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ameagrice · 9 months

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chapter thirty | fine line

percy jackson x fem reader

There are silver streaks shared by Annabeth and Percy, scattered through their hair.

It’s something that will connect them forever, you know for certain. It’s a symbol of a shared strength.

It’s just one more thing to make your heart melt.

Realistically, you should feel nothing but proud of them both, and in your own way, you do. But there has been too much loss to feel any sort of good from the ending, and you can’t get Zoe Nightshade’s death from your mind.

“I can see the stars, my lady,” she whispered, so gently you’d barely heard her at all. The wound on her side gaped, and bled, the golden ichor of an immortal on her way out. An inch of a smile appeared on her face, struggling, before it dropped, and the light faded from Zoe Nightshade’s eyes. A wisp of silvery light lifted from her lips, drifting up into the air, before it, too, faded.

In the sky, the stars showed an image of a girl, running across the sky. Zoe Nightshade had, finally, found her peace.

Atlas was in his rightful place. His daughter had been stolen from the world. Luke Castellan was kicked to his death by Thalia’s action.

Except, they couldn’t find a body.

Body, upon body, upon body. They just kept piling up.

Bianca; Zoe; Luke. Lost lives; people who could have had so much more than they were given.

But Gods who couldn’t care any less.

And if you had to, you’d bet they didn’t even know their names.

You could see now, just why Luke was so angry. Because you felt it too. And it was terrifying.

“You don’t believe me about Luke,” Annabeth said, sounding faded amongst your thoughts. “We’ll see him again. He’s just under Kronos’s spell.”

Thalia jolted away, somehow seemingly unbothered by the height at which you travelled in the sky, Artemis in the lead. “There it is,” she pointed, sitting up. “It’s started.”

“What’s started?” Percy leaned forward, catching your hair between his hand on the seat he held onto. You didn’t say anything.

High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own island of light. A mountain ablaze with torches and braziers.

“The Winter Solstice,” she breathed. “The Council of the Gods.”

In the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colors, from bloodred to indigo. Apparently no one ever slept on Olympus. The twisting streets were full of demigods and nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by Cyclopes. Winter didn’t seem to exist here. The scent of the gardens in full bloom, jasmine and roses and even sweeter filled your senses. Music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes.

Towering at the peak of the mountain was the greatest palace of all, the glowing white hall of the gods.

You touched ground outside towering, silver gates, just inside the courtyard. Pegasi travel was rather terrifying, and you were much more than glad to be alive and on the ground. Olympus glowed with warm, the kind that settled in your bones. The warm wind, blowing from nowhere, shifted your hair when you clambered down to the ground.

“Yeah,” Percy muttered.

“Huh?”

Percy froze. “Uh—the horse. Sorry! Pegasi.”

A laugh escaped you, startling in the night. Thalia turned, eyebrow raised. “Why are you talking to a horse? It didn’t say anything.”

“Didn’t I tell you? Haven’t I told you?” He averted his gaze.

“What,” you landed your hand on your hip, waving the other to the pegasi. “You talk to animals now, too, like Grover?”

“Just sea creatures. And horses. Pegasi, sorry!”

“Yeah, you’ll really have to explain that later,” you trailed off. “We’ve got more important matters at hand.”

The Pegasi flew off, leaving yourself, Percy, Thalia and your sister together. You liked to think, years later, laying on the glass floor of a ship, that you were all trying to gather the courage after everything to step inside the giant building, and face gods you had once only ever heard about in stories.

Side-by-side, you walked into the throne room.

Twelve enormous thrones made a U around a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp. The ceiling above glittered with constellations—even the newest one, Zoë the Huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn.

All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about fifteen feet tall. Under their judging eyes, despite your own mother being one of them, you were uncomfortable.

“Welcome, heroes,” Artemis said.

“Mooo!”

That was when you noticed Bessie and Grover, the latter standing at the side of a pool of water which Bessie swam in.

“Grover! You made it.”

He started to run towards your friends, then stopped, and looked back at Zeus, who up close, felt a lot scarier than he looked. You only realized then, that there was a major difference in terror of humans, and the intimidation of gods. You could deal with this kind.

“Go on,” Zeus nodded once. But he wasn’t looking at Grover—he was looking at Thalia.

None of the gods spoke. Grover’s hooves echoed on the marble floor, Bessie the Ophiotaurus mooing warmly at your arrival.

You took the time to observe the gods up close, because you might never get the chance to again. Artemis, looking as if she hadn’t ever even been hold hostage, watched the exchange between Percy and Grover. Percy’s father, Poseidon, dressed so casually you might have laughed in other circumstances, had this sort of barely-there smile on his face, bright eyes shining just the way Percy’s own did, too. Apollo, sunglasses covering his eyes, had his earbuds in, golden head of hair tilted back to the ceiling. And…

Ares. It was impossible to not feel him looking at you. Why the special interest, you wanted to ask. Do you see yourself in me? You wondered. Do I see myself in you?

Your eyes met his dark ones, a stark difference, between the extreme fatigue, and the colors. Your eyes burned with exhaustion and the tears you had shed since yesterday. He wore his signature black leather jacket, dark, dark hair being tousled by Aphrodite’s touch. When it was obvious her husband wasn’t looking at her, perched at his side, her love-ridden smile slowly fell away, and those sparkling eyes fell on you as well.

Or maybe it’s you, I see myself in. Too romantic. Too caught up in feelings. After all, you only had so much love to spare between friends, and the dead ones.

What do you see in me? You were desperate to ask, curiosity clawing at your chest. Why am I the way I am?

Gods sometimes took a special interest in heroes. All the tales told you so. You just had to wonder, what would come of this.

Ragged and bruised, you felt as though you were being picked apart under the watchful eyes of so many olympians.

You hadn’t realized Grover was doing the rounds until he yanked you into a hug. You found it in yourself to hug him back—at least he was still alive.

“Glad you made it,” you whispered.

“You too.” He nodded. Neither of you smelled amazing after this quest, but it went uncared for. A trouble shared is a trouble deeply understood.

“You have to convince them,” he said to the remaining four of you. “They can’t do it!”

“Do what?” You blinked.

“Heroes,” Artemis called. The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked toward your little group, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face. She seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

“The Council has been informed of your deeds,” Artemis spoke loudly, addressing everyone in a steady, clear tone. “They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas’s attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act.”

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the olympians, as if they weren’t all happy with this plan, but nobody protested.

“At my Lord Zeus’s command,” Artemis said, “my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans’ cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes…”

She turned to face the other immortals.

And that, was the moment you saw your mother for the first time.

Dressed in a beautiful white dress, draped over one shoulder, her eyes, as gray as your own, as gray as Annabeth’s appeared lost in thought. You took the chance to just look at the woman you never thought you would meet.

“I gotta say—” Apollo cleared his throat. “These heroes did okay.” He began to recite. “Heroes win laurels—”

“Um, yes, first class,” Hermes interrupted with a side-eye in his brother’s direction. You were unable to help the smirk. “All in favor of not disintegrating them?”

A few tentative hands went up: Aphrodite, Demeter, Apollo—waving his iPod.

“Hang on a minute,” Ares growled, sitting up on his throne. He pointed at Thalia and Percy, on the other side of Annabeth. “These two are dangerous. It’d be much safer, while we’ve got them here—”

Don’t say anything, you begged yourself. Even Annabeth elbowed you.

“Ares,” Poseidon interrupted. “They are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits.”

“Nor my daughter,” grumbled Zeus. “She has done well.”

You leaned forward around your sister, who visibly shook, pale, in need of a lie down from the looks of things. Thalia blushed—you grinned wickedly. All the things you could do with this moment in the future.

Athena cleared her throat. Annabeth sighed. The goddess leaned forward. “I am proud of my daughters, as well. But I agree—there is a security issue with the other two.”

Annabeth elbowed you a little too late, this time.

“Mother!” You exclaimed.

Your heart dropped and splattered on the ground. Never had you addressed her as such. And never had she looked you in the face the way she did now.

Too late to back out, now.

“How can you just—”

Athena cut you off with a girl, but calm look. “It is unfortunate that my father, Zeus, and my uncle, Poseidon, chose to break their oath not to have more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic. As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods…such as Thalia and Percy…are dangerous. As thickheaded as he is, Ares has a point.”

“Right!” Ares said. “Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin’—”

He started to get up, but a grape vine grew around his waist like a seat belt and pulled him back down.

“Oh, please, Ares,” Dionysus sighed. “Save the fighting for later.”

Ares cursed and ripped away the vine. “You’re one to talk, you old drunk. You seriously want to protect these brats?”

Dionysus gazed wearily. “I have no love for them. Athena, do you really think it wise to destroy them?”

“I do not pass judgement,” she said. “I only point out the risk. What we do, the Council must decide.”

“I will not have them punished,” Artemis cut in hotly. “I will have them rewarded. If we punish heroes who do us such a great favour, then we are no better than the titans, are we not? If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it.”

“Calm down, sis,” Apollo scoffed. “Chill. Jeez, you need to lighten up.”

“Don’t call me sis! I will reward them!”

“Well, perhaps. But the monster must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?”

“Bessie?” Percy burst out. “You want to destroy Bessie?”

Your heart swelled. Gosh, he cared. It was lovely.

And then you wanted to slap yourself.

What was up with the emotions lately?

Poseidon frowned. “You have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?”

“Dad,” Percy said. “He’s just a sea creature. A really nice sea creature. You can’t destroy him.”

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably, a trait Percy shared with him, you noted. “Percy, it’s power is considerable. If the titans were to steal it, or—”

“You can’t,” Percy insisted.

Zeus opened his mouth, looking as though he was getting antsier by the second. But you had experience with this sort of thing that needed a good negotiation, so you cut in.

“Controlling the prophecies never works. Isn’t that true?” You tried, stepping forward. All eyes landed on you, and you swallowed. “Have we not just experienced it? Are we not experiencing it now? The Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing something like that is wrong. It’s as wrong as Kronos eating his children just because of something they might do.”

Zeus looked to be considering it. You breathed heavily, in a mild panic after consulting the king of the gods head on. If he wanted to, you could be zapped out of existence in less than a second.

“And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast’s entrails you would have the power to destroy all of us. Do you think we can let this possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says.”

“You have to trust them,” you tried, pleading with your eyes. “Please, you have to trust them.”

Zeus scowled. “Trust a hero?”

“She is right,” Artemis nodded slowly. “Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one, but first, father Zeus, I must speak with you privately.”

Zeus beckoned Artemis forward, leaning to listen as she whispered to him.

“Annabeth,” Percy whispered from behind you. “Don’t.”

“What?”

“Look, I need to tell you something. I couldn’t stand it if—I don’t want you to—”

Artemis turned. “I will have a new lieutenant, if she will accept it. Thalia, daughter of Zeus, will you join the Hunt?”

Your jaw almost dropped. Stunned silence filled the room.

“I will,” Thalia said firmly. She moved to your side, and then a little bit further ahead. Confident.

Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. “My daughter, consider well—”

Don’t let him change your mind, you prayed. Hold your ground.

“Father, I will not turn sixteen tomorrow,” she shook her head. “I will never turn sixteen. I won’t let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will not tempt me again.”

She knelt down before Artemis, and repeated the same words Bianca had uttered what felt like years ago at the cliff side in the snow and weary sunlight.

When she had finished, she hugged each of you and said a few words. You felt awkward, putting your hands into your coat pockets, when Thalia stood in front of you. For once, there was no spiteful comments from either one of you. She smiled small, looking rejuvenated the same way Bianca had, as if the quest had never happened.

“You’re a good friend,” she nodded. “You’re brave. You’ve got what it takes to help them with this prophecy.” And then she leaned in, and hugged you just as she had with Annabeth and Grover and Percy. “Trust yourself.”

Thalia went and stood with Artemis, and the atmosphere changed instantly.

“Now, for the Ophiotaurus.”

“The boy is still dangerous,” Mr. D. opposed. The beast is a temptation to great power. Even if we spare the boy—”

“No.” Percy said firmly. “Please. Keep the Ophiotaurus safe. My dad can hide him under the sea somewhere, or keep him in an aquarium here. But you have to protect him.”

“And why should we trust you?”

“I’m only fourteen. If this prophecy is about me, that’s only two more years.”

“Two years for Kronos to deceive you,” Athena uttered. “Much can change in two years, young hero. It is only the truth. It is bad strategy to keep the boy alive. And the animal.”

Poseidon stood. “I will not have the creature destroyed if I can help it. And I can, help it.”

He held out his hand, and a spear shimmering with blue light appeared. “I will vouch for the boy and the safety of the Ophiotaurus.”

“You won’t take it under the sea!” Zeus stood suddenly. “I won’t have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession.”

“Brother, please,” Poseidon sighed.

Zeus’s lightening bolt appeared in his hand, and the whole room filled with the smell of ozone.

“Fine,” Poseidon nodded. “I will build an aquarium for the sea creature here, with the help of Hephaestus. The creature will be safe. The boy will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honor.”

Zeus thought about it. “All in favor?”

A dozen hands went up, besides Mr. D, your mother’s, and Ares just sat looking bored.

“We have a majority. And so, since we are not destroying these heroes, I imagine we should reward them.”

—

There are parties, and then there are Olympian parties. And Olympian parties are filled with gold and beautiful colours, exotic flowers and the Muses music, braziers of fire, and delicious food and drinks. It became busy very quickly, and before you knew it, you found yourself stumbling into a corner to get yourself together. All you wished to do was go to your cabin and cry. To let it all out.

“This doesn’t look like you’re partying.”

“What the hell are you? A spy? Just leave me alone.” You shoved yourself further into the corner just away from all the partying, a quiet corridor devoid of anything but cold marble and tall, golden ceilings.

Ares hummed lowly. You didn’t have to see him, shoved into the corner like a child, but you knew he was just on the other side of it.

“I’ll let you off just this once, demigod.”

You rolled your eyes. The marble edges dug into your back uncomfortably from how hard you were trying to disappear for a few minutes. “What do you want? Spit it out.”

“If you weren’t her’s, I would say you’re one of mine. You’ve got the fire, I’ll give you that. And my wife has taken a special interest in you and that boy. Her business is my business, you’ll understand. Since you’re her business, now, you’re my business, too.”

You wanted to scream at him to leave, to go away so you could breathe for five minutes. But…you really wanted to know what he had to say. Curiosity always got the better of you.

“I don’t want to be anybody’s business,” you settled on, weakly. “I’m my own person.”

“Whatever, kid. I’m just here to pass along a message.”

“Which is?”

“She says, you’re doing exactly what you should be doing.”

“Oh, really?”

You shoved away from the corner, and paused.

He’d already gone.

—

Making your way back into the crowd was the last thing you wanted to do, but it would be best to show your face for a little while. Eventually you made your way back to Percy. He smiled as you popped up next to him, and then slowly frowned. His green eyes glistened under all the lights.

“You’ve been crying,” he reached up, and then lowered his hand, unsure of what to do.

You laughed pitifully. “Yeah.”

Because, really, what more could you say? It was rather obvious. And you sounded as if you’d just developed the world’s worst cold and stuffy nose.

Percy still stared at you, concerned. It was touching, really.

“I’m just tired.” You nodded. “I promise. When we get back to camp you might not see me for a couple weeks. I’m about to fall off the face of the earth in sleep mode.”

He smiled, tight-lipped, those eyes dancing across your face. For the first time ever under Percy’s eyes, you felt self-conscious.

“I’ll clean up later. My dad always says I look like I’ve just done thirty rounds of coke after crying. It’s funny because it’s true,” you tried lightly.

Percy’s dark curls shook. “No,” he denied. “I think you look…I think you look pretty—uh—I mean—”

Your heart jumped into your throat, and suddenly it was difficult to breathe. Because AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

“Uhm—” you frantically tried for something to do; hair behind your ears, leaning back and forth on your heels. “Thank you. Thanks.” Heat flooded your cheeks. Percy was already scarlet in the face, nodding frantically, avoiding your eyes.

When you looked up, Athena watched from a distance, and then looked away, as if she hadn’t been interested at all. But you weren’t about to let her ruin what just happened—Percy called you pretty.

“I was thinking,” he shoved out. You turned your head, blinking expectantly. “I owe you a dance, don’t I? We got interrupted at Westover Hall, right?”

This time, you allowed yourself to smile, your heart and lungs expanding.

“Right.” You took his hand, shaking.

The music played on, a gentle tune of the future, the past, and the present.

—

Chiron greeted you all at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off to his satyr friends, telling them all about his brief experience with Pan.

Annabeth, Percy and yourself sat with Chiron by the fire. A couple of others joined you, too—Clarisse, back from a quest of her own it seemed. Her hair was cut short, like somebody had hacked it with scissors without a care, and there was a jagged scar on her chin. For once, she kept quiet.

“I got news,” she said glumly. “Bad news.”

“I’ll fill you in later,” Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. “The important thing is you’ve prevailed. And you’ve saved Annabeth!”

The Stoll brothers were there, too. You hadn’t even looked Travis in the eye. The high of the short dance with Percy had worn off, that tiny spark of normality had gone, and left you with the sadness you’d been feeling before it. You struggled with getting Bianca and Zoe’s deaths from the front of your mind, and Thalia’s moving on. Everybody was leaving, it felt like. And everybody was too happy for what had happened along the way.

Percy, sitting next to you in front of the fire, felt the same. You could tell by the sheer look of something bordering on a deep sadness he had.

You didn’t speak.

Annabeth talked about Atlas, and where she had been kept. She yawned the whole way through, still shaking with weakness even after some ambrosia.

Chiron’s positivity spread a little bit to you tired campers, but in the end, the unwavering need to go somewhere and cry won. You set down your mug of hot chocolate, and walked away. Another chair scratched the floor behind you, as you walked away toward the fields.

“Let her be,” you heard Chiron utter. “She needs time.”

You heard happy babbling just as you wandered away, boyish, childish talking. You looked to the left, and there was Nico di Angelo, two figurines in hands, talking to himself the way children tend to do. Every organ in your body twisted painfully, and you got away before he could see you. You couldn’t be the one to tell him Bianca was long gone. You still didn’t want to believe it yourself.

The air was bitter cold, your fingertips numb already. Snow fell lightly as you wandered into where you probably shouldn’t have been. You didn’t get far until his voice caught you up.

“Scout?”

You stopped, the snow crunching quietly. Behind you, Travis grew closer until he was right in front of you. You hadn’t even realized how tall he’d gotten until you saw him again, like seeing him in a different light.

Bundled in a red sweater and jeans, a coat and scarf atop of that, he still shivered.

“I just need to go for a walk. I’ll be alright later.” You shrugged.

Silence captured the air. Until he said, “Chiron…mentioned what happened to Nico’s sister. And the Hunter girl. Zoe. I’m—I’m so sorry.”

The first tear fell without any effort. And then you grew too cold too quickly. And crumbled.

He enveloped you instantly, as if without thought—like the action would be unknown, to hesitate in your arms. Against his warm, soft chest, Travis’s heart beat gently against your ear, his hands coming up carefully to your back, to your shoulder.

Safety.

And at the end of it—Travis.

You allowed yourself the tears. Your hands scrunched at his shirt. He smelled of the outside weather, of wind

of life.

—

PAIN. So, we’ve reached the end of Titans Curse! How are we feeling so far about relationships and eve thing? Feedback is always appreciated!

taglist: @bl6o6dy @embersparklz @lilyevanswhore @rottenstyx @rory-cakes @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual @marshmallow12435 @lantsovheiress @distinguishedmakerpandapatrol @twsssmlmaa @gayandfairycore @padsfirewhisky @emu281 @charlesswife @jessiegerl @crackerphobic20 @mata0-0mata @jccc1000 @xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @nothankyou138 @i-love-books-and-the-bible @obxstiles

if they’re not highlighted, it wouldn’t let me tag you!

this chapter’s quite short. I didn’t want to drag it out too much.

aaaaand I’ve added a few more songs to the playlist (on my profile if you don’t have it saved!) if you want to give them a listen. thanks for reading!

#capsize #percy jackson #pjo #asks #leo valdez #annabeth chase #jason grace #nico di angelo #percy jackson x reader #pjo x reader #Percy Jackson x yn #Percy Jackson series #Travis stoll #connor stoll x reader #Travis x reader #Travis stoll x reader #ares

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clydethesnake · 1 year

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Ocean Eyes

Prince!Bucky Barnes x Pirate!Reader

warnings: cursing, violence (they're pirates), angst, fluff

word count: 5.7k

synopsis: After narrowly escaping the royal guards who were looking for him after sneaking out, Prince James takes refuge unknowingly in the ship of one of the most notorious groups of pirates out there. Now, he not only has to navigate his way through life being captured on a pirate ship, but he also has to deal with the fact that the captain is one of the most attractive women he's met.

a/n: i love pirate aus so much and thought that there is not nearly enough where you are the pirate, so here. this took me forever and im so proud of it so i hope you like <33

The village was bustling with people as Prince James walked out of the warm tavern. The sun was high, making James sweat under the black cloak he was wearing in an attempt to conceal his identity. There were royal guards patrolling, looking for the Prince who left the castle unannounced, so a panic was in the air as they were trying to find the boy.

James saw them, silver chestplated men, swords in sheaths as they frantically asked people about him, while they marched their boots and the hooves of the horses around the fishing village. It was sure to cause an uproar if the people had caught wind of the news of the Prince’s disappearance. He was one of the only fully liked royals since the disease that was making its rounds through the village years ago. Of course, the village had recovered, but the people who lost family and friends had not forgiven the king for his lack of help during the awful times. James was lucky, he was only 14 by then, unable to do anything but watch the anguish come from his people.

Suddenly, the Prince caught the eye of a guard, one he disliked at that. Out of panic, James started running towards the docks desperately, stumbling over poor merchants barrels of food and tables of intricate jewels. Shouting out apologies left and right, his boot clad feet were pushing him onto a large ship, not noticing the cynical eyes of the skull on the flag flying high next to the unnaturally clean sails. He hid behind some crates which fully concealed his body while he watched the guard who just saw him frantically shout some things to the others and take off in the direction he went.

