#now onto pride and prejudice and zombies

[awestruck-atrophy]

watched i frankenstein and it wasn’t great I could do better

[gryphonlover]

Linked Universe AU Directory

Anyway, I didn't put every single AU on this thing. I do not have the time and energy for that because there's over 600 LU works tagged as alternate universes on Ao3. I did follow some general guidelines when I was deciding which works to add, the most important one being that the AU had to be more than just canon divergence and had to affect all the characters equally. Feel free to add onto this post, if you think something is missing.

Link to the Ao3 Collection

Age Swap | Age Shuffle AU

Apocalypse - Unspecified | Brothers In Arms

Apocalypse - Zombies | Autolysis

Apocalypse - Zombies | LU Zombie AU

Fae | Across the River

Fae | Flower Garden

Fae | From Open Seas, to Dark Tangled Depths

Folklore | If You Thought This Was Gonna Have a Cool Title, You Obviously Don't Know Me

Fusion - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Hyrule's Adventures in Wonderland

Fusion - Among Us | Good Riddance

Fusion - Atlantis: The Lost Empire | The Sage's Journal

Fusion - Big Hero 6 | Fierce Hero 9

Fusion - Captain America: Civil War | United We Stand, Divided We Fall

Fusion - Dungeons & Dragons | LU x DnD Crossover

Fusion - Full House | Full House AU

Fusion - Lethal Company | Linked Company AU

Fusion - Lethal Company | Linked Universe AU: Lethal Company

Fusion - Mad Max | And the World Ends Again

Fusion - Monstrous Regiment | Linked Regiment

Fusion - Nailed It! | You Really Nailed it Right There, Buddy!

Fusion - Pokémon | LU Pokémon AU

Fusion - Pride and Prejudice | Pride and Prejudice but it's a Fair-Play Whodunnit

Fusion - Tangled | LU Tangled AU

Fusion - The Hunger Games | LU Hunger Games AU

Fusion - The Incredibles | Linked Universe Incredibles AU

Fusion - The Secret World of Arrietty | The Secret World of Wild and Twilight

Fusion - Spirited Away | One Summer's Day

Fusion - Star Wars | Tales of Courage from Across the Galaxy

Fusion - Warrior Cats | Faronclan AU

Gods & Goddesses | And the Universe Said "I Love You"

Heist | Heist AU

Historical - 1800s | City of Light and Dark

Historical - Supernatural | 1931

Science Fiction - Space Crew | Linked Nexus

Mermaids | Flared Fins

Miscellaneous - Disability | Shatterproof

Miscellaneous - Intrigue | Castle Intrigue

Miscellaneous - Magic | We Could be Immortals

Miscellaneous - Unspecified | Eyes Wide Open

Miscellaneous - Unspecified | Manus Lupus

Modern | Adoption AU

Modern | Good Enough

Modern | In the Heart of Hyrule

Modern | LU Modern AU

Modern | Modern Zeldas AU

Modern | Ranch House AU

Modern | The Many Realities of the Hero Spirit and Modern Living

Modern | The Roadtrip AU

Modern | The Weather Outside is Frightful

Modern - Actors | Linked Universe Actor AU

Modern - Coffeeshop/Café | Looking for Group

Modern - College/University | All You Need to Know

Modern - College/University | Linked University

Modern - College/University | Oh No, They're Theater Kids Now

Modern - College/University | RIP

Modern - Emergency Services | Of Officers and Stuffed Elephants

Modern - Farm | Fresh from the Farm

Modern - Ghost Hunters | A Haunting in Hyrule

Modern - Healthcare | How to Save a Life

Modern - Healthcare | LU in Healthcare

Modern - Magic | Everything but Blood

Modern - Magic | Family is Made of...

Modern - Magic | Maybe Human 

Modern - Magic | Summer Camp Lon!

Modern - Magic | The Chain that Binds Us

Modern - Magic | Wild's Magic Shop AU

Modern - Monsters | Here There Be Monsters

Modern - Movie Theater | There's a Remlit... Loose in the Theater!

Modern - Music Camp | Linked Repertoire

Modern - Newsroom | BSX: Hyrule SatellaNews

Modern - Newsroom | Professions and Professionals

Modern - Office | Linked Corporations

Modern - Opera | Opera House AU

Modern - Retail | The Hot Topic Debate

Modern - Retail | What Goes Down at Festival Foods

Monsters | Seelies and Selkies

Murder Mystery | How to Kill a God

Post-Nuclear War | Chain Reaction

Royalty | Every Other Star

Royalty | I'll Be There

Royalty | Royal Links AU

Royalty | Lost Prince AU Part 1 & Lost Prince AU Part 2

Soulmates - Platonic | Marks on Your Body, Marks on Your Soul

Soulmates - Romantic | Castle Town Coffee Shop

Vigilantes | Empty Streets Full of Life

Vigilantes | We Will Find You, Wherever You Are

Wings | Four's a Dad!?

Wings | Wings AU

Wings | Wing Bois

[the-marron]

[30 questions for authors]

10, 19, 20

10. Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot the most?

Ha, that's a very good question really. I think it changes? I used to be very bad with dialogues, I could go on and on with my characters' internal monologues without ever mentioning what the character was doing or where they even were, just paragraph after paragraph of their internal struggles. Now I am more mindful of keeping things balanced, and I think looking back onto how much work I've put into actually paying attention to dialogues, by sheer practice I learned to like them a lot. They are still not dominating the story, but I am really happy about them now! But I like the plot too, especially with longer things where I plant the seeds early on and can hit my characters with a full-blown tree later. Lots of fun, writing is. I think exposition out of these is my least fun - I do have a bias for in medias res, so the exposition usually happens on the go and in limited portions.

19. Who is the easiest/hardest character for you to write about? Why?

Easiest? Lin Nansheng, hands down. Not because I relate to him so much, hell no, but because I really like what he undergoes in the canon, it explores the themes I am interested in, so writing LNS is like coming to a well-known room full of my favourite stuff. Plus, I enjoy reading about 'his' era, so each time I finish a book that is remotely connected to the Rebel canon I usually end up with a new idea of how LNS fits there. I also really like writing Zhao Yunlan, Luo Fei and Hei Qi and... do I have a type? Absolutely.

Hardest? Jiang Yang and Da Qing.

With Jiang Yang I find it challenging to balance what he is and does in the canon with adding something more to it and not destroying The Long Night's version of him - I like the canon too much to meddle with it and change it, and so my ideas on what to do with Jiang Yang are very limited - how to write more than a description of what he probably thought during different parts of the drama, without changing the drama too much so I end up disliking the world I've built? So far I only managed to stick him in some aus and in one (1) fix it and I am not sure if I have anything else in me. Love the character but he is a bit above my paygrade for now.

An Da Qing... Well, I admit, I like him, but I don't think I ever managed to bring him out of the 'good friend' role. He is much more than that but I never have good ideas to utilise him fully as something more than just ZYL's friend and partner in crime. I simply lack the ideas to give him something more to do, that is not connected with weilan.

20. What’s your favorite minor character you’ve written?

Minor as in OC? Or minor as in 'character that is not the focus of the show/fic but I liked them?" I am going to answer both, because I like to talk, duh.

OC - Madame Qi in Thousand Flowers Manor (Weilan Derivs). I came up with her because I needed a fretting mother figure that would fit the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies set up of this wuxia romance, and since she was a rather prominent minor character I had to figure out everything about her - her mannerisms, he priorities, her backstory, while still keeping her a mostly comedic character. I had lots of fun with her and when I re-read this story I am truly proud of how she turned out.

Not focus - Zhu Hong. I truly like ZH a lot in the drama, I like her self-acceptance arc and letting ZYL go as part of her journey, and I am also a big fan of how she interacts with the rest of the SID. I think the drama did a stellar job with her and so whenever I have space for it, I like to include her. Most notable work when I am really happy with how I wrote her is Love Resembles Memories series (Mystic Pop Up Bar au!), as well as Through the Window of This Love (Singer au!), but here it's a shared effort with Ascel 🥰. I like ZH so much I wrote an entire fic just about her and her friendship with Wang Zheng, but that doesn't count as minor character, right?

Thank you so much for asking, it was so much fun to answer!

If anyone wants to take part in the game, here is the link: og post

[pastafossa]

Hello Pasta! I'm wanting to get into writing fanfiction. I'm having a hard time getting started and not feeling embarrassed at the idea of posting it. I don't really know where to start or how. I have adhd, so motivation and not getting distracted like a cat are not my strong suits. Any tips and suggestions on getting started?

As a writer with severe and currently untreated ADHD whose brain will happily chase leaves down the street when I should be doing something important, I feel you, anon. I'm happy to give tips and suggestions!

So the feeling embarrassed is, imo, the hardest part to overcome in the beginning. It is your biggest wall. The lingering cultural stigma against fanfic certainly doesn't help. But the good news is, I don't know anyone who wasn't nervous and embarrassed the first time around. It's normal. And half of it is... literally just about Trying To Do The New Thing. Nobody wants to be 'bad' at something, and unless someone's a prodigy, their early stuff won't be perfect in the same way that the first time someone tries to paint a picture, it's usually pretty wonky. The difference between trying the new thing or walking away, is whether or not you see it as a learning experience. If you're learning, you're allowed to make mistakes. I've used the gaming metaphor before because it works: consider yourself a level 1 writer. Your armor is mismatched. Your sword is blunt. Your only hope of leveling up is stabbing rats for 6 hours. And that's ok, because everyone starts at level 1. Even me! My early stuff was riddled with mistakes, wonky phrasing, awkward structuring, and garbled plotlines, because I'd never tried to write before. So grasp onto your sword, and remind yourself that it's ok to make mistakes.

To fight the cultural stigma embarrassment, take a look at the List of Star Trek novels list. It's a mile long. Try scrolling through; it'll take a while. You know what all that is? That's fanfiction. It's fic, written by people who love the universe and want to tell more stories inside that verse. Paradise Lost? Bible fanfic. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar? RPF. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? AU fanfic. So much in the world is fanfic, and you're allowed to write it, just like everyone else.

For how to start, I'd advise looking at prompt or trope lists and choosing one you love! Something that sparks your creativity, whether that's the Cuddle for Warmth trope or a Snowball Fight prompt! The key is choosing something nice and concise when you're starting, since ideas like those are easier both to start and to finish. As you learn, you'll get the hang of longer works, but short helps so much in the beginning, especially when you're trying to keep your ADHD motivation going long enough to get it done.

Speaking of beginnings - a lot of writers get stuck on beginnings. And that's fair, because sometimes beginnings are boring and unnecessary. Some good advice I got? Consider starting in the middle! If we use, say, the Snowball Fight prompt, then there's no reason to start with Character A waking up and seeing the snow and getting dressed. Try jumping right to the fun part: them out in the snow, walking with Character B, and both of them now in the perfect position for banter to morph into the snowball fight itself.

If you're unsure how to literally make a paragraph happen, sometimes what you can do (and what I still sometimes do!) is essentially start with listing what needs to happen in that paragraph: 'Jane picks up a snowball. Jane squints at Matt. Jane throws snowball at his face.' Once you've written everything out (the whole fic), come back and add details paragraph by paragraph: sensory info, more specific words, adjectives. Which is how the paragraph becomes something like, 'Jane quietly scooped up a handful of glittering snow, narrowing her eyes at Matt in thought for only a brief second before rearing back and launching it at his face.' This is also essentially what my editing process looks like (which some people noticed when I accidentally left an unedited paragraph right above the edited paragraph in one chapter of TRT!). You can literally go through this process for the entire fic, starting with an outline (basic list of events) which you then break down into basic sentences (rough paragraphs) and then go back in and add details (editing process discussed above).

ADHD tip - distractions: first, have an area you devote to writing. Try to write there as often as you can, and make it a happy space! Your brain needs to learn this is the 'writing area' so it knows exactly what to do when you sit down. Make sure you have what you need nearby so you don't have to wander off - I have everything from hand lotion, a candle, chapstick, tissues, water, and fidget toys nearby. Consider using something like noise canceling headphones - I have a pair I use to block out sounds and play my TRT playlist for me while I write, so it's harder to get distracted by outside noise.

ADHD tip - fidgeting: I often reward my brain for every hour of writing by getting up to move around, stretch out. Sometimes I walk some loops around the house, or I go outside and chase the dog a little, hug a tree, the usual 'YAY NEW STIMULI' for my brain. I've found giving myself those regular moments of activity helps a huge amount.

Alternatively, if you're hyperfixating on writing, ride that train to the fucking end of the line. This is one of our strong points as writers. It won't happen every time, and you cannot rely on it occurring, but sometimes you reach this magical space where all else falls away. I've had nights where I fell into that mindset and pumped out 15k words in one long session (keep snacks and water nearby, otherwise you will forget to eat or drink - I've gone roughly 6-7 hours without eating or drinking before while in The Zone).

I drink a shit-ton of caffeine to make my brain go zoom, do with that what you will.

So your mileage may vary, but this generally works for both ADHDers and non-ADHDers: training your brain to focus on writing is essentially like training for a marathon. If you try to run a 50k on day one? You're fucked. Start with a goal of small word counts for each writing session. If you go longer? Great! But smaller goals in the beginning that are manageable are more useful. Instead of saying, 'I AM GOING TO WRITE 10K WORDS THIS WEEK/TODAY!', try, 'Every day I write 200 words.' Cause 200 words? You can do that! That's small! Enjoy your success and reward yourself, give your brain that sweet sweet dopamine reward at hitting that word goal. And as you go, and regularly start meeting that goal, you can consider adding a little more, bit by bit, but try to keep your goal achievable. Because writing a little is always better than writing nothing.

And above all... be kind to yourself. There's always someone out there who wants to read your story, no matter what that looks like.

I hope these tips help! It's definitely a challenge even for non-ADHDers to get into writing, and adding our unique brains into the mix can get a little wild, but it's definitely doable, and it's absolutely worth the effort to see if writing fic is something you want to do.

[songbirdsingingthings]

Midnight Revelations - Katsuki Bakugou x Reader

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Kohei Horikoshi

MHA Masterlist - Main Masterlist

WARNINGS: Fluff, Swearing (It’s Bakugou, so, that’s kinda a given)

Requested by @luluwiie​ :

Given your gift for writing, I'm honestly utterly surprised your box is not already full :o but this is my chance ! Kuhuhu * robbing hands *

May I request a Todoroki or Bakugo one shot (Just choose whether you feel more inspired with one, another or both) where they are just sharing some moments with reader, and like, they enjoy their time with Reader and when they come back to their dorms, alone in their bedroom, they just realize how much they care for Reader? Like, more than their close friend and partner in crimes ? Like, more in a pining way? I just love emotional epiphanies 😳❤

Tysm if you do this ! CANT WAIT TO READ YOU MORE ❤❤

- Luluv

A/N: YOU’RE LITERALLY THE SWEETEST ❤❤❤. I had a lot of fun writing this one since Bakugou is such an interesting character, so I hope you enjoy!! (Also, the song “True Love” by P!NK was playing nonstop in my head while writing this.)

Word Count: 1.9K

If it was within his control, Katsuki Bakugou would be fast asleep in his own bed by now. It made sense to him - the sky was completely dark making the stars clearly visible and it was already past 10:30 p.m., so why on earth was he awake? The short and simplest answer yielded the same result; you. How you had wedged yourself in between him and his strict sleep schedule, Bakugou had no idea, so here he was, sat with a grimace on his face as you tried to work out the last math problem on the long homework sheet Ectoplasm had assigned.

“Wait, so when it’s a hyperbola, it’s a²- b² = c²?” You ask, glancing in between the blonde-haired boy sat next to you and the sheet full of conic section equations. Bakugou just looked at you with a mixture of a tired and dumbfounded expression.

“No, idiot, it’s a²+ b² = c² because the standard form uses subtraction. It’s the other way around for ellipses.” He explains gruffly, taking your mechanical pencil and writing down the equation roughly. However, due to the sheer force of his hand on the poor little pencil, the led snapped off. You laughed a little at the outburst that followed shortly after.

“Bakugou, don’t press so hard, the lead is thinner.” You say, taking the pencil from his hand gingerly. He simply scoffs in return.

“Yeah, well, normal pencils don’t do that. Get better ones next time.” He hurumphs, leaning back in his chair and letting his head hang off the back. He remains like this for a few minutes while you scribble down the rest of your equations, ultimately coming to a solution.

“Okay, I think I got it! Is it… (y+5)²/9 - (x - 4)²/25?” With a hesitant voice and a hopeful expression, you push the homework sheet in front of Bakugou to hopefully gain his approval. You wince as he scans your work carefully, raising his eyebrows on certain occasions. Finally, he sets the paper down and slides it back over to you. “Well?” You ask, a little exasperated.

“Yeah, that’s the correct answer.” With a sigh of relief you slumped back into your chair with a smile on your face. However, that only lasted for a few seconds. “Wait, then what the hell were those facial expressions when you were looking at it?” You ask, taking the math sheet and putting it in a folder that was then shoved into your school bag.

“Your handwriting is shit.” Is all Bakugou had to say as he stood up and stretched his arms out. You roll your eyes and glance at the clock.

“Damn, it’s already 11:15.” You murmur, letting one of your hands card through your hair, massaging your head and releasing the tension that was built up by doing several pages of pre-calc. “Thanks, by the way. You didn’t need to stay this late to help me out, so I really appreciate it.” You say, expressing your gratitude to the blonde. Bakugou rubs his eyes before slinging his bag over his shoulder, letting his blazer stay unbuttoned and his tie loose around his neck. You had to admit, his somewhat disheveled look did look quite attractive on him, but if you told him that he would either never let you hear the end of it or get pissed off for commenting on his fashion. He already got enough of that from his parents, apparently. 

“Yeah, I didn’t, and now thanks to you I’m gonna be tired as hell in the morning.” He complains, opening the door to your dorm to exit.

“You know, a cold compress does wonders for eyebags.” You say, a mischievous grin on your face. He narrows his eyes and flips you off. “I enjoyed spending time with you too, Bakugou!” And with that, the door to your dorm was closed.

Katsuki felt like a zombie by the time he got to his own dorm. He didn’t even bother putting his school bag on his desk or arranging his shoes by the door like he usually does. Instead, he just let the brown shoulder bag slump onto the floor as he fumbled to get his shoes off. Why the hell had you made him stay for so long? He finished all of his homework hours before you did, and still, he had to remain stationed at that wooden low table as he had to keep himself busy while you plugged away at your own work. After about an hour, looking through his phone got incredibly boring so he moved on to looking around your room, taking in all of the things that made it up. Of course, he wasn’t doing this to try to get to know you more, he already knew all he needed to… right? But as his eyes raked over the photos and decor of your room, the more glimpses he got into your personal life, so he stopped immediately.

Bakugou did make an effort to change his clothes. Peeling his blazer from his arms and hanging it up haphazardly in his closet along with his white button up. He tugged on a random black shirt and swapped his uniform pants for pajama ones and finally, finally, clambered into his bed. And, although he tried hard to make his brain shut off and just let him enter a dreamless sleep, his mind began to wander. He blamed his delirious nature for letting his neurons take him from place to place, situation to situation, until they finally projected an image of you into his head. It was a simple display of you and a recent one, too. Just Y/N L/N, sat at the little wooden table with her head perched on one of her hands with a stupid mechanical pencil in her hand. Did her hair always kind of frame her face like that? He wondered, scrunching his closed eyes. It didn’t look as horrible today, he supposed. Bakugou let his eyes flutter open, only to see that his digital clock read a clear 12:04 a.m. in electric red. He sighed and let his gaze fall on the ceiling right above him. Why was he thinking of you this late in the evening? And, to his surprise, he realized that he felt much more at home in your dorm room than he did right now, in his own space.

“What the hell…” He muttered, turning on his bedside lamp. His room was shed in a soft light, illuminating only the nearest furniture and himself. If he wasn’t able to go asleep, he sure as hell wouldn’t let this time go to waste. Picking up the book on his shelf that he was most recently into, he flipped through the pages to find his place and started reading again. He would never admit it, but Pride and Prejudice was turning out to be a much better read than expected. Bakugou found the main heroine to be much more likeable than any others he had read about. Her charisma and wit satisfied him where other characters were lacking, and the way she refused to be phased by an arrogant and sometimes brash guy who pushed her buttons constantly… He let the book fall to the ground without so much of a care as realizations flooded his brain. You put up with him. Whenever he was acting rude or was teasing you without relent, you would just simply roll your eyes and fire back. He put up with you, too. All your unreasonable habits, like staying up way too late, he was still by your side. Why?

“I…” Katsuki forced himself to look into the mirror. He saw his reflection to be way out of the norm. His eyes were wide, his posture was perfect, and his cheeks were red. “I like her.” He let the words flow freely from his mouth. With one more glance to the clock by his bedside, he grabbed a hoodie and shoved his head through it while opening his door and heading straight to yours. He knew from all of the prior knowledge on you stored in his brain and the light that shown beneath your door that you were, in fact, still awake. With three soft knocks, your door swung open to reveal you. Clad in soft looking pajama shorts and a flimsy top, your hair was a mess and your eyes were drooping. Bakugou never thought you could look so beautiful.

