Santa Lost track of time! I'm so sorry Jane Dear! @umthisistheonlyusernamenottaken
I'm so terribly late, that's inexcusable! 🫠 Question number 5 was right there, ready to rumble, but life caught up with me (brutally, if I can be honest for a second).
Question n. 5 is something that's been bothering the gonks all week, but they were too shy to admit it.
You know...
One of the gonks is a canon shipper.
Another is a crackshipper
The last one doesn't see the point of choosing!
So let's talk about background pairings! We have Az, Lucien and Emerie! Who would we like them with?
If you have some specific flavours of pairing you'd like to share, let me know! 💕
Hi, this is me again. Grammar is still not my friend.
Summary : Ye-seul could see the red string of fate. But it doesn’t make thing easier.
TW : Abuse, Self Blame
All her life, ye-seul could see the red string of fate. The red string that tied around our little finger that tied us to our fated one. She was five when she know not everyone could see it. She could still remember that day vividly from the way the wind blow softly, the scent of hot choco, the way the swing move slowly to how sleepy she feel in her halmeoni warm embrace and of course to the red string that insistently tugging at her grandmother.
“ Seul-ie, you sleepy?”
“ No, no sleep. Is Halmeoni hurt?”
“ No, Why sweetheart? ”
“The string keep tugging Halmeoni,
Doesn’t it hurt?”
“Seul-ie could see this?”
She could only nod to Halmeoni.
“This is called the red string of fate. This
string tied us to the people that will love
us forever. We can’t feel it. But it’s there.
So no, it’s not hurt.” Halmeoni said with a
smile.
“Oh, ok.
“ Aga, promise me something. Don’t tell
anyone you could see the string, ok?
She said while linking our pinkies
together.
“Ok. Pinky swear.”
“And remember. This is a blessing. Only
special people could have it. Just like our
Seul-ie”
“Yes halmeoni.” She answered sleepily.
Looking back, she really want to tell her child selves to wake up and ask more about the string because two weeks later her grandmother passed away. And with her gone all the hug and the warmness in her world.
She’s 25 now. A law school student. A girlfriend. Still a girl who could see the red string of fate. When she was younger, she still believe this string tied us to our forever. But the older she got, she realize that everything is not that simple. There is a string that so vividly red, so strong that look like nothing could ever break it, just like the one that Sol A unnie and Joon-Hwi oppa have. The one she like to call the ultimate soulmate string. There is a string that tangled beyond believe, just like the one Ji-Ho and Sol B have. Honestly, she’s so shocked that she keep staring at it. But she shouldn’t have, after all that was the rivals to lovers string. There is a string that looked so battered like it left in the rain for so long, the destined but not meant for each other string. Professor Yang have this string. She still couldn’t find the end of his string. There is a common string that looked like your ordinary red string. Almost everyone have this kind of string like Seung-Jae oppa and Ju-Yeong Unnie, Ye-Beom and even professor kim. There is a string that half transparent because their other half is not in this world anymore. There is a string that doesn’t look like a string, more like a ring on the litte finger. Just like that, no connection to other side. Sweet Bok-Gi have this string. Then there is string like hers, thin and frayed at the edge. String for broken people like her. She doesn’t want to say this, but Oppa have this kind of string too.
All her knowledge about the red string come from observation. She’s good at it. She must be good at it. There is time that she reflect on how she is different girl before and after Oppa. The girl before Oppa believe in fairy tale, of true love, of kindness, of unconditional love. Sure her string is frayed and it worry her a little to what kind of love life that she would have, but she is still young, unfortunately naive and believe that everything will work out in the end. The one after Oppa should have know better. Should have know the world is cruel and unforgivable. Oppa not always like this. He used to be so sweet. He was all her fairy tale come to life. Her rosy future. But everything slowly change when she got accepted to law school, while he don't. He start becoming volatile and angry all the time. Maybe it was all her fault, she shouldn't get in law school, she should wait for him. The first time he hit her, he was drunk. He beg for her forgiveness afterward and she forgive him. Then came the second time, the third time, and so on. It was a vicious cycle. He hit her, she forgive him. She always find excuse for him. Maybe he was drunk, maybe she was to noisy, maybe it was all her fault. What he doesn't know is with every hit, punch, slap and bruised skin he give her, the more frayed and faded her string is. Maybe her grandmother is wrong, maybe this ability is a curse. Maybe everything that befall her is payment for her ability.
" Noona, are you okay?"
