#His plan to break the curse has backfired horribly.

[sincerely-sofie]

I made this blog mainly as a place to store art + memes for my fandoms and doodles of my original stories. I’ve posted a lot of the former, but none of the latter, so… Here you go? Have some goofy “incorrect quotes” inspired jokes of a project of mine called The Name-Oath.

Context is indented and italicized, but you can probably read through the doodles below without getting too confused if you skip it:

The first half of the actual plot is your standard fae romance starring a human woman who doesn’t realize the male lead is a supernatural creature, and just thinks he’s really into cosplaying alone in a mansion in some freaky forest. The second half is rom-com shenanigans between the divorced human woman and male lead after the world's ugliest breakup. He desperately tries to get back together at every waking moment and she just wants to hang out with her bestie Summer and raise her half-fae daughter in peace. The human woman is named Eglantine, but goes by Egg. She got stuck with the nickname during high school and decided to start going by it in an effort to have a more "average" sounding name. This did not work as intended, but it certainly helped her avoid getting her name stolen when she first met the male lead. She's something called a skipwitch. This is a whole worldbuilding thing I'm not going to get into here. The male lead is named Kieran. He is a drama king. He spent several centuries under magical house arrest. He can talk to rats. He has pretty hair. This is all you need to know about him, except maybe the fact that he's royalty. Summer is Egg's best friend, and she is the resident fae expert in her and Egg's coven. Competitive and protective of Egg. She hates Kieran's guts, and the feeling is mutual. Egg and Kieran's daughter is named Violet, but she goes by Froggy. She is a terrifying force of nature by virtue of being the offspring of a skipwitch and Unseelie prince. Enjoys microwave pizzas, her pet beta fish, video games, and getting her way. Alois is Kieran's invisible butler. He's a surprisingly talented singer.

[group-oc-tournament]

Round 1 - Match 19

Cursed Crew

(@redwineflowers)

Consisting of Alchemy Matheus Iritolva, Frenchie Lurette Delvado, Elanor Verna Alindis, Jack Wilfred Brevin and Callum Runar Mornicavi.

Who are They?

In a fantasy/steampunk esque world, 5 various flavors of criminals are forced to work together as a team, because they were all hired for an impossible heist. The heist goes horribly wrong, they realize the person who hired them is screwy and then they all decide to overthrow the government :) and despite being very different and untrusting of eachother, they grow very close and become best friends. They are also very messed up in one way or another. Now it's time to meet the crew ! Frenchie - 23 - she/they : A very good seamstress who works for nobles, incredibly sneaky. She is always listening in on conversation and is able to spy extremely well. She's seen way to much. A girlboss and probably the most level headed of the bunch. She used to date Alchemy, but they broke up due to the fact they had literally no romantic tension. The best thief, she can pickpocket almost anything, gathers info, tells everyone to shut up, and she makes sure they don't fall apart. Alchemy - 23 - she/he/they : A wizard, but not really, she just scammed her way into being apart of a council of magic by doing illusions and literally putting on "magic" shows. he can't actually do magic. He however can shoot guns and is also very good at working with magic and building things. They make their own guns and also bombs. Sharpshooter, demolitions expert, and professional charmer. Elanor - 22 - they/them : A very skilled fighter, especially with battleaxes. They were kicked out of their academy due to many accidental violent incidents. They don't blink much. They have a head in the clouds look to them and always sorta look like they're up to something, even if they aren't, it's just their face, I promise they're nice. The muscle, also is very good at scheming, even if their plans backfire sometimes, specifically they are good at coming up with combat plans. Jack - 19 - he/him : A student who got into a prestigious academy on a scholarship, but himself and his ideas weren't very well received and he ended up dropping out because of constant mockery. He's perceived as very timid and soft spoken. He has social anixety, but he's actually one of the most unhinged and enjoyable people to be around. He's very good at picking locks and breaking into places, aswell as disarming things. He also is very good with chemicals and poisons and has killed a room full of people with toxic gas... Callum - 24 - he/they/it : An ex agent of light, which is basically a secret service that works for the council that oversees the kingdom. He deserted because the council sucked and he disagreed with almost everything they did. Can kill you, but probably won't because it's very tired. They have an office job now, but left it to join this impossible heist. Office jobs are boring, heists are fun. The mastermind, knows how to have get each members strength to work with the others, he gets mad easily, but it's that calm terrifying rage. He's very protective of his crew, but he wont tell them that.

The Owl Gang

(@cliban, @radioactive-dragonlover, @wiz4rdtower, @citruslllad)

Consisting of Morise, Superbia, Somnus and Illuvies.

Who are They?

Imagine a sinister alien oligarchy but they're also the most toxic gay friend group you've ever met! Morise (they/them) is a ruthless dictator more interested in evil science than overseeing their outpost. They're a closeted theatre kid dragged into the friend group by virtue of everyone else being a theatre kid - They feel severely annoyed by interacting with the Owl Gang (But secretly will Always commit to the bit). Superbia's malewife (genderneutral). Superbia (she/her) is a bombastic and egotistical woman who does whatever she pleases with little to no regards for others. The kind of woman who calls you "darling" with a tone so sweet it feels like honey dripping from her mouth, but in a bad way. She adores messing with people and manipulating them with her charm and wits. She's surprisingly a tender, kind, and passionate lover, especially when it comes to her partner Morise, who she loves very much. Somnus (she/it) is a drowsy has-been who can only be dragged out of her lair by the promise of novelty. She's motivated solely by boredom, malice, or hunger, and hangs out with her friend Illuvies because of their shared love for doing bits. Depending on the day, her energy levels generally hover somewhere between "cat taking a nap in a sunbeam" and "sloth on half a Valium" Illuvies (he/him) is gay but in a misogynistic way. Tormented a toddler, severed numerous limbs and betrayed both sides of a war multiple times. A mole, a rat and a bitch all in one.

[admirableadmiranda]

After seeing a horribly misguided take on the ambush of Wei Wuxian at Qiongqi, can you explain for the class what a canon compliant reading of that moment is like? Because I think it's so easy for someone (like me) who has read the book after seeing the webseries adaptation to get things confused. (It's hard to forget your first and The Untamed was my introduction to the story.)

Thank you!

Of course! It’s not a scene I go over too often, but let’s see if I can break it down in a satisfying way.

The setting is perhaps a year after Wei Wuxian leaves to protect the Wens. They have all been living on Corpse Mountain, doing their best to avoid the jianghu’s rage and just keep living a day at a time. There is a fragile sort of hope blossoming in that it’s been almost a year and because Corpse Mountain and Yiling are kind of cut off from the jianghu that things might be getting better because they are still alive.

Wei Wuxian receives an invitation to a party for Jin Ling. I’m genuinely not certain which party as due to the Jin being the Jin, they are throwing a lot of parties for him. It’s usually referred to as his 100 day celebration, but I think in the book it’s a month after his birth. Unlike in cql, we have no idea who delivered this letter, but it is most certainly not from Lan Wangji as we would have known if he did.

For people who are living in fragile hope, it is a good sign! Wei Wuxian buys new robes in white(!) and makes an incredibly powerful gift that will essentially protect Jin Ling from all minor spiritual evils in his life. It is a gift people would kill to have. He sets out to go to Jinlintai with only Wen Ning at his side as a show of good faith and non-aggression, but not defenseless.

On their way to Jinlintai, they are stopped in Qiongqi Path when someone fires an arrow at Wei Wuxian that Wen Ning catches. Jin Zixun, Jin Zixuan’s less likeable toad of a cousin, comes out and tells Wei Wuxian that he’s surrounded by three hundred archers and demands for Wei Wuxian to remove a curse that he’s put on him.

Now we know later that it was actually Su She that cursed Jin Zixun for being an arrogant toe rag and that Jin Guangyao likely knew this as they were buddies at the time already, but he has told Jin Zixun that it was Wei Wuxian and due to the rumors flying around about him, he wholeheartedly believes it. He refuses to listen to Wei Wuxian and refuses to accept even the burden of proof in that Wei Wuxian has no markings of the backfire from such a powerful curse because obviously, being Wei Wuxian, he could just make them hit someone else, right?!

Jin Zixun is very much not a smart man. Anyway, Wei Wuxian is preparing to fight here because he’s been ambushed! And to add injury to insult, this is a planned ambush where they removed all of the bodies and anything that Wei Wuxian can influence with his guidao for at least ten miles. He literally only has Wen Ning here, his only line of defense against three hundred archers and an ambush based on lies. He removes a talisman that’s designed to help suppress Wen Ning’s rage as he’s going to need all the help he can get in this stacked fight looming in front of him.

Jin Zixuan, who has heard of his cousin taking three hundred archers and going out to ambush Wei Wuxian, who he has invited to Jin Ling’s party from Jin Guangyao (none of these facts are in fact a coincidence), shows up now. To our great and unyielding disappointment, despite this clearly being an ambush on a man he invited as his guest and Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning being two people against an army of three hundred, takes his cousin’s side. He demands for Wei Wuxian to stand down, he tells him that he’ll be tried at Jinlintai and basically ignores everything about the situation that points out that his family may not be in the right on this. Jin Zixun crushes the bell that was meant to be a present for Jin Ling beneath his foot.

At some point while he and Wei Wuxian are arguing, he draws his sword and starts to lunge at Wei Wuxian, a war veteran. Faced with sudden, escalating hostility, Wei Wuxian reacts on instinct and commands Wen Ning to stop Jin Zixuan from attacking him. Wen Ning does. Fatally.

Now this is not what Wei Wuxian wanted at all and it is a loss of control, but also how many stories have we heard in real life about people with strong triggers associated with being attacked having someone approach them in an obviously aggressive way and react on instinct? Wei Wuxian had no reason to believe that Jin Zixuan wasn’t a part of this whole mess from the beginning, and while later clarity of mind and Jin Zixuan’s last words give him some indication that it wasn’t planned, at that very moment he was reacting to an escalating threat.

The real loss of control comes when he sees what has happened, Jin Zixuan dying on Wen Ning’s arm in front of everyone. After a year of living and waiting for the hammer to fall, that cautious hope that an invitation to his shijie’s son’s month birthday party might mean that they’re not inevitably doomed and then the utter betrayal of the ambush and Jin Zixuan’s actions, he loses control and Wen Ning kills everyone in Qiongqi Path before carrying a nigh-catatonic Wei Wuxian back to the safety of Corpse Mountain.

It is a tragedy in all senses of the word. It gives the Jin exactly what they need to rile up dissent against Wei Wuxian into actual action. It gives them a concrete action to point too. Jin Zixuan’s invitation to Wei Wuxian was well known, so it wrecks what remains of his reputation and at this point no matter what Wei Wuxian or anyone else does, the people living in Corpse Mountain are doomed.

Qiongqi Path 2.0 is basically the ultimate machination of the Jin and the collapse of what little stability Wei Wuxian had left in his first life. Less than a week after this, Wen Qing will be dead and Wen Ning heavily implied to be manipulated into killing the Nie and Lan cultivators who came to see their executions; when they were promised by Jin Guangshan that if they turned themselves in, he and the others would leave the people on corpse mountain alone. What with the two clans that didn’t have an active vendetta against Wei Wuxian now dragged in by Wen Ning’s murder, it will be easy for the Jin to rally them into an army against Wei Wuxian at Nightless City and spark the final chain of events that leads to the end of Wei Wuxian’s first life.

Wei Wuxian is culpable in the extent that he lost control and killed everyone there. But given the factors in play, he is certainly not an unreasonable aggressor or reacting without cause to anything that’s going on.

Jin Zixuan has never been kind or reasonable to him once whenever they’ve met in person. As a teenager he disparages Jiang Yanli in front of him multiple times and Wei Wuxian is honorbound to defend her from the societal impact of Jin Zixuan’s careless words. As adults, Jin Zixuan tells Jiang Cheng to control his servant in Wei Wuxian’s face when he continues to defend Jiang Yanli from a man who has at that point still shown her no respect or care in the slightest. They have a terrible relationship and one that while equally hostile from both ends, is more built off of Jin Zixuan’s actions than Wei Wuxian’s. We can even see that in the Xuanwu Cave that Wei Wuxian admires his willingness to stand up for Mianmian when the Wen are going for her.

The fact of the matter is, is that Jin Zixuan had a history of deliberately antagonizing Wei Wuxian and also taking his first interpretation of a series of events as truth and refusing to listen to contradictory evidence. He gets away with it for a number of years due to his prestige and position, but eventually he takes that childish attitude onto a battlefront, and it gets him killed.

There may be no second flute user at Qiongqi Path in the book and the blood is on Wei Wuxian’s hands. But to claim that it is his fault and that he was responsible for things going wrong is a very bad take indeed.

A canon compliant take on Qiongqi Path is that it is the ultimate chess move of the Jin against him, where in the end Jin Guangyao sacrifices a rook and takes Wei Wuxian’s last defending pieces before using him as the utter scapegoat of the jianghu in his and the Jin Clan’s rise to power. And also a reminder that if you continue to push people to their limits and treat them badly constantly, eventually they will have nothing left in which to treat you well.

I hope this helps!

[scoobydoodean]

...so I've realized that I interpret the "Nobody cares that you're broken" line much differently than a lot of other people? I always kind of took it as Dean saying "yeah you think you're broken, but that doesn't matter we still want you around and you still have a place here and you're still capable of helping".

I guess I took it similar to the "I'd rather have you, cursed or not", like, Dean would rather Cas be there even if he is "broken"...bc I'm sure Dean thinks of HIMSELF as broken, too, and yet he's still there and trying to move forward

Idk I was shocked when I saw how often that line was used by deancrits and realized uhh maybe my interpretation was really different hahaha

From 7.23:

DEAN: You got anything to say on the topic of Dicks? Crowley was pretty sure that you could help. CASTIEL: I can't help. You understand? I can't. I destroyed... everything, and I will destroy everything again. Can we please just leave it at that?

DEAN: No. [He gets up.] No, we can't. SAM: Dean... DEAN: We can't leave it. You let these friggin' things in. So you don't get to make a sandwich. You don't get a damned cat. Nobody cares that you're broken, Cas. Clean up your mess!

CASTIEL: You know... we should play Twister.

I... might have a more nuanced and lengthy take on this with tons and tons of context later when I make my way back through season 7, but I'll tell you what I think right now from my memory: people who hang onto this line and resent Dean for it should grow the fuck up. Which is exactly what Dean is telling Cas to do. Not because Cas isn't allowed to have feelings, but because Cas is hiding. He made a mess, and he does not want to help clean it up because if he has to help clean it up he has to face that he broke something... that his plans backfired, that he created more issues in the process of trying to solve others. Which he did. Like we can justify a lot of what Cas did in season 6, and he has an understandable perspective. But he did kill thousands of people. He did kill one of his best friends in the world for standing in his way. He did try to manipulate Dean. He did break Dean's trust. He did break Sam's wall. All while thinking he was also doing what was necessary, but it happened, and Balthazar begged him not to do what he was going to do because he knew there would be consequences Cas refused to think about, and Cas did it anyway and he killed Balthazar for opposing him, and broke Sam's wall to keep Sam and Dean and Bobby from opposing him... all while insisting it was "not broken".

Those are simply facts of what happened, and fans can not like those facts, but they exist nonetheless. Cas is not a child. He is a very very very old cosmic being, who is hiding from a situation that he is largely responsible for. Now is "nobody cares that you're broken" all Dean has to say? No. This is the same episode where Dean also says,

"Yeah, but you know what? Bottom of the ninth, and you're the only guy left on the bench... Sorry, but I'd rather have you, cursed or not. And anyway, nut up, all right? We're all cursed. I seem like good luck to you?"

And then Cas and Dean defeat Dick Roman together—as a team. Because it isn't actually about what a bad horrible person Cas is and how he needs to wallow in that and feel that or not feel that and if anyone dares to suggest he face what he did they're being mean . It's about how they're all fuck ups but they are doing their best. That's all they can ask of each other. They all have been used and abused and they have tried to clean up other people's messes and caused some of their own mess along the way which they are perpetually mopping up. They're Team Free Will (One ex-blood junkie, one dropout with six bucks to his name, and Mr. Comatose.) and they will figure it out... but only if they are all trying, and Cas, in that moment, is NOT. He is hiding. Because he feels guilty. I think Dean IS angry at Cas here for leaving them with the bag, but that... isn't unfair, but it also doesn't fully incapsulate Dean's opinions on the matter.

[thefreakandthehair]

Listen, I’m still working on my angel fic and I have no business thinking about another au but! Alas my brain does not stop and I’m home sick today (just a cold that my manager gave me and I’m only a little salty about it but I have a horrible dry cough that I get (it’s genetic) so I don’t want to be in the office even if it’s just a cold, you know?)

A beauty and the beast au

But like I don’t think I’ve seen any posts with this idea and while I could see Eddie as the terrifying monster in the hulking castle that no one will go to, I think it fits so well for Steve. Literal prince, beautiful, spoiled, has everything he could want and no reason to be kind for the sake of kindness.

Until it finally backfires, and a witch curses him and his castle. For the sake of the story, the kids are all in the castle (the Disney movie had chip and his siblings dammit there are def kids there, which wow that’s dark) but! They have nothing but time as far as they know, because they don’t know about the rose at first, and they make it their goal to show Steve how to care. He fights it, of course, because he’s angry and hurt and instinct says to lash out, but they don’t let him push them away completely. (Again in the Disney movie, beast’s temper isn’t a hidden thing, but the transformed servants still care about him, which means they know he can’t be all bad)

But then they find out what the rose is for, Robin finds out first (she could be the wardrobe, judging his outfit choices) and when they all find out they’re running out of time, they try to make a plan.

Then, one stormy night, Wayne Munson is making his way through the woods when he needs to take shelter, and the finds the castle. Steve, unused to people and fearing what’ll happen if someone knows a beast lives here, let’s his temper get the best of him.

Eddie goes looking for his uncle, because he should have been back and he’s all Eddie has so of course he’s going to go looking for him, but then he finds the castle, finds the dungeon with the kids helping light the way secretly. And he’s so happy to find Wayne and so terrified to find a beast but there’s nothing he couldn’t do for Wayne so he agrees to stay

He tries to make the best of his situation but he knows he’s a prisoner and is scared and lonely, so the rest of the party does their best to help him (Ms Potts Joyce who will throw tea at you my beloved)

Eddie wears Steve down though, sees through the anger he wears so easily and gets him to show his soft side a little, and the castle is cheering (quietly) because it’s working! Steve still gives Eddie a library, but he also shows him a collection of instruments, because music is Eddie’s great love and Steve has hope

He doesn’t realize it right away, but he wants Eddie to be happy, even if they don’t break the curse. He doesn’t understand that he’s got his half of the equation figured out, that he’s learned to love and be selfless.

