~

I know the fandom has changed over the years. It may not seem like it's growing, but it is! Yearly, it grows, on Tumblr, on Twitter, on AO3. This panitikandom is doing great! I wish I could keep up and learn everyone's names, like how I did back in the days. I've been busy, but I do want to make an active effort and be involved in this space again.

That said, let me reintroduce myself (with a little random fandom history) under the cut! Feel free to reply at magpakilala rin. Lez be friends!

Hi! I'm Walt, resident ermitanyo ng El Noli. This is my tag of archived el noli posts since 2014. If you're new to my tumblog and got curious about this fandom, this tag is the place to start!

I coined the fandom name because I saw a potential in expanding Rizal's works as an actual literary fandom beyond elibarra only. Thus, inventing more fan works such as shipping more characters (ex. basagani, marisinang, sisalome, crisalomelias, julita, julitagani, juangani, macasilio, belpep, atbp.) and headcanons (ex. tropang nerds) that opened the fandom to more possibilities. There's only two ships that I do not claim of inventing: elibarra and penilaez.

Elibarra was already existing in Tumblr before I even joined here. I believe elibarra has always existed in notebooks of high school students, with or without the internet. So I don't know who to credit for this one. (Another ship name for this is eliasostomo, but people stuck with elibarra over the years.)

As for the penilaez tag, I'm unsure if this one is coined by Elias or by ReisiAo. I just know, it's either one of them. They are writers who helped in the building of this incredible fandom! My kapwa pioneers deserve the credit, too. They are the ones who jumped in with me at the start of this fandom.

Another friend who is important in the fandom building is Sashi. She has been there through the ups and downs, a humble fan who is most known for the El Noli Sims posts and creating Facades, the first tacaraig fic!

There's a lot more people who helped in fandom building. AO3 writers like placidings, kayselya, threefouram, thisisashittyusername, iSlashiShipiFlail, bukkunkun, atbp. Artists like @stinkyjerbaks, @ibaerra, @elisostomo, are some of the first fan artists from Tumblr. There's more artists on Twitter, feel free to check.

Years ago, I would shy away from being called a "pioneer," but I now understand that it is what it is. The only reason why I used to feel uncomfortable with this is because of the rise of the term Big Name Fan. I adamantly oppose this and I would love to be treated as a regular fan and not some kind of authority figure. I am a firm believer that fandom space is a work in progress by the community. It takes a lot of people to build this, even when someone is taking the lead. It just happens that I first took the reigns, but I'm not always steering everything in this fandom. Anyone can create. El Noli is a safe and open space for anyone and everyone. (Except for harassers, bullies, and plagiarists— and I fucking mean this.)

[ktsaysthings]

never an absolution

“Don’t come any closer,” she shouts, so he doesn’t. “Here, just—just give me your hand,” he tries. “I’ll pull you back over.” She glances at him again, the force of a hurricane behind her gaze. “I said stay back.” Titanic AU. jiara week day 5 - based on a book/movie/show

Read on ao3.

JJ doesn’t believe in luck. Never has.

He’s sure it’s a real thing that exists somewhere. Just not for him.

Instead, he makes his own.

Luck is the bottle of Jack left on the table to keep his dad’s hands from curling into fists. Luck is the stolen coins that keep him alive when he finally makes it to London. Luck is the ace of hearts hidden up his sleeve when he goes all in for a ticket on Titanic.

JJ doesn’t believe in fate any more than he believes in luck. He can’t, because fate would have him follow in his father’s footsteps—a deadbeat drunk with nothing to live for besides a good fight and his next drink.

Fate is the curse of his name, the scourge passed to him by his father and his father before that. Fate is what he picked up and ran from the moment his father’s body was in the ground.

He ran north from his little fishing town in North Carolina, working his way up the coast, surviving only by odd jobs and manual labor. Boston was fun, at first, until he ran out of money and every day was just backbreaking work and drugs and booze. Until he looked in the mirror and saw the empty eyes and split knuckles of his father.

Paris turned him into a thief, forcing his hand when he couldn’t seem to hold a job or find a place to sleep. Every penny felt like a piece of his past, the shame burning a hole in his pocket until he had just enough for a hot meal and a bed.

When thievery became too heavy, he ran to London, only picking pockets when he couldn’t sell the words in his own, handwritten poems and stories from his childhood, scribbled down under a bridge or on a park bench late at night.

On occasion, someone would actually read the little papers he shoved in their faces, and he’d be struck with confidence, like maybe he could escape his destiny, like maybe his words meant something, like maybe he meant something. But then he’d wake under the stiff sheets of a bed that wasn’t his, next to a woman he didn’t love, and he’d be reminded—JJ Maybank can never amount to anything.

No matter how far he runs, the dark, looming cloud of his future is always trailing behind him. As hard as he tries to be different, he is his father’s son. He lies and he cheats and he steals and he fights his way through life.

In his more optimistic moments, JJ thinks about his mother, who she could have been, or if she left any part of herself for him. He was barely a kid when she left, but he remembers she had kind eyes. Bright and blue, just like his.

His knuckles are still bruised from a barfight in London and the three-day-old split in his lip hasn’t quite faded, but when he looks in the tiny mirror of this third-class cabin, his mother’s eyes stare back at him, and that gives him hope.

The cabin is small, barely enough room to maneuver around the other three men he’s bunking with, so he lingers on the well deck late into the night, sprawled across a bench while he watches the stars peek through puffs of his vaporous breath.

It’s cold, so he fishes his last cigarette out of his pocket, igniting it with an expert flick of his lighter. He only takes one drag before a blur of red flies by in his periphery.

When he sits up, he sees it’s a girl, holding up the skirts of her red gown as she sprints across the deck. She stops short at the stern, leaning over the railing, staring at the water below.

He’s about to turn away—it’s not his business what first class women do on this ship—but she steps onto the railing, slow and shaky, climbing up and over until she’s hanging onto the other side. His feet are moving before he even realizes what’s happening.

“Um, excuse me, miss,” he says, hands held high in surrender, daring a step towards her.

She whips her head around at the sound of his voice. Her dark curls blow wild in the wind, some rogue wisps sticking to the tear tracks on her cheeks. Her grip on the railing turns her knuckles white.

“Don’t come any closer,” she shouts, so he doesn’t.

“Here, just—just give me your hand,” he tries. “I’ll pull you back over.”

She glances at him again, the force of a hurricane behind her gaze. “I said stay back.”

Read the rest on ao3!

[rosiesdisneydrama]

RiSW: Ripples

AN: I've been stuck for a while on a different thing for this story, so I decided to change gears and try out a different writing style to see if it would help kick-start my writer brain. And it worked! So here you go.

Ao3 Link

It starts with a boy.

He’s small and poor and has no one to turn to, living on the streets of the Lower City. The boy’s never spent a day in school, but he’s small and fast and cleverer than the adults give him credit for. He knows how to pick a mark even if he barely reaches most folks' knees, he picks pockets and snatches fallen food and tears off before anyone can catch him. He can fend for himself and that’s all he needs. (It is, tragically, all he knows.)

