#I lost control somewhere mid-rant

[xerith-42]

Dante hesdcanons pls pls pls pls pls

I'll admit, I haven't given blue hair and pronouns enough love, so let's give it to him.

Dante was like 18 fresh out of the guard academy when Aph met him, compared to Garroth and Laurance who are in their mid to late twenties, and he was kind of just a little feral. Dante is just used to being a bewildering presence for people and he loves it. Like "Yes, I am basically a very tall child (5'7) and yes I will kick your ass." He likes confusing people, but he also really likes that Aph isn't thrown off by him. She treats him the way she would treat any guard she got roped into helping on a mission.

Dante's favorite color is magenta. Don't ask me why.

Dante carries on the honored tradition started by Gene of being a completely disastrous bisexual. Then again, with Garroth, Aph, and Laurance as his other role models, he really didn't stand a chance. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks about the possibility of just being with Nana and Nicole at the same time. He knows it's impossible, they've already pushed the situation past the point of no return because of his and Nicole's refusal to communicate, and he can't even begin to fathom how he'd explain it to the kids if Nana and Nicole even agreed to it.

Dante's favorite sweet that Nana makes is strawberry tarts. Strawberries are just his favorite fruits and Nana is always able to make something delicious with them.

This is basically canon but I want to turn up Dante's "I love my wife so god damn much!!" energy to 11. Like even if there's problems with Nicole, especially after they're resolved, he's so in love with Nana it's ridiculous. Y'know the way Maes Hughes is in Fullmetal Alchemist about his wife and kid? That's how Dante is.

And nobody can even really be mad at him because he's so earnest and loving and especially his mentors are so proud of him for really finding love and learning to cherish it. But there is more than a few times when Dante is gushing about his wife to Laurance while they're sparring and Laurance just groans and rolls his eyes. "Dante, I literally knew your wife before you did." "But you don't understand how she makes me feel Laurance! She's so brilliant, and beautiful--" "I've already heard you go on this rant before!"

There are some days where he's sort of distant. They became more and more frequent after Aph and everyone disappeared. Sometimes he would just go out to the gates of Phoenix Drop where he waited for them, or to that spot in the forest where they were last seen. He doesn't really say a lot, just stares at those spots, letting his brain feeling the crushing loneliness of missing almost everyone important to him. History has repeated itself. Due to forces that were honestly largely out of Dante's control, he's lost his entire family.

When Nana told him she was pregnant, Dante started crying. Tears of joy, relief, terror, grief, adoration, hopefulness. He just falls to his knees while holding her hand and cries. And Nana kneels down and comforts him. She knows what this means to him, how important and yet twisted Dante's relationship to having a family is. But neither one of them doubt that the other wants this. Dante wants this more than anything.

Oh my Irene he must have been a MESS after finding out about Dmitri. I know the show gave us some of this, but he probably hid a lot of it from Aph because she hasn't been around for so long, and he saw the kind of relationship bull shit she is still kind of getting up to, so he doesn't want to burden her with this. But when everyone's gone home for the night and it's just Nana and Dante in their bed together?

Needless to say a lot of tears were shed, apologies were stumbled through, and Dante ultimately resolves that he wants to be an even better father than he is to make up for not being there for Dmitri. And Nana assures him he's already a great father (because he is), but adores how dedicated her husband is to making up for his past mistakes in a very substantial way.

It takes a very long time for Dante to forgive Nicole. He still loves her, he never won't love her honestly, but he can't forgive her for hiding Dmitri from him. Even if they weren't together when he was born, he still would have done anything Nicole needed. Whether that was keeping Dmitri in his home for a few weeks, or just giving Nicole monthly payments, Dante would have taken what he could get. He's heartbroken that after all the time they spent together Nicole didn't realize that about him. Even if he'd "moved on".

I don't think Dante is capable of moving on. He's a character who constantly gets stuck in the past and shoulders the consequences of not only his own mistakes, but the mistakes of many others around him. Even when he tries to move forward, his past keeps coming back to bite him in the ass.

[thoughtsaladblog]

Mid-morning Intrusive Thoughts

Well Imma be honest, this is going to be your regular rant because I'm trying to sort through a mélange of different thoughts- talk about an overactive mind!

While I want to start with (no longer) Morally Grey, I feel like he's been the subject of too many posts at this point and I'd rather focus on something else at the moment. So let's talk about the intrusive thoughts on feeling completely talent-free (that's the polite way of saying I'm a dud). Not that I can't do things- I know I have certain skills, but none that will truly set me apart, nor help garner any income. And in addition to that I feel like an absolute moron when smart people have conversations with me- not necessarily because I can't hold a conversation with them, but I feel like my lack of knowledge on intelligent topics limits me, and therefore I don't present them with interesting conversations. Which obviously makes me feel pretty insecure. And lately I've been feeling like I lack anything special that adds value to me- I mean I'm a good teacher, but frankly, in this world no one gives a shit about that. And yes, there's nothing wrong with being ordinary- but honestly I don't think my heart could be content being ordinary. I like to be seen/known for something. I also believe my lack of qualifications is now starting to fuck with my head. I'm starting to feel like an idiot- because people are like- oh hey you can do this, apply here, try this job... and I know I can't because my CV lacks the credentials to get me that. And I would like to go finish my studies but there's a dilemma there too- ever since I struggled with my Marketing degree because I didn't have access to a proper firm for my final assignment I have wondered if I'm lacking in what it takes to do a good job at my studies. But also, finances. I can't necessarily quit my job and go finish my studies- it's not like we've got millions stored somewhere where I don't have to earn a living while studying... And I certainly can't juggle a degree and my classes. So it's safe to say I'm stuck in a rut where the wheels are spinning but all I'm doing is muddying up the place.

Speaking of finances... whoof! I'm the brokest I've been since I started teaching. Don't ask me how-even I don't know. Bad spending decisions, high cost of living, students not paying on time, losing my extra work- I suppose all these have contributed. All I know is I'm in a bad fucking state. It feels so weird... It's been a while since I've been this broke and I'm not liking it to say the least. Amma told me to move back home- I'd rather kill myself. That place depresses me beyond anything, and saying goodbye to my freedom means coming into a state of depression I don't really want to think about. And let's be real... As long as you live in that house it means doing dog's work/housework and frankly I'd really rather not. I like having the freedom to live the way I do without having to answer to anyone. It's the one thing that keeps me sane to be honest. Overall my life seems to be unravelling at a miserable rate and this one thing gives me a sense of being in control.

Out of control? Oh yeah.. My plans to bid adieu to this sinking ship have gone out of control. I am still stuck here, and unable to find a way out. I'm bloody losing my mind. I need to get the fuck out. Honestly. I mean I have loved my job and there are still days when it brings me joy- but its only a select few classes that have that effect on me. For the most part, all the negative shit that's happened with students leaving, parents being ungrateful and unwanted drama from school I've really lost my love for teaching. It doesn't feed my soul anymore. And if we're no longer feeding the soul then I might as well go back to corporate- because that way at least I get my social life back! Once the current 11s leave I really don't feel motivated to stay on... They're the last of the ones I'm close to. Not to mention that that's going to be one of the hardest goodbyes. I kind of wanna run away after- just have a change of setting and meet new people. I want to take a risk but I'm also scared. My cowardice is standing in the way of me getting anywhere- as always!

Well not always... Coz clearly when it comes to my love life I tend to take unnecessary risks. Oh yes, we've arrived at the elephant in the room. If you look to your left here, you would see this large fucking elephant , labelled Morally Grey. The highlight of my bad decisions at the start of the year... Because why the fuck not start the year with a big-ass blunder right?? But no I won't ramble on about that- except to mention that it's become weird between us ever since (reasonably so). Good job Nichole, give yourself a fucking pat on the back for ruining a perfectly good thing for nothing! But oh wait.. the lunacy doesn't end there. This bitch is unable to come to terms with the fact that this shit will go nowhere. No no.. She still wants to imagine she has a chance. Fucking dumbass. Frankly I can only call myself a masochist at this point, for the way I sabotage myself and manage to bring myself so much heartache. Idiot. I dunno if it's because I'm listening to the hopeful ideas of dew-eyed teens, or it's my own sense of denial, because I keep obsessing over the moron, wanting to talk to him and missing him and a billion other cringey shit. Honestly... I need to fucking move on... But do I? No! Of course not! Instead I'm off on a downward spiral- spending more money that I don't have. Honestly everything is just unravelling and my head is spinning and it's all too much. I really don't want to cry over spilled milk- or in this case, a guy who clearly doesn't feel the same about me. Where's my fucking pride? Or shame for that matter?! This is pathetic!

And as much as I'd like to end this post with some sort of revelation or epiphany, the truth is I'm stuck in a rut and it's filled with quick-sand. There's no way out, and no one's saving me. As always, I'm completely on my own to pull myself out, and frankly I'm tired of saving myself. For once, I'd like someone else to come pull me out... Because honestly, I lack the energy and strength to help myself this time around. No, no I won't kill myself.. I know as always I will cone through.. But for now I'm sinking and I'm going to let it happen.

[her-soliloquies]

So I recently watched Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and I have two words to say (complains actually. This is gonna be long guys, sorry)

Johnny Depp

&

Tina

As in:

(I don't know if this would be considered as spoilers, but either way you have been warned if you haven't watched the movie yet!)

WHY WOULD YOU REPLACE JOHNNY WHYYY, I mean I know why they think they did that, but still during the whole movie I would cringe anytime Mads Mikkelsen came on screen (no offense to Mads, he is a great actor. I just don't like him as Grindelwald) and imagine what it would be like if Johnny was still in the movie and it broke my heart because I know how different and chilling it would have been if Johnny was still Grindelwald. Like imagine the cafe scene with Jude Law and Johnny! The chemistry, the angst...

And then we have the absence of Tina in the whole movie and by the end of it she comes on screen for like only 2 minutes, and that should be some kind of crime because there is something lacking in Newt when Tina is absent (the opposite would also be true). Tina brings something important to the flow of the story and while watching the movie there was always this feeling that something was missing. (But really, the fact that Newt had Tina's picture everywhere, not only in his suitcase but also one in his pocket, is so sweet and adorable that I was literally melting.)

AND we didn't even get a Newtina hug. Yes the heart eyes were there but I really expected something more. What if they cancel the next two movies and I don't get to see my babies kiss? :')

Ok I'm done ranting (nagging:/) !

[sergeantsporks]

Another Shot at Life

Rating: General Audiences, Gen

TW: Child abuse, emotional manipulation

Ao3

Hunter accidentally makes his way into the human realm and can't get back home. But he's discovering that might not be such a bad thing.

Ch 7/7: Home

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6

Vee trudged up towards the old abandoned house. She’d started checking it every single day since Hunter had been taken, hoping he’d be there.

He never was.

She pushed open the door, and stopped, dead in her tracks. “L-Luz? Red?!”

Red was shrieking like its little heart was being torn in two, fluttering around where the portal had always appeared.

Vee rushed forward, panic building in her chest. “Hey—are you okay?!”

Luz was turning a key over and over in her hands, poking at it. “I need to go back,” she said dazedly, “I need to rescue him.”

“How long have you been here?!”

“I—I don’t know. A couple of hours? I can’t… get the key to work. But I have to go back, I left Hunter behind, and Belos has him, and—” She struggled to her feet, then immediately fell.

Vee caught her, slinging one of her arms over her shoulder. “You need to go back home. You look awful.”

“But Hunter—”

Vee took the key from her. “I’ll go back for him,” she promised, and a sort of steely calm settled over her. Yes. She would figure this out, she would rescue Hunter.

“Mom will never let you—”

Vee bit her lip. Of all the things to take a leaf out of Hunter’s book for. “We won’t tell her.” She tucked the key into her hoodie pocket, half-carrying, half-dragging Luz back home. “Camila!” she called, “Come quick!”

Camila poked her head out of the kitchen, then shrieked, rushing forward and taking Luz from Vee. “Mi carina! Luz, baby, what happened?!”

“Mama,” Luz half-sobbed, “Mama, I left Hunter—he helped me get away from Belos, he—”

Vee slipped out, wandering back to the old house. Red was sitting on the floor, staring at the spot where the portal had been. Vee gently scooped up the bird. “We’ll get him back. I promise.”

Red chirped sadly, hopping back down out of her hands to sit on the ground again.

Vee tugged the training wand Hunter had given her out of her pocket. It glowed blue, and she sucked the magic out of it. She hadn’t needed it to hide from Belos. But she could use it to save Hunter.

Now there was just one more person she needed.

Xxx

Vee strode into the museum. “Hey!”

Jacob jumped. “What are you doing here?” He glanced behind her. “Your—your friend isn’t here, is he?”

Vee felt tears prick at her eyes, but she blinked them back. “He’s… not here right now. I need your help.”

“My help? Why would you need my help?”

Because you’re stupid, and loud, and prideful and the perfect distraction.

“Because you’re right. Because witches are planning an invasion of your world, and I’m a rebel against them, but I need someone to help me take down their leader, and you’re perfect.”

Jacob stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly open. “You’re… you’re a rebel?”

“Yes. Against the beings that want to conquer your planet.” Vee swung the key back and forth on its string. “I can get you inside the witch emperor’s castle. All you have to do is kill him. Protect your planet.”

Jacob made a grab for the key, and she swung it up, catching it and holding it tightly. “Uh-uh. I control the portal.”

“Why?”

“Because you need someone on this side to keep it open,” Vee lied, “Now, are you going to be a hero and defend your home, or do I have to find someone else?”

Jacob shook his head. “I’m coming! I’m coming.”

“Good. Meet me at the abandoned house you were watching, and I’ll open the portal. The fate of your world rests on your shoulders, Jacob.”

Vee strode purposefully out of the museum, making sure she was out of Jacob’s range of hearing before sighing. “Now I just have to figure out how to open the portal.”

She jogged back to the old house, where Red was still waiting, and held up the key. “Hey. Any chance you know how to use this?”

Red fluttered up and pecked at the eye.

“Hey! Don’t break it!” Vee examined the key. “Now how do I…” she pressed gently on the eye of the key, but nothing happened.

Vee stepped to the place where the door had been.

And was met with resistance.

“Huh?”

Vee clicked the key, and the resistance disappeared. She clicked it again. There was that strange wall again.

Or maybe not a wall. Maybe a door.

Vee put her hands on the solid area, feeling for a knob. “Come on,” she muttered, “You have to be around here somewhere!”

Red fluttered up onto her shoulder, chirping. Its eyes glowed, and suddenly, there it was.

The door.

It looked like the sketches Hunter had left behind, but instead of huge eye on the top, there was a keyhole.

Vee gasped. “Oh! You need a palisman to get in! So no one but a witch could get in from this side! That’s clever!”

She heard clanking, and turned around to see Jacob, in all of his armor. Wow, he really looked ridiculous.

“Where’s the portal?” he demanded.

Vee reached up and inserted the key into the lock, twisting it with a quiet click. A doorframe filled with a golden curtain of light appeared, the key at the top of the doorframe. She gestured to it. “The emperor wears a golden mask with deer horns. You’ll know him when you see him.”

Jacob gulped, then plunged through. Vee briefly considered that she should feel guilty about sending him in to face Belos with absolutely no idea what he was up against.

Eh.

Red tried to dive into the portal after Jacob, but Vee held a hand up, blocking the bird. “I know you want to see Hunter, but I need you to stay here and watch the portal, okay? Make sure no one comes for the key. I’ll bring him back. I promise.”

Red ruffled its feathers unhappily, but perched atop the doorframe.

Vee pulled on the magic she’d absorbed from the wand, shifting to match the look of a coven guard. Then she crept through. She could hear Jacob yelling and clanging his way down the hallway, and the sounds of other coven guards chasing after. Perfect.

Vee slipped unnoticed through the hallways, her nerves spiking. Everything about this place was just one bad memory after another. She spotted a singular guard outside of a door, and sidled up to him.

“Um—” she squeaked, “hello? I, uh. I’m a bit lost, I just transferred here. I’m… I’m supposed to go on guard duty for… the golden guard?”

The guard heaved a sigh. “Finally. I thought I would never go off-duty. It’s just so boring, you know? It’s not like he can escape.”

“Oh. Yes. T-totally.”

“Right. See ya, new guy!”

The guard waved and strode off. Vee shuddered. He seemed so… normal. Like his job wasn’t locking up and hurting innocent teens.

She waited for him to disappear down the hallway, then turned the knob of the door, pushing it open. The room was well lit, surprisingly.

Vee almost wished it weren’t.

Hunter was buried all the way up to the nose in a mountain of some kind of… slime that shifted and moved. His eyes were blank—no pupils, no irises, just eerily glowing white.

“Hunter?” she whispered.

He didn’t respond.

Vee crept forward, poking the slime with one finger.

It glowed blue, and Vee gasped. The whole thing was magic. “Hang on, Hunter, I’ll get you out of here.”

Vee wrinkled her nose and put her hands on the slime. It glowed, and she inhaled, sucking up the magic. She almost immediately gagged. There was something wrong with this magic. It tasted rotten.

But the mountain had gotten just a little bit smaller, so she braced herself, and started eating the magic again, suppressing her gag reflex.

The mountain shrank smaller and smaller, and the slime receded from Hunter’s face. He fell forward, and Vee lunged to catch him, her stomach writhing like she’d just eaten live snakes. “Hunter?”

The eerie glow faded from his eyes, replaced with his usual magenta eyes.

“Hunter!”

He just stared blankly up at her, shivering violently. Vee hefted him in her arms, glancing both ways out into the hallway before starting down the hallway. Maybe it was the huge size of the coven guard she’d shifted into, but he seemed smaller than he ever had back home.

And then there were his eyes. They were so… bleak. Hopeless. It was like he couldn’t even see her.

Vee made her way back to the room with the door, occasionally ducking into other rooms or behind statues to hide Hunter.

She heard a clank, clank, clank behind her, and Jacob came tearing back, screaming. Wow, he could run fast, even in all of that armor.

The meaning of why he would be running like that hit her, and she sprinted after him, bolting through the doors to the room.

Only for several guards to be standing in front of her way out. Jacob was nowhere in sight—they must have let him through the portal. Vee skidded to a stop. “Oh. Hey. Uhhhhhhhh…”

“We have a traitor!”

“That’s no traitor,” Belos’ voice hissed behind her, “That’s a dangerous creature, masquerading as one of our own.”

Vee’s veins turned to ice, and every bad memory from her time locked in the dungeon flashed through her mind at lightning speed.

She didn’t see him move, but suddenly Belos was right in her face. “I’ll be taking Hunter back, now. You don’t know what he needs.”

Xxx

“Mom—I’m okay. Really. It was just a fall off of a wall, and a little bit of light torture, and a blow to the head, and a fall from the sky—I’m fine, really.”

Camila finished applying band-aids to all of Luz’s scratches, her chest tight. “A blow to the head? I’m going to call a doctor.”

“I’m okay, Mom! Really! Hunter gave me these painkiller things, and they really worked, but I think they’ve worn off now, and I know I promised I’d stay here, I know, but we have to go back for him!”

