#split pov

[tgirl-tamag0tchi]

Wildflowers of Ruin

Briar and Lily. Doggirl mech pilot and catgirl cyborg assassin, clones and sisters, have been separated for thirteen years since the death o

So… I wrote a siscest/clonecest story…

[hockeyspiral23]

Idiots in love (that is, the next chapter of What Winning Looks Like) hopefully coming tomorrow ...

For his sake, I hope it is. I know too well what unrequited affection feels like. It feels like trying to cram your large, 6'5" frame into a tiny arena seat, squishing your legs as close as humanly possible so as to not disturb the person sitting next to you. The person who might be even tenser than you are. Because while you may like them, you're positive the feeling isn't mutual. It also feels like purposefully brushing up against said person whenever it's feasibly possible, like lifting your arms to clap. Or shift in your seat. Or lean over them to talk to said friend, hoping for the chance to catch a hint of their scent.

[hadesgirl015]

F&R: A Year in Avernus

Chapter 8: Day One-Hundred-Eighteen

Karlach’s engine could no longer survive on the material plane after the defeat of the Netherbrain. Luckily Telvelni was able to convince her girlfriend to return to Avernus with the help of the Blade of Avernus, Wyll Ravengard, her best friend. Together the three of them fight against the Archdevil Zariel’s armies as she attempts to reclaim her barbarian fighter for her Blood War. This time, Karlach isn’t alone in Avernus. A sequel to Fire and Runepowder.

Chapter 1: Day One

I've had this part planned for so long, or at least the inkling of an idea of it. It's crazy going back and reading Act 3 of Fire and Runepowder and seeing some lines and being like, 'Huh, was that there before or after my idea. Was I so good at foreshadowing that I didn't even realize I was foreshadowing?

Anyways, this is where the story starts get dark and earn its M rating for capture/abduction and soon to have minor torture elements.

[rainbowagate]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Against The World With You chapter 13

Mafia AU with angel and demon powers instead of devil fruits

Rated: T (with Graphic Depictions of Violence)

Pairings: Zoro/Sanji, Law/Luffy

Excerpt:

“Zoro likes being in control. He likes knowing where his fists will land, knowing where his feet will run, and knowing where his eyes will wander. The part of him that’s intrigued by Sanji is closer to his true feelings.

It’s not just because he’s been dreaming of the man, either. He has to admit that Sanji is exactly his type: long, strong legs, a pretty face, and from what Zoro can tell, a soft, yet smarmy attitude. Zoro’s every fantasy in a man rolled up into a neat package.

But the man is fragile. He’s only just come to a sense of self after being numbed for two years. They’re the same age; Zoro can’t imagine having lost two years of his adult development like that. It would fuck him up irreversibly.

Not to say that Sanji’s damaged goods, it’s just… complicated. Zoro feels bad for even thinking of Sanji in any way other than friendly. That’s not what the man needs right now.”

[mkaugust]

Mirrorball

My entry for @cruelsummer-ficfest is of course Moonchaser. Based on the song Mirrorball and featuring probably far too many of the song’s lyrics.

It took James months to notice, but once he did, he couldn’t stop seeing it.  

Remus was like a mirror.  He reflected back emotions, tone, body language, even the personalities of everyone around him.  He was doing anything to be involved, to be engaging, to hide his pain.  If you were laughing, he was laughing.  If you were quiet, well that one was probably more natural for Remus.  Once he was in the room with you though, he would match your energy until he couldn’t anymore.

He would be dancing with the rest of the party until it knocked him off his feet, forcing him to disappear as he shattered into a million pieces, no longer able to reflect the appearances of everyone around him.  The shattering happened in silence, in privacy, in locked bathrooms and dark bedrooms.  Not even James was allowed to see the true extent of it.

Even James was merely trapped in the mirror, a hundred versions of himself reflected back whenever they were together.

Only the tiny cracks allowed James to see what was happening.  The smiles that were a little strained, the laughs that sounded a little too forced if you listened closely.  The glaring absence when Remus wasn’t able to hold the facade and would disappear altogether for days.

The cracks were getting larger lately.  

____________

Remus knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer, that the end was near.  He had been trying so hard for so long and he was tired.  Hiding things from everyone else was one thing, but hiding from James hurt. And he was in enough pain already without adding to it.

He knew the cracks were starting to show through.

The next time, Remus decided, he would let James in.  He would be brave and he would trust that James wouldn’t leave.  He would trust that James could witness him fall apart, see him shatter, and still be there the next day.  Maybe he wasn’t so much brave as he was desperate for it to be the truth, for it to be okay for him to have James there.

