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bunnylouisegrimes · 3 years

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The Ex-orcist (Put Me Out) (NOS4A2 Fanfic)

(A/N: Ah! Finally! A fanfic! It felt nice to write after being so busy! Be warned that this story is dark, makes nods to Charlie’s trauma, etc, but it’s got some humor in it. Hope you all enjoy this wild rollercoaster ride!)

@fae-sedai @wraith-of-christmas-future @peculiarparasol

The Ex-orcist (Put Me Out)

By: Bunny Louise Grimes

The moment I woke up, something was wrong. But I didn’t realize that I should’ve taken it seriously until it was too late.

When I woke up, I felt panicked. I felt as if I either woke up from a nightmare or something was going on in the room that jolted me awake. But there was no such thing. My dream was mindless and actually peaceful (something about me in Pony Land near the Dream Castle while Firefly and Medley zip past and Twilight offered me a ride). The room was damn near dead silent. The windows and turned off lights ensured the room was so dark, it was almost creepy.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched my body out. I rolled over and noticed Charlie’s light snoring as he slept soundly. His slicked back black hair looked a bit messy and fluffed up thanks to the pillows. His deep brown eyes were lightly clamped shut. His yellow-tinted sharper teeth jutted out of his mouth in an overbite, causing him to breath in and out of his nose and mouth. His pale skin would make him look dead if he wasn’t breathing and snoring. His snoring was not loud, rather comforting, comparable to soothing background noise. His flat stomach and chest rose and fell with ease. His hands and arms were crossed over his chest as if he were slumbering in a coffin. He was still dressed in one of his silk Riddle McIntyre shirts and his suspenders from the day he hadn’t bothered to take off. All in all, he looked like he were in a pleasant dream he couldn’t leave and nobody could take from him.

I smiled at this sight, picturing whatever Christmas or horror themed dream he was experiencing. I wondered if I was there with him.

The feeling of fear I felt upon waking up had lifted from me and the urge to urinate took over. Rolling over, however, I began to notice just how creepy the room looked. Shadows seemed to move... oh, good Lord, don’t be shadow people... God, I hated them...

“It’s nothing,” I whispered to myself. “You always get this way when a room gives you the heebie-jeebies for no reason. Just go piss before you piss the bed!”

I pulled the warm covers off of me, exposing my legs and feet to the coolness of the room. The rest of my body was kept warm thanks to my nightgown covered in flowers, stars, and rainbows. I noticed that near the lamp next to me sat Kuchi Kopi, staring blankly at the wall. I grabbed him and turned him on by pressing his bottom compartment. The room flooded with a neon green.

Perfect, I thought. This should comfort me while I go do my business.

I gently got out of bed and tiptoed near the door so as to not wake up Charlie (although many times it happened anyways thanks to his sharp senses). I opened the door and it creaked lowly, making me cringe. When I flipped around, he had scratched his nose and rolled over, making small mumbles before going back to snoring. I sighed and continued to sneak out of the door and into the hallway.

I noticed that the white-yellow nightlight was still on, comforting me further. The whole house was still and silent, and my footsteps and his snoring from the room over were my only audible comforts.

I reached the bathroom, opened the door, and stepped inside, Kuchi Kopi’s light illuminating everything. I placed him on the sink, far away enough so that he wouldn’t fall over and get wet. After doing what I needed to do, I grabbed him again and walked back out, anticipating getting back to bed...

The rods in my eyes had to adjust to the total darkness in the hallway that jarred me. The nightlight was completely out. I didn’t understand how it had burnt out of all times but now, and how I didn’t notice, but I figured it was because I was focusing on Kuchi Kopi’s light rather than the light in the hallway. Still... how did it burn out?

An odd noise in front of me made me freeze and my blood turn to ice. I couldn’t explain it, but it sounded like a gargling and a grunting at once. Every few seconds, a deep and ghostly growl was heard. I managed to lift Kuchi Kopi up and I noticed that one of the spare bedroom doors was creaked open.

None of the other doors were open before.

I needed to see what it was. A large part of me told me to get Charlie, but the other part of me said, “Don’t be a pussy! It’s just an animal. You need to tell Charlie what animal it is. You’re gonna be fine as long as you don’t get too close.”

I walked as quietly and slowly as I possibly could, even moreso than I did moments ago when I was leaving the master bedroom. The noises got louder and louder, but I could tell it was only because I was getting closer to the source. It was unlike any sound I had ever heard. The more I heard it, the more I realized my mind and ears were not playing tricks on me. It wasn’t the flapping and squeaking of a bat or bats, it wasn’t the squeaking of mice or rats, it wasn’t the purring cooing sound of a raccoon... the realization of what it wasn’t after doing the process of elimination fully hit me. If it wasn’t any of these things... then what the hell was it? Should I even be attempting to see what it was?

I knew that by now, I had already reached the door. What would the point be in turning back now? I was already here, I should at least see what it was. A feeling of dread settled in my stomach and crawled into my heart, making it feel heavy and beat faster. I took a deep breath in through my nose, suspending it to summon the courage to peek into the room.

The first thing I noticed was a dark shadow in the upper corner of the ceiling. It was hanging there like a spider... that’s where the noises were coming from. My eyes went as wide as saucers, my heart pounded in my ears, and I thought I was going to let my urine go again.

The thought occurred to me: These sounds are not of this world. They are the sounds a possessed person makes when they’re battling the darker force inside of them.

Subconciously, my shaking arm somehow lifted Kuchi Kopi up to see this figure more clearly. I should’ve just ran... but I had no control over myself in this moment. I was too stunned and terrified to just run... so my brain decided I needed to do something else.

The green glow cast other shadows on the wall, much like in the master bedroom. I trailed up, revealing the figure was more than just inky black. It was... a woman.

She was wearing some sort of dusty orange-pink dress (perhaps from the 30’s?), with a basic floral design. Her bent legs were covered with stockings and her shoes were tipped at the end and old fashioned, clinging to the back wall and right wall. She was thin. Her fire red hair was medium length and wild, as if it hadn’t been brushed in quite a while. Her arms made her hands be pressed against the wall in a similar fashion to her legs and feet. From this, I could tell her skin was sickly pale, even more ill than Charlie’s pallor. Her face was towards the wall where she continued to make these noises, as if mumbling to herself in a rabid language only she understood.

I was nanoseconds away from stepping back when she stopped making her noises, making my rapidly beating heart drop into my stomach. The house was back to being dead still again. Could she hear me? Was she listening for me? Did she notice the green light? Did she notice the shadows? Could she smell me? Could she somehow sense me? Who was she? These thoughts screamed at me as I tried desperately not to rapidly gasp and let her hear me.

Not that it mattered in the end anyway, because a sickening cracking of her neck as her head found its way towards me filled the brief void of noise in the house. I couldn’t control the gasp that came from me and small jolt my body made when I saw her face...

Her wide green eyes looked glassy and empty, surrounded by hollow black holes, making her look even more sick than before. I could barely see the freckles directly under her eyes. I could finally notice her right neck and shoulder had a huge hole in them from where somebody had taken a large bite, causing exposed skin that had barely recovered and looked half scaled and half rotten. The left side of her face looked the same. Her lips were pried into a disgustingly large smile, and foam and drool pooled out of her mouth. Some sort of green-black bile dribbled down her chin and onto the floor. Her noises began again as she analyzed me.

Now, Charlie and the children were vampires. They were normally frightening, but never towards me. To their pedo victims, however, their eyes always had the look of victory and justice. A look of, “You hurt the innocent, so now you pay the price.” This woman held not that look, but the look of, “You are the innocent, and what I wouldn’t do to destroy you right here and now...”

Once our eyes locked for only a second, one name came to me, and I knew at once who was before me:

“Cassandra.”

She jumped down from the corner and landed on the floor with a loud THUD, making me jolt and gasp again. She looked like the perfect spider. Her head was still twisted as it was before, and she started crawling towards me at a steady pace.

I yanked the door shut with my spare hand and ran all the way down the hallway and back into the master bedroom, not caring how loud I was. A part of me was terrified of going back in there because a part of me wondered if Charlie was even in there and if I would somehow find myself faced with her, but I was relieved when I saw Charlie still lying in bed.

I pulled the master bedroom door shut, not taking any time to see if she was out in the hallway, locked it, turned on the lights, and dove into bed.

“Charlie! Charlie! Wake up! Please!” I begged, hyperventilating and shaking him awake.

Charlie jumped awake and shook his head, staring at me. “What? What?” He asked.

“Charlie-there-and-I-hallway-and-“

“Slow down,” he said, holding onto me tightly and gently at all once. “Take a deep breath. You’re freaking out and I can’t understand you.”

After about ten seconds of steadying my breathing enough, I spat out, “Charlie, your ex wife... Cassie, she’s... she’s in one of the spare bedrooms and she’s a demon! She came at me! I went to pee a few minutes ago and I heard these noises and she was there! Charlie please believe me! She’s gonna kill us! We have to kill her or get out of here-“

“Woah, what?” Charlie’s face went from pure concern and worry to one of slight panic mixed in. “My ex wife is demonic and outside our bedroom door? She’s in our house?”

“Yes!” I felt as though I was about to cry now. “Charlie, we need to do something!”

His eyes burned holes into the covers of the bed as he thought about what to do. I could tell the painful trauma he went through with her that was being dug out of him didn’t help him at all. “I don’t even know how it’s possible... why or how would she come back? And why is she demonic? Is this the work of another Creative? Is this a demon possessing her corpse? Is my mind subconsciously creating this?...” He rubbed his head. “I... I don’t know what we should do...”

Bravery swelled my heart as I walked over to a safe I kept in the corner of the room. I entered the code and opened it. “I’ll tell ya what we’re gonna do... we’re gonna kill a bitch tonight!”

I skimmed through my guns and tried to find a suitable one. “Okay... Thompson might be a bit much, don’t know how much we need to be Bonnie and Clyde, plus it might jam... sniper is for far away business... AR-15 might be too much too... CMMG Banshee... BAR is gonna be waaay too much... AUG is too much... Moisen Nagant, maybe... M1 Garand, Winchester rifle... Ah! Here’s my shotguns! These would work well and not fuck anything else up in the house as long as I’m a good aim! I’ll blast her face off! Now let’s see... Remington? Ooh! Never mind!” I pulled out a shotgun that was of course heavy, but suitable for a womanly figure. “This Mossberg Home Defense shotgun is perfect! But just for safe measure...” I slipped on a belt with a holster and got on my tiptoes, looking through my pistols. “Luger, Smith and Wesson Texas Ranger Commemorative Revolver? Definitely out of the question! That and the Bowie knife that comes with it are collectibles! Throwaway revolver that probably killed people before it was given to me? Ah, maybe, but that Dirty Harry shit is a pain in the ass, takes some force... Glock it is!” I pulled it down and loaded both my guns up. “That crazy bitch still out there, Charlie? I haven’t heard her.”

I looked up and noticed he was pressed against the door, trying to listen. “I can’t hear her... I can almost sense her, like she’s trying to hide from me, but I can’t tell where she is...” He looked at me, chilled to the bone. “Are you sure guns will work?”

“Well, we gotta try! We can’t just be weaponless! And you know what?” I walked over to the nightstand and pulled out a Saint Jude Rosary, pulling it over my neck. I grabbed a bag of holy salt and a bottle of holy water too. “We have more of these two in here, don’t worry. You hold these while I hold the guns. You’re gonna have to be my ears because I’m going to put earplugs on to protect my hearing. It’s bad enough guns can wreck your ears outside, but inside, it’s gonna be a lot worse. And I don’t have the ability to recover from any form of injury like you can.”

He flinched a bit at holding them. While he wasn’t harmed by holy items like other vampires, it did have some kind of effect on the darker side of his being. If anything, it was just a bit of discomfort.

I finished loading my guns up and took the safety off. “Alright, safety is off. I’m ready. Are you?”

We looked at each other with a mix of confidence and nervousness. “Yes, I’m ready.”

I put the earplugs on and we both tiptoed to the door, just as I had before. Charlie slowly opened the door and I aimed the shotgun, ready to blow her away. Cassie was nowhere in sight, to our surprise. We figured she was either playing hide and seek with us or still behind the door I closed. But how did she get into the house in the first place? Could she teleport? If so, why didn’t she lunge at me quicker? Why didn’t she teleport into our room? Because that would’ve been too easy and she wanted to give us a running start?

We continued to creep down the hallway. I pointed to the door of the room she was in. Charlie pressed his ears up to it. He shook his head to let me know she wasn’t in there anymore.

So she can teleport.

We continued to search through the hallway in each of the rooms. She was nowhere upstairs. We decided to search downstairs, but she was nowhere in the living room, dining room, or kitchen. We even peeked into the pantry.

The only place to look was the back room where the washer and dryer were. Exiting the kitchen, we opened the door and looked around the first part of the back room where the ironing board and some extra supplies were. We both froze when we heard rustling behind the door just beyond.

“She’s in there,” Charlie mouthed, pointing.

I nodded and readied the shotgun as we snuck over to the door. Charlie pressed his body to it, hand wrapped around the knob. He sighed with a look on his face as if he really didn’t want to open it up, but he knew he had to.

He swung open the door; it was comparable to ripping a band aid off. He flipped the lights on, revealing Cassie standing hunched over on the old washing machine and dryer. She flipped around to look at us with those evil eyes. She growled and hissed, as if defending her territory (but we all know it wasn’t hers).

Her growling and hissing quickly melted into a full scream, causing me to pull the trigger. A loud BOOM exploded into the room, alongside her face. Her face looked as though someone had run over it with a train. Blood and flesh splattered on the walls and her dress. Still... she didn’t go down. She cocked her head in curiosity and giggled inhumanly.

“What?” I sputtered. I shot her again, another explosion filling the room and strong force from the gun almost knocking me to the ground. More blood and flesh went everywhere and destroyed more of her face, making it look even more terrifying. Still... she didn’t go down. She continued to stand there as if nothing had happened.

“The salt! The water!” I screamed at Charlie.

He threw huge amounts of the holy salt and water at her. She writhed in pain as they both caused her flesh in various areas to burn and fumes of smoke to rise... yet she laughed her sick laugh, having a delightful time.

“Throw more!” I yelled. “Don’t stop!”

He continued to throw more. Bright red-orange-yellow boils formed out of the smoky burns and burst, making more blood trail down her sickly skin. She still laughed, unfazed by this.

“In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and whatever God that may be His Father, in Their Holy Name, get the fuck out of our house!” I screeched at the top of my lungs.

This made her laugh even harder. I understood now: she was laughing at our attempts to get rid of her using weapons and holy objects and mentions. Did they not work? Was she beyond that?

“I’m running low on salt and water!” Charlie yelled loud enough for me to hear him through my earplugs.

“Throw it all onto her face! We have more upstairs!” I cried.

He prepared himself to get close to her, really not up for it. But he came through anyways. He ran towards her. Despite her swinging her arms at him, he threw the last of the bag and dumped the last of the water at her. The liquid dripped down what remained of her face and the salt formed a small chalk cloud around it. Burns and boils spawned everywhere, bursting pus and blood at different intervals. She cackled like a Hyena straight from the depths of Hell. Her face was beyond recognition, but I could tell that smile remained. Her eyes still kept their empty gaze on us.

“She’s not going down...” I breathed. “How the fuck is she not going down?! What the fuck do we do now?!”

“Do we pray? Will prayer work?” Charlie asked loudly.

“It’s worth a try.”

“I know the Lord’s Prayer.”

“Let’s try that!”

We recited it together to the best of our ability. The whole time, we focused our energy on her, even closing our eyes. willing her to leave and picturing light boiling her away. We even added in our own lines into the prayer. But instead of melting or recoiling back, we heard her slowly sliding down the washer and dryer, making gargling laughing noises.

By the time we finished the prayer and opened our eyes, she was mere feet from us, on her hands and knees. What made us shocked was that the blood on the wall, the flesh... it was all gone, and her face was in the middle of repairing itself. She let out a throaty banshee cry.

I shot the center of her chest near her heart (if not directly on her heart). This time, the blood and flesh sprayed on the floor, and she was jolted back a bit, but within seconds, her missing muscle, integument, and blood trailed back up her body. We noticed something off as her body repaired itself. As the injury was sealing shut, a glowing flash of static energy emitted from the hole in her chest before disappearing entirely when it was healed, as if nothing had happened. The sight of the static made Charlie’s legs quiver like barren tree branches in the cold wind.

“She’s a creature of the static!” I could hear him cry. “No wonder what we do doesn’t work! She’s only weakened for a few moments by what we do! She was in the back of my mind for so long... she must’ve gained the strength to escape to kill us all!”

While Charlie was crying out his realization, she looked at him the whole time with a curious and demented gaze. She panted like a dog with wide eyes and a disgusting smile.

“What does that mean?!” I cried myself.

“We have to find where I buried her body back in my inscape! What we do from there depends on the circumstance!”

She burst into laughter, as if she knew we couldn’t do anything, and anything that what we would be attempting to do would be stupid and worthless. Her feminine cackling was mixed with throaty sickness and reverberating deepness. Her eyes gained the glint of possession and control as she looked at Charlie. She wanted to make him hers again. She would do anything to get her hands on him to break his soul in ways she was unable to do when she was a bitter and abusive human woman during the Depression.

“Are you sure?!”

“I feel it inside of me, yes!” Charlie called back.

We had stepped back so far as she continued to crawl towards us that we were nearing the kitchen. She paused and swatted her hand to my Mossberg’s barrel. Instinctively, I shot her hand clean off. She flinched a bit, but she analyzed the missing body part in wonder, especially as blood came spurting out of her wrist like a fountain. But within moments, the blood pooled back into her body and she grabbed the destroyed hand with her other, twisting it back on her arm. The same static flash sewed her hand back in place before it returned to its normal appearance. She rose from her hands and knees, her gaze returning from her hand, staring and smiling directly at us with a look that read, “Now, where were we?”

She growled for only a second or two before she came charging at me. Also by instinct, I shot her leg where my shotgun was aimed. She fell down and her head hit the floor, but she erupted into her distinct laughter, especially as she raised her head to look at me again. She twisted her leg into place and the flash yet again healed her destroyed patella bone. Not even a shot near her femoral artery was enough to bring her down.

I wanted to shoot her again, even if I knew it was useless, but I realized my shotgun felt lighter, and empty clicks greeted me. I had used all five bullets the shotgun took. I was out of ammo in my Mossberg.

Before I could even think about reaching for my Glock, she had charged at me and threw me down. She managed to knock my burning hot, smoky and empty shotgun out of my hands and it slid across the floor of the kitchen. I screamed as she held me down with superhuman force. Her terrifying face met mine. Despite all the injuries it took moments before, the scars that lined the side of it, her neck and her shoulder all remained. They must’ve been permanent marks that would last for all of eternity thanks to the moment of her death.

“Charlie! Help me!” I squealed like a pig about to be butchered.

“Charlie! Help me!” She mimicked me in her voice, although I could hear there was a bit of my voice within hers.

I remember watching a Ghost Adventures episode many years before when I was a little kid. It was some special they had where they went back to the first location they had gone to when their show started, and they invited 100 fans to join them. The place was haunted by demons, and they captured mimicking of their voices in EVP recordings. It was later explained when they went to the location for the third time by a bishop that they had a friendship with that demons liked to mimic to mess with people’s minds. I had no doubts that if whatever was within Cassie was demonic, she would be mimicking my voice in some capacity to mess with everyone. Plus, it suited her personality when she was human. She loved to mess with and break Charlie’s mind, despite him doing everything for her, just to abuse him and control him. Why would that go away in her afterlife, especially if she was possessed by something that craved that evil and would want to use it to its advantage?

I tried to reach for my Glock, but she had my body pressed down against the kitchen floor too tightly. The horrifying thought of my kidneys bursting against the pressure, causing water, urea, ammonia, blood, and any other needed material that was to be cleansed out of my body bursting out of my flesh and congealing on the tiles filled my mind. I wanted to scream at this vivid image, but the thoughts occurred to me that this was Cassie’s doing. She was filling my head with these thoughts to get a reaction out of me. Maybe she was even feeding off of it, just as she fed off the pain of her husband years ago.

“Stupid bitch,” she hissed, her voice making goosebumps pop all over my skin. “Stupid short fat bitch. Die, you writhing insect. Die and-“

WHAM! Charlie smacked the butt of my empty shotgun against her face and knocked her back and off of me. The back of her head hit the floor and I took advantage of that moment to scurry away. Charlie tried to hold her down, but her upper half rose like Dracula out of his coffin, forcing Charlie to step back for a moment so his head wouldn’t smack into hers. Her head craned towards him and she pulled him towards her by grabbing onto his arm. My hand frantically pawed for my Glock in my holster as I still lied on my back on the floor.

She stared straight into Charlie’s eyes, speaking up in her voice, this time my mimicked voice not present.

“You drained me of my youth, Charles. You and those little shits of daughters. You made me this monster. You took away all my joy and happiness. You brought this upon yourself.”

“Shut up!” He roared, trembling to his very core from anger and fear. “You abused me! Nothing I did was enough for you! All you did was use me for free labor and to take out all your anger on me! The same for your own children! You were always a monster! It was you, alongside everyone else who hurt me in life, who made us vampires! You were a huge part of a large puzzle that created me! Don’t deny it!”

My sweaty and shaking hand finally lifted the gun from the holster and attempted to aim it at Cassie.

“Now you think you can come back and terrorize me and my new woman?!” Charlie demanded. “Think again! I may be Nosferatu, but it will be you who’s dead by sunrise!”

She giggled, her eyes and tongue bulging out of her head as if she was suffering from some sort of thyroid issue. I shot her head, but the blood splashed out and retreated back into the wound within seconds. She didn’t even flinch or react to this, just kept her eyes and grip on Charlie. She spoke up once more.

“Very cute, Charles. It’s almost as adorable as you flailing about when I threw that oil lamp at you. Do you remember your best coat and hair on fire? You looked so funny! My sisters and I loved to laugh at you! Remember?” I shot her in the head again twice, but just like the first shot, it was useless.

“Put me out! Put me out!” She mocked Charlie, just as she did when she was alive and human, but this time, she could actually mimic his voice. Her voice slowly rose from a mix of her own and his to his voice entirely. “Put me out! Put me out!”

