#I’m tagging all the ships I can remember reading while this happened
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Get In The Water
To bargain with an ancient death-lord, Captain Elain Archeron must acquire the rare, magical scales of a siren. Little does she know her target is no ordinary Mer—but the Prince of the Undersea himself.
Pairing: Elucien
Tags: Pirate!Elain x Merman!Lucien
Notes: For the beautiful talented stunning @areyoudreaminof for the @acotargiftexchange! I wasn't your original Secret Santa, but I tried to include some of your favourites here (this is your official warning for Jurian being a canon-typical little shit). Sending you so many smooches!
Thank you @ablogofsapphicpanic for being my beta<3
Read on AO3
“With all due respect, Captain Archeron, I really don’t think this is a good idea.”
Elain’s answering sigh was deep enough to rustle the waves ahead. She tossed them a final look before turning back to her quartermaster. “You know exactly where you can shove your respect, Jurian.”
He bounced off the mast with a grin. “Up my arse, no doubt,” he mused, a large, tanned hand stroking his much overgrown stubble. They’d been out at sea for weeks—for good reason, too, though Elain realised it was a sentiment less and less of her crew continued to share.
Still, she nodded with a smile of her own. “Same as last time.”
“Then I’m sure I don’t have to tell you it would have been wise to dock in Adriata two weeks ago.” He crossed his arms. “We’re not exactly welcome on Day Court waters.”
That was certainly one way to put it. Elain was half-expecting the High Lord’s army, ready at arms and lined up on the shores of Port Denera to arrest her and her crew. It would hardly be the first time.
Elain’s smile only grew wider. “There’s nothing quite like coming home.”
Jurian rolled his eyes, no doubt remembering their latest excursion himself, and leaned over the bulwark. “It’s been a while,” he remarked, his brown gaze drifting off to the azure sea. In the waning hours of the afternoon, the golden sunlight reflected off its surface, shimmering quietly as though unaware of the chaos to come. Where she came from—a little town bordering the Eastern Coast—the fishermen used to say the future was carried in with the waves. Elain was never much a practitioner of such belief—after all, if it were true, her ship would surely be on the verge of utter collapse right now, sinking underwater with the crashing force of the raging sea.
Instead, they continued to peacefully make their way northeast, the sun warming their skin as though in greeting. The irony wasn’t lost on her, but she supposed it was much easier to enjoy the bliss while it lasted. The silver blade strapped to her side flashed at the thought, undeniably in protest—she’d had it dipped in the Cauldron a few decades ago (before her sister, the High Lady herself, had somehow lost the whole damn thing), and since then, the sword had seemed to develop a mind of its own. Elain didn’t mind. It was bloody useful in battle, and she was smarter than to argue with a deadly, magical artifact. Even if it was a real fucking smartass.
The sword flashed again—and a lot brighter this time, too bright to mistake it with a random glimpse of the sunlight.
“Sorry,” Elain muttered.
Jurian—she’d nearly forgotted he was still here—glanced down at her belt. “You need to stop talking to the damn thing.”
She could have sworn she felt something sharp twitch against her hip.
“Would you like to talk to it instead?” she asked sweetly.
Jurian’s eyes narrowed. “No.”
“I thought so.”
“Seriously, Elain,” he sighed, apparently foregoing her usual title. “I would have gone to the ends of the earth with you to get those scales. Hell, I will go to the ends of the earth, and you know I won’t so much as hesitate.”
Elain did know. The stakes were too high—too personal, especially for her second-in-command.
“But the crew needs a break,” Jurian continued. “Adriata was supposed to be our goldmine, and we found nothing—nothing, Elain, not even one of those gods-damned—”
“I know what happened in Adriata, Jurian,” Elain cut in. “I was there.”
“I only mean—”
“I know what you mean. And I agree, even if I do not show it sometimes. Jurian, I…” She closed her eyes, letting the salty mist pearl on her skin, her lashes. “I miss her too. Every day.”
For a moment, there was only silence—silence and the quiet whoosh of the deep blue waves.
“I know you do,” Jurian whispered beside her.
“She’s out there, somewhere—somewhere on the Continent. With that monster to do with her as he likes.” She could practically hear Jurian grit his teeth beside her. “I won’t give up, and we’ve been out here together long enough for me to know you won’t give up, either.”
“The Death God is persistent,” Jurian seethed. “He demands too high a price.”
Indeed he did. Koschei, a being so ancient even the fishermen in her small Day Court village had no legends singing of his name, had been magically bound to his lair on the Continent millennia ago—and, apparently, had been trying to find a way out of his chains ever since. The only thing in the world able to release him, though, was—of course—the Cauldron, the creator of the world itself.
And, up until sixty years ago, Elain would see it in her sister’s dining room every Solstice. It was ridiculous, really, the power the Night Court used to have in its grasp. That wasn’t to say it had not been deserved—the Cauldron had been won in a war full of blood and sacrifice, one her sister and his mate had nearly lost their life in, but…well. Surely they could have found a more secure place to display it than their townhouse in Velaris. A place where it could not have gotten stolen by only the Mother knew whom, or better yet—a place where no one, not even Feyre and Rhysand, could ever find it again.
It was too late for such semantics. Despite an entire Valkyrie region searching the skies for a sign of it, the Cauldron was simply…gone.
Nesta believed it to have been an inside job. After all, there were only a handful of people outside of Velaris aware of the city’s existence at all, let alone the High Lord and Lady’s private residence. But the Head Valkyrie had questioned them all—and found nothing at all.
For the first twenty years, Elain searched for it, too—anything to get out of her village, really, and the ghosts of a life she longed to leave behind. An engagement to a local lord’s son might have been the dream of many females back home, but it was, and never would be, Elain’s
The missing Cauldron had given her the opportunity she’d been searching for, and Elain did not look back when Feyre asked for her help. In her travels, though…she discovered a beauty to the seas, to the vast world they opened up for her taking—and so, after too many hopeless clues and tearful conversations with her sister, Elain had let the waves consume her entirely.
She did not think she would ever have to worry about the Cauldron again. She’d hoped, perhaps foolishly, that it had lost itself to the world just as she wished it would. But then Elain had met Vassa, and then Vassa had been taken by Koschei, and, well…
Her fate belonged to the Cauldron once again.
This time, though, it was hardly a chore, or a favour she was doing her little sister. It was a matter of life or death, of the family she’d found sailing the seas of Prythian. Vassa was a sister, too, a sister she loved dearly enough that when Koschei’s demands began to invade her visions, Elain did not hesitate.
She and Jurian had devised a plan—it wasn’t exactly foolproof, so to say, but she hoped it would be enough. It had to be.
“Do you know how much just one of the Mer scales runs for on the black market, Jurian?” Elain asked, more to prove a point than to get an actual answer. He knew—they’d been chasing them for the past two years. Still, she said, “Ten thousand gold marks. You could buy a manor in Spring for that kind of money.”
“I have allergies,” Jurian murmured.
“I know I didn’t just hear that.”
Jurian sighed. “It just seems…I don’t know, Elain. The Mer people are folktale. If your so-called Undersea were to exist, we would have found it in Adriata.”
“The High Lord’s libraries clearly point to the seas of Day,” Elain pressed.
Jurian snorted. “Are you sure you read that right? We didn’t exactly have a lot of time in that library, you know.”
She cut him a look sharper than the sword at her side. “I’m sure. I got the information we needed with a few minutes to spare.”
“I think your posters are still hanging at the entrance.”
Elain wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like the way my hair looks in those ones.” When it came to painting, the Day Court forces were no Feyre.
“They put quite the bounty on your head, you know,” Jurian added. “If that isn’t flattering, then I don’t know what is.”
Elain grinned. “Well, I stole some really valuable books.”
“I’ll bet.” He looked out to the sea again, that rugged face turning more solemn as he studied the horizon—and the shore stretching far ahead. “How do you know the scales will be enough to get Vassa back?”
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t know. But, if we can find the Mer here and get the scales we need…perhaps we can bargain with Koschei to take them instead. Their magic is forgotten, just as he is. He might find them to be enough.”
“That’s a big if, Elain.”
She shrugged. “At the very least, we might be able to use them to trace the Cauldron. I’ve sent a letter to Velaris—Amren volunteered her assistance.”
Jurian shuddered.
“Don’t be a baby,” Elain rolled her eyes. “She’s useful. Ancient.”
“Precisely.”
“I just…” He shook his head, his brown curls catching the sunlight. “Things are weird enough as they are. You Fae are hardly accepting of pirates, let alone humans.”
Elain tucked a loose strand of hair behind an arched ear. “I’m a pirate,” she declared, letting some of the pride she’d buried deep in her chest creep into her tone. “I am happy to share at least half of the burden with you.”
Jurian’s warm hand covered her own. “You’re a good friend, Elain,” he said. “You could have left—could have sailed off after that whole fiasco with Koschei.” He gave her a light squeeze. “But you chose to stay.”
She could not meet his stare—not when the salt in her eyes had begun to burn too much, blurring her own gaze as she turned to face the shallowing water. “I’ve run away before,” she told him quietly. “No more.”
“No more,” Jurian agreed. He had a past of his own—and, when the time was right…he would tell her. And she would embrace it without question.
“I’ll tell you what,” Elain started, her throat suddenly tight. “It’s a big day we’ve got tomorrow. Tell the crew we’ll be dining at the local tavern tonight?”
Slowly, Jurian turned to her—and smiled. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
***
The Pearl was a small ship—small enough not to raise suspicions when they’d docked in Port Denera. The flag—a Mer tail with a pearl resting between its fins—had been carefully folded away prior to their arrival, the sigil of Elain’s crew all but too recognisable in those parts of Prythian.
It wasn’t that Elain had no moral compass whatsoever, but, over the years, she had learned that sometimes, taking her life into her own hands had a tendency to pay off a whole lot more than simply letting it run its course. Had she lived by a different set of rules, she would have long been married to the new Lord Nolan, never having left her hometown and spending her days at the beach, looking out to the sea and wishing for a life never to be.
It could have been a good life, perhaps—but it would never be the life she wanted, the life she craved. Besides, it wasn’t like Elain had ever been given a good example to follow. Feyre, after all, had escaped her own arranged marriage and ran right to the deepest, darkest corners of Night, Nesta following shortly after. It was only fair that Elain followed the family tradition.
Father had been devastated—Elain’s engagement, after all, had been his final, desperate attempt at seeing his daughters well off before his passing. After Feyre and Nesta’s disobedience, as he’d called it, Father had assumed his daughters had simply rebelled because they wished to remain home. Perhaps that was why, after having tried marrying Feyre off to Spring and Nesta to Hybern, he’d settled for seeing Elain with a small, local nobleman.
Elain did not care for riches—well, she hadn’t cared then. Now, having seen all that the world had to offer, she supposed she did enjoy having a few pearls and gold around her neck at times. But it hadn’t been the match itself that bothered her—she was sure Greysen Nolan was perfectly nice and well-mannered—but the fact that Father hadn’t even asked if he was who Elain wanted, if he’d even cared if she could ever love Greysen at all.
As cliché as it sounded, love was exactly what Elain craved so viciously. And now, decades later, she had finally found that love—here, out at sea, with the waves embracing her wholly and eternally. This—the Pearl—was her home.
She sure hoped home wouldn’t mind seeing her stumble back aboard in a few hours, when she was well and thoroughly drunk out of her mind.
Aside from pearls and jewellery, Elain had developed a taste for ale, and it just so happened that the Port Denera tavern was famous for the golden drink. It tasted like liquid gold in her cup, leaving a tinge on her tongue that sent her senses spiralling and flushed her cheeks with bright-pink heat.
The crew seemed to be enjoying themselves, too, and it was only for that reason that she’d allowed her instincts to abandon ship for a moment or two. Well, perhaps three. She hadn’t seen Jurian this happy and relaxed since Vassa had been taken—a sign of how truly tired he must have been these past few weeks, of how badly he needed an evening to forget.
The thought sobered her up just a little, and Elain remembered the true reason she’d allowed this unusual night out in a town where the entire army was on the lookout for Captain Archeron. She did feel slightly guilty for misleading Jurian into thinking it was simply out of the goodness of her own heart—into omitting the one, small ulterior motive that had lately seemed to be driving nearly every decision of hers.
Information.
While the fishermen in the East of the Day Court had no knowledge of the Mer, the folk of Port Denera no doubt sang of the old creatures lurking beneath the sea. She’d already picked up on a few shanties on the way to the tavern, humming the words quietly to herself as she searched the lyrics for anything valuable. The Mer’s magic appeared to be as sharp as their teeth, capable of stirring the waves and calling upon storms. The strongest of them could lure the innocent, hungry wanderers into their traps with a lulling voice and mesmerising eyes, ones that reflected the soul’s deepest desires just as the surface of the sea reflected the sun above. Once captured, they’d sink those teeth into the flesh of their prey, and drag them under—never to be seen again.
Elain hummed the tune again cheerfully, excitement bubbling up in her chest—well, she supposed the bubbles might have had to do with some of the barrels of alcohol she’d consumed. Still, this was promising. All she needed was a name—a lagoon, or a hidden grotto, perhaps, where she could locate a lair. Her Cauldron-blessed sword would do the rest of the job.
Somewhere far beyond her peripheral vision, she heard the silver hum happily, already summoned by the rather bloodthirsty thought.
It was not that Elain wanted to murder the Mer in cold blood. She did not enjoy killing (she could have sworn her blade huffed at the sentiment), but if there was no other way to acquire the scales, she would do it. She loved Vassa enough to do whatever it took—the exiled, Firebird queen would do the exact same for her.
For what had to have been the hundredth time, Elain looked around the tavern, her somewhat blurry gaze scanning the bustling area. It was a lot more crowded than she’d expected—which proved a good thing all the same. It was a lot harder to get spotted in a sea of creatures of all shapes and sizes, and it sure helped that they all seemed piss-drunk, too.
The local shanty found its way onto her lips once more, and she sang it absently, her attention entirely focused on some old wraith somehow downing two bottles of wine at once. Her sharp nails scraped against the glass as she drank, and Elain watched, completely entranced at what she’d never thought could be accomplished before.
In the morning sun so bright, the sailors set to sea,
Their hearts as bold as brass, their spirits ever-free.
But careful, sailor, please, beware the waves that dance and play,
Beneath this sunny surface, a wicked mermaid lay.
“Sounds terrifying.”
Elain jumped.
The ale in her hand fell to the ground with a loud clunk, the sound immediately drowned out by a rumbling laughter of the crows. The golden liquid spilled over her, sticking to the skin of her neck, her collarbones, the curves of her exposed breasts—until finally sinking into the white fabric of her corset. Elain swore under her breath, cursing her choice of garment for tonight, before finally looking up.
“Shit,” she swore again, for the lack of a better word—or, perhaps, because there was no word to describe the male standing before her.
The most beautiful man she’d ever seen.
A pair of shining eyes of molten gold looked her up and down, an auburn eyebrow quirking up in amusement. “Now, don’t tell me you’re disappointed,” he drawled, his voice rich and deep and smoother than the liquid she’d swallowed down her throat. “I spent a lot of time on my hair earlier tonight.”
Elain blinked—then blinked again. “Are you…hitting on me?”
His mouth—full and plush and gods she needed to get it together—twitched. “And here I was, thinking I was all too obvious,” he quipped.
She peeled her gaze off the soft waves of his hair, glistening under the tavern’s candlelight. “Perhaps you’re just not very good at it,” she remarked, thanking the Mother for keeping her tongue sharp when her mind bordered on insanity.
The stranger smiled openly now. “What’s your name?” he asked.
Elain angled her head an inch. “Why?”
Did she really just ask him that?
Perhaps it was time to order some water.
The male seemed entirely unbothered. “It’s not often you meet a beautiful female singing old folktales in the middle of a tavern,” he said, offering a one-shouldered shrug. “I find myself somewhat…intrigued.”
“Intrigued,” Elain repeated blankly.
His smile grew wider. “Quite,” he agreed. “Those are old, you know.”
Elain straightened—straightened and blinked again, her thoughts somehow collecting into one, singular stream as she remembered what, exactly, she had come to this tavern for. “Are they?” she asked, “I’ve just picked up on them an hour ago.”
“An hour?”
She offered a smile of her own. “I have an excellent memory.”
Those golden eyes glistened. “Is that so?” the male asked, his gaze sweeping down her body as though he had all the time in the world. “If I tell you my name, will you sing it for me, too?”
Focus, Elain. He’d mentioned the Mer shanties, did he not? “I doubt anyone will hear it,” she remarked. “I never see Port Denera this busy.”
“You’ve been here before?”
Elain waved a dismissive hand. “Once or twice,”
The male hummed. “Then you know today is an important day,” he said, that strange shade of amusement playing over his features once more. “The High Lord is mourning the loss of his dear wife and son, and we are drinking in a show of, ah…solidarity,” he finished, a passing faun raising his glass at them, as though emphasising his agreement.
Elain waited for him to get out of earshot. “Wife and son?” she questioned, searching the corners of her mind that stored everything she knew about her Court.. “Didn’t that happen three hundred years ago?”
Those eyes narrowed at her slightly, and the stranger tilted his head. “Do you think he should have moved on instead?” he asked, the question so quiet it may as well have been a breath—and yet, she’d heard it perfectly over the bustling crowd.
Elain considered. “I think it must have been a beautiful kind of love, if he’s mourning it so many centuries later.”
His auburn brow arched in surprise. “What did you say your name was, lady…?”
Elain snorted. “Oh, I’m no lady.” She set her glass on a nearby table. “Haven’t been for a while.”
“You certainly look like one,” he remarked, that smile once again creeping back onto his ridiculously handsome features.
She couldn’t resist. “Do I, now?”
He chuckled, the sound low and honeyed. “Oh, absolutely.”
“And are you in the habit of flirting with all the ladies you pick up in a tavern?” Elain teased.
“No, no. I usually let them come to me.” He winked. “I can be a good singer too, you know.”
Elain smiled.
“I’ll take your word for it,” she laughed. “So, you know those shanties, too?”
His eyes glittered.
There it was.
“Some of them,” he agreed.
“Do they hold any truth?” she pressed. Come on, come on, come on…
“Sometimes,” he nodded. “Does it matter?”
You have no idea, Elain thought. “It does. I’m looking for…” she hesitated. “Information.”
“Oh?”
“The books in Day’s library state I might find it here,” she added carefully.
Something like realisation crept onto his features. “You wish to know about the Merpeople,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. Elain’s gaze flickered to the movement. “How did you get access to those books?” he asked.
“It’s not important,” she told him, eyeing the golden-brown muscles flexing under the candlelight.
“I disagree,” the male said, “those books are extremely well-guarded.” Was that admiration she’d heard in his tone?
“What was your name, again?” Elain asked him.
The male smiled. “Would you like to come outside with me?”
As if. “I’m not exactly in a hook-up mood right now, sorry,” she told him, though uncertain if the words rang entirely true.
He smiled—as though he knew. “What about information?” She felt her brows flick up. “I thought so. Now, shall we? It’s more quiet out back,” he added, gesturing to the tavern’s back door.
“I like it loud,” Elain countered. The more people drowning their conversation, the better.
“So do I,” he winked. “Another time, baby, I promise.”
Elain rolled her eyes. “Very funny,” she said, then dared a quick glance around the space again. Come to think of it, the couple at the table near where the two of them stood were awfully close—close enough that Elain decided not to risk it. She nodded to the stranger. “Let’s go.”
“Just so that we’re clear,” he started as they made their way through the crowd, “once you get those scales, we’re splitting the profits.”
“We can discuss the money later,” Elain countered. Like hell she was going to share anything with him.
“If that is what you wish,” he nodded, and opened the door.
The fresh air hit her almost unexpectedly, but it was a welcome change from the stuffy tavern in the back. She breathed in the salt carried in by the sea, her thoughts clearing up enough that she could finally focus on the matter at hand without unnecessary…distractions.
The distraction flashed her a smile, the beach behind him illuminated by the dying sunlight. “So, Mer scales, hmm? What do you need those for?”
“That,” Elain said firmly, “is none of your business.”