He often lingered by the docks and the taverns, snatching fallen coins and raiding bins for scraps. Where the drunks and the ladies would never pay mind to a grubby, homeless, gutter brat lurking in the shadows so long as they weren’t in their way.

(There are more children like him on those streets than the people of the Upper City would ever know. If they bothered to look. Yet they still lauded their city as the Best, rarely ever looking at the people in the city below them, just the ones living at the top.)

But he's young and still learning the world and he makes mistakes. Sometimes he bites off more than someone as small as him could chew, no matter how fast or clever he thinks he is.

He gets caught on a navy ship, clutching a bag of coins that he’d thought he could escape unnoticed with.

He had been sure that, like so many other sailors he’d seen, they would spend their night on the shore in the houses full of pretty ladies or the taverns full of food and drink. Celebrating their feet being on land again after days or weeks or months at sea. Too drunk or too distracted to notice someone as small as him sneaking onto the ship to swipe a single bag of coins.

Once on board, he learns the captain and the doctor are still on the ship talking to each other. So he hides, hoping the two will leave soon and he can escape with his prize. But it’s late and dark and the Lower City had been colder than he was used to for too long. The sound of waves and distant voices combined with the gentle rocking of the ship lull him to sleep in the small corner of the warm hold he’s hidden away in.

He wakes late the next morning, long after they had left port that day when a sailor discovers him after dropping a box on their foot.

There’s a frantic scramble that ends with him cornered on the ship’s deck, baring his teeth and growling but sure that he’s in for the worst. (He’s a little thief, after all. One that’s been caught in the act.) But he gets lucky, though he won't truly know how lucky until much later.

The captain is old, gruff, and as soft as a plank of wood, but he and the rest of the crew are all from the Lower City too. He knows what life is like there. They all do.

He looks down at the fierce, dirty child on his deck (dressed in rags and shaking in fear and trying so hard to hide it) and decides there's no reason to be cruel to a kid just trying to survive. No reason to get angry or to hit the kid or throw him over for trying to steal from them. That kind of thing helped no one, and they were navy men. They were better than that.

Instead, he orders one of the seamen to lock the boy in one of the cabins until they can hand him off to a ship returning to their home port.

So the boy is locked in a cabin, where the crew plans to keep him until they reach the restock port to send him home. But the sailors are kinder than the boy is used to people being. They keep him fed and warm and tell him grand stories of life at sea, fighting terrifying sea beasts and vicious pirates and defending the Republic with all their strength.

Every tale is met with childish awe and the Storyteller of the ship adores having such a rapt audience.

But, before they reach the port, the ship hits a snag.

A snag in the form of a ship of pirates that mistake them for a merchant ship they can raid. Suddenly, the Navy Ship is turned into a battlefield that they're struggling to keep above deck because of the small passenger hidden below.

The boy can hear the shouting and fighting above and finds that a seaman forgot to lock the cabin door after bringing him food that day. He slips out into the halls, wanting to know what is happening and hoping to find a better spot to hide. He finds his way to the deck, where the battle is raging loudest, and sees one of the crew knocked prone, an armed pirate standing over them.

People don't realize just how sharp a child’s teeth are until those little teeth are buried in their arm.

The pirate howls in pain and the sailor gapes at the child latched onto the man’s arm. Then he howls in laughter when the child is knocked off, only to seize a fallen belaying pin and do his damnedest to bash out the invader’s knees with it. The seaman gleefully cheers the kid on, shouting “Get ‘im Rookie! Get ‘im!” and follows in his wake armed with his own cutlass.

The pirates are driven off, and the sailors change how they treat their stowaway.

Before, they had always called him Boy or Brat but now they call him Kid and Rookie and meet his face with grins and laughter. He’s allowed out on the deck and given simple chores that even someone as small as he could do. Sailors ruffle his hair when he does well and explain how to do better when he doesn’t. Even if he complains sometimes, he doesn’t want to leave.

(He’s found a life that feels more like home than “home” ever did.)

It’s not hard for the seamen to figure out that there’s no one waiting for their rookie in the lower city. No parent worrying themselves sick over where their kid has gone and why he hasn’t come home yet. He’s alone.

The sailors know he’s too young to join officially but… Their ship is small, and rarely ever gets inspected by the higher-ups. No one would notice one more body working their decks, so long as it didn’t invite trouble. And their fellows wouldn’t care if they spotted a kid cleaning decks in exchange for food. (They just- wouldn’t mention that the kid was sailing with them too.)

So the Rookie gets to stay, working the cabins and helping clean the decks. And that becomes his life for several years.

But things changed in the Republic and sailors needed to know things now that they hadn’t before, things that their crew couldn’t teach their little Rookie that he would need to grow up and rise in the ranks. That folks would notice as he got bigger and stronger and others spotted him with them. The captain knew they couldn’t keep him hidden with them forever.

So he called a favor from a cousin and struck a deal with their Rookie.

Four years on land, going to school and learning all the things younger sailors were expected to know now, then he could apply properly to the Navy. And the captain would vouch for him and make sure he joined their crew officially. Then he’d be fighting with them, as a fellow seaman, for the Republic. For folks in the Lower City like them.

He’s reluctant, of course. (The ship is his home and the crew is his family.) But he agrees.

He stays with the captain’s cousin and goes to school. He does his best, even when he wants to bust heads or scream in frustration. But he goes and he learns and gets the grades he needs to be a proper sailor.

.-.

In one life, he makes it with very few hiccups.

He gets the grades and joins the Navy. He climbs the ranks and fights for his home, getting the strength and skill and wisdom to lead the people around him. He earns his own ship and crew and strikes fear into the pirates of the sea who think his home is easy prey.

He sails to distant seas and dives to the darkest depths. He sees the best and the worst of the world, saintly souls and age-old grudges. He sticks to his morals through it all and helps those who turn to him for it. (Because he remembers where he started. He remembers being small and hungry and alone. If he can help someone suffering the same things, he will.) He fights sea beasts and pirates and rescues innocent people from disaster and refuses to leave his men behind.

And the sentiment is shared by his crew. It is unspoken, as none of them feel it needs to be said aloud, but they would fight tooth and nail for their captain and follow him to places only madmen would go. (Many times, that’s exactly what they do.)

He becomes a hero in the eyes of the people and a Respected Elder of the Republic. He helps change it for the better and acts as a voice for the people of the Lower City.

And when a war long-thought dead returns to the world, he and his crew are ready to fight. The navy is ready to defend their home against the greatest threat it’s ever seen, led by the Captain who had once been just another Boy on their streets.

.-.

But in another, his captain comes to visit and learns that their rookie has vanished.

He’d gone out two nights before to get something the captain’s cousin forgot while shopping and never came back.

Captain and crew scour the streets trying to find something, anything, that could tell them what happened. They find the rookie’s wallet, money still inside, knocked under a merchant’s stall. And a wizard combing the area because of a strange magic they could feel there, though it was fading.

