#it’s femslash February my ships don’t HAVE to make sense | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

connan-l · 25 days

Text

Made of lace

Fandom: Natsume’s Book of Friends Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hinoe/Benio, one-sided Hinoe/Reiko Natsume Summary: Hinoe gets a gift from a human. Benio doesn't get it, until she does. [Femslash February 2024 Day 12: Dress] Words: 7,253 Link: AO3 | Fanfiction.net

Notes: When are you going to bring back Benio Miss Midorikawa!!

Hinoe/Benio as a ship is funny to me — I mostly like them cause I think they’re very aesthetically pleasing, but concretely I’m not sure how well they’d actually work. In the tiny glimpses we get of their relationship it doesn’t seem like Hinoe likes Benio at all lol, and we don’t know what Benio’s feelings about her could be. But hey, that’s what fics are for. (Also, I guess technically they don’t entirely fit for Femfeb given yokai aren’t supposed to care much about gender — or at least Benio likely doesn’t. But well.)

Reiko gets mentioned a lot in this too and it was completely against my will… I didn’t intend to make her such a big part of the story but in the end that’s how it went. Sorry I guess I just love Reiko too much so I can’t help it haha.

Like I said in the tag, the Hinoe/Reiko is one-sided much like in canon; but although I don’t think she returned her feelings I do like the idea that Reiko was still fond of Hinoe in some way. It’s hard to tell what Reiko’s feelings on Hinoe were in canon given we only ever get Hinoe’s perspective, but I feel that’s something that might be implied too in the series.

* * *

The thing is, Benio don’t really understand the concept of caring.

Not for other yokai, and certainly, especially not for humans. She does understand it for herself, though; she certainly care about staying alive and feeling content and being entertained. But other people or beings or whatever they might be — that’s something she’s never managed to muster the slightest care for.

Benio lives for herself first and foremost, and truthfully, most ayakashi do as well.

She does understand the concept of respect, though. There are some yokai, usually the powerful ones, that she respects and whom she doesn’t like seeing disrespected. This is the case, for instance, of Lord Riou.

Benio has known Lord Riou for as long as she could remember — she has no idea who between the two of them is the oldest, but through their centuries of mutual coexistence, they probably share a similar lifespan. Ayakashi never pay much attention to time, after all; such a silly, superficial thing best left to the humans.

But Lord Riou does pay attention to time. He pays attention to respect, too — but where he deviates from Benio and most other inhabitants of the forest, is that he also respect, weirdly enough, the humans. That’s the odd particuliarity about Lord Riou — he cares, too much, about too many things. Useless things, like the humans. He cares about making the yokai of the forest, who venerate him like a king, respect humans too. “They’re living creatures just like us,” he said once. “So if you want to keep living on my territory, then you have to let them live in peace as well. I will not tolerate anything else.”

This is utterly ridiculous to Benio, and she knows most yokai think that way as well — after all, what good humans are really for? Poor frail little things, most of them not even capable of just sensing their presence, making a mess of everything that cross their path. They’re only good to torment and to eat for dinner — and even then not all of them are tasty. Most of the forest inhabitants think like this, but they still respect Riou too much to dare challenge him. Lord Riou is powerful, after all — and although he might be about the same age as Benio, he is definitely much, much stronger. And strength is law in their world.

But even with all this strength, Lord Riou never touch humans — because, for some stupid, unfathomable reason, Lord Riou loves them. He often disguises himself as one of their kin, spend time in their villages, play around, talk, laugh with them. And whenever he comes back, there’s a brightness in his eyes, an awed look on his face; and the wonder radiating from his being sometimes even makes it hard to just look at him. Because it makes Benio ponders what on earth he might’ve found in the human village that gave him this expression — what on earth might’ve gotten him to care so much.

“He got his heart stolen,” Lady Hinoe says during a party before laughing loudly. “What a pitiful thing.”

Benio doesn’t know Lady Hinoe very much. She’d seen her and talked to her a few times here and there, and she had heard of her even before that. Hinoe is quite famous around here, after all; the bearer of curses who loves stealing the hearts of innocent, pretty humans girls only to torment them later on — and who does much worse to human men. She’s among the only ayakashi allowed to speak poorly of Lord Riou in these parts, because she is also very strong and anyone daring to criticizes her would get themselves cursed.

They say she is actually a real romantic despite her habit of breaking human girls’ hearts — and that she goes around looking for female yokai lovers in desperate search of her one true love. Benio thinks this particular part is ridiculous — romance means caring, and caring is something that would never makes any sense to her. Yokai who so desperately tries to replicate humans’ stupid relationships and customs are the most abject of beings to her. Nevertheless, she has to admit that a part of her cannot help but be interested by Lady Hinoe. She is quite powerful and elegant and gorgeous, after all, and Benio loves beauty. She’ll always be a butterfly at heart, unable to resist the attraction of shiny pretty things. However, she does find Lady Hinoe too boisterous for her tastes, often lacking in delicacy, and so that actively discourages her to get any closer to her.

She thinks, however, that Lady Hinoe must be right about Lord Riou this time. He must have gotten a part of him stolen by the humans; and in turns, he often come back with things he took from them, too.

“I haven’t stolen anything from them, Benio,” he replies to her once, after pulling out an ugly fake puppy made of cotton he’d gotten from that human hunter he mentions regularly. Riou always takes the appearance of a child when he goes to the village, so that might be why the hunter thought he’d like a stuffed animal. “He gave it to me. As my friend.”

Benio snorts, and manage to not roll her eyes. “Friend. And what are you going to even do with this, Lord Riou?”

“Cherish it, of course. This is what gifts from people you love are for, don’t you agree?”

Benio huffs, and thinks, I don’t love people, even less so if these people are humans. And while she doesn’t say it out loud, Riou seems to read it on her face, because then he gives her a strange, fond look, and gently smile at her.

Benio thinks she hates that smile. Such a soft thing is unbefitting of being on the face of one of the strongest yokai she knows, one who rule over the forest.

“That’s a sad thing to not agree on. I hope you do, one day.”

And then Benio actually let herself laugh.

What a ridiculous king. She wishes she didn’t respect him as much.

* * *

Reiko Natsume. Lady Natsume. Natsume of the Book of Friends. Or, sometimes, just ‘Reiko’ or just ‘Natsume.’

Benio doesn’t really remember when that human’s name started spreading like wildfire among yokai, but the moment it did it seemed to be all they could talk about. She seemed like a disease, almost; poisoning and destroying everything on her way. She mercilessly took the names of any who dared to oppose her, weaponizing such terrifying powers, and she quickly became a legend among the forest and mountains; a girl as powerful as a god and as scary as an oni.

Among all these rumors, Benio can’t really tell the truth from the lie, but no one is spared. Even Lord Riou gets challenged by her and, stunningly, actually loses — which the whole forest still hasn’t gotten over. And, maybe unsurprisingly, even Lord Madara and Lady Hinoe seems taken by the strange phenomenon.

“Lord Madara, what’s going on with Lady Hinoe?” Benio asks the large wolfish creature one night.

Benio has known Madara for quite some time; although much like Riou, she wouldn’t be able to tell how many. He is older than her, though, she is pretty sure; older than most ayakashi around, really. Much like Benio, he doesn’t like people, yokai or humans — so that’s a rarity to see him at a party. The only thing the grumpy Lord Madara seems to enjoy is his sake, but he generally prefer to enjoy it alone; that’s why Benio was so surprised to see him here tonight.

Although he does seem more social lately, for some reason. Coincidentally since Natsume has started hanging around here. Madara is hard to get along with, but Benio finds him amusing. He is always complaining and trying to keep his distance with everyone, but at the end of the day, he is not that different from Lord Riou — both have a heart way too soft for all the power they possesses; but the difference is that Lord Riou wear that heart in his sleeve, while Lord Madara tries to hide it has much as possible.

The beast slurps at his large cup of sake, then snorts as his gaze poise on the blue-haired yokai slumped against a tree. She’s alone, frowning, and clearly not having a great time. In fact, it doesn’t even seem like she wants to be here at all.

“She’s gotten rejected by Natsume,” he explains, and Benio arches an eyebrow.

“Natsume? Did she stole her name?”

“Worse. She stole her heart.”

Benio blinks. Doesn’t really understand the meaning of that until long, long seconds later.

“What?”

“Natsume didn’t even want her name. Hinoe got smitten, but the girl doesn’t want to have anything to do with her.”

“S— Smitten? Lady Hinoe? With a human?”

That sounds so ridiculous Benio can’t even wrap her mind around it. Lady Hinoe fooled around with human girls a lot, but only to torment them. She certainly never had any real feelings for them. Even a yokai falling for another yokai in itself was ludicrous, so for a human?

How shameful. Disgusting. Benio can’t even bear the idea.

“The girl turned her trick on her,” Lord Madara continues. “How pathetic.”

“You say this as if you don’t spend all your time hanging out around that Natsume human as well,” another ayakashi throws at Lord Madara, and then a couple others chuckles. The moment the old wolf glares at them, however, they cut it off instantly.

It is true, though. Benio has heard about Lord Madara’s strange habit to spend time with the girl as well. Which is even more mesmerizing than Lady Hinoe’s newfound love to her, given how much he hates people. Not that she’d actually say that to his face, of course — she values her life too much.

Benio sighs, then, after a moment of consideration, she leaves Lord Madara’s side and approaches Lady Hinoe. She sit down next to her, but Hinoe barely acknowledges her presence.

“Good evening, Lady Hinoe. Don’t you look lovely tonight,” she says, and Hinoe huffs.

“Go away, Benio. I don’t want to entertain you.”

“So that is true, then? You got infatuated with some human? How disgraceful.”

“Reiko isn’t ‘some human.’ Watch your tongue.”

Benio scoffs. “What is so special about that girl, anyway? Is she the big one true love you’ve been looking for?”

Finally, Lady Hinoe turns her head towards her, red eyes glaring and red lips tight with anger. Benio don’t look away. Lady Hinoe is stronger than her, but that doesn’t mean Benio fear her, either.

“Someone like you could never understand.”

And Hinoe’s probably right, too. Benio never cared for caring about anyone but her, after all.

Even so, she doesn’t leave Lady Hinoe. She stays there, next to her, for the rest of the party — and it’s not to comfort her, certainly not, but even Benio wouldn’t be able to tell a reason if anyone asked.

* * *

Benio finds out what the big deal about Reiko Natsume is not long after that.

It all happens very quickly; one moment she was simply leisurely walking down the river as usual, and the next she found herself spectator of a conflict between a young girl and a dozen of tsuchigumo wanting to skin her alive. The human has no problem taking them down all at once thanks to a weird long, polished stick covered in talismans, and Benio watches the whole thing take place without a sound, a little bemused. She wasn’t going to feel bad for the tsuchigumo — as a butterfly yokai herself she very much was not their biggest fan — but she did feel quite baffled a little human girl was able to demonstrate such a show of strength.

It doesn't take long for Benio to realize that this girl was none other than the infamous Reiko Natsume, owner of the Book of Friends — after all, who else could it be? There certainly were no other human around that would fit the description. When she noticed Benio’s presence after her showdown with the tsuchigumo, Natsume grinned and challenged her to a match — but Benio liked her name and independence too much to accept it. She changed into a butterfly and flew off before the girl could say anything more, and she seemed quite shocked to have been rebutted that way. Benio supposes that didn’t happen very often to her, after all — and she would learn later the only other ayakashi who had ever refused one of her games was Lord Madara himself.

Benio kept catching glimpses of Reiko Natsume here and there after that. Sometimes with Madara, sometimes with Hinoe, sometimes alone. And… well — for as much as Benio had been pretty annoyed by the obsession the yokai of the forest had for that child, right now, she had to admit that she did start to feel intrigued. At least a little. There was definitely something… special, emanating from this girl. She was just so different from other humans, so mesmerizing; a little scary, a little endearing, a little sad; and it was hard not to be captivated. She was also quite pretty, with her long silver hair and sharp green eyes — and on that sense, Benio supposed Lady Hinoe didn’t have bad tastes. Benio was not, would never be, enthralled by such a creature — Benio did not care. But the more she caught sight of the little human girl, the more the ambient fascination made sense.

But at the very least she felt relieved that she would never behave as ridiculously as Lady Hinoe when it came to Reiko Natsume. The poor thing seemed to have completely thrown her pride away; whenever the girl was around or even just mentioned, she would become so utterly joyful, ecstatic, euphoric. Desperate to get her attention or please her in anyway. Benio had never seen her like that before, ever.

And despite how beautiful Lady Hinoe usually was, Benio could barely stand to stare at her in that state.

It is during one sunny summer morning that Benio comes across Lady Hinoe in the strangest form of all. She is, as often lately, in a particular good mood; humming to herself, spinning around like a little child with a big smile; but her expression isn’t the only strange thing. What she’s wearing is.

This is a dress. A human dress, Benio presumes — and more than presumes, actually, she realizes while scrunching her nose because that thing stinks of humans. How is Lady Hinoe able to wear this without throwing up is baffling.

It is of a delicate, deep scarlet color, all in lace and fluff, tightening Lady Hinoe’s silhouette from the shoulders to the knee and leaving her arms completely bare. Maybe Benio would find it pretty if it wasn’t for the fact this is something clearly made for humans by humans, and humans are the ugliest thing in the world.

(Well, except Reiko Natsume, but she does not count. Benio sometimes even doubt that this girl is human at all.)

Lady Hinoe finally notices her presence as she stops being busy contemplating her silhouette in the surface of the river. She turns around, her strawberry lips matching her eyes and dress smiling brightly at her — and if Benio’s heart twitches a little at the sight, well, she simply ignores it, like she does most things she doesn’t like. Lady Hinoe must be in an especially good mood today for her to smile like this at Benio of all people, instead of her face crumpling in distaste like she usually does upon seeing her.

“Oh ho! Look who’s here, if that isn’t Benio.” She spins around once again, then take a pan of her dress in order to show off the outfit. “How do I look?”

Benio arches an eyebrow at her cheerfulness. “Human.”

She can’t help it. She certainly would never gave a compliment to anyone when they’re wearing something man-made, and even less so to Lady Hinoe.

The bearer of curses groan, then roll her eyes. “Well, yes, it is.”

“And you’re still wearing it.”

“I do. I don’t like human things, but this one is different.”

“Different how so?”

Hinoe grins, almost smugly, as if she knows a secret nobody else knows. “Reiko gave it to me.”

Somehow, that might explains the blasphemous sight of a yokai wearing humans’ clothes she has in front of her, but that only manage to make Benio feel even more confused.

“Why would she do that?”

Finally, Lady Hinoe’s smile falter a little at this, and a slight frown take its place instead. “That, I’m not really sure. She just told me she ended up getting this dress, but she doesn’t like it, so she gave it to me instead.”

“How nice of her.”

“Isn’t it? To think I’m the first woman she thinks of when she needs to give a dress to someone!”

And she is sincere, too. Her red eyes are shining, her cheeks are tainted of a slight blush and her smile is so big it might threaten to swallow her whole face. She looks so happy, and so in love, and Benio’s mouth turns to ashes.

She cannot believe how delusional Lady Hinoe is when it comes to Reiko Natsume. She doesn’t even have the heart to point out the poor lonely girl probably doesn’t even know any other woman besides Hinoe — as much as a yokai can be called a ‘woman,’ anyway — and that she literally said she did not like that dress. It isn’t a sweet, thoughtful gift, more like something Natsume didn’t know what to do with and threw at Lady Hinoe at random because she wanted to get rid of it.

(Although truthfully, why didn’t she just threw it in the trash then is a bit of a mystery.)

But Lady Hinoe doesn’t even seem to care about any of that. To her, it is a nice gesture from Natsume towards her, specifically — and so she accepts it like birds throwing themselves at bread crumbs.