And he lets Eddie go

Because he loves, because Eddie is more important than himself

He lets his heart break by letting Eddie go and the castle itself seems to weep with him as he grieves and the party watches their one hope ride off

Because Steve softened, but Eddie looked happy too, and they had been so close to breaking the curse

But Billy is back in town (ignoring the romance between belle and Gaston - Billy just wants to be in charge and Eddie is weird so he must be put in his place) and he finds out where Eddie has been because Wayne was trying to get help to get his boy back. (Max is in LeFous position but only because she’s his little sister, she literally hates how he treats everyone but he’s all she has)

Before Eddie can go back, trying to convince Wayne that it’s good, Steve is really so different from that first encounter, the town goes to kill him, and Steve is too heartbroken to care so the kids fight back because let’s be honest they have some pent up rage at this point

But then Eddie and Wayne are there too, trying to stop Billy and the town and Eddie almost gets to Steve before Billy, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades

Steve is dying, and that line that “at least I got to see you one last time” as Eddie holds Steve’s hand to his cheek, tears falling into his fur, and Eddie would give anything to have one more chance

Because Steve loves, and Eddie loves too

And as he cries, as the last petals fall, feeling like his world is falling apart, there’s a light, and he watches Steve start to glow. It’s too bright to watch as the spell breaks, but when he can see again, the rain has stopped and there, standing in tattered clothes and looking wonderfully alive and human, is the most beautiful man he’s ever seen

And then, of course, they get a happily ever after, with the family Steve didn’t realize he had the whole time, and he loves, unashamed and unrestrained, for the rest of his life

Idk I just think it would be nice

KAT first, I hope you're feeling better <333

second, that angel AU still has me in a chokehold

third, how can you come here, write ANOTHER entire (and wonderful!!!) AU in my messages, and end it with like "/shrugs/ I just think it would be nice"?? I've seen Beauty and the Beast AUs float around before but a) they're all different from each other, this one included AND AND AND b) two cakes theory! (if you end up with extra bandwidth to write it, I'm just saying, I will eat it up like a delicious piece of chocolate cake)

[hope-i-dont-choke]

I have House of Anubis head canons and you’re going to hear them

First off just to make it clear: Fabian and Mara only last halfway through college and then he realises she’s CRAZY and tells her to get a therapist and she does thankfully but nobody ever hears from her again. Like Mick.

Alfie and Willow break up before college but stay friends they’re both bi (everyone except KT was bi) and date a bunch of people and even set each other up a few times before they each find the right person. Alfie moves to LA and gets YouTube famous for conspiracy theory videos.

Right before Eddie heads back to America his dad tells him that since he’s no longer the Osirian he can go see Nina. Eddie wonders why his dad thinks he would want to, and Eric decides to do one thing right and tell his ‘son’ the truth:  Ninas gran is their birth fathers mother, and Eddie’s mom is their birth mothers sister. Eric split them up because he realised the curse that comes with being the chosen ones is what killed their parents. They’re twins. Eddie was born exactly 7 minutes after Nina. Their parents died the day they turned 7 months old. Eric told his wife that Nina died with their parents and told their gran the same about Eddie. He had a hypnotist block his memories of Nina so the cult wouldn’t know it was them and so he wouldn't screw up and let Eddie know he had a sister so they’d never be in the same place, but clearly that backfired.  Eddie goes straight to see Nina. She already knows. She felt herself stop being the chosen one when he gave up his own powers. Her gran passed earlier that week. She was going through the attic and found their birth certificates and a baby picture of the two of them with on the back written ‘‘Nina and Eddie 3 months”.  She’s packing to go see him when he shows up. They meet up with Patricia in New York after spending the summer with his mom.

KT was absolutely a lesbian and she and Amber date for a few years, they live together in London, but Amber runs a fashion company and always puts her job first and needs a hallmark Christmas kind of love story to get it together, so KT dumps her and moves to New York to be closer to Eddie And Patricia and Nina

Joy and Jerome make it. Somehow they’re the worlds most perfect couple. Never fight just solid and supportive. They stay in England but they still talk to everyone.

Patricia and Eddie stay their bickering and in love selves. They are ALWAYS fighting about something, but it’s never a real fight it’s just them being them. The closest they ever come to breaking up is just because Joy and Jerome are already married with a baby and Eddie still hasn’t proposed so Patricia thinks he doesn’t want to marry her and

““Of course I want to marry you, Yacker! I just thought you didn’t want to get married!”

“Of course I want to marry you DOOFUS!”

So they get engaged. Nina and Piper totally take over the wedding planning.

Right before the wedding Fabian takes a job in New York. The first thing he does is pop into Nina’s work. Her assistant says that an adorable British puppy is outside the door and she FREAKS OUT. Fixes her hair and make up really fast while her assistant lets him in. The moment they see each other it’s like no time has past and she runs into his arms. They catch up over dinner. They get back together.

They are all together for the first time in so long at Trixie and Eddie’s wedding. Alfie and Jerome make a HORRIBLE toast. Joy is livid at Poppy’s babysitting skills and checks her phone 1000 times. Joy and Nina finally bond cause it’s what they deserve. Amber and KT and Alfie are super uncomfortable exes and it’s hilariously paralleled by what good exes Alfie and Willow are. Eddie and Patricia get married in his hometown and her parents are so out of their element. Everyone has the time of their lives and all of a sudden at the reception the double doors blow open and Victor is standing their like WHERE THE FUCK WAS MY INVITATION MS. WILLIAMSON

[lollytea]

(Webby and Lena get the LOOOONG descriptions cuz they are the backbone of this au. Really, this was originally a weblena tangled au that went off the rails. again, all art done by @ask-artsy-oncie​ :D!!)

(PART ONE HERE)

Lady Webbigail Vanderquack 

Webby was born special. Specifically she was born with healing abilities in her hair. Which is why until the age of ten, it had never been cut and had been trailing down past her ankles. Her powers were valuable and her grandmother, fearing for her safety, kept her hidden away in Scrooge’s palace for her entire life. 

But she had left once. It had been an emergency and she was only four years old but she remembered Granny taking her to that cottage. A little boy had been sick and she healed him, then he and his brothers played with her for a long while until she had to return home. It was the only memory she had of life outside the castle so she treasured and swore to return to those boys one day. 

With the help of a mysterious and very pretty girl named Lena, Webby ventured out into the world to find her boys and their cute little cottage and she has a lot of missteps along the way, saved Lena’s life a bunch, Lena saved her life. Oh, did she mention Lena was pretty? Oh and her hair might’ve got cut off at some point. 

Currently Webby is enjoying the new life that comes with King Donald’s coronation. She has a big family now! She has friends! They don’t get scared when she playfully threatens them with her axe! Well, they do kinda but only a little!

Though her instantaneous powers have gone with her chopped off hair, she still retains a slight aura. Being in close proximity to her for long periods of time can very slowly heal injuries and improve illnesses.

She spends her free time sparring with Ty and Dewey or chatting with Violet or having much wanted alone time with Lena. 

Lena De Spell Sabrewing

It’s not like Lena wanted to infiltrate Scrooge’s stupid castle but she knew she didn’t have any choice in the matter. It’s not like she was a real person anyway, just a shadow creature created solely to do Magica’s dirty work. And honestly, she was getting real sick of it. 

That being said, it had never been her intention to switch sides. It was just a little rebellion. Hey, let’s get some information on Scrooge out of this princess looking chick. Sure, let’s take her halfway across the kingdom to find her long lost brothers or whatever.....(Lena kinda zoned out while Webby was explaining it) It might take a while but that’s Magica’s problem, not hers. 

What Lena hadn’t expected was that Webby may have been one of the kindest, most genuine people to ever exist. As least as far as Lena was concerned. She started off their adventure with betrayal in mind but by the end of it, she’d take a sword to the chest for Pink. 

Breaking away from Magica wasn’t easy and she struggled with her lingering presence for years afterwards but she continues to fight it. With Webby’s help of course. And Violet’s. Her sister....

Lena is seen as a bright spot of hope for the entire Duck family. If she, one of Magica’s very creations, managed to break free of her grasp, then maybe it’s possible to undo this curse. With Lena’s own experience with magic, she does her best to help out. It’s her that tells them that love is usually what breaks any extreme curse but she doesn’t know the specifics. 

Violet Sabrewing

Webby’s Lady-in-Waiting and Lena’s adopted sister. Violet was originally sought out by Beakley as she was the most intelligent and mature student in the village schoolhouse and it was assumed that her influence would balance out Webby’s intense nature and perhaps keep her out of trouble. However this plan backfired horribly as though she is stoic and rational, Violet can be just as much of a thrill seeker as Webby and they have gotten into twice the amount of trouble since she showed up. And now the two girls are best friends and cannot be separated so what can be done about it?

Violet isn’t as skilled with a weapon as Webby nor is she as talented at magic as Lena. But she’s steadily training herself to do both these things. She’s gotten pretty good with throwing knives and has spent enough time around the archery range with Huey to be decent with a bow and arrow too. But mostly her interests lie in the magical department. She’s a practicing witch and her spells are coming along nicely. 

Tiberius Cloudkicker

Ty is a half-born gummi bear, raised in a clan of the most revered warriors among gummi kind. So as expected, he’s had a sword in his hand since he could hold one. Was that safe? Probably not. He tries not to think about it. Anyways, he leaves home at age ten and travels to Scrooge’s kingdom with the aim of becoming a squire to the legendary knight and dragon trainer, Kit Cloudkicker. The two become very close and within a year, Ty is thinking of this hero as a father figure.

Word has traveled round of young Ty being a prodigy with a sword and at the age of twelve, he is assigned a duty as a retainer to the king’s nephew, Prince Louie. Apparently, said prince already had a retainer (Zan Owlsen? The Zan Owlsen? She’s the best knight this kingdom’s ever seen!) but he managed to drive her away by being that much of a brat. Suffice to say, Ty is not looking forward to babysitting this guy.

Louie does not like him much either. They bicker constantly and for somebody who tries to avoid danger, Louie is constantly attracting it. The lengths Ty goes to to keep this duck alive. It’s insane!

Oh, well. He’s alright sometimes. He’s fun to tease. But Ty’s accepted at this point that the two of them are probably never gonna get along. 

[nunyabhiznus]

Chapter 1

Prologue

Chapter 2

Word Count: 8.6K

Warnings: Some cursing, some violence, death. Lmk if I missed anything.

A/N: Holy crap writing is hard.

As the Mandalorian confiscates your only weapon from where it hangs on your hips, all you can do is mentally pray that your decision to give yourself up doesn’t backfire horribly.

You’re not an idiot.

You understand that turning yourself in puts you in an incredibly dangerous position. And even though it’s too late now, you find yourself wondering if maybe you could have found a way to fix this mess while simultaneously evading all the bounty hunters that were after Jules.  

"Put the helmet back on," he orders, pausing your moment of self-doubt.

He gives you a second to do so, and you do your best not to drop it with your hands bound. The last thing you need is for him to see through the panic you were trying your hardest to hide.

As soon as you have it on, the Mandalorian settles the end of his blaster against your back, keeping it there as he guides you towards an unknown destination. You ignore the way it presses against your spine, the discomfort serving as a warning with every step you take. Instead, you choose to use this silent walk as an opportunity to think things through.

You figure that taking matters into your own hands is the best way to deal with this. Rather than constantly being on the lookout for hunters as you stumble through an unknown galaxy, you preferred turning yourself in. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.

Again, you were not an idiot, you remind yourself. You have a plan. It's not well thought out and relies on a lot of "ifs", but it was still a plan.

If, the Mandalorian doesn't decide to kill you, you assume that he'll take you directly to whoever put  the bounty on Jules. By that logic, you could also believe that he’d keep you safe from anyone else who tries to come get you. You doubt he’d let anyone else get the reward for your capture, especially if half of what Krin told you about Mandalorians was true.

If, you could get those people to listen to you, then maybe you could convince them that they had the wrong person. Surely in a galaxy where sentient robots and advanced space travel were possible there would be a way to double check the identity of a person. Right?

And if by some miracle you got that far, then you’d find a way back home one way or another. The Mandalorian took your blaster, which to you was more of a prop anyways (he didn’t need to know that), but he never searched your pockets, so you still had the small bag of Jules’ credits. You pin that thought – it might save you later.

In the early morning, Pasaana’s sun casts a gentle warmth, and you could almost pretend you were taking a relaxing walk if it weren’t for the looming presence behind you. You don’t mind how the only sounds are the ones of both of your footsteps on the sand, in fact you prefer it. Surprisingly enough, the Mandalorian hadn’t sunned you like your previous captors, although you were sure it had more to do with the fact that he’d have to carry you the rest of the way, and not because you had asked him not to.

On the ground, you see three shadows. Your own, the Mandalorian’s, and a strange floating circular one. You’d noticed the flying metal sphere before, but never really gave it much thought as it followed your captor around. What a loyal droid, you think. It was definitely different from the few you’ve seen. It wasn’t one that walked, and it didn’t seem to have a designated function other than staying close to the Mandalorian. It also has yet to talk, but you weren’t exactly the expert on all things space technology, so you leave it at that.

Besides, its owner was much more interesting. He hasn’t said a word since the beginning of your walk, and you weren’t about to be the one to break the silence. From your peripheral vision you can see parts of his armor so you know he’s behind you, but it’s slightly unsettling the way you can’t feel him near you at all. And although the blaster to your back is what’s physically pushing you forward; you’re half convinced that what really keeps you moving is the daunting energy he radiates.

You walk the rest of the way like this, one foot in front of the other in a quiet rhythm, past the city until he leads you to his ship. As soon as it comes into view, your feet stop moving involuntarily as if they were telling you that once you got on, there was no turning back. You suck in a breath as you take it all in. You know you’re new to how spaceships work but you think this one looked a little worse for wear. From its two giant engines to the landing gear, it looks to you like this ship was made out of pieces of scrap metal. The thought of that thing hurling you through space makes you lightheaded.

When the ramp finishes lowering, the Mandalorian harshly jabs you in the back forcing you to move again. As you walk up the ramp and into his ship you realize that the inside looks no better than the outside. You feel like you were walking up one of those rickety ramps at a county fair, unsure if it would fall apart as you walked up towards the ride.

Ahead of you an entire arsenal of weapons covers the wall.

“Woah,” you say to yourself, stopping in front of it. You’re glad he can’t see the way your eyes widen under your helmet. Different weapons, most being ones you’ve never seen before are hung neatly on the wall. Some are as small as the blaster he took from you and others you’re positive are bigger than you are. You’re not sure whether to be impressed or terrified.

One in particular looks like a giant rifle and you don’t realize you’re inching to get a closer look until the Mandalorian grabs your arm and drags you to the other side of the ship. You try to shake him off, but his grip is like iron as he ignores your sounds of protest.

Without saying a word, he forces your arms above your head and connects your cuffs to a nearby railing. Surely, this was excessive, you think. If he had asked you to sit and stay still, you would have listened. You narrow your eyes at him, but you quickly remember that he can’t see you.

“Can you at least take the helmet off of me?” You ask as he starts to walk away from you. “It’s a little stuffy.” In truth, it was more than a little. After a whole morning of walking in the sun, you could use the fresh air.

Maybe it was your imagination, but you swore he hesitated before placing both of his hands on the sides of your helmet. The Mandalorian carefully lifts it above your head, an incredible contrast to how rough he’s been with you since you met. You look up at him when it’s finally off, trying to see if his helmet gives any indication of who’s underneath, but all you see is your reflection in the T-shaped visor. You back away as soon as you realize how close you were to him.

“Thank you,” you say quickly, looking away as you will the heat to move away from your cheeks.

He doesn’t move and you keep your stare on the wall as if the slab of ordinary metal were the most interesting sight you’ve ever seen. What was only mere seconds feels like hours until he slowly walks away from you with his floating droid following closely behind. When you think he’s out of earshot you let out a huff of air, trying to calm your nerves and mind. Only to suck it back in again with a gasp when the Mandalorian’s droid opens revealing a small, green alien baby.

You don’t even try to hide your stare at this point as you take it in. It has long, pointy ears that stick out of the carrier (not a droid) and large, black eyes that widen when they land on your figure. 

The both of you stare at each other in silent surprise, as if it wasn’t expecting to see you either. The small child tilts its head to the side as it takes you in with a curiosity that matches your own. A small smile begins to form on your lips as you mirror the movement, even going as far to tilt your head in the opposite direction when it did it again. You weren't going to lie; the little green thing was cute. When you both straighten your heads, the baby giggles and the sound happily carries through the metal walls of the ship.

The Mandalorian is in front of the child in an instant, blocking it from your view. The smile falls from your face, but you refuse to be afraid.

"Is that your baby?" you ask.

It's an innocent enough question, but one that he does not take well. In three quick but purposeful strides the Mandalorian is towering over you again.

"Don't play dumb, Jules," he threatens, the tone of his voice intimidating enough to make you step back. Still not afraid?

"Stay away from him."

The baby coo's again, this time softer than before. You look passed the Mandalorian's shoulder and see the way the child's ears droop down. That's all you get to see before the carrier closes again.

This time you know the Mandalorian can see your pointed expression, but whether or not he cares is entirely unknown to you. He turns his back to you, ending the discussion, and makes his way to a ladder on the other side of the ship.

He makes it halfway there before you're unable to hold back your tongue any longer.

"You know, you've got the wrong girl!"

He stops, and for a second you think he's going to ignore you and keep walking, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t face you either, as if to let you know that what you have to say isn’t important enough to acknowledge, but just interesting enough to catch his attention.

"I'm not Jules Taxo."

There's a heavy pause in the air. Did he even hear what you said? With the helmet on, it’s hard to tell. Why didn't he take it off already?

You settle on repeating yourself and just as you open your mouth to speak, the Mandalorian walks away, disappearing up the ladder with the carrier behind him.

As best you can, you slump against the wall letting your head fall back against it with a sigh.

You didn't need him to believe you, you reassured yourself. You only needed him to take you to whoever put the price on your face.

 ***

Of course, he doesn’t believe her. Does she think he’s an idiot? 

Din is pacing back and forth in the cockpit. If only his carbon freezing unit hadn’t broken down right before accepting to take this job. He could have frozen her in carbonite as soon as she stepped on board and save himself the headache.

His conversation with Jules left an unfamiliar feeling behind to settle deep in his mind. Doubt.  

Grogu sits in the copilot chair, eyeing him nervously as he all but runs a hole through the floor. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” 

The child responds with a disapproving noise. 

Din shakes his head. “Don’t you remember what happened last time we ran into Jules? She could’ve killed you.” 

“She -,”  he says, pointing down the ladder for emphasis, “- is dangerous. Don’t let her pretty new face fool you.” 

Pretty? The sudden flicker of irritation he feels is enough to still him. The memory of the way she looked at him when he removed her helmet snakes its way to the front of his mind. If his own helmet hadn’t been in the way he was sure he would’ve felt her breath on his face with how close she was. He would be lying if he said the way she stood with her hands cuffed above her head didn’t stir something in him if only for one brief, annoying moment. 

Against his better judgement he entertains the idea of her telling the truth. That would explain why she was so easy to find and the pleasant change in behavior...

No. He stops that thought before it could develop any further. This whole thing was a trick. Jules failed to run away and that was a desperate attempt to try again. He doesn’t forget the way she paused by his weapons- if she got a hold of one of those, things could get difficult. Taking control of the Crest would make her nearly impossible to find since it doesn’t show up on any New Republic or Imperial databases. 

Yes. That has to be what she’s up to, he resolves, already feeling calmer than he did before. Besides, it wasn’t for him to question orders from the guild. They want the girl in the hologram and that’s who he’ll deliver. 

He turns to Grogu, a living reminder of what happened the last time he questioned a job - and possibly the only thing that’s brought him any sense of true happiness in years. 

This isn’t like that time. 

Din picks up the child and settles him in his arms. 

“I want you to stay away from her, ad’ika. Do you understand?” 

