#AND ALSO TO MY FRIEND ATLAS. because he read me the most beautiful think piece about pacrim that he wrote the other day | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

austennerdita2533 · 3 years

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Hey!

I love Penelope Douglas for sure check her out! She writes some of the best smut tbh. I’m working my way through her devils night series right now-I’m on book 2. It’s good so far, definitely dark though. I’m interested to see how she goes about a redemption arc for the character Damon right now I don’t think he deserves one but I hear such good things about his book, Killswitch, but that’s book 3 so I will see how it goes. I definitely recommend Birthday Girl from her though I loved it and the couple from it are my favorite age gap could I’ve ever read. I find myself still re reading some of their best moments.

I am slightly embarrassed by Credence though so I hope it doesn’t bother you too much if you read it. Just so you know before going into it, it is about her and her step uncle/cousins. To be fair they are not blood related and very distance to the point she didn’t even know about them. But she does call him Uncle Jake during a sex scene, and the two others call her cousin during one too. There’s also a MMF scene with her two cousins. But on top of that there is a sexual assault scene (it does get stopped but the intent is there)-personally I wasn’t a fan of how she inwardly dealt with that scenario it felt like she was blaming herself for it instead of holding the other character accountable. Uncle Jake also does kiss her when she is still 17. So if any of that makes you uncomfortable don’t read it.

I’m so happy you liked the atlas six as much as I did. I can’t believe we have to wait until next year for the sequel to see what happens. It’s too long!! I also liked Callum the least, I still appreciated his character though and what he brings to the story I just wasn’t a fan of his, probably because of his problems with Libby/Parisa. Plus his powers terrify me-as someone who likes to have full control of my emotions the fact that someone could just change everything scares me. I also loved Nico he is my typical character that I love the whole I’m an asshole but soft and caring for the people I love gets me every time. Parisa is my queen though I’m obsessed with her. Like I’m literally in love with her, I wish she was real so she could be with me instead. Not that she would because I’m broke have 0 magic or power to give to her, but still. But I have a thing for power hungry women so I was gone the second I met her. But anyway if she was real she could destroy me or do anything she wanted to me and I would say thank you. Reina I also love and agree she could destroy the whole planet and one day probably will. I just love how she is there and wants all that knowledge but also doesn’t give a fuck about anyone else. Tristan also grew on me I’m still not completely sure how much I like or don’t like him yet he gets annoying sometimes because he is constantly in his mind about his alliances but I also love how loyal and caring he is. Libby is my girl!! I also relate to her as well since I was an outcast and battled inadequacy and all that (you and I must have some stuff in common!) Out of all the characters I relate to her the most and am rooting for her so hard-also because the author made her from Pittsburgh and I’m also from the area so I felt personally attached. But Olivie just did an interview and said Libby is getting a corruption arc and I am so excited about it!!

Okay ships- so I will be honest and I think it’s an unpopular opinion but oh well-I am a nicolibby stan. They have every single dynamic that I love in a ship and they could potentially be my favorite book couple of all time if that is the road they are being taken. Honestly I was obsessed with them from their first interaction so i have it bad for them. Obviously I know they were not romantic in this book but the potential (at least for me) was there especially in some of their quotes in the end. I fully believe they are soulmates though-even the author said they were born on the same day and feel like their other half is missing in an interview once-whether that will be platonic soulmates or romantic soulmates I have no idea and I could see either happening. My heart will break if it is platonic but it’s okay I can just live in my own little head about their potential.

But I get the idea and also like both libbytristan and NicoGideon and could see those happening instead of nicolibby too. I wouldn’t say I would be mad about it either-I do like both just to me the potential of nicolibby works more for me! My only thing about libbytristan though is I’m not sure how much of their tension/feelings are real (like did any of it exist before Parisa put the idea of the other person in their thoughts to lead to all the feelings.)

Weirdly enough since they probably my least favorite characters I also adore Tristan and Callum together. Their dynamic just works for me.

And I love Parisa and Dalton too and I’m so interested in how that relationship pans out because they have some stuff to figure out. But they work well together and honestly they are just so sexy together so I’m down for it. Although I do ship myself with Parisa more than her and Dalton but I’m biased.

Honestly though all the ships are wide open though so I’m curious to see what ends up being endgame. But omg yes the twist I was not expecting it-I’m so excited for the rest of this trilogy!!!

In other news though I finished up the ravenhood series. I know you said you either read it or it was on your tbr. But god I loved it. That series broke me and then put back all the pieces. If you haven’t read it and want to feel both heartbreak and happiness I highly recommend it!

Oh and don’t apologize for babbling as you can tell I also babble!!

-ACOTAR anon

Hiiiii sweets!

I've been sifting through a bunch of summaries of Penelope Doulgas' work on Goodreads and there's a bunch of stuff there I think I'd enjoy. I'm all about good smut. I didn't realize she had that many books. I'm excited! Thanks so much for the rec! I love dark romances/erotica every now and again so I'm also going to have to dive into the Devil's Night series at some point.

Oh, and idk if you know about it/read it but a couple of my friends told me about the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day a while back. It's BDSM, like Fifty Shades, but supposedly loads better. I don't know if you're into that but I figured I'd just throw it out there anyway. The smut is supposed to be steamy. I haven't read it yet but I do have the first four novels on my Kindle (where they've been sitting, unread, for about 2 years now)...so that's something haha.

And please don't be embarrassed about Credence. Seriously, the most wonderful thing about reading is you can go wherever tf you want in your imagination. No one can stop you. There are no rules. No restrictions. You can be whomever or whatever you want to be for a while, morality notwithstanding. One of my favorite things about books is that I can experience the most bonkers, outlandish out-of-this-world stuff that I'd never dream of wanting/liking in real life. It's liberating!

Thank you for the trigger warnings, though. I appreciate that. None of them sound off-putting enough to keep me from reading it. (Tbh, I want to read it more now.) I've read loads of books where characters marry or have sex with their cousins or siblings *waves at ASOIAF, the Secret History* so it doesn't bother me. I've also read most of Lolita and all of My Dark Vanessa by Kate Russell, which both romanticize pedophilia in disturbing degrees, so it takes a lot to put me off. If curiosity could kill then I'd be long dead by now. Hell, sometimes I will purposely read things I know will upset me to my core. What can I say? I'm a weirdo. 🙃

I DON'T WANT TO WAIT A YEAR FOR BOOK 2 OF THE ATLAS SERIES, EITHER. AHHHHH. How am I going to make it that long? It seems so far away!

Callum is the most terrifying of them all right now, imo. I think that's why I disliked him the most. Like you, it shook me to my core to imagine someone like him being able to toy with my emotions. I have a tendency to detach, to keep my emotions pressed close to my chest so that I can't be manipulated or hurt, and the idea that someone could have power over them, over me in that way is...no freaking thank you! I would put as much space between him and me as possible. Most of the Atlas crew had the right idea there. He does bring a lot to the story, though, like you said. I have a feeling he's going to be one of those characters I "love to hate" as the series progress. I might even grow to "hate to love" him, idk. He's just such a shady bastard! And so judgmental/mean to the girls.

I'm with you on Parisa, by the way. She's the kind of conniving, ambitious siren of a woman I can get behind. She has a similar vibe as Katherine Pierce on TVD. I mean, there's nothing in her arsenal she won't use and I love how she weaponizes her beauty. It's delicius. She's unpredictable. Definitely the type of character who inspires "scared and aroused" energy any time she walks into a room. Like, she could choke you and instead of crying you'd just ask her to do it again...harder lol.

Reina has the same kind of "no fucks given" attitude I have because I genuinely don't care what people think of me, either. I'm just here to do my thing. Be nerdy. Learn. Whatever. And Nico is my fave for the same reason as you--the asshole who only has soft edges for those who matter to him. *heart eyes*

Omg, Libby is going to have a corrupted arc? AHHHHH. That's going to be amazing, I cannot stinking wait! I was sort of hoping she'd go dark so now that it's confirmed I'm even more pumped. Also, I think you and I have more in common than either of us realized. I'm from the Pittsburgh area, too! How wild is that? Maybe there's something in the water here and that's why, like Libby, we've both felt inadequate and like outcasts at different points in our lives? Olivie might be onto something here...🤔

The thing that's been so cool for me about this series so far is that there are a bunch of potential pairings I could get behind. And I kind of like that it's not clear cut right now. Most series I know who I want together or who will be together like halfway through book 1. I like that I don't know have firm preferences and am still open. That's novel. Not to mention fun!

I don't blame you for shipping Nicolibby so hard, though. They're definitely one of my top contenders for a romantic pairing. They have that enemies-to-lovers element with witty banter that I always gravitate toward. And you're right about Libby/Tristan. I don't know how much of their connection was manufactured because Parisa intervened, either. That'll be fun to puzzle out moving forward. And Callum/Tristan should NOT be a ship I like but they have a palpable something that I can't put my finger on. I've got my eye on them, for sure.

The Ravenhood series is still on my tbr. I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it so much, though! It's rare to read something that just ticks all your boxes. The next time I'm the mood to binge a series I'm gonna have to pick that one up. :-D

I've been trying to clear out my backlog of ARCs lately. (Not possible because I'm getting more on the regular - as in constantly haha - but I'm trying.) I just finished Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult, which has a Sliding Doors premise that is set during the pandemic where the main character has a parallel life experience (one, where she's in the Galapagos Islands on vacation when the shutdown hits so she's stuck there with strangers, alone, not speaking the language; the other, where she's in Manhattan with her surgeon boyfriend and recovering from COVID). It's intense but so, SO good! Picoult is such a good writer. Anything I've read by her has been moving, with rounded and real characters. I haven't been disappointed yet. I so recommend her.

Oh, and if you're into nonfiction/biographies at all I finished The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson not long ago, which is about Winston Churchill as well as those around him, and it was fantastic! Read more like fiction. I loved it. I am no longer surprised it was on all the BEST lists for 2020.

#anonymous #darling acotar anon #replies #the loveliest of lovely people #ashlee bree talks books

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tthael · 3 years

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I really admire so many things about your writing - the introspection and deep meaning, the realistic and sensitive way that you handle topics. Do you have any recs for fav media/books/tv shows/fanfics ? I guess I'm curious if there are any you think might have similar qualities/themes?

This is a tough one because basically everything I consume gets picked apart and reused in some way. However, I’ll give it a shot:

The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. There’s quite a lot I like about Zusak’s use of language and have since 2007 when I read The Book Thief for the first time, and there’s something very cinematic and magical about I Am the Messenger (particularly in the chapter with the young track runner).

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. He’s most commonly known for Cloud Atlas, but he has an ongoing theme of vampires and cannibalism reappearing in his work (I just read Slade House for the first time while I was in quarantine) and there’s something deeply satisfying about the way that all of the disparate pieces come to fruition at the climax of The Bone Clocks. Not a perfect book, but deeply satisfying.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. Again, she’s most commonly known for The Poisonwood Bible, but I liked that well enough to read The Lacuna in 2013, and I completely hated it for the first half of the book until finally something clicked in my brain and I activated the literary critic within, who doesn’t care so much about whether they enjoy something and more cares about how well something is done. The description of US American rationing during World War II really got me onto the novel’s side, if that makes sense; and I do love a good family epic, and while this only focuses on one protagonist instead of generations of them, it’s interesting in a similar way to The Bone Clocks where you see everything start to snowball together.

Literally anything by Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher. I particularly recommend The Raven and The Reindeer, which I read shortly after being diagnosed with my chronic illness and really helped me to understand the irrelevance of shame. There’s something very satisfying about saying “a reindeer doesn’t care if it smells bad, so I’m going to lean into that particular apathy and not allow a bully to take me down over it.” Something comforting about taking shelter in the animal and in survival, when you and your body are in one place and working on the same side, and it’s your brain that’s ready to give up first but your body will keep dragging you through because that’s what it does. Certain lines in Indelicate were inspired by her adaptation of Tam Lin in Jackalope Wives and other Stories (https://www.amazon.com/Jackalope-Wives-Other-Stories-Kingfisher-ebook/dp/B071946RLN). Lots of her short stories are available at this link for free: http://www.redwombatstudio.com/portfolio/writing/short-stories/

TV’s a little harder to unpack, since I don’t always think in terms of visual media, I tend to default to words first. Recently I’ve been enjoying New Amsterdam on NBC--it’s nice to see the radical socialist doctor doing his damnedest to secure the right thing--and Call the Midwife--similar reasons. There’s a lot about meeting someone where they are in both shows that I appreciate.

There’s also a lot of music that inspires my writing so I’ll have to dedicate a post specifically to that in my methods and materials.

Fanfic, though! Lots of my favorites, lots of genres. Here we go:

we are all stardust by synergenic (Losseflame) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5682496) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, pairing Finn/Poe Dameron. Sexually explicit, but also leans a lot into physicality. You can probably see the influence on the very first chapter of Indelicate when Eddie’s waking up in pain and Richie’s at his bedside. It’s very much inspired by a similar sickbed scene here.

If They Haven’t Learned Your Name by silentwalrus (https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329503) Captain America/Marvel Cinematic Universe Steve Rogers/James “Bucky” Barnes. The holy grail of Steve/Bucky fanfiction. If you want independent character exploration, this is the place to go. Natasha shaving her head? Yes. Sam pleading with Steve to keep his shit together while thirty Koren grandmothers assume they are American celebrities? Yes. Bucky defiantly hunting down his sense of self while bingeing romance novels in a space ship? Yes. Pay particular attention to the Sam chapters, because they’re a beautiful way of defining Steve’s characterization from an outside perspective, and I’m trying to do the same with Eddie looking at Richie in Indelicate.

An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite (https://archiveofourown.org/works/8523001) Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen) Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy. Soulmark AU. This is one of my longtime favorite fanfictions and what it taught me was cause and effect. The characters move the plot forward based on their assumptions and decisions. Definitely very helpful when I was writing TTHAEL by the seat of my pants.

You Can Keep Holding On by NorthernSparrow (https://archiveofourown.org/works/7233709) Supernatural Dean Winchester/Castiel. Sexually explicit. A lot of the summary I can give here is spoilers, but if you read this one through, you’ll be able to see the inspiration for the “Can you tell me where I can get another Eddie Kaspbrak?” scene in Indelicate.

Work of All Saints by antistar_e (kaikamahine) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006644) Coco (2017) Imelda Rivera/Héctor Rivera/Ernesto de la Cruz. Sexually mature. Oh my GOD this is a beautiful coming-of-age story set in turn-of-the-century Oaxaca, this is the best complete expansion of canon that I’ve ever seen; the author takes the pieces and runs with them and it is WONDERFUL.

Lycanthropic Studies by Eiiri (https://archiveofourown.org/series/575263) Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Sirius Black canon-divergence AU. I very much enjoy the meditation on lycanthropy as a chronic illness and I sometimes reread this for comfort. Particularly early on Remus has a rant about how he’s sick and he’s always sick and his life doesn’t stop for it, despite holidays and birthdays he still has to deal with the consequences of his illness and take the devastating medication, and there’s a lot about that that speaks to me. I haven’t kept up with the series for some time, though.

Careful Truths by SassySnowperson (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111966) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Bodhi Rook/Luke Skywalker canon-divergence AU. Sexually explicit. Honestly identity p!rn fics are a good inspiration for that third-person limited perspective I’ve been working on in Indelicate. Also I love love LOVE Bodhi Rook. It’s fun watching him run in circles trying to conceal his identity from Luke while completely oblivious to Luke doing exactly the same thing.

Stammtisch by chaya (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060152) Critical Role: Season 2, Caleb Widogast/Mollymauk Tealeaf, AU. Sexually explicit. Long before Caleb actually leveled up enough to cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, chaya speculated about what kind of spaces he might create for each of his friends. I think it’s a very good resource for really condensing characterization down into lots of images and concepts and deciding what other characters know about them. The idea of making space for someone else is something that I lean into a lot when I write Ben, who’s the kind of man who will set himself on fire to keep those he loves warm, and even though Critical Role has far more material than even IT for determining characterization, and even though this particular moment has already occurred in canon--it’s just a wonderful homey story, and has the kind of found family vibes I like for the Losers as well.

I know that’s a lot to unpack there, but all of those fics are very good and I recommend reading any assortment that appeals to you. (Work of All Saints in particular you don’t have to be familiar with the source material beyond the basic premise; it stands on its own.) Thank you for asking, and thank you for reading!

#nocturnalpinkcat #my fic #indelicate #now what i'm gonna say may sound indelicate #nwigsmsi #things that happen after eddie lives #tthael #fic recs #book recs

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bloodybigwardrobe · 3 years

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for the meta asks for writers: 6, 20, 21! Thanks!

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

that’s a good question, honestly. because while i write a lot of peter and susan, idk if i would say they’re the most *fun* given the amount of angst i put in there :P i think the most fun is definitely lucy, because she is such a ray of sunshine that i love giving claws and fangs to!

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

i’ve been taking a whole bunch of time trying to sort my brain and fics for this question. it’s been surprisingly hard, because while i write i definitely have sprawling callbacks, references, threads put in for future exploration. but as soon as i’ve taken a step back, it takes ages for me to find it all again. here are a few of them:

- something i tend to do a lot in my fics is connect peter to the sunrise in some form. it’s one of my favourite bits of imagery that i’ve tied to the pevensies and my narnia pieces. here’s a few examples:

“Jack’s heart leaps into his throat when, for a moment, he thinks he sees his late father out of the corner of his eye where Peter ought to be. A memory of watching a sunrise from atop the cliffs with his father occupies him for the next while.” (from odd passengers) “Peter stands, straining under it, and the skies spread out in front and behind him. There is blood painted across his shoulders where the weight digs deep, and cracked edges look for purchase. Crimson seeps into the blue above. Around him, creatures bow and gasp and speak of beauty.” (from tell me, atlas) “When a smile tugged at bloodied lips / To outshine the rising sun with magnificent ease” (from i’ll keep the king ch. 2)

- generally, i enjoy writing about the pevensies in earthly/nature-y ways, if that makes sense? i know, especially in the strange/eerie/gothic pevensie bits that are floating around that’s a trend, and it’s one i absolutely adore and have in majority of my portrayals of them. i’ve a few set bits i relate to each pevensie. some examples: susan has lavender, fresh honey. edmund has moss, soft earth full of roots. lucy has water sunshine, grass stains. peter has iron, spring rain.

