#and FREDERICK IS TOO DAMN AWESOME

[randomgentlefolk]

CPC EPILOGUE

One last...One last review...before...*gasp for air*...it all fall into the pit of daily pass...*dramatically fall into the ground*

ALL THOSE CHAPTERS. Those were some damn rollercoasters. And yet with everything we've been through, we're finally here...

Let's get right into it

JACK FINALLY REUNITING WITH LEELATHAE!! Relationship goal fr <3 This whole Leelathae portrait stuff is actually making me curious about some things. For instance like, does Leelathe still sleep? I mean, she's pretty much a spirit now, right? Does she still do daily human acitivities, or does she roam around the castle all day?

It's awesome to see what the pastel siblings are doing now! :D

First of all, Lorena definitely deserve that A+++++. No questions asked. Hopefully this can make up for her whole grade, considering she said she has never gotten an A in her entire life XD

I love how Maria is becoming really ambitious towards her dream!

And Gwen bonding with her mom's side of the family <3 That is simply so sweet. It looks like Jamie love those food XD I wonder what are the recipes for those dishes.

Also pretty curious what those little beads are! I assume they are berries?

Jamie and Leopold creating lots of paintings so Leelathae can venture around!! Since Leelathae can also visit dreams, do you think she visits each of her children's dream every night?

Old guard name reveal HECK YEAH!! I've been waiting for that. So happy he got all those recognitions and promotion!!

And Becket getting demoted lmaoo

Is it rude for me to say that with what Beckett did before the invasion (ignore Frederick), and how he immediately decided to confess to Maria without any consideration for the room, he kindaa had it coming? xd I get that he was excited but don't just do that man.

Just wanted to say I absolutely love Lorena's outfit in this panel! Between all of the pastel siblings, her fashion style has always been my favorite. VOTE QUEEN LORENA WOOOOO!!!!

Everyone's getting their appreciations like they deserve!! I'm happy for everyone.

FREDERICK FINALLY GETTING THE RECOGNITION, THE APPRECIATION, AND THE PROUDNESS HE DESERVE!! I'M SO PROUD OF HIM EVERYONE LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT THE BOY.

The Cursed Princess Club!! Everyone may have a hard time accepting them at first but they always have their family and friends' back <3 Love how Tori is just "CLAP YOU HEATHENS" Lmao XD

Also the fact that Whitney is just standing there so awkwardly :') he looks like the standing emoji.

Welp, out of the town and to the prison we go~

Leland not getting any visitors in the prison is honestly a really good punishment; a painful one too. How we see in the last chapters about how he realized that Jack actually love him and he has a breakdown, Isolde's speech to him about what else could he possible want, realizing that this whole time he has had everything. And now he's rotting in jail losing everything he once had. All because of envy and hatred. Just because he wasn't satisfied until he could see the man he once love the most suffer. Emotionally, that's really fucking painful.

Out of the prison we go~

So, Pizza exist in the CPC universe? XD That's not supposed to be surprising but I was taken aback for some reason. I guess CPC is set after the 18th century, then!

I can imagine it already. With Suzie moving to the Pastel Kingdom, Lorena will definitely hang out with her almost everyday. Them sparring and eating at a cafe in their free time <3 Sometimes Lance would join too :] They would share notes!!

FINALLY THEY STOLE THE PORTRAIT BACK!! I wonder where they will hang it up? Maybe at the Cpc? Or at the Pastel Palace?

Jack declaring the cpc's forest as a protected place is so damn awesome like, he cares about his daughter's friends!! ALSO THE SPIDER TALKING ABOUT NEWEST MEMBER?? I wonder who...

This panel is everything for me.

BENEDICT IS SO DAMN DEVOTED WHAT??? BRO He tricked the sea cucumber to curse him so he can find his lover!!! (This sounds so confusing out of context lmao) TRUE RELATIONSHIP GOAL.

BLAQUELYN LOOKS SO PRETTY???? I LOVE HER FASHION STYLE SO MUCH!! She rocks that outfit fr!! But Greyden 💀 Deep down I'm still wondering how very little of his hair could make a whole damn coat..

GUYS. GUYS IT'S HAPPENING. EVERYBODY STAY CALM

NELL AND JOLIE WEDDING LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO

Holy shit. First of all another point about the outfits cause I loveee observing everyone's outfit!! Their wedding dress is absolutely!! Pretty!!! The details Lambcat put is amazing. I can see that Jolie's wearing high heels, so can we assume she and Nell has the same height? Absolutely adore how Jolie's dress has ruffles look while Nell's more silky!!

The wedding's decoration is totally magical too!! It looks so majestic and angelic.

Celso and Aurelia is a couple I would never expect but honestly? I'm not complaining. Imagine their date is them sitting at a cafe right at the window seats, watching people outside while roasting each one of them <3 Dream date fr

I do hope it's true love though because if not, R.I.P Celso XD

Holy shit.. EVERYONE PLEASE, ALLOW ME TO MAKE YET ANOTHER FASHION REVIEW. BECAUSE GOODNESS GRACIOUS THIS DRESS IS MAKING ME SWOON. OKAY DAMN YOU GO MARIA YOU GO. First of all the blue fabric looks so metallic, I love that!! The light blue glittery ruffles with little pearls on its edges are also gorgeous. I love the lace necklace complimenting the dress and especially, I fricking love the blue transculent fabric on her arms!!! She looks so graceful.

She got noticed by her idol!!! That is so dang amazing. How she looks in the album cover is also just, woah.

Blaine buddy you cannot just do that. You cannot just. No. Please I'm begging you, reunite with your family. You can go on ahead with your self discovery journey, of course! But at least visit them once or twice :') Your mom is real worried about you, man...

I hope there's going to be a spin off or something about Blaine's journey...

NEW CPC HEADQUARTER??? HECK YEAH!!

Monika opening her jewelry store and achieving her dream!! So proud of her :D and Gwen opening her own bakery!!

Unfortunately I've run out of picture space...

Gwen can finally see her own reflection I am so proud of her :') She love herself!!

Goodness...Leelathae's letter... I need a moment to sob.

I fricking love the message this webtoon gives, man. It's just so damn wholesome and important. Beauty is on the inside. It's a simple message but damn it really is important to understand that message!!

Gwen is wearing braids Y'ALL 😭😭 SHE'S SO BEAUTIFUL

Okay, I'm wondering about something here! In the panel where the pastel family are having breakfast together, we can see Leelathae eating pancakes in her portrait too! Does this mean she can eat? Can food be transported to portraits? Or did Leopold paint a pancake or smth XD

THE LAST. FUCKING PANEL.

Gwen and Frederick holding hands in front of the CPC building while being surrounded by sunflowers which once scare Frederick but now he looks so happy and in peace. I'm so glad everyone each got their deserved ending :')

Well, I suppose this is the last review, then. That's kind of sad, to be honest. But I've loved writing each of my reviews, and I want to say thank you to people who have interracted with them. I always love hearing y'all's thought and theories!! Maybe one day I'll find a new webtoon series which I can write these reviews on!! But for now, this shall be the last cpc review I write!

Mono out! (But still in to hear your thoughts)

[faintvibes]

Historical Hetalia Day Five: 1800 - 1945

Day 5: 1800 - 1945 // Shadows @historical-hetalia-week

When making this piece, I'd been having Thoughts about the potential relationship dynamics between Nyo!Prussia and Germany. Then I happened to stumble upon a glorious mess of a German dress, and this happened. My only regret is making Germany so damn young when (judging by canon, vaguely) he's prooooobably an adult at this point.

More of an explanation is under the cut!

Let's start with Prussia, since the idea for this piece only began to be truly conceptualised upon finding that goddamn dress. Here it is, by the way:

It's from the book "Ein Hauch von Eleganz: 200 Jahre Mode in Bremen" (A Breath of Elegance: 200 Years of Fashion in Bremen)- which appears to have been created on behalf of the Bremen Museum of Art and Cultural History (you'll have to forgive me if that's incorrect- my German is still a work in progress!)

The moment I laid eyes on this, I knew for a fact Prussia would wear this. The dress is tacky, bewildering, and absolutely delightful.

It's dated to 1885, so take that as a loose setting (beyond just '1800s') for this piece. However, the dress is likely the only sure piece of proof you'll find of this. For one, Prussia's hair (nevermind that it hasn't been styled) does not fit the fashionable cut of the time. Women tended to cut their hair short at the front, and then curl those bangs. However, I have a headcanon relating to N!Prussia's hair/general sense of identity (a very long story, that I'd rather save for its own post... maybe... someday... than shove in here!) that makes me think she'd not be so inclined as to cut it. While here, in the privacy of her residence, she doesn't bother to even style here hair- though this is likely a different case in public.

As for what she's doing? Probably preaching about her awesomeness!

At the time of making this, I'd just recently discovered a 3 part series focusing on Prussia's life (uploaded to Youtube by rano) originally from Bilibili (here's part one). I'd adored a fair few of the outfits throughout the series, but two of little Germany's stood out to me:

I'd asked my parents to vote on which one they liked better, and they picked the one you now see! Fun fact: in the video's rendition of the outfit, all those little specks on the vest are tiny patterns. Prussia's dress was enough for me y'all, no way was I gonna be able to draw those on too (｀Д´)

The background is inspired by this image of a room in Sanssouci Palace, built by Frederick the Great of Prussia:

I didn't want to overload the piece with red, so I changed up that colour- but the patterns below the bench Prussia and Germany are sat on are based on the patterns bordering the bottom of the walls.

And yeah! From here I'm pretty sure the explanations are going to be shorter than the first few days :) But thanks for reading, if you've made it this far! That's pretty cool of you

[hmlegacy]

So we won’t fully address how long ago I was tagged in this, but shout out to @friendofbats.

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four Ships

So I try to be balanced in all things but, most of my ships, I’m either all in or all out once they don’t happen, lol. I cannot say I have a Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons ride or die ship, unfortunately (the farmer and my wifey, Popuri). But bring back rival marriage, damn it.

It’ll be tough to dwindle it to four, honestly, I have a lot of genres I enjoy.

Zelda/Link (Legend of Zelda): Yea, I know, BASIC, but man--the fact that their destinies bring them together through even like ancestry. That type of gig is my jam.

Takeru “T.K”/Hikari “Kari” (Digimon): This one...this is the ‘you just had to be there’ era. The wars between Dakari and Takari fans were the things of legend. People had WHOLE SITES dedicated to this and would list the reasons why one coupling worked and why the other wouldn’t--it’s epically crazy to even think about. Alas, Takari...before I got deeply involved in my long-ass Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons, I was writing a series for them that kind of shaped how I wrote for Legacy. I don’t instantly go for the ‘old friends’ relationships but I loved them together and, while I thought I got ‘meh’, I was excited to see all the small hints in what I did watch of Tri.

Tommy/Kimberly (Power Rangers): It’s so silly to even talk about but it’s so funny since I can’t deny this is my first ship--imagine it’s 1994, I’m four-years-old, in kindergarten, with no grasp on anything remotely...and these two were my ride or die.  I was six and PISSED they replaced Kimberly with Kat. I’ll even roll my eyes now that they suggest those two married and have kids. RIP Jason David Frank.

Jay Halstead/Erin Lindsay (Chicago PD): See the trend? None of my ships work out! But this is probably the only modern one i have, lol. These two though, I just loved how they worked together and had each other’s back. I think it’s super tragic how both of their story lines ended given how strong their histories were but that’s how live-actions have to go, I reckon.

Look, I’m too indecisive to not have honorable mentions. Chrom x Robin, Stahl x Panne, Kellam x Olivia, Lissa x Lon’qu, Frederick x Nowi, Tharja x Libra, Lucina x Gerome (Fire Emblem Awakening, meaning the marriages I would struggle to deviate from), Dimitri x Byleth (Fire Emblem Three Houses), Yor x Loid (Spy x Family), Ichigo x Rukia (Screw you, BLEACH)

Last Song: Lol, oh, “Bodies” by Drowning Pool. I was just listening to a 2000s metal playlist on Spotify, that’s where I left off.

