#but Isle kids have bad coping mechanisms

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

Let me incoherently share my favourite Huma headcanon:

Rise timeline doesn't exist, btw, because I don't like it ✨

So, Ben is the King of Auradon at sixteen, right? That means it is also the age of majority in Auradon and on the Isle, not that anyone on the Isle really cares, but anyway. Adult stuff legal. You know, drinking, marriage...

Essentials for a king basically.

Coincidentally, when Core 4 leave for Auradon, the majority of them are sixteen: as are Sea Three.

And when the Core 4 publically declares Good, dooming the other Isle children, in they eyes of the Isle kids at least, well, it is perfectly legal for the pirates get drunk. (They'd get drunk even if it was illegal, but hey. Not the point.)

They get blackout drunk.

You know, hysterical laughter, shouting obscenities towards Auradon and Core Four, picking fights just because. The port is the epicenter of the Isle-wide ruckus, as it has clear wiev of Auradon.

Now, somewhere during that time... Harry Hook and Uma decide that they should get married. Like, right now.

They have not ever told eachother that they care of the other (not out loud), let even admit that there might be something like love between them: Villains can't love, please!

But, you know, it sounded like a good idea at that time.

And since their crew and Harry's sisters and basically all Isle kids have been shipping them since forever, they go along with it.

Gil officiates, of course: he gets the papers and gets Harriet to double check them. (Harriet then forwards the papers to Dr. F. And Yen Sid, making it as official as can be.)

Harry and Uma sign, their signatures clear for the amount of alcohol in their blood.

The hateful and resentful atmosphere turns into a careless celebration, all betrails forgotten for the night.

And when the Harry and Uma wake up next morning, well, they carry on as if nothing changed.

They don't remember a thing.

No one bothers talking to them about the wedding: Everyone assumes they know and just refuse to acknowledge it.

Harriet got just as much of a window as the two of them, and CJ is waiting for the chaotic fall out when they find out.

That doesn't happen for very long, though.

It's years after that when a wedding is mentioned on the Lost Revenge again. It's after the Royal Wedding, too.

„We should get married,“ mentions Uma offhandedly.

Harry, of course, is fully onboard with the idea. They start planning, only to be interrupted by confused Gil:

„Guys?“ he says, „You do know that you are already married, right?“

„WHAT?!“

„Well, yeah. I've got the papers in my cabin, do you want to see them?“

„YES.“

Gil fetches the certificate and the couple inspects them: They look real enough, and those are undoubtedly their signatures. And the date?

„We have been married this whole time?“ wonders Harry.

„Why didn't you tell us?!“ demands Uma, much less amused than Harry.

„Um, we,“ Gil struggles with the answer a bit, „We kidna assumed you knew.“

„What the fuck.“

(That was Uma.)

„Well, I still want a wedding,“ she says moments later, „Since I don't remember the first one.“

She glares at Harry as if it was his fault, and he just cackles: „Second wedding it is, love. Gotta up the purple dragon and the boy king, anyway.“

[hannahhook7744]

de Vil family Headcanons revised:

Trigger warnings: Child abuse, child neglect, mentions of dementia, mental health issues, unhealthy coping mechanisms, death, and animal abuse.

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There is an 11 year age difference between Hunter and Carlos, a 5 year one between Carlos and Ivy, and a 4 year one between him and Diego.

Hunter, Ivy, and Carlos are tech geeks in my universe and can't do anything musical to save their lives.

Diego, on the other hand, is the only musically inclined one who cannot do anything tech related to save his life.

Hunter and Ivy were born pre-isle but died trying to stop one of Cruella's plots when she found out and pursued them. Causing them to crash.

Because of their childhood Villainous activities they were resurrected and sent to the isle the year Carlos was born.

Both Antia and Roger have met Hunter and Ivy but only Ivy has met their niece, Amber.

Funnily enough, all of the de Vil cousins have four things in common—their love for animals, their tempers, their competitive nature, and their very strong passion for fashion.

They have a lot of pets that they have to play 'Keep away from Cruella' with.

Including a chicken on Hunter and Ivy's part, which is funny because their ancestor— Dimsdale—despises chickens.

They are descended from both Melione (Hades' daughter) and the Villainous princess Ivy from Sofia the first.

Hunter's full name is Hunter Claudias de Vil.

Ivy's full name is Ivana Mallory de Vil.

Diego's full name is Diego Ethan de Vil.

Carlos's full name is Carlos Oscar de Vil.

Carlos is the son of Cruella de Vil and James Charming.

Diego is the son of Cecil de Vil and an unknown woman.

Ivy is the daughter of Carmen Sandiego and Cotton de Vil.

Hunter is the son  of Helga Sinclair and Charles de Vil, making him the older half brother of Harry Badun.

Carlos's dad either got taken forcibly back to Auradon or was killed by Cruella. No one is quite sure which.

Diego's mother left him on the doorstep.

Ivy's father was a pyro noir like detective and the youngest of his many siblings, which made her a favorite of the family. Her father died in a freak fire related accident when she was 3. Carmen had no idea where she went after Ivy's father died.

Hunter's father was an artist turned Archery teacher who went by 'Archer' and died in a freak archery accident.

Hunter de Vil is dating a grown up Jim Jr (from Lady and the Tramp) and Jane's cousin, Elisa/Eliza.

Diego is dating Derek, Doug's older brother.

Carlos is dating Jane.

And Ivy is dating Gordon, son of Grumpy— and yes, they are aware of the irony.

Together (meaning them, their partners, their cousin P.H, and Cruella) they have 18 pets. Including 2 chickens, 1 ferret, 1 dove, 1 lab rat, 4 cats,  and 10 dogs (most of which are Cruella's).

Hunter is still an influencer (he was one when he was a teenager) and is also an inventor who works at the local tech repair shop and a part time mechanic.

All of the de Vil kids love chocolates but different kids.

Hunter practically lives off of coffee and energy drinks and kinder joy eggs.

Hunter is also a YouTuber.

Ivy loves oatmeal with strawberries and blackberries.

She is an inventor, a fashion designer, a salon owner who makes her own cosmetics, and a beauty pageant veteran who always saw Amber dearly (The Radcliffe's niece)  as a rival. This was one-sided.

She takes after her mother alot— she's elusive, playful, badass, etc.

Kids used to call her Evilana. Which she hated.

Diego is the lead singer and guitarist of the Bad Apples and a member of Harriet Hook's crew and the Anti-heroes' club.

He is also a tattoo artist who loves coke (the soda) and fast food.

Carlos is a tourney and ROAR member who loves video games, tech stuff, animals, and inventing. He wants to be a veterinarian or app designer.

Hunter, Ivy, and Diego helped Carlos build his treehouse when they were younger.

They all love each other very much and are very protective of one another.

Unlike Carlos, the other de Vils are actually quite fond of the Badun cousins.

Ivy loves the color pink.

Their ancestor that everyone thinks is the literal devil was actually a somewhat normal human boy who was just unfortunate enough to have been born with hooves and a tail (likely due to them also being descended from Hades’ daughter Melione and sorceress like the original Ivana de Vil—aka Princess Ivy).

For some reason, Diego is Cruella's favorite. No one knows why or how.

This is entirely one-sided; Diego despises Cruella.

Yes, Hunter and Ivy were born pre-isle.

Yes, they committed their crimes.

BUT, they were also 12 and 6, and highly abused and neglected.

And they redeemed themselves and got killed in the process in my timeline saving the puppies from one of Cruella's schemes gone wrong.

But of course, Auardon brought them back a year after Carlos was born and sent them to the isle despite the Radcliffes' protest.

Hunter was 12 and Ivy was 6, and they both cried and pleaded for mercy. Beast and Belle ignored them.

They hate them because of this.

Like their parents before them, they're close.

Unlike their parents, they didn't have a falling out and would still die for one another.

Diego is the only non-tech savvy de Vil of this generation.

But that's fine with him because he's the only one who can play any instrument.

The other 3 can't play an instrument to save their lives.

Despite the fact that Diego is a part of Harriet's crew and that Harriet is in alliance with Uma, he and Carlos are still close.

Diego is the only non disabled, sickly, or mentally ill de Vil.

All of the de Vils are into fashion.

The de Vil cousins move out of Cruella's house after Carlos goes to Auradon. They had only stayed for Carlos.

The de Vil cousins have an unspoken agreement to always look out for each other, their pets, and the badun cousins.

The de Vil cousins communicate in Morse code sometimes. Other times they communicate in sign language.

They made up their own language to communicate in as kids. The Badun cousins  are the only ones who understand it.

All of the de Vil kids have pets and take care of Cruella's pets.

They all feel guilty about the fact that they couldn't protect each other or their pets. Or the Badun cousins.

Jace and Harry used to have siblings. The rest of the isle might have forgotten this but they hadn't. They never would.

None of the four de Vil cousins will ever turn down helping the Badun cousins. No matter what.

No one talks about the missing Badun girls and boys.

No one talks about how the Badun cousins don't live with them, Cruella, and their dads anymore.

After Harry Badun turned 7, learning medical care became a priority for all of the de Vil kids. Maybe it's guilt or maybe it's a sense of obligation. No one knows.

Diego is the only one of the group who sleeps.

He's known as the only 'normal' de Vil. He's the only one who doesn't have a nasty nickname.

He's the one who keeps everyone alive which makes up for his bouts of irresponsible stupidity.

Diego is also the only de Vil sibling who can write in cursive.

Hunter is the only blonde de Vil that the cousins can remember.

This earns a lot of jokes about him being adopted.

He is never amused by them.

Ivy looks the most like Cruella. Her hair is half and half like hers, and she hates it. Hair dye doesn't work.

She's tried. Her cousins had to beg her to stop because she would break out in horrible hives when she used it and they were afraid she'd die.

Carlos is allergic to Wool.

Hunter and Diego have no allergies.

Hunter is claustrophobic and afraid of the dark  and being alone and forgotten because of his time in the crate. His younger cousins know very few details about it.

Diego's hair is the opposite of Carlos's—his hair is mostly black with a few white streaks and specks, while Carlos's hair is mostly white with dark specks

Ivy is afraid of burning alive like her dad but also addicted to the flames.

Her and Hunter are scared of dying again.

Diego, Carlos, and The Badun cousins had to sleep in their beds a lot when they were younger to calm them because of the nightmares they had.

They still do.

The 3 oldest de Vil cousins were in pure shock and mourning for days after Carlos left for Auardon. They thought they'd never see him again.

Carlos, Hunter, and Ivy go to all of Diego's concerts and like all of his videos  and buy all his albums.

He does the same for them.

They're all scared of going nuts like their elders.

They were all scared of their other relatives when they got off the isle.

Hunter never forgives Ben's parents. Never.

He and Ivy both try to pretend that they don't want to kill them both.

Everyone but Diego has had depression. Diego has just always been optimistic (and a bit angry).

Ivy is named after their ancestor, Princess Ivy.

She resents this.

Divus de Vil, or Divus Crewel—as he is now known—is a professor at Night Raven College.

He teaches the school's science curriculum, including potionology.

He, like the rest of his family, feels strongly about fashion and refuses to compromise on what he wears.

He is Cruella and Crisitan de Vil's twin brother who somehow managed to stay out of any serious legal trouble. Unlike them.

When he was younger, Divus was nicknamed 'devious'  by his fellow peers. Right around the time they started to call his sister 'Cruella' instead of Ella.

He was the favorite of his mother—meaning he was the only one who ever got attention from her.

He has no pets.

He, Cristian,  and Cruella taught their 3 younger brothers (Cyrus, Cotton, and Cecil) how to work on cars when they were all kids.

Back before Cruella and P.H became cruel, all 7 of them were rather close-knit despite their age differences.