“Bakugou, it’s way past your bedtime.” You quip, your voice mimicking a doting parent. Bakugou shoved his way past you into your room and began to lightly pace. Your once joking smile fell into a confused frown, your eyes starting to swim with concern. “Seriously, Katsuki, what’s up? You’ve never stayed up this late except for that one time I insisted you did because a once in a lifetime meteor shower was on full display. I mean, you complained about it of course, but I knew you actually liked it because your eyes-”

“Just, shut it!” The blonde finally says. You pull back slightly, surprised at his words. “You write your twos and sevens weird, some of your habits tend to be unproductive, and sometimes I just can not stand you, but I like you.” The two of you are silent for a moment before you take a step towards him.

“You have feelings for me?” You ask, your voice soft like velvet and your eyes twinkling. Despite all of his reservations, his hard exterior and the sneer he always wore melted.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” You shook your head and took another step forward.

“Don’t answer it like you're confirming that I correctly solved a math problem. Answer it like you love me.” Bakugou’s cheeks flamed at your sudden confidence, but he took a step forward so that your bodies were almost touching.

“I love you Y/N.” And with that, a wide grin spread across your face. Your arms wrapped themselves around the blonde’s neck and you leaned into him, your lips meeting his in a searing kiss. It was slow in pace but fierce in passion as he grew more comfortable, wrapping his arms around your waist and pressing you closer so that you were flush against his chest. Breathless and red in the face, Bakugou finally pulls back to see your ecstatic face. “Oi, what’s with the face?” He says, flustered.

“Nothing,” you say, going into your bathroom with a little towelette. He raises his eyebrows. “I told you before, a cold compress works wonders for the inevitable eye bags that you will have in the morning, and this is the perfect size.” He huffs in amusement and plucks the towelette from your hands. “Plus, you’ll have to return it to me. It gives you another excuse to hang out with me.” Bakugou finally earns a little confidence and his trademarked smirk spreads across his face.

“I don’t need an excuse to hang out with you. You’ll need my help again on the homework.”

“Always the charmer,” you quip, walking with him so that he was standing in the hallway and you in the doorway. “See ya tomorrow,” you smile, pecking him on the lips.

“See ya, Y/N.” His blush was still prevalent, but his eyebrows narrowed and a scowl replaced the smirk. “And throw out those mechanical pencils, they’re absolute shit.”

“Anything for you, Lover!” You joke, closing the door. Lover, he thinks. He can get used to a nickname like that.

[koreandragon]

The sensuality in love and leashes made crave things in dramas I know we're never gonna get, I'm not talking about sex scenes the show didn't even go beyond a kiss, I mean the intimacy and sensuality of a touch a kiss etc the most romantic thing can be fingers interlacing together, a kiss to the neck just small things that show longing and yearning in a physical way they elevate a love story so much more but kdramss even when they give us kisses usually it's the grand sweeping moments with cameras whirling around and that's not what makes a great kiss they could do so much more without ever showing skin if they don't want to I'm thinking about the almost kiss and hand flex on pride and prejudice things like that someone inhaling someone's smell idk ane just showing people wanting to be close to someone in that way I'm rambling lmfao I hope I made some kind of point across also Netflix should think about investing in romances not just thrillers and zombie shows romance books sell as much as crime and scifi/fantasy books combined, romance is what made Korean dramas such a big phenomenon in the first place, it's what made Bridgerton their biggest show ever until squid game, it sells almost more than anything in the right circumstances but as usual since it's mostly men in the higher positions no matter the evidence to its success it will always be looked down on and not invested as much in if at all bc it's something mostly women enjoy and things we enjoy are surely inferior and not as important...

oh my god you're so right!!! no i totally get what you mean like the whole appeal and tension came from them doing bdsm without actually having sex and it was just so electrifying i cannot even form words rn.... ngl kdramas were always appealing to me because i did get tired of american shows always hyperfixating on sex. there were so many sexual innuendos and just unnecessary sex scenes in general that did nothing for the show that kdramas were a breath of fresh air. but yeah sometimes they are way too mild like 30 something people doing the fish lips kissing and calling it a day. i remember watching days when they kissed for the first time (which was actually one of the best kisses ever) and inguk did that little thing when he almost went back for more after they finished...now that was cinema!!!! or the finger flicking scenes in vincenzo. or when chayoung hugged him and he had to grab onto the chair to restrain himself!!! like it's about the tension and the longing!!

and yes as much as i enjoy gore I'd really love to see a really really really good romance. and you're right romance is always looked down upon because with the action/gorey stuff they can appeal to more people and bring in more views i guess but what about us... romance is the stepping stone, romance kdramas walked so these others could run!! anyways i really hope we get something good this year

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Conner Kent Week 2021, Day Two: Rarepair

Jason knew jokes about how pale Tim was, about how he was either a vampire or the perfect blue blood, about how he needed to get out and absorb some sun for God’s sake. They were met with glares, scathing retorts, smacks with a bo staff, and on one memorable occasion, a horrified Bruce as Tim barged into the house with visible sunburn all along his arms, shoulder and face. (Bruce hadn’t taken Tim’s accusation of But Jason told me to go get some sun! very well.)

Jason wasn’t joking now. Loosely covered in a hospital gown, Tim’s still body seemed to be more devoid of colour than any of the sheets, machines, and tubes surrounding him and attached to his body, keeping him alive in the most impersonal of ways. 

It was quiet, the sort of quiet that muffled any attempted noise with a soft hush, an invisible reprimand at showing signs of life in a place where there should be none. The beeping of the various machines didn’t register, the hum of the fluorescent lights was ignorable. Even the rhythmic tapping of Jason’s foot on the linoleum, a nervous habit he’d never been able to break, was utterly silent. 

It was quiet. At least until Conner Kent barged into the room, his heavy combat boots thudding on the ground and his breath coming out in pants, the terrified look on his face telling Jason that he thought he hadn’t gotten here fast enough.

“He’s fine,” Jason managed not to cough while speaking, the roughness of his throat a physical ache that was just now flaring up. “Full recovery, they said.”

“Good, good, that’s...” Conner dropped into the remaining hospital chair, right next to Jason. “That’s good.”

Silence blanketed them once again. Jason hadn’t ever been in a regular hospital room. He had supposedly spent a while as a patient in one when he’d risen from the dead and trembled around Gotham like a 21st century zombie, but he couldn’t remember any of it. He didn’t think Tim’s best friend had ever been in one either, given a good majority of Tim’s team was invulnerable or had advanced healing in some way. 

Jason was sure Bruce was itching to take Tim to the cave’s medbay, and honestly, Jason found himself on Bruce’s side in this. As much as he liked to distrust the entire Bat clan, he knew they’d give everything they had to make sure Tim was okay, while the hospital was only giving Tim their best care because of the “Wayne” tacked onto the end of his name. Jason had been about to demand Bruce bring him back to the cave no matter what, but Oracle butted in, telling him that Tim been shot as Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne in broad daylight. Bruce couldn’t take Tim home, not without raising some very complicated questions.

So that led them here. Jason being slammed full-force in the face with how much he’d let himself care about the tiny little toothpick, unable to make himself move for fear that Tim would slip away in the one moment he was gone. (Once he’d come back to life and seen how chummy Dick was with Bruce all of a sudden, he’d always expected Dick to drag him back kicking and screaming. He never thought Tim’s unobtrusive yet steady presence, doing his tech work in exchange for food, would lead to the word brother coming to his lips as easy as a breath.)

Next to him, Conner shuffled, and snapped Jason out of his thoughts. “I thought Nightwing would be here.” A statement, subtly posed as a question.

But, still one Jason had an answer to. “Deep cover. A mission he’d been planning for weeks. He doesn’t know.” And he would probably throw a fit about it too, when he came back. Even Jason had to wince a bit at the horrible sense of déjà vu Dick would end up feeling.

“So they sent you instead,” Conner said, and his tone was simple, but Jason found himself getting heated anyway.

“What, you thought the fill-in for Big Bird would be a little better?”

Jason was just burning for a fight, the helplessness he felt at being able to do nothing but sit in a low-quality plastic chair skating up his body and down his arms, forcing his fingers to curl in a fist. He expected the other boy to rise to the bait, having heard Tim’s complaints on how hot-headed Superboy was. 

But something about their current situation caused Conner to just turn and glare at him flatly instead. “You once put him a hospital bed, too. Don’t act like you care about him now when you would’ve celebrated this a couple years ago.” His tone was dismissive, and that dug under Jason’s skin much more than he expected. 

“Well then, it’s a good thing time travel’s reserved for the speedsters, huh? ‘Cause lucky for you, I’m not the same guy I was a couple years ago,” Jason replied scathingly. The next words were ripped from Jason’s throat, and he could almost see the blood splattered on them. “That’s my brother in the shitty hospital bed right there.”

“Yeah? And how long have you even cared about that ‘brother’ of yours?” There it was. Jason could see red trickling into Conner’s cheeks as he let Jason’s words get to him, and found himself oddly curious about that flush.

Still. Argument to win. “Long enough to know him,” Jason shot back. “Long enough to help piece him together after he almost broke. Where were you during that time? Fucking around with your friends or dead?”

“Trying to hold together the team that Tim helped build,” Conner shifted a bit to face Jason more directly head on. “All you’ve done is tear people apart. News flash: having a sort-of truce with Tim doesn’t automatically mean your family loves you again.”

That one hurt. Years of training to keep his emotions hidden was the only thing that kept him from flinching back visibly, but Jason still felt like he’d been slapped. Because the boy was right; just because Tim liked dropping by one of his safehouses every other week doesn’t mean the rest of the family was anywhere near comfortable with him, not after all the pain he’d caused them. And he couldn’t even fault Conner on it, because it wasn’t like he was wrong and it wasn’t like it wasn’t Jason’s own damn fault.

Still. He couldn’t just let that slide. “At least my family loved me to begin with. What do you have? Megalomaniac scientists who built you from an evil billionaire who thinks of you as an experiment at best and supposedly one of the best men on Earth who still thinks you’re not worth his time.”

Too late, Jason realized his insult came out a little too scathing. Conner’s eyes widened, and Jason saw him blink back pinpricks of tears...fuck. He didn’t know when mutual antagonizing had turned into a caustic competition, but he was pretty sure Tim wouldn’t be very happy with the two of them biting each other’s heads off. And Jason was the one that goaded Conner into this to begin with, to let some of his own helpless anger loose. Conner just wanted to make sure his friend was alright.

So, slightly reluctantly, Jason said, “Sorry. That was a bit too far.”

Conner shot him a grimace. “S’okay. You’re keyed up ‘cause of Tim. I get it. You’re still a jackass, though.” After saying his bit, the other boy turned away, taking up another vigil by Tim’s bedside.

...What the hell. It wasn’t like Jason had lied, anyway. If there was one person that had worse daddy issues than Jason did, it was this poor son of a bitch. Back when he was first catching glimpses of updates on what happened in the larger superhero world while he was letting green overtake his mind, he’d marveled a bit at Superboy, and the way the Justice League seemed to speak about it. How bad do you have to be to be Superman’s own son, (sorta), and still have him hold you at arms length. But after Tim’s stories, and after meeting him now, Jason was pretty sure Superman was in the wrong.

You really couldn’t trust anyone, could you?

“Nah. You’re right,” Jason said. “God knows none of the Bats want anything to do with me, so this stupid sort-of truce with this stupid brother’s all I got.”

Conner glanced over at him, surprised. Jason couldn’t blame him, he was a little taken aback at how easily the confession had spilled out of him too. They both knew how closed off people in their line of work were, but Conner seemed to take Jason’s words as an olive branch.

“You were right too. Found out the fun way that parents aren’t worth shit. So the team’s all I got, and Tim’s a big part of that.”

“The kid fucking hates you,” Jason said, putting some good-natured humor into his words to let Conner know he wasn’t entirely serious. “Loves you to death, but complains about you to me all the time.”

Conner snorted. “Look who’s talking. Every week at Titans Tower, it’s all ‘Jason won’t stop scaring off all my informants’ and ‘Jason spit on my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.’”

“You can’t blame me for that last one, aight?” 

“No, I agree with you,” Conner said. “That movie was terrible. I don’t know why Tim likes it.”

“Because he’s a goddamn loser,” Jason said. He couldn’t say he was expecting Conner to know who he was, much less from stories Tim had told him. But it felt...good, in a way. Nice to be recognized by his media tastes instead of his bone-chilling reputation. Nice to know that the guy Tim wouldn’t shut up about to him knew who he was.

Silence fell in between them again, but it was comfortable, mutually acknowledged and let rest. Jason didn’t break it when Conner stood up, brushed a kiss to Tim’s hair, and left the hospital much quieter than he came. Jason didn’t break it when he made to leave either, squeezing Tim’s hand and mentally willing him to heal faster. Jason didn’t break it all the way home. 

The next day found Jason in a similar position. The positive side of being a mob boss: he didn’t have much in the way of a day job. He didn’t know why cramming himself into an uncomfortable position to stare, with a tight throat, at a kid in a medically induced coma was what he decided to do with his day.

Maybe because the kid had grown on him, latched onto his heart like a leech and didn’t let go until Jason could ruffle his hair and think of him as a little brother without physically throwing up. 

And maybe because he wanted to see Conner again. He didn’t know why, but their brief talk yesterday had loosened something inside his chest. He was used mulling over his regrets, used to Bruce condemning him and giving up on him as a lost cause, used to Dick trying to brush everything aside and form a bond with him again. He wasn’t used to someone staring his sins in the face, then shrugging and forgiving him. 

Forgiveness was much lighter and much less guilt-ridden than Jason expected, and he wanted more of it. From the way Conner had sunk into the same line of thinking as Jason, he wanted more of it too.

Conner didn’t disappoint him, but Jason wasn’t sure when he’d gotten his hopes up high enough to be disappointed in the first place. Calmer, now that he knew Tim was doing better, Conner leaned against the doorframe of hospital room, staring at their resident comatose with a little frown on his lips.

Jason took the time to study him. A black leather jacket stretched across his shoulders, a little more showy than the practical brown one draped across the back of the chair Jason was sitting on. He supposed it fitted in with Superboy’s theme, because anyone who wore that pinwheel-bright costume with the fucking thigh holster Jason saw pictures of online was more than a little showy. There wasn’t much proof of in his simple t-shirt and jeans, though, and Jason almost would’ve been disappointed if it weren’t for the earring hanging from his left earlobe and the tall black boots with glinting metal lace hooks that stretched up their length. Jason bet he owned the exact pair of fingerless gloves that were wrapped around Conner’s wrists right now.

In all of Tim’s vivid descriptions of the guy, Jason never realized how much he had in common with the guy, at least cosmetically.

“How’s he doing?” Conner asked, and jolted Jason out of his reverie. He didn’t make any indication he caught Jason looking, but Jason eyed him in slight embarrassment just in case.

Realizing that Conner was actually waiting for an answer, Jason cleared his throat and leaned forward a bit from his relaxed sprawl. “They say they’ll bring him out of it tomorrow, then a week here before he can go home. That is, if he doesn’t wake up on his own. The doctors say they’re astounded at how fast he’s recovering.”

Conner snorted, then stepped fully into the room. “Can you build up an immunity to injury? Or, like, have your body develop a mini healing factor or something? Just based on the kind of shit we’ve gone through over the years?”

Jason didn’t miss the way Conner put feather’s touch more emphasis on “we,” or the way his eyes flicked over to Jason. “At this point, I’m sure it’s the only way we’ve stayed alive so long.”

“No you didn’t,” Conner chuckled.

Jason’s head whipped up, staring at the other boy with disbelief threading through his mind. It had taken months for Dick to start making death jokes, and even then, he hesitated a bit, as if making sure Jason was okay with it. But after one meeting, Conner just steamrolled ahead, every bit as confident as he appeared to be. Jason found himself laughing too, with genuine amusement albeit a little punched out.

Crossing the room to seat himself in the remaining plastic chair, Conner sunk down with a sigh. “I just want him to wake up already.”

“Yeah, well. Who doesn’t?” Jason said, feeling unreasonably a little disappointed. Of course Conner wanted to talk about Tim, that was the whole reason he’d come to the hospital in the first place. He’d only known Jason for an hour, and a large part of that was spent trading insults back and forth. Of course he didn’t want to talk about how Jason was doing.

“So,” Conner said, turning away from the hospital bed. “How are you doing?”

Or maybe he did. Jason didn’t know what to call the little bubble of satisfaction that flew up his throat and popped in his mouth. “Not bad. Life as a mob boss is kinda boring, whaddya know. You?”

“Playing den mother for a bunch of hypercompetent yet cluelessly stupid baby superheroes is not how I imagined my life going.”

“Playing den mother?”

Conner wrinkled his nose, in a motion that was in no way cute, honestly kind of gross and flat. Jason found himself staring nonetheless. “Bart used to call me Team Mom back when we founded the team, and it caught on. Now, Cassie leads, but since even she says it, everyone fucking says it. They ask me for granola bars and money to buy movie tickets.”

“And?”

Conner sighed. “I give them granola bars and money to buy movie tickets.”

“There you go,” Jason  said, his voice dripping with smug amusement.

“I swear I’m not usually this lame,” Conner pleaded, and his half-smile was aimed straight towards Jason.

“No, no, I believe you. Tim’s told me stories,” Jason said. “Didn’t you once throw some guy into a police car so hard, the car dented and they had to call in a helicopter so the guy didn’t die on the way to the hospital?”

Conner flushed, and Jason found it just as entrancing as last time. “He tried to touch Cassie,” he explained. “And she can take care of herself more than well, I know. I just got a bit...overprotective.”

Jason just laughed. “Don’t worry. I thought it was badass.”

“Really?” Conner’s lips twisted into a sour smile. “Because the League thought it was proof of my, fuck, what was it? Violent, destructive tendencies mirrored on a smaller scale of the schemes of Lex Luthor. Something along those lines.”

Shaking his head with desideration, Jason scoffed. “Sounds about accurate. Besides, you don’t wanna know what the League thinks of me.”

“What?”

“Aside from, like, Joker and Two-Face and Mad Hatter and shit, Red Hood is one one of Batman’s most powerful and dangerous rogues, and must be stopped at all costs.”

Conner was laughing before Jason even finished talking. “I love that for you,” he said. “You’re just so powerful and dangerous. I’m quaking in my boots.”

Jason shoved him lightly, and felt Conner give way on purpose, ignoring how natural and easy the motion felt. “Whatever you say, Luthor Lite.”

“Well, guess I found my new superhero name,” Conner said, finger held up to his chin in mock-thought as if musing something extremely important.

“It’s perfect,” Jason said. “And here we have Conner Kent, ordinary punk-rock farmer. But he’s hiding a secret! When his ‘violent and destructive tendencies’ come out, he turns into...Luthor Lite!”

The two of them collapsed into muffled laughter, Jason stifling his noise by biting his lip and Conner putting his head in the crook of his arm to hide his red face. Pity, Jason liked that flush.

Straightening up with a sigh, Conner offered Jason a little grin. Crimson was still creeping along his cheekbones and the edge of his jaw, and Jason was suddenly struck by the urge to trace it.

“Kon,” Conner said.

“What?”

“Call me Kon,” Conner said. “Everyone does.”

“Kon, huh? With a K, right?” Jason asked, then nodded thoughtfully when Conner made a noise of affirmation. “Is it Kryptonian or something?”

A rueful expression stole it’s way onto Conner’s face, mischievous lips and daring eyes staring at Jason as if challenging him. “Yeah. Kon-el. Kryptonian for ‘abomination’. It’s what they thought of clones.”

A pause. Then, “Wow.” Jason bust out laughing for the second time. “That’s metal as fuck. Good for you, Kon.”

“Says the guy who took the name of the person who killed him, then twisted it into something so horrifying that now, no one else associates it with anything other than you.”

“Is that judgement I hear?”

“Respect,” Kon said, and his smile was oddly shy, the first time he’d shown that emotion since he’d met Jason. Jason liked the way it looked on him; it suited him oddly well.

They were quiet for a minute, grinning at each other like buffoons, but Jason couldn’t find the heart to stop. Eventually, Kon stood up and rolled out his shoulders to stretch. “I gotta get going. I’m meeting Bart and Cassie, updating them about Tim.”

“They’re waking Tim up in the afternoon,” Jason said. “Bruce is gonna be here, plus Steph. So I’d stay clear.”

“Gotcha, thanks. I’ll come in the morning.”

A proposition, if Jason ever saw one, and there was no way he could have refused. “I’ll be here,” he said, and kept his eyes on Kon until he rounded a corner, away from sight.

Kon was already there when Jason came to visit Tim the next day, and he gave him a friendly, if a tad flirtatious, smile. Jason responded, accidentally putting too much emotion into the greeting than he would have liked, but it made Kon brighten, so Jason didn’t feel too bad. 