He chuckled again, the sound different this time—less than that deep, raspy sound she’d heard before, but more…fluid, like tea stirring in a cup. Warm. Inviting. “Oh, you have no idea,” he said quietly—and reached out his hand.
“Come with me,” the stranger told her.
Elain frowned. “I’m already here,” she pointed out. “You wanted to leave the tavern,” she reminded him.
He hummed—and she could have sworn it was like a melody pouring from his chest. “Yes,” he told her, stepping back until his feet—bare, she now noticed—reached the sand. “Let’s go a little further, alright?”
Elain stepped forward. “I…don’t understand,” she said. Still, she moved in closer.
He offered her a gentle smile. “Just one more step for me, gorgeous, please,” he tried again, his hand still outstretched.
“Okay.” She reached the sand now, too—but he had somehow moved back a few steps again, inches away from the waves’ embrace.
“Good girl,” he purred, the water now kissing his skin. Elain stepped in closer. “You’re very beautiful, you know,” he told her, angling his head slightly. She watched as his long hair spilled down his back in waves softer than the very sea—and met his gaze again, only to find it dark. “Almost beautiful enough to hide that rotten soul of yours.”
That gold had tarnished—enough to hide that bright, enticing gleam.
“Yes,” Elain agreed.
“Mmm, I thought so,” he mused. “I just need you to take a few more steps, alright? We’re almost at the shore,” he added, his voice like a lullaby, reassuring.
“Yes, I’ll follow you,” she agreed again.
“You’re doing so well for me,” he praised. “I might even consider making your death painless,” he whispered, watching her closely as she, too, neared the edge of the water. “Though that wasn’t the kind of death you had planned for my kind, was it?” he asked, a certain sharpness to his tone that made her open her mouth. “Oh, no need to answer that, baby,” he interrupted, “but I do appreciate your eagerness.”
Elain nodded. “Whatever you wish.”
He smiled, flashing his teeth. A perfect, pearly set of sharp blades—sharp enough to tear her flesh apart. “That’s a good girl,” he hummed, and she could have sworn she heard her soul sing in answer. “Now, step into the sea.”
Elain stopped inches from the seafoam. “Will you give me your hand?” she asked him shyly.
His features softened—though the sharp, predatory smile remained. “Of course, my rotten, terrible lady,” he purred. “Come with me.”
Elain slid her hand in his—and waited.
His skin, surprisingly, was warm—sun-kissed, as if he hadn’t spent an entire lifetime in the dark depths of the Undersea. He felt smooth, too, with some coarseness here and there that let her know his palm was no stranger to holding a weapon—a trident, perhaps, if the songs of the fishermen had, indeed, held any truth to them.
The leaves behind her rustled—and Elain finally, finally released a breath.
“No,” she told him, her voice still feigning that blissful softness. “No, I don’t think I will.”
The merman blinked. “What?”
Elain gave him a smile that was purely Fae—one that let him know she was a monster, too. “It was a nice try, really,” she said, her free hand reaching back to her belt. “Sorry it didn’t work out.”
A pair of iron cuffs appeared in her grip—and, in a flash of a second, found its way onto the merman’s wrists.
His skin sizzled, and he hissed sharply, those dark eyes wide and not leaving hers for one second—but Elain held on, murmuring the spell she’d memorised under her breath.
She could never come to the land of the Mer unprepared.
“Duck!” Jurian yelled behind her.
She only had a fraction of a moment to see the bow in his hands—to stop him before he released the arrow.
Elain didn’t stop him, though.
She ducked.
***
“I can’t believe you caught one of them,” Jurian said in disbelief. “Good work, really, Elain, but did you have to bring him onto the ship?”
From the corner of her eye, she caught a flicker of movement behind the bars. The merman rose to his full height—he seemed taller in the constrained space of the brig, somehow—and met her gaze directly.
“Your name,” he said as though in a daze. “Elain.”
Elain cut her friend a look. “Thank you, Jurian.”
Jurian bounced off the wall. “Sorry,” he shrugged, his tone suggesting he wasn’t sorry at all.
“It didn’t work,” their prisoner said, more to himself now than his jailors.
“What didn’t work?” Jurian asked him sharply.
The merman looked at him—and Elain knew it took everything in her quartermaster not to flinch under his scrutiny. “My spell,” he explained slowly, then turned toward her again. “It didn’t work on you,” he repeated.
“Perhaps you’re not as good as you thought,” Jurian said.
He scoffed, as though the remark pulled him out of whatever fog had clouded his thoughts. “My name is Lucien Spell Cleaver,” he declared, his voice louder now, stronger. “Firstborn son of Helion Spell Cleaver, Prince of the Undersea—and heir to the High Lord of the Day Court.”
Beside her, Jurian went entirely still. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure she was moving at all, either.
She may have been a pirate, but kidnapping a High Lord’s son—nay, his heir—was an act of treason, and Elain really wished to see one hundred before eventually dying a horrible, undoubtedly painful death. Quite common in her profession, really.
“Impossible,” she whispered. “Helion’s son is dead—as is his wife.”
“Clearly not,” Jurian murmured.
The male—Lucien—narrowed his gaze at the two of them. “We have been in hiding for the moment I was born. There was no denying what I was, not until I learned how to glamour myself, and my mother—she took me back to her people to protect me,” he explained.
“Does the High Lord know?” Elain breathed. He was lying. He had to have been.
Still, it was nice to at least know his name. Fake or not, it pleased her, for some reason. Lucien.
“Of course,” he scoffed. “The ‘Summer Estate’ he leaves for six months every year is Undersea.”
The answer was detailed enough that Elain’s heart quickened. “You really are Lucien Spell Cleaver?” she asked.
“And you,” Lucien nodded, “are Elain Archeron. Pirate…and Mer killer, apparently.”
“I haven’t killed anyone,” Elain protested.
“Yet,” he finished for her. “You were going to kill me,” he said, those golden eyes—back to normal now that he was at their mercy—settling on her as he added, “You still are.”
“I haven’t decided yet,” she scrambled. Some pirate she was—some of her rivals back East would have made her walk the plank for her hesitation.
Still, Elain could not bring herself to remember why…
“Why do you want my scales?” Lucien asked, interrupting her trail of thought—completing it, really.
“I told you, that is none of your business,” she told him, though her voice lacked her previous conviction this time.
“It is, if you still want them,” he countered.
“Why on earth would you give us your scales?” Jurian demanded.
“Well, I wouldn’t,” Lucien shrugged, then lifted his iron-bound hands into view. “As you can see, I am not in my Mer form, and will not be until you release me back into the sea,” he argued. “So, why don’t you just let me go, I give you my scales, and everyone wins?”
“Because you’re very obviously lying,” Elain cut in. “And you and your little Undersea army are going to sink my ship the moment it sails.”
The corner of his lip ticked upwards. “Is the word of a Prince not credible enough for you, Elain Archeron?”
“Not particularly,” she replied calmly. Princes, Lords—she’d heard their promises before, and ran to the sea to escape them.
“You are unlike any Mer hunter I’ve ever met before,” Lucien hummed, as though in thought.
Elain frowned. “There are hunters?”
“Of course,” he told her. “My father has disposed of as many of them as he could, but some still emerge every few years, hoping to see if the songs are true.” His expressions sombered. “Our scales are very valuable.”
“So we’ve heard,” Jurian said.
Lucien’s gaze flickered up. “It is money, then,” he said matter-of-factly, though something like anger lingered in the back of his throat.. “You wish to kill my people for a few gold marks?”
Elain swallowed.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, princeling,” Jurian seethed.
Elain placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Take a breath, Jurian,” she told him quietly. “Why don’t you leave us alone for a moment?”
Jurian looked at her—then back at Lucien again. “Let me know if you need help killing him,” he said darkly. Then, “For the record, I don’t care what you are,” he told Lucien. “You’re just annoying the shit out of me.”
And with that, he was gone, the wooden stairs carrying the echo of his steps. Only when they faded did Lucien finally say, “I like him.”
“He shot you,” Elain reminded him.
Lucien shrugged. “It wasn’t an ash arrow, now, was it? We live to forgive. Besides, I’m healed now.” Indeed, the wound in his shoulder had now closed almost entirely. “Well, almost,” he said, pointedly raising his wrists back into the light.
Elain had hoped the iron would work—it was an old superstition the humans thought could harm the Fae, but it had to have stemmed from somewhere. With Day’s libraries proclaiming the Merpeople as millenia older than the Fae, Elain figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“Sorry about the iron bars,” she said, nodding to Lucien’s cell. “Precautions.”
“I would have expected nothing less,” Lucien said—then leaned back, letting the back of his head rest against the wood. “So.”
Elain released a breath.
“Alright,” she braced herself. He was her future High Lord, apparently—if she lied, she was already dead. “What do you know of Koschei?”
“Who?”
“Nothing, then,” Elain sighed. “He is a death-lord—a god-like being trapped somewhere deep in the Continent. His magic is even more ancient than yours.”
Lucien’s brows furrowed. “And you seek to…take his magic for yourself?”
“I want nothing to do with his magic,” Elain told him hotly, earning an arched eyebrow in response. “It is revolting. But, it also currently binds my friend’s soul to Koschei himself, and he will not give her up unless we offer him something in exchange.”
“Mer scales?”
“He wants the Cauldron,” she explained. “We are hoping the scales will do for now.” She fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. Was the plan truly that hopeless? Was Vassa going to be trapped…forever?
In her misery, she hardly noticed Lucien had gone strangely quiet.
“Our scales do not even compare to the sheer power of the Cauldron,” he said, the words barely above a whisper.
Elain laughed bitterly. “If this is your way of talking me out of it, you should know I’m pretty desperate,” she told him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get my friend back.”
At that, Lucien said nothing. He only stared at her in thought, his eyes shimmering despite the darkness she and Jurian had shoved him into.
Then, “I see.” He stepped forward then—and halted an inch from the iron bars. “I was wrong about you.”
That, Elain did not expect.
“I told you, your spells do not work on me.”
“I’m well aware,” Lucien hummed. “I speak the truth. What is your friend’s name?”
Her throat threatening to close up, Elain managed, “Vassa.” She shook her head. “She’s like a sister to me. She’s Jurian’s…”
Understanding dawned on his features.
“That makes a lot of sense,” Lucien said.
“Yes,” Elain whispered. “Yes, I suppose it does.”
Lucien studied her closely. “And do you have a…?”
Elain almost laughed—though she supposed it was better than breaking down in front of the man she’d imprisoned aboard her own ship. “Don’t tell me you’re back to your flirting strategy now,” she told him.
Lucien smiled—a true smile this time, though Elain wasn’t sure how she knew. “Was I truly that obvious?”
“I knew what you were,” she gestured over him as if it was enough of an explanation. “No one else has eyes like that.” Like the morning sun itself.
“Now who’s the shameless flirt, Elain?”
Elain chuckled. “Don’t flatter yourself.” She met his gaze again. “The song summoned you, did it not?” she asked. “You weren’t at the tavern when I arrived.”
Lucien nodded. “I heard it from beneath the waves.”
“I’m not that good a singer.”
“No, you’re not,” he said, his smile fading with the words. She found herself wanting to see it again. “It was for another reason that I heard you. I recognise that now.”
“Recognise what?”
Lucien hesitated. “I need to…” He shook his head. “I—I can’t be sure, it doesn’t…” He locked his eyes with her own again, and she watched him patiently as he searched her gaze. “Elain,” Lucien tried again, and she could have sworn his voice trembled with the word. He loosed a breath. “Come with me.”
Elain looked at his outstretched hand—careful not to let the bars graze his skin. “I told you—”
“I’m not using my magic,” Lucien interrupted. “Just…come with me. Undersea.”
“Like hell I will,” she crossed her arms. “I don’t trust you.”
Lucien just stared at her—started as if some internal battle was playing out deep inside him, one she could almost feel in her own chest.
Then, his hand pulled back, and he laid his palm flat over his chest. His heart, Elain realised, her gaze dipping toward it.
She heard it, then—a quiet, yet powerful sound, like a wave crashing over the shore. The steady beating of his heart.
It couldn’t have been—and yet…
And yet, somehow, Elain heard it. Continued to hear it even now, even stronger as Lucien proclaimed, “With my life,” he began, “I promise to do you no harm.” There was an urgency in his gaze as he pleaded, “Just get in the water with me, and I will be yours.”
Elain paused. “Your scales, you mean,” she corrected, suddenly finding herself entirely out of breath.
“Yes,” Lucien agreed. “That.”
Elain studied the bars keeping him away—then the iron key strapped beside her Cauldron-blessed sword. She swore on the Mother herself she could hear it whisper: Do it.
Perhaps she was simply losing her mind.
“Are you going to make me regret this, Lucien?” she asked him.
He simply stared back. “Are you?”
She supposed the question was reasonable enough. “Don’t tell Jurian I’m doing this,” she warned Lucien. “He’s going to kill me.”
Two minutes later, Lucien was free.
It was a blessing that they’d somehow missed Jurian, really—that she’d guided Lucien through the narrow space upstairs until they arrived at the starboard hand in hand, the sea soft and patient. Waiting.
What the hell was she doing? The only thing Elain knew for certain right now was that she was almost certainly going insane, and that Lucien’s hand in hers was warm and steadying in the buoying ship—and that those steps she was hearing somewhere behind them were, without a shadow of a doubt, Jurian’s.
Whatever Lucien was trying to prove, he had to do it now.
“Do we…jump?” she asked him.
“ELAIN!” Jurian yelled.
“I guess so,” Elain answered for him—and, together, they jumped.
The water, surprisingly, was warm despite the middle of the night. Helion liked to keep his Court warm at all times, but she supposed the sea, at least, would have carried some chill to it. It was then that she realised she’d never swam in those waters before—that she’d spent her lifetime admiring their every corner, but had never actually felt their beauty herself.
Everything happened so quickly.
The moonlight shimmered atop the sea, then sank deep beneath its surface, illuminating the space between them. Illuminating Lucien as his glamour faded and revealed the Prince of the Undersea in his true, unmasked form.
Elain could have drowned there and then.
The scales dotting his body glimmered under the light in a symphony of golds, bronzes and maroons, glowing even underwater as they formed a long, finned tail that floated gently with the current. He was sunlight come to life, the forest on a warm, autumn morning, the golden thread coming to life as it wrapped itself around her ribs, and Elain knew—knew this was the true beauty the sea had meant to show her from the very first moment she’d set sail.
“You…” She struggled for a breath. “You’re so beautiful.”
Lucien smiled, a webbed hand reaching for her own. “So are you, he said, placing her palm over his bare chest—just as he did aboard her ship moments ago. This time, though—this time, Elain could hear as their two heartbeats blended into one, a melody that made her own soul sing as Lucien whispered, “I am yours.”
The thread around her ribs tightened, forever to remain.
“You…” Elain blinked. “Oh.” She covered their joined hands with another, as if to make sure. “Lucien.”
“I needed to make sure,” he breathed, pulling her in. “You are my mate.”
There was reverence in the way he’d spoken the words—like some sacred spell only Elain was privy to hear from his lips.
She wanted to try them too.
“You are mine.”
“Yes,” he assured her.
“And I am yours.”
“Yes,” Lucien whispered again.
“Your scale—”
He squeezed her hands tighter. “Everything I am belongs to you now, Elain,” he interrupted. “But you will not need them.”
Elain blinked once more. “I don’t understand, I—”
Lucien smiled. “We have the Cauldron,” he told her. “My father took it—from Velaris.”
Elain wasn’t sure she was breathing.
“No.”
“Its wards protect us—have been keeping us safe for decades,” Lucien explained. “I think it is time we take our safety into our own hands,” he added, his thumb brushing over her palm.
Did he mean—?
Elain shook her head. “I couldn’t—”
“Where you go, I go,” Lucien said. “I am yours, Elain, and you are mine. Together, we’ll get your family back. And,” he hesitated, “If—if you still wish to have me around then—”
Her mate.
“Kiss me,” Elain demanded.
Lucien stilled. “What—”
“Now, Lucien.”
And he did.
Her eyes fluttered shut as Lucien’s mouth clashed into her own, and the world around then exploded—he tasted of salt and the sun-warmed breeze. He tasted like the rest of her gods-damned life, though she supposed eternity could never be enough to satiate the hunger one kiss had instilled deep inside her. Lucien kissed her as if she was the world, as if she was the light illuminating the sea embracing them, his lips hot and soft and all-consuming.
They had a war to face—but, as long as they faced it together…
Elain pulled back, their hearts pounding as one. She smiled at the sound.
“Let’s do this.”
#acotar gift exchange#elucien#pro elucien#elain x lucien#elain archeron#lucien vanserra#elucien fic#elucien fanfiction#acotar#my writing
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Hey, babes, I'm back, but only because you asked for a Dogma request, lol. I am very happy to oblige 🥰
I left my paper with all my notes on it at work, so I'm trying to remember what gemstone and time I haven't asked for yet...
So, let's do Dogma, with a tanzanite, and 0600 (because it's Dogma, lol 😂)
Please and thank you 💚💚💚
@the-bad-batch-baroness
I See You
Summary: You and Dogma are nothing alike, and that’s why you work so well together. You just have to remind him from time to time.
Pairing: Clone Trooper Dogma x GN!Reader
Word Count: 661
Prompt: Tanzanite - Perceptive Love
Warnings: None
Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly
A/N: Alright! This is written, I'm going to take another nap on the couch now that I've eaten and hydrated. Hopefully the naps will help. Happy reading~
You and Dogma don’t make sense on paper.
The pair of you are as opposite as day and night in many ways. He’s neat and organized, while you’re not so much. He’s a stickler for the rules, and you've always viewed the rules as guidelines, rather than hard edicts.
He’s not much of a people person, and you’re something of a social butterfly.
No. On paper, the two of you don’t make sense, but you do work together.
He brings some much needed order to your life, and you help him see that there’s more to life than being a soldier. Sure, there were some growing pains when your relationship first started, but you haven’t had any problems in months.
So when Dogma starts pulling away, you’re concerned.
Your immediate concern is that one of his brothers put a thought into his head, made him think that he’s breaking a rule by dating you. It’s happened before, after all. Though when you put your foot down and told his brothers that you would date Dogma or you would date none of them, that stopped right quick.
But, the more you watched him, the more you realized that this was something else.
It had to be something else.
So you wake with his alarm early one morning, when the sun is still low over the horizon, and you settle against the headboard as you watch him get ready for the day.
He likes keeping his schedule the same, even on days when he’s not working, which is why he’s awake at 0600 every morning. It can be frustrating, but you love him, so you deal with it.
He’s watching you with dark eyes, “Why are you awake, cyare?” Dogma asks, “You never wake up this early on your days off.”
You tilt your head as you watch him pull a loose tee shirt over his head, “I’m thinking.” You muse thoughtfully, as you allow your gaze to trace the geometric tattoos that run down his arm.
He folds his arms, “About what?”
Your gaze drifts up to his face, and you trace the tattoo on his face with a small, fond smile. “You, mostly.” A flush raises onto his cheeks and he averts his gaze. His shoulders seem to curl in on him, and you frown.
Your Dogma is so clever. He knows wartime and battles and weapons and ships-
But you know people. You read people like he reads books. And you don’t like what you’re reading on his body.
“Dogma,” You slide to the edge of the bed, reaching out for him, “When did you become so uncertain of my love for you?” You ask softly, “Have I said something?”
His gaze snaps to yours, “I’ve never doubted that!”
“Then,” You muse thoughtfully, “Perhaps you’re unsure of your love for me?”
“Never,” His arms unfold and he slides his hands into yours before he kneels at your feet, “I’m not sure about a lot of things, cyare, but you…I’ve never doubted how I feel for you. Or how you feel for me.”
You slide your hands up his arms to press them against his face, “But you are unsure about something.”
He hesitates, “One of my brothers,” Dogma finally admits, “has been telling me that I don’t deserve you. And,” he sighs, quiet and slow, “I can’t help but think that he’s got a point.”
You’re quiet for a moment, “Dogma,” You lightly tug him in to brush your lips against his, “My opinion on this remains as it was when we first started dating.”