He interprets the baby noises as a sign of agreement. “Good.” 

Setting him back down on the copilot seat, he works on navigating the Crest off world. The sooner he got the job over with, the sooner he could forget about the whole thing. 

Streaks of racing stars paint the way ahead as the autopilot navigates through hyperspace. For the next hour, this would be the view until they reached the client. 

Din’s travelled with the child long enough to know when he was staring at him. As he watches the view of hyperspace, he feels Grogu’s eyes bore into his back. He doesn’t even need to turn to see him to know what he wants - what he always wants. 

“Wait here while I get you some food.” 

The child makes a happy sound. “And don’t touch anything.” 

When he reaches the lower level of the ship, he’s surprised to find it exactly as he left it. He didn’t put it past Jules to cause a mess, even with her hands bound, and he was certain she would have tried to catch him off guard this time. 

What he sees instead is Jules, still bound to the railing, leaning against the nearest wall. Her eyes are screwed shut and all color seems to have drained from her face. Upon closer inspection, he can see her inhaling slowly through her nose and letting out shaky exhales through her mouth, as if she were trying to calm herself down. It was hard for him to decide whether she looked sick or frightened. 

Before he can think of an answer, a deafening sound cuts through the air, quickly followed by a yelp from Jules’ direction. The sudden dip in the Crest’s position informs Din that it was one of the engines that blew. The ships alarms start to blare, illuminating the room with flashing red lights as they continue to lose altitude.  

“Dank farrik,” he curses, struggling to regain his footing as the Crest begins to spiral. 

“What was that?!” He barely hears Jules’ panicked voice through the alarms. She scrambles to find a stable position without the use of her arms. The ship shakes violently, and she screams again. 

He needs to get back to the cockpit immediately, “Hang on.” 

Din starts to make his way back up the ladder, a task easier said than done in the ships current state.

“Not funny!” She yells when he’s already halfway up. “Where are you going?! Mandalorian! You can’t leave me down here! Come ba-“

He shuts the door on her as soon as he reaches the top, not having the time to feel bad about it.

All he has to do now is make sure they don’t die when the ship inevitably crashes. 

***

He leaves you screaming at the door. This is the second time now he’s left you talking by yourself.  

In your frustration you start to kick at nothing, trying your best to pull at your restraints but it ultimately gets you nowhere. 

The ship groans as you feel it turn, the sound of scraping metal and resisting gears makes the space impossibly loud. Something sparks a few feet away from you with a loud popping noise and you’re unable to hold back your shriek. 

And you thought airplane turbulence as bad? Oh, no. This was so much worse. 

As the ship continues to drop, you dodge the various items that get thrown about. The only things keeping you from being flung around too were the cuffs that were digging uncomfortably into your wrists. You laugh dryly at the incidental consideration from the Mandalorian’s part in leaving you strung up like this.

For a second, the ship regains its balance, only to fall back on its current collision course. He must be trying - and failing, you note - to steer the damn thing. You can’t help but realize that you wouldn’t be in this predicament if you had only followed Krin back on Pasaana. Since there’s not much you can do about it now, you opt to mutter prayers for your survival with every sudden drop. 

Your thoughts are only of your family as the alarms continue to scream for attention. Here you were, about to die a million miles away from home, and they’d never know. Tears threaten to fall from your eyes when you realize that you might not ever see them again. 

If the Mandalorian didn’t fix this soon, you might not ever see anything again. 

Without any warning, you feel the ship bounce and you’re momentarily lifted off of your feet. The impact of it sends most of the Mandalorian’s things to the back of the ship. You let out a yell the second time the ship hits something and the sound gets sucked out through a hole that now tore through the wall. You’re barely able to let that add to your panic before the ship hits the ground again. Hard. You feel as if your arms are about to be torn out of their sockets as you’re jostled around. The ship finally skids to a halt, knocking the air from your lungs. 

For a moment everything is quiet, save for the sound of creaking metal, bursting electrical wires, and dying engines. When you remember to breath again, it smells faintly of smoke and gasoline. 

You hear the Mandalorian before you see him, his heavy steps ringing off the ladder as he takes in the damage. You notice the flying carrier following him and you’re honestly glad to know that the baby is okay. When he finally stands in front of you, you can’t decide whether you’re happy to see him or not. 

“I could’ve died down here!” You choose to yell. You should probably thank him for saving your lives, but you’re still mad at him for leaving you chained behind. 

The man only turns his head, continuing his scan of everything that’s been thrown about or lost via the the gaping hole in the ship. 

“What happened?” You ask, fed up with his silence. You try to lose the edge in your voice, telling yourself that this experience couldn’t have been pleasant for him either. 

“An engine blew,” he mutters as he walks closer to the hole. Rays of light shine passed him, bouncing off the walls and allowing you to see the full extent of the crash.

“There’s a town nearby,” he continues, although you’re not sure if he’s talking more to himself or to you. “We’ll get repairs for the ship there.”

“We?” you question, toning down your excitement. You couldn’t stand to be attached to this fire hazard any longer.

“I don’t trust you with my ship.”

I’m not the one who crashed it, you think to yourself.

He picks up your helmet from the debris and you’re pleasantly surprised to see it in one piece.

The Mandalorian puts it back on you. You’re about to object, already uncomfortable with the way your hair clings to you underneath, but he beats you to it. “Keep it on.”

He reaches up and detaches your cuffs from the railing. Your arms drop and you wince at how your muscles already ache.

“What about these?” you ask, holding up your wrists to show him the cuffs he still hasn’t taken off.

Instead of answering, he raises his blaster at you and motions to the hole in the wall with a nod. You roll your eyes as you turn and walk through it, already feeling the end of the blaster against your back again.

You didn’t realize the ship crashed onto a forest planet until you saw the abundance of trees that now surrounded your party. After seeing nothing but desert and sand for what you assumed had been more or less a week, you couldn’t suppress your grin at seeing so much greenery.

Tilting your head up, you try to see how high the trees grow, as they seem to go on forever. The branches reach for the sky, covering your path in a cooling shade that makes your second walk with the Mandalorian a lot more comfortable than the first. Occasionally, a shadow moves above you and you catch a glimpse of the wildlife that run across the trees. Even though you know your helmet is limiting the view, dulling the colors through its filter, and muting a lot of the natural sounds, the novelty of the forest is still breathtaking. You silently wonder if the Mandalorian could experience its full extent, or if he too wished for more.

The little, green child must have also thought the sight was one to see because you keep hearing baby noises full of wonder from behind you. You imagine it sitting perked up in the carrier, immersed by the beauty of all this nature.  

Back home, the city you lived in chose high rise buildings over natural parks, never giving you the chance to stop and smell the roses. At the time, you didn't think you minded either. Life always moved too fast for you to give it any notice. And while your captor keeps the pace quick, you take in as much of it as you can, from the way the grass bends under your step to how the wind carries fallen leaves above you.

You estimate that it’s been half an hour before the trees start to thin out, giving way to the view of the town the Mandalorian must’ve been referring to. Unlike the ones on the other planets where the structures looked to be made of natural materials, this one had large, protruding metal buildings spread out across the landscape. You thought they stuck out horribly against the serene picture of the forest.  Before you could take another step toward it, the Mandalorian holds his arm out causing you to stop.

“Stay close when we get there. Don’t touch anything and let me do all the talking.”

You nod despite hating the way he made you feel like a second child he had to drag around. He starts walking by your side this time. You note how his blaster is thankfully put away. Not that you think he trusts you any more than he did a second ago, but it does make the walk less stressful.  He stops right before you reach the entrance of the town and you do the same.

His helmet turns down and you realize he’s looking at the cuffs on your wrists.  “Keep those covered when we cross,” he orders. “I don’t want to draw any more attention to ourselves than we already will.”

“You can just take them off, you know,” your modulated voice rasps, making you sound less genuine than you want. “I promise I won’t run away.” He can’t see the innocent smile you’re offering, but you hope it translates through your tone.

"No." End of discussion, you gather, and the smile drops.

He looks away and doesn't wait for you before beginning his advance towards the town. You mouth an "Okay" behind his back and pick up your pace to follow him, hiding your bound hands underneath your cloak.

The town looks more modern than you expected. As you follow the Mandalorian through the streets, flashing signs and hovering vehicles can be seen all around. Everywhere you turn, something new catches your attention. It's hard not to stop and stare in amazement.

Wordlessly, he guides your group to one of the buildings. Various machines are parked outside, each with sets of tools and grease-stained rags scattered around them or on nearby tables. You didn't need to know how to read the sign to understand that this was a mechanic. The door to the shop slides open and once inside, the Mandalorian turns his head to you with a stare that reminds you to "not touch anything." Once he got his silent point across to you, he shifts his attention to the owner.

You hear him start to explain the ships situation, but you tune out the exchange once you notice how fast the shop empties of its customers. People’s expressions would go from pleased shopper to distressed individual when they saw your armored companion. You’d think they were the ones a bounty on their head with how fast they’d exit the store.

You frown, thinking it was extremely rude, but the Mandalorian didn’t appear to notice it. Or if he did, he didn’t care. Did this happen everywhere he went?

You don’t get the chance to feel sorry for him for too long before your attention is redirected back to the conversation that was growing louder by the second.

“2,000 credits?!” You hear the Mandalorian protest and see the baby shrink into his carrier. “That price is too high. I can pay half.” He sets down the money on the counter.

The shop owner shakes his head, “Half will only get you enough to patch up the hole and cover the fee to haul the parts to your location. It’s not enough for an engine replacement of your ship’s model.”

You see the Mandalorian’s fists start to clench at his side. “Where am I supposed to get 2,000 credits?”

You become hyperaware of the pouch of credits you have in your pocket in that moment.

“Not my problem, bounty hunter,” the owner sneers. “If you can’t pay, then get out! You’re scaring away my paying customers.”

Your hand rests on the outside of your pocket. Would that even be enough? It definitely looked like it was more than what he put on the counter. You chew your bottom lip as you think it over. On one hand, the credits were the only safety net you had for the future. On the other, travelling with the Mandalorian was your best chance at getting your bounty removed – something you couldn’t do if he didn’t have a functioning ship.

You make up your mind, hoping you didn’t end up regretting it later. Without letting the cloak reveal your cuffs, you dig the pouch of credits out of your pocket and drop it on the counter. “Is this enough?”

Both men turn to you as if they only now realized you’ve been there the whole time. The Mandalorian alternates his gaze between you and the bag that has yet to be opened. The shop owner picks it up and peers inside. Please be enough. Please be enough. Please be enough.

His eyes widen and he pockets the bag immediately.

“This will do,” he says in a way that makes you feel like you unknowingly overpaid.

***

“Where did you get the credits?” The Mandalorian demands when you get back to his wreck of a ship.

He hadn’t said a word to you since you left the mechanic, and after marching the whole way back in a tense silence, you gathered that somehow you had made him mad.

You didn’t understand. You paid for his parts and he couldn’t at least pretend to be appreciative. If it weren’t for you, he’d still be back there haggling over prices or even worse, the shop owner could have thrown them out without any of the parts they needed.

“Jules’ bank account,” you finally answer. You see him stop unloading the repair pieces and shake his head before continuing. It was clear that he still didn’t believe you.  

“How much did you give him?” About that…

You bite the inside of your cheek. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” The Mandalorian drops what he’s doing. “What do you mean you don’t know? You gave him all your credits!”

The helmet suddenly feels suffocating so you take it off. “Look, I don’t understand your monetary system, so I don’t know how much was in the bag. Does it even matter? You got your parts in the end, anyways.”

“I told you to let me do the talking, ” he says, making his way to where you are. “The mechanic ripped you off, Jules.”

You stand your ground reminding yourself how underneath all that armor was just a man. You hope…

Come to think of it, you’ve never seen him without the armor on. He was definitely shaped like a man, but for all you know he could be some alien species you have yet to see.

“I already told you,” you start, pushing your thoughts of him to the back burner. “I’m. Not. Jules.”

“That’s not going to work on me.”

“Well, it’s the truth.” You refuse to look away, determined to win this stare down. When the Mandalorian turns away first, you bite your tongue to keep a smirk form forming. Behind him, the baby laughs, and you shoot him a secret wink.

The Mandalorian stalks off to where the repair parts were now propped up against his ship. “Fixing this will take a few days.” He doesn’t bother to mask the displeasure in his tone.

You go to stand next to him and grimace at the damage. “How are we going to do that?”

“We aren’t going to do anything,” he snaps, grabbing the links on your cuffs and dragging you by them to the nearest tree. “I’m going to fix my ship-”

He attaches your cuffs to one of the branches. Thankfully, it was one of the low hanging ones.

“-and you’re not touching anything.”

“Oh, come on! Is this really necessary?” you protest. “I can help you.” In truth, your mechanical skills were limited to only the basics. But you were a fast learner, and more importantly, desperate to get out of your binds.

“I doubt that.”

It takes the Mandalorian about three hours to eat his words.

After sending many glares in his direction with every time he denies your offer of help, you finally make peace with the idea of being shackled to a tree for the rest of the day. You spend the better part of the afternoon figuring out how to get comfortable with your hands in such an awkward position.

From where you’re sitting the only view available is that of the Mandalorian slowly reducing the damage on his ship. Every so often his child, having grown restless in the carrier, would wander around his workspace. Sometimes, the baby would look at you with those huge, adorable eyes and tilt his head like before. Not wanting to give the Mandalorian another reason to be mad at you, based on how he reacted the last time you entertained the child, you reluctantly chose not to indulge him.

But now, you watch as your shiny companion repeatedly fails to hold up a metal panel and weld it to the ship at the same time. Every time it falls from his hands you hear him mutter curses and the sounds only fuel your amusement.

When the panel falls again, he reluctantly turns to look at you and you meet his gaze with a smug expression. “Need any help?’

He turns away immediately and tries again. It doesn’t work.

Your self-satisfaction could not have been more apparent as the Mandalorian makes his way over to you. His hands hover over the cuffs for a moment, “If you run, I’ll shoot you.”

“Why would I have paid for your repairs if I was going to run? I already told you, I don’t need these.”

You can tell that he can’t argue with the truth in your words. His fingers twitch and the hesitation almost has you crying out, but with a few specific clicks of different buttons, your wrists are finally free. They’re raw and chafed, your skin stings, but the cool forest air against them has you sighing in relief.

“Just be quiet and hold up the panels while I secure them.” With that order shoved your way, you got to work. 

The rest of the day goes by like that. There’s a silent rhythm you both stick to. No unnecessary talking; just working. As you hold the panels up, the Mandalorian was able to noticeably work a lot faster - an observation that you decide to keep to yourself. His hands work deftly, handling the welding and wiring with an impressive skill that you couldn’t help but to admire. It was almost delicate, much in the way that you’d only seen him act around his child.

Multiple times you catch yourself staring at the way the sparks of the welding tool would look like little stars against his helmet. Sometimes his face would be so close to the flame that you found yourself trying to see if the light could shine through the visor. It never did, and your hopes that you’d be able to at least see his eyes were snuffed. 

The work continues and you finish the first set of panels together as the sun begins to set. Accumulated exhaustion from the past few days - not to mention the recent crash, start to latch onto your bones making you feel like a weighted blanket was just draped across your shoulders. You haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in days and it has you forgetting what it was like to rest for more than a few hours.  

It seems you’re not the only one desperate for a nap and you don’t get too much time to reminisce about your ruined sleep schedule before a certain green baby starts to get fussy. Just a few feet away from you, he plops down on the ground, his face scrunched up in a way that tugs at your heartstrings. When small cries start erupting from him it’s enough to have you instinctively rush to console him. 

You go to pick him up off the ground, arms stretched out and already bending down when the Mandalorian beats you to it. In a swift movement he manages to hold the child with one arm and point his blaster at you with the other. It has you stumbling back when you lift you head and are met face first with the end of his weapon. 

“I was only trying to help,” you say, slowly bringing your hands up to show you meant no harm.

You’ve had that stupid thing pointed at you so many times already that you’ve started to become desensitized to it. If anything, you feel more inconvenienced by it than threatened. You recognize how that should be a thought that raises concern but seeing as you’ve got more immediate things to worry about, you add it to the long list of unsettling space things that you’d worry about later. 

“I told you to stay away from him,” he all but growls at you. The child’s cries were now reduced to quiet whimpers as he anxiously turns his head between you and the Mandalorian.

Anger starts to bubble in your chest with each coarse word he says, “What is your problem?!” 

You neither appreciate nor understand why he speaks to you in such a short tone every time he does decide to talk to you.

“You are,” he spits, stepping closer and positioning the blaster underneath your chin. Your breath hitches. Okay, now you remember why you were supposed to be afraid of blasters.

“And don’t think that I won’t kill you if you ever try to lay a finger on him again.” 

By now the sky has gotten a lot darker, shrouding the forest in anxious darkness. Without the light of the sun to bounce off his armor, the Mandalorian almost blends in with the night and you can only see his silhouette like an ominous shadow. You feel him tilt the blaster up, forcing your head to move along with it. It’s too dark now to see the features of his helmet, but you know you’re looking directly at it. Somehow that’s worse, you think, knowing for a fact that he can see you when you’re desperately trying to get your eyes to adjust to the dark. 

His shape moves, taking the blaster with him and you finally allow yourself to breath when you hear his footsteps walking away from you. His absence reveals the stars that were behind him. You stay looking up, paralyzed, and hoping to find comfort in them, but the unfamiliarity of their patterns only highlight how alone you feel.

You feel around your neck, forgetting again that your necklace was taken from you. It leaves a pit in your heart and not for the first time you feel like letting the dam behind your eyes break. But what good would crying do? It won’t bring your necklace back, and it won’t get you any closer to home. You sniffle, pulling yourself together because you still had a long way to go. 

The Mandalorian was back in his ship, leaving you out of his sight for the first time since you’ve met. To your surprise you noticed that he left you unbound too. Unbound and unsupervised. Staring ahead at the forest, it felt infinitely more inviting than the ship you spent most of the day working on. You allow yourself to wonder how far away you could get before the Mandalorian shot you down as promised. Not very far- even in your imagination. 

You shake your head and sigh, turning around to walk to the ship. Running won’t solve anything but maybe some sleep would help you feel less overwhelmed. Walking through the hole, which was now half fixed, you settle yourself against a wall, pulling your knees to your chest to make yourself as small as possible. If you were lucky, the Mandalorian would stay in the upper levels the entire night. 

Light pours into the ship, waking you from a night of restlessness. You rub your eyes and will your legs to carry you outside. A layer of morning mist spreads across the forest, hiding the trees that were further inland. Behind you, the sound of metal against metal informs you that the Mandalorian was hard at work. You turn, seeing him perched on his ships broken engine- not unlike a vulture, prying away the damaged parts.

A sudden rustling sound behind you makes you whip back around. The noise stops and with the fog in the way, you can't see a thing. Your eyes narrow, trying in vain to see through it. Must’ve have been an animal.

You look back and see that the Mandalorian was still working, unbothered by the noise you just heard. If he wasn’t worried by it, then neither should you be.

It still catches you by surprise, making you jump when you hear the rusting again. This time louder. Closer, even. Much like a stupid teenager in a horror movie, you take tentative steps towards the trees. When nothing happens, you let your shoulders drop. It was too early to be this jumpy, you thought, feeling ridiculous. Probably from your lack of a proper breakfast, too.