Currently Reading: I need to get better at reading...anything. I write and edit my writing by reading it?

Last Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3. Bittersweet but definitely good compared to where the MCU is now.

Craving: Hu Tieu Tom Thit (Pork and Shrimp Clear Noodle Soup) and a Sea Angel Roll would be awesome!

Tagging: My infinite anxiety over the strangest of things will keep me from tagging, lol. But please tag me if you do this, I love reading these.

[painterofhorizons]

Floating Day WIP, 70s edition

@sheeplessthings so while we were talking about Dave having a questionable fashion taste history... I just happpen to note this a few days ago. :D Have a bilingual draft zero-ish note under the cut.

[set after Fred relapses and takes it out on Alex and she left and is staying at Dave’s]

Next day, Alex groans

All of my stuff is still at his place. I've been wearing the same damn stuff for 3 days now, I really need something to change...

This implied a lot of things. Most important, she didn't want to go back yet. Also, his place. Dave couldn't remember having Alex say "their place" even once in the past few years. Since she'd moved in with Frederick a few years ago it had always been her living in his place. Alex deserved to call a place her home, too, Dave thought, then mentally bit his tongue because this really wasn't about that right now. [see this??? see? guy makes sure Alex later has a place to call HER home, too!]

You could just buy some stuff.

He had extra said some, not like buy everything new, even though she could, because he knew shopping definitely wasn't a hobby of hers. But the little word of some ging unter in the overall suggestion to

Shopping? Really? Do you think that's high on my list of things I want to do right now?

Dave didn't know if he was supposed to be amused or annoyed. He decided to stay neutral instead, because neither option seemed appropriate.

I mean we're same height and you are already wearing my stuff right now. I'm pretty sure I've got a few more unused tshirts and probably some hemden that fit you as well.

Alex didn't exactly look happy, but shrugged. At least better than shopping...

When they're in Daves walk in closet a little later and Alex goes through his shirts she finds a very retro one and zielstrebig picks it. Dave immediately starts to laugh.

You're very treffsicher. I guess last time I wore that was in the 70s.

It's awesome, Alex said with the hint of a grin.

Dave noticed that shy expression on her face with a major relief. He didn't expect that finding her something to wear in his wardrobe would be something that cheered her up /get her head in a different space as well, but he was glad it did.

If it fits you it's all yours.

The skin around Alex eyes crinkled as the smile grew bigger.

Don't say that because I'll take your word.

I'm serious, it's all yours. Not like I'll ever wear it again.

But it's fabulous!

Dave laughed and turned around to leave.

I'm serious, it's all yours. Try it on.

~ ~ ~

and yes, I’m picturing something like this :D and I might want to get that as a commission one day to have art about it. xD

[iffeelscouldkill]

Mission Log: REDACTED

A/N: Now that Yuletide reveals are revealed, I can go ahead and own this fic I wrote for the awesome Mousek for Yuletide! It’s quite long (14,999 words), so I’m not going to post the whole thing here, just enough to give people a flavour and lure them to AO3 for the rest.

This fic is written in an “audio narrative” format, in the same style as the From the Archives ficlets if you’ve read those. Slightly spoilery warning (skip over this to remain unspoiled but please read if you’re concerned about potential triggers): this fic features people’s memories being modified (though not completely irreversibly) without their consent.

Enjoy, friends!

Summary: Canon divergence AU from mid-episode 9. Instead of executing Plan B, the Rumor crew learns about a top-secret Regime project that is being carried out at ADVANCE Labs - and that the fate of the crew of the Iris is not what they thought it had been.Violet Liu goes in undercover, posing as a member of the lab team. But can she undo what the Regime has done to the crew and free them - without losing herself in the process?

Read on AO3!

---

“This is Agent McCabe. Two weeks have now passed since our last update. Based on the continued lack of audio input via this swarm of Strain H, we can assume that the crew of the Rumor have acted on the intel given to them by the insurgents, Thasia and Violet Liu, and successfully cured themselves of the VCN nanocloud infection.

 “As a result, pending further developments in this case, the Strange Case of Starship Iris is now considered closed. Footage from the case remains available in the archives and can be accessed on request by submitting form B7-081 with a superior’s signature.

 “My thanks to Major General Frederick, Agents Bauman and Cross, and the specialists at Procyon, as well as Junior Agent Goodman for their assistance in this case. Long live the Republic.”

*

SYSTEM: E.L.L.A.

USERNAME: EMILY CRADDOCK

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 26 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. I just wanted to check in and say that I’m fine, I’m safe and I passed the background checks without any problems. I kept thinking the whole time that someone from the intake process would recognise me, but – none of them seemed familiar, and I guess I wasn’t either. Just a very small cog in the vast machine of the Reg- the Republic. God, I’ve got to get used to saying that again.

“I’m all settled in in my apartment – it’s twice the size of my room on the Rumor, but I can’t help thinking how much I miss that space.” Quiet laughter. “And you all. I… guess I’ll talk to you soon. I’ll have more to update you with tomorrow, after I start work at the lab. And I’ll be able to let you know whether our intel was good.

“Until then… Violet Liu out.”

*

“This is uh, lab report 05, week two? Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Over the past few days, our lab has continued work on synthesizing the NDMA proteins, and Specialists Chang and Yeboah report that they have made some positive advancements in this area. We have provisionally moved up the timeline for the first round of testing with this in mind, though Specialist Yeboah cautions that we need to monitor how the new proteins react with other molecules in the solution first, and then with the blood cell samples.

“A new member also joined our team today – specialist Huang. I wasn’t aware that we’d actually been hiring for our vacancy, but uh, she seems very qualified? A little over-qualified, even. In addition to her qualification from Brightwell she has extensive experience with this type of lab work, which makes us lucky to have her as part of the team. She’s joined Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson in their work on the histone deacetylases.

“My specialism is in a completely different area, and I’m pretty sure our work histories have never overlapped, but – she seems familiar somehow. Except she said she was based on Mars up until six months ago, and I’ve been working on New Jupiter since… uh…

“Sorry – lost my train of thought for a minute there. I’ve been getting these persistent headaches… I think it’s all that poring over modelling data. Though I never get them while I’m working, so maybe they’re delayed-onset headaches? Heh. It could be the lab lighting; I might ask Supervisor Kaaka if we can swap out the bulbs for a lower wattage.

“Uh, anyway. This is Analyst Brannon signing off. Long live the Republic.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, it’s me. Oh my god… oh my god, I can barely process what’s been happening. I was going to send this message as soon as I got back to my apartment, and instead I’ve just been sitting and staring into space because it’s just so… surreal…

“They’re alive. They’re all just… alive and working in a lab at ADVANCE on New Jupiter.

“I mean, we haven’t ruled out the possibility of highly advanced duplicates, but why would the Repub- the Reg- the IGR go to all that trouble? The simplest explanation - even if it still sounds pretty far-fetched - is that they're the same crew.

“Brian, if you’re listening to this – Alvy's alive. I know I didn’t work with him that long but I’m sure, I’m so sure it's really him. But it’s like Thasia and Other Violet said – none of them remember who they were, or their real names. Everyone here calls him Analyst Brannon – Michael Brannon.

“We’re not working very closely together, but I found an excuse to go over to his workstation and introduce myself, and – it seemed like he recognised me. I’m gonna try and find ways to talk to him – the real Alvy Connors is still in there, Brian, I’m sure of it.

“Is there anything you want me to… ask him? Maybe a question that only he would know the answer to?

“Sorry, I don’t have much more time – the IGR has listening devices planted throughout every Republic-issued apartment; everywhere except the bathroom. Even they have to draw the line somewhere. I scanned it, and it’s clean, but if I remember right there are still sensors that will activate if you go above a certain noise, light or heat, threshold – y’know, in case anyone takes it upon themselves to… build a bomb in here or something. And I don’t want the bugs outside to pick up what I’m saying, which is why I’m whispering.

“But I can’t stay in here too long, or they’ll get suspicious, so – I’m fine, and so far I haven’t messed up or called the Republic the Regime or anything in earshot of anyone. And no-one has recognised me. Well, except for Alvy, maybe.

“I’m still trying to figure out what exactly they’re working on, here. If you’re going to go to the trouble of staffing a lab with the crew of an… of an exploded space ship, it must be important, right? Or maybe not. Maybe it’s just a test, to see how well they assimilate.

“I’ll let you know when I know more. Until then… stay safe. I will too. Violet Liu out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 27 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hi, Liu. It’s me.

“I’ll keep this to the point, since I know you probably don’t have much time to spend playing back these messages. We’re all fine here. Kind of in a holding pattern, since there’s not much to do until we hear more from you or from Thasia and the other Violet, but it’s not too bad.

“Jeeter’s really happy, by the way, since he listened to your message. I mean, I think he’s still – processing – because he thought Connors was dead, he even wrote to his parents, and now we find out he’s alive, but not… y’know. Not Connors any more.

“But he’ll be fine. Krejjh is helping, which means the two of them are being even more nauseating then they usually are, and that’s saying something.

“Anyway. Listen, I know you want to try and get through to Connors, but… just be careful, okay? None of us, including Jeeter, wants you to get hurt or – worse – on the off chance that we might be able to bring him back. We always knew it was gonna be a long shot.

“Tripathi said to tell you the same, by the way. Well, she said it in a more… Tripathi… way, but the idea was the same. Find out what you can, but don’t get caught. We can’t afford to lo- to mess this up.

“Okay, I should go. Arkady Patel out.”

*

“This is lab report 06, week three. Analyst Brannon reporting on behalf of Gamma Team at ADVANCE.

“Since my last report, we have introduced the synthesized NDMA proteins to the solution and tested their interactions with samples representing different blood types. Six out of eight of the samples produced expected results, but two of the samples produced some unexpected interactions with the AB type blood cells, which warrants further testing and study.

“Specialist Huang, Analyst Vázquez and Assistant Hudson are progressing with their work on the histone deacetylases, which should be ready to introduce in the next phase of the solution, pending resolution of the AB blood cell issue.

“Okay, what else… Oh, Specialist Huang is integrating well with the team. She and I have had a couple of conversations, though our second one was unfortunately cut short when my headache started up again. Maybe I should bring it up with Dr. Starling…

“Damn it. Is that the time? I was supposed to go for my treatment a half hour ago – damn it, damn it.

“Uh… I should probably redact that from the final report. This is Analyst Brannon, signing off. Long live the Republic.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey guys, it’s me again. Violet. It feels kind of nice to use my own name for a change instead of being called ‘Specialist Huang’ all the time… I almost forgot to react to it once, though luckily Vázquez thought I was just focused on my work.

“Not a whole lot to report still – I’m still trying to figure out what it is the Regime is doing in these labs. It’s something to do with DNA methylation and synthesized NDMA proteins – well, I won’t bore you with the science, but why would the IGR be working on that? Could be they’re trying to develop a neural enhancer, but for what? I haven’t ruled out the possibility of there being some kind of link to the nanobots, but no-one here has mentioned nanites, and there are no nanotech specialists working in the lab.

“They keep us very siloed, too. I know what I’m working on, or at least what I have to do, but I don’t know why, and none of the people I work directly with seems to know what we’re developing here. Just something about a solution and blood cell samples. We might not even be the only lab working on this, which means I’ll have to find another way to get at the bigger picture.

“I spoke to Alvy a couple times – I was careful, Arkady, don’t worry. We didn’t manage to talk for long anyway – people don’t socialise much here. I’d kind of forgotten what it was like to work in this kind of environment, where no-one trusts anyone or lets their guard down, because people will backstab each other for the slightest thing. Maybe they had a professional disagreement, or don’t get along, or they wanted to get the credit for the other person’s work. It doesn’t take much of an insinuation to get someone transferred or – worse.

“Nothing’s happened, not yet, and it’s still nowhere near as bad as that student internship I did during the war. But it feels… tense, almost hair-trigger. I think I heard we’re having an inspection later on this week.