“She even called me beautiful, you know? She said it’d fit me. So I’ve decided I was just going to wear it all the time now. Maybe then she’ll keep calling me beautiful!”

“I think she’d rather you stop following her around like that all the time. Doesn’t humans have a word for that? And they threw people in cages for it as well?”

Lady Hinoe rolls her eyes. “I don’t ‘follow her around all the time.’ And anyway, that’s not the topic now. You still haven’t answered my question. Do I look good? I think I’ll try a new haircut too, so I need to know.”

Benio feels like she’s facing a strange dilemma. There can only be one response to this question, because truthfully Lady Hinoe is beautiful and, objectively speaking, so is this dress despite its… humanness, so there’s no way she cannot say yes. But the whole perspective of Lady Hinoe, the cruel, powerful bearer of curses, dressing up in a human dress just to pleases a human girl and having the slight, slight chance of gaining a little bit of her care, is so nauseating to Benio.

She may understand the fascination for Natsume, but she just cannot, no matter what, wrap her mind around why Lady Hinoe let herself degrade herself like this that badly.

“You know she’s going to die one day, right?” She says instead of replying. “Quicker than you’ll realize, too. One day you’ll blink and she’ll be all wrinkled and gray-haired and she’ll be a rotting corpse before you even notice it. You know that, right?”

And Benio doesn’t think she’s being particularly cruel here — this is something only normal, logical, to know about. This is one of the reasons why caring for humans — for anyone, really, but especially for humans — is so utterly ridiculous.

This is why Benio refuses to be as stupid as Lady Hinoe and Lord Madara and all those other dull-witted yokai who got their names and hearts stolen and yearn endlessly for the affection of a girl who doesn’t even know how to love.

Benio may enjoy Reiko Natsume, may have fun watching her dominates the forest — but she’ll never, ever allows herself to love her.

But then at her words Hinoe’s face crumple. It feels as if Benio told her the most evil thing she’s ever heard, and she first briefly looks afflicted before quickly switching to anger — and Benio instinctively flinch, then, because an angry Lady Hinoe is never something good to witness.

“Right,” she says with so much spite Benio feel a chill going down her spine. “I don’t know why I even bothered to ask you. I don’t care what you think. Go be a miserable, bitter insect and die all alone in a corner without anyone caring for you.”

And then Lady Hinoe simply turns around and leaves, and Benio thinks she would’ve preferred she put a curse on her instead. Although she feels a little like she was forced to suddenly swallows a thousands of needles, so maybe she did curse her after all, Benio just hasn’t noticed it.

Once the shock fade away, however, it is Benio’s turn to feel angry. Because who is being the fool here, really? Benio is the one who’s going to die alone and miserable, when Hinoe’s the idiot pinning for a mortal girl she’ll never have?

Benio may die alone, one day, in a few thousands of centuries, but she will most certainly not die miserable.

Because unlike Hinoe, and Madara, and Riou and all those other mindless dunces, she knows perfectly what to expects from life and doesn’t try to yearn for anything more.

On that sense, she is pretty sure that she and Reiko Natsume are exactly the same.

* * *

The day the owner of the Book of Friends disappears plunge the forest into deep, deep mourning.

So many of the forest inhabitants looks for her, begs for her presence, calls her name — but as usual, Reiko Natsume is cold and unfeeling and she never, ever calls anyone back.

Benio has no idea what happened to her, but one day she just stopped coming — and that shouldn’t be surprising, really, with that whimsical girl, but it doesn’t change the feeling of something being suddenly missing. Benio doesn’t really think she’s dead — because truthfully, no matter how much she made fun of Lady Hinoe for seemingly thinking Reiko Natsume would always be here, there’s something a little… everlasting, about that girl. She is a human, a mortal, but she doesn’t really seems like one — so the idea of anyone getting the best of her sounds ludicrous.

But she stops coming. Regardless of what actually happened to her, that still means she’s not here anymore; and so she might as well be dead. Most yokai around seems to understand that and starts mourning her as such. Even Lord Misuzu of the swamp has become much more quieter than usual.

This is also followed by the disappearance of Lord Riou — and then of Lord Madara. It almost feels like the girl took those two down with her, even if she feels that can’t be right. Although it might be for Lord Madara. He was, after all, spending most of his time with her, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he was somehow involved in her sudden vanishment.

Benio doesn’t mourn. She never cared for Reiko Natsume, she keeps repeating to herself — so whether she comes or not to the forest anymore, it is none of business.

Benio doesn’t mourn, and doesn’t care — but sometimes, ever so slightly, she feels like she can catch the sight of a silver thread behind a tree, of a fluttering skirt at the detour of a bushes, the swing of a stick covered in talismans whenever she sees a tsuchigumo; and every time she’s proven to be wrong, she feels her heart deflates in disappointment, in a strange sadness that she doesn’t quite understand. Doesn’t really let herself understand.

That’s an ache in her chest that an uncaring person like her doesn’t need — that she swore to herself she would never feel, and she just… doesn’t know what to do with it.

She tries to bear it; doesn’t have any other choice. Hopes it’ll fade away with time.

(It doesn’t.

And then she feels like the biggest fool of them all — because for as much as she looked down on all those other yokai who let themselves gets attached, she’s really not that different.

She preserved her name, but her heart was snatched away regardless.)

That aches that Benio feels, however, is clearly nothing in comparison to what Lady Hinoe must feel.

Truthfully, she doesn’t really sees her in the days and weeks and months that follows Natsume’s disappearance. Mostly because Hinoe spend all this time looking for her, and the few times Benio catch sight of her is when she’s coming back to the forest, alone and empty handed and with eyes darker than hell itself. Benio vaguely heard rumors of Natsume and Hinoe having had a falling out of sorts before she left, so she wonders if maybe, on top of missing her, Hinoe simply feels guilty. Maybe she thinks Natsume is deliberately ignoring her; which, for all she knows, might actually be true. She looks like a ghost, wandering around looking for the girl, doing favors for random yokai so that they might maybe give her the slightest bit of information about her lost beloved.

None of it works, of course, because Benio has no doubt that if Reiko Natsume doesn’t want to be found, no one will be able to do it. So the months and years goes by, and Lady Hinoe looks more and more wretched; just a shadow of her former glorious self. She has no interest in tricking and tormenting young girls anymore, no interest in the parties and sake, no interest in throwing curse around just because she can. The yokai still speak about Natsume of the Book of Friends, in discreet whispers and awed voices, but the more time flow by with no sight of the girl, and the more she feels like an actual legend, sometimes posing doubt as to whether she even really existed in the first place.

One day, Benio come across Lady Hinoe in the dim light of a clearing. She’s all alone, her long blue hair cascading her shoulders, wearing her usual kimono. She’s staring down at something, on the ground, with vacant eyes.

Benio wishes she could say meeting Lady Hinoe here is a coincidence, like it is most times, but… it isn’t. She’s actually been keeping an eye on her for some time now, even tracking her around. If Hinoe noticed that, she did not make any mentions of it.

Benio doesn’t do it because she cares. She doesn’t. This is just… out of curiosity. To sees what Lady Hinoe intends to do next.

And that pitiful sight in front of her — a disheveled woman, shadow of the mighty, feared yokai she used to be, also does nothing to her heart. No ache at all. Benio doesn’t feel angry in the slightest about seeing someone as powerful and beautiful as Lady Hinoe in such a state, when she should know better — when she should’ve known better from the start.

“You knew she was going to leave at some point, right?” Benio asks. Lady Hinoe doesn’t answer. Doesn’t move. “If not leave, she would have died one day. Or what? Did you think you could convince her to stay here her whole life? That you would’ve been able to — turn her into one of us, somehow?”

Not that it would’ve been impossible. Humans turning into yokai are not uncommon, after all; although Benio herself has met very few of them. And for someone as unhappy, lonely and powerful as Reiko Natsume, who had already been shunned by her own kin and sometimes even barely felt human at all — well, honestly, it probably wouldn’t have have been that hard or surprising. Though the idea very much repulse Benio.

In some way, humans are much like butterflies; they live only for an instant and disappear just as soon — but there's still a major difference between them, and it's their ways of life. Benio was blessed to become a yokai, but humans should just stay humans. They do not possesses the aptitude to becomes eternal creatures defying their fates. Is that any wonder that every human-turned-yokai she’s heard of are miserable beings that are only talked about as tragedies, unable to truly fit in and accept their newfound condition? Benio never missed her past before turning into a yokai, but that’s because she used to only be a mindless insect with no dreams or wishes of her own. A human, on the other hand, would always mourn the former life they got robbed of.

But this is also the only thing that Benio have over Reiko Natsume. She’ll never be as strong or as fascinating as her or win over Lady Hinoe’s heart as thoroughly as she did, but at least Benio would get to share that eternal life with Hinoe.

“I knew,” Lady Hinoe suddenly says without looking up from the ground, almost surprising Benio. “I knew… that she was going to be gone one day.” She chuckles, but it sounds empty, even to Benio’s ears. “Truthfully, I also knew she didn’t care much for me. I’m not like Madara; I was only one of many yokai to her — and she probably has already forgotten all about me. She didn’t even judge me interesting enough to have in her Book.”

Benio doesn’t point out Lord Madara wasn’t in the Book of Friends either. She isn’t sure what it means, if it means anything at all; but she doesn’t think her name being in the Book or not is any indication of Natsume’s feelings for Lady Hinoe either way.

But it’s not like it matter much anymore.

Reiko Natsume is gone, so no one will ever be able to tell.

“Why are you still here?” Lady Hinoe asks, and suddenly she lifts her head towards Benio.

Her ruby eyes are very dark, very empty; and Benio… Benio, as it has often been the case in the last few years, can’t stand to look at them. Can’t stand to see her eyes so dull and dead.

That is not a look that the great Lady Hinoe, bearer of the curses, should have.

She might have found her disgusting, but she would take back the lively, cheerful Lady Hinoe in love any day over this one.

So for once, Benio decides to be honest.

“I thought you would need the company.”

Lady Hinoe stares at her in silence. It is like she is trying to gauge the veracity of those words, and Benio actually wishes she can tell that she is being honest.

But then the moment is gone, and Hinoe just laughs.

“I don’t want company.”

Lady Hinoe turns around, and it is only now that Benio realizes what the other ayakashi has been staring at all this time on the ground: the scarlet human dress. It looks dirty and teared apart at the seams, and Benio looks down at it curiously, as if not comprehending what she’s seeing.

Hinoe cared so much for that dress. Treasured it so much, like a precious diamond; like it was Reiko Natsume herself. And now she just decided to leave it on the ground carelessly, letting it get dirtied and muddied by the forest like that?

“That dress…”

“I don’t need it anymore. I doubt Reiko cared that much about it anyway.”

Lady Hinoe leaves, long hair sweeping in her back, not even sparing a single glance at the dress or Benio.

And Benio, miserably, shamefully, pathetically, aches.

She aches at Reiko Natsume’s departure, she aches at Hinoe’s pitiful state, she aches at the pretty human dress, the cherished gift, now drowning in mud all by itself.

Benio never know how to handle that ache — so in an attempt to soothe it, she bends down and get back the piece of cloth.

* * *

Reiko Natsume’s grandson is just like her and just not like her in all the parts that matters.

Their physical resemblance is striking; so much it is a little disturbing to see. He has her face and her eyes and her hair and her frightening powers, but his smile is genuine and kind, his voice is soft, his words friendly. Whereas Reiko only communicated through fighting and stealing, Takashi talks and gives back. Benio cannot stop thinking about his statement, when she first met him, about him wanting to be “a bridge between humans and yokai.”

How ridiculous, she’d thought then. But the more she watches him — the more good he’s able to do throughout the forest and the more yokai he’s able to help — the more a part of her feel this wish might not just be some stupid throwaway words.

He cares too much, just like Riou and Madara and Hinoe, and as Benio keeps on watching him, she wonders when that caring is inevitably going to cost him.

Just like what happened to Lord Riou. Although he might be back now, that caring took so much out of him that he decided to swear off seeing humans ever again. And Benio is glad for him, too. She certainly doesn’t understand how anyone would to keep doing this after getting hurt this badly.

She thought Lady Hinoe and Lord Madara would have come to the same conclusion as Lord Riou after what happened with Reiko Natsume too — but, bewilderingly, they don’t. It seems the both of them still ended up falling head over heels over her grandson regardless.

So Benio watches.

She watches the boy and his merry group of monsters from afar —and feel some longing, some aches over seeing this human child who looks so much like Reiko Natsume but isn’t her; and then she suddenly realizes that she’s starting to grow the same fascination and attachment for him that she had for his grandmother. So much for not wanting to stay with humans, like she said to Lord Madara.

She inadvertently end up joining Takashi Natsume’s silly yokai followers half against her will — friends, he calls them, just like what Lord Riou called his humans — and party with them, while her brain keeps screaming at her that she would do better to cut ties and run away from here before she gets contaminated by the strange illness that has taken over Lady Hinoe and Lord Madara years and years before. She knows how the story ends. She’s seen it, experienced it before with Reiko Natsume — and it is not a happy story.

But she doesn’t run away.

She stays, while doing her best to keep on not caring.

(It doesn’t really work.)

It is one night, to her utter surprise, that Lady Hinoe comes to see her out of the blue. That has never happened before; usually, they only each other by coincidence, at parties, or Benio is the one seeking her out. Although she stopped doing this since the last time they saw each other after Reiko Natsume’s disappearance.

But this time, Lady Hinoe visits her on her own at Benio’s cozy little clearer hidden next to a large summer lilac. Benio doesn’t have a home the way humans does — unless the whole of the forest count as one — but this is the place she enjoys coming back to when she needs rest and silence. This isn’t a secret, either, so Lady Hinoe knowing about it shouldn’t be odd — yet Benio can’t hide her surprise, staring at her in stunned silence. Hinoe chuckles.

“What’s the long face for? Can’t I go visit an old friend when I want to?”

“I had no idea we were friends,” Benio replies, actually genuine. She could give a lot of names to her relationship with Lady Hinoe, but friends isn’t one of them.

“Natsume calls you his friend, and I’m Natsume’s friend.”

“Even if I were to agree that I am indeed young Natsume’s friend, that still would not make us friends.”

“Heh. Well, I suppose not. Then again, believe it or not, you’re not the worst ayakashi to hang around with. Plus, I like your female appearance.”

Benio snorts. Although she is also someone who’s always put a lot of importance into the appearances of others — she would never give the time of day to anyone even remotely ugly to her tastes — she never understood Lady Hinoe’s obsession for those human gender things either.

“I just wanted to see you, I guess,” Lady Hinoe says. “I was surprised to see you started hanging out with Natsume too. I mean, he’s not really the type you take an interest in usually — and you always says humans disgusts you. Well, you don’t really take interest in anyone in general.”

“That is true. But that child did save Lord Riou. Lord Madara seems fond of him. And,” she says with some hesitance, proceeding carefully with her next words. “He is still Reiko Natsume’s grandson. That alone make him worthy of interest.”

Lady Hinoe chuckles again, but doesn’t add anything else.

“…You seem to be doing fine,” Benio declares after some seconds of silence.

“Hmm? Do I?”

“After Reiko Natsume left, you were a mess. I was wondering if you’d ever go back to normal.”

Lady Hinoe appears to contemplates the words for a moment. “I don’t think I’ll ever go back to how I was before Reiko,” she says, a quiet sadness in her voice. “She changed me too much. But… that’s true. I am better. I still can’t fathom the fact she is actually dead, though. Even after she disappeared, I kept hoping that maybe one day she’ll…” She shake her head. “Well, it was stupid. I’ve come to terms with it now. And I’m glad I got to meet her grandson, he’s a funny child. Very disappointing he’s a boy, though.”

