#unless this is something that happens in eleven's run but i doubt it

[aq2003]

I mean… Martha > Rose. At least Martha was more competent and Rose is just a whiny, annoying little shit tbh. And the fact that she is the one to look for the Doctor when he didn’t give a fuck about her anymore 💀

anon please never send doctor who takes to me again what the hell is this

[vanrougemoons]

almost midnight break-in.

prompt: Person A breaking into Person B’s room through the window.

• Late Birthday Present for @seareefer ♥ • Word Count: 994

Perhaps this isn’t how you imagined your night going. Actually, it’s not something you wouldn’t expect but it absolutely is not something you imagined happening tonight.

. . .

You had been mindlessly scrolling through your magicam feed. You liked a post Cater made earlier, and oooh’d at a photoshoot preview Vil uploaded. Truly, you were living the best life instead of sleeping and being an example for other students to follow.

You snort and instantly DM a meme to the group chat you have with Ace and Deuce.

Then you hear a tap on your window. Common sense tells you to disregard it because you’re too dulled out from all the historical events you’ve lived through since finding yourself in this world. Common sense also decides that it might just be a tree or something.

You hear a tap again and look up from your phone- waiting for your eyes to adjust to the change in lighting so you can figure out what’s actually going on.

The window shakes, and sure it could just be the wind making your run-down windows shake, as they often do. But you swear that you saw a hand smack against the glass.

You grip your blanket closer to yourself as your window jiggles open and you spot the two beady eyes staring straight at your eyes. In the darkness of your room, you really can’t make out a face but… bright yellow and brown? There are only two answers as to who it could be, and you quite doubt that one of them would crawl into your room at midnight.

Actually, both would- but you don’t think one would do it unless absolutely necessary.

You reach over to the half working lamp next to your bed and turn it on with a click. In a flash, a grinning face stares back at you.

“Shrimpy!”

You sit up in disbelief, “Floyd- how did… actually,” you shake your head, “never mind. Why?”

You should probably know better than to ask this boy why he’s climbing up to your bedroom at eleven at night. But you asked anyways.

The eel-boy in question manages to push the window up enough that he can slide into your room easily. You’re suddenly grateful that Grim’s taking the couch tonight as you deadpan at him, “Floyd.”

He stands up to his full height while stretching upwards, “I was bored.” He replies as if it were the most normal thing ever, you narrow your eyes at him.

“Being bored doesn’t mean that you can scale your way up to a bedroom, y’know?” your voice muffled by your blanket. You’re used to his antics, in fact, you’re surprised at yourself for being surprised that he’s here.

Shaking your head, you resign yourself to your fate and decide that this will simply be an all-nighter as you now have to babysit a bored eel. “Never mind— Got something on your mind?” You pat the space on your bed next to you.

His grimace widens as he strides over to you and easily hangs himself off of you instead of sitting next to you like a normal person. His arms wrapping around your shoulders, his head easily resting on top of yours. “Mmmmmnoooope.”

Even with the extra weight on you, you find yourself comfy. Your phone lays nearby forgotten as you lean your own weight onto Floyd.

And it’s quiet, that’s rare. Very rare when it comes to him.

The wind blows a soft breeze through the open window, and you manage to pull the sheet over this boy on you. A yawn escapes you, and you think you can hear him snort.

He pulls back and stares down at your eyes mischievously, “mmm? Don’t tell me you’re already tired? I just got here- come onnnn. You gotta last a bit longer.”

“What are you even-“ you yawn again, “planning… Leech?”

He reaches for your discarded phone and stares at the time.

11:58p.m.

“Shhhhhh~ Trust me, just a bit more.”

You can’t believe the audacity of this eel-boy, boy-eel? You huff and make a grab for your phone; he laughs and easily pulls it out of your reach.

“Gimme my phone-“

“Nahhh, don’t feel like it.”

You groan and try to grab it again, “you stinky eel, I’ll fry you if you don’t give it here-“

Empty threats that make his laugh turn into cackles as he pulls it away from you again, except this time- He falls backwards with you in tow onto your bed.

His laughter doesn’t stop as you attempt to grab your small entertainment box to no avail. You’ve successfully amused the eel enough, congratulations!

You sigh in exasperation, “did you just come here to terrorize me? I’m gonna sick Jade on you- I swear-“

A wide grin spreads onto his face again, “nu-uh.”

Without missing a beat, you whip your head up to look at him straight in the eyes, “the fuck you mean nu-uh.”

Your phone lights up as it’s turned face-up in his hand.

12:00a.m.

He beams with joy and sits up so fast that he almost smacks his forehead against yours. You’re lucky you ducked to the side and rolled next to him, leaning back on your arms.

“FINALLY.”

You’re taken aback by his sudden, “wh-what?”

He’s practically shining, his grin spreading from ear to ear. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”

. . .

You’re laughing. He’s there grinning at you like a dumbass, and you’re there laughing.

“Is this why you’re here?”

He nods so fast that it reminds you of a bobble-head figure. He looks so proud, and you’re here wiping tears from your eyes from how much you’re laughing.

“I told you I was going to be the first one to say it!”

You feel his weight crash onto you again, and you can’t help but think how much you don’t mind this.

. . .

Your phone stays on the floor forgotten, dinging every couple of minutes with notifications.

[lucystark12]

tbh i think the reason i have so much byler doubt even when i know in my soul for a fact that it's real is because i am so deeply traumatized from game of thrones. literally i was able to comprehend at age eleven that the game of thrones ending was bad just because everyone was talking about it, from my parents friends to them, then i watched it for the first time a few years ago and fell deeply in love with it just to have my heart inevitably torn out from my chest and to be laughed at in the face by david benioff and d.b. weiss. i was literally gutted. it hurt me to the core of my being because other than stranger things i have NEVER put close to that much stock in characters. stranger things is the only show i have ever loved in the same way as i did game of thrones and also the only show whose characters i have literally depended on having the right endings. game of thrones has taught me not to trust writers and has made me EXTREMELY apprehensive about the ending of stranger things (specifically mike's arc, who i see so much of jaime lannister in that it literally makes me physically ill)

what i always forget about game of thrones though is that there was a clear reason for it being bad- it's because game of thrones is based off of a book series that isn't finished yet, and when the show runners ran out of genius george r. r. martin plots to adapt, they were given the reigns. and they clearly didn't understand their characters.

david and dan weren't given enough time and source material to give the characters the endings they deserved. they simply didn't know how to do it right, essentially "marvelifying" game of thrones into just a box office hit with expensive fight scenes and dull characters. they never got to set up the VERY important things that have to happen to finally get the characters to where they need to be.

matt and ross ARE. NOT. THE. SAME. these two wrote the original concept for the show and have been the ones in charge the whole time. shows like this don't become famous for being big and loud and dramatic, they become famous for having compelling characters, which is quite literally at the heart (haha) of every story. unless you are literally telling a natural disaster story, your plot is determined by the people who are a part of it. this is why you can't write a fulfilling story by just making something random happen, you have to make your ending coincide with the endings that make sense for your unique characters and what will help finish their arcs. dan and david didn't have the proper set up yet, but matt and ross do.

at the current moment, all signs point to byler. i mean, we know this. there is literally no reason that it shouldn't happen now, that all of this incredible writing and symbolism would come to a head with a rejection at the end. matt and ross haven't run out of source material, they are award winning writers who know what they're doing. there is no reason for them to waste time on plot lines that will essentially just hit a wall with no conclusive ending in the way game of thrones did. dan and david heard "subvert expectations" and took it the wrong way, subverting the character arcs that had been build up for literally decades instead of doing what is george's real plan, to subvert the tropes and commonalities that we see all across fantasy writing and even at most times in the real world. stranger things is also in part about subverting expectations, but matt and ross understand what it actually means to take on that title. subvert expectations- subvert REAL and CONCRETE societal norms, not the way the human brain and heart function.

[felassan]

Snippets/speculation etc of interest from Mark Darrah part 2 (in parts due to Tumblr character limits. Part 1 link), from his co-stream of The Game Awards, under a cut due to length:

"[BioWare] did have a trailer just 4 days ago [the new cinematic], it was a trailer that wouldn't have gotten, Geoff would not have put that on TGA, so it was too small for TGA and too big to be [inaudible]". He said it would have been a lot at one time to show the new cinematic on DA Day, Absolution releasing and to be at TGA. On why that video was chosen, he said probably because it was done, or close to done

When another game was announced and gave a date in its announcement during the world premieres, he said "Yeah, see, they're literally dating and announcing at the same time, Dragon Age might be thinking of doing the same thing"

When asked in chat "​does this mean we're getting DA:D in 2024 tops? Not even late 2023?" he said "no, it doesn't mean that, it means they're keeping their options open and they're just planning to spend their money over their summer, like they're just compressing their marketing so they can have a louder campaign, it doesn't mean anything. It means you're not gonna see it [it's not going to release] in the summer [of 2023], but you were never gonna see it in the summer. 'Cause they have one more big beat. They could drop a big trailer at E3, that's June, if they come out in November that's still tons of time. We'll see something from them in the summer, unless something goes horribly wrong they would have to do something in the summer. I still think they're targeting November 2023, like, eleven months from now. They would do it [push to 2024 if they had to], their financial year ends at the end of March, but the reason they would delay it is for quality reasons, EA wouldn't push it for any other reason"

He said "I don't know, but I doubt DA:D will have a multiplayer at all". Chat asked "the mandate from EA to make DA4 MP when you were running it, did you think it would eventually shape up and work, or was it a bad idea from the start?" and he said "it could have worked, but it was the right choice to move away from it. [...] It could have been made to work, there was work yet to be done there and definitely there wasn't perfect alignment on it. [...] The team wasn't really on-board with multiplayer so it would've been uphill. If the team doesn't wanna do it, it's basically a virtual impossibility to get them to do it effectively and make it good"

He doesn't think the temporal gap between DA:I and DA:D matters really, if the game is good, though "you're definitely not building on momentum. It's a standing start, for sure". "2016 was the best time to release another Dragon Age, but after 2016 you largely lost that moment". Mass Effect is going to have the same situation obviously - "there's enough time between them. [though] it can actually work in your favor because you don't have any drag either"

When asked in chat "wonder if BioWare could have afforded to release DA spin offs in between DA:I and DA:D. Heck why not have some other studio make something? Lack of resources?" he said "EA doesn't like spending money"

"RPGs are expensive and they take a long time". "Probably we need to get used to long development times, but I do think the industry knows, we haven't figured out a way out the other side yet. I think the answer is more true sequels and more [asset] reuse, but there is an active [gaming] community backlash against that sort of thing, so". Not reusing assets much between DA games has happened "for stupider reasons than concern about fan backlash" though

"You just have to treat Frostbite with respect. BioWare has not built upon itself [re: Frostbite] as effectively as it could have unfortunately"

When asked in chat "what did the Dragon Age 'finalling team' do in Mass Effect: Andromeda?" he said "lots of things. The DA team helped shipped ME:A, they came up pretty late, helped with triage, helped with bug-fixing, some level, I think one level was made by that team"

The Alpha phase is much later than two years out from release

"I don't know what it's gonna be like playing DA:D [himself], because there will definitely be stuff in there that was there when I was working on it, so it'll be really weird, I think"

He's not covered by any NDA from BioWare about any upcoming news, but he doesn't ask them for things that he wouldn't want to talk about, because otherwise they would stop telling him things

One of his pitches for Joplin was "no DLC and to make another game in 18 months"

Expansions and DLCs are things you can have devs working on while you're waiting for the next franchise to pick them up. When asked in chat "​why were DAI DLCs so short compared to games like The Witcher 3 DLC? Any reason in particular?" he said that the DA DLCs were trying to be more focused, while The Witcher 3 DLCs were stretching up towards expansion packs and CDPR had/has different terminology for things like patch vs DLC vs expansion pack

When asked in chat "has the origin of the Blight plot been modified since DA:O or did the team stick with the original vision?" he said "the idea is always to leave those threads as open as possible so that they can be tied into a lot of different places, so. Broad strokes are still the same, yeah"

"If we don't see DA:D today we won't see it til EA Play or E3, because that would be as late as you could go in date for pre-orders. I doubt we would see anything between now and then, anything like a trailer at least"

Mark and Matthew Goldman were working together on the DA:D teaser trailer from 2018. "More Matt than me, because I was already taking over Anthem at that point". Mark's talked a few times to Matt since he left BioWare. Matt was only on Twitter because of his role in BioWare and is still in game development

For voice acting in DA, Kate Mulgrew became expensive after Orange is the New Black (which released in 2013)

When chat said "I think it would be a bit late to change DA4 based on Absolution's reception" he said "they wouldn't change it based on its reception but they could change their positioning"