Camila sat down next to her daughter. “Okay.”

Luz stopped, mid-rant. “Wh-what?”

“Okay. I’m going to get Hunter. You stay here and rest. How do I get there?”

“I…” Luz’s eyes teared up. “I don’t know! I couldn’t get the portal open from this side, and Mom, it would be too dangerous for you to go!”

“If it’s too dangerous for me, do you think I’d send my little girl in? I failed Hunter—I let Belos take him. So I’m going to get him back.” If we can get the portal working, if he’s even still alive. Camila shook her head, trying to chase away the niggling doubts in her head. No. She was going to rescue Hunter. No matter how far she had to go.

“He was so miserable, Mom,” Luz whispered, “But he’d just… given up.”

Camila’s heart seemed to tear itself in two. He’d gone back to protect them—and had given up on seeing them again. Camila glanced around the room. “Where’d Vee go?”

Luz clammed up.

“Luz? Do you know where she went?”

“I’m… not supposed to tell you?”

A bolt of panic shot through Camila, and she jumped to her feet. “She opened the portal, didn’t she?!”

“I don’t know—I know she was going to try.”

Camila raced for her purse, throwing a few things in. “I’m going to find her, and maybe Hunter if she’s managed to open the portal. Luz, you stay here. You’re not in any state for a rescue mission, kay? Just trust me to bring him back.”

Luz nodded. “I trust you.”

Camila ran out the door, racing up the path towards the old house.

Please be okay.

Xxx

Vee clutched Hunter tightly, his body quivering so hard she thought she might drop him. A surge of anger rushed through her. “What he needs?! He doesn’t need this!”

Belos shrugged. “He got to be too much of a hassle to keep awake. It was simpler for everyone if he just went to sleep until I needed him. Less painful for him as well—but apparently, you just want him to suffer needlessly. Now, little basilisk, give him to me and I might consider letting you go.”

Vee backed up. “No!”

“HEY!”

Vee jumped as she heard Camila’s voice. She whirled around to see her adoptive mother standing over two unconscious coven guards, holding Luz’s baseball bat. “Camila!”

Camila glared at Belos. “Get. Away. From my. Kids.”

Belos disappeared, reappearing next to Camila and plucking the baseball bat out of her hands. “Oh? How interesting. Are you going to make good on that threat to end me, little human?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Camila whipped out a can of hairspray and a lighter. “Adios, Belos.” She held the lighter up to the hairspray, and clicked them at the same time. A jet of flame shot out, lighting Belos’ robes on fire. The emperor stumbled back with a shriek, and Camila pushed past him, grabbing Vee’s arm. “Let’s go!”

Vee shot through the portal, Camila not far behind. Vee reached up and twisted the key back out of the portal. The curtain of light closed on Belos’ howl of rage.

Camila whistled. “I cannot believe I just did that!”

“That was—it was scary, but it was amazing, and…” Vee glanced down at Hunter, and the euphoria died away. He was still shaking, still blank-eyed. Red fluttered down to his shoulder, nudging his face and warbling softly. Hunter didn’t respond.

Camila put a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get him home,” she said softly.

Vee trudged back up the path to her own home, struggling to squeeze through the door. She gently sat Hunter on the couch, shifting back to her usual form. Eating that cursed prison might have been disgusting, but it had given her a huge backup magic reserve—she’d be good on magic for a while yet.

“You’re back!” Luz limped down the stairs, freezing when she saw Hunter. “Oh—oh, no. Hunter?”

He didn’t respond, just kept staring ahead with those dull eyes. Camila wrapped a blanket around his shivering shoulders, taking his hand in hers and giving it a squeeze. “Oh, Hunter. What happened to you?”

“He—he looks kind of like Matholomew did when he got out of detention,” Luz said softly, “Vee, what—”

Vee twisted her hands. “I—there was this cursed mud, and it made his eyes go all creepy—maybe I shouldn’t have taken him out? Maybe it was supposed to run its course and I made it worse by taking him out early?”

Camila squeezed her shoulder. “You did what you thought was best,” she said softly, “We have him back, and that’s—that’s what matters. We can fix this. He’ll wake up.”

Vee blinked back tears. “But—what if he doesn’t?”

What if I was too late?

Xxx

“H-hey, I’m gonna… gonna put on some Stephen Universe? Hunter? Remember, you liked that?” Vee rubbed her arms. Rain had been gently pattering on the windowpane, but it was starting to pick up. “You did. We watched it together, and I liked Amethyst, and you couldn’t pick your favorite character, remember?”

Hunter still just stared forward, wrapped up in his blanket like a burrito, and Vee sat next to him with a sigh. Red hadn’t moved from his shoulder since they’d gotten him back two days ago—and Hunter himself hadn’t budged, either—he didn’t eat anything, he didn’t sleep, as far as Vee could tell, he just sat there, staring into space. Red chirped softly, nuzzling Hunter’s face, and then hopped over to Vee, giving her big, worried eyes.

Vee cupped the palisman in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I don’t know how to get him back. I don’t know if he’s just in shock, or if this is something that the curse does, or…”

The rain was picking up, wind howling against the window. Vee slid off the couch, setting Red on the floor and digging out birdseed for the palisman. She sat back down on the floor next to the cardinal. “You’ve got to eat something, right?”

Red warbled sadly, and fluttered back up to Hunter.

“I know. I miss him, too.”

Lightning flashed, followed by a crack of thunder, and Vee yelped, putting her hands over her ears.

She heard a rustle and a little whump, and then something warm settled over her. Hunter’s chin rested on her head, his arms flopped over her shoulders so that they were sharing the blanket. Red chirped happily, and Vee froze, her heart thumping hopefully in her chest.

“Hunter? Camila! Camila, Luz, I think he’s waking up!”

Another peal of thunder crashed, and Hunter hugged her just a little tighter. Camila came thumping down, Luz not far behind. Vee didn’t move, holding her breath, worried that if she moved and disturbed him, he’d go back to the way he’d been, barely daring to hope...

xxx

Camila rushed into the living room, where Hunter was flopped over Vee, wrapping her in his blanket. He was still blank-eyed, but his brow was furrowed, like he was trying to remember something. Camila gently cupped his face in her hands.

“Hunter?” She asked softly, “Mijo?”

He blinked, hard, like he’d just woken up. “C-Camila?” His eyes filled with tears, and he fell back, letting go of Vee. The basilisk tackled him in a hug.

“Hunter!”

Camila wrapped her arms around both of them, squeezing them both tight. “Oh!”

His shoulders started to shake. “It was s-so dark,” he whispered.

Camila squeezed just a little harder. “I’ve got you,” she promised. She let the two of them go, and Vee wriggled under the blanket, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with him as the thunder cracked. Luz sat down next to Camila.

“Hey,” she said softly to Hunter, “Thanks.”

He sat bolt upright, making Vee yelp. “The key! Belos!”

Vee held up the portal key. “Oh, you mean this? Don’t worry, Belos can’t get to us.”

“Vee managed to open the portal,” Luz supplied, “She went in after you!”

“And then Camila came for both of us,” Vee finished, “She lit Belos on fire, it was awesome!”

Hunter looked up at Camila, his lip quivering. “You… you fought for me?”

“Of course I did. I said I would, didn’t I?”

Tears rolled down his face, and Camila wrapped him up in a hug. “Hey. Heeey. You’re okay now.”

“I kept—I kept making him mad—and it—and I—”

Camila rocked him back and forth. “Okay. Ooookay. I’ve got you.”

“I couldn’t get out—it was all dark, and blank, and I just kept sinking, and I couldn’t do anything, and I was drowning, and—” Hunter buried his face in her shoulder.

Camila cradled his head in her hand. She could feel a lump on the back of his head, like he’d hit it, and she hadn’t failed to notice the bruises that hadn’t been there when he’d left. A tide of anger swept over her, and she started regretting leaving the Boiling Isles quite so soon. “You’re safe now, Hunter. I promise. Belos can’t hurt you anymore. And if he even thinks about it… well, I have no qualms lighting him on fire again.”

Hunter slumped against her, and she scooped him up, Red fluttering around the two of them. “Okay. You need some sleep.”

“He can take my bed,” Vee offered, “I’m too wired to go to sleep, anyway.”

Camila gave her a grateful nod and carried Hunter up the stairs. He was already asleep by the time they got to Luz’s room, his breath coming in soft little puffs. She nestled him in the bed, pulling the covers over him.

“Good night, Hunter.”

Xxx

Hunter was woken up by the sun.

The sun.

How had he slept this long?!

He bolted upright, nearly scraping his head on the ceiling. Wait. What?

Everything that had happened, came back to him in a rush, and he flopped backwards, running his hands through his hair. “Oh.”

Lying here, in the Noceda house, he could almost imagine that going back to Belos had been nothing but a bad dream.

But it hadn’t been. He had some very real bruises to prove it.

He shuddered, remembering the cold, acidic feel of Belos’ curse.

But then Red soared right into him, singing brightly, and he could almost forget it had ever happened.

Almost.

Hunter’s hand closed around the pin on his cloak. He ripped it off, tossing the cape to the floor, followed by his armor. He didn’t have to wear it anymore. Ever. Belos had no way to get back to him.

Belos had no way to get back to him.

The enormity of the statement caught up to him, and he ran his hand through his hair again. “He can’t come back for me,” he whispered, “I—I don’t ever have to see him again!”

Red chirped in agreement, and a bewildered laugh escaped Hunter’s mouth.

No more running errands for Belos.

No more worrying about what would happen to Red.

No more fear that an attack would hit, and he’d get hurt.

Just Camila and Vee and Luz.

Hunter shuffled down the stairs into the kitchen. “Good morning!”

“You’re cheerful.” Vee grinned. “Afternoon, actually.”

“Really?”

Luz nodded. “Mom said we should let you sleep. Speaking of my mom, she said something about how she shouldn’t have forced me to promise not to go back to the Isles—she doesn’t want me to keep trying to use that key, because it’s too dangerous to get into the keep, but she hasn’t outright said I can’t go back if I can find another way.” Luz glanced around. “I miiiiight ask to borrow Red at some point. If that’s okay with the two of you. I need to let Eda know I’m okay.”

“Luz, are you plotting something behind my back?” Camila came bumping down the stairs, holding a brightly wrapped parcel. “Oh, hey! You’re up!” She thrust the parcel at him. “That’s for you! I actually got it before… but that doesn’t matter, you’re here, I have it, everything’s great.”

Hunter gingerly took the package. “What… is it?”

“It’s a present,” Vee explained wisely, “It’s a surprise. You open it up.”

“Did it… come like this?”

“Nope, Camila wrapped it.”

Hunter squinted at the package. “But… now I’m just supposed to open it?”

Vee nodded. “Yep.”

“Then what was the point of wrapping it up?”

Luz nudged his shoulder. “It’s fun!” Her face dropped. “Oh my gosh, you’ve never gotten a present before, this is so sad. Okay. Just trust us, it’s fun.”

Hunter stuck his tongue out at her, and pulled gently at the paper, trying to unstick the tape.

“Rip it!” Luz demanded, “Tear it open!”

Hunter glanced back at Camila. “But you worked so hard to—”

She laughed. “You’re supposed to rip it, mijo. Go ahead.”

Hunter tore at the paper. It was… oddly exciting.

The wrapping had contained a set of clothing, jeans that actually looked his size, a t-shirt, and a hoodie that looked just a little too big—therefore, exactly the right size.

Hunter turned the fabric over in his hands, tears bubbling to his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Vee pushed him towards the stairs. “Go see if it fits!”

Hunter scooted up the stairs, closing the door behind him and switching clothes. The rest of his uniform joined the armor and cloak in a pile, and he tugged the hood of his new sweater up, retracting his hands into the sleeves. It was soft, and comfy, and he felt like he could just melt into a puddle right here.

He shuffled back downstairs, and Camila clapped her hands. “Ooo, good, it fits! Look at you!” She grabbed her keys. “Okay, Hunter, Luz, in the car, both of you are coming with me to the doctor’s office, I want both of you checked out for concussions.”

“Mooooooom,” Luz groaned, “I’m fiiiiiiine!”

Hunter let Camila shoo him into the car, stepping out into the bright sunlight (hadn’t it been raining last night?). Warmth spread all through him, banishing the last of the lingering coldness Belos had left behind.

Camila looked back at him as she turned the car on. “Everything good?”

Hunter took in a deep breath, burying his face in his new hoodie. He was back home—this time to stay. “Everything is perfect.”

[acahope311]

Silver Lining

Sleepover Request

luna-xial said: So so so I see you have requests open due to your sleepover (also Ohmygosh congratulations!!) and I was wanting to ask if you could do something with Kili for the fluff prompt list, #3??? ❤️❤️ (if not that’s okay, I just wanted to request something because your writing is so good 🥺❤️) (“(She/he/they) don’t compare to you. No one does.”)

A/N Wow! This one is a doozy. I loved writing this, Kili has always been one of my favorite characters, and the prompt lead to so many directions but I chose to do one where angst was not an option🥺 Thank you so much for sending this in @luna-xial and participating in the sleepover 🥰

*I wanted to thank @guardianofrivendell for double-checking my writing and making sure I knew the difference between "pinning" and "pining" LMFAO!*

Warnings: none? I guess self-doubt?

Erebor was bustling. What once was a dormant and abandoned mountain, a reminder of dwarven greed, now symbolized second chances, wealth, and life. Dwarves from the Blue Mountains were flocking to the mountain, some were those who never thought they would live to see the Lonely Mountain rise from the horizon, the rest were ambitious young dwarrows hoping to start anew. Men were also moving back to Dale, revitalizing the growing community in the shadow of the great mountain- of course, King Bard and his family oversaw the restoration of the city and personally welcomed the new arrivals. Whilst similarly in Erebor, Thorin himself rolled up his sleeves and took to reconstructing the home of his forefathers- his Company by his side. Which were quite a sight to see as thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a woman all lifted, chiseled, and swept away rubble, ash, and dirt. Little by little, the fruits of labor began to show and soon the rock-hewn walls seemed to sing the history of the mountain and once the mountain was unearthed, the new dwarves were settled in. You found you had more time to explore the mountain. The grand stone walls of Erebor encased your miniature frame. Funny enough, being a human woman you were head and shoulders taller than most dwarves, but the walls and statues made you shrink. As you quietly made your way through the halls, you’d occasionally run into a group of dwarrow, warm pleasantries were exchanged and small talk was exchanged. Once the mountain was more established and a trade agreement was founded, Thorin had appointed you as a live-in ambassador to Dale and Mirkwood, much to his chagrin. At first living in the mountain had a rocky start, Durin’s folk were always wary of strangers- especially from another race, but once you had proven yourself time and time again, you were welcomed with open arms. However, some still were reluctant to see you as an ally, making it a point to sometimes emphasize your foreignness. Yet you never held it against them but had always put it up to jealousy, for not only were you the woman who accompanied and aided in the quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain alongside Thorin Oakenshield, but you were very close to the Durin princes-- especially Kili. From the moment you and Kili met, the Company knew you were both trouble. Being both the youngest in the group meant mischief that even Fili had to take a step back to make sure you two were not in over your heads. At first, it was all fun and games, but somewhere along the line, you realized that he meant so much more to you than a friend; you loved him. You’d carried this torch with you throughout the whole quest and although you’d hoped it would extinguish, his sunlight smiles, friendly touches, and adoring eyes fanned the flames of your feelings- it didn’t help that he would always make time to end every night in conversation with you. As time went on, even Fili could see your pining and couldn’t help but smile fondly knowing that you and his brother held mutual feelings but were just too blinded by their infatuation for each other to realize the truth.

One day, at the training grounds when you and Fili were free from your duties, the golden prince set his plan into action. As he stood by the side, he seemed to be lost in thought- reliving an earlier conversation he had with his brother.

“Fi, what do I do?” Kili wailed, sitting in front of his brother as he patiently waited for him to comb his hair. Fili sighed, he knew that wail very well.

“Whatever do you mean, brother dear?” He said teasingly while pulling on a particularly tough knot. Resisting the tugs, Kili began to rant.

“You know what I mean. What do I do about y/n? I want to start the courting process, even Uncle thinks it’s a good idea, but I am so lost… I don’t even know if she returns my feelings.” Kili’s head droops a little at the thought of you not loving him the same way. Fili chuckles at his expense, the sound causing Kili to huff in faux indignation. “I’m glad you’re having a good laugh at my expense brother.”

“Forgive me nadad, but that is such a crazy notion. She loves you, I can see it in the way she lights up when you’re in the room, did you know that?” He says as he continues to untangle the knots in his raven hair.

“Truly?” Kili asks with a little more pep in his tone.

“Truly. You’d think Mahal himself walked into the room with the way her eyes brighten.” Fili smiles as he remembers how in an earlier discussion between you and him, your whole demeanor changed the moment his brother came into the room- like a plant being watered after a drought.

“Do not doubt, brother. She loves you fiercely.” With a reassuring pat on Kili’s shoulder, Fili stands and prepares himself for the day.

“But for Mahal’s sake, fix your hair. I’m sure even she wouldn’t want a prince with a rat’s nest for hair. Amad will shave you if you keep that up!” Fili said as he saw Kili ruffle his hard work.

“I know that! But I also know she’ll love me if I am as smooth as a newborn bairn. She said she loved my hair once on the quest, just before we all fell asleep.” He swooned at the memory. “You don’t understand Fi. I think she is the one, MY One. And I want to do right by her.” Kili’s eyes shone with determination. Speechless, Fili stares at his brother. Then laughs a hearty laugh, confusing Kili.

“What’s so funny?!” He asks, a bit embarrassed. Fili wipes the tears away as he controls his breathing.

“Nothing bad, it’s just that… You truly can find the good in anything! It wasn’t but a moment ago that you were wailing about her not loving you and now you’re declaring her your One.” Fili explains, again brushing his little brother’s hair.

“Oh… Brother, I only do that because of her. She always sees the positive side of everything- and I want to be like that to her. But I can’t do this on my own. Will you help me?” Kili asks timidly. Fili stops and looks directly at him,

“Of course.”

The sound of wood splintering brings Fili back to the present. You ended up breaking the wooden pole and looking sheepishly at him. Sighing fondly, he helps you find a replacement. Once a new one has taken its place, you resume your training while Fili observes.

“You know.” Fili inquired, breaking the silence. “You seem to be so skilled with the sword. Have you tried other weapons?” As you attack a wooden post, the question causes you to pause mid-swing. Pondering this, a small flush creeps onto your face. Suddenly shy, you look down.

“I have been wanting to learn how to shoot a bow…” You whisper as a certain dark-haired prince’s visage of letting loose a quiver of arrows flash in your mind. “I’d always admired how Kili could so quickly nock an arrow and aim with such precision in such a short amount of time. All with a smile, did you know that? That cheeky cub.” You said smiling unknowingly.

Fili smirked. “Now, why would you want to learn how to use a bow, y/n?” he asks- already knowing the answer. As you squirm uncomfortably under his questioning, the silence stretches out. After what seems to be a lifetime, you look up and answer with a determined gleam in your eye.