Lady Hinoe’s apparent fondness for the Natsume boy is more surprising than Benio hanging out with him, truthfully. After all, not only is he a man, but he’s also the type of person Lady Hinoe usually dislikes — too frail, too gentle, too self-sacrificing. And yet she seems almost as attached to him as she was to his grandmother. Maybe the boy does have some strange magical powers.

“…I’m curious to see that you’re not jealous.”

“Jealous?” Hinoe repeats.

“Of Reiko Natsume’s supposed lover. I would think you would hate it. That she found someone else, especially a man.”

“Oh.” Lady Hinoe seems to ponder over this, then shake her head. “Maybe I would have, years ago. I can’t say I’m happy about it either, but… After she left, I kept wondering what her life might be like. I wondered if she was still lonely. If she found someone who truly loved her, then that is not something I can possibly be angry about, right? …Even if it was a man.”

Maybe that makes sense. In a way, she’d already mourned Reiko Natsume’s death throughout all those decades. Maybe she’d actually accepted long ago the fact there was no way a human like Reiko, no matter how exceptional, would ever build a life with a yokai and that it was only natural she’d settle down with another one of her kind one day.

Lady Hinoe’s gaze suddenly leaves Benio’s eyes to fixates on something behind her. A rock, that stands right under the summer lilac, and Benio almost feel her heart skip a beat as she realizes what the other ayakashi is staring at.

There is a piece of cloth, on the rock. An old lace dress, of a deep scarlet color.

At first, neither of them speak a single word; until Lady Hinoe finally opens her mouth, and murmurs, in a barely audible voice: “You kept it.”

“…I did.”

“Why?”

Lady Hinoe’s slender, manicured fingers grabs the dress, slowly caressing the tissue. Although it is now quite old, it’s still been kept very clean and polished; Benio has made sure of it. She took care of it carefully for all those years, hidden away from prying eyes, as if it was still waiting for someone to put it on.

Benio can’t answer her question. There is no logical reason that would’ve pushed her to do such a thing; no explanation that would makes sense for her character, with her way of life.

The only reason that could be given is a sentimental one; that it was a present once given to a yokai by a human, a gift like that plush Lord Riou kept so preciously. Something that has no meaning, but once made that yokai so very happy.

The only reason Benio would’ve done something like this is if she were to care for Lady Hinoe — and there is no way she would allow herself that.

“I don’t know,” is thus the only thing she can say; and then Hinoe looks at her and, bewilderingly, actually smile. If she didn’t know any better, Benio would almost feel embarrassed because it almost feel like Lady Hinoe saw right through her lie.

“Well… You did a good job at keeping it intact. It almost looks exactly like the day Reiko gave it to me.”

“…Maybe we could give it to her grandson.”

Lady Hinoe laughs. “And what would he do with it? He’s a boy, remember?”

“Does human boys not wear dresses? I’ll never understand human customs.”

Lady Hinoe shake her head, though Benio doesn’t know if it’s because she thinks she’s being stupid or because she agrees with her statement.

“Reiko didn’t even like that dress anyway. That’s why she gave it to me.”

Sadness permeates her words once more, before being swept away as she looks at Benio again.

“Thanks for keeping it,” she says. “I was a fool to throw it away, and I actually regretted it afterwards. It does mean a lot to me… especially now that she’s not here anymore.” She hesitates a little, and a bit more bashfully, she adds: “You won’t ever hear that from me again, but I wanted to say I was sorry for how I treated you before. You were right, too. Obviously, caring so much for Reiko was stupid, but… But I still don’t regret it. Despite everything.”

Benio doesn’t answer, and tries not to look away, tries not to let the warmth that blossoms through her chest not show too much on her face. She wonders if Lady Hinoe can tell anyway, because she grins back at her.

“You never did tell me how you thought I looked in it. Was I beautiful?”

Lady Hinoe doesn’t regret caring for Reiko Natsume, for her grandson, but Benio does. She knows caring only leads to bad things. Only leads to regret and suffering.

Yokai don’t need caring. But then, she thinks about the look in Lord Riou’s eyes as he spoke of his human friends, of the way Lord Madara’s face lit up when he is at the Natsume boy’s sides, at Lady Hinoe’s shining figure when she was in love with the Natsume girl.

Benio doesn’t let herself caring — but just this once, instead of answering, she let herself step forward towards Hinoe and press her lips against hers.

#Natsume Yuujinchou #NatsuYuu #Natsume's Book of Friends #Hinoe #FemslashFeb2024 #Benio #HinoBeni #BeniHino #Femslash February #Femslash Feb #FemFeb #Natsuchou #Connan's Fanfics #Hinoe NatsuYuu #Benio NatsuYuu #Hinoe x Benio

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merryfortune · 1 year

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accidentally sleeping on her own feelings

Written for Femslash February 2023

Prompt: Asleep

Title: accidentally sleeping on her own feelings

Ship: Kokone/Ran/Yui

Fandom: Delicious Party Pretty Cure

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,314

Tags: Fluff, Established Relationship, Love Confessions

“I’m so jealous of Yui, I wish I could fall asleep so quickly.” Kokone observed as she knelt beside Yui.

Yui, meanwhile, who was all sprawled out, belly-up, on her mattress, both her shirt and her sheets askew over body. Kokone shook her head and she made sure to pull Yui’s bed shirt over her - as well as her blanket. She nattered happily, smiling in her sleep after Kokone’s nannying. That made Kokone happy, however, and even Ran almost went aww, though she was too busy talking aloud in reply to Kokone’s observation on Yui.

“Yeah, me too,” Ran lamented with a sigh, “it's always so noisy and crazy at my house, it takes forever to get some peace and quiet so I can go to sleep.”

“I just have too many thoughts in my head. It must be nice to be able to go out like a light at a moment’s notice.” Kokone said.

“Mmhm.” Ran nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

“We should finish up and go to bed as well, yes?” Kokone suggested.

“Mmhm.” Ran continued to grunt and nod.

“I’ll use the bathroom next, if you don’t mind then, to brush my teeth.” Kokone said.

“Yeah, that’s fine, I’ll wait here with Yui.” Ran replied.

Kokone got up gracefully and Ran stayed behind with Yui. Their sleepovers had a tendency to go this way. Yui would always fall asleep first, despite loudly announced intentions of making it to midnight for the express purpose of enjoying a midnight snack or two or three with both Kokone and Ran. However, come ten o’clock sharp, she was always the first to go to sleep. The lights didn’t even have to be turned off for it. She was just that blissful in her sense of self and routine, supposed Kokone and Ran.

They didn’t mind, however. They found Yui’s ditziness endearing and a good reminder for themselves. It wasn’t good to stay up late. Even on a rare Saturday they were able to have a sleepover at all.

Ran yawned as she stretched. She heard Kokone very quietly brush her teeth in the conjoining ensuite. Now that Ran thought about it, she did feel kind of tired. She hoped she could sleep alright. These mattresses weren’t always the most comfortable thing, she thinks she would prefer a futon but for some reason, despite being attached to a Japanese style diner, they didn’t have spare futons at the Nagomi household. Weird but it was an amusing kind of weird.

They always had their sleepovers at Yui’s house, considering everything else they did was at Yui’s house, it just made sense. Her Mother was a good host, as well, and had these thin pull-out mattresses that flopped on the floor for them to sleep on. And even though Yui lived here, duh, she always slept on the floor as well. Mostly to get in on the action of sharing popcorn and schoolyard gossip but partially to be polite, as well. Thus, her bed made for a great depository for the other girls’ sleepover gear like their overnight bags and such.

“I’m finished.” Kokone said as she returned from the bathroom’s threshold.

“My turn.” Ran grinned. “Thanks.”

Ran began to get up but something - or, more accurately, someone - stopped her. She blinked and even Kokone turned her head.

“I’m not done…” Yui mumbled. “I’m not finished… eating.”

Kokone giggled as politely as she could at Yui’s expense, from behind her hand, “I didn’t know Yui talked in her sleep.”

“I think I did know that it would make total sense, personally, that she would dream about eating, however.” Ran joked.

“Pwease… Mister Bunny Rabbit, can I have some more carrots?” Yui gurgled.

Ran began to chuckle at Yui’s rambling as well but then she sharply turned over.

“Mister Bunny Rabbit… How could you ask such a thing?” Yui murmured.

“Oh? Controversy in dreamland, perhaps?” Kokone blinked.

Sensing that this was a good time to record, Ran cautiously got her smart watch ready so she could videotape whatever it was that Yui was about to start talking about. In the meantime, she reached for one of her two pillows, the one not under her head but rather to her side, just underneath her bed as she always slept closest to it.

“How could you… ask such a thing…” Yui repeated.

Her repetition just made Kokone more eager to hear the next piece of this conversation. Assuming it didn’t change rapidly as dreams were prone to doing. Ran, meanwhile, had her tongue poked out in complete concentration as she continued to video Yui.

“Yes… I have a crush.” Yui gurgled, burying her head in her pillow, only to roll the other way and become suddenly loud. “I have TWO crushes.”

“Oh dear…” Kokone giggled.

“Their names are… Koko-pi and Ran-Ran…” Yui murmured.

“Oh dear is right.” Ran giggled.

There was, indeed, a little issue with Yui’s crushes. Namely that she was already dating them both - and had fallen asleep on yet another of their sleepover dates. Their parents only sort of new and likely had the feelers out for their teenage daughter’s mutual feelings for one another but that was a different problem to the one that Yui appeared to be experiencing.

“y-Yeah, Mister Bunny Rabbit, they are the coolest and prettiest and most reliable girls I know. I have a huuuuge crush on them both.” Yui murmured.

Kokone blushed, “She has a lot of good to say about us both.”

“Yup.” Ran said, “But we’d have a lot of good to say about her, too.”

“I would… explode if either of them liked me back. I’d take my own Kilocalorie Punch to the face. They’re so cool…” Yui gurgled and her arm shot up, she was really getting into the movement of her dream.

Kokone flinched as she was almost the one who actually took a Kilocalorie Punch to the face. Fortunately, Yui’s arm went back down as quickly as it had shot up. Then, she rolled the other way, perfectly framed for Ran’s smart watch to catch her serene and honestly, rather lovey-dovey expression.

“I really like them both. Koko-pi. Ran-Ran. Sp-Spicy and… Yum-Yum.” Yui yawned part of the way through her little spiel.

“Aww.” Kokone cooed.

“She’s so cute. I really like you, too, Yui-pyon.” Ran complimented her and just as Yui seemed like she was fully asleep again, hands to herself and mouth closed, she had one last thing to say.

“Th-There’s no way…. How could you have run out of carrots, Mister Bunny Rabbit? You’re so mean.” Yui cried.

Ran laughed, “That’s more like the Yui-pyon we know and love.”

“Yup.” Kokone said.

“Anyways, good luck sleeping next to her tonight.” Ran said as she ended the recording there as Yui seemed to finally, actually finally, be fully asleep again.

“I think I’m going to need it.” Kokone replied.

“I want to fall asleep super-duper fast now.” Ran said. “So morning comes quicker and we can show Yui-pyon this video of her.”

“Oh, Ran, don’t embarrass her.” Kokone pleaded.

“I’m not embarrassing her, she just needs to see how cute she is when she’s sleep-talking.” Ran insisted as she got up so she could go brush her teeth in the bathroom.

Kokone pouted. She very much did not think Yui would appreciate seeing the video come morning but luckily, she was wrong. Yui did go very red in the face come the morning, Ran all but pouncing on her as soon as she woke up so she could show her the video but she still stood by what she had been going on about in her dream (that she didn’t even remember anymore).

Kokone and Ran were very cool and very pretty and she did like them very much. She felt very lucky that they were both her girlfriends, not just her crushes.

#femslash #femslashfeb2023 #femslash february 2023 #delicious party pretty cure #delicious party precure #delicious party #precure #nagomi yui #yui nagomi #kokone fuwa #fuwa kokone #hanamichi ran #ran hanamichi #cure precious #cure spicy #cure yumyum #kokoyuiran #writing tag #accidentally sleeping on her own feelings

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toxicpineapple · 3 years

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Well, this year is coming to a close!!! Here are my favourite writings from the year 2020 :)

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January:

“A penchant for looking at rocks”, the first ever Amamota fic I wrote (it’s been a long fucking year, haha) and another 5+1 things fic! Buckle down LGBTQ+ community because there are a lot of these, in fact I’m pretty sure I started off last year’s compilation with a 5+1 things fic? Anyway, this one was the five times Kaito helps Rantaro when he’s hurt, plus the one time Rantaro helps Kaito. I love me some good whump and I felt I had to choose this one because it’s one of my favourites just generally speaking.

Content Warnings: Injuries, tending to injuries, asthma attacks.

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February:

“Ibuki Mioda’s Kisses”, which I wrote for day fourteen of Femslash February. Boy, if I thought I wrote a lot in January, just take a moment to peek at February 2020… I was churning out a fic daily for the entire month. I don’t regret it though! I got to write a lot of characters who I haven’t written a lot, and explore a whole lot of prompts, and if I can remove my head from my ass I fully intend on participating in Femslash February again next year. Ibuki Mioda’s Kisses is the piece I wrote for Valentine’s Day, which was my two year anniversary with my boyfriend, so I wanted to write something special commemorating our relationship. No idea how I’m going to top that in 2021, but uh, check out the fic! It’s cute and I like to think it’s clever.

Content Warnings: The Mortifying Ideal Of Discovering Oneself, secondhand embarrassment, bad kisses. (I mean in the sense that texturally they’re just, unpleasant. It’s about asexuality, alright.)

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March:

“Adventure”, which I wrote for day five of Amasai Week, which was the first ship week I hosted and participated in in 2020! This was the longest piece that I wrote, and my favourite, just because I really really love the childhood friends trope, and I liked writing Shuichi and Rantaro as children, adventuring together and just having a fantastic time. Amasai Week actually took place while one of my parrots stayed overnight at the emergency vet after a fight with another one, so it was a pretty stressful time for me, but I’m proud of myself for completing it and looking forward to hosting Amasai Week again in 2020! Stay tuned, we’ve almost got the prompts worked out.

Content Warnings: None.

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April:

“A couple of ghosts”, which is the fic I wrote for Kaito’s birthday! I see we’ve reached the part of 2020 where I met my abuser, which, yaaaaay, but also, I’m still really proud of this fic, despite how much I kind of associate it with him now! It’s the fic where I said, y’know what, no, we can’t have nice things, and gave Kaito a horrible, traumatic reason for his fear of ghosts, as well as two dead parents. It’s Saimota though and there’s a cute hurt/comfort scene at the end so go ahead and check it out if you want.

Content Warnings: Car accidents, minor character death, injuries, PTSD.

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May:

“Are you down to play?”, the fic that I wrote for day four of Saimota Week, wherein Shuichi has a secret and Kaito makes a bet with Kaede to figure it out. Man, if you thought I had bad associations with the fic I chose for April, look at this one, haha. But it’s objectively the best writing piece I uploaded that month, I’m really proud of my characterisation and the scenes in the fic, and hopefully someday I’ll be able to read this piece without thinking about him. :)

Content Warnings: None! This one’s just a fluffy feel good fic.

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June:

“Tamago kake gohan”, the Sonanami canon compliant hurt/comfort fic I wrote for my friend Void’s birthday. I put out a whopping three one shots in June because I’d really hit the swing of my roleplaying and hadn’t adjusted to it well enough to be writing fic at the same time yet, so, yeah. This one’s cute, though! Sonia is sad about Gundham and then Chiaki makes her some food. They’re sapphic.

Content Warnings: Canonical character death.

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July:

“Good night”, the Amasai 5+1 things that I wrote for my friend Neb’s birthday! This is the five times Saihara slept in front of Amami, plus the one time Rantaro slept in front of Shuichi. It’s cute! They’re tender! It features the trope where you sleep in front of a loved one! I love that trope! And it’s Neb’s favourite so I had to go for it, hehe. These two are cute boys and they deserve to be happy.

