#rip to that fanfic i will never write about this concept all you get is this

[baluciarz]

while having a 39 degree fever and taking expired meds i've been thinking

do you think occupation could make them disabled, in pain, paralyzed, unable to do anything for their people yet forced to live through it instead of just disappearing

like a chronic illness

do you think if you break their spine it could heal

[5-7-9]

I have to talk about this again, the only time Duke has ever been shown to be a guy to repress his emotions was when this anti-woke anti-SJW comic decided to make Riko a “dragon lady” villain trope

See, I just read an amazing Duke centric meta (as in commentary writing, not powers) fanfic, so this is important to note.

The reason why I’m so adament about Duke being the most honest person you could ever talk to, is because of a concept about “unheard voices.” An experience many marginalized people get, when you’re in a crowd trying to say something different, the majority will be louder.

Or when it gets taken from you by force.

Or when it gets taken from you by force. Even when you try to admit a crime to the feds to gain back the reputation the very same cops stole, to clear your name, they’d never let you.

(By they, i meant the writers, please don’t blame the court of owls for being a shitty offensive plot device). When it comes down to how Duke first appeared in Year Zero, Batman wasn’t in commission for so long, Duke was gonna take up a challenge against Riddler. He wasn’t a genius then, but after being put into such circumstances, he had to actually get smart or else. It was certainly a choice to keep doing that, but he was forced to at the beginning.

Being dishonest and repressive would remove that aspect of being talked over by others, because if he never talks, then we can’t blame others. The fault is put on him. It would be Duke’s fault for not asking for help. It stops being a story about being ripped of agency because of Gotham city making choices for its residents, and starts being about Duke’s turmoil.

Not that we can’t do both, but that’s exactly the issue, the comic doesn’t want to do both. Whether or not it held some amount of sympathy for Riko, it utilizes a rightwing talking point that makes marginalized voices seem extreme to the point of satire, usually to dismay what marginalized people are actually saying.

This is reminiscent of when minorities finally get some ground to stand on, to be heard, and become sellouts when they collab with and endorse other majorities. Which, is true, honestly. Which is unfortunate because Riko is meant to be the enemy in here. There could be a sympathetic side here, of saving Riko from herself, if Duke got another run. But what is there to save Riko from? She’s right.

Duke doesn’t ask for help because he’s repressed, that’s not it at all. But it is true that Duke doesn’t like asking for help. Things like not having anyone to help, like in Year Zero. Or the police trying to track down his parents, look how “trusting” the cops could be.. Or when Thompkins and Darryl were too busy to do enough (yeah and then the betrayal from Darryl didn’t help).

The second time Duke is shown to repress his emotions was when Outsiders decided to pick up after that SAME anti-SJW comic!!!!! OMG!!!!

I don’t entirely believe this, or I don’t entirely want to continue watching Duke regress his character arc

Duke is a team player, just exclusively with those he trusts. He has asked for helped before. This is the biggest problem with ignoring We Are Robin… because it always goes back to We Are Robin 😅 His first team.

[hannagoldworthy]

Looks like Someone stole her mommy’s phone to circumvent my IP block lol. You need some attention, Domina? You getting bored under your bridge? Get used to it, because now this IP is blocked too.

Still, I have to laugh, because once again you are utilizing big words to try and intimidate me, but because you’re about as literate as a rock at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, you’re doing it wrong. Female chauvinism is an entirely different beast from plain chauvinism (also called MALE chauvinism, for reasons that should be clear to you). Next time, just cut out the word ‘female’ and call me a misogynistic sow again - we both know that’s what you wanted to call me in the first place.

Also, it’s amazing how someone who’s trying to accuse ME of misogyny just referred to two prominent female characters as objects that were readily interchangeable, with their only impact on the story being their effects on their male love interests. This is tragicfantasy-girl, folks! Voice of downtrodden women EVERYWHERE!

I love it, you completely disregard Padmé’s and Satine’s feelings on this matter. As much as I may joke about how Obi-Wan is the objectively more attractive man, I sincerely doubt Padmé would be more than passingly interested in dating him - Natalie Portman specifically said that Padmé liked Anakin because he helped her escape from her adult life into a romantic fantasy she hadn’t had the opportunity to indulge during her short childhood. Obi-Wan was not in the business of escapism, so she never really thought of him as more than a friend or a coworker.

And Satine? Satine would have ripped Anakin a new asshole, let’s be honest. She would have started gently, hinting strongly that she still thought of him as a child, wearing the dowdiest clothes in her wardrobe, maintaining a minimum distance between them, setting up a cover story as a brother and sister traveling rather than a married couple. Then, she would have firmly denied his advances, tried to set him up with her younger sister (and her nephew, when that fell through), had him sit and watch her do paperwork all day, and when he broke out the amateur-night Shakespeare monologue, she’d haul out the big guns and say “oh, Obi-Wan used to say the same things to me when we were young.” And, when she heard that he committed the war crime of collective punishment by killing Tusken Children for the crimes of their parents, she’d have reported him to the Council immediately upon seeing them, middle of a battle or no. Anatine as a concept is DOA.

But don’t let that stop you! If you really want to write that fanfic, you go on right ahead, Domina! I know you’re probably blonde in real life because you have this weird fixation on blonde female characters that makes you take any slight against them too personally! Why don’t you turn that energy into writing the Anatine fic nobody except you has ever asked for? Project your rancid personality on Satine and bone Anakin in effigy as much as you want! It’s what fanfic was MADE for!

[br1ghtestlight]

Find your 3 oldest WIPS. Then list for each:

The inspiration- Why it's still a WIP- Will you finish- Why or why not-

Try not to mean to yourself!

according to google docs these are the WIPs that i haven't worked on for the longest but i have no idea if theyre actually the oldest. also i have older WIPs on accounts i dont use anymore but im not even gonna get INTO those ones plus they're not bobs burgers or osc fics anyway i dont think??

BOB AUTISM:

i thiiiink this was supposed to be a fic about tina getting diagnosed with autism and then bob slowly realizing that he is also autistic but it wasn't very structured and i dont think i wrote much. more like a concept than an actual fic

i doubt i'll finish it because i just dont have much to go on and even if i was going to write an autism bob fic i would almost certainly write it in a different way now

BOB GAY SINGLE DAD:

OKAY this was a very detailed concept and i got surprisingly far in writing it but i think it got scraped for parts for my other fics now so idk if there's much left. it was just gonna be about bob growing up as a queer kid in the 80s and then it would be about a gay single dad flirting with bob at like a grocery store or something thinking that he's also a single dad looking to meet people (miscommunication bcuz the kids are with him but linda isnt). and bob thinking about the fact that he was never really with a man before. they'd talk about bob's bisexuality some and linda would ask him if he ever wanted to experiment and he'd be like nah ur the only person i want to be with man or woman

if i ever got really into finishing all my bobs burgers fics i could see myself rewriting this one someday. it was a fun concept it just never went anywhere and i have like 50 other WIPs that are more recent

SILVER SPOON FANFICTION:

this was just a fanfic about silver spoon having a mental breakdown after candle was eliminated and thinking back on their relationship yknow. he thinks it was all fake and candle, his only friend, never liked or cared about him. its finished but i never got around to editing it and now so much time has passed that it wouldnt make sense without the context of the episode it was written for. its culturally relevancy is pretty much gone and past since season 3 ended anyway </3 rip you were bigger than the whole sky.....

for all of these fics the answer to "what was the inspiration" is that i dont remember/i dont know and the answer to why i never finished it is almost certainly bcuz of weird ocd tendancies causing me to get stuck or i lost motivation and started writing something new. lmao

[hrwinter]

20 questions game

Thank you @luthordamnvers for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 10 on AO3. many deleted on FF-net.

2. What’s your total AO3 words count? 309,689 which is like, wow, not that much. especially given that one story accounts for 105k of that.

3. What fandoms do you write for? supercorp for AO3. i've definitely entertained the idea of writing for other fandoms, but haven't made it to an actually completed document yet. i've thought a LOT about writing for harlivy.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? Mrs. & Mrs. Danvers, Fidelity, would you forget me (do i know you?), i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart), and What I Do When I Have Writer's Block. i have writer's block a lot.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? i always try to respond to comments! i get that other people may not, so no judgment, but i figure if someone took the time to write to me, i can take the time to write back to them. it just seems like it fosters more community and the idea that we are all big fans, even just consumers, and appreciate artists of all types.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i don't really write angst ending fics, but i've fleshed out a somewhat angsty 'No Way Home' spider-man AU that is pretty angsty.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? probably i carry your heart. faster than a speeding date is also the closest i think i've ever come to fluff.

8. Do you get hate on fics? it's not common, but it's happened. i try to remind people to engage with the content they want to read. everything is tagged on ao3. there really isn't an excuse to be reading 7 full chapters only to then leave a comment like 'i hated this.' then what are you doing here? and if someone is pointing out something they believe to be problematic in my writing, i do my best to fix it. i've had both bad faith and good faith comments, and i really appreciate the latter. m&m au is a bit of a tough one because the original movie is QUITE problematic. that's where i've gotten these comments the most.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind? like many, i'm sure, i've tried. i'm not sure if i've succeeded. i'm really impressed with the skills it takes to do so. i think people massively underestimate how hard and vulnerable it can be.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? i have never written a crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? yes.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before? no, but i think that would be really fun.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? i've had a lot of ships that i'm going to list here: harry/ginny. snape/lily. jack/juliet. selene/michael. buffy/angel. buffy/faith. mulder/scully. alison/emily. santana/brittany. villanelle/eve. kara/lena. poison ivy/harley. adora/catra. i've never written as many fics for anyone as i have for supercorp, so i guess it would have to be that.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? there was this sex positive krypton/exchange student au prompt that i got so long ago, years ago, where i fell in love with the concept so much, i developed an entire original novel about it. the novel is absolutely a rip off of supercorp with different names because i didn't want to give DC my worldbuilding for krypton. i have about 60% of the plot written, but i am SO BAD at writing original stuff that i'm worried i'll never get it done. sometimes i've thought about just writing the god damn fanfic because at least then y'all would get to see it. i'm so obsessed with that story. it's absolutely insane.

16. What are your writing strengths? i've been told action and dialogue. a kind of "movie like" description or pacing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? i'm going to say the same thing as the person who tagged me: Actually writing.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? it would be really cool! i just don't speak any other languages well enough to write in. i don't mind people who want to translate at all though.

19. First fandom you wrote for? harry/ginny. basic.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?  eternal sunshine au. i wrote it in less than 30 days, which has never happened again. and i felt like, even though i didn't at the time, that it actually captured both the essence of the movie and supercorp perfectly. it's one of those stories that is so HEAD canon to me, that sometimes i forget none of it happened in the show. i wish it had. i was so unimpressed by the explanation of why kara lied to lena, even though the 100th episode dangled the potential of it so close to our faces. in my mind, i just erase that, like my story, and imagine my version instead.

Tags, but no pressure: @littlemousejelly @shaolinbynature @coffeeshib @inkedroplets

[charmixpower]

You said you were happy to give more ,so I'm back for the sweet sweet child Valtor HC's (any plans for writing a fanfic? ). You've opened pandoras box and you can't close it now.

Muah! I'm so glad you're enjoying this little crack au that I got WAYYY to attached too and am now taking seriously XD

I could do like a one shot fic or something but my main concern rn is surviving s6-8 and wow

Anyways here's some SWEET headcanons

Not all of them are nice bc I cannot be dragged away from the angst but most of them are!!

Valtor is legally a ward of Light Rock and will be until he turns 18 and competes in his rehabilitation. I imagine that Light Rock is actually a nice place, the Trix just did not jive with it or the concept of becoming better people. He does therapy at the compound, and his favorite type is art therapy. Valtor really likes it there with his 76 well trained older brothers who are also technically guards

He picks up a bunch of different hobbies at Light Rock. He loves all the activities. They introduce him to theater and it goes exactly like you expect. He LOVES it, and invites the winx et al to all of his shows. He loves the costumes and dramatics about it, and eventually he's listening to Stella talk about types of stitches so he can make his own clothes too

You know those magic limiters the Trix wore on their foreheads at Light Rock? Valtor wears one but he can break it and take it off whenever they want. They're still trying to find a way to actually limit his magic, at some point Valtor got involved in the process

People were first really worried that Valtor could take off the magic limiter whenever he wanted but it slowly became clear that he's perfectly content to stay put so eventually no one cares. The Light Council even gives permission for Valtor to use his magic eventually, despite the fact he's supposed to be limited

Valtor was the one who told Bloom how to get to Obsidian. Like he was there when that happened and he spent all his time after the Ancestrals got trapped trying to get them out so he can just tell the Winx

He obviously doesn't go with them, just because he has the ability to use free will and the obedience built into his essence is now gone doesn't make him immune to mind control spells and he'd rather not. He also REALLY never wants to be face to face with Belladonna ever again, Icy was bad enough tbh

When Bloom puts her hacks powers back where they belong (in Domino) and becomes a normal ass (still stupid powerful, shes related to Daphne AND part of fire mixed with her magic at this point) fairy, she has to learn how to fight like a normal person instead of abusing the fact she doesn't get magic exhaustion. She spars with/around Valtor, primarily because as the Wizard of Magic he can tell her when she's getting exhausted bc she doesn't notice

When the Winx practice group combat they usually spar with Valtor too, who is ecstatic to spend time with the Winx AND use his magic, and they're all there like "if you didn't pull your punches for most the year and have an obvious exploit in your design (aka if you were a nomral born person) we would of never won."

Valtor is technically transformed 24/7 and can straight up die from magical exhaustion. Unlike other magic users who would just detransform, collapse, and pass out, he's far too sustained by his magic to survive without it. This is one of the said design flaws that could be used to defeat him, please note how both this and ripping his elemental components apart would both kill him

He's a kid but he's the WIZARD OF MAGIC, literally anything that's magic is under his domain and he absolutely treated their fights as games bc he COULD curve stomp anything. Belladonna wasn't fucking around when she created him

He still considers Bloom his sister after she gives up her HAXXS that makes her magic feel like his. Bloom thinks this is adorable and takes him out for family time. Valtor looks forward to whenever anyone comes to visit him, especially when he gets to leave the compound (it's nice there but he's used to having access to a lot more space) but especially when Bloom does it

Magic attaches to symbols easily, and Valtor made his mark to make really complicated magic (like Witch magic mind control and Fairy magic power boosting) easier on himself. He made the symbol at like 4ish and has been using it since. Sometimes he makes the symbol from his hands when he just shoots magic at the problem bc he thinks it looks cool

Eventually Helia takes over administration over RF from Saladin Valtor likes to hang around the place and he gets to help out with combatting magic lessons! Exciting for Valtor, terrifying for literally all the students. Riven and Diaspro tend to be around™ bc Helia harasses them into being around and they do not help the situation. The staff at RF uses Valtor to haze the freshmen. Valtor eventually notices this and is stuck between intentionally freaking them out and not wanting people to be afraid of him

Bby Valtor is Belladonna's biological son, no father. He's made from a combination of all the elements instead of just fire and his true form is more uncanny and otherworldly instead of chthonic looking. A very strong "I shouldn't be looking at this" energy, his appearance sets off the flight or fight response but it's not incomprehensible or anything. He's still humanoid it's just when you're a creature closest in make-up as all 5 of the gods of your world you end up looking weird. Still dragon looking tho

Nabu comes around often to just chat with Valtor about his magic. As a scholar Nabu is thriving asking questions about Valtor and Valtor loves the attention, everyone else is a little concerned if Nabu should be getting child that nearly took over the dimension thinking about how to use his magic more efficiently but it's fine. Valtor is a good kid now

Btw if the planet of Espero (where dimension wide government buildings are hosted, including Light Rock) was ever attacked....no it wouldn't be <3 Valtor would put an end to that shit so quickly it wouldn't even be a fight

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Lmao here, have the most ridiculously broad and all-encompassing writer ask ever to distract you:

How in the hell do you make a plot?

Jk, mostly. 😅 This is more a ramble than an ask I guess. I keep tinkering with the idea of actually writing A Story, but I just. I don't know. I get so bored so fast with the process of moving characters from Point A to Point B. I just want to stick people in a room and make them talk. (Or possibly make out, depending on the scenario.) Or I want to spend thousands of words just going on and on about a character's thoughts and emotions. That all works well for oneshot fanfics, but it's awful for doing longer fics or attempting something original. I just don't know how to make characters Go Places and Do Things and Have Goals. Which like...obviously you're not going to be able to magically solve that problem for me in a single post, but...any tips to get started that don't involve falling into the inescapable dungeon of Outlining?

Plot has always been an issue for me. Many moons ago, an agent told me that my book had a great voice but nothing actually happened in it: it was like one of those narrators you'd say you'd listen to read a phone book. Except, you know. Maybe it'd be nice if it wasn't a phone book.

I've had a tendency in the past to, ah...just have a series of things happen. Which is not actually a plot. It's a katamari ball. You can't just write things happening for several thousand words and then be like "ta-da!"

