#both accused of stealing it and neither one did

[weepynymph]

‘I didn't steal it, if that's what you're wondering.’

[the-travelling-witch]

𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌

nonnie asked: lately i noticed many writers writing about reader kissing character's face while wearing lipstick and therefore covering them in it and i found it so cute and then started to imagine your om!ocs and the modern au guys (…) being covered in lipstick kisses too […]

pairings: my genshin modern au guys (xiao :: scara :: aether :: kazuha :: heizou :: venti :: childe :: diluc :: kaeya), my obey me ocs (dantalion :: valefar :: stolas), my twst oc (cheron) x gn! reader

warnings: these lipsticks are not smudge-proof

a/n: as said i might write a full thing for one character when i have the chance but considering i have 13 characters here and i can only think of so many scenarios, i’m writing a few paragraphs each for now ^^;

original ask

modern au || dantalion || valefar || stolas || cheron

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐔

𝐗𝐈𝐀𝐎 Piercer/ Tattoo Artist

It had been a busy week in which you hadn’t seen much of each other, so when you finally made it to Friday evening, you were overjoyed to see your boyfriend again. Needless to say, when the door swung shut, the first thing you did was flutter some well-earned kisses across his face, not even bothering to take your make-up off.  So when Xiao spotted his reflection in the mirror, the flush on his cheeks wasn’t the only rose colour decorating his beautiful complexion. While you watched his blush darken, he couldn’t meet your eyes in the mirror and you giggled to yourself as you watched them snap to you when you pulled the neckline of his shirt out of the way and planted a final kiss on the base of his neck.

𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐀 Piercer/ Tattoo Artist

It was your day off, so for once you weren’t out of the house before Scara, instead getting ready at the same time as him. You made him his usual morning coffee to go after he slept over, since he straight up refused to drink anyone else’s, and kissed him goodbye. Not long after he arrived at the piercing studio, notifications started blowing up your phone and you skimmed the furious string of texts, laughing to yourself. Apparently, Xiao hadn’t said anything about the smudge on the corner of his lips, leaving Heizou and Venti to have a field day when they came in, teasing him relentlessly even after he wiped it off.  As for the accusation that you did it on purpose, who was to say…

𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 Piercer/ Tattoo Artist

“Do you still need the make up remover?” Aether asked from outside your bathroom door. You’d both just gotten back from an outing with the others from the piercing shop, staying longer than you initially intended. But that was what always happened. Venti could be very convincing and the group was too much fun to leave early. “I’m done, but I didn’t notice you wearing any makeup earlier,” you admitted, opening the door to let your boyfriend in.  “Well I wasn’t,” Aether sheepishly laughed, rubbing the base of his neck. And then you saw it. Faint traces of colour decorating his temple, cheek, the corner of his mouth and even the parts of his neck and chest not covered by his shirt. A shade that very closely resembled the lipstick you applied before going out. “You might be a bit of an affectionate drunk.” “Oh my— I’m so sorry, Aether,” you apologised, quickly searching around for some cotton pads and wiping the lipstick off his chest, trying not to linger on the thought too much. “Don’t worry, I thought it was cute,” he assured you, his warm smile seemingly lighting up the room. As you leaned in to clean his face, he took the opportunity to steal a quick kiss from you as well. “You should wear it more often, it looked very pretty on you.”

𝐊𝐀𝐙𝐔𝐇𝐀 Piercer/ Tattoo Artist

Kazuha had come over for lunch, as he often did, taking a break from his coworkers between the plants, sketching if the time allowed for it. When you both had to return to work, you pressed a sweet kiss against his cheek and then rushed to help a customer. And while neither one of you noticed the colour dusting his cheek, the others sure did and wasted no time pointing it out, though all their teasing comments seemed to bounce right off of him.  He wiped the stain away before any customers came in, laughing off how he hadn’t noticed at all. “Of course you wouldn’t notice,” Heizou agreed, a knowing air about him. “After all, you’re way too busy making heart eyes at your florist to even think about looking anywhere else for a second.”

𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐙𝐎𝐔 Piercer/ Tattoo Artist

“Hey honey, could you help me with something real quick?” You called your boyfriend over as you finished applying a new shade of lipstick you bought. As Heizou strolled up to where you were standing, you turned towards him with a smile. “What do you think? Do you like it?” “The colour looks beautiful on you,” he easily replied, sending you a flirtatious wink. “Though I’m not sure if it’s really the colour or just you being gorgeous that’s causing it. Now what did you need help with?” Wrapping one arm around his neck, you pulled him in for a kiss, making sure to firmly plant your lips against his. If your boyfriend was surprised at all, he masked it well, easily melting into the kiss. As you pulled away a little breathlessly, you grinned. “Just wanted to see if it’s really smudge-proof, though I guess it failed in that regard.” You traced a finger around the faint trace of colour on his lips as Heizou took the tube from you and applied the lipstick with pinpoint precision. Turning to you, his olive eyes were gleaming with mischief as he chuckled. “I think we should run a few more tests, just to be sure.”

𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈 Piercer/ Tattoo Artist

“This one’s for the song you wrote for me and this one’s for bringing me my favourite coffee without me asking,” you mused, studying your boyfriend’s face covered in pink-hued gloss marks. Somehow a kiss to the temple had ended with you caging Venti against the couch, fluttering a dozen kisses all over the skin you could reach. “Ehe, what can I say, I’m just the best boyfriend ever,” he giggled, tracing his fingers down the contours of your face in return. Then, something in his expression changed and you prepared yourself to shut down whatever idea he was about to propose next. “Maybe I should think about getting one of them tattooed? On my shoulder or so?” “Don’t you dare.”

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐄 Idol

Ever since you had caught a lot of heat from Childe’s manager for accidentally letting your boyfriend leave with a mark decorating his collarbones, you were very cautious of leaving any visible stains on him, even if it was just makeup.  Still, you found ways to work around this little inconvenience. There was one time you signed off a little post-it note you left on the fridge for him, wishing him good luck for a performance, with a lipstick stain. After seeing his reaction of childish glee, it became a staple in your relationship. Then again, whenever Childe came home from work with his makeup still on, he never failed to press a big, fat, lip gloss stained kiss on your cheek, chuckling like the menace he is when you make a show of wiping it off.

𝐃𝐈𝐋𝐔𝐂 Club Owner/ Bartender

Diluc had seen his fair share of shameless make outs during his time at the Angel’s Share and normally he just turned his head the other way, not sure why people would enjoy slobbering all over each other. Well, that was until he met you anyway.  Though he’d like to think he was more composed than the intoxicated people at his club, whenever you pressed your lips against his, he thought he might get drunk off of you. He swallowed hard when you pulled away, mind still trying to process what was happening as his eyes tracked the movement of your own kiss-swollen lips, not hasty to wipe away the traces of you against his skin.

𝐊𝐀𝐄𝐘𝐀 Model

Kaeya actually revelled in it whenever you leave any type of mark on him, as long as it didn’t lead to a scolding from his manager. Whether it was something more durable like a hickey or something easily wiped off like a lipstick stain, Kaeya always looked very smug about it afterwards. After all, the marks were a testimony to the events that transpired previously, and what could he say, Kaeya enjoyed those very much. Even more so considering he knew his way around a makeup bag, confidently picking out shades that looked gorgeous on you and even more gorgeous when they were smudged around the corner of your lips and over his skin. In his opinion, every photo of the aftermath was more stunning than any of his cover shoots.

𝐎𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐌𝐞! 𝐎𝐂𝐬

𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 Majolish Owner/ Devil Style Chief Editor

You walked in on Dantalion getting ready, his attention that was previously on his reflection in the vanity mirror flickering to you when you entered. His plush lips, curled into a loving smile, are painted in a flattering shade of red and your gaze was trained on them as you came to stand in front of him. “Are you trying a new shade? It suits you well.” “I am. I’m glad you like it,” he hummed, tilting his head in contemplation. “I wonder…” Cupping your cheek in his palm, the demon leaned towards you and you instinctively closed your eyes as his soft lips pressed against yours with purpose. As always his kisses made a part of your brain short circuit and you blinked at him dazedly for a moment after you parted. There was a satisfied gleam in his bright eyes as he wiped at your bottom lip with his thumb, studying the red stain he left. “As expected, it’s an even lovelier colour on you, my flower.”

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐀𝐑 Casino Owner

“Little lamb, come here for a second.” Valefar was no stranger to finding your lipstick smudges at the rim of his drinks or wiping smudges of colour and gloss from his cheek before leaving for the casino after you gave him a kiss goodbye. He didn’t mind, found it cute even, but as he regarded the pink stain on the collar of his white dress shirt in the lounge’s mirror, he knew it won’t come off with a quick swipe of his thumb. It wasn’t a big deal, he kept spare shirts in his office, but Val wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to fluster you. “Care to explain yourself?” You were halfway through stuttering out a sheepish apology when Valefar backed you against his desk, keeping you pinned to him with a hand on your back. Intense amber eyes keep contact with yours as he leaned down to suck a noticeable hickey on the same spot his collar would be, knowing your clothes barely wouldn’t be able to hide it. “Debts should be repaid, wouldn’t you agree?”

𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐒 Popular Streamer

It was a pleasant day in the Devildom, as pleasant as it could be in a realm without the sun anyway, pulling the two of you out into town. While strolling from apparel stores to gaming shops, you passed a café you frequented and decided to stop by for some refreshments. As you pointed around various shop displays, you had the sinking feeling that your drink emptied faster than usual. And when you spotted the colourful stain that had transferred from your straw to your boyfriend’s lips, you caught the culprit red- handed (or rather red-lipped). When confronted he merely chuckled playfully before swooping in to steal a kiss on top of your drink, staining them with more of your lipstick and thereby destroying the evidence. (His straw also became more colourful as he offered you his drink as compensation.)

𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐂

𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍 Prince of Hell

When Vil gifted you a set of lipsticks and glosses from a campaign he was part of and had no need for, you accepted them gratefully. You just finished sorting through all the shades and trying out a pretty shade of red, when there was a knock on your door and Cheron sauntered into your room.  “There you are,” he grinned, charming without even having to try, before pulling you close and stealing the air from your lungs with a kiss. For someone who claimed to not be interested in ferrying more souls to hell, he sure seemed intent on trying to kill you. “What’s this you got there? Vil’s new collab?” “Right you are,” you paused, peering around him to the lipstick tube in your hand and chuckling as you read the shade name. Pressing another kiss right onto the middle of his cheek as payback for his usual schemes, you took in the red matching the colour on the corner of his lips. “Don’t you think it’s a beautiful colour, Cherry? It does match your hair and eyes. Maybe I should start calling you that.” There was a dangerous glint in his crimson eyes, clearly aware of the red staining his face, as he swiped his thumb under your bottom lip where the lipstick left a smudge as well.  “You have a lot of nerve marking the Prince of Hell.” His grin showed off the points of his fangs more clearly now, clearly amused at your little stunt, taking a step forward and walking you backwards towards the edge of your bed. “That’s fine. If you can handle the consequences, that is.”

© the-travelling-witch 2024 - do not repost, translate, copy or edit; do not feed my writing to an ai

if you like my content, reblogs, comments and asks are always much appreciated ♡

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[abbyromanoff]

Maybe you could to a part 2 about Emily x JJ!daughters and the story line could be like JJ visits her and sees the marks but she thinks her daughter has a secret boyfriend or something but then later she catches Emily and her daughter making out and she gets madly angry at both but mostly Emily. And then as her kids are her biggest weakness she accuses Emily of grooming her daughter but before they can clarify she takes her daughter and leaves and she is like you are not allowed to see her anymore but her daughter is like I am an adult 😄 and jj is like I don’t care. Happy ending can be up to youuuu. Sorry if that’s too dark tho

I KNOW WHAT I WANT, AND IT’S YOU

PAIRINGS: Emily Prentiss x reader

WORD COUNT: 1,750

WARNINGS: angst, fluff, mentions of fwb’s, mentions of grooming!!, JJ being a bitch, honestly this is kinda giving me wattpad vibes and I hate this sm I wish I wrote this better lol, that’s abt ittttt :)

NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO STEAL, COPY, OR REBLOG MY WORK AS THEIR OWN!!

A few months had gone by since you began an intimate relationship with Emily, your mother still did not know who but she held suspicions that both of you were seeing someone. Anytime she’d mention the mysterious woman you were spending so much time with you grew nervous, but you hoped she’d never find out who it really was.

Currently, you were sitting across from your lover as you shared a laugh, your eyes wandering around the restaurant as you fancied the scenery. Emily had a glass of wine while you drank a sweet lemonade, you were still at that age where you didn’t enjoy the alcoholic beverage as much as someone like Emily. She had given you small sips, but nothing too extreme.

“Your melted lava cake topped with chocolate icing, ladies,” The waiter announced, placing the dish in the middle of your table as your mouth watered at the sight.

“Is there anything else I can get for you two?” You shared a glance with Emily before she shook her head.

“That will be all, thank you.” He nodded politely and left to attend to another table while you both grabbed the spoons and cut into it. The dessert was hot, steaming in fact, but it looked so delicious that neither of you could wait.

“I told you this place is amazing, my love.” Your partner spoke, and you rolled your eyes teasingly as you moaned at the taste. You licked your lips of the remnant chocolate icing, and she watched intently, reaching across the table to interlace her fingers with yours.

“I was actually hoping to ask you something,” You focused your attention on her as you noticed her nerves heightening, your brows furrowing as you grew concerned and confused.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything is perfect. Well, almost perfect. Uh, so we’ve been, you know, in a sort of relationship for a little while, and I love it, I really do. But, and feel free to say no, I was wondering, uhm, if you’d like to go further with this thing between us.” Your smile grew as she continued and as her eyes averted. Her foot tapped continuously under the table and you squeezed her hand in reassurance.

“Em, are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” She licked her lips before nodding with a smile, lifting her view to see you grinning back at her. She felt the nerves slowly easing away as tears glossed over your eyes.

“I would love nothing more than to call you mine.” In her moment of joy, she leaned over the table to press a kiss to your lips. It was quick, seeing as you were in a public area, but it still held just as much meaning.

“I know it’s early but, I think I-“ She was cut off by a piercing voice you knew all too well.

“Y/N? Emily?” You both turned to face the voice, your eyes widening as you spotted the blonde staring back at you with an unreadable expression.

“Mom, I- I can explain,”

“You wanna tell me what the fuck you think you’re doing with my daughter, Emily Prentiss?” She stood instantly, and while her body overpowered JJ she still remained furious. Your dad stood next to her and you quickly glanced at their outfits, noticing their fancier attire and cursing to yourself as you realized what was going on.

“JJ, listen-“

“No, I’m not going to listen! You’ve been fucking my daughter!” Her voice grew and all eyes were now on the four of you. You dismissed them with an apologetic grin, forcing the others out while slapping the total bill on the table. You followed back out and saw Emily and JJ in a yelling fit accompanied by your dad who tried pulling JJ to the side.

