#so when he changed ofc she didn't want to accept it straight away

[the-crow-binary]

Yooo a Devil Forgemaster Belmont would be so cool! Strong magic already flows in the Belmont veins thanks to Sypha, so it is possible that one of them would be born exceptionally powerful! Now I almost see him as a darker counterpart to Juste... oh, the drama of the demons calling him to Castlevania, but knowing that his fate is to destroy the one place where he could be accepted...

YES PRECISELY!!

And because i like IRONY, his name is Benedict. :3 A name wich means "blessed". :3 Isn't it perfect for a cursed child ? :3

I also want him to have sibling(s), and i think it would work better if he's the oldest: he would be the one with the responsability of wielding the whip, of continuing the family's legacy. He'd have all this pressure on his shoulder, expectations he will never be able to live up to because of his dark powers. Not that he doesn't want to do good and help the family... but its pretty hard to do when even the ancestral whip itself is against you. It burns his hand, he can't hold it :3

Actually, the moment where he would discover he can't touch the whip is THE moment that would forever change his life (for the worst, ofc). Because it's from then on that everyone in the Belmont clan started being highly wary of him. Started excluding him. Mind you, he was 10 years old. Its also at the same time that his mother was pregnant with her second child. Yeah it took the parents 10 years to make another one and thus for several reasons:

First is, the mother almost died giving birth the first time. She didn't quite wanted to do it again for a while. There was also this fear of the second child being as cursed as the first (they could feel right away that something wasn't right about Benedict). Then when they began trying for a second one, it didn't work for a long time, to the point they even started blaming Benedict because they thought his dark powers somehow made the mother unable to bare another child (listen its the grief talking here, people are not always reasonable :/). The mother also blamed herself at one point because she thought SHE was the cursed one, and she passed it on their child.

But anyway, she does end up pregnant so you imagine the JOY. But then the "whip incident" occurs, wich convince everyone that Benedict is lost and will become a big threat to the world in the future. The parents dont want to straight up abandon him, he's still a child after all... but they wont leave him alone with his sibling. They wont even let him TOUCH his sibling in fear he would somewhat taint them ?? Oh and yeah the sibling comes to life totally clean, wich was a deep relief to the whole family. But from Benedict's POV, it hurts a lot to see everyone so visibly happy that the newborn is nothing like him. Just... Aouch ?

SO THE YEARS PASSES and Benedict becomes really lonely. The environnement around him is pretty hostile now, he just doesn't feel like he fits in anymore (did he ever ?). He barely interacts with the little sibling, partially because his parents and the rest of the clan don't want him near the youngs, but also because he became convinced he was a monster. An error. Something that should have never seen the light of day and will cause great harm one day. Nonetheless, i can still imagine them having cute moments, like the young sibling going to secretly see their big bro who, even if he doesn't want them too close, still very obviously cares. Most his time, he passes reading and practicing his forbidden craft. It's the only thing he knows how to do, after all. The only thing that make him feel... warm. Everything else is cold to him. The Innocent Devils he creates became his only friends. But he does hunt night creatures from time to time, to show he can still do "good" things, hoping his family would consider him more... doesn't quite work.

And then, what was always meant to happen, happened: Demons from the Castle found him.

I think he would be around 17 at this point. Even though his dark powers always were really strong, the demons couldn't feel him yet because of the rest of the clan, acting like some kind of "camouflage" (even when Benedict would use his magic, it would be inside the family's home). But well, there's a limit to what the clan can hide.

So the whispers start. They're warm, and welcoming, or so they seem. They invite him to the Castle, they invite him to Dracula's side, we can even imagine that Dracula is (still) dead and they want him to bring him back to life. So Benedict is torned. On one hand, he has his family, his clan. Yeah they hate him, fear him, or are straight up disgusted by him, but they're blood, surely it should mean something ? And on the other hand... he has evil, and monsters, and everything his family stand firmly against. But it feels so, so right to go to them. To let go and stop trying to be someone, something he isn't... He would finally feel home.

LUCKILY FOR HIM, HE WONT HAVE TO MAKE THAT CHOICE. CUZ HIS FAMILY WILL DO IT FOR HIM !

Because after months of temptation, Benedict decides to go check the Castle for himself. Y'know, just to get a taste of what his life could be... so he sneak out and follow the demons into the unknown. He finds the ruins, and there's something deeply evil emanating from it. Some incredibly chilling cold aura that would make any normal folk run away in terror. But to Benedict, it felt so right to be standing there. He felt warmth. For the first time in forever, he felt like he belonged. And it made him feel immense guilt and shame. He really shouldn't be feeling so good in such a horrible place.

So he comes back home, still unsure of what to do... but what's waiting for him is his father, visibly unhappy. He saw him go out with demons and he knows where he went. Benedict tries to make him understand that he would never betray the clan, but it doesn't work. His dad then admit to him that the only reason why he was still alive, was because they couldn't kill a child. But now that Benedict is "a man", old enough to be fully conscious of his decisions (is he though?), he will feel less remorse. He doesn't have a choice, if he wants to protect everyone. And so he grabs the Vampire Killer.

You can imagine the violence of the fight that ensue, both physically and psychologically. But as much as Benedict didn't want this, and was hurting by the very idea of having to fight his own dad for survival, he still gave it his all. In the back of his mind, demons were still whispering things to him, encouragements, invitations... promises. He actually wins, and his father ends up at his mercy. Just one last blow, and he would be dead for good, but Benedict didn't do it. He couldn't. And anyway, before he could even mutter a word... It was his time to be on the ground. This time, it was the work of his mother, cuz of course she can fight. She's not alone though, because their fight woke everyone up, and they all came to see what is going on, hunter instincts obliges. So now Benedict is in a pretty bad situation, and he knows talking won't get him anywhere. They all decided his fate a long time ago, anyway... He thought about fighting again, about defending himself. He had the power to do so, he knew it. THEY weren't going to grant him mercy, so why should he ??

But then he saw his younger sibling, and how they ran to their injured father. He met with their teary eyes and saw the terror in them. And it broke him. So he fled, teleported away... back to the ruins of Dracula's Castle. He survived, but what was he supposed to do now ? He was to the only place that would accept him as he is, and it was nothing but ruins. Well... he did have the demons.

For the clan, there was just one thing left to do: erase everything about Benedict. Every proof he had ever been there. Never talk about him again. He doesn't exist anymore, not in their family tree, not in their hearts. New Belmont children would be born, and none of them would ever learn about the Belmont Devil Forgemaster... But Benedict's sibling never forgot about him. They even made it their personal quest to find him. Not to kill or hurt him in any way, they just... wanted to talk. And to go back to how things were beetween them.

And they would meet again, eventually... 👀

ANYWAY THERE'S MANY THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A DEVIL FORGEMASTER BELMONT (the drama potential inspires me very much) This is my story for Benedict for now but idk it might change a bit overtime, i'm also open to suggestions hehe (haven't put it here but i did think about what would happen after all that 👀)

[aster-tiger]

The Raging Witch

Law x OFC, Zoro x OFC, Luffy x OFC, Zoro x Luffy, Law x Zoro, Law x OFC x Zoro

Warnings: swearing, shameless smut, bisexuality, consensual k!nk, 3some, b0ndage, emotional slow burn, developing relationship, hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, bonding, mating (not abo), post Punk Hazard, post Dressrosa, changing pov (no head hopping), mm relationship, mmf relationship, english is not my first language, no beta we die like men

Chapter 19: The struggle

"It's been three days already, how long are you going to keep this up?"

"Until he gets his shit together,"

"Maybe it wouldn’t last this long if you’d just talk to him?" She shot him a sharp look, which was met with a smirk. "Or don't, either way I'm good."

She knew he was telling the truth since the bond was wide open, contrary to Law who kept his side constantly blocked.

"I thought you'll try to play a middle man, like Law did to get us bonded."

Zoro snorted. "It's your problem, not mine. Talking about him would only get me into the dog house and I like fucking you. Besides, there's more space on the bed when it's only me and Law."

"Are you serious?" she shouldn't feel affronted and yet she did. How dare he say they're better off without her.

He arched his brow and she realized he was baiting her but it did little to appease her anger.

"You don't know what you want, do you?" the lazy smirk was still on Zoro's face and the more she looked at him, the more frustrating it became.

"I don’t want to talk about Law."

"It’s not about Law, it’s about you," he stood up and stepped towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist. His scent as usual put her at ease and for a moment she forgot why she was angry.

Her eyes fell shut and she sank into the bond, allowing herself to be in the present with him, without any problems or things to figure out. And he indulged her, like he usually did.

The rest of the world fell away and there was only them, together.

She returned the embrace and leaned her forehead against his. He was so warm and calm she wanted to stay like this forever. And the beautiful thing about the bond was that she knew he felt exactly the same. There was no doubt, no guessing or hoping, just the surety he wanted and accepted her.

Warm, swelling feeling rose in her chest and met the same sensation from Zoro.

But it quickly transformed into stabbing, gripping fear and the blissful connection was gone. She yanked herself back, trying to escape, but he held her firmly against him, looking her straight in the eye.

He didn't say a word, just held her with a knowing expression on his face.

The same solid understanding gripped her in the bond. There was no running, he already knew and wanted her to acknowledge the same.

She deflated, giving up on shoving down all the feelings that swarmed her over the last few days.

It wasn't about Law, as usual it was all about her fucked up head.

She caught Zoro's gaze while a pout crawled on her lips.

He huffed out a laugh and ruffled her hair. "Go talk to him."

"What about you?"

"You can both thank me later," he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. Then released her and pointed her towards the door.

With a deep sigh she left to find Law.

It wasn't hard. Even if he blocked the bond, she still could sense where he was.

She pushed open the door to the captain's quarters and stood on the threshold, her eyes zeroing on Law.

He was sitting in the chair by the desk, leaning his head on his fist while the desk in front of him was littered with books, pieces of paper and quills.

He met her gaze without moving an inch. His face had a blank expression and the bond felt equally empty.

She stood there waiting for his reaction.

She made the first move by showing up, now it was his decision if he wanted to meet her in the middle.

The chair made a scraping sound when Law pushed it back from the desk, facing her while remaining seated.

The blankness of his face faded a fraction and a barely there softness appeared in his eyes.

It was enough.

She swung the door shut and stepped towards him. She slid into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

There was a hand on the back of her head and a strong arm circled her waist. He held her gently, while relief trickled from his side of the bond.

Her heart squeezed, when he opened the bond and she could feel him again. A shaky sigh escaped her lips, when the bonds adjusted and everything fell in the right places. There was Zoro's content smugness and Law's steady presence in the bond. She closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling of both of her mates.

She inhaled Law's scent, realizing how much she missed it for the past few days. And his warmth, his touch, his sarcastic remarks.

They sat there for who knows how long, just being in each other's presence, reconnecting after the separation which in that moment felt completely unnecessary. She did not want to talk, hating everything about her that led to the fight they had. But it seemed inevitable, because Law deserved to know.

"You asked me to be yours," Law's smooth voice broke the silence, causing her heart to speed up anxiously. "What did you mean by that?"

She leaned back, her palms sliding down to rest on his chest.

"Why do you ask about that?"

"Because it seems we have a different understanding of that request."

She drew in a shaky breath, lovering her eyes.

Was it shame she felt? What did she mean when she asked them to be her mates? Was it the same as her mother expected from her mates?

Sin D. Veshti treated her mates as pawns in her grand plan. They were bodyguards and useful tools to achieve her goals. Rage always thought she did love them in a way, but she wasn't sure if her mother truly knew how to love anyone but herself.

"When I was a kid," she started still not looking up at Law. "I thought that one day I will have my own mates who will love me. Together we'd sail the seas, have all the adventures and live happily ever after. But that was a child's dream. The more I grew and learned about bonds and the Naga, I understood that mating was a transaction. People who were willing to bond to a Naga had some kind of unfulfilled emotional needs, either from broken childhood or some kind of turbulence during their lives. In exchange for protection Nagas fulfilled that need and the bonds were the tool to assure the mates’ happiness." She paused to glance up at Law. His golden eyes were regarding her calmly, and her words didn't stirr any emotional reaction from him. "I suppose it took me a long time to form my first bond, because I was well protected, either by people around me and I was confident in my own strength to never feel the need for protectors. Even Kisa wasn't truly a protector. I bonded with her shortly after Bambakam, when I was mentaly unstable and her level of crazy matched mine. She was my shield against the sane people around me, who tried to make me see reason again. Unintentionally, she was the one who brought me sanity, showing me that the road I chose was a dead end." She fluttered her fingers over Law's cheek, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. "When I woke up next to you that day, it all seemed so simple again. I was free from my family, the missions and obligations andI felt like my new bonds could be different, like I could choose my own way of sharing a life with mates. It felt so real at that time."

"And now?" Law reached up to hold her palm in his.

"It's all mixed up," she answered honestly, squeezing his fingers. "You never told me what you wanted from me."

"You didn't tell me either."

The fear that gripped her at the mere thought of voicing her desires was like a vice on her lungs, preventing her from taking a full breath.

Don't be naive, there are no happy endings in this world.

"Rage," Law's voice made her focus on his face again. "Where is this fear coming from?"

She stared at him, stuck between wanting to laugh, cry and lash out.

"There is no happiness in this world, there's only fleeting pleasure between pain and despair."

He held her gaze steadily, searching her face and prodding at the bond. "Does it mean, you don't want to give in because you think you'll lose us anyway or that we will hurt you?"

She struggled to stay still and not slip off his lap and back away from the conversation. But running away was pointless, it was a road to nowhere and Law deserved to know.

"I...I'm afraid Law," she gripped his hand tight. "There's so much doubt why these bonds happened. You jumped right in without really knowing me, without seeing what I am capable of. You agreed to bond because you knew you could get rid of it anytime. At some point you can decide it's too much for you and you'll be gone, probably with Zoro in tow."

"Break-ups are a possibility in every relationship."

"But bonding is not a normal relationship," she protested, trying to refrain from trembling. "You don't understand. It's a codependency. I struggled with the concept of bonding since I've realized it's not as perfect as it sounded. I don't want to fix other people's issues, I don't want to be somebody else's anchor. People should fix their own heads, not fixate on someone else to do it for them. It's not right. That's not love. Love is when you help someone stand on their own two feet so they can thrive on their own, not carrying them through life on your back."

"So you want love," there was a small satisfied smile on his lips.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked into his eyes. "I guess I do. I just don't know what to do about it."

"Zoro told me about your family and the Witch Doctor, I hope that's ok with you."

"Yeah," she furrowed her brows, confused why he brought that up. "Whatever I tell either of you, it’s fine if you share it with each other. I don’t have to repeat the same story twice.”

Law tangled their fingers together and lowered their hands to lay on her tight.

"It sounds to me like you are conflicted between what you want and what you learned this mating stuff is supposed to be. You grew up with an idea that wasn't entirely appealing to you, but you wanted it to some extent. The way I see it, you don't have to look back and compare everything to your family's dynamic with their mates. You can have this in whatever way you like. Just make up your mind."

"That's easy to say," she lowered her eyes to their intertwined fingers.