- there’s a bit in my zamonia-narnia crossover fic that i desperately wanted to add in for those who haven’t read the zamonia books, but couldn’t figure out how to make it flow with the way the characters are. so i will dissect it here :D

“The boy is a quick learner, clever and witty in his remarks. He takes some time examining what Volzotan knows to be the Rumo card. Volzotan takes eager note of the twitch of the human’s lips as he places the card down and focuses back on Volzotan’s teachings. It’s the only glimpse Volzotan gets of whatever lives behind the poker face.” (from the horrors that i promised you)

edmund is being taught to play the card game rumo in this scene. the rumo card is the most important card in this game, one that is bet on for a 50/50 chance of immense success or complete failure. this attribute of the card is also the reason why volzotan names the book’s protagonist rumo when he trains him up to become an efficient weapon to use against their captors. i just think edmund would see it and find some humour in it. (bonus note while finding this section in the fic i realised i had written “mustering” instead of “examining” because i was thinking of the german word “mustern” which means to inspect/scrutinise. a classic case of a false friend)

- and finally, another bit that’s most obvious in the above mentioned crossover fic is the clean split of giving peter and lucy violence/war/battle/action of that sort and giving susan and edmund the talking/scrutinising/intrigue bits that border on espionage. this is obviously very much based on canon and i know that a lot of other writers do this, but it’s always very fun.

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?)

i have such a soft spot for animation! it gives so many options, and i think it would be great to bring the weird wildness of the narnia in my head to life! i also love watercolour comics, and watercolour is absolutely something that’s always in the back of my head when i describe things.

thank you so much for sending these in! sorry for the wait, i had to really contemplate these <3

#narnia #chronicles of narnia #edmund pevensie #peter pevensie #lucy pevensie #susan pevensie #tcon #athoughtfox #mywriting #answered #its been almost a month since you sent this in it's been sitting in my drafts slowly growing since then #cheers for giving me something to really really think about :D

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schnees-and-schnugs · 4 years

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I’m going to create a canon divergence that is so self indulgent- *insert willow-whitley and kitty AU*

This is a concept I want to write in multiple short parts until I get bored and wear it out- so consider this just a pt. 1

I also wrote this with these last few fics in mind, so you can think of this as a continuation of those. Or not. But a lot of the same themes do apply.

This is probably going to be first fic that I don’t write in one/two sittings but my classes are a pain in the ass ;_;

tw: eating disorder, alcoholism

_______________________________________________________________

“I want a cat.”

Willow blinked. “What?”

Her son fidgeted nervously on his feet. “A cat. I want to adopt a cat.”

Well this is a... surprise.

Despite her and Whitley having lived on their own in Patch for a few months, he’s hardly spoken a world to her since the fall of Atlas. Or spoken a word to anyone, really. She put it up to the radically new environment, and well, the fact that Atlas is gone, the SDC is in shambles, and Jacques had been MIA (probably dead) since the fall. Winter and Weiss had insisted that Willow and Whitley settle down somewhere quiet and safe, and the islands off the coast of Vale weren’t exactly next on Salem’s attack checklist.

It was two of Weiss’ teammates who suggested they head to Patch, even offering to let their father know about their arrival. Willow had gently denied the kind offer, saying that Tai Xiao Long didn’t need to bother with them. They’ll be fine. She pretending not to notice the look on all their faces: a depressed alcoholic and her previously isolated, emotionally traumatized son? Fine on their own?

She had then turned around, gathered Whitley (who was sitting on the bench behind her, ignoring attempts made by a few of Weiss’ companions to cheer him up even a little), and bought tickets for the next ship going from Vacuo to Vale.

Yet when the ship docked on the shore of the island, there stood a blonde, muscular man with a sign that read: Willow and Whitley Schnee, Welcome! in sharpie. He must have saw the confusion (and honestly a little fear) on her face from his standpoint on the harbor because he had quickly flipped the sign over and scribbled on it before holding it up again. My name is Tai Xiao Long. Yang and Ruby’s Father.

It seems that Weiss’ friends didn’t listen to me.

Nevertheless, Willow had breathed a sigh of relief. She had quite a few run ins with people on the journey east who recognized her and/or Whitley. The interactions have ranged from stares that were a little too long to pure hostility. It also didn’t help that some people thought it was okay to just grab any well known person they see- she almost broke a man’s arm after he had suddenly seized Whitley’s wrist and jerked him around. He’d probably be dead if Winter and Weiss were there, but Willow had settled on ripping the mans arm away with a glyph and dragging Whitley off quickly.

And now here they are, three months later and Willow was drinking a can of soda while enjoying the afternoon breeze on the front porch of their little cabin when Whitley approached her.

“A cat. I want to adopt a cat.”

She looked up at her son’s face and saw a familiar look of apprehension that everyone in their family had when faced with the prospect of having to ask for anything. Of course, before it usually involved asking Jacques, or begging more so. Willow had to approach this carefully or else Whitley is just going to recede back into his shell and not speak a word for another three months.

“Well... we can ask Mr. Xiao Long about it. He surely would know about any animal shelters around here.”

He scrunched up his nose, a face that she knew in Whitley Terms meant yeah okay... but I’m not happy about it.

Willow knew better than to suspect that Whitley disliked Mr. Xiao Long specifically. He avoided everyone these days- friendly neighbors, SDC businessmen, etc. Tai had made sure they were comfortable every step of the way. He had shown them around, introduced them to soon-to-be friends, brought them into his home for meals until Willow figured out her way around a kitchen, even invited Whitley to study at Signal Academy. He refused, but Willow appreciated the offer. And she knew Whitley appreciated it too, but he’s having a hard enough time coming to terms with Willow’s protectiveness of him, much less accept the fact that a stranger may also care slightly about him.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Willow couldn’t help but to smile at his childish apprehension. She relished any show of adolescence in her son these days. After years of walking on eggshells and maintaining a facade just short of perfection, he needed to clumsily blunder around like any young teenager would do.

Whitley tugged at his long red sleeves. “There’s a stray kitten that comes around here at night...”

“You have that one in mind?”

He nodded. “I always hear it meowing outside my window. I want to try to bring it inside- I leave scraps outside my window but it always disappears by the time the sun rises. Maybe if I could get it to come to the porch... In Atlas, they said in the animal shelter that it takes a few weeks to socialize a kitten.”

He started at her expectantly. Willow had forgotten that Whitley would occasionally volunteer at one of the few animal shelters in Atlas. Jacques only allowed him to go just so he could milk all the PR he could out of it, obviously. But to this day, she had never actually heard Whitley speak about it unprompted. It must have been something he genuinely liked if he was so quiet about it. He knew full well that any hobby that he actually outwardly enjoyed was the first on Jacques’ chopping block if Whitley ever slipped up.

Willow stood up on the porch steps and faced her son. “Very well then. Tonight we’ll leave food out on the front porch and watch to see if it comes by.”

Whitley’s face brightened for the first time in months. “Really?”

“Mmhm.” She hummed. “Hopefully soon enough the kitten will like us and come inside...”

Willow’s chest ached at the overwhelming surprise on his face. Asking Jacques for anything always came with a catch, a quid pro quo. Looking back, Willow always knew love was a transaction to him. But being young and blinded by the man- she just accepted it as a slight character flaw. Whitley didn’t know anything other than this.

She was going to get him this kitten even if she had to crawl in the shrubbery at midnight looking for it.

For the next few hours he assisted Willow in the kitchen for the first time since they got to Patch. Mostly because he wanted to get the kittens food out as fast as he could, but she wasn’t complaining. She watched as Whitley cut up a cooked chicken breast into bite sized little pieces, his tongue slightly sticking out as he concentrated. She wondered, briefly, if it was safe to allow him to handle a kitchen knife. Willow shook the thought away. He isn’t a child. She wouldn’t insult him by treating him like one. But she still had to be a mother... if it wasn’t too late.

She tried to be as hands off as she could in these last few months while trying to muster what parental authority she could without scaring Whitley away. He was free to spend his time to do whatever he liked just as long as it was safe and he went to bed on time. Eating three solid meals a day was also a requirement, but that was a sensitive issue that Willow didn’t know how to approach with conviction. He has been cooperative for the most part in this aspect- which came as a surprise since Whitley has spent years trying to maintain whatever little control he had over his own life by strictly regulating what went inside his mouth and when. Which often meant very little eating.

Willow didn’t want to name the condition out loud. If she did, then it would become a problem. Then she would have to admit that all of this still wasn’t enough to fix everything. Then she would start wanting a drink-

Maybe everyone was right. Maybe her and Whitley were simply too broken to be able to live on their own.

But they haven’t been living on their own, have they? Mr. Xiao Long still came by a few times a week to “check up on how y’all are adapting”, as he says. More like to make sure I’m not passed out drunk and Whitley hadn’t taken the opportunity to jump off a cliff, Willow thought bitterly.

She still didn’t know how much Weiss and her friends told him - but they must have been pretty honest if he was going to be this concerned. Willow cringed at the thought of how he must see her - a failure of a mother. Not only that, but one who’s too afraid to confront the fact that her son is sick and needs help, but she can’t help because she’s not enough-

“I’m done.”

Willow blinked out of her increasingly chaotic thoughts to see Whitley holding a small bowl of chopped chicken, staring at her expectantly.

Maybe I should stop thinking so much.

“Lets put it out on the front porch then,” Willow grabbed both their plates of spaghetti off the kitchen counter. “We can eat by the window and watch for the kitten.”

Whitley frowned. “Can we keep the front door open? Maybe if it sees us enough times then it will get used to us eventually.”

“Whatever you want darling,” She replied, already on her way to the living room.

And so they sat eating dinner, she on the edge of the couch and he on the floor on front of the open door. They sat in silence, but it was a comfortable one - Whitley watching the outside intently for the kitten and Willow watching him absentmindedly eat. A few minutes turned into an hour and she began to wonder if the kitten was going to show tonight, but a tiny scampering sound brought her and her son back to attention.

The kitten emerged from the shrubbery.

It was beautiful.

It was small, only about a few weeks old. Its pitch black fur made it almost impossible to see without the aid of the moonlight. Its little white socks on its paws and glowing eyes gave it away as it inched slowly towards the now cold bowl of chicken.

Willow held her breath, and she knew Whitley was too. The kitten tentatively ate from the bowl, unaware of the two humans watching it. It seemed about half way through when Whitley, unknowing, leaned forward- causing his now empty plate to slide off his lab and hit the wood floor. The sound wasn’t loud, but in the silence of the night it was like a gunshot.

The kitten’s head snapped up, ears perked in attention. For an almost comical millisecond, the kitten stared at the two of them and they stared back, everyone wide eyed. Then it turned and ran off back where it came, leaving behind nothing but a bowl of half eaten chicken.

Willow braced herself for Whitley’s inevitable disappointment. But instead, when she turned toward him she saw an expression of joy. His eyes are brighter than she had ever seen them, not since he was a child.

“She’s a girl,” He said.

She furrowed her brow. “How do you know that?”

“When she turned around and ran - I saw her backside. I think she’s a girl.”

Willow smiled. “Very well then. One discovery is good enough for tonight.”

Standing up, she reached for both of their used dishes and softly closed the front door shut. “Time for bed.”

Whitley didn’t complain. He headed off the bed while Willow cleaned up the kitchen- a menial task that she never had to do back in atlas. But she found a peace in it. If given the choice, she would take a lifestyle of chores over the decadent one she had before. Ten times out of ten. This felt real.

In the back of her mind, she remembered the chicken left outside. After considering, she decided to leave it out in case the kitten came back. She would make sure that Whitley would have this kitten eventually. It was the least she could do.

#rwby #my fic #willow schnee #whitley schnee #its 2 am and i barely proof read bear with me

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rebsrams · 3 years

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The Enneagram Series - One (Ethan x F!MC)

Book: Open Heart (OHSY)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Rebecca Valentine)

Warnings: angsttttt

Summary: Ethan’s back from the Amazon. MC can’t really come to terms with his decision to cut her off. Based on Atlas: Enneagram from Sleeping at Last.

Word count: 1,249

Author’s notes: I kinda re-imagined part of the beginning of OHSY, actually. It sounded very strange to me that MC would just try to get him back no matter what after he left her like a total coward, escaping his feelings. I just thought that she would have reacted, in some way. And being my MC extremely hot headed, that’s the way it turned out!

Song: One - Sleeping at Last

“Why do you always have to be so goddamn patronizing, Ethan?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you keep fucking up every damn thing that you lay your hands on!”

There they were, roaring at each other again.

The week they had experienced was quite rough, aiming at each other’s throat on every possible occasion and without any valid reason.

Except the fact that after his return from the Amazon, he shut her out for the umpteenth time, and soon it became clear enough to her that he wanted it to be the last.

After the first, big fight they had over Ethan’s words at Donahue’s, he decided that the wisest thing to do was to ignore her and give her time to take his decision in, although it took him an amount of effort that after two months away from her wasn’t ready to face at all.

However, his decision soon turned out to be delusional, as she began to tease him slightly on every possible occasion about his recent recanting, forcing him to stay quiet and bite every bullet in order to keep a vague appearance of dignity across the corridors.

When the situation became unsustainable to him, he began to do the only thing he was used to do when things got rough: he became a bossy jerk, continuously mistreating her to keep her away from him.

The plan obviously didn’t worked out as well as he imagined, because she began to yell at him every time he got a little too much authoritative for her taste and he, for his part, was far too proud for letting himself go the opportunity to stand up to her, his guilt only slightly moderating his tones.

At least they had the decency of fighting in his office, far from prying eyes and especially ears.

But the walls of his office were a little too thin for the volumes reached by their confrontations, and every now and then Ethan happened to notice Harper’s disapproving glances coming his way.

All that he could do was let out a long sigh, pinch the bridge of his nose and go on with his work, waiting for another day to come to an end and for Rebecca to finally draw a line under the whole situation and at least try to forgive him.

But that day, he lost it.

It wasn’t exactly something that she said or done, he deserved every cursing word coming his way.

He was simply mad and couldn’t take it anymore.

Mad with himself, for allowing to his marble heart to break down its walls and letting her in, not even thinking of the consequences.

And mad even with her, for being so incredibly breathtaking, swaying her hips and graciously laughing at the nurse station every single morning.

It was too much for him, for the cold, perfectionist, overachiever Dr. Ethan Ramsey.

He didn’t really mean those things.

He knew perfectly well that she was an excellent doctor, one of the best of her age, and most importantly he didn’t mean to say, by no means, that she was fucking him up.

He was self-destructing himself, staying away for her and forcing himself to push her away every time they got closer.

And though he was the emotionless and imperturbable doctor that Edenbrook came to know, he just wanted to loosen the reins for a bit and allow himself to feel.

Well, if he wanted to feel something, her face after those words was something that could have easily tormented him for weeks.

Totally wounded, for a moment utterly helpless in front of the amount of conflicting feelings she was experiencing.

He could read delusion, sorrow and something that he found rather difficult to pinpoint.

Maybe… Hate? Could it really be that, in the end, she came to hate him?

Well, I’d deserve it, he couldn’t help to think, the weight of what he said totally sinking in.

“Oh, well, in that case… I guess I have nothing more to do here,” she looked around his office, tears dangerously threatening to fall off her freckled cheeks.

“Have a good day, Dr. Ramsey.” She turned around, then stopped on her tracks when she was already holding the doorknob.

“On second thought…”

This wasn’t going to end well.

“I suggest you to let go of all this” she gestured around him “aura of complete perfectionism that you bring. It may sooner or later require something of you that you can’t afford to give away. Think of it.”

With this enigmatic words, she left the room leaving her characteristic wake of coconut and cinnamon mints behind her, the loud, angry thumps of her sneakers on the floor annoyingly drawing attention towards her.

Though he always knew she was the only mystery he wasn’t always ready to unravel, her words resonated loud and clear, like a bolt from the blue. Something he tried to ignore for all his life.

Everything in his existence had got to be perfect. No burrs of defects, from his tie knots to his patients’ charts. He lived strictly following routines and embarking only in situations he knew he could fully manage. Which was definitely not the case, speaking of her.

She came into his life like a hurricane and disrupted all of his plans.

Everything was so simple, before her.

Don’t marry, don’t have any kids, commit to your job completely and take Jenner out twice a day.

That’s all he needed, all he wanted. Until her.

Just needed to look at what he’d done to get over her and put his mind back to wherever the hell it was before.

He didn’t have many friends inside the hospital, but whoever knew him just an inch could tell that spending two months in the Amazon wasn’t exactly what he was aspiring to, at least at the time.

It happened increasingly that he found himself daydreaming of her, cuddled against him on the sofa, with her head on his shoulder and his hand through her ginger locks. He found incredibly hard to admit, especially to himself, that he once fantasized about her in a white dress, with orange flowers in her hair.

To bring things back to normal, he thought he just needed time and space to divide him from her, and the Amazon sounded like the further job offer he had received in the latest months.

It could have been a vaguely good idea only if he had the real guts to remain there and not showing his great punching-bag face anymore. He would have still found out that his feelings for her were still there, of course, but at least he would have spared her all the hurt that followed that unfortunate (but breathtaking at the same time) encounter they had at Donahue’s, the night he got back.

He always needed proof for everything, and that was one of the reasons why he became a doctor.

Laws of biology can’t hurt you, people can. That’s what he repeated himself throughout med school and afterwards.

He searched for predictability, order, perfection. But at what cost?

“Something of you that you can’t afford to give away”

His soul, his heart, his humanness. Things he reluctantly needed, as a doctor and as a hypothetically happy human being.

But he just stayed there, the scent of his now cold coffee floating around the room and his eyes locked on the door she went through mere moments ago.

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

So, this is gonna be angsty.

As an aspiring singer and a huge music lover, I often draw inspiration from pieces of music. Also, I’m utterly in love with Sleeping at Last, so this is just part of what I wrote listening to them.