“Silence, you soulless ginger haired bitch!” Charlie roared.

I popped a few rounds into her face, arm, chest, and stomach, but they were all useless.

Her voice suddenly changed to my voice entirely. “How could I ever be with you, Charlie? I used to be so young and happy before you. Now I’m dead and drained because of you, you gross vampire.”

This struck a deep cord with him. “Rose would never say that! Leave her out of this! She’s nothing like you and never will be!”

“I’m not now, Charlie. But wait till I grow older,” Cassie continued in my voice. “I’ll shed those yellow chick feathers and they’ll become that bitter brown because of you. It’s your curse in life. From Mommy Manx to Princess Cassie to Jolene to every other woman in your life. Like King Midas’s touch, except instead of turning to gold, you drain women of everything good. You’ll die alone one day. Your immortality is not absolute. You will die without a wife and those kids will die without a mother. Face it, Charles. I’m just like the rest. You thought Cassie and Jolene were different too... But I am one of many...”

“Like hell I am, you man beater!” I screamed. “Quit projecting your own bullshit and using my voice! Keep my voice out of your larynx and quit using your shitty words with it!”

She ignored me and got close in Charlie’s face. I finished popping the last of my fifteen rounds into her brain, but still, nothing worked. She beamed at his fear filled eyes and the trauma that lay behind them. Her voice became that of a man’s I had never heard before.

“When you go to Hell, I’ll be sure to have my fun with you once again, Manx boy...”

I threw the Glock straight at her head. She must’ve had enough, because she pulled away from Charlie and threw him back against the wall. He was hyperventilating and sweat poured from every crevice. Using the voice of his childhood rapist was enough to put him in this state.

“Enough you bitch!” She growled, her voice returning to her own. She threw herself back on top of me, the earplugs falling off and landing on the floor. Not that I had much use for them without ammo in my guns. I could hear her rattling breathing and voice much more clearly. “I’ll see to it your soul is raped of any essence of itself in Hell alongside his! Wait your turn!”

“Eat my ass, you psycho cunt! You’re nothing but a spoiled control freak brat who’s daddy gave her everything. You’re just mad you can’t control your kids and Charlie anymore. You’re mad because I’m a better woman than you ever were and I’m not even rich like you. I’m a better mother to your kids and they love me more than they ever loved you. You’re a joke! You hear me? Your own kids turned on you and ate you! That’s why you look even uglier than you did before! It’s a reflection of the damage you caused your husband and kids! But now they’re mine! You’ll never have them back! Go back to Hell where you belong and stay there, Cassandra!”

I managed to lift my Saint Jude rosary up and slammed it against her neck where her voice box was. It burned and sizzled her neck, leaving a burn mark. She screeched in fury, but before she could tear her teeth into my jugular or face, Charlie ripped her off of me and wrapped his fingers around her freshly burnt neck, strangling her.

“All of this pain you caused me is enough, but you will not try to use my other experiences against me,” he spoke lowly before erupting into a yell. “Stay out of our heads and stay out of our lives! Die again!”

Cassie squirmed and giggled, as if he were tickling her rather than strangling her. I took this chance to grab his Wraith’s keys from the coat hanger in the dining room. I ran back to him and held onto his back. “Come on, Charlie! We have to get out of here! It’s not working! We need to leave!”

After a few seconds of clinging to his death grip on her, he finally loosened and grabbed onto me. Cassie didn’t miss a beat and snapped her jaw at one of my tendons. I screamed, but Charlie picked me up just in time before she could rip it apart with her mandibles. He took off running and held me close to him. He unlocked the door and threw it open. She began to crawl towards us again, but we slammed the door shut behind us and took off running towards the barn where the Wraith sat, waiting for another ride.

The night air felt cool and healing on our sweaty bodies, and dark clouds sat above, eyeing us. I clung to Charlie for dear life and sputtered out, “I’m so sorry for everything she did to you and everything else that happened to you. I love you so much and I would never hurt you with any intent.”

“I know, I know,” he gasped. “And I appreciate that deeply. I thank you for all of eternity, and I will love you too for all of eternity, but don’t make it sound like goodbye. We’re going to finish this bitch once and for all!”

The doors of the barn swung open and he set me down. We ran to the Wraith’s doors, who opened for us with human eagerness. It was as if she was saying, “Need an escape? Don’t fear! I’m here!”

We dove into our respective seats, closing the doors behind us. Charlie fumbled with the keys before putting them in the ignition. The engine purred to life, a calming hum that put both our hearts to ease, a familiarity that could settle one down when panic was an appropriate response to a situation.

He put the Wraith in gear and pulled back out of the barn at speeds I didn’t think were possible for a car that was designed to only go 80 miles an hour maximum. Before he could pull out of the driveway, a large THUD distrupted us. We screamed at Cassie sitting on the hood, that foam, drool, and bile from when I first saw her dribbling out of her open mouth, ready to bite. Her eyes were wide in an impossible way.

“I’ll skin you both alive and fuck your skulls until your souls are mine!” She rasped.

The Wraith, as if reacting on her own, flipped her hood up and knocked Cassie down onto the gravel. Without Charlie’s control, the Rolls lurched forward and backward over Cassie’s body, flattening her like a pancake. The car did this for twenty seconds straight. It pulled back after the twenty seconds were up and through the headlights, we saw Cassie laying flat on the ground.

Without even thinking, it was my turn to burst into laughter. I laughed and I laughed, then Charlie started laughing. It was something straight out of Airplane or Monty Python. The fact the car had a mind of her own and was willing to fight Cassie too had us rolling. Not even the Wraith, a car, liked Cassie, and was willing to run over her. It was hilarious.

Our laughter, no matter how mad and brief it was, was cut off by Cassie raising her head. That sick smile was gone, and in its place was the most terrifying frown and set of hateful eyes you could possibly imagine.

“No more games!” She growled. “Get ready to die!”

We floored it down the driveway and onto the road. Charlie focused his mind on the static to get to the Saint Nick Parkway as quickly as possible to find where he buried Cassie’s body. I peaked into the rear view mirror and saw Cassie sprinting at us on all fours like a rabid wolf chasing after the car. Before she could reach us, a flash of static consumed the car like lightning. The sky became filled with snow and stars, and the scene became familiar: we were in Charlie’s mind.

I sighed and pressed my head against the cool glass of the car’s window. Charlie focused solely on driving now, trying to remember where he placed Cassie’s corpse. I dared not bother him, as his face read total dedication and if I disrupted him, he would’ve most likely snapped without even meaning to.

After a few minutes, we pulled up to a small little forest of barren trees. He finally spoke up.

“This is where I buried her.”

We stepped out of the car and the doors closed behind us. Without my proper clothes, I was freezing. Even though Charlie didn’t bring his coat or shoes, his body temperature dictated he was fine. We searched throughout the trees until one stood out to us.

“Good God...” Charlie breathed.

The tree was taller than all the rest and black, with glowing red cracks crawling all throughout it. Its limbs were sharp like knives. It stood out like an infection amongst all the white snow and other normal trees. Beneath its base was an empty, dug up grave.

“Just as I thought... Her dark energy must’ve created this when it filled some of the voids in the static...” he mumbled. “Brought her back to life...”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Her voice made us recoil as she came out from behind the trunk. “Just like your Wraith, it’s my object of power. It’s supplied me with so much energy, it’s made me impossible to kill. After I’m done killing you two, your precious Christmasland will be easy to gain control over once I take possession of that Phantom. Those little shits’ souls will belong to me, and I will turn your goulish theme park from one of fun to one of fun... for only me!” She gave a series of maniacal laughter.

If this tree is like his Wraith... that must mean...

An idea occurred to me as I rushed back to the car. Charlie stayed where he stood, paralyzed in fear. Cassie leaned in and stared daggers into him.

“Give in, Charles... it’s taken me all these years, but just like when we were together... I always won and got what I want in the end... now, prepare to watch your world melt into static to my own desires... not even your own mind belongs to you anymore... just like daddy told me... everything I want is mine, and if not... there will always be a way for me to have it all.”

“Your daddy was wrong, cunt,” I called. “Tell him that when you see him in Hell.”

She looked up as I lit an oil lamp I grabbed from the trunk of the car on fire. Her face went from one of smugness and delight to the one she had when she watched the husband and kids she abused become vampires about to turn on her: one of pure fear and horror.

“No... no! Get that away! Get that away!” She cried. She backed away from Charlie, about to approach me...

Too late.

I threw the lamp at the tree. The black bark exploded into flames. Mixed with the red cracks in it, the tree became nothing but a bright red light. Cassie fell to her knees screaming like a toy with dying batteries in agony. Her whole body was melting, like the Wicked Witch of the West did when water splashed on her (although, it was quite ironic given that it was fire this time).

Cassie continued to scream. “Put me out! Put me out!” She screeched. Her integumentary, muscular, and skeletal systems became jelly. Every organ melted into soupy liquid. Every nerve and cell burst. Her green eyes pooled onto the snow in boiling liquid, and a similar liquid (most likely her brain) oozed from her ears and nose. Her red hair fell in clumps. The liquid poured out of her mouth, causing her screaming to die down and became nothing but the odd liquid dripping out of her. Most likely, it was her innards filling her and rising out. She fell entirely to the ground. This went on for a full minute.

The flames of the tree died down just as her screams had and it fell to the ground the same time she had, the water from the snow preventing it from spreading and causing a forest fire. By then, the tree was nothing but a husk of smoke and dead wood, and Cassie was nothing but an empty, flattened, liquified and lifeless corpse. Her life was snuffed out just as the tree’s flames were by the snow.

I grabbed onto Charlie’s hand, leaning into him, as if to tell him, “She can’t hurt us anymore... she won’t hurt them... she can’t hurt you anymore...”

“Put me out... Put me out...” Charlie whispered suddenly, a smile forming on his lips, his overbite jutting out, his eyes gleaming with victory. “Put me out... Put me out...”

#nos4a2 #charlie manx #charles manx #nos4a2 charlie

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gothamdetected-a · 5 years

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multiverse.

i know what you’re thinking. sim are you absolutely fucking insane, don’t even TRY to tackle this one. you’re right i am insane. and yes i am still going to try and tackle a meta about DC multiverses HOWEVER, to give myself on shred of sanity on this treacherous journey, i will say that this is mainly going to be about the multiverse from a bruce perspective. this ride is a batman focused train i’m afraid. also i want to state that this is by no means a perfect explanation – i’m a) trying to keep it simple and b) still am lost on parts of the timeline myself so. its what i can offer.

ok so, originally NCP, or the national comics publication (who will one day become DC), wrote their golden age heroes on an earth now designated as earth-2. in the 30s, just before the war, comic books absolutely exploded as a media format, and a bunch of companies all jumped the gun on creating superheroes. many of DCs most endearing and recognisable heroes were created all the way back then, however many of them also are not quite who you will recognise as the character today. hal jordan wasn’t green lantern, but was instead a man called alan scott, jay garrick was the flash instead of barry allen etc etc. don’t worry though! batman is still batman, and has been bruce wayne since 1939. earth-2 batman, as he will come to be known, is a bright kind of guy found on technicolour pages with a cute lil robin by his side – there is a reason for this. the war. literally NCP said we cant be sending out dark and gritty comics to people dying in trenches so time to make it colourful and faintly ridiculous, and bruce wayne is a surprisingly optimistic guy for a man who watched his parents be slaughtered in front of him.

of course, by the 60s, NCP (who are also sort of known as NPP and really known by your average joe as superman-dc, based on their most successful comic runs) had realised their timelines were getting a bit squiggly for their golden age heroes, and most of them had been replaced out by their silver age counterparts anyway. so between 1961 and 1963, NCP start creating another “earth”, officially designated earth-1, which would become their main planet for all kinds of superhero shenanigans. the justice society of america becomes the justice league of america, and when you think of batman, you’re probably thinking of earth-1 batman. at least pre crisis. and, once they get taste for building whole new earths, we also get earth-3 (1964), or “opposite world”, where the good guys are bad guys, and batman is owlman and instead of the jla we have the crime syndicate of america.

so sim, what other earths did dc come up with? well, i literally refuse to list them all because it was a multiverse and they did not slow down, but the ones that are most important to me are earth-5 where the only hero to live on this planet is bruce wayne/batman, and earth-89 where lois marries bruce instead of clark ahAHAHHAA. but i can tell you that pre-crisis there are 91 designated earths, and basically it could have gone on forever. there was an earth-c minus, earth-124.1, an earth where everyone was reptiles, honestly it was a MESS. and therein lies the problem.

now i’ve just used the term “pre-crisis”. what’s that, sim? maybe you’re not very familiar with comics, or with the recent dctv version of said comics, and so i will endeavour to explain one of the most brain numbing storylines that spans DC. also known as a retcon. see all these earths with their own histories and heroes and well everything really was becoming very inconvenient and meant a lot of world jumping and who can interact with who and everything was getting like spaghetti because they couldn’t calm down on the earth-building. so DC (who are officially DC at this point, 1977 babeyy), specifically a guy called marv wolfman (coolest name ever) who was sick of so many earths, comes up with the bright idea that will later form into a comic run called crisis on infinite earths (1985-1986). it was a serious crossover event, really considered by many to be the first of its kind. it sold extremely well, boosting dc’s flagging sales against it’s biggest rival, marvel. and as for the plot, it’s a bit convoluted but essentially some bloke turns up and starts to destroy all these worlds, and it becomes a race between the heroes and villains as to who can save/conquer the remaining earths that are left. although there are crises before and after this specific run, pre-crisis basically always refers to this particular crisis event, as it really shaped DC for the next 30 years.

for a while the retcon does an okay job of keeping the number of earths low. there’s still some earths that are considered non-continuous floating around, but mainly there’s just earth-1, which is now a merger of the most important “earths” that existed pre-crisis, and a way for all of DCs heroes to now be in one place and interact with each other. other earths at this point include;

earth-23 (1986) – a small pocket dimension

earth-17 (1990) – we don’t talk about this. honestly spare yourself and. don’t look. its horrific.

earth-27 (1990) – a historically divergent planet with a hero actually called vegetable man.

earth-85 (1987) – a hodgepodge of post-crisis characters live here, chillin

earth-988 (1990) – superboy is the only hero in this universe

the antimatter universe – all of pre-crisis’ earth-3 villains, including owlman, get shoved here for later use when dc need a couple of villains to come back.

and for a while all is well. then comes DC elseworlds (1989). which. you know. i love. it gave me victorian batman. pirate batman. caveman batman. vampire batman. frankenstein batman. terrorist batman fighting against russian!superman. they even gave me marvel crossovers, with captain america meeting batman. it was a glorious time. technically elseworlds is not considered canon, ran outside of canon as a way for writers to explore those wacky kind of worlds lost to the crisis, which is dumb because some of the plot lines are both hilarious and incredible. but the numbers started to get ridiculous again. most elseworlds are named after the year that the plot takes place in, so we get earth-1889, earth-1938 etc, but even more of them just seem to have random designations. i think by the time they reached earth-5050 they sort of knew that theyd fucked up again. we’ve had zero hour, we’ve got hypertime and kingdom come, and besides, its been a while since they had a good crossover, so by the time 2005 rolls around its time for crisis pt 2 (because dc love to use the word crisis for crossovers) or as it’s officially known infinite crisis. infinite crisis has an even more confusing plot involving a bunch of slightly nuts versions of characters escaping a pocket dimension, earths being created and then merged, and a rogue ai which batman made and then has to destroy because his own creation becomes too powerful etc etc. the only good thing to come out of it was earth-0, or bizarro world, because bizarro & batzarro are my babies. don’t worry though, this new set of earths won’t last long either, as in 2008 DC conclude their trilogy of crises with final crisis that featured one of the most important events in batman’s history – darkseid “killing” him. yes the quotations are important. i’ll leave you to infer what they mean.

so 3 crises later and everything is still just as messy as they’ve ever been and there’s 60 years worth of comic history being tangled about, and marvel had already established a very successful reboot in 2000, and anything marvel do, we can do better, so DC do their first, full and proper reboot. unlike retcons before it, which is where they retroactively try to fix what people already know and simplify timelines & earths, this is like someone shaking the etch-a-sketch and starting fresh. back in infinite crisis an arbitrary number was assigned to how many “earths” there could be – 52. and so in 2011, DC go hey that’s neat and create what becomes known as the new- or nu-52. heroes are given shiny new backstories, everything is streamlined and wonderful, sales rise, DC has a clean slate to build off again.

ha.

yeah that doesn’t happen.

this reboot, also known as flashpoint, due to it being spawned from another big ol’ crossover of the same name, shows barry allen trapped in an alternate universe where everything is not quite right – his mother is alive, superman is nowhere to be found and he doesn’t have his powers. worst of all thomas wayne is batman. yeah, batman’s dad is batman. thanks DC, i hate it. reverse-flash has tried to change history and stop the jla from ever being formed – le gasp. barry goes to fix it, merges three universes together – earth-0, which isn’t a bizarro world but now the “main" earth, also called new earth or prime earth (DC), earth-13 (vertigo) and earth-50 (wildstorm), but also causes 10 years to be “lost” to these characters. there are now 52 brand spanking new earths, each sitting in their own universe as part of the multiverse. no one remembers anything except barry. even for a reboot and convergence of DC’s franchises, it’s messy as fuck. and it goes to shit very very quickly. people don’t really like n-52. DC have cancelled everything, certain characters such as cassandra cain-wayne are fucking ERASED from existence, no one likes the new costume designs, its an absolute shit show and the plots get very confusing very quickly.

so what do DC do?

they reboot again. sigh.

only 5 years after the mess of nu-52, they produce DC rebirth, a new relaunch of all their famous runs. brainiac does some magic and collects a bunch of worlds together and magically we’re all going to forget the last 5 years of comic hell. it is a reboot to retcon flashpoint as though that never happened. yes, DC are actually retconning their own reboots. talk about sweeping it under the carpet. technically “rebirth” only ran for a year as a promotional thing for the reboot, before joining with the larger, now-singular DC universe, however everyone still calls it rebirth because if we don’t give these things names it will get even more fucking confusing than it already is. rebirth also still has 52 universes making up the DC multiverse, just to make things even more simple and easy to understand (DC what is it with 52. why 52.) although lots of the earths in this multiverse have been re-designated – eg. pre-crisis earth-31 was home to an aged batman who fakes his death to go train a bunch of new vigilantes (the dark knight returns), and now 31 is an apocalyptic wasteland or some shite. a lot of these earths were re-designated during the flashpoint/nu-52 era, and even though rebirth was supposed to erase that, DC have decided never mind we’ll keep it. there’s also 7 mysteriously undesignated earths – ooh spooky, they definitely won’t feature in the next major crossover. also for a multiverse with 52 universes, they sure do have more than 52 : there’s the microverse, a bunch of universes collectively called “the sphere of the gods” where apokalips and like, literal heaven & hell exist, an innerverse???, dreamworld, limbo, DC are taking the piss they only said there were 52 earths but that means they can make as many other shitty dimensions and pocket-universes as they please apparently. don’t even get me started on the source wall. for the most part the writers just. don’t acknowledge this and stick to the main prime earth. for the most part. thanks for throwing thomas wayne as batman back into the mix, rebirth.

so that’s the last of it, right sim? eh, almost. it should have been the last of it, really. and then geoff johns couldn't keep his mouth shut and produced possibly the worst comic in recent history, if not ever, doomsday clock. now doomsday clock is a nightmare for an impossibly long list of reasons that i won’t get into here because this isn’t a rant about why i think doomsday clock is the worst thing to ever happen to dc (although that’s a catchy title i should use that some day) - no, the reason i bring up doomsday clock is because. oh my god even saying this makes me sad. doomsday clock proves that the pre-crisis universes still exist and are still out there. somewhere. canonically. sim why is that sad i thought you liked everything pre-52. it’s sad because it means at any point now, DC could bring them back, ruin their own legacy, make everything even more confusing than it already is. i love pre-52 stuff but you gotta leave it alone. currently doomsday clock has only established that these universes exist as a way to honour every era of superman, because DC didn’t want to completly erase some of the incredible work and storylines put into him as a character. fine, fair enough. but it does leave the possibility that they will try and return to them too. comic book writers love doing funky story lines like that. they think they need to write something that’s never been done before and instead of coming up with something actually unique, they just poke around in the multiverse WHICH IS HOW WE ENDED UP WITH THIS AS A PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE.

ahem.

hopefully this helped clarify some stuff for people, especially those folks who aren’t big comic fans/expereience dc through the DCEU or DCTV, when encountering rpers who say they base their characterisation off of, for example pre-n52/flashpoint comics, like myself.

oh, and thank you for coming to my ted sim talk.

#i dont know if i can put this as a meta #its just me ranting again #hm #\system\directory\hidden.txt ›› META #long post /

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claiirvoyants · 4 years

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𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒏𝒆𝒚, 𝐒𝐘𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋.

❝ yesterday, you were an OLD MAN spitting cherry pits into the weeds. today you are a fisherman’s daughter, dragging small minnow-nets through the 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒔. tomorrow you could be a DOE-EYED dancer, an ash-stained chimney sweep, a beggar singing psalms, anyone. when you lean over the side of the lake, the 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 whisper, be free. taste the air. do you feel the echoes of ancient energies moving into new bodies? they learn of suffering and beauty, again, again. 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐒. ❞

hey, isn’t that SYBILL PATRICIA TRELAWNEY? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the forty eight year old halfblood WITCH is a ravenclaw alumnus who has gone on to be the professor of divination at hogwarts school. i’ve heard they can be quite ECCENTRIC & VIVACIOUS, but i don’t know... they came off very RUMINATIVE & HAUGHTY in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it? click 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 for statistics and 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 for her pinterest.