Law reached with his other hand and slipped his fingers under her chin, pushing gently to lift her head. She met his calm gaze again.

"I already regret saying this, but maybe you should take an example from Luffy. He is insufferable at times but when he wants something he doesn't dwell on it. He makes a choice and sticks to it. Bearing the consequences of our decisions can be easier than dwelling in constant indecision."

A frown pulled at the corner of her lips. "Did you seriously set fucking Luffy as an example of good life choices?"

Law sighed. "Not my finest moment, I know. But you picked him as a mate for some reason."

"Not for his brilliance that's for sure."

His lips stretched in a smirk and his eyes twinkled with amusement.

"You seem to have that in common.”

Her eyes grew wide, while stunned surprise made her speechless.

The corners of his eyes crinkled while he held back his laughter.

"Did you just put me on the same level of stupid as Strawhat Luffy?" she gripped the front of his shirt.

He let out a soft chuckle while putting his hands in the air.

"From my point of view, you tend to make the same kind of reckless decisions regularly. w

What else should I call it?"

The frown on her face deepend and she narrowed her eyes. "Is this about the elephant? It was a necessary risk and it paid off."

"I think Luffy would say the same about every stunt he'd pulled."

"You're seriously overdoing it Law..." she nearly growled but a smile pulled at her lips.

She missed this kind of banter with him.

She gripped his shirt tighter and pulled him in for a kiss.

The relief of feeling his lips on her own again was immense, it felt like they were physically reconnecting.

Law slipped his hand into her hair to cup the back of her head and with the hand wrapped around her waist he pulled her closer against him.

She tried to shift her position to straddle his lap, but the armrests got in the way. Law smirked into the kiss at her annoyance with the stupid chair.

A tug on her hair broke the kiss and pulled her back.

"I believe we haven't finished talking," he continued to smirk, while a playful spark danced in his eyes.

"We can talk later," her answer earned her another pull on the hair.

"Isn't it considered unhealthy to end a fight wih sex without talking out the problem first?" he said into her ear, his voice low and smooth.

Her pussy clenched in response.

Law chuckled softly and released her hair, leaning back in the chair.

"Who made that rule? It's a stupid rule," she answered with a pout which earned her another low chuckle.

Oh, he knew exactly what kind of effect he had and he was doing it on purpose, enjoying seeing her squirm.

"I'm set on doing things the right way with you," he stated, watching her intently and his declaration did funny things to her insides. The fluttery feeling in her stomach was quite unexpected. "I want you to live and I want to protect you, I want to love you and have a future with you." She felt her eyes grow bigger with every word and her chest got tight. She expected this kind of declaration from Zoro, but not from Law. "I admit I was wrong trying to keep information from you. I was afraid you would harm yourself by trying to test if you had the same abilities as Ivankov. I won't do it again. But you have to understand, your devil fruit is different from the original one and it causes a lot of strain on your body. When you use your powers your health and lifespan are affected and that makes me scared I'll lose you."

There was a hint of raw emotion in the bond but otherwise he was calm and collected, as if he already made peace with his feelings.

She tried to sort through the whirlwind of emotions his words caused while staring at him. Maybe he was the mate she dreamed about long ago. Maybe this man would make her dream come true. All it took was for her to muster the courage to give it a chance.

Do it. Fucking do it. You'll regret it forever if you won't do it.

She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, feeling her anxiety drain as her lungs emptied. The fear was still there, but she chose to disregard it.

She reached up and held his face in her hands. "I want to love you too." She placed a tender kiss on his lips, reveling in the warmth that flooded the bond from his side. She smirked into the kiss. "Will you fuck me now?"

He didn't respond with words. Instead he gripped her hips, stood up and carried her to bed.

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

There was a giddy outburst in the bond that distracted him from his research.

Rage was standing by the bookcase, staring at one of the books with barely suppressed laughter.

They were confined in his room for hours, doing research on awakening devil fruits. So far, they already found the necessary information, they were just doing final touch ups needed for their respective devil fruits. And up to this point Rage was laser focused on her research, which frankly helped his concentration span.

She let out a giggle then took the book and hopped on the bed next to napping Zoro, purposefully jostling the swordsman.

"Hey, look at this," with a wide grin she put the opened book in front of Zoro’s face.

The swordsman gave a loud yawn before focusing on the pages. He squinted, looked at Law then at the book again.

"The hat looks different," Zoro said to Rage.

"I get serious stoner vibes," she answered, her grin growing even wider.

He used Shambles to get the book from her. Between the pages was a photo of him and his crew, it was taken just before Sabaody Archipelago.

He closed the book and turned in the chair to give his two mates a scathing look.

"Hey, I just said your hat was different, don't get mad at me, be mad at her," Zoro responded dryly.

"Hey!" Rage protested, jabbing her finger between his ribs.

"You've seen the hat before," Law leered at the swordsman.

"I did?" there was an uncertain note in Zoro's voice.

Motherfucker.

"I was at the auction house at Sabaody two years ago when Luffy punched the Celestial Dragon," Zoro stared blankly and his side of the bond was completely silent. "Afterwards, I fought the Marines with Luffy and Kid, you were there too."

"Oh, you fucked up," Rage whispered barely containing her laughter.

The swordsman still stared at Law, his face blank.

Irritation made his blood pump faster and he made sure that his mate could feel it clearly.

"You told me you fell in love when you first saw me at Punk Hazard, but you don't remember me from two years ago when you actually saw me for the first time?"

Rage patted Zoro on the shoulder and the swordsman sat up, his blank facade crumbling into a sheepish expression.

"Second time's the charm?" Zoro offered lamely.

Rage broke down into a loud cackle. "He saw you with his left eye, but he lost it somewhere and that's why he doesn't remember."

"Shut up," Zoro bit back, but his lips trembled giving away his amusement.

That was it. He was done with these idiots.

Law gathered books from his desk and went to deposit them on the bookshelf ignoring the other two people in the room.

There was some rustling behind him and when he turned they were both standing in front of him, smiling like lunatics. And just when he was going to tell them to get out of his way, they both dropped to their knees, their expressions changing in an instant.

Words died in his throat, as he was suddenly rendered speechless. His mind blanked out at the sight.

Rage smile dropped, her lips parted slightly and the tip of her tongue traced the underside of her upper lip.

"We upset you," Rage spoke, her voice low and sultry. "Let us apologize."

He felt broad hands touch his legs and slowly travel up from his calves to his hips. At the same time Rage reached up to pop open the button on his pants and Zoro pulled down the zipper. His pants and underwear were pulled down only far enough to free his cock.

From both sides two tongues traced his length from the tip to the base. And as if they were in sync, they moved back again this time with flattened tongues.

He couldn't take his eyes from the two heads moving in unison, his hands itching to bury his fingers in their hair. But he didn't want to interrupt them by taking control, so he gripped the bookshelf behind him instead.

When their heads moved again to the tip, they didn't slide back. Instead they kissed, open mouthed, with lips slick with saliva and his cock between them. Their lips locked around the head of his cock as their tongues danced around, seeking each other and caressing him at the same time.

His head fell back and he shut his eyes, focusing only on feeling. Watching them was too much of a risk of coming too soon. He would not give them the satisfaction.

A hand wrapped over the base of his cock and moved in slow circular motion, while the kiss ended and his cock was enveloped by a warm and wet mouth.

Rage's hand and Zoro's mouth.

The swordsman sucked and Law groaned, gripping the shelf harder. Zoro's mouth was relentless and strong. Law was sure he wouldn't last long if the swordsman put all his strength into sucking him off.

Just when he was ready to open his eyes again, the mouth and hand were gone, replaced by softer lips.

He looked down. Rage took Zoro's place, her lips covering the tip of his cock, while her tongue darted out to lick the underside. Law met her eyes and she smiled, then winked which was the only warning he got before she swallowed him whole.

He hissed, clenching his fists and trying really hard not to come. This woman had no gag reflex at all. His cock was lodged in her throat, while he could feel her nose bury in his pubic hair. Then she swallowed around him and the back of his head hit the book spines behind him with a loud groan escaping his lips.

There were hands on his hips, holding him still, and he reached down to pull the swordsman up.

He smashed their lips together in a hungry kiss. He held Zoro's head in place, while he plundered the mouth that was sucking his cock just moments ago.

Rage released him, only to swallow him back again and setting a fast pace. Each time, she took in his entire length, sucking when she moved back and speeding up with every few strokes.

Just when Law was sure he wasn't going to last, he stopped Rage and pushed Zoro down, shoving his cock into the swordsman's mouth. He took hold of Zoro's head and fucked his face until an orgasm hit him. He shot his cum deep in the swordsman's throat, while his legs nearly gave out under him.

He released Zoro's head and leaned back against the bookshelf, drained and panting.

"Apology accepted."

Rage shot him a satisfied smile and leaned to kiss Zoro, licking into his mouth like she was seeking Law's taste on the swordsman's tongue.

They were both aroused.

Good.

Law pulled up and zipped his pants. Then he walked past his mates, heading towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Zoro rasped, his arousal vivid in the bond.

"You wanted to apologize and you did. I don't owe you anything." And he left.

—--------------------

"Hey, Kin'nemon," Rage called while walking into the rec room. "I need a favor."

The samurai were talking about the Red Scabbards and other people who could become their allies.

Kin'nemon and Kanjurou wouldn't be able to appear in public, so they all agreed that Law should find their potential allies and bring them to talk with the samurai. Raizo would be of assistance from the shadows but even he wouldn't be able to roam free in case other ninjas would spot him.

"What do you need?" the samurai addressed Rage.

"Could you change my clothes into a courtesan’s usual outfit? I need to check how many weapons I can hide on me."

This should be interesting. The samurai were still not convinced with this particular cover she chose, which Rage disregarded completely.

Truth be told, Law wasn't sure how to feel about it either.

Kin'emon stood up and placed a piece of paper on Rage's head. With a poof her clothes changed into a multilayered kimono, painted with a floral pattern and a huge belt wrapped into a bow on her belly. The clothes were long enough to fall to the floor and cover her feet. Her hands vanished into billowy sleeves. There was also an abundant ornamental headpiece in her hair.

Rage blinked several times, raised her arm to look at the sleeves then her gaze shifted down, inspecting her front.

She looked at Kin'emon, her expression puzzled. "Is unpacking the woman a part of a foreplay in Wano? There's a lot going on in the clothes departement."

"I don't know what to tell you," Kin'emon looked embarrassed and tried to back out of the conversation.

"Oh come on, don't be a prude," she chastised. "I'm used to something completely diffent when it comes to selling sex. My boobs and butt are completely covered. Everything is covered, even my hands."

"That's because what is hidden is considered beautiful," Kanjuro supplied with a polite smile.

"So what's the beauty standard?"

"A slender figure, small lips painted red on a face that is painted white. Small graceful hands and small feet."

"I see," Rage frowned and tried to pace around the room, but the long clothes got in her way. She pulled at the kimono with irritation. "This is hindering movement a lot."

"Oirans aren't really expected to move around much," Kanjuro replied with a small smile.

“The heavy, overflowing clothes are supposed to prevent an orian from running away;” Raizo provided, looking grimm.

"So it’s not sex work but trafficking,” Rage scrunched her nose, while regarding her clothes. “Well this bullshit attire is still better than being chained to a wall or constantly drugged."

She tried to roll up the sleeves to free her hands.

"No, Rage-san! You can't do that, only workers in the field roll up their sleeves," Kin'emon protested, looking horrified. "This is silk. It will be permanently wrinkled if you do that!"

"How am I supposed to do anything if the sleeves are so long?"

"You don't, there would be a handmaiden assigned to tend to you."

"Also your hair would be styled very firmly, so you'll have to sleep only on your back, with a specially designed wooden piece to hold your head in the air so you wouldn't ruin your hair."

"You're full of shit. What's the point if the clients would ruin the hair anyway."

"They won’t."

"What? No hair pulling?"

The samurai just shook their heads.

Rage frowned.

Law nearly laughed. He could sense the disdain for the information she was provided with. He'd experienced a small part of her abilities and he was impressed. The informtion about Wano's sex workers seemed heavily restricting.

"You know what, I can hide a lot in these clothes, I could even wear something entirely different underneath without anyone noticing. But otherwise, I don't like it."

The samurai looked smug, like they purposefully highlighted every nuisance of her cover that would make her reconsider.

"I was planning a domme cover, but this is just...not it. This screams vanilla, even with all the belts that could be used as restraints," she sighed heavily and started to pace around deep in thought. Her every step made a loud sound of wood on metal, muffled slightly by the material of the kimono.

"Isn't the domme cover a bit of a stretch for you?" Zoro commented and Law was surprised he was awake. "Can you even pull it off?"

She waved him off without looking his way. "You assume that solely on our dynamic? I'm a switch."

"Who's a switch?" Penguin asked, tilting his head to the side.

"A person that is comfortable being a submissive or a dominant during a scene."

"Scene?"

"That's what a bdsm session is called."

"You mean sex."

Law threw Penguin a curious look. Where were these questions coming from?

"Not necessarily. Sex isn't always the goal. It's the act of surrender for a submissive partner and the power over another person for a dominant. It comes in many forms. Some people want to be humiliated, some want pain, others want to give up control completely. It's achieved by different means, it can be very personal and intimate, so trust is required between both partners. Of course there's always the option of a quick beating and equally quick fuck, but it's not really what most people look for."

There was a brief longing in the bond that made Law frown.

"So it's like the stereotypes say, people who are into that are sadists and masochists."

She stopped in her tracks and looked at Penguin, considering her response.

"It's more than that. But I chose this role, because I don't really want to engage in any sex. I don't know what are the standards for hygiene, or disease prevention, how workers are treated by patrons or their employers. So I want to make my own rules. I don't expect it will be easy to establish but I'd like to try. There are not many options for me because of my skin color. If this cover doesn't take it's either the streets for me or being confined on the ship for fuck knows how long. I'm not very good at sitting on my ass and twirling my thumbs."

"Is it really that bad in Wano?" Penguin asked Kin'emon. "Are her options for blending in that limited?"

"You have to understand," a regretful frown pulled at the samurai's mouth. "Wano was isolated from the world for centuries. Rage-san is one of the first people with dark skin I have seen in my entire life and I'm fairly sure none of my ancestors since the void century had seen a human with brown or black skin."

"Diversity came to Wano with the Beast Pirates," Raizo chimed in. "It's associated with outsiders and oppressors. This can change when Wano's borders are opened, but right now, Rage-san is most likely to be shunned and experience physical harm if she decides to blend in with regular people."

"So she is also likely to be treated badly in a brothel?"

Raizos mouth formed a thin line and his silence was an answer of its own.

"Now, now, don't get so dramatic," Rage chimed in with a shake of her head. "Violence is a part of the gig."

"What?" Zoro bristled.

She just shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "Well, it's not ok, but it happens a lot. Some men seem to think that when they pay for sex, they own the sex worker and can do whatever they want to them. In Sin City we deal with this kind of clients quickly and firmly. But there are places that don't give a shit if a worker is beat up or even killed." She raised her hand to silence the protests. "That's why I aim for a domme role. Usually the sub can't touch their domme without permission and if they do, they get punished. I don't know if any brothel owner would agree to host such a service since it appears it's not something that is a standard practice. But maybe I can convince one person to try something new. After what you told me I assume quite a few people might be bored with their sex life and would be willing to try something new, even if it is on the extreme side. It could be even more enticing due to my skin color."