I’m not sure how this series is going to evolve, I just know that it will have (with any luck) nine chapters.

Maybe I will go in chronological order, trying not to mess up with the original plot, or maybe I’ll just write about some slices of life involving my favourite duo.

If you have any suggestion, please write me! :)

Unfortunately, don’t know when I’ll be able to post again. I’m having a huge mole of work to do and I don’t really know where to begin! I’ll try to keep writing as a safe haven in this messy world that we’re living in.

tags: @schnitzelbutterfingers, @choicesfan10, @openheartfanfics

I’d also like to thank again everyone who’s commenting such beautiful things under my works, lots of heart emojis to you 💗💗💗

#playchoices #open heart #Open heart 2 #Open heart book 2 #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #doctor ethan ramsey #Ethan Ramsey x reader #ethan x mc #my writing #my fic

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thoughtsofanexcitedspacechild · 3 years

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Writing Tips (Pt. 3): Writing Believable and shippable relationships in literature.

Hello friends! First of all, let me say a HUGE thank you for the support on the Kataang post! I worked really hard on it and it means so much to me all the little notes you give it and reblog it! I know it’s not at a huge number of notes, but I like knowing that people took time to read through the endless rant and reblog it! I’m planning on doing another full analysis on Zutara and why specifically it doesn’t work. I’ll make it respectful though as I know that a lot of Kataang fans are REALLY defensive and anti-zutara. I promise I’m not one of those people, and believe that no matter who you ship, your opinions on fictional characters are your opinions and you are FULLY entitled to ship and like whatever you want (as long as it’s not incest or a huge age gap. PLEASE don’t ship that stuff lol. U nasty mfs know who u are.) Speaking of ships, let’s talk about writing them. Writing ships for movies, books, shows, etc. can be surprisingly hard. Writing characters themselves can be hard enough as it is, but writing a pair of characters that fit together like a puzzle piece can feel impossible. Nevertheless, I’m here to make that process a little bit easier. When I’m trying to set up a relationship that’s going to happen, here are some things that I keep in mind to make sure that I and the audience of my writing ship the characters I have end up together.

DISCLAIMER before I get a’rantin: I am by NO means telling you how or what to write and am by NO means a professional writer of any sorts. I’m doing this mostly because I write a lot and speak from my own personal experiences with writing and because these are just the things that I found work best when writing my own stories. I also read and analyze a lot of others work on my own personal time, and these are just the details that I pick up on that I find makes a piece of writing effective. With that in mind, remember that writing is and art form, and the beauty of that is that there’s no one right way to do it. Ever. You can read the same thing as another person and interpret it in a completely different and unique way.

1. Complementary Characters usually work out best.

This is more than the classic “opposite’s attract” theory, and characters don’t necessarily have to be opposite to be complementary. Some things to think about when thinking of and writing complementary characters:

-Complementary doesn’t necessarily mean complete opposite in every single way. Often times I find it much more helpful to have characters share a common interest in hobbies, upbringing, childhood trauma (that one’s a bit overdone these days), etc. so that they’re not butting heads all the time. Just like yin and yang, theres a bit of darkness in the light and vice versa. To keep the balance harmonious, you can’t have characters be polar opposites and have no common ground. That leads to what many people consider a toxic ship, and will either lead to an unrealistic balance that inevitably leads your characters to be fighting all the time.

-Keeping common interests in mind, often times the paces where character’s contrast is in their personalities. (Shy and bold, heart and head, bubbly and brooding, quiet and gregarious, etc.) Different personalities often are able to balance each other out and hold each other accountable for their weaknesses.

-Going off of that, one character’s strength is another’s weakness, and all traits are both. A character’s empathy can lead them to be loved by many, but may cause them to starve themselves and drain their cup so there’s none left to take care of themselves. A character’s logic may lend them top of class or calm in stressful situations, but can lead them to be insensitive to others and even their own emotions. Your characters should balance each other out and work well together, and part of this is helping each other grow from their weakness.

-This one isn't as important, but what I also find super compelling, especially in film and tv shows is when the authors/writers deliberately choose to give the characters complementary color palettes. (I dove more into this on my Kataang analysis so go read that if you’re super interested.) If the character’s look ascetically pleasing together, it makes shipping them a whole lot easier. Focus on orange and blue, yellow and purple, red and green, and any variation of those colors together.

2. Buildup

Often times one of the biggest critiques of ships that just don’t work out is that there’s not enough buildup or foundation to have a romantic relationship. It seems obvious, but if you’re going to have them end up together, there’s going to need to be some buildup or else the entire relationship will feel wrong and contrived no matter how pleasant you make it.

Some tips for increasing and establishing buildup:

-Have your otp spend time together as friends first. I personally find that the healthiest and most successful ships are friends before they’re lovers. This is why Kataang specifically works so well, but Korrasami, Romionie, and Liesel and Rudy from the Book Thief are all good examples. If you observe these ships, all of these characters spend time together as friends first. Korra and Asami were able to bond and become friends over a toxic guy (cough cough MAKO) and eventually developed feelings for one another. Ron and Hermione weren’t romantically interested in other people and were friends until they started seeing other people and found out they liked each other. Liesel and Rudy were best friends before anything else and Liesel didn’t realize her feelings until it was too late.

-Time together. When your otp spends time together, make sure that whatever time is being spent together is time that they both enjoy. No, the activity itself doesn’t have to be enjoyable to both characters, but the time spent together should be. If the characters really aren’t enjoying the time spent together, then it’s never gonna work out. I’ll use the ship that I’m writing as an example. Currently, I’m in the process of writing a third atlas series and we’ll use my characters Liang and Hana. (Yea I used my own name for one of my characters. I think it suits her bc she’s basically my clone, just, she’s the avatar. I’m going to change both of their names once I do more research and can find culturally and historically accurate names.) Liang REALLY loves pro-bending matches. Hana, not so much. She still goes with him to see matches and attends his matches when she can. On the flip side, Hana really loves going to her favorite tea shop. Liang vastly prefers a strong cup of coffee, but he goes with her anyways. Why would they choose to do something that they don’t necessarily like? Because that’s more quality time spent with each other and doing something for the other person.

3. Romantic Gestures

Going off of my last point, we have the art of romantic gestures. These can range to things anywhere from a hug, to an elaborate firework display, to a locket with both of their pictures in it. Make sure that the romantic gestures are there! It’s gotta be clear that both characters are thinking about one another and consciously choose to do something for the other person. Here are some fun ways to do it:

-Remembering a gift the other character wanted. This one’s cliche but it works, because often times the best way to show affection is through physical gifts and objects. Think coffee from a favorite shop, handwritten notes, that piece of clothing the other has been eyeing, etc.

-~symbolism~ *add chime here* By that I mean have an object to symbolize their relationship with, like Korrasami’s iconic hair pin or Liesel’s book that Rudy retrieved for her. This way, the readers not only have a visual representation of their favorite ships, but the object can physically link characters together and make a vague relationship full cannon. (I know for sure that someday when I get a tattoo, I want the hairpin tattooed on my wrist, ankle or side of my body.)

-PDAs. Works best in film and visual stuff, but still applies for everything. I’m talking cuddles, kisses, falling asleep in each other’s arms, the whole shebang. I mean how much clearer can you make it than a pda?

-Love languages. Each person loves in their own unique way. Have characters figure out and learn each other’s love language. It really shows and adds a whole other layer to the cake. This one can make a ship that feels a little bland have more depth and realism, because in the real world, healthy relationships are formed and aided by learning and applying each other’s love language.

4. Dialogue. This one can be hard to master, but once you do, it’s a breeze. First off, I recommend getting all your ideas out, and editing. DON’T EDIT AS YOU GO! This is often tedious and super annoying, so get everything out first, and go from there once you have a decent amount to work with. Dialogue is tricky, because dialogue in and of itself is meant to communicate and express feelings. Here are some tips and steps to at least get a start:

a. Know EXACTLY how your characters feel about one another, and make that evident through communication. It seems obvious (again) but this really helps and I find that putting myself in the character’s shoes for a second and really thinking about it helps to decide exactly what they would say in a given situation, especially if the scene you’re writing involves confrontation about feelings for one another.

b. Dialogue is more than just talking. Body language, tone, facial expressions, etc. are all part of dialogue too and are SUPER important! In the real world, humans communicate through more than just words, and sometimes a playful grin, grimace, crossed arms, or pout is much more effective than a character outright saying something.

c. Once you’ve written the dialogue out, be concise and smart about your dialogue and pare it down as much as you can. Often times, adding too much dialogue can make a scene boring and flat. Use your words sparingly! The purpose of writing is to covey a story or message and often times this can be done effectively with less words rather than more. The main point in dialogue itself is to provide necessary context and information. Otherwise, don’t use it.

d. Make sure the conversation is two sided. This (say it with me now) SEEMS OBVIOUS, but make sure that both people are talking/communicating. it’s a conversation, not a speech. (Unless it is a speech or declaration of some sort.)

Before I go: A QUICK (Long) PSA ON TOXIC SHIPS:

The concept of a toxic ship is very common in a lot of literature. Often times writers choose to include elements that may be toxic to heighten romantic tension in a story. While I do recognize that this sometimes may be a stylistic choice, there are MUCH better and effective ways to create tension that having something be toxic. Toxic relationships in my opinion share one purpose, and that is to establish a relationship’s toxicity and ineffectiveness. I don’t recommend writing these into a story unless it’s an obstacle for your characters to overcome, and having a character forgive the toxic actions of another character and still end up with them isn’t the right move because it completely disregards and diminishes the effects of what happened previously.

One of the best examples I can think of is Reylo from the new sw trilogy. I did touch on this briefly in a couple of my earlier posts (The Effect Of Modern Day SW characters and My Tips for Writing (In General) which I highly suggest you go read bc they both took me a bit of time and state the purpose more in depth) but I think I’ll quick reiterate and say that it wasn’t a good choice on the writer’s part to have some of the dialogue be so intense and vicious and then have them end up together. I still like the idea of Ben Solo and Rey together and ship them together out of cannon, but in cannon, it’s the perfect example of an ineffective ship. There was little to no build up, the dialogue was often spiteful and sharp, and it escalated a bit too quickly. I would’ve liked to see more of Ben Solo (NOT Kylo) and him feeling sorry for and repenting for the bad that he’s done before he and Rey end up together. Yes, we’re all suckers for the enemies to lovers trope, but PLEASE make sure to filter out the toxins before boarding your ships and watching them sail.

That’s it for now! I hope this helps a little when writing shippable characters! I’m always free to rant to and to critique. I’m going to start posting as much as I can, because these guides help me too! Check out my other ones if you’d like to know tips for writing in general and I made another one on how to write characters.

#writing #writing tips #writing tingz

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sortavibing · 3 years

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hello , i was wondering if it was possible to ask for a matchup! if so here’s all my info !!! sorry if this is really long :/ i feel so bad i literally wrote u an ESSAY. 😰

my name is lizelle, i don’t really have any nicknames except for zellie (but that’s reserved for specific childhood friends and family members). my pronouns are she/her and i am bisexual. my personality type is enfp-t. i love writing, i’ve been doing it since i was in elementary school. i’ve also been dancing for ,,, 12 years now i think (i’m 17 :)) i also love listening to music, i could sit and listen for hours. i value trust more than anything in a relationship, i also enjoy someone who has a good sense humor. like rolling on the floor laughing type beat :) i LOVE baking, i stress bake. i also love reading and watching tv (my favs are game of thrones atla and aot) . i hate seafood, absolutely despise it, honestly i’m basically a vegetarian lol. i’m pretty short standing @ 4’11. i’m black and i’m a lil bit pudgy but i’m learning to accept it. thick thighs save lives bb 😌 so do big titties but u aint hear that from me 👀 i am a very secretly insecure person. which means i tend not to bring up my insecurities unless absolutely necessary or they’re forced out of me but they are DEFINITELY there, you just gotta be a little patient. my stomach, boobs, thighs, hair, skin color. growing up in a white town did wonders for my confidence as a kid 🤩 . i definitely use humor and fake confidence as coping mechanisms if you couldn’t tell LOL. and i would say i am the funniest damn person i know, nobody compares. when i get really exited or passionate about something i could go on for literal HOURS and i’d talk to anyone who will listen. ANYWAYS

i would like a romantic relationship ship please and thank uuu! you are an angel for writing these 😌 again i apologize for the length but heres my fucking dissertation.

i don’t know how to add onto another request ,, but i really forgot to add my zodiac sign 😐 anyways, IM A GEMINI! have a beautiful rest of your day and i cannot thank you enough for these. godsend 🙏🏾

i hate this legitimately what is my god damn problem. my love language is touch and i am also obviously the most forgetful person ever. i promise i’m done now 🥺 i am so sorry my brain is like …evaporatorating or some shit. also i hope you are receiving these OMLLLL.

ack hello lizelle! thank you so much for requesting! you seem like such a sweet person, and no worries about the separate asks, i got all of them :) please the talent to be able to dance for 12 years- that’s so amazing! anyways, here’s your matchup!

generating matchup…

matchup: complete

i match you up with osamu!

what first drew osamu to you was just how pretty you were- like he saw you while he was walking to class and just had to do a double take because he was internally thinking “holy fuck i need to talk to her”. atsumu saw his awe struck face, and made fun of him for a solid 3 days, but he didn’t really care, because he just wants to get to know you.

he knows you are basically vegetarian, so he’ll surprise you at school with homemade vegetarian meals. he will always steal a little bit, because it looks so good, and he can’t resist, and you’ll pretend to get annoyed, but you still will let him take food every time. everyone on inarizaki is lowkey jealous of you because they want some of osamu’s cooking, but he only gives it to you.

on the weekends, you guys will bake together, and whatever you are making with him turns out super well, and you guys take so many pictures of the finished dessert. osamu loves to sample things while you guys are baking, so you always have to make sure he won’t eat all the ingredients before you finish. after you guys finish, atsumu will always try to take some, and if he tries, both of you literally attack him because no way in hell is atsumu going to get the first piece :)

he loves to listen to you talk, and you guys like to just vibe with each other, soft music playing, as you cuddle and he listens to whatever you want to rant about at the moment. sometimes he will put his opinion in, if you want him to, but he usually is just content to hear the sound of your voice, and learn more about you while you talk.

if you guys are taking a bus or subway, he will rest his hand on your thigh and trace circles on it, and pretend like he’s not doing anything, but you know he’s doing it just to get a reaction out of you. he will always subconsciously grab your hand if you guys are walking somewhere together, because he loves being around you, and lowkey showing everyone that you are his girlfriend.

osamu really likes to watch you dance, because he thinks you look like a true angel when you are dancing, and he’s just hypnotized by your graceful moves. the first time he went to one of your recitals, he was just amazed by your skill, and after it ended, he literally didn’t stop telling you how beautiful you were for a solid 30 minutes.

one weekend, you convinced him to binge alta with you, and he became lowkey obsessed. his favorite character was momo and the cabbage man, and whenever the cabbage man’s cart broke, he got lowkey annoyed and started insulting aang, which was really funny. his insta bio was #justiceforcabbageman for a solid week and you thought it was so cringey but cute at the same time, so you let it slide.

if you ever get insecure, he will be sure to shut it down quickly, because no one is going to slander his girlfriend, not even herself. osamu will immediately start telling you everything he likes about you (which is everything), and how lucky he is to be able to date someone as pretty, funny, and sweet as you are.

one of the first dates he took you on was a trip to a nearby city, where you guys spent the day just going to different small bakeries and trying the pastries, is arm around your shoulder or waist the entire time. the entire trip was so cute and aesthetic, and you both got so many ideas of what you wanted to make with each other next.

overall, you guys are such a cute couple, because it’s very obvious that both of you care for each other very much, though osamu tries (and fails) to be more lowkey about it. he is still surprised that you wanted to go without him, and he will do anything he can to keep you happy in your relationship.

i hope you enjoyed!

#haikyuu #haikyuu matchups #haikyu #osamu #osamu miya #haikyuu!!#haikyuu headcanons #haikyu headcanons #haikyuu imagines #haikyu imagines #osamu headcanons #osamu imagines #osamu x you #submission

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kuviras-eyeliner · 4 years

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Hey! I just found you and love your blog 💞 I was wondering if I could maybe get a matchup for ATLA and LOK? 🥺👉👈 I’m a scrawny little five-foot-nothing bi girl (I’m pretty feminine and more attracted to masculine types, regardless of gender) and I love hiking and being outside in general! I’m an INFP personality type, a Hufflepuff, and I’m a STEM major in school. I’m a coffee addict, I love fall, and I have an unhealthy obsession with buying holiday themed blankets and socks lol. I have a pretty even temper and I’m more likely to stand up for someone else than myself if another person is being mean, but I don’t really like confrontation. Bc of that, I end up being the person in the friend group that everyone else feels the need to protect, even tho I am 100% capable of handling myself! I’ve also been voted as best hugger of my friend group, which is my proudest achievement in life 😌 wow ok this got rly long I’m so sorry! Also my ATLA/LOK side blog is @jasmine-iroh but I can’t send an ask from there, I’d love to be your friend tho!! Your writing is so good and I love your positive vibes 💞

Ahhh sweetie I’m so sorry this took so long!! I’ll make sure that this is extra detailed to make up for the wait, I’m so so sorry!! 🥺🥺🥺 You seem like such a lovable and sweet person, and literally want to give you the biggest hug in the entire world, because even though I’ve only read one snippet of who you are you just seem so cute ajajajjajajaa

I match this lovely human marshmallow with...

Toph!

