#and she doesn't exactly have a great command over words to express her feelings to begin with so they're very much like 😐🤝😊

[vampdinner]

katalinha thorne 　———-«« 　the dark urge

»»———-　 a female barbarian trudges through a forest at night, an axe swung over her shoulder, a wild look in her eyes. wood elves know the forest inside out—it's her second home, yet tonight she breaks into a cold sweat. her hands are clenched into fists so tight, red fingernail marks bloom on the surface of her palms as she searches the shadows in the underbrush to her left and her right, watching small animals skitter away as her footfalls strike the damp earth. her stomach rumbles, she wills it silent. the voices in her head are far more cacophonous; she can't outpace them no matter how hard she tries. the bloodsoaked pitch of repetitive whispers echo in her mind. a crow calls, and in a flurry of wings several shadows take flight, skimming the treeline and disappearing into the moonless sky. it is the nature of the strong to prey on the weak. she shakes her head—no, that's not right. blood drips from the ends of her locs and snakes down her back, charting rivulets of stains along the surface of her shirt. she doesn't remember from whose veins the blood had flowed. her stomach grumbles. a group of crows is called a murder. she stumbles over a smooth-faced stone worn flat by ages of rain, her heart skipping a beat. suddenly, a soft grey rabbit darts out of the leaves in front of her, trembling as it looks up for a brief moment before fleeing across the path into the darkness beyond. her short-term memory arrives through the fog of her clouded mind in short bursts: the bard's name was alfira. murder sounds a little bit like hunger, if you think about it too much. she shakes her head again, a throbbing sensation tugging at the corners of her field of vision. tears prick her eyes as she realizes—she's hungry. she was only so, so hungry. it is a predator's nature to sink into the rabbit's tender jugular. she grits her teeth, blinking the tears away, walking faster. the voices chase after her, whispering; it is only your nature. more crows swoop past her, their calls echoing through the trees. the pang in her gut twists into a lurching pain, and she resists the urge to double over, to submit, to let the hunger win. a strangled cry dislodges from her throat, raw and piercing, cutting through the chilly forest air. in the distance, far beyond her now—behind the tangle of branches and thorns, over grassy hills, and far, far past the quiet clearing of trees where her unsuspecting companions sleep through fitful dreams—a low, booming laugh rises from deep beneath the earth in response; a celebration, a mockery of mirthfulness that makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

note: umm hehe i wanted to make a durge character who's close to nature and tries to defy her fate and suddenly i ended up getting way too attached to her >< here's kat, my first playthru of baldur's gate 3 (i have made other tavs but i'd like to finish the game first b4 i get too invested in them sdkfkdfk) she is dating halsin just bc i thought he was cool at first and now i guess i'm way more insane about them both than i initially intended oops,, i feel like because of her background kat comes off as a frightening force of nature, hard to read and unpredictable (at least until she starts reigning in the Urge), intimidating due to her size and strength, but halsin finding that beautiful kind of in a similar way that you'd admire a lioness or the beauty and strength of a forest's top predator. i'm not great at games tbh but i do love fantasy and writing and drawing oc stuff so i hope to eventually do that in the future yahhh!!!

[aixeko]

❣ " Your Strength Won't Die With You. The Torch Will Be Carried On… By Me. " ❣

| Starring | Scout!Arlecchino x Scout!Reader

| Setting | AOT Alternative Universe 

| Scenario | [ DRABBLE ] ANGST! Hurt no comfort.  Pronouns are not used. Mention of Clervie. 

► RADIO CHANNEL [ Author note ]

× Since I haven’t posted in a while might as well. Maybe once I’m done with work then I will probably turn this into a oneshot.  × I imagine Arlecchino as Levi Ackerman and the reader as Hange Zoë, like it’s so right to me. Levihan, my beloved doomed couple.  × Please bare with the quality, I'm writing this half awake at midnight 😭😭

[ Word count: 2009 ] | Art credit: Anko on Twitter

The sun hung high in the azure sky, no longer obscured by the thick roiling clouds, casting the world in its muted, almost sickly warmth. The haze once clouding the environment now reveals the onslaught accursed by humanity's exterminator, known as the Titan. Your comrades, individuals with a name, a family, and a lifetime of histories, are now nothing more than indistinguishable pieces, the Titan's mnemonic of their victorious reign over humanity.

You stand tall in front of a headless comrade, your expression unreadable, yet the heart telltale a great difference. You have been doing this for years; yes, you have seen your ally die in dedication to their heart to push forth humankind for a chance at advancement, but the experience does not account for the hardship the mortal heart has to endure.

You crouch down and wrap their head in a blanket, preserving all that remains to honor their life with a proper burial. One of the scouts came to retrieve the corpse from you, a solemn expression displayed on his face, exactly mirroring the rest of the regiment.

In the corner of your perception, you observe a hint of pink. Your eyes soften ever so slightly at the familiar identification of the fallen scout. So that's why that Titan is beaten hollow. You thought, your gaze turning to the carcass of bones and to the slaughterer of said carcass.

Arlecchino? The first time her name rolled off your tongue, it was with an inquiry rather than a declaration. It was an unfamiliar hesitation as if in fear of mispronunciation, leaving an unwanted first impression.

She was a new addition to the scout regiment, someone from the lowest part of the three divine walls separating humanity from its destructor, the underground. Arlecchino had come with another, a pink-haired girl by the name of Clervie. The duo had ill intentions to assassinate the scout regiment commander in exchange for gaining citizenship in the wall farthest from Titan territory and the most extravagant of the three.

In turn, the outcome of the attempted extermination led to this: Clervie's unfortunate death and an outraged, newly reawakened Arlecchino. It was pitiful, really, to harbor such confidence in one's own ability with such lackluster experience in Titan territory; their fate was always bound to end in tragedy.

You perform the same repetitive, heartfelt action you've carried out on hundreds and thousands of fallen soldiers. A blanket wrapped around their cadaver, a funeral to release their soul, and a flame carried on by the living.

You give the body to a scout, and with Clervie's cloak in hand, you make your way to the living corpse that is Arlecchino.

"Welcome to the life of the Survey Corps."

At the feeling of the cloak dropping onto her lap and the reverberation emitted from your voice, Arlecchino's head slowly tilted up to gaze at you. The intensity of those unique crimson-marked eyes is fuming with seemingly all of humanity's rage, and you can't help but admit the overwhelming predatory and prey-like dynamic in the air.

"The loss of the one dearest to you is the tragic reality as humankind hopes. The scout regiment has long lived with losses since the founding of its creation, but does that result ever dwindle the flame? No, it doesn't."

Your hand lifts from its position and outstretches in a proposition for her acceptance.

"Losing is all we ever know, and those who brave through it are the ones to continue igniting the flame of the passing and the living. Become the strongest," the corner of your lip curves upward in a smile, "and lead your comrade to a victorious battle; that's what they lived and died for; that is what she would have wanted for you."

Arlecchino The second time her name left your lips, your tongue rolled with expectation for the capabilities the woman held in those limbs of hers and for the beginning of a profound bond between soldiers.

A lifetime seemed to fly by before there was some sort of reaction or action. Arlecchino wraps Clervie's cloak around herself and goes onto her feet without accepting your hand.

"Fine. I will follow you," she says, standing beside you, her once-lowered head now raised to the sky. "Foolish, suicidal bastards."

Like second nature, your posture straightens, a widening smile stretching all over as you clench your right fist and strike your chest just above your heart with firmness.

"Dedicate your heart."

Arlecchino made a sound of disapproval, a clear indication that she did not resonate with the Survey Corps salute. She moves from her position and makes her way to her horse. You shake your head with the smile still on your face; soon enough, you follow suit onto your own horse, making your way back to the safety of the divine walls' protection.

Days, months, and then years passed by since that day; you both aged together in the weak and strength, the mature and the experiences. Death scythes had struck many times at the both of you and each time survival was granted, an invisible thread seemed to tighten around the two of you, especially in the most vital and fragile part of the human body, the heart itself. If it ever dared to break, then the consequence of its utter annihilation would be so great that death would be a gentler fate.

It was meant to be another mission, a normal and non-risky one; nothing should have gone wrong according to the commander's calculations.

You're mounted on your horse alongside your fellow soldiers, and beside you is your partner, Arlecchino, the strength to your weakness and vice versa. You wave to the awing citizens, awaiting the gate of the wall to open so your expedition to survey outside can begin.

"You see that, sister? The crest on their cloak—those are the wings of freedom! It shows that they are our saviors; I want to be like them when I grow up!"

Your gaze softens upon overhearing the conversation between a young boy and his sister. Oh, how pure and innocent a child's mind is; if only they knew the nightmare that each member of the scout regiment has to endure every expedition.

The gate lifted up, and every soldier turned their attention to it, and simultaneously, every horse began building momentum to charge out.

"Isn't that Captain Arlecchino? They say she's worth more than hundreds of soldiers; if only there were more of her, then our taxes wouldn't be wasted on dead corpses."

Your eyes furrow at the backhanded compliment as you pass by the gossiping citizens. You shake your head in disapproval, and it seems Arlecchino has heard it too; sharing the same displeasure, she mutters a distasteful comment about their words. You turn your head to her, a knowing smile stretched upon you; in turn, she gives you her usual nearly unreadable expression; at least to everyone else, it's unreadable.

"You achieved what you sought; are you not satisfied with the compliment?"

The gate fully opened, and the commander's voice boomed in announcement of the beginning of the Survey Corps expedition outside the wall. Soldiers roared, and horses soared in determination.

"You're one to talk."

Arlecchino sprints past you, making you let out a laugh as you follow behind her. The outside wind blows against your hair, and your eyes are set forward, shining with hope and perseverance.

It was meant to be a normal and safe mission, so why did this happen?

ARLECCHINO The third time her name slipped past your lips, it was an involuntary one, sparked out of fear and anxiety for your closest ally's life—feelings that you hadn't truly felt in a long time.

With your two blades in hand, you strike the nape of the Titan looming over Arlecchino. A hint of relief flashes, and I'm grateful you weren't too late. You retrieve your omni-directional mobility gear [ ODM ] and land beside the injured Arlecchino.

"What happened? Can you move? Is it your arms, your head, or your legs?" Questions spur out at an inhumanly rapid pace, faster than you have ever talked. You were scared; you were so scared.

Arlecchino placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder.

"My legs, but it will be fine. A horde of Titans came my way; other groups came to help me and tried to fend them off, but unfortunately couldn't. What about your group? Where are they?"

You were going to answer her with the same regrettable answer; your entire group had also been completely wiped out, but your words would forever be left in the void because the next thing you knew, Arlecchino shoved you away.

A sound of pain is produced from your mouth as your body makes contact with a tree. Your hand clutched your chest as you tilted your head upward from the ground. You're left gaping as a 15-meter titan has its foul mouth clutch around Arlecchino's hand. Without thinking, a sudden phenomenal rush of adrenaline submerged you against all logic; you used the last ounce of strength left in you and charged with your broken ODM straight at the titan's nape. Due to the malfunction, your ODM wasn't fast enough, and because of this nonstrategic decision, you served yourself on a silver platter to the beastly abomination.

"Idiot," Arlecchino grumbled under her breath.