An alert goes out about the abduction (as that is all they can think of for why a teenager in the Lower City would leave without their hard-earned money) and the sailors of the docks go into their own hunts. Even if the city guards ignore the event, dismiss it as just another runaway, the people of the Lower City go into high alert. Children and teens are kept under close watch and adults spread word of the possible danger in whispers.

They all ensure that the disappearance is Known and that people know who went missing in hopes he can be found and brought home.

(The wizard is kind and determined and tells his fellows of the magic he’d found and throws himself into research when he learns of the young man that may have been stolen away by it. Especially when he sees how little the town’s guards seem to care about the incident. He will help, and stars help anyone who tries to stop him.)

The ripples go far and wide, and a watcher none of them knew of notices. They notice that someone who should have been there is suddenly gone.

And they start searching too.

(Because he will be important. He needs to be there, even if no one knows just how important he is to the place he calls home. The light he is carries is needed to help make things right, to help rebuild what had already been destroyed once.)

[boots-with-the-fur-club]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

@daboyau Thanks so much for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

15! I wrote several on ff.net too but eugh boy. Those don’t need to be read more than they have.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

454,863. And growing!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Only TMNT right now! Mainly Rise. I used to write MHA, I did one for FNAF Security Breach and Voltron.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Better than a hero

2. Leo Likes to Talk (Except When he Doesn’t)

3. Therapy for Robots

4. Fifteen

5. Two Sides of a Multicolored Coin

5. Do you respond to comments?

As much as possible! Especially now on Ao3 when people don’t do it as much.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I guess the fic I wrote for the Disco prompt for Auvember. Almost everyone “dead” in a hive mind controlled by Casey sr. I usually don’t write angsty endings, only angsty middles hehe.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hands down, Mama Bear. I gave those turtles no Kraang, a living Karai, boyfriends and girlfriends, you name it.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

It’s only happened once or twice. Comment moderation babyyyyy.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

NEVER EVER. I support all who do but I would be so bad at it and too shy to share haha.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I do! I’ve written several with TMNT iterations, as well as crossovers with friends’ AUs! @phoebepheebsphibs cough cough COUGH. Craziest for sure, hive mind and even more.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nobody has ever asked before, so probably not.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Once with Daboyau and of course with phoebs

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Leosagi makes me feel things. Leoichi especially, two huge dorks in love!!

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

One where sister krang escaped and started grabbing the turtles to destroy humanity. I saw someone else writing something similar and stopped lol. The concept turned into the mask fic!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Writing characters as canon as possible, dialogue, tying together concepts in a neat little bow at the end, humor I’ve been told, and hurt/comfort!

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Describing what things and or people look like. I forget all the time and it can make it confusing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I did it a few times, I always add a translation, but it’s probably easier just to mention that something is in a different language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

……Hetalia……

I am ashamed. It was a /reader.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

It is SOOO hard to pick. Either Mama Bear or No Fun in Fungus. Mama Bear holds such a big place in my heart and it’s also a reason I started talking to Daboyau which I will always be so grateful for.

No Fun in Fungus also connected me with so many people!! I really can’t pick between the two.

[lizard-shifter-noms]

Wayward Waters Chapter 12

——————————————————————————

Hello everyone! Chapter 12!

time to explore more of the world!

this Story contains Vore, Dont like dont read.

have fun reading!

and as always Reblogs are appreciated! (Also ASK’s are open so feel free to bother me!)

AO3 Link for those that prefer the layout there;

AO3 Wayward waters

——————————————————————————

As expected I did wake up with the word Idiot on my forehead and a mustache drawn on me.

Though it was easily washed off before Yamet yelled that breakfast was done.

It consisted of eggs and thick slabs of bacon with some spices once again.

He really loved to use spices huh? But it was good.

Ronan stumbled in late, some rolled up papers in his arms,  probably maps from all over.

Did he find the one with Kamerasca?

“Sorry I'm late! I completely forgot that I did not sort my maps whatsoever!

…i may need help looking”

Of course, with how scatterbrained he was that was no surprise.

I'd help after I was done with breakfast.

Shoveling the rest of said breakfast into my mouth I followed Ronan, who simply grabbed his plate and took it with him, 

to a side room stuffed full of paper.

Not all of them were maps, a lot were his own observations on animals and plants and whatever else he found, including Imugi.

Worst of all was they were on the floor too and literally pouring out from shelves.

How in the fuck did he find ANYTHING in here?

Well considering the map was missing he didn't.

Yeah it would probably take hours, or even a day to find anything in here.

Suddenly Imik’s head popped in.

“You know, we should just ask to borrow one from someone else, besides are you SURE we even have one?”

Ronan stopped in the middle of shoving more of the paper into the shelves.

“Nope, no idea if we have it! 

Let's go to town and see if someone else has one!”

Better than sorting paper at least.

Ronan ran out the room past me and Imik and I slowly followed while they got their stuff.

Suddenly a little bag the size of my fist full of something heavy and clinking was tossed at me and I fumbled to catch it.

Opening it up I saw it was full of gold coins.

This was more than I ever had in my entire life, in one little bag!

Confused, I looked to Imik who had thrown it at me.

“You helped dive and get this on the ship, so that's yours! 

Besides, we're going to town! A little spending money will be fun!”

Oh so this was basically my cut from treasure diving! Nice!

Well if i was already here might as well get some souvenirs right?

Not like I could ever manage to rush these guys.

The front door slammed open and Jamie strutted in like an excited pigeon.

“GUYS! There's a ton of ships in Harbor right now! Let's go trade stuff!”

Huh, lots of ships meant lots of things from different places,  Now that was something to see!

I got dragged outside by Jamie who let go once we were out the door and jumped up to use Akeem’s arm as a sideways perch.

People with bird legs did not give a fuck about gravity huh?

Suddenly Akeem moved his arm,  tossing Jamie a good six feet up in the air and forward.

They laughed and landed perfectly, running ahead with the rapid, taptaptap of their legs against the ground.

Yamet yelled after them.

“JAMIE! Wait! Ah dammit they are gone”

Well, not like they'd get lost on the island right?

Besides, the rocky path to their abode was strewn with funnily shaped rocks, so finding it would be easy.

While walking to where more houses stood I took in the scenery as Yamet discussed what food to buy with Imik and Ronan, Akeem was picking up random rocks and tossing some away while keeping a few.

After a bend in the path around a rock we reached the first houses of the harbor area, where lots of ships were anchored.

Including the absolut big one whose silhouette I had seen yesterday evening.

In daylight the thing was even more intimidating.

The wood was painted black, save for what looked like to be some sort of metal ribcage that went over the outside of it,  making it look like a skeleton.

It didn't help that the rest of it was kept in similar color and style with dark gray sails.

Yep, no wonder ghostship stories existed.

The name on it read in a fancy red cursive.

Call Of The Damned

Well that was ominous, and they went full out on that aesthetic too.

