#SHE DESERVES TO BE AS FAR AWAY FROM HEMLOCK AS POSSIBLE

[uselessidiotsquad]

PLEASE complete Mad >:D I might give some bonuses for Forgh too :3c - moonlit-grove (if completing is too much, do the meeting and other heart scenes for him <3)

Oooo Punchable One hours >:3 You b e t! @moonlit-grove

Sorry this took so long :C Brain no work well, omitted the secret end and the scene in a another kiddos route - bc we already have that in Dei’s route.

Madrúil

Meeting:

It seemed as though the dull members of this Court finally took notice of you. A Knight at long last. While it still wasn’t the most glorious position, it was a leg up in getting the recognition that you justly deserved. No longer a fledgling squire being shoved around by anyone who felt the urge. Now you had a rank to use as your ladder to bigger and better things. When you had the weight of a grander title you were going to make sure Hemlock Coil ran as smoothly and flawlessly as possible. The disorder and lack of structure disgusted you. Far from your home Court, the chance at gaining rank here seemed more likely. 

You still had yet to actually meet the Countess, only interacting with the guards, other lower members, and recruiters instead of her. Figuring her time was at a premium but still feeling annoyed at not being welcomed into this so-called Family, you decide to pay her a visit. Her lodging, you had heard from the guards, was the lone and rather plain looking building on the rise.

Step by step, you trekked up the hill, thinking that while it may have a nice view, it certainly wasn’t the most convenient of places to get to. Perhaps she did that on purpose, to weed out those who came asking frivolous questions. The archway of the curved house held a figure in it. Arms crossed and expression annoyed, the dark blue figure watches you warily. He was garbed in red and black, the rough edges of the leaves of the coat looked sharp. As if they might cut you if you touched them. You had seen him around before but never actually interacted given his less than dignified disposition. 

“...I somehow doubt that you are the Countess.” You say, unimpressed.

“Do I fucking look like - ?” He snorts, turning to you and glaring. “The Countess is busy. Get lost.”

“And who are you to turn me away?”

“Her Right Hand, that’s what. You wanna try your luck again with stupid questions?” He has taken out a curved skinning knife and rolls the handle of the blade between his hands absently. “Best two outta three?”

You take a step backwards, noticing that the corner of his mouth turns up in a grin as you do so.

“Good, so you do learn.”

“Right Hand is hardly a title. Or a name.” You couldn’t help yourself from saying, annoyed by his grating smirk. 

“I’m the Kennelmaster around here. Name’s Madrúil, you can call me Mad or Kennelmaster. Call me anything else and you will regret it.” 

“Charmed.”

He makes a harsh chuckle in the back of his throat, followed by an imitation of a curtsy. “Likewise. Now go fuck yourself.” 

You realize later you didn’t properly introduce yourself. Somehow, you don’t think he would care either way.

Heart Scene One:

There was a commotion coming from the kennels, the Nightmare hounds were in an uproar about something and you decided to go investigate. Setting foot into the kennels, the thorn cages that held the hounds were all normal. Save for one, which saw an unbroken fernhound chewing at the brambles, trying to get out. The rest of the hounds were sounding off about it. 

You…

A. Go alert Madrúil.

B. Try to get the hounds to quiet down.

C. Watch and wait.

A. You decide to go let Madrúil know what’s going on in his workspace. Usually he would be here but given that he’s not, you can only assume he’s on conversion duty or speaking with the Countess. The former is closer than the latter, so you temporarily leave the hounds to their own devices and search for him. 

Arriving at the holding cells, which resemble that of the cages the hounds were in but slightly larger, you find him. The kennelmaster is stretching a thin piece of vine that has a piece of leather bound around the base of it. A whip, your mind supplies you. It’s color is the typical brown that you’d expect but there’s a cast of gold to the end of it which makes you think that it’s not purely for show. 

The cages hold a few wide-eyed Sylvari who look as though they’ve seen better days. This Court's fascination with ‘conversion’ instead of solely relying on recruitment irks you some. You think it to be a waste of time, but it’s not your job. What your job is to inform Madrúil of his hounds shenanigans.

“Kennelmaster, your hounds are causing a ruckus. One of the untrained ones is chewing at the vines.” 

He doesn’t appear to have heard you, so you try again.

“I said your hounds are being obnoxious.”

“And what do you expect me to do about it?” He finally glances at you over his shoulder, “They’re hounds - they bark. Big deal.” 

“Didn’t you hear me say that one of them was trying to get out? Aren’t you going to do something about that?”

“It’s more fun if they make a run for it - breaks them faster when they fail. They don’t usually try again.” 

“I… see.”

“Quit bothering me or you’re next in line.” Madrúil cracks the whip, cutting through the air with a sharp sound. There’s a whimper of panic from one of the caged prisoners. 

You leave him to his duty and return to your previous errands.

B. Raising your voice, you yell at the hounds to try and get them to quiet down. “Shut it!” You yell, placing your hands on hips. “Be quiet!” The beasts pay you no mind, in fact they seem to get louder in defiance. 

Frustrated, you march out of the kennels. It’s not your job to tend to these tasks. The kennelmaster around here seems to be just as incompetent as the rest of them. Later in the day, there’s another commotion, though this time it doesn’t seem to be coming from the kennels. It does sound distinctly of hounds.

You catch a glimpse of Madrúil and several rowdy Nightmare hounds chasing after a green blur. Oh. You suppose the fernhound finally escaped and they’re hunting it.

C. Deciding that inaction is sometimes the best action, you watch to see what the fernhound will do. It eyes you wearily and continues to chew on the vines, ignoring the fact that its gums are bleeding. The other hounds continue to make a racket and it’s starting to give you a headache. What adds to the headache is a sudden intrusion of a gravelly voice that’s tone is nothing short of hostile. 

“So you’re what’s causing the hounds to go off.’

Turning, you find Madrúil’s piercing red eyes staring through you. 

“I am not! They were barking when I got here. I came to see what the commotion was about.”

“Doesn’t matter what they were barking at - they’re barking at you now. And what matters is that this is MY area and you’re intruding.”

“Fine.” You utter with a sigh, leaving him to sort out the problems with the fernhound by himself. 

Heart Scene Two:

At last there was some action around here. For far too long it seemed the only thing to do was dabble in the affairs of the Countess and wait on her hand and foot. While you respected that, yes, her position gave her benefits above the rest of the Court - it also seemed a waste of time and energy. There were raids to be done on the Wardens, Dreamers to capture, and resources to gather. 

Adjusting your armor and making sure your sword was sharper than a razor, you tossed a glance around at the readying courtiers. Many of them, like yourself, are eager to get this underway. The air bristles with red anticipation. It’s been far too long since some slaughter happened. You note a tall gray Sylvari with loud purple florets giving orders and telling the others how to best get ready. She seems to be largely ignored, yet it only infuriates her more. Curiously, though, you do not see the kennelmaster getting ready. 

He can’t be waiting until the very last minute, can he? More out of a compulsion to make sure he doesn’t ruin this event than out of worry, you investigate where he has gone off to. The kennels had already been emptied and the hounds readied for combat. If he’s not there, he is off pestering the Countess.

You’ve discovered through both the thorns and the grapevine, that he has a devotion to the Countess that borders on obsession. Cruel though he might be, around the Countess he may as well be a lap-dog, ever trying to win her favor and praise. It’s a little nauseating and jarring to witness.

Taking a detour to see if he’s hovering near the Countess again, when you arrive at her quarters you see more people than you anticipated. Madrúil, naturally, is on the right side of her, as close as possible without touching. On the opposite side there’s an olive green Sylvari who you’ve seen in passing and know only as the Countess’ personal assassin. And lastly is her pet mesmer, a frail looking excuse for a courtier. All four of them look up at you from the open map that was spread out across a small table.

“Nosy cur aren’t you?” Madrúil grumbles and makes as if to come over, but a hand on his arm from the Countess stops him.

“Peace, Mad. Can I help you with something, dear? We were in the middle of a discussion regarding the upcoming raid.”

You…

A. Say that you were looking for Madrúil

B. Say you wanted the Countess blessing.

A. “I was actually looking for the kennelmaster.”

“Well you found him.” He says, rolling his eyes at you. “What? I’m busy. This better be important.”

“I just… I wanted to know if you would be joining the other Knights and I on this raid.”

“No. My place is by the Countess. Now go out there with the rest of the idiots.” 

You feel strangely let down by this and bow to the Countess before leaving on the raid.

The raid goes well, only one Courtier was slain and if they had wits about them it wouldn’t have happened anyway. Forest clearings are the perfect place for a trap, the Wardens fell like logs.

B. “I was hoping to get the Countess’ blessing before we embarked.” Is what you think of saying, having been caught looking foolish. At least it would lessen tension.

The Countess smiles a little thinly at you before raising a hand in a gesture of blessing.“Truth guides your steps and blade, blossom. What you do - you do for the love of our family. And for that we are all grateful.”

Madrúil rolls his eyes in his skull so loudly you swear you can hear it. Meanwhile the assassin and mesmer are utterly unbothered by your alleged show of devotion and just stare at you as though you were an offending mote of dust.

“Thank you, Countess.” You say with a bow, before leaving. While you didn’t get to talk to Madrúil, at least it smoothed things over enough to not be suspect. 

Heart Scene Three:

(Here!)

Good End:

(Here!)

Bad End:

The full moon was struggling to emerge from the clouds, the silver grey veil seemed like a burden to the glow. It was just bright enough that you could make out the shadows of trees and figures moving among them. The Court seemed more lively during the full moon, you had noted with a small hint of amusement. Particularly, the Nightmare hounds, whose dark gleaming eyes were eager in anticipation for some action. 

A perfectly lovely night. 

Curiosity had led you further away from Hemlock than you anticipated. What was a simple scouting mission got side-tracked as some low ranked plebeian jumped at every sound and movement. She was not a Knight. Not even a decent squire, some haughty fool who had never seen blood first hand. 

When a branch cracked in the distance, sounding as though something heavy had landed on it, she booked it. Fleeing back to the encampment with her tail tucked firmly between her legs. 

Funny, you thought. That somehow, unwillingly, such phrases kept occurring to you. They flowed and ebbed into your vernacular the more time you spent with the kennelmaster. You hadn’t seen him for most of the day, presumably he was still in meetings with the Countess. His mood had been worse than usual, though of a different caliber. 

Loud and angry was what you’d come to expect as normal, but he had been quiet today. You’d seen him like that one or two other times but even that was different. Today he seemed - alarmingly - nervous. That had bothered you, to the point that you jumped at the opportunity to leave Hemlock for a while. Mad’s presence around Hemlock was a strange shifting thing, half the time it was caustic and many jumped to avoid interacting with him. The other half - he seemed to be the glue - granted the noxious form of glue - that kept the Countess’ will flowing through the Court. The mediator between her and the rest of the Court.

With your accomplice gone and the potential danger ahead of you - you shook your head to rid it of such thoughts. Creeping, creeping, ever forward, to investigate what the source of the sound was as you push back the undergrowth. You find a deer. An unremarkable doe. It is thrashing, though weakly, among the leaves and has broken several branches in its panic. Relieved that it wasn’t a threat or spy of some variety you approach it - dagger drawn. 

You notice the source of its panic is something wrapped around its neck.

It’s stretched vine and leather. 

The ground beneath you gives way and you realize a second too late that the patch of turf before the doe had looked different, yet you were too distracted by the animal to worry about the ground. There seemed no time between you walking and you landing on the spikes of the pit, jagged pikes and sharpened pieces of wood waited for you. There’s a disbelief that rips through you as neatly as the pike has that you’ve been tricked. The sight of the spike emerging through your midsection almost shocks to the point where the pain is forgotten. Almost.

You hear a whistle that you know too well and for a moment feel relief, only to have it drained from you as you recognize that it’s not the whistle of calling hounds. It’s the whistle that resembles a tune that Madrúil uses when taming beasts or prisoners. It stops abruptly. 