With only a single available hand, she manages to strike the Titan's nape, releasing you from its grip. Arlecchino crumbles to the ground as her bleeding intensifies at a substantial rate. Sweat and blood bead on your face; you push yourself and slowly drag your battered body to Arlecchino. You wrap a hand around her in a protective manner; the very moment your eyes set on hers, tears stream down your face. With great speed, you scan for the purple signal flare, a smoke indicating an emergency of some kind.

"Stay alive for me—okay...? Help will be here soon, please- I.."

Before you could say anything more, Arlecchino fired the purple smoke signal for you.

"Take my gear; yours is damaged. You can still save yourself."

"What-?"

"You know better than anyone else that my injuries are too grave. By the time we reach the wall for help, I won't be alive."

Your eyes meet hers; no longer does it share the same characteristics as the one you saw all those years ago. No longer were they fuming with rage equivalent to humanity, but rather a reflection of tranquility and delicacy as that of a hare.

"Don't do this to me... please Arle-"

She brought a hand to silence you. Her gaze softened, and following along, there was a small smile.

"My real name is Peruere," she uttered in a hushed tone.

A wider smile spread across her parched lips. With her fist clenched, she struck your chest, exactly where your heart is located.

"Dedicate your heart."

With a final, whispered breath of your name, the weight of her eyelids, burdened with exhaustion, at last forced her eyes shut. The realization finally dawned on you at her modified version of the Survey Corps' salute.

Peruere. The last time her name escaped your lips, it was a cry of anguish and betrayal soaring through the dimming sky. The grief gnaws at your fragile heart from the crushing fact that you failed to protect and save one of the only people who ever genuinely mattered to you. The sting of betrayal scorches your soul because she will never get to experience the entirety of your life while you get to live through every moment of hers. Soon enough, the memory of her eyes, her features, the memories, everything, will be lost to the world, haunting you forever, a thorn in your side at the price of freedom that came with the loss of your love.

And in the end, the only solace you have is the weight of her absence, one that echoes louder than words ever could. All that is left is emptiness, a void that can never be filled by anyone else.

► RADIO CHANNEL [ Author note ] × Originally, I didn't intend to kill Arle but rather the reader. It just came to suddenly and since I couldn't decide I spun the wheel lmfao.

[h50europe]

Why the myth about Steve's PTSD doesn't add up and other inconsistencies

In the last few episodes of H50, PL tried to sell us a mentally broken Steve suffering from PTSD. Only the whole thing came a bit too late. The clip you see is from season 4 and ended up - no, not in the series - but somewhere on the floor of PL's editing room. And why? after Kurtzman and Orci departed, along with their writers, PL took the helm and started turning Steve into a super-soldier. He stylized him into something that wasn't meant to be. Instead of developing the characters, PL began to incorporate more and more hair-raising action sequences into the series and then let Steve fight on the front lines. There was no mention of Steve's mental state, and a lot was explained by PL with: it just happened "offscreen." Yeah, sure. PL can't create a decent character. He can only produce stereotypes and one-dimensional beings. Like Adam. What potential would that character have had had he been turned into Five-0's antagonist? But no. So his role remained diffuse and monotonous. Sometimes even tragicomical.

Back to Steve. When SEAL Team started on CBS, PL also lapsed into SEAL mania. If someone who writes fanfiction were to produce as much garbage as this man did, he would be chased away from every writers' platform in disgrace. PL's Super SEAL also had to rescue his team members from a blazing inferno. Not man by man, no, he flew a helicopter right into the danger zone and lifted a whole cabin out of the burning jungle. If lunacy had a name, it would be PL. While the action became more and more exaggerated and unrealistic, the same happened to the protagonists. After the departure of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, PL completely lost his mind. And please, don't blame the writers for the nonsense that was thrown at you. A series stands and falls with the showrunner. He dictates what he wants and passes it on to his staff.

And so, lovable Steve became a soulless robot who only showed feelings here and there. Danny diminished more and more into a sidekick. McDanno became a ship that drifted anchorless through a stormy sea and threatened to capsize again and again. From season 8, it became a reboot of the reboot. PL tried an ensemble show and failed more than miserably. Often the actors just stood around bored. At least that was the impression. The only highlight was episode 8.10. A feast for all McDanno fans. But even here, the outcome of "who shot Danny" was more than insubstantial.

Wait, there was something about SEALs... Oh, yes. Junior appeared on the scene and became Steve's lapdog. I really wondered when there was going to be an episode where he would fetch sticks for Steve. Luckily we had Eddie for that. And because he thought he was so clever, PL invented the episode speed dating. How many subplots can you squeeze into one episode at the same time? In some episodes, you couldn't even take a look at the bag of potato chips without losing the thread.

The case of the week became the yawn of the week. There were so many loose ends that PL then came up with something called retconning. That's what you do when you're no longer satisfied with what was once established in the series years ago, or it no longer fits. But PL went one step further and did the same with the characters. The more the series was dragged out, the more the characters deteriorated and became OOC. It means, often, they were not recognizable at all. And that's where we come to Steve. Because PL, in his desperation, didn't know what else he could do to Steve, and so he killed Joe White. He did it in such a cheesy way with a fake sunset that it made you sick.

Of course, one episode later, there had to be another gig of PL's favorite Barbie. He stuck a fake beard on poor Steve/Alex, so he couldn't even hug Danny/Scott properly. The episode also raised more questions than it answered any. And Steve? He still didn't suffer from PTSD, even though he had now lost Joe White and a fellow SEAL. Everyone is dropping like flies, except for Steve, who is standing like a rock. No matter what. He doesn't need in-depth talks with Danny, nor psychological care, nor any sleeping pills. No, he's doing great. He also opens a restaurant with Danny because apparently, the carguments are already getting on PL's nerves. Unfortunately, this plot device leads into nirvana. The idea was nice, but nobody thought it through to the end. And the merry-go-round continues. Until we get to season 10, where it gets even more absurd. Now PL is almost bombarding us with McDanno episodes, or at least it should seem that way. Oh well, he's already planning for season 11, so a new character has to come on board quickly. While in the beginning, Steve's mother, Doris, dies.

Alex was allowed to take on the subject. Of course, only under the strict eyes of PL. He then nullifies Alex's idea that Steve kills his mother. Because a good soldier and Super SEAL won't do that. Little does PL know. THAT could have been the opening of a PTSD scenario for Steve. However, apart from that, this episode would have had any potential for a multi-arc. Just imagine Steve chasing his mother across multiple episodes. Again, PL stepped in and butchered Alex's episode. You can really feel sorry for the guy. PL at his best or worse? He just can't help it. And then, on the very last meters of the series, he brings someone new, who is allowed to cruise around with Steve most of the time. Because Danny was kidnapped by Wo Fat's widow, PL also invented quite late to have some villain at his disposal. This wannabe mastermind must really have been living under a rock somewhere if she wasn't even mentioned by her husband or appeared earlier.

Because towards the end, PL obviously ran out not only of steam but also of ideas, everything culminated in a wildly illogical scenario. Steve has to live through a dramatic day with Eddie, who stands as a metaphor for Steve (as I said, PTSD was never a thing for Super SEAL), Danny bangs his brains out in a ladies' room with a complete stranger, who dies shortly after that in an accident with Danny's rental car. Apparently, there was no budget to turn the Camaro into scrap metal. Danny then also goes home alone, ignoring the incoming emergency vehicles. Everything remains open at the end of the episode. While Steve expresses his gratitude to Tani and Quinn and says, he would be just as lost as poor Eddie without the dog and all of them. The strange thing is that you never notice anything until that sentence. A few forced dialogues are supposed to make the drama visible, but they all happen way too late or are so poorly written that you miss them.

PL had decided early on to make Steve a Teflon hero. That also means he didn't need to put much substance into the character. Which you can clearly see if you compare the first three seasons to the rest of the series. But towards the end, PL wanted to turn the tide and forcefully rewrote Steve's past. There is a huge difference if you compare Steve from seasons 1 to 3 with Steve from season 10. It is only a sparse remnant of what made this character so great. This change in Steve's personality also affects his relationship with Danny. The witty, affectionate banter degenerates into a snappy, humorless bitch-fest that takes all the joy out of it.

The final two episodes could have been written for any other crime show. As mentioned, we have Cole, who even gets a book'em Cole from Steve, which can only be described as out of line. And it begs the question, was that what Lenkov originally had in mind? Danny out of the show and Cole in? Was the last episode, which mainly featured McCole, something of a test run? Did all the McDanno moments happen only to tear the two apart eventually? Was the real final scene the one where Steve and Catherine take Danny's coffin back to Jersey? Was Danny not supposed to survive? Was that the real reason Steve wanted to get out of Hawaii because he wanted to pay his respects to Danny? And would he really have returned to Hawaii later? Or would he have turned his back on Hawaii? To me, this ending is more plausible than what PL served us. Then, Steve handed over his credentials to Cole instead of Danny, his second in command. Honestly, you can't make the end of a series any more sloppy and dumber than that. And I won't even lose a word about the last 1:30 minutes because I think everything has already been said.

No PL, mission absolutely not accomplished. You created Teflon-Steve. You never wanted him to show any weakness. You turned him into a superhuman who can survive anything. Only to pull the rug out from under him on the last few meters to the finish line and spit on his legacy. How can you dismantle such a great series and its characters like you did? How much do you have to hate something to do that? In the final interviews, the showrunner didn't exactly cover himself in glory either. Everyone who grew up with the series from day one knows that its end was wrong on all the possible levels and that the showrunner is solely to blame for that. It takes a fair amount of egoism and carelessness to drive 10 years at full throttle against the wall. Not many people can do that. Whether you can be proud of that, however, I doubt.

My respect if you have made it this far. Each of you gets 10 extra brownie points for it.

[thedaredevilsgirl]

Chapter Three - Like a Lollipop

Warnings: Tom being a big smug, smutty (oral-man receiving- and dirty talk).

Word count: 2109

N/A: Sorry for the delay in posting. It was my birthday on Monday and I kind of got inspired by that for this chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Sorry for the grammar mistakes, English is not my first language.

Tom's arms were around your body when you wake up early in the morning. He would no longer leave when he was done and go to your room, even when he was doing nothing, he would go to your room in the middle of the night lying on his side and you would sleep together, Tom liked the feeling of having you in his arms during the night, but he was very careful about leaving early in the morning before your brother saw you there.

"Good morning," you say in a husky voice from having just woken up.

"Good morning," he says smiling "And happy birthday."

"You remember, that's nice" you smile.

"Of course I remember" he caresses your face "it's not every day my girl turns 19".

You feel your heart beat faster in your chest when he calls you "my girl". You were trying your best not to let your feelings for Tom show, you promised yourself that you would keep your feelings hidden for your own good, but it was hard, especially when Tom acted like you two were in a relationship.

"Actually," he says smiling as he gets up from his bed "I have a present for you."

"Really Tom? You didn't need it."

The bedroom door suddenly opens and a smiling Harrison appears.

"He shouts happily, but the smile disappears from his face when he sees Tom standing in the middle of his room shirtless and wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants. He asks suspiciously.

He mentally thanks him for being well dressed.

