#god i need like. a cauldron or something. really commit to the bit

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

Factually, I understand the process of boiling leaf litter that I have collected from my backyard is logical, I don't want to introduce anything potentially harmful into my isopod enclosure

on the other hand

boiling pot of leaves is REALLY giving kid-making-leaf-brew-like-a-makebelieve-witch vibes

[chalkrevelations]

So, Word of Honor, Episode 36 (and “Episode” 37) again, because I want to do a little bit more unpacking of this, particularly with some of the extra material and information that people have been able to point me to.

Spoilers, obvs. For right now, I mainly want to pull out this bit of my initial reaction to 36 & 37, because I think it remains a key point for me:

It would be nice, though, if the connective tissue from 36 to 37 made any sense. Or existed whatsoever. Just, like, throw me a bone, show, some kind of explicit hand-waviness that actually gets mentioned for why Ye Baiyi apparently was not as smart as he thought he was and didn’t really know what he was talking about when he was doomsaying about how one of the pair will surely, oh surely perish. None of this “Sooooo, they managed to figure out the technique and master it?” from some random shidi who never actually gets an answer. I mean, the door was left open for fanwankery on this one, with what looks to be a very last-minute conceit of all this being a story told by grown-up Chengling to his disciples, which begs the question of how much of what he’s telling them is totally accurate, given any number of issues …

I do feel like there’s an interesting meta thing going on here, in that the entire show has been about – let’s be honest, it was never really about the plot – queer-coding this couple in ways that supposedly fly enough under the radar that people can handwave them as Just Good Friends and Brothers (I mean, I guess) with a Bury Your Gays tragic ending (ugh) for good measure. And Chengling is telling a story in-universe that seems to conform to some of this same formula. And yet, we all know well and good that these guys were husbands … So are we supposed to carry the same assurance out of the show, on a meta level, that what appears to be happening in the story at the end of Ep 36 – what we discover we’re learning through Chengling’s story-telling, isn’t really the truth? Just, look: While we’re getting the Good Friends and Brothers push, there’s stuff like obvious voice-over work that doesn’t match the much more queer version of what the actors actually said, which is apparently blazingly clear to any viewers who know Mandarin and can manage to lip-read. The show has literally put de-queered words into these characters’ mouths. You can’t trust what you hear. But apparently the show has also made this obvious enough that, if you’re a good enough speaker of the language the show is being told in, and you have a good enough eye, you can see what is actually going on. Are we being taught to trust our eyes more than our ears, are we being told that what we’re being told – by the end of Ep 36 on a meta level, by Ye Baiyi-through-Chengling’s-story on an in-universe level, and by what we learn about what happened from Chengling’s story, itself, also on an in-universe level – is inherently untrustworthy, but that if we “speak the language” of this show well enough, and have a good enough eye, we can decode it and see what “actually” happened and is later made explicit in Ep 37? 

So, that’s a lot, but the reason I wanted to pull it back out is because I feel like this no-homo, surface-level, smoke-and-mirrors effect that gets layered over a queer bedrock of “reality” is precisely what the show did with its ending, and I want to approach that on a couple of different levels. Particularly since I’ve seen several reactions from other people who didn’t seem to have seen/didn’t have access to the extra of “Ep” 37, or who also found it difficult and vaguely unsatisfying to make the leap from Ep 36 to full belief in, and commitment to, “Ep” 37.

When I first posted this, I was really leaning on the idea of a classic Rashomon effect, given that we see – imho – a final Zhou Zishu/Wen Kexing scene in Ep 36 that’s filmed to lead us to believe that Wen Kexing died, with a subsequent cut to Zhang Chengling wrapping up a telling of the “story” of ZZS and WKX to his disciples. The easiest fanwank on this is that all of what we’ve seen so far has been Chengling telling the story of ZZS and WKX to his disciples, making him an unreliable narrator who in fact doesn’t know the truth of what really happened. I was actually reminded of the contrast in The Untamed (god, I don’t need to warn for spoilers for The Untamed, do I, we’ve all seen Chen Qing Ling at this point, right? Anyway, SPOILERS FOR THE UNTAMED) between the cliff scene in Episode 1 when they make it look like Jiang Cheng stabbed Wei Wuxian, leading to his fall off the cliff, and you go back later and realize this is the version that the storyteller was telling to the people in the teahouse vs. Episode, god, what is it, 33? When we see the cliff scene in “real” time, and discover that’s not what actually happened, that what happened is that Jiang Cheng stabbed a rock and Wei Wuxian shook himself free of Lan Wangji’s grip to fall to his death. You can’t trust what you hear. Also … well, we’ll get back to Chengling in a minute.

The second level of uncertainty to unwind is Gao Xiaolian calling bs on Chengling’s story. So, I felt like the kid who’s practicing his forms in the snow and being coached by ZZS in “Ep” 37 might actually be someone, not just a random kid, and that might be important, but I could not for the life of me figure out who he might be. I wasn’t aware until I watched some of AvenueX’s wrap-up of the show (I think that’s the first place I heard this info pointed out) that this kid is supposed to be the son of Gao Xiaolian and Deng Kuan, and the dad who comes to take him home is Deng Kuan (formerly Da-shixiong of Yueyang Sect, who – let’s face it – Gao Xiaolian really wanted to marry). Seriously, I spent so much time making fun of ZZS’s stupid facial hair tricks in this show, and then they actually do just put a dumbass mustache on a guy, and I completely don’t recognize him. I have to admit, the mustache threw me enough that I had no idea that was Deng Kuan (well, and maybe only seeing him for three episodes also helped). But if that’s Deng Kuan, and if the kid is his and Gao Xiaolian’s son, then she would have some reasonable standing to know a story detailing WKX’s death was bs.

 Finally, and most crucially – thanks to everyone who directed me to resources (including AvenueX and other fans who were able to do some translation) who were able to talk about the voiceover work in this final ep, because when I talk about how you can’t trust what you hear, but if you speak the language well enough and have a good enough eye, you can catch what’s really going on? When I talk about de-queered words being put into these character’s mouths? Apparently, this is what happens to Chengling in the final scene. That last scene - and the story he tells his disciples - apparently DOES provide the connective tissue from Ep 36 to Ep 37, but you can’t trust what you hear. Apparently, this is one of the places where you can see something different from what you hear if you’re able to lip-read, with Chengling telling the disciples something much closer to the idea that two people who love each other equally can equally support each other through this cultivation technique and both come out alive.

In the AvenueX discussion of this (Livestream #21, starting around 1:22:30), there’s an additional tidbit about the use of the word “cauldron” – I believe by Ye Baiyi - to describe one person in the pair, a word with a specific and widely-understood meaning within the genre that’s not necessarily known outside of the genre with, yes, sexual connotations. (Come on, slash fans, don’t tell me you don’t giggle every time you pass a perfectly innocent Jiffy Lube auto shop, at something that the mundanes don’t think twice about.) Apparently, “cauldron” is in the script, I believe it’s in the English subs, and it apparently was in the original Chinese subs, until too many people started talking about it and how it had been slipped past censorship, because it’s a perfectly common Jiffy Lube auto shop, right? and then it appears Youku went back and changed the character in the Chinese subs to something that doesn’t even make any sense. So again, we get an example of a case where if you’re a good enough speaker of the language this show is being told in – in this case the vernacular of wuxia – with a good enough eye, you can catch what’s really going on. Something that then gets no-homo’d. And has some nonsensical de-queered meaning laid over top of it. How many times do we have to do this until we learn the lesson that you can’t trust what you hear?

 ANYWAY, I’m wondering if the visuals are important, too: Something we see in the last scene with ZZS and WKX in Ep 36, when WKX is either unconscious or dead (CLEARLY UNCONSCIOUS), is that ZZS – twice – doesn’t let WKX’s hands fall. He catches him by the wrists and then catches him again by the hands as WKX’s hands start to slip away from ZZS’s hands – aaaannnnd end scene. I have to wonder if that’s not a subtle but important detail, that we see ZZS refusing to let WKX physically slip away, and maybe, by implication, refusing to let WKX slip away from him into death.

Also, again with Ye Baiyi – in the flashback when WKX is yelling at ZZS, Ye Baiyi says “No one dies!” as he comes bursting into WKX’s sickroom. And then even reiterates it – “No one dies before me!” But then the voiceover during the qi transfer, he’s supposedly going on about here’s how WKX is going to have to kill himself to save his husband? I think the script has dropped the ball in a few places, but that would really be a tremendous flub. That also deserves some unpacking, but I’m running out of free time right now.

So, just some additional thoughts. I will probably have more, but next up, I think, will be a re-watch from the beginning.

One last thought, tho’: What’s the likelihood that Nian Xiang is Actual A-Xiang and Goa Xiaolian’s/Deng Kuan’s kid is Cao Weining, reincarnated?

[totentanz]

Shi Mei, Mo Ran, and Injustice

I finally finished Erha, and…well. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I think there are a lot of interesting themes running through it regarding redemption and forgiveness and how do we determine what is just and what is cruel, and yet I feel that those ideas are never interrogated to the extent that they could be. The respective endings of Shi Mei/Hua Binan and Mo Ran leave me feeling a bit cold, mostly because both of their story lines directly touch on these themes and yet they don’t quite seem to know what they want to say about them? They’re just kind of left hanging?

(Fair warning, this isn’t really a structured meta and it doesn’t really reach any grand conclusions; it’s mostly me just rambling on about some thoughts I had.)

So, the atrocity within the cultivation world that really sets the novel’s entire plot in motion is the systematic dehumanization and exploitation of the Butterfly Boned Beauty Clan. The beauties are a race descended from demons that cultivators see as being good for only two things: serving as human cauldrons to increase cultivation (so basically, get raped so their rapists can increase their spiritual power) or being eaten outright or having their bodies harvested to turn into high-level medicines.

Hua Binan wants this to end. He wants his people to return to the Demon Realm, where they’ll have access to their spiritual power and won’t have to worry about being bred like livestock and cannibalized. The kicker is that doing so requires the Path of Martyrdom, which has to be constructed from the flesh, blood, and bone of so many people that it basically requires killing pretty much everyone in the world. One atrocity begets another; in order to save his people from murder, Hua Binan commits murder on a massive scale. And yet Hua Binan’s path is thematically similar to what Mo Ran did to his childhood tormentors—Mo Ran killed everyone in the Drunken Jade Pavilion, either with a machete or by burning them alive after he set the building on fire, and he didn’t discriminate between the ones who had directly harmed him and the ones who just happened to be there.There’s a definite parallel in how these characters are responding to violence with more violence, yet one of them is spared while one of them is crushed.

Just as Mo Ran’s actions led to his new life as a young master at Sisheng Peak, Hua Binan is about to achieve a new life within the Demon Realm. His machinations finally allow him to forge the Path of Martyrdom, the gates to the Demon Realm open, and the Butterfly Boned Beauties are allowed to go home. And then comes the kicker: Hua Binan’s father is descended from a god, and so he cannot be allowed to enter the demon realm. The doors to the demon realm begin to close, heedless of the beauties who have yet to enter (regardless of whether or not those beauties have any god blood!), and Hua Binan, desperate to save his people, pulls on his newly unlocked spiritual power to hold the doors open just long enough for the rest of his people to pass through to safety, then he’s brutally crushed.

On the one hand, it’s easy to say that Hua Binan got what he deserved. The Path of Martyrdom was brutal, built on the blood and bone of everyone regardless of whether they deserved to be sacrificed or not (and who can possibly be the judge of that?), and Hua Binan has responded to the genocide of his people by instigating another genocide. He shouldn’t be rewarded for killing everyone in the world, and his choice to die for the sake of his people but not reap the benefits of mass murder is fitting.

But if Hua Binan gets what he deserved, then I have trouble with how Mo Ran’s story line plays out. Their death scenes are remarkably similar: Mo Ran/Taxian Jun maintains the Black Tortoise Spirit Foundation in order to allow the cultivators to pass through the Gate of Time and Space and Life and Death to safety, just as Hua Binan held open the door to the demon realm to allow the beauties to pass through; and just like Hua Binan’s body was slowly crushed by the closing doors, his own body slowly dissolves into dust. Both of them sacrifice themselves to ensure the safety of others.

Yet Mo Ran is ultimately spared. He’s spared because he was a Butterfly Boned Beauty all along, even if he didn’t know it—because of course, he’s a super special Butterfly Boned Beauty who didn’t have the physical giveaway of crying golden tears but has the ability to cultivate an incredibly strong golden core. There’s something about this that just feels a bit too neat and tidy. Mo Ran is a Butterfly Boned Beauty, but he can safely pass as a regular cultivator and didn’t feel the same fear that constantly tore into Hua Binan. Mo Ran can stay within the Demon Realm, embrace his heritage as a Butterfly Boned Beauty, and live an extended lifespan because he did so much to aid the beauties. And yet, everything that he did for them—the Forbidden Techniques, the creation of chess pieces to create the Path of Martyrdom—was ultimately done at the behest of Hua Binan. Mo Ran has never dedicated himself to the cause of the beauties to the same extent that Hua Binan did and has never taken their cause as his own. He felt bad for Song Qiutong at the auction, but we never really see him engaging with the systematic exploitation of an entire group of people outside of this incident.

And Mo Ran’s grace isn’t based on an idea of morality being rewarded. The Demon Realm doesn’t care if he killed a bunch of people under someone else’s control or not; it doesn’t care if he killed people at all, as long as it’s done for a purpose the demons agree with. Mo Ran being a beauty feels like a deus ex machina in the worst sort of way, a last minute addition to tie the plot work even if it isn’t thematically integrated.

And Shi Mei? The last one of the Butterfly Boned Beauties who were exploited for so long, who lost his eyesight and didn’t return to the Demon Realm? The last we hear of him, he’s wandering the world as a blind cultivator, living a life of atonement, calling himself a sinner, and healing others with his own flesh. Did he get what he deserved? He let Chu Wanning go and dedicated his life to helping others, but is he truly free of the fear that has followed him his entire life? If word gets out that he’s the last beauty, will he be hunted down and harvested like his kin, even after everything else he’s done? We don’t know.

And that’s the thing: we never find out if the rest of the world ever reckons with the harm it’s done to the Butterfly Boned Beauty Clan. Honestly, one of my biggest frustrations with the beauties is that they are the point around which the entire plot revolves, and yet there is so little time actually spent on them—we get Song Qiutong’s auction scene, Hua Binan’s info dump to Chu Wanning, and that’s pretty much it. One of the questions that I feel that Erha could have really engaged is if genocide really needs to be responded to with genocide—were there other options that the beauties could take?

Erha rests on a backdrop of societal injustice and exploitation, and yet it never commits to actually addressing it. It’s leaving me frustrated. It’s such a big question, and yet it never really asks the readers to engage with it. Mo Ran is forgiven! Hua Binan gets his comeuppance! Shi Mei is...who knows! It’s wrapped up so neatly, when these themes are anything but neat.

[mrpenguinpants]

Lisa and Diluc: Book Bonding HCs

Ah..I remember getting this so long ago..and only now am I writing it. I am so sorry inquiring anon I hope you are still there;; But don’t worry too much^^ and I totally get the Lisa and Diluc ship. The manga gave them some moments and Lisa is so mysterious but I’m into it. I might have piggybacked off it hehe. 

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Okay, today’s appreciation post goes to sweetstrawberrybabe. I’m going to see if I add people’s @ in the tag list then maybe tumblr will be okay with it. [WHY ARE YOU NOT OKAY WITH IT] Hopefully. Honestly, with you I don’t think it matters since you’re mach 20 speed and I can always count on you to pop up in my activity haha. But ty for the really fast and constant support and I love the aesthetic of your blog. 

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[taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@hanniejji  @mikeysbike @unionwitch @musekala @twistedsunnshiii @stanzastic @akaasea @xoneaboveallx @adoring-ghost @asheseiler @childelover @dilucsz​ 

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Lisa and Diluc: Book Bonding HCs

It first started when Jean had sent Lisa to investigate Diluc about the evil eye delusion his father had. He was in the garden at the time and it was her first time visiting this specific part of the Dawn Winery. She and Diluc were more on acquaintance terms, both of them working in their own way to protect and serve the City of Freedom, but not close enough to be considered close friends. It was a bit of a passing joke she made when she recommended him a gardening book specifically on cecilia flowers that was in a specific section in the library.  That if he ever decided to switch career’s and become a florist she would have the book on hold. 

As much of an intellectual Lisa was, she couldn’t peer into the future, so she was a bit surprised to see Diluc walk into the library right when it struck noon. His aloof nature only made him nod at her before he retreated to a corner to the library. Well, it didn’t matter to Lisa. Just so long as he was quiet and didn’t disturb anyone else then he could do what he wanted. He never took out a book out, just simply flipping through the collection Mondstadt had to see if anything peaked his interest. After a while of him loitering and scanning the pages, Lisa had enough of this awkward tension and recommended that if we was interested in cecilia flowers, it was on the bottom floor, right most corner. 

From then on, it seemed to be almost a weekly ritual. Diluc would come in and Lisa would direct him to a different part of the library that she thought he might be interested in. First starting with things that the winery business man that Diluc was would be interested in. Different plants that could be added to distill wine or how potatoes could make something call vodka only seen in Snezhnaya. But then it turned into personal interests, Lisa was well aware of Diluc’s night activities so she recommended books written by Fyodor Dostoevsky. He simply sighs under his breath and mentioned he already read it before. She chuckled at that and said that Kaeya had mentioned he read it when he was young. She was simply wondering if he would humour her or not.  

Lisa still keeps her charming persona and was never bothered by Diluc’s aloof personality and likewise, Diluc respects her but never understood why she only remains as the Favonius librarian. He’s seen the “cauldron” she made and that she only uses it for warming tea. Lisa catches on quick to his shifting attention and invites him for tea time. At first Diluc declines, he’s far to busy to be having “tea time” which cause Lisa to chuckle. 

Lisa enjoys the small things in life. Even when she has to collect overdue books it’s a time for her to catch up with others and enjoy the slowness of the days. While her life is a nice and steady drawl, Diluc’s is always set to max with broken brakes. She always feels a tiny bit of pity whenever Diluc makes his weekly visits to see if anything new or interesting came in, which she’s always happy to provide, but she can’t help but feel this is his little escape. Even if Diluc’s stay is short it’s nice to see him wander about rather than staying cooped up in the tavern or working on what the winery needs. 

Diluc began to find his weekly visits with Lisa slow but pleasant. Walking into the quiet but warm library early in the morning to see the ever present librarian sitting at the counter like a languid cat, yawning and giving him a small wave, mentioning that Sarah finally found the overdue book she was missing and if he was interested in reading it, before going back to her nap. She always offered for him to stay a bit and keep her company but even still, Diluc always declined. 

Until one day, Diluc found himself with a free day and found himself back at the library. Lisa seems a bit surprised to see him on an off day but smiles charmingly and offers once again, if he would like to keep her company and have some tea together. To his surprise, he agrees. 

It became a bit of a tradition for them both. Diluc would come in at least once a week, ask if she had any thing to recommend, she would point him to a section on the library, and they would have tea together until it was time for him to leave. During their tea time chats they always seem to talk about everything and nothing. It was fitting that Lisa was the librarian since she herself had a library of information and trivia locked tight in her mind but sometimes they just sat in silence and read. They still aren’t on the same page as close friends but they are definitely closer than acquaintances. But the day is too slow and too fast to worry about labels. 

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I FINISHED MY QUOTA!! I ended up just writing this at work on my phone so if there’s any typo’s that’s probably why. God, why do we live in a society that needs money. I want to go back to caveman times where we 1v1 for a dying corpse of an animal. Time to commit sleep [I’ll answer everyone tmr^^] and hopefully wake up at 6 so I can get a few hours head start on the next fics. 

I don’t want to make these shorter than my usual posts because people have been waiting on them for a very very long time but holy jesus I might have to because I can’t keep up. I’m going to crash and burn one day and sleep the entire 24 hours. But we’re gonna try! Tomorrow’s 3 fics are on Diluc and Childe. 

[k-llama-llama]

The Swap

TXT AU: 6th member

Sara x TXT

Sara meets Sumi for a gift exchange...and important conversations.

A/N: Please check out my PATREON (patreon.com/kllamallama) for exclusive posts you can’t get anywhere else, as well as lots of other cool benefits!

Requests are closed, but your feedback is still greatly appreciated!

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

“Hello?” A familiar voice rang through the intercom.

“Hello?” Sara leaned forward. “Eonnie? It’s Sara.”

“Soo-ji! Come on up!” The door buzzed open and Sara stepped through.

She hadn’t really known what to expect when Sumi had invited her over for coffee, but it definetely wasn’t what she saw when she walked through the door.

Whether or not she’d envisioned some sort of terrifying lair, probably with a fire pit and a cauldron, that wasn’t what she got. Sumi’s door was unlocked and open, and the inside was festive and cozy to the point of looking like a Hallmark movie.

“Eonnie?” Sara called, closing the door behind her and slipping out of her shoes. “Are you in here?”

“In the kitchen!”

Sara placed her coat on the coat hook and walked cautiously into the apartment. Her bag hung heavy from her hand, as if aware that it could potentially be responsible for the beginning or end of Sumi and her friendship.

“Are you cooking something?” Sara asked, when the older girl finally came into view.

