#i shall add more hopefully... this idea amuses me a lot...

[captainadwen]

Damian Wayne vs the World

Sixteen year old Damian Wayne is on the hunt for a younger sibling. Being more discerning than Bruce 'child collector' Wayne, Damian's firm criteria for Batman's latest adoption problem includes but is not limited to: black haired, blue-eyed, tolerable humor, not evil, and most importantly - younger than Damian.

Lucky for him, fourteen year old newbie vigilante Danny Fenton is the perfect fit. Now, to fulfill his end of their deal, Damian must defeat the evil government organization hunting Danny in order to gain a baby brother.

Or, @livinghalfway your post made my brain go !! but in such a different way I figured it was better to make a separate post, hope you don't mind/enjoy still

~~

Damian Wayne re-entered Tim Drake's life like a gnat revealing itself in a closed bedroom space. Tim was in t-shirt and a boxers, maneuvering ramen into his mouth with one hand and scribbling out an epiphany on a murder case with another, when Damian's demonic dulcet voice echoed down from the ceiling. "Drake," said Damian, judgemental, "You live like this?"

Tim nearly choked on his ramen, because the day Damian doesn't attempt to murder him - however doubtfully accidental this incident might be - is the day Darkseid decides to be friends with the Justice League. "Fucking knock," Tim coughed out. "And get out. No one invited you in."

"Put better traps if you don't want me here," said Damian, dropping from the ceiling where he'd crawled in on wall-clamps.

"This is my apartment," said Tim. "It's called courtesy."

Damian sniffed. He padded around to Tim's desk and frowns at his cases, then said, with no further lead up, "I need your assistance."

"No," said Tim.

"You did not even listen to my request."

"Don't need to," said Tim. "Answer's still no. Door is that way. Bye."

"Father says mutually assisting each other is beneficial," said Damian.

"Father," said Tim sarcastically, "blamed me for you exploding a glitter bomb in the batcave two weeks ago."

"That is your fault for not being able to provide evidence to the contrary in an appropriately efficient manner," said Damian. He squinted down at Tim. "And he apologized. Eventually."

"I would not have glittered the batcomputer," said Tim. "Do you know how much of a pain in the ass it is to backup those servers? No, because you don't like tech work, you just profit off it."

"Blaming me for Father's mistake," said Damian, "Most mature of you. But we must put our differences aside. I have selected a new family member and I need you to dismantle a government organization."

That drew Tim up short. He blinked down at his ramen as though it might explain Damian's words to him, but the ramen remained disappointingly uninformative. "Repeat that," said Tim, gesturing with his chopsticks. "Slower, and with more detail."

Damian pulled out his phone and sent him an email. Silence surrounded them in the brief moment it took Tim to set aside his chopsticks and open the email. The subject line was titled 'New Baby Brother', which birthed all sorts of horrifying nightmares of Damian Part 2: Demon Child Boogaloo. The teen in the inserted picture, however, was reassuringly not in possession of Damian's bone structure.

He did have black hair and blue eyes. "Who am I looking at?" asked Tim.

"Daniel Fenton," said Damian. "He is fourteen years old, enjoys puns, and has recently awakened 'ghost powers' that allow him to transform into the vigilante Phantom to fight other ghosts."

"Is he also an orphan with a tragic backstory?"

"No," said Damian, and Tim relaxed. "But that will not be an issue. We can share custody if they cannot be removed from the picture."

"Jesus H, kid."

"I am joking, of course," said Damian blandly. "Murder is wrong."

"Ha ha," said Tim. "If he has parents already he's not joining our menagerie."

"He will," said Damian, with a smug upwards tilt of his lips. "He and I have a deal."

"So you're coercing him in addition to stalking him. Anything else you want to share with the class?"

Damian considered this query with a serious frown, which was how Tim knew this was not a flight of fancy or a very early midlife crisis (although with their lifestyle and Damian already having died before...).

"He has," said Damian after a moment, "a rogue that calls himself 'The Master of all Technology' and is a technopath." This was clearly meant to be of interest to Tim, and not to be a stereotype, but it kind of was.

"Great." Tim turned his attention back to the email the demon child sent him. He scanned through it quickly. There was apparently a secret and evil government organization dedicated to the investigation and extermination of 'ghosts' and other paranormal creatures in the world. Their latest efforts were focused on the town of Amity Park, Illinois, which was 'infested with ectoplasmic pests'. Their words, not Damian's. (It was specified in the email.)

"Okay," Tim drummed his fingers against his desk. "Before I help you defeat this secret evil government organization so that," he opened the email attachment with a contract on it and squinted at the legalese, "this poor newbie teen you've harassed into signing this joins the family in exchange."

"I did not harass him," Damian huffed. "It was a gentleman's agreement."

"Does he know that?"

"I am not a politician, Drake. I thoroughly explained the terms and legalities before presenting any contract. Now ask your question."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because," said Damian, tone implying 'you are stupid and haven't noticed something obvious, idiot'. "Father has begun saying he misses the noise around the manor and looking wistfully at old pictures."

"We still live there though?" said Tim. Damian looked flatly at him. "Sometimes."

"If you lived there frequently enough," said Damian, "you would already know Father is having...empty nest syndrome." Damian sounded disgusted. "I refuse to tolerate whatever inadequate and incompetent child he will find."

"So instead you found an incompetent and inadequate child for him?"

"Don't be stupid, Drake," said Damian. "I would not have chosen someone inadequate. Daniel is merely lacking formal training. Father can rectify this. It will keep him occupied for at least the next two to four years, which gives me enough time to find another black-haired, blue-eyed, tolerable child I approve of to be his successor and my second younger sibling." Damian paused. "Or until one of you procreates and gives him a grandchild."

"You're really serious about this," Tim whispered in horrified awe.

"I am serious about everything I do," said Damian. "Now, you will help me defeat this evil government organization so that our new sibling joins us."

"Okay," said Tim, but his mind snagged on a minor, throwaway detail, so utterly in odds with Damian 'Demonic Jealous Child' Al Ghul it surely came from another person - "Did you just call this kid your successor?"

[ladynestaarcheron]

Fears All the Way Down - Chapter Six

ao3 - masterpost

Hey, babes! Here are our canon fixes for the week:

1. When Nesta was six, she met with a man who declared more or less immediately that she would forever be hopeless at playing an instrument or singing, but that she had a good ear for music. Bull.

2. Nesta is apparently so desperate for a friend that she gives the House life, but never really hangs out with the priestesses. Um. Okay? Sounds fake, but okay.

3. Both Gwyn and Emerie have never left their homes in Sangravah and Illyria, respectively, except for when the IC brings them to the library. Not exactly a fix, but something we will start to explore.

Enjoy!

---

Since Nesta's accomplished virtually nothing in her life, she expects her ideas of "new things" to try to be easy to come up with. But after an hour of brainstorming in bed that Thursday evening, she only has two things scribbled in the notebook Thalia gave her: Wear yellow and Learn to play the trumpet.

"Don't suppose you have a trumpet in here?" Nesta says to the House.

The House only pulls the curtains shut in answer.

"Bedtime," she agrees, shutting the notebook and placing it on her bedside table. "I think this one-per-day rule is a bit much, don't you? Especially considering these self-defense lessons. Do you think other girls will come?" Nesta doesn't always wait for an answer when talking to the House. It tends to interject as it pleases, generally by opening doors or magicking a cup of tea in front of her. "I think that Emerie girl would like to. From Illyria, I told you about her...oh, thank you," she adds, for the House has placed the novel Nesta started last night by her pillow. "Shall I read aloud, then?"

She does, until she falls asleep.

The next morning, she draws looks from the hood-less girls and slight double-takes from the veiled priestesses; no doubt courtesy of the bright yellow dress the House had pulled out of her wardrobe this morning. She ignores them, not stopping until she reaches Clotho's office. When she knocks, Thalia's voice calls for her to enter.

"Well!" Thalia says, smiling.

"I'm never wearing this color again. It washes me out." Ruins the detox and more regulated eating she's had this past month.

"I think you look lovely," she insists, and Clotho nods. "But that's certainly your prerogative. Is that the worst consequence?"

"Yes, yes," Nesta says impatiently, waving a hand. "It won't kill me to try new things. Lesson learned."

Thalia looks over at Clotho. Perhaps she can tell what the priestess looks like under her hood, or perhaps she talks to her mind-to-mind like Feyre and Rhysand do, but Nesta almost thinks they exchange a glance of some sort. Amused, perhaps?

"Can either of us help you with anything, Nesta?" Thalia asks pleasantly, and gestures for her to sit down.

"Maybe," Nesta says taking a seat. Her cheeks color slightly as she does; why is she bashful about this all of a sudden? Around Thalia and Clotho? "I...well, I've started some self-defense, you know."

"We know." They both did, had both asked her how it was going. "You're still enjoying it, aren't you?"

"I...I am-it's good for me." Enjoy is a strong word.

"You said it helps keep you focused," Thalia says. "Centered."

"Yes. It...makes me feel good." She doesn't normally struggle with her words so much, does she? Does she sound like an idiot to the two of them, or just to her own ears? No, Clotho and Thalia would never say that about her. Never even think it. It's only her who's like this, trapped in her own wretched mind, slave to something dark and horrible and become just as vile-

But no, that isn't true. It's not just her who feels that way. And that's why she's here.

"It makes me feel more in control," Nesta says finally. "Of my life and my body."

Thalia leans back, satisfied. Clotho doesn't move. Nesta wonders if they know, if they can guess at what just went on in her mind. Either way, they both wait for her to continue.

"And I thought," she says, pausing to draw breath, "that maybe some other girls might be interested. With...Cassian."

At this, Clotho does cock her head.

"We meet in the mornings. Not on Tuesdays and not over the weekend," she adds, just so they aren't sitting in silence.

After a few moments that feel ridiculously long, Thalia says, "I think that's a wonderful idea, Nesta."

For a brief, strange moment, something happens. Nesta breathes in as Thalia finishes her sentence-not in relief or any emotion in particular, just to breathe-and as she does so, something inside of her shifts. Un-constricts.

But it's gone just as soon as it arrives, and before Nesta has time to dwell upon it, one of Clotho's notes appears. For a select group of girls, perhaps.

"Yes, I think we have the same few in mind...Of course, Nesta, you're welcome to share this with all of the students, but just between Clotho and myself, I think we'll privately encourage four or five...yes, thank you for bringing this up to us, Nesta," Thalia says, finishing with another warm smile.

Don't go just yet, Nesta, please, Clotho writes as Thalia takes her leave. I wanted to ask you how you were doing.

"I'm well. Thank you."

I'm glad to hear these self-defense lessons have something to do with that...our own lectures and exercises too, I hope?

Nesta raises her head slightly as her cheeks tinge pink. "I-yes. I think so." Clotho waits, unmoving, until Nesta sighs and says, "I do like the lectures."

Wonderful. Which ones?

Nesta answers honestly, "All of them." It's...it's quite something, to learn things. Things she never knew, never imagined, from females who are so passionate about them. "And...I like the jewelery. I like working with my hands."

I'm so very happy to hear you're finding yourself here, Nesta, Clotho's pen writes out. Have you given any thought to a more permanent assignment?

"I...thought you were supposed to."

With your input, of course. We would never want you to do something you were uncomfortable with.

But Gwyn's not comfortable with Merrill, is she? "I don't know. There's not really anything wrong with any of the priestesses, I suppose." It's only when Clotho begins lightly shaking with amusement that Nesta realizes she probably shouldn't have said that. "That is...I like them." She does. Enough.

Well, I'm happy to hear that, too.

Nesta rises, rather abrupt. "I've got to sort books," she says, and doesn't wait for a proper goodbye before leaving.

---

The amount Nesta has improved after only a few short weeks of being in the library floors Cassian. Her weight gain, voluntarily asking him for self-defense lessons, her performance in said lessons, and she still manages to find time to ask if other girls can join. Not even touching upon the fact that she's said she doesn't feel so dependent on alcohol anymore.

It shows incredible strength of character, and it makes Cassian's heart swell so much that he almost doesn't care when he meets an unfamiliar, tipsy young male he realizes must be one of the rebels in Windhaven, glaring at him.

Almost.

"What are you doing outside of your camp, boy?" Boy, he says, because he is one. He's not yet participated in the Rite.

"Visiting family," the boy slurs. "Sir," he adds, mocking.

"Go home," he orders, trying to imitate Nesta when she's at her coldest.

Perhaps it works, because the boy blanches before sneering and turning away.

He has to tell Rhys they're getting more brazen. Normally Cassian wouldn't care at all what any of them say to him-or at least, say he doesn't care-but if these pricks are bringing Nesta into it, all bets are off. He's going to follow up on whoever that was and make sure he doesn't come back to this camp until this situation is under control. Until the threat on the throne, on Nesta's life, is vanquished.

Shaking himself, he pushes into Emerie's shop. "Good morning."

She looks up. "You're back. Hello," she adds.

He gives her a smile. "Who was that?"

Emerie does not return his expression. "My baby cousin, Bellius," she says, bitter. "But never mind him." Just like that, Emerie phases out of her ire and into a cool, detached expression. Just like Nesta, he thinks. Perhaps that was why they liked each other-if they liked each other. "What can I help you with?"

"Perhaps you can help me," he says. "Nesta-Lady Nesta-you met here a few weeks ago?"

"Yes," she says, careful. "I remember."

"Well," he says, unsure of how to introduce the subject. "She's...started taking some self-defense lessons. For exercise. With me."

Emerie looks unconvinced. "For exercise?"

"And she thought you might be interested in joining. And that you have some friends who might be interested, too."

Emerie's face doesn't betray anything. She studies him, and it's been about ten seconds before she says, "Did she?"

"Yes," he says, feeling only slightly like perhaps the two of them training together might not be good for him.

"Hm," she says. After another minute of her own quiet deliberation, she says, slowly, "I will attend one of these lessons...and then I will...consult with my friends."

"All right," Cassian says, thankful that it's over. "Someone will be along to pick you up Monday morning."

He doesn't dawdle too long in saying goodbye. He has a lot to cover before Monday-figure out the best way to introduce self-defense to very traumatized, potentially, females, and now he'll have Emerie, and Nesta. What kind of dynamic will that create?

But he's been a soldier his whole life. Surely he can handle a few young females.

Hopefully.

---

Nesta has taken to carrying around her notebook wherever she goes, just in case she gets an idea of some new thing she can try. A girl named Deridre approaches her and asks her what self-defense is like, and if it's at all like the meditative yoga they do with the priestess Agata, so she writes that down. She goes to one of Daphne's lectures for the first time and learns about resuscitation and scrawls the name of a method to stop choking that seems simple enough to learn. Gwyn sees her writing and says, "You know, your finger nails are shaped so nicely. How come you never paint them?" so she adds that to her list, too.

She finds, actually, that it's quite nice to carry the book around. It's nice to have an excuse to write with such a fine pen. It's been years since she has.

Her sisters visit her over the weekend at her invitation and they are thrilled by her new things.

"I could teach you to paint," Feyre suggests.

Nesta wants to reply that the idea is to attempt things that do not make her want to pitch herself off the veranda, but instead she says, "You already tried that."

"Right," she says, deflating.

"But," she says, oddly disturbed by this response, and grasping for something to say, "maybe we can...sculpt. Or something. One day."

Feyre brightens at this. "Whenever you have time," she says, happily.

"How's self-defense going, Nesta?" Elain asks, would-be casual.

Nesta rolls her eyes. "You've heard we're inviting other girls?"

"Oh, Nesta, I just think it's such a grand idea-"

"Everyone's really excited about it, honestly, they've been trying for something like this for so long-"

"And with the Illyrian girls, Cassian said-"

"We know it's not exactly a unit, but still so impressive-"

"And we hear you're doing really well!"

"Yes! Really well! Maybe I could join you one day, too," Feyre says, hopeful.

"I'd watch. Or, or maybe even try some!"

Nesta takes a sip of water. She forgets how much noise these two make, honestly. "I don't think it's as exciting as you've imagined," she says. "Sure, you can come one day. Maybe not while the other girls...I'm a bit nervous," she confesses, suddenly. "Clotho and Thalia wouldn't let if they thought it was a bad idea, but I don't know..." She looks out onto the rainy city. The House keeps the interior warm for her, but sometimes she thinks she can still feel the cold in her bones anyway. "I mean, I'm the only one who ever leaves the library, and it could go really wrong. Obviously, no one's going to force herself to do this, and they can just no, but-uh," she finishes on a stammer, as she turns back to look at her sisters.

For there are shining silver tears in Elain's eyes, and Feyre's face looks cracked.

What has she said? What horrible thing has she done?

"No, no," Feyre says hurriedly, reading her expression.

"Sorry, Nesta," Elain says, bringing her hands to wipe her eyes. "It's just...it's just so nice to see you like this...about something."

"Oh," Nesta says, eventually.