Content Warnings: Breakdowns, nightmares. (But neither is from the narrator’s perspective.)

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August:

“Making that dream come true”, the royalty AU Kaede and Rantaro become friends fic that I wrote while I briefly hyperfixated back on my royalty AU. I got into another writing groove during this time so I actually have a lot of really good fics up from August (including Mutual Vulnerability… Amamotas I’m sorry to have cucked you like this that fic was so damn good) but this one was my favourite. I love writing in first person, and I love writing platonic relationships, and someday I’m going to write the multichapter that this fic sets up for.

Content Warnings: Arranged marriages, and something else but it’s a secret, shhh.

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September:

“A lot of firsts”, the Harumami fic I wrote for the first day of Amami Week, which is a personal writing challenge that I did this year to celebrate the week leading up to Amami’s birthday. September was a really dry writing month for me, partly because of the roleplay stuff and partly because of personal issues, but I’m still proud of the heteroeroticism (heh) in this one. Maki and Rantaro have chemistry, what can I say.

Content Warnings: Stab injuries (not from Maki to Rantaro, please).

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October:

“October 3rd”, the second fic I wrote for Rantaro’s birthday, and also the Oumami fic that I wrote for day seven of Amami Week. I’m a fan of most of the fics I wrote in October (I wouldn’t gift someone a fic I’m not proud of and most of the fics I wrote, including this one, were gift fics) but this one is my favourite just because of the introspection, and also because of the fact that I got to write Ouma, because he’s always so much fun. I enjoyed writing the two of them going back and forth and have another Oumami fic on the way so stay tuned, haha.

Content Warnings: None.

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November:

“It is what it is”, the fic I wrote for day four of Amamota week, which takes place when Rantaro is an adult, and out at a bar with his friends, where he meets Kaito and goes for a walk outside. It’s a melancholic piece for sure, but I like capturing those vibes with my fics, and I got to write a group interaction which is always one of my favourite things to do. Amamota is my biggest comfort pairing and I’m glad that I got to host Amamota Week this year, because I enjoy those two so much. :) Great chemistry.

Content Warnings: Recreational alcohol use (everyone is drinking legally and tentatively responsibly), general sad vibes idk.

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December:

Okay, honestly, I haven’t posted anything yet this month aside from a vent, and since the vent I posted talks about my eating disorder and it’s not really very good writing anyway, I don’t feel comfortable putting it on this list. I have a multichapter holiday themed Oumami fic on the way that I will hopefully finish before the end of the year, as well as a fic I’m working on for a writing and art trade that I ABSOLUTELY need to get off my ass and work on, so those will hopefully be out by the end of 2020.

But yeah, that aside, that’s the complete list of my favourite fics from 2020. It’s been a long year and I’m glad to have stayed a member of the Danganronpa fandom through it. I really appreciate all the friends I’ve made, and the fun times I’ve had while I’ve been here.

2020 has treated me pretty terribly, haha. I met someone who I really wish I could’ve gone without, and my health has suffered, and I’m hoping to be able to start my recovery properly in 2021. Guess if I have a new year’s resolution, it’s to let go of what he did to me and start trying to get better. So I’m going to work on it! I can’t say that I think 2021 is going to be anybody’s year, but maybe it’s not about what the universe has in store for us so much as it is about what we make of it.

I hope everyone who reads this has a wonderful new year, I love you all dearly, thanks so much for the support and the laughs, and I’ll keep on hanging around and spreading my Amami propaganda.

Someone has to, haha.

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ginger-canary · 3 years

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Femslash February: SCIENCE

SCIENCE. Lita(/)& Nora West-Allen, Astra Logue/Sara Lance, Charlie to spice things up. Blind Sara Lance, Vision-impaired Astra Logue. Words: 1434. AO3 link: X. For @flarrowverse-shipyard pool noodle bingo Femslash bingo.

Lita stood in the middle of the laboratory, looking at Charlie, Astra, and Sara while she held a clipboard. When the professor of her “intro to experimental science” class assigned her “an experiment of her choice” she knew what she wanted to try.

“Let me get this straight-” Sara’s words were cut short by laughter. “Yeah yeah, but listen. You want to see if our impaired sight,” she attempted to gesture to Astra, who was within five inches of her and accidentally hit her. “Sorry babe. You want to see if our impaired sight changes the way we hear, feel, and smell things?”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Lita clutched the clipboard and smiled.

“So what’s Charlie doing here?” Astra asked, wrapping her arm around Sara’s waist.

Glancing at Charlie, Lita said, “well I need a control subject or I won’t know what the average human hears, feels, and smells.”

Sara snorted. “Lita, Charlie’s not an average human being, we might have to pick one up if you want to do this right.”

“Right. Shit.” She started muttering to herself, “Charlie’s a fate, I want a female-presenting subject… Ava’s a C-word… Where’s Zari?”

“Out on a date with Ava,” Charlie replied.

“Frick.” Her shoulder slumped as she dropped her clipboard on the metal desk with a clang. “I can’t do this experiment without a female-presenting person with average sight… I’m sorry I took up your time for nothing.”

Listening to the tone in Lita’s voice, Sara moved towards her, fingers skimming the top of the desk until she could hear Lita’s breath. “I have an idea. Someone we could pick up. I mean- she’s not exactly an average human being but she does have average sight and I think you might like her.”

“Really? Can we go get her?”

Sara raised her chin, projecting her voice for Gideon. “Hey Gideon, take us to Central city. We need to go and find Nora West-Allen.”

The ship lurched forward, causing a few items to scatter across the room and Charlie cleared their throat. “Now that you’ve found a replacement, I’ll duck out.”

“No, wait!” Lita took Charlie’s hand before they could move. “Could you help me with the experiment?” She batted her eyelashes.

Sighing, Charlie said, “you really are your father’s daughter, kid. Fine.”

“I just want to remind you that I am no longer a kid now.”

A smirk appeared on Charlie’s face. “I am older than Jesus Christ. Compared to me, you are all children.”

<><>

After picking up Nora West-Allen and once again repeating the idea of the experiment, they could finally start. They rushed through the set of hearing tests as Charlie shapeshifted into a seal to bark (and flop around). They somehow found an old-school alarm in the storage area to set off, and dropped a bunch of rocks they found outside on the metal table. (Nora and Lita calling the alarm “vintage” were met with laughter from the others.)

When it was time to test their sense of smell, Charlie got more and more creative. First, they’d grabbed several pieces of fruit from the bowl in the kitchen. (After guessing, Astra admitted that she had assumed they were just part of the decor.) Then they decided to pick up one of Mick’s dirty shirts- met with much protest from those who could recognise the specific scent. After the disastrous smell of the last one, Charlie went into the next room and asked Gideon to fabricate just about a hundred scented candles, bringing them in one by one.

Testing their sense of touch was met with the most hesitation- especially since the dirty shirt incident. To make up for their prank, Charlie turned into a cat. As a fun challenge, they found one of Behrad’s rubber fidget toys. To finish it off, the resident violin (no one knows where it came from) was brought to the lab.

When the experiment was finished, the five of them sat around the kitchen table with a large pot of tea. Nora fidgeted, glancing at Sara and Astra until Lita asked her why.

“Oh, uhh…” Nora felt herself turn red and kept her head down.

“If it’s the sapphic part- you’re in for a surprise, kid.” Charlie leant back in their chair, hiding their laughter as Astra made a grab for Sara’s hand and ended up with her fingers in Sara’s tea.

“Oh! Oh god no, I-” She tried to find the right words but came up with “me too.”

“Oh? Then what are you wondering about?” Lita tilted her head, then shot a glance to the adults in the room, lowering her voice. “You know what- whatever questions you have, I can probably answer.” She stood up, her mug in one hand. “Is it okay if Nora helps me with my research paper? after all, she is a-”

“Second-year student in forensic science,” Nora supplied.

Sara reached out, a gesture for Lita and Nora to join her at her side.

Without any hesitation, Lita moved around the table, placing her hand in Sara’s. She had to raise her eyebrows to convince Nora to do the same.

“Promise me you won’t burn down the ship and be back in time to let me drop you off to your parents?”

Lita hooked her pinky into Sara’s. “Pinky promise.”

Nora followed Lita’s lead. Then the two of them returned to the lab, sitting across from each other at one of the metal desks.

“So what’s up? You were staring at Astra and Sara like they’d turned blue right in front of you.”

“Right, so…. Like Z Behrad and you, I’m from the future. My parents have done their best to tell me every one of their friends’ stories so I know what’s going on. That’s how I know you’re Mick’s daughter.”

“What, you didn’t see the family resemblance?” Lita joked.

“Definitely not, too pretty,” Nora said without missing a beat. “But my parents haven’t told me how Astra’s vision was impaired and how Sara ended up blind. Are the issues related to each other?”

Lita shook her head and told the story of Sara’s blinding, before going in on the details of Astra’s vision impairment. She expected Nora to be surprised, at the very least. The stories she’d told were things normal people would consider insane. So when Nora didn’t really react, Lita leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “What are you?”

Nora choked on her tea. “A lesbian?”

It was Lita’s turn to blush and she relaxed. “No, I mean, you’re taking in all these stories as if they’re not insane. How come?”

“Well…” Nora set down her mug and slipped off her stool. “Watch this.” She ran through the entirety of the ship, collecting one item from each room before coming to a stop in front of Lita. “I’m a speedster,” she said, dropping all her collectables on the desk.”

“That was AWESOME,” Lita yelled. She looked through the items Nora had taken. “But you might want to return aunt Sara’s knife polish and Behrad’s stash.”

Nora did as was suggested.

“So, a speedster huh?” Lita eyed Nora. “Can you time travel by yourself?”

“I can if I’m careful.”

“Do you want to hang out sometime? I don’t have any friends my age I can talk to about this….” she gestured vaguely to the entirety of the ship. “Well, this.”

Nora smiled. “I’d like that. Actually-” she fished around in her pockets, pulling out a sleek gadget. “Here, this was developed for me but there’s a spare. It can communicate through time.” She blushed. “I already have the code to text that one.”

Lita looked at the gadget, then back at her. “Superheroes sure make weird connections. I like weird.”

“Me too.”

<><>

After Lita and Nora had left the kitchen, Charlie leant over. “Hey cap, quick question.”

“Yeah?” Sara turned her head in the direction of Charlie’s voice.

“Did you set those two up on purpose or was it more of a side deal?”

Astra laughed. “Sara set up Ava and Z too, there’s no way this was a side deal.”

Sipping their tea, Charlie asked, “so when’s my turn?”

“Have you ever heard of the hero named Hawkgirl?” Sara smiled.

“You’re really going to-” Astra mumbled, scooting closer to Sara.

Sara slid her fingers up Astra’s arm until she could cup Astra’s cheek. “Yes, it’s time.”

Astra smiled. “That’s wonderful. I’m proud of you.”

Carefully aiming, Sara kissed Astra. Nearby, Charlie rubbed their forehead. These two had their own language by now- there was no way they were going to learn anything more about this Hawkgirl now.

#my writing #astra logue #sara lance #lita rory #nora west-allen #charlie clotho #lot #the flash #this is called not being a coward #i have no shipname only sapphics

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applin-around · 4 years

Note

Heyoo! In honor of femslash-February would ya mind writing some gothgfshipping headcannons!??

Femslash-February is a thing?? H u h ... learn something new every day!

I’m throwing some Froyo in too. For reference, if you didn’t see my previous posts about gothgfshipping, Froyo is the shiny pygmy Morpeko that Gloria caught for Marnie.

Froyo likes to hide in Gloria’s pockets when she visits Spikemuth just so that his moms will have to see each other more. He doesn’t like that they don’t just go everywhere together, that doesn’t make sense to him.

Gloria’s mum already considers Marnie (and by extension, Piers) as part of the family. She’s making gifts for the two of them and inviting them to every holiday gathering.

Gloria brought her mum to Spikemuth to meet Marnie and her father and uncle, so they could knock out two (three?) Rookidee with one stone. Gloria was a little busy being champion and training up her new team for the next Gym Challenge, so they didn’t have much time. They were both relieved when their guardians hit it off.

During the Champion Cup, Marnie and Gloria save time and money by just sharing a room. Victor can share with Hop if he doesn’t like not having someone else in the room.

When they’re cuddling, Marnie tends to absentmindedly play with Gloria’s hair.

Froyo refuses to battle, no matter which of them is trying to get him to fight. He straight up refuses. No battles for Froyo.

In the Monster Mash AU, Marnie likes being in her Impidimp form and being carried in the extra fabric of Gloria’s dress. She usually falls asleep.

Marnie’s Liepard had a litter of Litten unexpectedly, so Gloria came up to Spikemuth to help Marnie and Piers take care of them. Hop tagged along to get some pictures of newly hatched Litten and record their growth progress. A storm hit, and the kids got soaked to the bone trying to gather up the Littens and get them inside the city.

Gloria lost one of her pokemon because of the food she was feeding it. There was a recall due to the glass being discovered in that batch, but for Gloria’s Linoone, it was too late. Marnie came by to help soothe her while her pokemon died in her lap.

Gloria helps train Marnie in the Sword and Board AU.

Froyo shreds any toy that squeaks. Even if it’s not his, he will shred it.

Gloria loves pretending to be ignorant about how many people ship her and Marnie. She loves it and retweets all the fanart she sees.

Marnie doesn’t like getting your typical sort of gift for Gloria. No jewelry for her, she knows Gloria wouldn’t wear it anyway. She’s more about things that are special to Gloria, like a soap themed for her birthstone.

Their favorite sort of dates are either just sitting at home on the couch watching b-rate movies or going to see Victor’s exhibition matches.

#swsh #gothgfshipping #gloria #marnie

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sailorportia · 4 years

Text

Femslash February 2020, Day 3

Fandom: Revue Starlight Relive Pairing: Yumeoji Fumi/Otonashi Ichie Prompt: Movie AU

approx. 2,000 words, rated T

also available on AO3

Summary: Fumi couldn't believe she was actually going to go through with this. It was a terrible plan. Idiotic. Borderline delusional. Aiding and abetting the escape of someone accused of piracy was a hanging offence.

But she didn't have any other choice.

Tags: Movie AU, Pirates, Comedy

Fumi couldn't believe she was actually going to go through with this. It was a terrible plan. Idiotic. Borderline delusional. Aiding and abetting the escape of someone accused of piracy was a hanging offence.

But she didn't have any other choice.

Breaking into the town jail was even easier than Fumi thought it would be. The guards were absent, most likely assisting the other military personnel to sort out the carnage left by the pirate crew of the Frontier. In the midst of all the chaos, nobody would figure out what Fumi was up to until it was too late to stop her.

Fumi looked through the cells for her target, finding each of them empty, until at last she found relief and her quarry in the last cell. Slumped up against the wall was an exquisitely dishevelled pirate, her messy pink hair no doubt a host to all sorts of sea creatures. The pirate appeared to be asleep, but Fumi wasn't going to let that be a problem. She picked up a piece of debris off the floor and threw it between the bars. The debris struck the pirate in the boot and she sat up

"You're still here," Fumi said. "Otonashi Ichie, was it?"

"Captain Otonashi Ichie," she corrected. "A cannonball crashed through the wall of the cell next to mine and everyone else got out. What are the odds of that?"

Fumi was in no mood for small talk with a pirate. "That ship, the Frontier. You know something about it, don't you?"

"I might. It's an infamous ship. Lots of people know something about it."

Fumi slammed her fist against the cell door. "I need answers. That ship's crew didn't just raid and pillage the town, they also kidnapped a girl—Yumeoji Shiori."

"Yumeoji Shiori... why does that name ring a bell?"