“Mom, stop it!” The two paused before she scoffed and folded her arms across her chest as her anger was now directing towards you.

“What is wrong with the two of you? Emily, you are fifty-three years old, and Y/N, you just got out of college! You’re twenty-two!” You failed to find the words to help calm the situation, and she continued in a fit of rage.

“This is not happening, I will not allow it. Y/N, you’re coming with me; and Emily, if I ever see you near my daughter again, I’ll kill you myself.” Your mother gripped your arm tightly and you looked at your dad in hopes of his agreeance, but he only sighed and looked away. She practically dragged you across the parking lot, making it impossible not to trip with your high heels dragging you down.

“Please, Mom! You can’t do this, I’m an adult!”

“I still know what’s best for you,”

“JJ, you don’t understand-“

“Oh, I know well enough-“

“I’m not just fucking your daughter, okay? I’m so madly in love with her and I can’t stop thinking about her and I just need her! Please, she’s all I want, and I know I’m all she wants. She may be young but she’s still an adult with her own mind and choices, she deserves to love without her mother banning it just because it doesn’t seem right.” JJ stopped for a moment, letting go of you as she walked forward. She stood in front of Emily once again, glaring through ragged breaths.

“You’ve known her since she was a baby, who knows how long you’ve been grooming her.” Emily bit her tongue, and you could see her body going tense. Her fists clenched at her sides, her nostrils bringing a long breath in before she finally spoke.

“Two months, JJ. Two months have we been sleeping together, and only two years have I been in love with her. You think I would be that sick in the fucking mind? I never once saw her in any romantic or sexual aspect until she was twenty years old and visited from college for the first time. She looked so beautiful, it was like she was a new person and I questioned myself if that was even her because I could not fathom the idea of having feelings for my best friend's daughter but I’ve finally accepted it. I know it’s early, I know you don’t like it, but I want to spend the rest of my life with her even if it’s forbidden or frowned upon because I don’t care, I love her too much to care and if you loved her enough maybe you would too.” You smiled largely, stalking forward quickly as you wrapped your arms around the older woman. You felt her hands place themselves on your lower back as she grinned into your neck.

“I love you too, Em, I always will.”

“JJ, look…they’re happy together. I don’t like this either but we always wanted the best for our girl and if that means it’s with Emily then so be it.” Your father spoke up, causing your mother to bite her lip with a sigh.

“You can’t be serious - she’s twenty two! She can’t make this type of decision yet, she’s barely even an adult!” You were fed up with her at this point and turned to leave, Emily following behind instantly as she opened the passenger side door for you. Your parents were engrossed in their own argument and barely realized you had left until Emily started the car. She tried pulling out of the parking lot as fast as possible with her coworker hot on her tail running to step in front of you two.

It took longer than she wanted but when she finally moved out of the way, Emily quickly left while you sat beside her with tears streaming slowly down your cheeks.

“It’s okay, baby, I promise.” You felt your phone buzz and noticed a text from JJ that read, ‘can’t believe you would choose a girlfriend over your own mother, I’m beyond disappointed.’ It only caused the tears to stream in a hurry, and your breath became uneven as you realized you were either to lose your mother or lover. It wasn’t fair, and as much as you loved your mom, you knew if she truly loved you she wouldn’t force you to choose between her and Emily.

“I’m here, it’s okay.” She rubbed your thigh feeling your tension continue to rise, nothing she did could calm you down. Usually she was the one to do so, now the idea of her was causing you stress.

“Look, if you think we’d be better off without seeing one another that is up to you. I would completely understand. Of course, I’d be upset, I mean, I’ve spent nights imagining you walking down the aisle to me and I know that’s soon, I know. But I want you to know if that’s what you need, I am more than okay with letting that go; I only want the best for you, my love.” You were now parked outside of her home that you spent many nights in. She was nervous too, you could see it. You turned to her, your face saddened and tired - the sight hurting her chest and making her heart ache.

“I want you more than anything, Emily. But it feels like I can’t have you. Everyone looks at us like you’re my..I don’t know, mother, or something; and when they find out we’re more than that they judge us instantly. And then my mom and dad, I just can’t imagine them not being in my life, you know? I promise you I want you, and I need you, but I’m just scared.” She nodded thoughtfully, taking in every word you said and letting it process through her.

“I know it’s scary, but I want to be by your side through all of this. If you don’t want that, that’s okay; but if you do, and take your time thinking about this, but I want to do it with you and I want to be by your side. I’ll be with you every step of the way if you let me.”

“I think I want that. And I think with some more time we can make this work, and hopefully someday my mom will come around.”

“Well, she should. But, if she doesn’t, then there will be no one I need the blessing from when I marry you, so it’ll make it only ten times easier and faster to put a ring on it.”

[varpusvaras]

Senator Organa is already in the interrogation room when Vader arrives.

He doesn't look afraid, either. Vader can almost respect it. He would've, in different time. He had liked Senator Organa, back then, and he had thought him to be a man with sense. He had thought that he had understood the situation and accepted it, and had done his part in the Empire.

Instead, he had been deceiving them all. Most of all, he had been deceiving Vader. Stealing from him. Taking what belonged to him.

He should've been very afraid. But he isn't.

That is not bravery, nor is it even integrity.

It is merely stupidity.

"Senator Organa", he greets him first. He shouldn't have. Everyone should be bowing their heads when he walks into the room, if not out of respect, then out of fear.

He has a feeling that Senator Organa feels neither towards him.

"Lord Vader", Senator Organa greets him back. Voice level, if not a little tense. He is awaiting some news, but he doesn't now what they are, yet.

Vader is not going to give him anything.

"Let us get straight into the point, Senator", Vader says. "You were hiding a Force-sensitive child in your home. A Force-sensitive child that belonged to Anakin Skywalker."

The name feels strange to say out loud himself. Foreign. Like he is speaking a different language altogether.

Senator Organa lifts his head up a little. A defiant little gesture.

Vader waits for him to answer. To see if he is going to try and deny it.

"If I may, my Lord", Senator Organa says. "I wouldn't say we were exactly hiding her. She is the Princess of Alderaan. She has been a public figure since she was brought into the family. I, at the very least, was under the impression that both you and the Emperor knew of her."

"But you were hiding her true identity." Senator Organa may have been able to circle around his first point, but he can not do it for this one.

"She was legally adopted", Senator Organa says. "She is an Organa, now. That is her true identity."

Vader clenches his fist. The hand and the glove make a harsh sound in the otherwise quiet room.

Senator Organa does not look afraid.

Vader hates it.

"You hid her true parentage", he accuses. "She belongs to the Empire, not to you. You had no right to take her."

There is a shift on the Senator's face, finally. He still does not look afraid. No, instead, he just looks a little frustrated, or perhaps exasperated.

"She is a baby", he says. "She had barely taken her first breaths when she was placed in my arms. She had no one else at that moment. I did what was right."

"You should've only done what you needed to do", Vader says. "And what you should've done was to bring her to the Empire."

"She is a baby", Senator Organa repeats. "She needed to be taken care of. She needed to be fed and clothed and loved. I did what was right for her."

"That was not a decision for you to make."

"Whose was it, then?" Senator Organa stares right into Vader's eyes. "Whose decision was it, then, Lord Vader? She had no one else. And certainly, there were no Imperial officers around to tell me what to do, either."

He sounds accusing, now. Like he is accusing Vader of not being there.

Like he is accusing Vader of-

Vader leans over the table. He is taller now than he had been before, and if he had garnered respect back then, he definitely does now.

Still, Senator Organa does not look afraid. Just like the Queen had not.

There is a look in his eyes as he watches Vader. Like he is trying to see through the mask. Like he is expecting to see something behind it.

Like he knows.

But he cannot know.

Everyone who had known who Vader had been before, and had known Senator Organa as well were dead.

Vader had seen to that himself.

Apart from one person.

The person who is responsible for what Vader is, now.

"There is, now", Vader says. "The truth is out. And still, you continue to hide her."

"She is still a child", Senator Organa says. "She has barely taken her first steps. She is just starting to speak her first words. All she still needs is someone to take care of her. Not the Empire."

Vader had once thought Senator Organa to be a wise man.

Now he thinks he is only a fool.

"I am choosing to ignore your platant disrespect towards the Empire for a moment longer." It is a warning, one that Vader hopes the Senator will heed. For his own sake. "Though I must admit, you are correct on one thing. She is just a child. A child that needs someone to look after her. A child you are putting ahead of yourself and your wife."

Vader leans closer, as much as the table between them allows.

Senator Organa does not look afraid.

Fool.

"You would need someone you trust to hide her." Vader watches Senator Organa's face carefully. "Someone you know would care just as much. Someone you know would put her ahead of themselves as well. Someone you know, who knows exactly what they are up against. Someone who knows."

He bores into Senator Organa's feelings as he asks the next question.

"Is she with Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

There are many feelings swirling inside the Senator's mind. Together they create a whirpool that is trying its best to keep anything and everything from Vader's grasp.

"No", Senator Organa says.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi was there when she was born." Vader reaches towards the rushing waters. "He needed a place to hide as well. A place I would never know to search. A place that was too close for me to see. You hid him on Alderaan as well, and now that we have discovered you, you gave her to him to hide away."

"No", Senator Organa says.

Vader plunges his hand into the water and seizes it.

"Is the girl with Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

"No!"

It is the first time Vader has heard Senator Organa break at all after they had been taken from Alderaan.

Still, he speaks the truth.

Vader can feel it.

It is not the entire truth, though.

There is something else. Something Vader can not quite grasp yet.

He will find it out eventually.

There is nothing that will be kept from him.

Not about this.

Vader pulls away. He leans back and watches as Senator Organa draws in a deeper breath to center himself again.

He looks slightly shaken, but still not afraid.

"Why continue this?" Senator Organa blinks as he focuses back on to Vader. "Why draw this out unnecessarily? We both know that eventually, the Empire will get what belongs to it. You could make this all a lot easier for yourself and everybody else."

"She is a child", Senator Organa says. "We are doing this for her own good. She needs to be taken care of-"

"The Empire will take care-"

"She needs to be loved." Senator Organa interrupts him. There is a righteous, irritating tone in his voice as he continues to speak. "She needs to be loved. The Empire cannot do that. She needs people to love her, to hold her, to nurture her."

Vader hates him more and more with every word.

If Senator Organa had been a wise man, he would've stopped there.

But he isn't.

"I watched her mother take her last breath, at the same time as she took her first." Vader has never hated anyone as much in his life. "She spoke to us about the life she had planned, about the nursery with sunlight and the crib next to a window. About the life she would've given to her, had she had the opportunity. She told us about that all because she was my friend. I had known her since she was barely an adult. We could've given her daughter everything she wanted to give her. To give her the life she wanted for her."

Vader knows nothing but hate as Senator Organa looks at him, through the mask, right into what is beneath it.

"She would've wanted her to be loved", Senator Organa says. "You know that."

If he had planned to say anything more, he cannot do it, as air is being seized from his lungs as his throat is being crushed. He does not even make a noise as Vader tightens his grip.

It would take just a little more. Just a little twitch of his fingers. That is all that Vader would need to do to.

He does not do it.

Instead, he releases his grip. Senator Organa does make noise now, as he gasps raspily, his body falling forwards towards the table as he does so.

"Consider yourself lucky, Senator Organa." He looks up at Vader as he speaks, and tries to halt his gasping. "That I still have a need for you. Perhaps you speak the truth when you say that the girl is not with Kenobi. But there is still something more you know, and I suspect that it is Kenobi's location, even if the girl is not there. I'm sure that we will come to an understanding about this all sooner or later. Perhaps the Emperise shall be merciful towards you and your wife at the end of it."

Senator Organa does not say anything, too busy to trying to breathe through his battered throat.

"Though I must tell you", Vader says. "That the same mercy will not apply to the one who has the girl. They will be tried the moment they are discovered, and it will lead to their end."

Senator Organa looks at Vader, and he looks afraid.

Interesting.

Vader turns, and leaves the room without another word.

[angelofsmalldeaath]

wasteland, baby! — a.h.b.

cw: mentions of food (cake), kissing

“is that…” he trails off, coming to a standstill at the threshold of the kitchen. i freeze, spoon halfway to my mouth and give him a sheepish smile. 

“you weren’t supposed to be awake!”

“neither were you!” he accuses, walking in, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep. his hair is matted on one side, his big old sleep t-shirt almost sliding off his shoulders. 

“you heathen,” he sits next to me on the kitchen floor, placing a quick kiss on my lips, “that cake was for tomorrow.”

i shrug, stuff another spoonful of the chocolate monstrosity in my mouth. 

“i was feeling existential. the cake helped. besides,” i scoop some more on the spoon, hold it in front of his mouth, “when did you even get this?”

he smiles and shakes his head, then takes the bite of the cake and sighs. his face relaxes, soft and pretty in the dim moonlight shining into our kitchen. “oh, that is good! i timed it for after you’d have gone to bed. so it would be a surprise.”

“it was,” i giggle, “i was absolutely delighted when i opened the fridge.”

he snorts and takes the spoon from me. just as i’m about to protest, he scoops up some of the chocolate frosting and shoves it in his mouth. then he smiles at me—a proper chocolate covered toothy grin to match my own until we both burst out laughing. 

“weren’t you calling me a heathen just now?!”

“that was before i tasted the cake,” he holds his hands up in defence. a moment later, he sobers up, clears his throat. 

“why were you feeling existential?”

“mmm, maybe because in—” i sneak a glance at the clock on the microwave, at the glowing 23:57, “—three minutes i’ll be another year older.”

“and is that so bad?”

i toy with the spoon in my hand, absently carving a circle around the cherry on the cake. “i don’t know. i wish i did though.”

he’s quiet for a bit, thinking maybe, staring at me—my face and my eyes and my lips until i shy away from his gaze. “what if it’s really really good? the happiest year of your life?”

“and after that?” i giggle “does that mean it’s all downhill from there? the beginning of the end?”

he tsks, lightly flicks me on the forehead. “why does that matter now? today?”

i shrug, eat another spoonful of cake. he takes the spoon from me and takes another bite too. 

“i suppose it doesn’t. maybe future me should deal with that existential dread. sat here on this same kitchen floor, two minutes before midnight.”

“is future you also stealing your own birthday cake?” he snorts, teasing me affectionately. 

i blow him a raspberry, and when he laughs i take him in, take in the crinkles around his eyes and the chocolate on his lips. i take in his sleepy hair and the softness of his old t-shirt—all of it so familiar, all of it made of love and love and love and—

“need me to kiss you until you forget everything else?”

“yes please!” i set the cake aside and jump in his arms.

his soft lips somehow taste sweeter than the cake. his body is warm—firm and so so familiar that i melt like there are no bones in my body. as if my body is made to fit against his, moulded to match the hollows and crevices of him, made to fit together. he caresses my cheek, smiles softly against my lips. and when he holds me close, i know he never intends on letting me go. 