He shoots you a puzzled look.
Your smile is soft, “My choice is you. It’s always been you. It’ll always be you.”
Dogma smiles, it's a small thing, but it’s real, and he pulls your head down to press your forehead against his. “How do you always know what to say?”
“Because I see you, Dogma. I always have. And I like what I see.”
#star wars#tcw#vodika vibes 500 followers celebration#clone trooper dogma x reader#dogma x reader#star wars fanfiction#x reader fanfiction#gn!reader fic#answered asks
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hi! sorry i thought of another. don’t hate me! but could i please request reader and either sam or dean (writer’s choice!) where they’re newly together with reader and they’re asleep spooning and reader gets her period overnight and when they wake up it turns out they ruined both their pants and reader is feeling all embarrassed and upset but sam/dean just hugs them and is like "please, of all the blood, guts, and gore i’ve ever had on me, this is nothing!" and it’s all fluffy and sweet even though the brother is kind of out of their depth with the situation? (sorry i woke up to an unexpected visit from aunt flo this morning and i’m dying for fluff lol)
I’m so sorry it took me so long to get this out, Anon.
Warnings: mention of menstruation and blood, fluff
Word count: 789: a cute little, short one this time.
The floor creaks under Y/N’s foot as she tiptoes to grab her bag next to the door of his room. "Shit,” she whispers under her breath, scrunching her face as she slows her movements even more. All she wants to do is get herself cleaned up before her boyfriend of only three freaking months wakes up and discovers the blood on her pants.
“Y/N?” Dean’s voice cracks when he calls out for her in his half-sleeping state, “what’re you doin'? What time is it?” he asks, snapping out of it.
“Uh,” she freezes, the air conditioning of the bunker roars, and she’s thankful it fills in for her silence, “a little after four,” she says in a whisper, evading the first question.
“In the morning?” he yawns, slowly shimmying his way to sit at the edge of the bed.
She contemplates just telling him what’s going on, but she has no idea yet how she’d respond, and right now, she just couldn’t possibly bear the embarrassment that would come if he’s the kind of guy that’s grossed out by that. So, she lies, “yeah, but you go back to bed, love. I’m okay.”
There’s a click as the lamp turns on, a yellow light filling the room just as he lets out a groan. Dean brings his body to an upright position, “not if you’re up this early, you’re not,” he jokes, but his laughter is replaced with nerves when she doesn’t even smile. “Seriously, you okay?” he asks, wide eyes dropping down to the bag she holds at her waist.
“Uh, I… it-” she stumbles over her words because how the Hell is she going to explain to her new boyfriend that she was trying to get a quick shower to wash off the period blood’s surprise visit before he woke up?
He tosses the blankets off of his lap, planting his feet firmly on the cold, hardwood floor. Y/N’s face fills with a warm, deep red when she notices the blood stain on the crotch of Dean’s pants. She should have known that could happen. They had their most peaceful sleep yet, and she remembers waking up in the same little spoon position she fell asleep in.
She lets the bag fall as her hands fly to her face, “ugh,” she groans before pressing them tighter, the contrast of cold hands on her hot face feeling like the light at the end of the tunnel. She mumbles something into her hands.
“What?” he says, “sorry, I didn’t understand what you said.”
Dropping her hands, she closes her eyes and swallows hard, “I got my period while we were sleeping,” she says quickly. She dreads his reaction but opens her eyes slowly.
“Oh!” he sighs, eyes going back to the bag to see a tampon sticking out of the side of it, “that’s what this is about? Jesus, Y/N! You scared me. I thought you were trying to jump ship or something,” he says, the bed squeaking as he lifts himself off of it. He takes a few careful steps towards her before placing his hands on the back of her hips.
“Wait,” she leans back against his hands, “you thought I was trying to sneak out?”
He raises his eyebrows with a small shake of his head, “well, what else was I supposed to think?”
She lets her anxiety out in a shaky laugh, “I - no, I just wanted to take a shower and change my clothes,” she starts, but pulls away to point at his pants, “but, ugh, I can’t believe it got on you, too! I’m so sorry, Dean. If I had known it was coming, I could have prepared better. I’ll buy you a new pair of pajama pants, though,” she raises her hands to cover her face again, but he grabs them by the wrists and pulls him into his chest.
“No, Y/N, it’s okay! They’re just pants,” he says, looking intently into her eyes, “please, of all the blood, guts, and gore I’ve ever had on me, this is nothing!” he smiles, bringing her hands up to his lips to kiss each one before planting a kiss on her forehead. “Come on,” he says, releasing her from his grip, “I’ll take you to the bathroom and you can shower or take a bath, whatever you need to do, I’ll get you some tea if you want, our clothes in the wash, and a towel in the dryer,” he says with a big, sleepy smile.
She loses herself in his eyes, the corners of her lips turn down out of pure awe and appreciation for how he’s responding with such sensitivity. "You're truly amazing, Dean. How did I get so lucky?"
"I think I'm the lucky one here." Dean smiles, going in for another kiss. “I’m gonna get you that tea.”
If you liked my story, please remember to heart, comment or reblog. Or if you'd like, you can add yourself to a tag list here if you wish :) Thank you for reading!! :)
Everything Tags <3
@waywardblueshun @81mysteriouslyme @drakelover78 @soab1967 @shutupandfeedmethings @pollywantacracker666 @sonnierae26 @obsessed5sosfreak @tlovescoffee @noodledoodlebug @hobby27 @cluz1babe @emptycanvasposts @suckmyapplejacks @sigrunsavestheday @flamencodiva @roseblue373
Dean <3
@akshi8278 @squirrelnotsam @laxe-from-outer-space @ellewritesfix05 @cluz1babe @lyarr24 @mrspeacem1nusone @idksupernaturl @fandom-princess-forevermore @stoneyggirl @chaospossum
#dean winchester#dean winchester fanfiction#dean x reader#dean x reader fluff#supernatural#spn#supernatural fandom#supernatural fic#supernatural fan fic#dean winchester fluff#fanfic#3rd person pov
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The Piece Of Eight - Chapter of Eledonia
Pairings: Capt. Hongjoong X Female Reader , Crewmate San x Female Reader (Overall not chapter specific)
Genre: Pirate AU, Romance, historical-ish, Action, Angst, Non-Idol AU
Word Count: 10.6k
Tags/Warnings: For Mature Audiences, Violence, Language, mentions of blood and gore, Highly Suggestive at times (This is a warning for the whole story overall)
Chapter specific: y/n uses her sword on Matz, y/n protects Matz from a fellow villager and cuts him a bit in the process, y/n remembers her traumatic past, Seonghwa mentions Hongjoong's past (Overall nothing too bad right now honestly)
MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!!
Spotify Playlist ⚓ | Masterlist 🏴☠️
Author's Note💌: Hi! This is one of my newer works and I hope whoever reads this enjoys it! I've worked very hard on this and tbh i've been working on this when I'm not writing for TS (which is alot because I'm stuck as of rn) Also I guess I'll say this right now but this story will have alot of blood and violence in the future chapters and in some instances flashbacks from MC's tragic past which will get VERY dark. I am aware not alot of people like that so before any of it starts I will warn you in future chapters of any trigger warnings. Anyway, please enjoy and don't be shy to leave me your comments or thoughts! (please be kind!) 🌙
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For as long as I can remember I’ve always been poor, not that it’s bothered me. If anything it has made me very resourceful and grateful for the little things I have in life, but it definitely would have been nice if we at least had something under our name because maybe then being prisoners for years wouldn’t have been an option.
Then again everything that happened was against Eledonia's wishes so of course, that of being a prisoner was long ago from when I was 4 years old until I was about 13 so having to endure and watch all those years of people getting abused and tortured again and again on the daily definitely takes a toll on you. Lucky for me I put that anger I had in learning how to protect myself and my family.
For a while my family was against it because according to them I should be focusing on something else that won’t risk me getting hurt, like being a good housewife. The way I think though is if I didn’t at least know the basics of training we’d suffer again like before and when the Saitors left our country that’s when it began.
Now my grandpa, a retired soldier of our nation Eledonia has been training me for a few years now. He’s taught me everything I know about weapons and self defense. For the most part I train by myself by the shore near where our village is so I can hear the calming waves and stay watch in case any ship is nearby. Which is what I'm on my way to do this morning.
"Make sure not to stay too late over there, I need you to help me take these beans over to the market to see how much we can get for them" I nod "Sure, I'll be back later Mom!" I walk outside as the early morning sun slightly obstructs my vision causing me to slightly squint trying to get used to the brightness.
While I walk down the trail I take in the beauty of the forest and see how much the flowers and leaves on the trees have bloomed since spring began, everything was so lush and green. As soon as I’m hit with the smell of the salty sea it’s my queue that I’ve arrived at my destination with no need to look over at the sea for confirmation which unknowingly at the time I’ll seemingly regret.
I begin my training as per usual until a few hours pass by and I begin to hear shouting in the distance and splashes in the water almost like a ship was being docked. I run towards the edge of the shore and realize a man was watching me with his spyglass.
I couldn't make out his features but panicking now knowing how long he’d been watching me I start sprinting back home with adrenaline coursing through my veins. It takes me less than 5 minutes to arrive at my village's territory before I begin to yell in panic “A ship is docking!! They’re pirates!”
The villagers look at each other in confusion and panic until I spot the chief. I run as fast my legs could take me but my legs feels weak from the Imminent fear. At this point I don't know how I'm still standing.
“Chief there are pirates docking their ship right now!! Please anyone! One of them looked right at me, they know there are people here now! ”
Immediately the Chief rings a bell 3 times then walks over to me gently placing his hand on my shoulder “Thank you for telling me Metztli, run to gather your family and we’ll all head over to the underground cave.”
I obediently nod and hurriedly run home and notice my mom feeding my little brothers while my father and grandfather were having some sort of conversation then while still slightly out of breath I say “There’s a ship docking right now and it’s a pirate ship, we have to go..”
Everyone freezes for a moment then my grandfather lets out a sigh and gets up “Let’s go. Leave everything as it is.” My parents begin packing a few things meanwhile I grab a few of my books and some of my clothes enough for a few days.
When we arrive at the underground cave I notice the whole clan was there, of course our clan wasn’t very big but to see everyone gathered up there was shocking to see how many people were scared of the same thing happening all over again. Of course I don’t blame them, it was a time none of us want to remember.
The inside of the bunker of the cave was far from fancy, it was basically a hole in the ground with a few torches on the walls for light and a few scattered bonfires for warmth and cooking, everything else was just rock.
After a week in the bunker we all grew impatient and very hungry so the chief sent a few people out at dawn to see if the boat was gone, when the men came back they alerted the chief the boat was gone from where it was docked marking it safe for us to return back to our homes.
That very same day after returning home my mother sends me off to the market to buy a few necessities we ran out of while in the underground bunker. When I arrived at the market I realized I had a smile on my face, it was nice seeing everyone going back to normal. It was definitely a close call, it still doesn’t sit right with me how one of the people in that ship saw me.
Luckily they’re long gone by now so I shouldn’t think about it too much. I walk over to a vegetable stand with a small old lady running it “Oh hi sweetie, how are you? What would you like today?” I smile and hand her the crescents along with the reusable grocery bag “It’ll be the usual Rosalia.”
She smiles and begins to load up the bag with vegetables “Aren’t you glad that ship was false alarm? I don’t think my old self could handle another invasion again honestly.” I nod “Another one would be a curse that was so scary, my heart almost jumped out of my throat when I saw them.”
She hands me the grocery bag and says “Luckily it wasn’t anything to worry about sweetheart. Alright, be safe and go ahead and let your mother know I said hi.” I nod and wave goodbye and head over to the next vendor to buy my grandfather’s favorite snack, coconut candy.
Although I really dislike the weirdly textured candy my grandpa seems to enjoy it and honestly that’s okay as long as he’s happy.
“Oh hi y/n what brings you here today?” I set bag of vegetables on the floor and dig into my pocket for money “Oh I’ll just have one coconut candy today for my grandpa” He grabs the candy and hands it over to me “One crescent”
I nod and hand him the money and begin to walk away “y/n, wait up!” Causing me to halt in my steps and turn that’s when he wraps a small piece of cake and puts it in a small box and hands it over to me “It’s not much but it’s a small thanks for alerting the chief about the ship earlier this week”
I reach over for the box with a “Oh wow thank you so much Armando, you have no idea how grateful i am for this.” I bow my head slightly and he does the same “Goodbye y/n take care!” I smile and wave goodbye and begin to walk towards the entrance of the market that’s when I see two young men around my age wearing unfamiliar attire.
The shorter one’s hair was an unnatural shade of blonde with his hair being short in the front but long in the back, a small braid adorning his hair. His dark eyes are rimmed to resemble smoky soot stained eyes giving him a very intense look, he wore a simple cross chain around his neck and a single silver earring on his right ear, and wore a black odd looking cape thing and under it he wore a simple black long sleeve, on his left arm there was a black band of some sort that had an hourglass shape with a circle in the middle and 4 phases of the moon surrounding it.
He also wore some sort of black pants accentuating his small figure. For the one standing next to him which was the taller one, his hair was jet black, and wore very similar style clothing only this one opted for a white colored long sleeve shirt and a grey colored vest over it to accentuate his small waist with the same sort of odd black cape thing over his shoulders.
His pants being the same ones as the short one just iike their boots. One thing that stuck out is the tall one had a visible weapon on his back, a shot gun.
Fuck. Pirates. The shorter one leans over to tell the taller one something and that’s when the taller one begins walking in my direction. I have no weapons on me, I have to go. I drop my stuff and make a run for it into the forest.
While I run I hear the man call out to me in the distance but unfortunately my fear is not letting me decipher what he was saying. I begin to run in the direction of the river by the water fall but take the alternate lesser known route.
When I make it to the river I hide behind the waterfall that’s when I hear the tall man call out to me “Hello? I promise we won’t hurt you. We just want to talk.” I scoff almost laughing at his words. Not hurt me? Then why was he hoisting around a fucking shot gun on his back?
I decide to stay quiet while he continued to try and lure me out then a few minutes later the shorter man with the arm band joins him at the side of the river and he joins him with the same words the other was protesting saying that they will not hurt me which is honestly hard to believe as I can now see the shorter one has weapons too.
Suddenly the shorter one begins to speak my language “Hello, I will not hurt you. I want to talk.” I sigh realizing they know I’m here then I nervously say “How do I know that? The tall one and you have weapons.”
Both the shorter and taller man look at each other in surprise not expecting me to answer them back that’s when without hesitation the shorter man unholsters his gun and throws it in the river along with the sword that was perfectly hidden under his long cape thing. The tall one removes the gun from his back and throws it in the river the and shorter one continues “I am sorry. Can you come out?”
Hesitantly I step out from behind the waterfall and I pick up a few rocks and throw them in their direction causing them to step back giving me enough room to grab the sword they threw into the river. “What do you want?”
I point the sword at both of them causing them to both have their hands raised in mercy then the shorter one says “Alliance.
” I furrow my eyebrows “I’m confused, I’m poor. I have no influence.” He nods understandably “You have strength, I saw you training by the water when we first met 7 days ago” Suddenly it dawns on me this man was the same man watching me train through his spy glass by the shore.
Unable to form any words out of shock I stay silent and the man continues “My name is Hongjoong, next to me is Seonghwa what about you?” Hesitantly I look around and study their expressions, they seemed genuine but a part of me is too scared to trust them “y/n.”
I cannot tell them my real name, it’s way too dangerous. Hongjoong blinks a few times then says “You speak the universal language?” I nod “Yeah.” He sighs in relief “I’m sorry but that’s good because I was running out of Eledonian. I’m sorry If I was really bad at it I only know enough to get by.”
I stay quiet for a few seconds then I muster the courage to say “Where did you dock? I swear your ship was gone when we checked this morning.”
Hongjoong looks at the waterfall behind me then back at me “Ah, yeah we docked further down where our boat is hidden from other incoming boats.”
I squint my eyes and press the tip of the sword right where his heart is “You better not be lying, if you try anything I will personally be the one to kill you.”
Hongjoong smirks and gently pushes the sword away from his chest “No worries, I wasn’t planning on it. Like I said, I want an alliance.” I narrow my eyes “Why are you asking me?”
He steps away from me and looks over at Seonghwa and nods. Immediately Seonghwa hits my hand causing me to drop the sword and grabs my hand and twists it behind my back but I lean forwards making him weaken his grip on my arm and slightly lose his balance.
I take that as an opportunity to kick him behind the knees and pick up the sword where I tightly press the blade against his neck while I stand behind him. Hongjoong slowly claps while walking back towards me smirking “I’m asking because I want you to be my protector. I knew it when I first saw you training by the shore. Fluid like water and precise like a bullet.”
Nobody’s ever referred to me like that. He sure does know how to compliment people, I’ll give him that.
I press the blade a little harder on Seonghwa’s neck causing him to quietly hiss “I’m sorry but I barely even know you. I cannot just leave my family for a bunch of pirates I don’t even know. There is only one person who I’m going to kill and his name is Miyagawa Masaki. Killing another human isn’t in my book unless they’ve hurt me or my family in any way.”
Hongjoong’s features soften dropping the plotting smirk and extends his hand in my direction “Alright, let’s get to know each other then because what if I tell you there’s hundreds like him? Ruining the lives of the poor and defenseless? Killing innocent people and eliminating hundreds of bloodlines. Would that change your mind?”
I glance down at Seonghwa who was stiffly leaning away from my sword his head gently resting against my stomach, he gives a scared but genuine nod of reassurance of Hongjoong’s words.
For a few seconds Hongjoong and I’s gazes mutually connect, something in his gaze tells me maybe I should trust him. I mean I can easily overpower either of them if anything goes wrong.
I remove the blade from Seonghwa’s neck and push him towards Hongjoong causing him to fall on his hands and knees “Get out of here before I regret not killing you.”
Seonghwa gets up then gently puts his hand on Hongjoong’s shoulder “I don’t think she’s coming Captain.” Hongjoong turns to Seonghwa and gives him a smirk and proceeds to walk in my direction and chuckles “I’m sorry for that y/n I just really wanted to see you in action up close. I really didn’t mean for that to be a personal attack.”
I roll my eyes “How am I supposed to trust you if you literally attacked me. If anything you’re making me not want anything to do with you.” He smiles and says “Ah, so you were considering it at some point then?”
I cross my arms and look at the ground “Perhaps..” Hongjoong pushes a strand of hair behind my ear completely catching me off guard by this gesture “What if I told you that if you come with me you wouldn’t have to worry about anything, I’ll pay for it. I’ll pay for food and supplies for your village, for protection, and I’ll even add money so that your family doesn’t have to worry while you’re away.”
I blankly look down then back at him and almost silently I say “I don’t know.” Seonghwa hesitates for a second but then gently pats my back “You don’t have to decide right now, it’s okay.”
Hongjoong gently pats my arm “How about I treat you for lunch then we’ll come back to how you feel about me.” I nod “Yeah sure, but I’m keeping your weapons.”
Without turning my back on them I carefully step back and step back into to the river while keeping my eyes on both men and pick up the shotgun and pistol. “I’ll give these back if I approve.
Also, just for that little stunt you played before we go you have to help me with the groceries I was carrying.” They both nod and we head back to the market then I point at the groceries on the ground with my sword “Go get my stuff pirate boys.”
Both men walk over and pick everything up then Seonghwa says “Where to?” I walk in between them and begin walking back to my home.
After a bit of walking In silence I finally muster enough guts to break the ice "So uh why exactly are you guys here in Eledonia?" Seonghwa answers ”Supplies honestly, we were running out of a few things but of course the Captain saw you training and he wanted to meet you so we kinda gave the supplies duty to the rest of the crew while we looked for you."
I quietly hum “So how many other crew members are there?” Hongjoong answers almost on queue “There’s eight of us in total who are in charge of overseeing the main duties so the other six are doing the supplies duty. The rest are sailors who help us run the ship.”
The more welk the more I notice we’re now in my village's territory then In a low voice I say “By the way please don’t act scary, we’re in my village’s territory now.” They both make reassuring hums and as we walk to my house the rest of the villagers stare at us, their gazes burning into my skin. I’m sure they’re probably wondering why I’m even with people like this.