His plan was simple; wait until the guards left to look outside of the village, then leave the ship and make his way back to the castle. Easy right? That's what he told himself before multiple voices started shouting various things in slurred speech that he couldn’t quite make out from his loud heartbeat and bangs from the main deck, before the guards started getting smaller, turning into ants in the distance.

The boy was in panic; breathing becoming accelerated and palms sweating excessively as he did when he was nervous. This is beyond nervous. It was supposed to be an easy day; sneak out of the castle without accidentally notifying the guards, have a drink at the tavern he regularly visits, wander around the village and pick out a necklace or two for his mother’s birthday. And now he was on a moving ship, the village he calls home a mere blur in the distance.

His elongated visit on the ship was only going to get worse as two men approached him. The Prince’s vision went black as the younger of the two hit him over the head, successfully knocking the man out. The older took off the cloak and picked James up by the back of his shirt, hauling him over to the group of people on the other side of the deck.

“We have a stowaway on board, where do you want him, captain?” Sam asked you, Prince still in hand.

“Tie him to the mast.” Your voice came out uncaring as you waved your hand dismissively in the man’s direction, looking over at the horizon. “We’re set for Gamswell.” Gamswell was a nasty place. It was full of cheap prostitutes and drunken pirates. However, your crew insisted on visiting, wanting to experience the thrills and adventures of Gamswell. Having been there a multitude of times, you were hesitant, but saw the excitement on your men’s faces and decided to allow it.

Swinging over the railings you land a few metres away from the mast as the man wakes up. He has a small cut on his right cheek -you assume from the hit from Sam- and is wearing a basic white tunic and trousers. His shoes look expensive, a large contrast to the generally basic and cheap outfit.

You raise your eyebrow looking at the expensive looking rings adorning his dirty hands, and a single gold chain with a charm laying on his slightly exposed chest. “This guy don’t look poor.” You told Sam, who was still next to you, admiring the expensive jewels covering different parts of his body.

Before the conversation can carry on, the man starts to groan before his eyes shoot open. “Who are you?” He sounds nervous as he figures out what’s happened.

You narrow your eyes suspiciously at the man before carding your fingers through his short hair and yanking his head up to meet his eyes. “Who are you? What are you doing on my ship!?” You stare into his eyes.

“I’m sorry! I was running away from some guards and ended up here. I promise I didn’t mean to invade.” You look into his steel blue eyes with suspicion, “My name’s James Barnes.” He told you, honesty seeping through his voice. He definitely didn’t want to anger you anymore than you already seemed. You let go of his head and stepped back next to Sam.

You looked back at the man next to you and shrugged, while he gave you a big, malicious smirk and walked off to take the wheel from Peter.

“Listen, just drop me off at the next port and I’ll be out of your hair.” The man on the mast looked up to meet your eyes once your first mate had walked away.

“And what makes you think I’d listen to you? You sneak aboard my ship and you’re asking to be let free? Boy, you don’t know pirates at all.” You shook your head in mock disappointment before moving closer to him once again, face now serious, “what about you would make me want to let you free so early on? I could use an extra helping hand.” You grinned maniacally before stepping back once again, “Welcome aboard The Serpent’s Revenge, James Barnes.”

You almost felt bad for the man, but this is what happens to stowaways on your ship, they get tied to the mast and damned to the icy depths of the sea after accidentally coming loose during a particularly rough storm. It has happened a multitude of times, each time bringing an uncomfortable weight on your shoulders but it had to happen. Men like these were unfortunate creatures, they get their egos chipped away by you after challenging you to a duel, or attempting a one person mutiny against you as a pathetic try in stealing your pride and joy, The Serpent’s Revenge. However, they never stayed long throughout their attempts at driving a sword through your heart, or escaping the mast, which usually resulted in a shot between the eyes from Clint, who was usually found scouting in the crow’s nest day and night.

It had been days since the stray prince made his way onto your ship. It had been days since he was first tied to the mast. There was a sort of sympathy you felt for the poor boy, something you’ve never felt for stowaways before. Deciding to listen to the angel on your shoulder rather than the devil, you decided to let him down during a storm, which you had sailed right into on your quest to Gamswell.

The rain beat heavily down on polished wood and thunder clapped around you as you were searching for your first mate, who you saw ordering men around, surrounded by people grabbing buckets and throwing water back overboard. “Sam! Take him down to the brig!!” You shout to the man, who dropped the bucket he was holding and ran over to the passed out prince.

Everything after that was a bit blurry. You were still at the wheel, guiding your crew through the rough waters and loud shouts of overthrown men. After a night of battling the large, desecrating waves you were able to rest, your crew being happy to allow you to retreat to your quarters early morn.

James was still tied up, though he was now in one of the cells that were below deck. Every once-in-a-while, someone would bring down some scraps, a small bottle of rum and whatever else you didn’t need to keep him alive, but just enough for him to not be any real trouble.

You felt sympathy for the boy, knowing what it's like to be kept in a cell, tied up while people's normal lives continued on around you, completely ignoring you. However, you knew what you had to do, and kept him suffering in the iron bars a while longer, though you did decide to throw him out at Gamswell, which, arguably, is worse than being locked in a damp cell.

There was only a couple times that you actually visited the cell, to give the man some food, and to make sure he hadn’t escaped or died or anything. He did get some visitors after a ship had attacked you, a futile attempt at taking down the most notorious group of pirates. However, the visit was short lived once your crew chopped the men down one by one, not before they took a glance at you, however, a well known pirate for leaving no survivors, and the for the fact that you were a woman, of course.

Superstitious bastards.

The monotonous drip of leaking seawater was all that entered James’ ears, along with the drunken singing of your men and harsh footsteps above him. His blue eyes were disorientated as they looked around, not staying in one place for long before studying another part of the worn down wood that made up the ceiling. He lay in the corner of his cell, feeling the cool metal of the cell behind him, taking in deep breaths of salty air that was seeping through the small cracks in the walls.

Wasn’t he feasting on large, hearty meals and sipping on the best wine only weeks ago?

It felt like months.

There hadn’t been anyone down to visit him in a couple of days, seemingly forgetting about his body, soon to be rotting in the cold cell by himself.

During his wallowing in self-pity, his ringing ears didn’t pick up on the heavy footsteps coming down to greet him. His ocean eyes looked up, seeing your familiar dusty brown boots and long leather jacket.

You roll your eyes and shake your head in mock offence, “Don’t seem too surprised to see me.”

James’ eyebrows furrow, “I’m not exactly pleased. You did lock me in here.” He says before sitting up to get a better view of you, blood rushing back to his head making him feel dizzy for a minute.

“Yeah, sorry about that, love.” You laugh mockingly, before chucking a small flask into the cell as well as handing him a bowl of small scraps of leftover fish and potatoes that they still had from when James first appeared on their ship after stopping. It was probably the most food he’d had in the last few days, which James was happy for.

“What happened to me eating fish bones?” James questioned curiously, looking up to meet your eyes.

You tilt your head condescendingly, “What? Would you rather go back to that?” The brunette backs down instantly, taking the small metal bowl from your hand and sitting back in the corner of the cell and digging in, watching your retreating figure walking casually up the stairs.

Much to his surprise, you come back down only minutes later, a key in your right hand. “Thought you would’ve finished by now.” You snorted in amusement, a clinking noise followed by a loud creak being heard as you opened the door to the cell. You both start walking up the first flight of stairs to the hammocks where one or two men were wiping the floors.

James looked surprised, “Why are you letting me go?” He asks incredulously.

“Because, we have reached our destination.” You continue to walk up the stairs as he watches you from behind.

He follows you up the stairs with a confused expression, though you could not see it.

“Usually, I would keep stowaways on board until their bodies slip from under the ropes from the mast during a storm and get thrown overboard from not being able to hold themselves up, or keep ‘em in the brig till they rot.” James pulls a face as you continue, “I decided to have mercy on you and drop you off at the next pirate port, though I must warn you, it isn’t the loveliest of places.” You explain to the boy, who is now not looking the happiest and throw him a dopey smile as you reach the wheel.

The moon was high in the sky as you reached Gamswell, the air chillier than expected. You could feel the excitement radiate throughout the ship, though you and James were not feeling the same way. Sam’s face lit up as he took a look at the bustling town reaching the end of the bay at the docks, where you had just arrived. “Thank you so much, Captain.” He shook your arm slightly with excitement before climbing onto the wooden docks taking him into the heart of the village.

James was standing beside you, watching the relaxed expression on your face slowly dissipate as you docked. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like it here. Maybe he could convince you otherwise, to drop him at a different port. Or maybe he could join your crew? It wasn’t something he ever considered, but surely it would be better than whatever was waiting for him in this vile village.

The water was twinkling like the stars currently in the sky off the side of the docks as you and James slowly followed off the ship. James now knew what you meant by ‘it is not the loveliest of places’, there were prostitutes with their chests out, singing drunken sea shanties with wasted sailors and pirates looking for a good time. Fights were breaking out all over the place, people shooting and stabbing each other over the smallest of issues. It’ll definitely linger.

“Charming little village, ain’t it?” You smiled at the man, who was silently freaking out at the thought of being left here with nothing but a name.

James pinched his nose together to avoid the smell as much as possible as you made your way to a small tavern, which was not too occupied. There were a few people engaged in heated arguments, looking like they’re on the verge of a fight and drunken pirates singing lively songs with women on their arms. It gave a warm feeling, though it was far from James’ preferred place to be. You escorted him to a small table close to the corner, further away from the sudden fist fights and immediately left to get drinks.

“You aren’t actually going to leave me here, are you?” He gives you a small look as you return with two mugs of mead in an attempt at making you feel bad.

“I’m sorry, love, but there’s not much I can do about that. Unless you are willing to become a part of the crew.” You shrug, taking a big sip out of the mug and smiling at a pirate who winked at you from the bar.

There was a few seconds of silence before he spoke again, “What if I am?”

You turn around to meet his eyes, finding them completely serious, “If you are, then I suppose we could find you a spot amongst the crew.” Now, normally you wouldn’t offer that kind of hospitality, but you had a soft spot for the man. You don’t know what’s come over you, what happened to no remorse for stowaways? Either way, you couldn’t resist those bright blue eyes, seemingly having found their shine outside of the cell he had been locked in.

“Thank you so much! I-”

He got cut off by another voice, “Hey! Don’t that look like the missin’ prince?” The voice was gravelly as a dirty finger pointed towards the man sitting in front of you, along with several other voices that agreed with him.

Your eyebrows furrowed as James spoke up, quickly dismissing the dirty man, “No! I’m not.” It was almost suspicious the pace that he did, but you decided to ignore it and return your focus back on the brunette.

“I sure hope you’re not, fuck the royals.” You curse, taking a big swig from your mug of mead.

“Y-yeah, don’t worry. I’m far from a prince.” James mimics you nervously, also drinking.

The night went on with drinking and more drinking, you both becoming progressively more drunk. You were both dancing, arm in arm, to a sea shanty that was being bellowed significantly louder than it was when people were more sober. You were being tossed around, twirling around with different men, only taking a break for a sip from the canteen of rum strapped to your belt. It was well through the night before you both decided to leave and find a room to sleep.

The streets were still lively, though not as much as it was before you entered the tavern. The dirt roads were illuminated by the golden candlelight of the occasional lamps scattered around on buildings.

You stopped before a large building, from the outside, it looked old, cozy and rather welcoming. Large stacked stones and hardwood pillars make up the outer structure, a golden glow coming from the lamps resting over the glass acting as windows. From the outside, you can see that it’s not that busy, knowing that it is now a lot later than you intended to be, but you could still hear the hustling and bustling of hardworking people on the inside. You both enter, feeling the warmth contrasting the slightly chilly air outside.

You immediately recognise the man at the front desk, having met him years ago when he joined your crew.

“Y/N! What a lovely sight!” The french man greets you with a warm smile. He almost doesn’t belong here, such a sweet person in such a nasty place, but looks can deceive. Éric Garreau was an ex-pirate, he was a ruthless member of your crew, until one day he decided that he wanted to settle down, having had enough of the unpredictable life of a pirate. Of course you were sad when such a valued crew member and friend decided to abandon ship on your second stop in Gamswell, but you were happy when he came to you to tell you his true feelings instead of trying to hide it. Now he was married with a child on the way and a successful business, and you couldn’t be happier for him.

“Éric!” You opened your arms wide, allowing the large man to engulf you in a hug.

“I see you’ve come here with a man again, a single room I’m guessing?” He tried to joke and you laughed, but James beside you furrowed his eyebrows.

“Unfortunately not tonight, Éric. How about two rooms?” You try to play it off, not letting James see your flaming cheeks at the insinuation. Éric gets the hint and goes behind the counter to grab your two keys.

“Oh! You must join us for breakfast, Elise has asked about you recently.” He smiled genuinely, passing you and James each a silver key.

“I’d love to.” You nod your head politely; something James had never seen you be before, it almost makes him respect you a little more.

“And your friend is more than welcome to come too.” Éric continues with his teasing, getting a kick out of making his friend blush and attempting to hide it.

“Thanks Éric…” You roll your eyes jokingly at the man before heading towards the creaky stairs in the corner, dimly illuminated with two candles meticulously placed on the bannister. You and James part ways not long after, him creaking open the door next to yours, playfully saluting.

It wasn’t long after your head hit the lumpy pillow that you fell fast asleep.

Despite your words to Éric last night, it was agreed to set sail early morn with your new crew member, and unfortunately wouldn’t be able to catch up with Elise and Éric. As much as you wanted to, your loyalty and heart lies with the Serpent’s Revenge and devoted crew. You couldn’t even imagine the uproar it will cause when you announce that the previous stowaway is now joining the crew initially, but it will be sure to end in a joyous night of rambunctious laughter and booze.

The sun was high over the horizon by the time you set sail, merchants just setting up their stalls by the docks and deserted taverns reopening slowly. You could smell the sea, the comforting smell settling deep in your bones as you looked over the wheel. All was peaceful.

It was like that for days. The crew bustled around the deck; James even helped out here and there.

“Sure you know what you’re doin’?” You question the brunette, watching him hold the wheel and turn it cautiously. “It’s not that delicate, you don’t have to hold it like china!” You scold as he strengthens his weak grip on the wheel and becomes more confident, “That’s it!” You smile at him, something you’ve found yourself doing a lot more around him recently. Maybe he’ll be more useful than I thought.

“A-Am I?” He asks in mild shock, smiling back eagerly.

The moment was interrupted as Clint shouts down from the crow’s nest, “Uhh, Captain. We’ve got an issue!” He slides down the rope, “Royal Navy.” He says simply, but you can sense the fear in his voice.

“It’s not a problem, we’ve taken them before!” You shout, trying to reassure your crew.

“Yeah, Captain, at the cost of many men.” Sam looks towards you dubiously, eyebrows furrowed as your men agree.

You scowl, “Raise the jolly roger.” Is your final order before your crew disperse, raising your flag and preparing for the battle. You turn back to James, who has a worried look on his face, “You got a problem?” You ask, raising an eyebrow.

“You’ve really fought the navy before?” He seems shocked.

“You don’t just come across other pirates on the seas, James. We’re ‘criminals’, wanted people.” As much as you hate to admit it, you were named criminals for wanting to be free. For wanting a life on the sea. “Good luck.” Were your last words, hearing your crew shout louder as the ship comes closer, firing cannons towards the delicate wood.

You saw the officers in their blue navy uniforms, delicate buttons and powdered wigs and scoffed. Why should they and the royal family get all of these expensive jewels and money to show off how rich they are when your family suffered for food each day? Why should they get to live in their country estates and grand palaces while they watch their people suffer with disease and poverty? It’s pathetic. For years you suffered, watched your family become ridden with disease when you were only a child before you fled. There was nothing left for you there. From then on, a hatred for the royals grew and grew as the memories repeated in the dead of night. Your crew have all come from similar backgrounds; poverty and disease. Maybe it’s why the bond is so strong. Why you’ve been able to become one of the most feared pirates to sail the seas. And you’re proud of that title.

This crew was the only family you had left.

And you’d be damned to lose them to some entitled snobs.

You had been fighting for hours.

Your arms ached, ears rang and head pounded.

You hadn’t seen James for hours, you only wished he hadn’t been killed. It was only then you saw him; injured on the deck. He was hiding behind a crate, in a similar position to how he was found, and he was holding his stomach where blood was soaking into his white shirt. Your heart pounded at the sight, quickly lowering your pistol into the holster on your hip and running to him, sure to avoid any officers.

His wound was deep, likely from a dagger, you assessed as you came towards him. He looked up, eyes squinting slightly as if he couldn’t quite recognise who you were. “Y-Y/n?” He asked weakly.

“I’m right here, don’t worry.” You applied pressure to his wound, moving his hands out of the way. Luckily you were still out of sight behind a barrel, but you’re sure it won’t be long before you’re found. “I’ve got you, everything’s going to be fine.” You reassure, but it seems more like you’re trying to reassure yourself.

The surroundings were loud; swords clashed in the backgrounds, men shouted and screamed in pain. But it was just the two of you.

It was then you were brought back to reality as you felt cold metal against your neck. Quickly, you took in a sharp inhale as you watched James’ eyes flutter closed.

“Quick! I found the Prince and he’s injured!” A gravelly voice shouts from behind you, the one with the dagger to your neck. He leans closer to your ear, his hot breath hitting the side of your face and you cringe in disgust. “What were you doing with the missing Prince, wench?” He hisses meanly in your ear, but you can only focus on one thing.

Missing Prince.

Your mind raced. How could you have let this happen? You let this rich bastard onto your ship. You should’ve realised who it was, you should have realised that night at the bar. The man said he looked like the missing prince. Anger coursed through your veins at the thought of letting royalty onto your ship, something you swore would never happen.

Then why do you not hate him? A small voice whispers in the back of your mind.

But you refused to listen as you were dragged up by the man, his soot covered hand leaving a handprint on the back of your neck. You watched the Prince get taken away, being carried as carefully as possible by two sailors.

Your nostrils flared and you curled your hands into balls as the man behind you grabbed them and shoved them roughly into iron handcuffs. “I suggest you keep quiet.” And for once, you complied. Normally, you’d talk his ear off to annoy him, but you just wanted to figure out why.

Why would he want to be a part of your crew if he was royalty? He could have anything he wanted, so why would he want to join your crew. He seemed genuine enough, but you should’ve known better.

You were pushed roughly over the gangplank onto the navy’s ship. You couldn’t face your crew, ashamed at the fact you’d allowed royalty onto the ship when everyone had a hatred for them. The officers all sneered at you, faces twisting up in disgust as you were shoved down the stairs and into a cell. The door was left ajar as you were forced into the cell, before being shut roughly and locked with a key the man placed in his pocket. “No escape attempts, alright wench? Or we’ll have a problem.”

You only scoffed, not giving the disgusting man a reaction before sighing deeply and sliding down the wooden wall, facing the cell door.

How the tables have turned.

It must’ve been weeks before you docked.

The cell door was yanked open, making you flinch ever so slightly at the grating noise. A gloved hand wrapped around your arm, pulling you up harshly. You were dragged through the ship, walking past your crew who had also been captured, the few cells almost overflowing with people.

Your dusty boots padded against the wooden floor of the ship as you walked up the stairs. James was nowhere to be found, most likely having already been escorted off the ship.

The sun was bright, beating down on your face almost in punishment as you walked to the cell, where you would await your death.

It hardly seemed fair; being punished for wanting to be free.

Alas, you were handed between guards roughly, each of them dragging you through the stone walls of the fort. You knew where you were headed, where the rest of the captured pirates are shoved together in a singular dusty cell as they wait to be called for the gallows.

You never thought you’d end up here. It was always your assumption that you would live out your life on the high seas, drinking booze with your family and singing sea shanties at the top of your lungs until you passed out on the deck. That was freedom. Not whatever these poor peasants live, and you're sure they would agree.

But everyone’s high streak must come to an end eventually.

Everything passed as a blur from then on. Teasing wolf whistles and jokes came from the other side of the cell, but the energy to stop them wasn’t there. You were taken first. Dragged back out through the walls of the fort and into a courtyard. The small stones and hot dust burn your feet as you’re pushed through the crowd. You looked up, bleary eyes looking for his face. Those ocean eyes.

You spotted them, eyes widening as you saw him there. He was back in noble clothes; a long, decorative coat despite the scorching weather, beige knee breeches and a notable frown on his face.

He mouthed something to you.

I’m sorry.

It was all you could make out before you were shoved up the oak stairs, feet slipping slightly due to your weakening body.

You stood there on the platform, seeing the scowles from the nobles and peasants alike; one similarity you could find between the two classes.

The drums began, loud and menacing, echoing throughout the village, sending shivers through your spine. A loud voice came from behind you, beginning to read the list of your crimes.

“Y/N L/N, accused of piracy and treason against the crown, you are sentenced to hang from the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul.” Your ears rang and head ached with the cheering that followed.

It wasn’t long after your hanging was announced that it happened.

A shot came from a top corner of the fort, hitting the executioner directly in the head. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he hit the ground beside you. It wasn’t long before the shouting started. The crowd was bustling as people made their way through, pushing the spectators to the ground to get through the crowd.

You whipped your head around to where you had seen James. He had a large smile on his face before he rose from his seat, climbing down the large step to push through the crowd towards you.

Sam appeared first, “What? You didn’t think we’d let you die, did you Cap?” He smirked and winked, reaching his hand out to you before realising what he did, “Oops, sorry.” He quickly ran up the steps, stealing the key off the executioner before unlocking your hands and passing you your pistol.

You smiled at the feeling of it back in your hands, “Oh, how I’ve missed you.” You jokingly kiss the barrel, causing Sam to roll his eyes before the Prince reaches the bottom of the platform.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry!” He shouted over the commotion.

