#I should have made his head bigger but I was in a hurry XD

[raygirlramblings]

I rushed this out during work lunch break. @venominmypizza this is 100% your fault, I hope you know that XD Pony crossovers make Raye brain go BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Drawing Bullfrog as other creatures is too much fun. He is so perfectly shaped his design translates well into different styles while still being very him 💚

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x18 - Piccolomon, the Fairy! / The Piximon Cometh

Previously on Digimon Adventure: What was supposed to be a lovely vacation cruise to get away from it all was ruined by undercooked poultry. Mimi and Sora were forced to skewer and roast it themselves. After filing a complaint with the manager, the kids returned to their journey.

The kids continue their march through the desert, though Taichi and Agumon immediately inform us that at least the heat isn't insufferably blazing this time.

Taichi: Nice weather we're having! Agumon: The wind feels great!

A cool breeze has blown in today, making for a nicer walk than usual. The dub gets this point backwards.

Tai: Okay, I admit a little breeze would be nice, but it's still a beautiful day! Don't you think? Agumon: Yeah, maybe for a scorpion!

Dub Tai is being relentlessly optimistic even though the weather sucks as much as ever. Even Agumon isn't having his bullshit.

While those two march ahead, the rest of the group hangs back behind them, deliberating Mimi's new Crest.

Mimi: I got a Crest, but.... Jou: We don't know how to use them. Sora: How do we raise our Digimon correctly? Yamato: Hang on. We haven't found all the Crests yet. Koushiro: That's true. We should shelve this conversation until everyone has their Crests. Taichi: HEY!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK THERE!? Agumon: HURRY UP!!! Taichi: YOU'RE GOING TO GET LEFT BEHIND!!! Takeru: We're holding a really important conference about the Digimon right now! We'll be right there, so just wait a minute, okay?

Man, Taichi just got told by an eight-year-old. Sorry, Tai, but when twelve people are in the back and you and Agumon are way out front, they aren't falling behind. You're running ahead.

The dub kicks this conversation off on a different tone, matching the tonal shift in the previous episode's ending.

Mimi: It's beautiful, isn't it, Joe? And every Crest we've found so far has been different! Joe: Yeah, but... We need to learn how to use them.... Sora: Or else our Digimon could Digivolve all messed up, right? Matt: Yeah, but none of that really matters until we find all the Crests. Izzy: Hmm, I think you're probably right about that one, Matt. Maybe the Crests' power comes from having them all! Tai: Hmm... What are they doing back there? HEY!!! WE GOTTA MOVE ON!!! IF YOU'RE GONNA TAKE SOME DOWNTIME THEN WE NEED TO FIND SOME SHADE!!! T.K.: Oh, thanks, Tai! We were right in the middle of a serious Digi-conversation about the Crests and everything, and then YOU made me forget what I was saying! You be in charge of finding the shade; We'll catch up!

Even though the dub changed the weather, Tai won't need to find any shade because T.K. threw so much at him already. XD Tai just got told by an eight-year-old squared.

We see a couple shifts here based on previously altered context. Mimi loves her Crest and is excited to have it. Sora's line is altered to emphasize the risks while de-emphasizing the whole "proper care of your Digimon" thing, similar to last episode.

Suddenly, the sand beneath Taichi's feet opens up.

A huge Kuwagamon emerges from the ground, flinging both Taichi and Agumon.

(I guess he wasn't amused by Taichi's impatience either.)

Even though we've already encountered one of these, the narrator gives us a rundown all the same. Kuwagamon is an Adult-stage Virus-type Insect Digimon.

Narrator: Kuwagamon. When using his special attack Scissor Arms, the pincers on his head can slice through anything. He's far stronger than the one on File Island.

The dub seems to think this is actually the same Kuwagamon we met before.

Izzy: AHHHHHH!!! IS THAT THE SAME ONE FROM LAST TIME!?!? REALLY!?!? Palmon: It's Kuwagamon alright. There's no mistaking that ugly face! But he's sure bigger than he was the last time.

A week of flying over solid ocean with nowhere to land does spectacular things for your lats, I guess.

Agumon pelts him with a Baby Flame, but Kuwagamon shrugs it off.

Agumon: He's a lot stronger than the one on File Island!

In the dub:

Agumon: Uh, we have a big problem; This guy's much stronger than he used to be!

The rest of the group stands around watching like a bunch of useless chodes while Agumon's forced to fight alone. Gabumon yells at him to evolve, but Taichi and Agumon hesitate.

Taichi: If... If he evolves wrong this time.... Agumon: If I don't turn into Greymon.... Taichi: (races towards Agumon) AGUMOOOOOOON!!! Gomamon: WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? If he gets you with his Scissor Arms, that'll be the end for you!!!

Establishing a big part of the episode's plot, we see that Taichi and Agumon are still traumatized by the SkullGreymon event. They're afraid to even evolve at all without the certainty that it won't happen again.

In the dub:

Tai: Alright, rethinking our training program here. Oh man, I hope Agumon doesn't freak out. Agumon: What if something's wrong with me? What if I can't become Greymon? Tai: (racing towards Agumon) Agumon, stay away from his choppers! Gomamon: Ahh! Move, Agumon! Move! Move! Do something! Get back!

The first two lines aren't so clear about Tai and Agumon's trauma. Tai makes it sound like Agumon's the one with the problem, while Agumon seems physically unable to Digivolve rather than reluctant to.

Taichi tackles Agumon to the ground just as Kuwagamon's Scissor Arms snap shut overhead. Kuwagamon comes in for another swipe and--

A mysterious voice calls out "Pit Bomb" as this single shot erases Kuwagamon. The dub calls it "Pixie Bomb Seek and Destroy", which is a mouthful.

Shortly after, the kids meet their adorable savior.

While Taichi and Agumon unbury themselves from sand and disintegrated Kuwagamon ash, this little guy marches past and lets out an adorable "Pi!" with every step.

Sora: (to Taichi) You look okay. Jou: Where's Kuwagamon? Takeru: Who's that? He's weird. Digimon: PI! Hey, amateurs! Piyomon: WAUGH!!! You're Piccolomon! Mimi: (picks him up) Cute!

Pretty basic dialogue. The dub spices it up with gags.

Mimi: A powderpuff with wings! Sora: Just don't use it on your face. Joe: And where's Kuwagamon? T.K.: Oh man! Maybe that's him! Digimon: Ha! I am no enemy, nope-nope! If anything, you are your own enemies. Biyomon: Oh! I've heard of you! You're the famous Pixiemon, right? Mimi: (picks him up, impressed) You are!?

The dub cuts out his marching Pi's, instead having him hum a marching tune. We also see that here that's very verbose. Dub Piximon speaks very quickly and with peculiar mannerisms to make him odd and quirky but in a different way from the original adorable fluffball.

From here, we go into his rundown. Piccolomon is a Perfect-stage Data-type Fairy Digimon. Notably, his attack is actually "Bit Bomb" but he says "Pit" due to his verbal tic of uttering "Pi" all the time. His name is rooted in the italian word for "small". Dragon Ball fans may also recognize it as a musical instrument; Specifically, the piccolo flute, so named because it's a half-size flute.

His dub name is, of course, a play on "pixie".

Narrator: Piccolomon. A fairy Digimon who brandishes his favorite spear Fairy Tale and wields strange magic.

Since she's the one who recognized him, Biyomon handles the rundown in the dub.

Biyomon: Piximon is famous in the Digital World for his skills and training, but few have ever met him!

As soon as the rundown's finished, Piccolomon lays into the kids for being weak and useless.

Piyomon: It must have been Piccolomon who defeated Kuwagamon for us! Piccolomon: PI PI PI!! Impressed by the strength of my magic, aren't you? (jabs spear in the kids' direction) PI! You're all supposed to be the Chosen Children, aren't you? You're all so weak, I could barely stand to watch, pi. If you keep up like this, then the Tags and Crests will just go to waste, pi. Mimi: This Digimon isn't cute at all. Piccolomon: The same goes for you Digimon PI! You're slacking off PI! You aren't trying hard enough PI! You're gutless PI! Yamato: (grumpy whisper) Pi-pi-pi-pi. He's so noisy. Palmon: I hate exerting myself.... Gomamon: I didn't have any guts to begin with. Piccolomon: That's why all of you are coming with me for training, starting today! Sora: Training? Tentomon: What do you mean? Piccolomon: Especially you two over there! Taichi & Agumon: Me!? Piccolomon: (flies out of Mimi's hands) You and your Agumon win the grand prize. You'll receive intensive training from the Special Menu PI! Taichi: Special Menu!? Agumon: Intensive training!? Piccolomon: Now, follow me! (lands and starts marching) Pi pi pi pi pi pi pi pi....

Piccolomon is incredibly rude and calls them all wankers. It's almost like they're lost children or something. Who could have predicted this?

He doesn't so much invite them to come with him as take ownership of them. He's telling, not asking. These are supposed to be the heroes of legend but he finds them woefully unimpressive, so he's going to fix it.

In the dub, Biyomon continues on from her diegetic rundown.

Biyomon: His secret home is the training ground for all the great Digimon fighters! Piximon: And I've heard all about you two but so far I am NOT IMPRESSED!!! You seven are supposed to be the DigiDestined!? HA! You'd better be more careful or you'll end up DigiDinners yup-yup! Without my spears and my magic, Kuwagamon would be eating you with a side of DigiFries! Mimi: That's gross! Thanks a lot. Piximon: And that's not all! You Digimon there! You're supposed to protect the children, but half the time they're protecting you! I wanna see some guts! I wanna see some courage! Matt: (grumpy whisper) This guy reminds me of a gym teacher I once had. Palmon: He's right. We just don't have any guts. Gomamon: Aww... Don't we get points for enthusiasm? Piximon: But the news isn't all bad! Yep-yep, from now on you're all going to train with me! Sora: But why? Tentomon: Let's not go overboard, Piximon! Piximon: Especially you two guys! Tai & Agumon: Wha--!? Piximon: (flies out of Mimi's hands) You heard me! You two need lots of help and I have a special extreme training program just for you! Tai: Did I hear him right? Agumon: Sounds kind of extreme. Piximon: Yep! Follow me! (lands and starts marching, humming his marching cadence again)

His quickly spoken dialogue peppered with yep-yeps and nope-nopes are what replace the pi pi pis. Otherwise, this scene is mostly identical. The only difference here is Matt's barb. Since he can't make fun of the "pi pi pi", he drops a solid crack about gym teachers who think they're drill sergeants.

Gomamon's line is also different, but it's actually improved over the original line. "Points for enthusiasm" is a better line for him than "I don't have any guts" because. Like. What are you talking about, Gomamon? You're a rowdy thrill-seeker. You have guts for days. Jou wishes you had less guts. Remember that time you tried to fistfight him?

The kids huddle up to decide what to do from here.

Taichi: What should we do? Jou: Can we even trust that Digimon? Yamato: What's your take, Gabumon? Gabumon: He complains a lot, but he's not a bad Digimon. Palmon: I didn't see a Black Gear or Cable either. Sora: Why not give it a try? After all, we don't know how to raise our Digimon correctly. It'll be fun if we think of it like a training camp! Mimi: It may be more relaxing than wandering around.... Yamato: What do you think, Taichi? Taichi: Let's try it. It sounds interesting. Takeru: It's decided! Group: YEAH!!! Piccolomon: WHAT IS TAKING YOU SO LONG!?!? HURRY UP PIIIIIII!!!

Wouldn't count on intensive training being relaxing, Mimi. You're gonna eat those words in a few hours. Also, I'm amused by the implication that Palmon was cautiously inspecting Piccolomon during all that time Mimi was holding him.

In the dub:

Group: (unintelligible murmurs of suspicion from everyone) Mimi: I don't know about this. Joe: I have a question. Do we trust a ping-pong with wings? Tai: But he did save Agumon and me. Why would he do that if he was no good? Izzy: Precisely! He didn't have a Black Gear anywhere on him; I checked. Joe: What do you say, Biyomon? After all, you seem to know a lot about him. Biyomon: Well, it's an honor to be chosen for training by Piximon! Mimi: Sounds like a lot of work to me. Sora: He's right, though. We could use some help. Tai: How can you say that? Just cause we've nearly been eaten a hundred times...! Matt: Well, there are worse options? I mean, do we have a choice? All in favor, say aye. Group: AYE! Piximon: WOULD YOU ALL JUST HURRY UP!?!?

Having a still image of a huddle with no lip flaps moving gives them the flexibility to change who's talking around quite a bit. Joe seems to lead this discussion instead of Taichi and Yamato, though Matt comes in for the vote at the end.

Notably, it's Izzy who inspected Piximon instead of Palmon. He was also less thorough, only checking for a Black Gear and not, like... a cable sticking out of Piccolomon's butt or something? Honestly, not sure where Palmon expected to see a Black Cable.

Biyomon continues to fangirl over Piximon-sama.

And another line about "how to raise our Digimon properly" gets cut down into vagueness.

As the kids trudge through the desert, Mimi complains.

Mimi: Are we there yet!? Piccolomon: A little further PI! Palmon: 'A little further, a little further', that's all you've been saying! Piccolomon: (ten feet later) Here we are pi. This is the place pi. Sora: Here? But I don't see anything. Piccolomon: PI!!!

In the dub, more kids get in on the complaining so it's not just Mimi.

Mimi: Are we there yet!? Piximon: Just a little further! Joe: That's about the seventh time he's said that. Matt: I think he's lost. Tai: So what do we do, ask a cactus for directions!? Sora: ...ice cream... cold root beer-- Group: STOP THAT!!! Piximon: Halt! We have arrived! Sora: What are you talking about!? There isn't anything here.

The dub's so good at its banter. XD

PIccolomon casts a gibberish incantation to open the way, while Piximon calls out "Pixie Portal!" and then spends the rest of his lip flaps giggling like a madman. His spell unseals a hole in reality, leading to a tropical jungle.

Jou: WHAT!?!? Piccolomon: Nothing to fear pi. This is just the entrance through my barrier pi. Now follow me pi.

After a moment of hesitation, the kids cross through the barrier.

In the dub:

Mimi: It's a hole in the desert! Joe: Am I the only one who thinks this looks like trouble? Piximon: Actually, it's just my front door. Come on in now! Quickly, before it closes, yep-yep!

Mimi gets to chime in, while Jou's shocked reaction is changed to conscious whining.

As the kids enter the jungle, Takeru exclaims:

Takeru: (gasp) A jungle!

But most of it is just 13 seconds of looking around the jungle. Prime opportunity for the dub to add banter.

Tai: Cool! A jungle inside a desert! T.K.: I bet you've got LOTS of friends who want to play with ya! Piximon: You should have seen it when I first got it!

Not their best work. T.K.'s line doesn't seem to connect to anything and I'm not sure what Piximon even means by that. Is he trying to compare his jungle to a used car?

Suddenly, Sora hears something. The sound of a horn, like on a car or train, honking in the distance. Whipping around, she spots Etemon's trailer crossing the desert sands just outside the jungle's border where they'd been moments ago.

Sora: Hey! Behind us! Jou: What do we do now!? Piccolomon: That's Etemon's trailer pi. Jou: Ehhhhh!?!?!? Piccolomon: Nothing to worry about pi. He can't see through my barrier on the other side pi.

This is a fun bit because it's something we've glimpsed in past episodes. It's such a minor detail, I haven't even bothered to mention it. Etemon likes to honk his horn when his trailer's getting hauled around, for no apparent reason but shits and giggles. Because he may be Perfect-stage but he is an absolute mon-child.

Suddenly, his unnecessary honking is plot relevant.

The dub makes the inexplicable decision to cut the car horn from Etemon's trailer. So Sora, I guess, has a psychic premonition and that's why she turns around.

Sora: (reacting to nothing) Huh? (turns around) Heads up! BEHIND US, GUYS!!! Mimi: Oh no, it's Etemon and his trailer! Joe: Oh boy, this is bad! Piximon: And right outside the front door he is too! Joe: Huh? Piximon: Oh, don't worry about it. He isn't able to see through the barrier. He sees nothing but desert.

They add in Mimi to ID Etemon in case kids have forgotten. This, however, creates a second continuity error right alongside the lack of the horn.

The kids have never seen Etemon's trailer until now. That's why Jou had the big "EHHHHHH!?!?" reaction when Piccolomon ID'd it. He knee-jerk reacted to the strange vehicle by assuming they were in peril, and then Piccolomon's explanation upgraded that to THE MOST PERIL. So I guess Mimi's having psychic premonitions too today.

I can forgive Mimi's continuity flub. I don't think the dub team approached this show as a serialized story and were instead looking at it like an episodic cartoon, since that's what most cartoons in the 90's were like.

But removing the car horn is an incomprehensible choice to make.

Inside the trailer, repairs on the Dark Network remain underway, though they seem to have several sectors now online. Etemon, however, is throwing a hissy fit.

Etemon: HAVEN'T YOU FIXED IT YET!?!? Gazimon 1: It's being restored at an incredible rate! Gazimon 2: Please wait just a little longer! Etemon: (bouncing on chair) I can't wait anymore! Hurry up and REPAIR MY NETWORK ALREADY!!!

As someone who works in tech, I feel for these Gazimon.

The Gazimon are bolder in the dub.

Etemon: The stupid screen is still broken; What's taking so long!? Gazimon 1: We've almost got it fixed, Etemon. Gazimon 2: No need for a conniption fit! Etemon: (bouncing on chair) I'LL SHOW YOU CONNIPTION YOU INSOLENT LITTLE WORMS!!! Fix it right away; I have a show to get on!

The boldness to say that straight to an already agitated Etemon's face. Holy shit.

So the kids come to Piximon's home. A tall mountain with stairs spiraling up it, leading to the various structures.

How's that "more relaxing than walking" thing coming along, Mimi?

Jou: ...up there...? Mimi: What is that!? (crying) I don't believe it.... Koushiro: We have to climb that? Takeru: How many steps are there? Yamato: There's no use counting them. Sora: Wait, does this mean our training has already started? Piccolomon: That's right PI! Tentomon: (quietly, to himself) Hehehe, this is a piece of cake. I can just-- Piccolomon: By the way, flying is forbidden during training pi! Tentomon: Aww.... Piccolomon: Stop whining and start climbing pi!

Nice try, Tentomon, but no dice. Start walking, everybody.

In the dub:

Piximon: Alright, everybody, home we are! My house is just up these steps. Joe: We have to walk up there!? Mimi: But I didn't bring my stair-climbing sneakers! Tai: Uh, yeah... And I just remembered I'm afraid of heights! Izzy: Purely from a logical standpoint, it doesn't look very safe. Sora: Is this part of our training? Piximon: Exactly! Tentomon: (loudly, to everyone) Hey, no sweat! I'll just FLY up there! Then, before you know it, I'll be chilling by the pool while you guys are still-- Piximon: And oh, by the way, did I mention there will be no flying by anyone during all my training? Tentomon: Aww.... Piximon: Haven't you rookies learned that the easy way is sometimes a TRAP!? Now let's move out! Joe: I guess Piximon never heard of elevators....

Low blow on that last line. XD These kids do struggle with that. They walk into traps so easily.

Meanwhile, Dub Tentomon deserves to walk. The original was whispering to himself about his loophole; In the dub, he's openly gloating.

On the way up the mountain, Piccolomon motivates the kids to reach the very top by promising food when they get there. And by food, he means:

Gomamon: Hey. Where's the food? Piccolomon: You'll have to finish your next training first pi! Gomamon: (distraught) I knew it.... Piccolomon: (conjures up buckets and washrags) You'll be scrubbing all of these floors pi! Yamato: Scrubbing all of the floors!? Jou: All of them from top to bottom!? Mimi: (crying) No way! Piccolomon: (to Taichi and Agumon) You two have the Special Menu pi! Come with me pi! Taichi & Agumon: (groan) Special Menu....

This is the same in the dub but with all of the kids complaining at once upon hearing about the scrubbing such that it's hard to make out any one complaint.

Until we get to Tai and Agumon. Then they drop this gem.

Piximon: But not you, Agumon and Tai. Come now, I have a special chore for you. Tai: Great; We probably have to paint the place!

XD Yeah, probably.

The kids get to work on scrubbing the floors, with various grumbles arising.

Sora: There's no other choice. Let's get this over with. Mimi: I've never scrubbed a floor; Not even in my own house.... Piyomon: Is this really training!? Palmon: Maybe he's just using us to work as his maids! Gomamon: FOOD!!! Takeru: Tokomon, let's race to see who's faster! Tokomon: Okay! I won't lose to you! Yamato: (stops cleaning to watch his brother and smile) Takeru....

In the dub:

Mimi: The last time I scrubbed a floor was... Never! Izzy: It's a simple task, Mimi; Even you'll catch on. Matt: Is this really training or is this just Piximon's maid's day off and he doesn't like to vacuum!? T.K.: Tokomon, let's have a cleaning race! Ready, set, go! VROOM! VROOOOOOM!!! Matt: (stops cleaning to watch his brother and smiles) Ahaha....

Two key differences here, one I appreciate and one I hate. I like that they composited Piyomon and Palmon's lines into one for Matt. It feels a little weird that, in the original, all of the girls grouse while the boys mostly just get straight to work. Except Gomamon, of course, who's still mad about the food fakeout. This way, it's more even.

But also, they add a line that's just Izzy being mean to Mimi about her line from the original. Thanks, I hate it.

For the Special Menu, Piccolomon drops off Taichi and Agumon in a small, pitch-black cave. As they enter, they sink through the ground and are lost to places unknown. Training has begun.

Later that night, the group goes to sleep on the floor of a miserable looking waiting room with one chair and a couch. Jou-senpai takes the chair (perk of being the oldest, I guess) while Sora and Mimi share the couch, sleeping sitting up and leaning against each other. Everyone else piles on the floor.

But Koushiro can't sleep. Starting to get up, he spots Yamato sneaking out. Yamato shushes him, and the pair leave the room together. Once they're outside, they can talk.

Yamato: Taichi and Agumon haven't come back. Koushiro: Yeah. I wonder what happened to them?

Before they can follow that line of conversation further, Yamato and Koushiro's Tags suddenly begin to pulse.

Yamato: They're glowing! Koushiro: Yamato-san! Yamato: Our Crests must be nearby!

Following the pulsing of their Crests, Yamato and Koushiro descend the mountain. As they leave Piccolomon's home in the dead of night, Koushiro starts to get nervous.

Koushiro: Should we bring Tentomon and Gabumon with us? Yamato: No. We're safe inside the barrier. We should let them sleep.

Trusting his senpai to know best, Koushiro follows Yamato's lead. When their Tags begin to pulse again, they race off from the house, following the trail. As they go, we catch a glimpse of the ever inscrutable Piccolomon watching them leave.

Taichi and Agumon wake up on a boat, floating in a mysterious glowing body of water. Agumon wakes first, then rouses Taichi.

Taichi: Wh-Where are we!? Agumon: I don't know! I thought we were in a cave! Taichi: (stands up in the boat and calls out) HEY!!! PICCOLOMON!!!

No answer returns to him but he does rock the boat enough to fall out so that's a reaction, at least. Agumon grabs an oar to fish him out.

Agumon: What are you doing? Taichi: Oh, be quiet. Is this really training?

Tai doesn't get to talk in the dub; Agumon eats up the screentime for both of their lines so he can chastise Tai more.

Agumon: Don't you know not to stand up in a boat!? Here, grab this.

Unfortunately, a sudden bright light in the distance appears, distracting Agumon.

Agumon: Taichi! Something's shining over there! Taichi: H-Hey! Keep looking this way!

Too late. Agumon's so distracted, he can't pull Taichi in properly. Instead, Taichi ends up pulling him out of the boat.

Surfacing, they both end up clinging to the side of the boat and lay into each other.

Taichi: Crap, Agumon! What are you doing!? Agumon: I was just trying to help you! Taichi: That's a lie, you were staring off at something else! Agumon: But the light! Taichi: Wait a second. This boat is drifting somewhere. Come on, hang tight! Agumon: Don't change the subject! To start off, Taichi, you were--

They squabble just as hard in the dub.

Tai: Now look what you did! We're both in the water! Agumon: What I did!? You were the one standing up in the boat. I was just trying to pull- Tai: Well, if you'd been watching what you were doing instead of looking at some stupid light in the distance-- Agumon: Well, if you hadn't pulled on the oar, we wouldn't be swimming like tuna in pea soup! We'd be back in the boat warm and dry! Tai: I do not swim like a tuna fish and where do you get off blaming--

I'm not sure what swimming like a tuna means but it sounds scathing. Take that, Tai!

As their boat drifts further away, the light slowly moves in. Taichi and Agumon fade away as it passes.

The following morning, the kids remaining at the house are woken up by Piccolomon banging on a metal bucket.

Mimi: What is that racket!?!? Piccolomon: Morning! How long do you plan on sleeping, PI!? Look sharp PI! Tentomon: Has anyone seen Koushiro-han? Group: (suddenly alert) Huh!? Gabumon: And Yamato! Takeru: Piccolomon, do you know where they are? Piccolomon: Those two left to find their Crests pi! Tentomon: (grumpy) Oh. So he left me behind.

So help me, if he wasn't Perfect-stage, they would probably make him eat that bucket.

In the dub:

Mimi: ...what is it? What's going on? Piximon: Rise and shine, everybody! Everybody up! Come on, people! Tentomon: Picomon(sic), do you know where Izzy went? He's not in his bed. Group: (suddenly alert) Huh!? Gabumon: And I can't find Matt! T.K.: What!? Hey, did you send my brother somewhere? Piximon: Your brother and his pal left to look for Crests about midnight. Tentomon: Ohh, I don't believe it! Why would Izzy leave me behind!?

Got another flagrant line flub here. Tentomon's actor says "Picomon" instead of "Piximon", as if starting to say Piccolomon but then realizing and snipping it off. Yet again, they just left it in and didn't shoot another take.

Realizing that three people are now missing, the girls do the only sensible thing.

They bully Jou for absolutely no reason. XD

Sora: Taichi and Agumon haven't returned since last night, and now it's Koushiro-kun and Yamato-kun. What a mystery that they keep disappearing, one after another.... Mimi: Maybe Jou-senpai is next. Jou: H-Hey, don't say weird stuff like that! P-Piccolomon might-- Gomamon: D'aww, Jou. You get scared too easily. It's fine. We can trust Piccolomon! Jou: Are you sure...? Piccolomon: Now! Time for training PI!

Savage.

While everyone's triggering Jou's neuroses on purpose for funsies, we return to Yamato and Koushiro. They've descended all the way to the jungle in search of their Crests.

Trudging through the underbrush, they discuss their own motives for pursuing these ambiguous little macguffins.

Yamato: Hey. Why do you want your Crest, Koushiro? Koushiro: Why? I want to see what Kabuterimon evolves into next, of course! How about you, Yamato-san? Yamato: I, uh... I want to improve myself! It's not only Digimon who evolve and grow stronger. I want to mature alongside them and grab hold of a part of me that's different from before.

Yamato putting off incredible senpai energy right now.

The dub expresses the same sentiments but the way they phrase it is interesting.