"You thought it over quite toroughtly," Penguin seemed impressed.

"Of course I did," she shrugged the praise like it didn't mean anything to her. "Half assed plans are the reason people get killed."

That was a jab aimed at the plan they came up with and at Strawhat's in general.

"Anyway, do I need to take it off to get rid of this thing or can you just poof it away?" she addressed Kin'emon while pulling at the outer layer of the kimono.

"Leave it," Zoro interjected, his arms crossed over his chest while his eye was laser focused on Rage.

"Fine," Rage answered without any enthusiasm, even when Zoro's suggestion was clearly hinting at sex.

It was strange. Law regarded her carefully, delving into the bond for anything unusual.

"I might as well practice walking in this getup. I swear a leather catsuit is easier to move around than this. No offense Kin'emon, it's really well made, and the fabric is wonderful, it's just … too much."

"No offense taken," the samurai bowed his head. "Rage-san, your circumstances were different when we asked for your help. I see now that we are putting you at a huge disadvantage. It wouldn't be fair of us to expect you to keep your promise, since it's mostly our people's prejudice that is being a threat to you. The same people that you agreed to help."

Surprise dribbled into the bond, which caused an avalanche of quickly changing emotions, too fast for Law to recognize all of them. And as abruptly as it started, it screeched to a halt and the bond became silent.

"Thank you" Rage answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I don't want to back out of this." Then she turned to the room. "I have something to show you."

She managed to extract her palm from the sleeve and extended her hand. She closed her eyes in concentration and on her upturned palm appeared a small orb of slowly moving energy.

She opened her eyes and threw the sphere to Penguin who caught it easily.

He seemed to realize what he did the moment his fingers closed around the energy ball and he looked at Law with panic in his eyes like he was holding a bomb.

"Don't worry, it's for healing," Rage explained. "I can already boost someone's healing by touching them but now I can put that ability into a small ball for later use. At first the balls vanished after an hour, but I managed to extend the time to twelve hours. Robin is helping me test it and she has a sphere with her to check how long it will last."

She flexed her wrist and the sphere in Penguin's hold came back to her and vanished. "Sorry, I don't have the spare energy to leave this with you."

In that moment Law realized what was off about her. She was tired, but she managed to hide it, so he couldn’t sense it in the bond.

She was using her devil fruit to develop this new technique and it burned through her energy.

The last time she’d absorbed hormones was on Zou and it lasted longer than expected. She hasn’t drawn anything from him or Zoro due to the forming bonds and it was still more than a week until the ship would reach Wano.

“No problem, it’s not like I need it,” Penguin replied with a reassuring smile.

“You can incorporate this into the plan,” she turned to the samurai. “Just take into account supplies for me. And by supplies I mean humans. I can’t use animal hormones to get back my strength. I suppose since I’m part human, part Naga, I’m able to use hormones from either species. I can manipulate animal hormones, but absorbing them makes me sick.” She looked around the room. “To be absolutely clear. To make a supply of healing balls I’d need to absorb a lot of hormones, which means I’ll be killing a lot of people in the process. It’s up to you if you decide to use my ability or not. Think it through.” She turned towards the door, reaching down to untangle the fabric which was twisted around her ankles. “Now, I’m going to leave you fine gentlemen to your planning, I’ve got shit to do. And you,” she thrust her chin toward Penguin. “Find me later, I’ll tell you all about the stuff you’re curious about.”

“Wha-” Penguin’s mouth dropped. “But I don’t…”

She walked out of the room before he could finish.

Law found Zoro’s gaze and in unison they stood up and followed Rage without any word to the people in the rec room.

Rage was exhausted. How did they miss it? She wasn’t blocking the bond, everything seemed fine. But after watching her carefully he just knew she wasn’t well.

They caught up to her easily. The oiran getup was slowing her down.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, realizing she was matching his height, which meant she was wearing some kind of platform shoes.

It was a strange experience being able to hold her gaze without looking down.

“What’s the hurry?” he asked with a small smile.

She let out a sigh and annoyance bloomed in the bond. “I fucked you in the morning. If you are horny again just fuck each other. I’m busy.”

“You need to rest,” he stated, disregarding her prickly attitude.

“I’ll rest, when I’m dead,” she shrugged his arm and turned away from him, heading towards the gym.

The annoyance flickered out from the bond like a blown out candle and was replaced by hard determination. Their brief confrontation already shoved aside as her attention moved to whatever she had planned for the rest of the day.

Zoro stepped forward, grabbing her by the ornamental belt and pulled her back.

She lost her balance and fell backwards straight into the swordsman’s arms.

He hauled her up, sliding his arms under her knees and around her shoulders. One of the ornamental pins fell out from her hair and vanished with a small poof.

“Put me down,” she hissed, gripping his shirt.

Law once saw her getting out of that kind of hold, by gripping Zoro’s shoulder, flipping her legs around it, then sliding down to stand behind the surprised swordsman.

This time however the abundant clothes successfully hindered her agility.

Exasperation burst in the bond.

“Don’t try anything,” Zoro warned with disdain. “If I drop you, you’ll probably twist your ankle trying to land on your feet. Then you’ll waste energy on healing yourself.”

“I’m wasting my time right now,” she shot back.

Law walked into his cabin and held the door for Zoro to pass through.

“Nah, we’ll make it worth your while,” the swordsman countered with his trademark grin.

“Zoro,” she warned, her voice flat.

That would be enough for Law to stop pushing and try to reason with her, but Zoro apparently didn’t give a fuck.

He threw her on the bed and climbed on top, straddling her hips.

Again, if not for the clothes she could’ve dislodged him easily.

“Stop with the bullshit,” the swordsman gathered her sleeves and held them in one hand, restraining her hands. “They gave you an easy out, why didn’t you take it?”

“The fuck is your problem? I promised to help, I won’t go back on my word!” She bristled.

For a moment Law thought Zoro would believe her, but the swordsman let out a snort.

“Bullshit, you wouldn’t bat an eye at ditching them.”

“Wow, you know me so well,” she replied, her words dripping with sarcasm.

“You didn’t give any reason why you won’t back out and you love having the moral high ground. You train so much, I’m surprised that pole is still in place and you use your powers all the time, developing new techniques. What are you scheming?”

"I'm preparing for a battle with an emperor of the seas."

Zoro laughed. "You won't be fighting Kaido. Luffy will take him on."

"Sure he will," she snapped, her words still dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re barely a month out of prison, you nearly died,” Zoro’s tone became serious. “You just healed yourself, you can’t expect to be back in your prime in a couple weeks.”

She closed her eyes and let out a loud breath, everything in her seemed to deflate, including any front she put up in the bond as deep weariness set in the connection.

"I'm weak," she confessed quietly without opening her eyes.

With the silent declaration a whole knot of emotions untangled, flooding the bond with anxiety and desperation.

Law didn't know what to say.

She was weak when she first set foot on Straw Hat's ship, but just two days later she managed to punch a marine general and fight Doflamingo. A week later she nearly punched Luffy through the deck and killed a whole crew of bounty hunters. And all that happened before she regenerated nearly half of her body mass and regained a great deal of strength.

But telling her that was pointless. She seemed to think it wasn’t enough.

The room was silent, but the bond was full of racing sensations both from Rage and Zoro. Finally the swordsman seemed to reach a conclusion. He let go of the sleeves and leaned down to capture Rage's lips in a soft kiss.

She was startled but reciprocated hesitantly.

Zoro leaned back slightly. "You're too tired. You won't be able to train efficiently." There was already a protest on her lips, but Zoro silenced her by covering her mouth with his hand. "You need to rest or draw the stuff you need from us."

She caught his wrist to remove his hand so she could speak. "I can't absorb anything from you, the bonds are still new."

"There's no need for the bonds if you work yourself to death. Get what you need, we'll sleep it off and you'll be able to train however long you want."

This sounded like Zoro was encouraging her to do more, instead of seeing reason.

Law wasn't thrilled about the swordsman’s attitude. It already became a pattern. While Law was the reasonable one, Zoro tended to support her craziness. Regretfully he had to admit this dynamic seemed to work for them.

With a sigh, Law climbed on the bed. He grabbed Zoro's arm and pulled him to a sitting position so he could capture his lips in a demanding kiss, wrapping his hand around the swordsman's throat.

Zoro responded without any hesitation, his arousal spiking in the bond when Law tightened his hold.

This was the quickest way to get Rage aroused. Frankly, it was a good idea to supply her with hormones through sex, plus they could try to tire her enough for her to get a couple of hours of sleep. Probably at the cost of wearing themselves out.

Law also had a lot to do, but at this point he was going to forget about it all. This right here, being with his two mates, feeling them so acutely in the bond, sharing their pleasure was what he wanted. It made him happy and he knew this would come to an end when they arrive at Wano and need to separate to carry out their tasks.

He wanted to make the most of it while it lasted.

__________

There was something different in the bond.

It begun as an amused, playful feeling, nothing unusual for Rage. But gradually it transformed into something heavier, darker but patient and stern.

It piqued his interest, so he followed the pull until he reached the gym.

The door opened without a sound and he stood on the threshold, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe and absorbing the view in front of him.

Penguin stood in the middle of the gym, the upper half of his jumpsuit unzipped and tied around his hips, leaving him in a black tank top that showed off the Heart Pirates jolly roger tattooed on his bicep.

Rage was right in front, untying a complex knot that was binding Penguin's wrists together.

She was wearing her usual training getup, a pair of revealing shorts and a skin tight top. Apparently to many clothes made the pole-workout less efficient.

The rope came off and was quickly put into a neat coil. Rage handed the rope to Penguin.

"Now, you try it. Wrap it around my chest in the diamond pattern with my arms bound back with the knot I just showed you."

Penguin hesitated.

"I don't think this is appropriate."

"Is it?" Her eyes shifted, meeting Law's gaze and acknowledging his presence.

Penguin turned around and tensed.

Law watched the bizarre situation impassively, without showing his curiosity.

Rage reached out to knock off Penguin's hat, drawing back his attention.

"I decide what is appropriate and what is not when it comes to my body. I own myself," she stated with full confidence.

"But he's my captain…" Penguin bristled.

"It doesn't matter," she said with calmness that seemed loaded in the bond. "You were curious and I offered to teach you, there is nothing inappropriate about this. In fact, if this was a scene with me as a sub it would be your decision if anyone could watch. In a scene rank doesn't matter, strength doesn't matter. I could easily overpower you, but during a scene I decide to submit and give you all the power over me. It's a powerplay of a different kind, based on pre-established rules, trust and willing submission." All her attention was focused on Penguin, her voice stern like she was instructing a student and her face completely calm and serious, without the usual smirk.

He had a feeling this conversation had a much deeper meaning than explaining kinky activities with rope. She aimed for something important to her.

It was puzzling. What was she planning to achieve with Penguin?

For a moment he wasn't sure if he should allow her to mess with his crewmate's head. But she didn't ask him to leave, in fact she wanted him to stay. So he chose to trust her. Afterall he wanted the same from her.

"If this was a scene it would be your decision how this would go. In fact this is a perfect opportunity. Tell him to stay or go. No, don't look at him," she caught Penguin's chin to stop him from turning towards Law. "It wouldn't matter what he wants. The things that matter are whether or not the sub consented to having an audience and if you as a dominant feel ok with this particular person watching. Do you understand?" She released her hold and Penguin nodded jerkily. "I am ok with this. What do you want?"

There was a long moment of silence when they were staring at each other. Until Penguin's shoulders straightened as he seemed to come to a decision.

Law was curious what it was going to be.

"He can stay," came a quiet declaration.

Rage nodded, still serious and all business like. "Do the rig."

Penguin uncoiled the rope, folded it in half and put the middle over Rage's neck, then proceeded to tie it into simple knots.

Everyone who sailed the seas knew how to tie a rope in dozens of different knots, some more complicated than others. Law expected this rope rig would be something complex, but it actually wasn't.

In no time, Rage had something resembling a harness over her chest, the rope was tied in diamond shaped pattern that framed her breasts. It reached to her waist, then Penguin stepped around her and she folded her arms behind her back.

"Remember the rope shouldn't pinch any nerves, it could cause permanent damage," Rage spoke quietly, turning her head back to glance at Penguin. "After finishing the rig, always check for finger mobility and numbness. This is for play, everyone should be safe."

"Is it? For play, I mean."

"Yeah, mostly."

There was a strange calmness setting in the bond, Rage’s energy settling down, all her focus narrowing into one point. It fueled Law's curiosity.

After several days of frantic planning, training and whatever other thing she had going on in her head, the difference was glaring. Law couldn't think about a single moment when he felt her being this calm aside from when she was asleep.

"It's finished," Penguin informed, taking a step back to look at his work. "Move your fingers. How is it?"

Rage turned around to face him and Law could clearly see the elaborate bindings covering her forearms and keeping her arms bent behind her back.

"It could be tighter, but it's just my preference. Generally the tighter the ropes, the shorter time a person should be tied up."

"Noted," Penguin nodded, looking down to inspect his work. "Do I untie you now or are you going to do some kind of magic trick to get free?"

"You're still missing the point," Rage responded and dropped to her knees.

Penguin's eyes grew comically wide and he backed away several steps, until his back hit one of the weight stands.

Law however had a completely different reaction. The prospect of watching Rage with another person was…interesting.

"I could get out of the rig," Rage spoke up. "But I don't want to. The purpose of this kind of play is to give in. It doesn't matter if someone's a sub or a dom, during a scene we just give in to whatever scenario we want to experience." Penguin didn't look convinced, which made Law wonder why he was doing this in the first place. This bdsm stuff seemed out of character for him. Apparently Rage was thinking otherwise. "Look, you can be the kindest, sweetest, the most caring person on a day to day basis and still throw it all out the window during a scene, when you change into a sadistic master, who beats the shit out of a sub, calls them all kinds of names, uses paddles, whips or even a cattle prod and then after a scene goes back to normal life. It doesn't matter as long as it's consensual, you're not a bad or a good person because you have kinks. You'll have them even if you don't act on them. The choice is yours."

Strangely, her words resonated with Law.

He wouldn't mind if she submitted to another person. Watching a stranger having their way with her, acting out some elaborate scenario seemed quite appealing. After all that person would only have her for a short while, because she belonged to Law. She was his mate, his and Zoro's, but Zoro belonged to him too. They were his for the rest of their lives, connected by this unique bond. It didn't matter if Rage fooled around with other people or if he had to share Zoro with Luffy, at the end of the day, he was the one they were bonded to and who could feel them in his very soul.

Penguin stilled, his gaze glued to Rage. He was silent for a long while, his brows creased in thought.

Then he stepped in front of her, taking hold of her chin to tip her head up.

"What do you want?"

"Punish me for attacking you the first night the ship set sail." A quiet answer came.

There was a thin streak of guilt and regret in the bond, but it wasn't serious enough to call for punishment.

"It wasn't your fault," Penguin replied without hesitation.

"But I did it. I might've killed you."