The orange of his glow is visible before the rest of him is. Red eyes follow. 

He doesn’t say anything. He just stares down at you from the edge of the pitfall. The words are stuck as air will not come, you feel it escaping out of you in places it shouldn’t be. You wish he’d say anything - all his taunting suddenly would be welcome - just for some noise beyond that of your body sliding further down the poles of the pikes. But he doesn’t. Madrúil doesn’t even stay to watch you sink the rest of the way, he’s already turned and left. The world darkens and you are left with questions that have no answers. 

The world darkens.

[thebirdandhersong]

Fairy tale retellings! because I couldn’t help myself (under the cut because I got carried away and remembered my fairy tale retelling phase from middle school........ oh boy)

Cinderella 

Cinderella (2015 Disney live action): beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL (the music! the script!! the Hope! the costumes! the dress! the gentleness at its heart! the overall design and the colours!) (I still believe it’s the best live action re-adaptation they’ve come up with so far) (then again they DID have one of the Rogue One writers and Kenneth Branagh--both of whom understand story AND fairy tales--on the team, and possibly the best combination of actors and costume designers)

Cinderella (Disney animated movie): like a dream. Can’t remember it that well because I haven’t watched it in over ten years, but I remember that I loved it

Cinderella, the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical featuring Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana: Laura’s Cinderella is so lively and hopeful and bright and affectionate and I Love Her!!! The script is also surprisingly funny, and the little changes they made (like the fairy godmother being an old beggar woman in the village, the subplot with her stepsister, the scene at the ball where she suggests that they should all be kind to one another, the fact that the prince is called His Royal Highness Christopher Rupert Windemere Vladimir Karl Alexander Francois Reginald Lancelot Herman (HERMAN!) Gregory James....... iconic) added rather than detracted from the themes they chose to emphasize

A Cinderella Story: possibly one of my favourite films. I loved the fact that they knew each other before the ‘ball’. Loved the way the fairy tale was ‘translated’ into the 2000s. The friendship was strong with this one. I had the best time watching this movie. (Dress-wise, Hilary Duff’s dress is my least favourite, but that’s a minor quibble, and is also due to the fact that it has Lily and Laura’s gorgeous fluffy ballgowns to contend with, and that’s not fair competition)

Persuasion, by Jane Austen: does it count?? The way I see it, Persuasion is like Cinderella gone wrong (we discussed this in class, and my prof called Lady Russell a fairy godmother who means well but fails her protege before the story even begins. We talked about Anne’s ‘Cinderella’/makeover moment taking place over a longer period of time, about the ‘evil’ stepsisters, etc. etc. I’m not entirely sure I agree with every single comparison he made, but he made some Very interesting points).... at least the first time :)

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer. Oh, the images!!!!! Marissa Meyer is WONDERFUL at them. You wouldn’t think they’d translate well into a futuristic sci-fi (almost steampunk) world, but she did it SO brilliantly (the slipper! the ‘dress’! the whole family situation!)

Rapunzel

Tangled (Disney animated movie): an absolute joy. Rapunzel is an Ariel-like character who has hopes and dreams of her own, and I love how warm and vivacious and endearingly transparent she is. The dance scene is so, so lovely. (I stand by my opinion that very few little went right with Disney’s fairy tale retellings after Tangled.)

Cress, by Marissa Meyer: once again. Images. I can’t believe she managed to pull Rapunzel-in-space off so well. (Plus she’s a hacker, and such a sweetheart!!)

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (Disney animated movie): Amazing. Gorgeous. Brilliant. The buildings and the music and Belle (Belle, my darling!!) and the darker, more Gothic feel to the art and the design...... Yes

Beauty, by Robin McKinley: knocked it right out of the ball park, right through the atmosphere, right into outer space... The language is so lush and atmospheric, and even though I knew roughly what was going to happen, I loved every moment of it. She puts a special emphasis on family and on human connection and I Loved that so much.

Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley: also gorgeous!!!!! Beauty is still my favourite of the two, but this one was also a gem. (Again: the emphasis on family and sisterhood!!!)

Beauty and the Beast (the Broadway musical): Susan Egan’s voice is SO lovely. And Home deserved more than just an instrumental reference in the 2017 version.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Princess of the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George: the Best. The sisters are easier to distinguish, the changes/things she added (the war, the queen’s past, etc.) make the story even more interesting, and Galen is fantastic (courteous, kind, brave, AND likes to knit?? NICE)

The Barbie movie: I loved it when I was a little girl (it is also Muffin-approved!)

The Princess and the Pea

@fictionadventurer​‘s Wodehousian one :) which is an absolute delight. Every once in a while I remember it and then can’t stop smiling

The Goose Girl

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale: the Best. And by the Best, I mean the absolute Best. Her writing is so beautiful and her characters are so real and distinctive. The worldbuilding is fascinating. It’s so simple and so beautiful, and is near-perfect as a retelling and as a novel. The rest of the Bayern series is also wonderful!!

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid (Disney movie): can’t remember it very well, except for the chef who wanted to cook Sebastian and also Ariel’s very cool sisters.... the music and Ariel’s character are lovely :)

The Little Android, by Marissa Meyer: genius. The first time I read it, I cried furiously. What does it mean to be human?? Marissa Meyer loves to talk about this in her other books (through malfunctioning robots, androids, werewolves, etc.). And the conclusion she comes to is always the same (and always done so beautifully): it’s about love and sacrifice (and tbh even though she’s talking about this through robots and werewolves, she’s got a point!!! When you act with love and self-sacrifice, you reflect the character of the Maker and His love and self-sacrifice, which is what makes us in that moment the most human--or at least human in the sense that that’s what we were made to be and to do towards our neighbours and enemies)

Ponyo (Studio Ghibli movie): this counts, doesn’t it?? A film that is an absolute joy through and through. It doesn’t completely stick to the original fairy tale but it also talks about compassion, kindness, and love as a choice

The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog (Disney animated movie): can’t remember it very well, but Anika Noni Rose has a fantastic voice, and I loved Tiana’s practicality, optimism, and kindness

The Prince of the Pond, by Donna Jo Napoli: can’t remember it either (read it in third grade) but basically it’s about how the prince turns into a frog and starts a family with another frog (the story is told from her perspective). I do remember that the ending made me so sad, though

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty (Disney movie): can’t remember it at all either, except for: 1) Once Upon a Dream (a brilliant song) and 2) forget pink or blue. I liked her grey dress the most

Spindle’s End, by Robin McKinley: the story was told in such an interesting way (the animals! the way she wrote about love and protecting the people you love and self-sacrifice in familial and platonic relationships!) with Robin McKinley’s beautiful style

East of the Sun, West of the Moon

East, by Edith Pattou: I was obsessed with this book in elementary school. Obsessed. I kept rereading it over and over again because I just loved it so much. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it, but I can remember certain scenes (Rose entering the ballroom for the first time, the white bear’s hulking figure in the doorway, the architecture of the hall where she washes the shirt, her fingers running over the wax, the reunion scene) so vividly as if it had been a movie instead of a book, or if I’d actually been there, experiencing what Rose was experiencing

Orpheus and Eurydice (which kind of counts)

Hadestown (the Broadway musical, the original cast, AND Anais Mitchell’s original concept album): I’ve talked about it so much I probably shouldn’t even start slkfjsdl;kfjlk; I just wanted an excuse to mention it again

Tam Lin

Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones: I loved it when I first read it but I was so confused and so fascinated by it.

The Snow Queen

Frozen (Disney animated movie): no (insert heart emoji)

And contemporary(?) books that are considered modern classics, if not modern fairy tales (depends on how you look at it, really):

Peter Pan

Peter Pan (Disney animated movie): a childhood favourite!!!

Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry: the whole series is so much fun (and they’re among some of the funniest books I’ve read). This one serves as a sort of prequel to Peter Pan, but it’s safer to say that Dave Barry reimagined the whole story.

Peter and the Starcatcher (Broadway play adaptation of the book, which is a reimagining of the original Peter Pan..... yeah): the source material is incredibly funny, so naturally the play adaptation makes you laugh until your sides feel ready to split (I mean!! You have Christian Borle as Black Stache, Adam Chanler Berat as Peter, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Molly..... they’re all brilliant) The script, the way the cast makes use of the set and props, the perfect comic delivery....... love it

Finding Neverland, a musical adaptation of the movie (the A.R.T. production with Jeremy Jordan as James Barrie): the music is so good, and the way they write about the value of looking at the world through the eyes of a child?? of seeing the beauty in everything?? of hope and imagination and wonder?? If it weren’t for the way it handles adultery (even emotionally cheating!) and divorce :( but Laura Michelle Kelly is absolutely enchanting, and the script is also incredibly funny and heartwarming

Tiger Lily, by Jodi Lynn Anderson: a twisted fairy tale... it was quite disturbing at times, but it was also beautiful and heartbreaking. It’s a darker take on the story, which I tend not to like (at all), but the way it explored Tiger Lily and Peter was quite interestng

The Wizard of Oz

WIcked, the Stephen Schwartz musical--I haven’t read the book: as far as retellings-about-the-villain-of-the-original-story goes this one is my favourite. It is another twisted fairy tale, though, and there’s a constant undercurrent of doom and dread, even in the motifs Stephen Schwartz uses... the ending is not completely happy, but the music is FANTASTIC (Mr. Schwartz also did The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Prince of Egypt!!)

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland (Disney movie): another childhood favourite... I also haven’t seen this one in over ten years, but I can still remember specific scenes very clearly in my head

Alice by Heart: a musical about a girl called Alice Spencer whose coping mechanism (quite literally) is Alice in Wonderland. She knows it by heart (again. Literally) and she dives into the world as a form of escapism (LITERALLY. There’s even a song at the end where the characters acknowledge how unhealthy this is). There’s a lot about growing up, losing a loved one, learning to let go... about self-deception and grief and the control one has over one’s life (unfortunately it IS subtly antagonistic towards Christianity at times)..... i do wish that writers didn’t have to treat sexual maturity as the most prominent/interesting part of coming-of-age stories, though. The characters, the set and lighting and costume design (BRILLIANT, by the way!!!!)... all wonderful. But the strangely sexual references can be a bit uncomfortable. (Really!! You can tell a coming-of-age story WITHOUT that stuff, you know!!!!!)

That Disney Movie directed by Tim Burton: wouldn’t recommend. Alice doesn’t need to be a warrior. (At ALL.)

Would also like to mention: Princess Tutu :)

[edyacouky]

New Chance

Hi, this is my participation for Day 01 of @tentatoddweek

Day 01 : Plant & Vines

I was inspired by Rogue!AU of @careamorran (go see their tumblr it’s awesome!)

Hope you will enjoy it.

                                                         ~*~

Jason won’t say he is lucky.

His dad kept going in prison, even dead there. Letting him with his mom who was too sick to take care of him. Then she dies too.

He was only eleven years old then.

He did his best to survive on the street, but it’s the Narrow and it’s gentle to no one.

Jason still doesn’t know who and why they shoot on the street this day. The only thing he knows for sure is that he takes a bullet that wasn’t for him in the stomach.

He crawls far away as he could from the other bullet flying all around the street.

He finally arrived on a warehouse. Curiously, the place was covered by flower and wine everywhere.

Exhausted, Jason let himself lie on the floor.

He would have preferred died surrounded by books. But after living in the dirty and polluted street of Gotham, it was almost nice to leave this earth with something looking so different in mind.

While he drifted away from his body, he felt the wines were wrapped around him.

                                                    ~*~

Despite all the odds, he waked up.

He learned that he came to die in Poison Ivy’s territory, and, without even she could explain it, the plants give him his life back.

“I never was able to do that before, she muttered, I’m not sure I can do that again.”

Jason wasn’t as focus on what she said as he should have been.

He was keep looking at his body, now as green as her, and he was distracted by the swarming on his back.

