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suchalonelysunflower · 4 years

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“One of the Boys” (M.C)

Pairings: Michael Clifford X Reader

Summary: College!AU ~ Friends to Lovers. You and Michael are best friends since forever, that’s why you feel the need to hide your crush on him. But when he makes a hurtful comment, you are determined to prove him wrong. Could that be enough to make him love you?

Warnings: The reader uses she/her pronouns, I’m sorry if I make anyone uncomfortable with that, it was not my intention. Angst with fluffy parts. Language, low self esteem issues, cheating (a little bit, it depends on how you view it) one sexual reference and some grammar and syntax errors (English it’s not my first language, I’m sorry)

Word Count: 5.5K

Author’s Note: My first Michael Fic! I waited so long and it’s finally here ✨ This is slyghtly based on a personal experience (mine didn’t have this ending) I hope you like it! Feedback, reblogs and comments are always welcomed, I love to hear from you guys 💕 You can read my other works HERE 🦋

You had to admit it, you weren’t exactly a very ‘feminine’ girl. But that the hell was wrong with that? Yes, you preferred leggings and big hoodies over skirts and tight dresses. Yes, you skateboarded everyday to school and hanged out with boys all the time, drinking beers instead of fancy little cocktails. Yes, you never really cared about boy bands or artists like Justin Bieber or Drake. And yes, you would rather die than have high heels on for more than 2 hours straight. But that’s just who you are, how you’ve always been. His comment shouldn’t have hurt that much, but why are you crying about it?

You have been roomates with Michael since you two started college. You always joked about how you were going to live together someday and have a fridge full of junk food and soda. Well, now you do (except from the junk food part, that proved to be an awful experience)

To be honest, you didn’t have that many friends besides him and your other four knuckleheads you know and love from your early school days. Luke was the youngest of all of you, and maybe that’s why everybody thought he was the innocent one (even though he was the mastermind of almost every prank you ever pulled) Calum was the shy one, as people would put it, but just get to know him a little bit and you wouldn’t be able to shut him up. Ashton is supposedly the mature one, but his quick-witted mind and his inability of staying put in a place gives him the same amount of energy as a five year old. And then there was Michael, your best friend, there isn’t a time in your life where Michael wasn’t by your side, weather it was for pulling a prank on someone, skipping school or just playing video games in his basement, he was always there. So moving in together was a no brainer.

The friendship consisted on having the same level of confidence as an old married couple, trusting each other with everything, nothing being off limits, well, except for one thing…

You and Michael were friends and nothing more. That was clear for both of you. For years you both ignored the teasing and assumptions of you guys being a couple. Just the idea of it seeming so absurd to even imagine. But there’s a fine line between love and friendship.

Over the last few years, you began to think that the idea of being Michael’s girlfriend didn’t sound so bad after all. It was impossible to pin the pivotal point of that thought, but somehow somewhere along the road, you started to feel more flustered every time he leaned into a hug, felt butterflies in your stomach with each look he speared your way or how he said your name with such a caring tone. You found yourself thinking of him more often than not, especially on how his arms would look around you waist, how it will feel to be loved by him, to kiss him…

But you couldn’t think like that, not about your best friend. So it’s better to keep it hidden in the deepest part of your soul, praying to whoever’s above that it will go away soon, but when does that ever work?

Maybe that’s why his comment hurt so bad.

It was a lazy Monday, you didn’t have to work today and that meant you could spend your afternoon beating Michael’s ass in video games. But you couldn’t concentrate with your thoughts wandering over the man who owns your heart. It was the third time you let him win in Mario Kart when he caught on your mood.

“You really suck today, huh?” Michael asked as he watches Mario celebrate yet another victory.

“Or maybe you’re finally getting good” You replied, resting your head lazily in one hand, not taking your eyes from the screen.

Michael furrowed his brows, worrying as he heard a light sigh come out of your lips “Hey, are you okay?” He asked, but you don’t seem to hear him, so he accommodates himself on the couch in order to look at you properly and puts a hand on your leg, just right above the knee “Y/N?”

“Huh?” You say, finally lifting your gaze in order to meet his and oh, how you wish you didn’t. Lost in the sea of those green eyes that consumed every thought of your mind, you felt yourself blushing under him and trying very hard not to think on his hand touching your thigh “What? No, yeah. I’m fine.”

“Liar. You let me win, that never happens. Tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong”

“Y/N,”

“Nothing’s wrong, Michael. I swear”

His eyes scanned you, knowing damn well something was up.

“Well,” He said, patting your leg, softly “If you’re not gonna tell me… Then I will make you”

Before you could even comprehend what he meant by that, he was already leaning over your figure with a devilish grin as his hands traveled to your sides and started tickling you mercilessly.

Tears formed in the corner of your eyes as you couldn’t contain the laughter that came over you. Begging him to stop, you tried to escape his grip, but it wasn’t the first time this had happened and you know this is a fight you can’t. Michael joined in laughter as he came closer to you, pinning you under him on the sofa.

But suddenly, his movements stop as he becomes very aware of the position you’re in. You give one last laugh before turning to face him, only to find him already staring at you. You shudder under his gaze as you realize the way his legs are intertwined with yours, wondering if it’s his cellphone on the pocket of his shorts or something else is brushing up against your lower body.

Michael’s eyes never leave yours as your breath becomes even. And he couldn’t help but notice the way that your lips parted slightly, almost inviting him for a taste.

“Hey, dude, sorry to bother you but.. Oh shit, you’re fucking on the couch?” A voice came through the door, making you push Michael onto the floor before getting caught in that position. Raising your head over the sofa, you were met by Ashton and Luke’s grin disappearing from their faces as your face came to view “Oh, it’s just Y/N. WAIT, Were you fucking Y/N?!”

Rolling your eyes and giving them the middle finger, you stand up from the couch, regretting ever giving them a key in the first place, and went straight to the bathroom, trying to hide the red of your cheeks.

But just before you could close the door, you heard Michael say “What are you talking about? It Y/N! She’s practically one of the boys!”

He didn’t mean to hurt you. He had good intentions with that comment, of course he did. But you couldn’t stop overthinking it, crying at the thought of you being so unattractive in his eyes.

“So he wants a girly girl?” You thought, already planning a strategy “I’ll show him, then”

That’s how it started. You began to wear the dresses that were long forgotten on your wardrobe, you started using makeup and styling your hair in something other than a messy bun.

It was confusing at first and not at all what you were used to, but there was a new energy surrounding you, a confident one. You were going to show Michael that you could be feminine, maybe that way he’ll notice you in a ‘more than just a friend’ kinda way.

The first time the boys saw you with your new look they were all sharing breakfast in your kitchen. With your apartment being closer to campus they might as well move in.

“Good morning, guys” You said cheerfully, not looking at anyone in particular.

They all stared at you, looking at you up and down. And just before you could reach the cereal box, the questions started coming.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Y/N why are you dressed like a girl? IS THAT MAKE UP?”

“Do you have a date? It’s 8 am on a Tuesday! Who are they? Vampires?”

“Who are you and what did you do to our Y/N?”

“Is the simulation broken?”

“Shhh” You said, raising the palm of your hand as you poured cereal in a bowl “It’s too damn early for any of you to do that much noise and I haven’t had my coffee yet” As in que, Ashton passed you your usual mug “Thank you, and to answer some of your inquiries. 1) Nothing’s going on, Calum. 2) I happen to be a girl, Luke. Thank you for noticing. 3) I do not have a date, nor I should use that as an excuse to put on some nice clothes. I just,, felt like it” You took a long sip from the hot beverage “The simulation broke down a long time ago and I’m still me. I’m just wearing different clothes, that’s all. Right, Mikey?”

Michael choked with his toast, coughing as he tried to gain some composure “Yeah, you look… great” He said with a shy smile, and he was right. The others joined in with the compliments, hyping and teasing you about how he will have to be more protective of you because you will sure bring home some hot dates looking like that.

It’s been a couple of weeks since that morning and everyday Michael complimented you. You’d be lying if you say that every word he says doesn’t fill your heart with butterflies. Maybe there’s a possibility that he feels the same way.

It was a pretty uneventful evening in the little coffee shop where you worked. You didn’t have many clients today, so the dim lights and the sweet voice of Hozier that blasted through the speakers allowed you to daydream. Michael’s face popped out in your mind, smiling as you remembered the way that he looked at you this morning. Finally proving that you were more than just “One of the boys”

You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t hear the bell chime when the door opened, only waking up when you saw those same eyes that had you smiling just a minute ago standing in front of you, staring at you as well.

“Hey Y/N! How’s it going?” He asked, smiling at you.

“Nothing much” You shrug “Just the same amount of pain and tiredness of the average college experience” Michael rolled his eyes at your sarcasm. That’s when a giggle caught your attention.

The most beautiful woman you ever laid your eyes on was standing next to Michael. She had the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen and her wavy hair complemented her face like an angel. She sure didn’t seem real, how did you not notice her when she entered? Were you really that busy focusing on Michael?

“I can totally relate to that” The girl said with a smile, god even her smile was perfect.

“Y/N, this is Veronica. Veronica, Y/N” Michael introduced.

You smiled politely at her and she did the same “Oh, the famous Y/N! I heard a lot about you, I can’t wait to get to know you better”

Um, what? Michael has been talking about you? To her? You couldn’t tell if it was good or a bad sign.

“Really? Well, don’t believe anything he says. Unless they are good things, then he’s right”

“Okay! Thank you, Y/N” He interrupted, mocking annoyance “I’ll take my usual please, darling. And she will have…”

“Just a mocha, please”

You nodded “Coming right up” You smiled at her as she walked to a table. Michael leaned over the counter and whispered.

“Could you do one of those drawing people do in the coffee? She will love that. Thanks.” He gave you a kiss on the cheek and walked away, sitting close to Veronica in one of the booths just before he could notice the way your cheeks turned to a much brighter red.

An hour passes. Then two. Then two and a half. And you were standing there, acting as a witness of their chemistry. You cursed yourself as your eyes drifted towards them, watching them laugh and talk about life. It was clear that Michael was enchanted by her, moving closer and closer every time, and you could tell the feeling was mutual as she laid her delicate hand on his.

Of course Michael would go for the pretty girls. Veronica was gorgeous, you couldn’t pinpoint a single defect on that girl, not even with a magnifying glass and you hated that. You hated the fact that he brought her here, you hated the fact that you have to work while his love story unfolds like a Taylor Swift song, you hated that it you weren’t the one sitting next to him, talking about dreams and how everything just collides perfectly within the universe. But that’s not your story.

“Earth calling Y/N?” A voice calls in front of you “Hello?”

You blink a few times and stare at the tall blond man waving his hand in front of your face “Sorry, Luke. Didn’t see you there” You excuse yourself “What can I get for you?”

“The usual, but this time with at least four more shots of espresso. I have to put an all nighter again cause I have that stupid presentation and you are not listening to me again”

“Sorry, what? Four shots of espresso, yeah.” Your gaze averted his “Anything else?”

“Okay, what’s going on?” Luke followed where your eyes led and soon he was, too, staring at the reason of your distraction “Oh”

Out of the four of them, Luke was the only one who knew about your feelings for Michael. He was always very supportive and didn’t pressure you into confessing right away, knowing it must be hard for you. So he can’t imagine what is going on inside your head right now, watching the man you love on a date.

“He didn’t tell me he had a date” You told him.

“He mentioned this morning” Luke added “Said he met her at one of his classes and that she seemed cool. So he asked her out. He never told us he would bring her here “You clenched your jaw, trying to keep the tears at bay. Luke noticed that “I’m sorry, love. I thought he told you about it”

“She is gorgeous, Luke”

“She’s not you, though” You scoffed.

“Exactly”

“Y/N…”

“I’m fine,” You lied “Really, I’m okay. It was a silly crush anyway. And plus, look how happy he looks”

And it was true. Michael did look very happy chatting and flirting with Veronica. His smile reaching his eyes as she spoke and laugh at all his jokes. He truly must like her, and you… Well, some people are just meant to be the side character of another person’s story.

Luke let out a sigh, knowing well enough to assume you are just going to bury your feelings like you always do “He will soon realize what he’s missing”

************************************************

Well, six months passed and he still hasn’t realized. It’s been six month since that fateful evening where you got your heart broken by the man you love. It’s been six months since Veronica has been a constant part of your daily life, sleeping over, joining on movie nights and replaced your spot next to your best friend. It’s been six months of dressing more ‘girly’, wearing make-up and doing your nails, all of it trying to call Michael’s attention, to make you look more like Veronica, more like someone you are not. And all of that for what? You still ended up crying yourself to sleep almost every night.

Luke has been there for you all this time, letting you crash in his place whenever she came over and trying to distract you from the heartache by making jokes or goofing around, sometimes even letting you stay the night just to talk or cry or whatever you needed.

Tonight, however, it was a special night. Michael texted you saying that he finally found the movie you were dying to see for years! It was a special straight to dvd movie with Betty White that you remember it being your favorite growing up but you could never find it anywhere. And to say that you were ecstatic when Michael suggested a movie night for the two of you, would be an understatement.

You got the popcorn ready, ordered some pizzas and the ice cream was in the freezer. It was the first time in months that you would have time alone with Michael and, honestly, you missed him like crazy. Yes, you know he lives there, but it’s been a while since you guys actually talked or shared a good laugh together. Putting your feelings towards him aside, you just missed your best friend.

Suddenly, the bell rang. It wasn’t uncommon for Michael to forget his keys, so you weren’t really surprised.

“How many times do I have to tell you that we bought you that keychain for a reason and-“ But it wasn’t Michael standing at the door “Veronica.. I thought you were Michael”

The girl smiled, (really, not even a chip tooth?) “Yeah, he told me he’ll be a little late and that I should just go ahead” She said as she made her way into the apartment.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I love movie night!”

He invited her. It was a moment for the two of you and he invited her.

You couldn’t be mad, could you? She’s his girlfriend, after all. She could be here and he had every right to invite her, but… But it still hurt. You thought you’d be spending the evening with your best friend, he said you would. It was a special movie for the both of you, why invite her?

“Can I be honest with you, Y/N?” Veronica said, pulling you away from your mind.

“Uh, sure”

“I have to admit, I was really intimidated by you”

“By me? Why?”

“Well, when Michael talked about you I always thought I had to compete for his attention. It was always Y/N this, Y/N that… He assured me that you were just friends, but I didn’t believe him until I met you. I love that he has a friend like you. You really mean a lot to him so, thank you”

You nodded and muttered a “no problem”

She was right, you were just a friend of Michael’s. Why did you ever think you could be more? Especially with someone like her in his life? It was foolish, it was crazy. He would never look at you the same so, why keep trying?

“So, what are we watching?”

“Oh, um… I don’t know. I’m not staying” You said, hiding the pain in your voice.

“But Michael told me-“

“I’m spending the night at Luke’s today. I totally forgot”

You rushed out of the living room and went straight to your room, letting the tears fall as you started packing for a few days. You needed to get away as soon as possible. You couldn’t handle staying here at the moment, it hurt too much.

Just as you were packing the last pieces of clothing, you heard Michael opening the front door. And surely, a few moments later he was pushing yours open.

“What do you mean you’re not staying tonight?” He barged in.

Your back was facing him, so you couldn’t see him, you didn’t want to see him, but he sounded hurt. Quickly, you wiped your tears with the back of the hand and tried to muttered something close to an unbothered tone.

“I’m going to Luke’s”

“You always go to Luke’s, are you two a thing or something? Because you seem to live there more than here”

You let out a small laugh, was he really that dense?

“There’s nothing going on between me and Luke-“

“Then why are you always in his place?”

“It’s none of your business”

“Well, Y/N it is. It is because I wanted you to spend the night because we rarely see each other anymore and now you’re ditching me again!”

He raised his voice a bit, clearly frustrated and confused. That alone made your anger take the best of you.

“Oh please, as if you really want me here”

Michael frowned “What does that suppose to mean?”

“Why did you invite her?”

“Veronica? She’s my girlfriend, I though-“

“I know that she’s your girlfriend, I get it. It’s just-“ You took a deep breath, trying not to cry or scream or both “It’s just that tonight was special, and I wanted to share that with my best friend. Only with my best friend. But I feel like everytime we try to do something together she’s always there and-“

“You don’t like her?”

“What? No, that’s the worst part. I actually think she’s great” You turned around and closed your bag, ready to leave “Michael I’m not going start a fight, I’m going to stay with Luke for a while. Don’t wait up”

You made your way out of the room, but before you could reach the door Michael’s hand grabbed you by the arm, making you stop.

“Michael” You warned “Let me go”

“No, wait. What do you mean with ‘that’s the worst part’?”

“I’m not having this conversation right now.”

“Yes, you are” Michael made you turn around. You were now looking at him in the eyes, he seemed hurt but you,, oh, you were in pain “Y/N, what is going on? You’ve been avoiding me lately, you’re not staying home, you don’t talk to me anymore, you’re dressing differently and sneaking out everytime I’m here. Is it because of Veronica?” You shook your head, slightly “Then what is it? Why are you pulling away from me?”