“happy birthday, my love,” he whispers when i pull back to catch my breath. the clock on the microwave reads 00:00—the start of a new day, a new year too. 

“it’s a good way to start it,” i laugh and press another kiss to his lips.

“better than eating stolen cake?”

“you ask tough questions,” i tease. 

he rolls his eyes but picks up the cherry, nudges it against my mouth. “go on, you get the cherry on top.”

i bite into it, sighing at the sweetness. “i think you’re right. maybe it will be really really good.”

“you think so?” he picks up the spoon again and takes one more bite. 

“i do.” i take the spoon back from him, take my last bite. “and if it isn’t, well…at least i can be back here with you, eating stolen cake on the kitchen floor.” 

[mxtxfanatic]

Jiang Yanli: Jiang Cheng’s Bargaining Chip

I feel like I said this before in passing during my first read, so I wanted to go through it more in-depth this second time around. Note that this post will not be covering the validity of xuanli’s marriage or love for each other. I will only be addressing Jiang Cheng’s change of heart surrounding his opinion of Jin Zixuan and why I think this has everything to do with Jiang Cheng’s loss of established power after the fall of Lotus Pier. Bear with me, now, as a lot of these scenes are located all over the place in the book, but with the exception of a few scenes, everything that I will be using will come from exr’s chapt. 69.

The relationship between Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan before the Sunshot Campaign is not a good one on account of Jin Zixuan’s treatment of Jiang Yanli:

Neither Wei Wuxian nor Jiang Cheng liked to play with him; only Jiang Yanli wanted to feed him the food that she made. Jin Zixuan, however, didn’t really like to pay her any attention. This made Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng yell with anger in a few instances.

This already-soured blood is what prompts the fight that ends xuanli’s engagement in chapt. 18, in which Jin Zixuan insults Jiang Yanli to Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s faces in a crowd of their peers. In this event, both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are moved to violence at Jin Zixuan’s words, though Wei Wuxian ensures that Jiang Cheng never throws a punch. And although Jiang Yanli doesn’t make her feelings on the matter clear when Wei Wuxian goes to her to apologize, Wei Wuxian understands later that she “must’ve been feeling quite dejected on the inside” for what transpired. This makes me feel that, even though Jiang Yanli was nice to Jin Zixuan where her brothers (and yes, I am counting wwx as such because Jiang Yanli counts wwx as such) aren’t, neither understood the depth of her feelings until much later.

Up until this point, we have not seen xuanli actually interact with each other; that chance comes when the Sunshot Campaign happens. We can assume with the engagement broken off that Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli do not meet again until the soup incident, which is where Jin Zixuan falsely accuses Jiang Yanli of trying to steal credit from a servant, publicly chastising her after her entire clan has been slaughtered just months prior, causing her to burst into tears despite her “easy temper.” Here, we get the damning critique that Jin Zixuan “had never understood her, and hadn’t ever wanted to understand her either.” We also get the first omission of Jiang Cheng from Jiang Yanli’s defense. Only Wei Wuxian is said to defend Jiang Yanli; Jiang Cheng only shows up in the retelling to pull Wei Wuxian off of Jin Zixuan.

Fast forward to the flower banquet directly after the war ends. Because of the soup incident, Jiang Yanli refused to even give Jin Zixuan “a proper look” before Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian take her back to Yunmeng. But Jin Zixuan, in turn, immediately begins to ask after Jiang Yanli, post-war. There is no mention of whether he ever directly attempts to appeal to Jiang Yanli, herself, but he approaches Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng at his clan’s flower banquet back in capt. 49 with the intention of once more asking after her. Wei Wuxian, understandably, reacts poorly to this:

Wei WuXian heard his own raging shout, “Jin ZiXuan! Don’t you forget about what things you said and what things you did? What do you mean by this, now?!”

To which Jin Zixuan responds:

“Sect Leader Jiang—this is our sect’s flower banquet, and this is your sect’s person! Are you going to look after him or not?!”

Wei Wuxian ends up storming off, but not before Jiang Cheng  chastises him and apologizes to Jin Zixuan for his behavior. He even answers Jin Zixuan’s questions and starts a conversation!

…Jiang Cheng’s voice came, “Wei WuXian, you can just shut your mouth. Young Master Jin, I’m sorry. My sister is doing quite well. Thank you for your concern. We can talk about this next time.”…

…He then began to converse with Jin ZiXuan.

This is a startling departure from his attitude towards Jin Zixuan’s transgressions against his sister in the Cloud Recesses, and while Jin Zixuan is being cordial, the Langya debacle was much more serious than his words during the lessons. Yet Jin Zixuan is the one to demand and be given an apology for being reminded of his past abhorrent behavior, whereas none was demanded (by Jiang Cheng) or seems to have been offered on Jin Zixuan’s end to Jiang Yanli for that same behavior that victimized her, not even to her brothers on her behalf. Plus, Jiang Cheng’s attitude cannot be said to be for Jiang Yanli’s benefit, as we know that she has completely removed herself from anything related to Jin Zixuan since the soup incident, and her feelings remain unchanged up to xuanli’s next in-person interaction at Phoenix Mountain, in which Jiang Yanli does not come of her own will:

Wei WuXian, “Don’t worry. As long as he doesn’t make shijie cry again, I don’t even want to pay him any attention. You shouldn’t have brought her in the first place.”

Jiang Cheng, “The LanlingJin Sect insisted on it. I didn’t have the face to refuse.”

Wei WuXian, “More like Madam Jin insisted on it. After this, she’d definitely find some way to urge shijie and that male princess to one place.”

She even seems uninterested in being there outside of seeing her brothers:

Jiang Yanli usually had an almost bland face, her features mild. However, as she saw her two younger brothers wave at her, her face immediately lit up. She lowered her fan. Shyly saying a few words to Madam Jin, she walked to the edge of the watching platform and tossed out two flowers at them.

vs.

Suddenly, a row of cultivators wearing white, gold-lined robes rushed out, dressed in light armor and riding on broad stallions...

..Madam Jin immediately patted on Jiang Yanli’s shoulder. Holding her hand, she dragged her to the edge of the watching tower again, pointing to her the riding formation of the Lanling Jin Sect.

Clearly, even if Jiang Yanli is still harboring (seemingly) unrequited feelings for Jin Zixuan, she is unwilling to entertain the thought of a relationship anymore. So why, then, would Jiang Cheng suddenly change his opinion of Jin Zixuan from a “peacock” who treats his sister poorly to “my sister loves him, so what can I do but reinstate the engagement?”

I posit that Jiang Cheng’s change is directly tied to the fall of Lotus Pier. With the Jiang massacre, Jiang Cheng is without any real power or allies of his own. The post-war Jin are very obviously amassing power, and the other three great clans are allied via 3zun’s sworn brotherhood. Jiang Cheng has no friends so cannot enter the sworn brotherhood, and his power is held in the hands of Wei Wuxian, who he can neither claim via blood relation nor use as a bartering chip since he isn’t a Jiang. So his only other option to gain an alliance to the other great clans is through Jiang Yanli’s marriage. And what’s an easier route than reinstating the engagement that was already previously an option now that the other party seems willing (and desperate) to forget the past and start anew?

Part of this is also tied up in Jiang Cheng’s own insecurities about his authority as a clan leader, which is provoked from the gossip at the Phoenix Mountain hunt. But when he begins to admonish Wei Wuxian on the behaviors brought up in gossip, he is easily diverted from it by Wei Wuxian’s nonchalance. He then turns the conversation to Jin Zixuan:

Jiang Cheng smirked, “Don’t carry your sword, then. It doesn’t matter. But don’t provoke Jin ZiXuan from now on. He’s Jin GuangShan’s only son, after all. The future leader of the LanlingJin Sect will be him. If you beat him up, what should I, the sect leader, do? Beat him up with you? Or punish you?”

Jiang Cheng is actively trying to court favor with the Jin but cannot do that if Wei Wuxian refuses to show grace to his social “betters”. And Wei Wuxian calls him out on this, particularly as his altercations with Jin Zixuan have all been in defense of Jiang Yanli:

Wei WuXian, “It’s not impossible? Have you forgotten what he did in Langya? You’re telling me that it’s not impossible?”

Jiang Cheng, “He’s probably regretting it.”

Wei WuXian, “Who cares if he regrets it. Do we have to forgive him just because he apologized? Look at what his dad’s like. Maybe he’ll be the goddamn same in the future, killing time searching everywhere for women. Have shijie be with him? You could take it?”

Jiang Cheng’s voice was frozen, “See if he dares!” After a pause, Jiang Cheng glanced at him before he continued, “But, it’s not like you have a say in whether he’s forgiven or not. Sister likes him, so what can we do?”

Jiang Cheng starts by defending Jin Zixuan by assuming that Jin Zixuan feels bad, making no mention whatsoever of any changed behavior of the other man’s that would justify such an assumption. It is only after Wei Wuxian brings up Jin Guangshan’s reputation that he even begins to defend his sister, but, once again, he pauses and pivots in defense of Jin Zixuan, this time by placing the blame on Jiang Yanli’s “feelings” for why they “must” make nice, because he knows that Wei Wuxian isn’t moved by appeals to power or reputation. Nevermind that two months prior, Jiang Yanli had chosen to leave the Phoenix Mountain hunt with Wei Wuxian, and in the scene immediately after the above conversation, Jiang Yanli is reluctant to talk about “why would someone like another person” and deflects to asking Wei Wuxian if he likes someone, instead. Reinstating the engagement is not Jiang Yanli’s present will, which only leaves Jiang Cheng’s will to consider.

Jiang Cheng’s priority when it comes to Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s relationship is not his sister’s feelings or well-being but ensuring that he can ally his recently demolished clan to the new leaders of the cultivation world where he has been locked out by every other avenue. And he is willing to overlook every red flag Jin Zixuan displays towards Jiang Yanli in order for this engagement to go through.

[atthebell]

i think the weirdest thing to me about all the mr beast stuff is i thought everyone was aware that he's a scammer and probably treats people in his videos very poorly? like i know that he donates a lot of money to some charities (which, first of all, is a tax write-off for him and also several of these charities are also owned and run by him-- not trying to accuse him of stealing charity money, just pointing out that it just makes him look better) but that does not equal good person or even net neutral. bill gates donates millions of dollars a year to charity, that doesn't make him a "good" rich person and that doesn't mean philanthropy magically makes up for making millions or, in the case of gates, billions of dollars off the backs of other people's labor.

but aside from the philanthropy angle being a stupid way to think about morals, it just seems weird to me that any of this is surprising to people. mr beast has spent years making clickbaity over the top flashy content for the sake of making money and gaining followers. he runs big grand competitions that often involve people humiliating themselves or spending a great deal of time doing ridiculous stunts for youtube's amusement for the chance to win some money (or get some clout). this whole deal has seemed scummy to me since i learned about it in like 2021. he's always pretty obviously been a kind of scummy content creator, regardless of how nice he seems or how cool his employees are (which, i find most of them boring anyway, but that's neither here nor there).

i'm also genuinely never surprised when it turns out some giant over the top piece of media, particularly some kind of reality content, involved a ton of exploitation and mistreatment. people not receiving medical care or food and water or adequate housing during shoots does not seem the least bit surprising to me, both because mr beast is not actually a professional in the entertainment industry (or at least doesn't have the infrastructure of one, as is the case for many youtubers/internet celebs who make it big) and because it's reality content. even professional reality television involves a huge amount of mistreatment and exploitation-- see criticisms of love island, ayto, survivor, any number of other reality tv shows.

i think i'm just baffled as to how this is shocking to anyone, and why people seemed convinced that mr beast the guy was a good person even if his content was lame/for shock and awe. like why did you think that??? do we have deeply different understandings of what it takes to make content like this???? i'm just confused

[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 30 - Record of Sorrow

Giorgio: “What? Neither of you brought your beloveds with you?”

Alessandro: “We could say the same about you, Giorgio.”

Bruno: “My parents have been telling me it’s time to start thinking about my future, but it’s not that easy.”

Giorgio: “It’s not easy being an heir. That’s why it’s easier being a second-born son.”

Alessandro: “I guess it’s not easy being a lord’s chamberlain either.”

Bruno: “I hear all sorts of rumors all the time.”

Giorgio: “Well… I won’t get into the details here.”

Bruno: “Smart.”

Alessandro: “I hear the Guelphs have been growing in numbers and activity lately.”

Giorgio: “The Guelphs, huh? I hope things don’t take too radical of a turn.”

Bruno: “I can understand their side, and they seem to have quite the following in bigger cities.”

Giorgio: “You shouldn’t say that in front of my lord.”

Alessandro: “Regardless of which side wins, Verona’s future is secure. We’re here, after all.”

Bruno: “You’re as confident as ever, Alessandro.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Gildo: “They say they were both bright, talented, and had promising futures. Then one day, the incident happened.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Alessandro: “One of the Capulet family’s heirlooms was stolen!?”

Bruno: “It was a necklace that had one large ruby surrounded by small sapphires that was given to our family by a king in the past. There’s no other like it in the world.”

Bruno: “The whole house is in an uproar at the moment. There’s been talk of getting the Montague family to help in finding the culprit.”

Alessandro: “Of course, we’ll help. We’ll find who did it, I swear on it.”

Giorgio: “My lord is making his move as well. We’ll find who did it soon.”

Bruno: “I can only hope…”

Soldier: “Which of you is Alessandro Montague?”

Alessandro: “Huh? That would be me.”

Soldier: “You’re under arrest for stealing from the Capulet family.”

Alessandro: “Me!? I did no such thing!”

Soldier: “We have a witness. You can’t escape this.”

Giorgio: “Alessandro would never do something like that.”

Bruno: “T-That’s right. There must be some kind of mistake.”

Soldier: “If you try and cover for him, you’ll both be arrested with him as accomplices.”

Bruno: “You--.”

Alessandro: “It’ll be okay. I didn’t do it. I’m sure they’ll realize this is all just a misunderstanding soon.”

Giorgio: “Alessandro…”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Gildo: “In the end, Alessandro was executed as a major criminal. And not long after, someone assassinated Bruno as well.”

Gildo: “Rumor had it that the Montague family, out of hatred over their loss of Alessandro, decided to take him from the Capulets with their own hands…”

Gildo: “To this day, no one knows what the truth really is.”

Romeo: “That’s…”

Julius: “Have you ever heard that story before?”

Romeo: “No, never…”

Gildo: “That’s actually not too surprising. In order to avoid conflict between the two families, the matter was strictly kept hushed by the lords, and the truth was kept in the dark.”

Gildo: “However, from what I’ve heard, this only added to their mutual suspicion and hatred of one another, further deepening the feud between the two families.”

Romeo: “Who would’ve thought it was because of something like that…”

Julius: “It’s still too soon to trust what he says.”

Romeo: “But--.”

Gildo: “You two are welcome to believe my story or not. I myself only found out about it while reading my grandfather’s diary after he died.”

