#even when he’s plotting the best way to defeat that White Thing

[deeplyconfusedbear]

I’m reading chapter 610 of the Trash of the Counts family and jesus f u c k

So many emotions you guys

[nanamimizz]

tags: written for @prettyboykatsuki in mind. reader is gn, and is a rouge with a thief/street urchin background. marriage and discussion of children. takes place in act 3, spoilers for wyll’s personal quest. discussion of marriage. fluff.

synopsis: you overhear wyll bragging to the children. at first you think nothing of it until you hear him say somethings you weren’t privy to.

Wyll is good with children, a truth not doubted but known ever since you had met the fabled folk hero in the Emerald Grove. It’s something you hardly do not think of, if you don’t want to end up in some sort of frenzy of thoughts better left unsaid. At least for the chapter of life you two are currently in. Maybe, you think as you clutch the wishing acorn the love of your life had gifted you in the palm of your hand, maybe when all this is over you could discuss such things as a family with him. When Wyll is free of Mizora’s hands completely, when his father is safe from all plots and schemes and when the little friend in your head has been cast out - yes, you think, you would like to utter the words of a family to Wyll’s ever so kind ear.

Unlike you however, your intended is not as patient as you can hear him bragging to the tiefling children you have both met and saved in your travels to Baldur’s Gate. It makes you chuff, like a pleased tiger and shake your head oh so fondly as he utters tales of your adventures. As you draw near you can make out the words - he’s telling the tales of defeating the goblin camp leaders. The adventure feels like a lifetime ago but not the phantom ache of the knot on your head you sustained from Dror Ragzlin knocking you well and good on the head.

You hear one of the kids, Mattis with his shaggy dark hair and mischievous eyes that glitter like the gold he covets with his not-so-lucky rings.

“Looks like you don’t do much now, do you Blade of Frontiers?” Mattis mocks, snickering behind his red hand. Wyll laughs good-naturedly, letting the teasing roll off his back smoothly like water off a duck’s wing. It’s something you envy, how Wyll is never riled up by such empty words. Mattis pouts, petulant as he throws another half baked insult at the man.

“And what’s with you letting your allies take such a beating - first Karlach now this? Having a hard time picturing what good you are for Blade?” Wyll huffs a chuckle, a smug smile tugging at his full lips and you stare a little too deeply at how white his teeth are in the afternoon sun.

“Things are different now you see - I have another story for you…” Wyll continues on with the tale of where you fought off Roah Moonglow, a Zhentarim trader who stole all the gold in the common’s people’s coffers; there had been a fatal mistake that you had made and Wyll had saved you at the perfect time. Even had a second to spare to throw in a witty comeback and a brilliant smile your way before the fight continued. Mattis’s face scowled as even he had to admit that the story succeeded in making the Blade appear just as cool as you and Karlach.

If barely.

“So what’s different now? Did you finally know how to hold your own in a fight?” Mattis pouts, conceding that maybe the Blade of Frontiers was more cool than dorky. Wyll grins, brilliant teeth on display at the apple of his cheeks raised.

“I’m their husband now. No one can ever hurt them while I’m around.”

Scratch that. The Blade of Frontiers will forever be corny in the eyes of these tiefling children for as long as you and Karlach live - they even think that know-it-all wizard that hangs around you is cool by default. The children all gag, making their sounds of disgust with Mattis being the loudest of them all. They are quick to disperse, going off to do what children do best in the times they live in and you approach Wyll as they leave.

“Calling yourself my husband now are we? It’s been less than a tenday since you asked me to be yours. Unless we’ve had a ceremony within the same amount of time - I think it’s a little too soon to call you such a revered title.”

Wyll jumps at the sound of your voice, your quiet steps always managing to go under his senses. It makes you laugh a little, how the smallest testaments of your background manage to slip past the hero’s defenses. You watch with adoring eyes as Wyll flushes with a warmth that makes him shine in the daylight as he brings a hand to rub at the back of his neck from embarrassment.

“Please - don’t tell me you heard all of that?”

“Oh yes I did. Every word in fact.”

Wyll hisses in embarrassment, and even then he doesn’t hesitate to look back into your eyes when you gently run your hand on his arm.

“Do you mean that - that nothing can hurt me while you are with me?” You ask your voice soft with tentativeness. He softens, gaze going from embarrassment to an eager honesty simmered with so much affection you neve once thought you would be looked at with. Wyll is a smart man, perspective and he knows what it is you ask - the battles that you have yet to face but will have to as fate decrees; its golden thread dictating every action and word that is to be spoken.

Wyll takes the hand on his arm into his and gazes at you, the brown of his eyes turning golden under the warmth of his words.

“Yes, truly. I may be the Blade of Frontiers sworn to protect the Sword Coast but,” he pauses to lick his lips as if tasting the sweetness of his confession before uttering it to you, “I am first and foremost a blade sworn to you. So whenever our enemies are drawn near, don’t hesitate to point me their way.”

The devotion is heavy in each word spoken, something you had never been witness to - loyalty and devotion only gets you killed in the streets. So it takes you a moment to collect yourself, to pick yourself off the floor from the weight of the goodness Wyll holds for you. You swallow before speaking, your voice thick.

“You already asked me to marry you - you don’t need to lay it on thick.” You say, trying to deflect but Wyll only smiles, eyes fond and gently as he lets his thumb caress the top of your hand.

“I know, I can’t help but be sweet to you. And I swear to the Helm I’ll live up to my word everyday.”

You smile, lacing your fingers with his.

“I’ll hold it to you Lord Ravengard.”

“I hope to exceed all expectations.” His smile is smig but his words are warm - lovinging and truthful. Just as Wyll always is.

[synergysilhouette]

My frustration with Asha's writing

A lot of people liked "Wish," and a lot of people didn't, and a particular concern for the latter was the main protagonist. Since I'm in the camp of "I'm frustrated with 'Wish,'" I'll discuss a little bit about why Asha feels like such a letdown.

She's an archetype, but not an individualized character. She screams "Disney heroine," but she doesn't have anything about her that makes her character stand out (positively) among other Disey female leads. She has no flaws that hinder her, and her positive traits are vague at best. "I care too much," is the most generic thing I've ever heard a main character say. In fact, it becomes almost meaningless when a character (who genuinely means it) says it about themselves; caring too much is a statement that works best when talking about someone else. In fact...

2. She has significant plot armor. She gets far in the process of being considered to be Magnifico's apprentice, but it's never said WHY. Considering her friend (or friends? I'm not sure) works in the castle, Dahlia putting in a good word for Asha would make sense to why Magnifico would consider her, and even him asking around town for their opinion of her would make more sense. But it feels like she gets so far in the process simply because she's the main character, despite Magnifico knowing next to nothing about her. And Magnifico has several magical powers at his disposal, but he's still defeated by her (mainly because he only uses his staff against her).

3. She has a lot of influence, but again, it's not really said how or why. During the reprise of "This Wish," the people of Rosas side with her against Magnifico--but this is likely because she's the only one who dared to stand up against him. We only see Asha interact with the people of Rosas during the opening song with her as a tour guide (how did she get THAT job?), and it feels very professional, very timed. It doesn't feel intimate or personal, like Asha has built up a good rapport with the other citizens.

4. Her family is poorly defined. Sabino's wish is to create a song that inspires the next generation, but as Magnifico himself mentions, that's a vague wish--plus imo, it's cheating; rather than working hard and creating a legacy for yourself, you want to wish to give something for people to remember you by. And Sabino is obviously older than Magnifico, but his life--and how he lived it without the kingdom of wishes--is never explored. Perhaps if it was explained that he experienced great hardship and his spirit was broken, it'd explain why he was so fixated on getting a wish. And Sakina's wish is never explained. She's probably the worst-characterized parent in a 21st century Disney movie, since she's pretty much just there. And Asha's father inspired her, but he isn't shown much. I'd have enjoyed it if the plot revolved around her trying to revive her father and it proves Magnifico's point that some wishes can't/shouldn't be granted.

5. She learns NOTHING. Her whole song is about "I've lived a lie" when that's not entirely true; she takes a very black and white view on the situation without ever trying to evolve her viewpoint via Magnifico's perspective, and the people of Rosas never stop to think "we shouldn't be codependent"; they just think "we shouldn't have let Magnifico lie to us." It's a giant avoidance of guilt on everyone's behalf, and since Magnifico is a villain, no one really cares that he has some semblance of a point. When you look at protagonists like Pocahontas, Judy Hopps, and Anna, you see how they learned a new way of looking at things, that they've suffered hardships (either through their own making or otherwise) and that they've grown from it.

6. She's "relateable." Disney's adorkable thing hasn't been too much of an issue for me up to this point; it was unique when Anna did it, and it never feels super cringey with Mirabel and Moana (though if Mirabel is cringey, it fits into the narrative). But now it's tired. I'd enjoy more mature leads like Raya, Tiana, and Elsa, rather than Disney trying to make a protagonist that tries--and fails--to be quirky. And I never really saw Rapunzel as adorkable as her later leading ladies. But Asha tries too hard; honestly that should've been one of her flaws in the film. Her desperation to meet everyone's approval would've been something neat (albeit familiar if we compare her to Mirabel) to explore in the film.

[sheegons]

OKAY SO WHO ASKED FOR A POST THAT DETAILS DAMIANS CONNECTIONS TO MAGIC?.. nobody? oh okay.

(be forewarned, this is long)

now after ignoring batman 666, let's see what we have.

ROBIN: SON OF BATMAN (2015)

now, in robin: son of batman #1 It's confirmed that after his death in batman incorporated, damian went to hell. Hell is usually connected with the more magical side of the dc universe, but that's not it.

The entirety of the comic delves into damians connections to more mystical things. mythical swords and magical ancient towers, weird extinct bat-dragons, magical cults that want to destroy the whole world, etc etc.

this is easily regarded as one of damians best comics and having peak damian characterisation, so obviously Damian being magically inclined can easily work well with his character.

Now, after a barrel load of compliments, let's get to the extremely negative side of things.

TEEN TITANS (2016)

Damian's cloned brother has magic and that sentence is about as much as i care for this book. Moving on.

BATMAN (2016)

Again, dog shit damian characterisation, but here we go. Damian here actually shows an ability to use a binding spell and has a wand, making some sort of deal with a random demon, but a far cry from damian apparently selling his soul in batman 666. Moving on finally out of rebirth because that was a bad time for Damian's character.

ROBIN (2021)

Now we go back to the good. Apparently from the maternal part of damians family, magic is more commonplace. ra's even having a whole spell book to his name. Robin 2021 kinda toys with the ghul family and the lazarus pits magical and devilish side which isn't new... but it's new to involve damian!

In the final parts of this story, Damian's heart specifically is used as a plot device, lord deathman even dubbing it as "the bloodstream of the demon" and ruh (ra's' mother) uses it as a power source to fuel demon summonings, which started the Lazarus rain event.

TEEN TITANS DARK (Unreleased)

Back in early 2023 (i think) dc teased a sort of "teen titans dark" with damian, black alice and monkey prince. The "dark" moniker referencing Justice league dark, a magic team made up of magic users that solve magical bullshit. It's a good book, recommended read, i just thought I'd add this to the pile.

Detective comics/Knight terrors

Now, including these two together because they're about the same topic: Dreams.

damian is confirmed to have some sort of control over dreams and sleep, defeating demons that show up in his sleep, yet never actually disappear when he wakes up. He also has an ability to stay awake after a massive worldwide phenomenon causes everyone, even the dream masters that taught damian, to sleep and experience night terrors.

Dreams are, again, connected to the magical side of the dc universe. Now I'm not going to pretend like i actually read sandman to you, i can't lie on ramadan, so let's all give me a pass here for my lack of understanding of all that.

Batman and robin (2023)

In this, damian mentions a bit of off screen monster hunting with Frankenstein and lays a trap that lights someone on fire. I used to think this was some sort of hex but this artwork is extremely unclear, but since Frankenstein is mentioned and from my knowledge dc's Frankenstein is magic let's pretend this is some sort.

As an extra note: this guy definitely died. There's no way about it, he got lit on fire with nobody helping him. He's gone. Damian just killed a man.