“Because it’s too damn hard!” You say looking away from him, unable to contain the tears any longer.

Michael’s eyes winded at your answer. His lips parted in surprise at your sudden outburst, wanting nothing more than to hold you but knowing you won’t let him.

“What?”

“You don’t get it, do you? No, you never did” You cry silent tears as your voice comes barely above a whisper “I can’t stay here because it hurts. Everytime I’m here she’s here too, like a reminder of everything I’m not. And I’ve tried-“ you choke “I tried to look more pretty, to be more ‘girly’ and feminine, losing myself every day. Hoping that maybe you’ll notice”

“Notice what?” Michael said softly.

You let out a breath.

“That I’m in love with you, you idiot”

Michael was taken aback by your answer, but he still wasn’t letting go of your arm. You love him? That’s what’s this all about?

“But I know you don’t feel the same. You never did and you never will. After all, I’m just Y/N. Just ‘one of the boys’ am I not?” He didn’t respond “It’s okay, I came to terms with that, I wouldn’t expect you to say something anyways” You released yourself from his grip and grabbed the last bag that laid on your bed “I’ll stay with Luke tonight and I’ll pick up my stuff in a few days”

Michael shook his head, as if he just realized what you just said “Wait, you’re moving?”

“What do you want me to do, Michael? Stay here? Pretend that things will be the same after this?! Go and have a movie night with your girlfriend and say that everything’s okay when I’m tearing myself apart in front of you?” You ask out of anger “I can’t do that, Michael. I need time”

“Y/N-“

“Why do you care anyways? I’m not a main character in your life. I’m not the type of girl you would fall for, or that you would consider feminine enough. I’m not pretty enough or funny enough and I’m tired of that. I’m tired of being an afterthought”

You turned around, already reaching for the doorknob when Michael’s hand wrapped around your waist, twisting you so your back was pressed against the door and your eyes were on him.

“Y/N, you were never an afterthought” He breathed close to you.

“Michael, what are yo-“

“Stay, please” But before you could say anything else, you felt his lips on yours.

The kiss was everything you dreamed it would be. Fast, rough and passionate. His hands traveled down your spine as he deepened the kiss, getting more needy by the second. Your hands flew to his neck, bringing him even closer, wanting to feel every part of him. You wanted to let yourself go, to fill these long needed desire. But you couldn’t forget about the girl waiting in the living room.

With all the strength you could manage, you pushed Michael away from you as the tears came flooding down again.

“What the fuck is your problem?!” You spat at him in anger “You can’t do that to me. You can’t just kiss me and expect to fix everything. Who do you think I am?” You could tell he was trying to say something, but you were not in the mood to listen “I won’t let you do this to me. I won’t let you do this to her. I’m leaving, Michael. Get your shit together”

And with that, you ran through the door and didn’t look back.

A few hours later, you were settled in with Luke in his apartment. When you arrived, you asked him to please not say anything, that you weren’t ready to talk just yet. He just nodded and let you in.

You cried on his shoulders for what it felt like an eternity. Your head was pounding and your voice was hoarse. You’ve never felt so heartbroken before.

“C-can I stay here for a while? Until I find my own place?” You asked him.

“Of course, darling” Luke said, kissing your head “Take all the time you need”

You stayed like that for a while. He comforting you through your silent tears until you fell asleep.

A week passes by and you are not feeling any better. You haven’t been sleeping well and you’re barely eating despite Luke’s pleads. Ashton and Calum showed up one day to check up on you, but you still refused to talk about it. Maybe you were embarrassed, maybe the memory of that kiss was too recent, too painful to talk about. Maybe you just didn’t know how.

One night you fell asleep on the living room, the TV working as the background noise that drowned your thoughts. You were peacefully dreaming for the first time in days when the sound of muffled voices woke you up. You were still laying in the sofa, but Luke was nowhere in sight. That’s until you heard him talk.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea”

“Please, I need to talk to her” the other man pleaded.

Michael was standing at the door. He looked like a complete wreck. His hair was undone and a bit greasy from ruffling it with his fingers way too much, his eyes were bloodshot and glossy, still fighting to contain the tears in front of his friend.

“Look, man. I love you, but she doesn’t need this right now and-“

“Let him in, Luke”

The two tall men turned towards you. You were standing behind the sofa, your eyes never leaving Michael’s. Luke simply nodded and headed to his room, giving you the privacy you needed.

“I’ll be there if you need me” He said to you.

You muttered a small ‘Thank you’ to him before fixing your gaze upon Michael. He was still frozen by the door, unsure on how to say what he has to say.

Letting out a breath, you decided to break the ice “Michael-“

“I broke up with her” He said in one breath.

“You what?!”

“The night you left,,, I-I broke up with her because I couldn’t keep lying to myself anymore”

“What do you mean?”

He hesitantly took a step closer to you, afraid that he was overstepping again.

“All this time, for years, I’ve been avoiding my own feelings. Tucked them away at the farthest corner in my closet, hoping that they’ll fade soon. I couldn’t cope with them, I was too afraid to.

‘“I told myself that I was being foolish, immature and downright stupid for thinking that the girl I love would love me back. How could she? She was beautiful, shared my sense of humor, my interests and she was extremely cool. I told myself that a girl like that could never want me. But, strangely, she did, as a friend. And I was content with that, at least I would have her be part of my life.

‘“So I hid my feelings until I couldn’t see them, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t feel them. And every day I would remind myself that she was my friend and I was beyond lucky for that. I kept letting myself down on a daily basis, trying to keep the thoughts away, hoping that one day I could believe them. But I never thought of the consequences my actions had towards the girl.

‘“Y/N, when you left I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Like a vital part of me was missing and you took it away with you. And I deserved it, I truly did. Y/N, I was an asshole”

“Michael,”

“No, I was. Hearing you say those things about yourself, like you were broken and needed to be fixed, it broke my heart, darling” His voice broke at the end, fighting helplessly to contain the tears that were burning behind his eyes “I- I never meant for you to think that I didn’t love you for who you were. That you needed to change in order to get me to like you. You shouldn’t change for anyone, love, you are absolutely perfect the way you are. You always have been and always will be.

‘“Y/N, you were never just ‘one of the boys’, you are my best friend, my soulmate and the best thing that has ever happened to me by far. I’ve always known that, but I was just too much of a coward to let it show and I’m sorry.

‘“When you told me you loved me, god. Y/N, I’ve never felt so happy and confused at the same time! I couldn’t fanthom the thought of you loving me, it seemed surreal after so many years of telling myself that it was impossible, almost like a cruel joke. But you did, and I could tell by your eyes that it was true, and I hated myself for that. I hated the fact that I was hurting you instead of loving you like I wanted to. I hated the fact that you felt like you had to leave in order for you to fix what I broke. I hated that I ruined our first kiss by a stupid impulse because you didn’t deserve that. You deserve the world and I was so scared of the fact that I might’ve lost the chance to be able to give it to you.

‘“ I broke up with her the night you left. It wasn’t fair to you, to her or to me to keep denying my feelings any longer. And I know that I don’t deserve it, but I’m standing here to ask you for forgiveness. I’m sorry that I made you feel less than you are. I’m sorry that I broke your heart. I’m sorry that I wasn’t brave enough to tell you this the moment you walked out the door that night. I will keep apologizing for the rest of my life if necessary, Y/N. But I just- I just don’t want to lose you”

You were standing in front of him. Tears rolled down your cheeks as you took in everything he said to you.

He loved you.

He loves you.

And you love him.

Michael was staring at his feet, too afraid to look up and see the disappointment in your face. To scared to lose you and everything you meant to him. Maybe coming here was a mistake, maybe you don’t want to know anything about him anymore. And he deserved that.

“Well,” You finally say, swallowing the lump in your throat “You still owe me that movie night”

His eyes light up as he saw you smiling at him. He returned it by grabbing you by the waist and pulling you closer to him. Leaning so your lips could met again.

Smiling into the kiss, you swore that you will never let go of the other again.

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yourehomesickiunderstand · 3 years

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1. When I first set up this blog I didn’t realize that secondary blogs can’t follow back, ask, or submit. My main blog name is Saffity, so if you see that blog follow you, it’s me. If I send an ask or submit, I will mention this blog name so you don’t get confused.

2. My inbox, ask, etc. is open. Please feel free to write me any starters, questions, or whatever.

3. Please send any critiques or suggestions to me. I’ve been on Tumblr forever, but have never really been a poster. If you see me doing basic noob mistakes with my posts that can be easily fixed, please let me know.

4. I will be tracking #yourehomesickiunderstand so please use that tag with our threads.

Mun’s Playing Style

1. I prefer my Bofur straight. I understand Boffins and other ships and have no qualms with them, I’ve been known to enjoy a good fluff fic once in a while, but this Bofur is straight.

2. Please send me an ask or fan mail if you would like our characters to have an already established relationship, I’m totally cool with it. I respond to all cannon characters as known as it shows in the books or movies, but if you are an OC and want something other than a “Nice to meet you” please let me know first.

3. I’m willing to do some fluffies, but not full on smut, if the thread calls for smut (which will often happen), I’ll fade to black when I’ve gone as far as I feel comfortable with. (Don’t worry, I’ll fade when I’m ready, you’ll never get any angry messages from me about going too far.)

4. Bofur here is multiverse, au, indie, whatever you want to call it. I’m sure he’ll fit into whatever crossover or world you decide to drop him in, he’s very easy going after all.

5. I tend to write in the past tense, third person. If you’d prefer a different style, just let me know and I’ll try to accommodate.

6. I’m bad with my images, so bad! I’m still figuring everything out, so if I’ve royally screwed something up, please let me know and I will delete and repost correctly.

7. I am super okay with editing anything I write if it doesn’t jive with your character or where you want the plot to go, please just let me know.

8. I mainly play on mobile, as such, I’m not able to cut my posts down. Please do so whenever you feel the need/want, I won’t be upset.

Head Cannons that go across all verses

1. Bofur has a Northern Irish accent and his hat, always his hat.

2. Bofur has named his hat Bundushathur, which in Khuzdul means “Cloudyhead” and will sometimes refer to his hat as a sleeping rabbit. If Khuzdul does not exist in the verse (like Modern) then the hat is called Cloudyhead and still referred to as a rabbit.

3. Bofur is the everyman, he isn’t special or high born. He is good natured, friendly, and the world’s best wingman, even if it means connecting someone he pines after with someone else. He would rather see them happy and keep their friendship than try to force his feelings on them or lose their friendship because of his pride.

4. The main characteristic about Bofur is that he is unimportant in the hierarchy of society.

Main Verse - The Hobbit/LOTR

Bofur is 4'6" but fairly thin for a dwarf.

Bofur is a dwarf who’s family line comes from Moria. He is of the mining class. He was born and raised in Ered Luin with his brother. Shortly after Bofur became an adult, his parents died, leaving him to raise his brother. Shortly after that, Bifur was injured in an orc attack. Bofur and Bombur took Bifur in, however there were a number of difficult years as they all got used to Bifur’s new personality.

Once Bifur was stable enough, the brothers decided it would be a good idea to head out and find new customers for their skills. They ended up at Bree, opening up a shop to sell Bifur’s fabulous toys, and offer tinkering services.

During their stay in Bree, Bombur got married to a passing female dwarf and moved his overly large family near the shop. Bifur and Bofur live together in living quarters at the back of the shop, Bombur lived with them until he got married.

Bofur travels around Middle Earth, usually west of the Misty Mountains, and most often between Bree and Ered Luin by way of the Shire. He collects supplies, sells wares, and visits many friends and family that are about the lands.

When Thorin calls for assistance in taking back Erebor, Bofur and his kin lock up their shop and head for the Shire.

After the quest they settle in Erebor, though Bofur heads back to Bree to close up their shop and settle accounts prior to settling in for a long life of enjoying his 14th share of the treasure.

Head Cannons that can totally change if my partner is a Bifur or Bombur

1. Bofur’s father was killed in Moria at the battle of Azanulbizar, his Mother died in an Orc attack when Bofur was in his 40s. He has taken care of his brother ever since.

2. Bofur took Bifur in after Bifur was orphaned as well, the three are like brothers, having shared the experience of loss and growing up together.

3. Bombur stopped speaking after their mother died. Bofur’s tried to get him to speak, and has managed to get him to speak sometimes, but usually just small replies and often with much prodding. Bifur and Bombur use the same sign language to speak to each other and those who don’t speak Khuzdul. Bofur takes care of both of them and is the one who speaks to customers.

Modern Verse

High School

Bofur is not popular, though he’s friendly and basically knows everyone. He enjoys shop class, classical music, and historical literature.

Studious and hard working, Bofur can often be found with his nose in a book, when not sitting on the bleachers playing the tin flute he always has on him.

College Student

Bofur is a TA in college. His major is historical literature, and his goal is to eventually become a professor. His passion is delving into historical fanatasy from cultures other than England and Western Europe.

He enjoys learning languages in order to read what he is researching in its original state.

General Modern Adult

In most modern adult verses Bofur is a general labourer, most often a janitor. If he is a teacher, he teaches music and drama.

Ice Cream Shop

Bofur runs a small home made ice cream shop that is part of a coffee shop run with a companion or family member (his partner can be any member of the company). He makes a variety of flavours, and offers lactose and gluten free varieties.

He prides himself on being able to guess his customers’ favourites on sight (like the movie Chocolat).

Marvel

Bofur is a janitor within shield. He can be found on the helicarrier, within the Avengers training base, or basically anywhere the heroes may be destroying things that need to be cleaned up.

While he is quiet and without powers, he has wisdom and a patient ear to lend to those supers who require a moment to vent.

Star Trek

This is the only verse where Bofur stands out. Bofur is a red shirt, but by some miraculous turn of events, he has gone on a number of away missions and made it back alive. Poor Bofur would love to get off the enterprise with his life, and shirt, in tact, but it appears some of the higher officers like to see him lose his mind and suggest him for more away missions, even if only in jest.

Head cannons that exist in all modern verses

1. Bofur and his family are from Northern Ireland, though Bofur travels around, goes to school abroad, and in general can pop up anywhere in the world.

2. Bofur is short for a male - 5'6", with a stocky build, and fairly strong.

3. Bofur’s younger brother Bombur is still at home (or married with kids depending on their age).

4. Bofur’s parents took Bifur in after he got injured during Armed Forces training, as Bofur’s family lives closer to the rehab resources that Bifur requires.