“Don’t know why my plants save a human, but if they did it, it must be because you deserve it. Ivy finally decided. Do you have any family you could return to?

-No. I had only my parents but they are dead.

-Not a bad thing. I’m not sure any parents from Narrow would have loved you like that. Metas aren’t welcome in Gotham after all.

-Does that mean I will never come back to school ever?

-Don’t see how it could be possible. You really look like a mini Me.”

When Jason rethinks of this moment, he always feels embarrassed by how loud he cries when she told him this.

He learned that he was dead, he just came back to live, he became a Meta and the only thing that he concentrate on was that he couldn’t come back to school.

Ivy was clearly uncomfortable and didn’t know how to take care of a child. But she never said he had to leave.

Till this day, they lived together. She taught him to accept what he became; she wasn’t horrified when wine could pop out Jason’s back. On the contrary, she was kind of happy about it.

She brought back as many books that she could for her “excursion” so he could learn as much as he wanted. She never made him participate to her evil plan.

If it wasn’t because of surprise visited from Harley, no one would know he existed.

“So Ivy’s baby, Harley told him this day, how should I call you?

-Hemolck.” He naturally answered

It was the name Ivy gave him since he started to be able to secrete poisons from his wines.

Ivy never was a mother for Jason, more like a big sister. And he was happy.

So of course, it couldn’t stay this way forever.

                                                     ~*~

Ivy is arrested, again, for one of her evil plan against humanity for the Earth. But this time, Jason is fourteen and he doesn’t have to be babysat by Harley anymore.

Not that he hates it. In fact, he likes her as much as Ivy. But he is really uncomfortable with “Uncle J” that Harley is unable to break with him yet.

So he decides to come see her at Arkham Asylum.

He doesn’t understand why they keep putting her in an asylum since she isn’t crazy.

He covers himself as much as he can, but can’t hide his face to enter in the parlor.

Immediately, the guards freak out, they believe that he is here to rescue Ivy, like she needs his help.

“Let me go! He yells. You’re hurting me!”

This men try to put him in jail, despite the fact he didn’t do anything wrong!

His wines leave his back, and for a moment he thinks of use it against them, but changes his mind. He can’t give them reason. Instead, the wines hang on everything around him to prevent them to make him move.

“Let me go! I just come here as a visitor!

-Keep lying, you freak! You come with us.”

One of the guards comes to him with a knife to cut his wines.

“Let him go.”

Everything stops suddenly.

The Freaking Batman is here with The Commissioner Gordon!

Jason starts to really panic they will put him in Arkham.

“What do you think you’re doing? Gordon asks to the guards

-We put this freak in jail.

-Why that?

-Look at him. He belongs in Arkham.

-This kid commits no crime. He has no criminal record. Let him go.

-You may be commissioner but you’re not our superior. What do you think will happen to us if they learn we let this freak free?

-What do you think will happen when media learn that you arrest a child because of the way he looks? You will lose your job immediately.”

The guards hesitate now.

“I will take full responsibility. Gordon said. Now let him go.”

Finally Jason is free again.

“Thanks.” He mumbles to Gordon

His eyes are on Batman.

What is he doing here?

Jason doesn’t hate Batman, despite the fact he is the one who arrest Ivy every time. It would be as stupid as hate the police that arrest his dad every time he did something illegal.

But he doesn’t like him either.

A man shouldn’t bring child in his fight.

“Hemlock, isn’t it? Batman asks him

-So what?

-You’re here to see Poison Ivy.

-Can I go now?

-Yes, of course. Gordon says cutting anything that Batman could have wanted to say. If anything happen again, you can call me.”

Jason takes the card that Gordon gives to him, thanking him again and goes to the parlor.

While he waits for Ivy, Jason wonders if he would have be so happy if it was his dad he was about to see. Probably not.

“Hemlock? Ivy says surprised. What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with Harley.

-I’m fourteen years old, now. I don’t need her to babysit me anymore. And … I though you will be happy to see me.

-I am. Ivy promises. I am.”

After a long moment of silence between them, Ivy sights and says:

“Probably better this way. I have something to announce you. And you won’t like it.

-What?

-Batman came see me.

-Yeah, I just saw him.

-He made a proposition … about you.

-What do you mean? Did … did you sold me?

-Of course not. No matter what you decide I will be by your side.

-So why didn’t you says no to his proposition?

-Because this choice is yours. Listen to me, ok?

-Yeah … ok.

-He proposes to take you to live in one of their heroes headquarter. You will have all yours books and even more, your room. A place where you will be sound and safe. He and his friends will even found a way for you to go to school. Isn’t what you wanted?

-What do they want for me? Being their puppet? Fight their battle? Never see you again?

-None of this. You won’t have to be a sidekick and we can still be in contact.

-It’s too good to be true. It must be a trap somewhere.

-I don’t think so. What else do you want to do?

-I’m fourteen, I can …

-You’re still a kid.

-And I have you.

-Hemlock…. You must know I am not good for you.

-What are you talking about?

-It’s true. I will always be a criminal, going in and out of prison. And no matter how much I love you, I will never stop focus on my objective. You know I’m obsessed with it. You deserve better.

-If you want to get rid of me, you can simply say it.

-Hemlock, it’s not that. Are you truly happy living clandestinely with criminal? These heroes propose you a future. You should accept it.”

                                                    ~*~

At first, Jason refuses to even see Batman or his sidekick Robin. He did his best to avoid them without success. Finally, Ivy is right. Jason wants to go back to school.

He simply says “yes” one day and the other he is Mount Justice in Happy Harbor with his room and a phone where Ivy can contact him.

There is another persons living here with him but none is as young as he. But even if it was the case, Jason doesn’t think thing would have go more smoothly.

Despite the fact he never helps Ivy and he is here with Batman’s recommendation, there still suspicion, he is here to spy on them.

He isn’t happy here.

Yes, he is glad when they offer him a bracelet that he can use to hide his green skin.

Yes, he is glad when it allows him to go outside.

Yes, he is glad when he go to school and is never be hungry anymore.

But he feels so lonely.

                                                              ~*~

One day where he is alone, he is in the kitchen to make his diner. While he is reading “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen, he let his wines freely leave his back so they can cut the vegetable, boil the water for the pasta, and prepare some meat.

Ivy wouldn’t be happy to see him eat something that it isn’t meat, but he never succeed have the same alimentation as her.

His diner almost ready, some of his wines start to prepare the tray so he can go eat in his room.

“That’s fantastic!” Someone suddenly yells

Jason jumps and almost lost his page.

This is Roy Harper. He doesn’t see him much since he lives at the other end of the country.

“They’re look almost alive.

-As much as my foot or my arm. Jason answers

-That’s seems practical. I would like to have so many members when I work on my workshop.

-Believe me. We never have enough.”

Roy laughs at that then he asks:

“Do you mind if I join you to eat?

-I didn’t make enough for two.

-Oh, don’t worry for that. I buy a sandwich to eat here. I just don’t want to eat alone.”

Jason doesn’t really understand why he accepts. He doesn’t what happen this time in the Heroes Universe but he is sure that Roy will interrogate him to know if he is a spy. Not be the first time it happen.

“Stupid question, Roy says while they sit down, I hear your wines are poisoned. Isn’t it dangerous using it like that?

-No, Ivy taught me long ago how to control the secretion of the poison.

-Must be pretty scary when you can’t.

-Well … I was only with Ivy so … no. She’s kind of immune to poison, you know?”

They keep talking about Ivy and Oliver, Roy’s job, Jason’s school, about music, book, video game.

Without Jason realizes it, they spend all the evening to talk.

“It was nice to talk to you, kid. He says him when they go apart to sleep

-That’s nice.” Jason admit with a little blush

It’s like him to be this stupid. Someone is nice to him more than one hour, and he can’t help himself but feel like stupid puppy that will never learn despite all the kicks he received.

“Pull yourself together, Jason.” He mutters

The next day, he doesn’t see Roy, neither he sees him the next months.

Fortunately, during this time, the heroes are nicer to him and he is even able to do some friends at school after he rejoins the theatre club.

Even so, sometimes his heart misses a beat when he thinks he saw Roy.

                                                     ~*~

At the end of his first year scholar at Happy Harbor Middle School, he finally gets to play his first play ever.

Despite not playing a leader role, he still has line.

He is pretty excited about all of that, especially because Ivy swears she will be there.

He can help himself but sing all day about everything.

“Oh, Jason, Diana calls him, you seems happy.

-I am. He easily admits to her, even without her lasso he can’t lie to her. How are you?

-I’m fine. I wanted to see you.”

Jason looks at her with apprehension. He really hopes that Ivy didn’t do anything that may put her in jail.

“I learn that you will put on a play this Friday night. I would like to come, did you have any left?

-What? Really? I just take one for Ivy. Jason admits blushing at the simple idea that freaking Wonder Woman want to see his play. I am sorry … I didn’t think that …

-You have nothing to be sorry. I will see with your teacher if I can buy one.”

Jason is too moved to answer anything. He should assure her that she doesn’t have to come, or that he will be the one to find her a ticket.

“Ah, Jason. Dinah calls him. Your piece is this Friday, right? Oliver and I would like to come.

-You two too?! Jason yells

-You too, Diana?

-Yes. Maybe you should ask at the end of the meeting who want to come, so one person will see the teacher to take ticket for everyone.

-Yeah. This is a great plan.”

Jason is too speechless by the fact that three super heroes want to go see his play. He doesn’t understand why they want to come and why they think everyone else would like to come too.

But before he can say anything, the meeting starts.

This night, Jason is lying on his back on his bed. He doesn’t know what the meeting was about but once it was finished, they all leave without he get the chance to talk to Diana or Dinah.

Unable to know if some heroes will come to his play, he decided to inform Ivy that it may be a possibility. She didn’t seem affected by that. She simply asks if she can have a ticket for Harley.

That’s too absurd. It’s supposed to be a simple school play. At first, he didn’t even expect that Ivy can come, and now heroes may be here too. It’s too much. He can sleep that night.

What if the heroes come to capture Ivy? What if they use him as a bait?

Maybe he should lie to them, telling them that he make a mistake when he affirmed that the play is this Friday.

But what if they learn that he lies?

They house him, feed him, and pay for his studies. He can't upset them. Otherwise, he will return live in Ivy’s warehouse in the Narrow, quitting school, and fight for eat each time Ivy and Harley are in jail.

Now that he lives in safety and luxury, it’s difficult to abandon all of that.

What should he do?

Jason cries and let his wines hug him. Even when he falls asleep, they keep stroke his back and his hair.

                                                      ~*~

He doesn’t get to know until Friday evening who will come.

He feels so sick this day that the teacher asks him if he will be able to play tonight. His stunt double was suddenly so preoccupied by his health, telling him he should rest.

Gently, Jason tells him he can go fuck off.

The first persons he sees before the spectacle it’s Poison Ivy accompanied by Harley.

“My little Hemlock. She says hugging him tight. I’m so glad to see you.

-I miss you too.

-Oh little J. You’re cuter every day.” Harley says to him kissing him for Ivy

For hiding who Ivy really is, she covers of makeup and clothes toes to neck, she even wears glove.

“I’m not cute. Jason defends himself. I’m a manly man.

-Yeah sure.” Ivy mocks her

They still talk and laugh the three of them a little more before the freaking Wonder Woman comes says hi to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn.

Jason mumbles the unnecessary presentation, and the women are nice enough to not say him it.

The little talk becomes weird, especially when Superman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Batman come.

Jason doesn’t even know how to react to that. It’s just too much.

Fortunately, the members of the theater club call him because the show will start in a few minutes.

This entire situation is so surreal for Jason. Years sooner, if someone would have say him that he would play in front of Superheroes and Villains, he will never believe it.

He doesn’t know what his life becomes but it’s extraordinary. His vines are completely manic in his back, they almost show themselves in front of everyone on stage.

                                                        ~*~

Roy is a dad.