Matt: Why do you want to find a Crest, Izzy? Izzy: I guess it's mostly because of Kabuterimon. I would like to see which stage he will Digivolve into after that one. Isn't that the reason why you're looking for a Crest? Matt: No. I want to use the Crest to Digivolve me! Izzy: Oh? Matt: Not into a Digimon, but to make me stronger and smarter. Maybe learn something new about myself. Y'know, to reach my next level!

Matt captures the sentiment from Yamato really well. The phrase "Digivolve me" is a bit awkward, but purposely so. It's attention-grabbing and demands explanation, which he provides immediately.

Izzy, however, tries to sound smart by asking what stage Kabuterimon's going to Digivolve into which. Uh. Isn't. Really. A question. It's Perfect/Ultimate, Izzy. He's going to Digivolve to Ultimate stage. That's how the stages work. The question here is what specific Ultimate-stage Digimon he's going to become.

(It will always be confusing that the dub calls Ultimate-stage Mega and Perfect-stage Ultimate.)

Finally, they come across their destination.

Yamato: We're at the edge of the barrier. Koushiro: We came this far only to reach a dead end. (The well in the desert begins to glow) Yamato: Hey! Koushiro: The well is glowing! Our Crests must be inside it, Yamato-san! Yamato: But it's outside the barrier!

Koushiro approaches the barrier and touches it with his hand, testing whether it's a physical obstruction or not. As he slides his hand through, Dub Izzy utters:

Izzy: Hope my hand doesn't melt....

Fortunately, his hand passes through easily.

Koushiro: We can pass through! Yamato: (nods approvingly) Okay!

Yamato descends the well first, with Koushiro following behind. Before long, they're both able to find their Crests glowing along the walls.

Their Crests activate at the same time, slotting into their Tags. Five down, two to go.

It's just too bad they left the barrier.

The Dark Network is back online and fully functional. Yamato and Koushiro appear circled on Etemon's map. They've been found.

Gazimon: There's a signal in Area K-1! Etemon: What!? HEY!!! (strangles the Gazimon) WE JUST PASSED THAT PLACE!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEGH!!! (Etemon goes to his console once he's done throttling his technician) Etemon: Area K-1 is Tyrannomon's territory. Alright, I'll teach them a thing or two!

The dub calls it area G-3 but the dialogue is otherwise identical.

As the boys emerge from the well, they soon realize that the enemy is onto them.

It's not subtle.

(Huh, look at that. The Dark Cables really are coming out of his butt. I owe Palmon an apology.)

Koushiro and Yamato run screaming for their lives while the narrator launches into our rundown. Tyrannomon is an Adult-stage Data-type Dinosaur Digimon. Named, of course, for tyrannosaurus rex.

Of note, some sources say Tyranomon with one 'n'. This is because, in Japanese, it's Ti-ra-no-mo-n. However, that's also how the word tyrannosaurus is spelled: Ti-ra-no-sa-u-ru-su. So the intent, to me, for it to be named Tyrannomon with two 'n's is pretty clear. It's supposed to be spelled exactly like tyrannosaurus.

(The t-rex is also called 覇王竜 haou ryuu, which translates literally to Emperor Dragon or Overlord Dragon. Compositing the kanji ha meaning conquest or domination, ou meaning king, and ryuu meaning dragon. So that's pretty badass.)

Narrator: Tyrannomon. A Dinosaur Digimon well-prepared to survive in the wild. His special attack is the scorching flame Fire Breath.

Piximon handles our diegetic rundown from... wherever he is.

Piximon: Tyranomon. A huge Digimon with fire breath strong enough to cook a couple of boys like you!

Koushiro and Yamato sprint as fast as they can for the safety of the barrier. Koushiro barely makes it inside with Yamato about to follow when Tyranomon lets off a shot of Fire Breath. Unfortunately, the barrier doesn't prevent objects from passing through, so they're both caught up and thrown into the jungle by the explosion.

It also has... other consequences....

Up the mountain, Piccolomon is leading the kids in a meditation session when he hears the explosion. Everyone races outside to see to Yamato and Koushiro.

Tyrannomon enters the jungle. The tree cover hides Yamato and Koushiro, so Tyranomon opens fire blindly. Sending off projectile shots of Fire Breath into the jungle indiscriminately.

A subtle blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment I really like: Koushiro starts falling behind and calls out in fear to Yamato to wait for him.

Koushiro: P-Please wait for me, Yamato-san! Yamato: Hurry, Koushiro!

In the next shot, Yamato is leading Koushiro by the hand so they don't get separated by the huge difference in their stride. Big Brother Yamato is such a good senpai.

The dub downplays this gesture, unfortunately. We still get the shot of Matt leading Izzy by the end, but it doesn't connect the same because the dialogue to set it up is gone. Instead, we have a quip.

Izzy: Didn't I see this guy in one of my nightmares!? Matt: I wish you'd be more careful what you dream!

This doesn't segue into the handholding as directly so it's easier to overlook.

Eventually, the rest of the group finds Yamato and Koushiro, joining them in the jungle.

Gabumon: Yamato! Yamato: (releases Koushiro's hand) Gabumon? Tentomon: This is what you get for leaving me behind! Koushiro: Tentomon! Sora: Are you guys alright!?

XD Sassy Tentomon will never not be funny.

Sadly, his sass doesn't make it into the dub.

Gabumon: Matt! Izzy! Over here! Tentomon: Oh, thank goodness you're safe! T.K.: Oh, hey bro!

There's a cacophany of voices talking at once. Matt and Izzy don't respond to the crowd shouting at them. Those three lines are the ones most audible over the crowd, though T.K. sounds like he's running into Matt at the supermarket.

Fortunately, the group's all together now. Unfortunately, the Dark Network is back up and running in full. You know what that means.

Black Cables surge up through the trees so Etemon can be heard. Etemon takes to his guitar, sending out Love Serenade through the jungle and suppressing the Partner Digimon from being able to evolve. All while Tyrannomon makes his way inward, continuing to fire blindly into the jungle.

In their cave, Taichi and Agumon continue drifting through the mysterious glowing water. They've made it back in the boat, where they lie curled up together and float through memories of human buildings and structures.

Until they come across a bridge. There, they find a visual metaphor for the uncertainty and hesitation gripping Taichi's heart.

A younger Taichi is trying to ride his bicycle, but keeps falling down.

A brief cut back to the world outside shows Piccolomon sustaining a dome barrier to block Tyranomon's Fire Breath from hitting the kids. Looks like they've been made.

Taichi watches his younger self pick the bike back up, but start to cry.

Young Taichi: I can't do it. I can't ride a bicycle. Taichi: Don't give up! You can't quit just because of one or two failures. Don't be so faint-hearted. Believe in yourself. Believe it will work out this time Agumon: Taichi....

Encouraging Taichi's younger self to get back on, Taichi and Agumon hold the bike steady for him while they start running. Then they let go, allowing the young Taichi to ride the bike all by himself.

Young Taichi: I'm pedaling on my own! I can ride a bike! Taichi: I almost forgot, Agumon. I forgot that I can't lose heart. I lost my nerve because I was afraid you'd evolve into a strange Digimon again. Agumon: I felt the same way. That's why I couldn't become Greymon. But it's just like riding a bicycle! If we combine our powers, I feel like I can evolve again!

Taichi and Agumon get back in the boat, taking up the oars and paddling their way back to the others. As they paddle through the mysterious glowing plane, they start hearing the terrified screams of their friends and realize they're needed. Agumon SHINKAAAAAA!!!

During Agumon's transformation, we briefly cut to Piccolomon for a line that, though brief, explains an important detail.

Piccolomon: I can't wait for Taichi and Agumon any longer! I'll have to take care of Tyrannomon myself....

As a Perfect-stage Digimon, Piccolomon is more than capable of shutting down Tyrannomon. He's done nothing but sustain a magic barrier to protect the kids and their drained Digimon because he wants to use this as a training exercise for Taichi and Agumon.

However, at the last second before Piccolomon takes the field, it finally happens. Greymon comically flips Tyrannomon over and charges into the jungle as if he wasn't even there. Letting off blasts of Mega Flame from a distance, Greymon destroys the speakers that were blasting Love Serenade into the jungle.

Then he turns his attention back on Tyrannomon.

Greymon hoists Tyrannomon up into the air, tearing the Black Cables attached to him out of the ground and snapping them from the tension. Then he brings him down into the jungle in a crushing suplex.

We don't see the gory details, but we do see the dust of Tyrannomon degenerating rise into the air from the jungle below, signaling the end of this battle.

To prevent kids from realizing that we just fucking killed that guy, the dub adds some dialogue here. When Greymon first starts lifting Tyrannomon, Sora shouts:

Sora: Greymon's pulling the cables out!

Then, once the degeneration dust emerges from the jungle, we get:

Tai: He did it! Greymon did it! Sora: Look at the Black Cables all shattering into pieces!

What happened to Tyrannomon? Don't think about that. What's important is that Greymon destroyed the Black Cables. That is most certainly what he did, and it's what you're seeing onscreen right now.

Cut to Etemon throwing a tantrum in his trailer.

Etemon: Those children piss me off!!! YEEEEEEEEEEEEGH!!!

In the dub:

Etemon: Those rotten kids beat me again! Ugh, I gotta find something easier to beat like some cardboard boxes or something!

XD If it makes you feel better, you got to throttle a Gazimon earlier. Those are way easier to beat!

Now that everyone's back, the group decides it's time to move on from Piccolomon. Quickly.

Taichi: Really. Thank you for everything. Agumon: Thank you for taking care of us. Piccolomon: Don't think your training is over yet pi. Everything in life is training pi. Work hard and never give up pi! Taichi & Agumon: Yes, sir!

Nobody else thanks Piccolomon. I don't think the rest of the team's Yelp reviews are going to be as glowing as Taichi's.

Though they do speak up in the dub.

Matt: Thank you, Piximon! We've learned a lot from you. Joe: Yeah, like how to scrub floors and starve half to death-- Mimi: Joe! That's just Joe's stomach talking. Piximon: Far from over, your training is. Remember, life itself is a training session. Learn all you can. Everyone: RIGHT!

Tai and Agumon only speak up when the camera fixes on them for their "Yes, sir!" moment. For some reason, the dub chose to put everyone else at the forefront of this scene, even though they didn't learn shit.

We close on Piccolomon watching the kids depart his magic jungle.

Piccolomon: Only you can save this world pi. Do your best, Chosen Children PI!

In the dub:

Piximon: They truly are the DigiDestined yep-yep! No doubt have I, for though they are sometimes foolish, I have seen the love in their hearts. With a little luck, they just may succeed and save our Digital World.

Hey, Piximon? Question. What part of the preceding events hinged on "the love in their hearts"? Was it when Matt and Izzy hurt their Partners' feelings by going to the well alone or was it when Sora and Mimi bullied Joe for no reason?

I think the dub is rambling off Generic Good Guy Speech again.

Assessment: With two Crests in one episode, we are ramping towards endgame. The Etemon arc is surprisingly short, lasting only 7 episodes compared to the 13 that Devimon got.

Piccolomon's episode is kind of dull. For all the talk about offering training to everyone, we only really see it with Taichi and Agumon. It feels like he's doing the Wax On Wax Off esoteric martial arts master shtick. However, the purpose of scrubbing his floors is never explained, so it kinda feels like the sharp comments about doing maid service were right.

I'm not going to be hard on literally using "riding a bicycle" for the metaphor because it was the 90's and Japan. I don't remember when that became a tired metaphor and I certainly have no idea if it ever did in Japan. Taichi and Agumon's stuff worked for me. But a lot of the other "training" felt like space filler.

Yamato and Koushiro's segment was gold, however. Their brief discussion on the way to the well, and Yamato grabbing Koushiro's hand as they fled Tyrannomon? Loved that.

The dub nails a few moments, but it's also peppered with continuity mistakes, weird lines, and inexplicable choices. And the triumphant return of adding in dialogue just to be mean to Mimi. Overall, I'd say I'm tepid on this one.

[drawing-way-outside-the-lines]

🌹 (they always come in packs xD)

*Snort* I like packs, as long as it's positive packs. You get another bit from last night in that case... this bit would come a while after the first bit I posted, so if you want, you could read your other ask from today first, to get them in order... Well, there's a missing piece between them, cause if there isn't I'm almost sharing full chapters at this point XD But you could also read them independently/backwards, it's up to you:

*One beer quickly turned to several, and by the time the two of them realized, Dalton could barely stand up on his own, nearly falling over as he tried*

Adrian: *He quickly caught Dalton by his hips, slowly standing up on his own insecure legs* Woah woah woah! There's absolutely no need to take another slammer! *he chuckled drunkenly*

Dalton: *He snorted amused and grabbed onto Adrian's arms for support* No, I think I'm bruised enough for tonight!

Adrian: *Lightly chuckling* Let's get you to bed... couch...

Dalton: *He chuckled soft* I can walk... it's fine... I'm good, now that I am already standing *he snorted again*

Adrian: *Soft snort* Right... prove it!

Dalton: *He laughed loudly but took the challenge, quickly walking to the couch, only half tripping over it as he walked to get around it, landing safely on the seat* See?! *he chuckled amused* I survived!

Adrian: *He laughed warmly*

Dalton: *Continuous laughter, as he quickly started yanking off his shirt and pants, sitting in only socks, boxers and a tshirt* Woah... *he snorted surprised* come take a look at this!

Adrian: ....... *he rubbed his forehead gently, hesitating, then quickly walked to Dalton, surprised to see a rather large, dark bruise on Dalton's upper thigh* Fuck! Do you bruise easily or was that stone bigger than I thought?

Dalton: *He snorted again* Oh it was bigger!

Adrian: *He frowned soft* I'm sorry, let me get you some ice for it!

Dalton: *He couldn't help but laugh as he watched Adrian rush towards the kitchen* There's no need for ice, the leg isn't going to fall off!

Adrian: Sssh!!!

Dalton: *More laughing*

Adrian: *He returned only seconds later with a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a kitchen towel, and squad down in front of Dalton, gently pressing the bag against his upper thigh*

Dalton: *He moaned soft from a mixture of a cold-shock and a slight pain*

Adrian: Does it hurt?

Dalton: A bit *he nodded lightly* but I'm fine, I swear... my ass still hurts more

Adrian: Do you want me to wake up Raven, he can

Dalton: No, please *he shook his head lightly* this is more than fine... actually *he suddenly felt a warm feeling, a sort of pull towards Adrian, a closeness* .... it's uh.... very lovely

Adrian: ........... *his drunk legs suddenly giving in, sending him bumping down on his ass with a soft groan*

Dalton: *He burst out a soft snort* Now who's the one needing ice?

Adrian: Me *he spoke in a lowered, deep voice, his eyes firmly planted on Dalton's upper thigh, and groin area*

Dalton: ............ *soft chuckle* do you have more or do you want this?

Adrian: .......

Dalton: Adrian?

Adrian: What? *his drunken eyes slowly found their way to Dalton's*

Dalton: *He chuckled again* do you have more ice for your arse or do you need mine?

Adrian: ....... *he suddenly realized what was happening and quickly stood up* no, I'm good. I uh... *he looked a bit awkward around the room* Make yourself at home... uh... I better head to bed.

Dalton: *He let out a surprised chuckle and nodded lightly* Okay... yeah... thank you for letting me crash here

Adrian: Yeah, cool, no problem *he nodded a bit too awkwardly, then frowned and quickly headed to the ladder* Good night.

Dalton: Good night *he chuckled, still surprised of the hurry Adrian suddenly found himself in, watching him climb up the ladder and disappear into the bedroom*

Raven: *He observed Adrian amused from his spot in the bed* Well that went smooth

Adrian: *He glared at Raven and quickly got most of his clothes off, down to his tshirt and boxers* Shut up!

Raven: *An amused chuckle escaping him* Since when are you getting into bed with THAT much clothes on?

Adrian: Since "we" have guests! *he grunted irritated and crawled under the blanket*

Raven: I see *he lifted an amused eyebrow and smirked at Adrian* you are aware he can't see you, right?

Adrian: *Glaring*

Raven: *He couldn't help but chuckle again*

Adrian: *He sighed deep and shook his head, laying his head down on his pillow* I made a complete ass of myself, why the hell am I like this around him?!

Raven: Yeah, you turn into full on Andy!

Adrian: *Soft groan* I know!!!

Raven: *Light chuckle* I think you're adorable

Adrian: Shut...up!

Raven: *Another chuckle escaping him* as a matter of fact, I think you're really delicious... watching you two... listening to you two... *a warmer, very specific smile started spreading on Raven's lips* it's quite the foreplay, if you ask me...

Adrian: Don't! *He quickly pushed himself a bit away from Raven, creating a space between the two of them* We can't do that while he's here!

Raven: *Another amused chuckle* Oh come on, he will be fast asleep in no time... I can fuck you and you can pretend it's Dal-

Adrian: Don't! Even finish that sentence!!

Raven: *A loud amused chuckle escaping him*

Adrian: *Evil glare* Shhh! He's trying to sleep! And so should we!

Raven: *Soft chuckle* Alright alright... but you owe me tomorrow *he smirked*

Adrian: Whatever, as long as you shut up and leave me alone now *he groaned softly but couldn't help but chuckle*

Raven: *Soft chuckle* Deal *he leaned in planting a quick kiss on Adrian's lips, then returned to his own pillow, yawning lightly* I'm probably too tired for role-play anyway...

Adrian: *He quickly yanked his pillow out from under his head, slapping Raven's face with it*

Raven: *Bursting into a loud laughter*

Adrian: Ssshh!!! *he glared at Raven as he returned his pillow under his head, and chuckled lightly* Go to sleep! You annoy me!

Raven: *Chuckling* More than usual?

Adrian: *Squinting* More than usual.

Raven: *More chuckling* Okay okay, I'll behave...

Adrian: *He was just about to answer back as suddenly his bedroom floor creaked, and the two of them quickly turned their sight towards the direction of the creak*

Dalton: *He stood just by the ladder, arms hanging down his side, looking tired, somewhat defeated* I can't sleep... there's weird creaky sounds outside...

Raven: It's all the rust *he chuckled lightly*

Adrian: *Squinting*

Raven: *Snort*

Dalton: Can I.... sleep here with you guys?

Raven: *He smiled both amused and surprised, quickly padding his hand on the mattress between Adrian and himself* Sure! Jump in!

Adrian: *More squinting*

Dalton: *He quickly ran the few meters to the bed and eagerly jumped in between the two of them, quickly getting under the blanket* Thanks!

Raven: *He chuckled amused* Adrian, hand him one of your extra pillows, will you?

Adrian: *Max level of squinting, but quickly grabbed for a pillow, placing it behind Dalton*

Dalton: Sweet! *He looked at Adrian with a soft smile, then at Raven* Will you turn off the light please?

Raven: *He chuckled amused and reached for the light smirking at Adrian* Certainly.

*And then the room went dark*

Dalton: Good night Adrian... good night Raven...

Raven: Good night Dalton... Good night Adrian.... *snort*

Adrian: .........

Raven: ..... good night Adrian.

Adrian: .......

Dalton: ...... *sighing relieved, snuggling further under the blanket*

Adrian: ..........

Raven: ..... *snort*

Adrian: ........ Good night *irritated grunt... heart pounding faster.... feeling Dalton's warm body* fuck.

[too-scared-to-do-this]

Of the Devil’s head

Chapter one - Keep your guard up

Sander’s sides fanfiction

Words: 899

Ships: eventual prinxiety (I’ll be adding these as we go)

TW: some very light cursing, food mentions, blood, injury and death mentions, sickness, theft (how unexpected XD) aaand... I think that’s all. If I missed something let me know please :3

Summary of the whole story: They say, the one that wears the crown rules all - the living, the dead, the walking, the crawling, the rooted, the sane and the mad. They say, once you own the crown, you become the  most powerful being on Earth and beyond. Roman’s stolen bigger things - a measly little crown won’t present a problem, even if he has to steel it straight off of the devils head!

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Chapter one - Keep your guard up

Heavy footsteps and loud noises filled every inch of the guards-quarters. Laughter and chatter. Everywhere Roman looked his eyes met the shining armor of one of the guards. Breath hitching and heart hammering he ran through all the escape roots in his mind, in case he needed any. If he’d be seen, it’d be the death of him! The king doesn’t take kindly to thieves…

But Roman knew he was too good for that. He’s been doing this for years, after all. So, the moment the clatter and chatter turned to the other side of the room and the guards turned around he moved too.

One eye on the them he slipped through the patio, behind a drunk guard and into the dark stone hallway. Every single step he made echoed between these walls. He had to be careful! He couldn’t get caught, not now when he was so close! On tiptoes, with quiet steps he hurried down the hallway, looking back every few seconds. The noise from outside got quieter the further he got from the entrance, until it became almost indistinguishable. And then finally! Finally he found himself entering the dimly lit quarter.

He could feel his heart in his throat, trying its best to suffocate Roman. Under pressure, it always lost its nerves. Unlike Roman, it wasn’t trained to keep calm - so Ro had to do his best to keep breathing evenly as to not be heard.

There, in the middle of the dusty room stood a table full of food! Freshly-baked bread in baskets, fruits from all around the globe and milk! Even a smaller pie! It all smelled so delicious! Oh, what Roman would give to have even the smallest piece of this on his table every weak!

But that’s why he was here, wasn’t he? Pulling out the small sack he caried behind his sash, he hurried over to the table. A bread, a few fruits, move things around so no one would notice… A piece of pie, for Momma and a gulp of milk for Ro-

Laud laughter echoed down the hall accompanied by heavy steel footsteps. “Shit!” Roman cursed under his breath, almost spilling the milk. There wasn’t anywhere to hide in here!

Why are quarters built as such open spaces?!

Looking around franticly, as the voices grew closer, he finally found a small corner hidden behind a barrel. Wine. Good to know that the guards are so well of, and we people are suffering…

He squeezed himself in-between the cold wall and the dirty barrel and stayed still. And just in time, because the guards were close enough for Roman to be able to make out what they were saying…

“The poor, chap… He had no chance.”

“The crown of Hell… King’s gone too far… Most can’t even find the entrance to hell, let alone get out alive…”

Romans ears perked up. The crown of hell? He had heard stories about the relic. They say, the one that wears the crown rules all - the living, the dead, the walking, the crawling, the rooted, the sane and the mad. They say, once you own the crown, you become the most powerful being on Earth and beyond.

Mother used to tell him and his brother stories of heroes trying to retrieve the famous crown, of brave individuals venturing down to the depts of hell. But none of them succeeded. They were either never found, or they turned up dead, cut to pieces, burned and bleeding.

But they were all just stories. Stupid myths mothers told their children to scare them from going into the woods.

“Yeah. How are they expecting anybody to actually steel it for them? From the devil himself!”

“If their majesty wants it so bad, they should go get it it themselves.”

“Preach! I just pity the fools that actually try…”

“The money, Lanos. Without the reward nobody would do it.”

Wait. So… the crown is real? And there is a reward for it! Roman quietly moved to see the guards.

“Yes, exactly.” one of them - a shorter, plumper one - said around a mouthful of bread. “God - that amount, I’d even kill for!”

“Exactly what I mean. People do crazy things for a little wealth.” the other - more lean and skinny - laughed, grabbing a piece of pie and turning to walk away.

“A chest-full of gold ain’t no little!” the shorter threw his hands in the air, mocking outrage (with the bread still in one). Crumbs flew everywhere, a few landing on Roman as well, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment…

A chest-full?!

The guards were leaving, walking away from the ears that so desperately wanted to know more. But Roman knew enough.

“Shame nobody’s good enough.” he heard as the footsteps completely silenced. They were gone - leaving Roman completely alone once again.

He was good enough! He was good enough to not get caught!

All his life he’s been hiding, running, stealing. He’s stolen bigger things - a measly little crown won’t present a problem, even if he has to steel it straight straight off of the Devil's head!

Mother would finally get the medicine she needs! And they wouldn’t have to be hungry no more!

Roman was good enough! He was going to be the one to steel the crown for the King.

 … But first he had to get out of the quarters alive…

--------------------------------------

Let me know what you think, please! :D

Tag list:

@alice-only-me 

[darkpoisonouslove]

Winx Club Season 7 Thoughts Part 2

 Part 1 can be found here.

7x14:

- Love how none of the other Winx’ animals were impressed with Bloom’s unicorn. And it got its butt handed to it as well. Poor Amarok, though.

- Why is Roxy the one training the animals and not Winx, who are literally bonded with them? I am so sick of them having these animals without being shown to take care of them or anything. Layla was tending to Squonk at first but she has abandoned that now as well. The rest never even bothered.

- Oh, of course, Bloom’s unicorn is even more special than the other fairy animals and has magic even though the rest don’t. Of course!

- Seriously? That’s the surprise? That’s more of a lesson or revelation than a surprise.

- They are the Guardians of the Ultimate Power? Weren’t Winx supposed to find the animal with the first color of the universe? What the hell happened to that? Please, tell me they didn’t just drop it.

- Oh, and they just got a new transformation without doing shit for it! They didn’t even try to work with their own fairy animals. But who cares? They get a transformation because they are just so special! And which commercial did the creators rip off for the Tynix transformation this time?

- Tynix is a bit... much. But the animals look kinda cool. I am just not sure why they become bigger in order to go into smaller worlds. How does that make sense?

- What do they even need from the mini worlds? The animal? The Ultimate Power? One leading to the other? Do the writers even know what they’re doing anymore?

- And what is Brafilius supposed to do when he can’t ride on Kalshara’s back and he can’t transform either?

- Beware the Dragon Council!

- Oh, so that’s what he’s supposed to do. Get a concussion!

- How is this not Pyros? This should have been Pyros. Not that I am thrilled about going there again but come on! It would have made so much sense and been a good throwback. Edit: It’s Pyros but it does not look like Pyros and everyone has confirmed that.

- So she made a fire eater? How did she “forge[d] a creature”? Wtf.

- Oh, damn! I forgot that getting Tynix didn’t mean that we were getting rid of Butterflix. *sigh* I was so ready to move on.

- At this point Kalshara should know that Brafilius doesn’t have that much and even using everything he has is just not going to be enough. She is failing them both by being so stubborn when it comes to their strategy.

- How did Brafilius made more of those creatures?

- The quips aren’t smart or creative. Winx just sound like overconfident idiots.

- Shiny really do be over here eating precious stones? And that is actually helping them win? Wow, okay.

- So what? The dragons die without the fire? Why did Kalshara tell them what she did so that they can find a way to fix everything?

- They’re really gonna fall for the “Do you have any other choice but to trust me thing?”

7x15:

- Why is this episode named “The Magic Stones”? How many more stones? What is up with this season and all the goddamn stones?

- The fairy animals really seem to be defeating the fire eater things that have the flames. They can just... use that in some way to release the fires back. Edit: Those are different creatures from the one Kalshara sent after the fire.

- So they actually redid the footage from season 3 and kept the original transformation BUT then they added something we have never seen and Bloom was wearing an outfit from season 4? What the hell? Also, Maia literally gave Bloom a necklace with the essence of Pyros to strengthen her powers implying that the essence of Pyros is very similar if not the same as the essence of the Dragon Fire. But now they decided that using the Dragon Fire would be too convenient because they wouldn’t get to show their Tynix powers. Great fucking logic!