Nobody blamed her for that night, why was she bringing this up now?

"The person who caused the night terrors should be the one punished, not you." Penguin let go of her chin and took a step back. "Stand up and turn around."

Rage slowly rose to her feet and faced Law, locking eyes with him.

"I'm going to untie you now. We're done for the day." Penguin stated and soon enough the rope was taken off.

Rage sighed and a slight frown appeared on her face. The bond filled with impatience and Law didn't know what to think of it.

The door behind him opened and Zoro stepped into the gym, giving Law a searching look, before moving his gaze to Rage and Penguin and zeroing on the coil of rope in Penguin's hand.

"What happened to "the crew is like family"?" The swordsman asked, looking back at Law with one brow raised.

For a moment Law was puzzled, but then he remembered the talk they had in the infirmary on Bartolomeo's ship, when he said he didn't sleep with anyone from his crew, contrary to the Straw Hats.

And now he was standing in a room with one of his crewmates tying up his mate and having dirty thoughts. All while the exchange between Rage and Penguin was completely non-sexual.

But he sure as hell was not risking both his mates ganging up to tease him, so he decided to throw Rage under the bus.

"Apparently, I'm here to watch the show," he tipped his head towards Rage, while looking into the swordsman’s eye.

Zoro's gaze traveled to the woman. She threw Law an unamused stare, to which he responded with a wink and made his way out of the gym.

The whole thing was her idea in the first place and while it was an interesting and eye opening experience, he didn't feel like explaining that particular mess to Zoro.

He went back to the ship's library to resume his work, dampening down the feedback from both bonds, so he'd be able to focus. He tried to push down all the distracting thoughts stirred by the scene he witnessed but they just kept coming.

Eventually he threw down his quill and stared down at a book opened in front of him, letting his thoughts wander.

"Law?"

A silent question brought him back to reality.

Penguin was standing in the doorway.

"Can we talk?"

Law pointed to the empty chair on the opposite side of the table.

Penguin sat down, took off his hat and put it on the table. "That whole situation was weird."

"You think?" Law eyed him with a half smile. "She has a knack for instigating weird shit."

"You know I wouldn't do anything with her, even if she asked."

Penguin was looking him straight in the eye, his expression serious.

Law let his smirk drop. "I suppose that's for the best."

"You suppose? I'm telling you I wouldn't fuck your girl and you suppose it's for the best?"

Law sighed, leaning back in the chair. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have, but due to Rage's little scheme it couldn’t be avoided.

He felt like shooting her all the disgruntled feelings, but as soon as he opened the bond he had to shut it down hard.

Of course they were fucking, what else would they be doing.

He rubbed his eyes before looking back at Penguin.

"I agreed to bond with her. It's a commitment for life and I did it with the knowledge of who she is. You don't go into a relationship with someone knowing there are parts of this person that you don't like, but believing you can change them. That's fucked up. She told me she wasn't monogamous at the very beginning. At first I thought it was her upbringing, the fact she was raised in Sin City. Now, I believe she was born like that. She is part Naga, her people have the capacity of forming dozens of bonds, polygamy is their norm. Rage is not built for monogamy, it goes against her nature. I've accepted who she is and I don't intend to change her. So in short, yes, I'm ok with other people fucking my girl."

Penguin's brows rose, but his stare was flat.

"Three months ago I'd never expect a statement like that to come out of your mouth."

"Three months ago I didn’t suspect you'd be into tying people up for fun," Law shot back, arching a brow.

“I didn’t expect it either, until she basically threw it into my face,” Penguin replied with a barely there smirk. “She’s something special, but I don’t know if in a good or a bad way. And I'm pretty sure she’s crazy.”

A smirk crawled on Law’s lips. “Apparently crazy women are my type.”

“Strangely it doesn’t surprise me,” Penguin replied with a wide grin. Law frowned, narrowing his eyes, which seemed to amuse his friend even more. "When we were still running the betting pool, half of the guys were betting you would settle with someone small and cute. The other half was convinced you'll find some wild badass. You exceed everyone's expectations by showing up with two crazy strong people."

"I'm getting back at you all for those bets, be prepared," Law promised with a glower, but deep down he felt happy for having a crew like his.

Penguin laughed, brushing off Law's threat and Law couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips.

"When you left the gym, she said something weird," Penguin said after a moment of companionable silence.

"She does that a lot."

"Yeah, but this was something else. She told me if anyone from her crew ever tried to give me a hard time, I should remember that I had their captain kneeling at my feet, so I don't have to take any shit from them."

Law gave him a sharp look. So that was the purpose of the whole rope situation. Was she really that worried about his crew that she felt the need to resort to mind games? Was she serious about her crew being a threat to his crewmates? What did she expect to happen? Who were the women in her crew? Were they that unhinged?

He didn't take Rage's words seriously the first time, thinking she was exaggerating. Besides, his crewmates weren’t some rookies. They made it into the New World with relative ease, they could handle a lot.

But Rage didn't drop the issue, instead she took it upon herself to prepare his crew. Maybe he should take it all more seriously.

"Rage is convinced her crewmates would cause us trouble."

"Aren't we supposed to be allies?" Penguin drummed his fingers on the table top.

"Yes, but apparently her crewmates are a wild bunch and they don't like men very much." Law repeated the stuff Rage had told him about her girls and why she wouldn't step in if they tried to pick fights.

"This sounds like a lot more is going on then she lets on," Penguin summed up, rubbing his chin.

The conclusion surprised Law. He didn't pay much attention to this particular issue, as there was a lot more important stuff to take care of. But now when he thought about Rage's recent behavior, the constant frantic energy in the bond, intensive trainig and research, her withdrawal from planning, seeking out sex to relieve tension, it did ring alarm bells. She was stressed, but it didn't show in the bond. Was she hiding it on purpose? Why?

"She's obsessing over something," Law admitted. "Maybe we should take her warning seriously, just to be safe."

"Do you want me to explain this to the rest of the crew?"

"Yes, but wait until we reach Wano. We'll deal with her crazy crew, afterall they'll be a valuable asset and we'll need all the support we can get to fight the Beast Pirates."

"Ok," Penguin nodded, then sent Law a concerned look. "Is she okay?"

Law already asked himself the same question and the answer was obvious.

"No, I don't think she is."

[marne-nu-jee-krda]

i have a habit of talking to myself since as long as i can remember. at first, it started off as a childish play azs far as i can remember. i had a habit of teaching imaginary students while i was studying myself (till the age of 6-7 ig), so everyone used to take it as a child's play and ignore it. as i started to grow older, almost 9-10, i started daydreaming imaginary people who would talk to me, comfort me, love me, etc. but somehow, i knew that these imaginations wouldn't be taken as lightly as other childish cosplays, so i started hiding it. i was just 9, and already uncomfortable with sharing my feelings with my family, even though at that time i was the star-child, the perfect daughter. yet somehow, i guess i knew my family would never accept me for myself. and so i hid my maladaptive daydreaming from everyone. and it was fairly easy at that time, because earlier, we lived in a bigger house. but then, things started to change when we shifted on the new floor. 4 rooms were reduced to 2. and slowly, in some years, my parents saw me talking to myself too. my mom called me insane, a mental asylum case. she said that if someone else got to know about it, they would never come near me. no one would want to be with me if they knew i talk to myself. that they would call me insane and will boycott my presence. my brother straight up laughed at me. my father told me to stop spending time alone with myself and start talking to them and share my feelings more.

today, my father saw me talking to myself again, and he again, said the same thing, describing that this is a sign of loneliness. the moment i heard that, i felt like i had been slapped. slapped into reality. the reality that said that i have no one, and the people on whom i can count on are far FAR away, and way too busy. my bestfriends are too busy to even recieve a call. ofc they would take my call if i did call them, but i just dont wanna bug them. i cannot hug my boy bestfriend without overthinking that i may be hurting him by giving him mixed signals (he likes me). i cannot talk to my family because, well, we're polar opposites. and being polar opposite is being characterless in my mother's language, and even worse than committing suicide in my father's language (yes, he actually said that i should rather off myself), and "good that we didn't had any regular sibling-like relationship in the first place, so you don't disappoint me as much " in my brother's language.

just because i have different opinions.

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

Star-Crossed: Bound by Blood

Chapter One

Master List

Pairing: Mando/Din Djarin x OFC Baast’Mal

Warnings: I'm making this up as a go, Canon divergent from the series during chapter 13, mild violence

A/N: I make this stuff up as I go along, if I screw something Star Wars-y up, apologies in advance, I didn't do it on purpose, but I'm new to this Fandom. I will be cross posting this story between AO3 and Tumblr except the smutty bits. Those chapters will only be available to registered users on AO3. (I'm trying something new for people who want to read here on Tumblr, but to also avoid the smut for minors controversy. We'll see how it goes.)

*I do not have a tag list* Please follow the story on AO3 if you want email updates, or follow @tilltheendwilliwrite-library where I post the new/latest chapters of all my stories.

***

In the sweltering heat of the jungle, Din Djarin crouched to better scan for tracks in the rotting foliage at the base of the tall trees. Pools of light made it difficult to adjust correctly for the shadowy depths; add in the thermal activity of the plants and animals in this stinking sewer of a planet, and he was having a hard time tracking his quarry. 

When he'd accepted the puck, he hadn't known what he was getting into as her chain code was surprisingly sparse. The only additional information he had was her name - Taa Marel - her last known location and face. 

And what a face. Even on a holo, she was stunning, not that the Mandalorian would let that sway him one way or the other. 

He'd tracked the stolen ship from Bogano, where she'd initially been hiding out to this skug hole of a world that was made to torment men in beskar, causing them to swelter in their helmet.

The kid, however, loved the place. 

Constantly cooing, riding in his pouch, he touched everything he could get his chubby green fingers on. Leaves, flowers, bugs; those, of course, went straight in his mouth. By this point, Mando accepted the womp rat could and would eat just about anything.

Upon arrival, they'd found the ship nose down, destroyed, and abandoned, but the crash landing had created just enough space for Mando to set the Razor Crest down. Then the hunt began.

After three hours of slogging through the heat, he was ready to kill her. After four, he decided death was too good for someone who made him sweat this hard. After five, he was determined to make her suffer. But they were closing in. He could feel it like an ache in his bones.

Tracks led forward, but something didn't sit right with that. They were too obvious. After hours of following such a well-covered trail, this was an insult to his skills. Footprints led straight down a game trail like a beacon meant to lure him astray.

It wasn't right, too easy by far, and the skin on his nape crawled.

He looked up, straight into the eyes of the woman he was hunting. Even through the distorted colour of heat vision, he could see they were a vibrant green.

He moved on instinct, whipcord shooting out, wrapping around her shoulders, and dragging her out of the tree.

She screamed the battle cry of a hunting cat, an inhuman sound before she twisted mid-air and landed lightly, crouched but on her feet. 

"Taa Marel, I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold," he warned her, hand hovering over his blaster.

"That is not my name. And I choose option three."

Her voice kicked him in the groin and made his dick twitch. Stunned, he could only watch as her hands came up and nails like talons shredded his whipcord. 

Someone had left a few things out of her chain code.

"Put the child down."

Mando blinked. "Why would I do that?" 

What did she want with his foundling? Had she heard about him? Would she attempt to take him? 

"I intend to kick your ass, Mandalorian, but I do not hurt children. Put him down."

Surprised, Mando reached for the strap across his chest instead of his blaster. "You're not going to run?"

She lifted a proud chin. "You will continue to hunt me. I would rather die than return to that hell hole, but I will not go easy. I will fight."

She was beginning to impress him with more than just her face. 

Din lifted the strap over his head, his eyes fixed on the target, studying her outside of the holo he'd memorized. 

She stood with her chin raised, body slightly turned in a stance that bespoke proper training. If one could call it that, her green tunic had no sleeves, crossed over her breasts, tied just beneath them, and ended a few inches thereafter, baring the wealth of sun-darkened skin over tightly packed muscles. Pants hugged slim hips, billowed at her thighs, and tied tight to her calves thanks to the soft, short boots that went to her knee. 

Sweat gave her a sheen that made her glow, her vibrant eyes shadowed behind thick, long lashes. Her face was a treasure trove of sculpted brows, sharp nose, and high cheekbones over lips that looked like ripe fruit, begging for teeth. 

A mass of hair, the colour of sand, fell in heavy waves to her hips. It began to darken toward the tips until it was as black as the deepest corner of space.

As he moved the kid, she untied a thin cord from her wrist and slowly began to bind her hair in a low tail.

He'd never met a woman like her, a bounty like her, ever. This one - fugitive or not - had honour in her.

The kid cooed and waved. Her lips twitched into a smile as she winked and waved back.

"Fear not, Mandalorian. Should I kill you today, I will raise your foundling as my own."

Din's blood ran cold. "You won't get the chance."

He hung the child's satchel on a low tree knot and drew the beskar spear from his back in the same motion. Though he'd won the spear from magistrate Morgan Elsbeth on Corvus and helped the Jedi Ahsoka Tano defeat her forces, the Jedi held no answers when it came to the kid. Though, Din wondered if that had more to do with him than the little green monster. She'd told him to seek another Jedi, someone with more training than she, but had given him no direction in which to search.

"He is rather cute," she smirked. "But his kind age so slowly. You will be long dead before he is grown."

Mando paused. "You know of his kind?"

She arched a brow. "You do not?"

He lowered the spear and held up his off-hand. "I am tasked with returning him to his people."

Her posture never changed, but her eyes filled with sorrow. "He has no more people. The last of his kind, or what was thought to be the last, died some years ago. Master Yoda was his name."

"I'm to help him find the Jedi," Mando murmured.

Her eyes lost their sadness. "I cannot help you."

"Will not."

"They are one and the same," she whispered. 

Lightning fast, she rushed him. Mando barely blocked the first swipe of her claws before the second clanged off his pauldron. He used the spear's shaft to knock her back, even as she kicked him in the ribs, bypassing the beskar.

"Do you know the life you condemn me to, Mandalorian, if you return me to that horrible place?" she asked, crouched once again, a few feet away.

"You're a bounty. I don't make deals," he stated, watching his quarry while keeping his body between her and the kid. His ribs smarted, but he'd had worse.

"No. You just work for the people who Purged your planet!" she spat, leaping and clawing. 

She was fast, damn fast. Barely able to keep up, it was all Mando could do not to lose ground until he saw an opening and swept the butt of the spear at her leg.

She jumped back, breath coming hard.

"I didn't ask who the bounty was for." Greef Karga offered him the chance for a big payday, and right now, they could use it.

"You work for the Empire," she sneered. "Returning me to torture and experimentation. Do you think I was always like this!?" She stood and held out her arms, flexing fingers tipped in dark claws. She bared her teeth, revealing wicked-looking canines, then lifted a portion of hair to reveal a sharply pointed ear.

Again he paused, a thing unheard of, to ask, "What are you?" Her chain code said human, but she was certainly not that.

Her proud chin lifted in defiance. "Do you know what a Zentari is, Mandalorian?"

Din inhaled sharply. "That's not possible. They were wiped out."