Extra Extra notes:

talia using magic!

now, i haven't included these examples in the "the ghuls have magic" segment because uh...

(batman: the doom that came to Gotham/dc bombshells)

yeah...

Not only are these interpretations of talia EXTREMELY orientalist but also just generally out of character and could've been done with any randomly introduced characters.

For the unknowing white american people in the crowd: arabs actually don't only dress in revealing "belly dancer" outfits and lanterns. i know, shocking, we actually wear normal clothes.

And just to add again, there's a lot of stories that include ra's having magic, but I'm not the biggest ra's head (lol) so i didn't read them all, i implore u to do your own research because I'm not doing it.

this about wraps it up. thank you to the magic damian believers may we all win someday.

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

Songs the Ninjago Fandom is Sleeping on.

So I have like a bunch of songs and animatic ideas for the Ninjago fandom to do what they please with, cause chronic hand pain makes long projects like animatics kinda hard so instead I'm throwing them out to yall! (Song-artist)

SOPILERS FOR LITERALLY EVERYHTING RELATING TO NINJAGO (This includes Dragons rising, the spinjitzu brothers books and the Garmadon comics)

Also please remember this is for fun so be nice.

Survivors Guilt- Coma Cinema: Okay oaky so hear me out: eldest child angst. This could work for both Garmadon and Kai, because both of them are just SUCH older siblings in more than just the literal way you know? Like I think it fits especially with Garmadon because it's about feeling like you're a bad person and how it might fuck up someone else life in the process. To me I think it fits, cause like to me it's so clear Garmadon is the elder sibling TM and Wu is the stressed out younger sibling golden child. Lyrics: "And I don't care and I don't know why maybe I'm no good inside" the way this totally works for how Garmadon tries to act like he doesn't care in Spinjitzu Brothers but is like constantly stressed about whether or not he's a good person.

Seven Nation Army- The White Stripes: I don't have like any major reasons for this song other than it being SUPER Wyldfyre/Kai core lol (at least in the early seasons before he mellowed out a bit), like the song is literally someone sing about how they feel like how they could take on armies if necessary so take that as you will!

Viper- Derivakat: For starters I didn't know this was a Minecraft song until I went to look up the lyrics buuuuuuut oh well mine now! Could definitely be used for either the Great Devourer or the Serpentine, but I think it be cool if someone used the song for the Great Devourer and the venoms effect on Garmadon and how it really kinda fucked up his life. I think it'd just be neat. Lyrics: "Run, run, run as fast as you can out of the fire and into my hand" (Could def be used for Garmadon and the Great Devourer or Pythor and Lloyd) "Abandon your pride cause you've dug your own grave" and "Getting all up in your head make you lose your mind again" (Again would work pretty great for Garmadon or season one Lloyd and Pythor)

The Well- The Crane Wives: Now this song is perfect for season 6 Jay in my opinion since it's got some wish related lyrics which work well for the Nadakan plot, plus people getting "dragged down" could be the other ninja getting absorbed into the sword. I'm not to big on this season or Jay but even I can tell this song works WELL for him (get it well? I'll see myself out). Lyrics: "Like spare coins, poised on the tip of my tongue I make a wish and hold my breath" This could not only be the making wishes part but also Jay getting "spare coins" aka his bio fathers money and house after he dies, "I'm the well they're gonna drag you down" again this could be used for the ninja being dragged into the sword "All the words I couldn't say to you" His pinning over Nya obviously. And lastly "I taste blood I'm sick of swallowing stones" Could be his trauma after Nadakan is defeated or when he was beat up in the fight thing.

Viva La Vida (But epic)- Reinaeiry (I just like this version best but any works): Could totally work for Lloyd post merge, him being lonely in this new world and forced to be a hero in the shadows. Y'all could also probably do something with the FSM but like I'm not exactly sure what. This one's a little more for the vibes tbh.

Parasite- Set It Off: When I tell yall this is great for Harumi and Lloyd, like it'd work so well as a song for her trying to manipulate and twist his mind. The name says it all it's literally telling someone they'd wished they'd never been born and that they don't help society, sound like anyone familiar? Also if y'all just want a song for like a villain arch for Lloyd this would also probably work tbh. Lyrics: "Leeching off my pain never satisfied" Totally could work for Harumi being mean and manipulative or Lloyd getting angry and being honest with her. "Strike a nerve or wreck a home hoping you get a response" This could totally be used literally cause of Harumi's whole... you know dead parent situation.

Matilda- Harry Styles: I know I know what you're saying, Harry Styles? But I promise this song is actually wonderful. This could work RIDICOULOUSLY well for Sora. The song is a lot about how you can go on to live a life and you don't have to include your bioparents or family in it if you don't want to which is SO Sora. Like I feel like all the lyrics work well for how Imperium and her parents drained her and I just love it! Then second you could also view this as kind of a Cole song. I know the fandom is kind of split on whether or not him and his father really make up and I'm gonna be honest I don't really think they do. Unlike Jay, Zane, Lloyd as well as Kai and Nya to an extent (once they get their parents back) all at least interact with their parents and clearly have somewhat of a relationship with them (Kai and Nya less so but they have the excuse of being adults by the time they get their parents back). Cole on the other hand doesn't really have the same thing, like he has the episode where he makes up with his father but after that Lou doesn't really have many other major appearances so I think they're on good terms but not that close ya know? Idk just my opinion lol. Unrelated but the song is honestly so eldest daughter-core and I just wanted to mention that.

Uhhhh that's all for now, let me know if y'all just want me to compile all this into a playlist to listen to cause I totally will. Any who just want to restate this is all my opinion and I love this show <3

Hope y'all have a great day/night PEACE OUT.

[stampvamp]

Climber as your Bf HC’s!! + Scenarios

summary: climber crush/dating hcs confession included <3 Reader is gender neutral (please notify me if any gender identifying nouns are used)

so I wanted to make climber x reader first but Karl wonnn. If anybody is interested in a climber x reader I’ll write it. Also it may take a bit longer to upload the Karl x reader since I’m a bit busy,, not proofread

- First of all, his crush on you is immense and he doesn’t know how to tell you.

- His pale face gets hot whenever your around

- His stomach churns whenever he sees you. In a good way though

- he compliments you often

- He holds your hand when Karl is around because he described him as unpredictable and dangerous

- Asking Karl for advice was the worse thing he could’ve done in the situation, Karl seems knowledgeable about flirting…Right?

- - - - - -

The breeze of the town was relaxing, for the two the just fought at least. Karl had won this time, though it was a embarrassing defeat; Climber had knowledge to beat him subsequently. He didn’t even feel like he had done his best. His moves were sloppy, and the swings of pickaxe were drawn and incalculable. He had fallen victim to his own thought.

“I noticed you were quite thinker- but I never knew you were the one to think so extensively-“

He didn’t realize that Karl was behind him, a small groan left his mouth as he turned to him.

“Yeah..I was just thinking of something..no- someone..”

He scoffed, his cotton white cheeks brightening at the confession. Karl’s amusement didn’t help this as a smug look painted across his gangling form.

“Oh my..and the plot thickens..so.. who’s the lucky person?”

His voice almost came out in a purr, stepping closer to Climber.

“Well, it’s my friend- Y/N..are knowledgeable of them?”

He rubbed his chin slightly, thinking of your general appearance before everything had an eventual click. Climber had knew that this was a fatal mistake. Karl definitely be the type of person to tell you immediately. To hold this as blackmail over his head. How could he so ignorant and intolerant.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got some tricks in my sleeve to make they fall head over heels for you-“

Climber retracted from Karl, his gut feeling uneasy from the sudden comment.

“Well, I think I can do it just fine.. I mean, we’re just friends- I don’t think they would ever really-“

Despite Climber’s refusal, Karl had “trained” him to confess. Although a flustered mess, he had everything to.

- - - - -

The morning was cold, the two sticks rubbing together in order to create a fire. You sternly held the two sturdy wooden pieces, groaning as every attempt you made had a spark but never a flame.

“Do you need help..?”

He squatted infront of you, taking the sticks and effortlessly starting the flame. The Illumination of the fire showed Climber, a small pleasant smile across his cheeks. Pleasant. Yeah, that would be a good way to describe your friend Climber. You waved your hand to greet him, giggling at your friendly gesture.

“I- uh.. I wanted to confront you about something..I’It’s nothing bad! Don’t panic but..it’s just..it’s important..”

Your heart sank at his words, the possibilities and the thoughts of what he was going to say next. You swallowed thick, trying to piece together what his subsequent remark.

“I’m listening..”

Your voice was wobbly, trying to be stern and clear. Climber’s kind eyes looked into yours sensing the distress from you. His hand reached to your tense shoulder, a small sense of comfort. Karl had communicated about how comfort was important.

“Well..I think you’re a good person, a great person in fact- I’ve realized over the course of the- Uhm..friendship that I would like to have a bond with you..”

The air was luxuriant, the panic from Climber could be detected from a mile away.

“Well we already have a bond- but like-! You’re super like..appealing to look at! Uhm.. your also really nice and really kind and- I like really nice and really kind..people..”

You chuckled upon Climber’s compliments, you had loved Climber for a time. The weight against your shoulders lifting as each word he said made you fall deeper in love with him. Your fingers wrapped against his perturbation swarming him. He followed his next words with an exhale. In defeat, he slumped his shoulders and began to hold eye contact.

“I really love you Y/N”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- During the first week, Climber would do anything for you

- If you claimed that you were hungry, Climber would run against bounds to get you the stuff you need

- One time you caught him watching you sleep as he turned around quickly enough to hopefully make you believe he wasn’t staring

- He holds you tight, sometimes tighter than he needs to

- He pulls you away from Karl when he deems necessary.

- Karl likes to flirt with you to get him going, but just not enough to make you both uncomfortable

- On your first kiss, Climber head butted you and apologized profusely for it

- He defends you with his life

- He really does love you

- - - - - - -

FIRST CLIMBER FIC IN 2023 I FEEL ACCOMPLISHED,,, please tell me if you guys want more climber content and I’ll be working on some of my current drafts and my new Karl fic. If you wanna see that it’s my second post on my blog. I’ll be posting more LOT/castleofnations stuff.

(posted Friday 3rd, February 2023)

[rainbownixie]

i'm sick of people saying jonathan "did nothing this season" and that "he's out of character".

i don't know about you, but i'd be pretty fucked up too if i had gone through half of the things jonathan's been through. he had an abusive dad and had to take care of will from an early age, not to mention all the things related to the upside down, being about to die, and losing his little brother. of course he's fucked up. of course he needs weed to handle his emotions. plus, he has a long distance relationship and they're in the 80s so they don't have enough tech to be in touch all the time.

jonathan grew up with a shitty dad, in a shitty town, with shitty people, and the only ones he truly loves and trusts are his family. and he almost loses his little brother (canonically his best friend and favorite person in the whole world). and yet still he has enough love inside him to support everyone and be in a healthy relationship with nancy. if i were him i'd be in ruins. he's so so strong for that. for still being able to love after everything he's been through.

he constantly puts everyone first and sacrifices himself to help others. he's such a sweetheart and y'all treat him like shit because what? he's smoking weed and he looks kind of sad this season? sorry to break it to you but that's how having a shitty mental health looks! did you really expect him to go on as if nothing had happened?

the only reason why people don't like jonathan this season is because he handles his mental health differently and because his best friend isn't a normative skinny white guy. smoking weed to handle what happened to him is completely normal and exactly what chrissy was about to do (with even stronger drugs). jonathan is still jonathan. he's still lovely and supportive and has proven multiple times that would do anything for both will and el.

i don't know why's everyone saying he's out of character, when the only thing i would fix about his character would be having more screentime. i need to go inside his brain!! give me more jonathan!! to be honest, the cali squad deserved wayyyy more time on screen. jonathan's trauma deserves to be addressed too, because it doesn't start in s1. it starts when his dad was home and jonathan had to protect will. it starts when he didn't have any friends at school because they thought he was a freak. it starts when he started to put everyone else first, and forgot that he was a child too.

oh, and the "he did nothing this season" argument? what's all that about? because if we are referring to defeating vecna we can say the same exact thing about mike and will. i love my boys but the cali squad didn't have enough screentime to do anything and they only started being "productive to saving the world" when el joined them. but not everything has to do with saving the world and vecna! they saved el. they helped el. and in the way, they developed as characters. byler had their development. and jonathan? jonathan is the most amazing brother in the show. without jonathan there, they wouldn't have been able to look for el. he protected the kids with his whole soul. and without jonathan, will would've broken down right then and there.

and i'm not talking about their hug scene. jonathan spends all the season worried about will and protecting both him and mike. and el, too. stop acting like everything he did was being stoned because, yes, it's definitely a big part of the plot, but it's not his whole personality.

jonathan isn't out of character, just admit that you only like shitty mental health to be addressed when it's aesthetically pleasant and when you can ship him with a white skinny guy (this comes from someone who literally ships stonathan. don't sleep on jargyle! it's a great ship).

at this point i think the only ones who appreciate jonathan are jancys, jargyles and bylers! mostly bylers because he's just like us fr he wants to protect will and yell at mike so

[death-note-lawlight-fic-recs]

Lawlight ffnet fic recs

This is probably going to be the main post for ffnet fic recs. There's only so much I can do in 30 minutes, so they're not exactly organized by categories. Will add more later, probably.