#out of songs

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codealiaswave · 3 years

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Fanfic Ask Meme

A: How did you come up with the titles? The fics pick their own names and most are words with precisely selected definitions of the fic's theme. B: Any of your stories inspired by personal experience? Aren't all works inspired by the writers' personal experiences? C: What character do you identify with most? I identify Rogue. I love Gambit. I ship Romy. D: Is there a song or a playlist to associate with fics? Not really, but songs inspire me to write or make me think about Gambit and Rogue. I do have a playlist of go-to music to get me in the mindset of which Romy theme I'm writing (angst vs. sappy romance). E: If you wrote a sequel to [insert fic], what would it be about? The only sequel I have planned is for Devil's Poison. It was originally supposed to be a movie verse with the X-Men showing up at the end, but now they won't show up until the sequel. F: Care to share a favorite hurt/comfort fic? While I like angst, I don't really like hurt/comfort fics. I don't have a recommendation. G: Care to share a favorite crack fic? Ditto. Considering the amount of research I do, silly just doesn't fit with my style/preferences. H: How would you describe your style? Fiction based in science with some philosophical dilemmas and a healthy dose of (sometimes smutty) romance thrown in. I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)? Isn't all fanfiction guilty pleasure? J: Write or describe an alternative ending to a fic. I don't really have an alternate ending because I let the fics flow to their natural progression. However, I didn't know what Jean-Luc's reaction in Devil's Poison chapter 39 was going to be until I wrote it. The outline for that scene changed at least twice and then the final product was a third version that never even hit the outline. Basically, I wanted to answer the "what if" Jean-Luc hadn't forced Gambit into being the future Thieves Guild patriarch. That outline had him praising Gambit for maturing and finding out that family and love were more important than Guild politics. When it came down to it though, the "what if" ended up right back where 616 had it in the Gambit solos. Jean-Luc was pissed Gambit put anything other than the Guild first. K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with? Attraction is pretty angsty. I think I had to walk away from that one a few times before I could finish it. And I think I cried when writing Heartbreak. Most of the time I tone things down because I can be too angsty with some ideas and they aren't always received well by readers. While I write for myself, I do consider my more vocal followers for some scenes. The Atlantic City gentleman's club in Devil's Poison with Gambit and Vivienne is a really good example of something that was too angsty and didn't fly well. My implication and the readers' inference ended up being two different things. L: What’s the weirdest AU you’ve ever come up with? I haven't written it yet, but I've got a really good idea for a time travel piece. Also, Liaison was supposed to be all the typical romance AUs (pirates, historical, futuristic), but I had other ideas that have been more fun to pursue right now. M: Got any premises on the back burner that you’d care to share? I have a "stranded on an island" trope started (first chapter and outline complete), but trying to wrap up some of my other WIPs before posting another. N: Is there a fic you wish someone else would write (or finish) for you? I've thought about putting some up for adoption, but the ones I was willing to part with were well developed and I didn't want someone else putting their spin on my take. O: How do you begin a story: with the plot, or the characters? Plot, since my characters are always Gambit & Rogue. P: Are you what George R. R. Martin would call an “architect” or a “gardener”? (How much do you plan in advance, versus letting the story unfold as you go?) I plot the (loose) boundaries of the garden and plow the land, but let the plants, insects, weather, etc. do what it will. Q: Do you have any discarded storylines/projects? Yes. I had an

idea for fics that were inspired by songs but were *not* songfics. I got the first chapter written but wanted to put a trick ending on it and haven't quite figured out the mechanics of it yet. R: Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence? I was initially inspired to write fanfiction from Tamarai and @chellerbelles, and influenced by @ludi-ling and @jehilew. From professional writers, I'm somewhere between Michael Crichton and Abigail Reynolds. I was also highly inspired to write fics after finding @spasticatt's DeviantArt. S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist? A mysteriously handsome stranger stepping in a strong heroine's path and interrupting her goals in life. T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand? Body/gender swapping, science fantasy AUs in science fiction. I don't need no bloody vampire versions of the X-Men! U: A pairing you might like to write for, but haven’t tried yet. None. I write Gambit and Rogue and I will always only write Gambit and Rogue. V: A secondary (or underrated) character you want to see more of in fic? I miss some of the characters from X-Treme X-Men having a more central spotlight. Or the Thieves Guild/extended LeBeau family. W: Do you like more general prompts, or more specific ones? General. When prompts are too specific 1) it leaves little wiggle room for interpretation and 2) tends to open the door to disappointment for anyone requesting the prompt. X: A character you enjoy making suffer. 😈 Magneto Y: A character you want to protect. 💔 Etienne Z: Major character death–do you ever write/read it? If it's Gambit or Rogue, I never read it. This is my safe and happy place and death, even temporary, is not allowed. One thing you can guarantee in my writing is a happily ever after. I did write Gambit's death in Unquenchable, but that was more of a capstone to The End to allow him to reunite with Rogue in the afterlife.

Tagging @chellerbelles, @dayenurose, @ginger375, @jehilew, @xevg if y'all wanna play along! (No pressure, but this was fun 😁)

#Gambit #Rogue #Romy #fanfiction #AttractionFic #DevilsPoisonFic #LiaisonFic #UnquenchableFic #HeartbreakFic #SoManyWIPs #CodeAliasWave

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theydontknowaboutusimagines · 4 years

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Sunflower - Harry Styles AU Series (Volume 7)

The year is 1977 and it’s officially summertime. Y/N is spending it with her family at the Malibu Breeze Hotel, where she meets, aspiring musician, Harry Styles. The two clash in the beginning, but soon realize they may just need each other in the end. Find out just how life changing one summer can be in Sunflower, a Harry Styles AU.

Here is part 6 of Sunflower. Hope you enjoy it!

Vol. 1 Vol. 2 Vol. 3 Vol. 4 Vol. 5 Vol. 6

The feeling of Harry’s lips pressed against mine still lingered well after our kiss. His scent was still ingrained into my memory. I could still feel the cool sand between my toes as I leaned up to deepen the kiss. Despite the kiss staying with me, it didn’t last nearly long enough when it actually happened. Harry had pulled away after what seemed like only a few seconds, but was probably more like a few minutes.

And then he walked away.

I opened my mouth to call out for him, but nothing came out. My body was still in shock from him kissing me, but also leaving in the way that he did. He probably kissed me out of pity, or decided I wasn’t a good kisser. It’s not like I had a ton of experience in that department, but it wasn’t exactly my first kiss either.

After he left, I sat down in the sand, waiting like a fool hoping it would come back, but he never did.

I had yet to see Harry since that night, alone at least. I’ve seen him from afar around the hotel and then at rehearsals. But neither one of us had brought up the kiss or him acting the way he did about William. Ugh, William. Anytime I heard his name, my instant reaction was an eye roll.

My parents still insisted on me spending time with him, but luckily over the last few days I was able to get myself out of it. Not sure how much longer I’ll be able to swing that, but I’ll take as long as I can.

Anyway, back to Harry, I had no clue what the kiss meant for him. But for me, I knew there was something. Something I had never felt before. I considered talking about it with Marianne, but I wasn’t sure what her reaction would be especially since it was with Harry. I had a feeling she wouldn’t believe me. She knew who Harry was, what image he produced, and what type of girls he normally surrounded himself with.

I fit in none of those categories. But I couldn’t focus on any of that right now because I had to get ready for my first gig with Harry and his band. It would be my first time really performing on a stage that wasn’t a talent show, an Open Mic Night, or singing with Harry a few weeks ago. My hands shook as I applied a little bit of a eyeshadow and mascara to my eyes. If I could barely do this without poking my eyeball, how the hell was I supposed to play my guitar.

Even though I knew I deserved to be up on that stage with Harry, I couldn’t help but second guess myself. What if I made a fool of myself or ruined Harry’s reputation? That was one of the main reasons I was nervous, my performance didn’t just affect me, but Harry and the band. It affected them more than me to be honest.

When I arrived at the venue, it was empty except for a few workers. I searched around looking for Harry, Jasper, or anyone in the band, but they hadn’t arrived yet apparently. This happened a lot, whenever I was nervous I would get to where I was going super early because I couldn’t wait around anymore.

“You with the band?” A husky voice asked from behind me.

I turned around seeing an older male with a creepy mustache staring at me.

“Uh, yeah, I’m a bit early… I think,” I answered.

“Yeah, you are,” he said. “We don’t open up for another hour, but you go on right ahead and get what you need ready. Just don’t get in my way. I’m running a business here.”

“Got it,” I nodded before quickly making a departure and heading towards the stage.

It was larger than the previous stage I shared with Harry, longer mostly. A keyboard and drum set were already set up for us. I took my guitar out of its case and worked on tuning it. It was mostly in tune, but traveling with it can cause it to get a little out of whack. I couldn’t risk sounding out of tune tonight.

Since I only had time to kill, I started strumming around on the guitar, and warming up my voice. Everyone in the building went about their business, so I didn’t care that I was singing up here by myself. I had completely lost myself in the song, closing my eyes and letting the music take me away. Because of that, I didn’t realize Harry was there until I opened my eyes to see him standing there in front of the stage standing alone.

Neither one of us said anything at first, until he cleared his throat.

“Um, I uh… I just thought I would uh.. Warm up… since I was here,” I stumbled.

He nodded before getting up onto the stage and preparing his own guitar. I bit my lip as I contemplated on bringing up the kiss, but before I could the rest of the band walked their way in. Of course, this was probably better because talking about the kiss before our performance probably wasn’t the best idea anyway.

Especially if Harry told me it didn’t mean anything. That would be humiliating, embarrassing, and heartbreaking all in one. There would be no way to face singing with him for the next few hours.

“Y/N!” Sarah smiled. “I love your threads.”

“Uh, thanks,” I smiled, tearing my gaze away from Harry. “I like your shirt.”

“Oh, this? I stole it from Harry,” she winked.

Figures. I sighed to myself.

“So, Y/N, are you ready for your first gig?” Jasper asked leaning against the stool.

“I’m a little nervous,” I admitted,” but ready.”

“You’re going to do great, just bring that same energy from your last performance with us and you’re golden,” Jasper smirked.

“No pressure,” I joked.

“You’ll do fine,” Mitch smiled.

At that point, I had noticed Harry had been the only one who had yet to say anything to me. Normally, that wouldn’t surprise me, but knowing what happened the other night, it confused me even more.

By the time it was time for our performance, the venue was crowded. People filled every inch of the building and their cheers and chants were deafening. Nerves filled my stomach and my hands started shaking again as I adjusted my microphone. I put on my guitar, looking out at the crowd once more.

I vaguely recognized a few of them from working at the hotel. It figured they would come here in support of Harry and the band. But I didn’t realize how many other people would come to see us. Pretty sure there were more people tonight than at the previous show. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, as Harry’s voice took over.

And then it was my cue.

Throughout the show, my nerves subsided, as they usually did. Once they were completely gone, I finally was able to enjoy the show and feed off the crowds' reactions. Many were belting out the lyrics as they sang along, while the others were dancing along to the beat of the music. Harry shined on stage, once again, and it was so easy to see why people loved him and why he loved performing.

As we approached the final song, I was unaware of what happened next.

“This next song is something we did at our last show and everyone seemed to like it, so I thought let’s do it again,” Harry said before looking over at me. “This is Landslide.”

After our performance, the crowd once again was speechless, but still cheering for us. I glanced over at Harry, who wouldn’t even look my way. I hid my annoyance at that, but knew I wouldn’t be hiding it for long. How dare he ignore me and then randomly decide on performing together and then go back to ignoring me.

I was tired of being treated like this and as soon as we were off this stage, I would confront him about it. I didn’t care if the others were around because they would eventually find out.

Harry introduced us and we took our bows, we headed backstage. We weren’t the only performers of the night, so all we needed to worry about were our things. My guitar was packed away and headed straight over towards Harry, knowing the longer I waited the chances of me talking myself out of this would be higher.

But I stopped, seeing Harry talking to a guy in a nice suit. Harry looked happy, his smile widening, but I could tell he was trying to remain calm. My eyebrows furrowed as I watched the interaction as the gentleman handed him a business card before leaving. Harry gave him a small wave as he looked down at the card in his hand.

Even though it halted my plans a bit, I was glad for this small interaction because now I could approach Harry abou who the guy was and then go into what was going on with us. However, just as I got closer, I heard an annoying screech of Harry’s name before seeing a tall blonde woman running up to him, throwing her arms around his neck and planting her lips right against his.

#Harry Styles Imagines #Harry Styles Fanfiction #Harry Styles Fanfics #Harry Styles AU #Harry Styles AU Series

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perriewinklenerdie · 4 years

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Heat in the rain (Ethan Ramsey x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

A/N: Hello, hello, hello! How is everyone? I hope that we are all kicking ass and enduring it as best as we can. It's AU time again (can be read as a regular fic though). I got carried away (as I usually do) and this got so long that I had to chop it in half. This is part 1, part 2 will be out later this week I hope.

AO3 link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23863984

Tag list: @paleweasels, @hopelessromantic1352, @kittykatchoices, @valiantlychaoticbarbarian , @radlovedreamer , @usuallyamazinglyaverage, @strawberrwess @palestazure, @cordoniaqueensworld, @universallypizzataco, @princess-geek, @faithhasnowords, @mightyfangirlofthefandoms, @drakewalkerfantasy, @timmagicktoad, @laceandlula, @greywitchyshots, @llamasgrl, @gingerjane15, @bucket-harrington , @marywrites-things , @ethanplaysfavorites , @mfackenthal , @betelgeusebee , @simsvetements, @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @buzz-bee-buzz, @owleyes374, @cora-nova, @aworldoffandoms, @l822, @cream-ray, @ughhhxjazzy, @silverlitskies, @justendlesssummerfeels, @togetherwearerapture, @desmaranj, @edgiestwinter, @friedherringclodthing, @daisy-ashton, @waytooattuned, @choicesgremlin , @lapisreviewsstuff, @the-soot-sprite, @writerapprentice, @chasingrobbie, @choicesobsessedd, @x-kyne-x, @thisperfectmemory, @drakewalker04, @rookie-ramsey, @jlynn12273, @thepinknymph @dr-brianna-casey-valentine, @a-i-n-a-a-s-h Enjoy! <3

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

„Mom, calm down, we’ll be home in an hour at most.” A heavy sigh escaped her lips, her fingers wrapped tightly around her phone. The commotion happening next to her was making her head spin, shouts and raised voices enhancing the shallow feel in her chest. Her mother’s voice rang in her ear as she tried to explain to her that she couldn’t exactly hurry the plane up and that as soon as it touched down, they got to the waiting area waiting for the suitcases to be available, so they could pick them up, and get home, just in time for dinner.

They’ve been dating for what felt like forever, and Ethan has met her family, piece by piece. They adored him. While at first, he was nervous, so nervous in fact that his hands were shaking and his heart was racing, the moment he exchanged two sentenced with her parents, he was pulled into the Herondale family with a warm welcome. His relationship with his own family was complicated, so the openness and honesty of her family was like taking a breath of fresh air, an entirely different world.

It’s the middle of February when she makes the decision to travel all the way back to England to visit her parents. Just a couple of days before her birthday, and stay there until March, with her classes being over and her exams all passed.

Ethan encouraged her to let herself take it easy for just a moment, to stop and look at the world for what it was. She turned around to look at him, tearing her eyes away from the picture she was observing, the walls of the museum surrounding them from all the sides. Her eyebrow strikes up slightly in amusement and her lips curl in a cunning grin as she took a slow step towards him, looking up at him.

“Are you that eager to get rid of me?” she whispered, looking at his lips intensely before averting her eyes to make their gazes meet. His pupils dilated at her words, first in shock, and then, upon registering her actions, in a spark of unexpected desire.

“Me? Never.” he embraced her, pulling her up slightly to leave a kiss on her lips. One touch of his was able to reduce her into a mess that was impossibly hard to reassemble, and complete with that infuriating smirk of his that told her that he was planning something, there was just no way not to believe every word he was saying. “Your Mom misses you, so does your Dad, and I’m sure Will would love to have his sister back.”

“Did you let him convince you to make me go back home so he could have someone to argue with again?” she asked, her voice full of suspicion, noticing how a shadow passed his face. “I knew it! You really want to get rid of me.”

“I don’t, but your parents said that they would like to have you home for your birthday.” Draping his arm over her shoulder, he pulled her to his side, kissing her forehead, the soft touch lingering for just a moment.

“But what if I want you with me for my birthday?”

“I already talked to Harper. She said that if you agreed to go and visit your parents, I can get the last week of February off, so I can join you and your family in England. Spend some time with them, celebrate with you…” his voice trailed off, the tips of his fingers outlining the side of her arm.

“I am so impressed with the level of preparation that went into that little plan of yours. Okay, fine, I’ll go.” Claire muttered under her breath, allowing him to pull her into a tight embrace, knowing that there must have been more to the story.

By the time she arrived at her parents’ house, she managed to forget what that story could have been. Far too ecstatic about finally seeing her family, after so much time away, she let it go, brushing it off as something that most likely was just a passing feeling.

Not much has changed. Her room was still her room, just like she left it before she flew all across the ocean to work alongside Ethan. Her walls were covered with books and music sheets, the piano still stood proudly on the far end of the room and her bed was still covered by that horrendous blanket from the time when she decided that she would make her own. In retrospective, it was not the worst experience of her life, and looking at the blanket now, it could have been much worse, but to say it was great would be an overstatement.

Keeping in mind that Ethan would arrive in the next couple of days, a thought of getting rid of all the embarrassing stuff crossed her mind once or twice, but as quickly as it entered her field of vision, it was thrown out by her just as fast. He let her see his personal space that one time when his parents invited them both for dinner, and while his cheeks reddened, she couldn’t have asked for a better inside view of what made him the man he was now. To take that opportunity away from him would be a crime.

An itch in the back of her mind began to appear more and more the closer his arrival date was. An evening before, she got out all the art materials she owned, grinning wickedly. If it was anybody else, she probably wouldn’t put so much effort into welcoming them, but it was Ethan. And she liked being overly excessive with him, even if just to tease him. His reactions were so predictable to her at that point that she could almost see the blush that would color his cheeks the moment he saw her. It’s been almost a week, and while he did get her a proper sendoff, she couldn’t wait to see his face, to be back in his arms.

Now, standing in the crowded room, surrounded by all the people that wait for their loved ones, that embark on new adventures, she felt a familiar tingle run down her back. It felt cliché, to get ‘butterflies’ at the mere thought of him, and she was sure that he would laugh and taunt her with it, but she just couldn’t help herself. She could argue that she loved him, most probably would tell him that ‘she’s not going to apologize for getting lost in him when she knew damn well he did that with her too’ and then attack him with kisses until they were out of breath. She knew he would not complain, he never did.

Ethan took a deep breath as he took the last step down the stairs, walking out of the plane. The air was different than in Boston, almost lighter, but he most likely was biased. The quality of air had nothing to do with any natural reasons, nothing to do with cars and pollution or the proximity to the water.

It was her, and only her. And he knew it damn well.

His jacket did a poor job at protecting him from the biting cold that tore itself underneath the thin fabric of his shirt, brushing over the skin of his abdomen. It felt like a thousand needles of ice, pricking his skin every time he moved, and he was ready to get inside. Not because it was warm in there, but because every room he crossed, every meter he encountered, brought him closer to Claire. And he couldn’t wait.