Three figures arise from the mist. You expect your eyes are as wide as dinner plates at this point. Wide and full of a fearful surprise. These aliens were new to you. Covered in scales from their horned heads to clawed feet, and staring at you with intense red eyes, they look like terrifying lizard people.

“Well, well,” taunted the tallest one, revealing his set of pointed teeth. “What do we have here?”

You start to back away with a cry for help stuck in your throat.

A smaller one takes another step forward, a horrifying smile spreading on his face, “Where do you think you’re going?”

You run away from them then, screaming for the Mandalorian when you near the ship again. He flies down between you and the lizard people before they get the chance to get too close, and it’s the first time you notice he has a jetpack. If you weren’t scared out of your mind right now, you might have found the time to be impressed by it.

Everyone stills, the lizard men separated from you only by the Mandalorian. Two of you, and three of them. You did not like those odds.

"Give Taxo over to us, Mandalorian," the taller one hisses, "and we'll consider letting you live."

His two companions laugh, an awful cadence that has the hairs on the back of your neck sticking up.

“Leave now,” the Mandalorian threatens, cutting off their laughter, “and I’ll consider killing you quickly.”

It all happens too fast for you to properly process. The taller one yells an order at one of his partners, and you’re suddenly doing your best to run from one of the lizard people while the other two attack the Mandalorian.

The one after you is smaller and rounder but frightening all the same. He tries to grab at you, but you duck and roll, narrowly missing his deadly claws. With a snarl, the reptilian continues to chase you. Not noticing an uplifted tree root, you trip and fall on your back with an involuntary cry.  The lizard man hovers above you, going to grab his blaster. You start kicking blindly, surprised when your foot repeatedly hits him, and he staggers back. Something falls a few feet ahead of you and you both lock eyes on it, freezing for just a moment. It was his blaster.

You snap out of it first, scrambling to get it as he claws at air with every time he misses you. You pick it up, pointing it at him and he stops in his tracks. With a hiss he stares at you, probably figuring out the best way to disarm you of his own weapon. You’ve never shot anyone before and your heart pounds in your chest. You aim for his leg- not wanting to become a wanted bounty hunter and a murderer as well. Your hands tremble as you squeeze the trigger.

Click. Nothing. And your blood runs cold. Why didn’t it shoot? Shit.

“Shit,” you voice, looking between the blaster in your grip and the reptilian who was coming at you. As you run, you try to shoot again. Click. Nothing.

“Turn the safety off!” the familiar voice of the Mandalorian yells at you. From the corner of your eye, you see him fighting off the other two hunters. He has one in a chokehold as the other one lies unconscious on the ground next to him.

You press a random button on the blaster as you duck another swing from the lizard man. You point again. Click. Still Nothing.

“Which one is the safety?!” you frantically ask. You’re growing tired of running and any minute now the lizard hunter would surely catch up to you.

“It’s the switch next to the trigger!” the Mandalorian directs at you but he keeps his focus on the reptilian that escapes his grip.

While they continue to fight, you find the switch before being thrown on the ground. The lizard man pins you down and he bares his razor-sharp teeth at you. He goes to bite at you, and you simultaneously aim the blaster as best you can, pulling the trigger. This time, a flash of red light emits from the end with a high-pitched noise. The body on top of you gets rigid and slumps down on you. You still for a second, not believing it was over. When the weight becomes too much, you shove him off and he rolls to the side with his mouth still open and a horrible burn mark on his chest.

You sit up and the only thing you can hear is your breathing and the echoing noise of the blaster you just shot. Looking over, you see that the Mandalorian is all right with two bodies next to him. No doubt in the same condition as the one next to you. You look down at it. It’s terribly still. A different kind of still than when you knocked out the man on Klatooine. You never once thought for a second that you actually killed that guy.

Your hands are shaking, still gripping the blaster tightly, but you can’t bring yourself to look away from the body. When he was attacking you, shooting him did not seem like such a bad idea. It was the only idea; you try to reason. Besides, you only meant to injure him. Not this. You refuse to give a name to what you actually did.

“Get up. We have to get rid of them,” the Mandalorian tells you and you realize then that he’s right next to you. He sounds miles away.

“I need a minute,” you mutter, your voice sounds distant, even to you.

“We don’t have a minute,” he says, grabbing you by the arm. “Get up.”

You snap out of your haze then, yanking your arm out of his grip and seeing red in the shape of the Mandalorian, “I said, I need a minute!”

***

Din steps back at the outburst.

Leftover adrenaline brings his hand to his blaster, immediately ready for Jules to finally attack. He keeps his eyes trained on the one she holds but doesn’t point at him. 

She’s pacing, he notices. Her steps taking her back and forth between where he stands and the Trandoshan she killed.

“Oh my god,” she keeps repeating, each time faster and more breathless.

“I just -” Jules halts in front of the body, her words abruptly cutting off as fast as she stills.  He sees her stare at the blaster mark on the body, glassy eyed with shock. She remains motionless, save for her hands that have not stopped trembling this entire time. 

Her breaths become more erratic when she looks down at the blaster in her hand. Jules lets it fall to her feet as if holding it any longer would cause her more pain, and she’s backing away from it not a second later. 

Without a weapon in her hand, Din cautiously loosens his grip on his blaster. He doesn’t understand why she’s acting like this. Bounty hunters like them were not new to killing. 

“I -“ her words cut off again as she tries to start the sentence she can’t manage to finish. Jules takes a deep and shaky breath, closing her eyes as if to ground herself in the moment. When her eyes open, she’s looking behind him, an almost inaudible gasp leaving her. 

She looks at him, pointing at the bodies to his back, and he sees her eyes are brimming with tears, “And you got two of them.” The words sound hollow. Directed more at him then to him.

“Oh, God,” she cries again. Her feet pick up the pace of her previous trek. Wavering hands grasp at her neck. The way she closes an empty fist at the base of her collarbone has him thinking of the necklace he took- the one he feels could burn a hole through his pocket the more he looks at the desperation in her face. Is that what she wants? Would that make her feel better? 

Din shakes his head. He didn’t have time for this, “We have to move them away from the ship. Pull yourself together.”

He knew his words were harsh, but it got her to stop the incessant pacing. Her face grows hard, lips forming a tight line as harsh steel eyes attempt to pierce through his helmet. She gets unnervingly quiet. 

“You know,” Jules says after a minute, her voice now backed by a fuming edge. “You didn’t even say thank you.”

His brows furrow. Did he miss something? “What” 

“Back at the mechanic!” She says that as if it clarifies anything for him. “I wasted all of my money on your stupid ship, and did you say thank you?” Her voice elevates with every stomp coming his way.  

“No!” She answers for him. 

Din stays quiet. He knows she can’t be mad at that. If she really had a problem with his lack of manners, she could’ve said something before. This anger is misplaced; directed at him because there’s no one else around to blame for whatever was actually troubling her. Nonetheless, he’s surprised by the outrage. 

“You’ve been nothing but awful to me since we’ve met,” she continues, her words still sharp and accusing. “What have I done to deserve that?” 

He’s had enough of this. “Jules-“

“Stop calling me that!” 

Din actually steps back, thrown off by her outcry. Her glare on him doesn’t waver and something about it has him wishing the Trandoshans he killed back to life just so he’d have something else to focus on.

“I told you before! I’m not Jules!” 

He raises an eyebrow. Was she still trying to keep up her charade? He had to admit, her determination to it was impressive.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” she says, voice breaking.

She turns around and faces her victim, tears falling down her face freely now. “And now I’ve k-killed someone.“ Her voice is faint, his helmet being the only reason he was able to hear it at all. It doesn’t hide how strained the words were.

“I don’t understand why I’m being chased around the galaxy for something I didn’t do. I don’t understand anything that’s happening to me, and I’m ... ” 

Her rapid words trail off and it takes him a second to realize she’s looking right at him. 

He processes everything he hears, but the gears in his mind are turning too slowly. A gut feeling, the same one that recognized something was off about this job from the very beginning, tells him she’s telling the truth. 

He forces himself to study her, not ready to let himself believe it yet. She’s wrapped her arms around herself, tightly clinging to the material of her cloak. All her fight from earlier is gone, replaced with a resigned exhaustion. This isn’t the bounty hunter he was told to find. 

“...I’m scared,” she finally tells him, her words painfully whispered.  

Something locks into place, and suddenly Din doesn’t see Jules anymore. Instead, he sees you. A puffy-eyed, frightened woman. He feels like a complete jackass. 

“Dank farrik,” he sighs. “You’re telling the truth, aren’t you?” 

[stillebesat]

Stille’s Sanders Sides Master Post (Updated September 9th, 2022)

Here’s my official Master Post of my Sanders Sides Fics! 

All of them can also be found on my Ao3 account NikaylaSarae. ^^;;

For Tumblr, the links to all my stories are below the cut. <3

Enjoy!

The Brilliant 3 A.M. Idea  -Roman gets an Idea at 3am and must tell Thomas. -Inspired from Image posted by: organisoitukaaosteoria, Fic request: darude-sanderstorm

The Nest -Patton misplaces his cardigan and finds it in an unexpected spot. Inspired from series of text posts by: the-zebra-dragon and arc852, Fic request: sidewritings

That’s How You Know -Roman is feeling low after not getting a part he auditioned for and desperately wanted. The others step in to cheer him up. Song!Fic -That’s How You Know from Enchanted

Out There: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 -Logan finds himself alone in the apartment. So he does something he usually doesn’t do. Sing. Song!Fic -Out There from Hunchback of Notre Dame

Deep Heart: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 -When Logan leaves the others in Patton’s room, Virgil takes matters into his own hands and ends up revealing a secret Patton wanted to keep hidden. (takes place at the end of Moving On ½) Inspiration from This Post Courage, Braveheart: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 -Virgil had known since he was young that his chances for living long were slim. Still, he had hoped to have lived a little bit longer.

A Sweet Discovery -It’s 2 a.m. and Tiny!Logan is on the prowl for sweets. Tiny!Sides

It Takes Two -When Logan can’t convince Thomas to not give into peer pressure in a potentially dangerous situation, he turns to the Side he thought he’d never go to for help. Virgil.

Found in the Glitter -Working backstage is not always the easiest, especially when Virgil manages to get on the new guy’s nerves. Theatre AU

A Rainbow Connection -Roman’s on the run, desperate to escape the man who’s been able to control his entire life just by looking into his eyes. Hopping from airport to airport, Roman unexpectedly runs into the person who gave him the key to slipping from the Cobra’s mental control; Thomas Sanders.   Song!Fic

Shades of Truth: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 - -Everyone has secrets, Roman knows this. But after dealing with Deceit in the most recent video and discovering that Virgil doesn’t like liars…he decides to come clean with a secret he’s been hiding from the other Sides.

Meeting Einstein -It’d been a horrible no good very bad and awful day, and all Patton wanted was to play with the puppies in the local pet store to cheer himself up. Instead he finds something completely different.

True Colors  -There’s a place in the mindscape that Roman only goes to as a last resort when the criticism from the others becomes too much. Unfortunately, it’s becoming an all too frequent occurrence.

A Work of Art -After a rough night of public humiliation at the hands of his old rival, Roman just wants to take a shower and get some sleep. His roommate has something else in mind though.

Contained-Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 -You know what they say about Creativity. It’s best if it’s locked away.

FreeFalling- Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 -Sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith. Winged!AU

The Butterfly Effect- Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6  Chapter 7  Chapter 8  Chapter 9  Chapter 10  Chapter 11  Chapter 12  Chapter 13  Chapter 14  Chapter 15  Chapter 16  Chapter 17  Chapter 18  Chapter 19  Chapter 20  Chapter 21  Chapter 22  Chapter 23  Chapter 24  Chapter 25  Chapter 26  -Roman has three chances to change his life for the better. Three chances to fix past mistakes. Three chances to totally screw it all up. But who said life is worth living unless one takes a little risk?

The Training Program-It’s five a.m.. Virgil hasn’t yet slept and Thomas is summoning him. That couldn’t be good.

A Hero’s Rescue Part 1  Part 2 -After being defeated in battle, the last thing Roman expects is to have a soaking wet hero show up at his doorstep.

The Beginning -Creativity has an idea. A wonderful, awesome idea. Now…if only Creativity could focus enough to make the idea a reality.

Little Lies - Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  -All he’d been looking for when he’d revealed himself to Thomas was a little less work. One less secret to hide. One less thing to keep Thomas from knowing because his host didn’t want to know. To say it had backfired for Deceit was a bit of an understatement.

White Lies - Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 -Sequel to Little Lies -Deceit has been stuck in his ‘role’ as Dilyn for almost a year now. It’s about time he changed that.

CatScratch - Virgil’s learned to expect a lot of things helping the police solve murders, but he never thought that they’d actually find something that could crack his own unsolved case.

The Finish Line - After years of training, Logan Star is finally going to accomplish the one goal he’s had since his first High School track meet. Beat Roman Prince.

Growing Pains -Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 -For the past year Logan has been fighting to keep a part of himself hidden. Only now, thanks to Roman, he’s been compromised.

The Grade -Patton: I’m sorry I graded your tests in magic marker, but I just felt like it.

Seeking Warmth -If he’d known he’d be spending the rest of eternity freezing to death on Earth, Deceit would never have left Hell in the first place.

Spilled Milk -Logan never expected to get in the middle of a fight while at the self-checkout of a grocery store.

Egg-stenuating Circumstances -Why is it that the simplest of quests for Roman always end up more complicated than they should be?

The Rise of Deceit -With the Dragonwitch destroying the kingdom, the Crown Prince has a difficult choice to make.

Tattered -Part 1  Part 2 -Left to fend for himself, Roman can’t trust anyone…right?

Raindrops and Cookies -Most people would only be focused on getting themselves out of the rain. Patton isn’t most people.

A Special Delivery -Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  - “The stork brings the baby to deserving parents.” He whispered, quoting the words from memory. “All the lost, forgotten, and alone.”

In These Tangled Webs: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8  Part 9  Part 10  Part 11 -It should be easy admitting to your roommates that you’re not entirely human. Only in Logan’s case it’s not. Not when he discovers that Patton is afraid of Spiders.

The Old Hoodie - 2 sentence prompt –Thomas glared at Virgil, eyes filled with hate, and held out Virgil’s old hoodie, obviously expecting him to take it and go back to who he used to be. “I don’t trust Dark Sides.“

I Miss The King: Part 1  Part 2 -2 sentence prompt -“I miss you… I miss the King” a sigh “Apparently, it’s the same for me.”

Infinitesimal -Logan isn’t quite sure why Roman thinks he needs his help at three in the morning.

To Break A Curse: 2 sentence prompt -Logan looked at Roman, eyes dark. “I need you to really think about what you’re saying, because you’re going to hurt Virgil even more if you do not.“  

Shutting Down -Having your phone die shouldn’t be that big of a deal…right?

Anxious to Touch - Virgil ca’t be around the others without hurting them, so he has to stay away. Only Deceit won’t let him do that.

The Path: A Tale of Trick or Treating - Remus(1) Patton(2) Emile(3) Remy(4) ???(5) Logan(6) Roman(7) Virgil(8) Diva(9) Duke(10) Prince(11) Picani(12) Logic(13)  Deceit(14) ???(15)  -2nd person pov. -You’ve been trick or treating at the Sanders Side’s homes for as long as you can remember, but this year things get a bit more…complicated.

The Interview: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4 Part 5 -A normal day at StoryTime! Inc. takes an unexpected turn when Logan goes to investigate why his coworkers have made a bet using Crofters as the prize.

Virgil’s Interview: -It’d been his dream to work for StoryTime! since he was a kid, and now finally, Virgil may be able to make it come true. Note: Virgil’s pov of Chapter 3 in The Interview.

The Olive Branch -They used to celebrate Christmas Eve without Anxiety there to ruin things. But this year Roman plans to change that.

These Black Wings -An hour ago Patton had been loved, wanted, celebrated. Now? He’s on the run for his life thanks to the large black wings that sprouted from his back.

Chimney Sweep -Sure. It’s great to be able to see visions of missing children…but being able to find them still alive is another thing entirely.

Meeting Romeo -A Prequel to A Work of Art. -It was unfortunate really, but someone had to tell the Romeo standing on the street that his Juliet he’d come to listen to day after day no longer lived in the apartment complex. It might as well be Virgil.

Dance with Me -Patton’s never had a father figure to bring to his ballet class for Valentine’s Day like all the other kids before. But this year…he might.

A Midnight Conversation -All Virgil expected when he stepped out onto the balcony was to have a quiet moment to himself. Note: Virgil’s pov of ch 2 of White Lies.

Warm Fuzzies -Two Sentence Prompt: Remy thought that he didn’t deserve love, not after everything he’s done. But, when Emile walked through the door to room 127, Remy’s heart skipped an unexpected beat.

A Shadowling’s Happiness  -Two Sentence Prompt: “Where the hell are you going!?” “To the subconscious,  and you can’t stop me.”

Scales- Prologue  Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Epilogue -Deceit hadn’t expected his absence from the Mindscape to be noticed by the others…until Logic knocked on his door.

Mother’s Day -Janus has never liked Mother’s Day.

Wanted -Remus knew one thing for sure. No one would ever want to Want him.

To The Moon - A Vague AU Prompt. -This wasn’t at all how Patton expected their wedding night to go.

The New Hire- Roman has never known his brother, Logan, to break a promise. Until now. Note: Roman’s pov of Chapter 4 in The Interview. 

Be My Dad- A Vague AU Prompt -Janus has no interest in being a parental figure to a kid, but trying to convince the universe of that is another thing entirely.

Moonshot-  Was it too much for Logan to ask to have just one date not revolve around sports talk?

The Sweater- Emile had said he was making a sweater for a friend. Only he neglected to tell Remy that this friend wasn’t exactly…well…human.

October ThirST -After seventy years of searching for his Soulblood, Virgil is highly doubtful he’ll find them tonight.

Lemon Drops -Patton just wanted to go somewhere where he wouldn’t be judged, wouldn’t disappoint…wouldn’t…screw up another relationship. (Takes place after SvS Redux)

The Path: A Promise Kept -sequel to The Path: A Tale of Trick or Treating -Trick or Treating may be cancelled this year, but that won’t stop you from keeping a Promise.

The Chaos Twins -prequel moment to The Sweater -Everyone has their hobbies, though Emile wishes his roommates’ hobbies were a little less…explosive.

On the Run -prequel moment to the Sweater -When life gives you an escape attempt, you run as fast and as far as you can to get away.

Nitemear -It’s not considered running away if you’re merely trying to find a more defensible position.

The Key is Confidence -Confidence. That was the key, his father had told him, to getting away with anything.

Among the Branches -Getting woken up at the crack of dawn by your landlord can’t be a good thing. Fractured Trust- Trust is a tender thing, easily made…and just as easily broken. Written for the Two sentence prompt -"Why don't you trust me Roman?" Patton asked tightening his grip on Roman's shirt. "P-Patton I-" Roman stuttered out fearfully.

A Mini’s Pep Talk -It shouldn’t surprise Roman, at this point, that on top of an already no good really really bad day he ends up getting attacked by another Side’s Mini-Me while looking for his own. (Takes place after SVS Redux)

The (K)nightmare -They say that the brain uses Dreams to help understand and solve problems one faces in the waking world.