Her sisters leave in the evening, but the likeness of their faces in her mind do not. Their expressions, their...love.

Is she really so different now, she wonders all weekend. Is she so much better? She doesn't feel particularly much of anything.

If this is better, then what had she been before?

Monday morning rolls around quickly, and she is decked in the uniform the House has supplied her and finished with a light breakfast, waiting at the arena on the roof before the sun has even fully risen.

"Nervous too?" Cassian says from behind her as he neatly lands in.

"I suppose," she says, not turning around.

"How long have you been here?"

"Fifteen minutes."

He chuckles. "Maybe more nervous than I am. Well...shall we begin?"

"No one's here yet."

"So? We can start just the two of us." He shrugs out of his jacket. "Would put us at ease, at least, don't you think?"

Us, he says. Like they are the same. They get nervous by the same things and the same things calm them down and they do it all together.

"Yes," she says, clearly needing it.

The movements come easier than on Thursday. Each time she gets better, and it is, she will admit, a rare sort of feeling. To know that she is improving at something. To feel it in her blood and bones.

Cassian's instructions leave no room for worrying in her mind. When she slips out of his holds, breaks out of his grip, all she can think of are his body and hers, anticipation of his next move and victory when she gets it right, or disgruntlement when she is wrong. They move through the steps in sync, almost like the ballet she used to study, and she is so consumed with it that she does not notice until they are done that they have an audience.

Not a particularly big one. Gwyn, Deirdre, and Azriel has brought Emerie, but an audience nonetheless.

"All right," Cassian says. "So what Nesta and I just did is called the Grunge Hook." He launches through into an explanation of what it means and Nesta blinks as she realizes he must have known they all had arrived. Seen them, heard them.

Her cheeks go cold. She can never notice anything else when he's there. Certainly not as they were; touching, talking...

"So Emerie and Nesta, and, ah, Miss..."

"Gwyn," Gwyn says at the same time Deirdre says, "Deirdre."

"Right," Cassian says. "Well, you two pair up."

Emerie walks over to Nesta and they are ready faster than the other two. Nesta tenses. They have not yet been outside-perhaps this was a mistake-what will Gwyn think of her now? She won't sit next to her for lectures anymore, won't come help her put books away-

But it is only a moment, and then Gwyn turns to Cassian and says, "I guess we should have dressed differently."

"You can wear whatever you're comfortable with," he says. "And you don't have to do anything you don't want to, either."

So Deirdre keeps her hood secured on, but Gwyn shrugs her robe off entirely to reveal simple, like-colored dress. Perhaps she'd like leggings and a skirt like Nesta's, she thinks. If she decides to continue...if other girls decide to join...

Emerie's, surprisingly, not as good at the movements as Nesta is. Surprisingly because Nesta doesn't really think of herself as good at this, just better than before, and because, well, Emerie's Illyrian, and all the Illyrians Nesta knows...

"It's your wings," Azriel says, approaching. "They throw you off balance."

She droops. "So I can't. Because I'm clipped."

Nesta flinches-it's such an ugly word. But what to say?

Azriel answers before she can, his shadows clearing from his face. "Of course not," he says, patient. "Just hold yourself this way," and he shows her how to maneuver her wings.

Emerie seems as though her emotions sway easier than Nesta's, as she appears cheered up by this. "Let's try again," she says to Nesta.

And they do, but it is not like before, with Cassian. It is not as in sync, and she is not as focused. Over on the other side, under Cassian's watch, Gwyn and Deirdre are doing even worse.

When the hour is done, Deirdre hurries back down faster than she has moved throughout the whole lesson, and Gwyn shoots Nesta a small smile, and nods her head once at Azriel, before saying, "Good to see you again," and leaving. Emerie says, "Thanks for thinking of me," and perhaps sounds a bit more genuine, but she turns to ask Azriel to take her back right after, and then she is gone too.

"Brilliant," Nesta says aloud, miserable.

Cassian looks over at her, surprised. "What?"

"Are you kidding me? That was horrible."

Cassian laughs. "Are you kidding me? That was great!"

"Enough," she snaps, skin burning. "I don't need-"

"Woah," he says, raising his hands. "Woah. Seriously, Nesta, what's wrong?"

She clenches her hands into fists. "Stop mocking me."

"I'm not!" he protests, and his stupid eyes are wide and innocent and his stupid voice is confused and concerned when he says, "Come on, why are you upset?" so she has no choice but to answer.

"They hated it and they were bad."

Cassian laughs again. A real laugh this time, with his head tilting back, and the sound echoing in the mountains. Her heart lurches. She ignores it.

"They did not hate it," he says, eyes twinkling. "And they were not bad. They're novices. Not everyone's a born natural like you, with a perfectly paired partner in me," he teases, winking, almost as though good-natured.

"They couldn't get away fast enough." Deirdre didn't even take off her hood. So much for helping other females.

Cassian's grin falters. Shit. Had she said that out loud?

He moves closer to her. "Do you know how many clipped Illyrian females have agreed to come to anything remotely similar to this?"

"You know I don't," she snaps, but he doesn't rise to her bait.

"None," he says, calm. "Emerie is the first. Do you know how long Deirdre's been in here?"

"No," she says. Longer than Gwyn, but not more than that.

"Since before Amarantha took over."

Nesta winces. Over fifty years, at least, then.

"And she came...you convinced her to come."

"I didn't," she says. "Thalia-"

"She told me," he interrupts. "She told me you told her what it was like and she wanted to try it."

Nesta stills at this. "Well...what does it matter if she just tries it once?"

He laughs-again! Why does he laugh so often? "Aren't you doing that? Trying things once? Oh, no, I don't mean it in a bad way, Nes, don't look like that. I'm just saying...okay. So it's not for everyone. Maybe she tries it once and never does it again. But it's still worth a whole fucking lot that she tried. And that's because of you. And how do you know she's not going to try again, anyway? Because she left when the hour was up?"

Nesta reddens slightly.

"Fuck," he says, and this time it doesn't amuse her, his easy swearing. "I-shit. Nesta. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings."

She startles. "I-what?"

"I just mean..." He runs his fingers through his hair. "Look. You did a good thing. Whether or not they continue, you did a good thing. And I think they will, for the record. Emerie might not want to come every day, you know, she might not have time...but I think Gwyn liked it enough."

Nesta feels something inside of her flutter. "She did?"

Cassian nods. "Definitely." He looks at her for another moment, then shakes his head.

"What?" she asks, dreading the answer.

"Nothing," he says. "I just don't understand how you can't possibly be so proud of yourself. Especially today." He shrugs slightly, completely oblivious to what is happening inside of her. That feeling from Clotho's office. What is that?

But it is gone as soon as it arrives, just like last time. He says, "See you tomorrow, Nesta," and leaves. And then she does too.

---

Cassian, Nesta learns over the course of the next few weeks, is right.

Not about her, obviously. But about the females still being interested.

Gwyn's excited about it. "I didn't realize you were so good," she gushes.

Nesta huffs in amusement. "Hardly."

"Well, better than the rest of us!"

"Just a bit more practice," she says. And there is something about the lessons with Cassian...though they don't do as much together, though, anymore. Not with the others there now. She almost wishes that she had not invited everyone for each of the lessons...maybe one morning with him just to herself.

But that's-that's just absurd. He's hardly hers.

Deirdre finds her that Monday, too, and thanks her for convincing her to go. Nesta privately wonders what on earth it was she had said that worked, because the conversation barely stands out in her mind, but she tells Deirdre she's glad to hear she enjoyed it, anyway.

"I think Roslin and Ananke would like it too," she says. "Thalia told them it would be good for them, but they were too nervous. I'll try and convince them...I didn't realize how much fun it would be," she adds with a gentle laugh.

Fun?

"Oh," Nesta says. "Oh...well, good. I mean, good to hear. I hope they...join too."

And Cassian is right about Emerie as well. She does not come on Tuesday, but she does on Wednesday, and tells Nesta she thinks she can keep coming twice a week.

"And your friends?" she asks.

"They're interested," she tells her. "But I think I have to work a little harder at convincing them."

Nesta nods, not wanting to ask what they might have stopping them from coming. Whatever happened to Emerie's wings-whoever had clipped her-perhaps those females have someone like that in their lives.

It is on the second Wednesday that Emerie arrives that Nesta asks her if she'd like to stay a while longer. She'd already asked Azriel the day before if he could possibly take her back after lunch, and he'd agreed.

There was something odd about talking to Azriel, she noticed. Something about those shadows. Something about the way they-looked?-at her. Something...

But Emerie agrees, if a bit shyly, and she asks Gwyn if she'd like to take lunch with the two of them instead of in the priestesses' dining hall, and Nesta has her new thing for the day: hosting people for a meal.

They ogle everything openly, jaws dropping as the House pulls out chairs for them and food appears as Nesta requests it.

"Thank you," she says.

"You're...talking to the House?" Gwyn asks.

"Yes."

"Oh. Thank you," she adds.

"Thank you," Emerie says quickly.

The House likes them too. Nesta can tell. There's a bit more effort being made here today, she thinks, as she notes a fancy bouquet in the middle of the table and finer china than she normally uses. Nesta smiles to herself.

Nesta searches for something she can say, a safe topic that has nothing to do with self-defense, but Gwyn beats her to it. "So, how do you two know each other?" she asks.

"Nesta came to Illyria to scare some rebels who are trying to kill her," Emerie answers casually.

Gwyn jerks her head towards Nesta. "Really?"

"Not quite how I would have phrased it," Nesta says. "But true enough, I suppose."

"Why are they trying to kill you?" Gwyn says, eyes wide.

Wonderful. What a fantastic luncheon this is.

"They don't like me very much."

"They're scared of her," Emerie says. "And they want to overthrow the High Lord and High Lady." She turns to Nesta. "What do you think of that?"

Nesta raises an eyebrow as she cuts into her food. "Of killing my sister and Rhysand? Well, I've certainly thought of it myself, at times."

They both laugh. Nesta blinks. Then she smiles slightly.

"I have to assume I'm against them," she says. "But to be honest, I don't really understand any of the politics here. I'm...not very well-informed."

"Oh, neither am I," Gwyn says, shaking her head. "It's terrible. I mean, I've lived in this court all my life, and I'm so pitifully ignorant. It's ridiculous. I don't know the first thing about Illyria, like. Or even Velaris, really. And I have no excuse. I live in a library, for gods' sakes."

"I don't know of any books I'd recommend for you to learn about Illyria," Emerie says, thoughtful. "Not unless you read Illyrian, that is."

"See, I didn't even know there was an Illyrian until you just said that. Pathetic."

"Can you recommend other books?" Nesta says, latching on the chance to steer the conversation away from the history of the Night Court and into perhaps the only topic she might be able to contribute to.

"Oh, of course," Emerie says, pausing to swallow. "What do you like?"

"Romance," Nesta says, as Gwyn says, "Adventure."

"Ooh, The Knight Society. That's both. You can read that together."

Gwyn grins at Nesta. "Book club," she says. "What's it about?"

Emerie launches into a description of the book-the series, actually-and eventually, Nesta finds herself not looking for things to say, but rather just...talking. Not forced. Not desperate. Just a part of the conversation. Easy, flowing...fun, almost.

Funny, at least. Emerie is clutching her sides laughing as she describes the worst romance novel she ever read and Gwyn giggles, her hands covering her mouth, but Nesta says thoughtfully, "That's not such a horrible idea, though."

"You think-"

"No, no, the premise is atrocious, yes," she says. "But that exact scene...that has potential."

"Potential, right," Emerie says, laughing still.

"No, I mean it," she says, but she lets it go, lets the conversation drift naturally.

She is disappointed when Azriel comes to take Emerie back, but picked up by the fact that they all are. Emerie promises to make time to stay for lunch again, either Monday or Wednesday of next week.

"This was so lovely," Gwyn says to her, wistful, as they walk down to the library together. "So much nicer than in the dining hall.

"Really?" Nesta says before she can stop herself. "Well...I eat lunch every day. You can join...if you'd like."

Gwyn brightens. "I would!"

So after two weeks of lessons with other girls (Roslin and Ananke have joined, and Lorelei and Ilana, too, though the later doesn't participate so much as watch), and more random assignments from Clotho, and new things for Thalia, Nesta finally finds herself with a few hours of quiet after Friday evening's lecture has been canceled.

"Shall we read?" she says to the House.

Lights flicker in answer. Too many for the usual yes or no. This means Nesta has to follow.

"All right," she says, standing. "To the veranda?" she asks. But it's too cold out, so she hopes not.

Instead, the House leads her to a room she hasn't been in since her first stay, upon first exploration. She has had no need.

"Oh," she says at the door, softly.

The knob turns slightly, not fully opening. The House giving her the final decision.

But she doesn't want to hurt its feelings, so she opens the door.

The music room-a conservatory, it can be called-just by the sheer size of it-is grander than she remembers. She had opened the door and not even stepped inside, that first time. Just stood there, frozen, before snapping the door shut and hurrying away.

She takes a slow step in, but almost as though she is being walked by some other being, she takes another, and then another, and before she knows it, she is seated at the piano.

Ballroom grand. Enormous. Sleek and glossy and it would sound just perfect, she knows.

Lights flicker from behind. She turns and lets out a little laugh.

"Thanks," she says, shaking her head at the spotlight, "but I don't think I'm going to be learning the trumpet this evening."

The lights stop, as if the House is acquiescing.

The lights above her now flicker briefly. So will you play the piano, then?

Nesta inhales and exhales deeply. Slowly. Again. And again. The same way Cassian has her do after lessons.

There's really...there's really nothing stopping her. There's no reason not to. If she were to pick up her notebook and write down the reasons why she can't play right now, there wouldn't be any.

So why can't she do it?

She doesn't have an answer. So with another deep breath, Nesta closes her eyes and gently presses her thumb to middle C.

The sound is soft, and then that feeling, from with Thalia and Clotho, and Cassian, hits her again. But as she hits the second note, it does not fade away. It stays this time. So she plays.

[sheyshen]

My FanFic compilation

I figured I have written quite a lot over the years and especially this year, that putting together something like this, that has everything I’ve written so far in one place all organized would be a good idea! So please! Enjoy!

There’s quite a lot so they’ll all be listed under the read more, They’re all organized by series (fairy tail, swtor, mass effect, dragon age, greedfall, anthem, and smut fics) as well as by pair with a short description, starting with the first fic I wrote (fairy tail) and the latest (fictober 2020 prompts)  :D

Fairy Tail: (Leading off with this because it’s my first ever fic) -Shall We Dance, Pair: Laxus/Lucy: 38 chapters, Finished https://archiveofourown.org/works/4351550/chapters/9870611

Swtor: Main fic: -Breaking the Bad News (aka BTBN), multi-pair, main focus is shan trio: currently 70 chapters, Ongoing. https://archiveofourown.org/works/9340892/chapters/21164699

Side Fics: Kara Hawke’s Backstory(s):

Pre-Class story: -A Smuggler’s Tyr, no pairing, intro to Kara’s first crew: Currently 1 chapter, Complete (Might add more eventually)

During Class Story: -Adventure of a Lifetime, no pairing focus but will mention Darmas, meant to build on what we have of the in game class story: Currently 1 chapter, hiatus (plan to work on more with 2021)

Post Class Story: -Hawke Legacy: While Kara Sleeps, mentioned Theron/Kara, focus’s on Koro delivering the news of Marr’s ship being attacked to Theron. 1 chapter, Complete -Downtime, Theron/Kara, Post arrival on Odessen but prior to chapter 9 on kotfe, 1 chapter, complete -Desert Reunion, Theron/Kara, Introducing Kara’s dad and bringing him into the Alliance, 3 chapters, complete -A Moment, Theron/Kara, but starting to poke at the idea of Arcann being involved, 1 chapter, complete

Prompts: -Fictober 2018, day 1: Can you feel this?, Kara/Arcann/Theron, post-umbara/pre-copero so theron’s only mentioned -Fictober 2018, day 3: How can I trust you?, Kara/Arcann/Theron, post-Nathema, and a bit on the trio +kids, dealing with Theron’s return -Fictober 2018, day 5: Take what you need, mentioned Kara/Caleb (her first husband from her original crew), takes place before the class stories, short story about a job she had done -Fictober 2018, day 6: I’ve heard enough, this ends now. Kara/Arcann (sometime pre-nathema so sorry Theron’s not really in this one), bit of covering a reoccuring nightmare Kara had for a few months -Fictober 2018, day 7: No Worries, we still have time, Kara/Arcann/Theron (Arcann’s not present tho, just mentioned), little bit of the pair of workaholics +kids taking a break -Fictober 2018, day 12/13: Who could do this/Try harder next time, Kara/Arcann/Theron & Koren/Trey (Will have this in both pairs), sometime post-nathema probably, little adventure with Kara involving having to save her sons -Prompt: I Care about You, Theron/Kara, little bit of a rebuild of their kotfe reuinion -Prompt: Come Cuddle, Kara/Arcann/Theron, Short fluff story of one of their movie nights with some bad jokes -Promptless idea: Arcann Singing, Kara/Arcann/Theron, I’ve always had this idea that Arcann can sing at least as well as Senya does, so here’s a bit of him singing to kara’s boys, and also kara. -Fictober 2019, day 2: Just Follow me, I know the area, Kara/Arcann mainly, post onslaught so Theron’s involved but just not featured in this prompt. Little bit of a romantic night out. -Fictober 2019, day 3: Now? Now you listen to me?, Kara/Arcann/Theron, follow-up to the fictober 2018 day 6 prompt, and resolution to the chronic nightmares Kara was having -Fictober 2020, day 7: Yes I did, what about it?, Kara/Arcann/Theron, post-nathema, small bit of theron and kara heart to heart about a choice she made (involving Valss because I’m still bitter we didn’t get a save option for him) and both prosthetic users in the trio are sore (maybe there’s a storm moving in) -Fictober 2020, day 15: Not interested, thank you, Kara/Arcann/Theron (Arcann isn’t present for this), one of a handful of reminders that Kara and Theron are parents, connor just really wants to make his lightsaber -Fictober 2020, day 18: You don’t see it?, Kara/Arcann/Theron (post umbara pre Nathema so theron is only mentioned), something of a pep-talk from arcann.