Check the summary and notes. Read the warnings and authors notes for each fic. I'm not responsible for what you end up reading, rating wise.

Please note, fics that are also on ao3 aren't here.

Bestest of the best. So Good, I can't recommend enough. Go read it asap.

Of Music

Summary: Light is at the theatre, escaping from his life as he does every performance. Fate hands him her calling card in the way of a stranger sitting across the room. Can Light maintain his life when this one man manages to slip into it like he belongs there? AU

Notes: At the top of this list is my very favorite and probably the best Death Note fic of all time. Have you read Of Music? No? Then go read it right now.

Coexistence is Boredom

Summary: A new deathnote. A new plan for world sanctity. And an entirely misled Catholic clergy. Raito and L take their respective places on the sides of their own justice. A final battle waged in the Garden of Eden.

Notes: Another one of my favorites, this fic is a post-Yotsuba arc AU.

Redeemer

Author's note/summary: The story takes place after Death Note ends, although the main characters have not died. Here the Yellowbox Warehouse is essentially the pinnacle of L's 6-year long offensive against Kira, who believes L to be dead, when he really isn't. L faked his death, and proceeded with the case behind the cover of his three top heirs, Mello, Matt and Near. Kira himself doesn't succumb to his defeat, but is instead rescued at the last moment by his nemesis lover who decides that a more apropos end to the God of the New World is not death--but redemption, in the form of a new case and a 5th so-called Kira, that L and Light must bring down together… or risk losing everything. Yes, there is actually a plot LOL Buuuut, this puppy has yaoi and pairing's aplenty. LxLight and MelloxMatt are technically the mains, but when you cut straight down to it, this is a story about Light and Mello and how they go from hate to need, from enemies to lovers, and maybe even something more…

Notes: This fic... isn't on ffnet. Nor on ao3. This fic is on adultffnet. Mind the tags, the pairings, and allll the warnings. This fic isn't for everyone. I'd recommend it as 21+ age group. It still has amazing plot, Light's psychological and character analysis and development as L attempts to make Light give up being Kira for him. I've warned you. If you still read it, then it's on you. There's also a few sequels with B, but the author has taken them down.

Redivivus

Summary: The most important thing Ryuk learned watching Light Yagami was how to follow the rules to the letter and still break them.

Notes: Another of my favorites. This fic has Ryuk enabling Light to time travel, kid!Light shenanigans, Light trolling L, L trolling Light, and pre-lawlight dynamics (since Light is a pre-teen while L is a teen).

Disorder

Summary: L's ordinary day is interrupted by a not-so-ordinary disappearance that he's determined to solve. And when it reappears right under his nose? Obviously a personal attack on his detective abilities-time for mystery, revenge and maybe even a little romance!

Notes: Light runs away, L takes the case. Anything more would be spoilers. This author has a lot of other amazing fics, so check those out as well!

Memento Mori

Summary: Light is brutally assaulted and decides to end it all –and what better way then to admit he's Kira and let his nemesis do it for him? Of course, things with L can never be so simple. L/Light.

Note: Another amazing fic by the author of Primitive Liars. The summary is accurate.

Between Black and White

Summary: When L captures Light, he finds himself unwilling to relinquish his kindred spirit to the police, and instead has other plans to make Kira atone for his crimes. But the saga of Shinigami, genius intellect and old memories - BB - has only just begun.

Note: L is a selfish, manipulative bastard. L won and wanted Light to stay. Light's willingness to stay is another matter entirely, nice to have but not necessary.

Spira Mirabilis

Summary: Sayu, worried about her brother, decides to sneak into his room to steal his diary, triggering the explosion that causes her death and Light’s serious injury. With a scar and no memories of the Death Note, how will Yagami Light’s life unfold?

Note: I re-read this fic everytime I'm on a ffnet fic read binge. The characterization is amazing. Light is a human, L is a human, Sayu's death has consequences on Light's psyche and general relationship with the Yagami family. L's relationship with Light is so soft and healing and tender.

Ragnarok

Summary: A serial killer emerges in Japan, basing his murders on Norse Mythology. NPA star-detective Light Yagami and the World's Greatest Detective L are both targets, and the case may lead to the end of the world for both of them.

Notes: The summary is very accurate. I love the pining that goes in here. This AU is very well thought out, with canon characters taking a whole new direction due to the lack of the Kira case.

Etched

Summary: It was a brief fling that lasted much longer than it was supposed to. One a student and part-time forensic artist, the other the greatest detective in the world. When it ended, both were sure they'd never meet again. But fate had other plans.

Notes: Two very safe, lonely men fall in love with each other. They both have secrets. Their secrets and lack of trust does not make up for their love for each other. Alas, the fic stops at an interesting time. But the relationship development is still to read for.

Better than the rest

Tale of Two Death Notes

Summary: The Death Note was destined to bring them together, the rest was up to them.

Notes: Light as a scientist/researcher type working on the death note, L as the detective whose case has brought him to the mystery of the death note.

I Won't Say

Summary: Having found out L's name, Light can finally have everything he wants: the world and, more importantly, L. Convincing L, however, turns out to be more difficult than killing him, especially with a house full of orphans to stir the soup. Christmas fluff balanced by a power struggle between the dynamic duo.

Notes: Probably the best Christmas themes lawlight fic. It's soft, tender, understanding, there's communication, trust building, family bonding, and a happy ending

K

Summary: Young Light's parents are murdered and he's sent to Wammy's. For a while, he's thrilled- it's challenging AND he's meeting people like A and C! …And L. Jerk. Then B shows up, and, well… stuff goes bad. Fast. With havoc as only B can wreak.

Notes: Light is a pathological liar. L is into that.

Irrefutable Connection

Summary: L lays open his life, soul and existance to Light and Light does the same for L, writing the last of his secrets upon L's skin. Light and L forge an unbreakable agreement to never betray each other; aiding and influencing one another without fear.

Notes: Lawlight confess their identities, there's smut and plotting involved, a 'L joins Kira' fic, I guess.

Desideratum

Summary: L didn't have a real name and he finds his immunity to the Death Note tragic. Light joins him on his journey of self discovery when Interpol joins the task force in finding Kira. The battle of the wits between detective and suspect isn't over.

Notes: None. I don't recall enough about this fic other than that it was good.

Infection

Summary: A virus rampaged Europe and two top detectives find themselves stuck amongst the aftermath. Suspicions are raised and concluded, emotions are tested. Whoever said death was supposed to be easy?

Notes: Lawlight, with zombie virus around. I don't recall enough about this fic other than that it was good.

Hurt, Angst, Tragedy. Comfort? What's that? Is it tasty?

The Prince

Summary: He is not a saint. He is not God. Even his sense of justice is skewed. After all, how can Kira rationalize his use of the Death Note when he himself is nothing but a common criminal? A member of the yakuza?

Notes: Read the authors warnings at the start of this fic. Another fic I'd say is 21+, this fic has Light kidnapped and forced to be a yakuza member. Alll the warnings apply. Amazing plot, character growth makes sense, I want to wrap Light in a blanket burrito and never let go.

Asylum

Summary: Upon recovering his memories of Kira, Raito has a terrible choice to make. What he does choose throws him into a realm of insanity and suddenly it's the God of the New World that needs the rescuing--and L is the only one who can help.

Notes: Another fic that I'd recommend is 21+. Has a sequel 'Silence'. The fic name and summary is accurate, with all the warnings that implies.

True Elision

Summary: Raito dies and becomes nothing. But the Shinigami need his soul,so they give him a second chance.They recreate his spirit and send him to a hellish trial where he must face his living nightmares.Intense romance comes late in fic

Notes: Lots of trigger warnings. You've been warned. Only hurt, no comfort for Light. Takes place post canon. Romance comes in veryyyy late in the game. I love how, in that one riddle scene, it shows that Light is very much human and not Shinigami material. Has a happy ending, if you can last till then.

A Cure for Love

Summary: Light and L fall in love during the Yotsuba arc and Light's master plan is derailed when an assassin steals the Death Note. The threat of Kira is dwarfed when Kira's powers seem to have fallen into the hands of a terrorist organization known as Astraea and Light and L are united to find the culprit, but for how long…

Notes: Every character in this fic wishes Light never gets back his Kira memories, including Light himself. Alas, he does. And every character suffers for it, including Light himself. Check the warnings before reading. Has a bittersweet ending.

Poison Apple

Summary: Death Note with a Disney spin. Maybe their poison drenched love, this twisted fairytale of most wicked beauty, is all that matters, even when L is dragged back from his grave and faced with his poisoned apple again.

Notes: No lawlight rec list including ffnet fics is complete without this fic. So here it is. Warnings apply.

Crack & Crack Taken Seriously (yes, both are different)

Death Note Dating Gameshow

Summary: Being the soon to be God of the new world can be a rewarding if lonely job. But do not fear obsessive Kira-worshippers, for Sakura Tv is here to ensure that the savior finds that special somebody.

Notes: The intro fic to death note lawlight crack fics. One of the best ever. Don't take it seriously.

Adaptation

Summary: Even Light’s plans don’t take spontaneously changing gender into account. Fortunately, he can adapt.

Notes: Light changes gender and that's all it takes to bring that UST to surface.

A Modest Proposal

Summary: Light, pathetically poor college student that he is, is in dire need of cash. The renowned detective and more importantly, multi billionaire L can help this wretched situation: and subsequently, the business negotiations begin.

Notes: Light is broke. Light studies economics. Light has a plan. A married couple have lower taxes. Now he only needs to convince L.

Discordant Harmony

Summary: What happens when new artist Yagami Raito manages to capture the attention of socially inept, anonymous artist L Lawliet? Hilarity, of course. Matchmakers, troublesome sisters, and crazy lawyers pretending to be drag queens? What is this world coming to?

Notes: THE Death Note Lawlight crack fic. This fic, to me, is the best of the best and defines the lawlight crack fic genre. They don't make fics like this anymore. Which, in a way, is good. One is enough. Plus, I reallyy don't know how any crack fic can top this one.

The End is Near

Summary: A horrible day gets a bit bet - er, worse - when Mello discovers that a certain albino boy has disa-Neared. Matt, Mello, L, and Light set out to find him, come hell, high water, or chocolate shortages. Well, maybe not those.

Notes: The summary is pretty accurate. Its a crack fic, so keep your brains and logic outside the door when you read it.

12 Sides Of L

Summary: After a freak accident, the team and Raito find themselves in a place no human should ever have been before. In the mind of the greatest detective, L.

Notes: I've never read a fic with this plot before. A unique AU, delves into L's mind, literally. Crack taken seriously.

Night and Day

Summary: The NPA are assisting mysterious detective L with a new case. Raito has to work with an unusual partner…

Notes: Crack taken seriously. A good enough case fic, where Light and L meet on a case.

[wutheringmights]

After the last chapter, I was wondering if you had an idea of what the Chain's kill count is? If it's plot significant, don't feel like you have to spoil anything.