You rolled your eyes at him, “We’ve no time for that! We have to get out of here.” You looked around at the rest of your crew fighting the guards, the rest of the guests having fled the fort quickly.

He just nodded before taking out a concealed pistol from his breeches. You raised your eyebrows in surprise, “You know how to use that?” You asked, walking down the stairs to stand next to him.

“I’m sure it can’t be too hard!” He smiled dubiously, raising the pistol and firing the shot directly into the wall. “Uhh…” He turned the gun in his hands a few times, inspecting it, “I think it’s broken.”

Once again, you only roll your eyes before seeing the many more officers come into the fort through the archways, armed with muskets and bayonets, “Shit!”

You look towards Sam just as he strikes down another guard and he only smiles reassuringly, “Don’t worry, cap. We got it. Go get your ship.” He points his gun towards the archway out of the fort.

You grab James’ hand and run. He grips your hand back and squeezes, a small gesture of comfort and reassurance, but also a sorry. You smile at his kindness even in stressful times as you come up to the wall.

He takes off his heavy jacket, leaving it in a heavy heap on the ground and him in just a waistcoat and white shirt. He looks towards you and smiles before stepping up onto the ledge and you do the same.

The water is deceivingly cold as your body hits it. Despite it being a warm day, the water is freezing. You surface, moving the hair out of your face as you meet James’ eyes opposite you.

“You know, I always thought your eyes looked like the ocean.” You smirk at him.

“Oh yeah?” He comes closer towards you, cupping your face in his hands, warming your cheeks slightly before wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Yeah…” You whisper, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him closer, slotting your lips over his. He kisses back eagerly, smiling against you before pulling away.

“I’ve wanted to do that for ages.” He chuckles, his face going slightly pink.

“Have you now?” You go to tease him, but loud shouting comes from beside you both.

“Are you guys gonna get on or what?” Sam shouts down at the two of you before throwing down a rope.

You grab his hand, “Are you sure? You can’t go back after this.”

He only smiles, “I’m sure.”

#bucky barnes oneshot #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes #bucky barnes/reader #bucky barnes x yn #pirate au #marvel #marvel au

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dangerpronebuddie · 5 months

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❤️❤️❤️💯💯💯📢📢👏👏👏#claiming that T is the best thing to ever happen to B is erasing E#who- btw- is a main character outside of B and has his own storylines that don't get near the praise B does#i agree. if they went with E and T like they originally planned the feelings about it would be incredibly different#they'd hate E because he's not completely devoted to B#they hate him anyway for wanting to find happiness#the same thing Bs doing#but B can do it for some reason and E can't#because apparently E only exists for B📢📢📢💯💯💯❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏 So so so so tired of this trend in buddie fandom 😬 love your tags. Keep saying it! Louder!

Hi darling! It really is irritating that so many reduce such a brilliant character to being just the love interest. As someone who identifies a lot with him, it's really frustrating to see that people will diminish him so easily. I've said it before and I'll say it a hundred times more: these characters exist, first and foremost, as their own separate stories. I love Buck, I love Eddie. On their own. I do not ship them simply because I want to see them make out. I think the traits they possess balance each other well. This is six years of love we've seen develop, while witnessing them grow as individuals. Buck finding someone who will stay and Eddie finding someone he's willing to stay with makes for a brilliant pairing. But it takes time for them to realize they have that with each other, and I'm willing to wait.

I do not mind them being with other characters. I have absolutely nothing against those who ship BT. It's like pineapple on pizza- you like it or you don't.

What I mind is people going to the lengths they have been over it all. Because T is a man, he's somehow perfect?? I won't get into why I hate that idea, I feel like I've been on my high horse all day lol. But I will say again that it infuriates me that the fandom would've called for Eddie's head on a stick if he had been the one to be with Tommy. It's okay for Buck to be in relationship after relationship, but it's not okay for Eddie to want that too? It's not okay for this man who lost the woman he loved to want to find that magic again? Buck can physically hurt his best friend in a fit of petty jealousy and we just move on? If Eddie had done anything slightly like that, the fandom would go insane. (I'm not condoning it, btw, that scene was reminiscent of dv and I'm glad Maddie bit Buck's head off about it. It still makes me ill). All I'm saying is the double standard between Buck and Eddie in this fandom is honestly disturbing.

Ship whatever you want. I'm not gonna attack anyone for it. But don't reduce one of the most beautiful stories to ever exist to the rank of disposable love interest.

#rant over #i think lol #anon <3 #911 #Maggie answers #eddie diaz

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beskarinhyperspace · 1 year

Text

Moon Dust

Who knew that keeping you safe and free was going to be a challenge?

More Chapters | MASTERLIST

2. The Cargo

*Mature, Explicit, NSFW*

Din Djarin x fem.readee

Protective Mando, Mean-degrading brother, Violent brother, spouse to be is a bit handsy, Canon typical violence, Mando is obsessed with you, Mando have angst and ptsd, he needs a hug, feelings, you’re scared of the big bad bounty hunter

A/N: We're diving into emotions, if you have ptsd or trauma proceed with caution.

Word Count: 3.6k

The Mandalorian spent his time in the darkness of his ship. Getting out only a couple of hours a day. Just enough to keep his legs moving a bit. He even took the time to do inventory, which was usually something he tried to avoid. Karga kept coming to him. Making sure he was okay and invited him to hang out, but he declined them all. Finding comfort in the gray, silent walls of his ship. It brought him a sense of safety when he felt his mind drifting away.

Getting ready to fly off nevarro to pick up the girl, he sat into his pilot chair. Just taking a moment before starting the engine. He looked straight in front of him, simply taking in the view.

It's not that he didn’t want to do the contract. He just couldn’t think about anything other than the empty pit inside him, keeping him awake at night. When going back to nevarro, he wasn't expecting to spend a whole week and a half with someone else.

It’s only a week, right?

Without waiting furthermore, he puts his hands on the wheel. Starting the ship before taking off slowly off the ground.

A week, almost two. I can do that. Pick and drop, pick and drop, easy enough.

In the meantime, your house was a mess. People running left and right for preparations and you couldn't hide in the high walls of this mansion. A dressmaker was sent to tailor you for your announcement ball. “The wedding of the century!” Your father kept calling it.

If you could talk, you would scream... Your father was walking around, keeping an eye on things. Making sure some of the preparations were appropriately taken care of. The ball was tomorrow, and it was planned in your new house. The one your father already bought even though you weren't married to the man yet.

A rich, arrogant man. Entitled by his success and status. You remembered the first time your father introduced him to you;

He was smiling at you like he was shopping for a horse. “Beautiful face, with nice hips!” Turning to your father, he exclaimed with a grin, “She will bear my many children. Hopefully, I will be luckier than you were.”

Facing him, your father spoke, “Mine gave me a son, that’s all a man could wish for.” Your father glanced at you with a serious face, then back to him. “Hopefully she will give you many of them.”

You were looking outside the window as you remembered the details of it. “Ouch!” you exclaimed as you looked down. Seeing a dot of red on the fabric over your thigh.

“I'm so sorry Miss!” the seamstress stressed out.

You simply gave her a smile and a nod. Raising your head back up, blowing some air out.

Soon, all of this will be over.

As the day was coming to an end with the sun finally settling down. You couldn’t wait to finally be free from this hell. Your transport will be there tomorrow, you tried to calm yourself. He will take you far away from here and all of this will be over.

Your transport, the Mandalorian.

You knew that you’d never be able to fight off a Mandalorian. You feared him, but it scared you even more knowing you will have to spend time traveling with him. What is a man like that anyway? He must be cold to the world to do such a job willingly.

As you're pondering, your mother came to you from the opposite end of the hallway. “Finally! I was looking everywhere for you!” she said, moving her arms up to greet you.

You embraced her tightly before replying. “Sorry I was kept by the seamstress. Didn’t thought it would be this long..”

She rolled her eyes, “well, your father took the best of the best from the city. Her work is out of this world, but she is meticulous.” She said as she walked with you. She opened the door to your room, letting you in first before going in herself. “Are you all ready for tomorrow?” She turned to you, asking quickly.

“Yes mother, the bag is in its place. I will also have my blaster and knife on me. I'm getting out of here, don’t worry.” you said, taking her hands into yours trying to reassure her.

She looked into your eyes, all wet from unshed tears. “You’re so strong. I wish I could do more. Hopefully the Mandalorian will be able to finish what I can’t.” Kissing your forehead, “I will miss you, be sure to use your strengths and weakness to your advantage my brave girl.” She stopped to cup your cheek and began to cry.

You raised your hand to pet her head, knowing you will also miss her deeply. “I'll be fine. I'll write to you, I promise.��

After your mom finally left. You were left alone in your room, who had nothing much going on. Since you just moved in, half of your belongings had been on the floor and the rest of them were still in boxes.

You sighed, bending to your ankle to get your knife and holster off. Placing the blade under your pillow as usual. You paced around the room before moving towards the bathroom. You needed a bath. something, on the water tap from the bath. You needed something, anything to keep your mind occupied. Plus, you didn't know the next time you'd have this kind of luxury, why not take advantage now? You put all the stuff the maid brought in yesterday, salt, bubbles, dried whatever. It was all in there now.

As you were getting undressed and entered the water. You couldn’t stop thinking about what was coming. You were scared for the escape plan tomorrow. Even if you were prepared and armed for it, you knew it could all go south.

You let out a big puff of air, as you sinked deeper in the water.

Traveling with a Mandalorian... It’s only for a short time, right? Everything will be just fine. Just need to stay focus..

Evasion Day

Morning came faster than you would’ve wished. Still in bed sleeping, your maid entered inside your chambers. Waking you up in the process. She placed the dress you were trying on yesterday on an armchair. She turned to you, bowing and looking down. “Good morning, Miss, your father wishes to see you before the festivities. Asking you to meet in his office.” She bowed again and left.

You grunted, shifting on your back and spread your arms. What does he want now...

You entered his study, glancing at your father. His face hidden from the newspaper he was reading, sitting comfortably in his seat. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed you,

“I would’ve thought you’d be more enthusiastic this morning. Knowing you will be announcing your big news tonight, no?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at you over the paper.

You stayed still, trying not to enter the game he was obliviously putting down. Looking over to him with a forced smile. “I am father, everything is ready on my side. Tonight, will be a great night. Finally joining forces with one of the most influential families.” You frowned your eyebrows, giving him a more serious look. “You trained me my whole life for this. It will be a privilege to bring honor to our clan.”

He stared at you, putting his paper down as he was through your words. “I always thought that training you with your brother would make you a great warrior. I was right, but this, this is bigger than you and I. I can’t refuse this proposition. This union will change all our futures. Your mother’s, your brother’s. You are the key to our legacy.” He followed looking back at his journal. “That is why your brother will be escorting and keep an eye on you tonight.”

“What? Why? I’m in no danger, I can take care of myself!” You stood from your seat, starting to panic. That wasn’t part of the plan.

He looked back at you squinting his eyes. “Your brother will be close to you. I cannot have other men roaming around you. Thinking you’re free before we make the announcement and that is final.”

You searched for your mother, but she was nowhere to be found. What will I do, what should I do?? Time was moving quicker than you realized. Having no choice but to start getting ready for the night on your own.

You sat on the edge of your bed. Feeling half defeated, my brother... Urghh, he always thought he was better than you in some way.

Right now, at this moment, you felt alone. Shedding one single tear while staring at the dress you didn't even want to wear. You got out of bed, with a hand going under your pillow. Taking your knife out, putting it in its holster before strapping it to your ankle. You do the same with your blaster, strapping it on your thigh on the other side. You put the dress over your body and made sure your weapons didn't show through. While looking in the mirror, you felt sad but also driven.

This is not my life.

As you walked down the stairs, your leg was peeking out the slit on the side of the dress. The color of it was this gorgeous emerald green. Long to the floor, accentuating your silhouette and moving fluidly with every step.

The end of the staircase brought you to the back of the house in front of already opened double doors. The mansion was incredibly well decorated for the event. Flowers and fairy lights everywhere. You could see towers of drinking glass filled to the brim. Waiters and servants moved all around to assist guests with food and drinks. Everyone was dressed for the occasion. Suits, ball gowns and feathered hair. If you weren’t so eager to leave, you might've enjoyed it.

And still, no matter where you looked, you couldn’t find your mother. While your eyes glanced outside, your brother came to you, stepping on your side. “How does it feel to finally bring honor to your clan?” he smirked.

You refuse to look at him as you answered, “I didn’t choose this, Rylan.”

He chuckled, “It doesn’t matter, you're still fucking your way to daddy’s little heart like the good little slut that you are.”

You looked at him, straight in the eyes with a fierce look. “And you’re not doing anything to stop it. As a matter of fact, you’re protecting me tonight for him. Aren't you not? Always father’s little lap dog.”

He grabs your wrist with pressure, dragging you to a corner. As he hovered over you, he puts a hand to your throat. Squeezing tighter as he spoke. “You're over, father will never put you as clan leader now that you’re going to get married off. I, will be its true ruler.”

“Unless I bear a son.” Trying to breathe through it.

He dropped his hand instantly. Almost as if your skin was burning him. “What do you mean!?”

Passing your hand on your throat, you tried to swallow. “That is why you killed our younger brother, is it not?”

He looked at you in shock from your accusation.

You tilted your face up to him, still bent over as you tried to catch your breath. “I know for Yusa. I was there that night.” You pulled yourself up before continuing. “You would do anything for a secure place in the clan.” You took a step forward before speaking again. “But you’re not only a bad brother, you’re also a terrible warrior. Letting your ambitions and your avaricious appetite blind you.” You followed, frowning your brows. “The truth is, father would much prefer to put me, a girl, at the head of the clan instead of you.”

Before you could say another word, he reached out, grabbing your wrist.

“There you guys are! Come sweetheart, I have people I want you to meet.” Your father said while you yanked your hand out of your brother's grip. Walking towards him as he took an arm out to invite you closer.

While you were introduced to people you didn’t care about. The Mandalorian was landing to one of the stations. He kept grinding his teeth before standing down. Opening the ramp to be greeted by Eyla.

“Your travels weren’t too difficult?” she asked with a bright smile.

“Went through the security like a piece of cake. There were so many people, they didn’t check twice. Almost as if you invited half the rim.”

“Almost, is the word.” Before asking more out of him. “You will forgive me for this last-minute information, you see my husband made my son her chaperon this evening. I’m afraid it might complicate things.”

Without hesitating he nodded. “I will keep an eye on things. I will also retrieve the bag that was mentioned.”

“Yes, the bag” She turned around, before leaving. “Thank you again for your help. My daughter has the payment with her. Keep her safe.” She bowed before going.

While watching her leave he gets a piece of paper out of his pocket with the location of the bag. Better get it now, telling himself as he glanced at his watch.

After securing the bag onto the ship. He realized that you were five minutes late. He waited another five just to make sure. As time passed, he began to feel anxious, now looking in the direction of the house. Tapping with his finger on the edge of the open ramp. He sighed as he walked out of his ship why can't anything be simple?

He tried to hide himself. Even at night, his beskar could be reflective. Crouching behind trees and bushes. He looked around from a distance but couldn’t seem to find you.

Meanwhile, you were bored at the ball. Done with the chit chats and false caring. People were starting to all look the same, blending in one. As you looked at your watch, you noticed that you had little time before meeting with your new travel buddy. You walked towards the bathroom to get ready to leave as you bumped into your future husband turning the corner.

“You’re here!” he said smiling, “I’ve been looking for you.” as he caresses the back of your hand.

You pulled it back, not looking in his eyes as you answered. “I’m sorry, I was kept by our guests. The announcement will be made shortly. In the meantime, you will have to exc..” You didn’t have time to finish before he took your arm, moving to the first room on his left.

Closing the door, he turned around and began walking towards you. “Have you no shame to push aside your husband.” He came closer. So close you could smell the alcohol and cigar smoke in his breath.

You tried to keep calm, “We are not married yet. I will not tarnish my name.” Saying with a straight face.

He chuckled as he looked at you. Taking his hand to caress your cheek with his knuckles. “My sweet flower. How can you be tarnished, when I'm the one touching you?”

He grunted, pushing you back to the desk behind you before moving his hips in between your legs. You quickly moved your leg up, grabbing the knife on your ankle. With a single movement, you pass the tip of blade on his cheek quickly. Taken aback, he brought his fingertips where blood was now slowly dripping.

He looked at you horrified. “Look at what you've done! Savage! You’re a savage!”

While he was still panicking. Your brother entered the room, joining you. Having one look at you and your spouse to be. “We’ve been looking all around for you both... What in the maker’s name?”

You looked Rylan in the eyes as you tried to speak. “He tried to touch me.”

“Well, he’s going to be your husband, you stupid girl. Of course, he wants to fuck you.” He replied as if it was obvious.

You rolled your eyes back to him. Your fiancé grabbed your wrist, squeezing, “You’re mine, you will have to accept your duties to me.” Saying as he turned the door handle. “I’ll be right back.”

The Mandalorian was still on the lookout when he saw a man with a fresh cut on his face, still dripping with blood. He tilted his helmet as he got closer. Still hiding, behind the corner of a wall. Looking at the man going into what seemed to be a bathroom.

Coming out, the man was going back to the same room he previously came out of. While the door was open, Mando saw you through the small opening of it. Knife still in hand, looking trapped. Without hesitation he went to another corner to his right.

Moving closer to the door. He could hear a man yelling at you. “Like it or not, your father gave you to me...”

Not waiting any further, he opened the door in a single movement. Looking to the same man with the red bloody cut, still inflamed on his cheek. Who had both of his hands on your arms, anchoring you in place.

The two men in front of him were not only surprised but also confused. Rylan began to speak first, “Who are you? Get out, this is a private event!”

Tilting his helmet, “I was invited. I’m here for her.” He said, finger pointing at you.

While your fiancé removed his hands from you, he panics. “She’s going to be my wife, your ignorant fool. This, this is her brother.” He says, pointing at Rylan. He follows, “You can go. you are dismissed. Go, now!”

The stoic man walked towards him. Only stopping a few inches away, “No.” He replied firmly to him before turning to face you. Lifting his arm as he showd you to the door.

You start to move forward, towards the exit. While your fiancé gets his blaster out, pointing at the Mandalorian before shooting.

Like a reflex, second nature, the man in beskar blocked him with his forearm. Pulling his own blaster out with his other hand and shoots the man straight in the chest.

Your brother doing the same thing, fires at the Mandalorian while yelling, “Intruder! Intruder!”

Crouching to cover you. The Man in beskar pushed you to the door. “Go, let's go!”

Without hesitating you moved through the door. Taking your blaster out of its holster as well. He pointed you in the direction of the ship while you heard your father yelling behind you. “My daughter is getting kidnapped! Kill the man!” Pointing to the chrome man.

You began to panic. There were a lot of warriors from the clan tonight. All getting their blasters out, starting to shoot at you both.

You tried to shoot back but suddenly, you could only see silver metal in front of you. Feeling an arm grabbing your waist as he tells you through a modulated voice “Hold on.” While keeping you in front of him, he took off with his jetpack. Feet no longer touching ground, you hold him as hard as you could, closing your eyes.

This is it; I’m going to die...

Getting further from the mansion, you tried not to look down. His grip was tight around you as if he was afraid to drop you. Arriving at the ship, he let go of you to lower the ramp. Getting you both inside as quickly as possible.

You turned to him, “My clan will come after us. That was a bad idea you had coming in like that.”

He smiled under his helmet, “Yeah? Well, they’ve never met a Mandalorian before.” While sitting quickly in his pilot chair. “Can they fly?”

With a stressed voice, you replied, “Yes, yes they can!” as you sat in a chair close to the door, strapping yourself in.

Without waiting furthermore, he starts the engine. Motors taking you off the docking station. While lifting off, you could see at least a few ships already coming in your direction. “Euuh... Mandalorian?”

“Yes, I saw them.” Knowing exactly what you were about to say. Going faster and pushing the ship upwards as they were firing at you.

“Mandalorian??” You let out, panic rising in your voice.

Without blinking, he dropped the ship backwards. “Hang on!” He said, falling back behind the two closest ships to you. Firing back and taking them down while the others were still shooting, moving back up in a swirling motion, making you feel uneasy. Moving out of the planet's atmosphere he slowed down a moment. You could see him entering numbers into the board.

Time was limited and while he was going to turn the keys on his board, the ship got hit again, before he went back to press it, moving into hyperspace.

Finally... You let out a sigh of relief. Trying to ground yourself as you looked up. Seeing the blue and white strikes of light passing all over the ship. There were no sounds other than the beeping and ambient noise of the ship. You looked over to him, the man frozen in place.

“Are you alright?” You asked, confused.

Keeping still, without moving to look at you, he nodded, “Yes, but we might have a problem. I think your brother hit our tank. We will fall back from hyperspace soon and we need to land quick.”

Eyes wide open and lips slightly parted. “Then what are we doing?”

Calmly he went on, “I’m thinking of how we’re going to do this...”

If you wish to be added to the Taglist, you can do so by letting me know here

#mandalorian smut #mando fanfiction #mandalorian fanfic #the mandolorian x reader #mandalorian x you #mandalorian x reader #mando x you #mando fluff #mando smut #the mandalorian smut #din x reader #din x you #the mandalorian imagine #din djarin imagine #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin fic #din djarin x reader #dark fanfiction #din djarin fluff

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deltaengineering · 9 months

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Fall Anime 2023: A Fallful of Fail

you will be shocked at what happens at the end

horse_ebooks S3

Umamusume S3 is bad. Not that that should be a surprise to anyone – the anime was never beyond decent and even then mostly just the price of admission to a galaxy of fanart. And looked at from the outside it is simply shaped liked itself: nothing more (or given the context, rather nothing less) than a fat and lazy gacha franchise advert.