Nora Hawke/Mikael Hawke: -That Time Back When We First Met, backstory on how my sith warrior and pub trooper met before they started their relationship: currently 2 chapters, hiatus (plan to work on more with 2021) -Fictober 2018, day 4: Will that be all?, little bit after they first met, can be considered a continuation chapter... technically

Koren Gates/Trey Hawke: -Fictober 2018, day 2: People Like you have no imagination, Koren/Trey & Shey/Torian (will put it for both pairs), little adventure of my bounty hunter squad +sith BF -Fictober 2018, day 12/13: Who could do this/Try harder next time, Kara/Arcann/Theron & Koren/Trey (Will have this in both pairs), sometime post-nathema probably, little adventure with Kara involving having to save her sons -Fictober 2020, day 13: I missed this, Koren/Trey, bit of fluff between my overly caring hunter who could use a day off and his grump of a sith boyfriend. -Fictober 2020, day 28: Do I have to do everything here?, Kara/Arcann/Theron, Arcann and Koth decide to play a co-op holonet game, with only minor arguing. -Fictober 2020, day 30: Just say it, Kara/Arcann/Theron, Kara gets a little time to herself and the trio’s weekly movie night ends up being a bit more than just the three of them.

Shey Shen/Torian Cadera: -Fictober 2018, day 2: People Like you have no imagination, Koren/Trey & Shey/Torian (will put it for both pairs), little adventure of my bounty hunter squad +sith BF -Prompt: I’m Right Where I Belong, Shey/Torian sometime post kotet, a rare time that I bring up the fact that she has amnesia and still can’t remember anything prior to about 2 years prior to the class stories starting. -Prompt: ... out of habit (kiss), former Shey/Koro mention as well as Shey/Torian, because Koro is a mess and while him and Shey have been divorced for years habits die hard. -Fictober 2020, day 8: I’m not doing that again, Shey/Torian & Kurana/Andronikos (will be under both pairs), Little bit of a fun idea of who would win in a fight, our dear pirate or mando

Kurana Knight/Andronikos Revel: -Prompt: One Falling Asleep with their head in the other’s lap, Kurana/Andronikos, I keep thinking of this prompt now and then because writing Niko being soft for his wife is a lot of fun. -Fictober 2020, day 8: I’m not doing that again, Shey/Torian & Kurana/Andronikos (will be under both pairs), Little bit of a fun idea of who would win in a fight, our dear pirate or mando

Lyra Hawke/Doc: -Fictober 2020, day 1: No, Come Back!, Lyra/Doc, little adventure on an unnamed planet that I honestly love the idea of -Fictober 2020, day 6: That was Impressive, Lyra/Doc, Another little adventure of information gathering featuring Kara’s youngest son, Connor. -Fictober 2020, day 22: And neither should you, Lyra/Doc, little bit of fluff and doc trying to get his wife to take a day off

Ren Hawke/Vinn Atrius: -Fictober 2020, day 9: Will you Look at this?, Ren/Vinn, I need to write more of them outside of btbn so this was a start to hopefully more building on my didn’t plan to ship this as strongly as I ended up doing pair.

Ava Reiner/Jonas Balkar: -Fictober 2020, day 20: Did I ask?, Ava/Jonas, Small job featuring a couple of SIS agents, and including a bounty hunter I got attached to in a hurry.

Kyri Dennan/Arn Peralun: -Fictober 2020, day 21: This, this makes it all worth it, Kyri/Arn, little build up for another pair that I didn’t expect to get attached to, featuring some implant maintanence.

Airi/Theron (one off because disaster spy/spy pairing I had to write at least once): -Admittance, 1 chapter, complete

WoW: Aulara Stormdawn/Kieran Grimmarrow: -Lunar Eclipse, (Technically my first fic but I didn’t post it until after Shall We Dance), A story involving Aulara (an orphaned night elf priestess), Koren Haven (her brother from the orphanage, a human paladin), Kieran (a blood elf noble, hunter who doesn’t have much people skills), and the friends they meet including Rokar an old orc shaman and Sen a orc huntress, that navigates through the warcraft story starting with vanilla wow. Currently 7 chapters, on hiatus but planning on picking it up again in 2021! -Fictober 2020, day 4: That didn’t stop you before, Aulara/Kieran, A quest during Legion and a bit of a flashback from one of their first quests together around when they first started fighting side by side during BC -Fictober 2020, day 25: Sometimes you can even see, Aulara/Kieran, The burning of Teldrassil and Kieran deciding he’s willing to risk everything he’s ever known to be with his wife. Koren is there to give him a hand. -Fictober 2020, day 26: How about you trust me for once?, Aulara/Kieran, early BC before they became a couple, Kieran and Aulara get a moment to talk alone in Nagrand, involves something close to an awkward confession. >:3

Shey Wrynn/Varian Wrynn: -Prompt: Are you testing me?, Shey/Varian, post WoD but pre-Legion, little walk through elwynn turning into an adventure between the king and his wife, Shey is not amused when he charges in head first. -Fictober 2020, day 2: That’s the easy part, Shey/Varian, mid to late WoD, bit of fluff while planning the push towards hellfire citadel, bit of fluff and bit of proposal.  >:3 -Fictober 2020, day 10: All I ever wanted, Shey/Varian, post-BFA Pre-Shadowlands, proof I can write at least a little bit angsty, some platonic Shey & Anduin. -Fictober 2020, day 16: I never wanted anything else, Shey/Varian, something short around late Cata early MoP involving Shey having a birthday. -Fictober 2020, day 27: Give me that, Shey/Varian, probably what I consider the most ooc i’ve written him but honestly i had a lot of fun writing them being dorks. -Fictober 2020, day 31: I trust you, Shey/Varian, sometime early Cata soon after they started a relationship. The one and probably only time I’ll ever mention Shey’s old house, and a touch on the fact that i’m 100% certain that Varian would try and sneak out of the city time to time.

Shey & Anduin (platonic, it’s always platonic/familial between them) -Fictober 2020, day 19: I can’t do this anymore, Shey & Anduin, because sometimes a girl just needs to sneak her son out of the city to give him a break and maybe check out a ruin or something.

Shey Wrynn/Aethas Sunreaver: -Prompt: By your side, Shey/Aethas. Post legion, a bit of a moment between them early BFA. I started writing them as a potential pair before settling as friends with benefits that might form into more, so this is a possible hinting at them becoming “more”

Mass Effect: John Shepard/Kaidan Alenko: -Prompt: War’s End Kiss, Shenko, Post ME3 when they’re just a couple of retired old soldiers and John’s slowly recovering from his injuries from the final push. -Fictober 2019, day 4: I know you didn’t ask for this, Shenko, Post ME3, a bit of a heart to heart between them and tending to slowly healing injuries. -Fictober 2020, day 3: You did this?, Shenko, Post ME3, Kaidan runs across some old footage of John over the years from before they met to the reaper war. -Fictober 2020, day 14: You better leave now, Shenko, during ME3, short mission against a hold out of mercs, featuring James. -Fictober 2020, day 24: Are you kidding me?, Shenko, during ME3 probably, featuring Kaidan “my headache doesn’t hurt that bad” Alenko and John “please just take a nap” Shepard. -Fictober 2020, day 29: Back up!, Shenko, during ME3, mission to clear out a cerberus warehouse including some battle flirting and James lending a gun.

Scott Ryder/Gil Brodie: -Fictober 2020, day 12: Watch me, Ryder/Gil, Post main MEA story, something short of Scott looking forward to getting out and exploring while Gil (and eventually Sara) work on the Nomad. (Sara is my pathfinder)

Dragon Age: Garrett Hawke/Fenris: -Dawning, Fenhawke, Short bit of fluff and my firt step into writing dragon age. Late or post DA2.

Lia Hawke/Fenris (a one off when I was debating on canon hawkes & romances for them): -Fictober 2020 day 5: Unacceptable, try again. Fenhawke, little bit of teasing and bad taste in books.

Rana Cousland/Alistair Theirin: -Promptless ramble, Rana/Alistair, Set during DAO with Rana reflecting on those she’s lost, worrying for her brother and realizing just how in love she’s fallen with Alistair. -Fictober 2020, day 23: Do we have to?, Rana/Alistair, set post DAO, pre-DAI, little romantic picnic between the king and queen of ferelden before she heads off on her next mission. (hints at Nathaniel being involved with the both of them.)

Greedfall: Lydia de Sardet/Kurt -Fictober 2020, day 11: I told you so, Lydia/Kurt, short bit trying to get my footing writing these two, Lydia thinks she can still climb trees like she used to as a kid. -Fictober 2020, day 17: Give me a minute or an hour, Lydia/Kurt, short bit, and Kurt not being as subtle about his feelings about Lydia as he probably thinks he has.

Anthem: Raya Auren/Matti (1 of the 3 Matthias Sumner) -Fictober 2019 day 1: It’ll be fun, trust me, Raya/Matti, Bit of an adventure involving Raya taking her favorite arcanist out of fort tarsis to see something very special. (also involving me having no clue how they transport people when there’s only one javelin and winging it)

Smut: (all of them are swtor so far) -A Moment Reprised, Kara/Arcann, takes place post-umbara and pre-nathema, and sometime late in BtBN, no plot. -Moving on, Koren/Trey, takes place right before chap 35 of BtBN, featuring my dorks of a hunter and sith setting in stone they’re serious about each other. no plot -Just a short vacation, Kara/Theron, takes place post-nathema pre-onslaught, A moment in Kara and Theron’s honeymoon at a lovely resort and the closest to taking a day off Theron will ever probably take. No plot -Welcome Home, Kara/Arcann/Theron, unlike the other 3 doesn’t have a specific time that it takes place other than post nathema. No plot

[smolbeandrabbles]

Charity: Most People Are Good - Emmett Dutton x Reader (Australia)

Author’s Note: I HOPE YOU BROUGHT YOUR INSULIN!!!  What have I done-!? This is ridiculous! I just really love writing him like this, he’s the perfect Mendo for it. I’m really surprised that I’ve only written him once before this! So Thank You for requesting him! Because he deserves a lot of love 💕 And the other was your idea too... sooo...

Disclaimer: Characters from Australia not mine / Requested Plot Not Mine / If you don’t have a Luke Bryan song in your playlist what kind of Mendo are you-!? AKA: Lyrics not mine

Premise: As Requested by @3134045126 😘 After the bombing everyone is leaving. A whole bunch of boys have been rescued - who's going to watch after them? Cue Reader! They make it to Adelaide; cue Reader who takes on the job of watching over the rescued boys who have no family, other than Brother Frank- Reader is sweet, and kind. Basically mothers all the boys. Giving up all her time, energy and resources to make sure the boys are well taken care of. Enter the Captain who notices  her and all she's doing for the boys and decides to be as helpful as possible. Cue a gentle, sweet romance started from these two taking care of the children.

Words: 4490

Warnings: N/A... But I meant it about the insulin... 

I believe kids oughta stay kids as long as they can ...Go climb a tree, get dirt on their hands I believe we gotta forgive and make amends 'Cause nobody gets a second chance to make new old friends I believe in working hard for what you've got Even if it don't add up to a hell of a lot I believe them streets of gold are worth the work But I still wanna go even if they were paved in dirt I believe that youth is spent well on the young 'Cause wisdom in your teens would be a lot less fun I believe if you just go by the nightly news Your faith in all mankind would be the first thing you lose I believe most people are good And most mama's oughta qualify for sainthood I believe you love who you love Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks I believe most people are good

---

noun

an organization set up to provide help and raise money for those in need.

the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need.

Adelaide. Dutton didn’t think he’d ever seen something so beautiful in his entire life. Having said that it could have been anything. After Darwin. But, they were due to meet the main convoy here. So… Adelaide was the place he decided was the most beautiful. It's been a long hard journey. 30+ hours would be had enough if he only had his troops to think about. But Emmett Dutton now had a group of Mission Children to think of also. And any time he could he would have the convoy break to let the children be children. Even if that only lasted 10 minutes at a time. He was plenty glad for Brother Frank at all times. Because Emmett couldn’t look after all these kids alone. Much as he would like to try. It surprised him even more how much he found himself caring for these kids. He wasn’t never a kids person. He just wasn’t at all sure he was good at it. Frank was nearly 100% sure that he was. And even other members of his troop took time for the children. They didn’t have much considering all that had happened in Darwin, but… Everyone shared everything. It was on one such break that Emmett contemplated the future of the children. Usually if he wasn’t amongst the children himself he would stand watching them with a smile. There was still innocence at a time of war. Or he would just be happy… that there were good things. He had to continue to remind himself that there were still good things. However today Emmett Dutton looked worried. And Frank noticed this, wandering over; “Penny for your thoughts, Captain.” Emmett chewed his lip thoughtfully “…Brother Frank… tell me, when we get to Adelaide… what happens to the children?” Dutton already knew it was likely he would have to move his troops on. The convoy was not about to just end in Adelaide. It was likely Australia would play a bigger part in the war now. Would he have to travel to Europe to fight? To the USA? He shook that thought away as quickly as he could and turned to his companion for answers. “Well… Adelaide is a big place. It will have a Church.” “Surely the church cannot look after so many…?” It wasn’t Emmett didn’t think it possible. But the money, the people, the resource? …The fact the children were Aboriginal?... He’d seen so much injustice already done due to that. And adoption was so hard he didn’t expect anything to happen there of any consequence either. He’d explained that to Sarah many times. (And watched her fight it, though… He had to admit as much to himself). It certainly hadn’t deterred her, hopefully they would find more such people in the city… What Emmett thought they needed was another woman like her. “Well. God works in mysterious ways…” Emmett raised an eyebrow; “Indeed he may, but… Don’t these boys need a mother as well?” Frank’s face suddenly beamed; “I’m sure they will get one Captain. It’s only a shame I am not able to call ahead!” *** So now he was here in Adelaide, Emmett hoped that Brother Frank’s promise would pay off. Dutton wasn’t worried. But, now it was like these children were his. And he wanted to make sure they were well looked after and taken care of. The majority of the main army convoy was already here; but he was told that those from Darwin were allowed respite. Thank God. And rightly so after what they had been through. This gave Emmett precious time. And now he was tailing Brother Frank through the streets. “…So… Will they go here? Not the Church?” “If she can take them all. I’m sure she can! She has… the room, and the monetary resource at least.” “How do you know all this!?” “She does a great deal for the Church that is well documented. I’m sure she will be up for this too…” They continued on walking, and ended up a little way out of Adelaide… And Emmett couldn’t help but stop dead. Frank continued on; happy disposition as always, through the front gate and down the path. Emmett thought Faraway Downs was big; but it had nothing on this. In fact this was like taking Faraway Downs and planting it in the middle of a city… Maybe it was even bigger than the Administrators property in Darwin. “W-Wait… She lives here!?” “That’s right!” “Alone!?” How could one person manage an estate like this all by herself? “Yes.” Then Frank corrected himself; “Well, she probably wouldn’t by choice!!! But does, by circumstance.” They weren’t even all the way down the path before you were outside. And Emmett discovered the second most beautiful thing he had seen today. Your eyes flicked between them, amused. “You gentlemen look like you could be here for completely different reasons… And that you’ve seen better days. Should I invite you in, or are you simply too busy…?” You walked down the steps to join them on the path, addressing them correctly “Brother, Captain… How may I be of assistance?” You looked between them again. Okay, fine. He was cute by the clergyman was off limits, but the Captain... Well, someone that easy on the eye couldn’t have been single. “Actually we are…” There was a second pause, before the sentence was clarified “Here for the same reason, I mean!” “Oh!” You smiled, what could the Church and the army have in common? If the Captain was about to ask you to host troops that would make sense. But what did the Church have to do with something like that? “We have come from Darwin.” Your eyes widened, and you placed a hand over your mouth as you gasped; “Oh my goodness! I heard-! We all did! Oh-! Wow, my goodness… I’m… I’m so sorry… Are you all, okay?” “Those of us that made it… But, there were some children sent to mission island. It was hit, but, the majority survived.”  Your expression instantly softened, and Emmett took instant note of this as Frank continued; “I heard you might be the person to talk to…” “You want me to foster…. Children?” You tilted your head, but you were suddenly beaming; turning back to the Captain. “But what is the Army’s stake in this?” “Personal only… Ma’m.” You smiled; “Y/N. Call me Y/N… Please.” Then you realised “OH! I didn’t ask-!” “Oh!” He held out his hand instantly, manners maketh man, Emmett!! “Dutton. Captain Emmett Dutton… And this is Brother Frank.” “Emmett…” You liked that, and showed it by saying his name with a sweet smile; you took his hand “Thank you, for your service.” ***