Divus's mother named him.  His name means "divine"/"godlike" or "god". It can aldo be considered a variant of "diva", referring to a narcissistic and self-important person.

Cyrus was a teen dad at 14.

Malevola and Cruella didn't hesitate at all to yell at and belittle him for this.

He ran away a couple of years later with his son, Charles, and became a farmer.

Cyrus was a natural blonde but dyed his hair black and white in an attempt to fit in with his family.

Charles inherited it as well. They both inherited this from Oscar "Count" de Vil.

22 years later, Charles met a woman named Helga Sinclair and Hunter de Vil was born.

Oscar and Dintia de Vil are the parents of Malevola de Vil and her brother, Malice.

Of course, those aren't their real names. Only the names those who didn't understand their odd family gave them.

Oscar and Dinita would never name them those names. They were actual loving parents, thank you very much (Unlike Malevola).

Malevola and Malice are actually named Mallory and Malachai.

Malachai's unflattering nickname doesn't really fit him at all.

He may be the mastermind but Malachai isn't really eVil at all. He's actually harmless and quite kind. Unlike his nasty sister.

Oscar de Vil was rumored to be a vampire and thusly nicknamed the 'Count' because he always wore a black, hooded cloak.

And no, he isn't actually a vampire. He's just severely allergic to sunlight and has to wear a hooded cloak while outside during the day.

It's actually kinda funny/sad considering the fact that his wife, Dinita, loves the sun and taking walks.

She stopped doing it as often when she began dating him so she could spend more time with him, so it's safe to say their love was true.

Both of them were loving, confident, lively people who saw the best in everyone and loved life.

Oscar was a businessman and a doctor who was quite charitable to those around him and Dintia was an architect.

Dintia actually was the one who designed Hell Hall and the other de Vil properties.

The two of them and their kids were loved in the small community they lived in for the first 10 years of Malachai's life.

And then Dintia slowly started to forget things.

It was small things at first, like Mallory's favorite color and Malachai's favorite snack.

And then it was big things, like her anniversary and birthdays.

It only continued to spiral from there until Oscar dragged her to the doctor during the day—causing him to break into hives mind you—and got her checked out to find out what was wrong.

Not long after, they found out she had early onset dementia and Dintia started to change.

Forgetting who Oscar and even her own kids were. Not recognizing her two birds, Stormy and Sunny. Not recognizing her own pictures.

Oscar began to distance himself from his kids, throwing himself into his work in hopes of finding a way to save his weakening wife.

Dintia kept finding ways to escape the house and could often be found wandering around town, confused.

Some less than lovely people started to call her dementia instead of her actual name.

She died four years later when Malachai was 14 and Mallory was 10. And it hit everyone hard. 

Oscar and Malachai both fell into a deep depression and due to the time period they were in, they received little to no help at all.

Oscar became a shut-in and rarely left his house, glaring at anyone who approached him on the rare occasions that he did.

Malachai became a shell of his former self. He stopped talking and smiling and goofing around as much, and daydreamed often of his mother never getting sick and his life never going to hell. Hardly able to accept reality.

He actually checked out for a bit—becoming emotionally detached from everyone around him—and didn't speak for years.

If his son, Philip Herbert aka P.H, hadn't been born, he would have never come out of it.

Unfortunately, while he and Oscar were emotionally dead to the world, Mallory started to change.

She became bitter and resentful and apathetic to everything that wasn't fashion. And her morals and what she saw as important slowly started to distort until she wasn't recognizable anymore.

And she was oh so hateful to anyone who wasn't her love, Dupree, who would go on to be her husband—earning her the alias Malevola.

Dupree was head over heels in love with her and blind to all her faults, which would come back to bite him later.

They'd go on to have 5 kids in this order; Cruella, Divus, Cyrus, Cecil, and Cotton.

Malevola/Mallory didn't even attempt to be a good mother. Ignoring them when she could get away with it and being out of town often.

She'd even snap at and belittle them from the moment they were born.

Cruella would go on to be a fashion designer as did Crisitan and you know the rest.

Cyrus became a teen dad and a farmer.

Cecil became a film director and willingly went to the isle for Cruella.

And Cotton became a detective and a pyro.

Cotton eventually met Carmen Sandiego, one thing led to another, and Ivana/Ivy de Vil was born.

Ivy is Malevola's favorite grandchild.

Malevola tried to make up for her parenting mistakes with Hunter and Ivy, and the other two kids, but failed.

Mainly because she played keep away with them and their mothers.

Oscar (Malevola) was a good grandfather who visited on occasion but couldn't undo the damage his daughter had done.

Dupree died before he could meet Hunter, Ivy, Diego, or Carlos.

He admitted openly on his death bed that he regretted not divorcing Malevola when their kids were young because, while he loved her, she wasn't a good person and screwed up their kids in ways that couldn't be fixed.

Most of the de Vils are mentally ill in one way or another.

Harry Badun is Hunter de Vil's younger half-brother.

Cotton died in a fiery accident he caused.

Cyrus died in a farming accident.

Charles died in a freak archery accident.

Oscar succumbed to his old age, a bitter, angry old man who the children of the Village feared.

Hunter and Ivy died in a car accident while trying to free the dalmatians from Cruella and got resurrected and sent to the isle.

Cecil died from not taking care of himself when he fell depressed upon realizing he had damned his son and that his niece and nephews would never be free of the isle.

Malachai got sick and died when P.H was very young, causing him to be taken in By Malevola and Dupree.

Due to the sudden loss of the only parental figure he had and the neglect and belittlement he suffered from Malevola, he went mad.

He was introduced to science by Divus and started to experiment on any animal he could get his hands on. It rarely ended well for the animals. But Malevola allowed it as long as her dogs and Malachai's snake weren't touched.

P.H ended up experimenting on his father's snake and it died.

Cruella helped him hide the evidence.

Malevola was devastated and never found her brother's snake, leading her to assume she lost it.

It was one of 4 times Cruella and her siblings ever saw her mother cry.

Malevola told Carlos once that he looked like her brother at his age. It was the only time she ever mentioned her brother before her death.

Anita knew all of Cruella's generation growing up. P.H always scared her.

Once when they were all little, Cruella convinced them all to try her favorite drink; ink.

They all got terribly ill from it and never did it again.

No one knows how Cruella can stand drinking that stuff.

Carlos lives a long, healthy life with his friends and Jane.

Divus was delighted to meet his niece and nephews. Along with all their partners and friends.

Horace and Jasper were friends with the de Vils and Radcliffes growing up.

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Requested by @kivamyths .

[niconebula]

People are picking up on the 'Belos made Hunter for emotional support' thing, and I just want to say I called it like 9 months ago, but also let's expand on this. (And this is not exactly the same thing but bear with me).

Basically, the crux of it is that Belos is entirely obsessed with his brother; this was the cliff into the deep end after he died / abandoned him. Belos regards their time in childhood and before coming to the Boiling Isles as the most precious in his life. Despite appearances, Belos nearly equally depends on Hunter as Hunter depends on him. Their relationship is extremely co-dependent, however it doesn't appear that way due to the power imbalance.

Hunter, and any other grimwalkers he may have made therein, being made with one of the primary purposes of being emotional support and caretaking of Belos.

For Hunter, this poses the question: What am I supposed to do if someone who loves me cant stop hurting me? Because how hard is it to walk away from that. If the previous Golden Guards were also grimwalkers which I like to believe, it makes a point that the abuse is cyclical and never-ending.

I also want to put forth an idea that: Belos is an eternal child who never really grew up emotionally, and his actions are similar to that of a child playing make believe. Probably more accurately, he regressed to his child state as a coping mechanism of trauma.

His inner self is represented by the child version of him, who wears the same mask he dons now. This mask is the first symbol of his childhood that he clings to for comfort.

The second symbol of his childhood he clings to is the Gravesfield Crest, the place where he grew up. Because this is highly special and symbolic, and given how protective Belos is of these things, this is why I believe the previous Guards also had to participate in the make believe play.

His third item is the symbol of his brother himself. He needs these things to placate himself and stay within the realms of fantasy that nothing bad ever happened or he might fully, and permanently, transform into a beast. Hunter is his personal caretaker. He's the only one allowed to see Belos in a weak state, the only one who can see his face, the only one who can physically touch him and can hear his stories.

Belos has power to manipulate people without needing to be this personally vulnerable in front of them, but he chooses to in the case of Hunter. He is likely constantly aware that Hunter is only a figment of his brother but regardless allows him to forge that personal connection that Belos desperately needs and misses.

Like I said in my original post, you don't just go through the process of creating a clone completely alike in appearance and personality, and let them become a part of your personal life, just to be used as carnage.

Hunter's fate might as well be death anyway, as were his predecessors, but he wasn't made just to be killed like a farm animal. He’s Belos’… pet. Even if Belos won't admit it, Hunter has a whack ton of emotional significance to him.

If we’re going to ask why Belos’ brother means so much to him, beyond being associated with his old life before he came to a world he hates, and general caring for your sibling: Symbol Four

So - what if their parents were killed by the plague when they were kids? 1600-1620 was still very early for settlers, most of them still arriving by ship from Europe. The plague was still prolific until the 1800s. Belos’ brother was older and cared for him when all they had was eachother. Belos says their family is all dead, and maybe that’s actually true. Not from wild magic, but plague.

I thought the Coven Scouts may have just been designed like that for the aesthetic, but I would not be surprised about this lore connection because it fits so goddamn well.

I’m not sure where to end this ramble, but here’s some food for thought. Taking this kind of angle is a lot more interesting to me. I still think Hunter is in grave danger, but there’s no reason for Belos to raise him and give him a position next to him other than this kind of projecting.

[northlight14]

Breakup’s, birthdays and drag shows

Description: Roman and Janus broke up and now Roman can't celebrate his birthday with him. Now it's Virgil's job as his best friend to cheer him up.

TW: breakup mention, crying, cursing, Janus isn't intended to be unsympathetic but since Virgil doesn't like him it might come across that way, alcohol mention, brief violence mention, let me know if I need to add anything else

Ships: platonic prinxiety, past roceit

Genre: hurt/comfort

Prompt: alt prompt 4, drag (prompt by @pridewrite2021)

Virgil was browsing the card isle looking for a birthday card for Roman when his phone started to buzz. He pulled it out to see it was Remus calling him.

"Ugh, what is it Remus?" Virgil said, already not interested in whatever Remus had gotten himself into.

"Hey Virgin! Can you come over?" Remus chirped.

"I'll be coming over later to drop off Roman's card. Why, what's up?"

"Well, you know how Roman and Janus broke up last week?" How could Virgil forget? Roman had spent the entire week being an absolute wreck and Patton and Logan had to hold Virgil back in order to stop him beating Janus up.

"Yes." Virgil gritted out through his teeth.

"Well, Roman just realized that he isn't gonna be able to celebrate with him and that this is gonna be his first birthday without him in 3 years and what not. So now he's crying in his room, lookin' like a hot mess. And since he's your best friend and all I was wondering if you could come and cheer him up or whatever."

"What! How the hell am I supposed to do that?!" Virgil yelled, before realizing he's still standing in the middle of the card isle, hiding his face which was now scarlet.

"I don't know man but you'll come up with something! You're like a brother to him, Virgie!"

"You actually are his brother, Rem!"

"Come on Virgil, please!" Remus pleaded through the phone. "I just...I really don't know what to do, here." He said, voice suddenly going quiet.

Virgil sighed. "Ok, I'll be ten minutes."

———

Virgil always forgot how big Roman's house was. The drive way alone seemed to go on for ages, outlined by large trees and red rose bushes. The pathway to the door was a red brick and clearly well taken care of. The house itself was a faded red brick with large windows and balconies. The front door was too tall and painted black, standing in the middle of two white pillars.