Demon Comfort -Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 -Lurking under a Human’s bed should be downright dull for a Demon of Logan’s rank. And yet…he can’t help but be intrigued by his human charge.

First Contact - Things would be so much easier if only their human, Virgil, would talk to them.

Meeting Virgil (5x1) - Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 -Five times Remy tried to give Virgil a child and the one time he succeeded. A Special Delivery Prequel. 

Catch Me (If You Can) - Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 -Remy would not allow himself to be seen as needy and helpless in front of the general masses. He had an image to uphold. One of perfect health, snarky comebacks, and general sassiness. He didn’t get sick.

Beneath the Moon - Part 1  Part 2 Part 3 -After all the research he’d done, after all the signs he’d been experiencing. Logan needed someone to tell him he wasn’t crazy. And Roman…Roman had always been the one most likely to believe in the fantastical, the impossible, the…supernatural.

Hello Darkness (My Old ... Friend?) - Part 1  -Is it possible to search for something…for someone…when you don’t even remember that they’re missing?

Dance Break! -Roman suddenly jumped up, a sparkle in his eyes, as he turned, seeking out the first person he can find and holding out his hand. “Dance with me!” (Written with @kieraelieson)​

Christmas Eve -Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5 -Of all the barriers that Janus expected to have to overcome in order to get his son a pet for Christmas, encountering his Ex, Roman, working in the pet store had never once crossed his mind.

Code: Blanket -Part 1  Part 2 -A friendship doesn’t stop just because one person decides to act like a dick. Especially when said dick is obviously in trouble.

An Unconventional Defeat -Patton knew that heroes started out young, far younger than villains ever did. But this young?

Into the Fray -It wasn’t like he shouldn’t have expected this. It seemed like any plan involving him and Virgil had a tendency to well…go astray.

No Longer Alone -Growing up in isolation away from people has been all that Virgil’s ever known. That changes today.

A Restless Christmas Eve -Even if it had been five years since he’d appeared in the real world, this still felt like it should have been a Virgil problem and not a Deceit one. He’d never had issues staying asleep before. Let alone ending up wide awake, feeling like he needed to–to–just move. Get out. Because of a stupid storm.

Out Camping - Part 1  Part 2 -A Father and Son Camping Trip.

Sanders Sides Art Portals AU-  Deceit  Roman  Patton Logan  Virgil

[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

... Nice | Ben Solo

Pairing: Ben Solo x Black!Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 3k

Request: My request is for basically a Jedi Plus Sized Black Reader who finds Ben after everyone is gone and heals him and is angry because Rey left him for dead and has the nerve to claim his family's name like her father wasn't the cause of their downfall in the first place. Reader helps him let go of his anger and hatred and over time he falls in love with her and it's just fluffy cuteness

Warnings: mentions of the things Kylo Ren did, angst-ish, a woman comforting and kind of but not really because I don’t believe in that fixing a man, fluff-ish, suggestive ending, mentions of the dyad, very light mentions of Rey, reader is a grey Jedi.

A/N: this isn’t as fluffy as the request asked for:(. I dissociated horribly while writing this and lost the idea I had— I still think it turned out okay. At least I hope it did. Let me know!

Gif credit: @loga-boga

☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎

Cold cheeks under your hands gained temperature as your body was slowly drained of energy. You miscalculated how much effort it would take to resuscitate Ben, when you felt his loss through the force something shifted inside you— for a Jedi who had always been in the grey area of the force you had felt way too much rage.

You knew the man under your touch deserved atonement, that the things he had done, the organization he had joined and led for a while were rotten. A part of you didn’t judge him when you weren’t aware of his past, the other stood against everything he had perpetrated upon millions of living beings— because of that, you solely let the force to guide you, it knew better than you after all, and it had led you to him.

Ben sat up, confused as to who the woman in front of him was. He softly took your hands off his face, curiously looking at you. “Why did you do that?”

You lifted a finger so he’d give you a moment to at least recover your breath. He seemed to understand you felt tired, Ben nodded slowly and stood up in wobbly legs.

He looked around, a pained semblance breaking through his face as he did so. You felt the urge of comforting him, the force pushing you to do it no matter how tired you felt. Your legs were more wobbly than his, but you achieved to stay on your feet.

Your steps were slow, calculated so you wouldn’t trip. Exegol’s environment was unnerving, the dark side of the force was strong there and although you were able to ignore it, for the most part, you would’ve rather been in a less depressing planet.

Ben rasped a question, “Is everyone gone?”

“Yeah,” you mumbled. You had to wait for Rey to leave to avoid a fight with her, mostly for your sake as a force user. You wouldn’t have been able to control yourself when you were aware she had decided to abandon Ben there.

He nodded, almost resigned, and let himself fall onto the sand. You were too tired to do anything else, so you sat down on the sand too, still eyeing him.

Ben was uncomfortable, the force told him to trust you, to follow you— but that place tempted him to stay, to go back to his very recent past. Had it all been worth it? He hoped it was, but hope had never favored him.

You grew tired of only sitting down, as any other living being would, and nodded up north. “I’ll be on the ship if you need anything.”

He found weird your choice of words, calling it the ship instead of your ship. Ben wasn’t sure if it was an invitation, but he took it as just that, his fear of being left again taking over him.

He followed you as the force guided him to do, watching your every step in worry. His confusion about why had you healed him was more palpable than ever, why would anyone save him, let alone someone like you? But he didn’t ask in case it had been a mistake, which was what had probably happened, he actually didn’t say anything to you— not even in the ship.

☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎

You wondered why the force had guided you to him as time passed. Ben was insufferable, always wanting to be the pilot, always in a bad mood. You tried to understand, but you had to be honest with yourself— you were starting to see the person Stormtroopers complained about. You remembered vividly, controlling your breathing to not give yourself away when you heard them talk about Kylo Ren’s tantrums. You had thought they were exaggerating, but now that you had met the supposed tamed version of the former Commander and former Supreme Leader of the First Order, you believed them completely.

Clearing your mind was a chore around him, your vision through the force was getting cloudy and you could feel yourself slipping. Not wanting any of that, you changed your sleeping schedule as soon as you landed on the planet of Ben’s choice.

Your plan backfired one night. Your mind started slipping, a burst of rage bubbled up in your stomach causing you to gasp. Images started flashing until you weren’t just seeing them but actually living them, at least through the force.

A vaguely familiar young man approached a tree in a beautiful forest. You yelled for him to stop, the fact that he ignored you only getting you angrier. A sinister voice spoke, enticing you to approach it— following the path the young man had taken, you encountered a very rare sight.

A deformed being embraced the young man as if comforting him. A chill ran down your spine and snapped you out of the... vision.

You were drenched in sweat, hands shaking due to the adrenaline pumping through your veins. Out of instinct you turned to your right and saw Ben there, glaring at you.

Before you could say anything, he asked, “why were you in my head?”

“I was meditating, it wasn’t intentional.”

“You’re bad at meditating then.”

Stars, he was such an ass. You cursed the force for being so adamant of having you near him, you truly did. “You’re bad at channeling your emotions which makes my mind slip!” you complained, standing up from the ship’s floor.

Ben looked down, nodding. “I don’t know how to. The dark side...” he trailed off, a sigh escaping him as he pushed his hair off his face. “Raw emotions are important.”

You extended your arm, offering your open palm to him. Ben stared at it, the marks of non-properly healed injuries catching his attention as the light made them contrast against your dark skin. He wondered, for the first time in such a long time that he assumed it was actually the only one, about something other than his suffering and wounds— had the scars been part of your training? A mission? Did they tell a broader story like the one on his face?

He tried not to flinch at the memory, how had he gotten the scar. The way your extended hand reminded him of his own after he killed Snoke and asked Rey to join him... he did what Rey hadn’t done and very slowly, afraid of you withdrawing your hand before he could do anything, placed his palm on top of yours.

You silently guided him outside, his planet of choice was quite nice for the most part and that gave you an advantage. You had your mind set on helping him, it would be a tough job, a slow one, one you shouldn’t have taken upon yourself because fixing him wasn’t your job— but you wanted to do it, to help undo a wrong.

Motioning for him to sit down on the grass, you did so too. He gripped your hand out of reflex, enjoying the sensation of being so close to someone. You didn’t react, allowing him to make himself comfortable.

“Close your eyes,” you instructed, voice lowering due to the nature of the instruction and how late it was.

He didn’t follow said instruction immediately, his eyes deviated to his side where you were sat as if making sure he had heard you correctly. Ben sighed heavily, muttering something that sounded like, “this is pointless,” before slowly fluttering his eyes closed.

“Focus on your breathing, nothing else. Even it out.”

He hummed in acknowledgment, you could hear he had done so with his teeth clenched. The gesture proved to you how hard it would be to help him— it only inspired you to try harder.

☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎

Ben insisted on gripping your hand as you guided him through meditation which for you wasn’t the right approach. Telling him that would have been setting yourself up for a fight, one you didn’t have the energy for.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t made progress, but his outbursts were still frequent. He’d yell out of nothing, punch things when they got into his way, closed off if he didn’t like what you had said or suggested... you would’ve thought him to be a child if you weren’t weirdly attracted to him.

The glimpses he had shown of the man behind all that anger and resentment gave you hope for him, for his future as a person, as a force user. They also intrigued you, his potential, how assertive he seemed to be, the way said glimpses made him look approachable.

You were coming back from meditating on your own when you heard him yell. At first, you didn’t think anything about it, used to it by how often you heard him lose control. It wasn’t until you heard a loud wimpier that you asserted Ben was having a bad dream.

The living arrangements you had found weren’t ideal, you preferred the ship than the two-bedroom and a bathroom place. You were used to your captain’s chamber, to going through different systems and exploring them. As you knocked on his door you wondered if giving that up had been the right thing to do just because the force had said so.

The whimpers and yells continued, your instincts kicked in. Opening the door with the force, you turned the lights on, softly calling Ben’s name to not startle him. Your attempts didn’t work so you approached the bed, his sweaty forehead filling your field of vision.

“Ben,” you called for him, a little louder than before. No answer other than more whimpers. You didn’t have any other choice but shaking him awake with a hand firmly on his muscular bicep.

He jumped, prompting you to step back. He sat up, breathing heavily as the tears that had prickled his eyes as he slept rolled down his cheeks. You looked away, feeling you were intruding too much. Hearing him sniff broke your heart, the sorrow oozing from him into you in exchange from the guilt doing the same from you to him as you realized you had briefly complained about not doing what you wanted when he had never even being given the choice to know what he wished to do.

You sat down on the edge of the bed in case he wanted company, his sweaty hand found yours as soon as you did so. His grip was bruising, almost crushing your smaller hand with his gigantic one. With a little bit of struggle, you rubbed your thumb against the back of his hand in hopes it would help him calm down and in the process lighten his grip.

The effect wasn’t quite there, his grip did lighten a little bit but because Ben broke down crying. The shake of his body transferred to you through his hand, the sobs racking through him bouncing against the almost empty room. You slid your hand off his, placing your open palms on his shoulders. Your intention was to hug him, but you didn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

He threw himself into your arms, however. You shifted to be more comfortable, your arms slowly wrapping around his neck as he hid his face in your chest. Letting him cry it all out, you rubbed his upper back to assure him it was fine. He embraced you tightly from the middle, again afraid you’d leave him if he didn’t do so.

“Do you need anything? Something to dr—“ he interrupted your question by pulling you closer.

You understood he didn’t want to be alone so you just continued hugging him, slipping your fingers through his damp hair and caressing it.

“I’m tired,” he mumbled.

Pulling away just enough to look at him, you asked, “do you want me to find you a sleep-aid?”

He sniffed, shaking his head. Observing his hair tickled your cheek as he moved his head, Ben parted from you completely. “Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah.” You made a motion with your hand for him to go on, making yourself comfortable and making sure you were facing him.

Ben stuttered, nervous of saying what he was thinking and feeling out loud. He said it, very lowly in what you could only describe as a mumble. “I don’t know who I am.”

His confession wasn’t surprising. You felt his conflict through the force, you had felt it for a long time if you were completely honest. “Who do you want to be?”

He tilted his head, looking up in thought. Ben then shrugged, “it’s not worth it.”

Sighing, you stood up from the bed. “I can’t help you if you don’t want to be helped, Ben.”

“I want to be helped!”

“Act like it!” you snapped at him, “the force is with you, I am here with you— but you need yourself too and until you don’t get that through your head, we won’t make any progress.”

He stopped speaking to you, he avoided your presence at any chance. You imagined it was for the best, he needed time to find himself and you needed time to focus.

You missed him enough for the force to try and pull you toward him. You resisted it as much as you could, sure it was more wishful thinking than anything else. You had made yourself believe the force wanted both of you together because of your crush on him, but every time you were near him his thoughts would slip and in every one of them, Rey was present.

With them being the dyad and all, it was normal for him to have strong feelings for her. But you wished you were her— well, you wished you were in her place in relation to him. You had no interest in politics, that was why you had never picked a side— you didn’t belong anywhere but with the force and the force had guided you to someone who belonged by nature with the opposite of what you were.

A part of you wanted to leave. If it wasn’t because you wanted to be there for Ben, you would’ve been in another system days ago. The force said you were doing the right thing; you weren’t sure.

☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎・・・・・☆︎

“(Y/N)?” Ben called for you quite timidly, his right hand gripping the doorframe as he stuck his head into the room.

You took your attention away from your book to look at him. “Yes?”

“Do you want to train with me?”

“Uh...” you coughed, realizing you could offend him by hesitating. “Sure, yeah! Now?”

“Now.”

“I’ll get changed.”

You spent more time changing your clothes than you needed— you weren’t even sure of having needed the change of outfit but it was imperative for you to clear your mind and doing it helped.

His stance as he waited for you startled you, it wasn’t like anything you had seen from him. His back was straight, but his shoulders weren’t tense, his jaw wasn’t clenched, his eyes looked calm— brighter even.

What surprised you the most was his fighting style, he’d slip from time to time and allow his emotions to get to him but he seemed to have trained hard on his own to snap himself out of it.

He suddenly towered over you, making you curse under your breath— you had gotten too distracted by his progress than now he had the upper hand. Ben smirked which prompted you to step to the side. Except you couldn’t because he trapped you in place with the force.

He leaned in, the tip of his nose ghostly touching yours. “I’ve missed you.”

You would’ve rolled your eyes if you could. He was the one who had ignored you and cast you to the side for weeks!

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he explained. Realizing you hadn’t spoken out loud, he undid the force stasis.

Ben’s eyes were wildly tracing your face, waiting for an explanation you didn’t have. You weren’t really sure if he had read your mind or if he was talking about something else.

He made your mind slip so often that you couldn’t help but think you had unconsciously allowed him to read it because he had you in a vulnerable position. He didn’t seem to share the assessment.

“Can you hear me?” he asked cautiously.

“I can.”

Wide-eyed, you stared up at him. He hadn’t opened his mouth to speak but you had. You shook your head, “I’m tired, I should get some rest.”

Before you could turn around to go back, he caught your hand in his. “That’s why I missed you...”

“What?”

He explained, “the force. It wants us together.”

“I know,” you deadpanned. “But the force is... it could be wrong, couldn’t it? Why would it want you near someone when it bonded you to another person?”

He winced at your comment, shaking his head. “It’s different. My mother—“ he swallowed harshly so his voice wouldn’t break, “the point is the force doesn’t have limits.”

You stared past him, at the sky. It hadn’t looked as pretty as it was looking that night— at least not during your stay. The stars shone so brightly that although it was late the greenery was perfectly lit.

“I’m not used to this,” you confessed. “People, staying longer than a few nights at a place... strong feelings.”

Ben hummed, “well, I can’t say the same but,” he sighed, interlocking his fingers with yours, “it feels... nice.”

It did, very nice. He tugged on your hand to pull you closer, waiting for you to say something. You kissed him instead of speaking, and he snaked his free arm around you instead of asking anything else.

His lips were a little dry, mouth hot and touch warm. The kiss was as tender as one in a situation as overwhelming could kiss someone— at least it started like that.

You barely made it to the living room when he asked if he could take your robe off and although you hesitated for a moment because you were sure he wasn’t used to women like you, you trusted your gut and the force and gave your consent.

He was a passionate lover. It might have been the force at play but you had never felt so comfortable with a partner, so protected, so loved.

The force knew what it was doing when it guided you to Exegol after all.

[metamorphicrocky]

it doesn't have to be long or super elaborate but maybe a drabble with Little Cato seeing how stressful and tiring the idea of fatherhood is to Gary, how scared he is to screw up and comforting him? Bonus points for Gary opening about his childhood to Cato a bit.

minnie I think we both knew that I was never just gonna write a drabble for this. honestly I think I’m incapable of writing anything less than 1500 words. but this prompt? killed me. I love it!!!

Little Cato and Gary rush behind a group of barrels, gun fire following closely after. Little Cato pants, his fingers tightening around his gun as Gary takes his larger gun off of the strap on his back.

"This isn't good, at all," Gary says frantically.

Little Cato nods in agreement, peeking a look around the barrel behind him to see the enemy growing closer and closer. He glances at the man next to him who's focus is flitting around the warehouse room, probably looking for any close exits.

They really need a good plan.

The Ventrexian notices a clear and hidden path that would lead him right behind the men advancing on them. Okay, so he has a plan now.

"I'm gonna sneak behind and distract them, cover me," Little Cato says, immediately running off to enact his plan.

He barely even registers Gary's panicked, "Little Cato, don't you dare," as he launches himself over a crate and lands without a sound behind the men.

"Hey!" the kid yells, instantly drawing attention to himself. He takes this opportunity to shoot at two of the guys, and he's about to get another when he suddenly sees a dark shadow fall over him, then—

Snap!

Little Cato screams in agony, tears bursting from his eyes as searing hot and sharp pain courses through his arm. A large and strong hand squeezes his broken arm, and he cries out again as he's lifted off of the ground. He hears and feels something crunch, so he can barely register Gary's distant yelling from the white noise filling his ears.

He forces his eyes open, his vision blurry from his tears, to see Gary standing tall, his blaster at the ready in front of him. Words are being said, but Little Cato can't tell by who because of the pure agony he's in from so much pressure being put on his very broken arm.

Little Cato tries to take in deep breaths, but all he can do is pant. And then all of a sudden someone shouts, shots are fired, and the grip holding him up disappears, sending him hard onto the cement ground. He curls around his arm, more tears slipping down his face.

"Little Cato! Hey, buddy, what hurts?" Gary demands, frantic yet gentle all in one.

"Arm," he whimpers.

Gary curses under his breath and cards a hand through Little Cato's hair. "It's gonna be okay, bud. Just hold on. Nightfall, we need...."

Little Cato feels Gary wipe away a few of his tears as everything fades away, and then he passes out.

----

Gary's angry. Little Cato notices it within seconds of getting out of the medpod. Actually, cross out mad; pissed is more like it. He's just standing there, his arms crossed as Nightfall puts his arm into a splint so that it can continue to heal properly.

She can sense the tension between them, but once she finishes with his injuries, she leaves the room. So he won't get any help from her in stopping Gary from yelling at him. Great.

His dad isn't wearing his leather jacket, his hair is even more disheveled than usual, and he just looks tired. But more importantly pissed, which is not going to go well for Little Cato.

"How are you feeling?" Gary asks, stepping away from the counter he had been leaning on.

"Better," the kid responds. "The advanced healing and painkillers probably help, too."

