Listening to soldier poet king and trying to figure which in the Cricketsville trio (Steph, Jonah, Pynn) is which,,, and!!! They're all interchangeable I'm losing it.

Neuvifuri - You know we aren’t meant to be

Justice seeks to ensure that all individuals are treated fairly and impartially under the law. Laws were plentiful in Teyvat, spanning from the laws of nature that governed the physical world to the laws of humans which ensured that civilisations did not descend into anarchy.

Then there were the laws of Celestia which wrapped around souls, divine or mortal it made no difference, like thorny vines. Painful to touch, constantly felt, with the ever looming threat of terrible punishment should someone dare to try and free themselves. Celstia’s laws reigned over all others matched only by the savage chaos of the abyss.

Powerful but not infallible. Furina’s grand performance had been able to fool even the heavens themselves; days passed and yet Fontaine continued to go on, her people now safe from the cruel fate that had awaited them. The laws of Celestia were not absolute and be it either through loopholes or trickery those deadly vines could be dealt with.

Or perhaps, Furina thinks with a wry smile, it is simply something unique to her that allows her to slip loose from the metaphorical rope around her neck. A certain stubbornness to challenge the tyrannical will of fate that would leave her miserable on a throne weeping for everything she has lost. If she possesses one exceptional quality as a mere human it is her willpower, her strength to rise every morning for five hundred years and deceive everyone.

So when she dares to rise up against the order of things once more she is prepared to do whatever it takes to triumph once more.

Humans are not supposed to love dragons.

Dragons are incapable of loving humans.

Two beings that should never tie themselves together with the corrupting thread of intimacy and affection. The differences in lifespan, in power, in mutual understanding are only a few of the reasons why such a union would be abhorrent. Celestia would curse any who dared even align themselves with their ancient foes let alone love one.

The relationship would be doomed from the start; a tragedy that all the actors know the ending of. Pain. Death. Heartbreak. A tale that would taste like ashes in the mouth of even the most talented bard.

Furina doesn’t care.

The morning sun has only started to sneak under the curtain of her bedroom window, inching its way across the floor to her bed. Her normal-sized single bed which, while perfectly fine for her to collapse onto at the end of the day, is in no way big enough for her beloved companion snuggled up against her.

She has been surprised to learn that Neuvillette was a cuddler in his sleep before it quickly melted into the delight of being so lovingly held by her — always hers she knew that now — dear Iudex. 

Furina runs a delicate finger over the arm around her waist, tracing the scales that run in beautiful patterns all the way to his finger tips. She can feel the light pressure of claws against her nightdress, not enough to hurt — he never would, never again — keeping her close and safe. Neuvillette only ever lets his draconic features slip through when he’s with her; claws, scales, fangs the marks of his birthright that should unnerve her instead pulling her further into his orbit. Only she gets to see him like this.

It was never meant to be like this.

Furina was supposed to have disappeared after her trial, blended into the populace of the nation she had ruled for five hundred years as another citizen. Another of his subjects to care for but nothing more than that. She should have stepped back from the spotlight like any good actor would.

But she’s always been a little selfish with Neuvillette. He’d been her partner, the closest thing she had to a friend, and she had clung to him with all the strength in her feeble human body. Late night conversations, outings, the quiet coziness of their private aquabus, moments she’d hoarded greedily over the centuries in some vain attempt to feel less lonely under the crushing weight of her duty.

Furina tucks a lock of hair behind his ear. He looks so peaceful like this. The sternness of his features is softened in sleep as though the stress of the waking world has melted away. As she strokes her thumb along his jaw he lets out a pleased rumble, that’s definitely not a purr as he’s told her many times, and somehow pulls her even closer.

She feels so small in his arms, he could snap her in half without breaking a sweat but Furina only feels protected in the embrace. It’s as though he’s trying to keep her safe from the rest of the world. Maybe he feels like he needs to.

After all, the two of them were never meant to be anything more than Sovereign and Usurper, at least according to the laws of this world.

Not meant to be.

It’s a sin to love him but she does, with all her being.

He shouldn’t love her but he gave her his heart, placing it into her care for her to destroy him if she’d been so inclined. Everything has changed but also nothing has because she is still his lady and he is still her dragon.

Furina smiles as Neuvillette yawns, sharp fangs flashing in the dull light of her room. He blinks sleepily at her. It’s unfairly adorable. He reaches up to take her hand in his own and presses it to his lips, looking at her with a devotion that once would have shaken her to her core.

“Good morning, my lady.”

Furina giggles and leans in to give him a proper kiss.

Not meant to be, but no sin has ever tasted so sweet.

What happens in Alaska...

Summary: S05E21. The inn where the team has to spend the night is small and the profilers has to double up. Emily and Aaron found themselves in the same bedroom.

Characters: Aaron Hotchner x Emily Prentiss

Contents: full smut, oral sex (f and m receiving). Basically, that's everything you needed to know about what's happened in that bedroom in Alaska and why suddenly Hotch called Prentiss, Emily NSFW/MINORS DNI

PS : English is not my mother language so they are necessarily mistakes. Sorry about that.

___

Aaron had just time to close the door behind him before Emily's lips came to rest on his. He said nothing, didn't push her away, on the contrary. He accepted this unexpected offensive, prolonged her kiss, and wrapped his arms around her torso, his hands gradually moving down until they found the edge of her sweater and an opening to slip underneath. For her part, the female profiler, enjoying the feel of her lover's fingers exploring the folds of her T-shirt, stroked his back, furrowing the hollow of his loins before setting off to assault his buttocks.

“You should wear those pants more often,” she asserted as he left her lips for the angle of her chin.

“Am I to understand that you liked the view?” he bounced between two kisses on her neck.

“More than ever,” she admitted, a smile reaching her ears.

It had to be said that this was the first time she'd seen him in anything other than a suit and tie for work. She'd seen him naked, in boxer shorts, jogging suits and T-shirt, and jeans and a polo shirt, on the weekends they'd spent together; but the sweater, trellis and ranger boots outfit was a first. And yes, she had been pleasantly surprised to find that this type of clothes highlighted his butt. Much more so than his usual attire, which, while classy and sexy, totally concealed the anatomy of its wearer.

                Anatomy Emily had been dying to see ever since they'd got off the seaplane. And she thanked every imaginable deity for the fact that there weren't enough single rooms in the inn, and that the other pairs had formed without them having to do anything. Penelope had jumped on Derek; JJ, touched by Spencer's distress at his rejection, had taken him under her wing; and Dave had played the birthright card to get his peace of mind. Aaron, who was calculating what time it was in Virginia to see if he could call Jack, was oblivious. All the planets had aligned at once, and she intended to make the most of it. 

                She led her partner to the bed, where she soon found herself sitting on the sheets, her sweater pulled up under her armpits. The BAU director had knelt on the carpet that covered the floorboards and, while kissing her wherever her skin was accessible, slipped his hands under her layers of clothing to reveal even more. Emily made his task easier by removing her fleece. His lips caught hers in thanks, then he tipped her onto the mattress. She didn't struggle, too happy to see him as hungry as she was. He rolled her top up over her chest and kissed her breasts, his mouth landing as much on her dermis as on the lace of her bra. Excited, she undulated her pelvis until it pressed against his. The relief she felt fanned the fire in her lower belly.

                He continued his attentions casually, kissing her navel and then her abdomen. He stopped at her belt, running straight to the laces of her military boots, which he untied at just the right speed, neither too fast nor too slow. With her shoes in a corner of the room, he returned to her belt, which he unbuckled in a jiffy. Slowly, he pulled on her pants, bringing them to her ankles to remove them. And he climbed back up, resting his lips at regular intervals on her legs. Emily clung to the blanket, her eyes closed, her breathing shuddering. She restrained herself from ordering him to speed up because she knew he'd get there soon. As if to confirm it, he kissed her crotch through her panties. A sigh escaped her.

                A groan followed as her undies flew in the same direction as her pants and Aaron's tongue titillated her clit. From their first night together, he'd been able to get her to heaven without needing to penetrate her, and she felt he was only getting better. This time was no exception, as she soon found her fingers tangled in his thick hair, her pelvis pushing in harmony with her lover's lingual convolutions. He never neglected any of her erogenous zones, sucking her bud, grazing her ridges, lapping up her nectar tirelessly. She didn't know how thick the walls were, so she came mutedly, huffing, murmuring, whimpering until she reached that phase where the only words forming in her throat were:

“Aaron. Aaron. Aaron!”

She arched her spine as the orgasm assailed her and her body vibrated in unison with the waves of pleasure pulsing through her torso. Then she fell back and exhaled for a long time. Once her breathing and heart rate had returned to a decent level, she leaned on her elbows. Her partner was standing against the chest of drawers, wearing that self-satisfied thuggish look that probably only she knew. He sipped quietly from a bottle of water while she recovered from her emotions, savoring this new achievement.

                Stung in her pride, Emily counterattacked, determined to make him surrender in turn. She sat on the edge of the bed and silently ordered him to come closer. He placed the bottle on the cabinet and obeyed. He bent to kiss her, but she pressed her palm against his face to push him away. He stiffened, puzzled, before understanding. She then undid his belt, unbuttoned his pants, and let gravity do the rest. From what she could glimpse behind the folds of his boxers, he was almost back to his normal state. A minor disappointment, but one she knew how to remedy. She pulled down his underwear.  

“Emily…”

She interrupted him with a knowing glance. She knew he wasn't very comfortable with this practice, but quickly forgot his fears and doubts as soon as she took action. And she began with a few caresses in a moderate tempo. He hardened immediately, his shaft rising visibly as her hand moved up and down the delicate, warm skin. Then, without letting go, her tongue took over from her fingers and ran along the curve of his sex until it reached the tip, which she engulfed in her mouth. He got even harder, and she heard his breathing change. She began her controlled back-and-forth movements and felt him tense up, tightened up, breathing with difficulty. He restrained himself from accompanying her sucking with thrusts that could hurt her. He repressed his desire to grab her hair and to press on her head. But now he was as hard as steel, his legs trembling and his breath rasping.

“Emi… ly…”

She smiled inwardly: he was done for. Her tongue grazed his burning, swollen spear one last time, and he gave up. Overcome by spasms of ecstasy, he emitted several noisy sighs, and then naturally stepped aside to regain the support of the dresser. Emily observed the fruit of her efforts with a victorious smile. He caught sight of her and shook his head, despondent. He grabbed the water bottle and tossed it to her.

“I hate it when you do that,” he grumbled, still out of breath.

She swallowed several gulps then, without taking her eyes off him, added:

“Liar.”

___

We all know that this is canon. XD

hi i have more talk about my ocs so i’m putting it here and below the cut!

so to start w/the basics i should talk about my fates s/i, oz (who uses ae/aer and he/him pronouns), because ae is a big tie in factor for all my fates ocs. oz is a witch who was originally one of camilla’s retainers before severa show’d up. ae was taken in by camilla’s mom to be camilla’s retainer because of their magical prowess, and for camilla’s mom to manipulate aer. 

camilla’s mother eventually does use them, framing them as a killer for one of her own crimes. oz, however, decides to run away to the forests of nohr and gets taken in by an elderly witch until aer paralogue, which is what inserts ae into fates.

About Vil 

vil is, as mentioned, a general and duke of nohr. when oz was in nohr he was incredibly close to aer, and even in love with aer. during oz’s paralogue, he’s been sent to take oz back to nohr to be punished for the crimes. he’s only recruitable in conquest and revelations because camilla is the one to do so, and prove oz’s innocence to him. 

vil is also notably a huge softy despite being known as an intimidating and frightening general, with a dangerous reputation proceeding him. the reality is he’s a very kind duke who does all he can for the people of his kingdom, especially those within his dukedom. his hobbies include baking and cooking, and he has two younger sisters he absolutely dotes on. also he’s a huge romantic and sappy guy, he loves reading sweet love poetry! vil get’s introduced in oz’s paralogue with oz.

his dynamic with oz is very funny, bc he’s very obvious about his love for aer, but oz is literally the densest person in the whole army. i think their supports are very much vil visibly pinning after oz and oz being like, “i’m glad to have my friend back :)”. until their s support where vil finally says his feelings in plain words and oz becomes a blushing mess.

About Vespasian

ves, as i mentioned before, is like the awakening trio because they come form ylisse! however, unlike the trio, they were never tasked with being involved in stuff. they really became corrin’s retainer by accident.

they’re a notable contemporary of miriel’s and a shepard! they ended up heading into the outer realms because they were curious about them. speaking of, curiosity is a huge part of ves and is what leads them on. and they value it a lot in people. which also means they encourage corrin to be curious and independent which gets the two of them in trouble with jakob a lot lol. also, ves has the hobby of pressing flowers because they like to take the flowers and make them into bookmarks for their friends! also they get introduced like with jakob and the other retainers.

also their dymanic with oz. ves is super curious about oz because ae’s not particularly great with people. and of course it relates back to camilla’s mother betraying them and is slowly revealed to ves. but ves also likes that ae’s so dense so they tease aer about it a lot, and they catching feelings because they think oz is cute because of their innate kindness but also how blunt they are. it’s a funny combo to ves. 

About Lumi

lumi is the princess of attikos and has a very unique class! she gets to be a flying unit and use magic and swords because they’re my favorite and i love her. she’s initiially introduced in a paralogue right before oz’s, as someone in a conflict with a nohrian general. 

her kingdom was originally attacked by garon and he was defeated by lumi, so originally she came to nohr to finish up the peace treaty, which is how she first met oz because ae was her guardian while she was there. however, the longer she’s in nohr the more convinced she is that garon needs to be overthrown which is why she’s super easy to recruit in birthright and revelations but not conquest. because it takes xander talking to her 2 times to convince her. 

also lumi’s a huge girly girl and loves cute things! she has a small collection of little delicate ceramics. this relates to her bonding with oz, because ae also has a soft spot for cute things and the two bond over it initially, and it develops to them just learning more about each other and falling in love!