Gildo: “When he was alive, he hardly ever talked about his time in Verona.”

Gildo: “That’s why when I heard your names, I actually thought that my grandfather had been accused of some crime and that you were here to get your revenge on him.”

Romeo: “It really was just a coincidence.”

Gildo: “...My grandfather wrote in his diary that he still believed in Alessandro’s innocence.”

Gildo: “...He said he wasn’t the kind of person who would steal.”

Gildo: “And apparently both the Montagues and the Capulets mourned Alessandro’s death.”

Gildo: “He said they never would’ve done something like kill Bruno.”

Gildo: “I think my grandfather always regretted what happened to the two of them. But in the end, he died without ever figuring out the truth.”

Romeo: “...Then let’s find the real culprit.”

Gildo: “What…?”

Julius: “Hey, what are you going on about? We don’t even know if his story is true yet.”

Romeo: “Then let’s figure out the truth about that too.”

Julius: “You act like it’s just that simple…”

Romeo: “We can do it. As long as it’s you and me, Julius.”

Julius: “Haaah…”

Gildo: “...Please. It has to be fate that I met the two of you like this. If things are just left as they are, my grandfather will never be able to move on.”

Gildo: “They apparently never found the stolen Capulet family treasure. Please find it.”

Romeo: “Leave it to us! Just get some rest and let your leg heal, Gildo!”

Julius: “Hey, Romeo, wait!”

Gildo: “Take my grandfather’s diary with you. It could be of some use to you.”

Romeo: “Thank you!”

*Door closes*

Gildo: “Those two are the future you dreamed of, aren’t they? …Right, Grandpa?”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Julius: “So what exactly is your plan to find the truth? If we go back to Verona, we’ll be arrested on sight.”

Romeo: “We’ve still got Father Lawrence, don’t we?”

Julius: “I have been keeping in touch with Father, but I’m not sure we can get him to help with something like this… Ah, but if we asked Mercutio and Tybalt--.”

Romeo: “Yeah! I’m sure they’ll help us!”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Mercutio: “Achoo.”

Rosaline: “Do you have a cold?”

Mercutio: “Nah, must just be someone talking about me. Thank you for today. I’ve got some business to attend to at the church. See you.”

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Door opens*

Mercutio: “Good afternoon.”

Father Lawrence: “We’ve been waiting for you, Mercutio.”

Tybalt: “He called you here too?”

Mercutio: “You too, Tybalt? Does that mean…?”

Father Lawrence: “These are for you two.”

Father Lawrence: “They are letters that arrived from Romeo and Julius.”

Mercutio: “From those two!?”

Tybalt: “I knew it… So they really were in contact with you, Father Lawrence.”

Mercutio: “You knew?”

Tybalt: “No, but knowing Julius, I figured he must’ve been keeping in touch with someone.”

Mercutio: “Huh, Romeo would’ve never thought of doing that.”

Tybalt: “Evidently.”

Mercutio: “Your brother complex is showing.”

Father Lawrence: “Please read them.”

Tybalt: “The cause of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets…? I’ve never heard about anything like this before.”

Mercutio: “Me neither.”

Father Lawrence: “This must’ve happened before I came to this city.”

Mercutio: “If this turns out to be true, and they’re found innocent, maybe both families will be able to get along a little better.”

Tybalt: “I think I can help with this.”

Tybalt: “Although the previous lord is dead, I’m sure there are records from that time at his mansion. I’ll start doing some research.”

Mercutio: “I think Rosaline’s father was in and out of that place all the time when the previous lord lived there, so I’ll ask him about it.”

Tybalt: “Speaking of that, you should tell the both of them about her sooner rather than later.”

Mercutio: “Ahh… Well, I’ll tell them about it when this is all sorted out.”

Tybalt: “Don’t come crying to me when things go south.”

Father Lawrence: “Please be careful, you two.”

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[alteon77]

The Bizarre Breeding Habits of Anthropomorphic Personifications: Chapter 7

It's a tale as old as time.

Two idiots fall in love. Two idiots fall out of love.

Neither one of them is expecting a baby to come along and derail their unhappily ever after.

Chapter One here, AO3 here, Masterlist here

Chapter Summary: Morpheus pretends to be human in the doctor's office. He's... um, surprisingly not great at it.

By the time Morpheus finally locates her, he's nearly incandescent with rage.  

It is fair, he thinks, to be so angry, so wholly upset with her for this act of foolishness and for the panic that she's caused both him and her brother. It had been only forty minutes prior that Viego had summoned him, that the maker had called Morpheus to him and then belligerently accused him of stealing May to hide her away in the Dreaming. And while Morpheus had been furious at Viego for this, he'd been more fearful than anything else. The idea of May going outside of the very wards keeping her safe, the idea of her leaving that protection with no magic or defensive capabilities to speak of, had brought forth an overwhelming swell of terror that rose sickeningly up within him in a matter of mere seconds. 

The relief he'd felt at finding her had given him only a moment of solace, a brief flicker of the sensation before the mess of emotional turmoil roiling in his mind had swiftly transformed into indignation. How. Dare. She. How dare she engage in such a foolish stunt. How dare she endanger herself and their child by way of such astounding recklessness. Makers are hunted regularly and mercilessly by witches and gods and all manner of supernatural creatures, and any who had happened upon her in her current weakened state would have surely made short work of capturing her. 

In the underground area where he'd finally located her, Morpheus stalks to her vehicle as she gets out of it, her face wan and weary in fatigue, all of her as worn out as she herself has been these days past.  

"No… I was driving. I don't answer when I'm driving. You know that….. No…. I just had some stuff to take care of…. I'm keeping a low profile. No…. Stop it. I wasn't followed…. Yes…. " she says into the phone held against her ear. "You did what? Why… Why would you do that?" She pauses, and he notices that there's a bottle of water in her hand that she takes a seemingly reluctant drink of, grimacing in disgust at the taste. "No, Viego. I don't know how to get a hold of him right this moment. He doesn't exactly carry a phone or-" 

"There is no need to seek me out," he cuts in roughly. "I am here." 

His sudden appearance startles her, and she recoils a little at the sight of him, the hand holding her water coming up to rest over her heart as if to soothe the too-rapid beat of that organ. 

"Viego," she relays over the phone, her voice shaking slightly. "I'm going to have to call you back. Morpheus is… Yeah…. Don't worry about summoning him again. No, I'm looking at him right now." 

He glowers her way, his hands clenched tight at his side as he works to calm himself. "You might inform him that I will be personally bringing you home this-" 

"We'll be back in a bit. No…. I've got errands to run. Don't worry about it. Bye." She presses a button on her device and slides it into the small bag hanging from her shoulder, clearly careful in her attempt at ignoring him as he fumes before her. 

"Not in a bit, as you say. We will be leaving immediately for-" 

"Can't. Won't. Not gonna happen." 

He seethes, his anger ratcheting up at her apparent nonchalance over the gravity of her folly. "Are you aware of the danger inherent in being outside of the warding protecting you?" 

"Look, I left Viego a voicemail letting him know about all this. I'm sorry if he roped you into something that you shouldn't have even had to stress about." 

"You cannot be oblivious enough to think that is why I am infuriated," he growls. "Both Viego and myself have been scouring this city for the better part of an hour, terrified you had been taken by some enemy that meant you harm. And your response to worrying us so dramatically is that you had errands you need attend? There is no excuse for removing yourself from the warding, especially in light of the fact that it is the only thing keeping you safe in your condition." 

With great effort, he attempts to settle his raging temper, aware as he is that it would do this world no favors were he to lose control of his powers while in it. 

"Worrying you so dramatically? I mean, dramatically is definitely a word I'd use with how you're acting," May snarks before taking another sip of her water.  

"And what precisely is the meaning of that?" 

"Just that this is ridiculous. I'm a grown woman. I'll go where I want and do what I want, and you are both welcome to take that suffocating overprotectiveness that you're holding over my face like a pillow and shove it up your-" 

"Do not," he snaps. "Now, gather your things. I am returning you to your brother." 

"I am not a package that you can just hand off back and forth. And I am absolutely not going anywhere with you until I'm done. I have something I have to take care of in about-" She checks her watch. "Thirty minutes. There's a diner near here if you want to get coffee while you wait for me to finish, but I am not leaving." 

He clenches his jaw hard enough that he would break teeth were he human. "What aim could be so important that you would foolishly risk being captured to accomplish it?" 

"It's none of your-" 

"If you finish that sentence with the word business, I will grab hold of you this moment and shift you. I've no patience for your recalcitrance this day." 

May scoffs derisively. "You not having patience? Wooow. Color me shocked." 

"Tell me what you deemed so necessary that it justified this… imprudence," he hisses, ignoring her sarcastic remark as to his composure.

Oh, no no no no no. Don't throw up. Do not throw up. You've got to keep your water down for just another hour. You can do it, but not… not if you're going to keep fighting. So fuckin' de-escalate this mess and stop being stubborn. It's for the baby. You can absolutely swallow your pride for the baby's sake, damn it.  

He frowns at her, thoroughly confused at these words of hers flitting across his awareness. She is not speaking them aloud, and yet he hears them clearly in his mind, a rather puzzling occurrence given that he's never really been able to read her thoughts, never been able to peek past her mental shields and figure out what's going on in her head. He wonders if the dwindling disappearance of her magic is the cause of this, the usual walls around her mind possibly fading as her powers are and allowing him the capability to read her as easily as she might peruse a book. 

The color drains from her complexion as what he assumes is nausea overcomes her, and she draws in a few deep breaths, seemingly steadying herself before she gestures vaguely towards a concrete wall of this strange, cavernous area they're both in, the one that smells of fossil fuels and is full of nothing but stationary vehicles. He thinks it's known as a parking garage, but he's never truly been in one before, so he is unsure as to whether or not that is precisely what this darkened, poorly lit monstrosity is. "I'm… going there. Okay? I'm… I'm visiting a doctor." 

His eyes narrow as he glances first where she has indicated and then back at her. "That is naught but a wall." 

She rolls her eyes at him as if what he's said is absurdly exasperating to her. "There's a building on the other side of the street from here with a doctor in it. I'm going there." 

"You have found a suitable healer?" 

She fidgets in front of him, playing with the label on the bottle still in her hand. "No. I'm… I'm going to a regular human doctor." 

He's taken aback by this, wholly surprised as he moves closer to her. "A human doctor?"

Her fidgeting increases, the movements getting more pronounced. "Yeah… because I'm… well, pregnant. And Tammy was right." 

"Tammy? Who is Tammy? And what use will a mortal physician be in your case? Need I remind you that you are no human."

She rolls her eyes again and scoffs as if he's the one who's said something nonsensical. "Whaaaat? Are you sure? Well damn, I guess that totally explains the being alive for thousands of years and not aging thing. I just thought it was my kick ass moisturizer keeping me all young looking." 

"May-" 

Her arms cross over her chest, and it makes her appear… smaller somehow, fragile. "A human doctor is kind of all there is," she admits with a heavy sigh, a thread of defeat woven into her confession.  

His mouth turns down at her words, his brows knitting together as he considers this, grasping for some sort of understanding. "I fail to see-" 

"I'm sure you do, but… please don't argue with me on this. Whatever opinions you might have about me getting checked out by this guy today, the fact remains that he's got a hell of a lot more answers than I do right now, and I… I need answers." 

She looks away when she says this, avoiding his gaze as a barely there blush lights up what he can see of her face in its sideways profile. An unexpected shame curls in his stomach as he considers the situation before him. She's worried, obviously so, and yet she feels compelled to plead with him on this matter, to ask that he leave her be as she attempts to seek help for herself. The fact that part of this is his doing, that her current suffering is a direct result of the child he'd put inside of her, makes him feel… lowly, as if he should hate himself for adding to the burden of what she carries now when he knows he should be doing what he can to lighten it.  

"Very well. If it will… assist you, then I've nothing to say except that I… should like to accompany you."  

Shock takes over her expression as she at last turns back to him. "Wait. What?" 

"I said that I should like to accompany you. If you will permit me, of course." 

Her eyes narrow at him, scrutinizing his face as if searching for any sign that he is lying. "Are you… sure?" 

No, he is assuredly not certain of this course, but telling her so would do neither of them any favors. "I would scarcely have offered were I not." 

"But… why?" She seems perplexed that he should wish to be with her while doing this, uncomprehending of the possibility that he might desire to help her. 

"I dislike the idea of you being unattended while you are so…" Weakened, he wants to say, powerless and fragile and ill. He does not speak those things, however, since he feels that to call her any of them might reignite the ever-present tension inherent in their new dynamic. "Indisposed." 

She blows out a breath that's half laugh, half frustration. "I'm not a Victorian debutante. It's perfectly fine for me to be alone." 

Alone. That word. It coils in his belly like a poisonous snake, sinking its venomous fangs into the vulnerable flesh of his insides. She had offered to raise their child alone. By herself. Without him even having knowledge of its existence. Not for the first time, he wishes he could reach back through the millennia and pluck that infernal grimoire from the very fabric of the universe, undoing all of its horrid history so that May would never have thought to lie to him about it. A child would have been a happy occurrence for them if not for the dark, thunderous cloud of her betrayal hanging over their tattered relationship.

Still, there is no place for his anger, for his sorrow in the reality of his… of May seeking medical attention for herself. "Nonetheless, I would prefer to escort you." 

May studies him warily, clearly unsure of this seeming capitulation from him. "You… can tag along if you want. I mean… she's your kid too, so if you want to be there, I won't stop you." 

"She?" 

Her apprehension melts away in an instant, a loving smile blossoming on her face as one of her hands settles atop where their child grows, and the sight of this makes his heartbeat speed up, makes that manifested organ thud rapidly in his chest. Throughout his many eons of existence, she is the only one who has ever been able to affect it so, the only one who's ever caused such… mortal reactions within the boundaries of this flesh form of his.  

"Yeah," she answers quietly, a joy in her tone that reminds him of the softest parts of the universe. The silken smoothness of her skin beneath his fingertips. The hazy twinkle of a galaxy above him. The muted shine of a sun in the wake of spring storms. The feel of a new babe in his arms, tender and trusting. "She. I've… got a feeling it's a girl." 

A daughter. A little girl with May's lovely eyes and her beautiful smile. The dream of it is enchanting, captivating enough that he has to forcibly pull himself from its hold, but the want it causes within him lingers on the edges of his thoughts. If things weren't so strained between them, then he would tell her how greatly he wishes for such a thing, how now that the vision of it is in his mind, he can scarcely see their infant as anything except a daughter. But… he cannot give voice to these sentiments, not with his feelings so uncharacteristically flayed and raw, and that is assuredly what they are at this moment. "You cannot know the child's… gender at this stage." 