The baggage claim couldn’t take any longer. Every other time he flew on the plane, it was frustrating, but this time, it was seemingly worse. Restlessness made his muscles ache, made his skin crawl, caused him to walk back and forth.

He could still remember, very vividly, the times in which upon seeing a man act the exact same way he was behaving now, his mind would be swarmed with thoughts of how impatient the man was and how ridiculous he looked. Now he understood, more than he ever thought would be possible, that it was nearly impossible to sit still, because every cell in his body told him to go.

The amount of people in the waiting area was giving him a headache. He was never good with crowds, any person working with him knew how much he hated crowds, so the sea of people he saw before him was too much. Most of them were standing or sitting, and there were a couple of people holding the cards with names written on it. One card stood out from the rest, at the very end of the line. Blue and green glitter, hearts and flowers, handwritten in a neat style.

Your pancakes suck

The card covered the face of the person holding it, until it moved down, revealing the very smug Claire, her lips curled in a satisfied smirk. He moved towards her, his suitcase behind him, walking fast, but never fast enough. She threw the card aside, meeting him halfway. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her face buried in the juncture between his neck and shoulder. Her chest moved as she took a deep breath, his scent so familiar to her now, calming her raging senses and emotions. His hold on her was tight and firm, just as she remembered it to be, one hand pressing her against him. He ran his fingers through her hair, closing his eyes, taking a moment to register that it was not one of many dreams he’s had this past week and that she was actually there, in his arms.

“You’re proud of yourself, aren’t you?” he muttered into her ear, his tone making it sound like a statement more than a question, and the warm breath that brushed against his skin was the only confirmation he needed.

“I was looking for that blush of yours. It’s a myth, a legend, and I just really like proving you wrong.”

He was about to retaliate, when he felt two points of contact, pressing sharply into his sides. A gasp of shock escaped his lips as he jerked away from her, his eyes wide. Claire grinned, winking at him playfully, then took a slow step towards him, brushing his cheek with the back of her fingers.

“I missed you.” she whispered, pulling him down for a tender kiss, so warm it made a hot shiver run down his back. He felt electricity tingling in the tips of his fingers, sparks so tangible he got worried she would feel it when he touched her waist. Nothing could keep him away from her at that moment, not hundreds of people around them, not endless amounts of announcements flowing from their speakers, not the bright lights above their heads. Nothing.

Their walk to the car would have been a whole lot slower if it wasn’t for the downpour that fell from the sky. She pulled on his hand, laughing breathlessly as rain soaked their clothes and hair, making the strands stick to their faces. They threw his suitcase into the back of the car and stumbled inside, turning the heating up to full power. She sent a text to her Mom that they would be a bit later than she previously thought due to the rain, and then pulled out of the parking lot.

“How was your flight?” she asked, taking a careful turn left, turning the radio on and turning the music down so they could talk.

“There was some turbulence, but other than that, it was just a plain, long flight.” he sighed heavily, reclining in his seat so he could look at her without straining his neck. She glanced at him every now and then, her eyes sparkling brightly.

The rain drummed against the outer surface of the car, muffling the sound of music and her humming. She could feel his gaze on her, a flash of heat, pressing against the line between her neck and cheek. The situation on the road got significantly worse and it made her unable to look over to him, so she had no way of knowing that he has leaned so close to her. The first sign of him being close was his breath, making goosebumps rise on her skin. She took a shaky breath, the tension palpable in the air.

“Are you nervous?” he muttered against the slope of her neck, pressing his lips to her pulse point and sucking gently, stealing the last of air she had in her lungs. The back of his fingers brushed her hair back, exposing her shoulder to his ministrations.

“Try ‘excited’.” She panted, her grip on the steering wheel tightening, her knuckles turning pale. He gave her a laugh, a deep rumble that made his chest tremble. His teeth grazed her flesh vaguely, a tease that made her blood run faster in her veins, heading towards her cheeks. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to close her eyes and let him do whatever he wanted to her. He aimed his kisses upwards until he reached her ear, breathing heavily.

“Pull over.”

“What?” she stammered, her green irises darkening significantly, even though he had no way of seeing it.

“Pull over, Claire.”

He spoke clearly, confidently, and his voice was filled to the brim with want. She looked in the rearview mirror, checking to see if anyone was driving behind them before taking a sharp turn left, coming to a stop and turning the lights off. She half expected him to pull her to him right away, but when she turned to him, his eyes were trained on her, focusing on one thing at a time. From her soaked clothes, clinging to her body, outlining her curves, to her hair, stuck to her face in soft curls.

Next thing she knew, he was all over her, pressing their lips together with an impatient growl. He grabbed her hips, his height allowing him to tower over her as she sunk into her seat, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and pulling him against her. They kissed with abandonment, so lost in each other that the rest of the world began to melt away.

He bit her lip, pulling on it with a low hum while his hand reached for the lock of her seatbelt, undoing it and flinging the restraining stripe of material away from her body. His palm run over the side of her body in great haste, reacquainting himself with her again, before his hand dove between her legs, grabbing the handle beneath her seat and pulling it, sending her backwards, making room for him to pick her up and pull her to him.

She straddled him, gripping his shoulders to settle herself against him. His arms went around her, pressing them together, causing a choked moan to escape his lips. Her knees pressed into his thighs, her fingers digging into his shoulder blades as he assaulted her neck, biting and sucking on her skin until it turned pink.

“It’s very rude to display such affections in public, Mr. Ramsey.” She breathed heavily, grinning as she put every last bit of her energy into channeling her British accent. He laughed shortly, leaning back to look into her eyes, nudging her nose with his.

“It’s rude to keep me away from you, Ms. Herondale. I can’t be held accountable for all the ungentlemanly things I’m about to do to you.” he whispered, trailing off as he leaned into her again, pecking her lips teasingly a couple of times.

“You never were a gentleman in the first place.”

Ethan shook his head at her comment, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her back into him, kissing her again and again, his other hand running all over her body. She gripped the lapels of his jacket, using the newly found leverage to grind herself against him, eliciting a low growl that escaped his lips.

It was her turn to reach behind him, pushing the button that reclined the back of his seat, causing them both to stumble backwards. His hands flew to her backside, pressing her downwards as his hips moved upwards, a string of muttered curses falling from her lips in broken accent.

“Claire-“ he started saying, his tone warning her that he would lose control any second now, when an obnoxiously loud sound of her phone ringing blasted from the speakers of her car. He groaned, falling back against the seat, covering his face with his arm as she giggled, kissing his cheek briefly before answering the call.

“Claire, are you two alright? The weather is getting worse and worse, do you need help?” her mother’s voice rang in the small space, filled with worry.

“We’re fine, Mom. Going a little slower since it’s so bloody difficult to maintain control…” she winked at Ethan, pressing a finger to her lips and his eyes widened as he realized her Mother could hear every little thing that happened inside of the car. “We’ll be home in about twenty minutes.”

“I’ll make some tea. Does Ethan like chocolate? I baked a cake.”

Claire had to bite her lip to keep herself from bursting out laughing before she answered. “He loves it.”

The call ended and his heavy sigh was the only thing that could be heard in the otherwise completely silent car. She kissed his cheek softly, then moved back to her seat, fixed its position and started the car back up. As it rolled back onto the road, she turned the music on the radio up. He rolled his eyes so loudly she could practically hear it, her laughter ringing in the air.

“That sure sounds familiar.” He muttered as a song from one of their first dates blasted from the speakers.

“Then you won’t mind if I sing along. For old times’ sake.”

#ethan ramsey #open heart #ethan x mc #mc x ethan #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfiction #fic #fanfiction #dr. ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #mc x ethan ramsey

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scarletmelody · 4 years

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Queenstrial - Chapter 1

Masterlist

warnings: language, drinking, sex

Semi-modern AU

Summary: Mare Barrow’s only wish is for true freedom. But all that’s taken away from her when a gods damned letter shows up on her doorstep. Gone is the hope for a life of happiness. Instead, she’s been chosen to enter the 50th Queenstrial competition to win Prince Tiberias the VII’s hand in marriage. But not only is the Prince she’s expected to win, not a stranger at all, but rather her previous one night stand, but now she’s competing against 20 other cutthroat women for his love and affections she’s not even sure she wants.

...

It’s rare for us to get mail in the stilts. Even rarer for it to be embellished with the royal insignia. And yet, that is exactly what I find waiting for me when I walk up the front steps of our home. With my meager stolen goods weighing down my jacket pockets, it’s hard not to scoff. Queenstrial happens to be the one golden ticket out of a life of poverty in the stilts. The only guarantee you have other than an apprenticeship. Yet, I don’t want it. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life at some royal ass’s feet pretending to be something I’m not. Even if you don’t win the competition, most girls almost always end up becoming ladies in waiting for different ranking members of high houses. The only thing I’ve ever valued over my own life is freedom. The freedom to choose, and the freedom to simply be. And Queenstrial takes all of that away. But maybe it’s exactly for that reason that my mother made me enter in the first place. The only thing she’s ever wanted from me was the promise of a future. She doesn’t realize it but I catch all of the looks of disdain and grimaces she tries to hide when she sees me walk through the front door and empty my pockets of the few bronze pieces I managed to snatch up. I was never talented enough for an apprenticeship like my sister, Gisa. I was the odd one out; the black sheep in the family. My brothers were sent off to war before I turned 13, with only one half of an earring set to keep me company. The only person who’s ever had my back is Kilorn, my best friend. But he still has hope and promise awaiting him through his own apprenticeship with a fisherman. All I have is a sure death sentence in a few months when I turn 18. At 18 with no future, all that’s left is being drafted to the military; and most never make it back. Maybe it’s because I can’t stand what the expression is going to be on my mother or father’s face when I die in the trenches with only a fucking letter with the king’s signature slapped on to it, that I decide to pick up the letter and walk through our almost falling apart front door. Walking the few steps it takes to get to the kitchen, I’m almost hit with a wave of sadness. This is what I’m sacrificing. A home for the military because there is no way I’m getting into Queenstrial; not someone like me. The letter sits on the dining room table lit dimly by a single light fixture on the ceiling. I know it’s only a matter of minutes before my mother comes rushing into the room with excitement on her face. And of course, that’s what happens when she walks in and gives me a small smile, sitting down at the table with her hands folded neatly in front of her. “What are we waiting for?” I ask trying not to convey my own feelings of annoyance. Her elation over the possibility of me going to the castle to win a prince’s hand in marriage pales compared to my own. “We’re going to wait until everyone gets here.” She tells me, tersely. Basically saying ‘no room for discussion’. Great. And by everyone she means my dad and Gisa. Now I have to see their own downcast expressions on their faces when they realize I haven’t been chosen. All 17-year old’s are eligible to enter Queenstrial. That is only if you’re a newblood or silver. That’s the discrimination still present in our society. Red’s in the dirt as always. If you’re a newblood, you get a few more perks, but still not much better. I’ve somehow been blessed to have been born with the ability to wield and create lightning. Although, it’s nothing that I’ve been experimenting with because it’s banned in my village. 10 years ago, a boy no older than myself blew up the black-market trading center and it’s never been allowed since. And it’s because of that, that I limit myself to a small taste of my own ability. All I have is the tempting pull of the energy within the walls of my own house. 5 minutes later as I walk around the small kitchen pretending to clean to avoid doing nothing, the heavy silence is interrupted by a squeal and a bang as the front door is thrown open. Gisa, then. And then I hear the squeaking of rusty wheels following her. That would be Dad. “Is it here yet?” Gisa practically yells as she finally emerges into the kitchen, breathless. Dad follows her in his wheelchair, although a more subdued smile sits on his face. “Yes”, is all I have to say as they both more towards the table, eager to see the envelope lifelessly sitting there. Mom still hasn’t moved an inch until Gisa tries to snatch it. All she does is smack her hand and tell her to wait for another moment. I can’t help but feel some deep part of me almost feel bad for her, knowing that she’ll eventually read that letter of rejection and don her face of disappointment whilst telling me that everything’s going to be alright. When I finally take my own seat at the table, Mom finally makes a move to open the envelope. Every moment that it takes her to carefully unseal the damn thing, is like waiting for a bomb to drop. And then her face loses all of its natural red flush and goes bone white. And she screams. Actually. Fucking. Screams. It only takes a moment longer for Gisa to jump out of her chair and run behind Mom before she yells out, “Mare you made it! You’re going to the capital!” Then both of them get up and attempt to show dad before they all start cheering. Their sounds of excitement become subdued as my ears dull down to a sharp ringing noise. And I still sit in my chair. Unmoving, and silent. The only thing I can think of is What. The. Fuck. There is no gods damned way that the people sitting on their asses in Archeon would choose me. Me out of what has to be every other 17 year old in Norta. And that letter. I snatch it up from where it still sits opened on the table. Mare Molly Barrow, We are delighted to offer you a place in the 50th Queenstrial for Tiberias the VII, Prince of Norta. You are one of the 20 lucky young women selected to compete for his coveted hand in marriage. There is no need to bring any of your belongings other than a few of your sentimental items. Clothes and other necessities will be provided. A palace guard will arrive at your home tomorrow to pick you up and will travel with you to the castle. You will receive further instructions upon your arrival. We look forward to meeting you, The Royal Family of Norta Tomorrow. That letter means that by tomorrow I’ll be in a car on my way to the capital. Away from my family, from Kilorn, from everything I’ve ever known. I think I might actually throw up. “Mare?” my father asks, breaking me out of my self-induced shock. “Mare! Aren’t you excited!” Gisa smiles, shaking my shoulders in an attempt to wake me up. The only response I can muster is “Yeah.. sure Gis.” Mom looks at me still with another disappointed expression before she tells me, “This is a good thing, Mare. This is your chance”. Chance for what? I almost want to ask. Chance to leave everything I’ve ever known in the hopes that some prince will like me enough to keep me around? That I’m going to spend the next however many months of my life parading in pretty gowns pretending to be someone i’m definitely not? It’s this realization that hits me and at the same time the air seems to be trapped in my throat. ‘I can’t breathe’ is the only thing I can think about. All I can do is speed towards my room and slam the door shut. Granted, it’s not just my room. It’s shared with Gisa. Collapsing on my bed, I let the tears start streaming down my face. Frustrating fucking emotions. There’s no use in wallowing in something you can’t change, is what I try to tell myself. And then it occurs to me. If tonight’s going to be the last night of my freedom, why not make the most of it. Forcing myself to stop my pitiful crying, and wiping away what’s left of my tears, I let my lips turn up into an almost smile. Moving towards my closet I rummage around towards the back end and pull out a deeply revealing almost too scandalous deep purple velvet dress. It was meant to be somewhat of a joke that Kilorn got me when I tuned 17 this year. He claimed that it was a birthday gift and that I should wear it out to get all the men drooling. I only might have threatened to cut off a too-sensitive part of his if he said that again. But now.. Now this could come in handy. 20 minutes later I was finished. Stealing a glance in the mirror, I had to admit. I looked pretty damn good. I had styled my hair in voluminous curls and my lips were painted a bright ruby red. And that dress… That was undoubtedly the statement piece of tonight’s look. The v-cut of the spaghetti strapped dress showed off my cleavage, and the soft material hugged what little curves I had, magically making it look like I had some to begin with. Satisfied, I pulled my only pair of shockingly tall black stiletto heels before creeping towards the back door, carefully avoiding my family still celebrating over my impending doom. Quietly I shut the door before yelling, “I need to run for a bit, don’t wait up” and walking out. I should be rushing to Kilorn’s shabby room in his master’s apartment, but I won’t. I won’t because he’ll find out soon enough, and I already know what he’s going to say when he sees me dressed like this. I don’t want his fucking pity. So, I keep on moving, catching a ride with what seems to be a local fabric trader by giving him 2 coins. And then we’re off, leaving me to my thoughts as the only sound remaining becomes the thumping of the truck’s wheels on the unpaved dirt road. It’s so utterly stupid how one letter can change my entire existence. I can’t walk away from the Stilts. Even if it’s a complete and utter shit hole, it’s my home and the only place I’ve ever known. The trader continues driving until we reach the center of the stilts. The area where the night life is just about starting. Where bars are beginning to become crowded, with people spending their earned coins on women and cheap alcohol. Getting out of the car and thanking my driver, I stand there like an idiot for another 2 minutes in the center of the area. This is all I’ve known for my meager 17 years of existence. Why not enjoy it one last time? Finding my usual bar that I usually conduct my excursions in, I casually muster the best smile I can whilst attempting to make my breasts pop out even more to the bouncer waiting at the front. He only gives a slight nod and lets me walk in. No need for I.D here. They’ll let in anyone underage if you know how to get around it. Once I walk inside the club the smell of watered-down beer immediately hits my nose and I unconsciously crinkle my nose. Through the swarm of sweaty bodies, my eyes catch on what appears to be the only stool left at the bar. I make a beeline towards it before it gets snatched up and try my best to haul myself up the chair. Being short never helps. The barmaid rushes towards me with a flushed face, clearly stressing over the mass amounts of people here at the hour. “What can I get you sweetie”, she smiles sweetly. “Just a vodka cranberry”, I say. Not the most expensive option but for my last night of freedom, I’m willing to sacrifice an extra copper. No later than 30 seconds, my drink arrives before me before she’s off to take someone else’s order. And I’m left alone to ponder over my thoughts and drown myself in alcohol. Sometimes it’s better to be alone.; to never have to care what other people think. To not have to deal with the pressure of disappointing everyone you care about. Although I’m sure I’ve done that too many times to count. Part of me wants to show up at the castle tomorrow and make myself so unapproachable and vulgar, I’m sure to be kicked out before anything’s even started. But the other part of me knows that I’ll only be more of a disappointment. To myself, to my parents, to Kilorn… Looking over, I see someone new climb into the seat next to me. A man around my age, with a strong and muscular build. You don’t see many people like that around here. Most of the residents here are thin and frail. All from the fact that they can’t afford food. But for him, he must be paid well and have a fairly easy life in the Stilts if he looks like that. The heavy coin pouch looped onto his belt confirms my suspicion. I avert my gaze towards him for a moment longer and see him ordering his own drink. And maybe it’s my desperate need to not be a failure, or the impending doom that awaits me tomorrow, that my hand slyly moves towards that pouch like I have so many times before. One coin or two can’t hurt him if he has more than plenty. But just as my fingers loop around the opening, my hand stops, not out of my own accord. I look down at my hand and see another pair of fingers wrapped around my wrist. I can’t believe it. I- I’ve been caught. I turn my gaze toward the man’s face and he stares right back. Those dazzling amber eyes pouring into my own. There’s a fire in those eyes. Something that’s unexplainable, but there. And he still looks at me like he can see me for exactly what I am. He probably knows that I’m just another lowly thief with no fucking future. “Thief” he finally says, clearly shocked. And it’s the alcohol that answers for me when I roll my eyes and reply, “Obviously”. He only continues staring, his eyes grazing down my entire body. And in those few golden moments I know I should try and take the chance to escape his burning grasp and run before he calls for security, but something in the way his gaze blazes into mine, makes me stop. I’m left staring at him dumbfoundedly like an idiot until my jaw drops even more as he releases my wrist and grabs a coin out of his pouch. And not just any coin, a whole fucking silver tetrarch; worth more than any of the pitiful coins I’ve stolen. “Here” he says, his mouth in a grim line. “That should be more than enough for you” “I- thank you” is all I can manage to say before I slip it in my own pouch. What other option is left but swallowing my pride. But I can’t just accept it with no answers. Curiosity always gets the better of me. “Why?” I ask him. His eyes open in shock with my question. But he just shakes his head and his lip crooks up ever so slightly. “You need it more”. That makes me want to punch his face. The only thing I can’t stand besides disappointment is pity. “So, what’s your name?”, he asks me turning back towards his drink but legs still angled towards me. I’m tempted to tell him the truth for some reason, but the part of me that’s still sane knows to lie. “Mareena.” Close enough. “Mareena” he repeats, testing my name on his lips. He actually smiles this time still sipping on his drink which upon closer examination I determine to be whiskey. “And what’s yours?” “Cal” he tells me. And as I keep on staring at his face, I start to notice how undeniably handsome he is. His sharper than glass jawline and those eyes still glued on me create this pull that I thought could never exist. And it’s at this moment that I throw all caution out the window. By tomorrow my life will be forfeit. Might as well make the most of tonight. And nothing better than a hot complete stranger to accompany me. Discarding my empty drink on the table, I turn myself completely towards him. Holding a hand out I ask him, “Dance with me?” He downs his own glass before setting it down and his eyes flare in a way that makes me want to blow up before he puts his hand in my own. “Thought you would never ask”. I lead him to the back of the club where there’s currently a mass of sweaty bodies swarmed together on the small dance floor. The crowd parts as we enter in the midst of it all, just as the DJ turns on a heavy EDM soundtrack. His nose grazes my neck and just that simple moment of contact makes me want to cry out in pleasure. But I want more With my back towards him, his hands grip my hips possessively as mine wrap around his neck. We sway to the blaring music as I ever so slightly grind against him. He stiffens and explores my body with his hands, slightly cupping my thighs when he teases me by riding his fingers upwards until he grazes the lace of my underwear. I can’t help but let out a little moan at that touch. It’s been so long since I felt like this. Then he leans his head down to mine before whispering to me, “You look beautiful”. That makes me smile. It’s been a long time since someone told me that, too. And then I unlink my hands and turn to face him. He pulls me closer to him until I’m flush against his chest. Moving my hands across his well-tailored white shirt, expensive from the feel of it, I feel the muscles beneath them. That only makes the aching between my thighs become even more unbearable. Leaning up, having to still rise on the balls of my feet even with these heels because gods he is tall, I capture my mouth to his in a hungry kiss. He doesn’t only taste like whiskey, but he has a scent of ashes and smoke that I’m embarrassed to say I breathe in deeply. His hands move to my ass as my own grasp onto his shoulders. I know he’s probably only here looking for release, but so am I.