Dropping heavily into what had become “his” chair, Jason shrugged off his jacket. He gave himself a mental high-five when he noticed Kon staring at his shoulders, but made no motion to address it.

“If all goes to plan, he’ll be the same annoying little prep boy that’s always annoying the hell out of me by tonight,” Jason said.

“He’ll be fine,” Kon said, and his voice was quiet, but there was an undercurrent of confidence curling around his words. He sounded like he had utter faith in Tim. Jason wished some of that would bleed over.

“He’s a tough little shit,” Jason said, then repeated Kon’s words. “He’ll be fine.”

“How ‘bout you?”

“Hm?” Jason raised an inquiring brow. “Oh, I’m all good It’s not me that’s hurt.”

“Jason,” Kon snorted. “If I have learned anything over the past two days, it is the fact that you are most definitely not ‘all good.’”

“Yeah well,” Jason said. “You’re one to talk.”

Kon made a noncommittal noise, and shrugged as if to say what can you do? “We’ve all got issues. But I get the feeling that you’re not as closed off and angry as you let people believe. Or maybe you are, but you don’t want to.”

Jason bit back the first response that came into his mind, telling Kon that no, he was closed off and angry, just not with him. But that wasn’t the truth, and he definitely didn’t have the courage to say it out loud. So instead, he said, “Maybe. Not gonna lie, from the way Tim and everyone talks about you, I was expecting more...”

“Cocky little frat boy?” Kon asked, smirking.

“More or less.”

Kon sighed, then looked down to where his hands were fiddling with each other. “Superman doesn’t act like a cocky little frat boy. Neither does Lex Luthor.”

“You’re not either of them,” Jason said, realization pouring into his mind like spilled oil. “You’re not either of them, but no one else seems to get that, so you make it as obvious as possible.”

“A couple people got that eventually,” Conner said, looking up at Tim with a soft smile. “Not many, though. And none as quickly as you.”

Kon leaned back, level with Jason now, turned to face him, something on his face that Jason couldn’t read. The chairs seemed much closer than Jason could remember, but he wasn’t very much banking on his memory right now. 

“Yeah, well,” Jason said, feeling a little lame. “What can I say. Misery likes company, and companies read each other through water.”

“Never heard that one before.”

“I came up with it,” Jason said. 

“I like it,” Kon smiled, then leaned forward with an ease Jason had been determined to build up first.

A little peeved at Kon beating him to it, Jason closed the distance first, the kiss probably a little too rough. But given the way they’d met, Jason felt like the bite he gave Kon was justified, even if the other boy was invulnerable.

Jason had made plenty of bad decisions in his life, and he knew exactly what they felt like. This wasn’t one of them. There was no chance that the way Kon’s hands coming up to cup Jason’s face, dragging his nail down Jason’s jaw, was anything other than good. No chance the way Kon’s soft hair suddenly threaded through his fingers was anything other than soft, no chance the soft noise Kon made in the back of his throat was anything other than delightful.

Yeah, Jason knew bad decisions. And despite the avalanche of bad decisions that seemed to make up every inch of Jason, from his scarred hands to his chipped nails, despite the pile-up of thoughtless ideas that led to this boy being made, despite how intimately familiar Jason was with regrets, he was certain Conner Kent wasn’t one of them.

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

this was almost 4k what the fuck

also. please imagine tim waking up to see his best friend and older brother aggressively making out in the plastic hospital chairs next to him. 

anway, suddenly i have a new ship.

imma post this on ao3 later, it got a bit long

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @screennamealreadyused @subtleappreciation @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @bikoncon @bonkybearjpeg @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge @thatsthewhump

[thecandywrites]

Burn Without You Chapter 15

Well, here’s where the dumpster gets set on fire, so sit back in a camp chair besdie me, put a marshmellow on a stick and make smores with me as it all burns and falls apart. It’s going to be great.

Also I was totally inspired by this for Ashurah’s fight with Irelu.  Because that scene from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was PERFECT. 

Burn Without You  Chapter 15

Meanwhile your rooms were the only rooms that had peace in them. The moment Thobin left your room he put sentinels at your door and was happy that Seyda was still hanging around outside with them as he had put your own stone into a deep sleep mode so that nothing would disturb you tonight until an hour before Lukher would wake up the following morning. 

“Do not let anyone besides Seyda or myself into that room, kill anyone who tries.” Thobin rumbled dangerously to the sentinels who nodded and took up a position where their hands were on their weapons. 

“That bad?” Seyda asked with a wince.

“Yes,” Thobin nodded. 

“My room is only here. My own guards will let me know if she needs me.” Seyda said as she gestured to a room only a few paces away. 

“Good, get in it, and don’t come out until your own guards say it’s safe, there’s a firewar burning.” He told her as Seyda gulped as her eyes got large.  “Should I be ready to flee?” Seyda whispered as she came up to him and stared up to him with fear filling her eyes. 

“I will do all I can to keep things from getting out of control tonight, but who knows what might happen tomorrow. I put Audrey into a deep sleep, only the most violent of earthquakes would wake her.” Thobin said. 

“I see, good luck. You will have to be Audrey’s voice now, make sure it is heard.” Seyda insisted as she reached out and squeezed his hand to ground herself as he squeezed back with equal pressure to reassure her.  

“Of course.” Thobin nodded. “Get some sleep Seyda, your lady will need you tomorrow, let me know when you are ready for sleep, and I will put you into a deep sleep as well.” He offered. 

“Thank you.” Seyda thanked him before she released him and went to her own room, her own sentinels standing guard by her door before Seyda used her own tether stone to signal she was ready before Thobin put her into a deep sleep as well as Thobin strode purposefully in Ashurah’s direction because she was alone in Irelu’s room but her captain and his first commander were outside of it and listening in as he let his instincts direct him to where she was. 

Meanwhile Ashurah was in Irelu’s room and cussing him out. 

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me Lukher was deaf and only understood sign language?!” Ashurah screamed as hot, angry tears streamed down her cheeks as she picked up the closest thing and hurled it at him which Irelu quickly caught and put down as he tried to calm her down by talking her down, even though to see her in a primal rage was strangely turning him on too. 

“Because his mother, who is Clan Chieftess ordered me not to! I could not disobey her, she pugs anyone who crosses her! And my own mother could not save me from that.” Irelu repeated. 

“Bullshit! That’s the worst fucking bullshit that’s ever come from your mouth! I am the official translator, it was my responsibility that Audrey would be able to flawlessly communicate with her groom! And because of of this, I have failed spectacularly! I let her down because all of you let us down! And because you chose to follow an order by a woman in authority who was ordered by man who lived in so much cowering fear he couldn’t speak to his own gods damned fiance face to face to tell her the truth until he was struggling to say his own wedding vows to her and it was only way too late for Audrey to back out and ordered all of you to lie to our faces for the last three and a half months!” Ashurah accused as she picked up something else and aimed for his head and threw as hard as she could as Irelu once again caught it before it made contact with his head and simply let it fall down onto his bed’s soft surface so it wouldn’t break. 

“It’s not like that! You don’t undertand!” Irelu countered. 

“No I understand perfectly, you only obeyed to save your own skin in the moment! Your own ethics and honor weren’t strong enough to do the right thing?! I thought you were better than that Irelu! I thought I knew you! But obviously I don’t! Obviously I was completely wrong about you. Because you would follow the orders of a coward, hiding under his own mother’s skirt instead of doing the right thing!  You could have at least hinted at it, you could have taught us all the sign language as a way to talk to each other in times of war or during a hunt when silence and stealth are paramount and could save our lives! But instead you lied to all of us, you lied to Audrey, even when she put her life on the line to tell you the truth. Even when I did the same thing. I put my life on the line to prove I was telling the truth and you couldn’t do me the courtesey of doing the same, you could communicate just fine enough before we even left Dorierra, you could have told me in the beginning before Lukher became a coward and before his mother gave the order. But you didn’t!” Ashurah screamed as she just continued to hurl everything she could get her hands on at him. She had never been so rageful in life. 

“You’re right, I should have, looking back, I should have, I’m sorry, I can’t go back and change the past but I can do all I can in the present to help make this better, all you need to do is tell me how.” Irelu pleaded. 

“No because you couldn’t give her the same honor, respect, dignity and courtesy that she has given you from the beginning! Much less myself! Audrey chose peace today because she’s smart enough and duitiful enough to put the needs of Dorierra over her own happiness. And now she is stuck and trapped! For hundreds of years after the convergence heavenly moura were caught in snares and traps by all the surface dwellers because they saw that heavenly mouras had powers and we were the only heavenly beings they could reach. How is this any different?!” Ashurah challenged as Irelu couldn’t answer her which only made Ashurah roar in frustration and hurl some more things at him. 

“Audrey trusted you and everyone in the envoy to speak the truth to her and protect her and you led her into an ambush! You led all of us into an ambush! Do you know that this is grounds for war?! Over 75% of the Supersphere is controlled by moura queens, do you really want 75% of the world to be at war with you?! Thousands of moura brides have died because when she arrived and did not meet expectations of those at her destination, that was grounds for wars and grounds for her death which is why we have our armies to protect us, especially when we are only uncollared mouras with no natural defenses. Before collared brides could simply turn into a phoenix and burn whoever tried to hurt them and fly away. Don’t you think that if we were collared that Maisarra would have transformed into a phoenix and burned Rasime to ash at the Cisora? Don’t you think that if I had that power I would be doing that to you right now?!” Ashurah roared at him as her own Captains were only moments of breaking down the door in and getting Ashurah out of there because she was liable to kill him if her hands got onto anything that was even remotely possible to be used as a weapon as Ashurah basically was backing Irelu into a corner. 

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I made a mistake and I wanted to tell you and show you but I was sworn to secrecy on the life of my own mother. I could not break it.” Irelu answered. 

“Well congratulations, play stupid games, get stupid prizes. From now on the only business I will have with you is unlocking this taunston fortress for Audrey and the moment I unlock it and find what I’m looking for, I will leave and never have to look at you again because your word is worthless to me and in my eyes, you have no honor, no ethics, and no ability to see right from wrong, you might as well not be able to tell your right hand from your left.” Ashurah spat hatefully before Thobin, with a single punch, broke the door in which scared the figurative shit out of Irelu but only brought a victorious and smug grin to Ashurah’s lips despite the tears coming from her eyes.  

“Ashurah, time to go and return to the others.” Thobin ordered. 

“I couldn’t agree more General Thobin.”  Ashurah agreed as she got her things and stepped over the door that was in pieces on the floor with Thobin’s help as Thobin escorted her to where the other suite of rooms was where the other brides were. 

“Fuck.” Irelu collapsed into his chair and felt like the floor dropped out from under him as his own hard work to earn Ashurah’s trust and respect and attentions and affections all came crashing down as he was kicking himself for not listening to his own mother’s words to say something because Rubati had been against this order before it was even given and had pleaded with Irelu to break the order, that she would protect him from Auralu’s wrath and that Lukher would thank him just in case his Savia’s powers had been overestimated. 

“Good for you for giving him hell, he’s regretting it now.” Thobin offered to Ashurah. 

“Good, I hope all of them could catch the hell that I want to give them, Irelu told me that he was put under that order by Lukher’s mother, the Clan Chieftess, and Wardeen’s Savia and that she threatened to pug him if he disobeyed her order, what filthy pile of bullshit.” Ashurah growled angrily as Thobin could still feel Irelu’s tethering stone and knew that Irelu had been speaking the truth but simply kept that to himself for now. 

Meanwhile in the other bride’s suite of rooms, each one had her messengerari and holding a conference with not just their families and High Councilors but your own family too, also guarded by their Captains, serving as sentinels. They were reporting what they had walked into and what had happened and what a disaster it all was and what Lukher really was and now everything hinged on ancient stones’s ability to do what they had not been asked to do in centuries as the High Councilors and their families were alarmed and furious at the betrayal and the utter waste this all was as even your family was disheartened by your own betrayal and immediately lost respect for Lukher and Yekmeni in general, the fact that they would trap you like that the way mouras had been trapped in the beginning of the convergence but still, you put the needs of Dorierra above your own which was commendable and that you should be honored and thanked in a grand way for going through with it anyway which the High Councilors agreed to before Thobin delivered Ashurah to the suite of rooms. 

“General Thobin, please, tell us what has been happening.” High Councilor Langashi pleaded. 

“Almost seven months ago, Lukher’s face was damaged, from what I saw and can sense through the healing stone I placed on him, a projectile came and shattered the right side of his jaw, and then damaged his right ear canal and then damaged all the muscles on the right side of his neck behind that because his head must have turned with the blow like this..” Thobin gestured and used his finger to trace the pattern of the damage and turn his head with his estimate of how Lukher’s body reacted to the trauma. 

“But both eardrums were damaged, it must have been an explosion that popped both of them. So at Audrey’s request, I put the greatest healing stone I have on him, and she tethered it to her own and then placed it over his forehead, it immediately glowed a dark orange, showing that his injuries, even as old as they are, did not heal correctly, he can’t move his jaw correctly. He can barely talk or eat because of the shattered state of the right side of his jaw and the missing teeth there. His own health has deteriorated, without the stone, he would starve to death in less than a year.” He reported. 

“Fuck.” Everyone said as they made the holy signs over their heads and chests. 

“But Audrey, faithful to the last, never tried to flee, never tried to back out. She did all she could to find peace and compromise. She is sleeping besides Lukher now. They will wake in at least 9-10 hours. I requested the stone to undo all of the malunion of his flesh and bone that’s happened since the injury and then heal correctly as much as it’s capable. I think the left eardrum might make something of a recovery, I doubt the right one will. But hopefully his jaw can be repaired, I have no idea if the stone can bring back his missing teeth. But he might be able to eat somewhat normally after tonight and because of the color of the stone, I know he has lived in agonizing pain ever since his injury. And the stones should be able to take the pain away for now, but unless he, by a miracle, can be fully healed, the pain will come back, it will creep back into his life over time and we and our stones might be long gone by then.” Thobin reported. 

“Poor Audrey, trapped like our foremothers.” Langashi sniffled sadly as she dabbed her eyes with her fingertips to take away the tears before they ruined her makeup any further. 

“Well, actually, that’s not the way Audrey sees it. She doesn’t see herself as trapped and doesn’t feel trapped. She genuinely wants to help Lukher. Despite being lied to, despite being ambushed, despite not reaching and exceeding expectations, she is happy and content with her choice, and wants to adapt to the challenge and she is very strong, like her mother, grandmother and especially great grandmother before her that she has been named after. I have no doubts she will find a way to adapt. And wishes for peace, for things to move forward, the way they were expected to yesterday and the day before that and so on and so forth. And as her General, I will do all I can to honor her wishes and she is currently asleep, I will be her voice while she sleeps because I can sense that there is a great fight in the Clan Chief’s family with Sunco, like a fire threatening to burn the whole place down. Bur for now, Audrey is heavily guarded and safe and sleeping peacefully. I have seen to it personally.” Thobin reported. 

“Thank you General. If that’s the way she feels and that’s what she wants, then that is what she will get and we will respect her and her wishes. For now, all of you make the most of this. And Ashurah, she is now counting on you now more than ever to help her learn this sign language, learn all you can from whoever you can, who is not the envoy since it’s obvious, they can not be trusted and of course unlock the fortress for her. But the moment you can do that, get the hell out of there. All of you, as soon as you can, get the hell out of there before any of them ensnare anyone else from Dorierra.” Langashi urged them all. 

“Yes Ma’am.” All the brides immediately agreed to. 

“But Thobin, be prepared for all the legions who are assigned to Audrey, to stay as long as you are needed, each bride was given enough tomb meat to feed the whole army for the next three years. Seven brides, 21 years worth of tomb meat and I’m sure all of you would be ready and willing to make as much borrer as possible, just in case.” Jenobi advised. 

“Of course. I will not abandon Audrey, especially when she will need me now more than ever.” Thobin swore. 

“Thank you General. Your family will be most pleased and proud of you for setting such an exquisite example as always General.” Langashi thanked him graciously. 

“And we are most grateful, you and your family have always protected our family with distinction. We could not be more grateful and thankful for you and your service of protection, you are the best protector in all of Dorierra, in all of the whole supersphere.” Your mother offered as tears streamed down her cheeks as all the brides encircled Thobin and hugged him because he was the closest to a parent figure they had as Thobin reached around them and hugged them back. 

“And I am most honored to protect such wonderful brides, each one a jewel in her own right.” He answered as he hugged them back and rubbed circles into each of their backs to soothe them all. 

“Now, they should be getting some sleep and resting, they will need it.” Thobin urged them as the families nodded in agreement before the calls were ended. 

“Now, ladies, do you want to be tucked in and read a bedtime story?” Thobin teased the rest of the girls who all laughed which broke the tension in the room before they let go of him so they could get ready for bed. 

“Let me know when you are ready for sleep, I’ll turn your stones to sleep mode.” He offered as he turned to leave. 

“Thank you Thobin, we would be lost without you. It has been our privilege to have you.” They all offered. 

“The privilege and honor is mine, now please, get ready for bed and have only pleasant dreams.” He offered to them before he saw himself out and made sure that all of their captains would be on rotation to be sentinels for their doors and once he felt the signal from all the brides who were each now in their beds did he turn their tethering stones to dream state almost instantly before he could feel Sunco’s distress and sighed tiredly. 

All of this was utterly exhausting, it was like he was carrying around a hundred fire extinguishers, calming down the fire of anger that was burning in everyone, trying to calm his most important priorities first as he used the sentinels to find where Sunco was. She was in Clan Chief Wardeen’s private quarters and the closer he got, the better he could hear the many arguments going on inside the rooms before he used his own ears and the ears of his Captains assigned to Sunco to listen in on what was being said inside as he paused and simply listened for a moment. 

Wardeen was arguing with Sunco about when she knew about the true nature of yourself and the other brides and how come she didn’t tell them the moment she found out and turn around and march back into Dorierra and demand what they really came to get, and how now they were relying on stones from outside orcs from a sphere they knew nothing about or that they had no idea how they worked and alarmed them about what they took away in order to give them what they wanted and feared that Lukher would wake up tomorrow morning and have amnesia and not know who he was or worse, be under the control of a giant of orc who had an army of equal sized giant orcs who could break the fortress from the inside out at the smallest provocation and Rubati wasn’t helping anything because she was repeating that she had been right and now all the trust that had been built up between the envoy and the bridal party was completely destroyed over this because she had told Wardeen and Lukher that they needed to tell you and the rest of the bridal party about the reality of the situation, while Auralu had been convinced that you were full moura and magically powerful and all of this would have been an easy fix and had insisted that Lukher not tell you and how Auralu was now responsible for her eldest’s son rocky start of his marriage to his Savia because if Kingu had lived, he would have at least had the honor of being honest especially if his savia had sworn to be the same and how similar Lukher was to his mother which only instigated a new wave of their own bitter infighting they had done since the beginning. 

“Shit.” Thobin hissed as he pinched the bridge of his nose before rubbing at his temples as he contemplated whether he really wanted to enter this particular fight. But even if Sunco had broken his trust with her, he was better than to repay it in kind, even under the threat of pugging, which for orcs was a fate worse than any death. He had sworn an oath to protect her. Even from her own family and then he remembered Seyda’s words, he was now your voice when you could not speak. And your voice deserved to be heard right now so he knocked at the door. 

“Who’s there?” Wardeen asked as he hushed everyone. 

“General Thobin,” Thobin answered. 

“Please, General, go to your rooms and rest, I apologize if the noise is keeping you awake.” Wardeen offered. 

“Clan Chief, with all due respect, you will either let me in or I will punch my way through this door because you’re not listening to the one voice you should be, and the one person who has the ability, power, motive and desire to break this fortress down from the inside out unless, you, again, with all due respect, don’t open the fucking door.” Thobin boomed angrily on the other side of the door before Sunco practically ran to the door and opened it. 

“Oh thank the gods you’re here, please, we need you.” Sunco pleaded as she grabbed his hand and pulled him in and practically hid behind him. 

“Please, Wardeen is only worried about Lukher and what the stone will do to him.” Sunco explained. 

“The stone will heal him as much as it can. The stones themselves are over 1200 years old. They have only ever been tasked with healing this level of damage less than a thousand times in all of that time, so about once every century. The stones themselves were given to the clans of orcs surrounding Dorrierra which the only moura state in the world when we were called on by them to protect them when they could no longer protect and defend themselves- by the crystal angels in the crystal heaven sphere who felt pity for the heavenly mouras who were the lowest of the heavenly creatures and were victim to be hunted like animals and first ensnared and trapped by land dwellers the first few hundred years after the convergence which led to Dorierra’s birth as a country.” Thobin began to explain. 