 It surprised you that he was still around, so you certainly hadn't expected to run into him in the middle of town; "Oh! Captain Dutton! I expected you to be long gone by now..." "No no, not yet at any rate. Just waiting for the next posting... And please... Call me Emmett..." "Emmett..." you agreed, "I like that, it's a nice name..." You weren't sure if you were really complimenting him or it was just inane babble, but he seemed to turn a faint shade of pink anyway. "Thank you... But I shall not be taking the credit there..." he smiled "Can I be of any assistance...? You must have a lot to do, all things considered...?" "Oh... That’s sweet of you, thank you..." you let him walk in step with you, smile on your face "I'm just letting them settle right now. Brother Frank is a good help too... But... You have done so much for them already Captain, bringing them here... That’s very heroic..." you looked to his face for a minute; his hesitation. Probably to correct you on his name again. "Emmett! Sorry!" "That's okay... And I don't know about heroic... But they certainly needed to be far from mission island and Darwin..." "Mission Island... Oh. I see." you shook your head "They should be allowed to return home, don't you think?" "Well, maybe we can do that together..." You weren't sure if he was being truthful, but by the look in his eyes you would believe anything Emmett said, and that intensity. That belief as you had that that would be the right thing to do, took your breath away. "Y-yes... When all this is over..." Dutton nodded; “Well, hopefully that won’t be too long… I would hope humanity would have the decency to put a stop to this…” He shook his head “Maybe I shouldn’t go on believing it, but…” Emmett shrugged almost helplessly “When that’s all we have…” You smiled despite this; “You’ve not given up your faith in us all yet… Even with what you must have seen in Darwin?” “If anything it’s only made me more defiant. The world will get through this… They said the last war was ‘the war to end all wars.’ Maybe this one will actually do it.” You tipped your head “…Will we win?” “If it was all so black and white…” but he laughed “…I would think, in the end, the people who are meant to prevail will… But our most immediate problems… The things we can change…” He paused his walk, and turned to you – inspired “…Are right here!”

Emmett and you continued to wander around town together as he helped you run errands and shop for groceries. You hated to admit how much you enjoyed his company. Not because you wanted to come off standoffish, but because you knew that one day he would have to leave. And it would be soon. He wouldn't have reason to be here, in reality if they stationed him back up north... If he was so used to Darwin, he'd be so far away from you. You didn't want to start something just to see it all end. But you couldn't help falling for him. He was charming and sweet. How could you not?

 "Emmett, come in for a little while, I'm sure they'd like to see you..." "well, I suppose I have time. Are you sure you don't mind?" "i just invited you didn't I...!?" you quirked your eyebrow - "Of course, also its only polite that seen as you helped me with all of this." "Oh no! That's nothing, any time..." You folded your arms with a subtle shake of your head; "That's not nothing... Anyway, please, just accept my gratitude and come inside!?" He laughed; "okay, you won't need to tell me twice..." Of course as soon as you got him through the door and the children realised, they were all over him. "Woah-! Woah-! Okay...boys!!" Emmett was laughing again, which you loved; it made you smile. So much it started to hurt to smile for much longer. "Just let me help Y/N alright then I will come and see you..." When he finally got some of the younger children to let him go, with a little encouragement from you - you both slipped into the kitchen: "I suppose you get that a lot?" he straightened out his shirt, looking curiously back into the corridor where several of them were watching you both "Less than you would think... But you? Oh, they talk about you all the time..." "Really!?" "Mmm, oh, Captain I know all your stories second hand. Granted there's some variations on what actually happened, and I certainly wouldn't pass up the opportunity to hear them first hand, But! Yes, they certainly like you a lot. And you obviously care for them deeply..." He turned back to you, and that look on your face he hoped he might be reading correctly. But also made him bashful: admiration? Why? Hadn’t he done what any decent human would do? He felt he'd done far less than you... “Oh I…” he struggled with what was best to say, so he opted for a simple “Thank you…” instead. “No… Thank you.” Emmett set about helping you put things away, but you realised pretty quickly that you had gathered a small audience, laughing with him like this. That was understandable, they were equally curious on what was making you so happy (not that you weren’t always) and Emmett himself. Eventually you pushed him gently towards the door “Go on…” “We aren’t even finished-!” You waved away his protests “Go on, they want to listen to you… I’ll come through when I’m finished…” He hesitated “Y/N… I… Are you sure?” “They want to see you! Go on, I mean, how much time may you really get with them?” “I suppose you’re right… But I…” “Emmett…” You pushed him gently again; “Please, go!” He looked like he didn’t want to leave you, so even when he walked from the room, he did it slowly – almost pleading with you to pull him back. You couldn’t help your cheeky wink; “I won’t make you wait long!” He had to laugh again; and turned back to the children once again clambering all over him to pull him through into your extensive living room. “Okay! Okay! It’s alright! I’m here…” You tidied away and then wandered through. Each and every one of them was engrossed in every single word. And you sat yourself on the arm of one of the sofas with some of the younger children to listen too. You barely heard a word that Emmett said, and he barely registered that you’d even walked in, but the way he told it… The way he wasn’t even that animated, but his passion, the way he spoke… everything had everyone in that room hanging on his every word. You weren’t surprised that when you finally had the inclination to look at the clock it was late; But you still waited until the appropriate time to interrupt his story; “OH! Boys… Dinner…” Several of them leapt up immediately to eagerly assist you.  Emmett stood “I suppose I better get going…” “Nonsense, Captain… Would you please join us? It’s only fair, considering all your help in town and telling us such wonderful stories… Also, you can finish them over dinner… What do you say boys?” “Yes! Please! Please stay…!” The clamour of voices all politely asked the same thing. And Dutton wasn’t about to resist them or you; “Oh… Then, I suppose I better stay… Thank you…” You grinned; “I better ask now if you can cook!” “Oh I---” he laughed nervously “I… Suppose I can… You do tend to pick up a few things, here and there…” You nodded, that would do, all you really needed was another pair of (firm but fair) hands to help you out. “Well, Captain, I suppose it’s time for you to put those skills to the test…” “Oh. If I’d have known there was a test… I’m not sure I would have accepted the invitation!” ***

Turned out that his ‘you pick up a few things’ was neither wrong, nor exactly truthful. "Why don't you stop acting so humble?!" you giggled slightly, "At this rate its gonna turn out you cook better than me!” He laughed, but blush swept his face “No! Oh gosh! I wouldn't want to show you up..!" "Too late captain!" but you were both laughing. You had some of the boys help you with the easier things and then sent them on their way again before returning to cooking. Emmett let himself just watch you for a minute, how you made 10 things at once look easy.

He couldn't help it; "You're amazing, you know?" it was quiet, like a thought he hadn't meant to slip out and yet he wanted to You turned to him "Me!? No... I'm... Doing what anyone would do..." "No, no... This... Is amazing. Those boys deserve a mother and... For sure you are one... They couldn't have done better than this. But you must have helped so many people... Brother Frank alluded to it but... You are nothing short of incredible." "Captain, please..." you pressed your hands to your face, feeling it heat up, you'd never been very good at taking compliments. You didn't do this to be noticed after all, but so that other people could live a better life, or pick themselves up. He crossed to you for a minute "All you're doing, people should just thank you more often." "Well, they think I'm crazy for doing it..." His voice was quiet again "Well, I don't..." You looked back into his eyes, still blushing. Well I don't was possibly the most significant thing he'd yet said. And he'd said a lot that meant something to you. He still had that ever so sweet smile of admiration on his face. And he was getting to you. You were close enough to feel the heat from his body; and something within you was pining for that closeness – for his touch… or his love. But it couldn’t have been just you, you couldn’t have just been imagining that he was leaning closer to you. That made you instinctively lean into him. And this could happen, you could kiss, and it could be like some kind of fairy tale. And all this went through your head very quickly. Of course, reality had something to say about that – as the timer in the corner of the kitchen went off. SERIOUSLY!? He pulled away from you and took a polite step back as if he was forgetting himself; “Oh… I… I’m sorry…” You wanted to tell him not to apologise; you wanted to grab him and tell him to kiss me, dammit! But you couldn’t. Your face was still flushed and what you did do was say “It’s okay… don’t worry…” NO! DAMMIT! Y/N! IT’S NOT OKAY! IT COULD HAVE BEEN A PERFECT KISS!!! No time to dwell on that, with dinner ready, but both of you did. Standing looking at each other, hesitant for just a few more moments… Until one of the older boys cleared his throat; “Should I tell everyone it’s ready, Miss Y/N?” You didn’t want to tear your eyes from Emmett, but you had to; “Yes! Thank you!” *** Dinner passed quickly, but Emmett continued his anecdotes to the boys. Every so often one of them would pick up on a story thread of his and begin sharing a story of their own; and Emmett liked watching how you gave it your undivided attention. You reacted appropriately, and asked relevant questions. You made every boy around that table feel special. And when you caught Emmett’s eye and smiled like that, that number included him.   He stayed long after dinner was over, and helped you both tidy away and put the boys to bed. Which he found was not an easy task. “Drink?” You couldn’t help giggle at his slightly bedraggled exhausted look as he tried to neaten his appearance; “Please… I don’t know how you do it! You’re a Saint.” “Oh-! Sometimes I don’t think they’d think so-!” You gave a wink, “Can be the total opposite if they won’t behave!” He shook his head, mocking shock; “I don’t believe a word of it!” You sat him outside and handed him a glass as a night cap. The air was still warm even though the sun had long since set, and it made for a pleasant evening. There was comfortable silence as you both admired the scene of your garden, lit every so often by the glow of fireflies, and you could think about the evening in a little detail. Eventually you broke the silence with a hesitant question; “Do you have kids?” He turned those inquisitive blue eyes back on you, “NO. No… Single…” You wondered why he’d added that statement, because that wasn’t what you had asked. Single wasn’t a qualifier for if he’d ever had kids. And unless he meant always been single which you couldn’t believe for a moment, it certainly had no relevance. “You’re good with kids…” You mused, finishing your glass and setting it down “That’s worth something?” You smiled back at him, gently “I think it is…” His next smile was significant as he fielded your compliment back; “You’re a good mother.” You opened your mouth to respond, but it was like it suddenly all hit you, and you took a noticeable deep breath out “I learned from a good mother…” “So you aren’t one?” “No… I had a lot of younger siblings who moved out… They are all around Australia and Europe now… some of them…” You looked back to the house “…I stayed to help look after my parents… and when they both passed on… I thought what better to do with their house than look after people…” “You really are a Saint.” You turned back to him; how he seemed to voice some kind of clarity that hit you again, full force. And your heart yearned for him. To have him here to tell you things you so desperately wanted to hear… “Maybe…” Your voice was quiet, and when you looked away from him again he reached for your hand; “Not a maybe… you have compassion and generosity that you can’t show gratitude for with mere words… And yet you do this all without shouting it from rooftops.” “I don’t do it to be noticed, I do it because, like you, I want to believe there can still be good in the world – even if I have to do it all by myself…” He set his glass down; and took your other hand in his; “Y/N… Believe me, you are not alone.” And in that moment, what you knew he meant was you have me. *** It was a few days later when Dutton found the time to wander back to your house to see you and the children again. You were out in the back garden when he arrived; still expertly keeping the attention of all the children. Engrossed in some story or other you were telling. Acting out scenes here and there with the help of some of the older boys. Emmett couldn't help but laugh to himself as he watched from your porch, relaxing himself by leaning against it. From here he was in the shade from the hot afternoon sunlight but it didn't seem to bother you or them in the slightest.

Eventually your eyes caught his, and you turned to the older boys to keep the game going whilst you took a breather; "Captain! You're still here!" The way you were beaming and the sunshine hit your hair and eyes and made you literally glow, was the reason that just this once he didn't bother correcting you; "You always sound so surprised!" He turned his full attention from the children to you as you joined him. "Well, I just don't want to get my hopes up that you'll stay..." Emmett tried and failed not to read too much into that, and his smile was gracious "Well... You never know, perhaps you should..." He nodded to the children in order to swiftly change the subject, "they all seem to be getting on well." "Yes, thanks to you." "Me!? You-!" "Emmett you rescued them!" "Not I... A good friend of mine... I simply delivered them into your care... You have saved these children... You have given them a far better life that they would have received on mission island I can tell you that..." You shook your head, placing your hand on his to turn him back to you; “But as I say, they always ask after you... Emmett... When you're coming around next, if you’re going to spend the day here... Every time they see you... I wish you would stay..."

He watched the way that your eyes nervously left his, how you bit your lip and stared at his chest instead. From nowhere he gained a moment of courage, and instead of the nervous laugh he felt, Emmett spoke up, this time entwining your fingers properly with his. "Is that the only reason you wish I would stay?" This time you did blush; those soft blue eyes and that sweet smile became too much and you could feel the heat from his face at your almost kiss again. “Maybe not… But it shouldn’t always be about me…” He couldn’t help his chuckle, you were probably the most charitable, unselfish person he’d ever known. How could anything you did ever always be about you? “Then tell me…” Tell me what I want to hear; that’s what he was pleading with you to say… But you weren’t hearing that, because you didn’t want to believe it could be true. “You told me I was a good mother…” He tilted his head, “I did. And meant it…” You decided there was no time to be bolder and looked back into his eyes with confidence; “Well… I figure those boys need a good father figure too…” “Heh…” he bit his lip gently, but smiled through it “That’d require me to stay.” “No… Just be there when you can be…” “Well what about you?” “What about me…?” He tried again, this time more obvious “Maybe I would hope you weren’t just saying that… for them…” “…Why are you asking me to say it?” Emmett gave a little shrug; “Because maybe if I hear you say it I will know it’s true. What you really want.” You took a breath; “I don’t know what I want…” You shook your head “I want you to stay, if you can stay… of course I do. But if you must leave, then I want you to come back… But what I know for sure, is that what I wanted the other night…” You hesitated a moment and swallowed “I just wish…” You shook your head “I should have kissed you.”

For a moment he couldn’t believe that you would be that forward, but he liked it. He loved it. “Well, I feel we should rectify that situation… If you would allow me to kiss you?” Your eyes widened slightly, you knew it! You’d known it… You should have done something then… But he was doing something now. So your smile was confident as you looked back into his eyes “You may.” He kept your hands respectfully in his, and leaned in slow and gentle, you closed your eyes. Hardly daring to believe that this was real; that it was really a dream that you were about to wake up from. But as his lips touched yours you held his hands a little tighter; and pulled him in closer. No dream would compare to this. The kiss was just as soft and sweet as he was, and you kept your eyes closed as he broke it and placed his forehead gently to yours. You realised that you didn’t need to ask him to stay, that that kiss was a promise. No matter what the future held, he would return to you.

--- 🙈 Was that too sweet?! Ah! Sorry babe! But thank you for requesting him! As ever 😘💙💜 Eeeeek! 4 Virtues Down!

#MendoTagSquad! @dennismitchell @krnncsbtch @happyskywhale

[chogiwakeupsheeple]

EXO’s Baekhyun; Hidden Treasures

Genre: Smut      Pairing: Baekhyun x Reader      words: 2268

AN: I'm back again with the horribly written smut, this time featuring Pirate!Baekhyun and Sassy!reader <3 Hope you enjoy it, and as always feel free to leave feedback ~ 

The heavy winds of the sea rattled the door of the captain’s cabin, as the man himself stood frozen in front of his large, wooden desk. The map that laid before him was unreadable; written in a language neither he or his fellow pirates understood. For three days straight Baekhyun and his crew had tried deciphering its contents, believing it held the location of a great treasure, but all they had accomplished so far was a big pile of nothing. Suddenly the door swung open and in stepped the ship’s quartermaster, Junmyeon. ‘’Captain, we need you on deck immediately!’’ he shouted breathlessly, like he had just run the entire length of the ship. ‘’It will have to wait, I have more pressing matters’’ Baekhyun answered, never taking his eyes off the worn down piece of paper. Maybe if he stared at it long enough it would reveal its secrets. Highly unlikely but he was out of ideas and desperate.