⁽ᵇᵘᵗ ˡᵒᵒᵏ ᵃᵗ ʰᵒʷ ᶜᵘᵗᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᵍⁱᶠ ⁱˢ ᵃˢᵈᶠᵍʰʲᵏˡ🥺⁾

When I saw that you sent this, I literally squealed because OH MY GOSH, you and Toph would be such a good duo that I literally can’t with myself-- you sound like such a caring, gentle, yet underestimated person (but wanna say for the record that I can tell you have a lot more potential than what people see!). I can tell that even though you might not be very book smart, you’re more street smart and you know a lot about life and what’s in store for you. You know so many life lessons and apply it to your life and take it to heart, then spread it to others. So, with Toph! We all know that Toph is one of the most aggressive yet absolute butt-kicking queen out there. She might be seen as this invincible, strong, powerful rock, but I think you’d be the first person to realize that Toph is human as well and that she can’t stay strong forever. Even though Toph isn’t big on physical contact/bonding, with your hugs, she might say she doesn’t like them, but of course, she really does. Toph also loves to show you just how much she really cares about you but through a lot of side-punches. She makes sure to be more gentle around you and tries to control her temper when she knows you’re there. Toph knows more than enough that you can protect yourself, because she usually doesn’t look past just how much potential someone can have. Toph might not be open about many things, but with you, she’ll let herself smile every now and then out of just how beautiful you are. On your worst days, even though Toph isn’t big on hugs and physical comfort, she might make an exception for you and hug you first. She’ll be really verbal about how you feel, and Toph does anything in her will (even though it might be awkward at times) to make you feel better. She’s also there to be with you, right beside you, even though she might not say it out loud. Toph makes sure that you feel comfortable around her, and you can always find her (this is a headcanon I made I’m so sorry if it sounds wack as heck but still) trying to cook, but unfortunately, things don’t go as planned. Overall, Toph is just there to stand with you as a best friend, and a lover. You two are inseparable, no matter how far physically you may be away from each other <333

Next up, we have:

Bolin!

I think we can all make it clear that Bo is one of the most precious characters in The Legend of Korra-- so yes, I ship you with Bolin! A lot of people (I KNOW I BRING THIS UP IN EVERY SINGLE MATCHUP, BUT PLEASE BARE WITH ME) overlook just how ripped Bolin actually is?? Like he was in a fricking movie film, and people think he’s not attractive?? No, no, absolutely not, he’s beautiful just the way he is ;U; <3 Bolin loves you to pieces!! He really likes how much you value your time with people, and how you’re a firm believer in giving people second chances. Bolin also makes sure that in moments you feel down, that he’ll literally give you the biggest and softest hugs ever, and he’ll pull you aside and cry with you. When you cry, he cries-- when you’re happy, he’s happy. When you laugh, he laughs: the only thing he wants is for you to be okay with yourself and then those around you. He loves getting hugs from you, and he’ll never look over how much potential you have! Bolin loves you to the point where playing Pai Sho with him every night has almost become a religion, and that he assures you nothing bad can happen in your life. He’ll laugh randomly whenever you do something that’s iconic, and when you ask, he’ll say, “I’m laughing because I can’t believe I fell in love with someone so perfect,” and he’ll make as much time for you as possible. Bolin makes sure that you feel loved and at peace with him-- -although, yes, he might be a biiit overprotective, Bolin also makes sure that you feel like you’re more than enough around him. In most situations, he’ll let you handle things on your own, but when things get really tough, Bolin makes sure that no one hurts you.

Thank you so so much, @jasmine-iroh!! I appreciate your ask, I had a great time writing this one. Stay safe, luv!! <hugs!>

And requests are always open for anything! I love y’all to pieces <333

<HUGS!!>

(and shoulder pats ;D)

#ILYYYYY #I was writing this in a tough time and this made me *jazz hands* smile #LUV YALLLLLL #bolin #bolin x reader #lok #legend of korra #legend of korra matchups #lok x reader #bolin lok #avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #the last airbender #atla matchups #toph #toph x reader #toph atla

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mischiefandi · 4 years

Text

Don’t Mention It - Drake Walker

A/N: I wrote this a long time ago and I posted it on my Choices blog and I literally forgot lmao so here it is! I edited most of it and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, though it’s not my best work. I’m excited to start writing for Drake as well as for Peter and Stiles again! I’m back babyyy

Side-note, this is set during Chapter 15 Book 1 of The Royal Romance, the office scene. I totally changed the dialogue (sorry if that bugs you) but this is how I would have wanted it to go down lmao

Warnings: swearing and mentions of sex

Word Count: 2,5K

Pairing: Drake Walker x Bellamy Jones/Y/N/MC

“What are you doing?” Bellamy asked as she entered the dark office of the Beaumont estate.

Drake whirled around and his eyes widened a little at the sight of her, his tongue darting out to wet his lower lip.

“There's something strange going on here and I'm gonna find out what it is.”

Bellamy nodded slowly as she bit her lip, but the quiet pause was quickly interrupted by her voice filled with resolve.

“I’ll help you.”

Drake raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head. There was no way he was going to let her get involved in this, whatever “this” was.

“Why would you do that?” he inquired, confused as to why she had even followed him into the room in the first place.

“Drake, we don’t have a lot of time before Bertrand finds us and makes us go back to cleaning. Do you want to spend that time questioning me or do you want to keep looking? she asked. Her question was met with a simple grunt and she nodded before closing the door behind her.

She didn’t bother to maintain eye contact with Drake, instead choosing to turn around and start searching the room for potential clues. After all, both she and Drake felt that something was going on in the Beaumont family, and Bellamy had a feeling it had something to do with Maxwell in particular.

Drake turned around as well, too afraid of meeting her gaze. His hands quivered slightly as he reached for a dark blue leather book and flipped through the pages swiftly, dust escaping the confines of the yellowish paper.

“They’ve got a lot of books. Most of them seem pretty old, like no one’s read them in decades.” Bellamy caressed a series of books on the shelf in front of her, treading slowly towards the desk in the center of the room.

“Check if there's a stray piece of paper in one of them or a letter or something,” said Drake, not bothering to participate in light-hearted conversation, and she interrupted her sleuthing, taking a breath.

“Yes, sir,” she muttered, annoyed at his gruff orders.

Letting her eyes wander up and down the chestnut shelves, Bellamy’s gaze settled on a dark brown leather book. Golden letters were written down the edge of the large book, spelling the word “Atlas” but what caught her attention was the ink-covered envelope sticking out from between the silver colored pages.

“Drake, I think I found something!” she exclaimed, reaching for the Atlas.

“What is it?” he asked, walking over to her. He kept a short distance away from her, peering over her shoulder to see what she had found.

Bellamy ignored his cold stance and took out the envelope, examining it. She couldn’t help but think back at Maxwell and Bertrand’s previous hushed conversation concerning money, and pinching the paper with her gentle fingers, she could’ve sworn she could feel something thick inside the envelope. The reason behind the tension between the Beaumont brothers perhaps?

“Here, let me see?” Drake held out his hand and Bellamy gave him the envelope, their fingers grazing sending a wave of electricity down her spine. Drake cleared his throat and she looked over at him, noticing his cheeks filling with red.

Drake ripped the envelope open and gasped as his eyes fell upon the brightly colored Cordonian bills. There was quite a lot of money in there, enough to make any Cordonian commoner live without having to work at all for at least one peaceful year.

“Woah...”

“What the hell?” muttered Drake, a cool and composed expression slowly returning on his face.

“Do you think Maxwell knows this is here?”

Drake nodded, his eyes still focused on the money. He was deep in thought.

“Oh, I’m sure he does. Bertrand isn’t the kind of noble who’d just leave this amount of money lying around.”

Bellamy frowned and looked up at Drake, confusion protruding from her grey eyes.

“What are you saying?” she asked, curious as to what he was making of this.

“I’m not sure, but I bet you Maxwell doesn’t want his brother to know this is here.”

Drake slid the bills back into the envelope and sniffed.

“Whoever left this here, we don’t know what this money is for, we don’t even know who it belongs to. Let’s keep looking around,” he said, looking away.

Walking over to the desk, Drake started searching the drawers, flipping through the files in the cabinet below the wooden surface. Bellamy however stayed where she was standing, staring at the man ruffling through the private affairs of the Beaumont brothers. She was hesitant, unsure as to whether or not she should speak up.

Finally, she chose to break the silence.

“We need to talk.”

“What about?” asked Drake, not bothering to look up. This made Bellamy’s blood boil a little but she gulped down her anger deciding against aggression.

“We need to talk about us,” she said, her voice firm. Drake slowly looked up at her and for a second she thought she had caught a glimpse of sadness in his chocolaty eyes.

“There is no “us”. There can't be. You're here for Liam, remember?”

“Is that the only thing stopping you?” Bellamy asked, feeling her pulse quicken.

Drake didn’t answer, instead choosing to turn his back to her and start examining the painting hanging from the wall behind the desk.

“Fine, there's no “us”. Let's talk about last night instead,” Bellamy retorted. His passivity was slowly irritating her more and more with every passing second. Did he really have such little regard for her feelings?

At the sound of her voice, Drake lowered his head and stared at the floor, his hands balling up as though preventing him from hanging onto something for support. And boy did he need it. His legs were trembling beneath his weight right then.

“You're killing me, Jones.”

“Good because I think it's about time I have the upper hand here,” she said, setting her hands on her hips. “I’m tired of you pushing me away.”

“Jones-“

She cut him off, getting angrier by the second. She could practically hear her pulse throbbing inside of her head.

“-you fought with Tariq, you said things-“

“-yeah, I said things. I had just had whiskey, I was tired and confused.” This time he cut her off, his voice raised and Bellamy felt herself shrink. Did he mean that?

“What about when you were about to leave, Drake? Tell me I was the only one who wanted more than just an embrace,” she breathed, her cheeks flushed with anger and her forehead puckered.

“Liam’s my best friend. I can’t betray him by falling for his girl,” he said, voice hoarse as he walked around the desk towards her. He stopped just inches from her and they stared into each other’s eyes, Drake’s were weary, Bellamy’s were wide with shock.

“You're falling for me?” she whispered in disbelief.

Drake couldn’t believe he had just said that.

Ever since she had shown up in his life, he had found her interesting beyond compare, resourceful, funny, intelligent, capable of standing up for herself, and beautiful. So beautiful. He got lost in her grey eyes more often than he was willing to admit. Her scent made him feel woozy and light, her presence intoxicating.

But that was the problem. Liam loved her for those traits as well. And not only was he a soon-to-be king, he was also his best friend. He could never do that to the man who had listened to him complain about fancy food and fancy people for years, the man who had offered him protection and kindness when his father had died, the man who had always been there for him through thick and thin.

He couldn’t do that to his brother.

Thus, even something as innocent as looking her in the eye felt like pure betrayal, but oh, how beautiful her eyes were. How tempting she was.

“I-um, I don’t know,” he mumbled, at loss for words.

“What?” asked Bellamy, irritated.

“I don’t know!” he exclaimed.

Y/N took a step back, hurt by his sudden outburst. The expression etched on her face made Drake’s heart wince a little, and he stepped forward, bringing himself closer to the goddess before him.

“I don’t know,” he repeated, this time gentler, “but I do know that you confuse me, Jones, I don’t know what to do when I’m around you, I can’t sleep. I can’t focus on anything. When you’re there, across the room from me, it takes everything I’ve got not to rush over to you and kiss you. And I do- want to kiss you.”

His hands were shaking. Why was he telling her all of this? Drake prayed for his usual black veil of guilt to cover his mouth and stop him from saying more but to his dismay, the veil didn’t come.

“But then you look at me and smile and I suddenly hate myself all over again, because I can’t betray my friend, I can’t do that to him-“

“-what about what I want?” asked Bellamy, tears shimmering in her eyes.

“Of course, I care about what you want. But there’s no way that you want me,” he said, his voice finally giving out under the weight of his heavy heart.

“I do. I want you,” she whined, bringing herself closer to him.

“We shouldn't…”

“Drake.”

Bellamy was so close to him now that she could feel his rapid heartbeat trapped inside of his ribcage and a small pearl ran down her flushed cheek in response, making Drake grimace, knowing full well he was the reason behind her tears.

“Jones, we can't…” he muttered and she shook her head, lust clouding over her eyes, never breaking eye contact with him

He took in a sharp breath as her lips touched his own, the exquisite sensation of her skin gliding over his making him crumble into her embrace. She hummed against his mouth as he deepened the kiss, pushing her against a wall but pulling her closer to him by the hips, his breathing ragged and uncontrollable.

Bellamy slipped her hands through his hair, tugging lightly as he bit her lower lip and slipped his tongue inside of her greedy mouth. She accepted the intrusion with pleasure, the taste of him too delicious to stop the forbidden kiss.

Their lips danced together in a rushed and hungry waltz, the feeling of completeness finally reaching their minds as they held each other tightly. A perfect fit.

But Drake didn’t stop there. His lips trailed down her face and reached her neck where he started leaving small bite marks on the delicate skin. She hissed slightly but went back to moaning when he sucked the pain away. He felt his pants get tighter when he heard her whisper his name, her head thrown back as he attacked her collarbone with passionate kisses.

“Drake-,”

He shut her up by plunging in for another breathtaking kiss. His hands slowly reached for her back and felt the smooth material of her black dress. Bellamy nodded when she felt him stop and he took that as a yes, zipping the dress down with an unparalleled gentleness. He slid his large hands down the back of her dress and grasped her ass, feeling the firm flesh with his trembling fingers. He was terribly nervous, he had dreamed of this moment for months, of feeling her delicious body pressed against his with need and want.

Bellamy could practically feel her heart beat out of her chest and she planted soft kisses down Drake’s neck as he fumbled with her bra clasp when all of sudden, he froze. She looked up at him, confused. But then, she heard it too.

Footsteps coming from down the hall, and they were getting closer.

Her eyes widened with horror and they leapt out of each other’s arms. Drake struggled to straighten his shirt and fix his tousled hair whilst Bellamy attempted to zip her dress back up, roughly pulling it up with extreme force and clumsiness. Only, this dress was brand new and wasn’t used to such violence and sure enough…

“Crap! No, shit, shit , sh-” she hissed, desperately trying to get the small zipper up but in vain. It was stuck.

Before Drake could come over and help her fix it, the door flew open, revealing an angry and impatient Bertrand. His tie looked just fine but he brought his hands up to his neck in order to flatten it down.

‘Always trying to look prim and proper’ thought Bellamy, forgetting her wardrobe malfunction for a millisecond.

“What are you two doing in here? Must I remind you that we have an entire estate to decorate and prepare for tomorrow night?” he asked, exasperated by the guilty looks on the pair’s faces.

“We were just looking for-”

“-something to read!”

“Right, a book,” agreed Drake, his voice thick with uncertainty.

“Ah, you've seen our collection!”

Just the mention of his prized possessions made Bertrand’s entire demeanor change and he walked over to the shelves behind Bellamy. She immediately leapt away from him, keeping her back away from his stern eyes. Drake glanced at her and she inhaled shakily.

“Bertrand, I think you should have this,” she said, suddenly remembering the envelope full of cash they had found earlier. She handed it to him and Drake nodded at her.

“What's this?” inquired the duke, peeking inside.

“We don't know, we found it under one of the books,” answered Drake.

Bertrand suddenly gasped at the sight of the money. He started stammering but after counting the bills, a resolved expression replaced his previously shocked one.

“That's a lot of money, in fact, it looks very much like the amount of money missing from the Beaumont account. Thank you for handing me this, I admire your integrity. You have my deepest thanks,” he said.

“No problem.”

Before Bellamy could say another word, Bertrand rushed out of the room, holding on to the envelope full of cash as though someone were going to steal it from him right there in the corridor.

“We still have work to do. After all, the estate won't clean itself!” he called out.

Bellamy sighed, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. Had Bertrand caught them, they would have had bigger problems than party preparations. She looked over at Drake but held up her hand when she saw him walk out of the office as well.

“Wait, Drake!” she cried and he whirled around.

“What?”

“The zipper, it's stuck. Could you-?”

He nodded and walked back towards her. Placing his hands on her hips, he made her face the opposite wall. She drew in a sharp breath at his sudden forcefulness. His fingers delicately pushed her soft silky hair over her right shoulder and she trembled slightly in anticipation. Slightly grazing her skin, Drake carefully fiddled with the stubborn zipper, and finally, managed to pull it up completely.

“Thanks,” she said when suddenly, the feeling of soft lips lightly kiss the back of her neck made her heart stop mid-beat. A wave of warmth and shivers overcame her body and she closed her eyes in order to fully appreciate the feeling of his mouth against her once more. But the moment passed all too fast.

“Don't mention it,” he murmured against her skin.

And he left the room, closing the door behind him.

A/N: I finally decided to merge my Choices blog with my main blog, I'm sorry if u guys don’t like all the choices posts, but I will be tagging everything so u can always blacklist. thank you for understanding <3

@masterofbluff @stixnstripesworld @duskholland

if you would like to be added to my taglist(s), feel free to fill in this form

#drake walker #choices #pixelberry #pb #the royal romance #choices app #drake walker fanfiction #drake walker fanfic #drake walker one-shot #maxwell beaumont #liam of cordonia #trr #v writes

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teacupfulofstarshine · 4 years

Text

the crossroad of our destinies book two: fire

CW: mentions of fantasy ableism, character death of minor background OCs, cursing, mentions of war crimes, atla-canon-typical fantasy violence, mild angst, injury, brief blood mention, mentions of murder

word count: 9708

book one: earth // read it on ao3!

“So you really can’t bend at all?” Roman asks.

Virgil stiffens, rolling his shoulders back to try and relax the tension gathering there. He knew this question would come up sooner or later, and he has spent an inordinate amount of time preparing his response. “I don’t bend.”

It’s not a lie. Virgil would lie outright, but Roman had tried that a couple of weeks ago only to have Logan immediately bust him. (As if he needed another reason to be the most terrifying twelve-year-old Virgil has ever met: his earth bending makes him a human lie detector.) Instead, Virgil answers with technical truths. They’re not the answers Roman is looking for, but they’re not going to earn a “Falsehood!” from Logan, either.

“What’s it like?” Roman leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands. “Not being able to bend? I know that every type of bending feels different, but I don’t know what it would feel like to not bend at all.”

“It’s not so bad, not bending,” Virgil says. “I mean, bending might make my life easier, but it also might make my life more difficult.”

“Have you ever seen it? Water bending, I mean?”

A beat of silence. “Yeah. Yeah, I have.”

