#I could talk about Tristan and how much I adore and respect him as a character and a person so much

[aberooski]

Still can't believe Tristan single handedly took down Yami Bakura by throwing Mokuba's soulless little baby body at him, karate chopping him in the neck, and fucking trebucheting the Millennium Ring into the woods like a frisbee, and yet he still gets less than no love or respect because he's not a duelist. 🤦‍♀️

[z-iridest]

Hey howdy hey! So, your recent Duke themed stuff has got me thinking, how would Yugi and Yami/Atem (and anyone else you want to add 💕) react to Duke constantly flirting with their crush/the reader. Like I can imagine those boys pining after their crush, but here's Duke who's just naturally very flirty and is constantly making the reader blush with his comments. And of course the reader just views Duke as a friend but I can still see his comments bothering Yugi and Yami lol (and whether Duke actually has feelings for the reader or is just teasing and likes to see his friends riled up is up to you!)

(ooooooooh, I like your style!)

When Duke's Being Flirty With Their Crush:

Yami Yugi:

First off, Yami is barely out and about (unless Yugi forces him too)

But, when he is out, he usually stays out just a bit longer to talk with you

Overtime, not only did he fall for you, he fell hard

He blushed everytime you smiled, smiled everytime you laughed

He adored seeing you happy

Although, he felt a twinge of something akin to pain when he saw Duke flirting with you

You were, by no means, flirting back, but you were blushing

Was this jealousy he felt? He didn't know, all he knew was that he wanted to be the one to make you blush, to make you smile like that

But, as much as he wanted to be the one for you, being your friend and seeing you happy was worth giving up his own happiness in his eyes

Just as he was about to walk away, he heard what you said

"That's really sweet, but, I like someone else."

Wait, what?

Gods of Egypt, don't let his ears be playing tricks on him

"Someone like Yami?" Duke asked, his tone teasing, the mention of the name everyone knew the Pharaoh by making both you and him blush. "Come on, Y/N, I've seen the looks you give him... And the looks he gives you."

Yami blushed darker. He thought he hid that so well!

"I don't know, Duke, I'd love to believe it, but someone like me with him? A Pharaoh? I might as well be the dirt under his shoes."

All right, he had to admit, that stung him. Couldn't you see that you were a deity? Not even the gods were as regal and beautiful as you. He was the one not worthy of you, not the other way around!

That was about when he made his presence known, watching as you went cherry red. Oh, how he wanted to kiss you right that moment, but out of respect, he held himself back.

"He isn't wrong, Y/N. I've liked you since the moment we first met." He gingerly took your hands in his. "I'd do anything to keep you happy, to keep you safe. Will you do me the honor of being mine?" He asked you, hope in his eyes. He watched as you blushed, holding his hand back.

"The honor would be mine." You smiled. Yami blinked and in a matter of seconds, was grinning ear to ear, joy on his face and love in his eyes. He wanted to hold you, you could see it on his face, so you hugged him.

Yami hugged you back, spinning you around a bit. You giggled as you held onto him before the two of you exchanged smiles

Neither of you had any idea that this was only the beginning of a beautiful relationship, the only thing you two knew, was that in that moment, everything fell into place

Yugi Moto

So, just like Yami, Yugi's admired you from day one

But, unlike Yami, Yugi took waaaaay longer to admit his feelings

Duke would constantly flirt with you in high school, making out blush because one: You were cute when you blushed and 2: It was funny to see Yugi all huffy (I know that might not be a word, but I'm trying okay?!)

But, Yugi left it alone, preferring to see you happy with someone else even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness

Yami, Joey, Tristan and even Duke all teased him about his feelings for you, though

Just like Téa, Mai and Serenity teased you about your feelings for him

So, when graduation was on the horizon and Téa off to America, she and the boys put together a plan without Yugi's knowledge to finally get the two of you together

Much to their dismay, though, the plan of getting you guys to a romantic dinner set up for you two fell apart due to Aigami's arrival/the mishap with him.

After all the chaos had wrapped up, though, Yugi found you sitting on the steps of Domino High after school

"Hey, whatcha doing out here?" He asked, sitting next to you

"Trying to absorb all this... So much has happened the past 4 years, and yet, here we are: Last day of school and our lives about to change forever." You answered

"I know... It's kinda crazy to think about. Téa's going off to school in America, everyone's got their own thing going. But, no matter where we go, we'll still have our bond. That's one thing that'll never change."

You smiled a bit, causing him to smile back before the two of you looked away bashfully. Well, that was another thing that wouldn't change at least....

But, unknowingly, at the same moment, the two of you decided to say something.

"I have something to tell you. Wait, what?" The two of you asked at the same time, looking at each other before a giggle fit erupted between you two

"You go ahead." Yugi told you

"No, you first." It went on like that for a minute before the two of you decided to say it together. The words?

"I really like you! What?" The two of you jinxed again, both heart skipping a beat at the words the other said

Yugi liked you? "Like liked" you?

Yugi, meanwhile, was reeling. You felt the same?

"Wait, Yugi, you like me?"

"Well, like isn't the proper word, I don't think... More like I've been in love with you for years."

"Yuge, why didn't you say anything?"

Yugi's silence told you everything you needed to know.

"You thought Duke and I were dating, didn't you? Oh, Yugi, Duke flirted with me, but I had a crush on you... Actually, I still do."

"I'm sorry it took me so long..." He held out his hand. "Whatever comes next, will you face it with me?" He asked. You smiled before taking his hand, your fingers interlacing with his.

"Always."

Awwwww

[more-better-words]

Random thoughts re: ACGAS 2.07:

I want to hug this show. I mean, the Tricki storyline was a little thin, but this year's Skeldale Christmas party was fantastic.

Loved, loved, LOVED Helen with the farmers in the kitchen. This was Helen at her best - smart, passionate, and opinionated. (I half thought she was going to break that beer bottle over Kinson's head!) She respects the old ways and the bonds between a farmer and their land and stock, but she also appreciates the value of veterinary science and doing things differently if different will get a better result. I also can't help but think she'll do a much better job getting payment out of the practice's farm clients than Tristan ever could.

James is a terrible Father Christmas, bless him.

There's definitely a theme of the difficulty of bridging two worlds this season, first Scotland and Yorkshire, and now Skeldale and Heston Grange. But I do like that even if they don't have a clear answer about how they're going to manage yet, Helen and James know they're in this together. (Even if James has GOT to work on his communication. Helen can't always be the one to initiate these conversations, buddy!)

I adore Gerald and Audrey! I know that's an extremely minority opinion, but what can I say? I know what I like. (Also I'm a terrible contarian)

I did find Audrey's statement to Diana about being a married woman interesting. I'd kind of assumed that Mr. Hall must be dead, because the main emotion she'd expressed towards him was sadness and regret (her conversations with Dorothy in Season 1 and her talk with Gerald on their walk in 2.06 especially). But now I'm wondering if he's in prison maybe?

[angelhummel]

could you rank the degrassi next class characters?

gladly!! also sorry in advance if you love any of the characters im about to shit on lol

20. Frankie Hollingsworth. Almost had her second to last but. No. Klu Klux Fran?? The ZOO?? I can't even talk about her she's just so damn annoying and racist and omg. And she was being pushed as the new Main Girl which made everything all the more offensive and unbearable

19. Esme Song. Sorry but I do not think she had a single redeeming trait. She had nothing she stood for, no actual character beyond being an antagonist to every single other person on the show. Like she thinks Shay is stupid for being embarrassed about getting her period on her boyfriend's pants, and yet she calls Yael disgusting for having armpit hair?? So what's the truth? And people are like "well she's mentally ill" to excuse all she does. Well Maya is mentally ill and Esme makes fun of her too. So who's side are we on? Like I would've liked to see her get help and develop but we didn't get that so.

18. Hunter Hollingsworth. Terrorist. Not even interesting enough to be an actual school shooter. Just a waste of a character. Sexist, violent, had a plot about wanting to play video games at school. I'm so bored. Only not at the bottom bc I feel like he wasn't in my face as much

17 & 16. Baaz Nahir & Vijay Maraj. Thing 1 and Thing 2 to the would be school shooter. Clowns. They were a terrible group and I cringed any time they had a plot together. Annoying together, useless on their own. Hard pass

15. Yael Baron. The final member of the above group. Was mostly boring and annoying and especially dumb for being romantically interested in Hunter. Only gets bonus points for their coming out as nonbinary plot. After their makeover I was literally crying

14. Jonah Haak. Mostly disliked him for being in a relationship with Frankie. Like I'm sure they were only a year or two apart but he felt so much older than her. It was gross. And mostly he's just really blah. The attempt at a straight edge character at that point was. Hilarious. at least.

13. Winston Chu. Seemed harmless at first but idk all the boys were shifted high into clown mode when this show hit netflix. The incident with the geisha and Japanese soldier costumes? Defending Zoe against Esme? Then later telling Goldi maybe she should take her hijab off to cause less of a fuss? Bruh.

12. Saad Al'Maliki. Honestly I felt like he was the one with the most braincells most of the time. Probably pissed me off the least. But he was also in the least amount of episodes and didn't make much of an impression on me. Was mostly just boring. But I'll take boring over everything that came before

11. Lola Pacini. Degrassi has a knack for introducing the worst and most obnoxious characters and then eventually making you love them. Lola was not quite that. I hated her for the longest time but it decreased a bit near the end. I got emotional when she had her abortion. And when she gave Yael their makeover. And when she reached out to Saad and convinced him not to leave. I feel like I could've grown to like her more if the show went on, but again... Oh also I hate her and Miles together sorry

10. Grace Cardinal. Ugh Grace is confusing to me. I wasn't the biggest fan of her story with Zoe. I mean sure you're allowed to hook up with someone and then realize "oh that's not for me" but it was handled so awkwardly. Like she slept with Zoe just to be like "damn i hate when everyone thinks i'm a lesbian :/" like why. Idk she was fine but I'm not over the moon about her

9. Goldi Nahir. Ugh okay I feel like they didn't know what to do with her. Like she had the plotline about if she should take off her hijab or not. And she had to teach the poor whities about racism. That was about it? She was adorable and sweet and a bright spot in the show but ugh she deserved better than what she was surrounded with lol

8. Shay Powers. Again, it's not her fault she's stuck in a show written by 70 year old white people. But the black girl is completely oblivious to the racism of her friend? She has to ask her dad if a racist thing is really racist? She's never experienced racism? Ok Degrassi. They treat all their black girls like shit and I feel like I just stan them out of spite bc of that lol. But she's cool and a nice person and she's into sports so she's at least doing stuff

7. Rasha Zuabi. Another generally nice and cool character that I have positive feelings for. Also she was gay so yay. Loved her story with Zoe. I think there was just one moment where I was like "wtf are you doing" but compared to everyone else it's not a big deal

6. Zig Novak. I have to admit that all my enjoyment of his character comes from before Next Class. He was such a sweetie and then he left and came back acting dumb as hell. That was not my boy in Next Class. But ahhh he's still my boy sorry I love him <3

5. Deon "Tiny" Bell. Basically the same as Zig above. But I feel like he maybe had a few less moments of being an asshole? Also his promposal for Shay was cute <3 Wait didn't he also date Lola? Wasn't a fan of that either.

4. Zoe Rivas. She was the one dressed up as a geisha lol (: Oh boy Next Class was something else. Umm it was nice to see her process of accepting herself as a lesbian. I feel like it took forever tho. Which is understandable irl but this is a tv show lol. I didn't enjoy her sucking Zig off in the woods. Not fun. But her relationship with Rasha was one of my fave things about NC

3. Tristan Milligan. The amount of hate Tristan gets is faaaar too much. He's one of my favorites of the whole show honestly. I think he's funny and dramatic and a great addition to the show. But he gets knocked down bc I can't remember anything he did in Next Class other than BEING IN A FUCKING COMA FOR A WHOLE SEASON. He's already Owen's brother, he's suffered enough. But I love his relationship with Miles. And him helping Zoe accept herself

2. Miles Hollingsworth. Yes another character I wasn't fond of at first. Hated his relationship with Zoe and thought he was just boring. Truthfully I think I only became interested when he started dating Tristan lol. Plus omg with his family?? It's a miracle he got out at all. He went through so much bullshit and he was especially going through it in Next Class. He was kind of a hot mess but also I just care a lot about him. He deserves the world <3

1. Maya Matlin. Is Maya really my fave?? I guess so! Yet another character I wasn't fond of at first. Which is insane bc we just got to the part in our rewatch where she first shows up and I'm like !!! baby girl!! So precious!!! And I wanted to cry thinking of what she's about to go through. I feel like her character is treated with some of the most respect and care. Her motivations and mental health decline all make sense storywise. I just care a lot about her and got super emotional watching everything in her story, especially the later parts in NC

Wow this is a lot!! But I hope you enjoyed my ranking and explanations lol. Also like. Everyone was racist. Everyone was mentally ill. That was the whole show. It was a hot mess and truth be told I am not a fan. Even the characters I love, they were acting weird here. Like I said about Zig and Tiny and their character regression. And I think it was the same for like Tristan and Zoe and plenty of others too. Everyone was off, idk how to explain it. But that's my ranking for the hot mess that was Next Class!!

Thank you for the ask, ily <3

[austennerdita2533]

Hey! Hope all is well!! First of all, thank you for all the links to save money on books. I checked them out and plan to use some with buying books!! And don’t worry I have other self-restraint issues-mine come more from the fact that I get bored easily so I have about 4-5 books going at the same time. That way I can switch up genres when I need it (for instance I always have a fantasy, a romance, and a dark romance all available to me at the same time because those are my favorites) but sometimes more than one of the genres too. I also am terrible at following a tbr for instance I have been wanting to read Ugly Love for months now but then as I get closer to finishing a book a different book grabs my attention and must be read asap. But to prevent money spending I just browse through kindle and download a free sample of books I want to try instead of buying them right away. Plus I have a rule with myself that I have to read the first 10% of the book that the free sample gives me before I buy anything because at that point I can tell if I like the writing style, the potential story, etc. Just because I don’t want to buy a book and not finish it so I don’t want to waste my money and time. It has worked well so far! I mean there really has only been one book (well series) that I did not buy because I could not even get through a chapter (unfortunately that was the from blood and ash series which I know is a big hit but personally the writing style just was not for me)but it still saved me money!!

I heard about the Book of Night by Holly Black I am really looking forward to it!! I have other friends who adore Jurdan so we are all pumped to see her take on an adult romance and the summary sounded really cool!!

I will have to check out Anxious People for sure!!

But anyway I finally finished The Atlas Six!! Honestly I would have finished it sooner but I got into a romance mood so I went and read both Birthday Girl, Punk 57, and Credence by Penelope Douglas. Definitely recommend Birthday Girl if you like age gap relationships-it is a big one though so if those are not for you I do not recommend it. Punk 57 was okay, I was expecting a little more out of it than I got and I only read it since they were pen pals and I love letter writing but there was not a whole lot of that. And Credence well Credence is what it is LOL it is SUPER taboo and not for everyone and I feel slightly ashamed to say I enjoyed it, but I do not know you well enough on a personal basis to say read it or not read it because well it is wild and it is really a book that I think you love or you epically hate and think people are insane for liking. So look up at your own risk.