"I came to wish Y/N a happy birthday" he lies quickly.

"Couldn't you wait until she comes down for coffee?" Harrison continues with his questioning.

"I was going to" Tom speaks laughing "but I was already passing by, so I decided to say so".

You watch as Harrison gives Tom a strange look.

"Sure" In the end Harrison seems to believe what he has been told "Makes sense, come down soon, coffee is ready" he starts to leave but quickly returns "And happy birthday again" you smile and he finally leaves the room.

"Oh my God, I thought he was going to find out about us" you sigh in relief.

"Not this time darling" he smiles before leaving a kiss on your lips "I'll have to leave the present for later, see you downstairs" he leaves you alone in your room.

You take your shower and get ready for another day before heading down to the kitchen.

All the frat boys were downstairs and made a point of hugging you and wishing you a happy birthday, you thanked them all before sitting down to eat.

"We were planning to have a party..." Harrison starts to speak and you interrupt him.

"No, please, you know I'm not very comfortable at parties.

"...But since you have something against parties, we decided to just have a dinner party to celebrate, me, you, the boys and Megan, what do you think?" Her brother asks.

"Sounds good to me" you agree.

"Great" he says smiling "You will love it, we will cook for you".

"Please don't set the house on fire trying to cook".

"Don't worry, I will keep something bad from happening" Tom says smiling.

•─────✧─────•─────✧─────•

"I hope you are excited for later" Megan speaks smiling.

"I think you're more excited than I am" you laugh "I'm afraid they're going to burn the whole house down or something".

"Honestly Y/N, you worry too much" You say.

"I'm the worried friend and you're the one who acts without thinking, remember?"

"Exactly, and I have a lot of fun being that way, which is the way you should act, you're 19 you have to enjoy your life" She speaks excitedly.

"Okay, and what should I do to act like that?" He asks.

"She points with her head in a direction and you look at the place she pointed to and see Tom surrounded by his friends.

There was a girl standing next to him, holding his arm and tossing her hair in a conquering way, but Tom didn't seem to pay any attention to her, in fact he was looking at you from across campus and gives you a little wink as soon as he notices your gaze on him.

"Look there, you know the two of them have slept together before and she probably wants a repeat of that."

"It wouldn't be a problem for me" You lie "You and I have nothing, I'm not going to compete with another woman just to get a boy's attention".

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about female competition, you know I hate it when they pit one woman against another, but I'm talking about you admitting how you feel, I'm talking about you telling him the truth, that you like him, before it's too late and you lose him.

"Do you think I should do that? What if he doesn't want me like that?"

"Then he's the one who will be losing out" She is sincere "I have class now, so I'll meet you at your place later".

•─────✧─────•─────✧─────•

When you enter the house you go straight to your room to get ready for dinner, the boys were in the kitchen and the smell of food was already spreading through the room.

Quickly go up the stairs and enter your room, closing the door afterwards.You quickly get ready, wearing the new blue dress Harrison had given you.

"Hi," Tom's voice says behind you, startling you.He entered the room quietly and locked the door.

"Oh my god" you place your hand on your chest breathing heavily trying to recover from the fright "What are you doing in here?"

"Sorry honey, I didn't mean to startle you" He smiles "I said I would deliver your present later, I came to do that" he shows you the small blue box he was holding and hands it over.

"Thank you" you smile at him and open the box, inside was a gold choker with a small butterfly pendant "God, Tom, that's beautiful".

"You like it?"

"Of course I like it, this is wonderful, you shouldn't spend money on me."

He rolls his eyes and takes the box from her hand, removing the necklace from inside it.

"Don't be silly" He says as you stand in front of the mirror with your back to your body, he moves your hair out of the way and places the choker on you leaving a small kiss on your neck "I don't mind spending money on you".

"Tom" You say looking at the reflection of the two of you in the mirror "Are you getting any other girls?" You ask nervously.

"What?" He looks up not understanding why you are asking this question out of the blue "No, I'm not fucking anyone, why are you asking me that?"

"Nothing...I just saw you with a girl today, you seemed close" you say pulling away from him a little.

"Y/N, are you jealous?" He asks smugly.

"Of course not" You roll your eyes, trying to pretend you didn't feel anything, but it was true, you kind of were jealous.

"I think you are" He says moving closer to your body "What? You don't like to imagine me touching another girl" His hands grip your hips pulling you even closer, he tilts his head to reach your neck and leave kisses all over your skin "No need to be jealous honey, I'm all yours, you're the only one for me".

You look him in the eyes, despite his cocky tone he was being sincere, you see that, you break the rest of the distance by pulling him by the shirt and making your lips glue to his in a thirsty kiss. He couldn't put his feelings into words yet, but he hoped that the kiss would say everything his heart felt.

He grabs you even tighter and deepens the kiss, letting his hand go up to your head and lightly pull your hair, making you moan between kisses, he bites your lower lip and you feel a shiver run down your entire body.

"Tell me what you want" he asks, his husky voice making you shiver once again. Your hands move down to your pants, feeling the hard member through your jeans.

"I want you...in my mouth," she says a little nervously. You had been thinking about this for a few days, Tom always helped you come, touched or fucked you until you came, but you denied all his help, he wanted to give you pleasure but expected nothing in return. But you wanted to reward him.

"Y/N, it's your birthday, I should do something for you" He speaks holding your hand.

"Exactly, it's my birthday and I want to suck you off, please" You look at him with a puppy dog face and a cute peck on your lips, a cute and innocent expression that completely contradicted what you had said a few seconds ago.

"Damn" he feels himself getting even harder in his pants. He was trying to go easy on you, but seeing you like that, begging to have his cock in your mouth was irresistible, and he wouldn't lie, he had dreamed of this moment several times.

You kneel in front of him, your fingers working quickly to open his pants.

"Are you sure you want to do this angel? I don't want to force you to swim sincerely I can wait" He speaks in a careful tone.

"Yes I'm sure I want to" you say confidently, pulling your pants down to your ankles "But I'm going to need you to help me".

"Ok angel, I'll help you" His hand slowly caresses your face, his thumb running across your lower lip, your mouth opens at the touch and he takes the opportunity to put it in your mouth, you suck your thumb slowly passing your tongue gently before he takes it out again.

He slowly pulls down his underwear exposing his member, you bite your lip getting a little nervous.

First" he begins to speak "You can start by spreading pre-cum over my tip, with your thumb." You follow his command, putting your hand around his cock and spreading pre-cum over the head of his cock, he sighs excitedly. It had been so long since a girl had touched him like this.

"Yes, darling, just like that" he says as you begin to move your hand from top to bottom on his member "Let's start off slow and easy, just a few licks from the shaft to my tip" you obey and he sighs as he feels your tongue touch his member "Now, do that again and put your mouth around my tip".

You run your tongue again over the entire length of his cock, before running it over the head and wrapping your mouth around it. Your fingers curl into his hair. You slowly begin to move further down, slowly getting used to his length in your mouth, the head moving up and down and your tongue dancing softly around his cock.

"Holy shit" He sighs, you look at him impressed, nothing was more beautiful than to see him moaning for you, his head thrown back, his lips open in ecstasy. He looks at you, his lips curling into your length and his innocent eyes staring back at you "You look so beautiful like that, what do you think others would say if they saw you like that in? The sweet innocent Y/N pleasuring me, being a good girl for me" you moan against his member, the vibrations making you moan even louder.

Being called a good girl awakened something in you, the word made your clit throb and your panties wet even more.

"Do you like that, being called a good girl?" He asks smugly "because you are being a good girl for me."

You speed up the movements, taking all you could with your mouth and rolling your hand in the rest, he helps you with the movements, without too much force, so as not to hurt you.

"Fuck, angel, I'm going to cum" different from what you thought you don't pull away from him, you continue the movements with more force making him quickly reach the apex.

You pull away from his body, with your cum still in his mouth, he groans at that sight, before you swallow it all quickly. He helps you up off the floor before kissing you, feeling the salty taste of your orgasm on his lips.

"You were so good, you learn so fast angel" he kisses her neck making her sigh "now" she sits down on her desk "I'll make it up to you" she says kneeling in front of him ready to make him cum too.

TAGLIST

@cherryobx

@a-daydreamers-day

@arlo-sanders

@multihoee

@storybookholland

@yazzyu

@hallecarey1

[yuvon-writes-letters]

Yu, Jake,

I am glad you talked it out! I think both of you needed it. And I understand the need to recharge, I hope you feel better when this letter reaches you, Yuvon :)

It's still evening and I think I am done with preparing everything for tomorrow. I cooked. Chinese. Once again. I mean, I needed to use the food before I go, right? And Max will be happy tomorrow. (Please imagine I sighed here. Because I did.) I really don't know what to think. I'd rather be with J

No new messages from the Crow-Crew.

Now to Jessy, you're probably right. I don't even know if she'll answer again, I just hope she would've contacted us before her and the others just handed over their Jakes whereabouts.

If I could I would hit

And you are right, their whole timeline is pretty messed up...And the MWAF still out there (since I cannot imagine any Jake to be him)

Maybe you're also right, I shouldn't worry that much about TSB. I guess. Yeah. I am very sure Goldie did everything they could.

[For this one sentence the writing becomes more clean than Lis' normal writing] Like they always did...

[The writing's normal again, but a few pink stains are on the paper]

Sorry, I suddenly got a bit dizzy. Spilled my tea. Probably a bit exhaustion?

Yeah, Jake, you got things right. Somehow a Jessy comtacted us. I guess this could happen because she read Matts letters? Somehow? But I think that could be a reason we got the letter. She probably threw all of them in a mailbox together. (Since she said she wrote some everyone who sent Matt letters I think?)

You're also right about the fact that this Jake got framed... Are you Is everything Is the thought DAMN. Why is writing so difficult

I actually DO concur with you, Jake. It honestly makes much sense to me. Like, when I was enjoying my maladaptive daydreaming as a child (totally not still doing it) I liked to create my own worlds. Manipulate them while daydreaming.

We don't know much about different entities, but it just makes sense to me. And I don't know why I brought this up or where I wanted to go with this. I hope it was somehow understandable.

Jake also has some more things to say. I am not allowed to read, Yuvon can if she wants to. But it mainly is for you, Jake.

And one more thing before that...Is he in danger? Because I know Jake is working on something new. Just tell me he is not in danger.

Lis🐾🔥

[Again the screenshot of a message is glued to the back of the letter]

Before I start, thank you again for your help, Jake. I was able to work much faster with the knowledge you gave me.

But I have to ask you one thing. Liska gave me the possibility to read all letters until the letter where we could talk the first time without her reading. Did something happen? Or did anyone write something that disturbed her?

She doesn't show me the letter anymore, just telling me some information, saying it wasn't important. She changed topic when I want to ask her. What happened that she does not want to tell me?

If you are so nice Yuvon, if you read, I would like you to stop here. It's something that I don't want to tell you when Jake isn't ready :)

About your diagnose, was it ADHD? If you do not want to tell that's fine.

As for me, since you gave me the chance to get to know this about you. It was never diagnosed, but after my life I am pretty certain it doesn't need to.

I have had social anxiety since early childhood. That's the reason I am an complete introvert.