Looking at where Roman lived, it was easy to see why Virgil had disliked him at first. When they'd first met, Roman had a much bigger problem with his bratty rich kid attitude and with his life seemingly perfect from an outsiders point of view it was easy to see why they clashed. after all, Virgil had absent parents and had to work several jobs to help pay bills. But as he got to know Remus better it made it much easier to see through Roman as well. Mr and Mrs Prince were nice enough but they had a bad habit of pitting Roman and Remus against each other, both with academics and creative pursuits. It turned out Roman's arrogant attitude was a coping mechanism for his surprisingly low self esteem. It also turned out that Roman wasn't just "lazy" when it came to school work like Virgil had first thought, but he was actually struggling with ADHD. The more Virgil learned about Roman and the more Roman learned about Virgil, the closer they became until they began to see each other as brothers. Brothers that would make fun of each other relentlessly but brothers non the less.

Virgil knocked on the large door and waited for a response. Not too long after, Mrs Prince answered. She was a tall and slender woman with tanned skin. Her dark hair was tied perfectly in a bun. She wore a black dress with a red shall, both of which looked as expensive as Virgil's car.

"Oh, hello Virgil. I assume you're here for Roman? Remus said you were coming." She said.

"Uh, yeah. Can I come in?"

"Of coarse, Roman should be in his room. He hasn't come out since this morning." She said, stepping aside to let Virgil in.

'Oh God.' Virgil thought to himself before heading upstairs and hoping he would finally be able to remember which room is Romans.

In the end Remus came out his room and pointed Virgil in the right direction but hey, no one else needed to know that.

Gently, Virgil knocked on Romans door and waited to be let in.

"Remus, I told you to go away!" Roman yelled from inside, his voice sounding muffled.

"Hey Roman, it's Virgil. Can I come in?"

There was a brief moments pause before Virgil heard a quiet voice he decided to interoperate as Roman inviting him in.

Virgil was very taken aback by the sight before him. The room, which was usually kept as neat as possible, was covered in tissues, chocolate wrappers and a mix of opened and unopened presents. Roman was sat on his bed, eyes puffy and hair messy.

"Um, hey, are you alright?" 'Fuck sake Virgil, obviously he isn't.' Roman sniffled, smiling despite himself. "Yeah, I just...I miss him, ya know?"

"Yeah." Virgil said, sitting beside him. "Oh, um, I got you this..." Virgil awkwardly passed him the card.

Roman smiled, accepting it. "Thanks."

"So...what do you want to do? For your birthday, I mean." Virgil said, trying and failing to hide his discomfort.

"I don't know..." Roman sighed, looking down at his hands. "I was just going to continue to watch Carmen Santiago. But I always watched that with Janus. It was our show, ya know? He'd always make a comment about how she's still stealing and I'd counter it with how she's stealing from thieves so surely that makes it ok! I don't know, it just...it feels wrong to watch it without him..." Roman laughed sadly. "Which sucks because the last episode left on a cliff hanger and I really wanna know what happens next." He laughed a little at his own expense.

Virgil couldn't help but smirk. "Well, why don't we go out somewhere?"

Roman looked down again. "I don't know..."

'Crap. What the heck am I supposed to do here?!'

Virgil looked around awkwardly. He then spied in the corner what looked like a new makeup pallet. Roman must have gotten it for his birthday. 'Bingo.'

"Hey, why don't we do each other's makeup?" Virgil offered.

Romans face immediately lit up. "Really?!" He said, excitedly.

"Yeah, why not?" Virgil said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well last time I asked to do your makeup, you said you'd rather stab yourself in the eye with your eye liner."

"Yeah, well..." Virgil coughed. "Consider it my birthday present to you."

Roman immediately shot up and grabbed the eyeshadow pallet and several brushes. "I promise you won't regret this!" Yeah, Virgil was already regretting this but Roman seemed happy and that's all that mattered.

———

The brushes tickled Virgil's face as Roman layered the purple eye shadow. Virgil almost started to object as Roman began to apply silver jewels at the edges of the eye shadow, before stopping himself. Roman then finished the look by applying a purplish pink lipstick and brushing Virgil's bangs out of his face. He then handed Virgil a mirror. The look was very 80's glam, far from Virgil's usual style but he had to admit, it looked really good. The eyeshadow looked sharp, the upper lid being a lighter shade than the under eye and corners of the eyes.

"It looks great!" Virgil said, admiring it. Roman smiled proudly from the compliment. "Alright." Virgil said, taking the eye shadow pallet. "Your turn."

Roman laughed. "I appreciate the offer, rainy day real estate, but I don't really wanna look like I haven't slept in a hundred years." Roman teased.

"Says the guy who's went entire weeks not sleeping because he was binge watching a new show!" Virgil teased back.

"And I'll have you know I wear that like a badge of honor!"

"Besides," Virgil continued to laugh. "I know how to do other makeup looks."

"Ok..." Roman said. "But if I end up looking like a Tim Burton character, I will kill you with my bare hands." They both couldn't help but laugh.

Virgil decided to go for a similar style that Roman went for, layering different shades of red and mixing in some gold glitter. He also decided to draw a small crown on his right cheek, just below the eye. The look was then finished off with red lipstick to match.

He passed the mirror over to Roman who gasped in delight at his reflection. "It looks so good!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah? I'm glad you like it." Virgil smiled, pulling back on his purple patch hoodie after taking it off to give himself more mobility when applying the makeup.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Roman said, waving his arms in front of his face before jumping up and handing Virgil a black leather jacket that was hung on his chair as well as a pair of purple tinted heart glasses. "Put these on!" He exclaimed.

Virgil once again pulled off his hoodie, replacing it with the leather jacket. It fit him surprisingly well considering Roman was a fair bit taller and more muscular than him. He then put on the glasses and Roman eagerly pulled him off his bed and guided him to his full length mirror.

"Wow...I actually look really good." Virgil said.

"See! I told you!" Roman laughed.

Virgil examined the jacket. "I didn't think you'd own a jacket like this. Did you steal it from Remus or something?" Virgil asked.

Romans smile suddenly dropped. "It, uh, it was Janus'..."

Shit.

"Oh, um, sorry." Virgil said, honestly.

"It's ok." Roman sighed, sitting back on his bed. "I've been meaning to give it back. Especially since it still has his wallet in it. But that means I'll have to see him and I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

'He left his wallet in here?' Virgil put his hands in the pockets and sure enough, Roman was right. Virgil quickly started to feel all too powerful now knowing this.

"Hey, come on, let's go out somewhere. Show off your makeup." Virgil tried again.

"For someone who looks like they belong in a vampire novel, you're awfully eager to go outside." Roman laughed.

"Come on, I just think it'll do you some good to get out for a bit."

Roman averted Virgil's gaze. "I don't know..."

"Come on, man. Do you really want to let that jackass ruin your birthday?"

Roman sighed. "Ok, fine."

Virgil waited outside Romans room as he changed out his pajamas. When he came out, he was sporting a white shirt paired with a black jacket that had a red floral pattern. He was also wearing a pair of glasses, his in the shape of two fairy wings that matched the gold in his eye shadow perfectly.

As the two walked out the house, Roman called "Mom, weren't going out! I should be home soon!"

His mom sounded surprised by this but happy non the less. "Ok sweetie, be back soon!"

"So where are we going?" Roman asked as they walked out the house.

"How the hell should I know? I'm just winging it." Virgil laughed.

———

The two wandered through the town as the sun began to set, the reds and oranges bouncing off Romans glasses and the glitter perfectly. Virgil was all too aware of the judging looks they were being given but when he looked at Roman, he seemed happy. And right now that's all that mattered. Just keeping Romans mind off Janus.

Eventually, Virgil began to hear the sound of music and he subconsciously started to follow it, Roman tailing behind. As he wandered through the town he eventually found the source.

A bar putting on a drag show.

Roman was staring off into space, standing next to him. Virgil tapped his shoulder, pulling him back to reality. "Hey, I know what we're doing."

———

Romans face lit up once more when he saw the stage. It didn't seem like they missed too much, which was good. The drag queen that was stood on the stage currently was singing, her hair done big with makeup that shone and reflected the lights perfectly. Her dress black and covered in sequins and frills. The heels she wore didn't look comfortable in the slightest but she walked in them with ease.

The two sat at the bar. They were each 18 and 19, meaning they wouldn't be able to drink but given the circumstances, it was probably best if Roman didn't get drunk right now.

Instead, Virgil just ordered them some non alcoholic drinks and fries. Roman was about to hand him the money to pay but Virgil immediately declined. "My treat. It's your birthday after all." Virgil then remembered Janus' wallet still in his jacket pocket. 'I mean, if Janus is the reason we're here, it's only right he should be the one to pay for us, right?' Virgil couldn't help his smirk as he handed the money over.

The night continued and Roman and Virgil cheered loudly for each queen on stage, each one quite different from the last. Virgil watched as any sign of grief seemingly dissolved from Romans face.

The final queen for the night came on the stage and they both watched with joy as she performed.

"I know what you're doing, you know." Roman said, not taking his eyes off the stage. Virgil froze instantly, slowly daring to look at his friend. Roman once again had small tears in his eyes but he wore the most genuine smile Virgil hadn't seen on him in ages. "Thank you."

Virgil smiled at his friend. At his brother. "Of coarse."

-------

Authors note: I’ve been wanting to write something based on the glam looks Thomas posted for Roman and Virgil for a while now and I obviously wanted to write something for Romans birthday. So when I saw the prompt for today was ‘drag’ I immediately thought “well that’s convenient”. So happy birthday Roman! Anyway, hope y’all enjoyed. I’m still practicing my writing and hopefully I’m improving. 

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[polar534]

Hockey Injury Pt. 1

So Hockey AU was... surprisingly more popular then I thought. Which is good, because I still have ALOT written down about it, and I intend to add more. (It's become a bit of a coping mechanism to write about.) So, in the set-up post I warned that I had a bunch of notes regarding Amity's hockey injury. Well, welcome to a 3-parter folks! That's right. I've got that much written.

Anyways, this first part will be a general text-dump summary of events, the second will be a Luz centered more detailed 'story' about what happened on the ice. And the third will be focused on both girl's healing after the fact.

So vague explanations and warnings aside. Have part 1. Under the cut cause I have ~problems~

In essence. Amity gets like... really injured. It's bad. Like she is laid up in a hospital bad. They don't even have time to get her to the demon dimension where they usually take her when she gets injured (because different biologies and hiding her witchiness), so she gets taken specifically in Camilla's hospital.

They were only barely able to sneak her away from the emt's on duty at the game.

The team becomes immediately suspicious and HIGHLY concerned but they can't do anything because Amity is hurriedly rushed out of the place and to the hospital. Camilla is completely freaked but she also knows this could be much more serious then anyone realizes, because if they take Amity to get the help she needs right now, they'll find out she is a witch. She barges into the hospital first and pulls aside the doctor she works for and explains, completely deadpanned, that the other girl who lives with them is a witch from a different dimension but there's no other place to take her.

Luz is in the hallway with Amity, and is completely shutting down. She is barely holding it together. She knows it's bad because she's only ever seen her mom like this once. And that was when Luz got deathly ill with the flu one year. Amity is barely conscious so there's no need for Luz to be brave.

Luz is alone and terrified. She's spiraling.

The doctor, having worked with and been taken care of by Camilla for years agrees in a heartbeat to not only treat Amity but to make sure the entire treatment is confidential. They get the xray's back and its serious. The broken bone has cut a major vein inside Amity's shoulder. She's bleeding out. They don't have time to worry about the different make up. They rush her into surgery and Camilla needs to be a part of it.

Luz is alone. Waiting.

She knows there's a chance Amity... is just not coming back.