But did you end up finishing atlas six?? I do not want to talk about it unless you finished it!! What were your thoughts on the characters/plot/ships?? I am super excited about the future of it!! Olivie confirmed it will be a trilogy recently. I think the next book comes out next year. I also want to start some of her other books like Alone With You in the Ether. I just really enjoyed her writing style and the way she develops characters.

Can’t wait to talk about it with you once you get through it!!

-ACOTAR anon

Hello, hello! I'm embarrassed it's taken me so long to get back to you, I apologize! I haven't had access to WiFi the last week and a half so I haven't been on here much. I went away with two of my closest girlfriends and we were busy laughing, chatting, and goofing the time away--pretty standard with us, tbh. We're a bunch of Chatty Kathy's whenever we're around each other. 😄

But yayyy! I'm so happy you might be able to use some of those money saving book sites. They've been a godsend for me, truly. I mean, I still spend double what I ought on books but at least I can rationalize it because I know I'm saving some money lol. That's smart of you to have established that rule where you read 10% of the sample first before you buy the book. I might have to try that. I hate when I buy a book only to find myself disappointed because I don't enjoy the writing style or the story. I do usually read excerpts, but they're not always long enough for me to tell if I might like something or not.

I'm sorry you didn't care for the From Blood and Ash series. That seems to be hit or miss for a lot people. I believe I have the first two books on my Kindle (which I scored cheaply from Kindle Daily Deals lol) so I will get into it at some point. I'm curious which way I will land.

I don't know how people only read one book at a time. (No hate, just amazed lol.) Like you, I usually have at least 2, sometimes 3 or 4, books in rotation because I want to slip into different genres depending on my mood. And also depending on the time of day. Sometimes I prefer to read fantasies or thrillers during the day because they're exciting. I don't want to stop reading. Now, romances and non-fiction I will read at night, before bed. They're good genres to lull me to sleep with their facts and/or fluffiness.

I'm gonna have to check out Penelope Douglas. I'm not that familiar with her writing, but I'm always looking for new romance authors. You seemed so shy/embarrassed about liking Credence that I HAD to go and look up the summary lolol. You can't say "taboo" and then have me not investigate. My interest is piqued! The polyamory angle sounds fun. I've only read it in fic for the most part so this one's going on the tbr. As is Birthday Girl with the age gap. They both sound deliciously promising!

Something to know about me when it comes to books, to reading: I'm a daredevil. There's literally nothing I won't try at least once. There are times I balk AT MYSELF for the things I pick up knowingly, willingly, but I never regret it. Not even when I read something disturbing enough to give me nightmares. Which has definitely happened. 😂

And yes, I have finished The Atlas Six. I tore through that book so fast! I kept sneaking reading it when I was supposed to be doing other things. I loved that it was a character-driven fantasy because those are my favorite. And the magical system is so cool! It's such a creative blend of science and magic--like, the way she embedded particle physics and the multiverse into everything set my nerd flag flying like you wouldn't believe haha. The characters all have that morally gray Six of Crows vibe to them, too. They're enigmatic. Hard to pin down. They're all thrown together out of necessity not because they like each other, and it was fun to see how attachments did or did not form. I liked Callum the least. However, he's also one of the characters who intrigues me the most because I have no idea wtf he wants. There's no way to parse what his endgame is right now besides self-preservation. Nico is a conceited wise ass, so naturally I love him. Parisa and Reina both terrify me for different reasons. Parisa screams I AM A SIREN so I don't want to tread too close to her. Reina, I think, is going to just, like, detonate the whole planet at some point. She has so much untapped power. Tristan grew on me the most. I didn't care for him much in the beginning because he was an asshole, but then little by little, his layers start to peel back and you see how much he cares. How much he feels. Libby I related to a lot because I've spent most of my life feeling like an outcast like her. And the fact that she's constantly battling inadequacy--oof! That hit me.

As far as ships go, sheesh, I gotta say I'm conflicted! I feel like there are so many different directions the author could go??? It's rare for me not to know where the romance is headed, even this early on in the series, but I really don't.

Parisa and Dalton seem to be the most obvious ship right now. Even so, there's something dark, something dangerous and unknown lurking there so I don't know if that'll work out. Nico and Libby have the enemies-to-lovers type banter and dynamic that I love to gobble up. They're a lot of fun. I enjoy their scenes a lot. It's interesting that they're bound/connected in their powers, too. I can't wait to learn more about that. I'd be totally fine if they went romantic...but then I'm also picking up a vibe between him and his roommate. So I don't know what to think? I could get behind Libby and Tristan as well. Their unresolved tension leaps - literally LEAPS - off the page and I like how their dynamic progressed from dislike (on his end) to respect to something more...well, undefinable as of yet. There's palpable sexual/emotional energy between them, though, for sure. Callum seems to genuinely care about Tristan but he's been so damn manipulative! He'd have to jump through some hoops for me to get on board.

As you can see I babble a LOT when I get excited haha.

Anyway, what about you? Do you have any favorite characters or ships so far? That twist at the end was pretty good, don't you think? It blew the whole story wide open. I'm so looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

Can't wait to hear your thoughts! xx

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Just Say the Word: Two

You lay in the dark for a long time, listening to Colin’s breathing and watching the trees outside. They’re starting to get leaves and in the shimmer of the moonlight, the delicate buds make you with your paints were unpacked. You try and focus on what you would do. How you would paint what you saw in your head. Anything to keep from thinking about Bucky. 

You hadn’t realized that the Clubhouse had moved. That they were all respectable now. But, seeing Bucky’s bike in front of the building, and then getting a heads up text from Nat that he knew you were back had been a shock. You always knew he was going to find out. You knew he would. But part of you hoped he’d` not find out until after the wedding. Not like that would change anything. 

As much a you loved Colin, as much as you adored him, respected him. If Bucky called for you, you’d go. And you knew it. Even after everything he did. And said. Because that wasn’t your Bucky. That was someone else. A product of pain no one understood, not even you, no matter how hard you tried. Bucky. He was your first love. He was your first... everything, really. And as much as you loved Colin, he wasn’t Bucky. 

Where Bucky was fire and passion, Colin was rain and calm. Colin didn’t yell. He didn’t get angry. He loved you gently. The way you love a fragile figurine. You admire them. You handle them carefully if you must. And when you put them away, you wrap them carefully in soft fabric. It was a different love from what Bucky had given you. He’d been exciting. He didn’t treat you like spun glass. Not even when you needed him to. He devoured you whole and... in the end? He’d left you no choice but to take the scraps and run. 

But, even after The Night. The night you still couldn’t talk about. The psychosis from all the drugs, the days of walking on eggshells while Bucky had a complete mental break. Things that made you anxious just thinking about it. You loved him. You loved him so completely it scared you. And there was only one solution, you had to stay away from him. As far away from him as possible. Because a love like that could only end in tears. Like Tristan and Isolde or Romeo and Juliet. And you wanted to live. You deserved to live. And so did Bucky. 

_______________

Steve toweled his hair and looked at where Natasha was sprawled on the bed, scrolling through her phone, “What’s up, baby?”

Natasha sighed, “Just looking through some old pictures,” she said, “God. We were all so young.”

Steve smiled a little, “You used to hate me. And we all thought Bucky and Y/N were gonna be together forever. Sam and Clint used to call her mom, remember?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, pausing on a picture of herself and you kissing Bucky on the cheek when he was home on leave. She remembered that party. The lapdance you’d given Bucky after a few shots. You’d been a wild child. You and Bucky were like a house fire when someone opened a window. You fed into each other. Relentlessly. Forging ahead fearlessly. 

Steve crossed the floor and looked over her shoulder, bending to kiss her head, “We did the right thing, Nat,” he said quietly. “With her gone, Bucky had to get it together.”

“And we kept her alive,” Nat agreed softly. 

Nat rolled onto her back with a groan and Steve lays his head on her stomach, “I wonder how this new guy measures up,” he mused. 

“Colin’s nice,” Nat said, “Polite. Likes baking shows. Likes Hiking. Treats Y/N like a princess.” She doesn’t say that Colin is boring. That he treats your past like fodder for a redemption story. That when you let slip something about it, he can be condescending. She doesn’t say it, but Steve hears it anyway.

“But Y/N isn’t a princess,” Steve snorts.

“Maybe she wants to be,” Nat says quietly, “Maybe she got tired of killing her own dragons.”

“What, so she’s just gonna live in the suburbs and be June Cleaver? Bullshit,” he scoffs. 

Nat doesn’t say anything. There’s nothing to say. She knows that every relationship has problems. That maybe Colin will get better. She knows that in her mind, she’ll never be able to see you or Bucky with anyone else. And that maybe she isn’t being fair to Colin. But she can’t shake the feeling that Steve might be right. 

___________

Colin smiled up at you as you poured his cup of coffee, “Got any plans for the day Y/N?” he asked.

“I mean, just unpacking. Getting us settled in... Maybe get in touch with a few schools. See if I can get a bite on a job for when my teaching certificate transfers,” you answer, kissing him softly.

“Well,” he said, “I think that sounds like a full day.” You snort, “I’ll just be glad when you’re not paying all the bills.”

“Baby,” he chuckles, “I’m good for it. You’d not even have to work if you didn’t want to.” He half turns to watch you and you turn to put the Carafe back on the warmer. 

“I know but, I like working,” you tell him, “It makes me feel less like a sugar baby.”

Colin coughs, cheeks coloring. He didn’t like being reminded of how all this had started. An almost 40 year old man with no long term relationships under his belt looking for a companion. “I was thinking,” he said, changing the subject quickly, “That we could invite some friends for a cocktail party. After you get us settled.”

“That’d be nice,” you hum, fixing your own coffee. 

“You could invite some of your old friends,” he suggested. 

That makes you laugh, “Honey,” you tell him gently, “Unless cocktails is now short for Moonshine and pool, it’s not really their scene.”

Colin smiles wryly, “There’s really no one?”

You shake your head, “When you’re with someone as long as I was with Bucky a break up is kinda like a divorce. And you gotta figure out who gets custody of the kids... I didn’t want to make anyone choose. I just... Well. They’re Bucky’s friends now. It’d be a little weird if I just popped up at the club house and invited them over for cocktail hour.”

Colin nods, frowning, “I guess we’ll just have some people over from the hospital then.”

“A nice way to do some networking,” you agree, letting go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding when he let it drop, going back to his paper and his coffee.

[quarantineandchillthings]

THE ORIGINALS

After finishing The Vampire Diaries I felt completely lost. The last episode left me wanting more even though I had just finished 8 whole seasons. Some of my favourite characters were the original vampires, and I was left wishing that they were in the final episode of TVD. So of course I was gonna watch The Originals immediately. The Originals follow Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah Mikealson of the original vampire family, as they move back to New Orleans, which is where they stayed for centuries before. The reason for their move is the pregnancy of Hayley, a werewolf who had a one night stand with Klaus in a Vampire Diaries episode.

What I love most about this show is that it is less of a teen drama than The Vampire Diaries is (although I am a sucker for a good teen drama). The storyline of Klaus having a child was absolutely shocking, which I loved, as we thought that him being half a Vampire would not allow him to procreate. However because he is a hybrid (vampire/werewolf) his werewolf gene allowed it to happen. I especially loved this storyline because it meant that Klaus would probably be forced to show more of his humanity (which he did), which we see little of in Vampire Diaries, only really showing it when he’s with Caroline. I also love seeing more of the backstory of how the original vampires were made, as well as how they figured out what their powers were. It was interesting to see the family as kids. The cutest scene is seeing Klaus make a little wooden toy for Rebekah as children, showing how sweet their relationship used to be. It was heartbreaking seeing the backstory of their father with Klaus and how damaged their relationship left him. You see a large amount of Elijah's past as well, I liked seeing him with the doppleganger Tatia, and how becoming a vampire ruined their relationship. A shocking twist was when it was revealed that Freya, their oldest sister, was still alive. I thought bringing her back into the family was great and changed the dynamic. She was such a great character, always helping with every problem that came their way. They would most definitely have died much earlier than they did if it wasn’t for her. Marcel’s dynamic with the family was also one of my favourites. I loved that he really was like a son to Klaus and I enjoyed watching the flashbacks of their relationship as well as with Rebekah, Elijah and Kol. Plus Marcel as a child is adorable.  Finding out about their sire lines and Lucien, Tristan and Aurora was one of my favourite parts in the show. You see these characters be the first humans that the original family turn, and what their life became after that. It is so interesting to me to see the history of vampirism in the TVD world. 

This show quickly became one of my favourite shows. I truly don’t know which show I enjoyed more, Vampire Diaries or The Originals. However I would’ve loved to see more of Rebekah, Kol and Finn, especially Rebekah. In saying that, I know her absence from the show was for personal reasons which I most definitely respect, and the parts we did get with her were awesome. We got to see quite a bit of Kol’s character but I still would've liked to see a little more considering it is called ‘The Originals’ not ‘Klaus and Elijah’. Although Finn is most definitely my least favourite Mikealson sibling and probably the most boring, I wanted to see why he was like that, and although we saw that a little more than we did in The Vampire Diaries, he died before we could see more. I also wish that the ending did not have to have Hayley, Klaus and Elijah die. I definitely thought it was a full circle moment when Klaus and Elijah took each other's lives and also proved that they both were not villains and showed their love and care for their family (always and forever 😭). However I am so sad that they will never appear in Legacies and that Hope has had to live with so much of her family dead. Although you never know who can come back to life in these shows. 

This show really stepped it up in terms of diversity. As I discussed in my Vampire Diaries post, I wanted to see more people of colour in the main cast. This show definitely did that, having two African American characters, Marcel and Vincent, become part of the main cast. Both of them quickly became favourite characters of mine. Adding Keelin as a featured character as well was amazing as her character was part of an interracial and lesbian couple with Freya, which was awesome to see. Speaking of which, this show was good at representing couples from the LGBTQI+ community. Two of my favourite couples on the show were gay couples, one being Josh and Aiden, and of course Freya and Keelin. I also loved that it wasn't a big deal Freya starting having a relationship with a woman, and the family hardly even reacted which was nice. I’m seeing more of this in many tv shows and it’s great to see. 

FUN FACTS: 

- The show came through Vampire Diaries fans making videos of what a show based on the original family would look like. Joseph Morgan (Klaus) and Claire Holt (Rebekah) saw these videos and started talking about making a series. 

