#(too bad she has a whiny bastard for a son and we have to put up with him being the main character)

[delphinecormierslexus]

Have y’all seen La Mante? the terfiest of shows

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

Watching (the Adventures of) Merlin season one on Netflix

Episode One: The Dragon's Call

. . . I feel like going to the capital of the kingdom indiscriminately slaughtering magic users wasn't the best idea.

Why? Well, that guy did just get executed.

And now his mom is mad. You tell that sorry excuse for a king, witch lady.

I don't like Uther, in case it was unclear.

Wait... if you could teleport why not just grab your son and ditch before he loses his head? Literally.

Oh, wow. Arthur is a dick.

Morgana. We have no choice but to stan tbh.

Dragon, you're really rubbing me the wrong way.

That's right Merlin! We need more than Because Destiny Says So!

Where did the spiderwebs come from? That sleeping spell gives me Sleeping Beauty vibes.

Ah, yes. The old drop-the- chandelier-on-the-villain trick. :(

If she went after Uther instead of Arthur I would have no complaints.

Manservant? You call that a reward for saving your son?

Episode Two: Valiant

Snake!Shield

Oh, he's gonna- Yup, dead. That's what happens when you deal with knights who cheat.

Where did that guy even get a magic shield in the first place?

Is there a thriving magic black market or something?

I love Guin.

. . . I feel like Sir Valiant didn't think this through. If bite marks are visible.

Ugh, you're the worst Uther.

It's only the second episode! Did you forget who saved your son already?

Stop being a jerk Arthur.

Lol. Merlin bringing a dog statue to life in order to practice for the Snake!Shield.

Bye Valiant!

Episode Three: The Mark of Nimueh

Whatcha up to with that egg, new witch lady?

You gonna poison the water of all of Camelot? Seems like a jerk move.

Dang that's a lot of dead bodies...

No, I like Guin's dad!

Yes! Cure him Merlin!

No! Stop arresting Guin, Uther!

You tell him, Morgana!

That plague monster that hatched from witch lady's egg is creepy.

Dead monster!

Arthur is kinda oblivious to Merlin's magic ngl.

Yay! Guin's free!

What do you know about witch lady Nimueh, Uther? Hmm? Why she want you dead? Besides the obvious reasons.

Episode Four: The Poisoned Chalice

Wow, Nimueh really doesn't like Merlin saving the day.

Wow, Nimueh really orchestrated an entire diplomatic incident in order to kill Merlin while also ensuring Camelot is destroyed by its neighbor. Impressive.

I really like Merlin and Guin's friendship.

Dang. Merlin really drank poison in order to save Arthur.

Merlin saved Arthur's life, Uther! Let him return the favor!

Oh, wow. Arthur really disobeyed his father in order to save Merlin's life.

I didn't know Merlin could cast spells while deathly delirious. And several miles away from him too.

Uther you b****! The antidote is right there! Let Arthur save his friend!

Putting your own son in a cell is such a jerk move.

At least Arthur and Guin manage to sneak the antidote to Merlin.

Quick aside: Internet spoilers say Uther needs to die for Arthur to complete his himbofication- I mean character development. So, if you could get on with that? Thanks!

Episode Five: Lancelot

Wow, that's a very CGI griffin.

Lancelot is so precious- Uh, I mean effective! Saving Merlin and all.

I know, Guin. I know.

Always thought it was a stupid rule to only let nobles be knights.

You're really going to commit magical forgery for someone you just met, Merlin?

I mean, Lancelot is earnest, hardworking, modest, kind despite his tragic backstory and it's his childhood dream to be a knight...

Yeah, I'd commit magical forgery too.

Lol, knocked you on your ass didn't he Arthur? (The second time at least)

I don't remember griffins being man-eaters!

Uther stop arresting people! Ugh, you're such a classist.

Let Lancelot help fight the griffin, Arthur! You need all the help you can get!

Well okay letting him go was nice of you.

Lancelot-Merlin tag team!

Wow. Lancelot really strode in with Camelot's singular braincell by figuring out Merlin has magic.

(The bar is low, okay.)

No, don't take away the braincell! Stay! The griffin was a team effort!

Okay, Lancelot's lawful good tendencies are a little annoying but, hey, nobody's perfect.

Episode Six: A Remedy to Cure All Ills

Edwin, no. Leave Morgana alone.

Oh, beetles! Curse beetles! That's not creepy at all.

Gaius how do you know Edwin?

What diabolical plot are you hatching Edwin? Oh, you're replacing Gaius in the royal court. That's kinda rude.

Merlin's so happy meeting another magic user that isn't trying to kill him (yet).

Le gasp! Uther's purge killed Edwin's parents? WhO cOuLd HaVe fOreSeEn tHis!?

But seriously. No wonder Edwin wants Uther dead.

I know Edwin blackmailed Gaius with exposing Merlin but he also wants to kill Uther!

That gives him a pass in my book.

Gaius no. Let Uther die.

Edwin stop trying to kill Gaius! You're going to-

Yup, here comes Merlin and-

Edwin's dead :(

Well he was trying to overthrow the kingdom. That's... bad... I guess.

Episode Seven: The Gates of Avalon

That title is misleading. It's more of a natural portal/magic lake type thing.

Arthur saves a father and daughter from bandits (Which they hired but shhh)

And they immediately try to put a love spell on Arthur

For human sacrifice purposes of course

Idk why the Sidhe want a human prince's soul -look at him, you don't know where he's been- but that's the price for readmission

I wonder how the dad killed one of his own kind? Was it an accident or...?

Exiling the daughter too makes me suspicious of Avalon's justice system

Evil laugh is a bit out of place for someone who is trying to restore his daughter's immortality

(They are so whiny about being mortal. Hey, we put up with it all the time!)

The fairy-like Sidhe moving in accelerated time so they just look like tiny orbs of light was an interesting touch. The blue faces and razor sharp teeth is not a good look for them, lol

They make Arthur ask to be married ('cause it takes a while for the love spell to go into full blown mind control or something)

Prompting Uther to threaten to kill both of them

(I feel like they didn't think this through)

Morgana admonishes Uther for being the worst

He replies that first love rarely lasts and that Arthur is inexperienced in such things. Plus that Arthur only met the girl yesterday

... I can't believe Uther is the voice of reason this episode

He doesn't get any points though. Due to the whole "threatening to execution his son's 'crush' " thing

The daughter is having second thoughts about using Arthur as a human sacrifice

Dear old dad puts those to rest and they try drowning Arthur in the lake that is/is the portal to, Avalon

Merlin's really leaning into the whole "Cool motive. Still murder.", thing huh?

Like, he did NOT hesitate to blow up both of them

Episode Eight: The Beginning of the End

Why do magic users keep going to Camelot!? The king is trying to KILL YOU!

Wow, this grown ass man is threatened by a literal child... I hate Uther so much

Morgana is the MVP of this episode. I love her

Protect that druid kid!

I feel like you're being paranoid Uther

You tell him Morgana!

Dragon, no. Stop prophesying death and destruction.

Wow, this grown ass dragon is threatened by a literal child...

Aaaand Morgana got caught sneaking the kid out of the city :(

Uther she is your adopted daughter! Stop putting people in cells!

Arthur is gonna sneak him out now?

While Morgana distracts the king?

Yes, excellent. What could possibly-

Merlin stop listening to that destiny dragon! Hearing his voice in your head is no basis for trust!

Cutting it close... Yay! They made it!

Mordred!? MORDRED!?

THAT little boy is Mordred!?

... Okay, I'm more inclined to believe the destiny dragon now

Still think letting him die would be a dick move

Episode Nine: Excalibur

What're you up to with that tomb Nimueh?

Oh! It's some kind of undead knight. Yes.

Throwing down the gauntlet. Pfft! Always thought that was a stupid idea.

Also: that Black Knight literally crashed your party!

Ugh, knights.

Nimueh if you can just teleport into the heart of Camelot while Uther is alone why don't you just stab him? Grab one of those pointy things he likes so much and stab him in the back. Easy peasy!

Stealing this joke but Don't do evil magic kids. It fries your brain cells.

Wait, the Black Knight is Uther's brother-in-law!?

Arthur's mother died in childbirth!?

Uther asked Nimueh to use her magic so he could have Arthur!?

Equivalent Exchange!?

Uther went on a genocidal rampage because he didn't bother with the instruction manual of ancient and powerful magic!?

Actually, that last one is not surprising at all.

I can't believe they're using the Wife in the Fridge trope. That appliance hasn't even been invented yet!

Ooh, Merlin's going to use his magic to destroy the Black Knight so Arthur doesn't have to fight him

As he's killed two knights already

Aaaaand, yup, he's still there. His cloak didn't even catch fire...

Arthur stop being a bastard. It doesn't suit you

Dragon forged sword! DRAGON FORGED SWORD!

Only Arthur can wield it. Yup, got it. How could this possibly go wrong?

Uther drugged Arthur and took his place in the fight... I have mixed feelings about this.

Wait, the dragon was very specific about only Arthur using that super special sword! Oh, snap.

Well at least the Black Knight is dead. Again.

Oh, dragon is not happy.

I know the dragon said "where no mortal soul could find it" but are you sure you wanna throw it into Avalon, Merlin?

Those people were gonna suck Arthur's soul out of his body

Episode Ten: The Moment of Truth

The way this episode title just lies to your face like that...

Oh, you're Merlin's mother! Thought we had an anime protagonists type thing going on

I... would like to say Uther is being unreasonable when he decides not to cross borders to get rid of some bandits. But I can totally see everyone hating him so that's a no go.

Lady, you were in a whole different kingdom. Why for the love of Merlin did you send him to Camelot!?

We're off to save the village! Morgana and Guin are coming too!

A wild Arthur appears!

Morgana better at swordplay than Arthur confirmed!

Merlin! I didn't know you had friends!

Granted he's a bit rough around the edges but

Okay. If it were literally anyone else besides Arthur. I'd say he was right about lords and knights being useless snobs.

Actually. He's right about lords and knights being useless snobs. Ah, that felt great.

Wow, the homosexual subtext is strong with this one.

The girls can tell Arthur came for Merlin.

But get your foot out of his face! I don't care how royal it is!

Look at Guin over here calling out Arthur for being a dick

And talking him into letting the women fight. She's on a roll

Aw, Merlin's friend died. :(

And he took credit for Merlin's tornado (so Arthur wouldn't find out about Merlin's magic)

Episode Eleven: The Labyrinth of Gedref

Lol, that unicorn could use a haircut.

No, Arthur. I said a haircut not an arrow to the chest!

Bad things? What kind of bad things Gaius?

Uther what's the point of having an expert in magical lore if you're not going to listen to him!

And all the crops are dead. Fantastic.

I know it's a magic thing but stating outright that the blight only targets edible plants is still really unsettling.

And the water's turned to sand. Great.

Who're you and how come Merlin is the only magic user that can't teleport?

What kind of tests mister Keeper of the Unicorns, sir?

Arthur I know you don't want to believe it's your fault... But it's totally your fault.

Uther no. People are starving.

You tell him Arthur.

Oh, the "theif" was a test!

Aaaaand he failed the second one. :(

Merlin's got a lot of faith in Arthur.

It's interesting how the Keeper can only direct the curse caused by the unicorn's death. Or rather the trials surrounding the curse, but can't break it himself.

Unicorns have some powerful magic.

The Labyrinth was barely on screen for five minutes! Surely something with Unicorn in the title would be more appropriate?

Arthur drinking a poisoned cup so Merlin could live?

That's some strong parallels right there.

The Keeper of the Unicorns is such a troll! Sleeping potion, hah!

The day is saved, Arthur lies to Uther's face about killing the Keeper and the unicorn resurrects itself.

Still needs a haircut though.

Episode Twelve: To Kill the King

Whatcha up to Guin's dad?

Oh that guy isn't suspicious at all.

You didn't think it was shady when he asked to meet in the middle of the night!?

Philosopher's Stone!?

Wow, the guards found him quickly.

What- No! Don't arrest Guin's dad!

Uther, he's a blacksmith! Stop being paranoid!

Will you stop executing people!? That inn keeper didn't know that guy was a dangerous sorcerer!

No, nononononono! He surrendered! Why did you do that!? Guin's father was important to Morgana!

That's why she gave him the key!

Dragon has his priorities straight.

Shut up, Merlin. You literally blew up a father and daughter for trying to kill one(1) person. (No really, you could see their hands flying off.)

Morgana deserves a little murder. As a treat.

Yes! Get him! Kill the bastard!

No! Why would you make GUIN say that!? Who are you and what have you done with Guin!?🔪🔪

UGH, he literally committed genocide!

The "that would make me as bad as he is" DOES NOT APPLY!

What- Oh, he still has the fairy's staff.

No. Stop it! Let Uther die!

Oh, God, Uther is such an abusive piece of GARBAGE!

Stop! Don't fall for it Morgana!

*sees dagger being pushed closer to Uther's "heart"* Yes! Yes! YES!

*Morgana saves him* NO!

NO!

NOOOOOO!

*inarticulate ranting in the background*

Episode Thirteen:

Okay, the cgi might be getting a little better 'cause the Questing Beast is freaky

Old religion? What is that? And how come it's conveniently absent from the previous episodes?

Dang, they really here just casually gaslighting Morgana like that 😡

Merlin you know Morgana has visions! You couldn't have been a little more careful? She warned you. Now look at Arthur, he's got the heroic death disease

Granted that thing does seem like a handful

Why do you only act like a father when it's a matter of life and death? Why can't you be a father literally any other time!?

"The old religion is the magic of the Earth itself."

Well that sounds fascinating, dragon. Are you going to elaborate? No? Later then?

Soooooo, is the old religion actually a religion or is it a magic? It's really unclear...

"You will be a better king than your father could ever hope to be." Guin, you're back!

I expected a place called the Isle of the Blessed to be less... creepy

Nimueh! Whatcha up to girl? Plotting the demise of a kingdom? Not today it seems

Oh there some Equivalent Exchange type nonsense going on is there?

Arthur you were supposed to be in a coma not listening to Guin!

Oh. Oh, no.

Merlin saying goodbye as he prepares to trade his life for his mother's is 😢😭

Wow, that dragon really knew Nimueh would give Merlin's mother the curse and didn't say anything. The little b*****!

No wonder Merlin's mad at him. Stop breathing fire at him! It's your own fault!

Gaius, no! Not the dead mentor trope!

"You stood by and watched as our friends died." Damn, Nimueh isn't pulling her punches.

Merlin vs Nimueh! Ready? Fight!

Anime protagonist power up! Dang, Nimueh's dead... I feel like that wasn't supposed to happen.