Well, I mean, you can. But it sure wasn't gettin' me an agent.

I'm getting better at this, I think, and structuring stories in general. Tiadane's book was the first book I got notes back from a CP that didn't basically say "the pacing and structure of this is fucked."

(Of course, I'm changing some of that anyway, but it's more incidental to other things I'm fixing than the major concern)

That said, it usually takes me a zero draft (first draft) to really figure out what the story is about and how to take it there. Every single ending for a story I had in mind before I got there has had to be ripped out. Every. Single. One. For ever novel I've ever edited. I'm so bad at getting to an ending I envisioned, because if I actually let the characters develop and change and the world build around them and the themes come through, where I wanted them to end up and the scenes I envisioned, is never really the culmination of how to do it.

A plot is really how a story develops. For me, this is generally character-based. For some people it's the world, for some people it's the actual events.

For a character story, the plot is basically what events are the catalyst that bring them to where they're going. How do they get there, and what happens to them to push them there? How did they react, and to what?

For a world story, the plot is generally focused on unfolding events around the world. I've seen this done with characters in different areas and or characters traveling, or even just in a kind of Epicenter. The plot will be how the world is changing, or how the world is being revealed to the reader, and what that means.

For a story of events, the plot is generally encircled around how things happen, who caused them and why, and what they do when they do happen, and what else they cause to happen.

I usually have a good strong start for about 10k words, and then the plot fizzles out as the initial concept I was running with has sort of been fulfilled and something needs to happen from it.

The way this happened in Tiadane's book was that he basically jumped into a goal, he completed the steps he set out to do, but it all went very wrong. And while he managed to get out of that disaster and take a breather, he had a couple choices: he could give up, or he could try something else to accomplish the goal (and what), or he could clean up the mess he accidentally made, etc.

Each of those would have been a very different Character, obviously. But what the important part of this character story was, was that he made a choice based on who he is as a character, but that he was the one reacting and doing something. There's characters stories about passive characters who don't do much, but they're not especially common because when a character isn't making choices (or perceived not to be), it gets really hard to reveal a character and the story doesn't go anywhere.

Sure, you could keep throwing things at them. But if those Various Things That Are Happening don't feel tied to something before (the character or other events), you have a string of events, not a nicely rising tide of story.

So it's not a matter of "things happening" but "which things going to happen to them after they did that?" and "what things are they going to do now?" and "what things are going to tell you what you want readers to know about the character?"

Sub character with world or events, as necessary.

Okay NOW I'm done, for now.

[adenthemage]

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing? 

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

Just some asks for an amazing friend!

AH thank you Cel!!

🥤 -> Ah, well you and Trauma, for followers yet unaware! I also wanna shout out Ghost and Teela, their stuff is INCREDIBLE!!

🍓 -> I guess I just found I always had too many ideas, when I watched a show or read a book, for where things could go, or missed opportunities. So I'd write them out, mostly for my own fun haha. I also looooved english classes in school, whenever we'd read classics and analyse the techniques used within I found myself very much wanting to try them out myself! Fanfic was a good outlet for that, when I didn't want to spend too much time making characters and story elements from scratch. I've only very recently gotten into the habit of posting any of it!

🔪 -> Hmm! Hard to say. Maybe intentionally going down some UFO conspiracy rabbit holes as research for a Bishop fic counts?

❄️ -> I'm a huge sucker for accidental adoption or found family. But I also LOVE stories where things get Worse. Relationships waver and crumble, characters corrupt themselves, stuff like that. And that's a lot less common! Though I suppose that's a little too vague to pin a specific writer too, huh.

Alright! For a more specific example: Dragon ball! That franchise is FULL of concepts that it just leaves on the table, begging for a deeper character-driven piece. And I don't really see a lot of it capitalized on, which is surprising! But maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places?

🦋 -> I've been trying to get back into exercise to win back my old athletic physique. I wanna be ripped I wanna be able to throw a guy into the sun.

🦴 -> TMNT 03 does a lot for me, as is known loL. It's definitely a formative piece of writing for me, with the blend of family dynamics, darker themes, and the underlying kindness of the narrative.

As I mentioned, too, I read a lot of the classics for lit and poetry, too, and learning about them was a STRONG influence on how I wanted my writing style to be like. Among them was Kafka's Metamorphosis, which was my favorite of all of them. I love the way the inciting incident is never explained, and nothing else fantastical happens. I love the slow breakdown of the family's willingness to help, and the bleakness of the world around Gregor. I love the way it ends and how it leaves you with such conflicting tones. I need to read it again actually it's been forever.

☁️ -> Haha so, when I first made my DeviantArt account I think I wasss 12, or somewhere in that age range. I was really into Sonic, and I had my edgy OC Violet the fox who I was absolutely obsessed with. So when I made my account, I called it Violetthefox0001! And I ended up having a decent little following over there. So when I branched out to other sites, when the Sonic craze had died down a little, I changed "the fox" to "Vulpini" to make it a little less overt. Alao the word Vulpini just looks pretty, doesn't it? Especially next to the word Violet.

[ano-writer]

Everyone Loves Xisuma - First rewritten chapter in February

the main reason everyone loves xisuma went on hold for so long is because I hated how it was written and I felt like a sudden style change would put readers off but i also didn't want to create something i really wasn't proud of so i just kinda stopped bc the shame of writing a bad fanfic is worse than abandoning one

Which is why I also am so proud to say that hopefully this month I will post the first rewritten chapter!!

(and bc i am self-indulgent and I do want to show off some of my improved writing, here are some fragments of fics I have written in the past to hopefully get you hyped for the fact that the rewritten chapters will get so much more detail and will delve so much more into the development and the characterisation)

The ability of knowing goes hand in hand with the ability of not knowing. One cannot know something, if they do not know it exists. If they are completely blind about its existence, about the possibility, one cannot even not know about it. Because for you to not know about something, you have to know what that something is. You have to understand that the mere concept of something exists. And you do not know what it means, what it does or why it exists. But you know it is. (TMIOMM - 2024)

But it also felt amazing. It felt like fireworks were going off. Flowers grew all around [A]- they grew inside of him. Roses and lilies flowered inside his stomach. The thorns would rip open his insides. The roots would choke him. Yet the petals would cover up the wounds and the seeds would sprout all over the floor: creating more life from [A]'s misery and pain. (SFC(LFILAYL) - 2023))

When [B] first kissed a girl, he didn’t feel butterflies. He was at the local swimming pool, and the smell of chlorine was stuck to his skin but he didn’t care. He was with a group of friends and they all had brought girls along, so it was only natural for [B] to also ask someone out. The girl was beautiful- that wasn’t debatable. She had gorgeous brown hair, and lips that were painted red as if she had just eaten cherries. She smelled like vanilla and her skin was sunkissed, big brown eyes always staring at him with this passion he had never seen someone hold in their eyes before. They kissed while their feet were paddling in the pool, sitting on the edge of the body of water. He didn’t feel the heat anywhere in his body. All he could think about was how hot his best friend looked in his vibrant, just-bought trunks. (WCWBYLMP - 2023)

[sparrowsarus]

Fic Writer 20 Questions

@spurious @frankthesnek @trainofcommand @wonkyelk

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

36.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

75,820

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, D&D:Hat; but I might try some Baldur’s Gate 3 at some point!

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Falling For The First Time (D&D:HAT)

Five Times Marcus Woke Up Audrey (And the One Time She does It Back) (Harry Potter)

Troutblight Blues (D&D:HAT)

Exit Wounds (SGA)

Hearts Worth Breaking (D&D:HAT)

I’m noticing a trend here.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! I like engaging, and people say nice things to me.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

When I Come To The End Of The Long, Long Road, which is a canon-compliant Story Girl fic which adheres to canon in the saddest way. I tend to write bubblegum, as a rule, but I have a few more downbeat fics scattered around. Most aren’t really angsty, though.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of ‘em. I like Happily Ever Afters! There are a few that aren’t really happy, as such—but they aren’t unhappy, either.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Never! But then I tend to write utterly unproblematic short fluff, so my engagement isn’t overly high to begin with. And I’m good with that—people read or they don’t.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

A bit. I’m not super comfortable writing it, and I wouldn’t call it great literature--but I’m trying to practice more. It’s very basic, very vanilla, but it’s not something I’m overly worried about beyond “let’s give it a go”

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

On Ao3? No. But Tumblr/my ideas doc/my brain are riddles with them. My silliest one features: A Lazytown AU I read, combined with the girl genius webcomic, a weird mishmash of both TV!fanfic and book Witcher,  and D&D:HAT. It’s utter nonsense and its such fun!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have not!

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Kind of? Hearts Worth Breaking started as a Tumblr concept, before @generalusername was like “But what if..?!” and I was inspired to the point of it being my longest fic ever. The result was a mishmash of their ideas and mine, and it was such fun.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Anne/Gilbert, baby! I am a Canadian woman of a certain age, after all.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh, so many. My brain is a graveyard. RIP all the SGA fics languishing in my ideas doc—no one will ever see you.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I have been complimented on how I manage to tell a lot of story in a small space.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Oh man, if we start that we’ll never finish this. I have many! And that’s okay. I ain’t getting paid for this.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I mean, I don’t do it, but I know some people do and that’s fine. Depends on the story you are telling, really.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Anne of Green Gables, from BI (Before Internet). I was probably 8 or 9 at that point, so I’m sure it was dreadful.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Hm, tricky. Either Troutblight Blues, Hearts Freely Given, or At The Beginning With You, depending on the day. I was trying something with all of them, and I think they turned out pretty good!

Thank you for the asks, gang! I will tag @mai-komagata, since I now know they like being tagged in things; @handwrittenhello; and @the-tomorrow-road

If tagging games bother anybody, or you like them but rarely get tagged in them, let me know!

[breitzbachbea]

1, 3, 9, 11?

OH, thank you very much!!!!

Meta OC Question

What inspired you to create your oc?

Depends on the OC, but there's two reasons at the start of all my OC endeavours in the past, which also intertwine:

I've always been a very creative kid with adhd that makes her daydream all day long, so I've been plagued by visions that needed a creative outlet & writing was the choice.

Since I wrote since elementary school, whenever I liked another piece of media, I'd express it by writing fanfiction, which would usually involve OCs. I'd often spin so hard and so fast out of control that I would make up a whole batch of OCs, often together with friends, who'd interact with the main cast and story, but also spin off into their own storylines.

These days, where I only make OCs and write mostly for my Hetalia Human AU (which is 10% Fanfic, but 90% Orig Fic): The mainer characters come to me because I am plagued by visions and constantly inspired by real life. I have over 250 named characters in this AU, PLEASE stop me from making more. Went to Romania for Erasmus for a week and came back with an OC concept that could have such a dysfunctional and toxic queer romance with one of my underdeveloped Hungarian OCs. I need to be stopped.

However, once mainer characters are established, OCs related to them spring up out of necessity or because I am like 'You know what I didn't do yet and would be fun in relation to these new bitches and also the old bitches?'. OC creation never happens in a vacuum, I am all about how they add to the world I created for the past 10 years and could interact with its inhabitants.

3. What is the origin of the character's name?

Used to go on babynaming sites and look at the most popular options, which is why all my Irish mainer characters have English names (RIP). These days I like to do some research on the cultural background they come from and also take inspiration from public figures from their country/region/city. However, once that is done I usually just visit Behind the Name and spend 15 minutes browsing, talking with friends about options, ignoring their feedback and then choose a name by closing my eyes and throwing a dart at the PC. I do consider nominative determinism to a degree, but I'll tell myself that the parents who named the kid couldn't have known what they will grow up to be and I'll also get used to any name.

I also love to use names I encountered in life, too! Like old classmates or family names of friends!

9. In a group dynamic, what kind of role does the oc usually fill? Are they a worry wart? A troublemaker? The straight man?

I LOVE GROUP DYNAMICS AND I HAVE SOOOO MANY OF THEM. Let's take the Chaos Seven, aka Team Ireland + Soph and Team Sicily as an example.

Team Ireland shares one collective braincell. Paddy, who's twice as old as Harry and Charlie, is its keeper about 40% of the time. Since he helped raise Harry since he was six, is a father figure to Charlie and helped raise Sophie since she was born, he's the Guardian figure of the Group. Hashtag Daddy Paddy. However, he's also a bastard like his own kids, so while he tries to be a good influence, he's not exactly the voice of reason. Just hopelessly devoted to the three and wants to ensure that they don't make choices they will regret without return.

Charlie is the social butterfly, or at least the one who's the most willing to engage in diplomacy and also enjoys working people the most. Do not let that fool you, half of the European underground wants to punch his teeth in for being endlessly annoying, but the other half wants to either fuck him or keep him as a purse dog. He and Harry are brother's from another mother and when Harry is too stubborn and fatalistic to consider anyone outside of himself, Charlie will pick up the slack and care for him and their goals. To Soph, he's the big brother figure with whom she can discuss personal affairs that she feels Harry and Paddy are too close and guardian-like for comfort to discuss with.

Harry's the driving force that inspires the others, since if he is hellbent on something, he'll pull through with it and won't let anyone push him around. He bickers all day long with the rest (especially Charlie, Soph and Harry do nothing but pick on each other), but is also always there to root for the others and take risks on their behalf. Probably the biggest troublemaker, but since Team Ireland as a whole is nothing but troublemakers, it's a bit unfair to single him out. He's got an unmatched love for pranks, though!

Soph is the nestling, the little darling of the family. All the others care for her, and as she grows up, she takes more and more after her brother, for better and for worse. Being Harry's little sister, the two are especially close, but she worries and cares for all three of them, as they do for her. When she's with the other three, she's a troublemaker who's not gonna let anyone push her or her family around, much like Harry.

Michele ... he is the leader and the voice of reason in Team Sicily, the one who raised the twins Marco and Lorenzo together with his mother. Since Marco and Lorenzo look up to him, he's also their guardian figure and tries to be as good an influence as he can - he's also constantly herding cats with these two mischievous guys.

Marco and Lorenzo share their creativity and their analytical thinking, as well as their love for mischief. They're definitely troublemakers, but at the same time problem solvers extraordinaire. And while their devotion to Michele is blind to a degree, they also unite in pulling him back onto the rug at times. It's not often that they need to play the straight man and they aren't good at that role with anyone but Michele, but they can do it.

11. What is your least favorite trait regarding your oc?

I mean it is an Organized Crime AU, so for most it gotta be, among others, the uhhhh ability to justify the horrors to themselves.

But that aside. I don't really think in favourite and not-favourite, since an interplay of traits is what makes OCs so close to actual humans and simply fun as literary constructs.

If I was held at gunpoint, though - That Hugo is so persistent in his quest to be liked/loved/the best that he can't take no for an answer in the long run, to his own detriment and everyone else's. That SK, aka Sri Kadek, is so stubborn in her perceived role as being the fixer of the family that she won't consider someone else's motivation for how they treat her could be genuinely out of caring for her. And most of the OCs are assholes, again because of the circumstances and I am a messy bitch who loves drama, but the Arora twins (Frej and Freja) take the objectification and the prioritization of their entertainment a little bit far even for this crowd. (... but also, that does make them very very sexy <3).

[jaimehwatson]

6, 14, 15, 29!

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

I don't tend to reread stuff all that much, fic or otherwise! I tend to prefer experiencing new stuff :)

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

I would definitely pick Tonight on Ring of Revenge! I'd love to see an artist's take on the way I described the wrestling gear :D

15. How do you come up with titles for your fics/chapters?

I'm a big fan of the "rip off some song lyrics" method. I should go through and count sometime how many of my fics got their names from Mountain Goats songs

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Ooh, there's a fic I had started writing after season 2 episode 7 of Our Flag Means Death, and then never finished because episode 8 both contradicted it and gave me a bunch more to write about instead! I've been toying with the idea of adapting some of the ideas from it into some kind of canon divergent fic at some point, but I think it's going to end up pretty different from the original concept. But here's how it once started!

Once most of the fires had sizzled down to pillars of black smoke wafting through the night sky, Stede found himself wandering along the shore, bare feet instinctively avoiding the rocks and other hazards on the familiar path to his old favourite spot on the beach. But he wasn't alone there this time—a hunched figure in black had made it there before him and stolen the best seat. "Is this where you've been while the rest of us have been pulling survivors out of the burning wreckage?" Stede demanded. "I've only got the one leg," Izzy Hands spat back, "and the other one's flammable." "Alright, fair enough." Stede sighed as he sunk down into the sand. "Seems like most of us got out of it with only minor injuries, at least. Well, except for Steak Knife." "May flights of angels sing him to his rest."

Thanks for the asks! <3

fanfic writer asks

[jimbleswrites]

RWBY Sidequest

A/N: this is a RWBY fanfic i wrote in 2019(i think? the files are older but i didn’t edit it until 2019). the main concept was that i was so upset they killed torchwick that i wanted to write a version of the story where he survived somehow. I made OC’s, then i got really into the OC side of it, and the story kinda formed in the middle of those ideas. I have no plans to continue writing this, but hopefully the 11 chapters here set the scene.