“What does it look like?”

“It’s . . .” Virgil searches for words that won’t betray his secret. “Have you ever seen dancers?”

“I’m an ex-Fire Nation prince, Virgil. Of course I’ve seen dancers.”

“But have you seen ribbon dancers? The way the silk arcs through the air, rippling and elegant, controlled and powerful . . . that’s what water bending looks like. To me, anyway. Snow and ice bending are different, and of course healing is different, but water bending . . .” Virgil’s throat chokes up. “It’s beautiful.”

Roman is quiet, subdued. “I know my father. I know what he did to the water benders of the Southern Pole. I . . . I’m sorry.”

“They killed my father,” Virgil says softly. “My mother died giving birth to me, and my father . . . he died protecting me. They killed him instead of me.” Roman gently places a hand on Virgil’s knee, all traces of joking gone, and Virgil whines softly.

“I am so sorry,” Roman murmurs, “that my father has destroyed your life.”

“It’s not your fault,” Virgil says. Before starting this journey, he never could have pictured himself saying something like that to a fire bender, much less a former prince. But Roman isn’t just some prince, some foreign enemy. He’s Virgil’s friend. “You didn’t kill my father, and you didn’t give the orders to the general that did. It isn’t your fault, Roman. You’re not responsible for your dad and his tomfuckery.”

Roman snorts a little at the swear. A whip of air smacks Virgil’s arm. “Virgil!” Patton says, scandalized. “Watch your language!” Virgil just laughs, and Roman laughs with him.

*~*~*~*~*

Virgil is hesitant to enter Fire Nation territory, even if it’s just the outlying colonies. Roman assures him that nothing will go wrong, that they’ll be safe, but he isn’t quite sure if he believes him. “My father rarely visits the outlying colonies,” he tells Virgil. “My people are suffering under such a harsh regime. They will not aid him.”

They still force him to stay with Remy and Thomas in the woods when they venture into town for supplies. “I know the Fire Nation better than any of you!” Roman protests.

“And the Fire Nation knows you,” Logan tells him firmly. “Stay with my brother and Remy. If something goes wrong, you’ll have to protect them and get Thomas out of here.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you,” Thomas says firmly, gripping Logan’s shoulders. Logan reaches up and covers his brother’s hand with his own. “Promise me, Logan.”

“That is not a promise I can realistically make, Thomas. I cannot control the actions of others,” Logan says. “But I can promise you that I will do my best to avoid unnecessary confrontations and keep a low profile.”

“You duelled Roman into the ground, like, two and a half weeks after you met him,” Thomas laughs. “I don’t think subtlety is in your nature.” Logan scoffs at him, but he doesn’t push Thomas’s hand out of his hair when he ruffles it.

Patton ties a strip of fabric around his forehead, obscuring his air bender arrow tattoo. When they first met him, he was bald, but now that he’s been on the run with them for so long, his hair has grown back in. It’s a tousled mess of coppery curls, and they match the bright copper freckles splattered across his nose.

“Do you think you’re going to keep your hair or shave it off again?” Roman asks. Patton reaches up to touch his hair.

“It’s strange to get used to,” he says. “I’m used to feeling the wind on the skin of my head. It’s so weird! But I kinda like the way it looks. Do you think it looks weird?”

“I think it looks nice,” Roman says.

“I think you look fantastic,” Logan says dryly.

“Thank you, Lo!”

“Roman, however, looks like a drowned platypus-bear.”

“Hey!” Roman squawks. “Why does Patton get to look good?”

“Roman,” Logan says, slow and patient like he’s talking to a toddler, “I can’t see either of you. I”m fucking blind.” Roman throws a fireball at him, which Logan easily dodges, laughing. Patton flicks a hand up to extinguish the fireball before Roman can set the forest ablaze.

*~*~*~*~*

The Fire Nation is loud.

It’s much louder than Virgil’s village ever was. The air is sharp and sweet, smelling like spices and sweet incense and wood ash. Virgil sticks close to Logan as Patton bounces happily in front of them. He reaches down and takes Logan’s hand in his.

It’s so small.

“I do not need you to hold my hand,” Logan says testily.

“This isn’t for you,” Virgil hisses, gripping Logan’s hand tightly. “This is for me.” Logan turns to him, face scrunched up in confusion and annoyance, before exhaling softly.

“You’re telling the truth.” He keeps holding Virgil’s hand as they follow Patton through the bazaar, and Virgil exhales in relief.

*~*~*~*~*

Roman squeals in excitement when they bring back the little pastries he had requested. “I love them!” he squeals. “They’re my favorites, I -” His eyes go misty as he unwraps the parcel. “On our birthday, Remus would always get to pick out the cake. I was happy as long as the chef made a tower of these.”

He takes a bite, and the tears spill down his cheeks. “They’re just like I remember.” Before any of them can offer any sort of consolation, Roman is wiping at his eyes and offering his pastries to them.

“We can’t take them,” Patton says gently. “They’re your special piece of home.”

Roman shakes his head and pushes the parcel towards them. “Please, I insist. I want to share with my friends.” Virgil is the one to break the strange, motionless silence, breaking off a corner. The pastry is layered with a thick, syrupy honey that leaves sticky residue on his fingers. When he pops it into his mouth, a sweet spice explodes across his tongue. There’s a slight, residual burn that tingles through his mouth as he swallows.

“I know, right?” Roman says, reading something in Virgil’s facial expression. Virgil nods, licking the honey off his fingers. His obvious enjoyment is enough to encourage the rest of the group to start snacking on pieces of the treats.

*~*~*~*~*

Roman keeps every letter that Dragon brings him tucked against his chest. Under his shirt is a leather pouch that he attaches to his chest by tying it with strings, and inside he keeps the scrolls that he receives. “Remus and Dolos probably can’t keep my letters,” he tells Virgil. “They’ll have to burn them to make sure that no one else sees them.”

“Why?”

“If the crew finds out that the exiled prince is sending messages to them, they’re in danger. Remus is already toeing the line by keeping Dolos aboard the ship. Discovering that they’re in contact with me endangers our lives and theirs.”

Virgil wants to ask why Roman bothers putting so much care and effort into the crafting of his letters if he knows they’re going to get ruined. He spends so much time staring off into space, thinking of the perfect words, and then he sketches out elaborate doodles. Remus’s are always weird and kind of deranged, but Remus sends them back in kind.

Dolos’s letters all have intricate, elaborate borders of twining flowers on them, and more than once Virgil has caught Roman doodling sparrow-snakes onto the letters for his love. “He loves them,” Roman tells him. “I promised him a pet sparrow-snake as a wedding present.”

“Why would you do that?” Virgil asks, pulling one of his knives from his sleeve and examining the blade’s edge for imperfections.

“Because it would make Dolos happy,” Roman says, looking up with an uncharacteristically fond expression. “I love Dolos. I want him to be happy. But I also want him to be alive, so . . . so I have to sacrifice his happiness and mine to keep him that way.”

Virgil sets his knife down and reaches out to touch Roman’s shoulder. “I know that you love him,” he says softly. “And I know that he means so much to you that you would kill to keep him safe. You’d do anything for him.”

“Not anything,” Roman says.

“What, then? What wouldn’t you do?”

“I wouldn’t sacrifice you,” Roman says, eyes burning and serious. “I wouldn’t sell you and the others out to my father, even if it meant he would take me back. I love Remus and Dolos, I do, but you guys are . . . you’re my friends.” The way he says that word, friends, has a heavy finality about it. It carries a gravity that Virgil didn’t expect. “I wouldn’t be worthy of Dolos if I sold my friend out. And anyway, I like you guys too much to let you die.”

“How touching,” Virgil says dryly, smacking Roman’s head with the flat of his blade. The only part of Roman that’s damaged is his pride.

That doesn’t stop him from squawking in rage and chasing Virgil all across their campsite.

*~*~*~*~*

Dragon lands on Roman’s outstretched forearm with ease, even though Remy is still coasting through the air. Roman coos to the bird, stroking his back as he reaches up and nips at Roman’s hair and ear.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Thomas asks, eyeing the bird suspiciously.

“Not that bad,” Roman says. “When he nibbles my hair, it only feels like a light tugging, and he never bites my ear hard enough to hurt or bleed. It’s like a pinching feeling. I’m fine with it. Besides, he’s a good little birdy! Isn’t that right, Dragon? You’re a good little messenger birdy!”

Dragon wraps his massive talons around the reinforced sleeve of Roman’s jacket and coos. Roman unties the scroll from his leg and spreads it out on the back of the saddle. Virgil carefully drops little weights on the corners to keep it spread out without blowing away. “What’s the intel?”

The intel, as it turns out, is a map of the Fire Nation, with a few small islands marked in red and black. “These are all sacred fire bending sites,” Roman muses, slowly tracing his fingers over the map. “And this is the code Re and i used when we were children. We used to write secret messages to each other.”

“What does it say?”

“He’s marking which islands are safe.”

“None of them are safe, because they’re in the middle of the Fire Nation,” Virgil mutters. Roman glares at him. “What? It’s not a comment on you personally, Princey. I know you love the Fire nation, I know it’s home for you. But it’s currently under the thumb of your tyrannical father, who’s a notorious jackass that wants all of us dead.”

Roman lets his fingers skim over the ocean. One of the islands, the only unmarked one, is surrounded by drawings of monsters. There is writing above the island drawing, the only neatly-printed script on the entire map. It looks like Dolos’s handwriting. Roman smiles.

“What does it say?”

“It says ‘Here there be Dragons.’ It’s an old Fire Nation children’s story - that island is, supposedly, where the last of the dragons was slain. The water is so rough and choppy that there’s not a single chance of a ship being pulled into that island.”

“And we’re supposed to be able to get to it?”

“By air, we could,” Roman says. “Remy could fly us in. There are pretty regular storms, but if we go on the heels of one we’ll make it before the next one hits. No Fire Nation battle cruiser is getting to that island - but we will. We can. It’s the safest place in the whole Fire Nation, probably. It would be a good base of operations, at least for a little while.” He splays his fingers over the island.

“You miss home,” Logan says gently. “You want to be back on Fire Nation soil more than anything.”

“Not anything,” Roman says. “Not more than your safety. If I thought it wasn’t safe, I wouldn’t suggest it. But as far as I know, it is safe, and . . . and if we’re there, it’s mostly rock. There’s no chance of us setting fire to a forest and attracting unwanted attention.”

“That sounds like it’ll work,” Patton calls, turning his head around just enough to glimpse them without taking his eyes off the sky. “I’m on board with it.”

“I trust Roman,” Virgil says. “If he thinks that island is safe . . . I’m with him.”

Thomas studies his face. Virgil maintains a calm expression, despite his nerves. “Alright, then. Fire Nation it is.”

“Yip yip!” Patton calls. Remy swishes his tail irritably, but he turns anyway.

*~*~*~*~*

It gets hard to find water in the Fire Nation.

It has to be there, obviously, because sustaining life without water is impossible. But when compared to the flowing rivers of the Earth Kingdom forests and the ever-present oceans and ice of the South Pole, the Fire Nation is practically a desert.

Still, Virgil finds that their group is drawn to the water almost instinctively. Realistically, it’s because Remy needs to drink and to keep himself clean, and while they can all make do with a little waterskins, he needs a large body of water. Virgil still finds it like fate or destiny to be able to find so many little places to connect with his element, given where they are.

The river nearby is smaller than any he’s seen before, full of large, mossy rocks that he can easily fall and hurt himself on. He carefully removes his shoes and steps into the water. It takes a minute to find a spot where he can achieve a normal bending stance, but once he does, he inhales.

“Vee?”

Virgil nearly falls as he whirls around, seeing Logan standing in front of him. “Is - that is Vee, isn’t it?”

“Y - yeah, Lo, it’s me,” he calls. “You weren’t sure?”

“You’re standing in the river,” Logan says. “The water fucks with my earth bending, so it obscures my vision a little bit. I knew someone was there, but I didn’t know who it was . . .”

“It’s me,” Virgil says.

“Why are you out here in the middle of the river?”

“I miss home,” Virgil says. “We don’t have rivers like this, but we have water everywhere. We’re surrounded by ice and ocean and . . . and there’s just water, no matter where you look. And that’s why I’m here.”

“I understand,” Logan says, sitting at the edge of the river. “There is earth all around me, but all earth feels different. This is nothing like the earth that I knew at home. It’s full of ash and volcanic overflow, which makes for rich soil that nourishes plant life well. But I miss the rocks of my home village.” His voice is quiet. “I do not think my home village exists anymore.”

“Why not?”

“They knew that the Avatar had been born into an earth bending family. They travelled through the Earth Kingdom, searching for the Avatar . . . Thomas and I ran in the middle of the night. I could not let him leave alone. As we ran, I smelled the smoke, but Thomas . . . he must have seen the village go up in flames.”

Virgil hadn’t even considered that as a possibility. “Is he . . . okay?”

“I assume so,” Logan says softly. “He never tells me otherwise. Then again, I doubt he would say anything to me if he was. He doesn’t like to worry me, which is stupid, because he’s my brother. I’m always worried about him. Especially when he goes and hides shit from me.”

“You curse a lot for a twelve year old,” Virgil tells him. Logan throws a rock at him.

*~*~*~*~*

The island is beautiful, Virgil thinks. It’s all tall, imposing mountains with scraggly trees clinging to the cliffs and shining black-sand beaches. As Remy descends, Virgil spies a glimpse of a gleaming golden building hidden in the mountains. “What’s that?” he asks Roman.

“It’s a Fire Nation temple,” Roman tells him. His eyes are wide and shiny as he stares at the island, even as the waves crash down onto the beach. “Fire Sages would study there, calling on the spirits and seeking their advice. This temple’s been abandoned for who knows how long, since it’s virtually inaccessible these days.”

“Is that where we’re going to study?” Thomas asks, leaning over the side of the saddle.

“We can study anywhere on the island,” Roman responds, “but yeah, we probably will spend a fair amount of time there. It’s a traditional place to train in fire bending.”

Remy touches down on the beach, and almost immediately a dark, choppy wave crashes down over his tail. The flying bison snorts loudly, irritated, and lurches forward off the beach. “Easy there, boy,” Patton soothes, reaching to pat at his head.

“Where are we going to camp?” Logan asks.

“We’re on the beach right now,” Thomas says, “but I don’t think we can stay here. The ocean is too unpredictable, not to mention ships could spot us. I think it’s best if we move inland, try to camp out somewhere in there.”

“That sounds good,” Roman says. He jumps off of Remy’s back and sinks to his knees, digging his hands into the black sand. “Oh, I’ve missed this . . .”

“What is it?”

“Volcanic sand. It’s formed from lava, there’s no feeling like it!” Roman happily begins to roll around in the sand, laughing like a little kid. Virgil watches him indulgently for a couple minutes before he starts harassing him to lead them inland.

*~*~*~*~*

They set up camp at the base of one of the large mountains. Logan and Thomas earth bend some shelter structures out of the rock, and Logan hollows out a campfire pit. Roman goes and finds good firewood, easily bending a campfire to life. Virgil settles down next to Logan as Roman begins to talk about fire bending to Thomas.

“You know how to do this,” he says. “Not consciously, of course, but you’re the Avatar. You were a fire bender in some of your previous lives. The memory of bending is somewhere inside you. We just have to unlock it.”

“And how do we do that?” Thomas asks.

“We start with the bending stances,” Roman says, “and we work our way up from there. A word of caution - I can only teach you some of fire bending.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t bend lightning.”

“Fire benders can bend lightning?!” Thomas gasps.

“Not all of us,” Roman says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Remus and I had training in lightning bending, since we’re princes, but neither of us mastered it. To the best of my knowledge, anyway . . .”

“That’s really cool, though,” Thomas says.

“You know what’s really cool?” Roman says. “Redirecting lightning. If bending lightning is rare, redirecting lightning is crazy rare. It’s not really a fire bending technique, I don’t think, cause Uncle Emile’s the one who pioneered it. He told me he used water bending techniques to develop it.”

That perks Virgil’s interest. “Water bending?”

Roman nods, explaining the way his uncle had developed the redirection technique in between instructing Thomas and adjusting his bending stances. Virgil listens, quietly taking mental notes in case he can use any of these stances in his own bending practices.

*~*~*~*~*

The ocean is so different to the one at the South Pole.

Virgil creeps away at night, after they’re all asleep. Patton is snuggled up to Remy, tugging the flying bison’s tail over himself like a blanket. Logan and Thomas are pressed close together, Logan’s quiet breaths obscured by Thomas’s snores. Roman is sprawled out on his stomach like a starfish, face totally obscured by his growing mop of wild curls. It’s warm enough in the Fire Nation that no one feels the need to huddle up to him for warmth, letting him spread out the way he apparently normally does.

As he makes his way to the ocean, Virgil hums to himself, an old lullaby that he remembers from his childhood. It’s an old tale about spirits and balance and the moon, and it comforts him. The Fire Nation island is dark, but the moon overhead is bright and full. Virgil can feel it pulling on him as he creeps ever closer to the ocean. He steps out from the shadow of the sparse forest lining the coast onto the black sand of the beach just as a massive wave breaks against the shore. The water is black as pitch, and the moon gleams overhead like a jewel, reflecting beautifully on the water.

“Hello,” Virgil whispers. The black sand is unlike anything he’s ever felt; it glides smoothly over the skin of his bare feet, slipping between his toes as he digs them in for balance. He understands why Roman missed a beach like this.

Virgil knows that he isn’t strong enough to bend the ocean. Water is one thing, but the ocean is under the control of the spirit La, and Virgil doesn’t want to mess with spirits. For once, he isn’t out here to practice his bending.

“Tui, Spirit of the Moon,” he says softly, “you gave me the gift of water bending, and taught me to wield it for defense. From your example, I take my lead. I thank and honor you.” Reaching into the small bag tied at his hip, he pulls out a piece of fruit he’d saved from their dinner, one of the two finest. “I offer you this sacrifice in thanks and adoration.” A wave rolls in, and he carefully sets the fruit down on a large, broad leaf. It’s carried out to sea, like a tiny boat, and Virgil quickly loses sight of it. He doesn’t bother to try and keep track of it; he has another sacrifice to make.

