#so yeah Raven only has a shadow when using magic yeah yeah I like this hell yea

[mydnite-moonrabbit]

What if I made Raven like.... an illusionist? I think that could fit with its whole shtick. Creating shadow creatures to whisper things into your ear, making you see horrible visions, or making you see visions of good things and then "reminding" you that that will never happen. Shadowmancer......... yea......

(@alakazam-attraction)

[battlinghurricanes]

I swear to god I'm gonna finish this Laxeel fic I'm working on, and hopefully soon. I'm committed to this one, I need to actually complete a project for my sanity, also I'm cooking with this one tbh. It's very fun to write. I'm posting a couple snippets for motivation.

The premise follows my ideas about Laxus's expulsion from Fairy Tail coinciding with Gajeel's infiltration of Raven Tail

---

It kind of stings in an illogical way, to hear someone take his side after it’s too late. Or at least claim to.

“...Is that what you think?” Laxus reproaches, then continues before Gajeel can respond, “You did the same shit. I heard you when you said of course I would be a monster since I’ve got the master’s blood in me. I- remember that.”

It gives him at least a grain of satisfaction to see Gajeel wince a little. “Ah, true, I’ll give you that one. Sorry. Tacky, in retrospect, and also dumb. I was under the impression you were using the same type of magic he has. I didn’t know then that you’re a dragon slayer.”

Great. “Oh, thanks. Like that’s so much much better.” So he only changed his mind when he found out he and a different kind of magic, one he got in an even more artificial and undeserved way than inheritance. “I’ve got loads to be proud of there.”

A crooked frown tugs on Gajeel’s lips. “Your words, not mine. I’m not gonna pretend I know your whole story, that’s why I said it’s not my place to give my two cents. Take it however you want, all I mean is that I know dragon slayer magic. Adapting to it without a dragon to teach you, enough to wield it that well? That’s no mean feat- and I know no one else could’a done it for you. So yeah, that’s when your own strength hit me. And impressed me.”

A jagged, reedy peel of laughter breaks from Laxus, the sound rolling carelessly as he stretches back against all the tension in his spine, against the urge to tear at his scalp. “Motherfucker. Fuck that. Gh- Fuck that shit.” Lids closing, he lolls his head. “I was tryin’ to prove my strength to everyone and grow outta his shadow, and in the end, the only one who recognized my power as my own was one of the ones who fucking beat me anyway! What a fucking joke.” His throat aches.

---

“Cut the bullshit.” Gajeel blinks and tries to get the two Laxuses swimming across his vision to merge back into one. “You’re following me.”

“Gh... I’m not.” Laxus glares at his assertion and opens his mouth. “-But someone is.”

That makes him stop and hone the full weight of his attention in on him. If he were any worse at this, Gajeel would have let loose a taut breath from the feeling, but he’s good, and he knows that near truths make for excellent lies when he can afford them. With Laxus, he decides he can. “You’re strong, you’re known for it, and now you’re an independent mage. That garners attention.” He can see the unquestioning comprehension reflected in Laxus’s eyes, and he would bet his ass that several legal guilds have already tried scouting him, proving that point.

“Some people have been tailing ya, and I happen to be on a job to bring those same people to heel, get it? Honest, I’ve got no interest in breathing down your neck- you shouldn’t have to deal with anyone doing that. I know it’d drive me mad. But because I’m tracking them, it means I’m also all but tracking you half the time.”

Laxus rumbles quietly, “Who are they?”

“Can’t tell ya. It would compromise the person I’m trying to help if I talk about our agreement,” he fibs lightly, silently thanking the master for finally giving a run down of official contract stipulations and enforcement the other week. “Especially to a non guild member.”

Laxus huffs, the line of his scar skewing over his expression. Gajeel offers, “If they could put you in danger, I promise I’ll tell you anyway,” and it’s not a lie. “But as is, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

With a wary shift of his head, Laxus frowns, then he gestures at Gajeel’s bruised, half-bandaged ribs. “Is that so? Because I would think anyone who can do this to you has already proven themselves as dangerous. I’d rather know who I might end up dealing with.”

Gajeel doesn’t respond for a beat, too shocked by Laxus’s open acknowledgement of his strength. “O-oh.”

UPDATE: here's the fic

[raayllum]

I know you like to analyze thematically in TDP a lot and you write top down the same way, so I’m curious, what are some of the themes/motifs in your upcoming novels? and do any of them coincide with TDP?

(GASP you get a gold star oh my god thank you!! and i will try to not make this too Long but i'm very excited!!)

Basic premise for ppl who have never heard of my novels before:

Latest generation of a reincarnated group of chosen ones have to grow up in a world of increasing violence and political instability that they're supposed to fix while also facing their own choices and demons. The main character, Ally, starts off as an 'unchosen one' — she lost her powers as a young child and has been trying to get them back, which kinda makes her resent her chosen one friends just as much as she loves them. The other two co-leads are her twin sister, a former child soldier with death powers she doesn't want, and her friend / one sided rival, a draconic-powered prodigy looking for redemption and to escape her past.

The funny thing is that when I was writing out my series (2014-2017 has all the pieces we currently have, though things have ofc been finessed since then) only ATLA existed as an inspiration point, which was, "How do you always know the Avatar is going to be a good person (and what if you didn't? What if they weren't)?" + "what if there was more than one running around?"

The rest was all from my head. There's a mystical magical heart broken into pieces. A continent divided in two with a long history of war. Characters anchored to the idea of Autonomy who then go through a loss of powers arc (hi Callum s2) and then brainwashing/possession arc (hi arc 2 Callum) that was probably by far the funniest coincidence. Circles and cycles and children and choices. The fact that these all just also found their way into TDP shows just how much it feels like the show was Made For Me in the best way creatively, and one of the reasons I think I've found TDP so personally rewarding to analyze—happy coincidences all around.

There's other coming-of-age themes of course that are shared between the two—grief, identity, friendship—but being prose I get to lean more into religious and political worldbuilding in much more detail.

I think my novel(s) are also more grey and angsty (especially later on) than TDP was at the start, too. A good chunk of my protagonists don't have any moral reservations about assassinations or killing/torturing people push come to shove while also still wanting and trying to be Good People, but that just makes the ethical dilemmas more interesting to explore. That said, everything is ultimately more Hopepunk, I just prefer to never pull punches on the way there

Motifs I like to use:

a tarot inspired in-universe version of chess for foreshadowing purposes

stage motif (who are you when you're performing for everyone around you / constantly fronting?)

birds / ravens

wolves

knives

eyes / the ouroboros (snake eating its own tail)

Themes: gods vs monsters (vs humanity), complex family and friend dynamics, living vs survival, grief and cycles, loss of sense of self, idolization and scapegoating as two sides of dehumanization, etc.

I also wanted to have unique power sets (Moon is one of my favourites with leaning into shadow magic and being able to make things temporarily out of moonlight, or Life not just being all fuzzy plants and animals and showing more of the well, brutality of being alive).

People have said my main protag is basically if Claudia and Rayla were the same person and yeah that's a fair assessment, Unfortunately for her.

I feel like I blabbed enough here but if you want more info on writing things from a top-down approach / what it's like to build from theme first I'd love to talk about it more in relation to TDP (and also my books, mayhaps!)

[datacreations]

The Loud House & Ever After High Crossover in DnD-Esque World (idea).

Hey first of all if this intrigue you enough to keep reading thank you, and secondly let´s start:

"Milton Grimm was never trully honest about the ¨Destiny or Poof¨ situation, in reality he just throw away every character that don´t signed through a portal to another world, so when Raven Queen the daughter of the Evil Queen of the tale of snow white, not only don´t signed also start a Rebel movement, Milton knew that she has to be throw to the portal, but when she was cast away in other part of the multiverse, in a world where the fairy tales are just that stories a young genius called Lisa Loud who was trying to make interdimensional travel with the help of her brother, Lincoln Loud, this one was sucked to the same world, the reason when Milton thrown someone to that world the barrier between these gets weaker, Lisa experiment just happens to be in the right moment, and now the discarted from Ever After can go back and make Milton pay for what he do to their ancestors and themselves".

That´s the idea but now some points.

The World that the discarted are, is like a DnD setting, and by that theres Classes and Subclasses, the most popular and common are the oficials of DnD 5e,but there rarer are the Homebrew.

The Homebrew is any content created by fans for the game (DnD).

The world itself is pretty great but is great in spite of Milton not because him

The Mother of Duchess Swan, Odette Swan, is a Character that was discarted by Grimm, the reason is that before her story started, she was learned magic to lift her Eternal Swan Curse and that way be in her daughters life, she made it but before see her daughter again, Milton find out and throw her. Her Class is Wizard (yeah there´s no femenine way to say, because is referred to any magic user that gains magic throught the study), and her Subclass is Abjuration (Protection, Exorcism and lift curses).

The Class of Raven is the Sorcerer (in this case she never asked for her powers) her subclass is Shadow Magic, because apart of the aesthetic reason this subclass can make shadow hounds and I like to thing that they look like her childhood dog, Prince.

The class of Lincoln is the Warlock (his powers comes from other being called: The Otherwoldly Patron) I don´t know what subclass he should be, maybe I use Homebrew for him.

That be all for now, thanks to everyone that read, and a special thanks to @trainer-sean for hear well read my rambling of this idea before this post, I hope I don´t annoy you, if you person who read this have an idea just tell me I gonna, sorry for the way I wrote english is not my first language.

[sstreetgh0st]

First Post

✨so get to know me and the characters I will be writing abt✨

✨Me ✨ : Name online is street ghost I am a “ writer” who enjoys coffee, pasta, books, and music. Favorite book I have read so far is six of crows. Favorite film is unfriend. I been writing since I was 8. And right now it’s is 01:39 as writing this.

Know get to know the lovely ( mc) characters

Violet Haven

Violet is 15 years old while having the power to manipulate shadows. The weapon she uses the most is a double bladed scythe. Violet is overall an introvert. When around people she knows such as her brothers she can talk a lot. Violet pasts the free time while eating sushi and making hand made jewelry. Violet is hot headed despite being nice to Niko. But Violet is terrified about the idea of her past coming to haunt her.

Niko Haven

Niko is a Greek American 14 year old who enjoys archery and his power to manipulate his own blood. Which lead him to keep a bow slung over his shoulders often. Niko hobbies are reading and learning new things Niko can be quite when he wants to- he often does though because he doesn’t find pleasure in talking to people. There are a few people who are exceptions ofc. Niko is scare of rejection due to how his past was.

Scott Haven

Scott is the oldest and the British among the Havens being at 17. He has the power/magic of manipulative lighting/ electricity. His biggest fear is abandonment due to how his mother just left him with his mentally absent dad. But this also makes him loyal and very caring towards the people he cares about. His signature weapon is a pair of throwing hatchets

( so these are the characters about the big book I am writing abt the other characters are from a side book)

Raven Raith

( Raven is one of my newer characters so sorry if her introduction seems odd)

Raven is only 18 years old yet has a gift, the art of crime. A murder who doesn’t get caught. A Gonfo who is a sly as a fox. But the thing is Raven wasn’t force into this life, she chose it. Raven is quite, depending on the person, she might state her opinion, but often she listens to the person speaking and finds a flaw or lie. Raven biggest fear is losing her freedom. Even as she works for Tris, she can pick who she kills and how. Losing her freedom means losing her life. She doesn’t find laws as way to protect people. She finds them as aways to protect people who should be slaughtered.

Milo Àngel Resucitado

Milo was aways a trouble maker. To when he lived in Fallen Rain to the day he was shipped of to Edam He was actually shipped off because when he lived in a boy school he cause so much chaos he was sent on a ship to be a slave. The only reason Milo survived living in Edam was because of Raven. Who originally wanted to kill Milo. But once she saw the glint of trickery in his eyes she knew this boy would be perfect as her partner in crime. Even though Milo was only 14 when he entered the world of crime he made himself a name already. Milo is quite the opposite of Raven, being loud when talking to people and isn’t afraid to put his opinion out. His biggest fear is losing himself. So he set him self 3 moral rules he will never cross.

This took way to long - there are more characters ofc but these are the main ones I enjoy/ and writing abt. Soooo yeah. Hope yal like my characters.

[number63liveblogs]

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell 13

Well, you know the deal: when there’s a prophecy in a book it’s going to be coming true in some shape or form, or the character hearing the prophecy is going to ruin their own life by trying to prevent it from happening.

Let’s see here.

The beginning seems to just identify the speaker as the Raven King, so we can skip it, apart from

England was given to me to be mine forever.

I gave magic to England, a valuable inheritance

I think that these two things are, at least on some level, true of the Raven King, but I don’t know how relevant that’s going to be. The book has just introduced the war, so the fate of whole countries being on the line wouldn’t be that much of an escalation.

“Two magicians shall appear in England . . .”

The first magician is Mr. Norrell, and the second is Jonathan Strange.

“The first shall fear me; the second shall long to behold me;

Mr. Norrell already said that he hates the Raven King, but Jonathan Strange wanting to (maybe trying to?) contact him is new.

The first shall be governed by thieves and murderers; the second shall conspire at his own destruction;

I think the “thieves and murderers” are Drawlight and Lascelles, although it is possible that they’re just thieves and Mr. Norrell will manage to get even worse helpers in the future. The description of Jonathan Strange, on the other hand, is starting to paint a very specific picture.

The first shall bury his heart in a dark wood beneath the snow, yet still feel its ache;

See, this could be literal, but it could also be Mr. Norrell cloistering himself again after whatever happens in the book.

The second shall see his dearest possession in his enemy's hand . . .”

Unfortunately we know nothing of Jonathan Strange, so his dearest possession could be literally anything.

“The first shall pass his life alone; he shall be his own gaoler;

Doesn’t seem like Mr. Norrell is going to find himself any real friends. Pity for him, not that he’s been looking very actively.

The second shall tread lonely roads, the storm above his head, seeking a dark tower upon a high hillside . . .”

Again, this could be literal but it could also be a metaphor for Jonathan Strange trying to gain power.

“I sit upon a black throne in the shadows but they shall not see me. The rain shall make a door for me and I shall pass through it;

The Raven King using rain to go to places has been repeated several times in the prophecy, and again it could be a metaphor or it could be a literal rain, like the one Mr. Norrell made ships out of a few chapters back.

The stones shall make a throne for me and I shall sit upon it . . .”

The stones, on the other hand, are new. It looks like the Raven King is coming back, but we already heard that neither of the magicians are going to see him.

So yeah, the book is basically saying that it’s a tragedy, and Jonathan Strange is going to ruin his own life. And that just so happens to be one of my favourite things in fiction, people gaining power and then using it to ruin their lives!

Unfortunately for Mr. Norrell, he would never listen to a madman’s ramblings, and why should he? He doesn’t know he’s in a story and all prophecies are relevant and in real life, even in a world that has magic, sometimes people are just rambling or, even worse, purposefully trying to deceive you.

I do wonder where this prophecy came from. Vinculus himself can't be a magician, because there are only two, but maybe the fairies have a presence in London, apart from mages?

[delcakoo]

pixie dust ⋆ ˚｡⛧ ˚ l.hs

SUMMARY ! when the boy you've been telling stories about your whole childhood magically shows up in your bedroom, it only makes sense for him to take you and your brother to neverland instead of letting you grow up.

PAIRING ! peterpan!heeseung x f!reader ft. brother!riki

WC ! 1.8k

GENRE ! fantasy, fluff, crack (?)

a/n: i have no explanation for this i just randomly thought of rewriting peter pan so!! hee fic nobody asked for <3

throughout your whole life, only one boy has ever been inside your bedroom.

who may that be? the suspense is heart pounding, isn’t it?

it’s your brother, riki.

though, you’re not too sure if that embarrassing fact is the case anymore considering the sound of an young, unfamiliar male voice has trampled its way into your peaceful slumber and forced your eyes open at what feels like way past midnight.

“it has to be in here somewhere, i swear on it.” first he opened your toy box, then started searching through your drawers all with strange little jingling sounds to accompany the hunt. you felt petrified, too scared to even move and find out who this boy was. even worse, you couldn’t forget about the fact that your little brother was fast asleep in his bed across from you, unaware of the stranger lurking around the room.

“gotcha!” you nearly let out a yelp at the sudden raise of volume. ”see, i knew i’d find it, tink.”

tink?

it couldn’t be.

your body snaps up in bed, gripping the silk sheets tightly while reaching over to turn on your night lamp. immediately, the room illuminates, revealing a pale skinned boy in a peculiar green outfit. his face was strikingly handsome — cute pointed nose, bambi-like eyes and soft black bangs that framed his face even nicer under a small green hat.

he looked much better than in the nursery’s books, for one.

though, you’re slightly caught off guard by the way he’s grabbing onto a dark reflection of himself, along with a bar of soap in a desperate pursuit of scrubbing the bottom of his brown boots.

flashing back to the night before, you do recall catching a shadow with your brother and trapping it in a drawer, and guilt rushes through you at how it all went down.

“riki, you’re being ridiculous. it can’t be peter’s shadow.”

your brother grips onto the shadows ankle tighter while it attempts to fly away, holding it close like a balloon. “i swear it is, sis. look at the pointy hat, it’s just like in the storybooks! you’re the one who always tells me to use my imagination, now look at you. maybe you really are growing up,” he mumbles the last part, pink lips turning into a hurt pout.

hastily pulling open the closest wooden drawer, your eyes soften for a second before it turns into frustration. “that’s enough. we’re putting it in here and figuring this out tomorrow. i don’t want another word from you.”

speaking of your brother, he quickly wakes up at the bright glare of your lamp, eyes squinted and raven hair sticking up in all directions. a dramatic gasp escapes his lips that you can hear even from across the room as he meets the eyes of the intruder. “peter pan?”

peter blinks, seemingly unphased by being caught. “riki?”