- So that’s why they have Tynix warping time. So that they can just leave a battle whenever and just pop right back in a couple of seconds to not worry about losing. Bloom could have just gone on her own and left Winx behind to handle Kalshara but that would have been a too advanced strategy.

- Lucky that Shiny isn’t eating the whole mini world. But how did they get there when they were just fighting Brafilius? Of course, the time warping bullshit they pulled.

- So that’s why the animals got bigger - so that Winx can ride them. They have wings and could have been flying just fine.

- Their bonded animals being proud is what means that Winx have strength inside? What the hell?

- Why is there a song even though they should be rushing and can you see me skipping it? Because that is exactly what I’m doing.

- The vampire of fire? Wow, okay.

- They are gonna restore a volcano with techno magic? Makes perfect sense. And why are they surprised that the Tynix powers are working? They’re supposed to be working!

- The “vampire” looks like a dragon. That eats fire energy and then shoots back fire.

- Why does Squonk look like a completely different animal? (Yes, I noticed just now.)

- Really? Combining their powers is how they solved this? And the rest of Winx didn’t even join her? Bloom and Elas did all on their own? *eternal sigh*

- They asked for a spa day as payment? I am straight up not having a good time with this season.

7x16:

- They took Riven out of the show only to have Nex take his place as the competitive asshole of the group? Really? That was the big plan?

- The dolphins are so precious and perfect! They knocked both Sky and Nex off their surfs. XD And Layla rubbed their noses in it. That was actually nice (yes, I am going to be petty like that).

- They made that crab more menacing than the main villains of the season. And you’re telling me that Stella sensed the crab but did not notice the turtles burying her alive?

- Brandon getting hit with wild magic by those flowers he wanted to pick would have been way more interesting. And why are all the animals being assholes on purpose? That is not how animals would usually behave in the presence of people even if they are used to the tourists in Paradise Bay.

- Love how Helia is dissing Earth.

- Did I mention that I hate the fact that all the fairy animals can talk now?

- Oh, you mean that there’s gonna be an episode in this episode? And they are actually right where the danger is? Because that is not convenient at all. It’s like the writers don’t even want to send them to more places on Earth even if it actually exists and they don’t have to make stuff up.

- How convenient that the threat only showed up now that they have their Tynix.

- If you really feel so happy, Flora, then why don’t you stay there? Maybe that will bring you back to your old self when you weren’t being a bitch to an animal for no reason.

- Those monsters look like upgraded ants. Plant-mites? You mean termites but for leaves?

- Their spells are now tied to their home planets? Is it because they’re going to the mini worlds? So they’re bringing something from their own worlds?

- Wait. WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! Stella just called Brandon her fiance? FIANCE?!?!?!?!?! UM, YES??????????? THANK YOU FOR ACTUALLY CONFIRMING THAT THEY’RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Oh, this time they have to fight the tiny creatures of the world because they thought they’re enemies? This is getting mildly interesting!

- Oh, come on! They have wings! Falling shouldn’t be a problem when they can fly!

- Please, just let Bloom get caught by the weeds! Flora got caught but Bloom is legit riding over the weeds???

7x17:

- The leaf creature is called Chloe?

- Winx really didn’t catch on to the fact that the creatures attacked them after Stella mentioned that Brandon gave her those flowers?

- Flora, in order for everyone to know Winx wouldn’t harm nature, everyone needs to know about Winx. And I doubt the creatures in the mini worlds care about who you are. They obviously don’t know you! I don’t know how to tell you this but popularity has gotten to your head.

- You’re telling me that picking just one flower destroys the whole balance? Do they forget that Tritanus spread pollution in Paradise Bay back in season 5? If what they’re saying is true, the whole bay should have died back then! Also, are you seriously telling me that the people we have seen go to Paradise Bay have never ever picked a flower? This is bullshit!

- Another mini world in this mini arc (though, that implies that there is plot)?

- Weee, water slides! Not like this is an important mission that has a bearing on the fate of an entire ecosystem!

- Wait, those are the real colors of nature? Can’t that help them figure out which is the first color of the universe so that they can find the animal with it more easily?

- I thought that they were in a hurry to save the Bay but they have wasted so much time and oh, that’s right! It doesn’t matter because time is what the writers want it to be in the mini worlds!

- These episodes are endless when they keep wasting so much time!

- Gems of light? Did I miss something? Are the seeds for the gems? I don’t care enough to go back and check.

- They really thought that it was gonna be that easy? And the writers really thought that a black globe is a good enough obstacle? And do they really only have one spell available each in the Tynix transformation?

- Tell me Bloom is gonna fly right into another globe blocking her way! (Of course, she won’t. If anyone will be fucking up like that, they’re gonna make it be Stella.)

- Oh, you mean that they actually got caught? All of them? But where the hell is Layla’s morphix? That could have helped. But what the hell? The fairy animals are now making bubbles of their own? AND it is because Squonk gets stronger due to Layla being the fairy of waves? Then why is she not stronger? This is ridiculous.

- Oh, the plants needed water? Huh, who would’ve thought, right? Not like Flora is the fairy of nature or anything!

- So... how did picking the flowers hurt the mini world when they actually needed to plant some seeds?

- Why did Stella go crazy on Brandon about the flowers when she could have just explained to him what happened?

7x18:

- Why are they... what are they... thinking with this competition against lemurs? What the hell?

- Aren’t raccoons supposed to be vicious little beasts and not the lemurs? Wtf.

- You know, Brafilius is annoying as hell but Kalshara is actually pissing me off more because there is much more that she can do and she just... doesn’t? Like, do you wanna get defeated? Also, no wonder your brother needs rest when you don’t since he’s the one doing everything. And did she just call him jellyfish? Because they’re soft and just drift around and don’t have brains? Wow, that’s so nice of you.

- The lemurs talk?????????????? Wtf?!

- Love how Kalshara doesn’t even bother remembering their group name. To her they’re just fairies like all other fairies. That is actually kinda funny.

- How did they not see Kalshara and Brafilius? It wasn’t like they were hiding!

- They are making... the bananas fight... Instead of, like, feeding the bananas to the lemurs and making them fight? They looked pretty vicious and that would have been a better strategy.

- Okay, how can they tell the trees are contaminated?! They just tried the spell on the fruits, not the trees themselves? And now they’re going in the past for bananas? Really?

- A giant lemur falling in love with Stella? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Why are they doing this to me? This season just got an awful lot worse and that is saying something.

- Wow, use bananas to lure the thing that eats bananas. What a complex plan. Why did it take them so long to figure it out?

- Okay, that dress from leaves is actually much better than some of Stella’s designs have been but doesn’t she notice that the lemur is preparing her for a wedding? Like, literally dressing her as a bride? And here I thought that this couldn’t get worse (Lmao @ Stella keeping her manners while being kidnapped by a gigantic lovesick lemur, though.)

- Oh, my god, the wedding march. That wouldn’t be composed for about a couple thousand years more! (Yes, I am focusing on logical failures because this is too much of a disaster.)

- It’s trying to kiss her... I really need Winx to show up at this point!... Good. But I won’t thank anyone for this because the creators should have never made this happen.

- Oh, come on! It followed them into the present and they’re having Brandon vs giant lemur and having Brandon losing?

- Finally the end to that. But will the giant lemur remain in the present? At least they got the goddamn bananas! Good because I am going bananas over here!

7x19:

- These guards look familiar... Oppositus? Yes, that is. They have the symbol of the planet on them.

- Isn’t there a better way to find the animal with the first color than just teleporting around and leaning on luck? Like, idk, research?

- Well done to what? The animals are still as chaotic as ever and seem to have gone back to being prickly to each other. Aaaaand, they’re fucking up the party.

- Okay, but to be fair, Critty told them not to touch and what did that woman do? She started petting her! Yeah, you had this coming, hon!

- Love how Marion and Oritel handled the situation, though! Real talent at dispersing the tension right there. I was looking forward to seeing them ever since the synopsis from last episode. At least they haven’t fucked up the two of them... yet.

- “[The fairy animals] aren’t used to formal settings” Then why did you bring them in a formal setting?????????????????????????????????

- Aren’t you on Oppositus? There opposites exist in harmony all the time! What is so weird about that?

- The creature of the rainbow mantle? Didn’t they have that in season 5 and the Winx had to save it from the Trix? Now they have to save it again? Also, don’t tell me that’s the one with the first color.

- Man, Butterflix is so fucking useless. How many battles have they won with it? Like, two? This is episode 19!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- They already know that this is Kalshara’s doing!!!!!!!!!!! And wasn’t the collar supposed to not have worked?????????????????

- Chaos in the rainbow? Awesome! I mean, we already know it because this season (and the previous... three (more or less)) have been a fucking disaster but it’s good that Rainbow is giving some meta on itself!

- Musa, you look like you’re gonna faint! How can you handle this?

- Poor kitty! Stop torturing the cat! Why did none of the others join them so that they could pull them out after they’re done in case they’re too weak? But the two of them harmonizing to keep out the disharmony from outside was actually a pretty cool idea! This season hasn’t failed completely yet.

- Can I ask why the royal family of Oppositus even had the collar made? Seems like a colossally dumb choice!

- Finally they found someone to ask... And they have a riddle now! Goodie!

7x20:

- I still can’t guess which animal is the one that is “close to fairy power” and it’s driving me insane! Obviously, it isn’t any of their bonded animals (we even know it’s not Squonk and Amarok). My first guess was actually Kalshara but a) she was a person that changed magically and b) she can turn in many animals so that is just not it. My other guess was Kiko but that seems highly unlikely because he literally hasn’t been important since, like, season 3 when Bloom stopped actually spending time with him. So... I have no idea which one they’re talking about.

- Lmaoooo, another animal cock-blocking (sort of). XD And it is Sky and Bloom. XDDD Good! And Bloom is calling him out on it! Even better! And she left to go after Elas! I am dying of laughter.

- Wait, that seal was Kalshara? And they were none the wiser? ...Okay.

- Oh, no! Not the kid thing! How did the stones make them kids? What is this? Avengers: Endgame? Instead of taking Winx through time the Stones took time through Winx? And why do they still have the same hair? We know Bloom had much shorter hair when she was little!

- And they know that they are children? But lmao, little Bloom yelling after the others to listen to her as they scatter is what her “leadership” should have looked like. XD

- The Specialists really can’t recognize their girlfriends even though a) they literally look the exact same way and b) this has already happened to Brandon before!

- Omg, Butterflix worked! I was actually hoping that it would because Sky’s realization that he fucked up is priceless!

- Well, of course the animals recognized them! They can probably catch their scent or something. But wow, Winx are having the upper hand even when they’re children.

- Skipping the clownery during the song.

- DId Sky just call the little Winx “pests”?

- Well, that was fast. Both Kalshara getting defeated and Sky and Elas becoming best buds. And of course, Elas can also restore Winx as they were before.

- Lmao, Roxy is right that Winx shouldn’t be left to their own devices.

7x21:

- Don’t tell me they’re hosting a dog show. A fairy animal show. *sigh* But it is surprisingly on topic since the season is all about the fairy animals.

- What is Brafilius’ guilt that his sister scared the other dog? Why should he get hit over the head? Come on!

- Why does Kalshara need to get into Alfea? She just needs to find a way to get the fairy animals.

- You know they have nothing to do in an episode when they show the full Butterflix transformation.

- And now there’s pixie clownery because they literally don’t have anything to put in this episode. Cherie sure seems to have it all under control. (Did they even say why the weather has gone crazy? I skipped, like, half of this episode already.)

- They are really saying that they can’t handle a blizzard? Not like they have fought Stormy for five seasons! Not like they’re supposed to be more powerful than the pixies. At least they said why the weather is acting up.

- This is definitely not the weirdest place you have been, Stella. At least Amentia’s kingdom and Havram top it.

- Why are there so many different kinds of animals in this mini world? Oh. OH! I actually love this idea! Different species of animals looking after the different seasons according to the sun of whichever season is up! That is awesome! I am less so a fan of the fact that they had to ask why the animals are fighting when it was obvious that the wild magic was influencing them!

- Love how they still haven’t realized how to recognize which animal is Kalshara. But why are they surprised that the “digmole” said Faragonda’s name? They know she used to take care of a digmole!

7x22:

- Wait! Flashback of footage that we haven’t actually seen? Are you calling this vague memories?

- Yeah, no shit that Alfea has the most fairy magic in the whole universe!

- Omg, the statue is actually going to be important! The same statue that Faragonda didn’t bother explaining even though Bloom made a remark about it. And she even found it in the hall of fairy animals (or whatever). And it was right there the whole time?????? God, I hate this!

- Okay, the green animals in the diamond mini world? So obviously stolen from Pokemon. And the floating cutlery is screaming Beauty and the Beast. It even moves in the same way.

- Why is it surprising that they eat diamonds? Shiny eats diamonds as well!

- Why do we care about the diamonds?

- Oh, because the ultimate power is a diamond... that the king and queen would rather die for than give away. Amazing!

- Okay, an orchard of diamonds. We get it! It’s not that impressive! It looks like a normal orchard but it is all shiny! Moving on!

- Wtf how is Flora’s magic working on these! Diamonds are not living nature. I am tired of this episode.

- Oh, did you expect the Ultimate Power to be easy to control instead of volatile?

- So now Flora’s magic isn’t working because the plants are only half natural and the diamonds are resistant to magic? They seemed to be very magic absorbing and malleable a few seconds ago!

- It just popped into Kalshara’s hands. And Faragonda isn’t going to do anything to stop her. She’s just gonna wait for Winx. She is just about as useful and smart as she was when she was young in this season which was not much.

- Ooh, Brafilius is actually standing up to Kalshara! I like that! Tbh I have a feeling that he can stir more chaos because of how incompetent he is. He will do something wrong and it will backfire so hard that it will blow up in all their faces.

- How DID the Trix get here? What, they found their bonded FAIRY animals in the Legendarium and the connection pulled them out? Wtf? Also, why did the audio disappear on the last few lines. I didn’t hear what they said! Love how even the writers realized that they can’t pull off a good finale with just Brafilius and Kalshara, though, and were like “Yep, time to bring back the Trix!”

7x23:

- Secret of Alfea? What secret?

- Oh, Kalshara knows about them? But most powerful witches of the universe? I know the Ancestral Witches were destroyed but still. And look! My theory about how they got out was spot-on! It was just too damn easy... and dumb!

- The ultimate power is supposed to be... ultimate, you know! If Brafilius has it, they shouldn’t be able to defeat him. But nah.

- We already know that the animals can find them wherever. It was established earlier.

- Stella, it’s not you that’s ruining the moment. It’s the shaking cave threatening to collapse on you that’s ruining it!

- Why are Flora’s powers working when no one’s powers wanted to work before that, even her own?

- Hey, wait a second! Tynix was supposed to warp time so that while they’re in the mini worlds barely any time passes in the normal world. But now time seems to be moving with the same speed at both places! Because it is convenient for the plot!

- If an animal is bonded to you, you should be able to tell that what you’re holding is an impostor! Because the impostor is not bonded to you! That was literally so fucking dumb!

- IT CAN ALWAYS GET WORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- “Did you miss us?” “Oh, yes. But after today, we’ll get to miss you forever!” Oh, damn! That was a glorious comeback! I am glad the Trix are back especially after this dumpster fire of a season and with this smarter behavior. But that’s because it wasn’t them failing all season long.

- Lmao, of course, Darcy’s animal is fighting Critty! Love how the Trix’ animals are 3-4 times the size of the Winx’.

- You’re not telling me Alfea’s power comes from the fairy animals? But wait! Alfea mini world? That might be interesting!

- It’s the world of butterflies? I should have known! So Butterflix can only be won on the territory of Alfea?

- If I were the Trix, I would just attack the magical source of Alfea and be done with it! See what Winx would do then!

- Come on, Bloom! Brafilius literally had the face of a dog all along! It shouldn’t be so hard to grasp that!

- Darcy was just about to destroy all of Alfea singlehandedly! And it was so cool and so intense! I was getting really hyped... and then Stella kinda stabilized things for enough time to let them get away. Dammit! It would have been cool to see them more in danger.

- Golden butterfly? I was gonna say that that would be a great chance for it to be Roxy’s bonded animal. Or even more perfect - Daphne’s! But they said that it lived long ago... Oh, so not that long ago. Faragonda was a teen back then so Daphne could have been born at the time (since she also didn’t age for about 20 years and is older than she looks). The butterfly could still be her bonded animal (but it most probably won’t be.)

7x24:

- Why do you care about the barrier? The problem is in the mini world at the heart of Alfea!!!!!!!!!!!!!

- DAPHNE!!!!!!!!!!!! WELCOME BACK!

- Can Roxy do anything about the Trix’ animals? She is the fairy of all animals, after all. She should be able to communicate with them at the very least. Not that she could talk sense into them but still.

- For all his snobbery in the beginning of the season, Wizgiz isn’t doing all that well.

- Well, you’d hope that your husband will come help you out when the universe is threatened! Though, you’d think that there would be a whole army of Specialists sent to Alfea considering the high stakes of the situation.

- What defenses? The other fairies are the defenses and they still have their magic so it doesn’t seem to be that bad. At least until they can fix it.

- How did Faragonda get so much better at magic when it seems like there hasn’t passed that much time since Mavilla still hasn’t cast the memory wipe spell? And why couldn’t the animals introduce themselves? They can talk now! Or have the writers forgotten?!

- Daphne has new spells even if she doesn’t have a new transformation. Honestly, she has already been more useful than Winx were the whole season.

- Icy, you know very well who has the other stones! It is obvious! Even more so by the fact that Winx aren’t there to fight you! I knew that the Trix would notice the Stone and Brafilius would spill the beans, though! They couldn’t miss the opportunity to fuck shit up in the past as well.

- Lmaoooo @ Griselda passing out at the thought of Faragonda being the Headmistress of Alfea! XDDD She’s gonna have a fun time living through the future. But ooh, imagine the Trix going back in time and telling Faragonda about her future in order to fuck it up! That would be cool!

- Faragonda really is an idiot of a klutz in the past (and in this season - in the present too (without the klutz part... I think)).

- Is this a different mini world? Shouldn’t there be only one mini world in Alfea?

- Bug bunnies? Do I have to say that I heard Bugs bunnies at first?

- So the golden butterfly is sucking out the energy around for her metamorphosis.

- Why are Winx surprised the Trix were in the mini world when they already fought them in Alfea’s mini world?

- If I were Icy, I would fuck up the butterfly but we can’t have that!

- Why did they spoil the cliffhanger in the synopsis for the next episode? Not that we didn’t know that Bloom wasn’t going to get impaled on the ice but still.

7x25:

- This scene reminds me of a Kim Possible episode. Except, Kim saved herself.

- Oh, so now Elas’ power evolved even more? Of course, it did! They need to be upgraded constantly because no one bother to improve through practice anymore.

- How did that attack not send Icy into oblivion?

- Oh! A Tynix spell that isn’t tied to one of their home worlds! Go, Tecna!

- Hatched? Does a cocoon hatch? I honestly don’t know when it comes to English. But the butterfly isn’t really that beautiful. It looks like something a child cut out from a sheet of paper. Golden paper but still paper.

- Wasn’t the butterfly supposed to work in their favor? How come its actions were what threw Brafilius back in the hands of the Trix?

- “Are we lost in some other when?” XDDD  But how tf did they get back without using the memory stones? Goddammit! At least keep the bare minimum of consistency!!!

- They won’t escape us, he says as if they didn’t just get defeated by the “they” that do no need escape because they have the power advantage.

- Don’t the other fairies learn History of Magic? They should know about the Trix and what their powers are at the very least so they don’t act so stupid against Darcy.

- Stormy’s Occula is the only one from the Trix’ animals whose name I can even hear!

- Daphne is beating Icy! But damn, she got defeated when Icy got help from her animal. See? This is why Daphne needed to have an animal bonded to her!

- Why is Faragonda sending Grsielda on roundup duty instead of using her in the battle? Griselda is one of her strongest fighters!

- I thought it would be Kalshara that snagged Brafilius away but nope! He just can’t shake the Trix and their animals!

- Oh, so Roxy can sense that that is the dgmole that is connected to Faragonda but Faragonda herself couldn’t? And she acts like she has never heard of an aura? Man, they really brought her down this season, didn’t they?

- Really? A party now? Man, there really isn’t much plot in this season, is there?

- Well, seeing Daphne and Thoren together is actually kinda cute. We don’t get to really see any of the married couples. Which is stupid because they legit act the same way that Winx and their boyfriends do. Like, Daphne and Thoren are literally doing the same things!

- Don’t tell me Stella is jealous because Brandon is dancing with Shiny. But aww @ Kiko and Tecna’s bunny eating so much stuff together. XD I like the idea of the two bunnies being friends and it kinda relates to Bloom and Tecna’s friendship (that we haven’t really seen since season 5 and we haven’t had a good scene since season 3).

- I knew Kalshara wasn’t coming for a fight. She couldn’t beat them alone even if she tried. Especially when Daphne is also with them.

- Oh, wow! The Trix are fighting something that isn’t Winx? And their animals having their backs is actually pretty cute, too!

- Don’t tell me that they actually believe Kalshara wants to save Brafilius. I mean, if it’s true, that would be the best twist they’ve had all season but I somehow can’t imagine it.

7x26:

- “Can we trust you?” What do you think that she’ll say? No? There is literally not a case in which she’s gonna say “no” which means that you can’t take her answer for an honest one. Wtf?! Please, tell me that they’ll be mindful at the very least and ready to be double crossed.

- Why, of course, Icy’s animal would be called Frostbite. I should have guessed.

- See? Brafilius is actually the smarter sibling! He knows better than to get mixed up with wild magic.

- I knew that they were gonna show the whole Butterflix transformation. For the last time. It still doesn’t mean that I’m watching it.

- Winx act like they haven’t seen the way Kalshara treats Brafilius. But it was still kinda cute how relieved he was to see her.

- Stella is right. The Trix have not looked worse... yet. But wasn’t Brafilius with Kalshara. How did the Trix get him back again?

- Cat!Darcy vs cat!Kalshara is actually kinda cool. And the Trix did turn into shapeshifting witches! But does Kalshara only have the handful of forms we have already seen? Can’t she transform in anything else?

- One last hug? Don’t tell me Winx will merge with their animals as well! But damn, this talk about Winx standing no chance is getting depressing.

- Don’t tell me that the animals will merge with each other to form the damn swan!!!!!!!!

- “rulers of nature”? Wow, really? The power has totally gone to your head and you need to calm down!

- What are they gonna do with the stones? Oh, trap Trix out of time? That’s actually... pretty smart... and intense.

- Man, I feel bad about the Trix. But what about Brafilius and Kalshara?

- Kalshara really thought that she was gonna get away with the ultimate power? But why do the wild magic animals care about manners and Brafilius? Oh, well, it’s cute that he actually has someone to like and accept him. It was actually Kalshara’s idea to even make him turn into a half animal. He didn’t want that. He just wanted her to love him.

- The goodbye of the fairy animals was actually pretty emotional! If the season had been done better, this could have been such a tearjerker! If they’d actually bothered to show how the animals bonded both with each other and with Winx but that really wasn’t driven home.

- Oh, no! Why did they bring back the band again?! We really didn’t need that.

Well, this season was annoying as hell at times but it actually had some really cool concepts... that, of course, failed upon execution. I kinda liked it better than season 6, though, and I am not even sure why. Maybe because I had less expectations and they were topped more often than my expectations were for season 6. Really, the Legendarium was a great concept that they just completely and utterly failed to utilize while there wasn’t that much potential with the fairy animals but from time to time, the writers really came up with some great idea. Brafilius’ “arc” had a surprisingly touching end and so did that of the fairy animals. I don’t think Winx learned shit this season and they were completely useless - but hey, not much more can be said about them in season 6 either so... What I’m saying is that this season wasn’t as bad as the posts I have seen floating around the fandom had made me believe it would be. Though, don’t get me wrong, there were a couple of moments that I wish I could erase forever.

[madamebaggio]

NOTES: FINALLY!

I was doubting it for a while there.

Man... This got nasty XD So... Really smuty smut. All the good smut I could produce was poured into this.

This is a modern AU, which is part of a bigger idea I have. I was lazy to write the story from the beginning, but maybe passing this part it’ll be easier. In this AU Lothíriel is the onwer of a brand of lingerie and as girly as girly gets.

Éomer meets her on a party (he’s friends with her father because he’s sold him horses before) and he’s charmed by her, but he’s been fighting it, because of a lot of silly reasons.

Previous to this they made out on her atelie, and she convinced Éomer to take her on a platonic date. This scene would be the end of their date, when he’s walking her home ;)

***

Éomer should be a gentleman, wish her a goodnight and go. She was younger and the daughter of a good friend; he shouldn’t even be there.

She stepped inside her apartment and gave him one of her beautiful -perfect- smiles. “I had fun.”

He smiled back at her. “So did I.”

She stood there, just past the threshold, her hand on the door, but she didn’t close it and he didn’t move to leave.

“Are you going to kiss me ‘goodnight’?” She asked cheekily.

He shouldn’t, because Éomer wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop kissing her once he started; he’d barely stopped the first time.

“Just one kiss.” She offered, that wicked grin on her lips, her freckles like gold dust.

“I know what you’re doing.” Éomer accused.

“What?”

“You’re tempting me.”

Lothíriel hummed. “Is it working though?”

“Better than you probably hoped for.” He snorted. Then he gave her a look. “One kiss.”

“One kiss.” She accepted.

Éomer kept his hands on the door frame, just to have something else to hold on to. He could keep it simple and easy, he wasn’t a teenager.

But then… He lowered his head and she tipped hers back. He pressed his lips to her soft ones and felt her fingertips on his chin. Lothíriel changed the angle of her head and pressed her lips more firmly against his, before licking very softly the rim of his lips.

Éomer pulled back. They stared at each other in silence for a minute.

“Fuck.” Éomer cursed, stepping into the apartment, closing the door behind himself. He didn’t even have to reach for her, because she was already there; throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her mouth back to his.

Éomer picked Lothíriel up, making her close her legs around his waist.

This was why he didn’t want to kiss her. Éomer was a gentleman -as hard to believe as it may be at the moment. He was the type of man that took women on dates, and didn’t expect anything; he was never in a hurry to get anyone in bed. His uncle had taught him to treat women with respect regardless of their relationship to him.

Kissing her ‘goodnight’ and leaving should’ve been ridiculously easy, and -normally- it was. But, goddamnit, Lothíriel had some strange power over him. He felt reckless when he was close to her, and he just wanted… Everything. More than he ever wanted in his whole life before.

And damn that minx for making him feel like it was perfectly fine to be this demanding.

He carried her to the kitchen counter and sat her on it. It was the perfect height for him to kiss her without getting a crink on his neck and to have access to all of her.

As soon as he lowered her on it, Lothíriel’s hand started pulling at his T-shirt, so Éomer helped her get it off. She held him a bit away, so she could admire his chest.

“Wow.” She sighed, biting her lower lip in open admiration, her hands mapping his muscles, until she found something. “I didn’t expect this.” She commented, her fingers tracing the horse tattoo he had on his left side, over his ribs.

Éomer covered her hand with his. “I’ve had a rebellious phase too.”

“I like it.”