Junmyeon shifted awkwardly in place like leaving wasn’t an option. ‘’We’ve encountered another ship and we’re about to throw the bridge across’’ he explained, already flinching from the scolding he’d undoubtedly receive. A deep sigh escaped Baekhyun as he finally turned around to look the other in the eyes with a sternness that made the quartermaster visibly gulp. ‘’So we’re raiding ships without the captain’s permission now?’’ he started while putting on his coat and readying his sword, ‘’I thought I had made it very clear that we cannot risk letting this map fall into the hands of someone else.’’ Junmyeon remained silent, not daring to add fuel to the fire that was Byun Baekhyun. As he walked out the door, the other caught a glimpse of a small scar on the captain’s left cheek, which stood in contrast to his otherwise handsome and polished features.

True to Junmyeon’s word, a ship only slightly smaller than their own laid beside them in the water, only connected by the piece of wood his men had placed. ‘’Attention!’’ Baekhyun yelled, effectively gaining every ear on the boat, ‘’you shall not take prisoners or harm their ship beyond repair, understood? I will talk with their leader and see if perhaps they can be of help with our mission, but if not you are free to take whatever you deem valuable.’’ A few groans of disappointment was heard from the more brutal of his men; the ones that thirsted after a fight after many days of silence. Normally, raids and chaos was a part of the daily routine, but ever since they had acquired that map, it was all Baekhyun could think about. If it turned out he was wrong and it did not reveal some great treasure, he’d lose his honour. Baekhyun would rather die than lose his honour.

The heavy ‘clunk’ of his boots marked his arrival onto the other ship, and on deck stood a few men with daggers of low quality, ready to defend their property. Baekhyun couldn’t help but smirk at the sight; he felt cocky knowing he could easily take them all out without breaking a sweat. He lifted his hands in a gesture signaling his (somewhat) innocent intentions. ‘’I need to speak to your captain. Bring me to him and we’ll be out of your hair in no time’’ he announced in the friendliest tone he could muster, yet nothing happened. ‘’Who leads your ship?’’ he tried again, but they simply looked at him like he was speaking gibberish. ‘’Who’s the captain!’’ he shouted one last time, and that’s when a reply finally came in the form a beautifully feminine voice. ‘’I am’’ you revealed after finally stepping out of your cabin. Based on Baekhyun’s wide eyes and open mouth it was clear that he didn’t expect to encounter a woman of all things. As a slave or cook perhaps, but as a captain, not in a million years.

His disbelief made him laugh mockingly, which only caused your allies to nearly jump on him. ‘’It’s okay’’ you told them in a foreign language only you and them understood. They lowered their weapons and you stepped closer to the rude stranger, who had the audacity to laugh you straight in the face. His clothes luckily didn’t point towards him being a part of the royal fleet, they rather gave him the look of a merciless and cold-hearted raider. ‘’If you truly are the captain, you’re the one I need’’ he stated. Without hesitation you strode confidently past him, nose held high, and crossed the bridge only to look back at him with a smirk. ‘’A lot of men need me sweetheart. I’m only agreeing to this because I’m not in a fighting mood. Tomorrow perhaps?’’ you teased. His entire crew stared at you like they had just seen a mermaid, but you merely found it amusing. Being a female captain in a sea full of men had its perks.

Stepping into the captain’s cabin like you owned the place, you were immediately met with the stench of rum and unwashed pirate. Baekhyun soon followed after making sure his men kept an eye on yours, and he was quick to lock the door, ensuring you wouldn’t escape. Your eyes followed the key that traveled into his pocket. ‘’You don’t think I’m stupid enough to run for it, do you? I’m smart enough to know when I should surrender’’ you laughed, leaning your back against his desk. Baekhyun’s eyes wandered across your body hungrily. How many months had it been since he had seen a woman like you; how many nights had only the wind accompanied him in loneliness. ‘’Who are you and why couldn’t your men understand me?’’ he asked firmly while stepping closer. ‘’Captain Y/N of the Six Sails, and they couldn’t understand you because they’re not from around here,’’ you answered dryly while fiddling with a dagger that laid on his table, ‘’now who are you?’’ He was so busy fixating on the movement of your fingers that he barely registered the question. When he didn’t answer, you followed the direction of his gaze and smirked at the realisation that he was distracted by you.

You teasingly ran your fingertips up and down the smooth blade, making sure he was fully hypnotized. You then suddenly grabbed the shaft and moved the dagger to his throat in the blink of an eye. He didn’t flinch but instead moved his eyes up to meet yours. He had had a knife to his throat, both literally and figuratively, countless times; he was simply happy that the hand that held it was one as beautiful as yours. ‘’I’m captain Byun Baekhyun, this is my ship - I’m sure you’ve heard of me’’ he finally answered. You lowered the weapon and threw it carelessly back on the table while laughing. ‘’You must not be a very good captain if you didn’t see that coming’’ you teased.

Your comment earned you a burning gaze from the man before you, and you could tell he was growing impatient. When he only continued burning holes through your skin, your eyes started to wander across the room, not daring to instigate a staring competition. Nothing out of the ordinary caught your attention; a bed, a desk, some books, a map. Wait, a map? It was an old piece of paper that looked more like a page out of a book with all its words scribbled across it. You recognised the words but translating it would be a bigger piece of work, and you had no idea what it would uncover. Around the words were doodles of what you assumed to be the final location; you needed to get your hands on this.

As soon as Baekhyun realised what you were staring at, he was quick to remove it from you. ‘’This,’’ he said while dangling the map in front of you, ‘’is actually what I wanted to talk to you about.’’ You questioningly raised an eyebrow and reached out to grab it, but he pulled his hand back just in time, which caused you to stumble into him. ‘’Talk, not touch’’ he added with a smirk. You immediately moved back, as if his body was on fire, and cleared your throat in an attempt to ignore the fact his body heat had made you flustered. ‘’It’s latin,’’ you stated, ‘’that’s why you can’t read it.’’

‘’How did you kn-’’

‘’You’re a pirate, not a scholar. If you could read it, you wouldn’t have a reason for needing me’’ you explained. Baekhyun’s eyes lit up as soon as he realised you could help him, but all he responded with was ‘’stay here’’ as he stepped outside the cabin and called for his first mate, Jongdae. Their voices were muffled by the door, but you managed to make out a few sentences; something about seizing your ship and not letting you leave. The last part was either ‘’she has to help us’’ or ‘’bee hat you hell stuff’’ - you were guessing the first one. There was no way in hell you were going to let him use you and take your stuff; you were determined to get away with both your ship and the map, while laughing maniacally as you sailed away from a confused looking Baekhyun. Time to turn on the charm.

Just before he stepped back inside, you unbuttoned the top of your shirt, exposing just enough cleavage to, hopefully, catch the his attention. And indeed it did. As soon as he closed the door he focused on you, his gaze wandering down to your exposed skin. ‘’I propose we make a deal’’ you smirked while leaning seductively against the wall right beside him. ‘’Is that so?’’ he answered, moving closer to you, ‘’what sort of deal?’’ Your lips were almost touching and you felt his hot breath on your skin. It held the spicy scent of rum and you wondered if you could perhaps still taste it on his tongue. ‘’The kind of deal where I help you with that map over there in return for,’’ you trailed off and planted a teasing kiss right at the edge of his lips before continuing, ‘’one less lonely night.’’ You barely got to utter the words before Baekhyun had you slammed against the wall, his lips aggressively upon yours. ‘’My pleasure’’ he growled against your mouth. He himself was a desperate man, which could be seen in the way he ripped off your clothes, exposing your body. Torn fabric was no concern of his; he needed you and he needed you now.

Two captains refusing to give up control resulted in your tongues battling for dominance. At some point during the undressing, you had managed to switch positions so Baekhyun was the one pushed up against the wall. This obviously displeased him as he pulled your lower lip between his teeth and bit down, earning him a moan. Once you were distracted by the sudden pleasure, he took the opportunity to push you onto the bed and remove your remaining clothing as well as his own. His hungry eyes wandered across your body, like a lion getting ready to jump its prey. ‘’Are you just going to stare or are you going to come down here and kiss me?’’ you asked teasingly, spreading your legs slightly as an invitation he couldn’t resist. Had anyone been listening at the door, they would have stormed in instantly to stop the fight they assumed was going on. A few bruises and toppled bookcases was not a rare occurrence during love making of pirates. Sometimes drawing blood just made it more exciting; a permanent reminder of a night well spent.

After much rolling around and teasing, he finally placed his member at your entrance, pushing in without warning. You gasped in pleasure which caused a smirk to grow on his face. ‘’That’s what you get for being such a little tease’’ he commented. He set a fast pace from the beginning, making you a moaning mess that had to dig your nails into his back to keep yourself steady. Flipping you both over you were finally in control again. Riding him came as a close second to riding the waves of the sea, but at least he tasted better than the saltiness of the water. With both of your releases fast approaching, you made one last effort at provoking him. With your sharpest nail you quickly scratched your initials onto his chest, hard enough for it to last a few days. Every time he’d walk shirtless or be with a woman, they’d know that ‘’Y/N was here.’’ With a deep groan you both came and it didn’t take long before you heard snoring besides you.

___________

There was a loud bang on the door which caused Baekhyun’s eyes to flutter open. The space next to him was empty but the heat from your body still lingered. ‘’Captain!’’ Jongdae’s voice called out in panic. Quickly throwing on his pants and a shirt, Baekhyun walked out on the deck, only to be met with a terrible sight. Your ship was no longer connected to his, it was making its fast escape, and on the edge you triumphantly stood; waving the map in your hand with a playful smirk. ‘’Well I’ll be damned,’’ Baekhyun smirked, because despite having lost he couldn’t help but be impressed with your sneakiness.

‘’Rest assured Y/N of The Six Sails, we’ll meet again. If I have to travel the entire sea to hold you and that map in my hands again, then so be it.’’

[sparda3g]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Chapter 144 Review

Note: Another long post. Blame this series!

The end isn’t truly the end after all. The thought of part 3 isn’t out of possibility; however, the story of :re continues to set up an explosive end that will change the landmark forever. No doubt we have a volume worth left to tell the story of Kaneki and his inner struggle to change. It’s a change that he has no choice but to make it so, but at what cost will it toll. The chapter is not the end for a gratifying delivery and the intensity to leave the fans shocked.

I know plenty of fans got incredibly irate from the last chapter and while I do understand, there’s one thing that they shouldn’t do: jump to conclusion. This chapter has done a 180 in terms of exploiting the character and creates the strong foundation of its overall arc. Therefore, the initial rant and possibly insult to the writer is all for naught and shouldn’t happen in the first place. That said it’s not late to hop back in because it’s so intense.

The humor of Ishida continues to appeal me in more ways than laughing. I don’t know why but there’s a meme circulating around about Tournament Arc; so Ishida decided to use that notion and mock it with Suzuya versus Kaneki. What’s astonishing is how cliche it felt in its environment, including the love interest (Touka) praying for the man to win. It’s abundantly clear that Ishida is mocking it yet it is entertaining.

The best part is what it seems to be a mockery of fan base with the reactions to Kaneki defeated. Every line reflects nearly exact word-by-word. Not since Evangelion (to my knowledge) has use the actual line to mock its fans. The fact Ishida understands it meaning he’s fully aware of his writing and characters, which actually feels reassuring. The question is what’s the point of this? The main objective is to segue to an excellent and dreary monologue.

The large portion of the chapter is based around Kaneki’s journey and how slowly succumbs to the thought of one thing: break the code. The reflection of Kaneki’s life grows unsettling when it begins with what if moments. The first in which is to kill Suzuya when we see them interact for the first time in :re. He thought of many possibilities that he declined in the past or ones that he should have done. Have Suzuya died there even though it’s ludicrous to do so, the fight wouldn’t happen at all.

What makes it brilliant is having all different faces of Kaneki in the floor room; showcasing all of them as separate yet same person. You got 240, One Eye King, Black Reaper, Sasaki, and even Shironeki. The memory recaps the life defining moments, including if he just stood by and not go to Anteiku. It’s actually sad to see how his life could have differ if he chose differently. His life is nothing but tough choices and he feel that he always pick the wrong one.

Black Reaper is ruthless but truthful about life because the real moral that Kaneki can’t seem to accept is one simple thing: it’s done. Kaneki is stuck on the mind of multiple paths and regrets to choose from. He also reflects that Kaneki shouldn’t place blame on someone else for his fault, which actually is on Shirazu’s death. Interesting to point that out since Urie is part of the fault as well, but he felt that he still responsible for his loss.

It becomes very distressing because multiple Kaneki can’t seem to have an agreement about life itself. Was it worth to take the path? Should you regret it? Should you hate yourself for choosing the wrong path? It has been Kaneki’s character for a long time. It has gotten to the point that each mindset opposes everyone else. It leaves a feeling of identity crisis that he suffered for a long time. However, there’s one part that they all agreed on that places them together as one person.

His love for Touka.

While it’s amusing for him to wish to go back and make sure the baby is given a nice name, it is sincere that Touka is the one person that they can see themselves moving forward. It slowly shifts to dark and somewhat nerve-wracking atmosphere because the wall for Kaneki is about to break. That wall reads “thou shall not kill.” It illustrated that every breaking point of his life has changes his view and many of which has not ended him. The one aspect that never changes is to move forward…like a centipede.

The moment he takes a bite out of Hajime and kill him, Kaneki’s hand is completely tainted with blood; from a ghoul and now, human. His code to never kill a human or eat one is completely vanished; there is no point of return. I was highly satisfied for Hajime to die in that brutal way. It’s the karma he deserved for killing those kids, so now he can rot in hell. The way he died has an ironic vision since he killed Fuka like that; everything came biting back hard. Yes, all puns intended!

The spree of killing Oggai is crazy. It’s all done for the sake of meeting Touka as he constantly repeats her name in his mind. She is the only driving force that he has left in the future when it’s all thing considered. It’s no wonder the past chapters with his love life has been highlighted significantly. She is the only one he got that means everything; in a way, you can say he has gone lust for the idea of keeping “hope” and to do that, he destroys his belief.

It is possible that Touka could be saved for the next chapter because she didn’t appear here. I can’t help but think there’s a possibility that we didn’t see her because Ishida could use this opportunity to test us audience on wondering if Kaneki will see her alive or dead. Again, it could be just this odd feeling of mine, but if we don’t see her in the next, I will gradually grow uncomfortable.

What shocked me a lot, although others do as well, is the revelation of Dragon. It’s confirmed that Dragon is in fact Kaneki. It’s not about who is it, rather how it came to be and it was always in front of us with all those subtle hints. Furuta is one clever bastard from the moment him and Kaneki confronted each other back in chapter 101; now that chapter has become the most prominent moment of their war. It wasn’t all talk for him to showcase how lunatic he is; it’s essential to the whole plot.

Every word he said was truly met. Keep in mind he has to go through tons of crap to make it possible; from becoming a Bureau Chief to activating Dragon. Rize did make children, but through experiments, much like Kaneki; they’re called Oggai. They would eventually play with Kaneki and that they did. Kaneki should be the one to take all the blame and disappear for the sake of Tokyo; Dragon can make it so. Uniting human and ghouls can be possible if he’s against everyone. On top of that, Furuta purposely have Oggai to surround Kaneki for easy nourishment in order for his RC cells to go insane. It’s highly evident when he purposely gave them the order to capture, which left them confused and dumbstruck by Kaneki slaughterhouse.

Oh. My. God!

The worst part is that he was going to win one way or another. If Kaneki just die there, he wins. If Kaneki consumes enough to become Dragon, he wins. The difference is what type of win he wants and it’s no doubt the latter. It’s like winning in a game; would you prefer to win by forfeit or win by skills. It’s not like it was guaranteed since he was still careful and hopefully for him, it goes all accordingly; it did. Once Kaneki shows up alone, he knew he would win. It’s a total victory once Kaneki became the Dragon he has been “raising.” I don’t even know if he dies here, but whatever it takes to feed him.

In short: the good news is Kaneki is back. The bad news is Kaneki is back.

The visual is very solid and the monologue discussion scene is very compelling. The different look of Kaneki stands out from each other but still the same person in the end. The atmosphere gets chilly when a scribbling look of Kaneki is saddened to not able to see Touka. It’s the embodiment of all Kaneki, like purity. The display of all old panels of their breaking points is greatly used to capture his character to hit it once more, only now he doesn’t care who he kills anymore.

While it’s satisfying to see him slaughtering everyone, it’s illustrated in a disturbing way with them being kids. I get that is the point from Furuta because Kaneki is tainted as a mad man; that’s just messed up. There was an old theory post that reflected on Kaneki’s design back when against Arima that his Kagune was slowly becoming Dragon-like; what a great call! The subtle hints continue to surprise me.