Suddenly Ronan pointed at it.

“Hey! It's the Call Of The Damned! 

That means Cassidy is back! Let's ask him for a map!”

What.

THAT was this Cassidy guys ship? No wonder he was respected.

Being so distracted I ran face first into a door that was built into one of the large boulders, featuring a carved tree with Long roots.

“Watch where you're going! Also don't bother trying to open that,  it won't budge, believe me i've tried, maybe it's cursed or something”

I confusedly looked at the weird door again that Ronan had just called cursed, but before I could fully process this I was dragged along towards the ship that was way bigger than the Victory Rose and could hold my Ardua form like ten times over.

Though despite getting dragged a good ways the ship was all the way down at the harbor, and not just at one of the smaller docks either.

It was smackdab in the middle and tied to the biggest pier,  which wasn't even wood but stone.

Ronan ran ahead, leaving me and Akeem to follow as Yamet was off somewhere getting actual food for the ship and Jamie was who knew where anyway.

While walking after them at a fast pace I looked around as much as i could, finding that there were more than double the non humans than humans.

The only humans I really saw were doing some menial but fun things.

One with a brown short cloak and dark shaggy hair that went over his eyes was drawing a cat on the floor with chalk,  leaving spaces free for the surrounding children to color in.

The other human I saw had black curly hair with eye pattern hair pins and dark eyes framed by round glasses.

They were sitting on a swing and eating a fruit i had never seen before, the juice dripping on their mostly purple striped clothing aside from the black overall that seemed to have one strap broken and mismatched shoes, one being yellow and the other some soft pink

There was plenty of other things to see though!  

Like a tavern where a tall and horned being with curly brown hair was serving some tables, with the most unusual thing about them being that they had four arms total and as they turned around i could see they had four eyes as well with vertical pupils and ears that were as pointed as mine, though a good bit longer

Well made sense, like that one could hold more plates and the like with that many limbs.

Suddenly Imik grabbed me and yanked me down a narrower path I had almost run past, telling me to not get lost and look where I was going.

I just numbly nodded, oh I was looking,  just maybe not at the road and instead at everything else.

Hearing a clunk I looked up at one of the overhanging roofs,  seeing another person with four arms and a coat write something in a notebook before slinking off out of sight.

I got yanked by Imik slightly to the left and down another narrow road, nearly running into a tall woman with weird lavender colored skin and Blue hair with black scleras and pink irises whose fangs slightly poked out of her mouth.

She also had four arms, this was the third person i saw that had those, apparently they weren't as uncommon as i had originally thought.

Her pointy ears flicked in annoyance as i was dragged past her where i had to jump over the tail of a weird Birdlike person that was covered in purplish blue iridescent and black feathers who confusedly turned around, showing that their face had a blue and black pattern as well in the upper half and feathers instead of ears between darkish magenta hair.

Suddenly the houses gave way to a bigger space, which apparently was some sort of garden as there were Flowers and even two trees.

Something pink with dragonfly wings and humanoid shape flitted past, barely the size of my fist with some sort of flower as a dress?

Wait, was that a FAIRY?

Before I could get a better look though Ronan had grabbed me and was dragging me away, the fairy was nowhere to be seen.

“C’mon, don't dawdle, we got a map to get!”

Yeah, that's true, I wanted to get home as soon as possible even though this place was very interesting.

Slinking along behind some taverns and restaurants and whatever we had to walk around something that had a humanlike torso with reddish brown hair but the body of a green snake instead of legs which was rummaging through the trash.

That was a being I had actually heard about! 

A naga if memory served right.

Then finally we reached the more open beachside, with a little sandy area that contained some boulders that looked perfect to climb around.

Apparently the water was safe here as a good few people were swimming, including someone that looked to be half Orca with lots of scars scattered on their body and short dark hair that had a white streak.

Well of course a marine mammal would go swimming,  if this craziness was over i'd maybe go swimming too.

Though doing that in Kamerasca wasn't advised due to the large amount of crabs that would pinch any swimmers.

Along the beachside were a few stands and shops that sold who knew what.

On one of the awnings,  and denting it horribly, slept a curled up and pale, mammalian being with long ears and a catlike nose and short bluish tinted hair.

How the construct did not break was beyond me though,  but the people there didn't seem to be bothered by it.

Suddenly Ronan let go of me and ran yelling and waving both of his arms up the stone pier which up close looked more like an unfinished bridge to nowhere.

“CASSIDY! CASSIDY! HEY! WELCOME BACK!”

He ran past some people unloading boxes and crates and the like from the giant boat towards a dark skinned man that was wearing a coat not unlike the one Nemas had, though more a dark red than navy blue.

So that guy was Cassidy?  

“Come on, lets go and ask if he had a map, before Ronan talks his ear off about whatever”

I nodded at Imik and we walked past the people carrying stuff from the ship towards where Ronan was talking to Cassidy.

Getting closer I noticed that Cassidy was apparently human, and as he turned around his eyes showed an unnerving pale turquoise hue.

Which really was the only unusual part about him.

Ronan seemed to have informed him already as Cassidy waved politely at us.

And then ducked down as someone swung over him hanging from a rope and slammed straight into Ronan.

“WOOHOO! HEY RONAN!”

The rope snapped and the person ended up crash landing on top of the poor Ronan.

Man he just got healed yesterday! And that looked painful.

“Shalimar! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?!”

“Sorry dad!”

The young woman, Shalimar apparently, and Cassidy's daughter? 

Got up and then yanked Ronan into a standing position as well.

She was a good bit paler than her father with blonde hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a sleeveless leather vest that was tied together in the front haphazardly with a lighter blue undershirt and a blue sash, 

over which a belt was placed that was tied into a knot instead of having used the belt buckle.

She also had a sword that was attached to her greenish gray pants instead of the weirdly applied belt and the handle was partially under some pale fur pieces that seemed to just have been stuffed into the dark blue sash.

Around her lower arms was some sort of cloth covered arm guard,  like I had seen some archers have, just without the gloves.

At least Ronan didn't seem bothered by this chaotic happenstance and just let himself be hugged by the rather unhinged young woman.

Cassidy just looked displeased at her, which made me assume that this was not the first time that happened.

“Whatever, just don't kill anyone like that, because if you do it's your responsibility and im not going to help”

Shalimar just nodded and lifted Ronan up like he was a bag of flour and put him on one of the protruding rocks of the stone pier.

“Sure thing dad! I'll be careful!”

“Careful? You can't even tie your vest correctly! No wonder you never wear boots with shoelaces- gah!”

For that Comment Ronan got a punch in the gut, which made him fall over backwards into the water with a splash.

“Shalimar! Go get him out of there! and stop punching people you disagree with!”

She rolled her eyes but did as told, dragging Imik with her to help,  and leaving me alone with Cassidy.

Well, that was awkward.

Before I could say anything there was a familiar whistle click and suddenly Imugi jumped out of the water and up the side of the pier, spitting water at Cassidy and missing horribly.