My mother never wanted to get me diagnosed, though.

I thought detail for detail wouldn't be that bad, and I understand what you mean. We're all similar but different. As well as Liska, Rai and Yuvon.

~ Jake

Lis,

We definitely needed to talk, yeah. I think Jake might have already said it, but thanks for pushing us into it. That misunderstanding could've snowballed into something bigger if we hadn't talked about it. It's sort of hard for me to parse that he could be concerned about me, because that's MY role in my head. I'm the one who's supposed to worry.

I'm trying to be better about that.

While it would've been nice if she'd contacted us before her Jake was imprisoned, it wouldn't have made sense in context. You don't get affairs in order before you work on getting the murderer imprisoned. Priorities. Besides, Matt apparently never even opened these letters, so we wouldn't exactly be first on the list of contacts to inform of his passing.

Lis, I have a bit of an odd request. Do you know about word association? It's basically, I give you a word and you write down anything that comes to mind when you think of it. It could be words with similar meanings, words related to memories that are connected to that word, if it's an object or related to an object a description of the object, etc etc. You don't have to think hard about it, it's probably better if you don't think about it too much actually. I'd like you to try it. Your word is "yellow".

I don't know how you're sending your letters, but I need to send them in here, and there's no mailbox or anything. I just put them in an envelope or am handed an envelope by Jake, throw them in the air, and say "send".

Yes, I learned this through trial and error. Yes, the first edition of the "send" command had a lot more cursing.

What's this about agreeing with Jake?

Jake just told me. Definitely seems like it, yeah. What I saw in the north room also supports that theory. I don't think it changes much for us, though. Whether we're being made into entertainment or not, we've still got to find a way out of our circumstances. If it means we have to break Fate to do it, fine. We'll find a way.

Mmm, probably not too much more danger than usual? All Jakes are in some danger at all times, so it's hard for me to judge. But I haven't really been reading the inter-Jake correspondences, so I don't know for sure.

Anyhow, that's all from me for now. Talk to you later, Lis :)

—Yuvon

(The handwriting changes to Jake's.) Hello, Lis and Jake.

That version of Jessica handed over my alternate self's whereabouts? That is... disturbing. I will endeavor to show more caution in what I reveal to Jessica in the future in this world, though admittedly her releasing my current location is not a great concern.

I suppose anyone can write to Yuvon, then, if they know of her existence. Is there a return address on these envelopes when they are sent? Yuvon and I assumed the method of returning letters was a little more mystical than mundane, given the method of sending, but it seems we leapt to conclusions.

I second Yuvon's suggestion of word association. As Yuvon said, do not think too hard about it. Simply write anything and everything that comes to mind. There is no right or wrong answers, so do not feel pressured, nor linger overly long on each association once it is written.

Yuvon seems very confident in her ability to "break fate". She was muttering something about rebirth and change while writing her section of the letter, as well. I am not entirely sure what she means by that, but if she has some sort of plan, far be it from me to stand in her way, so long as she does not put herself in danger.

I do not think it is precisely my place to tell you one way or another whether your Jake is in danger, but I assure you that your Jake is nowhere remotely near going the way of TSB. You do not need to worry on that count.

As always, it was a pleasure to speak to you, Lis. Or write to you, I suppose. If you would please stop reading here, I am about to address your Jake's message :)

You are welcome. That bug frustrated me for an embarrassingly long time; that is why I recalled it in such detail. Saving you the trouble was the least I could do.

There are two possibilities I can see as to why Lis may not be showing you the letters.

First: From what I understand, an alternate Jessica contacted Yuvon. Her version of the Detective, a man named Matt whom she was romantically involved with, was murdered, and that version of Jake was framed and possibly incarcerated. Yuvon did not share the letter with me out of respect to Jessica; Liska may feel similarly.

Second: I introduced a theory that the entities may be more involved with all versions of the Detectives than we previously believed. Tragedy so far seems to be particularly attracted to even the Detectives with no ties to the supernatural. Lis may not wish to share that information with you for one reason or another.

Unfortunately, other than that, I can think of nothing as of yet, but I will read back over recent letters later to ensure I have not missed anything.

That was a good guess, but the diagnosis was not ADHD.

Thank you for telling me. I suppose social anxiety would be another possible reason for our "flaw". Detail for detail sounds quite fair :)

Before I sign off, you should know that Lis is expressing concern over your safety. I informed her you would not go the way of TSB, so please do not make me a liar.

Good luck,

Jake

(The letter tucks itself into the paper clip with the others.)

[justanotherlifeff]

Levi Ackerman × reader

Genre: Angst, Hurt/comfort, Fluff, matured themes, slowburn

Warning: There's mentions and descriptions of underage rape and suicidal themes and self harm and other triggering stuff.

(Y/N) POV

"You want my advice on where to buy a house?" Hanji asked, completely confused. I personally was confused too because it was obvious that Hanji would give some really psychotic answer. Even if I didn't consider that, it was not like Levi to ask for advice about something as personal as buying a house. Though it struck to me as unusual, I decided to let it off my head. "What about a house in Ragako? Your kid would get to see a titan before even joining the survey corps!" Hanji advised with her psychotic expression. "Shouldn't have asked you" Levi muttered as an answer to Hanji before turning to me and asking, "How about asking the squad? Aren't you close to them?". I was getting suspicious of his behaviour but I chose to keep quiet about it. " Uh...sure?" I answered to that. "Okay. They should be at the common hall after lunch. We could see them there" Levi muttered as he ate the stew.

We walked towards the common room when we were done having lunch. "Levi, are you feeling well?" I asked him on our way as I was feeling suspicious of his behaviour. "Huh? No, I'm fine. Why?" Levi asked raising an eyebrow. "Uh.. Well, it's not like you to ask for advice from anyone except uncle Erwin. It just seemed a bit odd" (Y/N) replied. "(Y/N), what part of this whole thing isn't odd? Do I look like the kind of guy who would get married, have kids, buy a house and all that shit? However, exactly that is happening and, well, I guess I have to do things that I wouldn't normally do." Levi explained himself. I decided that his explanation was fair enough and didn't question him more. "Oh, by the way, you'll do the talking. They're your batch mates after all" Levi added as he walked with me.

"You guys, we need help to choose where to get a house. It would've been helpful if you all had any suggestions." I told the squad. They were all in the common room as Levi predicted. I heard Historia was here but I didn't expect to find her with the others. "Well, you could get one at Dauper village. The scenic beauty there is amazing!" Sasha exclaimed. "You could visit the farmhouse I grew up in. I'll make an orphanage there later and you can keep your kids in my care when you all go to expeditions." Historia chimed in. "Oi, (Y/N), leave all that and try my house in Trost. It's the safest district now as the gate is blocked." Jean bragged. "Well, since you've given us so many options, let's just give all of it a shot" Levi told them.

"So, you're proposing that we will visit all of those places? That will take some time..." I told Levi, expressing my concern. "Well, we don't have much to do here. Everyone, saddle your horses. We are leaving in an hour." Levi commanded. It was decided that we would visit Dauper first, have some snacks at Sasha's home. Second, we would go to Historia's farmhouse. From there, we would go to Trost, see some properties for sale there, and come back to Capital Mitras by midnight. Sasha, Levi and myself were going for the trip.

Two hours later

We rode to Dauper with Sasha on lead. When we reached Sasha's home, a horde of children and villagers were in front of Sasha's home. Everyone came to see Sasha, now a member of the most elite squad of the survey corps. The way her father boasted about her to the villagers made me wonder, what if I had a father like that? Mr (L/N), my adoptive father tried his best and I respect him dearly for that, but, he never really bragged about me to people. I was home-schooled because of my reputation after all. I barely got out of my home, except for, of course, training sessions with uncle Erwin. As I thought about it, I realised that maybe it was my fault. After all, I never gave him much of a chance to boast.

Having a daughter who murdered one of his fellow comrades must've been hard enough for him. People glanced at us as they didn't expect to see Levi with a woman. Sure, I was on the front page of the newspaper once, but I was no where near as popular as Levi. Sasha's father cooked squirrel meat for us with Sasha but we couldn't finish eating it because I found three centipedes crawling on the table and discovered that I'm terrified of them.

They looked horrible and I probably never felt my heart stop like this before, not even when I came across titans. Levi decided that the place was too unsanitary and living in the middle of a forest will surely bring more insects, and thus, without much delay, we went for Historia's farmhouse. Sasha asked for permission to stay with her father for a while and Levi granted it. I doubted if he was becoming a softie due to my pregnancy.

The farmhouse was a really nice place but Levi decided that it's too far away from any market place and permanently living there is impossible because of that. After going to Trost, we browsed a few properties and we found one that seemed suiting. The house was near the inner walls, not too far from the market, had a nice front yard and back yard. It had three bedrooms, two of which were upstairs, a sitting room, a dining room and a big kitchen.

There were bathrooms in all of the bedrooms and the master bedroom even had a tub. The house being in Trost made things more convenient because, after all, the next expedition will be commenced from Trost. Levi booked the house and filling out the paperwork took long enough. By the time we reached Capital Mitras, it was already 11:45. "That was a long day. I really need some rest now." I yawned as I went for Levi's room with Levi behind me. The room was dark when I went in and suddenly, I felt someone jump at me.

No one's POV

An hour before lunch

As Hanji was taking (Y/N)'s report card and birth certificate to Erwin's office, she noticed something on the birth certificate. (Y/N)'s birthday was tomorrow. The walls were in peace and this was (Y/N)'s first birthday after joining the Survey corps, so, Hanji decided that it should be celebrated. With that in her mind, she went to Erwin's office to find Historia discussing something with Erwin. "I've got (Y/N)'s documents" Hanji reported. Erwin took the papers from her as she started mentioning, "I noticed that (Y/N)'s birthday is tomorrow. As her friend, I wanted the permission to celebrate it?".

"I see. Well, I don't recall the (L/N)s ever celebrating her birthday. Probably because the date on her birth certificate is the date when she got rescued. We had no way of knowing her real birthday. I think it would be a nice gesture. Permission granted." Erwin answered. "Hanji-san? Can I help with the arrangements? (Y/N) owed me a cake" Historia chimed in. "Yes.. Of course, your highness" Hanji answered, shocked by Historia's sudden interest in doing something about (Y/N)'s birthday.

"We can plan things in your office, yes?" Historia inquired with a smile. "Yes, of course. Feel free to come by whenever you want. I'll be there." Hanji smiled before leaving the room. She went to her office to find Moblit arranging her books. He always managed to help her out about staying tidy. She assumed that if Moblit wasn't around, Levi probably would've died of a heart attack after visiting Hanji's office. After all, he did knock her out to make her take a bath a couple of times.

"Hey, Moblit, we need to hurry things up. Queen Historia might visit my office soon. She probably won't appreciate the mess." Hanji told Moblit as she walked towards her table and took a handful of books to put in her shelf. "Hanji-san... Did (Y/N) talk to you?" Moblit asked Hanji in a meek voice as he picked up some books from the floor. "Yes she did. When are we going on that date?" Hanji asked, with a tint of blush on her face as she kept the books on the shelf.