Chapter 1

The forests around Vale are pretty quiet. Normally the loudest things are caravans to and from the kingdom. Today, however, the loudest thing is an old tow truck is making its way through a forest. It's a clear fixer-upper, some parts rusted off and others clearly replaced with whatever scrap could be found. Even the tow cable was in rough shape. Inside are two young adults arguing about something. “I don’t like this. Who did you say the tip was from?” asked the driver, clearly the younger of the two. “It’s from Markie, he said some huntsmen were talking about it while waiting for supplies. Markie’s never let me down before, Maggot” responded the older one. “Please stop calling me that, Aaron.” groaned Maggot, pointing the name tag of Daniel sewn into his denim jacket. Aaron smirked “You wanna label yourself as the younger brother somewhere on there too, or only your name? You wouldn't have to talk to anyone if you just sew your life story onto that old jacket.” Daniel responded “I’d still have to deal with you talking 24/7, so there’s no point. We’re here.”

The old truck pulled into the middle of an abandoned town, surrounded by weathered homes. Some were still sound, some had major holes, others had completely collapsed. Aaron pointed to a worn sign reading Heavenside. “Heavenside, according to Markie, hasn’t been touched since it fell. Hopefully some good salvage around here. Aaron and Daniel left the truck, ready to scout the buildings. The two were definitely junkers, wearing torn and ripped clothes with weapons that looked broken in. Daniel was wearing a denim jacket with patches and extra pockets sewn on, a sleeveless white top, and brown cargo pants with more pockets. As if that weren’t clear enough to his profession, he was wearing an extra toolbelt with several tools poking out. He adjusted his goggles as he surveyed the area, holding a hodge-podge looking rifle in one hand. Aaron, on the other hand, might pass for hired muscle if it weren't for his current company. A brown overcoat with a simple harness and no shirt underneath was paired with ripped jeans that clearly were patched several times. The lack of shirt made sense once you saw the large wings that jutted through slits cut in the back of the coat. He tightened the grey metal gauntlets on his arms as he stepped out the truck. They certainly stood out amongst others, but they seemed to make sense in this abandoned village as the junkers they were. 

The two wasted no time claiming anything of value. They found plenty of good materials, including plenty of scrap metal, broken weapons, and some old androids still in good shape. They slowly filled the bed of the truck with various findings, eventually splitting off into separate buildings. Daniel was almost done strapping down the scrap, but Aaron wanted to check one last building.  He stepped through a hole in a wall and a shine caught his eyes. Aaron pulled away some rubble from a large pile of stones, sure he saw some glitter of metal. “The longer we’re out here, the more likely they’ll show.” warned his partner from the old vehicle. “You know Maggot, they are drawn to emotions, so if you stay calm they shouldn't bother us.” Aaron called back. He was determined to get something of value from this trip. So far it had all been scrap metal, unusable weapons, and lots of old bones. Aaron just wanted one thing of value from this dump before they left. As he continued to dig through the rubble of a former home, he hoped for some hidden ammo or jewelery, something just to show this trip wasn't a waste. 

While his brother kept digging through rocks and wreckage, Daniel kept his eyes on the horizon. A pack of grimm were wandering through and any attention to them meant they could lose some of the hard-earned salvage or worse, have to fight through them and risk their well-being. “There's a pack of beowolves on the horizon, maybe 10 to 15. We should call it and head back.” Aaron seemed to perk up and turned around to his brother. “There's a floor safe here! Maybe some real good shit…” he turned the handle to no avail. “Rusted shut.” He looked around for a key, or a crowbar, something to open this safe. Daniel looked from the truck to the safe and back to the pack of monsters. “I don't like this… we should really head out…” he cautioned. Aaron shook his head and raised his voice. “We gotta try for it. We need something good or this trip just breaks even. Get over here and try to melt the lock.”

“I don't think we should. Any major noise could attract those grimm and then we might lose what little we have.” 

Aaron groaned. “I'm not leaving without what's in there Maggot, so you can come try to melt this down, or I'm getting the dust and blowing the door off.” 

“Aaron, you're not seriously gonna use what little dust we have left to open a safe and let all of those beasts hear us?” Daniel looked at his brother's face, seeing a serious look. “Fine, i'll work on it,” he complained, throwing himself out of the truck and grabbing his weapon. “But you keep an eye on that pack there while i work on this.” Daniel pointed at the horizon, but Aaron squinted. “You gotta be kidding me… not all of us have crazy eyes. I can barely make out anything out there.” Daniel’s expression changed from nervous to stern, his brow furrowing. “Aaron, we have binoculars. Just get them from the glovebox.” Aaron started to walk to the passenger side of the truck, leaving Daniel to look at the safe in the building remains.

Daniel took a closer look at the room as he stepped through the ruined wall. He was used to seeing old weathered rooms at this point but he was surprised how broken the furniture was. It looked like a beowulf had torn everything to shreds. The bed was basically tinder for a campfire, and the dresser and table were not much better. He stepped over to the rubble pile his brother was working at, and looked at this floorsafe. It was in very good shape, considering the rest of the room. The rubble on top must have obscured it so other salvagers and grimm couldn't see it easily. Daniel removed his goggles, surveying everything with his insectoid eyes. No signs of other goodies to loot in here, he bent over the safe and started to channel his aura near the handle. Daniel's semblance allowed him to slowly disintegrate any material given enough time and aura. He began to melt the iron near the handle, hoping it would be thinner and go by a bit quicker. He focused on his task, hoping the pack of grimm he spotted earlier would continue to be oblivious.

Aaron opened the door of the truck and grabbed the binoculars, turning the direction Daniel pointed before. Sure enough, there was the pack he had mentioned. Aaron sighed. Daniel's eyes were better at seeing motion from far away, but he was always so cautious. Unless some major noise or some strong emotions came from where they were, the grimm had no reason to come by the ruined village they were scrapping. Aaron double-checked the truck, making sure they could leave once Maggot had opened the safe. All the salvage was strapped down, he had the key, the cable release was creaky but still opened, the road was clear. He took a breath and loosened the tension on his shoulders. Aaron’s wings slowly flexed as he stretched, their black feathers contrasting his brown overcoat. He was ready to go but needed this last loot to make a profit. The last couple trips had been duds and he was tired of not getting anything from these trips but junk and fights with grimm. Hopefully if the safe had some valuables in it, he could afford to get both Daniel and his weapons repaired with some new materials. He smiled at the thought, looking at his gauntlets. They were worn and torn, the metal chambers for dust were chipped and the knuckles especially were dented out from the last fight with a nevermore. The large bird grimm had spotted them trying to get some people from a caravan to safety. Aaron had managed to pin a wing so it couldn't fly away while Daniel dealt the final blow, but the hard beak had done a number to the metal plates on his hands. Aaron was suddenly brought back to reality when an explosion rang out from the building Daniel was in. “DANIEL!” He yelled as he sprinted to the home his brother was in.

Aaron leaped through the hole in the wall to see a blasted open safe and Daniel lying against a wall on the other side of the room. He ran and slid to his brother's side. “Come on buddy, talk to me!” Aaron grabbed his brother's wrist to check for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling it as strong as ever. He gently tapped his brother's face. “Maggot, you can't take a nap right now, we gotta go.” No response. He tried an actual slap to the cheek, resulting in Daniel jolting awake. “Oh thank Oum...:” aaron uttered. “You alright?” Daniel groaned and rubbed the back of his head. “Headache, but yeah ill be fine. What happened?” he asked. Aaron looked around, “well, it looks like it came from the safe.” He bent down, looking into the ruined box. He noticed a shadow of a box etched onto the side near the handle and a smaller black box still intact inside. “Looks like a bomb set to blow when the safe was opened.” He picked up the smaller box inside “Probably to protect this.” Daniel slowly stood up. “Well, you got the safe open. Can we head out?” Before Aaron could say yes, a loud roar was heard from outside. Aaron winced, “yeah we should probably try to leave before more come around.” Aaron took Daniel’s arm over his shoulders and started to walk outside with his brother.

Upon stepping outside, Aaron and Daniel saw a pack of beowolves lining up at the top of the road. They were slowly prodding around, looking for whatever made the sound that attracted them. Aaron put Daniel’s arm down, “How do you want to do this?’ Daniel looked around. “Too many to fight, but enough to block the roads. Maybe try to break a hole and outrun them?” Aaron nodded. “I can make a hole if you’re ok to drive.” Daniel nodded back and started to carefully walk to the truck. Aaron cracked his neck and started to walk into the middle of the road. He double-checked the ties on his gauntlets and readied himself. He just wanted to draw the grimm to one side and then catch the truck to run outta town. He whistled at the few grimm at the end of the road. They all quickly saw him and started to advance. “Alright fellas, i just need to check your licenses.” Aaron taunted. The grimm just growled as they began to go full speed at him, ready for blood. He started to sprint forward to meet the opposing forces, knowing he just had to delay them for a short time. The first beowulf pounced, claws first. Aaron jumped, starting the fight with a roundhouse kick to the face. Landing square on the side of its snout. This knocked the grimm away, only to be replaced with two more, aiming to bite whatever is in reach. Aaron sidestepped the bites and countered with a right hook, hitting one and throwing it into another. They were knocked into a wall and were stunned for a short while. Suddenly, the first beowulf came back into the fray, frantically swiping at Aaron. He managed to block most of the hits with his gauntlets, but the final swing smacked Aaron through a wall and back into the room with the safe. Aaron shook his head and grabbed a piece of splintered wood, ready for the grimm to come after him. Sure enough, it busted thru the new hole in the wall and tried to scratch him. Aaron ducked the swipe and pushed the wood spike through the grimm’s head. It slumped over and began to evaporate away. Aaron ran back though the hole and heard a truck horn go off. He looked over to see Daniel speeding down the road though the new opening. He saw Daniel push a button and raced over to where the truck would be. He let the truck rush by as he heard the tow cable be released from the back of the truck. He saw the two beowolves he hit earlier running over, snarling. As the truck’s end came closer, he grabbed the cable and hooked it into his harness. Aaron opened his wings and was pulled away from the grimm, soaring above their reach. He watched from above as the grimm pack started to chase the truck, only to be left behind as Daniel raced away from the old village. He laughed to himself as he was slowly reeled back down to the truck itself. It felt great to have a trip go reasonably, even if they still had to fight off some grimm. He pulled himself to the bed of the truck and untied the cable from his harness. He gave Daniel a thumbs up and lounged on top of the scrap they had collected. He picked up the box from the safe, wondering what was so important someone would rig it to explode. He opened it to find a data drive labelled “PRIVATE”. ‘Well then’, Aaron thought, ‘lets see what's so private then.’

Chapter 2

The old truck pulled into a junkyard outside a small village. Aaron jumped over the side of the truck and started to unload the haul from Heavenside. Daniel stepped out of the driver’s seat and started to help his brother. “So what was in the safe that we got attacked for?” he asked. Aaron pulled out the drive and passed it over. “This drive,” he sighed, “not what i was hoping for, but maybe something good on it.” Daniel put down the scrap he was carrying and groaned. “We risked everything for a drive? What could even be on there of worth?” Aaron shrugged as he got the last load of the truck. “I don't know, maybe some information for the owner? Maybe they’d pay for it back. Or maybe some blueprints we could use?” Daniel handed off the last bag of broken tools to Aaron. “that's a long shot, but maybe. I can look through it while you run the rest to Markie.” Aaron swapped the bag for the drive and nodded. “Go ahead, it shouldn’t be long. Ill be back soon.” Daniel walked into the house while Aaron set off into town.

The town of Sumire was a quiet area, just south of Beacon academy. It was a small town, with few shops and some homes. As Aaron walked through the streets to Markie’s forge, he passed the Winston’s store and the train station. He knew the streets well, despite living on the outskirts and constantly going on salvage trips and huntsman missions. He finally approached Markie’s forge, looking at the old building. Aaron always liked the old man, always direct and honest, even if he haggled a bit too much for the salvage Aaron brought him. As the door closed behind Aaron, he heard Markie rustling in the back. He waited as Markie turned the corner into view. A hearty laugh and a clunk of metal on wood was heard as he left the forge proper. “Aaron, you son of a bitch, you’re back!” Markie laughed and gave Aaron a handshake. “How was the haul? Whatcha got for me?” Aaron smiled and started pulling the tools out of the bag. “Lots of broken weapons for a settlement, and some tools that still hold up. The tip was good, even if we had to fight some grimm for it.” Markie had picked up a broken stun baton and was eyeballing the cracks. “These are good, basic repair, easy resells.” Markie muttered to himself. “The tools are in good shape, but older. How about 1500 lien for it all?” Aaron shot the blacksmith a look. “Markie, this haul is good. Last haul this size got 2000.” Markie smirked. “Maybe, but I still gotta repair all of it and resell. 1600.”

“You keep using the same excuses, but we’ve done this dance before. 1850.”

“It may surprise you, but the reasons are the same because unlike your joy rides through old ruins, I do things consistently. 1700.”

“1800, Markie. My joyrides keep you in business.”

Markie smiled and put down a bundle of lien. “1800. You know Aaron, if you hadn’t been stuck here years ago, I'd still be in business without your scrap shop.”

Aaron took the lien and laughed. “Really? You’re a good fighter, but I have the license to back my skills. I'm sure the kingdom would have loved to tear down this place without an official huntsman living here.”

Markie put an arm on the bar and sighed. “Maybe, but just because my leg is bad doesn't mean I can't still put you youngsters in your place. But enough of that, any other business for me? I’d love to put some of that lien back in my till.”

“Nothing right now. Gonna see Maggot and come back tomorrow for repairs we can’t manage. You know he doesn't like others messing with his creations.”

“That brother of yours still owes me a new android after he busted the last one. I miss the extra hands.”

“He was trying to help, and he’s trying to find some better hands for it. You remember, after you accidentally poured molten metal on it?”

Markie grumbled and walked off. Aaron was familiar with the blacksmith, being one of the first members of the town with him. As Aaron walked back, he remembered being stuck here as a guardian while the town was being built. After a nasty attack that took Markie’s leg, the kingdom wanted to stop building, but Aaron and the rest of the town were persistent on getting their own land. One of the kingdom’s conditions was that Aaron would be a resident. It wasn't completely bad, as he set up a scrap shop and helped the town form. But he never got to be a true huntsman, only operating in a certain vicinity and having to leave his team from Beacon. Aaron reflected as he walked home, wondering if things would change or if they would stay the same.

Daniel stepped into the house as Aaron left to sell the weapons and tools. Daniel turned on the lights and looked around. The home looked ramshackle, with simple furniture and messy countertops, covered in various papers and other materials. Daniel walked through the main room and kitchen and into his workshop. He flipped the switch for the power and heard the various tech and machinery slowly hum to life. Daniel sighed as he put his weapon on the chair and walked towards the partly open android on his workbench. He turned the power on and started to gather materials. He still needed to fix this for Markie, after he tried to improve the motor speed and it wound up overheating the processor. It was an older AK-130 model, but Markie was convinced he didn't need a new one and Daniel offered to fix it. The AK-130 finally had booted up and was sitting up on the workbench. “Boot-up completed. P-43 online. Loading personality matrix.” The android turned to Daniel. “My chestplate is open. Have my repairs been completed?” Daniel put down some circuit boards and tools on the bench and looked inside the android. “Not yet, P-43. Almost there, just need to put these boards in to harmonize with your new hands. I booted you up to double check the diagnostic once I'm done. ” P-43 looked at the more human-like hands he had. They were newer, but painted black to match the rest of the body it was attached to. “Interesting.” P-43 said, “These are from an AK-200 model. Much more flexible.” Daniel chuckled. “Glad you approve. I hope Markie appreciates it. Fought a nevermore on that trip and it broke Bootlegger.” He gestured towards his weapon. “Had to re-weld the main barrel after that.” Daniel put the last board in place and closed the chestplate. “There we are. Please run a diagnostic and then we can test them out.” P-43 quietly whirred and buzzed as the main light on the face of the went dim for a minute. “Nothing out of place. All systems operational.” Daniel grabbed a stress ball and lobbed it to P-43. “Alright then, test them out.” P-43 caught the ball and tossed it back and forth with Daniel a couple times. Daniel grinned. “Love to see everything work out. I’ll do a stress test later and then  we can get you back to Markie tomorrow. Feel free to walk around, make sure the rest of you is working fine. I gotta check this drive.” Daniel walked over to his computer and pulled the data drive from his pocket. P-43 stood up and walked behind Daniel. “Data drive? Where did you find that?” Daniel put the drive into the computer and started to load the files. “In a safe in Heavensdale. The safe was rigged to explode so however this belongs to must not trust others.” Daniel grunted as the monitor showed a password prompt. “Well that means they REALLY don't trust others. P-43, grab the disc from the workbench for me please.” P-43 went and grabbed it. “What do you need the disc for?” Daniel put it into a disc reader and started to type code in a separate window. “It has a password cracker on it. Helpful when your job is dealing with other tech others throw away. I should be able to bypass the password as long as the owner didn’t put on any extra security. Just need to tell the drive I can see the files and…” The computer beeped as a window of files was brought up. “Bingo, now let’s see.” Daniel saw some maps of an old buried section of Vale, a train track, some encrypted files, and a video file.  Daniel played the video and kept searching the drive while it played.