I break our kiss and say in his ear, in what I hope is my best sultry voice I can muster, “What do you say we get out of here”. He looks right into my eyes and I can see the lust right there. Cal doesn’t even bother to reply before taking my hand and bringing me to the front desk at the very back of the club for getting a room-for-rent above the bar. Slamming another coin down on the counter he practically grabs the key from the lady who winks at me as if she knows exactly what’s going to go down. She would be right about that.

After finding the room down the hall, Cal unlocks it by throwing the door open, while I drag him in before he can barely shut the door. Once the door closes, I immediately shove him against it, running my hands into that silky black hair of his which is just as soft as I thought it was. I push my mouth against his, into a heated sloppy kiss which he takes, opening his mouth to allow my tongue access to sweep in. He breaks our kiss before moving his lips towards the place where my collarbone and neck meet. That’s going to leave a mark tomorrow. But I don’t have enough common sense left in me before he finds a particularly sensitive part of my skin and I actually let out a moan this time. Cal pauses and pure desire shine up as his eyes meet mine and he shows off a crooked smile. That only makes me want him more. Greedily I unbutton his shirt before sliding it off his shoulders and onto the floor. I take this as an opportunity to mark his skin with my own brand before he captures my mouth into another wet kiss. Gods damn him, he’s actually a fucking good kisser. His hands move from the sides of my face towards my legs, lifting them up. Instinctively I wrap them around his hips and immediately feeling something hard between where our hips meet giving me a sense of what’s yet to come. Lifting me towards the bed in the center of the room, he releases me for a moment before moving on top of me and continuing to kiss my body. His eyes glance to me for permission as his fingers latch around the straps of my dress. I can only nod. How could I say no to him when he’s making me feel like I’m going to explode out of my own skin. Removing my dress off of me, I’m pretty damn happy with myself that I decided to wear my best pair of underwear as I watch him wet his lips as he sees the black lace underneath. Until he removes those too. His mouth starts another hot path from my chest downwards, past my navel. When he finally reaches where I so desperately need him, he teases me by running one of his fingers down the center. Now I feel like burning. “Fuck stop teasing already”, I gasp out while grabbing his hair. He lets out a dark laugh as he inserts one of his fingers, the calloused pad of it scraping against my skin. His mouth joins it, licking and sucking making me feel things I never thought I could feel. When his tongue reaches that one damn spot I let out an uncontrolled spark. Cal looks up at me then, a wild grin on his face. “Nice Sparks” That only turns me on more. Then I flip us around so that he’s pinned under me and I’m straddling him before I start attack his belt and try to unhook it. Removing it off him, I pull them down along with his own undergarments. Grinning, I take his length into my own hand, pumping up and down. “Fuck Mareena”, Cal lets out, laying back on his elbows. My heart almost pauses as I suddenly wish he would say my real name out loud like that. But then again, I’m only here for one night. “Condom?” I ask him, breathless. I need him. Now. He shakes his head, but I know better than to think that this is the end. I know well enough that these rooms have condoms in the bedside drawers. Reaching over I open a drawer and dig around until I grab one of them. Tearing it open with my teeth, I put it on him. Letting me take control, he watches as I line myself and slide down onto him, deep. We both let out moans of pleasure as his hands dig into my hips. Adjusting to the feel of him, I start to move against him, as my eyes roll into the back of head. I swear to god I’ve never felt this good before. Cal rolls us both back over until he’s on top again, and groans as he pushes slowly out before thrusting back in. I think I’m seeing stars at this point. He continues to set a harder, rougher pace before kissing down from my neck to my chest and sucking on one of my nipples. That movement brings me over the edge as he rolls his hips in time, letting me live out every ounce of pleasure. Fuck. I never want to leave this moment. It’s too bad I’ll be gone tomorrow and I’ll never see him again. That becomes the thought that brings me back from my high as I start trailing sloppy kisses across his muscled chest and then bring them back to his mouth. Our lips come together just as he tips over his own edge and his groans of pleasure become captured by our kiss. We stay like that for another minute, foreheads pressed together,both panting and out of breath. I feel the urge to swipe the messy locks of his hair that have fallen out of place, to see his face, with his cheeks and lips covered in messy lipstick marks. “Again”, I let out, with the only thing I have left in me to say. His eyes flare up yet again, and he smiles with that somewhat goofy crooked grin of his as he obliges. ... a/n: Well, well here we go: The start of a new fic! I’ve been meaning to write this ever since the idea hit me in a hotel room on my vacation in Europe and now I’m finally making it a reality. This is the first chapter of what I hope to be many. But other than that, let me know your thoughts on this and I hope you all enjoy! Love you all!

#queenstrial #mare barrow #cal calore #fanfic #writing #bachelor #modernau #red queen

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ferusaurelius · 4 years

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Nihlus Fic Headcanons

My latest fic, The husbandry of victory is blood (on AO3), is basically a Nihlus Kryik and Mass Effect mercenary/batarian culture headcanon backstory where @expertmakodriver reacted by asking me to ... please translate w/e I was on about.

So here it is! The English translation of my Nihlus Kryik worldbuilding art project.

In reality, this type of character sketch is something I would normally keep private. But since we need more Nihlus content, both it and the headcanon basis are all public and free to use and/or transform as you see fit without attribution.

Please, I’m begging anyone who might want to use any of these ideas in whole or in part: write it and save me from having to do it myself. You do not need to credit me, but I would appreciate a link to your work so I can promote it! :)

Tfw you actually need to annotate your own fic...

Long post - everything is under the cut!

Organized by the order each element is referenced in the fic, with the divided sections labeled as [NUMBER] on the left.

Edited 5/28/2021 because I forgot some things.

[Title] “The husbandry of victory is blood” - Taken from “Sparta Says No” by A.E. Stallings. I actually thought about using this as an alternative title for another fic, but I figured this background sketch for Nihlus more aligned with the themes. I strongly suggest you go and read the poem without taking my word for the following interpretation: the contrast between growth and destruction, and civilization built through conquest or through agriculture. I enjoy the high-level commentary on society. The metaphorical encounter between farming and war is something I wanted to bring to my work, and I wanted the title to color the tone of the epigraph from Virgil’s Georgics. On a more personal level -- my grandfather joined the military in part to seek out opportunities he wouldn’t have had if he’d stayed on a farm, and I decided to draw on that experience for Nihlus.

[Epigraph] - Virgil, Georgics Book I (tr. H. R. Fairclough) - I picked a public domain translation of the poem and went hunting around for a line that had juxtaposed farming and war imagery. It’s a fairly common classical motif! Wars often stopped and started based on the seasonal harvest and the necessity of feeding the community and supplying the troops. You can’t fight a war and gather in wheat at the same time. Digging up the weapons pf the dead in farm fields is a powerful image. My take on Nihlus draws on the tension between fighting and negotiation that I also connect to the symbolic opposition between agriculture and warfare. The Georgics are also just really neat.

[1] Half-face markings - I could write a whole headcanon post on turian colony markings and how mercenary modifications fit in with them (and I will at some point). You’ll see in this fic that I regularly use terms for how much ‘real estate’ the colony markings cover. My HC is that there are variations of colony markings that can be worn as minimalist (smallest critical details), half-face (upper or lower, may include simple full-face designs without a lot of paint), full-face (both, usually more elaborate), and full-crest (what it sounds like on the tin). These are all just different styles and up to personal preference, though there are a few cultural connotations or stereotypes about people who choose which version. Plus I felt really bad for people who might have super-complicated full versions of markings and wanted to give them something more aesthetically lightweight that would have the same meaning.

[1] Batarian trader patois - An evolving lingua franca with many dialects. Nihlus is uncannily fluent at the one spoken in the Terminus, which is mutually intelligible with the dialect spoken in the Attican Traverse. This is a language without a formal codex that sounds a little strange even to batarians born into the Hegemony. Since batarians have been around and in contact with the Citadel and council races for ~1000 years longer than turians (true if the timeline on the wiki is correct, but I haven’t done the backdating myself), I HC that batarians have a more refined and developed spacer and trading culture. Traders and smugglers are infamous for liking to be beyond Hegemony control and when their government withdrew from Council space, they just kept up with business as usual. Many of them have a shared religion based on debate and argument over the meaning of the Pillars of Strength and the way to live an honorable life.

[1] Terminus languages - They exist, both with and without formal linguistic codexes available to ordinary citizens of Council space.

[1] Hierarchy basic - The common turian colonial language spoken in Hierarchy space. Nihlus was born outside turian space, so he had to learn it from his parents and from educational videos. While he has only a vague accent, certain words and phrases he uses come off as very strange to turians who were raised in Hierarchy space.

[1] Draughts - A popular ancient board game dating back to before the Romans. Pieces move by sliding on the board or jumping over each other to capture. I originally wanted to use river stones as a metaphor, but Nihlus at that age had never seen naturally flowing water. I figure everyone has a version of a capturing/marker/stones sort of game.

[1] Amma and appa - Batarian words for grandmother and grandfather. Nihlus is a bit of a ‘surprise’ baby for his parents. This nice older smuggler couple are longtime associates of the mercenary group and, while they have never done fighting themselves and have no children of their own, they are friends of his mother and father and are absolutely delighted to “adopt” him. He is their smol spikey grandson, they teach him to speak and act like a proper young batarian, and anyone who argues with them about how exactly he is related will end up on the wrong side of an airlock.

[1] Vatar - A canon planet in the Mass Effect universe with a cold and inhospitable environment, located a short relay hop away from Omega (“downtown”) in the Terminus Systems. Mercenary groups have outposts dug into the surface. I rolled with it.

[1] Falx - The turian name of the mercenary group Nihlus is born into. A falx is both a Roman entrenching tool and also the most overhyped Dacian curved blade weapon you’ll see in ancient art and literature. In essence? The word has been used to refer to both weapons and farming tools for a very long time. The group is a batarian-lead mercenary company with a very long history of turian cooperation, which enjoys stable political ties to other such batarian splinter groups. Traders and smugglers often form the links between them. The batarian word for members of this same group translates as “harvesters” or “reapers.” HAHA. And you thought this was a no-Reapers AU…

[1] Truce customs - A batarian mercenary outpost thing. If you’re friendly and in mechanical distress, or if you have something to trade, it’s not unusual to head to a known group of mercenaries and ask for truce on tightbeam broadcast to get someone to meet you or actively flag your ship with their ident codes (aka: make you temporarily register in local space as belonging to their ‘fleet’). This is usually for medical essentials, emergency mechanical trouble, and also serves as an informal way for Terminus merchants and traders to make a living without having to worry about being boarded every time they deliver the groceries. It’s considered a grave breach of etiquette to violate truce terms and those who do are hunted down as examples to the rest. Truce terms make “ordinary life” possible for outposts that are otherwise on the edge of traveled space.

[1] Trade-cloth - A canon quarian cultural object. Mentioned in the the fandom wiki and probably part of a quarian codex somewhere. Intricately patterned cloth is common on the Migrant Fleet, but the personal cloths are seldom given to outsiders. Nihlus’s gift is one used in trade, but displays a pattern with more ‘friendly’ cultural connotations than something that would be sold and mass-produced in a shop. It was made special for him by his childhood quarian friends. It’s something that it would be appropriate for him to wear like a scarf on formal occasions when he’s dealing with quarians, or when he’s invited to quarian parties or festivals.

[1] Colony crescents / Falx sickles - Yeah there’s some repetition here, but it’s mostly to contrast the two. I HC that Nihlus’s base colony markings are already curved. “Sickles” are embellishments which add a cutting or combative edgeline in some places and very overt stylized weaponry to standard colony markings. They are additions or alterations that are unique to mercenary groups and may read as “flamboyant” or “aggressive” because they are noticeably different in appearance to Hierarchy turians. This is more or less on purpose, and is a bit on the taboo side. One does not wear these additions or draw their markings in these styles without genuinely belonging to one of these groups -- the patterns are not easy to reproduce correctly or in the right places, and they are generally a source of stigma in Hierarchy basic training.