The books in Moblit's hands fell to the floor as Moblit asked with shock written all over his face, "You're really considering it?". "Why won't I?" Hanji asked, slightly confused. After all, she assumed, that it would be obvious that she would consider it as Moblit had been always beside her, reminding her to eat or sleep when she overworked herself on her experiments. He was always worried for her well being and Hanji found it alluring beyond measure. Before further words could be exchanged between the newly formed couple, Historia entered the room.

"Hanji-san, could we plan the preparation now? My meeting with Commander Erwin is done and I hoped to make plans on the arrangements for (Y/N)'s birthday before going back to the castle." Historia said. "Yes, of course. I was planning to get (Y/N) busy in something and arrange a surprise party for her? Nothing too fancy of course, just Levi squad, Commander Erwin and my squad since she doesn't have much friends. We could arrange it in Levi's office since the state of it is not quiet. Great." Hanji explained as she pointed at the huge piles of books and torn papers on the floor. "I see. Shouldn't we inform everyone about the party in that case? I will arrange the food and anything else you would need for decoration." Historia answered.

"Ah, yes. Moblit, ask Levi squad and Commander Erwin to come to my office immediately." Hanji commanded Moblit as he ran off to get everyone. Everyone except Levi was there in a few minutes. "Hanji-san, I didn't find Levi Heichou anywhere" Moblit informed Hanji. "I didn't expect you to find him. He's busy" Hanji answered with a smirk recalling about how she walked onto them a while back. The plan was explained to everyone before they went for lunch. The plan was simple, Erwin mentioned that Levi was supposed to buy a house and thus that could be used as an excuse to get (Y/N) away from Levi's room.

Everyone with a hometown was told to act like their hometown is the best place to get a house and Levi was supposed to get (Y/N) to go take a look at the places. "She should be getting married as soon as possible. After all, rumours about her pregnancy has already been spreaded and that will give her a bad image if she isn't married. This could also help then speed up the process. " Erwin sighed. All that was left to do was letting Levi know about the plan. "Erwin, I'll send Levi when he arrives for lunch. Could you please inform him about the plan?" Hanji asked Erwin. "Yes. Of course." Erwin answered before going back to his office

During lunch

"So, you're saying that I will have to ask for advice from some kids from my squad about where I'll buy a house and you think that (Y/N) won't suspect anything. Erwin, did you hit your head somewhere?" Levi answered to Erwin after Erwin said the plan to him. "Levi, do you have a better plan? After all, everything you are doing nowadays is quiet...unusual. A few months back, if anyone told me that you'd get my niece pregnant and try to marry her in a matter of about two months, I'd laugh at them. You can probably make this excuse to some use too." Erwin said in a serious tone.

"Okay. I trust your judgement. I'll use your reasoning to try to make (Y/N) think that all these isn't a hoax." Levi simply answered before leaving Erwin's office. He wondered how he could bring the topic up, given that he normally wouldn't just ask for advice from random people. Suddenly it struck to him. Hanji was a good friend and asking Hanji at the beginning would raise less suspicion. Plus, Hanji would definitely be surprised at his way of changing the plan as asking Hanji wasn't included. "Hanji, where do you reckon we should buy a house?" he asked. Hanji's expression was just what he hoped for.

As phase 1 of the plan was successfully completed, phase 2 was taking place. Levi's office was more than clean and tidy enough so, Hanji and the others didn't have to get bothered with that. Connie and Armin were sent to bring garlands for decorating the office by a tad bit while Historia's castle chefs were already cooking the dinner. By the time everything came together, it was already 11 pm. The food were placed in trays, Sasha, who arrived at 10 pm was kept in a different room so that she won't eat everything up, a garland was placed on Levi's table and the room was cleaned by Eren after all the decoration was done since so many people walking around made the room quiet dirty and Eren insisted that if it isn't cleaned, Levi would take all of their heads.

Hanji couldn't disagree much about that. Levi was supposed to get (Y/N) in the room just at 12 and the room was supposed to be darkened and Hanji personally planned to jump at her and give her a hug. The plan went perfectly till Hanji went for the hug and got thrown on her ass by (Y/N).

Levi POV

I honestly saw that coming. Sure, I was able to book a house thanks to this whole plan but I was completely sure that if anyone jumps at (Y/N) in the darkness, they would be flipped in the air. At least I would do that for sure. The lamps were turned on after Hanji was thrown to the ground and (Y/N) looked genuinely surprised by all the decorations. "What's the meaning of all these?" she asked softly, her voice filled with curiosity.

"Well, we were trying to surprise you for your birthday. I mean, we don't know your real birthday but this is what's on your birth certificate so... Hey, you didn't have to throw me so hard." Hanji muttered while getting up. "I... I thought you were a burglar... Thank you. All of you. " (Y/N)'s voice cracked as she said this. A small smile formed on her lips while a single drop of tear escaped her eye. Right then Sasha barged inside the room with Connie running behind her to catch her. I was slightly annoyed because of this as I was quiet enjoying (Y/N)'s reaction.

I expected her to react like that because, as Erwin mentioned, she never had a birthday before. I had to admit, even I had birthdays when my mother was alive. It wasn't much, my mother cooked a chicken stew with the low grade chicken stock and bony pieces of chicken she would get in the market. Back then, it was the most delicious thing I had ever eaten, but, that was probably because she was an amazing cook. We would have a good Christmas dinner as well as a birthday treat as both were in the same day.

"There are two cakes... Meat... Bread... Steamed potato..." Sasha whispered as she was shaking. "(Y/N) asked me to get you a cake remember? I decided that I'll get one only for you" Historia told Sasha. To that, Sasha fell on her knees saying, "I've been blessed by goddesses!" while crying.

The smile on (Y/N)'s face was growing larger by the second as everyone wished her happy birthday. She hugged Erwin, and surprisingly, Hanji too. As she was talking to the squad, mostly thanking them, I walked to Erwin and said, "I booked a house in Trost. Seems like you were right about using this situation to speed up the process of the wedding.". "I see. I recommend that you buy the furniture from the retailer who makes our office furniture. After all, that desk I'm using now has been used for decades." Erwin answered. "I'll consider it" I replied to that.

The cake was cut, everyone had dinner, and when it was time to leave, I called Eren and told him, "Oi Eren, clean the room. I'll give you 30 minutes.". Saying that, I walked towards (Y/N), who was saying goodnight to Hanji as she was leaving. " (Y/N), Eren will clean the room. Let's go to the balcony here." I told her. She followed me to the balcony in the east wing. The last time I came here, I was with Farlan and Isabel. We didn't move to the headquarters back then as there wasn't much time before the expedition. The scouts were in wall Sina for the mission of picking us up from the underground. We moved to the headquarters in Wall Maria after that mission.

I've been in this branch after loosing Farlan and Isabel but, I never tried to go back to that balcony. Being here with (Y/N) made me feel emotions that I stopped feeling long ago. What if Farlan and Isabel were alive? They would've been very happy about the fact that I will get married. I was sitting exactly where I sat all those years ago and (Y/N) sat where Farlan did. "They wrote 'Happy 19th birthday (Y/N)' on the cake" (Y/N) said with a chuckle. I raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "Aren't you 19?". (Y/N) looked away from me at the starry sky.

"I don't know. They assumed my age before taking me to the (L/N)s. My pimp apparently told them that I was working there for two years. I looked too young and malnourished, so, they decided that I was 7 as any child under 5 couldn't survive rape. There was no way of knowing my actual age, my actual birthday, my real parents, anything. All I remember about my birth mother is a name. They searched the birth registers because selling off a minor is a crime but they didn't find anyone of that name. That, however, is common in the underground." (Y/N) sighed.

"(Y/N), you'll be a better mother than yours. Our child won't face things like that. We will make sure of it. Maybe, that would give both of us some peace." I answered to (Y/N). I didn't know a better way to make her feel better. "You're right." (Y/N) told me with a smile. Her strength amazed me. I stared at her for a moment. She, indeed, was the most beautiful woman I ever laid my eyes on.

To be continued...

Taglist: @reality-is-often-disappointing, @kingtamakimurder

[roseyserpents]

Secrets

Discoveries

Summary: You and Sweet Pea went through a rough patch in your relationship that almost tore you apart. As you're fixing your relationship, your secrets start to get in the way. Can your relationship withstand another storm?

Warnings: threats?

Word count: 1438

A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long! I've been busy with midterms and shit but I should get back into updating now! That's also why the chapters short (I edited and it didn't save and I'm to tired to redo it) :)

You woke up lying on Sweet Peas chest, his arm wrapped around your waist keeping you in place. His chest gently rose and fell, moving your head up and down with each of his soft breaths. A gentle smile crossed your face as you moved your thumb back and forth, your hand on his chest. Sunlight seeps through the cracks in the blinds, basking the peaceful morning in a warm yellow glow.

"Morning." Sweet Pea says, voice deep and scratchy from sleep. You prop yourself up on your elbow, placing a chaste kiss to his cheek pulling away with a small smile. "You missed." You roll your eyes as he turns on his side, his head still in the pillow.

"Can we just stay here all day?" You ask, mindlessly playing with the fingers on one of his hands.

"I would say yes, but I have to go somewhere with Jughead and Fangs at one." Sweet Pea sighs.

"Nooo." You oppose, wrapping your arms around him. "Mine."

"I'll be back around seven." He assures you, his hand cradling the back of your head. "It's not that long."

"Six hours!" You exclaim, leaning back so you can look at him. "That's a fourth of the day!"

"You're not coming with us." He says softly but sternly saying there was no bargaining on this.

"Why not?" You whine, sounding more like his child than his girlfriend.

"It's dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt." He answers. "It's a boys trip."

"So you think us girls and Kevin aren't tough?" You ask, quirking a brow prompting him to let out an exasperated sigh.

"No, but none of us want our girlfriends or boyfriend to get involved with this."

You groan but give up on trying to go with him, finding it cute he wanted to keep you safe and gratefully accepting the momentary peace from a great deal of questions from the events of last night. After lying in bed for another hour you finally get dressed and make food.

-

Around quarter til seven you hear a knock on the door, pausing the TV and drawing your brow together. You didn't understand why Sweet Pea would knock on the door to his own home but you got up to open the door nonetheless, your face falling when you see the person behind it.

"You didn't tell me you were home all by your lonesome today." Matt says, letting himself in.

"Get out Matt," you command sternly, "You will not come in and taint my home, the one place I have left that's fortunately been untouched by you."

"Well unfortunately for you, I have the upper-hand in this situation." He says, picking up a framed picture of you and Sweet Pea and rolls his eyes.

"Honestly he's made you go soft. You never did anything like this in Bidview." He scoffs, referring to you and Sweet Pea sitting on a couch with your legs over his and your arms wrapped around him, your chin on his shoulder and your noses brushed against each other in an Eskimo kiss. You both have wide smiles but they're at each other instead of the camera as if it simply doesn't exist.

"No, he's made me me again. You have no clue who I am." You defend.

"Oh Y/n/n, you don't really believe you can escape from who you were with me; from what you did. Killing someone isn't something you can just forget." He smirks, leaning against the wall next to the still open door.