"That's the name of the girl you also kidnapped!" If it weren't for the iron bars between them, Fumi would be throttling her. There had been some commotion the day before concerning her sister and Ichie, who apparently had saved Shiori from drowning, only to hold her hostage only moments later when Commodore Yukishiro attempted to apprehend her. What ensued was a haphazard chase through the town, terminating in a swordfight between the pirate and Fumi. She had wished she could've been the one to put the pirate out of everyone else's misery instead of allowing her to be captured and jailed, but after last night's raid, the scallywag appeared to be Fumi's only hope for rescuing her sister. If Ichie turned out to be a dead-end—through incompetence or malice—Fumi would give the hangman a day off to carry out the job herself.

Ichie snapped her fingers. "Right! Sweet, little Yumeoji-san. Hey, I wouldn't have had to do anything drastic if those nasty navy types would've minded their own business and let me get away with a good deed."

"What's it to you, anyway?"

"She's my sister."

Ichie looked closely at Fumi, eyes widening when she recognized the resemblance. "But you're so shabby? Don't get me wrong, the whole blacksmith thing is a good look. Those buff arms? Woof! But you don't exactly blend in with the prim and proper governor's daughter. If your sister's at the top of the food chain, how did you end up as a blacksmith?"

"It's a long story."

Ichie laughed, waving a hand at the confines of her jail cell. "I've got time. All I've got is time and the clothes on my back. That is, until one of your navy buddies decides to take that away from me too." She mimed a noose and her own future hanging.

"Cry me a river," Fumi said. "If you've got time, use it to tell me everything you know about the Frontier. Where does she make berth? How large is her crew?"

Ichie squinted. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm going after them."

"You?" Ichie raised an eyebrow. "On your own? Don't you guys have people for that? I already know the answer, because I've met them."

"Commodore Yukishiro isn't doing enough. With every second that passes, the pirates get farther away. Who knows what will have happened to Shiori by the time the fleet finds her? I'm going after her

"A lone blacksmith up against the terrifying Captain Kocho and her crew of murderous buccaneers? Your muscles are impressive, but not that impressive. They'd eat you for breakfast. You'd need your own crew to take them on, but who's going to sign up for a suicide mission led by some landlubber? Face it, you're screwed."

Fumi couldn't believe she was being lectured by a pirate, one who she'd helped capture, no less. "And you have a better idea?"

Ichie grinned. "Set me free, and I'll lead the chase for the Frontier and your darling sister. I can muster a pirate crew to rival Kocho Shizuha's, and you'll have your rescue, sweetheart."

"Why would you help me?" Obviously the pirate would say whatever it took to get her freedom, and Fumi wasn't about to let herself be fooled by this woman.

"Let's just say I have a grudge against the captain. And the entire crew. Shocking, I know, that somebody as cheerful as me could hold a grudge."

"I guess I can believe that."

"I also can't not help a pretty girl in need." Ichie winked. "So, how about it?"

Fumi blushed, but didn't dignify the scoundrel's flirtations with a response. "I don't really have any other choice. I accept your proposal."

Ichie gasped and clutched at her heart. "Proposal? I'm not ready for marriage yet, but we can start out as friends."

"You know damn well what I meant!"

"Alright, alright. Just get me out of here before your navy buddies show up."

"That's not going to be a problem," Fumi said, flexing her arms. "I put these doors together, I can take them apart. I can take apart a lot of things, so jot that down." She gave

"Bold of you to assume I can read."

Fumi made short work of the cell door, dismantling the hinges and tossing the whole thing to the side.

"Whew, that was surprisingly attractive," Ichie said. She stretched and yawned like a cat as she left the cell, clapping a hand on Fumi's shoulder as she lowered her arms. "We're going to need a proper ship if we're going to catch up to the Frontier. Are you prepared to commandeer a ship of the fleet and engage in acts of piracy in service of your quest to save that adorable little sister of yours?"

"Without hesitation." Fumi had failed Shiori by allowing her to be captured by pirates; she was going to do whatever it took to rescue her, damn the consequences. If consigning herself to life as an outlaw was the price of her sister's safety, so be it.

"Alright, just checking," Ichie said. "Also, now that you're conspiring against the crown like a proper criminal, you can lay off with the anti-pirate talk. Just because I'm a black-hearted brigand doesn't mean I don't have feelings."

"Your feelings can walk the plank. Is that pirate-y enough for you?"

"Eh, it could use some work," Ichie said. "No time for that though, we need to nab ourselves a ship first. Lucky for you, I have a genius plan."

"What part of this is a 'genius plan!?'"

"Less talking, more running!"

Fumi didn't know how she had let herself get talked into this mess, but she was pretty damn sure she wasn't going to be allowed to come back to Port Siegfeld after this disaster. If she lived that long.

Ichie's plan was to create a distraction that would require the attention of every sailor and officer's attention then commandeer the only ship that wasn't under repair. The pirate had determined the event which would draw the most attention would be a series of explosions on the part of town farthest from the docks. It made sense in theory. They stole gunpowder from the unattended magazine and detonated it in clusters just as they planned. What they hadn't anticipated was how quickly the navy would respond.

"I'll have your head for this, Yumeoji Fumi!" Commodore Yukishiro yelled as her platoon caught sight of the fleeing bandits. "Fire at will!" A spray of musket balls narrowly missed Fumi and Ichie, sending splinters of wood into the air.

Ichie groaned. "This is probably a bad time, but do you think you could maybe stall that mean lady with the nice hat? We're gonna need a minute to get this ship ready to go."

"Must I do everything myself?" Fumi skidded to a halt and turned on her heel to face Commodore Yukishiro. Akira was getting closer, a good distance ahead of her troops. On the narrow dock, they couldn't shoot at Fumi without the risk of hitting their superior. That was a small relief though, given that Akira wouldn't hesitate to cut her down herself.

Good thing Fumi had a plan for that.

She raised her sword to block Akira's first strike. "I'm sorry, Yukishiro, but I can't just wait for you to bring back Shiori. I'm going to do what it takes to keep her safe."

"By allying with a pirate?" Akira struck again. "A woman should have some limits to the depths she'll sink to, no matter her intentions."

"If you think that was underhanded, just look down."

Akira's fierce purple eyes flicked downward, then widened in terror. Fumi still had one of her improvised bombs, and now it rested on the dock, fuse lit. With seconds to spare, Akira dove off the edge of the dock and into the water. Shame about her fancy uniform getting wet.

Fumi ran toward the ship, not bothering to look back as the dock was torn apart in the explosion. Hopefully it would impede anyone from following her. Her time was running out. That damn pirate better have readied the ship to sail. If she had used this as an opportunity to bail on her...

"Up here, Fumi!" Ichie called out, tossing a rope to her co-conspirator. "This ship's got everything it needs except a first mate!"

Fumi couldn't help but grin as she climbed the rope and boarded the ship. They had actually done it. Soon they'd be out of the bay and on the open sea, hot on the Frontier's trail.

"Nice job with the explosion, by the way," Ichie said as they made adjustments to the main sail. "I was worried you wouldn't be able to take care of yourself. Glad I won't be babysitting you the whole time."

"Strong words from a wobbly-legged drunk I fished out of the town jail."

"Cocky! I like it! Keep up that attitude and you'll handle the brothel fine."

"Brothel!?" What exactly had Fumi gotten herself into?

"Cool it with the blushing or Captain Kocho is going to see us coming. A brothel is the best place to find a pirate with nothing better to do. Don't worry," Ichie said, slipping an arm around Fumi's waist. "I'll make sure none of those scary ladies of easy virtue do anything lewd to you."

"It's not them I'm worried about!" If her first concern wasn't Shiori's rescue, Fumi would have drowned Ichie and then herself. She couldn't believe the audacity of this woman. First she saves Shiori's life, then threatens it to save her own skin, has a sword fight with her hostage's sister that leads to her capture, then assist said sister in a rescue, topping it all off with flirting with her? Did everything just slide off this woman, or was she just deranged?

Ichie was the last person Fumi would've wanted at her side, but she couldn't deny the results. The pirate was her best bet, and if working with her was what it took to save Shiori, Fumi would submit herself to this fate.

But she definitely wasn't going to get attached.

#shoujo kageki revue starlight #revue starlight #revue starlight relive #starira #fumichie #yumeoji fumi #otonashi ichie #fanfiction #my fanfiction #yuri #girls love #femslash #femslash february #FauxGhostsFSF

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alleyskywalker · 4 years

Note

Can you talk about "Lies About Love" (it's just a beatiful, wonderfully written fic) and "Years After" and "Absolution" (these are my favorite ones of your fanfics about sonyakhov and tbh, I like to think they're somehow related) please?

Lies About Love

Two things that definitely came together to make me write this - 1) I wanted to write something for Femslash February and 2) I’ve been wanting to write some R&J/RetJ femslash. I mean, obviously R&J isn’t the best fandom for femslash, given the lay of the land, so to speak, in that canon wrt female characters. But, something about that made me want to do it even more lmao.

Why this…odd sort of ship? Well, initially it came up as almost crackship thought stemming from this lovely Revival cast promo photo in which Nurse is just casually hanging out on the Montague side of things with no apparent explanation. Even Juliet is kinda more in the middle there, and she’s an item with Romeo canonically, so it’s not strange for her to be there on his arm. So what’s Nurse doing? Well, I guess, going by this photo you could come up with with Benvolio/Nurse Thoughts if you were so compelled (and LBLL then becomes some weird teenage UST thing?), but the more natural thought for me was…well…this is a story all about star-crossed lovers. Tycutio thrives a lot from hitching its wagon to that trope/construct. And because there’s no Lord M in RetJ and het is so commonplace it gets boring, the best answer there seemed to be a Nurse/Lady M backstory. (I then proceeded to relay this idea to the RetJ discord server to everyone’s horror and accompanied by a shippy manip-ed icon that I spent way too long on given the content.)

But sad backstories are like the honey to my bee, so I grew fond of this idea in principle, even though I didn’t really intend to do anything about ti at that time. (I mean this was in December - I had yuletide to write for and an exchange to co-run so shhhh.) Also, the Russian version of “Et Voila Qu'elle Aime” has this great verse about how Nurse used to be young and naive about love, and then was clearly disillusioned. That song/verse is also where the title comes from. I think, in the end, despite the Revival photo being what initially gave me this idea, I ended up with a Nurse characterization closest to the Russian one.

(I will say that one of the reasons why I ended up posting the fic on March 1 instead of the last couple days of February like I thought I would, is because I realized last second that I made HUGE timeline mistake which would have led to the AU scenario of Romeo being younger than Juliet. So the stupid thing required some re-writing.)

I admit that I’m pleased that I was able to make this story work in a way that still allowed for my Lord M/Lady M ship, because, at least in many verses if not all, I do like to imagine them as being in love. IDK why I’m so set on the whole “Montagues are reasonably functional as a family internally, at least to the extent that they all genuinely love each other.” Like, I get both families need to be messy and messed up and not a “safe space” to their respective heirs at least on some accounts, and yet….

Absolution

Aww! I really don’t want to disapoint you or anything wrt this fic, since you say you like it so much, but truth is I don’t have that much to say about it. This one was written to a prompt and is very prompt-driven, in the sense that the relationship and characterizations were skewed a certain direction on purpose to fit the prompt. It wasn’t intended to be specifically related to or in the same universe as Years After although there is nothing in the explicitly in the fic that precludes them being in the same universe.

I’d say that this fic stresses the “idea woman” part of Dolokhov’s attraction to Sonya. Which is canonical, especially if you care to account for the “First Drat” publication of War and Peace (in the actual canon it’s more inferred). But in my headcanons that part of his attraction to her more prevalent in canon-era when they are both younger. Their post-war relationship I see as a little less…mmm…idealistic and idealized, I guess you’d say. Also, in this fic, Dolokhov comes off as very guilty about his past, to levels that I don’t actually headcanon him being. I think Dolokhov, especially when younger, may have longed for a way to be “purified” and to be more righteous, but also felt confident that when he did things, he did them because he wanted to or he had to, that it was the correct and necessary thing for him to do at that moment.

Years After

This fic I love! It is, in a way, a re-purposing of what would have been the beginning of a post-war Sonyakhov longfic. (Which I never ended up writing as we see lol.) Agh I actually don’t know what to say about this one - it’s an illustration of my main Sonyakhov headcanons (admittedly ignoring the epilogue to work timeline-wise). This is the headcanons verse where they meet (again) after the war - him having lost a lot and clinging desperately to his son, the reminder and last thing he has left of his best friend and another woman he’d loved for years (hello, my Dolokhov/Helene headcanons), and her having had her heart broken and disillusioned about life (and her family/people in general to an extent). Dolokhov is more grounded, both because his youth is gone and loss weighs heavily on him and because he has such a big responsibility wrt his son. Sonya is a little less idealistic and a lot less didactic and moralizing in her worldviews, willing to not just be kind but also understanding and realizing that the world don’t always have right and wrong answers.

And this fic is specifically concerned with setting up Sonya’s shift(s) in perspective and what makes her more open to Dolokhov - her loneliness, her desire for children/a marriage of her own, that she recognizes more acutely that the people around her take her for granted, and that she can’t quite help being bitter, though she does feel at least some guilt over that. But also the recognition that she had been attracted to Dolokhov and that there’s some regret about not giving him more of a chance, even though she doesn’t like admitting that to herself. Her meeting with Dolokhov is also all about the shifts and starting shifts in her perspective - she sees him differently because they share a commonality in losses, she’s more open and aware of his pain and his humanity, and I’m sure him having an adorable child helps too xD

And, ah, yea the parade-memorial is totally ahistorical creative license lol.

#war and peace #romeo and juliet #sonyakhov #dolokhov x sonya #retj #nurse x lady montague #romeo and juliet musical #asked and answered #op #Anonymous

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 5 years

Text

The Nest (Femslash February)

Prompt: Space Fandom: Voltron Pair: AcxaxVeronica Song Rec: Chata’s Dango Daikazoku

Summary: Space has may surprises for Veronica. One such surprise comes when her girlfriend tells her that she is pregnant.

Veronica fell in love with space when she was only a child. She adored the cosmos and the stars that and the stars that twinkled in them. In her teen years, she cherished rocket ships and their elaborate builds. And in her early twenties, she fawned over the empty and darker places, the blackholes with their mysterious allure. Entering her late twenties she feel in love with outer space's inhabitants. Each unique type of alien and all of their charms and cultural quirks.

In her late twenties, she fell in love with a very particular alien with her soft smiles and quiet demeanor. With her kind eyes and gentle face. More so she fell in love with the woman’s intelligence and loyalty. With her unexpectedly strong moral code and bravery.

Veronica loved everything about space and what it had to offer. She was thrilled to know that Acxa was one such thing. In current, the Galra was asleep. Curled up with her legs drawn to her chest and her head burrowed deeply into one of Veronica’s pillows. A nest of blankets surrounded and covered her. She looked wholly cozy. Veronica was almost certain that the woman had acquired herself so many pillows and blankets because she had spent so many nights without even a mattress to sleep on.

Veronica rubbed Acxa’s back and waited for the woman to awaken.

Veronica watched her fiance shift positions and open her eyes. They closed once more. The Galra blinked a few times before finally managing to keep her eyes open. She settled them on Veronica and sat herself up. Her hair was bedraggled and her eyes still looked so sleepy. Her movements were slow as she stretched her arms and yawned. Veronica brushed her fingers over her tangled hair. “Good afternoon, Acxa.”

“Afternoon?” Acxa murmured, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Yes, afternoon. You’ve been sleeping all day.”

It was a habit Acxa had picked up in recent months. She climbed out of bed and retrieved herself a glass of water. Veronica came to stand behind her, wrapping her arms around her middle and nuzzling her cheek between the Galra’s shoulder blades.