“Anyway, Alvy – I didn’t get to talk to him for very long, not just because of the environment, but because he had this headache come on the second time we talked. I’m not sure if it means anything – he said he gets them often. Brian, do you… remember him saying anything about that before?

“He seems a little different to the way I remember him on the Iris – a little more serious, less laid-back, though he’s still the friendliest person on the team. I didn’t… get to know him under the best circumstances, so I’m not sure if that’s due to the memory wipe or not.

“He also mentioned that he’s been seeing a doctor for these treatments – they all have. It could just be something to do with the away shuttle explosion, some kind of recovery program – there was an explosion, even if it didn’t really kill anyone, and Alvy’s got these – support struts in one of his legs, I think they’re carbon fibre. He walks with a slight limp sometimes.

“It could be nothing, but I feel like it might be worth digging into? Arkady, are you able to poke around in ADVANCE’s systems a bit, see if you can find anything that resembles medical reports?

“I’d better go. I brought my makeup bag in here as a cover for taking a bit longer – I don’t even know if the IGR has cameras in these apartments, but better to be safe than sorry – but there’s only so long you can take to put on the bare minimum I wear.

“Send me a message when you can. Violet Liu, out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 30 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu. Good instincts on the medical treatment thing. I didn’t spot anything like that in my initial sweep of the system when I forged your interview and acceptance records, but I wasn’t on the lookout for it either.

“There’s a limit to what I can access without jacking directly into ADVANCE’s mainframe computer or piggybacking on their local network, but I’ll dig around as much as I can.” Jokingly: “ Worst comes to worst, we could always send Jeeter in with an earpiece and make him pose as a computer technician.

“Oh, also, Jeeter says he doesn’t remember Alvy ever mentioning any kind of migraines or head pain. Apparently he’d go on these all-night coding benders and then sleep for two hours and be completely fine the next morning. Maybe it caught up to him, but – well, I’m not gonna jump to any conclusions. I’ll see what I can find in the medical records.

“Also – be careful with the inspection, okay? Your ID will hold up, Campbell doesn’t skimp on the quality, and you look different enough from the physical description they have on file, but those Regime higher-ups will ask some weird shit to catch you out.

“You’ve got the comm if you need us for anything. Just… keep your head down.

“Arkady Patel, out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Hey, Liu, listen. You were right. There’s something weird going on with these treatments.

“I managed to track down the medical records for the whole crew. Wasn’t easy, but I’ll save the tales of my security-defying exploits for another time. Anyway, I managed to hack into an account belonging to someone called Dr. Starling. They were brought onto ADVANCE’s payroll on June 1st – two days before the away shuttle exploded.

“There are files for all of them, and the scientific stuff doesn’t mean much to me, but from what I can tell, they’re monitoring them all for signs of what Starling calls ‘leakage’ – memories from their previous lives. Five of the other crew members have reported experiencing head pains, and it’s not a physical injury – Starling seems to think the pain is set off by them thinking back beyond a certain point, or being reminded of something from their past life. They upped the frequency of the ‘treatments’ to try and counter it, but so far it hasn’t worked.

“I think that’s what they’re for, the treatments – they’re keeping the crew’s memories suppressed. Which means, if they can be interfered with somehow…

“Bad news is, I can’t get into the scheduling system, not without access to the local network. But in Starling’s notes it says that Alvy was meant to come in for a treatment earlier today- well, yesterday technically, since it’s after 3am. But he didn’t show. So maybe you could get through to him.

“Obviously, don’t blow your cover, but if Alvy’s been getting these headaches a lot, it could mean he’s trying to remember? You said he got a headache when you guys talked – what were you talking about?”

A stifled yawn. “Shit, I’d better sleep, Sana wanted me to help encrypt some intel to send to Thasia and the other Violet Liu first thing in the morning. I’ll talk to you later. Arkady Patel out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“Arkady, you’re a genius! Oh my god, I could kiss you.

“I’ve only skimmed the records you copied, but they make references to a solution that sounds a lot like the one we’re developing in the lab. What if that’s the answer? What if that’s what the IGR is having the crew develop, another version of the treatment – maybe one that’s more permanent…

“…Oh god, that’s so dark. They’re having the crew work on erasing their own memories. It’s so inhuman, so – exactly what the IGR would do.

“–I have to go, I’ve got work in half an hour, but – this really helps. And I’ll try to talk to Alvy today, see if he seems any different after his missed treatment. Violet Liu out.”

*

ACCESSING RECENT DRAFTS... YOU HAVE ONE RECENT DRAFT. COMPOSED: 31 JULY 2191.

REVIEWING DRAFT...

“You, uh—” The sound of awkward throat-clearing. “You are welcome. Yeah. Like I said, it’s uh, it’s what I do! So, no, uh thanks required. Though if you wanted to, I—

“Shit, I’ve gotta go, Sana needs me. Uh, Arkady Patel out.”

Read the rest here!

[recurring-polynya]

In my Great Summer of Austen, I have just finished Persuasion, which I don’t hear talked about all that much and I wanna talk about it.

The plot of Persuasion is that you’ve got Anne Elliot, middle daughter of a baronet who lives beyond his means. In her youth, Anne fell deeply in love with a young (relatively) poor sailor, Frederick Wentworth. Anne’s mother died, but she is often advised by her mother’s best friend, Lady Russell, who convinces Anne to break the engagement because she doesn’t think Wentworth is good/rich enough for her (hence the name of the book). After an eight-and-a-half year timeskip, the Elliots are in the middle of the process of moving to Bath because they can’t afford their ancestral home any more, when Wentworth rolls back into town and all the Austen-esque shenanigans you expect ensue.

I didn’t like Persuasion as much as Pride and Prejudice, but I liked it a lot more than Emma. It was recommended to me by someone who knows my taste in OTPs, so this book already had me at “eight-year painful separation”, “poor guy makes good and proves himself” and also “sea captains.” It’s not a perfect novel-- Austen keeps trying to hammer home this theme of whether it is better to be strong-willed or persuadable, and it’s like, yes, Jane, we see the name of the book, we get it. Anne and Wentworth are also just a little too perfect; the only conflict of the book is them being not sure the other one still likes them. That’s not the worst thing in the world, though because the supporting cast is bananas.

Walter Elliot is Anne’s dad, and he is the exact flavor of Awful that I love and adore. Not only is he extremely vain, but he is constantly judging people for their physical features. Freckles? No. Ginger? Absolutely not. Sailors? As a rule, hideous. His rant about there were too many uglies in Bath is ::chef’s kiss.:: After Admiral Croft moves in to his house, Anne asks him how he likes it, and he’s like “it’s real nice, but there were so many mirrors in the bedroom, wtf.”

Speaking of which, Adm. and Lady Sophy Croft move into Kellynch Hall. Everyone in the Navy has just come back from the war super rich, and the Crofts rent out the ancestral Elliot home, saving everyone a lot of trouble. Apparently, Sophy just tagged along with the Admiral on all his cruises. She is made of leather and is awesome. Adm. Croft loves tearing ass around the county in his phaeton even though he tips it constantly and Sophy goes with them and they have a great time. These two are #squadgoals and Anne wishes they were her parents. Anne has to ride in the phaeton at one point and Sophy is just “watch out for that pole, dear” the whole time. At one point, Adm. Croft sees a drawing of a ship in a print shop window and complains about how shitty it is for about three pages, has the artist ever even SEEN a ship??

Charles Musgrove is married to Anne’s younger sister Mary, who is A Lot. Charles actually asked Anne to marry him first, but Anne turned him down. Charles is super chill about this. Charles is super chill about everything actual, except for shooting, DO YOU WANT TO GO SHOOTING? An astounding amount of plot gets going by Charles making people go shooting with him, or inviting people over for shooting, or one time they had to come home early from shooting. There’s a part where everyone is in the sitting room, and Charles’ head appears in the window “DOES ANYONE WANT TO GO SHOOTING??” At the end of the book, Wentworth has just sent Anne a love letter and she desperately wants to talk to him, but can’t because Charles is walking her home, and Charles sees Wentworth and shouts “CAN YOU WALK ANNE HOME, THIS GUY SAID I COULD COME LOOK AT HIS GUN AND IT SOUNDED SO SWEET” and then runs off in a little puff of dust. I love this Austen-ian himbo and his hyperfixation.

Some other stuff I loved:

I counted at least five characters in this book named Charles. This is a baller move, characters are hard to name.

Despite Lord Elliot’s diatribe on how leathery sailors are, every sea captain in this book was an absolute dreamboat. For all the doofy-ass side characters, every sea captain was handsome, chill, fun to be around, and thought Anne was super cool. There was the melancholy, poetry-reading sea captain, the happily married sea captain, cool ass Adm. Croft, and of course, Capt. Wentworth himself, hot, rich, sensitive, but chill, and at one point, he holds a baby. This book was Jane Austen’s sea captain thirst tower, and I am here for it. I love a sea captain, especially when he is also a smokeshow.

Carriages. I think it was Anne’s sister Mary who was obsessed with what everyone in this book drove, but they were constantly talking about various kinds of carriages I had never heard of before. I very much enjoyed letting all of this wash over me, even though I could not tell you the difference between a barouche and a landaulette. This is like a modern day romance novel with an unnecessary attention to detail on which Lexus everyone drove and I enjoyed contemplating whether or not Jane Austen would be into Jalopnik if she lived today.

The trip to Lyme. The trip to Lyme was so fun! They took a bunch of walks and saw the sea and stayed at an inn and met all of Capt. Wentworth’s cool sea captain buddies and it would have been the best trip EVER, except at the end, Louisa (the red herring sister-in-law you think Wentworth is gonna get with) jumps off a dune or something and Wentworth fails to catch her and she gets a concussion and everything thinks she’s going to die. You’re just reading along and then this happens and it’s like... wut? What just happened?? BIG YIKES.

There’s some other dude who is Anne’s cousin who wants to marry her and it’s mostly boring, until, three chapters from the end, Anne has been meeting with this old school friend of hers, who is now poor, and Anne’s like “I’m not that into Mr. Elliot, actually” and the friend absolutely GOES OFF on Mr. Elliot and details his Crimes for roughly 15 pages. Wow. Damn, son.

Conclusion: Persuasion slaps, eleven phaetons out of ten.

[hockeytrashgoblin]

High ~Part 10

A/N: This one is a long boi. Lots happens lol enjoy

"Babe? Some of the guys are going to be coming over later today if that's okay?"

"Yeah of course, love. They're always welcome."

"I just wanted to make sure."

"Why-oh! Auston's coming too right?"

"Yeah he is. He was whining that I only ever went to his house. I don't want you to be uncomfortable though."

"I'll just go out. I've got to do a bit of baby shopping anyway. I'll take Gray too. When are you expecting them?"

"In a bit. Like maybe 15 minutes before they start getting here?"

"Okay we'll go now then. Do you need anything while we're out?"

"Maybe some snacks? Sooooomebody ate all mine."

"Hey no fair I'm pregnant. I'm starving all the time." I pouted as he hugged me.

"Here I thought the big new kitchen would have enough food for us all."

"It doooes. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry baby. I don't really mind at all." He gave me a kiss before Gray started pulling my leg.

"Mommy I want to play."

"No baby we're going to the store now. Daddy's friends are coming over."

"I wanna stay." He pouted. I was so amazed at my little guy. Once he figured out words it was so fast to him talking in full sentences. He was one and a half now and on track to be fully understanding and talking by two. Much like me as a child. He was really smart.

"You can't stay, love. We'll be back soon and uncle Willy will be here to play with. Maybe uncle Freddie too." Mitch nodded to him and he finally agreed to go with me. We got to the store with little trouble and only one tantrum. 

"Do you want to pick out something for the babies Gray?"

"Yeah!"

"Okay buddy-boop, whatcha wanna get?"

"Hats!"

"That's a good idea. It'll still be pretty cold when they get here. What ones do you want to get?"