“And especially once it was revealed that moura genetics are so fragile and can easily bleed out when not mixed with other pure blooded individuals. So that has been the eight clan’s calling ever since, to protect our moura friends. And that’s what they are, each and every single one of them are our friends, our friendship is traced back through every generation since the beginning and is a friendship that means their lives and our own, we are a symbiotic relationship, they take care of us, we take care of them. It was I who was in charge of rescuing your Lukher’s Savia’s parent’s when her grandparent’s kingdoms fell. Because it happened overnight, the stoning ceremony was too quick and I had no healing stones with me when I rescued them myself, Savia Audravienneway’s great grandmother gave her life protecting her son, his primary wife and all his other wives and concubines and all of their children, all 345 wives and concubines and all 267 of the children, including an additional 453 servants and their families. It was over three thousand people I was put in charge of protecting against a nation of hundreds of thousands who wanted each and every single one of them dead, even the newborns because they had legal right to the throne and it was anarchy.” He recounted which brought a chill to the room and all that heard it. 

“Savia Audravienneway is named after her great grandmother, Vienne, the one who risked and gave her life to protect her son, his wives and concubines and their children who then grew up to become Saiva Audravienne’s parents and grandparents, Vienne died mere hours, barely a day or so, after crossing the Dorierran border and would only cross it after every last one of her family and household crossed it first, she was past any kind of saving by that point. When I first got there, Vienne had boobytrapped her own palace to protect her family and showed a ferocity of protectiveness, that only a mother who loves her family is capable of combined with a cunning ruthlessness that had no equal that got her own son to the throne, she held off her families attackers by sword point herself and took arrows to her body to protect her family and she is the reason Savia Audravienneway and every other descendant she ever had- is a master of swordsmanship from the age that they can stand on their own two feet and keep their balance. Vienne was only satisfied and happy that each and every single daughter in law and grandchild made it safely as did their servants before she allowed her body to fall asleep in death, in peace, knowing her family and household was safe, but not a moment before. She refused and even death had to wait to claim her until she was ready.” Thobin related with a proud smile. 

“A very great statue in her honor is erected in the Sultanate Quarter in Dorierra, her story is an epic saga, recorded by her son, and is a great play that is played in every quarter’s theater and opera house and it is Vienne, that Savia Audravienneway has always aspired to be like and she is doing the most exquisite job in doing so. The behavior you saw from Savia Audravienneway today, is for me, like seeing her great grandmother again and it gives me strength and faith that she will do her best by Lukher and he could not have chosen a better mate in life through the whole supersphere. So while her needlework is not quite what you expect.” Thobin said as he cast an accusatory look to Auralu who flushed in embarrassment under his scrutiny. 

“You will find her intellect without equal, you will find an inner strength inside of her that is stronger than any metal in this superspere and far beyond, as if forged inside a burning star’s heart, you will find her drive and compassion, courage, honor and integrity without equal. And while she is small compared to us, she is mighty and will be fierce when pushed. She will not be stepped on, intimidated, or trapped or ensnared and if anyone were to ever try, you can bet your collective asses, I will be the first to help her repay in kind a hundred fold, me and my entire army, which she has just as much control over as I do and she can start and end wars with only a flick of her wrist or bat of an eyelash. And it is because I view her as my own granddaughter, and one that I could not be more proud of, she has earned my respect and loyalties and I will stay with her for as long as she needs me to, years if I have to and it is years that I am prepared for and can stand. I’m 112, I can make it to 200, easily, my own father lived to be 235. I was doing this while your own grandparents were still in diapers and will continue to do this for as long as my body allows me.” Thobin leveled as Wardeen and Auralu gulped in fear at the thought of having to deal with him and his army for the rest of thier lives and far beyond. 

“You should also know that it is those same descendants of the servants who, to this day serve Savia Audravienneway and her family, Seyda is the granddaughter to her own grandmother’s lady in waiting and she will also serve her Lady to the grave if need be, that is the kind of loyalty her Lady earns and should be given and shown at all times. And Savia Audravienneway has the same spirit as her namesake. And if it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you will get and a fight I will kill for if it’s to protect her and one that you will lose if you try to fight. I and my entire army are immortal while stoned, fire a cannon squarely at our chests and the cannon breaks while we don’t even get a scratch or a brusie, we cold leap into an erupting volcano and swim through magma like it’s a lake and not a hair on us would be singed. Because these stones were made to make us into the biggest and best shields for our moura counterparts and overcome every single thing anything this supersphere can throw us and every weapon held against us, and if the stones are attempted to be removed by anyone but ourselves, they will immediately imbed themselves into us and then hell really will break loose and it will be as if a bomb the size of this room exploded. Do you really want this entire fortress to be turned to rubble?” Thobin leveled as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at Clan Chief Wardeen pointedly. 

“Uh, quick question.” Rubati came forward before Thobin turned his head to look at her questioningly. 

“Do you have any brothers?” Rubati asked hopefully which made Sunco snicker a laugh from her place practically behind him. 

“Rubati!” Wardeen frowned. 

“Told you, the moment she sees a bigger, better, stronger orc, she’d leave you in a hot minute.” Auralu spat smugly to Wardeen.  

“Oh like you have any room to talk or criticize? Like you don’t abuse your own power to the point you threatened to pug the Ambassodor and her envoy, members of who are your own husband’s children, nieces and nephews? What kind of cold hearted, spiteful and hateful Clan Chietess are you? But let me guess, your own sons and daughters who were part of the envoy would be spared right?” Thobin sneered dangerously and if looks could kill she’d be dead about now. 

“It was an empty, and idle threat, I would never dream of carrying it out.” Auralu insisted. 

“It would have been the first time in your life if that were the case.” Rubati countered smugly which only got Thobin to huff through his nose. 

“What kind of Clan Cheiftess are you that you would sabotage your own eldest son like that? If anyone is to be blamed for this disaster, it is you and you alone since you threatened them with the worst possible sentence and they obeyed because they, rightly feared for their lives and their own survival. I have sworn and oath to Savia Audravienneway and to the Ambassador and her envoy to protect them too, even if it is from you. I can guarantee you that the moment Savia Audravienneway finds this out, she will be the most angry at you for that and will easily and quickly forgive the Ambassador and her envoy who she still sees as her friends and she will protect them from you and keep them all safely from your reach. And if you are stupid enough to try to fight her on that, she will bring you to your knees. Do not test her or cross her, any more than you want to test me or cross me any more than you already have in this reguard.” Thobin warned her as he watched as she seemed to fidget uncomfortably under his steely hard stare as Rubati and Sunco could only bite their lips to keep from their grins from breaking thier faces in half because no one had ever challenged Auralu like this and no one had ever had the power to back it up either. Like a bully finally getting it’s first taste of being bullied as even Wardeen was grateful for someone to finally stand up to her more effectively than he had been able to. 

“You are better off apologizing to her and begging for her forgiveness and explaining yourself before anyone else has the chance to tell her. She might respect you if you come forward and confess on your own. But if you try to hide this, her hold on Lukher’s heart, mind and soul means he will tell her if you do not. And I have sworn no oath to protect you and neither will I ever either. And it is Savia Audravienneway who has the most power to exact vengence and revenge to a degree you cannot even fathom. She has the loyalties and confidences and alliances with not just all of those in the Brighway line, but all of Dorierra has her backing along with every other nation with a Dorierran queen. Which is roughly 75% of the nations of the Supersphere.” Thobin snarled angrily as his eyes glowed with supernatural power as Auralu was for once- intimidated and scared. 

“And don’t you dare try to ask Savia Audravienneway’s protection from me, she won’t grant it to you and neither will I give it.” Thobin warned her. 

“I am Clan Chieftess! How dare you speak to me and threaten me! Wardeen, you shouldn’t stand for this!” Auralu balked. 

“On the contrary Auralu, I’m in agreement with him. You have turned my family against me. And put my own sister in an impossible situation along with your own son’s Savia. It’s no one’s fault but your own, for once, take responsibility for your actions or your title and station will pass to either Rubati or Davkee. And right now, Rubati is more deserving of it, especially with your history with her.” Wardeen threatened as Auralu looked horrified as the threat of her grip on her own power was failing and slipping through her fingers when she should have it in a choke hold. 

“Do you regret marrying that one?” Thobin asked Wardeen as he nodded to Auralu. 

“You have no idea.” Wardeen grumbled as he took up a similar posture to Thobin. 

“I beg your pardon?!” Auralu scoffed. 

“I am your Savia! I am Clan Chieftess, all of you will speak to me as such.” Auralu insisted. 

“No, you’re an adult, this is your mess, you get to clean it up. And you can not pass, and should not pass- the blame to anyone else, you’re the one who encouraged Lukher to not tell his Savia the truth about his condition. You put the wedge between them.” Thobin offered. 

“I didn’t know she didn’t have healing powers, I thought she could tell he was deaf from their first meeting and her own sympathy and instant attachment to him would move her to heal him as soon as she stepped foot into Yekmeni, I didn’t think it would be this big of a deal. I meant no harm at all!” Auralu defended. 

“But you still did. Savia Audravienneway prizes honesty and forthcomingness above all else, I know for a fact Ambassador Sunco told all of you that. Why didn’t you follow her example?” Thobin questioned them. 

“Her own pride.” Rubati easily offered.   

“And let me guess, you advised the opposite.” Thobin said to Rubati. 

“You bet your ass I did. I even encouraged my son Irelu to disobey the order and tell Ashurah at least or teach them sign language. But he wanted to be obedient to Savia Auralu’s order given on behalf of Lukher, but Auralu was convinced of Savia Audravienneway’s magical abilities, despite not seeing any proof of them the whole way here.” Rubati informed him proudly. 

“Actually, the entire Envoy saw proof of the lack of powers the whole way here. Whether they chose to see them or ignored them or simply didn’t connect the dots themselves, I don’t know.” Thobin answered.

“We saw the signs, we didn’t understand them and didn’t realize that it was the lack of signs that we were seeing.” Sunco confessed.  

“And your third wife, what did she think?” Thobin asked Wardeen. 

“She agreed with me but didn’t want to get between me and her.” Rubati gestured to herself and then to Auralu. 

“I see,” Thobin nodded. 

“And you didn’t think to listen to two out of your three wives.” Thobin stated more than asked Wardeen. 

“Looking back, I should have. Please know, all of us, will try to mend this and make this right, we do not want war or cause any more problems, especially for Lukher and his Savia. Please, advise us on how to do this.” Wardeen humbly requested. 

“Be honest and forthcoming, about everything from now on, explain the situation, explain what your Savia had done and threatened from disobedience. Audrey has grown up with orcish culture too, she speaks all the dialects of all the clans that are in Dorrierra with fluency. She will understand. And if you have real humility, she will be able to tell, and she is willing to forgive if she sees real repentance. She is not spiteful or resentful like your own Savia obviously is.” Thobin advised Wardeen as he nodded over to Auralu who scoffed and folded her arms over her chest but couldn’t say much in protest.  

“Agreed.” Wardeen readily nodded in agreement. 

“Now, my advice, is to honor Savia Audravienneway’s wishes by making peace and keep peace, and right now she wants everyone to be sleeping in as much peace as all of you possibly can and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day than today. I suggest everyone grant her wish, get some sleep and you should know that the only reason war is not being waged right now, is because Savia Audravienneway doesn’t want it, she wants peace and for this whole arrangement to work as well as it can and I will be the last to ever disappoint her. So please, for her sake, and for the sake of your clan and your nation. Make peace and make amends and do everything you can to make this right and try to earn back her trust and respect, it’s going to take a lot. Mouras are very hard to earn their trust and it can be lost quickly and re-earned twice as hard. The envoy especially lost all trust and respect from the bridal party over this, but once the truth is known, they too will forgive, not easily or quickly but gradually over time and many actions, but they won’t forget this either.” 

“But it was just a misunderstanding.” Auralu tried to excuse. 

“No, no it wasn’t. The last three months, our translator, Ashurah, taught the all brides nadasi and taught your Ambassador and the entire envoy the common tongue and marinai which is a moura’s mother tongue, marinai is what is spoken by the heavenly moura to this day. She did this so that they were all fluent in both. And even helped translate the full disclosure agreement and contract that your Ambassador signed in your places and your names. So that she knew exactly what you were all getting and understood all the terms, as specific as they were written out and even made sure you all fully understood what was signed in your behalf and I also know for a fact that once she did, she gave you full disclosure of it when she came to her best understanding. And she made copies. And you should resign it tomorrow in your own hand to make it fully legal and viable.” Thobin advised.

“Ambassador, you knew only days out of Dorierra by Savia Audravienneway’s own mouth that she was uncollared and therefore had no abilities and that none of the brides did either. And what’s really sad is that there are heavenly moura, full blooded mouras in the cloud realm right now that don’t even have the magical abilities. So even a collar is no guarentee of powers and gifts. But it was after that moment when you expressed a very intense desire for knowledge about our stones and what they were capable of.” Thobin said to Sunco as he moved so that his body wasn’t blocking hers from view from everyone else. 

“So let me explain the process with more clarity and specifications. Tomorrow morning, when Warchief Lukher wakes up, he will be as healed as much as possible by the power of the healing stones, he had a lot of malunion or - mishealing, malunion is a term that means when you get injured and the injury doesn’t heal correctly, he’s had a lot of that. So the stone is trying to undo the malunion then reheal correctly, it won’t be perfect but it will be better than nothing. He has lived with a lot of agonizing pain ever since his injuries and the stones, for now, can take that pain away, but it will creep back into his life eventually and other than restoning him over and over again, there’s nothing else I can do. Or really anyone else right now. His left ear might regain some hearing, and the right side of his jaw might get put back together correctly so he can eat better and might even be able to talk better, but he will still be himself, he will have all his memories, and mental capacities and capabilities. He will still be Lukher. Nothing about his mind or personality will be changed or taken away. Just several hours of consciousness he would normally lose while sleeping. That’s all. You have my word on that.” Thobin explained as everyone blew out a breath of relief.

“So it’s not all lost,” Auralu blew out a breath of relief. 

“No, not by a long shot.” Thobin shook his head.

“Thank the gods for the stones.” Sunco breathed in relief. 

WWell they are just objects, they can only do so much, everything and everyone has limits.” Thobin defended. 

“Goodnight.” Thobin offered to Wardeen, Rubati and Auralu before he left the room and Sunco followed him out of there. 

“Thank you for intervening.” Sunco murmured to him as she did her best to keep up with him.

“I did it for Audrey, not you. I am Audrey’s voice when she is not able to speak- herself. That is how closely we are linked. What she feels, I feel. What she thinks, I think. All her efforts to gain your trust and respect and approval because there was no one else to give her that, especially Lukher who she needed that from the most but he hid himself from her and it makes me highly suspicious of what else is being hidden from her and everyone else. Then you and your entire envoy break her trust and her heart on the one day she needed your support and protection the most. When she has been counting on you and your envoy to be open and honest with her and prepare her for her new life here and she was completely blindsided with something that could have been easily avoided had you just communicated worth a shit. You all failed her more than you failed your brother, more than you failed me or anyone else.” He chastized her.  

“Tell me how did it feel offering her up like a sacrificial lamb today? She gave up so much today and no one really has any clue what any of that entailed or what it meant, and yet, still everyone acts like they are the ones who are impositioned to settle for less than ideal circumstances when it’s her that is the one settling the most and having to make an almost impossible situation, somehow, by a miracle, actually work. Despite everything and everyone else. In my opinion, she’s too good for this family and deserves so much better from everyone. Her mother in law forced her son, Audrey’s fiance and others to lie to her face, he avoided her like the green plague and trapped her like she was a prey animal. And yet I heard Rubati challenge that Lukher is just like his mother which fills me with dread, anger and disgust, especially if he takes her council above anyone else’s. Mama’s boy indeed, hiding under his mother’s skirts.” Thobin sneered hatefully. 

“Thobin, that’s not true, Auralu has always been a two faced, power hungry bitch, who has let her power corrupt her. Lukher is nothing like her, he was relieved to grow up with Kingu having the right to rule Yekmeni and has been living in dread ever since Kingu’s death becaues he doesn’t feel prepared to bear such a burden on his shoulders. Lukher is actually a very sweet, very caring man and he has lived his whole life devoted to caring for all the griffins and under his care, the population of griffins has boomed and the griffins have never been bigger or stronger or in better health. He has never been hungry for power or a throne of any kind, much to the chagrin of Auralu. Lukher has been nothing but intimidated by the possibility of ruling in his father’s place. And when he saw Audrey, he told me the moment we left court that the reason he immediately gave her that title and that honor is because he could see a kind gentleness in her spirit and looking into her eyes was like looking at the perfect friend, not a queen to rule beside, but a friend to help him share his burden as much as his woes and happiness with. And one that didn’t care about his wealth or status or trappings or his kingdom. And he would gladly give it all up for her if she chose she didn’t want any of it.” Sunco revealed. 

“Really?” Thobin asked wearily. Even though he could sense she was telling the truth, he didn’t put faith in every word. 

“Yes. He wanted to come immediately to her but Auralu insisted he stay and take a crash course from his father in how to run the clan so that when his queen would come, he would be her equal so that the clan would still respect him and follow him and not think that his Savia, his Clan Chieftess was a foriegner in charge of them and chance the whole clan rejecting him on account of her. And then once his looks and strength waned, Auralu filled his head with so many fantasies of how his Savia would save him, heal him, and would support him in everything and help him be the best Clan Chief the clan had ever seen and turn him into a legend and that he just needed to wait for her to come to him. That he would have been healed on the steps of the palace befor the wedding so he wouldn’t have to struggle to say his vows to her. That he would show his nation that he was every bit as capable as Kingu was. He did not mean to blindside her, he didn’t mean to misunderstand and he didn’t mean any disrespect or dishonor. I know he honestly didn’t. He was just ill informed. That’s all.” Sunco defended. 

“I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m not convinced in the slightest though right now. However, the fact remains is Audrey pleaded with me to heal him. Do you know that if she had not intervened for Lukher’s behalf, he would have starved to death inside of a year? That’s how bad off he is. Everyone in this damned fortress should be thanking every god and every lucky star they have because she just saved your collective asses. Even when she shoudn’t have, even when she had no reason to do so besides her own real affection for Lukher and Lukher alone which he is not worthy of. Even at the cost of her own dignity. How dare you and everyone else here bring her so low. If it was up to me, this place would already be burning down to the ocean and every griffin and every valuable you have would be raided and loaded onto your own ships and sailed back to Dorierra. That’s how furious I am over this betrayal, I know it looks like I’m the one putting out the fires because that’s what Audrey wanted me to do. But you might as well have led us all into an ambush because that’s what it looks and feels like because that’s exactly what it was and I thought your word and your honor and your own ethics were better than that, and I’m so sorry to see how wrong I am and how wrong I have been.” He readily confessed as Sunco felt like he was lodging his dagger into her chest to pierce her heart as tears welled in her eyes before they fell down her cheeks to see all the affection that was once in his eyes, gone in a flash and replaced with such anger, hatred, distrust and resentment.  

“But yet, I will do no such thing because that’s not what Audrey wants, especially from me. So I will put my personal feelings aside for her sake because if none of you can do better for her, at least it is in my power to give her- her due respect and dignity, and honor her by honoring her wishes and intentions. And she’s a wiser and better person than I, even with this stone that has over a thousand years of experience with it. Any relationship we had on the way here, consider it over and done. Everyone crossed the line. And I can’t trust anyone in this fortress besides the very ones I brought into it from Dorierra. I should be asking for every tethering stone back from you and your envoy and your own legion should be reassigned to Audrey, because as far as I’m concerned, my duty to get you back home safely has been fulfilled in full as of this morning. But considering the threat from Auralu, especially once Audrey will learn of it in the morning, I will not. And you still need our protection from Auralu courtesy of Audrey.” Thobin leveled at Sunco who looked back up into his eyes as tears ran like a river down her cheeks. 

“Thobin, I’m so sorry, I…” Sunco tried to apologize. 

“Goodnight Ambassador.” Thobin interrupted her coldly and curtly and simply gave her a nod and continued on his way as Sunco watched his retreating form as tears flooded her vision before she turned and quickly marched back to her own quarters and shut and locked the door and slid down it’s surface on the other side until she was sitting on the floor and gave way to tears. Wishing she should have come clean so much sooner and damning herself for not listening to her own intuition. 

Meanwhile Davkee and her children were in their own rooms, thankfully farther away as Davkee put her own children to sleep but could feel her husband’s tensions and felt sorry for him and for Lukher and especially for you. But she greatly admired you for the courage, humility and willingness you showed. That would take you far here and the fact that Lukher openly admitted that he was at fault for this, showed humility too and just from that exchange she felt she could tell that your marriage to Lukher would be successful because both of you were willing to bend and to adapt and be humble enough to acknowledge that nothing was perfect about either the situation or each other. 