Inevitably, it happened.  Remus felt it coming and retreated to his house alone for the night, but in the morning, when James called to check in, he didn’t ignore it like he usually would.  Instead, he took a deep breath, and told James in as few words as possible how tired he was and how much he hurt and, most importantly, he asked James to come over and be with him.

And he did.  James arrived quickly, and he didn’t blink twice at the state Remus was in.  Remus knew the cracks had been getting bigger, and sure enough, James seemed to already know everything, like he had been seeing through his facade this whole time.

James held Remus while he cried and tried to explain more.  While Remus said through his tears, “All I do is try, try, try” and while he finally admitted “when I break, it’s in a million pieces.”  James held him through it all.

“You don’t have to try anymore for me,” James told him when Remus’ sobs and hurried words finally quieted.  “Even when no one else is around, I’ll be here.  When you’re feeling breakable or even when you’ve shattered, I’ll be here.  When you’re worried you’ll cut me, I’ll keep myself safe so you don’t have to think about it, and so I can be here.  When all I can do is try to make you laugh, get you to smile, that’s what I’ll do.  And when even that’s too much for you, I’ll hold you close and I’ll just be here.  I’m not going anywhere.  You can’t chase me away anymore, Remus.  I’m here to stay.  So you can stop trying all the time and you can just be.  I’ll be here.”

Remus didn’t have much strength left for the day, but he used what he had to hold James tight, to return his love with touch, not words.  And then he listened to James, and he stopped trying.  He fell asleep in James’ arms and woke up just the same.

__________________

Now that he had found the courage to drop the mirror, for James only but that was enough, Remus realized he could suddenly see James so much more clearly.  When he wasn’t looking for what to reflect, when he was looking only for looking’s sake, when he was looking simply because he loved him, Remus could finally see how brightly James was shining.

Now that Remus had dropped the mirror and let it shatter permanently, the pieces never being fully picked back up in front of James at least, James could see that Remus’ love had always shone through the cracks.  Now Remus’ love could only shine so much more brightly.  James intended to bask in it for as long as he could.

Remus, for the first time, found that his love was being reflected right back at him.  James could be his unbreakable mirrorball.

[uselessbard1031]

The next chapter is proving to be a longer one, so please enjoy this half preview while you wait.

Lin: *Knowing Y/N is upset about something her brother did but not wanting to pry, waiting for her to continue opening up at her own pace*

Y/N: My dad had fish.

Lin: *Expecting literally anything else* Uh...

[the-toppat-king]

Chapter Five: Escape

Charles kept his eyes on the ground as he and the Toppats were escorted to their holding cell.

Henry and the other fellow, Thomas, hadn't said anything more after their capture. Charles had tried to apologize to Henry for getting him into this, but he said nothing. There had been silence a few moments before Thomas had said: "Selective mute. He usually signs, not that I understand it. Been meanin' to learn, though."

A quick threat against Henry's life had silenced him, however, and they had finished the trip in silence. Charles could tell how much Dmitri wanted to kill Henry, to be the one to say "I defeated the Toppat king!", but he couldn't just kill him. He was already on thin ice from the way he ran his prison.

"In ya go. We'll be separating you into different cells soon." Grigori grunted, shoving Charles in. He yelped a bit at the roughness, almost falling before be managed to catch himself. The pilot glared after the guard as he locked the cell and walked away, shouting something in Russian. He glanced at the other person in the room, a red-haired woman with emerald green eyes. She glanced up at them almost curiously, but didn't say anything.

"So, the Toppat Clan. Why?" Charles looked at Thomas, who blinked in surprise.

"Got framed for something I didn't do." He sighed. "I was cellmates with a Toppat, he helped me get out and offered to put in a good word for me. Who was I to turn down a roof over my head and dinner every night?"

"Do you regret it?" Charles frowned.

"Not for a second. We're family there, and my life wouldn't be the same without them." Thomas smiled. "It may not seem it, but we all love each other."

That was surprisingly simple, and Charles could understand that. He couldn't imagine how his life would have ended up if he didn't join the military. "What about Henry? I mean, it hasn't been that long but you guys seemed pretty familiar with him."

"Henry was born into the Clan." Thomas explained. "His father was the leader before Reginald, Terrence Suave. Terrence was a horrible leader, launched raids and heists for the thrill, got people captured, injured and killed and just didn't care about the Clan. Right and Reginald actually took to raising Henry, even more so after his Mother disappeared after a raid. We ended up overthrowing him after soldiers got onto the airship, usually we'd throw leaders like that overboard but..." He sighed. "Well, he was threatening to shoot Reginald in the throat, so that wasn't an option. Well, Henry was just six at the time, and he ended up seeing. Ran away not long after that."