When chat said "maybe they want to give some time between showing Absolution and the trailer for DA:D just in case, since new fans may judge DA:D by Absolution" he said "yeah, that's the thing, they might be holding, they might be keeping some powder dry in case, if Absolution stinks they have something to, a palate cleanser. I think that's reasonable thinking"

[source, part 1]

[baladric]

i go through a lot of brainworms, most of them quite quickly (goblin emperor excepted, that one’s eternal entirely bc it is so fucking good and there’s such a broader world to flesh out freely, which is my FAVE), but i suspect the reason the stranger things garbage has me in such a chokehold is how abysmal the duffers’ worldbuilding is. because apparently i love nothing more than a poorly-assembled puzzle to fix! (read more’d because this is annoying and long)

like, the first season establishes such a fascinating alternate world with all of these Questions to answer—how is the demogorgon transporting people/itself? what’s with the egg casing hopper finds in the upside down? why does the demogorgon simply take will, not once, but twice, when we know it kills at least two of the five other people it takes—and what is up with the use of the hawkins public library as a hub of sorts in which to stash will after he’s seemingly installed in the hive mind? great questions! great, concrete questions that would be so easy to answer with season 2 and beyond!

and yet! not only are they distinctly not answered (sorry, but ThE mInD fLaYeR is not an answer to the question of Who Is Running The Upside Down’s Show, nor is vecna’s extremely belated intro in any way a satisfactory answer to that question), they’re very often completely overwritten or ditched by the wayside. everyone just stops giving a shit that the upside down’s atmosphere is toxic, nor does anyone ever see any health problems from exposure (hopper and joyce take their hoods off when they find will and definitely need a couple hours to haul him back out of there afterwards! and even if the goggles+bandanas combo did fuck-all for the kids/steve in the tunnels in s2, which i highly doubt, dustin still fully inhales a bunch of spores! plus nancy, robin, steve and eddie are down there for most of a day and come out a-okay, aside from bat injuries!) it’s explicitly stated later that the upside down creatures can only operate with extant gates opened from topside hawkins, so the demogorgon’s power to open smaller, more direct gates is nerfed out of existence! demogorgons apparently grow from little parasitic larvae, so the egg casings in the upside down are also voided as a worldbuilding aspect, unless the implication is that there are other very large creatures wandering around, which i highly doubt is anything the duffers have considered and/or care about! and then there’s everything with eleven, which is just... so fucking handwaved!

like what do you mean dosing a bunch of people in the 60s up with LSD and tossing them in iso tanks produced psychic kids? and how the fuck does some telekinesis and some gentle telepathy yield eleven’s connection to the in-between? and clearly she’s innately connected to the upside down itself, otherwise what random kind of bullshit is it that the hole she opened and shoved creel through just happened to dump him in this blighted fucking hellscape? did she make the upside down?? and are we just gonna eternally ignore that she has an aneurysm every time she uses her powers??? like!!!

it’s just so infuriating, the degree to which the duffers are just fucking around in here, hamfisting these big lame dramatic plots when there are so many sick-ass ways they could have structured a really great, cohesive, multi-season arc for the grand fucking history of the upside down and its ability to creep into the minds of humans (how else do you explain vecna getting to chrissy without any open gates?). and not just “the secret was socipoathic ecofascism the whole time, and some russians too”—like you could give us the why on this world’s impressionability (will’s entry just... spawning a copy of hawkins in a limited radius around himself) in juxtaposition with its already extant life forms (creel sees demogorgons and the particles that form the mind flayer on his initial entry, seven years pre-canon). because something has clearly happened to the upside down! one feels so loudly that it wasn’t always like this, because if it were, where the fuck did the fauna come from, and why are they so limited in scope? why is the only flora unrelated to will’s copy of hawkins, like. sentient fucking vines? what’s with the floating fucking rock-islands??

it could be! so good! it could be fucking edible! and yet, the duffers just wanna talk about mike wheeler and child experimentation. fuckin rip, i will probably not recover until i write some troublingly elaborate bullshit about upside down druid!eddie and how he revives the upside down to its former glory before going home to kiss steve harrington’s extremely dumb face.

[combatfaerie]

Ficlet: Know Your Neighbours

Story: Know Your Neighbours Word count: 693 Relationship(s): Liv/Rhea Prompt: "I'm sorry, but how did that happen?" Also available at: AO3 and Wattpad and dreamwidth Summary: When Rhea runs into some trouble, she goes to Damian for help.

Damian looked down at the mangled straps with a mixture of disbelief and amusement. "I'm sorry, but how did that happen?"

Rhea rolled her eyes. "How do you think it happened? It wasn't like we were using it to play baseball or something."

"You sure about that?" Damian gave the dildo attached to the damaged harness an experimental flick. "It's almost long enough—"

"Listen. Can you fix it or not?" Rhea asked impatiently, tugging the front of her robe closed tighter. She had left Liv back in their hotel room and dashed over to Damian's without putting on shoes and now she was regretting it.

Damian hooked a finger in the robe's collar and grinned. "Ah. In flagrante delicto, I see." He detached the dildo from the harness so he could examine it more closely. "I think the one strap is busted, Rips. Not much you can about it unless you have a sewing machine. Well, Bianca might—"

"Dammit." Rhea sat down on the foot of his bed and swore. "And I doubt there are any sex toy shops open this late."

"Rips, to state the obvious," Damian said, holding the dildo up like a piece of evidence in a trial, "the dildo still works without the harness. You just have to change your method."

"I know, but it's not as fun." Rhea looked up at him hopefully. "I don't suppose you have yours here with you...?"

Damian shook his head. "No. But I think I know someone who uses the same type. Give me a minute." He grabbed his phone and headed towards the window, speaking in hushed tones.

Rhea fought the urge to creep closer. <i>Who is he talking to?</i> she wondered. The two of them shared a similar social circle, so she couldn't figure out why he was being so secretive.

After he wrapped up his call, Damian walked back to her. "Found you a temporary replacement. They aren't using their harness tonight, but you'll need to get it back to them before they leave tomorrow. Room 719. They know you're on your way." Before Rhea could even ask who she was going to see, Damian tucked the dildo and busted harness in her robe pocket and shoved her towards the door. "Enjoy the rest of your night, Rips."

"Thanks?" Luckily, 719 wasn't far, so Rhea scurried down the hall and knocked on the door, feeling foolish. Did he set me up? She wasn't wearing anything but her robe and her choker necklace, so she was at a distinct disadvantage.

Rhea didn't need to ask who it was when the door opened. The bright orange hair was a dead giveaway. "Hey, Rhea." Becky's face was flushed with exertion as she handed over the harness. "Our flight leaves at eleven, so we're probably leaving here at eight."

"I... promise I'll get it back to you," Rhea said awkwardly. "Uh... thanks?"

Becky smiled. "No worries. Have fun."

Laden down with sex toy paraphernalia, Rhea hurried back to her room, almost forgetting the secret knock Liv had chosen. When Liv let her in, she noticed the harness in her hand. "Damian fixed it?"

"Not exactly. I... borrowed it from someone," Rhea replied, fishing the dildo and broken harness out of her robe once the door was closed. "So we need to have it back to them by seven in the morning." She figured an extra hour would give Becky and Seth time to pack the harness away—or use it themselves if they were in the mood for a morning quickie.

To her surprise, Liv didn't ask any questions. She just grabbed the borrowed harness, attached the dildo, and slipped off her robe before getting back on the bed. "That gives us a few hours."

What kind of thank-you present do you get for someone who let you borrow their strap-on harness? Rhea wondered after she let her robe drop to the floor and put the harness on. That was something she could worry about tomorrow, just like her broken harness. Right now, Liv was waiting on the bed, wiggling her ass invitingly, and Rhea didn't want to keep her waiting.

[realcube]

OVERHEARING SOMEONE TALK ABOUT THEIR S/O

characters ♡ baji, mikey & mitsuya

tw ♡ insults (in reference to the reader), violence & robbery 

KEISUKE BAJI 

♡ baji never mentioned that he was dating you to anyone in toman

♡ in fact, he hoped that none of them even knew about your existence, because that would only lead to trouble; and he was correct

♡ he was simply taking a puff on his stationary motorcycle, when members of the division started to filter into the parking lot that he was currently trying to relax in

♡ usually he’d try to ward off strangers so he could enjoy his time alone but he knew these guys from toman, so he allowed them to stay as long as they’d keep their voices down and not bother him

♡ most of his attention was on his own thoughts, but it was immediately redirected when he heard your name brought up in their conversation

♡ only your last name, so he wasn’t even certain whether they were talking about you, but still his interest was piqued 

♡ “they are on shift friday night, the only one left at eleven,” one of the guys explained, gesturing to his bat with a wicked smirk, “we’ll break in then. i’ll drive getaway.”

♡ “what if they call someone? shouldn’t we wait until they’ve left?” another suggested but was quickly corrected.

♡ “once they lock up the security system activates and it’ll be impossible to get in without alerting the cops. so we may as well bust in, handle them, and then steal the bikes.” 

♡ baji cringed, since he was certain that they were talking about you —since you happen to work at a motorcycle shop on friday nights — he hated to think about what they meant by ‘handle’.

♡ “now stop askin’ stupid questions.” the same guy scoffed, twirling around his bat, “i used to work there, idiot, obviously i know what i’m doing.”

♡ the group of six all laughed at the one poor guy who asked the question, and baji did too

♡ he laughed at the irony behind how they were calling each other idiots, when they were all the ones talking about auto theft in broad daylight, and discussing doing unspeakable things to a person, when their boyfriend was standing in ear-shot with a bat and a motorcycle ready 

♡ he did give them the benefit of the doubt in the latter aspect though; how were they supposed to know that y’all were dating when you are never seen spending time with each other?

♡ baji suddenly felt bad; it dawned on him that perhaps he had been neglecting your relationship as of recently. of course, it wasn’t with poor intention, in fact he thought he was taking the moral course of action by avoiding a situation where you are harmed because of his ties with toman

♡ however, being in a gang was no excuse to be a bad boyfriend, he figured 

♡ for now, the least he could do was take care of these guys to save you the trouble 

♡ but perhaps that wasn’t his brightest idea, he realised as he stood amongst the dejected bodies scattered across the ground, “i know you are all alive, so consider this a warning.” baji chuckled at the grunt one produced as he kicked him aside to head back over to his motorcycle

♡ before he left the area, obviously he stole all the cash he could from those guys, which gave him enough to buy the thing he had been eyeing for you

♡ though it took him a while to get his hands on it, it left him with the perfect opportunity to give it to you 

♡ “oi, open up!” baji hollered as he pounded on your door; if baji wasn’t such a bruiser, you would’ve thought he was dying 

♡ “what!?” you hissed, throwing the door open to reveal your frantic state.

♡ you were half angry at how loud he was being, and the other half at how he has been ignoring you for the past two weeks and finally decides to show up just as you were about to leave for work, in fact, you were running late for your night shift

♡ “no need to rush.” baji said, an odd sense of sincerity in his voice as he motioned for you to stop putting your shoes on, “you’re not going to work today.”

♡ you simply laughed, ignoring him and gathering your stuff to leave, “and why is that?”

♡ “well,” baji started, rubbing his chin for effect, “these guys from toman plan on robbing the place tonight. i did give them a warning, but they might still do it. and you know i just want you to be safe.” he said with a mischievous grin, as you both knew there was no way your shop was getting robbed tonight, unless the dudes wanted to try it with both arms broken 

♡ “so did you just come here to tell me that, or is there something else?” although you tried to hide it, baji could tell by your subtle flustered expression that you were thankful

♡ “i found this.” he lied, cupping your hand to lift it and drop in a gold bracelet, “one of the guys had it on him.”

♡ you gasped, taking the bracelet to examine the fine details, and noticed how it had a small crystal heart attached, “yeah, i’m sure a member of toman just so happened to be wearing a charm bracelet.”

♡ “i never said he was wearing it!” baji spat, swiftly snatching it from your hand and holding it above his head, “i can pawn it if you don’t want it.” 