There is one other person's kill count that is relevant, but I can't tell you whose. It's a surprise ;)

Sky

Kill Count: 0

Okay so did Sky kill Demise? Yes.

Does Sky consider Demise a person? Absolutely not.

Demise is a cosmic entity. He is a concept. Sky did his job and walked away with no regrets.

Hell, he'll do it again if he has to. No hesitation.

Zero percent guilt.

Four

Kill Count: 9

It's explained in story but basically one of those kills is Vaati and the other eight are corrupted knights of Hyrule

This is one of those things where he knows he had his reasons and many people would say he's right about this, but he doesn't feel good about it.

It's complicated.

The best way to put it is that he chooses to be regretful.

Time

Kill Count: 3-ish

I don't think Time has ever gone into a battle choosing to kill another person, even if that other person is horrible and tried to kill him first.

Like, he sealed Ganondorf in one timeline then turned him over to the authorities in the other. And he hates this guy more than anyone else.

His kills are all instances when he defeated someone in battle (like a thief or something-- they picked the fight, not him) and they succumbed to their injuries some time after

He still feels terrible about it, but it's not crushing guilt

He's killed a lot of people under the influence of the Fierce Deity Mask, but those aren't his kills. It's the diety’s. There's a difference.

Legend

Kill Count: 4-ish

Let's get this out of the way: Legend does not think he killed everyone on Koholint Island. Sorry, like I know this is a popular headcanon but I hold true to that little hopeful smile at the end of Link's Awakening. He's wistful, but not guilty.

That being said, he's defeated the sorcerers and servants of Ganon who have taken over the kingdom, like Yuga and Agahnim.

The guilt involving all that is pretty low too. They had it coming.

He's in too deep to start feeling bad about it now.

(That being said, I am very tempted to ignore canon and declare that he's never actually killed anyone, just because it would be really funny if the guy with the most amount of world-threatening emergencies managed to solve all of them without any bloodshed. Like, he would make everyone else look terrible at their jobs.)

Hyrule

Kill Count: 0

This is another instance where Hyrule technically has killed, but like Sky, he doesn't think Ganon is a person.

That being said, Hyrule lived a pretty a dangerous life before his adventures began. The fact that he had gotten into so many fights without killing anyone before being roped into his first adventure is a testament to how good of a fighter he is.

That being said, he is prepared at any given moment to kill another human

He can't tell if any of the people attacking him for his blood are Ganon's minions in disguise until after he kills them

So far, none of them have actually been people

But he really doesn't care-- if someone is out to kill him, he's going to be the one who walks away with their life no matter what he has to do

Twilight

Kill Count: 1

Knock knock, Twilight. Who's that? If the fact that Time didn't kill Ganondorf himself coming back to haunt his descendants.

Twilight killed Ganondorf

He doesn't regret it. He made his peace with it long before he stormed Hyrule Castle.

But he's not itching to do it again.

The idea is still pretty unpalatable.

Wind

Kill Count: 1

Knock knock, Wind. Who's that? If the fact that Time didn't kill Ganondorf himself coming back to haunt the next generation.

I think Wind got in over his head during his first adventure and chose to cope by leaning into this idea of being the new hero

So he was able to justify killing Ganondorf in a black-and-white, good-always-wins kind of way

It’s only as he gets older and he starts thinking on that first adventure that he starts to feel sympathy for Ganondorf

At that point, would he start to feel bad? Maybe.

Perhaps he would, despite himself.

Warriors

Kill Count: 150 at a minimum

I mean, he fought in a war where he did end up having to fight other people 

86 of those kills were from the mass-execution of traitors, though he’s definitely had to execute more on an unofficial level

His feelings of guilt and self-righteousness are such a mess that it would just be easier to toss out the whole suitcase

Despite how complicated it all is, he would do it again

Wild

Kill Count: 3-ish

I think he’s killed some Yiga

I don’t think he intended to kill any of them, but sometimes those assassination attempts got really nasty

Most of the assassins would escape with their lives, but there were a few that were not so lucky

I think the first time it was a huge shock to the system. And I think a lot of his feelings about it got mixed up in what he feels now versus what he thinks he should feel

He definitely remembers a time where he would not have cared as long as it was in service of the Royal Family

Nowadays, he is more sympathetic towards the Yiga

He admits that if someone is trying to kill him, he has to be the one to who walks away with their life.

But killing someone is never easy for him. He will always try to avoid it.

But if pushed enough, he will reside himself to what he has to do.

[searchingwardrobes]

Scarborough Fair: 8/?

I apologize for the long wait for this chapter! We just moved into a new house, and at first we didn't have internet. I also felt that every spare moment needed to be spent unpacking and getting the house all set up. I finally escaped to Barnes and Noble to write because I just can't do it at home right now! Anyways, I hope the contents of this chapter make it up to you. We're getting to the good stuff ;)

Is the situation Emma is in as a pregnant foster teen accurate? I really have no idea, but it's in the book Impossible that this is based on. I also have no idea if you can make a shirt like that. Again, I'm going by the book Impossible. I'm not following it exactly, but those two plot points were kind of important, so I left them in. Anyways, things are going to keep getting steamier from here on out, though our lovers are far from out of danger. Plus, we've still got Snow, David, and their kingdom out there somewhere, so hang on, folks! It's gonna be a romantic yet bumpy ride.

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Emma Swan has had a charmed life, despite being a foster child. She has a wonderful family who loves her, and the best friends in the world. The only thing that mars her idyllic existence is her birth mother: a homeless woman who mutters nonsensical rhymes and claims to be Snow White. One fateful night, however, Emma’s world is shattered. Perhaps her mother’s rhymes aren’t nonsense after all.

Rated: M for date rape, dubious consent, teen pregnancy, and sexy times (the good kind!)

Words: Over 3k in this chapter

Chapter One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six

Also on Ao3

Tagging:  (let me know if you wish to be removed or added):  @snowbellewells @teamhook @kmomof4 @jrob64 @xhookswenchx-reads-blog @thisonesatellite @welllpthisishappening @spartanguard @ohmakemeahercules @tiganasummertree @sparlecorn93 @sals86 @pirateprincessofpizza @xarandomdreamx @zaharadessert @huntressandlioness1 @jamif @undercaffinatednightmare @onceratheart18 @sparlecorn93 @sals86 @pirateprincessofpizza @xarandomdreamx @zaharadessert @huntressandlioness1 @jonesfandomfanatic​ @hollyethecurious​

Chapter Eight:

The entire family jumped right in to help Emma solve the riddle that had defeated her mother. Liam dove back into every bit of research he had accumulated about the song Scarborough Fair. He and Ingrid met with the art professor he had mentioned who had done her dissertation on textiles. Elsa talked to the scientists on board ship and zoomed with the family every single day. Even Anna found her niche, taking Emma to the library and helping her check out every book available about pregnancy and childbirth. 

And Killian? He was the rock she could lean on. The one who made her smile or laugh just when things got too heavy. He also ran whatever errands he needed to: taking Emma to her first prenatal appointment, shopping for a long list of different types of fabrics at the craft store to make this impossible shirt, and going for a late night ice cream run when Emma’s cravings started. In some ways, nothing changed.

Yet his declaration of love still hung in the air. He hadn’t brought it up again, hadn’t treated her any differently, hadn’t asked her on a date or tried to get physical. He was giving her space to decide what she wanted, and it honestly was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. 

At the same time, Emma was confused. She had always loved Killian, of course. But was it romantic love? She could even admit she had been physically attracted to him at times, but did that mean she was in love with him? Did she even want something like that right now, when she was processing having a kid of all things and still healing from a violent rape? Did Killian fully understand what he would be getting himself into? Did she want to burden him with all her crap? 

She was just completely and utterly confused. 

Then, as if she didn’t have enough to worry about, Ingrid came home one day from work visibly shaken. The entire family stilled in the process of getting dinner on the table when they saw her standing in the kitchen, her face ashen. 

“What is it?” Liam asked, his voice filled with dread.

“Emma,” she said, her voice choking on her foster daughter’s name, “Liam and I need to talk to you. Immediately.”

Killian found Emma later, sobbing in her bed. When she poured it all out to him, he was livid. 

“This is absolute shit! I can’t believe they would do that!”

“They would, and they can,” Emma explained as she hugged her pillow to her torso. “Because I’m still technically in foster care, my baby automatically is, too.”

“They can’t just take it away from you!”

Emma shrugged. “Ingrid and Liam are no longer licensed to take in infants. I either have to find somewhere else to live, or my baby will be put in a different foster home.”

“Can’t they just get licensed?”

Emma shook her head. “It’s a year-long process of paperwork and visitations from social workers. I’m due in five months! Killian, what am I going to do? Where am I going to go?”

She began to sob again, and when Killian eased into the bed next to her and put his arms around her, he could feel the small swell at her abdomen where her baby was growing. He felt a strong desire to protect them both. 

“We won’t let them take you or the baby away from us. We’re a family.”

“That’s what your brother said. Exactly.”

Killian chuckled. “Of course he did.”

“But Killian,” she choked out, “what happens if I don’t solve the riddle? I was comforted at least knowing my baby would be safe and raised by Ingrid and Liam, but now . . .”

She sobbed again against his chest, and he held her tight. “I won’t let that happen,” he vowed. “You aren’t going to go mad, Emma, you won’t. We’ll solve this. All of it. Together.”

*************************************************************************

The only time Emma’s family ever used the formal dining room was on Thanksgiving. Someone always had to actually dust the table and air out the room, but Ingrid always insisted they “do Thanksgiving right,” even down to the old chipped china plates with the maple leaf border. 

So it felt odd to be in here now with the warm summer sun spilling through the window and shining on the ancient area rug. Assorted fabrics littered the table and a sewing mannequin stood in the corner, the headless and limbless torso sending an ominous shiver down Emma’s spine. 

“So this one is probably our best bet,” Ingrid explained. 

She cradled the bundle of scratchy, thick fabric and held it out to Emma who reached out and ran her hand over the coarse woolen felt. 

“That feels like it would make the most uncomfortable shirt in the history of the world.”

Ingrid shrugged. “Does it really matter? You wet this fabric, mold it to that torso over there, and according to Dr. Freemont, when it dries, it will hold together.”

Emma took the fabric and nodded. “So then we have it. A shirt made without needle or seam.”

“Who’s gonna wear it, though?”

Ingrid and Emma whirled around at the sound of Killian’s voice. Emma’s mouth went dry immediately. He stood there, his hair wet with sweat, and his chest bare. Emma couldn’t stop staring at it. She used to think chest hair was gross. She was wrong. Killian’s was thick and dark, and it set her pulse pounding. Realizing just how long she’d been ogling him, she dragged her gaze up to his face. He gave her a knowing grin as he lifted a carton of milk to his mouth and took a swig. 

“Where the hell is your shirt?” Emma snapped.

“Where the hell is your glass,” Ingrid added drily. “You’re not the only one who might like some milk, you know.”

“I just got home from work, and I’m hot,” Killian responded, as if that explained everything.

Emma tried really, really hard not to think of the other connotation of the word hot, but she was failing. Killian hadn’t brought up his declaration since that fateful dinner last week, and Emma was still trying to process it. Yet ever since, she was hyper aware of Killian’s presence. 

His lack of a shirt didn’t help, either. 

“Pour that milk in a glass, Killian, I’m not kidding,” Ingrid said in her rarely used mom voice. 

“Sure,” Killian said, sauntering back towards the kitchen. He gave Emma one more backwards glance with a delighted smirk on his face. Emma’s face heated several degrees. 

“I think I know what he means, though,” Ingrid sighed.

“What?” Emma asked, her head still a little fuzzy.

“Is it really a shirt unless someone actually wears it?” 

Emma sighed in exasperation. “So have someone wear it.”

“I’ll do it.”

They whirled back around to find Killian standing in the doorway again. He had a glass of milk in one hand and a stack of Oreos in the other. He still hadn’t donned a shirt. Emma found herself staring again, admiring the way a summer working in construction had toned his muscles. She dropped the fabric she’d been clutching in her hands and swore under her breath as it rolled across the floor. Killian smirked at her, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to slap it off his face or kiss him senseless. 