Gary nods, and the silence that follows is very awkward, for the both of them. Little Cato decides to break it.

"I know what you're gonna say."

The blond raises an eyebrow. "And it is...?"

"That I shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, you're right," Gary huffs. "But you don't believe that, do you?"

"It was a good plan," he mumbles.

"No, it wasn't! Why would you do something so stupid and reckless? You could have gotten killed!" Gary yells, throwing his arms out in exasperation.

"I had it under control!" Little Cato defends, his tail bristling.

Gary rubs his hands down his face. "Oh, so you meant to break your arm? They would've killed you if you couldn't be used as leverage against me."

Little Cato doesn't have a response to that, so he just holds his splinted arm against his stomach and stays quiet. His dad is obviously waiting for him to say something, but after a few moments of silence, he sighs.

"You're grounded. Go get some rest," Gary says, some anger still left in his voice.

Little Cato splutters, "But I–!"

Gary sends him a stern look. "I'm not arguing about this, bud. Go get rest so your arm can heal."

Little Cato hops down from the exam table with a huff and stalks past Gary, straight to his room. He slams his door shut, sliding down it until he's seated in an angry ball in the floor. Okay, yeah he got injured, but it's okay! He's still alive and kicking, just like he should be. And it was a good plan, even if it backfired.

The kid sits there angrily for at least a few hours, wondering why grounding was really necessary, until someone knocks on his door. He stands and opens it, thankfully seeing Nightfall instead of Gary.

"Um, hey," Little Cato says.

"He's upset, you know." Damn, Nightfall did not waste any time in getting to the point.

The boy shrugs. "Well, he's the one who grounded me and got mad," he mutters.

"You think he's mad? He's worried about you, Little Cato. He's been pacing the bridge this whole time. He won't let anyone in there," Nightfall says.

"He's worried? But my arm is healing." Little Cato is so confused right now.

Nightfall sighs deeply. "He thinks that he isn't raising you right. He blames himself for you getting hurt."

"Oh."

She hums. "Yeah. Oh."

Now that Little Cato is looking back on it, what he thought was anger was just very intense worry. And Gary looked so tired and worn out.... Oh shit, he messed up.

"Oh noooo," Little Cato moans, covering his face with his unbroken arm. "I'm an idiot."

Nightfall pats him on the back. "You're not an idiot, you both are just new to this."

"I'm gonna go apologize," he says.

Little Cato immediately runs towards the bridge as fast as he can without jostling his arm too much, slipping around corners in his haste to make things right. He can see the doorway just ahead, so he sprints faster and then abruptly stops in the middle of the entryway.

His dad is sitting in the pilot's chair, hunched over, his head in his hands. Little Cato can't see his face, but he knows that Gary is absolutely miserable right now. Oh, he really messed up this time.

The kid quietly approaches Gary, but stops next to him. Cautiously, he places his good hand on the man's shoulder, which causes his dad to lift his head and panic when he sees who it is.

"Spidercat, hey," Gary says nervously. "What are you doing?"

Little Cato frowns when he sees how Gary's eyes are red, the dark circles under them just making it even worse.

"Scoot over," he demands.

Gary gives him a confused look but moves over anyways. The kid squeezes himself into the small spot, and it's more than a tight fit. But he doesn't care because that's not important right now, but it does make wrapping his one good arm around his dad in a hug much easier.

The man stiffens at the contact, but Little Cato came here with a plan and will not stray from it. "I'm sorry about earlier, Gary."

"It's, uh, it's okay."

"No, I was being a butt. You were just worried about me," he urges.

Gary sighs. "Nightfall talked to you, didn't she?"

The kid nods.

"I'm fine, don't worry about what she said," Gary says enthusiastically, but now that Little Cato knows him better, he can tell it's a lie from how his smile doesn't reach his eyes. Also, even more telling than that, is how he still hasn't hugged Little Cato back.

"I don't know what's banging around in your head, but you're doing a good job. Like, dad-wise. Well, at least I think so, and I think I've got some authority to give my opinion on that," Little Cato encourages nervously.

He smiles up at Gary, who has an unreadable expression on his face. Little Cato wonders what it is until Gary just lets out a stuttering sigh and rubs at his face, his hands shaking slightly.

Oh, he's concerned now. "Are you okay?

"Oh, geez," Gary says as he pinches his eyes. "I'm just overwhelmed lately, kiddo. God, you are the last person I should be talking to about this."

Gary laughs sardonically as he tries to recollect himself. Little Cato just sits and waits for him to speak because if Gary is gonna be there for him, he has to do the same.

"After my dad died, I had no one. It was just us my entire life, and I didn't even meet my mom until the funeral. I was too young to be looking out for parenting tips, so I have no idea what I'm doing. And today? You really could've gotten hurt worse than you did, and that would have all been on me. I don't want my mistakes to hurt you.

"I've messed up everything in my life so far, and I can't let you be the next thing."

Gary makes eye contact with Little Cato, and the kid can see every single worry he has bottled up on the verge of bursting out.

"I don't care if you've messed up before, I think all you can do is try your best," Little Cato reasons.

The blond sighs. "That's the thing. I have to be better than my best for this, and I'm doing a horrible job."

"I mean, I think you're pretty great, Dad," he says, passionately quiet. He feels Gary shudder from where he's holding him, and two arms wrap him up in a tight hug. Gary buries his face into the top of his head, allowing Little Cato to feel some tears fall. So he hugs harder.

"If you're gonna be too busy taking care of everyone else to take care of yourself, I'm just gonna have to do it for you," the kid promises.

His dad laughs wetly, smiling at Little Cato's smug expression. "Oh yeah? Thank you, my dear old dad," Gary jokes.

Little Cato nods seriously. "You're welcome, my son."

They both laugh, and Gary takes this opportunity to wipe away his tears. Gary nestles his hand on top of his boy's head as they both turn their attention towards the endless space before them. They don't know what's going to happen in the future, but Little Cato knows that Gary will realize how great of a dad he is soon.

"You're still grounded, by the way."

"Yeah. That's fair."

[jpat82]

Bad Plan

A/n: this fic that I’m adding into rotation is one I started well over a year ago. The original first chapter was over 5k words long so I’m going to have to break it up. It’s also Karl Urban, cause I mean, hello he’s gorgeous as well.

Summary: Renee had a fail proof plan to get rid of her nervousness for sending in her writing manuscripts. Audition for a movie, surely she'll get rejected.

The plan backfired and now she has to act, joining a crew of seasoned actors from Star Trek. Her quick friendship leads her down the rabbit hole with Karl Urban.

CHAPTER 1:part 1

Some of the dumbest things in my life I have done because of the phase 'meh, why not'. This however was more based on trying to get used to being rejected. You see, I'm a writer, I write fiction and screen plays. I have yet to send one to get publish or sent to be read by a director, mainly for the fear of being told 'hey, this sucks, so do your self a favor and stop wasting your time writing.' My bright idea was 'hey, let's audition for some movie roles, you'll surely be turned down multiple times and get used to it'.

So when I got a call back for a second audition my anxiety sored  through the roof and I felt like relocating to Mexico. This is not how this was supposed to go, I'm not an actor. I was supposed to be laughed at and told to bugger off.

When I received the call after the second audition and was told I got the female co lead in this movie I about choked and died. I have massive anxiety problems when in new place, new situations, and around people I don't know. This was not the plan, and just like life has always done in the past it decided to slap me face and pull the rug out beneath my feet.

“So, Renee," my sister, Rosalyn inquired with a hint of amusement in her voice as I was breathing into a paper bag, "whatchya going to do now? Can't exactly back out."

“Says who?" I sneered into the bag, sitting on the couch.

“The fact you went through both auditions," she giggled, " how's your bright idea now?"

“Bite me, rainbow bright." I leaned back into the couch, pulling the paper away from my face. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to think clearly. There was a couple saving graces about this movie set. A.) it was local, it was being filmed in and around the Oregon city area and B.) I was a no-body. I could blend in a lot easier.

“What's the name of movie? Who's going to be in it?" She pounced on to the couch next to me, I turned my head ever so slightly and just stared her. This month her hair was pale blue with hot pink roots, her ghostly colored skin was pinkened from just get done working out.

“I don't know, to either of those questions."

“How do you not know? What's was the script you read?"

“I wasn't paying attention and I can't remember. I was trying to get through the ordeal."

“Your going to make a horrible actress if you can't remember any of that." She stated, pushing up off the couch. "What about your normal job? Since it takes a couple of months to film."

“I already talked to my manager, I'm taking a leave of absence. And thanks for the ego boost."

“Your welcome!"

*****

The next few weeks after that were spent getting my rear end handed to me by a personal trainer. Who by the way, was adamant about a very strict eating schedule, which I was severely punished for daily by drinking Starbucks. I also had a trainer for learning how to fight, all of it choreographed of course but still. Most nights I came home very late and couldn't remember how I made it my bed. Just to wake up to my phone going off by Satan calling me two hours before I was supposed to work out.

My sister being the loving and caring individual she was would poke my sore muscles. Drink some wine and have her Starbucks all while telling me I couldn't have some. Yes, I knew it was revenge for the countless times I did things to pester her but still.

The first evening on set was a cast and crew get together. I learned that I was joining in on an established movie sequence. So everyone knew each other, except for me. Wonderful. Just my luck, I showed up in my ratty jeans and a nice top. I was told it was a casual occasion, no need to dress up. My short cropped hair was sporting a recent sun burn, first time I have ever had one but then again I didn't start buzzing my head till a couple months ago.

I was wandering around trying to find where we were all supposed to meet up. I found no security guards to help me out, which I thought was odd. I turned down a corridor and bumped into a gentleman.

“Oh, I'm sorry." His accent was heavy, he seemed hesitant on whether to say sir of miss.

“No, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking. I'm really lost so i keep checking my phone and I'm rattling on, sorry."

“It's okay," he chuckled, my brain was trying to get my attention but I ignored it. "I'm lost myself. Where are you headed to?"

“Some hall, I'm supposed to meet up with a bunch of people I don't know. So it’s not like I can text anybody for help." I showed him the details on my phone.

“Looks like we are headed to same place, but I know everybody. And none of them are answering their phones anyway." He smiled, something about this guy. I recognized his smile, but not his voice. Which is odd for me, normally I recognized voiced first.

“Well, isn't that nice of them." I chuckled, he was a damn good looking man.

“I guess it would be better to be lost with someone then be lost alone." He stuck his elbow out inviting me to take it.

“Sounds like a wonderful plan, People look at ya weird when you talk to yourself." Open mouth insert foot. He let out a deep chuckle.

“That's for sure." We continued to wandered the abandoned building.

“Karl!" Someone yelled from behind us, he turned his head looking over shoulder. It was dark and couldn't make out the mans voice but I knew who it was right off the bat. He jogged over. "Where the hell have you been?"

“Lost." We followed Chris as he walked back the room where everyone was. It didn't take long to figure out who I was walking with or what movie this was now. "who's your new friend?"

“Actually I never got her name."

“My name is Renee Winter."

“Ah, your going to play the new ensing." Pine flashed his pearly whites. We walked into the large hall. Easily over a hundred people, slightly loud, and I felt like a panic attack was about to hit. I must of instinctively gripped Karl's arm a bit tighter. He looked over at me with a bit of concern on his face.

“Hey, your fine. Just breathe." He whispered into my ear. "Let's go get a drink and then I'll introduce to everyone."

He ordered two drinks, I was trying to gather myself back up. He handed me something, I took a sip, it was sweet and warm despite the ice.  He made eye contact with me, and smiled.

“So what's your anxiety from? The amount of people or because of who all is in the room?" He asked, I turned my head to survey the room. Karl gently brought his knuckle up and turned my head back to face him. "Breathe, and keep looking at me."

“There's a lot of people here, and it's the complete uncertainty of the situation." I breathed out, breaking eye contact and looked down at the ground.

“You'll be fine, we can go and let you meet people one on one. Take a break and step out into the hall, get a breather in." I just nodded, slowly looking back up at him. "I have a couple close friends and family members who have anxiety. So don't worry about judgement."

He slowly lead me around the room, I faked being fine. Joking around while getting to know the cast. It was an hour into the shindig before we stepped out in the hall. I sped to the opposite wall and started to gulp down air like fish.

“No wonder they picked you. If it weren't for the death grip, I wouldn't have suspected that you any anxiety." He jested.

“Sorry, bout that." Turning, pressing my back against the cool wall. I stared at ceiling, wondering how big of an ass I was making myself out to be.

“So, tell me about yourself, Renee." He asked leaning up against the wall with me.

“Like what?"

“What other acting gigs have you done?"

“None, literally the first time auditioned."

“Seriously? Lucky break, most get turned down hundreds of times."

“I know, I was banking on that."

“Huh?" I could see the perplexed look out of the corner of my eye.

“I'm not an actor, I'm a writer. I was doing this to get used to rejection before I sent my stuff to get published. But seeing how I'm cursed, I ended up getting the part." I chuckled to myself.

“Wow, how's that going for ya?" He chuckled with me.

“You know, my sister asked me the same thing."

“Sounds like a smart lady, come on. Time to go back in there." I took a deep breath and walked back in.

“Sorry, I'm terribly late, I got lost in the building." I heard a very unmistakable British accent. Well, my sister is going to flip when I tell her this.

“No big deal, Tom. So did we." Karl replied, giving the man a hug.

“Glad to hear I wasn't the one." Tom chuckled back.

“Tom, this is Renee. She's also new to the Star Trek world." Tom took my hand a gently shook it.

“Pleasure to meet you." He smiled, yeah, my sister was going to murder me in my sleep.

“Nice to meet you too." The rest of the night was just greeting and making small chat. The end of the night Karl walked me back to my car. "Seriously though, thank you. I don't think I would of made it. I would of stood awkwardly in the corner the whole time, looking at my phone every two minutes."

“No big deal. So what hotel do they have you staying at?" We finally reached my car, I grin back at him.

“The beauty of this, I get to go home every night. I live local."

“Lucky duck." He laughed, "kinda jealous."

“Yeah, but I don't get room service. I mean I could try yelling at my sister to make me food but she's a chef and hates coming home to cook. So she would probably poison my food."

“Yeah, don't do that." I opened my car and sat in the seat. "See you tomorrow?"

“Yeah, I'm supposed to be at the make up trailer at 5am. So I'll probably be up earlier, knowing satan." He gave me a weird look. "The personal trainer they gave me."

“Ah." He laughed. I started my car and waved before I left.

*****

“So, tell me." I had just barely cracked the door open.

“Not even going to let me walk in." She was waiting on the couch like black panther.

“Nope, what movie? Who's it in? And no spoilers."

“The new Star Trek, the usual suspects. And I can't tell you all the crew with out giving you any spoilers." I smirked.

“Hang on, what do you mean you can't tell me all the crew without giving me spoilers?!"

“Because someone is in it that normally isn't. And you said no spoilers." I smirk walking into my room.

“Renee Abigail Winter! I'm not done talking to you!" She yelled following me.

“Rosalyn Amy Winter, you told me not to tell you." I flopped onto my bed, repressing my urge to laugh.

“Come on, Renee. Tell me." She pleaded, I shook my head.

“Oh, look at the time, it's midnight and I have to be at work at 5am. I really do need to get some rest now." I feigned a yawn, I was tired but this was far more entertaining.

“Please?!" She was hopeless, if I didn't tell I would get no sleep. If I did tell, well, I probably get no sleep.

“How about how this, I'll text you tomorrow when I get a chance. Because I really do have to get some sleep."

“Fine." Her voice was full of rejection as she slid off the bed. "You better remember."

@kitkatkl

[thedarkcheessmaster]

Infinite realms, similar, yet completely different

Note almost unrelated to the fic: Have you ever get too late to a party that even the after party cleanning is already done?

My gift for @notalwayslate for the Rumbelle Christmas In July 2018.

Prompt: One last time, he whispered

Read on AO3

Rumple

Rumplestiltskin cried thinking of all those times when he made ridiculous plans to do something evil and it never went well. Every time he tried to do something shady it somehow backfired spectacularly. It seemed that not been able to complete the cast of the dark course had created some sort of karma now his plan, the darkest plan ever planned by the dark one would work.

Unless he did the unthinkable, unless he paid the ultimate price to save everyone… he had known the moment he discovered the plan of the dark one that the only one who could stop him would be him. But at his core, he was what he had always been, a coward…

His tears are bitter, and he knows that if he does this he would never see her again, he has failed her again. He can’t do this; he needs her comfort and love, her faith on him. He doesn’t deserve her but he needs her. He needs to see her face, to hear her voice, once more.

He feels drained and empty. As he sees in the dream catcher his memories of the wedding, how beautiful, how utterly perfect she looked, he cries for the time he wasted with her, for the time he could have been happy and was wasted.

He thinks in the words he heard of unknown source, infinite combinations… he heard it somewhere, somehow, he is not sure, was it Henry? Or has his Belle who told him? Maybe it was Gideon in one of his breaks from the academy. He is not sure about it but he remembers some words:

Infinite realms, similar, yet completely different. Like this “Whish Realm” that have turned oh so real, where the curse was never casted. One universe where we exist, one where we don’t. Infinite alternatives.

He sees the dream catcher and an idea comes to him. Those universes connected by the tiniest of threads, but connected nonetheless. He should be able to call them, it could take more magic that he is comfortable with but he has nothing to lose at this point.

He tries to call them, this alternatives, to his dream catcher, those other times he met her and tries to see happiness even if is only a little.

He knows he would do whatever it takes to stop this man, this beast that represents the worst of him, the man he tried to forget he was and the man he could have become without belle, without the memories of her love and her kisses, and he would never saw her again so he want the memory of her smile to give him strength because that’s what she is, his strength.

It’s working, he could feel it, the images are coming…

Tess

She needed to get pregnant or all of this would have been for nothing, Nassedo was dead and now all the responsibility to carry their plan to fruition was in her shoulders. It had been so difficult! Zan, her beloved Zan was in love with a human girl uhgg, that stupid Liz!

But she had been working, time and charms would get her the prize, after all for all that she loved Zan, he didn’t need to love her back to get her pregnant. She just needed one night, or day, one night when his defenses were low enough so feelings from his previous life would resurface and she would be there to comfort her and show him her undying love.

She needed one opportunity and she needed to do everything right when the opportunity present because she was under no illusions that she was going to have more than one try.

That was the reason she was here in this horrible city instead of Roswell, another horrible city in this backward planet, with Zan, looking for the only creature that would help her to fertile the moment when she and Zan got together.

She heard the sounds getting closer and closer, a childish laugh that crossed her back and gave her goosebumps.

-Oh, oh. What do we have here?

A reptilian, one of the last survivors of an ancient race now almost extinct, famous for their knowledge… and their deals. It was rumored they could give you whatever your heart desired… for a price.  

Tess stilled herself. She had come to this point and she wasn’t going to go back to Roswell without the means to complete her plan.

-I have come to make a deal.

The image was cut abruptly, the reminder of the other him, the dark one, completely unwelcome. Even if the images make him remember his first encounter with his beautiful Belle. No, this wasn’t what he wanted to see; he wanted to see something else, something better. He concentrated in his wish calling the visions of the times he wanted to see…

Hierophant

It was official. There was a new serial killer in the Heights.