That’s a new Nightwing, previously Robin, taught him one night where he eats on the Mount Justice.

“How it happen? Jason asks surprised

-Oh, Little Leave. You know when a Mrs and a Mr love each other very much …

-I grew up in the Narrow. Jason cuts him blushing furiously. I must know about sex much more than you do.”

Some of Dick’s friends made fun of him because of that remark. Even his girlfriend Kory doesn’t help.

“Don’t worry. You’re an assiduous student.”

Once the laugh calm down a little, Jason learns that Roy has a kid with a villain, Cheschire. A little girl named Lian.

“He should bring her soon. He promises to present her to us.

-Is this place is babyproof enough?

-Well, you live here for a moment now, and you didn’t have any accident, right?”

Jason pinches with his wines Wally for his comment.

“Ouch!”

Maybe it was better when they saw him as an enemy. Jason sights but he can’t hide his grin. It’s nice not too feel alone anymore

                                                        ~*~

Lian is absolutely gorgeous.

Jason forms a comfortable crib for her with his vines and rocks her making her giggling.

“Is it a good idea to let Lian in Jason’s vines?”

Jason hears one of the Titan members says. He understands why they say that, but it’s still hurt.

He braces himself for the moment Roy will take his little angel away from him forever.

“Are you kidding? I never see Lian this happy in a crib. Every time I try to put in hers she screams like a banshee. But of course she always acts like a little princess with cute boy.”

While Roy says his last sentence he comes closer to Jason to kiss Lian.

And this time, Jason can’t hide the way his vines purr of delight.

[7deadlycinderellas]

no more math and history, summer time has set us free 3/?

AO3 link

First session revs up.

Arya’s schedule gives her Thursdays and Saturdays off. On Thursdays Ygritte handles the stables by herself, and there are no riding lessons given on Saturdays.

The first Thursday, Arya spends the morning dropping her clothes off at the camp laundry, and then putting them away when they’re done. Since half her clothes are missing their name labels, she finds it easier just to wait around until they’re done rather than risking someone else getting her knickers.

After lunch, Arya decides to take a step into the drama barn and see what Sansa’s up to this summer.

The drama barn is actually a barn, though there are no stalls and no animals. A raised stage takes up most of the space, the lights and prop and costume storage up in the haylofts. When they put on the end of session show, the doors are opened and the audience sits outside under the stars.

Sansa had told her the second night at camp that the first session they were putting on Alice in Wonderland, the second the Wizard of Oz and lastly Peter Pan. Arya always liked watching the shows, and not just because the mass overrepresentation of girls in the drama program always led to some interesting cross-casting.

Right now, Sansa and Margaery are passing around scripts to this group of campers. Most of the campers are young enough they're basically yelling their lines, making the wit sound utterly goofy. The CIT is a blonde girl, who at closer inspection, Arya realizes is Joffrey’s sister Myrcella.

Arya asks about her after the campers start to disperse.

“Bran ran into her a few days ago,” Sansa admits.

“Did she say anything about…” Arya raises an eyebrow, hoping that says enough.

Sansa’s expression turns sour.

“Her and Tommen live with their uncle now. Joffrey’s going to trial in a few months because right after he turned eighteen he got drunk and plowed his car into a sidewalk, killing two people. Their mother went on a series of very public interviews about how it wasn’t his fault, but only revealed to the rest of the world how bad her drinking problem is…”

Arya’s gaze remains steady.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to say I told you so.”

Sansa sniffs and shakes her head.

“You don’t have to, I should have known. I should have seen, even his own brother and sister didn’t like him.”

Arya pulls herself onto a crate of masks and looks Sansa in the eye.

“And at least your taste has improved since then.”

Sansa hadn’t had time to date much in the last few years, but the ones Arya had met seemed decent enough. Right now, Sansa’s gaze is aimed across the barn to where Margaery is checking over the Alice in Wonderland costumes. They’re mostly over-large foam headed animal costumes, suitable for children of many sizes, but there are a few that look more like typical clothing. She holds up the Queen of Hearts costume, a long filmy red thing.

“Is that your costume?”

Sansa nods, smiling, eyes still trailed on Margaery.

“I have to, I’m the only one tall enough to wear it. Sometimes if we’re unlucky it ends up being a boy“

Her eyes stay, and Arya’s follow. Margaery is lovely, golden chestnut curls, a huge red smile, the kind of body that was the envy of other girls.

Including Sansa, it seemed.

Arya’s voice softens.

“Are you still not comfortable with it?”

Sansa ducks her head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Coming out to people outside the family.”

Sansa’s eyes fall closed. Arya had been the first person she had told when she had come to the realization that she was bisexual. It was still one of Arya’s proudest moments, that her sister trusted her that much. The other siblings had been similarly easy, but Sansa had been so frightened to tell their Mum, certain that with her old-fashioned ways, she would disapprove.

She’d never had the chance to find out.

Figuring this was as good a time as any to ask her, Arya wonders aloud.

“How did you first know anyway?”

Sansa gives her a look that’s half withering. Arya laughs, maybe it was a stupid question.

“How did you know you were straight?”

Arya shrugs, kicking her feet, the crate she’s sitting on is large enough that they dangle.

“I don’t know. Contrary to popular opinion, I’ve always liked boys. I’ve never fawned or made a fool of myself around them because I never thought they deserved that much extra thought. I still remember Mum fretting, wondering when I would start doing my hair and going out all the time like I was supposed to.“

Arya’s stomach drops again. She’d never told Sansa why Mum’s opinions on that specific topic was such a sore spot for her.

Sansa smiles.

“I’m not sure even Mum would know what to make of you spending so much time with the lifeguard here.”

Arya feels her neck turn pink. Sansa nods knowingly.

“Even back then I knew. You were always surrounded by little boys, but you treated him different than you treated them.”

“That’s different,” she insists, “I do like Gendry, but he’s my friend first. We’ve been friends for a long time...and a lot has happened since we’ve seen each other last time.”

Sansa nods.

“A lot has happened. I guess that’s one of the good things about camp. Gives you time to relax and reflect, remember what’s actually important.”

Arya had never thought about it like that, but it was the truth. Most children at camp didn’t know anyone else, they came without siblings or family friends, unlike Arya who always had a few people she knew here. They could be whoever they wanted to be for the summer.

Morning activities are over after that, so Arya and Sansa walk to the mess hall for lunch.

Lunch also means mail call, and Sansa squeals when they’ve got a letter from Robb, tearing it open before Arya can read a single word,

“He says work is going fine, though they’re still undoing so much of the mess Robert left us in,” Sansa starts, “He says the dogs are doing well too.”

Arya grins. Several years before, one of their father’s friends had a litter of puppies, one for each of Arya and her siblings, and Jon as well to have one. The enormous fluffy malamute mixes had run free on the Stark’s, frolicking in the snow come each winter. Lady had died early, and Nymeria had run away, but Arya still loved watching them all the others run about.

“He says Ghost misses Jon dearly, and lets us know he hasn’t heard from him either.”

Sansa bites her lip at the next lines.

“He also says he feels a million years old going into work every day...and tells us he wants to hear every single detail so he can pretend he got to come here this summer too.”

Arya frowns at this. It’s not fair that Robb had to grow up so fast just because he was the oldest, and the only one who could be legally responsible for the rest of them. She didn’t think her and Sansa were too much stress on him, but between Bran’s medical appointments and therapy and keeping Rickon in school and from actually running wild, she understands how it could wear him down.

Speaking of Rickon, after lunch is finished, Brienne approaches Arya.

“Can you come with me for a few minutes? It’s nothing serious, I was just hoping for your assistance.”

She leads Arya away, and as soon as they turn up the hill, she realizes they're going towards the infirmary. Gods know she spent enough time there as a camper, covered in bumps and bruises.

“Rickon got into a fight with another boy on the sports field when his cabin and one of the girls cabin’s were playing kickball. Rather than immediately punish the both of them for fighting, I was hoping you could get the story out of your brother before I make my decision.”

Arya sighs deeply. This is a role she often plays at home.

When she enters, she expects far worse than what she sees. Rickon’s hair is a mess and he has a splint on one wrist and a couple of scrapes on one cheek.

“How’s the other one look?” Arya asks, sitting down beside him.

Rickon’s silent. It’s a strange look on him. From faraway an unfamiliar person might even expect an angelic child with his red curls. His siblings knew better, and had resisted for years letting him off easy just because, at thirteen, he was the youngest of them.

“We were just talking about the zombie game at the end of session. I was telling how you all always talked about how they picked one person to be the zombie and try and infect the others. One of them started laughing and saying there wouldn’t even be a contest being that we had a real zombie here already.”

Arya must look confused, so he continues.

“Couple of the guys have been making fun of the other cabin’s CIT since we got here. The girl with the scarred face?”

Arya’s heart sinks.

“So you punched him?”

Rickon nods, his head still downcast. Arya sighs.

“Rickon,” she starts, “I’m not angry at you for defending someone being teased...but you can’t just punch people. Tell a counselor, someone who has actual power to punish that person who’s being mean.”

She ruffles his curls.

“But I will tell Brienne what happened and that both of you need be put on KP for the rest of session, but that she should keep an open ear out for anyone else bullying Shireen.”

Rickon nods, knowing that’s fair. And Arya pats his hair again. A week’s worth of emptying trash and doing dishes is worth it for standing up to a bully.

Saturdays are a different sort of day off. There are fewer cabin activities on weekends. Instead there are campfire breakfasts, beach parties, nature hikes and camp-wide tournaments. Tomorrow, Arya and Ygritte are set to be leading a trail ride through part of Mistwood, so Arya plans to spend her day off relaxing as much as possible.

Which is why she has to be convinced when Gendry tries to convince her to go on a short hike.

“I already had Hot Pie do us up a couple of sack lunches. I found something last year that I wanted to show you!”

And in the end, a hike is hardly the worst way to spend a free day.

Arya loves the forest, the places where the trees and wild things rule. There are cedars and hemlocks and tall, tall redwoods.

They’ve only been on the trail maybe twenty minutes when Arya spots a weirwood.

“I didn’t know these grow this far south!” she exclaims, examining the blood red sap dripping from it’s ancient face. She’s never spoken too much of her affinity for her father’s faith, the faith of her home in the north.

“There’s not a lot of them, but there are some,” Gendry tells her, “One year after you left, the counselor sent us on a scavenger hunt to find as many of them as we could when he took us on a nature hike.”

Further into the woods, the morning fog still lingers, telling Arya they must be closer to the coast than she had thought.

Eventually, they reach the edge of a gorge, before a sheer drop into a stream below. The ground smooths out into rock.

“What am I looking for?”

Gendry shushes her, sitting cross-legged on the ground pointing to a spot across the gorge where the ground slopes down into rock along the edge of the creek. Arya sits beside him, somewhat reluctantly.

They’ve been sitting for maybe half an hour, They’ve both opened Hot Pie’s lunches, peanut butter and jelly with apples, and munch on them quietly.

It’s close to noon when there’s movement below in the rock. The whole of Mistwood is full of caves, though counselors have never let the campers explore as much as they would have liked, citing the potential for there to be wild animals living in the caves.

“Oh!” Arya exclaims when the movement is revealed to be a wolf, huge and dark gray, leaving the cave to drink from the stream, blinking up at the sky with his huge blue eyes.

“I didn’t know wolves lived in the Stormlands, or anywhere in the south, for that matter” she says.

“There have been rumours of wolves in the woods here for generations. There’s a story about a northern girl who came here in the old days to marry a lover, and not only survived, but, thrived despite that old bit of advice that northerners don’t do well south of the Neck,”

Arya smiles and snorts. Advice like that always sounded ridiculously old fashioned to her, not to mention that so much of the Neck had been drained years ago for development, aside from some bits protected by the parks and forest services. Without it, defining the line between north and south was much more difficult.

“They called her the Wolf Queen, and it seems like that’s where they assumed the stories came from, until about five years ago, some wildlife biology guys working out here found this pack.”

