#this is just a preview of a fanfic i’ll probably never finish

[miss-1ng]

btw, this was written and never finished i just thought i should post it cause why not! oh yes also crimson flower route spoilers i guess though major canon divergence too. I DIDNT KNOW HOW TO ADD THE READ MORE THING SO HERE WE ARE SORRY

She hears a scream.

So naturally, she reacts to it.

Reacting to something has taken so long before.

Flames whipping towards her faster than she can acknowledge them has never been such a prolonging experience. It feels like hours. It’s only been seconds.

She stretches her arms wide as she shoves Byleth out of the way.

The woman barely stumbles, just falls flat onto her back, and stares up at her with wide eyes. Wide eyes rapidly filling with tears.

She’s only ever seen Byleth cry once. It was that day, that one horrible day with the incident with Monica no, Kronya, where her father had taken his last breath to a dagger.

In the numb roaring from her ears, she wonders why exactly Byleth is crying.

The second heat licks her bare skin she realises what she’s done.

Edelgard’s throat feels tight. Too tight.

It was funny in a way. Funny in a bitter, cruel way. The esteemed Emperor of Adrestia, who has survived many wars, prevailed in hundreds of battles, toughened through blows from swords, spears, axes and bows, you name it, can’t survive flames so seemingly easy to avoid.

Something presses against her heart. It takes her seconds to realise it’s a hand. A soft shaking hand. She sees Byleth’s mouth move but no words seem to come out.

The roars in her ears shatter along with the surroundings.

“That was unimpressive.”

The voice startles Edelgard awake, and she’s unable to hold in the flinch when she’s greeted with darkness only pierced by a small green light.

Edelgard takes a staggering step forward. Her stomach hurdles when she glances beneath her feet, only to see pitch black darkness.

The strange voice continues. “At least I came to your rescue, even if you did interrupt my sleep.” A yawn. “Okay, come on over. How bad is everything? How far back do we need to go?”

“Who are you?” Edelgard demands. Her voice wavers but she tries to keep her voice strong.

A figure steps into the limelight, wearing an intricate dress of blues, reds and white. Long green hair swishes over a small and slim frame, though it doesn’t seem like it’s weighing the person down like it should.

“Oh, you must have hit your head.” She mock laughs. “Ha. Ha. Ha.” She claps slowly with each word. Green eyes lock with Edelgard’s. She blinks. “Oh.” She blinks again, then frowns. “You’re not Byleth.”

“Byleth?” Edelgard’s voice comes out in a growl, a shaky growl, but a growl no less. She glares at the girl in front of her. “Wh-what have you done to her?”

The girl looks affronted. Her eyebrows draw upward, and her jaw falls slightly agape. “Are you accusing me of doing something to Byleth?” she demands in a snappish tone. “Because all I have done is saved her. Many times.”

“But then-” Her voice cracks. “-then where is she?”

Her eyes sting with tears.

The girl sighs. She sits down on a throne which was non-existent until seconds ago, pulling her knees to her chest. “I don’t know.”

And here comes the tummel of questions making a ruckus in Edelgard’s head.

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” she cries, feeling tears streak down her cheeks. “What-what do you mean? Where is she? Where am I? Who are you? What-”

“Woah, woah, woah, when I say I don’t know…” The girl inhales sharply. “It means I actually don’t know. I have no idea where Byleth is. But we are-” She glances around. “Somewhere. But my name is Sothis.”

Something in Edelgard snaps. “Sothis?” she growls. “You’re the-the proclaimed ‘Goddess’?”

The girl – Sothis – pinches the bridge of her nose. “Oh, so you’re the girl Byleth yammers on non-stop about.”

She pauses. “What?”

“Byleth has told me about you. About how your goal to eliminate the church, therefore eliminating all belief in the Goddess, AKA me.” She pauses before adding “She’s also spoken very highly of you. You’re important to her.”

Her throat clenches. She feels tears well in her eyes.

She’s important to me too.

“Is that so?” Sothis tuts, pursing her lips.

Edelgard flinches. She takes a wary step back “I said nothing,” she says, even if it’s more like she’s convincing herself than Sothis.

Sothis laughs. She actually laughs, even though it’s more of a delighted giggle. “Oh, you have so much to learn!” She’s wearing a carefree smile, nothing like her sleepy, disoriented gaze from only seconds ago.

“Where are we?” Edelgard repeats. She’s slowly gaining her bearings. “What happened?”

Sothis groans, dragging a hand down her face. “You died,” Sothis tells her. “You died against that dragon by protecting Byleth.”

The reality hits her like a slap to the face. It stings. “I… died?”

“Are you really this thick-skulled?” the Goddess snaps, slapping her hands down on the sides of the throne, to which a resounding smack echoes through the dark area. “You died. You’re dead. Dead. Dead. Dead! Yet I have no idea why you’re here now and Byleth isn’t.”

“Byleth’s… has she come here? Byleth knows you.”

The look Sothis sends her is terrifying, even without words to accompany it.

Byleth.

Her eyes sting again, though she makes no move to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

“You seem to not know much,” Sothis muses. “Would you like a reminder of the battle?”

Before Edelgard can say a word, Sothis clicks her fingers and Edelgard is staggering through a road with flaming buildings on either side.

She stares ahead, vision blurring as she tries to make sense of this situation. Her back presses against the wall without her knowledge and she feels something squeeze her hand.

Dorothea looks down at her, smiling nervously, yet she’s still smiling. Her hand holds Edelgard’s, and she squeezes it once more. “This’ll be fine,” she murmurs. It’s almost like she’s trying to convince herself more than she’s trying to convince Edelgard.

She doesn’t recall this from the battle. She doesn’t recall walking down these paths, ever the same despite the minor differences. She doesn’t recall Dorothea clutching her hand, because no, Byleth was the one clutching hers as they sliced through their enemies and approached Rhea.

A squeaky “Y-yes, it will” slips out of her mouth.

Dorothea walks a few steps forward and Edelgard follows and holds a bow out, squinting at the Demonic Beast snarling at nothing in particular.

The thing is she’s using a bow. She doesn’t even think she’s touched one before.

Empty red eyes suddenly lock with hers and she feels herself flinch and yelp. The arrow flings out of her grip, barely skimming the Demonic Beast’s scales.

The Demonic Beast stomps forward, whipping it’s tale back and forth when Dorothea lunges in front and blasts a Thoron at it.

The creature takes the blow, and Edelgard uses that as a chance to use her bow again.

Why am I using a bow?

That question remains unanswered as she launches another arrow at it. This time it hit’s the Demonic Beast’s forehead. She feels euphoric for a little moment. Almost smiles. Doesn’t. Especially as it’s tail swings around, so fast neither of them can avoid it and knocks Dorothea over some broken picket fences to some Church Soldiers and Edelgard into a crumbling building.

A brick falls and slams against her arm.

The bow snaps into pieces. The brick crushes her arm. Edelgard screams, something so shrill it can’t possibly belong to her.

“Bernie!” Dorothea cries. Edelgard freezes questioning the name of her ally, her friend before another brick clatters down, landing inches away from her face. While her head whips to Edelgard, a spear pierces through her stomach and her head lolls back, blood spitting out of her mouth. “B…ern…”

Dorothea. Edelgard cries out, though by the looks of it Bernadetta is too. Dorothea gone. Dorothea who didn’t care about anyone’s differences. Dorothea who treated every member of the Black Eagles as equals. Dorothea who comforted everyone in times of need. Dorothea who was a beautiful, beloved, and kind-hearted soul who did not deserve to fight in a war she didn’t even belong in.

“What will you do, when the war is finished?” Edelgard had asked one particularly sunny day whilst the two were having tea.

Dorothea had smiled, green eyes full of something so sweet it warmed Edelgard’s heart. It was always a pleasure to see her friend, so awfully affected by war, smiling so happily. “I’d like to return to the opera, I guess,” she had replied, her lips quirking up. “Though I’ll see where my life takes me.”

Her body goes limp.

Another two bricks fall down, and Edelgard’s vision turns dark before she wakes up again nearby Caspar and Lysithea, the two shielding her and fending off the opposing soldiers.

In the distance she can see Catherine, holding Thunderbrand out and staring down at the three with an amused grin tugging at her lips. The sight is sickening. Edelgard holds her hands out, fixing up a gash on Caspar’s upper arm while he takes a breather against the enemies. The wound slowly fixes itself up.

Lysithea uses a Dark Spikes.

Then Caspar goes back to swinging his axe.

Stunned, Edelgard feels herself stare at her hands. She’d never learnt healing spells before. …Why did she know them now?

Catherine runs forward to the three of them suddenly, when Lysithea finishes off the last Church soldier in the area they’re in.

Caspar barely avoids the hit. Lysithea makes a noise slightly resembling the squeak of a mouse (Mice, running around her while she’s caged in her cell) and Edelgard finds herself slowly backing onto a healing tile.

Catherine and Caspar are fighting, newly donned gauntlets against a heroes relic. Lysithea from behind blasts spell after spell at Catherine, obviously exhausted but the girl is not letting up. Edelgard admires her for that. She’s always admired Lysithea, and her relentlessness to not let her younger age get the best of her.

She’s damn powerful as well.

Everything seems to be good. Everything seems to be fine.

Edelgard takes a deep breath in. Then everything goes to hell.

Caspar gets stabbed in the arm with Thunderbrand. He cries out, staggering back and losing his focus on Catherine. Edelgard cries out too, reaching out to try and use Psychic but it’s no use since Caspar gets stabbed again and again.

A scream of rage comes from Lysithea, and just before she finishes the final blow, the young woman uses a critical Dark Spikes which hits Catherine with perfect accuracy. The knight falls down. Thunderbrand falls out of her hand.

“Caspar,” Edelgard finds herself sobbing, though her voice isn’t actually hers. She sounds like Linhardt. “Caspar, please, Cas-”

A hand touches Edelgard’s (Linhardt, she reminds herself, not that it will do much) and Caspar looks up, smiling dumbly. “I got to fight her,” he croaks. “I…I won too.”

Blood pours from his wounds, the stabs scattered around his body. Edelgard feels the sudden urge to throw up. She holds the bile in. Tears are streaming down her face as she clutches Caspar’s body, pulling him to her chest.

“Caspar…” she repeats, not that her words will do much. “Cas-aspar, I-”

“Shh, Lin.” He reaches up to press a finger against her lips, silencing her. He opens his mouth to speak but his eyes suddenly stare at her unblinkingly. He’s limp in her hold.

“Linhardt…” Lysithea starts to say, reaching forward but Edelgard stands up, still gripping onto Caspar despite how much her arms are trembling under his weight.

She sobs and hates how raw she (Linhardt) sounds right now. Linhardt shouldn’t deserve this. Linhardt who already had so many struggles piled upon the other. Linhardt who needs Caspar, and Caspar who needed Linhardt.

It hurts even more now that she realises the real reason Caspar wasn’t there when Linhardt and Lysithea met up with them, only to meet their immediate downfall after stumbling dazedly too close to Rhea.

Her vision twists and she’s now stumbling along with Hubert, stabbing at each enemy who crosses them with her lance. Behind her she sees Petra, struggling with another Demonic Beast, despite each blast Hubert hits it with.

A claw slices her chest open, and she screams, the sound resonating through Fhirdiad.

She turns back, launching her horse towards the Demonic Beast and digging his lance into a small spot of bare skin where the scales of it didn’t cover.

The Demonic Beast makes a ghastly sound before falling to it’s end.

“Ferdinand!” Hubert yells. “What are you-”

His words are silenced so quickly it’s deafening. His mouth falls agape as a lance finds it’s way through his middle.

Edelgard cries out his name. She sounds so heartbroken it makes her want to burst into tears all over again. Hubert deserved more.

No, she thinks with clenched teeth as she directs her horse towards Hubert’s attacker. They all deserved more. So much more than being swept up by me into this godawful war.

She hates herself for this. She’s never hated herself so much before.

She ends up stabbing at Hubert’s attacker, stabbing again and again until her vision is blurred with blood, sweat and tears. Blood, sweat and tears. Fitting, if not for the situation. Fitting if not for the-

Everything goes black. Once more.

Edelgard opens her eyes to darkness. She’s kneeling on the floor, sobbing, and wailing as the images of her allies, her friends getting murdered in front of her.

“Oh don’t cry,” Sothis soothes, but her sympathy doesn’t seem like real sympathy. “There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

Edelgard staggers up, swaying on her feet, and wipes the tears from her face. She glares angrily at Sothis. But her next words come out in a quiet whisper.

“What happened to Byleth?”

Byleth, who I need, and who I love.

Sothis pauses. Silence hangs in the room like the tension, and it’s only broken when she replies in a broken little whisper “I don’t know.”

Mint green eyes matching mint green hair.

A small smile barely noticeable but still there.

Deadpanning whenever Edelgard makes a joke.

Hugging her, hugging them. Comforting them all.

Her obsession with fishing she never seemed to get over.

Her love for fish that could rival Flayn’s.

Her scream, haunting Edelgard for five years.

“This is going to be a problem,” Sothis mutters. “Your thoughts are solely Byleth-centric. Is there anything else that goes in that strange little mind of yours?” She waves her hand in Edelgard’s general direction in emphasis.

“How long must I stay here for?” Edelgard sighs.

There’s a brighter glint in Sothis’ eyes. Her lips quirk up. “Not too much longer as it seems!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together and standing up. The action reminds Edelgard of when she was a child. Young. Carefree. Innocent.

Oblivious to the blatant cruelness the world harboured.

“El…” A whisper. “El, I know I’m bad with words, but I need you to know you can talk to me.”

Hands clutching hers. A squeeze. Locking eyes.

“My teacher, I…” Averting gaze. Letting go of warm hands. “Now is not the time.”

“It’s always the time if you need help.”

A smile, an obvious façade that doesn’t sell as well as Claude’s ones did. Trembling fingers. Warmth dispersing from memory.

“I am fine. Though I thank you, for taking the time to see if I am okay. I appreciate it.”

