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solarwonux · 4 years

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20. “Give me a kiss please.”

college!hoshi x gn!reader

warnings: mentions of alcohol, friends to lovers (kind off) and suggestive towards the end. also i didn’t edit this lol

note: Enjoy, I’ve been slowly trying to get back into writing again. I had been in a slump for a while now, so I apologize if my work hasn’t been up to parr as of late, also idk i feel like im slowly changing my writing style or something lol. Anyway, once again let me know if you liked it, I really really do read everything and all comments that I get means the world to me. I’ve talked long enough so enjoy>xx

masterlist || drabble game

In your years of young adulthood and college parties where the smell of sweat and alcohol lingered in the air, you had never once come across a drunk person like Soonyoung.

He had started drinking or pregaming as he put it, since two. It was now almost twelve in the morning, he was god knows how many drinks in and possibly the most annoying person you could ever encounter.

“Hoshi get the fuck off me.” You groaned in your equally as drunk state and tried to push him off. You weren’t sure how many drinks you had downed since you had joined in on his pregaming, but you knew for a fact that you were in a far better state than your best friend. At least you weren’t trying to kiss everybody and anything.

“Give me a kiss please.” He whined puckering his lips and bringing his face close to yours. You yelled and tried to push his face away but atlas your efforts had been deemed as unsuccessful when he managed to plant a wet disappointing tequila filled kiss against your cheek. “That was the worst kiss ever!” He protested, looking at you through his eyelashes as he circled his arms around your waist.

“Then go kiss someone else Soonyoung.” Your voice was laced with anger. Your tone falling upon deaf years as he rested his check against your shoulder. As much as you tried to pry him off, you couldn’t because his hold on your body would only get tighter.

“Everyone here has sucky lips, I like yours.” He said lowly and if it weren’t for the fact that Seungcheol had rudely cut off Seungkwan’s third attempt of the same song he had been drunkly singing for the past fifteen minutes; you wouldn’t have heard him. But you did and you couldn’t deny the way your heart had started to race. “Also don’t call me by my full name it makes me feel like your mom, and you’re not.” He finished and raised his head. His glistening eyes met yours and they quickly traveled down to your lips before he sighed and unraveled his body from yours. He sat up again, his back hitting the extremely uncomfortable grey couch, crossing his arms in front of him like a child. He acted like what he had just said wasn’t revolutionary and just the obvious when in reality you were losing your shit on the inside.

“What am I to you then?” The question traveled through your closed lips faster than you could stop it. You mentally wanted to slap yourself for asking such an obvious question.

The two of you were friends, had been friends since middle school and had surprisingly kept in touch in high school, until graduation. The summer before your freshman year of college you had lost touch and you assumed it was simply because life was changing faster than you could process it that there wasn’t enough time to keep a friendship that could’ve blossomed into something more. In all honesty it was a surprise when you had walked into your University cafe for the first time one morning during your second semester of your college, that you recognized the cute cashier everyone had been gossiping about for weeks now.

The look on his face when he saw you was priceless, the exitement radiating off his body as he tried to patiently take your order. His questions about everything he had unfortunately missed, without giving you enough time to answer. He had paid for your coffee using his employee discount to apologize for not reaching out sooner. Your friendship picking up right where it left off like nothing had happened, except for the fact that your feelings for him never managed to go away.

“You’re my best friend of course.” He threw his head back and sank further into the couch. His confession hitting you a lot more differently now that you were possibly drunk out of your mind. “But I want us to be something more. Only if you want to of course I don’t want to do things you’re uncomfortable with especially because I know that you don’t have feelings for and like Min-”

His long meaningless speech was cut off by your lips as you kissed him swallowing his words. Soonyoung had never once been caught off guard in his twenty four years of life, but there was always a first time for everything. He let himself relax and closed his eyes, relished in the way your lips felt against his and finally kissed you back. It was slow at first and with a lot of caution until he realized that you weren’t going to pull away any time soon and kissed you back harder with ferocity that could only be blamed on years of secretly pining after you.

The wolf whistles around them started along with an old slow song that he was sure his father had once played for his mom after a fight, asking for forgiveness.

Your arms snaked up his body and hooked around his neck only pulling him close and his hands found present against your waist. Finally, after sensing your lack of air, you pulled away. Soonyoung’s smug face resembling the red solo cups his drinks had once been in.

“Sometimes you talk to much.” You whispered and placed a chaste kiss against his parted lips before pulling away and standing. Soonyoung groaned his arms slumping down at his side, his body going into what he had once read could be withdraw as he was already missing your touch. The same touch he had gone years without experiencing.

Love was a dangerous, he concluded.

“Come on baby boy, I don’t think I want audience for what I really want to do to you now.” You leaned over grabbing his hands that were openly resting against his jean cladded thighs and pulled him. He stumbled as he tried to come to terms what you had just confessed. He could feel the exhaustion form earlier being webed away as you guided him away from prying eyes and down the hallway that led to the rooms.

“Wait are we going to do more than kiss?” He stupidly asked when you opened a vacant room and guided him inside. You shut the door, locking it before pressing your body against his,

“Only if you want.” You toyed with the buttons of his hidious tiger printed shirt, patiently waiting for his go ahead. He threw his head back mumbling out a prayer before locking his lust filled eyes with yours.

“God, I don’t think I could say no, I’ve only dreamt of this day a couple hundred times and now that its here, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but underneath you.”

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razorblade180-heated · 4 years

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Warmth

[Smut! Also I’m aware of the canon, and? Read my tags]

Nice guys finish last, a common phrase tossed around to any dude with dipshit friends that clearly fumble their way into relationships. At least that’s what Ilia thought. She also wondered why it was just guys? It’s not like they’re the only ones striking out or being told to act rude. She should know. Unfortunately, she’s been both the worry wart, and the dipshit. You would think romance had clear instructions by now. After all, love comes for everyone given enough time. Even her, but there lies the problem. Ilia couldn’t admit it. Not to the only person that it matters to. Ilia could fight grimm, be a terrorist, a good person, and stand outside a hotel room an entire kingdom away with luggage held tight like she is now, but for the love of everything not annoying, Ilia couldn’t tell one nice guy that he makes her feel like she’s walking on air.

It had been several months since her and Sun got a little more serious. The emotional soul searching definitely took time, and every choice felt like do or die for her, but Ilia was finally in a place emotionally that truly felt good. Most of that was thanks to Kali. The woman was always there to lend an ear. All that searching though put several things temporarily on a back burner. One of those things was visiting Sun. Expenses to Vacou was one thing, but Ilia didn’t want to visit him while feeling completely out of sorts. It wouldn’t be fair to him. That didn’t stop Sun from blowing up her scroll with facetime messages. That dork worked out a time zone schedule and everything. It was sweet; the kind Ilia wasn’t used to but definitely wanted more of. It had been far too long since she saw that cheeky monkey boy in person.

Ilia stared down the door as she psyched herself up. “Don’t be nervous. Dooooon’t be nervous.” She muttered to herself. She finally knocked on the door and waited in brief suspense as the door swung open aggressively. Ilia was effortlessly pulled into the room and more importantly, into a hug. It took her a moment to realize she was less than an inch away from pecks and wrapped in warm arms. She tilted her head up to see shiny white teeth smiling at her.

“Hey Ilia. Have a safe trip?”

Her freckles turned a little pink and she pouted. “We’re skipping over the fact that you just surprised me? How’d you know it was at the door?”

“Ummm you were mumbling out there for a few minutes.”

“Oh…” Ilia lost the nerve to look at him and choose to hide her face in his chest. How much did he possibly hear!? It was too embarrassing to think about. “How’ve ya been?”

“Oh ya know, missions. Scarlet had a party yesterday, obviously things got out of hand.”

“Fire?”

“No it was actually bandits. He didn’t help fight. Him and Neptune song Toxic while Sage and I handled everything.”

Ilia looked back up at Sun. “That sounds awesome! Man, I should’ve booked an overnight flight!”

“Yeah we could’ve used another fighter.”

“We both know I would’ve been drunk onstage with them.”

“Listen, you could’ve let me dream.” Sun said, laughing gently. It was criminal to be this endearing. Ilia wasn’t sure how Neptune or anybody could deal with this brightness so easily. However, Ilia would love to learn.

“Uhh, Sun? You’re still hugging me.” Ilia stammered.

The boy's face turned a little red and he quickly let go. “Whoops! Hehe, my bad. Got a little carried away.”

“That’s nothing new.” She jabbed at him. “Wearing your heart on your sleeve is what you do best.” Ilia stepped further into the room. “Or maybe it’s picking rooms…”

The hotel room had a glass door on the other side that led to a balcony to look out at Vacou’s desert beauty. A huge couch was smack dab in the middle of the room that faced a wide screen. Sun clearly brought his own things. Wires from the bottom went down the wall and connected to a game system with tons of things to play and watch. Ilia walked to the back of the room to a door that led to another big room. This one had dressers, a door that most likely led to the bathroom, and a massive bed that looked softer than a cloud and covered in pillows.

The thought of sleeping in it was both heavenly l, and a little too much to deal with. It was a big bed, and the only bed. Ilia jumped a little as she felt Sun poke her back to get her attention.

“You alright?”

“How much did this all cost!? This is Atlas grade stuff right here.”

Sun folded his arms and smiled with confidence. “Funny you say that. This is the room Weiss gets when she’s here. I asked very nicely for her to let me use it. The missions I went on for the company definitely helped with a discount.”

“Discount?”

“Yeah Weiss said she isn’t paying for room service.” Sun let out a sad sigh. “Weiss said it’s the only way we wouldn’t order nothing but lobster.”

Ilia was soul crushed. Weiss was right but that didn’t make it better. Lobster is great. “I don’t blame her, but I’m offended. I was gonna go all out.”

“Well now you can do that, but on a budget.” Sun walked back to grab Ilia’s bags. “Feel free to take a shower. I still have things I wanna set up.”

“Alright, thanks.” She grabbed her things from him and went to the bathroom. It was much bigger than she expected. Ilia was used to a bathroom the size of a closet. Not another room! It was half the size of the bedroom and magnificent. The entire thing was tile and the tub was deep. With a removal shower head and other things Ilia couldn’t begin to know what they were for.

“Really glad he didn’t pay full price for anything.” A heat rose to her cheeks. Sun totally would’ve paid full price if it came down to it. Nobody is worth this much effort. Then again, Kali would beg to differ. She would think going all out would be just enough. How Ghira surpassed all expectations is beyond her.

xxxx

Sun finally finished his set up of movies and games and was ready for the hard part. Not screwing things up. Hanging out came naturally to him but it was much harder when he could tell Ilia had a lot on her mind. Maybe he was trying too hard. Should he ask her about it, or give her space. Months to think about this and he let it slip through his fingers. “I wonder if she’s reading me as much as I am her? Huh, maybe I should stick to being straight forward?”

“How’s the set up going?” Ilia called from behind him.

Sun started to turn around. “I’m finish-fin...umm.” He had lost his train of thought. Ilia had derailed it completely by walking around in a white bathrobe with her hair down. Sun’s eyes drifted to her toned legs and didn’t leave them.

Ilia noticed the distraction and blushed. “Ahem!” Sun snapped out of the daze, embarrassed and rubbing his head in embarrassment.

“Sorry, caught me by surprise.” Not that he was complaining. By any means, and his tone made that very clear to her.

Ilia sat down on the couch and carefully kept her legs crossed. “Don’t get used to this. My hair always ruins my clothes when it’s wet so I’m letting it dry is all.

“You know I never noticed, but your hair and size is kinda like Weiss. It’s kinda fortunate. Don’t think that bathrobe would work for me.

“You’re shirtless all the time. All you need is a towel.” She looked passed him to see his setup. “Games or movies first?”

“Choice is all yours. I’m perfectly fine owning you in all of these games.” He boasted. Ilia wasn’t gonna take that at all.

“Famous last words, banana breath. I’m about to be eating lobster and kicking you but for the rest of the evening! Pass me a controller.”

Sun laughed confidently and tossed her one. She seemed to be in a better mood than before. Deep conversation can wait. Now was the time to enjoy each other’s reunion. “Winner decides the movie.”

Ilia grinned. “You’re on!”

xxxx

“Rematch!” Ilia declared, for the tenth time. She was not about to admit defeat and watch Speed Racer. Though at this point the amount of food she ate would probably knock her out before the halfway point.

“I think you gotta accept the loss here. I don’t know why you thought you’d beat me in a fighting game finally. Should’ve chosen racing.”

“Whatever. It’s no fun if a bet is one sided. I totally would have won though.” Ilia let out a sigh and handed her controller over, shooting him an evil look at his victory. Sun could only smile. “That’s a weird response to a glare.”

“Can’t help it. I’m just really glad you’re having a good time with me.”

That was sudden. Ilia blinked twice then began to play with her hands. “Why wouldn’t I…?”

He shrugged. “Earlier you looked a bit spaced out. Like your mind was somewhere else. Couldn’t tell why. I almost asked why but you know, trying to be better at letting things go at their own pace. Being a leader doesn’t mean I have the most tact hehe.”

That was an understatement. It never mattered what was happening, if Sun was a part of it then he was all in. Helping, fighting, everything. True, it made things feel a little overwhelming at times; but it was a pleasant change for people like Ilia. Having a person that was always in your corner was a stark contrast from her time before the White Fang and during it. Blake wasn’t even always around. Not that it was a problem. But Ilia would be lying if she said she didn’t used to wish that would be the case between her and Blake. Oh well. Life goes on.

Ilia leaned closely to Sun, then flicked his forehead hard.

“Ow!” He flinched.

“Blame yourself. Your brain needed a jumpstart apparently. I could’ve sworn I told you not to hold back around me once upon a time. Be greedy, stay outspoken. Even if I seem sensitive about it.” Ilia knew she had a bad habit of putting up walls. That’s why she was thankful for her friends. The only tactful person was Blake. Everybody else would just try crashing right through any wall. A crude approach, but Ilia knew herself well enough to admit she doesn’t leave people many other options. “What did you wanna ask me?” Being caught up in lecturing Sun, Ilia had legitimately forgotten her little crisis outside the door. Knots in her stomach hit hard the moment she remembered. “Me and my big mouth!” Ilia screamed, internally.

“You were outside my door for a good while. Then it took you some time to process the hug. I wasn’t sure if you were worried about seeing me or if there’s something in general that had you distracted. Heh, I guess you can say I got worried about you worrying. So, what was on your mind.”

“Oh you know, things…” her voice trailed off and it was hard to look at him again. Why was this so hard! Ilia hated this. Confessions weren’t anything new to her, and yet Ilia genuinely felt scared to even work up to it. Her skin changed between gray and pink constantly as the room went painfully silent. Sun was waiting for an answer and Ilia was left with her throat feeling dry. She came all the way here to get this off her chest in earnest and now it felt like she was being crushed flat by it.

Ilia continued to be mad at herself for saying nothing as she felt Sun take her hand and rub his thumb across it. Amazing how simple touches like this could change the atmosphere. Against his, Ilia hadn’t realized she had been shaking. She looked up to see Sun staring at her, concerned while remaining patient. It wasn’t fair, those eyes. The way they built her up and disarmed her all at once. Ilia never wanted them off her.

“Take your time with it.” Sun said with reassurance. It was easy to see he was anxious as well from the way his tail couldn’t keep still behind him.

“I...it’s….” she gripped his hand tighter. “I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Of this. Us. I’m scared that if I tell you exactly what this means to me, it’ll end. I don’t know how or why but I know no matter how badly I wanna say the words I want you to hear…” she holds her head down and clenches her robe. “I probably sound so stupid right now huh?”

“I wouldn’t say so. Listen, I know that no matter what I say you’re gonna beat yourself up about this. Me being understanding or not, wasn’t gonna change that fact; and you know that I was going to understand.”

Ilia let out a small pity chuckle. Sun tilted her head up gently. Even with misty eyes, Ilia remained completely beautiful. “I don’t hear the words, but I’m smart enough to know they’re there. I haven’t said them, but do you think for a second you don’t know how you make me feel?” He placed her hand on his heart. Even he couldn’t escape the uneasiness of this situation. Sun could feel the heat go to his face and could do nothing but gently place his forehead against Ilia’s. “You know how I feel, right?”

The gray from her skin went away inch by inch, only leaving pink and red freckles. “Of course I do.” Her voice trembled. Their eyes didn’t remain sad, but switched to something equally intense. Pleading. Ilia’s expression softened. Her hand let go of her robe and found its way to Sun’s face. His own hands rested on her hips and he began leaning forward because of Ilia until she was on her back. The trembling didn’t stop from earlier but it was okay. She was okay.

“How many times have we’ve found ourselves like this?” She asked, rubbing his face.

“Not enough.” Sun whispered. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, so much. You...are beyond word to me.” Ilia couldn’t wait a moment longer. She closed her eyes and was met with Sun’s lips, tenderly pressing on her own. Ilia carefully bit his bottom lip as he pulled away, aiming for her exposed neck. Ilia let out a gasp at the contact. Her hands began rubbing up and down his back from the inside of his shirt. Her own legs instinctively parted in order to draw him in closer. Each nip and kiss was brutally slowly and methodical. As if he was letting her know the depth of his feelings.

Ilia kept exploring his back torso. Every groove felt like magic. Muscles were never something she was into on anybody. What really had her was the honest fact the body on top of hers belonged to the person that had completely captured her feelings. His hands slipped into her robe and made her body shiver. He never stopped being gentle but somehow was firm enough to let Ilia know how badly he wanted her. She was absolutely defenseless against the way his left hand groped her chest. As for the right, it wasted no time drifting to her wet folds, continuing the trend of slowly rubbing Ilia’s body; before she felt his middle finger open her up.

“Mmmph~” her nails dug into him a little. She could feel him curl his finger as he pumped in and out.

Sun could feel Ilia squeeze tightly around the digit. Her chest started to rise higher, her breath becoming sharper by sucking in air through her teeth. Sun finally let her neck free and kissed her, adding another finger in the process. His movements became faster and hid her face the crook of his neck the moment the kiss ended. She couldn’t stop her legs from fidgeting and the girl tried her best to repress her whimpers by any means. She even bit down on his neck briefly. All the while, Sun kissed and breathed on her very red ear.

“Let me hear your voice Ilia…”

He made it sound so easy. Ilia couldn’t stand sounding so needy, even with him. It just wasn’t her to give in and he knew that. “You’re the worst.” She whined. Her eyes shut themselves and her body clung to him as if she was falling. His fingers split from each other. Ilia could feel them press down as they went in, before sliding up to the top and pulling out to the entrance, connecting and splitting apart to touch everywhere.

“Mmmmm aaaahhaaa~ Sun!” Ilia couldn’t hold that one back at all. The first of many, until she had no will left but moan as her face turned beat red. He really was the worst. “Suuuun~ aaha!”

“I knew you could do it.” He managed to make her free himself enough to be able to kiss her face and neck again. His labor bore the fruit he wanted as Ilia kept moaning freely. Her body finally caved from his touch when she arched her back and Sun felt both fingers being squeezed tightly. Ilia’s entire body was tense and she couldn’t even make a noise until her body went limp on the couch. The breath hit heavily against his body as she tried catching it.

It didn’t take too long because she quickly went back to kissing him passionately, even moaning into it. If there was anything she loved most, it was kissing. It didn’t matter how skilled a person could be in anything else, a kiss had a way of showing exactly how much the other person really cared. There was no dying a spark when it was there. She learned that the hard way.

Sun could feel Ilia’s tongue all but dominate his own as he tried to do the same. He couldn’t help but groan from the pleasure. Ilia’s leg presses against his erection, stoking the flames further, but it was still only second compared to their lip locking. A subtle warmth hit his cheeks. Sun reluctantly pulled back to see why and witnessed Ilia panting,tears falling down her face. Sun put his hand against her face and Ilia pressed into it. He traced over the tear track and kissed the path of the other one away. “You okay?” He said quietly, earning a nod.

“Yeah. I’m just...you’re so warm, safe. I can’t remember feeling this...happy.” Her own words threatened to make herself shed more tears. He was looking at her again. That same gaze that never failed to make her heart jump and want to continue growing if it meant being even closer to him. “Please,touch me deeper.”

Sun’s face went redder. He sat up briefly and officially took off his shirt. His pants came next. Ilia tried removing her bathrobe but Sun quickly took her hand. “Wait, I uhh really like you in it.” He confessed, embarrassed. “It suits you.”

Ilia felt her heart flutter again. Sun’s infatuation with her legs and hips was flattering for sure, but Ilia never imagined how much. “Well, if we’re doing things that excite us.” She reached for his red boxers and slipped her hand between the seams, fishing out Sun’s hard six inch shaft. A simple grab had him throbbing and breathing deeper. “Having you like this is more my style.” Keeping underwear one while having sex just felt more intense and made Ilia ache. “Need me to get you slick enough.