It’s a huge turnaround from the last chapter and although I love the last chapter a lot, this one really adds a lot more now. It’s time like this you shouldn’t jump to conclusion until it’s truly over. Regardless, this is a hell of a gripping chapter that got me floored with its portrayal of Kaneki and Furuta’s master plan coming to life. It’s not the end of :re, but it certainly feels like the end of the line.

[sharksandothernonsense]

This (very, very extended) comparison occurred to me today while I was thinking about net neutrality and Literally Everything Else this morning; I found it encouraging, and figured I’d post it in the hopes that somebody else might, too.

(Yes, it’s long, and yes, if you know me you’ve probably heard this story at some point in your life. If nothing else, hopefully the visuals will be amusing.)

So, it's 2002, I was about 8 years old, and for the entire summer, I'd been playing on the giant dirt pile at the bottom of the hill that was intended to level out the yard so my mom could expand her vegetable garden. (My parents had a truckload of dirt brought in sometime around May, but didn't actually get around to dealing with it for one reason or another for a few months, so it became a default playground.)

I adored that dirt pile. It was the treacherous mountain I and my imaginary quest party had to cross to reach the forests in which we’d find treasure, the Fortress of Evil that had to be taken by force from the Bad Guys, the Fortress of Good where I reigned as Supreme Queen Empress of the Known World, all that fun stuff, and I was very, very attached to my imaginary worlds. (No, I didn't have a lot of friends. Actually, any friends.) So when a guy showed up with a little skid loader and I realized my dirt pile was going to be leveled, I was Not Happy.

(It's probably relevant at this point to mention that at eight years old, the entirety of my media consumption featured noble quests and valiant heroes who always ended up making dramatic last stands to protect something they loved and winning.)

My parents weren't particularly interested in listening to my version of a well-reasoned argument as to why the Dirt Pile (AKA Erebor, the Misty Mountains, the mountains between Narnia and Archenland, the Fortress of Solitude...) should remain intact, so like any other eight-year-old whose favorite playground was being taken down, I was distraught. Unlike some other eight-year-olds, I had recently finished re-reading The Hobbit and thoroughly idolized Thorin Oakenshield, so I knew exactly what one was supposed to do when one's beloved mountain was threatened by the forces of evil!

And that's how I, at eight years old, ended up standing on top of a dirt pile in front of a very confused gentleman with a tractor, shouting at him that this was my Dirt Pile and if he wanted to level it, he was going to have to Go Through Me!! before he could do his job.

It was, in my mind, a heroic last stand to rival any book's dramatic climax. Unfortunately for my childhood fantasies, heroic last stands don't work out so well when you're eight years old and the beloved artifact in question is a dirt pile that was never intended to stay there, and while I don't remember exactly how I was removed from the situation, I clearly was, and the yard renovations went ahead as planned.

A tragic ending to what was, in hindsight, not my finest moment (though it was a very good summary of my approach to everything).

HOWEVER. This was not, as it turned out, the end for the Saga of the Dirt Pile.

See, the thing about Nebraska is, it gets a lot of wind, and doesn't have a lot of plant life to hold the dirt in place. It's also very dry pretty much all the time. It’s not a desert, but one of the challenges of having a yard where I grew up was that the hill in front of the house was very prone to erosion.

Add in a couple of major ice storms, two teenagers learning to drive a riding lawnmower on that hill, and the fact that the tomato plants didn't actually take root much further down the hill, and today, 15 years later, there is a considerable dirt pile in that same spot at the bottom of the hill.

It took a lot of time and some effort from nature + a couple teenagers, but my dirt pile came back.

At that point, it occurred to me that this probably isn’t a bad possible outcome for what currently feels like taking a stand in front of the Bulldozer of American Politics--the thing we’re trying to defend might very well come back in a way we don’t expect.

(Which is, of course, a much more serious situation and not at all as lighthearted as my Dirt Pile Dramatics, but it's something, at least.)

BUT WAIT. IT GETS BETTER.

About six months ago, my dad calls me, which is weird, because usually I'm the one who calls him, and asks if I remember all those times where he said they had to get rid of something and I got really upset and tried to defend it. (The Dirt Pile was the most obvious example, but not the only one; others include a hideous orange couch that had belonged to my great-grandmother and had been used as a makeshift trampoline so long the inside struts had all broken, an old mattress that had become the replacement trampoline when the couch broke, and a stuffed Eeyore toy that the cat disemboweled to get to the jingle ball inside.)

"Sure, Dad," I said, wondering where this is going, because it's been like 7 years since the last time this happened and I've gotten significantly better at dealing with change. (I try to channel my Dramatic Last Stands into slightly more productive battles these days.)

"Well, I wanted to apologize for that, because I've been thinking about it lately, and it was obviously a bad idea. I should have let you hang on to the things you valued; we could have worked out another way to do what we needed to without making you feel like you had to stage dramatic last stands to save them."

First, jaw drop, because I don't think I've ever heard my dad apologize for something he did that long ago in my life, before or since (half the time I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember things from that long ago). And second...wow, it took 15 years, but he figured out the problem with no prompting, apologized, and it's not going to happen again!

Which kind of makes me hopeful, in a weird way, that the Social and Political Clusterfuck that is current America is going to come around to something like that in the future. It might not be next year, it might be 15 or 20 years from now, but if that can happen on the small scale, it can happen on a bigger one, too.

The dramatic last stand doesn’t have to be THE END. Sometimes it just means it’s going to take a lot longer to get the thing being defended back—but that doesn’t mean it will never come back. It’s not time to give up just yet. Keep fighting, keep hoping that the dramatic stand works, but if it doesn’t? That still doesn’t mean everything is lost.

And someday, even the people who don’t understand right now why it’s important might see it differently and come back and say so. It’s not likely, but if my dad (who is, shall we say, ‘set in his ways’) can realize that he fucked up when I was a kid, so can other people.

(Wow, that turned into an essay. Sorry. Still in Finals Mode, apparently.)

[kittenwritesstuff]

How would you feel if I told you I loved you?

Fandom: The Hobbit Pairing: Lindir x (human)reader Genres: fluff Words: 1.590 Summary: When in Rivendell, reader notices Lindir’s glances at her. Later, she has an opportunity to confront him, which leads to a confession - requested by Anonymous

Surely, in your wildest dreams you have not expected the Quest to involve so much running away, so much fighting and so little rest. Frankly, you were ready to sleep less than you needed, however you’ve longed for a proper all-night-long sleep in a comfortable bed.

And with a good meal in an addition, you cannot be more grateful for a break in Rivendell, despite Thorin’s initial unwillingness to even stop there. You were aware of his aversion to elves, which was understandable – you heard Balin’s story about how when Smaug attacked Erebor, Mirkwood’s elves had turned their back on dwarves.

Yet, you needed help with deciphering Thrain’s map. And to that, you had to ask someone slightly smarter than Gandalf for help. Elves of Rivendell were close and eager to help, as Gandalf assured you, so you did your best to convince Thorin that you should stop for a council and rest.

You decided to not mention the fact that one of the elves, the one that greeted you had caught your eye. The Dwarves won’t be happy if they find out that the only female (it didn’t matter that you were of a race of Men; the Company has grown to treat as slightly taller dwarf) fancies an elf. It will most likely elicit more than few curses and disappointed grunts. Dwalin will stop talking to you whatsoever, and you can’t even imagine the heartbreak that Kili and Fili will feel. Not to mention His Royal Grumpiness.

So, not a word out. You only need to enjoy the meal quietly, then go to your room and finally get a good-night sleep, pushing the sweet elf away from your thoughts.

But what if said elf keeps glancing at you during the supper? What should you think of a pink tint that flushes his cheeks once you catch his gaze? How should you read that awkward stuttering when you asked for a directions to a place you’d be eating in?

Lindir, as you learnt from Gandalf, was lord Elrond’s most trusted assistant and he seemed to be quite shaken by the number of dwarves and the ruckus they’re causing. Both, Bilbo and you, ceased trying to teach them some manners, reasoning that you can’t change what’s in their blood and so the two of you simply learnt how to bear it.

But the Elves… well, that was amusing to watch. Kili and his flirtatious antics, quickly cooled down by Dwalin and Bofur. Bofur and his scratchy, deep voice singing loud enough for the entire Valley to hear. And the faces of utter shock and displeasure at the beautiful features of the inhabitants of Rivendell. You and your dear hobbit were used to it by now, they however had a questionable pleasure of witnessing it for the first time.

A small part of you felt sorry for them, especially for Lindir since he was in the first line for the grand show of Dwarvish party.

Soon enough, feeling weary but delighted, with stomach full of tasty food, you excuse yourself and head to a room elves prepared for you. Aware that Thorin will press you to depart as soon as possible you decide to have a stroll around Rivendell’s gardens, not wanting to leave without enjoying them. Who knows if you will ever have a chance to visit Imladris again?    

The sound of ongoing celebration still rings through the gardens but you ignoring, focusing instead on a beauty of the flowers, taken aback by the variety and vibrant colors. It easies your mind, in a way, taking your thoughts off of the journey and possible dangers awaiting you on the way to Erebor.

Truly, you would do a lot to be able to come back to Rivendell one day, to be able to walk through the gardens and look at and smell flowers and trees that you’ve seen for the first time in your life. And perhaps, hopefully, to be able to gaze at Lindir, an elf who’s taken a residence in your mind and who cannot leave you be.

That is, if you wanted to be left alone. Seeing him awoke an odd feeling inside you, a strange but not unwelcome longing, a kind of pull to him that you’ve never felt before.

Maybe that is what falling in love feels like, maybe you finally met your One, someone you deemed was a myth.

Lost in your thoughts, for quite a while you’ve been wandering aimlessly until you stumbled upon what seemed to be unoccupied alcove, in a quite secluded spot, near a waterfall. It looks dreamy and inviting and so you step into it, sitting on a bench and turning your face towards the chilly breeze that comes from the waterfall.

Unstopped, your mind wanders to Lindir again, filling your head with images and fantasies.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to you, the very elf you’re daydreaming about, had the same idea as you – to find a moment of peace in the gardens and to ponder about whether or not he should speak to a beautiful girl that came with the dwarves. Lindir finds it hard to wrap his mind around how such a beauty as you ended up in a company of dwarves yet he realized you must be skilled beyond measure. Which only adds to an image of you he’s created in his mind.

He spots you as you walk into the alcove, having been nearby, only on the other side of it. Lindir thinks long and hard about approaching you – he doesn’t want to interrupt you, to ruin your moment of peacefulness with his presence but he feels drawn to you, unable to stop himself from taking those few steps and stepping into the alcove.

You sit on a bench with your eyes closed, an expression of serenity written on your face and Lindir’s mouth fall agape as his heart begins to race. You hear the movement and you open your eyes, shifting your gaze at Lindir. A small smile appears on your face.

“Good evening, my lord,” you greet and for a moment, Lindir can’t find his ability to speak.

“Good evening, my lady. Would you mind if I joined you?”

“Not at all. Please, sit down,” you tilt your head, pointing him to a spot next to you and Lindir blushes slightly but keenly takes a seat.

“You appeared to be quite agitated earlier, when we came. Not often you’re visited by dwarves, I assume?”

“I don’t remember hosting such a numerous company in quite some time.”

“And troublesome, right?” you chuckle, knowing very well how your companions behave; Lindir only nods his head, a tight  smile spreading his lips.

“What did they do after I left?” you inquire curiously, although with a hint of dread in your voice.

“They’re having a bath in a fountain,” Lindir mumbles, his voice hinted with shock and you gasp.

“I, uhm… I apologize. I should’ve kept an eye on them, but they can be too much sometimes.”

“And you needed a break, I understand it.”

“You came here for a break, too?”

Lindir nods again, offering you a shy smile.

“I did, yes. But then I saw you and couldn’t-“ he stops talking abruptly, turning his terrified eyes at you. Your eyes grow wide as you realize what he was about to say.

“You couldn’t what? Please, finish,” you whisper, leaning to him, your gaze fixed solely on his face.

“I couldn’t help myself from approaching you. You, my lady, have a hold on me nobody else ever had and I am not quite sure whether is good or not. A mere glance at you fills me with uneasiness although the feeling is pleasant. There is a warmth, a serenity surging through me as I look at you. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

“If I can be honest be with you, I feel the same,” you admit bashfully, lowering your eyes on your hands, folded on your lap, and Lindir inhales sharply, evidently surprised by your confession. He examines your expression – paled face and big, unsure eyes and a thought crosses his mind.

“Is there a reason you’re afraid? Are those feelings alarming you because you’re-“

“I’m not promised to anyone, Lindir,” you rush to assure him, taking his hands in yours. Your skin tickles at the contact and you make to withdraw but Lindir holds your hands firmly, gently stroking his thumbs over your knuckles.

“Y/N, forgive me for my straightforwardness, but… can we change it? Can we become promised to one another? I know you will depart soon, however I wish for you to be certain that I shall be waiting for you here. Whenever you decide to come back – if ­you decide to return here – I shall welcome you. This I promise.”

“Then, Lindir, let me promise you this – should the quest be over, once I have the chance, I shall make my way to Rivendell, to you. No matter the outcome, no matter what I’ll be offered. I’m yours and to you, I will return.”

Pure happiness lights up Lindir’s eyes and you grin joyfully, allowing your eyes to show much more than your voice can express. Initially, you were reluctant to confess your feelings, but now, as you learnt that Lindir reciprocated your affection, you’re sure that nothing can make you happier, not even reclaiming Erebor.

To love and be loved in return is the most wonderful feeling and you are glad that the journey brought you to this treasure, to your One.

[thatonelucky]

Twist of Fate (Pt 2)

Hey guys! Part 2 is finally here after days of procrastination and exams! I quite like the direction of the plot so far. It’s something I’ve never seen before which is nice. Hope you all enjoy!

Part 1 : Here

               Betty finally spoke out, praying for the moment to finally be over. Jughead's face flushed red as he remembered she didn't know her way around.

               "Sorry, sorry. Um, yeah it's right through here." The beanie-clad boy stumbled over his words, eventually managing to form a coherent sentence. He looked over at his new roommate and noticed her eyes shining in amusement. They were walking past the open lounge area and into a hallway that consisted of 3 doors. One, that Betty assumed held residency of Jughead, had a large poster on the outside of "A Rebel Without a Cause". Betty stopped, entranced by the poster.

               "You like "A Rebel Without a Cause"?" She asked, studying the poster more thoroughly. It wasn't a promotional poster, it looked like it was made for some place called the Twilight Drive-In. Betty had heard of that place, it was in the next town over called Greendale. She often went there and put in some suggestions but soon heard it got closed down due to lack of funding.

               "Yeah, I'm a sucker for the classics. Don't get me wrong, Nicholas Ray did a great job. But I'm more of a Tarantino guy myself. I don't know what is it but I find something so intoxicatingly beautiful about his work. It's always a masterpiece, you can tell this guy loves what he does. I don't know, I guess I just respect that. True art forms." Jughead babbles on whilst Betty listened, intrigued by the topic. He was shocked that she hadn't even looked the least bit bored. He'd never gotten this far before without either being told to shut up or boring people half to death.

               "I fully agree! As a kid I used to love "Pulp Fiction" but lately I've been more about the "Kill Bill" series. And although Tarantino is possibly the best director in this generation, I'll always have a soft spot for Ray. I wish I could've lived in the 50s." Betty responds with enthusiasm and actual knowledge. Jughead is shocked. He can't help but crack out a goofy grin, maybe this roommate wouldn't be so unbearable. Although, nothing could be worse than Archie Andrews. "Also, is this from the Twilight Drive-In?" Betty thought it was a long shot but she had to ask, it was all too familiar.

               "Yeah, how did you know that?" He quipped, wondering how on earth she knew the place he'd spent his entire childhood. Jughead was very defensive over his childhood. It was filled with a lot of heartbreak, betrayal and distrust. He was born into a house that lacked solidarity. His father was a raging alcoholic; his mother was a selfish, egotistical maniac that shouldn't have been graced with the ability to reproduce. His sister was the only stability that Jughead could grasp on to. Jellybean was the only thing that he stuck around for.

               The drive-in was an important part of his childhood. He would sneak himself and JB through the back and into the crowd, just to spend at least an hour or two away from their parents. Jellybean never got enough sleep, neither did Jughead. The arguing, the smashing of fragile objects, the crying. Sometimes it got too much. His dad would come home one night, reeking of cheap booze and cigarette smoke, and then his mother would snap.

               The drive-in offered clarity and escape for the two children. Though it was short lived when social services caught the bruises on Jughead and the burns on JB. Nothing was said but the police knew what had been happening. The Jones name had a reputation in the town of Greendale. The family with the town drunk, the selfish bitch, the outcast boy and the sweet little girl. It wasn't longer before both kids were put into the social system and separated.