- Charles Michael Davis (Marcel), auditioned for The Vampire Diaries many times but never landed a part. He was very glad when he got the call to be a part of The Originals

- The Originals received better ratings than The Vampire Diaries 

- Phoebe Tonkin (Hayley) and Claire Holt (Rebekah) starred in H2O just add water, an Australian kids tv show together before their roles on The Vampire Diaries and The Originals

- The show was first meant to be set in Chicago, but was later decided to be set in New Orleans

For more fun facts go to https://thegameofnerds.com/2018/02/23/12-facts-about-the-originals-we-bet-you-didnt-know/ 

and

  https://www.uselessdaily.com/news/13-amazing-facts-about-the-originals/ 

Other projects the incredible actors have been apart of:

Joseph Morgan (Klaus)  - Brave New World - Sci-fi series 

Daniel Gillies (Elijah)  - Saving Hope - Drama/fantasy series 

Claire Holt Rebekah) - 47 Meters Down - Horror/thriller movie 

Phoebe Tonkin (Hayley) - Bloom - Drama series 

Charles Michael Davis (Marcel)  - Younger - Comedy/romance series 

Danielle Campbell (Davina) - Tell Me A Story - Psychological thriller series 

Riley Voelkel (Freya) - Roswell, New Mexico - Drama/sci fi series

Leah Pipes (Camille) - Life Is Wild - Drama series 

Yusaf Gatewood (Vincent) - Umbrella Academy (S2) - Action series 

Nathaniel Buzolic (Kol) - Saving Zoe - Crime film 

And where to find them: 

Joseph Morgan -

https://www.instagram.com/therealjosephmorgan/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/JosephMorgan

Daniel Gillies - 

https://www.instagram.com/mr.danielgillies/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/danieljgillies

Claire Holt - 

https://www.instagram.com/claireholt/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/claireholt

Phoebe Tonkin - 

https://www.instagram.com/phoebejtonkin/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/1PhoebeJTonkin

Charles Michael Davis - 

https://www.instagram.com/charlesdavis2020/?hl=en

Danielle Campbell - 

https://www.instagram.com/thedaniellecampbell/?hl=en

Riley Voelkel - 

https://www.instagram.com/lifeofrileyv/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/Lifeofrileyv

Leah Pipes - 

https://www.instagram.com/leahmariepipes10/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/leahmariepipes

Yusaf Gatewood - 

https://www.instagram.com/yusufgatewood/?hl=en

Nathaniel Buzolic - 

https://www.instagram.com/natebuzz/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/natebuzz

[tillman]

Pls infodump about lancelot from what i observe almost everyone hates him? (Ok its understandable bec of his affair with queen) im curious why do you like lancelot? And i remember a few days ago you post that there so many things you want to talk about him? And i want to see you rant/gush about his character, relationships, mental illness, his flaws etc ans also what is the difference between fate lancelot and lancelot in the legends? I want to know more about him he is complicated

OK its not that everyone hates him its that people hate what he stands for. the french side of arthurian lit is VERY focused on making lancelot seem like the greatest knight in the entire world because…. wow… hes french. and french people suck. stop normalizing the french. i like lancelot because of what he COULD stand for. theres a lot of things that could be delved into more (his mental illnesses, his communication issues, his inability to comprehend love, the struggle with being unholy or wrong, ect) but no one ever does. so i stole him hes mine now fuck the french they did him dirty.

uhm ok this is under a cut for talks of kinda heavy topics (lots of mental health talk, lots of abuse talk) and also cus its long. sorry i have a lot to say about him) 

i like lancelot a lot cus i see myself a lot in him. mostly in his mental health and how he ends up dealing with situations. his struggle with violent mood swings and his huge burden of being labeled as a sinner or whatever for a relationship he admits to feeling trapped in is…. relateable… comforting to see in a fictional character i guess. as flawed as he is hes still heralded as a good person. hes still loved by his friends and his family. and thats nice.. i like it. 

uhm for his mental health the main thing that comes out is his struggles with trauma, awful depression, and also just the fact he dissociates a lot. in knight of the cart he is so out of it he doesnt realize a knight is attacking him until hes thrown into the water in which he reacts violently and freaks the fuck out, trying to rip the guy off his horse. he like. physically can not handle extreme emotions and will either fall asleep so he doesnt have to face it (le morte says this is a known quality of him, he does this enough dinadan expects it as soon as he gets mad) or he swings so hard he has an extreme bout of depression (in the vulgate when trying to comprehend his relationship with guenevere and galehaut he just shuts down and spends all his time sleeping or staring at the river) or awful mania (see: the many times guenevere freaks out at him and he gets so upset he jumps out a window and lives in the woods). Lancelot has a lot of unworked out trauma from being r*** twice by the same woman who continues to use him and freak him out so much he cant find camelot safe (triggering another huge spike where he runs off into the woods) or the literal entire end of the legends where he has to deal with the trauma of while having one of his dissociative episodes in combat he accidentally kills gareth, someone he loves and adores like a brother or son and gets so upset he just accepts everything happening and hides in joyous gard, where his cousins have to BEG him to go and defend his honor from gawain whos basically knocking on his door pleading with lancelot to kill him. 

lancelots inability to understand a lot of social nuances is also really interesting but like, ultimately leads to a lot of strife for him most namely galehauts death and gueneveres constant abuse. The thing is Lancelot basically idolizes guenevere and this is where a lot of the abuse and weird shit comes from in their relationship. lancelot was a very young knight who honestly didnt understand anything about BEING a knight when he came to court. the queen knighted him and him, being young and not understanding, took this as “i am her knight! i will do anything for her!” and guenevere just kinda ran with this? i dont rlly wanna go too into it ill do that later when i get farther in the vulgate and can talk more on it but it leads to lancelot being trapped in a relationship he admit hurts him, but the small sliver of love guenevere gives him when she needs him is enough to keep him in because his mindset is still “im her knight! this is what a knight should do for his lady!” Galehaut is a different situation where his blindness to social cues and other shit leads to a lot of drama and hellish shit and when he finally snaps and realizes “oh. oh no this is what love should be” its too late and galehaut is dead and lancelot isnt much better. his own mother has to come and convince him not to literally kill himself over this and sends him into a spiral of depression where he doesnt leave the joyous gard for months. when he does and when he comes back to court, no one really … cares? that galehaut is dead. and this is lancelots first experience with actual love and his first experience with the death of someone close to him. which is an awful double whammy to have to experience. he does have good friends like gawain and dinadan and tristan and his relationship with galahad is good but they all end up dead or turned against him by something thats he did and its just. god its so sad to watch. the only people lancelot is left with in the end are his cousins, and even at the end of all of that hes left alone with the corpses of people he thought he loved. 

like hes a very flawed man. lancelot is a problem causer and not a problem solver. he doesnt try to he really doesnt, he strives to be the perfect knight mostly for some sliver of appreciation from someone he idolizes he never really ends up getting. he doesnt know how to cope, and ends up making things worse when he inevitably ends up screwing shit up because of this. hes called a sinner and unholy by god, and while he is very proud of his son for what he ends up achieving, has to deal with the trauma of the grail quest alone. he ends up killing someone he loves, and who genuinely respected and cared for him like a brother in a fit of him not being able to deal with heavy emotions. like he truly is in the wrong in most situations but like. in such a pitiable way. hes a good person, but lets his flaws overtake him a lot and pushes away the people who want the best for him. its like…. sad. 

(about to talk about fate u can drop off now if u just wanted to read my arthurian lit opinions :-) )

i could go off about fate lancelot and all the problems i have with him for hours but i think the main thing i wanna talk about rn is how they handle his internalization of his life and then just did nothing with it. his wish for the grail is just to be told he was wrong. thats so fucking GOOD!! in life he was heralded as the best knight like of course his one regret was that no one ever stopped him and went “you are wrong. this is wrong. you are doing the wrong thing.” and that being all he wants out of the thing that can grant any wishes is soooooo soo cool and neat. and then they just reduced his personality to “oh boo hoo im so sad im going to fuck a married woman now” like. the fucking dissonance. like lancelot isnt the type for random flings. tristan sure i understand that a bit hes unhinged and hard to characterize and .. honestly does just go around fucking married woman. weirdo. but lancelots entire struggle is over his relationship with guenevere being both wrong morally and literally abusive! i jsut dont get it i dont understand how they built up something so interesting with zero and threw it all out the window it makes me so mad. i dont even wanna talk about fate lancelot anymore rn its giving me a headache cus im so mad. 

[the-fangirl-way]

4: Water

Seven a.m. always comes entirely too early, and sometimes, I oversleep.

When I finally did wake up it was going on nine thirty, my alarm clock had went off but I must've hit snooze, falling back asleep.

I groaned, sitting up in bed and stretching out my limbs in front of me.

Devlin had already been gone since seven and so I had the apartment to myself for the day.

I took a shower to wake myself up, the hot water aroused me a small amount, but it was the liquid gold in the mug I held between my hands that I was sipping on that fully woke me up.

After my coffee I brushed my teeth, then did my hair and makeup, I wasn't planning on going anywhere until tonight but it was Saturday and I wanted to look nice for myself.

I was settled on the couch curled up in a throw blanket, my laptop in my lap, another cup of coffee sat next to me on the end table when I heard a knock on the door.

My heart lept at the thought of who might be behind that door, but I answered it anyway.

Tristan stood behind the door, still in his uniform, his face paled and looking anxious.

"Tristan? What are you doing he-"

I was cut off by him leaping on me wrapping me in a hug that all but crushed my lungs.

"Thank God." He whispered burying his face into my hair.

"What's wrong?" I asked and he pulled back to look at me in the face.

"Styles got bailed out."

I felt the flutter of my heart at the mention of Harry but I kept my face cool, I couldn't let him know about him being here last night.

"What?" Was all I could manage to choke past my lips.

"He got out yesterday and no one in my fucking squad had the sense to let me know anything." He said fuming, his face burning with anger.

"Tristan-"

"No this is serious! His father bailed him out. Where the hell did he get two hundred thousand-"

"Tristan!" I said reaching forward to grab his shoulders, looking him the eye.

"Calm down."

"I will not calm down! He's out! He could have.. he could have came here. He could have found you and.." He trailed off looking at the ground avoiding my gaze.

I felt the knot in my stomach so powerful it made me want to vomit, he was here and I made Tristan leave because of him being here.

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into me.

"It's okay, I'm here, I'm here and I'm okay." I whispered and I felt him relax a little under my touch.

"I took the day off, I told the squad I was taking watch over you for the next couple of days in case Styles does decide to show up here."

My eyes widened.

"What?! Tristan you can't do that! You have work, I have work! Plus, you can't just stay here and keep a watch on me all day long for the next few days, eventually your sergeant will want you back." I argued and he rolled his eyes.

"To hell with him, if he can't respect me staying to watch over my girlfriend from a psychopath then he can fuck himself."

I felt my ears and face getting hot, he noticed it too.

"What?"

"You called me you girlfriend.." I said smiling and he smirked.

"And?"

"I uh, I just didn't know we were putting a label on our thing yet."

His smirk fell a bit and he eyed me.

"Our thing? Just because we haven't slept together.."

I sucked in a breath, the tension building between us.

"I didn't mean-" He started and I shook my head.

"No, I know what you meant."

He placed his hands on either side of my face.

"I like you, a lot. And I enjoy our time together, and I'm not seeing anyone else or plan on seeing anyone else so therefore I consider you my girlfriend. And I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He said and I sighed, he was so charming and handsome and sweet it was almost unbearable to know that I lied to him.

"Do you.. I mean.. do you feel the same way?" He asked, his voice stronger than he looked.

I thought about it for a second, and then nodded slowly.

Tristan had, other than Devlin, been the only consistent for me since I moved here, of course, our relationship never took a flirty turn until the past year, nevertheless he was always there to help me with cases or help me with trials or just be there in general.

"Yes, I do." I said finally and the smile reappeared.

He pulled my face into his, his lips were warm and soft and familiar.

I hadn't heard the door open so when Devlin cleared her throat from the doorway we both jumped away from each other in what seemed like guilt.

"Sorry, didn't mean to ruin the moment." She said smirking and I rolled my eyes.

"Devlin, good to see you again." Tristan said shooting a friendly smile at her.

"Always a pleasure Lennon."

"So what are you doing here?" I asked looking at the clock on the wall, it was lunch time.

"I'm on lunch, I didn't feel like going somewhere so I figured why not come home and make myself something? But if I need to leave..." She started eyeing the two of us.

"Dev." I said simply, telling her without so many words to shut her trap.

"Right. I'll just be in the kitchen then."

She headed towards the kitchen and I turned to Tristan.

"I'm going to go talk to Devlin about all of this." I said and he nodded.

"Just, make yourself comfortable."

I headed into the kitchen and found Devlin rummaging through the fridge.

"Hey Ave, do we have any more of those mashed potatoes from the other night?"

"I'm not sure, check under the shelf." I said leaning up against the countertop.

"Bingo!" She said grabbing a bowl of loaded mashed potatoes from the refrigerator and shutting the door.

"We need to talk." I said eyeing her and she nodded.

"Yeah we do, what were you and Officer Sexy doing making out in the living room? That's what the bedroom is for."

"Devlin.."

"Alright, alright. I'll stop. So what's up?" She asked popping a bowl of the potatoes in the microwave.

"Tristan's.. staying for a few days." I said and she lifted her eyebrows.

"Why..."

I thought seriously about lying to her, pretending the news of Harry were new news to me too but I couldn't lie to her, she was my best friend, besides; I had lied enough today.

I checked to make sure Tristan was out of earshot before I spewed everything, telling her about Harry dropping by, what he told me about Langston, and now Tristan's decision to stay.

"Wow Avery." Was all she could say.

"I know, I know, and I'm really sorry for lying to you last night but you would have freaked out and called the cops anyway and I just, I don't think Harry's a threat.. not to us anyway."

"And you didn't tell Tristan any of this?" She asked taking a bite of her mashed potatoes.

"No. I couldn't, if you had seen his face last night when I told him I couldn't go out, if he had known Harry was here he would have lost his mind." I said pinching the bridge of my nose, the whole thing was a huge disaster.

"Well, I won't tell him anything, but you better hope Styles doesn't try to show up here again."

I paled, I hadn't thought of him actually showing up again.

"Oh God, I hope not, he definitely won't be able to keep his mouth shut."

"Mhmm." Devlin said agreeing with a mouth full of food.

Devlin left about fifteen till one o'clock, she was working until five today.

Tristan was sitting on the couch, still clad in his uniform he was watching tv. I sat down beside him and he hooked his arm around me, I rested my head against his shoulder, the thought of Harry showing up here any second made my stomach turn.

"I should probably go home and get some clothes if I'm going to be staying here a while." He commented after a minute and I nodded, there was no talking him out of it.

"We could get lunch while we're out?" He offered and I agreed, getting out of the house would be nice.

We went to a small cafe, I ordered a water, Tristan ordered a tea and we shared some pizza.

"So, you're looking particularly beautiful today, any reason why?" He asked smirking and I giggled.

"Well, I have a date with my boyfriend tonight so I wanted to look nice but," I started looking around to make sure no one was listening, "He can't know I'm on a date with a handsome guy like you or he'll freak."

Tristan laughed reaching across the table to grip my hand, rubbing circles into my skin with his thumb.

"It'll be our little secret."

After lunch we sat and talked for a little while about Harry and his case, I brought up Langston to Tristan.