She wasn’t sure what it was about Sumi that made her always want to keep a step back. Sure, Sumi was pretty, but not intimidatingly so like Zoey. Instead, Sumi was poised and put-together in a way that made Sara always feel like she’d somehow failed. Even right now, she was setting the timer on the over, which should’ve been a normal domestic task, but she was wearing silk pyjama pants and a white cropped sweater that Sara was pretty sure she’d seen on the cover of a magazine.

“Frozen pizza.” Sumi answered. “And hey! I’m so glad you could make it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Sara said, tucking the bag behind the counter. “I was kind of surprised you invited me, to be honest.”

“Me too, honestly.” Sumi laughed. “But I get sick of hanging out with the boys, so I thought it might be nice for the two of us to do something.”

“Do something...like coffee?”

Sumi shrugged. “The two of us in public might draw attention. My face is kind of on every building, and your face is kinda...well...”

“Well?”

“It might draw some attention.” Sumi winked. “You look super cute, by the way.”

Sara looked down at her outfit. Black skinny jeans, a flannel, and that was pretty much it.

She rubbed her sleeve. “It’s cold out...so...”

Sumi gave her a small smile. “Sit down. I got you a Christmas present.”

“Really? I did-”

“I hope you like it.” Sumi didn’t seem to realize she’d cut the younger girl off, and Sara just sat silently on a stool at the counter. “It might not be your thing, but I thought that just around the house. I just thought the colour would really suit you.” She looked at Sara expectantly.

Sara blinked. “Eonnie, I haven’t opened it yet.”

“Oh right!” She ducked under the counter, standing with such enthusiasm that she knocked her head as she stood. “OW!”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She stood, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m used to it. Here, open it.”

She slid a flat box across the counter. It was wrapped in tissue paper, obviously done at a store, with a very expensive looking gold ribbon. Sara carefully took it, undoing the ribbon and opening the box before Sumi bounced out of her shoes.

“A sweater?” She looked down at the red knit.

“Take it out!” Sumi exclaimed.

Sara picked the sweater up, lifting it out so she could full see it. It was a cropped sweater, with very wide, almost off-the-shoulder sleeves, with a ribbon design crossing the back.

“It’s very pretty.” She offered.

Sumi deflated. “You don’t like it.”

“No, I do!” Sara quickly protested. “I just...don’t usually wear cropped. Or anything that shows off this much skin.”

“I know.” Sumi nodded. “But you can always wear a tank top under it. It’s just the coziest, and I had a feeling that red would just suit you so well.”

“It’s really nice.” Sara promised, moving to fold it back up.

“Are you going to try it on?” Sumi asked. “If you really hate it on, I’ll just get you a new phone or something.”

“Eonnie, you don’t have to. I-” At Sumi’s insistent look she sighed. “I don’t have a tank top here.”

Sumi shrugged. “It’s just us girls. Just to see if it fits?”

Sara swallowed. She wasn’t wrong. And it would be rude not to, especially when she looked at the tag and realized how expensive it must of been.

“Is there somewhere I can change?” She asked quietly.

“Bathroom is down the hall on the left.”

Sara took the sweater and walked down the hall, ducking into the bathroom and locking the door behind her. She peeled off her flannel and yanked the sweater over her head before she could chicken out. 

She studied herself in the mirror. The sweater stopped right at the bottom of her ribcage, showing off most of her stomach. The top hung right on the edge of her shoulders, revealing her bra straps, and she was pretty confident that she’d tangled the ribbons in the back.

She bit her lip, considering her figure. She was slim, sure, but she didn’t have Sumi’s smooth, tapered waist, or the abs sported by dancers like Tori or Zoey. If she had to describe her waist, she’d probably use the word boring, because it lacked all of the hourglass curves that idols were supposed to have. But it didn’t look horrible.

She swallowed turning away. She just needed to show Sumi that she appreciated her gift, and then she could take it off.

“I think I messed up the ribbons.” She muttered, coming back into the kitchen. Her arms crossed awkwardly over her middle, trying to hide what the sweater wasn’t.”

“I don’t blame you. It was super complicated in the store. You-” Sumi turned around. “Wait, what?”

Sara’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”

“Why do you look so hot?” Sumi demanded, hurrying over and walking in a circle around the younger girl. “And yes, you really fucked up the ribbons. Let me help.”

Sara carefully dropped her arms as Sumi adjusted the ribbons. “It looks okay?”

“It looks great.” Sumi promised. “It’s probably a good thing you don’t like to show off in public. I think you might break the internet.”

“I don’t know about that.” 

Sumi paused in her lacing, before coming around to stand in front of Sara. She leaned against the counter, looking focused as she collected her thoughts.

“Can I ask you something?” She finally said.

“Sure.” Sara focused on the timer on the stove behind Sumi.

“Why don’t you like to wear crop tops?” Sumi asked. “I know you said you aren’t comfortable with it, which is totally okay. But...it’s just personal preference, right?”

Sara shrugged. “I just don’t think they really suit me.”

“Why not?” Sumi asked, sounding genuinely curious. “Because I’m in a committed relationship and I’m a little conflicted with how good you look right now.”

Sara snorted. “I just...I don’t really have like an...’idol’ figure, you know?”

Sumi looked a little offended. “What’s an ‘idol’ figure?”

Sara swallowed. “You know, like...that.” She gestured at Sumi.

Sumi looked down, then back up at Sara. “Girl, do not get me started on ridiculous beauty standards. You look gorgeous.”

“I don’t feel gorgeous.”

Sumi closed her eyes, sighing deeply before outstretching her hand. “Come here.”

Sara took her senior’s hand, following quietly as she was led over to the couch. Sumi sat her down, sitting next to her, without letting go of her hand.

“You’re allowed to have insecurities.” Sumi said. “We all do. But you can’t let it control your life.”

“Eonnie, no offence. But what would you know about insecurities? You’re the most famous Korean girl in the world.”

Sumi shrugged. “We’ve all got our stuff, Soo-ji. You think there wasn’t a time where I wouldn’t have killed to be as pretty as you? You think I still don’t think that way sometimes?”

“But...” Sara was very confused. “You’re really pretty.”

Sumi sighed. “Back when we debuted, not everyone thought so. And some people were fine with telling me to my face.”

“That’s horrible! Were they stupid?”

Sumi gave a small smile. “Maybe. Or maybe I was, for letting it get to me. But I was lucky, I had friends around me who always build me up. And you do too.”

Sara sighed. “I don’t know if the boys would really be up for this kind of talk.”

“They would be.” Sara promised. “Because it’s important to you and they love you.”

“I guess so.”

“And...” Sumi placed a hand on Sara’s shoulder. “You have me. I know I haven’t been the most welcoming, because if I’m honest, I think I felt kind of threatened by you. But I’m trying to put my insecurities behind me. And I would really, really like to be your friend. If you’ll let me, of course.”

Sara smiled. “I’d really like that.”

“Good.” Sumi took her hand away. “I promise I won’t always try to dress you up like a barbie doll. But I might have to sometimes.”

“It’s okay.” Sara laughed. “Sometimes I think it might be fun.”

“Perfect.” The timer went off on other over. “I know I invited you over for coffee, but what are your feelings about pizza?”

“I always feel good about pizza.” Sara nodded solemnly. “And, I got you a Christmas present too.”

“Wait, really?” Sumi’s face lit up. “Wait, wait, wait. I have to save the pizza before it burns.”

She jumped up from the couch and hurried into the kitchen. Sara followed a little more slowly, fisting her hands in the sleeves of her sweater.

“Save the pizza, Eonnie. It’s the only reason I’m sticking around.” She joked.

“Oh you just be quiet.” Sumi pulled the smoking pizza from the oven, turning the fan on above the stove to avoid setting off the smoke alarm for the third time that week. “I think I saved it.”

“Your present.” Sara lifted her gift bag onto the counter.

“Ohhh!” Sumi grabbed it excitedly, ripping the tissue paper out. “Oh my god, are you serious?”

Sara nodded. “I’m serious.”

Sumi pulled the present out of the bag: revealing a long, flannel shirt that would fall to the middle of her thighs. “This is amazing.”

“It’s my favourite brand.” Sara offered. “They’re really comfy.”

“I can wear it like a dress!” Sumi exclaimed excitedly. “Wait, let me go put it on, and then we can eat pizza.”

Sara walked around the counter. “I’ll cut the pizza. And make coffee?”

“Yes, please!” Sumi was already running towards her bedroom to change.

[silke-doomflare]

Meet the character: Silke

BASICS

► Name ➔  “Silke Doomflare. And yes, it’s got something to do with my profession!”

► Are you single ➔ Silke’s eyes suddenly get a bit wider. She blinks, and then purses her lips, becoming oddly interested in the nearby wall. “It’s complicated.”

► Are you happy ➔  “Mm, yeah, I guess I could say so”, she states after thinking for a moment. “I’m studying things I love, my family is safe and alive, I have a handful of people I could consider my friends.. Can’t really complain, although a little bit more gil wouldn’t hurt...”

► Are you angry? ➔  “Well, usually not. Though, at the moment I’m a bit pissed off at a certain colleague of mine who loudly and unnecessarily harshly judged my thesis of pyromancy in front of our professor and classmates. Like, hellooo? You can give critique and still be polite about it, geez…”

► Are your parents still married ➔  “They are”, Silke nods proudly. "I’ve seen so many broken families lately. I feel very privileged… and lucky.”

EIGHT FACTS

► Birth Place ➔ “I’ve heard it was the place named Skatay Range. But I can’t remember a thing from it. I was so young when I was taken by slavers. So I like to think Kugane as my real birth place, since I grew up there.“

► Hair Color ➔ “Black I guess? At least it was the last time I checked! In bright light it looks like dark grey, though.”

► Eye Color ➔ Silke leans closer, so that the deep turquoise can hardly be missed. "You have troubles with your eyes or what? I happen to partly know a shady medic from a certain dark alley nearby. Want to know the address?”

► Birthday ➔ “Ninth sun of the first astral moon, I’ve heard.”

► Mood ➔ “Right now? I guess I’m feeling somewhat eager. There’s this new portal we’re going to test out tomorrow, and I was permitted to take part in it. Can you believe that? Usually they’re just like ‘no, Silke, don’t touch it, don’t touch anything’, but this time I’m allowed in. They must’ve finally noticed the genius I am.“

► Gender ➔ “God!” Silke yells and gets on her feet, pointing towards the roof. A long silence follows. “Seriously! Have you ever seen me on a battlefield? Have you seen the havoc I’ve --- no? Oh...”

► Summer or winter ➔ “Agh, such a difficult question. I like both. I like to swim and lay on a soft grass under a tree. But then again I also like to drink hot cocoa when it’s cold, wrap myself up into a blanket and watch the flames of our fireplace or snow falling outside.“

► Morning or afternoon ➔ “Afternoon of course? I’m not even awake before noon… no, wait. I like sleeping as well. Both?”

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE

► Are you in love ➔ “Of course I am. If we don’t count the feeling of aether flowing through me while I cast spells and blow things to smithereens, I love most the smell of old tomes, parchment, ink and all sorts of sweets, especially ice-cream. I also love chocobos. If it wasn’t possible to be a mage I’d definitely become a chocobo breeder. Perhaps I’ll become one when my career is over and spells no longer stay in my head. I’ll retire and start breeding chocobos. Yes, a perfect plan!“

► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ “I definitely do! I fell in love with my dog the moment I saw him. Have you ever visited Kugane? Well anyway, they have these small, orange, pointy eared and curly tailed dogs there in almost every house. It’s like their national dog or something, they’re so popular.”

► Who ended your last relationship ➔ “I hate to admit this, but it was him… I thought we were doing fine, but one day he started to complain I didn’t give him enough attention, and that I was studying too much. I mean… how can one even study too much? I don’t get it.“

► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔  “I guess I have. Not on purpose, though! Honestly, some people are so sensitive it’s harder not to break their hearts, geez… What an annoying subject to talk about, anyway.” Silke ruffles her head uneasily.

► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ “Of course not. I wouldn’t be able to ever become an archmage if I wasn’t dedicated to my studies.“

► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ Silke’s usually cheerful expression grows darker suddenly. "My sister. We don’t see very often, but when we do, I try to show my care as much as I can. She’s hanging out with shady folk sometimes, and I can’t help but worry at times will she come home or not.”

► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ “I surely hope not! Would be creepy to have someone admiring you from afar, without letting you know. Isn’t that like stalking? It’s only good manners to make yourself known so we can find out do we get along or not.“

► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ “No, I don’t think so. Or perhaps I once almost did… there was this huge tome - as big as those holy scriptures they have in the cathedral - in a certain old bookstore. The merchant was old as sky and I was afraid they’d close the place soon. And the tome was expensive. I was a lot younger back then and didn’t have much money, and my sister was like ‘no Silke, you totally won’t buy a book written in some dead language no one can read to take more room in your previously cramped room and collect dust.’ At first I was about to leave it at that, but I ended up snitching money from her cache.” Silke grins impishly. “No regrets!”

SIX CHOICES

► Love or lust ➔ “I have to choose again? You’re, like, asking me do I like to enjoy nice things existing or actually take them to be mine.”

► Lemonade or iced tea ➔ “What if I started to ask you annoying questions like strawberries or chocolate? Can’t choose, huh? Huh?”

► Cats or Dogs ➔ Silke falls silent for a moment. “…just when I was yapping at you for silly questions. Dogs all the way! I like cats too, and maybe I would be more of a cat person if my first pet had been a cat. But it was a dog, and there’s no going back!“

► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ “A few best friends, absolutely. I have both, but I’ve noticed I enjoy the company of my closest friends a lot more. You can do all sorts of crazy stuff with them you can’t with anyone else.”

► Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ “Definitely a wild night out! I have romantic nights by myself all the time with wine and chocolate and our fireplace, and I rarely get to go out.“

► Day or night ➔ “I like both, actually. At days I’m studying, and at nights I’m doing my homework.” Silke shrugs and grins.

FOUR HAVE YOU EVERS

► Been caught sneaking out ➔ Silke becomes more serious once more. “Like I told you, I was taken from my original home by slavers. Life wasn’t very nice back then. I tried to run, many times. But I was very small and weak, and they were big, strong and fast.”

► Fallen down/up the stairs ➔ “This actually happened during one of my escape attempts. I was lucky I didn’t die. I still have a scar left.“ Silke lifts her bangs and shows a scar near her temple.

► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ “Freedom. Yes… I think losing our loved ones is the first thing we usually think of when someone asks for the thing we fear the most. But I think losing your freedom would be even worse. If you’re free, you can always start anew, but if you’re being held captive, you can’t do anything. Nothing at all.”

► Wanted to disappear ➔ Silke gives a long look at you and raises an eyebrow again. “Considering the things I just told you, there just may have been such situations...”

FOUR PREFERENCES

► Smile or eyes ➔ “Mmh, both are important, but I think I like eyes more. I’m not a spiritual person, but I still think you can kind of see their soul there. Their essence. If they’re good or evil. The creepiest thing I’ve seen is probably living people with empty eyes, especially those without any kindness in them…”

► Shorter or Taller ➔ “Shorter, definitely. I’m quite short myself despite my heels and I don’t like it when someone looks down on me. Well, most of people  kind of have to, they can’t help it, but you know?“

► Intelligence or Attraction ➔  “Pff, do you even need to ask? Intelligence, of course. There are very few things that… truly infuriate me… But the one thing I absolutely can’t stand in others is chosen stupidity. Yes, chosen! Can you believe, that there truly exists people who don’t want to learn new things, be it about themselves or other people or the world that surrounds them?” Silke starts to imitate an elderly person, talking in a low, hoarse tone: “Silly girl. If we would discover new things or try them out, we would be in a situation we’ve never been in before.” She bursts into a mocking laughter. “Yes, someone really said that to me…”

► Hook-up or Relationship ➔ “Relationship, hands down. I’ve had my share of hook-ups.” Silke apparently can’t stop her eyes rolling towards the roof as a protest.

FAMILY

► Do you and your family get along ➔ “Yeah, we get along very well. I have some arguments every now and then with my two siblings, but nothing too serious.”

► Would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ “Not anymore. It used to be such a mess, though.” Silke lets out an uneasy laugh. “After me and Asagi were adopted, we got our life eventually back together. Despite a few ups and downs it’s been quite stable after that. A place to belong to and meaningful chores do wonders.”

► Have you ever ran away from home ➔ “No, definitely not. My parents have always been reasonable. Even during our wildest teenage years I can’t remember there would’ve been anything too major…“

► Have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ Silke has some difficulties holding back a sudden laughter. "I got kicked out of class, yeah! Though I still think it was unfair towards me. It wasn’t my fault. It was an alchemy class and I guess I had made some miscalculation with my mixture… I tried to tell my professor I’m not quite sure about it, but he just had to go and push his big head too close to the cauldron.”

FRIENDS

► Do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ “No, I don’t hate my friends. If I did, I wouldn’t be friends with them, would I? Some of them have some annoying traits, but... hate? Nah.“

► Do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ "Sadly no… I’ve had some… disappointments. You know, there’s quite a lot of people who seem like they’re good friends, but once you have a bad day, or few bad days, they suddenly disappear and want to hear nothing about it. So weird. I certainly wouldn’t abandon my friends like that.”

► Who is your best friend ➔ “Absolutely Iris. She’s a bit odd sometimes, in a good way though, and her vocabulary is quite vulgar and it upsets some people, but I think it’s hilarious. I’ve never met anyone so quick-witted before. There’s not a single boring moment while she’s around. Oh, and nowadays there’s also this certain miqo’te called Shaura. We haven’t known each other for very long, but just like with Iris, we just clicked right away.“

► Who knows everything about you ➔ “I think my sister might… I’ve tried to keep some secrets from her, like me loaning her gil without asking sometimes, but I think she knows. I have no idea how the heck! I mean, I’m smart, but she’s even smarter… If it was possible, I would like to change brains with her for a day or two. I want to know how she does it.”

[mystech-master]

A while ago, I made a post discussing my thoughts on Nu and Lambda, in it I also described why I personally can’t ship them, even if I also said you could do mental gymnastics to ignore the Saya clone stuff (read it to understand what I mean).

But, they aren’t the only ones to have this issue; What about Noel and Celica, two more MAIN characters who have a similar issue in their storytelling.

I will go into that now, starting with Noel (beware possibly long-ass post)

Noel is one of the main characters, and one of the most important characters in the setting (to many fan’s displeasure), so of course she is highly tied to the MC Ragna, even getting a lot of shippy moments with him. This is in spite of her being a Murakumo.

Now in my Nu and Lambda thing I said that b/c Ars Magus is weird and not an exact science and seem to be made from Saya’s soul not her DNA you could do mental gymnastics to ignore that and make the shipping okay. Could you do that with Noel? I say NO.

Not only is Noel MUCH closer to Saya (seriously put a picture of her next to young Saya from flashbacks and she looks exactly like what she’d grow up to be), but she is also apparently made from the largest chunk of her soul.

The games seem to go along this thought process with her:

Noel is a Murakumo -> Noel is not human -> Noel is a weapon -> cue angst

but the fans have the thought process of

Noel is a Murakumo -> Murakumo Units are clones of Saya -> Saya is Ragna’s sister -> Murakumo Units are clones of Ragna’s sister -> they are Ragna’s sisters.

This gets even more stupid once Izanami comes in and we learn SHE is Saya, not Noel (her being an amnesiac Saya would’ve made things much easier), because then it is like “See, Noel isn’t Saya, THAT’S Saya!”. Also Blazblue has a while thing about roles, like Ragna has ONE little brother and ONE little sister: Jin and Saya, respectively. But fans say he can have multiple little sisters but the story doesn’t because “roles” or whatever (using the weird stage terms that Rachel and Amane use).

Like, here is an idea I had for CS’ plot with more emphasis on Noel actually being Saya rather than just a clone/copy, or at least more focus on her connection with Ragna to HAVE that sibling instead of just taking the “I am not human” thing from the Murakumo:

They escape from the Cauldron at the end of CT, and Ragna now gets a god look at her, maybe he does think that this IS Saya, and you can have a bit of an emotional scene here, but Noel runs off b/c A. she is still shy girl and a MAN is so close to her, and B. this is still the SS-Class Criminal Ragna the Bloodedge. A bit of angst there because Ragna supposedly thought something horrible happened to Saya (based on a flashback in CF with Jubei).

Much, MUCH later, he can meet up with Noel again, before she is kidnapped by Terumi for the final act of being the Godslayer, maybe with Makoto there. This is where they can actually talk and bond for a bit so Ragna has an actual reason to go running off an saving her. This is where Ragna can explain his little sister to the two, maybe thinking that he got Noel confused for Saya since she looks just like her.

But, then they start piecing together everything. Noel has weird memories of Ragna, and she has amnesia from before the destruction of Ibukido after the Ikaruga Civil War. SO, what if Noel IS just an Amnesiac Saya who has trauma induced amnesia from the Ibukido stuff? This is great for Noel because all this time she might also be worried about her humanity after the shit with Nu in CT’s true ending, and maybe a cryptic line from Terumi/Hazama, but now with this information, she reaffirms that she is HUMAN, she has a family (imagine the reaction when she learns that major dickbag Kisaragi is her big brother). We could then maybe cut back to someone watching them cryptically commentating, and when we cut back Noel is in the middle of telling Ragna, her newly re-discovered big brother, about what she’s been up to, her adoptive family and her time at the Military Academy. Maybe here we could also have a gag reel where, like a later one where they try and help Celica improve her sense of direction, Ragna and Noel cook something. We get some fun-sibling time and get to see Ragna’s cooking hobby in semi-canon action. He’d call her Saya, but everyone else calls her Noel since that’s what they know her as (think of it similar to how Vegeta calls Goku by his Sayan name “Kakarot” while everyone else just calls him his Earth name).