"Matt I swear to you, if you lay a single one of your disgusting hands on Sweet Pea or keep meddling in our relationship, I chase you out of town. I will tell everyone who - what you are. And that's a promise." You hiss, slowly stepping closer until you stand in front of him with your finger jabbed in his chest.

"I think you forgot my only real goal in being here. All of the other stuff I'm doing on the side like our dance we shared yesterday is simply just for fun. But there's something I can promise you, if you keep this up, not only will you be back with the Ghoulies and the Serpents gone, you and Sweet Pea won't exist and you'll be crawling back to me. So if I were you, it choose your next actions very. Wisely." His voice and expression had gradually hardened and gotten darker as his mini speech continued until he looked exactly how he did when he was with you. For the first time since this all started, you felt genuine fear of what you had gotten yourself in to and for everything you'd gotten for yourself. You hated yourself for dragging Sweet Pea into this, for risking the entirety of the Serpents, for getting involved with Matt, for getting into this mess in the first place. You'd rebuilt yourself since Bidview and the Ghoulies but now the tar that seemed to fill the two memories was trying to seep into the sunny bright new life, slowly infecting the light.

"Y/n?" Toni says from the doorway.

Toni looks between you and Matt in disbelief and something between disappointment and something else.

"Sam. Out. Now." You say with no way for him to deny it. He walks out but now without flashing Toni a grin before trotting down the steps and back to what ever depth of hell he came from.

"So are you going to explain that to me, or am I going to have to ask Sweet Pea?" She asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Toni it's, it's not that easy." You sigh, running your fingers through your hair and closing the door before sitting down on the couch.

"You killed somebody? You were a Ghoulie?" She continues to question, standing in front of you after crossing the room.

"Everything you heard is from my life before I moved to Riverdale and left it all behind. I don't want anything to do with what I did. You heard, I'm a lot different than that me." You give an exasperated answer. "Please, let's just leave this for tomorrow."

She presses her lips into a line, as if considering your proposal before agreeing. "I expect answers, though." You nod and let her out before collapsing on to the couch with a single, silent tear tracking down your cheek. You tried so hard to prevent this. To prevent everything from your before to come crashing into your now.

The front door opens yet again but this time the heavy footsteps are welcome. Sweet Pea shuts the door and throws off his Serpents jacket where it falls in a heap of leather on the counter.

"Y/n, what's wrong?" He asks after seeing your cracking state. You don't answer as you feel yourself break down, standing up and wrapping your arms tightly around him you let out a sob into his shirt leaving a wet spot of your tears. "Hey hey hey, I got you, you're okay." He tries to comfort you, his strong arms holding you against him. He places a lingering kiss to your hair before resting his chin on your head. You clung to him like your life depended on it, like he was the only thing anchoring you to this life. Sweet Pea lead you to the bedroom and you both sat down with you still clinging to him.

"Y/n, what happened? Did someone hurt you?" He asks, the last part coming out sterner as if he was already enraged at the thought of it.

"I'm sorry." You sniff, your face still buried in his chest. "I love you, so much Sweet Pea."

"I love you too." He replies, chosing to leave the answers to his questions for another time seeing as you didn't seem to be in the right state to give them. He was worried about you. Ever since Sam had started school and he was in your life again, you had gone downhill fast. Everything about you had changed and your overall positive mood had been turned into one of seriousness. Your jokes and clinginess that was annoyingly cute had disappeared and been replaced with worry and you acting like you were always looking over your shoulder. He didn't know exactly what the situation between you and Sam was, but he knew he was going to get to the bottom of it and find some way to get you out of whatever it was and keep you safe. But in doing so, he didn't know just how much trouble he would get himself in.

Taglist: @t-a-i-l-o-r-m-a-d-e @stilinski-sister @oopsiedoopsie23 @yall-wildin-like-siriusly

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 14.19: “Jack in the Box”

THEN: Eh, you know all this. Oh, wait, here's something interesting - a reminder that Naomi was overcome by the Empty slime. Which reminds me of my theory that Naomi and/or Duma might actually be the Empty Entity. Hmmm. Oh, and also, all the Jack stuff.

NOW: There's a bunch of hunters in the bunker, drining beer and looking at pictures of Mary and her stuff on the map table. Including the picture Sam burned. Well, I'm glad it wasn't the only copy. And whatever these rings and calipers are that are always on the map table, apparently they're permanent, because they weren't removed for this little memorial display. Also, John's journal is part of the display, and I know they gave it to Mary to read, but still, it's John's. This bothers me.

So, are these surviving AU hunters? If not, that means the Winchesters have opened the bunker up to every hunter they know (and revealed its location to everyone they know), which is... not what I would have done. TFW makes an entrance (why were they not in there with their guests) and Dean thanks them for coming and makes a little speech but I'm finding it real hard to concentrate on Dean right now because LOOK AT SAM'S SHIRT. LOOK AT IT. It's CLOSE-FITTING and it's NOT PLAID and whatever awful things this episode does (and my completely unspoiled prediction is that IT WILL DO AWFUL THINGS), we at least got this.

I strongly suspect this is actually Jared's shirt.

Dean informs the gathered that they missed the pyre, sorry. And he mentions that some of them fought Michael with her in the other world so they ARE AU hunters! Or at least some of them! Well, that's good to know. Sam doesn't have to feel personally responsible for killing everyone who came over, just a handful. Including the only one who had a name, and probably that guy who called him Chief (sob), but some of them remain. Anyway. Dean gives his eulogy (and Sam's not the only worth a second look in this scene, because Dean looks pretty amazing as well) and they drink beer and then an AXE FLIES IN OUT OF NOWHERE, SLOWLY AND AWKWARDLY SPIRALING INTO A HUNTER'S HEAD. People seem surprised, but it's the mild kind of surprise you'd get if he threw his beer at somebody, not if an axe suddenly appeared embedded in his head. The thrower of the axe walks in - it's New Bobby. WELL.

Title card! Bobby informs me that it was a hatchet, not an axe, and he wants it back. (Sidebar: It literally never occurred to me to think about the difference between a hatchet and an axe until earlier this week when I was listening to a murder podcast that specified someone was killed with one, not the other.) He also tell us that the "hunter" was actually a wraith "from a nest your mom and I busted up" and SEE, GUYS? This is why you don't invite people to the bunker. Now a bunch of wraiths probably know where it is. And we know the warding is a joke. Cas thinks Mary would have appreciated a monster at her memorial. I don't think Cas knows Mary very well but whatever.

Bobby asks Sam how he and "the other one" are doing, and we watch Dean pack up Mary's belongings (including John's journal? that's going away?) and Sam says he "seems to be doing okay" which is, of course, how they operate. No one asks how Bobby's doing, even though he had a relationship with Mary too (and over the course of her life probably spent as much time with her as Sam did, when you come right down to it), but Bobby says he's not into public displays of grief anyway, and Dean is probably the same (which is true, except for when it's very very not true).

Sam suggests they drink the scotch Ketch left (and I wonder if this means Ketch came for the memorial, and left some scotch, or if he's referring to a bottle from a previous season that somehow remained through all those events that really would have called for some serious scotch-drinking) and talk about Mom. Dean points out that they have been talking about Mom and stalks out and leaves Sam sad.

Sam and Bobby and Cas settle for beer instead, and Dean walks in just as Bobby asks "what exactly happened to her, cause I'm hearing, the kid." Oh, that's interesting that they wouldn't have given him the whole story. Or maybe it's not. Maybe it makes sense that they'd keep things vague, tell everyone she "died on a hunt." Dean needs a drink, but not in the bunker. Sam tells him they need to talk about Jack, and he says "we will" and quickly makes his escape. Bobby and Cas have this funny exchange.

I liked the kid. We fought together. But there's only way this ends.

Bobby's right. We have to find Jack and help him.

What?

Hee! Cas feels Jack might not realize what he did was wrong, and Bobby astutely points out that if he didn't realize it was wrong, that's kind of a big problem, because if Kelly's influence has been burned away, that means Lucifer is all that's left. Bobby means to hunt him down. "An unstoppable monster who don't know right from wrong gets put down." Um, Bobby, let's consider the unstoppable part of that declaration. (Also, should someone point out to Bobby that Jack accidentally killed someone even back when he did have a soul? Probably not.)

Cut to Jack, who is still? again? at an abandoned warehouse or factory or something. He's remembering what he did, and wishing his mother was there to tell him what to do. Oh, she's not here, but Hallucidad is. He tells Jack that the Winchesters don't care about him, he was just a pet and a weapon, and again, it hurts knowing that this is Jack's subconscious saying these things. Jack thinks he can explain and apologize, and if that's so, Jack, then why didn't you do that when they caught you raising Mary's not-corpse? No, says Hallucifer, they hate you.

Cut to Dean, sitting outside somewhere in the dark, crying.

This is not okay. I mean, it is, but it's not.

Heaven. (yawn.) Cas again tells Duma that he wants to see Naomi, and again she denies him. It turns out Naomi is in "a very small cell" because Heaven was invaded under her watch. I didn't think they had enough spare angels around to lock one up just because they don't think she's a good leader. She might be a great follower. (Yeah, probably not.) Cas tells her he needs help looking for Jack, who has burned through his soul and is no longer being protected by the Winchesters. Hmmm, she says, this is very useful information to have. Internally. Out loud, she tells Cas she'll see what she can do, which he of course takes as an offer to help. Oh, Cas.

Bunker. Sam's working at his computer when Dean comes back. Sam's wearing a different shirt. I don't know if that means it's the next day, or just that he changed out of his nice funeral shirt. He asks Dean how he's doing, but Dean ignores that and asks what Sam's doing.

Trying to find Jack. We've gotta find him before Bobby and his crew, because if they find him first -

He's gonna kill them all.

... I don't know.

Oh, Sam, you DO know. You are obviously concerned about Bobby et al killing Jack, not the other way around. And it breaks my heart. Sam also wants to talk about Mary and the fact that they don't have to rely on faith to know Mary's in Heaven, because they personally know Heaven and angels are real. Dicks, but real. He says Mary's in a great place, with John, because again we're forgetting or denying what we know about Heaven. Dean, the eternal ray of sunshine, points out that there wasn't enough of Mary left to bring back to life even if they wanted to.

Back to Jack, who has a surprise visitor. It's Duma! Oh, cool, she's helping Cas find him, just like she said she would! Ha ha ha nope. (Sidebar: How did Duma find him, and why doesn't Cas have the same ability? Discuss.) He remembers her from his trip to Heaven that one time he died. She tells him Mary's death wasn't his fault, and he deserves redemption after his mistake, because he has "a glorious destiny." She tells him Heaven has fallen apart since God left, and no one gives them the respect they deserve, but Jack, YOU can save Heaven and make the world better and wouldn't that make Sam and Dean happy? Their first stop on the Make The World Better Tour is to turn a famous God denier into a pillar of salt. Oh, irony. (Also, he's safe from ghosts now, so. Bonus?)

Bunker. Cas is telling the Winchesters that Heaven promised to "make every effort" to find Jack. Which 1) isn't exactly what we saw happening, unless you're naive enough to think "I'll see what I can do" means "I'll make every effort", and b) even if that is what Duma said, as Dean points out, "Oh, Heaven promised? Great, well we should take that to the bank." But Cas thinks Heaven has as much reason to want to find Jack as they do. Which is true. But doesn't mean they're going to turn him over to you, Cassie.