Out of seemingly nowhere I see a fellow villager walking towards us with a weapon in hand “Get away from them Metztli!” I extend both my arms in front of Hongjoong and Seonghwa causing them to abruptly stop “Acatl there’s no need! They won’t hurt us!”
He walks over towards me and pulls me aside and swings his weapon at both males “Like hell they are..”
I unsheathe my sword and step in front of him fully stopping the weapon from hitting either of them “You are not going to hurt them. We are not in danger.”
Acatl clenches the hilt of the weapon “They are not who they say they are, they are not good people. All pirates are just as bad as those stupid silver spooned goons, all they do is lie to get what they want.”
I turn to Hongjoong and Seonghwa and under my breath I utter “Stay back.” and lock my gaze into Acatl’s “Stop being ignorant, just because we were hurt by some soulless bastards doesn’t mean it’ll happen again.”
I push his weapon back slightly just enough for me to be able to swing my sword at him and graze his arm then take another quick swing at his hand causing him to drop his weapon and clutch his bleeding hand on his knees.
“How could you protect these men?! And betray your own people like this?!” I point my sword at him to stay down “I protect those who deserve to be protected and right now they needed my protection, if they were to ever betray my trust they shall have the same fate as my enemy.”
He slowly gets up clutching his hand “You are wrong for this, you are wrong for going against our village.” I smirk sheathing my sword and dusting myself off “I didn’t go against my people, I simply made peace where there would have been unnecessary deaths.”
As Acatl was about to say something the chief walks up to us with anger tinged in his voice “What is going on here?” before I’m able to explain anything I hear my mom yell at me from a distance with the rest of my family following after her and with surprise and utter fear on her features.
“Who are these men Metztli?! Why are they here?!” before I can explain anything my father and grandfather come up next to my mother to try and calm her down “What’s going on?”
“I can explain. These men are not evil, they just came here to buy some supplies for their ship and they happened to see me struggling with the groceries so they’re helping me. Then this idiot Acatl starts attacking us and so I just prevented unnecessary deaths.”
The chief crosses his arms in front of him still clearly upset “Metztli just because someone does a nice thing for you doesn’t mean they are good.”
My dad gives Hongjoong and Seonghwa a glare “You know better than to lead strangers to the village. You can never trust these punks, especially men.”
I nod “I understand but they’re not bad people father. They were just helping me.” My grandfather gives me a stern look “What did I tell you about trust Metztli? Trust only yourself, no one else.”
I turn and I signal both men to set the things down “They’re just now leaving don’t worry.” I begin to gently push them the other way then Hongjoong turns and says “I want her to come with us. I want her to protect me.”
I look at him in horror and shake my head he looks into my eyes for a few moments, smirks and continues “If she comes with us I will pay for the supplies in your village and I’ll pay a militia to protect and alert us in case anything ever happens. I’ll also throw in some money so the village can be renovated since I see the places being inhabited are severely run down and you know for whatever else you need the money.”
Hongjoong looks down at my little brothers standing behind my mother and gives them a soft smile “I promise the rest of our crew will not let anything happen to your daughter. I’m just putting this out there, there doesn’t need to be an answer right now since y/n herself isn’t entirely sure either.”
Hongjoong gives me a small smile and pats my head while Seonghwa gives me a reassuring nod “Well, we will go now.” Hongjoong adds then my grandfather responds “Come again tomorrow, but lunch is on you guys.”
Slightly taken aback both men nod and smile. Hongjoong then says “We will return tomorrow, it’s a promise.”
The chief looks over at my grandfather and says “Are you sure about this? Welcoming strangers like this?” My grandfather watches the 2 pirates walk away while everyone else watches him in silence “Their proposition was interesting don’t you think chief? We’ll benefit out of this.”
The Chief gives no response to my grandfather for a few seconds then looks over at Actatl holding onto his bloodied hand then back at me “I cannot get past just blindly trusting people we’ve never met before, it’s off putting not just for me but for the rest of the village.”
My grandfather nods then turns and gives me a smile “We have my granddaughter if anything happens. She will protect her village at any cost no matter who it is. After all, It was I who trained her or what? Are you doubting my granddaughter’s prowess?”
The chief stays silent then I give him a reassuring smile, like an indication that this situation was over everyone begins to head back to their homes including the chief. Acatl is the only one who stays behind and stares at me for a few seconds “If something happens this is your fault.”
He walks away and I bite the inside of my mouth to hold back from further saying anything that’ll cause him to come back. To be truthful I am scared they may earn my trust then betray me but on the other hand I want to believe that nothing will happen and that they are genuinely good people.
The next day while taking a short break during training I hear the leaves rustling from behind and to my surprise it was Hongjoong and Seonghwa again. I’m pleasantly surprised they showed up, you’d think after what transpired yesterday they’d leave but I guess they aren’t weak hearted.
“Hongjoong? Seonghwa? What are you guys doing here?” The blonde man extends his hand towards me and helps me up.
“I’m here because I want to thank you for yesterday.” I shake my head “Oh no sir I-” Hongjoong lifts his hand to silence me and says “You protected me and my first mate and I really appreciate that especially considering you had no obligation to do so. You could have easily let him kill the both of us but you didn’t.”
He’s right, I didn’t need to save him. I could have let him fight his own fights but for some reason it’s like my body acted on its own. Seonghwa gives me a warm smile “For that we would like to ask you if you would like to be our friend. Our connection to Eledonia.” A connection? Me? Out of all the nobles or more important people here in Eledonia they ask me?
"I would be happy to be your friend." Hongjoong gives me a relieved smile “Well, that settles it. We are friends.” Seonghwa stands next to me and rests his elbow on my shoulders.
"Okay, well maybe now that we're friends we should follow through with your grandfather and have lunch." I hum wiping the sweat off my forehead with a small cloth “Now that you mention it, I am kind of hungry.”
Seonghwa squeezes my shoulders while behind me “Good, we’ve got some nice things prepared for you.” I squint my eyes “I would like to assume it’s a good thing and not a bad one.”
Seonghwa and Hongjoong chuckle “It’s a good thing my dear, I had the cook of our crew make us some delicious food. They’ll be in the main square later serving the village so I’m sure your family will be there as well since we let them know this morning.”
Seonghwa nods “Yes, so practice a few more hours and by then the food should be ready, we just came here and decided to give you some motivation so you’d finish your training strong.” I smile at both males “Seriously, thank you.” they both smile and Hongjoong responds “My pleasure, y/n. Anything to show you we’re worth trusting.”
Wow, he really is trying his hardest if he’s going to go all out like this. Seonghwa excitedly smiles “We’ll see you later okay? Please come by, we’d really like for you to meet the crew” Wow, they really are so confident i’m going to leave. I look over at them and nod “of course, I’ll be there no worries” Both men say their goodbyes and leave. I sit down for a few minutes and rest before I resume my training for the day.
After a few hours go by I decide to start walking home and the whole way there I think to myself why I saved these men and why was I being so selfless with them. Why did I feel the need to protect the Captain and his right hand man when I don’t even know them, this was all becoming so confusing to me. Not to mention my extreme trust issues with everyone, so I just can’t explain why I decided to trust them. Why am I so drawn to them?
When I arrive at the main square I see alot of people gathered around the front of my house. As I walk closer I notice Hongjoong talking to my grandfather while Seonghwa and another guy play with my siblings.
There was an unknown male by the fire cooking and a few others whom I didn’t recognize but I knew were with “The Captain” judging by their clothes so those men must be his crew members. They’re feeding everyone I see, they’re really trying to win over not only my family but the whole village.
I walk over to my mom and ask “Mom, when did they get here?” while watching my little brothers play she says “They got here a few hours ago. Hongjoong, the blonde one said he wanted it to be a surprise for you when you came back from training. You should go eat now, they brought meat! It’s your favorite.” I nod then I turn and see my grandpa and the chief speaking to Hongjoong, he looked happy. I hadn’t seen my grandpa smile since grandma died.
A sudden grip to my shoulder makes me slightly jump “You should go eat, the food will be gone by the time you’re done staring.” I turn and see Seonghwa holding a plate in his hand slightly out of breath giving me a sweet smile “Ah, hah I will sorry just got distracted.”
I hope he didn’t think I was checking the captain out. That would be weird. Seonghwa walks over to me and hands me a plate of food and honestly it looked and smelled delicious. Roasted potatoes and meat. Meat is considered a delicacy and we can’t eat it very often because of how expensive it is so seeing it on my plate made my stomach rumble so I begin to eat before I even sit down.
Seonghwa turns to me and chuckles “You like meat? It’s good right?” I nod while sitting down on the grass in front of the tree by the square since It was a little quieter here “I’m glad you liked it, I’m sure Wooyoung prepared it with his secret combination of spices. It makes things so much more tasty.”
For a little bit there was a silence from the both of us eating but eventually I decide to get brave and ask “Are you guys really not going to hurt our people? Like you’re not doing this as a gimmick to gain our trust then kill or imprison all of us?”
Seonghwa, slightly taken aback chokes a bit on his food and begins to cough, once a bit composed he clears his throat “No, of course not. We’re The Piece of Eight. We don’t steal from the people, we steal for them. All of our targets are all either royals, nobles, military chiefs or generals, politicians even but never the regular people who aren’t associated with that stuff. If anything we’re most infamously known for being anti government and helping villages who need it the most.”
So they’re basically like the story of Robin Hood, steal from the rich and help the poor. It’s understandable, the rich can be quite nasty. They’re very ungrateful.
“Sounds a like a great cause, does that mean you have alot allies?” He slightly purses his lips “Somewhat, but it’s enough for it to help us not get caught.”
I shove another spoonful of potatoes in my mouth “Also I guess I should explain this but, the reason Hongjoong needs an assassin and a protector is because the royals and government know about us now and they’re out to get the captain and knowing how he is he doesn’t want to appease the rich, much less the government meaning he’s going to keep doing what he’s doing even if he needs to kill people to get what he wants and what he wants is to put those people in their place and show them they’re not special that at the end of the day they’re a sack of skin and blood..”
I stare aimlessly and un focus my gaze and without thinking I say “I agree with your agenda. Rich people are selfish and are out of touch with reality. They’re heartless and evil, I hate them. I hate them all.” Seonghwa furrows his eyebrows “Did something happen for you to strongly feel that way?”
I set my plate down and shrug “Well, long story short the Saitor Kingdom invaded Eledonia and they killed hundreds of people and imprisoned alot of them as well. My village and other poor villages were taken as prisoners to work for the Saitors with the only pay was being fed enough to be kept alive. It was almost daily where there was an execution of a prisoner for seemingly stupid offences that had no reason to be that serious some of those were of course some members of my village. It was 9 years of complete and utter hell.”
The dark haired man sighs and says in a low tone of voice “I completely understand why you’d hate people like that. Some of us in the crew, specifically Hongjoong had the same luck as you except he was left with nothing.”
A knot grows in my throat, as much as I didn’t know the Captain like that I can only imagine losing everyone you know and care about. “Meaning he has nothing left to lose.” I say with a knot in my throat and he nods “Yeah, which is why the crew is as close as it is because he considers us all his family.”
I focus my gaze again and it happens to fall upon the Captain, seeing him smile while talking to the Chief, and my grandfather somehow broke my heart. As much as I know how annoying it is to be pitied, here I am doing it to a complete stranger who probably doesn’t want any of it.
“This is why he helps the people, because he knows his family would have wanted him to do something good with his life even if it’s somewhat subjective to other people.” So Hongjoong is a good guy, to be this young and already be so accomplished takes skill and he clearly has the skill and motivation for it all. Unfortunately at the cost of the people he loved the most.
“Sometimes it’s good to be going against the current, and I respect him for it.” Seonghwa adjusts himself more comfortably and puts his plate aside and exhaling softly.
“We all do too, but as of today I also respect you as well for enduring torture and witnessing such horrible atrocities everyday for 9 years, that must have been traumatizing.” I glance over at the people in my village, seeing how happy they looked.
“Yeah, I guess seeing someone get shot in the face or get bludgeoned to death isn’t something a kid should be witnessing. Till this day I can still hear them choking on their own blood.” I look down at my hand and stipple my fingers on my palm.
“I can tell you’re very close to the Captain.” I say changing the subject, it’s not that I don’t want to talk about it it’s more like I can’t talk about it because evreytime I do I can hear the blood squelching, bones breaking, and agonizing screams. They're so vivid.
Seonghwa seems to catch on what I was doing and replies “We are actually, so close I know him like the back of my hand. Although sometimes it’s hard for him to show he cares so to a normal person it might look like he doesn’t care very much but he does he just does it differently than other people. Because to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be affectionate towards someone.”
I giggle “Reminds me of my grandpa, he’s the same way. With my grandpa showing affection is him telling me stories from when he was a soldier or buying me some candy when we go to the market, things like that.”
Seonghwa chuckles and points with his eyes in the direction of Hongjoong speaking to my grandpa “No wonder they get along so well.” It’s so nice to see my grandpa smile, it’s been a while since he did.
Ever since my grandma died my grandpa hasn’t smiled very much or that of all. In a way it seems like they’re both healing each other by speaking with each other. Suddenly I hear Hongjoong call out for Seonghwa, apologetically he looks over at me and says “I’m so sorry our conversation was cut short, Hongjoong is calling me.”
I shake my head and motion him to Hongjoong “Go ahead I need time to myself anyway, I need to think whether or not I’m going to go with you guys.” Seonghwa reaches over and pats my shoulder “Alright, just remember do what your heart tells you not what others say.” I chuckle “I’ll keep that noted.” Seonghwa gets up and takes both our empty plates with him leaving me with my thoughts while I also observe the strange men here. No doubt they were all handsome and charismatic including Hongjoong and Seonghwa which is the reason why I’m assuming everyone grew to trust them so quickly. Even so, I’ll keep my eyes on them.
In the distance I see 2 black haired men walking towards me one had cat like eyes with dark hair and a grey streak in his hair, he was scrawny looking but has very wide shoulders while the other one had jet black hair, a strong jawline, and a small mole under his right eye. They both sit in front of me and smile “Hey, I’m Wooyoung and this is San. Hongjoong told us about you, so did you make up your mind? Are you coming with us?”
Slightly taken a back from how forward this Wooyoung guy is I shake my head “I don’t know, I’m not sure.” San gives me a dimpled smile “I hope you do, it’d be nice to have a new crew member.”
Wooyoung looks over at San “Nah, you just want her to join us because she’s a girl.” San shoots a glare at Wooyoung “No, it would be nice if I could just have a reasonable person to talk to sometimes instead of an idiot like you who only says dumb things” Wooyoung teases San.“You have Yeosang and Yunho for that, they’re reasonable”
I raise an eyebrow and smirk “Who says I’m reasonable though?” San looks at me like I’ve betrayed him while Wooyoung lets out a particularly loud laugh then I giggle “I’m just kidding, I’m y/n by the way.”
I extend my hand towards San and smile almost without a second thought he reaches over and shakes my hand. His gaze connecting with mine with a small hint of awe he says “You have a nice name, It fits you really well.” Wooyoung then says “Is that really your name?” I laugh and nod “Yeah why? Does it throw you off that I have a universal language name instead of a more traditional name?” Wooyoung nods and says “Honestly yeah, but he’s right you have a nice name”
If only they knew. So far they’re easy to get along with, I may end up taking this job just so my family stops being in the slums and my village as a whole is respected.
“So, how old are you guys?” I smile and look over at the two males and without hesitation Wooyoung replies “19, so is this guy. What about you?” I raise my eyebrow “You know you shouldn’t ask a girl her age, that's rude...”
San stammers “I'm sorry we meant no disrespect..” I smirk “But if you must know though.. I'll give you a hint, i’m a few years older than you both” They both blink in shock then Wooyoung says “Wait how much older?”
I shrug “Not more than 2 years” Wooyoung chuckles “Ohh well you know I thought you were younger than us when I first approached you, you’re so short.” I scoff “I’m a girl of course I’m going to be short, common sense.” Wooyoung holds back a laugh “No I mean you’re short, short. I thought you were a child.” I roll my eyes “Yeah I am, short so what.” Wooyoung gives me a teasing smile While San says “You know that means you’re older than both our Captain and Seonghwa..”
I raise an eyebrow “Are you guys calling me old?” They both shake their heads then Wooyoung nervously chuckles “Not at all! Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted some of the dessert I made. That’s the sole reason San and I came over was to ask.” I give them both a smile “Yeah sure, that would be nice. Thanks.” He gives me a smile and nods “Okay I’ll be right back, San stay.”
San lays back onto the soft grass and rests his hand on his stomach and replies " Sure, I'd love to.” Awkwardly I sit there for a few seconds not knowing what to say until San says “Listen, if you happen to join us and anyone in the crew ever says anything hurtful don’t listen to them, They can be bastards sometimes, it’s like they forget how to interact with other people.”
I look up at the blue sky avoiding eye contact with him, feeling his gaze on me. “Thanks, I’ll keep that noted If I decide to go.” After this brief interaction San and I both look up at the sky in comfortable silence until Wooyoung comes back and hands me a small little bowl with some sort of probably foreign dessert and says “I’ve brought you dessert, I’m not sure how sweet you like things but it’s not overwhelmingly sweet. It’s a type of peach tart, it’s really good. I don’t know if you’ve ever had it before.”
I examine the “peach tart” and to my knowledge I’ve never seen anything like it. “I actually have never seen anything like this before this looks very foreign to me, although I have seen cake before and we only have it for special occasions it’s very rare if we get to eat sugary things like this because they’re so expensive.”
I take the silver ware he brought with him and take a bite out of it “Oh wow, this is delicious.” Wooyoung gives me a prideful smirk “That’s only because I made it.” I giggle and take another bite “Well your cooking is amazing, let me guess you cooked the meal today too didn’t you?” He nods with a big smile on his face then San says “Look at you, you’re so full of yourself.” He gives San a smirk “You’re just mad she didn’t compliment you.”
In the distance two more men walk up to where we were sitting except these two looked very tall, extremely tall almost like two twin towers. One had dark hair parted down the middle with the fringe of his hair adorning his soft puppy like features and the other one had black rimmed glasses, his hair was dark blue and had a neatly slicked back side part on his hair.
Both men were definitely taller than Seonghwa for sure, and he was the person I originally considered tall. Wooyoung notices me staring behind him and he turns “Oh hey Mingi and Yunho, this is y/n. Hongjoong’s possible new protector and crew mate.”
The dark haired one squints and looks at Wooyoung slightly confused then the one with glasses says “She’s so tiny, she looks like a doll…” Wow, I’ve never heard that one before, I was just called a child a few minutes ago. “You think Hongjoong will have her dressed up all cute and she’ll be like a cute killer doll or something?”
The dark haired one’s expression looks at Mingi in disgust “Maybe you should stay quiet Mingi, you’ll scare away the Captain’s new protector.” Yunho then looks over at me and gives me a concerned look “He’s weird please don’t listen to him. Anyway, hello y/n I’m Yunho” Mingi then responds “I’m Mingi, hi ” I give them both a smile and shake both their hands “Hello, i’m y/n”
Mingi gives me a very shy dorky smile then I cross my arms in front of my chest knowing exactly where he was looking “So, you guys are pirates right? So does any of you have specific roles or duties?” Wooyoung then says “Ah yeah we do. I’m the cook.” Yunho gives me a curt smile “I’m the doctor” San raises his hand shyly “I’m the craftsman, I fix and make things.”
Lastly Mingi pushes up his glasses and gives me a dimpled smile “I’m the navigator, I work out which way the ship needs to go and I check if the conditions are right for safe travel” Wooyoung continues “Hongjoong of course is the Captain, Seonghwa is the First Mate and Quartermaster which in short just means that he's Hongjoong's right hand man and if Mingi, Jongho or Yeosang need an extra hand he’s there to help.”
I look around my front yard and point over at the two male figures playing with my brothers “What about those two? What do they do?” Mingi sits next to me and says “Well..Yeosang is the helmsman, the guy who steers the ship and keeps it going in the direction it needs to go while Jongho is the gunner which is a fancy word for the guy who sets up and orders the canons to be fired and helps Yeosang and I with surveillance.”