She knows there's a chance of losing her.

And Luz completely shuts down.

During this time, the team secretly tracks down where the family went. As soon as someone pulls it up on their phone, they ditch all of their equipment and leave immediately, mid-match, much to the other's teams confusion.

They crash into the hospital, rushing past the nurses and security trying to stop them. They find Luz out in the hallway from the surgery room, and she's fully awake, but she's unresponsive. They can't get an answer out of her. So they sit there with her. Completely silent. Waiting.

The staff eventually catches up with the teens, but where they expect to find a bunch of rowdy teenagers, instead they find deathly quiet kids, all quiet in fear, they know there was warning put out to all the staff about privacy regarding this emergency surgery. So they buzz off and leave the teens be.

Nobody speaks a word, nobody moves a muscle until Camilla pokes her head out of the room, a couple of hours later. The team all become responsive and alert but Luz doesn't budge.

Camilla understands immediately. Knowing too many people will be overwhelming for Amity while she recovers she beckons Luz in first.

Luz, moves slowly, like a zombie. The team being extremely concerned about both girls but they have each other.

Amity is awake when Luz comes in.

Luz stiffly walks over to her and Amity knows something's wrong. Something broke her girlfriend.

"So. This is where your mother works right? It's so much more clean then the hospitals in the Isles." Amity points out, completely seriously.

Luz cracks. She is so incredibly relieved that she sobs, with a massive smile on her face.

"That's... that's not good Amity!"

It breaks both of the girls and they both laugh and cry as they have a soft moment. Luz updates her on everything that happened after she fell unconscious.

Camilla on the other hand is informing Eda and Lilith what has happened. Some members of the team leave the hallways to find some food and overhear their conversation. Specifically the frequent use of the word: Witch.

***

The next couple of days are spent with Amity being laid up in bed at home, with Luz absolutely spoiling her and fussing over her to the point of annoyance.

King, Eda and Lilith all go to the human realm to check up on their Blight child the night of the injury, Eda and Lilith are concerned but they also know Camilla has an absolute handle on the situation. They trust her to take care of Amity and promise to visit daily until she's better, warning the poor witch that they'll be telling the twins and Willow and Gus first thing in the morning. (Which was a whole thing) King... dallies at the portal to go home that night. Luz picks up on the little guy's worry immediately and knows he won't just admit to wanting to stay with the girls.

So she insists on stealing him for the night, for therapy of course and King takes the hint and runs with it. Insisting that his subjects NEED him.

This makes Luz feel much better because Camilla insists that Luz cannot miss classes despite her girlfriend being bedridden. So she entrusts King to take care of Amity. Which is a relief to King and Amity, because Amity is kinda tired of being babied and King isn't one to baby. He'll take care of her, but they mostly just chill out together and complain. King curling up on Amity's stomach while they both rest.

Meanwhile the team is concerned as well. They discuss the idea of Luz at first being the witch the mother was talking about, because it just kinda fits with her being quirky and an outsider to most everyone else.

So they confront her on it one day when they go to check on Amity, as she's walking them out.

Luz. Finds. This. Hilarious.

She loves it and is so incredibly excited because 1. They know now. And 2. They aren't afraid!! They aren't mad, just worried as to why the girls would keep it a secret.

However they got something wrong. And that's who the biological witch is. Luz points out the teeth and the ears and it suddenly clicks.

Amity is a witch.

Cue that night, Luz getting chewed out by Amity for telling them, but the girls both really giddy that they now have another place they don't have to hide in. They make a plan to have a serious discussion with the team about the need for secrecy.

But more angst. Back to the days immediately following the injury, Camilla comes in one night while Luz is visiting Eda and Amity is alone.

She has a serious talk with Amity about the danger she was in, and just how hurt she had gotten. Camilla wants to be honest and straightforward with her. Amity could've died that night. She brings up the idea that maybe the witch may want to reconsider her decision to continue next year. Just that Camilla will never stop worrying about her. Its soft and gentle and Camilla really is just concerned about her.  

Amity is quiet that night when Luz comes home. (She can't spend the night anywhere without her girlfriend, no matter how much she loves Eda) Quieter then Luz has seen her in a long time.

It worries Luz, but she just holds her girlfriend extra tight, knowing that Amity will talk to her when she's ready. That's their agreement.

The next day, Amity tells Luz she is quitting Hockey.

The witch is in tears and its incredibly obvious that she doesn't actually want to quit the sport. Luz begs her to explain and Amity breaks down and tells her that its her fault, and that she's been so selfish to worry Camilla like this. That she needs to quit. She fucked up. She got hurt and it made Camilla, Luz and everyone so incredibly worried.

Her toxic upbringing is coming back, the damage her parents did on her not quite leaving, Amity truly believes that she has deeply upset and offended Camilla and then that worry stetches into her team and Luz. That she needs to correct the problem that she made for other people.

Luz takes her by the shoulders, very seriously and tells her that Camilla loves her. Unconditionally. That worry comes not from a place of inconvenience, but out of care. That her mother would be 100x more upset if Amity sacrificed something she cared about, just to make Camilla feel more comfortable.

Luz admits to worrying about losing her, but she also gushes about just how HAPPY hockey has made Amity and how she loves seeing that happiness on Amity.

How incredible it looks on her.

Luz then proceeds to get Willow and Gus to come crashing through the portal to which they explain, Gus methodically and scientifically, and Willow from the heart, that Amity is doing wonderful and its clear that she is enjoying herself.

They original squad all have a night of support for Amity. Because that's just what a family does. Camilla overhears most of what Amity fears and let's her daughter and her friends handle it. Though she feels awful about how she made the girl feel like that worry was because Amity did something wrong. She takes a field trip to the demon dimension to talk with Lilith and Eda who explain that she's doing wonderfully. That not every parent is perfect or can be. They tell her everything that night about Amity's parents. Most of which Camilla has pieced together from the time Amity had been living with her, but alot of it is still shocking. Horrifying.

Its a night of healing and learning all around.

[royaldescendants]

the darkest little paradise

moodboard made by me

masterlist

Chapter 2

Mal couldn’t recall ever having had such an interesting class before. She’d been utterly enraptured with the teacher's words, unable to take her eyes away from Kore for more than a few seconds throughout the whole lesson.

“You know, that was surprisingly enjoyable for a summer class,” Evie said, once they were out of earshot, and turned to grin mischievously at Mal. “But you should be careful, I think Ben was starting to get a little jealous with the heart eyes you were making.”

“Oh ha ha,” Mal rolled her eyes with a smile. “It’s just…..I’ve never had a teacher that could keep me focused while teaching me something new, you know? Plus, she’s the only one I’ve met besides my mother that is willing to tell me- well, anything about fairies. I want to know more about it all, considering I’m half fairy, or Fae I guess.”

Evie tilted her head. “Huh. Guess I’m kind of surprised your mother never told you about it all, considering she was one. Wouldn’t she have been proud of it?”

“I think she’s still hurting from not having her wings anymore,” Mal whispered. “She would wince every time she was reminded she can’t fly anymore, I can’t imagine what losing them must have felt like. All that freedom just…..gone. Because of some stupid man.”

“I suppose. And there wasn’t anything in her spellbook about it? About the fairies, or Fae, or nature magic…?”

“Nothing. I told you, she doesn’t like talking about that part of her life.” Mal stopped. “Maleficent was traumatized. As cruel and evil as she is, I believe that it’s some sort of coping mechanism for all that she went through. And as we just learned, fairies and Fae don’t take kindly to not being included, or bad manners. King Stefan and Queen Leah can complain all they want, but they brought my mother’s curse down on themselves.” 

-------

Alarms. 

Kore woke up, hearing an alarm going off. It wasn’t her alarm, and she soon realized that because the greenhouses (where she fell asleep by accident) was close to the museum, something must have happened.

Grabbing her coat and bag, she crept out of the greenhouse, quickly locking it.

Greenhouse 1 was not to be entered by any other being, except with her escort. She was the only one that was able to keep the complicated plants alive, somehow.

She sprinted to the museum steps, finding the entry door ajar, the security guard asleep at his desk.

“Well, well, well, what have we here?”

Kore looked towards the voice that came out of nowhere. She recognized the student, eyes merely glancing over the face, and her brow furrowed as she looked around for whoever had set off the piercing sirens. “Audrey? Are you okay, sweetie? Did you hear the alarms too? You should go back to bed, hon, whoever set them off might hurt you.”

“Why would I hurt myself?”

A blast of pain from her side erupted, then faded immediately, absorbed. Kore didn’t know what the feeling was, but a warm and tingly feeling filled her hands.

“Huh, that’s not supposed to happen. But oh well, you’re just a gardener anyway.” 

A resounding thunk! on the top of Kore’s head was the last thing she heard, before everything faded to black.

-----

“I think we all know why we’re here today. Hades almost escaped yesterday, the people are in a panic. Even Kore hasn’t been spotted since the alarms went off last night, so who knows what’s going to happen with the greenhouses.”

Mal gulped. “It’s my fault. I’m supposed to protect Auradon-.”

“You did, Mal. You kept Hades from escaping while we all just stood there, helpless. None of us even tried to do something after you stepped in.”

Adam scowled at his son’s interruption. “Every time we open that barrier, we take another risk of another villain escaping, another risk of danger. We saw it with Maleficent, it happened with Uma, and now Hades, the literal god of death, need I remind you, almost escaped the only thing that’s ever kept him contained.”

Ben’s pager went off, and he stepped back to look at it, face paling. “Maleficent’s scepter and the Queen’s crown have been stolen from the museum. The security guard is currently in a comatose state.”

Belle sat down, head in her hands.

Adam stepped behind her. “When the people hear this, they won’t want to leave their houses, what are we supposed to tell them? Mal, you’ve been quiet, you must have any sort of an idea. How do we keep evil out of Auradon?”

She bit her lip. “I think that there’s only….really one way that we can guarantee their safety. We have to close the barrier forever.”

Ben shook his head, walking away, betrayed.

“Son-.”

“Don’t.”

“Ben?

“No.”

“Ben, I don’t want to take away your dream, because it was so beautiful, and it’s part of why I fell in love with you. But we have a duty as king and queen, don’t we?”

“I know, we have to protect Auradon. But do you know what this means? All those kids….are you prepared for this?”

Mal’s breath was shaky. “I know what it means. And no, I’m not prepared for it, but I don’t know that we have any other choices here.”

“Ben....” Adam stepped forward. “Mal’s right. And if we took the risk, what if something terrible happened, and we’re here knowing we could have prevented it?”

------

Mal grabbed a glass of water from Evie’s kitchen, a lump in her throat from nerves, before moving to the sewing room with her friend. 

“Who else knows about the crown and the scepter?” That was Evie for you, always jumping straight to the topic. She didn’t have to worry about repercussions when she talked with Mal, what with the friendship they had.

“No one else. I mean, think about it. They’re all scared enough as it is, we had to add all these new security measures just to keep summer classes going,” Mal sighed, wishing she could take a nap. Maybe she could steal Evie’s pillow? The bench outside wasn’t half bad for a snooze in the sun….

“Will this delay our bringing over more VKs?”

“We’re in talks about closing the barrier for good”

Evie paused in the middle of her stitch. “.....But you said no, right? The four of us original VKs are living the dream here, and we want to share that. They can’t just shut that down. What could be more important than that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Security and peace of mind for the people of Auradon?”

Evie eyed Mal suspiciously. “Is that what they’re actually saying? M, were they seriously thinking that no one will ever go in or out of the Isle ever again? Next you’re gonna tell me we’re never going to see our parents again.” She set down the project. “And what about these kids?! We promised them that they could go back and visit their parents if they wanted!”