And she believed both of you when both of you had said that it was your souls that saw the other’s and said yes. Even though she wished she could say the same was true for her. She knew in the beginning that Wardeen only wanted a younger woman with beautiful youth in her looks to give him more children while offering her a measure of affection, protection and elevation in status, but that she was under Auralu who appeared perfect and pleasing to the clan but could be vicious and critical behind closed doors while Rubati was always at an extreme in her emotions and her mood and in the beginning they both had tried to use her to hurt each other and hoped that Lukher would learn from his own father’s mistakes of choosing such women and hoped that you alone could provide Lukher all he wanted and needed because sometimes more wives simply invited more problems and complications in addition to more children. And when she had voiced these concerns to Lukher, he had agreed with her and why when he had proposed to you, to mention that he would be faithful to you for as long as possible and only if you had wanted more, that more would be invited but if you did not, he would be happy and content with just you because he did not envy his father’s problems he had had juggling three wives and so many kids by each one. 

Meanwhile Huda and Gamri were in their own marriage bed and doing their best to try to fall asleep even though they could hear all the fighting in the room above them and honestly thought that this was inevitable. 

“Well, this was a disaster.” Huda muttered to Gamri. 

“Most political matches are.” Gamri muttered back as he held onto his wife and was grateful they at least weren’t fighting even though guilt still ate at their own consciences despite the comfort of finally sleeping in their own bed again. 

“This was wrong, and we knew it. I feel awful, we should have told Audrey the truth from the beginning and prepared her, we saw the signs she had no powers. We just purposefully ignored them because we didn’t want to see them. And now I feel like she and the rest of the bridal party despise us for it.” Huda admitted. 

“Probably because they do.” Gamri muttered as he tried to fall asleep. 

“We need to apologize and try to make this right.” Huda insisted. 

“We will, in the morning, after we have had some sleep.” Gamri insisted. 

“Sleep is eluding me, my conscience is beating me up over this.” Huda confessed.

“I can try to bang it out of you.” Gamri offered. 

“You’re an asshole.” Huda scoffed. 

“I’m tired Babe.” Gamri repeated, not wanting to open up his eyes. 

“Look, you can stay up half the night or hell, the whole night and try to figure it out, or, you can get some damn sleep, because your brain and body need it and you’ll be better equipped to figure it out tomorrow, when the sun is up.” Gamri offered. 

“Fine.” Huda sighed tiredly as she turned over and cuddled into his chest and tried to get some sleep. 

Meanwhile Daon was sitting at his desk with his messengerari- talking with Maisarra about this, but she was less than sympathetic or understanding. 

“Look Daon, my family and my own high councilors have already heard all of this from Serhan and Merrattah and the other brides and even Ashurah. But don’t you dare tell me you didn’t have a choice, any orc with honor would have risked pugging when he knew that the order being given was wrong. Don’t hide behind that bitch who threatened you and your famliy or even her own husbands other children or your own obedience to her when she clearly has never cared about anyone but herself and Lukher’s own succession to the throne. Here you have looked down on Sultanate States for fraticide, who are you to judge now?” Maisarra spat in disgust as more tears flowed down her cheeks as even benar came with them as she collected them and put them to the side. 

“You’re right, I should have, I’m sorry, if I could go back in time and do it over again I would have told everyone everything from the start.” Daon readily agreed. 

“Don’t you think that if I had had the moura cloak I would have used it to burn Rasime when she cursed Audrey and the others at the Cisora?! Don’t you think I would have used it to fly to you when the generalley brides tried to lie to gain access to Lukher’s harem?! Don’t you think you would have seen that the moment any member of Audrey’s household got any kind of injury, she would have immediately healed it? The signs were there, you all chose not to see them!” Maisarra insisted. 

“You’re right, I didn’t see them and I didn’t connect the signs, honestly I didn’t know what I was looking at- at the time, but you’re right, you always are. Especially about this. I should have said something, I should have done something and I should have risked the pugging and I will regret that for the rest of my life and I will do all I can to make it up to your sister, I swear!” Daon offered, proud of himself for having this conversation in marinai, her mother tongue. 

“How could you possibly make it up to me? Much less her? I begged and pleaded with you to protect her and all you did was lie to her and lead her into an ambush! You betrayed her, you betrayed me! How could you?! Don’t you know that is because of these exact circumstances happening in the past that we have our warriors for protection in the first place? You and your family set her up to fail! That is unforgivable! Do you know what has happened to brides in the past who arrived and did not reach the expectations of those at her destination? She was usually killed! And that is a fear engrained into our genes, practically carved into our very bones! Why do you think we got those stones in the first place? To protect us when our own moura genes bled out, and we couldn’t fly away and flee for our very lives! Why do you think they give us and our armies immortality while wearing them?! It’s because of this right here! So that when shit like this happens and things go sideways and we get blindsided and possibly roped in into a trap, we can break free and escape! I saw the look of horrified shock in her eyes, she covered it up on her face but it was practically glowing from her eyes and you would have seen it if you had the balls and the courage to look up and see it. Right now Audrey would be weeping and mourning if it wasn’t for the stones putting her into a peaceful sleep. She hides it well but she still feels betrayed. And honestly, none of you deserve any kind of understanding or forgiveness for this. She put her life and her future on the line and she has sacrificed herself for this. And I’m so sorry she sacrificed so much for so little. If only she had a collar she would be able to fly home on her own. But collars are impossible for her to attain.” Maisarra wept bitterly. 

“Maisarra, please, tell me any way I can at least try to get her one of those then. Please.” Daon pleaded. 

“Moura collars in Dorierra, are finite, there’s only one per quarter. And they are only passed down from father to son, they are all as old as the country itself, the original collars from the original women who were captured in the beginning almost immediately after the convergence and after they survived their captures. They found each other, not being able to go back to the heavens with their children. And they called upon the orcs and the crystal angels for help and that’s what they got. They then passed the collars down to their sons and grandsons and so on and so forth, because a man can have sex with a hundred women a day, a woman has sex once and she is pregnant for almost a whole year. The lines of succession to the collars themselves are planned and mapped out from infancy spanning hundreds of generations. And only the moura who has inherited the cloak will pass it onto the next generation willingly, and usually only within moments, dies immediately after. It’s a blessing and a curse. And they are no longer allowed to leave the country because all the other collars from all the other original twelve women’s children have been lost or destroyed over the last 1200 years. Only fourty years ago, there was a new heavenly moura that was able to be bought from the heavens and for once, it was a female, and she went directly to the relic quarter and lives in a palace made of diamonds, gold and marble and she is sadly so inbred I don’t even think she’s viable because she can’t shape shift, she doesn’t have the power to breathe fire, she can only turn gold, I don’t even think she can heal and she’a a pureblood with a collar, which is a sign that even the purebloods are losing their precious powers and abilities. She is treated and revered like a goddess, even without the gifts, just because she is pureblooded.” Maisarra revealed. 

“Well what is the heavenly moura’s cost? What will they accept in payment for healing?” Daon asked desperately. 

“It’s only something another moura can give them, it’s these.” Maisarra offered as she gathered all of her benar that she had cried so far since the wedding and showed them to him.

“The benar, which only mouras who are in extreme distress cry. It’s something that the heavenly moura rarely do because their lives are so great and perfect. And every benar that every single person in Dorierra cries is automatically the property of the State, we aren’t even allowed to own our own proof of sadness and hearbreak. But they are the only thing that heavenly moura see value in. Heavenly moura take them, crush them up to make a fine dust and spread it on their wings as a beauty treatment because sunshine gives them all the energy and sustenance they need or want. They can even take that same sunshine and turn the clouds themselves into grand palaces that make even our own great palaces pale in comparison to. And to heavenly moura, aesthetic is more important than functionality, they have bred themselves for aesthetic so aggressively, they have bred out functionality, bred out strength and stamina. Which is why every moura who has entered Dorierra for the last three hundred years has not had any gifts, despite being pure blooded, but thier children do and even those are closely guarded and cared for. So even being a pureblooded moura from the heavens, is still no guarantee of powers. It’s hopeless.” Maisarra continued to cry as more benar came from her eyes. 

“No, don’t say that, it’s not hopeless, surely there has to be some way around this. Please, help me find it.” Daon begged.  

“The only other place mouras can be found is in mountain colonies, we call them mountain moura, but they would rather die than give up a collar and when they die, if the collar is not transfered, the collar dies with them. Because in the beginning, when infants were born with collars, they were instantly snatched and put onto more “promising prospects” and were essentially robbed of their birthright which mountain mouras find absolutely insulting and horrific which I agree, it’s a very horrendous practice that was practiced in the beginning when the collars began to disappear from Dorierra by the moura genes bleeding out so quickly. And mouras who didn’t want to live in the heavens but didn’t want to be property of the Dorierran State and be part of our systems and obey our traditions and laws, they find refuge in mountain tops, usually with a water source and with valleys between the mountains so they can keep their livestocks for a food supply, with other mouras who have fallen in love with land dwellers or throughout history, were banished from Dorierra for one reason or another. But they are completely self-sufficient and independent.” Maisarra divulged.  

“The only chance Lukher has- is if he can find a moura colony and trade whatever he can to be healed, because a collar would be too much to ask for. He can try to set up an alliance, a trade agreement, peace, whatever he can. But even then, mountain moura especially do not take kindly to being used and can often be just as prejudiced as we are, if not more so. Every mountain colony is guarded by dragons and have individuals with the powers to shapeshift, and turn into pheonixes to burn whoever they see as a threat. Their colonies are built like mazes, impossible to break, impossible to navigate unless you’re born into it. Anyone who dares to go against a colony is more foolish than any who dare go against Dorierra, not because Dorierra is allied with over three quarters of the world and surrounded by giant sized orcs, but because each individual in the colony is a soldier and prepared to fight for their freedom, for their liberty. Which they have every right to.” Miasarra warned him. 

“Lukher would never be able to fly into the colony without getting past the dragons first, Audrey might, but the moment it’s known that she’s there on behalf of an orc, she will most likely be turned away and told to never come back and would be burned to death trying to do so. She would be murdered by the very dragons who guard all the different colonies. Dragons and moura have also always been in alliance, Dorierra even had dragons in the beginning but once the genes bled out and the gifts disappeared, and the very gold that was used to keep them there, was taken back and used to feed and clothe Dorrierrans, the dragons abandoned is. And that’s when we needed our orcish warriors for protection. Mountain moura, the precious few who still might have abilities, turn their dragon’s caves into pure gold, feed the dragons the way you feed your griffins. But the dragons are equal in sentience, intelligence and unique personality as any person. So, like I said, it’s impossible.” Maisarra concluded. 

“But Yekmeni is in a mountain range! Surely there should be colonies nearby. Audrey and all the brides can simply go to the colonies and ask, in pairs if they need to.” Daon insisted. 

“They can try, but again, I don’t see how any of them would want to right now. Especially after what happened today. Would you fly to another orc clan by yourself just to find their healer for a person who betrayed your trust and trapped and ensnared you? Who had others lie to your face and then lead you into ambush?” Masisarra asked. 

“It was not an ambush! It was never meant to be one or intended to be one either, it was just a misunderstanding, that’s all.” Daon repeated for what he felt was the hundredth time. 

“Daon, I only have one question for you, if I had said yes to your proposal at Audrey’s Cisora, would you have at least told me the truth about Lukher’s condition?” Maisarra asked and Daon hesitated and winced and grimaced instead of answering her which only made Maisarra cry more benar. 

“You have said that you love me. But you do not lie to the one you love, you do not betray the one you love, not them and not their beloved famliy. And if you would have kept that from me, then you don’t love me, not really anyway, and not in any way that really counts. This only proves that I made the right decision in turning your offer down. Because had I been your fiance or heaven forbid your wife, you would have lied to me to save your own skin. You’re pathetic! You know what? When this Champion of Tahir comes here in only a few weeks, he has already written to me to offer me his hand in marraige, I have the letter right here, here is my answer.” Maisarra said as she took the letter out and put it to the messengerari’s surface so Daon could see it.

“It’s a proposal to me to be his Sultana Supreme his first and primary wife, his queen, his empress, my answer to him is yes because at least I know what the full arrangement is and a place of honor at his side and his lipservice, will be honest and genuine and as faithful as it can be, that’s all I can ever hope for from anyone. And it’s more than I could have asked for from you.” Maisarra spat. 

“No no no no no no! Don’t do that! Please Maisarra! I love you, please, give me a chance to make this right and earn your forgiveness! Please, you know that’s not what you really want! Don’t do anything you might regret later, please! Don’t do that just to get back at me! Please! I’m begging you! Give me another chance! Please!” Daon begged as horrified and heartbroken tears flooded his eyes but Maisarra only shut the call off and wrote down her answer and ignored Daon’s calls back to her by leaving her room. 

“Give this to High Councilor Langashi.” She told her own lady in waiting. 

“My Lady, maybe you should…” her own lady in waiting- Rezan began to say. 

“I have already considered and reconsidered this, I should have told him sooner. It’s done.” Maisarra insisted.

“And turn these in while you’re at it.” Maisarra said as she gathered up all her benar and handed them to Rezan. 

“Yes My Lady.” Rezan reluctantly obeyed and took the letter and the benar and put them in the special benar collection pouch left to do her errand. 

Daon felt gutted and angry that he fucked things up with Miasarra because she was right. He should have been honorable and honest, he should have told you and her the truth. And he shouldn’t have followed Auralu’s order. And now he was losing Maisarra over this, after the last three months of talking to her daily, of nurturing a growing friendship that was flourishing into so much more and promising her the world and all of himself and swearing to her that his feelings were real and genuine and that after your successful marriage to Lukher, he could come the moment she would call him and take her here, to be with him and actually give her what she had originally wanted and had learned marinai and the common tongue as well as he knew his mother tongue of nadasi so that he could speak the language of her heart and in one moment, it was all being snatched away and the very foundations that they had built were on fire and crumbling as he let out a mighty roar of frustrations as he threw the closest object at the wall and put a dent into it before he heard a knock on the door. 

“Who’s there?” Daon barked before Irelu came in, a bottle of liquor in each hand. 

“You too?” Irelu said simply as it was clear he had been crying as he offered the bottle he had not been drinking out of- to Daon who took it and opened it and began chugging, the burn in his mouth and throat, paling in comparison to his heart and his soul burning in anguish.  

“Yeah, me too, Auralu fucked us all over, that woman just cost me the love of my life who is going to marry a complete stranger who will keep her in a cage and only give her lipservice but she insists that that is better than…anything I could give her.” Daon confessed. 

“Well at least you have a door.” Irelu noted with a shrug. 

“What are you talking about?” Daon asked. 

“Thobin punched my door in, shattered it into pieces with a single punch to get Ashurah out of my room and get her “to the safety of the others”. This is a fucking nightmare. In one night, we lose everything we’ve built in the last three and a half months.” Irelu confessed sadly as they both sat side by side at the foot of Don’s bed and drank together. 

“All because Auralu wouldn’t see sense and threatened to pug us. And the leash she keeps your dad on is so short, I’m surprised she allows him to take a piss when he wants.” Daon spat hatefully. 

“Don’t I know it.” Irelu huffed a mirthless laugh. 

“We should have listened to your mom, we should have risked it. We should have told her, told all of them. Now they all hate and despise us and this feels worse than any pugging ever could.” Daon hissed. 

“Yep, I agree.” Irelu nodded in agreement. 

“Maisarra won’t even take my calls.” Daon said. 

“I can’t even get to Ashurah’s door and she’s not taking my calls either, the sentinels were ordered to kill anyone who tried to approach the door other than their ladies in waiting, who are the only ones besides Thobin who have access to any of them.” Irelu answered. 

“Figures.” Daon spat. 

“How are we going to fix this?” Irelu asked his cousin. 

“Well, first thing, gravel, lots and lots of gravelling to Savia Audravienneway, then we need to find a colony and ask for an impossible miracle.” Daon answered. 

“Colony of what?” Irelu asked. 

“Apparently mouras are in three places in the supersphere, the heavens, Dorierra and colonies, in mountain tops, built just as impenetrable as this fortress, completely independent and guarded by dragons and real magical powered mouras who turn into pheonixes to burn anyone they see as a threat. Maisarra said that Audrey would only get one chance to approach one but Maisarra said that they are just as prejudiced against orcs as others are. And she all but swore to me that they would refuse to heal Lukher, no matter what Savia Audravienneway or anyone else would offer them. Because they are so independent and self sufficient, that they don’t need anything, from anyone. They are in mountain tops with a valley where they can keep their own livestock and obviously in mountains with caves big enough for dragons to live in.” Daon answered as Irelu seemed to have an idea dawn on him. 

“Thats it! That’s how we fix this! We get a collar for Savia Audravienneway! Or at least get her to a colony, to try to ask to heal Lukher. This entire coastline has mountains. Surely any number of them would have those factors in them, we need Thobin and we need maps.” Irelu realized as he grabbed Daon’s arm and dragged him towards where Thobin’s room was supposed to be. 

“We need to speak with General Thobin! It’s urgent!” Irelu pleaded with Thobin’s captains. 

“He’s already asleep, you will wait until morning, if you try to enter, you will be killed.” They were warned. 

“Fine, then tell him we were here, first thing in the morning and we have the solution.” Irelu said before he turned and went to his own mother’s room. 

“Mom! You still up?” Irelu asked as he knocked urgently at her door. 

“Irelu, it’s late…” Rubati complained as she rubbed her eyes. 

“We know how to make this right and fix this breach of trust with Savia Audravienneway, her own sister gave us the answer!” Irelu excitedly insisted. 

“Did she or did that give you the answer?” Rubati asked as she looked pointedly to the bottles of liquor and waived her hand in front of her face to keep the stench of alcohol out of her nose. 

“It’s not the liquor, the answer is moura colonies, they are in mountain tops, they are mountain tops with protected valleys, guarded by dragons. Mouras live in more places than just the heavens or Dorierra. They also live in these colonies. All we have to do is find one or find as many as we can and take Savia Audravienneway or even her and the other brides to them, the colonies will let the moura brides in because they are moura. We have seven brides, each one can go to a different one depending on how many we can find, we can search the entire coast if we have to. If just one moura in one colony will agree to heal Lukher, that’s all we need. And we will give whatever they may ask for.” Irelu answered. 

“What could we possibly have that they would want?” Rubati asked.

“I don’t know, but first thing tomorrow, we need to talk to Dad, surely even Auralu couldn’t object to this.” Irelu pressed. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll see what I can do, but you better have something akin to a plan by then.” Rubati urged him. 

“We will, thank you Mom, sorry we didn’t listen to you, we will make this up to you and to Savia Audravienneway.” 

“Well the chance to say ‘I told you so’ to her face was pretty awesome. And if you and Doan both come up with the solution. Sunco, Your father and Lukher will forever be in your debt, Auralu may have started this mess but if my sons and Sunco’s sons can fix it, all the glory for the solution will go to you guys.” Rubati encouraged them. 

“Yep, on it, goodnight, love you.” Irelu readily agreed and kissed his mom’s cheek before he and Daon practically ran to the map room and immediately got every map of every mountain range around and tried to pin point where a colony would be before they managed to get a few places they could at least assume one would be. 

“What could we offer in exchange though?” Daon wondered aloud. 

“Well if there are colonies up here, they would be under the threat of anything coming into them being snatched from pirates, we could offer some protection in the form of ships in a harbor that could be built here or here or even here.” Irelu marked the maps where there were rivers that led out to sea from the mountains. 

“Well hell we could offer that to anyone up and down the coast then, outside of the Brighway line.” Daon realized as he marked spots to the south. 

“This is it, this is how we get back into their good graces and at least get Ashurah’s and Maisarra’s affections back.” Irelu insisted. 

“Maisarra is already lost Irelu, she showed me the proposal letter from the champion of Tahir that her sister supported, offering her to be his Sultana Supreme, or queen or empress or basically his first and main wife, I saw her write down her acceptance.” Daon confessed lowly. 

“Well then start praying he doesn’t live long enough to see it and read it or that the messenger delivering it gets captured and it gets lost.” Irelu encouraged. 

“I doubt it.” Daon sighed in defeat as his own body was begging for rest. 

“Daon, I’ve seen and watched you and Miasarra get closer and closer ever since you first met her. There is still a chance she could change her mind and heart back to you. Don’t give up yet. If we can pull this off, I’m sure one word from Savia Audraviennway and Maisarra might change her mind. Or better yet, let Maisarra sleep on it and rest on it and get over her initial anger and she might reconsider. You have her heart, yes you made a mistake as did I and no relationship is perfect and neither is anyone else. But I’m not giving up on Ashurah, and I don’t think you should give up on Maisarra. Not until after she has said her wedding vows, because even if you have to crash a wedding and make some grand romantic gesture, I’ll be your wingman.” Irelu offered.

“And just swoop in, pick up the bride and fly away?” Daon asked. 

“Yeah, that’s the stuff of legends, fairytales and romances and he’d have three months travelling trying to get her back and by then you would have reconciled. All you need is real, face to face time with her. You had such great chemistry with her in person, that has to count for something.” Irelu encouraged him.

“But she asked me if she had said yes when I first proposed, if I would have told her,” Daon muttered shamefully. 

“And?” Irelu asked.