“i knew it was you! i told her it was your shadow,” your stupid brother points right over at you, and you blush at all the attention now being narrowed down on you in your measly nightgown, “but she wouldn’t believe me!”

the magical boy puts the hand that isn’t gripping his shadow on his hips, head tilting to the side as he inspects you up and down. “that doesn’t sound like you, y/n.”

“i- how do you know our names?” you blurt.

he smirks, leaning against your dresser before going back to scrubbing his shoe. “me and tink stop by for your stories every night.”

you decide then and there that this couldn’t get any more embarrassing. “but.. my stories are always about you.”

“yeah, that’s my favourite part,” he replies swiftly. you never imagined peter pan to be such a bratty narcissist, though you suppose going off children’s books isn’t the most trustworthy source. “also, my real name’s heeseung. since you’re even prettier up close, i think i’d prefer if you call me that instead.”

you freeze up, mouth parting uselessly as your brother swoops in to save the day. “what about me, what about me?”

he gives the younger boy an annoyed look, pretty eyes rolling back a bit. “you too, i guess.”

while riki blabbers on about how excited he is to meet him, heeseung starts pressing the bottom of his shoe against his shadow, as if using soap would magically glue them back together.

snapping out of your daze, you hop out of bed, rushing over to find your sewing kit. “you can’t attach your shadow back with a bar of soap.” when you pace over to the boy, his eyes furrow down curiously as you grab his shadow and kneel down to his boot. “don’t move.”

you’ve sewn socks, scarves, mittens, and even a ugly hat for your brother as your parents were too cheap to get him a nice one for winter. even with all this experience, you most definitely haven’t sewn a shadow before.

while you begin with your work, your brother plops out of his own bed, suddenly jumping and closing his hands together in a tight ball. he grins proudly, looking over at you with eyes turned into crescents. “sis, i caught a firefly!”

“good job, ki,” you reply absentmindedly. just as you finish up with heeseung’s shadow, offering him a thumbs up to tell him he could move, your brother yelps in alarm.

“y/n! i- i caught a girl!”

your lips part as you try and process his words. “you what?!”

luckily, heeseung quickly rushes over, pulling your brother's hands apart to release a small, pale girl with wings and a mini green dress. her hair was tied in a neat blonde bun, and she’d look like an angel if it wasn’t for the angry scowl painted on her face. “tink, there you are,” he smiles, chuckling as the miniature fairy attempts to smack him with squeaks of anger.

“she’s real too!?” riki hollers, and you mentally thank your parents for constantly leaving the house all mysteriously most nights, or else you’d definitely be more than grounded by now.

“everything in your stories are.” heeseung shrugs. “i tell em’ to the lost boys. jungwon and sunghoon are especially big fans of you both.”

“the lost boys.. they’re like.. your right hand men, right?” riki beams excitedly, earning a nod from the taller boy. tinkerbell is busy tapping her foot stubbornly, as if the both of you taking heeseung’s attention from her was the most annoying thing imaginable.

meanwhile, you gulp in debate of whether you should ruin the bright atmosphere of first introductions. “i’m glad you came back for your shadow, heeseung.”

raising a brow, he stares down at you with an unreadable gleam in his eye. “why?”

“i-“

“y/n’s growing up today,” riki cuts in.

heeseung freezes, even tinkerbell lets out a jingle in surprise. it’s almost as if he was just given the worst news of his life, soft deer eyes now gaping wide and cluelessly. you bite your lip. seeing his reaction only made you feel more sick at the thought. “growing- growing up? but that means..”

“no more sleeping in the nursery, no more stories,” you finish with a frown. heeseung pauses for a moment, huffing before grabbing your wrist and leading you to your window in determination.

your brother immediately follows. “what’re you doing?”

“taking her to neverland,” he announces with quick steps. at his words, tinkerbell seems enraged, jealous perhaps as she begins flapping around and jingling widly despite heeseung paying her no mind.

in the background, riki gasps. “hey, i wanna come too!”

you’re busy yanking the male’s hand from your wrist, giving him a stern gaze. “i can’t just go to neverland and be your personal storyteller!” heeseung flinches, completely taken aback by your raise of volume. “my mother will freak out, i have to take care of my brother and-“

“what’s a mother?” he asks.

“it’s.. someone who loves and cares for you-“

“good, you can be our mother,” he decides. “and we can bring him too i guess.” grabbing your brother's hand, heeseung marches towards your windowsill without another ounce of hesitation.

during your panicking, riki is busy smiling brightly, following the older boy with ease. “c’mon sis, you don’t wanna grow up, do you?”

well.. he had a point.

it was either growing up, getting a job and having responsibilities, or taking the hand of peter pan, flying off to some magical island with your little brother and being young forever. the choice wasn’t too difficult.

“how.. how do we get to neverland?” you inquire, watching as the taller boys share a victorious glance. just as tinkerbell processes his words and begins flying away, heeseung grabs her in the palm of his hand, already shaking pixie dust across the floorboards.

“we fly, of course. what do i say in your stories again?” he ponders, pointy nose scrunching slightly. “oh, right. think of a wonderful thought.”

“any wonderful thought?” he nods again, and you begin to wonder how that silly hat of his doesn’t fly right off.

closing your eyes in sync with your little brother, you begin picturing neverland. the ethereal, otherworldly island with rainbows hovering over mermaid’s lagoon, and plush ferns and greenery complimenting the earthy soiled ground of the neverwoods. you imagine flying by captain hook’s wretched ship and shooting it down with the lost boy’s trusty slingshots, and what kind of conversations you’d have with the beautiful woman that inhabited the sea.

amidst your daydreaming, you barely make out the quiet sounds of tinkerbell’s jingling nearby before small, golden sprinkles begin raining onto you. when they meet your bare skin they burn slightly, not enough to hurt, but enough to remind you of what exactly you were doing.

it has you gulping in anxiousness that only increases as your feet begin lifting off the ground. snapping your eyes open in shock, you nearly lose your balance while experimenting with your new form of travelling.

“y/n, look at me!” riki giggles midair, performing a somersault playfully.

heeseung chuckles along with you both before grabbing your hand, soft fingers resting against your knuckles gently. while you’re distracted by the new contact, the boy pushes his other arm as if he was swimming, efficiently lifting you both higher in the air. he flew with so much ease that only motivated you to learn faster.

at last, he offers you a charming smile that immediately pulls any doubts off your mind. “let’s get out of here before your parents come back, hm pretty?”

you reach down to grab your brother’s hand, gripping it tightly to ensure there isn’t a chance of him being left behind before nodding. “lead the way.”

bonus:

“so like.. are the girls in neverland pretty?” you’d barely even made it out the window, and of course and your brother already managed to ruin the peaceful experience.

“wait til’ you see the mermaids.” heeseung sends your brother a wink, and you watch in disgust as they sneakily fist bump right in front of you.

you close your eyes. “i despise the both of you.”

“the stories you make about me every night say otherwise, pretty girl.”

if you enjoyed, reblogs n’ comments are always appreciated <3

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[lothirielswandc]

THE DAY I MET JOHN CONSTANTINE

— TWO YEARS EARLIER —

Raven screamed when she awoke in the unfamiliar car—but no sound came out. The duct tape over her mouth sealed all syllables. Gray bindings burned against her wrists and ankles.

“Bollocks…”

Raven’s head slowly turned to the side, glaring at her captor behind the wheel. He reminded her of an Egyptian relic, once gold, now faded, with his sandy blond hair and a tanned trench coat. A cigarette perched between his lips.

The middle-aged man glanced her way, and gray eyes widened. “Oi, you’re up—”

“Mmm-mm-mmph!” Raven raised her bound hands. The muffled sound she made was barely audible above the whisper of ABBA on the radio.

Her captor’s gaze darted between her and the black abyss that surrounded them, “Sorry, love. Didn't have time to untie you—”

Wisps of shadows materialized at Raven’s command. A thick tar-like mist lingered over her mouth. The duct tape vanished.

“Who the hell are you—? You know what? Forget it. I don't care! Let me out! Right now!” Raven demanded.

“Will you just—OI! Quit moving around—!” Raven turned her back toward her passenger door, thrusting her joined feet at her abductor. Shadows ate at the duct tape caging her legs.

The car jolted from their movements as Raven aimed kicks and shouts at the stranger. He kept one hand still on the wheel, swatting at Raven with the other.

“Let me go—get off of me!” The pair struggled across the front seat; Raven had somehow ended up upside-down beside the blond as he awkwardly held her knees together. His hair was now lopsided from one of her kicks (although it wasn’t that well-kept to begin with) and his cigarette had fallen to the floor of the car.

“You kick me one more time, love—”

“Get away from me—ugh! You smell bad!” Raven’s nose wrinkled at the combined smell (it was its own entity, really, far too powerful to simply be an aroma) of liquor, brimstone, and vomit.

“I will turn this car around! Bollocks, those wankers are gaining on us.” Her captor’s eyes drifted to the rearview mirror; headlights flashed in the reflection. “I need to focus—here.”

The middle-aged man gestured at the radio. Her eyes widened as the dials moved without the slightest touch. He has magic too. But he’s old. And I’m pretty sure he’s drunk. I can take him.

Music suddenly blared from the dashboard above Raven’s head. She winced as ABBA filled the car, and her abductor sang along.

“Don't go wasting your emotion,” Raven expected a hoarse, croaky singalong—instead, her captor had a pleasant baritone. And that only made her hate him more, “lay all your love on me!”

Raven finally unfastened her fists and aimed two fingers at the man. “Azarath metrion zinthos!”

The man cursed allowed as a shadow bolt flew past him, shattering the window right where his head had been. He glared at Raven, “Hey! This is a rental! If you’re going to do target practice in the car, you could at least aim right and save me from misery!”

“You are the most annoying person I’ve ever met!” She yelled at him.

“Some grateful lot you are! Right after I rescued you from those nuns,” He remarked, gripping the wheel with white knuckles.

Raven stopped thrashing against him, shocked he would stoop so low. “Rescued me? Seriously? You think I buy that?”

“What, you think I would’ve taken you by choice? The only reason why I dragged you out of there is ‘cause I don't need another name on my ledger! You mean absolutely nothing to me, love—and believe me, it’s better that way.”

“Good! And just for the record, I didn't need anyone to save me. I had everything completely under control.”

“Yeah. Waking up in an unknown car covered in duct tape screams "control," love.” He retorted with a sarcastic eye roll.

Both of them jumped as gunshots thundered outside the car. Sparks mingled with the stars and lit up the night, just missing the blur of outstretched branches. Raven peeked over the front seat to stare at the origin of blazing light invading the vehicle.

Her eyes widened. The blond stranger scoffed at them in the mirror, “Nuns with guns. Bloody wonderful night this is...oi! Get back in the car!”

“Do you ever shut up?” Raven snapped as she rolled down the window and leaned out. The wind tugged at her hair, gently twirling the dark strands. She tucked them away from her face as she assessed their pursuers.

There were three cars following them. Cloaked women hung out the windows. Black and white fabric shuddered in the night as they aimed their firearms.

Raven raised her hands, fingers curling like a spider’s limbs. Ebony tendrils curled around the tires.

The car swerved, Raven’s torso scraping against the window’s frame. Her magic dissipated into the night. Flashes of gold cascaded down like little metal meteors across a dead sky.

Raven hissed, tentatively pressing a hand to her sore abdomen. She peered at the stranger clenching the wheel, “Drive much?”

Bloody Blondie didn't look away from the windshield. “Want to switch?”

Raven barely had any driving experience, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. “I would love to.”

“And let you drive us into a ditch? Hell no.”

“I would say “your funeral,” but I wouldn't be using it as a metaphor.”

“When this is over, your mouth is getting a bloody exorcism!” Bloody Blondie hissed.

Raven popped her head out the window once more. She focused on the tires of the approaching car. Weaving her fingers, the hairs on her arms stood upright. The breeze shushed the nearby shrubs and whispered in Raven’s ear.

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name—

—Nameless here for evermore.

One car veered off, smashing itself into a massive pine tree. Another lurched onto its side. The tires of the last vehicle exploded, sparks erupting across the dirt road.

When Raven slipped back into the car, the blond man stared at her slack-jawed. “How the hell does someone like you have control over demonic energies?”

“None of your business.” She said.

They drove in silence for a minute, putting distance between them and the defeated nuns. Raven was relieved that they were finally taken care of, but one issue remained. What now?

Was she really returning to San Francisco? Raven thought over the six months she had been away. She had gotten her ass kicked more times than she could count during her six months in Themyscira. Donna Troy had saved herself. And now this. Abducted by nuns (supposedly the purest form of humanity) that would’ve locked her in a cell for the rest of her life.

Raven bit her lip as she stared out the window, which was pitch-black, so the only thing visible was her murky reflection. Maybe I did learn something from Themyscira, their strong hatred of the “Race of men”...they’re right. People suck. I hardly get along with anyone, as proven with every single day of my life. And this. Humanity is the worst—wouldn’t it just be easier to be alone, on an island of my own somewhere? Away from everyone…?

Finally the car slowed. When it came to a stop, Raven’s hand was already gripping the door handle. She slammed the car door without looking back.

“Hey,” The stranger called out to her.

She kept walking.

Raven froze when a line of flames erupted before her eyes. She stepped back from the wall of fire, illuminating the woods that surrounded them. Raven casted a glare over her shoulder.

The old man would not let up. He stood a short distance away, hands on his hips like a tired, fed-up parent.

“What do you want?” She demanded.

“You used magic back there. That was some pretty powerful stuff for a sixteen year-old,” He remarked, slowly approaching her like one would an apprehensive rabbit.

“Seventeen. Not that it matters to you,” She corrected him.

The stranger stood before her now. “I’m something of a dark arts master myself—more of dabbler, really—”

“I don’t care.” She turned away from him.

The stranger made the mistake of catching her arm. “You should.”

With quick reflexes, Raven laid another kick to his abdomen—a move she’d practiced many times with the Amazons.

Bloody Blondie cursed as he crippled to the ground. Raven walked away from him for the second time...until dark plums of fog blossomed around her feet. Something churned inside the mist.

She tripped—crimson tendrils were wrapped around her ankles. The dirt was cool and damp beneath her. Raven sat up and made a sawing motion with her hand. Her power slithered forth. Ebony cut crimson.

When she righted herself, the stranger placed himself right in front of her. “Look. I’m a specialist in keeping your...stuff...in check. If you can't control this, you're my problem.”

“I thought I was nothing to you.” She recalled flatly.

“Believe me, love. I wish you were. That would be safest.” As he stood before her, basking in the golden glow of the flames nearby, his form shined like an Egyptian relic kept in perfect condition.

“I'm not a problem…” Raven inhaled sharply, “because I'm done. I'm done with people. I want to be alone. And I plan to stay that way, for the rest of my miserable existence.”

The man stared at her intensely. Flames crackled in the silence that followed. Then he burst into laughter.

“Your solution is to be a hermit! I love teenage logic—yes, that will work long-term, love,” His broad shoulders shook.

“It will. Being alone is better than being with you,” She snapped, truly believing it.

The man raised his hands. “Alright. Be by yourself. I suppose I can't judge, I'm the same way…”

He grumbled to himself as he retrieved a cigarette from his pocket. Raven studied him as he pursed his lips around the cancer stick.

He did—technically—help me escape the nuns. In his own weird way…as far as people go, I guess there’s worse than him. But I won’t tell him that.

“Thank you.”

His eyebrow rose accusingly. Raven met his gaze, trying to convey her sincerity. “For getting me out of there…you did help me—in your own way.”

“Sarcasm?”

Raven’s head tilted to the side. “Hasn't anyone thanked you before?”

“No. Never. Usually, the pleasantries exchanged after my work are along the lines of “fuck you.” No one’s ever thanked me before, really. You’re the first.” The man’s voice went soft at the end and he shrugged. “ ‘Suppose you’re right. Humanity’s pretty shitty. Maybe you’re better off alone, love.”

Raven nodded. He pulled out a lighter.

“Ah, there she is. Home sweet magical mansion.” The man blew out a plume of smoke as something materialized in the clearing ahead. Lanterns flickered on a front porch. A sloping roof towered over treetops. Windows peered out at the woods from the extended walls, promising a maze of rooms inside.

“The House of Mystery,” Her companion mused, his cigarette moving up and down in his mouth. “My nine to five shift is over. Time for home—”

The man paused midstep. He glanced back at Raven. “I suppose you’ll be heading off somewhere.”

Raven pressed her lips together and glanced at the ground. She said she wanted to be alone. She didn't know exactly where she could go for that solitude. “Yeah. Somewhere.”

The man looked at the massive house. Then at her. Back to the house. “Welp, good luck with that—”

The double doors opened. A red carpet tumbled down the steps and landed right before Raven’s feet.

“Um…”

Both of them stared in wonder at the lavish carpet spread across the dirt. The man cleared his throat, “I suppose you’ll be heading off—”

A gift basket suddenly popped into existence before Raven’s feet. It was overflowing with complementary lotions, bath bombs, and a fluffy hotel bathrobe.

She bent down and plucked out a greetings card sticking out. A beautiful cursive was scrawled across the parchment, Welcome to the House of Mystery, Raven.

“What's it say?”

“It says “welcome.” ”

Her companion leaned over her shoulder and groaned. “Fine. You can come in, because the house likes you. I suppose we’ll live in solitude together—a miserable coexistence…”

His voice trailed off. When Raven glanced back at him, his eyes were glued to the welcome card. “What?”

“Your name…”

“Yes? It's Raven.”

The man shot her an incredulous look. Raven sighed, “Is there a problem with my name?”

“...Nothing. Bad omens all around,” He sucked in a breath as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. He continued grumbling as he climbed the steps to the manor.

“And who are you again?” She asked, still unsure whether to follow him.