“Because I want to impress Kili.” You say softly, but resolutely. The answer stuns Fili into silence. After a heartbeat of silence, you continue.

“I know I am not of royal or noble descent. Nor am I rich- I’m not even a dwarf! But I do truly love your brother. I cannot offer much but I would like to start by offering the time to get to better understand his favorite weapon.” You pause, unsure whether you should continue, but you push on. “From what I understand, weaponry and skills are an important part of dwarven courtship, and I would like to take that chance… I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Your brother is worth that chance-- and if nothing comes from it, I at least can say that I tried. ” A loving look passes your face, reminding him of the times you all sat around the fire and listened to his brother’s stories- already he knew you had fallen hard. ‘She always sees the positive side of everything’, Kili’s voice resonates in his mind.

“But I am still a novice in this… So I may need your help?” You conclude, less confident than what you meant. Exhaling in relief, Fili smiles and turns around. At first, you are worried that you’d insulted him, but when he returns promptly with a bow and a quiver of arrows, your face breaks into a grin.

“I’d gladly teach you,” Fili says proudly as he hitches his belt. You nod and reach for the bow, but at the last minute, he pulls away.

“But I can think of a better teacher, right brother?” A chuckle resonates from the sidelines behind you. Turning around, you see Kili walking towards you, smiling. He reaches for the bow and arrows from Fili and knocks foreheads softly.

“Thank you.” Fili pulls away and nods, as he moves to the exit he passes by you and winks.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Silently, the golden prince leaves the training area- leaving you alone with Kili. Turning to him, you can't help but notice your heartbeat so fast that you're sure he can hear it. The silence grows as you both stare at each other until he clears his throat

"I know Fili may have said that I'd be a better teacher, but I will be honest… I don't think I am." He confesses as he subconsciously nocks an arrow and pierces the wooden post.

"I learned by example, but I will teach you everything I know and by the end of the day, you'd be the best archer in all of Erebor." He says sweetly. "Well… second best. After me of course." Correcting himself. You gasp at his cheekiness and punch his shoulder playfully.

"Alright, alright. Let's get this lesson started."

Several hours passed, and so had several arrows yet not one hit the target. You were out of breath, your arms shaking so much you could barely lift the bow. Kili looked over you, took in the sight of your sweaty form and shaking arms. He sat on the ground with a thump- the sound surprising you.

"Kili? Are you alright?" You asked worriedly, kneeling down next to him.

"I'm sorry." He whispers, not looking at you. Confused, you take his hand into yours and begin to rub his arm comfortingly.

"What do you mean? No need to apologize, you're a great teacher- I'm just a bad student hahaha!" You joke. However, Kili shakes his head.

"No, I'm a better teacher than this, it's just that I am distracted…" he admits, further confusing you. Kili continues, "I heard what you said with Fili." Shocked, you ask, "How much did you hear…?" You look down, unable to meet his eyes.

"All of it." Your shoulders droop in dismay. Ashamed, you begin to pull away, but his grip tightens.

"You don't need to be anything for me, y/n. I don't need a princess nor do I need a lady- I just need you." Kili's confession snaps your eyes to his.

"You don't mean that." You respond, barely a whisper. Your eyes fall on your lap once again, but Kili tilts your chin up so your eyes stare into his deep brown eyes.

"I do, amrâlimê. With every ounce of my being." He smiles the smile that can make even the darkest nights seem like morning. Still, clouds of doubt linger.

"I came from nothing, Kili… You are a prince, there are so many other dwarrowdams, clothed and draped with gems and gold- I cannot compare to that. You deserve-" Suddenly you're pulled forward and silenced as his lips meet yours. At first, Kili seems hesitant, giving you enough time to pull away, but to his relief, you begin to kiss him back. Your hand reaches up and caresses his cheek, while his free hand pulls you in closer, deepening the kiss. For a moment, the clouds break and all thoughts of doubt leave your mind, replaced by a feeling of wholeness-- as though you had found a half you'd never known you'd lost. Reluctantly, however, you both pull away to breathe but bring your foreheads together, basking in each other's presence- time begins to move again.

"My heart belongs to no one except to you, y/n. You are my One and I love you. Don't worry about them; they cannot compare to you. No one can." He breathes, cupping your face in both his hands. Unbeknownst to you, tears trail down your eyes.

"But-" He kisses you again, softly. Brushing away any second thoughts you'd have.

"No buts. Do you know why they don't compare? It's because, in the end, I know they will only want me for my title and gold. But you?" He wipes your tears away and smiles lovingly at you. "You love me for me. You'd seen me at my highs and lows. Moreover, you always show me the bright side of everything, ghivashel. They can keep their gems and golden gowns. For you are my silver lining." With that, Kili pulls you into a tight hug and all you can do is smile as the clouds of doubt break. Assuring you that come what may, no matter what clouds your thoughts, Kili's love for you is true, and will always show you the bright side- he is your silver lining.

[oingo233]

Sirius Comforting S/O After Rough Day

Summary: Blurbs for how Sirius would comfort his S/O after a rough day.

Sirius Black x Reader (neutral)

Warnings: like a mention or two of sexy times, fluff, so much fluff, some angst, cussing, also nothing about reader is specified and therefore totally neutral.

Authors Note: pls I need this man in my life!!  I hope you all enjoy this! And though I’m no Sirius, if yall are having a bad day feel free to rant and talk to me whenever <3

                                               ****Love is Medicine****

He is always there to remind you he is there for you and that he loves you.  But for the most part it depends on what kind of rough day you had. 

 - If it was a bad test, or mean people in the halls, or maybe just an onslaught of unlucky things happening all in one day and your mood is just rotten and down then will sneak in your favorite snack and some butterbeer “Lets not drink too heavily when we’re sad.  Sad drinking is a no, no.  I should know, know...”

- He just gets super dorky with everything he says, like his little “know know” joke above.  He’ll definitely do everything in his power to make you laugh and smile.

- Will give you his coziest sweater, and bundle you up in a burrito blanket with him.

- When it is really bad, but in the sense where you’re just mentally and physically exhausted he’ll let you sleep on his chest or lap and charm paper animals to run and leap around you.  You’re favorite is when he charms a simple rat, dog, stag and human boy (who looks a lot like Remus) and has them act out these great adventures or amusing plots which might have or might not have actually happened.  

- If it’s a rough day that leaves you in a very self-conscious mood or just feeling weird he’ll make sure to show you how much he loves you, and if you are okay with it, he will make very slow, passionate love to you that leaves you blushing and in bliss for the rest of the night.

- Or if the day has you really angry he will for sure, again if you’re down, let you take your anger out in the bedroom.  He is a switch, I just know it, and finds it so sexy when you take control and are rough ooops this was supposed to be fluff

But some other things he does on any rough day are...

- He’ll braid your hair (or try to, no matter the length, though depending on how short he might give up and pout, making you laugh), and then let you braid his.  He learned how to braid hair from Lily when drunk and wanting his hair to be braided like hers.

- If you like reading, he will pick up your favorite book, drag you ontop of him, and then read to you and rub your back and hair.  He’ll even do funny voices for each character.

- Lots of cuddles, and very long hugs and lingering forehead kisses, and periodical squeezes of the hand.  He’ll always be touching you when your sad, to give you comfort and let you know that he is the shoulder you can cry on. 

- I feel like sometimes he’ll try and put the situation into perspective or say certain things to make you feel better, but sometimes it comes off as invalidating.  Once you told him this he immediately says he is sorry, while hugging you to his chest, and he feels awful, because he never wants to make your bad day worse.  After that conversation he always makes sure to be more affectionate and just a listener when you’re sad, rather than someone who tries to talk you away from the exhaustion or source of negative feelings.

- But sometimes he says the most heartwarming sweet thing, or like really helpful and wise things that just make you feel better.

- Other times he will say the most out of pocket shit you can imagine, or tell you about a prank he did and just one of his many great stories that have you laughing and on the floor.  Telling good and funny stories is a skill, you can’t tell me otherwise (one I don’t always have), and it is one skill he defiantly is very good at. Though I can see him getting sidetracked mid-sentence sometimes.  

- If it was just like a shitty and lame day then he’ll turn on your favorite record and dance around the common room like a crazy person with you.  He also knows how to slow dance because of his family gatherings, so he would definitely sway you around and bring you close to his chest and you’d feel his heart beat under your palm as he sang the lyrics softly to you, and then pulled away to spin you and suddenly your whole world was alight with joy again.  

- On your rough days he was always calmer, more understanding and very humorous.  He’d be very observant to your mood and learn how to make you feel better after a while of dating.

- Sirius is the type to also ask what you need from him when you storm into the dorms crying or upset.  He’ll hug you and say “Do you want advice?  Cuddles?  Comfort?  An ear? A shoulder?” Sometimes he’d drag it on to weird things just to make you laugh “A foot?  A bag with chocolate and socks?  A golden snitch?  James got one of those around ere’ somewhere.”  And then after you chuckle a little, he’ll look down at you and wait for your answer.

    - He does this because he is afraid of making things worse for you by giving crap advice or not listening or holding you close enough when you need it.  He’s had a fair amount of times where he was so frustrated and upset but had a hard time communicating what he needed and ended up feeling worse, he never wanted the two of you to have that problem.  

    - But also because sometimes he gets uncomfortable and lost when comforting someone, and needs some direction.  But after a while of you two dating he hardly ever needed to ask, he’d just know.

- He would be soooo good at cuddling for comfort and at whispering the sweetest things that always make you feel better.  Because he thinks back on all the nights he’d cry himself to sleep at home, and remember how he just wanted to be held and told those same things.

Overall very good at comforting S/O because he knows bad days.  He’s had countless himself, but he also lives with a Remus, a werewolf, and with James who always seems to be hopelessly in love, and Peter who is always insecure.  He’s woken up and comforted them each through nightmares, bad days, rejections, and the turmoil of full moons. 

 He also just knows you.  He knows your favorite band and books, the way you take your tea and breakfast.  He sure as hell knows how to love you and comfort you.  And in return, he always turns to you for comfort of his own.  The love he has for you is unconditional, it is adoration and respect, sometimes that thought alone cheers up on your bad days too.

[kiarcheo]

A Whole New World    5/10

Jane and Kat find out there is more to each other…and to the new world they have found themselves in.

Read on Ao3 too

                                 ——————————————–

‘Look what I’ve got?!’

Kat grabs the slips of paper Jane is waving in her face. They are train tickets. ‘Okay?’

‘Do you know what’s there?’

‘No?’ Kat is confused but can’t help smiling at Jane’s excitement.

‘Amusement park!’

‘Really?’

‘Yes! We’re going to make a day out of it.’

‘What about the others?’ As much as she chafes at being ‘controlled’, a whole day out, leaving the city, probably warrants a heads-up at the very least.

‘Sadly they are unable to join us as they all have prior commitments either in the morning or in the afternoon.’ Jane doesn’t sound sad at all.

‘You cheeky fox.’

‘Nobody expects subterfuge from the village idiot.’

‘Hey, that’s my role! You’re Dumb, but I’m Dumber.’ Kat swats at her.

‘We should get that on t-shirts.’

‘And you’re clearly the brain of our duo.’

‘Wow,’ Jane brings a hand to her chest, ‘nobody ever accused me of such a thing.’

‘Well, certainly you’re not the brawn. You might have built some muscles in your legs skating, but you still have noodle arms.’

/

‘Would you like a map?’ the cashier at the entrance asks as he hands them their wristbands.

‘Yes, please, it’s our first time visiting.’

‘Then you choose a good day. Mid-week we don’t get too many people so you can enjoy and explore the grounds without too much crowds...and queues.’

They move away from the gates before stopping.

‘Where to first?’

They both look around in awe.

‘Adult slides?’

They study the map trying to find them. ‘Here!’ a finger points the number corresponding to the picture. ‘Astroglide here we come!’

.

‘Should we try something else?’ Kat asks, picking up her mat, after they had gone down the slides various times. ‘We can come back,’ she adds seeing the yearning look Jane shoots the attraction.

‘Do you want to...’ Jane points towards the roller coaster.

‘Honestly?’

Jane nods.

‘Not really?’ Kat winces as even on the ground they can hear the people currently on it screaming their heads off.

‘Thank God,’ Jane breaths out. She is not keen on being that far up in the air. She is sure it’s safe and all, but like with airplanes, she doesn't really want to test it herself.

They keep walking around. ‘What about this?’ Jane asks stopping in front of a garish bright structure that announces itself to be a fun house.

.

‘Never again,’ Kat pants out, face flushed and hair escaping her ponytail. ‘Never been this close to dying for a second time!’

‘There is nothing fun about dying of a heart attack,’ Jane agrees, hands clutching her chest. ‘At the cost of sounding like an old lady–’  

‘Yes.’ Kat nods. She can’t find it in herself to muster up her usual teasing about Jane’s age. It’s like she has lost her sass together with her breath. ‘Let’s find something nice and calm.’

The hall of mirrors proves to be the right choice, leaving them breathless but this time with laughter.

.

‘Are they crashing into each other on purpose?’ Kat looks on confused as colourful little cars bump into others much to the hilarity of everyone involved.

‘Fancy a drive?’ Jane elbows her. ‘Could be a literal crash course on driving.’

Kat rolls her eyes at the pun, but soon they find themselves seated onto a small, pink bumper car, Kat at the wheel.

‘You know how you said you have no plans to get a car?’ Jane asks, bracing herself, as once again the car jerks, the forward movement immediately stopping as Kat tries to figure out how to drive it. ‘Please stick to that.’

‘Let’s see how you do then!’

She makes to stand up, car still in the middle of the floor with people bumping into them.

‘Maybe we should pull over to one side before swapping?’ Jane throws an arm around her waist, stopping her.

‘That's the whole problem!’ Kat snarks. ‘If I could do that, we wouldn’t be swapping.’

Thankfully the time runs out and all cars slow down. Some people leave theirs, new people getting in, others stay waiting for the new session to start. And Kat and Jane trade places.

‘Never getting into a car with you,’ Kat informs her cousin as they leave the attraction.

‘What? Why? I was good!’ And she was. In the thick of the action, skilfully – especially for a first timer – trying to evade getting bumped while chasing others, and gleefully and viciously crashing into them.

‘Because I saw the glint in your eyes. You make for a scary driver. And I bet that you would have road rage.’

/

‘What happened?’

Jane and Kat, who had just returned home, stare at Anna confused.

‘Your...’ the fourth queen motions with her finger to her forehead.

The cousins look at each other. Then realisation dawns on Kat. Indeed, there is a red mark on Jane's forehead.

‘She walked into a glass wall,’ Kat reveals with a giggle.

‘All your fault.’

‘Mine?’

‘Yes! Who distracted me?’

‘I just called your name. It was you who decided to turn around to flip me off, and consequently headed straight into it. How is that my fault??’ Kat protests. ‘Also, headed....because you went with your head in first, you got it?’

Jane storms off.

‘She doesn’t want to admit that the pun was brilliant and she loved it,’ Kat tells Anna before going to the kitchen.

.

‘Aaaahh!’ Jane screams jerking away. ‘Bloody hell, K, it’s cold!’

‘Well, it is ice.’ Kat holds the pack up with a grin. ‘For your head.’

Jane snatches it from her. ‘That was not my head.’

‘I thought about throwing it at you...’ Kat plops down on the bed.

‘How is slapping it on my nape any better?’ Jane grumbles but joins her on the bed, scooting towards the wall to lean against it. She tilts her head backward so that the ice pack stays in place without holding it there.

‘Does it hurt?’ Kat asks, genuine concern in her voice.

‘Not really. Only if I furrow my brows.’

‘Then don’t,’ Kat says, moving so that she is in the same position, back against the wall.

‘Thanks for the advice, Doctor Howard,’ Jane remarks drolly. ‘What are you going to do?’ she then asks out of the blue.

‘Uh?’

‘The number.’

‘Oh,’ Kat hums in realisation. ‘Nothing.’

‘You are not going to call?’

‘I don’t even know her. All we exchanged was, well, our orders and some small talk.’ And then as they were leaving, the waitress had handed her a slip with her phone number, along with the receipt for their food. ‘And I live in a different city anyway.’

‘So it’s not because it’s a girl?’

Kat stiffens. An uneasy silence falls as she stares at her lap, picking at the skin around her nails until Jane’s hand covers them, stilling their movement.

‘It’s okay.’

'Is it?‘

‘Of course.’ Jane hasn’t heard such vulnerability in Kat’s voice...well, she never did. She IS cagey with her feelings, and even once they got closer, Kat had switched from not talking about how she feels to talking about it sarcastically. ‘I don’t care who you like, as long as they treat you well.’

Kat twists around to hug her. ‘Best sister I could have asked for.’

‘Cousin. Second cousin.’

‘Shut up,’ Kat grumbles. ‘You know what I meant.’ She releases her. ‘We were having a moment and you ruined it.’

Jane knows Kat is not really upset, but– ‘I love you too.’

‘Now,’ she drawls, ‘I never said that.’

Jane shoves Kat, who ends up sprawled on the bed. ‘Now who is the one ruining the moment?’

/

‘Ow!’ Kat rubs her arm. ‘I did not throw the ice pack at you! And a book hurts more.’

A flash of remorse appears on Jane’s face, before vanishing. ‘You deserve it.’

‘I deserve to have a book chucked at me?’

‘Yes. Because you told me to read it.’

Kat picks it up to look at the title. ‘I just told you about the series.’ She had not read it herself. ‘But I thought you liked the first one?’

‘Exactly. Except the others are terrible.’

‘I’m…sorry? But I can’t really do anything about that?’

Jane still looks quite...perhaps not upset, but annoyed.

‘Want to talk about it?’

The regret starts fifteen minutes into Jane’s rant.

‘Am I right?’

Kat blinks at her. ‘I have not read any of them, so I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

Jane deflates.

‘How you tried checking online?’ Kat suggests. ‘It was a really popular series so I‘m sure that there are other people who didn’t like it...maybe you can find some to complain with?’

.

‘You were right,’ Jane announces, walking into Kat's room.

‘I usually am,’ Kat says cheekily, ‘but about what?’

‘There are lots of people hating those bloody books. Or better, the wasted potential of them. They are even writing alternative storylines and endings!’

‘Are you going to do it too? I remember you having lots of opinions and ideas on how the story should have gone.’

Jane stares at her for a long moment. ‘Do you think I could?’

‘Of course.’ Kat has no hesitation whatsoever.

‘Really?’ Jane seems to have plenty of them though. ‘I mean, I know I’m not Cathy.’

‘Just because she was the one who wrote in the past, it doesn’t mean she is the only one allowed to write now,’ Kat points out. ‘Perhaps we should all die again soon too, since–’

‘Fine, fine, I get it, no need to–’ Kat has a point, but still... She blows out a breath. ‘But I’ve never done it. Not now that we’re back, and certainly not in the past.’

‘Everyone has to start somewhere. And it’s not like you have to publish or anything like that, you know? If you want to write, write. Even if you do it just for yourself.’