♡ “i like it, though!” you said, reaching up for it, only for him to grab your wrist and put it on you 

♡ “then forgive me for not hanging with you.” he muttered, angrily clipping the bracelet through furrowed brows, while you leaned in to plant a kiss on his forehead 

♡ “it’s fine. i forgive you.” you couldn’t help but snicker at his word choice of ‘hanging out’, which resulted in you getting a swift flick to the forehead

♡ but before you could whine, he quickly followed it up with a kiss <33

MIKEY 

♡ one day he was visiting mizo to find takemichi and he happened to walk passed a group of guys talking about how one of them planned on asking out a person from a different school 

♡ at first he didn’t pay much attention since it was none of his business after all, until he heard that the person’s name and description just so happened to match yours 

♡ so like any good boyfriend would, he halted and told draken to grab takemichi while he listened in 

♡ as he gained more insight into the situation, he learned that the person happened to go to the same academy as you and had the same bus schedule too 

♡ it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the person they were talking about was you 

♡ as it turns out, the guy who planned on asking you out had your bus times memorised so if he was able to run fast enough, he would be able to reach your stop before you got on the bus, which is when he will ask you out

♡ or at least, that is what he hoped would happen if everything went smoothly and there was no unexpected interference from a group of delinquents

♡ mikey had many options on how to deal with this situation

♡ he could ask you to take a different bus, he could do nothing (because he trusted that you’d reject the guy either way) or he could beat them up right now to save himself the hassle later

♡ however, he decided to go with a more peaceful approach 

♡ he continued eaves-dropping until everyone besides the lover boy had left, so he could have an amicable one-on-one conversation with him — definitely no threats involved — and advise the guy to stay in his fucking lane and never go near you ever again, kindly. 

♡ when the day of the proposal arrived, mikey paid you a surprise visit after school and offered to walk you to the bus-stop; not because he was afraid that the dude might confess, but rather since he had booked you both tickets to the movies!

♡ but once you both arrive at the stop, you were greeted by the guy standing there holding a measly bouquet of flowers, looking quite taken back by the fact you were with someone else; even though mikey had done him the courtesy of explicitly telling him to back off 

♡ though he must’ve not got message despite the hand-holding, and he obviously didn’t recognise mikey, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have continued to confess, albeit with quivering limbs and a black eye

♡ but before he could even stutter out a greeting, mikey hissed at him, “what the are you doing?” yet the guy only replied with a shrug

♡ upon observing the interaction, your eyes widen as you turned to look at mikey, “do you know him?”

♡ “never seen him before in my life, dear.” he smiled sweetly, but it was ineffective; you already knew he was lying as soon as he called you ‘dear’. 

♡ “(y/n)!” the guy yelled, trying to catch your attention, but only shaking even more as your gaze fell on him, “i was going to ask you, if—”

♡ mikey let out an exaggerated yawn, widely outstretching his arms to distract both of you, “this has been fun, but we’re running late for the movie.” 

♡ “but i’m not fin—” the poor boy was once again interrupted by mikey waving him goodbye, grabbing your hand and swiftly guiding you around him, back on the route to the cinema

♡ before he even got the chance to cry another plea, you had both already disappeared around the corner 

♡ once mikey had dragged you both far enough away from the bus-stop, you began your interrogation, “seriously, who was that? and what was he trying to say? did you give him the black eye?” you had to stop to take a deep breath, “also, you said the movie would start in the evening!”

♡ mikey brought your hand up —which he had a tight grip on — and kissed the back of it gently, “my bad,” he chuckled slightly, a mischievous grin playing on his lips, “i forgot to mention him. i met him a few days ago and he was planning to ask you out so i politely informed him that you were taken.”

♡ “for some reason, i don’t believe that last part.”

♡ he snickered, “and yeah, the movie starts in the evening so we’re not running late. but he wasn’t taking the hint!” he whined while clinging to your arm, as if you were going to run away from him at any second, “forgive me?”

♡ “sure, whatever.” you sighed, rolling your eyes as you watched his expression light up, “but next time, mind your own business! i could’ve just said no, instead of you beating him up, or whatever you did.”

♡ “noted.”

MITSUYA TAKASHI

♡ during his time as the second division leader of toman, he’s overheard all kinds of stuff that he probably wasn’t supposed to; awkward small talk, plans to commit felonies, deep conversations, weed brownie recipes, discussions about health issues — the list goes on forever!

 ♡ however, one topic he has never heard any one ever have the audacity to speak about (within a ten mile radius of him), is you. even though, your relationship was public to toman. 

♡ your name was often kept out of people’s mouth since you rarely interacted with any of the gang members when you visited, hence they didn’t really have anything bad (or good) to say about you. none of them knew you besides the title ‘boss’ partner’. 

♡ so, that’s why mitsuya had to do a double take when he heard someone in his division mutter to the guy beside him, “why does his friend keep visitin’? it’s annoying. plus, they just sit and don’t talk to anyone besides ‘im. they must think they’re better than us or something.” right after mitsuya mentioned that you were visiting toman.

♡ he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow; did that guy really think that he was being sly and quiet? by the look on his face, he seemed pretty self-assured. 

♡ “um, i heard you, idiot.” he hissed, pinching his nose and shaking his head as he watched the knucklehead stare at him dumbfounded, as if the whole room hadn’t heard him too.

♡ “don’t say shit like that. they don’t think they’re better than anyone.” he scorned, balling his fist and almost twitching with anger, fighting the urge to pummel that guy for the sake of his own reputation in toman

♡ and that impulse almost immediately dissipated as soon as you entered the room; his hand loosened and opened to cup your cheek

♡ he was as sweet as can be for the rest of the night, of course, and he still managed to send that dude daggers whenever he got the chance. 

[constellarations]

here i am, standing alone.

post-break-up hcs, more specifically, when they realize it's truly over.

pairings: diluc, xiao, childe, ganyu, venti (separate) x gn!reader

warnings: not proofread

notes: i dont know why i made this

When Diluc comes home to an empty bed that seems to have no warmth, no scent other than his, and no shuffles— this is when he realizes:

You're gone. There is no longer an 'us', neither is there any more gossip amongst the maids about how you did their job of cooking for Diluc because you wanted to.

It's empty, as it has always been. It's empty because the person who made him feel alive was gone, just as many others did before.

Yes—this is how it has always been, and this is how it will always be.

In this world, this cruel, cold world, only Diluc stands.

He stands alone.

Xiao realizes it's over when nobody comes to talk to him on the balcony of Wangshu Inn anymore.

You were the only one other than Verr Goldet who would even try to converse with him, an illuminated adeptus. But now, there was no one.

Alone. Xiao had always been alone, and when you first tried to talk to him, he wished to be alone.

It's funny, how the one thing he wished for came true, yet he hates it.

He wished he never—wished.

Because maybe then, you wouldn't have had to say goodbye.

The day Childe said to end things, he was not melancholic.

No, if anything, he knew it was going to happen. The moment he fell for you and his heart began to race like he was fighting a battle of emotions, he knew that things would never work out.

A Fatui Harbinger cannot mingle with others unless they want to be backstabbed or betrayed.

So Childe let you go in hopes of not having to experience such things. Thinking "it's better for the long run," he never regretted saying goodbye.

Until today. Today, when he was injured due to a little scuffle with the Traveler, he came back to his home.

Today, he realized he could not find the band-aids. Where did you put them? Where were you?

They're gone, Childe realizes, far, far too late.

And by the time he found the band-aids, his wounds felt numb. Opening the tiny box he had seen in your hands countless of times, his eyes felt—hot. Why were they hot? It was a cold night.

'Make sure to sanitize the wound before closing it up! Infections are bad!' A note with your handwriting was stuck onto the top of the first package of alcohol pads.

You're gone, you're gone. So all Childe has left is his heart and this note.

It's odd, working so often.

To Ganyu, working was a method of escaping from reality. Why stress over life when you can stress over deadlines? Her philosophy is strange, no doubt about it.

Of course, that was until you strolled into her life and sat down on the chair in the corner of her office. There, you'd usually be reading or rambling about something that happened today, or yesterday, or last week.

The adeptus grew accustomed to that.

But now, it was quiet. The clock hit eleven, the time that you'd usually spend trying to convince the half-qillin home.

Your corner was empty, there were no sounds of pages turning or melodic talks about the random person you met on the way to Wangshu Inn—

It's odd, Ganyu thinks.

It's odd because you're no longer there.

His heart feels hollow.

Hollow like it'd shatter at a single touch, hollow like a log worn down from time due to all of the grievances it had to see.

Venti. The windborne bard and #1 alcoholic in all of Mondstadt. Who would've thought he'd somehow ascend to become the #1 alcoholic of all time?

Wine. He loved it dearly, so much so that after your departure, it was all he drank and ate. Wine, the only way to escape from this harsh reality that you had left him because of—

His breath hitches.

You left him because of wine.

Venti has never felt heartbreak before. Loss? Definitely. But loss did not hurt like his heart when reminiscing on you. Were you happy? The only thing Venti can remember is the expression you had before leaving him for good.

"I think that's enough for today," Diluc sighs, not even bothering to give the bard a bill. Restraining his ability to drink any more alcohol, Venti was left stumbling out of the Angel's Share with a hazy expression.

This was the part where you took him home and chided him for drinking so much. When the moon was highest and the stars were brightest, you'd come because you loved him and he loves you.

You loved him.

Loved.

The bard rests a hand over his heart.

It feels hollow.

[wallofweird]

It’s totally fine to headcanon Mike as gay, but some of you have such wrong takes that feel entitled and offensive, and I just wish you would think about the words you use more. Unless you really have these narrow-minded views and want to force them down everyone’s throats, which I refuse to believe, because I like giving people the benefit of the doubt and seeing the best in them.

Mike maybe not be in love with El now, but he could’ve been during part of these TWO seasons they were a couple and fallen out of love now. Or maybe it was a puppy love kind of thing, crush, infatuation that has run its course... Maybe he wasn’t attracted to her like that at all and just confused it with friendship. But there are tons of other females out there and we don’t how he reacts to all of them all the time?

The reaction at the lingerie store just shows a teenage guy that is uncomfortable. He wasn’t even a full teenager back then, GOD FORBID IF HE ISN’T THINKING ABOUT SEX?! Coming from a person that took 12ish years to have her first crush and 18ish years to be interested in sex, this kind of sick logic made me think there was something wrong with me for the longest time.

The posters in his bedroom could mean attraction to buff body types (nevermind people forget one of the posters has a woman too lol), admiration and body image issues, like he wishes he looked like that (because yes, guys can have BDD and coming from a guy bullied for most of his life and not athletic... it could happen) or just his FUCKING TASTE?

I mean, we haven’t seen Mike’s interaction with every person and gender in the world to know exactly how he feels, so each and EVERY headcanon is valid, but in order for him to be gay the show, Finn or the producers would have to DIRECTLY show/say that. So far, within canon, they’re insinuating he’s been romantically interested in only two people, a girl and a boy. So unless it’s explicitly confirmed that he confused his feelings for Eleven, it’s leaning to a multisexual Mike. He could also be into multiple genders (please, be careful with your heavily binary rhetoric, I BEG) and be MORE INCLINED TO A CERTAIN(S) GENDER(S). For example, there are bisexual people that feel a stronger attraction for the same-gender. Not everything is equal. Not everything is black and white. Not everyone has the same experiences.

Just because Mike doesn’t have a room full of posters of women in bikinis, hides Playboy magazines in his drawers or becomes interested in sex at a precocious age, like 14, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is gay? Because I also doubt he would suddenly be so lustful with Will and he also isn’t out there looking at other boys. So the same flat argument applies to idea, too.

Not to mention how Lucas had a similar reaction at the store and all we see from Dustin’s relationship with Suzie are phonecalls and I don’t see people jumping to say they’re gay. Also, there are a few people here that just seem to fetishize mlm and show misoginy behavior trying to act like Mike doesn’t care about El at all, making them sound like the Budd1e and L4rry fandoms that have a problem with how they view male (platonic) relationships and treat women around them.

It’s totally cool if you read Mike as gay, if you’re gay and think it would be nice if he is too, if you relate to his story, there’s really no wrong option here. What is actually wrong is trying to force your OPINION on others, because so far that’s all they are, OPINIONS. The only things that are 100% set in stone are Will being gay, Robin being a lesbian and Vickie being bisexual.

[recurring-polynya]

Once again, I am thinking about the dubious claim that people make from time to time that Renji would have gotten better character development in the TYBW arc if Byakuya had died. The thing is, though, that Renji did get excellent character development in this arc, particularly with respect to his relationship to Byakuya, it was just very subtle and I want to talk about it.

So, the first thing I want to point out is that the captain-lieutenant relationships is one of the major themes of the TYBW. A lot of this is sort of weird and awkward, but this is perfect, actually, because captain-lieutenant relationships are, for the most part, weird and clunky and awkward. Take for example, the part that I always make fun of, where the captains are told not to go to bankai, and Hitsugaya, Komamura, Byakuya and Soi Fon immediately go to bankai-- but they all do this on the assumption that they are luring their opponent into a trap to see how this works, and that their lieutenant will somehow ??defeat them anyway?? (well, except Soi Fon who seems to think she can one-shot her Quincy). There’s Sasakibe’s funeral, where we find out that Yamamoto cared far more for him than we ever imagined. Kyouraku returns Nanao’s zanpakutou to her and stands behind her as she defeats an opponent he can't. Iba carries Komamura’s body off of the battlefield as he loses the last of his humanity. Isane struggles to keep her head above her grief because that’s the burden Unohana left her with. Rose avenging Kira. Hitsugaya and Matsumoto fighting and (sort of) dying together. The Zaraki-Yachiru thing. The Mayuri-Nemu thing. Momo and Shinji actually got to have a relatively normal one, which they each deserved, but at least they got to have normal one together. Anyway, that could be an entire essay, but as usual, I only want to talk about Renji and Byakuya.