The man paused. He turned back, and as he did so, the golden luminescence from the beckoning double doors cascaded down upon him, draping him in ethereal light. Cloaked in an angel’s caress—as all demons were.

“Constantine. John Constantine.”

[lavender-scent]

BBRae Week Day Two - Poolside

FF.net - AO3

Jealousy, Jealousy (Started Following Me)

“Azar, have mercy on me,” Raven said to herself as she tried to focus on anyone but Beastboy.

The Titans has found themselves dragged to the public pool by none other than their green teammate. He had been trying to get them here for a week now, always turned down by training or an attack somewhere in the city or something else occupying the titans schedule.

Raven was confused at first by his enthusiasm. They already had a pool on the tower, a huge one at that, and there was no need to go to a public one but once they all arrived there she understood why.

He was there for the girls... and Raven hated it.

Throughout the year, Raven had steadily developed a crush on Beast Boy. One she had been trying to keep a secret although her powers had demanded otherwise.

They have been going out of control lately whenever she's close to him. With all the new emotions she’s been experiencing around him, Beast Boy had noticed when objects exploded near him whenever they were in the same room but Raven always brushed off his concern as a lack of meditation.

He was a fan favorite Titan so of course girls liked him and thought he was cute (She did too but he didn’t need to know that.)

Raven was now dealing with a new emotion she never known before.

Jealousy.

Every time a girl approached Beast Boy her dark magic followed.

She really tried to control it but Beastboy flirting and laughing around pretty normal girls wasn’t helping.

Girls that weren’t her.

She had brought a book with her to distract her from him and keep her occupied but even that wasn’t working.

First she blew up his drink when she saw him flirting with the girl at the poolside bar. When he looked at her in confusion she blamed it on the burning sun.

And so it continued with every other girl that even looked at him.

Every girl he talked to was surprised by a explosion that Raven pretended didn’t happen. The blonde girl that was trying to get on his back to play some stupid game she probably made up herself wasn’t any different.

“I don’t think I’ll make it,” she giggled still nowhere near his shoulders.

“Just hold my hands,” Beast Boy laughed as he tried to help her.

Raven tried to look anywhere but them, but it was hard when they kept shouting and giggling like 5 year old kids. Finally her powers decided to take control.

A flying ball surrounded by black shadow came out of nowhere sending them both into water.

Beast Boy was not happy. She could tell by the look he had fixed on her.

“You got me wet,” he complained when he came out of the pool.

“We’re at the pool, Beast Boy. You’re supposed to get wet.”

“Not with a flying ball sent by your half demon teammate!"

Raven didn’t reply.

“Now what’s your problem?”

“I have no problem.”

“Yeah, that’s why your magic keeps either hitting me or exploding something in my face. Now tell me what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” Raven insisted.

Beast Boy knew she was lying. He knew something was up with her powers and he knew it had something to do with him but he couldn’t figure out why her dark magic was suddenly so interested in him. This had never happened before.

Whatever it was, it had to be fixed.

Beast Boy decided to sacrifice what remained of his pool day to help Raven with whatever was going on with her emotions. He was worried about her and he wanted her to be okay.

He tried to get her to swim with him thinking maybe that would help her calm down but she declined.

“What’s wrong Rae? If I didn’t know better I’d say you have a crush on me,” he teased sitting in the lounge chair beside her.

Raven froze, but before she said anything another girl showed up.

“Hey Beast Boy, can you help me put my sunscreen on? My arms aren’t long as yours,” she asked the changeling shyly.

Beast Boy replied grinning, “Of course.”

Raven watched as the girl fixed herself in front of Beast Boy showing him her back.

The brunette girl started giggling the moment Beastboy touched her skin, “I’m a little ticklish, you gotta apply it slow.”

“Okay, I’ll go as slow as I can.”

Beast Boy moved his hands slowly as he was asked but the girl kept giggling anyway.

Raven had seen enough, her powers acting by themselves before she could get a hold on them.

Before Beast Boy got to finish his task, the lounge chair broke and both he and the girl fell to the floor.

Beastboy turned to Raven giving her a glare, “What the hell?”

Raven got up to leave but Beast Boy held her wrist to stop her, “Not this time!”

“Beast Boy, let me go,” she said trying to hide her blush at the sudden contact.

“It’s getting out of control, Raven.”

Their intense stares got cut by the forgotten girl, “What the fuck, freak?”

At that, Beastboy snapped back at her, “Don’t call her that!”

Raven felt the sudden tears that had cropped unbidden almost falling and she didn’t want them to see her like that so she teleported herself back to the tower.

What she didn’t realize was that she had teleported Beast Boy with her. She removed his hand and ran to the hallway but he blocked her way.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“My room.”

“No, I don’t think so. Not after you ruined my pool day.”

“Ruined it? It’s not my fault you’re so invested in my business. No one told you to!”

“Which one of us is invested in the other one? Your magic ruined my every attempt to flirt with any girl!”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t flirt with them!”

Raven realized what she just said and she couldn’t stop the tears falling this time. Did she just admit she was jealous? Her worse fear had come true and Beast Boy knew how she feels now.

Her powers took over her once again and everything around them was either floating in space or exploding.

Beast Boy didn’t know what to do when basically his teammate was breaking down in front of him.

Beast Boy held her arms trying to calm her, “Hey, it’s okay I- I won’t flirt with them, I promise!”

Raven started gaining her control back and the levitating objects stopped moving around. For a moment they both just stared at each other not knowing what the next step is.

Beast Boy was confused and didn’t believe what had just happened. Was she actually mad that he was flirting with other girls?

Neither of them moved as they continued staring into each other’s eyes.

Before either of them said anything, Raven teleported herself to her room, this time without taking Beast Boy with her.

Beast Boy stayed there for long time before he felt his communicator vibrating. Great, now he had to explain what happened to their team.

Beast Boy was sitting in his room later when he heard a soft knock on his door.

He hoped it wasn’t Robin asking for a more detailed explanation on why he and Raven came home earlier than the rest of them but he opened the door to find none other than Raven herself.

She looked like she was trying to stop herself from teleporting back to her room right there and then. “I think I owe you an explanation.”

Beast Boy gave her a nod as she continued, “I know you have noticed my powers acting on themselves lately more than usual and it was because I was experiencing new feelings that I hadn’t full control over and meditation wasn’t much of a help. Today it was more intense because I was jealous.”

“Why were you jealous?” Beast Boy asked.

Raven took a deep breath, she knew he had the right to know especially when her emotions had been effecting him, but it was still hard for her to admit the truth.

“Because I have feelings for you. I have for a while now.”

Raven waited for his reaction. There was none. When he didn't reply she continued.

“I might need time to control these emotions but I promise they won’t bother you anymore,” she finished as she left his room.

He wanted to follow her. Every part of him screamed to, but what would he do after? What would he say to her? All this time she was dealing with her feelings for him and he was too oblivious to even notice.

That’s how it was when he was constantly trying to get her attention by constantly teasing her when she locked herself away. This was her way of getting his.

A week passed since they talked, and Beast Boy was officially losing his mind. When Raven said she'd need some time he didn’t think she meant away from him.

She had been avoiding him wherever he was. The only time she would come out of her room is when he was in his.

He hated this. He was annoyed with her powers before but if that was the only way for them to be close then he didn’t care.

Anything was better than this.

Even though she was very quiet, her absence screamed louder.

Beast Boy wanted nothing more than to have his friend back and that’s how he found himself standing at her door. He opened the door without knocking worrying that she would stop him if he did.

Raven was reading in her bed when he entered. She sat up when she saw him in her room surprised by the action, “What’s wrong, Beast Boy?” It was a testament to how strange she was acting that she didn't even yell at him.

“This, this is what’s wrong! I can’t take it anymore.”

“Beast Boy, you know I have to stay away because of my feelings.” It pained her to bring the subject back up again.

She had been pretending like it didn’t happen the first time for the sake of her sanity. Beast Boy knowing about her feelings was the last thing she wanted but the time she spent away from him helped keep a hold on them for a little.

Beast Boy frowned. “This doesn’t feel like you have feelings for me. IT feels like you hate me.”

“I’m only doing this for you.”

“I don’t want it! I don’t want you hiding in your room from me because you’re worried about your powers.”

“Then what do you want?”

Beast Boy looked conflicted for only a second then: “I want... I want you.”

And without a second thought, Beast Boy’s hands found themselves holding her small face and his lips chased hers. Raven’s eyes widened only a moment before she gave in and kissed him back.

It was a short kiss but it felt like centuries.

Raven was the first to pull away, her eyes fixed on the boy in front her.

Is this real? She wondered. Or have my emotions passed a new level of insanity?

But the smile he gave her was definitely real, “I don’t think your meditation helped much.”

She looked around to find all of her room very different than how it had been before she had closed her eyes.

She cursed her powers. “A new emotion. I just need to adjust.”

He brought her face closer to his, “I think a few more kisses might help.”

And he kissed her again.

nb: this was my first finished fic i hope u guys liked it! and thanks to @oceanspray5 for helping me and always supporting my writing, love u sm <3

my fic for sunny days

also don't forget to check her bbrae week fics coming on day3 and day7!

happy bbrae week everyone <33

(@bbraeweek21 )

[butterflydm]

wot reread: lord of chaos (prologue)

spoilers through lord of chaos. this one is longer than normal because I was not willing to split the prologue into pieces. I’m sure I’ll have to do it with later ones, lol.

1. Starting with the biggest tease of the Forsaken, Demandred. We get an inside look at Shayol Ghul and how things are run there: pretty nasty. People being sacrificed to create weapons; it’s bitter cold but so dry that the moisture is practically sucked from your mouth when breathing. Unpleasant place! Apparently used to be a lovely island retreat back in the Age of Legends. Hey, Demandred, ever miss the Age of Legends? Ever regret helping to screw all that up?

2. A lot of this terrible stuff was kinda created by Aginor, iirc. The ‘forgers’ who make weapons out of human sacrifices and the Trollocs (and by extension the Fades) etc.

3. I am trying to remember if we ever find out what was UP with Shaidar Haran. Mr. Super Weird and Extra Creepy Fade. I do not remember his deal, if we ever learned it.

4. Shayol Ghul/the Pit of Doom isn’t the location of The Bore, where the Dark One touches the world, but the Pattern is thinner here, so The Bore is more easily sensed. Also, Demandred is kinda... getting off? on being around the Dark One. So, that’s... I guess part of the appeal of staying on the side of the Shadow? I also want to note that YET ANOTHER Shadow/Seanchan parallel has popped up: The Day of the Return vs The Return. Ravens, moons, very big on ‘lessers’ groveling to their ‘betters’, big on maintaining a constant level of paranoia and fear, using pain vs pleasure to train people in proper behavior, and now we have The Return as well, when they will come back in glory to Show Them All and Rule Over Them. I am so curious about the intended meaning behind all the Shadow/Seanchan parallels.

5. Demandred tells The Dark One that Rahvin is dead, Lanfear and Asmodean have vanished, and Moghedien missed a meeting with Graendal. TDO says Asmodean is dead and good riddance the traitor (essentially) but he’s kinda bummed he can’t bring back Rahvin but even TDO can’t revive people from balefire (implied: he CAN revive from other things). Demandred feels anger and frustration from TDO. And TDO called Rand “my ancient enemy”. Also, hmm. The description of how freely using Balefire during the War of Power also ‘unraveled reality’ and using it again like that would mean ‘no world to rule’ in the future. Ah. And then he gets some instructions from TDO.

6. We flip to a Nynaeve PoV. Siuan is suddenly wearing embroidered dresses with a low neckline, the universal Jordan symbol of “she has it hot for a guy and thus immediately starts adjusting her appearance to hopefully appeal to him”. *sigh* Anyway, Nynaeve is studying Siuan and Leane in hopes of figuring out how to heal them being stilled.

7. The reveal that Nynaeve is using her hidden a’dam link with the captured Moghedien to channel is pretty well done. Narratively clever, I think. Magic science talk from Elayne: a’dam work by creating “absolutely identical matrices” between the two people being linked. Moghedien informs them that cutting the connection to the True Source used to be called ‘severing’, before the Aes Sedai gendered it and split it into ‘stilling’ for women and ‘gentling’ for men. Nynaeve is annoyed at the random AoL knowledge but I want to Know More. Pls let Moghedien talk, Nynaeve. We learned that a severed channeler can still use the bracelet half of an a’dam - which makes sense. It’s the genetic potential to channel that matters, I suspect, not actually being able to form a connection, which is why learners who have never touched the Source themselves are the sul’dam.

8. Yeah, the difficulty in Salidar is that they’re trying to get the Aes Sedai there to support Rand without giving away that that’s their agenda. It does sound very frustrating. To add to the frustrations: an embassy is being sent to Caemlyn and Elayne is not only not allowed on it, she’s not even supposed to mention it again. Because they will not ‘risk’ letting the ‘Daughter-Heir fall into the hands of the Dragon Reborn’. *screams in frustration* But Siuan says the real reason is that they won’t want to let her go until she’s a full Sister and ‘belongs’ to the White Tower, essentially, which is... honestly also very frustrating on so many levels.

9. It’s kinda heartbreaking to read the difference between holding saidar and holding tainted saidin. Anyway, the Aes Sedai in Salidar (including Our Group) are very nervous/wary/scared of Rand’s amnesty for men who can channel.

10. Elayne’s two points: a. as Daughter-Heir, she SHOULD be there if her mom is dead or missing, to reassure the people that the succession is intact; and b. she is one of the very few Tower-related women that Rand might actually trust are SUCH good points and I am, honestly, very offended on her behalf that she’s treated as a child instead of a politician here. Because she is thinking politically as well as with her heart. She would be the ONE PERSON (apart from Nynaeve) that they could send with the embassy that would make Rand have an immediate favorable reaction. It would be genuinely smart in so many ways to send her along, but the Aes Sedai are so tradition-bound and fearful that they won’t even consider the idea.

11. The Aes Sedai are panicked over Rand being too powerful, too quickly and... and then deciding he doesn’t need them. Which I think is the real issue. They don’t want to reach out to support Rand unless they feel like they can deal from a position of strength. They want him to believe that he needs them more than they need him. And that’s exactly the thing that Moiraine screwed up over and over -- she tried to place herself in a position of power over Rand and he balked and pushed her away and resented it. It wasn’t until she stopped trying to control him that she was able to have any influence over him at all as an advisor. Moiraine has reached legend status among the Aes Sedai in Salidar for taking out two of the Forsaken, but sadly none of them are aware of the lesson that Moiraine had to learn in order to ACTUALLY be someone Rand was willing to trust.

12. Elayne is informed that nine Aes Sedai will be going to Caemlyn... and Min. Being sent to have her talent potentially help Rand, but a secret to the sisters. Nynaeve is so protective of Elayne and Rand’s relationship here! But, also, wow, who... who told Nynaeve that Min was in love with Rand? Because Nynaeve immediately jumps to calling Leane out as an asshole for throwing Min going to Rand in Caemlyn in Elayne’s face like that, and Min’s feelings for Rand are talked about as a Known Thing. Did Siuan or Leane let it spill or did Elayne tell Nynaeve or... it does seem clear that no one told any of these three about Min’s viewing of the three women, but Siuan and Leane DO know that Min ‘saw’ that she would love Rand. lol, did Mohedien just make a half-hearted attempt to convince Nynaeve to join the Shadow? That was kinda funny.

13. It really does feel so narratively unkind on Jordan’s part for there to be so many good reasons for Elayne to go to Caemlyn but not only is she not allowed, but the woman that she knows is in love with her sorta-boyfriend IS allowed to go and she’s absolutely NOT reconciled to the idea of sharing him and certainly not enthusiastic about it. Min’s presence is turning my polycule fantasies into a harem instead, as always, lol. On the plus side, Elayne has been working out how to make ter’angreal, so that’s neat.

14. Wow, and the embassy is leaving the very same day that Elayne found out about it. And she only found out about MIN leaving with it because of Leane, so if she hadn’t heard it from Leane, she wouldn’t have found out about that until Min had already left Salidar. ...I still do not get why Elayne feels like she ‘must’ choose the Green because she already bonded Birgitte. She’s a Secret Warder, Elayne! She also thinks about how there are so many tricks and lies among the Aes Sedai in Salidar. DESPITE THE THREE OATHS, ELAYNE! THE OATHS ARE POINTLESS, ELAYNE. lol, sorry, I feel strongly about this.

15. Elayne evaluating Min’s potential attractiveness to gauge if Rand will go for her -- would be cute if it were in a supportive ‘yay poly’ way but kinda sad in the actual intended way. Min says she also only found out about the embassy this morning and that Siuan claims she’s being sent there to spy on Rand. (x) doubt. Siuan knows that Min won’t send back info on Rand. Elayne literally considers the idea of tying Min up with the Power to prevent her from leaving with the embassy... yeah, she’s not into it . The idea of the wot polycule is incredibly my thing and I love some of the individual relationships (basically the triad of relationships formed by Rand-Elayne-Aviendha) but in practice it, uh, yeah. It’s definitely a harem, unfortunately, and the harem-ness of it really is very driven by the Fate Says Thou Must nature of Min’s viewing. The weirdest thing (to me) is that there IS a poly structure in place that DOES require an enthusiastic buy-in (the Aiel system, even if it is unfortunately limited to sister-wives in Jordan’s version) but we lean on Min’s reluctant ‘but we must share even if we don’t want to’ structure instead. I have high hopes for the show, though, due to Alanna-Ihvon-Maksim.