At least no one else is dying. Since Nimueh's death appeased the Equivalent Exchange laws of the old religion.

[machi-kun]

Hi! If you’re still writing for the fic requests, 45 for stony? Btw I soooo love the high school reunion fic ❤️❤️

we love two scheming geniuses scheming against bastards, in a world where everything went better

****

“Me and Rogers are not on speaking terms anymore.”

"I am very sorry to hear that.” Thunderbolt Ross - Secretary of State Ross, the son of a bitch - says, without a single speck of remorse. “I suppose now is when you tell me you won’t help me find him?”

“You know me so well.” Tony replies through-gritted teeth. “You know I’d love to, but I can’t.”

“And you want me to believe you have no way of tracking Rogers? Through his shield, or his suit?” Ross raises his eyebrows, unimpressed.

“I did, before Rogers removed them.” Tony clarifies. “You think he didn’t know where the trackers were?”

“And I suppose everyone else did too? Romanoff, Wilson?” Ross smirks cruelly. “Maximoff? You’d really let her walk around unsupervised?”

Tony’s jaw clenches so tightly his cheeks hurt. “Why not? She’s a big girl. And if I’m not making my way to a cell right now, why should she be? Some would argue I need more supervision than she does.”

Ross barks out a weak laugh, nodding curtly to himself, as if terribly amused. “If you had told me that just a few years ago I would have definitely agreed with you. Lucky for you, you are not the biggest fish I have to catch anymore, Stark.”

“I’m sure I can live with that. Although, to be clear, I want you to know my feelings are very hurt.” 

“I’ll make sure to write that down on my report.” Ross sneers. 

“Report to what?”

“The UN.” Ross reminds him firmly. “Or did you forget this is what this whole mess is about? To put the Avengers under the supervision of a council that’s prepared to deal with the messes you leave behind?”

Tony clicks his tongue. “Right. And their escape is gonna be part of that report?”

“How else would I explain why they are not here?” Ross asks him with distaste, as if Tony’s being purposefully annoying. 

Which he is.

“Their escape from a very secret, very illegal maximum security facility?”

Ross pauses, his silence dangerous. “You have something to say to me, Stark?”

“I’m just wondering how that little project of yours is gonna fly. Keeping superheroes trapped in the Raft - did anyone in the UN approve that, or did you just make that decision for yourself?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Ross smiles, a vile, ugly thing. “You don’t worry about it, Stark. It’s none of your concern.”

“What if I make it my concern?” Tony presses. 

Ross looks at him for a long, very uncomfortable second. “Why? You worried for Rogers, is that it?”

Tony’s hand clenches into a fist beneath the table. 

“Do I have to repeat myself - I don’t care about Rogers. I don’t know where he is, and I don’t want to know. I tried to work with him, I tried to reason, obviously it didn’t work. And I don’t work with people like that - bad for team morale.”

“You, complaining about not listening to reason?” Ross laughs. “I guess old dogs do learn tricks.”

“You would know.” Tony jabs, through a false smirk - if he dares to stretch his lips too wide, there will be too many bared teeth to disguise it as a smile. 

Ross looks him up and down, as if considering if he should press the issue further, and Tony sits ramrod straight in his chair, spine stiff as metal, refusing to cower under the bastard’s calculating gaze. He has no reason to. Stress, pressure, and guilt - they are Tony’s old friends, and Thaddeus Ross’ judgment is not stinging enough to wound his thick skin, not punishing enough to bruise. 

People are so used to see him in the suit that they often forget Tony has been wearing armor long before Afghanistan. They forget Tony has been playing this game for a very, very long time.

Ross shouldn’t forget. He’s seen Tony fight like this before. He should be more careful.

But it seems he has forgotten too. 

Well.

His mistake. 

“I guess I should say I’m sorry about you and Rogers, but I don’t think you would appreciate that.” Ross mocks, as he gathers his papers and folders and tucks them under his arm, slow and dragging, as if he’s savoring the motion - savoring his victory over Tony, over the Avengers, standing there as Tony is forced to sit down and look up at him, as if the mere difference in the level of their gazes is akin to defeat. “I doubt you would have invited me to your wedding, anyway.”

“We were not engaged.” Tony hisses. “We weren’t like that.”

“Not for lack of trying, right?” Ross stares him down, provoking. “Rogers might have other priorities, but you sure would do anything to protect him, even lie. It’s a shame he doesn’t feel the same.”

“Are you done?” Tony snaps, angrily.

Ross huffs out a weak laugh, and turns to leave, not sparing a single glance back. “Don’t forget we have a meeting tomorrow at noon. You better bring me some good news, Stark.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Tony replies, but Ross is already closing the door on him, and suddenly, Tony is blessedly, completely alone in the conference room, and only then he can sag and relax in his seat, taking in a breath so deep is lungs hurt.

“Christ.” He mumbles to himself, tiredly. He runs his hand over his face, pressing his fingers into his eyes as if that could chase away the sleepiness, and says, “Please tell me you got it.”

“I got it.” Steve says - his voice low and a little distorted over the speakers in Tony’s watch, a little worse for wear, but still a better comfort than anything else he could have asked for. “Nat is getting the files to the UN as we speak.”

“That’s going to be some news tomorrow.” Tony mumbles to himself, leaning back in the chair. “The press is going to put us through hell.”

“Good news, I hope?” Steve asks, and Tony can hear that he’s smiling.

“Yeah, well, Ross did ask. He just didn’t specify who the news should be good for.”

“I don’t think he’s going to be very happy to hear he’s going to jail.” Steve muses.

“Then he should have been more specific.” Tony quips back, and Steve laughs breathily on the other side of the call. 

It’s been only a couple of days, and Tony already misses him something awful. He groans, and somehow Steve, with his stupid Tony-sense (something he surely learned from Rhodey), knows Tony is being whiny and mopey (Rhodey’s words, not his). He would go to Rhodey but he can’t right now - it would raise Ross’ suspicions, and though Rhodey won’t admit, he’s still a little upset he managed to get a black eye in a fake fight. He’ll definitely make fun of Tony is Tony shows up saying he misses his boyfriend when the whole country is hunting said boyfriend all over the world. 

“Just a couple of days more, Tony.” He assures, soft and sweet, and Tony wishes he was here, so this would be over, Ross and Zemo both would be over, and this could all be forgotten as one long, horrible nightmare. “We’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Tony grumbles. “I just - I hate letting him think he’s won. I hate the smug look on his face.”

“Look on the bright side.” Steve tells him. “Tomorrow, you can be the smug one.”

“Oh, I will. And I will be even worse once you’re back. No more of this... secret dating schtick.”

“I thought you were having fun sneaking around?” Steve teases, and Tony wants to kiss him silly. 

“I was, but you know what’s gonna be even more fun? Having Ross behind bars so I can take you out on a real date.” 

“I can’t wait.” Steve says, almost in a sigh - and there’s something dreamy about it, hearing his voice through a call; Maybe it’s just because Tony misses him, or maybe because he’s just too old and too soft and too... too goddamned in love, but there’s something about this, about this Steve Rogers that’s mellow and shy, that's vulnerable only when they’re alone, when they trade whispers and secrets and kisses in the dark--

Tony just... misses him. He hates this being apart thing. 

He wants this to be over.

“I’ll sleep in your room tonight.” Tony tells him, sultry, because he knows the effect it’ll have, and he’s not above using it to get what he wants. “If you get here fast enough, you might still find me there when you arrive.”

Steve makes a tight pause. “I’ll be there in five hours.”

Tony laughs, for real, a genuine laugh, for what feels like the first time in months - and he misses the sound of the call disconnecting, but that’s alright. 

“See you soon, honey.” He mutters, and though his body is still tired and his bed - Steve’s bed - will be empty when he goes to sleep, he knows he’ll wake up with strong and warm arms around him, no matter what.

Soon, Ross won’t be a problem anymore. Better yet - Soon, Steve will be home. 

That alone is enough to make his life just a little bit better. 

[leeknow-bestboy]

If You Close One Eye - Chapter One

Ships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Bang Chan/Yang Jeongin | I.N, If you really squint you can notice Lix is into Binnie, Hyunjin was into everyone once

Characters: All the kids, The ex kid isn't here I edited him out, Other Character Tags to Be Added

Trigger warnings: panic attack, ptsd, original character death, homophobia, original character cheating, descriptive imagery.

Word count: 5277

Chapter: 1/?

Next chapter 

Tags: Murder Mystery, amateur detective minho, Soulmates, not your typical soulmate AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Slow Burn, Slow Build, good things take time let it slowburn, minho is singlehandedly responsible for the slow burn so blame him, no soulmates in this universe only they are, criminology student minho, art student jisung, POV Third Person, chan deserves better and he does indeed get better don't worry, art references please look stuff up, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, best sibling bond ever.

"If you close one eye, you can see what your soulmate sees"

Born with one eye an unnatural golden color, Minho and Jisung have been forced to cover them up with colored lenses in order to blend into society.

The magic to their eyes? Even they still didn't know.

This is the story of how criminology major and dance minor Lee Minho found himself hopelessly in love with the serial killer, local artist Han.

[Alternatively, let's see how long I can make these two dumbasses pine without one of them snapping. Edit: they finally did]

[Also WARNING: a HUGE amount of Jeongchan ahead, it's not subtle at all! So much fluff--]

As per usual, the playground was packed; children of all ages ran wild, squalling and laughing like the little menaces they were- all of them avoiding a short kid who couldn't be older than five, seated at the very end of the sandbox and holding back tears of offense and loneliness.

It's not that he got bullied, he wasn't. His mom raised a tough kid who'd bite back when he's bit, but no one would play with him now. Not with how he looks, they'd rather scream and run.

Five year olds shouldn't worry about that.

Rubbing his left eye- the good one, he could see a woman's shoulder and hair. Her smile, bright and comforting, wording out a song with no sound.

"Jisung!" His mother's voice rang aloud, recognizable and warm in the hostile environment.

"Baby," She called again, finding him and wrapping her son in her arms. For the moment, there was no strange woman- only his own mother.

Jisung sniffled. "I hate people." -These words that shouldn't be said by a child flowed so easily from his lips, as if it was the only reasonable conclusion.

"We need to talk about something" his mother's voice, once excited and lively sounded utterly defeated. Little did he know, it was the last time. Years of telling him he's perfect just the way he is, special and unique in a good way, definitely- have ended up making no difference in the end.

That day, he learned to put on contact lenses.

.

"I know you're upset about the divorce, but you have to accept that it happened."

The woman's voice, high pitched and unpleasant, drove Minho ever so slightly closer to the edge. By now he knew no adult in the world would ever take him seriously, so what was the point in sitting here and listening to her talk?

The woman pursed her lips, plump and telling of the many times they went under the scalpel. Tapping her foot, she hazily reminded Minho of his own mother when scolding was due.

"If you don't talk to me, that's fine. Nothing's going to change. I get paid by the hour you know, I can do this all day."

That being said, she was probably stressed- no therapist had ever gotten Minho to talk, he's been changing doctors since his hallucinations began, which adds to a little over three years now.

"Minho, I can't help you like this. Tell your mother I give up."

A sense of dread spread over the eight years old. Again, another adult doesn't get it. Another one giving up on him, leaving, and suddenly he wanted her to stay. Pretty badly he did, at the time.

"I don't care that my parents broke up, I've been seeing monsters all day"

The woman blinked, stunned into silence. At the tinge of tears he rubbed his right eye- and there it was, certain as ever; drawn with a sharpie, people with horns. In a moment, a pair of hands that weren't his took the drawing away and pulled out a new one, drawing harshly a sad smiley face.

Although he was a big boy, he cried right then, scared out of his mind and very confused. He cried so hard it almost slipped off- the contact lens hiding his mother's disgrace.

Looking up, the woman made no effort to comfort or dissolve his fright. Rather, she was scribbling down the whole ordeal. Taking notes, furiously assessing and picking him apart, she finished her analysis smugly and said,

"It's time we get you a prescription, my dear"

And that was definitely not the last of it.

.

"Oppa"

Minho groaned lowly, alerting the speaker to the fact he's been woken from sleep.

"Minho oppa!" the voice persisted. Fully intent on hanging up, Minho side glanced at the caller id to make sure it wasn't important.

"Motherfucker!" the voice on the other end rose. From the corner of the bed Doongie meowed, alarmed.

"Freaking shrimp, what do you think you're calling your oppa?" He blurted. This isn't a call he should skip.

"Egg laying bastard! Answer me when I call you!" His sister's comforting voice trickled out.

"Gremlin twarp!"

"ballerina!"

"Whiny child!"

"Prune old man!"

"spoiled princess!"

"Mean hoe!"

"-!" Wheeze.

"I got you, you horrible gay bitch"

"We're both gay, Ryu" He threw back.

It's been a while since she last called.

"Well, you live alone, so I assume you're doing much gayer things than I can do at home."

Minho started, failing to hold back his horrified gasp. "Ryujin, you're eighteen!" He exclaimed. It seemed like yesterday she was still following him around, like some baby duckling.

"She's being mean Doongie, like you three don't count." He added, Ryujin electing to ignore his comment.

"How's dance going?" her tone changed, turning softer. For all their differences, dance for sure has always been something both loved and loved together. From copying idols on TV, to taking ballet and hiphop together, Jazz too.

"I'm not in college for dance and you know it" He groaned, immediately softening as well.

"I miss it a lot. I wish I could do more than minor in it.." On the other side of the call Ryujin hummed, understanding. She has always known his passion best.

"You're good at what you do too. You'd make a kickass detective." She claimed.

"I'm not taking criminology to be a detective." Why she had to be reminded was beyond him. If anything he aimed to be an officer, someone to tell kids off if they mess with the neighborhood cats.

"I'm just saying you could be!" She defended- which wasn't wrong, if he played job openings right. He did have a knack for picking apart mystery books too, but that was nothing out of the usual.

"How's grad life?" He asked with genuine interest. Nothing could ever matter to him more.

"I asked Chelle out, finally." She said, and Minho couldn't help but notice the edge evident in her voice.

"What happened? Did she let you down? Should I come over?" The questions left his lips before he could consider them, worry clouding over him.

"No, it's nothing like that. She said yes, but.. Yeah, oppa, I really wish you were here. I need to talk to you, face to face. Mom misses you too." She ended lamely. It was so unlike her, Minho couldn't find it in him to correct the fact that it was only Ryu's mom and not his.

"Tell her I'll be visiting tonight then, I'll go get ready." He said, fully intent on making the sudden drive over. It was only a two hour ride over to his father's, where Ryujin and his step mother lived too. If he headed out now, he could make it before dinner.