“You tell me?” Sun pressed the tip of cock past her entrance and was welcomed with Ilia’s body dripping at the touch. He pressed further in to be guided with ease. She more than wet enough on her own. He was already halfway in and still felt no real resistance. Only Ilia spreading around him before clamping down. “Gods, your pussy is so wet.”

He really knew how to push her buttons just right. Her body betrayed her mind by gripping him even tighter for his choice of words. “I hate that word so much. It’s-mmmmph! Ahhh! S-Sun!?” He couldn’t wait any longer and hilted himself inside her completely. His hips began thrusting on their own and Sun found his way into Ilia’s arms yet again. Unlike her, Sun had no shame in letting her hear just how good she made him feel. His groans and grunts invaded her ear willingly, and passionately.

“Mmmmgh ahhh~ fuck. Ilia…” Sun couldn’t keep his thoughts straight anymore. All he wanted was to feel her and let Ilia feel him. He panted roughly and did his best to satisfy the woman beneath him.

Ilia was more than being satisfied. There wasn’t a moment she wasn’t feeling full by how wide his cock spread her apart. Her moans came back in full force to sing with his own. Ilia’s legs felt their strength drain from them and could only react to Sun’s hips. They once again kissed deeply and Ilia’s right hand was pressed against the sofa by Sun’s left, interlocking tightly with each finger around one another. It wasn’t long before Sun held the other one as well. The stimulation made Ilia feel alive with energy that was dead set at reaching its peak. They hadn't been going any longer than nine minutes by her guess, but yet they were near their limits already. Neither could help it. Today, it was nothing short of what they wanted. There wasn’t one touch or look that didn’t shout “ I love you with everything I have.”

“Ilia! I’m-“ he couldn’t contain himself long enough to speak. Ilia wrapped a leg around him as he came inside her. The feeling of it all knocked her past the point of no return and Ilia came as well; her body squeezed all it could as she cried out in pleasure. Sun’s hips rocked slowly to draw out the ecstasy of it all until they were left tired. Both found themselves staring yet again, smiles plain to see.

“Am I still the worst?” Sun chuckled.

“Without a doubt.” Ilia jabbed. “Kiss me again already will ya?”

Sun playfully rolled his eyes. “So needy.” He gave her what they both wanted and more. After all, he had a lot of love to give.

xxxx

They must’ve gone at it at least three times. The sun had set, food was ordered once again, and Speed Racer played for Sun’s viewing pleasure while Ilia slept peacefully. The boy was on his side while his girlfriend’s arms remained around him, her head resting on his chest. Sun couldn’t help but brush her hair out of her dreaming face and remain connected to her. Every so often she’d laugh quietly in her sleep.

“Always up to something. Even in your sleep.” Sun was only proven right by her body holding him closer.

“Mmmmmm love you.” Those words stopped Sun in his tracks. He had no choice but to look down at her once again and kiss her head. “I love you too.” A confession neither of them would officially remember, unburdened by the fear or memory. When it was right, they’d both say it. And what a day that would be. Until then, there was no rush.

#rwby #rwby sunshower #sun wukong #ilia amitola #sun x ilia #rwby ships #no i did not make her straight or bi. I like the idea of demi Ilia #you won’t change my mind on that.

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damianwaynerocks · 4 years

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Zuko & The Waynes

atla/batfam crossover

taglist: @bi-fr0000g

Part 2

Summary: Prince Zuko has just seen a light; the Avatar has returned. He was just about to go capture him, when he falls through a portal, and lands in Gotham City. He’s angry. He was just about to regain his honor, to regain his father’s love. After he is adopted by Bruce Wayne and becomes Zuko Wayne, the second youngest child, Zuko starts to have second thoughts about regaining his honor. Living as Zuko Wayne makes him think that maybe, just maybe, he’s deserving of love just the way he is.

pt 1

Part 2:

"Word of advice; never check your hashtag."

Zuko muttered a thank you to Dick as he set his phone down to take a cup of tea being offered to him by his older brother, who say down himself and leaned his elbows on his knees. He smiled softly as he looked at Zuko. "Look, everybody thinks that we care about their opinion. They feel like their opinion on things we do matters, especially the negative ones. Plus, a lot of it's just for attention, just to get us to see it and say something."

"Don't worry about me," Zuko sighed, "I'm used to people saying things like that."

"I'm sorry about that." The two say in silence for a few minutes, before Dick perked up. "I forgot!" he fumbled to grab the remote, "I was going to show you Brooklyn Nine-Nine!"

"What's that?" Zuko asked, taking a sip of his tea. "This is really good, by the way, almost as good as my Uncle's."

"Thanks, Alfred makes the best tea," Dick replied, going to Hulu on the tv, "But Brooklyn NIne Nine is amazing! It's a cop show but so funny at the same time!" He pushed play, and sat back to watch.

It was funny. Zuko laughed a few times. He couldn't stay focused for long, though. He was nervous. His interview with Gotham Gazette was coming up the next week. He'd given interviews as Prince of the Fire Nation, but he'd always been with his father and sister, never really speaking unless agreeing with his father.

As if sensing his nervousness, Dick spoke. "Hey, I know you're nervous about the interview, but I promise it'll be okay. It won't be televised, and Bruce paid the Gazette to allow a family friend, Lois Lane, to interview you. She knows about all of this, including you being from another dimension, so it'll be easier."

Zuko took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Who is Lois, exactly?"

"Superman's wife," Bruce said as he walked into the room, holding a manila folder in his hand. He smiled. "How are you doing, Zuko?"

"I'm fine," Zuko said, crossing his arms after he set his tea down on to the coffee table.

"It's okay to be nervous, it's your first interview," Bruce said kindly, sitting on the other side of him "I was for mine." Zuko looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You? Nervous?"

Bruce laughed. "Oh, yeah. I was terrified. I was about your age. The Gazette wanted an exclusive about the new Healthcare program Wayne Enterprises were putting together- which I had little to no part of since Lucius Fox was running it for me."

"What'd you do?" asked Zuko, shifting to face the man.

"Alfred phoned the Gazette and played the sad orphan card for me so I could get the questions in advance," Bruce explained, smoothing the folder on his lap. "Lucius told me the answers to all of them, and so I knew what to say when the interview came."

"Lucky," Zuko snorted. Bruce smiled softly.

"No. Not luck. I just had people that loved me looking out for me." He handed Zuko the folder. "I called Lois and asked her to send over the questions she's going to ask you. Look through them to prepare for your answers, and if you need help, just ask." He ruffled Zuko's hair as he stood up and left.

Zuko blinked, and opened the folder. He read a few of the questions, and groaned. At Dick's questioning look, he said, "Half of these are way too personal, and I don't know what the other half of these mean! Current tv obsession? What lyrics from a song mean the most to you? Anakin Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"What about Anakin Skywalker?" Duke piped up, sticking his head in the room. "I don't know what we're talking about, but if it involves Anakin, I want in it."

"Lois sent over the interview questions for Zuke," Dick explained, ignoring Zuko's protests against the nickname, "And some of them involve pop culture." Duke looked at the paper over Zuko's shoulder.

"I can help with these," he offered, "After that month mission in San Fran, I'm taking a week break. I can educate you on the icon that is Anakin Skywalker and all the other stuff."

"Okay, thanks," Zuko replied. Duke grinned.

"Now come on, we're binge-watching all the seasons of Clone Wars."

Zuko and Duke were inseparable for the next week, constantly talking about the interview. Duke was telling him all about Star Wars, showing him his Spotify playlist, going to the Gotham Fashion Show, and trying new foods, to name a few.

"You're taking my sparring partner, Thomas," Damian had snapped on the third day.

"Sorry, man, Zu and I have stuff to do!" Duke had replied as he dragged Zuko to the garage by his hand, not looking very sorry at all. Duke had taken to calling him 'Zu' and if he was being truthful with himself, Zuko didn't mind it. They'd become very close.

It was the day of the interview. Zuko was nervous as he and Duke ran over his answers again.

"And remember, if you forget one, just say what you think," he was saying as Bruce straightened his tie. Bruce nodded in agreement.

"And I'll be right behind the camera," the man added, "If you get overwhelmed, tap your leg three times, and I'll interrupt you so you can get a break. Zuko nodded.

"Thank you," he breathed. Bruce and Duke smiled at him.

"Zuko," a woman with long black hair in a white blouse got Zuko's attention, "We're ready."

Zuko took a deep breath as he walked over, sitting on the couch they'd brought into the room for him and Lois to sit on. A broad man with black hair and glasses was behind the camera- Superman, Zuko remembered -smiled encouragingly at him. Usually, Bruce had told him, a man named Jimmy was Lois' partner, but Bruce had requested Clark just in case Zuko had accidentally revealed something incriminating.

"Okay, Clark," Lois said, making a motion with her fingers, "Let's do this." A red light blinked on the camera, and Lois turned to Zuko with a smile. "So! Zuko!" she grinned, "It's nice to meet you! How are you feeling?"

Just say what you're thinking, Duke's voice reverberated in his head. Zuko's voice didn't tremble when he finally spoke, "I haven't felt anything in years."

Lois blinked. "Oh? Did you have a rough life before you met Bruce?"

"Something like that." Lois smiled sadly. She knew the truth, as Clark had told her.

"I'm sorry about that," she said, before clearing her throat. "So! The Gazette put together the 'twenty-one questions' questionnaire for you to go over! Does that sound good?"

The interview was a blur. He remembered telling her that he liked Anakin more than Obi-Wan and that his favorite song was Choke by I DON'T HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME. He told her that his favorite part of living with Bruce was Alfred's tea because it reminded him of how his uncle would make it.

"Thank you for your time, Zuko," Lois smoothed her skirt in her lap as she smiled warmly, "It's been lovely to meet you."

"And we're good!" Clark said from behind the camera, giving the two a thumbs up. "You did great, Zuko!"

"Thanks," Zuko replied, releasing a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding.

"Hey, dad!" a boy around Damian's age in a Superman hoodie with black hair and blue eyes flew down the stairs until he right in front of Clark. "Can I spend the night?"

Clark looked at Bruce. "If it's okay with Bruce, sure. As long as you're back tomorrow by noon."

"It's fine with me," Bruce agreed. Jon grinned.

"Yes! Damian, it's a go!" he threw his arms around Clark. "Thanks, Dad!" he turned to Zuko and held out his hand for him to shake. "Hi!" he chirped, "I'm Jon, Damian's best friend! It's nice to meet you!"

"Uh, nice to meet you, too," said Zuko, taking the Kryptonian's hand. Jon's eyes lit up.

"Do you like smores?" he asked. Zuko's eyebrows furrowed.

"What's that?"

"Jon," Bruce said sternly, "You and Damian are not starting a fire in this house. Not after last time." Jon’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

"But Mr. Wayne-"

"Jon," Clark cut him off with a look, "Bruce said no."

Jon sighed. "Aw, fine. But come on, Zuko, let's go!" he picked Zuko off of the ground with startling strength and carried him to Damian's room.

"Don't carry me!" Zuko snapped, shoving the boy off of him and dusting off his clothes. Jon laughed.

"Wow, Damian! He's just like you!"

Damian scoffed from where he was sketching on his bed. "Don't be absurd, Jonathan." Jon raised an eyebrow.

"Let's see; grumpy, not liking being carried at first," he was counting on his fingers, "Trauma, a little scary, black hair, little to no social skills-"

"Hey!" Zuko and Damian interrupted simultaneously. Jon laughed.

"I'm just saying! Anyways, Bruce said we couldn't start a fire for smores."

Damian groaned. "That is so unfair! The chandelier incident was not our fault!"

Zuko blinked. "That... what incident?" Damian waved him off.

"Never you mind. Father is just being unreasonable." he paused. "Jonathan, what exactly did he say?"

Jon cleared his throat before lowering his voice several octaves in an impression of Bruce. "You and Damian are not starting a fire in this house." Damian smirked.

"So we cannot start a fire, but he said nothing about Zuko, the firebender!" he turned to Zuko, "We will go get the supplies. You stay up here. We'll use these to communicate." he tossed an earpiece into his hand. Zuko frowned.

"We need an earpiece just so we can get food?"

Damian gave him a disbelieving look. "Zuko, at this moment there is a Kryptonian, my father, Drake, Thomas, and Lane in this house. We have to cover all of our bases."

Zuko rolled his eyes but put the device in his ear anyway. Damian did the same. Jon was staring at the door, using his x-ray vision to see if anyone was coming. He didn't need an earpiece due to his superhearing.

"Alright, I will go get the marshmallows and graham crackers, and Jonathan, you go get the chocolate from Drake's room," Damian commanded in his voice typically only used for missions. "Zuko, you stay here, and do not let anybody know our plans."

Jon and Zuko nodded, the Kryptonian's serious and the firebender's condescending. Damian gestures to the door. "Let's be off, Jonathan." the two left the room, leaving Zuko standing.

Zuko looked around Damian's room. The walls were bare aside from two swords mounted above his bed and a framed picture of all of his bets above his television. Zuko was accepting the fact that he would be bored whenever there was a knock on the door.

Clark walked in, looking for Jon, but frowned when he didn't see his son. "Where are Jon and Damian?" he asked.

"Play. Dumb," Damian hissed in the earpiece. Zuko put on a confused expression.

"Who's Damian?"

"Not that dumb!"

Clark rolled his eyes fondly, clearly not believing him, but not wanting to push him. "Whatever. Tell Jon I said I love him."

Zuko nodded. "Will do, sir!" he said. Clark nodded, and left.

Jon was back in the room shortly after with a box of chocolate under his arm. "Golly," he gasped, "Tim's room is booby-trapped to the extreme! I barely made it without tripping any of them!"

"That is because you are an imbecile," Damian said from the doorway with a box of crackers in one hand and a bag of marshmallows in the other. He looked at Zuko with a deadpan expression. "You have much to learn when it comes to lying."

"He believed me, didn't he?" Zuko countered, crossing his arms over his chest. Damian rolled his eyes.

"No, he did not, he just heard a distress call from Metropolis and he did not have time to wait," he replied matter-of-factly. Jon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I didn't hear a distress call."

"That is because you were too busy trying not to get trapped in one of Drake's childish snares."

"Why does his room have those, anyway?" Zuko asked.

"Because he is worried somebody will come in and steal his things," Damian explained, "as he thinks that anybody with time on their hands would care enough to snoop through his stash of Penthouse magazines."

"What's that?" Zuko and Jon said at the same time.

"Pornography," Damian replied, opening the bag of marshmallows and pulling one out. He put it in between two of the graham crackers, and grabbed a square of chocolate to add. He looked at Zuko expectantly as he impaled it with one of the swords on the wall.

"Light a fire, Zuko," Jon explained, doing the same thing as Damian. Zuko obliged, a fire igniting above his palm. Damian and Jon put their smores in the flames, letting them toast. After a minute, Damian pulled his out. He handed the sword to Zuko.

"Here, eat." It was more of a demand than an offer, but Zuko didn't argue. He took the smore from the tip of the blade and took a bite. His eyes widened.

"This is amazing!" he praised, taking another bite. Jon smiled brightly.

"Right? They're the best!"

"They are a delectable treat," Damian agreed, taking the sword back from Zuko to make himself one. "Even if they are for children."

"Don't forget forbidden."

The three jumped at the voice, the flame fizzling out from Zuko's hand as he saw Bruce standing in the doorway with a frown on his face. "I thought I told you all that you could not start a fire!"

"On the contrary, Father," Damian contradicted, "You said that Jon and I could not start a fire. You said nothing about Zuko."

Bruce narrowed his icy blue eyes. "You're a smart boy, Damian, you knew what I meant. No patrol tomorrow!" Damian's eyes flew open.

"But Father-" he protested, but Bruce cut him off.

"No, Damian, you disobeyed me. And you, Zuko," he turned to the firebender, "No going to John Mulaney's show with Duke tomorrow."

Zuko's jaw dropped. "But-"

"And you, Jon," the Bat ignored him, setting his eyes on Jon. "I will be informing your mother of this." Jon paled.

"No," he whispered, "Not that. Anything but that."

"Yes," Bruce said sternly. "Now, I have work to do." Before he could walk out, Zuko's voice stopped him.

"That's it? Aren't you going to hit us or something?" he asked, confused. That's what fathers did whenever their children misbehaved, after all. They disciplined them.

Although it was impossible to tell, Bruce's heart cracked at his son's bewildered face. "No, Zuko," he answered, his voice much gentler now, "No. A father should never hit his children."

After Bruce left, Damian groaned, throwing his arms into the air. "This is ridiculous!" he seethed, "No patrol? For making smores?"

"My mom's gonna be so mad," Jon whimpered, closing his eyes as though that would erase the image of Lois' disappointed smile out of his head.

Zuko, though, was silent. Bruce's words were running through his mind. A father should never hit his children.

Zuko awoke the next morning to texts from the group chat.

Frowning, Zuko opened his twitter as he stood up, stretching. His eyebrows furrowed as he read.

"What the heck?" he muttered as he texted the group chat a response.

"Well," he said aloud as he put on a shirt and prepared to go downstairs for breakfast, "Alrighty then." As he made his way to the kitchen, the voices of the other boys reached his ears.

"If we were in a band, I would be the lead singer!"

"No you wouldn't, you can't sing!"

"What the hell do you know, Drake, you have barbecue sauce on your toast-"

"Damian don't fucking swear-"

"Jason! Stop teaching him those words!"

"How I eat my toast isn't relevant to the fact that Dick can't sing-"

They stopped arguing as Zuko entered the room, sitting into the seat next to Tim and rubbing his eyes. Seeing Tim dipping his toast in barbecue sauce, he wrinkled his nose in disgust and got up from his seat and moved to the one beside Duke.

Tim didn't seem phased. He pointed his toast at Zuko. "You went on a midnight drive with Dick, right? Was he a good singer?"

"No," Zuko replied bluntly, meeting Dick's pleading look. The acrobat scowled.

"That is false! False! I am a great singer!" he huffed, "Just ask Superman!"

Jason laughed. "Dude, Clark was lying! He's too nice to tell you the truth! You royally suck."

Bruce was sitting at the head of the table reading the newspaper, sipping his coffee as he tuned out his children's argument. Finally, he cleared his throat.

"The gala's tonight," he said, "And I want everyone on their best behavior."

The gala was for Zuko. An event to celebrate the Waynes bringing in another child.

Zuko was not excited about it.

The day was spent with preparations. Getting the ballroom ready, running over what to say when Gretchen Milliana made you comfortable, and ballroom dancing.

Zuko was not very good at the last one.

"Okay, so, you might need more professional help," Dick admitted after the second hour had passed. "Never fear! We'll get Cass."

Cassandra Cain, the only female Wayne, was in the dance studio. Zuko had only met her a few times.

"Hey, Cass!" Dick greeted as they entered the room where a girl of Asian descent was practicing ballet. "Any chance you can help Zuko get the waltz down before tonight?"

"Sure," Cass replied, stilling her motions. "Come here, Zuko." She placed his right hand on her waist and put her own on his shoulder, interlocking their other hands. "Like this."

She began leading him in the dance, but within two steps, Zuko stepped on her feet. "I'm sorry," he muttered. Cass shrugged.

"It is alright," she paused, "Think of it as if you were in combat. As though you're learning a new fighting technique."

That worked.

After ten minutes, Zuko was starting to get the hang of it. Cass was a good teacher. And surprisingly, Zuko found himself having fun.

The two danced around the room to a Beethoven song. Zuko had a smile, a real smile on his face. He liked it. It was peaceful. It was graceful. It was fun.

"Very good!" Cass praised, "You're a natural!"

Zuko laughed nervously before asking his question. "Do you think... do you think you could show me ballet sometime?" he asked, his face red. Cass smiled.

"Of course! You're a great dancing partner!"

Eight hours later, Zuko was in a suit. He pulled at the collar nervously. Duke saw this, and stepped in front of him to straighten his tie.

"No worries, dude," he said, "It isn't that bad. Besides, aren't you a prince? You've probably been to a ton of these things."

Zuko shrugged half-heartedly. "Yeah, but it's different."

"Then don't make it different," Duke replied, "Just put on your Prince Zuko face and pretend like you know what you're doing even if you don't. Fake it till you make it."

Zuko did just that. He put on his Prince Zuko face and acted.

He stood by Dick most of the time, his older brother doing most of the talking for him. But, as all good things must come to an end, Gretchen Milliana asked him to dance.

"You're a good dancer!" the forty-year-old woman purred, "Who taught you?"

"Cassandra," Zuko replied simply. "She's a good teacher."

"She must be," Gretchen smirked. The conversation continued, Gretchen flirting with the sixteen-year-old until he was red in the face. Finally, the song ended, and he said a polite good-bye and went back to find Dick.

