#trap with her Wolves. which is annoying and also boring

[heepthecheep]

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole's various plots are already wild, but The Wolves of the Beyond is just... bizarre

[justablobfish]

Finding a present for that person that is impossible to find a present for

Day 13 of my Advent Calender. A new drabble or oneshot everyday until Christmas, following the Continent’s favourite found family and what they’re up to in the winter season. Based on this prompt list

Read on AO3

Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

______

It's going to be Jaskier’s second time visiting Kaer Morhen. 

Two years ago, Geralt had asked him only a few days before they were scheduled to separate for the winter. It had all been rather sudden and the whole season had passed in a blur of anxiety and excitement.

He hadn't even met the whole family then, Geralt's little brother Lambert hadn't made it to the keep that year. Then, the year after, Jaskier got delayed by his family until he couldn't make it to the keep anymore; the path had already snowed over. 

This year though - this year Jaskier is determined to make the most of his time at Kaer Morhen and charm his way into the hearts of Geralt's family until they can't imagine winter without him anymore. 

Step one is to make a good first impression after the Wolves haven't seen him in so long. And the easiest way to do that is to get the perfect welcome gift for everyone scheduled to be there. 

He comes across the first gift mere weeks after the snow of the previous winter has melted. After the tedious experience with his parents he decides to spend some time in Oxenfurt to recuperate. 

In his favorite dingy little bookstore he finds the perfect present for Eskel. 

Yes, yes, a steamy romance novel might not necessarily be the best way to prove himself to his lover's family, but the cover of the book shows your usual handsome warrior with very revealing clothing clutching a swooning damsel in distress in his overly muscular arms. Except this protagonist is drawn with an enormous scar covering the left side of his face. 

He's extremely handsome. So is Eskel, of course, but whenever Jaskier tells him as much he just dismisses the compliment. With this book though, Eskel will have to believe him that scars are seen as attractive by quite a number of people. Why else would they draw the cover like this? 

His second gift he also finds in a bookstore, though this place couldn't possibly be more different than where he found the book for Eskel. 

The "Ye Olde Books" in Toussaint sells only the most esteemed antiquities to rich noblemen who never intend to read them and only display them to prove their supposedly good taste and to exaggerate their riches. 

Jaskier quickly determines the oldest book the store has on offer. It's still younger than the recipient of the gift, of course, but the fairy tale stories it holds should still be similar enough to the stories that must have been popular when Vesemir was a child. 

After the events of the last winter Jaskier at least managed to guilt trip his parents enough that he has no trouble paying for the delicate tome. 

As for Lambert, Jaskier didn't meet him the one year he spent at Kaer Morhen, but he and Geralt ran into the younger Witcher on the Path once. It was a brief encounter and Lambert didn't seem to particularly like Jaskier. 

Geralt reassured him afterwards that it's nothing personal and that Lambert doesn't like anyone. 

Even though they couldn't possibly be more different, Lambert somewhat reminded Jaskier of himself. Jaskier is happy with his place in the world now, but he had to carve it out for himself, which hadn't always been easy. He remembers a time when he, too, felt trapped in the life he was born into, never good enough to satisfy his parents or to become a person in his own right, not just the heir to a legacy he wanted nothing to do with. 

So the bitterness Lambert carries around with him feels very familiar. 

His third gift, therefore, is just as expensive as Vesemir's and on top of that requires a large amount of convincing to work out. Luckily, Jaskier has practice annoying someone enough until they agree to anything. He spent most of his life perfecting the skill with the involuntary help of his lover.

By the time winter comes around again, the specially commissioned Gwent card will have started distribution. Though of course Jaskier will carry a copy of the new Lambert hero card with him as well and present it to Geralt's younger brother. He's made sure it would be stronger than the White Wolf card that became popular in recent years. 

Ciri's gift is easy enough. Jaskier simply buys the biggest, fluffiest teddy bear he can find. Ciri is going to roll her eyes at him and claim that she isn't a kid anymore, but that's exactly what makes it the perfect present. With all that destiny business, the kid forgets far too often to allow herself to be a child sometimes. 

How to get this monstrous thing, which is nearly as tall as Jaskier, back to Kaer Morhen is an entirely different story, though… 

The gift for Yennefer isn't hard to find either once he meets up with Geralt and travels with him again. In a run-down little general store in a village in the middle of nowhere, in the furthest corner of the shop, hidden under a fishing net and a set of gardening tools, lies the most atrocious knitted sweater Jaskier has ever seen. There's no reason to abandon old traditions, even if he and Yennefer don’t meet up at Oxenfurt anymore. And in case Yennefer doesn't attend Kaer Morhen this winter, he'll simply keep it around until the next time they meet. The knitwear is so incredibly ugly, it would be a shame to waste it. 

Geralt informs him one day that Lambert will bring a plus one. Not a boyfriend or close friend or anything, just a superficial acquaintance. The fact that Lambert risked his own hide to save the man's life is - apparently - entirely coincidental and without meaning. It's just that this other Witcher of the Cat school has no other place to spend the winter. Nothing more. 

Geralt calls his little brother an emotionally constipated idiot and Jaskier can't help but burst out laughing at the hypocrisy. 

Jaskier isn't sure whether to get this Aiden a gift as well since he never met the man, but as so often in his life, fate takes matters into its own hands. 

He's perusing his favorite clothes store in Vizima when he finds the most beautiful scarf. It's big and woolen and perfectly flashy. Every handspan or so the pattern and colours change completely. All in all it shows every colour of the rainbow. 

That is not the gift for Aiden, of course. But it's going to look great on Jaskier, especially since Geralt still insists he wears that old grey winter cloak. Granted, the cloak is warm, but oh so boring looking. The scarf will be just the right accessory to add a bit of color to his winter wardrobe. 

The gift for Aiden he comes across as he leaves the store. A little boy, who must be the owner's son, sits at the side of the road and busies himself with thread and needle. 

Curious, Jaskier steps closer and finds that the boy is attaching pieces of felt to a simple hairband. 

Once the kid is done he puts the headband on and the felt pieces stand up in such a way that it appears like the boy has kitten ears growing out of his head. 

Jaskier considers for a moment but then decides that if this Aiden is voluntarily hanging out with Lambert, he must have a good sense of humor. He buys the headband off the boy and heads back to his and Geralt's inn room. 

Maybe it's because he's traveling with Geralt and can't really go looking for a gift for the White Wolf, but by the time their departure for Kaer Morhen rolls around, Jaskier has a little something for everyone, except Geralt. He doesn't even have an idea what he could gift to the man. Anything practical like a new whetstone, better armor or a fancy dagger is something that Geralt is far better equipped to pick out himself. Jaskier has little knowledge about such things. 

And while Jaskier has spent the last twenty years of his life convincing the big oaf that he deserves pretty things every once in a while, too, Jaskier can't think of anything that wouldn't just be in the way when they eventually set out on the Path again. 

The end of autumn creeps closer and closer and Jaskier’s head stubbornly remains empty. It shouldn't be this hard to think of something that Geralt would enjoy. After all, Jaskier has known him for over two decades now. But it seems like everything he could get his favorite Witcher he has already gotten him at some point during their travels. 

He still has no idea when they pass the last village on the way to the Witchers’ keep. 

Or when they start making their way up the mountain path. 

Maybe there's a pretty rock he can pick up? 

What? No, that's a dumb idea. He's not just gonna pick up a random rock just because he's desperate. At this point he'll just have to accept the fact that he has no gift for Geralt.

They reach the keep after two days of tedious climbing - not something Jaskier missed from his last visit - and are greeted at the gates by the other Witchers. Geralt's family members each welcome Geralt with a short hug and a pat on the back, while another man, who must be Lambert's tagalong, awkwardly stands to the side. Vesemir and Eskel nod at Jaskier courtly, Lambert only grunts at him. 

Jaskier makes eye contact with Aiden who rolls his eyes at him apologetically over Lambert's behaviour. 

Then Geralt brings Roach to the stables and they all quickly make their way inside. 

In the large dining hall they meet Yennefer and Ciri. Apparently they only came here a day earlier via portal, making Jaskier and Geralt the last to arrive. 

"I have welcoming gifts!" Jaskier addresses everyone. 

Eskel reacts to his present with eyes narrowed in confusion. Then they grow wide with realisation and wonder. 

Lambert scoffs when Jaskier hands him his parcel. He doesn't scoff again after he unpacks it. 

Aiden grins at him widely and immediately puts his gift on. 

Vesemir simply hums appreciatively. It reminds Jaskier far too much of Geralt. He supposes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. 

Ciri, as expected, reacts with a pout and the declaration that she's not a child anymore. Still, she clutches the plushy to her chest and refuses to let it go when Aiden says he'll take it if she doesn't like it. 

Yennefer snarls at her sweater and quickly turns away from the group to hide it, but just like Ciri does with the teddy bear, she clutches it to her chest protectively. 

Which only leaves Geralt. 

"I, uh…, " Jaskier stutters and stares at his empty hands. 

"Hmm," Geralt hums. "Saving the best for last?" 

He grabs Jaskier by the shoulder, turns him around so that he's facing the room. He hugs Jaskier from behind and places his chin on Jaskier’s shoulder. 

"Seems like you got me the best gift of all," Geralt hums. "Look!" 

Confused, Jaskier glances about the room. Vesemir and Eskel are sitting in a corner, flipping through their respective books. Lambert is chasing Aiden through the room, who has stolen his Gwent card and is waving it around tauntingly. Ciri holds the teddy out to Yennefer, who's holding her sweater to the bear's chest to see if it would fit him. There's nothing out of the ordinary that Jaskier can spot. 

"I don't under-" he begins. 

"Everyone's here," Geralt explains. "My whole family in one place for the very first time. I couldn't possibly ask for more." 

[butterflies-dragons]

Hi. You said in your Jon and women meta that Lyanna is a combination of both Sansa and Arya. Can you give her parallels with both girls?

Hello Anon,

Yes this past week I’ve said that Lyanna Stark was a mixture of the Stark Sisters. 

I also said that I always thought that the Sansa from the original outline was very similar to Lyanna Stark:  

Now ¿How marrying the heir of the Iron Throne/King of the 7K is supposed to be an act of dubious loyalty?  Because GRRM has stated that in high nobility there is no marriage without the Lord Father of the bride’s blessing.  Furthermore, from the wedding the bride belongs to her husband’s house, that’s all the fuzz with the cloaking ceremony, going from the maiden’s cloak to your husband’s cloak.  You left your paternal house to belong with your husbands house.  Sansa’s loyalty was with her husband, and more important, Sansa’s love and loyalty was with her baby boy.  So, how choosing his baby over her paternal house could be seem as an act of dubious loyalty then?  And even if she wanted to come back to her paternal family, does she really get a chance without the risk of being captured, separated from her baby, accused of treason and executed, leaving her baby boy motherless?      

Oh I get it, there was an enmity between Starks and Lannisters.  So, Or Joffrey abducted Sansa? Or Sansa eloped to marry Joffrey?  How very Shakespearean of you George!  This is Romeo and Juliet all over again.    Or even better, this is Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark oll over again.  

Original Outline Sansa was Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and mother of the heir to the Iron Throne.

It is implied by the fandom that this Sansa dies because the outline says that Jaime dethrones and kills Joffrey and “everyone ahead of him in the line of succession” (Sansa’s baby).  Well, Sansa was not in the line of succession, but it’s probable that Jaime had to kill her to get to her baby boy, which reminds me of Elia Martell & her babies’ tragic and devastating deaths.

And landing more on the subject, I said that: Arya and Sansa play different roles in Jon’s life: Sansa is the distant half sister, the archetype of  the princess in the tower, that he thinks he would never get.  While Arya is the closest sister, the comfortable presence of a girl with less feminine inclinations.  And both of them resemblance different aspects of Lyanna Stark.  While Arya got Lyanna’s spirit and physical features, Sansa Stark got the less known romantic nature of Lyanna, after all, Lyanna cried while listening Rhaegar playing the harp, eloped with him, bore him a son, found herself trapped in a tower, and unwillingly caused the death of her father and older brother.  Like a Lady in a sad and beautiful song.     

We can draw parallels between Lyanna and her two nieces, but there are also parallels shared by the three of these She-wolves of Winterfell.  Let’s see: 

LYANNA & ARYA

Appearance: 

“You remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her." "Lyanna was beautiful," Arya said, startled. Everybody said so. It was not a thing that was ever said of Arya. "She was," Eddard Stark agreed, "beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time." —AGOT - Arya II

Carrying a sword:

"Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it. You remind me of her sometimes. —AGOT - Arya II

The wolf-blood:

“Arya, you have a wildness in you, child. The wolf blood, my father would call it. Lyanna had a touch of it."—AGOT - Arya II

"She was," Eddard Stark agreed, "beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time." —AGOT - Arya II

This willfulness of yours, the running off, the angry words, the disobedience … at home, these were only the summer games of a child. Here and now, with winter soon upon us, that is a different matter. It is time to begin growing up." —AGOT - Arya II

Punching annoying brothers & friends: 

Now two children danced across the godswood, hooting at one another as they dueled with broken branches. The girl was the older and taller of the two. Arya! Bran thought eagerly, as he watched her leap up onto a rock and cut at the boy. But that couldn't be right. If the girl was Arya, the boy was Bran himself, and he had never worn his hair so long. And Arya never beat me playing swords, the way that girl is beating him. She slashed the boy across his thigh, so hard that his leg went out from under him and he fell into the pool and began to splash and shout. "You be quiet, stupid," the girl said, tossing her own branch aside. "It's just water. Do you want Old Nan to hear and run tell Father?" She knelt and pulled her brother from the pool, but before she got him out again, the two of them were gone. — ADWD - Bran III

When the spirit stepped out of the open tomb, pale white and moaning for blood, Sansa ran shrieking for the stairs, and Bran wrapped himself around Robb's leg, sobbing. Arya stood her ground and gave the spirit a punch. It was only Jon, covered with flour. "You stupid," she told him, "you scared the baby," but Jon and Robb just laughed and laughed, and pretty soon Bran and Arya were laughing too. —AGOT - Arya IV

The dragon prince sang a song so sad it made the wolf maid sniffle, but when her pup brother teased her for crying she poured wine over his head. —ASOS - Bran II

"My lady?" Ned looked embarrassed. "I'm Edric Dayne, the . . . the Lord of Starfall." Behind them, Gendry groaned. "Lords and ladies," he proclaimed in a disgusted tone. Arya plucked a withered crabapple off a passing branch and whipped it at him, bouncing it off his thick bull head. "Ow," he said. "That hurt." He felt the skin above his eye. "What kind of lady throws crabapples at people?" "The bad kind," said Arya, suddenly contrite. She turned back to Ned. "I'm sorry I didn't know who you were. My lord." —ASOS - Arya VIII

Half-horses:

"You ride like a northman, milady," Harwin said when he'd drawn them to a halt. "Your aunt was the same. Lady Lyanna. But my father was master of horse, remember." —ASOS - Arya III

Horses … the boy was mad for horses, Lady Dustin will tell you. Not even Lord Rickard's daughter could outrace him, and that one was half a horse herself. —ADWD - Reek III

"Brandon was fostered at Barrowton with old Lord Dustin, the father of the one I'd later wed, but he spent most of his time riding the Rills. He loved to ride. His little sister took after him in that. A pair of centaurs, those two. —ADWD - The Turncloak

This is a contrast with Sansa: "I hate riding," Sansa said fervently. "All it does is get you soiled and dusty and sore." —AGOT - Sansa I

LYANNA & SANSA

Beauty:

Both Lyanna and Sansa are considered beautiful:

Lyanna:

"She [Lyanna] was," Eddard Stark agreed, "beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time." —AGOT - Arya II

Lyanna had only been sixteen, a child-woman of surpassing loveliness. Ned had loved her with all his heart. Robert had loved her even more. She was to have been his bride. —AGOT - Eddard I

"The maid's a fair one," Osha said. —AGOT - Bran VII

The northern girl had a wild beauty, as he recalled. —ADWD - Epilogue

Sansa:

Sansa’s needlework was exquisite. Everyone said so. “Sansa’s work is as pretty as she is.”

Sansa had the grace to blush. She blushed prettily. She did everything prettily.

Worse, she was beautiful. Sansa had gotten their mother’s fine high cheekbones and the thick auburn hair of the Tullys.

“I saw Sansa at the court, the day Tyrion told me his terms. She looked most beautiful, my lady. Perhaps a, a bit wan. Drawn, as it were.”

Men would say she had my look, but she will grow into a woman far more beautiful than I ever was.

“You are very beautiful, my lady,” the seamstress said when she was dressed.

Ser Kevan told her she was beautiful, Jalabhar Xho said something she did not understand in the Summer Tongue, and Lord Redwyne wished her many fat children and long years of joy.

"Ser Ossifer speaks truly, you are the most beautiful maid in all the Seven Kingdoms.”

“Had we known such beauty awaited us at the Gates, we would have flown,” Ser Roland said. Though his words were addressed to Myranda Royce, he smiled at Alayne as he said them.

Inner Strength:  

"You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert," Ned told him. "You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath”. —AGOT - Eddard VII 

My skin has turned to porcelain, to ivory, to steel. —ASOS - Sansa V

Pleading Ned to protect part of themselves:

He could still hear Sansa pleading, as Lyanna had pleaded once. —AGOT - Eddard IV

Lyanna was pleading to her brother Ned to protect her son, while Sansa was pleading to her father Ned to protect her direwolf, Lady, part of Sansa’s soul.  Later, Ned regretted failing Sansa...  

Knights & Queens of Love and Beauty:

Lyanna was a Mystery Knight AND was crowned Queen of Love and Beauty at the Tourney of Harrenhal.

Lyanna as the Knight of the Laughing Tree: 

But late on the afternoon of that second day, as the shadows grew long, a mystery knight appeared in the lists. Bran nodded sagely. [...] “It was the little crannogman, I bet.” “No one knew,” said Meera, “but the mystery knight was short of stature, and clad in ill-fitting armor made up of bits and pieces. The device upon his shield was a heart tree of the old gods, a white weirwood with a laughing red face.” [...] “Whoever he was, the old gods gave strength to his arm. The porcupine knight fell first, then the pitchfork knight, and lastly the knight of the two towers. None were well loved, so the common folk cheered lustily for the Knight of the Laughing Tree, as the new champion soon was called.” —ASOS - Bran II

Lyanna as the Queen of love and beauty. Rhaegar wearing rubies (red) gave her a crown of winter roses (blue):

The Targaryen prince armored all in black. On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the sunlight. —AGOT - Eddard I

Ned remembered the moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse past his own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty's laurel in Lyanna's lap. He could see it still: a crown of winter roses, blue as frost. —AGOT - Eddard XV

Sansa attended the Tourney of the Hand at Kings Landing, met Petyr Baelish who told her that Catelyn was his Queen of Love and Beauty, and received a (red) rose from Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers, who was wearing an armor adorned with sapphires (blue).  During the second day of the tourney, Sansa wore the red rose in her hair:

"Your mother was my queen of beauty once," the man said quietly. His breath smelled of mint. "You have her hair." His fingers brushed against her cheek as he stroked one auburn lock. Quite abruptly he turned and walked away. —AGOT - Sansa II

When the Knight of Flowers made his entrance, a murmur ran through the crowd, and he heard Sansa's fervent whisper, "Oh, he's so beautiful." Ser Loras Tyrell was slender as a reed, dressed in a suit of fabulous silver armor polished to a blinding sheen and filigreed with twining black vines and tiny blue forget-me-nots. The commons realized in the same instant as Ned that the blue of the flowers came from sapphires; a gasp went up from a thousand throats. Across the boy's shoulders his cloak hung heavy. It was woven of forget-me-nots, real ones, hundreds of fresh blooms sewn to a heavy woolen cape. —AGOT - Eddard VII

Her eyes were only for Ser Loras. When the white horse stopped in front of her, she thought her heart would burst. To the other maidens he had given white roses, but the one he plucked for her was red. "Sweet lady," he said, "no victory is half so beautiful as you." Sansa took the flower timidly, struck dumb by his gallantry. His hair was a mass of lazy brown curls, his eyes like liquid gold. She inhaled the sweet fragrance of the rose and sat clutching it long after Ser Loras had ridden off. —AGOT - Sansa II

The boy from Highgarden did something with his legs, and his horse pranced sideways, nimble as a dancer. Sansa clutched at his arm. "Father, don't let Ser Gregor hurt him," she said. Ned saw she was wearing the rose that Ser Loras had given her yesterday. Jory had told him about that as well. —AGOT - Eddard VII

At this point in the Books, Sansa, as Alayne Stone, is organizing a Tourney to elect the members of Robert Arryn personal guard, named the Brotherhood of the Winged Knights.  As the daughter of Petyr Baelish, Lord Protector of the Vale, Alayne Stone could be crowned as the Queen of Love and Beauty.    