[1] Sand-bath - How you clean a turian when water is scarce and everyone has to share it.

[2] Draw and fire from retention - The shooting-sports specific term for “shooting from the hip.” Kinda. This breakdown of a scene from Collateral, one of my all-time favorite Michael Mann films, will give you an idea. All of the referenced gun techniques are also more or less real, and lining up your body posture so that it helps with aiming and putting the rounds where you want them to go is a real thing. Nihlus has a great deal of practice in shooting as self-defense and was training alongside professionals from a young age. Going to the range is one of his hobbies (but not mine, I’m lame and that’s loud).

[2] Triginta Petra - A canon Mass Effect world that is a dustball home to hardscrabble turian farmers. Kavala Kryik’s family were some of the first colonists and they’ve been scratching a living from the surface since she was nine years old. They are very proud of this fact, since it gave them opportunities they wouldn’t have had on their native Oma Ker (also a canon turian world).

[2] Laskaris - Nihlus’s mother’s original family name. Kavala Laskaris. While I don’t have any particular headcanon about whether or not turians do the whole ‘changing surname’ thing when they marry or pair off or whatever, Kavala really liked both the alliteration and the overall aesthetic. Joked with Inaros Kryik, her husband and Nihlus’s father, that she only married him for his pretty colony markings.

[2] Lupulin - Literally, hop acids and the essential oils that you get from ‘hoppy’ beer. A direct reference to hops (Humulus lupulus) and brewing, because why not? Actually is a mild sedative and produces a bit of a chemical high.

[2] Stiletto - A pistol from Haliat armory (turian weapons manufacturer).

[2] Blooded sickles - Worn only by mercenaries who are full / fighting members of Falx or their direct allies. Batarians have their own culturally-coded marks, some of which have been adopted and/or adapted by their turian members as embellishments to colony markings. I HC that newer “commercial” groups like the Blue Suns and Nyreen’s Talons, without a shared cultural background, are imitating this style of marking rather than the other way around. Merc-born turians with old-style batarian trade connections tend to recognize each other through these symbols, which are used most often outside of Council space (i.e. the Terminus Systems and the Attican Traverse).

[2] Pillars of Strength - Canon batarian religious artifact. I treat them as a text or a particular philosophy that values free will and independent action as the signifiers of ‘strength.’ While I don’t have a fleshed out or specific HC for what the ‘tenets’ are, I do know that slave implants are treated as anathema.

[3] Struthious - A reference to Earth ostriches. Some kind of chicken-like prey animal that turians like to cook and eat. Mostly because the thought of Nihlus running around like a chicken to entertain his sisters made me laugh.

[4] Cutter - Bigger than a personal clipper and better armed, with living space for a crew. They come in various sizes and are smaller than frigates.

[4] Cup of mourning - A turian funerary ritual. On Taetrus, performed with a distinctive form of dark ale. Different colony groups have different cultural traditions.

[4] Thalia, Tomyris, and Traian - Nihlus’s three turian siblings. Thalia and Tomyris are his younger twin sisters. Traian is the youngest and his baby brother. While they’re only hinted at in this fic, I do plan to make some references to them in the Air Needing Light arc at some point. There’s also a chance they’ll get their own short!fic appearances.

[4] Hierarchy military grants - A HC pool of money that the Council races put up to fund large-scale basic training for anyone (turian or another client race) completing compulsory citizen service.

[5] Talons and suns - Generic references to other symbols that are common incorporations for mercenary groups. I HC that these were adopted and color-coded by the Blue Suns and the Talons rather than conceptually created by them!

[5] Fuck the cause, we’ll die for a drink! - Profane versions of the turian Hierarchy anthem are popular drinking songs among the merc-born. If it’s a patriotic and well-known song, you can pretty much guarantee turian mercenaries have parodied it. Awkward for colony-born squadmates who find these renditions hilarious and catchy—but also a little horrifying.

[6] Optio Sideris, 85th Atrax Legion, Fifth Cohort Operations Section - A one-off turian Blackwatch OC I may bring back in another fic at some point because I ended up liking her. The Hierarchy military organization borrows from the HCs I use for the Air Needing Light AU: 85th Atrax Legion is a joint special forces organizing legion made up of six cohorts. The 5th Cohort is informally known as Blackwatch, while the “Operations Section” is a generic term used by intelligence operators. Optio is a mid-tier leadership rank.

[6] Batarian body language - Batarian language and manners are highly dependent on physical cues according to the Mass Effect canon. I took this one step further with a HC that Nihlus is essentially a native speaker of turian-adapted gestures that translate successfully into batarian social patterns. This physical vocabulary is most refined and most present in culturally batarian mercenary and trading groups with a strong history of turian association and recruitment. While older turians can learn and approximate the gestures, they are best learned and absorbed in childhood. Nihlus “speaks” a form of gestural batarian that places him as a native of the Terminus Systems.

[6] Interrogating batarian prisoners - No torture involved! Optio Sideris trains Nihlus in a more practical form of intelligence gathering that involves building rapport, establishing trust, and remaining consistent. Even pirates or smugglers who would not normally give information to a Hierarchy patrol flotilla can be convinced to—if not speak—occasionally offer hints about the locations and activity of slavers. Nihlus is notable for actually being conversant in traditional batarian moral interpretations of the Pillars of Strength, as well as being able to walk the fine cultural line between guarded respect and abject deference.

[6] Merc Red - Nihlus’s batarian nickname among the patrol flotilla’s prisoners. A sign of individual respect, since it contains no profanity and is just blandly descriptive.

[7] Broken weapons - A traditional sign of thanks between two non-allied mercenary groups when one has agreed to truce terms. Mostly symbolic.

[7] Tattoos - The permanent marking method of choice when turians are full-grown and have developed a strong preference for the color and personal style of their colony markings. Nihlus decides on a complex ‘full-crest’ Taetran colony pattern embellished with Falx blood sickles. This is more or less him being loud and proud about both his colony origins and his mercenary background, as well as putting them on an even footing by tattooing the entire pattern: mercenary symbols and all.

#mass effect #nihlus kryik #my headcanons #my writing #air-needing-light #long post #fanfiction #nihlus kryik headcanons

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bearholdingashark · 3 years

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Hurt Comfort Exchange 2021 Creator Letter

Hi! Thank you for creating something for me! I’m excited to see what you create! :D

General info

I adore tropes, the more ridiculous the better, and really what I love about ridiculous tropes is how it gives the creator an opportunity to explore the characters and their dynamics and motivations. Fun plots are great, but the characters and what the plot reveals about them is what I really love.

I also really love AUs (especially modern/historical AUs) or crossover fusions, and love how much changes and how much doesn’t. But straight up canon stuff is really good too. Really, character focused stuff is what I love most. I do also think canon divergence AUs can be really great, so feel free to play around with canon as well.

While I’m a big fan of romantic ships, I also love relationships in general, romantic or not. Just characters being there for each other is great. I love fluff, but more serious/angsty/dramatic stuff is just as good too. :D And unless specifically stated otherwise, I have no problem with characters other than I requested in the story, but I want the requested characters to be a main focus.

In relation to hurt/comfort, one thing that I really love is desperation: desperate kisses, desperate plans, desperate goodbyes, etc.

A lot of the freeform tags that I selected, (and I selected a lot) tend towards more dramatic plots/circumstances, but feel free to go where you feel comfortable on the fluff/angst/dark/light spectrum.

My DNWs (also listed on my sign up) are:

smut

Romance is great, but nothing more than kissing/fade to black for the physical stuff.

explicit gore

violence and injury are fine, but nothing super graphic, generally I would say canon typical violence/gore or less is a good way to go

Sexual assault/rape

I really don’t want this to be the hurt that any of the characters go through

permanent character death of requested characters

angst without a happy (or at least hopeful) ending

Obviously, there’s likely to be at least some angst, seeing as it’s a hurt/comfort exchange, but I just don’t want the story to end without any sort of hope.

I hope this helps! I’m including my general prompts below, but feel free to go where the inspiration takes you. My prompts tend to be more fic focused, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want art, I’m just not as good talking about what I like there. Go with whatever style you feel fits best/you’re most comfortable with and I’ll be happy. :) Happy creating!

Request 1

Fandom: Scarlet Pimpernel - Baroness Orczy

Relationships: Marguerite Blakeney/Percy Blakeney (Hurt Percy)

Prompts:

Marguerite helping with the League somehow--whether on a regular basis, or stepping in because Percy’s hurt. (I especially love the latter)

Percy getting hurt trying to protect Marguerite and/or the League, and Marguerite comforting him/patching him up after they’re all out of danger

As you can tell by my freeform selections, I’m all about the DRAMA, but I think this is a fandom where really going hog wild with the dramatic stuff could be so great. (Percy literally kissed the ground Marguerite walked on in the book because he was pining so hard, I’m not sure anything can top that in terms of being Over The TopTM :D)

Bonus points if Percy is being his little shit self even while hurt

In a totally different direction, if we match on ‘Character who regularly takes risks gets hurt while doing something that is usually safe’ or that interests you, I think that could be a really funny direction to take the story/art, especially if Percy tries to convince Marguerite that he received his injury in a totally dashing manner, and not something really simple and dumb, and Marguerite is not buying it

Request 2

Fandom: Smallville

Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane (Hurt Clark)

Prompts:

While I don’t watch the other current DC shows, I have seen the Smallville scenes in the Supergirl/Flash/Multiverse crossover episodes, so if you would like to explore Clark giving up his powers, I think that would be interesting, but I am also very happy with things either set before that, or completely ignoring that.

If not exploring Clark without powers, (whether using the above canon or going completely AU), what I love about this request is that when Clark is physically hurt it usually means something is VERY WRONG.

Lois having to comfort a hurt Clark and help him figure out what’s going on and how to fix it.

Lois protecting a hurt Clark and defending him when he can’t defend himself against a powerful enemy.

Lois and Clark on a Daily Planet assignment when something goes wrong and Clark gets hurt

Clark getting hurt protecting Lois. (Bonus points if combined with the above prompt where Lois protects him after he’s hurt)

Exploring Lois’ line “Being a hero's wife means never accepting defeat”, either in context of the gladiator episode, or in a later situation

Request 3

Fandom: Smallville

Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane (Hurt Lois)

Prompts:

This request could be a little lighter than the one with hurt Clark, simply because Lois is much more easily hurt/sick as not a superpowered being, but I am also just as happy with the angst and the drama

Lois being protective (whether of Clark or their friends or random civilians) even after being injured

Clark feeling guilty (whether it’s at all justified or not) about Lois being hurt and Lois having to get after him a little for it/reassure him

Exploring Lois’ line “Being a hero's wife means never accepting defeat”, either in context of the gladiator episode, or in a later situation

Request 4

Fandom: Captain America (Movies)

Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers (Hurt Steve)

Prompts:

I am totally okay with basically any form of canon/au here: modern Steggy, modern Steggy because of time travel, Endgame compliant, Skinny!Steve in any way, CA: TFA missing scene/mission, Steve is found during the 40’s/Never goes into the ice, etc. This can also be either established or pre/beginning of their relationship too.

Steve doing something really reckless to save people, and Peggy berating him a little, but also there’s comforting and tenderness there

I love mission related stories (although don’t feel you need to go too hard on the plot heavy stuff if that’s not your thing), but no power AUs are great too

Steve hurt and having to pretend he’s not while they’re undercover (either established relationship or pre-relationship pining)

I would also love Peggy doing some protecting of her own and being bad ass as well

In parallel to the scene at the end of First Avenger, Peggy having to watch/listen to Steve getting hurt, while she coordinates the mission/his rescue, and then seeing the damage in person after he’s home

Bonus points if they comfort each other

Request 5

Fandom: Knives Out

Relationships: Benoit Blanc/Marta Cabrera (Hurt Marta)

Prompts:

While I love established relationship scenarios for them (and in general), I think this could lead to some great love confessions and getting together scenarios.

This could be set in the movie ‘verse or in an AU if you feel inspired to go that direction

As far as other characters go, I love Harlan (Harlan Lives AUs are my favorite), as well as Lt. Elliott and Tropper Wagner. The Thrombeys are really fun, but I don’t want them to be the focus, especially Ransom. (I really don’t want any hint of romance between Marta and Ransom.)

Marta gets hurt on a case, and Benoit has to take care of her after, all while dealing with the emotions of seeing her get hurt (whether his feelings are known or not at that point)

Bonus points if they’re undercover as a couple on the case

Marta getting hurt protecting Benoit and/or other people

While many of the freeform tags I selected reference physical pain, emotional hurt would be great too, especially with everything Marta is dealing with post movie. (And during the movie. #ProtectMartaCabrera)

One of my favorite things about Benoit and his interactions with Marta in the movie is just how tender he is, almost from the word go. Regardless of the actual plot/scenario, I would love that tenderness to be on full display.

Request 6

Fandom: WandaVision

Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Jimmy Woo & Monica Rambeau (All Hurt)

Prompts:

I have seen through the finale, so don’t worry about needing to avoid spoilers or anything like that.

This could be set during the show, with canon AU to add in things we didn’t see, or set after the show with them teaming up again. I would also love a full on AU if that’s where you’d like to go.

Slight canon AU of the last episode where the three of them meet up again after everything and comfort each other/catch each other up/celebrate/process/etc

I’m a little bitter we don’t see them all together after everything. Yeah, Darcy’s line was funny, but I wanted more scenes with the three of them.

Most of the freeform tags I’ve selected are about physical hurt, but emotional hurt is great too, and some combination of the two among the three of them would be cool too.

I would especially love Monica’s powers being a factor in this, and all of them trying to protect each other in various ways. They’re all so competent and strong in different ways and I love seeing that come together in their teamwork.

Just them being a supportive team and relying on each other after a difficult mission/experience.

Request 7

Fandom: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Relationships: Jefferson Davis & Rio Morales & Miles Morales (Hurt Miles)

Prompts:

While I do love AUs, this request one is where I’m less interested in a complete AU. I would prefer him to still be Spider-Man, even if you change other things about the canon.

Jefferson and Rio know that Miles is Spider-Man, but they found out/figured it out and Miles didn’t tell them, so they’re letting him think they’re still in the dark, but they’re doing what they can to help and keep him safe

Jefferson and Rio don’t know that Miles is Spider-Man and how they find out is when he’s injured

Bonus points if he gets injured protecting one or both of them

Miles is starting to feel the overwhelming weight of being a teenage superhero and without telling them specifics, goes home to get comfort from his parents

This could involve both physical and emotional hurt, or just one of those

Just lots of soft, tender family comfort in and around the angst

#Hurt Comfort Exchange 2021 #creator letter #I've never done an exchange with freeform tags like this before #I'm excited #and probably chose way too many

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strawberrybrainrot · 5 years

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Hey, could I get some headcanons for both Byleths + Claude in the modern era? Like what are their careers/doing since war isnt really something as easily accessible compared to Foldan. Maybe even hints of a romance on the horizon? Idk, tbh, but your writing style really interests me and I love your take on these ideas.

Oh fuck we love a modern au

Also thank you I’m glad you like my stuff 🥺

M/F Byleth and Claude + modern au hcs

Notes: I’m going to break this up into two parts. Pt. 1 is the character hcs and pt. 2 will go into their relationships.

Part 2: coming soon!

🗡M!Byleth🗡

Younger than Bylass by a few minutes but a lot of people think he’s the older sibling

This is mostly due to his calm, cool older brother-esque attitude

Even though he’s the younger sibling he sometimes calls her “little sis” bc of her height

He came into college as an astrophysics major but switched to biophysics

Had a weird love hate relationship with Claude while they were in college

After college, Byleth becomes a high school bio/chem teacher

He has several animals in his classroom and most of them are reptiles

His student’s favorite class pet is a sassy bearded dragon named Sothis LMAO

Byleth sometimes lets her sit on his shoulder when he teaches bio

He’s pretty popular with the students

They find his class entertaining bc of his non-traditional teaching methods

He demonstrates a lot of wild experiments that often cause his student to react wildly, but he does it all with a straight face

“PROFESSOR IS THE TABLE SUPPOSED TO BE ON FIRE????”

“Don’t worry about it”

🔮 F!Byleth 🔮

Bylass was a world arts and culture/anthropology major in college

She doesn’t actually mind if people think she’s the younger twin

It just gives her an excuse to make fun of her brother and say he looks old

She and Claude get along well bc he gets her dry humor

Bylass becomes a high school history/philosophy teacher

She also serves as a councilor and students love coming to her because she gives them tasty snacks along with great life advice

Even though those subjects can be a little boring, she’s good at keeping her student’s attention by throwing out random fun facts about the topics they’re covering

These facts are usually weird and never fail to get a giggle from her students

“Even though cities like Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius, some buildings remained mostly intact. In fact, archeologists were able to discover that residents of Pompeii often wrote insults on the walls like ‘Epaphra, glaber es’ which means ‘Epaphra, you are bald’.”