"The blue bears!"

"You're sure you want the blue ones?"

"Yeah! Blue like daddy."

"Okay sweet boy, blue it is."

I tried to stretch out the shopping as long as I could but I had a cranky toddler who needed a nap and would only sleep in his bed right now. A phase I didn't appreciate. I got to the house quickly thanks to GPS. I still didn't always remember how to get to the new house fast. I took Gray out of his car seat and just brought him inside without thinking. He had been screaming for 20 minutes and I just wanted him to nap. I didn't take into consideration that there were hockey players all over the living room that I had to walk through to get to the stairs to his bedroom. Including Auston who had still never even seen his son except in pictures from Mitch's insta but there wasn't very many on there. I didn't realize until everyone was staring at me and the boy.

"Hey guys sorry to interrupt." I just kept walking through.

"Mommy I wanna play with uncle Willie."

"After your nap Gray. Right now you need to sleep."

After I put him down for his nap I sat outside his door and cried. Mitch came up to check on me and he sat down next to me rubbing my back.

"I can't believe I was just so stupid. I brought Grayson right through in front of Auston. He's never seen him in person Mitch. I was just so tired of listening to a screaming sleepy baby that I brought him in."

"You're not stupid. This is your house and that's our son. If he didn't want to risk seeing him he could've just stayed home."

"I didn't want him to see him. He doesn't want to see him, hes going to think I did it on purpose."

"He won't." He brushed the hair our of my face and gave me a gentle kiss. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm just frustrated. Probably hormones are playing a role too. Its dumb I'm sorry."

"Don't be baby. Do you want to come down and hangout with us?"

"No I think I'm going to have a nap."

"Okay you can come down anytime you want. Love you, have a good nap."

"Love you."

I ended up sleeping for about 30 minutes. I woke up to Gray jumping on me.

"Baby, why are you jumping? How did you get out of your crib?"

"I climbed. I wanted to be with you mommy."

"Aww my sweet boy come here." I lifted up the comforter and he crawled in cuddling up with me. "We'll have to get you a big boy bed soon."

"Okay."

"Go back to sleep for a little bit okay Gray?"

"Okay mommy. Goodnight."

"I love you."

"Love you."

I stayed awake for a while just soothing my baby and getting him back to sleep. Eventually I fell asleep too. I was woken up a little while later by Mitch.

"Morning sleeping beauty."

"Hi love, how long have I been out? Where's Gray?"

"Probably around 2 hours? He had been asleep to long so I woke him up and brought him downstairs. Auston already left with Morgan and Zach."

"Sorry I've been sleeping so much. I'm just so tired all the time."

"I know, it's okay. Your body is working hard to make two healthy babies."

"Yeah that's true." I said feeling my belly.

"I can't believe you're showing so much already. It took you so long to show with Grayson. Are you feeling them yet?"

"Yeah but it's just light. You won't be able to feel it yet."

"Damn it."

"Sorry baby."

"Says sorry as if it's her fault." He said rolling his eyes. "Come on let's go back downstairs and see the guys."

"Okay." I gave him a kiss before we made our way back down. "Hey guys!"

"Well look who could finally be bothered to come see me." William said sarcastically giving me a hug.

"I'm sorryyy. The twins have me so fucking tired all the time."

"Hows everything going?" Freddie asked from the floor building blocks with Gray.

"Its all going good. The babies are a little on the small side but they're healthy so it's okay."

"That's good I'm glad to hear it." He said with a small but genuine smile.

"Thanks I'm glad too."

"Do you know what you're having yet? Marns said you were finding out this time."

"We don't know yet." I saw Freddie get out his phone but I didn't really think much of it until Will spoke up.

"No you don't but I do." William said with laughter in his voice.

"What?! You know? They called?" I asked getting excited.

"Mhm."

"Well what are you waiting for tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"Mitch looks like he's gonna barf." Freddie laughed.

"Babe come here." I sat him down beside me. 

"How wild is it that I'm the only one who knows what you're having?"

"Willyyyy come on." I whined stomping my feet.

"Okay okay fine. Are you guys ready?"

"Yes for God sake!" Mitch said groaning.

"Okay so you're having another baby boy first off, and baby number two is a little girl."

"Oh my God!! Oh my God. Will for real?"

"Of course for real. I'm not about to lie." I ran up and hugged him and then went back to Mitch.

"Mitchie!!"

"Baby this is incredible. I'm so fucking happy." He held my face and gave me a kiss before lifting me into his arms and spinning me around. I started crying of course.

"Mitch this is so great. We get both."

"Stop crying you sweetheart, I'm going to cry." He kissed me again and wiped my eyes.

"Oh my God this is so awesome.. a little girl! And another boy! I'm so excited." I covered my eyes and started stomping my feet again in excitement.

"I'm so happy for you guys." Freddie said coming over and giving me a hug first then Mitch.

"Thank you Frederick. That means a lot." I said smiling wide.

"Thanks man." Mitch gave him a big hug.

"Cant believe you're going to have three kids soon. How do you feel man?"

"Excited. I'm so excited man. I can't believe I'm having two babies, let alone a boy and a girl. That's wild. Oh my God babe! We're having a girl!"

"I know lovey."

"God I'm not scary enough to have a daughter. Who's going to intimidate the guys trying to date her?"

"(Y/n)." William and Freddie said at the same time. Everyone laughed at the appalled look on Mitch's face. Even Grayson thought it was funny.

"Babe you've got a whole big bad team that can intimidate boys. Plus she's got two brothers. And you can be plenty scary when you want to be."

"Such a liar." Freddie said chuckling. "He literally got into a fight and hugged someone to the ground."

"Yeah but did I win though?" He asked getting worked up.

"Mitchie-"

"Babe no. Did I win though?"

"You did I guess in the broadest sense of the word." William said.

"No I won the fight. I didnt get hit and I got him to the ground. That's a win."

"If you say so."

"Ya know what? Fuck you guys."

"Fuck you guys." Gray repeated causing everyone to quiet down.

"Good going Marns." Freddie said trying to hold it together. William couldn't, he had to leave the room. I could still hear him laughing but I dont think Gray did. He did hear Mitch though.

"Fuck you." Grayson squealed laughing.

"Mitch cut it out." I said hitting the back of his head. He wouldn't stop at all and this is not what I wanted Grayson to start saying all the time and I felt a mad mood swing coming on. "Mitchell get out. Now."

"What?"

"Get. Out."

"Fine." He said scoffing at me and leaving.

"Grayson you come here." He came over and stood in front of me. "You don't say that anymore, you hear me?"

"Fuck you." He giggled but Freddie picked him up and sat him on his lap.

"Listen up bud. That's not a nice thing to say. It's mean."

"Daddy said it."

"Daddy was making a mean joke. You don't want to say mean things." I told him sternly.

"I want to say."

"Gray you listen to your mom. Who's the boss little man?"

"Mom's the boss."

"Right. So we're not gonna say that again right?"

"Right."

"If I hear that you're still saying it I'm gonna come back and we're gonna have to have a talk about listening to mom."

"Okay."

"Say sorry to your mom."

"I'm sorry mommy." He said coming over and giving me a hug.

"It's okay baby boy. I just don't want you saying those words. They're bad ones."

"I won't mommy."

"Good." 

The rest of the evening was spent with the guys. We all played out in the snow with Gray then we came inside and cooked dinner together. The night ended with us all watching spongebob with Grayson until he got tired. I put him up to bed and read him a story after saying bye to Willy and Fred.

All night Mitch had been off. I was worried about him and I was worried that it was my fault for yelling at him. I decided I'd have to talk to him but I wasn't sure he'd want to talk to me. I found him in our room sitting on the edge of the bed. I climbed in on my side and crawled over to him. I gave him a kiss on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I didn't mean to."

"It's okay babes."

"You seemed upset and I just wanted to apologize. It wasn't your fault that he repeated things."

"Do you think I'm a bad dad?"

"What? Mitch no!"

"Really?"

"Oh course hun. You're such a good dad to Grayson."

"But I made him swear."

"Mitchie anyone could've done that. We've all been swearing around him."

"What if I'm a bad dad to the twins?"

"You won't be. Love, where is this all coming from?"

"Auston and Zach where saying some off hand comments. Jokes probably. Some of them just really stuck with me."

"What did they say?"

"Just that I wasn't doing a good job basically. Aus was making fun of me for Grayson crying when you brought him in because I'm not raising him right. Zach said I was too young and dumb to have kids. He said I'd fuck em up. That we were stupid to go through with having the twins because it'll make my career harder."

"Okay new rule. Ya know who isn't allowed to ever critique your parenting? Auston fucking Matthews. You literally adopted his son and have been taking care of him so well his whole life. Auston ran away from me and pretty much never spoke to me again. As for Zach, he can fucking bite me. You aren't a bad parent and you aren't going to fuck them up. Our twins are going to love you with just as much intensity as Grayson."

"Thank you (y/n). You always know just what to say."

"I don't know what impact it'll have on your career and I'm sorry I was so selfish as to not think of that."

"What? No dont apologize for that. I thought of that." He said rubbing my arm that was around him. "I thought a lot about that before I brought up having another baby. I don't see how it would effect my career negatively. Or really at all."

"Maybe they're thinking concentration and stuff?"

"I don't know but this whole season you've been pregnant and we've had Gray for a season and a half before this. I've played my best hockey this year."

"I know I'm so proud of you." I said kissing him.

"I just want to have a big happy family. And it's not like I'm leaving it just to you to raise them. I'm just as involved. And it's not like I'm ditching the guys either. I just don't get it."

"Don't get upset about it baby." I leaned back and brought him back so he was laying on my crossed legs. I started running my fingers through his hair. He sighed in content and closed his eyes. 

"It's just hard."

"Maybe they're just jealous."

"Why would they be?"

"Well I mean just look at you. You've got love, a beautiful family, twins on the way, you're playing better hockey than them, you have a house of your own. What's not to be jealous of?"

"I guess. I'm just really bothered that my best friends would say that kind of stuff about me. I love you guys so much and I just try so hard to show it every day."

"You do show it every day Mitch. You've shown it every day since we found out I was pregnant with Grayson. You're the most loving person I've ever met."

"I just want to do a good job."

"You do, you will. We can do it together."

"I love you so much."

"I love you Mitchie." The babies kept moving around as we were talking and I decided to try and distract him. "Hey love, do you want to see if you can feel the babies?"

"Are they kicking?" He asked excitedly turning over to face me.

"Yeah pretty hard actually."

"Where? Where are they kicking?"

"There's one down here. And the other is over here." I said moving each hand to the spots on my stomach.

"Alright babies kick me. I wanna feel it. I want to feel you move." He spoke to my belly and they started kicking.

"Do you feel it?"

"Shh I'm trying to concentrate."

"Pfft good luck." I said running my hand through his hair again laughing at the look he gave me.

"Stop moving."

"Sorry." I stopped and just sat quietly.

"Was that them?" He asked after a hard kick.

"I felt it over here for sure."

"Me too." He said smiling. "There's one of my babies. Finally. I didn't think they'd ever want me to feel them."

"Oh come on lovey, you knew they'd be felt eventually."

"Yeah I did. Come on other baby, get me." We stayed like that for a while waiting but he didn't feel it again which bummed him out.

"Mitchy it's okay you'll feel them both soon."

"I know I will. After Gray goes to bed I'm gonna sit here with you for hours just holding you and being kicked."

"Gonna take your baby bump naps again?" I asked wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Oh fuck yes. I loved those so much during the beginning of the season. I felt so close to you and Gray that way. It's the closest I could get connection wise since I can't feel them all the time."

"Awe babe, you can feel for them any time you'd like. And take your naps. You can do whatever you need to to feel connected to the babies."

"Can we pick out baby names?"

"What right now?"

"Yes why not? We already know the girl's gonna be Marly right?"

"Yeah I was thinking of giving her my mom's middle name Dawn too but I'm up for discussion on that."