"How was it?" Dick asked.

"Take a guess," Zuko grunted. Dick sucked in his teeth.

"Yeah, she's something else. Very yucky." Zuko raised an eyebrow at the word choice.

"Yucky? How old are you?" he taunted. Dick rolled his eyes.

"Twenty-three, which makes me your elder and therefore deserving of respect." He showed Zuko his phone. "Look at my post!"

Zuko looked up at Dick. "Where'd you get that picture?"

"The paparazzi work fast, my guy.”

After the gala, Zuko was making his way to his room, when Tim stopped him.

"Come on, I have a favor to ask!" he said, leading him into the Cave where a girl with blonde hair and star earrings was waiting at the computer.

"Zuko, this is Cassie Sandsmark, also known as Wonder Girl," he introduced. Cassie shook his hand.

"Nice to meet ya, Zuko!" she greeted.

"You too," said Zuko, before turning to his brother. "What do you need?"

"So, my team and I have been tracking a magyntite dealer for months," Tim began, sitting on the chair in front of the computer. "Magyntite is a chemical that, when coated over something, makes its durability increase ten-fold. Like, if you made this stuff into a suit, even a punch from Superman wouldn't hurt you."

"It's from the planet Tatooine," Cassie added, "No relation to the Star Wars planet, though. Total coincidence."

"We tracked the dealer to Gotham, and he's having an auction at one of Falcone's clubs. They're calling it 'Masked Magicians Monday,'" Tim said, cracking his knuckles.

Zuko interrupted him. "What does this have to do with me?"

"We need to infiltrate it," Tim explained, "and we need your help to do it, Zuko. You and Cassie are going to pretend to be a magician couple."

"No offense, Zuko," said Cassie with a glance at him before looking at Tim with a raised eyebrow, "But why isn't Bart or Kon doing this?"

"Because they don't have experience acting as a fancy socialite. Zuko does, being a prince as well as being apart of a gala."

"I don't have experience either!"

"I know but like, you're the only girl." Tim rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly at her glare.

Cassie sighed. "Alright, what's game plan?"

"You and Zuko go to the party in Carnevale masks- I got one big enough to cover your scar-" he added as Zuko opened his mouth, "And when it's time to bid on the magyntite, you get it. I've got $50,000,000 in cash."

"Sounds easy enough," Zuko said. Cassie nodded in agreement.

Tim sucked in his teeth. "Yeah, this is where it gets weird though. Whoever the dealer is is bonkers. Really weird rules. You have to have a date to get in, and you have to be in a relationship with the person. And you have to be convincing. Like if they suspect you're faking, you'll get kicked out."

"That sounds fake," Zuko grunted.

"That's what I thought, too, but it isn't," Tim argued, "This dude only wants couples. Maybe it's a sex thing?"

Cassie scrunched her nose in disgust. "Whoever this guy is, he sounds like a creep. Why does he care?"

"Who knows?" Tim shrugged, "And another rule is that you have to show that you can do magic- real magic, not that children show magic -at the door. I figured Zuko would light a fire in his hand."

"Does he have to say a spell?" asked Cassie.

"Yeah, just come up with something," Tim said to Zuko. "Also, for obvious reasons, you guys need to think of fake names. I have your ids all set up, but I was gonna let you pick your names so it's easier to remember."

Cassie turned to Zuko, putting her hand on her chin and scrunching her face up in an exaggerated thoughtful expression. She furrowed her eyebrows. "You," she pointed her finger at Zuko, "Look like a Dylan."

"Dylan?" Zuko echoed with a frown. "I don't like it. That doesn't sound regal enough."

"Oh, you want a regal name, Your Majesty?" Cassie bowed dramatically before flashing him a grin. "Okay! What about Henry?"

"Henry is... acceptable," Zuko replied, rolling the name around in his head. Tim furrowed his eyebrows, his mouth agape.

"Tell me you didn't pick Henry because Timothée Chalamet played Henry V in that movie."

"That's completely the reason and I'm not even remotely sorry about it," Cassie huffed, placing her hands on her hips dramatically. "I've said it before and I'll say it again; if I don't marry Timothée Chalamet, my life has been a waste." Tim stared at her as if she'd grown another head.

"You've saved eleven people from dying this week alone."

"A waste, Tim. A waste." The corners of her mouth turned up as she looked at Zuko. "Your turn, fake boyfriend, pick a name for me."

Zuko sized her up, thinking, but the only name that came to his mind was 'ty-lee' and he certainly couldn't give her the name of his sister's best friend.

Cassie shifted her weight from one leg to the other impatiently. Zuko's eyes zipped around the room and landed on an empty starbucks cup. "Uh, what about Larissa?" he finally said

"Larissa," Cassie hummed, "I like it!"

Tim gave Zuko a strange look as if to say why did you give her the name of our favorite starbucks barista?

Zuko gave him an anxious look in return as if to say I don't know I panicked.

"So what about last name?" Cassie asked, seemingly oblivious to the silent exchange. "Are we married or what?"

"No," Tim answered, "You're engaged."

"Ooh, that means a fancy ring! Score!" Cassie cheered. She gave Zuko a friendly nudge. "And you'll get one too! Though you're probably used to fancy things, being a prince and then being a Wayne and all."

Zuko shrugged. "I'm not really a jewelry person."

"Well too bad, fiancé of mine," Cassie wrapped her arm around Zuko's waist and gave him a playful side hug, "You are now! Come on, we should get ice cream or some thing else so we can get used to each other so the chemistry seems real and all."

Zuko sent Tim a glance over his shoulder as Cassie grabbed his hand to pull him to the motorcycles. She handed Zuko a helmet and revved up the engine. "My mom doesn't know I have this, so keep it a secret."

"Your secret's safe with me."

Cassie was a bad driver.

Zuko didn't get scared often, but riding with Cassie on a motorcycle? A terrifying experience.

"I can see why your mom doesn't want you to have one of these," Zuko gasped as he hopped off the motorcycle, putting a hand over his chest. "You're a terrible driver."

"No, I'm not!"

"We almost died!"

"But we didn't!" Cassie countered. She walked ahead of him towards the building. "Anyways, let's go eat ice cream! Your treat, since you're rich and all."

"This ice cream better be good, or else," Zuko grumbled. Cassie laughed.

"What are you gonna do, break off our engagement?" Cassie had a twinkle in her eyes as she spoke. "Whatever shall I do?"

Zuko rolled his eyes and led her to a table. Their waiter arrived shortly, holding a notepad and pen. "What can I get you two?"

Before Zuko could say anything, Cassie interrupted him. "Vanilla milkshake please, two straws," she said sweetly. The waiter chuckled, his eyes flicking between the two of them, and walked to the back.

Zuko gave her a look. "Two straws?" Cassie shrugged.

"Hey man, the event's tomorrow night and no offense but being romantic doesn't seem to be your forté. We're gonna have to do a ton of couple stuff so you get used to it."

"I can be romantic!" Zuko protested, "I've had a girlfriend before!"

"Oh yeah? How old were you?"

"Thirteen!"

Cassie laughed. "In my book, any relationship thirteen and younger doesn't count."

"Well, we must be different then," Zuko grumbled, crossing his arms.

Cassie's eyes softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"You didn't."

Cassie clearly didn't believe him, but she didn't press it. "So! What do you like to do for fun?"

"I don't do fun," Zuko replied, looking out the window. Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Oh wow, you are so Bruce's kid. But seriously, Zuko, everybody has something they do for fun! You have to have an idea."

"I mean..." he wracked his brain for an answer, and remembered Cass. "Turns out I like dancing. It was outlawed in the Fire Nation, so I'd never danced before. My sister Cass was teaching me how to ballroom dance and I actually really liked it. We're gonna start doing ballet together." His face turned red as he realized what he'd just admitted. A boy? Doing ballet? His father would have scoffed at him, calling him pathetic.

Cassie shocked him by giving him a warm smile. "I love that! Cass is the best ballet dancer I've ever seen, you're super lucky to have her!"

Zuko looked down. "I'm not lucky," he said darkly, "It's like my father always said; my sister was born lucky, while I was lucky to be born."

Cassie scowled. "Well, that's awful to say! I think you're very lucky! I mean, hey," she leaned back in the booth, putting her hands behind her head and smiling, "You get to fake-date me! The great Cassandra Sandsmark!"

Zuko snorted a laugh, which made Cassie's grin widen.

"Score! I made you smile! We'll be a believable couple in no time."

The ice cream arrived, and Cassie put the two straws in. Telling him to 'drink up,' Zuko took a zip.

"This is really great," he said. Cassie grinned.

"Ice cream's so good, man, I'm glad you like it."

"I'm exhausted," Zuko complained, leaning back. He was still in his suit from the gala.

Cassie waved. "Hi, Exhausted, I'm Cassie!"

Zuko gave her a weird look.

Cassie frowned. "You know? You said you were exhausted so I said 'hi, exhausted?' It was a joke."

"It was a bad one."

She scoffed. "As if you can do better!"

"I have plenty of jokes!" Zuko argued.

"Oh yeah? Tell one!"

All Zuko could remember was half of the joke Iroh had told him the night before he's arrived in Gotham. "My uncle used to tell me this one all the time. I don't remember all of it, but the punchline was 'leaf me alone, I'm bushed!'"

Cassie sucked in her teeth. "Tt. You know, a joke is only funny if you tell the entire thing."

"Okay, Damian," Zuko retorted, referring to her use of the sound Damian constantly vocalized.

"Speaking of Damian, what's it like living with him?" she rested her elbows on the table. "Tim says he's a nightmare, but surely he's got his moments, right?"

Zuko didn't respond for a moment, his mind wandering to a few days prior, whenever Damian had invited him up to his room to paint the sunset with him.

The two were silent, nothing but the sound of paintbrushes gliding along canvases filling the air.

"The League of Assassins told me many things." Damian's voice broke the silence, not looking up from his canvas. "They told me that they were great, that they- that we were only killing because we had to. That we were doing good work. That we were going to make the world a better place, start a new, good world order, and that I would lead it."

"I know what you're trying to do," said Zuko shortly, not looking up from his painting.

"I am simply relaying facts to you," Damian denied, "Anyways, I believed that I was doing good. The murder, the cruelty- it was all for the greater good. But... but it wasn't. It wasn't good. Murder is murder. We were using murder as a way to gain power, to gain control over everything. Not to make a good world. They didn't care if the new world is good, as long as they got to rule it." His eyes flicked to Zuko briefly, before returning to his painting. "It took me a long time to realize that. That I was being used. I was a pawn. They didn't love me, I was a weapon. A tool. Something they could use to get what they wanted."

Zuko didn't reply. Surely his father wanted to love him. After all, he was giving him a chance to regain his love. He only had to capture the Avatar. And the Fire Nation was the greatest of all. They were doing good, helping the world.

And yet, the more he thought about it, the more Zuko realized that he couldn't find any instance of the Fire Nation doing something that would directly benefit the Air Nomads, Earth Kingdom, or the Water Tribes. The more he thought about it, the more he noticed the similarities between the Fire Nation and the League of Assassins.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how different Bruce Wayne was from Fire Lord Ozai. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how different his relationships with Tim, Duke, Damian, Dick, Jason, and Cass are from his relationship with Azula. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how much safer he felt at the Manor than he ever felt at the Palace.

And the more he thought about it, the more the hand holding his paintbrush shook.

"Living with Damian gives you a headache," Zuko finally answered, taking another sip of their milkshake.

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mst3kproject · 3 years

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Atlas in the Land of the Cyclops

Here we have a movie with a big, brawny hero in a very short skirt, whose hobbies include drinking potions, napping, and bending prison bars! He stars in a film that is poorly-made, mythologically questionable, and deliciously ripe for heckling. What more could a MSTie possibly want?

Long ago, Ulysses blinded the cyclops and outsmarted the witch Circe, and they’re still pissed about it. As the movie begins, they’re on the verge of completing their revenge by murdering Ulysses’ last descendants. The last king of Ithaca is killed in a raid, but his young son is smuggled away and left in the care of an old shepherd. Upon hearing of the slaughter, Maciste goes to the land of Sadok to save Queen Penope and the other women of Ithaca, who have been taken captive by Circe’s descendant, Queen Capys. On the way he saves Capys from a rockslide and they fall in love, each not knowing who the other is… which goes on to make things very awkward later. Nobody in the movie is called ‘Atlas’.

Nobody Named Atlas Goes Anywhere Near the Land of the Cyclops is a bit oddly put-together. Theoretically the plot – the need to protect baby Prince MacGuffin from Queen Capys’ soldiers – is established quickly, but then it seems to take a while before anybody makes any progress. This is because a lot of the early plot developments happen by complete accident.

After making sure the baby is safe, Maciste sets out for Sadok. He quickly finds out where Capys is keeping the Ithacan prisoners, but this isn’t clever detective work – it’s just a coincidence, when some soldiers ask him to help them carry a giant amphora into the palace. Meanwhile, Capys has been told that somebody named Maciste knows where Baby MacGuffin is, and orders her soldiers to find this man and bring him in alive. Her Vizier, Ephetus, does so – but again, it’s an accident! He arrests Maciste for wandering into ‘The Forest of the Vestals’ and sentences him to death for that before ever learning his name!

Once Maciste is in Capys’ custody the movie finally seems to figure out where it’s going, but this over-reliance on coincidence makes the first half of Nobody Named Atlas Goes Anywhere Near the Land of the Cyclops feel very muddled. The only thing that really needs to be an accident to make the plot work is Maciste and Capys meeting in Circe’s cavern without knowing they’ve already sworn to destroy each other. Following that with more coincidences feels like filling time.

The bit where Maciste is arrested is really weird, actually. The Vestals appear to be playing Blind Man’s Bluff, and Maciste just wanders into the middle of it. The blindfolded woman bumps into him and feels up his pecs for a moment while he stands there grinning awkwardly, then she pulls her blindfold off, screams, and faints. Soldiers then run out of the bushes and arrest Maciste.

So that was odd… then there’s the way Ephetus decides to have Maciste executed for harassing the Vestals. They put him on a board over a lion pit (every ancient kingdom has a lion pit) and tie a long rope to each of his wrists. Then six white guys in green skirts pull on one rope, and six black guys in white skirts pull on the other. Eventually, of course, Maciste overpowers both teams and everybody but him gets to be Fancy Feast. Only once that’s all over does Ephetus realize that this is the guy the queen wants delivered to her alive.

There’s other weird shit that goes on, too. In another sequence, Maciste is getting his ass beat by Ephetus’ flunky Mumba (Paul Wynter from Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules, still buffer and oilier than the guy playing Maciste) and, having recently been drugged, is barely able to fight back. He gets a second wind when Mumba throws him against another giant amphora, which breaks, dousing him in wine. Maciste blinks a few times, and then suddenly becomes unstoppable. Was it the alcohol, or the blow to the head? There’s a truth serum that is administered by pouring it into an enormous wine goblet… and this isn’t just a thing for Maciste, either, everybody in this movie drinks booze from glasses the size of their own head. Nor can we forget the guy who gets thrown overboard from a ship, and out of nowhere a shark just appears and eats him immediately.

None of these are a full-on WTF Moment but all of them are kind of bizarre and many of them got a laugh out of me. A lot of them also tie in to the movie’s main obsession, which is Maciste’s Feats of Strength.

We are treated to many of these, all of which go on a little too long. They are filmed in loving detail, particularly focusing on the muscles in Maciste’s back, which are so well delineated that they almost comprise an anatomy lesson. We get the obligatory lion-wrestling scene (totally separate from the later lion pit scene), in which we are relieved to learn that yes, Maciste does have underwear beneath that miniskirt. We get him holding up a stone roof that’s threatening to collapse, there’s the giant amphora and the inevitable prison bars, all while Maciste makes some very constipated faces.

My favourite bit is when Maciste rolls a giant boulder into the middle of a road so the soldiers can’t follow him. What makes it funny is that this is clearly not the first take: the boulder has been rolled repeatedly, and there are places where the paint has come off to show the white Styrofoam underneath.

All this emphasis on Maciste’s rippling trapezius muscles makes the movie feel just a tad homoerotic. One shot where the camera pans slowly around Maciste’s body while Capys walks a circle around him could be an attempt to depict the female gaze – a very rare thing in movies. But I don’t know what to tell you about the Maciste-vs-Mumba fight scene, which is either trying very hard to be sexy or else I’m just looking through tumblr-coloured glasses again.

The climactic battle with the cyclops is pretty great. The cyclops is played by a normal-sized stuntman made to look like a giant through camera angles, which means that Maciste can never be in the same shot with him. There are ways to do this well but Nobody Named Atlas Goes Anywhere Near the Land of the Cyclops does not use those – instead we just get some really funny jump cuts.

According to the movie, the reason Queen Capys wants to carry out her ancestress’ revenge on Ulysses is because until it is complete, she is under a curse. Capys herself describes this as being ‘forced to live in hatred’, but it is very unclear what this means. Early on, Ephetus confesses his love for Capys and she replies that she doesn’t know what the word means – this made me think perhaps her curse was an inability to fall in love. A few minutes later, however, she has laid eyes on Maciste and his sheer manliness thaws her icy loins in a matter of seconds. So… is her curse supposed to be that her subjects hate her? They hate her because she keeps feeding them to a cyclops! She could stop that at any time! Her curse can’t be that nobody can love her, because Ephetus and Maciste both do!

I mentioned that Nobody Named Atlas Goes Anywhere Near the Land of the Cyclops shares an actor – Paul Wynter – with Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules. It also shares a director, Antonio Leonviola (he also made Thor and the Amazon Women, the movie that runs over the opening credits of Cave Dwellers). Maybe that’s why both movies have an evil queen who is supposed to be redeemed by her love for Maciste. You may recall that I didn’t think Mole Men did this very well – Halismuya continued torturing people even after her supposed change of heart. Land of the Cyclops does a bit better.

We don’t actually get an impression of Capys’ journey, but we do see the beginning and end of it. As the movie begins, she’s callously throwing victims to the cyclops and looking forward to breaking her curse by killing Ulysses’ last two descendants. At the end she sacrifices her life trying to save Baby MacGuffin despite knowing that it means she will never be free. Her motivations for switching sides are unclear – she says that knowing Maciste has ‘changed her nature’ but we don’t ever see him trying to convince her that this child deserves to live. She does remark that when she’s with Maciste she’s ‘only a woman’ rather than a queen… so maybe he brought out her maternal instincts?

I also don’t know what Ephetus’ determination to kill Queen Penope along with her son is all about. She’s not a descendant of Ulysses, but he actually puts off killing Baby MacGuffin – the thing he believes his queen wants him to do – until he has identified the child’s mother. The movie also never explains why this kid, whose father was the king of somewhere else entirely, apparently has the right to succeed Capys as ruler of Sadok.

Nobody Named Atlas Goes Anywhere Near the Land of the Cyclops is a pretty lousy movie, but it’s a fun lousy movie. It’s kinda racist and kinda sexist, but no more so than a thousand other movies of its vintage. The only complaint I might have about its entertainment value is that it needed more crappy monsters. The cyclops is pretty bad, but he doesn’t show up until the very end. Fortunately, the rest of the movie has plenty of other stupid shit to fill it out.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #my cheese steak #atlas in the land of the cyclops #nobody named atlas goes anywhere near the land of the cyclops #60s

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good-rwbyaus · 4 years

Text

Destiny - [ Epilogue : Oscar ] - mod lilac:

[ Part 1: Pyrrha ] [ Part 2: Jaune ]

Oscar visits the final resting place of Pyrrha and Jaune.

// An epilogue for Destiny. It’s more or less a monologue from Oscar, but it’s been demanding to be written for weeks now before I move onto another project. I hope you enjoy the final piece.

=============================================

Dark stormy clouds hovered over the Emerald Forest, a torrent of rain spilling into the trees. A green-clad figure slogged slowly though the grounds, heading for a specific destination. Guilt shone on his face.

----

Shielded from the storm outside, a pair of angel statues carved in marble stood in the small shrine. On the altar was a small picture frame where a young knightly blond and a young amazon-like redhead grinned into the camera.

“Sorry I’m late, Jaune,” Oscar said quietly as he wiped the droplets from his hair.

“Ahh, sorry. Forgot to introduce myself,” Oscar chuckled apologetically, “I’m Oscar Pine, Miss Nikos. And there might still be a little bit of Ozpin left in here, but...” He grinned before sighing, “it’s probably just me now.”

“I sorta know you because I have Ozpin’s memories, but I wish I could’ve met you,” Oscar said with a smile, “I wanted to see the person who my best friend admired so much.”

“As for you, Jaune, we need no introductions,” he smiled, a hint of pain in the gesture. His gaze locked onto the grave with Jaune’s name on it before turning his head to stare at the forest around him.