"The police missed so much on him, domestic abuse charges, drug charges, other various things." I said taking a sip of my coffee.

"I'm not surprised, from what I heard they only asked a small amount of questions, I'm assuming they just figured that when he said he didn't know anything that he didn't know anything."

I shrugged, I hated withholding the information that Harry had given me but I knew that I couldn't tell him for the sheer fact of him finding out that Harry had been to see me last night and I had promised not to tell anyone.

"Well," Tristan said tossing his napkin on the table and thumbing a five dollar bill out of his wallet to leave as a tip, "I would offer to take you sightseeing today but I hear it's not going to get out of the teens all week."

It had been chilly this morning on the ride over to the cafe, I had worn a pair of leggings and boots, a fleece pull over and a teal sweater my parents had given me for Christmas that I adored.

"So how about a movie? Or we could go shopping?" He suggested grabbing ahold of my hand as we walked across the parking lot, the bone chilling wind whipped through my hair feeling like it was going straight to my bones.

He held up the squad car door, he insisted he drive so I didn't argue.

"What about getting your things?"

"We can do that last." He prompted and I giggled.

"I think I have an idea."

**

"If I fall you promise you won't laugh and will help me up?" I asked lacing up the ice skate on my left foot.

"I can't promise not to laugh, but I promise to help you up." He said and I held up my pinky to make him promise.

We locked pinky's and he helped me stand up on both of my feet.

"I can't believe you've never been ice skating before."

"I can't believe you have." I shot back and he laughed.

"Just adjust your weight to both feet, don't rely on one side or you'll fall for sure."

He guided me out on the ice, the thin skate making me feel vulnerable under my own weight.

"Tristan!" I said stumbling a little and he laughed.

"Just relax, one foot in front of the other."

I watched him as he sped away, gliding across the ice with grace, he was a natural.

I gripped the wall and tried putting one foot in front of the other, left, right, left, right. Eventually I felt a little more at ease and decided to let go.

Tristan skidded to a halt near me and watched as I, very slowly, made my way toward him with wobbly knees.

"That's my girl! You've got it!" He said smiling and I felt like I had really accomplished something.

We skated around the rink slowly, I worried I was bumming out his groove but he never said a word. We locked hands and made several laps, laughing and squealing all the way, the squealing on my part.

When we came to a stop at the side of the rink Tristan offered to get us drinks and I agreed, the cool air making my mouth dry.

He disappeared and I pulled my phone out of my pocket checking the time, it was going on six o'clock.

I heard the voice before I seen him, and my head snapped up so quickly I thought I had given myself a slight case of whiplash.

He was gliding toward me, more gracefully than Tristan had, like a natural born ice skater.

He came to a halt right in front of me and I couldn't avoid his gaze, his eyes were locked on me through the crowd of people passing by.

"Avery, good to see you." He said wearing the same smirk he always wore and I rolled my eyes.

"Harry."

"Who are you here with? Let me guess.. Officer Numb Nuts?"

"Harry!" I said louder than I intended to, catching glances from a few passersby.

"Sorry, sorry, forgive me?" He asked poking out his lip in a semi playful way.

"Hardly." I said and he chuckled.

"You're good at this."

"Good at what?" I questioned and he smirked again, this time there was a gleam in his eye.

"Playing hard to get."

"Hard to get? There's nothing to get! I'm dating Tris- Officer Lennon." I scoffed and he rolled his eyes.

"It's only a matter of time, Officer Shit Dick has the personality of a wet mop." He said raking a hand through his tousled hair.

"Harry I can't be seen talking to you." I said quickly, realizing that Tristan would be back any moment.

"And why's that?" He asked, a devilish grin poking out on his features.

"Because, you.. just because." I said hastily and he laughed again only this time it wasn't as humorous.

"Whatever you say babe, but you'll realize soon enough." He said and then flashed a toothy grin like he'd won something.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" I asked but I heard Tristan's voice behind me.

"I got you a coke, they were out of bottled water."

I froze, whirling around to face him as he handed me the bottle, his face cool as a cucumber but fading as he looked at my features, I'm sure I looked shocked or like a deer caught in headlights.

"You okay?" He asked, his face changing to concerned.

I snuck a peek behind me to find Harry was gone. I scanned the entire arena but there was no trace of him.

I looked back at Tristan and forced a nod.

"I'm fine, I just thought I saw someone I know is all." I said and he bought it.

We left the skating rink not long after that, it was going on seven and I was starting to feel a little hungry.

"I'll be quick." Tristan said unlocking the door to his apartment, he lived in a nice complex, nicer than the one I lived in.

He pushed open the door and I stepped inside, this was the first time I had been to his place, he had always came to mine before.

It was modern but clean, he kept it up that was for sure.

"Make yourself comfortable." He said shrugging off his jacket and hanging it in the closet.

"Want anything to drink?"

I shook my head and he nodded.

"Well, I'll be out in just a few minutes, here," He said handing me the remote, "find something to watch."

He kissed me quickly before departing to take a shower, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Harry was there in the skating rink with us today and then he just vanished in thin air. How was that even possible? I was silently thanking God that Tristan hadn't returned and found him there, I had no idea how that would play out but in my head it wasn't pretty.

This whole thing had turned into one big disaster, and I was scared to see how it was going to end.

I hadn't heard the shower cut off so when Tristan spoke from the doorway I jumped. He was clad in just a towel, hanging low off his hips, dangerously low. He was fit, he had to be it was part of his job, but his body was physically fit, ab lines sculpted in his skin, the towel hugged his waist the v line etched in his skin was a path leading to somewhere unexplored for me.

I tried to put together coherent words but they wouldn't come, the water dripped from his hair down his shoulders and biceps giving him a soft glow.

"I was just wondering what kind of place you were wanting to eat at so I'd know how to dress." He said, but his words didn't penetrate my brain for a few seconds before my mouth caught up with me.

"Uh, anywhere is fine." I said finally, my voice steadier than I felt and I thanked God for that too.

"Okay so casual?" He asked and I nodded, then shrugged.

"I suppose. Where were you thinking?"

"Well," he said moving closer to me, I caught a whiff of his scent, some masculine body wash but it smelled really good, "I have a few things picked out, look at them and tell me what you think?" He offered and I nodded, the realization that I would be going with him to his bedroom while he was virtually naked thumped in my mind.

His room was nice, as modern as the rest of the house but nice nevertheless, and clean. I always admired a man with a sense of cleanliness.

"I have this." He said holding up a blue polo shirt.

"Or this." He offered holding up a black button up.

"Or this?" He asked finally holding up a maroon colored button up with grey accents.

"I like that one." I said pointing to the maroon shirt and he nodded.

"That one it is then."

I started to leave his room but his hand reached out and caught my arm pulling me back.

"I had fun today." He said, his face just inches from mine, that's when the realization really hit that I was standing in his bedroom with him while only a towel separated us from his nakedness.

"Me too." I mumbled and he eyed me with a look of lust or adoration, I couldn't tell, his smell, his body, everything was clouding up my mind.

His lips caught mine before I could stop him, soft but rough at the same time and the heat wave that traveled up my spine and stabbed me below my stomach didn't go unnoticed.

We kissed passionately for a few minutes before he pulled away, his eyes going soft and slightly panicky.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have-" He started but my ears blocked out his apology.

"No really, it's fine." I said and I guess my body language was enough to give him the green light.

This is it. I thought to myself between kisses.

I didn't second think it, knowing if I overanalyzed it I would back down, and truth be told I didn't want to back down.

"Stop me now if you don't want this to happen." He murmured against my lips and my mouth left his, leaving peppered kisses along his jawline and down his neck to his collar bone, tiny droplets of water caressing my lips.

He pushed my back end against the bed and I fell backwards bringing him with me.

**

When I awoke I was alone, I sat up adjusting my eyes to the darkness as night had fallen through the curtains. I was still in Tristan's room.

I pulled back the blanket and felt around the floor finding my discarded clothes pulling them on before retreating to the living room where the tv was on and smell of takeout wafted through the air. Tristan was filling a second wine glass when I caught his eye from the doorway.

"Oh hey you, I was just fixing to come wake you. I ordered takeout, I hope you don't mind." He said and I shook my head.

"No, takeout is fine." I assured him taking a seat on the couch beside him.

"Cheers," he said holding up his glass where I clinked mine to it.

"Cheers."

We took a sip in unison, an awkward silence in the air. Tristan spoke first.

"Well this is awkward."

"Sorry.. thanks for ordering food. It looks good." I said leaning forward to open the takeout carton.

"It was good for you, right?" He asked timidly.

"What?" I asked sitting back.

"I mean, you don't regret it or anything right?" He asked and I could see vulnerability in his eyes.

"Oh no, of course not. It was good. Truly." I said and he relaxed a little.

"I just haven't, you know, in quite some time so I'm not sure how to act, you know, after.." I said and a smile broke out on his face.

"You're doing just fine." He said reaching over and placing a hand on my leg.

We finished eating, talking about work and the weather and watching tv, before I knew it, it was going on midnight.

"We should get back to my place before Devlin sends a search party." I joked and he laughed.

"You're probably right."

He drove me home and Devlin was still up when we entered.

"Thank God you're home I was about to send the fire brigade. Officer Lennon, keeping my girl out late, what were you two doing?"

Tristans face turned a crimson red and he said a curt goodnight before retreating up the stairs, Devlin's eyebrows lifted.

"What was that all about?"

"Nothing." I said and but she didnt buy it.

"Avery DeLaney don't lie to me, spill."

"Fine. Fine. We, uh, we kinda had sex tonight."

"What!? No way! How was it??" She said and I smacked her arm.

"Quiet! He'll hear you!" I scolded.

"Sorry! Was it good though?"

"Goodnight Dev." I said heading for the stairs.

"I'm taking that as a yes."

"I love you." I said not looking back and I heard her giggle.

"Goodnight Avery, love you too."

I got to the top of the stairs when Devlin shouted.

"I better not hear any noises coming from your room tonight!"

And I knew it was gonna be a long week.

[wraithofthevoid]

Positivity 2: Electric BEEgaloo

@justgot-bamboozled || HOWDY HEY, I named this series of positive compliments after you my boo, cuz you’re cute and funny and make me laugh (and I think it fits the theme a bunch). I’ve had the honour to play with you and hear your voice and my god you’re a precious bean, and I have oodles of fun whenever you’re around; you’ve got that kind of chill banter that I absolutely adore being around. I was gonna give you these cute lil compliments when I first did this and I high key regret not doing it cuz oof, you deserve to hear how amazing you are on the daily. I crave playing and talking with you more cuz you seem like an honest to goodness fabulous person and being your friend honestly feels like a dream come true （≧∇≦）💞💞💞

@smeachthepeach || BOII where do I begin with you??? You radiate chaotic energy and that’s my shit— I still remember the first time we actually met & you did that thing with your stringy instrument (fight me I just woke up from a nap, I’ll remember the name of it two mins after this is posted, just waTCH). You are honestly one of the biggest highlights of my life, cuz you gave me a family and you’ve given me so many stitches in my side from our misadventures online. I heccin love you my dude, now and always! Keep being you, Mr ‘I can demolish 4 whole squads with a Hemlock 200 metres away if I wanted to, but I don’t because it’s funnier to shoot you once and watch you panic’. You’re like, the same level of silly as me and I adore that you’re low key my parter in crime— never change 😂👌🏼👌🏼

@excitingpathtofind || I’m gonna keep the sap here to a minimum cuz lord knows you’re gonna get most of it later on but I still wanna include you in this cuz you my bitch and ily. I’ve known you for a fair chunk of my life and we have been through so much; you’ve been my support, my inspiration, my hope and my main man. You’ve got a laugh that makes me wheeze harder than any joke ever could and you’ve got the kind of advice God wishes he could offer to the people who pray to him. You’ve got a wonderful ability to bring positivity into the lives of the people you meet and you do a damn good job at it, so much so, that it doesn’t surprise me that you’ve managed to secure yourself someone who adores you as much as you adore both her, and your other friends. SPEAKING OF WHOM; 💞💞💞

@lifeline-calling || ZOE MY GIRL, MY PRECIOUS LITTLE ENABLER, I LOVE YOU!!!! I could honestly talk with you for hours about candles and artisan soaps and you’ve got the kind of persuasion skills that’d make me buy two llamas, a penguin, a 6 inch draining pipe and a bag of crusty tomatoes if you wanted me to. You’ve got an infectious personality and being in parties with you always feels like a blessing. You’ve got the highest quality memes and banter I’ve seen in a long time and you never fail to make me smile, even if I’m wallowing in self pity for some dumb reason; a wonderful quality to have and you should be really really proud of yourself. I’m so thankful that Ayla introduced us and I’m even more thankful that you accepted me and my dumbass ways into your life so willingly, you’re a gift from the heavens and I cannot express how much of an impact you’ve had on my life!! You’re a sweet, caring, creative and charismatic soul; a truly wonderful person. 💞💞💞

@ilwha || Yo so ik we haven’t spoken on a personal level but I just wanted to say that you are one of the most talented people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Everytime I see you post, my day is immediately brightened because I know that whatever that post is, you’ve poured your love and passion into it. You even allowed me to use one of your edits as my profile picture and I still use it to this day because honestly, I adore it. You’re an inspiration to artists and an inspiration to me. Someday I’d like to know you better because from what I can tell, you’re an interesting person with a keen sense of creativity and I’m willing to bet you’re funny as hecc too. I live for your blog and I’d give my life for you too, cuz you make so many peoples lives better and I appreciate and respect that 💫💞⭐️

@shes-fast-like-me || TRISTAN WHERE THE FUCK DO I BEGIN WITH YOU, YOU CHAOTIC ADORABLE FUCK!!! God I actually adore the additions you make to posts and the raw chaotic energy you give off is enough to rival myself and Smeach, you make me physically giggle when reading the things you post and you’re like something from a legend. I hear soooooo many people in this community speak highly of you and they’re right to do so, you’ve got a huge heart of gold and you interact with so many souls here that it warms my cold dead heart a couple degrees. I have never cried as hard in my life than the time you added all those songs to Smeach’s playlist cuz I shit you not, I put that playlist on when my university friends came over and fuckin baby shark just blasted through my flat, u fuckin pogchamp. I HATE that song but my god do I love you for adding it cuz I was keeled over on my floor physically weeping whilst my friends laughed & it brought us closer. You’ve got a talent with people and I wouldn’t trade you for the world, cuz you make my life that little bit brighter. You are valid in every sense of the word kiddo, and I love you for it 🤧💞⭐️

As you may have noticed, I didn’t limit it to only 3 people this time because love has no limit, so take these compliments you precious beans, and set forth on your own quests to let those important to you know just how much they mean!! Go show them the kind of love that’ll make them tear up, and then slurp up that sweet nectar and feel GOOD 💫💞🌈🌈

[darthstitch]

10 Random Headcanons About Mr. Hart and Mr. Unwin

1. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a certain senior Knight newly crowned as Arthur, must be in want of a Guinevere."