Renji’s introduction as a character happens in stages. Initially, he sort of appears to be Byakuya’s sidekick-- he's here to do the dirty work during Rukia’s arrest, while Byakuya stands by and calls the shots, but even early on, it’s clear that Renji’s a little hung up on Byakuya. He’s trying to impress him, and gets more embarrassed and self-conscious as things go progressively pear-shaped. When Byakuya finally enters the action, Renji’s thought bubbles reveal that he’s watched Byakuya for a long time, that he knows all his moves. When we get the Renji backstory reveal a few issues later, we learn that Renji’s goal is to defeat Byakuya, which he seems to feel is necessary to seeing Rukia again, even though there has never been any sort of causal link revealed between these two things. Don’t get me wrong, if Young Academy Renji had tried to continue to be friends with Rukia, I think Byakuya would have kicked him out on his ass, but it’s clear that a lot of Renji’s hang-ups are internal-- he doesn’t want to face Rukia again until he can stand against Byakuya. I think the origin of this is that he simply wants what’s best for Rukia, and he can’t stomach the idea of asking her to leave her rich, noble family for him, unless, of course, he’s somehow better than Byakuya in some dimension, and the only thing Renji’s ever considered himself good at is fighting.

Even more interesting is that he’s chosen to go about this by... studying the man’s every move and becoming his lieutenant. But for as much energy as Renji has put into learning Byakuya’s favorite combat moves, he doesn’t actually know anything about him as a person. He’s shocked when Rukia predicts that Byakuya won’t lift a finger to help her, and then horrified when this actually comes to pass. A few chapters later, as he’s running Hinamori through, Aizen comments that “Adoration is the state furthest from understanding.” I would probably classify Renji’s feelings towards Byakuya more as admiration or idolization, rather than adoration, but I think this statement is also very true of Renji and Byakuya’s relationship. Unlike poor Momo, Renji gets a little more time and opportunity to do something with this information. With a little Ichigo-forced soul searching, he realizes that he’s not going to come out the hero of this story no matter what, but if he doesn’t do something, Rukia’s not going to come out of this story at all, and even if he’s not really ready, he’s spent 40 years trying to figure out how to beat Kuchiki Byakuya, let’s hope all that was good for something.

The Byakuya-Renji fight has no direct impact on the events of the Soul Society Arc. It makes Byakuya show up to Rukia’s execution 5 minutes late and without his scarf. Renji gets healed, so it really doesn’t matter all that much to him, either. You could argue that they both wasted a bunch of energy (that they could have used to fight Aizen later) but it’s primarily a character-driven moment of them both drawing lines in the sand about where they stand, vis a vis Rukia. Byakuya wins this fight, and he wins it handily, but he’s wrong, as he comes to realize a few issues later, when Ichigo kicks his ass and tells him he’s a bad brother, a lesson that Byakuya will take to heart for the rest of the manga. Byakuya claims that the difference between Renji and himself is class, but the real difference between is the heart, and in the long run, Renji is the real victor of this fight.

The hospital scene is an interesting footnote to this. Byakuya defeated Renji, but Byakuya was the asshole and everyone knows it. There’s an expectation that perhaps Renji will quit or perhaps Renji will give him an earful and perhaps even Rukia will choose to leave the family, either to go to the Living World or to be with Renji (and Byakuya would deserve this), but instead, both Renji and Rukia give Byakuya another chance, which is not, I think, a place Renji ever expected to be.

Rukia and Byakuya building up a sibling relationship after this is fairly straightforward (although I’m sure it had its weird moments), but Byakuya and Renji now have this profoundly awkward relationship where Byakuya is obviously in charge, but he sort of depends on Renji as a personal compass because he’s shit at dealing with people and he doesn’t want to screw stuff up with Rukia again. Take for example, the part of the Hueco Mundo arc where Orihime is kidnapped and Rukia and Renji desert their posts to come help rescue her. Kubo takes to the panel-space to tell us that Byakuya has tacitly approved this. As a clan head and a captain, a person who is entrenched in the hierarchy of Soul Society, Byakuya couldn’t possibly go to Hueco Mundo-- but he can turn a blind eye while his sister and lieutenant scurry out through the Kuchiki family senkaimon. Renji, for his part, tried to go to Hueco Mundo through official channels and got shot down. We don’t know what Renji would have done if Byakuya had explicitly forbidden him from going, but it doesn’t matter-- Byakuya enabled Renji to follow his heart here, because Byakuya can’t. Rukia would have gone to Hueco Mundo regardless. She cares about Byakuya, but she doesn’t depend on him for validation the way Renji does.

I said this was going to be about the TYBW, so let’s get to that. Early in the arc, we’re shown several scenes where it’s clear that Byakuya respects and values Renji as a lieutenant, but he’s also pretty damn patronizing to him. Renji is the first one to engage As Nodt, and when Byakuya shows up, he acts surprised that Renji hasn’t taken him out yet, but then proceeds to take over the fight (real, “stand back, fives, an eleven has arrived” energy). After Byakuya then loses his bankai like a doofus, Renji wants to take point so that Byakuya can figure out As Nodt’s attack and Byakuya won’t let him... and then proceeds to get thrashed.

This has to be one of the most emotionally charged fights in Bleach. Byakuya is losing, and Renji jumps in, absolutely incensed that As Nodt would use Senbonzakura against Byakuya. Renji isn’t doing great, but he’s not doing terrible when Byakuya gets up and tries to help Renji, even though he’s a big bloody mess. As Nodt reacts by shredding Byakuya into chunks, and Renji just loses it, and if Mask de Masculine hadn’t shown up and kicked him halfway across the Seireitei, I daresay Renji would have killed himself trying to take down As Nodt.

This is where I usually make the point that if Byakuya had died to here, it would have broken Renji into little pieces, but that’s not today’s essay. Instead, everyone goes to the Royal Realm, and by virtue of the fact that Byakuya is injured worse than everyone else, Renji has to go forward without him or his approval.

In typical Renji fashion, the thing that motivates Renji here is not glory or heroism, but the desire to accompany Ichigo, the need to be with his friends in their times of trial. In fact his companionship here is absolutely essential-- at Hikifune’s, Ichigo expresses deep doubts that he’s doing the right thing, and Renji reminds himself that if he wants to protect others, he has to take care of himself first.

At Nimaiya’s however, Renji and Ichigo are split up because they must follow their own paths. The other extremely interesting thing that happens here is that Renji’s sword is reforged. Byakuya shattered one of Hihio Zabimaru’s joints the very first time Renji used them in combat. Renji brushed it off at the time, saying that he could get by without it. Even though Byakuya has long been his motivating force and his mentor, he’s also been held back by his connection to him. And at this point, it’s gone.

I really wish we got to see where Renji and Rukia meet up again, but we don’t. Unlike with Ichigo, though, Rukia doesn’t seem to need anything from Renji. They travel together, fight together as equals, wear matching outfits, like you do. Oh. Wait. After all this time, in the 493 chapters between Needless Emotions and Blue Stripes, Renji can finally see himself as an equal to Rukia. They get. bankai. Together.

I want to emphasize that it’s not really anything about Rukia herself that allowed Renji to make bankai, it’s the fact that he’s finally managed to move past the feeling that he’s not enough. Defeating Byakuya would not actually have solved this problem, and having Byakuya dying in front of him wouldn’t have either. Renji gets criticized for losing a lot of his fights, but that’s such a key to his character. He’s not always the strongest, he doesn’t always win, but he keeps fighting for what he cares about. He struggles with his need for approval, for external validation, but Renji is at his best when he doesn’t have time to think about that, when he’s just fighting by his friends’ sides against impossible odds, doing what he knows in his heart is right.

I think people tend to make a little more than is strictly necessary of the line where he tells Mask that he’s “a villain”, I think he’s most just making fun of Mask’s own self-aggrandizement. On another level, though, this is just Renji being at ease with himself. Byakuya typically enters a fight bloviating about the honor of Soul Society and “how dare you raise your sword against me, the 28th Head of the Kuchiki” and even Ikkaku had the whole deal about telling people your name before you kill them, but Renji is more like “you beat up my friends, so I’m gonna break your face,” like there’s no ego in it, just you’re there, and he’s there, and then you’re lying on the ground and he’s taking a nap somewhere. This is so different than the insecure, posturing young man he was at the start of this series and I love this growth for him.

Even after he eventually meets up with Byakuya again, something has changed about their dynamic. The group gets split up and rejoined two or three times, and Renji and Rukia always stay together while Byakuya ends up fighting alongside others, Hisagi and later Hitsugaya and Zaraki. This is cemented in their last scene together, where Rukia and Renji try to stay with Byakuya and he sends them off to fight with Ichigo by saying “your help is not needed here.” In some ways, it’s an echo of Byakuya sending them off to Hueco Mundo, but in other ways, it’s acknowledging that they are their own people, not just an extension of him.

Hitsugaya follows it up with this:

There’s more here than meets the eye, though-- Byakuya and Renji have maintained a pretty strict superior-subordinate relationship, because that’s the easiest way for them to make sense of the world, but the fact is, they do care about each other and are important to one another.

I know there would be a certain narrative satisfaction in seeing Renji make captain at the end-- he’s one of the hardest working people in Bleach, and it frankly seems weird to see Iba get the haori when he doesn’t. But Renji has never wanted to be a captain. Renji becoming captain would, in some ways, be a failure. He spends years pre-canon chasing rank and prestige because that’s what he thinks will make him worthy, and it didn’t. Instead, he found worth in being himself, in loving his friends and being there for them, in learning things from Byakuya and teaching him things in return. Renji doesn’t need to be Byakuya’s lieutenant anymore, he just does it because he likes it. It makes him happy. What better character development is there than that?

[queensoybean0724]

Succession Chapter 15 (Karl Heisenberg/female reader) Resident Evil Village fanfic

Title: Succession Chapter 15

Characters: Karl Heisenberg, female reader, Salvatore Moreau

Rating: PG-13 for language

Summary: you discover a long lost relative has died and made you his sole beneficiary.  While flying to collect you inheritance, you crash in a village in Romania.

Author’s Note: I do not own the characters from Resident Evil Village.  This is a work of fiction.  Anything remotely similar to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter 15

You awoke with the urgent need to pee.  The room was pitch black, the fire in the hearth burning out hours ago.  You couldn’t see anything.  You were incredibly sleepy and could have very easily fallen back asleep, but the need to use the facilities outweighed your slumber.

Heisenberg spooned you, his arms wrapped tight around your body, holding you close. You smiled at the feel of his breath on the top of your head.  He was sleeping soundly and you knew he needed his sleep.  The feel of his naked body against yours was so comforting and you didn’t want to bother him, but you really had to go.

Trying hard not to wake him, you slowly started to pry his arms from around your body.  Heisenberg moaned and pulled you closer to him.  “Where do you think you’re going?” he murmured sleepily, nuzzling his nose in your hair.

“I have to pee,” you said.  His soft moan of disapproval made your heart clench.  He begrudgingly let you go and you sat up, moving your feet to the floor.  “Come back soon,” he whispered, rolling onto his back.  He slung one arm across his eyes as the other lay on his stomach.

You stood to your feet and blindly walked naked towards the door.  You knew there wasn’t any furniture between the bed and the door, but you wanted to make sure you didn’t run into anything.  The door was closed and you could hear the faint noises of the factory on the other side.  You held your hands out in front of you and made your way towards the noise.

You sucked in a pained gasp when your toe hit the edge of the kitchen area.  “Ow, fuck!!” you cried out, “fuck fuck fuck fuck!!”  You hopped on your uninjured foot as you grabbed your stubbed toe, whining and cursing.

“What was that?  What happened?” Heisenberg asked from the bed.

“I stubbed my fucking toe!” you whimpered, squeezing your toes in one hand with your other hand pressed to the counter top.  He was quiet for a moment before laughing.  “Shut up,” you grumbled at him.  You felt along the wall and found the door knob, opening it wide.

The lights from the hallway were a welcomed sight as you went into the bathroom.  You closed the door, locked it, and relieved yourself.  Flushing the toilet, you walked to the sink and washed your hands, looking at your reflection in the mirror.  Your hair was a mess.  You looked down at your hips and thighs and noticed a peppering of bruises and bite marks.  Your muscles were starting to feel sore and achy.  It made you smile.