"Really? You don't have to, I know you hate it here-" Her attempts of taking it back wouldn't work once he set his mind to do something.

"Really really. I miss my stinky troll sister too," He insisted. No way was he leaving her be. The moment something felt off with her, he knew he had to go make sure she's fine; there aren't many things as precious in his life as she is.

"Dumbass," she relented, voice worryingly relieved. "I'll go tell mom."

He smiled, tapping his nail on the headboard, now sitting up at his bed. "Bye"

She huffed, pausing for a moment before giving her last reply. "Goodbye, oppa. I love you."

.

Minho sighed, leaning his forehead against the steering wheel.

For what little time he spent at his father's place, a surprising amount of bad memories were made. Up until his teen years he wouldn't even enter, and every time after that made for a rich history; first panic attack, first time breaking a leg falling down the stairs, coming out, taking Ryu to junior prom- door shut in his face that time, claiming she was grounded for beating up the neighbor's son. First time stung by a bee, and that weekend when his father's doberman puppy bit him in play, tore open his front lip and got sent to a dog pound despite his protest.

'Come on,' he thought. 'You can do this. Count to three-' and at three he did, opened his car door and walked up through the front gate.

"Minho! How lovely to see you." Smiled his step mom, a warm, if not a tad unnerving woman.

"Nice to so see you too. How have you been?" He asked, clean-cut manners kicking in. Dal and Byul had meanwhile made their way running over to the door, immediately rubbing against him with some level of desperation. He leaned down, rubbing Dal's small head.

"I've been well, your father too- that's right! Honey, come say hi to Minho." The short, lean woman called, still blocking the entrance to the oversized house and keeping Minho at the door. Whether this was on purpose shall forever remain a mystery- she did it every time.

"That brat has nothing to do in this house" His father's voice warmed over.

"Hi dad." He tried still, calling over the woman's shoulder. "Can I come in?"

Said obstacle smiled, moving aside at last. "Of course sweetie, Ryujin will be right over."

Taking that exchange for what it was, he made fast pace towards the kitchen. Avoiding his father has become a praised skill by now, a crucial one by all means.

"Dallie, Byulie, psps" he tried, pleased when both ran on over towards his outstretched hand. Two more allies at the ready.

Light steps cleared the remaining discomfort sullying his mood in short moments. "You!" A pair of arms tightened around his shoulders, prompting Minho to lift his little sister in a piggyback.

"You too!" He answered, relieved at feeling welcomed at last.

"I can't believe you actually came. Did you tell your mother you're over?" She asked, tactless as ever. He loves her a whole lot for that, too.

"She's not the boss of me, I'm twenty one" He announced, eyes closed in a content smile as his sister gently pet his hair like a cat.

"What about me? I'm almost nineteen, I wish I was free like you, Lino!" Exclaimed Ryujin, but really she didn't. There was a certain freedom gained from nobody caring about you that no one should be jealous of.

Letting her hop back onto the ground, Minho kept the smile on his face. She seemed fine, but he could tell better. Still, they couldn't talk before dinner- the pots and pans at the stovetop smelled just about ready, after all.

Instead he turned to face her, petting her head lovingly like she had his. "What's this? This tiny Ryuddaeng's nineteen? No way."

"Almost!" she growled. "Next month I'll be."

"Where have the times gone?" he questioned, shoving her playfully at the comments of "old man".

.

Dinner went as uncomfortably as expected, his father and he had behaved remarkably well- hadn't spoken a word to each other throughout. Minho ate neatly, made sure to compliment his step mother for every dish, and Ryujin helped by washing them after. All in all, it was successful unlike many dinners before.

Making way to the guest bedroom, Minho paused at the sight of his sister's door left slightly open. Right, yes- this would be a good time.

Knocking quietly, he waited for permission before entering and closing the door, waiting for Byul to enter alongside him. "Are you alright?"

Ryujin nodded, glancing up at him and back to the floor. He took that as a sign to take a seat down on her fancy dragon themed carpet.

"Are you really alright? Ryujin, I know we're not great communicators, but I'm still very worried. Is it dad?" At that his sister shook her head, taking a deep breath.

"Don't get mad, but I have a huge favor. You know Chelle, I swore I'll ask her out when I graduate and I did, but she…" Minho crossed and uncrossed his legs, chin finding its place resting on a knee. Byul purred, rubbing against it.

"She's missing. She's been missing for two weeks now, no one knows where she is." She explained, voice stern.

"I don't think she ran away, but her parents keep saying she did. She said nothing to me." She added, hoping he'd fill in the rest on his own.

"They're not filling in for missing person?" He asked, worry making his back stress and ace.

Ryujin nodded. "I know she's the bad girl type, but she wasn't into drugs and her friends seem fine. I keep trying to ask around but I can't, what if something serious happened?"

Minho nodded, realizing where he comes in. "You want me to investigate? See where that takes us?" He asked. For sure, that should be the police's job- but with her parents saying she ran away, would they even bother?

Ryujin kept quiet, eyes burning holes into Minho's. This was her crush, a big one- he's never liked Chelle, but now? If Ryujin cares that much… sure. It's not something he should be messing with legally, and a new project to be added atop his ever growing college work, but he'd do it for her. "Okay."

"Okay?" Ryujin asked back, relieved.

"Yes. I'll do it." He assured.

Ryujin's features softened farther, mouth breaking into a smile. "You're my new favorite person."

Minho smiled lightly, mind running full speed. "I need details. When and where she was last seen, and about her; exes, Instagram, friends and hangouts."

Ryujin's smile faded. Nonetheless she turned, pulling a notebook out of her bedside drawer.

Scribbling away the details he requested, she paused to ask a couple questions before turning back to her chore. "I know less than I thought." She admitted.

"That's fine, but I have a few more. How was her mental state, where did she study, was she on meds and did she mention any places?"

This kept on for a few hours, ending after they let an annoyed Byul out of the room - with Ryujin tiredly announcing that her brain is fried and he can ask the rest over chat when he's back in college. On his end, Minho learned one important thing:

This girl was not who she seemed to be.

.

Back at his apartment, Minho re-read all eleven papers of info they've gathered. On the way he's prepared a list of places to visit, only two of which stemmed from the info Ryujin herself had given him. Other than the school and family bistro down the street, it seemed the two have never gone out together, although Chelle was one to do so.

Good, he thought.

Scrolling through her Instagram, he noted which followers seemed to comment more, and who would show most often on highlights. Her latest post have been boring- it was landscape art of what he assumed to be a tall grass field on the outskirts of seoul. Around three months back he found a picture of some guy at the beach, shirt off and abs in clear view. Seeing as he looked nothing like Chelle, it would seem they weren't related.

Sorting through the packed comment section, someone's request to take it down stood out. Tapping on the person's icon, he realized that was probably the guy in the picture, although the account was made private. An ex? That would make a good trail.

Not having an account himself, by now Minho has used Ryujin's, but to follow guys it would seem he needs his own account.

Setting up all the necessities, he took a nice picture of Dori and made it his profile, sending the guy a follow request right away.

Now we wait.

.

"Oppa, if you have no photos or description and no followers, and he doesn't know you, did you really expect he'd approve your request?" Ryujin's laughter trickled through the speakers, as if it's been obvious. "You're going to have to find him." She pointed, before hesitantly adding, "Or I can-"

"No." Minho said, stern. "This guy could be Chelle's ex, he might be really dangerous! You don't get to follow his Instagram."

Ryujin sighed, and Minho got the sudden mental image of her rubbing the bridge of her nose as she did. "You have friends right? Ask one of them." She advised.

"I need to go, dad said I can't go out unless I finish these applications." She explained, hanging up after a round of goodbyes.

Right. He did! He has friends.

Picking his phone back up, Minho scrolled his contacts looking for either Felix or Hyunjin. The two weren't in his major, but they shared a dance class. Out of the student body, they were closest to his definition of friends.

A couple rings went by before the line picked up. "Hyung? Hello!" Felix's cheerful voice calmed the older's nerves ever so slightly.

"Felix, hi." He answered, trying to seem casual. "How are you?"

Felix took a moment before responding. "I'm great! I'm actually out with Chan hyung, is something up?"

"Who?" Minho asked, confused.

Felix took another moment. "Bang Chan. He's a fourth year in sociology, I don't think you'll know him."

Minho came close to a sob right then. "Can you pass him the phone?"

"Yeah sure." Felix agreed immediately, followed by ruttling sounds.

"Hello?" A voice sounded, accent similar to Felix's own.

"Hi! My name is Minho, I followed you on Instagram a couple days ago."

A short silence. "Oh my god." Chan exclaimed.

"No, never mind that, I need to talk to you." He rephrased.

"I have no idea who you are." Chan replied, confused.

"It's about Chelle." Minho added, hoping to learn anything from the other's reply.

"Oh." Was all he got. "Okay, I guess we should meet sometime then. How is she?"

The question caught Minho off guard.

"I, I'll tell you more when we meet. When are you free?" he asked, quickly seeking out a pen and scribbling the time and date on his wrist, phone squeezed between his ear and shoulder.

"Yeah, sounds great! See you then." He concluded, getting passed back to Felix and thanking him profoundly before hanging up.

"In my own college." He muttered after the phone found its place back on the table.

"Unbelievable."

.

Not many people occupied the café, despite its convenient location not far off the olympic park. For that reason Minho concluded, the coffee there probably sucked.

It wasn't his intention to show fifteen minutes early, but his nerves got the best of him, taking shape in miserable pacing until he deemed it late enough to leave his apartment already. Worst case scenarios running through his mind, he wasn't expecting it as someone took seat in the chair opposite of his.

"Hello. It's Minho, right?" Asked the stranger, dimples forming in an awkward smile.

"Ah." Minho voiced dumbly before quickly picking himself up adding,

"You're Chan?"

In the short time that passed between first learning of Chan's existence and actually seeing him, Minho's mind managed to fill with expectations and fears, all of which shattered right in that moment.

First of all, the guy in the picture had very defined abs and arm muscles, making it seem as if he'd be your average muscle-head, someone who could pull apart limbs off boys like Minho- a description that apparently had nothing in common with the hesitant and awkward person in front of him. Rather, he found that this Chan was a tad shorter than him, barely filling the light gray sweater he threw on.

Secondly, while the photo showed a man with straight dark brown hair, the man in front of him had soft blond curls that seemed so, so fluffy- invoking a primal urge to pet them in, Minho assumed, not only himself, but also every innocent bystander.

Lastly, by the amount of english in his Instagram description, one would expect an obvious accent, but that had been proven false on the phone call anyway. Regardless, Minho imagined a foreigner, so seeing his face up close had been a surprise on its own, especially considering the smile… he was, how would he put it? Cute.

"Yeah! Nice to meet you. I was worrying I'd be early, but it's good to see you are too." Minho could only half process the words, a glance at his phone telling him they both still had around ten minutes before the planned meetup time.

"Right! Right, I wanted to talk to you." Minho started, forcibly clearing his mind of any strange thoughts.

"You said it was about Chelle? I assume you're her new boyfriend?" Chan asked, voice a bit strained.

"No, It's not like that. I wanted to know if you've heard from her for the last couple weeks." Minho replied, quick to correct him so to not make things needlessly awkward. Right, he thought- Chan still might have had something to do with this girl's disappearance.

"Oh, well, I actually hadn't, I try not to do that anymore. We didn't end things on good terms." Chan confessed, picking Minho's interest.

"What happened?" He asked, worries picking back up.

Chan paused. "Are you her friend? This kind of thing is a little personal, I don't want it to affect your friendship."

Minho blinked, thinking up a smaller scale storm. "I live in her neighborhood. We're not very close, but some things happened that made me look for you."

Chan hesitated, saved by the waiter's interruption asking which drinks the two would have. Still suspicious, Minho only ordered a small iced americano, Chan matching with a small iced tea.

"You probably know we dated for around two months, it ended after I found she was cheating for a long time."

Minho's breath hitched, dangerously close to choking on his coffee. "She cheated on you?"

Chan's expression fluttered before he nodded, sheepish smile back on. "Kind of pathetic, isn't it? I couldn't hold her attention. At least, the others didn't know."

Minho gaped, unsure how to handle the new information. Chelle, the girl Ryujin asked him to look for. Was that her true nature? "What do you mean others?"

Chan's embarrassment grew, yet he didn't look away. "We were around.. five, I think.. that I know of. I followed her for a bit."

The awkwardness settled, leaving both speechless.

"Okay, I'm really sorry but I still need to ask you a couple more things." Minho was the first to break the silence.

"Go ahead." Chan smiled in relief.

"Were you mad? Wait, no- Can you think of anyone who could have held a grudge against her? More than, I guess, this."

Chan shook his head. "She's a really nice girl! She has some serious issues, but I liked her a lot at the time."

Minho bit his lip, ready to push on. "Chan, I'm going to be honest with you.. Chelle's been missing for over two weeks now."

If Chan was drinking at the moment, it would have been his turn to choke. "What?" he asked, voice steady.

"I got in touch with you because right now, nobody knows where she is. Or someone does know, but I don't" Minho explained, hoping his message went through alright.

"Are you sure she's not ghosting you? She might be." Chan offered. Minho stiffened. If Chelle was fine, if she was ghosting his sister- there will be hell to pay.

"I don't think so?" he continued anyway.

"I can't remember a specific person who would want to hurt her, but.. God, I'm worried. Chelle's gone? Like, kidnapped or.." Chan paused, taking deep breaths.

"If you have any information on where she could be, it would help a lot. I don't know her well, I'm not sure who else to ask either." Minho added.

"What do you want to know?" Chan asked, worry clouding his face in an unpleasant way. Minho almost felt, scratch that- he did feel really bad for the guy.

"Hangouts, friends, habits, names of other exes- mental state too, it's a little invasive but I can't find her otherwise." Chan stared, eye contact with Minho intensifying as neither averted their gaze.

"Okay." Chan replied after a while. "I don't really know you, but I guess it suits her. If anything happened, I wouldn't expect an officer anyway."

Slightly disturbed, Minho pulled his notes from his bag, offering Chan a big sheet of paper. Just like that, the two had begun- Just as Minho had with Ryujin before.

"I can't help with other Exes, I don't know any of their names. I do know where she hangs out usually." Chan supplied helpfully.

"Chelle, she's very into art. She thinks her art, only hers, is the best of the best. She considers herself an undiscovered gem, that kind of mentality. She'll do anything for exposure, and she likes compliments a lot." Chan bit his lip, pausing in his writing.

"She's not on good terms with her parents, and sometimes I remember, she said she wanted to run away. She has horrible mood swings, but when she's happy she can be the sweetest, most considerate person in the world. I think she had too much love in her, that's why…" Chan trailed off, sighing before shaking his head and writing down some more details.