He brought her hand to his mouth. “What else do you like?” He prompted, kissing her fingers.

“No, sir.” She shook her head. “I’m not about to inflate your ego. You’ll have to work harder for it.”

“Yeah?” He bit her mount of venus, making her breath stutter. “Remember you asked for it.”

“Oh, trust me… I will.”

He kissed her hard, his hands grabbing her thighs, pulling her against him, so his cock was rubbing against her covered cunt. He let her mouth go in favor of kissing her neck and Lothíriel giggled.

“What?” He asked, biting the point where her shoulder met her neck.

“Your beard.” She giggled again. “It tickles.”

Éomer brushed his chin on her neck and she giggled again. He was ridiculously charmed by her, and he didn’t think she actually knew that. It seriously annoyed him how many people dismissed Lothíriel for the things she liked, all the while ignoring how intelligent and talented she was.

He’d been dangerously close to making the same mistake.

Not anymore.

He opened the first buttons of her pretty white dress, revealing the white lace of her bra. “Is this one of yours?” He asked, running his thumb over the cup.

“Of course.”

His other hand dove under her skirt until he found lace there too. “Is it a set?”

“You’ll have to find out.”

“I will, don’t worry. I’m not in a hurry.” He popped open another button on her dress. “We have all night.” He pulled down the cup of her bra, just enough to expose her breast, then bit its curve.

Lothíriel shuddered under his hands, her thighs squeezing his waist. On his peripheral he saw Lothíriel moving her arms, only to realize she was opening the bra clasp behind her back, then pulling it off and flinging the strapless piece away.

Now with unlimited access, Éomer cupped her tits, his thumbs teasing her nipples. He brought one to his mouth and sucked it, letting her feel a hint of teeth. She moaned, her hand grabbing his hair, keeping him there.

He transferred his attention to her other nipple, and by then Lothíriel was already squirming, trying to rub herself harder against him, searching for more friction.

Éomer wasn’t the type to deny a lady.

His hands went back under her skirt and pulled her panties down. Lothíriel raised her hips to help him. “It was a set.” He commented, looking at the white lace on his hands.

“As if I would wear anything else.”

He threw the panties somewhere, then hooked her left leg on his elbow, leaving her completely exposed to him. Éomer ran the phalange of his middle finger up her slit, until it bumped her clit. He circled it, teasing touches, until Lothíriel whined a protest.

“There are many things I want to do to you.” He whispered near her ear, one finger sinking into her wet cunt. “Find out if you like my beard tickling your thighs…” He moved his finger slowly in and out of her, nothing but a tease. “I want to see you riding me…”

“Éomer.” She protested breathless. “Not fair.”

“How it’s not fair?” He asked calmly, pulling his finger out, then sliding two fingers back in. He kept his slow rhythm, with shallow thrusts.

“Please.” She begged, her breath short, her cheeks bright red. “It isn’t enough, I…”

He thrusted his fingers harder into her, his thumb finding her clit. “You need more, don’t you, Lothíriel?” He crooked his fingers inside her, feeling her spasm around them. “All this teasing isn’t good enough, is it?”

“No.” She let her forehead fall against his. “I like you because you don’t treat me like a porcelain doll.”

“Really?” He pumped his fingers into her, enjoying her moans. “Would you like me to fuck you?”

“God yes.” She grabbed him by the nape and kissed him desperately.

It figured she’d be all of his fantasies wrapped into one package. She was going to be the death of him.

Clearly out of patience, Lothíriel demanded more and more as Éomer fucked her with his fingers, until she was a sobbing mess coming around his fingers.

He pulled his fingers from her and rubbed her back, while she came down from her high.

“My bedroom…” She started saying, still trying to catch her breath. “Is that way.”

He chuckled, and picked her up again, carrying her down the hall to the bedroom.

Lothíriel’s room was exactly as Éomer had imagined it; white with soft pinks and feminine. There were pictures around it, a vanity covered with makeup products, and a huge bed full of pillows.

Éomer was really interested on that bed.

He lowered her on it and Lothíriel was quick to get rid of her dress. He took the chance to kick off his shoes and take off his pants, before climbing after her.

“There are a lot of pillows.” He commented, pushing a few out of the bed.

“Good to see you’re focusing on what’s really important now.” She threw at him, as she laid there on her back.

He laid his body over hers. “I’m focused, don’t worry.”

“Yeah?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “So where’s the condom?”

Éomer groaned, then got out of the bed to fish his wallet from his pants.

“So you came prepared.” She teased.

“That’s not…” He took a deep breath in. “You’re trouble.”

She giggled. “But that’s what you like about me.” She sassed, and she wasn’t wrong.

Éomer put the condom on and went back to the bed. He grabbed Lothíriel by the waist and flipped her around -making her let out a quite undignified squeal in the process.

She threw him a look over her shoulder. “Smooth.”

“You’ve seen nothing.” He promised as he pulled her to her hands and knees. He ran his hand over her waist and hips. “Is this fine?”

“Yup.”

Éomer snorted. He took his hand back to her cunt and pushed two fingers in. “I think you’re ready.”

“Yes, please.” She groaned, her hips pushing back against his fingers.

Éomer pulled his fingers away and guided his cock to her entrance. He pushed in slowly, enjoying the feeling of her around him. Lothíriel moaned something he didn’t quite get, her forehead falling to the bed.

She gripped at him like a vice and he took great pleasure in every second. When he was finally fully in, Éomer gave a shallow thrust and Lothíriel moaned again.

“Not a porcelain doll, right?” He asked, his voice ragged.

Lothíriel let out a strained laughter. “Exactly.”

“Fine by me.” He pulled out, until only the tip of his cock was still in her, then he pushed back in, hard.

He proceeded to fuck her hard. He was merciless in his movements, not giving her a minute of respite. Lothíriel was all encouragements, pleas for him to keep going as she took it all.

She brought her own hand to her clit and worked it furiously while Éomer still pounded on her from behind. When her orgasm hit, she screamed it into the mattress. Éomer’s thrusts became more urgent, harder, until he came with a harsh groan.

He pulled back more gently and sat down. Lothíriel turned on her side and gave him a toothy grin. “Solid work there.”

He couldn’t believe this woman. “Not that good if you can still sass me.”

“Bathroom is that way, I’ll get the whipped cream from the fridge while you sort yourself out and we can try that again.”

“Can you show me another one of your sets?”

“I have a garter belt in emerald green.”

Éomer sighed. “So we have work to do.”

[sandpumpkin]

A Rescue mission

I’ve been sitting on this idea FOR AGES. Wrote it up tonight XD 

FT the new Baroque works

Tagging: @one-piece-dumpster-fire​ for sandpumpkin content

“So where is this island exactly?” Hana asked, following Bon Kurei off the ship and onto a shady looking harbour not just full of pirate ships but merchant ships too “I didn’t see it on the map.” 

“It’s not any map. It’s an underground hub.”

“oh..Right..if that’s the case..why did I see a marine ship?” she questioned, pointing to a navy ship nestled between two merchant vessels. 

“That doesn’t matter,” came Crocodile’s deep voice, joining them on the dock “Do not wander off.” he ordered looking down at her sternly.

“Yes sir.” she smiled, making sure to keep behind him and next to Bon Kurei. “So why are we here?” she asked quietly,

“Faust needed some..medical things..” Bon whispered “That’s all I know. We’ll probably get some extra weapons and things whilst we’re here too.” Hana nodded and glanced around as they headed into the town which slowly got busier and more crowded. It was a hive of activity. A bustling black market, selling all sorts of sordid things. 

Through the crowds Hana spotted a large tank and was curious to the animals within. Her heart sank like a rock when her eyes gazed up a large bananawani curled up in the tank with no space to move at all, in a much tank beside it were several smaller bananawani and atop that a large egg in a basket. 

Drawn to the large bananawani she placed a hand against the tank “you poor thing.” The reptile looked down at her wearily. 

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Hana jolted at the sound of someone shouting and tensed when a tall marine grabbed her shoulder “That's property of the Celestial Dragons.” he snapped, shoving back.

“T-they need a bigger tank-” Her words were met with a violent shove which sent her flying backwards, placing her hands on the ground to push herself back up. The marine stamped on her hand twisting his heel as he leered down at her 

“Be thankful I don’t cut that hand off.” he picked her up by the scruff of her neck and shoved her away making her stumble again the crowd that had gathered parted enough for her move through “Just chuck a cover over it, we’ll move it in the morning.” she heard the marine order,

Tomorrow. 

She hurried through the crowd and spotted Bon Kurei waving at her and behind him Crocodile who did not look pleased. Clutching her hand she made her way towards them, quickly hiding her hand behind her back when she approached them

“Sorry..I got swept away with the crowd..”  She glanced up to meet Crocodile’s icy cold stare and looked back down at her feet in shame. He had asked her one thing and she messed up again. 

“Bones, take her back to the ship.” Crocodile ordered sharply, turning away from her. 

“Yes boss.” Daz guided her away from the group. He looked down at her nursing a bloody hand “don’t let boss see that.” She nodded and quietly followed him back to the ship. 

“It’s fine. You can go back to Crocodile now. I won’t leave the ship.” she said, offering him a weak smile. Daz patted her head and left her on the empty ship. 

Once Bones was certainly out of sight she hurried to the workshop to borrow a few tools and headed straight to her room. To plan. 

-

Hana was absent from tea that evening, she was probably lost in her sewing again. Bon Kurei went to check on her armed with her portion of food. Knocking on her door, hearing a response he poked his head in. 

“Hana-chan, I brought your dinner.” 

“Bon-chan! Great timing! I  have something for you! Could you call Bones as well please?” she said, accepting the food from him. Tilting his head curiously and hurried off to collect Bones. By time he had returned she had finished her food and was sitting waiting for them. “I need your help.” She stated simply. The pair looked at each other and that wasn’t what they were expecting.

“With what?” Bon Kurei questioned, watching her move to the wardrobe 

“Do you remember when we spoke about the Baroque Works? Well-” she pulled out two long jackets. One pink with swan feather pauldrons and the other black sleeveless with gold trip and a hood with the words ‘supa’ embroidered on the back “These are for you two,” she handed them the respected jackets. “Bon-chan I made you  swan princess tiara too.” She placed a white feather crown on his head and smiled brightly. “Oh, Bones, yours has a hood which is also a mask.”

“What’s this for?” Bones frowned, what was she planning. It was then they both noticed her own outfit. An orange romper with a jack o'lantern face on the front, an orange cropped jacket with wide sleeves, a black sash tied in a large bow at her side, odd coloured socks and a pumpkin sat at a jaunty angle on her head. 

“I just need to borrow you both for like an hour tops..please.” she said looking up at him hopefully, her hands clapped together pleadingly. “I made up superhero pins and everything.” she added, holding out the pin with a small sword on it. Sighing deeply, Bonez changed his jacket and accepted the pin. Bon Kurei had already changed his coat and was spinning happily. “Thank you!! This will be our first mission as the new Baroque works.” she grinned excitedly. She handed Bones a duffle back which was oddly heavy. “Come on. Lets go now. Croco-chan is in the bath. So he won’t notice us gone.” she said opening the door for them. Hurrying them off the ship and back towards the town which had quietened down now. Just a lot of drunken sailors and no one was paying them any mind. 

“Okay here we are.” she stopped in front of a huge covered stall and the sheet off to reveal the bananawani. Turning back to the pair who were standing with their jaws huge open. 

“Those are bananawani.” Bon pointed out.  Hana nodded turning around to set her hand on the glass 

“They need to be free.”

“They’re going to eat you.” Bones added flatly.

“I’m going to free them!” Hana said turning back to them her hands balled into fists “They need to be free!” Bones sighed, they were here now and she wasn’t backing down.

“What exactly are you planning to do?” 

“Well you are going to carry the big tank to sea, Bon-chan will carry the baby tank and I’ll get the egg.” she explained, handing Bon Kurei a white sparkly eye mask to go with his crown and she put on an orange one. “Go team!” 

Bones lifted the tank with ease and took the lead down to the small beach he had seen earlier. The other two followed suit. Once all the items were down safely on the beach. Hana took the bag she had given to Bonez earlier and produced a pair of bolt cutters. Bonez didn’t bother with slicing the lock off with aid of his devil fruit power. 

“You know. I forgot you could do that.” she chuckled as she pushed the lid open letting the water spill out into the ocean, the big bananawani flowing with it. 

The reptile splashed around in the ocean before looking back at them expectantly. “Of course your babies.” Struggling with the bolt cutters Hana freed the smaller bananawani who were a little more frightened to leave their tank. 

Develing into the bag she had brought, she pulled out a large tupperware box of meat and made a little trail down to the ocean. “And some for you mama.” she said, chucking the remaining pieces at the waiting bananawani, who lazily opened its mouth to catch the flying chunks of meat. Stepping aside Hana crouched and watched the little bananawani finally stray from their confines nibbling on the meat as they went. 

“Look at their little legs,” Hana gushed as they plodded across the sand towards the ocean. She reached out to pet one when Bon Kurei grabbed her hand in panic,

“They will bite you.” he warned, though he shrieked as one clammered onto Hana’s lap.

“Aren’t you the cutest~” she cooed rubbing its nose softly, “come on let's get you to the ocean.” she carried it the rest of the way setting it down into the ocean. The rest of the bananawani has clambered into the mama’s mouth ready to be carried away to safety. Hana quickly ran to grab the egg from the basket “Bon-chan can you fill the little tank with barnacles and seaweed please.” she hurried towards the bananawani one last time “your egg.” The big bananawani was hesitant and nudged it gently to her “but.. I’ll look after it.” she said quietly. With that the bananawani family were on their way to freedom. Bones and Bon were busy, so she carefully placed the egg in her back without them noticing. 

“Done?” Bones asked. She nodded triumphantly “okay let's put these back, cover them and head back.” For the last section of their task, they placed the tanks back where they had taken them and pulled the covers back over them, after Hana was finished leaving a finishing touch on the big tank. Not that Bones or Bon had seen it. Nor would they see for a few days.

“Lets go!” Hana hummed happily as they headed back to the ship “Good work team.” she said nudging them both “The bananawani are free and out of the clutches of the stupid dragons-” Both Bones and Bon stopped in their tracks “what?”

“Dragons? As in Celestial Dragons?” Bon asked grabbing her shoulders in panic

“Well yes. They were going to them..and I wanted to save them.” she said shuffling nervously “It’s not like they’re going to know who took them.” she added, pulling away and carried on her merry way.

“If Croco-boy finds out we willingly helped her steal from the Celestial Dragons-” Bon looked up at Bones “he won’t find out. Our secret..” Bon sighed “we should have asked shouldn’t we?”

“It’s done now.” Bones added. 

What was to come in the following days would certainly bring the secret right out into the open. 

-

A few days later. Hana shuffled into the dining room for breakfast. Rapunzel ran straight to her, shoving the paper into her face “is that you?!” She pulled the paper away from her face to see a picture of her with her mask standing near the empty tank paintbrush in hand.

“...I suppose it does look like me-” she laughed nervously handing the paper back only to hand a wanted poster held in front of her “Oh!I have a bounty-”

“So it is you.” Rapuzel said flatly “what did you do to get a bounty that high?!”

She shrugged “who knows.” she laughed again, still inspecting the wanted poster. This is awesome. Does that make me a full fledged pirate now? 

“If the boss sees that, you’re never leaving the ship again.” Rapunzel warned “you’re a walking paycheck. Miss Halloween.” 

“Well he doesn’t need to know” she said, folding the bounty up and placing it into her pocket, then taking the page from the paper and tearing it up “He’ll never know.” she grinned.

[cutegirlmayra]

#NotAPrompt saddly:( Anyways hello hope ur having a good! So from an amazing writer to your fellow beginner writer. How do you organize ur ideas or outline it before you start a sonamy story?

Thank you and great question!~

When you start any story, there needs to be a written Outline, or spine, of a story. Loglines also help to organize a clear direction for your story– example: Sonic, a free-spirited and adventurous hedgehog, and his friends must collect all 7 chaos emeralds to stop Eggman and a released, ancient god of destruction from threatening their world. - Logline I made up for Sonic Adventure. A logline is one sentence that clearly establishes a character and conflict.

Once you have some ideas, let’s say maybe you have the middle worked out or the exciting incident, you then create an Outline. Act 1, Act 2, Act 3. Act 2 should be the longest and biggest portion.

In my prompts, I usually hurry through Act 1 to get you to the exciting incident and then smoothly transition through a wrapped up conclusion.

Act 1 should be small, almost equal to Act 3′s plot points. Act 1 is you introducing the normal life before something twists it around, the conflict. The conflict is the starting point to Act 2, where you begin the rising action.

(the most simplest form. There are other arcs, such as ‘Character Obstacles’, ‘Character Tragedy’, and ‘Character Hero Story’. There are a few more too, but those are the ones I write the most of :)b There’s even a romantic one! Look them up and find your favorites in your own stories, comics, or movies ;)b)

For example, in my lastest Sonamy story, the turning point for the characters was when Amy also got sick with Sonic. This changed the normality which was that Sonic was originally sick, and now, the conflict begins of how are they gonna hide from the robots while both being squished together sharing leaves and turning ditzy in their sickness? I then lead that to Act 3, where silliness does ensue but they end up having a memorable, although disgustingly funny, platonic moment together that turned sweeter and even romantic as the conclusion unfolded. (Prompt: x)

Granted, this story is NOT a work of art haha XD I was inspired to make it, but the plot to it was extremely simple, which is why no real ‘action’ takes place and it’s all character emotion that drive the plot forward.

OR

OR

Many ways a character can express or subtly hint at their emotions. Sometimes they’re impulsive and transparent, wearing their hearts on their sleeves. (AMY) Sometimes their shy or subtle, opting to mask their emotions deep below the surface until they can’t help but ‘leak’ their emotions out during the climactic reveal and ‘breaking point’ for their character or plot summary. (Sonic.) Sometimes their so out of it, or not even in tune with their own emotions that they play them off and go cynical with it all. (Sometimes, I see this as Classic Sonic, but not always.), there are many more. Find them all! lol

As for my bigger fanfictions, I do make a summary, which is the full story condensed into a page or so worth of ‘notes’ as I refer to them. It’s not as neat as labeling Act 1-3, but it does give me a basic outline.

For Example, you can’t use your summary outline for your summary to your story. Your summary should have the reader asking questions so they’ll want to engage with the story. Instead, your Summary Outline should look like this:

Sonic and Amy, during a normal fight with Eggman, suddenly mention a tough topic for the both of them that causes some bickering and tension. When the tension accelerates beyond normal teasing, the two end up accidentally losing their tempers and hurting each other. Eggman, deciding drama’s not what he wanted today, sends a fully-armed attack at them while their distracted, thinking it a good opportunity to catch Sonic off-guard. However, though Sonic looks like he’s about to get whammed by the ambush, Amy pushes him out of the way and they survive. Amazed, Sonic rushes over to her, “Amy! W-why… Why did you jump in the way like that? I don’t get it… Weren’t you mad?” He hovers over her as she weakly squints an eye up at him (NOTE: This part is getting more detailed, can you tell? It’s the climax of the story and should have much more detail and notes going on. Even dialogue that can be rewritten or changed. It’s okay to have notes like this for your most dramatic scene, and keep the rest of it generally swift, but try not to go too vague. If you do, you may forget how you wanted to write that part, and that’s NO GOOD! -Sonic reference, lol!) “S-Sonic… Don’t you understand?!” She wobbly gets up to lean up into his face, “No matter how mad you may make me, or how awful our bantering gets, I will still love you no matter what!” (Exciting Incident, Amy’s confession, which will lead to a reaction in not only Sonic but the audience. This is the height of the climax and when things start to go down, but Sonic’s climax is right after this– example: ) Sonic, taken back by her words, suddenly smiles, “I can do no wrong by you… can I?” Amy smiles, and when Sonic realizes she’s not teasing or messing around this time, loses the smile and has his eyes scan her for any sign of humor. When none is found, he embraces her, “…Thank you… Amy.” (This is the point you begin the falling action, which is also the beginning of Act 3, which starts at the ending of the climax and continues towards the resolution, the lasting effect or result of the climax. What has now changed for the characters? What is their new reality? In Drama, there needs to be a few players: Victim, Villian, and Rescuer. Rescuer has to lose every time, then the dynamic will change to Victim as a Villain, and Villian as Victim. This then turns into ‘Creator of the drama’ which is neither victim nor villain, to two supports, ‘Challenger’ Sonic then turns to Eggman, cocky and snarky as usual, but this time, with an arm around Amy’s shoulders. They fight together and beat Eggman, still lightly joking with one another, but not as bad as before. Eggman is confused, defeated, he asks what happened. Amy and Sonic confidently look to each other, and together, wink slyly and say, “Friends fight together!” Before Sonic says, “Doesn’t mean they’ll leave ya if you have different opinions then them.” He smiles to her as she nods and continues his sentence for him, looking to him with love and admiration. “It just means you’re two different people, and that’s just fine by me! Otherwise, the world would be so boring!” (The lesson is usually delivered towards the end of Act 3, maybe not as strongly as this was. Sometimes, the lesson can be subtle and should be too. You don’t want to write ‘on the nose’ unless you’re writing for children very young, but in my opinion, Children are super smart too and pick up on a lot! My advice is to write strongly and powerfully even if it’s just for children audiences. They’re smarter than you think!) “And dull!” Sonic remarks, as the two of them laugh. Unable to comprehend their strange mood swings, Eggman grips his head and ducks down, frowning profusely, “Ahh… Now I have a headache…” (

And by the end, your audience will have understood the climb your characters took to reach that resolution, and they–themselves–reach a conclusion to their emotional relief. (People hate cliffhangers so much because you leave the Audience suspended in their need for closure, but that also addicts them to your story… so Authors can’t help but use it XD But we hate having it used on ourselves!!! Curiosity doesn’t kill your story, only your cat! And the satisfaction of knowing brings it back ;)b)

Was it hard for your characters to reach a conclusion?

Did that help? Lol This plot I made was rather simple, but I hope it taught it some stuff I like to think about when making a story! :D Drama is SO IMPORTANT! Remember to think of their character cores as well, what traits could create conflict in them and in others? What traits could help them learn and cope through that trauma? These are all important, and Romance usually has a ‘revelation’ or ‘impulsive excitement push’ around 10-15 pages/minutes when writing or watching a romance plot. I call it the ‘push’ because you can tell the writer is trying to nudge the two together. In film, you see them get bumped up against each other and then apologize but the girl moves her hair as a distraction and the boy looks away, but both are nervous and awkwardly blushing. That’s another ‘push’ in my book towards the romantic subplot.)

(Then they notice their cute, they keep seeing each other, la-de-dah, even AMY wanted this to happen!)

(Remember, this is Amy’s ‘day-dream’ sequence, it’s interesting how she thinks of Sonic, versus how he actually portrays himself. Useful info for writing Sonamy XD)

Alright! How’d I do? What Sonic and Amy stories will you create, my precious Anon friend? Good luck! And I can’t wait to see the success you find!

[kumeko]

A/N: For the Chaldeas Grand Road Trip Zine (on Twitter)! The basic premise was to write diary entries from Mash’s PoV, talking about her worldwide vacation (with Senpai and all the servants, of course!). I got assigned the Food section (did they know I’m a glutton? XD). I tried to inject the premise in the story, so it should be understandable even without reading the others/seeing the pictures.

Summary: Dear Diary, I never knew the world could be so big. That it could have so many people and places and things to do. It’s one thing to fight your way across a singularity, another to take the time to enjoy yourself. I think I like having a vacation. From, Mash

…

…

…

…

Road Trip Day: X

There are so many things to see and do in the world! I mean, I knew that before we went on vacation; traveling with Senpai to the singularities showed me that much. You can’t go to Rome, Egypt, or cross the entire United States without realizing that. But most of our journey was spent fighting monsters and servants; we’re so busy saving the world we didn’t really get time to explore.

 Well, I did explore little, but you can't tell Senpai that. Not that you can, you're just a digital log entry…I'll just have to make sure Senpai doesn't see this myself. They can't know I gave anything less than 100% to helping them out, no matter how interesting the winding roads were.  

 Now that we aren’t in a hurry, I’ve just realized how big the world is. Normally we’re running from place to place (or being catapulted from place to place, I really hope we don’t do that again) and with a Servant’s speed, it didn’t take that long to cross entire countries. The cars we’re using now are slower; Da Vinci said she wanted a leisurely trip. Every time I look out the window, the scenery is so different—I never knew there could be so many different kinds of cities or even trees. Every time I blink, I miss something.

Last night, Da Vinci pulled out a map and put pins on all the places we’ve gone to. Amazingly, that’s just a tiny fraction of the world! One day, I would like to see every city on that map. With Senpai, of course. I wonder if they like travelling? Ishtar happened to be floating by and she declared we needed to eat out more often. I think Romani was trying to save money by having Emiya cook. When I told her that, she snorted and said we had royalty and gods with us, so money wasn’t an issue. (I don’t think that’s true.) She also said that no matter how good a cook Emiya was, we needed to try new things. Later, I’ll tell Emiya that a goddess complimented his cooking. I’m sure that’ll make him happy!

 Funnily enough, Hokusai poked her head in and agreed with Ishtar. She pulled out these little sculptures she’d made (I guess she’s not only a painter) and placed them on the board at the places she wanted to visit. Apparently, Paris is a great place to eat. And to pick up women, but I’m sure Senpai won’t do that.

 Probably.

 Well, even if Senpai did, they have their hands full with all of us. I’m not sure it was a great idea to go on vacation with every servant, but Senpai didn’t want to leave anyone behind. They’re really admirable but I’m worried about their health. It must be exhausting keeping us all around. I’ll have to make sure to keep an eye out for them. Maybe one day I can pay them back, impress them like they’ve impressed me.

 The little figurines Hokusai made are really cute! There’s one for the Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower, and the Pyramids. Shuten put down one that was shaped like a wine glass on Italy and said we had to go there. Italy is filled with many, many vineyards and “we can’t miss even one delectable ambrosia,” as she put it. Excited, Da Vinci started booking some tours, but Romani quickly vetoed the whole thing. I think he regretted saying anything immediately, since all four servants glared at him.

 Now that I’m remembering it, I might have to protect him. Shuten is an assassin, after all.

 When we started talking about food, it was funny how red Ishtar got after all of her suggestions. Apparently, she really wanted to eat burgers. The second she said that, she looked at everyone like she was waiting to be insulted, saying that she knew a goddess shouldn’t eat such poor food. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it myself.

Shuten said she wanted to have some Baijiu. Romani started to point out that it was alcohol too but the second she looked at him, he shut up…

 I am definitely checking up on him when I’m done writing. Maybe Senpai and I can sleep with him tonight, just to make sure nothing happens.

 “Obviously, I’ll have pasta,” Da Vinci said, but I’m pretty sure she’s going to find a way to go to those vineyards. Houksai said she was fine eating anywhere there were beautiful people so she wanted to go to a runway in Milan to eat. Maybe we’ll get to see a fashion show too, that would be really interesting!

 It’s funny, but Archer is such a good cook, I sometimes forget that even he can’t cook everything. Even with Tamano Cat and some of the other servants pitching in to help, there are a lot of dishes we don’t get at Chaldea. I think I want to try eating some of the curries in India; we don’t really get spicy food that often. Hopefully, my tongue won’t burn too much.