The above piece of wisdom was delivered by one Roxy Morton, a.k.a. Lancelot, complete with a rather Significant Look directed at Eggsy Unwin a.k.a. Galahad.

Eggsy's response was an equally eloquent: "Sod off." Also, he was blushing so hard that Harry even noticed it after he walked into the room five minutes later. Which prompted a completely awkward (and adorable, according to Roxy) exchange that consisted of Harry fussing and Eggsy getting all the more flustered, not helped by the fact that at some point, Harry actually called him: "my dear," seemingly by accident. Harry called for tea and Eggsy had to sit through the rest of the Round Table meeting hiding behind a mug of chamomile and scones.

2. Tristan might be a badass assassin who doted on his dog and could easily kill a dozen men with a dull pencil, but he was also interested in crafts and had a puckish sense of humor. He gifted a framed, cross-stitched version of Roxy's quote to Eggsy. Eventually, Eggsy did end up hanging the damn thing in his own office. This was long, long after Eggsy could finally get over the initial abject horror and sheer mortification that John fuckin' Wick had noticed Eggsy's hopeless affections for Harry Hart.

3. It gets worse. EVERYONE actually saw that Eggsy was arse over tits for Harry Hart. "There, there, lad," Merlin told him much, much later, when they'd finally sorted themselves out. "Actually, everyone else had also noticed that he was equally besotted with you."

"Oi," was Harry's reaction to that, in a very deadpan, accurate imitation of Eggsy's accent.

4. Eggsy's "posh" voice gets any number of reactions when he has occasion to use it. His mates have all died of laughter when they've heard him use it in the shop. His mum is also not immune to the giggles, but only because, as she's remarked, "It suits you, Eggsy-boy." Originally, it was a beautiful, dead-on impersonation of Harry himself. These days, when Eggsy slips into that accent, every syllable crisp, cold, and clear, he can actually be terrifying. This is how Galahad takes command of half a dozen Knights in order to go rescue their King and how he even gets Merlin to snap to attention.

5. What most people don't know is that Harry is equally capable of taking on Eggsy's chav accent. The following exchange was recorded for posterity:

Harry: Ah, yer th'guvna, Merlin. Fanks.

Merlin: You're welcome, Galahad.

Harry: S'Arfur, now, innit?

Merlin: ...

Eggsy: *in the background, giggling*

Merlin: Arthur?

Harry: Yeh, bruv?

Merlin: Don't ever do that to me again.

Eggsy: *loses it completely*

6. Harry Hart, of course, spent some time privately agonizing over the fact that he'd gone and fallen for a man half his age. He'd ruefully thought to himself that if he HAD to go through the obligatory "mid-life crisis" he figured that living the life of a Kingsman would have sorted all that out. But no, he had to go arse over teakettle for one beautiful, brave, bright young man who deserved to have the world laid at his feet. Harry was a gentleman of honor and he was quietly prepared to never openly speak of his feelings. If he could have Eggsy in his life as a very dear friend, then Harry would count himself fortunate. If he could have that familiar voice call him " 'Arry" and laugh and tease and generally be the impertinent, mischief-making, cheeky darling that he was, Harry would be content.

(Merlin has heard all this and had to pour himself a very stiff drink, prior to banging his head on his desk because, OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE, HARRY ARTHUR FITZWILLIAM HART.)

7. Harry had quickly become wrapped around the tiny, sticky fingers of little Daisy Unwin from the moment they were introduced. Daisy adored her 'Arry and immediately demanded to be picked up and even Eggsy couldn't completely pry her away, at least until she'd finally fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder, one little hand fisted around Harry's tie. Thus, Harry soon became a regular at tea parties, helped Daisy dress her dolls and also helped her invent fanciful adventures for the dolls to go on, involving kings and dashing knights and dragons and princesses.

8. It was Daisy, actually, who'd managed to finally drive home some very important truths.

"I wuv you, 'Arry."

"I love you too, poppet."

"Eggy wuvs 'Arry too. Wilf you marry Eggy, 'Arry?"

Harry's normally brilliant brain had temporarily gone offline at that innocent question but he must've sputtered out some suitable answer: (Perhaps if Eggsy says yes... / O'course 'e will, 'Arry! Eggy wuvs you muchly!) And right on the heels of that, Harry had heard Eggsy respond in this broken, ragged tone that Harry dearly hoped he would never hear again:

"Eggsy would say 'Yes' - that is, if Harry would only ask."

Needless to say, the two idiots eventually managed to bring Daisy back to her Mum, so that they could have a private talk that involved several heartfelt confessions, kisses and other interesting things best left to the imagination.

No, Merlin, Harry and Eggsy absolutely did not end up defiling the Round Table. Why on earth would they do that when there was a perfectly acceptable bedroom?

In any case, the above incident had convinced Merlin that Daisy might well be a worthy "Morgana" to take his place one day.

9. After Harry and Eggsy, in their friends' own words, "finally got their respective heads out of their arses and sorted their shite out," Eggsy has observed that Harry is apparently incapable of at least going one day without addressing Eggsy by some sort of endearment or the other. "My dear" used to slip out quite accidentally, back when they were both mutually pining, which pretty much confirmed everyone else's suspicions about Harry's real feelings. These days, Eggsy will often hear Harry call him "darling" or "dearest" and it never fails to make him blush and feel all warm inside.

Of course, Eggsy has his own endearments and calling Harry "love" or referring to him as "my Harry" never fails to bring out the smile that Eggsy loves the most, the sweet, shy smile that will eventually give way to the one with the dimples.

10. In the wake of the former Arthur's treachery and the clear weaknesses he had in running Kingsman, Harry as Arthur took a different approach in rebuilding and making sure that changes for the better were made. Going out on missions was one of those changes. "Code Excalibur" became an official thing when it became patently clear that while Arthur and Galahad were already deadly working by themselves, they were absolutely lethal when working together. Of course, this was only invoked in missions where basically the fate of the world was at stake.

The most epic case in which a Code Excalibur was invoked happened during what should have been just a simple intelligence gathering mission that the trainees would be watching from the feeds in Merlin's office. Up to this point, the trainees had not realized that the apparently senior Knight known as "Harry" who so often shamelessly flirted with Agent Galahad and regularlymanaged to wipe the floor with the more arrogant trainees, was actually Arthur himself. Somehow, explosions, potential doomsday weapons and Arthur and Galahad being magnificently badass together happened, at which point Merlin just gave up and called the rest of the Knights in to help.

(Merlin: God help my sanity)

[francesderwent]

If you do that meme you were kind enough to send me asks for: Damon, Stefan, Jess, Logan, Luke :)

Thank you!!!  I’m gonna answer Damon in a separate one. =)

Stefan Salvatore

My Feelings: the feelings I have for Stefan are akin to the feelings one might have for a rather ne’er-do-well cousin.  I love him, and I hope someday he makes something of himself, but right now the mess he’s made of his life is a little tiresome.

I Ship With: Caroline, Katherine.  I think it would be way more fair to say that one of these ladies was the love of his life than to say Elena was.  Caroline makes Stefan light up!!  He shows her how to be a vampire, and then she shows him how to love life as a vampire!  And Katherine is sort of the beginning and the end for Stefan – she makes him who he is, and then his eventually forgiving her and saving her is the height of his character development.

Platonic OTP: Stefan and Lexi, of course.  I love his relationship with his brother, but let’s be real, it’s kind of fraught.  His love for Lexi and her love for him is always very simple.  They’re each other’s best friend, forever.

Unpopular Opinion: This isn’t so much an unpopular opinion as it is an obscure opinion, but I firmly contend that Stefan’s morality is Kantian and as such unsatisfactory.

I Wish: I love the reconciliation that happens between Stefan and Katherine in season 5, and I wish they had delved deeper into that and everything it meant for who he is and the way he understands his life story, rather than just lazily having the two of them hook up.  In a way, I think if Stefan had been given the time to reflect on his relationship with Katherine and come to terms with it, it would have also helped him get over Elena more fully and find happiness with Caroline.  (Can you tell I want to have my cake and eat it too?)

Jess Mariano 

My Feelings: I love Jess, and I admire Jess for the person he became under impossible conditions, and I want to protect Jess from the writers of his dumb show.

I Ship With: only Rory – because Rory is apparently the only person he wants.  I can’t imagine Jess getting over her and being happy with someone else, no matter how good that would be for him; he’s just not written that way.  I would want to see her turn her life around before they got together – she can do it for him, that doesn’t bother me, but it has to happen.

Platonic OTP: Jess’s relationship with Luke is the best relationship in the show, full stop.  They come to understand and respect each other in a way that I don’t think anybody else does, certainly not any of the titular Gilmore girls.  I also love all of Jess’s interactions with Paris!

Unpopular Opinion: I don’t know that I’m in touch with what’s popular or not in the GG fandom, but I think Jess was justified in his detachment from his mother, and they shouldn’t have forced him to be in the wedding.

I Wish: I would’ve liked Lorelai to face the fact that Jess has become a good person, and in fact a better person than her daughter.  I would’ve liked Jess to have a friend.

Logan Huntzberger 

My Feelings: Logan is undeniably entertaining – the Yale season of the show before he shows up absolutely d r a g s, the show needed him.  But I also feel like he’s the bargain-brand version of Tristan, whom I prefer.

I Ship With:…no one??  I enjoy moments of his romance with Rory (specifically “alright I’ll be your boyfriend”), but he’s got some manipulative tendencies to work through before he should date anyone.

Platonic OTP: Rory!!  I absolutely love their relationship, pre-romance.  One of my favorite sequences in the whole show is when he saves her from a creepy suitor at her grandparents’ house, teaches her how to have fun in that rich-people-world in which she’s still not comfortable, and then comforts her after Dean breaks up with her.  I can imagine a world where they stayed more in that kind of friendship – admitted they were attracted to each other, but didn’t date because Logan wasn’t ready to be somebody’s boyfriend.  Maybe he’d grow up and they’d get a happy ending, years down the line, but their canonical transition from friends to hookup buddies to boyfriend/girlfriend to on a break to back together even though he slept around during the break…it just pains me.

Unpopular Opinion: that scene where Logan saves the paper by…name-dropping his father…isn’t that impressive.  That’s not doing work.

I Wish: I wish Chad Michael Murray had done a guest spot so Tristan and Logan could meet.  I wish Rory hadn’t gotten back together with Logan after the Jess-incident-breakup. I wish he hadn’t conveniently had a ski accident (?) so that he could avoid facing up to his failures as a boyfriend, or that Rory had confronted him about them despite his ski injuries.  I wish the revival hadn’t painted the most depressing picture of him possible, and that he’d been allowed to develop into his best self (like Jess did).

Luke Danes 

My Feelings: Luke isn’t necessarily my favorite character, but I firmly believe he is the backbone of Gilmore Girls.  Without him, the show wouldn’t have much appeal at all. The fun of watching Gilmore Girls is imagining living in a small town and drinking coffee from the same tiny diner every day and the grumpy owner loves you faithfully and quietly and you know in your heart of hearts one day you’ll be together.

I Ship With: only Lorelai – because Lorelai is the only one he wants.

Platonic OTP: As previously mentioned, I adore his relationship with Jess.  But Luke’s relationship with Rory is also beautiful. And I love when Sookie and Luke talk food!!

Unpopular Opinion: He gives in to Lorelai too much. He bought her the freakin Twickham house – they should have lived there.  Her refusing to give up her house is tantamount to Luke refusing to give up his apartment when he was married to whatshername – it shows they weren’t actually all-in.

I Wish: he and Lorelai had gotten married and had a family together. That’s it.

[valzhangs]

the lionesses den

a heroes of olympus trc au. read on ao3. 

Chapter 1: PIPER. 

One could say it starts when she’s six, listening intently to her mother. This is the first time Piper Mclean hears the story.

 Herself and her siblings sit huddled around their mother, Aphrodite, as she tells a story, one the rest of them appear to have heard before although Piper has not. Aphrodite’s voice, sweet as honey, fills the spacious room far more than the shelves stacked with perfumes and accessories ever could.

 “There was a woman, once,” Her mother tells the five children. Piper isn’t paying attention at first as her and Liz, one of her siblings, roll a green ball to each other. It’s tiny and bouncy and Piper can’t remember where they got it from but she adores it. Had she looked around, she’d have noticed all of her siblings were paying as little attention as her. Aphrodite looks at her distracted children and does not care as she continues, “She defied the gods.”

 This is what catches Piper’s attention and her eyes snap towards her mother in wonder. It was not rare for Aphrodite to speak of gods, of beings beyond what they could ever be. In the stories, they were always ethereal and untouchable, their authority undeniable, so the existence of a tale in which someone opposed them was a wonderous thing.

 “She didn’t agree with their insistence to be the only ones with gifts, so she found a way to replicate them. Witchcraft. Of course, this had existed for ages before she arrived, but it was a doctrine taught only to the gods’ proteges and descendants. She found a way regardless, and she made her own enchantments and gifts from scratch, she learned how to heal without medicine. And she taught others what she’d discovered in her very own isle, where people came from all over to be taught by her. Her name was Circe, and the gods were not happy with her at all.

 “Circe didn’t care about that, though, she just continued to teach the girls that arrived at Circe’s Isle, gave them a home. Eventually, a man who was the son of a god stumbled upon her place, and as he offended the girls, Circe turned him into a pig. This is what brought punishment to her, and soon all the apprentices were gone and her isle was unfindable. No one would learn the gods’ secrets again, and no one would interact with she who had taught them either.”

 Aphrodite’s story comes to an end, and she goes back to fixing her eyeliner in the mirror as her children just entertain themselves with each other. All except Piper, who is still focused on her mother as she waits for some form of continuation to the story. That can not be the end! How is it that Circe’s story had carried on? Is it really impossible to find her?

 “What is it? Do you want me to teach you?” It is not Aphrodite who speaks up as she noticed Piper still staring, but instead Silena, at nine the oldest of her siblings. She’s always really nice to Piper.

 “Huh?” Piper asks, not quite understanding the question.

 Silena giggles, “Do you want to learn how to do make-up? Mom says I’m a good learner, I might be a good teacher too!”

 “Mom is lying to you because you’re her favorite,” Drew butts in, seven years old and convinced she needs to earn her place.

 Silena frowns, “No, she’s not, Drew.”

 “Yes, she is!”

 “No, she’s not!”

 “Will you two stop fighting? We’re supposed to be in a peaceful environment.” Aphrodite says annoyance as their voices grow louder, not even looking over to the pair.

 Both girls frown and side-eye each other but stop arguing.

 Piper looks at her mother, ethereal and unreachable like the gods from her stories, and decides she doesn’t want to spend all her time being boring and putting lines on her face, so she scrunches up her face when Silena offers teaching her again and shakes her head, which seems to offend Silena as she walks away and starts playing with Lacy, five years old and Liz’s twin.

 Liz just starts throwing the green ball at her again and Piper laughs as she rolls it back to the younger one. Drew is huffing at all of them but eventually she joins the pair in green ball throwing, even laughing with the other two.