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘.

buckle up ! i’m abt to show u guys i can write a short or at least SNAPPY intro.

sybill was born in the seaside town of port isaac in 1972, the product of an affair between her pure blood mommy ( cressida trelawney ) and a muggle daddy ( edwin teague ).

cressida knew abt edwin’s muggle wife. edwin’s muggle wife ( and his daughter eugenia, sybill’s half sibling ) did NOT know about his witchy gf. what happens in btwn the lines of the wizarding world stays within the lines of the wizarding world, ig.

sybill’s dad died p suddenly when she was six, and he didn’t leave anything to either her or her mum, cause... men ain’t shit ! learn it. anyway, sybill’s mum begged her slightly estranged family for like, something, and prob would have got NOTHING if she hadn’t said ‘hey, my daughter is totally the next cassandra ( and also DEFINITELY a pureblood )-’

this changed things a bit, even tho at the time... sybill had not shown any actual prophetic talent, lmao. she was a six yr old playing like, dolls, and trying to bring fishies home from the seashore in glass bottles, u know?

the fam took them back under their wings, and sybill was told to keep her little mouth shut ( in like, a kind of nice way ) about both the fact she was a halfblood ( she prob didn’t conceptualize this one very well at six ) and the fact she was not a seer. she also prob didn’t conceptualize this very well. but playing pretend is something kids LIKE to do, so when cressida told sybill to say some mysterious things and play this role, she took to it immediately ! it was fun !

it stopped being fun PRETTY quickly, but as sybill got older and understood things a bit more, she clued in to the fact that her grandparents and extended trelawney family were quite... uh, to put it mildly, strict. her mum had gone out into the world on her own because she didn’t fit in the box that the trelawney’s had expected her to ( like a lot of pureblood fams ), and sybill was a lot more like cressida than she was the rest of her fam, and she was also, like. way more attached to her than she was them, so while it stopped being a fun game, she still kept to it for her mummy.

got her hogwarts letter. headed off. breathed an actual sigh of RELIEF when she was on the train, cause... she didn’t have to pretend to be something she was pretty sure she wasn’t anymore, and at hogwarts, she wouldn’t have to go through the ‘training’ and ‘lessons’ for her future as a famed seer that her fam were prepping her for. she got sorted into ravenclaw, which tracked ( most of the fam were ), and she just... went abt her life.

i know this is gonna sound wild. but at hogwarts, sybill was... exceedingly ordinary. she was a well behaved young lady who was assumed to be of quality breeding, and though her grandparents spoke highly of their little seer granddaughter to their friends, the kids and grandkids of those people didn’t really ... know much about this. sybill flew pretty far under the radar, and that was how she liked it. she graduated with top marks, turned of age, and started working for her grandparents on a full time basis in the little fortune teller shop they had at this point in time at the divide between knockturn alley and diagon alley - she’d already spent summers with them, so it was just one more step. still, no discernible seer talent.

very appropriately, it all started with death omens. sybill had always faked what she was seeing cause she sort of had to, so she’d always made the future sound pretty bleak - but there’s bleak and then there’s seeing grims wherever she went. a month later, her grandmother ( a woman who sybill could never decide was either a talented seer in her own right or a talented liar also ) was dead. it was sudden, and things seemed to escalate exponentially from here. within a year, her grandfather, an aunt and her own mother had passed on ; and sybill had started to notice. changes.

kinda hard not to notice the fact she was beginning to go to sleep in a very warm and cosy bed and wake up barefoot and naked in the middle of the creek at the bottom of the garden, arms raised to the sky, images seered to the back of her eyelids. sybill consulted dozens of healers. she was given dozens of different potions to aid her sleeping, she was told that she had been through a lot of loss in a short amount of time, it was natural to begin having sleeping issues and the images she saw were only NIGHTMARES, or dreams, or the echo of something normal from her subconscious. the potions didn’t work tho ! the spells, the advice, the grief counselling they sent her to... over the next while, sybill’s life really began to unravel, and she couldn’t understand it, so she definitely couldn’t explain it.

throw everything together and mix some severe money issues in as sybill was never very good at actually running the store and was now dealing with a whole lot of confusing shit - she loses the shop, then the house, and this is what eventually brought her to albus dumbledore, where - haha ! - she made her first ever actual prophecy. fun ! sucks she doesn’t rmbr it <3

sybill got the job based on that, but figured it was cause he liked her a lot ( he didn’t ). life straightens out somewhat, she moves into hogwarts ( did eventually buy a cottage in hogsmeade since she got married and w/e, but is back living in hogwarts now they’re divorced ), she terrifies students for many years over, blah blah blah. makes a second prophecy to harry potter ( doesn’t rmbr that one either ), fights in the battle of the astronomy tower, fights in the battle of hogwarts, yada yada yada.

i won’t say whether she ever thought herself a legitimate seer, or ever learned to think of herself as one, or ever figured that was maybe what her ( still persistent ) sleep walking was. got my thoughts ! think its fun to just leave it at : maybe ! maybe she’s a seer, maybe she’s half of one, maybe she’s a real good liar. she had plenty of practice ! either way, she really embraced her weirdness ( shoutout to mama cressida for teaching her to b weird and love every second of it ) and has spent the past couple decades just straight vibing.

can’t think of anything else to add. come to syb if u want some wizard pot ?

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.

SYBILL TRELAWNEY ( sandra oh ) is looking for their EX WIFE / PARTNER who resembles SARAH SHAHI, RENEE ELISE GOLDSBERRY, CARLA GUGINO, SARAH RAFFERTY / ANY FC and should be 45+. applicants do have to contact RACHEL / PETRIICHVRS or DISCORD to talk over the details before applying. ( i’m really open ! mostly because i'm entirely erasing the mr higglebottom thing, so we have so much freedom here in terms of… how they met, when they fell in love, how long they were married, how they’re dealing with the co-parenting thing, etc. sybill really did love them, that much i do know - but the marriage fell apart in my mind, sometime before the battle of hogwarts. maybe during her disastrous fifth year, when professor umbridge was, you know, attempting to ruin her life. i imagine they were a bit more maternal than sybill, and probably entertained / were even quite fond of how eccentric she was for years, but just eventually… got tired of it, or of how she wasn’t really putting their homelife above hogwarts, etc, and love just… was not enough to save ‘em. i think it’d be neat if they were a professor at hogwarts, too - maybe even a canonical one, like aurora sinistra ! - and their cute little staff room moments turned into total awkwardness for everyone else at the school < / 3 )

SYBILL TRELAWNEY ( sandra oh ) is looking for their ADOPTIVE CHILD who resembles TATI GABRIELLE, ASA BUTTERFIELD, KAYLEE BRYANT, VERNON CHWE / ANY FC and should be 18 - 22. applicants do have to contact RACHEL / PETRIICHVRS or DISCORD to talk over the details before applying. ( you have some choices ! i don’t mind whether they’re biologically her ex wifes, for example, or whether they were adopted, and if so, they absolutely could have been adopted at a later age - in fact, i think it’d be really interesting if they were. they were raised by sybill and her now ex wife, anyway, and would have attended hogwarts - unless… honestly, if u wanted to go a route of them being a squib or something i would be HERE for it - but, really, i don’t think that sybill has been the best of mothers, especially since she’s always been the sort of woman to put her ‘career’ [ which in her case is just, her being a seer ] above all else. she never would have intended to be the absent parent, and i guarantee she’s tried to be the ‘fun one’ moreso than that, but i gotta say. huge believer in acknowledging the faults of my chars. honestly, i feel like kids just aren’t her thing, and the likelihood is she decided to make them her thing for her ex wife - but she relates better to like, fully formed people, and only in more recent years has probably started to try be more of the sort of person they need. whether they’re here for that or no is absolutely up to you ! )

#nox.intro #( 𝐒𝐘𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐖𝐍𝐄𝐘 ) ━━━ * biography !#it is what it

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fanesavin · 5 years

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The day following the Quiver meeting the Driftwood Princes, Grand Lady Cassandra and Lady Ciara walk to town to find a measure of the reaction to the passing of the High Raj and instil some hope. Meanwhile, rumours stir.

@bumblingbrujo / @ianncardero / @cassiegermaine / @thatwhichbindsus

The announcements were scribed, and given to the Inquisitor to read over and give his sign-off. The first paperwork of the High Inquisition; but important paperwork, nonetheless. Because words were just as powerful as anything else, to set the tone of a city waiting on tenterhooks for news from the Bluesprings Castle.

Prince Iann and Grand Lady Cassandra spent the night working on making two announcements, to be read out loud in the piazzas and markets, and also posted side by side on walls, boards, and doors around the city. Extra enforcement was supplied by various Houses to stand by as the announcements were made, but to assume a more casual stance depending on what part of the city they were in.

The announcements were twofold: one to state the death of the High Raj. It was not stated as murder, but a tragic death that should be greatly mourned by all during a Three-day period of grief wherein the people observe the rites of mourning, visit the Cloverry often for alms, and wait for the funeral to open the city up again. A curfew has been implied. The second announcement was that a second Inquisition had now been instated in the Capital by the High Inquisitor of the North and Dawnguard Commander, Stefan Savin. The Inquisition swore to remain in power only until a new High Raj was found. As Avitej had no heirs and there was no one else in House Sharma suited to rule, it was a given that the Inquisition had to look elsewhere for this resolution to be carried out. But there was a strong assurance and guarantee that they would indeed get a High Raj, and unification of Bluesprings, and peace in the realm.

It was expected, natural really for fights and skirmishes to break out. Minor lords and wealthy members of the merchants in the Upper City gathered at the closed Gates of the Keep, believing it was some haven there and frightened that the commoners might try to take advantage of the tragedy. Those Lower City tested their limits to see how much they could get away with in the chaos. The people who lived on the outskirts of the Capital continued their daily slog - fishing and farming and defending their lands from brigands, but wary of being plunged once more into this world of uncertainty and potential upheaval.

Within the confines of the Bluesprings Keep, the nobles actually do put in the work to achieve these goals. Despite the chaos, they have progressed and accomplished a lot - if one counted preserving lives as an accomplishment. Some in the Keep do, while others couldn't care less; but the point was that war was still a nightmareish memory that no one wanted to return to.

NOTE: the Gates are not officially open, but nobles do have the option of venturing out independently (with guards etc) into other parts of the city. They must return to the Keep afterwards though; please do not let your characters gather & remain outside the Keep! Thank you!~

The bells tolled constantly now, or at least it seemed that way. Iann was vaguely unfamiliar with the Rites of Mourning in the Capital, but he found some servant to fetch him a tome on such policy soon enough, skimming it over. Bells and Cloverry solemnity and the Upper City wore black, while everyone else wore black armbands and generally wandered around looking very sad. Fish and venison were the only meats allowed, pig and poultry forbidden, not that most people could afford anything more than fish anyway, so their diets would hardly have to change unless they were being particularly pious. The merchants and artisans were trying to out-do each other with their demonstrations of mourning and piety. The sale of candles and death-paper went up - a paper that one burned to ashes while saying prayers, and the ashes were then written onto the person's skin. It was all just traditional nonsense to Iann, but it kept people busy and occupied in between their daily lives. The presence of soldiers helped as well, of course. Although he'd heard already of House soldiers getting into a fight here and there - not the commonfolk, but the soldiers themselves. Iann wanted to leave, badly. He stood at one of the balconies overlooking the city, giving him a beautiful view of his own five ships in the harbour. Five more would join them by tonight, creating a strong presence around the city's coast, and of course indirectly competition for the fishermen who fished these coasts. His men needed to eat too, after all.

Tuah held himself back during the early investigation, preferring to listen rather than voicing his opinion when it was unnecessary. With Fane leading the investigation, he felt he had nothing else to contribute, other than perhaps be a sound board for the High Inquisitor to bounce his ideas on. The councils were already pointed, and he had no doubt that they would take this opportunity to show their prowess, being the first few that offered their armies. He couldn’t spare his army, feeling that they were better be put to use guarding his own small country than the chaos in the capital. So he was left alone to his own device for now, until it was required for him to play nice with other Houses once more. His gaze fell onto the crown and the throne on the dais, the sun shone brightly behind it just as it did yesterday. But instead of filling him with hope, it only made him mourn on the things of what could have been. He heaved a quiet sigh and slowly made his way towards the throne, gently placing his hand on the frame, his head bowed.

"Here," Ciara said, carefully pinning the hem of a young servant girl in the corner of the courtyard. It had blood stains from the high Raj on it, from cleaning up the drips of the throne room when he'd been carried away. She had no other clothes, but Ciara had enough skill to notice that the young girl had been trying to hide it, and was miserable in her failing. A moment's kindnes might cost her the court's opinion, but often enough her face was enough for that. Her silence did the rest. "Clean your face, and you'll be fit for service." This was not one of her mice, but to be seen helping someone random made her own spies more loyal. Besides, it was an easy distraction. She smiled kindly as the maid wiped her tears and curtsied, and hurried down out of the courtyard, but her face fixed in the position, her mind slipping out of focus as she stared at the now closing door.

Movement in the courtyard below the balcony caught Iann's eye, and it took a moment for him to recognize Lady Ciara down there, attending to some servant girl. The girl was sobbing - most of the servants were, they clearly loved the High Raj and this new installation of the Inquisition so suddenly in the Castle threw all their working systems and loyalties into a tizzy - but the Lady seemed to be comforting her, or reassuring her, or something. Iann was no fool; he knew servants were carriers of rumour and gossip, like an infectious plague that spread and shared between them until it either died away or the were all infected. The temperature of the servants was as important as the moods of the nobles who now stayed here. Still, he didn't move, observing Ciara as she seemed to be observing something hidden within the inside of her skull. He did cough though, loudly. Enough that it would echo in the courtyard below.

Ciara startled at the cough, and looked up at lord Iann above. It was no real cough, and there weren't many out there for him to be signalling. She looked up at him, squinting at the bright sunlight. There was no way for her to call back at him in a dignified way, so all she did was tilt her head, and walked to a spot out of the sun, on an ornate bench.

It looked to Iann as much of an invitation as he currently felt curious. Being locked up in the Keep was a good idea of course - especially as news trickled in on the state of the Capital. The Inquisitor might soon allow the Gates to open up again, but until then they were as much caged as the people out there were kept out. He disappeared from the balcony and came down to the courtyard. Iann paused a few feet away from where Lady Ciara still sat. "At this rate you might think that I'm purposely hunting you; but I assure you, Lady Ciara - you are no white-gold Whale of the West."

"I don't know enough of the beast to understand the level of reassurance there, Lord Iann, but do not worry that I think you are hunting me. I simply assume that you are bored. No great adventures to be had." Ciara replied, with a calm, quiet demeanor. She was staring, again, into the distance. Over the city. It was impossible to find quiet in this place, never mind peace.

Miguel walked through the courtyard on his way to bring Faye and Danian more books and scrolls he had found that might be useful. He tried to walk through the courtyard as much as possible, he had the same wanderlust as his brother, and being locked up in a keep was keeping him tightly wound. The courtyard was an inkling of freedom, at least enough sunlight to warm his face, and enough breeze to clean his lungs. And of course, it helped to keep an eye on Iann. He was bothering the scarred lady and Miguel walked out of his straight line path to stand at his brother's side, knowing that his presence alone would annoy Iann, and taking enjoyment from that fact. "Hello Iann, hello Lady Ciara. I would say good-morning, but that might seem a little treasonous." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "Still, the sun shines."

Cassie had collected the small pouch of coins and guards she would be needing for her visit out in the city. She stood out in the courtyard, waiting for one of the stable hands to bring her horse and Adeline's pony. The princesss had stood obidently next to her mother only for so long before a fountain captured her attention, and the girl with flaming red hair began tossing stones inside and dipping her hands in the water to retrieve them. Cassandra turned when she heard the soft sobs, and frowned seeing the maid and Ciara. She took a step forward, but then her brother in law announced himself from the balcony and Cassie could only stare up at him, "Don't fib to the poor girl. You have some vipor about you."

"Still the sun shines," Iann replied slowly, as he watched Miguel approach with that respectful but infuriatingly earnest way. He'd dimmed his chipperness out of respect of course, but somehow still managed to come off as pleasant even during mourning. It was irritating. Sure of course people had varying degrees of actual grief for the High Raj - the shock Iann felt from the murder had faded fast; his prevention of chaos in the streets was a strategic move, nothing particularly to do with the High Raj's honor. Plus in retrospect it was satisfying to slaughter that Sharma Herald. People even commended Iann for his actions after all. But Miguel managed to make his strategy far more effortless. Arms folded and one hand tapping at his chin, Iann turned and spotted Cassandra in riding clothes. "Where are you going, Grand Lady? With the Princess?"

Arin had nearly chewed his thumbnail down to the bone. Every sound, every scrape of a boot or cough in the distance had him on edge. The corridor was little used, mostly housing random bits of furniture or things stuck there and forgotten. "I'm telling you, it'll be us next. Just you wait,' he whispered to his companion. "That fucking fool acted on his own and now he's got the gods damned Inquisitor to deal with..."

Cassie blinked at Iann's question, tilting her head slightly to the side. She motioned between her and Adeline still at the fountain, "Why we're going out to console and provide alms to the people. It was your suggestion at yesterday's Quiver after all. As we all try to keep the pieces together behind castle walls, the people will want to see from one of us."

Iann smiled, grim amusement. "It was my suggestion to provide alms. It was your idea to go yourself and extend your hand with grace and charity." He saw that his Knight Harrison was waiting there as well, ready to guard Cassandra and the little Princess. "After that kidnapping attempt from Kesley yesterday, it would seem quite brave of you to go out there for the people..." And there was still supposedly a kidnapper out there, the one his knives didn't strike. He made a decision then. "Very well, I shall accompany you." He turned to Lady Ciara and bowed. "It seems adventure's found me after all."

Elia held onto Arin's arm as they walked, "m'lady isn't impressed... I overheard her and Lord Kesley consider his imprisonment a slight on their honour." She shook her head, "he acted on his own but was he wrong?" She lowered her voice more conspiratorial "they've let witches and wolfmen through the gates... Have they all lost their wits?"

"Lord Cardero," she greeted Miguel with a soft smile, finding herself suddenly with even less peace than before. "If the sun were to stop for us then we would know the end was truly coming." She looked to Queen Cassandra and Adelina, tilting her head in admiration. "It will do the people good," she agreed. Adeline had been at each meeting until now - courtesy of a protective mother, and yet Ciara couldn't help marvel at the little wonder. Pristine and Beautiful, and would remember none of this, if they resolved it now.

Miguel watched his brother go. "Stay safe," he said lightly. He had plans for Iann yet - and time to enact them if he would be out with Cassandra and Adeline. "Very true, Lady Ciara." Miguel glanced up at the blue sky. "Though it's comforting, is it not? The sea and sky don't care much for what we do above or below them."

"It is a slight to their honor," Arin said lowly. "And m'lady is never impressed on the best of days. Let alone when someone moves without her say. Gods..." Arin made a disgusted sound. "Wrong? For acting alone, yes. But for the rest, no. Someone has to show the people that there are monsters among us..."

"Safe travels, my lady," Ciara said, glancing to the guardsmen that came to accompany them. One little mouse amongst them all. She wished no such thing to lord Iann, but to watch him go left the strangest twinge in her stomach. Perhaps it was the events of the last days catching up with her. "It brings me no comfort," she told Miguel, watching as the gates began to open. "We are the ones who must live in our world, after all."

Cassie stared back at her brother for a moment and then smiled, "Very well, I'm sure Adeline will enjoy your company. You're ready now then?" She prompted, seeing a stable hand coming up the walk with a pair of mounts. Cassie quickly settled Adeline into her own small saddle before taking her mares riens and telling the stable hand to fetch another horse for Iann.

Iann gave a haughty and dismissive nod at his brother before following Cassandra back to the stables. He disliked horses in general, and he especially hated using a horse that wasn't his own. Iann waved his hand to dismiss the old nag being brought towards him. "I'll walk," he said shortly, staying beside Adeline's pony. He kept his hand on the pony's mane. A glance over his shoulder as they headed to the gate, towards Miguel and the Lady Ciara. Something about it left a sick bilious taste in the back of his throat, and Iann looked away. He was glad to turn his attention to keeping vigilance while Cassandra did her charitable acts among the commonfolk.

"No, she isn't but Josef never had much in terms of wits did he..." she gripped Arin's arm a little tighter leaning in as she spoke "I heard the witch burned his eyes right out of his head with her magic..." Elia made an equally disgusted noise frowning "and, what's worse it's not just one... but two witches they let sit on the council?"

"No, he didn't," Arin agreed. "Though it may fall in his favor if he can claim to be feeble-minded. Though I doubt he's that clever." Arin laid his hand over Elia's where she gripped his arm. His already wane features tightened. "Aye. I heard so as well." He lowered his voice, stopping to turn to Elia. "There /has/ to be some... enchantment at work there. Something that's... poisoning their minds. Clouding their judgements." He looked back down the corridor. "Don't you think it odd that the first ruler in ages was murdered in a room full of people... without a hand being laid on him? At the same time as two witches happen to be in the city? When was the last time you heard of such creatures? Let alone saw one?"

Cassie sighed at Iann's blatant dislike of the horses. She knew the man was used to ships and the sea, but a loyal mount really something valuble if he ever sought to give it the time. "Fine." Cassie waved her hand in dismissal, not caring how Iann tagged along, as long as they got started. While Cassandra was distracted with the task at hand (and occasionally fixing the toddlers posture on her pony) she noticed the weary glances Iann had back to the castle gates. "I see you and Miguel are getting along as well as ever." She commented sarcastically, trying to see if her brother would elaborate on his feelings at all.

Miguel pursed his lips. He could see what she meant, but he wanted to lighten her mood at least a little - to endear himself in some way to this enigmatic lady. She reminded him of Lady Lacroy, and he wondered if he had a problem with trying to ally to underdogs. "Is it no comfort at all when you think there is something that you can always depend on that does not rely upon you?" He shook his head. "When I'm weary of responsibility, it can be something to ground the mind and slow the tensing of the muscles."

Iann glanced up at Cassandra, wanting to trust her but when it came to matters of his brother, he was unable to trust anyone except his own people. "Which of us do you prefer? And don't pretend at being impartial - I know you must have a favourite. Everyone does," Iann stated, then pet Adeline's straight, laced-up back, as he smiled. "I know at least who her favourite is. Second only to her dear mother, of course. Isn't that right, Princess."

Cassie laughed when he asked who her favorite was. She thought about it for a moment before answering, "Your brother Juan, my dear husband." Which she knew was not the answer Iann was looking for, but her husband however absent, was one of the brothers. Besides, it kept her from chosing sides so blatantly. Adeline glanced back to Iann and smiled, before a few people moving just outside the castle gates caught her attention and she waved with a small shy smile, blue eyes wide as the streets and city continued to open to them.