Why didn’t she just hold on a little longer?

how was that y’all? hope it wasn’t too long and angsty hahaha

[the-unknown-storyteller]

Bookbinding Fanfiction: A New Adventure Begins

and thus I rise from the dead (with no new fics of my own making though).  Anyway, I'm gonna talk a bit about my process binding Salvage by @muffinlance. Thanks @necrotic-bones​ for (unknowingly) inspiring me to get into this (they were to first to ask to fanbind Salvage and I wanted to do it as well)

Before I begin, here are the guides/tutorials that I used:

- How To Make A Book From An AO3 Page by @armoredsuperheavy

- Bookbinding Resources Master List by members of the Renegade Bindery discord server (found through the previous guide)

- r/bookbinding has a nice beginner’s introduction to bookbinding

- the Case Bound Book series by DAS Bookbinding on youtube is very helpful as well, I specifically used Part 6 Casing In

I also found this amazing program, called Bookbinder (on quantumelephant.co.uk), that takes your pdf and formats it into proper signatures and flips every second page for you etc, so that you can print it at home (if you have the proper printer for it)

this post is probably going to be kind of long, so the entire thing is under the cut, but here’s a preview:

Anyway, I think it's been close to over two weeks since the start of my bookbinding projects, but they’re both done! I first did a kind of test run with a collection of detroit become human fanfics, which taught me four things:

- don't forget to choose natural white paper at the print shop (books never use pure white paper)

- the edges will be irregular and that is ok, do under no circumstances try to level them by hand as you will definitely not succeed in getting smooth edges, just leave the signatures as they are, trust me

- thin endpapers are horrible to smoothly glue down, so take some paper that's a bit thicker and it'll be easier

- finish watching a tutorial before doing the thing, eg. I forgot to put extra paper between the endpapers and the first two and last two pages of the DBH collection got a bit of a wave now, oh well

I might make another post properly detailing my first fanbinding journey with the DBH fics, but second things first: Salvage 

Chapter 1: The Beginning

I did dip my toes into bookbinding a few years back, but did them japanese style with an open spine, so doing a proper case bookbind with a spine and all was new to me, ArmoredSuperHeavy’s guide helped a lot

Chapter 2: Getting Materials

Step 1: Read both guides mentioned above, then go to the city to find what you need, don't really find what you need, order a bunch of shit instead

Step 2: Only partially read through the bookbinding guide and forget to order half the stuff you need, try to make do with what you have (big mistake)

Step 3: Try to make bookcloth yourself with this guide, don’t follow it properly and fail at making it, find out that buying bookcloth is dirt cheap (comparatively)

Step 4: regret buying all that cloth and unnecessarily expensive thin paper for the backing

Step 4: buy cheap bookcloth while sighing through the pain of being inconvenienced by your own stupidity, patiently wait for all of your stuff to arrive

Step 5: harvest and format your choosen works according to @armoredsuperheavy​‘s guide, run it through the bookbinder program

Step 6: let a website print your script for you since your printer is barely good enough to print one (1) page if you’re lucky, let alone 64 (DBH) or flippin’ 103 (Salvage), front and back

Step 7: wait some more

Chapter 3: Binding the Book

Now sadly I barely took any pictures (read: none), except for the finished product, so I wont go into too much detail, I’ll mostly talk about my thoughts behind choosing the colors and design with a slight detour into the layout and formatting of the fic

The Design:

I knew that I wanted the book to be blue (since Salvage takes place at sea) and that I wanted to find some paper that had some kind of blue wave design on it, I went on ollilypaperware and found this really nice chiyogami paper with a blue wave/scale design on it:

I wanted the round parts to point upwards, but I got it all turned around while glueing it down and now they point downwards instead, but thats fine

I wanted the spine to be blue as well, but when I looked at my red bookcloth (I ordered a few different colors since shipping was a bit expensive and I wanted to get my money’s worth) and thought “red like fire, oh OH that would look fucking awesome and reflect the content of the fic much better”, so I used that instead, I also bought some blue, purple and yellow ribbons in the city and used the blue one for a bookmark by gluing it into the spine

Because of that I made a kind of template, I used Baskerville Old Face for the body, Garamond for the front matter (AO3 tags, summary etc) and Bodoni MT for the front title and chapter titles

The Formatting:

Now I did format a few works before ordering the materials, the materials were getting quite expensive and I wanted to make sure that I had more than just one fic I wanted to bind, I made a whole list and all

I pretty much just followed SuperArmoredHeavy’s guide on how to harvest and format AO3 fics and my layout is the same, meaning the first page is just the title, then title and author in bigger font with the AO3 tags and the summary on the back, then the fic and lastly the author’s notes in an appendix

Chapter 4: The Finished Book

My trial run was a great success in terms of learning what to do and what not to, which means that my Salvage fanbind is the best it could be (except for the endpaper at the back, which I slightly failed at gluing down smoothly, but its behind two empty pages and at the end of the book, so I dont really mind, no one will see)

I’m incredibly happy with the finish and hope that the exterior does the interior justice, but without much further ado, here are the promised pictures:

[jackverglas]

A Date with Yasu and Maya (and Yoko?)

Hey hey! A hgk fanfic partner piece I wrote for vday~!

Link to the fanart partner piece at the end👀 No spoilers!

His friend had been unreasonably nervous for his date with Maya. Well, “date” perhaps was more accurate. Yasu had already seen several movies with this girl for the sake of “research”, but he still hadn’t made any moves yet. And, normally, Yoko wouldn’t have tolerated this lack of development if not for the fact that this was the first date that he had managed to learn about before it went down. For some reason, Yasu had some paranoid fear that Yoko would do something irrational if he knew about their outings beforehand.

And Yasu did know him better than anyone. Of course Yoko was going to do something irrational. What other option was there but to stalk his best friend on his date so he could give him tips to do better on the next one?

What else were best friends for?

Ticket already bought, Yoko adjusted his sunglasses and his baseball cap as he loitered in front of the theater, eyes scanning for his friend’s floppy hat in the crowd. He didn’t have to wait long until a floppy brown hat soon bobbed into the line beside a familiar bob of fluffy brown hair. Oh, hell, that hat was still as dorky as ever. Yoko tried to remind himself that he was supposed to think of it as “vintage” rather than “please-take-it-off-you-look-like-a-dweeb”, but it was difficult. To be fair, Yasu was the one on a date right now and not him, but that was beside the point.

After the pair got through the line, he followed a safe distance behind them into the theater. Precisely fifteen minutes as usual, so Yasu could watch all the trailers and previews. Also, as usual, Yasu sat in the middle seat of the third row from the back, so Yoko could settle into the back row to watch them. As the trailers rolled, it was the opportune time to give Yasu advice.

Yoko: hey bud.

Yasu: no.

Yasu: NO

Yasu: How did you find out I was so careful??

Yoko: Maya told Taichi and Taichi told me AYYYYY

The floppy hat shot up as Yasu looked around and located Yoko with alarming quickness.

Yoko: how did u find me im wearing a hat??

Yasu: A hat isn’t going to hide how STUPID you look.

Yoko: First of all, that doesnt make sense. Second of all, thats very mean.

Yasu: LEAVE.

Maya looked over quizzically and seemed to ask if something was wrong. Yasu shook his head apologetically, a smile plastered on his face.

Yoko: First of all, no. Second of all, FREE ADVICE FROM YOUR BESTEST OF FRIENDS: When the movie is going on, brush her shoulder a little. If she moves away, just say you saw a bug. If she doesn’t, IT’S ARM OVER THE SHOULDER TIME. It’s a flawless move!

Yasu: First of all, I hate you. Second of all, I’m going to kill you after this.

Yoko: 😉

Yasu shut off his phone in a hurry and shoved it into his pocket, trying to explain away the text conversation from a confused Maya. Yoko leaned back in his seat with a smug smile. Yasu would thank him later when the shoulder move worked out for him.

Frankly, Yoko shouldn’t have been surprised that Yasu did, in fact, not follow his advice.

The movie, which Yoko had been entirely not paying attention to, finished with a distinct lack of shoulder maneuvers and Yoko followed the pair out with a pout. In his grumpiness, he followed a bit closer than he probably should have, but Yoko wouldn’t call him out either way in risk of ruining his maybe-date. Because of this, he was also able to hear their conversation.

“I thought the cinematography in the candle scene was done in such a clever way!” the film geek gushed.

“The lighting was really dynamic. I’m so curious what the original shot looked like without color correction,” the currently-being-indoctrinated-to-become-a-film-geek replied.

“Ugh, I’d kill to see the original footage.” Yasu glanced down at his phone. “Are you still good to head to my place? Not too tired?”

What. What?

“Of course! I’ll never be too tired for Hamada-san!”

Huh? Who was Hamada? Why did that name sound familiar?

“Alright, let’s head back then. If you’re tired, you can sleep on the subway. I can wake you up when we’re there.”

Yoko clicked his tongue, glancing at the time on his phone. He hadn’t expected this turn of events, but he had to see what they had planned. What if Yasu needed his help? Yoko couldn’t abandon his friend. Finding a safe distance once again, Yoko resumed his pursuit.

After a short subway ride of being sandwiched between two businessmen, Yoko stumbled out the doors, caught his breath, swiftly located the floppy hat, and chased after it. Yasu and Maya were indeed heading back to Yasu’s apartment room. With a rare flash of foresight, right before the pair approached the front door of the apartment, Yoko dove behind a bush. Yasu’s eyes swept in suspicion behind him before he unlocked the door and let Maya in.

Yoko popped up from behind the bush and he flicked a leaf out of his hair. Fortunately for him, he knew had to break into Yasu’s apartment. He had needed to borrow Yasu’s homework a few times in the past and, in the process, discovered that the hinge of the bathroom window was a little loose. Yasu did know about this. Yoko wasn’t that much of a terror in his friend’s life.

Yoko carefully balanced himself on a brick foothold and leapt up to grab the windowsill. Then, he hauled himself up and jostled the window until the hinge fell free. A tight squeeze through the high square opening and a small balancing act on the bathtub later, Yoko had successfully infiltrated his friend’s apartment. He could hear their voices coming from Yasu’s bedroom, but he couldn’t make out the words. Quietly, he crept into the hallway and then peered through the crack of Yasu’s, thankfully, crooked door that didn’t quite fit in its frame.

There was a fat cat on Yasu’s bed.

Yoko blinked.

“He’s soo cute!” Maya nearly squealed, her eyes shining.

“I’m glad my friend let me borrow Hamada again. Hopefully, we get some good pictures for our club flyers.”

“We definitely will! Just look at him!” Maya knelt by the bed, cupping the cheeks of the disgruntled cat.

They had apparently hung a white cloth beforehand, so there was a makeshift backdrop behind Hamada, apparently a cat, for a photoshoot.

“I, uh, brought some props too,” Yoko said, hesitantly holding up a paper bag.

“Oo! Let me see!” Maya said, peering into the bag. Then, she nearly tore it open, pulling out a mini clapboard, a black bib with a bowtie, and a…mini floppy hat? “You two are matching! We should get a picture of you two together!”

Yasu backed up a few steps, holding up his hands. “No, I, uh, I’m no good at posing for pictures.”

“You’ll be fine. No one will be focused on you anyways; Hamada is in the picture, after all.”

“That’s, uh, reassuring?”

Maya scooped up the cat and gently transferred him to Yasu’s wavering arms. Then, she placed the hat on Hamada, who was surprisingly unbothered by the headgear, and the clapboard in Yasu’s hand. “Sit in front of the backdrop! I’ll get a few pictures.”

Yoko sighed, stepping away from the door. There was no advice he could provide regarding a cat photoshoot. Unfortunately, it was a perfectly cute date idea that Yasu could handle better than him. Then, he heard the front door creak open.

Shit. Yasu’s roommate was back. Yoko breaking in was something the roommate was familiar with, but if Yasu heard his roommate greet Yoko, his friend might actually fulfill his threat of killing him. Yoko scrambled back into the bathroom, instinctively slamming the door in his rush.

Shit!

“Damn, Yasu, you’re in a hurry, huh?” his roommate called.

“What? Takuya? Did you just get back? That wasn’t me.”

“What?”

SHIT.

Yoko leapt onto the lip of the bathtub, scattering a bunch of bottles of shampoo and soap in the process. He winced as they clattered loudly on the ceramic floor.

“Who is that!” Takuya shouted, footsteps rushing towards the bathroom.

Yoko clambered for the window, shoving it upwards, and pulling himself through. In his hurry, however, his hoodie string caught on the hinge and he was promptly choked as he tried to launch himself through the opening. His hoodie string jerked him backwards, he flailed backwards, and his head smashed into the shower door with an inspiringly loud sound as he crashed down into the bathtub.

“Yoko?” Takuya asked, his voice calming. “You good, man?”

“WHO?” asked Yasu’s resoundingly not-calming voice.

Well. Fuck.

Fanart partner piece by @flappingduster of two good hat bois here!

[dc41896]

Stupid Roses

Pairing: Ransom DrysdalexBlack Reader

⚠️: None, just some soft!Ransom feels💕

Reaching the middle landing of the floating stairs, his hands grip the metal railing giving an impressive view of his toned arms in his baby blue short sleeve shirt as he shakes his head at the sight below him.

“I thought you were supposed to be watching the game with me?”

“I will,” you sit up from your comfy position, bringing your boyfriends cashmere blanket down from your face. “I forgot the Bachelor comes on tonight though, so when this goes off I’ll come upstairs.”

“The Bachelor? You mean that God awful show about women throwing themselves at some random guy and claiming they love him on the second day?”

“For someone so disgusted by it, you seem to know quite a bit,” you smirk.

“Only because I had an ex who was obsessed with it,” he answers descending the staircase. “That’s all she wanted to watch day and night.”

“Aww was someone jealous?,” you pout.

“Ha! Definitely not. She deleted a golf tournament I recorded so there’d be more room for some announcement special, and that was the last time I ever spoke to her.”

“So, I take it you won’t be watching with me anytime soon?” A deep chuckle vibrates through his chest leaning down to brush his lips against your ear causing a shiver to run down your spine.