THEN we have Terumi come in and kidnap her.

Rachel stops Ragna from running after them for cryptic warning BS, then the fight with Jin, then the fight with Terumi, etc. everything happens the same from there. Only it isn’t some random stranger who Ragna all of a sudden is risking his life for, this is the little sister he lost so long ago.

Then comes the shit with Izanami. One idea that  had was that Noel IS still a Murakumo AND Saya, but she is Saya’s good half fragmented off when Izanami was made. Izanami is one part the Origin’s Drive and one part Saya’s Darkness. So Noel breaking off from Saya is kind of like M.Bison from Street Fighter removing all the good from his soul to use Psycho Power, resulting in Rose.

Then in CP, we can have an extra layer of conflict because Noel is trying to save Tsubaki, who points out that she is affiliated with a wanted criminal, Ragna the Bloodedge. Remember, Noel just wants to be a normal girl with a normal life. She already has the issue of her humanity with being a Murakumo, but then you have the more societal BS of being related to a super criminal. She cannot be ��normal girl“ Noel Vermilion, AND friends with Ragna the Bloodedge, SS-Class Criminal at the same time.

Tell me that wouldn’t all be a really good alternative.

Also being able to refer to the three MCs as “The Siblings” is just so much easier.

and then we got Celica A. Mercury.

she flops back and forth between, Ragna’s mom, and Ragna’s love interest.

Celica A. Mercury in Blazblue Chronophantasma, is well, a Chronophantasma. A copy of someone who isn’t supposed to be alive in the current timeline. Specifically, Celica is the younger sister of the Great Sage Nine, one of the Six Heroes who defeated the Black Beast 100 years before the setting of the games. the ORIGINAL Celica, after the Six Heroes were almost wiped out by Terumi, proceeded to become a nun/sister in a church built over the remains of the Black Beast’s corpse, as she has a unique Order power to nullify seithr. With her healing magic keeping her young and healthy she lived there alone until Jubei brought the three siblings, Ragna Jin and Saya, to be under her care for an undisclosed amount of time. This is where people get her being Ragna’s mom, even thought nuns/sisters are more just general caretakers instead of parents, but she is still a female maternal figure who looked after Ragna so you can see where people get that.

But then you get “teen” Celica, the one the games show in the story. She is from the Dark War, where she actually met Ragna first. Ragna was sent back in time, with Amnesia, to fill the role of the unsung 7th Hero “Bloodedge” and stop the Black Beast for a year allowing Nine to arm humanity with Ars Magus. Celica apparently fell in love with him because she is very affectionate and familiar with Ragna once she is brought to the future as a Chronophantasma.

The story really does ping pong between her being very motherly, specifically her scolding Ragna and Jin for fighting in CP, and just being a naive child, see her complaining when people get on her case about her awful sense of direction. But it is really hard because the image of the sister seems to flash over her, which the other characters seem to notice, but much like Noel and Saya, no one in the story EVER seems to connect the dots and have that change the relationship between them.

Now I personally don’t like the ship because she is a naive child in a woman’s body, with the stupid no sense of direction gag, to her scolding Ragna and Jin as if they were Natsu and Gray from Fairy Tail who are just fighting for some dick measuring contest when we all KNOW the actual reason is more complicated but the story just seems to abandon that and GGRRRR!!!

But, looking at Celica, really you can;t do the whole “Schrodinger’s Relationship” thing like they’re doing with Saya and Noel and the Murakumos. They need to COMMIT, to a role.

If Celica is Ragna’s MOM, no ifs and or buts, then 1. They need to make her less of a cutesy child. and 2. Maybe age up her design, Litchi has the design vibe of someone who is “older” than the cast, maybe something similar to that. Just imagine another angsty scene of Ragna meeting this woman who has the same face as the Sister who raised him who he KNOWS 100% is dead, so no mistaken identity shit like I already suggested with Saya/Noel, and her looking at him with her face is just MOCKING him, especially since his first two meetings with her in CP are after he gets his ass kicked (once after he is sent back in time after Nu kicking his butt, and once after Kagura knocks him out and arrests him). Also you’d have to undo ALL ship teasing in Phase Shift, or just use one of my friend’s ideas and just have Ragna be a reincarnation of Bloodedge instead of going back in time.

If you want Celica to be the cute girl love interest, and this is the option I feel most people would want either b/c shipping or the cute girl waifu factor that Japan likes (I base some of m reasoning based on “could this be made”, then you’d have to undo all connections between Celica and the Sister. My simple idea was instead of Celica living all those years she dies there, but Nine also had a bunch of other caretakers go with her to help take care of the church. I mean Nine is one of the Great Sages AND a member of the Six Heroes you’re telling em she wouldn’t use some of tat fame and authority to make sure his little sister is safe when she is all alone out there. Seems almost out of character with how fiercely protective Nine was of Celica. Of course this all means that the Sister that raises Ragna and the siblings is less important as she is just a nameless backstory character in a similar vein to Noel’s adoptive Parents, but is is a much easier thing to do than the previous option.

Either of those two options are good IMO, but I still think Celica needs to grow up a bit and release how much everyone around her is an asshole before I can fully ship her and Ragna.

So, what do you guys think? Noel being fully Ragna’s sister leading to much more interesting plot stuff, and Celica committing to either the cute girl love interest or mom role. I feel lkike my ideas are good, but what d you guys think?

[writingontheclouds]

How You Get The Girl

Read it on AO3.

Chapter 2. How To Know If A Bloke Fancies You (Spoiler: Ask His Best Mate, He'll Snitch)

Lily,

I know.

Sirius

...

Sirius,

Stop being cryptic and tell me what you know.

Lily

...

Lilyflower,

Something that seemed to have happened on the last night of the term? *wink wink*

Sirius

...

Sirius,

He told you, didn't he?

Lily

...

Lils,

Uh huh he did. That is not the only thing I know.

Are you telling him or should I?

Ecstatic now the unthinkable has happened, Sirius

...

Sirius,

BLACK IF YOU TELL HIM, I SWEAR TO MERLIN AND DUMBLEDORE I WILL END YOU!

So now that you have figured it out, help out a poor soul, will you? Does he still, you know, fancy me?

Waiting impatiently, Lily

...

Lils,

Relax, Red. I'm not telling him.

I will help you, darling. After all, I am the godfather to your first child who you will so kindly name after me.

Sirius

...

Sirius,

Black, you delusional little git. I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF HE STILL FANCIES ME HOW ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT NAMES OF CHILDREN??

About to commit a homicide, Lily

PS. No child of mine will be named after you.

...

Lily,

Ofcourse, he does. He's fancied you for years.

Homicide is quite frowned upon in the society, darling, Sirius

PS You wound me. I'll be talking to James about it.

...

Sirius,

…he does?

Lily

...

Red,

A hundred percent sure he does.

Awaiting red haired babies with Quidditch abilities, Sirius

...

SIRIUS

THANKYOU. You put me out of my misery.

Ignoring the babies jab and prancing around, Lily

PS I should probably stop prancing lest I break my leg.

...

Red,

Keep dancing, but there might be just a teensy bit of a problem.

Sirius

PS I'll send James for your rescue if you do break something.

...

Black,

I’m sending hexes you’ve never heard of in the next letter if you don’t spit it out.

Lily

...

Lily,

He might have not EXACTLY said he still fancied you.

A toad would be highly preferable, I'll have you know, just in case. I hate cockroaches. Sirius

...

Sirius,

.

Lily

...

Lily,

I swear to Merlin’s pinkie I’ve never been frightened more by you.

Alright. He said he's moved on and didn't fancy you anymore.

Also, he might have said he's asking out Emily Cooper from Hufflepuff the week we get back. Might. I'll neither confirm nor deny that for the fear of red heads popping out from underneath my bed and hexing me while I sleep.

Sirius

...

Sirius,

HE'S ASKING OUT EMILY THE TART?!

Insulted, Lily

...

Lily,

Now, now Lilyflower, let's not disrespect others. They've already been on 3 dates this past summer and I'll have you know she's a completely fine bird. Blonde and blue eyed without any anger management issues.

Sirius

...

Sirius,

3 DATES? WHERE DID THAT INFORMATION GO WHEN I ASKED YOU WHETHER HE FANCIED ME OR NOT SIRIUS SODDING BLACK?!

Lily

...

Lils,

Told Isis to peck me, didn't you? She did, and since her temper quite matches yours, I'll have permanent scars from this ordeal.

Just tell him, would you?

Highly annoyed, Sirius

...

Sirius,

No, thank you, I'd rather not get rejected.

Lily

...

Lils,

Trust me, he does. He's just protecting himself from your rejection, it's not the other way round.

In any case, you have a week before September starts. Tick tock, Red, time is ticking. Tell him or you'll lose your only chance. Who knows? Maybe it'll be blond babies I'll be godfathering.

Sirius

...

Lily Evans sat on her desk, the book in her hand long forgotten, with her gaze locked onto the clouds rolling above the little town of Cokesworth. She loved sitting at her study, which had a perfect view of the countryside behind their little house, reading another classic or stargazing.

But today, she sat by the same window, her mind in a whirl, half of her heart hoping to see a grey feathered owl heading towards her house and the other half wanting to fling herself off the darn window and end it all.

Usually, when she was home for breaks, her window always had traffic from a certain female owl delivering colorful little letters and small, friendly chocolate treats from a bespectacled black haired boy she had come to adore. But this summer was a long, hard, dry spell, and Lily often found herself looking out the window with a sorrowed expression, waiting for something that apparently wasn't coming anytime soon.

The summer when she actually wanted to hear from him was when he decided he preferred the silence between them. And Lily was sure this silence would end in her booking herself a ward in psychiatric care at St Mungo's.

She was pulled back into reality when she heard a familiar pecking on her window. Looking up, a barn owl flew right outside her window, with a letter attached to its talons, looking expectedly at her with big brown eyes. She promptly opened the window, her heart sinking just a little and Odin, Marlene's majestic owl, flew in swiftly and landed in front of her.

"Hello there, Odin." Lily spoke, as the owl nibbled Lily's hand gently. She untied the letter attached quickly, stroking Odin's feathers as he cooed.

Lily Evans,

This is an intervention. If I receive another letter about you moping around, I'm going to set your flaming red hair on fire and I'm not kidding.

Meet me at the Leaky Cauldron tomorrow at 12pm sharp. Don't be late. There's something you need to know.

Marlene

"Marlene is such a bossy little thing, isn't she?" She asked Odin who hooted in response.

Lily sighed. She had no desire to go out, much less change out of her 3 day old pajamas. But she needed to complete her school shopping. And she was shocked at how low she let herself get. Sod him.

Hastily scribbling down an affirmative reply, she sent Odin on his way before going down to the kitchen to fix herself a bowl of ice cream.

...

The streets of Diagon Alley were bustling with last minute shoppers on this last weekend of August. September 1st was a mere few days away, and the excitement of a new year lingered in the air. As Lily wove through the crowd behind Marlene, ducking here and there from things flying overhead, she realised how much she loved to see Diagon Alley in its full dramatic flair. After 7 years, this magical world still hit her by surprise sometimes.

The pair made their way through the crowd to reach the entrance of The Leaky Couldron, a popular wizarding pub and inn.

"Ooh c'mon, or we'll be late.” Marlene exasperated, urging Lily to catch on with her quick. She was busy inhaling the sights of the street.

"Late for what?" Lily asked, confused, as she increased her pace.

Marlene didn't answer as she pushed the heavy door of The Leaky Cauldron open. The aged pub attracted both young and old alike after an exhausting day of shopping.

Scanning the crowd, she smiled at two guys sitting in one of the booths, nursing butterbeers with smirks plastered all over their faces as they spotted the girls.

Lily's heart stopped as she registered the familiar faces of the Marauders. No, no, no, no, no, no, her heart thumped in rhythm with her thoughts.

She pulled Marlene back by her clothes violently; she stumbled backwards into Lily but she paid no heave.

"You called the Marauders?!"

"Yes." Marlene answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Mar!" Lily exclaimed loudly. Her cheeks were boiling hot by this point, and the heat in the pub wasn't making things easier.

"Oh my god, you've got it bad." Marlene snickered, then stopped when she saw her best friend's vicious glare. "Don't worry, he's not here."

"He's not?" Lily's face visibly fell as Marlene shook her head.

"C'mon!" She tugged Lily along as they reached the booth.

"Hello boys!"

"McKinnon!" Both boys sang together.

"Red." Sirius said mockingly with a giant smirk.

“Hi Remus,” Lily said, completely disregarding the presence of Sirius Black.

Lily and Marlene sat in the booth opposite the boys as Peter came trodding, carefully trying to balance three butterbeers in his hands.

“For you, girls.” He said, as he put down the mugs.

“So, Marlene, ready for your last year on the pitch?” Sirius started the conversation.

“Oh, absolutely. I trained all summer. Need to leave Hogwarts with a bang,” Marlene replied, the excitement of a new quidditch season evident in her gleaming eyes.

The conversation drifted into the nitty-gritties of Quidditch, which Lily did not particularly understand. They discussed, nay argued, about Chudley Cannon’s new beater formation strategy, how the tragic fall of Harpies is going to affect the coming years of Quidditch World Cup and the incoming seeker of Puddlemere.

When the conversation finally died down after a good hour, Lily plucked the courage to finally ask, "Where's James?”

"A little too excited to see James, are we, Lils?" Remus smirked, giddy like a little kid.

"I thought I could expect some maturity from you, Remus."

"I'm still a Marauder, Lil.” Remus shrugged, lifting his mug to her.

"James is otherwise occupied." Sirius answered, as he gulped down the last of his butterbeer.

"What?!" Lily's head perked up at that, shock colouring her face. She looked like she was about to break down.

Remus, Sirius, Peter and Marlene promptly burst into laughter. Everyone in the pub paused to look at them howling with laughter for a moment, then turned around to their conversations.

“You were right, McKinnon, this was totally worth it,” Peter spat out between his laughs. Marlene gave him a high-five.

"My apologies, Evans," Sirius tried controlling himself under the murderous gaze of Lily, "By occupied I meant sneezing and coughing his bloody brains out."

"He's poorly?"

"Just a nasty flu. Courtesy of a thrilling game of Quidditch in the rain."

Lily nodded and shook her head, now embarrassed to have been caught red-handed, though her mind couldn’t help but wonder Quidditch in the rain, such a James thing to do. She really has got it bad.

"So, Lily, how do you plan to tell him?"

"Tell who what?"

"James."

"I'm not telling James anything."

“And why in Merlin’s pants not?”

“I don’t know."

“You have to tell him.”

“I don’t HAVE to tell him.”

“But why wouldn’t you?”

“Because-“ Lily tried, but her heart hurt thinking of James with Emily. Happy. She sighed, and shook her head, playing with her nails instead. Sirius, Remus, Peter and Marlene exchanged glances.

"Alright, I knew she wouldn't be convinced. You're as stubborn as James." Marlene said, shaking her head. "And that’s precisely why I brought you here." She turned to Sirius. "That's your queue."

Sirius nodded, and produced a piece of parchment from his robes and passed it to Lily. It was crumpled and then smoothened out. Surprised, she took it.

"What's this?"

"Just read it."

Lily opened the folded piece of parchment. There were just a few lines in a very familiar scrawl.

Lily,

I don't know how to start this letter, but it's high time we talked, shouldn't we? I know you must be mad at me, you should be really, because of what I did. And you know what? I'm not sorry I kissed you.

I've fancied you for a long time now, and truthfully speaking, I don't know remember a time when I didn't.

Just wanted to get that out of the way.

James

Or Potter, whatever you prefer.

"I don't understand, was I meant to read this or..?"

Sirius thought about it for a moment. "Yes, and no."

Lily raised an eyebrow in question.

"A few days ago, I found him in his room writing a letter to you. Well, trying is the key word here. The room was filled with half finished letters, some were just a pain to read, you know how cheesy James can get. Well, this one particularly piqued my interest, and I kept it. He burned the rest of them because I threatened I’ll send them all to you."

"What if he wrote I don't fancy you anymore Lily, it's best we just stay friends on the last letter he wrote?"

"But he still wrote this." Lily furrowed her brows and Sirius sighed. "He wouldn't have written this if he didn't fancy you. Doesn't matter what he wrote on the other, he wouldn't have been spending so much thought into what to write if he wasn't scared of hurting your feelings, or his own."

"I've never seen this insightful side of you, Sirius. I must say, it's rather frightening.” Remus remarked. Sirius grinned at Remus.

"He just doesn't want to be hurt again, Lil.”

Lily nodded, staring very hard at the parchment in her hand. She swallowed. There was silence for a moment as the group stared at Lily as she read the words on the parchment over and over again.

"So? What’s the verdict? Can we expect some Potter babies soon?" Remus asked.

Lily glared at him. "It's like there are two Sirius' now." She shook her head in disbelief but laughed in the end.

"So?"

"Lils?” Marlene urged.

Lily looked at each one of them. They looked so hopeful that she didn’t want to break their hearts by saying no. But more importantly, she didn’t want to break her own heart by not trying.

"James Potter wouldn't know what hit him." Lily stated and gave a small smile.

Marlene cheered and hugged her best friend. The Marauders’ grinned and cheered on. Remus pointed his wand to the ceiling and produced confetti while Sirius whistled. The bartender brought around another round of butterbeers.

“Here's for the future Potters.” Sirius took his mug and raised it in the air. Everyone else followed.

"To Lily and James!” Marlene and Remus piqued together, and they clinked their mugs together and drank.

"5 Galleons says James will shit his pants when he hears.” Peter added, and they all dissolved in laughter again.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

The Nutjob Twins’ Message (Pieces of the People We Love, Part 4.)

Series description: Not many people had the chance to see a vault or to mean anything in the world of Pandora. Will a hardly built relationship in the loneliness of the desert have the potential to change anything in the world of anarchy and chaos - or will the friends try to murder each other?

Part summary: After hearing the newest message from the nutjobs of “gods”, Scooter seemed to be sure that his friends and family are in trouble. Well, you knew where this was going and you didn't like it at fucking all. 

Warnings: A lot of guns, violence, reader is a tough badass - not a vault hunter tho. They’re badass and don’t give a fuck. And Scooter is a dumb bitch, as always. All Psychos and Fanatics are various Vine references - oh, what luck that reader can understand them since she is friends with Bandits.

Word count: 2.9 K

Tagging: @notaliteraltoad​

Series masterlist:  H E R E

Series playlist: H E R E

“Are you sure that these new vault thieves are your friends? I mean… Literally, any living remotely-human being on this planet is a fucking vault thief for that duo of crazy asses.” - Half an hour ago, you’ve made it to Pintley’s to hear his perspective on Scooter’s suspicions about his friends being the targeted ones. As per usual, you’ve had a can of Dr. Bob in your hand as you took a long swing of that nasty… Something and then, you gave a short look to Pintley. You took Scooter to Hell’s Cauldron immediately after that transmission to discuss everything. To have someone smart to help Scooter with settling on the plan he should choose. Like, you know, a good guardian.

You took him to the only other sane person in the radius of hundreds of miles, hoping Pintley would figure something out real fast - you still had your suspicions about being the one who’ll end up with Scooter and his little suicide mission project, but… A girl can dream, right? Maybe, these two men will actually come up with a smart plan that won’t involve you in the slightest.

So far it seemed, that everyone on Pandora, at least those who and working Echos or turned on radios, have heard. Maybe even other planets could hear the announcement, what could you know? Calypso twins were hunting some poor souls again - but just like you said before, that was none of your fucking business. Whoever these people were, they got into trouble on their own. You were just a small screw in the big scheme of things; so, whoever’s the trouble was, they needed to solve it… Right?

“Man, I’m sure-sure that this gal was talkin’ ‘bout my damn friends.” - Scooter answered with a sad tone of voice, making you come back to the present moment. Even if you were one crazy son of a bitch, you could hear the sadness and even understand it’s where it was coming from, to some extent. Maybe the alleged vault thieves were his friends, this time for real, but how could you know? Again - which part of it was your problem? Yeah, maybe it was Scooter’s problem. In that case, you’d be kinda sad too - and, without single regard or ill intent, you’ll wish the dude your best wishes if he decided to go and help them - but you weren’t about to lay a single finger on a thing that was supposedly connected to the vault hunting business. No. You already knew how the business was running; you’ve tried it, didn’t like it at all and it cost you your other arm. At that thought, you shivered a bit and caught to the steel that was now a part of your body.

“And how comes so?” - With a long sigh, you jolted on your chair as you stated Scooter down, trying to get to know what was going inside the small head of his. - “Tyreen didn’t name any names, did she, Scooterboy? Or did I just didn’t hear them? Damn, don’t tell me it’s my time to get an appointment at the doctor’s.” Sooner, way before the COV started to take over Pandora, the VH business was a dangerous and expensive one as well. It was only for those, who had little to lose. For those that knew their way with guns and those who were ready to commit themselves and their existence for the sole purpose of vault hunting. That was more than seven years ago. Now? It was the first sign you’d look for if you were worried that you’re either having some kind of psychosis or a serious mental diagnose, like being insane per se.