“La, Spirit of the Ocean, you gave me the gift of the water I bend, and taught me to wield it for healing. From your example, I take my lead. I thank and honor you.” He produces the second piece of fruit he’d saved. “I offer you this sacrifice in thanks and adoration.” Another wave rolls in, and Virgil watches another leaf-boat disappear into the ocean.

He’s done this spirit sacrifice every full moon that he can remember. Even on this journey, he’s done it, setting the sacrifices of the nicest parts of dinner he can save into the nearest body of water. He hopes that the rivers will carry his sacrifices out to La.

Traditionally, the spirit prayers are meant to be said in the plural. Virgil’s father had told him stories of the past, when all the water benders of the tribe would gather and sacrifice and pray together, thanking Tui and La for their gifts. Once the Fire Nation raids had begun, they had stopped.

Virgil makes a point to do it every single full moon. Bending is a precious gift, and deserves to be treated as such. He steps closer to the ocean, bending down to dip his fingers into the waves. The water is chilly, but it’s nothing compared to the burning cold of his home ocean. He lifts his hand to his mouth and gently licks his fingers, grinning.

He’s missed the taste of salt water.

*~*~*~*~*

It takes Thomas almost a week to be able to produce fire.

At first, all he can produce are puffs of dark smoke and the occasional spark. Roman seems ecstatic with this progress. “It’s good!”

“It’s not fire,” Thomas says dejectedly. “It’s not anything.”

“Most firebenders start out with smoke,” Roman says. “At least it’s dark! That’s a good sign! Dark smoke is always better than pale smoke. Remus’s smoke was pale for the first two months that we practiced.”

“So . . . I’m not a failure?”

“Of course you are not a failure,” Logan says, smacking his brother’s shoulder. “Do not say stupid things. It is beneath you.”

Virgil snorts, laying out his array of knives. They gleam in the strong Fire Nation sunlight, and the edges are freshly sharpened. “You’re the fuckin’ Avatar, Thomas. You’re not a failure.”

“Yeah!” Roman says, trying to be helpful. “Hey, at least you can bend!”

“Roman!” Patton hisses. Logan glares at him disapprovingly, and Thomas frowns. Virgil is confused for a second, until he sees Patton glance at him sympathetically.

Oh.

They think Roman was making a dig at him, because they think that he can’t bend.

Roman looks at him in confusion, and then immediately claps his hands over his mouth. “Oh - shit - fuck, Virgil, I didn’t - I wasn’t trying to - I’m so sorry -”

“Don’t apologize,” Virgil says, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s all good.”

“It’s not all good, though,” Roman says. “I never meant to imply that you’re not as important as us just because you can’t bend, I -”

“It’s all good, Ro, I mean that,” Virgil says. “I don’t bend, but that doesn’t mean I’m defenseless. I have all of these to keep me safe, and that’s not the only trick I have up my sleeve.”

“What do you have up your sleeve?” Logan asks him. “Besides many, many knives, anyway.”

“Water bending can be used for healing,” Virgil says. “There are plenty of scrolls about it in my home village. Different types of bending use different energy pathways, and if you know where those pathways flow, you can cut them off.”

“You can take away someone’s bending?” Roman whispers.

“Not permanently,” Virgil says, picking up one of his knives and fiddling with it so that he doesn’t have to look at anyone. “It’s only temporary. It leaves them weak and semi-paralyzed, and unable to bend, but they recover after half an hour or so. I try not to use it unless I have to, cause I know how much benders rely on their abilities.”

“That’s a pretty powerful skill,” Thomas says quietly.

“I guess. But you’re the Avatar, so you’d know all about power, wouldn’t you?”

Thomas nods, but there’s still something strange in his eyes.

Virgil goes for a walk by the ocean. When he comes back, the strangeness is gone.

*~*~*~*~*

“Why am I the one who has to go get firewood?” Virgil complains.

“Because I did it last time, and Patton did it the time before that, and Thomas and Roman are off doing fire bending practice somewhere,” Logan says. “It’s your turn.”

“I can go,” Patton offers. “It’s not that big of a deal!”

“No, Logan is right,” Virgil sighs, rolling to his feet. “It’s my turn to go get the firewood, so I’ll go get it. It’s not really that big of an imposition.” He pats his tunic, boots, sleeves down to make sure that he’s fully stocked with knives in case something happens. “I’ll meet you all back here, alright?”

He tightens the straps of his boots and heads off inland in search of firewood.

The island is very pretty, Virgil will give it that. The forest is almost non-existent this far inland, but there are plenty of small, woody plants and shrubs that he can gather wood from. He has an armful tucked against his side when he hears the noise. It’s a pained cry, and for a moment he thinks it’s Roman or Thomas.

Quickly, he shakes his head to clear it and refocus. Thomas and Roman are training closer to the shoreline today, so they wouldn’t be this far inland. And the cry he’d heard . . . it wasn’t quite human.

The cry echoes again, but there’s something different about it. Virgil ties the firewood together and throws it over his shoulder, scrambling off towards the cry. “I’m coming!”

He realizes that this is kind of a stupid move. He realizes that he could be running straight into danger. What if it’s a trap? What if he gets himself killed? Despite his fear, there’s something in him pulling him forward. The cry sounds real, and it sounds pained. Who or whatever is making it needs help, and Virgil will not stand idly by and let someone suffer because of his fear.

He makes his way to a cliff, and he can hear whoever’s crying on the other side. The cliff is tall, but not unscalable. Virgil’s used to climbing glaciers back home, and while ice is slippery and more perilous than rock, he can rely on his bending to keep himself steady. Here, he’s climbing with no support.

Virgil pulls off his boots and knots the laces together, slinging them around his shoulders. Going barefoot will ensure that he has a better grip on the cliff as he climbs. The sun gleams sharply on the dark rocks, and Virgil goes slowly to make sure he doesn’t accidentally grab a sharp rock and slice his hands open. He hasn’t had to climb like this in quite a while, but he enjoys it, despite the reason for his climb.

When he finally pushes himself up to the top of the cliff, he gasps. He’s found a small valley, hidden in the large, dark mountains, and tucked inside is a building. It’s built almost into the shadow of the mountain from dark brick, with a dark red tiled roof and gleaming golden accents. This must be the Fire Nation temple he’d spotted when they flew in, he realizes.

The cry echoes again, and Virgil realizes that it’s coming from the temple. He quickly pulls his boots off from around his neck and tugs them on, knotting the laces securely. The cliff slopes much more smoothly on this side, like the curve of a bowl. Virgil backs up and then leaps over the side, pulling water out of the waterskin hanging at his side with his hand. He bends it and freezes it beneath him, creating a flat board that he can surf down the hill on.

Virgil makes it to the bottom of the hill in record time, leaping off and bending his ice board back to regular water, which he quickly bends back into his waterskin. The temple hadn’t looked huge from the top of the cliff, but up close and in person it’s enormous. It’s clearly suffered from neglect; the door hangs ajar from the hinges, the gold is flaking off of the roof and the statues, some of which are missing arms and legs and noses and ears and even heads. Still, the temple is undeniably beautiful.

A pitiful whimper sounds from the temple, and Virgil exhales softly. “I’m coming,” he says softly. “I’m coming.”

The temple is dark inside, but Virgil can see rows of torches on the walls. He assumes they’re meant to be lit with fire bending, probably meant to be eternally burning, but he’ll have to make do. He carries flints with him in his shoulder bag, and he quickly pulls a torch off the wall and lights it. As he progresses slowly through the temple, he lights the other torches, and they cast a warm, ambient glow over the whole room. There are pictures decorating the entire length of the hallway, telling stories of the Fire Nation. They tell how the dragons taught the people of the Fire Nation to bend, to harness the warmth and strength of fire.

Looking at these pictures, Virgil can’t fear fire bending. It looks peaceful; there’s strength and power there, but there’s also love and light and warmth.

The hallway narrows and narrows and narrows, and then it widens abruptly into a large central chamber. This is the most intricately decorated room Virgil has ever seen - the walls, the roof, the floor, the pillars, everything is absolutely covered in decoration, but he can’t focus on any of it.

All he can focus on is the dragon in the middle of the room.

It’s enormous , a long, serpentine body winding around the columns. It’s a brilliant red, scales flecked with gold, and a row of orange gold-tipped spines running down its back. Its wings are spread out over the floor, and its head has golden horns and spines and whiskers. The dragon lets out another pitiful cry, and as Virgil inches closer he sees it - a massive wound in the dragon’s side.

It looks like an old wound, one that hasn’t healed properly. Even from afar, Virgil can tell that it might be infected, and the dragon’s breathing is heavy and labored. He creeps closer, and the dragon’s head snaps around to stare at him. Its eyes are a bright, unnatural blue, with slitted golden pupils, and when it stares at him it feels like it’s staring directly into his soul.

WHY HAVE YOU COME, CHILD? Virgil nearly drops the torch to cower and cover his ears. The voice is only in his head, and the dragon’s mouth does not move to speak, but he can feel it resonate against his sternum. HAVE YOU COME TO KILL ME, FINALLY?

“N - no,” Virgil manages, voice catching in his throat. “I heard you crying out.”

I AM IN PAIN. I HAVE BEEN IN PAIN FOR QUITE SOME TIME. I FEAR I AM NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD.

“I - I might be able to help you,” Virgil says.

WILL YOU KILL ME, CHILD? PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY?

“No,” Virgil says. “I - no ! I will not kill you! I want to try and heal you.”

YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN DO THIS, CHILD?

“I’ve never tried to heal a creature this big or a wound this serious,” Virgil admits honestly. “But I’m going to try. I won’t just let you suffer without trying.”

THAT IS ADMIRABLE.

“Can I come a little closer?” Virgil asks. The dragon rests its large head on its forepaws.

YOU MAY.

Virgil slowly climbs over the coils of the dragon’s body, settling himself down cross-legged next to the massive wound on the dragon’s side. It looks like an old burn wound, and the dragon’s flank rises and falls shallowly as it breathes. He gently lays a hand next to the dragon’s wound.

“Oh . . . what happened?”

IT WAS DRAGONS WHO TAUGHT THE FIRE NATION TO BEND. WE GAVE THEM THE GIFT OF FIRE. THE FIRE LORD TURNED IT ON US. HE SLEW ALL THE DRAGONS THAT I KNEW. I AM THE ONLY ONE LEFT. I AM THE LAST OF MY KIND.

Virgil presses his free hand over his mouth. “That’s . . . that’s so horrible . . .”

I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS HAD THEIR LIFE DESTROYED, I SENSE.

Virgil winces. “My . . . my dad. They killed him because they thought he was the last water bender of our tribe. He died lying to protect me.”

I AM SORRY, CHILD. THAT IS A FATE NO ONE SHOULD SUFFER.

Virgil exhales shakily. “No one should suffer your fate, either. I will do my best to heal you.” He pops the cap off of his waterskin and bends the water around his hands like a protective covering. The water begins to glow as he places his hands just above the dragon’s wound, letting his water bending give him information. What it tells him isn’t good; the wound is old, and it’s infected as he’d thought, and he suspects that the dragon has some form of blood poisoning.

He’s never tried to heal something this big, or this serious. But he promised he would try, and try he will. He’s lucky that the full moon was the other night; that’s when water benders are at the height of their power. With luck, he’ll be strong enough for this task.

IF IT IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU, CHILD, DO NOT PUSH YOURSELF. I HAVE SURVIVED THIS LONG. I WILL ENDURE.

“No,” Virgil says, narrowing his eyes and clenching his jaw. “I’m not giving up. I have to try.” He presses his hands against the wound, and the water begins to glow even brighter. He focuses on the flow of energy moving throughout the dragon’s massive body, pulling out the infection surrounding the wound and trying to push healing energy into the dragon in its place.

The water quickly becomes murky and infected as he heals. Virgil takes breaks to dispose of the tainted water and fetch some more clean water from the stream outside. The more he works, the shakier he gets, and he’s worried that he won’t have the energy to finish healing the dragon.

DO NOT HURT YOURSELF, LITTLE ONE, the dragon rumbles. ALREADY I FEEL MYSELF IMPROVING. YOUR KINDNESS HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR ME.

“I - I can keep goin’,” Virgil slurs. “Almost done . . . one more should do it . . .”

He presses his hands against the wound one last time. It’s shrunk down considerably, all the infection pulled out and purified and disposed of. He’s working on the final part of the healing now, re-growing the torn and burnt muscle and skin and making sure the dragon’s scales grow in properly.

Finally, he pulls his hands away, and the wound on the dragon’s side is no more. It stands up, shaking itself out; all of the scales rattle as they realign, and the dragon roars. THANK YOU, LITTLE ONE. YOU HAVE HELPED ME IMMENSELY. The dragon begins to glow bright blue, and Virgil’s exhausted brain manages to connect the dots: the dragon is a spirit. He’s just healed a spirit.

YOU HAVE EARNED MY GRATITUDE THIS DAY, the dragon spirit tells him. REST NOW, LITTLE ONE. KNOW THAT THE SPIRITS ARE WITH YOU, AND ONE DAY YOUR GOOD DEED WILL COME BACK TO YOU TENFOLD.

Virgil’s vision blacks out and blurs around the edges. The last thing he sees as he falls backwards is the dragon spirit’s head coming forward to catch his body.

*~*~*~*~*

“- isn’t he waking up?!”

“What if he’s dead?”

“He is not dead, I can hear his heartbeat. It is strong and steady. He will survive.”

“But what if he doesn’t wake up?!”

“Geez, Roman,” Virgil groans, lifting a hand to his head. “I never knew you cared.”

“Virgil!” He winces at the shout. “Oh, shit, sorry -” A hand presses against his forehead, warm, and when Virgil opens his eyes (only halfway), Roman is leaning over him, eyes bright with worry.

“What . . . happened?”

“You were taking forever to come back from firewood, so we went looking for you! We thought you had been ambushed and captured!” Patton explains, twisting his hands with worry. “We found you at the foot of a cliff, there was a rock next to you! We think there was some kind of rock fall that caught you unaware, you must have hit your head! We don’t know how long you were unconscious!”

“How long has it been?”

“We found you a few hours ago,” Thomas says. “It’s evening now.” Virgil slowly sits up, wincing when his head pounds. Logan is sitting beside him, and he offers him a waterskin. Virgil takes it and quickly gulps down a few chilly swallows.

“I thought you were dead,” he says softly. “I could feel your heartbeat, I could hear you breathing, I knew you weren’t, but when we found you, I - I was terrified, and I . . . I thought you were - I -”

Virgil gently touches Logan’s shoulder. It’s easy to forget that he’s only twelve and a half, with the mature aura he generally projects, but sometimes it’s painfully obvious that he’s just a child, thrust into a war against his will. Logan will lose what’s left of his childhood to this conflict, and Virgil will be damned if he forces Logan to grow up any faster than he already is.

“I’m sorry, Logan,” he says. Logan turns his face towards Virgil, and his eyes are wet. He hasn’t let any tears fall, but his hand is shaking when he places it over Virgil’s. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I - I didn’t mean to make you think you’d lost someone else. I’m okay.”

Logan is silent for a moment. “You’re not lying,” he whispers. “I’m still mad at you, though.”

“That’s fine,” Virgil says. “I’m sorry that I made you mad.”

“Smart answer,” Logan says, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face. He sniffles once, loudly, wiping at his eyes. “You saw nothing. I was not crying.”

“Of course not,” Virgil teases, gently ruffling Logan’s hair. He squawks loudly, but he makes no attempt to dodge Virgil’s hands. Virgil assumes he’s been forgiven.

*~*~*~*~*

The stars seem a little brighter that night. Virgil is on his back, hands beneath his head, staring up at the stars, when Roman flops down next to him. “What’cha doin’?”

“Looking at the constellations,” Virgil tells him. “They’re nothing like the ones back home, so I’m making up my own.”

“Do you wanna hear about ours?” Roman offers. He seems uncharacteristically shy, but Virgil just smiles at him.

“Sure, Ro. I’d love to hear about Fire Nation constellations.” Suddenly, the stars alight in Roman’s eyes. He lays next to Virgil and starts to trace lines between the stars, telling stories about the pictures he’s creating. At some point, the rest of their group shows up and settles in around them. Thomas lays down next to Virgil, Logan slots up against his brother’s side, and Patton stretches out beside Roman.

It’s good. It’s . . . peaceful.

*~*~*~*~*

The first time Thomas produces a flame on purpose, they all stop and stare.

Roman has arranged the kindling around the firepit, but he’s refusing to light it. “You’re going to light the fire,” he tells Thomas. The Avatar shakes his head.

“Ro, I’ve never made more than plumes of smoke and the occasional spark. I can’t light it.”

“You’re going to have to,” Roman says, “because I won’t. We can’t cook dinner without the fire, so you’re gonna have to figure something out and fast. The sun’s setting.” Thomas huffs.

“Roman, you’re being ridiculous.”

“You’re the Avatar. The fire is in your veins the way it’s in mine. You just have to convince it to come out.” Roman crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow impassively at Thomas. Even though he’s only met the man in passing, Virgil is reminded of Roman’s Uncle Emile.

Thomas drops into a fire bending stance and thrusts his hand forward. A puff of dark smoke appears, but no fire. He growls in frustration and throws his hand forward again, and again, then his foot, then another hand. He’s copying Roman’s bending stances, but no fire appears.

“You have to try harder than that.”

“I’m trying the hardest I can!”

“If that was true, you would have lit the fire five minutes ago.” Roman’s eyes are hard as steel. “Do better.”

“How?!” Thomas pants, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

“Just do it.”

Thomas screams and thrusts his hand forward in frustration. A massive jet of fire roars forward, licking up the sides of the pit and engulfing all of the kindling. Within seconds, it’s reduced to ash. Before anyone else can react, Patton bends a vortex around the fire and siphons out all the air, extinguishing the fire. Thomas stares at the pit in shock, breathing heavily.

“You did a good job,” Roman says, and his eyes are warm again.

“What was that?!”