Post #69: UXM issue 199

This is a very special issue to me, because it's the first X-Men comic I ever read. When I was little, I watched a lot of superhero cartoons, cause they were what was on and I liked them and so did my dad. My favorite ones were always the X-Men ones, and when I got older and started watching superhero movies, the X-Men ones were my favorite of those too. Then one day, I went to the library and found the comic book section. I went for the X-Men obviously. My library only carried the Essential Marvel TPBs, and the earliest one that wasn't checked out was volume 6, which started with this issue and went through the Mutant Massacre. I didn't really understand what was going on, especially with the Secret Wars II tie ins, but I was hooked. I can honestly say that this issue changed my life. It starts with Scott in the Danger Room, a sign that even though he was just called there to talk about Xavier, he hasn't really let go of being an X-Man. Moira calls him into the control booth, where she and Logan are waiting, and tells them that Xavier is dying. He doesn't want anyone to know, but he can't fool Moira's medical exams. She believes that that's why he's brought Magneto into the school, to take his place. Scott is shocked to learn his father might die before his child is born and angry that he might be leaving the school to a man Scott grew up fighting. In DC, Mystique goes to Valerie Cooper and volunteers the Brotherhood to become basically a Suicide Squad in exchange for protection from the recent anti-mutant bills. She's intrigued, and offers them a trial run to sell her on the idea- find and capture Magneto. Back in New York, Rachel visits Jean's grave and house for the first time. She reflects on the true moment of divergence in the timelines: in Rachel's world, when Jean went Dark Phoenix and visited her childhood home, her parents were afraid but didn't reject her, instead helping her bring the Phoenix under control. She goes to her grandparents' bedroom, where she finds the crystal orb that Lilandra gave to them. It contains an impression of Jean's personality that allows them to feel her telepathic aura even now that she's gone. Using the orb, Rachel summons the Phoenix Force and claims it as her birthright. She says she'll use it to honor Jean's memory, redeem herself for her crimes as a hound, and defend mutants from hatred and the world from the Beyonder. In DC, Magneto and Kitty are at the National Holocaust Memorial with Lee for an annual meeting where survivors and their relatives come to try to find people they lost track of during the Holocaust. Kitty is there on behalf of her late grandfather, who was separated from his sister. Miraculously, Magneto knew her, and so did an old couple that comes up to meet Kitty and tell her her great aunt died in Auschwitz. They also knew Magneto, and tell Kitty that he was an inspiration and a leader to them and many others in the camps. Mystique chooses this moment to reveal that she's been impersonating Lee, and the whole Brotherhood, now called Freedom Force enters the room. They have a new recruit, a weird six armed sorceress named Spiral, who's origins will be explored in the Longshot miniseries. Magneto tries to subdue them while Kitty goes to find where Lee is being held and call for backup. The X-Men get there shockingly quickly, I guess they all came to the Memorial and just waited outside with their uniforms handy? Anyway, Freedom Force has the initial advantage due to Destiny's instructions, but Kitty turns the tide by nerve pinching her. Destiny doesn't mind, though, saying their victory is inevitable. Peter gets his reunion and revenge on Pyro, Kurt teleports Blob up to the top of the Washington Monument and leaves him there, and if any readers still have the slightest doubt about Anna's loyalties, they should be persuaded by her knocking out Avalanche. Scott came on this mission, which seems like it should be a really big deal, but he got knocked out by Avalanche between panels and doesn't recover until the end, when he returns in the nick of time to kayo Spiral. The X-Men prepare to leave, but Magneto says he's staying and accepting his arrest. The looks of terror on his friends' faces when he revealed his powers reminded him of Magda, and he's tired of torturing himself questioning whether that fear is justified. He wants to stand trial and accept his fate, whatever it may be. Impersonating Magneto's girlfriend fo sneak into a Holocaust survivors meeting and then calling all her friends to wreck the Memorial is one of the most vile things Mystique has done. This is also a great showcase of mutant intersectionality; as interesting as it is, the mutants-as-minorities metaphor will never be as powerful as Magneto taking Kitty to the Holocaust Memorial. That doesn't at all mean the metaphor is weak; I think the vagueness of it is a huge strength, because it can fill in for so many different minorities. But it can't truly replicate the emotion of a tragedy that really occured and the bonding of the people affected by it. Now that I've grown up and read hundreds of X-Men comic books, this one doesn't feel quite as transcendent and groundbreaking as it did when I first picked it up, but it was still a very good issue with a special place in my heart.

HELLO:

Jon woke, the cold hand of death still wrapped around his heart. He gasped, shooting to an upright position. Bare beneath the faux fur blanket draped across his lap; however, he did not feel the need to wrap himself. His dark gaze searched the unfamiliar room, uncertain of how he escaped a fate worse than...no, that could not have been more than a dream—a nightmare. A nightmare Jon had since he was a child come to life.

The crackle of fire near the table he laid upon distracted him long enough until the door opened from the other side. Even with the chill brought in by the opening, Jon did not shiver. That should worry him. He glanced at the stranger, disappointed she was not his wife, Ygritte. His eyes widened as he remembered their group of veterans—the snowstorm. Where was everyone else? Were they safe? Alive? He needed to find them.

"Shh," the blonde held a hand up as she closed the door behind her, "it'll be okay, Jon." She touched one of his damp curls when she reached him, smiling fondly down at him. "It's been too long. Thousands of lifetimes."

THE ART OF WAR: Professor Stark had yet to enter any building on this side of the campus. Initially, there was no reason or eagerness to step foot in these departments. She hated to admit the giddiness of the idea now. She didn't expect the vast amount of space dedicated to Professor Waters' positions at Riverrun. The engineers had a building for classes, labs, and the shop at the back of the campus. After asking several students where Professor Waters was located, Arya was pointed to the last of the buildings.

This was where Rickon spent all of his spare time. It was only suitable to show an interest in his hobbies. Any good older sister would do the same. She wrung her gloved hands together as she approached the shop's double doors. If she happened to run into Gendry Waters, that would be totally coincidental.

WOLF HUNT: "I suppose you are here to reclaim your birthright," the young man pressed a hand to his gold-colored tie as he stood from their father's desk. Other than the narrow jawline and rounder ears, it was like looking at a living reflection of Robert Baratheon. Though, he appeared leaner and healthier than the older man ever was in his youth. When he spoke, Gendry swore Stannis' voice came out. "Our uncle appointed me as Lord Baratheon in his testament unless the rightful heir returned."

Gendry snorted as he waltzed lazily through the study, taking note of the subtle differences from the last time he stood in this room. He didn't answer right away, observing his half-brother from afar. "You swore allegiance to House Lannister."

"On the threat of death," Edric clasped his hands behind his back. The gesture had Stannis written all over it. How long had his brother been with their uncle? Long enough to mimic another one of his ghosts. "As the last of the Baratheon bloodline, it was my duty to do what I could to keep our name alive." Edric met Gendry at the minibar and poured them a clear liquid drink. The eldest of the brothers brought the tumbler to his nose and sniffed. Water? "I don't drink," his brother interpreted his curiosity.

Captivated

Hvitserk Ragnarsson x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1993 words

Warnings: none

Summary: Entering into an arranged marriage to Hvitserk

——————————————————————————————————

Arranged marriages were common in Kattegat.

So common in fact that you knew very few people that married for love alone. 

If there was to be a wedding, it was usually formed because there was mutual gain, not only for the two betrothed people, but also their families as well, and your marriage would be no different. 

Hvitserk was at an age where a man should start thinking about taking a wife, and you were at an age when you should have already been one. That made your father very willing to marry you off, and it didn’t hurt that the man in question was a son of Ragnar. 

The very chance to tie you to that bloodline forever was too good to pass up, especially for a greedy and malicious sort of creature like your father. The glory it would shine on him would not pass him by. 

That was the one thing he’d decided. 

He decided that, of course, long before he even asked you if you were willing to partake in any sort of marriage with that man. 

Not that you would have had much say to begin with. 

You had never met any of Ragnar’s famed sons and you, frankly, had no interest in doing so. However, Hvitserk was seeking a wife and with your father’s jarl title, there was little chance he would refuse. 

Even if you were, as your father would say, “No less worth than a milking cow” It was meant to be a compliment, you’d assumed, though it was getting harder and harder to take it as one as you got older. 

You were not blind to the fact that you weren’t as thin and fair as other women may have been, but that didn’t mean you weren’t just as beautiful. You were fine looking, as far as you were concerned, though maybe not to everyone. 

That didn’t seem as if it was going to be a problem for much longer though. 

After all, you were going to get married before long anyway. As soon as you became a wife, it wouldn’t matter what you looked like to anyone other than your husband. 

However, that brought one thing to your attention. You hadn’t thought about it before but there was a huge possibility that as soon as Hvitserk met you, he would refuse you entirely. 

If he didn’t see you as the kind of wife he wanted, you would be back to square one as far as a marriage goes and your father wouldn’t be happy with you. 

Not that you could really care all that much about that. There was no reason for you to treat yourself poorly over that chance. All things considered, if this man rejected you, that was his problem.

You had to just hope for the best and move on with your life if that happened...right? Not marrying Hvitserk wouldn’t immediately make you a spinster. 

You had to hope that wasn’t the case. 

Though, before you could completely back out of the entire thing, a thrall came through the door, a gown in her arms and a smile on her face. Her name was Ama, or something of the sort, and you forced yourself to focus as she spoke to you. 

“Pardon me, the Jarl asked me to ready you for your evening” she informed, setting the dress on the table by the door before closing it. 

The very idea of the day ahead of you filled you with dread, but you forced yourself to get up from where you were perched and readied yourself for what was waiting. 

It was better to get it out of the way. 

~

“Don’t slouch” your father huffed, reaching out to bump you slightly with the wooden cane he used to get around, trying to fix that. You were not even trying to make yourself presentable and he wasn’t going to let that stop him from marrying you off. 

He already had too much into this to let you ruin it.

“We will meet Hvitserk with his brother Ubbe and if he finds you presentable enough, you will remain here” he allowed, seeming to have no problem with forcing you away from your home.

Though, if he was that willing to get rid of you, perhaps you should have been glad to be rid of him. 

You only nodded as he spoke, not even bothering to speak to you as he walked you over to the grand hall in the center of Kattegat. You had never been here, this close to the shore, but you didn’t really have a chance to admire it before you were ushered inside. 

“Jarl Aland, my name is Ubbe” the first man to greet you started, offering a greeting to your much older father, who met him kindly with a smile. You couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. 

He was nothing like the men in your father’s village, which seemed to be much smaller than the majority of Kattegat. For living so close to the outskirts, there really were few similarities. 

“Excellent. This is my daughter, Y/N” your father chuckled, offering you forward as if you were some sort of cattle to be auctioned off. Still, you did nothing but smile at the man as he admired you. 

You hated every second of it. 

“Hello, I look forward to getting to know much about you” he started, leading you toward the fire in the center of the room, his hand bracing your lower back slightly. 

It was just enough to keep you moving without making you feel uncomfortable, something you were glad for. After all, you were sure that if this man was to do anything unsavory to you, your father would do nothing to stop it. 

Luckily, Ubbe seemed to be rather mannerly for a prince. You just had to hope that his brother was just as civilized. 

“Hvitserk has been anxiously awaiting your arrival” he whispered, smiling down at you with an almost mischievous glint in his eyes. If only you knew just how much his brother had been talking about this. 

This betrothal had come after your father met with the sons of Ragnar last summer, on his way to escort your brother and a few of his friends to take a voyage from this port. 

You had only found out about it shortly after that, though you weren’t sure if the passing suggestion would ever come to pass in reality. Though, now that you were here, you knew why your father had been so keen on you doing this. 

Kattegat was a wonderful place for trade and had much opportunity for growth. It offered a lot of chances for monetary gain in your fathers eyes, and the best way to get in would be through you. 

A bond with the sons of Ragnar would make it plausible for more of your father’s people to come here and make money. 

“I can’t say I’ve been all that at ease myself” you joked back, careful to keep your voice down so that your father couldn’t hear. He was hanging back from you and the blonde, but you wouldn’t put it past him to eavesdrop. 

He had always been such a nosey old bastard. 

“I understand but you mustn't worry, nothing will happen to you here” he assured, and as much as you were sure you wouldn't, you believed him when the words left his lips. 

If nothing else, you knew that Ubbe would do nothing that would allow you to come to any harm. 

You only nodded at his promise, letting him lead you farther into the space until you found a large fire in the center of the back room, a few more men surrounding it. 

You assumed they were his brothers, but more than anything, you wondered which of them was the man you were to marry. 

“Boys, this is Y/N” he introduced, announcing your presence to all of them at once in a way that, under any other circumstances, would have embarrassed you incredibly. 

However, in this instance, all you did was smile as you waited for any of these new strangers to make themselves known to you. The first of which was another blonde, though he towered over both you and Ubbe.

“Jarl Aland’s daughter, we’ve been waiting for you. They call me-” he started, but as soon as he opened his mouth, you put the pieces together. “Bjorn Ironside” you filled in, recalling all the stories they told of him even where you lived. 

He was a living legend and it took you a second to compose yourself after making such a bold statement, not that any of them seemed to mind. If anything, the men surrounding you seemed amused.  

“She’s an enthusiastic little thing, isn’t she?” he grinned, directing his question to Ubbe, who only shrugged. It seemed to him that you were, though it was too early to tell. 

After all, he had only just met you. 

“Enough of that though, you’re here for Hvitserk” Bjorn finally decided, beckoning behind him, presumably for the man in question. 

The man who had been avoiding you up until this point. He had already had a hard enough time being convinced to even meet you, led alone come to terms with the idea of getting married. 

He had never wanted to be married. 

Though, the way he understood it, there just came a time when every man should have had a family, and he had to start thinking about that. It seemed that his bachelor days had come to an end. 

“Excuse him. Hvitserk has never truly cared about anything more than what’s dangling between his legs, and filling his stomach” Bjorn chuckled, his crude joke not lost on you as he nudged you gently. 

They didn’t seem to have any shame between the group of them, and you had to admit that it was refreshing. Your father had always made you live as if you had the sort of title these males did, but they didn’t act like it. 

If anything, they used their birthright as an excuse to be as crass as possible. 

“Come now brother, say hello to your bride” Ubbe prompted, finally addressing the man as he came into view from behind his much larger half brother. He had been dreading this all day. 

An idea that changed as soon as you came into view. 

As soon as he saw you, every thought Hvitserk’d had in regards to a greeting melted away, along with his manners. You had to have been the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid his eyes on. 

There was no possible way you had agreed to marry him. 

“Hvitserk, say hello” Ubbe snapped, laughing at his younger brothers obvious floundering. It was clear to both Bjorn and Ubbe the moment they saw you that this was how he would react. 

Not that it was supposed to be this amusing.

Hvitserk was never speechless, though you had somehow managed to force every plausible thought from his mind with only a look. 

“Hello” 

It was by no means the smooth, or suave introduction he had been planning to knock you off your feet, but it was the best he could muster with the fog you’d forced upon him. 

“Hello Hvitserk, my name is Y/N, though I’d imagine you knew that already” you giggled, finding the humor in your action. Of course he knew your name already, you were just so in the habit of saying it when you first met someone. 

That laugh, nothing more than a slight ease of tension from you, only served to captivate the young male further. 

He was in way over his head, and it was only a matter of time before both you and all of his brothers noticed. 

One thing was for certain though, you no longer had to worry about him rejecting you. 

On (the updated) Chapter 139.

This is not necessarily a rant. Instead, these are some thoughts I had after reading (the new) Chapter 139 of Shingeki no Kyojin, or Attack on Titan. I also briefly talk about the Rumbling and Ymir’s characterization. Of course, this is not spoiler-free, so beware if you are not caught up with the latest updates on the series/chapter!

Spoilers below:

First and foremost, I enjoyed the series. I wouldn’t call it “perfect,” nor “the absolute best,” but it was entertaining and, dare I say, awe-inspiring. Isayama presented something that not many shōnen mangaka do, which is a realistic take on war and the irreparable actions of humanity. To say that this is a story about mankind fighting monsters is not entirely wrong; in fictional stories, “man is the true monster” tends to be a reoccurring theme, and Attack on Titan, Shingeki no Kyojin, is no exception. I’ve said the following in a previous post I made, and I’ll say it here again:

This is mostly a reflection of humanity and the terrible things people are capable of doing when they’re given too much power, and when they’ve been stripped from having any of it. (alienated.zombie)

Was it all for nothing?

All characters are victims of corruption. We saw that with Eldians who were persecuted in Marley and the Eldians on Paradis. The Rumbling was Eren’s desperate attempt to protect his friends more than to protect the island. It is apparent when he refuses the Founding Titan to any of his closest comrades in the flashback in Chapter 108…

By the end of the series, we see time-skip after time-skip of the Island’s growth and eventual destruction. We see a boy encountering the tree where, presumably, Eren was buried. It is different from the other trees, as it is the largest (probably the oldest, too), and bears a huge resemblance to the tree Ymir, the Founder, had fallen into. This seems to tease that everything will begin again—the rebirth of the titans and, potentially, more war.

So, did Eren commit mass genocide for nothing in the end? My answer is no.

Eren fulfilled what he wanted/needed to do, which was to protect his friends (or at least those who survived the battles leading up to the Rumbling). He aided in freeing Ymir. And just as he had hoped, his surviving friends lived for a long time, as suggested in the final panels. Eren’s motives are questionable, and it begs the question: Is Eren selfish? And my answer is yes, although he does not openly show it as he lived his whole life living and fighting for other people’s sakes. Eren is a paradoxical character: he is selfish for choosing his friends over the world but selfless for putting his friends ahead of himself.