“Well,” Ingrid said, seemingly oblivious to the sexual tension in the room, “if Killian’s going to wear it, then that makes things a little more complicated.”

“Why?” Emma and Killian asked simultaneously. He had stepped further into the room, and his close proximity almost made Emma lose hold of the fabric she’d just stooped to pick up. 

“Well, if we mold the shirt to that torso over there, and it dries, I don’t think it will fit him.”

“So measure me,” Killian said, taking a bite of a cookie. His back was to Emma now as he addressed Ingrid, and it was just as distracting as the front of him. He had freckles across his shoulders, and a few along the small of his back. 

“That won’t work.” Ingrid shook her head. “The fabric doesn’t work that way. Not if we’re trying to make it without needle or seam. We’ll have to mold it to your body.”

Emma gave a little squeak at Ingrid’s words and nearly dropped the fabric all over again. To Killian’s credit, he didn’t acknowledge her reaction.

“What would that entail?” he asked casually, taking a sip of his milk. 

“I’m not sure,” Ingrid mused, tapping her finger on her chin. 

Silence fell for a moment, the only sounds from Killian snacking on his milk and cookies. Then Ingrid suddenly clapped her hands together. 

“I’ve got it! Duct tape!”

Killian’s eyes widened. “If you wrap me in duct tape, you’ll never get it off. Not without taking my skin with it.”

“You could wear a shirt,” Emma said. 

“You made that clear already,” Killian smirked at her. “I told you, I’m hot.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “I mean for the duct tape. You wear a white undershirt, I wrap it in tape, then I can put the shirt, molded to your torso, on the mannequin. Then I make the shirt.”

“You’d need to be wearing the shirt when she tapes it,” Ingrid clarified. 

“I figured that,” Killian nodded.

Emma’s throat went suddenly dry. She’d have to put her hands on his body. She’d have to be in extremely close proximity to him. She was equal parts giddy at the thought and terrified. She was light-headed just thinking about it. 

“Perfect,” Killian announced with a grin. “When do we start?”

Emma wanted to ask Ingrid if she would do it for her, but she couldn’t risk that. The riddle implied that Emma had to make the shirt herself. She steeled herself and turned to Killian. 

“Shower so you don’t stink, and then we’ll get to work.”

“As you wish,” he told her with a mock bow before he turned from the room.

Ingrid, still oblivious to the fact that Emma was practically swooning and trembling simultaneously, turned away from the dining room table and grabbed her purse from a nearby chair. 

“Since you’ve got this under control, I’ll head to the supermarket. Anything you need?”

Slightly dazed, Emma managed to shake her head “no.”

“Great, I’ll see you kids later.”

In the kitchen, Killian rinsed his dirty glass and put it in the dishwasher. He smiled to himself as he headed up the stairs. He hadn’t pressed Emma in any way since his declaration. Whether she shared his feelings or not, he’d told himself, he would still be there for her. Yet the way she’d reacted to him just now gave him hope. Maybe he would win her heart after all. 

*******************************************************************************************

“Sit right here,” Emma instructed, pointing to the dinner room chair directly in front of her. Killian obeyed, and when he looked up at her, his eyes didn’t hold teasing as she’d expected. They were tender and vulnerable. Emma swallowed nervously.

“Don’t be nervous,” he told her.

“I’m not,” she scoffed.

“You’re holding that roll of tape so hard, your knuckles are turning white.”

Emma scowled at him and pulled a long strip of tape from the roll. He blanched, and she laughed.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” she told him. 

He swallowed, and she followed the motion of his adam’s apple. She licked her lips as she drew closer, touching his arm gently as she raised it.

 “I’ll start with the sleeves,” she explained unnecessarily. 

She had to slip her fingers beneath the fabric to make sure she didn’t accidentally tape his skin. She thought she heard an intake of breath from his throat as her fingers skimmed his bicep, but maybe she’d imagined it. She wound the tape around and around the sleeve of his shirt, but when she began to wrap it around his shoulder blade, she had to step closer to him. He spread his legs to allow it, and she leaned over him, her breasts pressing against his collarbone. The sharpness of breath this time was impossible to ignore. She paused and locked eyes with him - he face was so close to hers . . . 

“Did I hurt you?”

He pressed his lips together and shook his head, so she continued. Was his breathing becoming shallow, or was that her? Was that his heart thumping so fast, or her own? When she wrapped the tape around his chest, she could feel a “thump, thump” beneath her palm. 

“Um, Emma, give me a second.”

Killian grabbed a throw pillow from the wingback chair in the corner of the dining room then resumed his seat. He clutched the pillow in his lap, and his face flamed all the way to the tips of his ears. 

“Oh,” Emma breathed softly. 

Killian swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Emma said, her own cheeks warm. 

“I just don’t want to freak you out . . . or scare you or anything. You know, because . . . because of him.”

Emma shook her head, tendrils of hair brushing her cheeks where they fell from the messy bun on the top of her head. She bit her lip as she got lost in his eyes; darker than usual and stormy. She stepped close again, between his legs, and she almost laughed when he clutched the pillow tighter. 

  “Emma,” he groaned, his eyes falling shut. 

“I’m glad,” she said, her own voice deep and trembling, “that I have that effect on you.”

“You do?” 

He opened his eyes, and she nodded. Her hands shook as she lifted them and rested them upon his temples. She threaded her fingers through his hair. It was softer than she had imagined. He tipped his head back and watched her intently. She thought of him the other night, stating so matter-of-factly that he loved her. He had said it as something unshakable and infallible. Something as predictable and steady as the seasons. Then they had gone on as they always had, with no demands that she respond to his declaration in any way. 

“And you could never scare me, Killian,” she clarified. 

Then, suddenly, she was kissing him. She was kissing Killian in the middle of the dining room. His torso was half wrapped in duct tape, he was helping her make this crazy, ridiculous, magical shirt . . . 

And she was kissing him. He was kissing her back. He was kissing her back after declaring his love for her at the kitchen table. He was kissing her thoroughly, his tongue exploring her mouth, even though she hadn’t said it back.  Or maybe it didn’t matter, she wasn’t sure. After all, this was only the second boy she’d ever kissed. But no, she wasn’t going to think about that or him. Not when Killian was kissing her within an inch of her life.

The pillow he was clutching fell to the floor when he wrapped his arms around her, and Emma could feel his arousal through his jeans and pressing into her. For a split second, fear tried to grab hold of her, but it was banished quickly. He wouldn’t just take her; he wasn’t like that. 

Killian pulled away, and Emma was shocked to hear a whimper slip past her lips, especially when he stood up from the chair and took a step back. Why was he pulling away, when they - oh.

He was sinking down on one knee, and she suddenly wondered if she were dreaming. It all felt so surreal, and he was still half wrapped in duct tape. Maybe Snow had whacked her in the head with one of those bottles after all, and all this time she’d been in a coma at the hospital. It would explain so much, honestly. 

“Emma,” he said, (and were those tears gathering in his eyes?), “I know this is a lot to ask of you, since you haven’t even told me yet how you feel about me. And this is something I think I always knew I would do eventually, just not now.” 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and continuing. His words reverberated in her soul, and she knew he was right, they were always going to arrive here, somehow. She knew it the same way she knew her own reflection. 

“But with everything going on, I don’t want to wait. I know you face an uncertain future, Emma, but I always want to be by your side. So, will you marry me?” He didn’t even pause for her answer, but plunged ahead. “It makes so much sense, if you think about it. I mean, we’re going to break this curse, Emma, we will. We won’t give up, ever. But, I know you worry, and if I’m your husband, you won’t have to. You’ll know I’ll be there for the baby. It will be mine, legally. It won’t end up in foster care. Not that anything’s going to happen to you, I swear to you it won’t, but if I can ease your burden . . .”

He trailed off, and Emma sank to her knees right along with him, reaching out to cup his face in her hands. 

“And if I do go insane -”

“You won’t!”

“But if we don’t break the curse . . .”

“I’ll take care of you,” he said solemnly, “always and forever.”

It would be selfish of her, she knew that it would, to ask that of him. Nevertheless, his vow felt like the sun breaking through the darkest of clouds, and she knew she couldn’t refuse his gift. Her hands slipped down his shoulders, then his arms, and she clasped his hands tightly in hers. 

“I love you.”

It wasn’t, she discovered, difficult to say. It was just so true, so undeniable, like how she knew the sun would come up each morning. His smile was bright and blinding, and she smiled too at the sight of his dimples. They had been so rare lately. 

“Does that mean yes?” he asked her teasingly. 

A tear slipped down her face, and she found she couldn’t speak. She nodded, and he understood. Everyone would say they were crazy, of course. He was nineteen, and she was seventeen. It was absolutely insane. Ingrid and Liam wouldn’t like it, she was sure, but she also knew they wouldn’t stop them.

 He dried her tears with his thumb, then traced her lips before kissing her tenderly. The kiss continued as they clung to one another in blissful, shining faith and hope. In that moment, she believed him: They would break the curse. 

Emma and Killian were so wrapped up in one another, they didn’t notice the slight shaking of the house or the rainbow colored light that swept through the room. 

**************************************************

It wasn’t the first time Robert Gold had entered the Swan/Jones home when the family was gone. He had explored every nook and cranny, flipped through photographs, smelled their clothes. He knew this family; every weakness to be exploited had been sifted and examined. 

Yet the house had never protested like it did today, and when he turned towards the dining room, he could clearly see why. 

It was a shirt. Hideous, smelly, and dripping wet, but a shirt nonetheless. When it dried, it could even be worn. 

“Well, well, well,” he muttered, reaching out a hand towards it. 

Almost immediately, he recoiled, the shirt burning him before he’d even grazed it. Magic radiated from it. The glamor spell he always wore faded, and his hands turned a scaly green, nails yellowed and gnarled at each finger tip. It wasn’t just the shirt, he realized. The entire dining room reeked with the magic, and he was in pain from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. 

“Of course you’re in pain, Dark One.”

He writhed on the ground and cried out as a much younger face pulled away from his ancient, twisted one. 

“Stop fighting me!”

“I’m doing all this for you, son!”

“Are you, Papa?”

“I got her for you, didn’t I?”

“But I can’t keep her!”

The Dark One could no longer hold onto the shared body, and the younger man stood to his feet, opened the front door, and walked out onto the sidewalk. Neal Cassidy was the name he preferred in this realm, a name that Rumplestiltskin hated. Baelfire was his name: a strong, powerful name.

“Oh Papa,” Baelfire - Neal - whispered, “settle down and cooperate.”

“You know I’ll take over again eventually.”

Neal didn’t argue. Instead he clenched his jaw and gritted his next words through his teeth. 

“This won’t work forever. You’re losing, and you know it.”

“They only finished the first task. They’ll never complete the rest. Not in time, anyway.”

“But that magic - you know exactly what that was.”

Ah yes, he did. True love. He wasn’t worried. The Dark One had defeated true love before, and he would do it again.

[winterpinetrees]

The Stormson (A Gap Years prologue)

I have been defeated by my own plot (it turns out that writing, even very amateur and casual writing for three people on tumblr, is hard), so here’s backstory for my favorite middle aged elf. Watch out for mentions of the casual eugenics and murder that the nobility is built on.

@lokiwaffles I know you like Ryn, so I hope you enjoy. Sorry about not mentioning that Ryn isn’t his full name until now. whoops.

Both of the letters arrived on the same day. The young man wasn’t surprised. His home was isolated, even by Voyager standards, so it was easier to send physical deliveries all at once by boat. If anything, he was surprised to only receive two sponsorships after everything he’d done.

Ryndrion, though everyone called him Ryn, was a child of the storm. No matter what his noble classmates thought, that was a title, not a name or a metaphor. He’d earned it, and he’d earned it younger than anyone had ever expected. Fourteen years later and he was still one of the youngest stormsons on the gulf coast. Now, the voyager had set his sights on something new. Ryn had just returned home after his third year at the Conservatory to wait for a sponsorship that would allow him to continue. He wasn’t worried. Ryn had every desirable trait that the nobility could want from a commoner. He was skilled and cunning and had human-like endurance that no privileged royal could match. He was used to waiting, but he hadn’t been prepared for just how lonely it would be.