They sit and watch the wolf until he returns to his den. Wolves come out to hunt at dusk usually, this is like the middle of the night for her. Arya finishes up her sandwich, licks her fingers and rolls the trash up to tuck in her pocket. She’s spread her hoodie on the ground and is laying on her stomach, gazing across the gorge.

The day is pleasant, not too hot, and with no one else around, Arya finds herself feeling comfortable, maybe a bit too much. Gendry’s sitting with his back against a tree, and she crooks her head over her shoulder looking at him.

Softly, her lips open and her words tumble out.

“Last year, right before I turned sixteen, Mum and Bran were in an accident. A drunk driver went over the median and hit the car head on.”

Her words slow, and she ducks her head back against the rock, so she can’t see Gendry’s face.

“Bran was thrown from the wreckage, he collided against a metal railing on the shoulder. Fractured his spine. Pretty low down, the doctors kept saying he was really lucky, and how much worse it could have been. Great joy that was to a boy who had just found out he would probably never walk again…”

Arya cringes, remembering the conversations with the doctors and physical therapists, how they had described that with therapy, Bran would regain independent control of almost all of his bodily functions and other ADLs. There were all sorts of things in that conversation she hadn’t wanted to ever have to consider about her little brother, but now had to, they all had to now…

“Mum was dead on the scene.”

Arya feels tears prick at her eyes, and she wipes them away. She’s not looking at Gendry, doesn’t have to. She can imagine his face contorting.

“I’m so sorry,” he says.

Arya feels warmth beside her, and turns her head enough to see Gendry stretched on the rock beside her, face up.

“How are- are you- are you all still living at home?”

Arya’s stomach flips when she realizes what he’s talking about.

“Robb had already turned eighteen. He was already interning at Dad’s company, so he was able to petition to become our legal guardian.”

Arya cringes again, thinking of the mess Robb and Mum said that Robert Baratheon left the company in after Dad’s death.

“Jon joined the air force as soon as he turned of age so we would get familial benefits from it.”

Gendry lays on his back, his breathing even, as he thinks on her words.

“I can remember everything from when my mum died,” he admits, “I was eight. I remember walking home from playing football at the park after school and there were people outside the flat, and a policeman told me to gather my things in a bin bag and come with him.”

Arya winces. She remembers Gendry telling her about the bin bags when they were younger, how it was all he had to move his clothes and school things and toys from place to place.

“It wasn’t until even three months later that I even learned what happened. That her neighbor had seen her collapse while watering the yard and called the ambulance. She’d died of a brain aneurysm, no one could have done anything.”

Arya rolls on one side to watch his face. The sun shines off his still fairly pale face.

“Do you-” she starts off, stuttering, “Do you constantly remember the last thing you said to her?”

Gendry nods.

“That morning before school, I complained we were out of my favorite cereal. Then I left for the bus.”

It’s petty, she thinks, a petty and childish set of last words. She still thinks hers were far worse.

“You turned eighteen in May,” she changes the subject, “Is your current foster dad kicking you out?”

Gendry smiles, genuinely.

“No. Mr. Davos was the one who impressed on me how bad the outcomes often are for kids who just age out of foster care instead of being adopted. He hounds me all the time, makes sure I stay in school. No one ever really did that before.”

Arya thinks. She knows a lot of the charitable work Mum had organized with the church and for PR events at the company had involved foster children. She’d never gotten involved, maybe she should have.

“He’s been wonderful to me...these three years were more than I had ever thought I would get as a kid. And I can’t imagine how those three years have been for Shireen…”

His voice trails off, and Arya thinks it���s a good enough time to bring it up.

“Rickon got into a fight the other day, apparently some of the kids have started telling Shireen she has to play the camp zombie.”

Gendry’s jaw sets. It is remarkable, Arya thinks, that his anger is so much quieter than it used to be.

“She told me last night that some of the girls have taken to calling her the Bitch.”

Arya’s shocked.

“Because-”

“Because her burns make her look like the Hound.”

Arya’s stomach twists again.

“I still can’t believe he let that name catch on.”

Her voice is quieter when she continues.

“They are burns then? I wasn’t sure.”

Gendry inhales roughly.

“Yes, they are burns. What happened to her, her story...it’s very different than mine, but it’s worse. I won’t tell you the rest of the story, I-”

His gaze moves from her face to his feet.

“It’s not my story to tell. If she’s with us one of these days, and tells me it’s okay, I can tell you, but not otherwise.”

Arya nods in agreement. The noontime sun has begun to wane, and the afternoon breeze begins to drift in from the sea of Dorne and makes the air more comfortable.

She turns her head over her shoulder again, and smiles.

“Thank you for showing me the wolves...It’s getting a little late though,” she says, “We should be getting back to camp.”

Gendry nods, pulling himself into a sitting position before standing. He offers Arya his hand to pull her to her own feet.

They hold hands the entire hike back to camp. Gendry runs his thumb along the inside of Arya’s wrist, and she hopes he can’t feel how much her heart is thrumming.

[yastaghr]

Acquiring Feegle and Rickets

I just adopted two rescue bitties! Feegle is a Sansy and Rickets is a Brassberry. You can read their story on Ao3 here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18008270/chapters/52148683

Or under the cut below!

You would think 25 bitties would be more than enough for anyone to handle. You would be wrong. My pack has finally settled in and worked out all their kinks.

Vergeven bakes treats for the dogs and me. He’s discovered my love of cake donuts, and he bakes them at least once a week. Shenling and Yu absolutely adore their alter. We keep adding more to it, and they love it. Kronkel and Hemlock are the sweetest couple. They’re almost always touching one another. Gates and Starlight are zooming around. Having someone to adventure with him has really pepped Gates up. Verst is always tagging along for everything except the kissy stuff. Yong, Qiang, and Dijkstra are inventing new ways to show off in the water every day. They all like the hot tub right now, given how cold it is. Pleiades has a whole collection of scarves now. He’s usually swaddled in at least three.

Strawberry and Baza’eir go everywhere with me. It’s nice to have a service bitty I can pick up, although Hemlock and Kronkel still squish me if I have a panic attack. Inktvis seems to like doing art with me. I’ve been more active in that area. I’ve also been getting back into science thanks to Decon. I’m not sure what, but once my health issues are more stable I plan on going back to get another degree. Byzantium has a little “roller skate” that fits around the bottom of his pot so he can roll around. He has safe caves all over the house. Plato and the blasters love our pack. Their favorite game is Thunder Paws, which my corgi pup Teagan plays all the time. Meng has a little bit of a crush on Inktvis, but hasn’t wanted to acknowledge it yet. He’s helped tremendously with my night terrors. All in all, everyone is happy.

Apparently the universe decided that wasn’t enough. I was stopping by my local bitty center to get Gyftmas presents for everyone. I usually take the time to talk to each bitty that’s there. I’d finished with the main kennels and moved into the rescue area. This was the place where rescued or returned bitties go to recover and, if possible, get re-adopted. My area is big into being humane, so there are usually very few or none at all. That was what I was expecting because of the holiday. There’s always a rush to give them homes for this special time.

Most of the kennels were empty, save one. It was in the bottom row where nobody looks. Well, except for me. I squatted down to see who was inside there. I was shocked with what I saw.

There were two bitties in the back corner of the kennel. One was a Brassberry. It’s hard to mistake that wound covering. What I could see of his bones outside of the hospital gown he was wearing was covered in bruises, cuts, and scrapes. They were all mostly healed over, so they had to have been here for a while. He was glaring at me with fear just under the surface of it. In his arms was a Sansy bitty who looked almost dead. His bones were grey and in multiple casts. He honestly looked like he was going to dust any minute now.

I didn’t even think about it. I directed a tendril of my magic into the kennel and fed it to the Sansy. I filled it with love and support and hope. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, his bones became the proper white. Now I could see the carvings. Someone had decorated his bones with geometric patterns etched in deep.

I swallowed and looked at my own wrists. They were covered in sleeves, but underneath the sleeves both arms were criss crossed with cuts all the way up to my shoulder. Some were old and barely visible. Others were still red. A bandage covered the latest set so I wouldn’t bleed all over my clothes. I chose and choose to put them there. How would it feel if someone else forced them on me?

“Fuck off, human,” The Brassberry growled. He had drawn the Sansy closer to him, jostling his head. Now I could see that the Sansy was awake, but there was no expression on his face. He just...wasn’t there.

“No,” I said stubbornly, sitting down. “I’m going to stay here as long as I want to, Brassberry. I’ve got nothing urgent to do today. I might as well help you and your friend feel better. Would you like some magic of your own?”

The Brassberry’s eyes went wide. “You- You’re feeding him magic? Stop! He can’t handle losing another bond. It’ll dust him for sure!”

I blinked. I’d completely forgotten about how bitties bonded with their owners.

Strawberry jumped to my defense. “Sh-she’s not like that. She wouldn’t do that on purpose She just wants to help!”

Baza’eir, on my other shoulder, chuckled quietly. “What makes you think she’d break it? She’s got 25 bitties so far and we all know she’ll adopt more. I bet you a steak that she’ll adopt him. A nice, fat juicy one.”

The Brassberry’s mouth was watering, but he shook himself out of it and scowled. “There’s no fucking way I’m letting another human take him. How do I know she won’t just abandon him again? He needs me to look out for him. He’s just...given up on fighting back. He’s given up on living. I’m barely able to hold him here.”

I spoke up, “Then let me handle feeding him magic and you handle keeping him physically safe. I know about bonded pairs in animals. You might not be lovers, but it would be bad for both of you to separate you. I don’t mind having another two bitties in my house. Please?”

He blinked at me, searching my face for signs of danger. I tried my best to look non threatening, but I’m not very good at expressions. He seemed to be put off by this, so I added, “I’m autistic and don’t always get my expression right for my feelings. I really do want to help you. You both deserve a better life than you’ve had.”

He huffed. “Read through our chart before saying that. You’ll run away, just like the others.”

I dutifully looked at the packet of papers on the front of their kennel. It detailed all the horrible things that someone had inflicted on this Sansy while trying to turn him into something like a Meek. Brassberry’s papers told of a fighting ring and all the times he had hurt other bitties and staff. He had quite the rap sheet.

“I’ve seen worse, Brassberry,” I said confidently, “I’ve volunteered in animal shelters for more than 10 years. I worked in foster, where the youngest, sickest, and most feral cats end up. I’m more than prepared to take care of both of you. And...I understand about abuse on a personal level. I was abused by teachers, students, and other staff members all the way up through high school. I’m still healing from that, and I know it’s a process. And I’m extremely well versed in wound care,” I said as I slipped up my right sleeve to show him my arms. “I’m very clumsy and I self-harm. I’d love to take you both home and help you heal.”

The Brassberry’s mouth had dropped open at some point in my speech. He closed it and gulped. I could see the distrust warring with a glimmer of hope.

Strawberry added the final touch. “There’s hidey holes all over the house for Byzantium, our Error-type plant bitty. If you don’t want to interact with anyone you don’t have to. And there’s always ketchup and meat in the house. Please come join us? Please?”

The Brassberry looked at his friend. The Sansy gave the barest of nods. The Brassbery sighed.  “Fine. But if you’re lying I’m going to wreck your house and wreck you. Don’t think I won’t.”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

An employee came up to me and asked me to leave, as upsetting bitties in the rescue center was a big no-no. I jumped a little and haltingly explained that I was going to adopt both of them. They asked if I had read the backstories with a distrustful expression.

Amazingly, it was the Brassberry who stood up for me. “Leave my owner the fuck alone. We’ve been through all that already. Just go get the care bag and the adoption papers. Um...please.”

The employee quickly scurried off, and I turned to the two bitties in the kennel. “Thank you. I have problems with anxiety so extreme that it can block my voice. I was about to lose it, there. They startled me so much.”

The Brassberry huffed. “Don’t think anything of it, owner. This means nothing.”