Isayama gave us a bleak ending, one that makes sense since something as unforgivable as the Rumbling would be a justifiable reason to start a war--at least in the eyes of the world leaders. We are only given a small glimpse of the attack, so there is no saying if The Rumbling truly was the motivation, or if Paradis acted first. What is true is that the cycle of hate continues. Historia's reign, as well as the rise of the Yeagerists, prove that as time passes, ideals and people in power change. Truly, history repeats itself.

The Rumbling

Side note: Of course, The Rumbling wouldn’t be the absolute best solution to end a war in reality. (I didn’t support it either.) However, I read the manga with the idea that there really was no other way to end the war between Paradis and Marley because the whole world was dead-set on destroying the island, as suggested in chapter 123:

Not to mention that the Association in this part of the series reacted with cheers to the speaker’s sentiment. Even the displaced Eldians were brainwashed to abhor the so-called “Devils” of Paradis Island. We can assume (based on what we know about the views that Marley, the Eldians in Marley, and the advocates for “displaced Eldians” have) that Paradis was the so-called enemy of the world (at least to the public outside of Paradis). Armin and Hange’s approach to the situation, the diplomatic way, was not wrong either; however, given the other nations’ resolve to decimate the island, this strategy would not have worked.

This is where Eren’s plan to wipe out the rest of the world, save the island, comes into play. He did not want to conform to the original plan and repeat the same cycle the Royals have for hundreds of years, which was to sacrifice Historia and her descendants, and the future hosts of the Coordinate. He was only meant to scare the world— to dare them to attack—by waking some of the dormant Colossal Titans. Of course, he chose a different path. The Rumbling, Eren’s Rumbling, was meant to buy time for Paradis’ restoration, to secure their safety, to expand their military forces, and to eventually end the Titans’ curse… which did happen.

Ymir, the Founder

Ymir is the most mysterious character in the series. Due to her lack of speech (as her tongue was cut off), she is easily the most misunderstood. She was abused and used for power; Ymir was a slave—both literally and metaphorically—to Fritz and the following Coordinate hosts. My understanding is that she had some kind of attachment to Fritz and his ideals. Chapter 139 introduces the idea that Ymir did, in fact, love Karl Fritz. I doubt that this is really the case, given that Eren’s words contradict the art on the panel (surely, purposely done by Isayama):

In this panel (chapter 139), she is unhappy: her marriage is a joke, given that her husband flirts with other women (they were most likely his mistresses) while she tended to his needs and continued to have his children. Her “love” for Fritz is not real. Ymir was attached to the idea of love and desired it all the more.

I believe that Mikasa did not necessarily free Ymir; rather, Ymir was inspired by Mikasa’s unwavering love for Eren. Mikasa loved Eren and was able to let go of him despite how much it hurt her. In turn, Ymir finally let go to of her abuser by realizing that what she felt was not truly love. Mikasa suggests Ymir’s true feelings when she says: “Your love must have felt like a never-ending nightmare.”

I should also mention that the panel above does not necessarily mean that Ymir let Fritz die, although this is open to interpretation. I thought that this clearly expressed Ymir’s regrets. Should he have died in her stead, Ymir would have been able to live the rest of her life with her daughters in peace. This might have also avoided future wars, aka, the war on Paradis. However, Mikasa’s words ring true: “It’s only because you brought your children into this world that I stand here today.” There is no way to undo the past. It is true that Eren could have rewritten the past by letting her live and letting Fritz die; however, that would completely change everything: Eren and his friends would have probably never existed, and Ymir would have been trapped in Paths forever, as the Founder would go to a random newborn child.

Another interesting point I’d like to add is Ymir’s appearance. In Paths, she presents herself as a child but finally shows herself as an adult in front of Mikasa. She expresses her fragility via regression, or appearing as her less developed stage in life (childhood) as a coping mechanism. (This can also be said about Eren’s child-like appearance at the start of the Rumbling.) Only after freeing herself from Paths does she take on the appearance of a grown woman. We cannot say that she completely healed from her trauma, but we can say that she was ready to move on.

Why wait 2000 years?

My take on this question is that Eren was Ymir’s answer as he did not bear royal blood and therefore could not command her to do anything for him. Recall that nearly all previous hosts of the Coordinate were of Royal blood. No one understood Ymir, nor seemed to care to communicate with her. Grisha was at the end of his life when he stole the Coordinate and then passed it to Eren.

Potential sequel?

As for the final panels of the chapter, I don’t think that this sets up a potential sequel. Unlike Eren, Armin, and Mikasa during their childhoods, this boy has the freedom to explore the world as is his birthright. He does not have to think or worry about being confined behind tall walls, nor worry about a government's restrictions to question the mysteries of the world. He is free to explore. I think that this is Isayama’s way to tie the story back to that simple dream Eren had as a child. Despite the obvious attack on Paradis in the previous panels, there is reason to believe that not all of Paradis was destroyed. This boy should be proof of that. For now, whether he becomes the new Founder or not is strictly based on our own interpretations.

That’s all I have to say about Chapter 139. Let me know if you’d like me to delve deeper into anything else from AoT! I was thinking about taking a closer look at other characters later on, but I’ll be happy to add my take on anything AoT-related.

honestly, my fury at the lack of werewolf culture/history/worldbuilding is worthy of its own post. Let me know if by some ungodly chance, you actually wanna hear my thoughts on it // Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

ohmygod yes, pls, enable me.

SO.

I think I mentioned b4 that Teen Wolf hates werewolves.

This is a show about werewolves like, yeah, sure, they do other plots and stuff. But the main character is a werewolf. The vast majority of the cast are werewolves (at least in the first half of the show). But think about it. What do we actually know about werewolves? They uhh, they shift on the full moon. But like, what about the full moon? Cus’ Scott gets handcuffed to a radiator and he doesn’t shift and break out until the moon comes out from behind the clouds and he screams like it’s excruciatingly painful for him. But then Derek and his Betas are underground during their full moon, and they shift like it’s all fine and dandy (they’re furious, but there’s no pain) and it doesn’t matter whether they can see the moon or not. They, uhh, they’re allergic to wolfsbane/it’s poisonous to them (btw it’s poisonous to literally everyone, just the scent of it is enough to cause seizures and hallucinations in humans. It’s a whole other frustration that they won’t make up their fucking minds abt it. It’s one thing to say that this is some parallel universe where wolfsbane doesn’t poison humans (bc lydia makes them hallucinate with the punch but injesting that much wolfsbane should kill you, and Stiles straight pulls a plant out of the ground; should’ve caused itching, burning, a cough, nausea, fever, headache and More hallucinations) and yet Jackson has to see a doctor and gets told he’s got Aconite Poisoning. So WHAT IS THE TRUTH?) but apparently not enough for Derek not to be able to plant a wolfsbane plant and massive cord of roots (which he would’ve had to tie together himself) in a revenge spiral around Laura’s body. But just being around it causes wolves to lose control. But also there’s supposed to be different strains that do different things? And also sometimes you burn the wolfsbane and it becomes the cure, or you have to burn it out of them or you just cut it out of them? Make UP Your MIND or at least ACKNOWLEDGE that different strains do different things. They get stronger on a full moon. But does that mean they get infinitely stronger with every full moon they experience? Does that mean they get weaker during new moons? They’re stronger in packs. Okay, but they never establish what the fuck a pack is. Is it an agreement? Is it a magical bond? Scott just sort of says people are in his pack. Does that mean they are? Do the humans he knows make him stronger? Just how strong is this bond? Derek makes a claim that “You have your own pack now” so is that a joke, was he mocking scott? Or is he saying that there’s no need for an Alpha and just being a beta with some friends counts as a pack? Apparently they have some kind of...animal magnetism or mind control? Derek uses a funny voice and a guy wakes up from a near coma to look at him with seemingly no control. Peter can force Scott to shift up. Derek forces Isaac to shift down. Derek has an insane amount of control over dogs and makes one lose its fucking mind from like a hundred feet away? Scott makes one calm down, but derek sends attack dogs running with their tails between their legs. Is it actual control or is it just a persuasion? Is it just intimidation? I haven’t even gotten to culture. You’re telling me that we get an entire episode of Allison discovering the entire story behind the Argent clan’s origins as werewolf hunters, why they started, how her name means Silver and apparently that’s where the entire myth of silver hurting werewolves comes from, but we don’t get to know anything about the first werewolves? Where they come from? If they’re a form of evolution or just straight magic or if it’s a curse or a gift from the gods? There’s an entire hidden werewolf population with packs all over the world, but somehow there’s literally no wolf culture? No moon worship? No specific terminology (Alpha, Beta, and Omega are terms used by a really fucking stupid biologist who studied frantic wolves in captivity and cast aspersions on the entire species. He’s been disproven a Thousand Times. NONE of that Alpha, Beta, Omega shit is right. Packs aren’t Hierarchies of Dominance. They’re families. They’re led by two wolves, yes, an “alpha pair” that’s literally JUST THE PARENTS. THE ‘BETAS’ ARE THEIR KIDS. This terminology makes sense if used by HUNTERS who consider werewolves to be mindless dumb animals. WHY THE FUCK would werewolves use it to DESCRIBE THEMSELVES?) besides the absolute minimum of ‘I caught a scent?’ Are you serious? Then there’s werewolf ages. Oh my god that was so fucking lazy. Saying that werewolves don’t age like humans, but that Cora is seventeen “by human standards” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I’ve seen theories that go so many different ways. The idea that Werewolves live really long lives because of the superhealing. The idea that they live really short lives because their healing just burns through their body really quickly. The idea that their lifespan is directly correlated to the amount of damage they take because they can only heal so much, so wolves who get hurt a lot age faster than wolves who don’t. There’s NO explanation! You’d think it might be an interesting point for Scott to find out that he’s gonna live to fucking 200 years old. (How old is Satomi again?) That sounds like something a Teenager would be daunted by. We see them make fun of Stiles a few times because he believes werewolf myths about silver, and then because he believes Peter when Peter tells him he lives in a series of underground caves. But like...why not? THESE ARE WEREWOLVES why did you just make them humans with extra facial hair? Where are the traditional mating rituals (or even the concept of a mate/life partner, can you imagine how interesting that would’ve been? If Scott found out Allison was his mate? Or if he suddenly had all these weird urges around her, like rubbing their foreheads together or cuddling her way too much or wanting to bring her food? That would’ve been fascinating and hilarious as subplots for their romance!) where are the full moon runs or pack get-togethers? Where are the aversions to perfumes or cologne? Where are literally any animal behaviors besides AGGRESSION? Where is the den-making? Can werewolves eat fast food or does the grease bug them? Talia was a famous Alpha bc she could full shift. Does anyone know why she could do that? “Evolution” is a bullshit answer, let’s be real. It’s shitty writing and it put Derek through so much more than he deserved. THEY ACCIDENTALLY ESTABLISHED that ALL HALES can full-shift! IT’s NOT EVOLUTION. It’s BIRTHRIGHT. Talia fullshifted. Peter full-shifted (though his was distorted into the monster thingy. That wasn’t anything like Deucalion’s shift. It was a FULL SHIFT) Laura could full shift bc she did it after she died. No other werewolves on the show turned into full wolves after death, even if they died with wolfsbane in their system? MALIA could full-shift into a coyote. LITERALLY EVERY HALE except Cora and that’s bc she got booted back to South America COuld FULL SHIFT (and it never happened after they lost all of their wolf powers, that coud’ve been an interesting plot if they didn’t FUCK IT UP.) But still there’s no explanation, or even just acknowledgement? You don’t have to spell it out for us, but at least SAY “Hey, so the Hale family is really powerful and all of us can full-shift. Not sure why, but it’s neat.) I’m still stuck on rituals. Routines. Werewolf mores. Social cues. Are there certain smells they’re supposed to ignore? Is it polite to pretend you don’t hear someone coming up to your house until they knock? Do they have rules about waiting until the Alpha eats before they start eating (much like how lots of traditional households wait for the father to dig in, or whoever is head of household)? Is it tradition to homeschool werewolves for the first few years until they learn control? Are there seriously no rules about biting humans? You don’t have to talk to their parents or have a specific conversation with them? And if werewolves are so dominance/hierarchy based, then you’re telling me there’s no “second-in-command” or respectful greetings that are supposed to be used for an Alpha? There’s absolutely no form of werewolf government or ancient laws or anything except a big spiral that is universally recognized as a sign you’re gonna kill people? What was the wolfsbane around Laura’s body for? Why make the spiral out of that instead of just drawing in the dirt or something? We make a lot of jokes about Derek being bad with his words, but so is Peter and so is Cora. And they’re the only born wolves we interact with (except Satomi who ALSO isn’t a chatterbox) What if that’s not just because they’re all traumatized and cranky? What if they’re just speaking on a different level? Scents and body language are integral to wolf interaction. Like how we say that Peter has that conversation with Derek’s eyebrows? What if Derek’s so fucking pissed all the time because he hates talking to Scott because SCott ISN”T LISTENING to his body language and scent and chemosignals? He tells Scott to use all his senses, and Scott does it fucking once to say that Peter felt “Angry” and never again. What if Derek is Talking PLENTY (with his body and movements and reactions) but Scott just isn’t paying attention? Isaac seems to understand Derek just fine. Erica and Boyd never complain that Derek is lying to them or ‘keeping something’ from them? What if the reason Scott always thinks Derek’s hiding something is because he isn’t reading the rest of Derek’s conversation and he assumes that the empty feeling is Derek lying. Even STILES seems to understand Derek. He’s human, but he goes totally wolfy. He already uses body language a lot and while he gets mad at Derek he never has to ask what the fuck derek is saying or what he’s holding back. I digress. I wanna know why no other packs came to help Derek and Laura after their family died. I wanna know why Emissaries and Druids are so incredibly important to the supernatural/werewolf world but Derek barely knew they existed (Especially when it’s established that he know tons of lore about other species.) and even though every single pack should have an emissary, they never handle who is the emissary for Derek’s pack or for Scott’s pack (Once again, is an emissary bound to their pack somehow or is it just an agreement?). I wanna know why Derek knew Satomi and trusted her but for some reason never felt like he could ask her for help? Centuries of hiding and living amongst humans with almost no wolf behavior to their name, but none of these packs interact? There’s Druid Vets and Hunter cops and Emissary counselors. But no werewolf doctors? No werewolf teachers? Absolutely no werewolf society? If Derek was worried about Paige not accepting that he was a werewolf unless she became one, what does that say about his experience with humans? He says “there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that house” who died in the fire. But wouldn’t he talk to a human pack member about his worries, if he had one? Or even a bitten pack member? He admits he doesn’t know how to train a Bitten wolf. He’s never been called out by a human pack member for using phrases like ‘caught a scent’ or for reacting to things he shouldn’t. Does this mean Derek’s family was entirely werewolves? No humans in the know? No bitten wolves? He has a huge thing about keeping the secret and never letting anyone in on it unless they get dragged into it. Did Derek’s pack have some kind of prejudice against humans? Was Derek raised to believe humans were weak or cowardly or something, that he thought this beautiful girl would automatically hate him and expose him if she were to discover the supernatural without being forced into silence by self-preservation.

Lots of times, it’s easy to forget in this fandom that so much is missing, because we’ve been filling in the gaps for so long that some stuff is practically canon. It’s generally assumed that the Hales were homeschooled before high school. It’s generally assumed that there’s some kind of bond that marks people as pack. We instinctively add in mentions of Scent and the use of the shift (growling, claws, a hint of fang, flashing eyes) as part of the casual communication between characters. We add in scent-marking and territory boundaries and specific roles in the pack. We do all of that and never think twice because it’s already in all the fic. But we did that. The show gave us nothing. It spent an entire season talking about the nogitsune and the oni and how they’re summoned and what kitsune fox tails are for, but we never got to find out why wolves can do the pain-drain (or even if it dissipates the pain or just transfers it to the wolf doing the draining) or if Derek Hale EVEN HAS A DAD.