"I'm not okay with that, you know? It's the worst kind of betrayal, but I'm still so worried. I never wanted anything to happen to her, I don't wish that for anyone." Minho hummed, recalling back on his previous suspicion, how ridiculous it seemed now to think that of this person.

So it went on, the two of them coming up with important details and question marks to jot down. Before they knew it the sky turned dark, an impatient barista politely asking them to leave.

"You have my number, right?" Chan asked.

"I don't." Minho replied, glad Chan remembered. The two exchanged phones, filling in their details with some hesitation.

"Call me if you need anything, or if you find her." Chan added, eyes glinting under the streetlights.

"You too, call me if you remember anything important." Minho replied, parting with a wave goodbye and heading towards the bus station.

It was only on his way back that he recalled their first exchange through the phone, and how stupid it had been to expect anything else from a friend of Felix's, of all people.

Groaning lowly, Minho moved his bag up, staring at the paper pile stuffed inside it neatly. Ahead was, he expected, a night full of reading- all 38 new pages of details about this girl, who he found himself liking less and less with every passing statement.

.

Over an extended time period Minho had found himself visiting many different places to no avail. He tried asking around, dropping Chelle's name here and there for good measures, but it seemed that the girl had vanished into thin air. Her only legacy had been the outrageous rumors surrounding her name, such as dating kids much younger than herself and having sex to get her way in the art world. Really, Minho should have stopped there- he wanted nothing to do with this girl anymore, was happy even; happy that she didn't get to lay her hands on his sister. Yet he couldn't stop thinking, this girl.. She was missing, it was real, and not one soul other than him have made a single attempt to locate her. How could he give up now?

It had been a long day- visiting a bar from the list in the morning before moving to a café nearby and finishing one of his assignments, Minho decided to follow up on Chelle's tracks. Twelve days have passed since his meeting with Chan, and although his anxiety kept getting worse, the list of things to check kept getting shorter with every lead he crossed out.

This one had honestly been a lame lead, but he wanted to make the most out of it- a short trip out of seoul, to a grass patch stretching a couple miles that was similar to the one he saw on her Instagram. If he couldn't find her with anyone's help, he thought- maybe he should try to think like her more. This girl, where would she go? Who would she meet? What would she do? And for that this practice was important, too.

The land stretched, tall grass for as far as the eye could see. He roamed around, looking at the tall buildings that made his home from afar. From here, definitely- he recognized the scenery as the one she drew that time. Stepping back through the grass, it didn't make much of a difference from how far he's already been, but the moment felt special somehow.

Minho breathed in, a strong breeze blowing from the front and carrying the dust and pollution of the city with it. Bad air, even this far back. At least it was silent, no cars, no birds either- it felt peaceful. Minho stepped back again, pulling out his phone, intending to take a photo. A couple more steps back, and he tripped- landing on his butt in the grass.

It was there that he found her.

.

Jisung stretched, back aching after sleeping in so late.

"Good morning, and good luck falling back asleep at a normal hour." Seungmin commented. True that, Jisung managed to mess his sleep schedule pretty badly. Good thing it was friday.

Standing up, he considered responding before giving up and making his way to the kitchen.

"Ji," Seungmin spoke up once more,

"At least brush your teeth. I'm your roommate, not your mom- I shouldn't have to tell you this!" His voice, although annoyed, remained calm. He did have a point.

"Okay mom." Jisung replied, deadpan. Without another word he turned, entering the bathroom and picking up his toothbrush to do as instructed.

Life as an art major was hard- he had so much work to do in little time, and the pressure made it feel a little like a job. Nowadays his minor in music made for the only stress reliever he could put time into without guilt, and he wondered if maybe he should have chosen it for major instead. Useless thinking about it now, anyway.

Jisung went on brushing, releasing a small whine at the thought of his next assignment. Whatever- he rolled his eyes, raising a hand to rub the remains of sleep away.

Tall grass, the clear view of seoul from afar- blurring, moving, fast as if he was struck by lightning.

The toothbrush clinked loudly against the sink as it dropped, leaving Jisung with the reflection of himself in the mirror, left hand raised. He made quick way, spitting the paste and powerwalking back to their room, brushing against Seungmin on his way there.

"Jisung? Jisung, you can't just leave this here." Seungmin bristled, pausing at the sight of Jisung pulling out his sketchbook with the craze of someone going through a revelation.

He sighed, recognizing the scene in front of him. "Inspiration struck?"

Jisung hummed, wiping his mouth and beginning to sketch. This happened every once in a while, it was one of the things that made Jisung… well, Jisung.

"I'll clean up. Should I order takeout?" Seungmin asked, affection sneaking into his voice. He's a bit weird, but sometimes he was cute too.

"Thank you, please." Jisung replied absentmindedly, focused on the paper.

"I will. Okay." Seungmin concluded, fishing his phone out to call his favorite fast food handler.

To them, after all, it was nothing more than an average friday night.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

GOT 8X06 REVIEW

So this was it, the very last episode of Game of Thrones ever and I was amazed and shocked... at how much they managed to f*ck it all up. I know alot of viewers were already upset with season 8 but up until this point I mostly enjoyed it. However this last episode... well underwhelmed doesn’t really cut it but its the best I can come up with at the moment. If I could sum up this episode in 4 words it would be what was the point?  But anyway as there are spoilers I’m going to stick the rest under the cut so if you want to read on if you don’t that’s cool too lol. 

Bran the Broken 

So I’m going to start with the thing that bothered me the most. Bran is the King makes no sense at all. Like I get that Game of Thrones is suppose to subvert expectations and do the unexpected and be shocking and all that. But there is a difference between having a surprising twist and doing something that just doesn’t make sense at all. By all means shock me, surprise me but for the love of all the gods old and new please make sure it has some kind of logic within the story. Bran has spent the last 2 or so seasons going on about how he can’t be Lord of Winterfell or Lord of anything because he is the Three Eyed Raven now but I’m suppose to believe he can be King like what?! If he can’t be Lord of Winterfell and the Three Eyed Raven both then he sure has hell shouldn’t be able to be King and the Three Eyed Raven it makes no sense at all. 

Also I’m sorry but I half cracked up when Tyrion said the next Ruler should be someone with a great story and then chose Bran because in my opinion he had the least interesting story out of any of the remaining characters there. It was so uninteresting that 1) they cut him out completely for a whole season because all he was doing was sitting in a tree talking to an old guy and 2) Tyrion had to remind us what Bran’s story was and big it up for it to make sense. Like yes he survived a fall from a window then travelled beyond the wall and became the Three Eyed Raven as Tyrion said he was told he’d never walk again so he learnt to fly and yes his powers are interesting (if only they had explored them more). I’m not trying to take those accomplishments away from him. But when you compare it to others that have the potential to be the next ruler Bran’s is hardly the most exciting story. I mean Arya escaped King’s Landing, travelled with Gendry and Hot Pie, served as Tywin’s cup bearer all the while without him knowing he had Arya Stark right within his grasp, joined up with the Brotherhood without Banners, travelled with the Hound and went from hating him to learning from him to having affection for him, went to Braavos and became a faceless assasin, crossed numerous people of her list, came back to Westeros and killed the Frey’s, returned to Winterfell and helped take down Littlefinger, fought against the Army of the Dead, Killed the Night King then witnessed and survived the Sacking of Kings Landing. Sansa suffered under the Lannisters yet survived them, escaped to the Eyrie, learnt how to play the game from both Littlefinger and Cersei, married Bolton then escaped and got to the wall, helped rally the north behind Jon and gained the support of the Vale which led to the victory at the Battle of the Bastards, fed her rapist to his own dogs, ruled the North in a Jon’s absence and outsmarted Littlefinger. She had one of the most dramatic and well written character developments on the show. She went from a whiny little girl who had silly dreams of being a princess and a queen to a strong leader and badass Queen in her own right. Jon joined the Night’s Watch, travelled beyond the wall, infiltrated the wildlings, defended the wall against 100,000 wildlings with only 100 men, became Commander of the Night’s Watch, Fought at Hardhome and killed a Whitewalker, created peace between the Wildlings and the rest of the Kingdom, talked the wildlings into fighting with them for winterfell, became King in the North, brought together the greatest army the world had ever seen consisting of northmen, wildlings, the vale, Dany’s forces of the Dothraki, the Unsullied and two Dragons. Found out he was a targaryen prince, marched agaisnt Kings Landing to dethrone Cersei, Killed the mad Queen Daenerys. Hell even Gendry had a better story with starting out as a bastard son of a King, going on the run from the Lannisters, his adventures with Arya, being taken by the Red Woman, having his blood used in a ritual that took out 3 kings, escaping and hiding out right under the noses of those who had tried to kill him, travelling beyond the wall with Jon and fighting against the dead army, returning to winterfell and making all the weapons for the long night, fighting against the AOTD during the long night and then being legitimised. And yet I’m suppose to believe that Bran has the best story because he fell out the window then became a birdman. Sorry but not buying it; if you wanted me to buy it you should have spent some more time on his story.   

I know I’m ranting and being harsh but its frustrating because if it had been written properly then it could have worked. I get the idea behind the whole a great story is a powerful thing, its true people love a good story, a good story can inspire people to do great things. A great story can make a person immortal and live on through history. So I agree with Tyrion the next ruler should have a great story but they didn’t spend enough time on Bran’s for it to make sense for him to be the one chosen. The moment the writers were told Bran was the one they should have moved him more to the forefront. They didn’t need to have him as the main focus as such but at least have him a little more involved. Show his powers, more of his skills, show him in a position of leadership. I mean Bran hasn’t shown any skills that would suggest he’d be a good king or leader. He’s become too detached from people and most of the time it seems like he just doesn’t really care about anything. But my main issue that I just keep coming back to is that line about not being able to be lord of anything because he was the Three Eyed Raven. Like I get they didn’t want to give too many hints away that it was going to be Bran but they could’ve changed that line slightly and said something like I can’t be Lord of Winterfell I have a greater destiny to fulfill now. It’s vague enough that most would probably assume he was talking about being the Three Eyed Raven and they wouldn’t have betrayed and contradicted their own writing when a couple of seasons later he becomes King it would have been more of a oh so that’s what he meant when he said that moment. Instead it just felt like they weren’t sure who was going to be king so they just pulled a name out of the hat and it happened to be Bran. They might as well have made Pod king for all the sense it made. 

The final thing that bothered me about it was the title they gave him Bran the Broken. I mean really? They could have gone with Bran the Wise or Bran the All Seeing or Bran the Seer or even Bran the Raven. But no lets not focus on the gifts that allow him to see all or the wisdom that he has gained, the things that would make him a worthwhile leader no lets focus on him being in a wheelchair. I don’t know but something about that bothered me, it just didn’t seem right. 

The Council

Ok I’m not opposing the council as a concept I do think that having a council like that is a good idea. But the scene just didn’t seem to work for me. First off it did not seem at all realistic to me that when Tyrion said they needed to vote on a Ruler nobody other than Edmure Tully put themselves forward. Like really that’s not really in line with the characters. I thought it would be more like the election of the Commander for the Night’s Watch where you have a few candidates put forward and they all discuss who would be best, you know Davos could have put forward Gendry and talked about how he’s Robert’s son and knows the common folk, Lord Royce could’ve put forward Robin and tried to come up with something that would make him sound good, Arya could have put forward Sansa and then Tyrion Bran. But instead all these powerful Lords and Ladies just stared blankly at each other until one option was put forward to them. At least if more candidates had been put forward there would have been more interest and intrigue in the scene an element of ooh whose it gonna be. Instead it was just boring. 

Also and this isn’t really that important and is probably me being a petty b*tch but when Tyrion said ‘you’re the most powerful people in Westeros’ I did have a moment of really these guys are. Like Edmure Tully who spent all of his time either making a fool of himself or as a prisoner, Robin Arryn who was a spoilt little brat and did literally nothing but be others pawn and hide in the Eyrie, a Prince I’ve never seen before, two Lords I’ve never seen before, Yara who yes has some power and is usually pretty badass but lets be honest she spent the last 5 episodes hiding at the Iron Islands, Sam who at this point wasn’t really in any position of power, Davos who again doesn’t technically hold any position of power and as much as I love him Gendry whose been a lord for about a month and doesn’t know how to use a fork. These are the people who are deciding who gets to be the new Ruler. I was just sitting there thinking where were all these people when the Night King was attacking or when they were trying to overthrow Cersei the Tyrant. I mean I appreciate Yara’s loyalty to Dany now that she’s dead but where was she when Dany needed her forces to take Kings Landing hiding on the Iron Islands. I mean if we needed anymore signs that Westeros had gone to hell it was the realisation that these were the most powerful people in Westeros. It’s not the character’s faults its the bad writing but I feel like this scene would have had more of an impact if I actually cared about the people who were there. Which other than the Starks, Tyrion, Sam and Davos and Gendry I didn’t really know any of them let alone care about them. 

It Should Have Been Epic

See the thing is this was the final episode it should have been the biggest, most tense, exciting episode ever, I should have been on the edge of my seat the entire time. Instead I was bored. I got to the end of it and just thought nothing happened. It didn’t necessarily need a big battle but it needed more tension. It started out good with Tyrion, Jon, Davos and Arya walking through the city and us seeing all the Dothraki and Unsullied gathered. All of that was good it had tension and that anticipation of what’s going to happen that Game of Thrones is so good at. Then... well the best way I can describe it is that for me it seemed like between the scene where Jon kills Dany  and the meeting of the council in the Dragonpit there was a huge chunk of the episode missing. I almost felt like there should have been another episode in between those two moments. I mean Sansa mentions that there are thousands of Northmen at the city walls, well great I’d have liked to have seen that. Show me Sansa getting the news about Dany burning the city, Jon killing her and how the Unsullied now have both Tyrion and Jon captive. I made a prediction post where I said Sansa would hear about Tyrion’s arrest and march the Northmen south to demand his release and the thing is I was kinda right only two differences between my prediction and the show was 1) It was both Tyrion and Jon she marched the army down for and 2) We never actually got to see it we just got told about it. But I wanted to see it, I wanted to see her call the banners. I wanted to see her give a speech to her men getting them riled up and inspired ready to march down south and free their King. I wanted to see Sansa and Arya join up and discuss what they were going to do, for Arya to travel to Storms End and get Gendry’s support and for him to bring his men too, for Sansa to stop at the Vale on the way down and get Robin’s support and at River Run for her Uncle, I wanted to see her army get bigger and bigger as they travelled further South. I wanted to see the men arrive at the walls of Kings Landing and have it completely surrounded, to see the Unsullied on top of the walls looking down and to feel that tension. To see Grey Worm reacting to Jon killing Dany and arresting him, To see him reach out to Yara and the Prince of Dorne who had offered their support of Dany originally to come and avenge her once the Northern forces arrived, I wanted to see the Iron Fleet and the Dornishmen arrive and for the tension to grow with two sides forming those who want Jon and Tyrion free and those who want them punished for betraying Dany. I wanted to be shown Jon and Tyrion in their cells slowly losing hope and see the effect of what they had done, to see that it was playing on their minds that guilt and sorrow and hopelessness growing as time passed. I wanted to see the Starks then treaty for peace and bring the Council together and for them all to agree to sit on the council and give Jon and Tyrion a fair trail. We’d have got to the same place in that dragonpit but it would have been ten times more exciting and nerve wracking because you would have spent the episode wondering if it was going to come to a battle, whether Jon and Tyrion would make it out ok and still be wondering who would end up on the throne. It would have been Game of Thrones at its finest with a good mix of tension and action and political games. It also would have had the advantage of us getting to know those characters that were at the Council a little, maybe not much but it would have been better than what we got. 