"Perhaps if you phrase it like that," Ciara acquiesced, shifting in her seat slightly. "But the sun can be unforgiving." She looked up at him, with a flicker of amusement. "You sound like a healer. Relaxing the muscles is not something I'm well suited for. I would rather be out in the forests, but here we are. At least you have family to entertain you." Ciara knew full well that was incorrect - even her small observations of them showed endless squabbling.

Iann couldn't help but smile at Cassandra's answer. It was, after all, the perfect answer and once more confirmed to Iann the kind of person - and leader - Cassandra was. He watched as Adelina waved shyly to the people, who were naturally entranced by the child. Iann was tempted to indulge in the adulation as well, but it was good that he was on foot. He didn't want to be a part of this charistable show, so much as an escort to the Queen and Princess, in Juan's absence. The Upper City was bound to adore the beautiful young queen and her cherubic child. But Iann still has misgivings about going to the Lower City. "Shall we head to the Cloverry Cathedral? It's where they allow the poor to assemble during Mourning Rites."

Miguel looked at her and blinked a moment, and then he laughed. "Oh no, I'm far from a healer. I'll admit, I find the work of physicians and alchemists interesting, but... it's not for me." He took a chance and sat beside the Lady. "Truly, the woods?" The side of his mouth turned up in a little smirk. "You seem so well suited to the capitol. Do you have no family here?"

"I dread to think of what they're doing to him, and the Inquisitor didn't even see the justice in his act... Instead he chose to protect the witch... And he dares to call himself a man of the people." Arin spoke the only sense that she'd heard, "they must be bewitched... Lord and Lady Kesley are the only ones seeing sense, the only ones that want to protect us..." They turned and walked a little way, "I never have," Elia shook her head, "pray to the gods I never do but I've heard rumours about them, they paint themselves in the blood of innocents and bring death on all they touch." She grew quiet as they moved, eyes downcast to keep from drawing attention "it's our duty to make others aware of who is truly responsible for the death of our beloved Raj... They deserve to know the truth."

Cassie nodded in agreement "The Cathedral it is then." She watched Adeline with her own amount of admiration. The waves and greetings could improve of course, but that would come along with years. Currently, cherubric cheeks seemed to cover up any imperfections. Luckily, the Cathedral was not so far away from the castle, and before they even reached the entrance, Cassandra saw the people flowing and littering outside. The kingdom had already grasped mourning tightly, it seemed. A few of the poorly dressed and nourished citizens turned, gawking wide eyed at Cassie, Iann, and the others that accompanied them.

"Perhaps in another life," Ciara replied idly. He was the third child too, she knew. She understood the call for duty without the honour of the eldest. "Truly. My family is out west, in the Eades. The glades are beautiful this time of year. I enjoy the city life, apart from times like this, but there is not much space to oneself." She looked back out at the city, her lips in a tight line. "Right now especially."

"I hope you have a speech ready to go with your coin-distribution, Grand Lady," Iann murmured, his shoulders tensing as he gazed around the crowd like a predatory hawk. It was one thing to be greeted and admired by lesser nobles and artisans, but the milling many of the poor assembled in the gated Cathedral courtyard (it opened to both the Lower and Upper Cities) could include anyone among their dirty throng. Cassie wouldn't be swarmed by them of course - an iron gate separated them from the crowd, but someone with a crossbow could easily take aim. Knight Harrison seemed ever-vigilant on the other side of Cassie's horse, so Iann stayed close by Adeline's side. Arrangements had also been made for Cloverry priests and nuns to emerge as well, carrying baskets of bread as well as vegetables from the Cloverry gardens. All paid for, by Summerset coin. Or rather, by Forty isles coin, as Summerset had no coin to give. The priests and nuns waited, and would start distributing food at the Grand Lady's permission.

Arin made a disquieted sound. "Who's to say he's not been bewitched as well?" He gave Elia a pointed look. "Why else would a man of such standing not look upon such a creature without at least a modicum of suspicion? He witnessed the attack... and yet... she remains free. As does the deadwood witch." Arin nodded gravely. "Aye. Our Lord and Lady see the truth, and will do what they must." Arin guided Elia down the dim corridor, features set stoicly yet still befitting a servant. "I fear the rumors may even be less gruesome than the truth, dear one. Now come... there's much to be done..."

"From what I've heard, the glades sound beautiful. I'll have to visit some time, though I can't imagine life far from the sea." Miguel ran a hand through his tight, dark curls. "Lady, if you're looking for some silence and peace, I could take my leave. I exist to torment my eldest brother, not beautiful women."

"Why do you think I was up so late last night?" Cassandra posed to Iann. As if she would approach the masses unprepared. Still, she waited a few moments so that their arrival was properly registered through the crowd and any surprise had hushed down for the time being. Cassie stayed on her horse, just so everyone could see her. "It's tragedy that brings us all here today. And we all mourn the loss of our Raj deeply, but we must not despair even in trying times such as these. We all want peace, and are working towards a solution tirelessly. Find solace with the clergy and within yourself." She made a motion for the food and coin to start being distributed, "We must stand together as a kingdom, and surely our faith and loyalty will be well rewarded."

"No, no. I shouldn't speak so. The company does me more harm, and it is likely good to keep out of my mind." Ciara looked over with a knowing smile. "It is perhaps terribly femininely of me to be so shaken by the events of the last day. Besides, I could be in much worse company." There was something about the Young Lord Miguel that set her at ease. A dangerous trait, no doubt, but there was little harm in indulging at a superficial level. To find some small pocket of comfort before the raging storm.

"Even if you are shaken on the inside, your exterior speaks nothing but calm and collected." Miguel moved his hand to touch her elbow in the quick gentle way he had with his sister-in-law, but quickly thought better of it and clasped his hands in front of himself, between his knees. "Will you be travelling back to the Eades once all this excitement is over?"

"Staying up writing my assignment, naturally," Iann teased her, although he wasn't exactly smiling as he said it. She had a way with written word that Iann certainly didn't. He liked to speak, not to scribe. Cassandra was good at both though - her voice was clear and strident and rang over the Cathedral courtyard in a way that even quieted the crowd of poor. It turned them from a tense, hungry mob, into a gentle, adoring audience. There was silence and murmuring for a while, as those nearest the gate started to get food. With the Cloverry's assistance, it was more organized than Iann expected, although he still watched carefully. But then from the back, someone yelled out: "God's blessings on the Grand Lady of Summerset!" It was a man's voice, hoarse and desperate with gratitude. The call was repeated, and taken up. "God's blessings! God's blessings!" And as the chant picked up, people at the gates not just reached for coin and food, but also for the Grand Lady's blessing, trying to brush their fingers against her horse, or the hem of Cassandra's dress. "Please, my Queen! Please bless us!"

"Time will tell. I wish to see how this will all play out, and my movements will depend on what comes after. My father has no need for me there right now." Ciara answered, each sentence a half truth. But there was no truly returning to the Eades to stay. She had entangled herself into too many webs to truly ever depart the political sphere, and while today was a challenge, that did not mean the future would be. This was an opening door, a whole new playing field. It could serve her well. "Where will your ships take you after?"

Cassie was relieved the speech had gone over as she had hoped. Not that she doubted her words, but any crowd could be unpredictable. As the crowd came closer, brushing fingertips where they could press between the guards Cassandra smiled softly down at them, "You are all too kind, we are all blessed with or without my saying so. Please, collect what you need and know all of us in the castle are keeping you at the forfronts of our minds."

Miguel looked plenty sympathetic, his father let him do what he wanted ever since he had taken himself off the playing field as someone to be married away to form alliances. He had no easy comparison for what Ciara had gone through, except the expectations that chained him in his youth. "Back to the Forty Isles. Our father is ailing, and I need to be there to show my support, if Iann is to take command."

Iann watched closely, his heart accelerating as the crowd surged. He wanted to drag Adeline's pony back, to prevent those grabbing hands from trying to touch the Princess. It would be so easy for things to get out of control. Gratitude could easily turn into madness. Fortunately, Cassie's response, gracious as it was, also sounded like a retreat. Iann clenched his jaw and slowly steered Adeline's pony around. "Come, Grand Lady," he said with a brief smile. He spoke quietly, just for her. "You've made your point quite well, I should think."

Now that was interesting. Not quite enough for her to show it, but to tuck it deep inside the robes of her clothes. If Iann were to take the throne. This brotherly bickering may be brotherly mutiny. Ciara thought of Iann, directing Savin to take the lead. She thought of him trying to steer who looked at the body when, she thought of him leaving now, with Lady Cassandra, and steering that too. Perhaps this was a good thing. “You believe it will be soon?”

Cassie was indeed ready to leave, and didn't fight when Iann attempted to turn the entire party around. It was hard not to notice his tense jaw and shoulders though, sure the crowd could be intimidating, but Cassandra had kept relatively calm. "You think?" She smiled at Iann, almost baiting him to praise her more, but then she leaned down speaking to him softly as well, "Perhaps you should be among the commoners more often. They're wants and desires are not so far from our own. Offer a bit of kindness, and they will return it tenfold."

Miguel leaned down and brought his hands up to his chin. "I do. He's been ailing for most of my life." His brown eyes flashed toward Ciara for a second. "Our mothers have been controlling the day-to-day." All three of the sons loved their mothers, all of them. It didn't matter who had birthed whom. All three of the women were respectable and necessary for the good of the islands, they were just as untouchable as Adeline in the little games Iann and Miguel played. "Recently they sent a message that father has been confined to his bed. That's no way to live. Especially not for the King of the Driftwood throne."

For once, Iann had nothing witty to reply. As the Grand Lady leaned over her little daughter to speak to Iann, the Prince seemed to stare straight ahead, but his eyes darted this way and that. Not only was he keeping a lookout for anything dangerous, but he was also caught up in what Cassandra just said. Only when they reached the Gates of the Bluesprings Keep, did Iann eventually say, "Wise words, Grand Lady. I shall heed them." And he would; but not in the way that Cassandra meant it.

“I am sorry to hear it.” Ciara replied simply, and truthfully. “I hope you are able to return to him soon.” There was something about him that made her want to reach out and comfort him, but she did not. “Is that why you were so quick to Investigate?”

"I hope you do." Cassandra responded quietly, somewhat surprised to still see Miguel and Ciara chatting in the courtyard. She dismounted with Adeline and thanked the groomsmen that took the horses away. "Flowers, mama." Adeline stating pointing towards a small gate that led to a path towards the castle gardens. "Hmmm." She hummed, crouching slightly to lift the toddler in the air before carrying her on her hip, "Let's collect some boquets for the castle sweetheart." Cassandra agreed, "The keep needs some form of cheer besides lust and drink."

Miguel had been being so earnest with Lady Ciara, the fact that he had to lie to keep up appearances caused him a moment of guilt. But he had put too much work into this, too much energy, to let one woman's opinion of him change his plans. "Partially. I want to go home. I've been away - it's the nature of all the Driftwood princes - we travel. I would like to see him again, alive." He pulled away from the heavy sadness that didn't belong to him, and offered Ciara a small smile. "Thank you for your condolences, I appreciate it," and it was true, even if he had been hoping for the death of his father.

"I apologize, I have no head for determining what rose goes well with what carnation," Iann replied, although he did follow Cassandra to the castle garden, along with Knight Harrison. "But I'll be happy to keep you company, Grand Lady. We must talk some business."

“Of course.” Speaking of, Lord Iann and Queen Cassandra had returned to the courtyard, and Ciara watched them a brief moment. “I am afraid, your lordship, that I must retire for a short while. But your company was a pleasure.” She put her hand on his shoulder as she stood, affectionately, and smiled down at him. “I have no doubt we’ll speak again.”

Cassie turned slightly after unlatching the gate, brow raised at her brother, "Further business?" Addressing the masses was the pressing matter in her own mind, and now that it was over she was ready to idlely roam. She dismissed Danny quickly however, unsure if it was something the knight should be privy to, and besides she was safe within the castle walls now. "What weighs on your mind brother?"

"No doubt," Miguel repeated. There was only so much room in the keep, and Ciara was interesting to talk to. "Have a good day, as good as possible. And think about the blue sky if things get overwhelming." He touched her hand lightly as she went. And cursed his brother for how close he already seemed to the Burned Lady.

"I believe Inquisitor Savin is doing an exceptional job. He's from the North, he's a Dawnguard war hero, and he's a proven Inquisitor. I also believe the Quiver of Houses has collected a very interesting group of people to Counsel the Inquisitor, don't you think? Including two noblewomen newly emerged from accursed lands, and a child who a Priestess of the Light insists deserves a chair at the House table - despite the child continually refusing it. The ten-year war in Bluesprings has certainly created a very eclectic group in the wake of the High Raj's death." Most of the more traditional Lords and Ladies, Dukes and Duchesses, Kings and Queens - they were all dead. What was left? In truth, it was those who either powerful enough to keep themselves out of the war, or took advantage of it for their own gain. "While I'm sure it'll make for lovely colourful songs and poems in the years to come, right now I sense it can only make the Inquisition seem slightly unstable, hm? We need make sure every member on the Quiver creates inspiration in the hearts and minds of the people, rather than wonder. Imagination in the hands of the commonfolk creates superstitions and false beliefs."

"You're babbling." She pointed out to Iann, because this wasn't really business, this was reflection. Reflection was good and well, but it still felt like he was dancing around something. She wet her lips thinking when he mentioned the emerging nobility. "The Priestess can insist, but this heir is only going to have a seat if she wants it. Which as you stated, she doesn't." Cassie couldn't exactly blame her. It was a dangerous seat. "Are you suggesting we raise all the others to our recognition so not to strike jealousy?" She tilted her head agian, "I'm not sure what you're searching for brother, I apologize."

Back in her room, Ciara found the encrypted note hidden behind a wooden panel. A report of what had happened in the places of worship. A report detailed fully, that she devoured in moments, and then tore the paper to swallow it. No secrets left to be found. It ended on exchanges words her mouse had not heard, but the rest was plentiful. She digested a few minutes, then wound her way down to the servants quarters. “Matron,” she spoke softly. “Please assign Aziza to cleaning Lord Iann Cardero’s room from now on, it has barely been a day and he should not notice. Please send Gizelle to my room at the earliest convenience.” No one else needed reassigning. Ciara had mice for every room, but apparently some needed more than one.

Iann watched Cassandra carefully again. Adeline had a few sweet little pink daisies clutched tightly in her hand, which she tried to arrange in her mother's dark hair like a crown. It was endearing, in the dappled sunlight. The pair of them looked almost out of place, a scene of absolute serenity against the backdrop of bloody murder and fearful concerns. He made a choice then and bowed deeply and formally. A bow of formality that he hadn't used with Cassandra for years, ever since Juan Carlos left for another of his crusades, and Iann informally and unofficially installed himself as an (occasional) guardian of Summerset and her Queen. But he used that formal bow now, his face once more inscrutable. "You're right, I am babbling. I suppose seeing the poor gathering for alms has made me more light-headed than I realized. I reluctantly leave you and the Princess now. More her, than you," Iann added in his usual twinkling mischievous manner that lasted a brief moment before he left.

#got scene

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leiascully · 6 years

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Fic: Between A Rock And A Hard Place (Part Four)

Timeline: Season 10 (replaces My Struggle in the All The Choices We’ve Made ‘verse - Visitor + Resident + etc.) Rating: PG Characters: Mulder, Scully, Tad O’Malley, Sveta (established MSR) Content warning: canon-typical body horror (mentions of abduction, forced pregnancy, etc.) A/N: I’m collecting all the related stories that go with Visitor/Resident under the title “All The Choices We’ve Made”, because it felt right at the time. This story is an alternate My Struggle that reflects M&S’ growth/change in the ATCWM ‘verse. I’m weaving canon dialogue into the stories in an attempt to keep the reframing plausibly in line with canon.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

It seems inevitable that Sveta and O'Malley will want to meet with them again, so Mulder short-circuits the whole thing. He's impatient in his old age. He was impatient in his youth. He texts O'Malley and asks for the name of Sveta's hotel. He's waiting in the lobby with a coffee when she comes down. Scully's back at Quantico. He expects O'Malley to find her in the morgue. A tv personality shouldn't have that kind of access and yet. O'Malley clearly knows which strings to pull. Sveta wanders down eventually, startled when he waves at her as she crosses the lobby with halting purpose in her step. She turns to him and wavers, like she's torn between wanting his help and fearing that no one can help. Another symptom for his checklist. He waits and finally she steps toward him.

"Agent Mulder. Hello."

"Hey," he says. "Dr. Scully asked me to check on you." It's as close to truth as he can get.

"That's so kind," Sveta says. "I knew she was kind."

"Can I buy you a coffee?" Mulder asks.

"Thank you," Sveta says. They order and he pays, and they return to the table he claimed, his newspaper still open to the half-done crossword.

"I had a few more questions for you myself," he says, after some small talk.

"I know," she tells him. "You can ask."

"There was a moment when we were talking to you about your abductions - about your pregnancies. We asked you a question and you looked at Mr. O'Malley before you answered. Why?"

She laced her fingers around the heat of her coffee cup. The barista hadn't even tried to get her name right. There was just a Z and a scribble. "Because it's not exactly the right question."

"I'm sorry," Mulder said. "I don't understand."

"Mr. O'Malley told you it was aliens who took my babies," Sveta said. "But I don't believe it's aliens who are taking them."

"If aliens didn't abduct you, who did?" Mulder asks, already certain of the answer.

Sveta's lip trembles and her eyes shine with tears that threaten to brim over. "It's difficult to talk about. The memories are difficult and the answers you want...they're dangerous, Mr. Mulder."

Twenty years ago, they would have sent a girl like her to distract him. Twenty years ago, it would have worked. He was a knight errant then, imagining he could save every damsel in distress. He's learned not to gallop off in all directions now, though he paid more than he should have for the lesson.

"Everything stays between us, Sveta," he promises. "This isn't an interrogation. It's not on the record. It's just a conversation."

"The things I've experienced," she chokes out. "They've affected my entire life. They've made it impossible to have anything like a normal existence."

Mulder leans forward, reminded that therapists guide a conversation in much the same way interrogators do, and he's trained in both. "What are you afraid of, Sveta?"

"That it only gets worse," she says, and the tears spill over at last with perfect cinematic timing. He believes in her pain. He also believes in O'Malley's showmanship.

"Who took your babies?" he asks in his most soothing, most confidential voice.

"Men," she says in a hoarse whisper. "They took me aboard their ships. Their human ships. I was afraid they would kill me if I ever told anyone the truth. When I saw Mr. O'Malley...he seemed like my best chance to find out what happened to me."

"You didn't see a doctor because doctors did this to you," Mulder says.

"Who could I trust?" Sveta asks, tears running down her cheeks again. "They would erase the evidence. Call me a liar. They're the liars."

"You can trust me," Mulder says. "You can trust Dr. Scully. Our job is to protect you while we bring justice to those who harmed you."

"You work for the government," Sveta sniffles.

"Sometimes the best place to find the lies is inside the house," Mulder tells her. "They call me a liar too. They call Dr. Scully a liar."

"How do you keep going?" Sveta asks. Her eyes are wet and she looks so young.

"One step at a time," Mulder says. "Right now, your trauma is an open wound. You'll heal with time. And you'll help us bring these men to justice."

"I want to believe you," Sveta says.

"Me too," Mulder sighs.

He calls Scully from the car. She sounds distracted as she answers.

"Is he there?" Mulder asks. "Why am I even asking, of course he's there."

"Of course, Assistant Director," she says. "Just finishing the preliminary notes. Let me wash up and I'll be right there." He hears her turn her face away from the speaker. "So sorry, but I've got a meeting."

"What a shame," says O'Malley's voice, distantly, muffled. "Let me know if you ever want to grab dinner sometime. I'm sure you're a veritable library of information. I'll bring the Scotch and you bring the weird science."

She laughs politely and he hears the door close behind her and then the sound of water running. "Sorry, Mulder. I pretended to hang up and put my phone in my pocket."

"At least you got offered dinner," Mulder says. "You going to go out with Tad O'Malley? The Tad O'Malley? He'll show you a good time."

"I'm married," she says casually but firmly, and his heart flipflops in his chest. "How was Sveta?"

"Rattled," he says. "You were right. The same story about humans abducting her, and O'Malley just running with the notion of aliens. No one can really explain the craft without ET, but everything since then - all the work after the initial abduction, anyway - that's been us. Humans."

"Does that surprise you?" she says after a pause.

"No," he says. "You?"

"No," she says. "I seem to recall you having a meltdown over the same revelation sometime circa 1998."

"I seem to recall you being next to Cassandra Spender as she vanished off a bridge the same year," he counters.

She sighs. "There are days I don't regret getting that tattoo."

"We've been chasing our tails for decades," he agrees.

"They'll reopen the X-Files if he asks them to," she says. "You know they will. And then what will we do?"

"That was my next question," he says.

"We can't help her without access," Scully says. "But it's highly probable we can't help her at all. Ten year of unraveling the lies and we never got any definitive proof we could take to the public."

"You were right," he says. "We need help."

"He brought me a collection of photographs," she tells him. "He wanted me to tell me if they were alien hybrid children."

"Were they?" Mulder asks.

"I can't make that kind of designation based on a photograph," she says sternly, "but my medical opinion, which I shared with Mr. O'Malley, was that they shared a rare disease called microtia, which causes children to be born without the external apparatus of the ear. Rare, but not unearthly. Alien in appearance, but not in origin."

"Did he ask you about the X-Files?"

"Of course," she says. "He wanted to know if I missed the work."

Mulder taps on the steering wheel. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him it was some of the most intense and challenging work I'd ever done," she says. "I told him I thought I had felt most alive when you and I were working together."

He swallowed against the lump in his throat. "Laying it on thick, Dr. Scully."

"I told him that working with you had led to the most intense and challenging and impossible relationship of my life," she says. "And after all of that, he still tried to ask me out."

"Intense and challenging and impossible aren't necessarily positive," Mulder tells her. "You left an opening."

"He wasn't really listening," Scully says. "But you know I love a challenge, Mulder."

"Yes, you do," he says.