Inside the Wire - Chapter 1

During their final battle with the Storm Hawks, Cyclonis is stopped just short of destroying the Dark Ace. Victory, however, eludes them. With Cyclonia fallen, and escape to the Fareside cut off, they're forced to confront the consequences of their actions.

How had it all gone wrong?

 She'd spent a considerable amount of time asking herself that question over the last month. Admittedly, her memory of the final battle was a bit hazy in places, but she had had precious little to do except think about that day, piecing all the details back together.

 Her anger had gotten the better of her after Piper and the Sky Knight achieved Perfect Attunement, saving themselves from what should have been certain death.  Actually, that wasn't quite right.  She had been angry at the Storm Hawks, yes, but her anger hadn't gotten the better of her until Dark Ace spoke.

 "Do something, you arrogant witch!"

 Yes, that's when her control had slipped, emotion overriding intellect.  How dare he speak to her like that!  She knew that he had been growing increasingly frustrated of late.  How could she not?  He didn't bother trying to hide it.  Still, that didn't give him the right to spit commands and insults at her!

 But he was right about one thing.  She had to do something if they were to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. But, unfortunately, her own innate power was no longer a match for her two opponents, which left her without many options.  And so, she did the first thing that came to mind.  She drew power from the giant Farside crystal that kept her terra afloat and protected and bound it to the Dark Ace.  

 It wasn't enough.

 "More!" he demanded, and she obliged.  Still, he wasn't satisfied.  "More! More!"  She sent a steady stream of crystal energy into him until he screamed with the power of it.  Vaguely she heard Piper yelling at her to stop.  The concern in her voice made her grin.  She should be concerned!  Just a bit more power, and Dark Ace would be unstoppable!  A crackling nimbus of red energy began to surround him.  Just a little more.

 Piper was yelling something else, but she paid no attention.  All her focus was on Dark Ace.  They were so close!  So very c-

 A shockwave blasted her back, breaking her connection with the Farside crystal.  Her back collided with the solid rock of Cyclonia a millisecond before her head did, and she crumpled to the ground, dazed and winded. It took her a moment to recover enough to stagger to her feet and retrieve her staff.  She spotted Dark Ace nearby, lying unconscious, before glaring at Piper and Aerrow, who were blasting away at the Farside crystal, trying to destroy it.  Her vision was blurry, making it look as if there were two of each of them. Fantastic.  With the Dark Ace out cold, it was time to pull back and regroup. Pointing her staff at him, she levitated them both and flew, a bit wobbly, toward the fortress proper.  They would retreat to the Farside, where they could take their time to recover, gather new forces, new technology, and plan a new attack on Atmos.  This battle may be lost, but the war wasn't.  The war wasn't over.  The war would never be over until the people of Atmos finally accepted her sovereignty over them all.  That was her birthright!  Why did they have to make things so difficult?

 Behind her, a large explosion sounded.  They had succeeded in destroying the Farside crystal.  No matter, there were more where that came from.  She was halfway up the stairs to the doorway to the Farside when a streak of blue zipped past her, and suddenly Aerrow stood at the top of the stairs, daggers drawn and pointed at her.  

 "Going somewhere?" he asked lightly.

 She dropped Dark Ace and pointed her staff at Aerrow, aiming at his heart.  "Get out of my way."

 "You know I can't do that."

 The crystal on the end of her staff began to glow as she powered it up, preparing to fire.

 Something tapped her on the shoulder, and she glanced over to see that it was Piper's staff. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Surrender, Cyclonis."

 Her grip on her staff tightened, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Aerrow. "You can't win," he said reasonably. "We have you surrounded, and any minute now-"

 The fortress shuddered, and Aerrow continued with a victorious little grin, "The guys are going to take out the pontoons. Cyclonia is going down."

 A second, more violent shudder followed closely on the heels of the first, and she looked outside to see that Cyclonia was, indeed, beginning to slowly sink toward the Wastelands.

 She, however, would not be going down without a fight. They were stupider than she thought if they expected her to surrender peacefully. She might as well tie her own noose while she was at it to save some Atmosian hangman the trouble.

 The only path forward for her was through that doorway. So she fired the burst of crystal energy she had charged at the Sky Knight and bolted for the door before he had even begun to dodge out of the way. She wished she didn't have to abandon the Dark Ace, but she had no choice. He'd understand.

 But she only made it a couple steps before she was hit from behind.  She fell, muscles seizing up as electricity coursed painfully through every nerve in her body.

 Vaguely, she heard Aerrow ask, "You got this?"

 And Piper answered, "Yeah.  Go deal with the Dark Ace."

 "Oh, Piper, you stole my trick," she said through clenched teeth when Piper finally let up. Once able to move again, she flipped onto her back, bringing her staff up to block Piper's downward swing.

 "I've been waiting for the chance to pay you back after that demonstration you gave me on Terra Tundras."

 "You know, that offer I made you then still stands. It's not too late to join me. The Farside really is quite the sight to behold. Come with me and see for yourself."

 "Tempting," Piper deadpanned. "But I think I'll stick with the side that isn't literally crumbling down around us."

 With a twist of her staff, Piper disarmed her. She flung out a hand, willing her staff to return to her, but Piper dealt her a sharp clip to the temple, breaking her already wavering concentration.

 "It's over. Now get up. Our ride's here."

 "No. I'm going down with my terra."

 "That would sound a lot nobler if I thought you meant it, but the door to the Farside is still active, and there's no way we're letting you run off and plan a second invasion."

 Reaching down, Piper grabbed her by the forearm and hauled her to her feet before herding her to where the Condor hovered just outside. Aerrow was already there, forcing a barely conscious Dark Ace onto the ship.

 "You let me go through that door, and I swear to you there will be no second invasion. You'll never see me again. C'mon, Piper, we can both get what we want."

 "No," Piper answered with grim finality. "You have a lot to answer for. And you will."

 Cyclonis rolled her eyes. Must the Storm Hawks be so insufferable all the time? Slowly, subtly, she tried again to summon her staff. A sharp jab from Piper's staff staggered her. "Don't," Piper warned.

 Once onboard The Condor, Piper kept her staff leveled at her. "Crystals. On the ground. Now."

 She slipped a few crystals out of concealed pockets and set them on the ground.

 "Good start," Piper said with amused exasperation. "Now, the rest of them."

 "It hurts that you don't trust me," she said, pressing a hand over her heart.

 "Finn," Piper called to where he stood, aiming his crossbow at Dark Ace while Aerrow bound his hands behind his back. "In my room, on the shelf above my lab table, is a lead box. Can you go get it for me, please?"

 "Uh, sure," Finn said and ran off to do as she asked.

 "Keep your hands where I can see them," Piper told her. "And no sudden movements. I'd hate to have to zap you again."

 "I'm sure."

 Momentarily, Finn returned with the box. Piper flipped open the lid and withdrew a metal cuff studded with a small purple crystal. Grabbing her hand, Piper closed the cuff around her wrist, twisting the key that was already in the lock and pulling it out. The key itself was strange, with dual tines possessing different bittings, suggesting a locking mechanism that was decidedly more complex than what you'd typically find on a shackle.

 As for the cuff itself, a cursory study of the crystal revealed it to be a leecher.  Of all the diabolical...

 Her carefully cultivated nonchalance evaporated as she yanked at the cuff, trying to pry it off, but it fit too snugly, and the lock was too sturdy.

 "Relax," Piper said with a smug smile. "The leech crystal's so small it will only interact with crystals that are within arm's length of you.  So, you have nothing to worry about. Right?"

 Cursing under her breath, she rid herself of the rest of the crystals she had hidden on her, dropping them to the ground and taking a few hasty steps back to put a safe distance between herself and them. This day was disastrous enough. She didn't need to lose a hand on top of everything else.  

 "Your invention?" she asked wryly.

 "Built specifically with you in mind."

 "How shockingly sadistic of you."

 "Glad you approve."

 Honestly, she would appreciate how ruthless Piper was being if she weren't the one on the receiving end of it.

 "Are you two done with," Finn slowly circled his hand, gesturing to the space between her and Piper, "whatever is happening here? Can we lock them up now? I think, uh, Stork will feel more comfortable once they're locked up. And Radarr. You know how much she freaks out Radarr."

 "Almost," Piper told him before turning her attention back to her. "Hands behind your back."

 "That won't be necessary," she replied.

 "That's really not for you to decide. Don't think I've forgotten that you're still a threat, even without crystals."

 "Am I? I seem to recall you saying that I fight like a girl."

 Piper narrowed her eyes at her. "Hands behind your back. We don't need you trying to cause trouble. Or freeing Dark Ace so he can."

 She raised her chin imperiously and uttered two words that were, in hindsight, foolhardy under the circumstances. "Make me."

 In humiliatingly short order they did, indeed, make her.

 Hands tied behind her back, she was slung over the shoulder of the team's Wallop, who carried her to the room they were to be held in until they could be handed over to the authorities on Atmosia. Dark Ace walked behind them, his face a carefully impassive mask. Aerrow brought up the rear to make sure Dark Ace didn't try anything.

 Once in the room, they were sat on chairs, back-to-back, and another rope was secured around them both. Someone had been watching too many cheesy old action-adventure movies. The Storm Hawks left, and the door closed and locked behind them.

 She turned her head to look at Dark Ace, but he was staring straight ahead, making his intention to ignore her clear. To be fair, she didn't blame him for having nothing to say to her. She couldn't come up with anything to say to him, either. Nothing productive, anyway. It had been a long while since either of them had had anything kind to say to the other.  They sat in uncomfortable silence, the only sound the ticking of the clock on the wall.

 She sighed after a while. The light was too bright, and her head was throbbing in time with the ticking of the clock. She leaned her head back against him and closed her eyes, only to have him flick a finger against the back of her hand, hard.

 "What?" she asked, annoyed.

 "Don't go to sleep."

 "Now you're issuing me orders, too?"

 He made a frustrated noise and fell silent.

 She leaned back against him once more, only to have him lean forward as far as the rope would allow. Admittedly, that wasn't extremely far, but it made him a less comfortable headrest. "I mean it. Your eyes were glassy when they brought us in here. Did you hit your head?"

 "Yes, but it's nothing. I'm fine," she said, shrugging off his concern.

 "No, you're not; you're probably concussed. So, like it or not, you're not getting any sleep for the next few hours."

 "What does it matter? They're just going to execute me, anyway."

 That shut him up for several minutes.

 "You don't know that," he finally said.

 "It's what I would do."

 "But you didn't."

 "Only because I had the crystal prison. That was meant to be a fate worse than death."

 "Still, don't borrow trouble."

 She shrugged. "I'm being realistic."

 "You're being morbid."

 "Since when does that bother you?"

 "It's bothering me now. Are you even trying to get free?"

 She wasn't.  Even if they managed to get untied, they were still locked in the room, on board the Condor, without their weapons.  No Talons.  No Nightcrawlers.  And she couldn't access any crystal energy with Piper's infernal cuff on her wrist. Well, she could, but…there would be unpleasant consequences.  It could be worth it if escape were assured, but the odds were currently stacked against them.  

 Still, no doubt managing to untie themselves would at least irk the Storm Hawks.  After enduring their petty pranks for the last six weeks, it could prove at least somewhat gratifying.  And it would pass the time.  Silence fell between them once more as they worked to loosen the ropes that bound them.  Eventually, Dark Ace broke the quiet by chuckling to himself.

 "What's so funny?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder at him once more.

 He shook his head.

 "What?" she pressed.

 He turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye and, smirking, said, "Make me."

 She could feel heat creep into her face. He was making fun of her, was he?

 "It's not funny," she said defensively.

 "It was," he argued. "In fact, I can't decide what was better: The fact that you said it, the looks on the faces of the Storm Hawks when you did, or the look on yours a split second later when you realized that you had just made a grave miscalculation."

 "I'm delighted to hear that my pain amuses you," she said with all the sarcasm she could muster, which was considerable.

 "Oh please, the only thing that was really hurt back there was your pride. And you have more than enough of that to spare."

 "Ah yes, because I'm an arrogant witch?" She scoffed. "You know, it's not like you have any room to lecture others about excessive pride."

 He didn't immediately respond, and she caught herself grinding her teeth as she waited for him to say something. She forced herself to relax. It was a stupid nervous habit she'd tried many times to break, but she had never had much success.

 "You should know better than to take anything said in the heat of battle to heart," he told her.

 "That's not a thing. You just made that up."

 "At least I didn't warn you not to face Piper in battle lest she slip through your fingers again. Right in front of her, no less."

 She winced slightly. Her response to his request to fight Aerrow one last time had been needlessly cruel. There was really no excuse for it. She drew in a deep breath, steeling herself to apologize, but her jaw clenched again, and her throat felt too tight, and the words refused to materialize.

 She released the breath slowly, took in another, and tried again. "Well, given our current predicament, maybe you should have," is what came out of her mouth instead.

 They were both terrible at apologies.

The Chief And Her Bride

Fandom: HTTYD

Rating: E

Pairing: Hiccup/Astrid

Theme: fem!cup. femslash. fluff. smut

Summary: Astrid loves Hiccup dearly, but she never expected for their relationship to last. So it falls to Hiccup to convince her girlfriend that she won't let anyone separate them. Not even her own father.

AN: Finally! I've been working on this little story for ages, and now, finally, the first chapter is done. What do we have? Female Hiccup and Astrid, in a canon-like setting after HTTYD where Stoick lives, Valka didn't stay, and RTTE is semi-canon. I take what fits. This mostly was supposed to be a test for me whether I even can write femslash. I'm still practising, but I also like this story very much. Also, I thought a while about whether to change Hiccup's name or not, but in the end, I decided against it.

. o O o .

It didn’t take Astrid long to find Hiccup. There was only one place her girlfriend would go when she was stressed or upset, and so Astrid wasn’t surprised at all when she spotted Toothless’s black form lounging near the pond when she and Stormfly reached the cove. Hiccup sat to the side, her back against a rock, her good leg tugged under herself, and her eyes gazing unseeingly into the distance.

After landing, Astrid affectionately scratcher her dragon at her belly before sending her off to play. Then she sauntered over to where Hiccup sat, still lost in her thoughts.

“Hey,” Astrid greeted her as she got closer.

Hiccup blinked before turning her head, then gave her a warm if a little tense smile. “Hey.”

Astrid let herself slide to the ground next to Hiccup. “So… what happened?” she asked. There was no point in pretending nothing had happened; Hiccup had left the village without a word after talking to her father, and Astrid knew Hiccup too well to be fooled.

Hiccup gave a suppressed sigh. She reached for a fallen leaf and nervously picked it apart with her nimble fingers.

“This morning, my dad wanted to talk to me,” she eventually said, and Astrid nodded. She’d noticed that much. “It’s… After what happened with Drago, he wants me to be prepared to take over the village at any moment. Which makes sense, I guess, with how Dad almost got killed in that fight.” She looked up, her pretty green eyes meeting Astrid’s. “And I don’t really mind. I mean, I get it. I need to be prepared and all. It’s just–” She broke off, lips pressed into a thin line.

Astrid reached for Hiccup’s hand, entwining her fingers with her own. “What is it, babe?”

Oh, she had an idea of what Stoick had brought up for his daughter to be so upset. But, maybe, it was something else. Maybe they would have a last reprieve.

Hiccup swallowed. “Dad... He wants me… wants me to get married.” She scratched at her neck and gave Astrid a tense look. “He said that, for the good of the people, I should get a strong partner, someone who can help me carry the burden. Mum returning to live at her sanctuary must have hit him harder than he’s letting on.” Hiccup chuckled weakly, but quickly turned serious again, solemn even.