Bok-Gi voice bring her back from her thoughts.
" I'm fine." she pretend.
Pretending, another thing that she's good at. Pretending that everything fine, pretending that Ye-Beom quip about eye candy doesn't hurt. It hurt, as if she is nothing but pretty face.
Today, Oppa forced her again. Forced her to do something against her wishes. She doesn't want to commit perjury. She want to work in law. A tiny part of her hope that Oppa love her enough to let it go this time. He doesn't and she was afraid of what he will do to her. So, here she is. Hiding. Sol A unnie is the one that find her. Sol A unnie embrace feel more like a mother’s embrace than her mother’s ever was. It was warm and she feel like everything will be alright again. But then, she pushed Oppa. While he was bleeding in that parking lot, the only thing she could think is how his blood is brighter than her string. She was numb and everything went black.
When she wake up, Joon-Hwi Oppa is there. He protecting her from assemblyman Ko, from the police. Just like a father protecting his child. His string is as bright as ever. It bring comfort to her in the bleakness of the hospital. Later, professor Kim's hug also feel so warm just like her grandmother's hug.
She doesn't want any of this to happen. All she do is bring everyone down. She should be punished instead. It's not until the jury trial that professor Yang make her realize that it's not her fault. That all she ever did was protecting herself. There is nothing compared to the relief she feel when she's win the trial. The only thing that could distract her from her feeling is prosecutor Bae's string. After all she finally find the end of professor Yang's string.
The tell the truth, the notes hurt. Ye-Seul before Oppa would cry, but Ye-Seul after Oppa is stronger than this. So, for the last time. She will apologize for something that is out of her control. But never again.
She will be forever grateful for the study group, professor Yang, professor Kim, Dean Oh, and gollum for everything they did for her. Starting from now she will be the new Ye-Seul, with the girl before Oppa kindness and the girl after Oppa strength.
She is Jeon Ye-Seul. She's 25. A law school student. A friend. Still a girl in a study group. Still a girl that could see the red string of fate. She is happy. She is alive. And this is just her beginning.
////
Bonus :
For Jeon Ye-Seul the red string of fate is very fascinating. Maybe because only her could see it. Or maybe it's awakening her matchmaking hobby.
After waking up one day and realizing that her red string not frayed anymore . Finally becoming whole and attached to the person she's hope. And you're right, it's Min Bok-Gi. She have a new resolution. Matchmaking everyone based on they're red string. They're in 3L now, they have limited time.
" Ji-Ho should be the one to buy the coffee today." she said out of blue.
" Isn't this Joon-Hwi hyung turn?
" Well if he go, then Sol A Noona will also go. Do you know how long we have to wait if that happen?" Ye-Beom quip.
" Hey, it's because you always have addition to your order." Sol A Unnie scold Ye-Beom while blushing and of course Joon-Hwi Oppa see Unnie with heart in his eyes.
(Well, what the blushing for Unnie. And Oppa stop with the stare. It's too obvious. She think she don't have to worry about this two)
" Then, Sol B. Please help Ji-Ho. Ok? It's always 2 people that go buy coffee."
She expecting a protest. But she's ready. She manage to go through a jury trial. This expressionless couple will be a piece of cake.
" Ok. Let's go Ji-Ho."
Well she's not expecting that. After they go, she feel a tug on her sleeve.
" What's that for. Are you matchmaking Ji-Ho and Sol B now?"
" Maybe, Min Bok-Gi. Keep guessing." she said with a laugh.
She is Jeon Ye-Seul. She's 27 now. Her new hobby is matchmaking. She believe every red string start from common string and evolved into something new because our action and of course love. Last but not least, she believes her ability is a blessing not curse.
If you were to ask the average Gothamite what Bruce Wayne was like as a baby, they would tell you that Gotham’s “white knight” was probably a very happy, very sociable kid. After all, someone who was that friendly and philanthropic while living in Gotham of all places, must come by it naturally.
If you asked any member of the Justice League who was trusted enough to know the Batman’s identity (and, therefore, was likely among the man’s closest friends) what Bruce Wayne was like as a baby, they would insist that he had to have been one of those quiet, calm children that always strike an embarrassing amount of envy in the parents of especially colicky newborns.
Alfred Pennyworth, if pressed for a response, would reluctantly tell you that both parties were completely correct on all accounts.
-0
[ApApAp]
-0
“What do you think, Alfred? Thomas insists he looks just like him, but that is a Kane nose right there if I’ve ever seen one” Martha asked as she helped adjust said babe in Alfred’s arms so that his head was better supported.