"Marly Dawn Marner. I like it."

"Me too. Do you have any boy names in mind?"

"I don't know. I was kind of throwing around a few."

"Tell me."

"Okay these are just a few that I like. Andrew, Lucas, and Dexter."

"Aaww Dexter it so cute!"

"Yeah I liked it." He said with a shy smile while rubbing his neck.

"Don't do that. You look hot and I'm going to get so distracted."

"Oh my God whatever. Do you have any names?"

"I've been liking Toby. I also like Lucas. Josh, Kyle, Ethan too. I like Ethan."

"Those are cool."

"Now that you've said Dexter though I'm really liking Dexter."

"Well we've got time to decide still. We're only halfway there."

"You've got a point." I gave him a kiss before we laid down and he tried feeling for the babies some more.

[convxction]

[ Sometimes I think about how Chrom has canonically died, and then the madlad heard about it in the present and was like 'hey im super down to pretending that actually does happen this time too, (avatar), lets prank your dad and also my daughter' ]

@jasperlion​

/ / we died once i can die again lololol he’s just hey avatar make that i reaaally reaaaallly died ok? i wanna look cool while dying. i mean damn dying while saying such a cool line. please, you gotta let me say it again. please. and then avatar did kill chrom because he never shuts up about his awesome line. lucina in a corner pikachu meme. validar be like wow that was easy where is the fun.

you could imagine the heart attack frederick had to go through when chrom came and like ‘frederick, tomorrow i will die. dont panic.’ yep he wont panic. absolutely. 

this man thought it was ok to get stabbed by idk how hot a thunder is to his stomach and get up to fight shortly. the amount of trust he has for avatar is ridiculously  ......dumb but admiring ngl. any wrong move and avatar could really have killed him. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. game over binches.

[mxliv-oftheendless]

The Deadly Game

Ok, so people said they wanted to read this, so ask, and ye shall receive! I am actually super eager to see what y’all think of this little snapshot (although knowing me “little” is about three pages in Word lol). It’s not action-packed, but it is pretty tense. I hope it’s as tense as I intended it to be. I hope you guys like it because I kind of want to write more; this show is dark, which means an opportunity to see how dark Heather can go! 

Quick disclaimer: if you have not watched Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated (which, what is wrong with you, go watch it this instant), BEWARB! There are like huge spoilers ahead! I also own nothing except the awesome badass that is Heather McMann. Read on and enjoy, you meddling kids!

It was late at night by the time Heather got home. She rode up her driveway and stopped, killing the engine and removing her helmet. As she got off her motorcycle, she stopped and looked up at her house.

There was an uneasy feeling in her stomach, the feeling that something was off. Not enough that she wasn’t fearing going into her house altogether, but enough that she definitely felt it as she stared up at her house.

Of course, she’d felt such feelings ever since she first set foot in Crystal Cove—the whole town felt off no matter where she went. She put down the bike pedal and headed up the walkway to her front door, ready to grab her phone in case she needed to call the police. 

Heather unlocked her door, and stepped inside, shutting nd locking the door behind her. She entered her living room and looked around, taking in her surroundings in the light from the kitchen and the small nightlight she had plugged in somewhere. Nothing seemed out of place, or stolen. Plus her front door had been locked, and thanks to her investment in a good burglar alarm, she would have known if someone—or something—had broken in.

Unless, of course, they disabled the alarm.

Heather tried to ignore the thought and kept scanning the room. Then her eyes fell on the window across the room. It was one of the windows of her house that received the most sunlight, so it had various flower pots clustered around it.

And it was also wide open.

Heather’s eyes narrowed. Perhaps she was wrong, but she was very sure that window had been closed before she left.

Now on high alert, Heather stepped over to the window and inspected it. From the bright light of the moon, she could clearly see that someone—or something—had forced it open. Heather slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, unlocking it and meaning to call the police.

“What beautiful flowers you have.” Heather froze at the voice. It was light and pleasant-sounding, with a thick German accent. She knew that voice.

Heather turned around, putting her phone back into her pocket. Sitting perched on top of her armchair was a parrot. He was partly enshrouded in shadow, but there was enough light for Heather to make out his purple plumage, the white hair atop his head, and the purple scarf around his neck. She could also see his one piercing green eye, and his other milky eye—although that was due to the long scar traveling down his face and through his eye. He was sitting there casually, as though he did this all the time, and was stroking one of the flowers from the nearest hanging pot with one of his wings.

“One of the things you miss when you are in a cage,” he said, almost conversationally, “is the simple beauty of the flowers. It is good for me that you adore them so much.”

His voice—gods, Heather hated that voice. It sounded almost naturally pleasant, like he was having a good day just by seeing you. It promised things, things you didn’t even know you wanted yet. And just about anyone could be manipulated by that voice, without even realizing it.

That was, of course, only if you didn’t know the intimate details of the animal it belonged to. Which Heather did.

She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d heard you escaped your cage. I figured you’d come visit me eventually.”

“As always, my dear schwarze dahlie, your keen intelligence is refreshing. I cannot begin to tell you the stupidity of some of the guards at the animal asylum.”

“So to what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from Professor Pericles, the only bird worthy of a mention on a list of sociopaths?”

Pericles merely smiled at her, and somewhere in her mind she knew he knew her hatred of that smile. “Merely to pay an old freunde a visit.”

Anger flared up in her. “We are not friends. We were never friends.”

“True, but we shared mutual friends. How are dear Brad and Judy?” Heather hesitated. “Now, now, my dear schwarze dahlie, it is a simple question. You mustn’t be so paranoid.”

She had good reason to be paranoid. But Heather decided nonetheless to answer with the truth. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard from them in years. But you, of course, know perfectly well why.”

Pericles nodded in concession. “True. I do hope they stayed together—such a lovely couple they made. Their son is a perfect mix of them, wouldn’t you say?”

Heather froze, nails digging into the sleeves of her jacket.

“My dear schwarze dahlie, you really think I couldn’t see the resemblance dear Frederick has to his parents? One look at the boy told me all I needed to know. It is lucky for our dear Mayor that Frederick grew to resemble him—saves a lot of questions from being asked.”

Heather wanted to growl at him. Instead she just gritted her teeth and glared at him. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t call the police.”

Pericles simply laughed at her. “Call the police? Oh, but my dear woman, we both know you will do nothing of the kind.”

“How do you know?” she challenged. She pulled out her phone and held it up, showing him the number pad on the screen. “I could call them right now, and send you back to that cage where you belong.”

Pericles eyed the phone screen, and Heather was pleased to hear the pause before he spoke again. “You would do well to remember who you are dealing with, my dear schwarze dahlie.”

“And you would do well to remember who you are dealing with,” Heather returned. “You may have the smartest brain in the world, but you’re still a little bird. I could easily overpower you and send you back to prison, save Mystery Inc. and Mr. E the trouble of having to track you down.”

Pericles’s eyes narrowed; he was seriously considering her words. “So give me one good reason why I shouldn’t do all of that right now.”

“The fact that we both know it will solve nothing,” Pericles answered, in far too smooth a voice for Heather’s liking. “Even if you succeed in sending me back, in the end, it will solve none of the problems Mystery Incorporated faces. And,” Pericles added, “if such a thing occurs, where you do send me back, in the end, all the secrets you have worked to bury will be brought to light again, most likely by the same kinder you wish to protect.”

Heather glared at him, working to keep her voice even. “That’s never going to happen. Even you, for all your smarts, know nothing of who I truly am.” A small smirk came to her face. “I’m the one puzzle you can’t figure out.”

Both of them knew she was right. Sure, Pericles knew some details—why else would he take such pleasure in calling her that nickname?—but even what he knew wasn’t the real truth. It was the one victory Heather had over the damned bird, knowing that she had buried her past so well even he couldn’t find it.

“Perhaps,” Pericles said, and even though his voice sounded the same Heather saw in his body how miffed he was by that reminder. “But the fact of it solving nothing still stands. You know this as well as I do. The die has been cast; the game has begun once more. Fortunately for you, and the kinder, it is important that they remain alive. So you may take solace in that I do not mean them any harm.” For now. 

She didn’t take much solace in that at all. “If that’s all you came here to tell me,” Heather said, “then it’s best you leave. It’d be a shame if all of your plans were to be ruined by a neighbor seeing me talking to you.”

“Not quite,” Pericles replied. “I have one more piece of advice. From this point on, I would watch your back. It would be a shame if anything were to happen to you for meddling into things beyond your understanding.”

“I could say the same for you,” Heather responded. “You should remember that when you try to meddle in things you don’t understand, you always pay the price. One way or another.”

She let that statement hang in the air in the ensuing silence.

“Well, we shall see,” Pericles said after a moment. He spread his wings and flapped himself up off the armchair. “Sleep well tonight, my dear schwarze dahlie. Flowers do not sell themselves.”

As Pericles flew toward the open window, Heather turned around to head down the hallway to her bedroom.

“I do have one more question to ask you,”

Heather stopped walking, but didn’t turn around. Pericles continued. “If you were the esteemed Mayor Jones, and you stole something from me… where would you hide it?”

For some reason, a part of Heather didn’t want to answer the question. For all her dislike of Jones, they were alike in that they knew how far Pericles was willing to go to get what he wanted. But then she remembered everything else Jones had done.

He got himself into this mess. Let him get himself out of it.

Heather turned her head towards Pericles, who was looking in her direction. “He trusts me about as far as he can throw me. Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

She turned her head back around and disappeared down the hall, the sound of flapping wings haunting her every step. 

[markoftheasphodel]

Thoughts on the Jagen Club (FEH-centric)

So I drafted this last year, when I started playing with “Depression Meals” and then “This Could Be Us,” then sat on it for about a year. The rundown on Gharnefs compiled by @airlock inspired me to finish this up and get it out because it ain’t doing me any good sitting in my drafts, is it? This basically just served as my initial round of impressions on how FE Heroes was treating my beloved class of “veteran horsey-type knights” aka Jagens and why the Heroes representation inspired me to write crack ‘fic and less cracky explorations of the gang.

So, here goes...

Jagen: Good Grandpa

Jagen rocks. No, seriously, I love this guy and I love what Heroes did with him visually and character-wise (unit-wise... well, none of these are top-tier units and we will leave it at that). See, one gets the feeling Jagen's had a really good life up to at least late middle age. He came from a small but prosperous kingdom where life was good, he served a worthy king, and basically he's got joie de vivre animating him even in his obvious old age.

(This is one reason I kind of view Jagen as the actual ideal knight in FE. If you're a young knight and you end up like him, good on you. You end up like some of these others, my condolences. Kids like Roderick and Silas should take note.)

He's not that complex-- just a good-hearted old warhorse stomping around to prove he can keep up with the colts. My favorite line is probably the one he uses for a bad level-up, though-- a bracing shot of self-contempt: “I have dishonored my rank and my country.”  

Gunther: Bad Grandpa

He looks like Axe Jagen. Past middle age, thinks himself as a parent-figure to his liege Corrin, offers to chat over tea. But unlike Jagen, his kingdom's a mess, his life is shot through with tragedy (the scar on his face is, as usual, representative of more than skin damage), and Gunther lets it all hang out during one of his specials quotes: “I will have my revenge!” That and the line “My armor has known...so much blood” hints that there’s more to this guy than tea parties. So what’s the deal with Gunther? Uh... depends on which route(s) of Fates you played. Heroes doesn’t really pick a “side” as far as Gunther goes so IDK look up Revelation on a wiki I guess. It’s wild.

But the way he presents himself is quite engaging! Would have tea with, etc.

Titania: Team Mom

Confident and chatty Titania is the resident ray of sunshine among veteran horsey-riders. She’s happy to take up menial tasks because they gotta be done, but she’s definitely working for a cause on a level beyond “money talks” or even abstract honor. She’s into training, but for the stated reason that practice and being on top of one’s game keeps one alive, and Titania is very, very invested in everyone staying alive. Training isn’t a quirk so much as it is part of her overall practical and constructive approach to life and duty... though there are a couple of hints that Titania’s beginning to feel her age (she’s like, 30!).