Space had a great many surprises for Veronica.

She hadn’t expected to meet a man like Coran who was so whimsical, yet so highly clever at the same time. Even less had she expected to pick up on some of his lingo and use it regularly. Shouting, “oh quiznak!” at the dinner table would always earn her a sharp glare from Acxa.

It also came as a shock to Veronica when she ended up at a Clear Day festival watching James and Kinkade fight over a stuffed animal. She’d never imagined that she’d attend a celebration in outer space, she hardly got invited to things on earth.

Falling in love with Acxa was another unexpected happening. It really shouldn’t have been; Veronica had figured that she’d find a love in space rather than on Earth. But Acxa in particular was a surprise. The Acxa had been so cold and distant at first. So stand-offish that it had put Veronica off. It had taken her a bit too long to realize that the Galra was simply unexpectedly shy. Veronica was certain that getting close with her was the biggest shock that the galaxy could offer.

But space wasn’t done with her. It had one more surprise left for her…

One more surprise that Acxahad reveled with a blush creeping over her cheeks.

Acxa put the cup aside and rested her hand a top Veronica’s. Veronica didn’t know how long she stood there running her hand over the swell of the woman’s belly. It had to have been a while though because the Galra finally asked if they could sit down again. Veronica released her hold and let Acxa lead her back to her fort of pillows and blankets.

That was probably the longest Acxa had ever let her hold her like that. Veronica dared to hope that she was getting more comfortable.

Like most things, the Galra was pretty awkward about this too. Not that Veronica herself wouldn’t be. Under normal circumstances, Acxa was weird about being touched-much less by strangers. So Veronica wasn’t surprised to see Acxa get flustered when Pidge’s mother asked if she could feel her baby bump. These days, it happened rather regularly, especially by Garrison members who had children of their own back on Earth. It was mostly the humans; Veronica was getting the sense that the desire to feel the baby kick was a human thing.

Veronica knew very well that Acxa didn’t like to be at the center of attention. She had a good feeling that, that was why the Galra spent so much time tucked into her little pillow nest. The more her belly swelled, the more reclusive the woman became. Her fort kept her away from curious eyes and touches.

It was a source of comfort and protection.

She was just one stuffed animal away from total safety; perhaps one of these days, Veronica could get James to hand over the plush toy he’d won. Acxa had secretly had her eye on it since that Clear Day.

“What do you want to name it?” Veronica asks, she wanted to reach out and place her hand over their baby, but she is almost certain that Acxa had already reached her limit on touches for the day. “Do you want it to have a human name or a Galra one.”

“I want it to have a human name.” She decided. This was one of the few things that didn’t surprise her. Acxa seemed to be putting a large effort to assimilate as much as possible. On most days it seemed like she was trying to break away from her heritage entirely. Something that put a pang in Veronica’s heart.

“I think that a Galra name would be really nice though.” Veroinca dared protest. “It could be just one more small step to help bridge Earth and space society.”

Acxa thought about it for a moment, absently rubbing circles over the bump. “I’ll think about it. Galra names aren’t exactly pretty.”

Veronica’s heart ached again. Every time the woman made a slanted remark about her own culture Veronica felt bad. “Your name is pretty. Ezor and Zethrid are nice names too.” She had to get the woman to regard her heritage more positively.

“Thank you.” Acxa replied.

“Do you want to stop by the cafeteria and get something to eat?” She also had to get the woman out of her room again.

“People stare at me.” Acxa mumbled. “They stared before…”

“They don’t mean anything by it, they’re just curious.” Veroica reassured her. “Trust me, they’d be fawning over your belly if you were a human too. That’s kind of just a thing on Earth.”

“It’s…” she searched for the human term, “dumb. And an invasion of personal space.”

Veronica laughed out loud. “We humans tend to not know much about personal space.”

Acxa folded her arms over her chest, lower lips sticking out in a full-on pout. “Well you better learn or I won’t be able to leave my room.”

With an eye roll, Veronica tugs Acxa to her feet. “Come on. Believe it or not, they are trying to be nice. The touches are affectionate.”

Acxa cocked her head, “affectionate?”

“Yeah.” Veronica replied. “Think of it like your fight or flight response. Human mom’s like to touch your belly because they have a maternal instinct. Don’t the Galra have something like that?”

Acxa seemed to hold her baby bump more tightly. “We protect our young.” She paused. “But we usually don’t start kissing our young until after they are born.”

Veronica’s cheeks flushed, she knew that Acxa was referring to the one instance where Veronica had done just that. Her baby bump had just formed and Veronica had given it a soft kiss. One that left her fiance confused and flustered.

“We have some cultural differences.” Veronica pointed out the obvious. “Please come with me. I don’t want you to get lonely up here. Keith misses seeing you.” She squeezed the Galra’s hand. “If you won’t do it for me, do it for Keith.”

Acxa groaned at the mention of Keith. “Fine.”

Veronica knew that, that would work. Despite their past failed romantic relationship, the pair were still very close. She stuck close to Veronica, following behind. She was fairly sure that Acxa was making some sort of small attempt to hide her baby belly. The Galra was a real trip. Veronica led her over to Keith and noted that she would go fetch their food as the pair caught up. Reluctantly, Acxa let her go. She felt comfortable leaving Acxa with Keith, the man was very good about respecting the Galra’s personal bubble and helping her get others to do the same.

With that in mind, she supposed that it wouldn’t hurt to pester James over the plush toy. She figured that a few correctly placed, ‘please, for the baby’s’ would earn her the toy. She stood in the food line, letting her thoughts run a little free.

She still couldn’t believe that the baby was hers. That Galra women could get other Galra women pregnant. At first she had been furious with Acxa for not telling her that, if she would have known, she would have taken some precautionary measures and insisted that Acxa did too. She had fumed over it for about a week or so, until she found the Galra huddled in her nest, crying to herself.

Her anger had begun to subside. And melted away completely when Acxa mumbled that she didn’t realize it was possible for a human woman to get a Galra woman pregnant. That she had read in human biology books that same gender humans couldn’t procreate, so she had assumed that it would be the same between she and Veronica.

Just like that, Veronica had felt guilty for making Acxa feel like she’d be dealing with this alone.

It was the type of surprise only space could offer. But she had grown to be happy for it. She hadn’t put much thought into children, but the idea of having a family with Acxa, it was soothing.

Veronica had a feeling that the woman was going to make a good mother. Having been abandoned by her own parents, Acxa mentioned once or twice, in passing, that she fretted over the kind of mother she would be. An awkward mother, maybe. The kind that would show up to school events and embarrass her kid with awful space jokes, probably. But she couldn’t see Acxa letting her child go unloved the way she had.

She peered at the Galra from across the lunchroom. She was smiling, laughing. She looked comfortable, albiet a little out of place, but at ease no less. Veronica just hoped that she’d stay that way.

.oOo.

Lunch hadn’t been as dreadful as she imagined. Near the end of her meal, she was gaining more unwanted attention. People and alien alike were starting to notice that she was back. She tried to ignore the stares. She came to conclude that she hadn’t done herself any favors in hiding away for so long.

Her sudden reappearance, alone, was bound to draw looks. That didn’t even factor in that her baby bump had grown some as well. With her baby bump, her hair had grown, sweeping down to just below her shoulders. Her horns and grown out as well, longer and with more branches. She didn’t know which aspect had drawn more intrigued looks.

It made her feel almost dizzy to have so much spotlight on her. She truly hoped that they wouldn’t start asking to feel the baby kick. She just wanted to finish her lunch in peace. She supposed that it had been worth it to talk to Keith again. He offered so much support. And Allura had volunteered to watch the baby if she and Veronica ever needed some alone time in the future.

She was back in the comfort of her room, deciding ultimately and to herself, that it had probably been a good thing to try to become social again. Still she was relieved to be wrapped up in a cocoon of the fuzziest blankets. They smelled like she and Veronica, that alone soothed her.

In a few months she would nuzzle her child in a blanket cocoon. With any luck, the baby would enjoy the sheets as much as she.

Acxa laid back, looking at the ceiling. She was still quite tired, a dull ache pulsed in her back. She was certainly feeling the burden of her pregnancy and it wasn’t over quite yet.

“Hey, I have something for you!” Veronica exclaimed.

Acxa turned her head, her eyes lighting up when Veronica placed the plush in her hands. She hugged it to her chest. “Did he cry when you conquered him and stole it?”

Veronica laughed, rather loudly at that. “I didn’t conquer him. I asked him if you could have it and told him that it would make you really happy. I may or may not have slipped something in about making a pregnant woman cry.”

Acxa rolled her eyes, what a sneaky human Veronica was.

No matter, she nuzzled her chin on the plush.

“Mind if I squeeze in there?”

Acxa fussed to unravel her tangle of blankets and let Veronica slip in next to her. She combed her finger’s through locks of soft brown. Veronica’s warm breath against her neck made her pillow fort that much more cozy. Veronica turned on some music, she noted that the style was called chillstep. Frankly Acxa was becoming confused by the amount of types of ‘steps’ and ‘cores’ music had. No less, chillstep was a serene type of electronic music and it usually helped lull her to sleep. Veronica closed the space between them and locked hands with her.

It occurred to her just how complete a sleeping baby would make that image. Acxa smiled to herself, she was finally going to have a family.

A real family.

#femslashfeb2019 #Voltron #Acxa #Veronica McClain #Veracxa #Fanfiction

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nitewrighter · 5 years

Note

Can we get some fluffy/steamy Spiderbyte featuring Widowmaker's Black Lily dress? I could see it becoming one of Sombra's favorites

Arrrgh this has been sitting in my inbox since literally last Lunar New Year because I wanted to write it but couldn’t really come up with anything beyond “Widowmaker… Hot” at the time…like all my spiderbyte prompts I didn’t really have the heart to delete it though. But with Lunar New Year and Femslash February once again upon us, and me noticing I don’t actually have a lot of Talon-Centric fics and like… sexual tension fics for Spiderbyte, so I’m taking a crack at it now!

(Also I just realized I don’t think I’ve written much Moira interacting with Talon members aside from Gabe? Gotta fix that.)

I think Widowmaker’s hair is going to be closer to her “hairpin” spray than with the full tactical headdress here.

—-

Sombra sipped at a sour, smoky cocktail of mezcal and Lapsang Souchong, leaning against the railing of Vialli’s luxury barge and looking out over Singapore’s waters. The night air was warm, muggy, and salty. The city glittered on the coast, looking like jewel-toned flames springing up from the red embers of the red lanterns lining the streets below. Sombra herself was dressed for the occasion in a black cropped silk jacket over a long red and gold dress. Not her usual color scheme, but one she could pull off pretty well and one that conveniently covered up most of her spinal implants. She had parted her hair to hide her neural implants as well. She knew the party was at least 90% Talon allies with the remaining 10% being those who were likely to be brought into the fold, but still, for her, you could never be too careful.

“I’m surprised you’re not in there,” a smooth and deep Irish accent cut through the mugginess as Moira stepped up alongside Sombra, towering over her almost comically, “Personal data being exchanged, secrets being loosened by drink, compromising situations just waiting to happen… I imagine that’d be a buffet for you.”

“Max said we weren’t working tonight,” said Sombra, smiling a little and sipping her drink.

“Ah but the work is never finished for us, is it?” said Moira, swirling her whiskey in its glass. Sombra didn’t dislike Moira–sure, the geneticist cut a pretty spooky figure, but there was a combination of aggressive independence and professionalism about her that Sombra could respect. Honor among thieves, she supposed. Moira was looking a bit more feminine than usual tonight in a violet qipao.

“Never is,” Sombra agreed before clinking her glass against Moira’s.

“Start any wars lately?” Moira quipped–subtle ego stroking, Sombra didn’t mind, but it wasn’t anything that would bring them any closer. Moira probably knew that.

“I’d have to check my schedule,” said Sombra, “Start any plagues?”

“Well they won’t be plagues until they’re released on the general populace, you understand,” said Moira with a smile before sipping her own whiskey. Sombra didn’t really want to know if she was joking, not tonight. She gave a glance back at the interior of the barge–air conditioned, she was sure, otherwise with how crowded it was in there, more people should have been flooding out where she was.

“It’s been a good year for us,” Moira went on, leaning against the railing, “I hope you realize we owe no small part of that to you.”

“I try,” said Sombra with a shrug.

“You do a lot more than that. I feel there could be a lot of mutual benefit having someone with as great a command of information as you in the inner circle.”

Sombra was quiet at this, giving a tentative sip to her drink. The work really never was done with Moira–not even Talon’s inner politics.

“New year, new opportunities,” Moira spoke a bit airily, swirling her whiskey again, “Just something to consider.” She sipped her drink.

Buttering it on thick, aren’t you? thought Sombra. “You offering me a seat at the table?” Sombra arched an eyebrow.

“That depends on if you’re inclined to accept,” said Moira, bringing the glass down from her lips, her voice a bit husky with the burn of whiskey.

Sombra wasn’t inclined. She knew Akande’s special little club with their big table in Venice would only put more eyes on her, only slow her down. She knew Talon was pulling a lot of strings, and she wouldn’t mind getting her own hands on some, but gut instinct told her Moira was not the way to do that. If she ever did make it to the big kid’s table, she wouldn’t want to be carried there in someone’s pocket. Moira was the last person you wanted to owe favors to, as well.

“I’m a little busy with my own stuff right now,” said Sombra, examining her nails.

“To be expected,” said Moira, “Well the offer stands,” she pushed off of the railing and headed back towards the doors to the interior of the barge, “And if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

“I know where to find anyone, it’s kind of my thing,” said Sombra with a grin.

Moira gave a soft chuckle, a narrow silhouette against the light of the barge’s window’s behind her. From the inside of the barge, a swell of music was muted by the window glass, but Sombra’s eyes flicked from the shadow of Moira to two figures past the glass. Widowmaker was walking past, her arm hooked in Doomfist’s. Sombra’s eyes widened at the sight of her. She knew Widowmaker was no stranger to fashion–her number at Maximilien’s casino a few months back was proof enough of that, but this look blew the Monaco dress out of the water. Ornate and body-hugging, the aubergine cheongsam featured a daring slash up the front of her thigh, and bared the spider tattoo on her back. Her earrings were dripping with rubies and her hair was done up in an intricately looped updo pinned in place by a hairpin sporting a large, dangling blood-red mystic knot of silk. And stockings–of course the Parisian had to be sporting lacy sheer black stockings.

Sombra brought her martini glass to her lips to try and hide her staring but one glance at Moira and she knew it was obvious. Again, she didn’t dislike Moira, but she didn’t like Moira knowing a lot about her. She didn’t like most people knowing a lot about her. She didn’t like anyone knowing anything about her but Moira smiled a bit, following Sombra’s line of sight to Akande and Widowmaker.

“Talon’s crown jewel,” Moira said, looking admiringly on Widowmaker. Some part of Sombra’s stomach knotted. Sombra wasn’t sure how much involvement Moira had in making Widowmaker…. well, Widowmaker—She wasn’t sure how many records of that time had been destroyed. And Moira was still in Blackwatch then…No. Not the time to fixate on that.

“Seeing a pattern between this and Monaco,” Sombra said, glancing at Akande as he spoke to Maximilien with Widowmaker on his arm, “They’re not…”

Moira laughed a little. “Do you honestly think she’s even capable of those kinds of feelings?” she said, looking back at Widowmaker, “No. We made her perfect. But you know Akande–Likes to make an entrance.”

The music thrummed against the wood and glass and Maximilien took Widowmaker’s free hand. He bent and kissed it (Well kissed it about as much as an omnic could manage) and then gestured to the dance floor. Sombra’s brow furrowed and her lips pursed as Widowmaker broke away from Akande and disappeared into the crowd of the dance floor with Maximilien. Sombra started briskly walking toward the doors.