This is a contrast with Arya who thinks tourneys are stupid: "I don't care about their stupid tourney." —AGOT - Arya II

Failed betrothal to a Baratheon: 

Both Lyanna and Sansa were betrothed with a Baratheon, Lyanna with Robert and Sansa with Joffrey:

If Lyanna had lived, we should have been brothers, bound by blood as well as affection. Well, it is not too late. I have a son. You have a daughter. My Joff and your Sansa shall join our houses, as Lyanna and I might once have done. —AGOT - Eddard I

There is also this parallel between Jenny of Oldstones, Lyanna & Sansa [I wrote about it here]:

Note the parallels between Duncan Targaryen, his betrothed Baratheon and Jenny of Oldstones & Rhaegar Targaryen, Lyanna Stark and her betrothed Robert Baratheon: A Targaryen prince breaking an engagement with a member of House Baratheon that then originates a rebellion.

And this: Sansa was betrothed with Joffrey “Baratheon” and the engagement was broken in the middle of a war with Robb Stark leading an army against King Joffrey, and Jon almost breaking his vows to join Robb’s army to avenge Ned’s death and rescue their sisters. All of which makes me think about these parallels: Sansa being a hostage in King’s Landing & Lyanna’s “abduction”, Ned’s death & Rickard’s death, Robb’s death & Brandon’s death. And that leaves Jon to possibly play the role of Ned Stark in the future.  

Basically if Jon and Sansa happens, they will parallel two stories: Rhaegar and Lyanna, a Targaryen/Stark couple; and Ned and Cat, a Stark/Tully couple.

And right now in the Books, Sansa Stark, under the disguise of Alayne Stone, is betrothed with a Robert-like young man: Harry Hardyn. 

The Rose of Winterfell:

This is the tale:

According to free folk legend, Lord Brandon Stark, the liege of the north, once called Bael a coward. To take revenge for this affront and prove his courage, Bael climbed the Wall, took the kingsroad, and entered Winterfell under the guise of a singer named Sygerrik of Skagos. ("Sygerrik" means "deceiver" in the Old Tongue.) There, he sang until midnight for the lord.

Impressed by his skills as a singer, Lord Stark asked Bael what he wanted as a reward, but he requested only the most beautiful flower blooming in Winterfell's gardens. As the blue winter roses were just blooming, Brandon Stark presented him with one. The following morning, the maiden daughter of Lord Stark had disappeared, his only child, and in her bed was the blue winter rose.

Lord Brandon sent the members of the Night's Watch looking for them beyond the Wall, but they never found Bael or the girl. The Stark line was on the verge of extinction, when one day the girl was back in her room, holding in her arms an infant: they had actually never left Winterfell, staying hidden in the crypts. Bael's bastard with Brandon's daughter became the new Lord Stark.

Thirty years later, Bael was King-Beyond-the-Wall and led the wildlings' army south, and he had to fight his own son at the Frozen Ford. There, incapable of killing his own blood, he let himself be killed by Lord Stark. His son brought back Bael's head to Winterfell, and his mother who had loved the bard, seeing the trophy, killed herself by leaping from the top of a tower. The son was eventually slain by the Boltons.

[Source]

Ygritte told this story to Jon in ACOK - Jon VI, and it resembles Jon’s own story: Bael/Rhaegar (both harp players/bards) abducting/eloping Brandon's daughter/Lyanna, ‘the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o' Winterfell’.  Immediately after this chapter, comes ACOK - Sansa IV, where she flowered for the first time, next chapter is Jon again. (Jon-Sansa-Jon).

Also take note that Sansa was “abducted” by Petyr Baelish, a known deceiver, whose surname has a resemblance with the name Bael.

Ladies of Winterfell

Lyanna’s and Lady’s bones are buried at Winterfell, what makes them literally Ladies of Winterfell:  

"She was more beautiful than that," the king said after a silence. His eyes lingered on Lyanna's face, as if he could will her back to life. Finally he rose, made awkward by his weight. "Ah, damn it, Ned, did you have to bury her in a place like this?" His voice was hoarse with remembered grief. "She deserved more than darkness …" "She was a Stark of Winterfell," Ned said quietly. "This is her place." —AGOT - Eddard I

Shortly, Jory brought him Ice. When it was over, he said, “Choose four men and have them take the body north. Bury her at Winterfell.” “All that way?” Jory said, astonished. “All that way,” Ned affirmed. “The Lannister woman shall never have this skin.” —AGOT - Eddard III

Bran felt all cold inside. "She lost her wolf," he said, weakly, remembering the day when four of his father's guardsmen had returned from the south with Lady's bones. Summer and Grey Wind and Shaggydog had begun to howl before they crossed the drawbridge, in voices drawn and desolate. Beneath the shadow of the First Keep was an ancient lichyard, its headstones spotted with pale lichen, where the old Kings of Winter had laid their faithful servants. It was there they buried Lady, while her brothers stalked between the graves like restless shadows. She had gone south, and only her bones had returned. —AGOT - Bran VI

I wrote about this before:

Now, back to Lady’s death. We know that this event is a turning point in Sansa’s arc, but other than that, the paragraphs leading to the direwolf’s execution are laden with symbolism and foreshadowing, not only for Sansa, but for Ned as well.

During the “trial”, Ned decides that he will take Lady’s life himself, in order to avoid having a butcher like Ilyn Payne do the execution. Then, before he struck, he pronounced her name in the same fashion Robb and Jon called the name of their direwolves before they both died. This for me foreshadows Ned’s own death. Also, before Lady’s death, Ned pleads King Robert to change his decision on putting down the direwolf, appealing to the memory of Lyanna, the woman Robert loved. Similarly, before Ned’s execution at the steps of the Sept of Baelor, Sansa pleads King Joffrey to spare her father’s life, appealing to the love he has for her. As we know, both pleas fell on deaf ears and both Lady and Ned lost their lives; bringing the story full circle, as Ilyn Payne himself cut off Ned’s head.

Another interesting thing is that before Lady’s death we have direct and indirect references to Lyanna Stark. We have the direct reference when Ned appealed to the love Robert Baratheon bore Lyanna, in order to save Lady’s life, and the indirect one when he ordered Jory to choose four men to return Lady’s body to the north, to bury her in Winterfell. This order Ned gave to his men alludes to his own decision to take Lyanna’s body to Winterfell to be buried in the crypts, after her demise, brought on by her doomed love affair with Rhaegar Targaryen. 

Dubious Loyalty?

Both Lyanna and Sansa got infatuated by Golden Princes: Rhaegar Targaryen and Joffrey Baratheon, and because of that they both unintentionally played a part in the deaths of their fathers and older brothers, Rickard and Brandon & Ned and Robb.  They both also ended trapped in towers regretting their doomed romances.

As I mentioned before, I always thought that the Sansa from the original outline was very similar to Lyanna Stark.  That Sansa was described as member of dubious loyalty for her family; but while Lyanna is glorified by the fandom, both  Outline Sansa and Asoiaf Sansa are unfairly vilified for committing the same actions that Lyanna did.     

Also, as it was pointed out before, Rickard Stark and Catelyn Stark both saw their firstborn sons murdered in front of them, while convinced that their daughters were far away being raped and abused by cruel princes, and then were brutally murdered themselves.

Dead before their time:

"She [Lyanna] was," Eddard Stark agreed, "beautiful, and willful, and dead before her time." —AGOT - Arya II

And so many others were missing. Where had the rest of them gone? Sansa wondered. Vainly, she searched for friendly faces. Not one of them would meet her eyes. It was as if she had become a ghost, dead before her time. —A Game Of Thrones, Sansa V

Lyanna and Lady (part of Sansa’s soul) both died in the south, before their time.  

Lyanna’s ghost has haunted Cersei:  Cersei wanted to marry Rhaegar but ended married with Robert.  Both Rhaegar and Robert loved Lyanna.

Lady is mentioned in the Books as a “shade”, a synonym for ghost.  And after Ned’s death, Sansa became a ghost at the Red Keep’s court.

And to finish this section, here some gifsets that illustrate some of the Lyanna & Sansa parallels that were mentioned:

Sansa Stark and Lyanna Stark + parallels

Pleading

She-wolves of Winterfell

Beautiful, Captivating Child-Women 

Hidden Metal ft. hair parallels

Broken ‘Baratheon’ Engagements ft. more hair parallels

Fair Maidens 

LYANNA & ARYA & SANSA

The wolf-blood:

I have already mentioned this aspect of Lyanna and Arya above, but Sansa has the wolf-blood too.  It’s subtle, but it’s there:

"I've never seen an aurochs," Sansa said, feeding a piece of bacon to Lady under the table. The direwolf took it from her hand, as delicate as a queen. Septa Mordane sniffed in disapproval. "A noble lady does not feed dogs at her table," she said, breaking off another piece of comb and letting the honey drip down onto her bread. "She's not a dog, she's a direwolf," Sansa pointed out as Lady licked her fingers with a rough tongue. "Anyway, Father said we could keep them with us if we want." The septa was not appeased. "You're a good girl, Sansa, but I do vow, when it comes to that creature you're as willful as your sister Arya." She scowled. "And where is Arya this morning?" —AGOT - Sansa I

"It won't be so bad, Sansa," Arya said. "We're going to sail on a galley. It will be an adventure, and then we'll be with Bran and Robb again, and Old Nan and Hodor and the rest." She touched her on the arm. "Hodor!" Sansa yelled. "You ought to marry Hodor, you're just like him, stupid and hairy and ugly!" She wrenched away from her sister's hand, stormed into her bedchamber, and barred the door behind her. —AGOT - Sansa III

Jeyne yawned. "Are there any lemon cakes?" Sansa did not like being interrupted, but she had to admit, lemon cakes sounded more interesting than most of what had gone on in the throne room. "Let's see," she said. The kitchen yielded no lemon cakes, but they did find half of a cold strawberry pie, and that was almost as good. They ate it on the tower steps, giggling and gossiping and sharing secrets, and Sansa went to bed that night feeling almost as wicked as Arya. —AGOT - Sansa III

After my name day feast, I'm going to raise a host and kill your brother myself. That's what I'll give you, Lady Sansa. Your brother's head." A kind of madness took over her then, and she heard herself say, "Maybe my brother will give me your head." —AGOT - Sansa VI

Knights protect the innocent:

Lyanna, as herself and as the Knight of the Laughing Tree, defended Howland Reed, a bannerman of House Stark:

"None offered a name, but he marked their faces well so he could revenge himself upon them later. They shoved him down every time he tried to rise, and kicked him when he curled up on the ground. But then they heard a roar. 'That's my father's man you're kicking,' howled the she-wolf." "A wolf on four legs, or two?" "Two," said Meera. "The she-wolf laid into the squires with a tourney sword, scattering them all. The crannogman was bruised and bloodied, so she took him back to her lair to clean his cuts and bind them up with linen. There he met her pack brothers: the wild wolf who led them, the quiet wolf beside him, and the pup who was youngest of the four. 

(...)

“Whoever he was, the old gods gave strength to his arm. The porcupine knight fell first, then the pitchfork knight, and lastly the knight of the two towers. None were well loved, so the common folk cheered lustily for the Knight of the Laughing Tree, as the new champion soon was called.” —ASOS - Bran II

Arya defended Mycah, the butcher’s boy:

Mycah shook his head. "It's only a stick, m'lord. It's not no sword, it's only a stick." "And you're only a butcher's boy, and no knight." Joffrey lifted Lion's Tooth and laid its point on Mycah's cheek below the eye, as the butcher's boy stood trembling. "That was my lady's sister you were hitting, do you know that?" A bright bud of blood blossomed where his sword pressed into Mycah's flesh, and a slow red line trickled down the boy's cheek. "Stop it!" Arya screamed. She grabbed up her fallen stick. Sansa was afraid. "Arya, you stay out of this." "I won't hurt him … much," Prince Joffrey told Arya, never taking his eyes off the butcher's boy. Arya went for him. Sansa slid off her mare, but she was too slow. Arya swung with both hands. There was a loud crack as the wood split against the back of the prince's head, and then everything happened at once before Sansa's horrified eyes. — AGOT - Sansa I

Sansa, as a lady armored with her courtesy and wits, defended a defenestrated knight turned fool:  

The king stood. "A cask from the cellars! I'll see him drowned in it." Sansa heard herself gasp. "No, you can't." Joffrey turned his head. "What did you say?" Sansa could not believe she had spoken. Was she mad? To tell him no in front of half the court? She hadn't meant to say anything, only . . . Ser Dontos was drunk and silly and useless, but he meant no harm. "Did you say I can't? Did you?" "Please," Sansa said, "I only meant . . . it would be ill luck, Your Grace . . . to, to kill a man on your name day." "You're lying," Joffrey said. "I ought to drown you with him, if you care for him so much." "I don't care for him, Your Grace." The words tumbled out desperately. "Drown him or have his head off, only . . . kill him on the morrow, if you like, but please . . . not today, not on your name day. I couldn't bear for you to have ill luck . . . terrible luck, even for kings, the singers all say so . . ." Joffrey scowled. He knew she was lying, she could see it. He would make her bleed for this. "The girl speaks truly," the Hound rasped. "What a man sows on his name day, he reaps throughout the year." His voice was flat, as if he did not care a whit whether the king believed him or no. Could it be true? Sansa had not known. It was just something she'd said, desperate to avoid punishment. Unhappy, Joffrey shifted in his seat and flicked his fingers at Ser Dontos. "Take him away. I'll have him killed on the morrow, the fool." "He is," Sansa said. "A fool. You're so clever, to see it. He's better fitted to be a fool than a knight, isn't he? You ought to dress him in motley and make him clown for you. He doesn't deserve the mercy of a quick death." The king studied her a moment. "Perhaps you're not so stupid as Mother says." He raised his voice. "Did you hear my lady, Dontos? From this day on, you're my new fool. You can sleep with Moon Boy and dress in motley." —ACOK - Sansa I

She-Wolves of Winterfell:

Lyanna and Arya are often referred as She-Wolves in the Books, but in a very subtle and poetical way, Sansa is referred as a She-Wolf too: 

He smiled at her. "Now, wolf girl, if you can put a name to me as well, then I must concede that you are truly our Hand's daughter." —AGOT - Sansa I

"I forgot, you've been hiding under a rock. The northern girl. Winterfell's daughter. We heard she killed the king with a spell, and afterward changed into a wolf with big leather wings like a bat, and flew out a tower window. But she left the dwarf behind and Cersei means to have his head." —ASOS - Arya XIII

"May the Father judge him justly," murmured a septon. "The dwarf's wife did the murder with him," swore an archer in Lord Rowan's livery. "Afterward, she vanished from the hall in a puff of brimstone, and a ghostly direwolf was seen prowling the Red Keep, blood dripping from his jaws." —ASOS - Jaime VII

"Your Grace has forgotten the Lady Sansa," said Pycelle. The queen bristled. "I most certainly have not forgotten that little she-wolf." She refused to say the girl's name. "I ought to have shown her to the black cells as the daughter of a traitor, but instead I made her part of mine own household. She shared my hearth and hall, played with my own children. I fed her, dressed her, tried to make her a little less ignorant about the world, and how did she repay me for my kindness? She helped murder my son.  —AFFC - Cersei IV

What a kick-ass reputation: Sansa, the wolf that killed King Joffrey! 

Fond of Flowers:

Lyanna, Arya and Sansa are linked with flowers:

Ned could recall none of it. "I bring her flowers when I can," he said. "Lyanna was … fond of flowers." —A Game Of Thrones - Eddard I

None of which stopped Arya, of course. One day she came back grinning her horsey grin, her hair all tangled and her clothes covered in mud, clutching a raggedy bunch of purple and green flowers for Father. Sansa kept hoping he would tell Arya to behave herself and act like the highborn lady she was supposed to be, but he never did, he only hugged her and thanked her for the flowers. That just made her worse. Then it turned out the purple flowers were called poison kisses, and Arya got a rash on her arms. —AGOT - Sansa I

It was enough that she could walk in the yard, pick flowers in Myrcella's garden, and visit the sept to pray for her father. Sometimes she prayed in the godswood as well, since the Starks kept the old gods. —AGOT - Sansa V

"Do you require guarding?" Marillion said lightly. "I am composing a new song, you should know. A song so sweet and sad it will melt even your frozen heart. 'The Roadside Rose,' I mean to call it. About a baseborn girl so beautiful she bewitched every man who laid eyes upon her." — ASOS - Sansa VII

Her eyes were only for Ser Loras. When the white horse stopped in front of her, she thought her heart would burst. To the other maidens he had given white roses, but the one he plucked for her was red. "Sweet lady," he said, "no victory is half so beautiful as you." Sansa took the flower timidly, struck dumb by his gallantry. His hair was a mass of lazy brown curls, his eyes like liquid gold. She inhaled the sweet fragrance of the rose and sat clutching it long after Ser Loras had ridden off. —AGOT - Sansa II

Songs:

While Arya likes songs about heroes and adventures:

Arya named hers after some old witch queen in the songs. —Bran II - AGOT

She could stay with Hot Pie, or maybe Lord Beric would find her there. Anguy would teach her to use a bow, and she could ride with Gendry and be an outlaw, like Wenda the White Fawn in the songs. —ASOS - Arya XII

Lyanna and Sansa are linked with singers and romantic songs and stories that move them to cry.  

As I said before, the story about Bael the Bard and the Rose of Winterfell resembles Jon’s own story: Bael/Rhaegar (both harp players/bards) abducting/eloping Brandon's daughter/Lyanna, ‘the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o' Winterfell’.  Sansa is also linked with this story, as was explained above.  

The dragon prince sang a song so sad it made the wolf maid sniffle. —ASOS - Bran II

Later, while Sansa was off listening to a troupe of singers perform the complex round of interwoven ballads called the “Dance of the Dragons,” [sung in High Valyrian] Ned inspected the bruise himself. “I hope Forel is not being too hard on you,” he said. —AGOT - Eddard VII

She pulled a chair close to the hearth, took down one of her favorite books, and lost herself in the stories of Florian and Jonquil, of Lady Shella and the Rainbow Knight, of valiant Prince Aemon and his doomed love for his brother’s queen. —AGOT - Sansa IV

After the meal had been cleared away, many of the guests asked leave to go to the sept. Cersei graciously granted their request. Lady Tanda and her daughters were among those who fled. For those who remained, a singer was brought forth to fill the hall with the sweet music of the high harp. He sang of Jonquil and Florian, of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight and his love for his brother's queen, of Nymeria's ten thousand ships. They were beautiful songs, but terribly sad. Several of the women began to weep, and Sansa felt her own eyes growing moist. —ACOK - Sansa VI

So the singer played for her, so soft and sad that Arya only heard snatches of the words, though the tune was half-familiar. Sansa would know it, I bet. Her sister had known all the songs, and she could even play a little, and sing so sweetly. All I could ever do was shout the words.—A Storm of Swords - Arya IV

Once, when she was just a little girl, a wandering singer had stayed with them at Winterfell for half a year. An old man he was, with white hair and windburnt cheeks, but he sang of knights and quests and ladies fair, and Sansa had cried bitter tears when he left them, and begged her father not to let him go. “The man has played us every song he knows thrice over,” Lord Eddard told her gently. “I cannot keep him here against his will. You need not weep, though. I promise you, other singers will come.”  They hadn’t, though, not for a year or more. Sansa had prayed to the Seven in their sept and old gods of the heart tree, asking them to bring the old man back, or better still to send another singer, young and handsome. But the gods never answered, and the halls of Winterfell stayed silent.  But that was when she was a little girl, and foolish. She was a maiden now, three-and-ten and flowered. All her nights were full of song, and by day she prayed for silence. —A Feast for Crows - Sansa I

This is a contrast with Arya who thinks love songs are stupid: Another stupid love song. Lanna was always begging the singer to play her stupid love songs. —AFFC - Cat Of The Canals

So there you have it.  There is more to say, but I think I covered the basics.