“Princess, I’d rather go on a week long vacation with my parents,” he whispers against your skin before moving to kiss your neck.

“Fine, but it’s not that bad if you give it a chance.”

“Yea okay,” he snorts before disappearing in the kitchen to get his new box of Biscoff cookies.

Leaning over to pour yourself a glass of wine, your’re quickly sucked back into the tv screen now showing the remainder of last nights rose ceremony that left on a cliffhanger. You’re not too distracted though to not notice your boyfriend’s looming figure slowly make his way back to the staircase with eyes fixed on the formal looking man holding a single red rose, and the camera switching between those who had yet to receive one.

It took every ounce of willpower in you to stifle your laugh hearing him quietly curse one of the steps he tripped over being so entranced with the previews of the next date.

Throughout the episode, those long, “secretive glances would continue during his journey back and forth from the kitchen getting chips to counter the sweet taste in his mouth. Then a beer. Then napkins to clean up said beer when he tripped over the same step once again.

This is how you both ultimately ended up on the couch with the game being long forgotten. You, sat between his legs holding the half eaten box of cookies and bag of chips, and him draping an arm in front of your chest pulling you closer to his broad chest as you discussed your thoughts on the contestants.

“So far my faves are Kelly, Sarah M, Traci, and Lara. I definitely feel like they’ll make it close to the end.”

“Hm okay,” he nods. “And which ones are they?”

“Sarah M is the one in the black, floor length gown there. Then Lara is in the yellow- ugh, why would he give a rose to Veronica?! What does he see in her, no one likes her! All she does is cause drama.”

“And she has no sense of style. Where’d she get that dress from, the side of the road?,” Ransom adds, nudging your cheek with his nose so you’ll feed him a cookie after getting one yourself. “No wonder she chooses violence.”

There’s a comfortable silence as you both continue to watch the rest of the evening play out and girls become frustrated when they feel they didn’t get enough time before being interrupted. Gazing at the side of your face, a small smile forms on his lips watching your features scrunch and react to the different sets of interactions being shown. While he wasn’t one for trashy reality shows, he’d sit and watch you get adorably worked up and invested in people you’d never meet all day.

Well, maybe not all day.

“Let’s say I was the bachelor,” he states lying his chin on your shoulder. “Would you try out?”

“Well I think when you try out, you don’t know who the bachelor is,” you giggle as his lips peck your neck.

“Alright say you did, and we weren’t together of course.”

“I honestly don’t know-,” you answer causing him to sit up looking a bit puzzled as he shifted to look you directly in your face.

“You don’t know?”

“Let me finish,” you laugh before kissing the furrowed spot between his brows to relax his face. “I don’t know because I feel like me competing with a bunch of other women who look like supermodels and pageant queens, I’d probably be sent home on night one. Plus you know I don’t really have the same personality type as them either.”

You had a point. Unlike the women on the screen, it took you a bit longer to be open with people due to your shy nature. When you and Ransom first started dating, at least once a week Ransom would start to mentally question if you really liked him as much as he liked you. He’d even become frustrated sitting alone in his modern home as he thought he was possibly missing signals that showed him this.

It was as if you had been reading his mind when you brought it up over a private, candlelit dinner one night at quite possibly the best restaurant in town that, before, you could only dream of going to.

“I-I know I’m probably not as open about my feelings as the other girls you’ve been with,” you spoke nervously fiddling with the extra cloth napkin beside your plate. “I promise it’s not that I don’t like you or anything because I do! It’s just I get in my head, and don’t want to potentially mess up anything and I’m sorry-,”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he interrupts placing his larger hand on top of yours. Was he used to his prior dates and girlfriends telling every feeling and emotion from day one? Yes, but now he understood that until you were comfortable those feelings and thoughts would probably stay held in. And he didn’t mind waiting.

“You don’t need to apologize. I’ll tell you now that you don’t have to be afraid about sharing how you feel with me, but if you need time I get it. Don’t worry I’ll still be here.”

With a soft “aw” as his hand caresses your cheek and thumb grazes your skin, he leans in to kiss your lips only separating briefly before stealing a couple more.

“You’re right, you wouldn’t last long.”

Now was your turn to lean back, looking at him puzzled as you scoffed. “Wow thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“I say that because I’d know you were the one I wanted on night one, so there wouldn’t be any rose ceremonies. It’d be the shortest season in history,” he smiles capturing your smirking lips once more.

“You’d really know on night one?”

You weren’t questioning his loyalty, but you also weren’t gonna forget about his past playboy ways in this hypothetical situation of him being single and surrounded by 30 or so gorgeous women.

“Mhmm. Knowing how long you take to get ready though, you’d probably be the last to arrive but I’d still know,” he chuckles as you lightly smack his chest.

Taglist: @fumbling-fanfics @honeychicanawrites @honeychicana @lady-olive-oil @themyscxiras @melinda-january @lovelymari4 @maxcullen @literaturefeen @damnitaa @curlyhairclub @plokyu23 @fullofmelaninsarcasmandepression @nunubug99 @felicity-x0 @ellixthea @jojolu @jnk-812 @brwn-sgr @captainsamwlsn @wildfirecracker @nina-sj @iammyownlover @chaneajoyyy @secretmysteriousperson @scoop93535

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[guiltysecretpasttime]

The Right Beifong

This fanfic was somewhat inspired by @roseagate 's post , but going a different route.

Preview: 

For all the bad blood between them, there was no one else that the Beifong sisters would trust with their secrets but each other.

One might argue that guilt may have motivated Suyin’s actions. Lin learned not to question it, not when a secret has remained undetected for more than a decade.

Who knew that it would all unravel in a hospital room in Republic City.

-----

For all the bad blood between them, there was no one else that the Beifong sisters would trust with their secrets but each other.

One might argue that guilt may have motivated Suyin’s actions. Lin learned not to question it, not when a secret has remained undetected for more than a decade.

Who knew that it would all unravel in a hospital room in Republic City.

-----

Briiiing! Briiiiiiiiing! Brii-!

A gray-haired metalbender extended her arm from under the blankets and silenced her alarm clock immediately.

It was like any other day – another weekday, another workday, another day in the life of Chief Lin Beifong.

She got up and left her bed unmade (if it was good enough for her to sleep in last night, it would be good enough for her later tonight), mentally going through her tasks and schedule for the day. Stretching as she padded to the bathroom, she rubbed her face, flinging away the lingering grasp of sleep.

Stepping under the spray of lukewarm water, she lathered up. She gingerly soaped a two-day old wound near her left rib. The wound was small but deep; a perfect candidate for a new scar.

Chief Beifong did not have a lot of concern over her multiple scars and bruises. She had acquired several through out the years in service.  As she let the lather run down her body, she recalled where she got each of them, welts and scars that stand as various badges of honor that denote bravery (or foolishness) while on duty.  

There was one particular scar, however, that Lin Beifong regarded as a symbol of all that is precious to her, a hidden sacrifice made, one that she values more than any accolade given to her as Chief Beifong.

-----

On the other side of Republic City, beyond the bay and on Air Temple Island, Tenzin just finished joining a meditation session for the (new!) airbenders. Never in his life would he have imagined that his wild older brother would have successfully led a calming meditation session. Never mind the notion that Bumi would the epitome of the fun-loving airbending Air Nomads that their father knew from his childhood – it had sounded so absurd ten years ago.

But now, Tenzin could barely get back home without nodding at an airbender in greeting. Harmonic Convergence brought back the Air Nation without any form of intervention from him and his wife.

His wife…

He also greeted his wife with a nod as he passed the kitchen on the way to his study. Breakfast will not be ready in the communal dining area until half past the hour, so he had time to spare.

He flipped open the newspaper an acolyte had delivered to his study, as always. With the Kuvira debacle having been wrapped, the master airbender hoped to read good news or trivial matters from the papers. At the corner of the front page was a feature on the latest activities of the Republic City Police Department. He frowned to himself.

It was one of his secret past times – which he found himself clinging to as of late – keeping tabs on the life of the Chief of Police.

There was not anything wrong with what he was doing, just a friend checking on the welfare of another friend.

The past years had brought him back closer to this childhood friend (at least, closer than it had been for a decade or so). The fast pacing of the events that the Avatar brought about left him (or them? He wondered) little time to reflect on this rediscovered friendship.

But now, the past months following Kuvira’s sentencing presented him opportunity to delve into his thoughts (there’s still a lot to be done in the Earth Kingdom, of course, and Republic City is still adjusting to the new spirit portal – but it was relatively tame compared to the escape of the Red Lotus).

While the city was still busy in rebuilding and getting back on track, Tenzin realized with a pang that his interactions with Lin are now limited to being in the periphery (each had their own separate roles to play in the city). Their paths intersected less and less. He then started to rely on the news to hear about her (it was through the morning paper that he learned of the skirmish that had injured Lin; he had half a mind to go to her office and demand that she take a day off to recuperate before he held himself in check – he did not have the right to do that, after all).

Having more time to process the events (and overanalyze them, a snarky voice at the back of his mind which sounded a lot like Lin) of the past four years, Tenzin could not help but wonder about the possibilities and batter himself with the what if’s.

Were all the pain and arguments that he had in past useless in light of the present reality? Would Harmonic Convergence bring about that many airbenders anyway without his involvement–thus making his sacrifice irrelevant? Then again, it was probably only his mother and himself who believed he had sacrificed what’s important to him in pursuit of his duty – his heart and her love.

-----

At the opposite end of Air Temple Island, Suyin Beifong was strolling with her husband towards the dining area. They had been en route to Zaofu when she decided to make a detour and drop by Republic City – Opal was known to be assigned to the area after all.

Post-Kuvira, the airbenders continued their peacekeeping missions – both in assistance to those affected in the Earth Kingdom and those impacted by the new spirit portal in Republic City.

Opal Beifong was tasked to join those aiding the latter.

Upon learning this, the Metal Clan’s matriarch breathed a sigh of relief, the farther Opal was from the Earth Kingdom disturbances, the safer she would be.

Or so they thought.

-----

Later that mid-day…

It was difficult to pinpoint exactly what happened as it occurred so fast.

One moment, Opal was moving some spirit vines, helping clear a pathway. The next moment, a sinkhole opened up, pulling her down. Several spirits had panicked, jostling and hitting her.

Alarm was raised as the young airbender fell unconscious, both from injuries brought about (inadvertently) by the spirits and falling headfirst into the sinkhole.

With the hospital still being rebuilt and the healers thinly spread, medical attention was paltry at best.

Kai had quickly headed to Air Temple island to get reinforcements; the severity of the injuries sustained would require a master healer.

Kya readily offered her services and Suyin and Baatar Sr. were immediately sought on the island. With the amount of bleeding, the healers had requested them to be on standby for transfusion.

Time was of the essence.

With the help of the acolytes, Kai and Kya loaded additional medical supplies on Lefty. They had just left the island when Suyin and Baatar Sr. came rushing to the courtyard, having been summoned by an acolyte.

Suyin was about ask her staff to ready their airship instead when Tenzin arrived, unhesitatingly offering Oogi to transport them to the hospital.

Tenzin adjusted the reins on Oogi while Su assisted Baatar Sr in getting unto the saddle. “Which hospital are we heading to?” He was not there when Kai had given the details.

Su said the name of the hospital then added, “But first we must go to police headquarters – let’s pick up Lin.”

The airbender gripped the reins tighter, coaxing the sky bison to rise towards the city. “We can go to the hospital first – I’ll drop you both then I can go to headquarters to get Lin.” He felt that the parents might need to get to Opal ahead and he said as much.

“I know but we need Lin there.” The younger Beifong sister insisted.

Catching Baatar’s eye who silently nodded, Tenzin changed course to head towards where Chief Beifong was. Su’s tone brooked no argument and it was not the right time to question her with Opal’s life on the line.

Oogi’s arrival at police headquarters was noticeable enough that the Chief of Police herself had come running to the forecourt.

“It’s Opal.”

Su’s proclamation caused all the blood to drain from Lin’s face.

Gathering her bearings quickly, she called out. “Captain Gupta! You’re in-charge until further notice.” Without further ado, she bolted herself beside her sister on the saddle using the metal cables.

If Tenzin found the sudden onslaught of emotion on the normally stoic metalbender’s face inexplicable, he did not dare comment on it.

-----

Kya had taken over from the tired healer at the hospital. She ran her hands over the airbender.

Opal’s condition was stable – for now, at least.

Most of the injuries have been addressed by the healers but the unconscious teen would still need blood replenishment. Any tonic or medicine that would contribute to blood replenishment was out of stock. Her chance now lies on actual transfusion; it needs to be hastened as Kya felt that part of her injury was spirit inflicted.

There was something odd about the child’s aura as well.

Now that she thought about it, she noticed it when she first met the Beifong but had thought nothing of it.

Now she wondered if that might be why the spirit injuries are affecting her differently.

The doors flung open and in entered the girl’s parents and to her surprise, her brother and the girl’s aunt as well.

“How is she?” The mother fervently asked, moving closer to the young airbender.

“She needs transfusion to counter the spirit-injuries.” Kya opened her palms upward helplessly. “Bolin and Korra had already brought in spirit water from the portal but,” She addressed the people in the room in general. “The spirit water does not seem to do her any good.”

“There must be something you can do.” Lin stressed out.

“Blood transfusion may work.” The waterbender proceeded to share the pros, cons and the chance rate of the treatment working. She asked for consent to go ahead with the procedure.

Before Su or Baatar can say anything, Lin agreed. “We’ll take the chance.”

Kya was about to clarify that it was parental consent needed when Su laid a hand on Lin’s shoulder. “We’ll do it.”

-----

Tenzin stayed with the Beifongs throughout the procedure.

After all, Opal was part of the fledgling Air Nation now, so it was the least he could do, he rationalized. It definitely was not because he saw how Lin’s shoulders slumped while Kya prepared for the procedure. It was also not because he saw how Lin sat alone and apart from her sister as Su curled against Baatar Sr, probably seeking some strength in her husband’s arms.