Charles looked over at Henry, who was preoccupied investigating every centimeter of the cell. If he was listening to them talk, he wasn't showing it. "Why do you think he rejoined?"

"Self-preservation, most likely." The Toppat replied. "Why else? It certainly doesn't seem like he had much else if he actually went through with capturing Reginald. I heard you said you were going to pardon him, but if he was famous enough for you to hunt down, who's to say anyone would actually hire him after that?" He paused. "Also, Right is the scariest man alive and Reginald is his husband. That's a death wish right there, no matter who you are."

"I hate that you're right." Charles muttered. "Henry didn't seem have anything else. He was barely getting by by the looks of it. I felt bad for him, even if he is a criminal. No one should have to worry about if they'll be able to have another meal or if they'll have a roof over their head by the time the week ends."

"So we can agree on some things." Thomas laughed a bit. Henry cleared his throat, gesturing up to the vent. "Oh, got an idea, Henry?"

He nodded, glancing at their other cellmate. "Hm?"

She looked at him, brows furrowing. "What?"

"Are you coming?" Thomas asked, walking over to prop Henry up and watching as he wiggled up into the vent. "You might not get another chance."

"I don't have anything else to lose." She shrugged. "The name's Ellie."

"Thomas. That's Henry and, uh..." Thomas looked at Charles.

"Charles Calvin." He gave her a nod. "I was supposed to break in and get evidence so the government can shut this place down for good, but I was caught."

"Government working with Toppats!" Thomas laughed as a ladder descended, Henry peering over the hole at them before disappearing again. "Never thought I'd see the day. I'm not complaining, though. I'll take friends where I can find them."

Charles was the last to climb up, seeing the others freeing themselves by banging the cuffs off a convenient rock.

"Where to next?" Ellie asked as Charles got his cuffs off.

"If we could find a communications room I could call the general." Charles offered.

Thomas and Henry gave him unamused looks.

"Ah, right. Toppats. You could call them...?"

"It'd be too dangerous." Thomas shook his head. Henry tugged on his sleeve, whispering something in his ear. "Oh, that might work."

"What'd he say?"

"He said if we can steal a phone we can try to sneak out and call them once we're a safe distance away." Thomas replied. "They may not be happy to have Charles back on the ship, but maybe we can work something out with the General."

"Like what?" Charles tilted his head.

"Helping you take down the Wall if you leave us alone?" Thomas suggested. "You can't currently pin us to any crimes, anyway. Why not work with us for once?"

"Not sure General Galeforce will agree, but it's worth a shot." Charles smiled as Henry lead the way through the vent. "You know, maybe this won't be so bad!"

__________________________________

Ellie wasn't sure what to think.

She'd heard of the Toppat Clan once or twice, she knew they were some kind of criminal organization. But she didn't know much.

Oh well, she wasn't going to skip out on a chance to escape, and potential protection. She was curious on why they were helping her, though. Maybe they expected her to join them? She guessed it didn't really matter.

What mattered now was getting out.

"What now?" Ellie asked, frowning.

"I saw a truck on our way in. If we can sneak out three of us can hide in the back while the other drives away." Charles pipped up.

"How do we get out there?" Thomas asked.

"What if we started a riot? The guards would be distracted." Ellie offered.

Henry nodded, giving her a thumbs up, before sliding open a vent above them and poking his head out. He gestured Ellie forward, slipping out and creeping near one of the guards. Ellie met his eyes with a nod, and nearly simultaneously the two lunged forward, wrapping an arm around each guard's throat and covering their mouth. "We only have a few minutes to get through before they wake up."

Henry nodded as Charles and Thomas climbed out of the vent. Ellie counted her lucky stars as they headed down the hall, somehow completely unnoticed. Walking up to the glass of the small room in front of them, she peered inside. "If you can get up there, you could drop in and open the door."

"I can do it." Charles offered. "I want to help."

Henry shook his head, pointing to the leg the pilot was limping on. He didn't say or sign anything but the answer was clear: No, not with his leg injured.

"We'll get our chances, Charles." Thomas promised. "But Ellie and Henry aren't wounded. It's best if they do most of the heavy work for now."

He deflated a little bit, and Henry laughed, patting his head before looking at Ellie.

"I don't do this a lot but," she raised her hand. "This is a special circumstance."

The redhead ignored the bewildered stares from Charles and Thomas as she lifted Henry by his throat, without even touching him. Within a few moments he had disappeared over the edge of the wall and was dropping down into the room.

Ellie had no idea what the fuck he ended up doing in there, but the second that door opened, sirens sounded and the doors of the nearby cells opened, too.

The group looked at each other before ducking into a side hallway.

Riot successfully started, time to go!

__________________________________

Thomas leaned against a tree, looking out over the water as the group of four waited for the Toppats to arrive.