"We need to talk to Skinner," she says.

"I'm on it," he tells her, and hangs up.

Skinner meets them after hours at the elevator. They all ride down together. Scully kissed Skinner in this elevator once, Mulder seems to remember, but he only heard about it later from the security guard watching the video feed. He doesn't remember much from that particular adventure anyway, except kissing whoever Scully was in 1939 and getting a gaudy bruise for it. They don't talk on the way to the basement. The place smells the same. The office still has pencils in the ceiling. Somebody's taken the trouble to gut and repaint the place, and it still has pencils in the ceiling.

"Where are the files?" Scully asks.

"I don't know," Skinner says, but he looks away as he says it. Play the game, Mulder thinks, and they'll find out later.

"You said no one had been down here, that it hadn't been touched," he says, letting a little anger color his voice. Skinner will forgive him. They all have to play their parts. New paint means new bugs.

"Not since you and Agent Scully left the Bureau," Skinner says.

"We're back now," Mulder tells him.

"You certainly are," Skinner says. "As of this morning, you're reassigned to the X-Files, pending approval."

"Whose approval?" Scully asks.

"It's above my pay grade," Skinner says.

"We need access," Mulder says, "and we need backup. We need a staff. If the X-Files are so important, there should be more than two agents."

"I'll see what I can do," Skinner mumbles. "Your mysterious benefactors seem willing to allocate whatever resources are deemed necessary."

"Who do you take orders from, sir?" Scully asks sharply.

"All you need to know is that I'm looking out for you," Skinner says dismissively. "I've always looked out for you."

"We've been led through one dark alley after another, and all of them dead ends," Mulder says. "What makes this time different?"

"The world is different," Skinner says. "Since 9/11, this country has taken a very big turn in a very strange direction. I'm not the only one who wished you were still down here. You've got friends in high places."

"All the better to spy on us," Scully says.

"The danger is real," Skinner tells her, "but the opportunities are too. You can do something about it, agents. Together. You may be the only ones left who can."

"Do we have a choice?" Scully asks. She's gotten better at lying in the intervening years. Mulder isn't certain whether he should be grateful for that.

"Do you ever?" Skinner says.

"We'll need desks," Mulder says. "And a new poster."

"I'll see what I can requisition," Skinner tells him. "Welcome home, agents."

Scully goes back to the hospital after they finish the paperwork, murmuring about test results. Mulder doesn't mind. He has his own contacts, even after fourteen years out of the game. Tad O'Malley isn't the only one with a fan base, not that he likes to think about his informants that way. It's evening by the time he gets to the Mall, but he enjoys the walk. He's missed working down here: the bustle and the restaurants, the museums and the tourists. He walks toward the Washington Monument.

"Is the hour absolutely necessary?" says a voice at his shoulder. "I had dinner reservations."

"It was important that I see you," Mulder tells him.

"We made an agreement about our meeting in unsecured environments," grumbles the doctor. Apparently working in Area 51 makes a person paranoid forever. He can relate to that. He's just lucky that anyone who was in Roswell when the crash handed is willing to speak to him.

"I can't provide a high-security cordon like your former establishment," Mulder jokes. "For one thing, I don't have a couple hundred square miles of desert to drop the facility in the middle of or a guard to patrol the perimeter. But anyone who's out here isn't looking at us. I called you because you said if I ever put the pieces together, you would confirm."

"And have you put them together?" the doctor asks.

"I've met someone," Mulder hedges. "I've seen something."

"You weren't even close before," the doctor scoffs. "Warring aliens lighting each other on fire. Weaponized bees. Every distraction they organized for you, you swallowed hook, line, and sinker."

"I was being cleverly manipulated," Mulder says in a tone even he hears as sulky. "I admit to a certain credulousness in my youth."

"And what brings this new clarity?" the doctor asks.

"I saw an ARV running on free energy," Mulder tells him. "I touched it. I saw it disappear."

"That's what they all seem to do," the doctor grumbles.

"Their scientists said the materials were salvaged from Roswell." Mulder paces back and forth. "The technology exists. And it's been in use, being used on humans, for human testing that has been consistently misreported as alien abductions."

"So you believe you know how," the doctor muses.

"Yes," Mulder says. "And I think I know why."

"That 'why' is more complicated than you may ever know, Mr. Mulder," the doctor tells him.

"I've heard that a lot over the years," Mulder says. "Try me. Sixty years ago, we were warned about the military-industrial complex gathering too much power. Now alien technology is being used against us. Not by aliens or with aliens as I believed in the past, but by a venal conspiracy of men against humanity."

"You're wasting my time," the old man said dismissively, turning away. "There's always a bad man in the shadows or a monster under the bed."

"What are the tests for?" Mulder demands. "The babies? The samples? The implanted DNA?"

The doctor squints as he steps under the streetlight. "You tell me, Mr. Mulder."

"Ten years ago you came to me, saying you couldn't take your secrets to your grave, that you couldn't live with it." Mulder steps into the doctor's personal space.

The doctor sighs. "I"m a man of medicine. I didn't know how my work would be used. The lies are so great, Mr. Mulder. I imagined that I would come forward, but I knew that the truth must be unassailable. I am not sure that kind of truth exists anymore."

"Let me tell the world," Mulder tells him.

"They'll make a mockery of us," the doctor says sadly. "They'll pillory us in the town square."

"So what else is new," Mulder says. "I've been a punching bag before. I can take it."

"These men are capable of knocking you out," the doctor says. "You're nearly there. You're close." He turns away. "You listen to me because I was there in Roswell, but Roswell has become a smokescreen."

"So I've been told," Mulder says to himself. He wonders when all the informants began to sound the same. They promise him the truth but only speak in riddles. They offer him the world, but won't give him the map. He'd have better luck with a sphinx, and she'd probably be more coherent.

He goes home. That, at least, is new, that after submerging himself for hours in the kind of paranoia his younger self lived and breathed, he gets to emerge from it and go home to spend his life with Scully.

She's reheated the chili and she's sitting at the table in the kitchen, stirring sour cream into her bowl. "I wasn't sure when you'd be home," she says.

"Sorry," he says. "I meant to text you, but I had to talk to someone."

"Just like old times," she says.

"Except I get to come home to you," he says, and leans down to kiss her. "How were the test results?"

"Strange," she says.

"But you expected that," he says, ladling chili into a bowl and joining her at the table. "Didn't you?"

"They're in line with the results from around the time of my cancer," she tells him.

"You're disappointed," he says.

"I don't know what I was thinking," she says, dropping her spoon. "I thought maybe the chip had removed the junk DNA, or that something about the pregnancy had rewired my system. Dr. Parenti told me that all of my test results were normal. But I suppose he lied about almost everything."

He aches for her, thinking of her going through all of that alone. “I’m sorry, Scully.”

She lifts one shoulder. It isn’t quite a shrug. “I never quite learned to trust no one.”

He smiles at her. "And Sveta's results?"

"Like mine," she said. "Anomalous. Like purity control, all those years ago, and all those women in Pennsylvania." She looks at him across the table and reaches for his hand. "I wish it weren't always so personal."

"Me too," he says.

"Do you still believe we can save the world?" she asks, her voice just slightly shaky.

"I want to believe," he tells her.

"So do I," she says. "I badly want to believe that there is some point to all of this, if we take up this cause again. We've come so far, Mulder."

"One foot in front of the other," he says. "That's how you walk through the desert, Scully. Or the fire."

"It's always worked for us," she says, smiling at him. "I just hope that Sveta's all right. I don't trust O'Malley's intentions. She's vulnerable. She wants answers as badly as I do. I know what that can do to a person."

Mulder sighs. "He'll contact us again. He's had his chance to influence us separately. Do we play along, pretending to be true believers, or do we reject his tangled web of conspiracy theories so flimsy and fringe even a teenager would be ashamed to believe it?"

"To be fair to teenagers, they're ashamed of most things," Scully murmurs. "It is the part you were born to play."

"We all have our faith, Scully," he jokes. "Our belief in things unseen."

"I know," she says.

#xfiles fic #xf fic #xf alternate season 10 #xf revival fic #mulder x scully #my fic #atcwm verse

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sachertortes · 6 years

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@holdmecloseandfast here you go! (I couldn’t add more vids to the last post so I had to make a new one lol)

Okay, the thing with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir is that they’ve been partners since they were 7 and 9 respectively. So they’ve grown up together, trained together etc. for over 20 years.

Scott says that he considers his first kiss to be Tessa, when he was 10 and they were at the Ilderton Carnival. Aww.

(Everything under a cut to spare your dash)

When they both young, they were living in CA and training in Michigan.

When they trained in Canton, Michigan they had to cross the border from Canada. Scott: “When we crossed the border, they would ask for a note from Tessa’s parents because they thought I was stealing her to Vegas to elope.”

They rose through the ranks of Juniors and started Seniors. They were actually devastated when they didn’t make the cut for the 2005 Olympics.

For the 2008-2009 competitive season, they withdrew because Tessa developed compartment syndrome on her shin. When she went for surgery, it was a very very delicate time for them. Scott was basically training alone (he says he was skating with a sandbag to stand in for a partner). And during this time, some people had no faith that Tessa would ever be back in shape to compete. A lot of very shrewd, very rich parents and coaches were presenting Scott with their daughters to skate with. He refused, of course! But before we get all swoony, by his own admission Scott was not handling Tessa’s injury/surgery very well. He says he did not call or visit her in the hospital once (?!?!?!?!) An awkward teenage boy thing or a Scott thing IDK.

But despite what must have been a great deal of awkwardness, they pushed on to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where they won gold. During this time, Scott was dating figure skater Jessica Dube but doing [this sort of thing] with his skating partner pre-skate. It’s to ~~synchronize their heartbeats~~.

Post Vancouver - Pre Sochi aka The Struggle Years. Things are tense at their training cam. They’re training with their main competitors and their coach begins giving most of her attention to their competitors as well. Tessa is dating her coach’s son, Fedor.

When they were really struggling, Tessa tells this cute as hell story about a Bucket of Rice. Basically, one of the things they use in training is the thought that every good thing that they do they add a grain rice to the bucket. And some days are bad, and you don’t add rice to the bucket but you’re also not taking any out. At one point Scott left this outside her hotel room before a competition, to say “Look at all this rice we already have in our bucket.”

In 2013, someone (in PR, probably 😒) convinced them to do a reality show. It was...bad. Awkward as hell. It painted Tessa as this sad, lovelorn girl pining after Scott who was already attached to a girl named Cassandra. (The fact that Cassandra looked like Tessa-lite did not go unnoticed by fandom 👀👀👀). At one point Fedor comes in as a footwork coach and Scott so obviously despises the dude. The show was cringey. Mention it to an old VM fan and watch their eye twitch lol. At least it showed people how awful the atmosphere was at Canton. If you do want to watch it, it’s on Amazon streaming.

This was also the year they did a bridal photoshoot for some reason?? The pics are cute tho: [here] and [here].

Around this time, it’s generally thought that even they were both with other people they were messing around with each other. Things were still bad at their training camp, they both felt that their coach wasn’t completely on their side and Tessa’s leg began acting up again. If you search youtube for their Carmen program and “4CC” it’s actually really heartbreaking because they had to stop in the middle of their FD :(

They kept coming in second to their training mates, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlite White. Scott said that he knew that the writing was on the wall when they came in second during Worlds, after performing clean and even in their own hometown.

They had a difficult time at Sochi, making a bunch of wobbles and mistakes in the Team Event. Before their Individual Event FD, Scott says to Tessa, “No matter what, we’re together, and no matter what, I love you, and no matter what, we’re gonna enjoy this.”

After earning Silver at Sochi, they performed the following angsty as hell Exhibition.

youtube

For the rest of 2014 and 2015, they went on tours and shows together. Scott was seeing Olympic Curler Kaitlyn Lawes and Tessa was seeing skier/dudebro Ryan Semple. Ryan doesn’t really last tho.

Then, as Tessa tells it, “We went on a Gold Medal Plates trip to Scotland, northern Scotland, this year and we were with Spirit of the West and Johnny Reid was there performing. And Johnny Reid’s backup vocalist, Miku Graham, and pianist, Michael Shand, they performed a song in a pub. And it was this very stripped-down, beautiful version of ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’, Tina Turner. And it was funny because we just sort of caught eyes, while she was singing, and we just knew we needed to skate to this song.” Yes, they locked eyes across the room where Scott’s girlfriend was also present because that’s what buddies do I guess.

A short time later, Scott becomes single 🤔 and they both decide to come back for the Pyeongchang Olympics. 🤔🤔

The thing that I love most about their comeback in 2016 leading up to the Olympics is that they were working with B2Ten (an organization that provides support for elite amateur athletes) and new coaches and they seemed stronger both physically and mentally this time.

This promo video for their comeback is 🔥🔥🔥. The good stuff starts at 1:00.

youtube

The Olympics happened (I could write a whole separate post on why it seemed like everything was against them this time around too and why their Gold was so wonderful and meaningful) & everyone fell in love with them but they denied, denied, denied when it came to questions about their relationship. Fandom rumor seems to veer towards them actually getting together at the beginning of summer 2018, then something happened and they broke up. Don’t ask me what the receipts are for that one, I genuinely don’t know how people came to that conclusion? Some think that since she was doing a Vogue photoshoot while they were in Japan and he came to the shoot that was evidence that they were finally making a real go at it? IDK IDK.

Then they went on tour together and signs pointed to the fact that they had a whole tour bus to themselves?

In any case, last December shipper dreams were dashed, crushed, demolished! once Scott showed up to Canada’s Walk of Fame event with his new girlfriend, Jackie. Jackie was Scott’s partner for about a year before he was partnered up with Tessa. There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Anyways, after allllll of that I bring us to the present day where Scott is dating his skating partner (yay!) but not that one (...oh.) and Tessa is single and ready to mingle.

They have another tour coming up this year so...we’ll see where this goes I guess!

EDIT: OMG HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT THE BABY BLOG

So in 2010(?) someone made a conspiracy blog that claims that Virtue/Moir are together and they are actually parents of a bunch of toddlers and that they are bad people b/c they leave their babies to go on tour all the time??

If you wanna read the crazy you can do so [here].

#ummm i hope this is kind of coherent #Scott is usually the one saying all of these sweet things b/c Tessa is famously tightlipped/PR trained to hell lol #i'm probably missing a bunch of stuff #you get so turned around b/c a lot of their old stuff isn't up on YT anymore :(

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purplesurveys · 5 years

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459

Ok I’m sorry but these name surveys have turned out to be loadsa fun for me so let me just take another one lmaooooo.

I honestly find it therapeutic since it allows me to reflect and look back on all of the people I’ve crossed paths with before, whether for better or for worse :) Sorry if I’ll repeat names/explanations, I’ll do my best to remember more stuff about them!

aaron: Already mentioned this in the last survey, but he’s a part of my high school friend group. He was one of my first guy friends ever and he was very nice to me from the very beginning; always made sure I felt like I belonged in a crowd. Also studies in UP and I think he is taking up sports science because he wants to go on to med school. abby/abbey: This is my mom’s name. She goes by the first spelling. I know an Abby from high school; she studies in La Salle now. adam: I don’t know him personally but there used to be a dude from WhatCulture Wrestling (a popular YouTube channel) named Adam – he was my favorite to watch until he got caught in a major fuck-up and was booted from the group. adel adrienne ajee

ajla alan: I have an uncle named Allan. He was part of my dad’s friend group in college; they met each other in their org. He was in every birthday party when I was a kid, but I don’t see him anymore now because his family already migrated somewhere else. alex: Broad comm student who plays the guitar and sings well; I haven’t talked to her. I also knew an Alex from 6th grade and she was just...not a very bright student. She had to move because I don’t think her grades reached the standard in my school, and now I think she lives in California. If not there, then somewhere else in the States. Alex is a fairly common name here, though, and I know I’ve missed out on a bunch of other Alexes.