“Nora really chose a nice place,” Oscar admired, “I guess it’s true what they say, a quest ends at its beginning - suppose that must be doubly true for a knight.” He brushed off some dirt from the grass before he sat down cross-legged. Giving the scenery one last lookover, he smiled mischievously, “From what I recall from Ozpin’s memories though, you probably didn’t enjoy your experience here at the time.”

“Whooosh.” He swung his hand dramatically towards the ceiling.

“Haha,” he smiled, “I guess you’re tired of me embarrassing you in front of your significant other, even though she probably knows all this given she nailed you to the tree that your grave’s leaning on.”

“You probably already heard it from everybody else, so I’ll just go over the highpoints,” Oscar continued as he grinned. “We won. We beat Salem.”

“All of us lived for the most part,” Oscar paused before shaking his head, “Not to say any of us died. It’s just - well it’s complicated. Lemme give you the good news first.”

“Nora and Ren got married. They’re expecting a child anytime soon,” Oscar clapped in excitement, “And asked the doctors not to tell them the gender. They want it to be a surprise.”

“Yang and Blake are going to get married too. At least after their dads get the testosterone out of their system. I think they secretly enjoy arguing about how “your daughter isn’t good enough for mine” and boisterously telling embarrassing stories in front of their kids. Yang’s threatening to elope, and Blake’s mom is encouraging her.”

“Unc- I mean, Qr-. You know what I’m going to call him Uncle Qrow, “ Oscar said, “He’s family to everyone. He probably kept us from falling apart after you died. Told us not to blame ourselves. You brought Cinder down with you because you loved us all. You did what you did, just as we would’ve done for you.”

He sniffled.

“Ah, sorry. I...Let’s just wait. I’ll tell you the reason why I came here later. Let’s just enjoy this moment.” A pained smile lingered on his lips, “Anyway...”

“Qrow gave us the choice to leave the group with no questions asked- he felt it was the right thing to do after what happened. You fought to keep us safe; it’s only right that we were given that choice.”

“No one took him up on his offer,” he smiled with a bit of pride.

“A bit of unpleasantness did happen after we used the Relic of Knowledge,” Oscar rubbed his cheek, “But it’s all water under the bridge now.”

“Glynda is now the Headmistress of Beacon. Well, will be once all the rubble is cleaned up. She and James are an item now. Haha. That’s one unlikely couple right there. They’ll argue until their voices become hoarse and their faces turn red, but if someone insults one of them within earshot of the other... Well, some soldier made the mistake of trying to kiss up to James by insulting Glynda. And now he’s probably still running laps around Mantle.”

The smile on his face slowly turned into a grimace, the guilt that’d been weighing him down returning once more.

“I....I admit that I came here not just to catch you up on things,” Oscar hesitatingly said. His hand waved, and four items, glowing ethereally with power, flickered into existence in front of him.

Lamp, Crown, Staff, Sword.

Knowledge, Choice, Creation, Destruction.

“It’s funny. Everyone thought they disappeared after Ruby came back to life,” he whispered as he watched the Relics revolve around him, “She sacrificed herself to save the people of Mantle and Atlas - when our fight between Salem and her forces dropped Atlas out of the sky.”

“Even with the knowledge that she would die using the combined power of the Relics, she still chose her own destruction so that others may live. Thus, the most mysterious of the relics - Creation - returned her to us.”

“Not many people realized that a goddess descended that day. Only Salem and I knew, for we were the only ones who’ve ever been in the presence of a god.

“When Ruby spoke after becoming a goddess, her words became edict. And with a single utterance, she vanquished Salem. Begone,” he said, eyes glazed in remembrance of that moment, “One word, nothing else. Time stopped for everyone but a goddess, myself, and a disintegrating Salem trying to resist her fate.”

“...Salem really hated Ozma. It’s what kept her alive all this time,” Oscar sighed, “Magic and spells fade, even those cast by a god.”

“The immortality given to Salem was never meant to last,” he said softly, “But when the God of Light gave Ozma his orders, I don’t think the God realized how much it would make Salem hate the man to the point where she would literally defy death to ruin everything Ozma wanted to protect.”

“I don’t quite know what Ruby did to separate Ozpin from me, but the last thing I remember was Ozpin’s shade walking over to Salem. I remember bits of yelling and crying, but after the man left my head, I think I was frozen in time like the rest. No longer god-touched, I guess. By the time we all came to, both Ozpin and Salem were turning into motes of light.”

“Despite how much misery Salem gave us, I hope she found peace. Ozma too,” he sighed.

“As for Ruby, she’s been off since that day. Though she no longer has that divine power, she seems more ethereal, more disconnected from the world,” Oscar sighed, “As if she’d leave us at any time. Disappear and vanish.”

Oscar then chuckled, “luckily, we have two dorks Weiss and Penny, originally at odds with each other for taking up too much of Ruby’s attention, now working together to keep Ruby grounded...so I think Ruby will be okay.”

“Oh yeah, Penny never actually died, Pyrrha. They were able to put her core - the essence of her soul - into a new body, so I hope you rest more peacefully knowing that.”

“In any case, everyone’s doing okay... but you two.”

He slouched over, palming his face. “Ugh, sorry. I guess I keep on delaying the inevitable. I’ll tell you why I’m here right now.”

“After the Relics found their way over to me, I wondered... if the Relics could produce a God, could it turn back time to save you? So I asked the Relic of Knowledge...”

“And Jinn said yes. That the Relics could send back a single soul without their future memories or skills - only a faint impression without any details, just a whisper of destiny - back to a very specific point in time, a couple hours before the Fall of Beacon.”

“After getting over my shock, I naturally asked about a future where you lived,” Oscar looked away from Jaune’s grave, “and that future was bleak. In the past I saw through Jinn, we went after the Relic of Creation after Knowledge. And as a result, Atlas fell upon Mantle and destroyed the entire Kingdom. Out of hundreds of thousands of people, only we and the rest of the team survived, and it was only because of Raven’s aid.”

“It was completely different from what actually happened to us. After you sacrificed yourself to kill Cinder, you caused Emerald to become the Fall Maiden. And somehow that caused me to get kidnapped by Mercury, allowing me to convince them both that staying with Salem will only lead to more pain for both of them - and they left her for us. Learning Salem’s future plans through Emerald, we went after the Relic of Destruction in Vacuo instead and then returned to the Emerald Forest with all the chess pieces to obtain the Relic of Choice - And then we had our showdown at Atlas.”

Oscar uneasily shifted his foot on the ground, now completely unable to look at the grave in front of him, “I’m not sure how it dawned on me to ask my last question. Maybe it’s because Jinn only showed me a future instead of the numerous possibilities it should’ve been, but...”

“I asked if I turned back the clock before.”

“And Jinn said I did.”

“I think,” Oscar hesitated before continuing, “I must’ve sent you back after almost everyone died beating Salem in the past Jinn showed. I don’t think it could’ve been anyone else because only you acted differently compared to how events should’ve turned out - so...”

“I'm the one responsible for your death, Jaune,” he choked out, “Even if it wasn’t actually me; I still can’t help but feel that way, so I’m trying to figure out if you would want me to right my wrong or be content with the future you’ve sacrificed yourself for.”

“Would you resent me if I tried? To undo everything you’ve strived to do. Or would you resent me if I left you for dead - to not even try?”

“I admit I don’t think I could do any better - I know I probably should be content, but not knowing hurts. You are literally my best friend - a brother. So please..."

“Just give me a sign.”

He bowed his head down, tears falling - conflicted between his sense of duty to the world he lived and his deepest bond of friendship.

Oscar paused as he heard something - or rather the absent of something. The torrent of rain that’s been present had slowed to a stop. Gazing outside, Oscar gasped quietly as he watched the shadows from the overhead clouds quickly giving way to rays of sunlight.

Running outside, the green-clad boy got to witness the dark clouds visibly fade into the blues of the sky, leaving only sunlight and the beauty of the Emerald Forest behind.

Feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, Oscar whispered quietly, “Is this... your answer?”

He heard no response, but something in his heart settled in that moment. A sense of peace. Like he’d been forgiven. That he need not carry his burden any longer.

Oscar turned back to the shrine and smiled gratefully.

“...Thank you. I’ll make sure to make the most of the future you’ve let us have.

“Both of you can rest easy. I’ll be the one to protect everyone now.”

“We’ll see you when our time comes.”

#rwby au #rwby fic #oscar pine #ruby rose #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #mod lilac #rwby

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stark-tony · 4 years

Text

most recent bookmarks (1/20/21)

* = incomplete

bnha

how he live forever but ain't got time for his kids?* by virxil

summary: “At the time it made the most sense that All Might was your father. But now, given your multiple quirks—”

“I just-it’s still just one quirk! My quirk is just weird!” Izuku protested weakly. No one seemed to acknowledge it.

“—given your multiple quirks, in combination to your relationship with All Might,” Todoroki continued, monotone, mercilessly objective, as Kaminari watched on in increasingly wide-eyed delight, “it makes more sense for his enemy from Kamino to be your father. The one with a lot of quirks.”

Todoroki posits a new theory on Izuku's parentage. It's all in good fun, until it isn't. Then it's the custody battle of the century.

pairings: toshinko, inko/ all for one

tags:

warnings: none

mcu

do you even remember what the world looks like? by iron_spider

summary: Tony’s heart has been working on overdrive since this whole thing started. Friday has a countdown clock plastered on the heads up display, but it feels like hieroglyphics to him at this point, like some ancient language he could never master.

Because when Peter Parker is missing, things start losing their meaning real quick.

“Should be around here,” Rhodey says on the com. May is still on the other line, listening in, because once a certain amount of time goes by without word from Peter, things move into Extremely Worried Aunt territory. They’re already in Tony Is Panicking territory, and when both of those territories overlap it’s never a good time for anybody.

Time? What the hell is time? His mind is blanking numbers out entirely. Minutes are seconds are hours are years.

pairings: none

tags: hurt/comfort

warnings: none

quaranteens by blueh

summary: “Peter Parker,” Cindy says. Peter’s head snaps up so fast that it almost looks inhuman. “Did Tony Stark just waltz in and pick up his child in the background of your Zoom call?”

Peter freezes. Wide-eyed, with ‘guilty’ written on his forehead in 72, bold, Times New Roman font. It takes a solid thirty seconds before he can put himself together enough to click the unmute button.

“I—no?” Peter says. His voice is startlingly high pitched and his expression is nothing short of horrified.

Damn, if that isn’t anything but a confession.

Or: a day in the life of the quarantined high school spider-kid, as seen through the eyes of his first-period chemistry class.

pairings: none

tags: fluff, humor

warnings: none

spn

Down to Agincourt * by seperis

summary: There is no such thing as a guarantee when it comes to war.

The outcome's known. Why try? Return your rusty sword to battered sheath, bow your head and bend your stubborn knee. Why take the field when you cannot win the war? But Harry -- he went down to Agincourt.

--Harry Takes the Field by bratfarrar (AO3 link here.)

pairings: destiel

tags:

warnings:

One Species Too Many by wallmakerrelict

summary: While Dean is laid up for a month after breaking his leg on a hunt, Cas decides that it's a perfect time to adopt a litter of kittens. But even though he's gotten better since Purgatory, Cas still isn't quite the same as he was before fixing Sam's head, and being trapped in a cabin with him for weeks on end is making that all the more obvious to Dean. When Sam takes off on a hunt, Dean has to figure out on his own how to navigate his new relationship with Cas while also helping to raise a bunch of fuzzballs that aren't even cute. Not even a little bit. (Well, maybe a little bit.)

pairings: destiel

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: ableism

Good girl. by orange_crushed

summary: (In which Team Free Will gets a four-legged mascot.)

Sam drives her to a veterinarian’s office one day, in the stolen car he is now increasingly regarding as his, and she comes back sort of sulky and depressed from having been tricked into getting a series of vaccinations.

“I know the feeling,” Cas says, at floor level with her, while the puppy licks the underside of his wrist and makes sad eyes. “I was once immune to tetanus, but now I am forced to endure booster shots.” He looks over at Sam and Dean, and lowers his voice to a whisper. “They told me they were taking me to the zoo,” he says. He pets her ears. “You will learn to trust again.”

pairings: destiel

tags: fluff

warnings: none

Within White Space by mustntgetmy

summary: Non-magic AU. Remus spends his all his lunch breaks the same way: he sits at the university cafe, orders the cheapest thing on the menu, and stares at Sirius. Getting a good long, look at Sirius (and fantasizing about said look) is all Remus expects from Sirius. But Sirius has never been one for fulfilling expectations.

pairings: wolfstar

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: none

Heir to Nothing but Herself series* by dirgewithoutmusic

summary: It was not Harry’s heroism, Ron’s desperation, her mother’s love, or her brothers’ toilet seat humor that brought her back (though the toilet seat helped). Ginny breathed deep at night. She wept. She remembered how to rage. She snuck out at night and stole each of her brothers’ brooms in turn. She took to the skies and brought herself back to life.

pairings: hinny

tags: angst

warnings: victim blaming

atla

Growing Pains by carolinaa

summary: Nobody's really sure how to take the new Fire Lord. Actually, nobody's really sure if he'll last long enough for them to get used to him. Zuko, existing in the uncertainty of a life after the war, is right there with everybody else.

pairings: none

tags: fluff, angst

warnings: none

#bnha recs #mcu recs #spn recs #atla recs #hp recs #my fic recs #most recent bookmarks #ableism tw #victim blaming tw

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thirtysixsavefiles · 5 years

Text

What this is: that Rhysothy Dancing With the Stars AU that I started and never finished but still think fondly of sometimes.

Quick Summary: Timothy is a dance professional on DWTS who gets assigned Rhys as his “star.” Rhys is famous-ish for selling a social media startup and just generally being a media presence. Rumor has it Rhys is angling for a shot at being the lead on The Bachelor next season, but that’s unconfirmed and as far as Tim’s concerned, not his business.

Are you actually writing this? Not anymore, sorry, but it’s more or less a complete outline with some snippets of what I did write underneath the cut!

Preseason: Tim

“At worst, you’ll have to put up with an excessive amount of flirting. Word is he’s aiming for a Bachelor run in the next year or so.”

“Which is why you snapped him up,” Tim murmurs, eyeing the practiced camera smile, the slicked-back hair in the photos.

Athena shrugs. “Reality television is what it is. For once we get a star on their way up instead of down, he gets a springboard to other in-network programming. Everybody wins.”

She pats his head and turns to leave. “Do what you can with him, ok? And it wouldn’t hurt you to flirt back a little - audiences love a couple with chemistry.”

Timothy, dance professional, gets word from Athena, the new studio exec that his partner for this season is going to be Rhys Oliver. Rhys has founded - and subsequently sold - a social media startup and is enjoying the media limelight. Tim figures it could be worse.

Week 1: Cha Cha

“I want to die,” Rhys groans, all long limbs and drama, flat on the floor of the studio. Tim is less than impressed.

Tim nudges him with his foot. “You are contractually obligated not to die,” he says. “At least, not until we’ve gotten at least one dance out of you.”

At their first practice, Rhys is by turns whiny and flirty and he’s clearly aware of where the cameras are in the room, but he’s got potential. Tim can work with this.

It had all seemed so simple: ten weeks of dancing (if he was lucky, if he stayed on that long), with a professional instructor to make him look good. Rhys knows how to work a camera, and a crowd; this was supposed to be an easy step further into the spotlight. He just hadn’t thought that dancing, of all things, would be so difficult. He’s in shape, more or less. He does yoga. He did theater, a bit, in college - an audience doesn’t scare him.

But after that first session he had ached in muscles he didn’t even know he had, and Timothy hadn’t gone any easier on him the second day. Or the third. Or the rest of the week. And now Rhys is listening to his own recorded voice boom out above him, telling the packed auditorium and the viewers at home how excited he is to be here, to be working with Timothy.

He is excited. Timothy Lawrence is a fan favorite; Rhys is lucky to be paired with him.

He’s just never had an audience this big, and he feels a bit like he might throw up.

For his part, Rhys is finding this more challenging - and more exhilarating - than he had thought possible. But Timothy makes it - not easy, but rewarding. Handling the contestants is part of his job, Rhys knows, but he doesn’t seem like he’s faking it when he says they have a shot at going all the way.

Week 2: Foxtrot

Despite himself Tim can feel the faintest warmth in his cheeks and his mouth pulling up. This is taking the bait, he knows it is, but it’s fun to play along, and Athena’s right: audiences love a couple with chemistry.

He’s just bolstering Rhys’ chances, that’s all.

Tim leans in and tilts his head, putting his mouth right next to Rhys’ ear. “This is a family show, Rhys,” he murmurs, low and intimate and too low for the cameras to pick up. Tim knows exactly what this will look like, and the way Rhys shivers is just a bonus.

Rhys continues to be a terrible flirt in practice; Tim plays along, but only because it makes good television. Really.

Rhys watches the training package again, which he already knows Tim would prefer he didn’t - Tim says it’s a distraction, that he needs to keep his head on straight for the performance. But the contestants don’t get to see the packages before they air, and Rhys has always liked how he looks on camera.

But - it is distracting, to see them pressed together in the studio with Tim’s head bent close to his ear, and although Rhys knows that Tim was trying to get Rhys back on track - that’s not what it looks like here, even to him.

Certainly not to the crowd, which gasps with delight when Tim pulls back and Rhys smooths his hand over Tim’s shoulder up on the big screen while his voice earnestly tells the crowd what a dedicated instructor Tim is. Looks like the network is playing up the chemistry angle as well - and as Rhys glances over at Tim, he has to admit that he certainly lucked out in that department.

The performance part is getting easier, but the judging is getting harder. Rhys appreciates everything Tim is doing for him - he’s making Rhys look damn good on camera, both in the studio and on the floor, but the judges aren’t buying it. Tim assures him they’ll work on it.

Week 3: Rumba

“Yes, country,” Tim says as he moves them in small circle to the pounding beat. “We’re gonna move fast to double-time the beat. The judges love that. But they already got on you for holding back last week -” Rhys tenses and Tim rubs his back soothingly. “I know, I know. I’m just being honest with you - if that happens again it could send you home. And I don’t -”

Tim stops. I don’t want to see you go so soon suddenly, strangely, seems like too much.

“I don’t want to give up on the Mirrorball that easily, you know?” Tim lifts and Rhys gasps as his feet leave the ground. Tim swings him in a little circle, grinning at the faint flush on Rhys’ cheeks when Tim puts him down.

“I know we can do better,” Tim says, and Rhys blinks vaguely at him. “We just need to get you something to connect to. So we’re gonna try this. No choreography, not yet - just listen and follow my lead.”

Tim slows things down in the practice sessions, giving Rhys a chance to really listen to what Tim’s body is telling him. (Not like that, Tim tells himself. Repeatedly.)

Rhys tips his head back and closes his eyes, fingers flexing. A bit of professional flirting is one thing - Rhys needs to show that he’s got a television personality if he’s going to have a shot at The Bachelor. But the easy familiarity of Timothy’s hands on his hips had curled something comfortable and warm in Rhys’ stomach, and it’s that feeling he reaches for now.

Then the real thing settles warm and solid on his back, and it’s time to go.

Their first two dances had been highlighted by precise movement; Tim had said this one was more fluid, and to let the music and Tim’s body tell him how to move. Rhys has been hearing the music in his sleep for the last few days, and it hasn’t said anything special to him; Tim’s body, on the other hand -

Rhys focuses on just himself and Timothy until after the music stops, and he can already tell before he turns to the judge’s table that this was much better than his previous two dances.

Week 4: Argentine Tango

“I can’t wait for the next one,” Rhys says, settling on the floor across from Tim at his gesture. Tim give a pointed look at Rhys’ feet and Rhys makes a face but he extends his legs and starts stretching, making sure he’s limbered up for the session. The last thing they need is an injury. “We’re going to do it again, right?”

“Do what again? Dance? What do you think we’re here for?” Tim nods at the other leg and Rhys switches sides. He’s really getting pretty flexible; his stretch has more arch to it than it did three weeks ago, and he’s getting more extension out of his legs.

“No.” It’s muffled into his knee but Tim can almost hear Rhys rolling his eyes. Then Rhys lifts his head, eyes glinting. “I mean, yes. I mean the part where you put your hands all over me.”

Tim raises his eyebrows. “Family show, remember?”

Rhys laughs, locking eyes with Tim as he leans forward again, and there definitely wasn’t this much arch to his spine even last week - not that Tim’s looking, except that he is. It’s Tim’s job to notice these things. Professionally.

Tim is fine. He’s totally handling this well.

“What was that about a family show, again?” Rhys says as he lifts the - the thing and studies it. He’s not sure which way is up - both options appear to be equally horrifying in their own way.