May sighs and brushes past him, walking towards a door on their right marked Stairwell B. It is instinct for him to match his pace to hers, to keep by her side as she wearily begins the arduous trip up and out of the garage. She's been faint for weeks, and he's very aware that her collapses seem to have no set pattern, no real warning before they occur. It puts him on alert for the risk of another, especially given the fearsome nature of these stairs were she to fall unconscious and tumble down them. And so he means to stay close out of caution, ready to catch her should the need arise. 

"Probably not," she tells him somewhat breathlessly, and he fights the urge to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. He knows better, though. Whatever tentative peace they're trying to create between themselves would be utterly demolished if he were to engage in such an act. "But… it's just a feeling. I can't really explain it." 

As they emerge from the garage, the sun is blindingly bright, and he glances at May where she's wincing from the shine of it. There's a nervousness radiating from her, an anxiety so great that it almost seems like he's experiencing it as his own.  

"Will you be disappointed if it is not a girl?" he questions in an effort to take her mind off her disquiet.  

At the crosswalk where they're waiting for the light to change, she looks towards him, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I just… want her to be healthy. Everything else is kinda… secondary to that." 

He mulls over this while they continue walking. Is she fearful that the child might not be well? Does she think that her sickness is affecting it in some way? He would ask, but he knows that she will not grant him the truth of the matter, not now. In their new relationship, she seems unwilling to show any sort of vulnerability before him, unwilling to do anything that might be indicative of a need where he's concerned. 

It makes him think of those decades before their union had ended, of those years when they'd depended on one another, when she'd never hesitated to show him the most fragile parts of herself, when he'd never hesitated to reveal his own shortcomings. Together, they had each closed the gaps in the other, had strengthened their varying frailties and softened their harsh angles by dint of their love and respect and hope. But now… that is no longer the case. Now, things are shattered between them, the pieces of what they once shared set aflame by her betrayal and allowed to burn until only ashes remain of their once-great love. 

On arriving at the building she had pointed at earlier, he steps forward to pull open the door for her, and she pauses, seemingly stunned by this meager consideration from him. Something vicious inside of him twists, and that sorrow he'd sworn to ignore earlier comes rearing back with a vengeance.  

Calm down, you actual idiot, she thinks, and it's louder in his mind this time than it was the last. He doesn't mean anything by it, doesn't care about you or what you're going through. It's just a habit for him. Stop reminiscing on how he used to do this. Stop thinking about how things used to be. Just smile and walk in before he notices you freaking out, for fuck's sake.  

And then she does. A threadbare smile tugs her lips up before she steps inside the cool air of the medical facility, a chill taking over her that almost has him stripping off his jacket to drape about her shoulders. Given her mental diatribe regarding his merely opening the door for her, however, he doesn't think that covering her with his coat would be well received. 

Across the rather large room they find themselves in, there's a counter set at the opposite corner, its front marked with a sign that reads Check In. The receptionist sitting behind it is an older woman who raises an eyebrow at May and Morpheus when they approach.  

"Can I help you?" she questions in a way that makes him think she'd rather not actually help them at all.  

May gives a gracious smile. "Yes. I'm Doctor Martin's eleven o'clock." 

The woman, whom Morpheus is growing to dislike more and more with every second they stand there, gives May an unimpressed once-over before turning her attention to a computer in front of her. "Michaela Westin?" 

Morpheus glances down at May. It's a new name for her, one of a dozen he's heard her take over the century he's truly known her for, but it surprises him still. That she has assumed another false identity is not strange, a necessary evil she'd once called it, but that she should choose to do so even with those she might trust with her health is jarring. Was it simply Viego's paranoia that drove her to do such a thing? Or something else? Something more to do with their quick escape from their previous home? Matthew had told him that their journey to the new location had been an unpleasant one, that May had been sickly for the entirety of it and that Viego had apologized for being unable to stop and allow her rest. Granted, the older maker has always been meticulous when it came to his sister's safety, even during those many years that she had resided in the Dreaming, but... today had been different. Viego had been off. Not for the first time, Morpheus wonders if there is some specific danger that he is not being told of, if May and her brother are purposely keeping yet another secret from him.  

After all, it is not as if she's never done it before. 

"I found you. You're here for an appointment and an eight week scan. Is that right?" 

"Yeah. I drank all the water I needed to, and I'm… good to go." 

"It says here that you're… self pay. We'll need to verify your payment information."  

"Of course." May rummages around in her purse, bringing her wallet out and sliding a black card emblazoned with the words American Express towards the receptionist, who picks it up and eyes it doubtfully. 

"This is yours? No offense, hun, but I'm going to need your ID." 

May's all politeness, all sweetness despite the woman's obvious rudeness. "No problem," she says as she hands another card over, this one with her picture on the front of it.  

And the woman, whom he can glean is named Karen Talbot, seems just as unimpressed by this as she had by May's appearance. Morpheus feels anger swell up inside of him for this foul creature's disrespect. He very rarely cares for what mortals think of him, but he can see from Karen's thoughts that her opinion of May is a low thing, one full of prejudice and assumption. Unwed and with child, a morally unacceptable state by her small-minded reckoning. Never mind that May is kind and loving and his… Well, his nothing now, he supposes. She does not belong to him any longer, can be called nothing else in regards to him save for being referred to as the mother of his child.  

He'd like to pretend he doesn't understand why that realization drives a spike of pain through his heart, but he cannot. It would be too large of a lie for him to swallow.  

The receptionist casts a discourteous, dubious look at him. "And are you a… party to this?" She gestures towards May. "Maybe an… acquaintance of hers?" 

May seeks to intercede, clearly trying to save him from having to interact with this loathsome female. "Oh, no. He's-" 

"Her husband," Morpheus supplies before he can stop himself. He's not given to lying usually, not one to truly waste his time with falsehoods, and yet in these circumstances he almost feels it necessary.  

"She indicated she was single on the intake forms," Karen argues, and in that instant he begins crafting his most terrifying punishment for her, begins envisioning what horror he will visit on her when he dooms her to an eternity of never ending sleep with his most savage Nightmares.  

"An oversight clearly excused by her condition, I assure you," he practically growls in response. It is a petty thing, perhaps, to allow some of his power into the words, to touch this woman's mind with a hint of the nightmarish hell he's capable of inflicting upon her, but he relishes it all the same. The receptionist pales, and he takes a sort of perverse pleasure in that as well.  

"Sorry for that. I'm his wife. Pregnancy brain is absolutely real and absolutely horrible," May interjects, her voice an octave higher than usual in something that Morpheus would call panic. "Should we just wait over here then? That would… probably be best."  

The receptionist is staring at Morpheus with wide, terrified eyes as she shakily holds out a clipboard with a stack of papers atop it. "I… um… I need him to fill out the… the forms." 

"Right. The forms," May answers, far too quickly as she snatches a pen from the cup of them on the desk. "We'll get those taken care of and back to you in a jiffy." 

And then she's grabbing hold of Morpheus' sleeve and tugging him impatiently to a set of chairs at the farthest end of the room.  

"Don't do that," she hisses when they've sat down. "The poor woman looked like she was going to have a heart attack." 

"Poor woman? She should consider herself fortunate that you intervened, else she would have been thrust into the most abhorrent, cruel fate I was capable of rendering unto a mortal. Do you know what she was thinking of you? Do you have any idea how grievously she was judging you?" he hisses right back. 

"Even without my magic, I was picking up on it. Okay? But you don't need to worry about that. I'm a big girl. I can handle someone not approving of my life choices."  

He doesn't care. He doesn't care. He doesn't care, her thoughts ring out in his mind. He's just got a vested interest in the baby, and you're housing the baby, so get a hold of yourself.  

"I could not stand idly by while she spoke to you so disrespectfully." 

The sound she makes is one of immense irritation. "Well, you defended my honor and now there's a stack of paperwork for me to fill out, so thanks for that." 

He doesn't know what she expects him to say to that, as he's certainly not going to apologize. But… then he remembers that he had been trying to lighten the load of her stress, and a sense of misgiving washes over him. 

"You need not manage this on my behalf." He reaches out decisively to pluck the clipboard from her lap. "I am more than capable of this task."

"Hey!" she whisper-protests. "Don't… Just let me do it. It's-" 

"I will see to this. It is not up for discussion." 

May purses her lips and then puts her hands up, palm out, in a gesture of surrender. "Okay. Fine. Have it your way." 

Christ on a potato, he's really rocking that surly, toddler temper tantrum energy now, she thinks.  

Morpheus gives her a side-eyed glare for that comment, despite that she had not actually spoken it aloud, before he starts on the forms. It only takes him a few minutes to realize that he might… be on unsteady footing regarding this specific undertaking. Of course, he refuses to accept her assistance or admit anything resembling defeat, so he forges ahead with what he'd set out to do.  

She tries several more times to help him in poring over the frankly obscene number of redundant questions he's required to answer, but he only waves her attempts away. And for a time she seems to settle, though he knows that she is merely taking a different approach as he can feel her eyes on him still, watching while he ticks away at the multitude of boxes. She says nothing, staying silent until he comes to the form titled Medical History.  

May chokes out a muted laugh and reaches over to tap the page where he'd just written I am no more tense than usual, certainly not enough to warrant use of the word hyper beside one of the boxes.  

"Yeah. Cross that out," May instructs him blithely. "Hypertension is a condition where mortals have high blood pressure, which… you don't even have blood if you don't want to." 

As he strikes an angry line through the sentence, he cannot help his scowl. "This is irritatingly tedious."

She shrugs as if his ire is of no real concern to her. "I offered to do it for you." 

"This entire outing is an exercise in futility, wholly pointless considering that this mortal doctor will likely be unable to assist you in any meaningful way." 

Her face falls, a sudden melancholy coming over her that brings him up short. "Just… don't start that." 

Her thoughts this time are very loud, and he ponders over the curious phenomenon anew. Typically, he has to actively seek the mental workings of another out. He's not used to having such things projected into his awareness, and hers seem to be growing in intensity and volume with every occurrence. I'm such an idiot. Of fucking course he couldn't just stow his crap and let me get help. Never mind that I think I'm actually dying or something. Even that isn't important enough to get him to cool it.   

Dying? Is she truly fearful that her… her illness is so dire? 

His shoulders drop from where they'd been unconsciously tensed, and he blinks several times as he scrutinizes her more closely. She's a gaunt thing, he realizes then, from the dark smudges under her eyes to the unnatural pallor of her skin. Her lips are dry and cracked in places, one particular spot on the lower one especially red as if she is so dehydrated that the skin there is breaking apart and bleeding. 

In that moment, he feels vile, loathsome, like nothing less than the most revolting sort of pond scum, like his treatment of her in this instance is even more contemptible than the receptionist's had been. Despite their past and his upset over it, May is currently grappling with something he cannot understand, rendered weak and weary from the weight of his seed growing inside of her. She is uncharacteristically afraid, he can see now, drained of her magic and suffering from what he'd unintentionally done to her by getting her with child in the first place.  

And all he has offered her in return for this burden she's carrying is his petulant sullenness, his mean-spirited pessimism. 

"I… apologize," he murmurs before he can even stop to consider what he's saying, "if I've given you cause to feel you must argue with me on this matter. It… was not my intention." 

Her expression gentles, and her eyes well with tears that she hastily wipes at. "It's… I get it. This… isn't what you're used to." 

"Nonetheless, it is… no excuse for my churlishness." 

She nods, and his heart wrenches uncomfortably with how very bereft she seems as she does so. "It's… okay." 

His eyes narrow as he considers this acceptance from her. How very easily she forgives him. How quickly she dismisses his faults in having behaved so abhorrently towards her.  

How different things might have been between them if only he were capable of doing the same.  

He must not think of that, must not imagine what could have been. That part of their relationship is done, the path of it obliterated and lost so that only mere echoes of it remain, but he knows that they can learn to do better by one another going forward. With the both of them preparing to parent a child together, they truly have no other choice in the matter. 

"And how shall I answer this?" he asks as he points randomly at a word on the checklist of mortal maladies before him. It is an olive branch of sorts, a gesture meant to demonstrate to her that he is willing to listen. 

Suspiciously, her eyes flick up at him before she turns them down to where he's indicated. 

"Heart disease? I'm pretty sure you know you don't have that." A barely there smile tugs her lips up, and it is a sad thing to behold, like the drooping petals of a wilting flower trying to bloom. "You could probably just answer no to everything. It's… what I did." 

"Very well." 

"And… whatever you do, don't put down how many actual glasses of wine you can consume in a day when it gets to that part." 

He frowns at her, his mind working to make sense of what she's just told him. "I assume… it would be a tell that I am not… normal then," he guesses. 

Her eyes sparkle faintly with an unexpected mirth, a sort of teasing shine to them that is still dulled somehow. "Big yes. Biggest yes ever." 

"I see." 

When he's finished, May cautiously takes the forms from his hand to look over everything, and he surrenders the papers to her without dissent. A month ago, such an act on her part would have infuriated him, but he's… regretful. The self-hatred he feels in the wake of his actions is churning inside of him violently, forcing him to an apologetic tentativeness. And May has always had a far better sense of the norms in this realm than he, a truth he had recognized very early in their relationship when they made their occasional trips into the Waking. He supposes that she would be the best to ensure his answers are satisfactory.  

After she's scanned it all twice, she goes to stand, and he stays her with a hand on her arm. 

"What is it? I'm just heading over there to hand this to the receptionist."

"Sit," he orders roughly before gentling his tone. "I shall do so in your stead." 

May hesitates. "You're not going to do anything else to… anyone, are you?" 

It takes him a minute before he understands her meaning. The receptionist. She's worried for the receptionist. It is only with great control that he keeps his expression from darkening in remembrance. That woman had been abysmally rude to May, had treated her as if she were less than, as if she were something low and offensive, and all May is concerned with is making sure he doesn't exact retribution on the human. He struggles to reconcile her kindness, her goodness, with the fact that she had assuredly composed spells for that infernal grimoire, had written the very one that ensnared him even.  

"I will… merely deliver these documents and then return to you. No… further defense of your honor, as you call it." 

"Morpheus-" 

"You have my word."

That seems to assuage her fear as she huffs out a resigned sigh before passing him the clipboard, and he rises to his feet, stalking to where Karen is still watching him with wide eyes, her whole demeanor like that of a rat with a hungry hawk swooping overhead. 

Good. 

"The… n-nurse should… should take her back in a… in a minute," Karen informs him as she holds out May's cards for him between her trembling fingers. 

Morpheus glares as he bites his tongue on saying what he wishes to, which is that she is a poor example of humanity given to ignorance and the most foolish of the moral mires inherent in her society. But he… refuses to speak such truths given that by doing so he would only serve to further distress his… to further distress May, and he does not wish to see any more troubled than she already is.  

"Very well," he grants instead, even as he idly wonders if it would be a violation of his oath to May were he to send this woman a particularly foul nightmare when next she slept. Something, perhaps, that might assist her in loosening her hold on her hateful prejudices.  

"Thank you, Karen." May says, startling him as she appears at his side, taking her cards from the woman to slide them back inside her bag. "Did I hear you say the nurse would come get me soon?" 