“I hesitated, and she took that as a no. And that’s what cemented her decision and I can’t fault her for it. If our positions were reversed, I would have done the same thing.” Daon confessed as Irelu sucked in a breath through his teeth. 

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have hesitated.” Irelu grimaced. 

“I know, I should have come clean about all of this before we ever left Dorierra, I should have told her the truth that first meal we had with them when Audrey first said she would speak the truth with us and hoped we would do the same to her, especially after her dealings with the truthsayer, we had countless opportunities before Auralu even gave the order but we were too afraid of messing it all up for Lukher, I should have…I should have done everything differently.” Daon confessed as his shoulders sagged in defeat and held his head in his hands as he bent over and leaned on his elbows on the table’s surface held his head in his hands before running his hands down his tired face. 

“Me too. Come on, we should get some sleep, but not too much, we need to be the first ones up in the morning and be able to get this plan more solidified then.” Irelu insisted before he rolled up all the maps and brought them with him to Daon’s room before they both crashed in Daon’s bed.

[delicatebluebirdruins]

pride and prejudice and zombies by seth graham smith

so this book has a lot of problems and I vastly prefer the film in nearly every regard so naturally I’m rereading it and just posting quotes and things that stand out to me for....reasons *coughs*

- “she meant to follow this proud Mr Darcy outside and open his throat” - yikes

- “their eyes and tongues long since turned to dust, and their lips pulled back into everlasting skeletal smiles”

- “her(Lizzie) arms surprisingly muscular, though not so much as to diminish her femininity” well SGS/ Darcy is a coward then (better in the film because the delivery is hysterical)

- “her sisters were uneasy for her but their mother was delighted” they are in the middle of zombie apocalypse and their sister is caught in a rainstorm which aids the zombies in getting out of their graves

- “I prefer a great many things to cards... not the least sensation of a newly sharpened blade as it punctures the round belly of a man”

- *chocked laughter* I feel called out

“what a library you have at Pemberley Mr Darcy”

“it ought to be good it has been the work of many generations“

“and you have added so much to it yourself, you are always buying books“

“I cannot comprehend the neglect of a family library is such days as these. What have we to do but stay indoors and read till the cure is at last discovered?

- “spoken like one who has never known the ecstasy of holding a still beating heart in their hand” so it begins (this idea gets brought up a lot and I am not here for it)

- “you should like balls (dancing ones duh) infinitely better said Darcy if you knew the first thing about them” and here is the start of the ball jokes

- “Mr Collins begged to know which of his fair cousins the excellency of its cooking was owing... Mary grabbed her fork and lept onto the table. Lydia was seated near Mary grabbed her ankle to stop her stabbing Mr Collins in the head and neck” 8th April 2021 as I was reading this I remembered what happens to Mr Collins and Charlotte Lucas and yeah no its not good

- “God has no mercy and neither must we” this quote slaps

- “to the girls who could not listen to their cousin (Mr Collins) without taking a silent inventory of the countless ways they could kill him”

- “she dared not even mention the gentlemen (Mr Darcy)… Mr Wickham began the subject himself”

- I’m glad the film left out the Netherfield dance (like I love the dress but they could never top 2005 p&p)

- “What think you of the Orientals?... I think them a strange lot- both in appearence and custom” there have probably been other moments such as this that I have missed earlier on in the book but this is an attempt of Mr Darcy to compare his lessons in fighting in Japan vs Lizzies in China 

 “to the pain of Master Liu’s glowing brand searing her fresh: to sparring matches with her sisters atop a beam no wider than their swords, as pikes waited to punish an ill-placed foot below”

- the proposal of Mr Collins is as horrible as ever

- “I don’t have long Elizabeth. All I ask is that my final months be happy ones, and that I be permitted a husband who will see to my proper Christian beheading and funeral“ so yes Charlotte Lucas did get bitten and I did remember rightly

- “the business of love- making relieved them from a great deal of his company” I’ve been looking at this quote for awhile now and I am still very confused

- “as violent as the monks from Dragon mountain” sighs

- “i am a warrior madam: survivor of the thirty six chambers of Shaolin, beholden of the scrolls of Gan Xian Tan” sighs

- “How many bucks shall we fell with nothing more than our daggers and swiftness of foot! Oh! How we will please Buddha by communing with the earth!” SIGHS

- “China? Are those monks still selling their clumsy kung fu to the english... have your ninjas left you?” this said by lady Catherine de Bourgh and this a lesser evil then the upcoming thing I will share

- “one one such occasion Elizabeth was solicited to spar with several of her ladyship’s ninjas for the amusement of the party. The demonstration took place in Lady Catherine’s grand dojo, which she had paid to have carried from Kyoto, brick by brick, on the backs of peasants. The ninjas wore their traditional black clothing... My ninjas will show you no mercy... and strangled him (a ninja) to death with his own large bowel... with the ninja’s still beating heart in it... Elizabeth took a bite saying I have tasted many a heart, but I dare say I find the Japanese ones a bit tender”

there is so much wrong with this scene I don’t know what to focus on but the fact that in a zombie apocalypse there is still good old fashioned human on human cannibalism?

- ah a slightly more light-hearted one but still terrible in its own way “she has a good notion of fingering. That she does, said Mr Darcy in a manner such as to make Elizabeth’s face quite red”

- Darcy’s letter “Mr Wickham happily boasted of his intention to practise his roundhouse kicks on our deaf stable boy, in the hopes a broken neck would serve as punishment for a saddle polishing that hadn’t met with his approval” I am so glad the film decided to go the route of making Wickham the literal antichrist part one

- “her anger was turned against herself: and she hastily applied her dagger to the seven cuts of shame”

- Elizabeth imagines cutting of Lydia’s head in this book

- “during their trips to China, which Mr Bennet supervised without the company of his wife, and which we he had taken many a beautiful Oriental to his bedchamber” 

1. I don’t remember this in the original P&P

2. just gross all round really

- another funny one thank god

“Your balls, Mr. Darcy?“ he reached out and closed her hand around them and offered, “They belong to you, Miss Bennet“ Upon this their colour changed, and they were forced to look away from each other, lest they laugh

THE NEXT DAY (well sunday 11th😬)

- here we are “and let me conclude by congratulating you, for I shall no longer be requiring Longbourn upon your death, as I shall myself be dead by the time this post reaches you- hanging from Charlottes favourite tree, in the garden”

- “we passed William Goulding, whose carriage had been overturned and horses devoured, so I was determined he should know it so I let down the side-glass next to him, and took off my glove and let my hand rest on the window frame, so that he might see the ring and then I bowed and smiled like anything. He yelled after us- something about how his son being trapped; but oh! Mamma, I am sure he saw the ring. Oh! Think of her the news will spread”

“second he (Mr Wickham) would allow Mr Darcy to render him lame (disable him) as punishment for a lifetime of vice and betrayal... the injuries would be attributed to a carriage accident“

- lady Catherine straight up wanted to murder Lizzie in this one

- “how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face” cute

- “it taught me to hope as I had scarcely ever allowed myself to hope before I knew enough of your disposition to be certain that, had you been... against me you would have beheaded Lady Catherine without a moment hesitation” cute???

- the sisters “giving” up their swords

- Lady Catherine reacts to the marriage by attacking them with ninjas (there was a reconciliation)

- “beholders of the secrets of Shaolin, and brides of death- were now, three of them, brides of man their swords quieted by that only force more powerful than any warrior”

In Conclusion: watch the film instead

[prettyyoungandbored]

After Party [’Always There’ sequel]

Pairing: Nikki Sixx x Reader

Request: Can you do a sequel to Always There? Reader married Nikki in 1989. They have one child, a daughter born in 1992. Reader’s involved in making the Dirt book and film. Daughter is a fashion model and visits the set one day with her professional hockey player husband and their 1 year old son. Reader’s actress is British and has been dating Douglas Booth since they met on the set of the 2016 movie Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Reader’s actress played Jane Bennett in it

I like the name Hayden Delilah Sixx for the reader and Nikki’s daughter in the sequel to Always There.

In the sequel to Always There, can you have the cast, the band, Hayden and her husband and son, Mick’s wife Seraina Schönenberger, and Vince’s wife Rain Andreani attend the premiere? Tommy’s wife Brittany Furlan is part of the cast. She’s the one who crawls up to Iwan and asks “hey, are you in the band” in the opening scene. Hayden was born a Sixx and changed her last name when she got married. Her son was born in 2018, the year the cast filmed the movie.

Read Always There

A/N: This was a tough one, but I really, really tried. 

Cameras were flashing at the premiere of “The Dirt”. Y/N and Nikki held hands, smiling for the cameras.

They had taken a few group photos with Vince, Tommy and Mick before Nikki and Y/N took theirs together.

It took them years to help write the book, months of pre-production, months of filming, and god knows how long for editing, but here it was. The project was a labor of love and something the couple were happy to do together.

Like everything in their life - music, rehab, family - Y/N and Nikki were in together, side-by-side.

“Y/N!”

Y/N turned to see Violetta Donaghue, the actress who played her in the movie. Violetta waved at her from across the carpet.

Y/N, who served as a co-producer on the movie, was adamant about finding the right actress to portray her. She was just as adamant about making sure the actress and actor playing her and Nikki weren’t milking their relationship on screen. It had to look real and honest.

It was by coincidence that Y/N found Violetta. Y/N was looking at videos of Douglas Booth (after seeing his audition for Nikki on tape) on YouTube when she discovered a video of Douglas and Violetta entitled “Douglas Booth and Violetta Donaghue’s Cutest Moments.”

The two had starred in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, playing husband and wife. Their chemistry was undeniable, both on and and off screen. It reminded Y/N of her and Nikki back in the day and was hell bent on having the two of them to portray her and Nikki on screen. 

Surprisingly enough, convincing the couple to do it together was fairly easy. Both Violetta and Douglas were excited to work together.

Y/N excused herself from Nikki, leaving him to take pictures with Douglas and the rest of the boys. She made her way to Violetta, wrapping her arms around her.

“Y/N Sixx, congrats on the movie!” the reporter said. “Tell me, how much guidance did you give Violetta in terms of portraying you.”

“Well, we both spent so much time together during the pre-production, like almost every single day, you know, practicing and going over scenes and where my thought process was at that time,” Y/N explained. “Violetta was always asking questions, making sure I felt I was represented properly, which for me was so comforting. I’m extremely grateful to have had her play me. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better.”

Violetta gave Y/N a hug. “I’m gonna fucking cry,” she chuckled.

Y/N threw her head back laughing.

“It’s been such an honor to play a badass, just, fucking incredible woman who rose above everything and made herself the legend she is,” Violetta said. “There are things about her that have inspired me personally and I’m overall extremely lucky to have gotten to play her.”

“Shit now I’m gonna cry,” Y/N laughed.

The two women laughed and Y/N said, “C’mon, let’s get our picture so we can go party.”

She took Violetta’s hand as the two women posed together for the camera before Douglas and Nikki swooped in.

“They want a group photo of us with the actors,” Nikki said

Y/N nodded as she and Violetta joined Nikki, Douglas, Iwan, Mick, Colson, Tommy, and Vince. Daniel, the actor who played Vince, was unable to attend but sent his best.

After a few photos, Nikki leaned in and whispered, “Let’s head inside.”

She nodded when it hit her. “Where’s Hayden and Ashton?”

“She texted me that they’re inside. They didn’t want to do pictures.”

Y/N nodded understandingly as Nikki took her hand and they made their way off the carpet.

Inside the afterparty, Y/N scanned the room for her daughter and son-in-law, finding them off to the side with Brittany Furlan, Tommy’s wife.

Y/N ran over to her daughter, her daughter’s eyes lighting up at the sight of her mom. 

Hayden was Nikki and Y/N’s only child. Nikki and Y/N married in 1989, and waited a few years to have a child. In 1992, Hayden Delilah was born. She had Nikki’s jet black hair and Y/N’s sparkling eyes and smile. She had the wild child look guys dug and girls wanted to be like. It was that same look that made her a successful fashion model, having been the face for Dior, Gucci, and was for a brief time, a Victoria Secret angel.  

 The mother and daughter embraced in a tight hug. 

“I’m so happy you guys came!” Y/N said. 

“Yeah, we’re excited to be here!” Hayden said.  Ashton, Hayden’s husband, came over and gave him mother-in-law a hug. He was a professional hockey player with tousled, dark brown hair,  thick eyebrows and a jawline that could cut someone. He smiled at his mother-in-law, going in for a hug. 

“I was half-expecting you to have a black eye after the last game,” Y/N remarked. 

He laughed. “I was lucky. The other guy, not so much.” 

“So where’s my grandbaby? Where’s Nick?” Y/N inquired. 

“She was showing me pictures and I swear to God, I’m gonna steal that baby,” Brittany interjected. “He has the most beautiful eyes.”

“I know!” Y/N said, putting her hand on Brittany’s shoulder. “Like every time that baby looks at me I just wanna cry. I don’t care how biased I am, he is the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.” 

“Are you guys going to have more?” Brittany asked Hayden and Ashton. 

The couple shrugged. “We’re just enjoying time with him,” Hayden answered. 

“Holy shit!” Colson said as he, Violetta, and Douglas joined them. “Last time I saw you, you were fucking huge.” 

Hayden cackled as she threw her arms around the rapper. Hayden visited set a lot last year while she was pregnant with Nick. She had taken a year off from modeling to enjoy pregnant life and spent time hanging out with her parents on set of “The Dirt”. 

“Can you believe he’s going to be one soon?” Hayden said. 

“He���s gonna be one?!” Violetta exclaimed. “Are you kidding me?! Where has the time gone?” 

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Brittany agreed. 

Y/N let them finish their conversation as she went off to Nikki, who was deep in conversation with Mick and his wife, Seraina.

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

Hours later, Nikki and Y/N watched as Colson and Hayden performed karaoke together. Y/N had her head nestled on Nikki’s shoulder. 

“Douglas said he’s gonna propose to Violetta,” Nikki told her. 

Y/N lifted her head up. “Are you serious? When?” 

He shrugged. “He didn’t say. Just that he was looking at rings. He already got her dad’s permission.” Nikki chuckled and motioned to Ashton, who Tommy currently had in a headlock as Brittany took a photo of them. “Remember when Ashton asked us?” 

She chuckled, the memory playing over in her head. Ashton had managed to get both Y/N and Nikki alone. His nerves were nowhere to be seen, but he was honest and vulnerable about his feelings towards their daughter. It reminded Y/N of how Nikki proposed to her. No drama or over-the-top props - just him laying out his feelings about why he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. 

She turned to face Nikki. “You know how I knew it was real between Douglas and Violetta?” 

“How?” 

“When they were doing the scene of us after we found each other after...you know...” She shook her head. “ I remember after the cameras rolled and Violetta couldn’t stop crying and neither could Douglas...how they clung onto each other. I felt like I was watching us.” 

Nikki smiled, taking her hand in his. “I felt that way throughout filming.” 

Their eyes turned to Douglas and Violetta, who were conversing with Mick, Seraina, Vince, and Vince’s wife Rain Andreani. Douglas’ hand soothingly rubbed up and down Violetta’s back, much like how Nikki had done and still did with Y/N. 

While they were happy to see their love story inspired another couple to live happily ever after together, it was nothing compared to the real thing.

[disdainanddigust]

Slade One Pager: Where Does the Canon Land

Published in 1813, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has prevailed through the centuries as one her most beloved novels. As a result of the popularity this novel has received, it has been translated into an array of television and film adaptations, along with a number retellings in published literature. Along with professional revivals of the text there is also a large scope of fan-based material centered around Pride and Prejudice, among many other Austen works. This content is often found in a range of medias, from written text to visual reenactments of the story in era accurate costumes. In these modern interpretations of Pride and Prejudice fans will typically alter and edit the source material. In the universe of those of who consider themselves fan’s, the reference text is typically referred to as canon. Meaning the fan created media is simply based on canon Austen literature, with different aspects of the original text incorporated into the fans desired themes. 

As wildly renowned interpretations of Pride and Prejudice, such as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, have surfaced over the past several decades, the question has to be asked: What constitutes canon material? Does the extreme popularization of a work based on Pride and Prejudice deserve to be credited as canon, and if that is the case can an amateurly published fan-fiction be regarded in the same light? Does the quality of the reinvented work determine if it qualifies as a new canon source, or perhaps the relation to the original text? 

In an attempt to answer these questions I found a short fan-fiction entitled: Through A Sister's Eyes. The fic sits at just over a thousand words and briefly encapsulates various scenes from Pride and Prejudice from Georgiana Darcy’s perspective. Though brief, the fan-fiction is well crafted and shows an interesting view of events that occurred throughout the source material. Though it strays from the original novel by being written strictly in first person, the story shows Georgiana’s feelings at seeing her brother fall in love with Elizabeth. The first-person point-of-view allows the reader to experience, in rather descriptive language, the emotions and thoughts of a Georgiana alone, with no interference from an outside narrator. Having determined that this fan-fiction both relates to the original text well and is also cleverly designed, I would personally deem that it should qualify as canon content. 

Now if we look at the 2016 film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, originally published as a novel in 2009 under the criteria of quality and relating to the source, in my opinion it falls short. Incorporating action, mayhem, and zombies into the original plot of the novel, detracts from the core ideas of Pride and Prejudice. Though I understand that to be the point I personally don’t believe that the film should be considered under the canon umbrella. Despite that it was a successful film interpretation, grossing at 16.4 million dollars. More importantly, in my quest to find a fanfiction I found several that were based on of the novel itself. This is where the lines between source material and canon material begin to blur. 

I believe the answer to this obstruction lies within the layers of a fan base. A reader of the above fanfiction may deem the text canon because they believe the interpretation is one that can be, essentially, superimposed onto the original text. Though others may believe that because of the legitimacy of the author it should remain a stand-alone piece of work. The solution, in both my opinion and what I have experienced within various fan-bases is that anything that can be further expanded open should be considered canon. This essentially creates an infinite number of probable interpretations based on any created material, professional or otherwise.

Linked below is the fanfiction I referenced:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23438170

[tipsydipsydo]

BTS HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 🎃

[You're wearing a scandalous Halloween Costume]

A/N: I know, I know... I'm too late. But better later than never!😜 

Gender of the reader: female

Prologue

It's the 31th of October, Halloween. Because the boys unfortunately have to go to practice that evening, you're going to be all alone at home the entire Halloween night. So you spontaneously decide to go to a Halloween-Party with some of your girlfriends. But your boyfriend didn't expect that you dress up in a such short and scandalous outfit (more or less by your own choice ;D), which shows so much bare skin...

「© tipsydipsydo」

These following Scenarios are my intellectual property and belongs only to my blog tipsydipsydo.tumblr.com!

I’ll not accept any kind of reposting, stealing or using/editing my work!

That includes reposting my content on other social media platforms too, even when you link me as the original author.

Thank you.

Jin

Costume: Bunny-Dominatrix

Jin just wants to go to your shared bedroom to get another hoodie he can put on after practice when he drives home. He didn't expect to find you standing in front of the mirror in such an outfit.

He stands frozen in the doorframe and his jaw drops, completely speechless. You're standing in front of your dressing table and concentrate to turning your hair into accurate curls with your flat iron, until you notice Jin in the corner of your eye.

"Jin, what are you doing and why are you looking at me like I'm from an other planet?", you ask, giggling slightly.

Secretly you're thrilled and proud of yourself to get such reaction out of Jin. Mr. Handsome, who always blabber nonstop, can't say a word right now.

Jin knew you wanted to go to a College-Halloweenparty with some friends of yours tonight. But he didn't know that you chose a Bunny Costume... like this! He thought, you were putting on your adorable Bunny Onesie you bought some time ago... and not that his usual so sweet girlfriend was suddenly dressed up like a Bunny-Dominatrix!

Jin bites his lower lip, trying not to show what kind of reactions cause this outfit.

"Not what you've expected, right, Honey?", you question and turn towards him with a teasing smirk on your lips.

Jin just nods slightly, his eyes are wandering over your body. The skirt is shorter than what he would've expected, what you're comfortable to wear and for the first time he sees you in fishnet stockings.

Futhermore, this latex rabbit mask gives you a completely different appearance. Much more ... dominant.

"I ... I didn't think you would wear... that," he says barely noticeable.

"Really not? Then you don't know some other sides of me yet.", you answer and tilt your head provocatively.

"Which sides?", Jin whispers in an airy trembling tone as he approaches you, lays his hands onto your waist and looks down at you. Your dark red lips twist into a devilish grin and you nudge his nose with your index finger.

"I think, we should find it out tonight when I come back home from the party. I think you'll look gorgeous when I tie you up to the headboard and let you beg for permission until I'll let you cum~

Hm? Would you like that, my big boy?"

Yoongi

Costume: Mafia Girl

Before you put your winter coat on and leave the apartment, you quickly go back to your bedroom and stand in front of the full body mirror to take a picture of your outfit. You want to send it to Yoongi, who gets stuck in his love-hated training once again. You hesitate a little bit before you press on the Send-Button. After that, you quickly put your phone in your handbag, grinning a little stupidly, as if you had been caught doing something forbidden. You know Yoongi and know that he will not like your outfit at all.