Your wish was to be a part of the legends that were told? Honey, you were more than ready to get a diagnosis and a stamp on top of that. The occasional meetings with the fanatics were more than enough for you. If these crazy asses would get to know or even hear a rumor that you’re helping the wrong side, their Gods’ nemesis, the vault hunters? Man, you would have a shit ton of them behind your back and a bounty pinned on your head. That was a no-no situation for you.

“Because there is only one siren on Pandora at the time and that’s Lilith.” - The man gazed back at you with an empty, deadly stare. You didn’t even flinch. What were you? A bitch to flinch under one not-so-nice look? Damn, the fuck you weren’t. “Technically, two and a half sirens are inhabiting the planet.” - Pintley mouthed out silently and progressed with doing the dishes. - “He has a good point, tho.” - Your best bud of the last couple of years finished with an innocent face, not daring to look at you. But you did know what he was trying to do and you weren’t about to simply give in because the old man had said so. Then, quite smoothly, you turned back to Scooter. “So, Scooterboy has a good point. And what? Why on Pandora should I even give a diddly-damn?” - The attitude you’ve given Pintley was more than well-known to him. Slowly, you slid your back to the chair as you waited for the rest of what he had so say. Oh, your gaze and expression were just daring Pintley to come for you and whoop your ass with all the arguments be got in store. At the exact moment and place, you were in your element.

Fighting arguments, that was where you succeeded 99.9% of the time. This was the sort of fight you preferred. - “Should I shit myself because boo-hoo, oh no, the baddies are after Lilith? Because they want to harm poor old Sanctuary? She, her Crimson Raiders and vault hunting ain’t my business, so I ain’t gonna put my nose somewhere where it... Shouldn’t. Fucking. Be." - Every word was accompanied by a thud, as the tip of your finger bounced from the table. - "They never did anything good for me - why would I willingly put my head down for them to get decapitated?” - The time on your voice was ice-cold, just like your eyes. Boy, you didn't realize how wrong you were at the moment, but that didn't slow you down at all. “And as for you, young man… I can pack you a lunch and wish you safe travels, if you wanna. But you should not expect any help from me, are we clear?” - With the last swing of Dr. Bob, you crushed the can with your metal arm, throwing it to the bin as you stood, putting your coat and large hat back on. Yet at that moment, Scooter did something anyone expected him to do. It honestly threw you off the rails.

The man talked back to you.

“Yea, man, ya a pussy, I can see that. Understood and noted. But because ya a bitch, ya goin’ let these people die? I know it's dangerous and beyond anyone's wildest darn dream, but that's the damn thrill, ain't it? That's why we're doin' that, aren't we, huh?” - Scooter was on his feet as well, throwing his dirty cap on the ground with something, that couldn't be described other than a sudden outburst of fury. He wasn't ending, but he had entertained you nonetheless. As you watched him gasping for breath, your metal arm went to grab the shotgun you had in your holster. “Excuse me if I’m wron’, but who destroyed Helios when Jack wanted to erase Pandora from the universe? Vault hunters. Who killed Jack? Again, man, it were the vault hunters. Who killed the darn destroyer not once, but twice, huh? Who's keepin' the COV away? Stop actin’ like a pussy and let’s help them while there’s still time to do so.” - At first, Scooter wanted to be rude at you - yet when you took the shotgun out and pointed its barrel right at his face, he suddenly shut up. The atmosphere got suddenly very, very uncomfortable.

“Listen to this, Scooterboy. I'm going to repeat myself - nobody... Nobody will be calling me a pussy or a bitch, can you hear me loud and clear?” -  Quickly, you put your metal arm for him to see before you hugged your gun tight again. - “This is how it looked the last time I was trying to brave like the vault hunters are rumored to be. So if I will have to repeat myself, then I’ll shoot you down like a practice target. Are we on the same wave?” - The sentence was practically hissed out and now, you were standing two mere feet away from him.

“Vault hunters and Crimson Raiders ain’t my concern at the slightest, you understand? I’m good on my own, I’m a lone wolf, not a team player. So please, go on, run and save your friends and get yourself killed in the process, if it makes you pleased. But don’t make me solve your fucking problems. Because you and I? We aren’t friends, Scooterboy.” - With every word, you made it clear that you might be just the rude asshole you first seemed to be. Maybe the spark of humanity Scooter saw before was an illusion? Maybe you were a nutjob, just like everyone else on this goddamned planet. It was Pintley, who saved the situation. The older man pushed Scooter behind his own back, stretching out his arms to protect the boy from getting shot. For a moment, you were still pointing your barrel at him, but then you put the gun down really fast. Pintley was Pintley; a mentor and a friend.

“Cowboy, that's just enough. Calm down and put the gun on the table, will ya?” - The pub owner said calmly, nodding his head at the table. That son of a bitch. Oh, you knew what bomb he’s about to drop. The m-bomb. Moral bomb. Slowly, you put the gun out of your reach and walked around a bit to calm down. From time to time, you shot a gaze in Scooter's direction, making him realize you're still not done with him. “I know that this is not what you want to hear rite now, but Scooter had a good point in what he’d said. Vault hunters, whether you like it or not, saved your ass more times than you can count on your fingers, and maybe, you don’t even realize any of that. You can’t be very ignorant when you want to, do you know that?” “And you can be a pain in my fucking ass, Pintley. I mean what I said. It's not my damn problem.” - Now, you were speaking with your mind a bit more clear and you knew that the situation went from 0 to 100 really quickly; partially because you could be a damn idiot and partially because Scooter accidentally remained you of the accident with your arm. Again, you shivered lightly and smoothed over the arm, looking away from both of them.

“Hey. I know since you were a small girl, don't I, huh? I know you have some unfinished business with the vault hunters. We all know you don’t like them. But hey, the least you can do is that you can give Scooter a headstart, how does that sound?” - Pintley asked with a small smile, running his fingers on his mustache. He was one sly motherfucker, that needed to be said. - “Nobody wants you to join their little scout troop, you can just... Help him get there, what about that?”

“What kind of headstart are we talking about here?” - Now, the anger turned into tiredness. Without asking Pintley, you slipped behind the counter and grabbed one bottle of vodka, drinking straight out of it. Right. You didn't have to head out on a huge adventure, you could just... Help a bit and then pretend you have never met Scooter before. Sounded good enough to you. “Maybe, you can enable him to travel the Fast Travel network? That should do the trick, huh?” - Pintley looked over his shoulder at Scooter, patting the man's arm. With a sigh, you leaned your elbows into the counter, taking one fucking long swing. No. You took it back. Pintley was insane. Fast travel was one of the things that Hyperion came with as well - a system of teleporting machines that absorbed your DNA, sent you through digital ports to your final destination, and there, the Fast travel station put your body together again. Said network was working all over the known galaxy and inhabited planets. But it wasn't working in Hell's Cauldron. You knew where the nearest working was, and very well, had to be noted. No. You weren't about to get yourself fucking killed.

“Are you seriously out of your mind?” - With another swing, you put the bottle down so violently that it almost crashed in your palm. Then, you stared at Pintley for a bit longer. - “Do you really want me to persuade the boys from Walrus to switch it on for Scooterboy?” - Most of the people in Hell's Cauldron knew who Walrus was. He was one of the few bandit barons that weren't insane enough to sign his boys up to the COV. He was insane and he wasn't exactly fond of you (which was your fault and you knew that), but he could still be considered an ally. “Basically. They like you, Blindy and Rayray owe you a lot. Try it, that’s the least you can do.” - The man walked to you, made you stand up, and then he carefully smoothed your shoulders, shaking you a bit. - “Bandits of Ham’s Creek know you and trust you in their crazy, weird way. Come on, Cowboy. Do it for me. Do it for him. Do it for the universe.” “Pintley, seriously, you want me to talk to the bandits.” - Now, you were whispering with not-so-slight irony. This was like the start of a freaking good anextode. - “These men… They don’t have a functional brain between them. They listen with their knees. I don't even know if they can speak our language and I'm still not the most fluent in psycho. If you forgot, these two nutjobs Rayray and Blindy, are the normal ones out of all the men that live there, and they are like… Batshit crazy, these two. The rest is straightway nuts. Do you even remember the last time they were celebrating? If not, too bad, because I fucking do.”

At this, Pintley stopped for a moment to give you serious look. Then, he smiled. - “Cowboy, come on. We both know you would do that if there weren’t the Crimson Raiders or vault hunters mentioned. You’re just being overly dramatic.” - His index finger flicked your nose and you opened up your mouth, searching for a valid argument. Without any success, you must've admitted. Then, Pintley looked at Scooter as he knew that he already won the moral persuading. “She’ll take you to Ham’s Creek. She’s just being too hot-headed.” - Your mentor winked at the mechanic and switched to his position behind a bar, giving you the vodka bottle you've already opened. The atmosphere inside the room slowly gotten a bit better as you put your shotgun back to the holster.

“Let’s fucking do this, then.” - A low growl came out of you as you finished the rest of the bottle, throwing it to the bin once more. With a surprising speed, you walked to the new functional Catch-A-Ride, asking for a light runner. “Ya mean right now? Like now-now?” - He said with a sign of worries in his voice. You looked at him with a snort and started the engine. “Now. Tomorrow’s late, Scooterboy. Crawl in, I just want it to be over already.” - As you pushed the gas pedal down, the engine howled loudly and you leaned into the leather seat with a long sigh. Then, you looked over to the scooter sitting in the gunner's nest. - “Remember, you’ll stay glued to my back at all times until we set our feet to the place do you understand what I’m saying? You move a foot away from me and they will make a delicious soup out of you.” “And aren’t they like… Asleep now or somethin’?” - He yelled back at you. You almost turned around and gave him an ironic look, but you just make the car rush forward. Bandits and asleep? Those words weren’t making sense when someone used them in one sentence. Those fuckers were running on an hour of sleep per day, or so you heard. That was why almost each one of them was batshit crazy. Good thing was that you didn't need any navigation - you knew the way to Ham’s Creek by your heart. You'd be able to drive there from literally anywhere in the proximity of sixty miles.

And only little did you know that this was the place where your trouble had started... And that it'll get progressively worse over time.

[treatian]

The Chronicles of the Dark One:  The Dark Curse

Chapter 120:  Fair is Fair

It was the "lazy". He knew he'd taken things a bit too far with his caretaker when he'd called her lazy. He'd watched her for two solid days and what he'd found had been anything but laziness, and yet he'd called her lazy anyway. Now she was angry. It didn't take a genius to see that.

Clean the glove, he'd said. And she had. In fact, she'd taken a page out of his own book and made a show of it. That night, when she'd brought him dinner, aside from their two plates, the tray she'd carried in had a third plate on it, upon which she'd laid the glove. It was so clean that it practically sparkled, even in the firelight.

And she was so angry that she practically outshined that firelight.

He snatched it off of its place on her tray and examined it himself all the while feeling the heat of her eyes on him. Over and over and over he'd turned it in his hands, looking for something, a smudge here, dust there, a scratch anywhere! But there were no marks, no smudges, no imperfections at all. He hadn't wanted to ignore someone so bad since he'd lived with Milah. But when she kept his food from him, he found he had no choice but to look at her. Fire blazed in her eyes. How women could master looks that were both cold and hot at the same time was a mystery to him that was greater than how she'd gotten the glove so clean. But when she finally raised her eyebrows and offered a small haughty smirk, he felt something in his belly drop to the floor.

She was angry. There was no doubt about that as she grabbed her own food to sit and eat by the fire and left him to move his own plate. He didn't dare order her to come back and serve him. He knew enough about women to know better than to do that.

He had questions, he had curiosities. He did desperately want to know if she'd tried the thing on, but he didn't ask. He'd been tempted more than a dozen times between then and now to check on her, but he'd followed his own recommendations and curbed that particular desire. If he really didn't care about what she did or what she thought, then he had to start acting like it. The first step in that was to stop watching her and get back to the real task at hand. If he needed her, or needed someone to wear the Gauntlet, he'd know right where to find her. That was also why, tempting as it was to see her smile, he didn't pay attention to her reaction when he left a fresh stack of paper, a couple of jars of ink, and a few quills in her library the next morning.

She didn't deserve them, not after she'd practically thrown his plate at him that morning, but when he recalled the shine of the Gauntlet and how he'd called her lazy, he'd been compelled to do that one, last, little thing for her. Perhaps it would improve her mood; his plates couldn't continue to take the abuse if it didn't work.

Fortunately, it seemed to work. When he sat down that afternoon for tea, she seemed her normal self, though that meant she was neither angry nor pleasant. She set his saucer and teacup on the table lightly and poured him his tea as a proper lady should without a hint of malice in her actions or even her demeanor; no nasty smirks, no glares, no raised eyebrows. He could have wept with relief at that. Gods, she frustrated him. Probably just as much as he frustrated her. In some ways, he felt like it was only fair. She was the first person he'd met in a long time that refused to come quaking and shaking before him or serve him as a dark and frightening being. Instead, he almost felt merely human again when she was around, and that made him feel…he didn't know what to call the feeling. It was far more exciting than normal, and yet it wasn't quite powerful. It was just…he didn't know.

"So…" she sighed as she handed over his tea gently. "I've figured out why you collect so many magical objects, like the Gauntlet from Camelot…"

He was grateful that the cup hadn't quite made it to his mouth yet, for surely he would have spit his tea out at her assertion. He was amused again. Whatever deep psychological conclusions she'd come to were sure to be wrong but entertaining. Unfortunately, he'd promised himself he'd stop looking to her for entertainment, so he tried not to show it. Instead, he dramatically set his tea back on the table and rolled his eyes at her.

"I really need to find you more tasks…" he muttered before glancing up at her and preparing himself for whatever she might need to say.

"You have a hole in your heart," she commented as if she was commenting on a bird with a broken wing or a snail who had lost his shell.

A hole in his heart? He didn't know what she expected him to say to that. Did she think he was going to confess that she was right, that he missed his son more than anything and it was in his absence he'd become who he was now? Or was he to joke with her about some sort of mysterious physical ailment that literally put a hole in his heart?

"No…in my stomach! Because while you so ably made me tea, you forgot all about the tea cakes!" he shouted instead. He snapped his fingers and a plate of tea cakes stacked one on top of the other appeared there. Figures, he hadn't watched her, but every other week, on this day, she'd brought him teacakes and so he'd taken a guess and summoned them from the kitchen. There they were. She hadn't quite forgotten them, she'd just forgotten to bring them up. Lucky for her. "Must I do everything?"

He prayed she'd take his cue to pretend she'd never said what she'd said. He hoped that instead she might just pour herself a cup of tea, take a cake, and go sit in his chair by the fire quietly reading her book like she always did. What he wouldn't do to go back to just before he'd given her that dress and things had been simpler. When she'd been down and out because a curtain had been too dusty for her to handle. He wanted her to leave well enough alone, but he knew who he was dealing with. They'd been living together now for long enough that he wasn't surprised when she didn't take her tea or cakes and go sit down like a good little girl might. When she had something to say, there was just no getting out of it.

"You're a lonely man," she insisted as he tried to ignore her by taking a cake. The problem was that she was difficult to drown out. "But the fact is no matter how many things you acquire, that's all they'll ever be…things! And…an awful way to fill a heart."

Well then, she'd only got part of it right. She didn't know as much as she thought she did. A hole in his heart he would admit to, he missed his son in a way that any parent would miss their child. But his artifacts didn't fill Bae's departure, they didn't make him feel better or replace his son. They were merely the tools to getting back the most important person in his life. He wasn't about to forget that. And he wasn't about to let her go about making her assumptions incorrectly. If his options were that she could be angry with him or questioning his every move, he would prefer her to be angry.

"There is only one thing missing in my life right now…clean clothes!" With another snap of his fingers, he summoned every item of cloth he could think of, every shirt, every sheet, every towel, every linen, and piled them up on top of the table before her.

"But…I…" she stepped forward and examined the pile, shaking her head in disbelief. "I-I scrubbed these just yesterday!"

"Well, scrub them again, dearie!" he insisted. There was a difference between being beautifully bold and proudly annoying, it was a thin, thin line, but she was coming to cross it. After Robin he was committed to keeping her here with him until he could figure out the plans the Seer had for her, he could handle being kind to her, giving her a library to make her smile, and clothes to make sure she was kept modest, though her cleavage might say otherwise at the moment. But he'd be damned if he was going to allow her to walk all over him as she was. He was the master, she was the servant. She had to learn her place.

"You're getting too big for your britches! You should remember your place…cleaning mine!" He took a cake and sat back proudly as he watched her shift back from curious to angry and felt pride swell. There. He'd pushed her over the edge again. It was a job well done.

"Maybe the next time you want to insult the person making your food, you should-"

Before she could finish, he snapped his fingers again and sent her and the laundry out back to where she did the laundry.

And there was that temptation again, the urge to get up, to go to his cauldron, to watch her and see how she'd react…

He fought it back.

He paid her too much attention as it was, allowed her too many privileges. She had a tendency to make him so angry he could shake. Maybe it would do her some good to be so angry with him that she shook too. If they returned to the quiet angry tension they'd had before he'd tried to smooth things over with paper and quill, then at least he'd have peace and quiet in his home.

[n0ttinghamshad0w]

It's not like I'm falling in love, I just want you to do me no good And you look like you could

ROBIN OLIVER HUNT (Name at birth: Robin Huang; Alias: Robert Oliver Gardner)

Birthday: March 12 1990 (Pisces) Hogwarts House (Primary):  Gryffindor Hogwarts House (Secondary): Slytherin Myers-Briggs: ENFP Enneagram: Type 8 Height:  5’9

Overview:

Mother:

1.       Unknown—Linda Huang, still alive, forced to give up her child by her conservative parents who did not want her raising a child out of wedlock, has not tried to make contact with her son.

2.       Mother Florence—the head nun at Nottingham Orphanage, firm, but kind; strict, but genuinely wanted the best for the children; had a soft spot for Robin, since he’d been there for like all his life.

3.       Barbara Economides—Robin’s first foster mom, had six kids of her own, but room in her heart for a dozen more

Father:

1.       Unknown—Ernesto Rosetti

2.       George Economides—Robin’s first foster dad, loving and hard-working man, who unfortunately did not have a very hard-working cardiovascular system. Died of a heart attack when Robin was ~12

Mother’s Occupation: he doesn’t care about his birth mom, but Barbara owned a bakery

Father’s Occupation: he doesn’t care about his birth dad, but George owned a bakery

Family Finances: well, none of the homes he was in were great financially

Birth Order: only child as far as he’s concerned

Siblings: N/A--(Stefan, Petros, Elek, Idola, Eileen, Karena...the Economides kids)

Other Close Family: None

Best Friend: Joan Woode (28)

Other Friends: Tuck Frere (26), Martin Maddon (18), Fakhir Azhar (27)

Enemies: all those who neglect/abuse their children

Pets: none, would love a bird or a fox tho

Home Life During Childhood: He was in an orphanage till he was nine, and it was not a bad orphanage at all, just massively under-funded. At nine, he was placed in a foster home, a large Greek family, and he was very well-loved and well-taken care of, but the father dropped dead of a heart attack when Robin was 12 and the Economides family had to move and they couldn’t take care of Robin. He shuffled through like four other foster homes, at least one of which he was badly abused in, till at seventeen, he just didn’t come home one day and the family never reported it and that was that.

Town or City Name(s): Nottingham, England

What Did His Bedroom Look Like: Never had a steady room, or one of his own. Always shared with someone else, always a small bed.

Any Sports or Clubs: Nah, he was the type of kid who hung out under bridges and threw stuff.

Favorite Toy or Game: Had a toy archery kit back at the Economides house

Schooling: left school at seventeen

Favorite Subject: History and English, loved old stories of Robin Hood

Popular or Loner: loner---’cept he was real popular with the “troubled” kids, the freak in freaks and geeks

Important Experiences or Events: When George died, the abuse at the other foster homes

Health Problems: None

Culture: English?? He’s actually Italian and Chinese, but wouldn’t know at all. Considers himself Greek, if anything

Religion and beliefs: The only time in his life when he was religious was when he lived with the Economides family and went to church on the reg, since then, he’s convinced that if a God does exist, he’s a shitty God and only people can really help each other

Your Character’s Character:

Bad Habits: smoking, drinking, commitment issues, def has ghosted girls before...oh yeah, uh, stealing things??? He’s also a pickpocket

Good Habits: very good with children, when he wants to be he’s very kindhearted, very charismatic, very charming, good sweet-talker

Best Characteristic: intense--has his set of beliefs and morals and will stick by them

Worst Characteristic: intense--to the point where he isolates himself

Worst Memory: The moment the Economides family left him at the social services office (also George’s death lbr)

Best Memory: His first Christmas with the Economides family

Proud of: the money he’s been able to give back to the orphanage

Embarrassed by: his lack of formal education

Driving Style: erratically, I don’t think he has a license but he definitely knows how to drive--does not get into accidents, but is hella reckless

Strong Points: passionate, believes in a cause, dedicated friend, charming, charismatic, quick-learner, good with his hands

Temperament: sanguine

Attitude: passionate, intense

Weakness: has a very specific mission, keeps people at a distance unless you’ve proved yourself to him, you can know him but never really know him

Fears: man, uh, not being able to make a difference

Phobias: abandonment issues~~~

Secrets: the fact that he’s a master thief

Regrets: not finishing secondary, not being like a better person or whatever

Feels Vulnerable When: talking about his past

Pet Peeves: tourists (but they make good bait), people who hate on people who use subtitles, americans, mac copmputers

Conflicts: his very idealistic moral code vs reality, his very idealistic moral code and mission vs caring about his own life/needs

Motivation: justice for children

Short Term Goals and Hopes: find Tuck’s family, steal from Tuck’s family, find Martin, find enough money to get Fakhir a good lawyer

Long Term Goals and Hopes: well shit, making a difference in the lives of people somehow

Sexuality: heterosexual, but could be convinced to fuck a bloke

Exercise Routine: just generally active, runs a fair bit, likes to play sports with friends

Day or Night Person — Night

Introvert or Extrovert — Extrovert

Optimist or Pessimist — Optimist

Likes and Styles:

Music: alt-rock, classic rock, rock in general, also some punk

Books: he likes old stories and folktales (ie; Robin Hood whom he modeled himself after), but does have a soft spot for some high fantasy books (he’s a big fan of Lloyd Alexander’s work--wait, I guess that doesn’t exist since The Black Cauldron is disney but IM SURE HE HAD SOME SORTA EQUIVALENT...The Beige Cauldron) and adventure novels

Magazines: GQ probs let’s be real. Never bought one, always knicked ‘em out of newstands. ALso probably playboy……...Recently has been into tech mags.