And then we get her Valentine’s alt, Warm Knight Titania, who keeps the practical “money can’t buy happiness” approach to life but is very obviously all wrapped up in the feelings for her Commander that went unspoken during his lifetime... and the prospect of a second chance thanks to all these alternate timelines colliding.

Overall just as Jagen IMO represents a damn good representation of an ideal knight at the end of the road, Titania-- despite or perhaps because she quit being an actual knight-- is a beautiful integration of Duty and Training and Covert Romantic Feelings and Familial Affection without coming down too hard on any one element.

Frederick: Wacky Uncle

As a 3DS-era character there's not much surprising about Frederick for anyone who's played Awakening. Endearingly voiced by Kyle Hebert, Freddy adores his lord Chrom and hates disorder and bear meat. He’s got an alt, summoned from a beach vacation, who is obsessively cleaning up seashells and confessions to “sinning” by which he apparently means taking a break.

I admit to holding a subversive view of Frederick in that his zeal to be a great knight is undermined by all of his tics and quirks and that's part of why he and everyone else ended up dead in the original timeline-- and Heroes doesn't change my mind on that point. His fixation on clearing the garden weeds and rising early to pick up pebbles sound less like doing the menial tasks that somebody’s gotta do and more like make-work that Frederick does because something compels him to. Still, Frederick's rocking so much joie de vivre of his own that it's impossible to not like the guy. The man likes what he does, what can I say?

Still should’ve had “Pick a god and pray” in his arsenal of voiced lines somewhere.

Finn: Hot Mess #1

When Finn-- the only member of this crew whose home games never came out worldwide-- hit FEH I remember one Redditor snarking that they didn’t understand why other fans were so excited about another Frederick-style “lapdog” character. Finn indeed presents as the latest model number of “stoic and dutiful knight” on the surface... and then the trauma, debilitating melancholy, and lack of self-preservation leaks out line by line (and given two of these tell-tale lines are at 1* rarity, it’s meant to be obvious).

His identity is all wrapped up not just in some conception of being a knight but in his lance (a gift from his late lord Quan, of course)-- an object, a tool. He's at least two decades younger than Jagen (and Gunter), but whereas the old guys are determined to prove they've got life in them yet, Finn's past caring if he survives the next battle. Unlike Titania, he’s not fondly reminiscing about the happy little moments raising his adolescent liege Leif or his “daughter”/ ward Nanna. He’s not interested in pulling weeds or doing the laundry-- he’s anxious to know the layout of the castle in case it gets torched... when he’s not obsessively repairing that lance, that is. He’s got zero quotes on the value of training compared to least three indicating he's fine with ending up dead. So yeah, Finn’s basically Antimatter Titania.  Meanwhile he’s voiced to sound about twenty years older than he looks, which seems to be deliberate for both NoJ and NoA.

Finn’s more like a cautionary tale to the Rodericks and Silases of the world-- sure, you can be this guy, but who’d want to be? He sure looks pretty in his attack art though...

Seth: Hot Mess #2

Ooh, boy. Seth has what's arguably the greatest storyline scene FEH has afforded a supporting character in all of Book I... possibly in all the mainline Heroes chapters. It evokes his rebuke to Ephraim in Eph's version of Ruled By Madness and it's awesome. But the Seth we get in Heroes is a very... intriguing... look at what's underneath the shiny surface of the Silver Knight. There’s some Training stuff, a sense the man has Opinions but is struggling to stay in his place, a reference to the wound he got from Valter and an admission he’s not fun to be around. And then it gets a bit weird.

“Do not trouble yourself over my well- being. I would play the pawn gladly, would it bring us victory.“

He isn't just unattached to his own survival the way Finn is, Seth is actively advising the Summoner to keep enough distance to make it easier for them to send Seth to die. Repeatedly. Maybe the pain of his half-healed wound is driving him mad, maybe he's afraid unspoken feelings for Eirika will turn him to the dark side, but Seth is kinda messed up. And whereas honestly every iffy thing about Finn was already there in the Jugdral games and their side materials, Seth’s FEH presentation came as a shock to me and I’ve seen it flat-out called “Out of Character” elsewhere. The hint of a playful side from his support chain with Natasha, for instance, is nowhere to be found here. It’s odd and kind of compelling and yet not terribly likable, in my opinion. Frederick needs to chill and Finn needs a hug (and probably some anti-depressants), but Seth... I dunno. He needs friends, maybe? Cormag when.

“I answer destiny's call!” is a damn good line, though.

Bonus Clive and Mathilda (The Lovebirds): 

The Legendary Knight and her Idealistic boyfriend are not technically Jagens (that’s Mycen, subverting the archetype almost as soon as it was established), but they’re veteran cavalier/paladin types in their late 20s, likely of an age with Seth and Frederick at least and not many years younger than Titania and Finn. So, how do they measure up personality-wise? 

Clive and Mathilda have the advantage that their Heroes incarnations hit at virtually the same time their FE15 selves did, so there's not as much revelatory about them. Same VAs (Grant George is fantastic), consistent designs, consistent personalities. Clive struggles a bit with his dilemmas from FE15 and has a hilarious line where he’s taking care of his own horse because the Order of Heroes apparently has no staff (for the record, he says he enjoys caring for the horse). Mathilda meanwhile has a couple of quotes about her love for Clive and quite a bit about her concerns regarding Clive’s sister Clair. They’re not very extreme personalities-- even Titania, well-rounded as she is, comes across as more extreme than Clive & Mathilda thanks to her open zeal for life. I’m not quite sure how they’d come across to someone who hadn’t played FE15, as the nature of Clive’s doubts in particular are merely hinted at here. 

They’re good supporting characters but there’s a reason my Jagen-club stories don’t use them as focal points.

Not available: Mycen, Arran, Oifey, Marcus... after two damn years.

[takeenata]

Inbetween - Part 4

Exiting apartment 431, with a large duffle bag in my hand, and a librarian at my side, I walk across the hallway and knock on a door with a small, steel brown 432 on it. From the otherside, I hear the stumbling of footsteps and the fumbling of an adult male. Freddy’s less-than-gleeful expression and a frown was more than enough of a sign to understand he was disappointed. “Kyle, right? He does seem your friend,” he retorted, his dull eyes and glasses staring at me. Clever jab, but I can retort. “You were my friend once too, Frederick. What does that say ‘bout you?” He scoffs and turns his attention back to the door. Small victory won.

The door of apartment 431 partially opens, as a chain prevents full exposure. In the crack of the door is a pair of blue eyes on a canvas of peach skin. “Who is --” The sunken eyes of Kyle spring to life in an instance. “OH! Hey, Tak, come in!”

I hear three locks unbolt before the door is wide open, revealing the small apartment that belongs to this man. As well as the full outfit of the day of my blonde-haired doctor. A black shirt, a pair of pink baggy pants comparable to MC Hammer, and to wrap it up was a pair of mismatched socks; one white, one black with green patches on the toes and heel. “Make yourself comfy, I’ll make us some coffee!”

Enter myself with Kyle’s face gleaming with the idea of good company. His eyes shift to the, to him, a stranger. “Nice to meet you Mister . . .” “Wolfgang,” chimed Freddy. “Frederick Wolfgang?” He questioned, in a manner of importance, while he stuck a hand for Kyle to shake. Freddy’s library was just on the news no less than four hours ago. Thinking of which, we should really follow up on what happened after I got him out of there.

I could practically feel the excitement jolt out of Kyle at this point. His giddiness was expressed in awe-filled laugh. “Of Wolfgang Librarium?! Mr. Wolfgang it’s so nice to meet you!” Kyle snatched Freddy’s hand in a quick manner and shook it like Yahtzee game. “Your site got me through high school, college, and even today!”

Freddy was going through Hell as it was, I wasn’t going to interrupt the two. It was Freddy that rushed me out of the house and got me into an argument with the missus; surely he’d understand that we had places to be. However; Kyle’s enthusiasm was met with Freddy’s wholesome behavior. “Splendid! A scholar’s mind shouldn’t be limited by the funds of his wallet, but colleges still need to strive somehow. What peaked your fancy, Mister . . .” Kyle enjoyed that he returned the question. “Wallace! Kyle Wallace, PhD!”

“A doctor! In what field?”

“Arachnology; Spiders!”

I saw a slight shift in Freddy’s face at the mentioning of the eight-legged kingdom. Did the werewolf suffer a certain phobia? “Arachnids! What um. Caught your interest in those exactly?”

“The variety, the colors, the subspecies, and the capabilities of them! They’re like small, small dogs! Except most people usually don’t want to pet your pet spider. OH!” Kyle would scatter away, a look of joy spread across his face. Frederick’s face; not so much.

Kyle returned with his right hand facing palm down, his arm lifted slightly. He was escorting a large spider that had a yellow body; very skinny legs too. “This is Fleece! My Golden Orb Weaver!”

Kyle takes a few steps forward to Frederick. Fred takes a few steps backwards, his face filled with shock. “Th-That’s nice,” he says with a stagger. “He’s very, um. Interesting.”

“She is!” Corrected Kyle. “Do you want to ho-”

“I’m contempt! Thank you!” Snaps Frederick. 

“Well oookaay,” the kid replies. Turning on his heel, he disappears once again.

“I’m hopin’ that he’s getting another one,” I laughed.

“Nothing about this is funny right now, Takeenata,” Frederick speaks with gloom. “Isn’t the entirety of your being to save the world or some dream of that fashion?”

“Wouldn’t call it a dream, Frederick. I’ve spent my whole life fightin’ things like these guys. And I even fought them once too!”

“You fought this monster already -- how does he harass us like this now then?”

“He had uh. Partners in crime. And they sort of, y’know.” I hit my chest a few times to motion where I was deeply stabbed.

“I know -- what?” Frederick’s puzzled look threw me off for a bit. I expect a guy who runs a library to at least know a thing or two.

“Stabbed me?” “They stabbed you?” “THEY MURDERED ME!” I hadn’t noticed that Kyle returned. He entered at the wrong time, and would once again turned on his heel to wherever he was before.

“They killed you?”

“How, of all people in my life, did you not know?!”

“I’m a busy person Takee-”

“TOO BUSY TO EVEN CHECK UP N’ SEE HOW THINGS ARE?”

“You know damn good and well we were -- We ARE -- not on good terms after your benign actions with Ms. Fortuna!”

“You’re so fuckin’ pissed ‘bout me helping your girlfriend with her work that you’d forget a friend even exists? I was fucking DEAD Frederick! BUT MIRACULOUSLY. I came back! I wanted out after that! But instead, I made a fuckin’ deal with the afterlife and here I am!”

“Where and when does the fault lie on my behalf, Takeenata?”

“None a’ that does! I’m just pissed n’ venting now.”

“You’re an absolute mess of a man. Elf. Man-elf. Man-child more so suits you.”

. . .

“Mom, dad,” Kyle chips in. “Are you two fighting?” Sarcasm wasn’t anything short in supply with him. “Can you two at least hold hands for a few moments and tell me what you need? From all the yelling I’m guessing we’re going after your murderer’s, dad?” He humbles himself by calling me his father.

I have no issue with it. Every one of my friends does it eventually. “Yeah uh -- You ‘bout figured it all out Kyle. We’re going after the guys that murdered me a few months ago. Sound like something you’d be wanting to do?”

“Oh! Will it be like our get-together in twenty-fourteen?”

“Similar I’d imagine? Less street gangs, more angry demons. With a possibility of going too?” I fix my glace onto Frederick.

Without skipping a beat he replies in a less than enthused voice. “Purgatory. He’s in Purgatory.”

“On subject, and if it’s not rude. Who is “he” and how do you know that he’s there?” Kyle questions. I remember having asked Frederick the same question before, but never got a clear answer. Perhaps he’ll be more honest with Kyle.