In between naps and cuddles, you and Heisenberg had done nothing but stay in bed and fucked for the last several hours.  He was insatiable.  His hands and mouth had touched and explored every inch of your body.  You two had made each other cum over and over again.  Finally, after reaching a point of exhaustion, he pulled you to him and the both of you passed out.

You turned off the bathroom light and went back to the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.  With the little amount of light spilling in, you were able to find your way back to the bed.

You slid under the covers and into Heisenberg’s waiting arms.  “How’s your toe?” he asked, pulling you close and kissing your forehead.  You rested your head on his chest, placing your hand on his stomach.  “It’s fine,” you murmured.

“Sorry I laughed,” he said with a slight chuckle in his voice.  You growled softly and cuddled deeper into his arms.

*

When the two of you awoke in the morning, Heisenberg made breakfast...eggs and bacon again.  You poured yourself a mug of coffee from the small pot Heisenberg had on the back of the stove.  It wasn’t as good as the coffee you were used to from back home, but you cut him some slack...after all, you doubted the Duke had various flavors of coffee available to buy from his carriage.

Heisenberg found another chair in a room down the hall and pulled it into his quarters so that you and he could sit next to each other while eating.  After years of him living alone, he only needed one chair in his room.  But you were with him now and he wanted to make accommodations for you.

Heisenberg brought two plates to the table, setting one in front of you and the other for him.

“I thought you didn’t eat breakfast,” you asked as you picked up your fork.

“Usually I don’t,” he responded, “but as of late, I’ve worked up quite an appetite…”

You snorted and clamped your hand over your mouth to keep food from flying everywhere.  Heisenberg laughed as he chomped on a strip of bacon.

The two of you ate in silence, Heisenberg stealing glances at you from time to time.  He watched as you pulled one leg up to the chair and let the other hang over it.  He studied your eating habits as you went from a forkful of eggs to a strip of bacon and ending with a mouthful of coffee.  It had been a long time since he had someone share his living quarters…

He quickly shook those thoughts away.  It had been years since he last thought of them and he didn’t want to be reminded.

“So,” you said, pulling Heisenberg out of his thoughts, “I wanted to do something today…”

“Really?” he questioned, arching his brow, “and what might that be?”

You rolled your eyes.  “Knock it off, pervert,” you muttered, “I want to see Salvatore.”

“No fucking way,” Heisenberg said bluntly, lifting his mug of coffee to his mouth.

“I want to give him something,” you said, turning your body to face him, “the bracelet I got from the Duke...I want to give it to Salvatore.  To show him that everything is okay and that I’m not mad at him…”

Heisenberg shook his head, placing the mug down.  “Everything is not okay.  You could have died, Y/N.  If I wasn’t in the area and hadn’t heard your screams…”

“This isn’t up to you,” you said defiantly, “I want to go see him and I’ll go with or without you.”

Heisenberg laughed loudly, tossing his head back.  “Are you getting tough with me, pussycat?  You think I would let you go there alone after all I’ve told you about this place?  You know, I could go back to chaining you to my bed and locking the door…”

You met his amused eyes with a serious look.  “Please, Karl,” you implored, “we don’t have to stay long.  Come with me, let me give him the bracelet, and then we can leave…”  You put your hand on his arm, squeezing it slowly.  “I’ll make it up to you…”

He looked from your hand on his arm and up to your mischievous eyes.  “Anything, dollface?”

Your heart skipped a beat momentarily at his words.  Oh fuck, you thought, what depraved possibilities could be spinning in his head right now?  What have I gotten myself into?  But you swallowed your tongue and simply nodded.

“Fine,” he said, “we’ll go in an hour…”

*

The ramshackled building that Moreau lived in hovered yards ahead as you and Heisenberg walked closer.  The sun peeked out occasionally through thick clouds.  There was a brisk chill in the air as you shoved your hands in the pockets of the oversized coat you found in the plane wreckage.  You had spot cleaned it in Heisenberg’s tub the day before, scrubbing the slobber and blood that the lycans had gotten on it your first day in the village.

Heisenberg huffed under his breath as you reached the wooden door, slinging his large hammer around and propping it up against the wall.  “Smells like rotten fish,” he mumbled, “which means my brother is home…”

You shot him a glare.  “Do you think you could not be so rude to him?  He is your brother.”

“Not by blood,” Heisenberg shot back.  You shook your head as you pushed the door open.

“Salvatore?” you called out, “it’s Y/N and Heisenberg!  Are you here?!”

It was quiet for a moment.  You could hear the soft sloshing of the water in the reservoir.  A clock ticked by somewhere.  Birds flapped their wings and flew up towards the ceiling and in and out of small openings in the roof.

“Salvatore?” you called out again.

“MOREAU!” Heisenberg yelled loudly, making you jump out of your skin, “where the fuck are you???”

“Jesus,” you breathed, your hand at your chest, “you scared me to death!”  He simply shrugged as you heard shuffling from down a hallway.

“K-Karl?” Moreau called out, “...what are yo-you doing here?”  He turned the corner and saw the two of you standing there.  “Oh!  Y/N!  Oh ho, how are you??  I thought you were m-m-mad at me…”

You smiled and came forward, reaching both of your hands to him.  “No, Salvatore, I’m not mad!  It was just a crazy ordeal that got out of hand and I wanted to let you know...”

Moreau looked down at your outstretched hands and hesitantly lifted his.  He was very slow at placing his hands in yours for fear that you didn’t want him to touch you.  He was used to people over the years being afraid of him, calling him a freak, and picking on him.  It still felt recent, but it had been close to thirty years ago, when local children would see him walking through the village and pelt him with pebbles and rocks.  They would call him names, plug up their noses, and jeer at how much he stunk.  Unless he was beckoned by Mother Miranda, he stayed in the reservoir from then on out.  He would get his revenge a time or two when some of the bullies would jump in the water for a swim.  He would quietly slip under the surface of the water, turn into his huge, monstrous self, and rip them to shreds.  It was one of the few times he recalled ever being truly happy and justified.

You smiled at him and gave his hands a soft squeeze.  They were slimy and felt unusual, but you didn’t say anything; you would wash your hands later.  “I got something for you...just to let you know there aren’t any hard feelings…”  You released his hands and went for your jeans pocket, pulling out the carnelian bracelet.  “I got it from the Duke.  It’s a carnelian crystal.  It represents joy, friendship, and togetherness.  It made me think of you.”

Moreau looked down at the bracelet you extended towards him.  His eyes took in the red crystal.  His mouth opened and his jaw trembled.  “This...is fo-for me?  A present for me?” he asked.  You smiled and nodded.  A low sound that could only be described as the beginnings of weeping formed in his mouth.  You let it hang from your fingertips as Moreau closed his hand around it.  “Thank you,” he said happily, “oh, thank you, Y/N!  This is the best gi-gift I have ever gotten!”  He looked joyful and happy before his body began to jerk.  With a sudden loud gag, he turned away quickly and vomited green fluids on the floor.

“Ugh!” Heisenberg muttered under his breath.  You turned and shot him a warning glare.

“It’s okay, Salvatore,” you assured, turning back to him.

Moreau wiped his mouth with his other hand, looking at you.  “Sorry,” he apologized, “it happens sometimes…”

Heisenberg clapped his hands together once as if everything had corrected itself and they were all good to go.  “Well, brother,” he announced, “it’s always nice to see you.  Don’t be a stranger, don’t forget to write, you know...all that jazz…”

“Thank you, Heisenberg, for coming to visit,” Moreau said, “and thank you for bringing me the fish and cheeses last week.  They we-were very good…”

You slowly looked up at Heisenberg with an amused look, as if to say “oh, what a nice thing for you to do for your brother…”  He looked at you for a split second before turning away and mumbling “you’re welcome.”  You couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped your lips.  Heisenberg could try all he might, but there was goodness inside of him...he didn’t show it a lot, but it was there.

With a short grunt, he looked down at the floor to his left and found a scrap of metal that looked to have fallen from the ceiling.  He reached down and picked it up quickly, showing it to his brother.  “Yeah, well...I’m taking this!” Heisenberg announced, turning around and stomping out of the reservoir building.

You pressed your lips together to keep from laughing.  Turning back to Moreau, you bid him goodbye and promised that you would come see him again soon.

You jogged out of the building as Heisenberg grabbed his hammer and slung it over his shoulder, the metal scrap dragging behind him in the snow.

“How old are you again?” you quipped, walking with him up the path back towards the factory.

“Shut up…” he grumbled.

[thebonggirll]

chapter twelve

< previous: chapter eleven

"Team Kakashi, huh. Feels good to work with you again. Now that we are peers, can I call you just Kakashi?" Y/N teased while walking beside Kakashi.

"Well, you guys have definitely gotten stronger. That's for sure. I'd never dream that you would snag those bells," Kakashi said, "But calling me by my name is still never gonna happen."

Y/N chuckled, "I gotta say though. That genjutsu you pulled of Sasuke being injured?"

"Yeah I know it was a bit harsh but-"

"It was very stupid, sensei."

Kakashi stopped in his tracks and looked at her, "What?"

"...hey don't blame me for being honest. You know what you did wrong. Like you really wanted us to believe that Sasuke didn't grow an inch after all these years?" Y/N laughed.

"I guess so. I must say though, you perfected the water dragon jutsu. I didn't think you would nullify my attack like that."

"I learned it from the infamous Copy Ninja," Y/N said as her eyes shifted towards Naruto, whose stomach was growling.

"Oh, I forgot," Naruto said holding his stomach, "I haven't had a bowl of ramen from Ichiraku since I got back."

"That's why I told you to eat something before," Y/N sighed, "But I guess I talk bullshit."

Naruto gasped hearing her cuss.

She smiled, "Get used to it, Naruto."

"A-Anyways, let's go to Ichiraku now!!" Naruto said.

"Right! I'm starving too!" Sakura said.

Y/N watched both of them run a little forward, waiting for Kakashi to treat them. She knew how close she was to Sakura. But despite that, it felt like there was still some kind of distance in the relationship she had with the team. Maybe that's one of the reasons why she kept trying to maintain this distance. Sure, she considered them friends but she wanted to be ready for any kind of situation. No matter how much she tried to be one the leaf village shinobis, she wondered if anyone would really stop her if she found her family.

She felt another presence beside Kakashi. Jiraya was present, who momentarily looked at her and smiled. Not wanting to invade their conversation, she walked further away from the both of them.

She wanted to lessen this distance, but there was no way unless she started accepting her emotions. Let her emotions flow freely. After the attack from Orochimaru, she knew people suspected her. And the only way she could remain in the village without being affected by those looks was to shut down her emotions.

She wasn't like Naruto or Sakura. Naruto, despite his circumstances, somehow had the ability to make friends and make people believe in him. She didn't have the quality nor was she talkative enough to make people like her.

It was hard. The only people she knew trusted her were Sakura, Tsunade, and Kakashi, knowing all about her. They accepted her for who she was.

She watched her friends call Kakashi again in front of the restaurants, who responded with "I have to create and turn in the unit list for the new team. So, unfortunately, I'm out," before disappearing.

"He's probably out to finish that book of his," Sakura grumbled.

"Well if that's the case, I suppose we could call it a date then, couldn't we?" Naruto said grinning.

Oh right.

She completely forgot about his crush on Sakura. Y/N didn't want to be the one to doubt Sakura's feelings for Sasuke...but maybe it would be better this way. She wanted to go back home before she felt any worse than this.

Turning on her heels, she was about to go home when Sakura called her, "Where are you going lady?! How about the two of you split the bill instead of me. I can't eat ramen, right now."

Sakura quickly went away to another shop before Y/N could argue.

"I guess it's just you and me then," Naruto said.

"I pay mine and you pay for yours," Y/N said, smiling, "I can't split the bill in half when I'll probably eat a bowl."

"Hey! I never said about splitting-"

"I didn't say it wasn't fine. You are getting stronger so.." Y/N's eyes scanned his figure and settled on his face, "it's fine to eat however you want."

"Aw that was a nice meal," Naruto grinned, walking with hands on his belly. Iruka stopped by Ichiraku and they talked for a while. Y/N didn't know if she should talk about her condition with Naruto. That would be one of the answers to the question he asked back in the shop. Iruka saved her at the moment. He didn't know what was going on with her nightmares but her face probably gave it away.

"You've...become quieter you know. Why?" Naruto asked.

Yes, as a team member he should know about it. But...it felt like there was some kind of gap between them. She didn't feel as close as she was with the rest. Now, this was a surprise considering Naruto was the person she was closest with before he left.

She still wasn't comfortable talking about it. Both of them know their parents were a sensitive topic. Maybe she should keep it to herself for the time being.