16. Elayne tells Min not to tell Rand about the viewing, because he’ll decide that means that the Pattern is forcing their relationship and it’s not what they really want and noble sacrifice, etc. She really does know Rand so well. MIN, otoh, doesn’t know Rand at all and assumes he’d be thrilled to have two/three hot girls on tap at all times. The contrast in how well Elayne understands Rand as a person vs Min... not doing that is so strong here, before Min and Rand meet up again. I’m very curious if she’ll actually understand Rand better once they’ve met up again or if Women and Men Just Can’t Understand Each Other continues to get in the way. Anyway, Min’s terrible pie metaphor does make me glad that Aviendha Got There First. Aviendha wanted Rand DESPITE her viewing (which actually made her hostile towards him for quite a while), despite it going against her honor, despite all her good sense, etc. Basically the exact opposite of Min, who loves Rand BECAUSE of her viewing. And I find the ‘despite’ angle much more appealing than the ‘because’. (though Elayne and Rand are still my favorite because they fell for each other entirely naturally, with no knowledge of any prophecies at all)

17. Oh, man, this bit at the end.

Elayne: Let’s talk about something other than Rand. Literally ANYTHING happy that isn’t about Rand.

Min: But Rand is my whole personality now, Elayne.

I mean, that really is essentially their conversation at the end there. When Elayne asks to talk about ‘something happy’ that isn’t about Rand, Min can think of NOTHING except Rand-related things. That’s so depressing! Get a hobby! A non-Rand-related hobby!

18. Oh, hi, Faile. I have to admit, while I was reading TFOH, I did not really think at all about Faile and Perrin at all, or miss them. But let’s check in with the newlyweds! Anyway, just to check in:

The Bashere/Aybara newlyweds constructing a manor house much larger than any other house in the Two Rivers is a totally cool and proper Lord thing to do, because you gotta make sure you have the best of everything. That’s just How You Lord 101 and is definitely not a sign of ego.

Elaida building a palace on the White Tower grounds (a place that already has very tall buildings) is a horrific sign of her ego and how she’s overstepping her place in the world.

It’s all about the scale, I suppose. Elaida should have stuck to an elaborate manor house.

19. ...she’s holding court. Faile is holding court in the Two Rivers. Our egalitarian farming community has a court now. How did they go from “hey you’re a fairly good war-leader” to holding court in, like, a couple of months? A few months? idk how long it’s been. And she does it every day! I actually kinda hate what this plot line does for the Two Rivers as a place. I liked the Defense of Two Rivers fighty-fighty part of the plotline in TSR but I am not a fan of “let’s just turn this place into feudalism”. I’m honestly on Perrin’s side at this point: “the idea of passing judgment on people he had grown up among horrified him”. Cheers to that, bro. Anyway, there are a lot of refugees from other places ending up in the Two Rivers these days.

20. Faile’s first ‘judgement’ is to tell the two women in conflict to go to the Wisdom to sort things out. aka the exact procedure that they used to have in place before they arbitrarily decided they wanted a lord and lady. And Faile thinking that the people of Two Rivers ‘seemed to have forgotten she was an outlander’... you’re “my lady” to them. This is not a Two Rivers thing. This was imported. But Jordan seems to have this weird idea that lord/ladyship is an inherent thing that automatically comes along with all these random in-born urges from the ‘peasants’ who actually desperately want a lord above them. WHY do the people of the Two Rivers want to call him Lord Perrin? We know why Hurin wanted to call Rand ‘Lord Rand’ -- it was from the culture he grew up in. And the people wanting to call Mat a lord are also from cultures that already have those things. Why do the Two Rivers folk spontaneously want a lord? And Faile even thinks of these audiences as mostly a waste of time and yet... here we are. And, wow, HATE that the village Wisdoms “turn into simpering girls around Perrin” (according to Faile). Wow.

21. Yeah, Faile is All About enforcing her newly-born Authority over the Two Rivers and teaching them the proper way to behave around Lords and Ladies, even though Perrin explicitly hates and dislikes the people of the Two Rivers behaving that way around him! This marriage appears very incompatible right now. I don’t doubt that they’re in love, I suppose, but, wow, they want very different things from life.

22. No, seriously, why are the four village Wisdoms all hot for Perrin’s body now? They’re smoothing their skirts and fixing their hair at the thought of him. It seems so... random? I guess it’s part of the Perrin-Casanova glow-up that he got in TSR, when he retroactively had the best dating life in the Two Rivers, prior to leaving with Moiraine. Anyway, we do finally see Perrin again, after holding court with Faile for several pages, and he mentions that he’s feeling the ta’veren tug from Rand. She talks of duty and means lordship, but when he hears duty, he thinks of Rand. Interesting that he feels it now -- the Pattern reaches back in time, I guess. I’m guessing he didn’t mention to Tam and Abell WHY he was leaving, since he hasn’t actually told them that Rand is the Dragon Reborn. I’m honestly not sure how long it’s been since the last scene in the Two Rivers (timeline-wise) -- sounds like it may have been a few months?

23. Gawyn PoV now. Today, I’m thinking about the Younglings vs the Band of the Red Hand, which were both ad hoc groups constructed in the middle of a battle based on need. But the Younglings were the result of a single group splitting into pieces in a ‘civil war’ scenario, while the BotRH involved different sides merging to form a more culturally-diverse unit. But they’re both fighting groups under a young, charismatic leader that has a reputation for winning and is gaining recruits at a swift rate. And both of them are trying to use the knowledge of the past (Gawyn: every soldiering book he could find in the White Tower; Mat: the memories of past soldiers) to fight the wars that will soon be upon them.

Anyway, the remnants of the Shaido, led by Sevanna, are here to form an alliance with the Sisters leading the embassy to Rand in Cairhien. Which obviously is major warning bells for readers that the embassy is not on the up and up, though not for Gawyn. He thinks Elaida legit is planning to announce honest support for Rand. Ah, and here we have the Random Peddlers whose second-hand news that Rand totally killed Morgase Gawyn takes for Definite The Absolute Truth No Doubt. “...rumors on everyone’s lips sometimes had a way of being true” ...it was one person, Gawyn. But he does kinda break a little when he thinks that Elayne might be dead too, potentially at Rand’s hand. He is a Very Traumatized Young Man. Anyway, now he thinks he maybe wants to kill Rand.

24. On the Aes Sedai side, we learn that at least two of the sisters are Black Ajah and we also learn, in a casual aside comment, that there are some sisters “following behind” aka more than nine sisters are going to Cairhien. They’re also hoping they can find a way to get Gawyn and his Younglings killed while they’re all out here.

On the Shaido side, we learn that Sevenna is trying to think of a quiet way to assassinate Desaine, the Wise One that is willing to disagree with her and thinks she shouldn’t be playacting as a Wise One when she hasn’t been to Rhuidean. Sevenna has THOUSANDS of Aiel with her. Why are there so many Shaido? And they are fully planning to betray the Aes Sedai and take Rand for their own. And that Sevanna had an odd meetings with a wetlander man who gave her a cube that a channeler can use to get control of Rand, per his words.

25. Morgase is in Amadicia, with the King there. We are reminded, as we’ve been in pretty much every segment. That it’s Really Hot. Morgase isn’t having a great time and it gets worse then the Lord Captain Commander of the Whitecloaks shows up. He brings the news that ‘Gaebril’ is dead, killed by the Dragon Reborn, and offers her five-thousand soldiers to take Andor back from him. He also makes his argument to her that Rand is a false Dragon and that Aes Sedai do all this channeling for him. We also learn that Lady Dyelin is the next in line for the throne if both Morgase and Elayne are dead. He leaves her with the info that he will be posting Whitecloak guards here, where she is staying.

Niall HAS convinced himself of his own story, btw. He absolutely believes not only that Rand is a false Dragon but that the Dragon Reborn isn’t a real thing. Okay, the Trolloc Wars were two-thousand years ago, per Niall here, and Mat’s earliest memories are four or five hundred years before that. So, 2500 years. Okay, got it. Niall DOES believe in the Last Battle, tho. He blames pretty much EVERYTHING on the Aes Sedai in his internal narration. Anyway, he is sending the Questioners to pretend to be Dragonsworn in order to create resistance against Rand.

26. And, then we are back with the Forsaken again. Semirhage and Mesaana are having a meeting and waiting for Demandred. It has been seventeen days since Demandred went to Shayol Ghul, where we started the prologue. Mesaana can’t put her finger on why she doesn’t like Semirhage. lol, we get the story of how Demandred was Second-Best to our LTT in everything his entire life and thus turned to the Shadow. The last of their group that is meeting together is Graendal. She says that Sammael won’t be coming because he doesn’t trust any of the others and possibly not even himself. We learn that Mesaasa is a little over three-hundred and was considered to have just entered early middle-age. lol, Mesaana’s reason for going to the Shadow being that she was denied a research post and had to be a TEACHER instead and now she will TEACH THEM ALL. Oh, Forsaken. “Demandred was the gambler”.

There’s a narrative echo in the EF5 kinda reflecting the Forsaken but not going to the Shadow. Theoretically, Mat, our gambler, COULD feel like Demandred did, always in Rand’s shadow, etc. That was the angle that Melindhra tried to push at him. Except that he didn’t care if he was in Rand’s shadow or not. He was never trying to outmatch Rand’s accolades (which makes a Certain Scene not really ring true for me) or compete with him. Melindhra tried to tell Mat that he was in Rand’s shadow and he was basically... uh, yeah, okay, kinda just want to not die here. He didn’t care. And that’s why he wasn’t Demandred.

It’s interesting to me that Mesaana thinks about how “Lews Therin minted his own luck” because she connects that to Rand, but I feel like, as a reader, that reads much more Mat to me. And I think that... spreading out of ta’veren... is a good thing for the Pattern? Though not always for me, because I want Main Characters Interacting With Each Other lol.

27. And in the last section of the prologue, we meet Osan’gar and Asan’gar. They are 100% not going to be in the show, which is probably for the best. Anyway, they exist and the souls of the two dead Forsaken from EotW stuffed into new (stolen) bodies. Creepy Fade is giving them orders. And we are finally done with this very long prologue! (yes, I know they will get longer lol)

[sundiscus]

wangxian dragon age au: ficlet

[part of a larger au i’ve mapped out + started drafting, but want to post as snippets for now! i’ve taken many liberties with the worldbuilding, and as such i think most can be inferred with context if you’re unfamiliar with dragon age.

part one now here

this snippet: the meet-ugly, ~1.7k]

✨✨✨

When Lan Wangji wakes up, he isn’t alone.

He doesn’t realize it right away. The first thing he notices is that, this time, there are no shackles. He shifts his hands the slightest bit, enough to confirm they are indeed free. The movement pulls at the little cuts on his fingers and forearms from where the shackles shattered apart, already scabbing over—so he has been unconscious long enough for the magebane to burn out of his system, which he confirms, finding his meridians free and clear. He’s lying on his back, something that feels slightly too soft to be a stone floor under him and something that feels slightly too rough to be a blanket draped over him. An odd green light pulses against his eyelids and the only sound is a muted, continuous hiss, like a distant waterfall. Wherever he is, it isn’t the cell from earlier.

It doesn’t matter. He won’t be here long.

He takes one more slow breath, listening closely. There. To his left, a few paces away, he hears a tiny, cut-off inhale. Now he knows where to aim. His eyes fly open as he launches himself upright, summoning his sword into his raised hand, and—

It’s like expecting the ocean and finding only a puddle. His sword flickers into existence for the barest moment, its glow illuminating a circle of stone walls, a pallet beneath him, and then Lan Wangji’s lungs stutter, pressure squeezing his temples, as if all air has been sucked out of the room. Bichen dissipates and Lan Wangji is left gasping, one hand still raised uselessly in the air.

From the shadows, someone says: “Ah, that’s not going to work.”

Lan Wangji is already looking to the side. He sees only a figure at first, because when his sword disappeared so had the strange, omnipresent green glow. The glow returns now, slowly illuminating a young man curled against the opposite wall, his hair a dark, tangled wave over his shoulders, wrists chained together with thick iron manacles. For a moment his eyes, staring right back at Lan Wangji, are the brightest thing in the room.

“What do you mean?” Lan Wangji demands, finding his voice. “Is there a suppression array?” It must be powerful to choke off his magic so finitely. If he can see it, though, he can figure out how to undo it.

The man wrinkles his nose. “Not exactly. But—ah, ah,” he says as Lan Wangji starts to stand, “don’t move too fast, the blowback from that is going to be pretty harsh.”

Lan Wangji understands almost instantly as a wave of vertigo hits him. His knees buckle before he’s halfway to his feet and he collapses back on the pallet, bracing his weight on his elbow to keep from falling entirely. When his ears stop ringing he can hear his own ragged breathing.

Enough, he thinks, and forces himself to even his breaths. To shift focus. Clearly whatever precautions Wen Chao and his soldiers have taken to secure this room go beyond magebane and a simple suppression array. He won’t be able to escape by sheer force like last time, but this will still be no more than a brief detour on his journey. He will make sure of it.

Yesterday—was it yesterday, now? The chamber has no windows, just the eerie green glow emanating from the walls—Lan Wangji had been traveling with a retinue of junior enchanters to retrieve research texts from the Circle in Hedong, where scholars claimed to have promising studies related to fade rifts. They were nearly there when a raven alighted on Lan Wangji’s shoulder, bearing the message: Siege on Gusu Circle. Reconvene to the north. He’d sent the junior enchanters ahead and turned back before the raven even took flight.

(The note had not mentioned his brother, so his brother must be alive. Rumors were already spreading outward from Gusu as he rode, saying Wen Xu had an archdemon, Wen Xu burned the Gusu library to the ground. They did not say Wen Xu killed Zewu-jun, Wen Xu killed a mage with a glowing hand. So his brother must have escaped. Knowing this did not stop Lan Wangji’s heart from racing as he spurred his horse faster, past refugee settlements and Templar camps, toward the distant gash in the sky.)

And then: a poisoned arrow biting into his arm, his horse crumpling on a hardpacked road outside Lingchuan. The Wen soldiers, ready for him. (Not ready enough, when at least six of their bodies fell before Lan Wangji did.) One day in the first cell, his failed escape attempt.

And now: magicless, trapped in a strange room with a strange, sharp-eyed prisoner watching him struggle to sit upright, the slow crawl of time a physical weight on Lan Wangji’s shoulders.

“Honestly, just ride it out,” the prisoner is saying. He has his chained hands up and open, like he’s trying to calm a spooked animal. “You’ll feel better in about an hour. Maybe less, if you’ve had a good meal recently.”

Lan Wangji’s head spins sickeningly. He ignores it, pushing himself up until he can prop himself against the wall, putting himself eye-level with the prisoner, at least.

“Or sit up anyway, I suppose,” the prisoner says. His voice has a ragged edge, as if it’s scraping its way out of his throat. “Sorry, I’d offer you some water, but I drank it all before I knew I’d have company. What are you doing here, anyway?”

If First Enchanter Lan wants his nephew back, he’ll have to lend us a few books, Wen Chao had mocked from outside the first cell. And if he wants you back with all your limbs attached, he’ll have to throw in trading deeds with the eastern lyrium mines for good measure. Do you think he can deliver that before you die here?

Wen Chao wanted demonic texts, Lan Wangji had guessed, the ones hidden deep within the library. No doubt for some dangerous, power-hungry scheme, and no doubt connected to the rifts. From there, it wasn’t hard to piece together that the attack on the Circle was meant to discover which texts were critical enough to be rescued and transported away, and likely steal them in transit. There are protocols for such events, Lan Wangji knows, and his presence here means the raid was unsuccessful, and he will be used as leverage for a second attempt.

If Wen Chao meant to scare Lan Wangji with his demands, he had only succeeded in doing the opposite. Because if all they want from Lan Wangji’s family are books and deeds, it means they don’t know about his brother yet.

Lan Wangji doesn’t share any of this. “Political prisoner,” is all he says.

“Ahh.” The man nods. “I figured, what with the…” He gestures at his own forehead, chains clinking as he does. “You’re obviously a Lan. Someone will pay well to have you back home.”

“They should not have to pay at all,” Lan Wangji bites out. Something about the prisoner’s casual attitude grates at him. The world outside is quite literally falling apart at the seams, and Lan Wangji doesn’t have time to be used as bait in Wen Chao’s small-minded games.

The prisoner shrugs. “Yeah, but there’s not much choice at the moment, is there? For now you’re stuck here with me. I’m—my name is Wei Ying, by the way. What should I call you, while we wait?”

“Do the Wen soldiers enter this cell often?” Lan Wangji says instead of answering. “Is there a chance of overpowering them?”

A grimace. “Often enough. And no, I’ve tried. They’re stupid, but they’re prepared.”

Lan Wangji casts another glance over the man—Wei Ying—and carefully keeps any skepticism out of his expression. Then he looks around properly for the first time. Wei Ying is right—there’s no visible array on the floor, no glyphs on the circular stone walls. The green glow fades as it climbs the wall, leaving the ceiling cloaked in shadow and dizzying to look at, like an endless tunnel. Disturbingly, there isn’t a visible door, either. There isn’t much of anything but the one straw pallet, a lidded pot against the wall, an empty bowl next to Wei Ying, bone-dry, and Wei Ying himself.

“A Lan,” Wei Ying says when Lan Wangji is silent for long enough, pitched low, almost like he’s talking to himself. “I’m surprised Wen Chao would be so bold. He has to know that won’t go over well in the long run, I wonder if his father has any idea? No, he would’ve sent Wen Xu. Maybe Wen Chao thinks that by the time someone comes for you, he’ll have—” Wei Ying cuts himself off. Blinks. “You are real, aren’t you?”

Lan Wangji narrows his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, you’re not…” Wei Ying waves a hand at the room around them. “But, ah, why would I dream up a whole Knight-Enchanter? A Lan at that? You felt real enough, when I dragged you onto the pallet, but it’s still hard to tell.” Lan Wangji must have some reaction to that—to knowing this stranger’s hands have been on him, when he was unconscious—because Wei Ying adds, defensive: “What was I supposed to do? They left you on the floor.”

Lan Wangji doesn’t have an answer to that.