Chapter 3

The video started with static, then faded into a scene of old buildings. Lots of rocks and construction equipment were scattered in the background as a White Fang member appeared on screen. They spoke quietly, “I’ve got time, just need to hide the drive afterwards.” Even with the mask covering their face, they appeared nervous. They now looked at the camera and frowned. “If you are watching this, then hopefully this got to someone who can help. On this drive are all the files I could grab for Torchwick’s plan. I don’t like that this human is in charge and I don't know how this is helping our cause. That’s all i'm saying.” The video cut off after that. Daniel was a bit concerned. The more he read the files, the more the plans showed an attack planned. The strangest part, though, was that Daniel recognised the attack. Because it had happened a couple of months ago.

Aaron came in through the front door. “I’m back.” He un-strapped his gauntlets from his arms, stepping into the workshop. He saw his brother pouring over his computer and Markie’s android, P-43, slowly picking up trash from the floor. He slowly came up behind him and rested his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. Daniel jumped, and quickly turned, just to breathe out in relief. “You can’t sneak up on me like that!” Aaron laughed. “Maybe you shouldn't be so absorbed in your screen. P-43 was probably bored to death with you zoned out.” Daniel looked to P-43. “Oh shit, sorry P-43, you can shut down now.” P-43 nodded and laid back on the workbench, powering down. Aaron gestured to the screen. “Did you figure out what was on the drive?” Daniel scooted his chair back and gestured to the screen. “Well, you remember that train that drove into inner Vale a few months back?” Aaron raised his eyebrow. “Sure, that Torchwick guy used an old tunnel and brought grimm in. Why?” “Well, this drive is filled with plans for that. Apparently a whistleblower copied the data to give to someone but then we salvaged it from Heavensdale.” Aaron looked closer at the data on screen, looking for some reason for the drive to be in their hands. “Ok, but the White Fang is behind this too? The news just said that Torchwick was acting alone. And why would the White Fang listen to some human criminal? And who was this guy trying to get the files to?” Daniel shook his head. “I’m still decrypting some of the files but apparently this section of the White Fang worked for Torchwick. No reason so far. As for who it’s for, they never said. Only wanted to get the files to someone important.” Aaron shook his head. “This is way behind our paygrade. Not to mention a few months too late. Anything else of note?” Daniel pointed to a loading bar. “This last file is called ‘Phase 3’, with the rest being named Phase 2. Maybe some future plans? I’m waiting for the computer to finalize before I can read it.” Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. “Should we take this to someone? Maybe Ironwood or Ozpin? They would be able to do something.” “Well, it’s still decrypting, so i can’t take the drive out yet. But once it's done, we could see about getting it to someone. I just don't want to seem suspicious and get on some list.” Aaron looked at the progress bar. It claimed it would take about a day to decrypt. “Well either way we have to wait til tomorrow, so let's see what the file says then. Let's call it a night. I grabbed take-out on the way home.” Daniel smiled. “Sounds good. We haven't eaten since this morning.” 

Aaron led Daniel out of the workshop and opened up the containers, revealing warm noodles. “Tell you what,” said Aaron through the food in his mouth, “The Vytal Festival is coming up this week at Vale. If we go, then we can drop off the drive and see the tournament. Win-win for us.” Daniel bowed his head in thought. “You think we can just drop in on someone like that? Especially during a tournament?” “Why not? I’m sure once we mention the stuff on it, i'm sure they’ll want it. Also, we just gotta drop it off, we don't know anything else about it. Worse case scenario, we slide it under the door with a note.” Daniel shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe we should just forget it. People who know too much usually end up on the run or worse.” “Maggot, i’ll be honest. I don't like the idea of walking into an office with someone with terrorist plans and a lacking explanation, but I also don't want to have it here and get someone else in trouble for what we dug up. Also, depending on what's on that ‘Phase 3’ file, the next thing the White Fang planned for could be prevented.” Daniel sighed. “You’re right. Maybe i’ve just been watching too many outlaw movies.” Aaron looked at the clock and yawned. “We should go to bed. We might have a big day tomorrow.” Aaron and Daniel walked into a back room covered by a large curtain. Inside were the two hammocks the brothers slept in. Aaron crawled into one as Daniel stretched. “Maybe we could get a reward for turning it in? Finally expand our shack to include another bedroom?” Aaron laughed. “The huntsman jobs I get from their boards barely cover our expenses. I doubt the kingdom just wants to hand out money.” “Well, i can dream. Night, Aaron.” “Night, Daniel” Aaron looked out the window at the broken moon above as he fell asleep. 

Chapter 4 

Aaron woke up with the sun shining in his face. He slowly sat up and stretched his arms, then his wings. It had been a few days since they found the drive and the info on it, and it was time to take it to the people in charge. Aaron yawned as he started the coffee maker and stared at the fridge for breakfast. Nothing but the usual leftovers greeted him on the other side. He decided to grab something from the festival instead and went to the bathroom to shower. He passed Daniel as he walked by. “Hey, is that android you made ready? I decided to leave early and grab food at the festival before we hand off the drive.” Daniel yawned back, slowly blinking his eyes. Aaron chuckled. “Go get some coffee, I'll ask again when you fully wake up.” Daniel shuffled to the kitchen while Aaron shut the bathroom door behind him. As Daniel drank from his mug, his eyes lit up. “Oh right…” Daniel walked to his workshop and yelled from the door. “Aaron, we gotta drop off Markie’s android too. I’ll get them both up and running.”  Aaron turned on the lights and walked over to get things ready. He turned switches on both the androids and they slowly whirred to life. P-43 finished his wake-up and looked around. “It’s early in the morning. Is it time to go back?” Daniel nodded. “Yup, you’re all fixed and ready for Markie. Can you wait in the living room while I get K-64 powered up?” P-43 got up and walked towards the door while Daniel did some final tuning to his other bot. “K-64 online. Running optimally. Running convocation subroutines.” K-64’s eyes powered on as it saw Daniel rummaging in its chest. “Daniel? It’s early. Why am I on?” Daniel turned around and connected some wires from K-64 into a terminal. “Aaron and I got to head into Vale to finish some business. I’m leaving you in charge of the store while we’re gone. Just double-checking everything before we leave.” Daniel finished his coffee and turned back to K-64. “Do me a favor and check your memory. Everything still looks right?” K-64’s eyes turned dim as he began to scan. “Everything is the same as last time.” Daniel removed the wires from K-64 as the android stood up. “When will you two be back?” “Probably 3-4 days. Depends on how long it takes to see... “ Daniel paused, trying to remember who they were giving the drive to. “Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon.” Aaron added, standing in the doorway wearing a robe. “He’s the one in charge, or at least, can get it to whoever needs it.” Daniel nodded. “That's the guy. In the meantime, you’re running the shop. Any questions you don't know, just call us. Now go on over.” K-43 walked towards the door, heading to the junkyard. “You know, we could just close up.” Aaron said, “Not like we get many people asking for scrap anyway.” Daniel shrugged it off. “I built this bot just to run the shop. Let someone else run it for a couple days, it won't fall apart.” Daniel walked by Aaron to go shower. Aaron sighed. “Fair point. Once you’re ready, we’ll drop off Markie’s android and head out.”

The town was quiet as usual as the old tow truck drove through the street. It stopped right in front of Markie’s forge as the doors opened up. It certainly was an odd sight, two faunus and an android walking up to the business. The doorbell rang as Aaron, followed by Daniel and P-43, walked in the main lobby. One other man was waiting in the lobby, reading from his scroll. Aaron rang the bell on the counter and looked around. “Markie? We got your android for ya. Come look when you can.” Aaron, Daniel, and P-43 sat down across from the other man and waited. The man looked up and lowered his brow. “Don’t workers normally come in through the back? You’re dirtying up the lobby.” Aaron looked back at this man. He had an air of importance, like he thought he was hot shit. Blonde hair, a clean designer shirt, and some shiny boots really added to his image of a white-collar worker. “We don’t work here, just dropping off his android.” Aaron gestured to P-43. The man put down his scroll. “Sorry, just the vibe you give off, I suppose.” “Humor me, what vibe do i give off then? Since apparently you think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread?” Aaron asked, annoyed. The man scoffed, “You tell me, what do you think of two faunus wearing patchwork clothes and an android with make-shift parts?” Daniel tried to grab Aaron’s shoulder, but was pushed off as Aaron stood up, flexing his wings. “We can’t all suck up to daddy to get whatever newest fashion. Some of us work for a living instead of suckling off daddy’s bank account.” Aaron retorted. The man stood up as well, clearly angry. “Listen Bird-boy, your grungy wings aren’t going to intimidate a proper huntsman. You and your bug-eyed friend there are just junkers, forever grovelling with the scrap, where you belong.” Daniel again tried to pull Aaron back, only to be pushed aside as Aaron got right up into this man’s face. “Proper huntsman? If you want to see a huntsman in action, let’s head outside and you can see me kick your ass. Really show you how a huntsman fights?” The man cracked his neck. “I see, looks like the kingdom is despirite if you count as a huntsman. Why not swing right now if youre so confident you’ll win?” “You’d like that? Then you could call it self-defense and try to blubber to the cops that you’d never start anything like that? If you want to fight, i’ll give you the first punch.” Aaron pointed to his cheek, taunting the man. Suddenly, a loud thud broke the air and Markie was standing right next to them both. “I suggest you both back up, I don't take kindly to people starting fights in my shop.” Aaron stepped back, still glaring at this man. Markie handed a bag to him. “Your armor, Max. Now you best move along, or this’ll be the last repair you get from me.” Max took the bag, still tense, and started to walk to the door. “If you work with these…  animals, maybe I won't come back.” Aaron started to step after him, but was stopped by a hand on his wing. “Don’t. He ain’t worth the trouble.” Markie quietly said, with a firm grip on the top of his wing. Aaron saw Daniel and took a deep breath. “Sorry Markie. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Markie let him go and sighed. “You have a right to stand up for yourself, but starting fights with goons like that just nets you in trouble.” 

Daniel finally spoke up. “We have P-43 back for you!” he said, changing the subject. “I even found better hands from a newer model, and it should work better than ever.” Markie smiled and looked it over. “It looks better than when I gave it to you. What do I owe ya?” Daniel thought it over. “Well realistically i just put on new hands and convinced them to work with the older model. How about 750?” Markie handed over a stack of lien. “Here’s 800. You always undersell yourself, kid.” Aaron laughed, “How come i have to haggle all the things i bring, but he gets a bonus for doing nothing?” Markie gave a skeptical look. “Because he brings me a fixed android and you bring me a bag of broken tools! Bring me something that i don't have to fix and i won't have to haggle you!” Aaron shook his head. “Well, don't break it immediately, because we aren't going to be around to fix it soon.” Daniel nodded along as P-43 walked into the back of the shop. Markie shot a look at Aaron. “And where are you heading that takes priority over the scrap heap? Another lead? Maybe a huntsman gig?” Daniel looked at his watch. “We’re headed for the festival at Vale, and we’re running late. We should head out soon.” Markie laughed. “Personal time, huh? Have fun out there.” Markie wandered to the back of his shop as the brothers got back into the truck. Markie smiled to himself. He may give them a hard time, but he still respected them starting a business and helping Sumire become a full-fledged town. He looked out the window as the old truck drove out of town, feeling a sense of contentment.

Chapter 5

The drive through the woods outside Vale was nothing fancy, but the walls around the city were large and intimidating. All the better to keep grimm out, but still imposing to any outsiders. Daniel looked ahead to see the gate in the wall. He was surprised to see several androids alongside the human guard. “They must be extra cautious because of the breach. Look at the pack of droids up there.” Aaron squinted. “Great. As if it didn’t take long enough to get in.” They slowed as they reached the gap in the wall. The guard came up to the window. Aaron handed him his huntsman licence. The guard checked it, headed it back, and smiled. “Just need to do a quick sweep of your truck here. Should only take a minute.” He waved at one of the droids, who began to walk along the vehicle, scanning it. The guard leaned on the side of the door. “So you guys here for the tournament? You just missed round one.” Aaron nodded. “Yeah? Any teams to keep an eye on?” The guard scratched his chin. “The one that caught my eye was, uh, JNPR. The leader seems a bit off, but those ladies could handle the other team on their own. Also the team RWBY has this blonde chick, I'm betting on her for finals. Real feisty.” The android beeped and started to walk away from the car. The guard stood up straight. “Welp, the scan's clean. Have a good day, man.” Aaron drove into the parking garage near the wall. Daniel groaned. “Why can’t we park closer? This walk is going to take forever.” Aaron found a spot on the ground floor and backed in. “Because i can guarantee city parking is going to be a pain, especially with the truck. Now come on Maggot, we gotta find the head honcho and get this drive dealt with.” Aaron stepped out and started to close the door, then saw his brother's weapon still in the rack. “Grab Bootlegger, Daniel, just in case. Just put it in the bag.” Daniel groaned again, but started to disassemble Bootlegger to put it into a carrying case. “You’re lucky, your weapon can just hang off your wrists. I gotta make this easier to carry.” Aaron laughed as his brother slung the bag over his shoulder. “I can’t believe you haven’t done it already. Every time you have to bag it, you complain.”  The two left the entrance of the garage and started to walk towards the festival grounds. “Hey, let's grab food first! We still haven’t eaten today.” Daniel said. Aaron nodded. “Sure, we’ll grab some food, but after that we gotta get the drive to Ozpin.” They walked through the city, following the sound of people to the festival grounds.

The festival grounds were packed with people, all searching for something. Some looked for friends, or cool things to buy from vendors. At the moment, the two brothers were looking for some food at a decent price. They finally settled for deep-fried sausages with “Liquid Dust” to drink. They sat at a nearby table to eat. The “Liquid Dust” turned out to be just regular soda with small candies in it, but it still tasted good. As they ate, Daniel heard someone grumbling nearby. He looked around to see a younger girl with dark red hair trying to fix something. Daniel couldn’t see the whole thing, but it looked to be some form of sniper. Next to her was a black-haired girl with a large bow on top of her head. She was buried in a book and seemed to be ignorant of her friend’s plight. Aaron looked up from his sausage to see his brother looking at these girls. He coughed, causing his brother to turn and look at him, and then raised an eyebrow. Daniel sighed and discreetly pointed at the weapon the girl in red was working on. Aaron jerked his head to her, trying to encourage his brother to go talk to her. Daniel saw a trash can close to the girl’s table, gathered his trash, and started to walk over. Daniel glanced over at the girl’s weapon as he threw away his garbage. He saw the part in question the girl was working on and realized that she was trying to unjam the chamber. Daniel stepped closer and cleared his throat. The girl jumped and her friend’s eyes jumped over to him. “Sorry for interrupting, but are you trying to unjam the chamber?” The girl blinked, then seemed to jump back into reality. “Oh yeah! It got jammed during my last match and i can’t seem to get it back to normal.” Daniel nodded and pointed to the back half. “Try pulling the receiver out. Sometimes it messes with the magazine.” The girl pulled the part out and smiled. “That’s what it was! Thanks!” Daniel grinned back. “No problem. Can i sit here?” “Oh yeah, of course. I’m Ruby by the way, and this is Blake.” The book girl, Blake, nodded and went back to her book. Daniel waved to Blake and turned back to Ruby. “So you were in a match? We just pulled into Vale today.” Ruby beamed. “Yeah, we got into round 2! We still are figuring out who to send for it, but I’m just glad we made it!” Ruby unfolded part of her weapon, with a part of the blade shining out. Daniel looked closer into the weapon. “Wait… does your weapon unfold into a blade? That’s so cool! I’ve been trying to rework mine to fold but i can’t get it to move back and forth smoothly.” Ruby caught onto Daniel’s enthusiasm. “Ya! I built Crescent Rose myself! I use springtraps to move the parts easier, but it depends on your design. Are you a huntsman? Do you have your weapon on you?” Daniel moved his bag on the table and brought out Bootlegger in pieces. “Ol’ Bootlegger isn’t as fancy as yours, but it’s easier to swap out parts if i need to.” Ruby’s eyes shone as she started to talk weapons with Daniel. 