               How he got the poster was another story. One he isn't quite proud of but it needed to happen. When his 3rd foster family had refused to shelter him any further, he ran away. Jughead went back to Greendale. He didn't know what he was expecting, he had been gone for 6 years and as a 16 year old he didn't exactly look the same. He tried finding his parents and instead found a sight that broke his heart.

               At the drive-in, Jughead saw his father's old truck. He aimlessly walked over, expecting to see him passed out in the back. But instead he saw his father who looked cleaned up and sober, his mother who was smiling, cuddled next to her husband. But the sight that broke his heart the most, Jellybean wrapped up in both of their arms, looking like a completely different kid.

               Jughead didn't bother staying to watch the movie. Not even "A Rebel Without a Cause" could make him stay. He had been cheated, rejected and most importantly, he had been broken. Even his own family can't stand to have him around. Ripping a poster from the wall, he made his way to a destination he was uncertain of. With hot tears stinging the frozen skin of his face, he wondered why no one had the capability to love him.

               "I used to go there all of the time as a teenager. I loved it there." Betty gushed, not turning to look at Jughead but instead focusing her attention on the poster. It's not like Jughead kept it up there to torture himself, it was a powerful reminder that the past is the past . And although it may be painful, it helped us to get where we are now. Betty turned around to the door opposite Jughead's, noticing the bright yellow post-it note on the door saying "Betty Cooper's Room". The handwriting was messy but Betty found it charming.

               "Ah, yeah. That's your room. The room down the hall, just there, is my office." Jughead pushed open Betty's door and helped her to carry her stuff inside. The room was moderately large. It was about the size of Betty's room back home, maybe a tad larger. The walls were neatly painted a pastel green that looked almost white. It was furnished with all the necessities; a bed, a walk in wardrobe, a desk and a tall lamp tucked away in the corner. She seemed to have her own bathroom as well. A low set window sill was parallel to her bed, it was very wide. Betty already had ideas of all the aesthetic Instagram photos she could take. The view was incredible.

               "This room is beautiful. Are you sure the rent is high enough?" Betty stared, doe-eyed. Jughead didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell the truth, not yet. Instead he merely shrugged, offering her a boyish smirk. "That's not exactly an answer Mr..." Betty trailed off, suddenly realizing she didn't even know her own roommates last name. Then again, they had only met 10 minutes ago.

               "Jones. It's Mr. Jones." Jughead offered, still smirking at the blonde haired girl stood in front of him. He looked down at his watch, noticing the time. "Well, I better leave you to unpack and get settled. It around 4 now so when do you want dinner?" He asked, opening the door wider to step through. Betty nodded, quickly throwing her backpack onto the ground before beaming up to him.

               "You cook?" She asked, amusement evident on her features. At first, Jughead wanted to reply saying that he was forced to learn due to his prior parents being a waste of space. Instead he settled with a wink.

               "I can do a lot Cooper. Eating food is a huge hobby of mine." He threw back, chuckling slightly. Betty returned with a small giggle and unzipped her suitcase, pulling out items of clothing and packing them into the wardrobe. She seemed to have a lot of clothes, this reminded him of Veronica almost instantly.

               "I'm a good cook too. How about I start packing now and come help you at around 6? It can be a roommate bonding session." Betty joked, disappearing and reappearing whilst putting her stuff away in various locations. He statement make Jughead's heart swell. He didn't know this girl but she seemed nice enough. He truly did believe they were going to get on just fine. Maybe he could add another member to the Scooby gang. Which, at the moment, only consisted of him, Archie and Veronica.

               "Sure, Cooper." Betty poked her tongue out playfully at his remark, watching him pace out of the room. She continued packing but at a faster rate this time. A huge part of her couldn't wait for 6 o'clock. Jughead walked into the lounge and threw himself onto the couch next to Archie, who was playing Fallout 4 on the 65" flat screen Jughead got gifted last year.

               "How's the new roommate? Lasting well without me and Ronnie?" Archie's eyes were glued to the screen but Jughead could tell he was teasing. Slapping his arm softly, he was about to reply when the front door swung open. Stood in a navy blue dress, obviously accompanied with pearls, was the raven-haired princess Jughead learned to love. She had a huge grin spread across her deep red lips, her eyebrows raised in anticipation. Speak of the Devil and she shall appear.

               "Where's this new roommate I've heard so much about, Juggiekins?" She too teased, coming over to embrace him in a hug, placing a firm kiss on his cheek. Instinctively, he wiped his cheek which only making Veronica smirk. Betty heard someone come in and decided to check out who it was. Little did she know what kind of surprise would be hitting her.

               As soon as she walked into the room and saw Veronica, her heart stopped beating. God seems to have graced Betty with one of the greatest gifts she could've asked for. It seemed almost too good to be true at this point. When Veronica spun around the meet Betty's gaze, her jaw fell. Her lips were parted and both girls stood in shock. Jughead and Archie sat, confused at what was happening.

               "Ronnie?" Betty beamed hopefully. The next few seconds were a blur, The girls ran towards each other at full force, knocking them both onto the ground. They were hugging whilst loudly crying and muffling incoherent words. Jughead was beyond confused by now. How did they know each other? After what felt like forever, the girls separated. Both were crying yet smiling so happily.

               "I can't believe you're here. This is so crazy!" Ronnie cried out, pulled Betty into another hug. Archie was about to speak up until Ronnie pulled back again. "Boys, this is my long-time internet friend, Betty Cooper. We lost touch sometime last year but, oh god am I glad to see you." Veronica explained. "We have so much to catch up on, come on!" In an instant both girls were at their feet, running into Betty's room and closing the door.

               "Wait. I'm confused. So your new roommate is best friends with your sister?" Archie whispered quietly, not wanting the girls to hear. Jughead was still in a state of shock. How had he never known about Veronica knowing Betty? At dinner he'd always heard her babble on about this friend she had but he never listened. Now he's starting to wish he did.

               "Don't ask me pal, we're in the same boat." He spoke out, still bewildered. How is it that the girl he chooses out of 50 other applicants, just happens to be his sister's best friend? That's not a coincidence, that's the work of the lord above.

               Jughead didn't want Betty to know that Veronica was his family. It'd bring up too much personal family stuff for their friendship at the moment. In time, he wants to share everything about himself. Who he really is, his job, his family, his aspirations. But right now, the story was far too complicated and Jughead was in no frame of mine to give that out.

               He reminisced about the past. The heartbreak after the drive in, the weeks alone in the cold, Hiram Lodge spotting him sleeping behind a dumpster in Brooklyn. He was on the brink of death but the Lodge's took him in, treated him like a son. They fed him, built up his strength and gave him a warm place to sleep. Jughead was forever in their favor. It wasn't long before the adoption occurred and Jughead was officially Forsythe Jones-Lodge. Though he preferred to go by Jones. He may hate his family but Jones is more fitting for such an obscure name.

               "Maybe it won't be so bad. Betty doesn't seem like the type to judge. Just tell her about the past and tell her about the Blue and Gold. Stop building up walls and refusing to knock them down." His red headed friend squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Jughead couldn't though. The sad look in Archie's eye only proved that Arch didn't believe he could either. It takes time to trust. Even if he feels like Betty will be different, he didn't want her to be his reckoning.

I hope you all enjoyed this part 2! It’s slightly longer but not as long as I’d like it to be! After I get my exams out of the way I’ll be able to write more! These two weeks cannot come fast enough. As always, feedback is very much appreciated and it warmed my heart to see how many of you loved part 1! There’s gonna be a lot more!

((Subtle plug but my asks are open too if anyone wants to send in prompts for a one shot or just generally wants to talk! I don’t bite ;P))

**PART 3 : here **

[hellpup666]

Charlie Doesn’t Stop There.

~~This fic was inspired by a cute fanfic I read awhile back. I'm a complete sucker for the fluffy stuff, and @calmturquoise's "Keys" fic just triggered me to add a little to it. What would Charlie do after Dean left- and IF Astra McKinnely was to exist. I'm a massive fan of the "Team Free Will" thing so I shall be doing a lot of stuff based on that as well. Dean goes off after a djinn by himself in spite of Charlie's efforts to stop him, so after he leaves with his keys, she goes to Astra hoping she can do something.~

***At the end of @calmturquoise's "Keys"*** "Dean chuckled and headed toward the door of the bunker. Before he left, Charlie sat up quickly and called after him, “Dean!” He paused on the stairs and turned back towards her. She rolled her eyes at him. “At least call me when you get there.”

He smiled fondly and nodded. “Sure thing, Red.”

*********************** ~Charlie Doesn't Stop There~

Charlie lay in defeat, but wasn't going to give up that easy. Both boys have a horrible track record of trying to be the one man hero and it failing miserably. There are times it managed to pull off- but because someone end up being there to back them up, or they got a hit of good luck- now Dean was actually on his own.. Charlie knew she couldn't go to Sam, for he would instantly side with Dean and stop her, so she rushes to the garage to find Astra, hoping their Guardian cousin would side with her. 

In the corner of the garage messing with some car parts, with headphones in, Astra stands quietly lightly headbanging while she hits at the part to get it free 

"Astra!" Charlie says quietly with impatient aggravation in her voice.

 Astra looks up at the red head and pulls out her headphones, 

"Hey, what's the matter Muggle?" she says with concerned curiosity.

 "It's your bonehead cousin. I just suffered a 30 minute tickle torment because he refuses to take someone on his djinn hunt so i hid his keys.. He won, and just left.." she says quickly, leaving her out of breath.

Astra bites her lip to keep from laughing at the human, for she hunted solo most of her life, due to her mother or uncle not being there. But she sighed and looked up at Charlie as serious as she could.

 "Okay... So what do you want me to do about it?" she says. 

Charlie rolls her eyes

"Like you don't know? Where he's headed is like 50 miles away from here." 

Astra arches her brow and puts the car part down on the table and smirks.. She wanted Charlie to say it.

“I still don’t quite understand what you expect of me Muggle.”

Charlie already annoyed responds bitterly

“I figured we could go after Dean, just in case he needs he needs help, we’ll actually be there for backup”

Astra shakes her head now her smile showing and lowly chuckles 

"So.. You want to stalk my cousin? That’s real stable Red.." 

Charlie crosses her arms and glares

"No!!.. I want you to. Ya know.. Use your animagous magic to track him down, and possibly save him.."

 Astra sighs puts both of her arms on the work table and leans her head down in between them, peaking past them to look at Charlie, slightly amused at Charlies plan- but kind of confused.

"Now it sounds like you’re turning me into a bloodhound. If I’m doing all that,- doesn’t that mean I’m saving the day?.."

Charlie giggles 

"Noo- I'll be driving you there, I'll even dress in disguise if I have too.. And Hell- if he doesn't need help, atleast I have a clear mind knowing that we were there just in case." 

Astra runs her oily black hands through her long brown hair out of her face and sighs.

  "Fine.. But I swear if you try to put a collar on me- i'll personally rat you out.." 

Charlie blushes a giggle and looks away causing Astra gave her a wide eye glare 

"You were thinking about it??" 

Charlie bites her lip looking at Astra and shrugs. 

"Well you know.. We are going to be going under cover, Padfoot. And most places have leash laws.."

 Astra gives her a glare. "Oh to hell with that.. I don't love Dean that much.." 

Charlie also returns a glare, "No? Then I guess you won’t mind me telling Dean about the time you took his Impala out for a free ride.." 

Astra quickly stands up straight. "Okay okay.. But if i'm going I’m not wearing a damn collar" 

Charlie laughed and nodded in agreement, as they headed towards their room. Astra, slightly unamused that she was signed up into this. 

The young women proceed to sneak through the house, when they hear someone clearing their throat behind them. 

Charlie stops and slightly cringes, and Astra instinctively looks behind her to see a unamused Sam with his arms crossed.

"Where do you two think you're going.. Astra?" 

Astra chuckles and points at Charlie backing away 

"It was her idea this time..I just wasn't stopping it.." 

Charlie looks at Astra with a glare and huffs. "Jeeh thanks you traitor.. What happened to being a team?." 

Sam sighs and looks at Charlie

"Were you going after Dean?" Both girls nodded yes. 

"Yes.. I wanted Astra to help me keep an eye on him. I wouldn't intervene. Only if he needed backup." 

Sam smirks slightly at the sweet concern of the red head, but keeps his composure. 

"Charlie, you really don't need to worry, Dean has done this numerous of times- he’ll be fine... " 

Charlie looks up at Sam with big eyes- knowing that deep down Sam was worried about his brother as well.. 

"What if something happened, and none of us are there to back him up?

"..... "Then I guess that would be the end of me.." Interrupts a familiar voice.. 

Charlie and Astra both look behind them to see Dean smirking at them both? "What's the deal? I told you I'd be back.." 

Charlie tilts her head in confusion.. 

"Uh what are you doing back so fast?" 

Dean shrugs. "I was half way there, and Sam called me. Apparently it was a false alarm.." 

Then Dean  half way amused looks towards  Astra "And of all people, you really thought I needed to be saved?..." 

Astra holds her hands up to play innocent 

"Dude, Muggleborn here came to me asking for my help- I kinda couldn't refuse." 

Charlie tried to glare but hid in her blush instead. 

Leave it to Astra to throw her under the bus. Astra, who was a 21 year old girl, had the heart of a 10 year old. Has moments where she's always instigating, antagonizing, or always trouble starting with her cousins, and now Charlie as well. Luckily Charlie and her have developed a close sibling like bond. Neither had siblings so they were able to bond and bicker to make up for it.

"Well, I see it like this.. Were you going to help here?" 

Astra shrugs and looks at him with a big blue eyes "Sorta... More like be the  bloodhound that tracked you down for Charlie. " 

Dean looks at Astra in amusement, then over to Charlie and his brows furrow. "Really? You were sending her to spy on me?..”

Astra backs and ends up running into Sam and looks up at him..

"I really don’t like the face he’s giving her..  You have my back right Sam?.. ." She whispers with an amused but slightly worried tone. 

and Sam looks down at her just as amused.. "You honestly think I’d let you get away, when Charlie has to pay the price?" 

Astra shrugs confidently "Well yeah.. I didn't actually do anything yet.." 

Sam smiles at his now anxious cousin, as he looks over at Dean. 

Dean glances towards his brother and cousin with a wink, then looks over at Charlie and arches his brows smiling wickedly 

"You do recall what happened when you stole my keys right?" he says slowly walking to her. Charlie instinctively starts to back up. 

Astra over hears Dean and looks up to Sam, her eyes going wide..

"Oh no, you aren’t getting me too." 

and before Sam could grab her, lets a buzzing heat flash through her body, and drops to tan furry paws.. 

Sam chuckles knowing Astra would react that way and runs his hand through his hair

"You best watch your back Astra, because you can’t stay a dog forever.. And when you least expect it- You’ll get what’s coming to you..”

Astra cocks her ears and playfully shows her teeth, giving him a warning bark, before she wonders off to her room. Causing Sam to smile even more.

 Charlie seeing that Astra was able to get off the hook pouts 

"Padfoot, don't you dare leave me!!" 

she hollers and attempts to escape as well and fails miserably as Dean football tackles her to the floor.. 

“Oh don’t you worry, she’ll be getting hers next. But you being the ring leader in this.. You get go first..”

~Heyyy thank you for reading my poor writing. Haha I have no idea what this was, but it was a semi attempt to make something cute which was inspired by @calmturquoise 's fluffy fic "Keys". The ending is kinda jacked because after Charlie's and Astra's little meeting, I had no idea where to go after that. So hopefully that wasn't a complete eyebleeder.~

[survivormarmoreal]

Episode #1: “"So it's time for me to channel my inner-straight guy!" - Brian

is it time to die already? a fake tribe was taunted, the tribe is split half US half europe so that is going to be a pain, its 1:40am as i write this and in all honestly i just want to sleep and coast till merge. bet that won't be happening tho RIP me and dig me in a grave huh. Oh and I thought I knew the keaton but I didn't lol. I am MESS

It’s really good to be playing a game again. My goal for now is to try and bond with my tribe and hopefully make alliances to keep me in the game. Right now talking to Dennis. He seems really cool, wouldnt mind working with him.

So just from the start i can already tell these players I'm with are easy going for the most part... I over all really like the tribe and can see a very solid chance that I can work with a lot of them if not all! But for the sake of this confessional having value... I'd also like to add that I'm worried that due to the laid back tribe (atm) that I might have a hard time building the connections to get in an alliance without making it due to the fact making an alliance is a very bad idea early on!

Okay so let's just get some thoughts out of the way My tribe is...interesting. I LOVE BRIAN. Well actually I love his boyfriend but still a great foundation from my side to work with him because I know he is a super sweet guy. Dennis is weird. I want to work with Nicole just because I like to work with womana because it brings me closer to God. Everyone else is irrelevant. Absolem is okay. Nathan is hilarious. He better not flop because I want to be best friends. Annabelle is the love of my life. But we did just play an ORG together that got a little messy...so idk how willing to work with me she is. Jayden said things about sports so there is no chance of us being friends. And...everyone else is irrelevant. Madigan: I stan Matt. He had the best intro out of all of us. He's a nut and I love that. I thought I knew who he was...but it turns out he's a different Keaton...and now I'm confused by the popularity of that name...Anyways, BC be still my fucking heart in an ANGEL and I want to be friends. Marie is a star in my ORG community and I always stan her. So I lowkey love this tribe and I wish i was on it. Overall...I'm ready to get this game going.