Alfred considered the newborn. He had never actually held an infant before, and it felt incredibly wrong for hands that had caused so much damage back in his army days to be cradling such a fragile being.
Alfred had long known that parenthood was not in the cards for him, but he was suddenly so, so grateful that it was for his friends. If there were any two people on this planet who would make truly good parents, it was these two, of that Alfred was sure. These people who had taken one look at the damaged soldier called to them at the request of a dying man and decided that they would be the family this man so obviously needed, no matter how much he protested along the way.
Surely if anyone would be a good father it was this man, this man who sat up till three am in front of the fire with an employee he hadn’t even known a month, just rambling about the latest medical journal article he had read to let his companion ignore just how much he really did not want to sleep.
Surely if anyone would make a good mother it was this woman, this woman who insisted that Alfred sit down to tea with her in the garden every morning, asking his advice on her plans for each of her charity project because she wanted him to know that he and his opinion were valuable to her at a time when he wondered whether his life meant anything at all.
Yes, Thomas and Martha were capable of loving a child far better than someone of Alfred’s background. But, Alfred thought as baby Bruce’s face scrunched into startled confusion after he gagged himself on his own tiny fist, this is Gotham, and it never hurts to have extra protection in Gotham. If Alfred’s army years were going to be good for anything, it would be for protecting those around him. Yes, in that moment, staring into a pair of blue eyes that seemed to peer into Alfred’s very soul, Alfred promised himself that he would protect this child with his life. Whatever it took.
But he had been asked a question, hadn’t he.
“If I had to wager a guess, madam, I would say he looks more like the entry hall portrait of Master Thomas’s great-great-uncle than anything.”
He could see the moment Martha recalled the portrait he was referencing, a portrait that had been painted when its subject was about ninety years old. Her eyes narrowed to a dangerous squint.
“Alfred, are you saying my baby looks like an old man” she asked in a dangerous tone.
Alfred looked up at her and was just beginning to wonder if he had somehow crossed a line he didn’t know existed when a mischievous smile broke through Martha’s attempt at maintaining a faux-stern expression. Alfred couldn’t help but match it with one of his own.
-0
[TwTwTw]
-0
If someone had come to Thomas on the day of his wedding and told him that that was not the happiest day of his life, he would have argued with them. That changed the day his son was born.
He had devolved into downright panic when Martha’s water broke and had been subjected to both Alfred’s sarcastic quips and Martha’s cheerful giggles the whole way to the hospital. He supposed it was ironic that the trauma surgeon who regularly faced the worst Gothamites could inflict on one another was left hysterical by something as natural as childbirth, but it was different. The operating room was his domain. He had control of what happened there for better or ill, but there was no personal stake their outside of its reflection on him professionally.
Here, however, he had no control. He was no obstetrician, and he was well aware of how many things could go wrong in childbirth. Thomas struggled to relinquish control at the best of times (something that made Leslie despair every time she was unfortunate enough to find him as a patient) and with two lives he valued even more than his own hanging in the balance… well, let’s just say that he was grateful for the easy familiarity of Martha and Alfred’s teasing keeping him grounded to the moment.
Now, six months later, the memory of that day feels more like a dream. It feels strange to think there was ever a time when his world didn’t revolve around this wonderful child who was an amalgamation of Thomas and Martha and something that was entirely Bruce. Now, he could think of nothing better to do on a Saturday morning than to spend time with his infant son.
“Where to now, chum?” he asked as Bruce looked up from the leaf he had been examining. The infant lifted his hand to point insistently at another tree a little further down the walking trail through the manor’s grounds. Thomas followed the chubby little finger until Bruce stopped pointing in favor of touching this new tree’s leaves and bark, exactly as he had been for the last hour and a half. But that was fine. Thomas would take his son to every single tree in Gotham if he wanted him to, especially if it meant he got to keep watching the sheer wonder all over his little face. Thomas knew babies grew too fast, so he intended to enjoy every second of it.
-0
[MwMwMw]
-0
Martha smiled down at Bruce from her seat on the sitting room loveseat as he pulled himself into a standing position and grabbed onto his mother’s legs.
“C’mere, little one” she crooned, pulling him up into her lap. “Can you say ‘mama’ for me? ‘Mah-mah.’”
Their efforts to get Bruce to say anything had picked up a new urgency after his first birthday had come and gone several months ago with Bruce still not having said his first words.