"...Thank you I guess."

She heard his words and snapped out of her thoughts. "What?" she asked.

Naruto observed her and said, "You already passed by your apartment. I was asking if you're gonna help me unpack."

Y/N gasped and stopped in her tracks. It was true.

She was almost near his home. "Uh...I didn't realize," she said.

"I know," Naruto sighed, "As I said before. You're quieter than usual and I thought you meant yes since you kept walking with me silently. But I guess you don't want to."

She would've left saying a 'goodbye' but she couldn't after seeing his face. Oh, he looked so dejected. A small pout appeared on his lips. She didn't know he would get that upset about it.

"Let's go," she said, smiling.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted and opened the door of his apartment.

Y/N coughed a bit looking at the dust settled all over his place. "You probably should've given me the key," Y/N whispered.

"I think so too," he smiled, looking at her.

Thump.

Y/N's heart was slowly beating faster. Suddenly she became extremely cautious about her surroundings. She was standing in Naruto's apartment. Alone, with him. It wasn't much of a difference when they were children.

But they are grown up now.

She hastily kept down her bag and asked him for a piece of cloth. He opened up his backpack and gave her a torn t-shirt. "I'll start cleaning. You can get freshen up," she said taking it away from his hand and turning away.

Naruto chuckled looking at her. Well, at least some parts of her remained the same. Like the way she scurries around his apartment like a bunny. She used to make him clean his room and lectured him on 'hygiene' while cooking some healthy food for him back then. It was a relief, she still had something he could remember.

Pretty soon, she forgot about her issue with being in the same small space with Naruto alone. She was quite focused on cleaning the whole apartment. Feeling a tap on her shoulder she turned back to find Naruto.

Naruto was in his casual clothes, a towel on his shoulder with messy wet hair. "Here you go," he said. Y/N blushed and looked down at his hand holding a shirt and shorts.

"What?" she asked.

"No need to clean everything tonight. I can do the rest tomorrow. You can stay the night in-"

"Why? My apartment is on the next street," she said, "And it's not that I'm fragile now Naruto. I can go alone."

"B-But I thought we can do a sleepover finally! You said we can do that when we grow up! You said children can't do that!"

Y/N couldn't help but laugh at his naivety. "I can bet you'll never say that word in front of anyone."

"W-Well, girls say sleepover too! Why can't boys say that!"

"Ah, I'm just joking," she said.

"Then you can stay-"

"I just cleaned your living room, not your bedroom. I'm not staying," she immediately picked up her bag and opened the door, "Bye!"

She jumped from roof to roof heading toward her apartment. Ah, the night is a blessing.

No one could see how red her face was after Naruto's innocent little suggestion.

next: chapter thirteen >

season one

the reaper of the sea

MASTERLIST

[shortprince-cos]

Presents Or Pranks?

Summary: Janus assumes his "secret admirer" is a prankster, but a familiar face proves him wrong.

Ship: Romantic Moceit (Patton x Janus)

Warnings: Stabbing mention (doesn't actually happen i swear-), pranking mention, high school, Valentine's Day(?). Tell me if I need to add anything else!

Note: Happy Valentine's Day!!! Hope you have a good day regardless of if you have a s/o or not! Also i forgot that Valentine's day wasn't on a school day this year, so ignore that cause i didn't want to rewrite it. Pretend its an AU.

Thank you to @emy-loves-you for helping me with some plot (and basically every other fic I've written)!

~~~~~

If there was ever a time for Janus to develop anxiety, it would be now.

For weeks he had been wondering who kept putting letters - love letters - in his locker at least twice a week. The last letter had said to meet him here, under the bleachers on the football field, after school, on Valentine's Day.

There were two possible situations that this could turn into: One, this was a really elaborate prank and he was about to either get humiliated or stabbed, whichever came first, or two, someone who has a crush on him was about to meet him, and he would have to break their heart or make out with them.

At least if he gets attacked he can defend himself, and humiliate the stranger instead. If it was an admirer, then they would both be humiliated.

He hoped it was a prankster, because if the person was real, they seemed really sweet, and Janus didn't want to do that to them.

It's probably some straight girl who wants a bad boy. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened, but Janus was tired of explaining that he was gay to every girl he ever crossed paths with.

The letters and gifts had always been very stereotypical, like ones you would see in rom-coms and books. They usually consisted of chocolates, little poems, and pressed yellow flowers.

They were all really sweet gifts (especially the chocolates), but Janus still couldn't help but worry over who the 'admirer' was.

Janus anxiously checked his phone. The stranger was seven minutes late.

It was probably a prankster, and he was probably being filmed right now. Janus looked around, but all that was there was an empty football field.

Janus sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Would a prankster even put this much effort into a joke? This was going on for weeks, and unless this person really hated Janus, he doubted it was a prank. As awful as that was.

Who would even have a crush on Janus, anyway? He wasn't exactly nice or pretty, he was mean and- well, he wasn't ugly, but he definitely wasn't charismatic.

His whole aesthetic was 'stay away from me', so he always wondered why that seemed to attract girls to him, until Remus enlightened him.

"They want a bad boy." Remus explained one day. "They think the idea of an angry guy with a soft spot only for them, is sexy."

"That's stupid." Janus had replied.

And it was stupid- is stupid. What kind of girl wants someone who's mean to them? Janus blamed the Twilight saga.

Janus checked his phone again. Eleven minutes late.

Janus cursed and decided to call it quits. He picked up his backpack and started walking towards the parking lot before he heard someone shouting something behind him.

He looked back towards the football field to see a short, blond, boy, running at him as fast as they could.

"W-Wait!" They yelled.

Janus waited for the short person to catch up, when they did, they put their hands on their knees, trying to catch their breath.

They looked kind of familiar, but everyone does when you go to the same highschool.

"Sorry- sorry!" The stranger looked up at him with blue eyes looking through round glasses. "I'm so sorry I'm late! I promise I didn't mean to be, but my teacher wanted to talk to me after class about my grades, and I tried to tell her I was late, but she wouldn't listen! And then my friends wanted advice about their gifts for their partners, and I got caught up! I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting!"

Janus knew he should probably be listening to what the shorter boy was saying, but all his mind was thinking was that he was rather adorable.

"W-What?"

Oh, did he say that out loud?

Janus smirked. "You're adorable when you're rambling."

The boy blushed quickly. "I- u-uh- thank you?"

Janus chuckled. "So, you're the one putting those gifts in my locker?"

The blue-eyed stranger shifted on his feet. "Y-Yeah, I did. I did wanna talk to you about that! Which, is the whole reason we're here- obviously- why else would we-?" He giggled nervously. "Anyway, the reason I put those there is because...uh- I kinda- maybe sorta...like you?"

"Why?" Janus immediately asked.

"I- what?"

Janus crossed his arms. "You said you liked me, and I want to know why."

"O-Oh. I didn't expect you to- uh- ask that?"

"Well, do you have a reason, or-?"

"No- yeah! Of-of course I do...you-you want to hear it?"

"No, I just asked because I was curious." Janus answered sarcastically.

"R-Right. Yeah, okay, um- well-"

Janus smirked as he saw the shorter one fumble over his words.

"Well, over winter break? You uh- you volunteer at an animal shelter in the next town over?"

Janus' eyes widened in shock. "How did you-"

"I work there too! I do every weekend when I'm at my dad's house! Uh- anyway, I saw you there over winter break, and you were just so...soft, with the animals, and it was really cute to see you playing with kittens, and you always took the older dogs on walks because they were sad they never got adopted, ooh! And then you helped me carry some boxes in that one time 'cause no one else was, and you kinda called me pretty? I guess that part isn't as important, heh- oh my gosh I'm rambling! I'm sorry!"

Janus was shocked at how specific this guy's examples were. Then he thought about the situations again.

"You had blue hair."

The bubbly boy's face lit up. "You remember me?"

"A little. You cried when puppies got adopted."

"Can you blame me?! I loved playing with them, and I just wanted to make sure they got a good home!"

Janus outright laughed - which, if you talked to Janus' friends, they would claim that Janus only laughed when a kid fell off a bike.

"S-Sorry- I-" Janus laughed a bit more. "That was the most innocent thing I've ever heard."

The blue-clad boy pouted and crossed his arms in the least intimidating way possible.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Janus apologized while still chuckling slightly. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. A-Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that okay I'll be going now-"

"Wait." Janus said before the smaller one ran off. "What are you doing tonight?"

"O-Oh! I'm not doing anything...why?"

"The dance tonight? Would the unnamed stranger in front of me like to go?"

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself! My name's Patton!"

Janus smiled. "Alright then. Would you like to go to the dance with me, Patton?"

Patton immediately blushed more. "Oh gosh, you don't have to-"

Janus took Patton's hand in his own and brought it up to his lips. "Now why wouldn't I want to take my beautiful admirer to a nice dance?" He pressed a kiss to Patton's knuckles and watched as Patton's face turned even redder.

"I-I...y-yeah, I wanna go with you!" He squeaked out.

Janus dropped Patton's hand. "I'll see you tonight, then?"

"Y-Yeah, sure!"

Janus picked up his bag again as Patton started to gather his as well. "Oh, and, Patton?"

"Yeah?"

"I hope you know that I will have to repay you for those presents you gifted me."

Patton sputtered. "You don't have to! I just wanted to give you something-"

"Nope, too late, I've already decided." Janus started walking back towards the parking lot. "See you later, cutie!"

Thinking about the future dance, Janus decided that maybe an admirer was better than a prankster after all.

~~~~~

Sorry this is so short, but I thought something was better than nothing! I hope you guys enjoyed!

General Taglist: @resident-crow-goth @macademmia @theantisocialghost @foreverfangirlalways @emo--nightmaree @moxy--sanders101 @quinnthequeer @gattonero17 @trashno0dles @tranquil-space-ninja @chaotic-murder-muffin @lugooble @sander-crossing @princess-rosie @sleepyysoot @hi-its-tutty @lookingforaplacetosleep @sarcasmremovedsoul @corkeecoderyt @drarrymalecsolangelo @private-snippers @girl-who-reads @emy-loves-you @reptilian-with-scallions

Ask to be added or removed!

Reblogs are appreciated!💖

[up-sideand-down]

Holding Tight

This fic is for @thethrillof who donated to Stop AAPI Hate and requested a fic where Barret raises Sephiroth.

I messed with some timelines to age Seph down. I hope you like the fic!

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Barret wouldn’t have done anything if that shadow hadn’t looked so small. He had plenty to worry about without adding someone else to the mix. He had Marlene to think about., his prosthetic he fought Sakaki for months still ached and stung, and they still had no home. He blamed Myrna for going over. It had been a year since…he still talked to her from time to time. They had wanted kids, piles of them. Myrna wasn’t one to turn any of the Corel kids away. She’d be ashamed of him if she saw him ignore this one. All alone.

They were in Costa Del Sol, waiting a passenger ship Barret could bribe his way on. Barret presented it as “camping on the beach” to Marlene and she loved it. Sitting by one of the campfires for tourists and sleeping under the stars with her Daddy. It was all just an adventure for her. Barret would let her dream it really was like that.

Just a few feet over, was a small black figure sitting all by itself. It didn’t even have the luxury of food Barret had saved up and brought here and there for them. He had just finished cooking up the last of it, and besides shifting a bit…that shadow stayed there and showed no signs of moving.

But it couldn’t have been an adult…it was just too damn small. Barret stood up setting Marlene on his shoulders as they walked along the beach. She set her head on top of his, her arms drifting to almost his shoulders.

It was a kid, dressed all in black, trying hard to hide his face in the blanket he was wrapped up in. There was a stick next to him. He didn’t look okay. Myrna would scream at him if he kept walking.

So he approached.

“Hey,” he said softly. Strange green eyes looked up at his. He couldn’t read them…but he didn’t think they were dangerous.

“Mind if we sit with you for a bit?” he asked. Everything felt still for a moment. Then a small nod let a blonde looking lock of hair slide out of the makeshift hood. Barret sat on the stump next to the kid. He had to be ten…maybe eleven or twelve. Too young to be out on his own unless he had no choice. Barret wasn’t good at being subtle, so he just went for it.

“You waiting on anyone?” he asked. The kid’s eyes flitted to his shoes then back to the fire. He shook his head.

“Anyone waiting on you?” he asked. The kid didn’t move. Definitely a yes…but this kid didn’t look like he wanted to go back any time soon.

“Had anything to eat?” Those eyes went to Barret’s shoes again, maybe a little higher. He was looking hard at his clothes. He hoped they said the truth. He and Marlene were out on their own too.

“Running away too?” he asked a bit more softly. Those eyes met his…but they seemed softer. He was breaking down.