I smiled back. “I won’t. Since we’re going through with this, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Yastaghr, which is pronounced Ya-star but spelled completely differently. Um...do you two have names?”

The Brassberry shook his head. “Fighting bitties don’t get names, and the Sansy here...they didn’t bother. They just called him Sansy.”

I puffed up. “Do you mind if I name you? Or do you want to pick your own names.”

His eyes went wide. “Pick...our own names? Really? What kind of a weirdo are you to let us pick our own names?”

I giggled. “A weirdo who is notoriously bad at naming things. I pull names from 4 different languages and multiple different disciplines. Really. I have bitties named in English, Dutch, Chinese, and Icenic. I also have pets named after book characters. So, what do you say?”

A weak voice whispered, “i like pratchett. something from him?”

All eyes snapped to the Sansy. The effort of speaking seemed to exhaust him, but he was smiling slightly.

I grinned back. “I like Pratchett, too. How about Feegle? Would that be a good name?”

The Sansy, now Feegle, nodded. He seemed to have run out of words for the day, which I could understand completely, so he fell asleep. The Brassberry smiled down at him. It was a proud smile, the kind a parent gets when their kid does something good.

“What about you, Brassberry? What do you want to be named?” I asked.

He hummed softly. “How about Rickets? The humans here say I’ve got it, and it sounds cool. Can I be named that?”

“Of course! It’s your name, so you get to choose. Rickets. It’s-” I started to say.

“I have the paperwork here for you, and the care kits that comes with every bitty. There are medical supplies in both, extra clothes, snacks, and a care pamphlet. Oh, and a hand towel that smells like them for introductions to pets.”

I nodded, my words suddenly gone, just like Feegle. Baza’eir came to my rescue, his service bitty vest shining. “That’s good. Thank you so much! We’ll fill out the paperwork right now.”

I started scribbling down the necessary details, including their names and mine. I signed multiple consent forms. I read through pages of text. Finally, the paperwork was done and I handed it to the employee.

Once the employee was gone, I carefully opened up the kennel and scooped up both bitties. I smiled at them and whispered, “Time to go home.”

[bae-roman]

Get Me

*I ended up just writing this for roman, @ the anon who requested it, if you wanted it for someone else just resend it with the character! 

Leave a “Get Me” in my ask, and I will write a drabble about one character saving another.

Walking home in the middle of a thunderstorm was not how you thought you’d be spending your night, but here you were. You and a friend had planned on going into town to shop but at the last minute, she bailed because she had to work on some group project. Even though you understood, you were still slightly annoyed because not only did you now have to go alone- you had to take the bus. You debated going another day but you knew you wouldn’t have time so you sucked it up, downloaded a schedule app and tried to learn the hemlock grove bus system. You'd only been at the mall for a few hours when it started to rain. Making the stupid decision to try and wait out the worst of the storm resulted in you missing the final bus that would take you to a stop relatively close to your house.

So here you were, 20 minutes into an hour long walk in the rain, and to top it all off, your phone was dead.

The path you were walking on the edge of an empty road, beside a forest. There were barely any street lamps, forcing you to mostly depend on the light of the full moon to guide you home. On any other day living in a town with such a large forest was great, aesthetically at least; but right now it was creepy.

Initially, you were grateful when the rain let up, although, that didn’t last long. Without the sound of water hitting the ground, it was eerily silent.

You quickened your pace, wishing for nothing more than the ability to just teleport yourself home but then came to a halt when you heard a weird noise coming from the woods. After not hearing anything else, you carried on with your journey, chalking the sound up to paranoia when you head it again. Louder this time. It sounded like an animal but also... not? Whatever it was, you just hoped it wouldn’t find you. Walking as fast as you can, you couldn’t help but feel like something was watching you. You tried to shake it off but you couldn’t.

After a few minutes of no more noises, you began to feel better and even laughed at how silly you were being.

A bit after that, the rain had picked up again, and now it was even more intense than before. You could barely see anything in front of you, and the thunder was so loud when it rumbled you could almost feel the earth move beneath you.

You looked around you, trying to see if there was a phone booth -  anything that could protect you from the rain. That’s when you saw...it. It was massive and white and chilled you to your core. You’d heard about what had happened at Kilderberry park last month but after 4 weeks of no other attacks, everyone assumed that the animal responsible had either died or left the area. Well, everyone was wrong. Logically, you didn’t actually know that this was the creature responsible for what had happened but you knew. You felt it somehow, in your gut. As far as you could tell it hadn’t seen you yet, for if it did, you’d be dead already. Relying on the deafening sound of the rain to cloak your presence you waited for the next rumble of thunder and bolted behind a tree for cover. When the creature turned it’s head to where you had previously been standing- you were already gone. You watched from hour hiding place while the wolf let out a bone-chilling howl and ran off deeper into the woods.

You collected yourself and decided that your best bet was to get as far away from here as possible so you started to sprint as fast as you could, in the opposite direction from where your house was, praying that the wolf had gone off in the other direction. You were so scared that you didn’t even notice the headlights of a car coming up behind you until it stopped a bit ahead of you.

‘Great’ you thought, ‘Just what I need right now, some creep to deal with’.

Knowing that there was no way in hell you were turning around, you carefully walked in the direction of the car.

Once you were closer and could actually make out the vehicle, your anxiety slightly let up. It was the one car in town everybody could recognize. It was Roman Godfrey’s.

You knew Roman in the same way everybody in Hemlock Grove did. He was in your grade so you’d been in a few of the same classes since you were kids and you had talked occasionally but nothing substantial.

“Hey” he called out when he recognized it was you. You waved and approached the driver’s side of the car.

“Pretty fucked night to go out for a run, don’t you think? He asked.

Before you could respond, you noticed him squinting at something past you.  You turned your head to see what had captured his focus and felt your whole body stiffen. It was the wolf, and this time it was staring right at you.“Get in the car” Roman said sternly. Before you even knew what you were doing, you had run to the passenger side, diving into the vehicle as fast as you could. Roman didn’t even wait for you to fully shut your door before flooring it. You could see the wolf running after the car, but it couldn’t keep up.  

Neither of you said anything until you were sure it was gone. Roman slowed down so that he was only going 20 miles over the speed limit and looked over at you.

“You ok?” He asked. “I think so” you replied, unconfidently. You continued to tell him about how you had had to hide from it before he showed up. “Shee-it,” he said seriously and then asked for your address.

You didn’t speak much as he drove you home, still processing what had just happened. Though, you did apologize for the mess you were making in his car from being caught in the rain for so long.

When he pulled up into your driveway, you thanked him for the ride and told him to get home safe. He watched you get to the door before speeding off.  

Your parents had gone to some business dinner in the city and thankfully weren’t home yet. The pair of them would’ve had a complete fit if they found out what had happened tonight. Thankful to finally be home and safe you took a well-deserved shower and went straight to bed.

When you woke up the next morning, something just felt wrong. Once you checked your phone, you found out why. A girl had been killed last night. No, killed wasn’t the right word, massacred was apter. The news said that the poor girl had had part of her body eaten alive by some animal, but you knew what animal it was exactly. That news in and of itself was enough to make you sick but your heart dropped as you gather more information.

She had been found right around where you were before Roman had picked you up.

Getting ready for school and breakfast with your parents was a blur. You were completely zoned out to everything going on around you.

When you walked into school, you didn’t really know what to do; you didn’t have it in you to sit through a class right now. You felt guilty; you knew you should be thankful that you were alive and that your legs were still attached to your fully functioning body but you felt so messed up. You didn’t want to tell your friends and make it all about you, but you needed to say something to someone.

Not really paying attention to where you were going, you spotted Roman leaning against his locker, completely engrossed in his phone. He didn’t even notice you coming towards him until you greeted him.

“Hey,” you said, causing him to look up from his phone.

“Hey”

“Uhm.. last night... Did you hear the news?” Roman nodded and scanned her over. She looked nervous, though most girls were nervous around him.

“It happened right where you..where we...I mean that could’ve been me...I” You trailed off, unsure of what you were even trying to say.

Roman looked at you quizzically as you took a deep breath before speaking up again “You saved me”.  you said seriously. He just shrugged his shoulders and put his hands in his pockets “No problem”.

“No really Roman, I - it’s... I’d be dead right now if it wasn’t for you ..”

Before you could continue your babbling, Roman stood up from his locker to tower over you.

“You look like you need to smoke” he pointed out.  

You reflexively scrunched up your face at the memory of the one time you tried a cigarette and how much you’d hated it.

“Cigarettes aren’t really my thing”

He leant down so his face was only a few inches from yours

“I didn’t mean a cigarette” he winked.

You didn’t partake in marijuana that often, but you figured you deserved some relaxation after the past 24 hours.

“Oh ok sure. But where-”

“I have a spot” he interrupted and started walking.

You followed close behind, trying to keep up with his long strides.

He led you the outdoor stairwell that was near the football field and took a seat on one of the cement steps while he lit up. When you had finished, he threw away the roach and asked you if you felt any better. You smiled at him. “A bit actually, thanks”. Roman nodded his head and lit up a cigarette, being careful to blow the smoke away from you. Instead of attempting to make conversation, you just admired the side profile of his face from where you were sitting beside him. ‘He really is pretty’ you thought to yourself.

After a few moments of silence, Roman turned his head towards you, catching you staring at him. Knowing there was no point in trying to deny ogling his perfect face, you just bit your lip and bashfully looked away. He smirked and shuffled closer towards you. “You know,” he whispered “I know something we could do that would make you feel much better...” as he snaked his fingers up your thigh...

Also from this prompt list: 

Remember Me

[future-gays-of-america-blog]

Chapter 3: Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but You Might as Well Just Shoot Me

As the van pulls out of the hangar, Hailey begins to strike up a conversation.    

“You know, we really should think about replacing the lift with an elevator. Oooh or maybe even an escalator!” comments Hailey,

“Oh yeah, sure. And who’s gonna pay for it?” asks Hannah. “Nevermind, don’t answer that. Knowing you, you would probably just steal the money from your ex-drug lord.” 

“That’s not a bad--”

“NO,” Hannah interrupts. “Say one more word about an escalator or elevator and I will throw you out the window.” Hailey nods quickly and remains silent for the next few minutes of the ride.

They arrive outside the scene, and Port walks over to talk with the responding police officers. The rest of the team begins to move to their positions. As Cody gets closer to his, Maddie pops into his comms. 

“Okay Cody, there are four people in front of the door. You need to take them down and make sure the door is blocked to restrict hostile escape.”

“Wait, I only see three.”

“Look around stupid,” Maddie says, and she waits for him to reply. 

“Oh, I see the fourth now. He was on the roof,” Cody mumbles. 

“Any more concerns?” 

“No ma’am,” Cody answers bitterly.

He crouches down around a nearby corner and presses his hands to the ground. Slowly, a few vines of thick ivy begin to creep upward near each of the guards. By the time one of them realizes what’s happening, it’s too late. The guard tries to shout out to his companions but the vines shoot out of the earth and restrain each of them. All except one: the one on the roof. 

The rooftop is too far for ivy to grow fast enough to stop the guard from escaping. Cody’s solution is to sprout a parcel of leaves to encase a handful of water hemlock that had been ground into a powder. He promptly throws the small pouch at the remaining guard, creating a toxic cloud upon impact. The last guard begins coughing, inhaling more of the poisonous gas. In a few moments, he collapses and begins convulsing.

Before he walks away, Cody grows a firm wall of plants over the door. He turns to leave and finally notices the pain in his leg. Looks like one of the guards managed to get a shot at him. 

“I’m going to need to be taken back to the base right about now,” Cody says into the comms.

“What for?” Maddie asks.

“A bullet wound.”

“Oh my god, Cody. Port, if you would,”

“I’ve got it,” Port answers.

Seconds later she appears through a portal, grabs Cody by the shoulders, and pulls him through another portal. She drops him on the floor of the base next to Maddie and quickly returns back to her post. 