Bruce did not say ‘mama,’ but he did match Martha’s smile and throw his head into her chest as though asking for a hug, so she considered that enough of a win.
“Does someone want a hug from his Mama?” Bruce squealed in response. “Oh, is that how it is, mister?” Martha grinned. Words weren’t the only way to make sure her baby knew he was loved. “Well, if you don’t want a hug from Mama, then I guess you’ll get a visit from the tickle monster!” And with that she started a furious tickling campaign that left her baby boy laughing louder and longer than she’d ever heard before, and Martha was laughing right along with him.
As the moment faded away, Martha tightened her grip almost imperceptibly, and Bruce snuggled deeper into her neck in response.
“Well, aren’t the two of you a pair,” Alfred said from behind her.
“Alfie!” Martha exclaimed. “How long have you been standing there?”
Alfred pushed the tea cart he had brought over to the side table beside the couch and started pouring Martha a cup of green tea. “Long enough, ma’am. Shall I take the young master while you have your tea?”
“That would be lovely, my friend,” she said, reaching to pass her child over. “As long,” she continued, “as you don’t take him too far.” Martha picked up her cup and saucer as Alfred settled down in the armchair across from her, Bruce cradled in his lap and quickly falling into a contented sleep.
And they just sat there, in silence, watching as Bruce’s little breaths gradually deepened and evened out. Eventually, Martha rested the empty cup and its saucer on her lap. Loathe to break the true serenity of the quiet moment, she spoke just above a whisper. “We’ve got a good one here, Alfie. I can tell we’re going to be so proud of the man he becomes.”
Alfred didn’t respond right away, pausing to brush a tuft of fine black hair out of the child’s face. “I would accuse you of being a bit biased, but something tells me you’re completely correct in this case. I have complete faith that this child will do great things, no matter how clichéd that sounds.”
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply (see additional tags)
Relationships: Deimos/Encke/Keeler (Starfighter), Encke/Keeler (Starfighter), Deimos & Phobos (Starfighter)
Summary: Returning from the battle at the Colteron shipyard, the crew of the Sleipnir learns that they weren’t as successful as previously believed. While everyone aboard grapples with what the future holds for humanity, Deimos and Phobos are also contending with what that means for them as a team.
I wrote this fic with the desire to keep the relationship between Deimos and Phobos ambiguous even as they grow closer. I wanted it to have a feeling of uncertainty, and a fragile interdependence which neither of them wants to upset. You can definitely read it as a precursor to Deimos/Phobos if you’re on board with that. However, it also works as a queer platonic relationship where they’re just becoming actual friends, and working as the team they always had the potential to be. Let me know if you think I hit the mark with balancing these tensions in how I depicted their evolving relationship! I’m super curious to see people’s responses to this fic.
Also holy crap, the character tag for “Abel’s Papa” hasn’t been used since 2013 (unless some folks deleted their stuff). I’ve always seen it come up when I typed “Abel” into the characters box, so it’s kind of cool to finally use it. Have a nasty bastard man!
Author: To be Revealed!
Pairing: Gen; Background Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley
Rating: G
Length: 847
Summary: Advice columnist Luna Lovegood receives a question from a trans teenager: what does home feel like?
Author’s Notes: Written for the prompt: "Trans Luna Lovegood and her very unconventional life. Make her fall in love desperately and enjoy her life and youth exploring love and sex and happiness and acceptance with others." I didn't follow it to the letter, but hopefully this is close enough!
I would like to thank T for betaing and cheerleading, and S and M for the encouragement and help! I would also like to thank the mods of the fest for organising it and helping us come together to tell all these amazing stories ❤
You may notice that every 'you' in Luna's answer is capitalised. This is deliberate. I was inspired by activist Rain Dove, who explains they capitalise the word You because, and I quote: "You are as important as I".
Catching Fire, page 132 - The only bright spot is, I get Haymitch to hire Hazelle as a housekeeper, resulting in some extra money for her and greatly increasing Haymitch's standard of living.
Hazelle Hawthorne's eyes are opened when she cleans Haymitch Abernathy's house.
Why This is Good: Outsider POV of someone we don’t get to see much of - Hazelle is great and she proves it in this story. It’s a totally different view of canon (both Haymitch and the love triangle) and it gives an entirely new perspective on those events.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Heather's American Medicine (Web Series)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Heather McCloud
Additional Tags: Internalized Homophobia, Bad Advice
Summary:
How two women should prepare for their wedding, according to Heather McCloud.