Mal put her hands up. “I know, I know. It sucks, but that’s what’s being talked about.” 

Evie chuckled, calming herself. “This is why I’m so glad you’re going to be queen, M. You can be a part of these conversations, you’ll stand up for the VKs.” She kissed her cheek. “Thank you for trusting me. You’re gonna be a great queen, you know that?”

Just then, Carlos walked into Evie’s kitchen with Jay in tow, distracting the girls to see what they were doing. “Whoo! I got the matching beach towels, I got the gift wrapped by myself- okay, who ate Jane’s cake.”

Evie scratched her elbow, not making eye contact. “Well, Celia and Dizzy mentioned earlier that they were looking for something to snack on, I guess I lost track of time?”

Mal laughed at the expression on Carlos' face, and decided it was time to head to Jane’s party herself as she grabbed the purple-bagged present

She trailed her fingers over the bushes out front. Nature had always made her feel better, though of course she only discovered it when she came to Auradon. They didn’t have plants on the Isle anywhere, considering there wasn’t any sun to help them grow. 

Of course, the peace didn’t last long, what with Audrey somehow appearing in a poof of pink smoke.

“I was hoping you were home.” The smile that Audrey bore had no warmth. Mal took in the new look. Dark pink and purple hair, with a dove pink bodysuit and a matching cape, with black lace, and - oh no...

“Is this a joke? What are you doing with the crown and the scepter?”

Audrey pretended to think. “Well, I wanted them. So I took them.” She frowned. “You of all people should understand that, Mal,” she said, stepping back and having the scepter glow.

Mal stepped back too, setting down Jane’s present. “Wait! Audrey, stop! Don’t….don’t use that.”

“Oh? I thought you liked spells.”

“Okay, Audrey-”

“QUIET!” Audrey moved a few paces, not wanting to act too quickly. Savor this.

“It’s not a toy, it’s dangerous!” 

“I want to be dangerous!” Audrey stepped closer, almost in Mal’s face. “My life was perfect until you stole it, and Auradon turned its back on me. Even Kore didn’t care anymore, no one ever did.”

She strode away. “It’s time for a little payback.”

“Audrey, no-”

Audrey fired the scepter at Mal, and the only way she could react was to put her arms in front of her face. An instinct she had from years on the Isle - you could never tell what would happen next at anyone’s house, to anyone’s kid.

Audrey cackled as the spell hit Mal square in the chest.

“You think Ben will love you now, you old hag? You’ll pay the price of what you did, and so will all of Auradon.”

Mal heard the door open, but couldn’t stand up straight from her stooped position. Jay and Carlos entered her sight first, stepping in front of her.

Audrey grinned. “So long, suckers. I’ll even do you a favor now, and say hello to Kore for you.” And then she was gone, in another poof of pink smoke and a cackle. 

Jay reached for Mal’s hands, as though to steady her. “Whoa, okay! Uh, you might want to think of a spell for that?”

“There’s no spell that can reverse the curse of the scepter,” Mal rasped.

Carlos cleared his throat. “Well that’s a shame.” Celia nodded in agreement, eyes widened in slight fright that the soon to be queen she’d seen a few minutes ago looked as old as time.

“Audrey’s out for revenge, and all of Auradon is in danger.” All Mal wanted at this moment was a glass of water, they could figure out the rest later. 

“What should we do?” Evie questioned, ready to take things into her own hands for her best friend.

Mal shrugged. “The only thing more powerful than the scepter is Hades’ ember.”

“Oh, like he’s just gonna hand it over if we go back on the Isle. Also, how do we know that? Kore probably knows of some random double curse fairy loophole, right?”

“Audrey has her too, Jay.”

“Okay, so we don’t have Kore and we only have the ember to work with. I’m seeing a problem in that no one knows where his lair even is?”

“I do, Evie,” Celia interjected. They all looked at her, confused. “What? He needed an errand rat, and I’m high profile enough to be respected but subtle enough not to put a target on my back and have people follow me everywhere. Anyway, the key is at my dad’s arcade.”

“You’re coming.”

“But I just got here!”

A shriek of horror from the doorway, making Evie jump. “Dizzy, stay here and take care of the twins, we’ll be back before you know it. Everything will turn out fine, okay? Just go inside, and lock the doors. Eat cake if you must, but remember the apples and oranges are in the basket, okay?” They hadn’t heard a word after ‘cake’.

Jay turned to Carlos. “Let’s get our stuff, probably the bikes.”

“How bad is it?” Mal asked mumbled to Evie, after the boys had left.

Evie hated lying to her friends. “You age beautifully. Now, let’s just get you into something fabulous.” Evie was at the door before Mal took a step, and came back with her heels clacking against the stone to help the now elderly teen move ever so slightly faster.

[save-the-spiral]

Warnings for blood mention, mechanical body horror, gore mention, torture mention, 'glitchy' unrealistic stuttering, calling a violent person 'unstable' (he is not mentally ill, but his crew thinks he is dangerous and unhinged, and he doesn't try to quell these rumors), slightly unreliable narrator?, He's just going through A Lot and coping via torture though it is not graphic here, this is really the beginning of his recovery, to be honest.

Alexander really did not think he would be embarking on a project where he fully considered the sentience and inherent 'humanity' in an Armada soldier, but, well, everything in his life had always been strange.

He finally solved the Khurgas' problem, as unconventional as it was, and continued forward as the tiger commander gave him a final order to turn the tide of battle on the Marleybonian Isle Of Fetch. With his orders, he and his crew advanced towards the beacon glowing from a beached Armada ship.

The new form of Armada units they found was strange- bulky, massive. Taller than any of their crew, easily two people's width as well. They were tougher than any flimsy hunk of metal carrying a musket or halberd the crew had destroyed before.

They hit hard, and that in itself was worrying. Currently alongside him were Bonnie Anne, Sarah Steele, and Gracie Conrad, a new crewmate he actually befriended, an unusual occurance these days when he took on a new person.

So when Sarah fell unconscious at a rough hit to the head from one of the Armada soldiers' weapons, Alexander's heart sank, but he knew it would happen. Currently everyone in his lineup was rather dainty, and he himself was a bit of a glass cannon, even the higher-ups sitting on their asses in the war room could recognize that.

So when the final battle neared, he called Ratbeard up to assist. The man was more solidly built than the rest, and he or Subodai were good picks as a fellow front line fighter while Bonnie Anne sat back to observe the field and Gracie spent the first vital moments constructing traps.

It was almost hilariously easy at first, on the ship. Gracie quickly whispered instructions, to half turn the crank, then destroy the generators, causing a power surge to blast the whole operations to pieces. Alexander cloaked the entire party in shadows, and half turned the mechanism himself.

The Armada soldiers, confused, still following battle protocols, began to destroy the only active thing on the battlefield: the generators.

Alexander was tempted to laugh, but managed to hold off until they began their ambush. He taunted the lifeless machines, mocking them with a leer as he cut them down one by one, relishing in the sound of twisted, screeching metal and the hot pour of slick oil that stained the hands and face and gave his blades a ghoulish tint.

And he would have done the same if they were people. And that alone caused Gracie and Bonnie Anne to look at him questioningly.

The beacon exploded, causing Ratbeard to cheer, hollering into the night, and Gracie appeared satisfied, but her tail wagged slowly and head cocked in thought.

"Captain, could I check for more devices in the ship's interior?" She asked.

Alexander nodded, breathing hard, blood singing still, head pounding. He kicked open the doors into the lower decks, while Gracie checked the captain's cabin.

Alexander didn't know what to look for, mind distant and scanning the room, prepared for it to turn battlefield any second, but he certainly did not expect the brig to have an occupant.

It was a barred room, one of the same make as the one Alexander spent a stint of time in whilst seventeen, about to start this twisted adventure. Inside, however, was no punk kid nor warrior of Mooshu, as was last time.

Alexander was entranced by what he saw, a strange echo of his actions above deck. The clockwork lying inside was large, the same frame as the largest model the crew had newly encountered. That was where the similarities stopped. The clockwork had no weapon, and was sparking and whirring weakly, fingers twitching as it lay limp, thrown against the back wall.

What was there to do but venture inside?

The closer he got after unlocking the cell, the more the entire situation grew unnerving. The clockwork soldier's head was bowed, hat hung low and obscuring. All armor or clothes were gone, leaving only bronze, black, and white planes of machinery, and glimpses of wires that sparked, cut. Several dents and gashes decorated the main torso plate, one arm hanging by a hinge.

When Alexander brushed the hat to the side, his breath hitched.

Surprises were not as common these days. He was a twenty-three year old man, he had been betrayed, played a fool and a puppet, stabbed in the back, and watched some of the most grotesque torture. He had inflicted some of that, eager, panting and sniffing out blood and weaknesses like a sommelier sniffed out fine wines from the way it swished against the glass, legs of the fluid sliding up smoothly, the fragrant booze plunging the senses into something smokey, smelling the barrel it was aged in, picking up hints of wood and fruits and lush flowers. All to drink it, let the intoxicating liquid slide and seep into their tastebuds, sink into their teeth, and swallow it. Much like Alexander would watch blood trail from a wound, the fear induced sweat on the skin making the passage of the fluid all the more simple, sharp iron in the air, the scent stained into their clothes.

He had seen some gruesome scenes. Nothing prepared him for seeing the dark void of chaos beneath a clockwork's mask.

The sharp intake of breath burned when he held it, eyes flitting rapidly to take it in.

Shattered porcelain remnants of its mask remained at the sides near where ones ears would go, but aside from those jagged pieces it was a whole different story. Bronze metal parts, strange and small and intricate, all clicking weakly along. The teeth- exposed now, sculpted and perfectly straight. They looked real and a chill dripped down Alexander's spine like someone cracked an egg at his neck.

The eyes. The eyes. The eyes.

Oh, the eyes.

Alexander was captivated, staring, staring and falling deep into an onyx void with a spark of true intelligence. Machinery sputtered for a moment, before the clockworks head turned just a smidge, mouth now agape, letting words spill.

"I-I-I-I-I." The machine glitched and stuttered, hand twitching once, the wrist twisting. "B-B-B-B-Bir-r-r-r."

Alexander found himself soft, quiet, until he cooed like one would at a baby, a soft "oh-hhh.", One that means nothing but to reassure. "Take you're time." He whispered.

"Ow-Ow-Oww-w-w-l-l." The thing stopped, whirred quickly, and spoke again. "Owl. N-N-" with a soft scrape a new part of its mangled face shifted, a bolt falling loose. "Owl."

Definitely not expected.

For a brief, hysterical moment, he wondered if he was wasted, having a bad drunken dream.

And it struck some kind of cord. Alexander wanted to know why. Why was this beaten to shit clockwork in an Armada brig.

But the machine slumped, stuttering about owls.

So he made the completely rational decision of dragging it out and yelling up to his crew for assistance.

And that in itself was shocking enough to send Bonnie Anne running in a flat sprint, crashing into walls as she went. Alexander never asked for help unless he was about to die or it truly was an impossible task to do alone. She hoped for the latter.

Alexander watched Bonnie Anne rush in, sniper on her shoulder ready to aim for the head. When all she saw was a busted clockwork, she let her weapon fall to her side and scoffed.

"Can't take it to our ship alone." Alexander explained, tone expectant.

"We could find scrap metal much closer to the ship if we really need it, captain."

"No. This isn't that- look at it, Bonnie. It was locked up. Why would the Armada do this to one of their own?"

"I don't know, captain, and frankly, don't know why I should care. It isn't alive."

"Well then, I guess I'll drag this to the ship on my own and get us all caught by any of the Armada between me and the dock." Alexander drawled now, a tone that promised he would follow through.

"Fine." Bonnie Anne barked out, jaws snapping.