"All but one. I am Baast'mal, last of the Zentari. The Empire took me as a child and used my gift to ruin me. They bound my blood to the Corellian Sand Panther and Manka Cat. They have so thoroughly defiled my biorhythms that if the constellations were kind enough to cross my path with that of my mate, I do not know if I could bond with him." Pain flickered across her features. "I am sullied, broken. I am a monster," she whispered before shaking herself free of the melancholia and raising that proud chin once more. "So kill me if you can, Mandalorian, for I will not go willingly."

The beskar spear fell from his fingers as Din dropped to a knee and bowed his head. "I am a Child of the Watch. I must offer aid, Zentari. This is the Way."

"The Way?" She took a step back. "The Mandalorians no longer follow the Old Ways. They no longer conceal their face from all but their riduur and ad. The creed is long dead."

He shook his head. "My Tribe is one of zealots. We hold to the old ways of Mandalore. I only recently learned of this as I was raised with them in hiding. The Purge took much, but the ways of the Zentari are remembered in the covert."

She hesitated, eyes wary. "I have faced Mandalorians before. They knew not the Way."

Din stripped his gloves from his hands and held them out, palms up as if catching water. He raised them above his head and brought them down over his helmet, appearing to another as if he washed with air. "Zentari of the Bright Star, may the constellations bless this warrior with a treasure greater than beskar that they would be mine. Cyar'ika. Ka'rta. Riduur."

She inhaled sharply. He watched her fight tears, lip trembling before she closed the distance between them and knelt. She dipped her fingers into his cupped palms as if they held water, brought them to her brow and stroked them down over her eyes and out along her cheeks. 

Her hands shook as she lifted them toward his helmet and laid her palms lightly on the sides of the beskar. 

His hands gently grasped her wrists, her skin warm and soft beneath his fingers. She wouldn't remove it, that he was sure of, but it was an instinct he couldn't deny when someone touched his helmet.

Her voice was whisper soft when she spoke. "Mandalorian, Holder of the Creed, blessed of the constellations. May you raise warriors strong in the Way and find your riduur. Your cyar'ika. Your ka'rta." 

"This is the Way," he murmured, shaken by the encounter.

"This is the Way," she agreed as she drew him forward until his helmet lightly kissed her brow.

The shudder that raced through her raced through him with equal intensity. The Zentari race was a myth, a legend, a beautiful dream. They were so lost to time Din felt like his heart would burst with joy. 

"Have you ever removed your helmet, Mando?" she asked softly.

The shortened form of address made his heart skip. "Not before any living thing." The Droid on Nevarro didn't count, and no matter what Bo'Katan said, the creed was his way. He would never show his face to any besides his wife or children. 

Let Koska scoff as she liked at his traditions. She had not found a Zentari. She likely wouldn't know what to do with the Zentari if she did.

Din rocked back on his toes and pushed to his feet, surprised when she followed him with equal grace. "Zentari, we should return to my ship. The Alor will want to meet you. The covert will rejoice."

"Baast."

He froze as her hands landed lightly on his beskar covered chest. "What?"

"To you, I am Baast." She stared into his visor as if able to see his eyes. 

"Baast," he murmured, wishing he could speak her name without the modulator.

"Yes, Din Djarin," she smiled. 

He still held her wrists, and his hands became her shackles. "How do you know that name?" he demanded.

Long lashes swept her cheeks, a coy smile curling her lips. "Grogu told me."

His grip tightened more. "Who is Grogu?" 

She tilted her head to look past him at the kid cooing at them. "He is Grogu."

"You can understand him?" Din asked, his shock registering even through the modulator. 

"Not in words, but he speaks to those who can listen. Images. Impressions. The Force is strong in him," she smiled at Grogu. "He loves you."

"He's okay." Mando was grateful for the helmet that hid his foolish grin.

"You fool no one," Baast chuckled. She gently twisted her wrists, reminding him of her bondage. 

He let her go and stepped back to pick up the spear. 

"You are a man blessed of beskar," she murmured. "You must be a great hunter."

"Something like that," he murmured. It still shamed him how he'd acquired his armour, but if he hadn't turned in the kid - Grogu - he wouldn't have been as well-equipped to get him back and keep him safe as they ran from the Empire.

Baast headed for Grogu, her smile growing as she lifted down his carrier and situated the baby against her chest. Grogu giggled and babbled something Mando didn't understand.

"Oh, I see," Baast chuckled, casting a side-eye his direction.

"What?" Mando muttered.

"Clan of the Mudhorn. A clan of two." She flicked her claws over his sigil. "I wondered. Grogu explained."

Mando glared at the kid- Grogu. "Don't tell her all my secrets."

Grogu cooed. Baast cuddled him and smiled slyly. By that look, he was pretty sure it was too late for his secrets.

He turned to go, heading back the way he'd come. It would take hours to return to the Razor Crest, and it was already getting dark. 

***

They didn't make it back to the ship before nightfall, but he found a hollow tree in which to spend the dark hours. Creeper vines had choked the life out of the behemoth, leaving them in a cage of vines and dry, dead bark with a wealth of firewood to choose from. 

The fire burned brightly, drafting well, casting shadows across Baast's face and keeping the larger predators at bay. She slept curled around Grogu, lips gently parted. The air had finally cooled at sundown, but now he could see the shivers and goosebumps developing on her flesh. 

Slowly, he leaned forward to remove the cape from his back. Then, just as quietly, he rose, rounded the fire, and draped it over her and Grogu. She stirred but didn't wake, and Din returned to his watch on the far side of the fire.

A Zentari. He could scarce believe it.

She was a myth made flesh—a beautiful dream. Once, when Mandalore still followed the old ways, Zentarus was where many warriors sought their mates, their most cherished riduur. 

A Zentari was always fast and strong and incredibly rare. They grew quickly but aged slowly, their years stretching out into eternity, some said. Fine in face and form, when they met their match, they bonded, taking on traits of the other and giving a few as well. 

A Mandalorian could live a very long time with a Zentari mate. 

But most Mandalorians came home empty-handed as a bond with a Zentari could not be forced, but those who the stars smiled upon, those most blessed with a cherished mate, bonded in ways that grew legends. It was said their children were the most incredible of warriors.

Baast'mal was everything he imagined when told stories of Zentari as a child new to the Tribe. It didn't hurt that she was the most mesh'la female he'd ever seen. Fast. Strong. Deadly. He wondered at what the Empire had done to her, how they could force the blood bonds on Sand Panthers and Manka cats, and just what other mutations they'd caused.

He also wondered at her Force sensitivity. What she felt or even what she could do had not been discussed, but Mando knew there was more to her than he had yet discovered. 

But it was the ache in him, the growing need to once again touch her skin that concerned him. 

It was primal. Feral. It clawed at him. It had him itching to be closer - much closer - to her. He wanted to show her his face and hope she found him as pleasing as he did her. 

Din had nothing to go by in comparison. He'd seen his reflection before, of course, but he had no way of knowing if a woman would think him handsome. He'd had encounters before, ones in which everyone walked away satisfied, some paid for, others freely offered, but the helmet and the beskar never came off.

With her, he wanted to be bare, stripped off all trappings. Din wanted to feel his naked skin against hers. He wanted to taste it.

"You are a very loud thinker," she mumbled, bright eyes glowing softly beyond the fire. 

Mortification filled him. "I'm sorry, I-"

"I do not know your thoughts, Mando," she clarified, "just feel a gentle buzzing from the beskar. It restricts what I pick up from you."

Relief almost had him sagging. Baast closed her eyes, but he was loath to let the conversation end. 

"How old are you?" She looked young, maybe twenty-five.

Her brow twitched, amusement in her smile. "It is rude to ask."

"I wondered how long the Empire had you," he explained. 

Shadows darkened her eyes. "Forty years."

"But they've only been around for thirty," he frowned.

She gave a hollow laugh and sat up. "They have been around much, much longer. I remember the day they came for us. They slaughtered all who fought, men and women. Every child they could catch was rounded up and taken away." She looked away, down at dark claws. "I was the only Zentari to survive the experiments."

"I'm sorry." He was. "I know what it's like to lose everything."

She tilted her head. "You were a foundling."

It wasn't a question, and Din didn't answer her.

"They began experimenting with my blood almost immediately. I was ten when they bound traits of the Manka to me. I was fifteen when they brought in the Panther."

"How? Why?"

Her eyes burned into his. "Because they could." She flexed her fingers. "Because they are depraved. Because they are monsters, who turn others into abominations."

"You're not."

She looked at him in surprise.

Din shifted until he stood and made his way around to her side, where he offered his hand. Baast took it and joined him in the shadows as he led her a few steps away from Grogu. He stripped his gloves from his hands, the need to touch her no longer under his control.

Slowly, he reached up to caress her cheek. He pushed her hair back, revealing the pointed tip of her ear. Her eyes gleamed from behind heavy lids when he stroked his fingers down her tricep and finally cupped her elbow.

He closed his opposite hand around her nape; his thumb pressed to her spiking pulse. "You are no monster."

"My blood is sullied."

"Perhaps. But you remain unbroken," he murmured. "You lived. You escaped. Mesh'la, you are a beacon of shining hope to my Tribe. If there is one Zentari, perhaps there are others."

She closed her eyes. "There is not."

"How do you know?"

A tear trickled down her cheek. "I felt the last die three years ago. It was what gave me the strength to escape."

"Mishuk gotal'u meshuroke, pako kyore," he murmured, rubbing his thumb on her pulse.

"Pressure makes gems; ease makes decay?" A small smile twitched her lips. "Am I a gem, Mando?"

"No." 

She arched an amused brow.

"You are something more precious than any gem," he murmured.

Colour dusted her cheeks. "A Mandalorian who has a way with words? I truly have seen it all," she teased.

He sighed and made sure it echoed through the modulator. "Get some rest." He attempted to move away, but she grabbed him by the belt.

"Stay."

"Baast?"

"Stay." She took his hand, led him closer to Grogu, encouraged him to sit against a fallen chunk of tree, and then curled up beside him, tucking herself under his arm.

"The beskar is too hard," he worried.

"No harder than a prison cell, and you are much warmer. I have not known the comfort of another since I was seven," she admitted.

He sighed again but gave in, curling his arm around her.

"Thank you for your cape."

"Hm."

Her chuckle was more of a low purr. When it rippled through him, Din swore he felt something inside him purr back.

Next Chapter

[scarecoen]

Trigger warning ⚠️ domestic violence.

I've typed this story a million times so I'm just going to summarize as much as I can.

A few days ago I was assaulted by my partner's family members. And as I've mentioned, I've typed this a million times and I'm honestly just exhausted thinking about it, but we could use some help.

My partner has always had a transphobic family. (I don't have anyone but my dad, who's in no position to help anyone.)

Her mom used her disability against her and manipulated her into giving her MOST of her checks. She's abused the system and my girlfriend.

When I met Jackie, she was with a terrible biggot. Jackie had came out, and her mother conspired with an abusive long distance ex, to fly her here, to stage an "intervention" and stop my partner from transitioning.

It worked. For years.

I met Jackie here on tumblr, we became good, SECRET friends because she wasn't allowed to talk to anyone.

I told Jackie openly about my views regarding gender and how I myself, was not cis.

Eventually she told her partner about us playing games together, which she responded to by harassing me.

Jackie ended up spilling the beans to me, about her mom, about the ex, everything. I realized that she had been extremely isolated and controlled her whole life.

So I intervened.

I got the two of them to separate, which wasn't smooth because Jackie was scared. She had been with her abuser for 9 years at this point. She's never known anything else.

The ex moved back to her state, and I started seeing Jackie, although she was stuck at her mom's... who was trying to play innocent at this time.

Eventually, I kinda just came and picked her up, she stayed the night, she didn't want to go back home. And I can't blame her. The house wasn't only disgusting, her family microagressed her all the time and they would tell her to pretty much stay in a dark room all day.

Ofc I didn't bring her back.

During early quarantine, we had a lot of self reflection and she started distancing herself from her mother, coming around to holding her accountable for her horrible actions.

Her mom messaged her things like "Why won't you talk to me? It's like you're trying to punish us!" Ect, just every fucking manipulative thing she could say, without ever apologizing.

Unfortunately the place we were staying fell through when my best friend's ex husband decided he wants a divorce and decided to throw in some transphobic hatespeach towards me.

We were all looking for somewhere to go.

I'm sure you know where this is going but listen, she told us EVERYTHING we wanted to hear. She told us she's not hateful now, told us she would go to trans support groups, pride, said she's realized how much she loves Jackie and it's time to accept her- and look- we had NO WHERE TO GO. We have 2 cats and at the time, a car that has no a/c or functional locks. AND I have a chronic autoimmune condition that I recently started taking chemo meds for. (Methotrexate.)

I'm too sick to be on the street, and survive. I had to think about me, Jackie, Zoe, and Boops.

And Jackie wanted to go..

I told her we'd be cautious and try to get out asap.

Well, looking for places right when the housing market crashed really fucked us up. That- and because I had only just finally got approved for disability, means I was set back in life- and had no credit to my name. No credit= no place to live.

I had almost built enough, but things went down hill very quickly with her family. Which leads us to right now:

After weeks of microagressions, giving us breakthrough covid cases, yelling at us to clean other's messes, and forcing us and our cats to isolate in our room, many broken promises, and straight up transphobic hatespeach (because she promised to get vaccinated but then said nvm as soon as we moved in and she went on vacation and got covid and gave it to us, which nearly killed me--) she said not getting the vaccine "IS A CHOICE, JUST LIKE YOU BEING TRANS AND TAKING *gestures to my testosterone* THOSE DRUGS."

We just were avoiding each other while I desperately try to gather resources for us to get out, NOW.

Of course, that wasn't good enough, so when her step father messaged her in all caps about our cats having to stay in our room and "I WON'T FUCKING TELL YOU AGAIN" my partner had a breakdown..

Her mom had let her step dad talk to her like this her whole life, basically.

Out of desperation, we went to her sister for help, maybe hoping she'd give us a place to stay for two weeks while we sign off on the lease for our new apartment.

She pretended to want to help and even said... something fucking weird? She made the comment that I'm a good person and I'm so much like her own boyfriend, that it's "scary"...

A few hours later she came to the house. She talked nicely to us, to gain access to our bedroom.

Then she attacked me.

I called the police right before, and was on the phone with dispatch when she lunged at me because she was aggressively trying to MAKE Jackie go into a separate room WITHOUT ME and Jackie was saying no, BEGGING her to STOP.

I wasn't going to let her take Jackie into that room. She looked fucking crazy.

All of the family came into our room, her two sisters, her mom, and her cousin- When they heard yelling.

It was actually me telling her mom that she's a terrible mother, that triggered her sister to try and attack me- although I knew she was planning on trying to from the moment she came into our room.

And that was after her mom was screaming in my face that if I have something to say, say it now.

Dispatch heard everything and sent emt as well...

But the police stayed outside, talking to them for a WHILE before even asking for us.

Her cousin is the only one that would have stood up for me, saying her sister never should have tried to hit me. But he was in the room with Jackie, giving her support...

I faced the cops alone.

He already had "that look."

He shined a light into my eye, letting the family stay on the porch, throwing insults and just letting it happen. He asked me where I'm hurt, and before I could even show him the scratches on my arm, he said "how do I know YOU didn't put those there?"