He ignored Lin’s protests when he volunteered for the transfusion as well. He pretended not to notice the significant look at the Su shot at him and Lin. He thought that his contribution would not be anywhere helpful but he could not (would not, should not) let Lin experience it alone (he refused to examine this thought – at least until tomorrow’s morning newspaper read).

The airbender sat beside Lin during the entire ordeal close enough to touch yet unwilling to close the gap.

His sister entered the waiting room, wearing a troubled expression.

The Beifongs sat up in attention at Kya’s entry.

“They don’t match.”

Kya’s statement echoed in the cold sterile room.

The waterbender continued to say she did not understand why it didn’t and why Opal’s body was rejecting the transfusion. If the child’s best matches do not match, where else can she source the transfusion? There was not enough blood replenishment tonics in the city and sourcing it from the Earth Kingdom would take them at least a day (and at this point, a day wasted might have been a day to make a difference).

There was a sharp intake of breath beside him after Kya’s pronouncement.

“Lin?” Tenzin finally reached out, touching Lin’s arm lightly. He still knew how to read the nuances of Lin’s feelings – her eyebrows drawn together, lips stretched, and eyes widened: she was afraid; he became worried.

The woman beside him jolted as though surprised that he was still there. But when Lin’s eyes alighted on him, Tenzin saw her fear intensify.

What was she afraid of?

She shook her head and then attempted to lift the airbender’s hand from her arm. Tenzin clasped her hand instead.

“Lin,” He repeated. “Are you okay?”

Kya paused at her explanations, looking concerned.

Su and Baatar both directed their attention to him; they did it so synchronously that he would have laughed if it were a light situation.

Su’s face mirrored her older sister’s as something akin to comprehension dawned on her.

But what? What are they afraid of?

He was about to break up the uncomfortable silence when a man in healer robes burst into the room.

“Master Kya! The other two samples were accepted, we can proceed!”

Kya barely excused herself as she joined the other healer back into the other room to continue into the transfusion proper.

Lin slipped lower into her seat, pulling her hand from Tenzin and hugging herself.

“That’s good news, right?” Tenzin tried to divert the peculiar tension that had formed in the room. “It’s a good indication that Opal would be receptive to this procedure, right?”

Lin nodded while avoiding his eye; the married couple at the opposite side instantly confirmed this.

Tenzin once again bore witness to how the Beifong sisters had a stare down.

Su turned away first, “Alright then, we’ll leave you for a while.”

“Thank you.” Lin, in an uncharacteristic move, stood up to hug her sister and brother-in-law.

“No matter what happens, Lin – I’ll always be at your side.” Su murmured from her perch at Lin’s shoulder.

Her husband’s arm around her shoulder, Su exited the room along with Baatar Sr.

Tenzin sat in silence, waiting until Lin felt read to address him.

Lin Beifong sat back down, cradling her face in her hands. She took several deep breathes while Tenzin rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her.

Tenzin saw the moment that Lin made a decision when she sat straight and finally made eye contact with him.

“Tenzin,” She swallowed. “I-I well, you see, that’s -,” After a few false starts, Lin shook her head. “Don’t you see it?” She bit her lip in consternation. “Didn’t you wonder what samples the healer was talking about?”

“Well, ours, obviously.” He waved a hand carelessly. “Good thing you let me do this otherwise, we would have been stuck trying to figure out how to help Opal. I’m sure her parents would eventually figure something out though…” Tenzin’s voice trailed off as realization set.

Her parents.

Opal’s parents.

Opal’s parents whose blood did not match with hers and was rejected for the transfusion.

And yet…

“Lin,” He breathed out. “Can you explain to me ­why our samples were accepted?”

Tenzin had an inkling. He now understood why the metalbenders were afraid. He was afraid to hear what his former partner had to say as well.

But he needed to know.

Snippets from the past years that had confused him started to make sense with his hypothesis.

But again, he needed to know straight from Lin Beifong.

“Tenzin, let me tell you all about your role in the parentage of Opal Beifong.”

[woulddieforperrytheplatypus]

do you have any hcs of characters that have very little screentime? like background villains or characters that only appear in like one episode? sorry if my phrasing is weird, i just wanna make sure im not the only one who's latched onto characters like Professor Mystery or Orville and have dragged them into headcanon hell.

I literally love minor characters purely because you can make up as many headcanons as you want and no one can tell you you’re wrong omfg it’s time ti rantttt

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you probably sent this after reading this post just because you mentioned Orville and I have literally never seen anyone else mention Orville in my entire life so this first one’s basically a repeat but shhhh we’re gonna pretend it’s not

- Dr. Diminutive does more evil than any other evil scientist at LOVEMUFFIN. Heinz and Rodney are all about the show, but Diminutive keeps his ideas to himself so he can get away with a lot more without OWCA asking questions. He would have been a much better leader for LOVEMUFFIN had he not been dismissed for his height. 

- Dennis the Rabbit used to be OWCA’s best agent. He was even better than Perry, and they’d worked a few cases together back in the day because they were the best OWCA had. 

- I don’t know if Monty counts as a minor character, but I headcanon that he and Vanessa only broke up because he was too busy with work, and that not long after the summer ended, he started traveling a lot for OWCA. 

- Again, Lawrence isn’t too much of a minor character but tbh he doesn’t get as much screen time as he deserves so we’re gonna go with it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Lawrence absolutely knows Perry is a secret agent. He never mentions it for the same reason he never mentions the boys’ inventions: he doesn’t think anything of it. 

- Roger is such a hit with the American people that they get rid of the rule that you have to be born in America to be president just so he can be president. They almost revoke the two-term limit too, but the rest of the government has to step in for that one.

- I will admit that I didn’t think of this one myself but Lyla was totally raised by animals, but, unlike Heinz, she actually sees herself as an animal more than she sees herself as a human.

- Mama Ocelot didn’t really like Heinz, but the baby ocelots loved him. They saw him as one of them, but they also knew he was different, too, and that made him really cool. 

- Charlene is a really nice, really successful woman. She was decently wealthy growing up, but earned most of her fortune herself through hard work. Part of the reason she liked Heinz was that he was never after her money, and he didn’t treat her any differently when he found out that she was on the road to riches. Even now that she’s stuck paying alimony, she doesn’t mind because even though Heinz should get a job and god knows there are some he’d be really good at if he’d just try, he’s clearly a good person and he clearly cares about Vanessa. Also, she finds Norm very weird but she still thinks he’s cool.

- Unpopular opinion but I think Heinz’s dad was worse than his mom, but we don’t see him enough to know that.

- That one Scottish cousin Ferb has that we literally see for like two seconds is actually Ferb’s favorite cousin and the feeling is mutual. The Scottish cousin is always trying to convince his parents to let him visit Ferb, partially because he wants to see Ferb again in person for the first time in ages but mostly because he’s never met the Flynn-Fletchers and he really wants to meet Phineas and Perry in person.

- This is another one I’ve mentioned before but 2D Candace and Perryborg were basically mortal enemies, and even once 2D Doof is locked up again, they have a very strained relationship because they both remember that they’ve hurt each other a lot and neither of them are quick to trust the other (and one day I will write a fanfic about this but I gotta finish one of my WIPs first)

- Jerry the Platypus was so fucked up that he didn’t disappear with the rest of the Perry clones. He showed up again in something, and I totally didn’t just stop what I was doing to google it but yeah, he showed up in the preview for Meap Me In Saint Louis (ya know, the third Meap episode) and even though none of the preview scenes are used at all like they look like they will be, this one is because Jerry is alive and he is adorable and no one can take that from me!

- Steve the no-longer-giant chameleon is also absolutely fine and probably living his best life with Jerry. 

And off the top of my head, that’s about all I got! I hope you cringed a little while reading, and if not, I didn’t do a good enough job 🙃

[bostoniangirl85]

Inspector Gadget (80s verse) fanfic preview

This follows directly from this scene. Penny is 16, a few days shy of 17, and finally gives Quimby and the other Powers-That-Be a piece of her mind.^^

Note: No incest here, just a lot of strong family-feels involving a cyborg who can’t experience human touch the same way other people can, and one very protective, pissed-off niece.  ;)

When Quimby knocked on their hotel room door later that night and received no answer, he cautiously opened the door, somewhat surprised to find it unlocked. Gadget had been ferociously protective of Penny since they had been reunited and the fact that he had forgotten to lock the door spoke to how exhausted the man must be.

There was a lamp still on in the far corner of the room, casting a soft, golden glow in the small, dingy room. Penny was stirring in the bed, blinking in confusion at the chief. Quimby was somewhat startled to see Gadget curled up next to her on top of the covers, one arm draped over Penny as he snored softly, utterly exhausted.

Not wanting to wake an over-protective cyborg, Quimby silently gestured to the girl that he wanted a word with her in private. Penny nodded and he watched, bemused and a bit disconcerted, as the girl wiggled out from underneath her uncle’s arm.

Gadget mumbled something in his sleep, stirring. Quimby tensed but before he could say or do anything Penny leaned down and stroked Gadget’s mussed hair, stilling him. He watched as the girl kissed her uncle’s brow before following Quimby out into the hallway.

“What do you want, Chief Quimby?” said Penny, her expression unreadable. Her face was pale and drawn and she looked very frail in the oversized bathrobe, t-shirt, and shorts she was wearing. 

Quimby sighed. “Penny, listen. I’m glad you’re safe but I have to agree with Fred on this. You need to get some space from your uncle.” Penny stared at him for a moment before speaking.

“How dare you,” she said, her voice low and furious. “How dare you.”

“Penny,” sighed Quimby, taking his pipe out of his mouth as he frowned at the furious teenager. “You’ve been through a lot, and we think...” She cut him off before he could finish. “You have no right to judge my uncle, or my relationship with him. None.” “Penny, listen...” “No, you listen, Chief Quimby.” 

Quimby stared in surprise. Penny had never been so rude to him before. But then, she wasn’t ten years old anymore either, he reminded himself.

“I’m not a little child anymore, and I am done with letting you, Fred, Interpol, and everyone else play games with my uncle’s life, and mine too. He’s a human being, not a machine or toy that you can use and toss away once you’ve finished with it!”

Quimby was starting to look more than a little intimidated and it would have been almost funny if Penny hadn’t been halfway to tears. “And furthermore,” she continued, her voice shaking with emotion, “he is the best man I know. He’s not perfect but at least he’s honest, which is more than can be said for you, the Metro PD, Interpol, and whoever else was in on this!” “Now see here, Penny-” “No! I’m almost seventeen and I’ll be damned if I let you take away my only family, or keep hurting him.”

“Listen, Penny, all they were suggesting was that you and Gadget get some space from each other, given everything that’s happened these past few months...” “Which never would have happened if his memories and mental functions hadn’t been suppressed in the first place!”

“He’s too dependent on you! You’re too close to each other! It’s not healthy, not nor-”

Quimby stopped, knowing he was toeing a very thin line.

“Not normal?” Penny finished in a soft, sad voice, the anger gone. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it?”

Quimby couldn’t meet her gaze, focusing instead on his cold pipe. Penny was silent for a moment before speaking again.

“Do you know he can barely feel anything with his hands?” The chief looked up, stunned. “I-I didn’t...he never mentioned...” “No, he wouldn’t have. But did you even bother to ask?” Quimby looked away, flushing with shame.

“You think I haven’t heard some of the ugly things people have said about him over the years? And about me?” Quimby looked up at that, shock in his face. He hadn’t known... Penny sagged, suddenly looking small and very vulnerable. “It’s gotten better over the past few years - that’s why he always wears gloves, you know - but I had always wondered as a child why he never really held me.” Quimby was stunned. He had no idea.

“Uncle Gadget’s never said so outright, but I know he’s afraid of hurting me. Do you know he actually once calculated how many pounds per square inch of force he can exert with just his hands?” “Penny...”

“That’s why it’s easier for him to show physical affection in other ways...he still has most of his nerve endings in his face...at least they didn’t take all feeling away from him,” Penny added bitterly, swiping a tear away as she spoke.

Quimby had heard enough. This was getting far too personal. “Alright, Penny, now just calm down...” “Don’t talk to me like I’m still a child, Chief Quimby. I’ve heard enough of that from Fred. I don’t need to hear it from you.” Quimby closed his mouth, stunned.

“I know what you’re thinking. But you’re wrong. Imagine if you couldn’t experience touch like other people could - that you could never be certain if you were holding your wife or son too tightly. That’s what my uncle feels. He’s never said so out loud but I know him.” Penny paused and drew in a deep, shuddering breath.

“My uncle has always treated me with kindness and respect. He’s never once done anything to make me uncomfortable, even when his memories were still locked down.

“He’s cared for me when I was sick, comforted me when I had nightmares, made sure I ate well, did well in school, everything a parent should do. And all without any help from anyone.” Quimby was now feeling thoroughly ashamed. “I...Penny...” “And after all of that, the least I can do is let him show me physical affection the only way he knows how - the only way he feels safe doing so. I know he worries about hurting me and he’d rather kiss me on the head or hand than hold me, and that is more than fine with me.”

She stopped, breathing hard. Quimby couldn’t think of a single thing to say in his defense. 

“And you have the nerve to stand there and repeat those...those ugly...” Penny paused and swallowed hard. “Insinuations,” was the only word she could think of. 

“Penny, no one meant...” “Oh, they meant it, Chief Quimby, and I think you did too. I saw the look on your face earlier.” The chief sighed. “You’re right, Penny. But I still think you need some space from him.”

“If that’s the case, then I’m too dependent on him as well.

“Uncle Gadget, Brain, and I may not be a ‘normal’ family, but we’re all three outcasts in some way. I wouldn’t trade that for anything, but if we’re too dependent on each it’s because everyone else has shunned us in some way.”

“I’m not sure I can let this go, Penny.” “You can and you will.” “Are you threatening me, young lady?” Quimby snapped back, trying to regain control of the conversation. “No, I’m actually blackmailing you,” she quipped back, smiling grimly as he jaw dropped open.