But instead of them showing us all this happening we were just told and instead we got lots of images of people talking and walking and rearranging chairs. It was almost like the writers wrote 5 episodes carefully planning everything out and then ran out of steam by the 6th one, like they had ran a maratheon and were in the lead only to fall flat on their faces a few metres from the finish line. I just got this sense of ‘that will do, lets call it a day’. Which is heartbreaking because you could see that the actors put everything they had into this show, the crew put everything they had into this show, the editors and special effects crew put everything they had into this show, Ramin Djawadi put everything he had into the score for this show and I just feel like they were all let down in the end by the bad writing.

No Really What Was The Point? 

Ok so here are what my thoughts were directly after the episode

What was the point of Jon being resurrected? 

What was the point of Jon being a secret Targaryen? 

What was the point of the Azor Ahai prophecy and everything the red priestesses were doing? 

What was the point of Cersei’s prophecy from Maggie the Frog? 

What was the point of Gendry being Legitimised? 

Hell what was the point in bringing Gendry back in the first place? 

What was the point of the pack survives if all the Starks ended up alone? 

What was the point of you have a son I have a daughter if the houses were never joined? 

What was the point of Arya’s whole symbolism of choosing to live and her journey home if she was just going to isolate herself and sail off by herself?

What was the point of all the references to Sansa and Tyrion’s marriage (they brought it up in every episode) if they weren’t going to do anything with it? 

What was the point of Yara’s whole storyline of becoming Queen of the Iron Islands and having its independence if she wasn’t going to fight for it in the end? 

What was the point of Brienne’s vow to protect the Stark Girls and her storyline with Sansa if she was just going to end up as Bran’s Kingsguard instead of Sansa’s Queensguard?

What was the point of Jaime’s redemption arc when they just had him go back on it? 

What was the point of Cersei’s pregnancy? 

What was the point of Dorne? 

I’ll be honest this last episode left me with more questions than answers. Why didn’t Drogon kill Jon? Like I’m glad he didn’t but it still didn’t make sense. Where did he take Dany’s body? Is Jon going to live with the Wildlings or is he just escorting them then coming back. Is he the Lord Commander still? If he isn’t then who is? Did Gilly have a boy or a girl and did she name it Jon if it was a boy? How did Sam become a Maester and if there is still a Night’s Watch shouldn’t Sam have been sent back to the wall? I mean isn’t he technically a deserter? What happened to Nymeria is she still just wandering around the woods? What is the purpose of the Nights Watch now that the White Walkers are gone and peace has been made with the Free folk? Was Gendry on that boat? If he’s not then who’s going to teach him to use a fork? Where is Davos’ wife and is he ever going to see her again? What did Pod do to those whores? What happened when Tyrion took a honeycomb and an jackass into a brothel?  

This is a bit of a tangent but my whole family watches GOT and we usually ring around each other and talk about the show. So far only me and one (I have four) of my sisters have seen it. When she rang me right after seeing it she couldn’t even talk about it for good 10 minutes she was so mad and when she finally was able to form words her first ones were ‘I feel like I just wasted 10 years of my life.’ Followed by ‘I can’t believe they ended the greatest show in tv history with a sh*tty episode and by joking about f*cking boats and brothels’ and to be honest I’ve never related more to her in my life lol. But she too kept asking what was the point of ..? She’s also decided that the last season never happened.  

The Good Bits

Ok so I didn’t hate every moment of this episode there were some moments that I thought were good so I figured I’d do them last so that we can end on something sweet. 

The shot of Dany walking forward and it looks like Drogon’s wings are coming out of her back. That shot was beautiful. 

Tyrion finding the bodies of his brother and sister and crying over them had me weeping like a baby. Tyrion might be the God of Tits and Wine but Peter Dinklage is the God of Oscar Worthy Acting. He really knows how to do those emotionally powerful scenes. 

Ser Pod 

Bronn got his castle. 

Ghost got his cuddles. 

Sansa is Queen in the North and is slaying it. 

Jon saying goodbye to his siblings was also a very emotional scene for me. 

Arya and Jon’s scene outside Kings Landing was also sweet. 

Brienne filling in Jaime’s pages. 

Drogon trying to wake his momma really destroyed me. 

Grey Worm keeping his promise to Missandei and going to Naarth. 

My favourite moment in the episode though had to have been Tyrion throwing away his Hand of the Queen badge. I don’t even know why but it gave me chills.

Well there you go that’s it for now. I will at some point probably do an analysis of each of the characters story arcs and what I thought of where they all ended up we’ll see how I feel. At the moment I’m still a bit bummed out so. I know that there is a petition going around to re-write the last season but unfortunately that’s not likely to happen but it did get me thinking. As I said what this season really needed was more episodes to flesh it out and help it make more sense. I wonder how much footage ended up on the cutting room floor and whether there’s enough to do like an extended version of the season. They could release it on DVD or something like they do with some films.  

Also another thing that might appease me and other fans would be a spin off or sequel. Like they could do a spin off of Arya’s travels west of Westeros. And obviously there’ll be a scene where she goes below deck and there’s gendry or she looks back and there following the ship is a little row boat chasing after them. Just saying lol. But she could also write back to Sansa and Jon and Bran so although the focus would be on Arya we would still learn what’s happening with our characters back home obviously there’d be an invite to Sanrion’s 2nd wedding. Or even give us a ten years later spin off. I mean Tyrion did say ask me in 10 years to Jon. I don’t know what do you guys think? Did any of you enjoy the finale? Did any of you guess Bran as the King? If you had the choice would you like an extended version of this season or would you prefer a spin off?  

[isobel-thorm]

date + 17 (to distract)

As weekends went, Kate Flynn’s Saturday had been going appallingly badly. First, Burke had come back around, drunk off his ass and reminiscing about the old times. “Danny an’ you would’ve been marvelous, Lass. Made gorgeous babies, made a kingdom worth fighting for.’ He had always put more weight on promises made in the world of men for the Irish mob. Her father and Burke had promises their kids to each other down the line to make a bigger mob family, and now that Danny was gone it was all in shambles. But it didn’t stop Burke from trying to hold onto it.. Make it seem like he cared. Like he was her father-in-law. Like he wouldn’t have probably killed little Jay the second he reached his teenage years because now that the Flynns and Burkes wouldn’t marry into one family, they were still rivals. But now she didn’t have to worry about that. The moment she thought about that she realized how decidedly cruel that was. Thomas Burke deserved a lot of things, but not the short future that Fate had put in front of him. Not by those means, anyhow.

She had told him to sober up, hung up the phone and gone to wash dishes to get her mind off of the phone call and life, but it only amplified it. And before long she had stopped, near crippled at the feeling of just how alone she fucking was. She, Ciaran and their father had fled Ireland to run away from the Driscoll’s wrath, befriended the Burkes to save face, and then they lost their father to the Greccos, then the whole thing with Giorgi, and then they had lost Danny to the Marcanos, and now she was going to lose Burke, and they were all just so fucking alone in all this in a place she still wasn’t sure she should call home or not.

All she wanted to do was tuck Jay into bed, pour herself a whiskey and call it a night.

And then John Fucking Donovan happened.

It was embarrassing just how much of her life could be summarized with that statement lately.

She had been battling one last particularly bad grease stain when she heard her front door slam open.

She had reached for her chef’s knife the same moment Jay immediately started crying from off beside her; and she had to come with the terms that she was probably about to kill this intruder in front of her two year old son when the fear came screeching to a halt at a voice:

“Honey, I’m hooommmeeee!”

She froze and immediately dropped the knife into the sink. “Donovan?!” she turned around sharply. “Christ, you scared the shit out of- JOHN?!”

The man was standing in her doorway- or rather bleeding into it, considering the giant bloodstain on his side, seeping through his jacket.

Because he wouldn’t be John Fucking Donovan without an entrance that didn’t traumatize people. She was fairly grateful Jason was barely two and wouldn’t remember that particular sight.

John waved weakly at her. “Yeah, hi. You should see the other guys.”

She flew to his side, immediately assessing whatever damage had been done on her so-called best friends. “Who did this? What did you do?!” “Would you believe me if I said it was Lincoln’s fault?”

“Not a fucking chance.”

“Hey, don’t swear in front of the gremlin,” John chided. He put his hands up when Kate started to pull his jacket off. “Hey, easy on the goods, if you wanna get me naked all you have to do is ask me-OW!” he gaped at her when she slapped him before he could finish the sentence. “I got shot!” he protested, though he let her manhandle him back into the kitchen and up onto counter.

“I can see that,” Kate insisted. “What. Happened?”

“Some of Scaletta’s friends didn’t like me asking questions about that McNair broad disappearing.”

“You fucked with Vito’s people… without Lincoln around?”

“We’re all big boys, we can handle ourselves.”

“Clearly not!” “Vito and I are fine!” “Does he know that?!” “Clearly not,” John parroted. He flinched when she managed to get his jacket off and went to work unbuttoning his shirt. “Go figure, the big boss is the reasonable one.”

“John,” Kate chastised.

“Just call Marshall!”

She grimaced. “Do I have to?” Dealing with that basket case was hardly on her list of priorities any day.

“Well, either you deal with him or you watch your best friend in the whole wide world bleed out. Your choice.” When she tilted her head, considering, and he scowled. “That’s not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

She left for a few seconds and came back with a wet cloth and went to work cleaning the wound. After a few moments: “It’s a graze, you dall bastard! You’re fine!”

“It has to be there! I can feel it!”

“All in your head, then. For a man who saw his share of combat you sure are whiny about all of this.”

“Must be the bloodloss.”

She rolled her eyes and then prodded gently around the wound. “Fair point, but it could’ve been worse. You’ll do fine, I just have to finish cleaning it and dress it and then you’ll be good as new.”

John hummed after a moment. “What’s ‘dall’ by the way?”

“What?”

“You called me ‘dall’ bastard. You gettin’ Irish on me again?”

“I’m always Irish.”

“Yeah, but not in the voice. You do that thing where the accent and slang comes out when you’re all emotional. Awwww, you were worried about me. You do care!”

“Fuck you, Donovan.”

“Hey, next thing we know you’re gonna tell me that Jason really is nicknamed ‘Jay’ for me. Color me flatt-”

She surged up and kissed him full on the mouth, and John felt his heart skip a beat- or maybe that was over the bloodloss, too. Sure, it wasn’t the first time they had kissed,they had done it plenty of times when they had been checking in on each other and run into potential trouble and figured looking and acting like an amorous couple would be a decent deterrent. And it worked a lot. So this, when they were alone - well, that was something. And Hell, he was very into it. He’d be a damned fool not to be. He opened his mouth when she tilted hers and-

There was suddenly a wet, hot burning pain across his injured side that had him yelping -in a very manly fashion, thank you very much- into her mouth and trying to wriggle away when she held him still. When she finally let go his head snapped down towards his side to see she had poured rubbing alcohol over his side. The wound site was white and bubbling already. And then it hit him. That kiss was a distraction to shut him up or keep him still. She had fucking played him like a fiddle, full on femme fatale’d him for once compared to doing it to any other man around but him. “Oh you fucking minx. You can’t play with my heart like that. I’m not one of your Johns. Well, I guess I am, but I’m the John. capital J. The others are lower. And common.” He drew his lips together to muffle another groan when she dried what remained of the alcohol on his side and covered the wound with gauze and taped it up.

When she did that squinty grin of hers at him in response that usually meant trouble and his heart fluttered a bit again, and he promptly realized that he was in far, far deeper than he thought he was. He could blame it on the bloodloss again, but it was her door that he had decided to stumble through after getting shot. Oh, he was in trouble. Deep trouble.

At least it was his kind of trouble.

[stygian-omadas-epic-chronicles]

My thoughts on STYGIAN by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Book review)

The new installment in the Dark-Hunters series doesn't disappoint. It has everything I love about these novels: heartache, humor, great battles, and heartfelt down-to-the-earth moments. And, of course, a great love. 

I know that I sound like a broken record in my SK's book reviews but she always surprises me with her books and I love that. Stygian has its good share of surprises. Although, I admit that the plot twists aren't as mind-blowing as they had been in some of the earlier books. The story both takes you to the deepest pit of angst and makes you roar with laughter until your belly hurts. 

Also, it shows the Apollite/Daimon world like we've never seen before. We see how the betrayal that meant Apollo's curse to his own people warped the Apollite mindset, specially Stryker's. To tell the truth, I stopped hating Daimons a long time ago. Don't get me wrong, I don't like them killing and stealing human souls but I get why they do it. Being in their shoes, I don't know if I'd do the same.

And now, I get them even more. 

One of the things that I like the most of the book is that it fills some of the gaps left by the previous books and has amazing cameos of the characters we know, like seeing Wulf in passing before he became a DH.

Stygian is a fine example of Sherri's great talent and exceptional imagination. Once more, she takes us to this amazing world she has created during all these years and let us live in it for a while.

Not wanting to spoil anyone who hasn't read the book yet, I'm spilling all the juicy details below the cut.  It's really long and full of explicit spoilers so read at your own risk.

If you're still with me, let's dig in. I have so much to tell you.

URIAN

*sighs dreamingly* Urian... Uri... my Urimou.  This adorable man, gosh, you have to love him. Since birth, he's the cutest thing ever (well, being the biological son of who he is, I don't know why it surprises me. I guess that being raised by Stryker I thought he wouldn't be THAT cute but he's even more adorable). Anyway... what I was saying? Oh, yes, I died of cuteness overload with him.