“Hm.” Tim takes the mess of straps and buckles from him and stretches it out into a third arrangement Rhys had not considered. “Maybe you’re right.” He sets it aside and puts his hands on his hips, looking Rhys up and down. “We’ll just open your shirt instead.”

Rhys blows out a sigh of relief - and then pauses, watching Tim’s satisfied smile.

“Was this a ploy to get me to agree to take my shirt off?” He demands. “Present that,” he waves a hand, “as the first option, so this sounds like a better one?”

Tim’s smile doesn’t budge an inch. “Would I do that to you?” He winks, and turns to the other items of clothing on the table before Rhys can insist that yes, he would. Tim turns back around with a stack of crisp black clothing in his hands. “Here. Try these on for size.”

Rhys is also handling things extremely well.

[After this point it’s more notes and less actual prose, but it’s still a fairly solid outline imo.]

Week 5: Paso Doble (I)

Training: Tim

[Tim thinks Rhys is ready for the Paso, but gets hurt during practice.]

Show Night: Rhys

[Rhys is clearly distracted, worried about hurting Tim/Tim getting hurt.

Critique: can’t hold back with the Paso - have to push self and partner

They get by on fan favoritism.]

Week 6: Contemporary

“This is custom work,” Rhys says, pulling his arm back. He flexes his fingers absently. “The surgery to hook it up to my nervous system, the testing, the calibrations; the process was - painful,” he says matter of factly. “And expensive. Not everyone can afford that.”

“Getting Atlas off the ground was - hard. Even with the [social network name] sale,” Rhys says evenly. “Social media platforms - those are sexy. Everybody loves a good startup story. Biomedical research? With no clear return on investment?” Rhys shakes his head. “Much harder to sell to investors.”

“It was hard, walking away from Silicon Valley,” Rhys says thoughtfully. “It was also the best thing I’ve ever done.”

“Is that why you’re going for a Bachelor run?” It’s a leap, but Tim feel like he’s right about this. That’s the way Rhys’ mind works.

Rhys starts, glancing at the cameras. Tim waves a hand. “They’ll edit that out.”

Rhys looks down and laughs softly. “Yeah, I guess it is. I know it’s unorthodox, but - between this show and that one, I could really put the Atlas foundation on the map, you know? And myself, of course,” he says, running a hand through his hair and preening. He looks ridiculous, hair sticking up with sweat and hair gel; he bats his eyelashes at Tim and Tim laughs against the sudden tightness in his chest.

Tim asks about Rhys’ Most Memorable Year; Rhys’ answer is less practiced but also, Tim thinks, more honest than he’s been before. Confirmation of Bachelor ambitions is something Timothy mostly already knew. There’s no reason to be jealous here. No reason at all.

Rhys’ voice echoes in the auditorium, telling Tim about the Atlas Foundation, and he has to give the editors credit - they make what could have easily been “poor little startup boy struggles with a second startup” into an altruistic gesture - which, it is, Rhys reminds himself.

He just hadn’t intended to tell Tim any of it.

He’d had a couple stories lined up - a bad breakup, a poignant moment from his childhood - but when Tim had asked, this had come spilling out instead.

He’d managed to stop himself before he’d gotten to the worst of it - the sudden disappearance of the people he’d thought were friends once he walked away from what had been such a moneymaker, the long nights where he wondered if he’d made the right decision. It had certainly been memorable - but it was a little more personal than he’d planned on sharing with the whole country.

Coming back the next day and learning the choreography Tim had put together, though - in one night, no less - he wonders if maybe Tim hadn’t read between the lines. Rhys will be the first to admit that he knows even less about contemporary dance than he does about ballroom, and frankly he’s in awe of what Tim had put together in the less than a day. Five weeks of spending hours in practice together nearly every day have left Rhys thoroughly impressed with Tim’s skill as a teacher, but he hadn’t fully appreciated the artistry of what Tim does until he’d been coached through something that didn’t exist except in Tim’s mind. It had been incredibly - intimate, is the word Rhys keeps coming back to, like learning Timothy from the inside out.

The Contemporary/Most Memorable Year dance is easily one of Rhys’ best; it also leaves him the most wrung out.

Week 7: Waltz

Training: Tim

[Tim knows how this show goes. seven weeks in close quarters, practicing six hours a day, in an us-against-the-world situation - Tim knows what that does to peoples’ emotions.

This isn’t that.]

Show Night: Rhys

[Most classic dance. Tim looks very handsome in coats and tails; Rhys wonders what he would look like in regular suits - wonders what Tim looks like outside of dance, what he does in his time off. They’ve talked a lot about Rhys but not very much about tim.]

Week 8: Jive

Training: Tim

[Business travel trip to SF. Tim’s never seen Rhys in his element before - gives him the idea for the Paso.

ABC clears out the gym at the hotel they’re staying at for them to practice.]

Show Night: Rhys

[Rhys is exhausted but exhilarated. Tim had at least slept on the plane; Rhys lied and said he had. Tim frowned at him.

Rhys stumbles at end of dance and Tim makes him sit on his knee during critique]

Week 9: Paso Doble (II)

Training: Rhys

[Redemption dance. Tim puts Rhys in the lead. Tim no longer has any doubt they’re going to the finale.]

Show Night: Rhys

[Fierce eye contact.

Tim kisses Rhys on temple at the end of dance

Athena offers him the Bachelor spot. Rhys is ecstatic until he spots Tim across the room.]

Week 10: Finale

Training: Tim

[Tim had always known this was coming.

Looks at music composition, figures what does he have to lose.

(Besides the best dance partner he’s had on this show, besides the person he can’t wait to see, besides the person he falls asleep and wakes up thinking about.)

Dance studio covered in pictures of them dancing]

Show Night: Rhys

[The crowd is, ostensibly, louder than any they’ve danced in front of before, but it sounds muted, far away. A bubble of silence seems to surround him and Tim, and Rhys can hear Tim clearly when he says, “ready?”

Rhys isn’t. He’s not ready for this to be over.

Rhys kisses Tim on live tv after winning. Goodbye bachelor contract.]

Tagging @callmearcturus because you asked about it

#callmearcturus #rhysothy #rhys #timothy lawrence #borderlands #my fic #kinda #i know i said i wasn't coming back here but nostalgia hits hard at 11 pm #call this my last contribution #long post

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bssaz97 · 5 years

Text

Post RWBY AU

* Wanted to try something new and see how it goes, mainly a two parter but may continue if ever now and then, but it’s not related to Ancestries. So you all don’t get confused. Will contain happy and sad moments. *

- Patch, on the edge of a cliff -

A boy walks near to the edge, he has the custom to come here almost once every month. Many in his family don’t discourage him to go but usually he comes along with his mother or aunt. Today, he comes alone because he recently got into a argument with said mother and he decided to leave the house to cool off despite his aunt’s plea to do otherwise. He slumps in front of a tombstone. The memorial of his grandmother.

Boy: Hey grandma, it’s me again. I know I came two weeks ago but I can’t be at home right now.

He sighed, he knew it was not going to get a reply but he usually feels better coming here, like even if had never met her before.

Boy: I got into a argument with Mom. A pretty big one too. I....I told her that I wanted to start training to be a huntsman. I thought she would be happy to hear that I wanted to be a hero like her and Dad, but then she started getting upset, said that I was being rash and not weighing my options, that I should just stay in regular school. It’s not fair, everybody I know started their training when they were my age, and even then Dad was older when he started his. What makes me so different.

He sits down, and thinks back to a year ago when he was 11 years old, when he really started to think about being a huntsman. Now that he was 12 he could legally begin attending Signal, the combat school here on Patch, and start his training, but was hesitant to bring it up with his Mom. She was a retired huntress and from what her stories told was a pretty famous one at that. Almost everyone in his family group were former huntsman and huntresses.

Everyone except his biological aunt, she was the coolest person he knew, always taking hardest jobs and always came back with a victorious carefree smile on her face but made time to spend time with him and his twin sister, she was cool like that. But whenever he or anybody else tried to mention his father or ask questions about him, it seemed to bring the mood down. However they all kept a strong face whenever he or his sister was in the room. He frowned at this, he knew he was young but he wasn’t stupid. What’s worse is that his Mom does this the most, she tries always to be happy all the time when around him, his sister and her friends, but he could knows of times wear her mask breaks when she thinks he’s not looking or asleep and could hear her cry herself to sleep.

His mom wasn’t a terrible parent by any means she’s always active in their life, taking him and his sister on vacation trips to Atlas to see his aunt Weiss or to Mistral to visit his godparents Ren and Nora and always makes sure that his sister and him are always doing well in school. His Aunt Penny also helps out a lot when she’s not busy saving the world as she so often says. So really, he loves his mother dearly, and knows she loves him. That’s why when he told her of his goal to be a huntsman, her mask broke. Her warm smile wasn’t there and her warm silver eyes weren’t alive with love, instead she had the look as if he just signed to be hurled off a building in Atlas. He can remember what she told him. Still fresh in his mind.

*///Flashback Twenty minutes ago///*

His family is together for a dinner together that his Mom made and his sister and Aunt are at the table with him while his mom brings the dinner to the table. But when asked by his Aunt what he did today in school, he tells her that they were doing a project about what they were going to do when they grow up. His Aunt calling it cute and pinching his cheek with her robotic hand. She asks him what he plans to do, he tells his family with happiness that he wants to be a huntsman when he grows up. The peaceful atmosphere ends when his mom dropped the plate of pasta at hearing his declaration.

*Clang!*

Mom: ...What?

Boy: Um, I said that I wanted to start-

Mom: No, what heard you said. (Rubs her face) What I mean is why? Why do you want to be a huntsman? Of all things?!

Boy: What? But I thought you would be happy. I thought about this for a long time and it’s what I want to do. I mean everyone in our family is practically huntsmen and huntresses, I just want to be one too Mom.

Mom: Do you even know what you’re asking about?! A huntsman Rowan, that’s the most dangerous job on the planet and it’s not one to make a joke about!

Boy(Now names Rowan): It’s not a joke though. I really want to be a huntsman, I talked with cousin Adrian during our last trip to Argus. He said that if I could have my Aura unlocked and get the necessary paperwork, I could go to Signal academy next year after I’m done with Primary school. He even said it wouldn’t be hard we could get the paperwork easy if a parent or guardian goes with me to fill it out.

Mom: ...No.

For him, Rowan’s world stopped. He could see that his Aunt lost her smile and had a look of concern. His sister also looked shocked and cowered in her chair, afraid to get involved because she has never heard her mom sound so grim before. He couldn’t believe it either she looked at him like there was no room for argument and that anything said otherwise she would refuse. Something was growing inside him, an unpleasant feeling. Towards his sweet Mom.

Yang: Look I can tell this was a bad topic to bring up. Sorry Rubes, here I can help remake dinner if you-

Rowan: (With a quivering voice) What do you mean ‘No’?

Ruby: I mean I’m not taking you to get those documents. Your not going to become a huntsman.

Rowan: But why?! You’re not even going to at least consider it!

Ruby: I’ve already considered it, and my answer is no. That’s final Rowan.

Rowan: But that’s not fair!

Ruby: Don’t raise your voice at me young man!

Rowan: But you’re not listening to me! I want to be a huntsman, that’s my dream, I even wrote a paper and everything about it, Aunt Yang helped me write it too.

Ruby: Yang!

Yang:(Raises her arms in defense) Hey, in I’m defense I thought he was just writing another school paper so I just helped him with the thesis. I didn’t know he was gonna base his career on it.

Rowan: But you agree with me don’t you!

Yang: Oooh, really you’re dragging me under the bus too kid.~ Weeeell, I do think you should consider your options.

Ruby: Consider his- You’re agreeing with him!

Yang: Hey I never said that!

Rowan: But you just said-!

Yang: I know what I said! I just...think you should listen to your mom kiddo, right now.

Rowan couldn’t believe this, his mom turned his aunt against him and for the first time in his life he snapped back.

Rowan: Who are you to decide what I should do with my life! It’s... It’s... It’s bullshit!

Ruby:(Gasps) How dare you take that language with me young man! Now consider yourself grounded for a week.

Rowan: Wha- Why?!

Ruby: Because you’re talking back and being disrespectful!

Rowan: I don’t care if I’m being disrespectful you’re basically ruining my dream!

Ruby: Well I do care! I care that you’ll be safe and not in a dangerous environment where you can get killed!

Rowan: And what, die like Dad did?!

Rowan felt whatever fight he had left him after saying those last few words. He knew the weight they had and regretted it immediately. His mother’s face changed from angry to stunned. The room lost light in that moment at his moment of anger had caused. His mom’s mouth began to quiver, her left hand began covered her mouth and she tried to hold back the sobs that were fighting to come out.

Yang: Ruby...

His aunt tried to put her hand on his mom shoulder but she shrugged it off and excused herself out of the Kitchen. After watching her walk off, his aunt looked towards him and she bore into him. She had the angriest and most disappointed expression on her face he had ever seen, and he knew why.

Yang: That was a low blow Rowan, if I were you, I probably would just go to your room, right now.

After her scolding, she began to follow after his mom. He looks towards the table, contemplating how a happy dinner between his family quickly turned into one of the worst moments in his young life. He looks to his sister and sees that she is cradling herself, clearly hurt by his words as well.

Rowan: Summer...

She leaves her chair and runs up to the second floor towards his room and slams the door. He messed up, he knew he did. Rowan single handily upset everyone in his family. He felts bitter tears began to swell in his eyes, then he runs. Except he doesn’t run to his room like he was told, he instead runs out of the house and into the woods. He couldn’t stand being home right now, not after what he just did.

*\\\End of flashback\\\*

Rowan finished telling his tale to his grandma’s tombstone and wipes away some fresh tears from his eyes. But finds it difficult as they come more than he could wipe away.

Rowan: (sobbing) I didn’t mean to take it that far, it just came out. I didn’t mean to make my mom cry like that. What kind of son makes their own mother cry. She probably hates me right now.

He continues to cry his eyes out for a couple more minutes. Until he hears something approach from a few feet behind him. He looks back sees three Beowolves closing in on him. He’s too petrified to move and couldn’t make a sound. As the three Grimm move to pounce on him he throws himself back and outstretched his arms to shield himself. He thought he was a good as dead until something happened.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

He looks past his arms and sees a man standing there with the three Beowolves dissolving into ash. He holsters what looks like a revolver into his overcoat and looks in his direction.

Stranger: Young boy, what are doing here all by yourself at this time of day...or night I should say.

The Stranger looks about the same age as his mother but bears a strong resemblance to his aunt Weiss. He even has the white hair and pale complexion. However his eyes are a light blue than his auntie’s artic blues.

Rowan:(Wipes his face) Nothing...who are you?

Stranger: Well that’s rude. Asking a stranger who they are without a hello or asking their name first.

Rowan: (Standing up) Sorry, my mom- nevermind. What’s your name?

Stranger: Well that’s better, my name is Whitley. What’s yours?

Rowan: It’s Rowan. Say, not to be rude but are you related to someone by the name Weiss Schnee?

Whitley: Huh, small world. Yes I do in fact know Weiss Schnee. She’s my older sister in fact.

Rowan: Really? Because I’ve never heard of you before sir.

Whitley: ‘Huff’, older but still the same aren’t you Weiss. Well I typically don’t stay in Atlas all the time. I’m sort of a traveler for hire.

Rowan: You mean like a Huntsman! (Beans)

Whitley:(Chuckles) Not exactly. Say how do you know my sister by the way.

Rowan: Well she’s my aunt, well not my real aunt just a close family friend who my mom and real aunt treat like a sister. Which would kind of make her my aunt, which is wired because I have other people who I call aunts and uncles but aren’t physically related to me. Which is why I am surprised to meet you right now because I’ve never heard of you before. I mean I normally ever see auntie Weiss whenever we got to Atlas or she comes during the holidays. By the way do you- mmmfh! (Whitley covers his mouth to stop his chatter)

Whitley: Good lord, you really are long winded aren’t you kid. (Takes away his gloved hand) So back to topic, why are you out here by yourself?

Rowan:(Looks down and begins to look neverous) I...I don’t want to be home right now.

Whitley:(Furrows his brow and kneels down) How come?

Rowan: Well...I said something that really upset my mom and now, I don’t want to go home.

Whitley: Oh come on, what you said couldn’t possibly be that bad.

Rowan: I did though! I made her cry all because...I mentioned my dead dad.

Whitley: ...Well damn, I guess you did fuck up pretty bad.

Rowan: 'Gasp' Swear!

Whitley: ...How old are you boy? 10?

Rowan: I’m 12! And swears are bad.

Whitley:(Rubs the bridge of his nose) My lord you really are Ruby Rose’s son.

Rowan: Huh you know my mom.

Whitley: Yes I do, in fact I’m visiting a friend of mine her on a business venture with a fellow colleague of mine. Who I’m guessing is your aunt.

Rowan: You know my Auntie Yang!

Whitley: Yes I do, but I really think we should be heading back to your house. Your family’s probably worried sick.

Rowan: ...I don’t think so. I wouldn’t doubt that they hate me.

Whitley: ‘Huff’ Look Rowan, take from a person who has been where you are. Your mother doesn’t hate you, if anything, if she’s the Ruby Rose I know she’ll be more concerned about you being out here by yourself then anything you said to her. So come on let’s get you home.

Rowan: ...I guess you’re right.

Whitley: Of course I’m right, most of the time I always am. So let’s go.

Rowan: Ok....you have no idea how to get to my house do you?

Whitley:(Chuckles) Was kind of hoping you wouldn’t figure that out.

#rwby lancaster #ruby x jaune #ruby rose #yang xiao long #whitley schnee #my ocs #family angst #rwby rowan rose #rowan rose #lancaster child

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theskyexists · 4 years

Text

she-ra 4

the reason i stopped watching she-ra is the same reason i stopped watching the dragon prince.

the narrative doesn’t take the situation seriously. instead of leaning into the anguish of war and violence (atla, teen titans) - they make light of it. EVEN when the characters’ guardians are KILLED!!

when Angella died and they spent 2 seconds on Glimmer’s grief at the end of season 3 i was like......actually fuck this. HOW can i take any of these stakes seriously when they insist on brushing them off???

anyway just had to complain about that - especially because the start of the first ep of 4 is them joking AGAIN about something as grim as Glimmer now carrying all the responsibilities of her mother - who may i remind you IS DEAD

but catradora became canon apparently so now i have to struggle through

her aunt, her mother’s sister, is fuckin, joking about cakes, her friends are laughing at the joke. COME ON! how goddamn unrealistic and insensitive. EVEN if they wanna make a point of it - it’s silly! because the narrative PARTICIPATES in making light of the situation. if it was just the characters it would be less jarring

‘we’ll make sure this day is perfect’ WHAT? how could it EVER BE IF HER MOTHER IS FUCKING DEAD????????? AND THAT”S THE ONLY REASON SHE’S QUEEN????? ‘must be hard’ YEAH IT’S HARD - IN FACT IMPOSSIBLE. instead of pretending to be happy maybe you can show some genuine sensitivity. these people are so crazily emotionally underdeveloped my god. what age are they supposed to be? 16? 17? The problem that She-ra has (just like the dragon prince) is that there are no relevant adults. Oh sure there’s a Queen, and some Soldiers, and a Sorceress. But there isn’t a single relevant competent adult around who is concerned with running a bureaucracy or the emotional stability of children

I do like how Catra has overcome her fear of Hordak. but i think i remember being fuckin furious at her for almost destroying the whole world and hurting Scorpia and betraying Entrapta just to spite Adora. vaguely.

the rebellions problem is that they’re all extremely stupid himbos. like literally, in the whole story, only catra and shadowweaver have any smarts, while glimmer gains the ability to think during full moons on wednesdays. meanwhile everybodys is a slave to their emotions - which destroys any brain cells that shadowweaver or catra (or angella or anyone) might have managed. they could literally have killed hordak the entire time but just let him order them around because they’re so hot for acknowledgement

I’m glad Glimmer reflects my frustrations now hahahahaah

‘everyone is already acting like she doesn’t matter’ - yeah dudes, you fucking insensitive bastards

‘im supposed to take care of you glimmer’ - but unfortunately i have the emotional intelligence of a crab! FUCK!

this is another thing about this show that makes me groan. sappy quick resolutions of emotional turmoil through re-affirming the fuckin power of friendship in the first episode of the season.

also couldn’t Adora have done this she-ra stuff from the very beginning

that was badass.....miss glimmer’s other hair though. ok the emotions at that hologram and statue though...

the coolest part of she-ra for me is finding out more how the ancient systems all fit into Etheria and the She-Ras and Hordak Prime etc.