 I wonder what Senpai wants to eat?

 -Mash

  Road Trip Day: X

Remember that map I talked about before? Well, we got to fulfill Ishtar’s dreams first! America’s huge, far bigger than any of the other countries we’ve been to. I should have expected that when we criss-crossed the country before, for that singularity, but there’s something still very impressive about it. Every place here looks so different from one another and somehow they all fit in one country! And the roads are so long, somehow we can go for hours without seeing a major city.

 Anyways, when we stopped for lunch today, we got burgers. Emiya wrinkled his nose when we entered, but he didn’t say anything. I think he’s feeling a little jealous these days since he hasn’t had to cook much. When we get back, I’ll make sure to ask him for food.

 The restaurant was a big place, with plenty of booths to sit in, but no place is big enough to fit all of us in it. Artoria practically dashed to the counter and immediately ordered every burger on the menu. Senpai looked at the queue of sabers and said that we should take turns, so the place wasn’t entirely overwhelmed. Considering how much Camelot’s King eats, in all of her forms, I thought Senpai’s plan was doomed to fail from the start. Don’t tell Senpai that, though. They’re trying their best to make sure we all have an equally fun vacation.

 Despite Senpai’s suggestion, Mordred joined the queue of Artorias, looking really happy that she could eat with her fathers. I wonder what she thinks about having so many dads, it must be complicated.

 Ozymandias and Cleopatra weren’t really interested in eating commoner’s fare, as they put it. They opted instead to dine with Gil and Iskander and they had a picnic outside. I think they missed out, personally, but I can see why they didn’t want to come. Can you imagine Gil eating a burger, ketchup dripping down his hands, mustard on his lips? He’d destroy the restaurant and us in it.

 Nitocris looked really nervous when the other pharaohs asked her to join them. She said yes but kept playing with her hands and looking away at us. There was something really frantic about the way she did that. Thinking it was a secret message, I winked and gave her a thumbs up. It must have been the wrong thing because she looked really depressed after that. Luckily, Senpai was much better at reading minds because they asked Nitocris to join us. Even then, Nitocris hesitated until Ozymandias clapped her on the back, pushing her forward. He asked her to tell him what commoners ate these days. Wouldn’t it be better if he just joined us then?

 Still, he, Cleopatra, and Nitocris look really close. Hopefully I’ll be that close with Senpai too one day.

 Sheba joined us as well. I wonder why, she didn’t seem like the type to like such places. By the time we got in, the staff looked exhausted. Ishtar was worried but luckily they still had food left. Did they know that they fed royalty and gods today?

 There were so many burgers on the menu, I didn’t know what to pick. Nitocris kept muttering under her breath how she had to pick the most dignified burger. How do you decide what a ‘dignified burger’ is? Ishtar didn’t have any issues; she ordered three different ones with extra fries and double patties. When we looked at her, she huffed and said she wanted to try multiple ones and “I’m a goddess, I can eat whatever I want to! Stop judging me!”

 I wasn’t judging her!

 Senpai picked a simple burger and I copied them. That way, we could compare later.

 The servers kept staring Sheba the whole time. Actually, everyone kept staring at her. Sometimes they’d look at Ishtar and Nitocris but then they’d go back to her. I wonder what part was stranger: her clothing or her ears? I’ve gotten used to it by now, but I keep forgetting it’s not normal everywhere else.

 The burgers they gave us were huge! I could barely fit my hands around them and ketchup and pickles kept falling out of the bun. It was a messy, messy meal. By the end of it, Senpai’s hands were covered in ketchup and pickle juice and there was a stain on her shirt. Oddly enough, Sheba didn’t have any issues. While I kept having small nibbles, she ate the whole thing in big, quick bites. I guess she was really hungry.

 Oh, Senpai’s calling me! We have to do laundry today so our clothes don’t stain.

 -Mash

  Road Trip Day: X

 Karna and Arjuna were at it again today. Well, ‘at it’ makes it sound like they always fight, which isn’t exactly the case. They’re old friends (kinda, at least I don’t think they’re rivals anymore) and they often are on the opposite sides of things. Actually, putting it like that really makes it sound like all they do is fight. But they don’t argue like, say, Nero and Elizabeth.

 No one fights like those two.

 Karna came out of nowhere and asked Senpai if he could take them out for lunch. With all that Senpai’s done for him, he wanted to show a little gratitude and give something back. He’s so considerate! Of course, Senpai being Senpai, they said that it wasn’t needed (they’re so kind!), but Karna insisted. As we headed out, Arjuna appeared and asked if he could treat me! I think he didn’t want to be one-upped by Karna but I haven’t really done anything to get any thanks. When I said that, he shook his head and said that I helped out a lot. That without me, Senpai might not have made it as far as they did.

 I’d never thought about it like that. While I’m sure Senpai would have figure something out, I’m glad to think I was of some use.

 Senpai and I were dragged to a diner, and Jinako tagged along because she thought it looked fun. The diner was very old. Or at least, it seemed really old. It looked like something from an old movie, where boys in gelled hair and leather jackets ask out girls in pretty pink dresses. You might be wondering how I know about that—Senpai and I have been watching movies lately! They wanted to share their favourites with me, especially after they found out I didn’t really watch that many movies before now. Actually, I haven’t read that many books either. Maybe I can ask Senpai for their favourite books too.

 The one we watched recently was filled with dancing, singing teenagers. I spent most of lunch hoping Senpai would ask me dance, but they didn’t understand my hints. I’ll try again next time.

 The diner had a checkered floor and our shoes clicked as we made our way to a booth. There was a really warm atmosphere to the place, cozy-like, and I wanted to curl up with a mug of hot chocolate. Arjuna ordered an ice cream sundae; it came in a long glass and looked like a flower. It was very pretty. And tasty—Arjuna almost gulped it all down. Only when his head hurt did he stop. I think that was his first brain freeze.

 The item on the menu that caught my eye was a chicken and waffle sandwich. They use waffles instead of bread! It was weird; waffles are for breakfast! You have them with syrup! But I was having them with fried chicken and it would have been weird to add syrup to that. Still, it didn’t taste that bad. I think I might try it again.

 Karna wasn’t going to order anything but Senpai forced him too. He always looks so surprised when we worry over him; I’ll have to remind him more often how important he is! As considerate as ever, Karna ended up ordering a platter with chili and sandwiches and shared it with Jinako.

 While we ate, old music played. There was a machine in the diner called a ‘jukebox’. If you put a coin in it, it’ll play a song. It had a limited selection of music and most of the songs were old hits. Apparently, this was how people used to listen to music, before they had cellphones. Senpai said the music was very nostalgic. I didn’t understand how, but I was glad Senpai liked it!

 When the bill came, Arjuna and Karna kept tugging back and forth on it. Both of them insisted that they should be the one to pay, that it was their treat. In the end, Senpai grabbed the bill and said it was their treat now. Karna argued that we shouldn’t waste a dime on someone like him, but that only made Senpai mad. They growled that if Karna every said anything like that again, he was going to help Emiya in the kitchens for a month.

 Considering how much the Artorias eat, I wouldn’t wish that one anyone.

 I’m going to watch another movie with Senpai tonight. I wonder what they’ll pick this time.

 -Mash

  Road Trip Day: X

 Hokusai must have been very happy today, as we are in Paris! I didn’t see her all day so I think she was out drawing people. Or picking up women. I hope it’s not the latter. Da Vinci told her earlier that if she wanted to paint a beautiful person, then she should just draw her. Hokusai said she didn’t want to draw anyone that old.

 It was a horrific fight. If Hokusai brings back anyone, they’ll be in danger.

 There were so many things to see here! There was the Eiffel Tower--we climbed the stairs since the elevator was so long. Senpai looked exhausted after that and I offered to carry them on my back. Unfortunately, they declined. The view from there was nice, especially as we got higher and higher. Jeanne D’Arc offered to translate for us since all of the tourist information was written in French. She was like a knight in shining armour. I’ll have to study that when we get home.

 After that, we went to the Louvre since it was nearby. Did you know there was a glass pyramid there? It’s a lot smaller than the real ones but it is completely see-through. Inside it there’s an escalator that takes you down to buy tickets and enter the museum. It’s kinda like being in a spy movie, with secret entrances and hidden rooms!

 None of the pharaohs looked impressed by the pyramid. Actually, Nitocris was really excited at first, declaring that Egypt had successfully conquered Paris. Ozymandias stepped in then, crossing his arms and sneering at the pyramid. Apparently it was too small to be considered anything worth while, a terrible imitation of a pyramid. Cleopatra declared it wasn’t cute enough. I didn’t know pyramids could be cute.

 That’s when Marie Antoinette stepped in. Unable to take it anymore, she announced that we were going to see France in all her glory. Starting with brunch, of course. As the queen of the country, it was her duty to show us all of the beauty of Paris, from food to the arts. Or so she said—I don’t think they were really insulting France, but she was so enthusiastic about it that I didn’t want to stop her.

 We ate at a restaurant where we could see the Louvre. There, we got an amazing spread of cheese, croissants, puffed pastries, and other French treats. For just a little while, I could see what it was like to be queen. Did Marie eat this every day, I wonder? What did the pharaohs have? When we go to Egypt, I’ll ask them to take Marie and us out.

 I liked the tarts the best. They were soft, fruity, and with a little hint of sugar sprinkled on top. If only we could have one every day for breakfast. Senpai’s a messy eater, so a light coating of sugar ended up on their nose. Sadly, they wouldn’t let me wipe it off. Nitocris kept playing with the crossiants—she put one on one of her Medjeds, saying that they now had a French hairstyle. The pastry was really flaky (and buttery!), I hope the Medjeds can wash themselves.

 Cleopatra looked the happiest to be there, even happier than Nitocris, which I didn’t think was possible. She kept trying different treats, taking a bite out of everything she saw. If she didn’t like it, she slipped it under the table for a Medjed to take. Senpai said that that was what it was like to have a pet dog. I’ll try that with Fou next time.

 Out of all of them, Ozymandias was the least interested in the food. Despite Marie’s best attempts, he preferred to drink wine instead. At 11 am, I think it was too early to drink (though Shuten probably would be on his side). He kept swirling his glass, looking out the window at the pyramid. In the end, he declared that while the pyramid was still substandard, the wine was not. That there was some value to France, after all.

 Marie didn’t seem to like that at all. I think she wanted him to like the food too. After this, she’s going to take us out to more places like her former palace! If it’s anything like the Louvre, it’ll be huge. My feet are still sore from walking through the giant museum. They had everything in there; I didn’t see even a fraction of all the paintings and sculptures they have. I’m not sure if I can take a second palace that big.

 -Mash

  Road Trip Day: X

 While we spent most of our trip inside proper hotels (Romani says it’s because it’s a vacation and we deserve the best, but sometimes I look at Da Vinci and I’m not sure that’s the real reason), today we went camping. It’s really dark right now and I’m writing this in front of a slowly dying campfire. I feel like I’m a pioneer, only without the quill ink and paper scroll. We’ve been in cities so much and something’s always happening at home, so I kind of forgot what it’s like when it’s quiet. Like it used to be, back when it was just me, Romani, and Da Vinci. There aren’t too many servants awake right now and while I feel like I’m in the middle of a tent city, it also feels like I’m the only person in the world right now.

 It’s kind of hard to describe why. The fire’s crackling softly and I can hear all sorts of wild animals in the distance. Hooting owls, chattering raccoons, the rustle of squirrels running through the trees. If I look up, the stars spread endlessly above me. I could stare at them for hours. They make me feel small.

 I might have spent too much time with Murasaki; I’m starting to sound like a poet!

 Bunyan was very happy that we’re camping. Forests like this one are her home and she wanted to sharpen her blade on some nearby trees. Senpai stopped her, saying that they couldn’t do that in a national park. Romani looked very relieved when she agreed; I think he wanted to stop her too.

 We had breakfast for dinner tonight. It was so strange! Instead of our usual meal, we had pancakes. There was something funny about eating pancakes in the middle of the night, before I sleep instead of when I wake up. This time, since we weren’t near any restaurants, Emiya volunteered to cook our pancakes. He might have missed running the kitchen, though he really should take the time for a break too.

 Abigail was very happy to have pancakes. She and Shuten sat down next to Bunyan, who was making her own pancakes. Apparently Emiya’s pancakes weren’t light and fluffy enough for her. I didn’t think Shuten would be that interested in pancakes, but she eagerly took one of Bunyan’s. Then she poured a bottle of sake on it.

 I have had pancakes before. You’re supposed to use syrup on it, not alcohol! Does it even taste good that way? Well, Shuten thought so at least. She sighed happily with each bite. With her plate (that was more like a bowl), she practically drowned the pancake in alcohol. Abigail watched her the entire time and when she got her second pancake, she asked if she could also have some. Shuten was feeling really generous, so she started to pour it on Abigail’s and Bunyan’s.

 I wonder if Shuten just wanted someone to drink with, especially since we didn’t go to a vineyard? I won’t tell Romani about this. She wanted to give me some sake too, but Senpai happened to be nearby and stopped her before she could. Now I’m curious to know what that tastes like.

 Even without sake, the pancakes were delicious. They were so soft and fluffy, they almost melted on my tongue with the sweet, sugary maple syrup. I ended up getting thirds. After that, we made smores. They’re made by combining chocolate, marshmallows, and crackers. When they’re made right, they just melt into each other. Senpai and Bunyan were good at that. I’m not. I kept burning the marshmallows or they’d melt off my stick and hit the ground. We’re camping for a few more days, hopefully I’ll get it right next time. As kind as ever, Senpai gave me some of their smores.

 It was the sweetest dessert I’ve ever had.

 Oh, I heard a coyote! I think I’ll stop writing here today, I want to spend a little time just sitting here, listening.

 -Mash

  Road Trip Day: X

 After all the food we ate, I want to try to make something for everyone. Nothing big, I’m not good enough at cooking for that yet. It’s just that…well, we went to so many places and tried so many different foods…I guess you can say I’m feeling inspired! Our vacation isn’t over yet, so I can’t cook at Chaladea’s big kitchen, but maybe I can make a tiny meal for Romani, Da Vinci, and Senpai.

 We’re in Singapore. When I told him what I was doing, Astolfo said he wanted to tag along. Apparently he likes to visit different markets and sample food. That way, he can have a little bit of everything. While Astolfo is usually very cheerful, his voice was quieter and sadder when he said that. One of his friends didn’t get to see much of the world, so he wants to experience it for him. Maybe he’s keeping a diary too, filling it up with stories and pictures like I am. I hope one day he can share it with his friend. It’d be nice if they could travel together.

 Sometimes I’ve seen him and Jeanne talking together. They don’t like exactly sad, but they aren’t happy either. Maybe they both miss the same friend. Next time, I’ll ask her to join us—it’d be great if they could make some happy memories too.

 Singapore is a small country, more like a giant city than a country really. It’s so easy to travel here even without Da Vinci’s help—the public transit takes you everywhere. The ground is really clean too, I haven’t seen a place like that since we went to Kyoto. There was a sign on the subway that said we couldn’t take any durians on it. I made sure not to use that.

 The hardest part of today was choosing what market to visit. There are several different cultures here, so there are many unique markets. There’s an Indian market, with the scent of spices wafting through the hair. There’s a Chinese market, filled with brightly coloured stalls and small pop up shops. There’s a Malaysian market and, well, there’s just a lot of places to buy food here! Even when you go to the mall, there were markets in the basement to buy food. We went through one that had narrow corridors and dozens of small shops trying to sell snacks to us. It was hard to walk, not just because of the space, but also because I didn’t know where to look. Luckily, Astolfo was used to this, so he led me from shop to shop, asking for samples. I don’t think I could have done that on my own; I would have felt guilty for not buying anything after.

 It’s impossible to list everything we ate, but I’ll try! There were dumplings: fried, boiled, stuffed with pork, beef, shrimp, covered in sauce or covered in nothing. We had a chili crab, which was a bit hot. There was a famous chicken curry from a small shop that apparently had a Michelin star! It was kind of funny, I was going to a world-famous restaurant but I didn’t have to dress fancy. The line for that one was long. We had Kaya jam on toast—I don’t think I’m fond of it, but it was something different.

 Astolfo actually had a list of signature dishes he wanted us to try. He must have done a lot of research before we left for this trip. I think I might have eaten too much; even now, hours later, I’m full. I don’t need dinner tonight.

 The nice thing was that a lot of food could be eaten while we walked. Astolfo grinned at me when I ate grilled eel, and said it was nice to travel with others for once. He called it a date—I would have dressed up nicer if I’d known! He’s far prettier than me. Everyone kept turning to stare at him when we passed by. I’m sure even Senpai would have looked at him if they were here.

 Emiya had given us a list of things to buy while we were out. Mangos, apples, a selection of crabs—I think he’s going to try to make a dish from Singapore. Some of the items on the list were new to me, I wonder what they taste like. While I expected to see many new sights when we travelled, I didn’t think about all the new sounds, tastes, and smells I’d experience too. This journey has been a lesson in just how vast the world is, and just how much of it I didn’t know anything about. How much I still don’t know now, even after all that we’ve done.

 It’s nice. There’s still so much to do. I don’t think I can ever get bored.

 Anyways, while I can’t eat dinner, this doesn’t mean Senpai, Da Vinci, or Romani will be skipping it! It’s almost dinner time and I need to start cooking. To be honest, it’s kind of intimidating to eat all the delicious food here and then try to make something. Maybe I can ask Emiya for some tips.

 -Mash

[white-queen-lacus]

A recently written scene I was dreaming and wanting since ages, from my original story. The best thing about these past vacancies is that I finally had a lot of time to write and I’m very happy! My bad I haven’t been able to draw my original characters as I usually do with the others in my stories... I did for Underworld, but this time I couldn’t, I still don’t know why... ò_ò This scene was one of my favorites and I wanted to write something about a game between my protagonists: the two of them (the third still is well-hidden XD) are playing hide and seek using water guns: the one who loses will cook dinner! XD Also, I’m quite satisfied since my precious dorks are finally beginning to admit what they truly feel for each other, even if... :3

“Smiling at my good intuition, I aimed. - Got you! -

He had hidden behind the entrance door and had well thought of outwitting me, evidently. Surprisingly, he raised his hands and put them in plain view, including his water gun. 

- It looks like you won. - 

I had him at gunpoint, but I didn't dare pull the trigger. I should have done it, of course, but it was quite weird that someone like him, not inclined to see himself cornered, had given up like this. I observed his posture, not as relaxed as it should have been, and his face, on which a pleasing expression had appeared as if he was waiting for the right moment to intervene. I realized it at my expense when taking a few steps towards him, I ended up sliding on a small puddle of water (deliberately caused by him)  that I had not previously noticed, not bigger than my open palm, but sufficient to make me lose my balance since I still was barefoot. 

- You're a cheater, Alexander!! - I screamed in protest. - And you're mine.- He said, smiling victoriously, at the same instant he hurried to cover the distance between us and picked me up before I ended up ruinously on the ground. We both ended up with him holding one hand behind my head and the other holding both the water gun and our weight on him. In that position, sitting badly between his legs, my gun ended on the ground, my hands resting on his chest and I could feel all his scent, the familiar Boss Bottled now.

I found myself swallowing wryly as I felt his palm dropping into my hair, stopping just on the back of my head, then meeting my bare neck. At the contact, I felt a chill and I instinctively arched my back towards him, feeling his muscles tending at the contact against my forms. Staying at home and benefiting from a milder climate, I had worn a lighter shirt and through the fabric, I could almost feel the cotton of his white shirt, pressed by his well-built bibs. I raised my face, meeting his, so close that I could easily touch it. My heart wasn't the only one beating fast, because I seemed to feel the same from him.

I concentrated for a moment on his eyes, which, in the light of the twilight, had taken on a warmer and darker shade, serious ... adult and mature, different from those to which I thought I had become accustomed ... for the first time interested, judging by his dilated pupils. And as he looked at me, his gaze slipped slightly on my lips and then further down, between my curves. I blushed, but I couldn't move away. There was something about him, however much I persisted in denying, that I couldn't do without. And those weeks spent together, in the everyday life made by days and nights, had not improved the situation at all.

Implications, Lucy had once defined them. Complications, I would define them, in a moment of rationality. But that was not a moment of rationality. There was instinct, there was a feeling that had been existing from the first moment I had met him and that, despite mutual attempts to maintain our relationship on a professional level, had ended up, at that moment, being vain. But if we had crossed that line, what would have happened? Could I ever have forgiven myself?

I bit my lower lip and he noticed since his fingers stopped me. With his thumb, he ran through the turgid arch of my lower lip and that gesture made me gasp. My breathing became faster and suddenly, I felt the necessary urgency to close that space of air between us. And you're mine, he said. At that moment, wrapped in his arms, I was. He too turned his face towards me, but that unexpected kiss did not happen. Instead, he placed his forehead against mine and his hand, which had previously stopped me from biting my lip, came back into my hair, keeping me close to him. That gesture surprised me and caused embarrassment and frustration until I moved to tears. I sobbed, realizing why he had backed out.

 - Forgive me ... kissing you now ... it wouldn't be fair ... - he whispered, his voice low and slightly hoarse.”

[stuffandnosense]

Keep Me Warm - Plance

Random Plance very vaguely holiday-ish themed fluff with some minor whump involved, that I don’t have a better title for. I blame @hailqiqi . XD Happy Holidays!

Words: 1500

***

“Be careful, it’s gonna—!”

Lance’s voice cuts into her concentration, and the unwieldly mattress flops away from her grasp and to the floor as Pidge jumps out of its’ way. Not that she knows why she jumped; it wouldn’t have hurt her.

“Lance, calm down! It’s not heavy, it’s just awkward. I’m short.”

Lance lets out a breath from his perch on the edge of one of the crates in Green’s cargo hold, and the rush of air ends in a pained squeak. He has an arm braced across his chest, but he still acts like he’s going to get up.

“Pidge, come on, let me—”

“No.” She takes the couple of quick steps to his side and rearranges the blanket over his shoulders, pulling it tighter around him. He’s shivering, and from the look on his face that can’t be helping whatever damage has been done to his ribs. “You’re hurt, and I’m fine. Just stay here; I’ll have this stuff moved in a few doboshes.”

She pulls the mattress up on its’ side again and shoves it through the door of the closet. She only has to get it inside; she lets it fall between the crates there and hurries to pile everything else she wants in here with them atop the crates surrounding the makeshift bed. She wishes the mattress were bigger or that they had two, but anything to keep them off the metal floor…

Maybe the proximity will be better anyway. Body heat and all.

“Remind me again why we’re…about to shut ourselves in a closet?” Lance asks, between labored breaths.

Pidge tries not to make concerned faces where he can see them as she gathers what few rations they have left into a pillowcase. “With Green out of commission, we only have so many power sources. I’ve really only got a few batteries and I can’t run much with them…I’ve got a couple of lights, and all we’ve got for heat are a few emergency packs, some blankets, and each other. It’ll be easier to stay warm in a smaller space where less heat can escape.”

“R-r-right…ah…”

“Lance?”

A glance over her shoulder tells her Lance has slid off the edge of the crate and to the floor, so he can lean into its’ side.

“Are you okay?”

She really hopes the shivering is only the cold…

“’Mm okay…”

He’s lying. His injuries may not be severe or life threatening, but he isn’t ‘okay’ either. Even in the dim cargo hold, just with the beam of the flashlight clipped to the neck of her undersuit, she can see the sweat on his forehead from here. And it’s freezing in here. The blizzard outside quickly burying the green lion has seen to that.

Of all the places to crash. Some sort of anomaly that screwed with her lion’s instruments…

And of course they had to crash before they’d picked up the supplies they were sent after. They’d all split up for supplies, leaving most of the lions at their latest camp site to let them recharge. Keith, at least, received their distress signal before everything went dead—she heard him say he was on his way—but he and any of the others would have been more than a day out.

They’ll be fine.  Lance will be fine. The others will be here. They just have to stay warm until then.

Pidge makes quick work of stashing the rations, plugging what meager light sources she could find into the batteries they have, and piling every blanket she can find on the mattress. She leaves the heat packs unactivated beside the bed. They may need them more later than they do now.

By the time she goes back for Lance he looks pale and awful, and she’s glad she already got the rest of his armor off earlier. She wouldn’t want to put him through that now; he looks like he’s in enough pain as it is. She does have to get him to the mattress though.

He looks warily at her as she moves to get an arm around him. “I don’t guess you found any more medical supplies, huh?”

“No painkillers, I’m sorry. I think Coran’s got everything we made it out of the castle with in Black.”

He groans. “Great…”

Pidge helps him up gently, letting him put as much weight on her as he needs to. “It’s not far.”

“Yeah, yeah I’ll make it just…ow.”

“Do you think anything’s broken? I wish I had a scanner.”

“I don’t know,” he groans. “I don’t think so?”

She lowers him carefully onto the mattress and holds the edges of the blankets up so it’s easier for him to push his legs under them.

“Let me get the door.”

Lance catches her hand before she can get back to her feet. “We’re sure they’re…coming, right?”

Pidge squeezes his fingers reassuringly. “Keith heard us. They’re coming. They know what planet we’re on, and I tied one of the batteries I had into a low yield distress beacon in the cockpit. Won’t help much until they’re in range, so it shouldn’t attract any unwanted attention, but it’ll help if Green gets buried. We’ll be fine.”      

A smile teases at the corners of his mouth. “At least I crashed with the smart one.”

Pidge snorts and offers him a smile in return, before she gets to her feet to pull the door closed. Without power it takes a couple of minutes of concentrated effort, but she manages. At first it seems almost colder, but she knows that’s in her head. Or maybe it isn’t but their body heat in this small space should warm things up a little soon enough.

Lance makes a startled noise when she turns off the flashlight at her neck and sets it beside the bed.

“I thought you said you had lights in here?”

“I do.” She feels blindly for the switch on the battery pack on the crate by the door. When she flips it the small closet is bathed in the soft glow of the fairy lights from her room in the castle.

Lance smiles, and it’s the most relaxed she’s seen him since they went down. “You remembered.”

Pidge blinks. “Remembered…what?”

Lance raises his eyebrows at her. “Like…a month ago? Didn’t you say you were trying to figure out what the date would be back on Earth? After the…the time we lost in the explosion? You said it was probably like mid-November or so…so by now it’d be almost Christmas at home, wouldn’t it?”

“You remembered that?”

She wants to jump under the blankets and pull them up to her nose in one fell swoop, but she eases back onto the mattress carefully instead, to avoid jostling Lance. She pushes her feet under the layers and slides them in next to his, trying to tell herself she is NOT blushing as she huddles in beside him.

Where did that thought even come from? She isn’t blushing. She’s not. Maybe her cheeks are chapped from the cold…well, there’s no wind in here…whatever. They can still be red, right? That’s all.

“Of course I remembered,” Lance is saying. “I love Christmas.”

“What did your family do?”

He looks off wistfully, as if trying to conjure the memories. “We uh…Mom always—” He cuts off in a cough that sends him curling into her shoulder and biting back groans.