He turned to me.

“I say we move from this spot a bit to talk,  who knows what happens next”

I did have to agree with that,  though I'd rather someone I know be with me right now.

He led me to the other side of the pier, to the end of it where a bench was placed in front of the drop to the ocean.

“So, Ronan said something about you being lost and needing a map?

At least from what i understood before my daughter drop kicked him”

“Uh, yeah, i was washed overboard during a storm and need to get back to Kamerasca seeing as i don't know where my friends are now”

He hummed and fiddled with the weird necklace he wore, which looked like a smaller version of those drinking vessels but the pointy end had a metal cap with a hole.

A horn if memory served correctly.

“Say what Ship were you on? 

If i see it when i go out again i can tell them you're okay”

That, well that was actually very nice of him.

“Oh, uh, the Ship was called Victory Rose, so if you-” “Victory Rose?! The one with captain Nemas?”

I blinked confusedly at him, he KNEW that ship and its captain?

“Ah, yes? He's got a tattoo on his face and told me to ignore the hardtack with the maggots”

Not exactly a fond memory.

Cassidy grabbed me and gently shook me much to my confusion.

“Say! How's that talkative son of a bitch doing? 

Does he still not have taste buds?”

Well now I was thoroughly confused, were they friends or something?

“Uhhh, well he seemed healthy, and put way too much fish in everything he eats, how do you know him anyway?”

He thankfully let go of me.

“Oh yeah, before he inherited the ship his gramps told him to work on someone else's ship, i guess the old man feared he'd be too soft or something, and we ended up on the same vessel and became friends”

Oh, that made sense, but before I could retort anything I heard a shrieky voice call down from above, reminding me somehow of a seagull.

Looking up it was a seagull, sort of.

If the Human features were anything to go by it was a Harpy.

“YO BOSS! BAD NEWS!”

The Harpy dived down headfirst and landed on the back part of the bench.

“Nymra! There you are! And what do you mean by bad news? 

I'm in the middle of something!”

The partially feathered face turned to me for a second before going back to ignoring me.

“That can wait! Because we got big problems!”

“Well then spit it out!”

“The pirates are banding together!”

Cassidy didn't seem to worried about that,  and i was pretty sure Rikaad said something about the maringand ships allying with pirates, so no surprise.

“Well that's nothing new, there's always some that bond together for more success, but that will fall apart soon like every time they realize they have to share with more people”

The Harpy, Nymra? Shook her head.

“Not this time, I counted at least a hundred ships! And i couldn't get close enough for long so the only thing i managed to hear was something about taking over, but no idea what they want to take over”

My blood froze, and Cassidy did too, TWO HUNDRED? 

Two hundred ships filled with pirates? 

And possibly the deserters of the Maringand army, 

if they were there they probably instigated it.

And they wanted to take something over…

OH FUCK!

“Cassidy! I think they are going to attack Kamerasca!”

He turned confusedly to me.

“Why do you think that boy?”

“A few weeks ago deserters of the maringand army went here because they didn't want to serve under the new queen,  after they lost a war to Kamerasca, I think they might want revenge.

And it wouldn't be beneath them to promise chunks of land to the pirates if they helped.

I think they are still pissed that we arrested their previous King and put his niece in charge while hes in jail for war crimes of basically every sort”

Cassidy's eyes went wide with Alarm.

“Well fuck, Nymra do you think there is time to send a messenger?”

Nmyra shook her head.

“Not really there aren't any islands between to rest so you'd have to take a ship, and that takes time, the weather in that area is going to go bad soon as well, so not till a few days from now.

Which would mean we'd be head to head with them”

Cassidy cursed loudly and waltzed back down the pier, barking orders to everyone in range.

Nymra herself gave me an apologetic look.

“Yeah, sorry about all of this, I'm sure Cassidy will find time for you later though, he always does! What did you even want from him? 

Well if the question isn't to invasive of course”

For a seagull adjacent being very polite.

“I got washed overboard and wanted to go back home, or back to the ship whatever turns out to be closer”

“What ship? I can fly, maybe I'll see it!”

Oh right, as a Harpy she was faster than a boat and could see further!

“The Victory Rose! Cassidy said he knows it” “Eyy! I know that one too! They sometimes meet up and get drinks!

One time I woke up on the wrong damn boat and had to fly for an hour to find the Call Of The Damned!”

Another reason to not try alcohol then.

“That must have been confusing”

“Oh it was! And I landed on the other two ships first to rest a little!”

Other two ships?

“Other ships? Does he have more than one?”

Nymra Nodded, 

swooshing open her wing towards the Call Of The Damned.

“Yeah! This one obviously! And two others! 

They are called Revenants Vestige and Bleeding Moon! My main job is scouting but I also just bring notes from one ship to the other!”

Well that would make giving orders to all of the ships easier.

“You must have seen a lot of the open sea then”

“Eh, its wavy water, and some islands,  it does get boring after four years or so, tell ya what! 

Since I'm gonna be heading out again soon anyway I'll keep an eye open for the Victory Rose and if I do see them I'll tell them you're alright!”

My eyes went wide, why were the strangers in this place all so nice?

“You'd do that? Really?! Thank you!”

She saluted, which looked pretty weird due to her feather covered arm, and flapped back up into the sky.

“Of course! Ain't gonna take much of my time anyway! 

Might as well do something good!”

With that she flew away over the water and around the cliffside out of sight.

I really hoped she would run, err fly? Into the Victory Rose,  If just so I can be Sure Robin and Rikaad know I'm alive and fine.

Soo, now what? Everyone I knew the name of was nowhere near me.

And I did not want to interrupt any of the beings currently at work.

Should I just wait here?

“Oi! Dee! The fuck you standing there for?”

Jamie! Thank fuck i didn’t have to stay around awkwardly for long.

“Jamie! I was talking to Cassidy earlier but he got the information that the pirates were banding together and ran off”

They skidded to a halt in front of me, distantly reminding me of a poofed up chicken.

“Yeah I know! Fucking bitch ass pirates! Cassidy gave the order that anyone that can fight should get ready! I'm here to get your sorry ass!”

Wow Cassidy was fast! 

“Get me? For what? Do I have to hide in your house till this is over?”

They grabbed my wrist with their sleeve covered hand and dragged me back down the pier.

“Nah dude, a shapeshifter like you is invited to come along and fuck shit up! Only if you wanna though”

While running, well more like being dragged by someone about half my size, i thought about it.

On one hand; it was dangerous,  very much so even and I already went overboard once.

On the other hand; that was kind of exactly the reason I tagged along with Rikaad, and Jamie did have a point with the shapeshifting.

Rikaad had called it the Intimidation factor,  and basically I came here for exactly this.

“Jamie!”

I called out to them to get their attention as they were focusing on not running into people while dragging me along.

“Yeah? What is it?”

They stopped for a moment, allowing both of us to catch a breath.

I grinned at them.

“Lets fuck shit up!”

They smiled widely, showing off sharp teeth.