Thanks for your message.

[ellewritesathing]

So Close - S.S. XXXIII

Summary: The universe has a funny way of putting the things you want right in front of you, but just out of reach. Stiles and Y/N have been best friends ever since Scott brought him home, but when Stiles realizes that he might want to be something other than best friends, she leaves to go to some fancy private school up North. Now that she’s back though … maybe he’s got a shot? A Teen Wolf AU in which the reader has always been so close to Stiles and yet so far.

Masterlist    Prev. | Part 33

Word-count: 3.4k+

A/N: i would like to personally thank every person who got bored during quarantine and found my blog. i see you. i love you. thank you for reading and sticking around💕

The McCalls and the Stilinskis had always been such close parallels of one another that you’d gotten used to your families doing things together and making progress at the same time. Scott and Stiles started school at the same time, you never very far behind. Claudia died before Raf left, but it felt the same in the long run. Family dinners every Thursday, Noah teaching each of the kids to drive in the Jeep, and Mel helped you all with your homework. 

Two families, but not really. 

That’s why it was so weird that Noah was going out on a date. His first date in maybe ten years. With Lydia’s mom. 

“Oh, I should’ve gotten a haircut,” Noah mumbled as he checked himself out in the mirror. 

“Well, you know, someone your age should be happy you still have hair to cut,” Stiles said, pushing the mirror down so Noah would pay attention to him. 

“I think you look great,” Scott said. 

You took a step forward and fixed Noah’s tie for him. With a smile, you said, “Yeah, like a silver fox minus the silver.” 

“Well, thank you, children I should have had,” Noah said pointedly. 

Two families, but not really.

Stiles kept trying to pry information out of his dad so you moved out of their way as they bickered. At least that wasn’t changing anytime soon. You and Scott were still making jokes about how long it’d Noah to reach his limit and leave for his date early when you heard some yelling from the bullpen. It was so venomous that you thought your ears would bleed. 

The four of you left the privacy of Noah’s office to find Parrish and Clarke holding back some kid who was trying to make a run for the office. The kid was threatening to kill Noah.

“Donovan, if you think that shocks me, remember that it was well-documented in your Anger Expression Inventory,” Noah said, clearly unfazed by the death threats. “Deputies, escort the prisoner out.” 

“No, I’m not angry like I’m gonna throw a brick through your window,” Donovan said, still trying to break through the deputies’ grip. “I’m angry like I’m going to find you, like I’m going to get a knife, and like I’m going to stab you with it until you’re dead. And when you look at me and you ask why, remember right now. Because this is why.” 

His heart rate didn’t rise or drop as he threatened. It was steady the entire time; like a drum keeping time to a death march. He wasn’t bluffing; Donovan really believed that he was going to kill Noah. 

“Wow, that was awesome,” Stiles said next to you. He had his arms crossed in front of him and was wearing the least interested, most sarcastic expression in his arsenal. But his heartbeat said something else. “That was awesome, really. That was great. Wanna do one more?” 

Donovan’s heartbeat was starting to rise. 

You put a hand out to catch one of Stiles' gesturing hands to get him to stop. It's not that you were afraid of Donovan, but everything about the situation felt wrong. His hand was moving so you settled on the top of his arm. “Stiles-”

“Come on, give us another one,” Stiles went on. “Maybe like Christopher Walken this time, you know?” He finally noticed your hand and folded his hand over his chest again to hold yours. “Okay, you know what? It’s fine. You’ll have plenty of time to work on it when you’re in your tiny, little cell. You know? Just stuck there. Forever.”

Donovan faked turning around for a second before doubling back and lunging for Stiles. You pulled Stiles behind you as Scott and Noah moved in front of him and Parrish and Clark restrained Donovan. He was still yelling about how he was going to kill Noah as he was being dragged out of the station.

You hoped he’d rot. 

The three of you weren’t even five minutes out of the station when Kira called about Lydia finding a body. Stiles made an only-slightly illegal u-turn and drove you guys to the scene - Donovan’s police transport van. Your blood ran cold as the bodies were wheeled past you and you reached for Stiles’ hand. 

Noah waved you guys over to him. “Scott, you saw this kid - Donovan. He … he wasn’t like you, right?” “I don’t think so,” Scott said. 

“Unless he knows how to hide his scent,” Stiles said. 

“Well, human or otherwise, this kid might have just murdered his lawyer and mortally wounded two officers,” Noah said. Deep frown lines were already etched into his forehead, despite only being at the scene for five minutes. “We’ve got an APB out on him, but you think you can find him faster?”

“I can try,” Scott said. 

“I’ll stay in case he doubles back,” you said, with a nod in his direction. 

Something caught your eye in the rafters of the alleyway and you busied yourself trying to focus on it amidst the flashing lights and police chatter. It felt familiar, sinister. But it disappeared before you got the chance to find it. 

Stiles touched your arm lightly, drawing you back to all the noise. “Hey, you okay?” 

“Yeah,” you lied. “Just a bit on edge. It felt like …” 

“Like what?” Stiles asked.

You looked back up to that spot in the rafters. “Like Theo.”

---

“Tracy wasn’t just having trouble sleeping,” Lydia said for the second time. “It was a real disorder. It was night terrors.”

“Right, well, now she’s the night terror,” Stiles said. “Especially since no one can find her.”

“Okay, I know we’re all tired and miserable-” Scott paused to look at Mason, who was completely enthralled by the conversation. “Except for you.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry. This is all just mind-blowing,” Mason said. He looked over at Kira. “You’re a Kitsune. I don’t even know what that is!”

“I’m still learning,” Kira said with a smile.

“Liam, we said you could tell him, not invite him to the inner circle,” Stiles said.

“Uh, I’m in the inner circle?” Mason asked. 

It made you laugh. Mason reminded you of a much sweeter, much more curious version of Scott when he was younger. Also much less annoying.

“No!” 

“Look, guys,” you said, putting your hands on the bus as you thought over how to phrase it. “Tracy is dangerous, no doubt, but she’s a lone wolf. Lone wolves don’t survive. We have to find her.” 

“One lone serial-killing wolf,” Malia said

“Uh, she only killed one person, you know,” Stiles said, tilting his head. “The other two were just mauled.” 

“So what do we do once we find her?” you asked. 

“I say we put her down,” Malia said, almost without hesitation. 

“No way,” you said. “Tracy isn’t in control. You guys didn’t put me down when I wasn’t in control.” 

“Uh, I tried,” Malia said. “Remember?” 

“Vividly,” you said in a low voice.

“Woah.” Mason’s sweet little voice broke through the tension. “Intense.”

Yeah, that was one way to describe it. It was intense as you butted heads with Malia and intense when Liam pulled the fire alarm so you could get Tracy out of the school. Intense when something metallic started pouring out of her mouth. 

“Now, this silvery substance at her lips ...” Deaton said quietly. “It’s not something I’ve seen before. It looks almost like mercury.”

Tracy started moving on the exam table and everyone took a step back except for you. 

“Can’t you just give her a shot of something?” Malia asked.

“She doesn’t look to be in any pain,” Deaton said.

“I meant a shot to kill her,” Malia said.

You turned your back on Tracy so you could get a good look at Malia before you started arguing. “Would you stop talking about killing her? She's not that different from you.”

“Exactly,” Malia said. “She wouldn't hesitate to kill me.”

“Regardless of intent, I generally prescribe to a code of ethics that frowns upon such measures,” Deaton said.

“Yeah, Malia, you know we’re not going to do that,” Scott said. 

“Well, how do you guys know she’s not gonna kill us?” Malia asked. 

“She makes a pretty decent point,” Stiles said hesitantly. He went on, despite your protests, “Either way, eventually I’m going to have to let my dad know she’s here.”

“Agreed,” Deaton said. “And while I may argue against euthanasia, I’m not opposed to a little …” he took a bottle off one the counters and unscrewed the lid. “Extra protection.”

You watched Deaton scatter the mountain ash and your breath hitched. This was your first time actually having to worry about the barrier; your first time being trapped by it. You tried to ignore the trapped feeling as Malia moved around to investigate and just focused on Tracy. You wiped some of the mercury off her chin. 

Deaton called you and Scott to hold Tracy down for him so he could try some more tests. He used a scalpel to slice into her arm like you’d seen him do with Derek all those months before, but nothing except Tracy’s breathing changed until the scalpel snapped.

“I think you’re gonna need a bigger blade,” Stiles said, taking a step toward the table.

Scott took a break to check his messages and you helped Deaton flip Tracy over when he found something in her neck. Scott was talking about the condition of the driver from the attack, but you were too focused on Tracy to pay attention to him. Her back seemed fine - until something started moving around her spine. 

“I think I know what she is,” Stiles said. 

“Would you care to enlighten the rest of us?” Deaton asked. “Because this doesn’t look too good.”

The others came closer as Deaton prodded the movement under Tracy’s skin. It was sickening to look at but you couldn’t look away. And then it burst open, spraying blood all over the room. It was electric. Metallic. You were too busy trying to scrub it off your face to notice what everyone was staring at on the table. And then you got sliced across the face by a tail. 

You tried to grab Tracy’s ankle as she landed on her feet, but the paralysis came too quickly. All you could do was watch her break through the mountain ash barrier and run out the door.

“How did she do that?” you asked, panic rising in your voice. Being paralyzed was horrible, too close to not being in control of your body. You hated it.

“I don’t know,” Deaton said. “It’s a barrier no supernatural creature should be able to cross.”

“Scott did it,” Stiles said.

“Once, but it nearly killed me,” Scott said. 

“We should’ve killed her!” Malia growled.

“Meanwhile, she’s probably on her way to killing someone else,” Stiles said.

“Can you guys, please, stop talking about killing people?” you asked. Your breathing was labored. You needed to move. 

The blood on your face didn’t do anything to ease your panic, but at least you weren’t the only one freaking out. Scott and Deaton were both telling Malia to focus on healing, and she was getting just as angry as you were anxious. 

The nerves faded, slightly, as you listened to Deaton explain how to focus your healing. Again, the only thing that put you at complete ease was listening to Stiles’ heartbeat - which was sky-high. It crashed in a few minutes, despite the uncomfortable position he was in, giving you a small sense of comfort. 

When Jackson was still the kanima, Derek had started training the wolves to heal from paralysis. Pain was the key. Using Stiles’ heartbeat to drown out the noise, you focused on shifting your claws, and - if that didn’t hurt enough - sank them into your side. If you remembered right, the fraction of time this shaved off the wait wasn’t even worth all the effort, but you had to do something.

Blood, sweat, and tears aside, you weren’t the first one to start moving. Malia was. First, it was the tips of her fingers and then the rest of her hand, movement slowly snaking through the rest of her body. It made you feel dangerously jealous, but it also made you fiercely protective. You wouldn’t let Malia kill Tracy.

Stiles was yelling at Malia to wait for the rest of you, and Scott was reminding her to save Tracy. You were still trying to move but that didn’t mean you couldn’t let Malia know that there would be hell to pay if she killed Tracy.

Malia ignored you as she dragged herself out of the animal clinic.

The minutes that ticked past until you could move again were dreadful. You’d finally started moving again when Theo showed up. He tried to pull you up and you slapped his hand away, telling him to get Scott so you could get Stiles.

It was still weird having the strength to lift him. Your whole body ached from the paralysis, tingling and full of static, but you could still hold up all of Stiles’ weight in your arms like it was nothing. The tear on his chest looked painful. He was struggling to stand, his face accidentally knocking into the side of yours as the two of you slumped over to the exam table. 

“How did you find us?” Scott asked. 

“‘Cause you work here,” Theo said. “I heard about Tracy. I’ve been looking for you.”

When Stiles could lean against the table on his own, you moved over to help Deaton up. “Why did you look for us?” you asked

“I want to help,” Theo said. No one said anything but you did exchange some looks. “Let me help. It doesn’t have to mean I’m a part of the pack or that you’ve accepted me or anything like that. It just means I can help catch this girl.”

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes but Stiles didn’t make the same efforts. Scott, on the other hand, was actually thinking it over. 

“Scott,” Theo pushed. “I can help you.” 

“Scott, you can’t seriously be considering this,” Stiles said. 

“Guys, whatever we’re doing, we need to do it now,” you said. “Tracy isn’t in control and Malia is … a wildcard, okay? We need to go.”

“She’s right,” Scott said. It sounded like he was still in pain. “We need to go. Now.”

Stiles got to the station as fast as he could, but you still felt like it wasn’t fast enough. Scott led you guys through the already ajar door to the bullpen. All the blood inside sucker-punched you. The lights were out and deputies were strewn across the office space. Scott rushed to where Clark was checking on Noah and Stiles and Theo rushed to the office where Lydia and Kira were. For a moment there was too much happening for you to think. 

Then something clicked and your legs started moving for you.

When you got to the basement, Malia was standing over Tracy’s body and you had her up against the wall in an instant, one arm digging into her neck and your other hand pinning her down. 

“It wasn’t me!” Malia wasn’t even trying to fight back. “Y/N, I didn’t kill her.” 

You pushed forward reflexively before letting go and letting out a frustrated breath. “Then what the hell happened?” 

You knelt down to check if there was anything you could do for Tracy, if there was any hope that you could save her. She was still warm, but her heart wasn’t beating and she wasn’t breathing. Mercury was on her lips.

“There were these people-” Malia sounded confused, like this was something that happened years ago instead of seconds. The others came rushing in while she was trying to think of the words. “They had masks. Um, there- there were three of them. I think there were three.” 

She thought there were three? Malia seemed too distraught to be lying, but you honestly weren’t sure anymore. 

All you were sure about was Tracy lying dead on the floor, scales on one side of her face and claws on her hands. She should have started changing back like the wolves did.

“She’s not changing back,” Deaton said, coming to the same conclusion you did. “We need to get her out of here.” 

“What- Hey, absolutely not,” Noah said as he came closer. “This is a crime scene. We wait for the coroner.” 

“I think the coroner might be very confused by this girl’s severed reptilian tail,” Deaton said.

“I don’t care.” 

“You should,” Deaton said. “Unless you’re prepared to hold a press conference announcing the presence of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills.” 

“Dad, he’s right,” Stiles said. 

“Maybe at the clinic we can figure out how to change her back,” Scott said. “Then we call the coroner?” 

“There is a line- There’s a line that we have to draw,” Noah said, shaking his head.

“Dad, you’ve already crossed it,” Stiles said. “More than once.”

Deaton tried again and between him and Stiles, something got through to Noah. He said you could take Tracy. Scott scooped her up in an instant and Stiles took your hand in his as you rushed out behind him.

You didn't want to leave Tracy again, but she was dead and Lydia was dying. Lydia would always come first. The five of you got to the hospital as soon as you could, but Lydia was already in surgery. Kira made sure that your mom knew that Lydia had been cut by Tracy’s tail, but then it was just the waiting. And Malia bringing up the men in masks again. Who may or may not have been made up.

Eventually, any chance of you being able to see Lydia passed and you all went home for the night. 

Stiles wanted to add the day’s event to his conspiracy board the instant you got back home, but you dragged him to the bathroom to clean up that cut on his chest. All you needed was for him to get a chest infection on top of all this. He took off his shirt while you dug around for the first aid kit. 

“Honestly, it’s not that bad,” Stiles said as you turned around. “Your boy Lahey’s done way worse … Hey, what are you- what’s that look for?” 

You knelt down in front of him, hand touching his stomach lightly. There was a scar nestled between two birthmarks, long and thin, only an inch or two long and jagged at the sides. The kind of scar you get when someone stabs you.  

“Oh,” Stiles said softly. “You know that’s not your fault, right?” 

“I never actually said sorry for that.” Your thumb traced the pale line. “I’m really sorry, Stiles. For all of it.” 

He gave you a sad smile and covered your hand with his. He lifted it to his lips and pressed a small kiss to it. “I know.”

“How about we get you cleaned up, huh?” you asked. 

You disinfected the wound and put a bandage over it, to which Stiles told you you were being dramatic and you told him to take it up with management. The two of you fell into your familiar routine of getting ready for bed to get some sleep in before Melissa came to get you on her way home from work. Every night you hoped she’d forget and you could just stay here. 

“Hey, you still awake?” Stiles whispered after half an hour of lying in the dark together. 

You rolled over so you were facing him, almost nose to nose, and searched for his hands under the covers. “I might be.” 

“I can’t stop thinking about what happened today,” Stiles said. He lifted his hand to the side of your face and ran it through your hair. “I don’t know what happened.”

“I know. Tracy and Malia …” You sighed and shifted around where you lay. “It’s crazy. That thing about men in masks? I don’t think she killed her but-” 

“Hey, we had demons in masks trying to kill me like a year ago,” Stiles said. “I guess crazier things have happened.” 

“I guess,” you said softly. “I have a feeling this is only the start of it though.” 

“Yeah, me too.” 

Stiles moved closer and kissed your forehead. He cradled your head and you moved in closer. You fell asleep like that, tangled up and addled with too many thoughts in your head, but at least you felt safe for the first time all day.

Part 34

Tagged: @ietss​

[milkboxing]

STRIKING GOLD ↯ txt

SUMMARY ⋮ your somewhat notoriously influential high school garage band urgently needs a replacement to their keyboardist whose arm is broken and you happen to be, at the precise instant they find you, free-styling the tomato song on the antediluvian piano found in the music room.

GENRE ⋮ humour, rock band!au, high school!au

ZAK’S NOTE ⋮ guitarist!beomgyu kept darting from one corner of my mind to the other and i just couldn’t help but write this shit.

i.

Committing irreparable mistakes was one of the few things that Huening Kai was known to be good at by all, and even if he knew the repercussions that his broken arm due reckless biking would have on his band and the performance they were supposed to give for the upcoming school festival, the chances of him wearing his elbow pads would most likely be one in a million. He was nevertheless the happy-go-lucky and sickly optimistic boy he was and despite the fright he gave to his elder band mates, they chose to overlook his misconduct after a few inevitable reproaches. However, as much as they wish they did not have to race against the time that was quickly catching up with them, they could not let down the school, their local audience and all the threatening fingers pointed at them. Precisely. Like that of the vice student council onto whose frail shoulders the accountability of preparing for that event of capital importance reposed. Rumour had it that she was planning the murder of Soobin, the band’s leader who was also her prime partner as the previous student council but the latter was so taken up by rehearsals that he was bound to ditch the poor girl.

“For the last time Soobin,” she hissed, poking the tall boy’s chest, a visible crease between her eyebrows, “I have painstakingly managed to deal with everything encompassing the festival so far, if you plan on calling it quits with your band, you better be giving me a helping hand. . .” She was unable to complete her sentence as he heaved out an exasperated sighed. “I’m sorry,” he softly let out, running a hand through his hair, avoiding all eye contact with her, “I’d gladly do that but the dean is counting on us and he firmly believes that with or without Kai we should be in a position to perform. He says that we’re his meal ticket, whatever that is supposed to mean.” The girl frowned and Soobin’s pupils were then shaking a little. “I can’t put my hand on someone to replace Kai yet,” he added, “I’m sorry once again, Eunji. Once our lives are back to normal I’ll treat you to tteokbokki or any food you like and you have my word this time!” Soobin left with fast steps after patting her on her shoulder, picking up his pace as he spotted his classmate and best friend, whom you believed to be named Choi Something, at the other end of the corridor. Eunji turned and with battered puppy eyes, watched his back as it shrunk and muttered under her breath, “Screw you and those convincingly cute dimple of yours.”