His harbor was a fraction the size of the Conservatory. Over half the population were wildblood humans or half-elves, and few of the others were anything more than sparks. Hurricanes, far stronger than in the human world, broke over the barrier islands every summer. His family were Voyagers going back as far as anyone bothered to record. His father was a stormson like him, and his mother was a farmer with the most accurate throwing arm of anyone in town. His siblings were all doing something like what they were supposed to do, but Ryn went away with those cutthroat scouts to some place inland where they teach children to kill each other. Barely strong enough to spark a candle and he’s trying to be a noble. What else was he supposed to do? Stop? He’d sailed a hurricane, he could manage the nobility if that was what it took to get his people back into orbit.

However, a Voyager is nothing without their crew. That was the first thing Ryn learned as a boy. The sea has no sympathy for petty disputes and power grabs, and it does not care about your titles. You work together, each crewmate doing what they do best, or you all sink. It was different at the Conservatory though. The school of the nobility was an overlapping mess of hierarchies and ambitions. Survival of the fittest, they claimed, but Ryn had grown up closer to nature than any of them. Nature was brutal, yes, but it didn’t conquer. Nature didn’t make power grabs or demand obedience. It just was. The nobility didn’t understand that. They didn’t want to. None of the nobility could understand the way he saw the worlds, and no Voyager would sympathize with his goals. The other commoners at school hailed from across the entire planet, and many of them were too bloodthirsty for Ryn to trust them with anything, especially not his life. He was adrift, alone, as he faced the most important decision of his life.

Ryn picked up the letters. They were heavy black paper with white ink, closed by a wax seal and decorated with a simple design. The formatting was almost identical to the letter that had announced his admittance a few years before. The first letter had an emerald green seal stamped with the skull of a sabertooth cat. White autumn leaves spiraled over the front. It was a formal sponsorship from Princess Emer Sondaica, niece of the apex and presumed heir to the world. She offered him a place in the autumn army for the next six years, and opportunities in her noble house if and when he graduated with high honors. It was the deal that he had been hoping for.

There was something off about it though. The invitation addressed him as Ryndrion Stormson. For some reason, he’d expected better from her. The noblewoman had sailed with his father as a girl, and Ryn thought that she would remember their traditions. The long form of a Voyager’s name was only used for logistics on a scale where the nickname wouldn’t provide enough information. The Conservatory’s database might record him as Ryndrion, but a direct letter like this should have called him Ryn. Stormson was also odd to use in a letter, but he’d accepted that the nuance of that would be lost by the nobility. If they wanted to call him stormson, then so be it. Maybe the princess had a point though. Ryn would have had to be blind to miss the looks his neighbors gave him. He was different now. He’d abandoned his crew.

The second letter was stamped with a charging indigo bull. It was the symbol of the other most ancient genus, Gens Mercuralis. It had been massacred in a coup almost a century before, and one of the only survivors was in the same Conservatory class as him. Her name was Ishtar Mercuralis, and she was strong as an anchor but nowhere near that stable. They were friends, or at least Ryn wanted to think that they were friends. The letter had the negative image of sheets of rain and crashing waves, the symbols of the storm army. Fitting. He opened the letter and another piece of paper fell out.

Ryn Stormson,

Officially, this sponsorship is from my cousin. That is a technicality. I am sponsoring you. The Sondaicas do not want me to succeed, and you know as well as I do that these games are never fair. Fitness depends on the environment, and in this environment if I do not keep my head down I will not survive.

I hate it.

You’ve definitely received another sponsorship. Genus Sondaica, right? The most powerful gens collecting another prodigy. They do not want a spark. Emer is too weak already and you know they hate reminders. You are more clever than the rest of our year combined. If you join me, then we’ll both be in the same army. I have a secret. The first wargame begins the morning that every student returns. We team up, we take charge, and we change the game before the Sondaicas have anything in place to stop us. I want you to help me. You might not be the only person strong enough to change the world, but you are the only one who wants to.

Tell no one about this note.

Ishtar Mercuralis

Six weeks later he stands in formation with a hundred other young soldiers under a crescent moon. Dawn light reflects off of the waves stitched on his collar, and a shining new high-tech vambrace lies deactivated on his left arm. Ishtar stands a few feet to his left, tired and smiling.

Her secret was wrong. The game began just after midnight, and of their army, a dozen elven children are already dead.

Survival of the fittest.

………

Ishtar was born 18 years before Ryn, but due to the huge difference in their magical abilities, he is ‘older’ than she is by an amount that will increase as they both age. In this, they’re about 20 and 22. Also it’s about 1870. Elves live for a long time.

[existentialcrisis-24-7]

Hey what the best and worst thing about writing your rewrite (currently reading it btw.Very good stuff)

For season 4 (if you ever get to doing that I mean) is it gonna stay similar to how it was in show or is it a complete overhaul in general ?

If so what changes do you have in mind for Believix ,Roxy,the earth fairies, Tir Na Nog and the white /black circle?

Thank you so much for the ask! I'm sorry, I got started writing and couldn't stop but since I'm at my computer I manged to hide this post that got Extremely long under a cut.

Also to anyone reading this who might be curious on my magic system, I have an abridged post explaining it here.

The best part is lore and worldbuilding and the consequences of those because oh boy do I sure love space and weird magic fuckery! I also greatly enjoy getting to expand on the things that were in the original story or at least implied but were never fully explained (such as timeline issues or planets that get brought up once and never again).

My least favourite part is kind of a weird one, it being the characters. You know, the whole reason for the story. But this is kinda because 1. I don’t have much skill in writing people and 2. Because I actually never learned how people work irl for whatever reason and tbh I hardly even know how I work, so having to get into the minds of characters and figure out how they think feel about things is definitely a struggle. Though I wouldn’t have started this rewrite if I wasn’t up for the challenge!

As for Season 4.

Here’s the thing, about season 4. There's a lot I really like about it and it introduced some really cool new elements to the story, but there’s a lot of things about it that I really don’t like, which is why when I first started this rewrite and planned out my general timeline, I made the very controversial decision to swap season 4 and season 2. I'll explain:

If Lord Darkar is basically a god of darkness and has been pulling the strings the whole time then it makes sense that he should be more of a final boss and have a build up instead of being revealed in season 2, doing fuck all and then getting defeated and never mentioned again. I want to build him up as an imposing evil that beings even as powerful as the Ancestral Witches kneel before. Which isn't really a thing that can be done in 2 seasons with the goal of the first season being defeat the Trix and getting Bloom used to the magic dimension.

Season 4 in place of season 2 is a bit more complicated to pull off but it still feels more coherent to me this way because you can introduce Roxy and Aisha together. And even if Roxy is a couple years behind them in school they can at least be trauma bonded together (/j). It also puts nearly everyone on uneven ground, giving them a lot of opportunities to develop and bond with each other as they all learn and adjust. It also helps that the Wizards are relatively lax enemies who aren’t showing up all the time to just generally ruin the Winx's day like the Trix, meaning there’s more room to show that growth too.

so to answer the second question, yes I'm doing season 4, but it is a complete overhaul.

As for the changes I'm making with season 4 plot points, there's a lot of them.

First and foremost, Believix. Due to the fact that season 4 is now season 2, the main 6 are going to be earning charmix (Roxy will earn it in season 3 instead of Enchantix because she is younger and far more inexperienced with magic), though how they do so will have a few tweaks (most notably that they actually know about Charmix prior to earning it). Believix as a transformation might be used in a possible story after the main one (seasons 1-4) ends, though I can say if it is, it will definitely be altered significantly. What I will be using, though again altering, are the Gifts of Destiny for the new season 4. I'm not gonna be elaborate a whole lot about this specific topic right now as I'm still progressively making my way through the first 2 seasons with an occasional thought thrown into the 3rd.

Secondly the Earth fairies, Tír na nÓg (teer-na-nohg, the original Irish spelling that I am Infinitely petty about) and The Wizards of the Black Circle are also Very. different. This would've been brought up in a post about the timeline I have yet to make for whatever reason, but using actual Irish myth about Tír na nÓg and a little bit of finaglling, I did my best to fix the weird timeline issue and because I don't forsee myself making a post about this any time soon I'll just explain it all here (though be warned because while I tried my best to explain things thoroughly (which also lead to a lot of text), I, as someone rewriting a story, have the benefit of foresight and so there are many interconnected plot points and elements that I haven't gotten around to explaining yet that might be a little confusing).

First off, The White and Black Circles. A Circle is a physical maifestation of a magic oath that binds you (and however many others there are) to a cause. Once the cause is completed, the circle will dissolve and you can go pursue other things in life, but until then you are constantly pulled back and even caused some pain if you attempt to stray from the goal. Breaking a circle requires an incredible amount of magic and is still not easy for even the most skilled magic users. "The Oath of the Black Circle" was an oath made by a Clann wizards, a few years before the fall of Domino, with the goal of ridding the Magic Dimension of fairies, who spread themselves out across the Magic Dimension like a plague. They split off into different, efficient factions, effectively eliminating a significant number of fairies and removing their wings (which, in my rewrite, do not grow back and leave a permanent scar). For the most part however, they weren't effective enough and, with the outbreak of war in the Magic Dimension after Domino's fall and the rise of the Company of Light, nearly all factions were eliminated before they could truly complete their goal. All but one. The faction sent to Earth.

Earth is at the edge of the Magic Dimension and the people of that world generally like to keep themselves and their magic to themselves, so it wasn't until the Wizards had already begun attacking the world that they actually discovered what was going on. The Wizards were ruthless in their hunt, hardly stopping at fairies after they discovered they could take the magic from other magical beings too. Earth was completely unprepared for an attack of such voracity and despite Queen Morgana and her Regent Nebula's best efforts to organise an army, they and every other magic being ended up having to retreat through a portal to Tír na nÓg opened by their Nymph, Lugh (Loo), fairy of shapeshifting.

(Before I go on I will just explain that, for each type of magic there is a being who is said to have made it (fire and the Great Dragon), a dimension dedicated to that magic exclusively (water and the Infinite Ocean), and each world has a main magic type that the vast majority of magic beings born there will have (Earth being form manipulation/shapeshifting and that magic being almost exclusive to Earth). The best ways to open a portal to a dimension is to be on a world with that magic and to be a user of that magic)

As everyone retreated to the safety of Tír na nÓg, the Wizards found out and began figuring out a way to use this as a trap, Duman helping to come up with a spell that could seal the portal and prevent anyone from getting in or out, which under the clause of their circle, counted as ridding the Magic Dimension of fairies if they could round them up through the portal. Lugh caught wind of this and him along with Morgana and Nebula managed come up with a spell that would seal away Earth's magic to Tír na nÓg should the portal be blocked off. This, in their eyes, was protecing their magic.

Both plans ended up working, though with some consequences. Morgana and Nebula lost their wings and were trapped in Tír na nÓg with everyone else. Lugh had to stay behind, both to protect Earth and to make sure the spell stuck, though in his efforts to do so, he also lost his wings. The Wizards though, they got caught up in the seal, freezing them inbetween dimensions and between time. Nobody on the other side of the portal knows how things played out beyond that both plans worked, and the rest of the magic dimension having minimal contact with Earth anyway and still being busy with war knew even less, just that Earth somehow lost its magic and everyone magical on it almost overnight.

The magic art of shapeshfting and form manipulation was subsiquently lost until Wizgiz was hired to work at Alfea and he began teaching it in an effort to revive it. It's not an exam subject though so everyone just treats it as a doss class.

The White Circle was formed by Nebula after she gave into grief and rage, swearing along with several other fairies that should they ever get out Tír na nÓg that they will not rest until the Wizards have suffered as they have. This mindset swept through the scared and angry people of Tír na nÓg causing a revolt against Morgana who only wanted to move on past this horrific event. Morgana and her husband were kicked off the throne and became outcasts for many years, enduring the violence of the people that they once ruled.

During this period, Morgana found out that she was pregnant which both her and Klaus were terrified about, knowing this was not a safe place or situation to raise their child but being unable to cope with the idea of losing it. They hid the pregancy from Nebula and the Major Fairies until their baby was born, where they still continued to try and hide. The Major Fairies were beginning to grow suspicious of Morgana and Klaus however and the couple knew that if they didn't do something soon, all 3 of their lives could be in danger.