Foods: Greek food---reminds him of his time with the Economides family. Loves him a good lamb gyro with a big side of chips.

Drinks: Whiskey--straight up. Not a huge tea drinker, but likes a strong Turkish coffee. Also Gin and Tonics

Animals: Foxes and birds of prey. Tbh, kinda hates that the name the orphanage gave him is ROBIN for crying out loud it sounds so fuckin’ wimpy

Sports: big football fan, also into rugby, probably out of all my characters the one who follows sports the most jeez

Social Issues: def def a huge proponent for children’s rights, especially within the foster system; that’s his biggest thing, but he’s also really for Magick-Rights and against the pressing xenophobia and nationalism that’s rising in a lot of Western European nations

Favorite Saying: Faint heart never won fair lady; As you wish

Color: Dark forest green

Clothing: enough to maintain his image as a #rebel, but def does not invest toooo much in fashion. Lots of cool jackets, mostly darker colors

Jewelry: nah, mate that’s excessive (has this pendent that Barbara gave him that used to be George’s but that’s it)

Games: loves dominoes a lot actually

Websites: uhh reddit probably

TV Shows: probs into Game of Thrones and #epic period dramas

Movies: his absolute favorite movie is The Princess Bride, he loves good action flicks with a dash of epic romance--something with a real hero. Also probs a Star Wars fan. V for Vendetta

Greatest Want: to make a difference in the world, to make sure no child is ever hurt

Greatest Need: to let people in

Where and How Does Your Character Live Now:

Home: small studio apartment in Benbow

Household furnishings: sparse, probs just sleeps on a mattress let’s be real, has a hot plate and a mini fridge, uses a crate for a coffee table

Favorite Possession: his trusty pocket knife, one of the first things he bought with his own money

Most Cherished Possession: necklace that Barbara Economides gave to him that used to belong to George, it is a Greek Cross

Married Before: Nope.

Significant Other Before: the only serious one was this rather posh girl when he was 21. She ended up getting pregnant, but got an abortion and the relationship sorta derailed after that.

Children: nah

Relationship with Family: lol

Car: n/a

Career: no “career”--has worked service jobs and manual labor, was a bartender for a bit but quit bc of the Fakhir thing

Dream Career: god, he doesn’t know--maybe a social worker, tbh, or owning some sort of afterschool program for kids

Dream Life: he wouldn’t tell you, but being married to a beautiful girl, having a buncha kids, adopting a bunch too

Love Life: a string of one-night stands and brief dramatic love affairs that ended like smoke in the night

Hobbies : knife-throwing, wood-carving

Guilty Pleasure : women?

Sports or Clubs: not at the moment

Talents or Skills : wood-carving, bartending, bit of an amateur hacker, decent dancer and football player, decent at like climbing things lol, lock-picking, stealth talents

Intelligence Level: Never did well in school, but is quite very streetsmart and can read people very well, knowledgable on random things, courtsey of Tuck 

Finances: not as bad as you’d think, but still def the poorest out of my characters. He’s the type of dude who gives everything he gets back--always drops in coins for street musicians, always

[fanficfreekspn]

1-2: Curses All Around (8-End)

 ☙①❧  |  ☙②❧  |  ☙③❧  |  ☙④❧  |  ☙⑤❧  |  ☙⑥❧  |  ☙⑦❧  |  ☙⑧❧ 

Sam opened his eyes and a smile immediately sprang to his face as he turned to run his fingers through the blonde curls to his left. 

"What about me?" a voice called from his right as she snaked her fingers up around his chest.

"There's enough Sam for everyone," he whispered as both faeries giggled. "I just need to check on my sister," he sat up and crawled off the bed. Without bothering with a single stitch of clothing, he walked through the suite to the adjoining room and peeked in to find Lily within a pile of men and women, all covered in various colors of glitter. 

He smiled as he glanced down at his chest to see himself covered in glitter as well.

"Mmmm, good morning," Lily offered him a sleepy smile as she grazed her eyes over her brother's nude body.

"You were right," he grinned at her. "Faerie sex is awesome."

"Mmmmm hmmmm," she stretched out her arms and yawned. "I want to go to Poseidon Gardens today and bathe in the volcanic springs."

"When in Rome..."

She burst into a bright smile. "You know I have a thing for water, right?"

"No," he pushed a woman out of the way and sat on the edge of her bed. "Tell me."

"I'm not sure what it is, but I get... so excited when I pass a lake, stream, river, ocean... whatever. It's like it calls to me. I have to get it."

"Could it have something to do with Llyr's blood running through your veins?"

"Quite possibly," she grinned.

He reached over the man to her side and ran his fingers down her bare arm, to her hand, and then laced his fingers through hers. She flashed her eyes up to meet his as a breath caught in her throat. "What do we do with the Nymphs?"

"We let them wake up on their own," she slid out from between a man and woman and climbed onto his lap. There, they stared into one another's eyes for a moment before she walked off to grab her things.

.

Dean had just dozed off and was jolted awake when his phone rang. "Sammy?" he answered before realizing that he had received a text. He then pulled the phone back to view the dozens of photos Sam and Lily had taken the night before.

He sighed as he threw the phone down and walked into the kitchen for coffee. "They're in Rome."

Castiel took a look at the photos. "They are indulging in alcohol, drugs, and sex."

"What are those blue marks on Lily's arms?" Garth pointed out. "She looks like a Pictish warrior."

"I've never seen them before," Dean rubbed his eyes before taking a drink of his coffee.

"You seem stressed, Dean," Castiel watched him.

"I'm sitting here, waiting for my brother and sister to have sex, Cas. Yeah, a bit."

"It may not be as bad as you think."

He and Garth both glared at him.

"Throughout history, siblings have married; half-siblings even more so. The Egyptians, Incas, Japanese, Koreans... to keep royal bloodline pure, they intermarried..."

"Please stop," he rolled his eyes.

"Cain even married his sister..."

"You are not helping, Cas. Please!"

"You and Sam... and I suppose even Lily now are descendants of Cain and Abel. Perhaps this was meant to happen?"

"It is the least heinous of the sins they could commit to break this curse," Garth actually supported Castiel's argument.

"Wrong is wrong," he shook his head.

"Well... it is up to Dionysus' discretion..."

Dean stopped and walked up to him. "What did you say?"

"The curse, it was given to Dionysus to govern. It's up to him to break it. When he is appeased, it will break."

He began to laugh and patted him on the back. "Cass, you're a genius!" he walked out to the garden and looked around before finding a spot of grass and dropping to his knees. "Oh, Great Dionysus... please hear my prayer... I would really like your help in this curse business of my siblings..." he waited for a moment. "The God of wine and pleasure, right? I've got a whole cellar of honey wine I'm sure my sister wouldn't mind parting with..." he looked up to see a tall, tanned man in a black suit standing before him.

"You called?" he waited.

"Dionysus?" he looked him over. "Aren't you supposed to be fat and eating grapes or something?"

He cocked his eyebrow and tilted his head. "That was centuries ago, I've slimmed down. You can still have fun and be fit."

"Touche," he rose to his feet. "About this curse..."

"Your brother and sister are having the time of their lives. Lily is showing Sam the world and doing it without hiding behind her false face. She's being the Fae she was born to be."

"What are they doing to break the curse?"

He smiled at him. "What would you like for them to do?"

"The tablet wasn't exactly specific."

"No, but it is powerful. They are fighting a lot of their impulses, but starting to lose out against them."

He sighed as he looked around the garden.

"The reason these curses were so vague was to allow the nature of the persons or people who touch them to guide them. It is not in their nature to sodomize animals, eat human flesh, or kill someone they love."

"It's not exactly in their nature to sleep with their sibling, either."

"But it is in their blood, isn't it?"

"So what happens when the curse is broken, huh? They're just supposed to go back to the way it was a week ago? This will ruin them."

"The third curse is the least of their worries, dear boy. They're about to revive Biccus and open a portal to the Cauldron of Wisdom. If I were you, I'd be more worried about that."

In a flash, he was gone.

.

Lily floated in the rich, hot waters and closed her eyes for a moment as she tried her damndest to fight the curse and think. Her mind was swarmed with a warm flood of thoughts as she realized that her grandfather was speaking to her. She caught one specific idea as her eyes flashed open to find Sam in front of her.

"I got another text from Dean," he knelt in the water in front of her. "The only way to break the curse is to give in."

"I know," she sighed.

"I'm getting really tired of fighting it, Lily. I don't know how much more I can take."

"I have an idea..." she placed her hand on his chest. "But you'll have to trust me... completely."

"I've trusted you since the moment I realized you were my sister."

She ran her fingers through his hair as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"Not here," she whispered.

"Every moment I can't kiss you is causing me pain..." he gritted his teeth.

"Shhhhh, I know, Sammy," she pushed his hair out of his face. "I know," she pressed her forehead against his. "I'll make it better, I promise."

.

"If the final curse works like the first two," Dean spoke to Garth and Castiel, "Then they'll have to come back here to activate the final sigil."

"I would assume so," Castiel nodded in agreement. "That will most likely open the portal."

"Then where is Biccus in all this?" Garth asked.

"We're still missing something," Dean walked over to the cask and dropped to his knees. He opened the lid and threw it open before searching the inside. He grabbed the linen that had protected the tablets for centuries and tossed it aside before running his fingers over the velvety lining and came across a hole in the lid.

Castiel made a face and turned to find Dean opening a secret compartment in the lid of the cask. "You know, since touching activated the tablets, I'd be careful..."

He discovered a box and opened it to find a brass ring holding an enormous red stone between two talons. The urge to pick up the ring was overwhelming, he had never felt quite such a call to anything as he was to touch the ring. His ears began to ring and his body filled with pain as the need to touch the ring overwhelmed him.

"Dean?" Garth watched him as his eyes widened in excitement and he picked the ring up out of the box. His eyes began to glow red as he rose to his feet and his lips spread into a wide smile.

.

Sam paced the floor as he waited for Lily to return from her secret endeavor. When the door opened, he turned to find her walk in with a man and woman he had never seen before. He stopped and frowned as he watched them glance at one another and turn to him.

Lily turned and locked the door before turning back to find all three sets of eyes waiting. "Names are not necessary," she swallowed nervously before walking over to the desk and reaching for the letter opener. She quickly sliced the palm of her hand before handing the opener to Sam.

Sam watched as she raised her bleeding hand to the woman and waited. The woman smiled and touched her cut before licking her finger. Within the blink of an eye, she had turned into a genetic replica of Lily. He became excited as he did the same and watched as the shapeshifter turned into a clone of him.

Lily winked at him before taking the hand of the Sam without a sliced palm and pulling him to her bed. He smiled before diving in to press his lips against hers and swoop her into his arms to carry her off to his bed.

.

Biccus, with the aid of Dean's body, finished taping Garth up and placing him in the greenhouse just after he repaired Lily's angel warding and ridded himself of Castiel by the time he saw Sam and Lily walk through the house and head straight for the tablet. He smiled as he took his time in returning to the house.

Sam looked around as Lily reached for the tablet. "Where is everyone?"

She stopped and looked around as well. "Not sure."

He stopped her by grabbing her hand. "Do you really think it worked?"

"I really hope so," she let out a deep breath before placing her hand onto the tablet. He followed by placing his hand over hers. The tablet began to change and glow into the final sigil as they stepped back and stared at the three tablets.

As if on autopilot, they held hands and began chanting as all three tablets glowed red and disappeared. Sam reached for them and threw them into the fireplace as the brick began to break away and stir. A huge portal flashed brightly as wind whipped throughout he house. The siblings squeezed one another's hands before walking through.

Dean peeked out from the pillar behind them and smiled as his eyes glowed red and he jumped in behind them.

Lily and Sam stepped into the dark, dank cave and looked around. In the center was a roaring fire and upon it a cauldron, bubbling with golden liquid. Overlooking the cauldron was a woman with the longest, curliest strawberry blonde hair either had ever seen. As they approached her, Lily's skin began to crawl with swirly blue markings and she noticed that her attire had changed to that of what resembled Xena, Warrior Princess.

"Daughter of Neimh," the blonde looked her over. "You have found your way to the Cauldron of Wisdom. What is it you wish to know?"

"Cerridwen," she felt the need to bow. "My brother and I..."

"Half-brother," she interrupted her.

"He is my brother," she corrected her. "We are here as a result of breaking a curse, nothing more. We want nothing."

"Speak for yourself!"

They turned around to see Dean standing there in the armor of a Roman soldier, his eyes glowing bright red.

"Biccus, I presume," Cerridwen called to him. "Right on time."

Lily frowned as she turned back to Cerridwen. "This was a test?"

"In which family do your loyalties lie, Lilwen? The House of Adam, or the House of Llyr?

She looked down at her leather armor, carved with intricate celtic designs and noticed a sword hanging from her hip. She knew. She knew if she used the magic of her family, it would bind her to the Sidhe. She also knew that using her magic was the only way to save Dean from being bound to Biccus for the rest of eternity.

"Out of my way, Faerie," Dean demanded as he drew his sword. "I have earned a drink from the Cauldron."

"You've earned nothing," she angered as she drew her own sword.

He smiled as Sam shifted his feet, looking for something to use to help her. There were no weapons in the cave, save the one brought and he had nothing.

"I've got this, Sam," she waved her hand and pushed him to the side of the cave.

"No, Lily! You don't have to do this alone," he pleaded.

"Yes, I do," she briefly met eyes with him before swinging her sword to defend herself against Dean.

Sam watched helplessly from against the cold stone wall as his brother and sister fought. It became apparent very early on that Lily was completely outmatched by the Roman soldier's sword and he began to fear the worst.

That was, until, Lily produced two replicas of herself that surrounded him. He wasn't sure which was really her and began to swing his sword around, missing the real Lily. She in turn elbowed him in the gut. When he fell over, she placed her right hand on his forehead and her eyes began to glow gold. She mumbled off a few very ancient Celtic words as Dean dropped his sword and fell to his knees. He opened his mouth as his eyes began to glow brighter before the ring fell from his finger. He blinked once more before his eyes returned to normal.

"Lily?" he looked up at her as she released Sam. She panted, dropping her shoulders before turning around to Carridwen.

"You used the magic of your family to save your human brothers. You have earned a drink from the Cauldron."

She glanced down at the bubbling cauldron. "I'm not sure I'm ready for the responsibility that drink would come with."

The Goddess slowly began to smile. "It will be here when you are, Lilwen Manon Winchester."

Lily's face fell into surprise. "So I'm free to return?"

"You chose both families, you are bound to both. You did well," she nodded proudly. 

"Thank you," she bowed before turning to her waiting brothers. 

"Where do I even start?" Dean asked her.

"Later," she took his hand before reaching for Sam's. A portal began to form until the entire cave was filled with wind and they walked through it.

.

The three Winchester siblings stood silently in Lily's living room and stared at the walls for a moment, taking in all that had happened over the previous week. Finally, Sam turned to his sister and looked down at her.

"Are you... okay?"

Tears filled her eyes as she finally allowed her shoulders to relax. "I will be. You?"

"I need a drink," he walked off to the bar.

She nodded in agreement before walking off to the back porch and taking a seat, looking down in the water of her coi pond. Dean walked out and sat in the seat beside her.

"Lily?" he asked for the fourth time.

"Hmm?" she turned and looked up at him.

"Are you all right, sis?"

She fought with her emotions as she shook her head and looked away.

"I take it... the third curse..."

"We didn't do it," she informed him. "I cheated the curse."

"Then why can neither of you look the other in the eye?"

She sighed as tears welled in her eyes. "We used shapeshifters. It wasn't technically us..." her lip began to tremble, "But it was him," she clamped her eyes shut.

His heart broke at her torment as he reached over and took her hand. "It wasn't him..."

"But it looked like him... felt like him," she whispered. "I thought we were cheating... but it was just as bad."

"And what was the alternative, huh? You did what you had to do. You found a loophole, you didn't do it."

"Then why does it feel like I did?" she looked up to find Sam watching them from the doorway.

"Dean, could you give us a minute?"

He nodded, sighed, and kissed his sister's forehead before walking off into the house. Lily rose to her feet and waited as her brother approached her.

"Sam..."

"What the hell are you doing to yourself, Lil? Huh?"

"You're telling me..."

"We had no control over anything, at least... I didn't. You did. You fought the curse and won."

"Did I?"

"Think about this for a moment. Think about what we'd be doing right now if you hadn't thought about bringing in the shapeshifters. How do you think that would feel?"

She was speechless.

"You did what you had to do, we both did. The curse is broken. You won the right to stay here with us... Celebrate that."

"I can't get the images out of my mind."

"Do you honestly think I can?" he sniffed before wiping under his nose with the back of his hand. "It wasn't me. And the only reason it wasn't is because of you. You kept me from making the biggest mistake of my entire life. I can't..." he momentarily lost his voice. "I can't imagine what I would do if I'd woken up this morning with my sister in my bed. Because of you, I didn't have to."

Her shoulders began to shake as the floodgates breached. He threw his arms around her and held on tight as they both cried, the stress of the entire ordeal releasing as they comforted one another.

"I love you, Lily," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too, Sam," she closed her eyes and held on tight.

〈⍟ Part 7 •:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾ ⍟ ☽

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #300

"Book Of NOTCH, The Temple Thief, The Traveler Has Come”

[Zeke and Arden] Are sitting on the side stairs by the shrine, talking quietly-

[CN] See's them and hides behind Firebird a bit-

[Firebird] -Looks down at the hiding CN- What, not gonna say hello?

-The two look up suddenly, like they were caught red-handed-

[Zeke] Hello Firebird, it's a nice day, isn't it?

[CN] Whispers- I don't want them to see my tail...

[Firebird] -Softly to CN- And why not, hmmm? -To Arden and Zeke- A nice day indeed!

[Zeke] His arms are covered with heart designs and weird shadowy shapes, it's obvious hes been touching Arden

[Arden] I didn't know you had a kid.

[Firebird] -Choked laughter-

[Arden] Looks embarassed- I'm sorry. Are you babysitting?

[CN] Scoots a little bit farther behind Firebird-

[Firebird] I was watching CN since he was stuck as a bird.

[CN] Little embarrassed noise-

[Zeke] Oh! He's the little NOTCH isn't he! Lie's tiny knight.

[CN] - Knight?

[Firebird] -Scoots CN infront so he can talk to them-

[Arden] Smiles- Someone who protects princesses and Queens

[CN] - But she's a brine...- Is scooted back in front

[Zeke] But she had a coronation with her husband. She's kind of a queen.

[CN] - What's a coronation?

[Firebird] A fancy version of a wedding.

[Arden] You present someone who's in charge of things and put a crown on them so everybody else knows they're to be respected.

[CN] - But what is she in charge of?  I thought everything was equal here?

[Zeke] I was told Cp has an army of mobs on his home seed.

[CN] - But mobs would hurt her!

[Firebird] That's the purpose of the coronation. So they don't.

[Zeke] Yeah. She's second in command.

[CN] - So why doesn't she take control of the ones here so they won't hurt people?

[Firebird] Doesn't work that way.

[Zeke] Because they're not her mobs to do that. They're TLOT's mobs and he likes them wild and free. Apart from the skeletons his husband personally befriended, and Karen.

[CN] - Oh...

[Zeke] So were you guys coming over for a visit?

[Firebird] CN was hungry and sick of seeds.

[CN] - Blech

[Zeke] Well everything's been super quiet but I doubt anyone minds if you raid the kitchen. As long as you don't leave a mess of course.

[CN] - I want steak!

[Arden] moves over and opens the door without getting up-

[CN] Rushes inside-

[Firebird] -Walks in with CN- Have a nice day you two.

[Zeke] You as well.

- there's aggressive crunching noises coming from the kitchen-

[CN] Heads for the noise-

[Firebird] -Raises eyebrow as he follows-

[Buff] Is basically punching something inside a cauldron-

[CN] Hesitates in the dorrway-

[Firebird] Is that a person? Or food? -Steps in-

[Firebird] Or both?

[Buff] Stops- Oh hey! No, it's food. Seems like nobody likes to eat it but me though.

[CN] - What is it?

[Buff] Holds up his fists and a few pixels sprinkle off. - Pokemon berries, cocao beans, coffee beans, wheat and some seeds for extra texture.

[CN] - NO!

[Firebird] I heard seeds, let me try some. -Scoots over-

[Buff] Gestures graciously- the cauldron is full of what looks like broken up granola bars with chocolate bits-

[Firebird] -Takes a fistful and tries-

[CN] - I want steak!