The question is why S1 and S2 apparently were not when they were materially barely any different, and the answer to that is simple: S1 had the novelty and S2 apparently brought the best material Umamusume can realistically offer – which already wasn't that much. If you just want the quick take, S3 is very much like the boring first half of S2, and then just keeps rolling like that until episode 12. However, since it drops all the distractions and embellishments and just presents itself naked and at the most basic level, S3 works as exactly one thing: A case study why Umamusume was never good, will never be good, can never be good and is fundamentally just a bad idea.

It's a confluence of things that are each on their own questionable, but each of them boosts each other's shortcomings in such a profound way that it's hard to say what the "core issue" even is: It is obsessed with a "sport" that is so simple that all events are short and indistinguishable, and winning just comes down to whether you decide to go fast that day. It values gambling results from decades ago over having a structured story. It wants to pick protagonists that are popular, and horses are popular when they win. It needs to have a vast yet simplistic character roster where having two personality traits makes you Rice Shower, the deepest character in the franchise. It plays it so safe that there shall be no villains or even adversity – having injuries in S2 was apparently already too spicy so we just don't do that anymore. It despises continuity, which means that Gold Ship can get a random episode about ending her career and this making no difference whatsoever to her presence, which remains exactly the same as it has been since the first episode of season one. And yet, it thinks it can have all of these and tell a character-focused underdog sports story, because that's what you do when you hear "racing".

The end result of this is that we have a two-episode loop that is intensely centered on one unbelievably shallow protagonist with the personality of "everyone loves her", who constantly keeps winning unless she gets sad, and then people tell her she is popular to cheer her up, and then she wins again, and then we do this 5 times in a row, and this being framed as some epic triumph over adversity. And none of this is new, it's just really apparent when your protagonist is "Teio, but worse", your sidekick is "McQueen, but worse", and your supporting cast is "you liked these characters last season and they like Kita-chan, maybe you should too". Intellectually, it's astonishingly awful and yes, I'm mad.

But with high production values and a bunch of cute hors doing cute things, it's still nothing more (or given the context, rather nothing less) than a fat and lazy gacha franchise advert. Just don't ever consider turning on your brain while watching it because that shit hurts. 4/10

Tearmoon Empire

I'm probably only putting this one over Umamusume out of spite, because while Umamusume did pretty much everything wrong on a high level for interesting(?) reasons, Tearmoon is just a bottom-shelf product and that's the the long and short of it. To be fair, it starts out as a pretty good one of those, with a decent twist on the "I read the script" style of story that these always are, and watching trash princess Mia stumble around trying to save her head from getting lopped off with inexplicably positive results for everyone involved is a decent, if easy, laugh. This already doesn't ever reach its full potential, because it's ultimately bland and one-note and there's nothing else (apart from a very funny OP). Tearmoon was cursed by amateurish light novel writing from the start, but what really does it in is Volume One syndrome: That plot is resolved about two thirds in, and what follows is just staggeringly uninteresting political machinations in a thoroughly dull universe. The beginning was weak, yes, but it was followed up by stuff I could not possibly care any less about. In a way it's a positive that nothing comes together, because then the show's single biggest lategame misstep by far (guess what, nothing was Mia's fault after all!) would total the show's thematic core. If it had managed to establish it. Which it didn't. 4/10

Bullbuster

I'll give Bullbuster one thing: It at least feels like a show anyone wanted to make. And while "robots, but realistic and working class" is not a new angle, doing a mecha show through the lens of workplace laws and corporate policies instead of technology is a pretty good starting point. It's just that things went wrong when developing this into an actual story – something with this grounded a concept should not stumble around for weeks until it eventually ends up with the "twist" that the local Umbrella Corp experimental biotech plant is the source of these weird mutations, for example. The characters also just aren't strong enough to keep this weird mess of a plot together on their own either. It also notably has some of the worst monster CG in recent memory, and as an action show (something it isn't, to be clear) it would have been a laughable failure. This is not at all surprising coming from the Deca-Dence studio, but everyone somehow gave that show a pass while I don't think this one will be on anyone's hidden gem list in a hurry. In any case, "could have been good, but isn't" is all that really needs to be said about Bullbuster. Sometimes an anime isn't good for no other reason than simply lacking in quality. 5/10

16bit Sensation

I was always going to watch 16bit Sensation due to personal interest in the subject matter, and honestly the best I can say about it is that "it gets better". Not that that means much because it starts out badly, with just a bunch of uninspired 90s vndev references and anecdotes that the people who were there probably find very relatable. That said, the show notably improves once it starts going down some weirder parallel timelines & moefag aliens paths – but it has so far to go that that really isn't enough either. Unlike its simpatico Animegataris, 16bit Sensation doesn't go to really weird places and also completely lacks bite because eventually it just wants to be like, about the power of creativity, maaaan, which drives it more into "Eizouken without the production value" territory, and logically very little of it makes sense. Admittedly it doesn't strictly have to, but it's not very funny or insightful either. In any case, the real loadbearing part of this show is the character of Konoha anyway, and she's a mixed bag. Her goofiness is endearing, but it's also hard to deny that her character mostly consists of Aoi Koga's voice performance, and that is in turn mostly just consists of "the wacky bits from Kaguya-sama but extra hard and all the time". It's certainly something, but whether it's a selling point is a deeply personal decision for every viewer. Unlike the undisputably crappy opening song performance by Shokotan of all people, what the hell. 5/10

Under Ninja

Under Ninja has one thing going for it, and that is that it's unlike anything else (well, I hear that all the other mangas by this author are exactly like it, but in animated from at least). It's a weird mess of an absurd Metal Gear plot presented with all the ambiance of a 4chan greentext story, which gives it an unusually deadpan sense of humor similar to something like Burn After Reading. If nothing else, it's an experience... but I still don't like it very much. For starters, this show looks like absolute butt, and only half of that can be attributed to intentionally grimy stylistic suck. No-budget James Bond might be a joke, but at the end of the day you still have to watch it, and there is far too much action in the show for it to look this crappy. Characterwise, it starts with exploring the more sympathetic sides of unlikeable losers, towards the end it just keeps spamming more unlikeable losers because... funny? Also, the story is wilfully obtuse but appears to take itself increasingly seriously as it goes on, which makes it eventually cross over from "shaggy dog" to outright "just a prank bro". Now, I will say that this is more than just random nonsense. I think that it does try to say something about Japanese society – I'm just not sure what that actually is. Instead the intense cynicism gets the better of the the show and it just disappears up its own ass, and I don't think that is particularly hilarious. 5/10

Otona Precure

I can't hate Otona Precure. It's just exactly what it says on the tin, a basic-ass Precure show with mildly adult topics while everything else remains as generic as it it gets, production included. This was never going to be extraordinary or subversive (and if it attempted that, it would probably have gone badly), so I'll just take things like razor thin characters, baby-level takes on environmentalism and egregious reuse of 20 year old stock footage as a charming part of the package. In fact, if it was less rudimentary it would not be watchable for someone like me who doesn't care to explore the 100+ episodes of old assembly line magical girl anime that this ostensibly a sequel to – I get it just fine from context clues, thank you very much. It's very much a slim novelty, but enough of a novelty that it can just about sustain 12 episodes and that is it. 6/10

Overtake!

Overtake is, to put it simply, thoroughly competent, as expected from Ei Aoki – a small-scale, vaguely bromantic character drama with a moderately novel setting that can take full advantage of its traditional underdog sports story trappings. It certainly won't blow anyone's socks off but compared to all the questionable jank above it does feel like a breath of fresh air when something just works, and I really can't stress this enough – I did not particularly care about Overtake and its characters at first but godammit if it didn't put in the work and skill to make me care. The characters are fleshed out and fun, the plot is well paced and goes to some less predictable places, and it looks really appealing without coming across as living above its means. I had a genuinely good time all the way through but ultimately wasn't invested enough to consider it a classic, and that's fine. It's an "exceptional midcard" type of show, and I wish there was more of this tier between the cheap trash and the ultra-premium crowdpleaser.

And I cannot keep myself from saying this, but this tangentially-about-racing character drama just so happens to utterly clown on Umamusume in regards to making racing exciting, without even trying very hard (Redline it is not), via groundbreaking additions such as left turns and actual strategy. And that is before it's actually a good show with characters and a story worth caring about. Imagine that. 7/10

but consider the following:

In all honesty, this was a pretty good season and almost all the reasons for that are not on the above list. Yes, the premium material on top of the rankings did actually deliver hard this season, which is to say that both Frieren and Apothecary Diaries would be easy AOTY contenders had I not learned my lesson regarding continuing shows with Ranking of Kings. Both were great but face some rough road ahead – Frieren is heading into a Shounen Exam Arc™ while Apothecary Diaries is starting to show signs of classic shoujo romance pitfalls, so I'll hope for the best and give them their due once they end. And there's also Undead Unluck, which is simply the Fire Force that Weekly Jump has at home, and by that I mean that it's two thirds delightfully unhinged psychedelia and one third Jump brand "I should really drop this" pablum, a ratio that is highly unlikely to improve. Besides that, I'm quite a ways into Pluto but haven't finished it yet because it is indeed Naoki Urasawa's Award-Winning Masterpiece Pluto – expertly made and decently meaningful but also bloated with self-importance past the point of flatulence. We'll see.

#anime #review #fall2023 #uma musume #tearmoon empire #bullbuster #16bit sensation #under ninja #otona precure #overtake

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ilovetodrinkwater · 4 months

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Your turn! Tell us about an OC extremely close to your heart. Are you kind to them, or are they your chew toy? Do they represent something to you? What inspired you to create them?

i thought it was interesting that u said ur characters are less expressions of urself vs the worlds being that expression! i really have 1 world that i add to and some of it is an expression of my values, thoughts etc but i think it’s more of a sandbox and all my characters have some kernel of me in them. so they are all close to my heart 😭 i started developing this world around the end of high school and really started nailing it down closer to what it is now about 2 years later. the characters i used as an anchor for that early iteration of the story were initially around 15 but as i kept building(and getting older) i aged them up to around 20, which on the island where my story takes place is the time people choose their own last name, and i liked that as a point of self-evaluation and change for them all.. many of their conflicts are not quite my own but it’s been cathartic to play out their arguments in my head with feelings on all sides that i can relate to or at least sympathize with. now i don’t feel like they are the main characters but they definitely drive a part of the story’s ecosystem and are still the ones i think of first:

flori (short for florabama- her grandmothers name as well) i don’t have a settled last name for her but likely something to do with shrimp and other small things cus her mom is a tiny organism scientist and her moms parents are shrimp cultivators. she’s often irritated because in her mind everything is clear and people just don’t act the way she clearly knows is the right way for them to act. she likes butt rock. transitioning may save him but that is outside the scope of the story. she is compulsively generous(always crafting little things and making meals) but still grouchy about it. she needs to stop saying mean shit to her friends and rejoin the marching band and/or learn how to build ships in a bottle with her grandpa. she has no idea what she wants and doesn’t see much of a future for herself but feels obligated to stay

mollie graveyard-stallions(haven’t fully settled on this last name and she hasn’t either but keeping both is a fuck you to her grandma) people-pleaser delighted with the macabre but wishes she could explore it on her own terms rather than being expected to follow her mom and grandmas role stewarding elaborate, seasonlong funerary rituals for a religion she doesn’t really care about. she prefers hands-on work with the dead, especially their cemetery’s role as the place for people who die unknown or with nobody to grieve them. the other part of her name comes from her other grandma who used to be THE person to go to for horse breeding needs but since her son (mollies dad) was implicated and banished in a murder case(which floris dad/mollies moms brother was also banished for. grave-grandma is suuuch a bitch about this and doesn’t even acknowledge flori) she can’t keep up her horse empire in her old age and only keeps a few now. mollie constantly feels like the mediator at the center of everyone she loves who are all so prone to conflict with each other.

val fortunefound- the only one who has chosen her name so far. she and her cousin chose it because they are obsessed with the goal of finding treasure in the sunken neighborhoods and shipwrecks and gtfo the island, but also because they already found fortune by gtfo their shitty family’s house and raising cousins kid together. she likes being a guard dog for pretty girls and currently that is mollie, which flori is super pissed about because val was her friend first and mollie was ofc her cousinbestie and now feels like they are leaving her behind. val is very conscious of crafting an image and personality for herself and refuses to let anyone feel like they got the best of her. did she start based off of vriska from a summer camp au? Well,

this is the most i have ever shared about them hehe and i think they are pretty equally chewtoyed and cherished. i love making everyone fight though sometimes thinking about what they would yell at each other i do genuinely feel my blood pressure rise. there are also several characters who are directly based off me at different points in my life including future speculation, and ones who are directly based on people i love in their past/future. and some of them are friends with these guys :-)

#my ocs

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mediocre-writerr · 2 years

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a scarlet letter [wanda maximoff]

wanda maximoff x fem!reader

summary: your kingdom is on the brink of war with your rival kingdom, but somewhere you get lost in translation and fall in love with the other princess; requested by anon

warnings (18+): smut, explicit language, violence

part 1 part 2

*not my gif*

“Your Highness!” There was a soft knock on your door as Natasha’s voice boomed through it, “Your Majesty wanted me to tell you that breakfast will be ready in fifteen minutes with the Rogers.”

Your head snapped up from off your pillow and your eyes lingered onto your balcony window. Memories of Wanda echoed and flashed into your head, like your favorite book replaying over and over inside your head.

“Thank you Natasha. I will be right down.” You yelled back.

As you made your way downstairs to the dining room, you spotted your brother and the rest of his friends outside by the stables. You stepped outside into the warm air of summer. The sun shining down perfectly as the breeze rippled through your hair.

“Peter, that horse doesn’t look too clean! You might wanna wash it a little better!” Vision teased him as he rubbed some mud all over the perfectly clean horse.

“Vis!” The younger boy groaned, throwing his head back.

Vision, Rhodey, and T’Challa all let out vicious roars of laughter, while Peter grumbled and began scrubbing the horse once more, “Good morning,” You said, trying to get their attention, “I’m right here!”

“Ah Y/N!” Vision greeted you, “Have you forgiven me, yet?”

You rolled your eyes, “If you don’t fight, then maybe I will.”

“You told her?” Rhodey asked.

As soon as Wanda was far from sight, you quickly changed into your pajamas before opening the door to your brother. He had a soft smile on his face, before entering the room.

“I apologize for behaving last night like a drunk at the pub.” He told you, as the two of you sat at the foot of your bed.

“It was embarrassing,” You told him, “I’m not a little girl anymore, Vision. I can dance with anyone I like.”

“Of course you can. Just as long as your partner is not associated with the Rogers family or kingdom. And as long as your partner is a he, not a she.” He explained and you rolled your eyes.

“But why? The Rogers’ are not terrible people. Wanda is a nice girl.” You argued back.

Vision scoffed, “Do you not hear the problem with your sentence? Girl, Y/N! You can not associate yourself with a girl. Nevertheless King Steve’s daughter? You are a princess! You are not like Natasha! You are not a handmaiden who can do whatever she pleases because she is nothing! You are everything to this kingdom!”

“No!” You yelled at him, “You are everything to this kingdom! You will the be the one to inherit father’s throne! Morgan and I will be shipped off to another kingdom where we will play housewife just like mother! I want to make a life of my own! I want to study, marry whoever I like, make something out of myself! I want to think for myself!”

“I am sorry you feel that way, but you reputation to this family is everything,” He lowered his voice, “I do not want you to get hurt. You know how the people can be, one wrong move and you are the enemy.”

“It is everything to you, Vis. You are the one who needs a picture perfect reputation for when you inherit the kingdom. So, you’re not thinking about me, you’re thinking about you. You’re not the older brother I used to look up to, I don’t even know who you are anymore.” You took a deep breath, trying to hold back the hot tears that were threatening to spill, “Just go, I will see you in the morning.”

Vision got up, straightening out his jacket, “One last thing before I go that I thought you should know. Sunday night, me, Rhodey, T’Challa, and Peter are going to fight some of Rogers men. We are going to end things once and for all.”

Before you could even respond or protest he was gone.

“Yeah, we talked about it last night,” Vision shrugged, “Speaking of which, boys and Y/N, we should join my father for my breakfast.”

“Oh just give me two seconds!” Peter said, trying to scrub the rest of the mud off the horse.

Vis took a breath in between his teeth, “About that, Peter, you know this is a super important breakfast. We really can not afford to have a stable boy in there.”

“I’m a knight in training!” Peter argued, “I mean a lot to your father!”

All of the boys laughed, “He won’t even notice that you’re not there.” Vision whispered, before patting his shoulder and walking away.

The boys stalked off, leaving you and the now sad boy behind. He sniffled and cleared his throat, “You should go, Your Highness. I wouldn’t want you to be late.”

“Why do you let them treat you like that?” You asked.

Peter shrugged, “It’s just jokes. I know they appreciate me, now if you’ll excuse me, Ms. These horses aren’t going to wash themselves.”

Hesitantly, you walked back towards the house, but you stopped in your tracks as you ran back towards the stable, wrapping your arms around the younger boy. He let out a small gasp in surprise, before wrapping his arms around you, squeezing you tightly.

“I appreciate you, Peter. I hope one day you realize that you deserve more than how my brother and his friends treat you.” You whispered to him before pulling away. The boy smiled at you sadly, before you bid your goodbyes and walked into the house.

There was a tense silence in the air as you walked into the dining room. The only sounds that could be heard are silverware hitting the fancy plates that your father had left out. You took your usual seat next to younger sister Morgan and when you looked up from across the table, you were met with those green irises that fueled your dreams last night.

Wanda was already staring at you with a small smirk on her face. Her eyes glanced around the table before sending you a sly wink. You could feel the heat rush to your cheeks as a subtle pink tone casted over them.

Breakfast was awkward to say the least. The only words that were spoken were simple formalities to the servers. When you were finally dismissed, you began to walk back to your room when you felt someone grab your hand and pulled you into a secluded hallway.

“What the-” you began to say.

But your words were cut off when you felt soft lips attaching to yours. You snaked your arm around her neck, as she pulled you in closer by your hips, “Well, hello to you too, Wanda,” you whispered.

“Hi,” she whispered back, “I have missed you,”

You rolled your eyes playfully, “You will see me again tonight, same time remember?”

“Tonight can not come faster,” she commented, pressing a kiss once more to your lips before finally parting.

A few moments after Wanda left, you decided to step out of the hallway. Only to run into Natasha, who’s arms were crossed against her chest. Her eyebrow raised as she stared at you.

“You’re sneaking around with King Steve’s daughter?” she asked, “Do you know how much trouble you can get in?”

“I know, but there is just something about her,” you whispered.

She let out a sigh, her intimidating facade slowly fading into something more sympathetic, “I want to meet her. We have been best friends since we were younger, all I want is someone who is good enough for you,”

“We’re sneaking out tonight. I will bring her to your cottage after dinner, if that is not too late,” you suggested and Natasha nodded.

“Just please be careful,”

The day dragged on and all you could think about was the way Wanda’s lips felt on yours. It was intoxicating, really. Already constantly thinking about a girl you just met. In a way, it was sort of pathetic. The first girl who bat an eye at you and you were already so drawn to her.

You would not call it love just yet because what is love?

You have never felt love in your life. Not just romantic love, but your entire life you don’t think your father has ever shown you love. So, what is this feeling you get when you are with Wanda?

The rush of adrenaline. The butterflies that fluttered when she just looked at you with her emerald orbs. Is it love? Or is it just infatuation?

As soon as those doubts filled your head, they were quickly gone when there was the soft tapping of pebbles hitting your window. Excitement filled your chest as you knew exactly who it was.

“Shh, I’ll be right down,” you whispered to Wanda who was hiding behind the bushes of your parents garden. You scaled the ivy and fell onto the floor with a soft thud and when you reached her there was uncertainty in her eyes, “I want show you something, it is a surprise on the outskirts of town. Are you okay? You seem a little-”

“Did you know that there is a fight tonight?” she asked and you looked down avoiding her eyes.

But instead of lying, you nodded, “Vision told me last night,”

“You need to tell Vision to not fight. It is because of us that they are going to fight and what if someone gets hurt? Then their death is on us. My family is the most important thing to me,” she whispered, intertwining your fingers together.

“I will try to talk to him, okay? Vision is a very arrogant man, what he wants he gets. It will be hard, but I will try, I promise you,” you swore, holding her hands up to your lips and pressing a sweet kiss to it. But you could still see the uncertainty in her eyes, “We did nothing to them, we are not doing anything wrong by lov- liking each other,”

“We can not pretend that what we do is not going to cause more trouble,” she argued.

You nodded, “I know, but I will also not pretend that what we have is not real. Now, come on there is something I still want to show you,”

Natasha’s cottage was small and quaint. You could see the warm yellow candlelight illuminating the house. You knocked on the door and without a second beat Natasha opened the door with a smile on her face, “Your Highnesses, please come in!”

“Natasha, please, we are nowhere near our fathers. I would much rather be known as your best friend than any princess,” you corrected her, offering her a hug with your arms wide open. She gratefully accepted the hug, “This is Wanda Rogers. Wanda, this is my best friend Natasha Romanoff,”

Wanda reached her hand out for her to shake and she smiled softly, “It is lovely to meet you, Natasha. Anyone who is important to Y/N is important to me,”

“Natasha! You did not tell me we were having guests, nor did you mention that they are royalty. I am in my nightwear,” Maria came out of the bedroom to greet us.

“Maria, it is lovely to see you again,” you greeted her, “I promise you, there is no need for formalities. We are just two lovely people on a date,”

Maria raised her eyebrows at you, “A date with the quote on quote enemy, I thought Natasha and I’s love story was a difficult one,”

“You and Natasha are married?” Wanda asked as she shook Maria’s hand.

“For five years now, but that is not why we called you over to talk about our past. I am about to cook dinner for the two of you as well, come sit,” Natasha answered.