 It is then that the new maid, the really nice one with long straight black hair and warm brown eyes, peeks her head into the room and looks directly at Piper with a smile.

 “Your father is here,” She says and Piper immediately gets up, throwing a Bye! towards the rest before her mother stops her.

 “Are you really going to leave without giving your mom a proper goodbye?” She says.

 Piper sighs and walks back, giving her mother hug and an “I’ll miss you, mom” before walking back towards the door.

 “Byebye, Pipes!” Lacy calls after her and Liz echoes her and then the door shuts behind Piper and the nice maid.

 The two walk towards the giant house’s entrance (really, her mother’s house is enormous, even bigger than her dad’s) where Tristan Mclean awaits them, a pleasant smile on his face.

 “Did you have a fun time?” He asks his daughter once the two of them are back in the car, and Piper hums in confirmation, her mind still lost in her mother’s story.

 That night, she dreams of Circe’s Isle, of learning magic and conquering gods (or maybe unavailable mothers) with it.

      “Are we there yet?” Piper hears Leo Valdez, her best and oldest friend (which is not to say they’ve been friends for very long, just that Piper is not very good at maintaining friendships), ask.

 It is Jason Grace, the boy at the wheel and newest addition to their group, who responds, “It’s been two minutes.”

 He is the strangest member of their group, mainly because of how not strange he is. Or, well, appears to be, as no normal person would hang out looking for a magic island to get a wish.

 Leo groans and throws his head back onto the seat, his curls being squished behind him.

 A laugh comes from the front seat, besides Jason, and Piper can see the fourth group member’s hand gesturing in the air.

 “Patience, Leo,” The laughing girl says, and Jason suddenly looks at her then back at the road in a quick motion.

 “Have you been there the whole time?” He asks, sounding bewildered.

 He is the only one unsettled by Hazel Levesque’s sudden appearance in the car, as the other two learned long ago of the young girl’s uncanny ability to make herself go unnoticed until she speaks. It is nearly impossible to see her sneaking up on you. Nearly, thinks Piper, because she is determined to someday catch her in the act.

 “Of course, silly,” Comes Hazel’s reply, “I am never not-here.”

 Jason lets out air through his nose and Piper resists the urge to laugh at the clear sign of confusion. He will have to get used to Hazel eventually as well, after all, she’s an essential part of their little group.

 “Are we there yet?” Leo asks again, leaning forward as he gazes at Jason in search for an answer.

 “Nope.”

The curly haired boy pouts, “I wish we could, like, fly there or something.”

 Jason’s hands tighten around the steering wheel, “It’s a fifteen minute drive.”

 “It would be ten minutes if you’d just drive faster,” Leo remarks.

 “I’m on the speed limit, Valdez,” Jason’s voice sounds tight and unsure as it often does when talking about going against what’s set, as if breaking rules was the worst thought in the world. It’s probably why him and Leo sometimes clash, although Piper herself does not have much respect for guidelines so it only makes half sense.

 “There’s nobody around,” Leo points out.

 Jason doesn’t reply and continues to drive at the exact same speed as Leo just gives a sigh and settles back onto his seat.

 Hazel hums along to the song playing on the radio, a tune Piper can’t name but knows she’s heard before, perhaps simply from Hazel. It’s soft but loud, and it stands somewhere between a chant and golden era Broadway. Piper hates it but Hazel has the kind of smile on her face that reminds Piper of just how young she is so she can’t bring herself to change the station.

 Before she realizes it, they have arrived at their destination, the smell of the sea stronger than ever as three of the group step onto the port while Jason goes park the car.  

 Leo looks around, then back at Piper, “So, why did you bring us out here again?”

Piper raises an eyebrow, an ability it took her way more time than she’d be willing to admit to master, then looks out to the sea, “Maybe I just wanted to surf.”

 “It’s a port, not a beach,” Leo points out.

 Hazel smiles as she walks around a bit, “The view’s pretty.”

 Leo makes a noise that sounds like disagreement, and Piper gives him a look, “Didn’t you say you liked the beach?”

 “Yes. The beach, with sand and sand castles and the possibility of standing at the edge of the sea without going in just for the breeze. This is a port. No sand,” Leo glares at the sea as if it were its fault that the place doesn’t fulfill his expectations, “Besides, we’ve been here a thousand times.”

 Piper shrugs, knowing the place might get tired after a while with no results, as much as she still loves it.

 Jason finally joins them, his hands stuffed into his pockets, “So, Piper, what are we doing here?”

Piper smiles, “I think it’ll be better if I show you.”

 She walks off towards the bridge that leads to the boats and the rest follow her without question as they often do.

 She then takes a device from her backpack, a modified DR60 in a transparent case, hard plastic, probably as good as she would get with an underwater EVP recorder without actually creating something beyond the modifications Leo had made. He could probably ideate something that would work, but he also probably did not have the time for such a thing.

 “Uhuh, I made this,” Leo says.

 “We have seen this before,” Jason agrees.

 “Gosh, just,” She takes the recorder out of its case, “Listen to the recording.”

 Jason takes the DR60 and goes to play back on the thing before Piper holds out her hand in a “wait” gesture and takes a second device out of her backpack, this one a speaker.

 She connects it to the EVP recorder and rolls her eyes at the others’ looks, “Better sound quality.”

 Then Jason plays the recoding.

 For a while, there’s nothing there, and Piper can see in the Leo and Jason’s faces how they’re expecting it to stay like this, maybe find some odd noise that can be explained easily. Hazel looks pleasant and eager, perhaps the most trustful that this whole meeting did, indeed entail an important find.

 Then, there’s a voice, and although Piper has heard it at least ten times in the past day, she still leans forward with excitement.

 “What’s your name?” The voice is feminine and clear, a commanding quality to it.

 “Piper.” This is Piper’s very own voice replying.

 “Daughter of whom?”

 “Does it matter? They are nothing here.”

 The recording then goes back to simply being the normal sounds of the marine life.

 Piper looks expectantly at the people accompanying her, trying to discern their reactions.

 “Yeah, I still don’t get it,” Jason finally says, bringing both other companions to nod along to him.

 “I placed this underwater for maybe three hours,” Piper starts, “I left it there for maybe three hours and this is what I found when looked over the recording. This is not a conversation I’ve ever had.”

 She sees Leo and Jason share a look somewhere between skepticism and excitement.

 “You could have shown us this anywhere else,” Hazel suddenly says, curiosity bleeding from her every word, “Why are we here?”

 Piper’s smile widens, if such a thing is even possible at this point, “I was hoping you’d ask that.”

 She walks a bit further ahead, then points towards a spot at the corner of a boat where glowing circled tablets float.

 “After I heard the recording, I decided I’d check out the water around the area where it was,” Her hands gesture wildly around her as she speaks, “You know, for any traces of the kind of stuff disappearing acts have. This is the second place where it’s actually worked, and it’s way stronger than in Katakolon.”

 “This does look pretty solid,” Leo admits, and Piper resists the urge to give a smug huff at convincing the biggest skeptic of their group, “But it might be another dead end.”

 Piper thinks of sleepless nights looking through books about Greek stories, of miles travelled in search for a single clue and hours spent analyzing prophecies made by women centuries later, likely while high. She thinks of maps leading nowhere, of riddles with no answers and of absolutely unrelated stories that had somehow made their way into the mess that was the obscure search for Circe’s Isle.

 “It’s not,” Piper’s voice holds determination, “We’re close. I can feel it.”

[chaldeaslunchbox]

hello, can i has parenting headcanons for arthur if you allow it

Arthur Pendragon + Parenting Head-canons!

Requested by: anonymous

Oof I’ve been procrastinating so much this weekend. I spent a lot of time yesterday watching Naomi Osaka’s tennis matches and interviews (she’s hilarious go look it up), and then getting a huge urge to watch tennis anime afterwards. I then spent more time watching Prince of Tennis which I haven’t seen since elementary school but I still love it. Gtg learn how to hit a buggy whip shot now lmao. 

Just a personal opinion but I think Arthur would first have a girl then maybe later a boy.

Is the epitome of what’s considered a doting parent. Every whim and will of the children are followed by Arthur’s nodding, confident approval.

Kid knocks over a vase? Arthur dubs them “the world’s best vase knocker-over-er(?)” Kid accidentally trips Merlin (more than once)? Immediately dubbed “the world’s best hero of justice”.

Fou tends to agree with the latter…

He became super into photographing every moment with the children, you even had to buy him two cell phones for him to store all his photos and so that he can send them to everyone he knows.

It’s always a rapid stream of photos 24/7, but no one blocks him because the kids are just too goddamn cute.

“Look look! My baby girl is taking her first steps!”

“She took her first steps a week ago, what are you talking about?”

“I mean today!! This is a picture of her first steps of today!”

Never wants to miss out on any moment with them and also does not want to put too much stress on you, even at night so he, being the perfect man that he is, always volunteers to help with the children whether it be to quell tears or nightmares.

His future children are raised to embody the ideals of respect and honor worthy of knighthood. No disrespect will EVER come out of their chubby cheeks.

You never worry about them learning poor habits with Arthur and you are so happy the kids have such a confident father-figure to look up to.

Whenever you two go out, you always place the children in the care of the other Round Table members.

This is when you begin to worry.

Before you leave though, Arthur showers his children with little kisses, hugs, and back rubs before sadly bidding goodbye for the time being.

Tristan one day brought out a cat toy and played with them as if they were one, so you were confused upon returning to see your children slinking around like cats (thankfully the next day they stopped).

Gawain kneeled and presented a white lily to Arthur’s daughter and she was instantly enamored. Arthur was devastated to hear his daughter tell him Gawain is her prince, not him.

Mordred was touch-and-go in regards to interacting with Arthur’s kids, but is generally ambivalent, reading them stories and giving them cookies.

Though much of Arthur’s time is spent surrounding the children with adoration, he’ll never forget to make time to admire their beautiful mother.

In bed, he talks about how he is so undeserving of such a lovely family and that he could not imagine a happier time in his life.

[lilacmoon83]

Dreaming Out Loud

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 122: Quest for the Key, Pt. 1

As they followed Hades, they noticed he was leading them toward their old loft, causing Snow and David to exchange a glance.

"Wait...you think Hook has a key to the Land of Untold Stories?" David asked.

"No...but he still has the compass that he and Cora stole from Anton to get to this land. And we need that to get to the land we have to go to in order to find the person that may have the key we need," Hades answered.

"So...the key is in another realm entirely?" Emma asked.

"Yes...another one that fortunately was excluded from the United Realms. Trust me," he replied.

"Papa Hades...where is this key?" Snow asked. He sighed.

"Possibly Transylvania...a land of sheer terror and monsters," he said with a wince.

"We're going to Transylvania?" Emma asked, as her eyebrows were in her hair.

"Gods no...you three are staying here. Your grandmother and I will go get the key and then come back for all of you," he replied. Persephone nodded.

"Hey wait...you don't just get to leave us behind. We're coming with you," Snow said.

"She's right...my parents will be perfectly willing to watch the kids," David added.

"You three are not coming to Transylvania with us," Persephone argued.

"Mother...I've been to the Underworld, at least in the alternate reality. I grew up there half the time. How much worse can Transylvania be?" Snow asked.

"A thousand times worse, Snowdrop. When your mother and I were raising you in the Underworld, we were the rulers there. Everyone knew that even thinking about touching you was a one way trip into the pits of Tartarus or worse...getting made into a chew toy for Cerberus," Hades quipped.

"Yes...and we do not have that kind of pull in Transylvania. The monsters do not fear the threat of eternal damnation in Tartarus there," Persephone added.

"Maybe not, but we're still coming," Snow insisted.

"No...you're not," Eli chimed in.

"But Daddy…" she started to say and Emma had to suppress her own laughter. Her mother sounded exactly like she did when she was trying to get her way with her own father.

"Except that you may need them," Demeter chimed in.

"Mother…" Persephone chided.

"Need us?" David inquired curiously and she sighed.

"The man we need to speak to...I wronged him in the originally time line and we had quite the falling out. He won't be happy to see me. However, he has much respect for heroes, so meeting Prometheus' new champion will have its appeal and Snow actually has met him as a child,' Hades said.

"He adored you...but then most do," Persephone added fondly.

"So we should go," David said.

"No," Hades refuted.

"Yes...because you will never get him to give you the key," Demeter responded.

"But Mother...Hades has changed since then and in the alternate reality, they made amends," Persephone reminded.

"And in the original, Hades cursed him to remain in Transylvania and he is forever trapped in it," Demeter countered.

"Who the hell are we talking about?" Emma asked, as they knocked on Hook's door.

"Later," Hades deflected, as Hook answered the door with Alice in his arms.

"Hello…" he said, with a bit of trepidation.

"Relax Hook...do you still have that compass that you and Cora stole from the giant?" Hades asked.

"Aye...does the giant want it back or something?" he asked, gesturing them in.

"No...we need it to visit another land that has something else we need," Persephone answered, as the former pirate retrieved the compass from a bedside table.

"Anything I can help with?" he offered.

"Not unless you've ever navigated to Transylvania," Demeter said.

"Why in bloody hell would you want to go to that nightmare?" he questioned.

"Unfortunately, there is something there we need," Hades answered.

"Well...good luck with that. I think I'll opt out of this adventure," he said, as they thanked him again and left.

"Are you going to tell us who we're looking for?" Emma asked impatiently.

"Especially since we're clearly going with you," Snow added. Hades sighed.

"We're going to Transylvania, because the only person I know that has a key, besides Jekyll himself, is Van Helsing," he announced.

"Wait...like the Van Helsing the monster hunter?" Henry asked.

"One in the same," he answered.

"Awesome...can I go?" Henry asked.

"No way in hell,"

"Absolutely not,"

"Not in a million years," were the responses and his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

"Van Helsing...that leaves me out," Rumple muttered.

"What did you do him, Rumple?" Belle asked.

"Nothing...honestly," he responded.

"Then why can't you go?" Neal asked.

"Because he'll hunt me. He considers me one of his monsters," Rumple replied.

"Maybe that's best anyway. We need someone looking over everything while we're gone," Snow said. David nodded.

"I'll stay with the kids and man the station then," Neal offered and Emma nodded and kissed him tenderly.

"Please be safe," he pleaded. He hated letting her go without him, but knew not only that she could take care of herself, but that her parents would never let anything happen to her.

"I will," she promised.

"Okay...pack some things and say goodbye to the children. We'll leave in an hour," Persephone said, as they headed for their castle to do so.

~*~

The Land of Untold Stories

"Entry number three hundred twenty six. The latest attempt of my serum has yielded failed results. The homeless victims from the Land Without Magic have all experienced various side effects upon injection with the common denominator of death," Jekyll reported into the recording device.

"Each autopsy I performed has revealed various ailments in some victims, while others were in optimal health. However, each one died of heart failure due to the serum's effects," he continued.

"I have concluded that I need a stronger type of control group for my tests. But this is not easily accomplished," Jekyll stated, as he put a hand to his forehead to fight off another headache.