“Whoa, okay…okay maybe not a good idea…” Pidge catches his arm and holds onto him until the bout passes, wishing she could do more to help him. “Maybe you shouldn’t try to talk too much. Horrible prospect for you, I know.”

Lance laughs once, and grimaces. “Ow.”

“Sorry.” Pidge snakes a hand out from under the blankets to pull one of the heating packs into the bed with them. “Here, let’s go ahead and activate one of these. Maybe the heat’ll help with the pain.”

She breaks the seal and shakes the pack until it feels warm enough, then presses it gently against Lance’s chest. He pulls in a sharp breath at first, but then he seems to relax.

“Any better?” Pidge asks.

“Some, yeah,” he sighs.

She settles down again, spreading her arm behind his head. She doesn’t necessarily expect him to actually pick his head up and rest on it, but she’s pleasantly surprised when he does. It makes it easier to pull in closer to him, helping hold the heat pack against his body with her own.

“You’re gonna be okay,” she whispers. “They’ll find us soon.”

His clammy forehead rests against her cheek, uneven breaths puffing against her collarbone. “Why don’t you…tell me what your family did for Christmas?”

Pidge smiles over his head. “You really want to hear a bunch of stories about nerds cooking and arguing and Bae Bae eating wrapping paper?”

Lance laughs again, more carefully this time. “Yeah, actually.”

“Okay, well, there was the Christmas Matt set the tree on fire…”

[shipmistress9]

Keep Her Safe - 2

Fandom: How To Train Your Dragon

Rating: T

Pairing: Hiccstrid

Modern AU - Kinda Military AU - married Hiccstrid - Original child of Hiccstrid - angst - feels

. o O o .

AN: Haha... remember how I said this would be a two-shot? Yeah... well, it's not. It grew into a three-parter. But that's it then! xD

Hope you... enjoy this second part.

. o O o .

“Happy birthday!”

With a happy squeal, Bri jumped onto the bed, thoroughly jostling him awake. Hiccup groaned a little, but a quick glance at the time projected onto the dark ceiling told him that it was no use to try and get back to sleep. At 6:30 in the morning, not even extra cuddles would be able to calm Bri down for long.

So he gave in to the inevitable, and wrapped her into a playful hug, cuddling and tickling her until she squeaked. Laughing with her, he said, “Thanks, little monkey. How about a lazy pyjama breakfast with pancakes and hot chocolate to start the day?”

As expected, Bri was more than on board with this idea, and immediately bounced away, presumably to carry her Elsa-theme step stool from the bathroom over to the kitchen to help with the batter. Chuckling to himself, Hiccup attached his prosthetic leg and followed her.

Eight years ago, when an accident had robbed him of his leg, he'd thought his life would be over, worthless. He’d been chained to a wheelchair for what had felt like forever, hadn't been able to keep working as a paramedic anymore, and a slightly detached part of him had severely mourned regularly patching up the fierce blonde woman he'd developed a crush on.

But by now, all dark thoughts about losing his leg were gone. With his prosthetic, he was almost as mobile as he'd been before. Sometimes he missed taking care of patients, but he didn't exactly regret having made his hobby into a profession either. He loved to draw, and taking commissions to even get paid for it was great. And in addition… he'd never have been allowed to date a regular patient, so he ultimately owed it to that accident that he was now married to said fierce blonde. And his staying home had made the decision to become parents all the easier. No, there really was no reason to mourn how his life had developed – except maybe the fact that sleeping in on any day was simply impossible.

Although, it was a nice start into a day, Hiccup mused as he washed remains of raw batter from Bri's fingers. Fun and comfortable, and he refused to be nervous in any way. Astrid had said she'd be back until today, and even though he'd been eagerly waiting for the sound of her footsteps for days now, he wouldn’t let any dark thoughts cloud his mind. Bri was enough to keep him occupied otherwise anyway. As usual.

He was just done laying the table for their breakfast, when a knock was audible from the front door. His head whipped up, and anticipation filled his heart as he hurried over to open the door. Of course, Astrid would be able to let herself in. But maybe she'd hurt her arm and couldn't do so? That had already happened once or twice.

When he reached the foyer, however, he directly saw through the milky glass of the door that the huge person with dark hair wasn't Astrid.

“Happy birthday, neighbour!” Eret greeted him with a wide grin across the loaded box in his arms, and Hiccup stepped aside to let him in.

“Hey, Eret. Thanks. For remembering and for...” he vaguely gestured toward the box that contained his usual purchases, fresh vegetables and fruits, meat, eggs, flour, and other things. Eret tended to get them for him when he had time to spare, and Hiccup was endlessly grateful for every single time he didn’t need to do so himself.

“No problem. It's not like I have much else to do when I’m off duty,” Eret called back cheerfully from where he'd already placed the box onto the kitchen counter.

“Uncle Eret!” Bri exclaimed as she came running, and wrapped her short arms around one of Eret's knees in greeting. “Do you want to eat breakfast with us?”

Eret sniffed exaggeratedly into the direction of the hearth, then grinned down at Bri. “Oh, are you having pancakes?”

“Yes, daddy and I made them!” she announced proudly, looking so much like her mother with her tiny golden curls and the big blue eyes that it almost hurt.

“Well, then I bet they are delicious.” Eret threw Hiccup a questioning look, and upon receiving a shrug and a nod replied, “And I'd love to have one.”

Smiling to himself as Bri chatted non-stop to Eret, Hiccup went to get an additional plate and forced himself not to be disappointed. Eret was a good friend and always good company.

And Astrid had said she'd come today. He could be patient.

…

“Hey, my boy. Is everything all right?”

Hiccup blinked, then forcefully tore his gaze away from the front window to focus on his mother instead. She had an oddly worried expression on her face, and Hiccup made an effort to pull himself together again.

“Yes, mum, everything's fine. I just…” He took a deep breath, and ran his hand through his hair. “Well, I'd hoped Astrid would have come back by now.” It wasn’t even noon yet. There was still time. No need to panic.

Valka's features softened, and she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I know exactly what you mean,” she sighed, then let her eyes wander to where Stoick was playing catch with Bri. The ridiculous difference in size between the 6’9’’ man and the four-years-old girl should have given him an unfair advantage, but the truth was that his not being able to catch her wasn't an act at all. Bri was fast. “I remember all too well how jarring it is to always wait…”

Her eyes clouded a bit, and Hiccup was reminded that he wasn't the first or only one to ever go through something like this. His father was a veteran, so yes, his mother understood his pain. As did many of his friends.

But that knowledge didn't help. Not at all.

His shoulders slumped, eyes closing on their own accord. It would pass. She'd be back soon, he was just overreacting. This wasn’t the first time she was gone, after all.

“You look tired, son,” Valka's voice tore him back into the here and now a minute later. “How about this: we take Bri to the playground and get some snacks on our way back, and you go upstairs and get some rest. Because you look like you need it, and I'm sure there won't be much time for that later.”

Hiccup took a deep breath and let it out again. The idea was tempting, just closing his eyes for ten minutes or so, taking a nap and refuelling. But then he shook his head. “No, I'm fine. I don't want to miss her if–”

“Ah, don't be daft, boy,” Valka chided him gently. “How likely is it for her to come back at exactly this moment? Who knows where she was sent this time, it could be weeks before she returns. Are you planning on staying awake that long?”

Hiccup bit his lip and, letting his gaze drop to the floor, shook his head. Astrid had said she'd be back until today… But that wasn't exactly something he could tell anyone. She'd broken who knew how many laws by uttering these few words, and Hiccup surely wouldn't betray her trust.

So he gave in, waved Bri and his parents goodbye as they wandered down the street, and after placing a simple note onto the table in case she would return now after all, slumped down on the double bed that always seemed to grow bigger and emptier the longer Astrid was gone.

He'd barely drifted off into slumber when a pair of small but strong hands caressed his back and a soft voice whispered into his ear. “Hey babe,” she breathed, her voice the sweetest of sounds, and Hiccup felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his chest. Astrid was back!

Humming, he leaned back against her behind him, seeking her warmth and reassurance. Astrid giggled, let her hands run down his back, and Hiccup quickly turned to pull her into a tight embrace and a kiss. He could hardly make out her lithe body beneath the fabric of the blanket, barely felt her warmth, and his arms tightened to pull her closer. Gods, he needed her, needed to know that she was…

Suddenly, she was gone. As if she'd dissolved into thin air. Hiccup blinked into the dimmed light around him, at the crumpled blanket in his arms – and the empty room beyond.

With an agonised groan, he fell back into the cushions, and buried his face in his hands.

Astrid wasn’t back.

It had been nothing but a pipedream…

…

“Happy birthday!”

Hiccup smiled at the small group at the front door, even as he fought to not let his disappointment show. “Thanks, guys,” he said and waved them in, pointing Atali to the kitchen where his mother took the big salad bowl from her.

At least it had been just his friends, just Mala, Atali, Dagur, and Scott. Sure, he’d rather welcome Astrid back, but this was still better than.. than the alternative. Rubbing one hand over his face in an attempt to wipe that thought away, Hiccup closed the front door again and joined his friends in the living room and kitchen. They’d all come for him, after all, for his birthday. Not that he had invited them or had planned anything in advance, but that was just how it often was. They were a tight group around here, everybody knowing everybody else. And always happy to have a reason to come together.

But as happy as the gathering was – with everyone having brought some sort of food, Bri and the other kids cheerfully playing in the garden, and the highlight undoubtedly being the big chocolate cake Hiccup had baked with Bri the day before – he couldn’t quite enjoy it all. And it was more than his usual introverted nature that kept telling him that there were too many people around.

As much as he tried, he couldn’t keep his thoughts from wandering roads he’d rather wish they didn’t. ‘If everything goes smoothly, I'm going to be back for your birthday.’ That had been her words. But a considerable part of his birthday was already over, and she still wasn't back. Where did that leave them?

If everything goes smoothly…

So things hadn't gone smoothly then? What did that even mean? Had there been complications? Had she gotten delayed for a day or three? Or was she injured? How badly? Or was she…

The doorbell rang, thankfully interrupting that particular thought, but it still left a bad aftertaste in his mind. And it got only worse when he spotted the outline of two people in dark clothes through the door.

“No…” he gasped, inaudible to everyone but him. “No, please not…” It was a constant fear, opening the door to some formally dressed agents with that sorrowful look in their eyes…

He stood frozen solid, staring at the door with his heart racing and his breathing becoming ragged. No, this couldn’t be. It couldn’t!

The bell rang again and someone pushed past him, opening the door.

“Hey, thanks. We almost thought you wouldn’t want us at this party. Hey, H! Happy birthday!” Tuff clapped a hand on his shoulder in passing, followed by Ruff lightly punching his upper arm. They both grinned at him, then went to mingle with the others, their trademark torn black clothes standing out amidst the crowd, but nobody minded.

Hiccup took a deep breath and slowly let it out again to calm his nerves. Astrid was all right. She would come back. He wouldn’t let himself believe anything else, or he would go insane. She had to be safe… She just had to!

…

“Sleep well, little monkey. Love you.” Hiccup placed a soft kiss on Bri’s temple, which made her smile even with her eyes closed and her being half asleep already.

“Love you too, daddy.”

Hiccup quietly closed the door behind him, and let out a sigh. His birthday was over. All guests had left after having helped to clean up the worst mess, and Bri was in bed, all without him having a complete meltdown. That was an accomplishment, right?

But what now?

Quickly, he went into the kitchen, putting away bits and pieces to distract himself as he prepared a cup of tea. The day wasn’t entirely over just yet… right? A glance at the oven clock told him there were still four hours left. Maybe she would still come, maybe all his anxiety was for nothing.

After throwing another log into the fireplace – Astrid loved the cosy warmth of a fire – he carried his mug toward the window that faced the street. He would wait for her. Surely, she’d be back any minute. Surely, she would… He took a sip of his tea, wincing as it was just a tiny bit too hot for his taste, and settle to lean against the wall and watch the street outside. She had to come back…

After a while, the lights of a car illuminating the darkness outside made him perk up, his heart skipping a painful beat and then racing as if to make up for it. “Astrid,” he gasped, pressing his free hand against the glass as if to reach out for her.

But the car driving down the quiet side street they lived in wasn’t one of the usual black limousines. Instead, it was the once-white-now-dirty estate car of the Ingermans, passing their house until they halted a few houses further down.

Whimpering, Hiccup leaned his forehead against the cool window, breathing raggedly. Gods, he was a mess. What was he doing here? This wasn’t the first time Astrid was gone, and it wouldn’t be the last time either. This was just the same as always, she would be back when her task was done. There was no need to worry. But he couldn’t quite suppress the sense of panic rising inside him, the same that had lingered all day, except it was getting stronger now. Not being content with just simmering beneath the surface anymore.

Because this wasn’t like it usually was. She should be back by now, he knew that. And the fact that she wasn’t… “Please,” he begged to nobody in particular. “Please, don’t do that to us. Please…” But of course, there was no-one to answer him. No voice from above, no distant lightning, no ray of light – no other car pulling up in front of their house. There was nobody he could call and ask, he wouldn’t get an answer anyway, and he couldn’t talk to any of his friends either.

In a sudden burst of something, Hiccup brought his fist against the wall, hard enough that it hurt and a low thump was audible. “Dammit!” he cursed under his breath. “Dammit, she’d been supposed to be kept safe!” A single tear of desperation ran down his cheek, and he bit his lip to keep in the sob that was threatening to tear itself from his throat. This couldn’t be happening.

“Astrid, where are you?” he murmured weakly, all strength leaving him after that burst just now calmed down. “I can’t imagine a world without you. Please come back. Please…”

But the street stayed dark and silent.

Hiccup wasn’t sure for how long he stood there, watching, waiting, and hoping. But when he took another sip of his tea, the brew that had been too hot just now was suddenly cold, almost icy even. Sighing defeatedly, he stumbled away from the window. His leg hurt from standing still for so long, but he barely noticed it. For a short moment, he contemplated going upstairs and try to get some sleep. Maybe, tomorrow things would look differently. But the mere thought of lying alone in that big cold bed was more than he could bear right now. So instead, he stayed where he was, sitting on the sofa’s edge, head propped up on his fists pressed to his lips, and stared into the dying flames of the fire.

. o O o .

So, yeah... There's a third and last part coming... soon... :|

[sher-soc-the-famder]

Miraculously Their Own- Chapter 4

Not Every Card’s A Trump Part 3

Word Count:  4962

Pairings: Romantic Royaltiy, Platonic LAMP

Warnings: Cursing, Child abuse, Physical and emotional abuse

Notes: My apologies for the lack of update last week guys! I was out of town, as I will be next week as well. For now have this A N G S T XD and I’ll see about getting two chapters up the next time I update! Updates on Fridays and as always! A huge thanks to @wisepuma23!

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Tag List:  @notveryglittery @milomeepit @beach-fan @ab-artist @i-read-by-lamp

Roman leaned back against the bench just outside of the group home, holding the ice cream in his hand gently. Patton had to stay at the school late to deal with a troublesome student which left Roman to visit Logan alone that day. Every other day, they tried to meet the kid, or at least Roman did. Patton was a little busier, and his schedule less flexible, but still. That didn't mean they weren't trying.

The look on Logan's face every time they stepped through the door made it worth it every time. Without fail.

Roman sort of understood why they couldn't just take Logan home, especially with how prickly the kid could get. Logan needed reassurance, needed time to settle before a change. They needed to make sure that he fit and blah blah blah blah. Roman wished that people weren't so stupid about things like this. Even if they were able to take Logan home right then, there was paperwork and the payments and everything that made Roman want to punch a wall.

"And that's how the body digests something like this," Logan murmured, staring at his own ice cream cone, "It's fascinating how the different sugars are broken down the same way and yet do different things for the body. Such simple things, and yet the body is so complex."

"And yet," Roman said with a grin, "It'll still throw a fit at something as simple as stubbing a toe. Or will forget the thing you went to pick up when you switch rooms. I'd like an upgrade thank you very much."

"You can't just upgrade your body," Logan glowered at him.

"Watch me," Roman said. Mostly just to see the affront on the kids face. "You think I can't do it bud?"

"I know so," Logan snapped, "If you're so imbecilic to think that you can upgrade something that took thousands, if not millions of years to evolve, then there's less matter between your ears than I thought."

Roman whistled, "Bringing out the big words today I see." he grinned. "So what about prosthetics? Or tattoos?"

"Patches to a system that's falling apart, and art," Logan replied promptly.

"And if someone would take offence to the idea that they need to be 'patched'?" Roman asked, bringing his dripping ice cream up to lick at smugly. "People aren't broken after all, just different."

“Different like you?” Logan asked, and Roman tried to gauge how sarcastic the phrase was this time.

“Sure,” he said easily. The kid blinked adorably and Roman wanted to ruffle his hair. He had seen the way Logan ducked away from the matron’s hands though, and he didn’t want to intrude if the kid wanted space. Foster kids got so little respect already, he didn’t want to add to it. Soon though, soon he’d ask. “Everyone’s a little different, Stephen Kid, intelligence, sexuality, hobbies, personalities, bodies, seven billion people in the world and not one of them the same!”

Roman bit down on his ice cream, taking the time to keep it from dripping down onto his hand. Logan stared at him, and Roman grinned. "I think it's the coolest thing in the world," he said, "That everyone has their own story and adventures and evil kings to slay for their happy ever after. So yeah, I'm different, Patton's different, even a little shit like you is different."

He brought his ice cream forwards and booped it on Logan's nose, cackling as the kid's eyes crossed to follow it. Logan wrinkled his now chocolate covered nose and glared at him. "If being different means acting like you, I'm not sure I want to." "Aww, I'm hurt bud, really, truly, who wouldn't want to be like me?" Roman said. His chest felt warm with amusement and fondness. Logan really was a good kid and never boring. "Besides, Patton's different too. I'm not the only one. Seven billion Logan. Seven billion! It's never ending! Just an endless stream of change and learning!"

Logan looked down at his melting ice cream, and Roman fought the urge to bump their shoulders. Respect, Sanders, he could respect Logan's space. "I guess," Logan muttered, before pausing, "So then like, every child here?"

"Different," Roman said confidently, "Maybe in small ways, maybe bigger. They all talk and walk differently. Each one has different experiences."

"So then," Logan voice was small enough that Roman straightened from his scrunched lean. "What sort of differences were you looking for?"

Roman could read that tone as easy as if he were breathing

What were you looking for in me?

Why me?

He took a deep breath and bent over to look Logan in the eye. "Patton and I were looking for a child to love. There were no 'requirements,' no specific quality that we wanted. We wanted to help someone Logan, to give someone a home, parents, we want a family. You-" Roman tapped his fingers on his leg.

“I was entertaining,” Logan said, and the simple way he said it broke Roman’s heart. Logan blinked as he shook his head, and the kid took a gamely stab in the dark again. “I was mature?” Another shake of Roman’s head. “Adorable then.”

Roman chuckled and shook his head one more time. His hands twitched, wanting to show how much he cared, a hand on the shoulder, fingers through Logan’s hair, something, anything, but he refrained. The hair on his arm raised, his eyes flickering up to see one of the matrons he hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to yet staring down at them.

Time was up, and Roman hated it. He was so sick of just visiting.

“Not quite, bud,” Roman said softly, looking back down at Logan, “Because you were different.”

“And you love different,” Logan said, his face solemn as he nodded. Roman let out a quiet, short breathy laugh at the way Logan acted like he had solved the world’s greatest mystery. He stood, eyes on the matron again, rolling the thought that she made him nervous around in his head.

“No, I love you,” Roman corrected idly, “Now come on, that matron of yours is going to burn my face off if she stares at us any harder. And since my face is a gift to this world, we should want to keep it where it is, meaning our time must be up.”

Silence meet his ears like a stone and Roman knew that he had given Logan at least two different openings to take. The kid should have been mocking him at that moment, for his arrogance or the fact that faces couldn’t melt or whatever at the very least. Roman turned to get a better look at Logan, only for Logan to mutter, “We should go.”

Fuck, Logan never wanted to end the visits early. Roman scrambled to back-track his conversation with him to figure out what had set the kid off as they trudged towards the group home.

“Ah,” the broader set woman in the doorway said, “You must be the Mr. Sanders everyone's been whispering about. I hope you found your time with Logan…. pleasant?”

Roman hated her already. She held her hand out to him and he shook it with a plastic smile. “Yes! That would be me! And you would be….?” He trailed off meaningfully, Logan shifting at his side.

The matron glanced down, drawn by the movement. She jerked her head, and Logan ducked his head. He practically raced inside, tripping over his feet in his haste. The stone in Roman's throat dropped to his stomach, at least until the matron opened her mouth again.

“Ms. Trumpbull, it is a pleasure to meet you,” the woman practically simpered, and the worst part of his panic relaxed. “I do hope that you come to visit young Logan again! Perhaps you're thinking of….?”

It was her turn to trail off meaningfully. God, she thought of the kids as things to sell, and it made his blood boil. It could have been worse though, so much worse, and even that thought made Roman swallow down bile. His fake grin grew, “Oh, I'd love to! We have to talk it over first, and really we want to make sure that Logan wants to be a part of the household first as well.”

Roman could pinpoint the moment the matron’s own smile grew a little forced. “Is that so? Well, don't you worry! We'll make sure he's on his best behavior until then.”

She winked, and Roman forced an awkward laugh. “Well, I really must be going,” he said. His foot stepped back without a thought. Without any further pleasantries, Roman spun on his heels and hurried off, fighting down the urge to scratch at his skin. God, he didn't think they could get Logan out of there soon enough.

He bit down on his lip, reminded of Logan's out of character rush to be done. Or maybe they wouldn't be the ones getting Logan out. Fuck, Roman picked up his pace, and hoped he hadn't ruined everything.

~~

So as you can see, the metaphor that Mary Shelley was trying to convey was-

Patton sighed as the words swam together, and he brought his fingers up under his glasses to scrub at his eyes. Lisa was a wonderful girl, but she just couldn’t quite grasp an impersonal essay. He wondered if scheduling another session with a tutor for her would help, because at this rate she wouldn’t pass even his summer course.

Giggling caught his attention. Patton’s eyes drifted towards the pair of children playing with toys in the corner, and then to the boy sitting next to him. Logan turned a page in the book he was reading. Peaceful, Patton had to admit. He hoped the fact that Logan could just enjoy his presence was a good sign, but couldn’t help the way his fingers traced Lisa’s essay nervously.

He had to fight the urge to call his mothers every night and ask if they were doing this right. If a good parent did this or did that, if they should push more or back off more or try to talk to Logan more. Roman had been confident until his last visit with Logan, and not the fake confidence his husband could wear sometimes. Patton smiled softly to himself.

Roman was a rock, someone to lean on when Patton needed support.

“Were they that bad?” Logan asked, and Patton blinked, started out of his thoughts. Logan leaned over to get a better look at the papers, his own book discarded on his lap. Whoops, Patton really must have zoned out to not have noticed Logan staring at him. “Their writing?” Logan tried again, eyes serious and steady. “Was that why you were staring at it so hard?”

Patton giggled, tilting his papers so Logan could have a better view. He wasn’t one to give up a learning opportunity. Neither of them were. “Not bad,” Patton corrected gently. “Being wrong isn’t a bad thing. It means that as a teacher I have to try harder to figure out why they’re not understanding the material. They’re still learning! It’s what school is for after all.”

“That’s not what my last teacher said,” Logan said, doubt leaking into his voice as he looked back up at Patton. “He said that if I was getting it wrong then I wasn’t trying hard enough and I was disrespecting him.”

“Ah,” Patton said. He struggled to keep his voice from falling flat and giving Logan the wrong idea. He took a deep breath and tried to picture Logan as one of his students at the very beginning of the year. It was never his fault that the adults that taught him had different ideas than Patton. “Well, I would respectfully disagree with him. It’s my job as a teacher to help my students learn and understand my curriculum. If they don’t it means that I’m not doing my job.”

“Is-” Patton hummed encouragingly when Logan cut himself off. He watched the boy fiddle with his book. “Is that why you’re not around as often? Because you need to help them?”

"Yeah, of course, kiddo! It's....well, my life's work. Teaching kids make me happy. But that doesn't mean it's the only thing that makes me happy. Golly, I get happy every time I get ice cream! I know I'm not around often as I'd like, but there's ways around that," Patton smiled, and waited for Logan to look at him, "You make me happy too. And no matter how happy my dream career makes me, I will always put you first Logan, it’s what my mom told me! I love all of my kids, but as my son? You win by a long shot."

Logan looked fragile, his eyes wavering sightly as he stared at Patton. Oops, he had probably said a little too much for how close they were at the moment. Not that he didn’t think of Logan as his son! He absolutely was! Patton just wasn’t sure Logan was ready to cross that line. Logan kept a careful distance for his own safety and Patton could respect that.

He flipped through the papers in his hands, and broke the tense silence with some light teasing. “I mean, working is how we make living here work-” Patton grinned at Logan’s groan, and forged onwards, “-we still have to eat after all. Pay for electricity, the house, so on, so forth. Buy a certain smart boy some books maybe. Though just between you and me,” He winked. “Roman’s happier when he doesn’t have to think about things like that.”

Patton paused, a thought crossing his mind. “Speaking of Ro, still no luck with his bet?”

Logan crossed his arms and scowled, “He’s cheating.”

Patton raised an eyebrow, fighting to keep his face serious. His lips twitched and his eyes danced with amusement. “Oh really? And how’s he doing that?”

“I dunno, but he is! Stop-! No, don’t laugh at me!” Patton brought the essays up to cover his face, wheezing as he tried to hold back laughter as Logan pouted.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! It’s just that,” Patton wiped at a tear in his eye, “Logan, do you really think that Roman, light of my life he may be, could pull off subtle cheating? When he couldn’t keep the fact that he was planning on proposing to me quiet for even a week?”

Logan flushed, cheeks dusting a light pink. He looked away sharply and Patton gave himself a Patton the back (Ha!) for dispelling the tension. Logan grumbled under his breath, an adorable anger that deflated as soon as he looked back at Patton. “Do you think,” Logan chewed on his bottom lip and Patton bit back a squeal. “Do you think I could get a hint? Would that be-” Logan tripped over his last words, Patton’s eyes softening at the nervousness.

Would I be stupid if I need help?

“I mean, I did say helping people learn was my job,” Patton said, in the same coaxing voice he’d use for an anxious student. He tapped his chin, “Ok I think I’ve got a good one! Roman is just as loud at work as he is usually, if not louder.”

“That doesn’t help at all!” Logan protested.

Patton spread his hands wide, before quickly reaching to keep his student's essays in his lap. “You did ask for a hint kiddo, besides, you two seem like you’re having fun with it! You- are having fun right? Golly, I didn’t even think about that, gosh I can tell Roman to call it off if you want-”

“No!” Patton’s papers scattered, the force of Logan’s protest making him jump, and Patton bit back a curse. He scrambled to gather them back up before they were damaged in the chaos of the other kids, and blinked as Logan hurried to follow his example. “I’m sorry,” Logan whispered, his face pale and Patton shook his head, glasses slipping down his nose from the force of it.

“Whoops,” Patton pushed them back up his nose and took the essays that Logan held out to him. “It’s fine Logan! Accidents happen, and look!” He held the stack up proudly, “Not one of them damaged!”