[emperorofbullshit]

This is gonna be me ranting and whining about how annoyed I am at my own mediocrity and how I manipulate the people around me as a coping mechanism to delude myself into thinking I am doing pretty alright and I shouldn't complain because I have it good

Since 14 years old there has been much discord in my family. My father is an alcoholic and not just a normal one. He would go to work at 6, get off work at 12 and then come home after 6 more hours of drinking. There are 7 days in a week and out of those 7, in at least 5 I have had to hide in my room because I was scared of him. He would yell, he would call me names, he would even make threats saying things like :

"I have 2 sons. Do you see that window? I could throw you out of it and only have one son."

To a 14 year old kid who is scared shitless but can't show emotion on his face, those words were always taken at face value and I always had no doubts on him being unable to keep his words. I am the eldest of 2 sons and thus I had to take the brunt of the "parental dedication", as they call it, and was always pushed for excellence. They would always say : "Get good grades, make good friends, go outside, go study, go do this and go do that" in and out every day. From 3rd grade I have been taking courses on languages, sports and math at times and I would leave home at about 6:45 AM every day to get to school at 7:30 and I would go from school which ended more often than not at 13:30 to English courses and then to either Deutch courses or basketball practice which would end at roughly 6PM.

My parents loved achievements but did next to nothing to help me feel anything other than anger towards getting any. They would always go on and on about good grades so you can get the prize money, good grades so you can get in a good school, good this, good that and I subconsciously avoided being in the spotlight because I actually felt gratification from being able to see their dreams shatter into dust and fir a while, that was the inly thing that kept me going. Just the look on their faces, the tone on their voice, the gleam in their eyes. The gleam of someone realizing that their hopes and dreams of greatness were just turned to dust. I still have that side of me, I just choose to keep it under control but it want's to get loose once a while.

And so my life continued until 9th grade when ai decided to stop all couses because I was sick and tired of them and so I stopped going. Then came high school, this circus, part of which I am as of writing this text most if not all of you will skip because it's just way too long.

In the first year of highschool I had fun. I made some new friends and hung with them a bit and I also met the one person I thought I could trust because she was like me, except unlike me, she still had hope and she still had her parents, albeit controlling, with her, rather than against her.

I gave her counsel when she needed it and we hit it off. She was a great friend while it lasted. I knew from the beginning that she and I would most certanly not make it through the year as friends so I had as much fun as possible with her.

I told her a very tiny fraction about my life and jokingly but never untruthfully told her how my mind works and what I do to people around me, her included. I talked her about relationships once and I helped her out too because she had a guy she liked and he liked her back. This guy just so happened to also be a friend of mine so I thought : "Why not help my friend get together with my other friend?", and subtly but surely I made them get together faster.

That was basically the premise of the first year. A pretty average story but I left out the part where the alcoholism and mental abuse at home never stopped. I put focus on this one girl because helping her out was my coping mechanism.

Then came the second year. This girl had gotten together with her man and they were very happy to be together and still are, after all I am still in my 2nd year of high school writing this, but back to topic. The second year of high school was wierd to say the least because of the pandemic and our classes were split in half. Me, being the pupeteer I am, decided to pull some strings and set my annoying classmates away with sweet words and deals that sounded too good to be true, and ended up with the best classmates I wanted, part of which was my target for the second year. My target was a girl this time. She was and still is, pretty, smart, and very comfortable for me to be around but she and i had never actually talked at all. Wd had exchanged a sentence once on our 1st year and that's it. I spent a few days observing her and noticed that she was a loner, she didn't exactly have friends amongst the classmates, so I thought : "Well that's as good a chance as any.", and started talking to her and walked her home after school. We became friends and were going out daily after school to get a drink somewhere and one day, as I had planned, 2 fellow classmates show up and I tell them to sit with us and so began my act and my strategy on building her a group of friends. The group wasn't too big. It was me, her, the other 2 classmates, a friend of mine and the girl from the 1st year of highschool. We were all classmates so we all had fun and talked and we developed into a true griend group. Well, as good a group as any can be with me in it. Time passed an I noticed I was really not interested in this girl I had set as my target so I just let her go to do her thing and cut my puppet strings there.

I did all of this because I wanted to prove to myself something, I don't even know what it was anymore because it lost value in my eyes and so I just cut my strings on everyone and let them free. My social life was evolving for the better, which was good and all, but my familial life was degrading and devolving at such speeds that weren't even funny anymore.

My father would come drunk, lecture me for hours on end about the most uselss things in existence, and he would always call me names and berate me on everything. He had even come to me with a big kitchen knife pointed at my chest and said : "I will kill you and eat your heart if you dont do what I want"

I am still afraid of him and i still have trauma gron him so I still didn't doubt his words because when your father comes to your room at 10 PM holding a knife to your chest while your back is agains the wall, you then realize that bad things can really be considered good compared to other things.

I was living in fear. Every day I would pretend to be asleep for hours on end so I could avoid him and maybe be spared but that was just wishful thinking.

While my soocial life evolved, my familial life kept devolving. My father would come drunk more often, fight more often with my mother, screm more, curse more and shout more. I was honestly getting pretty fed up with his bullshit. One day, he woke up from his nap and he was still drunk and started lecturing me on what "Sons of bitches, idiots and parasites" every single member of my moms side of the family, my mother included was. I was very pissed and my knuckles had gone wbite form me clenching them that hard.

My mother got home mid lecture and thy started fighting again. First it was just verbal insults and slurs, but it got worse and worse untol my father literaly ran at my mother prepated to choke her.

That.

That was the moment I had my first meltdown in my life. I saw him run and I saw his hands on her throat and I just had one simple directive in my mund telling me one thing : "Whatever made you feel this way must be eliminated"

And that was what I tried to do. I ran and pushed him away from my mother and then punched my dad so hard he crashed into the wall and made a dent. I would probably have killed him there if it wasn't for my father's brother who came to us because of all the noise, stopping me. He tried to get me away from my father and when I did and my father got up and tried to punch me while my uncle was blaming my mom fir the situation, I grabbed both him and my dad and threw them to the wall. I would probably have been bruised because thwy are both fat and I was in complete meltdown just screaming in the rage of years and years of mental torture and violent self loathing which had build up behind the dam and only sought a way out. They eventually split us up and I was crying and yelling. I could barely breathe, my lungs just couldn't take in air fadt enough for my heart which was beating so hard that thunder would sound like a butterfly's wings beating. I opened the windows on my room and put 3 quarters of my body outside the window , risking to fall and die but I didn't care anymore. The rage had subsided, having found an exit and without it to push me, I was just a broken kid that just sought desperately the help which noone gave. Not my parents, not my friends, not even those who considered themselves and to my face said "We are best friends, we help each other". I never got any help and nobody even saw that I broke down. I dropped hint after hint after hint that I needed someone to talk to, someone to say a few words to me, someone to just listen to anything I wanted to say, yet all I got was nothing. I noticed that none of these so called friends or best friends care about anything. Thwy didn't even notice that when I took my shirt off to change for PE, I had bruises in my back and chest. Nobody said anything or did anything so i also did nothing.

Everybody just seemed to go on their own way and nobody wanted to even acknowledge what had happened or what help I needed.

I am still bitter and mad at everyone but especually at my "best friend" to whom I say the following :

V. You know who this account belongs to. You know me in real life and you know I'm not lying because I don't waste my time like that. You know damn well that if yku read this entire thing and see things just a small 1(one) percent of how I saw things, you wouldn't call youself my acquaintance, let alone my best friend.

To anyone that made it to the end and actually read it, please realize that no matter what, no matter where, you cannot rely on those you consider dear without knowing for certain that they also consider you dear.

[yinyangswings]

Love & Legends Shifter AU

So I thought about the Dinae in the Love & Legends universe (have not read tales of the wild yet), but thought about what would happen if MC could transform into an animal. So I made my Shifter headcanon list.

General

They call themselves shifters. They do not know how they arrived to Earth, though MC later thinks that it may have been the Dinae that came to Earth at some point in similar circumstances as she did.

Shifters have evolved to remain as hidden as possible on Earth, due to the lack of magic known by humans. They do not showcase any features of their animal side. 

They can partially shift which makes them look the closest to the Dinae, though they usually don’t. 

While there are other mythological beasts/creatures on Earth such as vampires, werewolves, etc., shifters still keep themselves as much of a secret as possible. Technically they are were-creatures in this world, though they don’t like to admit it.

Due to the decades and centuries of separation, Shifters from Earth can be considered a different species than the Dinae in the Fantasy Realm

Shifters tend to stay in packs of similar species though packs of different species are not unheard of. 

Their clothes do not shift with them, so depending on the size, they either have to make sure they grab their discarded clothes, or have a spare set somewhere. 

Being stressed can affect their ability to shift. If they’re in animal form and they grow stressed they can’t shift back, if they’re in their human look form they can’t shift into animal form. In other cases the stress will make the shifter change randomly

August Falke 

MC can shift into a falcon. She enjoys flying, and feeling the wind through her feathers and did it plenty of times in Chicago as it wasn’t completely unheard of to see a falcon in the city.

When partially shifted, she gains wings on her back. She rarely does so due to the fact it normally ruins her shirts, until Solaire outfits her shirts with openings for the wings

She has severe anxiety when being caged, or in closed off spaces that have no obvious windows. 

She only manages to stay relatively calm the first time she’s thrown in the cells because she’s confused as hell as to what’s going on. 

She almost has a panic attack when Alain kidnaps her the first time and practically has one when he attempts to take her again. The Ice Crystal incident is what finally invokes a particularly severe fight or flight instinct mode due to stress and confusion. 

When she is thrown into the cells a second time, she does have a panic attack but forces herself to not transform, knowing full well it would make things worse.

She reveals she’s a shifter to the others in the middle of Season 2. 

August is stunned and asks several questions, mostly concerned about her relative safety from the generals and the WQ as he can’t exactly protect her in the air

She normally shifts to fly ahead to make sure everything is safe. She’s careful and vigilant about Jinhai due to his affinity with controlling animals. 

As August gets used to her shifting, he winds up forgetting that it’s strange to call a falcon ‘my love’.

It leads to quite the interesting conversation with his father when Bayard sees August arguing with MC in falcon form. 

August enjoys preening her feathers when she’s in falcon form and she’s just resting on his shoulder. It has a calming effect for the both of them, especially when the stresses of the WQ and the war becomes more and more prominent. 

Similarly, he can run his fingers through the wings on her back when she’s partially shifted.  

MC will also preen his hair, though it usually winds up looking more and more like a mess than anything

August finds out that MC’s bone structure is more fragile than his. He has to try and figure out armor that will protect her, but is not heavy enough to do more damage if she does get hit.

MC makes a charm using one of her feathers for him. He wears it with pride, and cherishes it. If she has to fly for recon or anything in that manner, he’s normally seen clutching the charm. 

When MC is sent back to Chicago and sees him in her dreams, he is clinging to the charm almost like a lifeline. 

She’s a lightweight when she’s drinking and shifts when she gets drunk with Solaire. August is awoken to a very inebriated falcon careening into his room. She thankfully shifts back before ranting at August and passing out. 

This is the first time she partially transforms back in front of August. He does tease her slightly when she wakes up, commenting that when she’s embarrassed, her feathers on her wings ruffle up.

Having to try and find her clothes the next day and August having to explain why there are random female clothing in the bushes is both amusing and embarrassing.

The WQ’s curse begins to affect her ability to fly. She decides to not shift until it's fixed, and finds herself staring up at the sky a lot during those days, wishing to fly but unable to.

When August stabs her in the chest with Aisetha, she loses the connection to the Shifter side temporarily. It’s quite the blow for both of them, though MC is quicker to recover than August, who feels immensely guilty at the idea of her losing an integral part of herself. 

She tells him she’s alive, and that’s all that matters because they can stay together.

She regains the connection with it in Season 8 and shifts and takes flight for the first time when they return from Chicago.

When she shifts back, she shifts in mid-air and lands in August’s arms, excitedly claiming that she can still fly. August doesn’t need to hold onto the guilt. Both are crying out of relief and no one really comments or teases them about it.

When they discuss children, August worries that him being human may harm them. MC is quick to tell that either a child will be a shifter or won’t be, there won’t be one that is half. 

When MC meets Revi, she’s thrown off because she’s never seen a shifter with ears and a tail out in the open for long periods of time. 

She’s also not used to nudity or such little clothing on a daily basis. No, August. Shifters from Earth don’t look like that. For god’s sake, they’d have been arrested for public indecency.

The Falke family find it funny when both Della and August visit at the same time. August and Della not as much. Mostly because they both get teased for both falling in love with women who can shift into an animal.

Saerys 

MC can shift into a Panther.

Her partial shift is her claws, teeth, and eyes changing

She shifts the first time when Lennox forces Saerys into turbo mode. Lennox is quite stunned, as are the others when a furious she-Panther appears and nearly kills Lennox and the other Generals. 

She has to stay in panther mode as she accidentally destroys her clothes shifting. Initially August insists she returns to human mode until she shifts back in annoyance and is completely nude. Cue a stammering and blushing August and the other retainers who can’t so much as look in her direction. 

They find her cloak so she’s able to transform back before returning to the castle, but she can’t really move without revealing everything, so she has to sit on Wyndsor when heading inside. 

She explains that it’s not normal on Earth, and while she says it’s possible, she has yet to meet another Shifter. 

She’s surprised to find out about the Dinae in this world. 

Her and Saerys bond over this, which makes them closer a lot quicker.

When she is in WQ’s castle, Lennox and Jinhai attempt to control her beast side. It results in several black eyes, and scratch marks. 

For a little while after Saerys gives her half of his soul, she can’t transform. She initially thinks that she lost that part when she died, but it winds up being that the demon side and a small part of the shifter side had to merge together and become a separate entity to the WQ soul.

Saerys is seen many times in the library with a purring jaguar on his lap. She really likes his heat and curls up to him a lot. She also purrs, which is embarrassing for her, but Saerys loves it.

The jaguar side considers him her mate pretty early on (like Season 1), and is protective of him. 

When the jaguar consciousness returns, Saerys literally feels the jaguar almost stalking around his mind, taking him in. It’s quite nerve-wracking at first, but he gets used to it quickly. MC is nervous at first, worried he’ll be put off by it. 

He reassures her over and over again that would never happen. 

Altea manages to figure out how to make a beam of light move around. They cannot get enough of playing with MC in her shifter form. So much chaos ensues because of that. 

It’s all fun until Altea and Iseul point the light on Saerys’s chest and all of a sudden Saerys has an 150 pound Jaguar tackling him. 

When Saerys goes into Demon God mode and if she shifts, her teeth and claws are longer, her fur is wilder looking, and her eyes glow red.

The Jaguar side and the Demon souls argue like an old married couple, which is both amusing and exhausting for MC and Saerys

Saerys wonders what children that are half-shifter/half-demon could be. MC is curious too but actually somewhat excited at the prospect whenever that happens.

Altea Bellerose 

MC can shift into a raven.

She has black wings when she partially shifts and her tendency to try to look for sparkly things is more severe

Cue MC’s inner panic when Altea starts calling her ‘my raven’ 

Because crap maybe Altea can sense that there’s another part of her and wouldn’t that make them all suspicious of her. 

She barely manages to not shift due to that.

She reveals what she is in the beginning of Season 2 to Altea, who in turn begins to do as much research about shifters as possible. 

They let the others know after Altea researches enough to know about MC and that her shifting is not a trick by WQ

Altea enlists MC to play a prank on Iseul by having MC shift and fly up to Isuel’s room. MC awakens Iseul quite abruptly by cawing and making loud noises. Iseul is not a happy camper, though Altea finds it hilarious. 

Similar to August, this MC’s bone structure is more fragile due to being hollow for shifting into a bird. This causes her to worry constantly when MC takes up a sword to fight with.

Her worst fear comes true when MC is badly injured protecting Altea in her raven form and one of her wings and several of her ribs are broken. Altea is practically beside herself with worry and guilt as MC recovers. It is not known for a while whether or not MC will ever be able to fly again, leading to some stress between them.

Thankfully, MC recovers enough and takes to the skies again, Altea being incredibly relieved that she can still fly.

She also dives into defensive magic because she can’t go through that again

When Altea gains her own wings, the two go on flying dates. A lot. 

On land, if MC changes into raven form, she sits on Altea’s shoulder, making happy raven sounds whenever Altea gives her attention.

Boy does she love it when Altea preens her feathers

She begins to unknowingly court Altea by hiding glittery and shiny objects around their room for Altea to find. She doesn’t initially notice it, and it isn’t until Altea comments about finding another shiny bauble on her pillow that MC figures out what is going on. 

She is blushing so much and refuses to look Altea in the eye for a few hours. She doesn’t tell Altea for a while afterwards because she’s embarrassed. 

When Altea figures it out, she blushes and is grinning like an idiot as she wanders aimlessly around the castle. It’s very concerning to the other retainers. 

Altea makes her intentions known as well by giving MC a very shiny, sparkly ring. 

MC stares at it for a few seconds before her face lights up and she transforms into a very ecstatic raven. 

She accidentally transforms in front of Altea’s parents due to stress, and they are less than thrilled with their future daughter-in-law being a bird. 

Altea isn’t pleased that her parents call MC a crow. 

Lionel finds her fascinating, asking questions nonstop about being a shifter to the point MC can barely keep up. 

Reiner Wolfson

MC can shift into a wolf. Her pack resides in Chicago, though she is estranged from them due to her tolerating and residing among humans.

When she partially shifts, she gains ears and a tail. 

She shifts the first time in front of the others when they come to rescue her in the beginning to Season 2 and attacks Magnus.

When she transforms back, she’s unfortunately nude due to her clothes being damaged from the transformation. Reiner is stunned, but doesn’t really ask too much at that moment. He just covers her up with his cape and escapes until they can find her cloak.

When he does ask for more explanation, she explains that she didn’t hide being a shifter from him or the others because she didn’t trust them. She had been raised to hide it from everyone that it became second nature to hide it, even from him. 

The irony of her being able to shift into a wolf, and that she is with Reiner is not lost on anyone and the retainers do not have any problems teasing them about it.

It becomes common to see Reiner doing his rounds and a black wolf following closely behind.

He gives a lot of ear scratches when she’s shifted, which she rather enjoys.

Her sense of smell and hearing are greatly heightened even in human form.

She’s actually receptive to marrying Reiner. The wolf part of her already saw him as her mate, though she kept that little tidbit of information quiet when they started their relationship.

When she and Reiner are sent back to Chicago and are reunited, she has to work incredibly hard to not tell him anything about her being a shifter. 

It hurts a lot because she feels like she’s lying to him again. 

She partially shifts to reveal what she is, and though initially stunned and asking if this is some elaborate joke, just listens to her explanation. He takes to it rather quickly. It makes her fall in love with him even more

During this time, she is reunited with her original pack and dealing with the members of the pack, mainly her father. Though he is glad she is back, he is not happy with discovering her in a relationship with a human, even if he is from another realm. He orders her to cease contact with Reiner, which she refuses to do, resulting in MC fighting her father to protect Reiner when he finds out that she told Reiner about her being a shifter.