You smiled at Maria, “I am surprised you are not preparing to fight with my brother,” you said, sarcasm lacing your voice.

A roar of laughter escaped her lips, “Very very funny Y/N, you know that even though I am one of the best fighters there is, your father still does not let me join in. Your brother is the exact same way,”

“Well that is a shame on them. If I had it my way, you would be leading the charge every time,” you told her and she smiled at you.

The four of you embarked on a lively conversation, mostly consisting of Wanda and the two other women getting to know each other. Your conversation was interrupted when there was another soft knock on the door.

“Always late,” Natasha mumbled under her breath, before opening the door to reveal a woman you have not seen since you were younger.

“Yelena! Is that you?” you asked, quickly getting up from your seat and crashing into her arms for a hug, “It has been so long,”

Wanda’s voice interrupted you from the reunion, it laced with confusion, “Kate? What are you doing here?”

You noticed the brunette, standing by the front door with wide eyes, “Your Highness, hello,” she quickly bowed, “I was just uh- please do not tell Pietro or Clint for that matter. But I have been dating who they believe is the enemy for quite some time now and my love for Yelena is not wrong,”

“Kate,” Wanda placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it softly, “You do not have to convince me of anything. I have the same problem, although I would not call it a problem. It is just a little bump in the road,”

A flush of warmth fled to your cheeks and you smiled widely at her words. You announced that you would help Natasha in the kitchen and Wanda sat in the kitchen with the rest of the girls.

She watched as you and Natasha joked around, while she just stared in awe at your infectious smile. The smile that has warmed her heart. All of the pain and suffering that she has been through, slowly faded just by singing you smile.

“Your Highness, I did not know that you are infatuated with women,” Kate chimed in as she noticed the princess of her kingdom completely and utterly in love.

“Not with women, a woman, her,” Wanda turned towards Kate, “How do you and Yelena manage to date in a world where it tears all of us apart?”

“Well, we do not have the responsibilities that you hold,” she answered, “But it is not easy. We meet in secluded corners, in the library of our university when everyone is asleep. I can never hold her hand in public, but rather watch as men flirt shamelessly with her. Although it is hard, I would not trade Yelena for the world. She is my peace and sanity. I would not survive without her in it,”

Wanda smiles softly at the confession, “Do you think Y/N and I will end up the same way?”

“That depends, do you love her?”

“I-yes I do, it is crazy to even say out loud considering we met last night, but I have never felt this way about anyone,” she whispers.

“Then that is all that matters,”

“Just be careful Your Highness,” Yelena speaks up, “Like Kate mentioned we do not hold the same responsibilities that you and Y/N have. People will try and tear you apart more and more. People may even get hurt, but if you believe that she is worth it then you have ultimately won,”

Before she could respond, you and Natasha came over to the table, holding plates out for everyone. Though the conversation was lovely, Wanda could not shake the insecurities and doubts that Yelena spoke. Kate made it seem like a such a fantasy, but it was not their reality.

You and the redhead bided goodnight to the rest of the girls as you made your slow walk back to castle. Your arm linked with Wanda’s as you walked in the cool night air, “You are still worried, but Vision and I were close once. His friends respect me. They will listen to me,”

“And what if you can not?” she asks and you could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

“I swear to you, Wanda, there will not be a fight. No one is going to get hurt,” you kissed the back of her hand once more, “I have never felt more alive in my life. I have always felt trapped, like my destiny was written out for me. Now with you, it seems that death will not even part us now,”

You cupped her cheek, leaning forward as you kiss her short, but sweet. The two of you continued your walk back, taking your time as you passed through the garden, “You and Vision were close, what happened?”

“No one could have separated Vision and I when we were younger. He was someone that I looked up to. He was strong, he protected our family just like our father had taught us to do since we were born. However, as we got older, Vision became more arrogant. All of the negative traits from our father he seemed to have inherited. He did not care about my happiness anymore, but rather if my happiness would affect his reputation,” you explained, “It is sad, really. I look at how close you are with Pietro and I become jealous. I had that with Vision, but he was too blinded by his power and reputation that he ruined that,”

“I am sorry,” she whispered.

You shook your head, dismissing her quickly, “No, no, it is okay. Vision had made his choice a long time ago,”

Wanda stopped you right before you approached your balcony, “There is something I want to be honest with you about,” she whispered.

“What is it?”

“I am saying this because I trust you and if everyone is going to tell us that we can not trust each other because we are supposed to be enemies. I am going to tell you a secret that can potentially ruin my kingdom. That is how much you mean to me and I do not want you to think for a second that I do not trust you,” she tells you.

“Wanda, it’s okay. I know you trust me and I trust you. I would not be out here right now if I did not,” you comfort her, caressing her cheek softly.

She grabs your hand, kissing the palm of it as she stares intently at you with her gorgeous green eyes, “I know, but I want to,” she whispers before taking a deep breath and intertwining your fingers together.

“Pietro and I are not King Steve’s natural heirs. My real name is Wanda Maximoff. Your father blew up our home country, Sokovia. It was a normal night, my parents were teaching Pietro and I how to speak English, when our home was blown up. We do not know how we survived, but we did. We were hiding underneath rubble, as we watched your soldiers kill and destroy homes. Our parents’ dead body was right in front of us for four days until Clint found us,” she confessed.

Your heart dropped in your chest. Your father killed innocent people and for what? There was nothing to gain, “King Steve and Queen Peggy were struggling to carry a child. We were young enough to be considered as one of their own, so they adopted us and we swore to never tell a soul,”

“That is why Pietro wants war so badly,” you whisper and she nods solemnly, “Wanda, I am so sorry,”

She shook her head, “You could not have known, darling, you were around my age when it happened,”

“I will keep my oath to you that I will never tell a soul. I also keep my oath that I will never hurt you, not like my father has hurt your people because I love you Wanda Maximoff. I will love you until my dying breath,”

Her soft hands wrapped around your neck and drew you quickly towards your lips. A small gasp left your mouth as she kissed you, but you melted into her touch. Wanda’s tongue swiped against your own, allowing a groan to escape your lips as you gripped her hips and pulled her flush against you.

Snap!

You and Wanda drew apart faster than the speed of light as the sound of a branch snapping echoed through the empty garden. Both of you looking around for signs of any one else.

A sigh of relief left your lips when you realized that there was no one there. Probably just a rabbit hopping around in the dead of the night, “I think I should return to my bed now,” you whispered as you leant her forehead against hers, “Come see me tomorrow night,”

You backed away from her slowly, a lingering smile on your face, “I love you Y/N Stark. Goodnight,”

When you returned to your bedroom, you heard loud laughter coming from down the hallway. Furrowing your eyebrows, you quietly snuck out of your room to find the source of the nose. Vision and the rest of his friends were in the armor room, examining different types of knives and guns.

Vision held a gun as mocking sounds left his mouth, like a five year old pretending to shoot a weapon, “Pow, pow, pow!” he exclaimed, pointing it at all the boys.

“Pow,” you stated, as all of them turned quickly to look at you, “I thought you were not allowed to bring any weapons, but your fist,”

“We all know that the Rogers’ can not be trusted. They are going to bring their own weapons and if we are not careful, we will end up at the bottom of the river,” your brother told you, “Now why are you still awake?”

“It is hard to sleep when boys are being barbaric right outside your door. All of you agree with this fight?” you spoke up. Rhodey and T’Challa nodded, “Where’s Peter? Did you not include him again?”

“Oh we did, he just had some duties for Your Majesty to fulfill,” Rhodey shrugged.

You nodded, “Besides, he would have just complained that we are not following the rules,” Vision teased.

“Do not fight these guys, this is exactly what father does not want,” you expressed, “You are breaking the peace treaty before it is even built! What if one of you die or worse what if you murder one of them? Then the reputation you have been trying so hard to protect will not stand,”

Your brother shook his head, “Y/N, when are you going to realize that this is exactly what we need? We are going to win and they are going to sign the treaty and prove to be the weaker kingdom,”

“You do not know that, Vis!” you argued.

“Do not raise your voice at me!” he screamed back.

“You are not my father! You are much worse than him, so stop acting like you are the king! You are not! You are still nothing to this kingdom. When Father dies our kingdom is going to fall apart because you will always live in the shadow of being Tony Stark’s son!”

A harsh burn fell upon your cheeks as your head snapped to the side. Instinctively, your hand reached for your cheek, trying to soothe the throbbing that was already there, “This is not about wanting to protect this kingdom! This is about Wanda, isn’t it?! Get out of the fantasy in your head that you could be anything more than a housewife! I will be king of our kingdom, and you will be nothing! Now leave this fight is still happening and this is something a housewife will never understand!”

tag list: @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @werewolfbanshee-love, @padmeswife, @i-need-somebody-else, @maximoffwitch, @flushedawayondvd, @picnicmic, @10-19-17uswnt, @sweetmissnothing, @kacka84

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff imagines #wanda maximoff x reader #love story

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metalandmagi · 4 years

Text

Winter 2021 Anime Worth Watching!

Since 2020 basically sacrificed itself to give us the most stacked anime season of all time, I’m currently buried under the weight of almost 20 shows airing per week. So for anyone who’s looking for some anime to watch this winter, here’s some first impressions! I’m speed running my list this time by only talking about the new shows...because otherwise this would be my great American novel.

If anyone’s interested, I have master lists for both 2020 anime and 2019 anime, because there’s no shortage of fun things to find.

New Shows!

And before anyone asks, So I’m A Spider, So What? isn’t on here, because CG spiders freak me out.

Cells At Work Code Black: This...less comedic spin off of Cells At Work (made by a different studio) takes the wholesome concept of Osmosis Jones meets cute anime girls and turns it on its head. In this much more depressing version, we follow a rookie red blood cell who works in the body of an overly stressed, alcoholic smoker who puts every strain on the body imaginable. I love Red Blood Cell AA2153 and his co-workers, but man am I glad we get the regular Cells At Work airing this season too, because I need something fun and uplifting after seeing my sweet son go through hell every episode.

*Heaven’s Design Team: Have you ever wondered how God came up with some of the weird ass animals that live on this planet? Like, what’s the deal with giraffes? And why can’t we have dragons and flying horses? Well this is a comedy about the engineers and designers in heaven creating the new animals that are going to inhabit the Earth. That’s it, that’s the show. It’s kind of in the same vein as Cells At Work, having comedy blend with a surprising amount of educational information. If you want something light and funny, this is the show for you (though I don’t think it needs to have full length episodes). I’m just hoping there’s an episode about how the hell the platypus was created. Also it’s the only new one available on Crunchyroll.

Horimiya: A romantic comedy about a girl named Hori who fits the image of a perfect queen bee and a quiet bespectacled boy named Miyamura who never makes an impression at school. When the two meet by chance outside of the classroom, we see that Hori is practically raising a younger brother by herself, and Miyamura is actually a sweet guy who happens to be covered in tattoos and piercings. This show is an exercise in breaking down the images people have of others in their minds, and it’s a concept that really hits home in a fun and meaningful way. Honestly, this has become one of my immediate favorites. The characters have great chemistry, and I can’t wait to see more of them!

Monster Incidents (Kemono Jihen): When big shot Tokyo detective Inugami is called to a rural town to investigate a series of strange animal deaths, he finds a mysterious boy with the nickname Dorotabo who has been shunned by the other children in town. As the detective gets closer to Dorotabo, he discovers that there may be more...inhuman secrets to the boy than he realizes...and Dorotabo discovers that Inugami has some secrets of his own. This is a hard show to sell without spoiling the first episode, but it had twists and turns that kept me engaged from start to finish. I’m really interested to see where the plot goes, because I thought this was going to be something totally different just from the PV and series summary. If it plays its cards right, this could be a great paranormal detective show!

Wonder Egg Priority: A psychological drama about a girl named Ai who starts having dreams about a mysterious egg that promises to give her what she wants most in the world...a true friend. Before long, she begins to see how the dream world and reality are tied together, and trippy antics ensue. It’s hard to say more without spoiling anything, but I had to go back and add this one in because I made the mistake of thinking it was an OVA when it’s actually a full series. And what a series it’s starting out to be. This anime has all the psychological discomfort of a Satoshi Kon product with the beauty and style of something from Kyoani (even though it’s made by Clover Works). It’s really one of those anime you just have to see to understand.

Sk8-∞ (Skate the infinity): An original skateboarding anime from Bones, featuring a typical sports anime protagonist who takes a new transfer student who has never skateboarded in his life under his wing. Together they compete in dangerous races and take the skating community by storm. The character designs rival Appare Ranman’s in outlandish creativity, and I can smell the main characters’ ship dynamic a mile away (considering they’re exactly the same as the protagonists from Robihachi). If you’re looking for some wild and crazy fun with top notch skateboarding animation, don’t skip this!

2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu (Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Club): Yes, it’s another volleyball anime. And no, it’s not just a clone of Haikyu. This story follows Yuni Kuroba, a physically built but emotionally weak teenager who finds out his childhood friend Hajime is moving back to their hometown for high school. Yuni discovers Hajime has become an exceptional volleyball player and they join their school’s volleyball club hoping to turn the unknown team into a rising star. If anything, this anime is much more like Stars Align or Free, where the sport is a backdrop for letting the characters explore their personal problems. Or at least it seems that way after the first episode. I went into this show ready to throw it in the trash because how could anything compete against my beloved Haikyu, but I found myself really enjoying the dynamics of the main duo and I’m curious to see what the rest of the team is like.

And speaking of sports anime rip-offs…..I can’t believe I’m including this but…

Skate Leading Stars: The show where the animators clearly wanted to design another throw away idol anime but saw how popular Yuri On Ice was so they decided to make whatever the hell this show is instead. It revolves around a fictional team sport called skate leading, and we follow the world’s most insufferable main character, a former figure skater named Kensei who wants to return to the ice and join his school’s skate leading team after he finds out his childhood rival is going to compete in the sport. Look, this show is just trashy enough to get a certain type of audience hooked, and it mainly has to do with the best boy of the winter season, Hayato Sasugai, the aspiring team “coach” who pulled most of us into watching this show with his punk appearance, snide comments and smug personality. He’s basically the lovechild of Izaya Orihara and Shizuo Heiwajima in a high school sports anime setting. The show treats itself with the perfect amount of sincerity to get away with being absolutely ridiculous most of the time without making you feel like you’re watching it from a dumpster...like Try Knights. You will know after one episode whether this show is for you. All I can say is, Hayato is worth the watch, and I haven’t seen any 3D animation used for the skating scenes (yet) so that’s a win for me.

Honorable mention:

Jobless Reincarnation ( Mushoku Tensei): Yet another isekai where the main character is hit by a car (big surprise) and gets reincarnated into a fantasy world...but he happens to remember his previous life and narrates himself growing up as a jaded adult. I’m only including this because it looked amazing animation wise, and I love the opening where getting hit by a car and dying is actually traumatic. And I love the protagonist’s parents (who are retired adventurers who just want to bang all the time). But honestly...the main character is the fucking worst, and I don’t know if I want to keep watching it because of how creepy and weird he is. Like...he’s the hit on your fantasy mom as a baby kind of creepy and weird. But for anyone who wants a cool looking isekai that had an amazing PV, it’s worth checking out.

Continuing Series!

Because the real gold of the season is in all the established anime getting their next seasons, I’m just going to list some of the things that are also amazing and definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already (because I’ve already talked about most of them at some point and don’t know what else to say).

Attack On Titan season 4

The Promised Neverland season 2

Beastars season 2

Log Horizon season 3

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime season 2

Re: Zero season 2 (second cour)

Dr. Stone season 2

Cells at Work season 2

Osomatsu-san season 3 (second cour)

Higurashi New (second cour)

Jujutsu Kaisen (second cour)

Not to mention all the shows I don’t watch that everyone else loves...like World Trigger (which I have seen quite a bit of, but long shounen shows are too much for me now) Quintessential Quintuplets, and Non Non Biyori.

So there’s just some of all the anime airing this season. Hopefully, someone can find something they like. Here’s to a great year...well, of anime at least...

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luimagines · 3 years

Note

Do time or the other links smoke? Or drink? Or do some kind of drugs? I mean when your out heroing you're going to get alot of traum

Something they all at least somewhat have to try and take the edg off or do they have other ways of coping? I am sorry if this sounds like an ask,i was more along the lines trying to get your speculation on the matter

Masterlist

I see what you're saying and I do think that some of them would have had bad habits in the past but yeah-

They do need some time to take the edge off and refocus themselves in the present, but how do they do that in a healthy and safe way?

Let's talk about that.

I don't think I have all the necessary tags so go forth at your own discretion.

Time

Time would have definitely had a drinking problem that would have started in his Termina days.

He's never really felt the need to drink though- he only found that it would have kept him from going crazy.

But as he got out of there and talked more to Malon (and have his supply cut off- (just because he knew where to get it in Termina doesn't mean he knows where to get it in Hyrule, (nor would they give it to him, even if he did))), I like to think that he would have had to find other ways to calm himself down and think rationally through his thoughts and desires.

It happens by accident.

He was working at Lon Lon Ranch when he needed to go chop some wood and he found the repetitive and strenuous work, soothing.

He felt good. Accomplished even.

And a little disappointed when he was finished.

But he started doing that whenever he could and it became his main way to not only blow off some steam but to also calm himself down.

It helps with his anxiety and his need to help feel useful even when nothing is really happening that would require his assistance.

Twilight

Twilight finds that manual labor actually makes his anxiety worse.

He can't really find it within himself to get lost in it because he's already programmed for that to be a part of his day to day life anyway. So his brain can still go on and on even as he gets his chores done.

Twilight finds that a secluded spot with little distraction works best.

He's never really dabbled in other ways to deal with it nor has it come to his mind.

All he knew one say was that everything was too much and that he needed to be in a different area entirely.

No people, no noise.

He likes to hang out by small creeks or by the lake and fish if he really needs an excuse to do something.

Bonus points if he can rest with one of his favorite goats nearby, but that's few and far in between.

It's less meditation and more taking in the moment and letting time slip by for a change.

No to do lists, no action, no survival, no need to be on the run.

Just breath.

Warrior

Warrior would have smoked during the war but I don’t think he’d actually tolerate it all that well. I feel like he’d be more inclined to drink away his problems but with shortages left and right, and all efforts going into the war, there just wouldn’t be enough to go around.

So he’d smoke and hate it.

But it worked in a pinch.

Afterwards, whether through Mask’s and Wind’s influence or the end of the war, he’d want to find a way to quit.

It wasn’t easy but I feel like Warrior would attempt to quit cold turkey. Just drop the habit completely and what does he do when he feels the need arise again?

It’s actually little said than done, but he paints.

It’s less with ink and paint and more so, just moving his hands and a brush around.

If he happens to have a canvas it’s better but again, not easy to come around.

So what Warrior ends up doing most of the time, is taking a brush and some homemade ink from berries and brushing it over his scars. His favorite spot is the massive burn covering his left arm left behind as a gift from the Dragon Knight.

It feels tingly and electric, static follows the brush and the muscles clench with energy from the contact but while it’s uncomfortable for a while, it’s also not entirely unpleasant and it’s soothing to watch and feel. And it grounds Warrior in the moment until he no longer feels the urge.

When the urge is gone, he still does it when he feel anxious and concerned. Late at night is typical time for him to do this, where no one would see him or his scars and judge him for it.

Sky

Sky in the beginning would have slept more than he did before.

He was already inclined to fall asleep easily before all of his trauma, but afterwards he seemed to lose motivation to continue with the idea that things would go back to normal. There was still a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders and it was frankly not something he wanted to deal with.

So he sleeps.

Now this turns into more of a problem with being able to stay awake and to stay concentrated. It’s hard for him to pay attention to anything beyond him and that won’t do, considering me still has to finish his schooling.

What Sky does more often than not to keep him tethered to the present moment is work with his hands. He’s already had the tools for wood whittling but he was never allowed to use them in class and it ends being a bigger mess sometimes than he’s willing to deal with in general.

Sky also has some small pockets of clay that he fidgets with to keep his hands moving and he can keep it under his desk so that it’s not that distracting in class.

It helps him focus and when he thinks about what he’s been through and what he plans to do next, it keeps him from getting overwhelmed.

Wild

I think Wild would have just gone silent and unmoving when he’s having a bad day.

Kind of similar to how he gets when’s trapped in a memory but for longer and he doesn’t eat or sleep. It could last days at a time. He doesn’t even move unless he’s prompted or dragged to the spot.

The lights are on but no one’s home you know.

There’s not a lot he can do when it happens. Everyone just has to wait for it to pass and hope that it passes quickly.

But Wild gets better with time to know the signs when of one of those days is coming.

It’s not much, but Wild like to hop on the back of his horse and just take off.

Feel the rushing wind on his face and through his hair. He’s a full gallop for a while until the poor horse gets tired. At that point he just goes to the nearest stable and exchanges horses to do the whole thing over again.

Sometimes, when that’s not enough, he’ll go base jumping from as high as he can get even using Revali’s Gale to get higher and free fall. Wild is pretty good at catching himself with his paraglider at the last moment and he likes to see all of Hyrule when as he reaches the ground again.

It reminds him that he’s done a lot of good, that he’s capable of doing more good and that life isn’t over just one ended.

Four

Unsurprisingly, sometimes Four gets too lost in his own for his own good.

He’s got a lot to think about and very little way to get it out.

Four would actually throw himself into his work to try and distract himself from the memories, the anxiety, and the guilt of not being enough time and time again even if he saved the day in the end.

This doesn’t help.

He gets so lost into it, in his attempt to stop thinking all together that he completely goes into autopilot and over works himself. Not in the sense that he pulls a muscle and has to take it easy or end up sore and tired and regrets it. No, no. What I mean is that he’ll keep working for days on end.

No sleep.

No food.

Little water.

No fresh air.

It ends up being a hard habit for him to break. Especially since he finds himself continuously trying to fall into a blank mindset even while he actually works to get commissions done.