Logan ducked his head. Patton bit back a sigh, and very lightly tapped Logan on the head with the stack of papers. “Hey now,” he said seriously as Logan’s head whipped up in surprise, “Turn that frown upside down, Farmer Brown! I’m the one who should be apologizing anyways, I should have waited for you to respond before practically running you over with my words.”

Logan shrugged, fiddling with his sleeves, and Patton worried his bottom lip. “Hey how bout I make it up to you? It might not stack up all that well next to some of the things Roman does, but this old Pop's got a few good ideas in this ol’ brain of his!” He paused, “It's been a while since it's been all three of us hasn't it? Gosh a whole what, week and a half? Two? How ‘bout that? I can get a sub for the day and it can just be us!”

“Oh,” Logan said softly, Patton almost thought it was reverently. “Would- would you really-?”

Patton sat back down, patting the spot next to him. “For you kiddo, I'd buy the stars,” he said, only half-jokingly.

Logan took in a sharp breath, reaching down to clutch his book tight. Carefully, Logan sat down next to him, and then Patton held his own breath, trying not to freeze or lock up as Logan leaned over against him. A tiny weight against his side, not quite fully there, Logan no doubt waiting for Patton to pull away, to say something.

Instead, Patton just as carefully draped an arm over Logan's shoulders and asked, “So have you read Frankenstein before?”

“Not yet,” Logan murmured, relaxing into Patton’s side, “‘s it good?”

“I certainly think so! Not much for a casual read though, but it brings a lot of interesting discussion to the classroom,” Patton said, marking another point off of Lisa’s essay. He paused and added a note about something he liked as well, making sure to underline it and draw a smiley face next to it. “I’m not sure if it’s above your reading level or not, but I think you might enjoy it. It explores themes of humanity and intelligence, just like you do!”

“Mr. Sanders?” Patton’s skin crawled at the sudden silence that engulfed the room. One of the more heavy set matrons stepped into the doorway, and Patton swallowed. It was entirely possible that this matron simply had earned the children’s respect, Patton had known teachers like that after all. Ones who preferred their students quiet and obedient more than anything else. Not all of them bad.

But not all of them good either.

“That would be me!” Patton said, giving Logan’s shoulders a squeeze before letting go to stand up. He knew that he imagined it, but for a split second, Patton could have sworn that Logan’s hands brushed against his shirt. As if asking him to stay. “I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you before?”

He stuck his hand out and there was a long moment that she stared down at him. Patton kept his smile steady, years of long practise meaning it didn’t waver.

“Trumpbull,” the matron replied finally, taking his hand, and her face twisting into a smile that looked almost painful. Patton winced as she gripped his hand just a shade too tight. “I see that young Logan’s been drawing a lot of attention recently.”

“He is an exceptional lad,” Patton said, something staying his hand. Literally, in that something about Ms. Trumpbull eyes kept him from dropping a hand defensively on Logan’s head.

“Well,” Ms. Trumpbull said, “I do hope he’s been on his best behavior? He hasn’t given you any trouble? Logan’s been known to, well, scare off possible parents, for lack of a better phrasing.”

“Oh absolutely! Wait I mean, no he hasn’t, wait- Dang it, sorry.” Patton took a deep breath, “Logan’s been nothing but a delight. Really, I enjoy the time that we get to spend together.” His smile tightened, turned the slightest bit sharp, “I’m not sure why someone wouldn’t want to spend time with such a bright boy, but then again, some people just can’t see a good thing even when it’s right under their nose.”

Logan sucked in a sharp breath behind him. Oops. Patton hadn’t meant to let that slip.

“I see,” Ms. Trumpbull said. Patton winced, but didn’t take the words back. He stared her down for a long moment before she said, “Just as I see that your students must be handfuls if you approach them with that sort of attitude when it comes to troublemakers.”

“Oh?” Patton said, his head tilted politely. “Do you struggle with a rash of them then? Because I don’t have all that many in my classes. They’re all sunshine and rainbows. I respect that they’re willing to put in the effort after all.”

“Oh, and I’m sure effort isn’t all they need.”

Patton felt his teeth grind under his smile. Polite insults were one of the things he hated the most about having to keep a professional air and attitude. Telling a group home matron to her face that he doesn’t agree with her way of dealing with children wouldn’t end well. Not with his boss and not with the people who held Logan’s papers. If he pushed them too far, they could simply ask them to not return.

Patton wasn’t sure he could take that. Could stand having Logan ripped away from them.

“Maybe for you,” Logan said dryly, and Patton’s eyes snapped over to Logan. “Patton makes things easier to understand. What do you do?”

Ms. Trumpbull’s face twitched and Patton cut in before she could open her mouth to speak. “That’s very kind of you Logan,” Patton beamed at the kid, who smiled shyly back. No wonder Roman was raring to take Logan home already. Patience. A little bit longer and they’d ask. “But it’s important to remember to respect the people looking after you as well.”

“I think,” Ms. Trumpbull said through grit teeth, “That it’s about time you head home Mr. Sanders.”

Patton nodded, and turned to the slightly pale Logan. Logan ducked his head and Patton crouched down to his level, something in Patton’s gut telling him to stick with Logan as long as possible. “Would you walk me out, kiddo?”

Logan nodded, once and sharply before hurrying towards the door. “Have a nice night, Ms. Trumpbull,” Patton called out over his shoulder, longer catching up with Logan easily. Logan’s hand brushed against his fingers, not grasping, but still, and Patton made sure to wave as he left.

Soon, he told himself, soon.

~~

Trumpbull’s hand clamped down on his shoulder, and Logan bit back a hiss as the matron steered him through the hallways. His hands were shaking Logan noted distantly, as he stumbled trying to keep up with her relentless pace. The eyes of the other children bored into his back, and Logan tried not to be reminded of the real reason none of the other kids would spend time with him.

They wouldn’t want to pick up his bad influence.

The stairs to the basement yawned in front of them and Logan didn’t bother to bite his tongue. It was too late for that already. “Recent articles state that negative reinforcement actually increases the likelihood of problem children. Then again I know that you’re not all that big on recent-”

Trumpbull’s hand tightened on his shoulder and her voice dropped into a low whisper, “Would you prefer the closet tonight?”

Logan snapped his mouth shut fast enough that he caught his tongue and the taste of copper bloomed in his mouth. “No, ma’am,” he said quietly. She nodded, satisfied at his obedience.

With each step down into the basement, the pressure on Logan’s chest grew, the white noise of the rest of the group home fading behind them. Even the ever creaking wood grew silent, leaving only the pounding of his own heartbeat. The lower temperature brushed against Logan’s temple, the hair on his arms raising as he swore he heard something skitter in the walls around them.

Trumpbull’s hand finally left his shoulder as she shoved him towards the desks that sat in the low light. He stumbled towards them, hating the relief he felt that it was going to be lines today, hating that he had to feel relief at all.

The chair creaked dangerously as he sat carefully down in it, laying his palms flat on the cool metal to keep them steady and still. Logan couldn’t help watching Trumpbull as she made her way across the stone floor. Even though he knew that he was only doing lines, a fraction of the pressure on his chest eased as she made her way past the doors to the closet to dig through the desk drawer next to it.

Despite bracing himself, Logan still jumped at the sharp crack that echoed through the room, Trumpbull studying the ruler that she had slammed against the desk. “Do you know what you've done this time?” She asked. Her footsteps echoed in the space, and even with her approaching Logan didn't hold back.

“I opened my mouth? And you hate kids so everything I do is wrong-”

He flinched as the ruler slammed down, mere inches from his fingers. His face paled, eyes wide as Trumpbull leaned down into his space. “Perhaps you want to try that again, brat. I've been amazingly lenient lately haven't I?”

Logan took a shuddering breath, eyes locked into the ruler. “I'm afraid I don't know this time, ma’am,” he whispered. The ruler tapped his chin, raising his head to meet Trumpbull’s eyes. She raised an eyebrow, the ruler keeping Logan from ducking his head. The words that he knew she was expecting tasted bitter in his mouth, “Would you please ma’am, teach me how to be a better child?”

The ruler finally dropped, Logan’s shoulders slumping with his head. “It would be my pleasure young Logan,” Trumpbull said warmly. She tucked the ruler under her arm, and bent down, metal rattling as she pulled the handcuffs attached to each desk open. The metal tightened around his wrists, just enough to pinch the delicate skin. “Today, you made Mr. Sanders lie.”

“What?” Logan asked, eyebrows drawing together.

“About you,” Trumpbull lectured, “Nothing but a delight? You want me to believe that you haven’t disrespected them every chance that you’ve gotten?”

“He didn’t lie!” Logan protested, “Roman likes-”

The ruler descended, only this time it really did land on his hands, and Logan bit down on a yelp. He blinked back tears. The chains rattled as he tried to yank his hands back, an instinct he could never break himself of. One that earned him another rap along his forearms.

“Really?” Trumpbull raised an eyebrow, “You think there’s anyone who would like being called an idiot? Likes feeling shown up by a know it all child? Then why would Mr. Sanders have been tense? His smile so fixed? He was lying because he's a nice, responsible man, and we're lucky I could see what he really meant so that we can correct your behavior."

Logan shook his head, his voice weak, “No he- they-”

“Love you?” Trumpbull sighed, “Please Logan be honest, with yourself and with me. Who could ever love you?” Logan trembled and her fingers, meaty and thick, traced his jawline, “I try, I really do, but there’s trouble written into your bones. When you stop making me discipline you, maybe then, but we both know that day’s not going to come.”

Logan’s eyes burned, blinking rapidly in the hopes of keep his tears from falling. Trumpbull dropped a stack of papers and a pen in front of him, and Logan reached out with an aching hand to grip the pen.

“Three hundred lines,” Trumpbull said sternly, “‘I will not make Mr. Sanders lie.’”

Logan hesitated for a split second, though even that was too long for the matron. He bit his lip to keep from crying out as the ruler hit his arm again. He started, staring down as line after line appeared under his hand. The handcuffs bit into his wrist every time he moved, a pain that couldn’t match the way the words sunk into his head.

I will not make Mr. Sanders lie

I will not make Mr. Sanders lie

I will not make Mr. Sanders lie

Logan couldn’t breath, the pen dropping to the floor as he finally finished, wrists raw and holding back tears. He sat, still and quiet as Trumpbull gathered up the papers and unlocked his wrists. He moved mechanically, stiff from his hours in the desk, shuffling along behind Trumpbull back up the stairs and to his room.

Everything fell silent as Trumpbull opened the door and ushered him inside. For once, their eyes didn’t feel like weights on his shoulders, a reminder of how alone he would always be. Instead, he collapsed onto his bed, and curled up as small as he could make himself, hands clutched to his chest.

Covers pulled over his head in the closest thing to privacy he would get, Logan sobbed silently. “He- he loves me,” he whispered to himself, “He does, he does, he loves me.” He could hear the doubt in his own voice and pressed a hand to his mouth, trying to muffle his sobbing. “He does, he does, he does, he does-”

[queen-scribbles]

Trope mashups: 14/100 for Taviloth; 52/99 for Ederity

14. Taviloth- Bodyguard AU/100. Accidentally Saving the Day

My gut reaction was to say obviously, nmw, Tavi’s the bodyguard. But then I started thinking about it, and the other way around is great, too. Either way would involved the guard-ee’s family being affluent/powerful enough to afford/need a bodyguard in the first place(so status boost for each of them in turn), so with that established, we have two versions.

VERSION A: Bodyguard!Tavi 

In this option, Aloth’s family hires a relatively ethical mercenary to keep an eye on him/protect him while he’s off studying to be a wizard. (Should mention, this version, since his parents are better off, his father’s… slightly less nasty. Maybe still verbally and/or emotionally abusive, but not physically, so no Iselmyr) 

The two of them butt heads a little on the way to Hogwarts *cough* wizard school, due to differences in personality and outlook; Tavi’s loud, blunt, brash, outspoken, swears worse than a sailor, and is guarded but usually more optimistic than the opposite, while Aloth is diplomatic, quiet, non-confronttational to a literal fault, has sworn maybe three times in his entire life…. you get the picture, BUT there’s less friction than one might anticipate putting two people who are so different together. Pretty soon, annoyance turns to admiration; Aloth admires Tavi’s forthrightness while she has to admit he really has a way with words. They start getting along better, feelings start to develop, but neither will admit it bc they think there’s no way the feelings are reciprocated. One of them finally caves just before they reach their destination, both are surprised by the realization “Oh, really? You like me too?!” (Tavi maybe jokingly questions his tastes in women :P) and they agree it’s probably best not to broadcast this development. It might make her job harder.

So they act just the right level of detached in public and sneak romantic moments in private. One of said private moments winds up with them hiding in a closet, where they overhear a plot to assassinate a local noble so his kid can claim the title. Given that the plotters are highly trusted members of the noble’s cabinet or advisors(bc aren’t they always? :P), Tavi and Aloth then have to sneak around finding proof before they say anything or they’ll A) get laughed at and not taken seriously or B) be in very big trouble for leveling such an accusation against people who are trusted by one of the school’s biggest supporters. Oh, and all the while they’re still trying to keep their relationship under wraps. Fun times all around :D

VERSION B: Bodyguard!Aloth

In this option, Aloth’s backstory is relatively the same; abusive dad, Iselmyr, wizard school etc etc except school goes smoothly(ish) and he does become an arcane knight. The thayn he winds up serving is friends with Tavi’s parents(yes, she gets to keep her family in this AU), who are still merchants, but significantly more successful/better off this time around. They’re still based in Old Vailia, but they spend a lot of time in Aedyr bc they do a lot of business there.  Tavi is still, well, Tavi. She just has to fight harder for the pants vs dresses argument and gets in bigger trouble if her parents catch her swearing. (Yes, they’re aware she’s an adult. She’s “reflecting badly on the family” by not being ladylike) Her parents frequently lament her habits of staying out to all hours, “Slumming it”, and spending large chunks of time in either taverns or the woods.

One day they voice these troubles to their thayn friend, who suggests they simply hire a bodyguard to accompany her on her (mis)adventures and help keep her both safe and in line. They’ve thought about it, but they do have enemies, you know, and aren’t sure who they can trust. He promptly offers the use of an arcane knight who recently came into his service; talented wizard, glowing recommendations yada yada yada. Given their long friendship, they do trust him, so they accept.

Tavi and Aloth’s first meeting is something neither is looking forward to; he’s heard she’s wild, she’s heard he’s stuffy. It goes better than expected; mostly just “So, are you s’pposed to stop me from doin’ crazy shit?” “Only the worst of it, the rest of the time I’m simply to accompany you.” “*grin* Oh, then this is gonna be fun.” She precedes to drag him to every tavern she can think of in hopes of scaring him off.

Not only does this plan not succeed(she gets lots of eye-rolling and does give him a headache or two, but he sticks like glue), he drinks her under the table at one of the taverns and she has to admit she’s actually impressed. (Shit. She didn’t want to like him)

A week or two into this arrangement–which both tolerate but don’t love–Tavi’s parents have to rush back to Old Vailia to deal with some sort of crisis involving a supplier. As they’re leaving, they ask Tavi to ensure a specific set of shipping manifests make it into their vault, bc they may need them for evidence if this crisis goes even more sour. Given that she doesn’t much pay attention to the business(the twins are going to inherit that, so why should she care), she’s not sure which of the documents piled on her father’s desk are the right ones, so she just grabs everything that looks vaguely manifest-ish and locks it in the vault.

The next day, she and Aloth return from whatever she dragged him into to find the house ransacked and the servants all locked in the cellar. From various clues, they piece together that the ransackers were looking for the deeds to the business, which Tavi’s father had brought to Aedyr to ratify adding Malachi and Casius as partial owners. Why they wanted them isn’t clear, but it can’t be anything good. Tavi realizes the deeds must’ve been in with the papers she stowed in the vault, so she and Aloth go to look for them. 

Just as Aloth finds the deeds, they hear angry voices upstairs. The ransackers are back, and more serious this time about finding what they’re after. Tavi wants to fight them, both to protect her people and bc to teach them a lesson. Aloth manages to talk her out of it by pointing out they don’t know how many there are, they didn’t hurt the servants last time, and if they’re after the deeds, isn’t it better to get the deeds as far away as possible? She reluctantly agrees and they sneak out instead, then decide the best plan is to try and catch up with her parents, see if they know what’s going on. Of course, since her parents were in a hurry, their ship has already departed for Old Vailia, forcing Tavi and Aloth to book passage of their own.

The rest would involve a couple near-misses with pirates, finding out this is an attempt from an old rival to steal her parents’ business, kidnapped brothers(sorry Cas and Mal), and a really slow burn Taviloth romance that wouldn’t be admitted or acted on until like the last couple chapters and would drive both readers and author to OMG JUST KISS ALREADY YOU F**KIN IDIOTS levels of insanity.

52. Ederity- Marriage of Convenience/99. Magical Accidents

Still would involve Edér holding a position of some authority, Charity’s a friend of his, they get married because He Need a Wife™ and he’s tired of random women throwing themselves at him. Charity’s the one to suggest it, after helping him escape yet another mob of fangirls gold diggers swooning ladies. There are no feelings involved at first; just getting him “off the market”. They act couple-y in public, but in private are just friends. And then, right as they both feel the first flutterings of Actual Feeling™, one of them accidentally drinks a love potion. (Normally a plot device I don’t like, but an exception is being made here) As for which one, I’d probably flip a coin, bc either way would be MARVELOUS. Either way, they figure it out pretty quickly and tell the other one what happened. “So if I start acting lovey and affectionate, it’s ‘cause of that. Totally not that I’m really falling for you. Nope.” And then begins the struggle of either A) waiting it out or B) looking for an antidote while not doing/saying anything one of them will regret once this is over. While, naturally, the one who drank the potion is doubting themself and feeling muddled if their attraction is really real or just from the potion, and what about [X] from before I drank, but that could be nothing…. In the process, of course, someone says something that invites further discussion once the potion mess is over, they talk once both are in full possession of their senses, realize there’s mutual stirrings of affection, and set out on the tricky path of courting while they’re already married.

(These were both great, and now I want to write them, lil bit xD)

From this meme

[whereisthefood123]

Keep the cold outside

Merry belated Christmas to @capaleran2! I’m your secret santa from @fairies-and-christmas exchange gifts! (sorry for being late!! XD) I hope you enjoy this fic that I wrote for you :) Honestly this was kinda tough for me to finish since I discovered I’m not very good at writing Christmas themed fics lol but I still had lots of fun and I hope you like it as much as I liked writing it for you!

Pairing: Gajevy

Rating: T – cuteness ahead

Word count: 2.7k

Ffnet

The cold bit at his skin mercilessly as he trudged through Magnolia’s streets as fast as his feet could take him. Gajeel lifted his collar up to keep the bad weather at bay the best he could. If he hadn’t taken so freaking long during that mission, he could have avoided the snow storm that fell over Magnolia on this December night. But even the blizzard couldn’t keep the streets empty, since what looked like half of Magnolia seemed to busy themselves buying last minute Christmas presents.

Even when most people parted as they saw his brooding figure trekking down the street, Gajeel growled once or twice whenever a distracted citizen would come too close to the dragon slayer, earning him a surprise yelp and a hurried apology before the person would disappear amongst the crowd.

“Fucking holidays,” he mumbled behind his thick scarf as he adjusted his duffle bag over his shoulder to continue his walk. It’s not like he hated Christmas or anything like that, it was quite the opposite, but did it have to snow this heavily on this time of the year?! All he wanted now was to get home and sit by the fire to forget about this unforgiving cold. More than anything, he just wanted to hold his girlfriend tightly and cuddle with her under their thick blankets, forgetting all about the three-week-long mission he had just finished.

If he was honest with himself, Gajeel had missed Levy more than he cared to admit during his mission. Her bell-like laugh, her warm smile and her gentle touch were everything he craved at the moment. Even when he couldn’t put his feelings into words when he was with her, he was sure Levy knew how deeply he cared about her. They had been dating for six months now and every day she proved to be an expert in deciphering his way of showing his adoration for her.

A soft smile formed on his lips just thinking about Levy and about seeing her soon. Though, he mused, she wouldn't be home until tomorrow morning since the guild seemed to be on full on party mode for the upcoming holidays and she always enjoyed spending her time there instead at their home when Gajeel was out on a job. Besides, he had called her beforehand to tell her he wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning so there was no reason for her to be home tonight.

He paused for a moment in his walk to reconsider going to the guild first instead to their home. Just the thought of seeing her and kissing her sent his heart racing. Dammit! If he had to wait another second to be with her he would definitely punch someone in the face.

Just when he was about to turn around to head to the guild, a foul smell reminded him that he hadn't showered at all during the mission. Sweat, dirt and dry blood stuck to him like a second skin. He was in dire need of a shower before he saw Levy to be at least somehow presentable to his girlfriend.

With a defeated sigh, he resumed his walking towards their home, picking up his speed to make the trek go faster. He planned to take a quick shower and head to the guild as fast as he could to see his woman and kiss her endlessly to show her how much he had missed her.

His thoughts drifted to the day he left for his mission. Levy had been eager to start decorating their home for Christmas, telling him all about the type of decorations they should buy and how they could hang some white lights from the ledge of the roof and place garlands around the supporting pillars at the entrance of their home. Gajeel chuckled at her enthusiasm and promised her that they would decorate as much as she wanted to as soon as he got back from the mission.

A sharp pang of guilt made his heart constrict. Something about picturing Levy sitting in a dull home without any decorations made him want to beat himself up all over again for taking so damn long to come back to her.

For a second time that night, Gajeel paused in his step to dwell a bit on this and frowned deeper the more he thought about it. Light from the store to his right caught his attention and he saw that he had luckily stopped next to a Christmas decorations shop. A brilliant idea formed in his mind pulling his lips into a smirk.

Let’s buy some decorations now that I’m here. I’ll set them up and surprise Lev in the morning.

With a determined look and a new goal in his mind, Gajeel entered the store to look for the perfect decorations that could woo his girlfriend and make up for the lost time.

With an annoyed grunt, Gajeel placed his duffel bag on the floor and fished his keys from his pocket to open the door to their home. A small plastic bag, which should be bigger if you asked him, was held tightly in his other gloved hand. Misfortune seemed to accompany the dragon slayer tonight as he had been just able to purchase one item from the decoration shop. According to the owner, everyone in town had been frantic buying last minute gifts and decorations and she had been left with just a few trinkets and not-so-pretty decorations to sell in her modest shop. Hence, Gajeel only managed to find one decent Christmas item after an hour search within the shop. He had no better luck at the next shop, or the one that followed that one. So, reluctantly, he headed back home with his small plastic bag securing the only decoration he managed to buy.

“I’m such an idiot. Should have bought stuff before the mission,” he muttered angrily at himself. More than anything, Gajeel felt frustrated that he wouldn’t be able to surprise Levy with a full Christmas themed house. He knew she deserved better than one lonely ornament and he would get to work later tonight to make some other decorations out of his own iron. Besides, he was still extremely skilled whenever it came to crafting anything out of iron.

As Gajeel pushed the door open still deeply immersed in his own thoughts, he missed the red and white ‘Welcome’ matt below his booted feet that wasn’t there before he left for the mission, and the Christmas garland tightly secured around the pillars of the threshold that definitely hadn’t been there three weeks ago. He even missed the chirping sound of two jingle bells that rattled harmoniously as he closed the door behind him.

No, Gajeel hadn’t seen the decorations outside his door, nor the white lights that hung from the ledge of the roof. But as soon as he entered his not-so-dull and not-so-empty house, his eyes widened in surprise, his mouth opening with a silent question stuck in his throat.

W-WHAT?!

His living room shone warmly in the dim light of the fireplace. Crystal snowflakes hung from thin strings glued to the ceiling, sparkling occasionally when they’d catch the light from the fire that blaze with life chasing away the cold from outside. The freshly cut logs cracked under the flames as they fueled the heart and basked the house with a home-welcoming atmosphere. Over the fireplace, three red and white stockings were nailed to the bricks. He noticed Levy’s handwriting when he read the names on each one, his name being in the biggest stocking of the group.

As his eyes roamed through the room, he noticed the different decorations that gave their home the holiday spirit he had been looking for earlier in the shops. A Christmas tree with candy cane, Christmas lights and fake snow stood tall beside their couch; snowglobes with the guild mark took their places over their coffee table; a ´Merry Christmas´ banner hung behind the TV lacrima with shiny tinsel on either side of the banner.

Though not as heavily decorated as Santa’s workshop (like Gajeel had in mind to surprise Levy), he couldn’t stop the soft smile that grazed his lips. Warmth filled him at picturing Levy, and most likely Lily, setting everything up and decorating the house for Christmas in his absence. Oh, how he wished he could have been there to help them out, and, of course, tease Levy whenever she wouldn’t be able to reach all the high places.

Noise from the kitchen let him know that he wasn’t alone in the house. He chuckled softly as he turned on the lights of the living room and announced his arrival with his gruff voice.

“I‘m home!”

Almost instantly, both Levy and Lily poked their heads from the threshold that connected the kitchen to the living room. Their bright smiles melted away the last trace of the cold from his body as Lily flew to greet him while Levy practically bounced happily behind the Exceed. Gajeel met them halfway with his long strides to stand right in the middle of the living room as he embraced his two favorite people in the whole world.

“Welcome home, Gajeel!” Levy looked up at him and smiled brightly in that way she had only reserved for him. Her cheerful smile distracted him for a moment from her flour-and-chocolate stained face that he couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“What happened to both of ya?” He glanced at Lily who had as well flour stains on his paws and on top of his head, not to mention the chocolate smears on his wings.

“Well, Levy’s surprise kinda exploded.” Lily smirked as he hovered next to his partner, watching how the solid script mage turned beat red with embarrassment.

“Lily!” Levy squeaked and jumped back from the embrace. She held her hands in mock surrender waving them frantically. “Nothing happened! Haha,” her forced laughter went quieter when she noticed Gajeel wasn’t buying it.

“Shrimp, you have flour all over your face,” he deadpanned, “and, is that butter on your chin?”

“I-I don’t know w-what you’re talking about, haha.” She quickly moved to wipe away her face with her sleeves, only to smudge her face even more. She nervously glanced over her shoulder to the kitchen and Gajeel knew where to go next.

As he passed by her, Levy squeaked again and grabbed his arm trying to stop him from coming any closer to the kitchen. Even as she dug her heels into the hardwood floor, she did nothing to deter nor slow Gajeel from his goal.

“Gajeel, no! Don’t go in there!” Levy’s plead fell on deaf ears as Gajeel finally entered the kitchen, his face paling at the sight.

To say the kitchen was a mess would be an understatement. Flour, butter and chocolate smears were all over the counter next to the stove and on the floor; the trash bin was full of what looked like several batches of burnt cookies; dirty dishes piled up high in the sink with several pans ruined beyond repair by the mere look of them. When something dripped from the ceiling, Gajeel looked up to see a huge stain of cookie batter and two cracked eggs.

“Holy shit! What the hell happened?!” Gajeel turned to the other two, stunned beyond belief by the war zone that used to be their kitchen.

Lily just shook his head and sighed while Levy hid her burning face behind her hands.