“That’s one way to do it,” Maddie mutters as she moves to patch the hole in Cody’s calf.

Back at the subway, Port opens a path for Hannah and herself to enter the room with the hostages. 

“If you can get all of the guards up in the air for a second, I can open portals underneath them that lead straight to the police station holding cells,” Port whispers to Hannah. She nods in response and cracks her knuckles.

“Going up!” Hannah yells into the room, flipping her hands upward.

“So much for stealth,” Port mumbles as she opens portals under each of the criminals. Hannah flips her hands back down and all six of the men drop down into the awaiting portals. She descends to the floor to assist the hostages, unaware of the seventh masked man behind her.

“Orbit! Behind you!”

Hannah turns to look around, still somewhat unfamiliar with her superhero alias. The seventh guard begins firing at random making it near impossible for Port to stop every bullet. Hannah holds her hands in front of her and uses her gravitational field to create a gravity assist, flinging the bullets back around at the shooter. 

The bullets rip through the shooter much faster than they left his gun while Orbit looks on in terror at what she’s done accidentally. 

“Orbit, what the fuck did you do that for?!” Port asks fearfully and steps closer to the hostages.

“I-” Hannah’s eyes widen “I didn’t mean to-”

“Well you fucking DID,” Port hisses “Go get Maternity and Moon Mistress before you kill someone else.”

A lump begins forming in Hannah’s throat, but she swallows it quickly and walks away. 

She soon comes across Hailey and Sarah. Hannah sees Hailey rubbing Sarah’s back while she breathes frantically into a paper bag.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this. Please don’t make me do this, aaaahhhhh!” Sarah yells in between breaths. 

“What the hell happened here?” asks Hannah, the concern clear in her question.

“She gave herself a panic attack,” answers Hailey calmly.

“How?”

“She tried to give someone a ton of confusion but their confusion caused them to have a panic attack, which rebounded back to her.” 

Sarah stands up, the emotional effect now gone and her own emotions returning. She strolls down the aisle of armed shooters, her face showing her annoyance, and without breaking a sweat, all of the guards begin to fall to their knees. 

“What are you doing?” yells one of the guards, struggling to walk as his knees shake beneath him.

“I’m doing what you deserve,” she answers calmly while maintaining steady eye contact.

“And what might that be, babe?” asks Hailey, grinning.

“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll see.”

The guards begin to drop like flies, but one gets back to their knees to fire off one shot before falling back to the floor. Hailey falls to the floor, screaming in pain, after being shot in the back. Sarah spins around and kneels next to the love of her life. She searches for the last shooter and stares him down, forcing an emotion on him so strong, he turns his gun around shoots himself in the head.

“Maddie we need medical attention, NOW,” Sarah screams over the comms.

“Port, if you would,” Maddie says as prepares her station to give medical care, but she gets no response. “Port?”

“Since it looks like Port’s gone AWOL, I’ll fly her to the base as fast as possible,” says Hannah, as she picks Hailey up off the ground.

“Alright, as for everyone else, get back to the mission van and head back to the base. The police should be able to take care of the rest.” Maddie says as she removes her headset and prepares for everyone’s arrival. 

Hannah and Hailey are the first to arrive and Maddie assesses the situation immediately and begins dealing with Hailey’s bullet wound. Cody stands nearby, assisting through the guidance of Maddie.

When the rest of the team returns, there’s still no sign of Port. They all shrug their shoulders and assume she’ll show back up when she wants to.

In about an hour, Hailey’s conscious but forced to stay on bedrest, and Sarah refuses to leave her side.

[certifiedskywalker]

Stare - Peter Rumancek

Peter Rumancek X Godfrey!Reader

Y/N Godfrey, Roman’s twin sister, has a better reputation at school than her brother. Being the most liked Godfrey, next to Letha, came with it’s benefits. Especially when Y/N takes an interest in the new boy in town, Peter Rumancek.

Contrary to popular consensus, you loved your family. The Godfrey’s had been in Hemlock Grove for years and had made thousands of enemies that wouldn’t look twice to tear your family apart. You were even friends with some of those very enemies because, out of all of Olivia’s children, you were the most friendly Godfrey.

No one dared to get close to Shelley, despite her naturally warm heart; it was a shame really. Your sister was the most deserving of the attention of others. She was smart, funny, and you were proud to be her older sister.

Roman on the other hand, had a reputation. Your twin was cold, rude, and a bad influence. If it wasn’t for the fact you had already had friends in Hemlock Grove, Roman might’ve tarnished your chances at any relationship outside of your family tree.

Next to your siblings, you had your Uncle Norman, Aunt Marie, and Letha. Your cousin, being the only person your brother could actually call a friend, often hung out with you and Roman. If it wasn’t for Letha’s saintly nature, you worried on what could have become of your brother. He refused to listen to anyone and didn’t have any friends.

That all changed when school started up again in August.

“This is dumb,” Roman hissed, taking a drag of his cigarette. He let out a puff of smoke, blowing it away from your direction. He knew how you hated that he smoked.

“This is school, Roman,” you corrected. Your brother scoffed and rolled his eyes. You turned your head over to Shelley who was deeply entranced by a book. “Hey Shell, do you want to wait in Library? It may be more quiet in there,” you suggested.

Your sister looked up at you and pulled out her phone. Using her stylus she tapped a message into the voice reader. You smiled as you waited, wishing that one day you’d be able to hear Shelley’s voice rather than an automated one.

“You’re right,” the voice rang out, “I will see you two later, after school.” You nodded and watched as Shelley stood up. She towered over you and gave you that adorably awkward smile. You gave her a quick hug, wrapping your arms around her waist.

“Have a good day, Shelley,” you said as you pulled away.

“And if anyone gives you shit, send them my way,” Roman added. Shelley’s smile widened at her brother’s words and gave him a wave before turning to walk inside the school.

“How do you think it will go?” You asked your brother. You looked over and Roman took another drag, letting his shoulders slump.

“If I don’t have to punch anyone today, I’ll be surprised.” You gave you brother and frown and he shrugged. “It’s true,” he mumbled, “everyone thinks they can get away with hurting her.” You nodded, watching Shelley’s form disappeared within the school.

“It doesn’t help that you have slept with half of the female population in Hemlock Grove,” you pointed out. “I could count the number of people that stopped talking to me because-” Roman looked away from you, something catching his eye.

You followed his gaze, your own eyes landing on the someone he looking at. He wasn’t the tallest boy you had seen, definitely shorter than Roman. His hair was longer and a shade of dark brown that framed his bearded face perfectly. He turned to look in your direction, his blue eyes landing on you. Heat rose to your cheeks and you looked away quickly.

“Who the fuck is that,” Roman mumbled, throwing his cigarette to the side. When you looked over at your brother, his gaze was hard on the boy as he walked away. His jaw clenched his nostrils flaring a little as he tried to figure it out.

“I’ve never seen him,” you said, watching the new arrival as he walked towards the school door.

“None of your friends have seen him?” Roman sneered. You glanced back over at your brother, slapping his shoulder. “What?! It was an honest question!”

“If they knew I would have known,” you said, still glaring at your brother.

“Cause you hang out with the gossips,” Roman said with a smirk.

“No, because I hang out with the people you fuck over,” you shot back. Roman placed a hand over his heart in feign hurt.

“You wound me,” Roman said with his smirk still plastered on his face. You rolled your eyes and glanced around the courtyard. One of the girls you talk to regularly waved you over and you smiled.

“I’ll see you later, Roman,” you said, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. Your brother smiled and watched you walk off. As you made your way over to your friend, you felt eyes burning into your skin. You glanced over your shoulder, thinking it was Roman, but he was no longer there.

“Y/N! Hey! How was your summer?” greeted your friend. You smiled and gave her a hug.

“It was okay,” you answered, still distracted by the feeling of being watched. You looked over your shoulder again, then glancing around. Your eyes landed on the boy you and Roman had seen, his burning blue glazed stuck on you.

“You alright, Y/N?” You friend asked, but your gaze remained on the boy watching you. He had kind features from what you could see, although he wasn’t smiling.

“Yeah,” you said, peeling your eyes off of him, “I’m alright.” You opened your mouth again, turning to your friend to ask about the boy when the bell rang. A flood of your peers stormed towards you and pushed you in the school; the boy escaping your sight.

The first day had passed with no other encounter with the new boy. Although, you had learned through a rumor that he was a gypsy. More importantly, you knew his name: Peter Rumancek. You felt bad for him a little, due to the other half of the rumor. Some thought he was a werewolf, despite how outlandish it sounded.

“It’s ridiculous isn’t it?” You asked your cousin Letha the next day. “A werewolf,” you shook your head as you walked beside your cousin. You didn’t dare tell anyone your own thoughts on the new guy. How you day dreamed about his lips and those bright blues eyes.

“You know how people can be,” Letha said sadly, pulling you out of your thoughts. You nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. You had witnessed the cruelty of people first hand with Shelley, along with your mother’s coldness towards everyone but Roman.

As you walked down the hallway a movement caught you eyes. You recognized Peter, long brown hair covering part of his face as he pressed his ear against the girl’s bathroom. You were about to speak up when Peter noticed you.

“I um...this is…” he glanced at the door as a moan sounded from the other side. “This is exactly what it looks like.” Letha rolled her eyes in disgust, but you smiled humorously at the strange boy. Peter gave you a smile too, his eyes lingering on yours with interest.

“Y/N?” Letha’s voice pulled you from your thoughts. You managed to pull your gaze from Peter’s and caught up to your cousin quickly. As you fell into step beside Letha, you it your lip and glanced over your shoulder. Peter smiled when your eyes locked with his and he waved.

“You like him,” Letha said, just loud enough for you to hear. You glanced at your cousin, a blush coating your cheeks in a deep crimson.

“I barely know him,” you protested, “and Roman doesn’t seem to care for him.” Letha clicked her tongue and shook her head, as if knowing better.

“Your brother is unpredictable,” she said, “and he can’t control who you like. No more than you can.”

“When did you become so wise?” You asked teasingly. Letha smiled then frowned, but not sadly. “Letha, are you okay?” Your cousin nodded, placing a gentle hand on her stomach.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I guess I was always wise, in a motherly way.”

“Are you ready to go, Y/N?” Roman was leaning against the car, waiting, rather impatiently, for you to get ready. You hugged your textbooks closer to your chest as you walked over to the passenger side door.

“Sorry,” you breathed out, “got caught up in the halls.” You brushed your hair out of your face as Roman got into the driver’s seat. Glancing in the rearview mirror, you saw Shelley who waited with a soft expression. “How was your day?”

“It was okay,” Shelley quickly typed, “Peter said ‘Hi’ to me today.” Your eyes widened at her comment making Shelley stare at you with worry. “What?”

“You know Peter? The new guy?” Shelley nodded and her cheeks started to glue with a light blue to them.

“Do you know him too?” Roman asked. Your head spun to face your twin, wondering how on Earth Peter had managed to interact with every Godfrey except yourself. Maybe he didn’t care for you; that would be a first.

“I’ve seen him around,” you said quickly, already feeling your cheeks start to warm. “I didn’t know he talked to you two.” As you spoke, Roman started to drive towards the front of the school to get out of the parking lot.

He stopped suddenly, rolling down the window on your side. You glanced at your brother, but he wore a charming smile as he yelled out the window.

“Hey, Peter!” You turned to look out of the window and sure enough, the Rumancek boy stood on the sidewalk. His blues eyes locked with your gaze and you instantly looked away.

“Do you need a ride?” Your brother offered. Roman didn’t seem to notice your glare as he waited for Peter to answer.

“I, uh,” Peter started and at the sound of his voice, you looked up at him again. You curled your lips together as you looked at him. He seemed so out of place in the gloomy Hemlock Grove; just as your warm personality was a butterfly in the Godfrey bee-hive.

“I could use one, yeah,” Peter said, still looking at you. Roman reached over with one long arm and opened the passenger side door for Peter. You scooted over as far as you could, trying to give Peter as much room as possible.