Aaron watched this happen as he sipped his Liquid Dust, smiling as his brother talked to other people. Aaron tried not to be over-bearing to his brother, but he did want to see him find other friends and be social. He let him talk for another few minutes, checking the tournament info on his scroll, then got up. He walked over and found Ruby sketching out a design on a scrap of paper. He put his hand on Daniel’s shoulder and introduced himself. “Hey, I hope my brother hasn’t been bothering you. He gets really into his works.” Ruby shook her head. “No, we’ve been talking about designs for Bootlegger. I think a folding design could work great but you would need some quality spring locks to have it snap open smoothly.” Daniel nodded. “I think this is a great design, just need time to get the parts soon.” The group of them suddenly heard a yell from the other side of the area. “RUBY! BLAKE! WHERE ARE YOU?” Two more girls, one blonde and one with white hair, seemed to be looking for the girls at the table. Blake looked at her scroll. “We’re late for the practice round. We should go.” Ruby looked at the clock and her eyes widened. “Crap, you’re right. We need to go.” They stood up and Blake started to walk away. Ruby took a step, stopped, and turned around. “We should share contacts! I want to see Bootlegger when you upgrade it!” Daniel stammered. “O-o-oh, ok, y-yeah.” They quickly swapped numbers and then Ruby disappeared into the crowd. “Alright loverboy, we gotta go too.” Aaron smirked, bumping his brother’s arm. Daniel got red. “Shut up! We’ve only had one talk!” Aaron wrapped his arm around his brother and led him down the road. “Don’t worry, with any luck you’ll run into your girlfriend again.” He showed the festival standings on his scroll, with the pictures of the girls they just met on the list. “It looks like team RWBY is going strong for round two.” Daniel and Aaron watched clips of the last round as they walked towards Beacon Academy.

Chapter 6

Beacon Academy was emptier than usual, probably due to the tournament. The brothers stepped around the construction near the entrance and kept walking for the main tower. Daniel got anxious as they approached the lobby. Aaron saw the concern on his brother’s face and touched his shoulder. “We just gotta drop this off. After that we leave.” Daniel smiled back and looked around. “Where is Ozpin’s office? Top floor, you reckon?” Almost on cue, a blonde woman and greying black-haired man pushed them aside. “Come on, Glynda. Ozpin is waiting on us.” the man said. They took an elevator just off the main lobby and the brothers watched it go up to the top. Aaron followed them to the elevator, pressed the elevator button and nodded. “Makes sense to me. I just hope he’ll be open to talk.” The elevator was coming down and quickly shot by, going deeper into the building. “I didn’t know this building had a basement.” Daniel pondered aloud. Aaron shrugged, “Probably just full of old files and junk.” The elevator came back up after a minute and opened. The brothers walked in and pressed the highest number on the list. As they rose up, Daniel raised a concern. “Are we allowed to be here?” Aaron scratched his chin. “I don;t see why not. Surely someone would have stopped us before we took the elevator. We’re essentially mailmen.” The doors opened as the elevator chimed. They were standing in a large room surrounded by large gears. The floor seemed to be a large clock and a single desk was on the other side of the room. The brothers slowly stepped towards the desk, taking in the room. Aaron closed in on the desk while Daniel looked out the large window behind it. “It’s a nice view. You can see out to the training grounds from here.” The training grounds, the courtyard of Beacon, even the outer walls were visible from the top floor office. Aaron looked over the papers on the desk, seeing names of students and layouts of dorms. “This is definitely Ozpin’s office,” Aaron concluded, “But he must be busy with the tournament.” Aaron looked for a blank piece of paper. “I guess we’ll just leave it here with a note.” Daniel came over to help look. “Maybe he keeps scrap paper in a drawer.” As he reached for the top drawer, the elevator chimed again. The brothers looked up to see Ozpin, alongside a middle-aged man with black hair.

Without a moment to say anything, the black haired man charged forward and swung a fist at Daniel, knocking him against the window. Aaron tried to swing back in retaliation, but was blocked and pushed back to the wall as well. Aaron tried to stand back up, only to be met by the end of this man’s blade. “You shouldn’t be snoopin around other people’s offices.” the man spoke, the smell of alcohol coming off his breath. “I can smell the booze on your breath dude, you might want to stop drinking.” Aaron retorted. “Qrow.” Ozpin finally spoke. The man, presumably named Qrow, looked back and saw Ozpin stare him down. Qrow sighed and put his blade away. “I apologize for my friend here, he’s… cautious of new people.” Ozpin walked around and put out a hand. Aaron took it and stood up. “That’s a hell of a way to show caution.” Qrow narrowed his eyes but kept silent. Ozpin then helped Daniel up and sat behind his desk. “I am curious how you got here though. Normally the elevator is locked out to people.” “We just pushed the button after two others were coming up here. We didn't realize it was locked.” Daniel explained. Aaron added, “Yeah, Blondie and Salt-n-pepper cruised on by. Mentioned your name.” Qrow chuckled at the nicknames, but Ozpin was straight-faced as ever. “They must have forgotten to lock it after coming up. But I'm still curious why you two were in my office. I normally don’t have people coming I don't expect.” Aaron rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, sorry, just get this to someone in charge.” He pulled the drive out of his inner coat pocket and placed it on the desk. “We found it in Heavensdale and found some…” Aaron paused, looking for the right term. Daniel chimed in. “White Fang plans. About the breach a while back.” Ozpin raised an eyebrow and put the drive into a computer under the desk. A hologram screen popped up, showing the same files Daniel had unencrypted at home. Qrow stretched his back and yawned. “This is great and all, but other than a recap, why did this need to go straight to Oz?” Daniel pointed at the last folder, labeled Phase 3. “According to this drive, they have more planned. I haven’t read it yet but we figured Ozpin could get this to where it needs to be.” Ozpin opened the last folder and inside were several pictures. Pictures of torchwick talking to some girl with pink and brown hair. Blueprints of some robot. The layout of the festival grounds. Aaron frowned as he combed over the images on the screen. “This just adds more questions. Who is that girl? Or the robot? Why would they need a layout of the festival?” Qrow looked at Ozpin, who seemed deep in thought. “Oz? Maybe we should talk about this? Alone?” Ozpin put his hand to his chin. “Perhaps. I don’t believe I caught your names.” Aaron and Daniel pulled out their Huntsman licenses. “Aaron and Daniel Black, Huntsmen.” Aaron said. Ozpin scribbled something down and stood up. He walked around and shook their hands. “Thank you for this information. I will get this to the right people. And I’ll even consider this a Huntsman job, so expect some pay in a few days time. Anything else?” Aaron shook his head. “No, just that.” “Excellent, now i need to make some calls, so if you’ll see yourselves out.” Ozpin walked back behind his desk as Aaron and Daniel stepped into the elevator. The doors shut and the brothers breathed a sigh of relief as it went down to the lobby.

As the doors shut, Qrow turned to Ozpin. “So, Oz, how did two nobodies get insider info before we knew about it?” Ozpin pulled up a Huntsman registry with the two young men. The two’s headshots filled the screen as a paragraph of info rose below them. “Just outside Vale. A town called Sumire. They both passed the exam with no schooling, just experience.” Qrow groaned. “So two young kids just happen to find this drive and decide to waltz up to your front door? Either the worst luck or they have an agenda.” “Maybe. But in the meantime, let's focus on our seasonal issue.” Ozpin replied. Before either could say anything else, Ozpin’s scroll rang. He picked up the call. “Yes.” A pause. “She did what?”

Chapter 7

The lobby doors closed behind them as the brothers looked through the plaza. They immediately noticed more security bots then when they entered. “What could have happened while we were up there?” Daniel mused as Aaron opened his scroll. “Welp, i have good news and bad news.” Aaron announced as they kept walking towards the festival grounds. Daniel groaned. “Ok, good news first.” “It involves your lady friend’s team.” 

Daniel shot Aaron a look. “So what's the bad part?” 

“According to this, her sister got a bit cocky during her fight and broke her opponent’s leg.” “Wait. Who’s her sister? The quiet one next to her at the table?” 

“Nope, the blonde who was calling her away at the end. Apeartently she thought he was attacking her but the video doesn’t lie.” Aaron showed his brother the scroll with the video pulled up, as the blonde punched straight through this guy’s leg.

“That looks painful.” Daniel winced as Aaron pulled his scroll back. “Is he going to be alright?”

“It doesn’t say. Just that he’s going to a hospital and team RWBY is disqualified.”

“Is that the final match? I guess we missed a lot while we were up there.”

“Nope, that was the first of the final rounds. Next up is Pyrrha Nikos vs Penny Polendina when they get done sorting this out.”

“Maybe I should message Ruby. ask her how things are.”

Aaron shook his head. “Bad idea. She probably is still freaking out about this. I’d wait a day or so. Not to mention the reporters are bound to be all over her, looking for her point of view.”

“I guess you’re right. Do you want to find a seat for the next round?”

“We’re probably going to have to watch from outside, with the amount of people. Maybe let's go to a bar and watch it from there.”

“Alright, I’m getting hungry anyway.”

The brothers kept walking towards the inner city as they looked for a place to eat, slowly moving further away from the festival grounds.

They eventually found a smaller bar that wasn’t overly crowded with a large screen up for the festival. Surrounded by others, the brothers ordered some drinks and found a table with a decent view of the screen. “Hey Daniel, did you recognize the blueprints of that robot on the drive? Something seems familiar about it but i didn't get a great look before we left.” Daniel looked at Aaron with confusion. “I thought you’d be happy to not think about that again. What caught your eye?” Aaron shrugged. “I’m not sure, just a feeling I'm getting. Wish i could see it again.” Daniel looked around for a second, then slid his scroll across the table. “Check it again.” Aaron opened the scroll to see all the files from the drive copied onto the phone. “You copied it?” Aaron questioned. “Just in case the drive got stolen or damaged on the way. I was going to delete it when we got home.” Daniel explained. Aaron thought about how this could look terrible on them, but decided to dismiss it. “Alright, but this was  a risky move.” Aaron pulled up the robot blueprints and started to look closer. “Here,” he pointed to a blurb next to some engine. “It says aura.” Daniel took a closer look and started to light up. “This is huge, if the plans are functical, then any robot could use aura and it would be self-fixing to an extent. This could be a huge leap in robotics.” Aaron pointed at the top of the blueprint. “Pietro Polendina. Seems to be the brain behind it. Who is he?” “He’s from Atlas. One of the big name scientists. Why does he sound familiar?” The screen in the bar inrupted. “Sorry for the delay folks, but the next match is ready to go! Now sparring, we have Pyrrha Nikos and Penny Polendina facing off!” “Must be his kid.” Daniel shrugged as they turned their attention to the screen. The two ladies were exchanging some words before the fight began. Daniel suddenly had an epiphany. “Aaron, what if this is it?” Aaron was half-paying attention, as the fight began. “What? What’s it?” “Aaron, the drive! The scientist’s kid, the festival grounds, what if it happens now?” Aaron realized what Daniel was implying. “Wait, what happens? We still have no idea how it connects.” Daniel seemed paranoid. “I know, but the scientist’s kid is in the tournament. This seems too coincidental.” Aaron shook his head. “Listen Maggot, she’s doing great. What could possibly happen?” He turned back to the screen just to see Penny get cut in half. 

The bar went from laughing and cheering to quiet mumbles and whispers. The camera stayed on the body while the announcers panicked. “Broadcast, what are you doing? Kill the feed!” A pause. “What!? How is that possible!?” The screen changed over to a red tint with a chess piece. A female voice suddenly came over the screen. “This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both. They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference.” Aaron and Daniel shared a shocked look as they realized the scientist’s kid was the robot that the blueprints showed. 

The voice continued. “And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?” The screen suddenly cut out to static, followed by a bright orange caution screen. The voice after gave no better news. “Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner.”

Chapter 8

There was a moment of silence. People slowly absorbed the information this mysterious voice gave them. The moment of silence was cut short by the howls of grimm heard nearby. Aaron snapped to action, equipping his gauntlets and standing on the table. “Any Huntsmen in here?” He was met with silent looks and shaking heads. “Alright, if there is grimm nearby, we have to get everybody to safety. You all know where the bunkers are?” Various murmurs were the response as everyone came to grips with the attack currently happening. One person seemed upset and raised his voice. “So all of a sudden you’re in charge? Why do I gotta listen to a faunus?” Aaron looked at the voice, seeing an older man still holding a pint. “By all means, can you fight a grimm? I’d love to take the day off if you can fight off the beasts outside?” Aaron retorted. The man realized his mistake and sheepishly looked down. Daniel stood up beside Aaron, holding Bootlegger. “I’m Daniel and this is Aaron. We’ll keep you safe. Now we should really go.” They pushed their way to the door. After checking both sides, they gestured to the group to follow. “Daniel, get on comms with someone, anyone. We gotta know what's happening out there. I’ll take front.” Aaron started to walk into the city, leading the 20 or so people, with Daniel taking the end. Daniel established comms and tried to link to the military channel. After a minute of slowly walking, the comms were set. “This is Atlas military channel. Please state your emergency.” Aaron responded. “I have 20 something civilians that need to leave Vale asap.” “Well, so is everyone else. We have air buses coming from in but you’ll have to meet us. These are the drop site cordaneties.” There was a beep as the scroll got the info. “We already lost 2 airships so we can’t spare anyone else.” Aaron grimaced. “Level with me. How bad?” “Not great, but-” The comm was suddenly cut as a large explosion rattled the sky. The group looked up to see a flash of light followed by a boom as the beacon tower fell. Daniel tried to reconnect but found no signal. “They took out the comm tower. We can’t reach anyone.” The group started to panic, but were quickly hushed by Aaron. “Fear attracts grimm. We have a location with a pick-up. We stay calm and we move quickly.” The people were still panicked, but at least they had a plan.

Despite a couple of grimm that were taken care of on the way, they were lucky. The location wasn’t too far away and the brothers even noted that the parking garage they left their truck in was not too far out for themselves afterwards. As they approached the plaza for pick-up. they found another group of people with a huntress standing at the site. “Good to see more huntsmen!” She exhaled. She was a tall, musualcar girl, with fiery red hair going down to her waist. “Fatima Tomo. I assume you’re waiting for the pick-up too?” “I’m Aaron and this is Daniel. To be honest, I was hoping it would be already.” Fatima laughed. “I wish! I hate to be negative, but the whole city isn’t doing great. Lots of ruined robots with the grimm.” As if on queue, some androids came around from the corner. Before Daniel and Aaron could react, Fatima had started running towards them. As they turned the corner, the robots began opening fire on all they saw. “That shop!” Aaron pointed, “Everybody in! Daniel, cover fire!” The people from both groups began running to the shop as Daniel started firing back. Aaron used his semblance and spread his wings, making himself a shield for the people behind him. Fatima was in the group of androids, swinging wildly and smashing any part she could get at. She was wrecking them, and soon all that remained were scraps and sparking parts. Daniel reloaded as he looked around. “I don’t see anything else.” Aaron did a headcount of the groups. Luckily there were no serious injuries, just scrapes and bruises. He turned back to the street as Fatima walked back. “Now the robots are attacking? I thought they were on our side?” Fatima shrugged. “I don’t know. After the explosion at the tower, comms dropped and the robots went wild.” Aaron shook his head. “I’m tired of the surprises, I just want to help these people and get out of here.” Daniel looked around the city and saw an airbus coming in. “I hope that’s ours.” he said, pointing it out to other people around. The air bus was coming in, and finally landed in the plaza. The back doors opened and a soldier stepped out. “Everybody on! We’re on a timer here!” The group rushed out to get on the airbus, with the huntsmen and huntress watching the perimeter. As the people boarded and flew away, some grimm from the sky took note and charged in to attack. “Griffons incoming! Move out!” The air bus started to shut its doors as the huntsmen outside squared up with these flying beasts. “One each, boys. Easy money.” Fatima joked as she set her weapon aflame. “The one on the right is mine.” Aaron checked his dust chambers as he stood next to her. “I think you guys enjoy this too much.” Daniel looked down the barrel of his rifle as the griffons came closer. The beasts screeched as they neared. 

Daniel opened fire first, using dust bullets to form clumps of earth on the center grimm’s torso. It cried in pain as it sunk faster, crashing into the plaza before its kin. The left grimm roared as it came closer. Fatima rushed up to meet it, jumping and striking its beak downward into the ground. The last griffon had landed and was running towards Aaron. Aaron activated his semblance again and stood his ground. As the griffon came up, trying to bite the huntsman, Aaron grabbed its head and shoved it down as the grimm pushed him away. Daniel switched over to piercing bullets and started to open fire as he moved closer to his opponent. The grimm was screaming as bullets started to puncture its hide. Fatima was busy fighting her griffon, currently using her mace to stop its claw from starching her. Aaron was busy punching the beast’s eyes as it pushed him further away and straight into a building. Daniel was closing the distance on his mark as he attached an under-mount shotgun to Bootlegger. As the beast was tearing the rocky masses from its body, Daniel blasted a shotgun blast into the beast’s face. It slumped over, defeated. Fatima was still on the receiving end of her grimm’s onslaught. The grimm suddenly tried to eat her, only to be met by her mace holding its beak open. “Fatima! Duck!” Fatima ducked only to see Aaron fly over her and into the beast’s maw. “What are you doing? Fatima screamed as he disappeared into the abyss-like throat. The Beast tried to close its beak, slowly bending the mace that held it apart. “Fatima! Jump out!” Daniel started to shot at the grimm’s back legs. The beast started to buckle, giving Fatima a chance to jump out, her aura weakened by the contest of strength. The beast started to walk towards her, only jolt the opposite direction. It cried out as a spear of ice came out its side, slowly falling over. The now defeated grimm were slowly dissipating, leaving a battered Aaron laying in the plaza. Daniel ran over and dropped to his knees. “Hey buddy, you can hear me right?” Daniel was quickly checking for vitals, then exhaled when he felt a pulse. Aaron moaned in pain. “Alright, I got you.” Daniel slowly hosted Aaron on his shoulders, carrying him. “Fatima. Can you help us get to our truck? Just in that garage over-” As Daniel pointed to the garage, he realized part of it had caved in and was blocking the entrance. “Just as I thought i could catch a break.” Fatima chuckled and looked around the plaza. “Sure thing Dan, but what about him?” Daniel looked at Fatima with a confused look, then followed her pointing hand to an unconscious man in a white suit where the grimm had just been.