However, Astrid had barely listened anymore after Hiccup’s first words. Ever since they’d confessed their love to each other two years ago, she’d known it would come to this. Awkward as it had been at first, Astrid was never as happy as in the minutes she got to spend with Hiccup, feeling her touch, her kiss, her body against her own. She loved her, her wit, her intelligence, the way they constantly challenged each other in different ways. But right from the beginning, there had always been an end date for them. The village had accepted their relationship without much irritation, even Stoick. But that was probably because they’d all known it couldn’t last.

Slowly, Astrid withdrew her hand from Hiccup’s, hoping that she wouldn’t notice how much her fingers were shaking. This was going to be hard, for both of them. But she knew it would be even harder for Hiccup if she knew how much their inevitable breakup affected Astrid.

“So, it’s over then,” she whispered, nodding. Gods, why was her voice so brittle? “And I think Stoick is right, Berk will need strong leaders. We can’t only rely on the dragons to protect us. So, uh, did… did he already pick a husband for you? Which alliance would be the most beneficial? Dagur would certainly be interested. Or what about Throk? An alliance with the Defenders of the Wing could help boost your credibility as a female leader. I mean, nobody would ever doubt Mala’s ability to lead her people…”

She trailed off, a weird chuckle dropping off her lips even as she had to avert her face so Hiccup wouldn’t notice the shimmer of tears in her eyes. Gods, she couldn’t start crying now. She was strong and independent, a warrior, captain of the Berk Guard. A broken heart wouldn’t throw her off track, it was nothing.

Even though being with Hiccup was all she really wanted…

“Wait, what?” Hiccup’s words broke her out of her spiralling thoughts. She sounded… off. Confused. Lost. 

With a sigh, Astrid forced herself to meet Hiccup’s gaze again. “Well, we always knew it would end that way, right? Us, I mean. And… i-it’s okay. I won’t hold it against you. Berk comes first, and it’s your place to lead them. I just…” She let out a hiccupy sigh. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll ask Atali whether I can stay with them for a while, and—”

Astrid gasped when Hiccup reached for her hands again, a strange urgency in that gesture that made her look up again.

“What are you talking about?” Hiccup asked, confused. Her hands were shaking now, too, Astrid noticed. “I… I won’t marry either of them, no matter what Dad wants. I won’t give up on us! He didn’t choose anyone for me, wanted me to choose a partner for myself. And I already have. I—”

She broke off, biting her lip and her shoulders slumping as insecurity overtook her. Astrid had seen this expression so often on her… Out of reflex, her hands squeezed Hiccup; reassuringly. No matter how much her heart was hurting at the prospect of leaving Hiccup, she would always support her.

Hiccup looked up again, the expression in her eyes so pleading and vulnerable that it made Astrid choke. ”Astrid, I… I chose you.”

Astrid’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

Hiccup pulled up her shoulders, her gaze intensifying. “Everything we accomplished over the years, the Edge, the Dragon Hunters, Drago… I couldn’t have done any of that without you. And I thought… well… that it would always be like that. You and me, together. You’re the only person I can imagine spending my life with. So I choose you. If… if you want me?”

For a minute, Astrid could only stare, stunned. Then laughter broke out of her, and she nodded eagerly and stammered, “I… Yes! Yes, of course, I do.” 

But no matter how happy Hiccup’s words made her, the feeling only lasted for a brief moment , only until reality caught up with her again. Her shoulders slumped, her smile falling off her face. “But… it’s impossible,” she murmured.

“What?” Oh, Hiccup sounded so hurt.

It tore Astrid’s heart to pieces. Inwardly chastising herself, Astrid pushed her own pain aside, and said, “Oh, Hiccup… I’d love to tie the knot with you and stand by your side, you know that, right? But we can’t do that. Stoick won’t allow it. The traditions and rules are clear.” Her eyes were burning, and she looked away; she didn’t want Hiccup to see how sad she was. “Your father will insist on you marrying a man, someone to forge a political alliance, if possible. And you’d need an heir anyway. I won’t be in your way to fulfil your duty.”

Swallowing, Astrid tried not to think about it. Unlike herself, Hiccup had never been with anyone but her. Hiccup wasn’t even interested in men. The thought of her being forced into a marriage she didn’t want… it wasn’t fair!

“So-so you would reject me? You’d leave?” Hiccup’s voice sounded hollow, forlorn. So small and lost.

Weakly, Astrid nodded, shrugged. “I hope that you’ll be happy. As happy as you can be. But… I don’t think I have the strength to stand by and watch, at least not right away. And… maybe it’ll even help you settle in more easily, if I’m not around to remind you…” She paused, pulling away. “I hope you can forgive me one day, but–”

“No!”

Astrid looked up, scared of what she would see. She’d never wanted to cause Hiccup pain.

But to her relief, there was no pain in her eyes. All she saw there was the typical Haddock stubbornness, mixed with traces of excitement and joy. 

“No, ‘but’, Astrid. If this is what you want too, if you’ll accept me… then nothing will come between us.”

“But your father—”

Hiccup shook her head, her long auburn locks flying around, wild and untamed as always. “I won't let him come between us. He likes you, that much I already know. And he told me he’s happy to see me happy with you. So, if he still wants to separate us… then…” She took a deep breath. “Then he’ll have to train another heir.”

Astrid’s eyes widened. “You’d give up your birthright?”

“For you? Yes. I want to lead our people and I’m prepared for this duty. But only on my terms. I’ll do it with you, together. Or not at all.”

Astrid needed a second to let Hiccup’s words sink in. Then she let out a weak laugh and threw herself around her neck, knocking them both down into the grass. They kissed, an overwhelming sense of giddiness making them both giggle against each other’s lips.

When they came up to breathe again, Astrid’d mind was consumed by overwhelming happiness. Never had she even dared to hope for this outcome, but here now they were, and with this new assurance, she wouldn’t let anyone get between them, either. 

 She noticed that Hiccup’s hands were trembling, though, so Astrid took them in her own. She could sense how agitated she was, and breathed soft and calming kisses onto her knuckles. Sometimes, Hiccup needed a minute to get order into her thoughts.

“What’s up?” she eventually asked, looking up at Hiccup with a reassuring smile. 

Hiccup smiled back, though hesitantly, and her hands tightened around Astrid’s. “I was… pretty nervous, to be honest,” she said with a shaky laugh. “I wasn’t sure how you’D react, and… “ She shook her head, but then suddenly became serious. “Astrid… Why did you say that? Earlier, I mean. About how we always knew it would end that way? What was that about?”

Astrid bit her lip and averted her face. After Hiccup’s vehement confession just minutes ago, this felt silly now. With an embarrassed shrug, she said, “It’s… what I thought would happen, what I was prepared for. I love you, Hiccup, you know that, and these past two years with you have only deepened my feelings for you. But… well, I always expected we’d have to part one day, that this happiness I felt with you would only be temporary. That to become Chief, you'd enter a political marriage, or…” She trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

“Oh,” Hiccup said. 

She needed a minute to process, time Astrid used to battle down her own worries. She didn’t want for Hiccup to step down, knew how much the people of Berk meant to her. But that she was willing to risk her father’s anger for her meant a lot to Astrid. And maybe it wouldn’t even have to come this far. Maybe they’d be able to convince Stoick…

“So…” Hiccup eventually said. ”Throughout all this time, you thought we’d have to break up, eventually?”

Slowly, Astrid nodded. She looked up, searching for what to say, but never got the chance. From one second to the other, Hiccup was right in front of her, her hands cradling her face and her lips pressed to her own. Astrid gasped, happily surprised. Usually, Hiccup was much more timid, shy even, so her starting anything was rare. 

“So that’s why you sometimes acted so reserved,” Hiccup murmured against her lips. “And here I feared you wouldn’t want to stay with me.”

“What? You—”

But Hiccup interrupted her with another kiss. “Doesn’t matter. You spent two years thinking we couldn’t last. That I would leave you at my dad’s command. That I wouldn't do anything to stay with you.” She came closer, one hand caressing along Astrid’s face while the other landed on her waist, holding her in a light embrace. “Astrid, these past two years have been the happiest of my life. I can’t even put into words how much you mean to me, how empty my live would be without you. But while I was happy, you always worried, and I didn’t even notice.” 

Astrid wanted to object, to assure her that she’d been happy, too. But before she could get out even one word, Hiccup kissed her again, more energetic than usual, and it left Astrid breathless, happiness fluttering in her chest. Her hands came up to pull Hiccup closer, wandering along her soft curves, exploring her. Hiccup was always shy, hesitant about carrying things further, so it had become their routine that Astrid was the one to take the initiative. But when her hands reached Hiccups breasts, palming them through her tunic and playing with her covered nipples, she shook her head. 

“Today is my turn,” she breathed, joy and confidence dancing in her green eyes when they met Astrid’s. “Can I do this for you? Please?”

A little overwhelmed, Astrid nodded. She enjoyed taking the lead in their lovemaking, but seeing Hiccup like this, confident and eager to take over? It was something else. It meant that Hiccup trusted her enough to allow herself to make mistakes, and that was possibly a greater gift than anything else. 

They ended up lying in the soft gras, kissing, groping. Astrid revelled in feeling Hiccup’s soft curves beneath her hands and against her own body, the same as it had been yesterday, and yet, everything felt so new. More meaningful. Complete. 

Only slowly, they discarded one piece of clothing after the other. There was no hurry in Hiccup’s motions; she thoroughly appreciated every bit of revealed skin with kisses and caresses, leaving Astrid tingling all over. She tried to return the favour, at least a little, but Hiccup was too thorough, too distracting for her to do much but take her attention. Prior to being with Astrid, she didn’t have any experience with sex and intimacy. But she’d always been observant in everything, a quick learner, and this was no different. Hiccup knew which spots on Astrid’s body were sensitive and how to best stimulate them, had memorised her like a map, and it didn’t take much for her to turn her into a helpless and needy mess.

“Hiccup…” she mewled, hardly able to do more than cling to curvy hips or clutch at the grass beneath them.

But there was no reprieve. Hiccup was kneeling across her left leg, the right lifted and loosely wrapped around her waist. She was leaning down to distract Astrid with kisses, hot and open-mouthed, while her hand worked between Astrid’s thighs, slowly buy relentlessly. Long and nimble fingers caressed along her folds and brushed over her clit, making her body tremble with desire.

If Astrid had had the mind for it, she might have regretted teaching Hiccup about teasing and edging, about how to drive her lover insane with building pleasure. But as it was, Astrid’s mind was entirely empty safe for the wonderful, amazing, merciless things Hiccup made her feel. By now, her fingers were inside her, moving in and out in a pace just quick enough to keep her from calming down. She barely managed to open her eyes and look up into beautiful green eyes, Hiccup’s long auburn curls falling around them like a curtain. There was a flash of eager satisfaction in those eyes, a smirk tugging at full lips as she curled her fingers. Her aim was perfect, hitting Astrid’s g-spot and drawing a cry from her lips. Her back arched at the burst of pleasure, but it wasn’t enough to reach her climax, and it soon became clear that Hiccup wasn’t planning to let her soon, either. 

Astrid lost all sense of time, writhing and bucking beneath Hiccup’s confident ministrations for what felt like hours. It felt so good to give herself up and into Hiccup’s care. Astrid trusted her with no exceptions, and so she did the only thing she could, took it all until she felt like she would combust any moment now. 

“Oh, please,” she whimpered as Hiccup shifted the angle once again, just a tiny bit but it was enough to push her away from that edge once again. “P-please, Hiccup. I…” 

She couldn’t even form coherent words anymore, but it seemed to be enough nonetheless, Hiccup sensing that she couldn’t take much more and showing mercy. 

“Yes,” Hiccup breathed, her mouth at her ear, lips nipping at sensitive skin. Her movements sped up, fingers thrusting into her and always hitting the mark. Her thumb rubbed at her clit, over and over, until Astrid’s body became rigid, and the waves of pleasure broke above her. 

A cry tore itself from Astrid’s throat as she came, back arching and toes curling. Her hands clutched at whatever they could find, and her head rolled uncontrollably from one side to the other, the intensity of her climax almost too much for her to bear. It consumed her, head to toe, a sensation like lightning shooting through her body. It made her arms and legs shake, made colourful lights explode behind her eyes, and made her scream and yell without any filter. 

Once it was over, she only slowly found her way back into reality. Around her, the world was spinning and swimming out of focus, her body not fully reacting as it was supposed to. 

“That was… oh, wow. Amazing!” she gasped after a minute, still catching her breath. She finally managed to focus her gaze on Hiccup who was leaning over her, with a smug grin on her lips and her eyes beaming.

“Well, I had the best teacher.”

They both laughed, then Hiccup laid down next to her, both entangled in a tight embrace. 

“Just give me a few minutes, then I’ll get back to you,” Astrid murmured. She felt heavy, sleepy, but it wouldn’t be fair to leave Hiccup hanging like that. 

Hiccup chuckled, but it sounded strained. “No need for that now,” she said, her voice a little tense. 

Her arms tightened around Astrid, her finger digging into her arm as if to hold on to her. “First, he should talk to my dad.” 

. o O o .

AN: Sooo, that was that. :) Thoughts and comments highly appreciated.

Some more thoughts about recent chapter....

As I have already talked about in a previous post (x) Alex is clearly the guy in this photo with the tie, but what we are actually seeing are two separate attacks. Sakazaki and his gaggle of goons outside with the smoke bomb. Vs Suited men in gas mask, inside using some kind of sleeping gas. What we are seeing is Asami rescue by Alex, on Maxim’s orders.

This is confirmed later when Maxim says :

The scene behind him is when Sakazaki threw the smoke gernade, from the outside - not the gas from Alex’s attack happening inside.

Now there are questions about how Sakazaki find out about where Asami was. To me this is not that surprising. He was outside the warehouse when it all went down and he might have stuck around and seen them leaving - to me it is more surprising that it took that long for him to find out where Asami was! It was only a matter of time honestly...

Sakazaki does seem generally surprised at seeing Akihito. But maybe he thought Asami would take him too? But maybe he also didn’t know anything about Akihito even being there?

For me this dual attack that we see happening almost simultaneously in the beginning, in a way may represent the dual problems that our protagonist are fighting in this new volume.

Sakazaki and Sudoh on one end, who I think are to blame for whatever happened to Akihito. Who also represent Asami’s present.

Meanwhile we have Maxim and potential even Asami Senior on the other side. Representing Asami’s past. 

This is a really long post so if your interested keep reading 😊

Maxim is basically telling Asami to come back to the family organization and stop “playing around”. To them, the life Asami made in Japan, is nothing more than playtime. His business in Japan, being a powerful crime lord in the underworld is seen as small time compared to whatever Empire Maxim and their father have. They make it out as if Asami’s business its not even worth salvaging in anyway- just completely dump it and cut Asami off from this other world he lives in.

I get the feeling that Maxim and Asami Senior, see the random photographer that Asami sleeps with - as even less important that that. Although I think it’s BS when Maxim says he doesn’t know who Akihito is. I think they know, and they know he got kidnapped, and they know if Asami finds out he’ll “spring into action” (As Maxim says). I think they just don’t give a damn.

I also can’t see them going to such extremes to train Akihito to kill Asami. First. They don’t want to kill Asami, as they have kept him alive all this time and they want him back working for the family business, so what’s the purpose of turning Akihito against Asami?

I’ll give one potential theory, even though I have many theories and I am not particularly sold on any one theory but I do like this particular one:

Maybe training Akihito to attack Asami, is not actually about killing Asami, but about poisoning their relationship. In hopes that Asami will come back to the fold and to the family business. Something scary I’v been thinking is, what if Asami just goes on like auto pilot self preservation mode when Akihito draws the knife. And he ends up actually hurting or almost killing Akihito.