So what Four has to do is find something else to do. Four more or less always has to have his hands moving, so it’s hard for him to put something down and not working on it.

He likes jigsaw puzzles, he likes to read, but he also likes to make stuff.

So in the end, when Four feel a little overwhelmed and feels himself slip into a self deprivational state, he’ll stop and goes inside his house to do a smaller project.

So he bakes, he knits, he does his puzzels. It’s enough for him to feel productive still but quick enough for him to stay present and make sure he’s still taking care of himself until the restlessness passes.

Wind

Wind doesn’t really have bad habits. He’s still young and processing his adventures.

I’m sure there’s alcohol on the pirate ship because pirates. But I don’t think he’d like it as much as some people want to write him.

Like, sure, a cup or two ain’t bad but I just can’t see Wind having a drinking problem. At least not now as everything stands.

In a few years it’s might be something he would need to be on the look out for if he’s aware enough but he was quite grasped the full implications of his position and trauma yet.

Because he’s just a kid.

He won’t know how twisted what happened to him was until he gets older and can he the age outside of his own mindset.

Wind has nightmares though and they’re ties when he gets memories that he doesn’t want to deal with at the moment- or ever again.

In the moment he thinks of his home, his grandma and his sister instead.

He thinks of his friends, both old and new.

The chain help with distracting him and he’s not above using them for the distraction when he feels that he needs one.

Wind also stretches a lot.

When he was with Warrior, he got into some of the drills they were teaching the soldiers and for some of the nimble ones, they had to start with stretches and he likes it.

So when it gets particularly bad, he throws himself through the motions and holds the poses for a bit longer than necessary.

So yoga. He does yoga.

And it centers him, it clears his head and he feels better after.

Legend

Legend screams.

Legend cries.

Legend will go on a rampage and destroy a whole forest if he’s having a particularly hard day.

Sometimes he’ll go find something big and scary just to fight it.

Blacksmithing is more a hobby for him at this point because it’s not something he can actually see himself doing in the future. It’s just to pass the time and help the day’s go by a little faster.

Legend likes to draw and when he’s tired after throwing whatever tantrum has taken over him, he’d go to a quiet spot and draw whatever he sees.

Sometimes, when he’s paying more attention to himself and he can feel himself getting frustrated and anxious, he takes a few days off.

He leaves his house and his items and goes up a mountain to think with some food, a notebook and some pencils.

He takes up map making.

Legend doesn’t think he’s any good at it, but with al the places he’s been, he tries to make a map for them by memory incase anyone he knows or will meet decides to visit.

His most carefully crafted map is of Koholint for... reasons.

It’s takes him an age and a half and he’s still not done with it, trying to get as much of it onto the paper as he can remember before he grows old and loses them entirely within his memory.

It’s a calming project he finds. He doesn’t feel sad when he does this for Marin for the people and their memory. It keeps them alive in his heart and sometimes he draws something on the map that doesn’t quite fit into his memory about the island but something tells him to keep it because it was there. Because he was only a visitor to their home.

The locals would know.

He feels good keeping them alive in some way.

It’s what she they would have wanted.

It’s what she they deserve.

She They always wanted to travel and it’s better to have a map to do so.

He takes up map making.

Hyrule

I don’t think Hyrule’s... Hyrule has a lot of these methods to go around. He wouldn’t have been exposed to drugs or alcohol simply because there’s too little people for him to interact with.

And if he was, I don’t think he’s use them as a coping mechanism simply because they would be too difficult obtain and gather to be sufficient.

I think that Hyrule would actually hang out with a Great Fairies by her pool when times got particularly rough.

There’s something about the place that resonates with him and feels calming, safe and relaxing to him.

As a bonus he’s always welcomed so he can pop in and stay for days at a time if he ever needed to.

He does not stay there for days.

But he appreciates the offer.

Hyrule doesn’t stay for more than few hours at a time because he doesn’t want to attract any monsters to his safe spots but even if the fairies don’t use any magic on him, he’s always rejuvenated afterwards and he feel like he can take on anything.

And given the world he comes from- it’s needed.

#linked universe #linkeduniverse #I know this wasn't really a request either #and I did say they were clsoed #but this was already going to get long #and it's more headcanons again #so into the queue it goes #bad habits #tw alchoholism #tw anxiety #tw smoking #tw addiction #pinky replies #pinky answers

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ironmandeficiency · 3 years

Text

pedro boys + spending habits

word count: fuck if i know, wrote it thru the app

characters: din, marcus m, dave, pero, marcus p, oberyn, max, frankie, whiskey, maxwell, javier, ezra

a/n: idk what caused this to happen but it works i guess. hope they make sense

✨support my ko-fi✨

trust him with your money, your drink, your social security number, everything:

din. this man is barely scraping by on his own when you first meet him. when he adds the kid to the mix, he gets even more frugal than he already is with an old as sin ship that many people are surprised to see fly. he will have a policy of “you earn it, you choose what to do with it” and since he goes after most of (if not all) the bounties to keep you all alive, he has the final say in how most of the credits are spent. he does want you to have nice things though, so he makes sure to configure the budget to where you don’t have to pour your credits into the group’s survival money very often. it’s the least he can do. he’s very big on taking care of his people and will show that in small ways.

marcus m. he’s a single dad for a significant amount of time, he has no choice but to be responsible with his money. he has to take care of missy, keep them both fed and housed and healthy, and that’s not even touching on how expensive all of high school graduation and college will be once she gets there. he teaches missy very early in life how important money is bc he doesn’t want her to ever know how it feels to not have enough. he makes a considerable amount of money w the heroics tho so he can afford to responsibly splurge on you both, but not constantly. is very cautious abt the splurging becoming a habit

dave. yeah he may be a murderer, but he’s scary great at managing his money (to continue being able to murder). he’s got his ex wife’s alimony (that still pisses him off but that’s another story) and two girls he takes care of, there’s no other choice for him either. there’s never a worry about dave having a midlife crisis and spending money on some stupid dad thing (like a motorcycle or assless chaps or a country club membership) because he murders to keep his mind off that sort of stuff. files his taxes diligently every year the day tax season starts and will pass this wisdom to the girls.

pero. he’s very good at judging if you need something or not. if it can’t feed you, keep you healthy, kill someone, or protect you, you don’t need to buy it. definitely not a man who indulges in trinkets and frivolous things that do nothing but weigh down his horse and his person. will encourage this way of thinking with whoever travels with him to whatever extent he can, but won’t be a dick about it if you have something sentimental on your person. if it’s a necessity, he will splurge on a bed and bath at an inn but not much else for a while. cheap because he has to be

marcus p. i don’t think i have to explain this one so i won’t. no i’m not being lazy who said that?

maybe you’ll be fine if he’s in charge. maybe:

oberyn. being a prince (and himself), there are different ways this could go. he spends his money frivolously at brothels & on his daughters + other loved ones (as well as other luxuries) and doesn’t really seem to be the type to keep tabs on it all as he goes. but... he’s a prince in a prosperous kingdom and so there isn’t really a worry for money. he’s known as the red viper for many reasons, including his clever nature and the ease with which he can get what he wants thru whatever means necessary. if you want for something that he can’t buy, you know he will find a way to get it for you (which can be a problem sometimes).

max. he’s good with money in the sense of perpetuating capitalism — that’s the red flag here. hell, he’s gonna be investing into bitcoin and who knows what stock market bs & bc it’s max, of course you trust him. max can’t control the stock market tho, so sometimes things are a little iffy. it always evens itself out though, and you make sure in the future that he invests his money instead of your joint money. he’s still gonna share anyways, it just helps you have a little more peace of mind.

frankie. he just wants to take care of you, okay? you can’t fault him for that 🥺 he maneuvers his budget around to make sure he can do all these nice things for you while leaving his own needs unchecked, which isn’t okay. he just wants to provide for the ppl he loves the best he can, but the problem begins when he starts to think he isn’t doing enough. his insecurity & lack of self-worth (fueled by his guilt for “not being everything you deserve”) is what makes him agree to the Trip™️ in the first place. once he comes back & sees you frantic, only wanting him home and not giving a flying fuck about the money, does he realize that you’re devoted to him and not what he can do for you.

whiskey. working for statesman made him forget what things really cost bc he suddenly never had to worry again about not having enough money. being with someone that isn’t practically made of money will snap him back into reality. he looks at his bank statements and his balance occasionally, but our big spender cowboy hasn’t really counted money as something he worries about for a while. when he constantly showers you in expensive gifts (only the best for his baby, that’s his motto) and you tell him that he has to not do that bc he’ll go broke, he plays it off because he doesn’t remember having to worry. separate bank accounts are only because you want to make sure your money is being spent smartly (even though jack has offered constantly to pay for literally anything you need).

don’t give him anything you want to see again:

maxwell. as much as i love this dork, he’s absolute shit with money. when his business is falling apart (bc he made the stupid ass decision to buy the oil rigs no one wanted bc they weren’t producing oil), he throws it all into saving face and trying to make investors buy into something that isn’t there. what a smart business man would’ve done was liquidate his assets and possibly try to get into a business that will yield at least some profit. he does learn his lesson tho and eventually can be trusted with money, but even he is hesitant to do anything with the household finances. he’s a dreamer, and dreams and money are the same as oil and water.

javier. i know you’re possibly surprised but hear me out. he’ll go all in to get info, whether he’s spending american taxpayer money or his own money or anyone else’s, if it’s valuable info that can be bought, it’s gonna be bought even if he goes without groceries for the next two weeks. before being with you, it was booze and prostitutes and cigarettes that ate away at his checks outside of buying information. the only thing that really changed once you got together was the prostitutes and slightly less cigarettes and booze. however, when he goes back to laredo permanently, he’s perfectly capable of keeping his shit in line. he’ll balance every checkbook in sight and run a tight af ship.

ezra. this man is a scavenger by necessity, a con man by choice. he has a silver tongue and a roguish charm and pretty questionable morals; he’s not gonna have any issue with getting his hands dirty. he’s probably gonna use your joint money to try and pull a fast one on some unsuspecting stranger (“it’ll double our money,” he says, “it’ll be fine,” he says), but then said stranger will end up turning the tables and leave you both absolutely broke. yeah he will feel guilty, no doubt. the only problem is that he won’t take it as a “hey don’t do it again” lesson, it’ll be a “this is how i can improve for next time.” eventually you have to put your foot down and take control of the money and when he realizes that you’re improving your lives much better than he is, he will thank you for it.

all pedro character taglists: @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky @obirain @leias-left-hair-bun @themarcusmoreno @catsnkooks @captainrexstan @mackstrut @torradoza @simping-for-fives @stardustsunrisekisses @darthadeline @artemis61003 @majorshiraharu @getdookuedon @capricornrabies @max--phillips @darklingveracruz @book-of-anarchy @andysficrecs @purelypascal @whovianwar @lv7867 @hornystarwarsbisexual @kaermorons @princess76179 @pedropasscals @greeneyedblondie44 @seasonschange-butpeopledont @qhbr2013 if you don’t want to be tagged, lemme know!! the link to join is in my bio

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bastillewolf · 4 years

Text

Corpse's Bride (I)

Pairing: Corpse Husband / Reader

Summary: When you end up in an unfortunate arranged marriage to salvage what is left of your parents’ wealth, it seems fate has other ideas in store for you; or perhaps it was the Devil who decided to bring back the dead?

Notes: Yea, I don’t know why I wrote this either, and no idea where this series is gonna go. If you have any suggestions, please send them. But I wanted to write something for Christmas since I haven’t posted in a while. I hope you all have safe and happy holidays! Let’s just get 2020 over with, please.

Tag list currently closed.

Chapter I - The wedding

Somewhere through the clouds of smoke erupting from the city, just beyond the hills, lies a small town called Gloomington. Where the streets are always swept and yet seem never clean, where birds fly high through the sky yet never manage to reach the clouds, and where dreams are crushed underneath the wheels of creaking carriages and half-empty fish barrels. It might seem like the most boring old town, with its inhabitants that look like they’re either on the brink of death or very much willing to be, but it wasn’t to you. No, to you life appeared much more interesting, though not by your own volition. You did not turn a blind eye to the grey streets or creaking bones or listening ears, as they had always been the same to you, but the troubles you had yet to bear were much too big to focus on anything else.

Your parents had deemed that on your twenty-first birthday, you were finally fit for marriage. It was the age that they had gotten married, and by tradition, through their parents as well. Why they had decided to force this upon you as well, you did not know, for as long as you could remember you’d only ever thought of your parents to be miserable together. Their time with you was now something of the past, however, because if all went well today, you would be married within just a day or two.

It was already raining, which would’ve made the situation so much gloomier to you if you hadn’t been revelling in the fact that it meant you could take the carriage instead of walk. You didn’t mind getting your shoes or the hem of your dress dirty, but other people did. And the people you would be seeing today would not approve of anything that wasn’t perfect upon arrival.

You only remembered the Everglots vaguely from your childhood during the instance when you’d been playing in a similar storm and one of their maids had shooed you away, saying you were being too loud and an unfit view for their folk. Their house was a different story, however. It stood tall above all other houses, even yours, so it was hard to miss. You weren’t rich, even though your parents liked to pretend they were. Your father owned the biggest and only fishing company in town; the main source of income from Gloomington. The thing was though, the seas were being overfished, and all he was getting from the ocean now were ones the sizes of goldfish.

You presumed this is why your parents decided to marry you off to the Everglots’ son, Thomas. According to your nanny, they were a bunch of washed-up aristocrats. Otherwise, you’d never even caught a glimpse of them, let alone of their offspring. Which is probably why you were so nervous. If he was anything like his parents personality-wise, you hoped he at least made up for it on the outside.

“Stop fidgeting,” your mother said, snapping you from your daze. You looked down to your hands, which had been crumpling a bunch of the fabric of your dress together, probably creating creases. You wonder if you had subconsciously done it, simply out of spite, because the nerves had numbed any other senses. You smoothed it out, crossed your legs and folded your hands across your lap, to which your mother gave a pleased nod.

A glance towards your father told you not much else, he was too busy going through last-minute calculations in his notebook. This must seem like ordinary business to him.

Your heart jumped a little as you watched the horse pulling your carriage nearly slip in the mud. He’d been in your family for fifteen years now, it was a wonder he was still standing. Perhaps the whip was reason enough for such a solemn animal, confined to his leather straps and iron mouthpiece. You tugged on the silver chain your mother had draped across your neck. Some of the diamonds had been taken out, but you could only see it if you looked very closely.

The carriage wavered and eventually managed to stop with another crack of the whip. It went almost simultaneously with the clash of thunder.

Hopping out, you looked down to see your polished shoes had landed directly in the biggest puddle on the square.

“Oh, miss, you should’ve let me put my coat down for you,” the old coachman called out, rising from his seat.

Your mother’s unnerving gaze followed yours down to the puddle around your feet. “Yes, you should have. I told you to watch your step with those shoes. Henry, clean them up.”

The coachman then proceeded to lay down his coat in the puddle anyways, and even after your protests continued to polish your shoes with his previously clean white handkerchief. You thanked him when he was finished, to which he tipped his hat.

“Hurry up. We’re already late,” your mother said. You wanted to rip the whip from his hands and hit her with it, but your composure and good sense got the better of you.

The massive doorknocker hit the hardwood three times because of your father’s shaky hand, which seemed to collapse back down to his side immediately after.

To your surprise, no maid opened, but the lady of the house herself did. Missus Everglot looked down upon you with a smile that looked more like a sneer. Her hair was greying, almost to the point where it was white, a colour matching the black dress she wore. Weren’t you supposed to wear colour for a special occasion such as this? You’d been so bold to wear something green; your best dress, to be perfectly honest. Were you supposed to wear black?

“It is good to see you again,” she hummed, and your parents made noises of agreement.

“Our apologies for bringing the bad weather. But that usually means good luck!” Your father said. You all laughed, though mostly out of politeness.

She invited you in, and you were finally able to see the grandeur of the Everglots household. Or well, what was left of it. The unlit fireplaces on either side of the entrance hall made you wonder if they no longer had maids working for them or if they simply enjoyed the cold. There was only one butler you saw so far, the one who took your coats from you and then scurried off. A big staircase stood in front of you, leading two opposite directions upstairs.

“Ah! You must be the daughter we’ve been hearing so much about!” Mister Everglot suddenly appeared, his arms spread wide with the same smile as his wife spread across his pale cheeks. He also wore black, though he bore quite a bit more weight than his wife, almost to the point where the top button of his shirt looked like it wanted to bail ship.

“It’s a true pleasure meeting you, mister Everglot,” you replied quietly, holding out your hand for him to shake. He barely did, before brushing you off to gloat about things to your parents. “You know, we’ve picked out the finest gold for the rings. The blacksmith in town just did a marvellous job on them-“

The ring on your hand felt heavy. It was your grandmothers’, passed down from your mother and onto you. Now you had to bear the burden of a loveless marriage.

Your silent sigh was interrupted by a quiet clearing of someone’s throat.

You looked up to meet the eyes of a dark-haired boy, who was scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. He asked you if he got your name right. You nodded politely.

“Hi, I’m- I’m Thomas. It’s very nice to meet you, miss.”

You huffed in amusement at his stuttering. “I don’t think you have to call me ‘miss’, Thomas. We’ll be married soon.”

He smiled shyly. “I would keep calling you ‘miss’ if you preferred it. Marriage wouldn’t change that for me.”

You stood there, slightly aghast. This boy was nothing like his parents. You wondered who had raised him because as you had been fortunate enough with your nanny, you couldn’t imagine his having been any different.

“Better watch it there, Thomas.” Another man strutted down the stairs behind him. He looked just about as pretentious as mister and missus Everglot. “Don’t want to scare the little lady off there.”

Sykkuno only chuckled, but you could sense that his friend didn’t have the best intentions. He introduced himself after you, “The name’s Barkis. I’m a… good family friend of the Everglots, I suppose.” He kissed your hand, which made you shiver uncomfortably. You tried your best to hide it, instead turning your eyes to meet Thomas’ again. They seemed much brighter in this gloomy place.

At least, that’s what you kept reminding yourself of as you looked at yourself in the mirror, trying to refrain from fainting as your mother kept pulling on the strings of your corset until you were quite certain a few ribs had been broken off in the process.

“Now,” she reminded you, “This will be good for the family. I know you’re an unconventional spitfire, - I don’t know who you got that from – but you shall learn to listen to your husband. It will save your father’s business and his honour, not to mention your dignity.”

You couldn’t breathe, you needed air. Your mother saw the look in your eyes.

“And as a final warning, young lady, if you dare to try to run, you better remind yourself that this family will never take you in again. Not when you come crawling back with not a penny to carry, not with a baby you got from another man. You will be as good as dead to us, if you wouldn’t have already died in some gutter.”

You nodded, “I understand, mother. I just need some air.”

She gave you one last glance, before nodding. She locked the door after she left.

It allowed you to burst through the doors to the Everglots balcony, where outside the rain had thankfully settled a bit to a slight drizzle. But you didn’t care if your dress got wet. You had to untie the knot at your back.

Quickly.

But you couldn’t reach.

You leaned across the railing.

If you could reach a little further-

But your hand slipped, and you felt your feet being thrown the wrong way as you plummeted down the second floor.

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#Corpse husband #corpse x reader #corpse husband x reader #corpse #among us #youtube fanfiction #corpse bride #pewdiepie #jacksepticeye

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avengerscompound · 3 years

Text

Moving On - Chapter 4

Moving On: A Falcon & Captain Marvel Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing: Sam Wilson x F!Reader, Carol Danvers x F! Reader

Word Count: 2107

Rating: E

Warnings: Smut (MF, oral sex, vaginal sex, accidental exhibitionism/voyeurism)

Synopsis: You thought Sam Wilson was the love of your life. You had planned to do it all with him - marriage, kids, see the world. Even when you’re life gets turned upside down, and you both end up international fugitives, he’s there by your side.

Then Thanos comes.

When Sam is one of the many turned to dust, leaving you alone and pregnant, you don’t think you’ll ever stop grieving. Yet, everyone tells you that Sam would want you to move on and live your life - that he’d want you to be happy. Gradually you open your heart up to another. Carol Danvers has lost people too. First her daughter, then her wife. As the two of you lean on each other, feelings grow and you move on together.

So what happens when Sam is returned to you?

Chapter 4: On the Run

It is strange how quickly your whole world can change. One minute you’re planning a wedding and living in the Avengers Compound in Upstate New York, an official agent for the Avengers. The next you’re considered a war criminal and you’re on the run with your fiance and three other people, one of them who happened to be Captain America.

It had been like a slow-motion car wreck watching everything go wrong. First, there was a completely unnecessary fight against your friends in the airport because no one wanted to listen to each other. Then you’d been arrested by people who you’d once considered not just friends, but family. Then you’d been shipped off to some secret supermax prison in the ocean for enhanced individuals with no trial, even though you weren’t enhanced. Then Steve Rogers had busted you out and you’d ended up on the run.

You were with Sam though, and you’d rather be with him on the run knowing you were on the right side of the fight than safe in New York alone.

You’d all been trying to make the most of your time working as vigilantes. There had been a lot of alien tech ending up in the hands of criminal organizations and Steve had been leading your little band of merry men to go and get it back.

Things weren’t easy for any of you. There was a lack of money coming in and everyone had had to quickly withdraw their entire savings before the government blocked all of their accounts. Thankfully Steve’s pension from the army had accrued a lot since he’d been lost at sea, but he hadn’t been able to withdraw all of it.

It had meant that a lot of the income came down to you, as out of everyone - you were the least recognizable. Yes, there were alerts out for you, but you were a spy - you knew how to disguise yourself and you knew where to find under-the-counter work when needed.