Okay so i'm normally super good at Selfie Scavenger Hunts...but this one is tough. There are a lot of hard items on here. And because it's Day 1 I don't know if I can rely on anybody on my tribe to pull their weight...guess we'll find out.

Okay I jumped the gun on Dennis. He's not weird. And he seems like he'll be a good tribe member. Not too interested in working with him, but hopefully we win a bunch and that won't matter.

so the cast is cool so far from what i saw a mix of a few faces i recognize and a few i don't which is cool because i play best when i don't know anyone i think so we'll see how this goes hopefully we win immunity and there's nothing to worry about!!

Okay so I really might have judged my tribe too soon. Charlie is a drunken riot. And Maynor seems really chill too. We have a good group. Now let's just hope we're good in challenges.

First impressions: jayden: bad music taste but likes tea kind of hard to talk to but i will get the best of him annabelle: league player?? we stan!! nathan: played once before him dont remember if we were allied but um likes drag race wooh ignored me to go watch it https://66.media.tumblr.com/0640fc1858852ee803cc45252f782259/tumblr_pk6xsgLbtq1szcwcho1_1280.png cole: said "omg ur the cole from skype love ur lipsyncs" they said yes. turns out thats not them. why lie??? nick: seems fun idk

I think my tribe is very cute ! I can already see that a couple of them are big suck ups but I hope I can use that to my advantage. I low key want to go to tribal council but I think the safest thing to do is try our best as a tribe for this first challenge and not seem weak! So I will try my best

So yay Selfie Scavenger Hunt. My favorite... I should be fine if I play a solid social game and dont score too low (right?) Also me and Nick same tribe we runnin this shit.

I like my tribe so far it's the most active tribe I have had by far.  The challenge is pretty good though and I hope we can win it and be safe.

So day 1.  This is... ahh... I'm so nervous for this game!  I have been looking so forward to playing this, but I just feel like it's going to be a rocky upward battle to make it deep... I'm trying to relate and talk to these people, and I feel like I can maybe do it with some of them... but I also know I'm like "WIGGG" and "TEAAA" and "SHJDGJHDGJ" all the time, and I just don't know if this is the tribe to act like that around... I also don't really have anyone to fully confide and trust in.  I do have people like Marie on the other tribe, but I just... ahh....

Ladies and gents, I want you to know that I refuse to go home pre-merge, and I will fight tooth and nail to make it to merge and then day 39... even if it requires me to grow up and act like a real human... I will do my best... I don't wanna let y'all down, but I also don't wanna let myself down.

So like after my antics last night, I feel like I am in a good shape. My intro amused many on my tribe which is good, and they all like me, which is EXTRA good! I feel like im on the cusp of something atm, but i am still wary of course. BC and James are my faves atm, with Marie and keaton also. But Marie, Keaton and john aren't really giving me anything but i am still gonna try. Im here to F****** win (or at least make jury but we shall see about that LOL)

this tribe in a nutshell me: "alright guys! super excited to play some Survivor with you all!! woohoooooo lets do this yeah!!!!!!" BC: "yeah!! I also like to do the surviving!!!" matt: "yeah LMAO" keaton: "..." marie: "..." john: "...okay but have you considered: Skyrim"

idk what's up with this tribe. am I setting my expectations too high? did I do something to piss everyone off?? I just want to play survivor but no one seems to want to engage with me.

BC's the only reason I'm sane atm. he's a sweetheart, we've had a few fun chats already and he seems like good company. we've gotten on the same page and realized that we're probably the two chattiest players on the tribe and should stick together. Matt isn't awful. he's funny, and I can just meme at him most of the time and he seems fine with that. wish I could get a little more out of him though. I'll give Marie a pass because she's been legit busy and hasn't had much of a chance to respond to stuff. from what little I've heard from her she seems nice. apparently she's new to discord survivor just like me, so I might be a little biased in wanting her around. I wanted Keaton to be great - he's a Kirby, I'm a Kirby, so we already had something working for us. but he's not giving me anything to work with. I'll bring something up to talk about and he'll shut it down almost immediately, in a way that makes me worried I'm getting on his nerves or something. idk, maybe our personalities just clash? but atm with Keaton my mood is zzzzzz and then there's John. I get the impression that John just doesn't give a shit. he spent all of the first night playing skyrim and ignoring me, and he hasn't said much of anything to me today. his intro and his rant show that he knows how survivor works, so why isn't he putting any effort into talking? idgi. :/

soooooo yeah that's this tribe. BC and I have teamed up, we've talked about roping in Matt as a third sometime soon. I wanna give Marie a chance as well, even talking to her tonight she's not that bad. but I'd probably be fine with voting out Keaton whenever, and I want John to go asap.

I was called Keaton from Facebook and mistaken for Maria on my tribe. This game is going great for me so far.

So far making bonds with Brian, Charlie, Dennis, and Sharky (Matt). I genuinely like them. No game talk just yet. But i wouldnt mind alligning with them. Havent talk to Nicole yet. So i need to start. Hopefully we are good and win this first immunity.

Okay top of Day 2. We're plunking away at this challenge. It's weird because since we all have our own lists we aren't talking very much... Charlie, Nicole, and Maynor are still yet to upload anything so I hope they get it together soon.

I feel like my tribe is being lazy rn like I did three tasks and I gave up because i only saw one other person doing shit!  and they can GOOO if they are going to be like that! OVER IT

no one pm's me first and when i pm them i have to keep the conversation going and it stops after like 5/10 minutes so um thats fun. really hoping we win immunities until a swap or sth. or maybe we intentionally matsing and then i just get rid of all the ppl who GHOST me. the only person who had a real conversation with me today was jayden and even that was super short and ended with him leaving me on read so um.. i guess im just super popular obviously. reading this back its gonna look so cringe NNN but this is how i FEEL

Ok so another update! So today I approached Bryce who seems like a amazing guy and I asked if we could work together and he said yes! So I hope this is a relationship that can last

I still feel kinda... like an outsider looking in.  It's only day 2, but I just feel like I have so much I need to change about my social game already.  I'm normally a crackhead when talking to people and can find those one or two people to be crackheads with, but I think I literally have to go through a complete change in order to succeed.  I need to be more ... adult?  If that makes sense...

So it's time for me to channel my inner-straight guy!  I need to just be cool and casual and normal and not be the uber obsessive Ariana stan I normally am or... "wig" this... I know I touched on this in my first confessional, but it's even more true now... I'm finding talking to some of these people a lot more challenging because I have to kinda flick on the normie switch.

Ahhh... this is going to be one hell of a ride…

Honestly I am REALLY happy where i sit in this game. I have a solid alliance of 3 with BC and James which is already good. I have a feeling we will end up at tribal, however I am not too worried because i feel like there will be some clear targets like Keaton or John. Marie is kind of laying in the middle but I know what a good player she can be so im keeping my eye on her.

Honestly I am REALLY happy where i sit in this game. I have a solid alliance of 3 with BC and James which is already good. I have a feeling we will end up at tribal, however I am not too worried because i feel like there will be some clear targets like Keaton or John. Marie is kind of laying in the middle but I know what a good player she can be so im keeping my eye on her.

Ooo girl. Do I have tea for you? LMFAO. I would make a video, but I have a lot to talk about, so you'll have to read for now.

where to even start? like LOL I guess I'll start with... this tribe fucking sucks. Literally can't stand it. And b4 someone says... "ew bboy it's b/c you don't have anybody you know huh??? you relying on meta!!!" no it's not because of that. well, sort of...

i play these games to meet new people so being on a tribe of new people doesn't phase me too much. it's that i don't like it when the tribe is inactive. like half of the people don't talk to me so it's kinda hard to do a cast analysis but I'll do one then get to the tea.

keaton: nothing really to say about him cuz I don't know him. I literally messaged him and it was SOOOOO hard to hold a conversation with him. then, I confused him with marie cuz he was kinda forgettable. thank you, next john: girl bye. idk if there's something wrong, but like john literally does not message me. and like i'm fine it's ok whatever, like i'm fine i'm fine I'll be fine, but still girl... seriously??? I would say "hey john! how are you doing?" and he'd be like "good." HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO WORK WITH THAT? LAGHALHG marie: I actually like her a lot. we get along prob cuz we're both similar - she's quirky, I'm quirky. quite the combo. we don't have any set alliance or anything, but I definitely don't want her to leave before dem inactives -.- matt: I like him... enough. he's cool and we chatted for a bit yesterday and the first day. there really isn't anything else to say but he's kinda fun??? i guess idk laghlahg but yeah there's that james: i'm prob the closest to him on the tribe. we just vibe so well together and I really do like him a lot. he's funny and chill and he was the one who initiated the alliance, to which I was like "yess girl add me in!!!" idk what else to say, because although matt/james have been more active, I jjust haven't had many convos with them individually yknow

but the little alliance we have going on is cute. <3 the name = Transcontinental Trio. It prob won't last (just being honest) but if it can get me past these few couple of rounds before the swap, I'll take it. my goal right now is to win these next few challenges and hope we don't have to go to tribal before the swap. if we do, I'd rather see john leave before keaton, because I think there's a relationship to work with keaton whereas I don't see one with john unfortunately

the tea that I have to spill is really just bitching about my tribemates I mean come the FUCK on y'all!!! wtf is the point of joining an ORG and then not talking to anybody. like does that make any fucking sense??? literally like... nnnn what is the matter with you? John infuriates me b/c like bitch if you don't have time sweetie, stick to playing Skyrim or w/e the fuck you play. my mood was when he sent us a pic of something happening in the game (idk what it was it looked dumb af) and literally NO ONE replying. like yes stick to his boring ASS!!

on top of all of that, no one (excluding my alliance) talks about anything of substance. like sure it's only been 3 days but y'all can at least find SOMETHING to talk about. i'm just so goddamn frustrated

that's it. I'm tired of bitching. i'll confessional again after results. hopefully we win or imma have to pop a bitch.

Okay we're closing in on the challenge deadline! I've gotten a ton of points. Dennis/Brian/Maynor all also posted a bunch so I'm hoping this is enough to keep us safe. Idk what Nicole is doing? But she better post something. ANYTHING really.

Where is Nicole? Like...girl, are you good? Wtf

omg so. based on nathans and nick's talking in the tribe chat they seem to know each other/mutual ppl. i will break their bond and make sure they want to work with me instead of each other. even if nathan hates pm'ing me and nick was fine to talk for a bit yesterday but today seems to hate me!

The scores are locked in. Hopefully we had enough points to keep us safe but Nicole didnt turn anything in. Hopefully nothing too bad happened. But i think if we do lose, maybe Nicole being first boot isnt too bad. Hopefully everyone thinks the same.

Okay so we demolished. Lucky for Nicole because she didn't contribute at all. And she didn't tell us she was abstaining. I'm sorry...you didn't have time to take a selfie with your cat? Bye.

MY MIND IS SO BIG AT 1:20AM. Right ok so to catch the confs up, James BC and myself have made an alliance called the transcontinental trio (An iconic name ik) so like im really happy that exists. THEN we somehow win immunity, even though Marie and John both had single digit scores LOL. like wow didn't know we could do that. then anna announces the idol system, and i fully expect too like not get far so i do it anyway. 4 mins later and i HAVE A FUCKING IMMUNITY IDOL???? LIKE BITCH WTF. I AM SO FUCKING SHOOK ITS UNREAL. I have been playing orgs for 1 1/2 years now and like I have never been able to find one! and now i do???? Jesus Christ maybe this IS my Game!

not to overreact but i want my entire tribe to go home. i had to PLUCK egg shells out of my VERY CURLY hair like i was some monkey picking ticks. i took an egg, a poor chicken would be, and used it not for nutrition. but for "fun". and its all for NOTHING. but thats ok. everyone keeps saying bc i carried i should be safe and like yes. but the REAL reason i should be safe is that its like im the only person on this tribe who wants to socialize at all!! also this idol system is so fun love choose ur own adventure type stuff. sad how i flopped first try tho.. but in 24 hours catch me with the idol! or catch me as first boot. someone just catch me im falling FAST.

This immunity is great because it gives me time to build better friendships without pressure of a vote. Charlie seems to like me, he wants to share idol guesses which is cool with me. That probably also means he'll tell me if he gets an idol which is powerful info to know. Also I won some cookies on my search. I hope they're oreos. But I'm curious as to what they'll be good for.

So....Charlie found the idol...and he told me. So guess I'm working with Charlie now. Because I want to keep tabs on this idol.

https://imgur.com/ZrG7wNV clearly doesnt realize ive never met a girl i didnt want to ally.

So we lost the challenge! Are we surprised? NOOOO AHHAHA! *sighs* anyways I think i have the numbers to get anabelle out, sorry not sorry

First tribal then Walrus is a bitch. I hate this game

i want to vote jayden out but annabelle and cole did worse in the comp so it might be hard so awk.. like nick wants annabelle out and he told cole that so its kind of over for her huh this is so sad i refuse to be on a tribe full of MEN

So far so good I really hope we can continue this momentum and I hope I can last 6 more days until the 20th of January and then I get to be two ages in one org which I have never done yet.

BC has brought me and Matt into an alliance (Transcontinental Trio!). BC is like the obvious alpha on the tribe and I’m kinda fine with that? At least I hope BC looks like a bigger threat than me, I don’t want that label lol. Matt is super charismatic, we’re finally talking regularly/about the game. He’s probably the scariest person on the tribe just because he’s so damn likable.

Keaton’s opened up a little. We bonded over thinking that we were the only ones hearing nothing from John lmao. Our first vote will probably wind up being Marie or John. I don’t want to push buttons too early, but if I get a chance at a clean shot at John I’m taking it.

So we lost the challenge which is terrible but I got the legacy advantage which is great! I’m worried ppl r voting me but that’s could be just my paranoia so ima stick to my plan of waiting for a name to be said

We won immunity and it feels great. Hopefully we could just go on an immunity run and stay safe till swap happens. I need to start making my talks with people go to game talk but maybe not as fast skmce we are safe.

edit: I really need to start watching the movies. Choose your own adventure like Idol systems always require background knowledge.

We won the first challenge and I'm so happy because I could've been voted out if we lost! This is my first Tumblr org so I'm completely lost and I accidentally told Matt that I knew Bryce from the other tribe so yay... that put a target on my back I think so hopefully we just keep on winning!

I don't have too much to update on, but I'm so glad that we aren't going to tribal because highkey I'd be in so much trouble... I've been in an emotional rut so the communication has been rough.. but we won so I have time to enjoy my tribemates in some conversations and make them love me…

Cole like what are you doing bro. Also I assume Keaton and Dennis are running shit on the other tribes.

Wow so I gotta say I am seriously impressed by this cast. I don't really know anyone and there are only 2 other people from EM... is this for real lol?? Seriously though I'm so happy to finally be playing an org with so many new people!!

Ok so first impressions of my tribe. I've already embarrassed myself by sending drunk videos to every single member of my tribe bar Nicole who wasn't online at the time.

Dennis- Easily my fav so far. I feel like we click so well and I've already talked to him way more than anyone else. Really hope I can go far with him.

Brian- Ok so I've seen this guy around on facebook and he seems funny and really nice! Our convos have been fun so hopefully we can develop a good relationship from here!

Maynor- He likes Charlie the unicorn. Therefore I like him.

Sharky- Haven't talked to him so much yet, but he seems cool and I know he was an early boot in KC.

Nicole- Haven't talked to her yet at all.

Ok so my tribe mates are KILLING this challenge! It's been difficult for me to take part cos of being up in London, but I need to add more stuff to the list lol. Otherwise we could lose, and I'll probably get blamed... eeeek.

WE WON!!! I can't believe it!! I'm so FUCKING HAPPY right now. One of our tribe mates abstained and we still won by over 200 points.. crazy shit

https://youtu.be/_LqWkiWMQw8

so we are about to go to tribal in about an hour and I think we have a plan sorted, I know nathan is saying my name and I will get votes BUT what the plan is that myself,bryce and annabelle vote jayden, jayden votes nathan and the other two will prob vote myself so we will get a 3-2-1 and jayden will go! lets hope

ok so i was out all day. and barely on. but i tried forcing jayden out bc he ignores me and i hate him. but NO. cole is cracked and when itell him to talk to nathan to secure his vote. he instead wants to vote him, then leads to jayden telling nathan that cole wants him out. so now he has no shot. bye bye cole this is sad but u so overplayed NNN glad queen annabelle is safe tho!

Cole is voted out 5-1.