Wei Ying tips his head back against the wall. “Well. Your Circle, they have your phylactery, right? They’ll find you. Pay the ransom, or lay siege to Wen Chao’s little fortress here. That would be nice.” He casts his gaze over Lan Wangji again. “Looks like our captors were gentle enough in the meanwhile.”

There’s dried blood tugging at the hair of Lan Wangji’s temple, and he still has the nauseating sense that if he moves too fast he might collapse again. Gentle isn’t how Lan Wangji would describe his treatment so far. But it is also far below the threshold of what he can withstand, so it doesn’t seem like a point worth arguing. “And you?” he hears himself say.

“Uh.” Wei Ying shifts and holds up his shackled hands. “Less gentle, I suppose.”

“I meant—who will be paying your ransom.”

Wei Ying drops his hands into his lap. “Oh. No one.”

“Then,” Lan Wangji says, “why are you here?”

For the first time, Wei Ying flashes a smile. A hooked dagger in the dim light.

“I have something they want.”

[thelowlysatsuma]

alright dipsticks, hear me out

taz balance au where everything is the same except that lucretia and barry have each others’ farspeech frequencies

it all starts about a year after lucretia voidfishes the plane. she’s poking around goldcliff, hoping to find some way to con some rich shit into paying for her gigantic moon base, when she runs — literally runs headfirst — into some bespectacled nerd in denim

barry, for his part, doesn’t know why this complete stranger is offering to buy him lunch as an apology for spilling his Fantasy Starbucks all over his oldass shirt, but he sure as shit isn’t complaining. especially when something, something about this kid feels so... familiar

in a spur of the moment decision, lucretia gives him her farspeech number. barry doesn’t think anything of it at the time

...anything, that is, until he’s rising, spectral and flickering, over his battered corpse, and he begins laughing hysterically, tears glimmering in long-gone eye sockets. he may not have lup back, but he’s got his little sister.

so they start texting. is barry furious at lucretia for what she’s done? sure, a bit. but he understands her logic, and his temper is soothed when she point-blank tells him that she’s going to help him find lup. they may be working against each other as far as the relics are concerned, but if lucretia can locate at least one more shred of her former family, then by god is she going to. barry understands, he thinks, and so they help keep each other a little less lonely over a long ten years

lucretia keeps barry updated on how the other birds are doing, as best she can. they rejoice together as magnus and julia take back raven’s roost, and when glamour springs is shadowed by a mass poisoning barry has to do everything up to physically restraining lucretia from beating the ass of whichever motherfucker did that to taako. wait, he tells her. physical pain is temporary. a lich, on the other hand, is in a prime position to make some douche’s life a living hell. lucretia grins and offers to fund his plots in any way she can.

barry, for his part, keeps lucretia up-to-date on the search for lup. they have matching little cork boards in their respective offices, each filled with maps and theories and half-baked what-ifs. they aren’t any closer to finding out what happened to her, but they will. they have to.

speaking of things happening, barry is the first one to find lucretia after wonderland. he hadn’t been able to reach her for a month, and so when he feels the enormous surge of pure magical despair explode outwards from the felicity wilds, he transports himself there as quickly as he can. he finds his baby sister at the centre of a mile-wide crater, twenty years older and countless sacrifices poorer, and he holds her as gently as he can without physical hands, and makes her promise to never deal with wonderland again. fuck, he’ll get the animus bell for her, he doesn’t care. he just can’t see lucretia in that state ever again. (never again, that’s what they told themselves, in a group huddle late one night the dawn of cycle 66. he’d failed her once. he couldn’t do it again.)

as she builds up the bureau, lucretia starts getting questions about her best friend on the stone. lucas asks her point blank who it is one day early in their acquaintance, and she answers “b- uh, b-j” “that tells me basically nothing. what does that even stand for?” lucas demands. “uh,” lucretia says, “🅱️amazing jrace”

thus begins a fine tradition of bureau employees trying to get any info they can on the mysterious “bj”, including his actual name. so far some of the top answers they’ve gotten from madame director include “bitchin jackass” “burger joint” “beetlejuice” and “banjo jimboree”. once, robbie asks her if he’s her secret lover, and lucretia has to summon a bucket before retching in disgust, which puts paid to that particular theory fairly succinctly

barry, for his part, adores these rumours. he keeps asking if lucretia will lift the lich barrier, just for a day, so he can come and stir up even more shit. lucretia, while admittedly very tempted, denies.

when he finds out that lucretia has been telling bureau employees that the red robes are evil, barry is understandably insulted. the next group of regulators that touch the ground are covered in fantasy cheez whiz for the duration of their mission.

lucretia gets him back by replacing all the denim in the jeans at his base with silly string. barry moves bases, and the prank war escalates

(no one has the courage to tell madame director that her hair has been turned rainbow at the last candlenights party. privately, lucretia thinks she looks bitchin)

every now and again, lucretia will text barry in a panic. these texts tend to look like this:

“barry.” “barold aid me” “barry I fucked shit up real good this time” “barry” “barry” “barry I was at the fantasy Olive Garden and the waiter said ‘enjoy your meal’ and I said ‘you too’ barry kill me n o w “

barry can and will mock lucretia mercilessly for this. he also insists for weekly video updates on fisher and junior.

he also has biweekly fantasy skype sessions with davenport

booyah: I saw a woman so beautiful I started crying???

bear-old: oh mood

booyah: and then I hired her and her son (who’s a little bitch) to work on my secret moon base and I think I’ve made a terrible mistake???????

bear-old: oh my fucking god this is why I don’t trust you to stop the apocalypse

when the thb start working as reclaimers, barry demands weekly updates on them, as well. it goes about as well as you’d expect

booyah: magnus ate the philosopher’s stone

bear-old: he fucking w h a t ?

booyah: he used the glutton’s fork, and he ATE the philosopher’s stone. taako and merle used stone skin and stone shape to get the damn thing out. happy fucking candlenights.

when barry finds out that taako’s DATING the fool who’s been chasing after him wile e coyote style for over a decade, he loses his s h i t. he and lucretia have a girls’ night where they bitch about taako and eat shitty chocolate to cope

bear-old: you HIRED a BABY???

booyah: he’s ten! that’s plenty old. and he’s certainly competent, seeing as he found my organization when even you couldn’t.

bear-old: creesh please. please do not Irreparably Fuck Up A Small Child

booyah: hey, at least I’m not the one who threw him off a moving train!

bear-old: I never threw anyone off a

bear-old: lucretia

bear-old: who

bear-old: who in your employ threw ANGUS MCDONALD, a LITERAL CHILD, off of a MOVING. VEHICLE?

booyah:

booyah: taako

bear-old: fucking fantasy CHRIST

(they have quite a few girls’ nights eating shitty chocolate and razzing on taako, actually)

team sweet flips goes to the director’s office one day to give a status report and find her red-eyed and coughing. she says she has allergies. the cute cat video barry just texted her on her stone, however, begs to differ

lucretia preps the boys for refuge, yes, but her mind is filled with texts and tomes and the letters “l u p” carved into a bureau wall. she passes countless sleepless nights with barry on the line, trying to decipher what it all means

but they emerge from the woven gulch unscathed, and that can only mean one thing: wonderland

she doesn’t tell barry where she’s sending them. she can’t let him interfere out of some misguided attempt to save her from the place. her texts grow few and far between

she doesn’t have to tell barry. he knows

the day they get sent out, as lucretia breaks down in her office, surrounded by a dizzying vastness that could envelop her very being if she would just let it, her stone buzzes.

four words: I’ll keep them safe

and then?

well, then it’s the end of the world

(but when lup emerges from her decade-long cage, phantasmal and resplendent, lucretia and barry share a look)

(and when the hunger is consuming the only home she knows and she’s flying out in one last attempt to face is, barry is on her stone)

(and when the dust settles and they’re finally, finally free, when the world hears a story and a song and former and current bureau employees alike learn just how important the mysterious “bj” really is, when lucretia looks at the wreckage of her life’s work and home and family — when all that happens, barry is the one to beckon to her with open arms.)

(they’ve been beside the other for a hundred and ten years, after all. that’s not gonna fucking change now.)

anyways yeah folks barry and lucretia texting au play with me in this space

@littlemisscritical @thatcoldfeeling and you know what? @herbgerblin what the hell

[slythergirlimagines]

Life Changing Adventures with Zuko

Summary: Zuko and the Reader get into some trouble when they meet a witch who switches their bodies. The Gaang tries to help them switch back. Pretty much fluff, not much angst! (GIF is not mine, but I absolutely love it!) Words: 5,659   Request: Yes Masterlist

****Also, would you guys be interested in me making a masterlist of all my fics? Let me know!

                    Life Changing Adventures with Zuko

  You should have never come here. That’s what you’re thinking as you and Zuko climb up the incredibly tall, dangerous mountain to see what’s in the mysterious cave.

  “I don’t like this.” You say, crossing your arms in an effort to preserve some sort of body heat. Of course, Zuko didn’t have to worry about the cold and he seemed no more bothered with this excursion than he would be anything else.

  Zuko glances back at you, black fringe hanging in his amber eyes.

  “Just calm down, we’re nearly there.” He says, and continues his climb up the winding, steep path.

    You roll your eyes, but hurry to match his pace. You definitely don’t want to fall behind in this place, but Zuko’s long legs are growing increasingly hard to keep up with.

  You can feel it in the air that something’s not quite right. There’s an undercurrent of something undefinable. Like magic. It hums all around you, and gives you goosebumps.

   Up ahead, the wind whips through Zuko’s raven hair. It also blows his tunic tight against his body, and you can just make out the contours of his muscles.

  Mentally, you slap yourself. Why do you care about Zuko’s muscles? He had chased you and your friends for months, and he had been responsible for a myriad of bad things that had happened to you. You had forgiven him, but you guys fought all the time. Your bickering often drove your friends crazy, and had been nonstop since he arrived. 

   “Life changing adventures with Zuko.” Toph had once called the personal journeys your friends had taken with him. You and Toph were the only people who hadn’t had one, and you certainly hoped today wasn’t your day.

   Zuko stops and cocks his head, listening. You slowly approach him, taking care to keep silent. If Zuko was concerned then you should definitely be concerned as well. Your eyes dart around, but you don’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.

  The sun is starting to set, and it’s making this damn mountain even colder than before. The trees cast long shadows over the path, and it all feels foreboding. Subconsciously, you gravitate closer to Zuko.

  “Remind me what we’re doing here, again?” You ask. You’re trying your hardest not to show any fear, but everything in your body is telling you to leave.

   Zuko squints and stares in the direction of the cave.

   “Aang asked us to check it out.” He says in his low rasp. This however is partially untrue.

  Aang had asked you to go check it out, not Zuko. Aang claimed that something felt wrong up here, but he was currently trying to the closest village from being occupied by Fire Nation troops and didn’t have time to check. You weren’t a bender, but you were a capable warrior, and Aang trusted your abilities.

   Zuko, on the other hand, had volunteered the moment you agreed to go. He claimed that it was because he couldn’t have Fire Nation soldiers recognize him, but his hastiness made you suspicious. He was always doing that, hovering around you during missions and tasks. It got on your nerves how little he trusted in your ability to defend yourself.

   “I don’t think we should be here.” You reiterate. “It just feels....”

   “I know. I feel it too.” Zuko says. He turns to you and offers a large hand. Sighing, you take it and allow him to lead you closer to the cave.

   Zuko stops behind a tall tree, and peeks his head around to observe. The tree is hardly wide enough to conceal his broad shoulders, but at least you are in the shadows. You notice that you are still holding his hand, and drop it before he can read too much into it.

   In an effort to look busy, you squint into the dark, trying to make out any sort of object that could be important. Without Aang here it is virtually impossible to know what you need to find.

   Zuko seems to be following the same train of thought as you, and scans the area with his eyes. The light is almost dark enough to conceal his scar. Your fingers twitch with some foreign urge to trace over it. You ball your hands into fists. Maybe you just want to punch him in the face.

  “I don’t see anything.” Zuko mumbles, still watchful.

   “Me neither. I say we go back to camp and tell Aang that there’s nothing up here.” The wind has picked up since you got here, and you’re teeth are chattering.

   Zuko notices your shivering for the first time, and rolls his eyes. He flexes his fingers, and you can tell what he’s about to do from the look on his face. You can’t have him firebend here.

   “Don’t.” You say harsher than necessary.

  “You can’t give that away, especially if someone’s here.” You hastily add. You don’t know why you’re suddenly so concerned about sparing his feelings.

    “Yeah...you’re right.” Zuko says, but there’s a strange look in his eyes that you don’t quite understand.

    Suddenly, the cave bursts into life and a bright light pours through it. The hairs on your arms prickle as the hum around you intensifies. You can practically taste whatever it is in the air.

   “We need to get closer, see what’s going on.” Zuko says, “Maybe this is what Aang meant.”

   You swallow loudly, but nod your consent. Hesitantly, you trail behind him, nearing the cave. The light illuminates the wideness of its mouth, and its seemingly never ending depth. Anything could be in there, but what could be of any importance to you?

   However bad you think the idea is, you know you have to go inside. Something is waiting for you in this cave, and you have to face it.

   You look to Zuko to see if he’s come to a similar conclusion, and you find the same grim expression on his face. Locking eyes, you nod at each other, and start the trek inside.

   Zuko lights his fists on fire, and the flames dance around his knuckles in beautiful patterns. Even though you wish he wouldn’t bend, it’s Zuko’s flames that you focus on to keep yourself from becoming panicked. For the first time, you’re truly glad he’s there with you.

   So focused are you on Zuko’s flame, that you don’t notice that someone is sneaking up on you. You hear the sound of their footsteps too late, and then everything goes dark.

                                ————————————————

  You wake up to a pounding in your head. Groaning, you move to lift a hand to your injury, but find that they are bound to something. That something just so happens to be a warm, angry firebender.

  “Y/n?” He asks, and you can’t help but notice that his usually crabby voice is laced with concern.

   “Ugh.” You groan in response. The back of your head is exploding with pain.

   “Are you alright?” He questions lowly.

   “Head hurts.” You mumble.

    You feel Zuko moving behind you, and assume he’s nodding.

   “You got hit pretty hard.” He whispers. You’re appreciative of the fact that he has lowered his voice. “Good thing your head is so hard.” 

    And there it is. You decide to be the bigger person and ignore him.

   “Hit with what?” You ask.

    “Magic, dear.” Says a wheezing voice. All of a sudden, light fills up the cave again, and you squeeze your eyes shut against it.

    Your head pounds viciously in response to the brightness, and you groan again.

   “Sorry about that.” The voice says again, and this time you can tell that it belongs to a woman. An old one by the sound of it.

    You hear shuffling near you, and then something is pressed to your lips.

   “Drink this, it’ll make you feel better.” She says.

    You shake your head, but she pressed the vial through your lips anyways, and forces your head back.

   “Leave her alone!” Zuko snaps.

   “Don’t worry firebender, I haven’t forgotten you.” The old woman says.

    The sweet liquid slides down your throat, and instantly your pain fades. You open your eyes to a wizened woman with a shock of bright white hair. Her eyes are crazed, and instantly you have a bad feeling about her. She winks at you and then moves away, one of her legs dragging behind her.

    You briefly take stock of you surroundings. The room is made of stone, so clearly you haven’t left the cave. That at least would make it easier if you escaped. The room is cluttered with vials, plants, and random torn pages. On one of the make shift tables you see a large cauldron and a mortar and pestle.

    “You’re a witch.” Your voice is flat.

     The old woman let’s out a shrieking cackle.

   “If that’s what you want to call it! Now I think it’s time you answer a few of my questions.” She says, crossing her arms.

    “We don’t owe you anything!” Zuko says through clenched teeth. You can feel his anger heating his body from where your backs touch.

   “No?” She says coyly. “You came to my cave to attack me!” She squeals, one eye twitching.

    “We didn’t come to attack you.” You say, trying to maintain the peace. Maybe she could be reasoned with. You feel Zuko tense behind you, and you know he’s preparing for a fight.

    “Then why were you sneaking into my cave, with this one on fire?” She says nodding in Zuko’s direction.

    This is the tricky part, figuring out how much to tell her. She clearly isn’t a fan of the Fire Nation, due to her reaction with Zuko, but maybe that isn’t true. Maybe she knows who Zuko is, and is a Fire Nation sympathizer.

    “Well?” She questions.

    “We’re traveling with the Avatar, and he sent us up here to check this place out while he went to help the nearby village.” You blurt. It comes out of nowhere, and it was definitely not what you meant to say at all.

    Horrified, you gasp. Zuko tenses begins you.

   “What did you do to her?” He demands.

   “Just a little truth potion.” She hums. “Can’t hurt to know the people around you are honest.”

     You clamp your mouth, biting into your lip hard enough to draw blood.

    “We’re not your enemy.” Zuko says. “You don’t need to restrain us. Or trick us into telling the truth.”

     You watch as the old woman paces back and forth.

    “I am Kara.” She says finally. “Years ago, I made a deal with Fire Nation to protect my people. I would provide them with some magical assistance, if they would spare my village.”

    “You’re helping them?” You cry out.

    “Don’t judge me too harshly girl.” The woman snaps. “I did what I could for my people, just as you try to do.”

    “The Avatar will free you’re village.” Zuko says. “You will be able to prosper without Fire Nation soldiers breathing down your neck. Let us go, and we will be able to help him.”

    Something in his voice makes your heart stutter. Maybe it’s the sincerity in his voice, or the hard edge of determination. You have got to stop thinking about Zuko that way.

    Kara laughs and shakes her head.

    “No one will be able to defeat them. Not even the Avatar.” She shakes her head, sadly.

    “We have! Many times before.” You say. You don’t like Kara talking badly about Aang. He has almost mastered all of the elements, and you know he has what it takes to defeat Ozai. You all have done so much good for people already. 

    Kara just shakes her head again, and resumes pacing.