The trick was never staying in the same place for long and returning to countries that didn’t sign the accords. Even those weren’t safe for long - Ross was not above sending people into countries illegally to detain people who he was hunting - Bruce Banner was a testament to that - but they were safe for a little while and meant that once a month rather than sleep in the stolen Quinn, you could splash out and get a hotel. Although you were pretty sure that Wanda was often sleeping in hotels - with Vision most likely - anytime she said she needed to have some alone time.

You woke up and stretched on the cold metal floor of the Quinn, your spine popping loudly. Sam shifted in close to you, his arm draping over your sternum and his hand resting on your neck so his fingertips lightly caressed your jaw. “Was wondering when you were gonna wake up,” he murmured.

“Is it late?” You asked, blinking your eyes in the dark of the jet. There was light coming in through the cockpit window, but it was low and you couldn’t tell if that was because it was early or just overcast outside.

“Not particularly,” he said, his hand running down your neck and over your collarbone. “You just normally sleep like shit in the Quin.”

“Who says I didn’t,” you grumbled, rolling in toward him, and breathing him in. There was an acrid sting to his scent thanks to the fact that neither of you had showered for a few days. You were all due for a trip to somewhere remote with beds and good water pressure. Steve had said maybe going back to Wakanda for a few weeks was in order. He didn’t like to go too often because T’Challa had already extended himself above and beyond anything that was fair to ask of him just by harboring Bucky. But it had been over six months since any of you had been there, and you had accumulated a lot of alien technology that you knew Shuri would love to get her hands on.

Sam chuckled and his hands ran down to yours, linking your fingers together, and playing with the engagement ring that sat on your finger. “What if we just get married in Wakanda?”

You looked up into his eyes. They looked black in the dim light and when he smiled at you, the corners of them crinkled slightly. “I’m not sure that’s what you really want,” you said. “Don’t you want Sarah to be there? And the kids?”

Sam frowned. Sarah’s kids had been two and four years old when you’d gone on the run and every month that he missed of their lives hurt him. He’d been sending money back to his sister to keep the family business running back when you’d both had actual jobs, but these days he was barely scraping by himself.

He sighed and nuzzled into your neck. “I just want us to start our lives together.”

“I know, but life had other plans,” you said. “I love you and I don’t need to get married to know that. It’s not going to change anything. We will still be on the run and we won’t be able to build a stable life and have kids.”

Sam sighed and leaned his forehead against you. “I know, but I want you to be my wife.”

“I am your wife,” you said.

“Not legally,” he said.

“We don’t do anything legally at the moment,” you said, playfully. When Sam didn’t laugh, you sighed and wrapped your arms around him. “Sam,” you said. “If you really want to get married in Wakanda, I’ll do it. I’m sure I can get something nice to wear together, and Nat and Wanda can be my bridesmaids. I’m sure given how close we’ve all gotten they would be who I’d have picked anyway. Just like I know you’d have Steve be your best man. But I know you. This isn’t really what you want. You want the big wedding down in Louisiana like you always planned. With the catering done using fish that were caught by your family’s trawler and you want AJ and Cass to be our little ring bearers. And I know… I know that if you do this - if we get married in Wakanda without Sarah, she’ll murder you. She will murder you and then disown you post humus.”

Sam started laughing. “Yeah, she will.”

“Sam, I love you. I’m yours, no matter what,” you said.

“I know,” he replied with a sigh. “I know we’re doing the right thing now. I mean - Tony can get all on his high horse about how important the accords were, but he still broke them immediately. That fucking kid he brought to the fight is still breaking the accords and living his best life. I just… I wish we could have both.”

“So do I,” you said. “I hope they come around, but I’m scared that the thing that makes them realize how wrong they are is gonna be real bad. Like; world-ending bad.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sam said. “Which is why I’m doing this.”

“So, what do you want to do? You asked.

“I guess… we can wait,” Sam relented. “But maybe we can see if there’s any way we could do something small that we could sneak Sarah to? Like … she goes to the Maldives and who just happens to be there getting married?”

“They’ll be watching her,” you said.

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “But we can look into it.”

“Yeah, okay,” you agreed. “We’ll look into it.”

Sam leaned in and kissed you deeply. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pulled him down on top of you, so the full weight of his body pressed down on the cold metal floor of the jet.

Sam groaned softly and rolled his hips, his cock starting to harden against your thigh. “Where’s Steve?” you mumbled against his lips as he continued to kiss you. He was currently the only unknown factor as Wanda was on another of her ‘retreats’ and Natasha was dealing with some ‘personal things’ that she wouldn’t tell the rest of you about. He pulled back and smirked down at you. “Why? You want him to watch?”

“No,” you giggled, smacking his arm. “I want the opposite of that.”

Sam laughed and nuzzled at your neck, pushing his hands up under your sleep shirt. “On his morning run. Just you and me, baby.”

You kissed him again - more frantic this time, and your hands dug into his shoulders. Sam began to squeeze and massage your breast as he ground down against you, sending a warm buzz through your body. He began to move down your body, taking his time to both undress you and kiss every part of you. By the time he was crouched between your spread legs, your whole body prickled like a live wire.

He gripped your thigh with one hand and reached up and began massaging your breast with the other as he dipped his head down and began lapping at your cunt. You moaned and arched your back, gripping his bicep with one hand as you reached over your head with the other. A hot current ran through you as Sam focused on your clit, sucking and nipping at it as he squeezed your breast. He moaned into your cunt, the sound sending vibrations through you. You slowly fell apart under him, writhing as a coil of hot pleasure wound itself tightly in your core. Sam thrust two of his fingers inside you, and as soon as they hit that sweet spot inside you you cried out loudly and came hard, your whole body shuddering as your orgasm crashed through you.

Sam sat up onto his knees and looked at you. “Gonna have to be a little quieter,” he said tapping your thigh. “Steve’s got pretty good hearing you know.”

You scrunched up your face. “Maybe you need to gag me.”

Sam chuckled and bit his bottom lip as you got on our hands and knees. Even on the bedroll, your knees were going to hate you after this, but right now you didn’t care at all. Sam moved up behind you, held onto your hips, and thrust hard into you. You stumbled forward a little but managed to catch yourself on the cargo trunk in front of you. He began to fuck you hard immediately, not even waiting to steady yourself. You cried out and clenched around him as it felt like a hot shard tore through you.

Sam leaned over you, kissing your neck and shoulder, as he put his hand over your mouth. “Hush now,” he growled in your ear. “You don’t want to wake up the whole forest.”

You moaned into his hand and opened your mouth, letting him push two of his fingers inside for you to suck on. He railed into you, his hips moving quickly and erratically as your bodies slapped together. You tried to bounce back on him, adding to the pleasure coursing through you, but it wasn’t long until your arms gave out and you were helpless under him as your orgasm built.

As his hips began to stutter, Sam wrapped his arm around your waist and began to rub your clit. It was all it took for the dam inside you to burst. You buried your face in your arm and cried out as you came, clenching around Sam’s cock. He began to thrust even more erratically as he chased his own release and with a jerk and a low groan he came, releasing inside you.

You let yourself flop completely on the floor, breathing heavily and feeling a little high on endorphins. “You think Steve is out there and heard us?” You asked as Sam lay back down next to you and kissed your shoulder.

“Caught the tail end of the show!” Steve yelled, his voice muffled through the jet walls.

You and Sam both broke down into peels of laughter and you hid your face in Sam’s chest.

“Get a move on, would you?!” Steve yelled. “We have a lot to do today.”

You laughed even harder and Sam held you close, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Come on, duty calls,” he chuckled.

You let him help you up and the two of you both started cleaning yourselves up the best way you could. You hoped to god that Steve would say it was time for a break soon, but in the meantime, you were glad you were here with Sam.

// NEXT

#sam wilson #carol danvers #sam wilson x reader #carol danvers x reader #falcon #captain marvel #falcon fanfic #captain marvel fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #smut #moving on

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drmmyrs · 3 years

Text

The Way I Loved You (Poppy x MC) Part 2

I want to make this a slow burn type of fic so I’ll just be giving crumbs for now 😅 I swear tho there’ll be more plot and action in the later parts.

tag list: @whackawriting @samanthadalton @crazzyplays @uselesslesbianfr @baexpoppy @alexroyard @alexlabhont @veenast @cloakanddaggerthings (If you wanna be added or removed or just prefer a certain ship just let me know ❤️)

Read Part 1

Word Count: 1700

Warning: none

"I'm sorry, Ms. Min-Sinclair, we only have one more room available for tonight."

Bea watched as the expression on Poppy's face went from horrified to anger. "Check again, please."

"I'm really sorry, but unfortunately, all our other rooms are already booked since we had several guests come in because of the storm," the receptionist said apologetically.

The look Poppy gave the receptionist must have been pretty damn scary, given that his hand was now visibly shaking.

Poppy's voice was beginning to rise. "Listen to me you–"

Bea clasped her hand around Poppy's wrist and dragged her away from the poor guy before she could make a scene. Kind and sweet Poppy was gone entirely. Instead, standing before her was the self-absorbed, shrieking harpy Bea very much knew and hated.

"Calm down, Poppy. The receptionist was just doing his job."

"Calm down?! There's not a chance in hell that I–"

"You know what? If you want to sleep outside in the storm, go ahead because I certainly won't be stopping you," Bea snapped.

Poppy was seething but didn't say anything else.

"I'll be in our room. Feel free to join me once you actually figure out how to act like an adult."

Without waiting for Poppy's response, Bea made her way to the receptionist to finish the transaction, all the while apologizing for Poppy's behavior. Once she got the key, she went straight to the room.

Bea had hoped there were two beds at least, but the way their luck was going, it only made sense that a single queen-sized bed stood at the center of the room. The room itself was average with bland white walls and a window with a city view that was currently shrouded by heavy rain and mist. It certainly wasn't nearly like her room back in Belvoire, but it wasn't like she had any other choice.

After setting down what little things Bea had brought with her–obviously not expecting to spend the night there, and definitely not with Poppy–Bea collapsed on the bed, exhausted. A few minutes later, the door opened, and Poppy walked in, evidently calmer than before. She stood near the doorway, scanning the entire room with a frown. Bea fully expected her to complain about, well, everything, but she just trodded to the side of the bed and glared at her.

"Move."

Bea moved obediently to the other side of the bed, too exhausted to argue. Poppy gracefully slid into bed and took her phone out.

"Stay at your side of the bed, and don't talk to me."

Bea frowned. "I didn't even–"

Poppy scowled at Bea, and Bea made the gesture of zipping her lips. The only sound that followed was the heavy downpour of rain that reverberated across the room. After an hour, Bea got up from bed and started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Poppy called out, almost sounding... worried.

Bea raised her eyebrow. "I'll come back if that's what you're worried about."

Poppy rolled her eyes, but Bea could see a slight flush on her cheeks. "As if. Get lost in the storm for all I care."

Bea laughed. "I'm just gonna check out the boutique I saw near the lobby. Don't really wanna sleep in these clothes." Bea hesitated. "Do you... want to come with?"

Without answering, Poppy rose from the bed and strode out of the room. Bea followed soon after, and for someone so short, Poppy sure walked incredibly fast that Bea had a hard time keeping up with her.

"Do you even know where it is?" Bea asked.

Probably realizing she didn't, Poppy slowed down until they were walking alongside each other. When they reached the boutique, Poppy immediately frowned in disgust at the clothing selection.

"Ugh, what even is this?" Poppy remarked, looking at a shirt with an unflattering shade of pink.

"Are you saying you can't pull that off?" Bea challenged.

"No, I'm saying that I have standards. Obviously, something you know nothing about." Poppy made her way through the selection, sneering all the while. "I'm not wearing these."

Bea rolled her eyes. "Get off your high horse. If you want to sleep in your sweaty clothes, at least do me a favor and not, like, sleep next to me."

Poppy let out a scornful laugh. "Oh sweety, I'll still smell better than whatever pigsty your perfume came from. But maybe... I'll just wear nothing then."

Despite herself, an image of Poppy naked sprung to Bea's head, sending heat all over her body. She slightly faced away from Poppy.

Noticing Bea's sudden silence, Poppy curiously looked at her. "My, my, Farmsville, don't tell me you're already imagining me naked," Poppy said with a smirk.

Mustering her most dismissive tone, Bea said, "Please, you're not even that hot." A blatant lie, of course. Poppy is a lot of things, and 'hot' is definitely one of those. Thankfully, Poppy moved on after seeing a dress that, Bea agreed, 'should be burned.'

After a painstakingly long search, Poppy was finally able to find something 'tolerable.' They made their purchases and went back to their room. When they arrived, Poppy was the first to get in the shower, and when she came out, she was wearing a tight-fitting tank top and bike shorts that hugged and accentuated all her curves. The room suddenly got so much hotter as Bea tried her absolute best not to stare at her, and even so, she knew it was a losing battle which is why she jumped to the shower the first chance she got. After showering, Bea realized that in her hurry, she forgot to take her clothes with her. She wrapped a towel and walked out to the bedroom to get her clothes. When her back was turned to Poppy, Bea glanced at a mirror nearby and was surprised to see Poppy staring at her with her mouth parted slightly. But when she casually turned around, Poppy had already averted her gaze.

Later that night, the storm got worse as thunders started to rumble outside. At first, Bea thought it was just a trick of the light, but after a few more claps of thunder, she could see Poppy flinch at every roar with her eyes clenched shut.

Is Poppy... actually scared of thunderstorms?

As if to answer her question, Poppy started to heave heavily, with traces of sweat forming on her forehead. And as much as Bea despised Poppy–or at least that's what she kept telling herself–she actually felt sorry for her. And against her better judgment, Bea reluctantly placed her hand over Poppy's and gave it a soft squeeze. Poppy tensed for a moment at the gesture before she relaxed and gripped Bea's hand tighter. In response, Bea started tracing soothing circles on the back of her hand, and they fell asleep through the thunderstorm, hand-in-hand.

When Bea woke up, most of the storm had already passed, with light to moderate rain falling intermittently. She scanned the room and saw Poppy eating at the desk.

"Your food's getting cold," Poppy said without looking at her.

"You... got me food?"

"I figured since we didn't have dinner yesterday." Poppy turned to face Bea. "Why do you sound so surprised."

Bea furrowed her brows. "Because that's actually nice. And as far as I'm concerned, you're not."

"Well, I don't particularly care about you. And trust me, no one will be happier than me with you gone. But, unfortunately, I do have to keep you alive at least until after the party. Grades and all."

Bea got up and went to the desk to get her food. Poppy got her an English-style breakfast while she was eating... a teensy salad.

Poppy saw Bea looking at her food. "Did you also want a salad?"

"Uh, no. It just doesn't look... filling."

"It's not. But it's not like I have a choice. Their vegetarian selection is awful."

And just when Bea thought Poppy couldn't surprise her anymore.

"Wait, you're... vegetarian?" Bea asked in undisguised surprise.

"Yes." Poppy narrowed her eyes at Bea. "You know, you have to stop assuming you know everything about me. In fact, you know nothing about me."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that."

Bea went back to bed and started to eat her food, her mind going back to the foster home, how Poppy's entire personality changed around the people there. Before, Bea was so convinced that she had Poppy pegged, just a basic bitch who thought too highly of herself with no regard for others at all. But Poppy was right; Bea barely knew her... and she wanted to know more.

"Why?" Bea turned to face Poppy. "Why are you a vegetarian, I mean. If you don't mind me asking."

Poppy made an annoyed expression. "I do mind, actually."

A grin spread on Bea's face. "Oh my god, you totally care about the animals."

When Poppy didn't respond, Bea continued. "First kids and now animals? My, my, Poppy, what will people say if they knew that their favorite she-devil is actually a big softie."

Poppy stopped eating and turned to give Bea a menacing glare. "If you tell anyone about this, you're dead."

After they finished eating, Bea and Poppy started planning for the party the next day. So naturally, more than a few shouts, insults, and curses were thrown around until they finally, finally, agreed on all the details. Since Poppy was the one with all the connections, she had to call for all the services needed. And when her trusty photographer told her he wasn't available, Poppy cursed in frustration.

"The party, it's not just about your GPA, is it. This is really important to you."

Poppy didn't answer and instead went back to make a few more phone calls.

When everything was settled, the storm had fully passed, and it was already safe to drive home. So imagine Bea's surprise when Poppy said that they were staying there for another night.

"I thought you hated this place."

"I do. But I'm not going to drive an hour home just to go back early tomorrow. Besides, we'll get things done much faster if we stay here."

Bea smiled. "Would you like some champagne?"

#poppy #poppy x mc #poppy min sinclair #queen b #choices #playchoices #play choices #my work #my fanfics #my writing

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elvish-sky · 3 years

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Beloved: My Everything

A.N: I’m back with part 2 of Beloved!! I’ll be coming back for real tomorrow, but I was so excited that I could not wait to post this! You can probably tell I had way too much fun with this, and I really did. And I got to write Arien again! I hope you guys love it as much as I do!!

Word Count: 3,712

Summary: Erebor is preparing for the seven-year anniversary celebration of the BotFA. As the Queen, you are fully involved, but you and Thorin also have to manage the excitement of your adopted seven-year-old, Arien.

Pairings: Thorin x Reader, Bard x Thranduil, Fíli x Sigrid

Warnings: Fluff. Kissing.

Beloved Part 1 Director’s Commentary

****

Beloved: My Everything

“Adad! Mama! Look!”

Arien was sprinting down the hallway towards the council room, newly lost tooth in hand as she called out for her father. Bursting through the double doors, the seven-year-old ran the length of the room before jumping into Thorin’s lap, proudly grinning to show him the new gap in her teeth.

Sitting next to your husband, you stifled a giggle as Thorin examined the tooth, looking like he was examining a precious piece of metal because of how focused he was. Meanwhile, the rest of the council was in various states of annoyance or fond disapproval of the meeting, Balin shaking his head with a smile at the picture the royal family was painting.

It was true you were an odd group. After adopting Arien on the quest for Erebor and reclaiming the mountain, your future had seemed uncertain while Thorin’s life hung in the balance. But he had recovered, and the two of you had been married in a stunning ceremony, with a toddler Arien placing the queen’s crown on your head. The dwarves had been worried at first about having a human queen and princess, but your calming effect on Thorin and Arien’s general cuteness had quickly won them over. Of course, the fact that your first council meeting ever had started with you walking in and throwing knives in rapid succession so that they speared the table between each of the council members (except Balin’s) hands may have given them a healthy fear of you as well.

Now, six years later, the kingdom was thriving. Trade with Dale was stronger than ever, and the uneasy alliance with the elves had grown into something more tolerant. In fact, Kings Thranduil and Bard would be visiting in five days for the anniversary of the Battle of the Five Armies, as it had come to be known.

The year after the battle was a hard one. Thorin and his nephews were grievously injured, and while they healed it had been up to you and Balin to run the kingdom. On the first anniversary of the Battle, the mood in Erebor was noticeably somber. Although the king and princes had healed, it didn’t seem as if the kingdom would ever fully recover. You had noticed this, and remembering that an elven envoy, with the king, was in Dale, had mustered up a feast and invited the men and elves to what would become a yearly tradition.

Now, you were in the throes of planning the event with the council.

“That tooth is lovely, darling. Now go play so that Mama and I can finish work, ok?” Thorin pressed the tooth back into Arien’s hand. “And take good care of this!”

Arien left the room with a beaming smile, waving at all of the councilors.

Days later, Arien burst into the room you shared with Thorin.

“Mama! Adad! Wake up! The elves are coming today!”

Thorin groaned. “Arien. How many times do I have to tell you that you should not be this excited about elves? You should be happier to see orcs than you should be to see elves.”

She grinned, ignoring him and throwing open the curtains, the sunlight streaming through the windows setting her dark skin aglow.

“Arien, no.” You gestured for her to close them, shielding your face from the early morning sun.

“But Mama they’re coming today! Imma see Sigrid and Bain and Tilda, and Uncle Bard and Uncle Thranduil and Leggy!” She pranced about the room, gesturing as she talked about everyone.

You smirked at Thorin, who had one arm thrown over his face, hair splayed on the pillow. His bare chest was glowing in the sunlight, but you were focused on the expression of annoyance you could barely see under his arm. Thorin was extremely disapproving of the fact that your daughter called Thranduil ‘Uncle,’ and adored Legolas so much. Personally, you thought it was great, helping to bridge the divide between the kingdoms. You also were friends with the Elven-King, him having sheltered you during the whole Arkenstone fiasco, and Legolas was one of your good friends as well.

“I suppose we should get up.” You shooed Arien out of the room, into her adjoining set in the royal wing, before turning back to your husband. You leaned down to kiss him.

“C’mon, Thorin. We really should get up.” You pressed a trail of kisses down his jaw, hoping to coax him up.

He groaned, sitting up. “Fine. I suppose I should look my best to upstage the elves.”

You sighed. “If that’s what gets you up then so be it.”

Thorin smirked at you, standing up and grabbing a leather tie from his wardrobe, and binding his hair back so that it cascaded down his back. You walked over to him, hugging him from behind.

“You know that Arien and I will always love you more than the elves, right?”

He nodded, turning to kiss you. “I love you too.”

Later that day, you strode down the hall, Dori by your side.

“We have everything set up in the hall?”

He nodded.

“All the food is ready?”

He nodded again.

“And the drinks? We have the Mirkwood wines that they shipped ahead?”

“Yes, Y/N. Everything is going to be fine, we’ve been planning for months. Now, the elves are about to arrive. You need to meet your husband and daughter at the gates.”

“Ok, then. See you later?”

“Go, Y/N!” Dori shooed you in the direction of the gates, and, laughing, you turned and walked away.

You stood at the entrance to Erebor, holding hands with a bouncing Arien, Thorin on her other side. You shared a smile with him, leaning over your daughter to kiss him quickly before turning to face the approaching elves. Thranduil dismounted from his elk, Legolas doing the same from his horse, and they walked towards you.

“Your majesties, your highness,” the Elven-King greeted you all with a nod of his head.