They had managed to steal a truck before nearly being run off the road and being forced to flee into the cliffs. Thankfully Thomas had grabbed the phone of one of the guards Ellie and Henry knocked out and called Reginald and Right to come find them.

Needless to say they were more than a little surprised that they'd managed to not only get out, but also start a riot and pick up a new friend, all within two hours.

(Well, Reginald was more than just surprised. Thomas swore that he heard their second in command crying in relief, but it certainly wasn't his place to comment on that.)

He lifted his head as he heard the familiar noise of the airship nearby, watching as a rope ladder was tossed down. He smiled, getting to his feet and extending his hand to Charles. "After you."

The pilot hesitated, looking nervous.

"Don't worry, swear on my honor we won't harm you." He put an arm around his shoulder. "You need your leg and shoulder checked out, I'll be right behind you."

"Promise?" Charles asked, stepping up with a wince.

"Promise." Thomas nodded. "Up you go!"

First Charles started climbing up, Thomas following closely after. Glancing down he saw Henry nudge Ellie up, starting to climb up last.

"There they are!" A shout broke the victorious air around the escapees, a guard pointing to them. "Don't let them get away!"

"Start pulling them up!" Thomas heard Reginald order. "If a single one is dropped, I swear, I will-"

He didn't hear the rest of the threat, yelping and grabbing onto his top hat as a bullet sailed past his head, hitting the rim of his hat. He saw someone pull Charles up to safety before reaching back down for him.

Thomas blessed the stars for the fact that it was harder to hit a target who was suspended in midair and moving. He grunted as he was pulled up next, reaching down to help Ellie up before reaching for Henry.

There was another gunshot, and time seemed to stop.

Henry's eyes widened as the bullet tore through his back, hitting the airship after ripping free of his chest. For a heartbeat there seemed to be no movement before Thomas realized Henry was falling back.

"NO!" Desperately the Toppat lunged forward, only stopped from falling by Ellie grabbing him. Helplessly he watched as Henry fell to the jagged rocks and freezing water at the bottom of the cliff, frozen as the airship pulled away before the guards could hit anyone else.

He glanced back up at the cliff, seeing Dmitri with his arm extended, barrel of his gun still smoking and a semi-satisfied look on his face.

It took a few minutes for the absolute irony of the situation to hit him.

Henry Stickmin, leader of the Toppat Clan, had just survived escaping an absolute death trap of a prison, where no one left unless they were dead.

And now he was gone once again.

Numbly, Thomas got to his feet, realizing Reginald was on his knees next to him, staring blankly at where Henry had fallen. Taking a deep breath, he helped his leader up, wrapping an arm around his shoulders comfortingly.

Neither Toppat said anything, but they didn't really need to.

All they needed was a few minutes.

[satud2]

Isolated by Death - Chap 4: 1928

Summary:

Beyond the veil is a thriving, exciting, marvellous world. Of colour and music. But regrets will latch on and fester. And words left unspoken in life can return to haunt those in death.

Sequel to Proud Corazón. Spoilers ahead. Relationship field left intentionally blank.

[Chapter One: 1921]  [Chapter Two: 1922] [Chapter Three: 1923-1927]

Excerpt beneath the break.

Ernesto de la Cruz poured another shot of tequila. Hesitated, glanced suspiciously at the closed door, then filled the second shot glass on the table. Clinked the bottom of his glass with the rim of the other and downed his drink. It burned down his throat. Lit a fire in his belly.

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Propped shiny boots on the table. Rested a hand briefly on his stomach.

He was a success. The greatest musician of all time. He played in front of crowds packed so tight that it was standing room only. He delivered impromptu concerts on street corners and on train platforms to adoring crowds. Women couldn’t get enough of him. Men admired and envied him. He was producing his third album. A short one, of course. There were only a limited number of new songs he could draw from. There was talk of putting him in movies. When they perfected sound, of course. He was charismatic and talented, but without his voice he didn’t have a lot to offer. His voice and Héctor’s songs.

He filled the shot glass. Tapped it against the full one and downed it again. It was very good. Smooth and easy to drink. Could be dangerous under the wrong circumstances.

He opened a drawer of his desk without looking. Fished around until his hand bumped against a leather notebook. He pulled it out. Looked at it with the vague disinterest of someone rapidly careening past tipsy and into full on drunk. He put his glass down. Filled it with a shaking hand. Opened the notebook and flipped through the pages.

Carefully drawn staves. Keys and chords and notes pencilled in with a sure hand. The words beneath printed clearly so they could be easily read. And, tucked safely in the pages, a letter. A letter that had been given to him to send off three days before the most important decision of his life.

--Read more on AO3