With her and Ratbeard's help, they got it on board rather easily, Gracie running off to inform the tigers of their victory.

"To the brig with this hunk of junk, captain?" Ratbeard asked.

Alexander gazed over the war torn Isle Of Fetch, before looking back at the clockwork. "Bring it to my cabin. Tell Gracie she can check in if she's interested, but I'd rather this was my project."

Every crewmate exchanged confused glances, but with their captain turning from eccentric and frivolous into a dangerous, unstable man, they knew not to question a simple request that would hurt no one. Bonnie Anne did roll her eyes though, unable to resist.

And so Alexander found something new to fixate on, finally something that made the echoing, forlorn voices of his parents silent. Something that wasn't blood, or the way a betrayer screams for mercy, and not the crack of bone or crunch of cartilage.

Something quiet.

Gracie stayed in his room as well, silent as a grave, handing him tools and bits and bobs to fix up the broken toy soldier. Bonnie Anne led the crew in his absence, not for the first time.

He spent days intricately carving a plate of ivory, giving it the suggestion of a nose reminiscent of the Armada's plain porcelain masks. He inlayed gold in the outside, blushed it with more gold between the eye sockets and atop that nose. It was delicate, at odds with the sturdy body, the body itself a slightly uneven, less efficient thing, but it seemed proper, given the stutters about birds.

The mask looked like an Owl. It fit perfectly in every sense Alexander’s feverishly working mind could conjure. He worked on the internals last, of course, always one to prioritize the aesthetic over what lies underneath.

That was the sticking point, it seemed. He and Gracie would need more intel on either war golem construction, or the Armada’s own blueprints to figure out how to connect the pieces and give that spark of life Alexander had witnessed, to bring it back to the husk of metal and ensure it would still be rambling about owls, and not simply bash Alexander’s head in with the nearest wrench.

So Alexander left his work table as it was and allowed Bonnie Anne to drag him back into their mission, where they had to help a different branch of the Marleybonian bootlickers to ensure Alexander could finally be given the title of captain, which in itself was only to get proper access to Catbeard in order to get the imprisoned captain’s shred of the map

Plans within plans, however. Alexander let Bonnie Anne remember the big picture, and he let himself be busied by the immediate task, as well as secretly contemplating the mechanisms and delicate machinery that made up what might be a person, might be more than faulty programming. 

He didn’t know what conclusion this would come to, but for the first time since hearing an echo of his lost parents’ voices, it was more than just El Dorado.

It was the strange clockwork soldier, as well.

[spam-monster]

Helsaweek 2020 Day 1: Swap

(or tumblr’s apparently being a butt but idgaf i’mma post this and head out)

I’ve done things like power swaps or gender swaps or kingdom swaps before (at least in my head), and I wanted to do something different this time, sooooo...introducing amount-of-siblings swap!

-----

In the beautiful kingdom of Arendelle, there were once thirteen fair princesses; although the kingdom had only ever seen two of them, for around the time the third was being carried the king and queen had suddenly closed the gates to the castle without warning. Stories were told, by the servants and traders who went in and out, of a group of perfectly normal, lovely girls. Yes, they all had their quirks, but none seemed to have any affliction that would justify hiding them away. Rumors were spread as well: questions of parentage, a hidden 14th child born with some terrible curse and locked away, a secret illness that affected only royalty…or perhaps something to do with the eldest child, Elsa, since she was almost never seen outside of her rooms.

But surely she was just engrossed in her studies, preparing herself to become the new queen after her parents had been lost. After all, the older townsfolk had met Elsa when she was younger, and she had been a perfectly normal, sweet young girl. Whatever had caused her parents cut themselves off from the kingdom, it surely had nothing to do with her…

---

“Alright, that’s enough! Dina, don’t play huntress with Frida’s Mr. Deer! Ingrid, stop trying to give Cathrine a makeover! Gunda, Hilda, stop fighting! Jorunn, we can go see the horses later! Klara, Linda…”

“You’re fine.” Brigitta says from behind her. “Now let’s all get ready for bed, we have a big day tomorrow.”

Anna sighs in relief, and mentally thanks Brigitta. At least one of her little sisters is acting responsible tonight.

“We want to make a good first impression on the peasants, after all.”

…Or maybe not.

“Yeah, c’mon. You don’t want them to get mad at us and rebel and drag us all to the guillotine.”

“Cathrine, no one is being guillotined tomorrow.”

“I’d like to see ‘em try!”

“Hilda, please don’t try to fight anyone.”

“…Will they even like us?”

“Linda, of course they will.”

“Why should we even care about Elsa’s coronation?”

Anna turned to Mathilde, the youngest of the thirteen sisters of Arendelle, slumped over on a couch looking bored. “Because she’s your big sister, and she’s going to be queen! We’ve all been waiting for this day for years, we need to support her-”

“Why should I care about someone I barely know?”

Anna flinched. “It’s true, that…Elsa hasn’t been around much lately…or spent much time with us…but I’m sure she’s just been…very busy! With…studying to be queen! And all!”

Mathilde glared. “That’s a lame excuse. She always ignores us.”

“She’s not…a bad person, really…”

“Yeah, I know, you always say you used to be “best friends” or whatever. But you’re the only one of us who’s ever seen her act like a real sister!”

Anna looked around, panicked, as most of the other girls began to nod and whisper in agreement.  

“She never talks to us.”

“She’s never played with us.”

“She rarely even comes down for dinner.”

“She left you alone.”

Anna turned to Klara, confused. “Left me alone?”

Klara looked at her sadly. “After mom and dad died. She left you to raise us all on your own.”

And Anna had no answer for that.

 -------

In the small kingdom known as the Southern Isles, there were once two princes. Although you might not have remembered at first, because the elder brother was so boisterous and dazzling that it was easy to forget the younger one even existed. Prince Torvald was remarkable; an accomplished hunter, a spectacular storyteller, able to charm even the most aloof noble, and sure he could be a bit boorish and egotistical at times, but he was a prince! It was to be expected, right?

“We should be grateful we even have a prince at all, let alone two.” People would whisper. “The poor queen had been trying for decades to bear the king a worthy heir, rest her soul.”

“Not sure the other one was worth her effort, though.” Others would grumble. “What’s his name…Hans? What has that one ever done that Prince Torvald didn’t do better? Well, at least we have a spare…”

---

“Is it not a fine day at sea, little brother? Clear skies, calm waters…and across the ocean, the quaint, little, unimportant country of Arendelle awaits the blessed presence of future King Torvald the Mighty!”

Hans tried very hard to suppress a sigh. *Arendelle is bigger than the Southern Isles* he grumbled under his breath.

“What was that?”

“If…Arendelle is so “unimportant”, as you say…why did you bother to come with me?”

“A King never passes up an opportunity to impress other rulers with his might! That’s a lesson you should remember…or not, I suppose.”

*Since I’ll never be a king, you mean*

“Also, I have heard tell that the future queen is quite beauteous. Perhaps she shall prove worthy of the honor of becoming my bride.”

*That was my plan, damn it!*

Torvald laughs obnoxiously and slaps Hans on the back, almost knocking him off his feet. “Fear not, little brother! I have also heard that she has many younger sisters! Perhaps one of them shall take pity on you!”

Sitron knickers at him in concern. Hans shakes it off. “Yes…perhaps. I – um, should go…check on the horses.”

Torvald laughs again and sends him off with another hearty slap. Hans sighs heavily as he tends to Sitron.

“I’m alright, boy.” He murmurs to the horse. “And who knows? Maybe the queen will be smart enough to see my brother for what he really is, and…who am I kidding? She’ll never look at me.”

-----

 (I imagine how this goes is that:

- Hans still meets and bonds with Anna but Torvald swoops in and grabs her attention away since Elsa is ignoring him (and he’s jealous Hans is getting attention for once)

- Elsa still freaks out and runs, Anna still goes after her by herself and leaves Torvald and Hans in charge, Torvald spends most of the time posturing and giving grandiose speeches while Hans actually works to take care of the people and ends up bonding with the other princesses as well

- at the castle Torvald makes Hans go in first and he actually has a conversation with Elsa and bonds with her

- in the end Torvald talks Hans into killing Elsa (because he doesn’t want to dirty his hands, plus then he can make Hans take the blame if things go bad), but Hans hesitates so Torvald tries to do it himself but Anna stops him

- Torvald gets sent back but Hans decides to stay (and clean up his brother’s mess), the sisters all basically adopt him as their new unofficial big brother alongside Kristoff, the end)

 Might expand on this later (like designing the new siblings, or maybe WRITING SOME ACTUAL HELSA IN INSTEAD OF JUST HINTING AT IT.)

Bios for the au siblings under the cut:

I basically just ran down the list of Norwegian girl names for this one (one from each of the first 13 letters that aren’t “a” or “e”), so let me throw out some basic entomology/character stuff for the swap siblings:

Brigitta: 3rd child, in this ‘verse Idunn was probably pregnant with her when the accident happened. Goes between helping Anna keep the younger ones in line and causing problems herself. Has a bit of a superiority complex regarding her status as a princess - acts like she must be better than everyone outside the gates, but really it’s a coping mechanism to help her deal with the isolation she feels. Name means “resolute, strength”.

Cathrine: Name possibly derives from the goddess of witchcraft Hectate, so she’s the spooky, playfully morbid one. Level-headed when she’s not creeping the younger ones out by joking about death. Dina is her younger twin.

Dina: Name comes from the goddess Diana; Roman equivalent to Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunts. She picked up her love of hunting from the hunters who would come and sell fresh meat to the castle cooks, and spend her time stalking the other girls (and their stuffed animals) and sneak-attacking them with her toy bow and arrows.

Frida: Name means “peace”.  A quiet nature-lover who hates conflict, which is ironic because she’s one of a set of triplets and the other two are the most aggressive of the bunch. Ends up being the target of the more aggressive girls a lot because she doesn’t want to fight back, and she’d rather they pick on her than one of the younger girls.

Gunda and Hilda: Names mean “war” and “battle” respectively, and they live up to them. The typical red-headed identical twin duo that’s always causing trouble (except they’re triplets and the other one doesn’t want to play along). Dina can either be their ally or their rival depending on the situation.

Ingrid: Name means “beautiful”- basically she’s the one obsessed with fancy clothes and trying to do everyone’s makeup.

Jorunn: Name means “horse lover” …yeah. Obsessed with horses, spends way too much time in the stables and comes back kinda smelly, biggest dream is to ride freely through the fields of Arendelle, possibly has headcanons of what breed of horse each of her family members would be (with accompanying fanart).

Klara: Name means “clear, bright”. Intelligent and honest, sometimes to a fault. Although she doesn’t like upsetting people, she won’t shy away from telling hard truths. Linda is her twin.

Linda: The most gentle and sensitive of the girls, easily stressed and has a hard time objecting to others because she doesn’t want to hurt their feelings. Gets along best with Frida, who tries to protect her from the more rambunctious girls. Name means “soft, mild”.

Mathilde: The youngest of the bunch. Acts out a lot because she knows she can get away with it. Her name means “battle strength”, and she lives up to it by being the most strong-willed and stubborn of the bunch.

 As for Hans’ older brother, he had to be really obnoxious to make up for the fact that there’s only one of him instead of twelve. Torvald means “Thor’s ruler”, and I basically based him off Thor at the beginning of his first movie (minus any of the good traits) – he’s brash, egotistical, and takes his little brother for granted. Unlike Thor, he’s also an emotionally abusive dirty coward with no respect for women or anyone he deems “weaker” than himself (which is pretty much everyone except his father).

(Even though Hans stays in Arendelle in this ‘verse, I think he might end up going back and becoming king of the Southern Isles someday just because I can easily see the kingdom deciding its sick of Torvald’s shit and kicking him out. Maybe he and Elsa end up in a long-distance thing, or they unite their kingdoms or something idk how this works.)