Though she succeeds in winning the match, she is formally ousted from the pack and disowned. She finds she’s not as upset as she thought she would be. 

Her mother defies the decree made by her father so she can say goodbye to her daughter, saying that she hopes she will find happiness with Reiner.

She does not tell Reiner for quite awhile afterwards being disowned by her family. It’s only after the WQ is defeated that she explains the events with her family

He feels guilty for a little bit about her losing her family, though she tells him that she would have lost them no matter what, and she considers him and the retainers a new pack. 

Nobles aren’t exactly thrilled with her bloodline and see her as a savage and treat her as such behind Reiner’s back. 

She keeps it relatively quiet from Reiner, unwilling to burden him with the gossip with everything going at that moment. He eventually finds out though and is less than thrilled about what the nobles are saying. 

Him and MC have a long talk about the nobles and the others and what has been said to her. He reminds her he fell in love with her, which means both parts of her. 

She sometimes wears her wedding ring around her neck on a long chord so that way she can wear it when she’s shifted.

Reiner wonders if her being a wolf might mean multiple children in a ‘litter’. MC assures him that it’s just as likely there will be a single child (as she was), as there could be multiple litter mates.

Iseul Idreis 

MC can shift into a fox. She does not have a pack in Chicago, though instinct makes her consider Sophie a pack member

She looks similar to Revi when she partially shifts, though she only has one tail. 

Iseul can sort of sense that there is something different about her, though he doesn’t know what. It makes him suspicious of her for a little while.

She reveals that she’s a shifter to Iseul in the beginning of Season 2. He wasn’t expecting that at all.

When going after Jinhai in her human form, his abilities cause her to have a paralyzing headache. Iseul is able to lessen the pain, though it is obvious that it still hurts her.

In fox form, Jinhai’s abilities are extremely painful and is like a sharp ringing in her head telling her to obey him. It takes the entirety of her human side to keep the shifter side from attacking the others. 

In contrast, with Iseul it feels like a wave of warmth easing the headache in an instant

Iseul is most reluctant to let her shift when doing recon because of Jinhai. He doesn’t know what he would do if she was returned to them under Jinhai’s control. He also doesn’t know (neither does she to be honest) if he would be able to tell if she was under Jinhai’s control

Ishara is suspicious of her, and Iseul initially doesn’t tell his mother about MC’s abilities. They tell her right before she gets injured.

MC is badly injured protecting the egg. A fox is not exactly a big creature and not a heavy hitter. Iseul is beside himself with worry when he finds her injured and barely conscious.

When she thinks Iseul is dead, she kind of just curls up into the blankets and makes a makeshift burrow. She is partially transformed through all this due to the stress and the tail is wrapped around her. It’s distressing for the other retainers to say the least. 

Only Solaire can get close to her and get her to eat or do anything remotely outside the room.

When Iseul returns she tries to keep away from him because hormones, her feelings, as well as the fox emotions are incredibly confusing and stressful and she’s worried about the baby's health because of it. Iseul has to use his abilities to calm the fox part down long enough to explain everything.

When finding out about what she is, MC wonders if WQ was a shifter or part of the Dinae. Magnus denies the possibility but she and Iseul can’t be too sure of the truth to his denials.

She’s actually reluctant to get the ultrasound because she doesn’t know what the baby will look like, though she still suggests it. Cue relief when they see a human, not a fox or some sort of hybrid.

Iseul and Ishara are at first unsure if the well would accept changing MC because of the animal part of her. Thankfully it proves to not be a worry.

She doesn’t know if Iris will be a shifter. Time will tell.

Helena Klein 

MC can shift into a bear.

When she partially shifts, nothing is entirely obvious that she has changed, but her strength and speed are greatly increased 

Though Helena can sense the shifter side, she initially thinks it’s just the WQ’s magic. MC doesn’t correct her

MC doesn’t reveal that she’s a shifter until nearly the end of Season 2.

It’s quite the shock for Helena to see a large bear taking the place of MC

Helena is just amazed at how much MC eats and manages to store without seemingly gaining weight. For one so tiny, she can eat quite a lot. 

MC loves cuddling. Which is great and all, until she nearly crushes Helena when rolling over in bear form.

MC snores...quite loudly. She did not know this until Helena is hitting her awake with a pillow after the second week of them sleeping in the same bed.

MC goes into short periods of ‘hibernation’ which usually lasts only a few days. It is fine and all given the bear part...but she neglects to tell anyone that, so right after a battle, she just crashes and falls unconscious. Cue to her waking up to a distraught Helena a few days later. She has to make it up for Helena a lot for that.

Afterwards Helena is observant to see signs that MC will be going into hibernation soon.

WQ gets attacked by a furious MC when she kills Alain and nearly dies because of it. WQ makes sure to avoid MC in bear form after that

When they return to Chicago, they make plans to get property away from the city so MC can lumber around as a bear without fear of a random passerby in the city

Alain Richter 

MC can shift into a black cat.

Partial transformation includes cat ears and tail. Yes there are many jokes during Halloween to be had.

Alain was well aware of her being a shifter as the WQ was one as well (though she was considered half Dinae), though that connection was not as strong as MC’s is.

When WQ rose to power she basically tore that part out of her, destroying it. 

MC witnesses that when they were children, Alain would carry her around in kitten-form when she was tired or upset. She starts doing that and he holds her in a similar fashion and states he’s missed this.

After initially escaping she stays in her cat form as much as she can so she can be lighter for Nyx to carry. 

Alain is incredibly protective of MC’s secret and doesn’t reveal the secret to anyone, not even the Generals prior to these events.

MC revealing this to the retainers and Reiner is a very tense moment for him.

She does purr when she’s curled up to Alain, which is mainly an instinctual thing. It is embarrassing for her, but Alain finds it cute.

She will do a lot of cat-like things, such as pushing things off of shelves and tables, staring at walls, etc.. She tries to keep it at a minimum when around the retainers initially.

Then they figure out the light trick. The retainers are amused, Alain is as well, though he tries to hide it.

When they are in Chicago, her and Sophie manage to convince him to hold her while spinning slowly in a chair, saying ‘I’ve been expecting you Mr. Bond’. Sophie records it

He doesn’t get why Sophie and MC are cackling after the whole thing.

When MC meets her other counterparts, she also meets their shifter sides, and is surprised to see that each one has a different animal form.

She also finds the broken spirit of the WQ’s cat form, and clutches it, apologizing over and over again. That part eventually merges with MC and becomes a part of her.

Her and Alain plan to have children. She does tell him she doesn’t know if she could get multiple in a litter or just one child. He doesn’t care, as long as the child is happy and healthy.

[anaisrecsfics]

Teen Wolf Rewrites, Fix-Its & Canon Divergence

Have you seen the TV series and found the characters treated badly? Maybe you have and maybe you haven’t and I fall into the latter category but I will always enjoy people’s take on our favourite characters~

P. S. Can you see how the recs just starts to deviate from my original intention?

Gif made by me using Pixel Studio, inspired by the fic Tattoo

The Dolorous Stroke  by  Escalus wc:  81525, ch: 20/20

Stiles and the younger members of the pack are in the middle of their junior year. Things are quiet; there's finally a chance to be happy. There's a chance for them to be teenagers and maybe even pursue love. But everything is about to erupt once again as buried secrets come to the surface, the Alpha Pack finally makes its move, and the guilty will be brought face-to-face with their crimes.

Oh, and after disappearing for more than a year, Scott McCall has returned to Beacon Hills.

This is a rewrite of the first half of season three with the idea that Stiles was bitten in Wolf Moon instead of Scott.

Losing Control by  KhaSterek, sisforsterek wc:  35207, ch: 10/10

Sterek-centric retelling of Teen Wolf, with a few changes to a few characters, and how that changes the canon version of events.

"Are you ashamed of what you are?" The wolf says, already getting up from his place on the couch beside Stiles.

"Of course not!" He says. Because he really, really isn't. It's the only thing connecting him with his mother, and he could never be ashamed of that.

"What then?" Derek asks, angrily.

“I want so badly not to have to hide who I really am, Derek, what I really am, but it’s out of my hands,” Stiles says, feeling his eyes sting from unshed tears.

Stop There, and Let Me Correct It by Livinginfictions wc:  28284, ch: 6/13

When Stiles' late night stroll with his best friend ends in said friend being turned in a howling creature of the night, he does his best to cope with his now batshit crazy life. - The first in a series of episode by episode rewrites of Teen Wolf from Stiles' perspective, including missing scenes as I imagine they might've been, and a few dialogue changes. Canon compliant for Season 1, but later seasons will be Canon Divergent.

Hear The Wheels As They Roll by crossroadswrite wc: 44919, ch: 2/2

“You can’t be here. This is private property,” someone calls out and for some reason that voice sounds painfully familiar.

When it hits him why, Stiles almost chokes with the realization, “Derek Hale,” he says, unbelievably happy because he remembers Derek when they were young.

Derek looks grumpier, sadder, angrier. Stiles can’t really fault him for that. He also looks surprised that Stiles knows who he is. He squint/glares suspiciously at him, his nostrils flare for a second before he widens his eyes almost dramatically.

“Stiles,” he says quietly, like he can’t really believe it.

Stiles beams, “Yeah, you remember me!”

I Was A Teenage Werewolf by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) wc: 419518, ch: 46/50

Stiles just knows he's going to get lost in the woods. There must be a Laura Palmer reference in there somewhere.

A fork in the road retelling of Teen Wolf where Stiles is the one to get bitten.

Mockingbird Smile by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) wc: 3554, ch: 1/1

Kate has come to Beacon Hills to seduce Derek Hale and kill the Hale pack.

Maybe she should have done some more research first.

(First in a series)

(I can’t gush enough about this particular writer!! Her AUs are awesome!!)

A Christmas Miracle by HaleHathNoFury (My_Trex_has_fleas) wc: 5052, ch: 1/1

Scott needs to get his pack beyond the border and away from the Hunters that are wiping out all supernatural creatures, but while he's trying he runs into an unexpected old friend.

(First in a series)

My Blood Approves by churkey wc: 7188, works: 2

Life of Stiles Stilinski, autistic werewolf. 

Your Darkness Will Be Rewritten by Omni wc: 11460, ch: 1/1

Stiles is no guardian angel. In fact, as an incubus, he's pretty far from it. But still, it seems he's always there at the right place and the right time to be the protector that Derek didn't even know he needed.

(An alternate timeline where Stiles prevents the Hale fire, and returns to Beacon Hills years later when someone's performing three-fold ritualistic killings.)

A Jump To The Left by GracieBirdie wc: 4283, ch: 1/1

Older grouchy broken Stiles somehow ended up with younger sassy actual ray of sunshine Derek.

It Started With a Game by nightlight9 wc: 2803, ch: 1/1

It’s one thing to have Stiles as his anchor. It’s another thing entirely to realize that he’s in love with his best friend. His best friend who happens to be three years younger than him and, oh god, John is going to have him arrested. He won’t be able to become a cop because he’ll be behind bars.

Tattoo by littlefrog1025 wc: 5675, ch:1/1

Sterek fix-it fic of Teen Wolf Season 3 Episode 1: Tattoo

Stop Crossing Oceans by green-leaf (greenleaf) wc: 11654, ch:1/1

“There are no absolutes, Scott! No hard rights or hard wrongs! The world doesn’t fucking work that way and we can’t afford to think like that, because people are going to die! We signed up for that the moment we got involved with all this!”

“We? We?” Scott hisses. “Don’t you think you? Don’t forget that you’re the one who dragged us into that forest the night it all started, Stiles. So if it’s anyone’s fault, it’s yours.”

Something inside Stiles cracks, so strong and so deep that he practically hears it.

The One You Choose by Livinginfictions wc: 13440, ch:1/1

Stiles hadn’t seen Scott in over a week, except for glances he caught during school hours.

No one called, until someone did. by queen_of_OTPs wc: 4419, ch: 1/1

Stiles found that he hadn’t spoken more than necessary since August. Gone were the rambling rants, extravagant gestures, and range of vocal tones. Monotone sentences that were cut with sharp edges, words like knives and tone like venom.

No one had called.

(Gift for stereksau on tumblr for the Summer Sterek Exchange 2017)

Multidisciplinary Studies by DevilDoll wc: 51348, ch: 7/7

Stiles is a slightly-older-and-very-sexy librarian and Derek has a thirst for knowledge.

Laura is Badass by hoars wc: 5079, ch: 1/1

Laura's not expecting two teenage boys to burst into the bakery, brandishing lacrosse sticks yelling about “Kidnap!” and “Pedobears!” and “Sex slaves are illegal!”

She’s flabbergasted.

“Cupcake?” Derek offers.

age: a sum of years and experiences by hoars wc: 11285, ch: 1/1

Dear Jeff Davis,

When you grow up reading Tamora Pierce, large age gaps do not make you hesitate when it comes to your OTP.

Sincerely,

hoars

Big Bad Wolf by Nival_Vixen wc: 11758, ch: 9/9

Stiles knows that someone needs and trusts him, and it's not his father or Scott - it's Derek.

After he discovers that Kate's kidnapped Derek, Stiles tracks him down, and with the help of the pack, Stiles gets his big bad wolf back.

set your flag on fire by Siria wc: 35840, ch: 1/1

"Things have been getting progressively weirder since you two left," Stiles told Cora and Derek. "Like, weird even for Beacon Hills."

(Canon divergent from mid-season 3).

The Stilinski Pack by Siria wc: 5668, ch: 1/1

"You mean we're going to be bros and we're going to be bros?" Scott said. His smile grew impossibly wider. "This is the best news ever!"

[unordinary-analysis]

EPISODE 157

I know I said I would be right back, but I literally forgot about this the second I typed that and then i literally got so exhausted I couldn’t concentrate on anything so sorry for literally wasting a bunch of time, but here it is lol

This isn’t proofread either bc its three in the morning and im pretty tired of reading words

Honorable mentions:

I really want to see Remi with her hair down. Like, without the bow, strands of hair in her face kind of down…

Every once in a while I have to say this somewhere: I need Claire to be returned to UnOrdinary, thank you, it’s been a while since I said that, i had to again

Not really gonna metion John worrying about Seraphina because that’s to be expected plus he doesn’t really know anything about why she was acting weird to it doesn’t matter

I think I’m going to go through all four of the characters in this chapter and talk about each of their stances because that’s the only thing i can think to do

Arlo:

God, it seems like I say this anytime the other royals questions his decisions. Arlo is the best leader that I’ve seen in UnOrdinary. His ability to see the bigger picture most of the time paired with his ability to command others and have them listen: he’s unique in this sense from all of the others characters in UnOrdinary.

And that’s why it infuriates me so much when the others question him, god. I’ve said this shit too many times, that I don’t want to repeat myself, but if you search up #episode 152, and maybe one other that I can’t seem to find, on my page, I rant about this there. Arlo is just the best leader ever and I want everyone to know that.

Anyway, so Arlo comes in all sulky and stuff. Sulky is far from the right word, but I can’t think at the moment i guess so yeah. Anyway, this is understandable. All Arlo’s been saying for forever is that everyone just needs to leave John alone. At one point in time, he was the only person who really knew about John that was of consequence (Meili and Ventus don’t really count. I wonder where they are right now lmao). He knew from, when was that, around episode 80? Anyway, ever since the other royals have become involved with Tuesday, Arlo always warns them against it. You would think that one of them would have listened to him, but I don’t think anyone did. Not even when they knew that Arlo had already fought him, that he knew so much about him. Still, nobody heeded Arlo’s advice, which he was only giving because he didn’t want to see any of them hurt. But the royals, especially Remi, ignored all of his warnings and now they’re in the hospital, so, yeah, it’s understandable that Arlo is kind of grouchy when he comes in. He doesn’t lash out though, because he’s a great leader and knows that will accomplish nothing except for lowering morale (i will NOT stop saying this lol).

Everything I said here is basically pointed out by Remi. Which is great. I appreciate that she doesn't look past her mistakes in an attempt to hide from her emotions like she did when she was fighting EMBER. Remi tends to ignore her own emotions by acting and while I get it, at the same time, it’s wildly irresponsible.

Anyway, back to Arlo because this is his section: his advice for what to do about John is that should just let him be, which the advice he gives every time that Remi has asked that smh, but at least she doesn’t really argue with this. She does try to shut that idea down though… but ill talk about that in Remi’s section. There’s too much of her in this one. I don’t like it. Anyway, back to what Arlo was thinking. Arlo, as always, has the right idea. He knows that there is literally no other choice other than to sit back and watch things happen because a. John is the rightful king and can do whatever he wants and it is not against the rules because b. John publicity defeated every single royal in combat. Some at the same time. It really isn’t an option for the former royals to try to fight back against him again because for gods sake, have of them are in the hospital…

Anyway, there’s not actually that much for me to say about Arlo in this one other than the fact that his leadership goes under appreciated and they always regret not listening to him.

Blyke:

Blyke is in sad boi hours right now. He hasn’t spoken a lot when Arlo and Isen arrive, but he’s probably lost in thought. Not good thoughts, bad thoughts. Blyke… he has really just lived out one of his worst nightmares, he’s given in to one of his biggest insecurities. Blyke failed by a.) not recognizing John as Tuesday even though they share the same down and b.) losing so horrifically to Tuesday. We all know Blyke is worried if he’ll be a good enough king when the time comes and Arlo has to leave. This incident didn’t help that worry. Blyke even talks about it out loud. I’m actually really worried for Blyke. He’s been hit really hard recently and it’s like he’s falling down this pit of self-hate and anxiety. My man was even bringing up like EMBER, talking about how he ‘failed’ then too, even though he clearly was the hero in that situation. He says, “So much has happened… with all that EMBER stuff… and now John becoming Joker… We couldn’t handle any of it,” which is what I just explained, but then he continues and goes, “I was already having doubts about my capabilities… But this last fight really opened my eyes. I’m weak.” This is Blyke’s really insecurity. The root of all of his other anxiety is the feeling that he isn’t good enough, that he’s going to let everyone down.

Also, Blyke doesn’t have anywhere to really go because, yeah, he shares a dorm with John, but that’s not that big of a deal right now because he’s in the hospital and he’s got Isen to go to like he has before. Still pretty sad though. The constant reminder of his ‘failure.’ Tuesday was his roommate that he treated like trash this whole time and now anytime Blyke thinks of his home, he’ll remember that. :(. I’m sad. I really like Blyke actually.

Remi:

Okay so I’ve already talked about Remi a bit in Arlo’s section. I’ll try to elaborate on some of that (barely) because this is the proper section.

First of all, Remi apologizing. I was happy about this because, it’s been too many times that Remi or some other royal doesn’t listen to Arlo. It’ about time someone apologized. I’m mostly happy, however, because Remi is finally acknowledging that she knows how naive she generally is, which always used to get on my nerves. I’ve called her a bad queen for this, and I stand by that still, but now it’s nice to see Remi herself recognizing that, even if it’s a bit of a sad thing to see.