You don't know where this idea came from, but somehow you wanted to test your boyfriend, how he would react to seeing you in a ... very short outfit.

You like your Mafia-Bad-Girl-Look pretty much, especially how "dangerous" and at some point also lewd these two plastic pistols looks in your Garter Belts.

Just in the moment when you want to sit down in your ordered Taxi, your phone starts to ring. When you take it out of the bag, you already see Yoongi's profile picture. Oh oh, now you're definitely in trouble...

"Hm? My little Gangster Girl", Yoongi say these words in a mocking tone.

"What are you trying to tell me with this outfit? That I haven't fucked you good enough lately? That you can't remember that's me who fill your pussy up so good? Is that so? Well, then I'll make sure tonight that you know who you belong to. It's me, is that clear? I'm gonna turn you into my good Girl again. See you later, lil bad Girl."

Namjoon

Costume: Jane Bennet from Pride and Prejudice with Zombies

After some considerations, you've decided to dress yourself up as Jane Bennet from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. You don't like the movie very much, but at least it's about one of your favorite books and it's Halloween, so the zombies in there are okay too. You just want to leave your shared apartment when Namjoon comes through the door. In surprise you look at him, why he's here now, after all, actually he should be in the dance studio. But how Namjoon looks at your outfit is very much more disbelieving.

"You... want to go to the Halloween party... like that?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.

You look down at you, you are wearing a dress in the style of the 18th century with a corset, but in a modern cut and a waterfall skirt.

Yeah okay, the skirt slit on your left thigh may have gotten a bit too high, but after all, the Garter Belt with the fake knives should be able to be seen! And yes, maybe the corset is really a bit too tight, actually it shouldn't be shown that much of your breasts. But you don't have time to change that anyway.

"Yes why not?"

Namjoon takes a deep breath and presses his lips together.

"I'm not your father who tells you what you're allowed to wear and what not, I'm not gonna tell you what you should to wear, you're a grown up woman and you can choose your outfit for yourself!"

"Namjoon, are you mad?"

"No!"

"Why are you saying such things then?"

Namjoon ruffles his hair and doesn't really look like he's not angry.

"Damn, I don't have much time, I have to go back to practice, but I don't think it's funny how you press your beautiful breasts in this crappy corset and overall, that you'll be out there without me! You know, I'm not going to tell you stupid rules what to do and what not, you're an independent woman and can decide whatever you want to! ...but fuck, I would break this damn corset now if I only had enough time and show you how angry and horny I am! Be prepared when you come home tonight!"

Hoseok

Costume: Satans Daugther

Hoseok knows that you spontaneously decided to go to the Halloween party, now that it was clear he wouldn't get a free evening. He has no problems with it, he always prefers that you're with your girlfriends and around peoples, than to sit alone and lonely at home. At some point during the practice, he realizes that he hadn't asked you as what you are going to dress yourself up for the party. As curious as he is, he text you immediately during the break.

Hobi♡ [07:42 p.m.]: Hey Baby, I forgot to ask you as what you're gonna go to the Party? We'll move on in a few Minutes, have fun later!💕

You [07:44 p.m.]: Hey Hobi! A few days ago I ordered some things from Amazon and now I make my costume out of it. I'm going as Satan's Daughter~😈

Hobi♡ [07:45 p.m.]: So my little Girl is a cute Devil~ With Horns and a Tail too? In my metal Image it's pretty cute!😍

You [07:46 p.m.]: I'll send you a picture, give me a Sec!

You [07:58 p.m.]: *You have sent an image*

You [08:20 p.m.]: I arrived at the party, I'm not gonna look at my phone so often anymore. See you later💋

Hobi♡ [09:11 p.m.]: Baby ... please tell me, that's a bad joke that you're wearing this right now! You didn't leave the house in this...thing?! That's nothing you can call "Outfit"!

Hobi♡ [09:15 p.m.]: Baby... Answer me!

Hobi♡ [09:31 p.m.]: I swear to you ... if you come home tonight in this outfit, I'm gonna ruin you so bad, even Satan would start blushing from Embarrassment.

Hobi♡ [09:40 p.m.]: Be prepared for the fact that you will not be able to walk the next days!

Jimin

Costume: Snow White

"Okay, then I'll come to your house for 08:00 p.m. Okay great! But I have to hang up now, otherwise I won't get a costume for tonight! See you later!"

You press the red calling button and put your phone back into your pocket, go straight into the hall and slip into your winter boots and your coat. Quickly you reach for your wallet and the car keys and head in fast steps to your car. You don't have much time left to get a costume for yourself, in one and a half hours all the stores would be closed because of Halloween. You hope that luck is on your side.

When you finally stand in front of the mirror, you look at yourself critically. Actually, you wanted to have the Snow White Dress with a long skirt, but the store didn't have it there in your size. And because many of your friends are going as Disney princesses, you also wanted a matching dress for the Party. So you decided at the last minute with an uneasy feeling in your stomach to choose the costume with the short skirt. And, as it turns out, this outfit has a very short skirt!

When you were on your way home, Jimin called and just wanted to hear your voice and ask what you are doing on Halloween night, where he sadly has to stay in the studio for practice. You tell him about the spontaneous Halloween Party to which your friends and you want to go.

"Oh, sounds really cool, I wish I could join in. As what are you dressing up as?"

You tell him that you're going as Snow White, already searching for some pretty but also wearable shoes for the night. You want to enjoy the evening and doesn't want to think about aching feet.

"Oh my god, I think that fits you really good and it's gonna be look so cute on you, please send me a picture!"

You look at the wallclock and begin to panic slightly, say that you're already late and you promise him to send him a picture later from the Party.

Later in the evening, a little bit tipsy already and much more confident in your costume, you take a picture with your girlfriends and send it to Jimin, giggling softly.

You are awfully curious about how he will react to this picture and what he's gonna say about it. If he like it? You begin to blush when you remember his intense gaze when you walk around in clothes they're shorter than usual. Especially Dresses and Skirts. He's a little Pervert sometimes, but he's your little Pervert!

You [11:38 p.m.]: *you have send an image*

You [11:39 p.m.]: Jiminieee ... I'm going to jail for Breaking and Entering ... help me!😔

Jiminie💕[11:42 p.m.]: Firstly... why is this dress so fucking short and why does it have such a deep cutout?! And why does it look so sexy on you?!

You [11:44 p.m.]: Do you think? I was unsure at first because it's so short...

Jiminie💕[11:45 p.m.]: You look so damn hot in it and I really don't want to know how all these guys there are looking at my Girl. But... could you please come home soon? I got a problem here. Which only you can solve. So... please?

You [11:46 p.m.]: Let me think... hm, nope! 😜

Jiminie💕 [11:48 p.m.]: Well... then I'll just come to you at the party and fuck you in the bathroom. After all, I know how wet you can get when we do lewd things in public~ 😏

You [11:49 p.m.]: JIMINIEEE! 😳🙈 Don't text me such things!

Jiminie💕 [11:50 p.m.]: Love you Princess~

Jiminie💕 [11:51 p.m.]: I really can't wait anymore until you get home again. Oh God, I want to fuck you so badly right now!

Taehyung

Costume: Red Riding Hood

You [08:36 p.m.]: Hey baby, I just wanted to tell you that some friends of mine spontaneously picked me up for a Trick or Treat-Tour through the neighborhood. So don't worry if I'm not there when you get home.

You quickly write a message to Taehyung before you put the costume on that your girlfriends have brought extra for you. They bought it only for you, so you wouldn't have an excuse why you couldn't come along.

You begin to smile at the thought and roll your eyes. They've really thought of everything, to be on the safe side they have chosen a Red Riding Hood Costume, arguing that you can take Yeontan with you as your wolf and he gets an extra long Walkie.

Behind the locked bathroom door you can hear your girls squeal with delight and Tanni barks full of exitement when they call him a handsome boy.

After you closed the zipper of the dress, you get up and straighten your dress. Well... your friends have chosen a short dress for you! They probably didn't realize that you're a little bit taller than the average. You shrug with your shoulders, you're only wearing it for this evening and you're not alone on the streets anyway.

You make a picture for Taehyung and send it to him, jokingly complain about the short skirt, before you slip into your shoes and put Tannie's dog harness on, who is more than happy about the evening walk.

Tae💜 [09:21 p.m.]: Hey Darling! To be honest, I think the dress is pretty short too... Please stay safe when you're out there. Who knows what kind of drunken idiots try to chat you up?😕

You [09:35 p.m.]: Oh Tae ... I understand your worries, but why do you always have to think the worst of your own gender? 😅

We girls will looking after each other, Nicki is dressed as Harley Quinn and has a baseball bat with her! So nothing to worry about😘

You [09:37 p.m.]: *you have sent an image*

You [09:38 p.m.]: Moreover, Tannie is still there, my little wolf and will protect us!😉

Tae💜 [09:38 p.m.]: You took Tannie with you?!

Tae💜 [09:38 p.m.]: I hope he's a good boy and will protect you from evil weirdos!

Tae💜 [09:39 p.m.]: Because your real big bad wolf is waiting very impatiently at home and he's starving to eat his little Red Riding Hood out!🐺

Jungkook

Costume: Harlequin

"Hey Kookie, I just wanted to say goodbye to you! We all will meet up at Katy's House, before we make our way to the party together. You have to leave in 15 minutes, right?", you ask him and lean in the doorway of the living room.

Jungkook is sitting on the couch, playing one of his countless mobile games. He concentrates so much on his game, seeming at first to pretend that nothing and nobody can distract him and just wish you a good night out without even looking at you. But then he looks up and is so shocked by your appearance, that even the phone slide out of his hands and falls into his lap.

"Holy Shit ...", slips from his lips and he swallows hard.

A slight blush settles on your cheeks and you look away nervously, giggling softly. No matter how long you already are in a Relationship with him, his intense gaze embarrasses you again, as so often.

Today is Halloween and you decided to dress up as a Harlequin. And maybe your outfit has become sexier than expected...

You're wearing a black bodysuit with white small bobbles on it, in combination with a pair of long opera gloves and velvet Overknee-Boots. Around the neck you're wearing a Harlequin Collar in a black and white pattern. At the ends of them there are little bells attached and jingle gently with every movement.

Jungkook's eyes wandering over your body, he doesn't even try to hide his hungry gaze. Slowly, he gets up and walks towards you, resting his hands on your hips and gently pushing you against the wall.

"So you want to go out of the house like this?", he whispers softly into your earshell.

You're breathing out shakily, you didn't even realize that you were holding your breath.

"But not until I marked you up as my girl... and maybe also make you come before I let you go.", he growls, nibbling on the soft skin of your collarbone. His fingers start to move, they know exactly where they need to go.

Jungkook reach skillfully between your thighs, open the clasp of your bodysuit and push the bothering fabric upwards. He doesn't let any time pass and slips his hand into your panties.

A trembling moan escapes your lips, still trying to push him half-hearted off of you.

"Kookie ... I ... I can't do it now, I-I have to go, Katy-"

"Katy and the others have to wait. If you want to get out of this house, then just let me finger your tight pussy and mark you as mine, Baby. You can't present yourself in such a hot outfit and then still expect that I could keep myself under control. Give me only five Minutes and you'll come... Then I'll let you go."

My Imagines!

My Masterlist! 

[humanmoodring-retired]

Where’d You Ghost? || Nadia & Sammy

TIMING: Before the Exorcism  PARTIES:  @humanmoodring and Sammy (the fantastic @chloeinbetween​) SUMMARY: Two ghost play pranks and have a heart to heart. Or, as much of one as can be had without a heartbeat. CONTENT: It’s kinda soft, actually

Sammy wondered, as him and Nadia walked into the cafe, if there was going to be a point when he just forgot what walls were. Like sure, they stopped you seeing things, but walking through them was just like walking through air. Someday, he’d probably ask Blanche to follow him somewhere, and lead her straight into a dead end without even realising. But this was nice. It was early afternoon but the sun was setting so early at the moment that the everything had a cool pink hue to it, and when they floated inside the cafe, everything became warm and orange. While he preferred spending his time around Ariana even when she couldn’t see him, Nadia had been right, they needed some space, and Blanche needed some space for her poor ghost spidey-senses. “Is that her on the left?” he whispered, even though there was no way anyone could hear him, being dead and all.

Even though they said they didn’t mind, Nadia knew that she couldn’t spend all of her time `bothering Blanche and Regan, and, after the whole thing with Luce and the mirror, Nadia just wanted to be around someone who understood, who wasn’t going to suddenly stop seeing her, and who wasn’t going to get overwhelmed by her presence. Of the other two ghost frequently occupying… not space but time in Blanche’s apartment, Sammy was certainly the more approachable. He was easy to talk to and he wanted to have fun in ways that she’d never really been able to, even as a kid. “That’s her,” she murmured back, matching, looking over at the barista with a small frown. Not only had the girl judged her for the amount of caffeine she’d been drinking and the odd hours she kept (she was aware, Bethany, okay? No need to point it out), she’d also been really rude when Nadia had fallen asleep at one of the tables on accident. She’d never targeted any of the other patrons like that, and Nadia hadn’t really been able to understand it. She’d been bullied out of getting her coffee, dammit. So what if she wanted just a little payback and fun?

“Cool, cool cool cool. Let’s uh… Let’s show her. Without, like, compromising anyone else’s health or anything.” Pranks had limits, after all, and although Sammy felt an increasing urge to act out to get any kind of attention, he didn’t actually want to injure anyone. But pranking someone to help Nadia feel better, that was right up his alley. At first, Sammy began to sneak up to the till, before remembering that… there was no point in sneaking. He straightened up sheepishly, passing right through the counter. What should he do? After freezing in indecision for a moment, Sammy knocked the milk jug, hard enough for some to splash onto the counter. Bethany spun and sighed, telling the customer to just give her a moment.

Laughing at Sammy’s antics, Nadia followed along behind him, no longer even pausing as she phased through the counter. This was going to be a problem if… when she got her body back. Because she was getting it back. She was. She smirked a bit as the milk spilled, and the frustration was clear enough on Bethany’s face that even a non-empath could see it. “Smooth, Sammy,” she told the younger ghost. As Bethany set back to work, Nadia managed to tug hard enough on the strings of the girl’s apron that it came undone, causing it to fly open and disrupt her work. Cursing and holding a cup in her hand, Bethany struggled to try and tie it with only one hand, failing spectacularly in the process. Nadia didn’t consider herself a cruel person, and she didn’t like causing people problems but this… was kind of funny, and there was a certain sense of satisfaction that came along with it. She smiled at Sammy, glad to be able to spend time with someone that understood.

“Hey! I’m impressed I even managed to move it at all.” Sammy protested, but it was with a lopsided grin on his face. A few weeks ago even that had been hard. For someone who had been so physical in life, always shaping things with his hands, he’d found doing the same thing as a ghost impossibly hard. It was easier when Nadia was around, like there was some secret trick for him to figure out just by watching and feeling her doing it. Bethany tied back the ribbons of her apron, and set about making the small coffee she’d just been requested. When she turned her back, Sammy jabbed at the large button until it clicked… and then it jammed. “Shit,” he whispered, watching the coffee begin to overflow.

“Honestly?” Nadia asked, offering the young man a small smile, “I’m pretty impressed, too. You’re getting a lot better.” They both were, though Nadia didn’t take nearly as much pleasure in it. Sure, it was nice to be able to move things, to be validated in her existence, but it was also… hard. The better she got at it, the more comfortable she was with being like this, the harder readjusting would come, if she ever got to that point. The more she thought about the exorcism, the more she learned about it reading over Regan’s shoulder, the more she wondered about her own survival. She’d already been exorcised from her own body. What if she was exorcised from this plane, too? What if the wrong soul was destroyed? She was jerked out of such melancholic thoughts by the sounds of machinery breaking and Sammy cursing. “Fuck,” she said, attempting to fix the button but jamming her arm into the machine instead, causing lights to blink and noises to go off. “Fuck.” Nadia looked at Sammy with wide, panicked eyes. “We should, uh, leave. We should go. Right now.”

“Oh shit,” Sammy breathed as Nadia made more sparks fly. “I didn’t mean to jam it,” he whispered urgently, as if the woman standing half through him might hear him. “I just wanted to make her overfill one drink.” His panic made a nearby light flicker, and, wide eyed, he hurried out of the store, until he was outside and all his jittery energy did was make the snow around him melt. He looked at Nadia once, twice, and then fell through the floor in nervous laughter. “She definitely noticed that,” he commented drolly. “You okay?”

“It’s all good. This is all good. It’s totally fine,” Nadia tried to reassure the younger ghost, but she followed him out the door all the same, leaving chaos in their wake as they went. Well, their little prank might have gone a bit overboard, but… it had been kind of fun. And they’d both proven that they were getting better with their ghostly abilities, for what that was worth. If Nadia did end up stuck like this, at least she was proving she wouldn’t be an invalid. “What? Nah, I don’t think she did,” she teased Sammy, a smirk on her face as he fell into the ground while she just barely hovered above. “On the bright side, I don’t think she’ll get fired for a bunch of random techno mishaps.” She moved to sit, legs pulled up and arms resting over her knees as snow fell through her. “I’m fine. Really. Thanks for this. It was,” she paused, laughing, “something.”

“No I think she’s fine. Just pissed off, which serves her right if what you’ve been saying is true.“ Sammy ran his fingers through his hair, grimacing as he remembered exactly why he shouldn’t do that. Even Dad, he could feel the texture of his injuries. Quickly dropping his hand he laughed again, smiling up at Nadia. “It really was,” Sammy agreed with a chuckle. A man in a bright burgundy work suit strolled through the two of them before going into the cafe. As the door swung open,Sammy heard the manager apologising to customers for the technical difficulties. “Come, let’s sit somewhere else,” he said, leveraging himself out of the ground and wandering aimlessly to look for a quieter area. Not knowing where one might be. “Blanche would’ve liked to see that, if she weren’t, you know.”

“Honestly, I think she’s deserves a bad day or two at work.” Nadia frowned at the coffee shop as the man walked through the door, but at least the mess was getting cleaned. Looking back at Sammy, she felt a bit of an ache, as close to pain as she could get like this, as she watched him struggle with his injuries. She didn’t anything discernable, just the same stained clothes and muddied boots she’d been wearing for months, and she knew that he didn’t hurt, but, God, it looked painful. But she got up and followed after Sammy, the two of them strolling through town companionably, no one paying them any mind because, well, why would they? They were just two ghosts. She looked over at him sadly. “I know she would have, but…” She didn’t know what to say. She hated seeing the younger girl like this, sad and heartbroken, especially when Nadia didn’t even have to be an empath to get it. She would have had to be blind to not see the way Blanche looked at Constance. Of course it was gonna end bad, but, hell, she wished it hadn’t been like that. “I don’t really know what to do to help, you know? She’s just-- Fuck, this just sucks.”

“It really fucking does,” Sammy agreed quietly. “I feel like I shouldn’t even be around her, because it’s a lot for her when we’re even nearby. I mean, Constance freaked me the fuck out, and she always felt like she was on the edge, like some kind of livewire, but she… she had her moments.” He couldn’t even say anything like I can’t believe she poltered, because he could believe it. Constance had always been… casually terrifying, but she’d also been nice at times. She looked like she belonged on a long stroll on an episode of Pride and Prejudice, but maybe also on the set of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, because of the many knives he imagined she’d have hiding in her stockings if her stockings had been… real. “I’ve always been a hugger, and now I can’t even offer Blanche that.”

“I know,” Nadia said. “i’m worried about her after all of this. I… tended to stay away from Constance.” She gave him a wry smile. “Real bad experiences with redheads, you know, especially ghosts.” The whole reason, she believed, that Cordelia had been able to get Nadia in her ghostly grasp was because Nadia kept thinking she was seeing someone that she wasn’t. “I was scared something like this would happen, but I’d hoped, I’d hoped, it wouldn’t, you know?” But she’d lived with Cordelia in her head for months, and she’d felt her poltergeist. When Sammy said that Constance felt like a livewire, he wasn’t joking, and Nadia knew all too well what happened to livewire ghosts. She wished it hadn’t come to this, though. Not for Blanche. She sighed. “Ghost, right? Good for pulling great pranks, not so much for comforting people. God, what I wouldn’t give to actually just be able to touch someone, something, right now.” She attempted to scuff her boot against the ground and only succeeded watching her foot disappear.

He matched her wry smile. “We talked a couple times, but her whole magic tree house, narnia way of speaking and my rambling and tiktok slang didn’t really match up all that well,” Sammy said ruefully. “I hoped… I think… I think Blanche was too optimistic. I’m not sure Constance would have ever moved on, you know? She had a pinterest of horrible ways to murder people. I just… didn’t think it would be this fast.” He rubbed the spot where his eyes might be. “I tried to warn her, before. Because even in the best outcome, Blanche would be alone. And…… this is the worst case situation.” Instinctively again, he reached for Nadia’s hand, but they could affect each other as much as they could affect anyone else in this world, which was to say, not at all. “But maybe you will soon, right?” He asked softly.