Chapter 9

Aaron groaned as he woke up. He looked around to see a familiar window and his own bedroom. He looked up as he remembered what happened. Beacon Tower exploded, moving the people to an airbus, Griffon attack. He jolted to a sitting position as he was reminded of the battle he had. “Dani-” he started to say before he stopped. The pain was catching up to him as he started moving. The general hurt was bad, but his head ached like there was a grimm punching it. “DAn-'' He tried to say again, only to be met with the same pain from the sound of his own voice. The curtain opened to reveal not Daniel, but Fatima. “You’re awake. You’re also the most reckless fighter I've seen. Who chooses to jump into a Grimm and stab it from the inside?” She scolded him as she sat on a stool near the head of the bed. Aaron looked past her at the door. “Daniel?” He managed to say, wincing at the headache. Fatima stared him down. “No thank you? After I moved all those rocks to get your truck out from the garage, on top of saving you from Vale, you can’t even say thanks?” Aaron scowled, not sure if she was joking or serious. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed, feeling sore but able to walk. He grabbed some pills from the nightstand and crunched them in his mouth. “No thank you for diving into a Grimm to stop it from eating you?” He retorted. “Where’s Daniel?” Fatima rolled her eyes. “He’s in the main room. Dealing with our new guest.” Aaron slowly stood up. “New guest?” Aaron stumbled over to the door, catching himself on the frame. Fatima stood up. “Oh right, you were… out of commission when we found him.” Aaron pushed through the curtain and saw a man laying on his sofa. His bright orange hair was falling off the side of the seat. He had a blanket covering him as he rested. A ruined white suit and a broken cane were on the table next to him, with Daniel looking over them. Daniel looked over and smiled. “Glad you’re ok. How’re you feeling?” Aaron leaned on the counter as he shambled to the fridge. “Tired. Sore. Confused.” Aaron grabbed a carton of juice and drank straight from it. “When did we invite our guests?” Daniel rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, Fatima helped lug you and this guy from the plaza to the truck, and helped clean the rubble in the garage so we could leave. I offered her a spot to crash since she helped us out.” Aaron looked at Fatima. “More or less. I can’t exactly go back to my place at Beacon.” Aaron took another swig as he eyed the man on the sofa. “And who’s this guy?” Daniel pointed to the items in front of him. “I was going to look for some ID. Looks familiar but i can’t place him. His weapon is pretty slick. Clearly a professional job.” Aaron looked at the suit and saw a card in the front pocket. He leaned over and picked it up. “Nothing printed on it. Strange.” Fatima looked closer and suddenly snatched it from Aaron’s hand. “Wait, this is a code breaker. Look.” She pulled at part of it, causing the card to open up to reveal a bunch of letters. “I’ve seen these with White Fang members. Helps them keep info on the down-low.” Aaron looked again at the man. There were no animal features to be seen, unless a tail was hidden under the blanket. “He doesn’t seem to be faunus. Why would he need a breaker for a group that he can’t join?” Daniel suddenly snapped to attention and opened his scroll. “That’s where I've seen him!” he said as he opened the copied drive files. He showed a photo and showed his scroll to reveal Torchwick talking with that girl. “Somehow, we got Torchwick passed out on our couch.”

Torchwick woke up on a sofa, not sure how he got there. He had a hole in his memory that wasn’t clearing up. Roman was so buried in his thoughts it took him a second to realize that 3 people were talking in the same room. One of them was arguing with the other about what to do, while another was poking through a suit jacket. Roman’s eyes opened as he realized that was his jacket. He slowly sat up, and realized that he only had underwear on. Before he could fully think of a way out, the bigger man saw him move. The smaller one turned, holding a rifle. The final, a girl, spoke up. “Morning, Torchwick. Care to explain what happened?” Roman looked at them all and yawned. “You’ll have to be specific, dear. I’m afraid i’m a little scatter-brained at the moment.” The girl stood up and grabbed her mace from behind the chair. “How about we start with how you managed to organize an attack to destroy Beacon academy? And I hate pet names. You call me Fatima.” Roman put a finger to his chin, mockingly. “Gee, I don't seem to recall. Last I remember was being in a cell on an airship for my crimes. Really reflecting on my life.” the bigger man stepped around the counter, exposing his wings and gauntlets. “I’m sure you really felt bad, but i’d like to hear what happened after that. Care to recap?” Roman raised an eyebrow. “Unfortunately, little bird, even if i remembered i wouldn't tell some nobodies who kidnapped me. Honestly, the decor here is lacking, even for a hostage home.” The smaller one opened a scroll and played a news report. “It seems the blame for this horrible attack is on Roman Torchwick, who escaped during the attack and seems to have orchated it. Plans for the attack were found at one of his safehouses in Mistral, which was searched.” The little one smirked. “Well, it seems like everyone can agree it was you.” Roman groaned. “You’re like my ex-wife, just because it’s on the news doesn’t mean it’s true.” Roman rubbed his head as things cleared up. He broke out of the cell, fought little Red on the airship, Neo flew away-. “Help me out here, where did you find me? Because I have a hole in my memory I can't seem to fill.” The bird man responded. “Inside a Griffon’s stomach, you’d be dead if we hadn’t killed it. So I think that deserves some answers.” Griffon? That makes sense, but if he was supposed to be dead… “Hold on,” Roman thought aloud “It was a set-up. I was the fall guy.” He slumped against the back of the couch. Fatima narrowed her eyes. “Apparently he remembers enough to blame someone else! Why didn’t I think of it? Classic.” Roman thought more, then looked up and the younger man. “You. Look up the name ‘Cinder Fall’. Also ‘Neapolitan’.” The younger man scoffed. “First off, Name’s Daniel. Second, why are you suddenly hungry for ice cream?” Roman looked at the bird faunus. “Forget the ice cream then. Hey bird-brain, get your goon here to look that up for me.” The faunus clenched a fist. “Aaron. And he’s not my goon. Or yours. If you want to know something so bad, why not explain to us why you need to know.” Roman groaned. “I just said i was the fall guy. Who do you think paid me to do things? If she doesn’t come up on the search, it means she did it. Blamed an entire academy burning to the ground on me.” Aaron nodded to Daniel, who began to search. “Nothing but theory sites. Something about a Dust Mage?” Roman laughed. “Wrong, but not by much.” Roman smirked. “There you go kids! Your big bad guy to chase. Are you happy?”

Chapter 10

“What’s your take?” Fatima finally asked. She had pulled away Aaron into the workshop to discuss the story that Torchwick had given them. Daniel had stayed in the room, just to be sure their ‘guest’ didn’t do anything crazy. Aaron sighed, “Honestly? Something feels off. I don’t know about his story, but why would Torchwick attack Vale and Beacon?” Fatima looked confused. “Because he’s a criminal? He’s already attacked once, and he’s been stealing dust before that.” Aaron started to pull up the files from the drive on Daniel’s computer. “Look at this though.” Aaron pulled up the photos of Torchwick talking to the mysterious girl. “This woman, no one knows who she is, but she’s talking to Torchwick.” Fatima narrowed her eyes. “Why do you have photos of him with a mystery woman?” “Oh right, long story but these are from a White Fang member trying to stop Torchwick. Why would Torchwick be with a faunus group when he has no stake with them?” Fatima looked through the files. “Look, Cinder!” She pointed at a photo of a note, laying on a desk of papers. Aaron full-screened the photo, reading it aloud. “Phase 3 will start soon. Once Cinder does her part, things will proceed from there. Emerald and Mercury will be with her, so once it happens, no loose ends. Plans will proceed based on the outcome.” The two looked at each other as Torchwick’s story seemed to fall into place.

Daniel held Bootlegger as he watched Torchwick. The criminal seemed to be deep in thought, not paying attention to him at all. Fatima and Aaron had gone to the workshop to talk about what to do now. Daniel looked over to Torchwick’s things, hoping to see something that tied his story together, but saw the same broken weapon and torn clothes. “So... “ Daniel started, “Any proof for your story. About this Cinder?” Torchwick ignored him and stared off into the distance. “Real talkative.” Daniel sighed as he stood up. He stepped over to the table, looking closer at Torchwick’s items. “Maybe something in here? Scroll is broken, but maybe you have a backup?” Daniel dug through the pockets, finding scraps of fabric and some loose lien. “Come on man, work with me here. If you got paid to do this, surely you’re not happy about being the fall guy?” Daniel tried to appeal to Torchwick. Torchwick finally responded. “No.” Daniel looked back to Torchwick, seeing him still trying to piece together his thoughts. “Ok, so all I'm looking for is proof of this Cinder to show people. Surely you must have something.” Torchwick finally looked up. “Why do you want this? What’s your goal?” Daniel looked confused. “What do you mean?” “No one is really this selfless. Are you looking for power? Money? Respect?” Daniel thought for a second. “Money would be nice, maybe some respect. But mostly concern for the people who can’t help themselves.” Torchwick smirked. “You’re such a goodie-goodie. Those same people wouldn’t give a shit if you died looking for the true culprit. Especially a second-class faunus.” Daniel frowned. “You’re probably right. But someone has to be the bigger person, or else nothing gets done.” Torchwick groaned, “They really drilled the whole ‘hero’ thing into your head.” A moment of silence. “I have proof. But I have conditions. Grab me some clothes, get your gang back together and we’ll negotiate.”

Torchwick was now dressed in some older clothes from Aaron. A grey sportcoat, white button-up, and black pants were ill-fitting but worked for now. He cleared his throat as he addressed the three others. “I’ve thought about it, and I can find you proof of Cinder and the rest of her plans. But i need some things before we start.” Aaron narrowed his eyes, expecting the worst. “First, we can’t be talking to any authority before I get you the evidence. I don’t need to go back to jail before I can get your information. Second, my weapon needs to be reforged. Hopefully you can do a decent job. Third, i need a phone call before we leave.” Fatima laughed. “You haven’t even mentioned where or what this evidence is and you already have demands?” Daniel nodded along. “We need more info before we do anything.” Torchwick frowned. “You think i would pull jobs like this and not keep receipts? I have a safe house in Vacuo. You guys get me there and you can get all the info I have. Cinder, her little menecaries, her plans, anything I've put to memory, it’s all there.” Aaron glared at him. “Assuming this is true, you want us to take you to the middle of nowhere and then what?” “I disappear, and you guys find a lot of information.” “Disappear?” “Yes, birdy. I need to get off the radar of the authorities, which means after this little trip, I will go away.” Aaron scrowled at the nickname, but stayed still. Fatima spoke up. “Seems about right. And you need your weapon back too?” Torchwick nodded. “Lots of ground between here and there. Never want to be unprepared.” Daniel questioned next. “And this phone call? Who do you need to talk to?” Torchwick shook a finger. “That’s between me and them. Nothing to do with our trip.” “How do we know you won’t betray us? Calling a crew to get you or ditching us in some backwoods forest?” Torchwick shook his head. “I realized being ‘dead’ means I can get back underground much easier. No need for a crew when you goons can help me for some information I already have. I may be a ‘criminal’, as you say, but i'm also a man of my word.” Aaron looked to the others. “Give us a minute to decide.” Torchwick nodded. “I’ll go relieve myself while you decide.” he walked to the bathroom and the door shut behind him. Aaron looked at Daniel and Fatima. “Thoughts?” Daniel nodded. “I think we should go.” Aaron nodded back. “I agree.” Fatima looked surprised. “That easily? No big discussion?” Aaron gestured to her, waiting for her thoughts. “I don’t trust him. Even though it’s three on one if he tries something, i don't like this.” Aaron nodded. “I agree, but what happens if we say no? We get no answers and the attack is dropped as they caught the man behind it.” “This is the sort of thing that Huntsman and Huntresses do all the time.” Daniel added. “Just an escort job with some extra threads.” Fatima thought for a minute. “Fine. I guess i’ll stick with you guys for now. If only to watch out for any double-cross.” The toilet sounded from the other room as Torchwick opened the door, shaking water off his hands. “We’re in.” Fatima said. Daniel and Aaron nodded behind her. Torchwick picked up the broken weapon off the table and tossed it at Daniel. “About time. The sooner this gets fixed, the sooner we can leave.” 

Chapter 11

“Daniel, how are we doing?” Daniel turned from working on Torchwick’s weapon, which he called Melodic Cudgel. “Almost done, just fine-tuning the wires.” Daniel said. “Should be done in 10 minutes.” It had been a day since they agreed to help Torchwick, and they were almost ready to go. “Did you get the truck ready?” Aaron nodded. “Oil changed, full of gas. Just need to get the others and we’ll be ready.” Daniel gave a thumbs up and turned back to the weapon. Aaron went through the door to the living room and saw Fatima cleaning her weapon with a rag. “Daniel says 10 minutes till he’s done. How’s it looking for you?” Fatima shrugged. “Ready whenever, just wiping down Meteor Go-Go.” Aaron looked around. “Where’s Torchwick?” “Storage room, he’s trying to call them still.” Fatima said without looking up. Aaron groaned. Torchwick couldn’t reach whoever it was he was calling to call, and apparently was trying again before they left. He walked over to the storage room and started to open the door then stopped. He heard Torchwick talking and decided to listen in. “Please kid, i’m begging you. If you’re out there… just be safe.” Torchwick sighed and shut the scroll. Aaron opened the door. “Daniel says about 5 minutes before your cane is ready.” Torchwick nodded, and tossed the scroll at Aaron. “About time, hopefully he doesn’t mess with the balance.” He pushed Aaron aside and walked to the workshop. Aaron was confused, but decided not to press Torchwick about the call for now. He followed Torchwick into the workshop, watching as he picked up the weapon from the table. “This is a decent job, for an amutaer.” Torchwick balanced the cane on his palm, tilting it back and forth. “Kept the balance at least.” Daniel shot him a look, but stayed silent. Torchwick looked at Aaron. “Well. Gather the crew. Let’s go.” He said in a snarky tone. Aaron clenched a fist. Without looking away from Torchwick, he told Daniel to get Fatima and their stuff. Daniel walked out of the shop and into the home. “First thing. You are not in charge here. My house, my truck, my rules.” Aaron stated. Torchwick gave him a bored look, but nodded. “Second, who were you trying to call? If you need to be on the down low, why are you talking to people?” Torchwick laughed. “I thought you were eavesdropping on me. What did you hear?” “Something about a kid and being safe.” Aaron responded. Torchwick sighed. “One of my lackeys. She was on the same airship as me during the attack. Just checking in on her.” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “Only a lackey? Then why are you so concerned about her?” Torchwick straightened up. “My business, not yours.” Torchwick tried to turn away but Aaron grabbed his shoulder. “When my brother and I are at risk, it becomes my business.” Torchwick tried to wiggle out of the hold, but Aaron just gripped tighter. “If this comes around to hurt anyone, or you betray us, I will personally hunt you down.” Aaron threatened. Torchwick scoffed. “If you’re looking for a rival, you’ll have to get in line.” Torchwick suddenly dropped his cane hook around Aaron’s leg and pulled. Aaron lost his grip and fell on the ground. He looked up only to see the barrel of the cane open and point right at him. “Kid, I outclass you in every way. But I still need manpower to get to my safehouse. As long as you benefit me, you don’t have to worry about any double-cross.” Torchwick closed the barrel and walked towards the front door. “Come on now, we really should be going.” He taunted, stepping out the door.

Aaron stood up as Fatima and Daniel entered the shop. “Where’s Torchwick?” Fatima asked as she stepped through. “He… got tired of waiting. He went out to the truck.” Aaron half-lied. Daniel shrugged, “Well, we’re ready now.” Aaron looked to Fatima. “Last chance. We’re not going to force you to come with us.” He warned. Fatima chuckled. “It's not like I can just go home. Besides it’s nice to have a team again.” Aaron raised an eyebrow. “I guess we never asked about you. You just happened to show up and help us out.” Fatima shrugged. “Heat of the moment. It’s hard to give your life story while fighting off Grimm.” She held out her hand. “Fatima Tomo. Huntress.” Aaron shook it. “Aaron and Daniel Black. Huntsmen.” Daniel shook her hand after Aaron. “If you don’t mind, what happened to your old team?” Fatima frowned. “I don’t like to talk about it. Mission gone wrong. You can guess the rest.” Daniel nodded. “Sorry.” Fatima shrugged and smiled again. “You couldn't have known. Besides, we should get going.” As if on cue, the truck horn blared from outside. The group stepped outside to see Torchwick in the passenger seat holding his cane against the horn. Fatima and Daniel started to walk towards the truck, as Aaron took one last look at his home. “This is going to be one hell of a road trip…” he muttered to himself as he followed after his brother and his new ally.