“Come on,” Barret said, standing up, “You gotta be starvin’.” There was that brief hesitation, but the kid stood up, picking up his stick. He stood a little back from the fire, watching Barret split his own portion of dinner into two (because he would never take from Marlene. He could be a little hungry for tonight). Barret offered the bowl. There was less hesitation then. The kid sat down, eating small bites at first. Then they rose up until the kid finished his whole bowl. Barret offered what was left in his. The kid shook his head.

“It's yours,” the kid said, his voice cracking a little.

“You’re still hungry,” Barret said, “I’m good.” The kid took it. Marlene shifted closer to Barret, more worried about the kid being a stranger than anything. Barret rustled her hair.

“Where you running to?” Barret asked. The kid paused eating, his face closed off again.

“You gotta home?” Barret tried again.

“I can’t go back,” the boy said, his voice had a harder edge to it.

“Why not?” Barret said. The boy didn’t respond.

“Is it like me and Marlene?” he asked, “we don’t have a home to go back to. It’s gone.”

“If I go back,” the boy said, his voice barely a whisper, “I’ll be lucky if they just kill me.”

“What?” Barret said, “who?” The kid stared into the fire.

“Sh-ShinRa,” he said. That was all Barret needed to hear. He looked at the kid more. He saw a lot more than just a kid. The blanket hood had shifted enough for him to see a military grade uniform. Boots, trousers, and turtle neck. Some lumps that were probably armor. Gloves. He hadn’t seen the kid in the dark, he kept close to the fire. But he’d bet those green eyes would glow. And he wasn’t carrying a just a stick.

“You’re a Soldier,” Barret said, “one of them…mako boys, right?” He’d seen the posters and the demonstrations on ShinRa’s propaganda channels.

The boy didn’t move. Good fucking gods. ShinRa was using kids to fight their wars now? Sending babies off to fight with a mako bath, smattering a armor, and a sword?

Like hell they were. Like hell they’d send this one.

“Well you can’t go back then,” Barret said. The boy blinked.

“I—“ he started…then faltered.

“I’m Barret,” he said holding out his hand, “Barret Wallace.” The boy took it, tentatively.

“Sephiroth,” he said softly. That was a mouthful.

“Well Sephiroth,” Barret said, “Marlene and I got a deep grudge against ShinRa. They’re the reason we ain’t got a home no more. Sounds like you got a grudge too.” He nodded a little.

“Then we should stick together,” Barret said. He put a heavy hand on the Sephiroth’s shoulder. He looked up, eyes glowing just a bit now with mako…or maybe something else. He nodded.

Barret woke up to quiet gasping and groaning. He looked over to Marlene first on the inn couch. She was still sound asleep. Then he looked to the other bed. Glowing green shone through squinting eyelids. Sephiroth was curled into a ball.

Third night in a row. Barret had seen mako withdrawal before, mostly after mako poisoning. Never seen it for a Soldier who was given the stuff on purpose.

Sephiroth had sworn the first two nights that he would be fine in a few days. He was burning off the excess from the shower he’d had shortly before he ran.

Barret didn’t doubt him…but he was done waiting and watching. He got up. He ran a towel under the faucet in the bathroom. The water was cool. He wrung it out once.

Sephiroth pulled away when Barret sat on his bet.

“No…” Sephiroth gasped, “don’t.”

“It’s okay Sephiroth,” Barret said, wiping the sweat off Sephiroth’s face. Sephiroth opened his eyes more. They burned bright tonight.

“It’s okay,” Barret said softly. Sephiroth panted and shivered at the same time, but his face was burning up. Sephiroth’s hands were fisted in his sheets. Barret just turned the towel over to the cooler side and started dabbing against the other side of Sephiroth’s face. Sephiroth grunted as another wave hit him. Barret pretended not to notice the drops of water coming from the sides of Sephiroth’s eyes.

Barret shook out the towel again, trying to cool it off a bit, before folding it up and placing it on Sephiroth’s brow. A bit tricky to do one handed, but he did it.

Trying to get Sephiroth’s fingers to let go was like trying to bend steel. Eventually his hold gave. Barret grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Gently, those steel fingers squeezed back. Sephiroth’s breathing evened out slowly.

“What did they do to you, kid?” Barret asked when he thought Sephiroth was asleep.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

It took two weeks for Sephiroth to talk. He spoke only about the present and tried very hard to not talk about himself.

“I’m fine,” was the most complete sentence Barret heard…but he stuck to Barret like glue. That said a lot more than anything Sephiroth probably felt safe saying. Barret fought really hard to not ask questions and tried to even harder to get Marlene to not ask questions. But she wasn’t thinking of Sephiroth as a stranger anymore…so the questions would be coming.

They had seen Soldiers, other older Soldiers, across the street in Junon. Sephiroth damn near had a panic attack trying to get off the street.

“Breathe, Sephiroth,” Barret told him, “they didn’t even see us.” Marlene came forward and put her little hands on top of Sephiroth’s. He looked at her and gave a the smallest of smiles. She smiled back and stepped back. Sephiroth closed his eyes, guilt making him bow his head.

“I was the first,” he said softly.

“The first?” Barret said. He looked around under the barren dock Sephiroth had run to. No one here. Not even the tide.

“Soldier,” he said, “I was the first one.” He turned away from them.

“I was supposed to be the best and the brightest,” he said, “I had been…designed that way.” His silver hair cut off his face. Cut him off from seeing them.

“I’ve been training to lead the others almost since I was born. I don’t know anything else. And if they find me…they’ll probably hurt you and Marlene too. Because I’m dangerous. I’ve killed people.” His voice cracked at the end of his speech. Barret recognized Sephiroth was trying to push them away…but like hell he’d let this kid.

Not after two weeks.

It wasn’t as if Barret had suspected this from the start.

“So why’d you leave?” Barret said. Sephiroth angled his head a little. A green eye peeked out. Met Barret’s brown ones.

“I…” Sephiroth swallowed, “They…”

“Did you want to?” Barret said, “did you want to stay?”

“No,” Sephiroth said.

“Why?” Barret asked.

“I…I didn’t want to hurt anyone,” Sephiroth said, “I didn’t realize…I didn’t think…It wasn’t until…”

“They made you,” Barret said, “And lied to you.” Sephiroth nodded once. Sephiroth flinched when Barret put his hand, still heavy, on his shoulder.

“I promise Sephiroth,” Barret said, “I’ll never make you harm another person. I’ll never do that to you.” Sephiroth looked up.

“I won’t let it happen to you again,” Barret swore.

Suddenly, Sephiroth had buried his head in Barret’s chest, his hands fisted in Barret’s vest. Barret softly wrapped both arms, whole and prosthetic, around the boy. He felt so small. Sephiroth’s shoulders shook, but he didn’t make a sound. Marlene wrapped her arms around Sephrioth’s leg.

Barret rubbed his back.

“You’re a good kid.”

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

In under a month, Marlene had adopted Sephiroth. He struggled to tell Marlene no. Even to hard questions. It helped that Marlene…just never judged, never criticized. She had a pure curiosity. Barret encouraged it in her.

“Why’s your hair silver?” Marlene asked.

“I don’t know,” Sephiroth said, “It’s always been like that. I guess…maybe one of my parents had hair like mine. Or it turned that color.”

“You’re not old though,” Marlene said.

“No,” Sephiroth said. Marlene accepted that.

“Why do your eyes glow?” Marlene asked.

“I have some mako inside me,” Sephiroth told her.

“Why?” she asked.

“People put it in me to make me strong…so now my eyes glow,” Sephiroth said.

“Could my eyes glow?” Marlene asked, “it’s pretty.”

“I don’t want them to,” Sephiroth told her, “I think yours are prettier.” She had smiled at that and dropped it.

The one that Barret would always cherish and remember was when Marlene saw the stick Sephiroth always carried was really a sword.

“Are you…a hero?” Marlene asked, her eyes bright.

“I…I don’t know what that means,” Sephiroth confessed.

“It means you’ll help people,” she said, “save them.”

“Oh…” Sephiroth was quiet, “I don’t know. I think…I’d like to be.”

“Then you’re my hero,” Marlene said.

“What does that mean?” Sephiroth asked.

“You and Poppa are my family,” she told him, “He’s my Poppa. You’re my hero!” Barret knew it wasn’t the word she really meant, but Sephiroth wore his new title with pride.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

They reached Midgar after almost 18 months together. Sephiroth rarely initiated contact with Marlene or Barret, but he had stopped pulling away.

He even smiled.

His paranoia persisted. After the things Barret heard the poor kid went through…he didn’t blame him a bit. He helped Sephiroth blend in. Dyed his hair brown. Got him a matching pair of sunglasses. Sephiroth admitted he had been to Midgar before…but just ShinRa tower. Top Plate. They stuck to the slums. It took a while before Barret found them a place. They huddled in an old factory before he got the money together. Both kids lit up when they walked into the old bar for the first time.

For Marlene because it was this was the biggest house she and Barret had ever had.

For Sephiroth…because it was home.

“Home?” he said, his voice breaking again. It was happening less and less.

“Home,” Barret said. He let Sephiroth scrub at his face and didn’t say anything. Sephiroth leaned against him as they walked through.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Barret heard of Avalanche after he finished teaching Sephiroth how to sew and how to cook without setting things on fire. He still hadn’t put out that fire in his heart though. ShinRa had to go down. The planet…the planet needed to be saved. For Marlene’s sake…for Sephiroth’s future.

He didn’t fit in, even there. He was too radical and not radical enough.

The breaking point shocked him.

On of the heads saw Sephiroth, recognized what his eyes meant.

“We could use his raw power,” he said, “Soldier fighter like that. If we get one…I heard a bunch defected a few years ago-” He never finished his thought. Barret shoved him against a wall.

“Don’t you ever, ever, think about using that boy as a fighter again,” Barret said. He left Avalanche without planning to come back. Nor was he welcome.

Instead he made his own.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Five years after meeting on a beach on another world, Sephiroth called Barret "Poppa" for the first time. Barret didn’t reject it, just squeezed Sephiroth’s shoulder.

By then Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse had followed. They knew better than to recruit Sephiroth for Avalanche. The neighborhood watch was fine, but anything bigger was out of the question. Barret made that clear and Sephiroth seemed content with that.

But then came Tifa Lockhart. Her heart was in the right place and she fit in with the others. But when she saw Sephiroth…his eyes.

She nearly ran.

Barret hadn’t seen that shame in Sephiroth’s face in years. He went after Tifa. He pulled her story out like he’d pulled Sephiroth's.

Two Soldiers had burned down her hometown…killed everyone there 5 years ago. She was the only survivor she knew of.

“But not him,” Barret told her, “I swear to you…he’s just a kid. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“But I heard Biggs…those Gashtrikes in the-“

“That was different,” Barret told her, “that was protecting. He wouldn’t hurt anyone.” He coaxed her back into the bar.

Sephiroth was sitting with Marlene on the ground, helping her do one of her doll's hair. He was trying so hard not to look at Tifa.

But Tifa stayed.

Within a week she and Sephiroth took turns manning the bar.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

He knew he needed more manpower for that bombing mission. He knew the odds were stacked so high against them…they needed muscle. Like a Soldier.

He refused to do it.

So Sephiroth did it for him.

“I can go with you,” Sephiroth said, “I am a Soldier. I can fight. I want to help you.”

“No,” Barret said, “Absolutely not.”

“But…Poppa,” Sephiroth said.

“No buts,” Barret said.

“Why?” Sephiroth asked. The bad news with kids was that they picked up all your dirty tricks. Barret smiled and sighed.

“Because I made you a promise,” he said, “a promise I will keep until the day I die. I promised I wouldn’t make you hurt another person. And I won’t. This mission…you might have to.”

“I’d do it…for the planet I would,” Sephiroth said.

“That’s my fight,” Barret said. He poked a finger into Sephiroth’s chest. “You have a different one.”

“What’s that?” Sephiroth scoffed.

“Be a hero,” Barret said. Sephiroth blinked.

“Look…I can’t think of another way to save the planet…but I might hurt some innocent people,” Barret said, “but you…you won’t. You can help. That’s why you can’t go. I need you…to help.” Sephiroth nodded.

“We’ll find someone else,” Barret said, “take that weight off your shoulders. It’s my burden.”

“You carry too much,” Sephiroth said. He was damn near a grown man. How the hell would Barret survive when Marlene reached this age?

“I carry just enough,” he said, “but you remember what I say.”

“I will,” Sephiroth said. Sephiroth squeezed Barret’s shoulder before walking off to his shift on the watch.

[multifandom-lesbian09]

Okay so I deadass cannot stop thinking about Stranger Things season 4 Vol. 2, so it’s time for me to rant about possible deaths and my theories on Volume 2.