“Fire benders often have to be pushed to a strong emotional extreme to create their first flame. Once you do it, though, it gets easier. We’ll work on being able to call your fire more reliably, and then we’ll work on tempering your control.” Roman touches Thomas’s shoulder and smiles. “I’m proud of you, Thomas.”

Thomas smiles. Roman sweeps fresh kindling into the firepit. “Again.”

Virgil backs up several feet.

*~*~*~*~*

It takes about ten days for Thomas to be able to call his fire reliably. Roman needles him through the first few attempts, poking and prodding until Thomas screams in frustration and incinerates whatever’s closest to him. Eventually, however, he gains the ability to bend flames without fifteen minutes of Roman’s prompting.

“You did well,” Roman tells him. “Now, we work on training that fire. Producing it is one thing, but controlling it is another. For that, we go inland.”

“What? Why?”

“There’s a Fire Nation temple on this island,” Roman says. “It’s not, like, strictly necessary to go there, but I always found that being connected to the tradition of fire benders before me helped sharpen my focus.”

“Sounds cool,” Thomas says. Virgil thinks back to the temple where he’d found and healed the dragon. He’s glad they won’t be walking in on that fiasco. “Are we the only ones going?”

“I want to go!” Patton says eagerly. “I’ve never seen a Fire Nation temple before!”

“I would also like to visit an example of Fire Nation architecture,” Logan offers. “I am sure it will be fascinating.”

They turn to face Virgil. “Vee? You coming?” Virgil’s already seen the Fire Nation temple, but he’s not too proud to admit that it was beautiful. He wonders if there are other secrets that the temple holds, secrets that will only reveal themselves in the presence of a fire bender.

Plus, he’s not exactly keen on everyone else going off on an adventure without him.

“Yeah, of course I am.” Roman grins.

*~*~*~*~*

The cliff is much easier to scale the second time around. Before any of them can attempt to problem solve, Logan steps forward. Within a minute, he’s earth bended a set of stairs leading up the gleaming cliffside. “Will these suffice?”

“Nicely done, Rocky!” Roman says, ruffling Logan’s hair. Logan hides his pleased smile, but Virgil catches a glimpse as he heads up the stairs.

The temple is just as beautiful the second time around. Logan and Thomas bend a chute in the cliff, allowing them all to slide down to the entrance of the temple. “It’s beautiful,” Roman breathes. “It’s been neglected . . . forgotten about . . . but it’s still beautiful.” He reaches out towards the front door, carefully places his hand on the intricate wooden panelling. “There was one of these in the palace, but it wasn’t so intricately decorated. My father didn’t believe in taking care of temples like this, in honoring tradition. He only believes in power.” His voice is shaking.

“We know not all fire benders are like that,” Virgil says softly. “We know you’re different.”

Roman takes a deep breath. “Let’s go inside.”

Once they step inside, Patton frowns. “It’s pitch black in here!”

“Oh, no,” Logan deadpans. “How terrible, to not be able to see anything. How frightening.” Patton winces guiltily before Logan snorts and socks him in the arm. “Kidding. I do not take offense.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Roman says. Virgil can barely see his silhouette in the dark, but then a flame arcs through the air, following the path of Roman’s foot as he bends. The flame dances along the rows of torches, illuminating the hallway. “Shall we?”

Roman trails his fingertips over the murals carved into the walls as they walk. He’s vibrating like a little kid, but there’s something solemn and reverent in the way he touches things. “These murals tell the history of my people,” he whispers. He doesn’t need to, but Virgil feels the atmosphere of the temple the way he’s sure Roman does. It feels like a place for whispering. “They tell how the dragons taught us to fire bend. I wish I could see one . . .”

Virgil thinks of the last time he was here, and prays that they don’t see another dragon.

When they enter the central chamber, it is empty and darkened. Roman steps into the center, humming softly to himself, before glancing upward. “I think I can open it . . .”

“Open what?”

“All Fire Nation temples have a hatch in the ceiling that opens to let the sunlight in. That’s the source of our bending powers, is the spirit of the sun. There’s an intricate set of bending steps you have to do to open the hatch, it’s considered sacred. Fire Sages are usually the only ones who can do it, but they teach it to royalty as well.” Roman frowns.

“What is it?”

“Typically, you need two fire benders to open the hatch . . .”

“I can help,” Thomas offers.

“No, you’re not skilled enough outside of the Avatar state to do it. I can try and do it on my own, but I’m not super optimistic.”

“You have to try!” Patton cheers. Someone snorts derisively from the darkness of the temple. Roman narrows his eyes, shifting to an attack stance. Virgil lets a knife drop into his hand; Patton and Logan shift into bending stances; Logan steps in front of Thomas, who settles into an earth bending stance of his own.

Something crackles as white lines begin to trace in the dark. Roman’s face shifts from caution to shock. “Get down!” he shouts, moments before a lightning bolt sails over his head and slams into the wall. It fizzles out harmlessly against the stone, and Roman shifts back to a bending stance. “Show yourself!” Virgil’s blood runs cold. Another fire bender. They’ve been found.

Another lightning bolt shoots out of the darkness, heading towards Roman. He doesn’t move, and Virgil is about to shove him out of the way when the lightning bolt strikes the stone right in front of Roman. Virgil frowns; Roman said lightning bending was rare, something only skilled fire benders could do. Whoever’s bending in the dark has missed them, not once but twice. Either they’re a terrible shot, or . . .

They’re missing on purpose.

Roman takes a step towards the darkness, and then another. “Show yourself,” he repeats, voice just a little softer.

“Bad idea,” Virgil warns, voice low. Something shifts in the darkness, snarling, and then a dark blur throws itself onto Roman. It tackles him to the ground, knocking him flat on his back. Roman lets out a winded noise as he rolls with his attacker, trying to pin them down. Virgil slips a throwing knife into his hand, pinning it between his index and middle fingers, but he can’t get a clear shot on Roman’s attacker to throw it.

Finally, they stop moving. Roman is on his back, his attacker perched proudly on his stomach. Virgil is ready to attack, but freezes when he sees that Roman isn’t staring up at his attacker with fear or anger or concern. His face is soft, and open, and looks almost . . . hopeful. Virgil’s eyes slide to Roman’s attacker, and he does a double take.

Roman is being pinned to the ground by . . . himself?

A few more seconds clears his vision; the boy pinning Roman looks very similar to his friend, but there are differences. He has a white streak of hair in his bangs, the wispy beginnings of a mustache, a gap between his front teeth. There’s something slightly unhinged glinting in his eyes as he grins.

“Remus?” Roman breathes. The name rings a bell. Remus. Roman’s twin brother. The one who told them about this island.

“The one and only!” Remus crows. He hops up off of Roman, eyes settling on Virgil and the others. He bows exaggeratedly, crossing one foot behind the other, grinning up at them with something just shy of mania. Roman rolls to his feet and yanks Remus into a hug.

“Rem!” Roman’s fist grips Remus’s shirt so tightly that his knuckles are turning white, and Remus holds his brother just as tightly. “You’re okay! After I left, I was so worried Father would do something to you, are you - are you okay?!”

“I’m okay,” Remus says softly. “I’m okay, Ro, and Deedee is too. He’s safe.”

“Is he here too?!” Roman gasps hopefully. Remus shakes his head.

“He’s not strong enough to leave the ship��s quarters. Father did a number on him. But he’s alive, and he misses you. A lot.”

“I miss him too,” Roman says, eyes watering. He pulls back from the hug just enough to study Remus’s face. “Your hair - what happened?”

“Lightning mishap.”

“You can bend lightning now?! You absolute fucker!” Roman laughs, dragging Remus back into his arms. “I can’t believe you figured it out first!” Remus grins, hugging his twin. “How did you get here? We flew in, but -”

“I took a rowboat.”

“Are you crazy?! You came in by sea? You could have been killed!”

“I know! It would have been so exciting!” Remus chirps, bouncing and flapping his hands. “But I knew you were gonna be here, and I missed you!”

“That was a stupid risk!”

“Saving the Avatar and his baby brother from Father’s wrath was a stupid risk, too. Must run in the family.”

Roman punches his brother in the chest. Remus laughs, rolling with the blow and kicking Roman’s feet out from under him. Roman lands flat on his back, laughing breathlessly. Virgil lets his knife slide back into its sheath. Remus still sets him on edge, but Roman looks more at ease than Virgil’s ever seen him (with the possible exception of when his Uncle Emile tumbled out of those bushes).

It’s nice to see him relax.

*~*~*~*~*

Later, after Remus and Roman have performed and intricate series of dance-like fire bending steps and opened the roof hatch, letting the sun come pouring in, they all sit together. Remus and Roman are pressed close together, literally joined at the hip.

“I can’t stay much longer,” Remus says regretfully. “I’m going to have to head out today if I’m to make it back to the warship before the sea becomes unnavigable.”

“Why risk it at all?” Roman asks.

“We’re checking all the outlying Fire Nation islands for you. Your flying sky beast was spotted by some locals on the shore. I volunteered because I knew it was the most dangerous island to look for. The crew thinks it was a noble gesture, they don’t suspect me.”

“But if they do,” Roman says, “what will they do to you?”

Remus grins, sharp and unhinged. “I can do worse back to them, tenfold. Trust me. And they won’t find anything out.”

“Why come yourself?” Virgil asks. “Why not send your Uncle?”

Remus’s grin fades. “I missed Ro. We’ve never been apart this long, it’s . . . I hate it. It’s like someone ripped my arm and leg out and then beat me over the head with it.”

“I hate it too,” Roman says. He grips Remus’s hand tightly. “I’m so sorry that I left you.”

“Hey, if Dee and I coulda escaped with you, we would have,” Remus shrugs. “You know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Someone has to take care of him until you get back. And Dee’s cool, I don’t mind.” Remus turns to regard Thomas, tilting his head to the side. “So how good of an Avatar are you?”

“I’ve mastered earth bending,” Thomas says. “Roman is teaching me to master fire. Air is next, then water.” Remus winces. “What?”

“You might wanna hurry that time table up a little. There aren’t any water benders left at the South Pole.”

“I know,” Virgil says coolly. “I’m from the South Pole.”

“Father is planning something,” Remus says, gripping Roman’s hand back. “He keeps meeting with dignitaries from the Air Nomads, and I’m not sure why. He told me before I left that he was trying to broker peace, but -”

“But Father has never brokered a peace in his entire life,” Roman finishes. “That’s suspicious.”

“There’s more. I think once he finishes with whatever he’s doing with the Air Nomads, he’s planning an assault on the Northern Water Tribe.”

“How is he going to do that?”

“With the Air Nomads’ help?”

“My people would never aid in something like that,” Patton spits. Remus shrugs.

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just saying, you don’t know what Father is capable of the way that Roman and I do. He’s capable of atrocities beyond your comprehension. He took Mother away from us. He took Roman away from me. He’s - he’s taking everyone I’ve ever loved.”

“He won’t take me,” Roman promises. “We might not physically be with each other, but as soon as the war is over I’ll come home.”

“You’ll have to kill Father for that to happen,” Remus says. “You’ll have to win the war.”

“We will.” Roman’s eyes are blazing, and Remus stares into them for a moment before nodding.

“I believe you.”

“Good.” Remus stands up. “Don’t accompany me to the shoreline. The ship’s crew are watching through the onboard telescope, and if they see you they’ll storm the island. Wait until after sundown, we’ll be long gone by then. If plans change, I’ll send Dragon.”

“You better be taking care of him. And Dolos.”

“Please, Roro. I’m not taking care of anyone. Uncle Emile is keeping us all alive.” Roman heaves an exaggerated sigh.

“I don’t know why I expected better.” He stands up as well, gripping Remus’s shoulders. “Promise me that you’ll be careful?”

“I’m never careful, brother,” Remus laughs. They pull into another tight hug before Remus is disappearing down the hallway like a shadow. Roman watches him go with a wistful, hungry expression on his face before turning around to stare at Thomas with renewed fire.

“You heard my brother. We have a lot of work to do.”

#starshinewrites #avatar!au #sanders sides #ts deceit #ts remus #brotherly creativitwins #background romantic roceit #virgil sanders

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bronanlynch · 3 years

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thursday again no (?) problem

listening: been in a Rilo Kiley mood recently, the song The Good That Won’t Come Out hits me in a place, love a soft little bop that makes me feel all melancholy

youtube

reading: I’m about two thirds of the way through The Steel Crow Saga by Paul Kreuger, I’m enjoying it, the worldbuilding is cool and I care abt the characters. the quote on the back compares it to Avatar but Imo it’s more like Korra specifically than AtLA (there are cars and trains and guns, and also people trying to rebuild their countries after years of occupation and dealing with the aftermath of colonialism). however it has a significantly more coherent grasp on political themes than Korra does (I love Korra but. hmm. I have some opinions abt some of the writing decisions). also most of the main characters aren’t straight, and there’s a trans man who is, admittedly, kind of an asshole but I like him on principle bc there are so few trans mlm in fantasy, so it’s unfortunate that this one is aggressively a monarchist but he’s also sleeping with the prince which is one of the more valid reasons to be a monarchist so he’s valid I guess

watching: so I finished Gundam Wing, and my review is that it would be a good show if the characters had consistent motivations and coherent emotional arcs. I care enough about some of the character because they have enough potential for me to want more. as far as I can tell there’s not really a thematic message beyond “war is bad but people enjoy fighting,” because most characters fall somewhere on the spectrum between “war is good because people naturally enjoy fighting, therefore fighting is beautiful” “peace is good but only if you get there by destroying all of your enemies first so there’s no one left to fight you” “war is bad which means I need to do war crimes and/or let war crimes happen so that everyone sees how fucked up war is” and “fighting at all ever is bad even if fascists are invading your country, the right thing to do in that situation is surrender and let them turn you into a figurehead”

the politics are wildly inconsistent and also, Imo, not great. don’t understand why the group trying to fight back against the organization who conquered the entire earth by force are somehow the bad guys, except that they inexplicably put some asshole who changed sides like 5 times in charge of their entire operation, and he inexplicably wants to blow up the entire earth in order to show people why war is bad. seriously.

there’s also a weird emphasis on heterosexual love as the most important thing to strive for, despite none of the m/f relationships getting any development whatsoever and the only relationships that seem to actually matter are familial or ~the bond between fellow warriors

and then the ending feels very abrupt and like. suddenly everything is supposed to be fine now because it was all just a misunderstanding and no one actually wanted to fight a war, we were all just doing war crimes to show how bad war is, so never mind all those people who died or the child soldiers who were traumatized along the way. and maybe the way that most of the plot feels like it was meaningless now that everyone has just suddenly realized that they should stop fighting is meant to be a commentary on war meaningless. maybe. or maybe they should have written a more coherent plot and a more convincing ending. because that interpretation doesn’t really track with all the emphasis on how cool and important the Gundam pilots are, so maybe this show is just falling into “fighting is beautiful/wow cool robot” line of thinking that it was trying to critique

HOWEVER, a counterpoint and also subtle plug for my ttrpg/Friends at the Table/mech anime twitter: there sure are lots of dynamics that give me gay vibes

also watching: that Supernatural clip. you know the one. I have an entire essay in me about how straight people fundamentally don’t understand what coming out means or how it works or why we do it, but everything about Cas ““speaking his truth”“ and how that’s the happiest he thinks he can ever be even though both he and the text of the script say that his feelings are unrequited is such out of touch cishet bullshit. coming out, in gay media for/by straight people, is usually framed as like, the end goal and something that we do for its own sake or so that we can be ~authentic or whatever the fuck. which, at least in my experience, is just. not how it works. and maybe I’m missing something here, because I do not feel like I’m being “fake” by not being out to everyone I meet, and also that when I lie about my identity for my own comfort and safety that’s 100% fine and valid, actually. but Imo coming out is just as much, if not more, about gaining access to community support and resources and potential relationships. you don’t come out to your crush so that you can live your truth or whatever the fuck, you come out to your crush because you want to date them. so fuck off with that “true happiness isn’t about having it’s just about saying it” bullshit

playing: I know I talk a lot abt my ongoing Beam Saber campaign but I’m really excited about it, and I spent a lot of time yesterday doing prep for both the current mission and the next few missions, including some broader faction stuff. I’d never run a campaign before this and it’s really fun actually? and I love the downtime & faction stuff that Beam Saber does that you can’t really get when you’re just doing one shots all the time.

making: didn’t take pictures because I was running late to Beam Saber but I made some pretty tasty garlic bread last night. most of the stuff I’ve been making recently has been food tbh, my big cosplay project goes through phases where I work on it a lot and then realize how much work I still have to do and take a break for a few weeks, and right now I have to alter a bunch of pattern pieces so that’s. gonna be fun

#dreaming.txt

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marauders-groupie · 4 years

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Top 5/Bottom 5 Fics by Kudos

I was tagged by some really talented writers: @kinetic-elaboration, @thefangirlingbarista, @eyessharpweaponshot, and @thelittlefanpire. I’ll binge-read their fics this weekend and reblog their posts so stay tuned! Thank you, guys! <3

Top 5 marauders_groupie fics by kudos

1. We Burned Bright [Bellarke, prompt fill collection, 69k words]

Kudos: 3030

Honestly, I’m not surprised. This is a prompt/one-shot collection with lots of fics so there’s something for everyone. My personal fave is “Bellamy sings at a bar in the next time over and no one knows.”

2. Livewire [Bellarke, soulmate AU, 4.2k words] Kudos: 1544

...(Jesus, when did this get so many kudos???)

Clarke Griffin finds 'Atlas' written on her wrist and Bellamy Blake sees flowers bloom on his skin.

[Soulmate au where when you write something on your skin with pen/marker/whatever the hell you want, it will show up on your soulmate's skin as well.]

3. I’d Still Stare at You [Bellarke, soulmate AU, 5.7k words] Kudos: 1273

...(Personally, I find this fic to be overrated, but I’m glad people like it so much!)

Nothing about Clarke's soulmate makes sense until she meets Octavia’s brother.

And then it’s like every puzzle piece that hasn’t been able to fit the picture suddenly clicks.