Laughing, Nadia said, “She did sound like a Jane Austen novel, didn’t she? Though, I gotta tell you, I’m still not sure what tiktok is.” But she was fond of Sammy’s ramblings and weird phrases. It was enjoyable, and it made her feel younger. It had been awhile since she’d felt, like, actually young. “She was but… I didn’t want to talk her out of it, and I know you didn’t want to talk her out of it. She felt so guilty about what happened with me and-- and Cordelia. Of course she didn’t want to see it happening to Constance, especially not Constance.” Hell, Nadia hadn’t wanted it to happen to Constance. She sighed. “I know you did. And this… I know. God, I fucking know.” She gave Sammy a sad smile, wishing that she could take the boy’s hand. She swallowed, tightly. “Yeah, soon.” She bit her lip, wishing she could feel it. “If-- If it goes well, I want you to still come see me, okay? I can see and hear ghosts, somewhat, in my body. And if it doesn’t… I’ll still be around, right?” She didn’t dare mention the third option: if they destroyed the wrong spirit, then she wouldn’t be around at all.

“Especially not Constance,” Sammy agreed. They turned the corner into one of the town’s smaller green squares. Not that it was very green. Snowfall had been reduced to lumps of brown slush by the drains, the grass had been trodden down to mud. “It’s shitty all around. Just got to wait for Blanche to figure out if she wants to talk with us, and do our best in the meantime.” His mood lifted when she explained that she’d still be able to see him. If everything worked. If it was possible to put her back in her body at all. All the unsaid ifs they’d avoided these past few months.  “You can?” Sammy asked, embarrassed at the slightly pleased tone in his voice, a little too full of hope. He swallowed. “It’ll work. It has to work. You’re getting out all the big guns. And I’ll come see you afterwards.”

Nadia felt so much heavier, her boots sinking into the ground a bit more. “So fucking shitty. But you’re right. And, when she does, we be there for her, however we can.” She smiled at Sammy. “Of course. It’s not, like the best, and I’m a little out of practice.” She ran a hand through her hair, a bit embarrassed. “I didn’t interact with a lot of ghosts, you know, before.” She leaned into him a bit, brushing their shoulders even if they couldn’t touch. “But that was before I met you and knew that ghosts could be cool. So of course I can. And of course I want you to come around.” She stopped, looking down before looking back up at up at him, her face serious. “It will. Of course it will. But… But if it doesn’t-- Make sure Blanche doesn’t blame herself? Is something goes-- she shouldn’t blame herself for anything that happens to me, okay?” She gave him a shaky smile. “But it’s gonna go great. I’m gonna see you as soon as it’s done.” It wasn’t going to go wrong. She had to believe that.

[bellamioneotp]

Pride and Prejudice but with Bella as Darcy and Hermione as Lizzie. And obviously magic.

Hmmm, not sure if you want a story rec or a written prompt. So I’ll do both. 

Teeth of Wealth is a fic set in, I think, the Victorian era and features Bellamione as rich ladies with a hint of the mysterious occurring in tandem. 

As for the prompt, I haven’t really watched Pride and Prejudice. I watched the zombie version, lmao, and one of my favorite scenes is where Darcy attempts to propose to Lizzie and is horrid at it. So, this is my Bellamione version of it. 

“I cannot believe you!” Hermione screamed as she flung a hex over Bellatrix’s head. The dark haired witch casually ducked it, as Hermione’s ire fueled rant and spell casting continued. “How could you be so cold and callous with that man’s life! We could have saved him still and yet your ego got in the way and you refused to do so!”

“He was an Inferi, already. There was no point in trying to do anything-” Bellatrix ducked another spell, blast holes being left in the walls of the ornate room. 

“And you are so insufferable with the way you treat me!” Hermione tacked on. “You deride me constantly, make fun of me, and underestimate my abilities, just like you are doing now! You slight me by not even attempting to fight back against my magic!”

“Hermione-”

“And you use my first name so plainly. I am a lady of standing whether you see that or not through your pigheaded ways!” Hermione exclaimed, like a finisher, this time aiming her spell at Bellatrix’s booted heels. The floor upended and Bellatrix was thrown onto her back, Hermione standing over her, wand pointed down. Both were breathing hard. 

“No one has dared to speak to me this way. Or dared to point her wand at me like you have,” Bellatrix stated, her eyes shining in a way Hermione had only seen in the midst of battle. “Marry me.”

Hermione at first thinks she has misheard. “What?” she sputters out. Bellatrix gets to her knees now, looking up at the shell shocked brunette. 

“I don’t have a ring on me. But I’d like you to marry me.”

Bellatrix’s face is earnest. Hermione for the life of her cannot grasp why. “Why would I ever want to marry you?!” she spits out with derision. “You are the worst person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting and working with!”

But Bellatrix’s expression or offer do not waver. “I could say a thousand terrible things about you too, but never have I before met someone so bold as you as to stand up to my terrible ways.”

“If that was meant to flatter me, it hasn’t,” Hermione responded with nastily. 

A clamor comes from outside the room. Harry jogs in, breathless. “Lady Lestrange and Lady Granger, we are in danger. The Inferi have broken through.”

“We’ll talk about this later,” Bellatrix says, all business now. 

“We will most certainly not!” Hermione shrills, offended. “If it was not clear, I won’t accept your offer!”

But Bellatrix is already moving after Harry, wand in her hand and eager to blast down some more Inferi. 

[brown-honey]

Austenland

Here's part 2 to Austenland, Enjoy!

Part 1: https://mrsbarnesshelby.tumblr.com/post/190127648027/austenland

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As I estimated, 1am is when I fell asleep. Immediately I was disturbed by the loud screaming of my alarm telling me that it was 6am. I groaned in annoyance and slammed my hand down on the silence button. Getting ready quickly, I was on my way. Of course Justas I got to the bus stop, it had just driven off, "Shit" I cursed rubbing a hand over my face, now warm from running. A small elderly woman who was sat next to me, threw a scowl in my direction, her eyes reduced to slits. I could only imagine because of my profanities, "Sorry" I mumbled before speed walking in the direction of the café.

As quickly as I could, I tapped in my code to clock in and tied an apron around my waist. Luckily for me, Veronica's laugh could be heard from the back of the kitchen. At least Steve was distracted for a while. I slipped in behind them and started my daily duties. My phone buzzed lightly in my pocket, lighting up with Anna's smiling face,

'Hey girl, You're getting the train tomorrow morning at 7. I'll drop you off xx'

Talk about short notice Anna! This was going to be awkward to explain my sudden need to leave. While the shop was quiet, I tapped Steve on the shoulder hoping he was in a good mood. He spun around, greeting me with a bright smile. He was actually kind of handsome when he wasn't acting like a heart eyed zombie, following Veronica around. "Lizzie, how can I help you?" He cheered. My eyebrows shot up at his enthusiastic manner ," I .. um.. well, I know that this is very much short notice but, I need to take some time off work" I twisted my fingers in anticipation, but his face never changed, it was like he was in a permanent state of elation. "Yes, yes of course, how long do you need ? A month? Two?" He spoke so fast I could hardly keep up , "Not quite so long, just 2 weeks?" I replied, astounded by his lack of concern. "Of course, of course. Well we'll see you when you get back then!" He rejoiced. "Steve!" A sweet voice called from the back, there she was waving him over. Did she ever do any work? "Wait! does that mean I can go home?" I called as the two sneaked off giggling. I never got an answer so I took it as a yes. I deserved the time off anyway.

 Beep. Beep. Beep. "Come on Lizzie, we're going to be late!" Anna beeped her horn continuously until I was completely out the door, dragging my heavy suitcase with me, "You know I would be going faster if I were to have some help!" I huffed as I hauled my case into the boot of her car. "Sorry doll, can't lift anything, just got my nails done for the pre honeymoon" She wiggled her perfect red manicured fingers at me. Anna really was perfectly glamourous, her blonde highlighted hair was always blow dried to perfection, her hazel eyes sparkled whenever she spoke passionately. A lot of people were intimidated by her beauty but I would just look at her and smile.

The black screen that broadcasted the 8:30 train to Bakewell, Derbyshire glowed orange. I turned to Anna, a huge glowing smile on my face "Thank you so much for this, I'm so lucky to have you" tears began to swell in my eyes with appreciation, " Don't even mention it, I love you doll, have an amazing time" She wrapped me in a hug before ushering me onto the train. I took a window seat with a table and got my copy of Pride and Prejudice out ready for the ride. I waved at her until she was a tiny smudge in the distance. I was doing this, my dream. Lyme house, the place where Mr Darcy lived. Cue intense amount of fangirling. My fingers fused with the parchment of the book as a light sweat covered my hands. I was nervous, how many people would be there? Would I be accepted? I tried not to get worked up, this was going to be good. It was going to be perfect.

Pulling up in front of Lyme house, I couldn't help but stare in awe. One person would own all of this? How would you have time to clean it all? "Hello! Hello there!" A high pitched voice called out. A tall woman clad in bright pink was running towards me, "Oh hello! Are you here for Austenland too?" She wore a huge smile on her pretty face. Her cheeks were bright with blusher and her yellow blonde hair was wrapped up in tight curls, " Hi, yes I am, my nam-" Delight consumed her face, "Oh brilliant! let's go check you in" I didn't even get to ask her name before she grabbed my hand and started guiding to the 'check in'. We arrived at a smaller house that was just outside the house grounds, sat behind a desk was an older woman who looked strikingly like Mrs Bennett. Her hair was pulled back with a few curls framing her face, and a white lace bonnet on her head. Her eyes were cold, and immediately unimpressed with me with the way she looked me up and down, "You are?" She asked in a nasty, privileged kind of way. "Elizabeth Aston" I smiled trying to warm her aura. "There will be some rules during your stay with us. 1. No electronic devices " She held out her hand expectantly. Immediately I pushed it into her hand, "2. No modern clothing 3. You will be assigned 1 love interest through out your stay 4. Absolutely no inappropriate touching of the actors" The word actors made me wince, nothing was going to be real, "There will be a trunk of the correct clothing in your room, which I'm sure Miss Taylor won't mind escorting you to" I gave her a curt nod and turned to leave, "Oh and Miss Aston, if you need anything, I am the woman of the house Mrs Becker"

Miss Sarah Taylor lead me to my room, the house was just as I had imagined it. I really would be living here, even if it was just for a while, "This is your room, oh isn't it beautiful!" Miss Taylor exclaimed. Her enthusiasm was astounding honestly, almost as astounding as the vibrant pink regency dress she wore, with a neon green feather tucked into the back of her hair. She was sweet but I couldn't help laughing at her good spirits, "Thank you Sarah" I grinned at her and began searching through the wooden trunk of dresses. I pulled out a wonderful cream and gold dress, staring at it's shimmer. "I'm staying down the hall, and dinner is at 6" She chirped, just as she was about to leave, I called her back, "Sarah, could you please help me? I've never put on one of these before" I questioned. I'd never seen anyone's eyes light up the way hers did in that moment. She let out a little squeal and immediately began doing my hair, "I've waited my whole life for this moment"

After a couple of hours of politely telling Sarah that neon yellow really wasn't my colour, we settled on the elegant white and gold dress I had chosen. Curls rippled down both sides of my face and the rest was up in a braided bun. "I think you may just be a genius " I said twirling a piece of hair around my finger. She admired her work on me from afar," Yes it is some of my best work. Now I must go change into my evening gown so I will meet you at dinner" And she giddily galloped out of the door. A small burst of anxiety began brewing in my stomach as I made my way down the grand staircase. Sucking in a deep breath, I went to push the double doors open, but they opened on their own. Two butlers were standing by the doors, they were wearing awful white wigs and their skin was too dark a shade of orange to be natural, "Oh there you are Miss Aston, I was wondering whether you had gotten lost" Mrs Becker's gravelly voice echoed through out the dining room.

The wooden walls were a rich mahogany, accompanied by portraits of the former family of the house. Sitting in the middle was a long table draped with a starched white table cloth. Running down the middle was the largest variety of meats, vegetables, fruits, jellies in amazing intricate designs and pies, "Come along girl, the food is getting cold" Mrs Becker snapped causing me to acknowledge the other people in the room. She motioned for me to take a seat a chair down from a man with a huge moustache that curled into little 'c's on each side. He grinned at me in the same enthusiastic way that Sarah did, "Miss Aston, allow me to introduce you to Mr Andrew Westcott on your right, Miss Caroline Evans, Mr Becker my husband and my nephew Mr Henry Clayton" Mrs Becker introduced everyone. I gave a small nod and smiled at everyone until my eyes rested on Henry Clayton. I think I blinked several times too many trying to distinguish an imperfection on that mans face, "Good.. Good evening Mr Clayton" My voice wavered. He barely even had the manners to look at me before returning the to his food, "Evening" He replied, short, sharp and unfeeling. How rude. I swiftly gazed around the table until I locked eyes with Caroline Evans, she beamed at me but it did not reach her eyes, "My, my I must say Miss Aston you are looking awfully handsome this evening" Mr Westcott declared with volume. His accent was strange, almost as if he was faking a British accent but it was real. Just as I was about to thank him, Mr Clayton interjected with a sneer. I raised my eyebrow at his blatant distaste for me, "Something the matter Mr Clayton?" I asked with faux politeness. He looked at me again with no emotion, "One's looks can be deceiving" I could not supress the annoyance scrunching up on my face, what a disagreeable man! , "One could say the same thing about you, I would assume that you were a pleasant man had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner" I retorted, feeling my face and neck warm, when I realised that everyone was watching us.

There was an awkward silence for a moment until- "Here I am !" Sarah burst through the doors, knocking the butlers clean out. Her booming American accent echoed throughout the room. She looked regal... in a luminous pink kind of way but eye catching none the less. Mr Westcott looked thoroughly impressed, while Miss Evans not so much, "Ah Miss Taylor, I am so glad that you could join us this evening" Mrs Becker said looking delighted. Sarah perched next to me, immediately digging into her food, "What took you so long, Everyone here hates me" I whispered to her. She giggled girlishly before glancing at something behind me. It was Mr Westcott. "I had to look my best" she winked, "I do wonder Mrs Becker if I could entertain you and the other guests with a few songs on your grand piano after supper" Miss Evans suggested batting her eyes in the direction of Mr Clayton. I think someone had an admirer..

    I hope that you liked this chapter! There is a lot more to come, more fluff is on the way. Stay tuned everyone, thank you for reading xxx

[ladylillianrose]

Seasons of Love a Max Richman/Zoey Clarke Fanfiction

A/N: Okay gang we have reached the end of the line with this tale! I hope you all have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it! I have appreciated all your comments, reviews and support throughout this!

A huge thank you to aubreyrichman who is a fabulous beta, cheerleader and sounding board throughout all of this!

As always the characters are not mine but belong to the amazing genius that is Austin Winsberg.

Summary: New Year's Eve/New Year's Day once again

You'll recognize the song as the same one from the beginning,  "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies (Listen to it here https://youtu.be/kI2lTwY0Jx8 )

As promised here is the link for the Spotify playlist I made for this story Seasons of Love (Clarkeman Fanfiction)

December 31-January 1 New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day, Again

December 25 Christmas Day

November 26 Thanksgiving

October 31 Halloween

September 23 Max’s Birthday

August 12 Perseids Meteor Shower

July 4 Independence Day

June 21 Father’s Day

May 10 Mother’s Day

April 12 Easter

March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

February 14 Valentine’s Day

December 31-January 1 New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day

Max was pacing the backyard nervously, playing with the box he held in his hands. He glanced at his watch as he impatiently waited for Zoey to arrive.

He had been up since dawn, too anxious about his plans to even contemplate sleeping in. Zoey was spending the day with Mo, leaving Max free to make sure everything was set up and ready.

Maggie watched with a smile on her face as Max ran between the backyard and the kitchen, frantically setting up a romantic picnic for two. 

He had approached her at Christmas, asking if he could arrange something special as a New Year’s surprise for Zoey. Maggie had a feeling that she knew what he was planning and offered her assistance with whatever he had planned. Max had blushed and said that he appreciated it but that it was something he wanted to do on his own.

They had agreed to move the party to earlier in the evening this year, making it so David, Emily and Peter could still celebrate with the family.

David and Emily arrived with a napping Peter in tow. “What’s going on?” David asked as he saw Max arranging and rearranging a picnic blanket on the grass.

Maggie grinned at him, “Max has a surprise planned for Zoey tonight.”

David raised his eyebrows, “So, it’s finally happening.”

Maggie nodded, “I think so. He’s been so nervous all day, he wouldn’t let me help with anything.”

Emily smiled, “I think it’s sweet that he wants it to be so special.”

“Make what special?” they all turned to see Zoey standing in the doorway.

Maggie, Emily and David looked anxiously at one another.

“Ummm...Here, Peter say hi to your Auntie Zoey!” David said, practically throwing Peter into her arms.

Zoey crinkled her nose, looking at David suspiciously. “Okay…...See Peter, I warned you that your Daddy was the weird one.”

Peter laughed as Zoey tickled his tummy, making silly faces at him.

Maggie used the distraction to tap on the back door, signaling to Max that Zoey had arrived.

Zoey looked around the room and was just about to ask where Max was when he entered from the backyard.

“Hey you,” Zoey said as he walked towards her. “I was just about to ask where you were.”

Max grinned, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “Come with me, I want to show you something.” He took her hand, guiding her to the back door. 

Maggie took Peter from Zoey’s arms, patting Max on the shoulder and sending him a reassuring wink as they walked by.

Zoey stepped outside and gasped. The whole backyard was decorated with string lights, creating a soft, and romantic glow against the night sky. And at the center of it all was a small picnic blanket set for two. 

She looked at him in awe as they approached the blanket. “You did all of this for me?” she asked.

“I would do anything for you, Zo. I love you,” he said cupping her cheek and kissing her softly.

Zoey could feel the tears forming in her eyes, “I love you, too.”

They sat down together, and Max began to unpack the picnic basket. He pulled out a speaker, champagne flutes, strawberries and a 2 plates of lasagna.

Zoey’s eyes opened wide, “You made lasagna?!” She reached for the plate eagerly.

“Hold on now, Miss grabby hands!” He laughed as she snatched it from his hands, immediately taking a large bite of it and letting out a moan.

“I love your lasagna almost as much as I love you,” she said in between bites.

Max shook his head, grinning. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, “Glad to know that I come out on top against a pasta dish.”

Zoey stuck her tongue out at him and continued eating. Max was too nervous to eat, he turned on the speaker, fiddling with the volume to keep his hands occupied. Zoey eyed his plate suspiciously when he nudged it towards her.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You look pale...er than usual.”*

“I’m fine,” he said, taking a sip of his champagne to calm his nerves.

Zoey looked at him suspiciously as she ate the rest of his lasagna.

David and Maggie were peering through the curtains while Emily made popcorn.

“So, do you think he’s going to get down on one knee?” David asked.

“Of course he is, he’s such a romantic.” Maggie said.

“What are they doing out there?” Emily asked, handing them bowls of popcorn.

“Looks like they’re just sitting there talking and eating,” David said.

“Wait, look!” Emily eagerly pointed, as she saw Max reach into his pocket.

Max pulled the ring box out of his pocket and took a deep steadying breath. He had never been more nervous about anything in his life, but he had also never been more sure of anything as he was about sharing his future with Zoey.

Zoey moved to refill her champagne glass. “Do you want….” she turned to offer him more champagne. She gasped as she saw Max before her on one knee, holding an open ring box.

“Zoey, you’re my best friend, my other half and the love of my life. I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It was too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.** I love you with every fiber of being and I can’t picture my future without you beside me. Will you marry me?”

Zoey felt tears streaming down her cheeks as she nodded. “Yes, YES!” she grabbed his face and kissed him eagerly.

Max thought he might have heard cheering coming from the house, but he ignored it as he kissed his fiance... his fiance ! 

They broke apart grinning, as Max slipped the ring onto her finger. He rubbed his thumb along her hand admiring how well his grandmother’s ring suited her.

Zoey interlocked their fingers as she leaned back to rest her head against his shoulder. Max wrapped his arms around her as she sighed in contentment.

“I love you, Max.”

“I love you too, Zoey,” Max said, placing a kiss against her temple.

Music softly drifted over them from the speaker:

This will be our year

Took a long time to come;

The warmth of your smile

Smile for me, little one

And this will be our year

Took a long time to come;

You don't have to worry

All your worried days are gone

This will be our year

Took a long time to come;

And I won't forget

The way you held me up when I was down

And I won't forget the way you said,

"Darling I love you"

You gave me faith to go on;

Now we're there and we've only just begun

And this will be our year

Took a long time to come;

Yeah we only just begun

Yeah this will be our year

Took a long time to come

The End

A/N: *Quote from Episode 1X07

** Quote from Jane Austen’s  Pride and Prejudice