That line about his father MO, or treating his family like lion cubs - it really stikes me in this moment. What if they are training Aki to actually force Asami’s “killer instincts” to return.

It’s the ultimate betrayal. The lover Asami was willing to give his life too, the one he trust implicitly -  turning against him. But it’s also the ULTIMATE TEST, if your Maxim and Asami's Father. 

Will Asami die and fail, because he was too blinded by love to see that Akihito has changed? In which case he was never worthy. 

Or will he come out victorious? Will his “killer/natural instinct” come to bear, the same instincts his father probably installed in him? Will the self-preservation kick in, and Asami does exactly what he’s been trained his whole life to do- his birthright. And his mentality of take no prisoners and destroys anyone that gets in his way. What if the plan is for him to actually kill Akihito, and then he’ll be ready to fully join in on the family business...

Certainly a scary prospect. 

BUT I also feel like - that seems like SO extra. 

Like just fuckin kill the dumb photographer, if you feel that strongly. You’ve had the opportunity to do that- and even the opportunity to make it look like he even died of his injuries after the warehouse. In which case, Asami might be broken and have nothing to lose anymore. If Akihito died, then there is nothing left for him in Japan. and you probably can bring him back into the fold.

There are easier ways to get rid of this problem. Asami was already sulking and being moody, he was already convinced that maybe Akihito was dead already and he was a lone surviver. Maxim was also clearly planning on holding him there for longer, but Asami got a hold of Alex’s gun and left much sooner than anticipated. What was Maxim really trying to do? Just wearing him down until he agrees? I dont think so...

But, there are also other things about what's happened to Akihito that I will likely make a separate post about. 

Even though I gave this interesting theory. I am kind of of the mindset that. Actually Sakazaki and Sudoh are responsible for what's happened to Akihito

The lies Akihito told. The act he puts on. THE FUCKIN KNIFE. I don’t know. As much as I really like my theory. I am also like - it is also so obviously directly pointing to Sudoh as being a culprit. 

What happened with Akihito was a deeply personal attack on both of them. It was meant to really inflict a lot of pain on both sides.

It wasn’t just about Asami. Or just about Akihito. Was it even about really killing Asami? Honestly, using Akihito to kill Asami is the WORST Assassination job I can possibly think of?  

A photographer with no prior experience with weapons or combat- to kill a highly trained crime lord/ former mercenary/ son of the BIG BIG boss. Even if he’s weakened by a bullet wound. Akihito actually being successful in killing Asami, strikes me as always being considered a LONG SHOT.

Although it would be a nice extra perk for Sudoh and Sakazaki if they actually succeeded on that front.

And as much as I talk about these “dual force” there is also a third force- Alex

Where does he fit into all of this. I think some people jumped onto this bandwagon of Alex being the ultimate villain a little too quickly, because they saw him at the hospital and they thought he was related to the attack Sakazaki did on the hospital.. 

But we know now, that what we see in the beginning is a dual attack and Alex was part of the rescue, and not along side Sakazaki. 

But I am not even sure about that... But the more I think about Alex. The more I he becomes such a unknown quantity in all this.

He has connections to Asami’s past- but I don’t really see him as being in the same realm of the “Maxim and Asami’s senior squad”, but do we know for sure he’s not in the “Sudoh and Sakazaki squad”?? It’s certainly suspicious. He is this kinda unknown 3rd quantity, and that in itself is super suspicious. He could be some where in the middle maybe? But I don’t know if he is evil or a threatening.

What proof is there that he is actually an enemy?

What is clear to me, is that I don’t think he wants to kill Asami. That is not his goal. for now at least, he might be up to something else.  

But to me that ship has sailed. He’s had SO many an opportunity to kill Asami. At the hospital, when he is bedridden at Maxims, in the garden outside when Asami is walking with a cane- We know at that point Alex is armed and he knows Asami is not. He can’t be THAT afraid of Asami. And then he also had the opportunity the entire time they were heading towards Warsaw. 

That doesn’t mean he’s not into something suspicious, or he’s involved in something else.

and I also just don’t see why Alex would use Akihito to kill Asami. When he’s had apple opportunity to end Asami himself. Again - using Akihito is the WORST possible assassination job I've ever heard of. If the goal was to kill Asami just do it yourself, my man.

I honestly don’t see any hostility towards Asami. His lines don’t have any of that kind of double meaning, or threat in them in the way that Maxim’s line do. i.e that ‘playing around’ line, and the “spring into action” line which can certainly be seen as Maxim *SLYLY* talking about Akihito. or that “you can do what you want....FOR NOW - Maxim is being kinda quite IMPLICIT about his threats and is making these suggestive hints that he knows more then what he says.

Now Lets do a visually comparison of Maxim Vs Alex: 

I am not saying we should trust Alex because he happens to be smiling more, but I just don't get the same kinda Alarm Bells when i look at these pictures. (Except for maybe that bigger picture that in the right corner when Asami takes the cigarette from him, which ill talk about further down.)

But when compared to the Maxim- who has this very obvious THREATENING AURA in literally EVERY SINGLE panel we see him in... it just doesn’t compare. Usually these are faces Asami tends to make. But maybe it’s just an Asami family trait...

But I wanna get back to Alex, people have been using this scene of Alex and Maxim talking about the past, and Asami taking his cigarette. Perhaps they’ll point to the fact he used the phrase “Young master” or there is some jealous or attraction there. But I just wanna give a perhaps different interpretation of this scene:

Asami has been MOPING, he’s bedridden. He’s complaining about cats bothering him and waking him up. He is so visually upset about what has happened and it seems to be on his mind quite a lot. But he’s not acting like his usual self. 

Look at him mooping. Clutching his blankets. Longingly staring out the window. Going on walks to contimpate life.

Even I was generally confused about these panels before the translation came out being like - what the HECK is Asami doing doesn’t he know Akihito’s in trouble??!?

Like who is this Asami, and what have you done with the real one??!?

He is really like a wounded animal here. He’s hurt and bedridden but its more than just the physical wounds. he’s so mentally deflated too. We are not used to seeing him like this. He is usually so confident, a man of action. But now it’s like he’s given up. 

He even questions himself, “why am I laying in bed?” He knows that he is not himself right now. But he’s not strong mentally or physically enough to push back against his older brother. I wonder if that was always part of their sibling dynamic, back when Asami was younger and working with him.

But he takes the first step into doing something. He goes on a walk, which I imagine is the first time he’s done that, as when he runs into Alex, Alex expresses shock at him being up and about.

The two reminisce- I think it’s a interesting bit of detail that Alex seemed to not know that he was Asami seniors son- “the young master” line. It could  potential be a lie but Asami seems to believe it’s true since it sounds like his father didn’t much acknowledge him. And the way Asami’s response about his dad, like wow his dad sounds like a DICK. Alex doesn’t disagree. That line “yeah I am surprised i work for maxim too” gives off a vibe that maybe something happened in the past- it makes me think he doesn't work for Asami’s father anymore, nor does Alex have particularly allegiance to Maxim.

Then we get to this cigarette scene. 

To me I see this scene as being more about Asami then about Alex. That last panel- the changing wind. Asami is taking back control in this scene. And what better way for him to do that- then to get his quintessential cigarette. Asami with a cigarette in his mouth- it’s like the ultimate representative of Asami getting his groove back.

And not only that but him basically being a bit of a jerk about it. Like- “it’ll do”. This is Asami the big boss coming back, doling out the orders.

Yes the handing of the cigarette to Asami by dropping it in his mouth is suggestive- perhaps of a past relationship or something more then just a friendship. but it’s also a sign of fidelity, of loyalty. Of understanding who’s in charge...

Would we think anything of it if Kirishima lit Asami’s ciggarette?...

Whatever Maxim had planned for Asami it complete goes amiss when Alex comes into the field. A convenient fact. Asami’s uses his phone to call Kirishima and finds out about Akihito. They barge in to Maxim and Alexs gun is also conveniently taken, and comes in handy in convincing Maxim to let Asami finally leave. And then just as they are leaving, Akihito is conveniently found.

But some of this can also be simply explained by Asami making the most of the situation. He’s found his spine and he’s found someone who can make openings for him. He stands up to his brother finally. He is using Alex- the way old Asami would.

But also, could Alex’s intervention also mean whoever took Akihito had to release him earlier then expected- because Asami was on the move again. Maybe they thought they’d have more time to train him.

Akihitos sudden apparance at just the right time could mean that either Maxim or Alex is maybe involved. But could it also be that Kirishima has told people that Asami has called and he’s gonna look for Akihito - presumably he even asks/talks to fei long. Asami single call could have gotten the ball rolling on an investigation into finding Akihito again. And other people find out too.

There are so many potential storylines and I am just trying to keep an open mind about all of them.

I Rewrite “The Force Awakens”

BACKGROUND INFO:

It has been thirty years since the Battle of Endor. The NEW REPUBLIC rules most of the Galaxy. However, the Republic is spread thin fighting Imperial Holdout factions, which still control pockets of the Outer Rim and key worlds along hyperspace routes. Fortunately, none of these Holdouts are currently working together. The largest surviving holdout is the FIRST ORDER, which holds a large portion of the Southwest Galaxy. Worst of all, they are working on what looks like a Death Star, STARKILLER BASE. Because of this threat, the New Republic has sent a group of Special Forces, led by General LEIA ORGANA to take down the FIRST ORDER, led by the mysterious REGENT SNOKE. Rumors imply SNOKE is a powerful Force-User, as is his apprentice, REY. Unfortunately, LUKE SKYWALKER, the last JEDI KNIGHT is nowhere to be found. He disappeared seven years ago. The last person to see him was his apprentice and nephew, BEN SOLO, who has been looking for him ever since…

PLOT SUMMARY:

The movie opens largely the same. POE DAMERON is visiting JAKKU, a planet on the border between NEW REPUBLIC and FIRST ORDER space, meeting LOR SAN TEKKA, picking up a map to Luke’s whereabouts. Unfortunately, the meeting is interrupted by REY, who has arrived with a battalion of Stormtroopers, which includes FN-2187. You know the scene. POE DAMERON is taken captive, but not before he gives the map to BB-8, instructing him to “Find Ben. Get help.” The dialogue between REY and LOR SAN TEKKA lets us know this is her homeworld. She was abandoned here as a child before LUKE SKYWALKER found her and took her away. She leaves the village after ordering it destroyed, returning to her Star Destroyer.

There, she meets with her subordinates, ADMIRAL HUX, CAPTAIN PHASMA, and FN-2187. There, they go over the fact that they failed to get the map, but they suspect POE had a companion on JAKKU. The basics of the politics are explained: right now the REPUBLIC is stretched too thin to give the FIRST ORDER their full attention. However, the REPUBLIC is slowly taking out the other Imperial holdouts, and certain Senators are calling for a full-scale invasion of FIRST ORDER SPACE. The call to invade is particularly being made by the Senator from HOSNIAN PRIME. “HOSNIAN PRIME?” HUX asks. “That’s in the Core itself, practically next to Coruscant. The entire Republic fleet must stand between us and them.” His frown turns into a wicked grin, and he only says one word. “Perfect.” No further detail is given. The conversation turns to FN-2187, and why he’s here. Rey reveals her plan: POE DAMERON must escape with FN’s help. His ability to shield his mind from the Force will allow him to infiltrate the NEW REPUBLIC base under the nose of BEN SOLO. He will then let the NEW REPUBLIC know where to find LEIA so they can kill her, destroying their morale. More importantly, FN is to get his hands on the map to LUKE SKYWALKER.

FN does as he is told. He helps POE break out, notably avoiding shooting his fellow STORMTROOPERS. POE gives FN the new name of FINN. FINN is notably struck by this, in a “I’ve never had a name before” kind of way. However, their escape is detected, and the TIE squadrons shoot them down, and POE seems to die. FINN is left stranded in the JAKKU desert. However, he finds BB-8, who has been in the care of BEN SOLO, who we see on screen for the first time. We learn he has been trying to find a ship offworld, as POE had their ride. The scene then unfolds largely the same as before. FINN and BEN make their way offworld in the MILLENIUM FALCON. With neither being an experienced pilot, they get lost, sending the MILLENIUM FALCON quite a ways off course into the OUTER RIM, which is dominated by Pirates. Speaking of Pirates, a group of them capture our heroes, and declare their intention to sell the ship (and its crew) on the black market. They were, in fact, just about to sell some other stolen goods to some dealers that are arriving now… except these dealers start firing on the pirates. Meanwhile, the pirate ship is taken and boarded by the leader of these vigilantes… HAN SOLO, with the ever faithful CHEWBACCA at his side. We learn that HAN has dedicated himself to hunting down the pirates and slavers that prey on the innocent people of the OUTER RIM, since the NEW REPUBLIC won’t pay attention to this area. His vigilante crew includes PAIGE TICO, who led the shootout while HAN disabled the ship. (ROSE is also among them, but apart from a mention by PAIGE perhaps, we won’t see her.)

It is only then that HAN realizes that one of the people he has rescued is his own son, BEN. The two of them catch up on the FALCON, with FINN as their guest. We hear FINN’S cover story: he is a child soldier who didn’t like how expendable he was. We get a feeling he may be lying to himself. From their conversation, we learn the following: when BEN was four, he was sent to live with LUKE to train to be a Jedi. HAN was so angry at losing his son that he left LEIA, and admits that he still hasn’t forgiven her for separating them. For some years, BEN trained as a JEDI along with several other children, including, sadly, REY. For some reason, one day REY snapped, and killed her fellow students, with BEN being the only surviving student. (He was fourteen, by the way. REY was eighteen.) The only other survivor, LUKE, found BEN among the wreckage. He told BEN to go find his mother, while he would “do something I should have done years ago.” BEN obeyed, but never saw LUKE again. BEN says he is following LUKE’S trail to a lost JEDI TEMPLE. HAN expresses skepticism. If LUKE was doing anything useful, where is he now? HAN invites BEN to rest and recuperate with his old friend, MAZ KANATA.

Meanwhile, we go to STARKILLER BASE. It is a large base, similar to the DEATH STAR in all aspects, save one. Above the main laser, there is a strange metal ring. (It must be featured prominently in the shot.) REY arrives, accompanied by her underlings, and is met by COMMANDER PRYDE, a spymaster of the FIRST ORDER. The conversation establishes that the FIRST ORDER rose to prominence because they came across some mysterious weapons depots and Imperial credit stores that allowed them to quickly rebuild their forces. They have continued, in fact, to have more lucky finds like this. PRYDE’S job has been to determine if they have a mysterious benefactor, and what he wants. PRYDE’S travels have taken him “from Kamino to Moraband.” He admits he has found nothing, and asks if STARKILLER BASE is ready. HUX confirms it is, and says, “The GATE RING should function perfectly.” PRYDE leaves for BASTION, the FIRST ORDER capital, before letting REY know her master, REGENT SNOKE, is waiting for her.

We cut from that to TAKODANA, where we meet MAZ KANATA. BEN asks MAZ to contact LEIA to meet them there, and let her know POE is dead. Exploring, he discovers ANAKIN’S lightsaber, which triggers a flashback. He is a child, eating with his fellow students. REY walks in, clearly cut up and hurt. One student confronts her, asking where LUKE is. “LUKE is dead. Get out of my way or you’ll be too.” Scared, the students try to take her down, but she cuts through them like butter. Terrified, BEN is backed into a corner. She tries to persuade him to put down his sword, but he brings down the building on them both. Later, he is found by LUKE and R2-D2. The flashback ends with MAZ meeting him. She gives him the lightsaber, as she feels it is his birthright. Finally, FINN calls the FIRST ORDER, letting them know the Map, BEN SOLO and LEIA are all about to be on the same planet.