“Salamendoza, demon of greed. Vile intentions, and loose lips. Right before, during, and somewhat after he had bruised me, he talked about every detail of a plan of his. To steal my book from my home, to murder myself so that I could not reveal everything that is “going to happen,”” he says, wiggling his fingers into the air. “How he’ll go to purgatory.”

Kyle and I are both standing and waiting for more. Frederick’s gaze glances at the two of us. Kyle and I stare at each other for a moment, then back to Freddy. “Is -- is that it?” Kyle’s confusion is apparent in his voice.

“Well, yes. That is all he told me. I imagined he would’ve told myself more had you not been there.” Frederick points a finger at me. “But, had you not been there, I wouldn’t be here telling you both this.” “Is that your way of sayin’ thanks?” A smirk across my face, and sarcasm inbound.

“You are welcome to think that.” Smarmy bastard. “Kyle, will you be joining us?”

He stares up into the ceiling for a bit, and exaggerates his face as he speaks. “Oh well! I dunno! I could sit here at home all day, or join you guys is possibly saving the world? I don’t know, my schedule is pretty tight right now.” I deliver Kyle a soft jab and he laughs in return. “Of course I’ll join you two. Just fed my boys today so they oughta be fine for a week. Should I bring anything special or?”

“Bring ‘it.’” Kyle’s look of confusion lasts for only a second before I could see the lightbulb pop in his head.

“OH! It. Okay. Sure I can do that. Want me to bring the coat and all?”

“Everythin’, I guess. Right Freddy?”

“Frederick.” He snaps. “And obviously. Everything and anything that you believe can help us, bring please.”

Kyle starts walking to get his things. “Awesome. Awesome awesome. Just us three on a badass quest to Hell itself?”

The way Kyle states these things so casually gives me hope that we’ll do just fine. “Four, actually.” “Four?” Questions Frederick. “Who’s the fourth.”

“A friend in Missouri.”

[darksidechick823]

23 for Hans x Anna, please!

Awesome. Behold, the “Seeking Shelter” prompt! 

“Ugh. I can’t believe you convinced me this was a better idea than just staying in the castle.” Anna mumbled as she trudged through the woods.

“What’s wrong with a little hike?” Hans asked as he gripped her hand a little tighter. The dirt path they were on was beginning to narrow, and he pulled Anna closer to him as they made their way through the thicket. 

The pair had joined several of Hans’ brothers on an unofficial visit to Kesben, the Southern Isles’ mountainous, eastern neighbor. All of the important royal duties fell to Frederick and Viktor, the two eldest brothers on the trip. Anna and Hans were using it as more a romantic vacation, and with the pesky elder Westergaards busy, that left the pair free to explore on one sunny, Saturday afternoon. 

“Little? We’ve been out here for hours.” Anna replied with a bit of a whine. “My feet are killing me.These boots aren’t made for this much walking!” 

“Then why’d you wear them?” 

“They’re the best I brought!” 

Hans shrugged and offered her a teasing smile. “Would you like me to carry you?” 

“No.” Anna huffed. “What I would like is some hot cocoa and a warm foot bath!” 

“Soon enough, my love.” 

Anna glanced up at the sky. What was the lovely light blue was now a mixture of orange and purple. “Hans…the sun is setting…” She tugged on his sleeve and pointed upwards. “See?” 

“Oh wow.” Hans admired the sky. “It’s so colorful… like an artist’s canvas!” 

“Yeah, sure.” Anna sighed. He was missing her point. “Can we go now?” 

Hans shook his head. “Anna… nature is beautiful. We should enjoy it as much we can.” 

“I enjoyed it plenty before, believe me. Right now, I just wanna go home. Don’t you think your brothers will be wondering where we are??” 

Hans looked at her with a skeptical expression. 

“…right.” Anna popped out her bottom lip at the absurdity of the statement, and she rephrased it. “Don’t you think they’ll wonder where I am?” 

“Maybe. And then they’ll remember you’re with me and no longer give a damn.” He reached into his pocket, furrowed his brow, and then began giving himself a pat down. “Uh… uh oh.” 

Anna watched him with both unease and curiosity. “What?” 

“I must’ve dropped the compass.” 

“OHMYGAWDWE’RELOST!” 

“We are not lost!” Hans huffed. “We can just turn around and follow our footprints.” 

“What foot prints?” Anna looked at the ground. “All I see are leaves.”

“Just c’mon.” He led them back the way they came, or so he thought. He ended up trusting his gut when it came to a few forks in the path. And his gut told him wrong. 

“I don’t recognize these flowers from before.” Anna pointed out. 

“But look how beautiful they are! These don’t bloom in the Isles. Or Arendelle!” He said excitedly. He carefully picked one and placed it gently behind Anna’s ear. “A lovely bloom for an even lovelier princess.”

A small blush formed on her cheeks as she smiled at her husband. “Thank you.” She tried her hardest to keep smiling and basking in his level of excitement, but unfamiliar territory only screamed one thing in her mind. “H-Hans… are you sure this is the way?” 

“Eh… no. But that’s alright. It’s all part of the adventure!” He said with far too much enthusiasm than the situation warranted. 

“How can you be so… so… chipper? We’re lost in the middle of nowhere!” 

Hans looked around as they walked. “Why aren’t you? Usually you’re the one dripping with endless optimism and cheer.” 

“Because we’re lost? And it’s getting dark. Who knows who or what is out there??” Anna’s eyes grew wide as she started rambling. “ohmygosh what if there’s hunters? Or wolves?? Or…lions, tigers, or bears--” 

“Oh my.” He said sarcastically.

 “-- or… demons? For all we knows these woods could be enchanted or–” she was suddenly silenced by Hans placing fingers against her lips. 

“Shh…. just calm down, okay. We’ll be fine.” He grasped her hand once more and turned down a path to the left. “Anna look! A house!” 

“Wait, what?” She peeked around him to see a small shack overgrown with vines. “People live out here?” 

“Maybe! C’mon. They might be able to help!” 

Anna struggled to keep up with his longer strides as they approached the front door. She watched him knock, to no reply. “I don’t think there’s anyone home…” 

Hans tried the knob. It turned easily and the door creaked loudly as it swung open. No one was inside, but in the dark, he could make out a table and chairs, a fireplace, a rotted looking couch, and what appeared to be some sort of bed in the far corner. He stepped inside and managed to get a small fire going and turned to Anna. “Coming?” 

She bit her lip and looked back out at the wilderness before scurrying inside and bolting the door closed. “It’s filthy in here.” 

“Well, it is abandoned.” He frowned. “I suppose we’ll stay the night and find our way back in the morning.” 

“ugh, wonderful….” Anna sighed loudly and plopped down on the couch, only for let out a squeal as it collapsed under her. She fell hard onto the floor.

Hans chuckled. “I guess that’s out.” He scooped her up off the floor and carried her to the bed. 

“Don’t you dare put me down on that. It looks ready to break too!” Anna whined and clung to Hans tighter. 

He had a strange sort of grin on his face as he ignored her fears and sat down. Nothing happened. “You’re panicking over nothing. See? It supports us.”

“Not that it matters… it’s to small for us both to fit.” Anna peered at the narrow mattress, or, whatever it was Hans was sitting on. It looked more like a ruined mess of padding. No blankets, no pillows. And what was that smell? “Besides… who knows what critters or bugs are infesting this… this lump?” 

“So we’ll take an extra long bath tomorrow.” Hans replied and let go of her. “Besides. It’s a perfect size! I’ll sleep on this. You can sleep on me.” 

Anna snorted. “Like I’ll even be able to sleep in this creepy ol’ place.”

His grin widened. “I know ways to make you tired. This is a romantic getaway, after all…” 

“Eeew, no!” She swatted his arm. “No way in hell we are doing… that in here! This is hardly the time or place.” 

“Nonsense!” He stood and kneeled before her, working her boots from her feet. “we have each other, and we can make anything be romantic.” Once her boots were off, he tugged off her stockings. “And what better way to start making you comfortable than to giving some tender love to these poor, aching feet…” 

[faejilly]

so the darlingest @jadesabre301 ummmed and eventually decided to tag me in one of those LIST FIVE FAVORITE SHIPS or something like that, but I also ALSO stayed up for idk, about 24 hours yesterday for no reason (insomnia! gave up and read hundreds of thousands of words of fic and they are all blurring together in my head now!) and even tho I did get sleep this morning I’m still

weird

so. sleep deprived OTP LIST?!? wtf-ever

tagging, uh,no one from Shadowhunters ‘cause everyone I follow has the same fucking Malec answer 

w/a generous side of Saia/Clizzy/Melizzy/Claiabelle LOVE-DODECAHEDRON FEELS. (we have the worst/best portmanteaus you guys. *laughs*)

(I LOVE YOU GUYS, I’m kidding, you can totally do this too if you want to, let’s all give different answers as to why we love them, I’m pretty sure we could pull that off, anyways, sorry.) gods, my brain y’all

trying this again. TAGGING ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO AND NO ONE WHO WOULDN’T. Slightly less melodramatically, uh: @crisium @dragonreine @eponymous-rose @kiezh @wellreadpigfarmer 

Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy for reasons I cannot really articulate beyond PRETTY! and MISANDRY! so. You know. That.

Anne Elliot/Frederick Wentworth BECAUSE PERSUASION fuck yeah

Nico Rathe/Philip Eslingen in Melissa Scott’s Astreiant books because damn, y’all. Just. Damn. Go read them, they’re awesome. (Tho I would legit read a 500k word interstitial of them being domestic because the romance is very much not the focus of the books, but still. STILL. Someone write me a 500k curtain fic I will pay you in, uh. Tears of joy? Incoherent *pterodactyl squeaks*? Yes, squeaks, screeching in someone’s ear is just rude.)

Death & Everyone. In like, a, everyone is in love with Death and it’s worth it for that smile while she escorts you out of this life. I think basically this is just my I’m in love with Death moment, shit. JOYCE BYERS AND ONE FUCKING DAY WHEN EVERYTHING GOES WELL AND HER KIDS ARE HAPPY. I have derailed already, damn, I really thought I’d make it to five before that happened. (jilly/sleep, gdi) Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson. PHRYNE FISHER/JACK ROBINSON. wait. topic. list. ok I’m better now.

Guinevere Pettigrew & Joe Blumfeld in Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day (movie version). And not even because Lee Pace playing piano, though that is an excellent bonus. Mostly because silk and socks and breakfast which is as close to sense as I’m gonna bother trying for right about now.

Bonus: Alec Lightwood & Magnus Bane, duh, but everyone here knows that already

[magic-magpie]

Hetalia High School Headcanons

And by high school, I mean British high school.

As a sixteen-year-old who’s just come out of high school, I have a lot of headcanons as to how the some of the nations are in high school, so I thought I’d share them with you. Feel free to add your own!

Alfred is brilliant at pretty much everything he tries, believe it or not. He's the school's golden boy. Top of the class (for the most part), star player of the rugby and football teams, steals the show in drama productions, like damn boy, he has every reason to brag about himself and he does. Like, everyone who meets him thinks he's an idiot and knows nothing, and are totally dumbfounded when they see his perfect test results. He doesn’t have to put effort in, but he does anyway. Not a huge amount, just enough for someone to say ‘Yes, he tries’. He and Arthur have a sort of friendly rivalry where they constantly try to one-up the other, but they want the other to score just as well as they do. He excels especially at Maths and Physics, and has been advised countless times to go into something physics-related, but his heart inexplicably lies with Archaeology. Like, okay Alfred. You do your thing.