[remember-before]

A Very Brief and Very Sectional Look At Fandom History With Reguards to Central Archiving With TK

Fact 1: We're starting with a time in fandom when I was 8 or 9

Fact 2: There are some amazing, extrmely well fact checked fandom histories already out there

Fact 3: The internet is forever and so are all your fandom sins.

Pre FF.N days were weird and rough. Star Trek had been the predominate fandom through the 70s, though fandom goes back hundreds of years (see: Sherlock Holmes). Pre 90s was the time of zines and cons and letters. Mid 90s, thanks to the now-much more common place home internet fandoms like DragonRiders of Pern flourished.

In the beginning, creators tried to be very involved in their fandom. Some, like Tamora Pierce were on the peripheral due to their fears of copyright issues (ie they'd accidentally borrow an idea from fans and then somehow need to credi them) and others, like Anne McCaffrey and Anne Rice were significantly more involved.

Redwall was my first fandom. While now I would never say there was a safe space for kids in the single digits to hang around online in, this was actually true statement then. Jaques had safe sites listed on his website and the fandom was a strong one. ITW (rip :(((() was still the primary message board system and most sites were hosted on netscape or angelfire. The death knoll for this fandom was the fall of ITW, there was just too much lore lost when it went down.

As Redwall waned, Anne Rice was cooking up her bullshit. There's some really well done Anne Rice Bullshit fanlore histories, but basically she used actual lawyers to send fans writing fanfic C&D letters and went after websites and fan content. It was horrifc. Some amazing people fled fandom forever, starting in about 1995. This picked up steam in 2000 when she absolutely wrecked her way through her own fandom.

Anne McCaffrey was, at the same time, on some other bullshit. She approved of and liked her fandom, but she was horrifically homophobic and if there was even a hint of gay anything, she'd throw a fit. She also didn't want anyone writing or RPing women in leadership roles (Bronze and Brown riders for those who read the books) and at some point in… 1999? She put a ban on it and would attempt to get your website taken down if they were rolled.

FFN started in 1998, which feels like it was late to the party. It started as an 18+ archive but by 2002 when the greatbreak happened (your sister is your aunt, hey fam) some ⅓ of their accounts self IDd as under 18. At some point they lowered their age to 13+ which is inline with industry standards.

Before FFN central archiving was done fandom by fandom. FFN didn't take this away. Some of these (SG1, LOTR, HP) were hosted on their own domains, but many were hosted on sites like Geocities (rip). Every time a service like ITW or geocities went down, a ton of fandom was lost forever. This was a high flux time, when fandom archives for even huge fandoms like HP were coming and going faster than you could upload your fics and each archive had it's own politics. What ships did they allow, what genres, what ratings… It varied based on who paid the bills.

FFN was a novel concept, and many fans flocked to it. Having a central archive? For all our fandoms? Glorious.

But what one must remember is that this was also a very weird time for media and the portrayal of gay people (mostly men). Anything involving a m/m relationship was basically two ratings higher than it would have been listed if the couple was het. Entire archives banned it (there was an epic two year long fandom battle in the HP fandom about including m/m relationships in archives not explicitly for m/m relationships).

Which of course led to most m/m fics having explicit or at least an R rating.

Several things happened in a quick timeline in the fandom world in the early 2000s.

1) LOTR came out and took over the known universe. And because there weren't a lot of women in LOTR, there were a lot more m/m fics suddenly. And movie studios were seeing that fandom was Big and Exciting and that Geeks Can Make Us Money. They attempted to put up a monetized website run by the studio to host fanfiction but once added to it, you lost all rights to your work and they could republish it, edit it, or utilize the idea however they wished without crediting you.

Needless to say, this went over like a lead balloon and their submissions were…. Choice.

2) FFN got sued or something and all of the sudden Xi cared A LOT about the content of their site. In september of 2202 they pulled all NC17 fics from their site, all RPS, and most m/m content. The NC17 and RPS stuff was sudden, just entire sections gone, but the m/m stuff was slower and more insidious. They had mods of a sort reading through fandoms looking for "violations" and pulling down fics, and the general public could flag your fic and have it yanked without review.

You can imagine how fandom used this exactly as intended and never used it against people they didn't agree with or pairings they didn't like. Somewhere in there FictionPress also started and all original stuff got yeeted to a new home. Adultff.n came into existence around the same time, but was not run by Xi, had the world's shittiest layout, and required archival permission at one point, meaning you submitted stuff for approval. It wasn't great.

Also let us not forget the MPAA sued them because their ratings are proprietary. Yeeeep.

(also note that search functions within categories didn't exist on FFN at the time, not even based on completion status, word count, or pairing)

This was the birth of AO3. I don't remember where the OG idea came about, but there was a whole lot talk about this idea on LJ. At some point, Brad sold us out to the Russians to Six Apart and LJ was lost, and while many platforms tried to capture the soul of LJ, it just never managed to do so. DreamWidth, Tumblr, JournalFen, etc.

Another thing to remember, is that fandom had been predominately male, even on IIRC days, but FFN and LJ fandom had become a predominately female fandom space. There  was an absolute ton of back and forth about this, written by a lot of people who were way more eloquent than I was in 2005, but there is a lot to be said about the regulation and pushback against spaces where men have to ask for a seat at the table, instead of being offered one. Remember that, for good or for bad, slash fanfic is predominately written by and consumed by female fans.

Which is where we come to today and the central archive we know and love that is AO3. And why when asked by AO3 allows ANYTHING GOES on their website, up to and including things you personally find immoral and DEAD DOVE, we have to recall that AO3 was built as we were being censored and fandom was being ripped from our hands. We have to remember that, at one point, just your basic slash pairing was being pulled down from sites because whoever hosted it didn't like The Gays.

We have a decently detailed history of all fandom kerfluffles from 2002-2015, many of which these incidents were involved in, on FandomWank. Many FandomWank details have been archived in wikis and other timelines. Some have not. Wild Award Mentions go to: LimeyBean, MrsScribe, HP Shipper Wars, WIKTT's Pawn2Queen wars, and anytime SPN ever got mentioned ever. But none are as great and incredible as the saga of Limeybean.

[zet-sway]

Fanfic: Half a Mile High

Or, Shepard and Thane pass the time on their way to Liara's.

[Read on AO3] - Rated E for EXTREMELY FUCKIN SPICY

Pairing: Thane/FShep | Rating: 18+ | Words: ~4000

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

BEFORE WE BEGIN - Today is a little special, because exactly 10 years ago, I posted my first Mass Effect fanfic. If you want to get technical it was posted to FF.net first but that site is a crumbling ruin so I'm linking to AO3.

Even though I only wrote fic for about four of those ten years, I'm still sitting here like "what the fuck is my life." Never thought I'd be doing this still after so long. It's brought me a lot of happiness.

I'm still writing, and there's more to come for the foreseeable future c:

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

“You said you spent two years here. What brought you to Illium, anyway?” Shepard asked casually.

Thane looked up from the taxi kiosk as their vehicle pinged and its doors sprung open.

“Business,” he said simply.

Shepard frowned, rolling a shoulder as she settled into the driver's seat. They were running a little bit late, but Liara’s apartment wasn’t far. Automatic controls took over after just a few inputs, and they were off. She leaned back into the leather seat and looked over at Thane.

“You spent two years on Illium just… killing people…?”

“An assassin does not spend all of his days killing, as you say. Much of the work I did on Illium was not unlike what Ms. T’Soni was doing when you arrived here looking for me. Gathering intel on a target is arguably the most important thing an assassin does.”

“Makes your job easier in the long run,” she agreed.

“I don't strike until I understand exactly how to engage. Think of it like entering a pool of water. Jumping right in will cause splashing and disruption. But slip into the current of its mother stream and you will be but a drop of rain on an ocean.”

The corner of her mouth quirked at the natural poetry of his candor. “Who taught you to talk like that?”

Thane chuckled.

“Another thing I spent my time doing - reading.”

Their taxi rounded the side of a tall residential tower, clad in reflective azure-tinted glass. The setting sun lit the facade in oranges and purples, gleaming in shifting tones as they passed by.

“We are actually not far from where I lived,” he said, letting his hand fall over hers.

“A city man, huh? How does an assassin keep a low profile in a place like this?”

Thane hummed. “There is only one way. Trust.”

Shepard eyed him through a few errant locks of hair.

“Trust in yourself, or trust in others?”

“Both.”

“So you lived with other people?”

“Occasionally. But I tried to keep my travels within a few hours' distance. More often than not, I returned… home.”

She twined her fingers with his, but did not linger on the uncertainty in his voice. The concept of ‘home’ was a difficult one for all of them by now.

“My network of contacts is as important to my survival as my training,” he continued. “Trust is for the man who forged my false identity, for the person who owned my loft apartment. Trust is for the contractor who built the structure without a thirteenth floor.”

Shepard cocked a brow. “Humans think 13 is an unlucky number.”

“Indeed, the only way to reach it was through the security elevator. I placed my trust in the building’s attendants, as well.” He smirked. “It was not a hard thing to buy.”

They surged ahead as the sun dipped below the neon horizon.

Nos Astra looked like it had been ripped straight from the pages of the science-fantasy novellas she’d read as a child. The warmth of Illium's brutal sun slanted across her face and she let herself relax. How long had it been since she’d just enjoyed the passage of travel without the weight of responsibility tugging at her bones?

They sat in peaceful silence until greeted by the untimely downside of civilian transport. A line of red taillights stretched out before them.

Gridlock. Shepard groaned.

“I better let them know we’re running late,” she sighed as she punched up her omni-tool and fired off a message to Liara. Hopefully whatever Feron was cooking tonight didn’t require their punctual arrival.

"There are worse places to be stuck in traffic, Siha."

Their hands reconnected on the center console as she sank further into her seat. She understood why Joker made such a fuss about his pilot’s chair. This was far more comfortable than the hard plastic benches in the Normandy's shuttle.

“What was your favorite thing about living here?” She asked Thane with closed eyes, resting her head as their taxi crawled forward.

“Anonymity, I think. This planet is host to many species. Locals are accustomed to such visitors.”

“I thought drell were rarely seen off Kahje. No one ever bothered you about that?"

Thane sounded amused. “I became used to being approached offworld long ago."

"Must get annoying."

"Many are aware of the hanar reputation for training my kind as assassins. Most people keep their distance. But we do tend to attract the more…" he made a thoughtful sound, choosing his words carefully. "Let's say, 'adventurous types.'"

Shepard cracked a smile. "Boy howdy, I bet you have some stories."

Thane's lips twinged upwards. "There was a gentleman on Palaven who simply would not let up. He approached me about moving narcotics. When that failed to garner my attention, he attempted a more sensual dialogue."

"I didn't know turians had a thing for drell."

"The year is 2185, Siha. Anyone is fair game," he deadpanned. "But he was attractive by turian standards, if a bit boistrous. Tall and generously proportioned with a wide cowl and long fringe - studded, as well. I remember he was wearing a leather ensemble that flashed the hide at his waist, tattooed in black and red."

"Where were you on Palaven that had you engaging with guys like that?"

"My target was a drug pusher known for cutting his product with hanar toxins. It was not an idyllic location."

"Does compact training prepare you for turian tweakers trying to get in your pants?" She teased.

"Moreso to resist than to detect," he chuckled. "Perhaps in my youth, I would have…" Thane waved a hand, dismissive of words he hadn't even said.

Shepard had his full attention at that.

"Oh come on, you can't just leave me hanging on a story like that. Now you're telling me you have a thing for turians?" She tugged his arm, her tone jovial as she continued, "I better warn Garrus."

Thane took her hand and met her gaze. "I've had remarkably few partners in my life, Siha. I would rather not be burdened with the memory of unsatisfying trysts. But I do have eyes."

Her face split into a grin.

"I'll take that as a compliment, then."

He kissed the back of her hand, pulling her toward him.

"As well you should," he said as he gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "I have never regretted sharing my body with you."

Shepard leaned over to touch her lips to his. The gesture was meant to be appreciative, but he drew her into his arms. She didn't resist. There wasn't much else to do, stuck in traffic as they were.

"Must be nice to remember the best human sex you've ever had with perfect clarity."

"The only human sex I've ever had," he corrected. His lips brushed the shell of her ear as he pulled her into his lap. "But I don't think I need to tell you how reality supersedes memory."

That deep rumble in his voice made her nerves light up in ripples down her back and thighs. She sighed as he kissed along her jaw, his lips firm and gentle.

"If your memories feel like reality, what makes the real thing better?" An involuntary sigh escaped her throat when his mouth found her pulse.

Thane seemed to pause at her question, but as his fingertips slipped just below the hem of her shirt, she was not content to wait for his calculated response.

Her mouth covered his parted lips, tongue slipping out to taste him, exotic and warm. Fingertips tightened on the small of her back and slid upward, his large palms framing her waist. The warmth of his hands radiated through her, contentment scattered in the wind to be replaced with the low roar of oncoming desire.

Shepard pulled back to give him a knowing look, blinking against the venom-induced halos blooming around every point of light that flashed past their vehicle. Beneath her, she felt the stirrings of his arousal and she twisted her hips to align herself with the blessed pressure between his legs.

"Something you wanted to say?"

"That." He said simply.

She arched a brow. "What?"

"Spontaneity. Surprises. An impatient kiss while I consider your question." Her eyes followed his tongue as it ran along his bottom lip as though he could still taste her. "That is why, given the choice, I prefer 'the real thing.'"

Her face softened. "You wanted me to do that."

Thane was without a hint of shame.

"I had hoped."

His hands slid up her body, palms rounding her curves until he arrived beneath her breasts. Fingers grazed briefly over her bra, nipples peaking and evident beneath the fabric. That ghost of sensation zipped through her body like a spark on a wire, igniting every cluster of nerves on its way down to the heat building between her legs. From the pressure of their gently rolling hips, she felt the slick of her own arousal and blushed. She was already soaking wet for him.

"More importantly," Thane continued, "I wanted to see how 'high' you'd volunteer to be when we finally arrive at Liara's." Thane quickly yanked down the zipper on the front of her compression bra, releasing her breasts into the confines of her shirt and molding them in his palms. "From your response, I'd wager dangerously so."

Her whole body heated at his words. As the sun slipped below the horizon, she pretended not to notice how the windows were beginning to fog up, exacerbating her already hazy vision. She focused on his face. Dark eyes, plush lips, the muted iridescence of his scales throwing each passing light around in a blooming spectacle of color. His hardness pressed insistently against her center and she rolled herself against his lap, eyes drifting closed as she groaned.

"You're a fucking criminal, Thane Krios."

"Is that right?" There was a glimmer in his eyes, the corner of his mouth turning up into a sly smile. "Are you placing me under arrest, Spectre?"

He withdrew his hands from beneath her shirt and she whined at the loss of him. "Yeah, actually, I think I am."

He laughed, a sound she felt through her entire body. He removed her sweatshirt, unzipped and tossed it behind her before returning his mouth to her neck and shoulders.

"And what, may I ask, are the charges?"

"Possession of-"

She gasped when his hands fisted in her t-shirt, pulling it over her head and settling it behind her neck until all that remained was a stiff tangle of the shirt and bra around her shoulders. He pulled back to admire his work - the inviting expanse of her body, the rise and fall of her naked chest, nipples tightening with sensitivity as the air washed over her bare skin.

"God-" she only had a moment to breathe before he was mouthing his way over her heartbeat, cursing under her breath when he kissed between her breasts. "-on my authority as a Council Spectre, you're under arrest for possession of - oh - a deadly weapon."

Thane withdrew then, meeting her gaze as he peeled his tunic off and flipped it casually into the backseat. His answering tone was thick with mischief.

"I'm unarmed, Commander. I'd have thought this would be obvious."

Blinking to clear the bright spots in her eyes, Shepard summoned her composure and laced her fingers behind his neck, focusing on the delicious view of his long stripes diving beneath the waistband of his pants.

"The weapon, Sere Krios, is your mouth."

"I see," He murmured, caressing her breast before closing his lips around one peaked, sensitive nipple. Shepard arched against him, eyes fluttering closed, begging him for more under hushed breaths. He made no attempt to stop her from tugging him against her chest.

"In that case, I should warn you. These hands..." His teeth grazed her flesh and she gasped, "Are legally recognized as lethal weapons by the Illuminated Primacy."

To emphasize his point, he closed his fingertips around her other nipple, drawing a sharp gasp from her throat.

In whatever corner of her mind that still had clarity, she realized his statement was likely not a fabrication.

"I may have to confiscate those hands, Sere."