I nod with my lips slightly pursed “Hm, wow that’s some awesome duties you guys have.” Yunho shrugs “It has their ups and downs, sometimes I second guess myself as to what I’m doing on that ship” San then says “What about you? What role do you play in your village?” I run my fingers below on the soft grass next to me “I’m poor, I don’t have a role. I have no influence or power. The most my family has done is my grandpa being an Eledonian soldier, he was the one who’s trained me since I was about 16 or 17 years old making that maybe 5 or 6 years of him training me.”
Mingi gasps “Wait, wait, you’re older than all of us including Seonghwa?! You look so young, how is that possible?!” Wooyoung looks over at Mingi “We already freaked out about that..” Mingi rips out some grass from next to him and throws it at Wooyoung “Excuse me but I wasn’t here when that happened “ Wooyoung dusts the grass away “You snooze you lose, and geez stop that you’re going to get grass in y/n’s peach tart.”
Mingi mocks Wooyoung causing him to roll his eyes and gets up “Okay I’m going now, I need to go clean up are you coming or not San?” San motions him to leave and closes his eyes “I’m fine where I’m at” Yunho gets up and follows behind Wooyoung “I’ll help!” Mingi gets up and pats my head “I’ll see you later little doll my companion has just left me.” He catches up with Yunho and Wooyoung.
As soon as he leaves I let out a soft sigh and rest my head against the trunk of the tree looking in the direction of my family, mom, dad, siblings, and grandpa. What would life be without them? San noticing this he sits up and looks in my direction “Are you okay?” I nod and give him a smile “Ah, yeah I’m just exhausted from training this morning.” He nods and scoots over next to me “Ah, I see.” Ahh fuck I was going to get up after this.
I don’t want him to feel bad for getting up right after he sits next to me. I guess it wouldn’t hurt sitting here. “So.. do you have friends?” I continue staring ahead at my siblings and the whole scene before me and I press my lips into a line for a few seconds then a weak smile paints my features “I did at one point, but my obsession with training and everything kind of drove them away. That and I tend to stay in my own world and nobody wants to deal with those types of people.”
From the corner of my eyes I can see San give me a look of pity then I continue “But that’s fine because I get more stuff done, having friends is a nuisance. “ He thickly swallows almost like he was going to say something but decided he wasn’t going to say anything and very slightly nods “I see, I’m sorry you feel that way.”
I turn and give him a bright smile “Enough of me though, how long have you been with the crew?” San thinks about his answer for a bit and says "Hm, like 2 or 3 years? I'm not sure but I've been here for a while." I slowly nod gently running my fingers through the grass "So since you've been out at sea for a bit you probably already know how it is out there." He hums "Yeah, it's pretty bad. More often than not there's always ships trying to rob us so we're constantly on guard not to mention the government being after us doesn't help at all."
God, that sounds horrible. Living every single day on fight or flight mode? On borrowed time? "Wow, that sounds…exhausting." San chuckles "Hah yeah, it is. The only difference is that having the crew there with you helps a lot. You forget the atrocities of the world for a bit until you have to face them all over again."
San shifts his gaze from the sky over to me, despite his smaller frame it didn't take away from how handsome he looked which made his stare a bit more intimidating "Don't worry though, like I said you've got me if you're ever in a tight spot." I quietly nod and give him a shy smile “Oh, thanks.” we both sit there in silence again until I feel a sudden tap on my shoulder, when I turn around I see my younger brother standing there “So uh, brother kind of fell and he’s crying.”
I let out a sigh “Dude, mom’s told you guys to be careful.” He nods “I didn’t do anything, he was being a show off with those pirate guys.” I get up and turn to San “I’m sorry. If you’ll excuse me I need to check on my brother’s dumbassry.” He chuckles and gives me a dimpled smile “Oh sure go ahead.”
I give San a small curt smile and walk behind my brother leading me the way to my crying brother. When I arrive I see Jongho awkwardly patting my younger brother’s back trying to console him While Yeosang looks on slightly uncomfortable. Once he sees me Jongho looks over at me and says “Oh hey, your brother fell off the swing trying to show us a trick.” I cover my face in frustration and embarrassment then fake a smile looking at my little brother “Didn’t mom tell you to stop that?” He sobs nodding “I’m sorry, I thought it would have been cool for them to see.”
I close my eyes trying not to cringe out of my skin and open them gently patting his head “Look, you could show them those cool tricks you do playing ball. You could seriously get hurt doing that, I’m sure they’ll still think it’s cool. Right?” I look over at Jongho and Yeosang giving them the look of “Please say yes” then he looks over at my brother and nods “Yes, of course I’ll still think you’re cool. You don’t have to do something dangerous in order for it to be cool.”
My little brother wipes his tear ridden eyes “Really?” Jongho nods “Yes, of course. Remember that trick Seonghwa showed you earlier that you got right away? You should show your sister.” My little brother looks over at Yeosang who was holding a ball then he gives my brother a reassuring nod. He gently throws the ball over at my brother and he kicks the ball making it over the branch of a tree behind them. Immediately both men cheer for my brother and I look over at him with a very impressed look on my face. “Wow, your aim is really good now..” My little brother nods and puts his hands on his waist looking very proud “Thank you..”
After consoling my brother, I walk around to look for that San guy I was talking to but I couldn’t see him anywhere. I walk around the town square to see if maybe he’d wandered off there but nothing, it wasn’t until I was walking home I hear a faint low voice then some giggling shortly after.
I noticed the voices were coming from the side of a fountain so I didn’t think much of it and continue walking until I hear “Sannie, stop that tickles!” causing me to halt in my tracks and feel a pit in my stomach. Unfortunately curiosity got the best of me and I walk over and peek behind one of the pillars of the fountain only to see San pinning a girl against it having a very intense makeout session that if anyone saw something similar would definitely guess they’re on the brink of coitus. Yeah no. That should have stayed a curiosity.
I start walking away and let out a soft sigh with the pit in my stomach still feeling funny. Who would have thought that guy with such a sweet smile was a player? Actually you know what? I’m not surprised. Pirates are known to have many children scattered everywhere so I should have expected this in all honesty.
The rest of the guys are probably the same including Hongjoong and Seonghwa, I mean they are men after all. Very good looking ones at that but for all I know some of them are probably married. Wait, wait, why am I even upset about this? Why am I even thinking about this? I don't even know the guy, this is ridiculous. He could bang all the girls he wants for all I care, I guess looks are deceiving.
Three days pass by since the pirates came by our village and every single one of those days Hongjoong and Seonghwa would stop by during my breaks in training to hang out which was kind of weird to me since I wasn’t used to all of this since my friends would never even want to talk about my training much less come visit me while I was actually practicing especially when I would practice with my gun, they’d always complain over how loud it was.
Today was different though they didn’t even show up during my second break today which was unfortunate but they’re probably busy considering Hongjoong is the captain of a massive ship and Seonghwa is his right hand man so something must have come up. So when the sun was close to set now and I begin walking home I hear leaves rustling and to my surprise it’s the Captain himself only this time it was just him. “Hey Captain, it’s nice seeing you. Where’s Seonghwa?” He slowly walks over to me and I notice he has something in his hand, not a weapon of any sort it was an hourglass.
It was an hourglass with a beautiful golden frame and the sand being as pure white as the shore’s it was beautiful but I wonder why he has it with him. “Well, I came to talk to you.” Talk to me? With that expression honestly I’m wondering what exactly he’ll be talking to me about since he’s so serious. It’s probably not a good thing which is making me really nervous and hesitant to even ask. “Sure what is it? Is there something wrong?”
He extends his hand and gives me the hourglass “When the sand runs out, we will be gone. You have until then to decide if you want to come with us if you want to get back at the Saitor Empire for what they did to Eledonia.” My stomach drops and suddenly I feel cold. This is exactly what I was dreading, having to choose between staying here and leaving. I look down at the trickling sand then back up at him and let out a sigh “We’ll be waiting here by the shore, where I first saw you.” I nod then he walks away disappearing into the forest and the first thing I instinctively do is my eyes well up with tears, this is it. I have to make my choice, choose my destiny.
Am I going to be training forever and never get that bastard back or am I going to put my training to good use and finally make an example of that man? I walk home with tears in my eyes knowing the answer and what I must do, mostly so that my family and my village can live a good life at the expense of me risking mine.
I go straight to my corner of the room and begin to pack my things that’s when my grandfather comes into the room and looks at the hourglass then shifts his gaze over at me packing my things while crying in silence then he decides to speak “I know you’ll do well my little Metztli, you’ll bring us justice. You’ll bring your grandmother justice and all the other people that we lost during those years thanks to those greedy men.”
That’s when I finally break down and begin to cry my eyes out and hug my grandfather tightly “I’m scared grandpa, I’m scared I’ll let everyone down and I’m scared of not ever being able to see you guys again.”
He hugs me tight for a few seconds then pulls away with his arms on my shoulders “Sweetheart, you’ll see us one day this is not a goodbye but a see you later. In case my body ever decides it can no longer stay alive, just remember I’ll watch over you. I’ll never leave your side, ever. Your family will be here, your fellow clansmen will be here waiting for your victorious return.”
He lifts my chin up to meet his eyes and says “Be the lethal soldier I’ve trained and make those people remember Eledonia, because staying here means you quit.” Teary eyed and more calm I nod then he smiles and gently pats my cheek and pushes a strand of hair behind my ear “That’s my little girl, the strong little Metztli.” I keep hearing that word “strong” but I honestly don’t feel like it. I feel weak. How could people see someone so strong when I see the weakest person on Earth for being so distraught over this.
After talking to my family about my final decision my family along with the Chief decide they will send me off. When we arrive at the shore I see the massive ship whose flag proudly displayed was that of a skull inside of an hourglass. This was it.
Hongjoong stands at the top of the ramp and gives me a welcoming smile. I turn to my mom and give her a tight hug, one that lasts for quite a bit until my mom pulls away gently cupping my cheek “If you ever want to come back home we’ll be here sweetheart. Please take care of yourself, and remember we love you.” My mom's eyes well up with tears and I hug her again gently kissing her cheek.
I look over at my dad who was intently staring at the ship and doesn’t move one bit until I finally say “Hey dad, I’m going now. Take care of mom, grandpa and my brothers.” My dad clears his throat and nods “Yeah, of course Metztli I’ll do that. You go ahead and have fun..” Although my father and I’s relationship has been strained for years I feel like I need to grow some balls and hug him because I never know when I’ll be able to see him again so I reach over and give my dad a tight hug. From the corner of my eyes and judging from the body language he awkwardly hugs me back. When I pull back my dad gives me a reassuring nod whilst still feeling awkward from the hug. I could tell he didn’t hate it though, he just struggles to show he cares.
Up next I look at my grandpa who was looking at me with a fond smile then gives me a tight hug gently kissing my cheek. Once my grandpa pulls away from the hug he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a beautiful sea blue ring, puts it on the palm of my hand and closes it tightly. “It was your grandmother’s, it’ll protect you. She’ll be with you.”
I smile and kiss my grandpa’s cheek and put the ring on my ring finger. Grandpa then pulls out a bundle that was strapped behind his back “Do me a favor and return these to the Captain and his friend. I’ve refurbished them and cleaned them up.” Their weapons, the ones they threw into the river. How did my grandpa know about it? Hongjoong must have told him when they were talking a few days ago. “Of course grandpa. I’ll let them know.” When I look over at the Chief he gives me a nod of approval and a smile.
From there, I begin to walk up the ramp to the ship until I feel a tug at my shirt. When I turn around I see it was both of my brothers “You forgot about us..” I bite the inside of my cheek and shake my head “Of course not, I just didn’t want you two to see your big sister cry is all..” I pull them both in for a hug gently patting their heads with one hand each. When I pull back the youngest of my brothers says “Grandpa told me and brother why you're leaving, don’t die please. Come back so you can see my tricks again when i’m better.”
I give my youngest brother a smile and nod “Of course kiddo, I promise I won’t die…” My brothers give me one last hug again and run back down the ramp and into my mother’s arms. The closer I get to the top the harder it gets to take a step. Once on top the ramp is collapsed back into the ship and the ship begins to set sail. I walk over to the railing and wave goodbye to my family until they decide to go back home. That’s when Hongjoong puts a hand on my shoulder and says “I know it was a hard decision but I promise you’ll see them again.”
I silently nod and he continues “Do you want Wooyoung to prepare you something? Are you hungry? Perhaps tea?” I shake my head and stare the now empty shore of Eledonia “I’ll stay here.” He gently squeezes my shoulder “I’ll get Seonghwa to come show you to your room a little later when you’re done okay?” In a barely audible voice I reply with “Yes Captain.” And there I sat in silence watching Eledonia until I could no longer keep my eyes open.
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#ateez series#ateez angst#ateez imagine#kim hongjoong x reader#choi san x reader#pirate au#ateez fanfiction#ateez x reader#kpop imagines
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#ao3moirecs. moirae’s ao3 fic recommendations.
a masterlist for all my favorite ao3 fics; fics i think should get more love, in no particular order. send the authors some love 🤍!!
disclaimer : most of these are reader inserts… sorry i need my dopamine fix. also read the tags!! read!! the!! tags!!!! my review will not be sufficient!!
includes … jjk (9), atla (2), genshin (1), misc. (1)
jujutsu kaisen
kintsugi, by kirketeer (21.3k wc) || toge inumaki / reader
sign language fic, looove how it deals with the hypothetical aftermath of shibuya arc! super funny too, overall a heartfelt and lighter, happier read :-)
ask me to bleed (for you i will), by kirketeer (3.2k wc) || geto suguru / reader
non-sorcerer reader. ‘you will die just as every other non-sorcerer dies: alone and afraid. and suguru will let it happen, because he knows his ideals are unflawed. they must be.’ ao3 author kirketeer you never miss
the color yellow, by rhydonium (29.9k wc) || gojo satoru / reader
hanahaki au. haven’t read in a couple years but i remember being utterly heartbroken. i also remember the concept of gojo and having everything and yet being unable to do anything in the face of something that can’t be helped sticking with me. (also read as: gojo and reader with a terminal illness.)
ariadne’s thread, by hawnks (3.8k wc) || gojo satoru / reader
‘he loses himself. he finds you instead.’ gojo dealing with losing and living. i can’t get enough of their characterization for him!! it’s too good. so much written in under 4k words—it made me appreciate how much storytelling you can do even without a higher wc. fell in love with the portrayal of falling in love.
let your hand become a blade so i may take it, by pantao (~10k wc, ongoing) || gojo satoru / f!reader
knight & princess au. ohhh my God. The writing is so good i’m sick. gojo in this… Phew. started my obsession with royalty aus. i crave the pining in loyalty and trust
doctor, coroner, mourner, by deadpooled (2.3k wc) || shoko ieiri
— and her companionship with death. character study. beautifully written :-( oh how i miss her so. i love her so much, i neeeed to read more works of her :-(
lover’s vigil, by nariveri (24.6k wc) || gojo satoru / f!reader
she fell first, he fell harder. gojo and taking care of ill readers pt2. love the characterization of gojo in this too!! gojo helplessly in love… gojo dealing with the repercussions (guilt) of being rude…
the natural movement of particles, by goldenlake (2k wc) || nobara & gojo
nobara has a talk with her teacher. what we could have had… love little stories that expand on things we don’t see in the original :’-)
the eightfold path, by hawnks (~16k wc, ongoing) || geto suguru / reader
soulmate au. ‘in the great scheme of things, you’re no one special. you are, however, the key to bringing suguru getou back down to earth.’ so! good! geto suguru is the people’s man… Ugh
avatar the last airbender
☆ measure each step into infinity, by paxbanana (200k wc) || azula / katara
azula’s growth from war and love. This is my Roman Empire. i can’t do this fic justice through a summary, but it altered the entirety of my chemistry. i appreciate and adore their exploration of azula’s character so, so much. this is my standard now. i want a physical copy
** since it doesn’t have additional tags, cw for nsfw/sex, descriptions of torture, heed the depictions of violence warning
make a meal of you, by thatweirdguyinthebushes (4.6k wc) || sokka
character study, ‘[his relationship] with the concept of war’. ‘the first time he kills someone, sokka is fifteen years old.’ so very beautifully written
genshin impact
what the wind brought, by jupiterism (38k wc) || kaeya alberich / reader
bookshop keeper reader. also haven’t read this one in a while, but i remember loving the storytelling and characterization :-)
miscellaneous
translations, by bignostalgias (~18k wc, ongoing) — hiccup haddock / jack frost
crossover. language barrier fic. did not know this ship was a thing until i found this fic one day when i got obsessed with the guardians movie… (there’s a whole crossover with tangled, brave, httyd, and guardians????) so, so well written. executes such a creative idea so, so well. worldbuilding is amazing. god i love writers
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First things first(spoilers for spiderverse/spidergeddon and comic noir storyline) this is a long post but you’ll have fun I promise. As always feel free to engage with the post, I’d love to hear different theories/opinions/conclusions on this in the tags or comments. Sorry it took so long!
Now I’m gonna say something morbid:
Spider Noir’s death in the comics was hilarious
Jarring, but hilarious. Like why’d he grab him like that. I physically had to shut off my iPad and go for a walk after this scene when I first read it.
But to my point, you know how some people say your birth mark is how you died in your last life?
Well post resurrection we might have A, B, and C:
(Now before anyone gets on me for, why would you do that/even think of this? In my defense, I couldn’t remember where he was grabbed, it’s been a while since I’ve read these. I thought it was gonna be on his back or shoulder and I’d give him a burned on handprint going all ‘gripped you tight and raised from perdition’ which is cool, fun, sexy, and conveniently hidden. Then I reread it and it’s basically a permanent face palm. Also pretend his face looks the same in every one. Couldn’t decide on hair either lol.)
Either way post resurrection Peter should have physical after effects of his resurrection. Either lines all over his body from having the life force sucked out of him or birth/burn marks on his face. I think this would be hilarious, angsty, and interesting. I also hate when people are just resurrected willynilly. LET THE TRAUMA OF DYING AND COMING BACK TAKE ITS TOLE. Especially if it’s multiple times.
In MK: Midnight Mission they, pretty recently, came up against this problem with the MK system being resurrected over and over again and facing really no visible consequences. But then we find out, there isn’t really a limit(ignoring the whole Khonshu imprisonment), but eventually mentally, there will be nothing left to resurrect. And the mindless mummy warrior creatures we meet from Khonshu’s ‘world’ were old avatars that wasted away from resurrections. It explains the alterations and perversions of the MK system’s mental conditions, because they are actively being altered and changed, to be brought back, by a multidimensional creature that doesn’t care about their mental health/state(that Khonshu takes advantage of, knowing what he’s doing). Sound familiar?
Now, time to get philosophical. Ship of Theseus.
What is it? Ship of Theseus is an ideological/philosophy problem about a king, Theseus, who saved the children of Athens from king Minos and the Minotaur and then sailed his ship to Delos. Then each year Athenians would sail that same ship from Athens to Delos in celebration of the myth. Over time they kept replacing parts of the ship for maintenance purposes, till every plank had been replaced, so they could still make the voyage. Now the question is, is it still the same ship? At what point did it stop becoming that original ship? And does it matter?
Applying this philosophical exercise to resurrection, with what we know above, we can get an interesting dialogue going. But, with that said, it’s important to keep in mind that the resurrection process in this context with these multidimensional gods isn’t explained with enough detail to really take it apart. Like what happens to the soul? Is the brain damage we know Marc has from repeatedly dying and his brain repeatedly going without oxygen or is it from just interacting with a multidimensional god? Is the spider god comparable to Khonshu? Is the spider god even real, if not what or how was Peter actually resurrected? And if it is real, what is its main goal? At least with Khonshu we know he has an agenda. What does it want, what’s its end game?
But let’s get into it anyways.