Karen, however, won't look away from Morpheus, and any other time he might take a sense of pride in her obvious fear. Now, however, he's too busy peering down at May in confusion. Had she not trusted him to do this? Had she believed that he would disregard his vow to her on leaving the mortal woman be?  

Why does the thought of her so thoroughly doubting him… hurt? 

He has no time to question her on any of this, though, as the door closest to him opens and another human steps out of it, a clipboard held in her hand as well. 

"Michaela Westin?"  

"That's me. I'm here. Hi." May smiles brightly, a veneer of polite cheer on her features that Morpheus thinks is but a mask. He's noticed her doing that often in the past few weeks, smiling as if she means it despite the air of hopelessness around her most of the time.  

"Hello there! I'm Annabeth. Let's get you back into a room, sweetheart, and then I'll get some more information from you before we get started." 

As May steps past him, it's instinct for him to rest his hand on the small of her back, to guide her so that she's walking slightly in front of him as they both cross this threshold.  

He follows her into the inner sanctum of the physician's office, trailing after the nurse as she leads them through the labyrinthine mess of hallways and doors before ushering them into a room, a sterile, clinically white space with a large window and a rather tall bed pushed up against the farthest wall. There's a chair off to one corner and May directs him to it, shoving her bag into his stomach as she demurely asks, "Will you hold this for me, love muffin?" 

Love… muffin? Love muffin? What a preposterous way to refer to him. The unmitigated cheek of this foolhardy female. It is only with a herculean effort that he manages to bite back his waspish response as he settles into the seat, glowering at her while he adjusts her bag in his hold. 

But then… the nurse has her step on a scale, writing down May's weight with a worried frown that makes Morpheus instantly forget his annoyance at her insolent epithet for him. 

"Why don't you hop up on the table for me, and I'll get some more vitals."

A strange panic is overwhelming him, but May seems calm, so he tries to placate himself as well, using her reactions a a guidepost for his own. When May's sitting on the bed, the nurse puts an odd device around the uppermost part of her arm, a cuff of some sort with a tube and a humming machine attached to it. 

And May remains relaxed. 

"It'll get tight, sugar," the nurse warns, and Morpheus tries to distract himself as she presses a button on the device. He studies this nurse, this Annabeth. She is… kinder than the receptionist had been, her mind drastically more pleasant, and he can read from it that she thinks May appears… sickly, more sickly than she should perhaps be. It's not quite fear she has, though, but more pity, a genuine compassionate urge to tend to May which Morpheus finds that he wholeheartedly approves.  

May winces, and suddenly Morpheus can take no more. He moves to rise, to go to her, to put an immediate end to this madness where she is being poked and prodded before him, but she stops him with a pointed glare. "I'm fine, dear. They're just checking my blood pressure."

Annabeth looks between May and Morpheus, her eyebrows raising in puzzlement before she seems to comprehend something that makes her laugh. "Oh, I get it. Protective husband is an overprotective daddy."

It's the wrong thing to say. 

The blood visibly drains from May's face, and Morpheus feels himself stiffen in shock. Their eyes meet, his and hers, and he can see the sadness there, the clear pain of what could have been. "He's… um… definitely going to be an overprotective dad," May replies, all of her quiet. Broken.

Annabeth, seemingly oblivious to this exchange, goes on with her task of scribbling things down on her clipboard. "Aw, don't fret about it, sweetie. The good ones get that way sometimes. I've had four myself, and my husband wouldn't even let me have my mornin' coffee because he was afraid the babies would come out with three heads or somethin'. It was frustratin' at the time, but in hindsight it was kinda darlin' of him."

Morpheus tears his eyes away from the woman he had once sought to marry, gathers himself as best as he can, and asks hoarsely, "I have read that women in such a state should not partake of caffeine."

Annabeth grins and wags a finger in his direction. "Now you don't start on her if she wants a cup or two. A little won't hurt anybody, even that tiny one of yours. And she sure looks like she could use a pick me up. Don't make it so she's gotta start keepin' a coffee machine and all the necessary fixins in her car like I had to."

May's unexpected laugh is beautiful, wholly melodic. "Your husband caused you to have to stealth brew coffee in your car?"

"Well, I'm fairly certain I'm eighty-seven percent caffeine, so I needed it like most people gotta have oxygen."

The smile May gives is genuine, her usual expression of enjoyment at having someone to converse with, and it strikes Morpheus that perhaps she is… lonely. "You're kind of making me want some coffee now, Annabeth."

"Good luck gettin' it past Mr. Overprotective over there."

To hear May laugh again loosens something in his chest, something that's had a ruthless hold of him since he'd feared she had been taken earlier. He tries to speak, to say anything, but his words are stuck in his throat as emotion swells within him. He loathes that he loves her, that he cares for her still despite that he should not. 

"All righty. Any other symptoms you want me to put in your chart for the doctor, sweetie?" Annabeth questions, and the sound of the nurse's voice snaps him out of his thoughts. "It says on your form that you've been gettin' sick."

May's easy contentment falters, her face falling. "I… Yes."

"How often, would you say?  

May casts a hesitant glance at Morpheus before turning her attention back to Annabeth. "Almost… every hour."

"You been keepin' anything down at all?" the nurse asks with a frown, her brows furrowed in concern as she scrutinizes May anew. 

May begins fidgeting again, something that she only engages in when she's especially nervous, and he feels his heart sink with dread. "Um… no. I don't think so."

Nothing at all? He had known that she was suffering from morning sickness, but to be retaining no nourishment cannot be safe for her or their child. Alarm floods him as the nurse moves to a cabinet and begins rummaging around in it. 

"Lord Mercy, that sounds horrid," she says as she pulls her hand free with a large rectangle of fabric clutched between her fingers. "I'm gonna need you to get undressed from the waist down and put this over your lap. We'll try to do the ultrasound abdominally at first, but if we can't get a good picture we'll switch to the transvaginal." She points to two buttons on the wall. "Press this green one when you're ready, and Dr. Martin will have a look at you and the baby, see if he can't figure out something to help you with that nausea."

Help. Yes… May needs help. For the first time since he'd began this little excursion with her, Morpheus thinks he finally understands why she'd felt desperate enough to seek any healer out, even one mortal and ill-suited to treat her.

"That sounds great," May breathes out, a relief in her tone that cuts at Morpheus. He'd been ready to stop her today, had been so aggravated at what he perceived to be a ridiculous folly that he'd threatened to forcibly shift her home. 

Annabeth grabs her papers and exits the room, leaving a heavy silence in her wake.

May undoes the top button of her pants before she at last spares him a glance. "Can you… look away? Maybe turn around or…"

He wants to remind her that he's seen her naked body more times than this planet they're on has had stars crash into its surface, but she seems unnerved again, altogether stressed by how he might respond to this request of hers. 

"If you wish, I could wait outside." 

May shakes her head. "No, that's fine. Just turn around. If I send you out of the room, they'll assume we're fighting or something." 

Dutifully, he faces away from her. "Ah, yes. It is important they do not see through the lie." 

"Hey, that's not on me," she tells him over the shuffling sounds she's making. "You told them we were married. I was perfectly fine with them thinking I liked to sleep around or that we'd just gotten blackout drunk one night in Vegas and knocked boots without a condom." 

He hadn't been fine with it, however. No matter her apparent acceptance of such a thing, the thought of her being viewed, being treated as less than had grated on him. "It doesn't… bother you? That they might… judge you so harshly for something they know nothing of?" 

"Nope. Believe it or not, humans are pretty cool about that stuff these days. Well, most of them. The bitchy receptionist was a fluke." 

"May-" 

She huffs out a short laugh. "Sorry. Sorry. I know. You don't like that word." 

His forehead creases."No, that is not… what I was intending to speak to you of. Please feel free to apply whatever colorful language you would like concerning that foul creature who greeted us upon entering." 

"Wow. She really did piss you off, huh?" 

He can hear the noise of paper crinkling behind him, and he wonders what exactly she's doing back there. "She angered me greatly. Her… attitude towards you was… unacceptable." 

The sounds stop as she responds, "There are always going to be people who think badly of you here. You… get used to it after a while." 

He can't help his scoff. "Is that meant to convince me that her behavior wasn't insulting?" 

"Nope. It's just… It is what it is. There's no point in letting it upset you… Also, you can turn around now if you want." 

She's sitting on the table, that mask of false cheer back on her face, the rectangle of fabric spread out over her bare lap, and without the benefit of a thick sweater on her, he can see exactly why the nurse had seemed uneasy when she'd taken May's weight. She's assuredly gotten thinner, likely a side effect of being unable to properly partake of  any nourishment. Panic twists his stomach into a knot. 

"Why… did you not inform me of how ill you were?" His voice is ragged with emotion, with the great well of battling sentiments inside of him. 

The mask slides off of her features, and she glances down guiltily at the floor, twiddling her fingers in a restlessness that speaks to her trepidation. "It just… wasn't something that I really could work into a conversation, you know? Or something I even thought you'd care about. Like, what was I supposed to say? Oh I know you hate me and all but by the way, I'm really sick." 

It's the second time she's mentioned him hating her, and despite the fact that he wishes he did, he's all too aware that he seems incapable of such a feeling where she's concerned. "Regardless of what you might assume, I do not… hate you." 

Her thoughts, when they filter through his mind, are devastating, wrenching his heart with all the vengeful viciousness of their separation. But you do. I can see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice. You might not want to admit it out loud, but you… you hate me. And I… hate me a little too. If only I could…. If only…. Never mind. It doesn't matter.  

He opens his mouth to address this, to deny it, but he falters, his words stuck on the tip of his tongue. After all, what might he say to correct this belief of hers? What could he honestly give her that would change her mind? How can he adequately explain his feelings when he doesn't even understand them himself? 

"You wanna press the button for me? So… I don't have to get up and all." 

Dejectedly, he reaches out to do just that, but... something gives him pause. There's an odd smell in the air, an acrid hint of ozone and burning leaves, all melded with the iron tang of blood. His power flares at the scent, a warning shooting through his awareness like a bolt of lightning striking a tree.  

Outside the room they're in, it's gone eerily silent. Deathly so, he would almost say, and when he expands his perception to get a read on who or what is near them, he's met with a disturbing blankness, one he's only ever known during the time he was trapped in that binding circle at Fawney Rig, the time all those decades ago that he was made powerless by Roderick Burgess.  

And in that moment, Morpheus knows two things with utter surety. The first is that he was indeed correct when he'd surmised earlier that May was in danger outside Viego's wards, that she had been reckless to leave them on her own. Obviously, something or someone has been tracking her, lying in wait for the opportunity they might have were she to be free of the ward's protections. The second thing he knows, and perhaps the part that most worries him, is that whatever or whomever has been on her trail is in this building with them. Right now.

NEXT CHAPTER

Tag List for BBHAP: @julesandro

If anyone else wants to be added to this or anything else let me know!!! <3

[mermaidsirennikita]

wait what's this nora roberts drama?

Soooo

YA author Tomi Adeyemi (disclaimer: I only read the first book in her series, I don't remember much aside from it not being for me, and to be fair I was finally accepting that I'd aged out of YA at the time) who has written the bestselling, soon-to-be-adapted Legacy of Orisha series, went on social media. She made the mistake of posting about Nora Robert's upcoming title, "Of Blood and Bone" with a comment about how it would be nice if an artist could make art without another artist shamelessly trying to profit off of this.

Presumably, she did this because Tomi's book was "Children of Blood and Bone".

A few issues that Tomi, someone who at that point was a successful published author, could've easily figured out with... A Google? A discussion with her agent? Basic knowledge about publishing that many other people who'd never been published would have?

A) Based on the publishing schedules of the book, it would be unlikely that Roberts saw Tomi's book and cranked out a manuscript and came up with a title to capitalize on Tomi's book. Indeed, it turned out that Nora had turned in her MS, with the title conceived presumably soon after, about a year before Tomi's book came out.

B) Even if the title was made to capitalize off Tomi's book, it's extremely unlikely that Nora had the final call on the title. Publishers often nix authors' title ideas. They brainstorm together. The publisher makes the final decision.

C) Neither title was especially original, particularly at that time (2018ish). Tomi's title was similar to many YA titles on the market. I mean, how may times have we seen "X of X and X"? There are meme generators about it, and it was already being snarked about in 2018. I mean, y'all, A Song of Ice and Fire came out DECADES ago.

D) Mimicking a title to capitalize on success, though I don't think that happened here, is not plagiarism. It's a title. There are many titles that are similar to each other. Is When the Duke Was Wicked by Lorraine Heath trying to rip off When He Was Wicked by Julia Quinn? The books compete in the same subgenre market. They definitely can benefit from people googling them and finding both. They're not similar in terms of plot at all. Titles are limited.

E) Nora and Tomi did not and not have similar audiences. Nora is a romance novelist who's branched into romantic suspense and dystopian/fantasy genres. She writes exclusively for adults. Tomi is a YA fantasy author.

Regardless of who these people are, all of this is true. Tomi's fans are all "WHO'S THAT BITCH STEALING YOUR TITLE" because yeah, they don't know who Nora Roberts is because they're teens or adults who read largely YA. They start going after Nora, who isn't even on social media lmao. (Which means Nora's assistant who runs her social media, of whom Nora has been vocally protective, is dealing with the vitriol.) Tomi doesn't call anyone off.

... Add to the mix two Nora-specific elements. Which then made a responding wave of people who are familiar with Nora's game, yours truly included, QUITE annoyed and also QUITE amused.

F) Nora Roberts... does not need to rip off a new YA author. Not only does she have her own audience... She has what I suspect is a much broader audience than Tomi. Nora is one of the bestselling authors of all time. She's outsold James Patterson. She's written hundreds of books, and has sold over 500 million copies of her books. She is WORTH hundreds of millions of dollars (some estimates have her at around half a billion). Since 1999, every single one of her books has been a New York Times bestseller.

And before anyone comes for her with ghostwriting accusations.... I mean, listen. She could be the greatest bullshitter on the planet. But based on what she, and other people around her have said, and based on the way she talks when she goes off on a podcast.... I believe that's all her, dude. She treats it like a 9 to 5 job, and she works on vacation. She's VERY seriousa bout this.

She did not need to capitalize on anyone.

G) Nora is one of the most vocal anti-plagiarism advocates, possibly ever. She was famously plagiarized by Janet Dailey and talks about it as if it happened yesterday. She worked with other, newer authors (including Sarah MacLean) who were plagiarized by the same woman to seek out justice. She's very loud and proud about it.

And so... Tomi did end up apologizing, prefacing it with the fact that Nora apparently reached out like "I couldn't have plagiarized you because I've never heard of your book". Nora also made this post.

I'll be honest: I think Tomi was being thoughtless and self-centered when she posted that shit. And reckless, as Nora said, because when you have a large fanbase you NEED to remember that you're sending the dogs after people when you post shit like that. And you need to call those dogs off if they go too far. It was exceedingly immature and unprofessional.