[diisenchvnted]

KIERNAN SHIPKA,  DEMIGIRL,  SHE/HER.  —  looks  like  BEATRICE “TRIXIE” BELLEROSE  is  attending  AURADON PREP  in  auradon.  they're  the  NINETEEN  year  old  child  of  THE ENCHANTRESS,  which  means  they're  from  THE ISLE.  heard  they're  ENERGETIC  &  CREATIVE,  but  can  also  be  OFFBEAT  &  NAÏVE  ;  we all have our bad days.  people  normally  associate  them  with  RED PETALS FALLING OFF A BLOOMING ROSE, A CRACKED HANDMIRROR BY YOUR BESIDE, RUBY RED LIPS AND BIG BROWN EYES, WORN STUFFED ANIMALS SALVAGED WITH A POOR SEWING JOB.  —  hylia.

                             ❛ it’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams                                 and...  have you any dreams you’d like to sell ?? ❜                                playlist. pinterest. to listen as you read.                                tws : mental abuse ( by a parent )

so hi again i am hylia and this is Baby. idk how long this one’s gonna end up eITHER bc my allergies are kickin’ my ass today and I should be resting but I cannot stay away from this group for that long. So yes !! pls continue reading for more info abt trixie bby here. i lov her.

HISTORY

The daughter of the Enchantress - yes , the same Enchantress that turned Prince Adam into a beast - Trixie never really understood why her family was stuck on the Isle. Since of course , the Enchantress only taught Adam a lesson , yes ?? It was maybe through more harsh means than one would think , but . . . she wasn’t a bad guy.

...Right ??

All Trixie knew was that this was the life she was given , and she had to suck it up and deal with it. And never one to really sit around feeling sorry for herself , she took it. And her life was pretty normal for an Isle kid , save for her mother projecting her anger at being thrown on Isle onto her child. 

There was always a talk of showing them. Telling Trixie , One day we’ll show them what a real lesson is since they didn’t learn from last time. Excessively tutoring her in all things magic and enchanting despite the fact that powers like that actually terrified the child to her core. 

But there was always pressure - and it only increased when it was found out the Isle kids were getting a chance. In Trixie’s mind , this was a new way to explore , a new opportunity for a brand new life - UNTIL Trixie’s mother decided it would finally be able to kick their plans into motion. All of that tutoring , all of the training that made it so Trixie never had many friends , couldn’t leave the house much - it would have to pay off.

Gifted with an enchanted mirror and an enchanted rose by her mother - exact replicas to the beast’s , the Enchantress gave Trixie an ultimatum to make sure revenge was sated : give the Beast’s family the same fate he once bore ( essentially , transform them all into beasts like he used to be ) by the time the last petal falls , or be doomed to become a beast herself.

And . . . that’s where she is now. 

FACTS / CHARACTER

SO YES THAT’S IT - Trixie’s mother basically wants her to turn Belle, Adam , and their kids into beasts to get revenge or else Trixie’s gonna be the one turning into a beast if she doesn’t do it. And yes it’s fucking terrifying.

Nobody knows of this secret except for the two people involved in the deal - Trixie , and her mom. And by God Trixie does not want to do this.

And realistically , for RP purposes , I’m gonna inform you now that there is no way that the revenge is gonna be carried out. The Florians are fine. We all know she’s not gonna do it. But right now , since Trixie just got here and has that ultimatum , she doesn’t know that yet. So she’s struggling with a lose-lose situation since if she does do that , she makes herself an Auradonian criminal , and if she defies her mother and doesn’t , she becomes a beast and she has no idea how to undo a spell like that.

So yeah , just to clarify - nobody else really knows about this. Trixie keeps this deal hidden , and also hides the two items related to it in her closet ( the handmirror and rose ) so nobody finds them. Even though she routinely carries the mirror around with her and checks on the rose frequently because yes , its petals are starting to fall. 

Which brings me to my next point - Trixie has AMAZING power , and essentially , later on in her life it’s destined that she’ll become the next Enchantress. But because Trixie’s magical prowess isn’t manifesting fully yet , aka - it’s not showing on the outside , she doesn’t think she has much of a talent with it. She doesn’t know her own strength yet.

And of course , her mother knows of this. Her mother knows she’s going to excel - but there’s both difficulties in keeping that a secret and letting her become aware.

She keeps it a secret right now - it’s in an effort to keep Trixie under her thumb. But this is also proving difficult for Trixie to carry out the revenge scheme due to a lack of confidence paired with her morals.

If Trixie becomes aware of her power , then that means she’s going to find out she’s growing stronger as her mother’s magic is waning - kind of like the deal with the Supreme in American Horror Story. Trixie’s power grows stronger as her mother’s grows weaker , but that isn’t showing yet in the former of the two. 

So right now , Trixie is forcing herself to practice her magic to get stronger to appease her mother - even though honestly ?? She does not like magic. It terrifies her , and she blames her ability to use it for why her life kind of sucks right now.

To sort of make sure nobody is suspicious of her , Trixie doesn’t even tell people who her mother is. She just says her mother was a fling of Gaston’s banished to the Isle by association - that’s it.

And this is sort of how she’s managed to get a part-time job working in Ben’s castle as a maid to get close.

...Even though she really , really , really doesn’t like that.

But also !! One thing she has going for her is that despite everything - she is very outwardly FRIENDLY and optimistic - always smiley , always chatting up somebody up. This is sort of an effort to make herself feel better rather than put on a facade , since Trixie’s more keen on focusing on things that don’t make her feel sad to distract herself from the actual situation. 

“Trix you’re in denial” “I know.”

Also this sort of influence her tendency to ignore or run away from situations as much as she can bc... mood.

Acting in her own world is very normal for her - and it’s a major coping mechanism. She’s very creative , obsessed with fairytales and stories and probably knows the whole story about your parents more than you do. She in fact writes some of her own in her spare time , always keeping a journal around with her for writing when she’s bored.

Also keeps a dream journal ( mR. ELECTRICDAD SEND HIM TO THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE AND HAVE HIM EXPELLED !!11!!1!!!!!! ) bc she is big into the belief our dreams have deeper meanings n stuff

She’s not the type to shy away from stuff tho in the sense of like... conversing about very out there topics or saying weirdass things that pop into her head. Sort of seen as a little weirdo for this but it all comes for the fact that Trixie is a HUGE thinker.

Also into the supernatural even on the slightly more malevolent side just bc she finds it interesting - she’s 100% the friend that proposes u guys try and summon demons during sleepovers

My lil weird baby

Looks rly good in green and red tbh and probably owns like forty-five different shades of lipstick since coming to Auradon 

Also has a lot of rose-patterned/themed stuff just bc frankly it’s cute. 

God as a character it’s so hard to describe her like... in words this sounds so pretentious but I do so much better showing and not telling bc her character is so complex in the sense that she’s. She’s like a dream. That’s the best way I can describe her - a dream as in the random , thought-induced , fantasy-like parts of dreams rather than the romantic parts of everything.

That probably makes no sense but. Yeah.

She’s weird I love her

Probably would do well in Wonderland if she didn’t have her mother lOOMING OVER HER HEAD

WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS 

OKAY SO PLSSS GIVE ME FRIENDS TRIXIE USED TO HAVE ON THE ISLE BUT SHE LOST TOUCH W/ FOR BEING SO... CLOSED IN

In general I just want friends that Trixie has that she can’t rly tell what’s going on with her. At all. And it breaks her heart bc she finally has the chance to fit in and get along with people but either way she decides to take her mother’s deal makes it so she can’t keep them.

Lots of secrets are gonna be passed about.

I’d lov her to eventually bond with sb so she can actually EXPLAIN her problem to and cry about it bc baby lowkey feels like she’s on her own in this and can’t turn to anyone for it

PPL WHO TRIXIE HELPS WITH WRITING BC SHE LOVES IT

Ppl who Trixie rly likes in any sense to point where she bases some fairytale characters in her own stories off of them

I’d also love some enemies pls gimme gimme gimme

Some ppl who suspect Trixie bc she seems so... vague. Like she’s not giving the full story.

Isle kids who know EXACTLY who Trixie’s mother is and for some reason resent her for tht bc I don’t think the Enchantress is the nicest magic user out there rn

Friendships that went sour bc Trixie’s been keeping so many SECRETS

First love who went sour for the same reasons : /

The general uhhhhh exes, crushes, that sorta stuff

Any ship that’s gonna b like a full on sHIP SHIP will have to b seen how chemistry works out !! But Trixie’s a panromantic asexual bby who I adore. 

I’d love some folks she aCCIDENTALLY exposes her magic to and they can either

A .) Blackmail her n threaten to expose her for it

or B.) Find it RLY RLY RLY cool n she just shows them a bunch of magic... trix

hahaha HAHAHAHAHA

please clap.

BT ALSO LETS DEFFO BRAINSTORM SOME !!! again i’ll be making an official connections page for her like i am w/ luke but in the meantime ! lets plot !

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

Mutually destructive (TM)

But don’t worry, they are having fun. Just fair warning, story contains alcohol & other drugs & closely unspecified violence and other terrible coping mechanisms, because they are Isle kids, what did you expect.

Also it's exam season (tm) and I'm not entirely responsible for my mind, so there is that. This is like therapy but cheaper ✨

Anyway, enjoy?

They crashed at Mother Gothel’s place for the night, the old hag having disappeared somewhere or other, though probably to Evil Queens to plot dark rituals involving brutal sacrifice of young maidens or whatever.

Either way, it was not Anthony’s problem, as that mainly meant that her place was free – and that Ginny has invited him and Harriet to spend the night. Or several nights, until someone inevitably remembers they need him and/or (more likely) Harriet to survive and comes looking for them, or until Gothel comes home. Which could take weeks. Her relationship with time was a bit wonky ever since she turned one hundred seventy or so. Anyone’s guess when that was.

But… It’s way past midnight and Anthony’s heart is pounding for all the wrong reasons.

Fucking nightmares.

He wakes up with a start and manages to come to consciousness quickly enough not to scream or accidentally hit or stab any of the girls.

Fucking Isle.

He knows he won’t fall asleep again tonight.

So he carefully gets up from the bed, trying not to disturb the girls – they deserve to sleep, you know?

But before he can make more than a step, he sees Harriet stirring: She was sleeping with one around Ginny and the other carelessly thrown over her eyes, as if to block out the light.

She is now looking at him in between her fingers.

„Ssh, love. Go back to sleep,“ he whispers at her, still softly as not to wake up still sleeping Ginny.

…And she’s glaring at him. How nice.

„Seriously, Harriet. Go back to sleep–“

„I wasn’t sleeping,“ she tells him, voice quite raspy. But then again, that might just be from yelling at the pirates day and night, so Anthony is not gonna argue.

„Where are you going?“

„…Nowhere.“

„Asshole.“

Ginny stirs too and Harriet moves her hand into her hair, and without missing a beat, she accuses him of lying to her and of having nightmares. Like, she is right, on both accounts. She just has no right to say it out loud.

He glares at her too.

And of course, still petting through Ginny’s wild curls, she has the bloody audacity to smile at him – more teeth than anything else – and say: „Let’s go do something.“

He gestures to Ginny: „She’s sleeping.“

„She wouldn’t mind.“

Ginny, apparently minding the sound quite a lot, hides her face into Harriet’s neck and fucking whines still mostly asleep. Harriet only shrugs at that.

Anthony sits back down, keeping his bad leg straight, and leans close to Ginny, his lips almost touching her ear:

„Wake up, Sunflower,“ he whispers, and bites down at her earlobe, just because he can.

Harriet laughs at that, and pushes the other girl off herself, ignoring her groans. She sits up and reaches for something under the bed: Her boots, maybe?