He’s so passionate, so loving, loyal. He’s willing to do anything for those who he loves

His childhood wasn't easy. At all. Between the raw and devastating sense of treachery because of the curse that Apollite race had (and still has, rightly so) and Urian's own (inexplicable at the time) sense of not-belonging had a great impact on him. As it did the blatant discrimination of everyone toward him. Seriously, they had not even an ounce of compassion to feed him?!! Bastards all!! 

It didn't help either the tough love he got from his family, especially his brothers, which more often than not were a bunch of assholes (pardon the language but that’s what they were) with him like the rest of the people. However, there's something that can't be denied. Despite that brotherly animosity, Urian was a loved child. By his brothers and sister, by his surrogate mom and Stryker. They LOVED him and they had his back, no matter what. That makes me happy.

All that made him the amazing person that he is.

URIAN'S LOVE LIFE

It breaks my heart that because nobody would feed him, Urian fell into the claws of Xanthia. Marrying her out of necessity is so heart-breaking. My poor Urimou. He wasn't in love with her but he respected her as his wife and the ungrateful cow cheated on him!!!  And no less than with his brother-in-law! How dared she?! The only good thing that was worthy in that marriage was the children. Gosh, reading how much Uri loved those kids and they loved him was so great. 

Then, it came along Bethsheba, who was like a few steps up in the healthy relationship ladder but not nearly high enough. He wasn't in love with her either and she was a rebound. She cared about him but treated him as a trophy husband. She reminded me of Sera (Max's dragonswan) when the dragons first got married. Well, it makes sense. Both Sheba and Seraphina were Amazons and in their culture men were inferior.

It broke my heart the guilt Uri felt when Sheba was killed (without mentioning how awful her death was). He cares so much about everyone in his life and all he wants is protect them.  Watching them die and incapable of doing anything to stop it literally destroys him bit by bit.

It doesn't surprise me that after such bad experiences with marriages he took so long for getting married again. 

Centuries pass until he meets Pheobe at last. For what we knew from previous books, we all thought she was the love of his life, and yes he loved her very much but that relationship was condemned to failure from the beginning and not just for the obvious my-father-wants-you-and-your-entire-family-dead thing. 

If there's something (I think it's the only thing Phoebe is right in reproaching him at the end) is that he withheld things from her since the beginning. True, he told her that he was Stryker's son and all but he didn't tell her that he had killed her grandparents, which he should have.

And just like his 2 previous marriages, this one was likewise for necessity. This time it wasn't Urian the needy part but Phoebe. She needed him for feeding and sharing the souls because she wouldn't kill a human for them. Also, she needed him for both her own and her family's protection. Maybe, she didn't mean to but put him in a tough situation. He was split between protecting her and being his dad's second-in-command.

Urian also has a responsibility in this. He chose to lie to his dad. Granted, Stryker isn’t the most understanding person but as we learn later, Stryker might’ve supported him. Crazy, I know.

And there's another thing. I never thought Phoebe would be as petty as she was. So whiny. I agree with Stryker when he says she was immature and insipid. I think her lowest point was getting mad because Cass wanted Wulff with her when they get to Elysia. As if the case was reversed she would've done the same thing with Uri.  I know she was worried about him, rightly so, but I don't know... her attitude was spiteful. It riled me up.

I guess going trelos was helping her mood, to be honest.

And her hissy fits at the end and working with Apollo!!! Yeah, nope. I don't like Phoebe anymore.

On the other hand, I love Sarraxyn. I think she's perfect for Uri. I've been thinking that since she first appeared and paired her with Urimou without knowing she was truly his HEA. I don't know how I got that idea but it was back when I was reading Dragonbane or Dragonmark, I'm not sure. That's why the revealing of Phoebe being alive threw me off so bad at the end of Dragonsworn. It's been a year of wondering who Urian's true love was (In fact, I mentioned in this review). I love that Sherri chose Xyn. I'm over the moon because of that.

I love that Xyn wasn't willing to settle for less than what she deserved. She knew that as long Urian needed other women to feed and kill humans for their souls, their relationship wouldn't work. It didn't have to do with the love they felt for each other but their circumstances. I think they handled it the best possible having only a yearly rendezvous instead of forcing things, which would have destroyed them both.

Besides, if they had stayed together, Urian wouldn't have met Phoebe, Stryker wouldn't have cut his throat, and neither Ash would have saved him and turned him into a no-daimon.

I can't wait to see more of Xyn and Uri in the coming books.

APOLLYMI

One of the most delightful things about this book is how much we see of her. As I've repeated a gazillion times already, I love Polly and, honestly, now I love her even more. The whole grandma/grandson thing going on between her and Urian is simply amazing. Because that's what she is to him. Twice his grandmother, actually. First, because of Stryker, right. But also because of Styxx. She officially adopted him too and we know thanks to the Chronicles of Nick that Styxx will eventually call her Matera. He's not there yet but he will.

My goodness, she loves Urian so much. We get to see her most kind side with him, especially when he was really young. I just adored the scene when she invites him to see the sunrise in the pool in her garden. 

Of course, she wouldn't be her if she didn't have a plan to use him eventually but wow, you better not harm Uri or you'll feel her wrath. 

I laughed so hard when Apollymi appeared almost at the end when Uri was seeking Phoebe and she says that if it wasn't because the lot of them were there because of Urian she would have split them into oblivion.

That's who she is. She protects fiercely those who she loves.

STRYKER

Okay, I officially nominate this man for the best dad in history award. Even if he cut Urian's throat. Don't care. Since I read Silent Night, I knew he had a heart but damn! Not like this! 

I have to thank Apollymi for choosing him as Urian's surrogate dad because I don't think there's anyone else who could have done a better job. Well, except for Styxx, of course. 

When Stryker says that Urian is his pride and joy is because he truly is. The fact that he didn't kill Phoebe and kept her alive all these years because he couldn't harm what his son loved is astonishing. As it is that he cut his son's throat not out of anger as he made everyone believe but out of pain, in a foolish and reckless desire to protect both Urian and himself from further heartache. Like he said, he cut his throat but couldn't kill his son.

I'm so glad that he and Urian are in so much better terms now. That fills my heart with joy because, despite everything that has happened, Urian loves Stryker as much as Stryker loves Urian.

CRAZY FAMILY

If we thought only Urian's adoptive Apollite/Daimon family was psychotic and crazy, well, his blood family isn't too far behind. Oh, my goodness! I laughed so, but SO hard the scene when Ash comes back after sending Uri to Kalosis and Styxx is waiting for him. That was hilarious. Seriously, I just remember about it and I start laughing out loud.

I think Acheron needs to start thinking before acting, especially when his family concerns. I mean Styxx and Beth overprotection gets overboard but if there's anyone who could understand where that comes from is Ash. And if the situation was the opposite and Styxx would've sent Katra to some hellish place without telling his brother, Ash's angry fit would have been even worse. 

Too funny is seeing Beth in Mama bear mode. So it is Styxx trying to calm her down before she attacks Stryker and then Apollymi.

The moment with those 2 that melt my heart was when Stryker shared his memory of Urian as a child and Styxx declared that from now on they're brothers. See! That's why I adore Styxx, my baby!

Now, they all are a crazy, amazing and big family. 

OTHER FAMILY MATTERS

Seeing Urian's point of view as he got to know Styx was amazing (and made me cry all over again because, you know, it's Styxx and all the feels). In conclusion, Urian is me when it comes to defending his best friend/dad. My favorite scene on Styxx is when Urian bitchslapped Ash for how he treats his twin brother and, in this book, it got better with the new details. I won't get tired of reading that. Ever.

A note on Urian having children:

Let's be honest. Urian asking Apollymi to make him infertile didn't work as he planned. I mean, I understand his point of not bringing children to this world to suffer the curse and watch them die but he loved Geras and Nephele as his, so he had the heartbreak he was trying to avoid anyway. The same thing happened when he adopted his nephews and nieces later on.

Urian's exact words to Apollymi when he asked her to take his ability to procreate were "Can you please make it so that I will never father any while I’m an Apollite?” but he's not an Apollite or Damion anymore. Does that mean he can have children now with Xyn if they wish so? 

RANDOM STUFF

I love Ruyn Widowmaker. I need to know so much more about him. Like, right now!

I never thought I would cry for the death of a Daimon but oh, boy, how I did! Several times and bitterly.

Urian using Moppet as a nickname for Wulff is the funniest thing ever. Does Wulff know that? I think not or he'd have staked Uri LOL!!

I love seeing CoN bunch in the main series.  Shadow, Kaziel, Aeron, Brynna. It makes me crave Cyprian's books even more. Gah! I wish SK would say the release date already.

And, of course, I'm so excited for the truce between Daimons and Dark-Hunters. I think it's more than necessary now than ever because Helios joined the list of baddies to defeat as if we didn't have enough with Apollo, Zeus, Noir and Azura, Kessar, Morgen.

NEXT

We have the title (Queen of All Shadows) but not the description. But for the epilogue we can guess is Xander/Brynna story. I can't believe we're having a DH/human pairing for the next book!! So good to be back to the roots. It's been a really long time since the last novel, which if I'm not mistaken it was Dark Side of the Moon with Ravyn and Susan. Because even if Devil may cry and No Mercy are about a DH, Sin wasn't truly one and Katra is far from a human; and Samia was indeed a huntress but Dev is definitely NOT human. 

And after that, we'll have Shadow's book!!! Shadows Within. That hasn't a description either and I can't do a wild guess who his HEA is.

What I like about this line up is that connects a lot with the chronicles of Nick and we could get the much-needed details about what the hell went/is going/will go on that front. I'm desperate to know.

I know there's a million of details I'm forgetting but I think I've covered the most important things. Anyone who wants to talk about the book, feel free to message me on this blog or on my main one ( @green-arrows-of-karamel  ). I'd love to know what you all think about it.

Pax.✌

PS: Wait for my favorite quotes from the book that I’m about to post too 😊

[blackrosesfanfic]

Chapter 243

Alex

Cammie is so annoying to me. I walk into her room. Her and Caden are sitting on the bed staring at one another. Caden rolls over on his stomach looking at me. He picks his body all the way up then he just drops. He starts screaming and kicking his feet. Cammie ignores him.

"Why that little shit acting like that?" I ask.

"I told him to stop making faces at me. Looking at me like he think I'm nasty. So now I guess he gonna tell on me."

Trey walks pass me into the room. "What's wrong with you?"

Cammie looks at Caden. "He was crawling."

"Crawling?" Trey says picking him up and cuddling him.

"I have a question." I state.

Cammie rolls her eyes. "I don't have any clothes for you. I don't keep baby clothes."

"Bitch, I don't want your hand me downs."

"Since when?"

I suck my teeth. See annoying. "Nobody even got time for you. Fine. I'll go ask that stupid number girl. She stuck up."

Cammie sucks her teeth. "You pregnant people planned this? What's your question?"

"I feel like I'm on fire. What can I do? You ever felt like that?"

"Got a fever?"

I shrug. "No."

Cammie walks over to me. "Maybe you on fire."

"Stop being funny. Google says it could be an infection which could kill my baby."

"Stay off Google." She snaps rubbing my arms. "You don't feel hot. Go rest. Being pregnant can make you feel the change in temperature easily."

"But I sat outside all day yesterday. I was fine yesterday."

She kisses my cheek. "Welcome to motherhood. Each hour will be different."

I blow. "We once planned to have our kids together."

"This one will not be grown when you have a baby. One year apart barely. We having kids together. I'm just not pregnant with your ass."

"God has a plan." Trey says. "I thank him."

I roll my eyes at Trey. "Thank him away from the ledge."

"Damn." Trey retorts jerking his head in my direction.

I gasp. "Oh my baby gonna come out ugly. Was it too soon for that?"

"He not Chris." Cammie says dismissing it. "So you gonna behave for 9 months?"

"Not jokes about God or his work." I nod.

Cammie giggles. "Lonnie praying for everybody."

I suck my teeth. "Anyway. The number after six said I might be horny. How true is that?"

"Oh no." Cammie laughs. "You gonna know about that. No guessing. I'm so gonna love you and Amber both being pregnant without me. See what I go through."

"I'm about to have a good pregnancy." I say moving from her. "Get your witchcraft off me. Charleston's finest."

Cammie walks away. "Go hoe. Bye."

"Mommy?" Lane cries walking into the room.

"Not ready for that."

"You got 3 years before you get here." Cammie says checking Lane's forehead. "Why are you hot again? Go to your daddy."

Trey leans off the bed grabbing Lane and pulling him over to him against his will. Lane breaks down dropping his weight before getting on the bed. I chuckle walking out. I'm not ready to fight a kid. I go looking for Jamaal.

"We will be there in the morning. Yes, sir." He says buttoning up Lexi's bag. She was spread out on the floor.

"I leave one scene to another." I say. "What broke your kid?"

Jamaal puts his phone down. "She is upset that we are leaving tonight but Jordan is leaving in the morning after going to Cammie's house. They all have big ass houses close by."

"It's not fair." Lexi whines.

"I don't raise you according to what's fair. Life not fair."

Rollie walks into the room followed closely by Jordan. "Jamaal."

Jamaal looks at him like how the fuck you know my name. "Yeah."

"Lexi can fly back to Atlanta with us. I mean if you don't mind. It's no problem for us."

"Yes!" Lexi jumps off the floor.

Jamaal cuts his eyes at Lexi. He looks at Rollie. "No, offense but..."

"Yeah." Rollie says.

"She doesn't spend the night with people. She has only been with my mother or me."

Rollie nods. "I understand. We'll try again later."

"But Daddy." Lexi whines falling back out.

"Go get your things from the bathroom like I told you."

Lexi whines crawling to the bathroom. "I'm going to miss seashell hunting in the morning."

He rolls his eyes at her. I chuckle sitting on the bed.

"You might be being a bit overprotective." I whisper. "They aren't child molesters."

"Aye, Cammie said she doesn't mind." Rollie said coming back into the room.

His mother comes in behind him. "Lexi, are you ready, Baby?"

Lexi comes running out the bathroom with an arm full of stuff. She dumps it out in her bag then runs up to Debra. She hugs her tightly.

"He is?" Debra says then starts whispering as they walk away.

"You need a longer minute?"

Jamaal leans on the suitcase. "I don't feel comfortable leaving my daughter."

"They get what they want one way or another." Rollie shrugs. "I hate for you to lose to Gwen in front of your daughter. You want me to send her in here? So you can tell her yeah in your own words?"

"Yeah." I nod.

Rollie turns walking. "Lexi! Lexi, your father needs to talk to you for a second."

Jamal blows. "I didn't say yeah."