Coincidentally, Sam has just read about Professor Pillar of Salt. "Why does that sound familiar?" Dean asks. You know, I don't know the Bible very well. If a particular event didn't show up in "Jesus Christ Superstar" or "The Ten Commandments," I'm not likely to be familiar with it. And yet I know about Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt. And I've never been to Heaven or met an angel. So.

Cas explains the story and says no ordinary angel could turn a human into salt. Sam reads another story about a dishonest televangelist (yeah, I know, that's redundant) who had a crevice open in the ground under her and swallow her up, and again Dean's not familiar with the story, but this time I'm not either. But Cas knows it's from the book of Numbers. Allegedly, only Jack or Chuck himself could perform these acts.

Heaven. Duma tells Jack he's doing excellent work, and he can help bring Heaven back to its previous glory.

Sam and Dean will like that?

Words can't begin to express how Sam and Dean will feel.

Hee!

So let's talk about what's going on here. I appreciate that they're framing this as Jack trying to get back into Sam and Dean's good graces. In fact, I'm a little hopeful at this point. If Jack-who-is-being-used-by-Heaven is the Big Bad, doesn't that mean stopping the Big Bad could just mean they rescue him from Duma's manipulation? Maybe? (Yeah, I know. But a girl can dream.)

Anyway. Duma's next task for Jack is to create more angels. She tells him he can't make them out of thin air, but if a human is "predisposed" to it, he might be able to forge them into an angel. Oooooh, this opens up some chilling possibilities about who could be turned into an angel. But it turns out he's not going after anybody named Winchester. He's just sitting on the throne "where your grandfather received prayers" (and where your father sat) and listening to prayers. (Sidebar: Why hasn't Sam tried to communicate with Jack by praying to him? Discuss.)

For whatever reason, he hones in on one particular group of worshippers who are about to discuss the book of Samuel (hee!) with Pastor Ames. Jack zaps into the room, asks if they meant it when they said they wanted to go to Heaven, and shows them his wings. Sold! Pastor Ames missing that demonstration, so when he comes in and calls Jack a liar, Jack hits him with another Biblical curse: "he was eaten by worms and breathed his last." Pastor Ames falls to the ground with worms popping out of him everywhere, and Jack and his future angels disappear.

Hospital. Guys, look at the suits! Have they ever worn such narrow pants? What is going on here? Someone new in the wardrobe department?

Mama like.

Agents Kilmister, Clark, and Taylor (hee) are visiting bandaged-up Pastor Ames, who identifies a photo of Jack. They leave, and Cas recites the relevant verse and Sam says, surprised, "so you think this is another Bible thing?" AS IF THAT WASN'T WHY THEY'RE HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE, and as they leave, we see that Pastor Ames is not over his worm infestation after all.

Back at the bunker, Dean tells Sam that he didn't want it to come to this, but they have no choice. Come to what? What's behind the door in room 5B? It's the thing we all knew was coming - the box! (And if you didn't see it coming, the title of this episode clearly gave it away, which is why I consider titles of unaired episodes to be spoilers.) Sam, who is clearly not behind this plan in any way shape or form, points out that they don't have the ability to force Jack into the box, and he won't go in there of his own free will.

But he might. He might if he only has to stay in there long enough for us to finish the spell to fix his soul.

Spell? What spell? There is no spell.

*We* know that.

Oh, no, this is not good, and Sam already hates it.

... So, you want to lie to him.

No, I mean, I *want* Zeppelin to get back together. But what I *need*, what *we* need, is to stop Jack. Big difference. But here's the deal; we both gotta sign off on it. This might be our only shot, and if he even catches a whiff that this is a scam, he's off into the wind.

Exactly. Now, how do you think he's not gonna know something's up?

Because you're gonna be so damn sincere -

Me? Why me?

Because you've always been in his corner. You're his go-to guy. Sam, if you reach out, he'll come. If I do it, after what happened to Mom, I could lose him. I *will* lose him.

Oh no, no, no, Sam is SO not on board with this plan. Because the worst thing that could happen is that it doesn't work, and the second worst thing is that it does work. Dean is so calmly insistent, and Sam is so unhappy, and his FACE when Dean tells him HE will be sincere is just killing me, and no matter what I think about this episode or or this entire story arc, I love what the guys are doing with this scene.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding a silver lining here.

Sam sits down at the library table and begins praying to Jack, which doesn't answer my question of why they haven't already tried communicating with him that way. In fact, it makes me ask it harder. He tells him that they're family, and bad things happen in families but they want to get through it, they want to be like they were before. Jack hears Sam's prayer as he assembles his future angels. Meanwhile, Cas has barged his way into Heaven to rescue Jack, having figured out that Heaven has no mercy and angels do bad things, and Cas? How is this POSSIBLY news to you? Duma threatens to end Mary and John's happy little afterlife together (Is this confirmation that they really are sharing a Heaven, even though his name isn't on the door? Maybe. Do I accept it? Not necessarily) so Cas stabs her. Well. We're down to, what, ten angels now? He calls for Jack, but Jack's already gone, having just appeared in the bunker.

Jack tells Sam and Dean he's been working with Heaven, and "if it helps, I regret it... the accident."

Again, the guys do a beautiful job with this scene. Even if it's an awful, awful scene, they're acting the hell out of it. Sam is as anxious as he was when he was trapped in a cell with Jack the day he was born, the way his hands twitch when he gets up from the table and circles behind Dean, and then carefully places himself between Dean and Jack, and how he physically reacts when Jack steps closer, and they're both keeping their distance and moving so carefully, and then there's the way Dean is practically unblinking and is very obviously working SO HARD not to spontaneously combust, staying practically motionless and keeping his voice even, although anyone could tell he's absolutely BOILING under the surface from the look on his face and his tone of voice every time he says the accident. All of this is amazing.

But yeah, it is also an awful scene. Because Jack isn't guilty or apologetic at all. He's actually kind of smug about working with Heaven and making angels, and very condescending about regretting "the accident," and I just don't think he would be there. I think he would tell them how sorry he was, and that he tried to fix it, and basically everything he said to Hallucifer. He wouldn't say "I knew you'd understand" when they tell him they forgive him. His blind self-assurance would make sense if it came at the end of a 2- or 3-episode arc, where Duma had spent more than a day telling him how awesome he was. So while I love Sam and Dean in this scene, love them to pieces, Jack is just... ugh. Beyond OOC. Moving on. Dean tells Jack they're working on a way to fix his soul, and they want to keep him safe (from having another ACCIDENT) in the meanwhile. Sam oh-so-tentatively puts a hand on Jack's shoulder and dear GOD he is so afraid and I LOVE IT.

Again, quite a silver lining to this dark little raincloud.

They take him to the room with the magic box, which Dean claims is "actually pretty comfortable." Dean stays still and Sam fidgets and Jack says "okay" and climbs into the box. "How long before I can come out?" he asks. Sam is more and more fidgety as he says "not too long," and Dean is like stretched rubber band about to snap as he holds himself back from slamming the lid down. "Jack, we got this," Sam lies. "Okay," Jack says again, and he lies down and they didn't even put a pillow in the damn box, why does he think this is okay, why does he think they're working in his best interest if they didn't even give him a damn pillow? Dean shuts the lid and rushes to close the locks and Sam hates this, hates it so much.

Shhh. Don't even listen. Just turn the sound down and enjoy the pretty, pretty angst.

Alone in the box, Jack calls to the Winchesters, but they're already shutting the door to room 5B. They move to the kitchen to finish off Ketch's scotch and talk about the future.

So what do we do now? Just go on, with Jack locked up in there forever?

We have to.

I don't know if I can do that.

Dean ignores Sam's shaky voice and decides to talk about the scotch and sure, we all recognize this is Dean's way of coping. Pretend it's not happening, pretend it doesn't bother him. Because I have to think that, no matter how much he wants revenge against Jack, he understands that being locked in that box forever is still a horrible fate. (A fate Dean was willing to accept, but still.) Sam, meanwhile, needs to talk, just like he needed to talk about Mary.

You know, I never thought it would end like this, with Jack.

Sammy, we knew from the beginning it was a long shot with him.

Yeah. Yeah. But, long shots are kind of our thing.

So let's talk about Sam's guilt. His beautiful, beautiful guilt. Not only over tricking someone he loves into being locked up in a box forever, but for bringing Jack into their lives in the first place. And yet. Jack has always been unstoppable, hasn't he? So if Sam hadn't opened his humongous heart and taken him in, he would have been out there alone. No one teaching him how to use and control his powers, no one keeping him away from Lucifer. He would have been an unstoppable enemy instead of an unpredictable ally. Sam did the right thing, even though it ended bad. Because it was always going to end bad.

Have I mentioned that I could watch an entire episode that was just Dean drinking?

Back in room 5B, Jack's starting to panic, and still calling for Sam and Dean. They don't show up, but Hallucifer does (oh god, I want to see Sam find out he basically locked Jack in that box with Lucifer) and informs Jack he's been played.

In the kitchen, Cas arrives with the news that Duma has been manipulating Jack, and they really need to find him. The guys are all, oh, whoops, forgot to call you, he's here, locked in the box.

Jack gets glowy eyes and tries to break out of the box, but nothing happens.

Cas is horrified that the guys still plan to keep Jack in the box, even knowing his latest acts were due to being manipulated. Sam says "That's the problem. If he's that easily manipulated, he's too dangerous to be out of the box." Oh, no he doesn't. Instead, Dean says "He agreed to it." Yes, in much the same way Sam agreed to be Gadreel's vessel. You keep telling yourself that, Dean. In fact, Dean is trying to claim that deep down, Jack knows it's best. Oh, no, no you don't. Cas points out that Dean manipulated Jack as much as Duma did.

(Sidebar: I'm convinced that Sam would be able to forgive Jack. Because of his endless capacity for forgiveness, and because he sees himself as being in Jack's shoes at a different point in his life. Dean, on the other hand, would not. Because Dean is a normal human being when it comes to forgiveness, and because Dean puts loyalty to family above everything else.)

Box. Jack tries harder. Lucifer laughs. The box glows.

Kitchen. The arguing is interrupted by an earth-shattering kaboom. Things fall off shelves. The red emergency lights and klaxon come on. TFW leaps up and runs to room 5B. The room is a smoke-filled wreck and a figure with glowing gold eyes is walking out of the red-tinged smoke. "Jack," Sam gasps.

Duh duh duuuuuhhhh! Next week, Cas makes Dean write I knew a nephilim was more powerful than its angel parent but I assumed the box would be stronger than Jack anyway 100 times on the blackboard.

Okay, the bad happened, as we all figured it would. But let's talk about the good. Jack's not locked in the box forever. That's a relief - it would have been a very unsatisfactory conclusion. And the guys looked extraordinary. And there was so much emotion, both the tightly-controlled type, and the worn-on-his-sleeve type, and I love them both. Honestly, considering what happened in this one, and who wrote it, it was a lot better than I expected. A lot better than it could have been. (Will I go read your reactions now and see that every single one of you disagrees with me? Quite possibly.)

Next week is the next-to-last "Carry On Wayward Son."