I wanted to fucking die in that moment.

This is a conservative city.

No one has equality stickers here. No one flies gay flags. People here that are lgbt- they LEAVE.

This is EXACTLY WHY.

I said "well is there any reason I should tell you anything when, clearly, you're already bias?"

I looked at the emts. I looked at his partner. I looked at all the lights and people coming out of their houses-

And behind me was her family.

Her sister that assaulted me, was laughing about having work in the morning.

All of them were looking at me, with hate in their eyes.

He tried to feed me bullshit about "well if I'm taking someone to jail, there has to be proof."

He dismissed everything I attempted to say, until I just stared at the ground and he decided he did his job here.

I told him my whole fucking body hurts because I had 4 people fucking toss my 100lbs ass all over the fucking room, which was a mess that he refused to look at.

He said "I don't see bruises."

I SPAT "BRUISES TAKE TIME?"

He retorted IMMEDIATELY- "YOU'RE NOT EVEN RED."

I asked what about the dispatcher- she seemed concerned- to which he said "you see, sometimes when people call us- they scream and be dramatic- for a quicker response."

I asked what we could do while the two weeks go by for our new place, and he fucking said "I DONT KNOW. BARRICADE YOURSELF IN YOUR ROOM OR SOMETHING."

Needless to say, we are now safe, in a hotel and I've gotten in touch with a few lgbt organizations that are attempting to help us get justice.

Unfortunately because it's a holiday weekend, all we can do is wait right now.

Our first order of business is getting a protection order, so that we can retrieve the rest of our things without her sister trying to attack us again. (I say us because she kept jumping towards Jackie, like she was threatening to hit her.)

I've been so gaslit and victim blamed that I was too scared to go to the er, even though this all happened in the midst of a flare, possibly including my liver health.

There's so much more to this story, as I'm sure other trans people can relate.. unfortunately.

The emts reluctantly offered to take me to the er, but I was like "and leave my partner here with them?" And he just fucking shrugged dude.

I hate this city.

I want out so bad but unfortunately I've committed to a year, but at least it'll be *our* apartment.

We could NOT stay there for two more weeks. Her step dad is a violent offender that has attempted to murder a homeless prostitute over some fucking pocket change- and he has a GUN in the house.

This hotel might run us into a hole, despite it being the cheapest, shittiest hotel in town, it's still going to be about 700$ for ONE week.

To ADD INSULT TO INJURY, SOMEONE ATTEMPTED TO STEAL MY VEHICLE WHILE WE'VE BEEN STAYING HERE.

I'm feeling incredibly paranoid and unsafe, but I'm on anxiety meds now at least and its SORTA helping us cope (My partner and I have the same Dr and she gave her permission to have some.)

The organization BRAVO is trying to help us with a hotel voucher, but because of all the natural disasters, it's hard to find room in charity for people like us, which is fair enough. We aren't immediately on the street, and for that I'm incredibly thankful.

However, if you or anyone you know wish to help you can donate to venmo: kittyzibby. Or you could just signal boost this.

If you can't help, I understand. And IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING FINANCIALLY, don't worry about it, for real.

Right now I'm just scared we'll go into debt before getting the apartment settled in.

I will update on things once our case moves along more, and we were already considering turning to OF sexwork before all of this, so if there could be support that way, maybe we'll get that going once we get moved in. That way, I feel good about providing a service in return.

Thank you so much for sticking with us during all of this. And really- we're doing much better today. We've given each other pep talks, but we are still determined to start our lives together.

Her family was merely trying to scare me away from her, but I got my girl's name tatted on me for a reason.

I know I'm not the bad person here.

Every time Jackie is feeling more gender euphoric, and showing me her changes, and seeing her get more confident, the more I know that what I'm doing with and for her, is right.

I love her so much. And I will never abandon her, like they tried to get me to do.

Jackie is taking a break from some socials, but she's given me permission to talk about what's been happening.

She needs justice too.

I will update as much as I can, but seriously, I think we both just have a fire under our asses now.

Mentally, we're stronger than ever.

Thank you for reading. My heart really goes out to the rest of the queer community that have experienced or are going through similar things.

It's really made me realize why we need to stick together and fight this bigotry bullshit! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

[sillyrabbit81]

Her Heavy Cross

Summary: Three years after tragedy hits, Lana she decides to start dating again. She meets Will through a dating app and they begin an online romance. After months of constant requests, Lana relents and agrees to meet and go on an irl date with Will. But is Will who he says he is? Lana is quickly pulled into an intense relationship forcing her to confront her tragic past. Will Lana face it or will she close her heart forever?

Pairing: OMC x OFC

Word Count: approx 3.7k

Warnings: Smut, swearing,

Authors Note: The story started as a Henry Cavill fanfiction but I changed it to be an original character, but shades of Henry are still there. Hope you enjoy the story and thanks for reading.

Part 4 Part 6

Part 5

I lived about 40 minutes away from Liam in the suburbs. I still lived in the house Andy and I had bought together, planning to have a family.

I kept thinking about the house on the way there. I remembered being so excited when we found out our offer was accepted. When we moved in a few months later, we did what I assume most young couples do, and we had sex in every room, including the laundry. I had joked that if I got pregnant from the laundry sex, we should call the kid Westinghouse.

After Andy died, I had used his life insurance from his superannuation to pay off the mortgage. I had decided against selling it and moving somewhere smaller. I couldn't do it as it felt like I was abandoning our dream.

When we got home, Liam said, "you live here? I expected you lived in an apartment or something, not a whole house by yourself."

I wasn't meant to be here by myself. I didn't say it, though. I just shrugged, opened the door and said, "You live in a huge place by yourself."

"Yeah, but I didn't pick it. A place to live close to the studio was part of the contract.".

We went in. Perrin came lumbering to the door to greet me and gave Liam a short bark. I scolded Perrin and patted him, telling him Liam was a guest. Liam was unfazed and knelt to pat him and had a chat. "You're just protecting your lady, aren't you, buddy? Well, don't worry, I'll take good care of her." Be still my beating heart.

I took Liam past the bedrooms, pointed out the main bathroom, and went to the open plan kitchen, lounge and dining room. I got out food for Perrin and fed him and found Liam hadn't followed me into the room.

He was in the hallway looking at the pictures on the wall. Well, one in particular. The one of me in my wedding dress, kissing Andy. Oh shit... this was awkward.

I didn't say anything, what could I say?

"I'm sorry." He eventually said. He finally looked at me.

"Why?"

"It must have been awful."

Don't cry! I just nodded.

He pulled me to his chest and held me. "I know you told me what happened when we first started chatting. It didn't really register until I saw this." He pulled back a bit to look at me but still had his arms around me. "Is that why you were so upset last night?" I didn't have to say anything. It must have been written all over my face. Shit.

"Shit," Liam said, echoing my thoughts. He let me go and ran his hand through his curls. They seemed to have dried now. "I'm sorry, I should have realised..."

"No," I interrupted him. "Look, I'd be lying if I said I was over it. I don't think you can ever get over it, but I'm ready to move on. I've been trying to date for a while now. It's just taking that last step and sleeping with someone..." I trailed off. I didn't know how to say what I was thinking without him believing I didn't want him. "I want to be sure it's the right person. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, Sweetheart." Liam pulled me close again. "I'll try to control myself."

"Don't try too hard," I said. "I want you too."

Liam grinned, "You shouldn't have said that." He buried his face into my neck, kissing me and nipping at me until I started to giggle.

He let me go smiling. I said I had better go shower. His eyes widened a moment. "You ok to wait while I do?"

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. I'll have plenty of thoughts to keep me occupied while you're in the shower."

I pretended to be offended, "You're filthy."

"Yes." He said. I ran.

I showered as quickly as possible and got dressed in some leggings and a t-shirt. I went out to find Liam playing on his phone, patting Perrin. He looked up when I came in, and the smile he gave me was so dazzling I stopped for a moment. Gathering myself, I walked over to him and sat on the lounge, not quite close enough to touch him but not out of reach either.

"What should we do today? Do you feel like being lazy, or do you want to go out?" I asked.

Liam hummed a moment. "I think a lazy day would be nice. I won't get many of them soon."

"We could watch a movie?"

Liam agreed. "What do you want to watch?"

"Anything really. Except for romance or a tear-jerker."

"What? Why?"

"I hate crying, and I cry at the drop of a hat. I can't even watch Disney movies without crying. Once I watched Seven Pounds and cried for three days straight." Yeah, I really did. "Plus, I'm an ugly crier." Why, oh, why can't I keep my big mouth shut.

Liam laughed, "I find it hard to believe that you could ever be ugly." And I can't breathe. I think I need an oxygen tank. "Alright, we won't watch a romance."

"Ok, come with me and let's choose. I have a heap of Blu-rays and DVDs. I like director cuts, extended cuts, that kind of thing." I took Liam's hand and tried to pull him off the lounge. He didn't let me. Instead, he pulled me closer until I was standing in front of him.

"Not yet." Liam wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto his lap, so I was straddling his glorious thighs. "If we can't watch a romance, maybe we could..." He didn't finish the sentence, which I'm thankful for because I don't think even he could have said anything after that, which wouldn't have been cringe.

Liam's hands slid behind my hips to my bottom, and he gripped me, pulling me closer. Once again, I giggled at his strength. Sometimes I swear I want to slap myself. His hips moved upwards, and I slid further down until I could feel his hardness between my legs. Oh fuck, I don't know how long I can hold out. He put a hand on my neck and pulled my face towards his. His lips met mine. I tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress the moan that came from my throat.

"Fuck," he breathed into my mouth. "When you make noises like that, I just can't stop thinking about what other noises you can make."

I didn't respond, and I just kissed him back. I let my hands trail down his chest, savouring every curvature of his muscles. My hands reached under his shirt, and I felt my way back up his chest.

Although I was travelling blind, my fingers found the spot they were looking for. Liam hissed as my fingers trailed over his nipples. A self-satisfied smile came across my lips. As if in retaliation, he pulled his hands away and held the bottom of my shirt.

"I don't like this shirt. It covers too much." He grinned roguishly. I wasn't going to give in easily.

"But it's a Ramones t-shirt," I complained. "Don't get between Joey and me."

"Joey, huh?"

I nodded, "didn't you know I was a punk rocker?" I stuck my tongue out and did some devils horns.

"Do that again." Liam was grinning at me, so, like an idiot, I did. He whipped the shirt off over my head so quickly I couldn't stop him. I stared down at my chest. My bra was still keeping my modesty in check. I must have had a crazy look of surprise on my face because he laughed at me. "That's better." He said and started kissing the top of my breasts.

I put my hands into his hair, letting him have a small victory while I took mine. His hair was as soft as I thought it would be. Then I curled my hands into fists and pulled, so he had no choice but to pull back and look up at me.

"That was very rude," I said, trying not to smile.

"You loved it." He wasn't wrong.

"Maybe, but it's only fair if..." I trailed off and tugged at his shirt. He leaned forward instantly, and I pulled his shirt off. He was so broad in the chest I felt positively small next to him. I pushed him back against the lounge, well, he let me push him, and I leaned down to kiss his chest. His hair tickled my nose as I travelled my kisses across his chest to his nipple. I kissed it gently before flicking it with my tongue.

"Fuck me," I heard him say. That encouraged me, and I took his nipple in my mouth and gave it a little bite. His whole body jerked in response.

Liam growled, "Fuck it". Suddenly his arm was around my waist and the other under my bum, and he stood up, taking me with him. I squealed and wrapped my legs around his waist. He was stronger than I thought.

"Which one is your bedroom?" Liam asked as he started towards the hall. His eyes held mine, and his blue eyes seemed dark and hungry.

"Second on the left." I should have given my room a clean! Maybe he won't notice if I keep him occupied.

He took me to the door, and I reached behind my back and opened it. He took me in and put me down. He closed the door behind us, and I turned around, looking at my room. Embarrassment crept in.

I had a massive pile of dirty clothes hanging out of my laundry basket and a pile of clean clothes on a chair. My bed was unmade, pillows everywhere. My bedside table was piled with books and had an empty Ben and Jerry's tub on top. Ok, it's bad, but it could have been worse. Then I remembered something, and my eyes flew to the bedside's open draw.

I felt the blood leave my face. It was worse. The last thing I wanted Liam to see was my god damned vibrator. Fuck!

"So, what should we do now?" Liam stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my bare waist. He ran his hands up my side and kissed my neck, nuzzling into me. Although it felt amazing, all I could do was look at the pink silicone sticking out of the draw. I was as still as a statue.

"You're not into this." He stated, his hands dropped, "That's ok, I told you I wouldn't do anything you didn't want to do." I mumbled something, not sure what, and kept thinking about getting to the draw and hiding the vibrator without drawing attention to it.

Liam's voice came out strangled and about an octave higher. "Hide the vibrator?" His voice calmed, and he said, "Damn, Sweetheart. I would have been happy just to feel you up a bit. But if you insist."

I want to die. Liam saw it. I jumped to the draw and slammed it shut. "Umm, I didn't mean for you to see that." I still couldn't look at him.

"I didn't see anything until you said it." Oh. Well, I'm a fucking idiot.

I slowly turned and looked at him. I could see Liam's bloody lip twitching as he tried to hide a shit-eating grin. I wanted to hit him.

"Don't be embarrassed." His voice was deep again, his accent making each word soothing, "I'm not." He came closer to me, his head. He spoke softly in my ear, "I think it's hot as fuck."

I moaned, partly turned on, partly wanting to die. I could feel the heat between my legs grow, and a pleasant tingle radiated through me as I shivered. "No, it's not," I said. Why was I such a prude sometimes? I hid my face in my hands.

Liam didn't attempt to hide his grin. He took my chin in his hand and lifted my face to his. "My rock hard cock disagrees." Oh, Lord, help me.

"Really?" I asked. I hadn't always been like this. Ten years ago, I would have pulled the vibrator out of the draw and put on a show. I knew lots of guys liked to watch a girl orgasm. Just picturing myself doing it now was cringe-inducing.

"Fuck, yes." Liam took my hand. He was gentle and moved slowly as if I were his prey, and any sudden movement would make me bolt. Liam placed my hand on his jeans between his legs. He groaned, and his forehead leaned against mine. "That's what you do to me."

A thrill flowed through me. I wanted to touch him so much. I cupped my fingers around Liam's balls and pressed my palm against him. I moved my palm slowly up, trying to find the end, fuck it was big.

Liam put his hands in my hair and kissed me roughly. I kept moving my palm up and down slowly and firmly against him, my own excitement growing. I was getting so turned on, I lost control for a moment and bit on Liam's lip. Liam growled.

I couldn't stand it anymore; the desire to feel him was too much. I undid his belt. Not wanting to take the time to undo each button, I pulled his jeans apart, each button popping as they came undone. Liam looked down and watched as I slid his jeans down his thighs. I gripped him through his underwear and explored his length. Liam stood there still, watching as my hand moved over the fabric.

It felt so good, but I wanted more. I wanted to hold in my hand what I had glimpsed the night before. I put a hand into his trunks, but before I could touch anything, Liam grabbed my wrist and removed it from his underwear.