"Nobody gonna hurt your daughter around here. They trade kids for a living."

"Aye, Jamal." Chris says walking into the room. "You mind if Lexi stays. My mother wants to take the girls to a party. Some over the top little girls thing... I forgot the little girl name."

"It has nothing to do with seashells in the morning?"

Chris makes a face. "Seashells man?"

"Yes." Lexi says barely coming in the room. "Chris are you going to eat ice cream with us?"

"No."

She looks at Jamaal. "Daddy? Daddy hurry."

"You don't have to leave with us tonight."

"Yes!" She starts to run away.

"But!" He yells. She comes back with her eyes big. "Call and ask your grandma."

She smiles. "Later right? When I get back?"

"Yeah."

"That's nothing to her."

Jamaal sighs. "Because when she does wrong it's on me."

"Life." I shrug. "I'm about to take a cold shower. Have my things ready will you good boy. Such a dear."

"So fake."

Trey

Lane wiggles in the bed. He is mad that I made him take his medicine like a big boy and not like Caden. He not about to start acting like a baby because his mama wants to breastfeed him and make sure he feels important. I draw the line at pacifier. It will mess up his teeth, his speech, and make him fucking whiny. I pinch his butt. He laughs. He not really mad. He throws the cover off him.

"Stop, Daddy." He snaps. "I mad with you."

"Son. I didn't touch you."

He grabs his butt. "You do this to me. Stop."

I pinch his butt. "This?"

"Stop!"

"Son." I frown. "Yell at me again."

He blinks at me. "You say do it?"

"Cammie!"

"No." He whispers. He jumps forward covering my mouth. "No."

Cammie walks into the room. "Tremaine, did you call me?"

"No." Lane whispers then falls out on the bed crying.

"Daylan, go to your grandma." Cammie snaps. "Take your butt to her right now."

He rolls off the bed crying. He looks at me like he wanted my help. I look up at Cammie. She was making a face at me daring my ass to save him. He was playing until I started bothering him. April comes to the door.

"Awh, my baby. Come on. Let's call, Mama. Let's call and tell on all these mean people."

He runs to her then. He liked that idea very much. Not enough to stop crying.

"Lane is going to Mama Rose house. I'm tired of his shit. Let her nurse him back to health."

"How are you feeling, Baby?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes. "I'll be fine."

"But how you feeling?"

"Smothered. I'm ready to be in my house away from this chaos."

"We can leave tonight." I say.

She blows. "I'm going swim... I mean I'm going paddle boarding with Chris tonight."

"Tonight? In the dark?"

"He has this event with some guide. Tremaine, not in the dark dark. They have glowing boards."

I frown. "Nobody said nothing to me."

"I'll call and fuss at Chris for not personally inviting you." She puts her phone to her ear. "Chrissy, how insensitive of you not to invite my husband?"

She grins taking the phone down. She walks over to the bed.

"Tremaine I told him okay."

"You didn't."

Chris walks into the room. "Aye, Trey..."

"Nigga don't come in here with that shit."

"I mean... we just planned it." He shrugs looking at Cammie. "I thought your wife would..."

"Chris for real."

Chris throws his arms up. "So we can just cancel it."

"Yo, nigga, for real. I didn't say shit!"

"Huh?"

I shake my head. "I ain't say shit about your paddle boarding."

"She said I was being insensitive."

"Chris man."

"Cammie always fucking with somebody. I was thinking you were really mad about the shit. Like I'm... I don't know."

"Aye, Chris." Cammie says. "Caden wants to go with you to your room."

Chris leaves out. "Not Chuckie's damn seed. Redheaded bastard."

"My damn baby ain't no bastard!" Cammie spats.

"Move Chris!" Lane cries. "Stop!"

Chris puts Lane down on the floor by the door. "This one too."

"Mommy, I go to Daddy? Mommy?" Lane says standing up from the floor.

"Did you talk to Grandma Rose?"

"Yes."

"What did she tell you?"

He watches her then say. "I go to Daddy?"

"What did Grandma Rose say to you?"

"Nothing." He shrugs. "I go to Daddy?"

Cammie cuts her eyes at me. "Your daddy is right there, Daylan. Go to him. I don't see why your butt can't go to him and talk to me at the same time. I don't know why you think you so smart. Lane, what did your grandma say?"

Lane crawls on the bed then starts crying. Cammie sucks her teeth then walk out of the room. Lane gets under his blanket that's beside me and stops crying. I rub what I think his back is. He doesn't move or anything. A few minutes later Lonnie comes into the room.

"Lane?" He says. "Cammie said Lane was in here."

"He is." I say pointing to the cover.

Lonnie chuckles. "I'll put his juice and chips up for him."

"Thank you. "

Cammie walks in as Lonnie walks out. "You didn't find Lane?"

"He is having a moment I believe or sleep."

"I gave him medicine so probably sleep." Cammie nods. "Tremaine, your son went in the room and just sat on the phone crying. He wouldn't stop crying to talk to Rose. How fucking bad is that?"

"Spoiled."

Cammie takes her shirt off. "Are you going to go paddle boarding?"

"If I have the energy."

"Well, take a nap. I need you to save me if I fall into the dark water. Okay?"

"Okay, Jayla."

"Okay, Tremaine."

"You need to fucking learn how to swim."

She mocks me. I chuckle. The therapist said I need to make some goals. My goal is to get wrapped all the way up into my family. Find out who my wife really is and what her family is really about. My family and God is my goal.

"Tremaine." Cammie whispers. "With your Caden face. I love you."

"I love you, Jayla."

She walks away on the phone. "I was listening. I was."

I smile. She wasn't.

[tvdversefanfiction]

Origins of Magic

Warnings: I do not own the rights to the television series “The Originals”, “Vampire Diaries”, or “Legacies” and do not own any of the characters within the TVD universe, I am making no profit from this and have no intention for this fanfiction series except for readers to enjoy. 15+ Mild to Strong Violence, Strong Language, Witchcraft, sexual scenes, and sexual references. F/F, F/M, M/M, Other.

CHAPTER SIX HERE

Chapter 7 - Home (Part One)

MANY YEARS AGO…following the fall of the world’s first two covens; one of light magic and one of dark, the supreme witch of the dark coven, otherwise known as The Midnight Coven, did not want to admit defeat, knowing that if she could reunite The Midnight Coven then she would dominate the world especially now the light coven, otherwise known as sisters of the light, had broken up. Sapphire Black, The Midnight Coven’s supreme witch wanted to act quickly in a bid to not only be considering the queen of dark magic but the queen of all magic. However, the powerful witch underestimated one thing when planning world domination…her two eldest children. Sapphire’s eldest child Annabella Black did not take to the darkness within the power as easily as her younger brother Magnus, or at least not at first. Annabella was an idealist who believe the splitting of the word’s first covens could lead to peace amongst all witches and with much pestering she managed to get her brother Magnus to agree to her plans for potential peace. The only obstacle which stood in between Annabella and Magnus’ plans for peace among all witches and their hopes for the younger siblings Kayne and Primrose not be raised in a warzone like they did, was none other than their mother Sapphire Black and so Sapphire’s eldest daughter and eldest son quickly proved to be her undoing.

YEARS LATER…Primrose and Kayne were now all grown up and proving to be quite difficult to handle and although Annabella and Kayne managed to hide their guilt over their mother’s deaths from their followers the kingdom in which they built may have been magical but it was far from perfection. Annabella noticed the cruelness within Primrose, how she thrived with the darkness in which her power came from and how much her younger sister reminded them of their mother, she could see both good and bad in Kayne but feared he would go the same way as Primrose and worst of all for the eldest Black sibling was realizing her idealism for peace was no longer part of her brother Magnus’ plans. In the years following their mother’s death, Magnus and his siblings had not only not managed to stop the witch wars but many of their own kind had fallen victim to humanity and their fear of the unknown. Magnus had watched as many of his followers, friends and even foes were hung, drowned, thrown to their deaths or burned at the stake and these acts of violence only pushed Magnus further and further away from wanting peace. Annabella knew her brother Magnus’ heart had hardened in the years since the two of them murdered their mother, she knew her brother now wanted war not peace just like their mother once did and so she decided in order for the greater good of witch kind it was time to deliver Magnus Black the same fate as their mother. Primrose did not take much convincing to join Annabella in her treachery, having always had something of a rivalry with Magnus however, it was Kayne who took a lot of convincing to betray his own brother but eventually both Kayne and Primrose did what Annabella wanted, like they always reluctantly did and together the three Black siblings murdered their brother. Only this time Annabella did not get away from her second murder with clean hands, as the followers of the royal witch family soon began to suspect her and her siblings leading to them turning against their rulers and burning down their kingdom which forced Annabella, Kayne and Primrose to go on the run as they found themselves hiding out within a castle in the woods for many centuries until they were forgotten by their own kind.

AS THE CENTUIRES PASSED…it became clearer and clearer to Bella Black that her younger sister Rose Black had potential to prove herself an even more wicked witch than their mother, although by then Bella’s desire for witch peace had dwindled as she found herself only growing more and more tired by her siblings until one day the Mikaelson’s visited the castle in the woods which ultimately led to the three surviving Black siblings deciding to go their own way. Bella took to a life of peace choosing to love nature, nurture it and lived mostly in small cottages around the world as the centuries continued to pass, while Rose often put herself to sleep for large periods of time to avoid aging and often caused great travesty when awake, as Kayne chose to magically drain the youth from others to stop himself aging while finding himself beginning his life over and over again, failed romance after the next failed romance which would often lead to Kayne getting his hands bloody. The Black siblings were never meant to live forever just like every witch who would eventually succumb to death embracing both the beginning an end of their stories but it was through spite, determination, stubbornness, hatred and the royalty attitude which remained in them all that they refused to finish their stories but sadly for one of the three witches an end was coming whether they wanted it or not….

MODERN DAY “We are gathered here today for the funeral of one of my siblings…which sibling depends entirely on how you three fare depends entirely on these next few minutes.” Magnus announced, as his three siblings Bella, Kayne and Rose awoke to find themselves each tied up to a different plank of woods with witch proof chains, unable to move or cast a spell to free themselves, as they each looked around to notice they were in the woods somewhere. “Let them go Magnus your fury is with me not them!” Bella screamed at her brother, urging for him to let their younger siblings free. “You do not get to make demands anymore sister!” Magnus snapped at her. “You have been barking your orders for far too long…it is my time to be in control!” “Oh, please if you were meant to lead this family then you would have done by force centuries ago but instead you wound up dead at our hands.” Rose told her oldest brother. “You have never been able to live up to our family’s legacy and you will never will.” “Rose, please do not continue to be a bitch until our dying breaths!” Kayne warned the youngest Black sibling, before turning his attention to his brother. “Magnus…you do not want to do this…I know we betrayed you and we crossed lines no family should ever cross but you can be better than us by forgiving us, letting us free and allowing us all to try and be a family again.” “Poor naïve little brother you always were the most stupid person I ever had the displeasure of knowing with your desperation to be loved…so bloody whiny even as a baby you just continued to cry and bloody cry.” Magnus cruelly mocked his younger brother. “You have been played by your own emotions time and time again allowing people to manipulate, degrade and destroy you…you are a disgrace to this family’s legacy!” “Oh, spare me the entitlement you miserable bastard! Kayne is everything you just said and more but at least he has loyalty to his family,” Rose argued with Magnus, eager to stand up for her brother Kayne. “Death is not exactly permanent right now so take your best shot and make it bloody good because the minute we are able we will destroy you!” “I love the loyalty you three seemed to share,” Magnus laughed at his younger sister before turning to focus on his older sister Bella. “We shared that once Annabella, we were once so close we plotted against our own mother…do you want to tell them what we did to mummy dearest or shall I?” The look of pure fear across Annabella’s face was met by a silence that admitted great guilt, the silence of the witch acting as a confirmation for Magnus to reveal their guilt to their younger siblings. “Annabella and I killed our dear mother because she believed…and eventually made me believe…the world would be nothing but death and violence if we allowed our mother to live.” Magnus revealed to a stunned Kayne and Rose. “Liar!” Kayne shouted, refusing to belief Magnus’ claims. “Bella believed witches and humankind could live in peace among each other, she believed we could all live-in peace if we got rid of our mother who our dear sister saw as nothing more than an obstacle.” Magnus confessed. “It was not like that,” Bella argued with him, “I did what was right our mother wanted to be queen and she was willing to massacre everything in her way in order to get her self-created crown.” “So, you killed her…” Rose said in a state of shock. “You killed our mother for wanting to be the royalty she was!” “Yes,” Magnus answered for Bella. “And yet the world continued to grow more violent even after our mother’s death, witches were warring with witches and humans were torturing and murdering our kind…mostly their own who they believed were our kind but still the world had become nothing but death and violence.” “I only wanted peace, for us all to be safe…mother had created so many enemies that if we did not die at her hands we would have fallen at the hands of one of her many foes.” Bella told Kayne and Rose, hoping for them to understand her actions. “It was my job as a sister to look after you all and it was my calling as a witch to protect this earth.” “And what a god-awful job you did of that…monsters roam freely, creatures that should not exist ravage this world and if anything, there is eviler today than there has ever been.” Magnus informed his sister. “We killed our mother for a better world and when I realized that was never going to happen you convinced our siblings to help you murder me!” “You had become just as wicked as our mother! You wanted to wipe out the entire human race, if I did not do something there would be nothing standing to this day because your hatred would have wiped out everything including this family!” Bella attempted to justify herself for murdering her brother Magnus. “I always knew you were a clueless cheerleader for humanity sister, but I never knew you would put them before your own family.” Rose told her older sister, stunned by the recent revelations. “We did not question you when it came to killing our brother because we never questioned you…we believed you had our backs no matter what!” “I do!” Bella replied to her youngest sibling, begging for Rose to believe her. “All I have ever done is look after you and Kayne.” “Well that is not entirely true is it now?” Magnus chimed in. “The dead get to see a lot when nobody realizes their watching…” “Bella, what is he talking about?” Kayne questioned his older sister. “Before we left our home that we had spent centuries hiding from the world…” Bella reluctantly began to confess. “I considered killing you both…but only for a moment!” “Only for a moment!” Rose shouted. “You bitch, after everything we have been through together you were going to murder us like we were nothing!” “I feared you would wind up being eviler and more heartless than Magnus and our mother!” Bella admitted to Rose before preparing to confess Kayne. “And you Kayne…well I could see that loving heart you once had hardening and your hate for me begin to grow.” “Of course, I began to hate you, you forced my hand into killing my only brother and then kept us in hiding for centuries!” Kayne shouted at Bella. “But I still loved you because I believed in you…” “Annabella you assume each of us are more like mother than you, but it is you who reminds me most of her.” Magnus told his sister Bella. “Mother may have wanted to rule this wretched world but you are so damn desperate to save it you have not got a single connection in the world that you would not sacrifice for your cause.” “That is not true!” Bella screamed at the top her lungs, denying her brother’s accusations before focusing on her youngest siblings. “I considering killing you but I could not go through with it, I was there as use grew from babies to adults, I helped use harness your powers, I raised you after our mother’s death and I have loved use more than I have ever loved anything or anyone!” “You always claimed I was the family’s monster, mother’s double and most likely to follow in Magnus’ footsteps but the truth is you are the poison slowly hacking away at us all peace by peace until there is nothing left for you to manipulate or murder.” Rose said to her sister, while giving her a look of both disgust and hatred. “I admit I was a fool with the world on my shoulders back then, but I am not that person anymore.” Bella cried. “I would do anything for you or Kayne…even if you never believe a word, I say again please believe that!” “You better hope Magnus does away with us all because if not the moment I am released from these chains I will kill you!” Rose threatened her older sister, furious at her for her betrayals and ready to make Annabella pay the ultimate price. “We made a mistake killing our brother,” Kayne said, with a look of heartbreak on his face, devastated by his sister’s betrayal. “I second Rose on doing away with you once and for all Annabella.” Magnus stood there taking great delight in his siblings’ misery, especially the part in which Primrose and Kayne learned the truth about their eldest sister Annabella and watched with glee as they each declared war on their eldest siblings, but a simple rivalry was nowhere near enough to feed his lust for vengeance, in fact the second born Black sibling was only just beginning. “Here is the thing dear sister...” Magnus began to say as he walked towards his sister Bella with a sinister look on his face. “I would kill you now but that would just end your suffering…instead I am going to let you decide who deserves to die…it is what you seem to be best at doing…so decide Annabella, do I kill our brother Kayne or the baby of the family Primrose?”