Sorry to cut away from all that, but we finally get to see REGENT SNOKE! He's not CGI this time, unless we want to make him an already established alien species. (He can still be played by Andy Serkis.) He asks about REY'S progress in hunting down LUKE, and says she may not be ready to face her old Master. REY disagrees, and sets off to TAKODANA. Meanwhile, HUX is given the order to demonstrate the new power of the FIRST ORDER. He calls up the SENATE in a standard, "supervillain addresses the masses scene". (Hux's actor should chew the scenery like bubble gum.) We now find out what makes STARKILLER BASE special: the "gate ring" lets them fire their laser at any point in the galaxy without moving! HUX demonstrates this by destroying HOSNIAN PRIME, which sends the SENATE into a panic!

We cut to TAKODANA, where BEN falls down, overcome by the destruction he just sensed in the Force. The destruction of HOSNIAN PRIME is announced over the HoloNet. HAN lets us know the situation is serious, as he says something to the effect of, “HOSNIAN PRIME? The FIRST ORDER is too far away. Wait? They can do WHAT???” But ain’t nobody got time for that! The FIRST ORDER is attacking! FINN comes out to be picked up, but instead he is attacked by TR-8R! He tries to tell him he’s a double agent, but TR-8R doesn’t listen, and FINN is forced to kill him in self-defense. FINN is captured by stormtroopers, and only not killed because CAPTAIN PHASMA arrives, saying “Excellent work, FN-2187!” As FINN notes, she should have told the other Stormtroopers not to attack him, as he just killed one of his friends for nothing. PHASMA basically shrugs and says, “Hey, had to keep it secret.” FINN is clearly shocked and quite angry, but they’re off!

While all this is going on, HAN tells BEN to get out with BB-8. BEN naturally objects, but HAN says, “No matter what, they can’t know where LUKE is.” BEN proceeds to run, before being confronted by REY. BB-8 runs off while BEN faces REY. BEN futilely tries to drive her off with his blaster, which does not work, and REY’S facial expression seems to say, “Really? When has that ever worked?” She advances on him, and while he fumbles with his lightsaber, she knocks him out with the Force. She leaves carrying him with the Force, telling the FIRST ORDER to leave.

Just as they’re doing so, the NEW REPUBLIC force arrives, led by LEIA and POE DAMERON! (Who, as it turns out, is not dead.) However, the only person there to meet them is HAN, who is not happy to see LEIA. Their conversation tells us about BEN’S childhood. He has had trouble controlling his Force Powers, particularly when sleeping. When he was four, his power nearly destroyed their house. LEIA naturally decided she and HAN weren’t safe around him, and gave him to LUKE for training as a JEDI. HAN never forgave her for that, and left. She brings HAN and his crew back to the NEW REPUBLIC hideout to discuss plans to take down STARKILLER BASE. The idea is right now, several REPUBLIC worlds are in panic that they could be next, calling for immediate surrender. Taking out STARKILLER will let the REPUBLIC take out the FIRST ORDER. HAN points out that BEN is on STARKILLER BASE, and he might die if they blow up the base. LEIA agrees, but she can’t call off the attack. If another world suffers the fate of HOSNIAN PRIME or ALDERAAN, she would be responsible for millions of deaths, compared to just one. She tells HAN to try to save BEN, as it will take some time for her to get her fleet of X-WINGS and Y-WINGS ready. She also tells him to take out the shield generator for the base.

Speaking of BEN, we cut to him, strapped to a table, with REY sitting beside him. As REY explained, he has been shot up with a bunch of sedatives that are only beginning to wear off. Their conversation is surprisingly cordial, at least on her end. She expresses her surprise that he’s not with LUKE, as they were very close at the Academy. She reads his mind to find out LUKE’S location, but he is able to reverse the stream, and gets a look in her mind. He sees something that terrifies him. She simply says, “Well, now you know,” and leaves to report to SNOKE. She leaves behind a group of Stormtroopers, ordering them not to let BEN leave until she sends for him. HAN and CHEWIE land on STARKILLER in the FALCON. After this, FINN arrives alone, claiming he is here to take BEN to REY. The commanding officer is skeptical, as FINN is one soldier. He calls in to clear the transfer, before FINN shoots the other Stormtroopers. There is a call in, which FINN fumbles before shooting the intercom. He proceeds to let BEN out of his bindings, and BEN proceeds to strangle him. (As you do…) FINN only talks BEN out of killing him by pointing out BEN is in no fit state to fly. They make their way to the hangar, where they find the FALCON. Realizing HAN is likely there, BEN calls him on the comlink. They get back in touch, with HAN telling BEN to stay put while he takes out the shields. FINN interjects, saying he knows how to turn off the shields more subtly. HAN tells them to go do it while he sets up explosives on the base. (The idea is that they will distract the FIRST ORDER while POE attacks.) FINN and BEN proceed to press-gang PHASMA into turning off the shield, before leaving her in the trash compactor. Unfortunately, HAN is captured by some STORMTROOPERS, who take him to REY.

REY is very happy with this, as she is furious BEN has escaped. She makes an announcement over the intercom, saying, “BEN, I have your father. If you want to see him alive again, come to the main antechamber in one hour.” She proceeds to pour out a drink for herself and Han. She is somewhat starstruck by HAN SOLO, saying he is legendary, and LUKE mentioned him a lot. She openly speculates what she’ll do to LUKE when she meets him. She says SNOKE expects her to kill him, but she wants to thank him. After all, if not for, she would have stayed on JAKKU forever. SNOKE would not have found her, and she certainly would have never found out about her father. HAN asks her what the hell she’s talking about. REY notes that for years, no one has asked why SNOKE refers to himself as “REGENT” SNOKE. As she points out, a regent has one job: rule until the prince, or in her case, the princess, is ready to rule. REY, as she claims, is the daughter of none other than EMPEROR PALPATINE himself. HAN is skeptical. PALPATINE never had a family. Moreover, he died thirty years ago, and REY is still in her twenties. REY then clarifies; PALPATINE never wanted children, but his court kept a sample of his DNA preserved just in case. Some time after his death, this DNA was used to create a child. In order to protect her from the NEW REPUBLIC, she was hidden on a backwater world until she could be brought to safety. Unfortunately, the scientists were arrested for war crimes, and by the time SNOKE found out about her, he didn’t know where she was. HAN is skeptical, which annoys REY significantly. But now it’s time to meet BEN.

They meet in the antechamber, with HAN surrounded by stormtroopers. There, REY delivers her ultimatum: if BEN surrenders himself to her, HAN will go free. There is a prisoner exchange, and as they pass each other, HAN simply says, “I’m sorry.” He grabs BEN’S blaster, and begins firing wildly at the Stormtroopers. As he calculated, the Stormtroopers start firing back, and one shoots him in the chest. BEN lets out a massive scream, which begins to tear the room apart in a display of raw Force Power. HAN’S last words are just, “Get out of here.” FINN takes the hint, and tears BEN away, just as POE begins his attack on STARKILLER BASE, accompanied by HAN’S gang, including PAIGE TICO. Unfortunately, they are not able to destroy the base, but they are able to destroy the gate ring, meaning that, until it is repaired, STARKILLER will not be able to fire from far away. POE, under LEIA’S orders, orders a retreat.

While this is happening, REY confronts BEN and FINN. First FINN tries to fight her off, but not successfully. It is not until BEN gets ANAKIN’S lightsaber out that this becomes a real fight. Even then, it is clear REY has the upper hand, and she is only not killing BEN because she wants him alive. Nonetheless, BEN manages to land a lucky cut, temporarily stopping REY.  After this, a stray bomb landing on the base separates them, and FINN and BEN manage to make it to the FALCON. They take the FALCON back to LEIA. There, LEIA tells BEN to go find LUKE, and get his help. Meanwhile, she and POE will make their way back to REPUBLIC space. She will let them know the FIRST ORDER is vulnerable, but only if they attack quickly. She has to abandon the base, as the FIRST ORDER will almost certainly follow them in order to silence her. The movie closes with BEN landing on AHCH-TO, finding a hooded LUKE, and handing him his lightsaber. The two men look each other in the eyes after years of being apart, and the credits roll.

Dad Fluff: Ohana

A followup to this very short drabble about Mina drawing a family photo! 

CW: Vague references to Danny’s past torture, but nothing specific. Brief referenced to enforced malnourishment/near starvation.

“You’re officially obs-… obsessing,” Nate says softly, dropping onto the couch next to Danny, leaning over and tilting his head to try and get a better look at his face. “L-Love, talk to me. You’ve been looking at th-th-the picture she drew for… longer than can be g-good for you.”

“I wasn’t in the picture,” Danny whispers, still holding it in his hands. Looking at the stick-figure attempts to draw Nate and Mina herself and even Toto, a ball of black and brown squiggles with eyes. “I don’t know why, why she wouldn’t-”

“Danny,” Nate says seriously, taking the paper from his hands and turning it over. “You are the p-p-picture. Look at you, here.” He points, tapping his finger against the drawing with a soft crackling sound as the paper shifts in his hand. “You’re so… you are s-s-such the center of her life that she didn’t have en, enough room to draw you if you didn’t have your very own s-side.”

Danny’s lips press slowly together, and he nods, but he doesn’t look convinced. “I never drew myself in, um, in the pictures, either,” He says, finally. “I used to draw Mom and Dad and Ryan on one side, and… and, um, then myself over in the corner or on another paper, because that’s how it felt-… sometimes I didn’t draw me at all…”

“Danny.” Nate set the drawing down entirely, laying it carefully on the coffee table, taking Danny’s hands in his. “Look at me, love. Please.”

Danny’s jaw is locked but trembling as he raises his eyes, slowly, to meet Nate’s.

They’re both older, and stronger, and Nate likes to think wiser, but Danny’s eyes are still the same. Bright sparkling blue, the only time in his life Nate has seen the color blue and called it warm. His freckles have deepened with time, rather than faded, and Nate lifts one hand to cup his face, rubbing a thumb slowly over an old scar on his cheek, feeling the shift in skin texture under his touch. 

“This is n-not that family.” Nate keeps his voice gentle but firm, not quite insistent. Danny nods, but he’s scared, and the fear shows through even when he tries to hide it. He’s never been a good liar, and he’s a worse liar with Nate. “I kn-know we all bring things from our childhoods-… but we are not your parents. And Mina is not Ryan, and she isn’t y-you, either.”

“It just felt like-”

“Like you weren’t part of us,” Nate says softly, and Danny nods. Nate sighs and slides his hand down Danny’s neck, over the hints of scarring there, then curves his palm around Danny’s shoulder, pulling him close. Wavy red hair tickles against the side of his neck as Danny’s tension collapses. “This is your family, Danny. We w-worked hard to build it. We… we worked so hard to get the fucking ch-chance to build it. This is our f-family. And you’re her whole world.”

“She drew my scars. She drew them in bright red, they’re what she sees, it’s all anyone ever sees, is what h-he left on me-”

“Ssssshhhhh. I know that was h-hard to see.” Nate closes his eyes, tries to remember what he and Dr. Rosa had talked about when it came to helping Danny through his dark moments, encouraging him to keep talking, to pull himself back. “Did you h-hear what she called them?”

“My… my pretty marks,” Danny whispers, and Nate begins to run his thumb on Danny’s shoulder through his long-sleeved shirt, thinking of doing this in Alberta, feeling the shift of bones under his thumb when Danny had so little weight at all. Now there is a gentle roundness, strength he’d rebuilt in himself year by year. “She called them pretty marks.”

“There. She didn’t see them as bad, D-Danny, she just sees them as part of you. The same way she calls that weird thing on your hip your ‘blue spot’.”

“It… it is an actual blue spot on my hip, though,” Danny says doubtfully. “I stabbed myself with a marker at the last group home before Mom… It is a blue spot.”

“And your marks are p-pretty to her.”

“I just… it hurts, to see me not in the picture again, Nate.”

“I know. But she’s n-not you. She didn’t d-d-do that because she didn’t think you belonged with us, but because she c-c-couldn’t fit how important y-you were when the rest of us were in the way.” Nate’s efforts are rewarded with a nearly-silent huff of laughter from the man in his arms. “I know it’s h-hard not to bring it with you… I sometimes want to g-go to confession and I haven’t b-been Catholic since I was s-s-seventeen…”

“What’d you confess to?” Danny asks, curling more against him, and Nate sighs with a kind of relief as he pulls him closer. “Just… sucking dick?”

“Yes.”

Danny blinks and pulls back, looking up at Nate with surprise. “Did you actually? To a priest?”

Nate grins, and watches Danny’s internal battle between his need to still be sad over the injury in his mind and the idea of a sixteen-year-old Nate Vandrum talking about blowjobs in the confessional booth. “Couple of t-t-times. Some oth, other stuff, too. I was a really bad C-Catholic.”

“If you did it and still went to confession, you might actually have been a pretty good one,” Danny says, and the two of them break up into relieved laughter, Danny’s hands splaying over his face not to hide his scars but just to hide his smile.

“Danny, you are M-Mina’s family. You’re w-w-with her every day, all day-”

“-Except during Mom’s Morning Out, which, I really wish they’d change the name of that fucking group-”

“… let me finish, D-Danny. Mina wants for nothing. She is warm, and fed, and educated, and clothed, and l-l-loved.”

“I was most of those things,” Danny says, softly, but he’s coming back, Nate can tell. Pulling himself out of the spiral inside his mind, starting to feel more present, less like he slipped beneath the surface of a dark pool. 

“You were some of th-them all of the t-t-time, but you never had them all, all of the t-t-time. And she does. You were the one who brought up adoption, you are the one who taught her the alphabet, you were the one to d-d-decide we weren’t going to watch those episodes I d-d-downloaded of Mister Rogers any longer and we’d let her watch s-s-something made in the last ten years-”

“I still watch them,” Danny says, softly. At Nate’s raised eyebrows, he shrugs. “Call it my confession. Forgive me, Father, for I have watched educational children’s programming from the eighties-”

“Hey, now. Some of us recovering Catholics like the ‘Forgive me, Father’ stuff, but… I’m n-n-not one of them.”

Danny flashes him a bright smile, and Nate feels an absurd sense of victory. He wants to raise his hands in triumph. He settles for pulling Danny in for a kiss. 

“Sorry, Professor,” Danny murmurs against his mouth.

“Now, see, I l-like you calling me Professor…”

Danny laughs, softly. “Put your tie and jacket on and I’ll take it right back off you again, Professor Vandrum. But… I… I get it. She drew me bigger than everyone else because I am important. And she probably thought, since it’s the same paper, that it still counted as being all together…”

“Kids tend to d-d-draw themselves larger than they really a-are, compared to other people,” Nate says softly. “If they feel secure, and s-safe. You saw how big M-Mina drew herself.”

“Right. Bigger than you,” Danny says, blinking, looking back down at the paper. “And I was the biggest person.”

“I h-hate admitting this, but you’re the one she g-g-goes to first when she’s scared, or hurt, or has a n-nightmare or feels sick to her stomach. You’re the one she asks for juice and ah, applesauce. That’s all you, Danny. You’re not part of our family, you are our family. We built every single thing we have because of you. You chose me-”

“-… was made for you…” Danny murmurs, and then stops when Nate shakes his head.

“No, love. You chose me, and didn’t l-let go. You chose to say y-yes when I asked. You chose to agree when Mina’s birthmom liked us in our profiles. You chose Toto at the H-Humane Society, you chose every single thing we are. You built your own f-f-family, love, and she can’t picture us without seeing you as b-b-bigger than everyone else.”

Danny nods slowly, rubbing at his face, at his eyes, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees. “Yeah… yeah, okay.”