You didn’t mean to but you happened to hear that part and you subtly reared your head, enough to peek at Eunji behind the door of your locker, her shoulders drooping like withered flowers and her braided hair unfortunately resembling a fringed mayhem. A pat on the shoulder? you mentally sympathised with her, she must have reached the peak of being friend-zoned. Banging the aperture of your locker shut, you readjusted your duffel bag on your shoulder and checked your watch, incognisant to the fact that the obnoxious noise you had produced snapped the elder girl out of her morose rêverie. Undecisive about what you would do of all the time you had to kill, you roamed around the busy school hallways where students were darting to and fro with boxes, boxes, desks and more boxes but none of the classrooms you passed by was fully empty. Somehow, while your conscience was swimming among the waves of Antlantis, your steps led you to the music room which reeked of mildew and the air was so heavy — especially when the greasy, brownish curtains gave the eerie impression of drawing the four walls closer together, as if the room was gradually shrivelling while the obscurity was lurking around, waiting to seize the opportunity of gobbling you up — that you had to suffocate a gulp in your throat.

Without losing any more time, you casted off your bag and dumped it on a chair, grateful enough that the abandoned desks, despite catching enough dust to permanently change of colours, were not covered in bird or lizard shit as you expected it. You pulled apart the curtains, strenuously opened the rusty windows, the hinges of which categorically refused to move due to rust, turned on the fan and instantly regretted it as the dust started swirling and chaotically flying around the room, making of you a Reindeer Rudolf who could not stop sneezing. To top up the whole thing, you stubbed your foot against the piano bench while you were blindly reaching out for the button to switch off the fan, your eyes stinging. Five minutes later, the dust had stabilised, the room was well aerated, the odour had either dissipated or been assimilated by your complex organism to such an extent that you couldn’t smell it the same way anymore, and your fingers were lazily gliding along the keys of the old piano. Loud footsteps and muffled voices that you knew belonged to the members of your somewhat notoriously influential school band could be heard in the corridor but you couldn’t care less.

Suddenly, an idea struck your head and you would have sworn that if your life was a cartoon, a light bulb would have popped up above your head at that very instant. Using your limited knowledge of whatever you had picked at the piano tuitions you had attended for six years and recently quit, you started skittering your fingers along the keys of the piano, your touch leaving whitened fingerprints everywhere. What seemed much better in your mind to be the melody of the nastily catchy and annoying tomato song, a famous nursery rhyme, escaped from the musical instrument and after a few more tries and unusual determination that you find hard to show for your studies, you managed to upgrade it to the most resembling version of the original song. You were, unluckily, too busy having an intense and sensational performance for your imaginary public, fervently tapping on the keys while humming to the lyrics that you missed to realise that the hallway had grown oddly silent and the door creaked open to reveal a few curious heads, piled one onto the other.

“LUMPY AND GORGEOUS FIGURE DRESSED IN RED—” yelled a voice that you failed to recognise because of how strained it sounded, but that nevertheless called you back to earth and drove you into ending the song with a sinister piano version of a keyboard smash. “—SWEET AND SOUR FLAVOUR, FASHIONABLE TOMATOES!” sang the oldest boy of the bunch, showing up with a seemingly dyed silver hair (unless you were right to think his hair turned grey, from all the stress he bore.) You stared at him, an inevitably judgemental expression adorning your face as the other boys projected either revulsion or amusement on their faces. Except Taehyun, this boy could withstand anything with an intimidating poker face but somewhere you could sense his confusion. “Yeonjun-hyung— hyung—” called out Beomgyu, a sophomore student whom you knew to be the lead guitarist of the band. He was a likeable guy, cheerful and a little irksome with his crazy loud laughter at times but based on what you’ve learnt he didn’t have many friends from his grade and hence hung out with your classmates Huening Kai and Taehyun all the time. “That’s enough hyung, yOU CAN SHUT UP NOW!” he yelled, calling the elder boy back to reason. Thankfully that sufficed, you were ready to fling your bag at the grey haired dude’s face. The two of them winged up bickering while the three others boys turned their faces to you (and that sucks because you had mentally planned on tiptoeing to the door while they were distracted), eerily in synchronisation, their lips stretching into mysterious smiles. Oh fuck, you cursed under your breath, they want something from me.

ii.

“To quote Hamlet,” you exasperatedly explained, slowly and emphasising on each word, “act three, scene three, line ninety-two, NO.” The boys’ faces fell, apart from Kai’s. He didn’t know how to give up and you could definitely tell that from the way his hazel eyes scrutinised you, that he was not going to give you the heave-ho so soon. Kai was a tough cookie — come hell or high water, he would neither avert his firm gaze from you, nor allow you to take the french leave and even less erase that fucking aweless rictus from his mouth. In other words, you were trapped like an artless little rabbit in a den of wolves. “Come on, please. . . [name]. . .? That’s your name, right?” trailed off Soobin, his glances endlessly shifting from his teammates to you, making sure to obtain nods and other responses of approbation. You couldn’t help but remark that despite his eminent presence, he was not especially self-assured for a leader. “Yeah, and no. The festival is tomorrow and there’s no way I could play a fucking keyboard for you. I won’t even be able to memorise the song lyrics,” your eyes widened as you added, “actually scratch that, i don’t even know how to sing!”

“Hey, calm down,” reassured Kai, snaking his arm around your shoulders, “We’re not asking you to be Mozart or Maria Carey. The melody is short and pretty repetitive so just being in tune will do. As for the singing. . . Simply try not to sound too much like a dying whale.” You gave him a sarcastic smile as he dumbly responded with a giddy one. Slapping away his arm, you replied on a passive aggressive tone, “First of all, don’t touch me unless you want to lose the other arm as well and secondly,” you turned to the rest of the boys, “I’d rather keep a low profile, if I ridiculise myself tomorrow I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the embarrassment of it. . .” The room suddenly fell tragically silent, the tense atmosphere weighing like a heavy load on everyone’s shoulders. “You won’t make a fool of yourself,” spoke up Taehyun. Your eyes met his and he firmly stared back, without showing any sign of emotion, like he usually does and you were reminded of his forgotten presence. “We’re not expecting you to be perfect [name]. There are times when the microphones decide to betray us in the middle of a performance, or a wrong guitar chord, a minimal voice crack that can seem to put it at stake. . . We don’t give perfect stages because we are only here to have the blast of our lives. My point is that, it’s human to make mistakes but that shouldn’t stop you from going forward,” he lectured in the most Taehyun-ish style ever. He had always been the voice of reason, as far as you remembered. “I mean, they usually make mistakes,” he pointed at his members, “not I.” Involuntarily, a giggle left your throat as the four other boys scoffed and wailed disapprovingly.

After five long minutes of debating your inner self and considering all the pros and cons to their proposition of being the substitute of Kai for the festival, you decided to simply say fuck it and gave in. “I’ll do it—” Your sentence was cut short by the band members’ relieved sighs and exclamations. (You were persuaded that the one who cried out for his mum was the grey haired dude.) “—but on one condition!” The boys exchanged confused glances with each other and some of them obviously gulped, fearing that you might want from them something that they could hardly afford. “What is it?” asked Soobin but more boldly than before. “Well, don’t ask me to put on some winged eyeliner, smoky makeup, a leather jacket and Doc Martens or I’m going to turn into the Hulk, crack my fucking shirt open and step on your necks; then run back home to wear a comfy pair of PJ’s!” The oldest of them all replied with a strangled chortle, “Don’t worry about that. As the person in charge of outfits here, I’ve made sure our Lumberzacks theme will be on point.”

“That’s even worse, goodness,” you sighed, “I quit.”

“I’m Yeonjun, by the way,” he introduced himself, coming forward to shake your hand, “Senior year, previous ace of the basketball team and top student. I’m pretty sure you know me already though.” You winced. You didn’t. “Not really but you have a nicer name than I would have thought. I had mentally named you Grandpa, because of your grey hair, you know?” you patted Yeonjun on the shoulder, “No offence though, I love the colouring. Besides, as our dear friend Kang Taehyun, right here, would say; there’s no shame in growing old—” His aura turned from charming kitty to growling dog in a matter of seconds. “If you really sing like a dying whale out there, you’ll be a depilated bitch after the performance.”

“Oh yes, snatch my wig bud.”

iii.

Two hours before the opening of the embellished hall, you were sitting on the cold parquet, amidst the mess of cables and under the colourful projector lights, eating a pizza with Beomgyu and Kai. Newspapers were glued to the windows and the curtains were closed, with only a few glow-in-the-dark stickers in form of spaceships, planets and other celestial bodies glimmering dimly in the atrociously dark hall. The decor was breathtaking; there were painted balls of all sizes hanging at the edge of the stage and ovnis and rocks made of papier mâché surrounded the musical instruments and a marmalade orange and yellowish tie-and-dye bedsheet was hung behind them, portraying a sunset or what the boys believed to be in some way, the atmosphere on planet Mars. Having arduously practised with them and with the generous assistance that Kai brought to you, despite his little piques and the other things he does, rubbing you the wrong way, you felt like you were ready to give an otherworldly show.

Yeonjun approached the three of you, with a hanger, a black sweater dangling from it and the name of their band, TXT, written somewhere on it. He stole the last part of the pizza before handing you the piece of clothing (more like throwing it in your direction.) You heaved out a sigh of relief. It was not like you actually believed he would pull out a pink checkered shirt and an axe for you but for your defence, he sounded strangely convincing when he brought up the Lumberzacks concept, the previous day. “You can keep it,” he said, while taking a seat in your circle, “Mm, this pizza is so good! I’m seriously starving right now.” Kai reached out for a can of Sprite but after a few failed attempts of plucking the tab in order to open it, you had to do it for him. That was when, out of the blue, it hit you. “Hey Kai,” you made direct eye contact with him, “you don’t need your arms to sing, do you?” The boy choked, soda threatening to precipitate down his nostrils as you disgustedly passed a tissue paper to him. “I— I don’t but. . .” he gulped, “you’re not thinking of. . .”

“Yup. I’m definitely thinking of getting you a sweater, a microphone and a damn chair,” you stated, to which he retorted: “Look at how aesthetically appealing the stage is, you don’t wanna drag a chair in the middle and have me in my plastered arm sing in front of the whole school—” You tutted, interrupting him, totally unwilling to hear him whine lamer excuses. “Fuck the aesthetic Ning,” you claimed, “I’m dragging your ass onto that stage whether you like it or not.” He was bound to surrender when Beomgyu added, his cheeks filled with food, “Datsh right bruh shtahp bein ah pushy! (That’s right bro, stop being a pussy!)”

At four, the hall had turned into a hive of activity and three quarter of the whole student body at school was present, their mobile phones as well as a ton of snacks in hand. It was soon filled to the brim, and in the middle of the tumult, you spotted Eunji, strenuously hopping and snaking among the sweaty bodies of the cantankerous students while murmuring “excuse me” nonstop. She was carrying a huge pack of water bottles and you realised that they were for the band but you were internally worried about her visible dark circles and her trembling hands, fearing that she might collapse at any instant. On seeing her approaching the door of the dressing room, you stepped forward so as to receive her. All of a sudden, Eunji tripped over someone’s bag and would have heavily fallen to the ground if Soobin had not bolted at the speed of light to catch her. Some of the water bottles had left the pack and you hastily picked them up from the ground but before entering the changing room again, you slightly peeked at the two oblivious lovebirds. “This festival is not worth you losing sleep over it,” reassured Soobin, grabbing the girl by the shoulder while leading her to a free place (where he had intentionally placed his belongings before) in the front row, “you’ve done a great job and it’s thanks to you if today’s event is a success. Sorry again for being such a dick but if it’s not too much to ask, would you like to stay. . .?” A sparse blush highlighted the tall boy’s porcelain cheeks and a smile made its apparition on his brightened face when Eunji accepted his proposal.

“See you later, then.” He awkwardly waved at her.

“Sure. Good luck Soobin!”

The enthusiasm in the hall was electric. The cheers were deafening and the flashes of the camera would have blinded you if you did not focus on fixing the keys of the keyboard instead of staring at the crowd, in the obscurity, dancing and a particular little group of them screaming along the lyrics. You exchanged complicit, overjoyed glances and smiles with the other members of the band. Soobin’s singing lines, as you had guessed, were mostly dedicated to the vice student council, you concluded as you caught him several times, glancing in her direction. When Beomgyu’s solo part came, the projector lights all focused on him and he went hardcore, passionately plucking on the strings of his beloved guitar, his neck veins popping and sweat dripping down his cheeks. For the split of a second, you felt your own heart skip a beat. Goodness, you soared, he indeed is a ladies’ man. What was at first a performance that you dreaded with everything you had, prolonged with an unexpected encore and eventually ended up metamorphosing into a free-styling concert. At that very moment, you realised that your euphoric self was for the first time in so long, in seventh heaven.

💌 MASTERLIST

[starrii-nights]

Hey I’m bored so take one of my main ocs noodle enjoy ^^ also it features @hanahathefluffydragon oc Hana and my other oc Star :D

Noodles backstory

To give you a small bit of context to make this all make sense, in this world kitsune’s are the most respected species. They have the charm and luck and watch over the rich families they are pretty much royalty but somewhere during the reign of the kitsunes a new hybrid was born these are the wolf kitsunes. They aren’t as powerful as the kitsunes but they did have the longer life span. All the wolf kitsunes were sent to lots of poor families to give them a bit of hope but if the family becomes extremely broke or desperate for money the kitsunes must do whatever they can to make sure that they can live even if it means selling one of their children vases to protect the family. This tradition has lived on for hundreds of years which brings us here.

On the 6th of October 20XX a new wolf kitsune was born to a desperate family of 4. Their name was Karina, Karina lived a rough life since the family their parents were watching over didn’t have enough food to feed them which reflected on the wolf kitsunes. They ended up becoming thin and always hungry and never got enough to eat for a growing kitsune but things got worse for the two families..

Karina father was always getting angry and screaming at the young hybrid saying how they were just bad luck. The father of the human family started drinking and waisted all the remaining money on that. This set a massive toll on Karina since they just felt horrible all of this time since they couldn’t do anything to help until one night. Karina was four and their first tail was almost fully grown the kitsune family were in their house asleep when all of a sudden 2 figures appeared at the door of the human family.

They had funny hats on with bizarre outfits. They claimed to this family that if they trade one of the families kitsunes then they will get all the money they would ever need. At this time the kitsune family was over hearing all this terrified but if it means that the family will become richer they will allow Karina to be sold. Karina was terrified about all this trying to break free but it was useless the trade was done and now Karina has a new owner. That owner was the leader of the Katune cult.

Once the two figures arrived back to the cult grounds they presented the vase that Karina was in. The leader of this cult demanded that the kitsune should come out of the vase to see them. Karina did hoping maybe they will care about them like their parents did once but how utterly wrong they were. Once the leader saw Karina they were disgusted

“A wolf kitsune?! I wanted a real one not one of these rip offs”

This hurt Karina a lot but they tried to hide the tears. The leader ordered the members to destroy the vase (if a kitsunes vase is destroyed they are bound to earth centuries and they can be effected by corruption and pain and scarring and their glowing and levitation disappeared ) making Karina forced to stay here and not hide in their vase. The glow which the kitsunes had disappeared from Karina and they fell to the ground in front of the leader

“Get out of my sight ok?” Noodle nods and runs away on all fours trying to escape but was stopped by a guard, and was thrown into the jail at the bottom of the cult for escaping. After being let out Noodle was forced to become a chef and cook for everyone as a punishment and was forced to do everyone’s tasks for them. This lasted for years and evertime noodle forgot to do something they would either get burnt by hot coals or scratched slowly by a sharp object. This left noodle covered in scars and burns but they tried to hid them in their fur.

One day when Noodle managed to do everything before nightfall. They fought of studying the books in the cult library to maybe learn more about this place since they are still learning everything about this place. This was the night were noodle learned about the elemental beasts of the world and the crown and staff which the leader dawned. So they planned out how to defeat this leader and take this power for their own. All they want is revenge on this guy for taking everything away from them.

The next day Noodle was cooking noodles for the members and accidentally knocks in some chemicals which they were working on as well. Out of panic. Noodle served the noodles and put some in their hat for safe keeping. And to noodles surprise everyone loved them and called them their true leader. This scared noodle so they picked up their hat and dashed since people were under noodles control for a few minutes they managed to escape with ease

Noodle finally being free they kinda forgot that they were a kitsune since they were forced to walk and talk like humans did so it took them a few minutes to get used to running on all fours again. After constant running they overheard some things talking so they started to listen in.

It ended up being a wolf called star and their sister Nova reuniting for the first time. Which noodle put this to their advantage if they can convince these wolves to help them take over the crown then noodle will have revenge. The young wolf kitsune ran over to the other wolves and begged them for their help

“my family is trapped in a temple can you help me please!” Star seemed a bit reluctant but after novas convincing they agreed to help.

Noodle offered them the noodles they made earlier to the wolves because they seemed hungry so they both ate them and the effects kicked in again. Noodle chuckled as they knew that this will work. Hopefully.. after a day of running back it was night fall most of the members were asleep Noodle hunter to the mind controlled nova and star to sneak in with them past the guards and into the throne room where noodle knew that the leader will be their and to their surprise they were.

“Welcome back Noodle here for your punishment” noodle shakes their head and orders an attack on the man “ No I want revenge” Noodle lunges in with the other wolves beating and nearly killing the Man. The leader was bleeding heavily “why..why did you do this?” Noodle chuckles taking the crown and staff off of him “revenge.”

“At long last it’s finally mine” Noodle sits on the throne placing the crown on their head and a glow happened after the glow ended Noodle felt different. More powerful. And wanting more revenge. The two wolves collapsed on the ground then waking up confused. Noodle cleared their voice and chuckles “Welcome friends to Noodle cult!”

Star looks around confused and annoyed “Why are we in the Katune cult ground”

Noodle just chuckled “This is Men sūpukaruto now and Noodle must thank you two for making this noodles reality!”

“No ...I won’t accept that...” Star says nearly in tears

“Puhuhu Noodle should thank you so Noodle is offering you a deal” Noodle says in a cunning tone “ Noodle offers you to join noodles cult or become a sacrifice take your pick” a reluctant star refuses but nova agrees to join noodle. “Good child now eat up these noodles and as for you Star..Guards take noodles sacrifice downstairs” the guards were confused but they saw noodle had the crown so they agreed.After transforming Nova to fit the cult and sending them to their room Noodle sits down chuckling. The old Karina is long gone now it’s just the husk of noodle which remains.

The next day Noodle was woken up with some bad news.. Star managed to escape and is on the run but that didn’t bother noodle that much. They wanted more power. More revenge so they made it their goal to gain as many members as they could. Years went by Nova was gone she never returned from noodles mission but while on the look out for new members to bribe. Noodle sees someone heading to a small village after failing to convince them, noodle runs after them to find that this small village was a cult too.

After befriending the leader called Evan noodle finally felt that someone cared about them. They finally had a true friend which wasn’t under their control. Them and Evan became really close until one day. A war broke out between cults which caused Nearly all cult to die. Fortunately Noodle survived along with their cult but unfortunately Evans cult didn’t which tore noodle and made them even more angry than they already were. They wanted revenge on life for taking away their only friend and nothing was gonna stop them. No one will even if they had to hurt people and their loved ones they will.

As the years went by reports of missing and murdered people rose to an all time high Noodle was the source of evil their body was corrupt they showed no remorse tricking and killing thousands every year their cult was the biggest threat to nearly everyone..all apart from one person Star. Noodle knew that star would come back for revenge so noodle came up with a cunning plan a plan so foolproof that it wouldn’t fail.

Noodles plan was to lure star in and make them join them to take over this world for good but Noodle realised that Star would need to be baited in they could use nova again but that would be obvious so Noodle sent out a few spies to go find someone that star cared about. It took a few days but the spies reported back to Noodle that Star had a love interest called Hana “perfect” noodle says chuckling “Get Hana here now i have an offer for her” the spies nodded and went off to to their mission

The next day the spies returned with the fast asleep Hana in a small cage for easy transport. A few minutes later the sleeping hana is awaken startled and confused “Welcome hana! Do you know why your here”

Hana shakes her head “n-no..” Noodle smiles swaying their two tails. “Noodle has an offer for Hana for her and starlight to be in paradise together” Hana looked confused “Paradise?” Noodle causally explains to Hana how being in noodles paradise will make you happier.