Please help me stay unspoiled, thanks!

[ruffoverthinksthings]

I've thoroughly enjoyed the Claudine/Frollo headcannons, do you have any in mind for Esmeralda/Phoebus? If the sequel movies are wiped from this universe, that means their son doesn't exist (or not yet). Also, do you have another headcannon for onesided fresme on frollo's part? How would he handle being unable to obtain her in this universe?

Ilike to believe the sequels and spin-offs are valid, as the bookseries (which is, as of the Rise of the Isle of the Lost, is canon…to a certain extent) makes reference to characters that could onlyexist outside of the original movies, such as:

Diegode Vil, presumably the child of Ivy de Vil from the 101 DalmatiansTV series, or a descendant from the rest of the extended de Vilfamily, and

Jade,Jay’s cousin and presumably the daughter of Nasira, Jafar’ssister from the Aladdin video game series

There’sa level of personal bias, with the amount of work I’ve already putinto expanding the world with my own ideas, but I think we can allagree that the Isle and Auradon would be a whole lot less interestingif we didn’t have the likes of:

Mozenrath(Aladdin animated series) acting as Maleficent’s longsuffering middle manager, and personal chew toy as an “inferiormagical being,”

LadyWaltham (Tarzan animated series) adding an element of sympathyto the Isle of the Lost with her regretting her brother Clayton andher nephew are still on there and unable to return, and

LadyCaine (Tangled: Before Ever After), who adds a deliciouselement of grayness and a MASSIVE stain on the otherwise pristinereputation all sympathetic Disney monarchs have.

Ontothe headcanons:

Phoebusbecomes one of the new Captains of the Guard in France once theoriginal forces are merged with, or completely replaced by the newlyestablished Auradon Royal Guard. Though the actual administrative andexecutive power lies much higher up the ranks (such as theCommander-In-Chief, Beast), he himself is an incredibly influentialmember, well-known and well-loved by the citizenship and the fellowsoldiers he patrols the streets with.

Auradonhad to rely heavily on translators, human and machine, or translatingmagic during its tumultuous first years, as everyone struggled tofind one common language for every state to use as the internationalstandard (it’s English still). A LOT of things get lost intranslation or don’t translate too good into another language, orsomeone gets VERY offended when someone who is fluent in both Frenchand Chinese tells you exactly what they meant, and howunflattering it is.

Andthis isn’t even going into all the numerous cultural clashes andfaux paus, such as one unfortunate Louisiana chef realizing you’renot supposed to serve pork to most Agrahbans until he was alreadyuncovering the dish...

Phoebusbridges the gap through his calm, professional demeanor, alwaysshowing politeness and civility to everyone whoever they may be, andof course, his sense of humour, given “a real workout” when hehas to figure out how to make someone laugh with universallyunderstood comedy (someone falling face first into a pile of horsedung), non-verbal humour (wearing a silly, pink, fuzzy bunny earswhilst on duty), and using simple plays on word that foreigners caneasily get, or are tailored specifically to their language.

“Inever quite realized eggs could be such a huge source of humour,”he muses when he has to speak to Spanish speaking citizens.

However,his usefulness quickly dwindled as the culture clashes settled down,people started learning English, and of course, the already olderPhoebus found himself growing ever older and unable to keep up withthe rapid pace of advancement and pop culture references in Auradon,not to mention his disadvantage of “not being gifted a smartphonefor my first birthday.”

Hehas an incredibly cushy administrative position that pays well,commands respect from his soldiers still, and gives him great hoursto spend with his family and other pursuits, but as he’s no longergoing out (or being allowed) on patrols and interacting personallywith the people in his jurisdiction, he can’t help but wonder ifhe’s just being eased into the idea of retirement, and Auradon issimply too nice to boot him for the much feared “chainsaw HR” ofsome corporations from BGU London.

(Forthose not familiar with the term, “chainsaw HR” is when entiredivisions, and numbers into the hundreds are suddenly, and oftentimeswithout proper recompense or retirement packages, fired or forcedinto early retirement.

It’sa play on the term “axed” for being suddenly fired, and chainsawsbeing a modern, much more efficient tool for the same job as aliteral ax.)

It’ssafe to say that at the age of 55 or so, and having already lived oneillustrious career then a brief revival, he’s having a midlifecrisis, not helped by the fact that many other Auradonians about hisage are feeling as obsolete as last year’s ayGem.

(“Butit came out just a year ago!”

“Yeah,but they updated to a new, much better firmware and hardwarearchitecture, all the hot new apps don’t even bother with legacyupdates.”)

Esmerelda has fared much better.

Shehas become an activist in this world, using the power of theinternet, the normalization of the “other,” and the erasure ofthe national and ethnic boundaries that once separated communities tohelp her fellow Romani people (I won’t use “gypsies,” as that’san offensive term to them), and other marginalized, and forgottengroups, such as much of the Wild Fae population.

Shealso owns and teaches at a dance studio, using them to train the nextgeneration of performers (“Be they for the street, the stage, orthe screen”), and waging a subtle campaign to remove the stigma forblatant and shameless use of sexuality.

I’vealways known Auradon is a conservative wet dream in many respects,and the fact that ripping a tiny tear in your skirt is considered“scandalous” by teenagers says a lot.

Beforeyou ask, YES, Esmerelda is still as desired and lusted afternow as she was BGU—probably even more so, now that we have thecombined populations of all the states, and she is a very popular andcommon presence on the internet.

Beforeyou also ask, Phoebus has long gotten over it and considers it “partof the package.”

Sheis one of the most knowledgeable and well-versed with moderntechnology out of the “Travellers” (Auradonians who were adultsor close to it Before Great Uniting), seeing as her troupe ofperformers have always been highly adaptable and all to ready to dowhatever it takes to survive, fit in with the locale they have foundthemselves in, and afterwards, thrive.

Thatthey have generally relied on being couriers and brokers ofinformation, and the internet basically being a giant free market ofinformation has helped GREATLY.

Withher religion, she still isn’t 100% on the existence of God, onlyever praying to Him during times of crisis or as a show of good faithwith the religious institutions of Auradon, but the Greek Pantheonhas given her hope that Supreme Beings like Him do exist.

“Atthe very least, He’s been very light on throwing down lightningbolts from up on high.”

(Thoughmuch less murderous and many other negative traits than the original,Disney Zeus is still INCREDIBLY fond of “warning shots.”)

Andonce more, before you ask, I can seriously see her making a cameo inthe canon as a guest dance instructor for the Descendants, if sheisn’t already a full-time staff member of Auradon Prep, and yes,she would definitely mentor Evie by showing her much healthier waysof expressing her sexuality and femininity without feeling like she’sdegrading herself, or turning herself into a “slab of meat in thebutcher’s window.”

Zephyrwas born BGU, and if my idea that the states had been communicatingfor a few years before the idea of fusing is canon, has a veryunique perspective of being a “Traveler Tot,” living with theideas and concepts imported over through the portals andcommunication crystals, before he got to live it in Auradon when thetechnology and materials could be more easily accessed and produced.

Heis still hyperactive and excitable as ever, though most of that wasbeing channeled into a combination of soldier training and becoming acircus performer like his parents; in his mind, there really isn’tmuch difference between the two, as they both require incrediblephysical skill and endurance, a sharp and creative mind, andrelentless, dedicated training, day-in, day-out.

“Itall really comes down to what you mean when you say you ‘slayedthem,’” he says.

Thisquickly changes in Auradon when he finds himself addicted to HeroRising, the video game that Carlos was seen playing during hisfirst night in Auradon. While initially Phoebus sees it as a good wayfor him to blow off all his excess energy and get some physicaltraining done, and Esmerelda tolerates it as he’s not going offstealing and rearranging stop signs, it evolves into something muchmore for him in time.

Atfirst, he’s the best player on the block, then in theneighbourhood, then the school, then the city, then the state, andfinally, one of the Hall of Famers in Auradon. As he grows older, hejust barely passes his high school subjects as a conditional for hissponsors support and working with the Hero Rising developersas a PR person, community idol AKA a “Paragon,” and beta tester.The height of his fame and success comes when the latest release,Hero Rising: The Lost Legion, features a new playablecharacter based off of him, and his unique dance-like fighting style:

“Twister.”

Trueto the name, his life is sent into a spin cycle after that.

Afew years pass, a new Hero Rising is released, and everyone isgushing over the new characters, and Twister gives up his place onthe cover art alongside the series “cornerstones” to give them achance to shine.

NewParagons are brought in as the old guard goes off to college, retiresfrom the business into different, less-demanding pursuits, or isquietly given a send-off as they simply aren’t as salable nor asgood as they were a few years ago.

Zephyrquickly realizes that while he’s still got it, these new kids areinsane, and have so many advantages he didn’t, like muchbetter nutrition, a much more generous school schedule, and havingthe infrastructure, the audience, and the sponsors for Hero RisingParagons already there, rather than helping spearhead them.

Hecontinues on, making less and less public appearances, awkwardlybeing one of the only adult Paragons in crowds increasingly filledwith little kids and teenagers, and new characters based off the newParagons get the spotlight.

“Everyonealready knows Twister, and played him to death in all the specialinstance maps, the players want someone new!”

Thedeath-knell of his career and the cold, hard slap from Reality comeswhen Twister is removed from the roster due to development costs, andthe fact that Zephyr’s fees and royalties were considered too highfor the relatively lower cost of a new, fresh face who the fans aremuch more eager to see digitized.

Heand Phoebus both find themselves facing obsolescence, being leftbehind by a world that has simply moved too fast for them and leftthem in its dust, as they were only ever good at one thing each:fighting, either real bad guys or fictional ones.

Andso, with Esmerelda’s love and support, the two go off to reeducatethemselves and train in the new industries and careers Auradondemands, incidentally becoming the inspiration for the blockbusterfeel good movie of eight years from this time of writing:

“WithHonours”

Thestory of how a father and son went back to college, forced to startfrom scratch in a brand new world, learning new tricks, makingstrange friends, and doing a whole lot of growing up they didn’tknow they still needed to do.

Nowonto Frollo:

Helaments his permanent loss of Esmerelda (unlike the other Villains,he harbours no fantasies of Claudine getting him off the Isle—notwhen there’s still so much Good Work to be done here in this landof Sinners and Nonbelievers), and takes the disastrous results of hisobsession and lusting after her as a cautionary tale, the catastrophethat befalls those who turn away from God and the Right Path, and howthey take the whole world down with them.

Publicly,he is “that” preacher yelling about modesty, the sanctity ofmarriage and sexuality, and how pretty much everyone on theIsle is damned for engaging in such scandalous, salacious acts likepremarital sex, sexual intercourse without the intention ofprocreation, and of course, homosexuality.

Privately,he seeks a form of redemption by raising a good, Christian child inClaudine, the child he would have born with Esmerelda and raised ifcircumstances had been different (yeee-eep), and is looking for awoman with whom he can have a much healthier relationship with, toshow someone from this Isle what marriage and the word “love”truly means than the perversion the Islanders have turned it into.

Asboth Claudine and Not Esmerelda will attest to, he’s failedmiserably on both counts, but as usual, is blissfully unaware ofeither.