It was around time that Morgana felt a shift in the barrier, like something had caused a small crack, and with enough magic it could be opened just enough to send a person and their baby through. Nebula felt this too however since she was also involved in the creation of the seal. She assumed Morgana was up to something, probably trying to escape without everyone else, and sent out an order to arrest her. In a panic, Morgana and Klaus agreed that he would leave with their child and he would wear a ring that muddled his memories and generally hid the two of them from magic since they didn't know if the Wizards were still lying in wait for someone to try and escape. It was a risk they were willing to take though if it meant the safety of their child.

And so Morgana was permanently imprisoned within the dungeons of Nebula's new kingdom and Klaus managed to just about get out with their kid. Klaus's escape had managed to open the gap just enough to let the Wizards slowly get out too, one by one.

Every single one of those 6 entered a whole new world when they got out due to the nature of Tír na nÓg. While it had only been 10 years in Tír na nÓg, it had been a thousand years everywhere else. Klaus immediately got to work setting up a life for him and his kid, almost completely forgetting about any life he might have had prior, and the Wizards realised that somehow, they had missed a fairy because their circle hadn't broken. They spent the next 15 odd years trying to get their bearings, figure out what the world is like now, and find a way to locate a fairy that seems to be completely hidden from their magic.

A huge magical event involving the stealing a certain Flame is what drew them to begin investigating Gardenia.

and there you have it! the entire history leading up to season 4 2's events!

Not exactly what you asked for, but I do hope you got something interesting out of this!

[sageofnarnia]

We Might Need You

word count: 890

genre: angst, but not intense like most angst (it’s hard to explain)

warnings: none

————————

Cair Paravel had been awfully quiet in the four days since Peter and Edmund had left to check up on the rumors of a Northern Witch plotting against Narnia. Sage had spent most of her time with Susan and Lucy, and while she immensely enjoyed the time with the other girls, she couldn’t help wondering about how the boys were faring. True, they were kings and had already faced goodness knew what, but neither of them had yet reached adulthood.

Sage didn’t want to think about what might happen if either of them misjudged a situation even the slightest bit.

Currently, the three girls were playing a game Lucy had thought up where one of them would pick a quote, recite or read it, and the other two would try to guess who said or wrote it.

Susan had just selected her quote when all of them felt a presence in the doorway. Sage looked up to see the two boys standing there, but they didn’t look like boys. The High King’s face was graver than she’d ever seen it, and Edmund had an expression in his eyes that spoke of horrors unimaginable.

“It’s time we held a Pevensie Council.”

Susan and Lucy exchanged concerned glances at the High King’s words. Lucy spoke first. “Excuse us, Sage-” she began, rising from her seat, but Peter cut her off.

“We’re staying here, Lu.”

Feeling that it was long past her departure time, Sage rose to leave the room, but a look from Peter stopped her.

“I think you ought to stay, Sage,” he said, and there was something in his tone that Sage didn’t like. “We may need you, and it’s best if you know everything beforehand.”

Nervous, Sage sat back down, and the two kings took their seats. Peter started the meeting.

“The rumors of a witch up in the North are true,” he said. “Coming back, we clashed with a segment of her army that was going up to meet her.”

“And she’s definitely plotting against Narnia?” Susan asked.

Peter nodded. “We have two options: meet her in battle until one side either surrenders or defeats the other, or-” here he paused and took a breath. “Or, we send one person to meet her in one-on-one combat.”

“Well, the answer is obvious, isn’t it?” Lucy asked. “We battle her with an army.”

“Well, you see, it’s not really that simple,” Edmund spoke up. “We’d not have won against the White Witch had it not been for Aslan showing up with reinforcements.”

“Well, as I recall, the last time one of us tried direct combat with a witch, he almost got turned to stone,” Susan says pointedly at Peter.

“That was two and a half years ago-” Peter starts to defend himself, but Lucy interrupts.

“The logical thing to do is start with an army. And then we make a decision from there.”

“Logic flew out the window the minute a witch came into the picture,” Peter says. “And… if you will hear me out and not shoot me down the second I say this, I’ve got an idea.”

“Depends on the idea,” Susan says, but she nods at Peter to continue.

Peter looked over at Sage, who had, up till then, been silently watching the exchange. “I think Sage might be the answer to defeating the witch.”

For a split second, shocked silence settled over the room. Then Susan burst out, “You can’t be serious-!”

“And why wouldn’t I be?” returned Peter a bit testily. “Ed has been training her in swordsmanship, and I know for a fact you girls have been educating her in other ways. Plus, you may not believe me, but did you ever notice that her birthmark resembles Aslan?”

All eyes turned to Sage, who squirmed uncomfortably under the scrutiny. At last Susan spoke, in a rather choked voice. “And you think-”

“I’m not sure what I think just yet,” Peter said. “All I’m sure of it-”

“You think I’m the one who’s supposed to face the witch.” Sage didn’t realize she’d begun to speak until the words had already left her lips.

“I didn’t say that exactly-” Peter began, but Sage interrupted, forgetting for a moment that interrupting the High King is not exactly proper etiquette.

“But you’re thinking it. Somewhere, deep down, you can’t say that the thought never crossed your mind.”

Peter looked steadily at her. “It’s your choice to make. If you choose to do this, we will do our best to prepare you-”

“I have the chance to do more than run from my parents, and help Narnia at the same time,” Sage said, her voice rising a little. “My answer is yes. My question is why me?”

“That would be a question for Aslan,” Peter replied, a hint of a smile twitching his lips.

“So it’s settled,” Susan said before Sage could ask who in the world Aslan was. “Peter, what should we do first?”

“You and Lucy get with Mr. Tumnus and start preparing supplies and gathering an army,” Peter said. “Meanwhile, Ed and I are going to take Sage outside and work on her combat skills.”

Why not just Edmund, like normal? thought Sage a little nervously, following the two kings out to the corridor. Doesn’t Peter know I still lose to Edmund more than I win?

[floral-force]

Code of Honor - Chapter 6

Temptation

Din Djarin x Fem Bounty Hunter Reader

summary: When things don't go according to plan, it never hurts to resort to seduction.

warnings: 18+/MDNI

words: 2.1k+

read on ao3 | series masterlist

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PART 1: DIN

The leather of his gloves creaked as his hands balled into fists. Why was she here? She was either on some fucked-up version of a vacation, or Karga had given her the same tracking fob that Din had hidden in one of his pockets. Din was seething under his beskar; his mind was already feeding him images of his defeat—her victory. He hated how smug she looked whenever she got to a bounty before him, already cuffing the target and walking off with a smirk. He hated the way she looked whenever she turned and walked away, her shoulders back, ass perfectly outlined by her pants, and carrying herself with so much confidence that Din couldn’t help but respect her—but not more than he hated her. 

Seeing her in the clutches of the bounty—his bounty—made his blood boil. Watching his rival smile when the royal shit twirled and caught her added insult to injury; she was already ten steps ahead of Din and well on her way to abducting the target while he slept. He imagined her beneath the prince, plotting while he fucked her and made her moan. Din shook his head and focused back on the task at hand: getting to the target and executing his plan.

PART 2: YOU

You were trying to blend in, but that plan had flown out the window as soon as you entered the ballroom among commonfolk and those of higher status. You could hear people muttering about the woman in red, and it made your cheeks heat up. Buying this dress was not only a frivolous waste of credits, but also a threat to securing your bounty. You tried your best to focus back in and calm your nervous system as nobles were introduced and applauded. 

Finally, the prince was announced, and he entered the ballroom with a white grin and a swing in his step, his straight, slicked back hair barely reaching his shoulders. His outfit was gaudy; he was clearly trying to display his wealth while he had people from all over the planet in one place staring at him. 

“Tonight, we celebrate the life of my father and mingle together!” He shouted, eliciting cheers. “But first, we dance! Who will be my first partner?”

You rolled your eyes as people shrieked and hollered, waving their arms to get his attention. Patience was the name of the game—the time to strike would present itself. For now, you had to sit through this evening’s tacky nonsense. You looked at the floor, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear and tapping your foot.

Suddenly, you felt yourself being yanked forward, and hands pushing you out and into the prince’s arms. You looked up into his face, frozen and stunned. He was smiling at you in an almost malicious way, eyeing you up like a piece of meat. In that moment, you vowed to never look away from your target if they were close enough to chase. He clasped your right hand and adjusted your left forearm so it was resting on top of his right, and you gasped when his hand gripped your waist. The bodice of your dress pinched into your skin, making it even more uncomfortable than it already was. He looked away from you to shout a request to the band, giving you a much-needed moment to regain your composure before you were swept away into a brisk waltz against your will. You forced yourself to smile and maintain eye contact with the prince, who flashed another toothy grin at you. This was all for the bounty, all so you could relax—isn’t this what you wanted when you took the fob from Karga?

“What is a gem like you doing on a planet like this?” he asked, and you could smell the spotchka on his breath.

“Oh, I’m just visiting family,” you forced a shy chuckle. “I won’t be here for long.”

“Care to extend your stay?”

You gasped when he dipped you and brushed his nose on your neck. When you were vertical again, you feigned embarrassment. “I would be honored to be entertained by you, but I already arranged to leave tomorrow, and I paid in advance.”

He pulled you in closer, his eyes trained on you. It felt predatory, and you longed to reverse the roles you both currently held. One of the reasons why you decided to become a bounty hunter was to stop feeling trapped and caged, and each hunt gave you the freedom you’d always longed for during your days as a girl working on your parents’ moisture farm. That life was never meant for you, and nothing could change your mind. However, waltzing with a drunken prince that was working with the Pykes may be awful enough to change your long-held belief.

“A beauty like you deserves to be treated like a queen. I’ll reimburse you for whatever you paid, and I won’t make you regret it.”

The way he spoke the last part made you shiver a bit, but then, an idea popped into your anxious mind. His proposition—or, rather, his demand—could work in your favor. Getting close to the prince may make it even easier to gain his trust and get within a lethal distance. 

The prince spun you around on the last note of the waltz, and you smiled when he caught you in his arms.

“I accept.”

PART 3: DIN

His plan was simple enough. He’d wait for everyone to leave the palace and pretend to leave with the stragglers; he’d hide and wait for the prince to leave and make his way to his chambers. Din would follow him, stun him, and leave the palace with the prince cuffed. Of course, he’d already planned for any possible obstacles, such as a higher number of guards than he expected, or nosy palace staff. What he hadn’tplanned for was her presence, and he had to figure out how to thwart whatever her plan was, and fast. The lively waltz just ended, but she and the prince began to dance again, moving to the rhythm of the slow song that began to echo throughout the large ballroom.

Din took a deep breath, exhaling as he strode over to the center of the ballroom, weaving his way through dancing couples, stopping when he reached the center where she and the prince were swaying and chatting. Din was behind her, and the prince immediately noticed him, his eyes widening slightly before he flashed a toothy grin at Din. He felt satisfaction flood his veins when she turned around and jumped upon seeing him, obviously startled and angry.

“Can I dance with her for a song or two?”

The prince scrunched his lips and moved his head from side to side before letting go of her hands and shrugging. “I suppose I could use another drink or two.” Din cringed when the prince planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle shyly. He looked back at Din. “I’ll return for my lovely partner soon—don’t get too comfortable.”

As soon as the prince turned, Din saw her expression change from one of forced cheerfulness to muted rage. She was trying her best to keep her composure—and Din liked making her feel angry when she was unable to do anything about it. Din placed a hand on her waist and gently pulled her to him, and he was painfully aware of how easily he could tear the fabric of her dress. She took his hand and reluctantly began to dance with him, her eyes flitting between the floor and his helmet.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she muttered.

“I didn’t plan on your smug presence interfering with my hunt, but here we are.”

She scoffed and glared up at him, still gently moving with him to the rhythm of the band’s ballad. “At least one of us dressed the part and doesn’t look like we salvaged our attire from a trash compactor.”

Din tilted his head and pulled her closer, dipping her without warning. She was still looking at him with fury in her eyes, hot enough to burn down any man that wasn’t Din. 