“Play nice, Sombra,” said Moira, clear amusement in her voice as Sombra pushed past her for the door.

Sombra suddenly gulped down her Lapsang Souchong cocktail, “Oh, I’m playing nice,” she said, and tossed the martini glass over her shoulder, over the ship’s railing where it splashed soundlessly into Singapore’s bay. She pushed through the doors and entered the crowded interior of the party. Sombra knew how to move through a crowd. She knew how to be the person no one looked at. Despite the mezcal now burning in her solar plexus and hazing her senses slightly, her footing was sure and direct. Her heels clicked across the wood until she stepped out onto the barge dance floor. She only had to scan the crowd briefly to see Widowmaker and Maximilien dancing.

A socialite, a rich suit with a face she couldn’t be bothered with recognizing right now, one of the 10% and therefore, probably an idiot, blocked her vision briefly.

“Where have you been all ni–” he started with charm but Sombra completely ignored him and walked past him.

The music was a combination of east and west–Big band compositions rendered atmospheric and romantic by the erhu and guzheng, and the singer of the band giving a lovely Malay cover of Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” while piano dripped in and out. Widowmaker’s tattoo bobbed through the crowd as Maximilien danced her across the floor. Between the multiple couples to push through, it took Sombra a good couple of seconds to reach them. It didn’t really occur to her that maybe this wasn’t a good idea until she tapped Maximilien on the shoulder. He turned his head and looked at her. Widowmaker lifted her chin slightly to look past her shoulder and there were maybe three seconds where Sombra remembered, Right. Big kid’s table, as she looked at Maximilien.

“Can I help you?” Maximilien said, looking down on her. For a brief second Sombra wondered if her need to take down or control all the corrupt systems of the world were a part of a Napoleon complex, but one glance at Widowmaker’s eyes and she stared into the red glare of Maximilien’s eyes without fear. She hadn’t been afraid of a man in a suit in her life, and she wasn’t about to start now.

“I was hoping I could cut in,” said Sombra, extending a hand toward Widowmaker.

Maximilien managed to make a waltz position look statue-still as he looked down at Sombra. “That would depend on Mademoiselle,” he said, giving a glance over to Widowmaker.

This isn’t about Amélie, Sombra realized immediately, This is about power. Big kid’s table. This was about her knowing her place in the organization. About Amélie knowing her place in the organization. Sombra made eye contact with Widowmaker, wondering if she could see the same, wondering if she knew the same, wondering how much was behind those yellow eyes.

Moira’s voice echoed in her head. Do you honestly think she’s capable of those kinds of feelings?

Bad idea, Sombra realized, Bad, bad, bad idea. You’re counting on the favor of someone who was literally brainwashed to have no preference. But Sombra couldn’t pull out. She couldn’t say, “You know what, you look you’re having fun, I’ll leave you alone,” because then Maximilien would know that she would back down where Talon wanted her to, and she couldn’t have that. She just had to brace for the humiliation of Widowmaker’s rejection. That was it. No one knew who she was at this party. It didn’t matter. Sombra was a ghost. A shadow. Her shield. It would all just go right through her. Maximilien–well she could deal with Maximilien later.

A long pause passed between the three of them, the other bodies on the dance floor still shifting and gliding to the music around them.

“Well—” Maximilien started after a few beats.

“Mademoiselle accepts,” said Widowmaker, breaking away from him and taking Sombra’s hand.

“What–I mean, well of course, as you wish,” said Maximilien, pulling away from them with all the grace he could muster.

“Oh–” said Sombra as Widowmaker took her hand and put a hand on her hip. Her hands were cool–not cold, Singapore was too warm for their usual clamminess, but the coolness was a comfort that Sombra could feel through the silk of her dress.

“I’ll lead,” said Widowmaker, “I’m taller–is that all right?”

Sombra nodded dumbly as Widowmaker stepped into a dance. At that point, the last song ended and a Malay cover of “It’s Only a Paper Moon” started. Widowmaker knew how to dance—she knew how to lead. Sombra could feel her face burning and the mezcal still burning in her gut. She knew she could hold her liquor better than most but she was hyperaware of any misstep she could make now, but Widowmaker looked down at her.

“That was bold,” said Widowmaker after a minute or so of dancing.

“Psh,” Sombra bunched up her shoulders, “You think just because he’s got a chair in Venice that I’m scared of him?”

“You should be scared.”

“Don’t have to be scared if I’m smart,” said Sombra.

“Stepping on the toes of Talon superiors is not smart,” said Widowmaker, flatly.

“Well sorry for figuring you didn’t want to spend the night as someone’s hood ornament,” said Sombra.

Widowmaker smirked a little. “I can handle myself,” she said with a smile.

“I know you can,” said Sombra as Widowmaker twirled her, “But it’s New Year’s. I figure you’d want to have fun.”

They swayed to the music a while longer.

“Tell me something,” said Sombra.

“Mm?”

“Would you want a chair on the council?” asked Sombra, “Y’know… Venice?”

Widowmaker looked thoughtful. “I wasn’t made to lead,” she said after a long while, “I was made to kill.”

A part of Sombra wanted to debate the terms of Widowmaker being ‘made’ but she knew that was a whole other can of worms, so instead she simply proceeded in the same line of the conversation. “But if you lead, you could direct Talon so it kills better,” said Sombra.

“I don’t want to leave the field,” said Widowmaker, her eyes scanning across the crowd on the dancefloor, “I had more than my fill of the politics in Monaco.”

“Akande likes you, though,” said Sombra.

“Because I do my job,” said Widowmaker, a barb and a smile in her voice.

“Mean,” said Sombra.

“I know,” said Widowmaker.

Widowmaker just smirked and swayed Sombra across the dance floor. “You do know how to make a night interesting,” she conceded. Widowmaker studied Sombra for a moment. “You changed your hair,” she said after a beat.

“Yeah well… you know these parties,” said Sombra, with a shrug, “It’s not bad, is it?”

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” said Widowmaker. She tucked a bit of Sombra’s hair back, revealing one of the metallic nubs of her neural implants, “There–”

Sombra instinctively brought her hand up and tucked her hair back over the nub. Widowmaker’s hand pulled back slightly.

“Sorry,” Sombra glanced off.

Widowmaker shook her head, “I understand,” she said after a beat. They danced a while longer. Widowmaker smelled good–Perfume didn’t really trail off of her the way it should with her lower body temperature, it took the warmth of the room for it to occasionally bloom off of her as she and Sombra glided towards other bodies. Sombra would only get occasional bursts of labdanum and peony.

“So you… uh… like dancing?” Sombra managed.

Widowmaker chuckled a little, “I like dancing,” she said, dipping Sombra, the movement making Sombra curse an uncountable amount of times in her head while feeling her face burning as Widowmaker stooped over her before bringing her upright again, “I also like seeing people like Maximilien brought down a peg or two…” she swung Sombra around so that she could see the bar, where Maximilien was bitterly ordering a glass of Glenwales organic oil. Sombra snickered a little as Widowmaker swept her across the dance floor, “And I like that you make a living of doing just that.”

A nervous chuckle escaped Sombra, “Yeah well… You got anyone in mind, you just let me know, you know?” she said as Widowmaker pulled her out of a dip again.

“I will keep that in mind,” said Widowmaker, smiling.

Sombra could hear the distant pop of fireworks from Singapore’s shores as they kept dancing, but she didn’t feel particularly inclined to go watch them. Not just yet.

#spiderbyte

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fanfic-from-a-67-impala · 5 years

Text

Fell

Femslash February: A month of femslash drabbles

Day 1: Favorite ship | Anna Milton x Mary Winchester

A/N: I have too many ships to pick a favorite, but this one is way up there.

Anna lands with a metallic thud.

She’s reminded, almost, of her fall to Earth, except this time with less hysterics, less fire. She feels disoriented until she remembers why she's here in Lawrence, Kansas in 1978.

A metallic taste fills her mouth, and she spits blood to the side, onto the hood of a car where she landed. She glances backward at the windshield. No driver, but a brick wall surrounds either side of the car, creating an alley.

“Hey,” a voice says, not quite threatening, but not kind either.

Anna looks toward the street, where the daylight silhouettes the woman who spoke. When Anna blinks a few times, she can make out features of the woman—her blonde hair, her eyes that dart across the alley before landing on Anna again, the way she steps with caution and purpose into the darkened corner.

And, though Anna can’t see it, she senses the knife in her pocket.

“Are you all right?” the blonde woman asks in a hushed voice, eyeing Anna warily.

Anna slides off the hood of the car and stumbles on her way down before rising to her feet. She examines the woman carefully this time, now that her eyes have adjusted to the light.

But she doesn’t have to look to sense the familiar essence her soul bears, the same one that radiates from both Winchester brothers back in Anna’s time.

“I'm Mary,” the woman says hesitantly. “I’m going to help you, okay?”

Anna watches as Mary glances around the alley, searching, she assumes, for whatever slammed her onto a car.

For a moment, she considers pulling out her blade and ending it now.

“My name is Anna,” she says instead.

She doesn’t know if it’s that she might not be able to fly in her weakened state or that there’s something about Mary that she couldn’t stand leaving her dead body in an alley.

Mary takes her to her house, where she sits Anna on a sofa in the living room.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Mary asks, handing her a steaming mug with a tea bag hanging over the rim.

“I fell,” Anna answers.

Mary raises her eyebrows. “That was quite a fall.”

Anna lets her eyes wander around the room, landing on the end table next to her, where a photo of Mary with a black-haired man sits in a frame.

“My husband, John,” Mary explains, though Anna knows this. “He’s at work right now.”

Anna nods and resigns to staring into her green-tinged tea.

“Look, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to,” Mary says finally. “Is there someone I can call for you? A friend, maybe a family member?”

The first to come to mind is Castiel, but they didn’t exactly part on the best terms.

She shakes her head no.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here the night if you’d like,” Mary offers.

Anna looks up at her. “Thank you. I’d like that.”

“Sure,” Mary smiles and stands up. “I’ll get out some sheets.”

Anna takes a sip of her tea as she hears the departing footsteps.

“And Anna?” Mary calls from the doorway. “Whatever happened to you, no matter how weird it seems, you can tell me. I have an open mind.”

Anna nods again. “Okay.”

Mary turns to leave again, and Anna sighs.

How is she going to kill her?

#SPN Femslash February #Supernatural #Supernatural drabble #Supernatural femslash #Spn femslash #Anna Milton #Mary Winchester #5.13 #Mary x Anna #Anna x Mary #drabble #crimson and clover #writing is hard

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jennycalendar · 5 years

Text

2018 fic writing roundup

tagged by @catty-words !! thank u darling

i have this lingering suspicion that the 92k mess that is imperfections has a tendency of bumping up my word count, but also i’ve been writing particularly A Lot this year. so. yikes. this’ll be a mess

Total 2018 Word Count: 465,233 (so uh. yikes squared?) Total 2018 Hits: 16,798 Other 2018 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 1,592; Comment threads: 457; Bookmarks: 186; Subscriptions: 121.

Total 2017 Word Count: 171,640 Total 2017 Hits: 9,156 Other 2017 AO3 Stats: Kudos: 841; Comment threads: 172; Bookmarks: 126; Subscriptions: 40.

Links and Titles to 2018 Works (buckle up kids)

ten questions for new year’s eve (6,669 words) lonely s4 giles meets jenny on new year’s eve. basically fluff laced with some light angst, which i think set the tone for most of my writing this year

forever (4,738 words) some assorted femslash ficlets from tumblr that i immediately forgot about after february. it of course got buried under a deluge of jenny fic but there’s still some cute stuff there! i had a lot of fun in particular writing about bb willow and the beginnings of her attraction to girls

she’s your destiny (9,560 words) AHHHHHH I FORGOT I WROTE THIS. blessings of writing This Much. soulmate au with buffy/willow and giles/jenny where like. none of them are soulmates but they fall crazy in love anyway.

the happy-ending bouquet (3,851 words) set in 2018. giles and jenny have been married for something like 15 years and are still very happy and in love. basically just an endless deluge of fluff

personas (2,729 words) hhhhh i hesitate to count this as a 2018 fic, because i technically posted it in summer 2017 and then deleted it for reasons unknown (even to me). but there aren’t enough fics that explore jenny’s fractured sense of identity and her broken heart and i love my girl so much. so. wrote that.

something real (2,173 words) my valentine’s day fic!! a friend and i share the headcanon that jenny would have finally shoved her way back into giles’s heart if not for the love spell throwing her off, so. wrote a fic where that happened, albeit somewhat angstily.

direct, but not unwelcome (4,478 words) this fic always makes me cringe, a little; the office verse was written largely for faith and tara, and writing giles and jenny in it was a decision i don’t entirely like (mostly bc there really is no narrative place for either of them). but it has a few good lines ig?

putting a ring on it (2,370 words) giles and jenny proposal fic!! a little wobbly in places imo but still so fun to write. those two deserve all the fluff

the second choice soulmates (6,942 words) the inevitable faith/tara sequel to the soulmate au!! i had it planned from the second i started writing the first fic in that series, and i had a lot of fun with it. in which faith and tara have to deal with their soulmates being in love with each other, and end up falling in love themselves.

nightmares and the aftermath (1,205 words) the first fic i wrote in the ripper au! ripper has a nightmare; jenny talks him through it.

the inherent complexity of falling in love (3,519 words) more soulmate au nonsense!! this time with solely giles and jenny!!

let’s stay together (857 words) i say that this is “a series of vignettes in which ben, ann, and leslie are dating” but really it’s just one. i’ve kept it in bc i really wanna write more than one. ben/leslie/ann is such a blessed ship and there are no fics for it! which is ridiculous! because they really should all be dating!! leslie has two hands y’all

moments of connection in an uncertain world (3,351 words) the olivia/jenny fic that set that amazing ship on its course. set in asoue; jenny’s identity in the narrative is ambiguous bc jenny’s identity in every narrative is ambiguous. mystery bicon

amends (remixed) (2,988 words) i’m like 99 percent sure i spite-wrote this fic after watching amends bc that really seems like something i would do. in which ghost jenny makes sure buffy, angel, and giles all know that she doesn’t blame them for a single thing.

it’s a family affair (11 chapters) jenny, married to giles and mom to two daughters, loses her memory. i meant for this to be an exploration of jenny and giles’s relationship + jenny as a character, but with hindsight i feel like i kinda rushed it. maybe someday i’ll come back and expand this a little?

maybe i’m in love (24 chapters) CRIES. this fic was posted all in one day and got buried under the deluge of fic i wrote this year and i am still so sad that it remains forgotten. even by me. like i forgot it existed till now. but it is the treasure of my heart and i am still not sure what i can possibly do for calendiles day 2019 that will even come close to “slow burn giles/jenny series rewrite in script format.”

dragonslayers (8,048 words) i go back and forth between whether adding a sequel to a sappy-happy-ending fic was actually needed, but i had a lot of fun writing jenny and anya and tara being friends and adopting a dog. those girls deserve so much better.

tech support (1,315 words) jenny works at angel investigations, and giles meets her when he and buffy drive up to la to get a book. unabashed fluff.

family ties (2,294 words) giles introduces jenny to his dad and the aunts. i had giles call himself “rupert” for the entire fic and forgot to explain why i made the choice to do so (and there was a damn good reason!!!) so every time i see this fic....Regret™

i like you (992 words) the product of me realizing “wait, i never wrote a fic about my Very Specific Headcanon that giles and jenny had sex after school hard!!!” and then going ahead and writing that fic. not explicit; lots of giles and jenny being dumb and in love

take me now! (3,460 words) the sister fic to my other jenny/olivia fic! in this one, jenny’s a watcher and olivia’s the sweet librarian who has her all blushy.