alexa: Again, another girl from high school. Was a cool girl and a party girl from the very start. Like I said in my past survey, she lives in Australia now. alexis alexzandria alicia: My friend Alliyah’s boss, who she has a huge crush on, is named Alicia but she goes by Alice. alisa allie/ally: Gossiping fake loser from our rival journ org who does nothing but spread black propaganda about our org to keep people from joining ours – when she talks to us, though, she’s super nice. I’m so fucking happy she’s graduating because she has such a toxic personality :( allison: Former prof in Comm 100. Wasn’t very good but I had a crush on her from the very first lecture. She had a serious car accident in the middle of the sem and had to wear like a nose brace thing for the rest of the sem. alycea/alycia alyssa: I rode the school bus with a girl named Alyssa but I was much closer to her older sister Alex. There’s also an Alyssa from broad comm and I was classmates with her in my political science, history, and broad comm classes for this semester. She’s the niiiiiiiicest girl and would always help me out if I have missing notes or whatever. amanda: Girl from my org who’s taking up engineering. I was her VP last semester, but she had personal problems and so she wasn’t able to work much under me. Whenever she did, though, she was always reliable. Quiet girl, a little socially awkward. amari amber andrew: I first met him at a rally/protest I attended in 2017. Hit it off well right from the start because I saw that he was wearing a wrestling shirt, so we bonded over WWE that day. He plays the guitar and has released his own EP, is a junior DJ at one of the hip radio stations in Manila, and has done his fair share of hosting gigs. He used to take up engineering but shifted to journalism as he likes it better. Is very adventurous and amiable but tends to get too friendly; some might find it tiring but I honestly think it’s just his personality. He was my groupmate in communication research and I thought he was decent. angela: My best friend’s name is Angela. We first met each other in Grade 1 when we were 7, and we became friends after I stabbed her palm with a newly-sharpened pencil. She still has the pencil mark today. anna: Anna is a popular secondary name in the Philippines, but no one actually uses it as their main name. anne: Same with Anne. annie: My grandma’s best friend who used to come over the house every Sunday. Like I said in the past survey, I’m honestly not sure if she’s still alive lol. She was already pretty old when I was still very young. anthony aasad ashley: I *think* I have a distant cousin named Ashley that I first met at a family reunion last year. But let’s be real, Filipino families are huge and I don’t even know if I remember her name correctly, if she’s even an Ashley. aubri: One of my closest friends in high school was Aubrey. We were very, very close in junior year until she dropped a bomb on me that her family was migrating to California by the time we start senior year. We don’t talk anymore because of the distance and the timezones, but I’ll always be there for her no matter what. Incredibly talented dancer and figure skater. She’s in UCLA right now and as far as I know she is killing it over there. austin autumn: I know an Autumn from my wrestling fandom days. I think she was a redhead, but I don’t remember anything else. barbara becca: A girl from broad comm. She was one of the principal actors in one of the productions we did for BC and she has a really cute laugh. Super elegant; she reminded me a little bit of Audrey Hepburn because she was really graceful. She’s the older sister of my orgmate Rita, who’s from psych. ben beth bethany betty: I have a friend-ish named Bettina. Betty’s kind of like a goofy nickname; she actually doesn’t use it but I think it still counts. I’ve known her since first grade; she peed her skirt in our first day of Grade 1 and I remember her crying a lot. She had a wild TV show phase starting from Grade 5 and she was into Nicole Kidman, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Stana Katic, Kate Walsh, etc etc etc and a bunch of shows like Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Castle, Suits etc etc etc. She was super shy, very awkward in person so I’m glad her love of TV shows and actresses sprung her into life for the most part. She’s in UP Manila and I think too busy to get into fandoms now. bijan bobby bram brandon brandy breanna/brianna: Brianna is my friend Pat’s middle name. I honestly used to be so envious of this name of hers because I thought it sounded really nice, but now I think it kinda sounds like a bratty name hahaha. brendan brian: I have an uncle named Bryan, but we aren’t related. He’s my mom’s cousin’s husband. He’s VERY shy and likes to keep to himself or his kids at family gatherings but turns really cool when he’s had a little to drink. brittany/brittney/brittni brock brooke bruce buck cameron camille: Nice girl from my childhood school bus. There’s an unofficial norm in private schools in that when you’re older, you get to be mean to the younger kids. Not her. She was always nice and include us second graders in her antics in the bus, even though she was several years older. I was bummed when I found out they moved to the States. candy carina: I used to ride the school bus with a Carina but she was much younger. I was already in high school when she was in kindergarten. She’s the younger sister of Carissa, who I always found to be pretty weird. Anyway, these girls were clearly rich and pampered; they had a nanny ride with us in the bus. carly: I had an Internet friend named Carley; she was my first online best friend. We met here on Tumblr in like 2012 and got close because we were both huge fans of Stephanie McMahon at the time haha. We would video-call EVERY afternoon when I would come home from school while she would get ready for school (she’s from Pennsylvania). Eventually she’d disappear off the face of the earth and stopped talking to me but resurfaced a few months later. She’d continue to do this like 10 other times until I got tired of getting my hopes up of having her back. She’s tried reconnecting with me again on DMs but I just ignored it cos I knew there was a good chance she’d just cut off our communication again. We’re still Facebook friends and she’d pop up on my news feed from time to time, but that’s it. carol: I have a great-aunt named Carol. But my grandma has so many sisters that I honestly do not remember which one she is. carrie cassandra: I had a batchmate named Kassandra, who went by Kasey. Really bright, sweet, intelligent girl. She moved to Singapore in 7th grade. She was very, very simple and very kind to everyone and you wouldn’t be able to tell that she’s crazy rich. Her dad’s a top exec for a famous food and drink company and she lives in the same village I do–their house is guarded 24/7. cassidy chantel charlotta chelsie: Chelsea’s part of our high school friend group and is also crazy rich. We always hung out at her place because her house is huge. She’s very maarte, which I cannot really translate to English...the closest term is probably high maintenance hahaha; but she’s very sweet and generous and kind too. cheryl chris: One of Gabie’s best friend is a Kris. Other than liking outdoorsy stuff like going to the beach and hiking which is all I know about her, I think she’s also half-American. christopher: I have an uncle with this name but like I said his nickname is Perry. He works abroad like my dad (his brother-in-law) and my dad’s sister (his sister-in-law). cienna clare: Guidance counselor for several grade school levels. Understandably, she is very maternal. I once had a nasty fight with another girl and we had to be sent to her office. clarissa: Went to school with a Clarisa. We first met in Grade 4 because she rode my school bus, and instantly clicked. She was very nice, very sweet; she was simple to the point that, like Kasey, you’d have no clue how rich she was. She lives in a huge mansion now but she lived in a huge house before that as well, it’s crazy. Really, really sweet and she would give the best hugs. I played table tennis a lot with her in high school too. She studies in Miriam now but I’m not so sure about her course. claudia: Already said a lot about her in the last survey. Popular girl her whole life. She still goes to a bunch of parties but she is so much nicer now than she was when we were younger. cody cole collin corey corinne: One of my former teachers named her daughter Corinne. I think she’s 8 this year. courtney crissy: Chrissy was one of my very best friends in preschool and grade school. She looked Chinese even though she had a Filipino-sounding surname, and I was never sure if she had Chinese blood or not. She was boyish so she was very rowdy, liked to play rough, and punched other girls if she got pissed; but other than that she was very quiet and shy. She was constantly on the basketball team too. Eventually her family moved to Canada. crystal dallas dan danielle danika: An orgmate that worked under my committee two semesters ago. She’s from business ad and was juggling another org so she wasn’t very active at all to begin with. Her performance just plummeted every month and she ended up ghosting my org last semester–never replied to anyone when we tried to check up on her. I was very mad at her until she restarted contact with us recently and explained how tumultuous stuff suddenly got in her personal life and mental health that she had to take care of herself for a while, which we all understood immediately. She’s coming back to the org this year and we’re more than ready to welcome her. She’s very charming, goofy, and kind. She has a very life-of-the-party personality haha. danny: I have a friend-ish named Dani that I met through Angela. We all sat at the same table during the senior ball at Ateneo in 2016 so we got to talk then. She played volleyball in high school and she studies in San Beda now. She wants to take up law school so I think her course is in political science. darious david: Pat’s boyfriend from Serbia and Patrice’s boyfriend from economics HAHAHAHA. Also a sucky groupmate from my comm res class who did absolutely nothing to contribute in the final paper that Hannah and I worked our asses so hard for. dean deanglo derrick destiny devin dillon donna dwayne [Random survey-taker note: these are all very Western names...] emie emily eric: My godfather is an Eric. Like my Tito Allan, he also met my dad through their college org. He’s an exec in a bank now and is suuuuuuper rich. Has a daughter named Arya which he could’ve named after the GoT character but am not really sure about that. everette felicia gabby: Wildly popular name. 1) My girlfriend’s name is Gabie; 2) there was another Gaby in my high school batch. 3) I have a friend from the Tumblr wrestling fandom named Gabbie who was really good in Photoshop – we study in the same school but have never met each other. 4) I have a high school batchmate whose little sister is a Gaby, annnnnddd I also just remembered that 5) there was another Gabbi in the wrestling fandom who also made good edits at the time. gerald gina guliana gloria: Do last names count? Hahaha. Gloria is the surname of my instructor in my class in international relations just this past sem. He’s a new faculty member but is craaaazy good at teaching; clearly knows what he’s talking about. He was passionate about his subject and I always admired that about him. I was really sad when class had to end. grace: I have a great-aunt named Grace; he’s my late grandpa’s sister. She’s really...quite fabulous; she has connections with super prestigious people and has a fancy wardrobe. She’s the only Filipino grandmother I know who goes by ‘Nana’ to her grandkids, which I note because Nana is like a super Western thing afaik. She has drama queen tendencies though and can be sensitive to a lot of things lmao. gracie hannah: One of the close friends I’ve made in college so far! Our first meeting was when she and Macy moved from UP Los Banos to the Diliman campus (where I study) and the three of us enrolled in our classes together. I was closer to Macy first, but eventually me and Hannah got a stronger friendship. Best groupmate, workmate, and David Archuleta fan I know. Sings great and plays the piano great. An absolute angel. hasan hawa hayley: I only know a dog named Hailey lol. heather: Someone from my high school batch is a Heather! We were never in the same cliques but she is one of the friendliest people I know. She knows how to talk to anyone which I appreciated. We bonded over One Direction in high school and she also confided in me a few times about her relationship and how her parents forbade her from seeing her boyfriend because he was trans. She also studies in my school now, taking up business economics. We barely see each other but say hi whenever we do. holly hunter ibro isaac isaiah jack jackie: One of my aunts has a relative named Jackie and I literally only found this out earlier when we met up and caught up with each other. jacob jacquelin jaden: A kid of my mom’s best friend is a Jaden. He was named after Jaden Smith because he was born during the time the Karate Kid remake made big waves. jake: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I had a garbage instructor with this name. This dude was in charge of my weekly crying binges and panic attacks because I was never sure if I was gonna pass his class. He seemed to enjoy giving all of us failing marks too which made me hate his piece of shit ass more. He’s supposed to be really good at what he does but I guess knowledge just does not always translate well in the classroom. Ended up passing his class, but now I’m cursing his ass forever. james: I have a younger cousin named James. I’ve only met him twice; once when he was a newborn, and then when he celebrated Christmas 2018 with us. His family’s lived in New Zealand and Vietnam since 2008, which is why we never get to see him, and why he does not remember me at all. janai janveia jared jason jay: My uncle is a Jay; he’s my mom’s brother. I disowned him as my uncle many years ago. He’s a terrible drunk, a disgusting smoker, and an annoying freeloader. I tried giving him a chance before, but after I found out that he drunkenly punched a cat once, I ignored him forever. Sometimes my mom and grandmother would ask me to acknowledge him at family gatherings, so I’d have to begrudingly do so; but other than that he’s out of my life. jazmine: There was a Jasmin from my old school. She’d always been very artistic and she was into K-Pop very early on. She’s taking up linguistics in my school now. jeana jeanette jen: Girl from the now-ancient Tumblr wrestling fandom. She’s probably the biggest and most passionate wrestling fan I know as she would follow both the mainstream and indie promotions the last time I checked up on her. She was kinda vain and kept on taking selfies while captioning each one as ‘ugly.’ I remember that she has a dog she really loves, and that she lives in Boston. jeralyn jerry jesse jessica: Meh, annoying girl from high school. I’m sure she’s nice(?) but her personality just didn’t click with me. She was too vibrant and too friendly that it almost seemed fake; but what do I know, I never really made the effort to know her better other than bonding over 1D here and there. jim jocelyn jodi: I know a Jodee from my old school. Spoke straight English, is intelligent, but is a huge goofball and very mischievous/rebellious. She was a smartass and liked testing the teachers’ patience whenever she can, but she always did it in a very funny way I think. She was often called to the guidance counselor’s office for having relationships with other students (I went to a Catholic all-girls’ private school, so this was obviously not allowed) but she always stood her ground about it and was never afraid to fight back. She had a phase of unhooking our bras in like 5th grade. joey: My blockmate has a younger sister named Joey. I think she is also studying in UP. john: The cousin I’m closest to is named John, but it’s not his preferred name. jonathan jordan josh: I know two Joshes, but only because they are boyfriends of a couple of acquaintances. jossie julia julie junior justin: I went to school with a girl who initially went by Justinn, but like she all wanted to start calling her by her other name, Ria, as we grew older. I also briefly rode the school bus with a girl named Justine, but we didn’t talk much. kailyn kaitlyn kaleb: Chelsea’s brother is named Caleb. kali karrie karli kasey: Oh, I guess Kasey (under Cassandra) falls under this too lmao. kasahwn katarina: Not exact, but Katrina’s a fairly popular name where I live. My cousin’s boyfriend is named Katrina, my aunt is a Katrina (but she goes by Bianca), and I also went to school with a Katrina even though her nickname is Cheenie. kate: Already talked about this in the last name survey. I met Kate through my org; she’s a huge joker/goofball, is naturally very friendly, and has an awesome wardrobe. When she’s bored and we both aren’t doing anything, she puts makeup on me. Works very well but is also a huge partier HAHAHAHA. katie: This is my nickname for Kate, if that counts. kayla: There’s a Kayla in my college, but her course is in broad(cast) comm(unication). I remember her very well because she is the first person I EVER talked to when we had our freshman orientation in UP. We didn’t become close after that. She’s pretty, has nice clothes and hair, is part of the popular circle, and she’s part of streetdance which is like one of the cooler orgs on campus. kelli kent: I have a younger cousin who’s a Kent. We used to be close when we were both kids, but now we’re shy towards each other. He was obsessed with dinosaurs when he was younger, like 5 or 6. kerna kevin kiana: I have an orgmate named Kiana! SOOOOO pretty and has like the clearest skin. Very simple and down-to-earth. Is nice but can kick your ass because she has a black belt in taekwondo. She’s smart as hell and I’m pretty sure she’s graduating as magna cum laude, besides the fact that she’s going to UP Law right after. kiley kim: I also have an orgmate named Kim :) He’s the sweetest guy ever, and is just so easy to talk to. He has a really cute relationship with one of the org’s alumni. I didn’t get to bond with him much but am sad all the same that he’s graduating this year :( kimberly: Went to my old school with a Kimberly but she went by Kim. Was one of the rougher, lesser-behaved kids. She was a demon in grade school. Not quite sure how she’s doing now. She’s my friend on Facebook but can’t really care less about her life updates. kirsten kristy kyle: Kyelle is a kinda good friend of mine. He’s from the same circle, but we aren’t close in particular. He’s very nice though, very silly and likes to goof around. laila lain: I used to have an orgmate named Laine. She was our VP for External Affairs two years ago. She’s now in law school. leah: Cheenie’s mom is a Lea. She’s probably the best mom friend my mom made from my school hahaha; she’s known me since I was 4. lexi: I have a high school batchmate named Alexa but I think she goes by Lexi, judging from her Twitter name. Is naturally quiet but gets very friendly when you get her to open up. Easy to talk to. liam: Liam is my youngest cousin, I think. He was born in 2014 or 2015. I’ve never seen him, because he and his family lives in New York. I’ve only ever met his big sister. :( lilly: This girl I was classmates with for a journ elective. I found her to be verrrrry pretty and she had the biggest, most piercing eyes; until I found out that she was one of those die-hard Catholics who are vehemently pro-life. She once defended a fraternity whose members were confirmed to be misogynist, sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic pieces of shit in a leaked groupchat simply because she believes in ‘forgiveness.’ She caused another ruckus two weeks ago when she made known her pro-life views well known. I wanna unfriend her ass so bad but she just keeps making all the wrong opinions that I just wanna stay and watch her get schooled by my less-than-thrilled college mates hahaha. lina liz: If I remember correctly, there was an Elizabeth from my wrestling fandom who went by Liz. She lives somewhere in the UK, had reddish hair, and was in love with John Cena lmao. She would sometimes make edits too. loren: Other than the Lauren I mentioned in the previous survey, I also had a friend named Lauren from the Tumblr wrestling community too. She was one of the first friends I made. She was two years older than me, fancied Andy Samberg earlier than anyone else, had a cool room, was obsessed with cats, and loved tie-dye stuff. lydia lyndsey lynnette macaila mack: JM’s dad goes by Mackey, if that counts hahahaha. He’s a lawyer and a college professor. mckenzi macey: I went to high school with a Macy and now she’s in college with me too. She used to study in UPLB but moved to Diliman after a year, since she always planned to take up journalism (she didn’t pass the cutoff initially, so she had to stay in LB for a year before she moved). I was very close with her throughout high school, but idk, she’s just never been in a good place mentally so our friendship is very up-down-up-down. I tried to reconnect when we were reunited in college, but she’s found her crowd now so I’m happy for her nonetheless.

There’s also a Macy in my org who worked under my committee for a year before she moved to finance. Quiet girl but was always nice to everyone. She’s also graduating this semester :( maddie madison margo: Went to elementary school with a Margo but she preferred to spell it as Margauxe lmao. We became close for a while because we rode the school bus together and she would lend me the other half of her earbuds so we can listen to Ashley Tisdale’s Headstong and Vanessa Hudgens’ V every day (this was when High School Musical was peak popular). She sort of had a tumultuous family life here until she moved to Hawaii a few years ago. I think she may have moved to California now too. maria: Again, this is like the base name for like half of all Filipina girls. It’s so common that it’s just simply shortened to ‘Ma.’ because everyone knows what it stands for. marina marisa: Kayla’s middle name is Marissa. marquis mary: Macy’s first name is Mary. mathew: I know a bunch of Matthews from both high school and college but they all go by Matt. The one I remember the most is Matthew from another high school friend group who was close with my group. Our group was invited to their Christmas party, and they had a gimmick that each member of their group was gonna be paired with someone from ours, and it was gonna be a costume party. I was paired up with Matthew (but they called him Cho), but I never went to the party so I never got to meet him. I’m sure he’s nice, though. matt: See Mathew. maura mechelle: I have an orgmate named Michelle. She’s clumsy, kinda awkward, but she does it in a very cute way and we all love her because she’s so funny haha. She passed the toughest med school program in the COUNTRY but chose journ in the end. Is the most Chinese Chinese-Filipino girl I know. megan: I know someone whose middle name is Megan but she goes by a different name. melissa: Hahahahaha. I knew a Melissa all right. Freeloader. meredith mersadies micah: I was classmates and friends with a Micah in grade school. My parents and hers were close, so we became close too. She was very smart but I remember her to be deathly afraid of walking on beams when we had to do it in PE. She moved schools in the fifth grade, and she studies in UST now. michael: His full name is Michael, but Mike is a guy I almost went out with in high school. Wasn’t really attracted to him, but he’s like super smart so it was a huge plus point for me lol. I also have an orgmate named Michael but we all call him Elis. He’s unreliable. miranda: If surnames count, Gabie’s best friend’s last name is this haha. molly monica: Some girl who went to my old school but transferred schools early on, like in 2nd or 3rd grade. She was Gabie’s childhood friend though so I still hear from her from time to time. She’s in UP now too, but I don’t know what course she’s taking. morgan nashid natasha: I went to high school with a girl named Natasha, but she goes by Tashie. Huge girl and a beast at softball. Can be a big softie but she has weird mood swings too (and when she’s mad, she’s quite violent) so I just tried not to piss her off while we were still in school together lol. nate: Yeah he’s in the same college as me but I know zilch about him other than he’s supposed to be really good in making films. nathan neema nichole: Annoying younger busmate who graduated high school this year. nick: Nick is the codename I gave to one of my first crushes. Obviously not his legit name so I don’t think this counts. nicholas olivia paige preasia preme prisilla: When I was still applying for AIESEC, Priscilla was assigned as one of my groupmates. I was originally iffy because she didn’t get online to work until like 11 PM, but when I did see her start working, she was a GODDAMN BEAST. Amazing. Did everything I assigned to her. When I met her in person the next day, she spoke very well and was very put-together. My respect for her soared even more after that. I dropped my application soon after for unrelated reasons but it was a pleasure working with her. Last I heard, she’s a councilor-elect in her local college’s student council. rachel: My math teacher in Grade 1 was a Rachel. I don’t remember her at all, except for the fact that when she found our class noisy one day, she completely stopped talking and mimed everything for the rest of the 45-minute period. raheim raven: Creepy, weird dude from my org who’s always looking for a dick to suck. I’m not even trying to insult him, he’s just perpetually thirsty and makes sure the whole world knows it for some reason. ray renee: Sweet, intelligent, hilarious girl from my high school. She’s very makwela, which in English means zany/funny. Her dad is a national basketball coach so it’s no surprise she followed in his footsteps. richard riley rita: Sweet, sweet girl from my org. We all just kinda naturally flock to protect her from bad influences or creepy people because she just has such a sweet soul. She’s my successor VP in my committee. robby: I have an Uncle Rob, but he doesn’t go by Robby. He’s the husband of my aunt (my mom’s cousin). He’s from New Zealand and has a Masters or a PhD in film theory, I don’t actually remember which. ryan: I used to see him a lot at a relative’s house until I was like 8. I’ve never seen him since and don’t actually know how he’s related to us or me lmfao. sabrina samantha: I have a younger cousin named Samantha. Sam was born and raised in New York but visited the Philippines last year and I was primarily in charge of taking care of her. She’s just the cutest darling I’ve seen and has the most perfect accent ahuhuhuhuhuhu. She likes My Little Pony. sara sarica sean: Someone from a lower batch in high school has this name. I never knew her but we follow each other on Twitter loooooool. secilia seliena: My older cousin’s first name is Selina but she goes by her second name, Bianca or Bia for short. We were inseperable as kids but we grew shyer as we grew older :( shannon shauna: Gabie’s orgmate. That’s all I know. She liked my tweets in the past but that’s the most contact we’ve made. shayna shelby sherry seirra skylar spencer steven stevey susan: I have an Aunt Susan. She took care of me my whole childhood; fed me, gave me baths, all that stuff when my mom was too busy with work. She got run over by a hit-and-run motorcycle when I was 9 and she was never the same after. She was crankier and had violent outbursts. tamara: I went to school with a Tamara; her nickname was Tammy. She was a gentle giant; like she was a naturally big girl but was very soft-spoken and SUPER shy. We got close for a while in 4th grade but her paths differed not long after. tashryha taylor tayshaun terrell tiffany: I had a batchmate named Tiffany. She was kinda mean in grade school but got nicer as we got older. I never really got the chance to know her well. tori trevor trisha: Another high school batchmate. All I remember was that she would cheat on tests by changing her wrong answers when the teachers would give our results back so they could correct it for her. Also a big Justin Bieber fan lol. trista tylik vanessa: There was a Vanessa in an older HS batch but she went by Via; she just graduated college yesterday but that’s all I know. There’s also a Vanessa in my sister’s HS batch; she’s half-German and that’s also all I know. victoria: Some girl I had a class with was named Victoria but it’s her middle name; we all called her Kristine. wally will wyatt zach: Another guy from the wrestling group I was in. He was one of the older dudes so I was more scared of him than the rest. zachary: Same answer as Zach. I think this was his whole name. zoey

#survey #surveys #ok this'll probably be the last one because THESE ARE LONG

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distinctivelibrarians · 7 years

Text

Not a Blight, But a Remedy

(continuation of this and this, crossposted to ao3 here)

It’s been months since he got out of the hospital. Eve won’t let him take missions alone. Jacob has a nervous, tense air about him that is setting Ezekiel’s teeth on edge, and he really, really, just wants things to go back to the way they were. He’s a Librarian. He was doing his job. Why can’t they get that?

(And how long can they keep this up before something snaps?)

(warnings: mentioned previous violence)

Contrary to popular belief, Ezekiel Jones did not have a death wish. Honestly, he’d faced death enough without actively trying to find more of it. He was good. Set for the immediate future.

Problem was, no one really seemed to… believe him. They hadn’t said as much, of course - where would they be if anyone in the Library actually learned to communicate outside of life-and-death experiences.

Eve insisted on coming along with his individual Clippings Book missions - and he’d wanted to argue that, honestly, the first time she’d done so after he’d gotten his cast off. But he’d had a vague flash of memory while he was still in the hospital, of Eve, standing over a body, muffled sounds to his right having possibly been Jacob still yelling, and he’d been unable to muster up any will to argue her down.

Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong. It had still taken several successful missions for Eve to back down. And then Jacob stepped up - which was odd, because he’d been in a weird mood since they’d both left the hospital. He had even less to say about anything than Eve - which was, you know, impressive - and he had an energy about him that made Ezekiel tense just from looking at him.

The cowboy usually had two modes - focused and quiet (and possibly angry), and energetic excitement. Both were fun to poke at and rile up, but this… this was nervous and tense and filled with heavy looks Ezekiel didn’t really want to think about, let alone look at.

At first, he’d kind of just chalked it up to the… conversation in the hospital. The conversation that still rattled around his head and couldn’t settle just right.

You're brave, the goddamn bravest of us all

You can take that hit for us. You don't gotta keep proving it. Give someone else a chance to take it!

It didn’t make sense then, and it didn’t make sense now. But turning it over anymore was starting to give him vertigo, so it was shoved aside. Only to be dragged back every time Stone shot him heavy looks when he thought he wasn’t looking. (He was always looking. Didn’t they realize that by now?)

He just. He wanted things to go back to the way they were. Stone grumping at him, Eve being exasperated (but fond. Took him awhile to figure that part out, but now, he’d never let that go), Cassandra just…

Actually. Cassandra was the only one who didn’t treat him any different, so whatever she was doing, she could keep doing. (And he might be just a little bit stupidly grateful for it.)

So, yeah. Conversation with Stone. He thought it’d go away after awhile, that everything would settle back down, the longer they went on missions without incident. But things… hadn’t. That energy around Stone hadn’t gone away, hadn’t dissipated. In fact, if Ezekiel was looking closely (he wasn’t), he’d say it had actually gotten worse. And Stone tagging along in Baird’s place was not helping.

He was a Librarian dammit. He knew how to do his job. He’d proven that! Sure, he’d landed in the hospital, but his point still stood - they had dangerous jobs. They’d had that drilled into them from day one. Why was him embracing that, facing that head on to get the job done such a bad thing? Eve did it all the damn time. Flynn too.

(He didn’t need to look too closely at that to see the cracks in it. To see that fear that came along with it. It wasn’t quite a fear of… losing anyone. Of watching anyone get hurt. Though he had that in spades, and he was self-aware enough to know that.

But.

He couldn’t be alone. Not again. He had too many memories, brief snatches of horror and shadows of aches in his throat from screaming, of the realization that this time, this time might be the time they don’t come back.

Yeah. He could see the cracks if he looked. Which is why he just… didn’t look. Simple.)

So. When Cassandra asked for his help on one of her missions, without Jacob or Eve in the room (Jenkins was there though, and he’d just rolled his eyes and fired up the Back Door for them), he’d jumped at the chance, and been out the Back Door before he could actually ask her where they were going.

He ended up stumbling half-way into a cobbled road - which was a very generous label by the way - on an empty street, Cassandra stepping out after him without the stumbling.

“...Any idea where we are?” He didn’t have to look back at her to know she was trying not to laugh at him, but he just grinned and glanced over his shoulder with a shrug. That actually did get a laugh before she shook her head and headed off down the street.

It only took a little bit of pestering, and a little bit more laughing, before he got a clue what they were actually doing here. Here being a small town in France whose name he couldn’t really be bothered to remember outside of the fact that it sounded old, and the town itself stood up to that. They weren’t actually here for an artifact - not yet. What they were here for was the old library of one of the town’s oldest families. Which they didn’t like letting people see - because they definitely weren’t dealing with anything magically shady guys. Totally.