At the same time, I also know that Tomi has done important work as a very visible Black author of YA fantasy about Black characters, with a fantasy world and magic system based on Nigerian (primarily, from what I understand) history and culture. I think that her work being adapted is, on a grand scale, a potential net positive on that level.

.... Do I ever want to read one of her books again or watch the show? Not really. I might give the show a shot if it has good buzz, though, because the show isn't just Tomi; it's also other Black creatives and performers. I want to support that, and if it's good I sure won't act like it isn't.

But I don't have any interest in any more of her books. It's hardly the worst thing an author has done, TO BE CLEAR. This is shitty, but it's not the kind of shitty, abusive behavior many white authors have indulged in and bounced back on. And I think it's only fair that Tomi has the ability to bounce back from something lesser, and she clearly has.

It's just that for me, I'll never be able to pick up a book of hers without being like "that was a shitty thing to do" and also "Wow, HOW EMBARRASSING". It's like, so LOUDLY embarrassing that I'm not even sitting here acting like my moral condemnation is the main thing keeping me from reading her work. It's just really REALLY cringe.

Anyway, I super don't recommend fucking with Nora Roberts. She will be more scathing than you ever could be, and if you ever do something legal-action-worthy, it's fairly likely that her lawyers will be bigger than your lawyers.

[hiatuswhore]

ᴀᴜɴᴛ (ʏ/ɴ) — ɢɪɴɴʏ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴇᴏʀɢɪᴀ 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞

ᴀ/ɴ: ɪ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇ ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜɴɢ ɢᴇᴏʀɢɪᴀ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟɪᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ɢɪʀʟꜱ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇꜱ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ’ʀᴇ ꜱʜᴏᴘᴘɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ᴘʀᴏᴍ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀ ᴄᴜᴛᴇ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ʜᴏᴡ ꜱʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴀ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ. ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ꜱᴀᴅ ᴍʏ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ᴋᴇᴇᴘꜱ ʀᴇᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ɪᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇꜱᴏᴍᴇ. ᴜɴᴇᴅɪᴛᴇᴅ.

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: ᴏʜ ɢᴇᴏʀɢɪᴀ ᴍɪʟʟᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴍᴀɴʏ ʜɪꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ɢᴏᴏᴅ, ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴀᴅ, ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ɪɴ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ.

ᴡᴏʀᴅ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛ: 716

ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ: ɴᴏɴᴇ

“How am I? Ginny and Georgia had a meltdown at your open mic. Suddenly neither of them are keeping me in the loop. I still haven’t told Georgia I slept with Zion. And your horrible acting like Paul and Georgia getting married doesn’t bother you is becoming rather boring,” Your head propped on your elbow you drum your fingers against your cheek, swaying your stool beneath you. Joe stands behind the bar in front of you. A grin playing on your lips as he chuckles pouring more wine to his own glass.

“So not only did Georgia leave me heartbroken but with her evil best friend. Really bringing in the holiday cheer,” Joe raises his glass, the giddy smile on his face warming your heart. He hasn’t smiled like that much these days. You cover the fond moment with a mischievous glint on your eye. The silent bar fills with a chorus of your own and his laughter. Wine fueling the dim glow of the dark room. Finishing your glass Joe raises the bottle to your cup tilting his head, “How did you and Georgia meet?”

“We were sixteen. I was shopping for a prom dress at my mom’s store. Caught her stealing clothes for her and Ginny,” You speak casually, the silence making your gaze whip up to Joe. He gapes at you as though you grow another head before his eyes.

“Your mom loves Georgia. When she visited she gushed about both of you. A complete stranger would think you were sisters the way she spoke. How did that happen?” You chuckle at the description of your mother. Her sweet laugh and airy energy creating warmth in every room she enters.

“I tried on dresses with Ginny to distract her from my Mom talking to Georgia. She gave Georgia a bunch of clothes for the both of them. Georgia asked why and my Mom called me, her Ginny. My mom was a single fifteen year old mother by the time I met Georgia she built a good life for us. She put a lot into helping Ginny and Georgia,” You stare off at nothing in particular wearing a large smile as you speak. Joe eyes you quietly, certain you are no longer explaining him the memory but reliving it. The far off adoration in your eyes giving you a nostalgic glow.

“You really love them,” Joe says, nodding your head as you lean forward, placing a hand on his own.

“So much. If it means anything while you’re technically not Georgia’s ex you were hands down her best one,” You beam up at his gentle smile. The ding of your phone pulling your attention from his gaze. “Oh no it’s Zion. I’ve been avoiding him. I just—how the hell would this work. Georgia’s going to kill us. Ginny and Austin are already going through so much. And what? Surprise the woman you call Aunt is screwing your Dad. Wait, pause.”

“So Ginny’s the poet of the family clearly,” Joe say. A dry chuckle leaves your lips as you playfully glare.

“Out of everything I expected of uprooting my life for my best friend, sleeping with the father of her daughter and befriending the man pining for her was not a single scenario I had in my head,” You say, raising your cup he meets you in the middle with a perfect clink. Both of you take slow sips of your glasses, your mind relapses into previous concerns. Ginny. Austin. Georgia. Zion. You perk up zoning back into the moment. A wide smile taking your lips as Joe furrows his eyebrows at you.

“You’re scheming,” He accuses, you tilt your head offering an are you serious look. A grin tugging at your lips.

“Thanks for being kind of cool,” You say. He sets his lips blinking at you. Holding his gaze you blink back. The warmth adding a new layer to your chats. A numbing intimacy blinding all your fears for a mere second. The vibrating of your phone makes you flinch, Zion. “Sorry I need to take this.”

“No worries,” Joe says, a warm smile covering the long thoughtful pauses. His eyebrows crease at how his eyes have not left you. Something’s different, and it’s made what was—a hell of a lot more difficult.

[trainsinanime]

I feel like talking a bit more about Vanisher 2.0 and Red Volpina (todo: look up what these Miraculous Ladybug season 5 episodes are actually called). My previous review of them has been,

Yes there is stuff where the writing still has potential to get better (not once but twice does everybody in class believe a known liar over Marinette!? Marinette’s classmates suddenly realized Chloé was doing badly in school and somehow that’s Marinette’s problem!? Lol), but it’s still better than it’s ever been.

But maybe there's more to talk about here. Just a couple of days ago I saw a post that complained bitterly about how unfair it is that Marinette must always prove herself, and how Alya was a bad friend in these two episodes.

I don't think that's a great hot take, but I think there is a kernel of truth here. The writing in these episodes was not 100%, but in ways that are interesting to talk about. This isn't meant as salt; I watched the episodes with my sister and I had a lot of fun with them regardless of their flaws. I just think it's interesting.

First of all, I don't think it's actually a problem that Marinette must prove herself. Marinette encountering obstacles and overcoming them through cleverness and strength of will is the point of the show. That's literally fine.

The real issue here is that all the characters are written rather weirdly in order to make the plot happen. Alya is the most visible victim of this, but everyone suffers from it to a certain degree.

In fact, in Vanisher 2.0 (todo look up episode title), this even applies to the villains. Sabrina does not want to steal for Chloé because it goes against her code of ethics as a police officer's daughter. Where did that come from? She has stolen from Marinette before, on Chloé's behalf, back in Darkblade in season 1. The show is just summoning conflict out of thin air.

(There is probably a joke to be made here, about how the cop's daughter steals and plants fake evidence on Marinette to accuse her of a crime, but that's a different thing.)

But it is most notable with Marinette. In Vanisher 2.0 (todo look up title), everybody sees stolen high-value goods such as… paper doilies…? appear out of Marinette's bag, after Chloé told everyone they'd be in there. And the conclusion everyone draws is that Chloé is correct.

Then in Red Volpina, the class learns that Chloé has never made her own homework, something the teacher apparently never noticed before. The class somehow agrees with Lila that this is Marinette's fault for not recognising that Chloé is struggling, despite this not being Marinette's job, and despite Chloé's insistence that she isn't struggling, she just doesn't care.

Neither of these are at all consistent with basically anything that came before. The class knows who Chloé is, how vindictive, petty and entitled she is. They also know who Marinette is, are friends with her, and a surprisingly high percentage are or have been in love with her.

From a story perspective, it makes sense, though. Both episodes want to tell a particular story. In Adoration (todo fix all the spots where I called it Vanisher 2.0), the point is to get to Zoé's big heroic self-sacrifice for Marinette. In Revelation, it's about how always seeing the best in people can sometimes lead you astray. Those are both interesting ideas in their own right. It's just that the episodes used narrative shortcuts to get us there, and ignored character consistency along the way.

I think the point about Alya is the most important one here. Saying "Alya is a bad friend" is canonically not true (look at all the stuff our poor girl puts up with on Marinette's behalf), but also missing the forest for the trees. As smarter people than me have put it, Alya is often only in the story to make Marinette's internal conflict an external one, so we can see the different sides argue in screen instead of imagining them in our head. As a result of that, Alya is sometimes her own character, and sometimes, very often in fact, just whatever she needs to be to get the plot moving.

In Revelation (todo fix yada yada), the plot they had in mind wouldn't work at all if Alya took Marinette and Adrien seriously, and acted on all the information she has. So she just doesn't. That doesn't mean she's a bad friend, it means she's a narrative tool, one that the writers don't always wield super well. Alya is far from the most irrational person in this episode (come on, Gabriel, giving Lila superpowers again? Even though you know she hates you? That's just silly), but since she's one of the good guys and Marinette's best friend and often portrayed as the voice of reason, we notice it the most in her case.

I think the show is genuinely nice and fun, but there's no denying that its writing has flaws. Sometimes more, sometimes less, and these two episodes have some that just stand out a bit. Framing that as "the show is unfair to Marinette" (or even "Alya is a bad friend") is not an interesting way to discuss that, in my opinion. The real issue is that the show had a story it wanted to tell, only twenty minutes to do so, and so it crammed that story in with a crowbar, regardless of the cost. Both episodes have enough good moments to make up for it in my personal opinion, but they have central moments that are just plain clunky.

[zbsinbloom]

ZB1 Reaction: He did/said something hurtful in your dream (2/2)

🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀

Pairing: non-romantic ZB1 maknae line with their bestie (you)

Genre: crack

Word Count: 600+

Trigger warnings: food mentions (Gyuvin & Yujin), I deeply apologise for Gunwook's, dream!Ricky is a major dumb-dumb

🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀 ☘ 🍀

🍀 Ricky

You knew it was just a dream, it wasn't even real. So why were you so wound up about it?

Being your best friend since childhood, he noticed your short fuse instantly. You didn't need to say a word

First of all, he bought a house for his ex and got back together with them in the dream. The same ex who'd tried to bully you out of Ricky's life

And whose name he refused to mention since he found out, you always being the most important person (except his family)

Secondly, when you confronted him in your dream he responded by calling you poor, something you knew he wouldn't dream of doing as it was a sore subject

Yet it still stung to think about, and that's why you ended up rambling to him about your dream, basically steaming from your ears

He just pulls you into a tight hug, knowing how upsetting a time it was for you and takes you out later, letting you choose where

☘ Gyuvin

Ahh Gyuvin, he's your favourite person and the cause of all your headaches

Honestly you were questioning yourself as to whether it happened in your dream or if you were remembering something that actually happened

Because that scenario has definitely happened at least seven times since you've been best friends with him

And it didn't make you any less upset at him, in fact, the snacks of yours that he stole and ate were given to you by one of your friends that you hadn't seen in ages

Gyuvin was shocked when he came over for a movie night and you kept giving him the look of shame, oh how he hated the look of shame

So now he's both whining at you to stop being mad and forgive him, and saying "ffs Gyuvin, what did you do now"

You tell him and even he isn't completely sure he didn't steal your snacks for real… he does buy you a bunch of snacks anyway so it's a win-win for you

🍀 Gunwook

It was the summer holidays and you were due to meet up with Gunwook which you two planned a couple weeks ago

Except you had a very… strange dream last night and honestly you had no idea if you would ever see him the same way again

He notices you seem very distracted when you two meet up, and you refuse to look him in the eyes

Poor boy is panicking that you're upset about something and is torn between getting it out of you and letting you come to him first

But then he wins you a wolf plushie and it reminds you of the dream you had and suddenly you're not sure what to say

He sees your expression and now he has to know what's going through your head and boy was he not prepared

When you tell him the two of you fell out in your dream because he was convinced he was a wolf and he accused you of not being supportive, honestly he wish he never asked

☘ Yujin

He was your best friend in the entire universe and the two of you would squabble quite a lot over silly things

So neither of you could stay mad or upset at the other, and it would usually end in a trip to get ice cream

But this time he was confused because he greeted you in the cafeteria with a grin as always but you kept staring at your juice

Now he's internally panicking because he doesn't remember saying or doing anything to upset you… or has he? Omg please tell him he hasn't

His mind is racing with all sorts of possibilities, and then he nervously jokes about you being really interested in your juice

Then you blurt out that you had a dream where you argued over which colour skittle was the best, which makes you both giggle because it's stupid

Later on he treats you to ice cream, not that he needed to cheer you up, he just wanted to. Though he did pull out a bag of skittles… "so which one is the best?"

[lostdrarryfics]

THE BIG FIND 2023: Day 10

The Big Find is a 10-day long Drarry fic-finding marathon to celebrate the blog’s anniversary. Below is the Day 10 compilation of lost fics, both old and new, that we’ve been unable to find. Our aim is to get as much attention to these lost fics as possible, to help people finally find their missing fics! Anyone can participate by reblogging, reading through each list, providing additional fic details, and informing us the title, author, or link of a fic, and their respective number in the comment section. Happy finding!

10.1 Draco is good and a spy for the light side, I’m not sure if it’s established relationship but he does date harry and one day he found out how lucius basically shame and insult (kinda slutshame) him in the paper, and he kinda has a panic attack and if I’m not mistaken the Weasleys really take care of him. In the end he is pregnant, I’m not sure but I think the title is something like 0.0005 in millions but I can find it.

10.2 The only thing I remember is that Harry is meeting Seamus and Dean with Draco at a diner maybe? Seamus tries to steal food from Harry’s plate and Draco tells him not to do it. Because Harry almost freaked out back in school when Patil tried to do it also. I think it was Lavender who picked some food and Harry’s magic reacted by freezing?/lowered the temp of the Great Hall.

10.3 ao3, chaptered, maybe 8th year but in hogwarts as students. draco stopping himself from completely falling for harry or something, they once went to a club and harry danced (i think it was a lap dance?) in front of draco and their friends. I remember draco taking harry back to his dorm and him leaving a sobering potion for harry to take the next morning because harry was completely drunk that night. I also remember harry regretting what he did the next day. I vaguely remember them both outside a club or pub, draco telling harry to stop what he was asking for because harry has an idea that draco wanted him too and ron saw them both, i don’t know if they kissed or something but harry was drunk. I also remember harry and ginny being close friends and ginny putting on some eyeliner on harry. I also remember ginny dressing up harry and trying things on him or something. and i think at the first scene harry wore these jeans that made his arse looks so good.