“You’re doing a great job blending in with the crowd, wearing that bright red dress and those jewels around your neck.”

She smirked. “You know you like it on me, Mando.”

If Din wasn’t listening as intently as he was, he would have missed the sultry tone in her voice. He felt his cock twitch in response, and he was grateful that she couldn’t look directly into his eyes—otherwise, he may have slung her over his shoulder and ran to the Crest. He hated that she was right; she did look stunning in that dress. It perfectly accented her body, and the bold red fabric matched her confident aura. The red jewels that cascaded just below her collarbones drew his eyes to her neck, and he desperately wanted to bruise her delicate skin with his teeth and hear her beg for more and beg for mercy. Din, however, was not a merciful man.

PART 4: YOU

You’d planned for almost every possible threat that could prevent you from securing your bounty—everything except the Mandalorian interfering and stealing a dance with you. Seeing him shocked you and frustrated you; you were making such great progress with the prince in such an incredibly short period of time. You were beginning to lure him in with a fabricated persona, feigning innocence and naivety. He was falling right into it, and then your rival had to show up and halt the current phase of your plan. As much as you hated him, you felt much more at ease dancing with him than the slimy prince, and the Mandalorian’s gloved hand in yours was almost comforting and reassuring. 

You knew the Mandalorian was enjoying your costume as much as every other person in the room was. You knew that although it drew unnecessary attention, it also aided in your strategy of seduction, and the Mandalorian was not immune to it—even if he thought he was. His prolonged silence indicated that he was struggling to form a retort, and you maintained your smirk while you both danced in silence, soaking in the ballad and its slow melody. He wasn’t a bad dancer, and it made it easier for you to think about how to get him out of the palace, off this planet, and away from your hunt. You needed this bounty to not only make money, but also to wave in front of the Mandalorian’s helmet whenever he tried to pull some sly shit on you.

“I’ve got this bounty under control,” you whispered. “Leave now, and I won’t kill you later.”

You stepped to the side and he twirled you, and you felt the skirt of your dress spin with you. The Mandalorian pulled you against his chest, the cold beskar meeting your skin that was exposed by the dress’s neckline. A small gasped escaped your lips, heat rushed to your cheeks, and you stared into the Mandalorian’s visor. You both danced in silence, still swaying even after the music ended. 

“I’m not leaving any time soon.” He leaned in and brushed his helmet against your ear, running his hand from your waist to the small of your back. “I love a challenging hunt.”

At that moment, you heard someone clearing their throat behind you. It was the prince, and he was smiling politely at the Mandalorian, a hint of smugness about him. You turned around, standing beside the Mandalorian. For some reason, you were still clutching his hand, and his other hand was still resting on your back, but you didn’t mind; it was better than holding hands with the target you were going to turn in for credits.

“I believe it’s time for you to return this gem to me,” he said, taking your free hand and tugging you forward with a little more force than you thought was necessary.

“Of course,” the Mandalorian replied, his modulated voice bleeding through the lively waltz that was filling the air. He looked at you and nodded. “It was a pleasure.”

He walked away with a chorus of people whispering as he went, and you felt your face grow warm. The prince pulled you in close to him and you could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Apologies for that interruption,” he said, rolling his eyes. “He’s rather dull, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” you mumbled. You clenched your jaw and looked down at the floor. “Very boring indeed.”

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[transboysokka]

Chris rewatches and liveblogs the awful The Last Airbender movie for the first time since it was released 13 years ago

ok I saw this once when it was in theatres when I was in high school and I never watched it again. I remember being disappointed and uncomfortable originally

I only remember Aang was pronounced differently and Katara was some blonde chick I remember literally nothing else so here we go

oh damn ok right away the bending animation is kind of giving but the weird cursive stylization of the element names in the intro… not a fan bc my bad Chinese reading self can’t read it and I wonder if that’s even like a real style lol I wouldn’t be surprised either way

Also like just KEEP the TV intro instead of plagiarising but a little to the left?? sorry I know I’m nitpicking

Why are Katara and Sokka like MAGA-white that’s SO uncomfy

Sokka is not giving me the correct vibes

Why would Katara go with Sokka to go hunting?? p sure that happened in the cartoon too but ???

Already changing my mind about the costumes and possibly the Sokka vibes

Okay Aangs tattoos fuck actually

Okay yeah the tone of this whole thing is so boring I can’t put my finger on it yet like something is DEFINITELY missing

Okay yeah the costumes suck

ZUKO??? why is his hair so boring why is his scar so tiny

Gran Gran is white too?? but all the other villagers aren’t lololol okayyyyy

First impression of the sets (like the SWT village were good) but actually they suck they make ZERO sense there are just like open windows and no door?? But it’s cold outside???

OH NO what did this film do to Appa I’m so sorry sweetie look how they’ve massacred my boy

IS THAT UNCLE IROH IM AHSJDKLFNFGSJSKD

EEROH again I guess that’s more accurate but WHY

The vibes in this movie are all off lolol how did Nickelodeon endorse this?????

Still not sure why this feels so flat like I really don’t care about anything happening?? Maybe bc the original show is so character driven and this movie hasn’t even let us get to know any of the characters?? I remember thinking the first time I watched this that it moves way too fast so I guess this all could come down to a pacing problem

Gran Gran’s explanation to like send them after Aang makes no sense at all actually

I know they were trying to be like accurate with the costumes (a laugh tbh) but I do think it was a mistake to get rid of the color associations

MOMO OH NO I’m so sorry sweetie

Again with the air temple set, the vibes are right but it doesn’t look quite like anything I ever saw in SEA or in research...

The sequence where he finds out the airbenders are gone is pretty good. Seems they could do more with that than in the show but okay now he’s having some weird vision with a dragon????

Wait Soe-ka? Knock it off w the names I s2g where is the franchise continuity

Are the gonna explain the weird ass dragon vision??

The FN ships are so bad

Zhao is not creepy enough. Asshole enough though.

I KNOW I’m nitpicking but even the food seems wack

Weird that the firebenders seem to be only able to manipulate fire here, not create it

I do wonder about the authenticity of the costumes. I’ve heard they suck but I’d be fooled which begs the question, why not just BE authentic to the cultures they’re supposed to represent

Is it the acting that’s flat here, the writing, or the directing? Whose fault is it??

Interesting choice to have the earthbenders imprisoned within reach of their own element. I kind of like that, showing how defeated their spirits really are

Of course they gave away Katara’s motivational speech

These bending motions CANNOT be based on real martial arts lmfao it seems so clunky

Wild how I just don’t care about any of these characters lol

The writing isn’t ALL bad like I actually like the way different plot elements were connected for the sake of the movie but the execution is just so bad

Princess Yue leads the NWT? Again… a Choice

Wild how they are leaving the best episodes out of this narrative. Like the ones that gave the characters life

LOVE that there’s an African-inspired Earth Kingdom village, I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot actually

Why does the Fire nation look like that?? Why does Ozai look like that??? Why are we introducing Ozai already I don’t like that choice either???

I HATE the Fire Nation aesthetic SO MUCH

Ozai is not evil enough AT ALL

I DO like the creative directions they took w diversity in the Earth Kingdom like in different towns

AGNI KEE I’m

Aww lil Azula is cute

What a weird ass way to fit in Zuko’s backstory. Again, I don’t find myself caring about it at all

Starting to really hate the bending actually. The elements don’t seem to be interacting w the movements of the bender at all

The statue room looks cool

The dragon again wtfff

The Blue Spirit. Cool but it doesn’t hit as hard bc we don’t CARE about Zuko or his past and tbh it probs won’t make any sense to a casual viewer anyway

Also why does his mask need to come with a wig I mean it looks so unserious

Iroh just creeps me out idek why

OH we’re blowing up Zuko’s ship NOW okayyy

Aww some Sokka/Yue vibes but it’s a real shame I don’t give a shit about this version of Sokka

I think one reason I don’t like this version of bending is it takes so much handwavinv before anything even starts happening

Not digging this NWT aesthetic either tbh

Pakku??? Why does he look like cheap knock off Theodin? Why is he like… nice???

Why is Aang trying to talk to this Dragon Spirit and not like… Roku?

Wild how the one thing they left the same from the actual show was how Zuko snuck into the NWT lol

Hate the spirit oasis, actually

Least helpful Dragon Spirit ever

Cool that iroh is the one who can make fire out of nothing (he obviously taught Zuko) but lolol what a random time to do that

Okay the scene between Yue and Sokka before she turned into the moon was nice. Probably the most emotion we’ve seen in the whole movie

More morbid that her body is still there though lol

And no Ocean Spirit to fuck things up??

Drowning someone w waterbending is very dark but actually a great touch

I like this idea of Aang mourning his people and using that to harness his waterbending and then he can beat the FN on his own without a spirit’s help. That’s nice.

Also the music for that scene was nice. The only good soundtrack all movie too

So he’s just scaring them with water?? Lmaoooooo not even like killing anyone they just all ran away?? that’s actually…. A fucking terrible plot point never mind

Sweet he gets another chance to like. Accept his role as avatar and bow back to everyone?

AZULA

Okay yeah that was AWFUL

[phosphatas]

I have been thinking a lot about Thomas' storylines and how there's so many parallels to fairy tales, especially to Snow White.

This post is a compilation of everything I could think of - there's probably a lot more out there.

TW: every bad thing that has canonically happened to Thomas, excluding the Great War.

Thomas, with his blood-red lips, ebony-black hair and snow-white skin, may not be beloved by everyone, but he has the trust and the friendship of Sarah O'Brien, a powerful connection to the higher powers in the house. They're always scheming, always in some corner plotting something or the other.

That is, until O'Brien feels he's betrayed her by rising above himself and looking down upon her by mistreating her nephew - which is a slight she cannot forgive. And so, the hunt begins.

His doom is soon served on a silver platter: a two-faced apple she infuses with poison. 

She lays a trap and drops hints, little by little. She drives him into it by exploiting the one thing that's always defined him: his hunger for love. Manipulation is a tool that she wields expertly and without remorse. 

He gives in to temptation, bites into the red half of the apple. The other half is chewed and digested by O’Brien, who does her best to press out every drop of contempt and hate out of Jimmy and turn it against Thomas, to drive him out into the forest, abandoned and alone.

Urged by the mercy of others, Jimmy finds heart. He calls the hunt off and much later, offers his friendship. Thomas accepts, but does not return. Though O’Brien has been defeated, Thomas’ nightmares have not. He’s still in the woods, haunted by self-doubt and self-hate, and wanders deeper into it. 

He finds refuge in dwarves: in Mrs Hughes’ steadfast calm support, Jimmy’s friendship, and even far up in the mountains, the small children and their inability to see anything but good in him.

But these are not enough; he’s still always running from himself, from society’s judgement, through the dark awful forest reaching at him, grabbing at his clothes, hunting him through damp woods. 

There’s relief in the sting of needles. Though agonising, every needle pushes him deeper into numb slumber; he walks and talks, but is dead inside. His saving grace comes in the form of Phyllis Baxter and her infinite capacity for kindness and forgiveness.

It’s still not enough. He’s still in the forest, dark and alone. His skin is broken and his sense of self sliced open.

Several months of fighting himself through desperate calls for help culminate in spilling blood with intention, washing out all that makes him rotten. He’s saved again by Phyllis, but feels like he’s in a glass coffin: their voices reach him muffled and they stare at him like he’s a walking corpse (and he feels like one, too) and the apple piece taunts him, stuck in his throat, never-moving and ever-expanding. He’s bitten off more than he can chew - and the dread is utterly familiar, the way he can’t breathe from the panic in his chest, the way he’d felt when Jimmy had pushed him away into the cold hallway - and it sits there, always growing.

Finding back to himself is hard, but he’s supported in his journey. Step by step, the forest’s colours lighten and birds chirp in beautiful harmony. There’s still dread in the back of his throat - he learns to breathe around it.

In the end, whichever prince he meets along the way - because the story does not stop with finding love, not by a long shot - he will still have to find ways of saving himself from the glass coffin and spitting out the remaining apple chunk. He's not a damsel in distress, after all.

Happily ever after is not in reach, but he sees it gleaming on the horizon.