“When I was thirteen I was nearly taken away from my uncle. I’m not going to let that happen again. I’m not sure what Uncle Gadget plans to do now that he’s resigned, but we’ll take it one day at a time.” Quimby shook his head. “You’re just as stubborn as your uncle.” “Yes, and I learned other things from him as well - things like honesty, duty, and always standing up for other people, even if doing so makes you unpopular.”

She turned on her heel to go back to the warmth and safety of her uncle’s arms, Quimby’s tired voice trailing behind her.

“For what it’s worth, I was trying to protect you both,” said Quimby quietly. Penny nodded.

“I do understand that, truly, Chief. And I am grateful for that.” “Penny.” She stopped but didn’t turn around. 

“I know this probably won’t mean much now, but...Gadget did a fine job raising you.”

She turned around at that. Quimby looked old and tired but he managed to give her a small smile.

“Yes, he did.”

[luuuna-rambles]

13: What is your preferred format? Moodboards, gifsets, poster sets…?

50. Self-loving time: show us a creation you want your followers to see

14: A fandom you want to create more content for!10: An old creation that will always have a special place in your heart

Sorry this took so long for me to answer, procrastination hit me like a train :/

13: Preferred format

I find it a lot easier to write long stories - so either multi-chapter works or fairly long one shots. I am dreadful at writing short stories, as I feel the need to elaborate when it maybe isn't entirely necessary to the story at hand. So things like drabbles were never going to be for me

14: Fandom I want to create more content for

In terms of writing, I would definitely say A Song Of Ice And Fire. I do a lot of ASoIaF fanart, but I've never written anything. Mainly because I don't thing I'm at a point in the quality of my writing where I could consistently copy the way characters in the series speak - it would probably come off as incredibly unnatural

Also, just generally, I'm a very slow writer, so I'd want to create more content for every fandom I write for, honestly

10: Old creation

I'm gonna go with the obvious answer here - the first fanfiction I ever wrote. When I was about twelve (maybe? Honestly I can barely remember) I decided that I was going to write the entire Harry Potter series from Hermione's point of view. I stopped after book five (only finishing that about a year ago - the damn thing took ages), but the shear amount of work that went into it will always mean I'll be proud of it, even if quite a lot of it it is dreadfully written compared to the standard I hold myself to now

50: Show something

Honestly, practically everything I ever finished writing is up on Ao3, so I wasn't quite sure how to answer this. I mean, if you want to see the Hermione POV project, the link is here (it's all on Wattpad, just to prove how little I actually knew about fanfic at that point in my life). Otherwise, have a preview for the next chapter of the Life and Times:

Teddy stared at the square parchment for a long while. He grinned. The Marauder's Map! And now it was his! He had assumed while reading the letter that it would feel like a weight to bear, a legacy to continue, but for now it just felt like… an opportunity. Grabbing his wand from the bedside desk, he pointed it at the parchment

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" he breathed

It still worked. Of course it did. Teddy smiled, ideas and plans already blooming in his head. However, while he figured he'd use the map for much more entertaining purposes later, there was something more mundane he could use it for now. Pulling a biro out of his pocket and paper out of his trunk, Teddy leaned over and began to draw

Thanks for the ask!

-Luna :)

[sargentr]

my fave drarry fics of all time, part one

so, after discovering i’ve officially been reading drarry fanfic for 4 years now, i decided to show my (quite big) list of favorite drarry fics. there are 46 in total, but i’ve listed 10 down below. the first three are my absolute favorites but the rest are equally as good

most of my notes are fresh from when i wrote them post-reading. i’ve changed some, seeming less like a crazy unstable bitch, but fuck these were all emotional as fuck. enjoy

ps: i dont really know how to tag people i dont follow. i cant try and tag the authors later. soz!!

pps: most of these i read when i was really into a bottom!draco phase, so most of them contain that, some are switch tho (as it should be, yikes past me)

1. Everything That Happen is From Now On / ~43K 

After surviving a brutal assault, Draco tries to navigate the tumultuous waters of his mind, and embrace a bit of love and trust in his life. After all, the smallest steps forward can begin to heal the most fractured of souls

okay so before i get in to how beautiful this story is, i wanna say that it does touch on rape quite explicitly. i cried like an idiot reading the entire thing, because draco’s pain is navigated in the most beautiful and realistic way. it touches on a subject very risky for me, very personal, and i still can’t think of a better drarry story. draco’s very draco about it all, and harry is very harry about it all. it’s just perfect, and messy, and tender, and sad. i’ve reread it more than any other fic, and it doesn’t disappoint. 

2. Pocket Full of Starlight / ~46K

When Scorpius Malfoy and Jamie Potter meet at Quidditch camp, they take an instant dislike to each other. Then they discover their lives are more connected than they could possibly imagine.

ah yes. the magic of kid fics. the TASTE

parent trap au. i read this one recently, like 3 months back, and absolutely fell in love with everything about it, partially because the parent trap is legit one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time. its just. the essence, the IDEA, is soooo mf beautiful. i cant get enough of reading when harry or draco finally meet the other twin, or how they cant stop loving each other even after 11 years. my heart clenched throughout the whole thing. 

3. Temptations on the Warfront / ~180K

Draco Malfoy is forced into hiding with the Golden Trio and dragged into their search for horcruxes. What ensues is a journey of redemption, unexpected friendships and an unwanted, turbulent romance with Harry Potter. Warnings for swearing, sexual content, and dark themes. 

this was the first drarry fic ive ever read, and before this mf i HATEDDD this pairing. so you can imagine how much it took to convince me otherwise, bc i was 100% scorbus before this.

to be fair, horcrux hunting with draco involved is, possibly, my favorite trope ever. its unique. theres tension, both sexual and life threatening. in some ways it romanticizes the war, but fuck it it aint a real war. 

slowest of burns. amazing. life changing. long as hell. nothing else to be said except read it right now i demand it.

4. Clouding the Senses / ~58K

As everyone returns to Hogwarts for a final eighth year, some people are coping better with the aftermath of the war than others. After encountering a very drunk Draco Malfoy one night, Harry realises that maybe those that lost loved ones aren’t the only ones trying to escape the war. Blaise Zabini seems to think Harry can help Malfoy, that the Slytherin might actually listen to him. Harry is not so sure. Dependence is a tricky thing, and one addiction can quickly shift to another.

everyone that reads drarry loves 8th year fics, but this ones just kinda different from all those normal (yet entertaining) ones. draco’s an alcoholic in this, and one night harry tries to help him and whoops, one thing leads to the other and they start having casual sex. its really, really amazing how both draco and harry navigate the addiction, i really cant say it has any flaws. 

i know the author got a lot of hate on their fics and thats why they took them down, but they’re truly one of the best drarry authors out there. i’ve reread this a couple of times, and the tenderness, the love and confusion is all very on character. a+

5. Restraint / ~153K

Someone casts the Imperius curse on Draco Malfoy, and whatever the instructions may be, Harry finds himself an unwilling target. The encounter leaves him torn between pleasure and revulsion. As they fight in the aftermath, a tense game begins. Harry fights to convince Malfoy, and himself, that he was not affected by that initial encounter, or any of those following it.

Faced with a series of escalating encounters, Harry must come to terms with desiring things he never thought he could, things he wishes he didn’t respond to. They each use signs of arousal as weapons against each other in a mad struggle to finally shame the other into backing down for good. 

But it’s only after the game is over that Harry starts to understand.

this is by the same author of clouding the senses, and i read this just this week. at first, it’s shocking, because it plays around with consent in a very unsettling way. when communication comes in, and its starts getting healthier, you can really understand where the author found the idea of playing with consent. it is, in my opinion, 100% characteristic of how they would behave post-war, with that grief and confusion. it’s also dom/sub in some parts, and that’s mf hot. 

it also has my favorite tropes in it, but it’s a spoiler to say which one. i’ll probably mention the trope in the list along with a bunch others, but when u finish reading you’ll know which one ;)

6. Humbug / ~30K

Draco has been taking his casual relationship with Harry for granted. Visits from four key ghosts the night before Christmas just might shake up his priorities in life.

(felt like it was valid to just paste what i wrote in my notes app after reading this)

(FUCKKKKKK HOW TO EVEN START?!!!?? just a fucking bonus, draco is THE best bottom o ever exist i love my bottom son so much. this story isnt only amazing it’s excruciatingly painful to read, harry and draco have been sleeping together but harry is completely in love with him. draco doesnt see how much harry cares for him or how much hes hurting harry by treating their fling like its just that, a FLING. with that, draco is haunted by three ghosts. one of the past, the present and the future, AND THEY SET THAT IDIOT STRAIGHTTTT 1800000/10. the gays DO KEEP MF WINNING!!!

7. in your arms, rests my world / ~24K

Harry presses his mouth to Malfoy's forehead; he wants to tell him that he’ll never leave, that he wouldn’t dream of it.

“You make me feel safe, Potter” Malfoy whispers. “You keep me safe.”

the friends with benefits trope doesnt ever disappoint, top 5 tropes fr, especially if its also 8th year. harry and draco get into their little thing, but of course nothing ever is simple between them. by the preview, you can clearly see how much draco likes harry (also another 10/10 trope, the ‘i’ve been in love with harry potter since i was 11′ one). my only tiny issue with this is that harry fucks it up just a tad, but it of course adds up to the drama of it all, which i absolutely love.

noting it also touches on non-con/rape and, and all in all, is extremely angsty. one i was tense from beginning to end. but i am gonna say it ends amazingly and v happily.

8. Playing the Hero / ~29K

Nobody kissed me like Harry did. He kissed like he flew; he kissed like he duelled - with his whole being, not caring about anything else. I had never felt as vulnerable as I did when he kissed me, seizing all and any control I had over myself. But when Harry kissed me, I felt free...

so the thing about angst is that it ignites that mf feeling side u that even tho it hurts you cannot get enough of. this fic was EVERYTHINGGG. it made cry and laugh and smile. also another trope i absolutely adore is them breaking up and not being 100% ok with that, bc ding ding!! YALL STILL LOVE EACH OTHER!! 

i cant describe how i felt, honestly. i would just paste my notes (i wont bc spoilers) but it looks like i went thru sum shit. deadass

9. fine i’ll hold my breath / till i forget it’s complicated  / ~ 15K with the two parts

Harry and Draco become friends with benefits, and Harry thinks it's more complicated than it actually is.

u know, fluff is a drug. i dont know if its beucase 90% of drarry fics are about angsty get-togethers, but i had butterflies in my stomach when i read this. its adorable. draco is so clearly in love, he jusT SMILES A LOT I CANTTT. 

its cute. i love it to death. have some fluff before starting your day.

10. Un Noël très parisien / ~14K

When Draco crossed paths with Auror Potter at a political function in Paris, he was not expecting their former animosity to change into something rather more intriguing. But he could be certain their casual flirtation would not last more than the night, couldn't he?

look. i know i named a lot of my favorite tropes here, but i cant end this without mentioning how much single dad draco affects me. i love scorpius and how much he changes draco in every fic he appears. i love parent draco and i shant be silent about it (especially when scorpius is legit just a year old in this. i died)

as it states, harry and draco have a one night stand but draco thinks thats it, that it was all he was ever gonna have. he’s wrong of course, and the path it takes, with both scorpius and harry there, just melted my mf heart.

well kids that’s all i have for now. imma work on a part two with 10 other fics i really love!1

[kuriboo]

Crooked Destiny

Omen of the Stars Book 6: The Last Hope

Do you promise to be loyal to your Clan above all other things?

Elders always spoke of the good Crookedstar did for RiverClan, but it was hard to reconcile that image now with Crookedstar himself telling her about a mistake he made. "Is that happening to cats around the lake now?" Willowshine asked.

Crookedstar closed his eyes with a sigh. "Just do not judge them too harshly, if they are. Surely, I've proven that any cat can make a mistake."

Do not become so blinded by the stars that you cannot see the truth.

author’s notes at the end, link to ao3 in the notes

⁂

Wilowshine's tail swished as she looked up at the barn.

At least, she thought it was a barn. She'd never seen one herself before, she had only heard tales involving them from elders passing down stories of past elders who had lived in the old Clan territories before the Great Journey. There was no barn on RiverClan territory now. She must be dreaming.

But why would she be dreaming of someplace she had never been before? Not all her dreams came from StarClan, of course. Some dreams really were just dreams. Yet she couldn't think of another reason why she would be here. Why would StarClan bring her to a barn? Why would a Clan cat be at a barn?

She realized there was a cat sitting nearby,  facing away from her and towards the  barn. We're they a StarClan warrior? Did StarClan wish to speak to her? Slowly, she walked towards them. 

"Do you promise to be loyal to your Clan above all other things?" they asked. 

Irritation trickled through Willowshine's fur. "I've already said I would stay away from the other Clans," she muttered. Did StarClan just want to remind her of their warning for the Clans to stand alone? She hadn't forgotten.

If the other cat heard her, she was ignored. "You and your desires are nothing compared to the needs of RiverClan."

As Willowshine drew near, she angled her path so she could sit next to them and see their face. Once she did,she was surprised to see their crooked jaw, a sign it has been broken. She had heard of a RiverClan cat with a face like this before, though... "Are you Crookedstar?"

Crookedstar almost jumped before turning his head to look at her. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." He studied her for a moment. "You're our current medicine cat. Wilowshine. You've heard of me before, I see."

"Of course I have! They say you're one of the greatest leaders the Clans have ever seen. " She dipped her head. "It is an honor."

Crookedstar stretched his neck to bathe the fur on his shoulder, clearly uncomfortable, so Willowshine rose her head and quickly changed the subject. "I didn't know there was a barn on StarClan's hunting grounds. I've never seen it before."

"It's not a popular spot. I don't come here often, either, but..." He tucked his tail around his paws. "Not every cat that goes to StarClan is a Clan cat."

"And not every Clan cat believes in StarClan," Willowshine added, thinking of her mentor.

"That's not a bad thing." She blinked surprise at those words, and he went on. "Some cats are too blinded by the stars to see the truth."

A StarClan cat that was fine with cats not believing in StarClan? Willowshine thought again of her mentor; Mothwing had been starting to question Willowshine's insistence of following StarClan's message to all the medicine cats. "Are you talking about me?"