[Buff] Um, trunk by the furnace - points- So what are you guys up too. Fellow NOTCHs?

[Firebird] -Thoughtful chewing-

[CN] Heads right for the trunk and opens it, pulling out a steak and tearing into it-

[Buff] Well?

[Firebird] Could use more seeds... Hm? Oh, i was making CN go through his molt

[CN] With a full mouth- I have more feathers to add to my belt!

[Firebird] Also why he has a tail.

[Buff] Um, molt?

[Firebird] Bird thing? We shed our feathers for new, healthier ones.

[Buff] Since when is Cn a bird?

[Firebird] Since he got punished for hurting his pet. -Cold voice-

[CN] Ducks his head in shame, he's made a mess of himself-

[Buff] Yeah that's bad. It's certainly against the rules.

[CN] Quietly- I wanted feathers...

[Buff] Yeah... I'm sure there will always be a few renegades who don't do what they're supposed too. But the book is also pretty adamant about what can happen to bad NOTCHs.

[CN] - Book?

[Buff] You got a book right? I mean we're not supposed to let anyone see, but we're all NOTCHs right? It should be okay.

[CN] - Oh... Um...

[TLOT] Is headed back towards Lie's house with Steve in tow-

[Steve] I don't like this.

[TLOT] I don't either, we'll make it quick.

[CP] Is grumbling and punching things behind the horse pens, making the horses a bit agitated-

[TLOT] Um... - He veers over to check on Cp- Something the matter?

[CP] - Fuck off!

[Steve] You're kinda making Lie's horses upset.

[CP] - I don't care right now

[TLOT] Do you want to talk about it?

[CP] Glares-

[TLOT] Touches his mind ever so slightly- Oh... the mobs...

[CP] - Get out of my head!

[TLOT] I'm sorry... Your pain is a bit obvious.

[Steve] When was the last time you saw them?

[CP] - right before I was fucking deleted

[TLOT] ...

[Steve] little tears-

[CP] - Now fuck off

[TLOT] Looks down sadly- Okay... I have to go to my own seed anyway...

[CP] - Bout time you did something

[TLOT] That was mean. I'm just going to give Nessie another star to replace the one that got stolen.

[CP] - Too terrified to stay long?

[TLOT] Bristles- You don't care either way. I'm not letting you make me mad.

[CP] - Your seed is not that different from mine TLOT, with those that depend on us, yet you won't go there without reason, and I can't return to mine at all

[TLOT] I have fewer responsibilities then you do Cp. I didn't decide to tame the whole world.

[CP] - That doesn't matter

[Steve] his voice shakes a little- Unless you're volunteering to help Cp, I think you need to just stop.

[CP] - Make me

[Steve] Small pouty face. - Come on, let's go. She's waiting for us-

[TLOT] I don't care what you think of me. But if you see a problem and walk away, you're part of the problem. I'd help you if I could.

[CP] Growls at them-

[TLOT] Same to you. - Turns on his heel-

[CP] - Fucking asshole won't even take care of his seed properly

[Steve] Buzz off Cp. - Puts his hand on TLOT's shoulder-

[CP] - Oh just get eaten by a lizard why don't you!

[TLOT] Is stomping away from him- Get bent

[CP] Starts stalking after them- Or what!?

[Steve] Don't listen to him-

[TLOT] I'm not.

[CP] - You coward!

[TLOT] Growls- At least I'm not afraid to ask for help! Or show the important people in my life that I care for them!

[CP] - I don't need help!  And I show Lie that I care!...  Even though we can't seem to fuck lately...

[Steve] Fucking is not the same as showing love!

[TLOT] You need more help then you'd ever admit

[CP] - I do not!

[TLOT] Is already heading down into the cave- Bullshit

[CP] - Prove it!

[Steve] Lay off Cp, we have more important things to do then bicker with you-

[TLOT] Opens the cage and goes right to the consoles.

[CP] - Oh yes, a brief visit to appease a bitch who swore fealty to your NOTCH instead of hunting down the problem itself

[TLOT] She swore her alligance to your father, and you know it. She's also a glitch finder and could probably delete both of us you massive twit!

[CP] - She can't delete me

[TLOT] You do not know that. She can reset people and resetting a brine can eliminate their glitch and possible destroy them.

[CP] - Not with the piece Lie has

[TLOT] Opens the hole and steps out into the snow- I have no desire to know one way or the other.

[Steve] Follows him, giving Cp a look

[CP] Angrily follows, erupting into a cloud of steam- You're still being a coward TLOT!

[TLOT] Stomps towards the temple, ignoring him-

[Steve] Go away Cp!

[CP] - And why should I?

[TLOT] Because you obviously don't want to help and your only embarassing yourself.

[CP] - And you're being an idiot!

-They're approaching the walls and the guards look rather concerned by the two bickering brines-

[Steve] Runs ahead- Just tell Nessie we're here-

[CP] Is still hurling insults at TLOT-

[TLOT] Is livid and the snow is melting around his boots-

-there's some commotion inside the walls and Nessie comes out in time to see TLOT tell Cp to go fuck himself. She looks rather unimpressed-

[CP] - Not happening Dip shit!

[TLOT] Growls- I'm not going to fight you Cp. Just get that out of your head.

[Steve] Sorry... He's really upset about a problem on his home seed.

[Nessie] I see.

[CP] - And you once again show your cowardice!

[TLOT] You act like I haven't bested you before!

[CP] Growls-

[TLOT] I'm not going to fight you because it's a waste of time.

[CP] - Fucker!

[TLOT] Turns to face Nessie instead. - I brought you your star my lady- He takes out the nether star, it's been threaded with a bit of chain-

[Nessie] Thank you.

[CP] - You're still being stupid TLOT!

[TLOT] Puts his hand behind his back where Cp can see it and flips him off-

[CP] - Oh bite me!

[Nessie] I might have information for you both. A nearby village spotted a strange person passing through that they're pretty sure wasn't a Testificate.

[TLOT] What?

[CP] His eyes narrow a bit-

[Steve] There shouldn't be any other humans here...

[Nessie] Agreed. The world scroll declaimed you as the only survivor of your mates... experiments...

[TLOT] Neutral expression-

[Steve] Wait? You have a copy of that?

[Nessie] Yes. It was written from memory by a monk who had seen it in times long past-

[CP] - Lame

[TLOT] Shut. Up.

[CP] - Make me

[Steve] Just go home Cp, you're not helping.

[CP] - No

[Nessie] Does the god of war have nothing to do in this peaceful countryside? Perhaps he would prefer to spar with my monks?

[CP] - Fuck off, I'm pissed at that one- He thumbs at TLOT

[Nessie] I see... - She takes out a bit of paper and scribbles a map with a quill - here's the area where they were seen. I suspect it may be our thief. I doubt a Testificate would be bold enough to commit such a sacrilege.

[Steve] takes it gratefully-

[CP] - Don't bother, they'll just run and hide like cowards

[Nessie] You have a lot of anger in you. I wonder if it is warranted.

[Steve] He's dealing with some personal loss.

[Nessie] My condolences then

[CP] - You can shut the fuck up

[Nessie] Folds her hands into her sleeves. - Very well then... Herobrine.  I'll bid you all a good day. - Turns to leave.

[TLOT] Looks exasperated-

[CP] - Well what are you going to do coward?

[TLOT] Investigate. Not that you give a shit-

[Steve] Shows him the map- This isn't far from here.

[CP] - And then you'll run and hide when you get scared

[TLOT] I want so badly to hit you right now-

[Steve] Come on, lets go. It's cold as cubes out here-

[CP] - You wouldn't even leave a mark

[TLOT] You're right my lamb - He's pointedly ignoring Cp-

[Steve] Starts to head off in the direction the map indicates-

[CP] Continues to follow them-

-The snow trickles away into a small slice of swamp and they travel along the coastline-

[CP] - Oh joy, you two had better not start fucking

[TLOT] Oh, are you still here?

[CP] - Just to watch you piss yourself in fear

[TLOT] Do I need to tell your wife you're ticking me off?

[CP] - She already knows I'm pissed

[Steve] Oh, so she got sick of your tantrum and told you to go outside?

[CP] - No, I left before I could cause her harm

[TLOT] Probably the first good idea you've had all day.

-A small village comes into view, there's only five houses and a well.

[CP] Is about ready to attack them-

[TLOT] Strides into town and thre's a little bit of commotion before the Testifcates are gathered in a group.

[Leader] My leige... we weren't expecting a visit...

[Steve] It's okay, we're just tracking someone. We were told they came this way. Someone who might be... human?

[CP] Watches from the shadows-

-They motion for a fem Testificate to come forward. She speaks haltingly, from nervousness- I was a bit late getting inside at night and I saw a figure pass by that didn't look like any mob I'd ever seen. They were wearing a white garment of some type. It looked like a ghost-

[CP] - Oooh, spooooky

[Steve] Can you tell us which way they were headed?

-She points down the coast- That was the day before yesterday though-

[TLOT] It may help us all the same. Thank you for being vigilant.

[CP] Rolls his eyes-

[TLOT] He fusses around in his inventory and gives her several oonions. - Something for your soups, your garden and your trouble.

-She takes the vegetables gingerly and bows before stepping back-

[Steve] We'll be off then.

[CP] Slips through the shadows to beat TLOT and Steve to the exit of the village-

[TLOT] Bumps into him intentionally and keeps walking-

[CP] Growls-

[TLOT] Is walking quicker now, looking for any signs that someone passed through-

[CP] - So what is your plan?

[TLOT] I don't have one. Maybe I'll just do what you do and rush in screaming with a weapon in each hand.

[CP] - You can't, you only have one

[Steve] He has my blade as well. I'm not standing by while my mate goes into danger.

[CP] - Oh this should be fun to watch

[TLOT] That's exactly what I would expect from you Cp. Just watch people struggle and do nothing. Go away.

[CP] - Nah, this might lighten my mood

[Steve] You make me sick to my stomach sometimes.

[CP] - Not sick enough for you to leave me alone apparently

[Steve] shouts in frustration- You're the one following us!

[CP] - BECAUSE YOU PISSED ME OFF!- CP lights himself on fire

[Steve] Skitters closer to TLOT, who is pointedly walking away from Cp-

[CP] - I'm not sure why you chose a coward as a mate

[Steve] Unlike you, I respect people who sacrifice for others.

[TLOT] My lamb...

[CP] - And often times sacrifices are pointless

[Steve] You only feel that way because you're selfish and mean.

[CP] - It's kept me alive

[Steve] I'm not dead yet either.

[CP] Growls-

[TLOT] Stops cold and quivers a little - Someone is watching us....

-The biome along the shore has given way to a little bit of jungle.

[CP] - No shit, they have been for awhile

[TLOT] Says nothing and scans around, he hasn't been able to focus properly with Cp berating him-

[Steve] Is peering into the trees-

-The sudden stillness is unnerving, it seems like even the few parrots hopping about have gone silent.

[CP] Floats upwards to watch the scene unfold-

[TLOT] Calls his scythe to hand and stands with his back to Steve.

[Steve] Pulls out his own Enderpearl sword and takes a ready stance-

[CP] - This should be entertaining

[TLOT] I know you're there. Come out!

-The sense of being watched is stronger now and there's some bare movement from high in the trees-

[CP] - Let's speed this up- He tosses a fire ball at the trees

-There's a shriek of irritation and an ender pearl goes flying out of one of the trees. As it lands there's a flash of something white too close to the pair on the ground-

[TLOT] Strikes out blindly at the shape and Steve goes for the stab as well-

-There's a splash of blood, the sound of ripping fabric and the sword is almost torn out of Steve's hands as it sticks to what it's cut into. -

-The figure whips around and it pulls Steve with the sword flat onto the ground-

[TLOT] Instantly goes berzerk, swelling into his monstrous form with a groan of tortured golden armor-

-The figure darts nimbly away from his claws but the third blow catches them square. It also embeds the dagger they were holding into his palm-

[TLOT] Gives an angry roar and the ground under their attacker turns to lava.

[Steve] Gets kicked by the figure as he tries to get out of the way and falls in the lava. He screams reflexively even though it won't kill him and both the others react viscerally to his yell, one freezing in place to stare at the apparently unhurt Steve and the other to headbutt their attacker with his helmet while they're distracted. The white clad figure flies backwards into some bushes with a thump as they hit a stone outcrop.

[???] Gets up with a snarl and there's a flash of black eyes on pale skin as they look out from under their hood-

[TLOT] Pulls the dagger out of his hand and catches the gaze. He freezes in fear for a moment and they're on him again, stabbing at his bulky shape as he claws at them and slices with the now petite looking scythe. There's bits of blood and pixels flying everywhere.

[???] Freezes as a sword stabs them from behind and the blood spatters Steve's grimacing face.

[TLOT] Grabs them and throws them down, as they bang against the ground he hisses suddenly and his eyes go wide-

[???] It's just enough of a distraction for them to stab his other hand-

[TLOT] Kicks the person and they roll a few blocks away, curled up in pain.

[CP] - I taste your fear TLOT~

[TLOT] Screams- What do you want from me?! Why can't you just die?!

[???] You're the one who came looking for me...

[Steve] Because you stole from our friend, you... bitch!

[CP] Sputters out a little laugh at Steve's attempt to call him a cruel name-

[???] She still honored the dead one! It had to be set right!

[TLOT] Sneers - Do you think they should worship you instead? You NOTCH?!

[???] No, but she had things I wanted. That she had no use for-

[Steve] What are your intentions here?

[???] Same as you. Survival.

[CP] - By scaring the crap or angering everyone here?  Real good plan there asshole- He brings himself back down to the ground

[???] Do I need to fight you too? - they look up and the shreds of their hood falls away, the reason for TLOT's suddenly backing off is obvious. They are a NOTCH, but instead of the bald head there is a single ruff of hair down the middle like a mohawk and the swell of blocky breasts is plainly visible through their torn and bloodied poncho. She pulls the bits of spiderweb cloth closer with the arm that's less injured and glares at him with her beady black eyes-

[CP] - Oh for fucks sake!

[TLOT] Is still huffing a bit and takes a scoop of the errant lava to heal his hands- Do you have a name... NOTCH?

[???] Traveler.

[CP] - Laaaaaaaaaaaaaame

-There's a fast motion and an enderpearl bounces off Cp's chest, there's a flash of motion too fast to follow and she viciously slices both his cheeks with a dagger made from a broken off sword-

[CP] Immediately moves to stab her- Fuck off you gnat!

[Traveler] Ducks backward and knees him squarely in the nuts, as he tips forward she uppercuts his jaw and falls back to a safer distance-

[CP] Burst into flames-

[Traveler] Watches him burn. She's still pretty injured, but as an AI it's not hindering her too much.

[CP] Is just cursing nearly non stop-

[TLOT] Tends to Steve and then checks on them. - Are we done?

[CP] - Oh fuck off asshole

[Traveler] Falters and leans against a tree. - I don't know. Who is this alien brine?

[CP] - None of your damn business

[TLOT] His wife is an ally of ours.

[Traveler] And where have you gone Herobrine? I've been trying to get a bead on you since I arrived, but you seem able to vanish from this plane of existence.

[CP] - He's a coward who has left this seed instead of tending to it

[Traveler] I have been all over this world. It doesn't need much tending. It seems his name is on everyone's lips and the people are prosperous and happy.

[TLOT] Bit o pride-

[CP] Scowls-

[CP] - Fucking whatever, let's just go home

[Traveler] Where is home?

[TLOT] Unnerved-

[CP] - Not here

[Traveler] I gleaned as much. How are you leaving and entering the world? Is home in the nether?

[TLOT] Absolutely not.

[CP] Starts laughing at the thought-

[Steve] It's another server, that this world is contained within.

[CP] Mentally to TLOT- We can always ditch her with the other NOTCH's

[TLOT] Mentally back- I'm shocked at you. After you yelled at me all damn day for neglecting my responsibilities-

[Traveler] Eyes narrow- Stop doing that. I can tell by your faces you're communicating somehow.

[TLOT] Blanches-

[CP] - So why wouldn't I expect you to abandon more?

[TLOT] Is dead silent for a long moment and then suddenly hauls off and punches Cp as hard as he can in the face with his overlarge fist-

[CP] Is thrown backwards a bit before regaining his footing and lunging at TLOT-

[TLOT] Clads himself in Netherweight and is unmovable. Cp basically just bashes into him like he hit a bedrock wall and TLOT doesn't move an inch.

[CP] Is growling and the heat of his flames is growing much more intense-

[Traveler] Watches them impassively.

[Steve] Please stop.

[CP] - Stay the fuck out of this!

[Traveler] To Steve - Should I kick him again?

[Steve] Is clearly nervous talking to her - It's okay, they're pretty evenly matched....

[CP] - I will fucking trap you in a dream!

[TLOT] He's using his own version of the 'dad voice' - I'm so sick of your shit Cp. I'm not playing with you any more today. - He waves a hand and makes an opening back into the cage before giving Cp an open-handed slap that sends him stumbling through the hole.

[Lie] Is standing on the other side in the cage, her arms crossed and a not so pleased expression on her face- CP...

[Traveler] Follows Cp through the hole before anyone can say anything- How interesting....

[TLOT] Fuck...

-The offensive pod is immediately on alert and hisses at Traveler-

[CP] Is up and about to go back through to try and attack TLOT again-

[Traveler] Hisses right back and brings a dagger to hand-

[Lie] Notices TLOT's form and with an aggravated sigh she flicks her hand forwards, attaching the collar to her husbands neck before focusing on her pod- Shhhh, easy now, it's alright

[CP] Let's out a strangled noise as he's shrunk down into a cat-

[Traveler] Barks out a small nervous laugh and locks eyes with Lie- Nice trick.... Herobrine.

[Lie] - I apologize for my husbands actions if he attacked you.  My name is Lie

[Traveler] It was a scuffle, nothing more. My fight with my brine and his Steve was more... involved. I am the Traveler.

[TLOT] shuffles through giving her a suspicious look, he waits for Steve to exit and closes the portal.

-The offensive pod lowers itself close to Lie-

[Lie] - Somehow I suspect my husband was still the instigator...

[CP] Yowls and fire balls TLOT-

[TLOT] Just tanks the fireball and gives him an angry look- Stop that.

[Steve] Yeeeaaah.

[Lie] Just groans a little- CP come here...

[CP] Ignores his wife-

[Traveler] Indicates the pod with the dagger in her hand- What is that?

[Lie] - My defense, the first of it's kind as well

[Traveler] Curious. Though not as unusual as the world being contained in a room.

[Lie] - There's a second one too- Motions towards the other command block

[Traveler] What wonders and treasures does it contain?

[Steve] Other NOTCH AI's and a multitude of dragons.

[TLOT] Shucks off his chestplate and stows the streched out metal before shrinking back to his normal size.

[Lie] - Should I let Tungsten know you'll be stopping by soon?

[Traveler] Tungsten?

[TLOT] Our village blacksmith.

[Traveler] Ah... the lost village persists? One of them at least?

[CP] Goes to piss on Steve-

[Steve] Scoots out of the way-

[CP] Persists-

[Lie] Starts summoning vines to grab CP-

[Steve] Kicks Cp lightly in the butt since it's facing him-

[Lie] Grabs CP with the vines and brings him over and into her arms- I think we need to find someplace quiet to properly calm down-

[Traveler] Motions for her to lead.

[TLOT] Looks resigned-

[Steve] I think we all need a break...

[newsnigeria]

Are Russia and Turkey on a collision course?