First off, possible deaths. The first person I’m putting my money on is Enzo, from the Russia storyline. He’s a relatively new character, and those in the Russia storyline don’t have as big of a part in season 4 as the Creel House crew and Eleven with her past and the Nina project. You can’t kill off Hopper, since they already teased it enough at the end of season 3. Let’s be honest, we all knew he wasn’t really dead. We knew he’d be coming back in season 4, it was just a matter of when we’d finally get season 4.

Still on the topic of the Russia storyline, I doubt Murray’s dying, just because of everybody taking a quick liking to him in earlier seasons. The only reason I think the next possible death is Joyce, is because of an embrace shared between Jon and Will in the Vol. 2 trailer. They both looked pretty distraught about something. Either that, or we’re finally getting a Will coming out scene and Jonathan is comforting him. If it’s not that, then somebody close to either Jon, Will, or both of them has met their end.

I honestly think that Vecna is coming for a round two with Max, but I doubt she’ll be dying this season, since her death has been teased since before season 4 even came out. I think she will make it to season 5, unless Running Up That Hill doesn’t do her justice this time. Vecna says in the trailer that nothing can save her now, which could possibly mean that her music won’t do her any good the second time around. Let me just say, there are several twists and turns that this season could take, so her death is at this point undetermined. If Max dies, though, I’m quitting and sending Netflix the therapy bill.

So I have this theory about Will and Mike, and those of you with Byler hearts may not like me after this. This still goes into the deaths, of course, so buckle up.

We know that the Duffers have taken inspiration from Stephen King in earlier seasons. Especially IT, with Bob and his clown story in season 2. So we all know how much IT Chapter Two absolutely tore us to shreds, with Eddie’s death and the R+E at the end of the movie. Well, with all the practical conformation from the writers, and the evidence that the stranger things fandom has found throughout the series that points towards Byler, it has to at least canonically be one sided. Whether it’s Will having a crush on Mike, or Mike just distracting himself from his sexuality with El, it can’t not be canon. So, it hurts me to say, that I think either Will or Mike is going to bite the dust this season. Why? Because if the Duffers took so much inspiration from IT, and Byler has been getting so close to being canon with every episode, we may have a Reddie situation here. One is going to confess their feelings, or Will is going to come out to Mike, and then one of them will either be another one of Vecna’s victims, or one will sacrifice themself for the other. IT Chapter Two basically confirmed Reddie, and then Eddie died. So… maybe just come prepared on July 1st, just in case.

I’m honestly concerned for both Eddie Munson and Steve. Since Steve was supposed to die in season one, there’s a good chance that he won’t be making it to season 5. The Duffers have already confirmed that a lot of fan favorites are going to die this season, and Steve has definitely redeemed himself since season one. Everybody began to take a liking to him in season 2, and now he’s the mother of the Stranger Things fandom. And if the Duffers want us to really suffer, they’ll kill off Steve. No, there’s not really a particular reason for it, but there’s a 50/50 percent chance of it happening. And then there’s Eddie, who we see in the upside down in the Volume 2 trailer. He could either be sacrificing himself for someone, or is playing his guitar to get somebody (most likely Nancy) out of the upside down.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited and terrified at the same time about Vol. 2, especially with July rapidly approaching and more theories coming to my mind by the minute. But for now, this is all I really want to talk about. I need to go watch more videos with the theories ‘n stuff, so, yeah. Be prepared for the last two episodes, because they’ll be pretty big ones.

[j-morgan-fly]

The Mockingbird has his way

So, this is a little something I have been working on. It's not full blown nor do I feel it ready to post on AO3, but I wanted to get it out there. I just wanted to write something where the Lords get called out, even if it's by manipulative Baelish, for abandoning and overlooking Sansa's claim and the role she played in ridding the North of the Bolton's.

___

“House Mormont remembers. The North remembers. We know no King, but the king in the North whose name is Stark,” the young Lady Mormont’s words held the power of her loyalty and conviction. She shamed the seasoned and weathered men, old and young, around her. A girl of eleven standing before them, speaking out for herself and her people with far more honor then any of them. It made Sansa smile for Lyanna Mormont reminded her terribly of Arya and she wished her sister were with them, prayed to the Old Gods she was alive somewhere out there and once news reached her about the Starks occupying Winterfell once more she might find her way safely home. She also smiled because she was happy for Jon.

She took his hand under the table, giving it a squeeze. He glanced at her, and her smile grew a little more. She was proud of him and she wanted him to know it. That he deserved these words of ankowledgment from their people. She was happy that despite his reservations in the beginning about taking back their home, he had fought with her, for their family and people and proved himself beyond a shadow of a doubt their fathers son. Bastard or no, Jon was a Stark to her, and now their lords were starting to see him the same way. As they should.

She could feel it in the air, soon, just in a moment they would rise and name him king. She had made sure of. When she realized Petyr’s plans, when he admitted his pretty dream to her under the Heart Tree, she knew what his scheme was and she had to put a stop to it.

She went to as many lords as she could before this great meeting, campaigning for Jon’s claim over her own. She was a woman after all, twice married to enemies of her family and she had seen already what they thought of her when she went to their keeps with Jon. It would not be a difficult thing for any of them to choose Jon over her when given the choice.

“Queen, you mean,” Sansa felt her throat get tight, her smile fell and she as well as the other lords turned to look at Little Finger. He stepped forward from where he stood in a shadow on the wall.

“The queen in the North whose name is Stark. Lady Sansa, who sits beside her bastard brother, is the rightful heir to the Northern Throne and Winterfell.”

The Knights of the Vale gave grunts of agreement and Lady Mormont's already naturally sour expression turned more so, her lips pressing into a thin line and her eyes narrowing on the Mockingbird as he spoke. “I and the Knights of the Vale rode North at the command of Lady Sansa’s cousin, Lord Robert Arryn, to fight and reclaim his cousin's childhood home and her birthright in her name. Not for Jon Snow.”

Sansa swallowed as Jon looked at her, questions in his eyes. She could see the accusation in his dark grey eyes. Was this her plan? Was this why she begged him to fight again? Why she kept him from going somewhere warm and peaceful? To help make her queen?

She shook her head. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t what she wanted at all. She had assumed Little Finger would act as a puppeteer, using bribed and convinced Northern Lords to speak up on her behalf, but ultimately they would be outnumbered by those who would see Jon as King. Little Finger was not a man to fight and argue his own battles, so he must feel truly desperate if he was speaking out for her.

“Unless, did King Robb change the laws of succession in the North before his tragic death?” he asked the lords in a whole. “Did King Robb send some document back North, signed by his hand, or is there a witness here to such a letter having ever been made by him before his death removing or displacing Lady Sansa from the succession of Winterfell and putting her claim below that of Jon Snow?”

They murmured to one another, discussing it briefly if any who had fought with her brother, who had managed to come home had seen or heard him plan such a thing in regards to succession should he fall. From there frowns it seemed the answer was no. All of Robb’s closest friends and advisors who might have been witness to such a document being made or at least planned, had died. Murdered with their King at the Twins.

“Not one of you can confirm from your time fighting with your king if he ever planned to disinherit or displace his sister, Lady Sansa, from the line of succession?” Little Finger asked, smirking. “Even after she was forced to marry the Imp?”

Sansa thought for a moment this was perfect, he made a mistake reminding them of her first marriage. It would put her loyalties into question, make the lords unsure of her just like how Lyanna Mormont questioned her when she came with Jon, asking for house Mormont to raise their banners and fight for the Starks once more. It had been humiliating and biting, she hated that her loyalty was in question, that she was seen as anything but the Stark that she was. But she didn’t want to be queen, she just wanted to go home, to free it from the monsters that lurked it’s halls and to feel safe again with her family.

In truth, she had not had detailed plan for the long run when she chose to continue pursuing Winterfell’s reclamation into Stark hands again. What she did know was that she would never bow to the Lannister's or anyone who wasn’t family again, but that did not mean she wished to be queen. She would have seen first what the lords desired and go from there. But she would not marry again. She knew at least Jon would support her in that.

If the Lords wanted freedom, then she would support them. She had lost too much family for their freedom, and she had bled as much as any man in battle since the start of the war. Since they took her fathers head and she would not let the pain and loss be for nothing. If they didn’t succeed in claiming Northern independence for themselves, then what was the point in any of it. Every loss would feel suddenly hollow, without meaning, pointless and she could not go on if that was the case. So she had to hold on to this, to the thing that so many had gave their lives fighting for, the reason she had beaten and sold. If she let go she would fall and never stop. So she would grip on tight, and she would keep fighting the battles to come the only way she knew how.

If the lords cried out for independence like she thought they might, then Jon could rule. He could marry despite the strange way the thought made her stomach clench, legitimize himself and produce heirs for house Stark and she would be a loyal sister, an advisor, helping him maneuver and defeat Cersei and someday Little Finger.

She would help rebuild Winterfell, manage it why he ruled, and one day, maybe she would heal enough to marry, to find a nice, simple man and settle down. Let herself have some peace and happiness. But first their was so much work to be done. And she could get more done as anything but a queen.

“As you say, my Lord, Lady Sansa was wed to the Imp. How can we trust that he did not corrupt her? And it is said she is the one who killed the bastard king at his own wedding.” the young Lord Cerwyn stood again to speak.

“And if she did, would you not commend her and say that she helped avenge her family, her brother and mother, the death of her beloved father, your Lord Eddard that Joffrey beheaded?” Little Finger asked.

“If you are questioning her loyalty to the Lannister’s then I think the example you have given is the answer. If she did murder Joffrey and then framed her Lannister husband than she most certainly is not loyal to them,”

“And what of Ramsay Bolton?” asked Lady Mormont, her scowl turning on Sansa.

She watched as Jon glared at Little Finger, having told him how she had come to be in the Bolton’s possession during her time as a refugee at the wall. The mockingbirds shoulders fell and he looked at Sansa with pained regret.

“That was my doing,” he admitted and the Lords in the room. “I was dear, childhood friend to Lady Sansa’s mother. I wanted to bring Cat’s daughter home. Support her claim as she would have if she had survived the Red Wedding.”

He shook his head and cast an accusing eye over the Northern Lords.

“I had hoped that I might help Sansa with a coup against the Bolton's. They thought I was an ally, but I was simply using them to help place Sansa back in her houses seat of power.” he begin to explain the plan, a plan Sansa had no knowledge of until now. “It was my belief that Northerners were more loyal then the rest of the men of Westeros and would come to Lady Sansa’s aide while I gathered allies in the Vale and Riverland's to take back and hold the North from the Bolton’s and Lannister's.”

He sighed then, the room falling silent, some with suspicion and others with guilt.

“Instead, our brave lady was let down by her own people and had to rescue herself with the help of a turn cloak. If only I had known the disrespectful disregard you would show the daughter of your liege lord I would never have brought Lady Sansa back North,”

No man or women in the room had a very good response, all mostly falling back on the excuse of how they believed Sansa’s loyalties to be with the Lannister’s, and that her marriage to one of their allies was her attempt to save her own neck after killing Joffrey in a jealous rage after being put aside for another woman. It hurt Sansa but she did not show it. She was steal cloaked in ice, her expression one of indifference rather than the pain she felt at her peoples words.

“I have heard enough!” Jon stood from his chair, the legs scraping the stone floor loudly. “How dare all of you question Sansa’s loyalty, while you sat in your castles with full knowledge of what Ramsay was capable of and what he had done to girls before her. Where was your loyalty to house Stark then?”

They grumbled but had no answer to give, heads bowed, some glaring, frustrated to be called out as they were, to be told they were disloyal and dishonorable.

Sansa felt her heart flutter in her chest, growing warm at his defense of her. “My sister was a hostage, a prisoner of the Lannister’s to be used against our brother and the North. I will not let you ignore her and brush her aside as I have seen you do up till now any longer.”

“As much as I am honored by what Lady Lyanna was suggesting, Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa. She is the one who wanted to fight for Winterfell when I wanted to runaway, go somewhere warm, far from winter and wars. She is a true Northerner and she is Robb’s heir, your queen in the North.”

Sansa wanted to scream. No. No, she didn’t want this.

She looked imploringly at Jon, but he took her expression for something else, smiling at her.

Stop, you fool, you have no idea what your doing. Your playing right into his hands. This is what he wants.

He took her hand and guided her to a stand beside him, his hand slipping to grasp her risk and holding her arm above her head.

“The Queen in the North!” he announced to the whole room and Sansa felt her heart stop when she met Little Fingers eye.

“The Queen in the North,” he repeated, lowering to one knee for her. The lords looked at one another before slowly men rose, unsheathing their swords and raising them in the air, repeating her new title until the whole room was chanting it.

Sansa closed her eyes and a tear slipped down her cheek.