“If it makes me and star happy..then what do you need me to do?” Noodle chuckles “All you need to do is eat those noodles and the rest will be explained later” Hana nods and willingly eats the noodles. Noodle smiles and takes the mind altered Hana to start he transformation.

After a long process and a bit of wish making Hana was ready since she was now a goddess under noodles rule. Now noodle only needed star under their wing and give them a boost in power then the final part of the plan was a go. The next day Hana was sent for their mission. The mission to lure star in and get the thing they wanted. That thing was the goddesses hybrid flower. The goddess hybrid flower was one of the most powerful things a mortal could own it could heal anyone in the entire world but if it falls into the wrong hands it can cause someone to become a mindless zombie to its caster forever

After a day Hana returned back to the temple with star closely following. Hana kneeled down beside noodle as part of their orders. Noodle welcomed star back but star wasn’t happy “HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO HANA FIRST MY SISTER NOW HER” star screamed at noodle “Calm ok noodle is sorry so noodle will make you and Hana go to paradise together and make you like Hana! Just eat noodles noodles then everything will be ok”

Star being reluctant agrees if it makes Hana happy so after eating them Star put on a facade to keep noodle happy, since noodle forgot to add the chemicals in.

Noodle not having a clue did the transformation with star but Hana didn’t feel right about it. The fact that Hana lied to her lover to get them here was too much for her. After the crowning of star noodle took the amulet star was wearing and left them in peace for a few minutes. Noodle wasn’t expecting star and Hana to be plotting against them so when they got back in they were surprised how loyal they were to them.

Noodle smiles as they started to constantly bow and praise the young kitsune. They agreed to themselves that after this part is over Noodle will let them leave since they could intervene with their plans “Ok noodle wants you guys to hold hands and think about each other! Then you are free to go to paradise!” They both nod doing what noodle said. They started to glow and after a few minutes of this the goddess hybrid flower was made. Noodle thanked the two removed their memories of what happened and sent them far away so they wouldn’t intervene.

With this power Noodle managed to set it up for the mindless zombies and with the help of their engineers a mech suit was made (noodle had been planning this for a while) and with noodle inside their plan for world domination started they were approaching the village destroying trees as they walked but all of a sudden two figures appeared. It was star and Hana. “You...Why are you here I thought you guys will be happy and leave me alone” star shook their head ready to fight but a bit confused “what do you mean” they said “you don’t remember your creator?” Noodle states

“Creator...?” Hana says confused “Oh yeah I gave you your powers and thanks to that flower you guys made for me I am gonna TAKE OVER NO ONE CAN STOP ME” With a few quick movements Star was picked up by Noodle. “Couldn’t you see Noodle wanted the best for you so Noodle will give Hana a choice! Join noodle and we will rule together or I’ll make Star noodles mindless zombie”

Hana was furious “YOU LIED TO US TO GET PERSONAL GAIN HOW COULD YOU THIS WAS YOUR LAST MISTAKE... now you are gonna PAY!” Hana charging at noodles mech making star fall out of noodles grip. Noodle chuckles I did this for your benefit NOW YOU GO BACKSTABBING ME! Noodle looked down at the knocked out star “noodle will deal with you later” Noodle charged at Hana attacking her as she flew around “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING NOW LETS SEE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT REMORSE AFTER I KILL YOU!” Noodle twitches with anger WhaT DO I KNOW ABOUT REMORSE?! WELL YOU TELL ME AFTER BEING RAISED HERE WITH CONSTANT BEATINGS HOW ELSE WAS I GONNA DO NOW LET ME WIN....LET Me...win... noodle started to shake and tear up

Hana stopped in her tracks confused. “Let...me win....for once in my life....I want someone...anyone to be proud of me....my family....Evan....please....just let me win.... Noodle was crying curled up in a ball screaming. Their previous scars and burns were visible. I....want to see my family again....I want someone to love me....for who I am....I just want a friend...

Hana stopped “friend...family... what do you mean?” Noodle explained what happened in the cult and how they arrived while crying in the mech seat. Hana flies up and breaks the glass of the mech seat and hugged the crying child. “It’s ok...it’s ok...” she says in a motherly tone “I forgive you...join us...we can be a family.” noodle sniffs “after everything I did...why are you....forgiving a mass murderer like me...” Hana went quiet her hands bloody from punching the glass “I don’t know....but I’m willing to put that in the past...” A remorseful Noodle climbed into Hana arms sniffling and still crying “thank you....Hana.. thanks for this....second chance at life....”

Hana smiles “enjoy it while it lasts and I’ll do the same..” they slowly float back down and the exhausted noodle and Hana were on the ground asleep. Star with all their strength left took the pair to safety and the cult which noodle ran was disbanded for now..

The end?

[thistlepath]

stuff about Aggy

this is for that meme i rebloged a bit ago, i was asked to answer “all of them” for a character of my choice. this is gonna be kinda long.

What is your OC’s favorite color?

Dark purple :3

Does your OC collect anything? What do they collect?

No, he’s not very materialistic and hasn’t had much of a chance to collect anything anyway.

What kind of things is your OC allergic to?

As a Carlec he’s automatically incapable of eating plants or dairy without getting really, really sick if that counts.

What kind of clothing does your OC wear?

Basically pink pygamas and a cape, that’s just how Carlec dress.

What is your OC’s first memory?

A vague memory of some kid being annoying and him scratching their face way back when he was about 7 or 8.

What’s your OC’s favorite animal? Least favorite?

Favorite: their version of turtles, he thinks they’re cute and they like to eat his /least/ favorite animals.

Least favorite: it’s a tie between a type of fish that enjoys trying to eat kids that fall into rivers and a type of beetle that enjoys trying to eat dead, dying, and/or injured unconscious critters and people.

What element would your OC be?

Fire, i think. He can be destructive and horrifying, but also helpful and fun :D

What is your OC’s theme song?

Hmm… there are a lot of them XD

maybe i’ll post a list later.

Do you have a voiceclaim for your OC?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5m_W31hDeU

He’s jeremy.

What deadly sin would best represent your OC?

Wrath. Definitely wrath.

What are your OC’s hobbies?

He likes to make dye, dance, and rip the legs off of beetles :3

How patient is your OC? How hot-headed are they?

That depends, most of the time he’s /incredibly/ hot-headed, like murderer levels of hot-headed, but if he really, /really/ likes you he’s incredibly patient and understanding.

What is your OC’s gender / sexuality / race / species / etc.?

male. weird Carlec sexuality that most resembles a combo of bisexuality/pollyamory (i don’t know all the different sexualities and such, if there’s a name for that i’d be happy to hear it) but is basically the Carlec version of being straight. mountain/marsh Carlec :3

What foods does your OC like to eat? What are their least favorite foods?

He likes to eat beetles and large, winged insects. If you only count food he can eat safely, his least favorite food is turtle. They’re too cute to eat and he doesn’t like breaking their shells.

If your OC could have any pet, what would they choose? Why?

Probably a turtle, though an Alvean bird would also be pretty cool!

What does your OC smell like?

At the very beginning of the story: dried blood, mildew, and an odd acidic smell that builds up on Carlec when they’re unhealthy.

After a while of being outside and a nice change of clothes: dead leaves, dirt, and just a hint of blood.

How do they make a living? What kind of job do they want / not want? What is their dream job? What do they think of their current job?

Currently he doesn’t, he’s working to get his /freedom/ back, he isn’t getting paid. He wants to be a dye-maker like his mom once all of this is over, it’s been his goal since he was little. He /really/ doesn’t want anything to do with mining, he’s spent long enough trapped without sunlight and warmth, thank you very much. He also doesn’t want to be a hunter.

His current job is basically escorting an idiot and an old lady from point A to point B without them getting murdered, it’s fun when he gets to threaten people or fight wolves, but it’s mostly just walking around (at first.)

What are your OC’s greatest fears? Weaknesses? Strengths?

Hmm. the Carlec have this idea where you basically have to /earn/ having a soul, and doing stuff that makes their deity upset with them starts to slowly destroy their soul. Murder is one of the things that makes her angry, and he keeps getting put in situations where he basically /has/ to kill people. He’s terrified that by the time he dies he’ll be so far gone that he’ll just disappear. It doesn’t help that he’s almost entirely sure that if he /doesn’t/ fade away he’ll end up as some kind of ghost.

He also has a fear of deep, fast water :3

What kind of music do they listen to? Do they have a favorite song?

Carlec music is nothing like any human music i’ve ever heard, so it’s a bit hard to pick out different styles and such. He likes happy music being sung by groups, which sounds a bit like if you crossed a choir, a barbershop quartet, a bunch of purring, mewling cats, and a bunch of little birds together and had them sing pop songs.

If they came from their world to ours (if not already in our’s) how would they react? What would they do?

He’d be absolutely terrified. Our world is incredibly foreign to him and i seriously doubt people would have a very positive reaction to him. Plus, unless he ended up somewhere really warm and humid he’d likely get sick pretty quickly. He’d find some place to hide and then stay there, to scared to come out for anything but food.

What personal problems/issues do they have? Pet peeves?

Well. he just got out of prison and now has to babysit an insensitive, ignorant Alvean and a grumpy old lady, he’s convinced that he’s missing a chunk of his soul, his dad died while he was away and he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, he’s constantly anxious and lashes out at people violently when startled, he feels incredibly uncomfortable in the center of attention but also feels like he has to be the most intimidating, loud person in a room to feel safe… the list just goes on.

He really doesn’t like being interrupted or asked stupid questions.

What kind of student were they/would they be in high school?

If the teacher was nice he’d be incredibly respectful and work very hard to do well. if they were a jerk (or he saw them as one) he’d be a rebellious little monster, seeming to do everything in his power to either get them fired or get himself kicked out of the class.

What is a random fact about your OC?

He wears his cape over his right shoulder to hide the lack of spines on his upper arm. He’s asymmetrical, something that isn’t too uncommon when Mountain and Marsh Carlec mix, but that’s still incredibly uncommon in the general population. He was teased for it as a kid and is still insecure about it.

What is their outlook on life? What is their philosophy / what do they think in general about living?

He tries to be optimistic, but a life of bad luck and being treated like garbage has kinda made that hard.

What inspired you to create them / how did you create them? Were they originally a fancharacter? What was their personality / design like when you first made them?

I was bored one day and ended up coming up with a scene of a token-evil teammate finding out their mom was super sick and trying to hide their panic and sadness from their team because their merciless, sadistic reputation needs to be upheld, dang it! And i wanted to draw it. I used a random generator to get the basic idea of what the Carlec look like (slender, delicate build..same height as the average human..reddish/grayish brown skin..muted black hair..very large ears..giraffe-like spots on arms and legs..large, brown/red eyes..colorful, modest clothing.) and made a ton of potential designs for him before eventually settling on one that’s very similar to how he looks now, just with smaller ears, more spots, slightly different hair, and a slightly different face shape. I never ended up drawing that scene, but i decided to keep him anyway. His personality started out as a manipulative, sadistic, just about irredeemable monster with the redeeming qualities of “he loves his parents” and “he /eventually/ cares about his teammates.”

Who is the most important person in their life? Why? Who is the least important to them (that still has an impact and why?

His mom. After the events that caused his issues she was the only person who really stuck with him. His village decided he was possessed and thus dangerous, his dad disapproved very vocally of his decision to become a maker instead of continuing his training as a hunter, and his best friend/fiancée eventually betrayed him. His mom never stopped supporting him and believing that he could get better.

Hmm. Aggy’s weird in that once he cares about you he /doesn’t stop caring/ no matter what you do, so i don’t know if his friend can be counted here? If so, then definitely her. She was one of two actually good things in his life, then she had him sent to a human prison for murdering a pair of assassins. That place was absolutely /horrible/ and it was probably the worst thing that could’ve been done for his mental health.

If she doesn’t count, then probably the first prisoner he ended up killing while in prison. That idiot trying to kill him is what set him firmly on the path towards what he is today, if that hadn’t happened the queen probably would have had him released years ago.

What kind of childhood did your character have?

A not very nice one. Way too much being treated like some kind of monster, too much of his parents arguing about him, too many former friends avoiding him, too many injuries, and nowhere near enough support, love and guidance.

What kind of nervous habits do they have? Do they stim? Do they have any kinds of addictions?

When he’s nervous he tends to swish his tail back and forth like an angry cat, and also often bites and chews on things when they’re available.

If those count, then i suppose so? I don’t know a whole lot about the subject.

Not at the moment, but he used to have a bit of one to this special drink the Carlec have at parties. It makes people more energetic and cheerful, then incredibly tired as soon as it wears off. The Carlec have a lot of parties, so most have at least a bit of an addiction to the stuff.

If they could choose their epitaph for their grave, what would they choose?

Hmm. he’d just have somebody else chose it if he could, but if he absolutely had to choose it’d be something along the lines of “i promise i won’t haunt you guys. Probably. I’ll have to think about it.”

Do they want to get married? Why or why not? Would they ever want kids? Do they have kids? Why?

No. he’s pretty much done with romance after what happened with his Ex. there’s a chance that someone could change his mind with enough time, but it’s gonna be difficult.

He’s not sure about having kids, but he doesn’t think there’s much chance of it anyway if he never gets married.

What is their most traumatic memory/experience? What is their favorite memory?

Most traumatic memory: his entire village turning on him and his best friend in the whole world not only not defending him, but making sure he gets punished even more harshly than he would’ve otherwise.

Favorite memory: this one’s more vague, it’s stuff that happened almost every day and kinda blurred together, but it was all equally amazing as far as he’s concerned. Waking up every morning, warm and safe in his comfortable, cozy home. Spending several hours making dye with his mother and laughing with her about how it had somehow gotten all over their hands and faces while his dad went out hunting. All the little things that he had to go without for so long.

If they could have one thing in the world, what would it be?

Freedom, of course.

Would they ever kill someone? What would someone have to do to push them to kill someone? If they would kill someone, why?

Hahahahahahahaha

Aggy’s got this thing, it happens sometimes to Carlec who’ve been through something traumatic, where he’s constantly on edge and automatically reacts to perceived threats with violence. It’s incredibly difficult to keep under control, and even when it is it often just builds up until they eventually snap and get even more violent than they would have otherwise. In serious cases the Carlec will seem more like a feral animal than a person, luckily Aggy doesn’t have it that bad but if things continue the way they have he’s gonna get there within a few years.

What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually?

He used to love helping with the music for parties, he’d play bells and sing.

How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories?

His imagination is a bit caught up with imagining horrible situations he could end up in, potential escape routes for every room he enters, and stupid nicknames for everyone he meets.

What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain?

To go home and be happy. That’s his main goal at all times, ‘make sure this goes well so i can go home’, ‘save [insert person here] so i can redeem myself so i can be happy’ etc.

He needs to hurt critters and fight people and kill things. He gets super anxious all the time, and that’s the one thing he’s found that helps him calm down.

He’s willing to do a whole lot of things. He won’t hurt anyone he cares about, and he’d prefer not to die, but other than that he’s pretty much gonna do anything to get what he wants.

What’s something that your character does, that other people don’t normally do?

Well.

He eats his food raw. He kills people. He torments small creatures. There’s a lot of stuff he does that most people wouldn’t.

What would your character do with a million dollars?

Use it to try to free one of his old prison-friends and then give him whatever’s left. Carlec don’t really use money.

What is in your characters refrigerator right now? On their bedroom floor? Nightstand? Garbage can?

He’s currently homeless and has no possessions other than the clothes on his back and a knife.

Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with?

Well, if he’s free to have a night out in the first place he’s probably home, so most likely some kind of party, his party outfit, and either his team or his parents. He doesn’t have many friends :D

What does your character do when they’re angry? Why?

Attack things. Make things hurt. Cause whatever pain he can in whatever made him angry. It makes him feel somewhat better.

Does your character have any scars? Where did they get them from?

Not really, it’s hard to scratch a Carlec through their scales, and it takes a lot of damage for an injury to show through them after it’s healed. If he were human he’d have scars all over from fights, running through dense forest, falling in a river and nearly dying as a kid, etc.

What was the most offensive thing your character had ever said?

Oh, that’s hard. Aggy loves to offend people, it’s one of his favorite hobbies.

How does your character react/ accept criticism?

That depends on both what’s being criticized and how the criticism is given. It could be anything from quickly accepting it and asking for advice to /literally/ killing you.

If your character was given a slice of pineapple pizza and they HAD to eat it (or something bad would happen), how would they react? Do they even LIKE pineapple pizza?

Well. almost literally /nothing/ on pineapple pizza is edible for him, so he’d react pretty badly. Whatever this ‘something bad’ is has to be pretty bad. He’d eat it, but would clearly hate every second of it and would get really, really sick afterwards.

Your character is given a voodoo doll of themself. What do they do with it? Do they see if it actually works?

He would immediately believe it was real and quickly hide it in the safest place he can possibly find.

Can your character draw? What do they like to draw? Do they doodle?

Not really, he could probably make little stick-figures, but that’s about it.

What were their parents like? How has that affected how they are as an adult?

Evr, Aggy’s mom, was very loving, supportive and comforting, she was his mentor and primary source of advice, help and positive social interaction.

Kven, his dad, started out the same. Unfortunately Aggy becoming ‘possessed,’ deciding to be a Maker despite clearly being a natural Hunter (that’s a huge deal to a lot of Carlec), and losing his cheerful, friendly attitude kinda messed up their relationship. He was usually either angry at him or ignoring him.

He doesn’t know Rili or Tin very well, they married his mom about two years after he was kicked out.

Does your character like candy? Do they get sugar rushes? What are they like when they get a rush?

The closest thing to candy the Carlec have is this super sweet nectar that they make into drinks or soak meat in, and it’s literally made to give anybody/anything that drinks it a sugar rush. When Aggy drinks it he gets even more jumpy than usual, but also super giggly so it seems like he’s having fun?

If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count?

He’d be horrified and depressed, this means that he won’t get his chance at redemption or see his family again. He’d do everything he could to both prevent/delay his death and get home as soon as possible, desperate to see Evr again and at least say goodbye.

[clarkewayne]

About Iron Fist... it’s really boring, starts slow and remains in a slug pace until the very end...

Aside from Jessica Stroup’s Joy and the ladies from the other Netflix/Marvel shows Daredevil’s Madame Gao, Jessica Jones’ Jeri Hogath and Luke Cage’s Claire Temple there is very little here to entertain anyone.

Although Tom Pelphrey’s Ward is well acted his is not given much to do, both his and Joy’s backstory had so much potential and are only teased here.

Potential is actually a key-word in this show. Danny has probably one the most compelling backstories in the MCU and we only get fragments of it – the airplane scene is never fully shown and his childhood with the Meachuns is shown briefly only once. His fight scenes are probably the dullest of all the four Defenders shows and considering that Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are awful fighters that is saying something.

For a guy who is supposed to be a living weapon and the greatest fighter within the Marvel hoster, it’s curious that Danny receives a smack down from pretty much anyone who challenges him. And even if he keeps yelling (god knows how much he yells) that he had 15 years of training with the monks he has quite the anger management issue. Believe me when I say that the boy is completely messed up, one moment he is talking all politely with Collin and somehow the chirping of birds will trigger a flashback from the plane crash and he will have a nervous breakdown.

Finn Jones is probably the weakling of the show, it pains me to say this, because so far the track record has been amazing with Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter and Mike Colter. Finn comes off as woody at lot of times and his Danny Rand reminds of a kid throwing a tantrum more often than not, a few of the characters of the show actually point that out in different occasions. On top of that he Just.Can’t.Fight. Seriously, he is bad, a lot of the times Finn seems like a stunt double in training, as if the actual stunt double missed work and he is just filling in. It does get better by the latter chapters but not much.