The murder of the Iranian hero-martyr General Soleimani created a situation in which a war between Iran and the Axis of Kindness (USA/Israel/KSA) became a real possibility but, at the very last minute, Uncle Shmuel decided that he had no stomach for a full-scale war against Iran.  Wise decision. This, however, does not at all imply that the AngloZionist Empire decided to stand by idly, far from it.  The need to take quick and determined action became particularly acute following the huge anti-US demonstrations in Iraq (well over one million people in the streets!) which directly put at risk the US occupation (the MSM would call it “presence”) in both Iraq and Syria. At the same time, Turkish President Erdogan’s refusal to remove all the “bad terrorists” from the Idlib province eventually resulted in a joint Syrian-Russian offensive to liberate the province.  That offensive, in turn, clearly infuriated the Turks who warned of a major military operation to prevent the Syrians from liberating their own country. This begs the question: are Russia and Turkey really on a collision course? There are certainly some very worrying warning signs including a number of very harsh statements by Erdogan himself, and a suddenly re-kindled Turkish interest for the US “Patriots”. On the ground in Idlib, the Turks have clearly provided the “bad terrorists” with a lot of support including equipment, MANPADs, tanks and armored personnel carriers.  The Turks actually went as far as sending special forces to assist the “bad terrorists” directly.  Finally, from footage taken by Russian and Syrian drones, and even the “bad terrorists” themselves, it appears undeniable that Turkish MLRS and regular artillery provided the “bad terrorists” with fire support. Both sides also agree that a number of Turkish personnel were killed (they only disagree on how many and what these Turks were doing in Syria). Finally, and most ominously, there is even a video circulating on the Internet which appears to show a US “Stinger” being fired by the “bad terrorists” at a Russian aircraft which, thank God, managed to evade it (unlike 2 Syrian Army helicopters which were shot down). So the first conclusion that we can come to is that the Turks are already engaged in combat operations against the Syrians.  For the time being, these combat operations are just below the threshold of “credible deniability”, but not by much.  For example, if the Turks had shot down a Russian aircraft you can be pretty certain that the Russian public opinion (which has still not forgiven Erdogan for the downed Su-24) would have demanded that the Russian Aerospace Forces massively retaliate (just as they have every time Russian military personnel have been killed) kill scores of Turks. The Russian position is very straightforward.  It goes something like this: The Turks committed to remove all the “bad terrorists” from the Idlib province, leaving only the “good terrorists” who are committed to a ceasefire and a political peace process in place.  That did not happen.  In this case, the Syrians clearly have to do themselves what the Turks refused (or could not) do.  The Russian military presence in Syria, and the Russian military operations, are all absolutely legitimate and legal: the legitimate government of Syria invited the Russians in, and the UNSC agreed to back the Syrian peace process.  Thus the Russian Aerospace Forces’ strikes against the “bad terrorists” are absolutely legal.  Furthermore, Russia very much deplores the presence of regular Turkish units among the “bad terrorists” which is both illegal and very unhelpful.  Finally, the Russian Aerospace forces have no way to determine who sits in which tank, or who provides artillery cover for the operations of the “bad terrorists”.  Thus, if Turkish military personnel are killed in Syrian or Russian operations, this would be entirely the fault of Ankara. So far the Turkish military operation has been rather unsuccessful and limited. But Erdogan is now promising a major attack. Will that happen and what can the Turks really do? First and foremost, Turkey does not have the means to enter into a full-scale conflict with Russia.  Turkey cannot do that for political, economic and military reasons: Political: the simple truth is that Turkey (and Erdogan) desperately need Russian political support, not only towards the West, but also towards Iraq, Iran or Israel.  Furthermore, Erdogan has now clearly deeply alienated the Europeans who are fed up with Erdogan’s constant threats to open the “refugees” spigot.  As for the Turks, they have already known for years that the EU will never accept them and that NATO will not support Turkey in its (very dangerous) operations in Iraq and Syria. Economic: Turkey’s economy really suffered from the sanctions introduced by Russia following the shooting down of the Russian Su-24 by Turkish aircraft (backed by USAF fighters).  What was true then is even more true now, and the Turkish public opinion understands that. Military: the past years have been absolutely disastrous for the Turkish armed forces which were purged following the coup attempt against Erdogan.  This sorry state of affairs is indirectly confirmed by the very poor performance of Turkish forces in Syria. What about a conflict limited to Syria? Again, Turkey is in a bad position.  For one thing, the Syrians and, even more so, the Russians control the airspace above Idlib.  The Turks are so frustrated with this state of affairs that they have now reportedly asked the US to deploy Patriot missiles in southern Turkey.  This is a rather bizarre request, especially considering that Turkey purchased S-400s from Russia or how pathetically the Patriots actually performed (recently in the KSA and elsewhere before that).  This, by the way,  might well be a case of fake news since, apparently, there are no Patriots available for Turkey even if the US agreed to sell. Then there is the bellicose rhetoric we hear from Erdogan.  For example, he recently declared that: “The regime, backed by Russian forces and Iran-backed militants, are continuously attacking civilians, committing massacres and shedding blood, (…) I hereby declare that we will strike regime forces everywhere from now on regardless of the deal if any tiny bit of harm is dealt to our soldiers at observation posts or elsewhere.” That kind of language is, of course, very dangerous but, at least so far, the Turkish operation has been both limited and unsuccessful.  Syrian President Assad was not impressed and declared that: It also means that we must not rest idle, but prepare for the battles to come. As a result, the battle to liberate the Aleppo and Idlib countryside continues regardless of some empty sound bubbles coming from the north (vain threats from Erdogan), just as the battle continues to liberate all of Syrian soil, crush terrorism and achieve stability. In the meantime, in Iraq, the US has apparently dug-in and categorically refuses to leave.  In practical terms this means that the Iraqis will have to step up their anti-US campaign both politically (more protests and demonstrations) and militarily (more IEDs, convoy attacks and, probably soon, drone, cruise missile and ballistic missile attacks on US targets in Iraq).  I don’t believe that the US will be able to sustain that kind of pressure in the mid to long term, especially not in an election year (which promises to be hellish anyway).  Right now, the Idiot-in-Chief seems to think that threatening Iraq with “very big sanctions” is the way to restore good relationships.  In reality, all this will do is to further inflame anti-US feelings in Iraq and the rest of the region. Then there is the tactical situation.  Please check these two maps: (click on map for a higher resolution)

The part in red shows the government controlled areas.  The light blue (or light green on the 2nd map) show the Turkish deployment.  The part in olive green (or darker green on the 2nd map) shows the parts of the Idlib province which are still under Takfiri occupation.  Finally, the small region around Tell Rifaat are controlled by the Kurds. The Syrian forces, backed by Russia, have now pushed back the latest Turkish+Takfiri attack north and west of Aleppo and they are now attacking the southern tip of the Takfiri occupation zone around the Zawiya mountain and highlands, see here:

The Syrians have options here.  They can either gradually push north, or they can try to envelop the Takfiri forces in a “cauldron”.  Finally, the Syrians would score a major victory if they succeeded in regaining control of the highway between Aleppo and Latakia (in blue on the map). As for the Turkish-backed Takfiris, they are pushing very hard towards Idlib, so far with only moderate and temporary successes (they typically take a location at huge cost in lives and equipment and then cannot hold on to it as soon as the Syrians and Russians bomb the crap out of their newly conquered positions). All of this is taking place while Syrian, Russian, Turkish and US patrols are regularly meeting, often in rather tense situations which could quickly escalate into a firefight or, even worse, an open battle.  There is also the risk of an incident in the air since these four nations also conduct air operations over Syria.  And, just like in the case of the ground operations, Syrian and Russian air operations are legal under international law, Turkish, US or Israeli operations are not and constitute an act of “aggression” (n.b: the highest crime under international law). So far, the various negotiations between the parties have not yielded any result.  This might change on March 5th when a conference on Syria attended by Turkey, Russia, France and Germany will meet (probably in Istanbul) to try to find a negotiated solution.  Considering that Turkish soldiers are killed every day and already that 2 Syrian helicopters have been shot down, this might be too late to avoid an escalation. I will conclude here by posting a (minimally corrected) machine translation of a Russian translation of a text originally written by a Turkish political commentator and translated into Russian by a Telegram channel: (emphasis added) Russia’s strategy from the very beginning was to return full control of Syrian territories to Assad. And Moscow was implementing its plans, getting closer to the goal step by step.  As long as Damascus will not take Idlib, the operation will continue. You don’t need to be an expert in this field to understand this. This is obvious.  Someone says that Erdogan’s trip to Ukraine played a role in the offensive operations of Damascus. In fact, this visit is the result of the Syrian army’s offensive. The Turkish President went to Kiev just after tensions rose between the Turkish armed forces and the Russian side. Erdogan is in Ukraine made statements that have caused irritation in Moscow.Turkish diplomacy was at an impasse. We discussed for a long time that you can’t put all your eggs in one Russian basket. And they said: we will buy the S-400, build a nuclear power plant, and develop tourism. And Putin was made a hero in our country.  And now the defense Secretary is talking about buying American patriot air defense systems. And the President is talking about acquiring Patriot. “We did not succeed with Russia, we will get closer to the United States” – this is not how foreign policy is done. We need consistency in foreign policy. It is not appropriate for a country with a strong military power to change sides between world powers once a week.What we are still discussing these days: we need to get closer to Europe and the US against Russia. These discussions worry our entrepreneurs who work with Russia. The tourism sector is concerned. Without Russian tourists, our tourism sector cannot fill all the volumes and make a profit.  We have not yet been able to resolve these issues, and we are discussing a clash with Russia. Let’s remember what happened after Turkey shot down a Russian plane. Our tourism sector could not recover for two years. What to expect from a military clash. We have to talk about it.The goal of our state: to live in peace on our land, and keep all the troubles away from yourself, while doing this to attract new troubles – this is not an indicator of a good military strategy or a well-thought-out diplomatic strategy. Everyone should understand this. The risk for Erdogan is obvious: in case of a serious confrontation with Russia (and Syria AND Iran, don’t forget them!), the consequences for Turkey might be severe, resulting in a sharp rise in anti-Erdogan feelings in Turkey, something he can hardly afford. And that brings us to the current US/NATO/CENTCOM posture following the assassination of General Soleimani I mentioned in the beginning of this article.  The risks of a quick and dangerous escalation involving the USA and Iran are still extremely high.  The same can be said for the risks of a resumption of anti-US attacks by Iraqi Shia forces.  Then there are the conflicts in both Afghanistan and Yemen, which Uncle Shmuel probably would prefer to end, but has no idea how.  In these countries a rapid escalation could occur at any time, especially following Iran’s officially declared goal to kick the US out of the Middle-East.  And now, there is a risk of major escalation between Turkey, Syria and Russia: such an escalation would have a major potential to suck in the US forces in the region, even if nobody does so deliberately (or if the Iranians do that very deliberately). Right now Uncle Shmuel is busy with a strategic PSYOP trying to get Russia and Iran into a conflict (see this propaganda piece for example).  That will not work, as both the Russians and the Iranians are waaaaaaay too savvy to fall for such primitive things.  The US also tried to instigate riots inside Iran, but they quickly petered out (as did the rumors about the US deliberately shooting down the Ukrainian airliner). The Middle-East is impossible to predict, it is too complex and there are too many possible factors which influence the situation.  Still, my guess is that the March 5th conference, assuming it takes place, will force Erdogan to back down and re-pledge his commitment to bringing back security to the Idlib province.  That is, as far as I can see, the only way for Erdogan to avoid an embarrassing military defeat with possibly very serious political consequences. Conversely, should there be an open clash between Turkey and Syria+Russia, then I don’t see NATO intervening to back Turkey.  At the most, the US/NATO can send forces to “protect” Turkey and equipment, but in both cases these would not be effective (the problems of the Turkish military are too big to be solved by such mostly symbolic actions).  While some more rabid countries (Poland, Netherlands, UK and, of course, the USA) might be tempted to get a major NATO action going against Syria and, through that, against Russia, the mentally saner EU countries have exactly zero desire to end up in a war against Russia, not over the Ukraine, and not over Syria. Thus while Erdogan is desperately trying to pit the USA against Russia, this will not work, especially since this latest pro-US “zag” will only further alienate Iran (and the rest of the region).  I predict that after the March 5th conference, Erdogan will be forced to resume his “friendship” with Putin and basically cave in. If that does not happen, for whatever reason, an escalation will be pretty close to inevitable. The Saker PS: Colonel Cassad (aka Boris Rozhin) has published on his blog an interesting article which looks at a theory which, apparently, is popular in the Middle-East and Russia.  This theory says that what is taking place is a gigantic show, a deception, in which both Russia and Turkey appear to be at odds, but in reality are working hand in hand to disarm the Takfiris and exchange territory.  Here are, in his opinion, the possibly indications of such a collaboration: (machine translated and minimally corrected) After some formalities, Turkey resumed joint patrols with the Russian military in Rojava, which is carried out in a routine manner.Russia has increased the quota for the supply of Turkish tomatoes to Russia despite the fact that Russia threatened to block the supply of Turkish tomatoes.USA did not give Turkey patriot missile, which was described in the Turkish media referring to anonymous sources in the Turkish government. No actual support from the United States and NATO, Turkey has not received.Despite the fact that the SAA was not going to stop the offensive and continued to surround the Turkish observation points, Turkey has effectively given Assad’s carte blanche for all of February, stating that no major combat operation will be initiated before the beginning of March.The main chain of the new observation points were deployed by Turkey to the North of highway M-4. The southern direction is not actually strengthened. Attempts to cover the Kafr will Sagna or Kafr Nabl were not undertaken, although this is more important points than Nairab.The bulk of the Pro-Turkish militants were drawn to Idlib and Carmine, while the southern front was actually exposed for Assad there is a situation of maximum favour for liberation dozen cities and towns.The battle of Niravam turned into a week-long meat grinder, where the militants engaged in stupid frontal assaults against Syrian positions with heavy losses but capturing Neirab, there is virtually nothing on the operational level, they did not win – losing people and most importantly – time.The Russian and Turkish military keep all channels of communication and exchange information, including on the movement of Turkish columns. The Russian military help to supply the surrounded Turkish observational points in the rear of Assad.Moscow and Ankara have repeatedly stressed that not to seek a military conflict with each other, preferring to seek resolution of disputes through diplomatic means. And Rozhin adds: Why all this may be part of a backroom deal? Because such a scenario would allow Turkey to look like a defender of Idlib, which is in strong opposition to the plans of Assad and Putin. At least visually. As for Assad and Putin, they can claim to have liberated part of the Idlib province. The battle of Niravam in this logic allow Erdogan to save face before “in the interests of peace and security,” to sign a new deal with Russia with a new line of demarcation, which officially has already been discussed at negotiations in Moscow on 17-18 February. Officially, the Turks rejected it. But it’s official. And if we assume that the agreement already exists and this just fixed sight 5 March, while Assad released another piece of Idlib and the militants “An-Nusra” will be partially disposed in the battles with the SAA in Idlib and in the southern frontal attack on the front under Niranam.  In favor of this version may indicate the previous experience of transactions between Russia and Turkey, when Ankara loudly growled at Assad, but de facto did not prevent the Assad regime to clean up the enclaves and win the battle for Aleppo.  Against this version can play what the Turks themselves are suffering losses in manpower, and further concessions to Russia may undermine Erdogan’s positions in Idlib, so he tries to bargain. I personally doubt this version, if only because this is a very tricky and dangerous way to get things done, and because of the many threats and even ultimatums Erdogan is constantly spewing.  A more likely explanation for all of the above is that 1) the Takfiris are desperate and are running out of steam and 2) the Turks are afraid of a serious confrontation with Russia.  Rozin concludes: I think that by March 5 the question of whether there is was a secret deal or not will finally be clarified, since Erdogan’s threats are all focusing on early March, at which point he will have to either attack or chose to play the role of peacemaker, which “diplomatically” stopped the advance of Assad. Here I can only agree with him. VS Read the full article

[thornstocutyouwith]

Name: [Karma] Timezone:[Central] Activity:[8 random hours of the day or so. Depending on work.] Anything Else?:[His face will be Paul Bettany. Nothing else that comes to mind currently.]

Character:[  Za Cornes Pekc] Role & Film:[The Horned King, The Black Cauldron.] Age:[37] Race:[ Witch ] Powers:[

Ink Generation: He can use ink to generate things. Mostly through drawing, this, to a certain extent, is mostly harmless, on most occasions. Used as distraction. But it is in no way, utterly harmless. It depends on the users own ink supply and imagination. His favorite trick is to spawn creatures, which if used correctly, or in unison with his other ability, it might become something of a challenge for its foe.  The ink also might be used in transporting poisons, through several means.

Darkness Manipulation: He can create, manipulate and shape darkness to his own will.  It can be used as a way of protection, where his ink fails, as well as an attack. It’s not often that he has to pull this trick out of his hat. Because it does take a toll on him more than his ink powers, as it is much more powerful. Yet once his opponent has taken it upon themselves to make him use this ability, they might not enjoy its outcome so much.

Traits:[Cunning? Misanthropic? Serious.-Truly Evil, Abusive, Hegemonic.] Biography:[

On the day Za had been born to his desperate parents. It seemed to be a blessing. After being told their child would not make it to be born. This was one of the few happy moments in the remainder of their lives. But after a few years, in all stories for children like Za, one could see why the universe called for his death in infancy. Many people had warned his parents of his birth. What evils he’d commit once he’d been brought into this world. But what harm was one small infant? He appeared thin and frail most of his life. But as well, also seemed to be blessed with noticeable strengths, and he was strong. Despite his bony scrawny body, not inhumanly, but still could make one fearful of him with his strength.  Over the course of his childhood, he didn’t do much attacking of other, more so observation of the other children, weeding out the more susceptible to his willful ways. Often in his childhood, several disturbing things had happened around him.

Nannies would die mysteriously within the home. His parents, having lived in New Orleans all their lives, had known of how. There had been whispers going around, and many more recently about their own son, from his interactions with their children. Za had been making quite the reputation for himself, even as a small boy, making kids do things that reached disturbing measures that the parents of some of the children took to watching over their children’s interaction with Za, and when the other boy started to press upon their child, some disgusting task. Say, eating a worm? Well, the parent would end up yanking the child from Za’s presence and away home they went, telling the child to never talk to Za again. Which they had not, often, but this never last for many of those children, had an unbreakable fondness for this strange child. As Za had been something of an attraction to even some of the smarter children, but not always so easily manipulative, even so, they did like his willfulness and ability to get the other, more stupid children to listen to his demands.

  His parents, starting on his father’s side, a descendant of royalty, had the much stranger origins in it. His ancestry could be traced all the way back to Africa.  To the earliest known time of man in that area, his blood was that of oldest kind. But, not being ones to sit around then, his family traveled all the way to Russia at some point in time, or, whatever Russia had been then. At some point long down the road, they made their way into the Russian Royalty there. This would later branch off into British royalty where his great-great grandparents then took up root there for several decades his fathers direct line becoming the more obscure branch in the line. But by no means poor. His father met his mother in Paris, but their families had been in the Americas, for the time.

They in fact, had taken root in New Orleans, because the place seemed to fit their means quite nicely.  His mother was born of the royal French line. Which by the time of Za’s birth and many years before, had meant very little in standings, more like just one hell of a flashy title for one to bring up when starting a conversation. They took this strange coincidence as the world telling them they belonged together. Or, whatever story they told Za as a child, he had no interest. For all Za cared, they were of no importance to him as the years flew by. Children were also not able to escape his brutality. Za had, as already brought up, become known around the neighborhoods as quiet the domineering little prick. At 10 he’d already formed some ‘gang’ you could say, as a way to pass time and test his ability to control other people through manipulation. This seemed to come naturally from him.

Some people just begged to follow him like that piece of shit nobody, Creeper. He is one of Za’s favorite toys. Not that he cares about the other. No, he didn’t he could find a million others like Creeper, just as willing as the other. Though nanny’s seemed to meet terrible fates and children would go home less for where after not playing to Za’s benefit.   He’d never had anything to do with their deaths. Not to say he hadn’t conspired to kill many people. Which he surely had, he was a bit cracked, after all. But rather, he’d found no benefit in bringing them to their ends. But many of the rich that surrounded him and his family had also used some of those maids, and had found it quite odd the many complaints they would make about him, then not to long after. They were found dead. Za was a spoiled brat. Rich and never wanting for anything, he already had everything he could ever have wanted.

His mother and father doted on their baby boy. Ignoring the accusations of the surrounding peoples in the area, it’s not like Za cared for them. Soon having to take him out of school and take up private schooling. Which was fine with Za, he’d not really much liked people anyways. He just enjoyed using them for ruthless means that often ended in his benefit. It’s not like he’d asked for much. Just a bit of suffering and the wish to become god like, because who wouldn’t enjoy being a god? At age 10, killing others hadn’t even dawned on him. Oh, but give it some time. It eventually did. Though, one day I met a boy. One he’d grow to loathe most entirely. Arawn, that bastard, a boy slightly older than Za, and a lot more ruthless, Za seemed weak and nice in comparison to this person. Had arrived to do some gardening, a part time job, for the summer, one year, well, that was the lie anyway.

Arawn seemed to of heard of Za’s very skilled ability in manipulations. He’d gone so far as to seek the boy out it seemed. But his interests in the boy were only more to teach the boy more about his hidden gifts. Arawn appeared to be quite powerful in many ways. To which Za would never amount to his master, as he so affectionately called the man after a time. After many years following the others teachings, something horrible happened to Arawn. Za had not seen the other after that day. Nor did he himself remember the events of what happened to Arawn. He just remembers waking up in the woods when he was 17. The cops had been called to look for him, his parents, it seemed, had also been murdered the same night. But as the cops approached the young Za they noticed he was caked in blood. Not that the police had needed this as evidence to the murders.

But a nanny a few hours before had ran from his family home with stab wounds in her chest, screaming about someone having gone insane and killing Za’s parents, as well as almost killing her. That person, had been Za, or at least that’s what it would be chalked down as.  So why not blame the weird teenager who freaked everyone out. He’s got to be guilty! That and Za’s lack of emotions at the trials and laughing as he explained how  it had been interesting how conveniently their deaths had come, during an interview as he left one of the trials. But despite him being directly linked to not only the slaying of his parents, but the murder of the nannies that had died in his childhood, that the neighbors had not forgotten about, so became one talked about even in New Orleans at the time. In the end it had been cut down to the fact that Za was out of his god damn mind, or so the lawyers had made just about everyone believe.

So he was sent a way to a mental hospital from the time he was 18 till he was thirty-two. After his release though he appeared to be a new man, and with that, he’d pretend he was, his public face becoming that of kindness and generosity. Now, not to generous, mind you, but enough to avoid watching eyes. After all he did just get out of the ward. But he hadn’t lost that ability to manipulate those around him, with ease. Flash a smile, say a few nice things, lure them to your basement, and kill them. Za had become a wolf, hidden in the flock of sheep he’d grown up with. Offing the sheep’s parents, was an easy enough task, wouldn’t you say. They are the ones that aided in sending him away. So since his release, the elderly have been dropping like flies in the area of New Orleans in which Za had moved. His old family home torn down. The money unfrozen, Za built something more, his style.  More castle like, as he’d always been very fond of the look. Yes, very fond indeed. One could say he was a pampered rich kid. They would be right, and he embraced his royal lineage so easily and wanted everyone to know about it. A bit of show off some would say.