Arthur is another top performer. He's either second after Alfred, joint with him, or best in the class. He's naturally talented - he doesn't have to put much work in to get the stellar grades he does. A quick read of the textbook the night before, and he'll be fine. As a result, he does not know how to revise, and he knows that that's gonna come to bite him in the arse in college, but that's for Future Arthur to worry about. Right now, he’ll just do whatever works at the moment - it’s hard to work at home with his three rowdy brothers, anyway. He does take his exams seriously, never say that he doesn’t. He just doesn’t have to work hard to get those top grades. But when it comes to rules, Arthur, unlike Alfred, isn't a golden boy. He breaks rules left, right, and centre; he chews gum, he wears punk boots, he has more than one piercing in his ears, he's not afraid to punch a git or get into fights for something he believes in - by this point, if he wasn't such a stellar student he'd have been kicked out. His favourite subjects are English and History, and he excels in both. He especially loves English Literature, mostly because he has this uncanny ability to memorise Shakespeare quotes after only hearing them once. It weirds everyone out. He liked Food Technology, but he got banned from the subject in Year Eight when he set fire to the kitchen and almost burnt down the school. Also, something that constantly makes him laugh is the fact that he applied for the position of Head Boy, and was accepted. He never thought he’d actually get it - it’s not that he’s a bad student, it’s that he sorts out people who wrong him with cutting words and his fists. But hey, he’s Head Boy now.

Francis isn't academic at all. His best subject is French, because he speaks it. Otherwise, he gets pretty low grades. He has a hatred for English - specifically English Literature - because of all the long-winded poetry and inferences of words and weird Shakespeare quotes. English isn't his first language and he's still unfamiliar with half its rules and double meanings and such, so he gets frequently confused. However, he's an absolute genius when it comes to Food Technology. Like, anything that they were told to make, he could, and he'd make it look beautiful, as if it came from a five-star restaurant. He's a sort of celebrity amongst the staff because he gives the Food Tech teacher some of his cooking and they take it to the staffroom and all the staff eat a bit 'cause it's just so damn nice. Francis wants to open a restaurant as his career, and literally all of the teachers support this. He wins every single Bake-Off the school holds. He’s also pretty good with art - working with textiles is his favourite. As a side project from his restaurant, he aspires to become a fashion designer.

Matthew is pretty good in class. He gets good grades, but his grades are often overshadowed by Alfred's. He gets kinda pissed whenever teachers mistake him for Alfred, because he can't help but think that he's that uninteresting and average compared to his shining cousin. However, he really comes into his own when playing ice hockey. Alfred doesn't play ice hockey because it clashes with football practice, so there's no chance of overshadowing. But even if Alfred was part of the team, it'd be him getting overshadowed. Mattie is a demon on the rink. He's ruthless, scores the most goals, and is an incredible tactician. It was no surprise when he was nominated Captain. People still talk about the match where he ended up winning the game but landed himself and the opposing team's captain in hospital. He is dedicated to his ice hockey.

Ludwig is the living embodiment of 'hard work = good grades'. He works diligently in every lesson, has a study timetable that he sticks to like his life depends on it, and never breaks a single rule. As a result, he's often just behind Arthur and Alfred - something that he's not really impressed by, because Alfred does little work and Arthur does even less, yet they're top of the class?? It’s a source of constant irritation for him, but he still works hard and doesn’t slack off even an iota. He applied for Head Boy, and was incredibly close to snapping Arthur’s neck when Arthur got the position. Instead, he was given the position of Head of the Newspaper, and he does his job to the best of his ability. He creates a pretty awesome newspaper - one that the students actually find interesting. On Presentation Evening when they’re all given their GCSE certificates, he’s the one who gets the prize for effort.

Gilbert tries a lot harder than you’d expect, with study timetables and everything. He’s much more of a well-behaved student than you’d think. Sure, he swears a lot, and he’s loud and brash, but delinquent? Nah. He works hard in and out of lesson, although he works best with people than without. Revising with Ludwig is what he usually ends up doing. Speaking of Ludwig, if anyone dares to say anything about his baby brother, they’ll get Gilbert’s fist connecting with their jaw. Somebody tried it once, and Gilbert made them see stars. Nobody really has anything bad to say about Ludwig, but even if they did, they wouldn’t. But Gilbert’s not mean. Anyone who knows him knows that he’s as mean as a puppy. Speaking of puppies, there is this one specific teacher who Gilbert is just a total teacher’s pet for. Mr. Frederick, he’s called, or Herr Friedrich, as Gilbert insists on calling him. He puts his hand up for every question, and glories in the praise Mr. Frederick gives him. Mr. Frederick’s the one teacher who truly believes in Gilbert’s potential to succeed, who encourages him to follow out his aspirations. As a leaving present at the end of Year Eleven, he got Mr. Frederick a pet bird. The highest form of gratitude, in his opinion. He himself has a pet bird. He also writes a column about birds in Ludwig’s newspaper. He brought a bird to school once.

Feliciano doesn’t really try in class. He’d probably get better grades if he tried, but he finds most lessons severely disinteresting. Like, how was Maths going to help him in the future? As a result of his lack of interest, he’s often been caught daydreaming in class, or even full-on sleeping. The work he does try on is just too hard for him, so he ends up losing interest again. He spends most of his time in class either sleeping, talking, or drawing in the back of his books, creating detailed pieces of art and concept art for clothes. Art and Food Technology are probably the only lessons he truly pays attention in, because he likes them. He’s naturally skilled at art, and his teacher is always impressed with each artwork he creates. Some of them have been featured in local art magazines, much to his happiness. He has the potential to get into some of the most prestigious art universities, so that’s where he aims to go. He doesn’t need all those fiddly subjects like Maths and Chemistry for that, no matter what everyone says. He just needs to be good at art, so that’s what he’s going to continue to improve. That’s all I can be bothered writing for now. XD

[kiri-chu]

My 122856835603546th play through of FE: Awakening notes / thoughts crap.

-I tried to like Tharja, I really did... I can’t do it. I hate her so much and I kill her off every time now. I love Noire, but I won’t subject her to being born to such a horrible mother. Tharja’s design is awesome and she makes a gr8 dark mage but her character is just too mean and gross. Like, fuck off Tharja. 

-I still don’t understand how MU was able to obtain such attractive features considering Validar is their father... LIKE HOW!? 

-Will never play Male!MU ever. No matter how much I love Cordelia, I can’t do it because I gotta marry Lon’Qu. 

-Thinking about making my Fem!MU a Dark Mage and promoting her to sorcerer, because I’m gonna make Henry a dark knight (per usual) Plus, with the fact that I don’t have Tharja, I’m the only female dark mage. Fuck you, Tharja. 

-Still not 100% understanding of the parent outcomes with kids and still 100% don’t care because I ship who I wanna ship. Morgan will always be OP no matter who you pair MU with, end of story. 

-This game needs a remake for many reasons but there are a few that stand out in particular: 

The fucking feet 

I want a My Room damn it. LON’QUUUUU 

I think it would be a great idea because who doesn’t want to have a remake of awakening? (I’m more of a Fates fan myself, but gahd damn I love awakening) 

-I don’t think I’ll ever get over the feet. 

PAIRINGS TIME + unnecessary commentary from me

-Lon’Qu / Fem!MU (who I’ve named Rowenna u v u. Lon’Qu is permanent Awakening husband. I won’t marry anyone else. I’ve considered marrying Chrom but I can’t do it. I’m too much of a sucker for Lon. //same with Xander in fates//) 

-Chrom / Sumia (I hate Chrosumi but because I don’t like Sully with him and I dislike Maribelle and Olivia is impossible to get to him, I don’t have much of a choice, so I tolerate it. I just skip over everything xD) 

-Frederick / Lissa (I LITERALLY LOVE FREDLISSA OK LEAVE ME ALONE) 

-Kellam / Miriel (their supports are really damn cute) 

-Libra / Olivia (THEIR SUPPORTS HOLY SHIT *slams fist on table* LIKE I NEVER THOUGHT THEY WOULD BE SO CUTE!!) 

-Henry / Cherche (Why is there 0 fanart of them? Honestly. OTP.) 

-Gaius / Cordelia (idk why, but I always wanted to see them together and what I got out of it, I loved. But Cordelia, honey, you didn’t even get supports with Chrom so stfu about him. Gaius loves u bb) 

-Gregor / Panne (Interesting combo) 

-Ricken / Nowi (a d o r a b l e) 

-Virion / Sully (because it was obvious from the start?) 

-Vaike / Maribelle (I don’t like maribelle and I’m ok with Vaike. Their interaction first hand was pretty funny) 

-Stahl / no one... I’m sorry bb. I wouldn’t subject you to Tharja. 

-Tharja / death because I hate her. 

Extra

I hate Tharja 

LON’QU IS BEST HUSBAND. SO FUCKING CUTE. 

No literally, I won’t marry anyone else but Lon’Qu. I’m the same way in Conquest and Revelations with Xander and I refuse to play Birthright because I can’t marry Xander and you have to kill him. I can’t betray my Nohrian family. 

[searching-for-mercury]

I don’t really have a title for this, cause it isn’t very long and it was mostly just practice -- I wanted to get better at writing angst so my friend Kate gave me a bunch of prompts and THIS WAS ONE OF THEM. 

----

The rain came down in a drizzle-y sort of way, which was appropriate for April. Green things were bursting everywhere, new leaves and vibrant shades of purples, soft pinks, sunshine yellows. It was the growing season, springtime, and the time for hopeful new beginnings, fresh starts, fresh feelings.

              Grass wouldn't poke through the cobblestones, though. Not those stones, not from the city. They'd come up in the space where buildings met streets and the planters hanging from dark iron streetlights, built in an old-fashioned sort of way -- though no fires would ever burn within them.

              Gilbert walked along those streets, breathing in the misty air and wondering if maybe he should take his umbrella out. Young faces hurried by, rushing to catch buses or meet with friends. There was a school in the area, a university. The faces were always changing, always leaving. Maybe he would too, one day.

              Buildings were always easier to see on rainy days, when the woodwork in the old parts were dark and damp and the sky behind them bringing out the white stucco. Soon there would be flowers in every window, bright red and full. Tourists were already popping up, cameras in hand as they'd snap up old architecture and the dark, brooding cathedrals to look at later with family, friends. There'd be more come summer.

              He was Prussia and this was his home. He'd seen the buildings be built, then renovated, then renovated again. He knew why statues had their names and why they were put up. He'd been there when fire lit the streets at night, when the smell of horse was as normal as the smell of rain.

              But this was Poland, now. This was Feliks's territory, won through a war Gilbert would never forget. It hadn't mattered what he wanted, what he or his brother had said. The people choose the leaders. The people choose the outcome.

              America was facing that now, with the new president. Alfred had a permanent worried face lately, all eyebrows and tired eyes. Gilbert wasn't allowed to attend world meetings anymore, but that didn't mean he didn't know what was happening and they were all still friends. He'd helped train the boy, after all -- you don't just forget that, right?

              And he'd tried, damn it. He'd done good, in the world. He'd made his people proud, marching off to war in his uniform made up of their colors. He'd fought alongside them and helped raise them from a duchy to a kingdom. He'd ridden with Frederick the Great, his father before him, and his father before him.

              But for the other people in the world, it did not matter what he used to be. He hadn't been able to control the situation. He hadn't been able to save his people from those trains, those camps, those bullets and poison and fear. He hadn't been able to do a damn thing.

              The great and powerful Prussia? That wasn't him. Awesome? Maybe one time, long ago.

              He sat heavy on a bench in front of a fountain that wouldn't be turned on until summer. The fish were turned up, spouting nothing, and the chalky white remnants of old water was stuck in the cracks and corners.

              He caught the eye of an old woman on the other side and she smiled at him through her face full of soft wrinkles. There was a proud look to her dark eyes and her shoulders pulled back as much as she could allow, to straighten and give him a look he had not seen in centuries. Eyes would always slip off and away, but her everything told him she knew exactly who he was.

              And he wanted to smile back, to show her the confident grin of a country you could never beat, never break. But that wasn't him, not anymore. His fierce country had been erased from maps, from history classes, schools. It didn't exist and, quite frankly, neither should he.

----

The prompt was:  Gilbert walking through a street in what used to be Prussia. Nobody recognizes him except an old woman, who sort of stands up straighter and smiles at him. But he is consumed by the idea that he failed her and cannot smile back.