So. Lookout Cassandra - possible distraction as necessary, while Ezekiel broke into the study and found the two handwritten books she needed. Easy. And everything she’d been able to find about the family suggested that they themselves weren’t dangerous, so even if they did show up, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Why they couldn’t use the Back Door to break in - less walking, less chance of being caught, etc., etc. - Cassandra explained away as Jenkins having started going on about magical seals and the like. Which meant they were on the right track so, hey, not all bad. Just inconvenient.

Finding the old chateau was easy. Breaking in, even more so. Ezekiel didn’t think much of it when Cassandra dropped down on the steps by the door to play lookout - this was her mission, she seemed to have a handle on things, so her call. The library was also ridiculously easy to get into - magical glowing symbols that flashed blue for all of a moment notwithstanding. When nothing exploded, screeched, caught fire or otherwise reacted negatively to said blue symbols, he slipped in, finding… well, an old, dusty library. That very clearly hadn’t been used in years.

He paused just inside the door, glancing around, an uneasy feeling curling in his gut. Twisting around, he locked the door behind him, only to twist the knob sharply. Just as he thought it would, it popped without a problem, the door swinging wide open again.

That uneasy feeling bloomed into that same stomach-dropping unfurl that he’d felt when Jacob had stormed out of his hospital room.

So, since the feeling was the same, he did the same thing he did there. Don’t think about it. Cassandra had a reason for bringing him out here, and he’d go through with it. Get back to the Library and commiserate with Jenkins or something for a little while.

Maybe take a break. Disappear for a few days.

(Cassandra wasn’t treating him any differently. And if she started now, he didn’t think… no, he couldn’t handle it. That laugh of hers back on the road had been the best thing he’d heard in weeks and he couldn’t lose that to pensive silences and heavy looks and worried frowns.)

“Ezekiel? Did you find them?” Cassandra called back, startling him away from the door.

Right. Mission. Back to the Library. Bug Jenkins. Disappear for a little while. He could do this.

He found the books. Top shelf, back right corner. Under layers and layers of dust that had him wanting to sneeze so badly. (He didn’t, because this wasn’t his first time swiping from some forgotten room, but lord he wanted to.)

Slipping back out of the library, he tugged the door closed, rolling his eyes slightly when it wouldn’t stay that way due to the popped lock. Great. Well. If he was right, there wouldn’t be anyone around to notice anyway.

“Found ‘em. Let’s get going.” He dumped the books in her lap on his way past, already pulling out his phone to get Jenkins to call up the Back Door for them.

Mission done. Back to the Library.

When he didn’t hear footsteps behind him after a couple of feet though, he paused, glancing back, phone halfway to his ear. Cassandra was watching him from her spot on the steps, looking quite determined to stay put.

“...Uh.”

She rolled her eyes, patting the spot beside her. “Relax. Just thought you could get out of the Library for a little while.” And I wanted to talk. She didn’t say it, but Ezekiel knew that tone way too well - and had become far more acquainted with it than he liked these last couple of months.

He wanted to run, honestly. To bolt before she pulled that same look Jacob kept shooting him. But, she must have been taking lessons from Baird or something, because her next Look had him shuffling back over to drop down beside her heavily.

She didn’t say anything immediately, just looking out at what Ezekiel supposes was once a garden, but, now that he was actually looking, had clearly been overrun years ago. It was still pretty, in its own way though. And he was determined not to be the first to speak, so he let her look in peace.

“...They’re just worried, you know.” She said, after several long, quiet moments.

And of course he knew. Kind of hard to miss. So he shrugged, fidgeting with a loose stone that had fallen from the stairs.

“To them, to us, it looks so different than it is, right?” He paused, blinking down at the rock in his hands. “You just don’t want anyone hurt, not when you can do something about it. Not when you know it won’t break you - not really. Because you know that limit better than anyone else. And if it does, well, you don’t have to be around for the fallout. You do your best, figure out where you fit, figure out how to make the most of it, how to make it as good as you can, for as long as you can, and you want to keep everything around you just like that until it’s time for you to disappear, and hope they’ll be able to keep going after that.”

He didn’t say anything, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes, wondering, idly, who they were talking about now. Him, or her.

Or both.

“And then they, we, get mad at you, because, to them, there is no disappearing. You’re supposed to be here too.”

Something in his stomach unknotted when she smiled at him then, soft and watery, but bright and as full of life as she was, and he slumped against her shoulder with a shuddery breath.

He couldn’t… couldn’t tell her she was right. Not out loud, not right now. Possibly not ever.

But she seemed to get it, resting her temple on his head. “I’ll talk with them.” she whispered, half a promise, half an absolution he didn’t know he needed.

Ezekiel felt… wrung out. But in a good way. Bone deep and spread out, relaxed for the first time in months, so if he stayed quiet with her, content to sit there for as long as they both needed, well, who could blame him.

So, he felt a little justified in cursing up a blue streak that had Cassandra laughing even as she started to run, hauling him after her, when the first arrow embedded in the gravel by their feet, crackling with that same blue energy as the sigils carved in the library door. It had ruined a perfectly good moment okay.

Either way, they didn’t stick around long enough to figure out what was shooting at them - outside of determining that it was coming from the garden so they should go the opposite direction. Jenkins received a rather breathless call - sounding mildly concerned at the sound of arrows whizzing past - and by the time they made it down the road, the Back Door was waiting for them in what was probably at one point a shed. Either way, they tumbled into the Library, one last arrow going over their heads to embed in the wall across the room.

Both of them blinked at it, then each other, then started laughing - and, if it was a touch hysterical, a touch confused, well, Jenkins was kind enough not to mention it. Though, that might have been because he was more concerned with grumbling about getting the arrow out of the wall.

When they’d calmed down enough to stand and help Jenkins yank the damn thing from the wall (it really, really didn’t want to go it seemed), they’d taken one last look at each other and shared a smile. A soft, fragile thing that, even as it cracked and they both turned away to go about the rest of their day (research for Cassandra, tea and a bit of ribbing at Jenkins’ expense for Ezekiel. He still liked his plan. He’d just… maybe skip the last step), helped mend something in Ezekiel’s chest.

Things weren’t going to be better immediately. He wasn’t naive enough to believe they would. But, Cassandra was right, and he owed it to her to try to take it to heart. Eve and Jacob’s pensive, weighty concern might still chafe at him, but he had to believe it’d get better. It did for Cassandra. It would for him.

You’re supposed to be here too.

#the Librarians #Ezekiel Jones #Cassandra Cillian #my writing #long post

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cherieofthedragons · 8 years

Text

In Which Blackwall Somehow Manages Not to Kill His Coworkers

A Knight Shop AU fic

So yes, the Knight Shop AU. Which involves so many people that I’m afraid I’m going to forget some. @trulycertain, @aphreal42, @sarcasmfish, @celeritassagittae, Tru’s mum, um... tell me who else and I’ll add them. It’s brilliant and so much fun.

It’s a modern-ish AU, basically Thedas/modern England, in which there exists a shop where one can hire knights. A knight shop. Hence the name. Typically, knights are hired to do odd jobs, attend social events, act as bodyguards, etc. etc. And many of our favorite Dragon Age characters are knights-for-hire.

The first chapter of Blackwall/Mirevas ridiculousness is here. Huge thanks to Tru and Aphreal for use of their characters and contributions to the writing.

“She’s absolutely brilliant, you know.”

Blackwall sighed and set down his magazine, bracing himself for more lovesick rambling about the accomplished young lady Alistair refused to admit he had fallen for. Blackwall should have known he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on transmission schematics when Alistair was on duty with him.

“I’ve never seen anyone who fights like her.” Alistair’s voice was dreamy as he scribbled in the margins of the ledger. Josephine was not going to be happy when she saw he’d doodled in her official paperwork. Again. “She spent all of yesterday teaching me all of the moves from the guy who beat her last time, so that if I learn to fence like him, she can practice against me-as-him and beat him next season. She’ll probably win the whole thing then. I told you she placed third this year, right?”

“Once or twice,” Blackwall said drily. In point of fact, Alistair couldn’t seem to shut up about it. Every time he was in a room with Blackwall, he found something new about his lady to rave about. And the tournament had been nearly a month ago.

At first, Blackwall was genuinely impressed. In his time in competitive fencing, he’d seen a handful of women qualify to compete in men’s tournaments, but he’d never heard of one placing so highly. Alistair’s lady was clearly a skilled fencer, and the boy had every right to be proud of her.

But being proud was one thing. Sharing the depth of his pride with every person he could corner into listening was another. Blackwall had retired from fencing nearly a decade ago, and for good reasons. He simply couldn’t maintain the obsessive level of interest in fencing he’d had when he was younger. And no one could maintain Alistair’s level of obsessive interest in this particular fencer.

Alistair prattled on, oblivious to the ever-increasing exasperation of his one-man audience. “I was able to copy the bloke’s remise pretty easily, once she showed me all the steps he’d used. Don’t ask how she remembered them all, by the way, because I have no idea how she can perfectly copy a set of attacks made against her one time weeks ago. I mentioned she’s amazing, didn’t I?”

“Once or twice,” Blackwall said again. As far as he could tell, it was Alistair’s favorite adjective when it came to his lady.

“The passata sotto took longer to get right.” Alistair winced, and Blackwall smirked into his beard at that typical novice reaction to a move that relied on a controlled crouch. “A lot longer. My legs are going to be sore for a week, at least. But she’s such a patient teacher, and I eventually got it, and then…”

The recitation was cut off by the shrill ring of the shop phone.

“Thank the Maker…” Blackwall moved to answer it, eager to hear any other conversation at this point, even if it was someone calling to complain. Or the persistent woman who kept insisting they stage some sort of joust for her son’s birthday party and refusing to accept it was not possible. Where would they even get and train the horses for that, much less transport them across town?

But Alistair was closer, and he grabbed the phone before Blackwall could get to it. “Knight Shop, how can we help?”

He paused, listening, then glanced at Blackwall. “Sure, let me just take a look at the rota.” Quickly, he flipped open the scheduling book. “Ah, sorry--Mirevas, was it? Blackwall is booked on Friday evening. Would you like someone else--”

Blackwall’s heart jumped into his throat. He sprang up from his seat, waving his hands wildly.

Alistair frowned. “Er--hang on a minute.” He pressed the mute button. “What?”

“I want this job,” Blackwall hissed.

The other knight raised an eyebrow. “But you’re already booked. Mrs. Renfrow.”

Blackwall grimaced. Mrs. Renfrow was a seventy-year-old woman who hired one of the knights to move heavy furniture around her house every week -- and then, unfailingly, decided she wanted it back the way it was and snapped at the knight for changing it. She had a nasty temper and a terrible superiority complex, and every single one of them hated working for her.

“Cover for me,” Blackwall begged.

Alistair let out a bark of laughter. “No way. I did it last week. It’s your turn.”

“Please. I’ll take your next turn.”

“Uh-uh. Friday’s my day off, and I have plans.”

Blackwall was getting desperate. “You can have the fee for both jobs.”

Alistair’s eyebrows went up.

Blackwall gritted his teeth. “Please.”

With an immense sigh, Alistair crossed his arms. “You’ll take my next two turns.”

Blackwall bobbed his head in agreement.

“And cover for me on Monday.”

“Yes, yes.”

“And--”

Blackwall growled in frustration. “Alistair.”

Alistair put up his hands in surrender, clearly aware that he’d pushed his luck to the limits. “All right, all right. I’ll do it. My plans are earlier in the day, anyway. Keep the fee for the second job.”

His plans were --

Blackwall glared at Alistair. He didn’t have plans at that time at all. He’d tricked Blackwall into--

Alistair held out the phone quickly. “Er, you’ll take this, then?”

Furious, Blackwall snatched it from his hand, then took a deep, calming breath. He didn’t want to sound angry when he spoke to Mirevas. When his breathing was even, he jabbed a finger at the mute button. “Hello. Mirevas?”

“Blackwall!” The golden tones of Mirevas’s voice were music to his ears. “Hello!”

“Hello.” He’d said that already. “Er--I understand you wish to request my services on Friday evening, my lady?”

“I do, yes. My artwork is being featured in a gallery show, and the opening is on Friday. I thought maybe -- if you were available -- well, I don’t think anyone else there will have a knight on their arm.”

Ah. So it was the novelty of bringing a knight that she wanted, not Blackwall himself. He pushed down his disappointment. It was a job, nothing more. Beautiful young women did not notice middle-aged men like him.

But--she’d asked for him specifically. She could have asked for Gal; she knew him better, after all. That meant--that had to mean--she wanted to see him. Blackwall.

“I would be honored to be on your arm, my lady.”

“Always a gentleman.” He thought he could hear the smile in her voice, and he closed his eyes and imagined it. “The opening begins at six and goes until ten. It’s at The June Gallery. Should we--do you want to meet there? Maybe fifteen minutes early, before the guests start to arrive?”

“Your wish is my command.”

Mirevas chuckled. “Right. Good. I’ll, ah, print the contract from your website, shall I? And...I’m looking forward to it.”

“As am I, my lady.”

“Goodbye, then.”

“Farewell.”

The line disconnected. Blackwall opened his eyes and gently set the phone back in its cradle.

“Does she fence?”

Blackwall turned to face Alistair. “What?”

Alistair tilted his head. “The lady. Does she fence?”

“No.” Blackwall didn’t even try to hold back his exasperation.

“And she’s worth two weeks of Mrs. Renfrow? Even though she doesn’t fence?” Alistair’s teasing smirk made Blackwall’s jaw clench, and with his usual instinct for recognizing a line right after he’d crossed it, Alistair quickly changed the subject. “So about the passata sotto…”

Blackwall put his head in his hands.

When he saw Mirevas the next day, he was completely caught off-guard. It was Wednesday; he had two days until the art gallery. Two days to spend every waking hour daydreaming about her, or so it seemed. Somehow, he couldn’t manage to think of anything else. Two days. Just a little over 48 hours, now. And then he’d have four whole hours in her presence.

He sat on a stool behind the shop counter and tried to follow the debate about music, but with little luck. Any other time, he would have had plenty to say about the merits of heavy metal as compared to the traditional jazz Gal’s Tevinter client was raving about. But Erren seemed to have the matter well in hand, and Blackwall knew that if Gal or Cassandra decided to join in, he’d likely approve of what they said. So Blackwall’s mind kept floating away, going back to--

Mirevas.

Mirevas was stepping through the door.

For a moment, Blackwall thought he was still imagining her. But no, she was there. In the flesh. Physically standing before him. Her eyes scanned the shop, then focused on him.

Maker’s breath, this was real. He all but lurched off his stool, coming round the counter to greet her.

“Hello, Blackwall.” Mirevas smiled. Maker, he loved the way his name sounded on her lips. The two syllables had never been so beautiful.

“My lady.”

He couldn’t think of what to say next. Her brown eyes blinked as she tilted her head up to look at him, and Blackwall became aware of exactly how huge he was. Andraste’s ass, he had to be a foot taller than her. Suddenly his body seemed to take up entirely too much space.

As Mirevas continued to look up at him, Blackwall realized that he was staring at her silently like an idiot. Quickly, he tried to pull his thoughts together. “I wasn’t expecting to see you today, my lady.”

“Oh.” Mirevas looked down at her hand, and he realized she held a folded-up paper. “I thought I should come in and drop off the contract.”

Somewhere in the background, Blackwall dimly registered that music had started coming out of the break room.

“The contract, yes, of course.” Maker’s balls, he was a bloody git. “Thank you.”

Mirevas bit her lip. “I suppose I should have just emailed it to the shop.”

Lyrics began floating out to him. You catch his eye from across the room, you catch his eye…

“Not at all,” Blackwall said. “I’m--I’m very glad to see you, my lady.”

You think, oh my, he’s got quite the beard, oh my…

Blackwall’s head jerked up.

And now you want to but you can’t look away. His beard is black and bushy with a hint of grey…

Horrified, he turned back to see Erren standing next to the break room door looking entirely too casual.

And now you find yourself walking his way...

“Excuse me a moment--”

Without waiting for an answer, Blackwall lurched in the direction of the music, just in time to hear the song continue with the words, Hey hey, you should consider having sex with a bearded man!

Fucking hell, he was going to murder Erren.

You’ve got these feelings that you can’t understand, sex with a bearded man!

He banged through the door and lunged for the music player.

You think you can’t, but you can! Don’t try to fight, just get freaky with a beard tonight!

Desperately, Blackwall jabbed at the stop button, and the music thankfully cut off.

He slumped over in relief, but it was short-lived. Andraste’s fucking tits, how much of that had Mirevas heard?

He growled. Erren was going to regret the day she was born.

With barely controlled rage, Blackwall emerged from the break room, his eyes settling on Erren where she still stood, leaning against the wall. He took a step towards her.

Erren glanced at a non-existent watch on her wrist. “Look at that, it’s time for my break!” she trilled. With that, she darted for the front door and disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Blackwall took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Later. He’d deal with her later. Right now he had to face Mirevas again.

Dear Maker, what would she think?

“...and I was thinking about what I could do on my other calf. Something to set off the work you’ve already done. I’m not sure what’d work best. Do you have any ideas?”

That was Gal. Blackwall looked over to see him standing next to Mirevas, who was nodding with interest.

“I could put together some sketches using the themes we’ve been discussing. You’re wanting to complete what you have into more of a coherent whole?”

“Exactly. I’d love to see what you’d come up with.”

Blackwall realized what was happening, and he wanted to kiss Gal. Which was not something he’d ever thought to want. But Gal had saved him. He’d distracted Mirevas with tattoo talk to keep her from noticing that horrible song. A weight lifted from Blackwall’s shoulders. All was not lost.

Gal glanced over at Blackwall. “You have business to take care of?”

“Indeed.” Blackwall pulled himself together as best he could and approached Mirevas once more. She stepped towards him, smiling that smile that always did him in.

“This is for you, then,” she said, holding out the paper.

“Thank you, my lady.” He reached to take it from her, and as she put it in his hand, her fingers touched his, sending a jolt of electricity through him. Had she done that on purpose? He hoped she’d done that on purpose.

He didn’t want to take his eyes off her, but if there was anything he’d learned from the last time he’d accepted a job with her, it was that he ought to be prepared. So he unfolded the paper and scanned it quickly, satisfying himself that there was nothing unexpected in this particular contract. A social obligation at an art show. It seemed simple enough. A Friday evening spent with the most magnificent woman he’d ever been lucky enough to lay eyes on. There was nothing he wanted more.

Mirevas tucked a strand of black hair behind a long, pointed ear. “Does everything look all right?”

“Perfect.” Blackwall set the paper down on the counter. “I shall count the seconds.”

Too much, it was too much. He shouldn’t say such things. She’d come seeking professional services, not a date. But Mirevas just ducked her head with a grin. “Such chivalry,” she said. “I look forward to it, too.”

She looked up at him once more, her piercing gaze locking him in place. For a moment, he thought he saw something in those dark eyes. Something...something…

Then she nodded and turned away, crossing to the door. With one last glance in his direction, she stepped outside, and he watched through the window as she walked quickly away.

Blackwall let out a breath and realized how wobbly his knees had become. He leaned his weight against the counter and tried to calm the fluttering of his heart.

“You’re going to her gallery opening, then?” Gal said.

Blackwall nodded.

“A gallery opening?” The Tevinter client -- Blackwall thought he’d heard him called Dorian -- squinted at him in undisguised scrutiny. “Is that...a common sort of job for you?”

Blackwall frowned at the man. “Not exactly.”

“I hadn’t thought so. No offense, but you look the sort one hires to lift heavy objects, that sort of thing.”

He bristled. “I can handle myself at an art gallery.”

“Of course you can,” Dorian said smoothly. “Tell me, what are you intending to wear?”

Blackwall opened his mouth to reply and found himself stuck. What was he going to wear?

The Tevinter nodded smugly. “That’s rather what I thought.”

Blackwall was caught between anger and despair. He would be fine at an art gallery. He would wear--erm, he would wear--

“Fear not.” Dorian stepped forward and patted Blackwall once on the arm. Blackwall’s answering glare caused the man to take a step back, but he continued in a patronizing tone, “I can help.”

“I don’t need help.”

The Tevinter ignored him. “You don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard, but you don’t want to look like a prat, either. Do you have anything in brocade?”

Blackwall glowered at the man.

“No, of course you don’t.” Dorian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You may need to make a shopping outing. A waistcoat, perhaps. Double-breasted. Yes, with an ascot. Very nice.”

Blackwall tried to picture himself in a double-breasted waistcoat and ascot, and immediately shook his head. “No.”

Dorian tilted his head. “Not an ascot? No, I suppose that might be a bit pretentious. Well, for you, anyway. A jauntily-tied scarf may be a better choice.”

In frustration, Blackwall looked towards Gal, who looked back at him blankly and shrugged.

At that moment, Cassandra made a disgusted noise, and all three of them turned to look at her. They’d entirely forgotten she was in the room.

“Wear a blazer,” she said. “And dress slacks. With a button-down shirt in a nice color. That will be enough.”

The Tevinter frowned. “I suppose, if you don’t want to be creative--”

“I don’t,” Blackwall interrupted.

“It’s better that you’re not.” Cassandra folded her arms. “You’re not an artist. You don’t want to make a spectacle of yourself. It may work for some--” she glanced at Dorian “--but it’s not for the uninitiated. No. Blazer, trousers, shirt. Top button undone. That’s all.”

They all blinked at her for a moment.

She huffed. “If there’s one thing you learn as a child in the Pentaghast household, it’s how to dress for social events. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have something to discuss with Josephine.” With that, she stepped past them all, knocked on the office door, and entered, closing the door behind her.

The three men looked at each other. Then Gal turned to Dorian. “We should go,” he said. “If you want me to sort out those shelves today.”

“Yes, yes,” Dorian answered in distraction, and followed Gal to the exit. Just before he left, Dorian looked back over his shoulder. “Cornflower blue,” he told Blackwall. “For the shirt. It will bring out your eyes.”

Then the door closed behind him, and Blackwall was alone.

Cornflower blue. Surreptitiously, Blackwall examined his reflection in the glass window. Hmm.