"I have been told that the magical realms have all been joined together and going there presents a conundrum. Getting a stronger type of test subject, one born in a magical land, would be quite difficult in this new United Realms. I have word that it is policed by powerful figures and ruled by Gods," he reported.

"Normally, my medical logs are not filled with such fantastical talk, but this is the information relayed to me by my contact, a magical entity himself," he said.

"He assures me that he has ways for me to continue my testing and I await more information from him," Jekyll concluded, as he put away his research and the headache became much more intense. He could no longer fight it and his entire body convulsed, as his glasses dropped from his face. His body began to change quite dramatically, as he grew taller and thinner. His blonde hair became brown and his blue eyes red. His clothing changed too, from a tan vest and slacks, with his white overcoat, to a dark suit with a red tie. Gone was Dr. Jekyll and in his place was Mr. Edward Hyde.

"Mr. Poole...I'll be making a trip to New York. Please keep a good watch on the asylum," he instructed, as he extracted an ornate looking key from his inside jacket pocket.

He and Dr. Jekyll had one similar interest and that was being separate from each other to live their own lives. Jekyll wished to pursue his science and experiments, while Hyde's interests were more in obtaining powerful artifacts and information pertaining to magic. He loved power and he always wanted more. He was not as violent as the legends of his suggested, though he had his moments when he did lose his temper and as a result, destruction usually resulted, due to his superhuman strength. But Dr. Jekyll, though he feigned he was the good half, could be just as violent at times when he lost his temper as well.

Once outside the asylum, he used the key and a doorway appeared. He turned the key and unlocked a portal to his destination, before stepping through.

~*~

They gathered in the atrium of Snow and David's castle, as they hugged David's parents and Snow's father.

"I really don't like this," Eli fretted.

"We'll be okay, Daddy," Snow assured, but that did not lessen his worry.

"We don't like this either, but it may be necessary to have them with us," Hades said reluctantly, as Persephone appeared with a velvet pouch.

"Anton gave us several beans so we'll have extras in case there's trouble," Persephone said, as they said goodbye again, before Persephone tossed a bean down. A horizontal orange portal appeared before them, as Hades willed the compass to the place they needed to go. They all joined hands and stepped through the portal.

~*~

The pounding sound of the hooves of horses drew closer, until the sound was roaring in his ears. He had thought the forests surrounding Camelot were going to be fairly safe. He wanted to study and experiment with the waters of Avalon, but someone must have spotted him, because he now had the Knights of the Roundtable on his tail.

"Stop fugitive!" Sir Percival called, as he and Sir Tristan cornered him. He was then surprised to see King Arthur approach on his horse and dismount the animal.

"I warn you, Your Majesty...I may not the Chernabog anymore, but I am still a formidable opponent," Frollo challenged.

"At ease, Judge Frollo...we're not here to arrest you," Arthur stated and the older man looked skeptical.

"I am here to acquire your assistance in solving my problems with Excalibur," he added. Frollo looked very intrigued by that.

"You want to hire me?" Frollo questioned.

"Next to Merlin, you are now the most knowledgeable Sorcerer in all the realms, save for the Dark One, but he is obviously not an option. Merlin will never help me do what I need to do either, so he must never be freed. That leaves you to help me fix Excalibur," Arthur explained.

"I must learn how I can repair it. There must be an alternate way...and if there is not, I will need your help to force King David to use the Promethean flame to do it," the King added. Frollo smirked.

"I have done extensive reading on this subject and I think I can help," he responded.

"Then name your price," Arthur said.

"I do require a large library and place to work. I would also like all the creature comforts with a lucrative salary and free time to work on my own interests," Frollo said, making his demands.

"Done," Arthur agreed.

"Good...then I will follow you to Camelot," Frollo said.

"You said that you have done extensive reading on this subject. What exactly do you know?" Percival inquired. Frollo smirked.

"There is more than one way to skin a Dark One," the Judge said cryptically.

~*~

They arrived through the portal and looked around at the barren landscape. The sky was gray and murky, making for a very depressing sight.

"I thought you said this is Transylvania...not the Land Without Color," Emma quipped.

"Oh it is and they have color," Hades replied, as they heard a roaring, as some sort of winged creature flew far above them.

"They love red here...blood red," he said.

"That's not disturbing or anything," Snow said, as David clutched her hand.

"Okay...so where is this Van Helsing guy?" Emma asked. Hades gestured ahead of them and there was what looked like a village in the near distance.

"Probably the nearest tavern," Persephone said, as they started walking there.

"So...do you remember meeting this man? In the other reality?" David asked his wife curiously. She nodded.

"I do...he was very intimidating. But kind to me," she recalled, as she remembered one particular time.

~*~

Many years ago

Zelena's alternate time line

Hades sighed, as he saw another boat full of souls arrive with Charon upon the river Styx. He picked up his staff and tapped it on the ground. He was mostly passive to death now and his cold, stern gaze often made the souls fearful. As God of the Underworld, many naturally equated him to be evil and there was a time when that would have been a very astute assertion. But love had long ago melted the ice around his heart, though many would never know that.

As he tapped his staff, the few wicked souls in the boat were immediately cast into the river of lost souls. Others looked at him wearily, as they ascended to Asphodel Meadows. Those left behind were ushered to the realm above them that was for those with unfinished business.

Many of the unfortunate victims as of late were from Paris. Judge Frollo had been waging his religious war against secular groups and calling it a cleansing of the city. As much as he would have loved to stop him, he could do nothing and could only hope that someone would eventually rise against him. He had hopes it would be Quasimodo and that the unfortunate man would expose his hypocrisy.

At that moment, he heard someone else appear in his Throne room and he suppressed a growl, as Van Helsing littered his Throne room with various monster limbs and entrails.

"I had a busy day," he said, as he went straight to Hades liquor cabinet and smelled the scotch, before downing it straight from the bottle, even as the God of the Dead glared at him.

"What? I made quite a haul today. A Basilisk that was terrorizing Rome for weeks, a dark Elf in Weselton, and an out of control Chimera in Thebes. Not to mention the banshees I exorcised from a church in Nottingham," he boasted.

"I didn't say it wasn't good work, but you can't just come dropping body parts in my Throne room! Snow could walk in here any minute and I do not want her to see...this," he said in disgust, as he used his blue fire to incinerate the grisly sight.

"Sorry...I can never remember when she's here," he claimed.

"Well, it's winter so that should be a pretty good clue, but then I suppose you need to be sober for that," he said.

"Hey...the duties you task me with are not easy. You'd want to be drunk most of the time too," he argued. Hades sighed.

"You are the best monster hunter in all the realms and it's something that must be done. As ruler of the Underworld, part of my job is seeing that there is balance between good and evil. And we both know my stupid brother is too busy with his conquests to rule effectively," he reminded. Van Helsing nodded in acknowledgment to that. He couldn't disagree. He had once worked for Zeus, but when he called him out and challenged him, he was cast out of the heavens and to Earth, briefly stripped of his powers. It was hundreds of years ago and with his work being undone, monsters began to run rampant over the Earth, making it a very dark time for mortals.

Then Hades, in direct defiance of Zeus, restored Van Helsing to his former power, and since that day, he had reported to the God of the Underworld and kept balance in the realms. Van Helsing took another drink, as Cerberus clomped into the Throne room with an eight-year-old Snow on his back. She giggled and hopped down, as the three-headed dog nuzzled her gently.

"Papa Hades!" she called, as he smiled and scooped her up.

"Did you have a fun visit in town, Snowdrop?" he asked.

"Uh huh...mama helped three people move on and she said I helped too," Snow replied.

"That's wonderful...your light is very welcome to those troubled souls," he said, as she noticed the other man.

"Mr. Van Helsing...did you kill a lot of bad monsters today?" she asked.

"I did little Miss Snow," he replied in a softened tone. Snow was about the only one that he wasn't gruff with, though he had a great amount of respect for Persephone and showed such when the Queen entered the chamber.

"My Queen," he greeted.

"Hello Van...that was good work today. Did you happen to get me anymore information on Dr. Frankenstein?" Persephone inquired.

"Ah...the Land Without Color, a monochrome bore that place is. But yes...his experiments are raising eyebrows and not the good kind. His father is threatening to disown him and only hasn't, because Gerhardt has begged him not to," he reported.

"Then he is still experimenting with the dead?" she said in a troubled tone.

"I'm afraid so...I plan to pay him a visit and warn him against it, before heading to Transylvania. The vampire problem there is starting to get out of hand," he mentioned.

"We eradicated vampires for a reason and if we had power in Transylvania, we would do so there. But since we don't...that's where you come in," Hades said.

"Don't worry, the blood suckers are on my radar in a bad way," he said bitterly. And they knew he was serious since he had lost the woman he once loved to a vampire.

"We appreciate your efforts in helping us to block their realm from accessing the other realms," Persephone said. He nodded, tipping his hat to her, before he made his way toward his portal exit.

"Bye Mr. Van Helsing!" Snow called.

"Goodbye little Snow," he called back.

~*~

"Wow Mom...I had no idea you knew Van Helsing!" Emma said in amazement. Snow shrugged.

"I guess I didn't think about it. I only met him a handful of times," she said.

"Don't expect a warm reception. He won't be happy we're here," Hades warned.

"Why? Did you two have a falling out or something?" Emma asked. Hades winced.

"Not in the alternate time line, but in the original, we came to blows when I resurrected and created Deimos. He was livid and rightfully so. I pulled a Zeus and banished him back to Transylvania permanently," Hades explained.

"He fared much better in the alternate time line obviously, but he's still sore about what I did in the original one," he added, as they noticed all eyes on them once they were walking through the village.

"I suppose we do stick out in our Storybrooke clothes," Snow said, as they approached the tavern. They walked in and all eyes were on them, as they strolled toward the bar.

"Well, this isn't unnerving or anything," Emma commented.

"They probably think we're witches and in their defense, they have a right to be leery. Vampires and monsters terrorize their villages on a regular basis," Persephone said.

"There he is...we need to make this quick," Hades said, as they approached the bar.

"You think these people are going to attack us?" Emma asked.

"No...they're too afraid. I'm not worried about them," Hades replied.

"Then who do you think may come?" Snow asked.

"The covens," the man at the bar said, as he lifted the bill of his hat slightly.

"Coming here was a mistake...this place is worse than ever," Van Helsing warned.

"We need your help with something and then we'll be gone," Hades promised.

"It's too late," he hissed.

"They would have smelled the demi-Goddess blood scent rolling off these two the moment you stepped into this realm," Van Helsing growled.

"What is he talking about?" David asked.

"Demi-God blood is like the ultimate feast to them," Persephone answered.

"It's why we were reluctant to bring you," Hades added.

"And him...not a Demi-God, but there's definitely something that will attract them too," Van Helsing commented. Persephone winced.

"Promethean fire," she told him and he threw up his arms.

"Perfect...they'll all be in a frenzy," he snapped, as they heard screeching in the distance.

"Damn you...I think your presence might have even brought the King of them all out and that's saying something. He usually sends the minions out," he said, as he opened his coat, revealing silver stakes and he picked up his cross bow, which was loaded with silver tipped arrows.

"We wouldn't have come if it wasn't important," Hades said.

"Save it...they're here!" he snapped. Persephone's hands glowed and she used her magic to coat Emma's sword with silver and Snow's arrow tips as well.

"What about David's sword?" Snow asked.

"Promethean fire is as good as silver with them," she answered, as people screamed when the roof of the tavern was literally ripped off and they were dive bombed by the winged monsters.

~*~

Special Agent Zach O'Bryan sat at his desk, finishing some paperwork from a former case, when his superior approached and put a file on his desk.

"Have you looked into this cold case yet?" his supervisor asked.

"I ran the coordinates that my contact sent me, but it's in the middle of the Maine woods. There's no town there," Zach replied.

"Which is fishy at best. I want you to check this out," his supervisor stated.

"No disrespect, Ma'am...but this thing is a ghost hunt. It's thirty-year-old bones and a traumatized kid that's now a highly disturbed, traumatized man," Zach argued.

"Who insists that he can point us to a killer. If you were able to close a cold case from over thirty-years-ago, there might be accommodations for us all," Supervising Special Agent Paulo said. He sighed.

"All right...can I least leave in the morning?" he asked. She smirked.

"Sorry O'Bryan...get your go bag. You leave now and you'll be taking Agent Quinn with you. She needs to get her feet wet," he answered. He sighed.

"Great...a rookie," he complained, though he himself had only been with the bureau for three years. He grabbed his go bag and met their newest agent at the elevator.

"Ready for a big old wild goose chase?" he asked her. She smiled.

"I'm just anxious to get into the field, Sir," she responded.

"Ugh...don't call me, Sir. I'm like five years older than you," he complained.

"Fine...only if you don't call me rookie the whole time," she quipped.

"We'll see," he said, as they boarded the elevator. Maine was their destination and he expected absolutely nothing to come of this other than wasted time. He couldn't know, however, that he would be exceptionally mistaken...

[peaches-of-1]

Peachtober | Day 17: Lotus

I didn’t realize this wasn’t in queue, so sorry for this being a few days late!

Hey, guys! Some of you may not know I have a side blog called @iris-idol where I do a sort of self insert kind of thing about my life as an idol. The first part is done at this point and here is a sneak peak of something I haven’t posted it yet.

September 11th, 11:59am

I was so ready for Namjoon’s birthday since he was able to come home from service to celebrate it. I sent him “Happy Birthday, oppa!” at midnight as I planned to do with all of my other members when it was their birthday. We had performed together not too long ago. He had only joined the Army last month. I remember crying so hard when him and the other members of the hyung line left together.

For now, Maknae line had formed a subunit and TXT was having a comeback soon. I was also really excited to finally have an offday just so that we could celebrate with Namjoon for a few hours. Since the show was done, the members that would become Dei5 were in the beginning stages of our trainee lives.

It wasn’t too much right now, just coming up with our concepts to make sure we have clear goals to work towards and stuff like that. Of course we had our deities to research nonstop and there was a ten page essay we had to turn in, written in Korean, to make sure we were making good strides towards understanding what persona we were going to put forward.

For me, that was Iris, goddess of the rainbow and fellow messenger alongside Hermes. A lot of my clothing would be rainbow themed, but also my color was pink. That meant I kept going towards super cute and unicorn imagery. I wanted to do something really aegyo and kawaii but also mix it with hard rock. My Trinket aka symbol was a rainbow rose so there were a lot of duality aspects I could do.

We were going to be a rock-rap group from what BigHit officials told us. I was excited to learn hardcore about rock culture because I had lived it mostly during middle school and high school. It was obvious why I was chosen for the show if they were going for a rock inspired group since I took a lot of vocal inspiration from Adam Lambert and Evanescence. 

Alice would be Lyssa, goddess of madness, and her color was black. She had a secondary aka accent color which was silver. She was half Korean and half Aussie, so her blonde hair and blue eyes were completely natural much to people’s surprise. She had been super shocked to be chosen for this group since the final vote was up to the Korean people. Alice was queer. She didn’t put a label on her sexuality and rarely ever specified what she meant other than saying love is love and she wasn’t going to let society get in the way of her heart. Her trinket was a black lace blindfold.