“LMAO WIG”

⚡️ Claude ⚡️

Claude is a new college graduate who double majored in sociology and world arts and culture

He went to college with the Byleths but they graduated two years before him

During his time as a student, he worked a part time job at a coffee shop near campus, even though his family owns an influential company

He worked there for all four years so he got pretty good at making special drinks

He also learned to do latte art from his coworker, Ignatz coffee shop au when

Whenever the Byleths would visit him at work he’d throw in a free mini scone

After he graduated, he left the country to travel the world for a couple of years

During his travels he would send the byleths some souvenirs

The souvenirs are often really weird or really stupid

He would sometimes FaceTime them when they got the packages bc he wanted to see their reactions

“Claude... what the hell is ‘Obama Strawberry’”

“It’s gum from Kenya!”

“It doesn’t even taste good...”

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prettywordsyouleft · 5 years

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Beyond The Palace Walls - Part 8 (Reupload)

Genre: royal au / fluff / adventure / self-growth

Characters: Jung Jaehyun x reader (feat. Ten, Lucas and Taeyong)

A/N: This story was started as a request but it didn’t suit the idol I was writing it for and it was too good to scrap. Originally, it was going to be a Lucas fiction but then I realised I was writing Jaehyun without realising it and so my bias one of them won it out.

Index: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Epilogue

The group split up intentionally this time around. Ten wanted to show Jane his home and introduce her to his family, and Lucas needed to assure his parents of his sister’s happiness. As for the three of you that remained, it was time to travel to the castle you had seen in the distance last night. Now in broad daylight, it appeared much like something you had known your whole life.

It was strange, you hadn’t once missed home on this journey but the closer you got, the more you craved the normalcy of the routine within the castle walls. You wondered if you would feel at home at Jaehyun’s castle or if it would only compel you to return to your own that much faster.

The entire way there, both Taeyong and Jaehyun prepped you. They gave over the names of the royal family and what to expect. You took it on board and smiled to yourself at their prattling, wondering who it was truly for. You had always thought Taeyong to be someone strong in the face of authority, yet he seemed to be just as concerned as Jaehyun was. You decided you would lend both of them your best manners as well as your strength. Today you would ensure neither suffered.

After all, they had done so much for you already.

The guards at the castle gate eyed your travelling party suspiciously until you were close enough to be recognised. “My goodness! THE PRINCE IS BACK!”

The cries echoed throughout the fortress as the gate was promptly opened and you entered alongside the two men, your eyes soaking in the differences to his castle. Its stone walls were darker in colour to your own and the gothic style seemed rather foreign to you. Whilst you were used to the roundness of your Romanesque home, there was a charm to the structured form of Jaehyun’s castle. You gasped as you walked near a stain-glassed window, stopping to admire it.

Jaehyun came up behind you and pointed at it from over your shoulder. “This is my family. Every stained window in this castle has generations of my family but this specific one represents this lifetime. This piece here with the rose is me.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “I apparently loved our rose garden as a child so now I’m symbolised with the rose in every royal decree.”

“My flower prince,” you mused and Taeyong chuckled at Jaehyun’s flushed expression.

“Come on, they’ll know we’re here and will be waiting now,” Taeyong encouraged and you continued on with your journey through the hallways and grandiose of the castle until you entered a parlour.

There sat an older woman who dropped her cup down with a clatter, getting to her feet with haste. She hugged Jaehyun tightly. “My child!”

“Mama!” he cried affectionately and you felt a twinge of guilt and homesickness whilst watching the reunion. Turning away, you found another set of eyes within the room and you could tell he was Jaehyun’s father. Although he was aged, he bore a similar resemblance to the younger man standing next to you and you smiled graciously.

He eyed you with some interest but was yet to speak, waiting for his turn with his son. Jaehyun approached the chair that he sat upon and bowed lightly. “I have returned, Father.”

“Yes, yes you have,” he mentioned with a chuckle, grasping his son’s hand tightly. He was emotional and blinked back his forming tears, your own gaze dropping to give them their privacy. You almost wondered if you should step out of the room.

Taeyong gave you a small smile and then turned to the Queen. “Your Highness, you look as lovely as ever.”

“Not as beautiful as the treat before my eyes,” she crooned delightfully, reaching to take your hand. She smiled warmly and you couldn’t help but mirror her gentleness. “Who may this be?”

“Princess Y/N of the neighbouring kingdom,” Jaehyun announced, his eyes shining from across the room at you. You felt a strange sense of hesitance, wondering what that gaze entailed. Jaehyun however grinned. “She will become my wife.”

Time moved faster since Jaehyun’s announcement. There was little talk and much action, the Queen jumping into celebration mode. You attempted to keep up but admittedly when you were handed off to a chambermaid, you simply gave into the situation and followed orders. She took you to a plush room and instructed she would assist you with a bath and change. It was odd to be without Jane as your clothing was removed, and once you were naked, you moved away from her to look within the large mirror upon the wall. Lifting your arm and turning your body to the side, you smiled to see your injury had healed very well. The purple and blue tones were gone and there was only a faint discolouration to show you had once sported a large bruise there.

“Are you alright, Your Highness?” the chambermaid questioned and you returned to her side, nodding once. She took you into the adjoining bathroom and helped you sink into the steaming bath, your body relaxing within the water.

It pained you to admit that you missed the luxuries of home greatly once settled within the bath. And once you were dressed within a rich maroon gown, you couldn’t help but admire yourself greatly. You were mesmerised by who you saw staring back at you as the woman laced up the back gently and then left you to empty out the water. At home, you had seen a similar appearance countless of times. But the former image never smiled as brightly as you did now and her eyes were dull. Now, they shone with life and experience. You knew you could return home and face your Father.

You knew with time, you would make a fair and understanding Queen to your people.

When you were finally taken back to the parlour, the members of the room all reacted to your return. The Queen clapped her hands together in joy and the King smiled and nodded appreciatively. Taeyong’s eyes were wide and he looked you up and down, trying to decipher where the dirty and plain looking version of yourself had gone.

Jaehyun approached you, his eyes washing over you once before he took you in his arms.

“This is the real you?” he murmured into your ear and you nodded lightly. “How could you keep this from me for so long? You were beautiful before but now you’re breathtaking.”

You could say the same for him. Whilst you had been scrubbed and dressed to perfection, he had undergone the same treatment. You remembered back to your first time seeing him up on the stage dancing and your thoughts over what he would look like in a suit.

You weren’t prepared in the slightest to see him in the rich fabrics he now adorned and you lightly fingered the rose upon his lapel and smiled. You were right to have called him a Flower Prince before. He was exactly that.

“Dinner will be served within an hour and we’ve already called for your brothers and sisters to join us tonight. It will be a wonderful feast to celebrate in your good news and return, my son. Would you like to show Y/N around the castle some more until then?”

Jaehyun looked as if he would prefer to clear up the misunderstanding with his parents but Taeyong cleared his throat, shaking his head quickly. He then smiled graciously at the leaders. “I think that’s a great idea. Perhaps, you could show Y/N where the rose garden is?”

“Why did you stop me?” Jaehyun asked once out of the room, Taeyong glancing at his friend before letting out a heavy sigh. Jaehyun’s own gaze was dark. “They believe I will bring Y/N here and rule together.”

“Wait until dinner.”

“And drop it on all the guests?” you voiced, concerned. “Taeyong, I don’t think-”

“My brother will be present then,” Jaehyun intervened softly and Taeyong nodded. You grasped onto the idea and smiled. “Taeyong, you might just be the smartest man I know.”

He grinned. “I have to do something well in life.”

“Well, that didn’t go as brilliantly as Taeyong suggested but at least it’s happened now,” Jaehyun announced much later into the evening, walking around the palace grounds with you restlessly. You had found his family dynamics interesting. Everyone was approachable and generous with their questions and praise for you at Jaehyun’s side before talk of Jaehyun’s rule came about.

It was as if everyone at the table changed when the King chortled with joy that the future ruler was back. The sisters grew disinterested and the eldest son was sullen. The other attempted to clap excitedly until his Mother shook her head softly. You watched the matron of the table, her body language conflicted. As a mother, she could tell her children were hurting by this decision and you took a deep breath before addressing the table.

“Do you know much of my kingdom?” you asked and no one responded immediately.

The King pushed his spectacles up further on his nose and then laughed merrily. “Why of course, my dear. Your Father and I have had many years of prosperous trade and communication. You are the one he talks of the most I must say, his pride and joy.”

You nodded.

“Do you know more about her family, Father?” Jaehyun continued, understanding the plan you had initiated. He cut at his steak before glancing up expectantly. “How many children does the King of Y/N’s kingdom have?”

“Well let me see, he has the beautiful Y/N sitting here at our table and, and…” He trailed off then, realisation crossing his face. He refused to speak, his face growing red at the predicament.

Jaehyun smiled at his Mother and then his eldest brother. The man wasn’t looking up from his meal but he was definitely listening. “He only has the one child. And Y/N will rule as heir to the throne.”

The eldest brother’s gaze snapped to you both then but he didn’t say anything.

“Does that mean you will be King in another kingdom altogether, brother?”

Jaehyun nodded simply. “I’m afraid so. I couldn’t ask the King to give up his daughter and his only heir, could I?”

“Did you plan this?!” the King bellowed and then coughed. You were concerned about his health deteriorating over this and grasped onto Jaehyun’s lower arm under the table. “Did you go out there searching for a way not to rule here?!”

“No,” Jaehyun answered and stared firmly at his Father. “I was resigned that I would have to come back here and live in misery ruling after you, knowing full well my brother wants the throne. I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer, even though I had no desire to take what is rightfully his.”

Jaehyun glanced around the table at his family and stopped on his Mother’s face, who was silently crying and smiling. You could tell she was overwhelmed at what Jaehyun had done for this family. He continued whilst staring at her fondly. “I was on my way home when a little bird escaped her cage and flew into my open palms. I helped her find her way as her fragile wings weren’t ready to journey alone. And then when I found that she was royal blood herself, well I almost turned away.”

He glanced at you and you couldn’t help but smile up at Jaehyun.

“Y/N has taught me more about myself during the time I’ve been helping her than these years I’ve been away. I never felt free even when I was far away from here. I always believed I would end up back here and ruling instead of the better suitor. Now, I get to step down from the throne here and instead build a closer relationship between our kingdoms through our marriage. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“I think it’s perfect,” the Queen agreed, smiling warmly and then moving to tend to her husband. “Isn’t it perfect, my love?”

He looked around the table and then got up, leaving the room in a huff.

The room felt lighter with his departure and joy entered the meal once again. You worried the King would dispute this somehow but the Queen told you both she would encourage this union greatly. And when Jaehyun’s oldest brother looked at you next, he was grinning.

You smiled as you walked beside Jaehyun just thinking over how happy he had been.

“You know, we’ve announced these plans yet your Father has no idea of this marriage of ours,” Jaehyun mentioned softly and you nodded, your smile growing as you looked up at him. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “What if he-”

“How could he not accept what I want?” you mentioned immediately. Reaching for Jaehyun’s hand, you rubbed at the back of it gently with your thumb. “He will accept you.”

“Really?” You nodded but Jaehyun didn’t seem convinced. “How do you know?”

“Because, as you said, I’m his only heir and if he says no, this little bird will fly away with you.”

Jaehyun chuckled and you both started to walk again. “You’re trouble.”

“You taught me to be strong and stand up for who I want to be,” you reminded, shuffling closer and linking your arm with his. “You all have taught me that I need to do what matters most to me. How can I do that without you at my side?”

“Sometimes, I wonder if you are some kind of addiction. How could I fall for you so easily, Y/N? You have intoxicated me.”

“Well, I admit your dancing is not nearly as good as Ten’s,” you started and Jaehyun turned to look at you. You giggled. “But I remember the first time I saw you and thinking you were far too handsome.”

“So you love me for my looks?” he asked, feigning insult. Jaehyun pouted. “It wasn’t my helpful ways or pushing for you to see the ocean? How I kept you safe as much as I could or when we first kissed? You liked me before all that?”

You sighed at his dramatics and nodded slyly. “Having a handsome husband will make me a fine Queen.”

“Ha!”

“Do you remember when Marigold told you that you had to assist me?” you asked and Jaehyun nodded silently. “She knew I was the princess as soon as she saw me.”

“She knew I was a prince too.”

“Did she?” You glanced up at Jaehyun and he nodded again. You nestled back against him and looked at the path ahead. “She told me you would be my saviour. It was then.”

“Then?” he repeated and stopped you from walking again. Turning, he pulled you gently in front of him. He was curious. “What did you realise then?”

“When you offered to take me on my journey without hesitation. That’s when I fell for you.”

He grinned to himself, proud of something. Looking around you both, he then leaned down to kiss you gently. When he pulled back, he appeared triumphant. “I win then.”

“You win?”

“I loved you from first sight.”

You rolled your eyes and shook your head. Jaehyun laughed and grabbed at your face, making you nod it gently instead. “I’m being honest. When I saw you from the stage, I wondered why I had never seen you before. I would have remembered someone as beautiful as you.”

“Oh, so you only fell for my looks too?” you chastised and he smirked, leaning in to kiss you again.

“Only a beautiful wife could make me a fine King.”

_________________

Part 9

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fyrapartnersearch · 4 years

Text

on the look-out for long-term, m// original role plays.

hi there, my name is molly and i'm a great big disappointment. let's be friends. i'm 26 years old and reside in central time zone, usa. i have about 15 years of role playing/writing experience under my belt, but over the past several years i have stagnated in both categories, so i am rusty to say the least. here are a few things about me that are important:

i am rather fond of a happy balance of both quality and quantity responses. generally my intros have been anywhere between 1,500-2,000 and responses 500-800 words, but as i've been out of the writing game for some time i am very open to something more casual to help me get the hang of things again. a compelling story and character dynamic are the most important things to me.

i only want to do m/m relationships.

i love ooc chatting and getting to know my partners outside of the role play. i have met some of the best people through role playing so i see it as both an avenue to writing great stories with great people as well as making friends! i love obsessing and gushing over characters with each other and sharing songs and creating au's. i also love to get to you know as a person.

i am by no means a frequent replier. i am a slow, methodical writer with a bad attention span haha. once a role play progresses, i am generally better about my timeliness, but before that i point i do require patience. in return i give you my own infinite patience and understanding. however, in between replies i am always open for general chatter or gushing over characters!

i will only do modern/realistic settings, though they can step into supernatural/futuristic territory. just no fantasy, anime, fandoms, nothing like that.

these are really the only major points about my role playing style that are necessary for you to coincide with, otherwise i am flexible and do not really have limits except for the very obvious ones that are most peoples' limits (i can specify if needed). just talk to me about whatever you might be interested in and we can go from there. plot bunnies: #1 - character with cancer becomes the sympathetic poster child for a politician’s campaign in his quest to restore his reputation #2 - character is sold into human trafficking and other character is his involuntary captor (his father is the boss) and attempted rescuer #3 - this idea was inspired by the futurama episode, 'the devil's hands are idle playthings', in which fry makes a deal with the robot devil to be able to play the 'holophonor' (a revered and notoriously difficult instrument to play) so he can prove his enduring love for leela. fry ends up trading his hands for the devil's, who knows how to play the holophonor, and proceeds to write an opera for leela. in a broader sense, i am intrigued with the idea of someone so dedicated to another that they would take on a risky endeavor like making a deal with the devil in a zealous effort to win them over, potentially even undergoing a physical alteration like fry did for leela. #4 - former boy band member does anything to break away from his 'teenage heartthrob' image. pairings:

divorced dads (either divorced from each other or divorcee/divorcee)

drug dealer/druggie

drug dealer/supplier

groom/best man

closeted/uncloseted

older gay man/younger 'straight' college boy

college roommates

opposites attract

blue collar worker/boss's son

complicated hook-up

friends with benefits

father/son's friend

former friends with bad blood

topics:

human trafficking

age gaps

group of men thrown in a horror setting and forced to survive

group of men/boys in general surviving and thriving

murderous cults

southern gothic

deals with the devil

power imbalance

one-sided relationships

relationships doomed to fail

settings:

period pieces in the '70s, '80s, '90s

traveling carnival

apartment complex

retail

this is just a start-up list that i will add on to as i think of more ideas/pairings. i am open and eager to hear about any ideas you are particularly interested in that you’d like to bring to the table. contact: when you contact me, please tell me a bit about yourself. not just your role playing style, but you personally. i like to get to know my partners parallel to planning the role play; i feel a bit awkward just diving right into brainstorming with essentially a stranger. i will probably not reply if you don't a. tell me about yourself and b. specify what you're looking for role play-wise. i do have a discord, but prefer initial correspondence be through email. once we've established a rapport, we can move to discord if you like. email: [email protected]

#oc rp #multiple paragraph #long term #email #submission

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sandalaris · 4 years

Note

for the new writer asks: 1, 4, 6 and 7? But if you're bored and want to do the other 3, please go for it, all the questions are so interesting

I put the requested questions in bold and the others I italicized. :) Thanks for the ask!