“Oh HELL yeah! Let's get back to the Halcyon! 

Pretty sure Imugi brought Ronan there already and Imik can swim fast!”

I nodded and ran alongside the nimble Jamie towards the ship, which Imugi had actually towed to be closer to the main part.

Well that saved a good bit of time!

Whoever was at the steering wheel managed to halt it pretty fast and perfectly parallel to the beach.

So either Akeem or Imik were at the steering wheel.

Imugis head popped up out of the water and bend down in front of us.

Before I could guess what to do Jamie had dragged me to cling on for dear life to the uppermost spike on Imugi’s Long neck while they sat atop the Bony skull.

Well that did forego the need to get to a dock and set a plank out,  thus allowing someone else to put their ship there and let their crew go onboard.

Hopping on after Jamie I saw that the one at the steering wheel was Yamet this time, so he was coming with this time huh?

Imugi dived under and after a moment a tug went through the boat,  The Sea Serpent was towing it again.

We were off to fight Pirates, lots of them.

Hopefully the kind Serpent wouldn't be hurt.

Imik started ordering the rest of the people on board to do tasks.

Since i had no idea what half the words even meant i was of no help and kept out of the way as much as i could, 

Opting to just keep an eye on the rope that Imugi was towing us with.

Also for some Reason Shalimar was with us on deck, apparently she decided her Dad didn't need help.

That or he would have ordered her to stay in harbor,  Maybe both even I didn't know them that well.

It wasn't even an hour but at least fifty ships were now following the Call Of The Damned out of the narrow part of the island to wherever Nymra had pointed cassidy.

As soon as we passed the two long strips of land two more ships joined, One with a white sail that depicted a sickle shaped moon that had drops of blood falling from it and one that was entirely painted a foggy gray.

Cassidy’s other two ships no doubt, 

The ‘Bleeding Moon’ and ‘Reventants Vestige’ were now flanking the entire fleet of extremely mismatched ships.

Both of them were, while still extremely big, nowhere near as Giant as the harrowingly designed Call Of The Damned.

That really must be the biggest ship in existence.

Shalimar appeared next to me and put a foldable telescope into my hands, pointing at the ‘Revenants Vestige’ with a grin.

“The captain there keeps a rooster instead of a parrot, and the thing sure knows how to fight”

A chicken? Really? Well that i had to see!

Hoisting the telescope up I looked through it at the gray painted boat, and as Shalimar had said the captain, who wore so much layered clothing it was impossible to tell what was under it,  had indeed an entire Rooster on their shoulder.

The thing was pretty big too and seemed slightly off.

Maybe not entirely chicken then, but close enough.

Huh, what else was there? I probably should take a good look at which boats were with us to not get confused later.

Swinging the telescope around i saw that all of the fifty boats were following the Call Of The Damned,  and most of them had nonhuman sailors,  There were even a few merfolk in the water, well at least those that could keep up as the wind was currently in our favor.

I handed the telescope back to Shalimar.

“Thanks! Anything I can help with? Im afraid im not a good sailor though”

She had a huge grin on and seemed to hold back laughter,  but still answered coherently.

“Eh, don't ask me, Imik or Ronan will know better where you can help”

She stuffed the telescope in her belt, which really didn't look like it should hold anything, and hopped back down to help with the sail.

“AY! DEE! She put paint on the telescope!”

Looking up I saw Jamie, who was back in the crows nest,  well Jamie's nest really.

Paint? Running my thumb around my eye there was indeed something like coal powder or something smudged around my eye.

Ah, no wonder Shalimar was trying not to laugh.

Though now she did, loudly and honestly? It was a little funny,  and a surprise that nobody else had done this till now.

Using the corner of my shirt I removed the smudge as well as I could before looking ahead and around again.

I doubted we'd run, sail?, into the pirates so soon and there were all the other ships looking out too but a little attentiveness had never hurt.

I stared out at the sea all day and a good bit into Dusk till I got something thrown at me.

Turning around I saw it was Jamie,  who had thrown a little bag full of sand.

Why the fuck they had that was beyond me though.

“Yo, dumbass come eat,  Yamet cooked so no soggy sandwiches anymore!”

At least some good news, I for sure would not have touched another one of those soggy things that barely qualified as bread.

“Coming, one second!”

Standing up, and noticing my foot fell asleep, I hopped down the stairs and followed Jamie inside the kitchen, which smelled pretty good.

Jamie jumped over a chair and used Akeem as a stair before settling in the rounded window like a content bird.

Once again nobody seemed bothered by that, not even Shalimar.

Sitting on the last empty chair, which was probably why Jamie chose the window, I was handed a plate with a simple mashed potato and some fish with a savory sauce.

Yep, way better than wet bread.

“You still have paint on your face, here”

Akeem handed me a clean rag and I nodded thankfully at him before removing the rest of the dark smudge.

“Thanks!”

I ate in silence, the other ones having enough to talk about without me anyway.

It was just pretty nerve wracking that right now, like RIGHT NOW right now we were off to go look for Pirates and fight them.

The very thing I originally came here for with Rikaad and Robin.

I wondered how the two were doing right now?

Rikaad for sure would do his best to prioritize the mission despite me missing, and still somehow find a way to try and look for me.

As for Robin, well the little ginger was probably worried like no tomorrow.

No doubt he'd cried after he'd seen me fall off the deck.

The deck itself probably had some ugly scratch marks now,  I'd have to apologize to Nemas for that.

“nervous?”

I looked up from where I had just been staring at an now empty plate.

The one that had addressed me was Ronan,  half of the others have already left.

“Kinda, i mean, i originally came here to help with exactly that, but now its just- i dunno”

I sighed and let myself sink head first onto the table, 

avoiding the cutlery and plates.

“Well, it IS pretty nerve wracking, I admit that, but it's just pirates! 

There is no way they can get organized enough to make that dumb alliance actually useful! They are too greedy for that!

I'll tell you! A few days more and they'll start going at each other's throats and I doubt we'll have much to do!

After they are done with the infighting we can just aim some cannons at the rest and be done with it!”

Ronan’s words were actually helping,  but I couldn't help it and was still a little nervous.

“If you're sure, you're the sailor here,  i don't know shit about being on the open sea”

He tilted his head, and I was once again reminded that he was also a half elf Bastard and not actually so unlike me.

“Eh, for being a landrat you're doing a pretty good job! 

Maybe some sleep would do you good,  you said you weren't sleeping well so im sure at least half of that nervousness is actually sleep deprivation!”

That was a very good point, maybe i should ask Akeem where the chamomile tea was as that had worked a little last time-

A Cup with said Tea was set down in front of me, still steaming hot.

“Here, Akeem told me to make you one”

I looked first confused and then thankful at Yamet, 

who grabbed Ronan’s upper arm and dragged him outside.

Yamet was a pretty alright guy, even making sure I wouldn't have anyone trying to talk my ear off while I drank the tea.

A tea that was pretty good, Yamet had added Honey or something similar to it which made it even better.