   “I’m sorry.” She says finally. “I wish your friend well, but I can’t let you leave without knowing you aren’t a threat to the Fire Nation. If they know that I didn’t do anything I could to help them, they will hurt the people I love.”

    Kara begins muttering under her breath, and you tense up. You hate being completely vulnerable and open to an attack. Zuko must be on the same page, for you can feel him struggling against the bonds.

    “Heat them up.” You whisper as quietly as you can. “Burn them.”

    Kara starts going around and picking out various objects from her jars.

   “I can’t. Your hands are too close, I’ll burn you.” He says.

   “You’ll have to. It’s the only way we’re getting out of here!” You snap.

   “No.” He says, hotly.

    “Zuko!”

    “I’m not going to hurt you, y/n!” He growls.

    To your dismay, your arguing has caught the attention of Kara. She has a bright gleam in her eyes as she’s watching you two.

    “I see.” She says. Then she starts laughing hysterically, wiping tears from her eyes.

    “I know just what to do! But first, young lady, just how much does this boy mean to you?”

    The truth spills from your lips again without your control.

    “A lot.” You say, and then you’re whole face turns red. You’re mortified, but at least Zuko can’t see your face.

   Kara giggle with glee and then nods to herself

 “Oh yes, just the thing.” She comes over to you both, and plucks hairs from your heads.

   “Hey!” You and Zuko both protest.

  She sets the hairs in a bowl, and then starts talking to herself again, this time loudly enough for you to hear. She’s speaking in a foreign language of some sort, and hastily you begin to tug on your bonds again.

   “Zuko, just do it!” You say.

     In a surprisingly fast move, Zuko manages to wrench his wrists away from yours and singe the ropes without burning you. He is up and shooting flames at Kara in an instant.

    The bowl catches on fire, but it’s a pink fire, something magical and not from Zuko.

    “You’re too late!” She cackles gleefully. Then she disappears in a plume of smoke, and you and Zuko are left alone in the cave.

                                  ——————————————

   You  are both on high alert as you make your way back to camp. Every noise makes you jumpy, as you wait for Kara’s spell to start working. You make it out of the woods without so much as a scratch. Though it looks like you’ve avoided her wrath, something feels off.

   “You’re too late.” She had said. Chills race up and down your spine.

   Zuko keeps lighting and extinguishing his fists. You think maybe he’s trying to make sure he can still bend. Possible scenarios play over and over in your head. There were thousands of things she could do to sabotage you and Zuko. She could take away his bending, paralyze you, or turn you into bugs. The possibilities are endless, and yet nothing has happened.

   The Gaang is waiting up for you when you finally arrive back at camp. You tell them about the witch and her curse. Sokka rolls his eyes and seems unconcerned.

   “She’s just a crackpot you guys. Obviously nothing will happen.”

   Toph seconds his notion, but Aang and Katara look wary. Katara makes you and Zuko repeat the story until you’re blue in the face, but she can’t figure it out any more than you can.

  You are too embarrassed from your admission to talk to Zuko, or even bicker with him like you normally would. You quickly excuse yourself to go to sleep, and spend the rest of the evening hiding in your tent.

   You fall into a restless sleep that night. You dream of the horrible things you considered happening to you. In one dream you’re a frog, in the other you’re pinned to the ground unable to move.

   You’re utterly exhausted when you’re woken up by you’re own screaming.

                             ————————————————-

  You sit up in your tent immediately. You knew you heard yourself scream, but it hadn’t come from your mouth. Seconds later, you burst into your tent.

  Your clone stops and look at you, with wide eyes.

  “Y/n?” Your voice asks you.

   “Yes?” You say, but it isn’t your voice that comes out when you speak. Instead, it’s Zuko’s rasp that forms the words.

   All of a sudden the pieces of the puzzle start clicking together.

   “Oh no.” You say horrified, and look down at your body.

   You have muscles now, and you feel stronger, bigger. You reach a hand up and grab a handful of short, ebony locks. Your other hand traces your features, and you feel the rough scar under the pads of your fingers.

   “This can’t be real.” You say in Zuko’s voice. “This can’t be happening.”

   “It’s happening.” Zuko says.

   It’s weird to see yourself objectively like this. You have this horrible out of body feeling, and it’s making your head spin. Anxiety hits you, and you start breathing heavy. You’re going to pass out.

    “Calm down!” Zuko says, rushing over to you. He wraps his arms around you, himself? Ugh it’s too confusing.

  “If you don’t calm down, you’re going to burn this tent down and hurt yourself!” He says. He awkwardly starts rubbing your back. “Breathe with me.” He instructs.

   Slowly, you start to calm down. Zuko lets his, your?, hands linger for a moment longer, before he pulls away and puts some distance between you.

    “What are we going to do?” You ask. Zuko makes a face at how weak his voice sounds.

    “I don’t know.” He says. His mannerisms look so weird on your body. You can tell that it’s him, just by the way he holds himself. You wonder if he’s experiencing the same thing watching you in his body.

  “We need to go back to the cave, demand that Kara gives us our bodies back.” You say.

   Zuko rolls your eyes.

  “I’m sure that will go over well.” He says.

  “Don’t make me sound all crabby.” You snap at him.

  “Don’t make me sound all girly and pathetic!” He retorts.

  “Pathetic?!”

  “Oh Zuko,” he mocks “what are we going to do? Save me Zuko, I care a lot about you!”

  “You’re so annoying!” You shout, embarrassed that he remembered your confession.

   “Can we not fight this early in the morning!” Sokka says, throwing open your tent.

  “Oh.” He says, looking between the two of you.

  You realize in embarrassment that you and Zuko are awfully close together, and you are in Zuko’s body in your sleeping bag. It has to look like Zuko slept in your tent.

   “Sokka, we can explain.” You say.

   Sokka hurriedly shakes his head, raising his hands.

   “No, no. Please don’t.” He says.

   “Sokka listen, the witch really did curse us.” Zuko says. “She made us switch bodies.”

    Sokka looks between the two of you and then bursts into laughter.

    “Ok well I have to say that’s the first time I’ve hear that excuse.” He says, wiping tears from the corners of his blue eyes.

   “We’re serious!” You snap at him.

    Sokka sobers up, looking between you two again.

   “You really did perfect your impressions of one another.” Sokka says, suddenly sounding a bit more unsure.

    “Ugh!” You snap, and push out of the tent in a huff. You need to find Toph. She could prove you weren’t lying.

     It’s cold outside your tent, and to your horror you find that you’re not wearing a shirt.

    “Zuko!” You screech. “Why the hell aren’t you wearing a shirt!”

   “I’m a firebender, y/n. I get hot!” He defends.

   “Get me a shirt!” You snap. Zuko rolls his eyes at your dramatics, but leads you to his tent and throws a tunic at you.

    It smells like him when you pull it over your head. You try not to obviously inhale, but it’s the first time you’ve really noticed how Zuko smells. It’s not the first time you’ve noticed his muscles, but now you have a first hand look. His abs are hard and defined, and you blush quickly finishing dressing.

    “Are you done starting at me?” Zuko asks.

    “I’m sorry, it’s just weird!” You tell him.

  Sokka’s jaw is nearly touching the ground as he watches your exchange.

   “No way.” He says, finally believing you.

  “Yeah, Sokka.” You say.

                           ——————————————————

  Toph confirms your story, and everyone sits in dumbfounded silence. Even you and Zuko don’t have much more to say.

  “Well you have to go talk to Kara.” Katara says helpfully. “We’ll have to make her change you back.”

   “Wow that’s helpful. Thank you Katara, why didn’t we think of that.” Zuko says.

  “Y/n!” Katara says, hurt.

  “Zuko.” You and Zuko both correct her.

  “Whatever.” She mutters, angrily.

  “Katara’s right.” Says Aang. “We’ll all go. Maybe if I can convince her that I can help, she’ll change you back.”

   There seems to be no better plan than this. Sokka and Toph stay behind at the campsite, while the rest of you start the hike up the mountain.

   The breeze isn’t so bad now that you’re in Zuko’s body. He’s right when he says that he doesn’t get cold. He, on the other hand, is openly shivering in your body. You almost feel a little bad, but you remember him telling you it wasn’t that bad last night, and think better of it.

   “How do you survive like this?” He moans when you come to a stop. “It’s so cold all the time.”

   You smirk at his dramatics.

  “That’s what you get.”

   “For what!” He questions, and you can feel the fight brewing.

   “Oh I don’t know, maybe ‘You’re so dramatic y/n.’” You mock. “’It’s not that cold, y/n. Calm down, y/n’”

“I wasn’t telling you to calm down because you were cold.” He snaps. “I was trying to tell you to stop panicking!” He throws his hands up and stomps ahead.

   It’s a little embarrassing, and you think back to every tantrum you’ve thrown. Maybe this is a somewhat positive experience. You’re definitely learning about the annoying things you do.

   You and Zuko bicker all the way up the mountain. Though it’s not unusual for you all, but you can tell it’s driving Aang and Katara crazy.

   “Can you all please knock it off!” Katara yells, eventually. All three of you jump, and she crosses her arms. “I am sick and tired of hearing you all argue. That’s all you do every day! Can’t you all come to some sort of truce?”

   You and Zuko both narrow your eyes at each other.

 “No!” You say at the same time.

   “Ugh!”

                         —————————————————-

  You make it up the mountain alive, but barely. Everyone’s tempers are running high by the time you break through the trees.

  “Alright,” Zuko says. “We need to be careful. She knocked y/n out with one blow. She’ll do it again if we aren’t careful.”

   You’re about to protest the way he makes your ambush sound, but Aang mediates before your get riled up.

   “Just let it go.” He tells you.

   You all enter the cave quietly, heads constantly scanning the area as Zuko leads you down to the belly of the cave. You recognize the room when you get to it. The evidence of Kara is everywhere, still littered around the floor.

   “She isn’t here?” Zuko says.

    “Great observation.” You retort.

   “Guys, guys!” Aang snaps. “Enough. Let’s look through the books around here. There’s got to be something that tells us how to fix this.”

   The four of you spend what feels like hours combing through the books and pages around the room.

    “There’s nothing here!” Zuko cries, slamming a book onto the table.

    “That’s because it’s a spell of my own invention.” Kara’s wheezy voice says.

    You all jump into defensive stances, ready to attack. Kara holds up a wrinkled hand, but otherwise looks unbothered.

    “Please.” She says passively. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

    “Change back my friends!” Aang demands. “It’s me you have a problem with.”

   “Ah the Avatar.” Kara smiles. “You really are here.”

    “Yes. And I promise I will free your village. But first you must free my friends.” He says.

   “I’m afraid I can’t do that.” She says, eyes glittering again.

    “Why not?” Katara challenges.

    “I can’t change them back, because they must do it themselves.” She smiles.

   “What do you mean?” You ask, broad furrowing. There’s a light protesting from Zuko’s scar at the movement.

    “Save my village and I’ll tell you.” She says. “And you better do it fast, because in three days this will become permanent.”

                            ————————————————-

   Freeing the village from Fire Nation troops is going to be a bigger struggle than you anticipated, you realize as you and Zuko stroll down the streets. You currently have a hood pulled way over your head to hide your identity. There seemed to be hundred of them, and there were only six of you.

   “We’re never going to be able to pull this off.” You mutter under your breath. “I’m going to be you forever.”

   “How do you think I feel?” Zuko laments. “I’m losing my bending, my honor, everything.”

    “Well we wouldn’t be in this mess if I had just gone up there alone.” You snap as you approach the center of the village. 

    “Right, if you had gone alone you would’ve been killed!” He snaps back.

    “Why do you assume I’m so incapable of taking care of myself?!” You’re infuriated now. “I took care of myself for years before I ever met you!”

    “Don’t see how!” He growls. “All you ever do is get yourself in trouble, and someone always has to be there to help!”

    “Excuse me?!” You roar. “How dare you?!”

    The Fire Nation soldiers are slowly starting to gather around you, curious about the fight.

   “How dare I?” Zuko ramps up the volume. “How dare you?” He points a finger at your chest.

   So far, your distraction seems to be working. Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph are all getting into position. You just have to keep up the fighting a little longer.

   “You’re always babying me, and acting like I need a keeper! I’m not a child, and you don’t have to take it upon yourself to be my caretaker! I’m just fine on my own!” You yell, channeling his body’s natural penchant for rage.

    “Somebody has to!” Zuko snaps back, and over exaggerates putting his hand on his hip. “You never do it yourself. You’re always doing reckless things for other people, and your not as equipped to throw yourself in danger like everyone else!”

    Suddenly this fight feels a bit too real, and you find yourself getting actually offended. How dare he insinuate that your lack of bending meant you weren’t a good fighter!

   “What so I’m not allowed to care about my friends and do things to protect them?” You screech. “I’m sorry I don’t have all your talents, my lord. Next time I’ll make sure I get your permission first before I try and help somebody out!”

    “You always take everything I say out of context!” He snaps.

     “Hey guys?” Aang says, garnering the attention of the crowd. “I think that’s good enough, thanks.”

     Then all chaos breaks loose. Katara, Aang, and Toph start the fight with their bending. The Fire Nation soldiers, though caught unaware, do not take long to start fighting back. You wish that you knew how to utilize Zuko’s firebending, but you settle on using his physical strength instead.

   Most of the defense moves you know are geared towards you being smaller than your opponent. Not all of them work now that you’re Zuko’s size, and you find yourself struggling more than usual in your fights.

   Zuko seems to be having a similar issue learning how to fight in your body. You notice he has a habit of getting into bending stances out of pure habit. You notice that he’s getting cornered, when you go to help him.

   Together, you fight pretty well, instructing each other on moves as you go. Sokka’s boomerang flies about, knocking out opponents left and right. Your benders are doing well too, and soon enough, you’ve defeated the Fire Nation soldiers.

   You’re sore, body aching from exertion, but the happy villagers make it feel worth it.

   “Thank you, Avatar!” Someone yells after Aang explains who you all are.

    Your eyes find Kara’s in the crowd. It was time you got your body back.

   “Hey!” You yell as she walks away.

    “Y/n?” You hear Zuko call behind you as you take off, pushing through the crowd.

    “Hey! Stop!” You yell at Kara. “You owe us an explanation!”

      Zuko catches up to you, and you both chase after her. Finally, Kara stops in the woods, away from all the people.

     “I thought you’d want some privacy!” She cackles. “I saw your little distraction out there. Seemed pretty real.” You and Zuko shuffle and avoid eye contact, as the rest of the Gaang catches up with you.

  “We saved your village!” Aang says, “Now tell us how to fix this.” He waves a hand at you and Zuko.

   Kara’s eyes sparkle as she looks at all of you.

  “As I said, I can’t change you back. You have to do it yourselves.” She sings.

  “How?” Zuko grounds out through his, your, clenched jaw.

   “All you have to do is kiss!” She says gleefully clapping her hands together.

   Everyone is silent as you all take in this information.

   “There has to be another way.” Zuko says. There’s a desperate edge to his voice that hurts your feelings. Is the thought of kissing you so awful that he wouldn’t do it even to get his body back?

    Rolling your eyes, you stroll over and kiss Zuko’s, your, cheek. It’s a weird experience for sure, knowing that you’re kissing both Zuko and yourself.

   “Not that kind of kiss.” Kara says, smiling like a maniac. “A real one!”

   The color drains from Zuko’s face, and the rest of your friends remain silent. You can feel their eyes watching your every move. 

  Zuko’s disgust is plain, and even though it hurts, you just want your body back and to forget this every happened.

   “Zuko, I know you’re absolutely disgusted, but I’d like my body back before I’m you forever.” You say annoyed. “You can wash out your mouth and vomit when you have your own body back.”

   You can hear the muted hurt in your own voice, and it’s kind of embarrassing that you know everyone else can hear it too.

   “I’m afraid it’s the only way.” Kara adds.

   “If it helps just think about the fact that you’re kissing yourself, not me.” You say. More than ever you want this experience to be over, so you can go mourn your hurt feelings somewhere in private.

    Zuko sighs, and then approaches you.

  “Fine.” He says.

  Awkwardly, you both fidget, unsure how to initiate the kiss. It doesn’t help that literally everyone, including Momo and Appa, are looking at you.

   “Some privacy?” You ask them.

   “Oh yeah sure.” They all mumble, whistling and looking away. The second you turn back to Zuko you can feel their eyes on you. Some friends.

   “Let’s just get it over-” you get cut off by Zuko pressing his lips to yours.

    Instantly, you feel the switch happening. You feel yourself being pulled and re-anchored into your own body. Your limbs feel normal again, and then you really start to feel the kiss.

   Zuko pulls you closer to his warm, muscular body. Everything is exploding around you, and all you want to do is be even closer to him. You bring your arms up and settle them on his broad shoulders. Your hands wind themselves around his neck, and you play with the ends of his hair.

   Zuko’s large hands are also doing their fair share of exploring. One rests on your hips while the other tangles itself in your hair, and both pull you closer. His tongue opens your lips and you let him in, a moan escaping from you. It feels right, kissing Zuko like this. Like it is something that was always meant to happen.

   Somebody clears their throat and breaks up your moment. Slowly, you and Zuko part. You’re thrilled to realize it’s his swollen lips and amber eyes that you see when you pull away.

   “Well that was something!” Kara squeals in delight.

    Heat pools into your cheeks, as you asses your friends’ expressions. Aang looks embarrassed, Katara has heart eyes, and Toph and Sokka both look disgusted.

   “It worked.” You say breathlessly. Already you have the intense desire to kiss Zuko again, but suddenly you’re insecure. What if he hated it? He had seemed so disgusted before.

   “Yeah it did.” Zuko says, and then he smiles at you, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Some privacy?” He asks everyone, tightening his grip on you. Butterflies explode in your stomach as he does, and you’ve never felt so fluttery before.