No answer was given. Instead, he looked towards the barn. "You heard what I said before we started talking. I didn't mean to think out loud, but maybe it was for the best. Would you make that promise in exchange for your destiny, in exchange for strength?" 

"As a medicine cat, I don't know if I need more strength, but that's an easy for most warriors to make. Of course I'll always be loyal to RiverClan. "

"Right. There are few Clan cats who couldn't make that promise, but I imagine most would give that answer." Crookedstar glanced back at her. "That was the wrong answer to give, but don't worry. Like I said, many cats would give that answer. In fact, while we could still see around the lake, I saw cats from all Clans who did make that promise, or at least, a similar one. I could see it because I could see the same things happening to them that happened to me."

"You weren't asking me to make that promise. You made that promise yourself."

His tail twitched. "It was soon after I broke my jaw, sneaking out of camp as a kit. No one was sure I'd be able to make it to be an apprentice. Then a cat appeared to me in my dream and offered to train me, if I made that promise. I thought she was from StarClan, since she was in my dreams, so I agreed. But I was tricked. I woke up every day with the pain and injuries I got from training in my sleep, and I slowly lost every cat that I was ever close to."

She blinked, looking up at him. Elders always spoke of the good Crookedstar did for RiverClan, but it was hard to reconcile that image now with Crookedstar himself telling her about a mistake he made. "Is that happening to cats around the lake now?"

"None of us can see the Clans now, but I saw signs it could've been happening before." He narrowed his eyes. "Just do not judge them too harshly, if they are. Surely, I've proven that any cat can make a mistake." Sighing, Crookedstar closed his eyes. "I did not come here to discuss what cats do in there dreams."

"You didn't? Then..." Willowshine looked at the barn. "Why did you come here? What did you want to talk to me about?"

Crookedstar stood up and gestured with his tail for Willowshine to follow him. Together, the two of them approached the barn. "Pretend, for a moment, I am not a StarClan cat. Think of me for a moment as just a Clanmate. Pretend StarClan cannot hear you, which should be waste right not, since we can't." He twitched an ear. " What do you think of StarClan's warning for the Clans, even the medicine cats, to stay apart and not trust each other?”

"What do I think? Well, I don't think the medicine cats have done this before. It does feel strange." They were close to the barn now. Willowshine opened her mouth; it was clear mice used to live here, but she could tell by the scent they were gone. "But, I've always trusted StarClan's wisdom before, and I've never been steered wrong. Then again, you said we can be blinded the stars so much we cannot see the truth, so I wonder..."

Crookedstar stopped just inside the barn, his tail falling closer to the ground. "I learned how to eat and hunt with my jaw like this in a barn. I wanted to visit Highstones to talk to StarClan, but I never made it there. And I did not speak with StarClan for moons afterwards. They did not guide me for much of my path before I became a leader, though I did not know that. But I found my destiny anyway, and RiverClan was fine until then." The tip of his tail twitched. "StarClan is dividing itself the same some of us have told you to. I am not saying any of us are wrong, I just want you to think for yourself whether it is a good idea. I came out here to think for myself, too. I never did enough of that for much of my life. I'm not yet sure if I agree with most of my Clanmates."

"Think for myself whether StarClan is right..." she whispered. She had never questioned StarClan before, so this was not going to be an easy task. Her dream began to fade, but Crookedstar said one more thing before she came close to waking up.

"Do not become so blinded by the stars that you cannot see the truth."

⁂

I’ve finally returned to my roots... I started writing fanfiction over a decade ago, in 2009, when I was in middle school. The very first fanfiction I started was Warriors fanfiction. It was fairly typical middle school fanfiction fare for the time I believe— obviously none of it’s on ao3, but it’s your typical lol random XD type humor, very oc-centric, not very well written at all (like, not in a self-depricating way, but in a critical way), and like a lot of it is just... Crimge is dead in 2020 but it makes me cringe, because it’s just obviously how much of a different person I am, and how much I’ve grown up and learned, because I would not write anything like most of it today. But I had this confidence in my writing back then that I wish I still had, and I wish I had even half of that energy still, and I had so much drive to develop and write about ocs that I wish I still had today, too. I only write as a hobby but Warriors was a huge part of that. I’ll always be thankful for that. In a way, by writing this I’m getting back in touch with my roots. Writing Warriors fanfic was always so much fun to me back then, I miss writing Warriors stuff.

I reread The Last Hope and Crookedstar’s Promise back to back recently. With all the cats being trained in the Dark Forest in Omen of the Stars, I was like, hey Crookedstar kind of was like the preview sneak peek of this huh! Brambleberry showed up in Omen of the Stars, and don’t get me wrong, I love Brambleberry. She is great. I am a huge fan. But I was also like hey Crookedstar probably has a really unique perspective of this whole situation that not even Brambleberry has and I kind of miss that not being here! That’s kind of sad! I wish Crookedstar was featured more here! Well good news, that’s what fanfic is for. So I wrote a little bit of Crookedstar being in Omen of the Stars during down time at work; I had him visit Willowshine during a dream, though not entirely intentionally. Willowshine and Mothwing are really cool, I love them both.

I’m very far behind on Warriors. I just recently finished reading Thunder and Shadow, to give some perspective, so please keep any spoilers away from me. (I also recently read Bramblestar’s Storm, and reading the two back to back really has given me some feelings about Rowanstar, and Onestar... I’m getting way too invested again. Maybe I need to write more). Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for stopping by!!

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

A bit of Bullshit Defense AU today! But also if you have not read all 14 available chapters of @runningwolf62‘s fic Dirty Paws yet, go do that and I will be here when you return, because this fic heavily, heavily leans on the Wolf and Roddy Cinematic Universe.

----

Nick and Edgey are still talking about the homework but Larry is bored of it and he’s done as much as he’s gonna do by now. He wanders off into the kitchen to see what snacks the Edgeworths have and he is still there when he hears the front door open and close and Franzy comes in the kitchen. She gently sets her bag down on one of the kitchen chairs, shooting a look of disgust down at Larry’s bag which has spilled contents all over the floor. Hey, he was going to clean that up! Before Mr Edgeworth gets home, at least!

“Hey Franzy,” he says, and her head snaps up like she didn’t realize he was there, and an expression of fury contorts her entire face and she snatches up something out of her bag and storms across the kitchen to begin smacking Larry in the shoulder with it. “Ow! Hey! Hey!”

Even with the commotion neither of the other two come out to rescue him which Larry thinks is real cruel of them. “Larry Butz!” Franzy shouts. “Where is the next book! Where is it!” In between her assaults, he manages to wrench her weapon from her hands and sees it’s the third Warrior Cats book that he lent her yesterday. “You can’t leave me hanging like this!”

“Wh - you finished it already? I gave it to you yesterday!”

“Where is the next book, Larry Butz!”

“It’s at home! I don’t have it!”

“Graystripe left!” she shrieks. “ThunderClan doesn’t trust him! But RiverClan probably won’t either when he goes! I need to know what happens next!”

“I’ll bring it over tomorrow!” He’s getting beaten to heck by his best friend’s baby sister because of these cat books. What a day.

“I want to read it now! I want to know what happens with Graystripe’s loyalties!”

“I don’t have it now!” Seriously, neither Edgey or Nick is coming to make sure neither of them are bleeding? Rude. “But I do have something else you can read if you want more Warrior Cats!” She stares doubtfully at him, and at the book he’s lifted way over his head so that she can’t get it back and start smacking him with it again. “It’s not got Graystripe but I think you might still be interested.”

He stuffs his book back in his back and grabs one of his notebooks off the floor. “Your school notes, Larry Butz?” Franzy huffs. “I don’t want those.”

“It’s not my notes.” Wow, she thinks he takes notes and doesn’t just sneak peaks at Edgey’s and Nick’s? “It’s a story I’m writing. It’s about other Warrior Cats, ones I’ve made up myself, but they’ve still got Clans and a Warrior Code and stuff.”

She accepts the notebook, still looking wary but a little excited. “And cats with divided loyalties?”

“You really like the ‘forbidden lovers’ thing, huh?”

“It’s not about the romance!” she protests. “I like the - the…” Whatever it is, if she’s not just trying to cover up for the fact that she does like the romance, she doesn’t figure out how to put to words, and she just lets out a short frustrated yell and opens the front cover of the notebook. “Is this story finished? Or are you going to leave me hanging again.”

“It’s not done, no--”

She smacks him with his notebook and then storms off, but she’s already engrossed in the first page and nearly hits the wall as she leaves.

-

“--and then the rumor from the preview of the book is that Bramblestar has rabies.”

“Rabies?” Franzy repeats with a laugh. “You know,” she adds a moment later, thoughtfully, “that seems like a plot that they could have used sooner. Has anyone actually had rabies before?”

“I don’t believe so? Maybe because it’s supposedly supposed to be set in England.” But he’s never even nominally given a location to his fic, so, yeah, that would be a good plot. Maybe he should use that. Although most of his readers would know that’s a plot he’s stealing from fan theories. “I haven’t really read any of the recent books though. This is all what I’m hearing from--”

“--this internet friend of yours, yes,” Franzy interrupts. “The wolfman who likes cats.”

“Yeah.” The one and only. 

Franzy rests her chin on her hand. “So you still haven’t told Misty why you draw cats all the time.”

“It’s not exactly been a priority these past couple weeks, no.”

“I meant any time before that, you still did not tell Elise.” 

“What, that I initially found her book and then reached out to her because I stumbled across it in the children’s section of the bookstore when I was there picking up a book about talking cats because my wolfman internet friend told me that they’d actually put out a decent book for once?”

“Well, when you put it that way it sounds ridiculous.”

-

Franziska picks at the edge of her nail, listening as Agent Lang finishes his conversation with one of his agents. He stares at his phone a moment longer when he brings it down from his ear. Franziska glances over at the screen. 

“I did not expect you would like cats.” It’s not even a picture of a cat, like he has a cat at home. It’s some cute art of a cat. Like something Larry would draw.

“Didn’t expect you to like small talk, Ms Prosecutor.”

Franziska leans against the wall. “I do not. But if we are stuck together by this smuggling ring investigation then we may as well know who we are working with.”

“I know who I’m working with,” Lang snarls. “Prosecutor von Karma. I know all about your father.”

“Yes, Gregory Edgeworth. He’s a remarkable defense attorney, wouldn’t you agree?” Lang’s face hardens. “Agent Shi-Long Lang, blood and names are not the only things that make a family - or a ‘pack’, if you wish to use your silly analogies.”

“Probably should’ve told that to Mr Ernest Amano before he called you up for help on basis of having been friends with your father.”

“Many people try to call me up on basis of having known Manfred von Karma. I like to help them, arrest and prosecute them if needed, and let them know, unequivocally, that I am not what they think my blood and name would make me be.”

-

“Hey, so uh, Franzy, I’ve got a weird thing to tell you.”

Franziska rubs her eyes, yawns, takes a moment to adjust to the fact that it is mid-afternoon and she just woke up and Larry was passed out on her couch because he’d stuck around the embassy waiting for her to be able to give him a ride and also said that he figured that Miles and Gregory wouldn’t forgive him if he just fucked off and abandoned her in the middle of that messy aftermath, but he’d also been asleep in a corner when she found him so she’s not sure how much that was a motivator. Not enough to keep him awake. “Weirder than the fact that you became a stage-show actor?”

“Hey, my savings were getting low, and while Misty’s still recovering I figured I should go out and have a job for a bit - anyway, um, so. Agent Lang.”

“What of the wolfman? I asked him to give me a call once he was out of surgery.” He’d laughed at her concern. She snapped at him, oh forgive her for being concerned about someone who was shot and had to get the bullet removed. 

“Yeah, he’s, uh - so, funny story, you know my internet friend, the WolfDragon guy?”

Franziska thinks about the cat picture that she asked Lang about. That she thought Larry could have drawn. “Larry Butz, tell me that you are joking with me right now--”

“No and also I’d said I’d pick him up at the hospital but I don’t have a car but you do and--”

-

“So are all the characters in your fanfic based on real people, or just some of them?” Lang asks. The three of them have tucked themselves into a booth of a little diner, a B-movie werewolf on crutches, an artist in sweatpants and uncombed hair, and Franziska, who had also been too tired to wear any more than casual clothes and got heckled by Lang for how hilariously different she looks out of her professional wardrobe. 

Larry slurps his coffee. “Yeah, honestly, most of them are based on people we know. If you meet them you’ll probably be able to guess pretty easily.”

“Ha, I bet. Dead ringer on Ms Viperpaw von Edgeworth here. Half-clan kit trying to figure out where she fits in between her blood relations and the people she’s grown up with?”

Franziska sips her tea loudly. Disconcerting, having someone know all about her because he read the fanfiction that she is a cat in. “You had better give me my warrior name soon,” she tells Larry.

[aftermathdb]

DEATH BATTLE Review: Cable vs. Booster Gold

So, for some reason, people were confused about this matchup? Like… C’mon. It was either this, or Cable vs. Trunks.

Cable′s Preview.

So, the convoluted story begins with Mister Sinister wanting to ship and breed the X-Men, specifically Scott Summers and Jean Grey.

And because of a lot of convolutedness, he had to use a clone of Jean to get the ultimate mutant that he wanted.

Enter Nathan Summers.

And because this is comic books, he had a rare disease, and had to be take to the future for a cure… Where there wasn’t one, because that world had been taken over by Apocalypse, another villain.

But through his training, a lot of experience, Nate was far more recognizable by one name: Cable.

The hosts go over his abilities that he has both in part of his heritage and the Techno-Organic Virus that he has. From all sorts of visions, to lasers, to being able to repair his metal arm at a whim.

And Cable’s also an Omega-Level Mutant, which means he’s super powerful.

And he’s been using these powers to keep himself together this whole time. Boomstick asks how he does it in his sleep, and… Yeah, I kinda want to ask that too.

And we go over his weapons and abilities.