You and Thorin returned the greeting in kind, clasping the elves’ forearms. Arien stood there, now quivering with excitement, and when you nodded to her that it was okay to say hello she burst forward with a cry of, “Uncle Thranduil!!” throwing herself into his arms.

“Hello, little one,” Thranduil greeted her with a smile, hugging her back only slightly awkwardly.

You had to admit that your daughter had a good effect on the elf, he was much less prickly than he used to be. You fondly recalled the time when, visiting Mirkwood with Arien and Thorin, you had been unable to find your daughter for several hours. It was only upon going outside that you discovered the Princess of Erebor and the King of Mirkwood making flower-crowns together. Thorin’s jaw had dropped, while you had just smiled, watching Arien’s springy coils of hair bounce, her dark skin glowing as she ran around the elf, weaving flowers into his hair.

Now, Thranduil was lifting Arien to pet his elk, smiling as the child giggled. He set her down after a moment, looking behind you at the three new dwarves who had just appeared.

“Your highnesses.” He dipped his head again in greeting, this time to Fíli, Kíli, and Dis. They greeted him in kind before Kíli strode forward to Legolas. The elf bent his head to listen to the dwarf, before nodding and following the dwarf into the mountain, gesturing about what looked like bows and other archery-related things.

“And, that’s the last we’ll see of Legolas and Kíli until someone finds them to bring them to the party!” Thorin smiled as he spoke, and with that, the last of the remaining tension was broken. Thorin grabbed Arien’s hand, leading the delighted child back into the mountain. Thranduil offered you his arm and you gladly accepted, chatting with an old friend as the rest of the elven delegation followed you into Erebor.

“When will Bard be arriving?”

Your eyebrows rose at the informal use of the king’s name, but you answered nonetheless.

“We expect him just before dusk.”

Thranduil smiled softly at this, piquing your curiosity even more, but you let it slide and continued the conversation to other topics.

Back in your rooms, having repeated the whole greeting process with Bard, you helped your husband and daughter get ready for the party. Thorin had donned his finest Durin blue robes, the silver embroidery twining around the cuffs and the hem and highlighting the silver strands of his hair. Arien was resplendent in bright gold, her circlet glowing against her dark skin. Her new dress had blue embroidery around the hem, with reflective panels sewn in to refract golden light all over the room.

And you were radiant in a silver dress, full skirts swirling around your feet and Durin blues ribbons twined through your hair. Your crown sat on your brow lightly, you having opted for the delicate one to save yourself a headache. The three of you put together looked like the very picture of royalty, the elements of Durin blue in each outfit tying it all together as a familial piece.

Later that night, you sat at the high table, gazing around the great room. Arien had been hauled off by Bain and Tilda, and you could see the two older ones playing with her, all three looking delighted.

Sigrid and Fíli were at the center of the dance floor, her laughing at something he said as he twirled her around. You looked forward to cashing in the bet you had made with Thorin about them being a couple- you were rarely right and had lost spectacularly in the bet you had made about Kíli and Legolas (you had been so certain they were dating, but it was just their shared love of archery. And, as Thorin has pointed out, two people that obsessed with their hair would not have worked well in a relationship). Besides, your nephew looked very happy with the human girl.

Kíli and Legolas had deigned to join the party after their customary archery competition, and each was mingling with different crowds. Legolas looked to be regaling a group of humans with his exploits, while Kíli had joined his cousin, Bain, and Tilda in making mischief.

Meanwhile, Thranduil and Bard were conversing in a corner, leaned close together over their glasses of wine, which made you even more suspicious. You resolved to find out what was going on with the two of them while they were staying with you for the next several days.

Thorin tapped you on the shoulder, startling you from your observations. You looked up to see him standing next to your chair, hand outstretched.

“Shall we dance, amralîme?”

“Yes, please. Let’s show them how it’s done.”

You grabbed his hand, walking over to the dance for and twirling on. You heard clapping as the King and Queen of Erebor were spotted on the dance floor, and smiled. There were few things you loved more than dancing with your husband, and so as the band began to play you started.

The dancing was lovely, you switched partners after the first to dance with Fíli, then with a suddenly appearing Kíli, then Legolas. Thranduil swooped in to take your hand after his son, and Bard danced with you after the elf. Your night was rounded out by Bain asking for a dance, which you happily obliged (you didn’t want to be disloyal to any of the others, but aside from the elves, who were inherently graceful, Bain was the best dancer of the lot).

As you walked off the dance floor for what you hoped was the last time (your feet were starting to hurt), you noticed that the room was quickly emptying. It made sense, it was extremely late. You had left the celebration halfway through to put Arien to sleep, leaving an equally sleepy Kíli to watch over her. Sigrid had left with Bain and Tilda a little while ago, while Fíli sat on the dais with his uncle, softly speaking with him. Bard and Thranduil had disappeared at some point as well, although you could not say when, or if they had left together.

Now, you walked up the dais to grab your husband. Saying a quick farewell to Fíli, you entwined your fingers with Thorin’s, making your way out of the hall.

“I think we’ll be having another wedding soon,” your husband said.

You grinned. “I did tell you so. Now pay up.”

He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “So you did. And I can’t fulfill the bet until it snows, you know that.”

You did. You had set the conditions of the bet to be that if Thorin won, you’d have to dress like him for two weeks. You wouldn’t have minded, except for the large clunky boots he always wore. You would have looked ridiculous If you won, Thorin had to have a snowball fight with whoever the highest-ranking visiting diplomat was.

Reaching your room, you leaned against the door.

“I had a lovely night.” You leaned in to kiss your husband.

“I did too.” He kissed you back, before pushing open the door.

You gasped as you entered your room, looking through the windows. It was snowing.

“I guess you’ll have to fulfill your end of the best tonight!” You smirked. “And you know, we have two equally high-ranking people in Erebor right now!”

Thorin buried his face in his hands. “You’re telling me I have to start a snowball fight with Thranduil and Bard.”

You grinned, quickly changing into a warm tunic and boots, throwing a cloak over it all as Thorin did the same.

As you headed out the door, you heard Thorin mutter, “actually, throwing a snowball at that pompous elf might not be the worst thing after all,” under his breath, causing you to giggle.

You first went next door to Arien’s room, waking Kíli while careful not to rouse Arien. The prince was groggy at first, but brightened when you said the words “snowball fight.”

“Should we wake Arien?” Kíli was putting on his own cloak as he spoke.

You looked at Thorin, considering.

“She’ll be very upset if she finds out we played in the snow without her,” Thorin observed.

You walked over to her bed, shaking her gently awake.

“Mama? Is it morning?” Arien blinked her eyes open, groggy.

“No, my darling. It’s snowing! Adad needs to have a snowball fight, so we’re going outside!”

She sprang out of bed. “Snow! I love snow!”

You helped her put on her small tunic and pants, fastening her cloak tight before she tugged her boots on. Reaching out, she grabbed Thorin and Kíli’s hands.

“C’mon Adad, c’mon Kee! We’re gonna have a snowball fight!”

You followed them to Fíli’s door, then Dis’, both of whom were enthusiastic about the plan. You sent Fíli, Arien, and Kíli to rouse Bard’s children and Legolas, the adults making your way to Bard’s room.

Turning the corner, you, Thorin, and Dis stopped short.

Bard and Thranduil were entwined, kissing, in the middle of the hallway, Bard’s fingers running through the elf’s hair. Hearing your gasp, they broke apart, flushed. You all just stood there, dumbstruck for a moment, before you were spurred into action.

Walking forward, you slung an arm around each of their shoulders. “Yes, yes, congratulations and all that. Now, it’s snowing, so we’re going outside. But we’re all very happy for the two of you.”

Thorin and Dis nodded along with your words, and the five of you walked down the hall towards the gates to meet the rest of the royals.

At the main entrance, you walked over to the small door beside the massive gates, unlocking it and gesturing for everyone to follow you outside.

As soon as they were out in the snow, Fíli and Sigrid sprinted away from the mountain, and you could see them beginning to build a fort. Kíli grabbed Bain and Arien to assist him in building another, and Legolas and Tilda were starting to stockpile snowballs together. You could sense that this was the beginning of a snow-war.

Turning around, you saw your husband, the King Under the Mountain, climbing the outside walls of Erebor with a pile of snow cradled in his cloak. Finding a secure perch, he gathered the snow into balls and started raining them down on Thranduil, who shrieked at the cold, startling Bard who stood next to him into quickly moving away.

Thranduil, running over to his son’s stockpile of snowballs, was bombarded from all sides as he tried to steal from Legolas and Tilda. Succeeding, the elf started throwing them back at Thorin, nailing him directly in his face. Thorin dropped to the ground, Bard hitting him with another snow projectile shortly after. You laughed with Dis as you watched three of the most powerful people in Middle-Earth have a snowball fight.

Suddenly, white splattered all over Dis, who turned to see her younger son standing sheepishly behind her.

“Sorry, Amad. I was aiming for Uncle!” Kíli had his hands raised in defense.

“No, you were not! You’re an archer, Kíli, I know you hit what you aim at! And your Uncle is all the way over there!” Dis advanced on Kíli, a snowball in each hand, and her son promptly turned and ran, shrieking as she chased after him.

You were standing there, quite content to watch it all unfold as Fíli and Sigrid led an attack on Legolas and Tilda, Arien and Bain sneaking up to attack them from the rear. Your peace was disturbed, however, by something ice-cold being shoved down your back. You spun around, screaming, to see a smirking Thorin standing behind you. You tackled him into the snow, wrestling until you had him pinned beneath you. He was flushed, both from the cold and exertion, panting, and so irresistible that you leaned down to kiss him.

Thorin quickly deepened the kiss, and you responded, until a shout of, “Cool off, lovebirds!” rang out. Springing up in case someone was about to dump snow on you, you saw Tilda and Legolas dumping snow on the heads of Fíli and Sigrid, who quickly broke apart from their kiss with yells of “So cold!” and “Ouch!” Tilda, Bain, and Legolas, with Arien perched on his shoulders. stood there with large grins on their faces as you and Thorin made your way to join them.

“Where are your fathers?” you asked Legolas and Tilda.

They shrugged, and you turned to your husband.

Thorin smirked. “Shall we go find them?”

You nodded, along with Fíli, Sigrid, Legolas, Arien still on his shoulders, Bain, and Tilda, and all scooped up several snowballs each. Kíli and Dis appeared, Kíli looking suitably chastened, and each grabbed an armful of snow as well.

“What are we doing?” Kíli whispered.

“We’re gonna ambush Bard and Thranduil,” Thorin informed him, “Have you seen them?”

Dis nodded, “They’re just around the corner of the walls. But… maybe their children shouldn’t be around for this?”

Sigrid laughed. “It’s fine. They’ve been dating for months now, and neither of them is exactly subtle. Our father has made so many trips to Mirkwood recently that we got suspicious and enlisted Legolas for help.”

The elf nodded. “Tilda snuck to Mirkwood in one of the carts her father brought and told me everything. We officially found out when we walked in on them kissing in the throne room.”

Tilda rolled her eyes. “They really do need to work on stealth. But the important thing here is that they don’t know we know.”

“So wait. You’ve known for months and didn’t tell us?!” Thorin was offended.

Bain shrugged. “It wasn’t our news to tell.”

“And that’s exactly the right attitude,” you smiled at him. “Now, let us go ambush some kings!”

Sticking close to the side of the mountain, you all snuck in a line. Thorin and Legolas had climbed up to dump snow on the two kings from above, while the rest of you attacked from the ground. Before climbing, Legolas had transferred Arien to Fíli’s shoulders, where she was happily preparing ammo.

You held out a hand for everyone behind you to stop, peering around the corner at Thranduil and Bard kissing as the snow fell around them. It looked quite romantic, to be honest, but a good snowball surprise was worth disrupting the moment.

You motioned to Thorin and Legolas, perched above, to begin.

“To quote Tilda, cool off, lovebirds!”

Thorin dumped a pile of snow on their heads, and the rest of you sprung around the corner to bombard them with snowballs. They quickly retaliated, and it dissolved into chaos once again, everyone having the time of their lives.

Dis, Bain, and Tilda had taken Arien in a while ago, Dis staying with her niece, but the rest of you had enjoyed the snow for a while longer. You had all officially congratulated Bard and Thranduil on their relationship, and after the initial shock of finding out that their children had known for months, they were very pleased.

Now, you were walking back to your rooms with your husband in the early hours of the morning. You still felt the blood in your cheeks, exhilarated from the adrenaline and happiness, and Thorin was still flushed from the cold beside you. You pushed open the doors to your bedroom, Thorin shutting them behind you. You walked to your wardrobe, changing out of the soaked tunic and pants into your nightclothes, Thorin doing the same.

Once changed, you climbed into bed next to your husband, laying your head on his chest. You could hear his heart beating as his hand came up to your face, tilting up to his. Thorin slanted his lips over yours, and you responded for a sweet, long kiss, filled with love and all the emotions you could not put into words.

You decided to try anyway. “I love you so much, amralîme. You’re everything I could ever want. You and Arien.”

Thorin smiled. “I love you too, my everything.”

You heard the words rumble in his chest, and smiled softly. You had your beloved husband and daughter. Seven years later, everything was perfect.

Everything tag 💕: @entishramblings @itgetsatadhazy @boyruins @anjhope1 @wellofeternalthirst @kumqu4t @katbby16 @thewhiteladyofrohan @kirstenscaffeinateddisaster @beenovel

Thorin tag: @lathalea

Beloved pt 2 tag: @beakami

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pennamesmith · 3 years

Text

Return of the Skeletor

A family reunion. Find more Skeletor stories here!

Micah remembered the other world.

Most people could, in fact. The whole planet was affected. They’d all lived a life they thought was perfect. They’d all imagined something intangible. The memories were faded and fragmentary, like the recollection of a dream, but everyone was certain it had really happened.

Even if nothing that had happened was real.

At first Micah didn’t realize anyone else had shared in the dream. He’d lost track of time on Beast Island long ago, and when the collapsing portal closed around him he only assumed it was one of the despairing wasteland’s many tricks. He never had long to dwell on the matter, either. Soon after finding himself returned to reality (he could remember shouting to Angella, reaching for her, trying to tell her “I’m not dead!”) Micah had met the loud and unusual Princess Entrapta. And after her there came…

“She-Ra! It’s She-Ra!” a nasally voice shrieked.

Micah was startled out of his reverie by a sudden clattering of hooves. The door to his Bright Moon office burst inwards and he was presented with the sight of a breathless Swift Wind. Sitting astride the rainbow-winged unicorn was one of Entrapta’s bots, a lanky drone she’d named ‘Skeletor.’

“The time has come!” Skeletor said.

“It’s true!” Swift Wind confirmed. “I felt the sacred bond return just a minute ago. Adora and the others are back from Eternia! Darla is over the Whispering Woods right now!”

“What?” Micah jumped to his feet, abandoning his desk without a second thought. It was covered in a mountain of paperwork: royal records, his regent’s duties, and the calendar pages where he’d marked off every day since Glimmer and the rest of the Princess Alliance left for their dangerous mission to another universe. He rushed to the door where Swift Wind was standing.

Skeletor reached out and helped Micah onto the horse’s back. “Join hands as we bring together our mystic powers!” the robot cried. Once Micah was settled, Swift Wind turned and leapt out the nearest window. They sailed through the skies.

“What’s going on? Are they all right?” Micah asked, with undisguised worry.

Swift Wind banked, soaring over the tree line. “I’m not sure! The ship is under control but — look, there it is!”

Darla, the rebuilt First Ones ship, was descending rapidly from the sky over the treetops. Her flight was steady, but parts of the hull were damaged, and smoke trailed from one wing. Suddenly the ship lurched and plummeted into the trees, vanishing from sight. A plume of vegetation went flying as it plowed to a smouldering stop.

Micah felt his stomach twist. “We need to get closer!” he called out in a panic.

“I can take you there!” Skeletor declared, urging Swift Wind toward the ground. They touched down by the edge of a long path of smoking destruction that stretched deep into the woods.

“They must have landed near here,” Skeletor deduced, observing the massive trench in the ground. He hopped off the horse’s back and ran ahead, making anxious utterances as he went.

Micah dismounted and walked beside Swift Wind. “I hate this,” Micah confessed. “The staying behind, I mean. At least on Beast Island I was the only one I had to worry about, and I was in control of my own survival. But having to stand by while Glimmer goes into danger? I’m so proud of her, yet I’m also so scared.”

“I know what you mean,” Swift Wind answered. “I trust Adora, but I also worry about her, like, all the time. Whenever we’re apart I get so restless. I just feel powerless!”

“Sometimes letting them find their own way is all we can do,” Micah mused.

They came into a clearing in the woods. Darla was there, sparking and steaming but generally intact. Skeletor hammered on the door.

“Here, let me try to get you out!” he called.

Something inside the ship made a noise. There was a hiss and a jet of steam, and Skeletor tumbled backwards, landing with a squawk at Micah and Swift Wind’s feet. They all stared at Darla, holding their breath expectantly.

The front hatch of the spaceship popped open. Entrapta erupted out of it, tumbling down the landing ramp in a ball of frizzled hair. She pulled her goggles up.

“Aha! We made it!” she crowed, taking in her surroundings. “All in the right dimension and everything!”

She reached into the recesses of her hair and emerged with a haggard Hordak. “Your piloting saved us! I knew you could do it!” she told him proudly.

Hordak squinted through half-lidded eyes. “Is it over?” he muttered. “Are we still alive?”

“Yep!” Entrapta wobbled to her feet and gathered her partner up in her ponytails. “Now, let’s get you a checkup and some rest. You’ve had a stressful voyage!”

She suddenly seemed to notice the gathered onlookers. “Oh! Hi Skeletor. Hi Bird Horse. Hi Micah. Guess what? You’re gonna love this!” Entrapta turned back to the ship. “Safe to disembark, crew!” she yelled, before trotting off with Hordak.

“Now we’ll see how clever you are!” Skeletor said.

Mermista peeked around the door. “Ground!” she cried, throwing herself across the dirt in relief. “I never thought I’d miss you so much!”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad a flight,” Sea Hawk cajoled, helping her to her feet. “Why, I can think of a dozen — no, two dozen more harrowing trips I’ve taken in the Dragon’s Daughter XXVIII.”

“You fishmonger,” Skeletor scoffed.

Frosta was the next one out, followed closely by Perfuma and Scorpia. “Eternia was amazing!” the teenaged ice princess announced, brandishing a pair of frozen fists. “I got to punch so much stuff!”

“Come on, it wasn’t all violence,” Perfuma pleaded.

“Yeah, we learned a bunch about friendship and responsibility too,” Scorpia agreed.

“Punch! Punch!” Frosta said.

“You’re becoming evil, I can sense it!” Skeletor hummed approvingly. “Excellent!”

Catra and Adora came next, and they were accompanied by a young man Micah had never seen before. He had a pink shirt, bobbed blond hair, and bore an uncanny resemblance to Adora herself. A sword hung on his back. He blinked as he emerged into the light.

Swift Wind’s jaw dropped. “Adora! Is that…?”

“Hey guys!” Adora grinned sheepishly. “So, funny story. You remember how when I was a baby I was taken from a hidden First Ones faction that nobody has ever been able to find since?”

She held her hands out, presenting the newcomer. “Well, uh, we found ‘em! This is my twin brother, Adam!”

Adam smiled and waved. “Hello everybody,” he chirped.

“Brother?” Swift Wind sputtered.

“He-Man!” Skeletor bellowed.

The group fell into a chattering commotion, but Micah was hardly paying attention. Glimmer and Bow had appeared at the top of the ramp, holding each other as they looked out. Emotions that went beyond words swam in the young queen’s eyes.

Adora saw where Micah was looking and quickly pulled her brother away. “We’ll tell you the whole story later, sir! Trust me, it’s hilarious. Now come on, I gotta show you around Etheria, bro.”

“Sure thing, sis,” Adam replied, grinning hugely. They pounded their fists together, adding their own sound effects as they did so, and marched off laughing.

“They have been doing that the entire. Trip. Back,” Catra groaned, following close behind the pair. “Somebody save me.”

“You furry coward,” muttered Skeletor.

At the entrance to the ship, Glimmer and Micah hugged each other fiercely. When they finally broke, the old king could see that his daughter was smiling through her tears.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Glimmer sniffled. “So much happened. You wouldn’t believe how scary things got! Oh, but I totally had everything under control.”

“I know you did,” Micah smiled back. But he could tell there was more.

Glimmer’s face turned serious. “Dad,” she said shakily, tripping over her own words. “Listen. Entrapta’s theories about the other dimension were right. When we — I mean, didn’t know if…”

Bow stepped in. “Your highness, I think there’s someone you should see.” He beckoned gently. Still at a loss for words, Glimmer nodded and took her father’s hand, leading him inside the ship.

Micah’s heart was racing even before she rose from the chair and turned to face him. His breath caught when he saw the spreading wings, the shining light, the smiling face that he remembered so clearly.

Their eyes met. It was a miracle.

Just like on the island, a part of him couldn’t believe this was really happening. But it was.

They both reached out. They’d mourned each other once. Their hands met.

“Micah?” she asked, hardly believing it herself.

“Angie?”

Outside, both the princesses and their well-wishers had gathered around Adam, excitedly showing off the wonders of their planet. He gazed with delight at everything, marveling in the magical light of Etheria. His laugh brimmed with kindness.

Skeletor elbowed his way through the crowd. “I can’t let any of you delay me! Out of my way, now!” he jabbered. “This is no time for jokes!”

He made it to where Adora stood with her brother and glared. Adam turned in surprise, not sure what to expect. They stared at each other.

Skeletor held his arms wide. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment!” he cried. “Take this, He-Man!”

Then he lunged forward, and wrapped Adam in an enormous hug.

“He-Man, I am your friend!”

#spop #she ra fanfiction #skeletor #King Micah #Queen Angella #micangella #glimmer #prince adam #adora #swift wind #princess alliance #smith stuff

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