But then literally the next thing that comes out of her mouth is that they have to go and stop John and I literally facepalm, I’m so sorry I’m probably being really biased here by my opinions on Remi, but really. Not much more to say on this other than I agree with Arlo.

I do have something else to comments on briefly, though

After Blyke spills his problems, his worries, after he says that he is too weak to even take care of himself, Remi says nothing. She just… sits there. This is probably one of the only instances in this chapter of Remi’s growth, but maybe I’m being a bit too harsh on her, but seriously…? I was expecting her to step in soon after Blyke started talking. I was definitely expecting to see her talk after Blyke says, “-this last fight really opened up my eyes. I’m weak.” Remi has always been close to Blyke. She’s also always been so positive and reassuring to others. I’m not sure if the absence of this in this scene is distance from Blyke (lost in her own thoughts), or agreement with what he’s saying about them. I don’t know. I just,,, thought this was something I should point out. She really left Blyke like that. But honestly, with how she was acting before, though, I think she’s feeling really similar to Blyke, herself. Both of them have been pretty self-deprecating this episode.

Isen:

After saying hi, Isen literally says one thing the whole episode and it’s that Blyke can stay with him, so there’s not really anything there oof. Would’ve been pretty cool to see him interact with Remi more, but I always appreciate Isen whenever, so it’s no big deal.

———————————————————-

Gavin and Tuesday: (two completely different ideas here. First one is right below this and second one is further below)

Now we’re moving to that scene of Tuesday and Gavin and like..??? What the fuck was that

Is John just going to go after anyone who’s ever hurt him before now? I’m not going to lie, it doesn’t make sense. John literally spent such a long time without using his powers and never really came close to using them until Arlo interfered. If he is truly going after the people that hurt him in the past, that’s a very impulsive thing to do, and John’s control over his own power and the restraint he possesses makes me believe that he isn’t an impulsive person. Maybe at New Bostin, but he’s changed since then. I know know he’s being forced into a similar position to that he held at New Bostin, but after all this time, and the horrendous experience that John’s already lived through concerning his old school, I still believe that John would try to avoid the same thing happening here at all costs. Even when he snapped and went after all of the royals, he only did it to take down the hierarchy, which gave power to the powerful and took from the already weak. It just doesn’t make sense that John’s going after Gavin now, someone that’s only real connection that I believe we know of to John is that they fought in like episode two or something. Gavin is barely a mid-tier. If John really was trying to stay away from being the monster he used to be, I don’t think he would purposely hunt this one kid thats much weaker than him and literally barely interacted with him. It’s clear that John would win that fight, so what’s the point.

And obvious argument is that maybe, John is slowly turning back into the person he was at New Bostin. Maybe even after all of those readjustment classes and reflecting and repressing of his powers, John still can’t run from who he is, what he is. Maybe the monster that surfaced at New Bostin, maybe he can’t escape that.

And as much as I love that, which I admit, I would (do you know how interesting that would be?), I’m not sure if the evidence supports that..? I don’t know, it might, but the fact that all of (all of them right?) the times John has fought someone has either been as revenge for hurting Seraphina or because he was trying to take down the hierarchy, which I’ve already said doesn’t support John returning to the person he was. For all of his attacks, John has had something for each: a motive. This isn’t that special, though because John had motives even back when he was at New Bostin because literally that was the entire plot of that history lol. I don’t know. So basically, this fight with Gavin is very reminiscent of whenever Tuesday would fight those people that hurt Seraphina.The royals were the result of a feeling of injustice, but everything else stemmed from the motive of revenge. John has always used his revenge as an acceptable motive when deciding whether or not to act on something. Whether he realizes it or not, it’s the real connection between him and the old John. Their need for revenge ruined everything for them. John couldn’t handle when Claire betrayed him so he beat her up as a consequence. Hunting down Sera’s assaulters and absolutely demolishing her kidnappers show this too. And so does this scene. John is hunting down Gavin over revenge, and as long as John fuels his need for revenge, he’ll never be able to truly escape his past. So maybe the evidence does support John slowly regressing back into the person he was, despite his wishes. He’s changed so much since Now Bostin, but sadly, he hasn’t been able to shake his tendency to hold grudges until he literally cannot contain them any longer and he lashes out.

It was kind of weird how hesitant John acted at the end of this encounter, though, because he just let Gavin go, but I’ve decided to ignore this because the fact that the character this happens with is Gavin, I refuse to believe that this whole thing is insignificant (wrong word but words are hard.)

Second idea:

Okay so apparently the person appeared as Tuesday at the like middle of this episode, apparently there’s a chance that it wasn’t actually John. This has been brought to my attention in the comments of this post so this little bit has been added a day after I initially posted this.

The argument is that because the person presented as Tuesday in this week’s episode has yellower eyes than John does, it could be some person only pretending to be Tuesday, which is obviously a possibility because Tuesday has already been established as the most powerful student at Wellston, but nobody know who he is. So any random mid-tier or something could just put a mask on and use a bit of their powers to scare anyone off (anyone would be too scared to fight Tuesday) and they’ll basically control the school cus people would take the imposter for the king. Anyway, before I get more into this, here are the pictures comparing John’s Tuesday and this episode’s Tuesday:

It’s pretty clear that the eyes of these two characters are a different color, but not too different that it’s that noticeable, which is why I didn’t notice this at first until it was pointed put to me. I wonder if this was even intentional... I feel like, if uru-Chan even ever meant for people to notice that Tuesday looks different, she would’ve used a much more different color. Or maybe one of the people that help her with coloring forgot what color eyes Joker had because John when his powers aren’t being used: they’re yellow. So, I’m not even completely sure that this Tuesday in this episode isnt John.

But at the same time... there’s some things I can’t help considering that make me think it’s more and more likely that this is someone different. First of all, this is honestly something really big to miss. Uru-Chan is a professional... it’s hard to believe she could’ve let this slide when her work has always been so meticulous. Also: with the way things went down this episode... it was kind of suspicious. I already talked about it a bunch above in the first part of this section that I posted first. But I didn’t really touch on why Tuesday just let Gavin walk because... well, I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know what to make of it. I even said that I’d elected to ignore it because it confused me... But if the Tuesday from this episode really isn’t John, then it all makes sense again. Like I said earlier in this half of the section, someone impersonating Joker wouldn’t really have to fight anyone to benefit from his power because everyone knows that Joker could kick their ass anyway, so it’s pointless to pick a fight. If this episode’s joker had decided to pursue Gavin, it could’ve lead them to a fight they would’ve been unprepared for.

Obviously, there’s more to talk about for this theory, like what this could possibly mean for John, for Wellston, or who it could possibly be, but because I’ve already posted this as a separarte episode analysis, I would rather save that for either a separate post this week, or as part of the next episode’s analysis. Thanks for reading and sticking with me and thanks @sunshines-and-tatertots alerting me to this lol.

Cecile and John:

So, Cecile’s understandably pissed at John because he isn’t claiming his power and that’s literally the only reason she’s siding with him. Because she wants him to be the king. I makes sense that she’s upset that he’s literally doing nothing instead of becoming king which would be the natural thing to do.

John’s response is literally that she needs to calm down, and while I get that he doesn’t feel the need to shove himself into the spotlight especially considering how he wants to keep his secret from Sera, that’s just going to piss off Cecile more. Or at least is would if she wasn’t so terrified of John, which she obviously is. I think John is more than Cecile can handle, and she wasn’t excepting that. Hell, it probably takes a lot to get to that level...

This has me thinking though… what could this kind of turmoil cause…? I’m hoping that maybe (pretty pretty please), Cecile will try to leave John’s side and join Arlo and the other royals the money i would pay to see that ugh… that potential…

[goddessofthundathighs]

III. THE SUNKEN PLACE

“Ms. Powell, nice to see you again,” Harper greeted with a pleasant smile as O’Shea stepped off the elevator on Erik’s floor.

“Hello Harper, is Dr. Stevens in his office?”

“He is. He asked me to clear his schedule just for you.” With a nod, O’Shea stepped into the lavish office, greeted by the sight of his broad back as he stared out the massive floor to ceiling window.

“Beautiful weather we’re having, wouldn’t you agree Ms. Powell?”

“Cut the shit, Stevens. I got a problem that you need to solve.”

“I don’t need to do shit. It ain’t my fault ya pussy don’t work,” he countered with a sneer, those golden canines making their second appearance since she’d met him. She stopped mid-rant, completely enthralled by the way the veins in his arms bulged with his.. What was this? Anger? What the hell did he have to be mad about? She was the one that couldn’t release months of sexual frustration.

“Look at you, all pent up and pissed off for no reason. You came to me for a solution and now you mad cuz it ain’t exactly what you wanted. Spoiled ass little bitch.” O’Shea whimpered softly, unable to move as he stepped closer to her. His calloused hands traveled up her arms, to her shoulders, until they found a home around her throat where he squeezed lightly.

“Daddy’s little nasty bitch likes to be choked, right?” Shea bit her lip to silence the moan that almost left her lips. The heat in her core had returned with a vengeance and the way he stared at her while his grip tightened on her throat was only making her wetter.

“Aww, babygirl wore her rosaries today,” he acknowledged as one of his hands left her throat to toy with the beads. He twisted them around two of his fingers until he heard it. The faintest, most pitiful moans he had ever heard escaped her lips, signaling her surrender.

“What happened to ya attitude, ma? Where’s that fire you had over the phone and when you first walked in?” O’Shea was stuck. Her pussy was dripping at his dominance and the way he was toying with her body that she couldn’t form a coherent thought. Suddenly, the grip around her neck and rosaries loosened and Erik’s body slouched forward with a low hum.

“A robot?” O’Shea asked aloud.

“A prototype,” the real Erik answered from the doorway of the office.

“How long were you there?”

“Long enough,” he answered cooly as he took his usual seat atop his desk. “Sit down, Ms. Powell. Let’s address your frustrations.”

--

Two hours into the session and O’Shea was nearly in tears. Between the fluctuation of Erik’s tone and the subtle exercises they were doing, she body was screaming for a release.

“I want to try one more exercise with you before we wrap up today, Ms. Powell.” O’Shea looked up at him with half-lidded eyes as he let down the back of the seat turning it into a cushioned bed.

“Close your eyes and focus on the sound of my voice. Calm yourself, I need your breathing to be slow and even in order for this to work.”

O’Shea followed his directions, eager to know where he was going with this.

“Your head is heavy, let it rest against the cushion. Your arms are heavy, feel them rest. Your legs are heavy, let them go. Rest. Relax.” She felt the tension throughout her body and then limb by limb she felt herself completely relax.

“You are now light as a feather. Rest. Relax.” Before she knew it, she felt like she was asleep, stuck in some sort of suspended animation while Dr. Stevens continued his ministrations.

“Listen to my voice and do as I say, understand? Say ‘yes Daddy’.”

“Yes Daddy,” she responds almost automatically.

“Good girl,” he praised, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. “For the rest of this exercise your name is Nasty Bitch and you will answer to that and that alone, understand?”

“Yes Daddy.”

“Good girl. What’s your name?”

“Nasty Bitch.”

“And who am I?”

“You’re Daddy.”

“That’s a good little bitch. Now I want you to close your eyes and think back to your last orgasm. What did he do or say that pushed you over the edge?”

“He had me bent over the hood of his car, on the side of the road. It was dark and we both were horny and couldn’t wait until we got home so he pulled over.” O’Shea felt her core heat at the memory of fucking Damien for the last time.

“He was stroking me long and deep and he had a handful of my hair, pulling my head back so that all I saw were the stars.”

“Did he say anything while in the moment?” Erik’s voice dropped again. O’Shea had begun calling it his ‘Daddy voice’.

“He called me a nasty bitch for agreeing to sex on the side of the road yet praised me for how well I was taking his dick.”

“Good girl, spread your legs.” O’Shea did what she was told, her eyes never leaving Erik’s as she focused on the commands he was giving. He slid closer to the edge of the desk and gently rubbed a hand down the front of her body. O’Shea bit her lip as she watched him, completely unable to stop his actions.

“Did Daddy tell you to stop talking?’

“No Daddy.”

“Then keep going. What happened next?” he asked as his hand found the seat of her panties. He rubbed slow circles on the outside of the fabric before slipping one finger into her slickness. O’Shea’s breath hitched as he toyed with her, gently rolling the sensitive bundle of nerves between his fingers.

“How did he make you cum, Princess?” Erik asked at the shell of her ear, his fingers never stopping their actions.

“H-He started stroking faster, making his dick hit my gspot. At the same time he rubbed my clit with his thumb.”

“Did it feel something like this?” he asked as he mimicked the action with his fingers, causing a rush of her nectar to coat his fingers.

“Yessss,” she moaned, throwing her head back as she became lost somewhere between the past and the present.

“Good girl, now at the sound of my voice,” it seemed to go impossibly deep. Demonically deep. “Sink. Sink into the horny abyss and do not stop cumming until I tell you to, understand?”

“Yes Da--”

“Sink.” In that moment, time stood still and the walls of the office disappeared into darkness. O’Shea’s soul and awareness stood somewhere in a corner looking on powerlessly while Erik toyed with her body like a puppet master. Somehow she was present in her body and outside of it at once. In her corner, she could scream in fear and intense pleasure, but in her body she was mute and immobile, staring unblinkingly. She watched through the windows of her half-lidded eyes as he brought her body to completion over and over until her juices coated both of their laps and she was left shaking before him. In her mind, she was trembling, screaming ‘Dr. Daddy’ over and over again, unable to stop. Her voice was going hoarse.

“That’s my good girl. Doesn’t that feel better, baby? You like the way Daddy Erik makes you cum?” She could do nothing. She couldn't blink or raise a finger, not even nod, and he allowed it this once, tilting her chin to nod her head for her.

“You’ve been such a good girl for Daddy. You’re ready to come back?”

“Yes Daddy,” her ghost whined from the corner, depleted. Erik placed a gentle kiss to her temple before snapping his fingers. In the thud of a heartbeat, everything was back to normal and O’Shea felt at one with her body once again. She looked down at her lap and was surprised to find it dry, despite what had just taken place.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” she gasped looking up at him. He chuckled darkly before bringing his hand up to his mouth to lick it clean.

“You taste sweet as fuck, Princess. We might have to do that more often.” O’Shea was dumbfounded as her mind attempted to process what had just transpired. She stared up at him with squinted eyes as he wrote in his notepad. He looked up briefly to meet her gaze.

“Is something wrong, Ms. Powell?”

“What kind of hood nigga sorcery was that?” He chuckled.

“Ain’t shit funny. First, ya robot gets me all hot and bothered, then you make me have some sort of out of body experience where I’m cumming, but I’m really not. Make it make sense, Stevens.”

“Such a vicious little kitten. What we just did was hypnotherapy and from the looks of it, it was successful.”

“Fuck you, Stevens.”

“In due time, Ms. Powell. Until then, I have another task for you.”

“I’m listening.”

“Well, since the pussy machine is broken, you shouldn’t have no problem refraining from touching yourself until our next session, which I’m scheduling two weeks from now.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You can’t tell me that I can’t masturbate.”

“You already can’t cum, so what would be the point?” The charming bastard had a point, but still, she loved playing with herself, even if it didn’t yield any results.

“Alright fine, I won’t do it.”

“I’m holding you to that, Ms. Powell. And don’t try anything slick, because I’ll know.”

--

So you met N’Jadaka, huh?” Skylar said with a sly smile as she went over the ribbed toy prototypes.

“What the fuck is a N’Jadaka?” O’Shea asked with her nose scrunched up in confusion. Though she was thankful for the sensation of having an orgasm, she had yet to experience it in a state in which she could actually control her body and frankly she was sick of Skylar and Erik skirting around the topic while her needs still went unmet.

“N’Jadaka is Erik’s middle name and also the name we gave to the prototype of the life size sex toy models we were looking into acquiring from a young designer out in Oakland. She makes them look and act so real.”

“So I’ve noticed,” O’Shea deadpans.

“What’s the problem now, Shea? You wanted to cum and he made you cum.”

“No, he made my psyche cum. He mindfucked the shit out of me and dammit I want him to do it again, expect with his dick.” Skylar was tickled pink. Though she was used to hearing women gush about her best friend in such a way, O’Shea had a way with words that made everything Erik said and did sound like something supernatural.

“I told you he wasn’t one of these other niggas you were used to, Shea. You can’t seduce Erik, he’s a walking incubus that just so happens to specialize in the female anatomy. When he’s done, you’re gonna be eating out of the palm of his hands wearing nothing but a kitten collar.” O’Shea mulled over that thought and felt the heat rise in her core once again. Being told that she couldn’t masturbate, coupled with the thoughts that were swirling in her mind had Bennie jumping for some attention.

“Bitch you nasty,” Skylar sneered noticing how quiet she had become.

“You knew that when you hired me,” O’Shea countered.The women carried on with the rest of their workday, occasionally conversing about whatever designs Shea had been working on. As crazy as it sounded, working actually curbed Shea’s sexual appetite. Once night fell, they parted ways and O’Shea made her way back to her condo. Once inside, she stared at the toy sitting on her nightstand and decided to have a little fun. She undressed and positioned herself in the middle of her bed with her legs spread wide. She applied the lubricant and gently placed it inside her, making sure to remove the batteries so that she didn’t accidentally turn it on.

“The only way he’ll know you’re using it is if your turn it on. The remote has a sensor inside that alerts him when its in use.” Skylar’s words played in her head as she played in her love cave. The pushed it in and out slowly, gently rubbing it along her clit and back into her center. She rolled her nipples between her fingers and she worked herself up, moaning Erik’s name as she chased her release. She was so caught up in her pleasure, that she missed the text notification on her phone. She began moving it inside of herself faster and faster until --

“Shiiiiit,” she moaned as the toy roared to life. It was vibrating on its highest setting, and O’Shea couldn’t contain herself as she fisted her sheets. As her release crept closer, she device slowed to a crawl. She looked down at it in confusion, wondering how the hell it was working without batteries and any other power source. Before she could question it further, it sprang to life again, this time curving upward slightly to tickle her gspot.

“Fuuck,” she moaned out, shaking and quivering under the toy’s ministrations. After about 5 more edging sessions, she threw the toy across the room, her chest heaving as her core clenched around nothing. Another ping from her iPhone made her pick up the device.

—————————

@nickidub718 @heyauntieeee @xaviera108 @alexundefined @lettingthepaintdry @cosmiclunarprincess-fanfic @princessstevens @ledouxange7 @vikkidc @bartierbakarimobisson @raysunshine78 @amethyst1993 @forbeautyandlife @tntnv @chaneajoyyy @thehomierobbstark @mareethequeen @iamrheaspeaks @dameshaemonique @jozigrrl @madamslayyy @yaachtynoboat711 @blowmymbackout @youreadthatright @beaut1fulone-blog @bugngiz @amirra88 @chefjessypooh @post-woke @theogbadbitch @im5ftbutmythroat66 @queengodiva619 @blackpinup22 @love-me122 @pending-lostheart @sydneebleu

[momentofmemory]

fictober - day thirty

Prompt #30: “I’m with you, you know that?”