“I know this is hard for y-you, love, and always will be, but… this is your family. You, and I, and Mina… and Toto… and, fuck, even your brother.”

Danny’s smile widens. “What do you think he’ll say if I send him a photo of what Mina drew and tell him she called them ‘pretty marks’?”

Nate shakes his head, leaning over to hold Danny’s face in one hand again, kissing his forehead, feeling the worry-wrinkles smooth under his mouth. “He’ll say, ‘it’s ab, about time someone other than Vandrum and I noticed you’re gorgeous’,” He says, softly.

Danny snorted. “He’s never called me gorgeous in my life or his.”

“Not to your face.”

Danny’s smile is infectious, and Nate pulls him in for a kiss knowing the tightrope has been walked, they’ve cleared the worst part of the shadows that threatened to sink their claws in - at least for now. 

They’ll have this conversation again, in a hundred different ways, every time something pushes Danny towards the fears and worries built by a lifetime of having to earn the love that should have been his birthright. They’ll have it every time Danny is reminded or forced to relive years spent desperately trying to earn the mercy of a man hellbent on his slow, inexorable destruction. 

But they have the foundation. They’ve laid the path, together. When one of them falters, the other holds the weight, until they can find their own way out. That is their marriage, and has always been, and will always be.

That is Danny’s family.

“It’s sm-small, and b-b-broken, but we made it ourselves,” Nate murmurs, and Danny lets out a peal of surprised laughter, loud enough that Nate shushes him, worried about waking Mina so soon after she’s fallen asleep. 

“Did you just quote Lilo and Stitch at me?”

“No.” Danny raises an eyebrow, and Nate puts his hands up in surrender. “I quoted it to m-myself!”

“No, it’s fine, I like that movie, you know I do.” Danny slides arms around his waist, holding him tightly. 

After a few beats of silence, Danny says softly, “Ohana means family, Professor Vandrum.”

“Family m-means nobody gets left behind.”

ONF in Demon AU

A/N : Is clearing idea dumps from drafts, this would be the second version of modern AU 

Hi, does anyone remember the idea of illegitimate child of Satan from here and a random Lucifer!Hyojin moodboard here?

ALSO YOU TOTALLY CAN IMAGINE THIS IN A REVERSE WAY, ANGEL AU (where reader is a reincarnation version fragment of Archangel but this one idea dump/establishment will be done for another day)

ALSO you can totally imagine it as deity AU, example that you are Zeus reincarnation but you awaken late and you need to stop Kronos for his rampage. Or even you are Odin and you need to stop Modern version Ragnarok this time. And ONF members could be tie with other Greek/Roman gods. This one will be fun should OH MY GIRL and B1A4 are tied in too. Its just idea I am not sure if I will expand this. But discussions are welcome

(There is no harm to think it as late Victorian or any other era you like, it is just I felt it is better to write in a familiar timeline as I dont want to do something wrong)

So below are just a few establishment for the AU, I am not gonna divide this into 2 scenarios so warning this is going to be long post.

Ok even though I did mentioned illegitimate or forgotten child. This is plausible for your family comes from bloodline that related to demonXhuman ancestors.

Also it truly depends on you. Making into a throne inheritance war or

Reader come of age and their soul are reincarnated royal demon (not neccesary Satan) so there are some demons/demoness guarding you from you are still a child (kinda like those 2 characters from Good omens or Maleficent)

for the above idea, readers magical heritage only awaken once they pass a certain birthday 16, 18 or 20 or 21, up to you. So you suddenly can see mythical creatures.

It could be your bloodline awakened but you are not that qualified to ascend throne or because of your human blood you cannot hide yourself from angel/demon hunter so you have your own demon guardians

Lets say you are imagining on something big world building, again derived from the establishment for familiar au, it is definitely plausible for you to have other "candidates" and they have their demonic godparents/guardians as well

Example, should you go for inheritance war type, maybe you have a distant related sibling(s). It will be fun if you, have ONF members as your guardians while your sibling(s) have other kpop groups. Presumably to name, Dreamcatcher, ONEUS, ATEEZ, PENTAGON or ASTRO... in short its totally flexible.

To add, (and this is an idea i use to draft for fake pilot episode for a homework I worked), you could tally idols and number of idols you wanna integrate into the story to "Lesser Ley of Solomon", linking your bloodline towith King Solomon (*disclaimer, loosely based mythically). 72 demons, how many demons for 1 person is totally depend on you. Whether number of demons/demoness one have on their side equals to their power/ability (or even how many support they obtain) is up to you.

(and disclaimer I am not Christian this is just an idea dump so dont start cultural bashing. again this ia just an idea dump and I am not planning to touch sensitive issues yet.)

Ok enough world building, lets move to story wise.

You could be growing in orphanage it adds more mystery of your bloodline/heritage or similar to the familiar au, living with your family but your family later died on accident. Your parents bloodline combine making you are the perfect vessel for the reincarnation or maybe its a tradition like every 100 hundred years you will reincarnate or something. Again its flexible.

The moment you realize you are seeing things was you noticed similar aura of each person appeared on similar day. You might not get to see who is watching before you actually confronted to the air that you will contact the police

You might really go file a report but after several times the police be like dear there is no a single soul stalking you tho

then out of depressed, you accidentally get yourself into accident and your demon guardian shows up.

Or, because you started to able to see mythical creatures. Mythical creatures starts to notice your existence as well. And that somewhat gives off your location to other candidates through gossiping (should this is inheritance war type of story). Then your guardian show up to protect you when you are attacked by rival sibling’s demons.

Could be you visited some witch to get your ability to see mythical creatures covered up? Recommended by a friendly non related sibling or a friend you made/could be angel?

You thought you only got one but it surprised  you that you actually got 7 (later 6)

As this was different from summoning because they are guardians either assigned or volunteered. There is no need for you to provide them anything. And different from familiar au, there is no need to leave them in your home. To ensure your safety they must follow you 247

For now I would be thinking our boys actually guards you in a daily shift. Example, Hyojin on Monday, Changyoon on Tuesday, Seungjun on Wednesday, Jaeyoung on Thursday, Minkyun on Friday, Yuto on Saturday, Minseok on Sunday. (after Minseok departs, the other members rotate themselves to do the Sunday shift)

Since their shift are like that, you sometimes take chance to hangout with them. Eating out with Hyojin, Arcades with Yuto. mostly happens Sunday.

I am thinking it might be fun which your predecessors of the throne are very eager to get the throne, you are just trying to keep out of trouble. So in another way, demon ONFs get to experience the modern human world in a more chill way, it was not just guarding you, but also trying to experience human world. You could like summon them?/keep them by your side just like a normal sibling (Especially if you are the type that grow up alone without any siblings)'

Cues in ONF members actually understand your preference and remembers them very well. So you could not help relying on them as days pass by.

You are defo gonna get an ultimate rival and a friend that shares the same circumstances as you. Maybe the first rival sibling ends up being your friend after they know you are not intending to compete. But there are some rivals are more aggressive out there.

Could be you knew a few demon hunters but they know you meant no harm and then they just let you go

It will be more fun if existences of your kind triggers inner civil war between demon hunters/angels. Because there is also some distant “siblings” of yours wish to live their live quietly but some parties does not agree of letting your kind roaming free and feeling the bloodline must end.

Should you are the type to compete for your birthright (because you are too irritated of people keep coming to kill you non stop). They are happy to serve you till the end as you embracing your darker side. (Well I am not sure to give ONF members and reader loveline here so I will not talk about it for now)For this version, to explain Minseok’s departure , I would prefer that Minseok is back at hell to be your team’s spy, monitoring all political moves and changes.There are still bottom line morality, you are not really slaughtering your way through. But you do make sure the other party wont come to look for trouble anymore.They are going to train you to make sure you are ready. Fighting in physical and magic.That friendly sibling joins on training you too. 

You are definitely getting strict critiques from Hyojin and Seungjun during the beginning of your training.

My preferences, you get a friendly sibling(s) where their demon guardians end up being BFF with yours. (RTK and MIXNINE side effect, sorry)

Characterization should be the same as those I have established from the familiar au. Just the world building and some settings that are slightly different.

Hyojin is to keep the trait of his preference on human food

Changyoon is to keep his nagging trait 

Seungjun might help you with studies (not solidify him as a nerd but there is tendency that he will)

Jaeyoung is more to the body guard type

Minkyun defo gonna make friends with stray animals (either you house ends up becoming pet shelter, you becoming a foster mom for animals or you cannot keep any because you are allergic but mental supporting Minkyun is up to you)

Yuto definitely is the quiet but alert type same goes with Minseok

My preference stereotype for them would be the cinnamon rolls that would kill

Sometimes they might go.. “ I am a known demon back in hell but why I am doing this babysitting shit?” 

But then ends up enjoying stuffs human does lol

Changyoon enjoying TikTok lol, they got famous because of their contents. 

Defo gonna have movie night.

It will be funny if ONFs as demons themselves, got scared at the monsters/ghosts seen in horror movies. Bonus if you actually not scared of horror movies. And they are gonna question you out of disbelief like why the hell are you not scared? How can you not even flinch a single bit?

Reason : monsters and ghosts imagined by human beings do not look the same based on their knowledge.

They sometimes show themselves to other humans but rarely. Mostly just being the unseen follower behind you.

Cues in sometimes they forgot they are invisible, and picks up something from the mart and it gave people a fright. Example, Changyoon or Minkyun passes through a nice outfit and just took the hanged outfit out to place in front of himself, only to realise what he did after looking into a mirror nearby

Hmm my thoughts, Jaeyoung and Minseok would be the ones who would always their visiblity when you are out with them.

Hyojin and Changyoon would be the ones who prefer to keep their invisibility

Copying from familiar au, should you attend college or university, people might thought some members of demon!ONF are your boyfriend.

At first when they changed pattern starts to live close to you, they could  not get the concepts of moral of human being well. You will be guiding them. 

Could happen that you are so pissed off by someone at work and you could not help but ranting when you are at home. 

(Of course the demon!ONF on that day saw what happened but you did insist on them to not do anything)

They might go like : “ Should I kill them for you?”

You : “What?”

Random ONF member : “I can do it to make look like an accident you know.”

You : “OMG NO”

You : “You know maybe you can try to mend things when they are trying to frame me on purpose.”

Random ONF member : “Gotcha”

For the you are not competing scenario, they would be always keeping you safe from harm until you died. Should you get married, you let them participated as relatives/friends. Cues in they even help you take care of your child later on. It could be even fun if you child does not inherit bloodline but they can see ONF members

I will stop here will write another post should i have more ideas to add.

Welp of course for a third option scenario, would be you being a supporter the friendly sibling of yours. You just wanna stay safe so you acted like an advisor role for that candidate, helping them to gain power but not participating directly. Like I said its flexible

For this one I would like to write it as you are just trying to chill with your quiet life but demon hunter, angels and aggressive candidates keeping coming at you.

Also for this one I would link to the point of unfavorable and forgotten child part.

Less favourable child gets assigned with less powerful or less aggressive demons

So for this story ONF aren't high class fighter demons at all. But they do excel in magics.

In opposite, you could the one who knows how to fight maybe because you are quite rebellious in personality.

The moment you found out there 3 parties wanna kill you and innocent less aggressive candidates, you snapped.

Maybe some candidates heard of your friendly sibling name and they rushed over to seek help. End up bump into you instead.

You : what kind of dad is *your biological demon dad name*?"

Cues in Demon ONF keep calming you down because they are afraid that rumours of you belittling your demon father might make their king angry

But you have your attitude and no shit is given. Because you understand that your life your destiny is in your own hands.

You : I wanted a peaceful life alone but now I have to deal with Angels, hunters and a bunch of siblings that I never met , never knew about each other, who all wants me dead.

You : its not fair.

To end it once and for all, you suggested to the friendly sibling to find other candidates that do not have any intentions to compete for throne. Form allies with them so that later own they could get votes for the throne and the rest of the gang could get a decorative chill title while living a peaceful life

Also suggested to the sibling of yours make use of the allies to protect less aggressive candidates

It worked politically. As most of the candidates work on slaughtering others to cut secure birthright, your ideal and policy of strengthen inner then tackle threat gain more favour. Finally your sibling gets the throne.

And you and your other members of allies might get duke duchess or something

This version of story would have and need slot of mind games. Political games as well. (Will be interesting to write but there will waaaaaay too much characters to take note.)

The World’s Treasure: Interquel: A New Path

Summary: With the revelations brought upon by the newest Rainbow Child’s ascension, the Pokémon World is in for some changes. But while the discovery of the World’s Treasure has never been closer at hand, Team Rainbow, the Wigglytuff Guild, and beyond will need to forge new paths to get there. It won’t be easy, but, with a little help and support from friends, anything is possible…

 Author’s note: This is meant as an interquel between “Part 1: The Rainbow” and (the eventual) “Part 2: The Child” of my “World’s Treasure” series. You really do need to read “The Rainbow” first, and it would also be helpful to read “Missing Scenes”” and The Sparks Family Reunion” as well—especially that last one, where later chapters of this are concerned.

 -----

Prologue

As the light faded around him and he took his first glances around once he’d finally reached his destination… his eyes ancient, but his perspective refreshed… he couldn’t help but ponder on how strange it was that this place hadn’t changed at all. A flower here or there, perhaps, but not enough to make a difference. Not enough that he couldn’t close his eyes and almost, almost fool himself into thinking she had just stepped away momentarily. That she’d just ducked into the cave behind him because someone had called her name, or because she needed to find a ribbon or a vine so she could tie off her latest bouquet of these flowers that she loved so much.

But it was just a fantasy, and he knew that.

So, he sighed, and opened his eyes once more, and turned away. He slipped into that realm whose paths he knew so well. That realm, which, in terms of inheritance, was half his to rule over. Though, in truth, he only claimed a third or so—and in practice he had all but abdicated in favor of… other things. Other thoughts, and foolish plans… and feelings of pique and bitterness that…

Well, those didn’t matter quite so much, anymore. Not in the same ways, at least. And though he knew that he had only been granted a momentary reprieve from facing justice and judgement… that he would not be able to return to his kingdom in truth, to balance it out the way he was meant to be doing all this time… he also knew that he had to set his house in order, first and foremost, so he didn’t leave an even bigger mess behind for others to clean up. And, with a situation this delicate and new, these things simply couldn’t be rushed.

He knew that. Perhaps more than anyone—than his own counterpart, or even her—could.

So, he would need to research, and to carefully plot. To plan his course, and not show his hand too soon. But in order to leave the necessary stable foundation behind…

 A shape, a worry, a dud of a spark which fails to ignite the tinder, and leaves them crying, crying...

 Her friend, her allies, all freezing in the cold of the ice caging their bodies—both the real, and the imagined. The remembered, and the forgotten…

 Bright lights tearing the sky asunder. A crater with the staticky, fuzzball of a friend of a friend-cousin-brother lying in the center…

 If she were bigger, like them. Stronger. If she could have the chances it gave them, to hold on a little longer...

 If she could travel far, far, far, like him, and lead a team of siblings into the unknown so that it, and they, become known the world around…

 Then would this…? Could she…? Should she…?

 …And what would happen if she didn’t?

 There.

A cornerstone. The first brick laid of the unknown many to come.

As he made his way towards it—preparing himself, and falling back into those old, remembered roles—he was careful to set aside a space in the back of his mind where he could just… observe. And plot. And plan for the future.

But in the meantime, and for the long term… until the time, and place, and person were right to strike… Doing his duty—grasping at his birthright—could only be a boon.

For her, and her.

And for them all, as they forged a path anew.

 -----

Author’s note: Don’t expect fast updates on this—Real Life, as always, is very busy for me, and I have a lot of other projects (both for fun and for my actual responsibilities) going on… But when the writing bug hits, it really hits, you know? So, I hope this can tide you all over in the meantime.