“Levy wanted to make you some ‘welcome home’ cookies. We’ve been at it since this morning, but… well, you already saw how it went.” Lily clapped his hands slowly, creating small puffs of flour to get rid of the stains before they clung to his fur permanently.

Gajeel’s eyes looked down to Levy as she groaned and her eyes poked behind her hands to meet his crimson gaze. Slowly, she lowered her hands, her expression a mix of an embarrassed pout and a frustrated frown as she looked sideways not wanting to meet Gajeel’s eyes anymore. She looked even cuter than usual in Gajeel’s opinion.

“I never thought baking cookies could be this hard.” Her lower lip poked out adding to her adorableness. Her hazel eyes turned to him when he remained quiet, noting the faint blush on his cheeks. “You said you’d arrive tomorrow morning so I was going to clean everything tonight… and buy some new pans and good cookies…” she muttered lowly the last part as she looked to the floor, suddenly finding her shoes to be very interesting.

Her eyes went back to him as his booming laughter filled the room. His unique laugh full of mirth vanquished any trace of embarrassment from her mind and she soon joined in the laughter. Wiping away tears of joy, Gajeel gazed at Levy one more time, saving a mental picture of her flour-and-chocolate stained face. With the pad of his fingers, he gently wiped away some chocolate from her cheek earning another fit of giggles from his girlfriend.

“Gihi. Tell ya what? Leave the cleaning to me.” Levy looked up at him, surprise etched on her face at his offer.

“B-but you just came back from your mission! Aren’t you tired-?” Gajeel silenced her with a soft kiss to the crown of her blue curls.

“It’s the least I can do since ya two decorated the house while I was gone.” His voice was full of warmth and adoration for the woman in front of him. Any further argument she might had have died in her throat as she looked into his soft smile and fond gaze. Levy smiled too and nodded in agreement, being completely done with dealing with anything related with cookies.

She giggled again before rising up to her tiptoes to place a quick kiss to his nose. “I’m glad you’re home,” she breathed as another type of blush tainted her cheeks.

“Gihi, me too.” He gazed into her eyes and for a minute he forgot how to breathe for he could get lost in the intensity of her gaze and the emotions that swirled behind those hazel orbs that drowned the world around them. He brought her closer again in a tight embrace as he buried his nose in her wild hair, breathing in her unique scent mixed with cookie batter.

“Oh, what do you have in the bag, Gajeel?” Lily questioned as he just noticed the small plastic bag in Gajeel’s hand. Gajeel finally remembered what he was supposed to do with his most recent purchase as Levy looked at the bag with eyes full of curiosity.

“Gihi, close yer eyes Shrimp.” He grinned as he kept the bag high enough so her curious hands couldn’t reach it.

With a cute pout and mock annoyance, Levy gave in as she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine.”

“And no peeking.”

“I’m not- Hey!” Levy raised her voice as a pair of flour stained paws were placed over her closed lids. “Lily! Your paws are dirty!”

“That’s your fault, not mine Levy,” Lily snickered as Gajeel retrieved from within the plastic bag the small ornament he had bought.

“Lily!” Levy whined trying half-heartedly to bat Lily’s paws off her eyes.

“Gihi, okay Shrimp, you can look now.” Gajeel had to cover his mouth to stop the burst of laughter that bubbled up his throat when Lily removed his paws from her eyes. Levy’s glare just added to his amusement as her beautiful eyes had a round flour-stain over her lids, all thanks to Lily.

Gajeel smirked and pointed upwards as Lily smiled approvingly. As Levy’s gaze traveled up, her eyes widened in wonder at the mistletoe that hung on the threshold of the kitchen. The simple yet beautiful ornament seemed to be the missing piece to complete the Christmas decorations of their home.

“It’s beautiful Gajeel!” Her smile threatened to blind him for life as he closed the small gap between them placing one hand on the dip of her waist and the other one on her cheek, stroking softly her pearly skin. His face came closer to hers until his lips ghosted over her plumped pink lips. He gazed into her half-lidded eyes and finally sealed his lips over hers in a tender and warm kiss, but not without first letting his soft voice dance around them.

“Merry Christmas, Levy.”

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading this! Wasn’t it cute? Lol the cookie accident came from my most recent experience at trying to bake some Christmas cookies lol. Reblog and comment if you liked it :D It makes me happy to know what you think about my writing and the happier I am the more I write lol

Personal message to cap: Dude, it was an honor to write something for you :) I admire your work so much and it was a personal challenge to write something of high quality for you. Thanks so much for being super awesome and cool and forgive me for my awkwardness when we first talked lol. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that 2018 will be full of happiness and success for you and your loved ones! You deserve the best in this world!

[cressasdbfanfics]

And Then There Were Five? Chapter 6

Paring: Goku and Chichi

Words: 4,955

Summary: Chichi is nesting and Goku is exhausted. 

A/N: Thanks to the fabulous @jadefyre for the beta read!!!! And this is a very long chapter so happy reading. XD

Fanfiction.net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12543438/6/And-Then-There-Were-Five

Archive of Our Own: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11284710/chapters/31108764

Chapter 6

Chichi scrutinized the wall of the new upstairs bedroom, carefully comparing paint swatches of seven different shades of pale pink—that all looked exactly the same.

She pointed out two sample patches on the wall, a hand rested on her huge belly. "I can't decide between these two. I can't help but think one is too bright but it goes better with the cribs' bedding. The other I think would be more soothing."

After saying 'eeny meeny miny moe' in my head, I pointed to one of the two she specified. "I like that one."

She compared the blanket in her hands with the swatch on the wall for the umpteenth time and grinned. "I agree!"

I looked down at the line of sample cans at our feet, trying to figure out which one was which. Before I decided if it was safe to ask her which one, she nudged a can with her slipper.

"That's the one."

I bent over and grabbed the can she indicated because she couldn't.

She squealed and clapped her hands together. "Oh, this is going to be so pretty!"

With that, she waddled out of the room. I shrugged after she left and put the other small cans of identical pale pink paint in a corner so I wouldn't get mixed up. She'd definitely—and unhappily—notice if I did.

Gohan helped with the calculations of how much paint to buy and went with me to the home improvement store to get enough—plus a few cuts of lumber for something else I had planned for Chichi and the twins.

With four people painting, it was done in only a couple of hours—not counting the minor paint fight we got into.

The next day, I took a midday break from working on the fields and went home to find Chichi sitting at the table poring over a magazine while she nibbled on a dessert—tiramisu by the sweet, creamy scent laced with a coffee sort of smell. A pen and notepad were on the other side of the magazine. Many words were written down and crossed out on the notepad.

"What are you up to?" I asked.

She glanced up at me. "Picking out names for our girls."

I sat down next to her and read over her shoulder. I wasn't the best reader out there but I got by. The list of names the magazine offered was long. Too long. Almost as long as the list of names Ox King made us for Gohan.

"Remember naming Gohan?" I asked.

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "How could I forget?" She turned fully to face me, her cute nose wrinkled in a frown. "You wanted to go fishing while he was yet nameless!"

I chuckled and held up a hand—remembering it well. "Sorry, babe! But you know I can't think when I'm hungry."

"Goku, you can't do anything when you're hungry."

I laughed and rubbed the back of my neck. "You've got a point there."

She giggled and turned back to her magazine. "Now what should we call them…"

A new question popped into my head—one that made me a little sad. "Say… how'd Goten get his name?"

She looked toward the kitchen window with a wistful smile and I followed her gaze. I felt Goten's warmth just outside the house.

"Gohan named him right after he was born," she finally said.

I looked at her. "He did?"

She nodded, turning her smile to me. "He did. We had been thinking long and hard about names but nothing seemed… right."

"So Einstein didn't suit Goten either, eh?"

Her eyes narrowed but her lips twitched like she was trying to fight a smile. "Just like his brother, Goten cried over that one, too."

I chuckled. "Good kid."

A half-hearted glare was her reply. She shook her head and went back to her magazine. She took a bite of her snack and turned a page, revealing another long list of names. Chichi slid the pen down the list, pausing once in a while to write down a couple in her notepad.

She gasped and gave me a bright grin. "Oh, I think I have just the ones!"

When she told me the names, I thought they sounded just right and fit mine, Gohan's and Goten's.

The field expansions meant longer workdays, but the increase in crop yield was worth it. So much grew that it attracted a lot of hungry animals—including a family of plant-eating dinosaurs. After spending too much time protecting our food and relocating them one by one, I was rounding off the long day by fixing the minor damage the dinosaurs caused and then watering.

"Dad?"

I paused my watering long enough to glance at Goten. "Yeah?"

"Can you play with me?" He made a face. "Gohan's having kissy-kissy with Videl. Again."

I chuckled but said, "Not right now. Sorry, buddy." I shifted the huge watering barrel to one arm and gestured at the vegetables growing almost as far as the eye could see. "I have to water all this. But maybe later today?"

His disappointed expression brightened and he nodded. "Okay!"

With that, he lifted into the air and zoomed away toward home.

The fields were so huge I had to refill the giant water barrel several times before the watering was done. It was well past sundown by the time I was through for the night.

I grimaced up at the dark sky. "Crap! I'm late!"

I set the barrel down on barren land and kicked into the cool night air. The flight was only a couple of minutes but long enough to help me come up with an excuse.

I touched down just outside the front door and took off my muddy boots. The smells of Chichi's delicious cooking reached me the second I opened the door and my stomach let out an Earth-shaking rumble, alerting Chichi to the fact I was a little bit late.

"Goku!" she snarled as she waddled into the living room and put her hands on her hips.

I smiled apologetically and held my hands out. "Sorry, Chichi! Watering took a while. But the good news is we have a lot of food!"

Her glare softened into a smile. "Thanks to you. Now, come eat before the food gets cold."

Chichi, Gohan, Goten, and I chatted and laughed over dinner as I told them the story of the hungry dinosaurs trying to steal our food.

As soon as we were done eating, it was play time with Goten. We play wrestled in the yard, took a bath in the barrel, played with his toys in his room, and finally, he fell asleep slumped against me watching his favorite tv show. I carried him up to bed.

When I opened the back of my truck, the storeowner's mouth fell open. "That's your biggest harvest yet, Mr. Son!"

I chuckled and nodded proudly at my truck packed full of boxes. "This isn't even half of it!"

He laughed. "Well, if you keep growing delicious vegetables like these, I'll continue to buy them. What you bring in is very popular here."

I smiled as I got the first couple boxes out. "Great! That'll make my wife very happy!"

Not too long after, the truck was empty and the boxes were stacked just outside the village market. He tallied up the vegetables inside each box and then went inside.

When he returned, he handed me the usual white envelope. "Your payment, Mr. Son."

I pocketed the thicker than normal envelope and shook his hand. "Thank you!"

I got more money than ever. The expansions really paid off!

I capsulized my truck and jogged at a human pace well out of the village before kicking into the warm, early evening air.

Somewhere between home and the village, a surge of familiar {ki}rocketing away in the opposite direction snagged my senses. I stopped and floated in place. It was Gohan and it felt like he was in a hurry.

With my speed, I caught up to him in only a few seconds.

He glanced at me. "Hey, Dad."

"Hi, Gohan! Where're you off to so fast?"

He glanced at me. "Oh… uh… I'm just going to go see Videl. We have to study for this big test coming up."

I smirked knowingly as we flew—apparently toward Satan City. "Uh-huh. Sure. You're going to study."

His cheeks flushed and his eyes narrowed. "Dad!"

I chuckled and wriggled an eyebrow. "Well, enjoy your study date."

He shook his head and continued on his way. I flew home.

I landed in our yard and frowned at the muffled shouting inside our house. "That's strange." I mumbled.

I opened the front door.

"—have to!"

A foot stomped and Goten yelled, "No!"

I walked into the kitchen. Chichi was dishing up our dinner and Goten stood next to the table, his little arms crossed and nose turned up. I didn't know what was going on, but I told Goten to mind his mother anyway as I sat at the table.

Chichi threw me a grateful glance over her shoulder.

"I hate meatloaf," grumbled Goten as he dropped into his chair and crossed his arms.

Chichi sighed and my eyebrows climbed. That attitude wasn't like him.

She gasped and winced as she rubbed her stomach. She waved me off before I got out of my seat, mumbling that it was just a kick.

Rounding on Goten, she put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Son Goten! Eat that or you can go hungry."

He stared at his plate in disgust but ate it anyway. Going hungry was a serious threat for a Saiyan.

Chichi took her seat but instead of eating, she pushed her food around her plate with her fork. I cast a long look at Goten and he shrank in his chair.

I had just the thing to lift Chichi's mood.

Once the boys had gone to bed, I handed Chichi a thick white envelope. "This is for you. It's from our first harvest since the expansion."

When she lifted the flap and peered inside, she gasped and stared at me with wide eyes. And then gave me a bright, beautiful grin.

By early June, Chichi was enormous. Just when I thought she couldn't possibly get any bigger, she did. But I'd never tell her that. Chichi's body looked to be stretched to the limit and she still had more than a month to go! The bigger she got, the less I wanted to leave her alone but I was pretty sure she'd send me back to Other World if I neglected the fields.

She did so much around the house—cleaning every. Little. Thing. Every nook and cranny. Every surface. Washing everything that could be washed in the washing machine. She even reorganized the kitchen and then reorganized it again when she wasn't happy with it.

She was a tornado of energy! I had no idea where it came from all of a sudden. She made me tired just watching her. When I asked her with a small voice to take it easy, her reply was a scary glare. But her back paid for it. She needed a back massage almost every night.

Days went by like that—where the only things she stopped for was to cook our meals and take one of her many bathroom breaks. Pregnant women had to go. A lot. She waddled back and forth across the house like a duck, leaving the place spotless in her wake and joyfully told me she was nesting.

And that nesting meant the big day was getting closer.

Keeping an eye on her, helping her out around the house, managing the farm, and going with her to all of her weekly appointments, and building what I was making for her out in Grandpa Gohan's cabin didn't leave time for much of anything else. I was busy but she was happy. That was what mattered.

I sat straight up, heart pounding. Instinctively, I reached out in the darkness for Chichi, patting around her side of the bed. But she was gone. I relaxed a little when I realized the loud growl that jolted me awake wasn't an animal in our bedroom. It was only my stomach. And Chichi was just downstairs.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and padded downstairs, following my nose.

The dim light of the open fridge spilled out around the kitchen, creating odd shadows that moved and danced with the pregnant woman digging around inside it.

Peeking over the door, I smiled down at Chichi who was on her hands and knees. She held a leftover chicken leg in her teeth as she pulled some boxes out of the fridge and shoved others aside in her search for her late-night snack.

She hadn't noticed me yet—until she stood up and closed it. She shrieked, the chicken leg falling from her mouth and the stack of containers slipping out of her hands.

Thinking fast, I snagged her snacks out of the air before they hit the floor and held them out to her with a smile. "Made yourself hungry doing all that cleaning, eh?"

She scowled and violently snatched the boxes and chicken leg out of my hands. "Dang it, Goku! Don't scare me like that!" she hissed.

I chuckled. "Sorry, babe."

Chichi wordlessly took two plates out of the cabinet and heated both of us up some food while she munched on her cold chicken leg. She chucked the bone stripped of its meat into the trash with a flick of her wrist and then dug into the fridge for another one and placed the empty plastic leftovers container into the sink.

There was already a dirty bowl and spoon in there. She never left anything in the sink overnight. She made herself one snack and then needed more! That explained the food dream I was jolted out of.

Sure enough, when we were seated at the table with our plates, she wolfed down her food, throwing her usual tidiness out the window. She attacked her food like some starving lioness attacking a carcass.

I laughed and rubbed her tummy as she ate. "Momma sure is feeding you both well isn't she? I'll bet that's why you're growing so fast."

I winked at her and she blushed, her pink cheeks cutely puffed out with food.

I wasn't surprised when Chichi finished her plate before I finished mine.

She sighed and her mouth split open with a wide yawn. She looked like she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore.

I shoved the last few bites of food into my mouth, grabbed the empty plates before she could fall asleep in hers, and put them in the sink. They could wait until morning.

In the short time that took, Chichi had nodded off in her seat and was in danger of sliding right out of her chair. I chuckled at her snoring as I scooped her up and carried her back to bed.

Strolling and waddling through the busy, loud streets of Satan City, Chichi pointed toward a large department store attached to a shopping mall. "There's our stop. These girls will need somewhere to sleep."

Inside, Chichi gushed and squealed over every single tiny pink, frilly outfit, snatching them off the racks as if she was afraid they'd disappear.

Another obviously pregnant woman waddled up to the same outfits Chichi was admiring, followed by a big, burly man—her husband judging by the rings they both wore—loaded down with a lot of bags in both arms.

The woman's husband and I exchanged looks, his plainly saying, 'get me outta here!' Judging by the amount of bags he carried, they had been there a while. I smiled in sympathy.

Our wives struck up a conversation about due dates, babies, and the aches and pains of pregnancy. I supposed human or Saiyan, there were some things that were pretty universal where carrying a child—or two—was concerned. Over the course of their conversation, I learned they were expecting their first child while Chichi joyfully told the other woman about the boys at home and our twins.

The big burly dude gasped. "Four!?"

I glanced at him—he was tall enough I had to look up a little bit. "Yep! Four."

The man stared at his wife with an open mouth and wide eyes.

I chuckled. "My wife wanted a big family. I'm excited! Being a dad is lots of fun."

He gulped.

Our wives giggled.

I was a little bit jealous when the other woman eventually announced their shopping trip was over. We were just getting started.

But Chichi's smile made the long, boring day of shopping worth it.

Before I knew it, June was over—flying by in an almost overwhelming flurry of activity. Helping Chichi with her endless nesting, getting the fields ready for the next planting, and weekly checkups with Doctor Ishi filled the month. Things were crazy at home.

Chichi kept me on my toes. Her energy was at an all-time high. She was even restless at night. Sleep didn't come easily for her despite doing what I could—soothing the babies when they kicked too hard with a gentle stream of energy and helping Chichi get comfortable in her mountain of pillows.

I got shoved out of bed a lot, waking up on the floor with a sore back most mornings. But I could deal with a sore back seeing Chichi finally sleeping peacefully. I slipped in a power nap when I could during the day whenever Chichi took a break from her constant, obsessive cleaning.

I yawned wide enough tears sprang to my eyes as I fixed a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink not long after breakfast. One more twist with my wrench and I was done, the new pipe sealed in place.

I shimmied out from under the sink and got up. After giving the faucet a test run, I rubbed my sore neck. "Ah, naptime."

"I don't wanna!" Goten whined somewhere upstairs.

"Son Goten! I want you to be successful in life. So study. Now."

"No!"

I frowned. "Sounds like Goten is arguing with Chichi again. So much for my nap," I mumbled to myself.

That had been happening a lot lately.

I went upstairs and stopped at Goten's doorway next to Chichi. He was on the floor surrounded by toys.

I crossed my arms. "Do as she says, Goten."

He glared at his mother next to me. "But that's all I ever do! It's always–" he made a face "–'your studies this and your studies that'. That's all you care about!"

"Goten! We want what's–!"

He exploded into Super Saiyan, his toys and furniture smashing into the walls. "Shut up, Mom!"

My mouth fell open as Chichi gasped.

In a flurry of his papers and toys and a burst of bright golden energy, Goten took off out his open window.

I growled and pressed two fingers to my forehead.

But dropped my hand when I heard a door slam just down the hall.

I sighed as I listened to Chichi's muffled sobs on the other side of our bedroom door. Instead of jumping to Goten, I jumped to her. She leaned against our door, her face in her hands.

Goten's time was coming but Chichi needed to be comforted first. I scooped her up and carried her to the bed. On my lap, Chichi bawled into my shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck.

I rubbed her back and kissed her head and let her get it out of her system.

When her sobs slowed, I shifted her onto the mattress next to me and wiped her tears away. "I'll go talk to him, okay? Just relax and wait here. He didn't go far."

She sniffled and nodded.

He was just on the other side of the mountain.

I stood up and focused on his ki signature with two fingers pressed to my forehead.

Goten was high in a tree and his back was to me. His energy was calmer, his hair black.

Hovering in the air a few feet behind him, I crossed my arms. "Goten."

He twitched on the branch and reached up to wipe his cheeks. He stayed silent.

I flew around the tree and stopped in front of him.

He kept his face down, hands fidgeting with his shirt.

"Look at me, son."

He didn't.

I sighed and floated closer. I stopped a little lower than he was so he wouldn't have a choice but to look at me.

He turned away so I grabbed his shoulders and his startled, wet eyes finally met mine. "That behavior isn't like you, son. What's gotten into you?"

He stayed quiet.

I lifted an eyebrow and kept my eyes on his. "Goten?"

More tears rolled down his cheeks. "No one wants to play with me anymore! It's all about the babies! And they're not even –" he sprang off the branch so fast I had to dart backwards as his ki flared "–here yet!" Bright golden light flared out from him along with a wave of heat—his little chest heaving and fists clenched.

His power was {incredible}. I couldn't help smiling proudly a few moments. With one big exhale, he dropped his transformation, dark hair falling back into its usual shape.

He lowered himself onto the branch.

I got down to eyelevel and put my hands on his shoulders. "Goten… things've been hectic around here but we don't love you any less!"

He was quiet for a short while and then asked, "Promise?"

I tickled his stomach and he let out a choked laugh. "Promise."

Goten launched himself off his tree branch and crashed into me, sobbing. "I'm so sorry, Daddy!"

I peeled him off me just long enough to look him in the eye and say, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. Let's go home."

He nodded reluctantly. "Okay."

Inside, Goten apologized to Chichi to the tune of lots of tears from them both. She tried multiple times to pull Goten onto her lap but he didn't fit. One attempt ended up with Goten sliding onto the floor with a soft thump. They laughed and she eventually found a way to hug him as close as her ginormous tummy allowed.

She smiled up at me over his head, her big dark eyes more than a little bit wet. Thank you, she mouthed.

The next day, Chichi was upstairs getting ready for her party at Bulma's and Gohan and Goten were on the couch in our living room. Gohan was reading a book while Goten watched tv. I had my chance to let them in on my plan. As we talked quietly, our bedroom door opened and closed. We stopped our conversation as Chichi came downstairs.

My mouth fell open.

She wore a long, flowing dress in a floral sort of pattern with thin shoulder straps that left a little more skin exposed than I was used to seeing for outings. Her hair was up, but the bun was looser than normal, leaving little bits of soft hair framing her face.

She raised an eyebrow as her hands went to her hips. "Why were you and the boys whispering?"

"Uh… Whispering…?" My brain started working again. "Oh! Whispering! Heh-heh… it was just a game!" I glanced at Gohan and Goten. "Wasn't it boys?"

Gohan nodded—catching on. "Yeah! A game!"

Chichi's eyes narrowed. "Uh-huh." After several beats of silence, she said, "I'll make something quick for lunch for all of you but Bulma hired catering for my baby shower. I'll be eating there."

I put my hands on her slight shoulders. "Don't worry about us, babe! The boys and I will hunt and grill the meat outside. Plus, there are apples from that huge tree and all kinds of good berries in the woods. There's plenty, Chichi."

Bright, dark eyes crinkled. "Okay."

"Ready to go?"

"Yes. I'll call when I'm ready to come home."

It was a ten-second round trip thanks to Instant Transmission. The only reason why it even took that long was because I stopped to wave at Bulma, Panchy, Videl, and Eighteen.

Back in our living room, the boys and I grinned at each other and dashed outside. After an easy outdoor lunch, it was time to put our plan into action.

We stood at the entrance to Grandpa Gohan's cabin where I hid part of Chichi's surprise.

Two giant cardboard boxes containing the cribs Chichi picked out rested against opposite walls of the small cabin. They took up so much space, I had to pile up my tools and gardening equipment outside. I had to make room for the massive boxes somehow.

"I say we assemble the cribs before anything else. It'll be hard to maneuver them around the girls' room if we build the other furniture first," suggested Gohan.

I nodded. "Good thinking!" I rubbed my chin. "Now all we have to do is get these two huge boxes inside and upstairs without breaking anything."

We exchanged worried looks.

"Well… let's just go very slow. I think we'll be okay," encouraged Gohan.

The boxes were huge but not heavy at all—at least not for us. An image of the store employee staring at me with her jaw on the floor the first time I lifted them flashed through my head.

Gohan led the way and I followed as Goten kept the box balanced. Working our way carefully around corners and up the stairs, the first box made it into the twins' room unharmed. To my surprise, we made it upstairs fine with the second box, too.

The other big boxes and bags of baby clothes and other supplies were all stacked along the hallway and we set to work. After hours of following confusing instructions—and doing our best not to break anything—the cribs were finally up and pushed into position in the room.

I kept a careful eye on Chichi's distant energy as we worked, knowing I could reach her in a second with the slightest disturbance.

Gohan dropped a small mattress into one crib while Goten did the same in the other. "So far so good! What's next, Dad?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. What do you think, Goten?"

Goten floated into the hallway and pointed at another large box. "The dresser!"

"Okay, then! The dresser it is!"

The dresser went together much, much faster and easier. I had built a few of those over the years. I knew what I was doing.

The matching white changing table was super easy, too.

Another tricky part came with installing the curtain rod above the window. The boys were hovering on either side of the window, supporting the rod while I stayed back.

"About two inches higher, Goten."

He floated up a little higher and looked at me while Gohan supported the other end.

"Good."

I checked the straightness with the level and then grabbed the drill. "Okay… nobody move."

After a few quick screws, I hung the curtains, and then it was all small stuff after that.

We hung the butterfly themed decorations and tossed the pink and white butterfly area rug on the floor between the cribs.

The finishing touch was the white rocking chair I made for her days ago and hid in the cabin. She told me with tears in her eyes one night that she had to sell off the one she had for Gohan and Goten for money while I was dead. I wanted to build one for her that was extra special.

We stood in the doorway, admiring the babies' room.

"I think we did good, Daddy!" said Goten.

Gohan rubbed Goten's head. "Yeah… I think Mom's gonna love it."

"Me, too." I turned to look at the massive pile of empty boxes, torn packing, and plastic shrink-wrap in the hallway. "But now we need to clean all this up."

After the trash was taken care of and the boys headed out for some late afternoon fishing, I took one last look in the babies' room and smiled.

"Daughters."

The phone rang an hour or so later. It was time to go get her.

At home, Chichi led the way upstairs, carrying the first of many boxes of diapers while the boys and I followed with gift-bags full of baby clothes and other supplies.

Chichi reached the door to the twins' room.

Behind her back, Gohan, Goten, and I exchanged smiles.

She turned the knob and pushed the door open.

And dropped the box.

Silence. She didn't move an inch. Didn't say anything. Didn't so much as twitch.

Fainting usually went with that reaction. I put down the bags I carried just in case, but it didn't come to that.

After several moments of just standing there, Chichi finally moved. She covered her mouth with one of her hands and slowly walked into the room. Her fingertips brushed along the two cribs and the matching dresser and changing table. She reached her new rocking chair, her fingers lingering on the chair's arm.

And then turned to face us.

Shining, teary eyes stared at me, her hand still covering her mouth. For several heartbeats, I wondered if we did something wrong but my smile didn't have time to falter before she wrapped her arms around me and sobbed into my shirt.