Now, you may be wondering, why do I keep saying multiple resurrections in regards to Spider noir? I am so glad you asked! I believe Peter's initial spider bite killed him. He had to go to the afterlife to actually see the spider god. That’s why we really only see them three times, at the initial power conception, Peter’s resurrection, and when Peter goes to the ‘underworld’ in the 2020 run. We see something similar with Khonshu in Midnight mission, while he’s in space jail, Marc can only see him during resurrections or while he’s dead. And while we’re comparing the MK system to spider noir, when Marc got his powers, he basically had to die first. That was implied to be his first resurrection. So this wouldn’t be a one off situation. We have some rules.
What we don’t see with Moonknight and Khonshu is visual physical change. Outside of the ghost bird skull armor the boys aren’t visually changing. Meanwhile, Peter has physically turned into a monster before and turned completely back. In #4/5 of the 2020 noir run the cicada stone/pink meteor turns people into monsters, but not everyone. Huma turns, Shocker turns, Peter turns, and all the resurrected villains(one guy just explodes). But Hu-Ri and Checkpoint Red don’t, until Hu-Ri touches the stone. Huma and Peter are both in close proximity to eldritch beings, them turning into inspired versions of those beings make sense. The Shocker turns because he spent so much time holding onto the stone, whereas Red hasn't. But notice Shocker and Hu-Ri don’t turn into an animal inspired version of themselves like Huma and Peter do, he becomes more of a hulk like creature, because he isn’t attached to an other-worldly being. And when Peter turned back he essentially said “that hurt like a bitch” and kept moving.
If we want to keep with the canon noir timeline and going with the idea that the Spider god is either continuously changing Peter, or just changing him during resurrections this would explain the webbing and mood/personality change from the 2009 comics to the 2020 comics. But that’s boring and too simple and I hate the time jump so fuck that shit.(again another post).
So let’s focus back on ‘Ship of Theseus’ in the context of resurrection. We have too many questions about the process of resurrection for spider noir to properly have this conversation, but I’m going to try anyways. Let’s hit what we know again: resurrection changes your brain chemistry/structure, the spider god is changing Peter throughout the series, Peter has possibly had three resurrections, the spider god resurrected Peter from a different dimension, which confirms this is a multidimensional being(if she exists but shhhh). So now that we’ve established that there are changes happening to Peter(one way or another) we know that the spider god is ‘repairing’ Peter throughout the series or ‘replacing his boards’ so to speak.
At what point is this no longer Peter? Is it when he is no longer recognizable as a human? Or is it when there is nothing left in his mind to resurrect? Or has this never been Peter, or rather not since his first resurrection when he got his powers? Is this change sudden or slow? Is it the resurrection that turns him into something else, is it slow build up like an Iodine Clock titration and one day he just wakes up no longer human, or is it a slow process of subtle changes? But if the latter, what’s the change that does it? What defines Peter’s humanity? Does it matter if he’s human or not? Does it change anything for him if he’s no longer human in body and mind?
Part of the answer may lie in the villains we see through the 2009 and 2020 runs. In the first run the main villains were the Goblin and the Vulture. Both who were implied to not be human or having physical inhuman qualities(but I’m partially ignoring the whole carney thing cause honestly it’s ableist and boring). In Eyes Without A Face, the second run, the main villains are the Crime Master and Dr. Octavious, both humans with no inhuman or supernatural qualities. For simplicity sake, let’s focus on Octavious and Goblin. In comparing the two I think most people would agree Octavious is the more heinous of the two. Goblin takes on the role of a mob boss. He runs a crime empire, exploiting the defenseless in New york. It’s nothing new and he’s even somewhat sympathetic ‘I’m finished with freakshows’, you can understand how he got where he is. This is not to say he isn’t a villain but he very much fits the ‘villain with a tragic backstory’. People look at him like he is a monster, we, the reader, start out the story knowing what he is.
Whereas Octavious is not even remotely sympathetic because there is no empathizing with how he ended up there and why he does what he does. He is not only othered by his actions but also by the narrative for his disability(it’s important to acknowledge the ableism in his story but that is another post). Ultimately his delusions and the acts he commits make him a much more sinister monster than Norman, despite Norman actually having stereotypical qualities of a monster.
Then we have Huma and Shocker from the 2020 run. Huma is the closest person we see who is in a similar situation to Peter in terms of the spider god. While we don’t know all the details, whether she is the same as Peter, bearing a curse of power, or the actual god. Either way she presents as human and is not treated differently than any other human woman. At the end of the series we realize how corrupt she is and that she’s been working with Nazi’s, not necessarily for the ideology but to achieve what she wants. Her transformation is the nail in her coffin of her monsterous perception. The question is did we need her to look like a monster to see her as one?
In general we are left with more questions and theories than answers.
But onto my subjective answers to the questions. My answers might change over time so don’t hold me to them.
Of course it matters if Peter has humanity. Peter Parker across the board is one of the characters who HAS to hold himself to a moral code or he falls apart and becomes the villain(well maybe not the villain but you know what I mean) of the story. He holds back during fights and has a no kill policy for a reason.(Good men don’t need rules, today is not the day to find out why I have so many.-dr.who) But noir Peter isn’t your typical Peter. He kills, he maims, he doesn’t hold back. With that said, he still is held together by his morality. It’s just different than what we are used to seeing from Peter, but don’t mistake that as a lack of morality. However, do I think it’s a very real possibility that this morality could be eroded over time especially considering his home world and the above circumstances? Absolutely. Peter is someone who historically needs someone to ground him and ‘make’ him human. This is normally May Parker, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, occasionally Harry Osborn, Daredevil, Johnny Storm, and Flash Thompson, and the ghost of Ben Parker. Dude lives by a passing saying of a dead relative, he clearly doesn’t have a super solid moral compass. I think this is part of the reason the noir comics kept his relationship with May and Mary Jane(I disagree but whatever whatever), because he needs support to stay grounded.
Now, under what circumstances is Peter no longer Peter? I’m going with the Iodine Clock titration theory. Just drop after drop of ‘changes’ and morally questionable decisions that don’t seem to hold much weight, until he does something truly off the reservation. Like seeing himself do something truly horrific that a couple years ago he would have never done and shocking himself out of it. Or looks in the mirror and doesn’t see a person staring back. For either circumstance, because he’s appalled with himself or struck by the fact he doesn’t really care. This is not to say I don’t think he could come back from this but holy shit will it be a process.
But it brings us back to ‘If there is too much power then it is the responsibility of the people to take it away.’ Peter losing his humanity puts him in the Goblin’s place as the one with great power that cannot be trusted from the first comic. Whether it’s the resurrections, the spider god ‘replacing’ parts of him, or him just being pushed to the brink mentally that does it. Whether the change is physical, neurological, spiritual, or mental. This ‘Peter’ is not the Peter we first meet in 1932.
This is a different ship, and you can sail and stay on the same course in memory of, or under the false pretense of being, the original as many times as you want, but you cannot bring back the parts you replaced and undo the ‘improvements’ you made. But that doesn’t need to make Peter a monster.
#2.2k words later…#the long awaited ship of Theseus post#spidernoir analysis#by me. I’ve been waiting to talk about this#and has been in my draft 90% done for A MONTH#rabid behavior#this is literally so long I will be happy if I get two likes#cannot believe I used a Dr.who quote for this#spider noir conspiracies#Spider-Man noir#spider noir#spiderman#into the spiderverse#across the spiderverse#spidergeddon#moon knight#moonknight: Midnight mission#Khonshu#spidergod#resurrection#death tw#marc spector#jake lockley#steven grant#steven with a v#comics#peter benjamin parker#marvel#ship of theseus#the inheritors
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Shyan Fics
I’ll Crawl Home – carrieonfighting
(16,024 words / 6 chapters / Teen and up)
Tags: Demon!Shane, Angst, Non-Linear Narrative, bc im PRETENTIOUS, Protective!Shane
"Shane was almost unnerved by how quickly he’d settled into this body, this name, this life - his friendship with Ryan was the most time he’d spent with any human before, and yet the man fascinated him."
Wow. That’s all I gotta say. I started reading Shane/Ryan fic because I had a weird dream and went looking for comfort fic to ease the edges of my mind. I stumbled upon this fic and was so fucking blown away. I was drawn in because of the demon!Shane tag and the way this story is charted out is insane. It’s nonlinear (there is a liner version tho I’m strongly against it). Just ohmygod read this fic it’s insane and hurts so good.
I’m Gonna Keep You in Love with Me (for a While) – beethechange
(21,847 words / 1 chapter / Explicit)
Tags: fake married, also real married, friends to husbands to lovers to ???, Las Vegas Wedding, possible dubious consent due to alcohol consumption, Anal Sex, Hand Jobs, Oral Sex, Rimming, just assume most of the kinds of sex are present here, probably more Celine Dion than you were hoping for, they say "fuck" a lot, also "dude" but I don't make the rules okay, Bedsharing
Shane is pacing around the hotel room. It’s not a huge room and Shane’s legs are long enough that he doesn’t have much real estate to pace before he has to swing back around for another loop.
“Can you stop?” Ryan asks. “You’re making me dizzy.”
“Okay,” Shane says finally. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re just going to—we’re going to be married. The only way out is through.”
“Um,” Ryan says, because this plan strikes him as counterproductive to their shared goal of not being married.
To me there are the big two when thinking of Shane/Ryan fics. That is to say the others aren’t amazing but two gutted me in a way I was not expecting from I ship I don’t even ship. This is one of the two and fucks sake it hurts me but in a way I really like and neeeeeded. (The other is the one above this)
Muscles Better and Nerves More – beethechange
(26,301 words / 1 chapter / Explicit)
Tags: Bodyswap, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Getting Together, First Time, Pining, Slow Burn, Masturbation, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Anal Fingering, Body Horror, Rituals, Swearing, Sexy Shame
“I’m serious,” Ryan says. “Don’t go fucking up my body. I want that shit back in the same condition I left it.”
“The same condition—Ryan. I’m not spending hours in a gym every day so you don’t lose muscle mass.”
“I want you to treat my body with the respect you would a national park. Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories.”
***
A certain meddling Voodoo Queen of New Orleans thinks Ryan and Shane need some new perspective on life. After an inadvisable ritual deposits Ryan in Shane’s body, and Shane in Ryan’s, the ghoulboys pursue some soul-searching and self-discovery to put things right. Sometimes in a sexy way.
I have found out while reading this fic that I am also a sucker for bodyswap!au. Something about learning to love someone completely while seeing (and being lmao) all of them is so intimate and endearing to me. Plus there’s dumplings in this fic and that is just sweet sweet poetry.
If you can find a way to love me, it’s all right – varnes
(11,232 words / 1 chapter / Teen and up)
Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Psychic Ryan
When Ryan was a kid, he fell into a pile of bricks. They were playing hide and seek, and he thought he had the best hiding spot: high up in a thickly lush tree, his knees drawn to his chest so that he’d blend in. But the branch broke. He hit his head and doesn’t remember much of what happened after that. When he woke up a few hours later, the sun was setting, and his friends were gone, and his parents were calling for him, their flashlights swinging across the grass. There’d been blood on his bangs.
Anyway, now he can see ghosts.
Kind of.
Look, he’s not great at it.
--
Or: Ryan, personally, has three lists: “NICE GHOSTS,” “GHOSTS I DON’T FUCK WITH,” and, “IDK, SPOOKY STUFF.”
Oh my goddddd this fic is so sweet and so owie. At first I was skeptical because the fanon is that Shane can see demons or ghosts or whatever. But having it be Ryan???? So owie in such a good way. Other then this fic being the masterpiece that it is, I’m going to convince you with one sentence: Ryan has a cat with a ghost in it that demands Taco Bell. That’s it baybee. Read it or you’ll regret itttt.
BFFS Get Married For A Week – Ryan and Shane – aspookycryptidsock
(18,108 words / 8 chapters / Explicit)
Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fake Marriage, Friends to Lovers, Oral Sex, Hand Jobs, Pining, Mutual Pining
"As I was saying," Curly continues with a pointed glare in Ryan's direction. "It's my honor to join the two of you in unholy matrimony. The rules are simple, you'll live together, plan one date each, and cherish each other. Til week do you part."
I first read this fic years and years ago. I don’t know how it happened but me and my best friend found it while being at a library and we went feral reading it before their mom picked us up. It’s my origin story to the ship. This fic is my first love and my baby gorl. Shane is intense in a way I lovelovelove. Ryan is dumber then a pile a bricks amen.
Body Farming – shiphitsthefan
(7,251 words / 1 chapter / Explicit)
Tags: Season/Series 04, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha Shane Madej, Protective Shane Madej, Omega Ryan Bergara, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mutual Pining, Scenting, Multiple Orgasms, Knotting, Daddy Kink, Size Kink, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub Undertones, Filth with Feelings, Community: bfukinkmeme, Multisex Omega
Failed suppressants and a surprise heat: the worst of cliches, and here Ryan stands, living the trope on location with the alpha he’s hopelessly in love with. Even worse, they’re spending the night in the famous Bell Witch Cave, completely alone and with no way to contact the outside world.
Ryan knows he can survive and keep his preheat a secret, as long as Shane will stop being so protective and concerned. After all, it’s not like Shane wants to bond with him.
Right?
Your honor I’d like to state my case by saying being horny on main is bc I’m silly goofy and I never meant no harm. ABO fuck or die in a cave? Fuccck kkkk y e aaaa
Por Favor, Sweetheart – carrieonfighting
(7,859 words / 1 chapter / Teen and up)
Tags: Kid Fic, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Accidental Baby Acquisition, ryan dadgara, and shane dadej, Original Baby Character - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, You Have Been Warned
Two dorks raise a baby and don't even realise they're doing it together until it's too late
Alternatively, Ryan Bergara is Trying His Best Thanks
Ryan gains custody of a baby and is strugggglinnnggg until a Sasquatch comes and helps <3. Ain’t nothing says romance baybeee then an actual baby.
daring it’s a faded notion – varnes
(28,760 words / 5 chapters / Explicit)
Tags: Paranormal shenanigans, y'all remember that trope where people can't be more than 5 feet apart without Suffering?
The sun is too bright and Ryan’s whole body is alight with something that is eating him all the way up from the inside out, but he keeps his eyes open and he makes himself look, and he tells himself that once he finds Shane, he’ll think about it. Once he finds Shane, they’ll make a plan. Once he finds Shane, and only then, he’ll let himself have the thought he’s been swallowing down like bile since he came to: that they didn’t fall.
They were pushed.
OR: Ryan and Shane get cursed by a ghost, and now they can't be not-touching. It's ... not great.
Ghosties don’t like the no homo and said ummm yeeeeet!!! Into the Grand Canyon then the ghoul boys kiss???? Makes me go hubba hubba
Collide - needywitch
(35,310 words / 2 chapters / Explicit)
Tags: Pining, Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Happy Ending, Getting Together, Falling In Love, Biting, First Time, Dirty Talk, Love Confessions, Rough Sex, Shane Madej Has a Big Dick
Ryan is desperately in love with his best friend.
Owieeeeeee. This one made me cryyyy. The prose of this fic along with a healthy usage of the word jaunty made this fic deeply emotional as well as made me want to cry when they kissed. Very excellent
A Perfect Piece of Ass, Like Every Californian - beethechange
(25,706 words / 3 chapters / Explicit)
Tags: entirely self-indulgent PWP, smut with feelings, Threesome, Birthday Sex, Oral Sex, lotta ball stuff here folks, so i hope you like balls, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Sexy Air Traffic Conducting, Vaginal Sex, Voyeurism
“Happy birthday, Shane,” Sara says. “I got you a Ryan.”
“Th—thanks?” Shane says. He looks at Ryan and Ryan just looks back, weirdly impassive, giving nothing away. “But I’m pretty sure I already have a Ryan in this model. What’s the return policy?”
“Not like this, you don’t,” she says, raising her eyebrows meaningfully. Out of the corner of his eye Shane can see Ryan bring his hand to his mouth, stifling a snicker that he turns into a cough. Oh, he thinks.
Oh shit.
I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that this fic is morally correct but Shane/Sara/Ryan fic is what I needed and it blew me away and it is the best smut thank you goodnight
#shane madej#shyan shipping society#Shyan#shane x ryan#ryan bergara#shane madej x reader#shane madej x ryan bergara#ryan bergara x reader#ghoul boys#watcher#watcher fanfic#buzzfeed unsolved#watcher ghost files#I’m sorry#shyan fic#fic recs#Shyan fic recs
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💞 Of Lizards, Love & Laundry 💞
🦎 Carlos Reyes and the Journey of Becoming a Lizard Papa 🦎
Ship: Tarlos | Fandom: 911 Lone Star
Author: noxsoulmate | Artist: paxdracona
Read on ao3 | View art on ao3
Chapters: 1-3/9 | Word Count: 4309 | Rating: Mature |
Warnings/Tags: canon compliant, Lou II is the Houdini of Lizards, how Lou II makes his Papa love him, a story told in 7+2 parts, Carlos is so done, but TK knows how to condition his man, sex and spicy food, bribery, fluff, domestic fluff, fluff and smut, fluff and humor, Carlos loves TK, so he puts up with the reptile in their loft, until he starts to love the little monster as well
Inspired by @paxdracona's amazing art
Created for the @911reversebang
Summary:
“TK, your lizard got out. Again.”
Lou II might just be the Houdini of lizards, an escape artist par excellence – but he’s also TK’s emotional support lizard, so how could Carlos not start to like the little monster? It certainly has nothing to do with TK’s ways of bribery or attempts at conditioning him, and more with the fact that Lou II is just… growing on him. Even if that means loads and loads of extra laundry.
OR: Carlos Reyes and the Journey of Becoming a Lizard Papa, told in 7+2 parts
🦎 Read on ao3 🦎
💞 and please leave lots of love on the wonderful art on ao3 💞
I cannot thank @paxdracona enough for this wonderful collaboration 🥰 It started out as a simple "okay, I think I have enough ideas to make this a short 5+1 fic" and then became so much more, thanks to cute Bearded Dragon videos, funny Insta posts, lots of talking and laughing and plotting, and just the generally amazing art Pax created for every little snippet I sent her way. Pax, this was a delight and I would collaborate with you again each and every single time 🦎 (also, we should both adopt a beardie now...)
Sneak peek and more art under the cut:
one
Carlos will forever deny the high-pitched scream that leaves him the moment he opens the drawer to pull out a fresh pair of socks. What he won’t deny though, is the fact that his soul definitely left his body in that moment.
He can already hear footsteps running towards the bedroom, his fiancé’s worried, “Babe?!?” echoing around the loft – and still, he can’t stop himself from putting his emotions into one frustrated yell of, “TK!!”
“I’m here, I’m here,” TK calls back, skidding to a halt in the doorway, using the door frame to stop his sprint. “What happened? What? Are you hurt?!”
Carlos tries not to explode at him, he truly does, so he simply glares at him with all the rage he feels and points to the drawer, pressing out through clenched teeth, “Your monster got free.”
TK, in all honesty, seems to light up as he steps over to the dresser and reaches into the drawer. “Oh, hey baby, hi. There you are. Hi.”
Something about that comment strikes Carlos as odd and he sucks in a deep breath, frustration rising, when he realizes what it is. “You knew he was out?”
At least TK has the decency to look sheepish while cradling the little monster to his chest. “He might’ve gotten away while I cleaned his terrarium earlier today.”
Carlos lets that information sink in for a moment, remembering how overly excited TK greeted him about half an hour ago when Carlos got home from his shift. How he seemed slightly breathless and waved it away as just being done with some workout but still had declined to share the shower with Carlos, claiming some tidying up he wanted to do.
That lying little…
“And you didn’t tell me?” Carlos accuses to which TK almost reflexively replies, “I didn’t want you to freak out.”
“TK!”
And, yeah, that argument sounds eerily familiar.
Carlos pinches the bridge of his nose, trying not to think about the fact that he walked around the loft – mainly the bathroom and bedroom – naked while this little monster was running around. Or, worse yet, getting all his germs over Carlos’ clothes.
He points a finger at TK, giving him his strongest Officer Reyes glare. “It’s your turn to do the laundry and every single one of my socks will be in that machine, do you hear me?”
“Of course,” TK promises right away. “I’ll just… wash everything in that dresser, okay?”