Though, as soon as those Pirates and the Maringand deserters were dealt with I could go back home to my friends.

Who knew maybe I'd even run into them while fighting the pirates.

Ha, unlikely, but still a nice thought.

As soon as I was finished with the Tea and put the cup back down I got lifted up from my seat like a wet cat.

Akeem, he really was the only one on this ship that could feasibly lift me up.

“I can walk myself”

“And i am just making sure you actually go to sleep,  i live with Ronan and Jamie so you never know”

Well… yeah, fair.

But he didn't have to carry me under one arm like a fucking duffel bag.

“Well yeah but i can still use my legs”

Akeem just hummed an acknowledgement and opened a door to a familiar room.

Well Akeem didn't need sleep and With Shalimar here they probably had no Guestbed, especially as Yamet was now here too.

Still, I felt a bit bad about taking someone else's room, or would if Akeem didn't just drop me on the mattress and then left quietly.

“Goodnight”

I mumbled something in return but he had already closed the door.

Eh, might as well sleep then.

NEXT / PREVIOUS / OVERSIGHT

[happi-tree]

well. obligatory normscary ask. but as a back up if youve already gotten one of those - figayda beloveds

Hihihihi Travvy hope you're having a wonderful day!!! 🧡🧡🧡Now. OBLIGATORY NORMSCARY ANSWER. And also a Figayda answer bc I love them also!

Normscary: Ship It (💙💜) / Don't Ship It

What made you ship it?

Um. Blinks at you. Points at you. Ssdbghsbfkbsbhbs at first I didn't ship it at all bc I was so very into Oakworthy and whatever Scary/Erica/Margarita have going on in my brain, respectively, but your insistence paid off and also multishipping is beautiful forever <333 And then this all happened to coincide with certain events in canon and I was like. Okay yeah. Yeah I get it now.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Speaking of canon events! I really, really, really like how these two have grown to foil and parallel each other in SO many interesting ways. Which personally adds more fuel to the shipping fire for me! Very two-sides-of-the-same-coin meets opposites-attract imo. Like I said with Cheerkicks, they both have a lot more in common than I think they're really aware of, if that makes sense!

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't think so! I just think they should kiss. I also really enjoy them as being part of a polywagon situation or as Marloakworthy <333

Figayda: Ship It (❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥) / Don't Ship It

What made you ship it?

This feels like too easy of an answer, but Sophomore Year! I remember scrolling through Fantasy High fics on ao3 after finishing Freshman Year and being like ??? Oh there's someone related to Aguefort??? And they're popularly shipped with Fig, of all people??? Huh. Guess it must be a SY thing. Smash cut to me giggling and kicking my feet upon getting introduced to Ayda and being absolutely overjoyed bc the only thing I could think about was "oh this ship is going to be so cute isn't it I'm going to be feeling like this abt them constantly???" And I was right!!!

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Truly just the. Unlikeliness of it all. Cloistered wizard pirate harpy lady falling hard for the rock n roll wild child tiefling bard with a heart of gold,,, and then said bard being such a bisexual mess about her own feelings in response. The panicked "I kiss her and then I skateboard away!!!" lives Rent Fucking Free in my brain at all times. Also Emily and Brennan portray their relationship so beautifully??? Like truly they had me tearing up at multiple points. I think Fig and Ayda both work very hard to understand each other and communicate properly and that earnest aspect of it combined with all the giddy fluffy high school romance stuff is like kryptonite to me. Congrats you two that's almost the best anyone has ever done it!!!

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Honestly??? I don't think I've poked around in the d20/Fantasy High fandoms enough to know what is and isn't a popular opinion about them. So I'm gonna echo what I said for Normscary: I just want them to kiss!!! And cuddle. And be cute. Forever <333

Bonus: some live reaction screenshots of me reacting to figayda. That you have already seen. Bc I was talking to you afvashvfhksvfs. But I felt that they should also be immortalized here bc I have not been Visibly Insane abt them much online (yet) (if something bad happens to them in Junior Year I will never recover) <3

Text descriptions under the cut!

[Image 1: A Discord message from "happi-v". It reads "Travis. Travis HELP I’m watching ep 12 of sophomore year and I’m barely containing the urge to yell with excitement" "I can’t believe AYDA was the one to shoot her shot first you go you funky little autistic phoenix girl!!!"]

[Image 2: A Discord message from "happi-v". It reads "YEAH (keysmash)" "I just pressed play again just to pause almost immediately and bang my hand on the table. They’re so fucking CUTE travvy"]

[Image 2: A Discord message from "happi-v". It reads "It was so funny bc I was scrolling through ao3 after finishing freshman year and was just like ??? Oh??? This Ayda person sounds interesting but I don’t know if I’m gonna fall in love with her or anything. And with Fig,,, huh. Okay. I was a FOOL Travvy. A fucking fool. I love Ayda so much"]

[END ID]

[fictive-culture]

Fictive culture is never having the motivation to write but the fictives do write fanfic when they are lacking content about themselves/their source.

Angel Dust and Lucifer wrote a ship fic about themselves because there is very very little other content about them together and I know my movie just came out a few days ago but there really is no guarantee for any fics to be written about me at all because on Ao3 for the entire franchise (6 movies, 14 years) there are less than 500 fics and the only other requirement I put is that it is in English so my chances are unfortunately very low actually and even if someone did write a fic about or even just with me in it, it is even less likely to be what I am looking for.

Most of fanfiction is shipping and those ships are going to be with my girlfriend and with Gru and I am gay and not into Gru, I don't want to read about me being straight and I don't want to read Gruxime (a name that has already been coined I saw it with my own two eyes).

So I am also writing my own fic because I have things to say.

.

[duckprintspress]

Fandom Lexicon: Numbers and Characters

So far, we don’t have many entries that start with not-a-letter, and they all open with brackets, but nonetheless, here we are: the final installment of our main Fandom Lexicon!

View the Fandom Lexicon!

Notice an omission? Think we made a mistake? Let us know!

Lexicon Entries Beginning with Non-Letters: (read more)

[Character A] & [Character B]: When referring to a fanwork, using an ampersand between the names of the characters means the characters are being portrayed as in a platonic relationship, usually as friends, found family, or family. May include more than two characters.

[Character A] x [Character B]: see [Character A]/[Character B]

[Character A]/[Character B]: When referring to a fanwork, using a slash between the names of the characters means the characters are being “shipped,” or portrayed as being in a non-platonic relationship with each other, usually a romantic or sexual relationship. May include more than two characters. Note that characters in a QPR may be an exception, and sometimes characters in QPRs (which are neither romantic nor sexual) may still be listed with a slash between their names.

[Character’s] A+ Parenting: The character in question is a terrible parent and is shown being a terrible parent. Usually used as a tag, especially on AO3.

[Character] x Reader: When referring to a fanwork, the character is portrayed as being in a romantic relationship with the person reading the fanfiction. These stories are usually written in the second person, will often specify the gender and sometimes the sexuality or romanticism of the reader, and will use a place holder (often y/n – “your name”) to refer to the reader. May include more than one character. Sometimes referred to as a genre as “x Reader” works.