   Your friends make themselves scarce, telling you they’ll be at camp. Kara scrambles off too, cackling all the while, and then you are alone.

  Your heart is pounding, and you’re really unsure how to tell Zuko how you feel. What if he doesn’t feel the same?

   Suddenly, Zuko presses his lips to yours again, and it feels like he’s devouring you. He’s passionate and fiery, and every press of his tongue against yours makes you feel like you’re on fire. Your body is buzzing when he finally pulls away to catch his breath.

   “I didn’t mean what I said during our fight.” He says, leaning his forehead against yours and wrapping his arms around your waist. “I don’t think you’re incapable or less than because you aren’t a bender. I think you’re one of the most talented people I know, and I also know that you can take care of yourself.” He says taking a deep breath.

   Zuko takes a step back, and removed an arm to put a finger under your chin. He lift your chin so you’re looking into his eyes.

   “I worry about you. All the time.” He says. “I’m so scared that you’ll get hurt and I won’t be there to protect you. My number one instinct is to protect you. That’s why I always ‘hover’ and volunteer to go on missions with you. If something happened to you....”

   “I feel the same way about you, you know.” You say smiling. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt either. And I don’t necessarily hate it when you’re around.” You tease him. “Or when you kiss me.”

   Zuko laughs, a deep happy laugh. It’s one of the first times you’ve ever seen him look so buoyant. You take the opportunity to kiss him this time, and he sighs happily into your mouth.

    “What are we going to do now?” You ask him.

    “Probably get back to our friends.” He says, grabbing your hand in his as you start making your way to your camp site.

    “You know, Zuko, Toph’s right.” You say. “You really do take people on life changing adventures!”

A/n: Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this! I’ve been working on my requests so hopefully I’ll have a few more stories out for you guys over the weekend. I’m going to be adding some things to my ‘Fanfic prompts’ post, so be sure to check it out if you want to request something! (also I’m fine with people requesting things that aren’t on that list if you have something specific for me to write!) Have a good weekend, and you can find all my other writing under the tag slythergirlimagines. I think I tagged everyone who asked to be tagged in my atla stuff, but if I missed you please let me know and I’ll correct it!!

Taglist: @galacticamidala​ @a-random-queer-kid​ @taeeemin​ @realimbo​ @samsmultifandomblogs​

@fire1ordzuzu​ @shortmexicangirl​

[dem-obscure-imagines]

New Year’s Eve Drabbles 2020

Fandoms: Jumanji, Rise of the Guardians, Ben 10 Alien Force, Maleficent, the Hunger Games

Note: Happy New Year! Here’s to hoping 2021 is a little kinder. I did a set of New Year’s Eve drabbles a few years ago and it was a lot of fun, so here you go! I hope you like them!

Warnings: Hunger Games spoilers

Alex “Seapilot” Vreeke x Reader

Word Count: 0.4k

The idea of a new year, admittedly, made Alex a little nervous. It was only a few months before that you had found your way into Jumanji with your new friends, rescued Alex, and brought him with you to modern day. And the six of you had figured: What better way to celebrate the new year than to have a little party?

So, you’d helped Bethany and Martha get the living room of Bethany’s house ready while Spencer, Fridge, and Alex picked up pizza, snacks, and drinks. You set some party favors out on the table. There were cute glasses proclaiming the new year, noise makers, candy, streamers, balloons, and some confetti.

When the boys got back, you helped set up the kitchen and Alex walked over to you, helping you unload the pizza and breadsticks and garlic knots. You kept catching him glancing at you, but every time you looked at him, he glanced away nervously, chuckling to himself.

“What?” You asked.

He shook his head. “Nothing. It’s just…I have this irrational fear that when midnight hits, all of this will go away.” He exhaled a long breath. “And I’ll be there all over again.”

“Hey.” You grabbed his arm, grounding him in the moment. “That’s not gonna happen, alright? You’re not going anywhere, and neither are we.”

“You’re stuck with us, Vreeke.” Fridge said, giving Alex a pat on the shoulder. “Nothin’s gonna happen. It’s over. The game is gone.”

“I know, but…It’s just stuck in my head.”

“It’s gonna be okay, alright? I’ll…” you bit your lip, thinking. “I’ll take your mind off of it.”

“Okay,” He nodded. And he didn’t know exactly what you meant, but he trusted you.

So, when 11:59 rolled around, you walked right over to where Alex was standing, his hands shaking, his eyes fixated on the TV screen, and you cupped his cheeks in your hands, turning his face to yours.

“Stay with me. Stay right here with me.” You whispered to him, your eyes focused on his. “No numbers, no countdown, just us. Just you and me.”

“I like the sound of that.” He whispered back, his hands resting on top of yours for a second before sliding down to your waist and tugging you closer.

And so you stayed there, and when the clock struck midnight, your lips met his, soft and sweet and everything he ever dreamed they’d be. When you pulled away, he exhaled a long breath, his eyes sparkling.

“That’s the first time I’ve been kissed in twenty years.” He said softly.

“You want a second one?” You asked.

He didn’t even reply, just pulled you closer and aligned his lips with yours once more.

Jack Frost x Reader

Word Count: 0.3k

The relationship you had with Jack was, well, complicated. You were a college student. You’d been friends with Jack for a few years because you were, what he called, the oldest believer. Even long after Santa had stopped bringing you presents, you still believed, and therefore, when Jack had flown past your window one night and your jaw dropped, he decided to loop back around.

The rest was history.

You were at a college party to celebrate the new year, but honestly, you just weren’t feeling it. So, you wandered up the stairs, found an empty bedroom, and opened the window to get some air.

“Oh come on, party girl, tapping out already?” Jack said, floating just outside the window.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood.” He shrugged. “What’s up?”

“New Year’s Eve party.” You told him. “It’s hot down there. And loud.”

Just as you said it, all the people in the lower level of the house started shouting numbers.

“Sounds like it’s almost over, though.” He floated closer and sat on the windowsill. “Hey, uh…” he reached up to scratch the back of his neck, his icy blue eyes landing on yours. “Do you mind if I do something I’ve been wanting to for a really, really long time?”

“What would that be?”

“Well, it’s a surprise.” He tilted his head. “Can you close your eyes?”

And while you knew Jack was a trickster in every meaning of the word, you closed your eyes, waiting in the window, the cold air refreshing on your face and in your lungs. And then, a few moments later, you felt something cold and soft against your lips. You couldn’t help but kiss him back.

Ben Tennyson x Reader

Word Count: 0.4k

It was Kevin’s idea to have a little New Year’s Eve party. Of course, it was just the four of you, the team, celebrating. You had been exiled to the back seat with Ben and because you were on patrol, there was no champagne to be had.

Gwen had, however, brought along some plastic wine glasses and a bottle of sparkling grape juice. It was better than nothing, and though you didn’t admit it, you were glad you were with the other three of them. It was better than spending the night alone.

Kevin drove the car out into the middle of the field and parked, tuning the radio to a New Year’s Eve broadcast. It was then that the four of you split into pairs. Kevin wrapped an arm around Gwen and they stepped off away from you and Ben, who stayed closer to the car.

“Want me to top you off?” He asked, holding up the bottle of sparkling juice.

“Sure, thanks.” You held up your glass and he poured more juice into it.

“A new year, huh?”

“Yeah…” You nodded an took a sip. “Weird.”

“Weird.” He agreed. “I have this weird, funny feeling that things are just gonna get weirder from here on out.”

“It always seems to where the four of us are involved.” You chuckled, sitting on the front of Kevin’s car.

Ben joined you.

You motioned to Kevin and Gwen, off in their own little world. “They’re good together, you know?”

“They are.” Ben chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s weird too, but…it’s getting less weird.”

“Mmhmm.” You nodded. You sighed and looked up at the stars. There were so many. So many planets and solar systems and galaxies in the vast, vast universe spread out before you. “It’s gorgeous.”

“It is.” He agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the sky. He was looking at you.

About twenty minutes later, the countdown started. You’d never had feelings for Ben. You didn’t know why. He was cute, he was confident, and yet, you’d never felt anything romantic for him. Well, until tonight. When the countdown got dangerously low, he looked at you and you looked at him and it just…clicked.

So, under the sparkling stars, side by side, you brought in the New Year with Ben Tennyson, his lips interlocked with yours.

Diaval x Reader

Word Count: 0.3k

You had to hand it to her, Maleficent threw quite the party. It was the eve of the new year, and to celebrate, Maleficent had called together all of the people of Aurora’s kingdom and all the fae of the Moors.

You were an enchantress from the kingdom, someone who was magical, but unaccustomed to the woods. You were wearing a fine silver gown made of silk and a moonstone circlet around your head. In your hand, you held a goblet of champagne, and as you walked through the forests, which were lit up with the gentle glowing magic of the creatures who inhabited it, you couldn’t help but be amazed by their beauty and grace.

You continued through the Moors and, inevitably, ran into a tall stranger. Quite literally. You found yourself standing right in front of a tall man with dark hair hanging in his face. It took you a moment to recognize him. This was Diaval, Maleficent’s companion and shapeshifter.

“Pardon me, didn’t see you there.” You apologized.

“I blend into the dark, I’m afraid.” He chuckled. It was true, with his dark hair, dressed in all black, he did indeed blend in with the shadows.

“No harm done.” You smiled. “I’m (Y/N).”

“Of the (L/N) house?” He asked, his eyes widening. “You’re the enchantress.”

“I am.” You nodded, smiling softly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He said, taking your hand in his and raising it to his lips. “Maleficent has mentioned introducing the two of us, but she’s been…busy, it seems.”

“I can imagine taking care of two kingdoms would be quite the task,” you mused softly. “Well, the pleasure is mine, Diaval. I will admit, your abilities are intriguing to me.”

“Oh. They’re not mine. It’s Maleficent’s magic that granted me this form. Usually, I’m a raven.” He admitted, a sheepish smile finding his face.

“Fascinating.” You said, your eyes alight with awe. “Well, Diaval, what do you say to accompanying me for the evening?”

He slipped his arm through yours, his dark eyes sparkling and a promise written in his smile. “I’d be honored.”

Peeta Mellark x Reader

Word Count: 0.7k

Another New Year’s Eve alone with your books. You couldn’t complain, though. It was quiet. It was nice. It was you, the TV, your cat, and the Hunger Games books. Specifically, you were reading the first book, starting the series over again for what felt like the thirtieth time. Your books were very worn, the spines cracked beyond repair. You loved them and everything they stood for.

So, you opened the cover and pulled the bookmark out. You were nearing the end of the games. Peeta was hiding from the careers somewhere while Katniss took care of Rue. And when she died, as she always did, you cried. A few of your tears landed on the page of the book, and when the third tear landed on the paper, you heard a thud in your kitchen.

Looking up, you searched the room for your cat, but you spotted him on the chair across from you, notably, not making a mess in the kitchen. So, slowly, you walked through your apartment until you reached the doorway of the kitchen. You thought maybe one of your barstools had fallen over or something. But no, sitting in the middle of your kitchen, a shocked look on his face and a large gash on his leg, was none other than Peeta Mellark, right down to the District 12 jacket and the Josh Hutcherson face.

“What the fuck.”

“Is this…Where…where am I?”

“In my kitchen. In my apartment. Are you…You’re Peeta Mellark.”

“How did I get here?”

“I don’t know.” You shook your head. You looked at his leg, the shock of a fictional character sitting in your kitchen wearing off when you realized he was injured and bleeding pretty badly. “Shit, you’re bleeding! Um, I’ll get a first aid kit. Stay right here.”

You ran to your bathroom and back, carrying your first aid kit. He was lucky you knew your shit. He was also lucky he’d landed there before it got too badly infected.

“What district is this?” He asked, looking around your apartment, still sitting on your tile floor. “Where am I?”

“Peeta, I don’t know how to tell you this.” You sat down and opened your first aid kit, pulling out some ointment and bandages. “This isn’t one of the districts. This is another…world? Reality? I don’t know the terminology, but…”

“What do you mean?”

“Once I patch you up I will try to explain everything, okay?” You applied some hydrogen peroxide to his cut and then put ointment on it, wrapping it up in bandages. “Is that too tight?”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you.” His eyes were grateful, but you could tell he was still shaken up.

You helped him to his feet and he limped to the living room with his arm over your shoulder for support. Once you got him settled in a chair, you walked back out to the kitchen and got him a glass of water and the leftover half of a Subway sandwich that was in your fridge. You were planning on eating it for lunch the next day, but he needed it more than you did.

“You must be starving. Here.”

“Thank you so much.” He said, taking an eager few gups of water. You knew he was definitely dehydrated. “I’m pretty sure this is just some amazing dream.”

“It might be.” You shook your head, chuckling to yourself. “I don’t know how to explain this to you, but, here…” You handed him all three of the Hunger Games books and watched his face as he looked them over, curious but sullen.

“This…this is a joke, right? I’m not…this is…how…?”

“I don’t know either. But, um, you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to. Or as long as you want to. I can’t imagine going back to a place like that. To the games…”

“You’ve read these a lot, huh?” He noticed how beat-up they were and looked up at you. “Why?”

“They give me hope. Things are pretty bad in my country right now, and it gives me hope that even though things are bleak, they can get better.”

“So they do get better?”

“They will, Peeta. It’ll get worse first, but they will get better.”

He smiled a soft but painfilled smile.

Your TV announced that the new year had arrived, and when you looked, it was indeed midnight.

“Happy New Year,” you said quietly.

He nodded and let out a long sigh before repeating, “Happy New Year.”

[teamxdark]

I still want to post anything at all so. Here's the first unedited chapter of SatCK.

Also, once it's done, would people rather it all be posted at once, or a chapter a day? Let me know!

The clouds loomed low, obscuring the sun and showering the world in gray as a lone raven landed on the bones of a long-dead animal. He tapped his beak to the skull, as though to test the hardiness of the material, his eyes flashing with what might have been a sense of superiority before he looked back at the empty dirt path that cut through the grass and took off into the air.

The path did not remain empty for long; a girl ran along it just a moment later, her long purple cloak drawn closely over herself and her boots kicking up dust as she ran. In her hands, she clutched a staff tightly to her chest, which heaved with exertion as the girl kept running, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to see if she was being followed.

At first, everything looked peaceful and devoid of life behind her, and her shoulders relaxed just a fraction.

Then, from the endless gray that covered the land, dark creatures spawned from the shadows, transforming from dark spots with glowing magenta eyes to massive beasts of all kinds, both landbound and flying, burly and nimble, and all clad in faded, heavy armor while wielding great blades that glinted dully, even with the lack of sunlight.

The girl stopped as she realized that she was trapped, while from a nearby tree, the raven watched calmly. As the monstrous warriors surrounded the girl from all sides, the bird took flight, swooping high up into air before dropping down, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed.

One minute, there was a raven in the air. The next moment, a pair of black metal boots touched the earth, and the imposing figure of a man in heavy armor stood at full height before the frightened girl. He approached her, drawing his blade, his eyes glowing through the slits in his helmet as he approached, promising death. In the air, thick with tension, his voice cut through, clear and full of malice.

“This is the end for you and your treason. I will see to that myself.”

The girl’s hands trembled as they fumbled with her staff, then steadied themselves with a great show of effort. The girl took a deep breath, forcing down her nerves, and struck the ground with the magical artifact, summoning forth its magical properties as she began to chant, summoning a blue light all around her that had the armored beasts recoiling and the man with the sword halting in his tracks.

That was all she needed to finish her spell.

“O brave knight, swift as the wind! Heed my call!” she implored, looking up at the sky as though the answer to her troubles would fall before her. From all around her, the cyan light glowed bright, until it exploded upwards, a column of magical might, piercing through the clouds and striking the heavens, leaving a sole spot of light in the otherwise gloomy sky.

And something did, indeed, fall down to her, and it fell with a scream that cut itself short as the being, a blue hedgehog, faceplanted in the dirt road.

This wasn’t what Sonic had been expecting out of today.

He lifted his face, shaking away the gravel, and scrambled to his feet, scampering forward until he caught one chilidog that, like him, fell from above, and then leapt in the other direction to catch the second one just before it hit the ground. Sonic sighed in relief, bringing himself back to his feet and taking a look around.

“Hey… where am I?”

The sound of footstep behind him prompted him to turn around, and he saw the girl approach him, her eyes widening and her lips parting as she looked upon him. For a second, no words came from her, but she appeared to find her tongue quickly. “Being from a distant world, forgive my abrupt summons!” She knelt beside him, still shaking from her run, and slid her hood down, revealing delicate features and long, pointed ears.

That’s not something you see every day on a human…

Movement from over her shoulder distracted Sonic from the girl’s unusual ears, prompting him to look over at the group of beasts in armor, which were beginning to encroach upon them. Sonic took a look behind him, beholding the armored man who stood stock-still, beholding him without a word, his shadowy aura growing thick around him.

Sonic let out a chuckle, quickly finishing off one of the chilidogs in his hands. It didn’t seem like he would be having lunch with Amy after all, but he couldn’t let such a delicacy go to waste. Making a mental note to apologize to his friend once this was over and maybe reschedule the whole thing, Sonic tossed the second chilidog to his other hand, spinning it idly around as he spoke to the girl. “Oh, I get it,” he reassured her. “No problem! I’m used to stuff like this!”

Enemies all around? Overwhelming sense of dread? Tension in the air so thick you could choke on it?

He was called in to fight and rescue this girl, he was sure of it.

With a grin, he threw his snack up high into the air and dashed off, leaving behind a gust of wind as powerful as a shockwave. He vaguely heard the girl gasp as he ran through the cluster of armored enemies, creating another shockwave that, to his surprise, made them evaporate without any more fuss. Sonic pushed the surprise away 一 there was bound to be a reason why, and it wasn’t like he had to know it now or anything 一 and refocused on returning to his spot, catching the chilidog before it was anywhere close to the ground.