💞🦎 Continue on ao3 🦎💞
Noxy’s Tagging List:
@detective-giggles, @sgirl18, @firstprince-history-huh, @beautifulhigh, @rangergurlgleek1211, @shadesofdeviant, @actuallysara, @carlos-in-glasses, @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut, @welcometololaland, @wtfuckevenknows, @lightningboltreader, @meditating-honey-badger, @just-inside-her, @alidravana, @morganaspendragonss, @bonheur-cafe, @heartstringsduet, @ravens-words, @lire-casander, @otter-love-asl, @ramblingdisaster73, @first-kanaphan, @xtltokio, @buckybarnesalways, @mangacat201, @catanisspicy, @lemonlyman-dotcom
#tarlos#tarlos fanfic#911 lone star#noxy writes#7+2 fic#carlos reyes#tk strand#Lou II#lou the second#canon compliant#with amazing art#amazing art included in the fic
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Okay, I need help! I don’t know if anyone will actually see this but I might as well try, right?
So, I’m looking for a specific fanfic on AO3. It may or may not still be there but I distinctly remember reading it there originally. Anyway, onto the important info.
It’s a Supergirl fic. Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor is the main ship. My memory is a bit fuzzy because it’s been well over a year since I last saw it but I’ll try my best to summarize. The basic premise is Kara (human AU btw) was injured in an ice skating accident with her ex. She was a pretty well known athlete before the injury. The story begins at Alex Danvers’ wedding (I can’t recall who she got married to). All I recall is that Lena and Alex are childhood friends and so therefore Lena appears at the wedding. I’m pretty sure the wedding took place in Hawaii. Anyway, Kara and Lena have a drunk hookup without realizing who each other were. The rest of the story is Kara and Lena trying to figure out their feelings for each other while also keeping it hidden from Alex.
Some more random info: Lillian Luthor is good mom & friends with Eliza. Kara’s life has pretty much fallen apart after her injury. Kara owns a house in Hawaii.
Anyway, that’s pretty much all I can remember except for tiny, really specific moments. I’ve been searching for this fic for a while but sometimes AO3 is really hard to navigate for me, especially when I don’t remember any specific tags. If anyone also remembers this fic, lemme know pls!
UPDATE: I found the fic with the help of @magicllama1011! For anyone interested in finding this fic, the title is “And I’m tangled up in you” and it’s by miathesapphic so go and give this work the love it deserves. It was one of the first fanfics I ever read and it holds a pretty special place in my heart because of that. I remember I had just finished watching Supergirl sometime mid-summer last year and I was SO UPSET at the show for not letting Supercorp happen. (THAT HUG SCENE WAS TOTALLY SETTING UP FOR A KISS AND WE ALL KNOW IT!!!) Anyway, after that I decided to give fanfic a try and AO3 was probably the easiest for me to try(it was also the first site that popped up lol) and I immediately fell deep into the rabbit hole, desperately trying to fill the Supercorp-shaped hole in my heart that the actual show left me with. That along with AgentReign. Sam & Alex had WAY more chemistry on screen than Alex and Kelly (no hate to Kelly, I actually love her so much. 1000% better than James) Anyway, rant over. Sorry didn’t mean to go on that long lol. I critique so closely because I love the show so much. The characters and their actors deserved better.
#supergirl#kara danvers#lena luthor#fanfic#alex danvers#trying to find a fic#ao3 fanfic#archive of our own#arrowverse#supercorp#melissa benoist#katie mcgrath
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hello!!! Any chance you’d be willing to write an Ezra x Reader with opal and winter??? I read your other Ezra fic and liked it so much I wanted to see another one! Preferably while he’s still with the ghost crew (like 18 or 19), if ya can! Thanks so much 😀
Life Day Conversations
Summary: It’s hard, being on the run from the Empire. You signed up for it, sure, but it’s still hard. Luckily, Ezra is always there to help you feel better about the choices you made.
Pairing: Ezra Bridger x Reader
Word Count: 722
Prompt: Opal - Faithful Love
Warnings: Kind of bittersweet, based off of what I know happens to Ezra
Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly
A/N: So, I still haven't watched Rebels. I just don't have the time, so I hope I didn't butcher him too badly. And I'm sorry if I did.
“Are you sure you want to stay out here?” Hera asks from the ramp of the ship, shivering as she pulls the thick winter jacket tighter around her, “It’s freezing.”
You glance at her, and flash the smallest smile, “Yeah. Just a little longer. I won’t stay out long, promise.”
“I’ll hold you to it. We can’t afford anyone catching pneumonia.” You hear the sound of her clomping back up the ramp, and you sigh and tilt your head back, your eyes drifting shut.
1 year.
It’s been one year since the day you defected from the empire. A year since the last time you saw your parents, your siblings, your nephews.
You don’t regret it. Not really.
The Empire is made up of monsters, the worst kinds of monsters. Monsters who look like your next door neighbor.
But you’ve never felt so alone in all your life.
Though, you’re fairly certain that your loneliness stems from the fact that this is the first major holiday away from your family. And as much as you love Hera and Kannan and Jacen…you can’t help but feel like you’re intruding.
You release a slow breath, your eyes opening again as you feel something cold and wet against your cheek. “Huh. It’s snowing-”
How…sad.
It fits your mood perfectly.
“Knock, knock.” You start at the familiar voice from behind you, and you turn to blink at Ezra, “I know you don’t like it when people just barge in, but I figure since there’s no doors-” He trails off, “I bring hot cocoa?”
“Hera is going to kill you if she catches you out here.” You note as you slide over on the boulder to let him join you.
“Pft. I’m not afraid of her.” Ezra hands you both thermos and jumps up to join you, before taking his thermos back, “I also brought a blanket, to ward off the cold.”
You shoot him a look, “What’s wrong, Bridger? Can’t handle a little cold?”
“Hera will kill both of us if either of us get sick, so scoot in. We’re gonna get cozy.”
“I thought you weren’t afraid of her.”
“Wasn’t me, must have been the devil speaking through me.” Ezra says solemnly, before he tucks the blanket around himself and then you, “So, why are you looking so glum?”
“I’m not.”
“Are too. What, you think I can’t tell what you’re feeling?” You scowl at him and he grins as he taps your temple, “Jedi, remember.”
“Cheater.”
“Is it cheating to use your god given powers-”
“Yes.”
He laughs, and drapes his arm over your shoulder, “Come on. It’s just me.”
You’re quiet for a moment, and then you sigh and drop your head on his shoulder, “It’s my first Life Day without my family. I suppose I’m feeling a little…melancholic.”
“You having second thoughts?”
“No.” You shake your head, “Just…feeling a bit lonely.”
“Well, that’ll happen when you’re sitting out in the cold rather than celebrating with your chosen family,” Ezra points out gently, “What’s really bothering you?”
“...I don’t know.” You pause, and pull your knees up to rest your chin on them, “What happens when you leave?”
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sure, you say that now-”
“No.” He turns to face you and holds his pinky out for you to hook, “I’m not leaving you. Not now. Not ever.” He wiggles his pinky at you, “You know a pinky promise is eternal.”
“What are you, five?”
“Five times more fun than you.” Ezra quips. “Come on, even if I do have to go away for whatever reason, I’m always going to come back to you.”
“Until you don’t.”
“Nope. Always. Forever. I’ll always be faithful to you. I love you after all.”
You sigh and hook your finger with his, “Then, I hope you know that I’ll always be faithful to you too.”
Ezra beams at you and uses your joined fingers to tug you in so he’s able to kiss you, “Now, we’d better get back inside before Hera sends Sabine after us.”
“Oh…well…”
Ezra hops down off the boulder, and offers you his hand with a blinding smile, “Come on, gorgeous. It’s Life Day, you shouldn’t be alone.”
You release a quiet sigh, but slide down the boulder to take his hand.
Maybe change isn’t so bad after all.
#star wars#star wars rebels#vodika-vibes 500 followers celebration#ezra bridger x reader#ezra x reader#star wars fanfiction#x reader fanfiction#gn!reader fic#answered asks
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Submas Fic Rec
Part 1! This is for @waywardstation :)
I’m just going to be giving names and authors, no links. One, because I want this to show in the tags, and two bc all my fanfic links save for a few are on my phone lol. I read most of these as they were coming out, you lucky ducks get to binge em. :P
Type: Happy ending
Shipping: None
Length: Variable
Status: Complete (almost all of them)
AUs: Light on the AUs
Thrown Home Again by FluentInFangirl12 - Ingo arrives back in Unova and must readjust, while having sustained several injuries in Hisui that left him disabled. Multichapter, complete, verrry sweet. One of the first submas fics I read!
After All These Travels by SilverheartSP - Basically an A-Z story about how Ingo and Emmet still manage to mirror each other despite the separation. Slow burn to a happy end (that, much like my fic, almost didn’t happen according to the author lol). REALLY GOOD short little snippets.
The Hand by Grimtrack - This one is a LITTLE dark but also funny in chapter 2? Anyways, Ingo arrives in Hisui... but the portal also dropped off a mysterious severed hand with him. Almost like someone had tried to grab him before the portal closed. I find the concept really interesting! Really interesting writing too.
The Hashtag Train Twins Collection by Magical_Awesome_Kid - MY FAVORITE series (yeah this one is three fics not just one!) about the Nimbasa Trio and their shenanigans on social media. Truly funny, I laugh out loud when I read this. One of my favorite fics of ALL TIME. Covers the Hisui separation but manages to make it lighthearted, and of course there is a reunion. Sibling shenanigans abound!!
Intermittent Retention by NeoAsh - Ingo remembers everything. But only while in spacetime distortions... But he makes it home regardless of this. Really neat concept I am really glad this author explored.
recollection, retrospection, recognition by ApatheticRobots - (hiiiiiii Salem lol) Ohhh this one is so GOOD. I beta’d it, my friend is a verrry gifted writer! Ingo falls to Hisui and forgets nothing. A lot changes, but a lot also stays the same... Truly magnificent characterization, I love it so very much.
Standard Operating Procedures by layren and pointvee - Oh man. This is my favorite fic. It is LONG and hurts to read. It hit me VERY close to home but somehow also in a good way? It’s fucking BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. And the ending is absolutely superb. But it is heavy. It remains heavy for quite some time. Anyways, Emmet pretends to be Ingo, and that Emmet is missing. He tried at first to play both parts in some form of normalcy, but, caught acting as Ingo, he lies. As that all comes crashing down SPECTACULARLY, there is the thread of “much changes, but much remains the same.” Cried. Cried so many times reading it. But it does hurt until it stops hurting, so yeah some caution advised.
The Sound of Silence by FluentInFangirl12 - Ingo returns to Unova and his brother thinks he needs to get his hearing aids fixed. Short and very sweet!!
You Don’t Have to Do That by FluentInFangirl12 - Ingo’s back, but he’s acting different than Emmet knows him to act. Emmet explains that he no longer has to mask in public. He can just be himself without worrying, and figure out what foods he likes again. More readjustment to modern times!
Null Point Exception by twixtthelines - In Hisui, though he didn’t remember why, Ingo always did his point and call pose. Always felt off though. Then, eventually, it feels right again. Really good 5 + 1 fic!
Another Detour by Grimtrack - Just realized this author wrote two of my favorite shortfics exploring really interesting ideas, HUH! Ingo returns... And learns that his brother pushed himself to the breaking point and passed away in his absence. The heartbreak does NOT last long (this is a two-shot) because Ingo IMMEDIATELY goes “oh absoLUTELY not” and fucks with time and gets his brother back. Another favorite of mine, it hurts then heals. Can’t explain why, I just. Love it.
Through Fire and Fury, You Will Come Home by ToriiStorii - Has one of the coolest titles lmaoooo. Emmet gets eeby deebied instead of Ingo! And ends up Braviary’s Warden! And then. Ingo shows up to get his brother back. Contains so many shenanigans lol. Longer fic!
coming home by KaitoKitsune - A series of 2 oneshots that explore both twins’ perspectives on a reunion!
familiarity by clockworkcheetah - Another Ingo readjusts to his old life. Can you tell I have a type. Characterizations are lovely here, author really captures how off-kilter it must make one feel.
Arrival at a Familiar Station and The Journey Home by agonyaster - Two views of a reunion, with Akari in tow :) Love the scene the author set with these two!!
Gloves by WhisperingImagination - Another one that is funny! Ingo and Emmet have to come to terms with exactly... how popular they are when a video goes viral. Based on some wonderful fanart, contains aroace Subway Masters and Elesa being a great friend. FUNNY AS HELL I LAUGHED SO HARD.
A Touch of Love by Bluegamergirl11 - Series of drabbles about the subway boys, Akari, Elesa, and Sneasler and how they show affection to one another. HUGS.
Why do you do that? by AquaMarina924 - Akari looking out for her Uncle Ingo <3 He tries to be more expressive so people can read him better, but Akari insists that he does not need to
Null and Void (Your Smile Shines Like the Stars) by PhantomBagels - Based on the famous reunion comic by @/pigdemonart, Ingo has a confusing as fuck time before his brother literally crash lands on him
Five Times Ingo Roasted Documentaries + One Time Someone Else Did by BloomingMiracle (Luna264) - Much like in our world, historical documentaries can be a load of shit. Ingo and Akari/Dawn find this out by watching some. Oh, so inaccurate lol
I HOPE YOU ENJOY AT LEAST SOME OF THESE AAAA all of them are 100% read by me and contain no shipping of brothers. I can guarantee that much lol
So I don’t consider ‘not canon compliant’ to be an AU really. Especially considering a) we have no goddamn clue what Emmet is up to, and b) we have no GODDAMN REUNION >:( SO. Most of these are just explorations into what could be.
Also yes, YES I know a ton of these are reunion fics. I really, really have a type, and I hope you guys don’t mind! XD Also I did not put my own fics on there. Pester me about those separately if you want!
#submas#submas angst#pla era#reunion#submas fic recs#this took an hour and a half#i have so many submas tags open guys#so many#here's the 20 happiest ones though!!!#reunions *rolls around in fic pile*
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I genuinely found Laudna’s whole “I’m with you no matter what you choose” deeply unsettling and not romantic or cute at *all*. I don’t care how much you love the other person, the appropriate response to “maybe the death cult that killed you has a point” is not “let’s cuddle”, it’s a major reality check and advocating for yourself and your needs. And the fact that Laudna either didn’t find it necessary to do that or wasn’t comfortable doing that speaks volumes.
I mean same; I'm happy to take more questions but I think I've said most of what I can reasonably say here, but yeah. I mean, I distinctly remember, the first week of Campaign 3 - when I was not shipping anything - unfollowing a few people I'd followed for C2 because they were with apparently no sense of reality or irony saying "omg so soft uwu codependent" as if that were a positive trait. And like, you can go back through my archives and essentially for the first six months of the campaign I was like "eh, I don't see anything real with this ship yet, but it does have potential" and my enjoyment of the gnarlrock fight was in fact because I was like oh finally, maybe Imogen and Laudna will have a meaningful conversation! Like, I genuinely thought that would be the point where I started actively shipping it. And then it fizzled out, and now they just keep silently permitting their ever-increasing problems with each other, and like, could you guys actually say anything to each other that isn't just an empty repetition of "I love you, I'm here for you". It all feels so rote and automatic, down to the "I get her a glass of water"; like, it's not the routine of a loving couple, it's two people going through stale patterns because they'd rather be miserable together than risk being alone.
I guess the last thing I'll say here, and then like...feel free to send me stuff but if it's not a question, I may read it and appreciate it but delete it, is that while (understandably) many people who ship this and find it deeply romantic do not follow me and probably have me blocked, a handful do. I had a tag on one post I reblogged about Ashton and Laudna that was like "well obviously I love imodna because imodna but this was a good conversation!" and like...that's it, isn't it? It's Imodna because Imodna. It's a tautology. It just feels so obligatory, like you're supposed to like this because...[footage not found], and if you say "uh...why though, Laudna isn't even comfortable enough to say hey don't get buddy-buddy with the cult that murders everyone, including me," you're met with blank stares. Like, again, I've been cold on it since the gnarlrock fight went nowhere, and more interested in both Imogen and Laudna's relationships, platonic or potentially romantic, with basically everyone else in the party, since then as well; but this episode was the point where I was like "literally, can we discuss that this emperor has no clothes." And again like. The emperor still could put on clothes at some point, but hasn't happened yet.
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ryan ross iceberg (tier 7)
tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 8
deep waters:
light up skechers fancam:
this is a fancam made by twitter user fleetwood_wac. the background song is skechers by dripreport, and i think it was a tiktok song? (i don’t have tiktok) in 2020/2021, it became famous on ryan ross stan twitter. i don’t think the original tweet is still up, but aryn has it in this reply.
side note, if you weren’t on ryan ross stan twitter in 2020, you were sorely missing out.
go figure. to late honey:
this is a quote from one of ryan’s livejournal posts from july 3, 2005. it’s SO iconic.
zrosswald:
this refers to ryan/z berg/alex greenwald. i think it’s meant to refer more to their friendship; the golden trio, if you will. however, i’m sure there are people who genuinely ship them all together, just like rydan.
they have been a tight group for a while, as z and alex both played with the young veins some. also, ryan and alex made appearances at z’s prom events.
eta: as i suspected, this is definitely a real ship.
here's a tumblr post explaining the ship dynamics a bit more. this blog has a lot of zrosswald content if you're interested!
kale:
on thanksgiving of 2011, ryan tweeted this:
in 2021, it became a meme in the ryan stan twitter community, and people tagged gordan ramsay in the tweet, asking his opinion on ryan’s cooking.
first male model for mac:
the story goes that in the fever era, the makeup company mac offered ryan a spot to be their first male model. unfortunately, he declined. according to the comments on a livejournal post i found, ryan discussed this in a 2006 spin magazine interview [i]. there were scans of the interview, but sadly, they’re not available, like most pictures on lj. it hasn’t been archived either.
the same commenter says that article doesn’t specifically mention mac, though. mac did offer ryan free products, but he doesn’t say if he accepted them [i].
so, it’s unsure if ryan was offered to be mac’s male model (unless there’s another source i’ve missed) or another brand’s. either way he turned it down. my guess is that the mac idea came from the fact that he used mac’s products back then.
beef with pete wentz:
after the split, brendon got pete in the divorce.
in a MTV interview that ryan did in 2009, it says “…he wishes Urie and Smith well and still considers them both to be his friends…The same cannot be said, however, about his former boss -- Decaydance Records honcho/ Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz -- who seems to have clearly aligned himself with the Urie/Smith camp following the split" [ii].
in the same interview, ryan specifically says:
"I haven't spoken to him in a while, since this happened. I guess I've been meaning to call him back. He called me, but I've missed a lot of phone calls this week," Ross said. "We're not sure [whether Ross' and Walker's new band will be on Wentz's Decaydance Records]. I'll have to talk to him, but obviously from what's happening online, I think he's ... he's written a lot about them. I don't know if they're working together on their stuff. I'm not really sure, but it's been awhile since we've spoken. It's strange. It's kind of weird" [ii].
the author of the article speculates that ryan and pete’s friendship is over [ii]. i can’t find the source for this, nor can i remember what the specific comments were, but i swear that pete did make some shady comments about ryan at one point.
however, it does seem that their relationship is not on negative terms currently. in 2016, pete tweeted this and this about ryan [iii] [iv]. also, this year (2023), pete mentioned ryan in a video fall out boy posted of pete reviewing his old fashion! you can watch it here:
instagram
i’m also going to link an article i found that chronicles ryan and pete’s entire relationship, which is an interesting read (although i get the feeling they’re a little biased against ryan…).
ryan’s pet turtles:
i can’t find the post or comment, but on a lj post, ryan commented “this reminds me of when my dad ran over my pet turtles with the lawn mower. thanks.”
“i went to high school with ryan:”
i have two sources for this, and i’m not sure of which one is the original. however, this one is the one i remember seeing first (around 2014).
on tumblr, someone sent in an ask saying essentially the same thing, also in 2014.
i know that both are referring to the same thing; i’m just not sure if the first pic is based on the ask, or if the ask is based on the image. either way, the sentiment is the same.
honestly, i don’t think this story is true. still funny nonetheless
hot girls eating pizza:
this is another one i cannot find a source for anywhere (not even a tweet mentioning it), even though i was able to in the past. i apologize.
but i’m pretty sure that what this is about is a tweet/social media post in which he referred to hot girls eating pizza.
if anyone has a source or more information on this one though, please let me know!!