10.4 It was before sixth year and before sirius died - maybe end of fourth year or fifth year hols? - and the trio were at grimmauld when narcissa and draco arrive there. apparently narcissa fled from lucius because of voldy and sought refuge at the Black home, not knowing it was the Order’s hq. Eventually the Order lets them stay there, and neither draco nor narcissa go back as a spy.

10.5 looking for a fic that was a one shot. It takes place during sixth year and Draco is having a rough time trying to rebuild the cabinet, but Harry comes up to him because he looks stressed and offers to sleep with him, saying something like “you’d be less of a git if you got laid” (smut ensues but I can’t remember if it was rated M or E). They go to the room of requirement but I know at the end they have a conversation where Harry offers Draco to switch sides.

10.6 completed fic where Harry and Draco work for the ministry (Aurors, I think). Draco is team leader or something like that and pushes the aurors to look for Greyback. Harry thinks he is paranoid to still search for him. But they end up hunting Greyback because Draco’s hunch was right. Draco and Harry always bicker and fight publicly with each other with a lot of inuendo involved. Once they fight in front of the ministry elevators about hunting for Greyback and Harry accuses him of having a relationship with Greyback or something like that. Because of these fights Rita Skeeter that snuck into the ministry as a beetle publishes an article that says the two of them are a couple in secret. So Kingsley (I think) hires another very young reporter (I think Luna’s cousin) to shadow the investigation team to prove otherwise (it doesn’t go as planned). Harry and Draco end up in a lot of compromising situations. Talking about chaining one another or falling and landing on each other when the reporter just enters the room. I think Ron is Harry’s auror partner and there are at least two other members of the team - I think both are OCs. And there was at least one at least in one interrogation with Veritaserum. Unfortunately I don’t know anymore when or where I read the fanfic

10.7 looking for a fic that I read on ao3 but I can only remember a small detail, so no worries if it’s too vague to find it. What I remember is that draco sends molly a gift basket for killing bellatrix and ginny accepts his relationship with Harry because she really liked some of the gifts in the basket.

10.8 Draco is trying to build up a career post war and Harry and he become some sort of reluctant acquaintances. I don’t remember much but there might be some lines which go somewhat like this - “he is my house. I will have to burn everything he touches”. The story is from Draco’s POV

10.9 one of them or both are Aurors and Draco is pretty posh and rich. Somehow Harry has to go after him to Italy or some other beautiful country and he tries to court Draco. I don’t remember if a Auror case is a major point or not.

10.10 looking for a fic that was young Harry and he ran away from the Dursleys early. He does go to Hogwarts but after forwarding his letters to other people like the royal family and hiding from Snape. Gets sorted into Slytherin, good at stealing, even stole McGonagall when she was a cat before she could change back.

10.11 Fred and George send Harry an early birthday present, which is a truth or dare game, which is still in beta testing. The Gryffindors decide to play it. People are in the common room, and slowly they start joining the game. Dean teases Harry that his “type” is tall, blonde, and sarcastic. This happens before Draco joins the game. Eventually the Slytherins also join (they’re the last to join lol) and in this, I guess the game decides to give truth or dare based on your magic or sth, and if you don’t do it, you’re eliminated or sth. And Harry gets some dare to do with Draco obviously ( I think he has to kiss him?) and he does, and the end. Eighth year, hogwarts common room, one shot. Not more than 10k words.

10.12 draco is sentenced as probation to muggle world and works in a bakery then turned into deterioration. Bill helps him and then he returns to hogwarts as professor for potions

10.13 i only remember a specific moment. it’s mpreg and narcissa and harry are with draco while hes in labor and draco asks narcissa if he hurt her coming out, and narcissa said yes and he wasn’t helpful like harry was. and narcissa asks to keep the baby placenta

10.14 i cant remember if it was on ao3 or wattpad. it was titled “home” and the first sentence was something like: “the first time the stranger appeared at the top of the street, thunder rolled and lightning crashed.” the plot: harry disappeared after the final battle, and draco finds him in a muggle village. draco updates harry on the magical world, and romione. harry’s been in love with draco so he sends a letter and draco comes and kisses harry.

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 13: Budding Spring - Episode 30: Record Of Sorrow

Giorgio (Chikage): “What, neither of you have a partner to bring along?”

Alessandro (Sakuya): “You didn’t bring anyone either, Giorgio.”

Bruno (Masumi): “My parents told me to start thinking about the future, but it’s not as easy as they make it sound.”

Giorgio: “Being the successor is tough. Looks like being the second son has its perks.”

Alessandro: “Being a lord’s chamberlain doesn’t seem like easy work, either.”

Bruno: “There are lots of rumors going around.”

Giorgio: “Well… Let’s not get into details here.”

Bruno: “A wise choice.”

Alessandro: “The Papists have been growing in number, and they’ve been more active lately.”

Giorgio: “The Guelphs, huh? I hope it doesn’t get too out of hand.”

Bruno: “I can sympathize with them, and they seem to have the support of the big cities.”

Giorgio: “Better not let my lord hear that.”

Alessandro: “Regardless of who wins, the future of Verona is safe. ‘Cause it’s got us.”

Bruno: “You’re as confident as ever.”

-

Gildo: “They were intelligent and skilled, and they both had a bright future ahead of them. Until one day…”

-

Alessandro: “The Capulets’ family heirloom was stolen!?”

Bruno: “It’s a necklace that was given to the Capulets by a King long ago. It has a large ruby surrounded by small sapphires. There’s no other like it in the world.”

Bruno: “Everyone in the house is going crazy. We were just talking about asking the Montagues to help us find the culprit.”

Alessandro: “Of course we’ll help. We’ll definitely catch the culprit.”

Giorgio: “My lord is also making his moves. The culprit will be found sooner rather than later.”

Bruno: “I hope so…”

Soldier: “Which one of you is Alessandro Montague?”

Alessandro: “Huh? That’d be me.”

Soldier: “You’re under arrest for stealing the Capulet family heirloom.”

Alessandro: “Me!? I didn’t do it!”

Soldier: “There are witnesses. Don’t try to get out of this.”

Giorgio: “There’s no way Alessandro would do such a thing.”

Bruno: “E-Exactly. This must be some kind of mistake.”

Soldier: “If you try to cover for him, I’ll arrest you as accomplices.”

Bruno: “That’s–”

Alessandro: “It’s okay. I didn’t do it. I’ll get them to realize this is a misunderstanding.”

Giorgio: “Alessandro…”

-

Gildo: “In the end, Alessandro was convicted and executed. Soon after, Bruno was assassinated.”

Gildo: “Rumor has it that the Montagues were behind that as revenge for losing Alessandro…”

Gildo: “It seems no one ever found out the truth.”

Romeo: “No way…”

Julius: “Did you ever hear about this before?”

Romeo: “No, never…”

Gildo: “That’s not so surprising. In order to avoid conflict between the two families, the lord placed a gag order on this matter, and everything was kept in the dark.”

Gildo: “But, it looks like all this managed to do was amplify the mutual suspicion and hatred the two families harbored for each other.”

Romeo: “To think something like that happened…”

Julius: “It’s too soon to believe this.”

Romeo: “But–”

Gildo: “Whether you believe it or not is up to you guys. I myself only learned about this after my Grandpa died, from the diary he left behind.”

Gildo: “He didn’t really talk much about his time in Verona while he was alive.”

Gildo: “So when I heard your names, I thought you were here to accuse Grandpa of some crime and take revenge on him.”

Romeo: “No way, that was just a coincidence.”

Gildo: “... Grandpa wrote in the diary that he still believes Alessandro is innocent.”

Gildo: “He was not the kind of person who would steal, he wrote.”

Gildo: “And it seemed like the Montagues and the Capulets grieved Alessandro’s death together.”

Gildo: “There’s no way the Montagues would have killed Bruno.”

Gildo: “I think Grandpa died regretting what happened, and never being able to find out the truth.”

Romeo: “... Then, let’s find the real culprit.”

Gildo: “Eh…?”

Julius: “Hey, what are you saying? We still don’t know if this is true or not.”

Romeo: “Isn’t that just another reason we should look for the truth?”

Julius: “It can’t be that simple…”

Romeo: “It can be. If you and I are on the case.”

Julius: “*sigh*…”

Gildo: “... Please. Fate must have brought us together for a reason. If this remains unsolved, Grandpa will never be happy.”

Gildo: “The Capulets never found their family heirloom. Please, look for it.”

Romeo: “Leave it to us! You just rest and make sure your leg gets better.”

Julius: “Hey, Romeo, wait!”

Gildo: “Take Grandpa’s diary with you. It might be of some help.”

Romeo: “Thanks!”

[Romeo and Julius leave, and the door closes.]

Gildo: “... Hey, Grandpa. Are those two the future you and your friends dreamed of?”

-

Julius: “How exactly do you plan to look for the truth? If we go back to Verona, we’ll get caught immediately.”

Romeo: “We’ve got Father Lawrence, don’t we?”

Julius: “We can contact Father, but we can’t really ask for his cooperation with something like this… Ah, but if we try Mercutio and Tybalt–”

Romeo: “Exactly! They’ll definitely help!”

-

Mercutio (Tsuzuru): “Achoo.”

Rosaline: “Did you catch a cold?”

Mercutio: “Nah, someone must be talking about me. Thanks for today. I’ve got some business at the church, so I’ll see you later.”

-

[Door creaking open]

Mercutio: “Hello.”

Father Lawrence (Citron): “We’ve been waiting for you, Mercutio.”

Tybalt (Itaru): “So they called you, too.”

Mercutio: “Tybalt is here too? Then that means…”

Father Lawrence: “Come here, you two.”

Father Lawrence: “I’ve received a letter from Romeo and Julius.”

Mercutio: “From Romeo and Julius!?”

Tybalt: “As I thought… They kept in contact with you, Father Lawrence.”

Mercutio: “You knew?”

Tybalt: “No. But it’s Julius we’re talking about. I figured he’d keep in contact with someone somewhere.”

Mercutio: “Huh. I doubt Romeo would’ve thought of that.”

Tybalt: “Obviously.”

Mercutio: “Your brother complex is still going strong, I see.”

Father Lawrence: “Please read it, you two.”

Tybalt: “The cause of the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets…? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Mercutio: “Neither have I.”

Father Lawrence: “This all happened before I came to this town.”

Mercutio: “If this is true, and this man’s innocence comes to light, the relationship between the two families might improve.”

Tybalt: “This looks like something I can help with.”

Tybalt: “The previous lord has passed away, but there might be some records from that time left in the mansion. I’ll look into it.”

Mercutio: “If I’m not wrong, Rosaline’s father was visiting the lord’s mansion often around that time, so I’ll try talking to him.”

Tybalt: “Speaking of which, you should tell them about her as soon as possible.”

Mercutio: “Ah… Well, I’ll tell them once everything is settled.”

Tybalt: “Don’t look to me if there’s trouble.”

Father Lawrence: "Please be careful, both of you."

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[zadig-fate]

Me and my Poland tour bestie (noriko_743 on ig) were reflecting on our insane week following the guys around and realised that we basically did a speedrun on the entire JO fangirl checklist.

It was Nori's first in-person JO gig ever at Warsaw 1 (!!!)

We got barricade for the first time in both our lives

Nori got photos and hugs with ALL the guys

I got a guitar pick in Wrocław!

We sang Umazane Misli with Bojan at Warsaw 2

Bojan actually recognised me in Poznań and Prague and remembered what we'd talked about in Wrocław 🙀

Nori got handwritten lyrics from Bojan for a tattoo

Nori's ig story got reposted by Kris!

We both ended up in Vita's photos on the band's official account

We ran into the guys "in the wild", i.e. out in the city during the day

We got the live debut of a new iconic outfit (all-white Kris)

We saw all (I think all?) the Stožice outfits in person

We saw the Demoni scream and Kris NGVOT in person

I was the numbers person / unofficial "queue manager" for the pre-wristband queue at Warsaw 2 and Poznań

We participated in fan actions that the guys really appreciated (shoutout jokeroutpolska for organising)

I met lots of tumblr mutuals 🥰

I met a bunch of people I have plans to see again in Munich, The Hague and Amsterdam

Like... it's crazy just how much happened in this last week. And there was no one show where we got everything, or nothing. Every single gig had something special to offer. So if you're wondering whether it's "worth" following JO around on tour... it really, really is. The experiences you have and the people you meet are incredible.

Speaking of, here are some other unforgettable tour experiences that will stick with me for a long time to come:

Nori and I only met at the hostel before Warsaw 1, and she wasn't even planning to come to that show, she only had a ticket for Warsaw 2! But I talked her into getting a cheap resale ticket for Warsaw 1, and she queued with me, and she loved it so much she immediately bought tickets for Wrocław and Poznań too, so we booked hotels together for the rest of the tour.

I literally just met Nori last week?? But we spent nearly every minute together between Warsaw 1 and Poznań, dealing with the highest highs and lowest lows of tour life, and it now feels like we've been friends for ages.

After the fucking absurd queue situation at Wrocław (4:45am and #45, WTF????) we decided that after the show, we would wait outside for the boys and then head straight for Poznań in my car. So we literally drove through the night with our new friend Safursey and formed the start of the Poznań queue.

Our hotel in Poznań wasn't ready until 2pm so we literally just took turns queuing and sleeping in my car. Nori and Safursey let me have the first sleeping shift since I drove us overnight.

I think we only slept between 15-20 hours total over 8 days???

I'm actually glad I got to experience a cursed gig (Prague) where everything went wrong. Seeing how professionally the guys reacted and how smoothly things were resolved made me appreciate just how experienced and calm they are.

Nori and I were unknowingly the centre of a major Twitter outrage after Warsaw 2 because someone accused us of stealing the microphone after Umazane Misli. Neither of us are on Twitter so we didn't even know about this controversy, but someone was clearly accusing us (and it was definitely us from the context) of stealing the microphone to sing, even though we had a sign asking to sing UM and Bojan was obviously pointing at us to get the microphone next (which is clear to see in all the videos of that moment).

Our friend Safursey deleted her Twitter account after Prague because people who were not there were spreading all kinds of insane rumours and unfounded accusations about the queue and Bojan's ig stories and refused to be corrected by the people who were actually involved. She got so much hate for explaining what was actually happening on the ground that she left the platform entirely, so that should tell you how toxic Twitter is.

I was feeling like such utter shit after the drama in Prague that I didn't even want to attend the concert anymore, but Safursey and @thisismyobsessionnow (Nori didn't come to Prague) came to comfort me and convinced me to still come to the gig, and I really appreciate that.

Overall an emotional roller coaster, but one I wouldn't give up for anything. We had SO much fun and met SO many people. I would do it again any time.