He glanced back at the girl, who was staring at him with open astonishment, her hand in front of her mouth and her eyes wide. Sonic allowed himself a small, self-satisfied smirk at demonstrating his abilities so cleanly, then turned back toward the last enemy, the armored man, who still hadn’t moved from his spot and was still staring at him.

Sonic began spinning his snack around again. “Don’t forget to blink,” he taunted, and finally, the man moved, bringing his sword 一 a bright, golden blade that didn’t match his dark getup at all 一 up and before him. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a face like yours,” the man said, pointing the tip of the blade at Sonic.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised. You’ve got all that armor in front of your eyes! How about I knock it away and you can get a real good look--”

“No, you mustn’t!”

A hand grabbed tightly over his arm, stunning him enough that he fumbled with his free hand and sent his chilidog tumbling to the ground. Sonic looked from his ruined treat to the girl who stopped him as she swung her staff before them both, causing a vortex of dirt and wind to surround them. As Sonic felt himself begin to get pulled away, he reached out a hand to his fallen treat and the final enemy that he had yet to even try to defeat, but it was all in vain. The armored man charged forward, but his sword only struck empty air.

The man cursed under his breath, turning away from the vanishing point and walking a few paces away, crushing the chilidog underneath one of his boots without a second thought. “She’s slipped away from me again,” he growled, the dark aura around him growing stronger. “And now she has an ally of the worst kind…”

The man kicked at the ground, wiping some of the remains of meat and beans away as he did so, and wasted no more time in jumping into the air and transforming back into a raven, shedding a single feather as he soared away, over hills and valleys, clearing a town and swooping over the outer wall of a magnificent castle, landing before five people standing in wait, clad in polished, presentable armor. He transformed back into his true form, and all five knelt before him, bowing their heads without hesitation.

My knights...

For just a moment, the man’s gaze swept over the five before him, something akin to pride sparking deep within him, before the feeling extinguished itself as quickly as it came, leaving nothing but coldness in its wake.

“She’s escaped me again, but I shall continue to give chase,” he informed them, seeing a few ears perk up as he spoke. “At this point, I cannot stand another day knowing that she evades me. Spread out, and slay her on sight. I no longer care if it is by my hand or not.”

Five heads nodded, still bowed, and the man felt satisfied until he remembered the other important piece of information.

“She has recruited an ally, a magical warrior. You will know him when you see him. Do not fall for his tricks, and slay him as well. Mercy is not an option. We have no time to lose.”

With that, the man turned away and leapt into the air again, transforming back into a bird to continue his search, while behind him, the five lifted their heads and got to their feet.

“That was vague,” one spoke; a green hawk with two fanned blades.

“Hush, Brother,” another one said; a purple cat wielding a rapier. “Our king has much to handle and no time to spare. It is our duty to help shoulder his burdens as best as we can.”

“I apologize, Percival,” a third one piped up; a pale gray hedgehog with long spines, “but I must agree with Lamorak. We do not know what this ‘magical warrior’ of hers looks like!”

“More likely than not, he will be travelling with her,” yet another spat; a black hedgehog with red streaks in his fur. “If we find one, we will almost certainly find the other, and even if we don’t, our king has made it clear that we will know him when we see him. Now, let us depart.”

“But must we?” the final one asked; a red echidna with two axe-like swords. “She is the Royal Wizard, after all!”

The black hedgehog’s head snapped over, his voice taking a hard edge as he spoke. “She was the Royal Wizard, and in any case, the king’s orders are absolute, Gawain.”

“Yes, but--”

“We have been given our task,” the gray hedgehog said, walking up between them both. “If he demands that they be slain, then slain they shall be.”

This seemed to pacify the black hedgehog, who nodded once before racing off, with the gray hedgehog close behind. The one named Gawain heaved a sigh as the one named Percival approached him. “Without loyalty to the king, we are nothing,” she reminded him sternly, though the next second she looked off to the horizon, where the hedgehogs had become little more than specks. “Still, the king… he has changed,” she murmured, much softer and thoughtful. “And this kingdom…”

“That would be putting it lightly,” the one called Lamorak scoffed, nudging Percival with his shoulder, much to her annoyance. “I need no magical gifts to see that there are troubling times ahead of us. However, there is not much else for us to do.”

“Only our jobs, and to trust our king’s judgement,” Gawain finished the thought, looking at one of his blades with a resigned slump to his shoulders. “Very well. I shall not be the one to disappoint him.”

Yet even with those words, the unease did not leave the knights as they left the castle walls in search for their targets.

[kythed]

synopsis: it’s a tragic case of boy meets girl, boy likes girl, girl has a boyfriend. [un]luckily for you, semi doesn’t play by the rules... and you don’t really want him to.

tagged: semi eita x reader, fluff, mediocre writing.

commitment level: 2,583 words.

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They say young love is a rite of passage. They say it’s fresh and light, it’s wading in the shallows of a swiftly flowing river and letting the deliciously frigid water take you wherever it flows. They say young love comes easily. 

But they don’t tell you youth is not a remedy for pain. They don’t tell you the cold of that water burns your skin, too — it leaves your fingertips numb and kisses your palms an angry red. They say “it’s just puppy love,” but they don’t tell you puppies grow into wolves. 

+

You’re eighteen when you first meet Semi Eita, and he’s twenty-two. It’s not a highly significant age gap, but it’s noticeable enough. 

“She’s a baby,” he says, eyes grey as the southern sea and just as unforgiving. Though he’s young, the weight of an iron giant rests on his slender shoulders. 

“She’s talented, Semi,” says Akamine, tone wheedling. He fiddles with the lapels of his coat — it’s Italian, all cream silk and bronze buttons. “She’s capable.” 

Twenty year old Akamine Keo is a trust-fund kid, born into the arms of an oil empire he’ll someday fall heir to. He’s charming, clever, and sweet, with distinctly expensive good looks, fine features and black hair like raven’s feathers. He also happens to be your boyfriend. 

“That means nothing,” Semi says, peering into your face. An uncomfortable chill tickles the back of your neck as you fight the urge to look away. “There are toddlers who can shred Led Zeppelin, but they’re not musicians. They’re puppets controlled by overzealous tiger moms. They can’t take the heat of the real industry.”

“I can take the heat.” Your words bleed out heavy and sharp, a rough gash through the palpably thick tension. Fingernails leaving painful half-moons on your palms, you clench and unclench your fists down at your sides. “And I can sure as hell shred better than any toddler.”

For a split second, surprise flashes across Semi’s face, only to be quickly replaced by a wry smile. “Brave.” 

You stare at him, lips sucked in and eyes narrowed as Akamine slings an arm over your shoulders and presses a kiss to your temples. 

“See?” he says with a laugh. “She’s talented, capable, and brave.”

“Well,” says Semi, drawing the word out. He cocks his head, giving you one last hard once-over, before extending a hand for a firm shake. “We’ll see. I’ll give you two months. A trial.” 

You accept this compromise, returning the shake. Semi’s still skeptical, you can tell, but you make a vow to yourself — you’re about to blow this sonuvabitch out of the water. As Akamine crows in delight, Semi’s eyes don’t leave yours. 

Good luck, they seem to be saying. You’ll need it. 

You smile, and he smiles back. 

I won’t. 

+

Semi’s a phenomenal bassist. When you’d first started dating Akamine and he’d just joined Semi’s band, he could scarcely shut up about it — “His name’s Semi Eita, and I swear he’s got magic in those fingers, babe.” 

Well, Semi Eita’s about to be dethroned, because your fingers are magic, too. 

For those two months, you’re the band’s lead guitarist, and you pass Semi’s test with flying colors. It takes a couple weeks to fall into step with the other guys — Semi on bass, Akamine on drums, and a quiet college kid called Yasuda on keys — but you’re a quick study, and soon you’re a cornerstone, expertly weaving searing arpeggios of dashed dreams and fiery hopes up and down the band’s underlying tunes. 

(You should’ve seen it coming.)

You and Semi somehow become co-songwriters. He has a knack for melodies, and you have a knack for lyrics. Akamine doesn’t seem to mind the long hours you spend in Semi’s company, working in a whirlwind of messy notes and empty energy drink cans — he trusts you. 

(Sometimes you feel like maybe he shouldn’t.)

“What do you think of this?” Semi says, idly twirling a pencil between his fingers. It’s 10pm on a Friday night, and you’re stretched out on his couch, inhaling chow mein from a greasy paper box. “For the second verse, I mean.” 

“Lemme see,” you say around a mouthful of noodles, snatching the paper from his hand. You furrow your brow. “‘Tear me open like a scarlet letter, cruelly addressed ‘return to sender…’’ Jeez, Semi. Who hurt you?” 

Semi scowls. “It’s a breakup song, isn’t it? It’s supposed to hurt.” 

“You might consider being a little more… subtle,” you suggest, offering him a fortune cookie. He takes it and sets it aside.

“Heartbreak isn’t subtle,” he says, shooting you a look that speaks of throbbing phantom wounds. “It cuts deep. All the way down to the heart. Hence the name heartbreak.” 

“Wow. I had no idea,” you say drily. You swing your legs over the couch and sit upright, snatching his pencil. “I just think we should tackle this with nuance, not just write another ‘eff you’ ballad.” 

“This world can always use another ‘eff you’ ballad,” Semi says humorlessly, resting his chin in his hand. 

You regard his suddenly silent demeanor as he stares, unseeing, out the window. It’s dark outside, and it’s a darkness that speaks less of peaceful sleep and more of emptiness. 

You sigh, nudging him with your foot. “What was her name?” 

“What?”

“Her name. This demon of a girl that hurt you so badly.” 

For a moment, it seems he’s going to argue, to deny ever being afflicted with something so childish as lovesickness. Then he runs a defeated hand through his hair and shakes his head, laughing. “You’re too curious for your own good.”

You wait. There’s a brief, uncomfortable silence as Semi chews his lip.

“...Her name was Aiko,” he says finally, inspecting his nails with a faux nonchalance. “Smokin’ hot. Met her in music school three or so years ago, I think — she was a TA, a few years older than I was.”

“Older women, huh?” you tease. This is new territory — you’re dipping a toe into the forbidden arena of flirtation. A shadow of guilt creeps into the back of your mind as you think of Akamine, but the bright light of Semi’s crooked grin swiftly flushes it away.

“Yeah,” he says, leaning over to flick your leg. “I don’t date babies like you.” 

“Maybe you should consider it,” you say, unthinking. Semi stares at you, eyebrow raised, and you flush, frantically backtracking. “Not me specifically. I’m just saying — well, I mean, ‘cause this Aiko chick was such a bad time and everything.” 

“If you have a crush on me, just admit it,” Semi says. You’re sure it’s meant to come across jokingly, but the way he’s eyeing you twists your stomach into a pleasurable knot. Then he sighs, leaning back on his arms. “She was a great time, actually. It’s the ending that sucked ass.” 

The question lingers at the tip of your tongue, hesitant like an ill-trained acrobat, but before it even attempts the leap, Semi answers.

“It burned.” He looks straight at you, and you can taste the bitterness in his words. “It burned, and not a day goes by that I can’t remember how awful it felt.” 

+

That’s the first of the many secrets you trade with him. 

Later that night, you tell Semi about your first kiss, about how the recipient smelled like Old Spice and tasted like chapstick, how he walked you to your front door and introduced himself to your mom. About how he took your virginity six months later, and how you soon realized there are some things in life you don’t get an exchange receipt for. 

Semi tells you his favorite color is green, and that outer space scares him more than anything. (He doesn’t like thinking about life in other galaxies because he can hardly handle thinking about life right here.)

You tell him you like milk tea with 75% sweetness, and he promises he’ll take you to his favorite cafe sometime. (“Not a date,” he assures you, and you internally scold yourself for wishing it was one.)

He says he once accidentally kicked a stray cat while trying to find a volleyball he lost in the bushes near his house, and that’s why he considers himself a cat person now: as repentance. (He has a pet cat called Haru, and he shows you a picture — Haru is small and black with bright yellow eyes. You say he’s cute, but Semi corrects you: “Not cute. Fierce.”) 

You say you used to wish life had a restart button, so you could turn back time and dance through each year without making a single mistake.

Semi says he still wishes that. 

(Another thing they don’t tell you is how secrets are really currency. Secrets can’t help but pay for familiarity, and familiarity often leads to something more.)

+

It’s a couple weeks later when you have your first gig. It’s at a bar downtown, and Yasuda nabs fakes for you and Akamine, though you don’t plan on drinking. Not much, anyways. 

(Speaking of Akamine, your relationship with him has grown strained over the past month. He’s stretched himself thin between the band and his business degree, and you — well, whenever your phone pings, you can’t stop hoping it’s from Semi.)

Five minutes before show time, Semi turns to you, eyes wide. “We don’t have a band name.” 

“What?”

“We don’t have a band name.” He looks around, frantically trying to draw inspiration from something in the dimly lit bar. “Quick, think of something.” 

So you think for a moment, chewing your inner cheek, before reaching out and tugging on Semi’s sleeve. “Paper.”

“Paper?”

“Paper.”

Paper is fragile, it’s thin, it’s easy to come by. But it’s also a world of potential on one sheet, a story waiting to be written. 

When the bar owner walks onto the stage and introduces the band, you know you’ve made the right decision. And from the glittering smile Semi flashes you before nodding at Akamine to count you in, you know he thinks so too. 

The show goes on without a hitch, and even though the bar is far from packed, you’re just as proud as you’d be playing in a stadium of screaming fans. The air smells of stale whiskey and fresh beginnings, and as your fingers dance up and down your Gibson’s fretboard, you hear colors — rich teal, smooth mahogany, creamy gold and silver brighter than the stars. Akamine keeps the rhythm like a war drum, and Semi, as always, is perfect. Yasuda, doubling as the main vocalist, sings until his voice gets wonderfully low and raspy, keyboard taking some of the heat as he grins back at you, mouthing how badly his throat hurts.

You’re sweaty when the set’s done, and Akamine buys you a drink, giving you a quick, half-hearted kiss and a tired smile.

Akamine’s always been kind to you.

“I gotta go,” he says, squeezing your hand. “Essay due tomorrow at ten.” 

He looks so genuinely sorry to leave, you almost feel guilty. 

+

You’re packing up your amps into the back of Semi’s van, alone in the parking lot save for the moon many miles above, hanging bright and full in a clear sky. The moon has seen all your most indulgent sins, and she’s going to see one more tonight.

“You did well.” Semi heaves the last of the equipment into his truck before turning to you, wiping his palms on his jeans. “Consider me impressed.”

“Why, thank you,” you say, giving him a mock bow. “So glad I’ve finally managed to impress the Semi Eita.” 

He regards you for a moment, arms crossed. A small sigh escapes his lips. It’s both a sigh of resignation and one of anticipation. 

Then, in one smooth motion, he steps close, reaches out, and pulls you close by the waist. 

You stare up at him, all too aware of the heat radiating from his body. His skin is burning, and his cologne is different from Akamine’s — it’s not expensive, it’s not a multilayered, deep, woody scent. It’s cheap, the sort of cologne a struggling musician can afford, but it smells of home.

“Forgive me for what I’m about to do,” he whispers, sliding a hand up your jaw to cup your face. His hair glows silver and ghostly under the streetlamps. 

“And what are you about to do?” Your voice is deadly quiet, and your chest feels a deathly cold despite Semi’s proximity, refusing to thaw as you await his answer. 

“Kiss you absolutely senseless.” 

Semi’s never been one to make empty promises, and right now is no exception. He presses his lips to yours and you immediately melt into his arms, suddenly craving him and only him. You’re not entirely sure how you’ve managed to avoid devouring him whole up until this point, because he kisses like Eros, full of pomegranate seeds and crimson blossoms, of days spent in clandestine bliss. He kisses like a man on death row, desperate and longing, hands squeezing your waist like your body is his only anchor to life itself. 

Semi Eita wants to be a rockstar, but right now he’s just a boy kissing a girl he’s bound to fall deeply, inexplicably in love with. 

When he finally breaks away, you’re breathless, staring up at him like you’ve just seen an angel. Your hands are still curled in the front of his shirt, you’re still standing on tiptoe, lips just inches from his. 

“Semi…” You swallow hard. “Akamine’s a good guy… I can’t.”

Semi tenses his jaw, taking a finger to lift your chin. “Then why are you looking at me like that?” 

Your voice is barely above a whisper. “Like what?”

“Like you’re hungry.” 

He’s got you there. 

You’re standing on a balance beam splitting two vastly different worlds. On one side there’s the known: Akamine and his bright, blue-eyed optimism, his willingness to shoulder burdens he shouldn’t have to. There’s his sweet touch and soft kisses, his firm words of reassurance and his sunny laughter shedding light on your hidden depths. 

The known is comforting. It’s familiar. 

But on the other side… there’s the unknown. There’s Semi Eita in all his scalded glory, his sharp tongue and headstrong determination. There’s his burning touch, his fingers leaving scorch marks on your cheek and his lips depositing glowing embers in your mouth, ready to ignite at a single inflammatory word. There’s his moonstone enigma, the shadow underlying his every sentence like smudged eyeliner. 

The unknown is frightening, almost overwhelmingly so… but there’s something in you, something willful and terribly thirsty, that draws you to this unknown and the possibility of knowing it. 

“Because I am.” 

And you grab his face and pull it down to yours, impatient, frustrated by months of dancing around that painfully tangible attraction, that magnetism — finally, you allow yourself to fall, hurtling through a chasm of fallen stars and ancient suns, hanging on to nothing but Semi and his carefully guarded secrets. 

You kiss him hard, pouring your soul into his mouth, all your youthful doubt and hope. You knot your fingers in his hair, and he pulls you into his chest, pressing your body so close it’s as if he wants to make it a part of himself. 

And when you part for the second time, chest heaving, you know you’ve fallen completely, entirely, without a doubt.