Thane gazed up at her with an intensity that threatened to set her on fire.

"You may try," he murmured into her skin.

Watching him tease her like this made her ache with need. Her back bowed, offering her breasts to his generous affections.

At that moment, their taxi lurched, diving to a lower altitude and coming to a near stop again as they joined a new queue of cars exiting their current lane of traffic (the cab's VI chirped a cheerful 'We remind you that seatbelts must be worn at all times'). The momentum carried her forward and then suddenly back again, and Shepard swore, falling in an awkward sprawl against the dashboard.

For a moment all she saw was the dazzling lines of traffic zipping past in Illium's night sky. Passing cars tracked slants of light across her exposed chest as they finally broke free of the exit queue and took off down another sky corridor. She thanked gods she didn't quite believe in for the cab's tinted windows.

Thane wasted no time taking advantage of her thighs, parted as they were over his lap. Nimble fingers unfastened her belt and yanked her pants to her knees. Dizzy, she contorted just enough to get one leg free, content to be half-dressed as long as he had access - as long as he would keep touching her.

Their lane was moving almost swiftly now. Drunk on light and lust, she could only hang on as Thane's palms slid up her muscled thighs. He teased the edges of her panties, never quite close enough to the ache of desire between her legs. She reached for his hands but he clasped her wrists and guided them to her chest, humming in satisfaction as she cupped her own breasts.

"A spectacular view," he murmured.

Shepard swallowed. She could nearly feel the heat of his gaze crawling up the bared expanse of her body, the scent of sex filling the tiny cab. Outside, the skyline was whipping by.

"Siha," he sighed as he used one gentle thumb to swirl her cotton panties over her drenched, aching cunt. "I have to wonder why you wear these at all."

She was about to tell him it'd be pretty fucking obvious if he would just get on with it when she heard a quick snap and they were gone, torn and forgotten on the floor. Those last thoughts fled her mind as both of his hands went to work, eager fingers rippling along her slit before sliding easily into her wet heat.

She bit back a moan, not wanting to give him the satisfaction

"You're a damn savage."

Thane smiled. "I did warn you about my hands."

The position was uncomfortable but she didn't care, not with his fingers doing absolutely unholy things inside her. He pushed deep, massaging her walls in slow, firm strokes as one scaled thumb rolled over her clit.

She clenched her teeth, fighting the alluring surrender of his venom. "We don't have... a lot of time here."

"Tell me what you want, Shepard."

She pushed herself against his fingers but he did not relent, fingering her at his leisure.

"God fucking damn it Thane, you know what I want."

That earned her a rare and authentic laugh, but he didn't let up.

His fingers curled against her walls. The gesture was as much for him as it was for her - a demand and a promise.

"Say it."

Her head fell back with a groan as he stroked the deepest, most sensitive part of her cunt.

"Holy shit, just fuck me."

"Very well," he said with his usual dry candor. "...since you are so eager."

Thane withdrew his hand, bringing it to his mouth as he kept her still with a palm on her belly. His tongue gathered the arousal that coated his fingers and she writhed, desperate to feel him on her, inside her, pounding the truth of his desire into her body until she couldn't speak or move.

Finally - he unbuckled his pants.

The vibrant color of his rigid cock was a blurred smudge in her venom-hazed eyes. He gripped under her thighs to haul her closer, teasing her clit with the tip of his length.

Shepard braced her palms on the dashboard and eased herself down on his prick. No human had ever filled her quite like Thane did. Her pulse pounded in her cunt, heat blooming between her legs as he opened her body to pleasures only he could provide. Heady waves of sensation rippled under her skin when he bottomed out. Her eyes rolled back. She panted hard atop him.

"I may never tire of teasing you like this, Siha." Thane smirked, rocking his hips gently.

"Shut it, Krios."

Hands settled on her thighs, squeezing as he smiled. "I'm afraid you'll have to earn my silence."

Shepard groaned, pushed herself off the dash and nearly collapsed over him, her mouth seeking his, buying his silence with her tongue. High as she already was, his kiss envenomed her further, transporting her far above the clouds of common decency and restraint. She rolled her hips in his lap, moaning into his mouth as his tongue slid against hers.

Fucking him was overwheming in the best way. Between his delicious tongue and his thick ridged cock filling her to completion, Shepard damn near forgot about their more civil plans for the evening. Lights flashed behind her closed eyes, their bodies moving together in his arms as the skycar's momentum carried them across Illium's neon sky. His kiss was so potent she was sure they'd left the atmosphere entirely. She was alive with need, slipping into a humming world of color and sensation. Fingers of heat crawled up her spine, overpowering her with nothing but raw desire. The need to stake herself on him, to ride him and claim him so completely that he would forever be a part of her.

And to that end, he guided her, fucking her with single-minded purpose. Scaled fingers squeezed her hips, sliding down over her backside to lift and pace her, stroking himself with her body. She cried out with every deep thrust, arms looped around his neck, gasping into the moonroof as he overtook her. His mouth slid over her breasts and worked her nipples one by one, forked tongue and plush lips, seeking, suckling, his tingling saliva leaving icy trails across her skin as he gave as much as he took, and then some.

He was incredible. At the mercy of his mouth and split open on his cock, she surrendered. Pleasure screamed through her veins as she climaxed, suffocated in skin and scent and sound. Shepard howled in his arms, fire pulsing between her legs and flooding every hollow corner of her body. An orgasm that stole her rhythm, made her sated with fatigue until all she could do was hold on, adrift on the ocean of his rolling hips and rasping breaths.

She felt him swell inside her. He gasped, his voice raw as his cock pulsed with the promise of oncoming release before he spilled himself in the deepest part of her cunt. He felt like heaven. Captive in his arms, she no longer gave a damn where they were or from whence they came.

How long they remained entangled this way, she didn't know. The sky had long since faded into the electric colors of Nos Astra's night. Reality came back into blurred focus as the skycar slowed to a stop in front of Liara's building. Shepard hid her face in Thane's shoulder. A light rain was falling, little rivulets clinging to the fogged windows like some kind of otherworldly ocean reaching from above.

There was no question - she'd overindulged.

Thane soothed her with warm hands, easing himself from her body. Neither of them were in any hurry to move, but as their vehicle began to beep in irritation, they began to untangle their heavy limbs.

She cleaned herself up - or tried to. Her eager lover pushed past her hands, slipping his fingers inside her freshly fucked cunt, massaging his cum into her walls.

“You’re incorrigible,” she whispered. His hands drew a soft sigh from her, threatening to reignite her lust as he gently coated her folds in his tingling release.

“We are already late, Siha. Shall I have the taxi take us around the city one more time?”

Shepard bit back a moan as his fingers slid over her clit.

“Don’t make me pull the Spectre card again.”

He grinned against her lips. “Very well.”

Thane retrieved her torn panties from the back seat. Shepard accepted them with a sheepish smile before tossing them in the vehicle’s waste receptacle.

Finally dressed, they stood in the vestibule of Liara's apartment. Shepard attempted to neaten her hair while Thane stood unmoving, hands clasped behind his back. No doubt he was prepared to deliver some kind of smooth excuse to explain away her blown pupils and buzzed behavior. Liara was too smart for that, but with any luck she'd be too polite to acknowledge her lack of inhibition.

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

Thane wasted no time engaging Liara about the many archaeological relics adorning her apartment. It was sobering to think that she’d been through not one, but two impossible missions with Liara by her side. She sounded like the woman Shepard remembered - bright eyed and fascinated by intricacies that would not have drawn anyone else’s attention.

Shepard sank into one of the too-soft couches and stared up at the vaulted ceiling, watching the elegant pendant lamps sway with the waning venom in her mind. There was a loft bedroom up and to the right. As she rubbed her thighs together absently in attempt to soothe her scale-bitten skin, she wondered - if walls could talk, what stories would they tell about her friend and her unlikely lover?

“Food’s almost done,” Feron shouted from the kitchen. “Water and tea okay?”

Liara took a seat. “Yes, thank you.”

Feron rounded the apartment moments later, handing out glasses of ice water and setting a tea tray out on the table. He stood and paused, his brow crinkling as he considered Thane’s proximity to Shepard’s uncharacteristic slouch.

"You guys fucked, didn't you?"

Liara choked on her drink.

"You mean in general?" Shepard began, "Or on the way to-"

Thane covered her hand with his own and cleared his throat.

"Shepard shared a drink with an old acquaintance before departing Nos Astra," he calmly explained.

Feron raised a brow, nictating membranes sliding in silence over his vivid amber eyes.

"You're a bad liar, Krios," he muttered. "You think I don’t recognize an envenomed human when I see one?"

"The drink she ordered is a cocktail made with drell venom."

Shepard turned Thane's hand over in hers, inspecting his scales like they were the most interesting thing in the room.

"I like your freckles," she whispered - loudly.

Feron rolled his eyes. "Gods, you let her drink that?"

"To say I let her do it would imply that I have any say at all in what Shepard chooses to do."

Feron's eyes narrowed.

“Ha se’vah donn’um raav tor. (She’s had more than just a drink.)”

Thane sat quietly a moment, a smile reaching slowly across his features as he responded in a low, confident tone.

"Ha se’vah donn'um fara. (She’s had much more)."

Shepard was about to ask what he said when Liara abruptly cleared her throat and excused herself. Feron barked out a laugh as she passed.

“Ravash sered. (Dirty old man.)”

"One day you may learn that your sharp tongue is better suited to pleasing your lover, serét (young man).”

Feron extracted an ice cube from his glass and flicked it across the room at him. Thane dodged it neatly and smiled devilishly.

Shepard squeezed Thane’s arm. “What are you guys even talking about?”

“Our host wishes to be assured of your good health, Siha.”

Shepard grinned.

“Never been better.”

[distracteddegenerate]

I'm sorry if this annoying but can I please get a little fanfic with the inumaki forget idea ? Sorry if this werd English isn't my first languag

Not annoying at all anon, In fact I really like this idea of yours. (Also your English is pretty good so don’t worry!) Hope you like the fic!

CHARACTERS: Inumaki Toge x Female Reader

WARNINGS: Smut, Dark Content, Noncon, Yandere, Manipulation, Mind Control/ Brain Washing, Cunnilingus

Minors Do Not Interact! 

1.5k words

It was comforting, the fluff of ashen white hair that lay on your shoulder, the morning light seeping in from behind the slat blinds cascading a bright shimmer over the expanse of the snowy tufts. The individual strands were dusting your skin feather-light, tickling against you in the sway of every meager intake and exhalation of breath escaping Toge’s mouth.

You had known Toge for years now, and although you couldn’t truly remember how you even came to know him in the first place, he had effortlessly situated himself in the spot of one of your nearest and dearest. You found that his earnest silence brought you solace, words that he could not convey through sentence instead being understood through the knowing glances and expressions you had come to share with one another, the fluency of this mutual language only strengthening with the passage of time.

Now was one of those blissful moments of comfortable, knowing quiet. domestically lounging around your apartment during a day off, lazily giggling at some meme compilation in unison while leaning against one another on the settee. You couldn’t think of a better way to spend your time, this cozy sphere of amenity that you had constructed with Toge an apt repose from the outside world.

Whilst you were lost reflecting on your rosy blessings, you were suddenly brought back to reality when you felt the weight of toge’s head lift from your shoulder, turning to meet the familiar gaze of inquisitive violet eyes peering at you from behind off-white tresses.

“Are you okay, Toge?”

“Mustard Leaf.”

The response, that usually implied he was doing fine in the small dictionary of onigiri vocabulary he had come to employ.. Didn't feel genuine, to say the least. His irises were blown wide, registering your countenance as though he was trying to gleen some hidden information from your inquiring squint, when Toge began to lean further over you. You turned the front of your body to look at him directly, though you were steadily inclining your spine backwards in your perplexion at Toge’s unusual advancement.

He soon had draped his entire upper body over yours, hands reaching around your frame to press into the sofa to support himself as his face drew dangerously close to yours.

“Toge?” A heat was rising in your upper body. Sure, you and Toge were incredibly close friends.. But this was a little too much for your liking. You pressed your palms against the jut of his shoulders and pushed slightly, though with no true force. Blushing, you faced away from him, trying to announce your discomfort at his invasive approach. “T-toge.. This is a bit too-”

“Don’t move.”

And sure enough, compelled by some otherworldly force to entertain the command, you had stopped moving in your tracks. It didn’t take long for you to figure Toge had used his technique. Like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car, your body froze statuesque while conflicting eyes beamed alive, frantically searching for the reasoning behind the cruel fate that was racing towards you.

An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of your stomach at the sight of his lips pulled tight, his usually bright irises murky with shadows of deception. Something awful was afoot. His deadpan look in conjunction with the preceding events told you this was no prank, swiftly realising that your trust in him had been irredeemably breached to the point of fear at what was coming next. Your body twitched as you strained under the spell that had been cast on you, helpless to the plummeting feeling of the safe structure of friendship you had built with Toge coming crumbling down around you.

Your fears were proven genuine when Toge’s hand began reaching forward, coming to rest on the curve of your hip. You tried to communicate with your eyes, begging for him to stop and to just think about what he was doing, but he paid no heed to it. In fact it seemed like he was ignoring your glare, focused on the task that lay at his palms. He began deftly inching your bottoms down over your pelvis, panties and all coming to a halt over your thighs, just above your kneecaps.

It was then that he shot you a glance of what seemed like sorrowfulness, as if he was fully aware he was enacting something cruel but thought it necessary. Perhaps like how a farmer would look at lame animal before putting it to rest. 

Still, you were broken away from the horrid thoughts and back into a harsher reality when Toge had begun ripping the aforementioned cloth even further down your legs until they reached your calves. Shoving his hands between your thighs, the pads of his fingers pressed forcefully against the flesh and separated the limbs till they spread wide. You were completely exposed, the open air cutting a chill against your privates.

He traced his fingertips over your slit, with whatever wet, however slight gathered up in it’s trailing wake. He looked you in your eyes when he brought the digits to your clit, as if looking for a reaction when he began grinding his forefingers against the sensitive nub. Unable to do so much as flinch away from the offensive touch, you mentally grit your teeth as you felt that aching bundle of nerves scream against the assault. It felt painful, at first. You were so unprepared for the sudden encroachment on your most sensitive parts, It made you want to recoil in on yourself completely, though there was nought you could do in protest.

Toge began occasionally lowering his fingers to reach directly into your core, drawing out the little slick you were producing to mercifully rub it over your clit. The lubrication meant his ministrations were less painfully direct, his motions transforming into a light flutter that felt traitorously gratifying, an unwarranted heat beginning to pool in your stomach. Your body was disobediently reacting to his touches with craving, and it made you want to hide away forever but unfortunately you were rendered completely unable to escape the explicit display you were being forced to partake in. 

You felt his warm breath exhale humid air over your cunt, when you noticed from your frozen position that you couldn’t see Toge’s face any more, only the top of his alpine locks as he lowered himself further over your pulsing heat.

You knew what was coming, but you still inwardly lurched with shock at the swiping of that lithe muscle over your aching bundle. The feeling made you throb with hypersensitivity, the combination of the attention that area had received earlier now with the sudden sensation of Toge’s wet mouth lapping at you desperately causing your entire pussy to twitch around his tongue in a chase for release.

Dragging and dipping his emblazoned tongue over and between your sopping folds, he came to plant his mouth directly over your clit. He sucked over it with such vigor his cheeks completely hollowed, rolling your nub between his lips whilst deft fingers aided in your pleasure as he continued to pump them in and out of the sticky apex of your crotch. 

He worked at you for some time, steady in the intensity of his applications. It wasn’t long before the sensations grew too much, pussy clenching around his fingers as you reached a climax, flood gates swinging open as you gushed helplessly over his face.

He stayed where he was for a second, before rising. When his pale face came into view, you took in the sight of your own slick washing trails down his chin, the purple tattoos it overlay on his cheek glistening prismatic in the light the sun cast over it. He looked wild, salivating at the maw, sparkling amethysts settling an intense gaze into your own eyes which were vacantly still trying to work through the thralls of your orgasm.

Yet, fear sparked them alert with dread when you saw his mouth drop open to speak once again.

“Forget.”

Even in that split second of recognition you had before your memories had been erased for (unbeknownst to you,) the umpteenth time, it was enough for an intensely visceral stream of consciousness to flood your thoughts. You realised intuitively Toge was never really the person you thought he was, and you wondered how many times you had been used like this. How much had happened, how much had you been subject to by his cursed technique. Just how much was real in that domestic setting that you had been experiencing before it all came crashing down like this.

***

If only you knew just how much of your true self had slipped away. With your hands wrapped around his cock once more, The sunset and rise beginning to melt away at the edges into a haze of warm gradients was just a pretty sight to you, the concept of time becoming irrelevant to you as you settled into your life as an ignorant hostage.

Extra Notes:

Yeah so this kinda became a fucked up version of 50 first dates.. although now that I think about it I guess 50 first dates is pretty fucked up? Also god writing a character who hardly speaks is so hard in fic format;; I guess enjoy the challenge though