He’d think about it.

The song: “You Should Consider Having Sex With a Bearded Man”, by the Beards, from the album Having a Beard Is the New Not Having a Beard. It’s not exactly what I’d call an explicit song, but it’s not innocent either, so listen at your own risk.

Continuing on: Chapter 3 - In Which Blackwall Is Not Dalish

#knight shop au #blackwall #mirevas lavellan #dragon age au #trulycertain #aphreal42 #cherie writes things #mentions of sex sort of ?

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pandamothium · 8 years

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“Steel yourself Solas, have no mercy for you will receive none”

Disclaimer: So yeah, this isn’t in anyway a well written fic with perspectives and dialogues etc.. this is just basically a word vomit that I put together just to get the idea across (its full of errors and is poorly edited so yeah commas…commas everywhere). I guess its just like a description of what happened with a few pieces of dialogue and explanation but all in all this is some sloppy writing *shrugs* Also I kind of suck with some DA lore so yeah. At one point I was going to actually write a decent fic for this scene and story line but alas I just couldn’t get it done so here’s whatever this is…

After the disbandment of the Inquisition, many remained to form a smaller sect under protection of Divine Victoria tasked with stopping Fen’Harel at all cost.

Era’len, desperately wanting to redeem Solas is coming to realization that such a notion maybe be impossible. The Inquisition has not relented against Fen’Harel’s forces and there are constant clashes as they chase the Dread Wolf and his agents from ancient temples to forgotten vales trying to be the first to claim the ancient Eluvians. But the Great Betrayer stands at an advantage, he knows where they are for the most part.

It has been nearly year since the Exalted Council concluded and despite losing the Anchor, its effects remain and are slowly killing the former Inquisitor. The anchor had granted her the power to bend and manipulate the Veil yet such power was not intended for mortals. It was a parasite, leeching off of her body in the time it was a part of it. Such effects were unknown to Solas and the Inquisitor but in the months after losing it, they began to surface. She was dying, growing weaker, losing her connection with the Fade more and more as time passed.

Healers from across Thedas were summoned by order of the Divine but to no avail, the anchor had become a part of her and in losing it, her body could not make up what it had lost. It was a sickness and as she grew weaker, Era’len began to fear that she would fail in stopping her past-lover’s grim plans.

Yet there remained one hope, one that Era’len had been avoiding, a name chanted by the whispers. She could feel her, she was a part of her, much like the anchor, like a parasite. Era’len could feel the ancient being clinging to existence tethered* to the world by the Well of Sorrows, Mythal. Like a memory lying just beyond her mind’s reach, Era’len knew she was there. And it would take nothing more than for Era’len to speak her name to draw her forth.

But Era’len waited, patient to see if the evanuris would grow tired of waiting and take claim, but she never did. Mythal remained silent until one day when Era’len steeled her resolve to strike a bargain.

…….

Solas had miscalculated, he was dumbfounded to find the Eluvian of the Brecillian Forest was gone. He paced the empty chamber in anger at the wasted effort and danger he had place both he and his agents in to claim the Eluvian that should have been here.

Of course he had heard of the Dalish warriors whom had fallen to the Eluvian’s blight. He was confident in his abilities to cleanse the mirror, but he could have never known that it had been taken (by our lovely little daisy, Merrill) and in frustration he withdrew his forces.

Yet as they exited the overgrown temple, they discovered that they were surrounded. From all directions Inquisition soldiers poured out from the trees and undergrowth yet they did not attack.

Among the soldiers Solas noted several familiar faces: Cassandra, the Iron bull, the Chargers and Blackwall. Their gazes bore into him. Betrayal and anger reflected on their faces and they stood prepared for what was to come.

Solas braced himself for battle and his agents did the same only to be halted when the enemy forces parted to allow a figure to step out into the clearing between them.

Solas’s breath hitched at the sight before him and the air teemed with a familiar magic that made his legs weak.

Era’len stood in the clearing, sharp gaze boring into his as he stared in horror at what was to unfold.

“Vhenan…” he choked

“No” she interrupts, but her voice is not what he remembered. Not the voice that haunted his dreams. Its twisted and carries another behind it, one he knew well but he wasn’t given time to respond, “Your heart has already withered Solas.” (Here she says it to mean Pride and not really as his name)

……..

This was the final stand, there were no more chances, if she could not deter him here she would end it all. She had come to accept this, she had cut out her heart and bore her fangs. She had to, for everyone she knew and loved were in danger of his intentions.

Her body would not survive much longer, the power she had gained from Mythal came with a price, she knew that she had but one chance and she would not waste it.

“Grant me the power to stop him… help me Mythal… help me save him…help me save this world.”

……..

“Please, vhenan you must understand… this world… is wrong… it was never supposed to be this way. Let me fix my mistake… you don’t understand all that was lost.”

“No, it is you that doesn’t not understand. You are blind Solas (Pride). You are unable to see that you stand to make the same mistake. You would destroy this world, everything … just to make the world right…as you say it should be. You treat us like a nightmare as if we are just a wrong to be corrected. “

“But it is you who are wrong, the People have survived. The People have struggled, suffered and fought for ages, and yet you disregard us as idiot children who fail to know the truth. You see us and warped creatures from elves of Arthalan…. Tell me Solas when you tear down the Veil… how will you face your kind… the Evanuris… how will to stop them from enslaving the People once more?”

“The past is GONE, there is no turning back. There is no way to fix what you have done and still you refuse to believe that this is the reality you have created. Instead of fighting for our future, you want to take it away to reclaim the past and I….will not let that happen… I will not let you destroy us…. I will stop you… even if that mean the death of us both.”

“Both?” he barely managed to speak, taking a step back as Era’len stepped forward, “Yes, this body… is broken… dead… its only purpose now is to stand against you who would end this world. And once my purpose is fulfilled, we will perish and the Evanuris will be no more.”

“Now I say this again… Stop this Solas, abandon your dreams of Arlathan and fight to forge new ones… for the elves of today… for my people. It is too late for me but there is so much good in this world, there is so much you can do for them. Do not repeat your mistakes.”

But it was futile, his eyes burned with anger. “No vhenan, I can save you! I can save our people, I can make everything right! Please, please don’t do this…”

The air in the clearing seemed to grow thin as both his agents and Inquisition soldiers readied themselves for battle. The deep breath before the plunge. All eyes were trained on her figure, waiting for her to signal the attack.

From across the clearing Solas could see the faint glimmer as tears fell from her chin, and his eyes burned as he fought back his own.

“Vhenan… Era’len…pleas..” his breath cut short as she drew her staff, her stance stiffened and he felt his heart shatter as he drew his weapon.

“Steel yourself Solas, have no mercy for you will receive none” and with a snarl she lunged at the Great Betrayer.

….

The clearing erupted into chaos, Fen’Harel’s agents and Inquisition soldiers littered the forest floor as the two armies clashed. Yet the greatest spectacle was the beastly forms of the former Inquisitor and the Dread Wolf.

They slashed and gouged with deadly claws and the sounds of snapping jaws cracked like thunder as they fought. Trees and boulders were crushed underfoot as the giant beasts tore at each other’s throats.

…..

It seemed liked hours.

Hours of bloodshed and death and as the two armies began to dwindle, it seemed that Fen’Harel’s agents were outnumbering and overwhelming the Inquisitor’s soldiers by using the ancient trees and nature magic to their advantage.

When suddenly there was a grueling howl, unlike any beast or man could make, a gargled choking sound that halted with a sharp snap.

It was over.

The great wolf fell limp in Era’len’s jaws and crumpled to the ground with a heavy thud. The clearing echoed with screams of anguish and triumph but they were drowned out by the heart-wrenching wail of the Inquisitor. In a storm of smoke and flame her dragonesque form broke away like an illusion and she was left standing over his body.

She fell to her knees, her expression distant and pained, his blood stinging her tongue. It was done and she remained at his side as the stragglers from his army disappeared in retreat now that their leader had fallen.

But it was not over, a thick aura hung in the clearing, swirling round like the eye of a storm. It was time to uphold her bargain.

Inquisition solders searched desperately through the fog like substance calling for her. She could hear Cassandra and the Chargers yet they sounded distant as she stared blankly at the still form before her.

A familiar voice echoed from behind.

“I have kept my promise…”

Era’len nodded and leaned forward to press her lips softly to his which had already began to grow cold, “As have I.”

Moments later the aura dissipated revealing nothing but blood and ash.

* my headcanon is that the well is what kept Mythal alive, think HP horcrux but not really, her ‘essence” or spirit is bound or “tethered” to the well thus any who drink are bound to her in some way but she cant just commandeer the body/spirit of anyone who drank from the well. she must be welcomed/accepted/summoned by said person

@eveninglottie This is that idea I talked with you about a lllloooooonnngg time ago (like july 2016 lol) I swear I tried writing it but got sidetracked with school, life and creative blocks, but I actually managed to write a LITTLE of it gggaahhhhh even if it is MONTHS late T-T thank you talking it out with me back then ^^

#dragon age #solavellan #solas #character death #Era'len Lavellan #post-tresspasser #shit writing #my writing #ammoonart #plus i never finished the picture or comic for this *shrug intensifies*#tw death mention

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foreverfangirl2011 · 8 years

Text

Louis Imagine Chapter 3

Hey Lovelies!

Ok so here’s chapter 3 of my Louis Imagine! Sorry its really long, but Its i think its worth the read! The next chapter is going to be NSFW again so keep your eyes peeled for that! Hope you enjoy!

Love,

-M

Chapter 3: You Tore Us Apart!

Panic ensues as you rampage through your closet searching for the perfect outfit. You go through at least 6 different outfits before landing on the one. Louis however, was ready in a matter of minutes. So you tortured him by making him help you.

“Baby just pick one already! There all hot!” Louis wines flopping back on the bed.

“Oh shut up Louis! It’s your fault I’m so frantic, you and your perfect body… interrupting my shower… and don’t lie down like that you’ll mess up your hair!”

“So… I have a perfect body eh?”

“Yes and it already wasted enough of my time! Now, I think this is the one.” You say finally stepping out in the perfect ensemble. I champagne coloured short skirt and a black plunging neckline top. You do your hair straight with a braid crown and finish with a Smokey eye makeup look. You finish with a classy black pointy heel.

“Wow… you look… wow….”

“Aaaww, do I really look that good?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be hard to focus on dinner when all I can think about is dessert…”

“Well, the sooner they get here the sooner they leave and then we can get to that!” you say hurrying downstairs to put the last minute touches on everything. Within 10 minutes the doorbell rings. Here it goes… the she beast has landed… You take a deep breath as Louis answers the door.

“Roni! Drew! Good to see you!” he says shaking Drew’s hand and hugging Roni.

“Oh boo bear it’s amazing seeing you too!” she says hugging him so tight her nails are practically digging into him.

“Hey Drew! Long- time no see!” I say coming into the foyer to greet him.

“Hey Cassie! Wow you look great!” he says hugging me.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” I reply breaking the hug.

“Cassandra!” Roni says practically jumping me!

“Veronica, nice to see you.” I say rolling my eyes, Louis gives me a knowing look and roll my eyes at him and then plaster a fake smile on my face as she lets go of me.

We all head to the dining room and Louis and I start bringing out dinner. As we eat we engage in small talk. The usual, what’s knew, how’s life, etc. Bu the whole time Roni is getting on my nerves. She and Louis sit across from Drew and I and she has her hands all over him. Rubbing his arm, laying her hand on his leg, giggling hair flipping and the whole time the idiot is totally oblivious. Although I have to give it to him, when she put her hand on his thigh he did quietly move it. I can tell Drew is tense to, he keeps looking at her and biting his lip and I know he does that when he’s holding something back. Finally, Louis and I start to put dinner away and bring out dessert and while Louis’ in the kitchen and Roni excuse herself to the restroom I get a minute alone with Drew.

“Ok Drew, you’ve biting your lip all night, out with it!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

“Don’t to do that, I know bite your lip when you’re holding something back!”

“You know I’m amazed you remember that you know!”

“Stop deflecting, c’mon I know it’s been a while but you know you can talk to me.” I say reassuringly giving his shoulder a light squeeze.

“Ok, the truth is Roni and I aren’t really together…”

“I knew it, I knew you’d never fall for her!”

“Shh! Just listen, I couple days after Louis invited Roni over we bumped into each other at the market and we made a deal…”

“What deal?”

“Well…”

“Drew!”

“Ok alright! The thing is she wanted Louis back, she wanted to break you guys up. But I didn’t know that at the time. She told me that she was too embarrassed to tell Louis that she was single so she told him she was with me-‘

“Ok, but why would you go along with that! I thought you were my friend!”

“I am! Look, when I said “deal” I really meant blackmail. I didn’t want to do it, but she told me she had something on me. Last year at a farewell frat party at my college, I don’t even know what she was doing there, probably trying find someone to screw with… anyway she caught me making out with a guy… and the thing is I’m still not ready to come out to my family and stuff yet… she threaten to out me if I didn’t go along with her plan…”

“Oh Drew, I’m so sorry! This is so typical Roni I can’t believe she’d go that far!” I say hugging him.

“It’s ok, I’m the one that should be sorry… I just couldn’t let her out me, I’m just not ready yet…” he says breaking the hug.

“Drew I totally get that, look I’m going to tell you something in confidence. There’s someone you should talk to, someone who is going through the same thing right now, I think you two could really help each other.”

“Really who?”

“Listen Drew, this person is still very much in the closet and has asked me to keep this to myself, so you have to promise you will too.

“I promise.”

“Ok… it’s Eric.”

“Eric Huntington! He’s gay?”

“He is, that’s why we broke up. Give me your phone I’ll give you his number and you can call him ok? I really think you two can be there for each other.” He gives me his phone and I add the number.

“Thanks Cas, you have no idea how much this means to me…”

“Don’t mention it… literally!” I say laughing. He laughs too and he hugs me silently thanking me once more. “You know what I still don’t get though, why after all these years Roni’s still out to get me!”

“You and Louis really do live in your own world, I mean you’re so in love with each other it’s like you’re not aware of anything that’s going on.”

“What do you mean?”

“Roni is jealous of you Cas, she couldn’t handle college, she dropped out and ever since her dad has refused to pay for anything for her. She has nothing, she works at one of her father’s offices cleaning for god sake! That’s the only way she can afford anything! But you have everything, this amazing home, Louis, a teaching job. You got everything she thinks she deserves and she can’t stand it! That’s why she set out to destroy you and Louis, it’s the only way she can get even.”

“Look she has to grow the hell up already! I worked hard for everything I have, I earned it, Louis and I pay for everything together! She has no right to do this to either of us and we’re going to stop her! Come on!” I get up and pick up the almost empty salad bowl, carrying it to the kitchen, but Drew pulls me into the hall and stops me before I get there.

“Wait a sec Cas, what are going to do?”

“We’re going to tell Louis, he deserves to know too!”

“I can’t! If she finds out I told you she’ll out me!”

“No she won’t, I won’t let her. Besides now that I think about it we have something on her… I’m sure if her daddy found out about this little plan of hers he would be too happy…”

“Oh you wouldn’t!” he says a little shocked.

“Oh yes I would, she brought this on herself, she didn’t have to do any of this. She made the choice and now she can either walk away quietly or suffer the consequences!”

“Ok, your right, lets end this.”

At the time I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me that Roni had supposedly been in the washroom for so long... I guess the shock of everything made me forget. You see the whole tome Drew was telling me everything Roni was continuing her little game with Louis. She had scampered into the kitchen after leaving the bathroom and was flirting her ass off trying to get his attention.

Louis POV

“Oh come on boo bear… you remember how much fun we used to have?” Roni says running her hands up and down my arm.

I swiftly move away and continue putting dishes away. “Drop it Roni, we’ve been over for a long time, I don’t have any feelings for you. Truthfully, I never did. I always loved Cassie, you were just a distraction from her and Eric back then. And seriously, you didn’t have real feeling for me either. I mean no offense but I don’t think you had real feelings for anyone actually. You were practically with every guy in our class Roni, you don’t actually think that real?”

“A distraction! That’s all I was to you! Well, let’s see if I can distract you from Cassie again then!” Suddenly she yanks me by the collar and kisses me roughly! I instantly try to pull her off me but she’s digging her nails into me arms, just as I finally free myself from her it happens the kitchen door opens and I hear a crash! It’s Cassie, she and Drew walk in and as soon as she catches sight of us she drops the salad dish she holding and it shatters onto the floor. She gasps, he hand covering her face and runs out of the kitchen, tear streaming down her face already.

“Get away from me you stupid bitch!” I say ripping Roni’s hands off me and pushing her into the counter. I run after Cassie but it’s too late, she already gotten into her car and is driving away by the time I get outside.

Roni’s POV

I freeze, the look on Louis’ face when he sees her stuns me. It’s like I’m suddenly woken up. What have I done? I’m shaken out of my trance by Drew’s voice yelling at me.

“Roni what have you done! You jealous slut! Are you happy now?”

“Oh shut up Drew! Remember, I still know your secret!”

“Yeah, Roni and you know what I was so busy being afraid of you that I didn’t realize I have something on you too!”

“And what is that moron?”

“Oh I don’t think daddy would be so happy to find out what you’ve been up to? You wouldn’t want to lose your job now would you? I mean how else would you pay for your pathetic little life?”

My eyes go wide, he’s got me. “Ok fine, I your off the hook, I swear I’ll keep your secret, just as long as you keep mine.”

“Well-“ Drew starts but is interrupted by Louis storming back in.

“She’s gone, are you satisfied you poisonous bitch! You know she was 100% right about you! Just get out, both of you!” he says pointing to the door.

“Louis I-“

“Roni shut up! Your big mouth has already caused enough problems!” Drew says interrupting me. “I really am so incredibly sorry man… the crazy bitch set this whole thing up, we’re not even together… I’ll just go now.” He starts to leave and then turns back to me, “Oh and you’re on your own Roni, call a cab, take the bus, walk if you have to, I don’t give a shit.” He shakes Louis hand and quietly leaves.

I don’t know what to say so I just grab my purse from the foyer and leave. What have I done? I think heading to the bus stop…

Louis’s POV

As soon as there both gone I lose it. What is happening! She gone! What am I gonna do! She’s gone! I’m frantic, I scream at the top of my lungs, my voice echoing through the empty house. My anger, confusion and heart ache get the better of me and suddenly I’m destroying everything! Knocking down chairs, throwing books, breaking a few dishes, and even punching the wall. Finally I collapse on the bedroom floor, my head in my hands, my body shaking and tears running down my cheeks. I lie there for what seems like hours, crying until my throat is dry and I eventually pass out from exhaustion…

Cassie’s POV

My brain is telling me one thing and my hear another. When I saw Louis and Roni it suddenly didn’t matter that I knew her whole plan. It heart shatter and I didn’t know how to do anything except run. How could he do that? How could he fall for her? How could tear us apart? Doesn’t he love me? What is happening? What am I gonna do? The first place I think to go is my twin brothers Nicky and Ricky’s flat (Their full names are Nicholas and Ricardo, but as kids we called them Nicky and Ricky, anyway back to the story). I know there’s an empty room there’s Ricky recently got married and moved out and Nicky has yet to find a new roommate. The tears stream down my face during the entire drive. I just cry and cry and cry. My throat is sore and dry but the tears just don’t stop. Finally, I get there. I wipe my face and as I flip down the visor to check myself in the mirror a picture falls out. It’s me and Louis in the park. It was just a regular date, I jumped on his back and we had someone take our picture. On the back of the picture in Louis handwriting was the words: The Day I said “I Love You” the first time! I put my head in my hands and start sobbing. I can’t believe this is happening! Absentmindedly I stuff the picture in my purse and slam the visor back up. I rush to the door and ring the bell, hugging myself when I realize how cold it is and that I forgot my sweater. Nicky answers the door in a tank and sweats.

“Cassie? What are you doing here? What happened?” he says taking in my appearance, my makeup running and tears still streaming down my face. I can’t take it anymore and lunge at Nicky, wrapping my arms around him tight and sobbing violently.

“Nicky I… I… I caught Louis kissing Roni!”

I can tell he’s angered as his grip on my suddenly tightens. “Come on sis, let’s get you out of the cold and you can tell me everything.” He says (probably through clenched teeth) taking me inside. He gets me some cocoa and a warm blanket and I tell him the whole ugly story. About Louis inviting them and Roni’s whole scheme. And he actually seems a little less angry after he’s heard everything.

“Listen Cas, what Louis did was wrong. But I mean, you knew what Roni was up to… don’t you think that there’s a tiny possibility that maybe… just maybe… Louis isn’t really to blame here?”

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

“Ok sis, calm-“

“NICHOLAS DO NOT TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! I KNOW WHAT SHE WAS UP TO, BUT HE STILL KISSED HER! YES HE PUSHED HER OFF, BUT HOE DO I KNOW THAT THAT WASN’T BECAUSE HE REALIZED I WAS THERE?”

“Cassie, please. Listen to yourself, your talking about a man who has loved you for years! I know I’m your brother and I should want to kill him, but I also know Roni! I know what a bitch she is and I know how much Louis loves you! Enough to make me certain that he pushed her off because he didn’t want her to kiss him in the first place!”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, my brain is telling me one thing and my heart another. In my brain I knew that it had to be Roni’s scheme. But my heart wouldn’t listen I didn’t care, when I saw them it tore me apart I just had to get out of there, no matter what my brain was trying to tell me!”

“I get it, I really do. But I really think you should talk to him. I mean he is crazy about you, he’s probably going insane right now! I just know there’s another side to the story here.”

“Yeah…I owe it to him to hear him out, I mean I love him so much, I can’t lose that… I just can’t do it tonight… maybe tomorrow morning I’ll go home and we can talk… is it ok if I stay the night?”

“Of course, you can stay in Ricky’s room. I’ll lend you some clothes and there’s some new toothbrushes in the guest bathroom too.”

“Thanks bro, you’re the best, I love you.” I say, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Love you too sis, don’t worry everything is going to be ok…” he says kissing my forehead before getting up to bring me clothes.

Little did I know Louis wouldn’t be the only person I was going to be seeing tomorrow…

#louis tomlinson #louis one direction #louis tomlinson imagine #one direction #one direction imagine

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