TO BE CONTINUED...

[deanssweetheart23]

Downsized

Title: Downsized

Summary: You always knew life with the Winchesters was crazy. But when Sam brings back home a three-year-old Dean, you begin to question your own sanity...

Author: deanssweetheart23

Characters: Dean Winchester x reader, Sam Winchester

Word count: 2163

Warnings: Some language. Fluff and crack. Crack and fluff. Mentions of sex because Dean’s a cheeky bastard. That’s all I think.

Author’s Notes: This is my submission for @trexrambling and @wheresthekillswitch “Crack Challenge”. Ladies, thank you so much for letting me participate, this has been one very interesting ride. 

Special thank you to my amazing twin @ravengirl94 for coming up with a very important (and hilarious) detail about this. And for putting up with my whiny self. She’s a hero, really.

Now, my prompt for this was “I’ll give you three seconds to stop doing that” and is included in bold in the text below. Honestly, this is my first time doing something like this but I think I like what I’ve got. 

Without further ado. Enjoy <3 

16:30

Silence.

You hated the silence.

You’ve always hated it, ever since you were a kid, but now, after you’ve spent years of your life filled with noise and cries and laughter, filled with arguments and bickering about whose turn it was to go for a supply run, or short, angry snarls and whispered promises in a dark room when it was just you and Dean, that absence of sound, of speech, made everything worse.

16:45

You stared at the clock on the wall and bit on your bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

Something was wrong. You could feel it. You didn’t know how, or why –the details weren’t important anyway. What really mattered was that Dean hadn’t called since that morning and that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach that just wouldn’t go away.

Maybe you should just-

The sound of the bunker’s door being opened then closed interrupted your thoughts and, before you knew it, you were practically running towards the library, eyes wide and senses alert, until your leg gave out and you stumbled into the doorframe, muttering expletives under your breath. 

“Hi there, Y/N.” Sam greeted you with an amused smile. “I’m glad you’re so happy to see me.”

“Oh, shut up. I was worried. How did the hunt go? Why didn’t you call? Are you injured? Where is-”

“Hey,” the youngest Winchester chuckled, all delight and waggishness, “one question at a time, champ.”

Rolling your eyes, you raised an eyebrow in suspicion; despite his playfulness and confident swagger, you could see the way his smile seemed a bit too forced and his forehead puckered just a tiny little bit.

“Where is Dean?”

“Um,” he started, rocking back and forth on his heels, “about that.”

“Sam.” you tried again, a bit more forceful. “Where is Dean?”

And then, right before he could actually reply, a little kid with blonde hair and green eyes gripped on Sam’s leg and swam into view, wearing what was supposed to be one of Dean’s shirts and, oh, God, this was not happening.

“Is that-”

The little boy -were you supposed to call him a boy?- shrugged and scratched the back of his neck nervously, lips quirking up in that smirk you knew all too well.

“Hi ya, sweetheart.”

“Oh my God! What the –who did that to you?” you chanted with a gapped mouth stare.

“Witch. She threw some kind of poop smelling juice at me.”

You nodded, head titled to the left.

“But that doesn’t –why didn’t she get both of you?”

“Well-”

“Because, unlike Dean, I didn’t call her old.” Sam deadpanned, jutting his chin.

“Is it-”

“It’s not permanent, Y/N. You don’t have to worry. My idiotic brother will be back to normal in a couple of days.” he threw over his shoulder as he headed for the staircase.

“Hey.” Dean whined in offence, narrowing his eyes at him.

A snort.

“’S okay, little one.” You cooed, walking towards the green-eyed man. “He’s just being mean.”

“Little one? Really, Y/N?”

“’M sorry, D. It’s just… It’s funny.”

“It’s not funny.” He groaned, folding his tiny arms in front of his chest.

“It’s a bit funny.” You insisted, crouching down to be at his eye level. “Okay, c’mon, don’t be like that.”

“I had to let Sam drive Baby, Y/N. Baby.”

“You’re being just a tad dramatic, don’t you think?”

“Oh, my brother’s being a real drama queen.” Sam chuckled, shaking his head.

“Bitch.”

“Jerk.”

“Okay. Enough.” You crowed, hands on your hips. “Dean. Stop acting like you’re a three-year-old. You might look like one but you’re not.” You scolded, trying hard not to laugh at his adorable, childish pout.

“And you, Samuel Winchester.” You started, brandishing a finger at the hazel-eyed man that had began to walk away. “Where do you think you’re going?”

A pause. Eyebrows raised in question.

“Um, my room?”

“Don’t think so, little miss sunshine.” 

Both brothers looked at you in puzzlement then but you only smiled, and took Dean into your arms.

“You, Dean Bean and I are going shopping.”

You returned home a couple of hours later, bringing with you toddler outfits, supplies and a couple of new books Sam had insisted on buying -probably because he enjoyed seeing Dean roll his eyes every time an old lady told you what a great son you two had.

“Well,” the hazel-eyed man started as he set the bags in the library. “That wasn’t that bad.”

“Not that bad?” Dean gasped in disbelief, voice almost a growl. “Not that bad? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m wearing a T-shirt with Winnie the frigging Pooh on it.”

“Hey. I like Winnie.” You droned, pouting. “And besides. You look kinda cute in it.”

“I’m not cute.”

“You’re always cute.” You objected, smiling that cute smile you knew he loved.

Narrowing his eyes the size of half dollars, he turned around and headed for the kitchen, muttering something about coffee and how it was too late for this shit to himself.

So, you followed him quietly, glaring daggers at Sam every time he let out a chuckle at his brother’s khaki pants and failed attempts to reach the counter.

And then it happened.

He snapped.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” he fumed, jaw set in a hard line as he punched the bottom of the counter. “I can’t even reach the top self.”

You sighed.

Part of you wanted to laugh because the whole situation was just too much, but, at the same time, you hated to imagine what this was like for him.

Dean had never been good at being vulnerable or asking for help. He’d never been good at letting others take care of him or at not being in control, so you could only imagine how overwhelming everything felt.

Walking closer to him, you reached out for his hand.

“C’mere, D.”

He didn’t move. He just looked at you, lips pursed and arms folded, but, when you grinned, he let out a deep, quite dramatic breath and allowed you to scoop him into your arms.

“It’s gonna be okay. You know that, right?” you asked, rubbing his back soothingly.

“I just… I really hate witches, man.”

“I know, baby.” You kissed the top of his head. “Okay. How about we get rid of your brother for the rest of the day-”

“Aw, I love you too, Y/N-”

“-shut up, Sam –how about we do get rid of him and just watch movies? All day. I’ll even let you watch the PG13 ones.”

He perked up at that, slanting an eyebrow, cheeky smile on full display.

“That so, sweetheart?” he smirked, tiny hands stroking your breasts suggestively.

An eyeroll.

“Dean.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll give you three seconds to stop doing that. Then I’m gonna castrate you.”

Sam burst out laughing then, but the green-eyed man only licked his lips, squinting at you in a furtive manner.

“Yeah. Laugh it up all you want, Sammy, but the view from here ain’t half bad.”

You let out a groan as Sam snorted, biting on his bottom lip.

It was going to be a long day.

By the time the fourth western movie had ended, all the exhaustion along with the apple juice Dean had been drinking and the way you’d been stroking his neck soothingly had made him fall asleep and he was huddled up like a kitten next to you now, one tiny arm groping at your breast.

Of course.

Huffing out a breath, you shifted a little and laughed when Dean groaned and scrunched up his nose in annoyance.

And still, as soon as your lips grazed his forehead, he sighed contently and all you could do was take in freckles and blonde locks of hair and serene smiles.

Dammit. He was a cute kid.

Well. Except from the boob groping thing.

“Alright, kiddo. Let’s get you to bed.” You murmured, picking him up and cradling him to your chest.

It was relatively easy to carry him to your shared bedroom. Once you did, you set him on bed and ruffled his hair tenderly -how could you not?, then tried to reach for a blanket but were stopped by a pitiful whimper and a microscopic hand that wrapped around your wrist.

“Sweetheart,” Dean whined, tugging at your hand. “Stay.”

It should have been funny, the sight of a kid calling you sweetheart and acting like a grown man, but his gruff voice, a voice that was thick with sleep and had always been one of your weaknesses, along with those pleading green orbs of his, was all you needed to take him seriously.

You smiled, knuckles caressing his cheek.

“Wasn’t going anywhere, D. Just wanted to bring you a blanket.”

“Mmmm,” he hummed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, “you always take care of me, kid.”

“Kid?”

“Shut up.” He growled, scooting close as soon as you climbed into the covers. “This is weird, isn’t it?”

“Our whole life’s weird, D.”

“Yeah, but this is just… Man, I hate witches.”

You chuckled, squeezing his hand.

“Yeah. Pretty sure we’ve already established that today. But it…. You’ll be okay.”

“’S just,” he sighed, running a hand over his face tiredly. “I’m not good at this.”

“Good at what?” you asked, brows knitted together in a frown.

“This whole,” he trailed off, seemingly looking for the right words, lips set in a grim line, “being a kid thing, I guess.” he explained, eyes suddenly brimming with an emotion that just seemed so wrong for a child.

But Dean wasn’t a child.

And he’d never been one.

“I mean, my whole life I was just… I always took care of Sammy. I still do. ‘S who I am, you know? And now... It’s hard to depend on someone else.”

“You’re not exactly depending on us, D.”

A wry laugh. Eyes crinkled in frustration.

“I can’t even reach the top self, Y/N.”

“Yeah, but it’s temporary. And sort of expected in our line of work.”

He gave you his famous bitch face.

You chuckled.

“Okay. Not expected exactly but… Alright. How about this? This is a battle wound.”

“Sweetheart, this is not-”

“It happened while you were on the job, right?”

He nodded reluctantly.

“Then, it’s a battle wound. And all you have to do is let us take care of you until you’re healed. That’s all.”

He didn’t say anything, not for one, two, three long bits, but then he smiled, awed and genuine, face nuzzling your thumb.

“God. How did I ever trick you into falling in love with me?”

Letting out a loud laugh, you shrugged and pressed your forehead against his. For whatever reason, it didn’t feel weird anymore.

“I’ve got low standards for one thing” You deadpanned, smile dangling at the corner of your lips. “And, well. Your green eyes kind of helped.”

He laughed for the first time that day, face lit up.

“I knew it. I knew that you only ever cared for my insanely good looks.”

“Yeah, okay, little one.” You snorted, covering him with his favorite blanket. “Get some sleep, yeah?”

“Mmmm… I hope I’ll get to dream of you.” he slurred, lips lingering on your palm. “Naked.”

“Jesus Christ, you ass. That’s disgusting.”

He chortled, all swagger and amusement. 

“Yup.” He mumbled to himself, interlocking his fingers with yours. “Definitely naked.”

Kisses.

Someone was peppering your face with kisses. They were landing everywhere. On your forehead and eyelids. On the tip of your nose and the corner of your mouth. On your cheekbones and jaw, the pressure familiar and sweet.

Sighing, you blinked owlishly and opened your eyes only to find a pair of hazy emerald ones staring back at you while calloused fingers caressed your skin.

“D.”

“Hmmm…”

“You’re-”

“Me again. Yeah, I know.” he cut you off, tucking a strand stray of hair behind your ear. “And you don’t have to worry. All of my body parts are back to their normal proportions. And I mean, all of them.” He winked and you snorted out a laugh, fingers sinking into his hair.

“Jeez, D., you’re so -Jesus Christ, why are you naked?”

“Because that stupid outfit got ripped apart when that spell broke. Thank God.”

“But I liked that outfit.”

“Wish I could say the same thing about yours.” He said playfully, fingers gripping on the hem of your overlarge T-shirt.

“This is one of your shirts, you know.”

“Oh, I know, kid.” He whispered, low and rough, teeth biting on the shell of your ear. “And while I do appreciate the way you look in it, I know for a fact you look way better without it.”

“You think a line like that will actually get you laid, Winchester?” you laughed but he only smirked and latched his mouth onto your neck, drawing a soft moan from you.

“I think I like my chances, yeah.”

And, boy.

His chances were good.

Really good.

Tags: @jpadjackles @supernatural-jackles @ravengirl94 @imagining-supernatural @impala-dreamer @becs-bunker @trexrambling @escabell @winchestersnco @tiny-friggin-human @keepcalmandcarryondean @percywinchester27 @pickupthatamulet @wordstothewisereaders @sgarrett49 @myrabbitholetoneverland @iwriteaboutdean @spngeronimo @ruprecht0420 @captainemwinchester @mogaruke @imissyoualittlemoreeveryday @wellthatsrandomkek @jayankles @winchesters-flannels @akshi8278 @kathaswings @atari-writes @thevioletthourr @emilywritesaboutdean