But Za didn’t care, because who the fuck were those people, spreading rumors? Nothing but worm feast, that’s all most of the people around New Orleans had seemed to Za. Za, had once heard of a woman who’d moved into town, but took not mind of her at the time, as he was indisposed when he’d heard of her. Once he was released he’d heard of the same woman once more, as she was the supreme of the witches. Which he so happened to be one, interesting right? Right?! You bet your ass it was interesting, Za though, wasn’t very interested in visiting her. She offered no benefit to him what so ever and so he’d visit her when he so pleased. He was a bit anti-social, so he didn’t enjoy conversation much. He figured most of what he’d wanted to make clear would be more easily told through actions, and the like, that words were rather useless in comparison, at least in his opinion. Za was flashy, big spending and when he did speak, it had only been briefly, to bring things to light, or to drone on about something in order to manipulate a person. Not much else would stir much more interest that would make him want to say much. He also wasn’t good at Jokes, giving, or receiving them.

  Relationships

Creeper: (Punching bag.) He just did not ever go the hell away. Creeper had shown his ugly face around Za’s castle so much that at one point he banned the other for several weeks because he didn’t like that the other was diminishing the beauty of his home, with his fuck ugly face.  Za hated Creeper with so much passion that it seemed like sexual tension to outside parties. But in the inner circle Creeper was just the same mangy toy Za liked to have as a foot rest, demand it from the other, then as they did, smashed his foot into the others ribcage so viciously, repeatedly kicking the other, and for what reasons? None at all, Za just like kicking him.  Za had also got this strange notion that the other hated him, he also didn’t like that. So, he’d kick the other a little harder on the days this suspicion rose up from the back of his mind. Something about Creeper just makes Za want to keep him all to himself. But with in distance at the same time, but not too far, as he might want to strangle something during the day, it’s like a pastime with them. Also enjoys it when  Creeper calls him " Sire"

  Maleficent: For the most part he’d observe her, getting little to shit nothing. Just stared at her, why not, she wasn’t that bad to look at. But he had nothing to say to her, before he’d turn and leave without a word, she may of talked. But Za didn’t bother to remember most, if any of what she had to say.  He was studying her, and the subjects in which he studied, no matter how powerful, were not worthy of much conversation from him. Not that she was unworthy, by no means. He’d held some respect for her. But not so much to let himself carelessly gets pulled in by her. What little he had to say around her, was all he felt needed to be said.

  Arawn: ( Mentor) This is the man that opened his eyes to witches and his powers early on. But he’s not seen the man since he was 17.

Chernabog: ( Friend?)  Who knows, they don't hang out too much.

Lady Tremaine:  Just another person he's met along the road, he's rarely found anything interesting about her.

Hades: ( Friend)  Just another one of the guys.

Mickey Mouse: ( Enemy) Mickey just doesn't set well with him.

Donald Duck: ( Enemy) He had the displeasure of meeting this person one time.  He does find him more interesting as a future toy, with that anger and all, than that Mickey fellow.

Tinker Bell: (Enemy) It's hard to place why these two don't get along. It probably has something to do with Peter Pan.

The Black Cauldron: True, this is not exactly a power. But it is in his possession. He uses it to make potions. Often times the ink he uses. Or some trivial thing that could be considered utterly useless. As he's not yet fully understood his potential with this strange pot. He, out of two people, seem to be the only one that is able to use it for it's abilities. Others have to find other means to do so. Or ask him. It's not like he'll say no. Especially if it benefits him in some way, and/or causes pain. ]

On the day Za had been born to his desperate parents. It seemed to be a blessing. After being told their child would not make it  to be born. This was one of the few happy moments in the remainder of their lives. But after a few years.  One would be able to see why the infant Za had to die. Many people had warned his parents of his birth. What evils he'd commit once he'd been brought into this world. But what harm was one small infant? He appeared thin and frail most of his life. But was also seemed to be blessed with noticeable strengths. Despite his bone tight scrawny body.  Over the course of his childhood.  Many disturbing things had happened around him. Nanny's would die mysteriously within the home. His parents, having lived in New Orleans all their lives. Decedents of  royalty, well, on his mothers side, on his fathers. His ancestry could be traced all the way back to Africa.  To the earliest known time of man in that area. But his family traveled all the way to Russia in the 1890's.

Then again they made their way into the Russian Royalty their. which would later branch off into British royalty where his great-great grandparents then took up root there for several decades  his fathers direct line becoming the more obscure branch in the line. But by no means poor. His father met his mother in Paris, but their families had long been in the Americas. New Orleans to be correct, for quite some time.

They took this strange coincidences as the world telling them they belonged together. Or, whatever story they told Za as a child, he had no interest. So maybe he's remembering it wrong. Perhaps his mother was of ancient French Royalty. But his father may of been a baker. Or maybe his mother  was a local Zoologist and his Father had been a mechanic?  For all Za cared, they were of no importance to him as the years flew by. Children were also not able to escape his brutality. Za had become known around the neighborhoods as quiet the domineering little prick. At 10 he'd already formed some ' gang'  you could say,  as a way to pass time and test his ability to control other people through manipulation. Which seemed to come naturally from him.

Some people just begged to follow him like that piece of shit nobody Creeper. He is one of Za's favorite toys. Not that he cares about the other. No, he didn't he could find a million others like Creeper, just as willing as the other. Though nanny's seemed to meet terrible fates and children would go home less for where after not playing to Za's benefit.   He'd never had anything to do with their deaths. Not to say he hadn't conspired to kill many people. Which he surely had.

But rather, he'd found no benefit in bringing them to their ends. But many of the rich that surrounded him and his family had also used some of those maids, and had found it quite odd the many complaints they would make about him, then  not to long after. They were found dead. Za was a spoiled brat. Rich, and never wanting for anything. His mother and father doted on their baby boy. Ignoring the accusations of the surrounding peoples in the area. Soon having to take him out of school and take up private schooling. Which was fine with Za, he'd not really much liked people anyways. He just enjoyed using them for ruthless means that often ended in his benefit. It's not like he'd asked for much. Just a bit of suffering and the wish to become god like. At age 10, killing others hadn't even dawned on him. Oh, but give it some time. It eventually did.

 One day Za met a boy. One he'd grow to loath most entirely. Arawn, that bastard, had ruined everything, for Za. Well, everything for him when he was 17 and 18. Za was being a bit dramatically out of character at that time. Don't even ask. But the pair had met when he was 13. Za admired this person. Though older than he was. It seemed more like a brotherly thing. But really, Za mostly just wanted that powerful presence the other seemed to have had.  Za was bad, his birth was called to bring out much suffering to many around him. But Arawn had let him take the fall for many of the things he himself had done. Carefully  planning from since before Za had  taken notice of this man. Arawn had been the butler, in his families sprawling home. Seeing over the boy and seeing just how evil the boy could be. How cold his heart seemed the moment his parents had brought the boy home.

Arawn knew he'd be the one and only 'parent' to that child. Indeed he'd had, not that Za would notice the man and his odd ' abilities' till much later. Za wasn't one for attention when he was younger. The help had just been that, the help. Nothing but things to wipe his mud covered boots on and carry on about his own business pretending they did not exist. But, one one night, with one particular made. When Za had, for some reason awoke, wondering down the steps he'd seen a maid, who'd recently made him irritated because she'd gotten the wrong sweet from the cook earlier that day, falling face first onto the floor. Before attempting to crawl  away from something. To this end, she'd been yanked back from where she'd come, quite powerfully so.

Za finished his decent and turned the corner, in time to see Arawn viciously stabbing the woman's back. Za had noticed just how evil, and delicious the other had looked then.  Who was this man that had only been a blur to him?  Licking his lips as he watched the blood trickle onto the white tarps where the body had splade Za nodded, now that was getting things done. No way was that miscreant little insect  Creeper like this man before him. His gaze had been transfixed on the blood he didn't notice Arawn rise and grab his arm. Crouching  towards the bony child before him and shaking him to direct his attentions on himself. Asking Za why he'd not been in bed and then yanking the boy towards the stairs. Almost commanding he'd return to bed. Till Za gave him an ice filled stare of his own at this presumed dominant command. Then turned and made his way up the stairs. Yes, he'd have to get to know this, Arawn, more.

Za had made sure he did, over the next few years. As the years flew by and his 18th birthday had come and gone. His mother and father had become quite the irritations. Arawn had become quite the loyal subordinate as well. Creeper in tow. Because what would Za Cornes Pekc be without his loyal Lieutenant? Hehe. He'd cause much more chaos after finding out how impressionable Arawn could be on him.  Almost, ALMOST, having a sort of idealistic love for the man. Little did he know. That the man, this, which, you could say, had no affection for him. Not even in the crazy 

" I like the way you kill." Way, that Za at times had felt. But the night of his parents murder, Arawn had disappeared. As if he were some imaginary friend or something. Asking creeper the weeks following his parents deaths. The other had shrugged asking what Za had been talking about, who was Arawn?  Za had found the disappearance odder and odder as strange things began happening around the estate that had been left to him. The free time he'd had between police investigating him on the strangeness of deaths and with the rumors that he'd committed them surrounding him, he was quickly made a suspect. 

After all, the rich boy who'd had been locked away in a mansion with nanny's and maids dying through out the years. Perhaps the young heir had a few screws loose and one night snapped and killed his parents.  Along side this. Za was also a snob.  He liked to dress fancy, talk down to people and get his way. Bad things happened when he didn't get his way.  On one of the nights he'd finally been left alone, able to explore the home, as he'd done many of times as a child. He'd found though, now, many secrets. Like an old book  written by his grandmother about a wizard, named Arawn. Who's soul had been rumored to of been bound to an object hidden in his own home.

In fact, the more he searched. He'd found this object, hidden right under the fireplace, in his room.  The Black Cauldron. As he'd found this object, he'd also found he'd had no idea how to use the damn thing.  But  the spirit of Arawn soon appeared to him once more holding out a piece of paper and for the last time. Giving him a most spectacularly creepy smirk, before vanishing.  Za held that paper and read off the name of two witches, one which caught his eye was Maleficent.  As well as another beside it, Mambo. But at 18, these two names were nothing to him. He'd felt he'd gain nothing from them. Maybe his family knew them? But hey, they were dead!  Why some dusty old ghost, that now Za was brushing off as some mental break down type of episode, wanted him to see two nobodies was beyond him.  Also, he'd felt like partying it up a little and completely and utterly locking himself away in his mansion.

But, as one would have it. During this drug binging, booze drinking, out of character, throwing caution to the wind moment. He'd  run into a much bigger problem than any one would have expected. During the time he'd turned 18 till the time he was 20, he'd met one witch, a man by the name of Devon Blaine. Only one time, at a bar. Drinking his life away. Mumbling about a witch, hearing a familiar name, but then brushed it off as he'd carried on about his own business. Cash to blow.   He'd not been spiraling, if that is what you think was going on.  No no no, he was just losing his damn mind, but really, it came to an end the night he'd beat the crap out of his loyal Creeper for getting in his way, which was not something one who knew Za, should do.

But Creeper had managed to do so, so immaturely, that it warranted him a beating of severity, the likes he'd not seen for years.  Then without remorse, bloodied with Creepers own blood. Za drove off with some girls, but not before throwing a whine bottle at his devoted friend and laughing as he sped off, flipping him the bird. He did not put that middle finger down, whether Creeper could see it or not, till he was well out of eyesight.  But unfortunately for Creeper,  other people had seen this beating, and  had called the cops on Dear ol' Za who a few moments after, would get into a high speed chase. Which Za came up with this brilliant idea. The girls screaming at him to pull over. He was going to kill them. Then crash the car.  But he'd needed to find the perfect spot in which to crash it. So unfortunately for the ladies with him. He'd have to kill them first.  Reaching to the side of his seat. 

He pulled out the handgun that was so conveniently placed, and pointed it at them his drunken disposition seeming to click into more of a sober, emotionless stare as he pointed back and forth between the three girls. The doors securely locked, so that the women would not escape, he decided on the blonde to go first, as her stripper name annoyed him.  Sparkles?  Really?  POW. Next. Now, none of these girls had had very great stripper names. But they were infect some of the most requested strippers from one of the most popular stripper clubs of the time.   The next girl was dark skinned and her black curly hair had  been eye catching. Mostly because it had been filled with fucking sparkles. I guess she'd thought that was super pretty. 

Tapping the gun into her forehead a few times he'd leaned over forcing a kiss before his finger pressed into the trigger blood splattering his face as she tumbled into the back seat laying in brain and blood. The car had swerved a bit off road then.  Aiming the gun at the other girl he turned and quickly righted it as he did. The red head, hadn't really interested him, or annoyed him really. He was just killing her for the kicks. POW.  Now that he'd had three murdered girls in his car and the police after him.  He could crash his car. He'd never gotten severely hurt. He wondered what that'd felt like. Well, what better time to test it. What will a bored rich boy not do to get some attention?  So he crashed his car into one off the local Life coaching classes in some ghetto looking squat around town.

 But was that enough? Not at all. Backing up he continued his insane ride right  into a ditch, which had flipped the car right off the road, and down a hill. Perfect!  10 out of 10 on the Landing, he hoped.  He'd of course lived, a few broken bones and unconscious but  whatever. It was exciting. Which after a few months of court and all that, he was convicted as mentally ill and sent away for a while.  Though of course it wasn't because he'd been laughing like a hyena and  making immature noises in the courtroom  or that his own layer was actually a clown.

Literally a clown, fully dressed up and told that the days in court was actually a celebration of the Judges birthday.Not that the clown believed any of that. But could he really question the billionaire  heir?  No, no he couldn't. The day of his conviction Za stood on the table, blew on a Kazoo and stomped his foot. The signal to bring in a wild tiger he'd bought and let it loose on the courtroom.   But the tiger never came. Because he didn't buy it. He'd adopted it, it was still in a rain forest. Za was then yanked from the table and wrapped up in a strait jacket, and whisked off to his " Throne" because somewhere along the line, he'd thought he was a king and commanded an army of undying worriers, or something.  The years seemed to fly as he sat in his padded room.

Serving out his sentence. His name was in the news papers several times through out the years. Especially the year of his sentencing. Highly medicated and seeming to be able to gather himself.  Slowly he returned to himself, why he'd managed to go so far off the tracks he'd no idea. Perhaps his parent's deaths did hit him harder than he'd cared to admit? After all, they had been the only ones to show him love and affection where others just down right hated him, except for his minions, but they were to be used, not to be friends with. Everyone knows this. .... So was that really what had drove him to do what he'd done to land himself here? ..... Pssh, fuck no!

Za had a hereditary chemical imbalance that often times made itself known in his mothers side of the family line. Many royalty had certain aspects of insanity, and some of them were do to the incest that bore a most prominent line in that family. His own maternal grandfather was married to his sister. For fucks sake. It had skipped his mother and her siblings. So whose to say it was not the problem in his case?  Once he'd reached 30 he was do for his release, back into the public. Over that time it dawned on him about how much Creeper must secretly hate him,  he after all, thinks it was Creeper who'd not prevented the police from being called, and showed a sign of weakness he cannot forgive for allowing someone to want to help him. Or some convoluted egotistic bullshit Za wants. 

He also isn't afraid to let Creeper know this, since his release and return home.  Yet Creeper doesn't seem to get the hint, leave.  Since coming home Za appears more serious and mellower, though still very abusive to others around him if he doesn't get what he wants. He's more slick about how he goes about his misdeeds. Using people to get what he wants. Dressing at all times as if he is prepared to do business and usually sports mostly blues, red's, browns and purples in his outfits.

 At the end of the day, Za  is one of the last people in town anyone wants to make angry. But he often gets visitors who help him make potions in his Cauldron, which he is slowly starting to figure out.  Flyers are handed around at clubs, perhaps they might find someone interested in potions, but, mostly they get used as cup holders, and joked about by the normals. ] Para Sample:[2 paragraphs minimum must be IC]

[chicleeblair]

make your own rubber duck: the consequences of pilfering muggle 💡

One of my favorite fics at the moment is @waspabi’s “Hermione Granger’s Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run.” It’s an AU based on the premise of Harry being found at seventeen, not eleven, and brought not to Hogwarts, but becoming part of an underground resistance led by the five who helped canon!Harry infiltrate the ministry–the first time–and Draco Malfoy. Chapter nine posted over the weekend, and I reread chapter eight to refresh my memory. i’m glad I did, because one of the many incredible details struck me in a way that let me put some of my thoughts about wixen* and muggle culture into words.

NB: i don’t think there are spoilers in this, but if you’re concerned, go read the fic and come back. read the fic even if you’re not concerned–it’s amazing.

“He felt like a lumos in the dark.”

That simple thought from aspabi’s Harry ignited the Harry Potter, cultural studies, and literary analysis sections of my brain Inside Out-style. It’s such a poetic way of demonstrating the way he is assimilating into wixen culture, and how quickly he is doing it. Canon!Harry might still think of something more muggle like a light switched on, but this Harry’s mind is so eager to latch onto having a place where he belongs, an identity that isn’t shunned, that his thoughts are shifting more quickly, likely sub-consciously.

I always loved the wixen idioms JKR used, but they were mostly comedic set dressing. “God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs” is hilarious, but it’s clearly shoehorning wixen culture into something muggle which makes one wonder how many cliches like “the kneazle’s among the pixies now,” originated from wix, if any did. it makes sense that so much of their culture overlaps with muggles since the Statute of Secrecy is relatively recent, but it also seems like they almost fought against separating further by allowing themselves to adapt rather than constantly altering muggle things without showing any respect for the original creators. The train of thought led me to considering how even muggl(e)philes* like Arthur Weasley are condescending toward a group of people whose technology he insists on altering rather than coming up with something more suited to wix. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be inspired by cars, but the wixen precedent of stealing things like steam engines and adding a few charms seems cheap and almost appropriative. we never hear about wixen novels, but I almost wonder if there is at the least a genre of adding wix to muggle books in the vein of “pride and prejudice and zombies”–The recent upswing in paranormal stories would be incredibly easy to adapt after all. (of course Harry Potter’s publication caused that, so would that universe be different? Paradoxes!)

all of that said, wix are clearly reacting to having been an oppressed–even endangered– minority at some point, and things look like children dressing up as witches on Halloween is also a culturally appropriative, although ignorantly done, but the fact Harry’s thought is so original and serious compared to JKR’s cliches is kind of a micro example of why I really love this story: the implications are intentional, it explores the pitfalls of wixen culture without requiring that it be analogous to the muggle world, and it truly explores both what it means to be a resistance group and what it means for Harry to finally have a place to belong after being told he’s worthless. I love alternate universe stories that both commit to their world and also stay true to the books, delving deeper rather than reinventing. Good fics do what I wish Arthur would do, which is to let canon inspire, but not be held back by it. Wix want to feel superior to muggles, but they clearly envy them as well. And by using disdain to hide their covetousness, muggleborns are looked down on, encouraging them to abandon their understanding of muggle technology rather than using it as a jumping-off point. Wix are thus limited to making assumptions in the vien of Ariel and Scuttle from The Little Mermaid. They might have far less dinglehoppers and more unique inventions if they simply allowed themselves to acknowledge that muggles had surpassed them in some regards and be willing to be unique rather than proving they can make Muggle things better because MAGIC.

going back to @waspabi’s Harry, the originality of this line and its placement makes me think that a Harry who hasn’t been surrounded by the endemic prejudice against muggles at Hogwarts–even ignoring For the Greater Good, old!Dumbledore is on the patronizing end of the spectrum–represents a new way of thinking, as does the titular Hermione. She doesn’t charm flashcards to speak just to make them “better”, she integrates muggle teaching techniques, for example. It’s a matter of balancing, not one upmanship, and waspabi demonstrates that by having Harry think of a lumos in the dark rather than, say, a caterwauling firework or a torch, because in this case the purely wixen idea works best.

I hope I’m getting myself across clearly here I don’t mean to say that wix need to cut the cord completely, the opposite in fact. I mean that they should be willing to use muggle ideas when they’re necessary, and to come up with their own concepts and designs to address a need, not to just steal the muggle technology and make it their own because they think they are entitled. Strangely, i think wix need to be a bit more selfish, to think of themselves as a whole, rather than worrying about muggles and who is related to them. Perhaps canon!Harry moves toward that as an adult, but waspabi’s Harry is so desperate to claim his new identity that he beings to do it at seventeen, and perhaps he will inspire his peers to do the same.

after all, the idea of God rest ye Merry hippogriffs is funny, but I found the lyrics to “a cauldron full of hot strong love” to be even better.***

if you’ve made it this far reward yourself and read the fic that inspired this mammoth post. it’s far more entertaining and clearly thought-provoking.

* a gender neutral alternative for wizarding/“witches and wizards” originated by essayofthoughts afaik

**muggl(e)phile and its counterpart muggl(e)hobia has potential he been used elsewhere, but I’ve never seen it, so if it’s used credit would be appreciate. that said, any linguist want to chime in on if the “e” should be used or not?

***I could devote several more paragraphs to the fact that although pottermore describes Warbeck as being acclaimed and well-off, she’s mocked in canon and preferred by Molly Weasley–a blood traitor–and i wonder if that is a sign of internalized wixephobia. the quibbler is in a similar place, though tabloids are muggle, it's not as clearly ripped off as "the daily prophet" which could totally be a non-magic title for a paper. (wixi-? wix-?)