the grieving process (9,771 words) this fic! was! such a trip to write! i wanted to write something where giles’s s6 issues were confronted. originally i wrote a jenny’s-alive fic where he goes to her place in la after leaving buffy in tabula rasa, but the mood of that fic was miserable and hostile, so i changed things ever so slightly. and then it became “giles goes to jenny after buffy dies,” and that transitioned into “giles actually finally gets to have an outlet for his emotions,” and then it became a very soft fic that i love very much.

unsolved mysteries (1,704 words) a modern jackaby au! where jenny cavanaugh has trauma-related anxiety and eats pretzels w jackaby in a hall closet! surprisingly soft.

the cleanup crew (2,968 words) post-ted; buffy calls jenny and giles in to help her with ted’s robot body. because that ep was a hot mess and too many things were tied up too fast.

princess charming (2,754 words) written thanks to a throwaway line from the grieving process! about jenny saving fred in pylea! @theforestlesbian mentioned in a review that this fic came off as “the adventures of jenny” and that was the best compliment ever.

untraditional, unconditional (4,223 words) ripper au! ripper and jenny get married! i don’t think i will ever write a better calendiles wedding than this one.

gettin’ bi (1,215 words) jenny and giles come out to each other. that’s really it.

intimacy (1,058 words) some root/shaw fluff. g o sh at some point i really should finish poi huh

the battle’s done (and we kind of won) (5,026 words) post-chosen; jenny inexplicably comes back from the dead, and giles works thru the messy aftermath of s7.

chaos, vengeance, love (1,412 words) giles’s exes talk over his grave. (and yes, i do mean jenny and ethan.)

buffy summers, muggle-born (6,075 words) buffy goes to hogwarts! this was meant to set the scene for a loosely connected string of fics, but i could never decide whether i wanted them to be chaptered fics or oneshots. i do have like 3 large chapters saved to my computer, tho :/

a eulogy (920 words) jenny calendar, as told by how she’s remembered.

survivors’ guilt (4,690 words) in which giles dies instead of jenny, and jenny and buffy deal with it poorly. my only problem w this fic is that i really wish i’d explored the messy aftermath of what might have happened if jenny had brought giles back. 2019 project y/y?

regarding honor and honesty in the workplace (43 chapters) CRIES IN JENNY/LILAH. given that i did not shut up about this fucking fic for a good 3 months, i don’t think it needs a summary.

maybe we could have a thing (3,184 words) giles and jenny’s first date!! canon told us they went out beforehand and it really did need to be ficced.

the most important words (2,753 words) passion fix-it! how many of these have i written dfshlsdhdf. anyway, by some lucky stroke, jenny doesn’t die, but she’s understandably kind of a mess. giles tries to help.

that brown-eyed technopagan (2,821 words) ripper au! willow has a HUGE crush on jenny calendar, who in this ‘verse is in her senior year at sunnydale high. lots of high school shenanigans.

seven new and very bad songs about jenny (8,597 words) another ripper au fic, this one about what it takes for ripper to finally give in and kiss the girl.

love of mine (282 words) one of the two fics i have written that involves giles grieving jenny. angst abounds.

the adjustment period (4024 words) i wanted to write about how weak vamp jenny is for her gf, so i returned to the grand romantic gestures ‘verse and explored that. femslash calendiles!!

love, scotch, and late-night parties (2,539 words) the aftermath of eyghon in the ripper au. jenny wants to be smothered in attention from ripper; ripper wants to give jenny the space he thinks she needs. basically the exact opposite of canon with the exact same inability to communicate.

father and son (3,761 words) in which ripper examines his relationship to his dad, and worries about treating his new son the same way. (spoiler alert: he obviously does not.)

imperfections (46 chapters) TECHNICALLY i added a few new chapters in 2018. i stg i’ll at least get closer to finishing it this year.

happily ever after (2,005 words) set after the dire king! jenny and jackaby being dumb and in love and experimenting with “the mechanics of ghost-human relations.”

cardboard robot (2,097 words) ripper au: halloween edition! ripper gets a pumpkin stuck on his head and sings about jenny, who Definitely Doesn’t Like Him What Are You Talking About Shut Up.

tea, with honey (3,295 words) a modern jackaby au, where jenny’s trauma really is trauma with no ghost metaphor. jackaby, darling of my heart, is still just as sympathetic.

very really married (6 chapters) THIS I WILL FINISH IN 2019. FOR REALS. i have too many unpublished chapters on my laptop to NOT finish it. set in s1; giles and jenny get drunk married in las vegas pre-canon. which, of course, adds a whole new level of complexity to both of giles’s new jobs.

coping (2,611 words) i really wanted to write about jenny and eyghon, bc there are like 0 fics that address the absolute mess that canon throws at that woman. so i did. very angsty with no clear happy ending, bc that’s what happens when you write canon compliant fic about jenny calendar.

yours (2,747 words) my first foray into writing phryne and jack! and, if the 4k-and-counting wip is anything to go by, definitely not my last. 2018 brought me a lot of things, but watching mfmm all the way through was definitely one of the best.

family ties (2,640 words) catch me crying about river and the ponds for the rest of my life, probably. centered around river’s graduation from luna university and her relationship with her parents.

decently clothed (1,516 words) lots of dumb calendiles fluff!! based on a paragraph from a btvs novel; jenny and giles go clothes shopping. it’s exactly as cute as it sounds.

making things right (1,060 words) passion fix-it that came to me when i thought “what if jenny survived, but didn’t even care that she’d almost died, bc what really mattered was that she’d fixed things with giles and buffy?? lmao how badly would that fuck giles up, knowing that she placed earning his trust over her own life???” and then i wrote it bc i love pain

bless her soul (6,294 words) s3. jenny comes back wrong. lots of explorations of the guilt that buffy, giles, and angel harbored for jenny’s death, with none of the pain of using jenny solely as a mouthpiece for evil. so like. amends done right.

dear friend (1 chapter, so far) a you’ve got mail calendiles au that i really do intend to work on some more in 2019.

haunted (15,622 words) WHAT a note to end 2018 on. a (mostly) non-supernatural au in which jenny, after an intense & awful trauma, leaves sunnydale and buys a ridiculously inexpensive mansion in england. why was it so cheap? because giles, the ghost who lives there, has been scaring off buyers. naturally, jenny is not easily rattled.

Favorite Fic: it’s hard to choose bc i wrote so many but for now i’ll pick bless her soul. writing the-first-as-jenny and playing up scooby guilt while still getting to bring jenny back for a happy ending??? that was just so much fun.

Hardest Fic: very really married. absolutely. i was in a v weird place while writing that fic, so that certainly didn’t help, but that fic has been giving me Trouble since i started writing it.

Do You Plan to Take Prompts in 2019? always!!

What was the best thing about 2018? friendsssss!!! i’m entering 2019 with a lot of solid friendships, which really wasn’t the case in 2018.

What was the worst thing about 2018? tbh the answer will always and forever be “my mom” until i am out of this house

Any last thoughts for 2018? how the FUCK did i WRITE more than half of the fics i have posted on ao3 in THIS YEAR ALONE. 55 FICS. i’m REELING.

Goals for 2019

finish the cheesy au g/j multichapters i started

maybe start work on a detective au sequel? i miss that ‘verse

more ripper au fic!!!!!

more jenny/olivia!!!

more jenny centric fic in general like It’s What She Deserves

SOMETHING about jenny and angel. i talk big talk about how much that dynamic fascinates me but i only ever touch on it in fic. it’s never the central focus.

finish the phryne/jack fic i’m working on, and maybe...tentatively...write more?

#fic #fic roundup #55 FICS WRITTEN i am. kinda in shock #i wanna tag people but i don't know who writes what so like #if u wanna do this consider urself tagged????

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knowyourincantations · 5 years

Text

Femslash February 2019 Masterpost

All works are collected in this series on AO3 and under this tag on tumblr.

I didn’t really plan on doing every single day but I’m a bit of a completionist so once I started...I was pretty much locked in to write and post a fic every day XD But my main goal was really just to push myself to make them each longer than the much shorter drabbles I wrote for Sapphic September 2018:

Avg words per fic: Sapphic Sept: 665 Femslash Feb: 1,178

Total word count at the end: Sapphic Sept: 19,960 Femslash Feb: 33,044

I think I definitely achieved my goal of outdoing my Sapphic September efforts =)

I also started dabbling in edits around halfway through, so some fics have edits as well, I also cross-posted all edits to my instagram =)

If you enjoy any of these, I’d love to hear about it in a comment on AO3 if you have the time =)

Ships written are: Pansmione, Delachang, Linny, Parvansy, Ginsy, Ginny/Tonks, Ginmione, Flonks, Daphne/Pansy, Lunsy

Anyway, here’s all the summaries and links:

Week 1:

Day 1: ‘Opposites’ Hermione/Pansy (Pansmione) Opposites Day (921 words, Teen) Summary: “It’s opposites day,” Pansy said, settling onto her back on the grass and looking up at the sky. “We’re all supposed to act in contradiction to ourselves. There’s supposed to be a lesson in there somewhere, I’m sure.”

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 2: ‘Pink’ Cho/Fleur (Delachang) Better Than Any Boy (577 words, Teen) Summary: The Yule Ball is approaching, and Cho and her friends are lamenting the rudeness of boys when Fleur suggests a solution.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 3: ‘Lost’ Ginny/Luna (Linny) What’s Missing Is Not Lost (1,269 words, Teen) Summary: Unable to see what it is she truly wants, Ginny keeps looking in all the wrong places, finding nothing but hurt feelings along the way. But it's okay, Luna's always there to pick up the pieces and give her hope for the future. If only Ginny could understand what her advice means.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 4: ‘Cafe’ Hermione/Pansy Cafe Reunion (1,265 words, Teen) Summary: After parting just as the war fully broke out, Hermione hasn't seen Pansy for over a year before getting a letter with a time and place to meet as Pansy returns to England.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 5: ‘Sharp’ Pansy/Parvati (Parvansy) The Things We Don’t Know About Each Other (1,379 words, Explicit) Summary: Parvati finds out Pansy cheated but the confrontation reveals only more lies.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 6: ‘The Moon’ Ginny/Pansy (Ginsy) Minding the Wolf (1,043 words, G rated) Summary: Before her, Pansy had been forced to lock herself inside and pine for the full moon. With Ginny, she could go out, secure in the knowledge Ginny would watch over her and keep her from revealing herself to anyone. Or if she couldn’t go out, would at least stay with her so she wasn’t alone.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 7: ‘Disaster’ Hermione/Pansy Less like a Joke and More like the Truth (But She’ll Worry About That Later) (1,286, Mature) Summary: Hermione is working from home when Pansy barges in to rant about the latest disaster to befall a Charity Ball she's trying to host. Like most of Pansy's rants, it's short lived but leaves her with plenty of steam to blow off.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Week 2:

Day 8: ‘Silent’ Ginny/Pansy Love Waits (2,154 words, Teen) Summary: Pansy took a vow of silence after the war but never told anyone why, near the end of eighth year, and after dating her for several months, Ginny is determined to try and find out why Pansy is still not talking. But the answer she gets is nowhere near what she could have expected.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 9: ‘Lavender’ Ginny/Tonks Better Naked and Cold Than Covered in Lavender (1,035 words, Teen) Summary: When Ginny wakes up without Tonks beside her, she panics at first. A quick check of the house shows her alive an well, jut suffering from another of her mission mishaps. But Ginny's not putting up with this one.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 10: ‘Waiting’ Pansy/Parvati Third Time Lucky (1,511 words, Teen) Summary: The waiting really was torture. “Maybe I should floo the office and see what the delay is,” she said slowly. “It really would be better to know now instead of continuing to wait like this.” But she’d barely thought of actually moving when the fireplace chimed. Parvati went rigid against her and Pansy scrambled for her wand to open the gate.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 11: ‘Rest Day’ Ginny/Luna Fast or Slow? (1,099 words, Mature) Summary: Ginny has plans to read all day on the sofa on her one rest day from training. Luna has other plans for her.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 12: ‘Balloons’ Ginny/Hermione (Ginmione) One Step at a Time (370 words, G-rated) Summary: Hermione is determined to rid herself of her fear of heights and flying and asks Ginny to help her along. Ginny tries a more muggle route.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 13: ‘The Sun’ Fleur/Tonks (Flonks) For the Sake of Concerned Muggles (496 words, G-rated) Summary: Fleur and Tonks are on holiday and Fleur is determined to return to England with a tan. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 14: ‘White’ Cho/Fleur A Perfect Picnic (1,557 words, Teen) Summary: On a rare sunny and warm day between the second and third tasks of the Triwizard Tournament, Fleur sneaks Cho away for a picnic. Fic + Edit

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Week 3:

Day 15: ‘Umbrellas’ Hermione/Pansy Sharing Is Caring (982 words, Teen) Summary: When Hermione is ready to head back to Hogwarts from Hogsmeade, long after Harry and Ron left, she stumbles across Pansy stranded in the rain without umbrella or wand. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 16: ‘Blue’ Fleur/Tonks Why so Blue? (809 words, Teen) Summary: Curse-Breaker Fleur has been assigned a job out of the country for a few months. The morning before she leaves, Tonks is feeling a little blue about it. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 17: ‘Damned’ Daphne/Pansy Damned on Our Own Terms (1,300 words, Mature) Summary: There was a low mutter and Pansy clenched her hands into fists by her sides.“This castle is our home too,” she said. “A better home for more of us than we’d like to admit. We have to fight.”She could see some people nodding, but many more were shaking their heads. It was a lost cause. And she wasn’t brave enough to go up there on her own. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 18: ‘Safe’ Hermione/Pansy Anything to Make Her Feel Safe Again (922 words, Teen) Summary: After the war, Hermione suffers from terrible nightmares. But Pansy is always there to bring her back from the dark spaces in her mind. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 19: ‘Vanilla’ Hermione/Pansy More Familiar Than You Think (676 words, Teen) Summary: Hermione finds herself puzzled by the scent profile of her Amortentia as they brew it again in their special Eighth Year. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 20: ‘Hate’ Hermione/Pansy Loss of Surety (770 words, Mature) Summary: Over the years she’d come to believe Hermione was utter pants at hiding anything she thought. It turned out that couldn’t be further from the truth. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 21: ‘Wings’ Cho/Fleur Collecting Feathers and Finding Wings (5,055 words, Teen) Summary: Or 'Five times Cho found feathers she couldn't explain, and one time she finally saw the wings they came from'. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Week 4:

Day 22: ‘Shopping’ Hermione/Pansy Shopping with Hermione (438 words, Teen) Summary: She loved a good second hand book sale herself, and had a tidy stack next to her too, but she had a sense of restraint, unlike her idiot wife. She knew when to stop. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 23: ‘Gold’ Hermione/Pansy Live a Little (1,521 words, Mature) Summary: Hermione encounters Pansy Parkinson in a hotel bar. It doesn't go as she might have expected. Fic + Edit

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 24: ‘Blessed’ Fleur/Tonks Daydreaming at the Wrong Moment (1,232 words, Teen) Summary: “Did we...did we just get Veela-married?”

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 25: ‘Split’ Pansy/Parvati Unexpected Gratitude (851 words, Teen) Summary: Pansy has a split lip, Parvati is determined to help.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 26: ‘Comfort’ Ginny/Hermione Midnight Serenade (708 words, G-rated) Summary: When Ginny has to go overseas for the International Quidditch season, Hermione fixes Harry's broken two way mirror and gets her hands on its counterpart.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 27: ‘Space’ Luna/Pansy (Lunsy) No Such Thing as Too Close (1,010 words, Teen)

(AO3 | Tumblr)

Day 28: ‘Princess’ Hermione/Pansy Work and Reward (808 words, Teen) Summary: Pansy has a pet name for Hermione. Hermione doesn't like it but she might have found a way to make it work for her.

(AO3 | Tumblr)

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