Fandom: Star Wars (Sequel Trilogy, post The Last Jedi)

Warnings: None

Characters: Poe Dameron & Leia Organa

Words: 1317

Author’s Note: i said to myself, “i’ll just write a drabble tonight.” three hundred words in, i realized it would not, in fact, be a drabble, and so this happened instead. 😅

>>Stardust and Starpilots

Poe hadn’t felt this drained since right after Jakku, and honestly, he wasn’t sure he didn’t prefer that feeling to the sense of loss that permeated him now.

He’d spent the last five hours bouncing back and forth between running system diagnostics with Rey and updating the personnel manifesto with Dr. Kalonia. The former task went pretty well, having taken up most of his time—with a few slight modifications, they’d have more than enough oxygen to get them to whatever abandoned planetary base Leia had decided on. Part of the reason the oxygen will last them so long, however, was directly tied to how short the finalized personnel list had been.

It felt like a knife in the gut every time he thought about how many people they’d lost.

(Or more aptly, how many people he’d lost.)

It was that thought that led him to the cockpit of the Falcon instead of the bunk he’d been assigned to, despite the fact that he was coming up on thirty-seven standard hours without sleep (not counting the two he spent unconscious).

The cockpit was quiet, Chewbacca having long since left to sort out the kitchens, and Leia was leant back in the copilot’s chair. One of her hands rested on the control panel, the other cupping her chin as she stared out the circle-top window. Stars streak by in their white-gold arcs, and Poe thought about ships that can track through lightspeed.

“You should be in bed, Commander.”

Leia’s eyes didn’t leave the window, but Poe still felt exposed.

“I think it’s captain, ma’am.” He placed the datapad he’d been holding on the dash. “Uh, but Rey and I finished running all the tests you requested, plus a couple more. Turns out she’s pretty good with more than just the force.”

Leia looked at the device briefly before returning her gaze to the stars. “You were a captain this morning, Poe. I need a Commander now.”

It was all the dressing down he needed, or honestly could even handle, so he nodded sharply. “Ma’am.”

“You can drop the formalities.” Leia waved towards the seat beside her, and Poe joined her at the helm after a moment’s hesitation. “You have good instincts, but you need to learn to trust experience as well as you do your friends. Both are important in building a rebellion—don’t forget that.”

Poe frowned, Leia’s words sounding strangely final. “I don’t… I don’t know if I’m ready to trust any of my judgements at this point.”

“Trust is a tricky thing.” Leia pursed her lips, crossing her legs as she stared at him. “And the truth is, I don’t know which of us was right yesterday. You lost us half our bombers; if you hadn’t, we’d have had a Dreadnaught bearing down on us the second we came out of lightspeed. Maybe your plan was a little rushed; maybe Holdo didn’t manage the panic well.”

“I should have trusted her,” Poe said. “I was angry over… everything. If I thought there was something wrong, there were a lot of channels I could have taken before jumping straight to mutiny.”

Leia hummed in agreement. “It’s an important lesson to learn—that no matter how sure you are at the time, you can still be wrong.”

She fell silent, Poe digesting her words. The gravity of it all—the choices, the lies, the lives—weighed heavily on him.

We’ll rebuild,” he said eventually. “There are other people that want to join us, if we can just—if we can just burn bright enough.”

“You burn too bright for too long, you burn out, Poe.”

There was a faraway look in her eyes, and Poe remembered what Rey had said about Luke’s passing. He rubbed his thumb across his nails. “Listen, what happened with Holdo, it wasn’t… It wasn’t about this. Whatever’s about to happen, I’m with you.”

“You know that, do you?”

Poe’s head jerked up, brows furrowed, and for one horrible moment he thought Leia was honestly questioning his loyalty. She gave him a soft smile—sad, but not unkind—and picked up the datapad.

“It’s amazing to think about now, but after the Empire fell, we felt like things were finally looking up.” She opened the deceased list and started paging through it. “The Emperor’s commanders were gone, the senate was back in one piece, Mon Mothma was running things beautifully as Chancellery. I really thought we’d finally done it.”

Leia reached Luke Skywalker’s name and paused, her hands tracing lightly over his silhouette on the screen. Poe averted his eyes in respect.

She sighed and moved on to the next name. “Then Mothma retired, and everything fell apart.”

“No one could have known—”

“The Populists were angling for me to take her place, actually,” Leia said, interrupting him as if he hadn’t spoken. “It made sense. I was popular enough with the public, and I had enough friends on both sides of the senate to have a fighting chance at winning a vote. That was before Vader was known.”

Poe remembered his mother telling him about the way the senate had turned on Leia after her parentage had been revealed, and found himself wondering what the galaxy would’ve been like if no one had ever found out.

Leia, seemingly ignoring him, tapped a few buttons on the datapad. The personnel list disappeared and what looked like a heavily redacted medical record replaced it.

“I think I’m starting to understand that we’ve been running this from the wrong angle every time,” Leia said. “The Emperor. Vader. Mon Mothma. Luke.” She typed a password into the datapad’s screen. “Me.”

An uncomfortable feeling curled in the pit of Poe’s stomach. “So you’re saying you do want me to commit a mutiny every now and again?”

Leia chuckled. “No.”

The medical file unlocked, and Leia turned the datapad around and held it out to Poe. Her name was written across the top of the document, and in the diagnosis section, Poe’s eyes zeroed in on one word:

Fatal.

Poe felt his entire world drop out from underneath him. His eyes sought out hers, denial permeating his thoughts, but Leia simply locked the datapad and set it down on the console.

“Now you understand. I don’t need you to be with me, Poe,” Leia said, gently wrapping her hands around his. “I need you to be with the Resistance. With the idea of it—freedom and peace and all the things it stands for, regardless of what one person says. Even if it’s a Jedi.”

She paused. “Or maybe especially if it’s a Jedi.”

Her attempt at humour was lost on Poe. “No. No, Leia, you can’t—surely there’s something Dr. Kalonia can do, or we can fly you somewhere—”

“Poe.”

He stopped mid-rant, but didn’t stop shaking his head. “We can’t do this without you.”

“Nonsense.” She patted his hand before leaning back to stare at the dice hanging from the ceiling, gently clicking back and forth in the rocking of the ship. “This galaxy’s fallen victim to an overreliance on one person far too often. If it’s time for me to go, perhaps the force is telling us it’s time to find a new path.”

Poe swallowed, trying to work words back into his mouth. “They couldn’t stop me from bringing down the First Order if I was the only fighter left.”

“Good, because I’m not letting you off the hook, Commander,” she said. “I’m still going to need you to lead this thing. You’re charismatic enough, but when you recruit—don’t get people who just want to follow you. Get people who follow because it’s right.”

Poe nodded: even though his body was worn out in so many ways, he could give her that. He could give the Resistance that.

“How much time do we have?”

Leia folded her hands in her lap and leaned against the console, her eyes already lost to the stars.

“Enough.”

[peachymhaechan]

“I’m afraid you overstepped your boundaries, Your Highness.”

Genre: fluff

Warnings: language (slight cussing like always oof), knife fight (idk what to call that lmao) 

Pairing: Jaehyun x Reader (female) 

a/n: i’m sorry i made this female reader, I try my best to keep what I write gender neutral but i had something very specific in mind when making this. next one will definitely be gender neutral, though, so look out for it! 

you were the daughter of one of the Royal Guard

because of this, your family lived in the castle with the rest of the employees

every day, all the employees’ kids would go to school in a certain room in the castle

all the employees would go to work

and people your age? well, you’d just wander around the castle

you were at the age where you had to shadow for a job, though, so when you were actually doing your “job” you were the only female guard member

you had become a bit of a legend with some of the royal staff

you were so good at slipping under the radar that the royal guards had only ever heard stories of you

so, one day you were making your normal rounds: stealing food from the kitchen, slipping into the library, checking out the garden, investigating the art exhibit (yes, Jaehyun’s family had an art exhibit in their home, they’re just that extra), and back to the sleeping chambers before anyone noticed you were gone

as you were quietly opening the kitchen door, you heard excited chatter from one of the cooks

“ I can’t believe it!” 

“I know! How does he expect us to make that much food in that short amount of time?!” 

the topic quickly lost your interest, so you snatched a bagel and dipped

making sure not to leave a trail of crumbs, you headed to your next stop, the library

once you were there, you overheard some of the royal staff gossiping

it struck you as odd that there were people in the library, and that they were talking, too

“I’m so excited! What if he chooses my sister?!” 

“Um, I have an eligible brother-” 

“But my sister is so pretty!” 

again, you had no idea what was happening, nor did you care to know, so you grabbed the first book that stood out and left

the garden had always been your favorite place in the castle as it was so beautiful and the jewel of the royal family

anyone could tell they valued the place since it had a large, winding pond, a decorated gazebo, and so much more

it was easy to say that one could get lost in the many trails of lush green and blooming flowers

your favorite trail, though, was the one that had all of the ferns and tropical flowers that took you behind the pond’s waterfall

from there you could look out on the garden and the entire castle

to say it was serene would be an understatement

you had only ever seen one other person in the gardens before, and that had been the Prince himself

yes, jung jaehyun

it seemed as though your luck was not with you that day, because as soon as you got to your normal spot you heard a voice from somewhere in the garden

“I don’t see why he thinks he should have so much control on my life...” 

the voice sounded familiar, but you couldn’t quite place it

“I understand that i am his son and I will have to take over his job soon, but does he not trust me enough to pick who should be ruling at my side?” 

oh

OH

that was THE PRINCE

and you got the vibe that you were NOT supposed to be hearing him talking to himself

but moving from your spot= risking being found and possibly punished for 1. not doing your daily chores as a service member of the royal family and 2. being in unauthorized areas (aka the whole fuckin palace as you so often loved to explore) 

“I can’t possibly force myself to marry someone for the sake of looking good or forming an alliance... I am not my father...” 

he was getting closer and closer with each angry statement he muttered

fight or flight, which will it be? 

apparently your body favored fight as your feet did not give you the option of flight and your body stayed rooted in place

“Maybe him and Mother learned to love each other, but I don’t want to have to learn how to love someone, I want to marry someone I can love right away-” 

fuck

he saw you

“Who are you?” he asked, stopping mid-rant to stare at the weird person that was standing in his favorite! place in the garden

you ran through options in your head: tell him the truth and risk the consequences, ruin your reputation, or lie and hope he doesn’t find out

“My father is one of the Royal Family’s top guard members,” you told him, deciding on the truth

at least he might have mercy on you for being honest

“... Oh. Okay. Any reason why you’re out in the garden?” 

“Because it is beautiful out here.” 

“Very true.... I take it you heard everything I said earlier?”

You grimaced and nodded, again deciding on honesty

“Yikes...” 

“If it’ll help any, I think you do raise a few good points. After all, shouldn’t you know who will be best by your side? I’m under the right assumption to believe that the King is holding a ball to find your future suitor, correct?” 

he nodded grimly, obviously unhappy about the whole situation

“Who all is invited?” 

“All of the eligible people in this kingdom and even the next one over.” 

“Wow, that’s a lot of people....” he nodded, seemingly overwhelmed with even the thought of searching for his spouse in all those people

“Even still, I think you will be able to find someone you are incredibly compatible with, someone who will lead this kingdom to greatness by your side. So, try not to let His Highness force people down your throat just for the sake of looking kind; this is your life, after all, so try to take the reigns again.” 

he stood there for a while, trying to memorize your face as you talked

he went full uwu from the moment you first opened your mouth tbh

what made you even better was that you were basically telling him to tell his father that he should be able to date whoever he wanted (aka you) 

that lovely moment came to an end, though, when you both heard a voice calling out, “JAEHYUN! OH, PRINCE JEFFREY! WHERE ARE YOU?!” 

you turned to each other, eyes wide with fear

after all, you were an employee not doing your job and telling the prince to tell his dad a big fuck you

and you also stole from the royal kitchen and private library!! so,,, yikes

He looked at you and you read his mind, you bolted down a path that very few people knew of

the only problem was you forgot your book

“You okay?” you heard the voice ask Jaehyun

“Yes, I’m fine, Doyoung...” 

that was all you heard before you were out of ear shot

after that close call, you thought it’d be best to call it a night

“Holy shit...” you mumbled to yourself, trying to wrap your mind around everything that had happened that day

later that night your father came back from work and asked, “So, how was your day?” 

you couldn’t just tell him that you left your security post to dick around the palace, so instead you told him, “Same old, same old.” 

“Oh, that’s boring.” 

“Yes, it was.” 

the next day you actually did your job, which was shadowing your father in preparation for when you moved to replace him

since he was one of the top guards in the palace, he worked directly under the king

so imagine your fear all day as you passed Jaehyun and prayed that he didn’t notice you

since you were good at your job, he did not notice you at all

the whole day was spent with the King questioning your ability to do your job

if only he knew that you were the shadow that all of the staff talked about

“And where would you tell me to sit in this situation?” 

“I would tell you to sit closest to the wall opposite the window, Your Highness, as an assassin could very easily see and aim for you from the outside.” 

“Very good! Now, what should you do if I am to leave the castle?” 

“I am to either go with or send members of the Royal Guard to scope out the best path of travel, talk to the locals to see if there are any security threats, and if there are, either eliminate them or choose a new path. We will send a fake carriage with a fake entourage to deter attention, and I will ride with you in the real carriage to make sure there are no security issues.” 

“Amazing!” 

the whole day went on with questions like that

just as you were about to retire to your room for the night, the King told you that your first official night on the job was at the ball

fuck

in the back of your mind, you thought well there goes my chance at winning the prince’s hand

but then you thought you’d rather do your job and protect his life than do something as cliché as get excited over a ball

so the two weeks leading up to the ball had been complete and utter hell for the Royal Staff, but more specifically, the Royal Guard

any time you entered the front gates, you’d immediately spot at least fifty employees running around the gardens like chickens with their heads cut off

the inside wasn’t any better, either

the day of the ball finally arrived

you could no longer avoid Prince Jaehyun, either, as the King decided to have you two formally meet to get to know one another

“Jaehyun, I’d like you to meet your guard for the night, Y/N,” he said, forcing you two to make eye contact with each other

you bowed since it was what you were technically supposed to do, even though the first time you met him you did not do that

“You don’t have to do that,” he told you, causing the King to give him a weird look

“I’m afraid you overstepped your boundaries, Your Highness. That would be all too impolite,” you corrected, earning a smile from the King

“I like her, she’s quick to correct. Please try to keep him in line. Well, I will leave you guys to it to get to know one another better.” 

with that, the mother fucker just left you guys hanging

after an awkward silence and not knowing what to say, Jaehyun said, “You forgot your book.” 

“I know. It wasn’t mine, anyway.” 

“Who does it belong to, then?”

“You. I took it from the library.” 

“How? Someone would have noticed.” 

“You ever hear about that ‘shadow girl’ that runs around the palace?”

“No way... no, no it’s not- it’s not you,” he stuttered in disbelief

“Yep, it is me.” 

after that, talking just came easily

everything said had been in total agreement, so you didn’t think your job would be too hard

“Oh, and one more thing,” you told him before you left

“Don’t be a dick tonight and make trailing you hard, got it?”

you thought this will be so easy, everything checked out to be good, there should be no complications

you had never been more wrong in your whole life

the party began and you started at your assigned spot by the balcony, keeping your eyes peeled for any sign of danger at all

security had ben cleared and all of the guests’ backgrounds were checked, but you never could be too sure

your eyes tracked Jaehyun across the room, watching as the lights caught on his navy blue suit and you began to notice little things about him

the way his hair looked silky smooth

the little dimples he’d get when he smiled

the way his laughter sounded like a song to your ears

fuck

you were whipped, too

it pained you to see so many mothers and fathers introducing their eligible daughters and sons to him, trying to convince him to take their hand in marriage

but you had to do your job and who were you to rely on a man?? albeit and very handsome man, but still a man?? not you, that’s for damn sure

as he was walking over to you, a girl your age stopped him in his tracks

she had beautiful, curly blonde hair, striking green eyes, and a blinding smile

her gown seemed to be made of the richest jewels out there, each ruby sparkling in the light and mocking you

you tensed up, getting odd vibes from her but you didn’t have any proof that she was going to try something so you couldn’t just run over there and arrest her

she conversed with him, and although you couldn’t hear what she was saying, you knew it was making Jaehyun uncomfortable from his body language

training kicked in and you started to walk over, and Jaehyun made direct eye contact with you, telling you something was off

your heart rate picked up for some reason, and your feet started moving at speeds you didn’t think possible

why?

because right after Jaehyun looked at you, the girl pulled out a knife

she slashed out at him, and just as the blade was going to hit him in the chest, you pushed him out of the way

the blade pierced your chest, but you didn’t even have time to focus on the pain because there was still a threat near the Prince

common sense told you to keep the knife in your chest to stop the bleeding, so that’s exactly what you did

you, being the badass you are, fought a crazy bitch with a damn knife in your body

you took tried to grab her throat but she moved too quickly, dodging to the left and tugging on the blade sticking out of you on her way

you managed to land a right hook in her jaw, sending her reeling for stability in those heels of hers

training told you to knock her feet out from under her, so that’s just what you did, sending her on her ass 

a smile landed on your face as you thought you won, but then the bitch pulled out another knife and cut you right from your lip to the middle of your cheek

while this is all happening, the guests were all trying to run for safety, the Guard was ushering them to safety, and Jaehyun was throwing a fit

the Royal Guard tried to pull him away for the sake of him keeping his life, but the poor boy was too worried about you to let them get him to move an inch away from you

you grabbed ahold of the knife, keeping the blade in your palm and sending blood pooling down your wrist and onto the girl‘s dress, but you didn’t care because you were able to easily yank the blade away from her

you took out a blade of your own from your belt and held it to her throat as she struggled underneath you

“You make one move and you die right here, right now. Talk,” you commanded in a whisper in her ear

“How funny, you think you can get me to talk,” she said, voice trembling and revealing her fear

in response you pressed the blade down a bit onto her throat, sending your message clear as day in the blood trickling down her neck

“Okay, fine. But I will only speak if the King is present.” 

you hoisted her up and trapped her arms behind her back, holding her wrists together

there were black spots all over your vision, but you had to fulfil your duty to the Royal Family

“Take her-” you muttered, handing her off to another guard member

just as he took her from you, you finally had enough and fainted

the last thing you saw was Jaehyun sprinting toward you, trying to catch you before you hit the ground

when you came to, you found yourself in the infirmary with someone at your bedside

who other than Jung Jaehyun? 

he looked at you with tears in his eyes, his hand interlocked in yours

“Oh, thank God,” he mumbled, crying tears of joy at you being alive

“How long was I out?” 

“About three days.” 

“And that girl?”

“Being executed. Princess of a rival kingdom, our trade business ruined theirs years ago and they needed to do something to send our nation into a panic, so... they tried killing me. But you didn’t let that happen.”