I’m gonna level with you: Due to my new job at a grocery store, I can’t do the full Wiz and Boomstick segments due to time constraints. I’d love to quit, but at the time, there’s a pandemic, and I wouldn’t be able to find better work otherwise. Just know that this kinda just goes on to make a joke about how Nathan is basically Mutant Jesus. Really sorry that I can’t show more, and yeah… This is kinda how it’s gonna be from now on. Really sorry.

Anyways, after going over how Nate saw other timeline versions of himself, he decided to get rid of his Virus… By rewriting his DNA!

And the hosts go over his feats.

Like how he moved the earth, or ionized the entire atmosphere, or telepathically read everyone’s mind at once.

Booster Gold′s Preview.

There’s a lot to know about Booster Gold.

He’s an icon, a brand, and a Superhero.

However, if there’s anything that you should know about the guy…

It’s that he’s full of it.

In a nutshell, Michael Jon Carter was a football player in the 25th century, but he had to start doing dirty plays to make money to pay for a treatment that his mom needed, and was eventually kicked out.

As the hosts noted, he got a job at a museum that featured 20th century Superheroes, and became inspired to go back in time… And profit.

But instead of giving the name Goldstar, he accidentally gave the name Booster Gold.

And since he’s a huge dick, he got quite the reputation as being an asshole among the Superhero community

Even Superman wasn’t a fan. And that guy’s like one of the most positive people ever.

It wasn’t all bad. He had an actual friend in Ted Kord, the original Blue Beetle.

Onto the arsenal, Booster’s Power Suit basically makes him like Iron Man, but with time travel. He’s got enhanced strength, speed, and durability just as long as he’s got power running through the thing.

His shield won’t let anything pass, even bacteria, and it can even block from telepathic attacks.

Again: Sorry that I can’t make these longer. I think I might have to go back to the older ways of doing this of only featuring the background, powers/arsenal, and end line while also trying to get screenshots of the important info and maybe some Wiz/Boomstick segments. Trust me, I’d love to quit the grocery job and do something like video edit, but I don’t have the time, nor do I have the ability to go out and do interviews.

Anyways, Booster can not only hang out with other timeline versions of himself, but he’s also got an impressive field of feats to pull off too.

And after a while, Booster became an actual hero, and learned humility so that meant that he couldn’t really publicize it.

Still though, he’s the main character in the greatest story never told, and he’ll be protecting the timestream while doing what he does best:

Showboating.

The Battle Itself.

Luis and Zack lead on animation, Cable will be voiced by Dave J. Dixon and Booster Gold will be voiced by Ricco Fajardo. , Days of Booster Past by Brandon Yates, and audio led by Chris Kokkinos.

So, the battle starts off with Booster showboating in front of a crowd, when Cable shows up. Because Booster is Booster, he assumes that Cable’s there to steal his spotlight.

Cable responds… Like most people would if they saw Booster, and when Booster challenges him, Cable shows off that gritty 90s attitude.

Cable takes an early lead, hitting Booster with all sorts of attacks until Booster turns on his shield and starts his counter.

We get a bit of a back and forth, and I know that I don’t have a lot of screenshots, but please bare with me.

This little “ZA WARULDO” segment doesn’t really phase Cable too much, and he surmounts a counter attack.

(Let’s do the time warp again!)

We get a little attack cycle through and it just shows that Booster is tanking everything that Cable is throwing at him without much effort.

So Cable counters by using his time-travel prep time to take Booster Back to the Past where he has a trap set for him.

Booster’s shield doesn’t break, so, yeah.

And Booster calls in backup.

This goes on for a bit until Cable tries to use his telepathy to force Booster to turn off his shields.

Finishing blow in

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Booster gave the shield to Cable.

Verdict + Explanation.

So, at first, Boomstick is exasperated that some tool like Booster was able to take down a badass like Cable.

Once again, it’s similar to Sasuke vs. Hiei, where one of the fighters has one advantage, but the other has perfect counters to everything that the other could trow at them. In this case, Cable had the better training and experience, but Booster had everything else.

For starters, while Cable could move planets, Booster’s shields were the big thing keeping him in the game. And they were the big thing letting him stay ahead of it too, credit where it’s due, it was only reallyone thing keeping Cable from winning, and if it weren’t for that, he would have won.

So yeah, Cable could move planets, but Booster’s shields could block planets being destroyed sub-atomically. And since apparently everyone in the DC universe can tap into the Speed Force, Booster was holding speed as well. Telepathy wasn’t going to do much since Booster’s shields could stop that, and Cable had no real ways to bypass it.

Since Booster’s weapons were also using the same power as his shields, that meant that he had some big power on his side.

And we also get a neat little Aesop at the end, where the goofiness and siliness of one character, and the seriousness and grit of the other only really matters in the context of their respective universes, but in a DEATH BATTLE, that means comparing them directly, which means a total goofball that you’ve never heard of, like Booster Gold, can defeat a serious and gritty guy like Cable.

Overall impression.

If anything, it took me spending a few hours at work to really ruminate about this fight and what it means. The animation and music are really great, and the lesson at the end is very meaningful.

Despite that, I gotta say that I’m getting really tired of DC characters that aren’t the Flash or Flash-Adjacent being able to tap into the Speed Force like Booster or Green Lantern. It kinda ruins what makes the Flash special. That’s more of a criticism of DC than it is this episode, so I’ll stop.

Overall, there wasn’t really much to write home about. Like I said, it was either this, or Cable vs. Trunks, and there’s a lot to unpack in regards to power scaling for that bout.

7.5/10

Next Time…

Y’know, when I saw Obi-Wan in the season preview, I had a short list of characters that he could fight, and this guy was probably number 1.

So, I guess we’re going to find out if a knight is better than a ninja, huh?

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

Knight vs. Ninja.

[pastelpastryblog]

When is your wonjae scenario going to get the point? Kind of seems like you’re taking us on a wild goose chase without any real closure to anything 🙄

BM and Y/N have finally become friends and are no longer awkward around each other. Julie is near to having the baby. Woo and UK seem to be throwing shots at each other and may or may not get physical. Those characters are the main people in this fic and I'm trying to get to the point. It's not easy putting a true story into a khh text fanfic and getting all the points and background information into 10 text images. I'm trying to not miss any points that lead to the ending. I feel like everything I try to put in this pic has relevance to the ending or "closure". I said this before, but If I made this story in a written form, I would have probably finished this series in maybe 5 or 6 chapters. I cant put a lot of information and narration like "she lifted up her hands in frustration" etc into a text picture, hence why I have about 3 or 4 "previews" that are actually storylines/ information that never made the cut into the actual story. Let's be honest here, if I did do it in written form, none of you would read it, everyone seems to like looking at pictures instead of reading. If I just end the fic in the next chapter, part 33, it would be rushed and it wont make any sense (mind you, I actually rushed so many parts and left a lot of key points out just so that I can get over and done with this story). I haven't said this to anyone yet but I got over doing this Woo fic, about 17 chapters ago. I'm legit tired of this, I want it to be over (see what I did there?)😂😂 Anyways, I'll try and get to the point for you asap. If anyone else has a suggestion for me to do in the fic then please feel free to tell me where I can improve.

Thanks for reading! 💕

[deadlyanddelicate]

i was tagged by @deerlovelylily to do this like... 84 years ago aaa i’m sorry molly ilu!! thanks for the tag 💕

author name: starsandgutters (on ao3)

fandoms you write for: there’s been a few, but the only one i’m currently really active in is the raven cycle (and now the dreamer trilogy will be added to that, i suppose!); however, the fandom i have written the most (or longest) fics for remains supernatural

where you post: all my fic lives either on my ao3 or on the writing tag on my tumblr. i try to keep them both equally caught up, but sometimes with longer fic i will only post a preview on tumblr and the full text on ao3, or with short drabbles i may just keep them on my tumblr and not bother uploading them to ao3. consistency, eh? i also have a wordpress for poetry, but it doesn’t see much use.

most popular oneshot: mmm i basically only write oneshots, and i’m not sure what constitues “most popular”... if we base this on tumblr notes, my most popular fic is “ink riddles” [tumblr/ao3]; if we base it on ao3 kudos, it’s “the stars exploding (we’ll be fireproof)” [tumblr/ao3] for trc fandom, while my supernatural fic “five times castiel spoke to dean in a foreign language, and one time dean returned the favour” [tumblr/ao3] is my most kudos’d one overall. 

most popular multi-chapter story: the only multi/chapter story i’ve completed was my dean/castiel big bang, “to mend the cracks with gold” [tumblr/ao3]. i’m still quite fond of it as it’s the only novel-length thing i’ve written :’)

favourite story you wrote: mmh it IS probably going to be the abovementioned “the stars exploding (we’ll be fireproof)”, just because it includes some of my favourite things, aka: toga parties! comparing your loved ones to gods and mythological creatures! tad carruthers’ unrequited crush on adam! ronan loving horrifying baby animals! flirting on a balcony while yearning! me coming up with pre-trk theories and being clowned when maggie josses them!

story you were nervous to post: oh, definitely my latest one, “with quiet words i’ll lead you in” [tumblr/ao3]. i mean i’m always kinda nervous when i post something but with this one i knew it mattered, because it was one discussing ronan’s sexual assault and i wanted to handle it sensitively and respectfully, while still keeping it realistic for the characters’ personalities. i wrote it for myself first and foremost, but i hoped it would be helpful, rather than upsetting, for people who have gone through assault. 

how do you pick your titles: i’m going to be real honest -- unless i start from a specific titular concept (e.g. my supernatural big bang was always going to go with kintsugi/kintsukuroi), or sudden inspiration stirkes, it IS going to be a song lyric. i’m just a lyric hoe like that (and i’m bad at coming up with titles).

do you outline: i usually write myself notes in the doc itself, such as [then this happens] or [fill this part in with character X freaking out], so i can go back to them as inspiration comes and goes, but as i mostly write oneshots i don’t usually need elaborate outlines.

how many of your stories are complete: as i mostly write oneshots... basically all of them except for 3 attempts at multi/chapter fic (as i said before... my only completed multichapter was the deancas big bang, so i should probably stick to shorter pieces. :’) there’s one in glee fandom, “running the banner down”, which i can confidently say will never be finished for several reasons; one in supernatural fandom, “red sun rising”, which... i still love the concept for, but it was based on demon!dean and that lasted about 3 episodes on supernatural, so no point finishing that unless i go full canon divergence; and a trc au called “sound the alarm”, which... i actually may finish someday. all of these can be found on my ao3, but obviously, they’re extremely incomplete.

in-progress: i suppose the only one that counts as “in progress” is “sound the alarm”, but it’s more in arrested development than actual progress (heh). i have 2 or 3 ideas for oneshots that i want to write, but i haven’t started writing them yet, so again, they’re not really in progress.

coming soon: as i mentioned before, there are a few things i want to write -- the missing scene from the first time ronan visited adam in college, a flashback fic of persephone teaching adam, and a fic exploring blue/adam going from dating to friendship. i also have some very nebulous cdth-related ideas (which i won’t mention because, well, spoilers). plus, i still owe @deerlovelylily dreamspace date fic! SOMEDAY molly, i swear D:

do you accept prompts: i do!! as long as there is the understanding that sending a prompt does not guarantee me writing the fic (because time, energy, mindspace, inspiration...)

upcoming story you’re most excited about: all of them are in way too early stages for me to significantly get excited, but... probably the missing scene fic and the cdth-related ideas? i’m just in a very dreamer trilogy adjacent mood lately, for obvious reasons, lol.

tag five fanfic authors to answer these questions: ahhh i suspect most of my writer friends have already done this but... just in case @harvardparrish @ravenqueen89 @silkspectred @mishcollin @bleachersmp3 ?? if you’ve already done it (or even if you haven’t) there is no obligation! conversely, @ anyone who would like to do this, pls feel free, and tag me so i can read!! 💖

[getuponthehydrasback]

Fragmentary Memories: Fanfic Preview

This is still a work in progress but I promised yall a rewrite with all of my head canons and its  HAPPENING. Gotta love me my Trans! Sora The fic, pairing is SoRikai, with moments of every combination! PS This fic also includes REAL TECHNIQUES FOR DEALING WITH PTSD and Panic attacks 

Tap Tap Tap the distant sound of rock against glass persisted againstthe calm sound of rain outside of the small room. On the bed sat a petite feminine figure of a person, crouched in a corner, their back pressed against the walls of their room, and their gaze fixed upon a tan paper, ink etched into its surface. It had become a nightly routine for the ‘girl’ to jot down her thoughts; it helped with the nightmares. On pages she could map out her deepest fears, that which were inarticulable to even those she held dear. The emotions that still ruminated in her soul, and weren’t yet ready to make themselves known. It was a practice she found to be almost sacred in that aside from being the arms (or sometimes plopped down ontop of or in between) of her two dearest people, eased the ever growing fear that nestled in her heart. Though this practice was sacred, she found herself snapped out of the moment by in incessant tapping.

“What on earth is that sound” she exclaimed as she pushed the curtains aside only to see a water drenched boy standing a story below, looking up solemnly at her. “Sora! What the hell are you doing out in the rain, you’ll freeze to death!” She exclaimed as she quickly opened her window.

“I know…it’s stupid but please …” he didn’t have to finish his sentence, Kairi saw the desperation in Sora’s eyes a look she hadn’t seen since the night that changed all of their lives. Without hesitation Kairi held her hand out to him knowing he could make the jump up into her window without rousing the attention of her sleeping grandmother a few doors down.

Sora backed up and ran towards the side of the house, skillfully using the leverage to jump up and grasp Kairi’s hand. Within a few moments he stood, soaked in the middle of her bedroom. “Thank you” he whispered softly, his voice husk and devoid of its usual playfulness. Kairi could make out the puffiness and faint red tint in his eyes and faint salt streaks along his cheeks almost washed away by the rain. Without saying a word Kairi reached out, clasping her hand in his giving him a gentle affirming squeeze. She didn’t have to know what happened or what was wrong, she only knew that whatever it was, it had shaken him to his core.

“Of course, is there anything you need right now, you’re soaked let me get you something to change into”. Kairi offered as she turned to go to her dresser. The suggestion sent a wave of nausea to the boys stomach and itch under his skin in protest; however all he could externalize was a faint defiant tug at her hand.