Jessica Henwick defends Colleen in a pretty decent way, she is given a quite good arc that adds bulk to her character. It annoys me a little that they decided to pair up her and Danny as a couple in this show, especially of you consider that this adds a layer of hypocrisy into Danny’s character. Another thing that bummers me is that soon enough that will meet Misty Knight in The Defenders and everyone who knows the comics knows that Colleen and Danny together might temper with some pretty cool moments that could come up.

K’un-Lun is never show. Yep, zero, nada, nothing to see, not even in flashbacks of silly CGI. The dragon Shou Lao is “shown” is a blink-and-you-will-miss scene that would make the visual effects team from Once Upon a Time cringe.

That’s another thing with the show, I get that the Marvel/Netfilx shows are more grounded and “realistic” but Iron Fist demands a more visually trippy representation. In a story with warrior monks, heavenly cities, dragons and glowing hands with nuclear properties is abysmal that the produces went down the route where none of that is shown.

And while Daredevil and Luke Cage want to make their neighborhoods better (whereas Jessica wants nothing to do with any of that) Danny is always proclaiming he is going to clear the Rand Co. from the Hand and makes things right, except he never does. He has the focus of a newborn puppy, jumping from shiny new thing to the next, none of his arcs actually develop in an organic way.

His relationship with Joy starts with a lot of promising, adding depth to both characters, in my honest opinion this paring could have worked a lot better than the one they decided to explore. That is dropped in two episodes. His confrontation with Ward about their turbulent relationship is also explored and dropped in two episodes. Colleen’s betrayal (which adds a lot to the character) is seemingly forgotten in a one episode. The relationship between Rand’s and Meachun’s patriarch is also never show, is barely talked at all, you never get to know how both families became so close, we only know about the demise of that relationship in the very end of the season.

That’s another thing about Danny that annoyed the hell out of me: He is dumb. Sooooooo Dumb. And look, I considered Luke Cage the dumbest of the Defenders so far but Danny won him in that category by landslide. He fall into pretty much anyone’s trap, he believes in everyone, he underestimates is opponents all the time, he never has any idea of what to do (that is also pointed out in show sometimes). I could overlook all of that if he had been raised by wolves, but no, he was raises by warriors monks who trained him to fight against the Hand and he is completely naïve and clueless about pretty much anything, you expect someone more in the lines of Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios, instead we get an angsty young adult with rage outbursts.

As for the whole controversy of the ethnicity of Danny… I’m glad that a white guy played him, because I don’t doubt for a second there that if it happened to be an Asian descendent actor he would’ve been massacred by critics and haters (although the line that divides critics and haters has become quite blurred). I’m part of the group that hoped for Danny to be played by an asian actor, and I’m sure they could’ve found a better choice than Finn, because at time he comes across as a impressionable white teenager who just watched his first kung-Fu movie and wants to be cool like that.

As for the future… well, to be quite honest I hope they merge Luke Cage’ and Iron Fist’ shows into one Heroes For Hire. Both characters had brutally slow shows, Cage however leaned more to Jessica Jones’ character study vibe, whereas Iron Fist falls more into Daredevil’s action thriller category which in the ended benefited Luke Cage greatly. In the hands of a capable helmer (showrunner) a Heroes For Hiro could work so much better than the individual shows. But that’s wishful thinking from my part.

All that I can say is that I’m still excited to see The Defenders, but because Matt and Jessica will be there to save the day. And Claire, and Hogath and hopefully Frank Castle.

[xxdustnight88]

Looking for Loki Fanfiction?

Here’s your Loki fix from xxDustNight88!

Marvel Only

Christmas Surprise Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Darcy Lewis Word Count: 1,494 Summary:  Loki has his eye on a certain Midgardian. Little does he know that she has a surprise up her sleeve this Christmas.

Coffee Connection Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Thor Word Count: 3,654 Summary:  After months of playing cat and mouse, Loki and Thor finally have a chance to make a connection one morning at their favorite coffee shoppe.

Death of Me Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark Word Count: 4,737 Summary:  Tony and Loki attend a party with a singular intent in mind. After much hesitation, both submit to their desires, eventually admitting that perhaps sometimes you don't need a happy ending to be with the one you care about most.

Dreams of Clarity Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Thor Word Count: 1,071 Summary:  Sometimes it takes a dream to give us the clarity we need.

Every Moment Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Thor Word Count: 2,353 Summary: Christmas Eve is not a tradition Loki is familiar with and sees no reason to participate in such affairs. Forced to attend a party of most annoying frivolity by Thor, Loki is shown just how magical Midgardian traditions can be if one is willing to open their heart.

Falling Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 824 Summary:  Loki was falling, always falling, but what happens when he lands and the healing begins?

Office Gossip Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark Word Count: 474 Summary:  In which Accounting head, Loki Laufeyson, overhears the CEO’s secretary, Natasha Romanova, chatting up Human Relations coordinator, Bucky Barnes, about the CEO’s recent breakup. Loki takes it upon himself to get the signature he’s been needing for those pesky forms.

Redemption for the Wicked Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Jane Foster Word Count: 2,103 Word Count:  In the aftermath of the Infinity War, Jane comes to pay her respects to Thor's memory. Loki begins to see her in a different light and it's possible that she sees him differently now too.

Rise Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 1,428 Summary:  Thor finds Loki in a surprising place, and with a new outlook on life.

Snake Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 1,289 Summary:  Thor learns that there may be a darkness to his brother after all.

Untangled Hearts Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark Word Count: 4,042 Summary: Feeling festive for once, Tony enlists Loki's help decorating the Avengers facility's Christmas tree. When playful singing and banter turns serious, much more is untangled than a simple strand of lights. Will Loki flee or open his heart to the possibility of something more this holiday season?

Crossover Full-Length Fics

Break Me, Take Me, Never Let Me Go Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 19,825 Summary:  A drunken girl's night in and a potentially illegal "soulmate" spell, leads Hermione into going against everything she knows and believes in order to convince the God of Mischief that he's her one true soulmate.

The Gift Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Thor/Hermione Granger Word Count: 6,912 Summary:  She's engaged to his brother, but that doesn't stop Loki from seducing Hermione. Torn between the two, she vows to keep her indiscretions in the past. But little does she know, Thor has quite the surprise up his sleeve. What sort of gift will be revealed, and where exactly does Loki factor into their happily ever after?

Crossover Full-Length Fics: Part of a Series

Wolves without Teeth Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 217,098 Summary:  In the age old fight of good versus evil, two souls converge in a battle to stop the end of all worlds. With the universe crumbling around them, Loki and Hermione find themselves connected by more than just their magical abilities. A myth becomes reality when an old foe comes tearing through the realms seeking revenge upon those who wronged him. What will happen when Loki and Hermione discover there's much more to their connection than meets the eye? Will they be forced to sacrifice everything they've ever wanted in order to save the nine realms or will love prevail?

Empire Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 153,120 Summary:  Nine months after the fall of Fenrir, Hermione and Loki are still realms apart, physically and mentally. With a new threat lurking just on the horizon, complete with prophecies and time travel, will the two be able to save not only their budding family, but their friends’ as well, or will evil prevail?

Crossover One-Shots: Part of a Series

All if Fair Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,549 Summary:  Hermione learns a secret about Loki and finds that even though it's bound to ruin their lives, a broken heart may be easier to handle than fighting an all-out war.

Leave It At That Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,607 Summary:  Desperate for help solving a case, Hermione finds herself having to ask someone who she betrayed. Can Loki ignore the past for the sake of their future?

Internal Affairs Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark/Hermione Granger Word Count: 3,110 Summary:  After accidentally running into the one and only Tony Stark, Hermione Granger is persuaded to take an internship with the illustrious Avenger. When she walks in on Iron Man and Loki engaged in a bit of an afternoon delight, she has two choices: flee back to her boring office or stay and join in the affair of a lifetime.

From the Desk of Ms Granger Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Tony Stark/Hermione Granger Word Count: 2,236 Summary:  After realizing that it's been a while since their last rendezvous, Hermione pens a rather naughty letter to her two lovers requesting that they meet up as soon as possible.

Crossover One-Shots

A Die Hard Christmas Debate Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,580 Summary:  During their winter honeymoon to the Orkney Islands, Loki and Hermione get into a festive little debate.

A Snowy Escape Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,375 Summary:  Hermione and Loki enjoy a snowy escape from the chaos of their lives.

Begging to Be Bound Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 558 Summary:  Once wasn't enough for Hermione when it came to being bound by the lustful Loki.

Cupcake Calling Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 945 Summary:  While visiting Midgard for his special cupcake treat, Loki nearly gets more than he bargained for leaving him wanting more.

Home Alone Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Harry Potter Word Count: 2,058 Summary:  Harry and Loki grow a little closer as they bond over a classic holiday movie.

Lonely No More Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 2,099 Summary:  Nerves are normal for a first date. Especially, if that first date happens to be with someone unexpected.

Mistletoe Mischief Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 2,288 Summary:  In which Pansy and Loki find themselves trapped in the middle of a snowstorm by a mischievous mistletoe.

Nothing Less Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Regulus Black Word Count: 3,000 Summary:  Death was something of an unknown to him, so when Regulus died, he didn't quite know what to expect. With the death of his lover, Loki knew he would do anything in his power to resurrect him on Asgard.

Potion Problems Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 1,669 Summary:  Pansy's final Potions project of the year takes an explosive turn, sending her someplace wholly unexpected for the start of her summer.

Snakes I Adore Rated: Mature Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 2,172 Summary:  Reminiscing about how much she adores her lovers, Hermione enjoys a quiet moment while Pansy and Loki remain sleeping.

Solace in You Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Harry Potter Word Count: 1,219 Summary:  Both Loki and Harry seek solace in the forest. Alone. But what happens when they are no longer alone?

Subtext Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 683 Summary:  Pansy confronts Loki with a rather intriguing question.

The Door in the Dungeon Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Gen Word Count: 1,681 Summary:  There's a door in the Zabini dungeons that has always tempted Blaise. What magic is hidden beyond its ornate surface?

The First and Last Time Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 874 Summary:  Hermione reflects on the first and last time that she saw Loki.

Three’s a Splash Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Natasha Romanov/Hermione Granger Word Count: 4,952 Summary:  Imprisoned in a tropical paradise, Hermione and Natasha decide to take advantage of their luxurious pool. After a bit of convincing, Loki joins his lovers. As it turns out a two person raft is not meant for three, forcing them to embrace the situation. In the end, none of them seem to mind.

‘tis the season Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 1,258 Summary:  When Pansy stumbles into Loki at the Christmas market, they find more than they expected.

Unexpected Lovers Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Thor/Hermione Granger Word Count: 1,876 Summary:  While on a mission, Loki, Thor, and Hermione get caught in a snowstorm. Huddling for warmth in an alleyway takes an interesting turn when Loki suggest Thor warm up his witch in a much quicker way.

Welcome to Jotunheim Rated: Explicit Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson Word Count: 1,768 Summary:  A magical mishap lands Hermione and Pansy right in the middle of Jotunheim. Who better to keep them warm than Loki?

What’s in a name? Rated: Teen & Up Pairing: Loki/Hermione Granger Word Count: 763 Summary:  When your cat has the same name as your boyfriend, you learn new ways of pushing all the right buttons.

Most of these stories can also be found on FFN.

[deadcactuswalking]

PROMISE ME NO PROMISES -- THE TOP 10 WORST HIT SONGS OF 2017

Let’s just get on with it. I’ll be less intricate and eloquent here – I’m just going to rip and tear into all these songs. Hello and welcome to...

THE TOP TEN WORST HIT SONGS OF 2017

I would give you dishonourable mentions but I feel there isn’t much here that is truly terrible enough to be noted other than the songs on the list so let’s just get straight into it!

#10

Have you ever hurt so much, physically or emotionally, that the only thing you can do is yell and yell, like a primal release of your...

PAIN!

#10 – Imagine Dragons – “Believer”

There are many, many elements in this song that mesh together like an insipid soup of gouged eyeballs, but on their own are more like slightly expired cheese strings – just that right balance of annoying, gross and still kind of okay, so much that you just don’t notice it if you don’t pay much attention. Let me tell you how about every single one of them:

1) What on earth is that percussion? This was supposed to be powerful but just sounds like the drummer fell asleep on his drum kit, with the bassist swirling his head around when needs be so he can hit the right drums.

2) The buzzing synth that is ever so subtle but ever so murderously annoying.

3) Dan Reynolds’ vocal inflections and singing – we’ll talk about those later.

4) The backing vocals sounding like wolves howling so weakly you’d think they’re in...

PAIN!

5) That.

6) The fact that Dan makes a weak attempt at rapping.

7) The lyrics making next to no sense and having next to no structure.

8) The whole point of the grating-as-all-hell chorus being so it can have that pause and dramatic drop for a movie trailer.

9) The fact that it’s still insanely catchy despite all these flaws.

10) And finally, the collision of all these intestine-munching parasites in the stomach-curling hell of a final chorus, with even more of those shrill additional vocals from the rest of the fantasy dragons that sound like a choir straight out of Robot Hell.

God, and this is only #10.

#9

This will be unpopular. Very unpopular.

#9 – SZA – “Love Galore” featuring Travis Scott

Let’s talk about how much of an autotuned non-prescience Travis Scott is. He sounds like he’s been drowned out entirely by his own waves of sing-rapping. Not to say SZA’s inflections and melody aren’t any more annoying. The “love” melody is, I swear, one of the worst melodies I’ve heard all year. SZA has a faux-Jamaican accent thing going on, which wouldn’t be bad if it weren’t so obnoxious. Those effects piled onto her vocals aren’t doing her any favours, either. The worst part of this song is not Travis and it’s not SZA. It’s the production. The minimalistic, boring production in the intro leads to a bass-boosted apple-picking session where the apples are filled with helium, the tree is shaking and I have a knife to my throat. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere. I would put this in a tied entry higher on the list but I can’t deny the harmony later into the song and Travis’ adlibs are always a treat, honestly. Ya! I don’t know why, but I love them. You could say I low-oh-low-ah-oh-love them. I’m sorry, everyone who like this – and I know, there’s a lot of them – but I’m not a fan.

#8

[chuckling and snickering]

#8 – Drake – “Fake Love”

[bursts out laughing] This song is probably too hilarious to hate, but it’s so pathetic that I just had to put it on here. If you like subtly autotuned wailing leaping out of Drake’s confused, blurred mess of a vocal performance, over steel pans and trap percussion, you’re in luck.

Whole time, they wanna take my place / Whole time, they wanna take my place

That falsetto sounds like a whimpering child whose sandcastle just got stomped on. It’s somehow both cute and ear-shredding.

I’ve been down so long

You were never down; in fact, we’re damn near sick of you, Drake. You don’t sound like you were on any type of downer when you recorded this though.  The sheer emotion in his vocals is clear, but they’re not very good at all. They just aren’t, and I can’t listen to this song without clocking a smile. When I’m sad, I put this song on. It’s that depressingly hilarious.

Fake people showing fake love to me / Straight up to my face

The lyrics to this are blunt but fragile, and are actually a beautiful set of lyrics that really capture Drake’s anger – are people showing him fake love? Probably not, but he’s so paranoid that they are. It’s a great set of lyrics, but Drake’s delivery is equivalent to a parrot who just got dumped and is feeling human emotions like grief, denial and sadness for the first time in its life. This could have easily been the same spot on my best list, so much that I had to go to random.org to decide if this should go on the best or worst list because this is simultaneously terrible and terrific. That Scary Hours EP is pretty cool though, you should check that out... or if you want a laugh, just open up Spotify and listen to “Fake Love”. Better luck next year, better luck next year, ‘cause I’m excited to start giving Drake love next year.

#7

I put two Maroon 5 songs on my best list. I suppose this is my punishment.

#7 – Maroon 5 – “Don’t Wanna Know” featuring Kendrick Lamar

Everyone’s already talked about this song, so I’m not going to beat a dead horse. I’m going to beat a pissy, mind-numbingly repetitive, vocally ear-splitting, blandly tropical, trend-hopping, Kendrick-wasting, badly-tasting, copy-and-pasting, dung-pile of a horse. Oh, wait, I kind of already did that just now. I’ll just leave with you with one of K-Dot’s most fitting lyrics – from this very song:

No more, please stop

#6

This isn’t a hit song; this is a godforsaken nursery rhyme.

#6 – blackbear – “do re mi” (remix) featuring Gucci Mane

The intro to this song is just a bunch of random noises. I’m not kidding, there’s a few synthesizer sounds, a pitched-up reverb-affected sample of blackbear singing the hook, blackbear’s very own ad-libs, some of which are pitched-down, and Gucci Mane yelling “Gucc’!” at the top of his lungs, which I’m surprised isn’t a meme. You know what else is meme-worthy? This dude’s falsetto.

Do re mi, fa, so f**king done with you

And this hook, these lyrics and that melody. Am I the only one who thinks it would somehow be more obnoxious and cringe-worthy if he said “freaking done with you” instead? No?

I think this song is just purely bitter, but not in a way I can relate to, just dark chocolate without flavour or texture. Fittingly, the instrumentation and production is some of the blandest trap-R&B I’ve ever heard. blackbear sounds like a robot for most of the verse until he breaks out as nonsensical child turned angry R&B sing-rapper who broke up with a supposed floozy. Honestly, Gucci Mane’s verse is pretty good but it has hardly any relation to the rest of the song so it’s almost a certainty that I’ll enjoy it, because this song is garbage. How in the hell did this trash make the year-end? I hope blackbear has another hit because frankly, I quite enjoy some of his music, and I don’t want this to be his only hit. Gucci Mane is still awesome though.

#5

There are two songs on this list with a Beyoncé remix, both of which I have credited as the original instead because I don’t want her to be on the list twice when she’s easily the best part of both songs by a landslide. You know why this next one’s on the list, so let’s not waste our time.

#5 – J Balvin and Willy Williams – “Mi Gente”

To describe this song, I have to ask you two questions, the first one being: Have you ever heard a goat or sheep blaring in a farm or zoo? This is what that screeching ear-piercing sample makes you think of – a herd of goats all angry, hungry and confused – which is taken from a song that samples that very sound as well, from another song. The second question is: have you ever heard a reggaeton song? Of course, you have, you’ve heard “Despacito”, haven’t you? Imagine them mixed together, but no, not mixed in a sleekly-designed modern building, collided in a messy derelict ramshackle of an apartment with sweat dripping down every single piece of dirty laundry, in which the sweat is coming from the rats inside the walls instead of the ghastly insane elderly woman who lives there with her ten cats, who is so moist and dry in old age she has lost the ability to sweat, cry or her favourite thing to do, spit on people. Hence, she’s criminally depressed and so am I after listening to this song, as it is so unbearable to the point where I’m flabbergasted at how this became a top 10 hit. Next!

#4

Wait a second... I don’t even know what “mi gente” means. Oh, it means “my people”? Talking about a group of people, here’s our first, last and only tie on the list, and it’s a doozy.

#4 – Yo Gotti  - “Rake it Up” featuring Nicki Minaj / Lil Uzi Vert - “XO Tour Llif3”

These are completely different songs, but they both represent the oversaturation of trap in their sleep-inducing beats, stupid, scatterbrain lyrics that show off every single rap cliché possible (I’ll go into detail some other time in a bonus list after this one) and a whole dose of bad vocal performances, most notably Lil Uzi Vert’s autotuned whining in “XO Tour Llif3”. At least they’re the only God-awful trap songs to be hits this year.

#4 – Kodak Black – “Tunnel Vision”

Oh, yeah, the song about racial profiling that also includes a lyric about or at least implying a reference to your rape charges... I think I know why they want you locked up, mate. While you’re there, we should also give you some basic English education, because anyone who thinks “iggin’” is a perfectly usable word, and that “winning”, “listen” and “iggin’” rhyme with “penitentiary” should probably start re-thinking if the school they went to did the best job they could. Well, at least Rae Sremmurd didn’t have a hit this year.

#4 – Ayo & Teo – “Rolex” / Rae Sremmurd – “Swang”

Two—two of them? We have two of them now?!

Hop out, drop-top, f **k y’all talkin’, I need it right now, right now

What’s with the falsettos this year? Did everyone forget how to sing in a higher pitch properly?