THIS IS A GOOD SPEECH. love this badass.

love Hordak getting put in his place. Love Catra realising she has power - love Hordak reaping what he sows. its unfortunate that she’s a shitty brat who JUST can’t get over her inferiority complex

if i could endlessly teleport i would do what glimmer does

also, glimmer was willing to fuckin murder catra before and she DEFINITELY will be now lol. love that for her.

why did they only introduce adora learning to transform her sword NOW ahahaha, theyve had SO MANY SCENES in which she doesnt have it and then suddenly does - and then its gone again

scorpia is the funniest and most likeable person in the whole show

they really suddenly can’t take five people on with she ra and fuckin huntara on their side??

i remember that little sadistic righteous twist in my stomach when Adora finally was like: FUCK!!!!!! YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! Catra!!!!!!! and the stupid idiot got it

FINALLY A GLANCE AT THE PEOPLE OF ETHERIA AGAIN! i love the party sequences in this!!! the people of etheria are so beautiful! nobody ever comments on the main characters all looking plain human in contrast....

‘and i fell for it!’ yeah cos you DUMB AS BRICKS ADORA

so first they quietly take out the guards....and then literally break open the door hahaahahahahaaha

‘we forgot the bots regenerate’ - yeah cos you DUMB AS BRICKS ADORA

i just dont understand why they insist on making the main characters so DUMB ahahahahaah

Adora and Catra are great at hitting where it hurts. the difference between them is that Catra KNOWS that she’s hurting Adora - she does it deliberately.

wow that could be some pretty angsty stuff constantly leaving her to struggle on the floor while painfully electrocuted. Catra has also moved to kill Adora straight up so many times. im sure she really wants to (but it would destroy her later). But now, Adora swept something at Catra that might have actually killed her. I get Catra though, I would’t want to get beaten by some blonde, blue-eyed, glowing golden kid who always gets to win and do better. this is truly the first time Adora has moved to kill Catra......

does flatterina not have parents who’d be like: uhhhhh maybe leave the soldiering for a couple more years?

catra truly burning all her bridges. hahaha. it’s so satisfying to see her use her anger and power to truly destroy herself - because of guilt!

no other villagers were like - HMMMMMMM this random new kid is here? weird..... i didnt see that coming either.

Adora doesn’t think about what Catra might have even been doing there - cos she’s DUMB AS BRICKS

the interesting thing about this show is that they’re setting up a dichotomy. they’re treating war like a high-stakes game because they have the good side adhere to an aesthetic of ....magic. they will not make the two sides equivalent in any way - which makes questions of morality moot. the show is purely an emotional drama. the horde is an army of brainwashed kids in an industrial wasteland - they fight with tech and guns. but the good guys cannot fight with an army or tech, they fight with cleverness and magic. they’re called the ‘rebellion’ - they HAVE to be underdogs because they have to follow the script of good - even though what’s really going on is war, not a rebellion. That’s why they have a single strike team that do ‘missions’. They are presented as FUNDAMENTALLY different - on the level of identity which they cannot change lest they destroy themselves - and in that way the good guys can never become the bad guys. it is ALMOST meta. think they’re gonna do something with that at one point. i hope

also Netossa has such a super cool design.

‘everyone knows you’re needed in bright moon’ - uh. really? i dont know. some random person i’ve never seen before demands you go to meetings. so? is that important? why?

spinerella can literally FLY???????? why has she been in the background this whole time??? hahahaha military inefficiency.

there was an explosion that ripped trees apart - but bo’s alive!! honesty why didn’t they try explosive suicide bots before. they’re very lucky he was still alive to heal

‘could they be tracking she-ra?’ WHAT? isn’t the obvious suggestion - A SPY???? they just assume that the general is right hahahahaa.

i love how double trouble is so meta.

actually, why wasn’t glimmer trained as a sorcerer anyway?

glimmer is upset about her growing magic plants but not her having magic ingredients

why do they present good strategic thinking (for once) as evil influence from shadowweaver

what a fuckin badass. honestly - glad that this show finally utilised glimmer’s extremely op powers like they should be. honestly, she’s much more powerful than She-Ra.

that bit with spinerella was so contrived jfc.

‘by using me as a decoy’ adora says, pissed off. uhhhh YOU went off on your own to get smushed by fuckin bots adora. Glimmer didn’t do that to you. she just used your stupidity.

glimmer really left catra to die. hahahahaa

i like adora best when she’s on her own and being a dork

they definitely managed to foreshadow that Light Hope was evil but im glad they picked up the thread now

am i seeing this wrong or did scorpia have two mums??? but also. where the fuck are they

lolololololol because everybodys dumb as bricks and emotionally volatile they’re incredibly easy to manipulate

‘i cant risk hitting flatterina’ pffft - ALL YOUR ARROWS ARE NON-LETHAL BO. ugh i cant deal with these contrived stakes

I LOVE THIS BADASS EFFICIENT HARDCORE GLIMMER

they’re really gonna spin it like this is a bad development? fuck off. finally some grit.

‘you took things way too far’ - but she got results! dumb as bricks adora

(this may seem harsh but adora is DUMB shes so fucking DUMB!!!! and she has many good qualities (such as an almost innate sense of morality) but goddamn. i guess its good to sometimes have a show about all around dumb characters. i mean, it’s not unrealistic per se, it’s just.....weird.)

the interesting thing about these characters is that you can SEE every single one of them struggling with cognitive dissonance. thats the big story of this show. they see the world a certain way - and then when something challenges that, they fight to the death to destroy or deny or ignore that new information - to everybody’s detriment. and they can’t back down because every step they’ve taken - would turn to sins they can’t live with. it’s interesting and its also a kind of conflict that‘s frustrating if not resolved at SOME point. thats why i love this season for its characters going off the rails. adora aiming to kill catra, catra destroying her last relationships, glimmer growing more and more militant.

they’re all acting like teens - that is - highly volatile - unable to keep from provoking others or be provoked - but they ARE teens.

‘catra doesn’t care. she’ll hurt people to get her way (implied: EVEN people on her side)’ - we must remember that Scorpia was entirely fine with KILLING the trio (it was Catra that wasn’t at the time).

‘you’re a bad friend’ OH OUCH. Catra - who’s always been treated as a whipping girl by those in power - does the same to those she is in power over. But on some level she doesn’t WANT to be that. she’s just always always been rejected and take advantage of and lashed out at and abandoned by the people she considered important (shadowweaver ---- doing the same to catra that was done to her is so goddamn....it’s the story of this show. the simplicity and banality of damaging and hurting others and that carrying over to harm even more people - is the story of this show and it’s immeasurably frustrating and REALISTIC)

she still flinches at Hordak’s lashing out. but she imprints on him the exact lesson she’s trying to school herself in. If you don’t need anybody - you don’t want anyone - if nobody matters but the mission and winning - then you can’t be hurt. she wants to prove her worth - but she doesn’t realise that inherently means that she’s putting somebody in power over her - again and again and again.

mermista coming in clutch with the braincells: there’s a spy! I love how this is played as completely implausible and just Mermista nonsense (who i love learning about) - while it’s so obviously true/

i actually love Adora when she’s being serious and heroic, or a huge dork. and she has the wit to RECOGNISE good ideas. but i just don’t understand why Adora is being big b about being used as a distraction. like....why?

i love that the underside of Mermista’s sneaker has a figure. but why the fuck is a common soldier with them (flatterina) and do they really think they can interrogate the whole castle filled with some shitty guards and...what - the guerilla troops they sometimes employ? where do they even live? ah in a tent city. ok

why is the GENERAL in front line combat WITHOUT SOLDIERS???? oh wait. glimmer did that too when she was general. lolololol

i understand why Adora doesn’t trust Shadowweaver and doesn’t want her around most of all - and Glimmer getting buddy buddy with her is hurtful. but...it’s not helpful to needle glimmer about it. but dismissing the guards around shadowweaver however? stupid of Glimmer. unnecessary. ‘what has she done but help us?’ - uhhhh she kidnapped you, corrupted your powers, almost wiped Adora’s mind. I wish Adora had summed up those things instead of leaving them implied.

so perfuma and mermista come across inconsistencies in the stories - but then. forget about it? i just...... UGGHGHGHGHGHGHGH. people really aren’t this dumb are they? they’re just NOT.

‘no more secrets and doing things without us’ - that was a good speech. but like, glimmer is right - she’s surrounded by INCOMPETENT IDIOTS lolololol. but good leadership is corralling idiots, Glimmer. not going off on your own. but she’s already planted the bait about the dining room.

‘we were the only ones who knew about the plan to take back dril’ ---- THEN WHY DID YOU INTERROGATE OTHER PEOPLE AHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHA

‘stop questioning my choices, stop whining about being a decoy’ YEAH FUCKIN HELL ADORA STOP BEING SUCH A FUCKING SHIT. IS THIS REALLY ‘TAKING CARE OF GLIMMER’????

‘all you do is question my authority, it’s exhausting.’ yeah god...it really is. adora needs to fucking BACK! OFF! but im loving these fights because it brings out the grievances. Adora is right to be worried about Glimmer no longer including her in her decisions. and she makes a good point that that’s bad. She makes a good point that Shadowweaver cannot be trusted. And Glimmer makes zero good points - except that it’s been hard for her and has garnered 0.1% understanding from the people around her. Oh they were working together. BUT those were definitely real grievances.

GLIMMER CAN ALREADY DO A CONTAINMENT SPELL LIKE THAT??? godDAMN. castapella completely flunked her responsibilities to Glimmer but shadowweaver did NOT.

hmmm so Solinius was....destroyed. but like, did the people die? like....the people? that’s the important bit isn’t it? i mean, they were under the sea right?

i suppose the problem i also have is that this show will NOT hurry up. normally i love filler stuff but ...the characters are too.....cheery. too flat. their quirks are fun and funny until they’re literally character flaws.

are the horde just literally attacking civilians? jezus. the war crimes. how did shadowweaver ever expect to trick Adora when she was released into the field?

‘you can’t just keep going off on your own!’ - SHE LITERALLY SAVED THE WHOLE FUCKING TOWN. SHE’S THE QUEEN! EVERYBODY SHOULD LISTEN TO HER! lolololol

the problem with Adora’s points is that everything about their dynamics are always so nebulous. why cant glimmer keep showing up to help out? WHY??? she’s the most capable fucking soldier in the field! she’s supposed to have full fucking authority! like, Adora isn’t in the right here. the problem is that her needling is only a symptom of her worries - which is that Glimmer doesn’t trust her any more. but the needling does NOTHING but make her seem like an idiot

i do love this trope reversal here - Seahawk deliberately damselling them to let the princesses save the boys? pffft

love catra getting the consequences for her actions regarding Scorpia. You can’t keep lashing out at people and expect them to stay my dear cat.....

oooohhh Glimmer.... you’re treading close to very hurtful territory. Blaming Adora for the Rebellion failing? for things she couldn’t do anything about? stupid.

really?? you’re really gonna fucking fight-resolution BLOCK ME? are you FUCKING kidding me? edging me for the whole GODDAMN SEASON??? and finally Adora cries at Glimmer going over the line???? fuckin I HATE the narrative decisions in this stupid show I FUCKING HATE THEM FUCK THESE WRITERS GOD FUKCING DAMMIT!!! this has been the whole GODDAMN SHOW!!!!!! ARGHGHGHGHGHGH

i’ve been waiting for a fucking resolution for Adora and Catra the whole! goddamn! SHOW! NOTHING! else matters! you do the exact same for glimmer and adora and now you let it fester again??? because of some no-stakes BULLSHIT? just give me the fucking godddamn PAYOFF for watching these kids be IDIOTS.

this fight on the boat is COOL and really wonderfully animated

really? Glimmer’s response to Adora being hurt and not wanting to be TOUCHED is to be angry herself? what a fucking IDIOT. god i can’t stand this. I CAN’T STAND IT

is this how people act? do they never take a moment to breathe and think and reflect and realise their priorities and take a step back and fucking apologise?

jezus FUCKING! CHRIST!

‘no matter what glimmer thinks of me’ oh that HURTED. oh damn. that’s so relatable. it’s a way to run, it’s a way to internalise the hurt and then prove the things that hurt wrong. the one that hurt you

I know Bo is supposed to be the emotionally intelligent one but he’s also too soft. He should go up to his friends individually and ask them the sharp questions. not - ‘communicate more positively’.

I just like Adora so much better when she’s alone. Her friendships’ positive moments are always so sappy or so....like over-exaggerated, the negative moments always so fucking annoying. Alone, Adora is generally driven, tragic, and cool. the problem is perhaps that i don’t care for the constant fucking drama

god i LOVE Mara so much - she’s so beautiful. and i LOVE learning more about the Old Ones. So they were trying to study Ehteria’s magic.... but then Bright Moon and the princesses were already here. The Magic-Like systems of the Old Ones are pure tech.

wow! even Mara’s transformation is way cooler.

so why was the first one’s tech (she ra) responsive to the magic? why does Raz know about She-Ra? when she ra is first ones tech????

WAIT ONE SECOND. She-Ra is ‘magic’ ??? it’s the SWORD that’s the first one’s tech! She-Ra is Etheria’s magic ! but how if the First Ones chose Mara. Did they steal She-Ra from Etheria?

so what im getting is that. the Old Ones colonised Etheria. Etheria has magic, and when Mara was chosen they made that girl an elite soldier - giving her a first one’s tech sword so she could ‘control’ Etheria’s magic. Then Mara was told to study the magic of Etheria - the ship implying that she’d not been on the planet before. then they created a Heart of Etheria project - which will probably turn the magic into a weapon. this was going to be used against Hordak Prime, im sure. I mean, Mara saved Etheria, but she did doom the rest of the universe to...extinction.... like, judging from Hordak’s strategy, Hordak Prime just literally exterminates planets and repopulates them with his clones....

But why would the planet choose a girl from amongst the colonisers - twice?

OOOHHH that anguished scream. i love anguished screams

why dont they put fucking safety belts in these ships. it’s not like the ship didn’t survive. only Mara got splatted (i guess)

also i love Mara. but damn Adora just got some more shit on her plate. why the fuck was she pushed through a portal again? for a She-Ra chain reaction?

I love madame Raz.

So they didn’t explicitly use it against Hordak Prime. and it wouldn’t have destroyed Etheria back then but it will now...

guh this showmakes it so hard to enjoy catra’s pain.

well they did finally have a good talk about it. I have to say, Glimmer is making good strategic sense - it’s just that this show only rewards harebrained schemes

Catra having a crazy panic attack cos she can’t find Scorpia and she’s completely lost and she knows its her fault. kinda love that for her. my heart

my dear Glimmer, theres a difference between absence of trust and absence of agreement.

they’re bringing king micah back just when angella is dead? oh fuckin lol

the horde....exiled micah? they exiled Micah instead of killing him???

why do they ALWAYS interrupt important conversations? i hate that shit. it’s cheap. it’s unsatisfying.

now THIS is what im here for - that unstoppable WILL!! john gonzalez is right - we watch stories for characters overcomign obstacles. writing, is creating the obstacle course. .....what does that say about me and my life....hmmm.

‘light hope told me everything i need to know’ - uhhh no she didn’t. she didn’t tell you how to harness the energy at all. ugh

how the fuck did double trouble escape. seems to me that they didn’t actually. they were let go....

it’s always so stupid when people try to tell other people: oh no you’ve got no plan - this is too risky! when that’s NEVER a problem

Glimmer is going to activate the weapon just in time for Hordak Prime to use it. And naturally she misses the return of her dad. fuck this

they’re gonna have Hordak and Catra fight? hmm

Double Trouble is right - this IS good for her - and it IS Catra - except for Shadowweaver’s case - she was an abusive bitch

I love Scorpia’s new cool fight music and also glowy eyes

is glimmer going to throw herself into lava??

the unfortunate thing is that Hordak Prime is right on the doorstep and he took over the whole universe or whatever. so they could probably have used that weapon. i mean the Old Ones must have seen something coming. there must be a reason they’re all GONE maybe????

why did Adora assume that all those stars would be destroyed?

THE ANIMATION ON THAT FINAL STUFF WAS INCREDIBLE AND EPIC

how the fukc are they going to beat Horde Prime lolololol.

i guess Glimmer really shouldn’t have done that. but at least she was in time to bond with Catra.

#my stuff #vidi #she ra

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clownsgobeepbeep · 5 years

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20 your pick

20.)Surprised Kiss

“I...I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple, it’s just a gift. But also a favor.”

Atlas had come to visit. He was of course happy because he could now hang out with his friends.

The kids were allowed to go into the forest, Cosmos and Vespers along with Jelly and Lennie going along to keep an eye on their small picnic.

Everybody had gathered in an area that was quite spacey, quiet, and calm.

After a while of playing games in the picnic area, Jeff and Bubbles had gotten rather bored. So, they suggested a game of hide and seek in which they would be the seekers.

That seemed good enough for Ula, Atlas, and Ama who immediately went to go hide their own hiding spots.

Atlas had found a nice spot in a tree, inside a tree. Ah yes, the twins would never find him in there.

It was a great spot for Atlas, right until his current position proved to get a little uncomfortable. He decided to shift a bit, but he found that his pants got caught on something, perhaps some kind of twig.

Atlas attempted to move away from it, tugging at his own body before finally being able to pull himself out. He turned around and got onto his knees, squinting his eyes into the darkness where he spotted something, before hearing a giggle that made his eyes widen in panic.

“Found you.~”

“No, ,no, no! I haven’t-” Atlas exclaimed as he turned around, then hearing a laugh as he spotted the person beside him. “Oh…”

“You thought I was the twins?”

“Yeah.” Atlas gave a bit of an embarrassed laugh as he looked up at Ula, seeing as she grinned down at him rather mischievously. “You haven’t seen them, right?”

“Oh nah. They’re looking through some bushes far from here.” Ula giggled before stepping closer towards Atlas, but she walked right by him before getting onto her hands and knees. “You found one!”

“Huh?”

“You found one of my doors!” Ula exclaimed as she motioned to the inside of the tree, Atlas looking inside again.

“Doors?”

“I put tiny doors almost everywhere. W hoever finds one of these little secrets gets a gift. “ Ula explained. “You should reach inside and see what I left behind the door.~”

“Oh, cool.” Atlas now smiled, crawling back into the tree before holding onto the tiny door knob to pull open the door. He carefully stuck a hand into the doorway, taking hold of something fuzzy before pulling it out and bringing it to himself.

“Oh no!”

“What?”

“This must be the door I forgot to put a gift into, so I just substituted it with these flowers while I tried to get something else.” Ula placed her hands on her cheeks, then touching one of the flowers. “You can still keep these though, they’re rightfully yours.”

“Nice. Which ones are they?”

“These are the yellow acacia.” Ula sniffed the flowers. “They mean true friendship and secret love.”

“Huh.” Atlas nodded before feeling Ula tap his arm. “Yes?”

“You know that lips-placed-together thing?” Ula asked as she drew herself closer towards Atlas, seeing as he tilted his head before realizing what she meant.

“Oh...a kiss?”

“Yeah.” Ula nodded. “I wanna do that.”

Atlas now blinked at Ula, pulling himself back for a moment as he was completely dumbfounded.

“I...I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple, it’s just a gift. But also a favor.” Ula shrugged while leaning in.

“Gift? Favor?”

“I just wanna see what it feels like...again. But also, it’ll make up for not providing you with a better gift behind the door you found.”

“I..um…” Atlas took in a deep breath as he now pondered to himself. He couldn’t tell if Ula was serious in that moment, but seeing as she now sat in front of him with a sweet smile...maybe she actually was. Atlas was seriously debating with himself, asking if he should just go with it.

But then, a memory came to him.

The school dance.

“Well...how would this go?” Atlas cleared his throat as he unconsciously gripped onto the flowers, Ula’s smile widening. There was no harm in doing this kind of thing, and a kiss...it just wasn’t a big deal really.

“Close your eyes.” Ula instructed, right before Atlas released a sigh and closed his eyes. “Mmm...tilt your head a little.”

“Tilt it?”

“Atlas!”

“Okay, okay.” Atlas once again sighed, doing as he was told before he felt his flowers be taken out of his hands. He could tell Ula safely set them down, right before she took hold of his hands.

Atlas waited for a while, or at least it felt like a while, right before he felt something.

His curiosity got the best of him, and Atlas decided to open his eyes before he actually widened them in surprise.

Ula was right in front of him.

Her lips in front of his. No...right on his.

He continued to look at her with his wide eyes, Ula’s own being closed as she remained in that position for a while that, to Atlas, seemed like forever.

Finally, Ula opened her eyes and looked right into Atlas’. He noticed there was a twinkle in her green orbs, but that twinkle disappeared when Ula pulled herself and turned away with a giggle.

“Spruce tip.” Ula whispered with a giggle. “Like a breath of fresh air in the forest.”