“Why would I stand there and watch her try to kill you?” you asked in shock

“I’m going to be very to the point,” he told you, bringing your hand to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to the back of your hand

“I want you to rule this country by my side.” 

?

“I want to marry you, Y/N. My father has already approved. I think the whole nation will, too. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t care if they didn’t. I want you to be mine. I need you, Y/N.” 

you thought about it and you were 100% on board

you had fallen in love with the prince over the years of wandering around the palace

and that boy had fallen in love with you quicker than he imagined, and he was never so sure about anything before

“Yes, I do. I will take your hand in marriage, Jung Jaehyun. One thing, though.” 

“What’s that?” he asked with eyes that said he would give you the whole world if you asked

“Please, never ever make enemies with another nation to the point where they send their crazy bitch of a princess to come and kill you at a party the whole kingdom is attending.” 

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try...”

[jujywrites]

Thanks to the Sigmund Corp Discord gang for this scribble! Sometime in the distant past WaluEpsi wanted a fic where Eva has to stay over at Neil’s house and ends up in his clothes. Voila, I finally wrote a thing. set during training/college/??? days idfk

I just wanted pointless fluff but I had to add a tiny plot. W H Y

(now with Eva’s POV!)

Distant thumping filtered into Neil’s headphones. Some part of his brain registered the noise wasn’t part of the soundtrack, but it wasn’t urgent– he was two photon bombs away from beating this boss, and he’d already died five times, and it wasn’t gonna be six.

The thumps grew louder. Like door knocks? It was a freaking typhoon outside, who would be at his door in this….

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, realizing, then, “Son of a bitch!” as the momentary lapse proved fatal to his avatar. He flung the controller onto the couch and hurried over to the door.

“Eva,” he said as he opened it, “what the hell–”

Her hand was raised mid-knock, and she looked like a drowned cat except three times as pissed. She said something as she sloshed past him but the words were lost in a monstrous gust of wind.

“What?” he said, half-shouting as he struggled with the door. Finally slamming it shut, he turned around only to crack his elbow on the doorknob when Eva let loose.

“I’ve had it up to here with those sadists at the academy!” She gestured wildly while she spoke, flinging water all over the carpet. “Heaven forbid you get one minuscule insignificant detail wrong in front of Peterson, we all know that, but I swear he has it out for me, Neil. Every chance he gets he’s the one that observes me and I thought I’d learned not to let it get to me but he brought a pack of his favorite bozos to the class today and he, he,” a breath, “he destroyed me. If I were a lesser person I’d have done something to put me on janitor duty for a week. No, a month.” She made a noise somewhere between a screech and a groan, shoving her hands into her hair. “Fuck. I hate him, I hate all of them. Damn it, I’m never gonna graduate because of them! I’m good at this, I want to be an agent!”

“You’re not good,” Neil interjected, meeting her sharp shocked gaze straight on. He’d eased toward her while she ranted and now stood an arm’s length away. “You’re the best. I guarantee Peterson and his cronies are terrified of you, and it doesn’t help that he’s a jerkwad of the highest order on top of that.”

“I don’t know how to win against him.” Her voice had shrunk, same as her posture. Head bowed, her face was hidden under the waterfall of hair. “This is all I know how to do now. If, if I don’t get my certification…”

While she’d vented, part of him was worrying over what exactly he could say that might help. But the way she stood there, looking so small, made him talk without thinking. “You keep going back. Keep doing everything you know how to do. Spend more time with Roxie.” That got a snort. “Don’t give up. That’s how you win. There’s only so long Peterson can hold out against your awesomeness. And don’t forget you’ve got allies over there.” Somewhat surprised by his own speech, he hid it by crossing his arms and regarding her narrow-eyed. “But… I know you already know all that.You don’t need me of all people giving you a pep-talk, right?”

“No. I don’t need it.” She stood straighter now, and had shoved some hair out of her face. A smile reached one corner of her mouth. “It’s still nice to hear y– someone else say it.“

Mission accomplished. “Glad to help.”

“Ah, jeez, I’m getting your carpet all soggy…” She stepped back, loosing a few more droplets.

“Never mind that,” he said with a handwave, walking past her. He turned when she just stood there. “Come on, let’s concentrate on you not turning into an Evasicle.”

“What? Oh–” Laughter burst from her, bending her double for a moment (he staunchly ignored his stomach somersaulting) before she followed.

“Bathroom’s here.” He waved at the door. “Hop in the shower, warm up, everything’s there you might need except a hair dryer, sorry. I’m gonna go grab you something to wear. Just leave all your clothes outside the door and I’ll hide out in the living room.”

She blinked at him, rubbing her arms absently. “Neil, you don’t– I can just towel off– I mean it’s nice of you but–”

“No buts,” he said over his shoulder as he started down the hall. “I think your lips are turning blue.”

He was rummaging through his closet when his neurotic side realized how she could have taken that. Grabbing the first shirt he spotted (something black) to go with the sweatpants he’d retrieved, he scurried back to her hoping she hadn’t–

“You been staring at my mouth, Neil?” She was smirking and shivering at the same time so it wasn’t as effective as it might have been, and yet.

“Please,” he scoffed while his mind yelled obscenities at him. “I could tell from 10 feet away.” He pushed the clothes at her. “You might need to roll up the pant cuffs, but they should fit. My room’s down that way if they don’t, take whatever you want, now go shower before you freeze any more.”

He spun around toward the living room, but managed to raise a hand in response to her soft, “Thanks.”

Somehow, cold had settled over him too. He took a detour to the kitchen and stared confusedly at the cabinets before the brilliant idea to make hot chocolate occurred to him. Does she like marshmallows…?

He was ensconced on the couch with two mugs of cocoa on the side table next to him, controller in hand, when Eva showed up again. He heard her before he saw her.

“I’m only going to say this once, so pay attention.”

Pausing the game, he gave her a glance and did a subtle (he hoped) double-take.

She hadn’t needed to roll up the cuffs, she was barefoot, a towel encircled her head… and she was wearing his Single/Taken/Anime t-shirt.

His brain was stuck somewhere between mortification and adoration and 100% confounded by the latter.

A slow grin stretched on her face. “I approve of your sartorial taste, Watts.”

“I, uh. Thought I got a different shirt,” he mumbled, scratching at his neck.

She quirked an eyebrow and walked over. “You mean you didn’t do this on purpose? Huh,” she said with a sigh as she flopped onto the couch next to him. “I’m almost disappointed.”

Strangely, having her near him was making it easier to think of words, not harder. Then again, talking was much better than imagining what scents would end up on that towel, or realizing that she probably wasn’t wearing underweokay OKAY

He dropped the controller with a groan, shoving his hands through his hair. “You already know I’m a nerd and I wasn’t planning for you to find out how much of a nerd I actually am.” He was absolutely not whining.

“Eh. I’d say you’re a moderate nerd. I mean, it’s not like you’ve kept up on all this season’s anime, or put volume release dates on your calendar, or anything like that.”

He turned, staring, hands retreating from his hair. She was smirking again, head cocked, even though she stretched her arms casually behind her. “You’ve miraculously discovered my secret,” she said, swinging one arm back around to make a sideways victory sign and sticking her tongue out for a moment.

“Oh my god, you’ve been holding out on me!” he yelped, pointing an accusing finger. “Where the hell were you when last week’s episode of Shadow Junction came out?”

“You’re joking, right? I was screaming at my laptop for twenty minutes.”

“Exactly! What the shit was that??? When Polygon of all people found the–”

“Aegis Stone! And then installed it! Without letting the Order know about it!”

“I felt so–”

“Betrayed,” they said at once.

“And now you’re telling me,” Neil said, flinging himself into the couch corner, “we could have been commiserating about it but you were hiding in the Boring People Closet. I’m shocked! Amazed. Taken aback.” He grabbed a cocoa mug and drank from it grumpily. “Hope you like marshmallows because this one’s mine now.”

And found himself uncomfortably close to choking when she crawled across him to snatch the other mug. She snapped back to her spot without noticing his momentary distress.

“You should’ve told me that right away,” she said, and slurped noisily.

“Ugh, you’re an animal.”

“It’s the proper way to gather the ‘mallows first, you uncultured swine.”

“I’m uncultured because I like my chocolate pure. That makes total sense.”

"What was that about the Boring People Closet?”

“Shut up and drink your cocoa, nerd.” But he couldn’t help grinning. Just for a second.

He set the mug down and went back to gaming. It didn’t take long, though, for his mind to start wandering. Why did he feel so… jumpy, when he snuck glances at her? No, not jumpy. Giddy. Like rainbows and sparkles should be floating around him. It wasn’t that big of a deal, she was wearing his crappy loungewear. But still. Eva in his clothes, and he felt warm? and cuddly about it?? What the f–

“Hey, there’s a kickass weapon in this area. See that crack in the mountainside?”

“Uh, yeah,” and he glanced at her to see her intent on the screen and his stomach was doing stupid things again, “but it’s just a cave. Already been there.”

“I can show you!”

He bit back a laugh at her poorly restrained grabby hands. “Sure. knock yourself out.” He handed her the controller and sat back. “How do you know about this anyway?” he asked, as she spun through his inventory and pulled out a silver hammer. “You play?”

She shook her head. “Watched Let’s Plays. Haven’t gotten into this one yet but I like the previous one…” She swung the hammer at a corner of the cave wall. “It blends in really well. You gotta mess with your brightness settings to find it but– ta-da!” A few cracks later and a treasure chest was revealed. She gave the controller back with a smug smile.“You’re welcome.”

“Holy cannoli, what a beauty,” he said, staring wide-eyed at the flaming sword the chest granted. “You’ve really been holding out on me, Rosy.”

He faked almost falling off the couch when she shoved his shoulder.

“Call me that again and you can forget about binging Kaleidoscope Morning together,” she said, sipping primly from her mug.

He nearly dropped the controller. “Wh– you– that’s available?”

“Legal and free,” she drawled. “I’ll have to train you in my ways, grasshopper.”

"Is platonic marriage a thing because I will totally marry you for that.”

She snorted, jabbed a thumb at the tee shirt. “How soon you forget.”

“Touché,” he said, mentally facepalming.

“Anyway, thanks for this.” She bumped his cheek with her mug. “And, you know, the rest of it. Putting up with my angsting, et cetera.”

“What are friends for?” But he paused, and looked at her, and smiled at the cliche. “Besides, I’d have been a total douchenugget to turn you away.”

She chuckled. “I know. Still, thanks.”

Her side hug was too brief to give him a heart attack, but his face still heated. And yet… She tucked her legs up underneath her, and he settled cross-legged in his corner, and listened to her tips… He felt so comfortable it was almost unbearable.

Thunder crashed outside. He saw her flinch in his peripheral vision as he shivered inexplicably. Still, he felt warm from the inside out. And some silly distant part of his brain decided that, if pressed to describe his perfect evening… Well, this was pretty damn close.

[fireemblemfamiliesff]

A Messy Family Time

The castle was the noisiest it had been in a long while. She could hear the noise from several halls down. The plain, white hallways filled with ancient treasure, portraits, and vases that Lucina never quite understood why they were so valuable always so clean and quiet. Yes, normally the castle was a sterile state of quiet and cleanliness, as Laurent liked to put it. Just as Laurent’s mother and her father’s most loyal friend, Frederick, liked to keep it. It was after all the place where the princes and princess were being raised.

The last pregnancy had been more difficult than the first one. Carrying twins had been a task that Lucina’s body found difficult. Far more than any of the endurance training she had ever faced. Not to mention the birthing process. After which Miriel decided that she would be needed to make sure Lucina’s health did not fade for months after. Then she often came up with reasons to visit and see the children thought that was never her stated intent. Not that Lucina minded an extra hand or two. Especially now five years later when father was going to be handing the kingdom over to her soon.

Since her responsibilities were increasing everyday Laurent had agreed to pause his research on what he explained was the comparative traits of dark magic and it’s supposed the opposite of healing magic. He had already written half of a tome over it yet still insisted he was nowhere close to bringing a conclusive if not at least acceptable end to his study. Yet he was willing to do the extra care it took to handle the children. It was agreed between Laurent and Lucina that hands-on parenting would be best since both grew up cherishing their parental relationships and wanted their children to feel the same.

Now as Lucina traces down the source of the screaming she begins to wonder if having one of the handmaiden’s help them wouldn’t be such a bad idea. For what Lucina saw when she opens the door to the children’s playroom was indeed a nightmare.

Laurent was pinned to the ground by the twins Lucretia, and Renard. Someone had given them paint for Laurent was covered in marks of blue, brown, red, and green. Their hands were covered in a strange mix of the paints that also was all over their own clothes. Renard’s red hair was covered in blue and green paint as his blue eyes had rings painted around them. Lucretia’s blue hair was clean except for the ends of her twin braids. Yet her face was almost completely covered in paint. All except for her purple eyes thankfully. The floor was decorated as well but instead of paint, their were toys everywhere. Play swords given from Owain, pointed hats from their father were hanging off a pile in the corner, and the collection of wooden soldiers each given by one of father’s own soldiers were everywhere. There was no organization to this chaos. Just wild abandonment. While the twins dealt with their father Samuel was in the corner tearing pages out of one of his father’s tomes. The five years old she understood, but she had hoped Samuel would have grown out of such behavior by now. Having finally had his seventh name day just a week ago.

“What is going on here?” Lucina asks finally making her children aware of her presence. Immediately Samuel hid the book behind his back as the twins smile up at their mother. They were still wiping their messy hands all over their father and his clothes.

“We’re playing!” Answers the giddy Renard.

“Ah Lucina, just in time I see.” Laurent slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position. Carefully he removes Renard and Lucretia from on top of him. “I thought allowing the children to stimulate their creative sides would help them, but it became a little chaotic and I lost control.”

“Was it before or after that when Samuel stole your tome.”

“Neither he told me the other day that he wanted to learn so I bought a practice tome along with me for him to use today. Though now,” Laurent raises his glasses up on his nose as he looks to his oldest. “I see that I will need a private space where I can teach him one on one.”

“Perhaps tomes aren’t his thing,” Lucina suggests as she offers her husband a hand up.

“Perhaps, but it does no harm in trying. My mistake was bringing it on me to play time.”

“Indeed my dear. I hope you can replace it.”

“Rather easily I believe.” Laurent adjusts his clothes and flattens out his hair again, ignoring all the paint on him.

Lucina turns to her eldest and holds out her hand. With a pout, he does return what was left of the magic tome. Yet he keeps the shredder paper behind himself in the corner. Lucina shakes her head as she reaches over her seven-year-old to retrieve the scraps. As of late Samuel had taken to acting more like a petulant child than a young prince. Leading his siblings and himself into plenty of trouble. Lucina hands her husband the remains of the tome and turns back to her eldest son.

“Samuel,” and right like that the tears began to spring forth from his red eyes. The eyes he retrieved from his father’s side of the family. “Please stop dear. I’m not going to yell I just want to talk to you.”

“Really?” He asks and suddenly his eyes were dry once more.

“Yes. Laurent, can you take the twins and wash them? You seem as if you’ll need one as well after them.”

“Of course though I think I will ask your Aunt Lissa for help for the little ones. Our youngest son has decided he doesn't want his father’s help.” Laurent makes Lucina aware as he picks up Lucretia. Renard runs away from his father.

“Mother says I was like that with her at their age.” Lucina turns to her eldest. “Let’s go somewhere quieter.” Lucina picks up Samuel and turns towards her husband. “I’ll go get Aunt Lissa and send her to meet you.”

“Thank you.” Laurent sounds a bit relieved as he catches Renard’s hand. Lucina gives him a kiss upon one of the cleans spots of her red hair.

She leaves as Laurent gives a grunt and lifts Renard up. Lucina knew Aunt Lissa would probably be in the kitchens where she and Owain often spent their personal time practicing Owain’s cooking abilities. She wanted her son to never go hungry while he was on one of his self-assigned missions for the Shepherds. Samuel stays quiet on his mother’s hip as he buries his face into her arm.

“Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you?” Lucina offers the olive branch so they could solve the problem faster. For anyone who expects a child to, expects too much. “You can be frank, er, honest.” Lucina corrects herself reminding herself that this was her child, not one of the bureaucrats she was often stuck listening to.

“You and papa don’t like me,” Samuel complains freezing his mother.

“Why would you think that?” Her mind could not fathom why her son would ever think that.

“You always work instead of training or playing with me, and when you don’t work you play with the twins. They always sleep in your bed while I have to sleep in my room alone. You don’t tell me good job or good boy Samuel, and you and Papa haven’t been calling me Sammy anymore.” Samuel begins his rant by clutching his mother’s arm but was soon waving his arms about and growing increasingly hard to hold.

Lucina had to admit it was hard getting the twins to sleep in their own bed. Especially Lucretia since she had her own room, and didn’t like to be alone at night. Though she did not think she and Laurent showed that much more attention to Renard and Lucretia then Samuel.

“Is that why you asked papa to show you how to do magic?” A short nod. Lucina sighs and sets her eldest down. “Listen, Sammy, mama is very busy. She is very sorry, but she and papa don’t dislike you. We love you.” She runs one of her hands through his blonde hair gently. The way her mother showed her to do it to calm children down. “Hey how about we go help papa bathe the twins then he can show you some magic?”

“Okay.” Samuel agrees still sounding a little dejected.

“What can I do to help you, Sammy?” Lucina asks feeling her heroic blood pounding through her veins to answer the call. Or so her cousin Owain enjoyed saying.

“Can I sleep with you guys tonight?” He asks his red eyes looking a little scared.

“You don’t think you are too old?”

“No!”

“Then alright. For tonight you can sleep in our bed, but tomorrow you have to help keep Renard in your bedroom. Deal?”

“Deal.” She made have just solved the whole bedtime problem for one-half of the twins. Now how to for Lucretia?

“Now are you ready to help and be a big boy?” Lucina asks offering to pick him up again.

“I am a big boy!” Samuel shouts before running down the hall.

Lucina follows at a leisure pace behind him. His blonde locks bouncing off of his shoulder with every step that hits the ground. Samuel led the way to the bathroom while urging his mother to go faster. She chooses to catch up to him as he reaches the bathroom door.

“Ah Lissa, Lucina said you would be,” Laurent stops mid-sentence as he sees it was his wife and son instead. Then he smiles.

“We thought you could use our help instead. Especially since you need to bathe as well.” Lucina picks out a piece of dry paint from out of his hair.

“Yes well, I was going to wait since I thought it was your aunt coming.”

“Go ahead. Sammy is going to help out with the twins. Get a bath ready for yourself.”

“Thank you.” Laurent smiles. Carefully he holds Lucina’s head up as he bends down to meet her face. Leaving a gentle kiss on her lips and a bit of blue paint on them too. Lucina laughs and Laurent moves to another tub on the other side of the room to wash up.

“Hey! Stay in the bath! Mom said you had to listen to me.” Samuel was shouting as he tries to keep Renard in the bath. Lucina sighs and begins washing Lucretia as her sons start to wrestle. She would apologize to the maids who clean the room later.