#4 – ZAYN and Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Forever)”

Oh, so, that’s a yes, then? How about we just give hits to people who can’t sing at all?

#4 – Julia Michaels – “Issues”

I have issues with this song, but again, it’d be beating a dead horse with a sack of coal. At least it’s a woman who can’t sing this time... Girl power, I guess?

#4 – Halsey – “Now or Never”

Well, at least she can sing, I suppose. It’s just that this song is all over the place, like a bed that’s way too...

#4 – Migos – “Slippery” featuring Gucci Mane

Sorry, Gucc’. I love you, man, I really do, but you associate yourself with some of the worst singers, some of the least interesting rappers, and sometimes...

Two b****es so fine that I masturbated

...some of the worst yet still very interesting lyrics.

Yes, those are all my picks for #4. They are all as equally lazy and incompetent as each other.

#3

Now let’s move onto one song that is somehow worse than every single song in the last spot combined, mostly due to the annoyance of every single possible sound effect the producers crammed into it.

#3 – Hailee Steinfeld and Grey – “Starving” featuring Zedd

I didn’t know that I was starving ‘til I tasted you

Okay, a bit of a weird metaphor, but it adds some sensuality to it all so it gives the relationship some lip-biting romance, so that’s a decent line.

Don’t need no butterflies when you give me the whole damn zoo

Oh... never mind. Seriously, the concept of this line is okay on paper, but “the whole damn zoo” is so forced and downright nonsensical that it really takes me out of whatever sensuality, romance or even fun this line was supposed to be portraying. Butterflies aren’t even typically animals that are perceived as “zoo animals”; they’re found in zoos in those enclosures but that’s pretty much it. What were you going for here, five writers? Seriously, you had five writers, none of which are credited because of sampling or interpolation by the way, three of which being professional, two of which being Grey themselves, and none of those grown men and women could figure out any reason to why this line is incredibly corny, or have the gall to object it? Yes, most of this section has been about that lyric but what else is there to criticise other than that lyric and the drop, which is one of the weakest this year? I’ll pass.

#2

So what’s number #2? It can’t be as bad as that song.

#2 – Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”

...Then dishonourable mentions time it is!

Dishonourable Mentions

Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”

This is in order of the Year-End and not my opinion because I just want to not talk about “Thunder” as easily and as long as I can. If the most popular song of the year is this terrible, it should be a bad sign, but 2017 is great, so I suppose there are exceptions.

Sam Hunt – “Body like a Back Road”

I’ve made a rule to never put country songs on any lists because I have a negative bias towards them; just never enjoyed the genre that much. Sorry.

James Arthur – “Say You Won’t Let Go”

Boring.

Kygo and Selena Gomez – “It Ain’t Me”

This drop just completely ruins the song.

Logic – “1-800-273-8255” featuring Alessia Cara and Khalid

Khalid saves this.

Who can relate? (whoo!)

Taylor Swift – “Look What You Made Me Do”

This has a really good pre-chorus. That’s about all my positives.

Machine Gun Kelly – “Bad Things” featuring Camila Cabello

“Havana” must have been a fluke.

Ariana Grande – “Side to Side” featuring Nicki Minaj

Wrist icicle, ride d**k bicycle / Come true, yo, get you this type of blow / If you wanna Minaj, I got a tricycle

D**k bicycle... okay, Nicki.

Shawn Mendes – “Mercy”

I suppose this has enough of a rock edge for me to forgive.

Some random teenage nobodies – “that Vine dance song (why do these still exist)”

Dead horse.

Katy Perry – “Chained to the Rhythm”

Are we tone-deaf?

Are you talking to the people who bought your album?

Jon Bellion – “All Time Low”

Out of all of their discography, I can’t believe “Jon Bellion” is the song that got big. “Weightless” is so much better.

Sam Smith – “Too Good at Goodbyes”

This is so perfect that it sickens me.

P!nk – “What About Us”

This is so non-descript that it sickens me.

Cheat Codes – “No Promises” featuring Demi Lovato

Whoever the guy is needs to input the singing codes. It’s D, O, O, R, left.

Shawn Mendes – “Treat You Better”

Ew.

Rita Ora – “Anywhere”

Oh, how I wish you crossed over.

The Chainsmokers – “Closer” featuring Halsey / Future – “Mask Off” / DJ Khaled – “I’m the One” featuring Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne

I’ve yet to decide if these songs are heaven-sent or hells spawn.

Now, let’s talk about the demon that is “Thunder”.

Thunder, feel the thunder

There are so many things about this song that make me want to shrivel up in the corner and rot. First of all, there’s the way-too-bouncy trap production for an otherwise triumphant song; it shouldn’t be this joyful and plucky. Those finger-snaps are so blatantly fake, and that synth sounds like literal yawning edited to sound like a chirping tone that just scratches the surface of unbearable. Dan Reynolds in general is an absolute plonker throughout the verses, with the vocal inflections of a Pez dispenser who just, for no reason, slides off into a spiral of autotuned murmuring in the first verse.

Just a young gun, with a quick fuse / I was uptight, wanna let loose / I was dreaming of bigger things / And wanna leave my whole life behind

The lyrics, by the way, are literally saying “I was into this band before you were cool”, which makes the second verse even more aggravating, especially due to the pitch-shifted vocal that appears on every single one of his terrible vocal inflections.

Kids were laughing in my classes / While I was scheming for the masses

Now I’m smiling from the stage while / You were clapping in the nosebleeds

The verses are terrible, but it’s not the worst part of this song, and neither is the next thing I’m going to bring up, but this is awful too.

You know how Kanye West manipulated samples so they’d sound kind of like a chipmunk? Well, Imagine Dragons do the same, however here, instead of a low-key soul-influenced hip hop track, it’s supposed to be a triumphant synth-pop victory lap, so this repetitious pitch-shifted nonsense is unfitting, unnecessary and unbearable. What are they repeating, you ask? The word “thunder”, which Dan does in the chorus as well. Hence, the word “thunder” is used approximately 78 times, excluding when only one syllable of the word is said (that happens a lot too). This song is just barely over three minutes, and there’s not many instrumental parts, apart from a certain section we’ll get to later. “Thunder” doesn’t have as much of an impact when it’s said nearly 80 times in your relatively short song, that was made for pop radio so of course it’s going to be played frequently.

There’s also that guitar solo... that pathetic wimpy guitar solo. There’s such a leap in hatred and lack of quality and redeemable moments from #3 to #2... what was #1? “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran? Well, I hate that song, but technically, it doesn’t count because it didn’t make the Year-End... screw it.

#10 – Cheat Codes – “No Promises” featuring Demi Lovato

Which means...

#1 – Imagine Dragons – “Thunder”

You happy, Dan? I’m officially jealous of you, like you wanted me to be. I’m envious of your success despite several attempts to make the radio play garbage – and not even the good kind like recyclable garbage or guilty-pleasure garbage, just plain, unadulterated crap worthy of no more attention. Congratu-freaking-lations. I’ll see you for the next episode of Reviewing the Charts or the next review or whatever, I don’t care. Goodbye. Hopefully next year is the same quality or even better than this year. So far it doesn’t seem to be even close.

Thun-thun-thunder, thunder.

[fanofawesomethings]

The Rejected Pack

This was a commission piece for @bixbitesmeepmorps‘s OC Gems

If you want a commission of your very own, message me and I will tell you my prices.

His breaths were hastened by his need to escape his pursuers. The unfamiliar terrain threw everything in his path, determined it make the wolf’s escape harder. A sudden misstep, he slipped into a branch whose claw-like branches grabbed onto his charcoal black hide, ripping off clumps of hair and drawing blood. Injured and tired yet unfazed by everything thrown at him, the wolf darted left to right, up and around all obstacles of the forest while his pursuers, a squad of four ash gray wolves, were unyielding in their hunt.

           The pursuers and the pursued entered a clearing in the forest. Every tree and leaf was a new experience for all the wolves and their instincts took over to adapt. Massive logs were scattered in a disorganized heap in front of the black wolf; he pounced on one stacked on top of another. The pursuing wolves followed, shifting the balancing to one size and knocking the log off its motionless position. The black wolf jumped off as the log tipped to one size with the other wolves still on top. It only made their eyes thirstier.  

Desperation apparent in the black wolf’s pace, he threw himself through a prickly bush. Thorns sharp as knives buried into his flesh with ease. He let out whimpers of his agony. But he was seemingly free at last; the other wolves refused to injure themselves. They gave a howl before turning back. He waited for them to leave completely before moving.

The leaves on the bush were stained with the black wolf’s blood. The thorns that pierced his skin were broken off and left inside to cause him pain as he moved. Small whimpers out of impulse echoed through the forest trees. Lost, every twig and leaf seemed to bewilder the injured creature, leading him to further unknown, until suddenly a landmark caught its amber eyes. The tip of the mountain spotted the wolf and he instinctively limped towards it. His hearing seemed to have been damaged as it could hear the commotion that awaited him beyond the brush.

“Come on again!” Onyx shouted in a drill sergeant fashion.

            Bixbite panted against the tree she leaned on, her face dripping with she wasn’t always aware she had. She punched the bark and charged for her friend, arms out forward like a bull’s horns. Onyx braced to dodge; Bixbite fired two beams from her outstretched arms that blocked Onyx’s escape. Bixbite closed in; it looked to be a sure victory. But Onyx leapt into the air, flipped, and landed behind her attacker. Onyx kicked the back of her heel on Bixbite’s leg, tripping her.

           “Ow—whoo ow!” Bixbite whimpered.

           The expression of intimidation and steel solid on Onyx broke out of concern. “Bixbite, are you okay?! I—I didn’t mean to—not that hard—! I—I just wanted—” She scrambled, nearly crying.

           The magenta Gem pushed against the ground to stand upright. “I’m—fine—come—on.”

           “No, that’s enough for today.”

           “What? No, please, Onyx I want to get better with my powers!” Bixbite protested, acting like her normal, soft-spirited self, which Onyx was glad to see again.

           Earlier that morning Bixbite suddenly asked Onyx to help her train. It took some prodding but Onyx finally agreed to train her Bixbite in the harshest way possible. By midday they began actually training—the rest of the time was spent with Onyx unable to treat Bixbite with anything less than unyielding love and affection.

           “No,” repeated Onyx, firm. “Training also means when to start and when to stop. If you exhaust your body you might poof yourself and you’ll end up losing all your progress. It…happened to me once so I learned the hard way.”

           Bixbite dropped on the ground, pouting like a cranky child.

           “Come on, don’t be like that, Bix. We’ll get more training first thing tomorrow morning.”

           She fell backwards to the ground, her hair acting as a bed under her. The grass could not reach Bixbite’s head, so hardly felt the solid ground, and as she rolled on her side to face away from Onyx her hair was free of any loose blades of grass, remaining flawless—as Onyx would describe it.

           “Why did you want to start training anyway, Bix?” Onyx asked, sitting down next to her.

           “I want to be strong like you, Onyx. Now that I have my powers I bet I could be just as tough as you are,” said Bixbite. She crumbled into a magenta ball. “I wanted to train a few days ago but I got lazy because Jason had that cake he gave us. And then Steven came for a visit and I got tired the next day—so I wanted to start now.”

           “But you are strong, Bix. You blasted Alabaster and Pearl that time we fought them.”

           Bixbite’s small smile didn’t last for very long. “But that was luck. I wanna be able to get total control of my powers. That way I can protect you too.”

           Onyx blushed. It seemed like Bixbite gave Onyx more and more compliments each day since they kissed. The most was probably thirty compliments in a single day, and truthfully Onyx never tired of hearing them. Bixbite felt a warm chill run up her spine; Onyx petted her head, the silk-like magenta strands brushing against her hand. The sensation was so pleasant, Bixbite briefly let out her own version of a cat’s purr, smiling with bliss. Onyx noticed it quickly; she dug her fingers into her hair, tapping the back of Bixbite’s neck with the ends of her fingers. Bixbite jumped with a yelp.

           “Oh, so a Bixbite’s weakness is her neck?” Onyx grinned wide with devilish intent.

           “N-No!” Bixbite rolled away, putting her arms up defensively. “You better not, Onyx.”

           Onyx cracked her fingers and neck. All sorts of torture were written all over her face and none were the least bit waiting for Bixbite to give consent to them. Bixbite gulped. Onyx pounced; Bixbite fought back like a cat trying to escape a cage, but her small frame wasn’t couldn’t break free of Onyx’s larger, muscled body, whose arm alone was enough to trap her. Her body shut down when Bixbite felt a gentle breath on her neck. She whimpered from the overpowering sensation.

             “C-Come o-on—O-nyx—kn-ock i-it off,” pleaded Bixbite.

           The black Gem had no intention at all to stop. Instead, Onyx hoisted Bixbite off the ground in her arms. She didn’t say what was going to happen, but the lustful and mischievous expression her face said it for her. Bixbite feared for her safety.

           Onyx stayed silent the entire walk back to the cave, which was her way of torturing Bixbite by keeping her in perpetual suspense. Bixbite was paralyzed the entire time like a capture animal, only dreading what her captor had in mind. When she saw the limestone mountain and their cave, Bixbite shivered. But Onyx stopped suddenly. She set Bixbite down and pinned herself against the wall and motioning to Bixbite to do the same.

           “What’s wrong?” Bixbite asked.

           “I sense someone inside the cave,” whispered Onyx.

Bixbite lowered her voice. “Do you think its Green Pearl or the Peridots?”

           Onyx pressed her ear to the limestone wall. She heard the faintest rumble echoing from the cave through the walls. The distance between Onyx and the cave made it difficult to hear completely, but Onyx could faintly make out two pairs of feet walking inside. She showed Bixbite two fingers, which Bixbite understood but not the signal—a clench fist—to move. She followed Onyx as she moved. The two rushed into the cave.

           To their surprise the two pairs of feet Onyx heard belonged to the one black wolf. His snout was digging into the rocks and he heard the two of them spring out from hiding and block the entrance. It froze.

           “What is that?” Onyx sighed, lowering her shoulders when there wasn’t an enemy to fight.

           “I…don’t…know,” stuttered Bixbite. She was stricken, enamored by the animal she’d never seen before. “Golly.”

Its bushy tail, sharp ears, long snout, and fluffy cheeks were everything Bixbite adored in her animals. Her cheeks were puffed with expanding joy because never before had she seen all those traits combined into one animal. An overpowering urge to hold the animal in her arms control Bixbite to hold her arms out. With a drooling expression on her face she began to close in on him, but Onyx quickly grabbed her collar to keep her in place.  

When the two blocking the entrance showed no signs of being a threat, the wolf went back to digging around. Already Onyx was annoyed she was ignored so easily. The animal dug around and threw objects over his head, all of which belonged to Onyx. He threw a small mirror Bixbite gave Onyx on their second visit to Wheat Town, a half-empty lipstick container Bixbite gave her on one visit to Jason’s house, but nothing alarmed Onyx more than seeing the wolf hold the bubble Plum in its jaws, only to toss her over its shoulder like the rest. Onyx recoiled as the bubble bounced against the ground on its landing. Her extended fingers—to grab the bubble—balled into fists.

“Hey—thing, get out!” Onyx ordered, stumped on what to call it for a moment.

“But…it’s so…fluff,” stuttered Bixbite in a daze.

The wolf bore its fangs, showing Bixbite a rougher side she wasn’t expecting. He snarled at them with a fire erupting in its amber eyes, and Onyx responded with a crack of her fingers and making her muscles engorge, showing him her snarling rage. Suddenly the two were locked a stand off. Despite the wolf’s smaller size he would not yield to the black Gem, and Onyx was cautious seeing its resilience.

“S-Stop it, you two, don’t fight!” Bixbite wailed.

Neither of them heard Bixbite. They wouldn’t listen if they did. The wolf made the first move, charging while its jaws opened to bite because it did not have the energy to pounce. Onyx saw it going for her legs; she slammed her hand on the back of hid neck and pinned it to the floor. He thrashed around, snarling and snapping his fangs, fruitlessly. Onyx tightened her grip and the animal let out a small whimper out of pain; Bixbite recoiled out of pity. Onyx raised the wolf up to her eye-level, holding it with a firm grip as he continued to wriggle free.

“This thing,” Onyx started, squinting her eyes to see every little detail on his face, “is strange.”

“But it’s so…fluff,” said Bixbite reaching out to touch him, but retracted when he snapped at her.

“It’s got an attitude, I don’t like it. I’ll get rid of it.” Onyx carried it outside. Bixbite worried for its safety.

Onyx pulled the wolf behind her as she took a stance like she was about to throw a javelin. The afternoon sunlight revealed the wolf’s injuries that were hidden inside the cave. Bixbite saw the bruises and the scratches and immediately rushed to Onyx.

“No, you can’t throw it!” Bixbite ordered.

“Why not?” She inquired maintaining the throwing stance.

“Animals don’t like it when you throw them!” Bixbite spoke from experience. Onyx stayed her hand for another moment. “Besides its hurt.”

“Hurt?”

Onyx took a closer look and saw the mark beneath its fur and the many, many thorns sticking to his fur. In spite of all its injuries, and shortness of breath which made him pause in between snarls to catch his breath, the wolf fought to get free. In that moment, for a brief second, Onyx felt something a new empathy for it. That empathy loosened her grip and when her guard was down, the wolf at last broke free and escaped into the forest.

“Hey—”

“Wait!” Onyx called out before Bixbite could, surprising her.

The wolf limped as fast as it could into the brush. He kept himself low to the ground and hid amongst the bigger bushes, though Onyx and Bixbite could still see him shifting through them.

Bixbite started after it, but Onyx pulled her back. “Wait, we should follow it.”

“But why? We need to help it right away!”

“No. It’s a warrior, and a warrior won’t stop until it’s finished its mission. Wherever it’s going that’s its mission. I want to see.”

Bixbite gave a pause. A fire she did not recognize was burning in Onyx’s eyes while the rest of her body shivered in anticipation. She jumped into the forest floor and followed the rustling bushes with eagerness. Bixbite was too surprised for words; she followed behind.

The wolf wasn’t an oblivious, as Onyx predicted. His ears perked hearing Onyx and Bixbite who walked with a snail’s pace to ensure they didn’t make any noise, but the wolf heard them just as soon as they left the cave. Far ahead, when the movement ceased, Onyx stopped herself and Bixbite from taking another step. He didn’t look behind, otherwise the wolf would have seen them standing like statues. The wolf continued. They waited for him to gain more distance before continuing their one-step-at-a-time motion.

Once a great enough distance between themselves and the wolf was reached, the wolf rose from the brush and limped at a faster pace. His breathing was loud and deep, exhaling the fatigue that weighed him down. Soon the wolf could only hear his own breathing and not the two following him. A hairline on its right hind leg opened with his active movement; he left a trail of crimson droplets behind him. Even when he was out of sight, Onyx and Bixbite followed his trail.

“This thing must’ve been in a big fight to get injuries like that,” said Onyx.

“I’ve never seen an animal like that around here. Do you think there are others like it?” Bixbite asked, hoping she was right.

“All the animals around the mountain live in squads. Like Gems. It might be a possibility.”

Bixbite squealed, unable to contain herself, but her joy went unnoticed. Onyx watched the floor with solemn precision, blind to the rest of the forest, including her friend. Bixbite became a little more than a gust of wind, a whisper brushing by Onyx’s ear only heard rarely.

“Do you really like the animal too, Onyx?” Bixbite asked. Onyx murmured a response and suddenly Bixbite was sure that she was.

The real reason went unnoticed by both Bixbite and Onyx. She felt a calling to the wolf, an urge driving her legs to follow the blood-soaked trail and ignore her precious friend as though she were a twig on the ground. Onyx didn’t know the answer herself. The curiosity to find out pushed her.

  On the other side of the brush, the charcoal wolf couldn’t walk another inch and stopped to catch his breath. His pursuers were all but gone and so he let himself rest. The bleeding had not ceased and in fact got worse the more he walked; dirt and leaves from the forest floor sting the wounds as they stuck to him. But the forest began to change into something he recognized. A slumped boulder covered in moss and tangling vines, the size of two men, was in the distance. The wolf knew he was only a few steps from where he needed to be.