Ula finally looked back at Atlas, her smile disappearing once she noticed that he was frozen in place.

“Atlas?” Ula let go of his hands to wave one of hers in front of his speechless self. “Atlas? Atlas!?”

In a panic, Ula stood up and dash away while shouting out into the forest

“Mom! Mom! I broke Atlas!”

Meanwhile, Atlas remained sitting in place before he felt two fingers tap each of his shoulders, the sound of giggling coming next.

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remoonusarchive · 5 years

Text

a thing called love;

Most men are like me, they struggle and doubt They trouble their minds day in and day out Too busy with living to worry about A little word like love But when I see a mother's tenderness As she holds her young close to her breast Then I thank God that the world's been blessed With a thing called love

Summary: Snippets from each summer between Hogwarts years, exploring Remus’ muggle education and relationship with his parents. Self-para; closed

1972

Only his dad was there to meet him off the Hogwarts Express. Remus wasn’t surprised but it meant he didn’t want to take too much time saying goodbye to his friends because Lyall had always been more wary than Hope over Remus having close friends. He settled for a smile and wave to each James, Sirius and Pete before he took Lyall’s proffered arm and was take side-along apparition with a crack. He hadn’t made an effort to befriend anybody else that first year.

They apparated straight into their back garden where Hope was lounging in a garden chair, a cigarette between her fingers. Music Remus didn’t recognise drifted out through the open kitchen window. It must be a new album.

“Remus bach, cariad! How was it? Tell me all.”

And he did. As he talked, the Welsh accent that had mostly faded over the course of the year came back in strength and his eyes lit up as he described each of his classes. Lyall went inside with a mutter about it being cold, but Remus barely noticed. It was his mam he wanted to tell about Hogwarts.

“And you have friends?” Hope asked, taking out another cigarette.

“I do,” Remus said his eyes distractedly fixed on the spent cigarette butts in the ash tray. “Mam, can I try one now?”

“Remus, we’ve talked about this before. When you’re older.”

“I’m fourteen, I am. I’ve seen pictures of you smoking at fourteen.”

“Oh, that’s true, like.”

“Hope!” Lyall’s sharp reproach came from the kitchen.

“I mean, what the fuck, Remus, you’re fourteen, of course you can’t have a cigarette,” Hope said.

“Hope.”

This time, Hope frowned and lowered her voice so her husband wouldn’t hear from in the house. “What did I do?”

“You said fuck,” Remus told her, “but it’s okay, that just made me look cooler at school.”

“You’re cool anyway, fy machgen i. So your friends?”

“Yeah! James and Sirius and Peter. I share a dorm with them. We share with another boy, Gideon, but I didn’t talk to him as much, I guess. I just tagged on with the other three, really.” Or maybe ‘was dragged along with’ would be a more representative phrasing.

“And… do they know…?”

“No.” Remus shook his head vehemently and didn’t offer up the fact that sometimes he worried that they were suspicious of where he went each month.

Hope sat back in clear relief. “Well how about you take that trunk of yours upstairs and unpack. You can relax the rest of this week and we’ll start lessons on Monday.”

“Lessons?”

“Just because you’ve gone to Hogwarts, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t study for O Levels. I want you to have all the chances you can when you leave school and that might be easier in the Muggle world.”

Remus nodded. It made sense, and he supposed that it wasn’t like they were going on holiday like so many of his classmates. At least school would pass the time.

1973

She had caved this year. They were in the garden, smoking and studying an Atlas. It was all official, now: Remus was registered as a home-schooled student who would take his O Levels in the summer of ‘74, as soon as he returned from Hogwarts. He would be taking English, Welsh, Maths, Science, Latin and Geography and a CSE in Art. Not History, as he sometimes confused what the muggles knew about and what they didn’t and not any other subjects as they didn’t have the time to go in enough depth.

“Was it really okay?” Hope asked.

Remus looked up from his work. He had thought they weren’t going to talk about it but perhaps Hope had just been waiting until Lyall was at work. He took a drag before he replied, “It really was. They were great. I told you they worked it out, but they didn’t go and tell anybody else. Well, except talking to each other about it, I guess, but nobody else. They promised they wouldn’t tell anyone else. And then when they told me they just said I was still their friend and it was fine. Nothing really changed. Except that they were coming and visiting me in the Hospital Wing more the morning after and taking notes for me in classes I missed. They were really great.”

“I’m so happy you’ve got good friends, fy machgen i.”

Remus beamed. His dad hadn’t seemed so happy that James, Sirius and Pete had found out about his lycanthropy. Lyall worried so much. “Me too.”

1974

“Who are you?”

Remus blinked at the student in his impeccable muggle uniform. He tugged on his second-hand jumper self-consciously. “I’m home-schooled, I am. I’m just here to sit my exams.”

“Was that your mam?” The boy craned his head to look at Hope’s retreating figure. Remus nodded, feeling a little uncomfortable. He didn’t often go out in public with her. Lyall always took him to and from Kings Cross and otherwise he didn’t really ever leave home during the summer. He knew she turned heads, with her long wavy hair and her thin frame, that constant cigarette between her fingers and dark red lips. Remus loved his mam. He loved how she laughed herself into a coughing fit whenever he told her what he and his friends got up to at school. He loved how she had bought him his own lighter, in Gryffindor colours. He loved that she couldn’t bear to be in a room with a record player that wasn’t playing. She was the embodiment of a cool parent, but he had been used to not having to share her with anybody except his dad and he didn’t like the look in the boy’s eyes. “I’m Remus,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Weird name,” the boy said. “David.”

“How Welsh,” Remus replied as David shook his hand. “Are you taking O Level Maths today, too?”

He finished the exam early. It was pretty easy compared to the year of Arithmancy he had done and he was even allowed a calculator. In the time while he waited for everybody else to finish, he started writing some letters.

James,

Muggle exams are so boring. There’s so much writing and all the desks are creaky and this bloke keeps walking past me with squeaky shoes. I prefer the practical exams we get in some of our subjects at Hogwarts. Wouldn’t it have been cool this year if our DADA exam had been more of an obstacle course of all the dark creatures we studied (except for werewolves and vampires of course) instead of just demonstrating the spells without the actual creature there. Prof really missed a trick there. I’m glad it won’t be him next year. Summer’s boring already and it’s only been a week. Can’t wait until September. Have a great holiday.

Remus

P.S. When would be a good time to go to Diagon Alley?

Sirius,

We’ve come to this school in Swansea today so I can do my muggle exams (I know, I know, school during the summer, but it wasn’t my choice, I solemnly swear!) and there was someone on a motorcycle who looked just like you. You’re definitely still in London, right? I’d be surprised if you’d managed to learn how to ride a motorcycle and get to Swansea but seriously I’m still half-convinced it was you. Hope your parents aren’t being too shite this summer. I’d say you can escape to mine if you want, but my dad’s still being weird about the fact that you know about my furry little problem as if it hasn’t been NEARLY TWO YEARS now. I swear he doesn’t care this much about Pete knowing; it’s ridiculous. Anyway, we’ll have to try and coordinate Diagon Alley this year and sneak you away from your family for a bit.

Remus

Pete,

I need all the details of your holiday so I can live vicariously through you. I’ll repay you in chocolate. When do you get back? I know not for ages and we won’t get our letters for even longer but I want to try and coordinate a Diagon Alley trip with the others and I have nothing else to look forward to before September.

Remus

1975

If Remus had been born ten years earlier, he would be a legal adult now. Instead, he was still stuck at home, unable to apparate, unable to do any magic outside of school, and studying A Level material for English, Geography and Maths. Hope’s cough had become as constant as Lou Reed’s new album in the background and Remus had noticed that sometimes she pressed her hand to her chest as if it hurt but they still smoked together and she didn’t blink when he admitted to using weed before a full moon to help with the pain. She went out, supposedly to buy teabags, and came back with cannabis. Remus never asked where she got it. Neither of them told Lyall.

When he was alone, Remus buried himself in research about Animagi. Not the technicalities of how to become one — they were fairly confident on that by now even if it was going to be a long and difficult process — but attempting to work out if their assumptions were correct and that his friends would be safe around the wolf if they were successful.

He hoped the animals they turned into would be useful.

A part of him was jealous that he would never be able to join them in that particular quest but the idea of getting the wolf to put a mandrake leaf in its mouth and not swallow it was ludicrous.

1976

The July full moon was almost immediate after the end of fifth year so Remus had returned home and instantly gone to bed. He had spent the moon in the usual way in the basement but it felt so restrictive and more painful than before, perhaps because he could now compare it to the freedom and ease of transforming with his friends. With Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Moony was able to run free in the forest and no longer took out his anger on himself. He was less angry, because he wasn’t contained.

He curled up on the sofa the next day, sipping on tea and watching Lyall read the Sunday Prophet.

“Werewolf attack at Cwm Rheidol,” Lyall said to Hope. Remus frowned and picked up an A Level Maths textbook that he knew he wouldn’t actually read. He couldn’t concentrate on the law of sines when his body ached from last night’s transformation and his parents were casually discussing werewolves in Wales and when his brain was still fried from OWLs and when the terror over what could have happened because of Sirius’ prank on Snape earlier in the year was still fresh in his mind.

“Was it him?” Hope asked.

Remus’s frown deepened.

“Doesn’t say, but probably. Child was seven. Parents are blood traitors.”

“Probably who?” Remus blurted. Both his parents turned to him, looking surprised that he was following their conversation. Even without his friends, recovery was quicker this summer. He could tell they didn’t want to answer him and he could only think of one reason why they wouldn’t, even though it didn’t line up with what they had led him to believe in the past.

Another young victim.

A reason for the attack.

“I thought it was just a random attack where I was bitten. It wasn’t, was it?”

“Remus, don’t be—” Lyall started in a tone of impatience.

“No, fy machgen,” Hope cut in. She looked so tired. “It wasn’t random.”

“Why me?”

Hope gave Lyall a significant look. Lyall sighed and set the newspaper to the side. “You were attacked by a werewolf named Fenrir Greyback…”

The story was hard to swallow. Remus listened as his father explained how he had come to his job in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Remus already knew Lyall had attempted to tighten protocol surrounding the Werewolf Registry in the past but he had not realised that his father had also overseen to trials of those suspected to be involved in werewolf attacks. His stomach turned when Lyall repeated the words that had angered Greyback.

“Not that I still think that, of course,” Lyall said, seeing the distress on Remus’s face, “but that was why he plotted to hurt you.”

Remus didn’t respond. His mind was whirring at ninety miles an hour. He thought of Lyall’s constant fear that Remus’s lycanthropy would be discovered. He thought of Hope’s secrecy when it came to asking about full moons at Hogwarts — she always waited until Lyall was at work and even the letters she sent during the year, she wrote in Welsh. He thought of how many times they had moved house in the past and how he was never allowed to stray too far from home, except for school. He even got the impression that Lyall didn’t think he should be taking muggle exams. Where Hope thought he might have a better chance of holding down a job in the muggle world, where nobody would ever suspect what he truly was, Lyall thought it was reckless and that Remus would be better to be hired by somebody who knew the whole story and could make accommodations. As if anybody would hire him.

Part of Remus wondered if his father really thought he would be better off without a job at all, and had simply said that so that Remus wouldn’t give up on school altogether.

He thought of his parents, obsessed for so long with finding a cure and keeping others safe from him. Maybe if Hope had known more of what she could have done to help him, she would have, just as she got him the weed and slipped cigarette boxes into the care packages she sent to Hogwarts. Lyall, though… Remus could only imagine how horrified his father would be if he knew that Remus’s best friends were illegal Animagi and that they actually helped. Lyall still looked scared and a little queasy whenever it came up that James, Sirius and Pete knew at all, however much Remus insisted that they accepted him regardless.

Sometimes, Remus wondered where he would be if Dumbledore had never turned up and offered him a place at Hogwarts. His childhood had been lonely and friendless and there had been no signs of change until that fateful day. Probably, his father had intended to keep him isolated and why should it matter if he was, in fact, dangerous and soulless.

“It’s to keep everyone safe,” Lyall had always told him when he was little and wanted to go and play with the children riding their bikes down the road. But there was no danger if it wasn’t a full moon and Remus was only just, at eighteen, realising how brainwashed he had been to have accepted the explanation without question.

“Remus?” Hope’s raspy voice brought him out of his reverie.

“A childhood like that really messes a person up, you know,” Remus told them. His eyes were wet, he noticed.

“I know,” Hope said. “It worries me that he’s back in Wales. Maybe we should think about moving again. Perhaps somewhere on the East coast.”

“Why does it matter? He can hardly do anything else to me.”

“He might try to recruit you to his pack. A lot of the werewolves are working for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, now.”

Remus automatically looked at his mam in time to see her stubbornly mouth ‘Voldemort’. She thought wizards were ridiculous for avoiding his name. “And you didn’t think I needed to know sooner? He could have tried to recruit me at any time, if he prefers to raise his pack himself. He’s not going to sit around and wait for me to turn nineteen.”

“It was because we love you. We were trying—”

Remus stood before he could hear another of his father’s excuses. “I’m going to have a bath.”

He was a little surprised to find it was Sirius he wanted to talk to the most. After the Snape incident, things had been a little tense even after he had decided to forgive and move on and allow Padfoot to join him for the next full moon. If anyone was going to understand how he felt, it would be Sirius. Remus wasn’t exaggerating when he said a childhood in fear and isolation messed a person up and Sirius, too, had suffered traumas in his past and an expectation that one day he would join the Dark side, just because of who he was. A Black and a werewolf. Both expected to be sorted into Slytherin. Both were relieved beyond words when they had ended up in Gryffindor instead. And both still bore the weight of their upbringing. Remus considered a new perspective on the incident last term. Sirius had made one mistake because he didn’t think, and he had been guilty and apologetic afterwards. Lyall, though older and more highly educated, had made a series of mistakes and continued to defend his decisions.

Remus knew who he could forgive more easily.

1977

If it weren’t for the Order and finally having his apparition licence, Remus wouldn’t know what to do with himself for the summer. For the first time since he was four years old, he had no lessons, no school, a real summer holiday, even if it was only a holiday off doing work and not a holiday that involved going anywhere interesting. They now lived in Essex but Remus spent much of the summer at the Potters’ or going to Order meetings. There wasn’t much in the way of assignments for those of them still in school but they could focus on practising magic that would help them and learning to cast corporeal Patronuses for communication.

Really, Remus was happy that he wasn’t being asked to do anything specific yet, because he knew by now that when he was asked, it would involve other werewolves. He wasn’t ready for that yet. He wasn’t ready to meet Greyback.

“I barely see you these days,” Hope said to him over lunch one day.

“Sorry, mam. I just want to spend time with my friends.”

Her eyes softened. “I know. I’m happy for you, I am. I just miss you as well.”

“Do you not want to go back to work?”

Hope didn’t reply straight away. Instead she was taken with a coughing fit that Remus waited to subside. “Remus bach, I’m not well enough.”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not very well, fy machgen i.”

“It’s just a cough, isn’t it?”

There was pity in her eyes and Remus’s heart sunk. He should have seen it sooner. Perhaps a part of him already knew. After all, for a while he had felt bad whenever he told his classmates that he was visiting his sick mother during the full moon and instead had fallen back on excuses of his own health suffering, even though that felt more risky. “Mam…” All of a sudden he felt like a small, scared child. He could have been five years old again, asking why everything hurt; clinging onto his mam in St Mungo’s while a specialised Healer talked to them in whispers.

“I’ll be fine, bach. I’m just too tired to work. Don’t worry about me.”

“Is it my fault? Is it stress?”

“Your dad says it’s because I smoke,” Hope told him, but the way she hesitated and the hint of worry in her eyes convinced Remus that stress did play a part. “I told him I’m just allergic to the stick up his arse.”

Remus’s lips quirked but he couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh. “I’m sorry, mam.”

“No. Remus, no. It’s not your fault. And I’m fine. I’m still going to watch you grow old, I am. Not that it’ll be long! Only one year left of Hogwarts! Look at you, all grown up.”

“Mam,” Remus protested, his cheeks colouring and his worries temporarily dissipating. She laughed and changed the album on the record player. She poured them both a glass of whiskey with a wink and Remus leaned back to listen as that same 1972 Johnny Cash album that had greeted him from school after first year filled the room.

#*sp #*dev #smoking tw;;#cannabis tw;;#COPD symptoms mention;;#long-term effects of smoking;;#and smoking from a young age too #hope lupin is a terrible influence #but we love her #illusions to and mentions of violence//werewolves attacking children that sorta thing #i think that's it #*flashback

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ship-ambrosia · 6 years

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Bloom (RWBY)

@allie-and-her-fandoms

Happy birthday!!! I hope your day is going wonderful! I love you so much dear, and when I thought of this idea I knew it just had to be for your birthday present! In honor of your OTP to end all OTPs officially being confirmed Volume 6, here’s a little Ren x Nora from me! (Sorry the formatting is weird, stupid tumblr update)

Just wanted to say though, that I’m so glad we met. You’re one of my best friends in the whole world, and I hope that I’ve had as much an impact on you as you have me. Happy birthday! ❤️❤️

It was a long ride from Argus to Atlas.

Nora just couldn’t find herself falling asleep, though everyone else around her had.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang had all gathered around Blake and fallen asleep in that position, having comforted her as she explained everything that occurred in facing Adam. He had stalked her - he had been stalking her, along with the rest of them, since they had left Mistral. He had probably been on the train with them, and they hadn’t noticed.

Jaune and Ren were leaned up against one another beside her, both boys snoring softly with Oscar on Jayne’s other side, sleeping propped up on the back of Maria’s chair. It felt like the first time in forever that Nora smiled, really smiled, not from relief that everyone was still alive. Of course that was still true, but she smiled now because she hadn’t seen everyone she loved looking so peaceful in such a long time.

And when she looked out the window at the stars, she didn’t see any terrifying, circling, flying Grimm, nor the sight of White Fang assaulting them from Atlas military ships. For once she looked up at the skies, and they were clear.

She was still haunted by what had occurred at Beacon Academy. Nora was still herself, still loved to laugh and smile and talk a million words a minute and she still got a kick out of sending things flying with her Magnhild, but something in her had still changed, she couldn’t ignore it. Something in her had changed after Beacon fell, and after they lost Pyrrha. Something had changed after returning to Kuroyuri and fighting the same Grimm that had taken so much from them. Something had changed in her after learning of Professor Lionheart’s betrayal and alliance with Salem. Not to mention something in her had definitely changed after they learned what they had from Jinn about Ozpin.

But in this moment, the stars twinkled so sweetly that it seemed all of that was what it had been only a few years ago; distant fairy tales.

Nora jumped a bit when she felt a hand gently grasp hers. She looked up to find Ren’s mesmerizing eyes on her as he smiled so tenderly. She could immediately feel herself growing flustered. His attention, and his praise, had always sent her heart fluttering and her knees to jelly long before they had gotten together. Now the fact that they were dating was almost just a bonus.

“You should get some sleep, Nora,” he commanded, but in a kind voice.

“And miss this beautiful view? Not a chance,” she said.

“Nora,” his voice got a bit harsher, and his smile had faltered somewhat. “Please.”

She gave a soft sigh and looked away from his gaze. “I’ll sleep when we get to Atlas,” she mumbled. “I can’t fall asleep.”

Ren’s gaze softened, and he squeezed her hand a little bit tighter.

“What is it? Something’s wrong, I can tell.”

“It’s nothing in particular,” she looked out toward the night sky again. “Just that seeing those Grimm circling toward Argus reminded me of Beacon.”

Ren was silent for a moment, before he answered. “Yes, it reminded me of that night too.”

“Obviously the end was quite different, but the feeling is still the same,” she felt a lot of her feelings gushing forward before she could stop them. “I wouldn’t trade any of the family I have now for the world, Ren, but I miss when the stakes weren’t life and death. When we had fun while studying at Beacon. I miss Pyrrha, and the good times we had with her. Remember that food fight we had with her and Jaune and everyone else? That was the time of my life.”

“Being normal Hunters would’ve still meant the stakes were life and death, Nora,” she could hear him chuckle. “But I get what you mean. I miss Pyrrha, too. Seeing her statue in Argus? That brought back so many memories… sad ones, but all the good times too. Things weren’t so serious then. Of course, I was still serious.”

When she didn’t respond, or laugh in response, Ren leaned forward and took her other hand. “Hey, Nora. Would you look at me?”

She complied, and found him smiling at her again. “I can’t stand to see you like this. You’re the brightest star in the sky.”

If she had been standing up, she was sure she would’ve fallen flat on her ass. Nora put a hand to her cheek. It was incredibly hot now and a smile she couldn’t control bloomed. “Well how can I stay being a bummer after you say something like that?”