"As much as I want this and believe me, I fucking want this. I need to make sure this is what you want." Liam's voice was strained. I looked at his face and could see the effort it took for him to have stopped me. His desire was plain.

"I want it." Liam closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened his eyes, they seemed on fire.

"Tell me exactly what you want."

Please don't make me say it. The shyness was back, or shame, I can't tell. I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. "I want to touch you," I whispered.

"Tell me where." His voice was hoarse. It was such a fucking turn on.

"I want to touch your cock." I felt his pants move at my words. I looked down and saw the tip almost peeking out of his underwear. I put my hand in and held his shaft gently, and his skin felt soft and velvety. Liam shuddered against me. At that moment, I felt powerful watching this huge man tremble at my touch. I moved my hand.

Liam bucked his hips against my hand, moving slowly at first, but his rhythm increased as did mine. I couldn't stop watching his body move, the muscles in his abs contracting with each thrust, his chest heaving with each ragged breath. It was so fucking erotic.

I felt Liam's hand move over my face, and I looked up and realised he had been watching my face. His thumb moved over my lips. I parted them, and he put his thumb in my mouth. I let my tongue rub over the pad of his thumb and sucked. His eyes went wide, and his hips stuttered. I kept sucking and jerking him, syncing them into the same rhythm.

"Fuck, Lana, stop." I released him slowly and took my hand out of his pants. I let him withdraw his thumb, but I still sucked. It made a slight pop as it left. He leaned into me, catching his breath a moment. I think I nearly made him orgasm. I tried to keep the triumphant smile from my face. I didn't try very hard.

"You're..." Liam was shaking his head. He didn't finish the sentence.

"Terrible Muriel?" I suggested. Way to kill the fucking moment, Lana.

Liam laughed, thank god! "Not what I was going to say." He flopped onto the bed and laid on his back. "Fucking good at that is what I was thinking." He pulled his jeans and shoes off and closed his eyes, his breath slowly returning to normal. I wanted to jump his bones.

Instead, I laid down next to him on my tummy, leaning on my elbows.

Part 6

[zukoshotleafjuice]

The funniest thing about june teasing katara and zuko about being a couple is that she just sees a pretty girl and an attractive guy, both looking almost the same age which immediately makes her go "you two must be a couple" and it just reminds me of zvtara shippers, you know what i mean? I'm convinced one of the reasons a lot of ppl ship them is bc of their looks. katara being the female protagonist and also a pretty, smart and powerful girl & zuko, despite not being the male protagonist, being the most attractive guy in the gaang. Boom, a "bomb ass ship". It is worth to recall that "people ship zutara bc they projected onto katara and had a crush on zuko". And if they say they don't ship them for that reason, then it's bc they read too much between the lines in every interaction they have. So, back to june, she didn't even care if they had chemistry or if they were friends or anything, she just straight up teased them about being a couple lmao. Because in all honesty zvtara can be an appealing ship in anyone's eyes but THAT'S IT, it doesn't go further than that. I can be testimony of that😅Before even watching the show i was like june, one day i saw a zk fanart and was like "wow aren't those zuko and katara from atla? They look so good, she's gorgeous and he's hot" i already knew kataang was endgame and that mai was zuko's love interest but seeing zuko and katara together was pleasing to my eyes. However once i watched the show for the first time (2 months ago i think) i realized there was really no romantic chemistry between them, nothing, literally nothing, i mean, i wasn't even waiting for the zvtara content in the show that made ppl ship them so much, i was actually very neutral about ships, i couldn't care less about them, but i still realized nothing was happenig between them and that it was obvious since book 1 ep 1 that kataang was endgame. Zuko and katara were two teenagers from opposite sides of a war that tried to kill each other multiple times and when zuko changed sides they developed a completely platonic relationship. As i said, people either ship them because it's an appealing and aesthetically pleasing ship (water/fire, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, the common red & blue ship) or they just love reading too much between the lines, OR BOTH, because they were so thirsty about it they ended up convincing themselves there was romantic tension between them, that they liked each other and that zvtara was scrapped when it was never planned in the first place. Not to mention the reasons why they claim zvtara should've been endgame are based only on symbolism and things they have in common that are just so ??? Random. e.g. (i saw these on a post on facebook and the comment section was hilarious, it was full of ppl being sarcastic about it & making fun of it) saying they should've been canon bc:

1. "They both lost their mothers at a young age" (?)

2. "katara was good but had rage in her heart and zuko was bad but had good in his heart so it was like yin and yang, and that was the main purpose/topic of the show" (?)

3. "they both had alter egos (painted lady and blue spirit)" (???) this one sounds like saying maiko was canon bc zuko worked in a tea shop and mai worked in a flower shop😂

4. "Zuko was the only one who supported katara in taking revenge on her mom's assassin" (?) if you ask me, that just proves zuko is not right for katara, he led her to do something she was gonna regret later (not trying to hate on zuko, i love him, and since i love him i acknowledge his flaws. I understand why he thought it was the best thing to do, he's an impulsive and resentful boy (he would've done the same if it was his mom) and he noticed how thirsty katara was for revenge, ofc he wanted to help her + he wanted her to accept him and thought it was the right thing to do in order to gain her trust, but it wasn't) unlike zuko, aang tried to make katara come to her senses and do the thing that was best for her: forgive and let go, and it was basically what she did at the end. She didn't do what zuko expected her to do. She did what aang expected her to do. She didn't forgive her mom's assassin, but she forgave zuko, and she didn't do THAT thing she (and aang) knew would regret later. Aang knew katara and what was the best thing for her to do.

5. and the most ridiculous one, "they both saved each other's lives in the final agni kai"(???????) and the funniest part is that it was followed by "WHAT MORE PROOFS DO YOU WANT???". Honestly wtf did ppl expect? Did they expect zuko to stand there and watch katara die? Did they expect katara to just stand there and watch zuko lay on the floor & die? And this has been said a million times and i am going to join and say it once again: zuko would've done that for ANYONE from the gaang, he would've done the same for toph, sokka, suki and aang. Because he learned to care about them. As for katara, she would've done that for anyone too wtf she healed aang once too and even brought him back to life. (I wouldn't be surprised if zk shippers used that as a parallel for romantic zvtara proof bc they're just like that💀)

There were more "reasons" but they're just so stupid and taken out of context like "they care for each other" & "katara was the one who encouraged him to talk to his uncle" like yeah that's what friends do. Basically all zvtara shippers do is REACH.

Also, i just can't see it happening. I like the enemies to lovers trope, maybe if the writers really intended to make it canon, i would have been down for the ship, it would've been interesting to see how it developed, but,, they didn't, and later i came to the realization that if it would've really happened, it would've been so... weird. Time to bring up the "colonized and colonizer ship" and how some ppl feel uncomfortable about it. Besides the fact that a relationship between zuko and katara wouldn't have worked (they're incompatible af, katara is a girl with a strong character and zuko is a guy with anger issues that takes everything personal, they'd be at each other's throats 99% of the time) it's just weird to think that katara would choose to marry a man from the fire nation, the nation that caused a big war that traumatized her, the nation that took her mother away from her. Imagine katara ruling along with zuko a nation she despised for years. Fire lady katara doesn't sit right with me, and i'm sure it doesn't sit right with a lot of ppl as well. I don't see katara doing that, and yes, i know she forgave zuko, but still, she would've never done that 🤦🏽‍♀️ i think it would've been so OOC tbh.

Another thing i laugh my ass off at is when they say "zuko should've chosen katara instead of mai" as if they were ever in a relationship for zuko to say "ok imma choose katara i wanna be with her". As if katara was EVER an option for him. They never showed interest in each other, what's not clicking?????? And zuko only had eyes for mai, not to mention that despite zuko and mai had a rough relationship, no girl would've dealed with zuko's bs better than mai. Can you imagine katara dealing with zuko blowing up over everything? Because i can't. Also people saying things like "zuko deserves someone who is always there for him and listens to him" (and ofc they're talking about katara) like, ok, you hate that katara is aang's "therapist" but you want her to be zuko's therapist. Logic? Where? And I do remember mai being a supportive gf and trying to cheer him up multiple times. Did they watch the same show as me?

Zvtarians try to play the victims about how they were "robbed" bc some voice actors shipped them and from what i've read people who worked for the show suggested to go for zk, but that's stupid, it doesn't count as "they planned it but scrapped it, we were robbed". The only word that counts are the creators' voice and they have stated they were always rooting for kataang, so no, you were not robbed.

People are just so in love with the idea of zuko and katara together they really convinced themselves it was likely to happen. Honestly zvtara it's a fine ship as fanon but ppl ruined it for me and what i hate the most is when they ship it and hate on aang and mai at the same time and make them look SO bad to invalidate kataang and maiko. Saying aang is abusive and mai is toxic is complete ✨bullshit✨ and lastly, it's ridiculous when they say the creators were cowards for not making it canon. They're cowards for not fulfilling your greatest childhood wish? Something they never planned? It is THEIR show. If you hate sm how things turned out then quit atla once and for all and go find another show that you know is gonna give you what you expect,,, it's tiring that they've been crying about it for 15 yrs , like, i joined the fandom recently but i can imagine how tired old atla fans must be of this.

OK so I have a lot of thoughts about this and firstly,,,anon I appreciate the dedication that it took for you to write  this, and I agree with many of your points. However, the attitude I have on this blog towards Avatar ships is far more neutral than what you’re saying.

Ultimately, romance is not and never was the focus of Avatar. Romantic development was always secondary or tertiary plot, and the entire show was far more focused on platonic relationship development. My attitude towards shippers on here - including Zutara shippers - is that people can ship what they want, as long as they’re respectful of each other and of the other characters that “interfere” with their ship. End of the day, shipping is irrelevant to the core of the show. 

People shipping something because they find it aesthetically appealing is honestly,,,fine. Personally, I think it’s reductionist, but I don’t care if you do because everyone has the right to enjoy media however they want to. 

That being said, we absolutely should call out racist or problematic tropes that we see, including ‘fire lady katara”. I also agree that it’s upsetting when people bash other characters in order to further their ship, as much of the bashing is also pretty racist and/or misogynistic. Calling that out, however, is separate from calling out every single person who happens to enjoy certain ships. 

“She didn't do what zuko expected her to do. She did what aang expected her to do. She didn't forgive her mom's assassin, but she forgave zuko, and she didn't do THAT thing she (and aang) knew would regret later. Aang knew katara and what was the best thing for her to do.”

I understand where you’re coming from, but I honestly disagree with this take. Both Aang and Zuko were approaching the situations from their own life experiences, but Katara didn’t do what either of the boys wanted. She chose her own path, by both sparing Yon Rha’s life but also refusing to forgive him. The episode is about Katara and her personal trauma and its focus should not be on her relationships with either Zuko or Aang. 

When I make posts such as this, it’s less about hating Z*tara and more about how this fandom focuses all its attention on romance and shipping, to the point where if you acknowledge a relationship’s importance it’s assumed you pair the two romantically. I don’t read Zuko and Katara’s relationship as romantic (for reasons that it would take too long to explain here), but their relationship development is extremely important, the two of them share tons of parallels and the final Agni Kai marks the culmination of both of their character arcs. Yes, Zuko would have taken the lightning for any of the characters, but it’s thematically important that it was Katara. None of this inherently means it’s romantic, but refusing to acknowledge the significance of the relationship between them is equally reductionist. 

This isn’t an attack on you, anon, and you’re 100% allowed to have negative feelings about a ship. But at the end of the day, it’s not worth getting this worked up over. If I were you I’d focus more on creating/consuming content for a ship you like than bashing ships you don’t!

[a-writer-shade-of-pale]

Jackson Brodie x OFC

Based on Jason Isaacs’ portrayal of Jackson Brodie in the BBC adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s ‘When Will There Be Good News?”

Summary: Jackson accidentally declares his love to OFC after being in a train crash. Inspired by the interaction between Jackson and Louise in the BBC adaptation. 

Rachel sat by the hospital bed, watching him sleep. His breathing was shallow and barely audible over the humming and beeping of machines. She hated hospitals, always had, and avoided them whenever possible. The smell, the endless people milling around, it reminded her of things she would rather forget but never could. She closed her eyes tightly, as if trying to force the memories back into the past and returned her gaze to Jackson. He had a large dressing on his forearm, a smaller one on the side of his head, numerous cuts and grazes to his face and what looked like extensive bruising on his chest. The doctors had assured her that it looked worse than it actually was; a fairly nasty head injury and a couple of broken ribs but he was going to be ok. Thank god.

He wasn’t even supposed to be here. He was supposed to be in Scotland for at least another couple of days. She had been working late and had missed his call. He had left her a message. “Hi, it’s me. Hope you’re ok. Look, I’m heading back early and……erm…… I  wondered if you were free this evening…… for a drink or……meal…….or…..erm………well, you’re obviously not free……. probably working …… erm…… I should be back by 8, I’ll try you again then………bye.” She had smiled to herself, he was absolutely shocking at speaking on the phone, and checked the time, 9.15pm. Strange, there had been no other missed call or message. Looking at the pile of paperwork still on her desk, she had decided it could wait until tomorrow and dialled his number while shutting down her computer and switching off her lamp. No answer. She had tried again while heading to her car, still nothing. Maybe he had got caught in traffic, or just changed his mind. Just as she was about to set off for home, her phone had rang. It was an unknown number. “Hello?”

“Hello, is that Rachel Morgan?”

“Speaking, can I ask who is calling?”

“I’m calling from St. Thomas’s Hospital; do you know a man by the name of Jackson Brodie?”

Her stomach had lurched, there was a pounding in her ears, her hands began to shake.“Yes”

“He asked us to call you and we found your number in his phone. I’m afraid he’s been involved in an accident…….”

She hadn't  heard the rest, she had dropped the phone and headed straight to the hospital.

Jackson suddenly let out a low moan and started to stir, pulling her back to the present. His eyes opened slightly, and he turned his head towards her. She leant forward in the chair and gently laid her hand over his, “Hey, it’s about time you joined me. It’s bad manners to keep a lady waiting you know?” He squeezed her hand and a small smile flickered at the corner of his mouth. “How are you feeling?” 

Jackson frowned “Where…?” His breath caught in his throat and he looked confused. 

“You’ve been in an accident. I’m told you picked a fight with a train and, apparently, you didn’t come out of it on top. You’re in hospital” He closed his eyes again and grimaced “Are you in pain?” She stood up and leant over him to press the call button for a nurse. 

He opened his eyes again, struggling to focus on her face as he groggily said, “You’re so beautiful”.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. She reached down and gently stroked his face with her fingertips, careful to avoid the cuts and bruises. “They said you had hit your head; I didn’t realise it you’d hit it that hard…”. Sitting back down on the chair, she saw him close his eyes again and watched his chest rise and fall as he took deep, laboured breaths, struggling for air, pain etched onto his face. She slipped her hand into his and held it tightly “It’s ok Jackson, take it easy. You’re ok. I’m here”  

His expression relaxed and his breathing began to ease. He looked directly at her, just for a moment, gripped her hand and muttered “I love you” before he closed his eyes and his breathing became shallow again. 