Drawing her attention back towards him Kairi tilted her head in confusion. Sora’s expression had quickly changed. There was a quick flash of fear, and storminess in his eyes, sending a wave of concern throughout her. Though she began to become increasingly worried about what could have possibly caused such a reaction out of him, she knew that remaining calm would be the best way help her friend. “No worries” she said softly, giving his hand another gentle squeeze. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Sora’s grip on her hand seemed to tighten at that statement as he averted his gaze. His body was tense, his breathing beginning to become increasingly shallow, as echos and images flashed in his mind.

We’ve had enough of this. You disappear for god knows how long doing god-knows what and you expect us to be okay with it? You’re delusional. You don’t know what youre walking about all of that stress has gotten to your head!

The voices and images of his parent’s anger continued to resonate over and over. His precious belongings, gone, his clothes gone everything. He couldn’t stop the recent memories, they replayed on repeat until he felt a gentle squeeze on his hand again, tethering him to the reality before him. Bringing him back into his body. His gaze darted around the room, taking in their surroundings.

“You’re safe” Kairi whispered softly as to not startle him.

“Sorry” he managed to choke out, worriedly “Sorry…sorry sorry” his words seemed more like expressions to himself, or an invisible other rather than to his friend as he repeated the words.

“It’s okay, I’m not upset, you’re safe…I will stay here with you as long as you need” she responded quietly. “Is it okay to hug you?” she asked to which Sora’s eyes widened and he frantically shook his head.

“Sorry” he replied again, his breathing growing more erratic.

“It’s okay, do you want to try some grounding exercises?” she asked, knowing that Sora’s condition would most likely escalate if he wasn’t able to ground himself soon.

Sora thought for a moment, or rather attempted to gather his scattered fragments of thoughts before slowly shaking his head.

“Okay, what’s five things you can see?” Kairi asked quietly, as she gently ran her thumb along the back of Sora’s hand in a soothing pattern.

Sora couldn’t formulate words but merely pointed to a few items in the room, each item slowly drawing his focus back from the fear ridden fog it had been in. He looked around, noticing the dimly lit lights, he pointed to the note book perched upon Kairi’s pale pink cotton sheets, the Crayon drawings of their adventures hanging on Kairi’s wall, the way Kairi’s face though relaxed, still showed concern in the faint furrow of her brow, the pale pink color of her nails as they brushed against his hand. Sora could only point at the things as Kairi gently urged him on.

“Good, what’s four things you can hear?” she asked again.

Sora closed his eyes for a moment taking in the sound of the rain pounding against the window, the sound of his own slowly stabilizing breathing, his occasional coughs and sniffles, the buzz of the heater, and the calming sound of Kairi’s steady breath. For each thing he heard he managed to choke out a single word indication.

“That’s excellent” she gave his hand another gentle squeeze “What’s three things you can feel?”

Sora thought for a moment, he could feel the gentle caress of Kairi’s fingers stroking his hand, their consistent motion soothing his racing thoughts. He could feel the fuzziness of carpet beneath his feet, as he’d ran over barefoot, and he could feel the cling of his damp clothes against his skin, and the tight nylon fabric of a binder pressed against his chest.

“I-I think…I’m okay…” he managed to respond, as he gave Kairi’s hand a gentle squeeze.

They stood just like that for a few moments in silence, as Sora gathered his thoughts, his breathing had stabilized and his incoherent memories began to solidify. After a few minutes he finally uttered.

“They threw out everything…they hate me…they’re…they’re going to disown me.” His voice cracked at the statement as tears began to fill his eyes. “Everything! All of my clothes, all of my belongings anything they thought was too boyish my parents through out! They screamed at me!”

Kairi felt a wave of anger course through body at Sora’s distress, at the way his usual happy kind eyes seemed so defeated, and broken. She clutched her free hand in a fist, trying to swallow her anger to be fully present for Sora but she couldn’t.

“Listen to me, they’re wrong. They are so incredibly wrong, whatever they think whatever they say, they’re wrong for treating you like that you hear me Sora?” She placed her hands gently on Sora’s cheeks to direct his gaze to her.

He stared back at her, eyes wide with tears. “You’re one of the strongest, kindest, loveliest boys I know, and if they can’t see that, if they can’t see all the things their sonhas done then theyaren’t worthy of you. You’re the boy who saved the universe for crying out loud. And they’re mad because what? They got your gender wrong? I’ll fight both of them goddamit.” Kairi tried her best to manage her anger.

Kairi’s words broke the floodgate Sora had been suppressing in his whirlwind panic. Relief, fear, sadness, hatred, visceral pain all bubbled their way to the surface as Sora reached towards Kairi, burying his face into the crook of her neck in a half attempt to muffle his sobs. Taking Sora’s lead on physical contact, Kairi wrapped her arms around him, gently placing the flat of her hand on his back, and gently rubbed circles into the damp fabric.  They stayed like that for a few moments, Kairi’s arms firm around him as he fell apart.

Kairi had always known Sora’s parents did not approve of who he really was even before their journey across worlds, but she never imagined they’d do something as drastic as disown him. During their time on the islands when they were younger, Sora always passed himself off as a tomboy much to his parent’s disapproval. But spending so many years away from them, meeting new people, new places, had allowed Sora the freedom to be himself. No one questioned, no one knew, except her and Riku. Sora had grown into the young man he was always meant to be, and yet, his parents could not see him for who he really was. The thought angered Kairi, the pain they caused him sent her into a rage, but more important than her rage was her ability to comfort her dear friend. She continued to simply breathe deeply and rub soothing circles into the boys back.

After nearly twenty minutes, Sora had cried himself dry. All that he could make out were faint whimpers and sniffles. He’d tired himself out emotionally, his head throbbed and his eyes were puffy and red, contrasting against the electric blue of his irises. “I’m sorry for causing so much trouble…I should probably head back” he managed to whimper out.

“Heck no” Kairi responded adamantly “you’re staying here tonight, or going over Riku’s but no way are you going back to that hell house. You’re no trouble at all I’m glad you came here, and that you’re safe. I will always be there for you Sora, you know that” she gently cupped his cheek with a soft smile.

Sora glanced up at her, his gaze meeting hers for a moment. Her tender smile sending an ache in his chest, the contrast of her kindness against a growing wound he carried, her warmth contrasted against his own. He hadn’t quite realized how warm she was. In their years a part, the quiet girl, had grown to become a kind warm protector. The tenderness of her touch and the gentleness of her smile enveloped him in a sense of safety. Content with her offer he simply nodded and snaked his arms around her in a grateful squeeze.

“I can even call Riku if you want, and make it a sleep over.” She suggested as she began to shift around looking for her phone. “Though god I don’t know what would stop him from not storming over to your house and fighting your parents on sight if he finds out.” She said with a slight chuckle to lighten the mood as she began to step away to grab her phone. However her actions were stopped by Sora tugging her back closer.

“In…in a moment…” he responded softly, not wanting to lose the warmth surrounding him. He felt far to tender and exposed to break the moment.

Kairi let out a surprised huff, before settling back into him, wrapping her arms around him again. Sora in response nuzzled into her and closed his eyes.  

Pt 2

[jaroslavlewis]

ShinRan Shorts: The Curious Case of Holding and Knowing Mouri Ran

Title: The Curious Case of Holding and Knowing Mouri Ran

Author: Jaroslav Lewis

Fandom: Detective Conan

Pairing: ShinRan

Summary: Like Holmes, he could figure out a person so easily just by one look in the eye and one touch of the hand, but with her it was just different. There was so much more to learn, so much more to discover that it was hard to just observe.

Disclaimer: I don’t own Detective Conan and any of Gosho Aoyama’s characters. I simply borrow them when I’m lonely. 

Shinichi realized Ran's hands were small.  

 He was surprised for she could throw such hard punches. But when she laced them around his, the first time they walked to school as a couple he realized how soft and gentle they felt intertwined in his own.  They fit perfectly in his.  He never noticed it even as he held her hand to school countless times back when he was Conan. 

 Of course, Shinichi was intrigued because how could he, a world-renowned high school detective who has such a keen eye for details, miss that part of her? It amazed him that he had known Ran his entire life. He thought he knew everything about her but as it turns out there were still more things to discover about her, parts of her he never really noticed before.

 And so he found himself holding her hand to school every day. Ran didn’t even have to initiate anymore unlike the first time. He would automatically take her hand in his and with such simple gesture, Shinichi made interesting discoveries.

 Shinichi found out that Ran swayed her arms a lot when she is happy so when she’s in such a good mood, Shinichi’s arm would be swayed along with the hand that’s holding hers. She’d also be humming to an upbeat tune. But when Ran’s having a bad day, she would just stay silent. She wouldn’t be swaying her arms but instead, she’d be holding his hand a little tighter than usual and she’d cling unto him for support.  When she’s scared, she’d be squishing his hand so hard that he’d feel it going numb. He also found out that Ran’s hands could get cold easily, so during the winter, he’d be keeping her hand in his pocket to keep her warm.

 And every time, no matter the circumstance Shinichi would happily oblige to hold her hand and he’d always find himself smiling every time he does.

 Ever since they started dating, Shinichi had gotten so accustomed to holding Ran. Often times his peers would tease him and make fun of how he suddenly turned into such a clingy, protective boyfriend.  Shinichi didn’t care though. There was no point in denying. He is so head over heels for her and quite a sucker for her touch.

 Of course at first, it surprised him. He never really pictured himself to be the touchy-feely type. It was cheesy in a way but as their relationship progressed Shinichi found himself touching and holding Ran more often than not. He’d find himself playing with her hair when they are doing their homework together. Sometimes, he’d scooch closer to her when she’s concentrating on solving a problem and then he’d inhale her scent that smelled of orchids which was quite fitting because her name literally translates to the kind of flower she smells of.

 Soon, holding Ran’s hand just wasn’t enough for him anymore. Shinichi started pulling her into his arms to feel more of her warmth and once again, he discovered something that surprised him.

 Ran was smaller than him.

 And she felt even smaller when she was when she is in his arms, like a fragile, precious being that he needed to protect at all costs. It was weird because he knew very well that Ran is more than capable of taking care of herself.

 But despite all that, he would still wrap his arms around her whenever they would watch a movie on his couch. It didn’t matter what genre they were watching but he made sure to hold her extra tight when they’d put on a horror movie. So, he found himself watching more horror movies with her more often.

 On bad days, he’d pull her into his arms and he liked it so much when she’d rest her head on his chest. To comfort her, he’d rest his head on top of hers, encaging her in a full embrace. When it’s still not enough, he’d kiss her forehead to assure her that good days will come.

 And then Shinichi learned that the more he touched her, the more he would crave for her. It was selfish but he wanted more than just holding her hand, more than just embracing her…

 He thought it was intense, how powerful the sense of touch was but also how intimidating it would consume his being. Whenever he’d touch her, his mind would shut off, almost like his other senses didn’t matter and reason was not an option. He just needed to feel and he craved.

 It was a dangerous thing. He could remember quite well, when she kissed him on the cheek during their school trip to Kyoto.  He snapped and he threw all reason away, grabbed her by the shoulders more forcefully than he would ever. Then, he leaned in for a kiss but sadly failed in his attempt when he felt the antidote wearing off. Though he wasn’t able to kiss her then at the Kiyomizu Dera, he knew that he would’ve kissed her senseless had the situation been different, if he only had enough time…

 So when things got back to normal, Shinichi made sure he treasured his moments with Ran and he wasted no time showing her how much he loves her. So when holding her hand wasn’t enough and when it warranted more than just hugs and forehead kisses, Shinichi kissed Ran any chance he’d get.

 There was no denying, Shinichi is well acquainted with Ran’s body. Though they never went as far as beyond making out when they’re alone, Shinichi knew how to touch Ran in the right places. He was gentle but had the right amount of roughness and boldness to make her squirm.

And it continues to marvel Ran, how much he seemed to have mapped every intricacy of her body and how his body seems like safe haven she’d perfectly fit in. She wonders if it’s another one of his detective tricks.

 But Shinichi knows it was restraint that brought him to how much he knows her now. Holding back for so many years, he never knew what he was missing until he held her hand. Then suddenly, what started out as a small gesture is what lead him to crave for much more. It opened a gate to such desire, such need for something more.

 Maybe as a detective, it was innate for him to be curious. But she was something else. She was so much more than his curiosity could handle.

 So he figured maybe there will never be a time when he’ll stop learning more things about her. Because he knows very well, he’ll never get enough of her. Ever.

 AN. So the idea for this started out when I made a blog post about Shinichi being a boyfriend. (Here’s the link: http://jaroslavlewis.tumblr.com/post/182018815115/random-dcmk-things-shinichi-as-a-boyfriend )

 Then I figured I should make a fanfic for it and some peeps said that I should too. So this is what I came out with. This is a little different for the others I’ve written since there’s totally no dialogue in this one. It felt weird at first. I had about three drafts before I finished this fic. I had difficulty writing it from the middle part towards the end.  When I finished writing, I realized that the actions were enough to tell the story. I know this is different from most of my fics, but I hope you guys liked it and I hope that Shinichi wasn’t OOC in this one. I really struggled! This is probably too long to be a ShinRan Short, but I’m still including it in the series just because I can. LOL.

I’m gonna be writing a new ShinRan fic after this. It will be a 3-5 part fic about a broken up ShinRan, in contrast to the one shot I wrote, From Where We Left Off ( If you haven’t read it already, Here’s the link: http://jaroslavlewis.tumblr.com/post/182140111795/from-where-we-left-off ) I’ll be posting a preview exerpt later. ;)

I also want to inform you guys that the ShinRan Shorts Series is open for requests. I’m also taking KazuHei requests. As a matter of fact, I’ve already received a request for a KazuHei Lemon from @anissa51-blog. I already have an idea for it and I’ll be working on it as soon as I’m finished with my upcoming ShinRan fic. If you guys have requests, just hit me up! Keep me writing, coz I really want to make up for my hiatus last year! <3 

~J