Jun aka Lan Caihe was like our big brother/sister so far. We were pretty sure he was going to be the leader because both Jun and her deity were genderfluid. Jun went by any and all pronouns and liked to dress more closely to a femine aesthetic. Back home, she did drag and made a lot of friends that way. He was the oldest...I think. Anyways, Lan Caihe’s color was green and her symbol was a bamboo flute.

Oppa was Hyojoon, a cutie that was shorter than me and his deity was Igong Hallakgungi and we mostly just called him Halla. By “we” I meant most of the non-Koreans who were on the show because long words are hard. His color was blue. His was the deity of life and death since his deity watched over said garden. Meaning his trinket was also a watering can. Since the show was over, he no longer had to stand out so much. He let his white hair fade and his roots were coming in.

Our youngest was Tristan. He went by Tristan and liked that better than his birth name, so I didn’t think about his actual name. He was a sweet guy and adored me so much. I adored him right back. I called him my little brother, and I meant it. The way he called me Noona was different from how he called Jun or Alice. Like I was his actual big sister. Although we both had other siblings, we treated each other like we had wished our siblings treated us. Basically, I babied him quite a bit. He enjoyed that because he was the oldest of three sisters.

He was kind of like my soul mate. My best friend. My brother.

He then asked me how my training had been and I told it was good. I have honestly just gotten back about a week or so ago. I spent the last month hanging out back home and collecting the rest of my things that I wanted to bring to Korea since I’d be living here from now on.

There was a knock on my door, probably my manager coming to take my phone and tell us lights out. We weren’t allowed to have our phones until after we debuted and after we made a certain amount of revenue.

September 12, 9:21pm

Namjoon oppa had wanted a casual costume party, but I was not a casual person. So I took a shower before showing up to the boys’ dorm in a starry dress. We had planned to make him the center of our galaxy for the night meaning everyone was wearing something with stars or planets or moons on them. Although the trainees from Deify weren’t very close to a lot of the other members of BigHit Entertainment, we had been invited.

Jimin was already redfaced and giggly when I arrived. I bowed and spoke politely to Yoongi who had been a judge on the show as well as everyone else. I wasn’t allowed to drink because we would have meetings and such all day tomorrow. It was mostly just eating and watching videos on the TV.

“It’s nice to see you again, Farai.” Namjoon said my birth name. “You look well.”

“Thank you. You look great too, all healthy. How has your training been, or are you done with that now?”

He handed me a slice of cake, “It’s done with, but I have big news to share with everyone. I guess you can find out first.”

“How come I get to know first?” I asked.

Namjoon shrugged, “You’re good at keeping secrets, and I trust you. Also, you might be able to give me some advice.”

“What do you mean by advice?”

“I’m going to be sent to America for most of my service. They said somewhere in the South, and since you’re from that area, I was hoping you could give me some tips about how to act.” He said, leaning on the counter by the fridge.

“Ah,” I replied. “I see, well. I think you will do a good job because one things I was going to tell you is to be respectful and to call people older than you either ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am’. However, you already do that. Hmm,”

I took a moment to think and noticed he was nervously playing with the hem of his new jacket gifted to him by Jungkook.

“Oh, I think this will be a good tip. Two things are really a big deal when it comes to business and older American people. One is eye contact. It shows that you are listening to them and paying attention. Second is a firm handshake. I do not know how you will be treated there, but do your best not to be shy.” I giggled. “Strong but silent is good, though.”

I went on and tried to show him what a firm handshake would be like, his hand lingering in mine as I did my best to explain in English and choppy Korean.

“Iris!” Taehyung turned the corner into the kitchen. “I’m so glad you’re here. I want to show you something.”

So he motioned me over and Namjoon let me join the younger member. Tae had wanted to show me some music and lyrics he wrote for me and was really hoping I could consider adding it to my album. I was taken by surprise. What was I supposed to say?

“Ah, I um. I will try. I will talk to the music producers and see if they will consider it. We are not working on music at this moment, but it sounds really nice. You have grown so much as an artist, Taehyung.” I smiled at him wearing a star spangled beret.

Then we went back to the party for a bit. Trainees couldn’t stay for too long because the grind was just beginning and we were learning Korean. I felt so out of place but also star struck because there were so many idols there. Namjoon was the only one in orangey clothing, so he was easy to find in the crowd.

One of his non idol friends was hitting on me. I was being nice, doing the whole Southern Hospitality thing, but I was not interested in the slightest. He spoke to me in broken English and did his best to hold a conversation with me, so I hung around. Until..

“Will you twerk for me?” He asked.

I bit the inside of my lip and tilted my head, “Um, what?”

“Twerk, you know...with your booty. Like girls in video.” He replied.

“Hahahaha~” Namjoon said, slapping his friend on the back. “Don’t be stupid, Han-hyung. That is really rude.”

The man blinked, “Is it? Really? Is that not just what black girls do?”

“Hahahahahaha~~no. No it’s not. I am so sorry, Farai.”

“I am going to play with Yeontan.” I replied and left them to that.

Tristan hugged me, “Noona~ You look sad.”

“It’s nothing. Just an idiot.” I responded.

“I love you, Noona. You are amazing and strong. Whatever happened, you just add it to reasons why you have to change Korea’s ideas of what someone like you does.” He said, rubbing my back.

“Thanks, my lovely deongsaeng”

Yoongi also wanted to talk to me about my future and songwriting and stuff. He had been a judge on the show, so things were still kind of tense between us. Yoongi had been nice, but I didn’t feel right calling him Oppa just yet. He reminded me that I was going to make the biggest splash as a BigHit artist but also to just focus on being a trainee for now. I would have all my life to deal with the stress of being a foreigner, of being plus size, of having my natural hair, of being dark skinned in Korea. For now, I just had to show that I was an idol first and foremost.

“I promise I will not let you or BigHit down.” I said.

He smiled, “Good.”

Jungkook’s voice called my name next and he said that he wanted me to help with his gift for Namjoon. Right now, it was hard to say no to anyone older than me, especially someone I looked up to. Still, if it made me too uncomfortable, I would have to reject his offer.

“I want to give him birthday kisses. It’s become a tradition now, and I know you have to go soon. I was thinking that we could each kiss one of his cheeks, if that’s ok with you.” The BTS maknae spoke to me in English since he was fluent in it and I was not that fluent in Korean just yet.

“Wouldn’t that be too easy to turn into a scandal of some sort?” I asked.

He waved away my concern, “Don’t worry about what the fans will do. You already have had several dating scandals. Anyways, this is for fun, and I know Namjoon will like it. Don’t you want to see him all blushy and shy?”

I bit my lip and put on a playfully stubborn face, “Maybe…”

Jungkook smiled and we went over to to behind where the birthday boy was sitting. The star eyed maknae counted to three and then both of us leaned down to place a small peck on either of his cheeks.

“Happy birthday, hyung!” Jungkook said.

Namjoon hid his face in his hands, but I could tell he was smiling. Then he looked up at me.

“Et tu, Farai?”

I pointed to his own member, “It was Kookie’s idea.” and giggled, only the color of my skin hiding how I was blushing too.

Alice traced her fingers through mine, “Come on lovebird, we have to go. Work starts early tomorrow.”

I nodded and we told everyone goodnight and farewell.

October 21, 10:33am

I was so ready for Halloween. It was fun trying to come up with ideas of what to do and of course it got turned into a sort of mini promo. When it came down to it, we were basically going to disappear for two years while we trained for Dei5 and wanted to make one final noise before we poofed.

So, we released a short Halloween song and were going to be doing busking in order to promote it. It was a remixed version of “Spooky Scary Skeletons” and all twelve of us who had been on the show were learning a dance for it. We had been working on it for two weeks now, just the dance part. The song was done in about a week. Halloween was in 10 days! Ah, I was living for this.

I knew that what we were doing was simply the tip of the k-pop idol iceberg, but I was just so happy to be busy and doing what I loved. It was frustrating at times since this was all short notice, but I liked it. Today, we worked on gathering costumes for our busking performances. We tried to choose stuff from the same show or franchise, but Imani now understood my distaste towards morph suits. So superheroes were out of the question.

Then we got the idea while playing video games with Sooja and Matthew just a few days ago. Mario characters. Everyone said I had to be Princess Peach, but I wanted to be Peachette. So that’s how we all evolved into all the “-ette” versions of the characters we had chosen. Well, most of us.

I was Peachette, Tristan was Bullet Billette, Alice was Bowsette, Hyojoon was just a regular Boo, and Jun was Yoshette. James was Piranha Plantette, Sooja was Boosette, Matthew had decided to go for Walette while Dongmin decided to be Wariette. Nawoo would be Toad, Gina went for Daisy, and Imani was Rosalina.

We were mostly looking for skirts and dresses. For Dongmin and I who were the two bigger members of the group, literally, we did some online shopping from our phones while everyone else did their things. I was able to get a really long blonde wig to fit my head from a place that Jun told me her drag queen friends always went to.

Jun said he would help me style it to fit Peachette’s hair. I was so thankful for him because I’d be struggling without her.

As my little group of Alice, James, and Nawoo went to the party section to see if the fabric pens were there, my eye caught the cutest arrangement of Halloween gift bags. I looked back at my manager and gave Kyung the best puppy dog eyes I could manage aven pouting a bit. I had talked about doing a project like this before, but he said he didn’t want to spend money on it.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed three packs of 20. He then left us to grab some of the huge bags of candy. I wanted to do something for the people who would be watching us perform. And for Halloween, that’d be candy. The only rule was that I had to make the bags myself. Yeah, that was extra work for myself, but I would always do it for Halloween and Valentine’s Day. The only reason I wouldn’t do it for Christmas is because that was festival season, the most stressful and busy time of the year. I didn’t want to get in the way.

October 31, 3:03am

I had finally finished all of the bags and tied them up. It went faster because of Tristan and Alice helping me, but still. They had extra practice to do to help their dancing skills. Alice was a fantastic dancer, but she didn’t have a great sense of rhythm. I put the last dozen in a wagon that Hyojoon oppa had let me borrow for this since it looked haunted.

Now, I had to go to bed for about seven hours before having to wake up and get ready so that we could be shoved off to perform in Hongdae and Itaewon. They were closer to our dorms than Busan and Ilsan and Daegu.

October 31, 12:30pm

Dei5 had a short meeting where we found out that our official logo would be a lotus, a symbol of rebirth and renewal. It would have five petals for each of us. We would go for a regular sort of symbol, smooth and simple, the lines were not too thick or too thin. It gave us the chance to alter it and remodel it for each comeback. Honestly, it would just be five gold petal outlines with a white center.

It was all that we could talk about with our other members.

I was getting a call from Taehyung during a quick lunch break before we continued dancing. We were at some traditional Korean place and eating bimibap, kimbap, and cold noodles.

“Hello?” I said after swallowing.

“You can’t call her. She can’t know about this.” It sounded like Jimin’s voice in the background.

Taehyung responded, “It’s not like we have many options.”

“If she was invited, you’ll see her there. Do you want to get in trouble with the Mentors?” Jungkook asked, worry and fear in his voice along with concern.

“No, Noona would get mad.” the current middle child said.

“So put down the phone.” Jimin said.

And the line went dead. I stared at my phone confused. What was that all about? Gina asked what the phone call was about and who it was from. I told her it was from Tae but it must have been a butt dial. Whatever, I had noodles to slurp up.

October 31, 7:22pm

Now in full costume, I was ready to dance with the others. I can’t believe it’s been over a month since since Namjon went back to serve. He had a lot of American fans, so he was seen through fan cams. Same went for Hobi, Jin, and Yoongi who mostly did office work. Well, Jin was part of Army Band and Hobi was in another performance Army thing.

“Hey, is it just me, or are there less people out on Halloween than during the day?” Imani asked.

I admitted, “I’ve noticed that too.”

“Do you guys not know?” Sooja asked, extremely puzzled. “Ah, I guess since you’re not usually in Korea during this time of year, and you haven’t been out much because of training, but um. There is a yearly masquerade party that idols go to. Some normies or trainees get invited too, but that is the only way you can go. By invite.”

Tristan added, “Yeah. I honestly thought we would have gotten invited, but I guess they want to train us first.”

Then they went into talking about what kind of rumors surrounded it. How people could go missing if they talked about it or how the person they talked to would disappear. It was very hush hush, like the bedazzled elephant in the room. Everyone who was anyone knew about it and got invited, but no one could really talk about it. Overall, it was a masquerade ball. Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to one of those!

There had been a livestream earlier when we were performing, made people who watched guess who each idol was. It was like a very intense but also fun fandom test. How well did you really know what your faves looked like?

We finally got into Itaewon for the third time today and there were people waiting for us. Like it had been happening all day, but it was still strange to see so many people who wanted to see us. Kyung had surprised me by setting up a total of 200 other goodie bags for fans who came out to watch. Him and the others were dressed in capes.

Our last stop was at N Seoul Tower. My skirt was actually shorter than the original dress just because I didn’t want to have to carry it around and lift it up as I danced. It was a pink lolita dress and Sooja actually had the Toadette/Bowsette crown. She helped make more for all of us.

We would do a Six song set and finish with our Halloween song. I was in three of them with the other members who would make up Dei5. Alice and I did our “No” by CLC cover and we did our easier group choreo afterwards.

Then it was time for “Spooky Scary Skeletons”. The twelve of us got into formation.

“Mortals, Deities, and everything in between~” I spoke.

Matthew added, “We only have one thing to say.”

“Happy Halloween!”

We had cut up the lyrics and such to the famed Halloween song and added two different rap sections for it to help showcase the rappers. I was having such a good time when the first dance break came in and we marched in sync and then posed. It was mostly dance heavy, so it was mostly just remembering what order to do them in. Muscle memory was my best friend in this case.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw the cape wearing staff handing out my little baggies. They were filled with chocolate, non chocolate, and a few trinkets like Vampire Teeth and the like. Also, 100 of the ones that I did not make had special codes in them to get a preorder when our CDs came out. They would have to use them wisely and try not to lose them.

Everyone was given glowsticks too, so we lit up the area more than the tower behind us. Then we all went to the front.

“Boo!”

Stay still for 10 second and then we all held hands and bowed, “Thank you! Happy Halloween! Thank you for all of your support!” and then it was done.

October 31, 10:00pm

I couldn’t help but fall asleep the moment I got home. Yes, it was bad to sleep in makeup and yes I would probably get in trouble for it when I woke up tomorrow because trainees had certain things to follow and wiping off our makeup and doing skincare was one of them. So I’d pay for it later. Right now, it was time to sleep.

I couldn’t help but dream about what it would be like if Namjoon and I danced together at the masquerade ball. The theme would be fire and ice, no jewel tones, no, space. Definitely space and so I could wear a more dramatic version of the outfit I wore to his birthday. However, I would need to be more careful. I was a girl. I was a foreigner and Gods Dammit, I will be an idol.