(i was going to dm the creator of one of the icebergs i referenced to ask her, but twitter won’t allow me to send dms to someone who doesn’t follow me unless i pay for twitter blue. i’m committed to explaining this iceberg but not enough to give elon musk my money i fear)
sent to an island:
in an alternative press interview from 2018, z said that on christmas eve, she shipped ryan off to an island to clear his head. ryan says, “true story” [v].
kate moss playboy:
in the following picture from ryan’s instagram, you can see a kate moss playboy on the table.
hentai:
in the fever era, panic did interviews for a japanese magazine. someone ran ryan’s portion through an image translation, and it brought back something about hentai.
eta: update, twitter user givememallce bought the actual magazine from japan and provided us with translations of this image and the questions the band was answering! they also included the answers from the rest of the band if you're curious about those [vi]. so the biggest shoutout to them and their service.
fake wedding with z:
in 2009, ryan and z pretended to be married. ryan tweeted a picture of z with a wedding ring, called her his wife, and also tweeted a quote of her calling him “the best husband ever” [vii].
later, he tweeted that his wife left in the middle of the night. he then had a revelation:
the best part is that all of these events took place within a single day.
here’s the masterpost with all the details:
not actually 5’11:
this is a conspiracy that ryan is lying about his height.
one piece of evidence was that brendon is 5’9, meaning ryan would be 2 inches taller than him. however, in a lot of photos they look to be relatively the same height.
the other piece is that multiple fans who have met ryan said that compared to their own heights, he can’t be 5’11. i don’t have specific sources of people saying that, but i know it was discourse on twitter at one point.
next is the final entry in the iceberg, where we get into the most obscure stuff the iceberg has to offer and finish this thing up.
tier 8
references:
[i] https://bandfandom-ref.livejournal.com/133181.html
[ii] https://www.mtv.com/news/1fedpk/exclusive-ryan-ross-talks-about-leaving-panic-at-the-disco
[iii] https://twitter.com/petewentz/status/794988164901261312
[iv] https://twitter.com/petewentz/status/795025751930114048
[v] https://www.altpress.com/ryan-ross-z-berg-the-bad-list/
[vi] https://twitter.com/GIVEMEMALlCE/status/1695649402663363028
[vii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/180912208431/ryan-ross-and-z-bergs-wedding-masterpost
#ryan ross#ryan patd#panic! at the disco#panic at the disco#patd#jon walker#ryan ross iceberg#brendon urie#spencer smith#the young veins#i know i said updates were gonna slow down but im trying to finish this before the semester gets too hectic#this didnt take as long as i expected because there's not much to say about most of these entries
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welcome welcome, it’s been a while.
but we’re back now with tumblr’s favorite show: AFTG Hot Takes, where i spew paragraphs and paragraphs of bullshit instead of working on my WIP.
without any further ado, i am proud to present: every AFTG ship, ranked.
this is your friendly reminder that these are just my opinions. if you like a ship i don’t: great! if you don’t like a ship that i love: also great! i’m always happy to hear people’s thoughts, and i love a good friendly debate, but please remember that i’m 17. i’m not here to argue with you about why your ship is the best. i’m just here to have fun.
these probably aren’t all the ships that are out there, but this is everything i’ve seen so far. if i missed one, let me know!
24. Jean/Riko
this one… ew. ew ew ew. every ship with riko is so ew, i cannot begin to explain, but this one is the worst.
i’ve read too many Nest fics to not gag at this tag, cause it’s never consensual.
23. Kevin/Riko
just no.
moving on.
22. Kevin/Thea
y’all know i hate this ship by now, but for newcomers: it’s predatory and neglectful. very very ick.
21. Andrew/Roland
this one… where to start?
i’ll probably make a full post ab it soon, so for now, let’s just say that it’s very similar to Kevin/Thea. The age gap at the time that things started between them… the morals and legality are murky at best.
20. Andrew/Kevin
i’ve said it once, and i’ll say it again: they. aren’t. good. for. each. other.
Kevin doesn’t respect boundaries. he pushes things. and boundaries are the absolute most important thing for Andrew. they just don’t work.
19. Andrew/Neil/Kevin
i very vehemently despise this ship, for the same reason i hate Andrew/Kevin. i think it’s so important for y’all to remember who these characters are and not just ship them because they all have dicks and are nice to each other sometimes. that turns into mlm fetishization real fuckin quick.
18. Neil/Kevin
this is one that i can almost sort of see. if i hadn’t accidentally spoiled andreil for myself, i would have assumed this was canon during my first read.
but it’s just… i love the fact that they’re friends. i think their friendship can be so amazing, and i love reading fics where they’re that close. i don’t think every friendship in media has to turn romantic.
17. Kevin/Jean/Jeremy
remember what i said about kevandreil? apply it to this one too.
ik it sounds like i just hate poly couples. i don’t. i just hate ships like this, that really wouldn’t be healthy but people put together anyway because oh gay people yay! it feels gross and fetish-y and i am not here for it.
16. Kevin/Jean
this is a ship that i can see happening pre-canon, but i’m not the biggest fan of it simply because there’s no way it could be healthy. they went through a lot together, sure, but traumabonds are notoriously unhealthy.
15. Kevin/Matt
this, again, feels like just putting two characters together because they’re nice to each other occasionally, but really? they aren’t. correct me if i’m wrong, but Matt and Kev only have one canon interaction that i can remember, and it’s literally Matt punching Kev in the face.
Not to mention, Dan and Matt. Dan and Matt! i love them too much to accept this.
14. Kevin/Matt/Aaron
listen. again, i don’t hate poly couples. i really, really don’t. i just…
Matt literally… just doesn’t mesh well with Kev or Aaron. at all? i don’t understand the thought process behind this.
13. Renee/Jean
i don’t… i don’t hate this one. i just don’t like it. i feel like both Renee and Jean have wayyy better ships (not to spoil anything, but they both make top 5 in different ships)
i don’t think they’re awful, per se, i just don’t really see the chemistry.
12. Allison/Seth
this is an unpopular opinion, i know. but i’ve read a few “Seth lives” fics that redeem him, so i can’t hate him. i can’t, you can’t make me.
believe me, i don’t like it either, but i don’t run this city, the rats do.
anyway, it’s not awesome and i like Ally’s other options better, but it could be good! it could be great! i read too much redemption fanfic!
11. Kevin/Jeremy
i’ll be honest, it’s not my favorite to read when Jean is also in a fic, but if we’re talking in general?
i adore. fics where Kev is falling all over himself trying to talk to Jer are my bread. and. fucking. butter. quicksand has destroyed me. absolutely ruined me.
10. Aaron/Katelyn
starting off the top ten with one of my favorite minor characters ever, this ship is up here because i love Kate so much.
i read too much fanfiction, i know, but i just think she’s so cool?
honestly, i really don’t think Aaron deserves her. she’s that cool. i love her so much. that’s my lady. my babygirl. simply adore.
9. Abby/Wymack/Betsy
i like this one, i really do. all the Fox parents together? it’s perfect. i love it. enough said.
8. Kevin/Allison
listen. i’ve said i didn’t get it before, but honestly? i change my mind. i like this one. i like it a lot.
their personalities would mesh so well. they’re both dramatic, they’d be the funniest fucking couple in the world. i like it a lot.
7. Abby/Wymack
it’s a classic. i ship it, you ship it, the Foxes ship it too. we all ship it. they’re made for each other, and that’s all i have to say.
6. Matt/Dan
if you don’t like this one, you’re lying. they are. the definition. of love.
they’re so cute? so cute? i have no words?
your honor, i love them.
top five time!!
5. Nicky/Erik
god, these two.
if you know me at all, you know i have a soft spot for Nicky. i relate to his story so much, and i hate how dirty Nora did him.
but god, these two. they are love. they are perfect.
i have no words. i just love them so much
4. Kevin/Aaron
i love this one. you know i love this one. everyone knows i love this one.
they’re both assholes, and they’re both hurt in different ways, and i love when they heal together. when they help each other and lean on each other and just- ugh.
i like watching them heal, and i like watching them do it together. (plus best friend’s brother anyone?? a classic trope)
3. Renee/Allison
i love them so much. i love them so much.
they balance each other out so well? they’re so perfect for each other?
also, we need more wlw couples in media in general, and especially in this series.
i love them so much.
2. Jean/Jeremy
you know. you know i love this one (thank you Hoax, and thank you gus_47. you have ruined my sleep schedule and i have never been happier)
grumpyxsunshine, guys. healing together. i love when people heal together. i love it
also, round of applause to us in the fandom for creating an incredibly popular ship between two people who literally never interact in canon. we did that. i love that for us.
and now, for #1.
1. Andrew/Neil
they are love. they. are. love.
it’s a classic but it’s perfect, and i love them so much. no i will not elaborate (this time)
well! thank you for reading, start a (friendly) fight with me if you want, and drink some water
hugs and kisses <3
#aftg#all for the game#tfc#the foxhole court#aftg textpost#andrew minyard#neil josten#renee walker#allison reynolds#kevin day#aaron minyard#nicky hemmick#erik klose#matt boyd#dan wilds#abby winfield#david wymack#betsy dobson#jeremy knox#jean moreau#thea muldani#riko moriyama#splishsplash originals
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20 questions for fic writers
Thank you to @the-reading-lemon for tagging me over on my main blog and also for encouraging me to get back into fic writing in the first place ❤️
1. How many works do you have on Ao3?
A humble five! Though I plan on writing many more.
2. What's your total Ao3 word count?
158,634, of which 112,023 belong to Ex libris
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Currently, I just write for House of the Dragon, though I do have a couple of unfinished Gallifrey fics (and a few more that are unpublished) that I really do want to continue some day.
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
I only have five, but in order they are: Ex libris, Salt and Smoke, Office Hours, Causal Sequence and Stress Fractures
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?
Generally speaking I do not, though not because I’m not grateful for them! I have checking OCD, which I’m still trying to understand and develop coping strategies for, and unfortunately one of the ways it manifests is repeatedly checking emails, messages, texts, etc. to make sure that I haven’t ‘done something wrong’. It might sound dramatic, but it usually takes me a day to recover from the anxiety spike of just posting a chapter and I don’t have the energy to also deal with the repeat compulsions I would have if I responded to comments too, especially as I feel that if I respond to one, I should respond to all! Instead, I like to leave a note at the beginning of each chapter to let everyone know how much their comments mean. I really wish I could engage more, but currently this is what I can cope with!
In the last year, I’ve only responded to one comment and that was because I found the tone of it rude and upsetting and I wanted to let the author of the comment know.
6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Bold of you to assume I’ve finished a fic. Currently the one with the angstiest content is probably Salt and Smoke, though I promise the ending will have a happy note!
7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Again, not finished, but I think Ex libris will have by far the happiest ending - after all, we all know Corlys and Rhaenys are married with two children at the start of House of the Dragon!
8. Do you get hate on fics?
Not really. I have the best readers ever and I get such joy from seeing both familiar names and new ones in my comments! I’ve only received one bit of hate thus far, which I think is pretty good innings.
9. Do you write smut?
I do indeed! My smuttiest one thus far is my modern AU for Corlys and Rhaenys, Office Hours, though there is a sex scene in Salt and Smoke and I have plenty of scenes up my sleeve for distant chapters of Ex libris and future fics too ;)
10. Do you write crossovers?
Not really, other than some oneshot AUs I have planned - Corlys and Rhaenys as Han and Leia, for example.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not as far as I’m aware! I only started writing fic again about a year ago, so maybe it’s a bit early for fic theft. I have had my art stolen though!
12. Have you ever had a fic translated?
I haven’t, though I would consider it the absolute highest honour! I’m a translator myself (German to English) and I know how much love, time, and brain power translation takes, so if it ever were to happen, I would be the happiest fic author out there!
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
Other than plotting out an elaborate HP fic with my best friend when I was 11? Not really, though Office Hours came about after throwing some AU scenarios around with my friends, so they definitely helped inspire that one.
14. What's your all-time favourite ship?
Currently it is obviously Corlys x Rhaenys, but I’ve adored Han x Leia for as long as I can remember. Twelve x Missy also dragged me back on to this website, so definitely have to give them kudos for that.
15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
About 10 years ago I made a very basic Romulan conlang for a school project and, while I was doing that, plotted out a fic focused on Sela, the half-Romulan daughter of Tasha Yar from TNG, so that I could see the language used in context. I think I only ever wrote a couple of thousand words, but it would be cool to take this relatively small Trek character and build up the world and culture of Romulus around them, especially since we now have a lot more material to work with since Star Trek: Picard aired.
16. What are your writing strengths?
My dialogue gets mentioned a lot in my reviews, which makes me really happy! I think it comes from doing a lot of theatre and listening to a lot of audio dramas! For me, there’s nothing more satisfying when you’re writing fic than when you read through what you’ve written and you can hear the rhythm and cadence of the actor.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Making my sentences overly wordy or overly complicated. It’s something my teachers pointed out to me at school, I have a tendency to meander before I get to the point!
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?
I actually do this already for my House of the Dragon fics! I love, love, love High Valyrian and it’s so fun to sink my teeth into a new language (especially as, seeing as it’s a conlang, there’s way less pressure to be perfect all the time). I did a degree in linguistics, so it’s been a blast from the past dusting off these old skills and learning about grammatical concepts I haven’t used before (such as the vocative, locative and comitative cases). I’ve never been so thankful I suffered through three years of Russian because it’s given me such a head start when it comes to a highly inflectional language like HV!
19. First fandom you wrote for?
Like most people my age, it was HP. I wrote mostly about Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa: what can I say, I love a messy, mildly incestuous family.
20. Favourite fic you've ever written?
Probably Ex libris, though Salt and Smoke is very close to my heart. Ex libris has just grown into this absolute monster of a fic - I originally thought it would only be seven chapters! - and I’ve learnt so much in the process.
I am tagging @backjustforberena and @youleavethetardisbrakeson and you, the reader, if you’d like to have a go answering these too! 🥰
#joycieillustrations#joycie answers#my fanfic#ask meme#fic: ex libris#fic: salt and smoke#fic: office hours
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earth-326 (pt.3) - wanda maximoff
a/n: sorry this is so short and took so long, but i’ve started school, so updates will be way less frequent
i ii iii iv
You’d all made it to the shipping yard, and you fought back valiantly. Some began to retreat as you landed before Thor, noticing his dazed state. You could hear him go out on comms, and you were worried. “Thor?” Your eyebrows furrowed as you could feel it.
You began to sweat as you feel under her spell. Your eyes glowed as read as hers, and you took a deep breath, stumbling back. Outside of your mind, Wanda jumped as your wings popped out from your back. The uncoordinated motion rips the back of your shirt open, and she gasps at your beautiful features.
Not your back muscles, but the wings. And she looked into your mind, noticing you were much more frantic. and trying to resist. She began to soothe you with her native tongue. She could see it, Strucker eerily smiling at you as a young child. “You and your pathetic siblings, will never make us proud.”
You began to growl, your vision becoming hotter, the heat beginning to burn. The veins in your neck began to protrude as you burst off of the ground and straight through the top of the ship.
<>
The amount of talking to Tommy hadn’t necessarily been fruitful. When you brought up Wanda, he avoided the subject. Billy loved his mom, he still drew for her, and would tag along while Tommy begged to stay in the Game Room where Yelena and Kate frequented.
Tommy obviously was different, but you couldn’t figure out why. Fortunately, after a week you let it go. Instead you focused on Wanda’s first few minutes without the ventilator. You brought food for the team, but ate upstairs as Wanda was being fed through a straw.
Wanda was enjoying the redo.
Every day Pietro comes to visit. Yesterday, you and Billy came, but strangely no Tommy. She wishes she could ask why, but doesn’t.
It takes her only a few days to move her limbs, and even less to say her first words without coughing. You all seem to be very supportive, and you even stay overnight by yourself just to be with her.
“This is really good.” You mumble. “Can you eat hard stuff?” Wanda chuckles breathily. “Apple sauce isn’t hard food.” She mutters.
“No, I know that, I mean the tacos.”
“You’ve always had strange taste, moya lyubov’” You wanted to argue, but looked at the items on the table with several different tastes. “I do, don’t I?” Wanda giggles, sitting back.
“So you’re retired? We’re retired?” She asks as she settles back. “Yeah. I-I uh…I teach now. I’m a professor at NYU, I teach physics. Which is very ironic considering I break the rules of physics every time I fly, or flew.”
“You don’t fly anymore?”
“No. I-I don’t have a reason to. I promised the boys I’d stop going on missions…after what happened to you of course.” Wanda gulps. “They were horrified when they saw you. I was horrified. I-“ You pause, rubbing your face as tears begin to fall.
“It wasn’t your fault.” She says, remembering these things from this Wanda’s memories. The literal sword being plunged into and ripped from her back. She fell to her death, rolling onto the beach as she recalled.
“You told me you felt like something bad would happen, and I didn’t fucking listen. “One more mission.” my ass.” Wanda sighs, caressing your face with her hand.
“Come on, it’ll be fun to get back in the field, right?” Wanda rolls her eyes, watching you with a smile. “Yeah, maybe for you. But I enjoy retirement, Y/NN.” You scoff, sitting back with an annoyed expression.
“Wanda, I don’t want to go on my own. It’s just one job. One.”
It ended up being much more that that.
You were cloned, and they’d come after you. It got to Wanda first, and hurt her. It destroyed you, and the destruction you’d brought upon afterwards was something she didn’t need to know at all.
Three years of torture because you couldn’t handle being on your own for too long. What a baby. “I was being a child.” A knock from the door pulled you out of your thoughts. You went to stand, but Natasha opened the door.
Your children walked in behind her, and Billy ran to the bed, hugging his mother. Wanda was delighted, but frowned when she noticed Tommy hiding behind his godmother’s leg. “Tommy.” You warned.
The boy wouldn’t move, he wouldn’t look at her. Natasha looked behind her, trying to get the boy off her leg before you got angry like you usually did. “Tommy, say hello to your mother, now.” He still wouldn’t move.
“Thomas!” You yelled, making the boy flinch. You felt a soft but stiff hand on yours, making your your jaw twitch as you stared at your wife. “It’s okay. He’s fine. He doesn’t have to.” Wanda says. Natasha smiles, dragging Tommy with her as she moved towards her friend. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
You scoff, standing up to leave the room. Without regrading either woman, you do leave, slamming the door behind you. “She was very upset. Swore whatever happened to me was her fault, I think what just happened made her a little more upset.” Natasha sighs, simply agreeing with a nod.
“I didn’t mean to make her upset.” A small voice says, making Wanda smile. He still sounded the same. She didn’t know why she would think he’d sound different.
“It’s okay, your mom just needs to be alone.”
<>
Wanda was right about you being upset.
It was a little bit irrational, and Natasha didn’t think Tommy deserved to be iced out due to circumstance. You had let it go, but when you got home, laid them down.
You began to pace, but pause a picture catches your eye. It was you and Wanda taken by Tony, who was in a weird artistic phase. You were somewhere near a lake, she was 4 months pregnant. You remember that weekend like it was yesterday. God, you missed you her so bad.
You were livid that you allowed this to happen, and in turn went downstairs and drank. You swore to Wanda you wouldn’t, but you kept the alcohol hidden in case you needed it.
“I thought you quit.” You jumped, glaring at Natasha. “Jesus Christ, Nat! Why do you do that?”
The redhead shrugs with a smirk. “You need me, Y/NN.” She walks over to you, grabbing the bottle. “Get rest. And maybe don’t be so upset with Tommy tomorrow, he may be a kid, but he has feelings too.”
“Hmm.” You brush past her, not walking to your room upstairs, but over to your living room couch.
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@nikkinss @justyourwritter69 @lizlil @reddishmei @marvelogic @an-evergreen-rose @lattayhottay16 @mymommawanda
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