1. Which of your own finished fics have you re-read the most?

Probably Intervening Processes (We’ve Got This). A Suicide Squad inspired Sterek fic that I’ve had a half-written sequel to in the works. It has its flaws, but I still really like it and when in a Teen Wolf mood, work on its sequel.

2. Which of your own finished fics will you probably never read again because then you’ll have to remember how much you don’t like it/how hard it was to write/how annoying the fandom was/some other negative association?

iLet Him (no link because I’m embarrassed I ever wrote it, but I also refuse to take it down because I know what its like to lose a fic you enjoy reading and if even one person likes it then I won’t take it away from them). Its an iCarly fanfic I wrote back in 2009. All my fics from then are not really good, although a few are OK, but this one was the first one to get a less than positive review. I’ve developed thicker skin since then but at the time it hurt that someone disliked it enough to tell me it was bad.

3. You can only use one musical artist or poet just for lyric titles for the rest of your life: who would it be?

I am so bad with knowing artists its not even funny. I wanna says Grandson or Panic!At The Disco. I feel like Panic has a lot of interestingly worded lines that would be fun to play with as titles, but I think Grandson’s lyrics might fit my fics a little better maybe? As for poets... I’m even worse at poets than I am at song artists. At least when I hear a song I like I can glance at the screen and see the singer’s/band’s name, when I read a poem I like I don’t even notice who wrote it, I just enjoy how it makes me feel.

4. What’s your favorite opening line you’ve ever written?

I went back and read all my opening lines and I don’t actual have strong feelings about any of them. :/ There are plenty of whole opening paragraphs I like well enough, but opening first lines are kind of my achilles heel. If I had to pick the the ones I felt were the best of an otherwise bland bunch, I’d go with:

Baby, We’re a Cliche: “The first time Derek is set to meet someone at a bar, and really he blames Erica for the entire mess of things thankyouverymuch, it goes exactly as well as he expects.”

and

She Really Is a Funny Girl: “Emma Swan's arrival spawned many seemingly coincidental occurrences. Unspoken, and therefore unconnected, by the people of Storybrooke.” (Which is technically more than one line, but if I had written it today I’d have made it one sentence.)

5. What’s your favorite closing line you’ve ever written?

I just realized I’d been assuming this and number four are referring to the first line of the first chapter and last line of the last chapter, when technically I could have translated either questions as the first or last line of any scene and/or chapter I wished. Oh well.

You’re a Hurricane, I’m a Flood: “He should let her go. He won't, but he should.” as it perfectly sums up how I feel about the Trevor/Rene relationship on the show Travelers.

6. Which character would you include in more fics if you felt more confident writing them?

Shirley Bennet from Community. I find myself finding excuses for her to be elsewhere because I feel like I can’t get her down quite right. The closest I’ve ever gotten to getting her right is in an AU where she’s a cop trying to arrest Jeff and Britta. It doesn’t make it any easier that with seven main characters, its pretty easy to shove her to the back during scenes. I don’t want to do that Shirley though, I like her too much to not at least try to include her.

7. What is one plot point or character or title you would change for any of your finished fics?

Finished fic? Maybe the title Cake Batter (no link, sorry) because it was something that only made sense to me, a little inside joke that was then separated by about three degrees, and I know I could have done better on coming up with a title.

Unfinished, I’ve been itching to rewrite All the Little Pieces as I was experimenting with writing styles while in the thick of it and am unhappy with quite a few chapters. I can barely bring myself to work on the next chapters in it because the fact that it needs fixing keeps distracting me. I also wish I would have stuck with my original scene for when Richie learns Kate is with Seth/at Uncle Eddie’s in A Lesson in Navigation, but I completely changed the entire thing before I even got to the chapter because of a line I’d written in an already posted chapter and instead of fixing what Seth said and adding an A/N to clear up any confusion, I pulled my hair out trying to make the new scene work and while I feel I’ve managed to keep it from being a total disaster, the original one was much better.

#asked and answered

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sapphic-sustrai · 5 years

Text

Team DMNO Bios: Douglas Craig.

So, a while back I made a post talking about my RWBY OC team. I’ve decided to update all of their bios and this time I’ll be posting them each individually on Tumblr, starting with Douglas. Before I begin, I just wanted to say a little bit about my OC team!

The team name is DMNO {pronounced Domino}. When I think of dominoes, I primarily think of the colours black & white. To match the theme of the team name, all of its members have a name that either means light/white or black/dark.

They’re an all Faunus team from Atlas Academy and at the start of Vol. 1 are in their 2nd year. They’re also one of the chosen teams from Atlas to fight in the 40th Vytal Festival tournament.

Basically this team exists within in AU that I have for RWBY.

The team consists of their leader Douglas Craig, Melanie Hertz, Norbert Beaufort, and Olwen Kunik.

Now it’s time to talk about my free-spirited son, Douglas Craig! If there are any errors, I will go back and fix them eventually. More will be underneath the cut.

Full Name: Douglas Murchadh Craig.

Alias: The Blackwater Blader.

Nickname{s}: Doug {mostly used by everyone}, Dougie {only used by his mothers, mostly by Nagisa}, Bud {only used by Olwen}, Doofus {only used by his younger brother Kaito}, Saltwater Breath {only used by Melanie}, DC {only used by Norbert}.

Age: 18 {Vol. 1-3}.

Gender: Cis Male.

Race: Sea Otter Faunus, has a dark brown otter tail.

D.O.B/Star Sign: July 17th/Cancer.

Romantic/Sexual Orientation: Pansexual.

Handedness: Ambidextrous.

Complexion: Lightly-tanned.

Height: 5’10 {178cm}.

Weight: 160lbs {73kg}.

Body Type: Rectangular body shape, tall, lean, slightly muscular, six pack, long legs.

Hairstyle{s}:

Buzz cut, looked almost bald {Youth}.

Short and messy, with his bangs parted in the middle {Vol. 1-3}.

Hair Colour{s}: Black, with aqua highlights. Added the highlights right before attending Atlas Academy.

Eye Colour: Blue.

Aura Colour: Seafoam Blue.

Emblem: A swordfish, that looks as if it’s leaping out of the water. The majority of the emblem is seafoam blue, with an ocean blue outline and eye.

Weapon{s}: Black Marlon and the Dorado Daggers.

The Black Marlin is a two-barreled shotgun katana mix, with the shotgun as the base mode. When transforming into its katana mode, Douglas holds down a button located on the stock/grip and swings the blade out. The blade pops out from in-between the two barrels and extends. The shotgun and the stock/grip are primarily ocean blue, with a seafoam blue striped pattern that looks like waves. The stripes do glow when the weapon is in use. The blade is primarily obsidian black, with a pearl white Kanemoto-style hamon.

The Dorado Daggers are a switchblade/water pistol mix, with the water pistol being its base mode. When transforming into the switchblade mode, Douglas holds down a button located on the grip and the blade pops out from in-between the barrel and locks into place at the front. The grips are the same colour as the Black Marlin’s grips and they also glow when they’re in use. The blades are the same colour as a Mahi-Mahi fish.

Dust is inserted into the bottom of the stock or grips of Douglas’ weapons. Both weapons have a reflective coating on their blades and they shimmer when exposed to sunlight.

Types of Dust Used: Primarily water and electricity. Sometimes he’ll combine water and fire dust to create a steam element.

Other Equipment:

Dust pouch {ocean blue, belted around his right leg just above the knee}.

Shotgun Holster {ocean blue, attached to his belt, hangs from his left side, where he keeps Black Marlin when not in use}.

Gun Holster Vest {ocean blue, worn underneath his button-up shirt, where he keeps the Dorado Daggers}.

Fighting Style: Douglas’ fighting style is almost exactly like how he is a person, it’s very, “go with the flow”. He moves like a body of water, one moment he’ll be like a gentle river, the next he could be like a ferocious tidal wave. When using his sword, he does a lot of slashing like a swordfish or precise jabs.

Semblance: Ocean Mist - A semblance that allows the user to disappear and evaporate as a misty vapour, then reappears just a few seconds later. They can either reappear in the same spot or teleport to a new spot a few feet away, they can’t teleport over large distances. They also cannot use the semblance too much in short bursts, otherwise they’ll experience dizziness, feeling disoriented and a slight headache. Douglas has described this as, “feeling like he’s seasick”.

Other Skills, Talents, etc...

Vast knowledge of marine biology.

Expert sailing skills.

Very agile, nimble & flexible.

Incredibly creative, is known for having, “out of the box, solutions for most problems.

Excellent swimming skills.

Current Affiliation: Atlas Academy.

Previous Affiliation: Sanctum Academy.

Place of Origin: Vacuo, but his family currently resides on the Island of Patch.

Current Occupation{s}: Student, Huntsman-in-training.

Team/Status: DMNO. Currently active, but will become inactive soon after the Fall of Beacon. Won’t be active again for quite some time.

Team Members: Himself, Melanie Hertz, Norbert Beaufort & Olwen Kunik.

Partner: Norbert Beaufort.

Team Role: Ranged/Melee DPS.

Status: Alive.

Positive Qualities: Humble, dependable, out-going, charismatic, creative/imaginative, venturesome, calm, very go with the flow.

Neutral Qualities: Ambitious {applying to both his short- & long-term goals}, mellow, dreamy {often finds himself daydreaming}, absentminded.

Negative Qualities: Lazy, resentful {if you hurt him or anyone that he’s close to, he probably won’t forgive you}, untidy/messy, can be a bit clumsy.

Likes:

Laying in hammocks & taking naps.

Going to aquariums.

Marine biology.

Going sailing.

Surfing.

Spending time at the beach with friends.

Barbecuing.

Sketching in his sketchbook.

Dislikes:

Cauliflower {he hates how it tastes}.

Studying {he’ll still do it, but will complain about having to do it}.

People who wear socks with sandals.

Sunburns.

Dishonest people.

Alarm clocks {hates the alarm sounds and he likes to sleep in}.

Favourite…?

Food: Seafood {primarily lobster & crab}, pineapple pizza, mangos.

Drink: Iced tea, fruit smoothies, water with lemon.

Season/Weather: Summer/sunny & rainy days.

Colour: Cerulean or ocean blue.

Animal: Swordfish, mahi-mahi fish, dolphins.

Movie Genre: Romantic comedies or comedies.

Music Genre: Bluegrass & classic rock.

Relationships:

Meredith Craig:

Relationship: Mother, good overall, but there was a point in time where their relationship was strained.

Status: Alive.

Nagisa Watanabe:

Relationship: Biological Mother, good.

Status: Alive.

Hurley Lynch:

Relationship: Surrogate Father, good.

Status: Deceased.

Kaito Watanabe:

Relationship: Younger Brother, by 6 years, good overall, but they tease each other often.

Status: Alive.

Fingal, “Finn”, Craig:

Relationship: Grandfather {Meredith’s Father}, good.

Status: Alive.

Olwen Kunik:

Relationship: Closest Friend, teammate, good.

Status: Alive.

Norbert Beaufort:

Relationship: Close friend, partner, crush.

Status: Alive.

Melanie Hertz:

Relationship: Close friend, teammate, good overall, but they do clash often because of their differing personalities.

Status: Alive.

Team RWBY:

Relationship: Friends, good overall, gets along with Ruby the best, gets along with Weiss the least.

Status: Alive.

Team JNPR:

Relationship: Friends, good overall, gets along with Nora the best, gets along with Jaune the least.

Status: Alive {Pyrrha’s alive in this AU}.

Penny Polendina:

Relationship: Friends, good.

Status: Alive, then deceased, then rebuilt and brought back to life.

Early Life {Backstory}:

Douglas was born in the Kingdom of Vacuo.

His family consists of his two mothers, Meredith Craig & Nagisa Watanabe, as well as his younger brother Kaito Watanabe. Meredith was an accountant who worked from home, while Nagisa was a marine biologist. Kaito attends a public school on Patch.

His surrogate father Hurley Lynch lived close by and played an active role in both Douglas & Kaito’s lives. Hurley was a close family friend and worked as a marine biologist alongside Nagisa.

Hurley tragically passed away while out at sea with his crew. They were on their way to study the marine life in Mistral, but the boat was attacked by a Sea Feilong Grimm during an intense thunder storm. Douglas was 9 years old when this tragedy occurred and it hit him incredibly hard. As a result, he soon experienced a fear of the water, which lasted for about two years. Eventually he decided to seek out professional help, so that he could conquer his fear and learn to love the water again.

When Douglas was 10 years old, the family decided to pack up everything to move to the Island of Patch in the Kingdom of Vale. They still reside there currently and have no plans on moving again anytime soon.

Douglas got along very well with Nagisa, but from the ages of 8-12, he had a strained relationship with both Meredith & Kaito. Meredith used to be a little tougher on Douglas more than Kaito because Douglas was, “the oldest and should know better” because that’s how she was raised growing up. After a couple of arguments between the entire family, Douglas & Meredith reconciled with each other. Eventually Douglas apologized to his younger brother for how he treated him. Meredith has since then treated her sons equally.

Douglas has always wanted to be a Huntsman ever since he was little. He wanted to help people of course, but his two other big reasons were 1} he wanted to explore every inch of Remnant because he loves to travel and 2} he wants to be moderately wealthy so that he can help his family live a comfortable life. His mothers insist that the family is well off financially, but Douglas knows about how his family struggled financially for most of his life growing up. He just wants to help his family out in any way that he can.

Douglas decided to attend Sanctum Academy because by his own logic, “he’s already lived in Vacuo and Vale, so he thinks that living in Mistral next would be interesting.” It was at Sanctum where he met his closest friend and future Team DMNO teammate, Olwen Kunik. When it was time for them to pick the academy that they’d attend for the next 4 years, Douglas decided to tag along with Olwen to Atlas. He didn’t really have a set school that he wanted to attend to, he also hadn’t been to Atlas before and wanted to give it a shot.

Primary Attire {Youth}:

Baggy T-Shirt {White, with a navy-blue anchor logo, short sleeved}.

Selvedge Denim Shorts {dark blue}.

Straw Sole Flip Flops {rubber parts are black}.

Atlas Academy Uniform:

Pocket-Vest Jacket {grey, left unbuttoned, with the belt undone}.

Suit Shirt {white, top buttons left unbuttoned, tie hangs loosely around his neck, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, untucked}.

Long Trousers {white}.

Dress Socks {black}.

Dress Shoes {black}.

Primary Attire {Vol. 1-3}:

Button-Up Shirt {navy blue, left unbuttoned, short sleeved, wears nothing underneath}.

Anchor Necklace {silver, with a silver rope wrapped around it, silver chain}.

Military Belt {ocean blue nylon webbing, with a sturdy plastic buckle, gun holster vest is attached}.

Board Shorts {colour gradation from indigo to a lighter shade of blue, has belt loops}.

Open-toed Sandals {black, with straw soles}.

Other Notes About Appearance:

Has a couple of freckles on the bridge of his nose.

Has long sideburns {Vols. 1-3}.

Has a soul patch {Vol. 1-3}.

He has a large version of his emblem tattooed on his upper back. He also has an outline of a compass tattooed on the back of his right hand.

If He Had a Voice it Would Be: Travis Willingham {Current}, Chris Burnett {Youth}.

Misc. Trivia:

Douglas’ inspiration for his emblem & weapons came from his many visits to the Vacuo aquarium growing up. Swordfish and mahi-mahi fish were two of his favourite fish to see during these trips. He also wanted a reminder of Hurley because going to the aquarium was always their favourite thing to do together.

He has a stuffed shark named Sharptooth that he’s had ever since he was a child. He received it as a gift from Hurley during their first ever trip to the aquarium together.

He has arachnophobia {a fear of spiders}.

He has two dogs at home, a brown Newfoundland dog named Bear and a black Labrador retriever named Blackbeard or, “Beardie”, for short. Bear is 6 years old and Beardie is 3 years old. His mothers named Bear, while Douglas named Beardie.

Douglas loves giving/receiving nicknames. He has several nicknames for his teammates, friends and family {e.g. he calls Norbert, “Norbie”, Olwen, “Wen”, Melanie, “Melly or Flame Brain”, and Kaito “Half-Pint or Squirt}. He thinks that the use of nicknames shows that you have a close bond with someone.

He’s loved to draw & sketch since he was little. He designed his tattoos himself. He has a sketch book filled with potential tattoo ideas that he wants to get in the future.

That’s all that I have for Douglas! Any comments or critiques would be greatly appreciated and my askbox is always open! I’ll be posting the next member of DMNO Melanie’s bio in the next couple of days, so stay tuned for that!

#rwby #rwby oc #team dmno #douglas craig

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