[Prompt: Where a tattoo isn’t set from the moment you’re born and whatever tattoos your soulmate gets, you get them, too.]

4. All Peeling Thunder [Bellarke, soulmate/enemy AU, 8.6k words] Kudos: 1251

...(Surprise, surprise! It’s a soulmate fic! But joking aside, this is my personal fave out of all the soulmate fics I wrote because of the ~twisté)

Clarke has always been aware of Bellamy, name traced in black ink on both wrists. But it isn't until she gets older that she realizes she didn't just get a soulmate - she got her worst enemy, too.

[Based on a tumblr post: "Your enemy's name is on one wrist and your soulmate on the other. Hope it's not the same name on both wrists."]

5. Magnetized [Bellarke, soulmate & childhood friends AU, 6k] Kudos: 831

(...... oh my God they were soulmates.)

No one knows how Bellamy and Clarke managed to turn ruining each other's chances of finding true love into friendship. But they still did.

There isn't a scar she's got that he doesn't have a matching one for. There isn't a laughter line he doesn't know the story behind. There isn't a flicker in her eye he can't name.

The world could go to hell and they'd still be standing, Bellamy and Clarke, cocky and smirking, as if they didn't get the memo.

[Prompt(s): childhood best friends + soulmates + compasses]

Bottom 5 marauders_groupie fics by kudos

1. You Call the Shots, Babe (I Just Wanna Be Yours) [Murphamy, Fluff, 499 words] Kudos: 58

Basically - Murphamy and FLUFF!

(Also, a proposal.)

2. love you with all the grace of a tumble down the stairs [Braven, Angst, 4k] Kudos: 68

... (Very purple prose-y, but I love Braven.)

They do the love thing all wrong but it's no wonder because she's a shooting star on a reverse proportional trajectory, and he is a self-made hero the skies love to hate.

Or:

How a threat to kick his ass makes Bellamy fall in love with Raven Reyes. How they screw it all up. And fix it again.

3. veins busy // hearts in atrophy [Murphamy, Angst, 2.2k] Kudos: 77

... (AKA: things that go bump in the night when you listen to Hozier too much.)

“A poet and an artist, huh?” John whispers into his ear, voice hoarse, cheeks sweaty. Bellamy’s one-bedroom studio is packed with books, papers and pens that don’t even work anymore. His palms are covered in ink. But it’s all good. “What a fucking cliché, Blake.”

Bellamy cocks an eyebrow, makes John’s heart stutter. He’d never admit it, of course he wouldn’t. Men like him have had enough heartache not to have a heart anymore.

(But John's still beats out a war march when Bellamy smiles like he sees right through him.)

4. Inhale Fire Exhale Desire [Princess Mechanic, Canon, 728 words] Kudos: 115

... (Princess Mechanic owns my ass, byeee!)

Raven stands up to leave, leaning on her good leg but Clarke isn’t ready to let her go. These days she lets everyone go and they don’t even glance over their shoulders.

Who could love a girl who smells like death and war?

And then Raven looks at her, incredulous, and Clarke thinks – well, maybe a girl with skin of gasoline and fingertips like matches.

5. Rare and Beautiful [Bellarke, A Discovery of Witches/Magic AU, 12.3k] Kudos: 154

... (I love this fic with all of my heart and I am so happy I wrote it!!!)

Clarke Griffin's magic was taken from her when she was eight years old. But after reading a mystical manuscript twenty years later, it all comes rushing back. But where there is magic, there are monsters too.

A story about agency, loss, freedom, and the most beautiful thing of them all: existence.

“Oh, and you forgot to mention one very important thing,” she whispers, casual.

“And what would that be, Princess?”

The nickname slips off his tongue so easily, and he can feel her heartbeat picking up the pace. Her laughter melts against him.

“That you’d much rather have blood than coffee.”

And there you have it, folks! Plenty of soulmates on the menu. :D Thank you again for tagging me!

I’m going to tag: @pepperish @alltheworldsinmyhead @kindclaws @katchyalater @kay-emm-gee @craniumhurricane @star-sky-earth @arysafics @important-metaphors + everyone else who wants to do it!

#tagged #lana talks fic

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daily-dose-of-imagines · 4 years

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(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Matchup ♥

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

Hi!~ you can just call me Alex, please!~ I would like to be anon if that is ok lol the fandoms I want are A3!, Haikyuu!!, and Naruto! 🥰 SFW and NSFW is alright with me! 😉 whatever is comfortable lol

Alright so, intro info! I’m a Capricorn sun, Sagittarius moon and Virgo Ascendant. My modality is Cardinal 53%, Fixed 37%, Mutable 11%. My elements are Earth 51%, Water 36%, Fire 10% and Air 3%. My MBTI is INFJ. I’m also a HuffleClaw with a bit of Slytherin. I have was born with Turner Syndrome. I have ADHD, Autism, Anxiety and Depression. I am agender and I use they/them pronouns though she/her are alright since I’m used to those pronouns lol I am still exploring my sexuality, I am very open dating anyone of any gender so I would say I’m bi/panromantic, however I do strongly connect with the asexual spectrum since trust is a big deal for me lol

I had a coarctation or narrowing of the arota at 6 days old and was pronounced dead on the way to Children’s Hospital. I had open heart surgery soon afterwards. My grandmother was told that with all the mental health issues I could have due to TS, I could be super smart or I wouldn’t even be able to remember my own name. The doctor’s said I would be bad at math. My parents divorced when I was 10 and my little brother was 6. Both of them remarried, my dad once and our mol several times. Though, I won’t go more into that lol just to save you the details, our grandparents raised us and life was -is- really messy ahah

I’m currently going to college. I was supposed to graduate last semester, but I changed my major several times in the last 2 years lol 😂😂 I was a biology major and wanted to work in marine bio/ wildlife conservation and start my own rehab places for marine/terrestrial mammals. I am now a Middle School Education major with areas of concentration in science and language arts with a minor in TESL ( Teaching English as a Second Language). I want to teach English in Japan! 😊 As far as grade school, I always made As/Bs witout even trying and I loved to read, so much so that I got an award for it in 5th grade! I was quiet yet loud and super awkward as a kid 🤣🤣 I actually loved science a lot and even took AP courses until highschool because the teacher I would have taken in highschool was a really bad teacher who if he had family members and didn’t like them, he wouldn’t like you. He taught my father and his sister and didn’t like them, so least to say young and impressionable me noped out of that fast 😂😂

For a while, I wanted to be a Forensic Antropologist like Temeperance from Bones! 😊 however, we didn’t have a anthro major at my college, only chem lol so, when I started taking upper level courses, I quickly found I much prefer bio to chem 🤣🤣 I still dislike math as I have my whole life, but since I got to college, I’ve only made below a B in one math related course! 🥰

Ok sorry for a lot of random info 🤣🤣 onto other things! So, I’m very shy and quiet at first, but when I get comfortable around someone, that’s when the wierd comes out 🤣 I’m very passionate about education and science! I am a Christian and am very passionate about equality. I also firmly believe in redistributing millionare/billionares’ wealth.

I grew up watching anime and still love it to this day. I have strong connection with Japanese culture because anime was the gateway into learning about it and anime will always have a special place in my heart because of it! Japanese culture and really most if not all Asian cultures resonate with me because of the morals anime had taught me. I firmly believe in balance and hamrony with nature! I was introduced to kpop in middle school and have been a fan ever since lol 🤣 I also like pop/alternative music lol I like P!NK, Linkin Park, Adele and a few others lol

As I mention with wanting to be a marine biologist, I really love animals!~ 💕💜 my favs are otters, foxes, cats of all kinds, dogs, wolves, dolphins, and honey badgers! I currently have a Korat named Lila (li-lah like lilac) she is a very unique cat 🤣 she’s super curious and sorta a crackhead lol I did have a yorkie terrier named Sarah and a miniature schnauzer named Star, but since last June, we had to put both of them down 🥺 Sarah got cancer suddenly late last year and a few months ago Star had congestive heart failure. They were 13 and 14 respectively. They were amazing dogs! Sarah loved to swim and hunt little creatures and was the energetic one while Star was the grouchy old lady 🤣🤣

I also love anything fantasy/superhero! I love HP, LOTR, and Marvel! My fav genre of anime is shounen obvi lol 🤣Lol I also love learning other languages! I took French in highschool and two semester of Mandarin in college lol ( I need to brush up on both 🤣🤣) I am currently trying to learn Japanese! I wanna also learn Korean, Welsh, and Irish! I hope to go teach English in Japan via the JET program at my college! 🥰 I will more than likely stay in Japan after I stay the 5 max years through the JET program!

I also really love video games! I wanna play Persona 5 soo bad 🤣🤣 Horzon: Zero Dawn, the Legend of Zelda series, the Pokemon series and Animal Crossing: New Horizons are some of my favorites lol

Hmmm… what else to say? 🤣 I am typically the mom friend of the group ahaha oh! I am 4’9” and weigh 140 so I’m kinda chubby 😅 I am very self concious about my body. I have green eyes and I wear small, black rectangular glasses. I have moles and freckles all over my body. I have a dyed blonde bob with a brunnette undercut. I don’t have any piercings yet but I do have one tattoo on my inner left ankle!

I am stubborn, passionate, caring, empathetic, understanding, loving, loud, quiet, awkward, hyper, enthusiastic, curious, and I can procrastinate at times due to my ADHD lol I also love to have plans lol I like things to be organized and clean, but I don’t mind ‘organized chaos’ sometimes lol I am also very loyal to my friends. I prefer having a few super close friends than having tons of aquaintances.

Ok so dating lol um I’ve never actually dates anyone before 🙈 I’m also a virgin lol trust is a big issue for me, like aforementioned my parents divorce affected me a lot and I have a strained relationship with each of them due to the divorce and the events over the years afterwards. Plus, as a Capricorn, school/career is my main focus. I’m so busy with college and trying to figure myself out, I haven’t got time for dating ahaha so my irl soulmate will need to be a hell of a person and have the patience of a saint to deal with me 🤣

Even though I have never been in a relationship, out of curiousity and wanting to be knowledgeable, I have researched BDSM lol 😂 I am definitely not into slave/master, whipping, or anything super hardcore at all lol though, mild stuff like toys, handcuffs, spanking, biting, dirty talk, brat/tamer or daddy (mommy)/ little girl and blindfolds would be stuff I’m willing to try out lol basically, some light pain, toys and anything where I can be submissive and cast my cares away while still being able to be sassy/defiant suits me 🤣

Oh! For the purposes of this matchup, just male characters is fine lol like I said, I’m still trying to figure myself out so, for simplicities sake, assuming heteronorms is alright lol

Hmm as far as a type of guy I like, I can give you some anime examples 😂 Portgas D. Ace from One Piece, Itachi/Kakashi/Shikamaru from Naruto, Roy Mustang (also shoutout to Solf J. Kimblee as a guilty mention 🤣) from FMA!B, Kisuke Urahara from Bleach, Zuko/Sokka fron ATLA, Gintoki/Kamui/Takasugi/Shinpachi/Hijikata/Katsura from Gintama, Daisuke Kanbe from The Millionare Detective- Balance:Unlimited, Shinso Hitoshi/Shindo Yo from BNHA/MHA, Levi/Beel from Obey Me!, Itaru/Omi/Sakyo/Misuki/Tsuzuru/Kazunari/Banri from A3! And many more 🤣🤣 sorry for the long list lol basically to sum it up my type is kinda laid back, a lil perverted, confident, dominant, funny, teasing/flirty, caring, intellgent, mysterious, passionate and stubborn lol

Well, I hope that was enough info to get a good in depth matchup 🤣🤣 I feel like I gave too much but I wanna try to make it as detailed for y’all as possible so you can have an easier time with the matchup ahah thanks a lot, I love your blog and keep doing the good work you are doing! 🥰❤️💜💕 be sure to take care of yourselves and I hope y’all have a great weekend!! 🥰

( I apologize for sending it a second time, but there was some stuff I wanted to add that I forgot to mention until I after I sent in the first one 😭 again, I sincerely apologize!)

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Hello Alex and thank you for submitting with us! And thank you for supporting us! I hope you enjoy the boys I paired you with!

>Admin 𝕋

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𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽...

I choose Kiba to be your Naruto boyfriend! when he first sees you, and how quiet and shy you are, Kiba will definitely want to bring your inner playfulness out! And when he sees that you do have some playfulness in you, he will see that you became comfortable enough around him that your inner weird came out! And that would really pull at Kiba’s heartstrings! Kiba will also find it fascinating that you like different types of culture, and how the world works via science and education! He isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he will definitely appreciate how you think, since he wants harmony in the world too! He will love the fact that you love animals and he will love the fact that you want to be a marine biologist! Being an animal lover himself, he will marry you right on the spot, just for that!

Since you are the mom friend of the group, you can totally take care of Kiba! It might not be the best, but Kiba would really love and appreciate you taking the time out of your day to do stuff for him, even if he didn’t ask for it! He will love your buddy, it being curvy and easy to hold onto, if you know what I mean wink wink. He will find your little beauty marks to be charming and I see him poking your moles and freckles every so often when he is bored! And when you tell him that you want to get tattoos, hell yeah! He will want to be there for when you get your first one!

Kiba will love the fact that you are passionate about your studies, and you main focus is school and your career! He will love the fact that you are don’t want anyone to mess up your future, and where you want to go in life! He may be a bit on the impatient side, but when he is with you, he will understand the need for patience and why it is important! He will also love the fact that you are so loyal to your friends! He doesn’t want to date anybody who isn’t loyal or isn’t compassionate to the people around them, so that will definitely be a plus in your book!

For the spicy stuff, Kiba at first would not know what he is doing but once he figures it out, ho boy, you are in a for a treat! Biting, lots of biting, and him being just very dominant, wanting to please you and make you feel like you are on cloud nine! He will let you do what you want, if it means that you are going to like what you guys do in the bedroom! From the biting to the dirty talk, he is up for anything!

I choose Sakyo to be your A3! boyfriend! Sakyo will see your shy and quiet persona and think nothing much of it, but once you get comfortable around him, enough so that your inner weirdness comes out to play, he will be surprised that you were hiding such a fun and cheerful person away from him! He will also like the fact that you are passionate about science and education, since Sakyo himself is definitely one to go to science for something that can’t be explained, and he is one to like education too, since it gives you wisdom on subjects you didn’t know about before! He will love the fact that you love his culture so much, from the anime to the actual history of Japan. He will feel that you super educated on the subject, and will be appreciative of how much you love where he is from!

Sakyo will find it adorable that you love animals, and he find it admirable that you want to become a marine biologist! It is a hard job, learning about all kinds of animals, and then discovering new ones! Yeah he will find it very impressive! And if you were to ever tell him that you want a dog or some kind of really cute animal, he will never able to say no to you! So you should use that to your advantage! As for video games, he isn’t one for the, but if you ever try to get him to play with you, he will have a hard time saying no! It will frustrate him though, that you’d keep beating him at all of them!

As for appearances, I feel Sakyo wouldn’t care about what you like, it’’s all about what is on the inside, and when he sees that you are a passionate, loving, caring, a mother figure to your friends, loyal to them, and empathetic to the people around you, he will just know that you are the person for him! Seriously, yeah he might like your curvy body, but what will really give make him like you is the fact that you are just a really nice person for people to be around! He will definitely understand the sentiment of having just a few close friends, than having like twenty acquaintances.

Sakyo will love the fact that you’d rather focus on your studies than have a boyfriend that could distract you from your future career! He would be glad to wait for you to accept him, until you are stable in your career and would be able to start dating you like he wants! And for a little spicy time, he would be a dominant as all hell. Like he would be so into dirty talk and taking you to heaven with his mouth. You might tell him you want to some like spanking and biting, and he might be into the biting, but the spanking makes him feel a little weird, so he might do it as often. But! If you ask, him he will have no reason to say no! So you better have fun with him!

I choose Iwaizumi as your Haikyuu boyfriend! Much like Sakyo, Iwaizumi will see you shy and timid demeanor and think nothing of it, and if anything, he will think it is kind of cute, but would have an inkling that you are more than you put out. And once Iwaizumi sees that, yes, you are more than shy, that you have your weird quirks and can be quite loud, he will find you even more cute, what with the way you act around him and not the others! He will find it so cute that you only act like that with him and nobody else! And much like Sakyo, he will find it awesome that you like his culture so much! From the anime to the language, and everything else! He would even offer to help you learn the language and such, to help you better understand his culture! Iwaizumi love the fact that you like superheroes and practically anything fantasy! I suspect that Iwaizumi also love Marvel and such! I also feel like Iwaizumi is extremely good at video games, so when he plays with you, make sure you try your best to win against him!

Iwaizumi will feel a bond with you being like the mom friend, since he has to constantly watch over Oikawa like he is his child! And for appearances, much like Kiba, I feel as though Iwaizumi will see your blemishes and your curvy body and think it is just uniquely you! Something that he associates with you alone! And the uniqueness will definitely get him to really like you! But I feel like he will really like girls in glasses so that is a definite plus for you!

Iwaizumi will love the fact, like the others, that you are a loving and caring person. Someone that is passionate and driven! And the fact that you have all your plans thought out and organized in your own way? Oh yeah, he would definitely like that! And the fact that you are so passionate about your future that you’d much rather focus on that instead of being in a relationship! He’d understand, would he hate that fact that he has to wait for you to be stable in your career? Yes, he wouldn’t like it one bit, but he wouldn’t leave you because of it! Will he wait for you? Most definitely!

For the spicy stuff, ahahahaha Iwaizumi. He is like. A dominant bottom, he’s okay with essentially whatever you want to do, as long you both are having a good time, and you guys are feeling good! As for the biting and the spanking and all the kinky things you want to try out, he’d be into it, he’d just wouldn’t know how to go about it, so it would be a learning experience for the both of you! In the end, Iwaizumi would be into a lot of things you guys tried! So beware what he has in store for you in the future!

#submission #submissions #matchup #anime matchups #haikyuu matchup #naruto matchup #A3! matchup #A3! x you #A3!#haikyuu!!#Haikyuu!! x you #naruto #naruto x you

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