After the roller-coaster that was the investigation about the candy killer almost two years ago Weaver was thinking he would have a little peace and his life would go back to normal after hearings, testifying in court and an endless pile of late reports to catch up. And now he had a new serial killer case in his hands.

Worst was that he didn’t think this was going to be over anytime soon. There was little evidence to go by, the last three months or so there had been six murders, all had been men; some had faced charges of sexual assault. All murdered in the same area in the same way.

Some officers believed it was a woman, Weaver had his doubts, while a woman would fit in the profile, she would have to be quite skilled to get the job done, and while Weaver didn’t want to be sexist but there were more probability it was a man, the father, brother of even the partner of some rape victim if someone asked him, and he decided to answer, which he didn’t think was bloody likely. After all it was best to keep things close to the vest in ongoing investigations and the press would likely distort anything he said.

What Weaver didn’t understand was why so many people praised their efforts, saying that they were cleaning the streets of the scum the police ignored.

But a murder was a murder and also a crime and his job, whether the people believed he was dedicated to it or not, was to purse and arrest criminals.

He had to question the shop keeper of one of the stores nearest to the site of the crime, a small flower shop, with an even smaller shop keeper, not that Weaver had much moral height to make jokes about short people. But the woman was petite, with luscious blonde curls and an easy smile. She had been sad about not been of much help to the police but the day before the store had been close and she hadn’t witness anything. She had been just a little coquettish and in the end Weaver left the flower shop with a little paper with her phone number, in case he needed to question her further, of course.

Without knowing it, Weaver had just met the hierophant killer.

- One last time ­-he whispered sounding hoarse even for his ears, the sound was defeating, and the stories seemed to not have a happy ending, was that their destiny? To know each other but never be truly happy with each other. No, he needed to see something, to recover the hope that somewhere, somehow, he and Belle where happy, safe and sound.

-Just one more time…-He could feel the magic accepting to his wishes, looking for an image of hope and happiness.

Claire

How much time the ETM were supposed to take to arrive? The lady was having that baby RIGHT NOW! And they need a doctor. They been him, Det. Weaver, and the pregnant lady. She for obvious reasons, and Weaver so they could check out his hand, he was sure the lady (most like a girl she was too fucking young to be having a child of her own)  had already broken one or two bones by holding his hand so freaking tight.

Tears were silently falling from her eyes, and her teeth were pressed together trying to withstand the pain the contractions must be causing her. Weaver has sort of an informal expert in pain and none of the things he had braved seemed to hurt as much as she was hurting right now. And he had been shot once! But all of that would be worth it if the girl delivered the baby safe and sound. But for that they needed the fucking ETM! Why were they taking so long?

Funny thing was that even though the ETM came the lady refused to liberate his hand and he ended accompanying her thought the birthing of her baby, who was a little boy, healthy and rosy pink.

After the ETM had checked out his hand and assured him there was nothing wrong with it, he noticed the new mother waving at him and asking him to come to her.

They talked a little bit, she thanking him for his help and apologizing to him for crushing his hand, Weaver dismissed her concerns, telling her it was part of his duties as a detective.

-And may I know the name of my savior? -She asked smiling. Weaver was still a little dazzled from the whole experience that he didn’t notice to obvious sinister intentions behind her questioning.

-Weaver, Aaron Weaver, -In that moment his reasoning came back and he understood her evil plans- No, no way. Don’t even think about it.

Her smile was proof enough to fundament his fears.

That moment he decided that Roger should never learn about this, the Boy Scout would never let him leave this down.

At the end the snap shot of him with Claire and little Aaron, cut from a newspaper, graced his desk at the station.

He smiled, he had missed the birth of his sons, but that moment was, as Belle would say, a new beginning. He thought of Gideon, and the sadness his passing would cause him, but there was no going back, this was to save him, to save everyone of the corrupted version of himself. He would be okay; at the end everyone would be okay.

Rush & Gideon

For Gideon this is unexpected. After going to the Wish Realm to retrieve the body of his father, he had decided to put him to rest in the same place as his mom, in the rose garden by their home in the Edge of the Realms. After that he had to take care of the house, and some other properties his father still owned.

It had been Alice, a nice girl that reminded him a little of his mother, and he could see why his father had been fond of her, she must have been like the daughter his parents never had, that told him about the apartment his father was given by the course in Hyperon Heights, and about the many objects of sentimental value that could still be there.

He opted for going alone, at list this first time, to be there for the first time, with the belongs of the man his father was cursed to be.

Something must have been wrong with the magic bean, because he hadn’t ended in Hyperon Heights, as planned, but in a big room, with many people and a man that looked so much like his father but wasn’t his father. There was no recognition when Gideon called to him and he had thought this a dream, a strange dream, brought by the pain, but he had fainted before he could do something more and had woken up to the most interesting reality.

He was questioned by a mild mannered man in front of a lot of people, who keep asking about a gate, which gate he wasn’t sure, maybe the portal he had used, maybe not.

It had taken him a while to understand; apparently he was on a ship in space, in space of all things! With a man that looked and sounded like his father but wasn’t his father.

But maybe he is, because the second time he met Rush, the man that looks like his father, after his so embarrassing little unplanned nap, in his confusion and amaze he had dropped his things and the travel book his mother so loving filled with photos of their travels, fell to the floor, and one photo, not glued well enough came lose, and him, Rush picked it up.

It was a favorite of his father, the one where he is a baby and his mother looks slightly annoyed and it’s a little blurry. His mother hated the photo, but papa had always loved it. And Gideon thought it was funny.

He examined the photo for some moments before giving it back, and rushing out of the room, his eyes looking the tiniest bit wet.

So Gideon still guards hope in his heart because he understand what this means, that his father is still alive somehow in this doppelgangers of his. Because he must have recognized his mother and he cried because he is separated from her and looking madly for a way back to her. Maybe there are dozens or hundreds of other doppelgangers in other universes, and times and places where his father is still alive and happy somewhere, with his mother, his brother and him.

The pain of his father’s passing, still fresh, became a little less sharp after this discovering. Because maybe, and just maybe, happy beginnings never end.

[pottergerms]

Ouch, my heart: an analysis of the Sectumsempra

Well, well well…. look who’s back from the dead (me, if you couldn’t guess).

First of all, I want to apologise for not doing these for so long. Things got a little insane in my life. I haven’t had time to blink these days, but here I am, because I love you all.

First of all: thank you and sorry it took me over a year to do this. And second of all: of course I can! 

I think this is the post everyone was waiting for and I have no idea if I'm ready for it. Wait. I know I'm not.

But since I'm either a masochist or already too numb from all the pain this ship causes me, I'll try anyway. Fuck the police.

I'll open this discussion with Harry's last thought about Draco before the horrible tragedy that we call Sectumsempra:

Was it his imagination, or did Malfoy, like Tonks, look thinner? Certainly he looked paler; his skin still had that greyish tinge, probably because he so rarely saw daylight these days. But there was no air of smugness, or excitement, or superiority; none of the swagger that he had had on the Hogwarts Express, when he had boasted openly of the mission he had been given by Voldemort … there could be only one conclusion, in Harry’s opinion: the mission, whatever it was, was going badly.

Ok, let's start by the fact Harry says Draco has a "swagger". Not my words!

And also: Yer a stupid wizard, Harry.

The boy is falling behind in classes, he's sad and lonely, he looks sick, you know he's terrified he's not pleasing Voldemort. So instead of trying to help him, you go and use a spell for enemies on him. A boy genius.

I don't even know why I'll point this out again, but it's not normal to keep noticing those things about people you don't care about, ok? It's just not done. You're fooling yourself!

Meanwhile, Harry is getting desperate here. If it's because Draco looks sick or because he couldn't find out what his mission was, we'll never know. But he knows he's running out of time, and he has other personal problems to deal with, like the horcruxes and his huge crush *sarcasm* on Ginny.

And coincidentally his crush on her seems to grow, suddenly. Almost like it's a distraction... hm. She's exactly like the opposite of his true crush, I mean, obsession, I mean... Malfoy. She makes him forget, instead of making him feel like everything is falling apart; she doesn't have any problems besides boys and Quidditch, while Draco's buried in shit.

But still, he thinks about her far less than he thinks about *someone else*. Because a constant in this book is that nothing is more pressing than Draco Malfoy. Not the Prince himself, not the horcruxes, not girls or Quidditch. Nothing.

In the midst of all his preoccupations Harry had not forgotten his other ambition: finding out what Malfoy was up to in the Room of Requirement. He was still checking the Marauder’s Map and, as he was often unable to locate Malfoy on it, deduced that Malfoy was still spending plenty of time within the Room.

Oh yeah, in the midst of his problems, one being he didn't know if Ginny was worth upsetting Ron (and if that's not an indicative that she's not your one true love, Harry, I don't know what is), he still has plenty of time to obsess over Draco Malfoy.

Just healthy, really.

And now, because I didn't forget the real issue here, let's read what brilliant thoughts Harry Potter has about the Sectumsempra:

...he saw the Sectumsempra spell, captioned ‘For Enemies’, that he had marked a few weeks previously. He had still not found out what it did, mainly because he did not want to test it around Hermione, but he was considering trying it out on McLaggen next time he came up behind him unawares.

Oh yeah! He was considering trying the Sectumsempra on Cormac! That's how much of a genius he is. Harry, go study some latin before you use a fucking spell, will ya?

I mean, you would think that a boy who lost both parents to a curse and studied Charms for 6 years would think to at least check the etymology of a spell before using it on another human being. Or not, if you're stupid as fuck!

Ok, so are you ready for the heartbreak? *takes deep breath*

Harry made his usual detour along the seventh-floor corridor, checking the Marauder’s Map as he went. For a moment he could not find Malfoy anywhere, and assumed he must indeed be inside the Room of Requirement again, but then he saw Malfoy’s tiny, labelled dot standing in a boys’ bathroom on the floor below, accompanied, not by Crabbe or Goyle, but by Moaning Myrtle.

First of all, Harry, why??? What kind of dodgy business could he be planning with the ghost of a muggleborn girl murdered by Voldemort? If anything, that shows he's really not who you think he is.

It took me years after reading this book to realise Draco was confessing to a mudblood, and a victim of Voldemort. To me, that's a symbol of how his views were changing and how, in the end, he was a victim, not a villain. He was like her in a way. 

Also, how fucking lonely he was. *sobbing*

God, that makes me so mad! This is the only time Harry really disappointed me and I think he fucking knows it. He disappointed himself too.

Draco Malfoy was standing with his back to the door, his hands clutching either side of the sink, his white-blond head bowed.

‘Don’t,’ crooned Moaning Myrtle’s voice from one of the cubicles. ‘Don’t … tell me what’s wrong… I can help you …’

‘No one can help me,’ said Malfoy. His whole body was shaking. ‘I can’t do it … I can’t … it won’t work … and unless I do it soon … he says he’ll kill me …’

And Harry realised, with a shock so huge it seemed to root him to the spot, that Malfoy was crying – actually crying – tears streaming down his pale face into the grimy basin.

To be honest, I can't choose what's worse about this whole thing. Draco confessing to a ghost, because he has no one (and not just any ghost, but the one everyone can't stand)? The fact he is crying because he's so scared?

Or maybe the fact that Harry is just so stupid he can't use simple logic and understand that, whatever this is, Draco doesn't have a choice???

Ouch, my heart just broke real quick.

Malfoy gasped and gulped and then, with a great shudder, looked up into the cracked mirror and saw Harry staring at him over his shoulder.

Malfoy wheeled round, drawing his wand. Instinctively, Harry pulled out his own. Malfoy’s hex missed Harry by inches, shattering the lamp on the wall beside him; Harry threw himself sideways, thought Levicorpus! and flicked his wand, but Malfoy blocked the jinx and raised his wand for another –

(...)

There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry exploded; Harry attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Malfoy’s ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly; water poured everywhere and Harry slipped over as Malfoy, his face contorted, cried, ‘Cruci—’

I can't imagine how humiliated he feels, and how terrified he is, because not only was he crying because of Voldemort, but now Harry Potter knows too much. And Harry won't help him, he's sure of that.

You know what breaks me? They start do duel with childish hexes and curses, and it escalates so quickly, before any of them can take a moment to realise the seriousness of it.

And I wish Draco was going to say "Crucifix nail nipples!", but we know he was not. But do you wanna know what I believe? If he had time to finish saying the word, nothing would happen, and Harry would be able to see he's not evil. He obviously didn't mean the Crucio. 

But before he has that chance, Harry goes and fucks up royally:

‘SECTUMSEMPRA!’ bellowed Harry from the floor, waving his wand wildly.

Blood spurted from Malfoy’s face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.

‘No –’ gasped Harry.

Slipping and staggering, Harry got to his feet and plunged towards Malfoy, whose face was now shining scarlet, his white hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.

‘No – I didn’t –’

Harry did not know what he was saying; he fell to his knees beside Malfoy, who was shaking uncontrollably in a pool of his own blood.

To be honest, Harry never in a million years thought that would be a lethal curse. Never. He wanted to test it on McLaggen!

I can't stand this moment, I can't. I makes me tear up every time.

Because there is Draco's physical pain, which was probably horrible, then there's his emotional pain, because he's at his most vulnerable moment and it's such a betrayal! Harry is one of the good guys. He was afraid Voldemort would do something like that to him, not Harry. And that is so so so sad.

And there's Harry's pain as well, because he's fucking terrified. He knows Draco is dying, he knows he did something unthinkable, he knows he fucked up. Sometimes I can't believe Draco actually saved Harry after that, because this probably haunted him for a long time.

Just imagine seeing someone surrounded by their own blood, with deep cuts and shaking in pain. I don't think you can forget it that easily. Especially if you were responsible for it.

And you know what makes me angry? That Harry compartmentalises what he's feeling so well that it's like two different people: one when he's alone, looking at what he did, and one once he finds his friends. It's maddening.

But there's a reason for that, and we'll get into it soon.

“Harry was still watching, horrified by what he had done, barely aware that he too was soaked in blood and water. Moaning Myrtle was still sobbing and wailing overhead. When Snape had performed his counter-curse for the third time, he half-lifted Malfoy into a standing position.

‘You need the hospital wing. There may be a certain amount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately we might avoid even that … come …’

He supported Malfoy across the bathroom, turning at the door to say in a voice of cold fury, ‘And you, Potter … you wait here for me.’

It did not occur to Harry for a second to disobey. He stood up slowly, shaking, and looked down at the wet floor. There were bloodstains floating like crimson flowers across its surface. He could not even find it in himself to tell Moaning Myrtle to be quiet, as she continued to wail and sob with increasingly evident enjoyment.”

I love the way JKR describes how Harry sees it, how vivid are the consequences of what happened. And I obviously love how Snape tells Draco it might scar, possibly more for Harry to hear than for him. Snape knows him well, he knows the guilt trip he could go into and is trying to push him into it. And Harry deserves it.

It doesn't happen, though, because immediately after, he goes to find his friends (and Ginny), who make him forget about his feelings.

But before we get into that, I'd like to talk about the symbolism of Harry finding the room of hidden things when he's trying to hide the book. It's the room he's been trying to get in all year, and it's almost like a physical representation of Draco at this point.

It's very interesting how he can suddenly get in, almost like the barriers are all down, almost like Draco stopped caring about hiding it from him. Almost like he's so sad and hopeless he stops trying. Thinking about the wave of disappointment he must be feeling, it's very possible that Draco's feelings were an influence in the door showing up for Harry.

Anyway, then Harry tells his friends about what just happened and they respond exactly like you would expect them too, almost to a stereotypical extreme.

“I won’t say “I told you so”,’ said Hermione, an hour later in the common room. ‘Leave it, Hermione,’ said Ron angrily.”

Isn't it interesting how none of them we just horrified by the whole thing? How Hermione just focuses on the book, not on the teenager almost bleeding to death?

“(...) Malfoy had already been visited in the hospital wing by Pansy Parkinson, who had lost no time in vilifying Harry far and wide...”

I just love this sentence. First of all, with all her flaws, I love Pansy. She's just the best friend Draco could have in that moment, because she takes no bullshit. And to be fair, Harry deserved to be vilified. And you can sense his opinions on what he's done are changing because his friends just excuse what he did, especially Ginny:

“Give it a rest, Hermione!’ said Ginny, and Harry was so amazed, so grateful, he looked up. ‘By the sound of it Malfoy was trying to use an Unforgivable Curse, you should be glad Harry had something good up his sleeve!”

I hated her so much in that moment. What Harry did it's inexcusable, and he knows it. So it hurts my eyes to see her say something so dismissive. Draco would not be able to actually Crucio him and, deep down, Harry knows it. He doesn't even try to convince himself he's faultless, that it was self-defense.

Ok, so let's expand on Ginny's rare presence being right in this chapter.

It's no coincidence this is the same chapter where Harry kisses Ginny for the first time. Remember what I mentioned in the beginning of this post? The whole of Half-Blood Prince is built using a parallel between Harry's relationship with Draco and his relationship with Ginny to move the plot in the right direction.

“Hermione and Ginny, who had always got on together very well, were now sitting with their arms folded, glaring in opposite directions. Ron looked nervously at Harry, then snatched up a book at random and hid behind it. Harry, however, though he knew he little deserved it, felt unbelievably cheerful all of a sudden, even though none of them spoke again for the rest of the evening.”

I mean, come on. He literally buries his guilt in giddiness because Ginny is defending him. Defending him against something he knows is his fault. She's helping him forget Malfoy. Again.

And this chapter is so cleverly written it splits his feelings with the places and situations he's in: when he's with Snape, in the dungeons, he can feel the guilt as a physical presence. Snape makes sure he understands that the detention is about making him feel guilty:

“Mr Filch has been looking for someone to clear out these old files,’ said Snape softly. ‘They are the records of other Hogwarts wrongdoers and their punishments. Where the ink has grown faint, or the cards have suffered damage from mice, we would like you to copy out the crimes and punishments afresh and, making sure that they are in alphabetical order, replace them in the boxes. You will not use magic.”

When he thinks about Gryffindor and Ginny, he forgets about any negative thing happening with him: 

“And while he copied out all their various offences and punishments, he wondered what was going on outside, where the match would have just started … Ginny playing Seeker against Cho …”

To be honest, that is one of the things that always bothered me with this ship being canon. Ginny never sees the Harry we see, she always sees someone who's always right, someone who's the hero. And Harry only sees Ginny as a ladder to a life he wants so desperately. A life with no complications, with a family, with giddiness and lightness. He holds onto her because she makes him forget all the horrible things he has gone through, and that's one reason why he never tells her anything: he wants her in a bell jar, untouched by his traumas.

And we all know that's not who he really is. The final proof is how this chapter ends:

Harry looked around; there was Ginny running towards him; she had a hard, blazing look in her face as she threw her arms around him. And without thinking, without planning it, without worrying about the fact that fifty people were watching, Harry kissed her.

(...)

The creature in his chest roaring in triumph, Harry grinned down at Ginny and gestured wordlessly out of the portrait hole. A long walk in the grounds seemed indicated, during which – if they had time – they might discuss the match.”

This moment is like a completely different book. It's a fantasy. Something Harry knew couldn't last. It was escapism.

This chapter is also the last before Malfoy finally figures out how to fix the cabinet and Harry goes with Dumbledore to retrieve the horcrux. It's almost like a tragic farewell to the relationship the two of them had prior to thing getting fucking serious. It all changes after that.