Bixbite and Onyx poked their heads out of the brush to see the wolf pause in his tracks. He pushed against the ground to raise his head. His back was straight, his chest puffed with the air he sucked in all at once. For the first time, Onyx and Bixbite heard the wolf howl into the sky. Its high call echoed in their minds and down their spines with a tickling sensation. The call lasted for a few seconds and it only took a brief moment of silence for another call to strike the two Gems. But the second howl was smaller.

Curiosity in the two Gems was peaked to greater heights. They had to see what was at the end of their stake-out; they needed to see what the wolf was leading them to. Bixbite could hardly contain herself as the wolf submerged into a slope. They rushed as quietly yet as fast as they could. Onyx and Bixbite climbed the giant boulder and loomed over the edge.

           Like a couple of gargoyles on the sky, they watched the wolf finally collapse in front of the boulder’s shadow. Four little puffs of dark gray fur waggled out of the shadows with stumpy paws. They circled around the black wolf and nipped at his fur, and though Bixbite and Onyx were about to spring into action thinking he was being attacked, the wolf did not react to the little ones. Bixbite was stunned when she realized the little puffs of gray fur were miniature versions of the wolf—pups.

           “I know what those are. Jason called them…um…uh…Beboos,” whispered Bixbite. “The things on Earth make smaller version of themselves that I think are new things?”

           “Beboos? Like when Gems make other Gems?” Onyx inquired, easily oblivious.

           They shut themselves when they saw another figure leaving the cover. It was another wolf, one of a much brighter coat of fur. Its entire body was covered in a hide of white like untouched snow, with a streak of gold wrapped around its neck. At the sight of the second wolf, the black wolf limped closer to her which triggered the white wolf to hurry to his side. She buried her face in his fur, seemingly setting him at ease. They rubbed their necks together while the little pups danced around their feet. When the attention of the bigger wolves was off them; two of the pups wrestled with each other while the other two chased each other in circles. Neither Bixbite nor Onyx could take their eyes off them as though they were trapped by the scene.

           “I think Jason called that a family,” said Bixbite.

           “A…family? Like…a squad. It has a squad,” Onyx mumbled. The answer for her curiosity came to her then.

           Suddenly the treetops shook violently. The four gray wolves that chased the black one earlier dropped down in front of them, their fangs entered before the rest of them. The black wolf took a fierce stance, snarling, but he couldn’t hold it for much longer than a second; he collapsed to one side.

           “What’s happening?” Bixbite gasped.

           Onyx observed the black wolf’s fighting stance. “They’re enemies!”

           “Oh no! But it can’t fight! What’s gonna happen?”

           The black wolf threw a barrage of snapping barks as a show of intimidation. Undeterred, the gray wolves advanced slowly. The white wolf pushed the pups under the cover and one of the four broke from the pack to run towards her. The black wolf threw himself like a rock, slamming his side into the gray wolf’s stomach and knocking him down. The rest pounced immediately onto the black wolf; even the one he knocked down recovered on jumped on.

A horrific scene unfolded that Bixbite couldn’t bear to look. The pack crunched on every part of the black wolf they could bite, tearing his flesh easily like paper. He squealed in agony, fighting as much as he could but doing nothing to push away his attackers. The white wolf jumped in, biting down hard on one of them and throwing it off the black wolf with a lunge. The others charged at her, but the black wolf suddenly blocked their path. He slammed his head into one’s head, but the attack left him open for the others to tackle him. They went back to biting the black wolf.

It was more than Bixbite could take. In a rush of adrenaline she aimed her hand over the edge, but before firing her beam, Onyx leaped in the middle of the fight. She grabbed two of the four and threw them against the same tree trunk; the impact dropped them to the ground paralyzed. The other two released the black wolf and steered their rage at Onyx. They latched their fangs onto her arms and though the pain stung her Onyx grit her teeth and held her ground. One wolf released its bite and circled around her. Onyx swung her foot behind her and kicked the enemy wolf in the teeth. The last wolf finally saw what the others didn’t: defeat. It released Onyx and ran into the brush. The other wolves slowly got back up and followed its example.

“Onyx!” Bixbite climbed down the boulder, reaching for the ground with an extended foot, worried of falling. She ran to Onyx and inspected the bite marks on her arms with tears flooding her eyes. “Are you okay? You got hurt again!”

“I’m fine, Bix. Sorry for making you cry again,” said Onyx, wiping a tear off her cheek. “But I couldn’t let them win an unfair match.”

A growl from behind startled them. The black wolf stood in front of the white one, doing his best to stand upright with only his front legs working.

Onyx motioned for Bixbite to move back. She knelt down to her knees and bowed her head in front of the wolf. He stopped growling then. A moment of silence between the two. The scene was the same as when the two met but the air wasn’t as tense as that time. Onyx put herself in a submissive state as a means to show she wasn’t there to pick a fight, as surprising as that fact was to Bixbite.

The wolf slowly approached her, one paw at a time. Onyx was an arm’s length away from touching the animal; she slowly raised her hand out in front of it. Closer the wolf crept, flinching backwards a bit with uncertainty. Its instincts advised it of danger even when it none was there. Finally Onyx could feel the heat off its snout hitting the palm of her hand. She held her breath. The wolf tapped its wet nose on her hand before sliding his fur against her touch. He submitted to her.

Onyx held Bixbite’s hand and guided it to at last pet the wolf’s fur. The softness of its fur elated Bixbite and despite her booming excitement the wolf wasn’t alarmed by her either. At the sign of no danger, the pups left their mother’s side and swarmed Bixbite. She was overjoyed. They brushed their puffy bodies against her legs, biting her with their tiny teeth which tickled more than it hurt. Bixbite picked one of the pups up which barked at her, tough. She cradled it in her arms with a bright smile across her face. Onyx guided the black wolf to her side and let him rest his head on her thighs.

“I’m…so…happy,” Bixbite wept.

One of the pups went to Onyx’s feet and gnawed at her toes. She picked it up and petted the top of its head.

“These Beboos are kinda cute, huh,” said Onyx.

“They are so adorable!” She cried. If Bixbite could she’d spend the entire day saying how much she loved the pups, but another mattered suddenly dawned on her. “Wait, Onyx, why did you want to follow it in the first place anyway? Usually you don’t like any of my animals.”

The black wolf snuggled against her leg. Onyx ran her fingers between his burly hide, careful of the scratches around his neck. His breathing slowed down to a relaxed pace that he hadn’t had since coming to the unfamiliar forest. Onyx felt the wolf relax. Her smile was the warmest Bixbite had ever seen when it came to Onyx and an animal.

“This animal doesn’t like the others of its kind. It’s an Off Color, just like me. It’s tough and it’s got a big attitude for something its size…just like me,” said Onyx, earnestly. “I can’t explain it, but when I saw it fighting even though it was injured and alone…I saw myself.”

Bixbite was moved by her words. She sat down next to her and held her hand.

“I had Plume to help me when I was alone. And then, I had you. But when I saw it was alone, fighting off the others to protect its squad, I couldn’t help but protect it. Do you know what I mean?”

Bixbite leaned against Onyx’s arm. She understood full well what Onyx meant and it made feel sure of one thing: she never wanted to leave Onyx’s side.

They sat with the wolves until the light faded in the forest. As the moon arouse to the sky that night the Gems were given a second symphony. The two adult wolves and the small pups howled into the stars, and at up close they enjoyed the full strength of the animals’ voices. Onyx and Bixbite raised their heads directly up and imitated the sound. Their calls echoed.  

[wellmeaningshutin]

Short Story #38: Stories.

Written: 2/5/2017

Shifting nervously in his chair, he looked down at the expectant child (who he believed to not resemble him) in their bed, confused about their question towards him. “You want a what?”

“A bed time story.” The kid responded. Mechanically, the father picked up a children’s book that was lying on the floor, opened it to the first page, but the child smacked it with its grubby little hand. “No!” It screamed, and started jerking, spasmodically, in its bed. “You have to make it uuuuup! Like in the movies!”

The father put his face into his hands, mumbling “Do I have to?”

“YES!” The child began to chant this, jumping around in their bed, refusing to go to sleep and give their father some peace.

The father sighed, checked his watch-a quick story couldn’t hurt-and gave in to the request.

Once upon a time there was a bold prince, who was smart and handsome but had been trapped in a castle by an evil ogre who constantly demanded him to tell stories. At first the prince was unwilling, so the ogre left the castle and destroyed a village, threatening more destruction unless the prince gave him more stories. This was an easy task, at first, but as time went on it became harder and harder for the prince to tell any stories, his imagination was only limited, and the ogre would punish him every time he told a story that sounded the same. If the prince couldn’t come up with a story for the night, the ogre would destroy another village, leading half of the countryside to be destroyed, in flames, and farmers and villagers wandered around, homeless, searching for food, shelter, or safety.

Because of this ogre’s selfish and mindless destruction, these refugees were quickly taken advantage of by bandits, marauders, ne’er-do-wells. These bad men would promise the refuges what they needed, but it all came with a terrible price. One farmer needed food to feed his family, he had twenty children to feed and his crops had all been trampled, so the bandit king

“What did he look like?”

Uhh, he was ten feet tall, had a big beard that was filled with feathers, knives, bones. His teeth were sharp and yellow, he wore a crown made out of the rubble from destroyed houses, and his nose was broken and always running with blood.

“What was his name?”

Um, King Killbeard

“Thats a dumb name.”

Are you going to let me tell the story or what? Anyways, Killbeard is dealing with this farmer, the guy just wants to feed his family-ya know? And Killbeard tells him ‘Aye, I’ll keep your kids nice and fed, but you gotta either pay me with a hundred coins of silver, or give them over to me as workers.’ The farmer didn’t have any money to give, and had no way of giving it, but if he refused the offer he knew for sure that his children would either starve or be eaten by wolves, so he had to give them as workers and they had to serve him by cleaning out his beard, chewing his food, picking up all of the bandits poop, putting apples on their heads so the bandits could shoot arrows at them, but eventually, they had to work in the mines.

“What does any of this have to do with the prince?”

The father had to ponder this for a second, he was getting a little off topic.

Okay, so like the prince is the one in charge of the kingdom right? Nobody can give any orders without him there, the armies are waiting back at his castle, and all the while the ogre is tearing up the kingdom, Killbeard is taking over the destroyed land, his troops gaining larger, wealthier, and better equipped every day, with nobody to stop him. At one point the ogre tells the prince about the bandits, using it as a further threat, maybe an incentive, to get the guy to tell him more stories. The prince gets on his knees, starts crying and stuff, snot running down his nose in huge bubbles, and begs the ogre to stop the bandits so that the kingdom wont fall to evil. The ogre ponders this, and then tells the prince that if he can tell two stories a day, for a fortnight, then the ogre will take care of the bandits. However, the prince has trouble coming up with even one story a day, so the bandits continue to get out of hand.

Years go by and the prince is now an old man, all frail with a long white beard, and the kingdom is almost completely destroyed, and Killbeard has begun to plan to take over the royal castle, which is the last structure that the ogre has not destroyed. The royal troops could easily take down the bandit army, but they have nobody to give the order, so they just wait inside of the castle. At this point, most of the refuges have either had to become bandits themselves, or slaves, and hope has completely been wiped out from the kingdom, all due to the ogres greed, the en-

“No! That can’t be the end, it has to be happy!”

The father was pretty annoyed by this request, but mostly at himself since the moral in the story went right over his kid’s (well, if the child was actually his, and not the bastard offspring of his wife and his best friend) head. It was time to take another route, and maybe the kid would stop asking after tonight, so what could be the harm.

Okay. Okay. So, every things all bad right? Well, uh, remember those kids that were sold to Killbeard? One of them, lets call him Grimble, had escaped from the bandit king at an early age and had runaway to live in the mountains. Now, on his own the kid was scared, vulnerable, and lost, but more importantly he was starving. There was no time for him to eat, or even rest, because some of Killbeard’s troops were right behind him, hunting him down, and he had to keep moving.

Now, when he grew to tired, climbing up Mt. Wonder, he had to rest on a ledge and could see the bandits below. At first they hurled insults at him, like “booger face” or “butt nose”, but these weren’t very effective since the child was too tired to hear. Then they decided to hurl stones at the kid, and these proved to be more effective. Eventually this got boring for them, and they decided, when the kid had fallen asleep, to climb up there and get him, so they could eat him or whatever they did. You know, bad guy stuff. So they’re climbing up, and the kids sleeping, and all the sudden he wakes up and sees this bandit staring him right in the face, and goes to stab the kid with his dagger, which is also his hand, but then there is a bright light that hits the bandits and evaporates all of them. The kid looks up to see what saved him, and not to far above him, on another ledge, there is a wise old wizard looking down at him.

The wizard lowers a rope down to the kid, and lets him into the cave, that is also his home, on the side of the mountain.

“What’s the wizard like?”

Well, the wizard is a.. Uh… She’s an old woman, like your grandmother, but her hair is made out of light and long and wild, it covers most of her. She wore bright yellow and brown robes, and didn’t have any eyes. Her name was… Magiciferous. Now, Magiciferous takes the kid on as her apprentice, but it doesn’t take long for her to realize that the kid is just unable to learn any magic, he wasn’t born with the magic gene, but one day she takes him out to learn how to forage on the mountainside, and they stumble upon a kid (you know, the mountain goat baby), who is trapped on a high rock, with wolves below, waiting for the poor thing to slip, scratching at the rock, snarling and barking, snapping with their teeth. Seeing what the child will do, Magiciferous refuses to help the poor animal, so, not wasting any time, the child quickly leaps, lands on the rock, snatches up the kid in his arms, and hops back to the ledge with the wizard, bringing it to safety. After this task was done, the old wizard smiles.

The child asks, ‘Whats so funny?’

The wizard responds, ‘Nothings funny, you have passed my test!’ She waved her hands and the wolves disappeared.

‘So does that mean I can cast spells now?’

‘No no no, its impossible for you to harness the power of magic, but you have something better! The heart of a hero!’

So, in order to get teach the child how to become a hero, she starts training him night and day so that he became an expert at using a sword, even being able to cleave a boulder right in half, became super muscular, eventually being able to create tunnels in the mountain with his fists, and he became skillful with his heroic duties, like making his bed, doing the dishes, and eating his vegetables.

The father paused to try to get that to sink in, but the kid only looked impatient.

Whatever. Eventually, when he turned 18, the hero became old and strong enough to go on the quest to save the kingdom. The wizard had given him a map that would lead him to the magical sword that he would need to slay the ogre, and also he received a bag that was always full of jellybeans, so he would never go hungry, a ring that allowed him to see in the dark, so he would never be afraid, and a blanket that made any surface he slept on extremely comfortable. He also had his trusty companion by his side, who was the goat that he had saved earlier in the story, who was now as big as a horse and was ridden by the hero, but was also skilled enough to fight at his side.

The hero rode the goat to the bramble forests, where many of Killbeard’s men were located, but which also contained a ravine that had the magical sword at the bottom. When the hero and his companion traveled through, the had to go above and below the bandit’s camps, making sure to not be noticed when they would reach the ravine. However, although they reached their destination unnoticed, they were dismayed to find that the bandits had set up one of their child mines on top of it, and had a small army of men guarding it. Accidentally, the hero and his companion had stumbled out of the bushes and were in full view of the bandits, who sounded their alarms and rushed the hero, who dismounted his goat, pulled out his sword, and they had a great fight.

The hero and the goat were surrounded by bandits, fifty of them, who had formed a circle who surrounded the heroic pair, who were back to back. As the bandits closed in on them, the goat knocked them into the forest with its mighty horns, the hero cut down ten with one cleave of his sword, the goat bucked one bandit into the bandit’s clubhouse, which crumbled when it was struck, the hero punched the ground, causing it to shake, and the remaining bandits fell to the ground. There were only about four left who were still able to fight, and they were quickly willing to surrender. The hero instructed the goat to watch them, to make sure they wouldn’t escape, and then went into the mine. He stood at the entrance and called for all of the workers to come out, and was surprised to see his siblings, who were small, malnourished, and starving! The hero wanted to cry, because of what had happened to his family, but as a single tear trickled out he sucked it up, back into his eye, and decided to cry later. He had work to do now. So, to solve his immediate problem, he turned his back upside down and jellybeans poured out, and they kept coming until they formed a pile as large as the garden shed out back. The siblings crowded around it, eating quickly, and the hero rushed into the mine.

Too bad the miners were to busy eating to be able to warn the hero about the ghost.

So, the hero is wandering down into the mine, it should be dark enough to get him lost but with that magic ring of his he can see everything clearly and its easy to find his way down. While he’s traveling he looks at his magical map every now and then to make sure he’s going in the right direction, but when he gets to where the magical sword is supposed to be its nowhere to be found! The hero looks for quite some time, but cannot find it, and then the mine gets freezing cold, to the point where the hero can see his own breath, and he feels a presence in the mine with him. He turns around and sees a hooded knight, with only darkness for a face, wielding the magical sword. It goes to strike the hero, but he quickly jumps out of the way and unsheathes his sword. A second blow arrives, the hero blocks with his own sword, but then is dismayed when it is shattered! Afraid, not knowing how to deal with the ghost, the hero devises a quick plan and starts punching rapidly into the walls of the mine, tunneling quickly.

Now, as he tunnels the ghost knight is right on his heels, swinging wildly, trying to turn the hero into a ghost. However, the ghost isn’t paying attention to the direction of the tunnel, and the hero goes up into a loop and lands back into an earlier part of the tunnel, causing a steep drop. Knowing this ahead of time, the hero is able to tuck and roll out of the way and land safely, but the ghost knight is unaware and falls flat on his face, dropping his sword, which clatters away down the tunnel. Now, this was all a part of the hero’s plan, but there was one thing he didn’t account for, and that was that the sword had fallen further down the tunnel, and the ghost was now closer to it than the hero was!

The hero made a dash for it, tried to leap over the ghost, but the knight grabbed the hero by the ankle, tripping him, causing the hero to fall to the ground. The knight tries to climb over him, and they’re both tumbling around, trying to reach for the sword. The knight is on top of the hero, but the hero punches him right in the face, knocking his hood off, revealing that the ghost was all along-

He was actually exciting himself when he told this part of the story, but had to arrive at an abrupt stop when he noticed that the kid, who probably wasn’t his kid, was sound asleep. He wasn’t sure for how long this was happening, and even considered waking the kid up, but decided against it and slowly got out of his chair, tip-toed out of the room, and gently closed the door. The story could just be resumed the next day, since the hero still had to get the sword, slay the ogre, rescue the prince, fight Killbeard and hold the him off long enough for the goat to secretly take the prince back to the castle, so he could give the order and the army would come in and save the day.

Walking into the kitchen, the father quietly opened several cabinets until he found the one that had the whiskey, and took a couple swigs. It was always a challenge to find since he always found it in a different spot when he was drunk, and he wouldn’t always drink so much if he didn’t worry about the blood relation to the now sleeping kid. He started to think about all of the characters he could add in along the way, maybe the hero could form a group of knights on his path to save the prince? Or would it make more sense to have them form afterwards? What if there was a magical wizard who could turn into animals, maybe a sister of Magiciferous, who could pretend to be a rat in the prince’s cell and give him stories so he could hold the ogre at bay long enough to keep the castle intact. Wanting to write this all down, he looked for pens and paper, but had trouble finding any. While he looked he drunk, and the more he drank the more he forgot about his task at hand and decided to just go to bed.

Not bothering to turn on his bedroom light, he walked into the darkness of his room and fell face down onto his side of the bed. As he lied there with his face in his pillow, his hand reached over to feel his wife’s side, which, like always, was cold. He tried to hold back tears, but like every night this only made him focus on the issue, and he turned to a sobbing wreck. When the crying got out of control he buried his face further into the pillow, so as to not wake up the kid. Several pictures came into his head, like always: his wife cooking French toast in the morning, her in his arms when they danced at their wedding, her waving goodbye as she walked into the airport, the news reports that killed his happiness.