“Hey Shelley,” Peter greeted when he noticed your sister in the back of the car. Shelley smiled at him, waving a heavily bandaged hand towards him. Peter’s gaze traveled to you, giving you an almost shy smile. “We haven’t officially met,” he held out his hand.

“I’m Y/N,” you took his hand to shake it, “Y/N Godfrey.”

“What?! You’re a Godfrey too?” Peter’s tone was shocked, his grip on your hand tightening slightly as he spoke. “How many of you are in this fucking town?”

“Too many,” Roman answered as he drove away from the school. “Do you mind if we stop by our place first? Shelley and Y/N have stuff to do,” Roman asked. Peter simply shook his head.

“Don’t mind at all.” Due to how close you two were to each other, you found it hard to look anywhere but at him. You could feel his body warmth emanating beside you, the brush of his leg against your own. The blush on your cheeks only seemed to deepen.

Every so often, you would catch yourself looking at the boy beside you. Sometimes, you’d catch Peter looking at you. Whenever that happened, you both blushed and looked away. You hated that Letha was right. The whole drive home, Roman had a smug smirk plastered across his face and Shelley was smiling too.

As soon as you got home, you rushed to your room. Your heart was beating faster than it ever had before and it was all because of Peter. You barely knew him, yet, you found yourself thinking about him more often than not.

It was a strange feeling too. Despite the fact you were known as the most affable Godfrey, Peter had hardly breathed a word to you. You had only exchanged stares, nothing more. So how come a blush stained your cheeks every time you looked at him?

Before you could explore your thoughts any longer, your attention was drawn to a knocking at your door.

“Come in,” you yelled, thinking it was Shelley. Roman would’ve just barged in. The door to your room opened slowly. As you watched, you saw a familiar head of dark brown hair poke inside. “Peter?” you asked and sure enough, the gypsy boy gave you a smile.

“Hey,” he said as he entered. He closed the door behind him as he continued. “I just wanted to apologize.” You shifted on your feet uneasily, not understanding what he had to be sorry for.

Peter seemed to sense your confusion and stepped a little closer to you. There were still a few feet apart, but you could now see the darker blue around his irises.

“I just thought, at least yesterday morning, that you were with Roman.” Your eyes widened due to what he was implying. You let out a nervous, but true laugh at his statement. Peter smiled too, a blush coating his cheeks due to his embarrassment.

“No wonder you looked so pissed,” you said, making Peter’s smile widen. You leaned back against your dresser, trying to seem cool and collected. You had managed to make enemies into friends but when it came to Peter, you had no idea where to begin.

“Know that I know you’re his sister,” Peter continued, but you spoke up again.

“Twin,” you corrected, “twin sister.” Peter’s eyes widened and he ran a hand through his long hair.

“That makes this harder somehow,” Peter said with a sign. You cocked your head at him, giving him a small, shy smile.

“What is this?” You asked and Peter let out a chuckle. He looked up from his shoes and met your eyes. All of the times you had caught his eyes before didn’t match to the tension between you now.

With only a few strides, Peter was a mere inches away from you. You could feel his breath against your skin and you couldn’t stop yourself from leaning closer. Peter’s hands moved to your face, cupping both of your cheeks.

“It’s this,” he whispered before pressing his lips to yours with a rush of confidence. His lips were slightly chapped but they moved with such purpose, you couldn’t have cared less. Your hands didn’t know where to go but soon found their spots on his chest.

Peter’s beard tickled your cheeks as his lips moved smoothly against your own. You let out a hum of contentment and you felt Peter smile into the kiss. When you were forced to break the kiss for air, Peter still wore that smile.

“I should’ve talked to you sooner,” Peter said, smiling at you like a school boy. You curled your lips together and nodded.

“Definitely,” you agreed. You leaned in again, ready for another kiss when a shout from downstairs made you jump.

“Peter?! You ready to go?” Roman’s voice rang upstairs, reminding you that you and Peter weren’t exactly alone. Peter licked his lips, meeting your eyes with a soft smile.

“That’s my ride,” he said with a breathy chuckle. You nodded and closed the gap between the two of you once more. This kiss was even softer than the first, but shorter too.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow?” You asked against his lips.

“Of course,” he said with a grin, “and this time I won’t just stare at you.” He brushed some hair out of your face, “I’ll kiss you just like…” He pressed his lips to yours one last time, your eyes fluttering closed at the contact.

“Good,” you breathed out. Peter smiled and pulled away from you. As he left the room, your door stayed open to reveal Shelley, blue glow spreading across her cheeks. “Shelley!” You whisper yelled, but your sister only smiled. She pulled out her phone and tapped out a message.

“That was cute,” the phone voice read out. You blushed and covered your face with your hands. “I won’t tell Roman,” Shelley’s phone said. You uncovered your face and smiled at your sister gratefully.

“Thanks Shell,” you said as you walked over to your bed. You collapsed on the soft sheets, your mind still whirling from Peter’s kiss. You couldn’t wait till tomorrow, when you could do so much more than just stare.

[ajnerdess]

Long post warning and possible spoilers ahead but I saw IT last night and honestly...... it was perfect.

It was like the perfect cross between Stand by Me, the Goonies and old fashioned, well put together, scary not just gory horror films. Beyond that, there were so many references to the original mini-series and the book without looking cheesy, obvious or thrown in last minute, every single one of the child actors was amazing. It’s no secret that I cannot abide children in the slightest but this film has actually made me want to not just love and protect the characters but also the cast. The film was as hilarious as it was creepy, Finn Wolfhard and Jack Grazer stole the show as Richie and Eddie.

 Bill NAILED the role of Pennywise and I mean nailed it. I had only seen a few episodes of Hemlock Grove and tbh, wasn’t impressed, the dialogue was terrible and a lot of it seemed cheesy and Bill didn’t really stand out much to me personally but dammit if he wasn’t perfect as Pennywise. The perfect creepy character with aspects of a playful clown he worked in enough to make it even creepier. The cinematography was stunning, literally stunning, for a film that’s set in such a small town with the sewers being the setting for a large portion of it, every single frame was beautiful and captured my imagination. I think the film captured the dark elements of the book without including some of King’s really over the top, too weird parts (stuff like the kid orgy and the animal abuse etc). 

Sophia Lillis was perfect as Bev, and to all the people saying they reduced her part to a damsel in distress, look again, she was the toughest of them all by far. People complaining about the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father need to realise that shying away from those kinds of topics is worse. They approached it, as they should do because real people go through this shit and in the end, yes she suffered a lot of crap but she came through the other side as the toughest and literally only 10 minutes of the film was spent with her out of action, the rest of the film not only included her but made her a focal part of the film. Besides all of that, people need to be real, the book was written in the 80′s and there’s only so much the film can stray from the source material. King isn’t the writer to read/watch if you want something easy and innocent, I for one, would hate it if we didn’t have writers like him, he’s unafraid of the nitty gritty stuff and personally, there are things of his that I can’t read or watch because they disturbed me too much i.e. Pet Semetary, the mist etc. But I do my research before and avoid those things instead of spending forever ranting at the people who do enjoy it, like some tumblr users do to people who enjoyed this particular remake. 

I LOVE anything that is set in the 80′s, Breakfast club, stranger things, stand by me, st elmo’s fire etc etc so for me, this film perfectly encompassed everything 80′s that i love, the clothes, music, aesthetics, humour. I thought it was brilliant that the kids used swear words and made crude sex jokes, call me immature but that shit was hilarious and again, it’s realistic, 13 year old boys DO make jokes about that kind of stuff and especially in the novel.

Honestly, the only aspects of the film i thought could be improved on were the characterisation of Mike. The dude just seemed like he had less of a personality than the others and that was purely down to the script seeing as the actor was just as strong as the others. They should have given him a little bit more focus, especially considering that the bullies targeted him because they were racist, homophobic redneck fucks. The bullies did again seem a little one dimensional but then, they were in the miniseries too and King has a habit of making bullies dicks for the sake of it (one of the big reasons why Nostalgia Critic always calls out King).I also didn’t like that they pied off the Bev/Ben ‘romance’ for a Bev/Bill ‘romance’ just because it was almost like Ben, the token ‘fat kid’ was never going to be taken seriously as the love interest. At one point, i thought him getting the girl would be am interesting angle to go with but the film sadly decided to play it safe by fixing her up with the obvious choice. Made me feel way more for poor Ben though, which i guess is the up side to it. The parents being dicks and ignoring the kids also seemed a little patchy but i’m pretty sure a lot of these issues will be cleared up in the sequel, which i now, literally cannot wait for. I’m more excited for it than infinity war at this point. 

This remake is a perfect, perfect example of how a remake SHOULD be done, and I got shivers over how busy the cinema was, it’s amazing to think how many people went to go see a film that wouldn’t be considered a big cash cow like Marvel, DC, Harry Potter etc. I love it when cult films get the recognition they deserve.        

[mcqueen-renoir]

Eggnog: The Siren in a Cup

Christmas time heralds my soul’s longing to be a drug addict.

It’s Christmas time, which means that everything goes to gingerbread and peppermint flavor, and my soul’s longing to become a drug addict comes out.

There’s this one dark drink that wants to suck my soul like a dementor. It’s called eggnog and with it, I learned my aptitude for vices is startlingly.

🔺

“What’s this?” I ask my mother as I pick up a jug from a field of grocery bags that’s decked out in Christmas decorations.

“It’s Eggnog. You’ll like it. It’s really sweet.” She replied.

I put up the rest of the groceries. My mother gets two glasses and the festive looking bottle. She pours two glasses halfway.

It looked thick and creamy. It looked tasty. My mother gave me my glass. I smelled it. It smelled heavenly. It smelled divine.

I tasted it.

Words cannot describe. I imagine that’s what cocaine is like. I imagine that is what Mother Teresa felt when an angel pierced her heart and filled her with God’s love. Little did I know, that fateful glass may as well have been hemlock for all the good it did me.

🔺

I started to think that I had a problem when I was chugging down glasses of eggnog with a scary consistency. What was scary wasn’t the weight that I was gaining, but my lack of self control. It was like my free will was suddenly surrendered to this idol of White Jug.

Connor and I were playing a game on our Xbox 360. Splinter Cell was the game. I wasn’t good at the game, but it was time with my brother, which was scarce. I won’t lie, the fact that he bought an entire jug of eggnog just for himself was also an incentive.

“Can I have a glass?” I asked, trying not to seem conspicuous. I’m sure I was failing.

“Just. One. Glass. One. Tiny. Glass. You understand?” He asked. He talked to me as if I was a toddler, which was deserved on my part since I was the eggnog thief of the house.

I had the one. tiny. glass. I licked the inside it was so good. But it was so scarce. Which is why I developed a plan for more.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” Connor would say. I would sip from his glass.

“Connor! Come take out the trash!” My mother would demand. I would sip from his glass.

“Connor, can you get me a glass of water?” I would ask. I would sip from his glass.

He eventually found out. After I devoured what was left of his eggnog. Let’s just say he was mad. It’s not like it was my fault. I couldn’t help myself.

🔺

I really discovered that I had a scary potential for a life of addiction to drugs when I was caught drinking eggnog from the jug by my brother. I was surprised that my family didn’t order an intervention. After all, I had gained about ten pounds during a Christmas season. And it wasn’t from the holiday food.

The scariest part was how easily I justified just one more glass. How easily my willpower utterly failed for that tainting siren of nutmeg wasn’t even something I worried about. As long as I had the thick, creamy taste of that delicious nectar of the Gods I was fine and so was the world. I also realised that cocaine, heroin, morphine, speed, and alcohol was best avoided. It’s strange how something so good led me to act like I was a muslim prostitute in a Baptist church: walking away from the fridge with my head down and arms tucked in while I walk as far away from everyone and as close to the wall as possible. Thankfully, that feeling only comes around once a year.

🔻