She hadn’t expected that. She was shocked, it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her. 

Just then the nurse entered the room “Everything OK?” 

“What? Oh, sorry, he came round…….he was talking…..just for a moment….he was in pain and struggling to breathe….” 

The nurse walked over and Rachel let go of Jackson’s hand, rising from the chair and stepping aside and out of the way. She watched as the nurse checked his over and her sight became blurred. She couldn’t breathe, she panicked and left.

She almost ran out of the hospital. This wasn’t what she signed up for. She didn’t have serious relationships, in fact up until recently she didn’t really have relationships of any description, serious or otherwise. She had met Jackson during a case a few months ago and he had made an impression on her from the start. As an ex-policeman turned private investigator, he should have been of immense irritation to her, like he was to pretty much all of her colleagues. She had heard rumours about him, both before he left the force and afterwards, but she always preferred to make up her own mind about people instead of listening to idle gossip. Besides, he had interested her. There was something about him that made her want to get to know him better and apparently the feeling was mutual. When the case was over, he had asked her if she would like to go for a drink and she had accepted. She hadn’t planned for anything to come of it, but she had liked him in spite of herself and it became a regular thing. It hadn't taken long for them to take the leap from friendly banter over drinks to something much more. Sure, they were getting on well; he was nice, he didn't place any expectations on her and seemed to accept her for who she was which was a miracle in itself, really. But she had made it clear that she couldn’t offer him anything serious and he had said the same. She thought he was ok with how things were, that they were on the same page. Now he was saying that he loved her. She got into her car and took a deep breath. Maybe it was just the accident, or the medication. He was really groggy. He probably didn’t even know who she was……… But what if it was the truth? What if he did love her? Oh Fuck, what if she was falling for him as well? What then?

She looked back towards the hospital and thought of him lying there broken. A tear came to her eye and she turned the key in the ignition and drove away.

*

Bloody bike. She absolutely loved the freedom she felt while she was riding it, but maintaining the damn thing was a nightmare. The carburettor needed cleaning along with some other minor jobs, so she put her playlist on and got to work. She had spent a lot of time working on it over the past couple of days, it helped her think. The thing with Jackson at the hospital had floored her and she had handled it badly. That was three days ago. She had called the hospital every day to find out how he was but had not visited or contacted him directly. That was really shitty even by her standards. They didn’t live in each other’s pockets by any means, but she had missed him while he was away in Scotland and when she had received the phone call from the hospital, she had been terrified that she was going to lose him and now she probably had anyway. Why would he be interested in her now? Maybe it was for the best, she was a mess and he deserved better. 

Never the less, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. She felt bad for how she had treated him, she had behaved disgracefully and the very least he deserved was an apology. So, she resolved to finish up with the bike, clean herself up and go and see him. Although, that was assuming he even wanted to see her and why would he? Even if he did, what the hell was she going to say to him? ‘I’m sorry I bailed on you when you were seriously injured in hospital, but…..’ But what? What could possibly excuse that? She wasn’t concentrating and caught the back of her forearm on a sharp bit of metal “Bollocks!” Pulling her arm away sharply, there were already droplets of red falling from the deep gash and dripping onto the floor “Well, that’s just brilliant.” 

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Great timing whoever that is, “Hang on a sec…” she called as she scrabbled up from the floor and looked for something to wrap around the cut, finding only a stray sock on the radiator. Well, it would have to do, at least it was most likely clean.

She got to the door, almost falling over her cat on the way, and opened it to find Jackson on the doorstep. He seemed a little surprised to have been confronted by a grease-covered Rachel, spanner in hand, with AC/DC echoing through the hall. But not as surprised as she was to see him. He should still be in hospital. His left arm was in a sling and his face was mottled with bruising. He looked exhausted. “Jackson, Hi. Are you……..How are you?”

“Yeah, I’m good” He seemed guarded, anxious. “I was just wondering…”

“Wondering about what?”

His gaze shifted to the side. “The hospital. I remember you being there, then you weren’t. Did something happen? Did I…….?”

She didn’t know what to say. He knew that something happened but not what. Maybe it was better to keep it that way. “No… nothing happened. I just………I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have……I should have…..”

Jackson stepped forward and looked directly at her, holding her gaze. “Rachel, I may not know what happened, but I know something did. You were with me…..then I woke up again and you were gone and I haven’t heard from you since. Call me paranoid but……..Did I……say something?” he said, with a slight quiver in his voice.

She paused for a moment, considering what to say. “You were pretty out of it...I mean, you had been in a train crash, obviously you were out of it……you said, well…..you told me you loved me.”

Jackson suddenly seemed vulnerable. His eyes watered and he looked away, slowly nodding his head before quietly saying “Right, well, not exactly how I had planned to handle it.”

Rachel gasped in mock surprise “Jackson Brodie, you mean to tell me that you actually had a plan?!” He glanced back up at her and smiled briefly before looking away once more. Her own smile faded as she studied him for a moment, considering what he had said and what it meant. “So, it wasn’t just the fact that you had taken on a train and lost then?”

He shook his head and shrugged “No. Well, I didn’t mean to say it….not like that”

“You didn’t mean to say it, but you meant it?”

“Yes, I did… I do”

She bit her lip and shifted her weight from one leg to the other, unsure what to say. It’s true that she hadn’t planned for her relationship with Jackson to become anything serious, but she felt…..how did she feel? She thought back to the journey to the hospital, the panic that threatened to overwhelm her that he would die. The pain at seeing him so badly hurt in the hospital……had she fallen for him too? She guessed there was only one way to find out. “Okay.”  

He looked back at her with a searching expression “Is it?”

She paused for a moment, before smiling “Yes”

He looked down again and nodded before smiling himself “Okay”.

“Do you want to come in?”

“It’s ok, you’re busy. I don’t want to intrude…..” Just then, he looked down at her arm “Your arm……what happened? Are you ok?” 

She looked down and saw that the white sock that she hand wrapped around her forearm was now stained red and blood was dripping onto the floor. “Oh, I caught myself on the bike. It’s fine, really. It’s nothing.’

“It doesn’t look like nothing, let me see.” As he bent forward he seemed to lose his balance and put his hand out to steady himself on the door frame. 

“Jesus. Jackson are you ok?” She dropped the spanner she had been holding and slipped under his arm, wrapping her own arm around his waist to support him. Just in time. He suddenly went deathly pale and looked as if he were about to pass out. She helped him inside and through into the living room, gently lowering him onto the sofa before crouching in front of him and holding his face in her hands “Jackson….Jackson what’s wrong? I’m calling an ambulance….” 

She stood to get her phone out of her pocket but he shook his head  “No….I’m alright”

“You are absolutely not alright. The hospital shouldn’t have let you out so soon….”

He groaned “They didn’t”.

She looked up from her phone, raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to one side “What?”

Jackson leaned forward, resting his head in his hands, and took a deep breath through his nose, holding it for a moment before exhaling through pursed lips. “I kind of checked myself out. I hate hospitals.”

“Jesus Christ Jackson. No one likes hospitals, but they come in pretty handy when you have been in a train crash. Come on, I’m taking you back.”

He reached up and took her hand “No, please Rachel. I’m fine honestly. I just need a minute.”

She looked at him, he really didn’t look fine. In fact, he looked bloody awful. “You need more than just a minute. What the hell were you think……Woah!” Jackson had suddenly pitched forward and she lurched forward and caught him holding him upright with both of her hands on his shoulders. “Ok….I’ve got you. Let’s get you laid down” Rachel slid her hands down his chest and around his back, holding him tightly as she lowered him slowly to the side and then onto his back before lifting each of his legs and resting them on the sofa arm. She then undid the buttons around his collar and as she began to loosen his belt, Jackson let out a small groan and muttered “Steady on, I have just been hit by a train you know?” Although his eyes were closed, a smile spread across his lips.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“It has been pointed out once or twice”

She laughed in spite of herself and shook her head “What the hell am I going to do with you?”

“Well-”

“Don’t answer that. Back in a second” 

She headed to the kitchen to get him a glass of water and contemplated calling an ambulance. He had been in a serious accident and really didn’t seem well but, against her better judgement, she decided against it. She walked back to the living room and found him sitting up, leaning back against the sofa and resting his head against the wall and staring at the ceiling. “Feeling better?”

He slowly sat forward and smiled “Yeah, sorry”

She offered him the glass “It’s ok, I won’t hold it against you. Here, drink this.”

Jackson took the glass and slowly sipped the water as she walked over to the window, opening it wide to let in some fresh air. Behind her, she heard him place the glass down on the table and turned to find him staring at her. “Rachel….are we….I mean, I know you said…..but…”

She walked over to the sofa, sat down next to him, put her finger on his lips and smiled “Shut up Jackson”. She leaned in closer, her hand reaching round to the back of his neck, pulling him towards her until her lips were almost touching his ear and whispered, “I love you too.” 

He inhaled sharply and pulled away. Their eyes met and he cupped her cheek in his hand as he kissed her lips, her cheek, her jaw, then her neck as he held her tightly against him. His breathing rapid, his hands, searching and hungry, she whispered into his ear once more “And now, I’m taking you back to the hospital.”  

[underthemoon-and-stars]

Hello! Would you mind writing a oneshot where Reader says yes to being Bucky's girl but didn't disclose that she is in an open relationship. The other guy then comes to visit her in the tower and Bucky confesses he is not comfortable with the thought of sharing the love of his life ? (In the end she chooses Buck Buck ofc) ❤ THANK YOU FOR READING

Hi love!! I’m so so sorry this took so long, work had been killing me but I hope you enjoy!! And if it’s rushed I’m super sorry!!! -selenophile

He’s got you. James Buchanan Barnes. Bucky Barnes. Winter Soilder. White Wold. Bucky boy. Whatever name you heard, it didn’t matter. He owns you. That’s what he thought at least.

You remember the day he told you he was interested in you. Your heart rate shot through the roof. Breathing? Impossible. You very much enjoyed him too, but you knew you couldn’t indulge in the sweet sweet boy of Bucky too much. You knew you had another boyfriend too.

His name is Connor and he’s a sweetheart. The both of you were in an open relationship, since it was a long distance relationship. Oddly, you met in a HYDRA captivity hide out and when you were freed you managed to catch up! Times have changed though, and you couldn’t keep up with him. That’s why it’s open. Connor has found a cute girl, and you have a hot boy. It was perfect. Of course, you promised to tell Bucky about your open relationship, but before it could happen...

It was Friday night. 8 pm to be specific. You were making yourself a late sandwich for dinner. Your bruised body needed sustenance somehow.

“Hey pretty baby” Bucky called out to you. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“Hello Bucky.”

“I heard you were in pain?”

He strutted over, and god did you love it. Those thighs were killer. His hips cried for your hands to rest there. Those lucious brown locks flipped slightly.

“Mmmm very much Bucky. I think you should help me out hm?” You snicker, hoping up on the counter. It took every inch of energy out of you, but it was worth it to get the higher ground on the hottest boy on the planet.

Bucky smirked, slipping his rough hands on your soft, bare thighs. You giggled. The coldness is the metal and the burning of flesh was a slight turn on to be honest.

“You’re lucky I’m in a very good mood, princess.” He growled.

“I’m glad”

You lean in for a kiss when you hear the elevator make that iconic “ding!”. You turn to see.

“Who’s that? I’m sorry sir you can’t be-“

“Tulip!!!” The man yells out.

“Sunflower!!!!” You giggle, running to Conner and hugging him tightly. Bucky raised his eyebrow. You never called him a cute name like that.

You pulled away, smushing your lips right against Connor’s. He happily smooshed back.

Bucky felt his heart shatter. What in the world?? You were his girl...at least he thought that was what’s going on?

“Excuse me?” He yelled out, breaking your kiss. This is when the embarrassment arrived on your cheeks.

“Bucky, I was going to tell you today, this is Connor. My boyfriend. We’re in an open relationship.”

Connor beamed. “Youre Bucky!!! It’s nice to meet you!!! Y/N has told me so-“

Bucky stormed out the room. Slow, salty tears streamed down his face. The door slamming shut sounded like a crack of thunder.

Destroyed. Devistaed. Pure anguish.

Bucky remembers the day you met. The day he totally couldn’t help but crush. He was infiltrating a underground hydra base. It got a little held up, he slipped down, and was facing a gun. His eyes snapped shut, but nothing happened. Slowly and cautiously, he opened his eyes to see the HYDRA man. Dead. And you, a hot but yet beautiful mess. Your hands slightly glowing, but dying down.

“You owe me one” you joked, offering that small hand of yours. You could barely pick him up, but the offer stuck with him.

“How about I get you to a safe place? Where we can control your powers and use it for good?”

“I’d like that”

From that day on, your relationship has only gotten stronger. And he’s only fallen for you more and more.

He accepted your weaknesses and applauded you when you worked on them. He saw your strengths and did what he could to make them even more powerful.

Bucky loved the way you laughed at his jokes. He admired the way you comforted him whenever he had his HYDRA nightmares. He couldn’t help but feel his heart skip a beat watching you train.

Your physical attributes were fantastic. He could care less what body type you were, cause no matter what he’d want to adore it and kiss it. That smile you gave him felt like a love arrow straight to the heart. The way your eyes devoured his soul was too much to handle.

You changed his life. And he fell deeply in love with you. He asked you out to be with you forever.

And you were in an open relationship the whole time.

Cognitive Disorientations filled his mind. It wasn’t a good time to be Bucky. He hasn’t had to feel this way because of you in a long time. Sad though that you were the one who made the feeling return.

Slowly, your knuckles graze the door. The knock was as pityful as he thought you were being.

“James, please, I wanna talk”

“And I don’t want you too.”

You use your powers to break the door. It creaked open slowly.

“Oh thank you so much for breaking my door! Wouldn’t be the first thing you broke today” He yelled at you, tears pouring out of his eyes.

“James don’t be like that-“ you told him rather calmly. Bucky didn’t appreciate that very much.

“No, you don’t even understand? You, Y/N, are the love of my life!! You are the best thing that ever came into my life!! And I’m sorry, I personally don’t want to share the girl I want to be mine!! I’ve kissed you, cuddled you, fucked you god damn it and I don’t want to share that with a boy who lives 3,000 miles away!!”

The room went silent. Bucky was silently sobbing, as you joined in. It broke with your hiccup

“Y-you....you love me? We...we weren’t doing this for sex?”

“No!! No, I never wanted it to be this way!! I...im not very good with my emotions Y/N...but I really do love you”

You flung yourself at the taller man. And oh god, did he let you.

“I love you too!! And only you!! Me and Connor don’t click like we use to, but us? We have similar stories and I can’t believe I’ve been ignoring us for so long.

Bucky kissed your head, holding you close in your arms. His warm chest was super comforting.

“Can you help me tell Connor...” you begged for more comfort, and he gave it to you. You were off the ground before you knew it.

“Of course baby. Let’s talk about it”

It took a while, but you and Bucky came up with a plan to tell Connor. He was very understanding, as the girl he met back at home he genuinely loved as well. You said your final goodbyes, and cling to your new official boyfriend.

When the door closed, Bucky smirked “Shall we pick up where we left up pretty girl?”

You smirked right back “hell yes”

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