She could tell he was pleased with the results of his work the way his intense eyes lightened. Ren tugged both of her hands toward him, gently guiding Nora beside him. On Ren’s other shoulder, Jaune continued to snore away, not bothered or woken by their conversation. Nora knew that Qrow and Maria were both probably listening, but hadn’t spoken a word and she was grateful for it.

“I know that what happened in Kuroyuri was just as hard for you as it was for me,” he said to her once she had settled in beside him, with his arms wrapped around her.

“That’s not true! You lost your parents there. The only thing I lost was the streets that I slept in.”

“But you could’ve lost your life,” Ren had grown solemn once again. “We were young, Nora, and we could’ve died. That’s something that is hard for adults to deal with, let alone children. We were surrounded by death, and if it wasn’t death, it was certainly more than enough things that wanted to kill us.”

She shook her head gently, but didn’t reply.

Ren gave a bit of a sigh, before continuing. “I know you experienced a lot then too, and I know you hide all the years of pain behind your personality. I was always too scared to say anything before, but I’m not anymore. Because that night in Kuroyuri with Jaune and Ruby... I saw it. I saw that young girl that I promised I would never let get hurt again, trembling as she begged me to keep myself together. To stay alive for her. That was the moment I knew I couldn’t hide how I felt for her any longer either, because she is the world to me and the thought of any other man making her happier than I could hurts more than anything a Grimm could do to me.”

Nora felt her eyes begin to water a bit as he spoke softly to her, disbelief at what she was hearing. Of course she knew, she knew the instant he grabbed her hand and kept her close after they had been rescued from Kuroyuri. She had always been uncertain if he felt the same way as her, but that was the moment she knew it was different. This moment, here and now, was a nice reminder though.

Her eyes widened as she felt something soft and gentle pressed against the top of her head, her entire face heating up at Ren’s unexpected act of affection. He held her just a little bit tighter as he placed a chaste kiss on her, enjoying the smell of her hair and having her so close.

“So when you’re hurt, or scared, please come to me Nora,” he continued. “All I ever do is worry about you. When I saw Cordovin hit you, when I saw your Aura break... it was terrifying. I need to know you’re okay right now.”

“Okay,” she answered. “I’m not right now. But I will be, because we’re here with everybody, and everyone’s safe. Blake went through something incredibly hard and painful, and I’m scared for her, but we’re all here together now,” she looked up at him, smiling gratefully. “And I will be as long as I’ve got you around.”

Ren nodded a little. “And I, you.”

“I’m really not tired though. But I don’t mind lying here with you.”

He figured that was the best he could get out of her, appearing grateful that he could at least get her to realize that she didn’t need to hide how she felt from everyone; or at the very least, that she shouldn’t hide her feelings from him, that he wanted to know what hurt her and wanted to be there for her. She was surprised, but also very glad, that he had seen through her bubbly exterior and knew she had always been burdened by what happened in Kuroyuri just as much as he had. But that he also knew her happiness, her cheerfulness, wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t just a front, it was how she coped with the darkness. She truly always was happiest around the people she cared about. They were all her family now.

And she was more than happy to have Ren.

“Nobody else would’ve ever gotten me, you know,” she hummed softly.

He gave a soft chuckle. “Hindsight has perfect vision, Nora.”

“Not to intrude on your sweet moment there,” Qrow’s gravelly voice cut into the night. They looked up to find the older Huntsman slightly twisted in his seat, looking toward them. “But if you two aren’t going back to sleep, would you mind waking up the rest of the crew? We’re only within a half an hour of Atlas, and I got something that I want all of you to see.”

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cielrouge · 6 years

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Voltron Legendary Defender NYCC 18' Panel Recap

Ahhh okay here’s the recap post I promised! It took a little while to transcribe all the individual videos I had (I think almost 11 in the end? lol). So, normally I’m not a morning person at all, but as soon as I saw NYCC announce the Hammerstein panel and realizing this might very well be the last VLD panel ever, you can betcha that I got up at the crack of dawn to get my ass down to Hammerstein this morning pfftt. I got there around 9ish, and while there was already a line it moved fairly quickly after a quick bag check. Since I was by myself, I managed to get a pretty decent seat, actually much than I anticipated, located in the early middle-ish of the ground floor seating.

The panel began with the moderator (I forgot his name, sorry mod! D:) with introducing the cast and crew: Joaquim Dos Santos & Lauren Montgomery (Executive Producers), Josh Hamilton (Story Editor), and the VA’s for Allura (Kimberly Brooks), Pidge (Bex Taylor-Klaus), Shiro (Josh Keaton), and Lance (Jeremy Shada). Keith’s VA (Steven Yeun) didn’t make it, but I’m assuming maybe this was because he had prior commitments to promote BURNING at the New York Film Festival this weekend?

Joaquim and Lauren started off the panel regarding the Shiro and Adam storyline in S7, and some “understandably hurt reactions to it." Joaquim stated that they emphasize with everyone’s reactions and "really do feel for you,” while Lauren added: “so we clearly can’t change what’s already happened, but this experience has stirred conversation about what meaningful representation is, and we hope that this leads to better representation in the future.”

VLD Show Retrospective & General Fan Appreciation

Lauren then changed gears to take a moment to say: "how proud we are of our crew who has worked so hard, and our amazing cast who has bought so much life to these characters over these past four years," and a "huge thank you to all of the fans who have just showered us with so much love and support."

Joaquin added that they wanted "our final New York Comic Con, really our final con of the entire series to be a celebration of everyone's hard work. And a really awesome look back at what came before this and an awesome look forward to our final season, of a show that we're so proud to be a part of, and had you guys along for the ride."

The moderator asked what it's been like throughout the years to get to this specific part (season 8) and Joaquim said: "It's amazing for us. It's grown every single year, you guys [the crowd] is the best. It's been an absolute honor working on the show."

Josh H. (VLD's Story Editor) also noted: "It's weird being in the office alone, maybe five of us writers in one room," and they question what will or will not work story-wise, but "then you come to Comic Con and people start to cheer because they love a moment so much."

"It's so different when you're alone by yourself as a writer, and then when you're with an awesome crowd of people. It invigorates you."

Josh K. (Shiro's VA) added that it's been amazing for him to meet and work with the cast, but specifically highlighted his appreciation for seeing all the "incredible talent that's been peppered throughout the fandom.

Specifically emphasizing how the cast and crew "see so many amazing cosplay, so much incredible art, videos, everything. You guys [the fans] really dove into this show and we love it. We're just as much fans as all of you, and we love sharing the show with all of you. It's been a fantastic experience and I'm sad it's coming to an end."

Jeremy (Lance's VA) chimed in: "You don't to be part of many shows like Voltron in your career, so it's been a blessing to be a part of this show. Everybody here puts in so much hard work into their craft and what they do, but you never know what's going to do well or not, and this show DEFINITELY did very, very well." And this was because of the fans, particularly highlighting the passion and dedication, and how "it means the world to us."

Jeremy then pointed out this was a crowd where there actually seemed to be more cosplayers than non-cosplayers, prompting Josh K. to note: "I love going to these cons and looking at everyone cosplaying, and pretending in my head that Voltron is real and now I'm at Space Mall."

Bex (Pidge's VA) chimed in to say that she would make things a little more selfish since: "I've always wanted to play a cartoon character so this was very literally a dream come true for me." But not only to play a cartoon character, but to play a powerful female warrior."

Bex additionally noted how amazing how that's what's resonated most is "for young kids to see themselves in Pidge and Allura. It's just been the most heartwarming experience."

Kimberly (Allura's VA) then spoke to the experience among the cast and crew and how they've become good friends with one another, and how it's "bittersweet that this is our last convention, but it's been amazing."

Season 7 Retrospective (General Storytelling Approach & the VA's Favorite Moments)

Josh H. started off that: "S7 was meant to be putting our paladins at a disadvantage."

So the writers came up with the concept of a 3 year timeskip and "all these stories about going home, and Hunk with his family kind of sprung up naturally from that."

"There's also a story about Allura. It's kinda subtle, but Allura lost Altea, and now she has a chance to redeem herself and help save Earth."

"A lot of these personal moments start to pop up when we got this new angle, so starting off with this 3 year time gap really helped us."

Joaquim noted it was cool seeing the fan buildup with getting the paladins back home to their families, and "knowing for us, from a story perspective that it was coming down the line, and seeing everything get to that fever pitch point. It was a really great payoff to see it all play out."

Lauren switched gears to comment on the "insane logistics" of the whole big Galra attack at the end. They had some initial trouble figuring out how the Zaiforge cannons were supposed to work.

Josh H. chimed in to note that Joaquim kept coming to the writers room to say that something needed to be different about this Galra attack, so he and Mitch Iverson would kind of go on walks and try to figure out how the Zaiforge cannons worked.

While Lauren noted that the logistics was a "massive headache, they were still pretty happy with how it turned out since "it was pretty suspenseful, never a dull moment."

Josh H. added that plot-wise, he liked how the storytelling perspective got to stay on Earth. "We knew that there were going to be seven, Earth-centric episodes," so that gave a lot of time to "meet some new people and come up with MFE pilots."

The writers really enjoyed cracking who the MFE pilots were individually, particularly with the way that Leifsdottir thinks and speaks, so "having this time to stay in one place and time was really fun."

Jeremy noted that they were really happy to have AJ LoCascio (Lotor's VA) still stick around and voice James Griffin in S7.

Joaquim mentioned that for a show of this nature, with all the focus on action-adventure and big explosions and giant robots, it was unusual to "take two episodes and just focus on the logistics on what's going back on Earth while madness is happening. Essentially you had all these meetings going on for what's ostensibly a kid's show."

In terms of trying to find a fine balance between the Earth storyline and Paladin storyline, Lauren and Jaoquim did wonder whether they could spend that much time on Earth without "seeing Voltron punch something" (ROFL) but they knew it was the right decision as they were reading the scripts when they came in, and it just felt right, and "that's ultimately been a testament to the show. Just going with your gut."

Favorite, Standout Moments of Season 7

Bex noted that her favorite episodes of S7 were the Earth-centric ones where "we got to experience what was happening on Earth while we [the paladins] were gone. It was everything I got to see and nothing I got to see in the scripts since we weren't there."

Kimberly noted that the Hunk love was amazing, since he's so "lovable, and we got to see where he was inspired to cook and do all the things that he does, and why he's such a cool guy."

Josh K. added that Hunk really proved himself as the heart of the team.

Jeremy noted that the VA's knew that the Atlas was going to be a thing through the scripts, but they weren't aware of what it actually looked like beforehand.

Bex humorously chimed in to offer that "Atlas is thiccc. I needs that workout routine, okay?" (omfg)

Jeremy agreed that it has a "nice big booty. It's a thick robot." (And at that point, everyone in the audience started wheezing, shrieking, or cackling).

Josh K. added that the day the episode aired, there was a group chat among the VA's where someone just texted "Atlas is thiccc" and Bex admitted that she had this saved to her Tweetdeck for a longgg time.

Josh K. admitted that while he's probably biased, this was still his favorite episode, since Josh wanted Shiro to have everything that he deserves, and he loved how "everything was falling apart and everyone was looking for Shiro to lead."

And in terms of the words and the stage direction, Josh remembered just even reading the script just made him swell up with pride for Shiro and think: "This is amazing. Everybody that didn't believe him in the Garrison came back, those that strapped him to a gunnery, and didn't want to listen to him about Voltron is now looking at him to save them."

Bex added the part where Coran calls Shiro 'Captain' for the first time was one of those moments.

And when Shiro finally makes that connection and is able to transform the ship, Josh knew that while this moment was going to happen, he still had no idea how the Atlas transformation was going to look like beforehand.

Josh fondly recalled that he was hoping to see his wife's reaction to the Atlas transformation for the first time, but he missed her whole reaction since he himself couldn't take his eyes off the scene.

Entire Show Retrospective: Favorite Moments and Why

Jeremy’s Pick (Lance and Keith rescuing Shiro in ep 1): "It's special to me, because I think this may have been one of my audition scenes, but it was really one of the first scenes where you get to see Lance's personality and I love these little moments where he's just very kinda funny and such a goofball, but he still has this goal and is a loyal person. So, when we were recording this scene, I thought: 'Ok I get the character now and this sets the tone for what I wanna do with his character."

Bex’s Pick (Pidge confessing her true identity as a girl): "I love this part. This was something that was in the very beginning not in the audition side, but the character breakdown of Pidge's masquerade as a boy in order to find her family. And who doesn't want to play Mulan? So, it was something that I was waiting for and I remember going back and forth on whether this scene was going to happen in episode 4 or 7. It was really exciting when we got to that part of the script and how we were doing this, and I loved how easy it is."

Josh K's Pick (Shiro rescues Slav): "The thing we know about Shiro, at least in the beginning, is that it seems like there's nothing wrong with him. He seems perfect, he can do no wrong, he's a nice guy, and can kick butt. So sometimes you think, 'can he do no wrong? What's his deal?' and in S2, Shiro meets somebody named Slav and it's once meeting Slav, you start to see that Shiro is not completely perfect. Shiro can get upset, and there definitely is a crack in that paladin armor.”

Josh H's Pick (The 'Slipperies' Scene): "Tim Hendrick came up with the concept of the slipperies as Coran sweating too much and slipping everywhere. Everytime I watch this scene I still legitimately laugh even though the script went through several rewrites."

Kimberly's Pick (Allura and Coran and the milkshake origin): "I think the clip is self-explanatory in terms of our reaction to it."

Lauren’s Pick (When the Paladins hoot fun-sentry into space): "So my clip isn't any moment in the series, but a moment that embodies what our crew does when it comes together, and everybody brings their own thing to it, so it culminates into something so much more."

How Much of the VA's are like their Actual Characters

Josh K. noted that back in 2014, he had just become an actual dad, so he made that weird transition from "living for yourself to having a life were you hold someone else's life in your hands.

”So, he drew a lot of Shiro's "dedication to his team from that feeling. That's really where it all came from.”

While he confesses to generally being more like Lance in real life, still with age and parenting, Josh admits that he's become more of that "space dad type of guy, having to wrangle kids and all that."

Likewise, he's always liked telling bad dad jokes and now revels in still being able to tell them as an actual dad.

Bex admits that for her, she feels that "Pidge is so powerful in her own way and so confident, which is so rare for someone so young." So, while Bex isn't sure if she's entirely become the Pidge that she wants to be, but she's getting there.

Kimberly notes that she strives to be like Allura (Jeremy interrupted to say that Kimberly is a queen and has gotten the queenly wave down).

What Kimberly finds appealing about Allura is that she's a flawed character, but also beautiful, generous, smart, and strong - "these are all things I strive to be, and I feel like I'm becoming more and more like Allura as the show progresses."

Kimberly also added that Allura is her favorite character that she's ever had the pleasure to voice. Even after recording many, many sessions, Kimberly still had no idea what Allura physically looked like, so the first time she was shown the character concept artwork, Kimberly was "so choked up and blown away," since she had no idea what her skin tone was going to be and so on.

Jeremy confesses that he kind of leans into Lance's personality in real life, but in a joking manner since he likes making people laugh. He finds Lance to be such a goofball and that 'adorkable' type of person, and "that's definitely me in real life, but Lance also has all that sensitive loyal side to him which I have and relate to as well."

"He's fun to play, but while Lance tries hard to be very flirty at times, I'm not really like that way. Maybe with my girlfriend, I'll try to say flirty jokes and she'll just laugh and tell me to keep trying."

The Existence of the Voltron Scratch Reel

Lauren explained the concept of a scratch reel where in between the storyboarding, animating, and voice acting process, sometimes they realize that they might need some additional lines, maybe lines get condensed, change names, and so on.

But they don't always have time to get the actors back in, so "a lot of times, it falls upon one of us to put in some temporary dialogue and fill that space, they animate to it, and then we get the animation back and the actors replace the dialogue and it sounds great. But in the meantime, we get to watch some ridiculously horrible acting on behalf of the entire staff - editors, assistants, etc."

Bex noted: "It's always breaks my heart a little to dub over the scratch tracks, because it's so beautiful," while Josh added that he'd love to see an episode just entirely of scratch tracks."

Joaquim chimed in that they had two seasons of the 'Scratchy Awards,' where they handed out staff awards for the best scratch tracks produced (hahaha), where Mitch Iverson spraypainted a bunch of backscratchers with 'Scratchy' Awards' on it.

After they aired the scratch reel, Josh H. noted that there are still some times where scratch ends up being in-screen and it's an unexpected surprise when they're reviewing the editing process.

The most popular scratch reel choice among the VA's is Director Steve Ahn, who had a lot of the 'Ok, calm down' scratch scenes, and Steve Yeun once asked: "Could I get that as my ringtone?"

Jeremy said his favorite parts of the scratch reel were when half the scene were the actual VA lines, and then it was one non-VA word.

Benjamin Kaltenecker did all of the 'moo' sounds for Kaltenecker.

Josh K. noted that Joaquim voices a pretty decent Shiro, and "that's why you didn't see any scratch scenes of that because it's not bad."

Bex noted that she loved it when Lauren had to voice some of the Galra men for the scratch scenes.

Lauren noted that most of the scratch scenes were recorded late at night and the cast & crew weren't really fighting to do a scratch scene, and "we're not usually fighting to voice a character, but it's more like 'who has to do it now? Who hasn't done it in awhile??’

“While we're in shame of our bad acting...poor Rhys [Coran's VA] had to sit through and be insulted since nobody can actually pull off Coran's accent.” Though, Joaquim pointed out that Jeremy does a decent Coran impression which he then demonstrated for the crowd.

Joaquim added: "The hardest thing to do is to record scratch in the booth and it's played back to the actual VA's and we can't hear them because their mics are off, but they're pantomiming the loudest laughter."

Kimberly reassured that the VA's loved hearing the crew's voices for the scratch reel.

Josh K. added that "it's like hearing your friends do an impression of you and makes ADR sessions fun, since they can be so technical at times. It's like getting to watch bloopers."

Getting Some of the Awesome Voltron Guest Stars & Fun VA Recording Moments

Joaquim & Lauren: "We bat around some ideas internally, and couldn't believe when the casting directors were on board with some of our ideas: like getting Vince Shlomi or the ShamWow guy to voice the knife store owner in the Space Mall."

The show's head of casting, Anya's eyes light up this suggestion, and it was kind of a celebrity moment when he came in to record.

Weird Al Yankovic was a fixture of Lauren's childhood, and it certainly helped having a voice director legend like Andrea Romano to fall back on.

At one point, they had Rhys Darby (Coran) and Paul Rubin sort of 'battling it out in the Space Mall haggling sequence' and it was like 'the Lake House of back-and-forth, like they were on two astral planes' but when it came together, it was 'magical.'

Since Nolan North voiced both Sam Holt and Commander Iverson, there were literally scenes where he was just literally talking to himself, and Lauren noted that "the guy's such a professional that he does things straight through instead."

Lauren also noted that Cree Summers is one of those VA's who will sideline an entire session, since she's such a hilarious, big personality.

Jeremy and the other VA's said that recording with the cast was always the highlight of his week. But one of the coolest things was when they had the entire, locked-in VA cast together for the first time, and they realized that they had picked the right people.

"I know I'm doing my job right in the recording booth when I'm making my cast mates laugh."

Sometimes the cast would get into fun side conversations catching up that Andrea (the voice director) had to interrupt and remind them that: 'We're literally in a take right now and you're having a full conversation. You can catch up later.'

Bex once freaked out Josh K. and AJ since they were in the middle of a conversation and they didn't hear the sound beeps, but Bex did and suddenly yelled 'GO!'

Season 8 Plot Teasers

Lauren: "Basically our paladins have freed Earth from Galra rule and all that's left to kind of finish the job and free all the universe."

Joaquim: "We do have this one character that you might have noticed in a clip that becomes pretty pivotal, and she's been gone for a bit..." (Which presumably was Hagger/Honerva since the S8 was then aired)

Fun Misc. Show Tidbits

Bex apparently came to Pidge's audition in a Batman onsie.

During the 'Slipperies scene', the little side panels of Coran's pants come apart and flap like little tails. This wasn't something that was originally in the design, but the animators added it.

The creators once had an original design where Coran had a tail, and Lauren noted "it was super cute."

Jeremy thought the whole Shiro clone saga was awesome, and he specifically loved the Black Paladins episode.

Lauren and Joaquim admitted that they were even shocked by that storyline since they had a very different storyline at first - "that's the interesting thing about the creative process, since you'll get notes and have to make some changes, but it then takes you to really unexpected places and make for some unique and interesting storylines."

There wasn't time for a Q&A portion, and the panel ended with the Season 8 teaser/first look. Though, I'd have to say that it was still definitely fun watching the teaser with such a large crowd of fans, and basically shrieking and gasping together at different intervals hahaha.

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