[Gender]/[Gender]: Indicates the genders of characters in a relationship in a fanwork. May include more than two characters. The genders are usually given as abbreviations. The most common are: m = male; f = female; nb = non-binary.

[Sexuality/Romanticism/Gender] Spec: Shortened form of “[sexuality/romanticism/gender] spectrum.” A term used to say that a person or character is on the spectrum for the sexuality/romanticism/gender specified. For example, if someone is “arospec,” it means they feel that they are aromantic to some degree, as they are on the spectrum of identities that fall under the umbrella of aromanticism.

[Tag] for TS: Abbreviation for “[tag] for tumblr saviour.” A tagging protocol related to a browser extension, Tumblr Saviour, that made Tumblr more usable for some people. Most people no longer use browser extensions to filter in this way because Tumblr introduced an internal tag-filtering system.

[Thing]-coded: A person or thing that shares certain core element(s) with the “thing” in the brackets, but is not actually that thing. For example, if a media is queer-coded, it has implied or subtextual queer content but nothing explicit/textual.

[Thing]blr: Refers to the blogs/community on Tumblr that focuses on [Thing]. Typically used to differentiate what’s happening inside that sphere of interest (the thing, on Tumblr) from everything outside it (anything else, any location other than Tumblr). These tags also enable people interested in these communities to find more, while those not interested in them can ignore or blacklist. For example: writeblr (used by writers), momblr (used by moms), lawblr (used by lawyers), etc.

[Thing]core: Used when the target’s aesthetic is focused on [Thing]. Example: “That house is Deancore” = that house looks like Dean lives in it. Also commonly used for genres, such as “cottagecore” as a term that means something is cozy and fits with a cottage aesthetic.

[Thing]punk: A fiction genre featuring counterculture protagonists in an (often, but not always) anachronistic world dominated by a specific type of technology that operates based on [thing]. For example, cyberpunk, steampunk, aetherpunk, etc.

[Thing]sona: Originally coined as the term “fursona” in furry communities, the term has gotten genericized to apply to alternate versions of a persons persona/how they project themselves. Fursona, or a version of a person where they are combined with an animal(s) of their choice, is still the most common usage, but other terms such as worksona (the person we project as ourselves while at our job) and similar usages have come into use.

[saintsenara]

I was wondering if you had any fic ideas that you would love for someone to write.

I think that you mentioned about wishing that people explore the horror of time travel and the idea of a rigidly fixed course of history where you try everything but nothing seems to change it. Also I liked your idea of Sirius finding himself to be 16 again and trying to save James and his brother etc. but struggles to do so because Voldemort appears to be this unstoppable force. I also mentioned my Ronmort time travel fic which includes 'chatting to snakes as foreplay.

I was wondering if you had any prompts/fic ideas or concepts that you wish that you could see explored.

thanks for the ask, pal.

i am indeed on the record that we need to have both fewer time-travel-fix-its and fewer time-travel-makes-it-worses but more time-travel-changes-nothings.

but my favourite thing about coming up with new stories is how to take the two most unlikely characters and make them kiss.

so, here we have:

five ultra-rare pairs you should consider for your next story

barty crouch sr./percy weasley

why? this pairing has nine works on ao3, which i think we can improve... i have been regrettably tricked into finding percy fascinating recently, and thinking about the causes and complexities of his hero-worship of crouch is one reason why. percy's position in his family - and, in particular, how his idea of duty is in tension with his father's - is really interesting to me, not least because neither he nor arthur are really in the wrong. it's clear in canon that arthur's refusal to play the game of the class structures which govern the wizarding world does materially disadvantage his children [he's a posh pureblood! percy should have walked into a high-level position on the strength of his family name!], and his willingness to recognise his social cachet in certain circumstances [i.e. throwing his weight around when asked by amos diggory in order to get mad-eye moody off with a caution when his dustbins go off in goblet of fire] must grate upon a son who resents his father's commitment to being dutiful to others but not to him. barty crouch sr. is - of course - the other side of the coin: a man so committed to his duty to uphold wizarding norms that he sent his own son to azkaban [percy doesn't know that he fished him out, after all] when he transcended them. you can see why percy would be impressed... and, after all, young men with daddy issues and old men with son issues are one of the best sources of deranged shipping material we have, and percy and the boss he's desperate to impress even though he can't remember his name are delivering.

cornelius fudge/lucius malfoy

why? this one's got five works on ao3. embarrassing! we need more! after all, malfoy does basically spend a whole year alone with fudge... and fudge is absolutely desperate for his support and approval... and you could add dumbledore as a third and have fudge literally stuck between two warring factions. hot.

narcissa malfoy/lord voldemort

why? twenty-seven works for this one, which is practically a popular ship by the standards of this list... i am on the record as a committed bellamort girly, and one of the reasons why i back that ship is because it's clear in canon that voldemort is one of the few men of bellatrix's acquaintance who is willing to help her transcend the incredibly restrictive gender conventions of pureblood society [i.e. providing her an outlet to be something other than a wife and mother... even if that something is a murderer...] i am also on the record that bellatrix's failure to conform to these conventions - plus andromeda's estrangement from the family - makes narcissa want to stick to them all the more rigidly. which means that, when her son is at school and her husband is in prison, she must find herself feeling quite disjointed, rattling around the empty manor house she has been raised to run, the only other person there the dark lord who is forcing her to host him... the canonical voldemort does not seem to particularly like narcissa, but he clearly regards her commitment to her social position as something worthy of his attention - since he uses lucius' failure to support her in it to emasculate him in the opening chapter of deathly hallows. his relationship with domestic space - the only place we ever really see him, even though we're told he's an extreme political threat - is also really interesting. the two of them accidentally bonding over the state of the kitchens? it's more likely than you think...

minerva mcgonagall/alastor moody

why? forty works here - our cups overfloweth! because moody's clearly good at transfiguration and because celts need to stick together.

rita skeeter/sybill trelawney

why? this one's coming in with a grand total of four works on ao3. that the world needs more femslash - given the fandom's overwhelming weighting towards m/m slash - is a given, but why it needs femslash from these two in particular is because they actually have a lot in common. hear me out... both rita and sybill's lives are based in pure artifice. their careers hang on an ability to know things - sybill to predict the future, rita to be informed about the top news stories of the day - which neither of them actually possess. sybill is a fraud. rita is a hack. and that must be very lonely. which means that meeting someone else who shares that experience... plus, both of them are characters who fall foul of jkr's loathing of women whose appearance and demeanour deviates from her extremely narrow criteria for acceptable femininity - sybill because she looks spacey and gaudy, rita because she decks herself out in glamorous frivolities - her nails! her handbags! - which can't mask the fact that she looks 'manly' [...!]. jkr's opinions on gender can get fucked, and the women she spends the series obviously loathing getting fucked by each other is one way to achieve this.