The Sectumsempra in itself changes everything. Harry, someone who we know as heroic and honourable, commits an act that shifts what we know about him, and at the same time Draco, who up until then we see as a bidimensional character, comes alive and gets layers on top of layers. It's the only possible introduction to what happens in Deathly Hallows. Tragic and horrible, but beautiful to watch.

I mean, I could go on and on. If I had the time, I would probably debate every single sentence in this book that, to me, is the most symbolic and crucial of them all.

But I do have a job, so this will do. Hope you guys enjoyed it!

[scrapyardboyfriends]

4 August 2017

[The Woolpack with Robert, Rebecca, Megan and Victim]

VICTIM: *All too cheerful for this Plot* Hi Rebecca! What do you want? (FANDOM: Good question!)

REBECCA: I would really like a double malt because I am as tired of this Plot as the fans. #Relatable

VICTIM: Lemonade it is! Yep, still dictating your life because you’re still pregnant with the BABY! Aren’t you glad to be my BPFF? And because you’re my BPFF, let me check in with your other Plot. That sister’s birth father’s brother still giving you trouble?

REBECCA: Actually, can we not talk about that Plot right now, I really need a break.

MEGAN: Oh hey, I just randomly got this email right now, probably because you’re standing right next to me. I know you don’t want to talk about that Plot, but I think you should see this.

REBECCA: Oh no, an email telling everyone involved with Home Farm the actual truth about my horrible family!

*Robert Enters*

ROBERT: Bex! I just happened to get here at the perfect time. I always have impeccable timing. Something wrong? #MrShifty

REBECCA: *I hate this Plot and my other Plot and I have no idea they’re related Face*

[The Woolpack with Robert, Rebecca and Victim]

VICTIM: I can’t believe that this Tim guy would send emails to all of your clients slagging you off. I mean, you’re the definition of an innocent victim! Well, I mean in this Plot you actually are, but I’ll let the irony stand. I mean, I understand going after Chrissie and Lachlan since you know they’re horrible people who set my brother up even though I’ve pretty much forgotten about that, but not you! And how dare they accuse Lawrence doing something he basically actually did?!

ROBERT: Wow, you don’t say? I am absolutely shocked that this is happening to you. Lawrence drove someone to their death? That’s hardcore. *Takes notes*

REBECCA: *Speaking logically* #FirstTimeForEverything I should sue him or get the police involved.

ROBERT: Oh no, don’t do that. That’s a terrible idea. You have no proof it was this Tim guy. I mean, I do, but shhh no one knows that…especially not you. #MrShifty

REBECCA: *Phone Rings* Oh hello client! Oh you’re dropping us because of the email. Sigh. #IHateThisPlot #CanWeGoBackToTalkingAboutTheBaby

ROBERT: Wait, I don’t understand. Even if he did break into Home Farm because you have the actual worst security known to man, how could he have sent that email? Surely your internet security isn’t just as bad? *Has fond memories about the time he staged a break in at Home Farm and flirted with Aaron* - shut up it counts -

REBECCA: Well, Dad’s old school for the sake of simplicity and just has all his passwords written in a book.

ROBERT: Which he of course keeps on his desk. Just a guess, mind you. It’s not like I actually know…oh wait, no I do, because I used to live and work there. Totally allowed to have this knowledge. Still, Lawrence is and idiot! Love saying that.

VICTIM: Robert, you really need to help her out!

ROBERT: Uh…I was literally sat here yesterday at this same table when Bex and I agreed that working together was a bad idea. I swear you were there too. Besides, Bex, you said you wanted to run things on your own now. Then again, you said you wanted to raise our supposed kid on your own too and then you got pissed at me when I tried to get out of it. So…

REBECCA: Well clearly I’m the worst at business things as the Plot so gleefully likes to point out! Please, I’m begging you, help me out like always. It’s how we got into our other Plot in the first place really. (FANDOM: Don’t remind us!)

VICTIM: *Robecca Shipper Face*

ROBERT: *Oh come on we don’t even have chemistry unlike Aaron and I Face*

[The Woolpack with Robert, Rebecca and Victim]

REBECCA: *Phone Rings* Oh look, lost another one! Our clients are dropping like flies! Please Robert! I need you!

ROBERT: Oh I don’t know. Damn this is so inconvenient. I mean it’s not like you’re doing exactly what I want you to be doing. I love when the Plot is on my side. But still, me and Home Farm, it never ends well. That place is cursed. (FANDOM: Go with that notion Robert!)

VICTIM: I thought you’d jump at the chance to be the big hero! It’s a very self serving thing to do and like I’ve been telling you all week…

ROBERT: As much as I’m having fun being Mr. Shifty again, might I remind you and the Plot if you’re listening, that I basically lost Aaron because I got involved with you Bex. I can’t imagine how this is going to go well for me.

VICTIM: Well the Plot killed the good ship SS Robron, I don’t see what the problem is with getting aboard a new one! #Robecca4Eva

ROBERT: Ummm that’s the worst idea you’ve ever had. Just because we’re over for the minute doesn’t mean I’m not still interested in getting him back and me throwing in with her and her lot is hardly going to do me any favors. You hear that Plot, are you listening?! No? I didn’t think so.

REBECCA: It’s actually pretty simple. The Plot has set me up to fail and now I need you and your well established business expertise to save me.

ROBERT: I really don’t understand why I should care. I’m struggling to find my motivation for all of this. Is it just because it’s easy and I’m bored? What?

VICTIM: *How can you possibly not care about this new ship Face*

ROBERT: Fine, I’ll play along for a bit, only because this is kind of fun actually. Although, I still feel like this is going to delay my getting back together with Aaron.

REBECCA: Can you call the clients for me? No one trusts a word I say. (FANDOM: Well, that’s true) Come on. You’re so good at getting people to do exactly what you want! *Pointed Eyebrow Raise*

ROBERT: *Seriously? You’re playing that card again Face*

REBECCA: At least think about it.

ROBERT: *Oh, the Plot and I are like ten steps ahead of you Face*

REBECCA: Well…I need to go get back up to that super safe, totally not cursed, big house of mine, make sure nothing else terrible happens.

VICTIM: Uhh…no…that’s not what the Plot wants. The Plot wants you to come back to ours, and by ours I mean all three of ours because Robert and Aaron broke up and he lives with us now, and get some rest because none of this stress can be good for BABY! Robert! Can go look after home farm.

ROBERT: *Reluctant Sigh* Keys please? This is really not going exactly how I planned at all. Nope, this is a huge inconvenience for me. Really!

REBECCA: Thank you so much! You’re the best Robert. I can’t believe I still trust you even after EVERYTHING. The Plot really wants me to be this dumb doesn’t it. #ThisPlotSucks

VICTIM: *Robecca Shipper Heart Eyes* #WhatTheHellHasHappenedToMe #PlotVictim

[Home Farm with Robert, Tim, Lawrence’s favorite Tipple and a Golden Pineapple]

ROBERT: *Walks into Home Farm* *Makes himself at home since it used to be his home* *Gets a glass and Lawrence’s favorite tipple and pours himself a drink* *Robert Smugden Mode Activate* *Door opens* Come on in then! This better be important. *Holds up drink* Lawrence’s favorite tipple, a gift from Ronnie who’s now his ex, just like Aaron is my ex. #IHateThisPlotButICanStillDrinkTheGoodStuff I’m sure Lawrence won’t mind. Well actually he would, but what do I care?!

TIM: So…I don’t think I was briefed on this part of the Plot. What are you doing here?

ROBERT: Uhh…running things like I planned. If the Plot won’t give me Aaron, at least it gave me power for the moment. Have to enjoy it while it lasts. My plans don’t usually work out in the end.

TIM: This wasn’t exactly my plan. I just wanted to get payback on Lawrence and my niece who tried to kiss me. - that was weird - Now we’re only hurting Rebecca. It’s not right. (FANDOM: Actually we’re all terrible people, so we’re kind of okay with it.)

ROBERT: It’s a bit late to be having a conscience considering all of the stuff I already convinced you to do. Besides, Rebecca is a whole other kind of stupid considering she keeps falling for literally everything I want her to. But she’s nothing. If you could tell Aaron that I said that too, that would be great. Otherwise, don’t worry about her. I try not do. Did I mention that she’s nothing cause she is and this Plot is barely even about her. *Robert Smugden Extreme Mode Activate* So, what is it you want Timothy?

TIM: This has all gone too far. I want out. I should tell Rebecca about everything.

ROBERT: Did you miss what I just said? She’ll literally believe anything I tell her. Get me the Oscar or the BSA now mate! Besides, it’s all stuff you did. The break ins, the emails, the arson. I’m squeaky clean, just like always. You, you’ll end up in prison and I know from my husband’s…er…whatever he is to me now, that prison isn’t a great place. It can send you into all sorts of bad Plots. But you know that, look at your brother. Here, have some money. I love throwing money at problems. Just ask Aaron. Use it to get a taxi to the airport and then we never have to see each other again. Do yourself a favor. Forget the Whites, get your life back. I had a life once, with my #BeautifulHusband but that Plot took that from me and this is all I have left.

TIM: You’re as bad as them.

ROBERT: Yep, everyone told me to be selfish and self serving so I’m finally taking their advice. I’m sure it’ll all backfire soon enough. Until then, I’ll enjoy this nice drink and sit on my throne *Nearly falls out of chair as he sits down* in my former kingdom and relive the old days of 2015. *Smuggest grin ever* #KingSmugden Oh and check out the new golden pineapple decor! I think they put that in just for my return! Just zoom out so enough so I can cry over this glass once I’m off screen okay? #AreWeBackTogetherYet

[ncfan-1]

Gotham 04X05, ‘The Blade’s Path’

We have the possible beginning of a possible romantic subplot between Sofia Falcone and Oswald Cobblepot, aka a man who has not once shown so much as an iota of romantic and/or sexual attraction to a woman in all the time we’ve known him. We also have undead Butch. ………Well, at least Bruce’s subplot should be mildly interesting. This is Gotham.

- We open with dead Butch—excuse me, comatose Butch—being transported “upstate.” Upstate meaning Slaughter Swamp. This should end well. (Why was it necessary to make his real name Cyrus Gold? They changed Ivy’s name from Pamela Isley to Ivy Pepper—I don’t see why this was needed.)

- Jim and Harvey clash over Gordon being, well, refusing to even try to understand Harvey’s position. Harper calls Gordon out over news on Ra’s.

- At least Bruce understands that he is at least partly culpable for Alex’s death. Apparently he hasn’t been sleeping, though. He suggests that Ra’s thinks that the dagger could kill him. Somehow, I suspect he is incredibly off-base with this.

- I can’t believe Alfred actually thought it was a good idea for Bruce to go to the wake. …And we are seeing no confrontation from Alex’s parents, while Gordon pulls Alfred aside. Apparently, Ra’s has diplomatic immunity. Gordon wants the news kept away from Bruce, but Bruce inevitably overhears. Gordon and Alfred are both peak self-righteous in their exchange.

- Bruce heads back to the Manor to gear up.

- Visiting hours at Blackgate, and Barbara’s going to see Ra’s. Barbara actually offers to break him out. Ra’s seems to genuinely appreciate it, but he says he’s just called her here to say goodbye. Apparently he promised Barbara “a gift beyond her imagining”; they each press their hands on the glass, something glowing happens, and we’ve got a “You’ll see” when Barbara, alarmed, asks what happened. Somehow, I feel like she would have been better off if she hadn’t done that. Just so long as it wasn’t some mystical hand sex and she really is supposed to be Talia’s mother. I think my head might explode.

- I think his relationship with Barbara might be Ra’s’s sole humanizing trait so far.

- And we’ve got Butch waking up and walking out of Slaughter Swamp, only to happen on some vagrants chanting a very familiar rhyme…

- The vagrants are actually kind of friendly, but Butch… Grundy, I suppose I should call them Grundy now, responds by killing one of the guys. Because of course.

- This would probably be more affecting if I actually gave a damn about Butch Gilzean. But I don’t, so it’s not.

- Penn’s still alive!

- Only 86% of crime is accounted for under Pax Penguina. Oswald doesn’t like that, though, and he wants Firefly scorching the 14%. That’s when Sofia shows up.

- She invites him out for lunch. Apparently we’re not playing the ingénue anymore.

- I love his face when she touches him Like “What the hell?” I don’t think he likes casual touch too much—not from women, that is. (And having seen the rest of the episode, I think her messing with his coat collar was meant to be maternal, rather than flirtatious.)

- I like her clothes, even if I wouldn’t wear them myself. I wonder if we’re ever going to see Sofia in clothes that reflect her at her most inmost self—I’m pretty sure all the clothes we’ve seen her wear so far have been part of her trying to play a role for her audience’s benefit.

- I love Penn’s vaguely horrified expression at Number 4 on the to-do list, considering who’s standing about six feet away. I do wonder whether Oswald would seriously let on to someone he considers dangerous enough to kill that he was planning to kill them, if he wasn’t going to actually kill them about five seconds later.

- Ed’s trying to find some pills to help him. Pharmacist, presumably terrified that he’ll get shot otherwise, suggests a trial drug. He pins Ed’s hand to the desk with an ice pick and calls him out for his fake gun.

- Ed runs into Grundy, doesn’t seem to understand that Grundy’s not quite himself. Grundy just hauls him over one shoulder and carries him off.

- Alfred goes to Gordon, afraid that Bruce is going to break into Blackgate. They come to something of a détente, though, even if it is coming from Gordon, I would like to see Alfred get read the riot act over his parenting. Just a little bit. Because, yeah, this shit ain’t okay. It’s necessary, because Bruce Wayne is Batman, but it’s still not okay.

- We cut to Bruce in Blackgate, going to confront Ra’s. Since I haven’t ever seen Silence of the Lambs, I can’t say for sure, but is the glass cell a reference to Silence of the Lambs?

- He tries to kill Ra’s with the knife while he’s sleeping, only to hesitate and try to walk away. Ra’s berates him” “You weak, foolish boy.” Knocks him over, throttles him. “You’re still not ready. Throws him across the room, and find sthat several of the security guards are in Ra’s’s pocket. Ra’s tells them to take him to “the room.”

- Gordon and Alfred in Blackgate. Alfred starts off by insulting the staff by saying Bruce could have paid someone off—though given that Ra’s appears to have paid several someones off, the guards don’t have much room for complaint.

- Extended disarming scene! One of my favorite tropes! Jesus, he had a short sword!

- Ed wakes up in the back of a pickup truck. Grundy freaks him out. Ed notices that Butch has his dismembered hand back. He establishes that Grundy doesn’t remember being Butch. Ed tries to slip away, but Grundy isn’t having any of that. His grabbing Ed’s wounded hand made me snicker a little, because I’m a horrible person.

- Ed says he can’t help Grundy because he doesn’t even know who he is.

- Grundy reveals that he made off with a hot dog cart, and gives Ed a hot dog. …It’s surprisingly cute.

- Sofia heads over to a restaurant to meet up with an old associate. She wants to know how associate is faring under Oswald. He says they’re doing well—and that they’re not stupid enough to make a move on him. Sofia says good, ‘cause she’s invited him here for lunch tomorrow, and she wants it to be a lunch he’ll never forget. Should be interesting.

- Bruce wakes up under Blackgate. Ra’s has the knife. Bruce realizes he’s been played. Ra’s explains why he wanted the dagger. HE says that when he was in the Pit, he saw a vision of Bruce. Ra’s says that Bruce is meant to kill Ra’s—though I wonder if this is true.

- Ed tries to run off again, and Grundy grabs his leg this time. The hobos Grundy attacked earlier show up, and Grundy fights them off. His hand is set on fire, and Ed goes to get water for it. This makes Ed smart in Grundy’s estimation, and Ed is put into one bone-crusher of a hug.

- Lunch time! Holy shit, Sofia, what is that hair?

- Apparently Oswald employs a food taster now. Prudent, though they’re trying to play it as paranoid.

- Oswald tries to run out five seconds later, but Sofia persuades him to stay and try the goulash. Apparently Gertrud made goulash for him, and the restaurant’s… tastes just like hers. Well, I’m guessing he liked it, since he seemed rather overcome and rushed out. Well played, Sofia—though to be fair, that ploy could easily backfire if he sees through it (And given what happened the last time someone around Oswald emulated his parents’ behavior, she really ought to tread carefully). It’s probably no secret around Gotham that he was devoted to his mother.

- An allusion to the time Gordon got locked up. And apparently one of Ra’s’s hired goons took the name of another guard. Which signals Gordon and Alfred that these guys are fakers.

- Mexican standoff!

- Alfred shoots the guy dead—he has always had a bit of an edge to him, and it’s showing sharper now. He and Gordon head for the sub-basement.

- Oswald’s seen straight through the ploy. Sofia plays to his sympathy by telling him that her father never did anything for anyone unless it benefited him.

- She tries to tend to his wounded foot. She tells him a story about a time she broke her ankle. They “bond” through their mothers. This is all a put-on, of course, but I do wonder how much of it Sofia’s capable of genuinely.

- I hope to God Oswald’s not really falling for this again.

- Ra’s tries to convince Bruce that his immortality is a curse, but Bruce says he doesn’t believe him. Thy see his true form in his reflection in the water, a desiccated corpse. Bruce says he deserves to suffer; we are apparently wandering into cruel mercy territory here. Ra’s tells Bruce that if he doesn’t kill him, he’ll disappear until the day when Bruce no longer thinks of him, and he’ll come back and kill everyone he loves. A tear in his eye, this prompts Bruce to stab Ra’s. Ra’s desiccates into a severely decayed corpse right before Bruce, Alfred and Gordon’s eyes.

(Not really the best use of your Ra’s al Ghul, Gotham. Definitely not the best use of Alexander Siddig.)

- Bruce asks if Gordon’s going to arrest him? Gordon admits that he doesn’t even know what the hell he saw.

- Bruce and Gordon have a heart-to-heart, where Gordon tries to persuade him that he can still be a good person. The talk isn’t really valuable, except that it possibly provides some insight into how Gordon can still live with himself after all the shit he’s done. None of the horrible things you’ve done in the past matter, so long as you’re still convinced you can do good in the future!

- Bruce tries to burn his vigilante gear, but Alfred tries to persuade him not to. Bruce feels that he’s not the hero Gotham needs, because he killed Ra’s. Alfred admits that it’s going to take a long time for him to come back from that, but that when he feels worthy of being proto-Batman again, his gear will be waiting for him. So I guess from baby Batman antics for a while. And honestly? I’m perfectly okay with that. I want to see more of Bruce trying to navigate the world as Bruce.

(Though there is something else. Right now, Bruce Wayne and Jonathan Crane are each other’s strongest narrative parallels in Gotham. I really want to see them interact. To be honest, the idea of them meeting as Bruce and not-quite-Scarecrow, not-quite-Jonathan, in this particular show, kind of intrigues me more than them meeting as proto-Batman and proto-Scarecrow, so maybe it’s for the best.)

- Ed lies and says he and Grundy were the best of friends and manipulates him into helping Ed figure out how to make him smart again. I predict this ending horribly. And cue fight club! And cue Doctor Thompkins. Well, this should at least be an interesting turn for her character. (Even if they’re not making proper use of their Ra’s al Ghul, they might just make better use of their Leslie Thompkins this season.)

- I’m honestly dreading finding out what that glowing thing did to Barbara. Nothing good, I bet.