…Nope. A bottle of rum. Obviously.

She takes a swig from it and holds the flask out for him, too: He drinks, but grimaces at the taste. Rum will never be his thing, but it’s cheap.

Harriet just cackles and takes it back. And drinks again, because what else would she do?

„Rise and shine, Sunflower,“ he attempts to wake Ginny up again. He half-suspects she’s just faking it at this point.

And really: She turns around, eyes still closed,but one hand dramatically draped over her forehead.

„Shut up–,“ she groans, „I need my beauty sleep.“

In response, Harriet throws her cape at her.

„I’ll strangle you with that, Captain,“ complains Ginny, yawning exasperatedly „But not now. In the morning“

Both Anthony and Harriet laugh at that, ignoring Ginny hiding her face in the fabric of the cape, even though none of them has turned the lights on.

„Get up, Gin,“ decides Harriet in a voice that is far from her best command tone, „We’re going somewhere.“

She already has her coat and boots on.

„The End of the World?“ asks Anthony. It is quite nice on the reefs, and they can’t see Auradon from that side of the Isle.

He too stands up to get his boots and jackets.

„The Skull Rock?“ shoots Harriet back.

„Ew. Water. Bones..“

„Fuck you. The skull rock is an iconic place of my father’s story and it looks cool as fuck. Aesthetic, Tremaine. You wouldn’t understand.“

„Back to sleep,“ complains Ginny again, and throws her hairbrush at Hariet, who doesn’t even flinch as it hits her.

She deserved that anyway for that comment about aesthetic.

Anthony takes mercy at Ginny, then. Well, mercy… That depends on how one takes that.

He leans close to her, pushing away the cape, and says: „Come with us, Sunflower. I’ll carry you until you wake up…“ he promises her. He just wants to get out of there, you know? Do anything.

„Fine,“ allows Ginny, finally sitting up and slipping her feet into her shoes, „But only because you’re asking so nicely.“

He smiles at her, sacharine, as he helps her into her cape like the gentleman that he is.

And then,as he promised, he quite easily lifts her off her feet and starts walking, only stumbling a little. Which Ginny either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care.

Harriet, however, barks out a cruel laugh:

„You’re gonna carry her? I thought you were joking!“

And she gestures at him, as if to hand Ginny over.

He gives her a look that would freeze most other Isle inhabitants on the spot. Which, unsurprisingly, doesn’t phrase her at all.

„What!“ she snarls, „You think I can’t carry her? Is that because I’m a girl, Lord Tremaine? Huh?!“

He can see her eyes rapidly darkening even across the unlit room.

„Answer me!“

„No, it’s because you’re–“

„Well, you’re basically a cripl!“ With the bottle in hand, she gestures towards his bad leg.

„I,“ he replies stiffly, „Have had a broken leg just few weeks back. And I was going to say: You are drunk, Harriet.“

She breathes in sharply to argue back, but before she can, Ginny lets go of him, annoyed, and quite loudly announces that if they don’t shut up at once, she’ll poison their next meal. Or, in Harriet’s case, probably a drink.

Anthony clicks his jaw back into the place and across the room, Harriet does the same.

„Let’s go to the Skull Rock, then,“ Ginny decides, and Anthony ignores Harriet mouthing „Told you, Tremaine. Aesthetic.“ to the best of his ability.

„If you two really insist on dragging me out of bed. But I want to go to Maddy’s first.“

So Ginny slips out of the door first, and Anthony follows, and as he walks past Harriet, she brushes her fingers against his, squeezing them for less than a heartbeat, which isn’t quite an apology, but that’s alright, because Anthony didn’t ask for one.

They walk through cold Isle night, shoulder to shoulder, and the few people on the streets get out of their way.

They don’t really talk.

Sonn, they get to Maddy’s – Madam Mim’s „Apothecary“, which her descendant correctly took as free real estate to get all sorts of free proviant. And free samples to cook drugs, as you do.

Ginny doesn’t bother knocking or anything, letting herself into the shop via picking the lock. What else are hairpins for? Honestly–

And besides, Anthony is convinced that Mad Maddy doesn’t sleep anyway.

„Maddy!“ calls out Ginny, „Maddy! A visit!“

Sure enough, dear Maddy drops down from the ceiling, probably, and quite unbothered dodges Harriet‘s knife. Good for her, and that is what she gets for surprises.

She and Ginny greet each other by exasperated kisses on the cheeks, and Athony pulls Harriet back, closer to him. She doesn’t argue and doesn’t stab. She does, however, pocket something from one of the shelves.

He loops his arm through hers as they listen to the hushed conversation, which is carried out in some unholy combination of dead languages.

Suddenly, Ginny turns back to them: „Do you want anything? Angel dust? Pixie dust? Seaweed? Regular weed? Good old crack? Cocaine? Well, not that, probably. Ettie? Maddy says she brewed this wicked absinth–“

He can see the gleam in Harriet’s eyes, and he decides he’ll get her the probably absurdly expensive absinth as a gift sometimes. But now, he speaks before she can: „Maybe another time. Just get me some tobacco?“

Both of his girls make a face at that,but it does distract Harriet, and Ginny does turn back to speak with Maddy again anyway.

After few more minutes, some gold exchanges pockets, and Ginny hides away most of her purchase, tucking it to her bra.

She drops the tobacco into his hand and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like „Don’t kiss me.“

He flashes her his best smile.

„No making out at my shop!“ complains Maddy, shooing them away, „This is a respectable business!“

Yeah, totally. Respectable business. Absolutely.

Still, Anthony is a little surprised Harriet kisses him, hard and quick, all teeth and spite. She then kisses Ginny just the same way, flips off Maddy, and walks out of the door. A bit dazed, Anthony follows after her, but hey. Harriet was never one for rules.

Ginny joins them quickly, joint in hand already. Anthony wastes no time in fishing out a lighter and giving her the fire, the joint held between her lips.

„You gonna share, Sunflower?“ asks Harriet.

„Nope,“ answers Ginny, dragging a long breath, eyes half-lidded, „It’s just weed. You aren’t allowed that, Captain Hook.“

„Why, you–!“

„Quiet!“ shouts some hag or another, or maybe Madam Mim herself. Anthony frankly doesn’t care.

As one, the three of them turn around and yell: „Shut the fuck up!“ in the general direction of the voice.

Anthony then takes the girls hands – it’s night, no one can see, it’s just for a moment – and they walk towards the port, towards the reefs and the skull rock.

They walk around the Lost Revenge, and Anthony can see two figures sitting on the railing of the ship, too close to each other and definitely too close to the edge.

There are sharks circling around, but that has never bothered the two of them.

Teeth flash through the dark as Harriet flips her brother off in greeting.

„Sammy and Murph were looking for you,“ he informs her unnecessarily, „But you seem quite busy, sister. I’ll tell them that.“

„Whatever you do, do not tell Calista you saw me.“

„For a price, sister dearest…“

…And that’s how a bit of Ginny’s angel dust ended up in the hands of Lost Revenge’s Captain and first mate, if you were wondering.

Though judging by noises alone, they might have gotten distracted before they took it, too: Anthony is fairly sure he heard them jump into the sea before they rounded the corner, as to not walk around Hope.

„Swimming with the sharks, such a nice date,“ remarks Harriet dryly, „Love that for him.“

„Shut up, Ettie.“

They get to the Skull Rock without running into anyone else.

More like, no one runs voluntarily into them, which is as it should be.

They stand on the shore above the sea, looking into the deep and hollow eyes of the Skull Rock. Dead place, just like the whole Isle.

Anthony can hardly stand its glare.

They stand still and Harriet drinks again, offering him the flask too, and ostensibly ignoring Ginny for her stunt with the joint. Anthony takes it, and so what if he lets his fingers linger on hers a heartbeat longer?

The wind tugs at their hair and flares Ginny’s cape.

The cape flies away a moment after, when Ginny unclasps it. Anthony looks at her in surprise.

„What?“ she smiles, pupils blown wide already, „It’s hot in there. Lets do something!“

She laughs as if nothing mattered, and maybe it doesn’t, because soon, all three of them are laughing.

Nothing matters, you see?

Nothing matters.

Up until Ginny decides to jump off the cliff.

(It’s not that high, and it was so hot in there, Anthony!)

(Lets do something!)

Harriet is still cackling.

„She just jumped off the cliff,“ he says, unsure if Harriet is, you know, still mentally there.

„Yep.“

Okay, she is.

„In the middle of the night. Near Skull Rock.“

„Yep.“

„High out of her skin.“

„And she wouldn’t share, that bitch.“

„Harriet, she can’t swim.“

„Well fuck,“ notes Harriet dryly before she, too, lunges herself off a cliff.

Oh, what a night…

He peers over the edge, and in the dim almost-dawn, he spots the girls soon, two dark figures in darker sea.

He can hear them laughing, too.

„Anthony, join us!“ shouts Harriet.

„Don’t be a coward!“

„Ah, fuck it,“ he mutters before shrugging off his jacket and jumping down too.

The water is cold, but it doesn’t matter. Not right now, at least – and it seems that all the sharks are still circling the Lost Revenge.

He swims to Harriet and Ginny, clumsy but above water, and he laughs too.

[twinmommaxo-blog]

The past few nights I’ve been laying awake, thinking about my anxiety and how it impacts my life. I don’t have crippling anxiety that makes it hard to get out of bed each morning. I function fine, and so sometimes I feel like it isn’t bad enough to ever complain about. But then I think about my days as a whole, and I’m like damn. I wake up, an if my house is a mess I instantly become irritable. Mess and clutter is a huge trigger for me. I never associated irribility to anxiety before, but I can see why the two would be linked. When I wake up and the floors aren’t clean, and there’s dishes in the sink, or clutter on the counters, the way I behave is completely irrational. I will have a full blown melt down. I feel over whelmed. Its something I cant even explain. But the second things are tidy, I’m at ease. Things and calmer inside of me. I snap at my husband as if its some how his fault, and thank God he is understanding, because he will normally bite his tongue, help me clean, and never holds it against me. Me and Chase have our Toronto date/ Pink concert in two weeks, and I’m super anxious about that. What if we get into a car crash on the way? What if something happens with the girls and I’m 4 hours away? What if we get robbed, or the car breaks down. But mostly death. What if we die. I think some of these fears are normal. But the way I obsess over it isn’t. The second we pull out of the drive way I will fill with dread and worry. And then I worry about the concert itself. What if I need to use a washroom? I’m trapped and there isn’t a way out without putting attention on me. I mean, I know nobody cares if I need to leave for whatever reason. They move aside and barely pay attention. I know that. But inside of me it doesn’t feel that way. Inside it feels like the entire room is going to stop and stare. I’m going to trip. Something will happen. And it’s the same with movie theatres. We have to sit at the bottom row, closest to the door. If I need to get up I need easy access. But even then I’m normally in pain by the end of the movie because I can just never bring myself to just stand up and leave. it’s a huge battle in my head. I couldn’t stand up in my sister in laws wedding because I couldn’t make it down the isle.

I don’t know. I never really allow myself to accept that all of these things are controlled by anxiety. I may not have daily panic attacks anymore. But I’m always scared of something. If Chase doesn’t text me right when he gets to work, I’m scared. If he doesn’t get home by 6:05, I’m scared. If he isn’t messaging me on break, something’s happened to him. Its so ridiculous. If my kids get sick…. Oh lord. But with my kids I’m able to bury it. I try so hard to make it so they never feel my anxiety. And I’m sure at times they do…. But I work really hard to make sure it doesn’t effect them.

I guess I’m just sick of worrying. I’m sick of thinking. I hate laying there in bed and having my mind race about things I have 0 control over. But I don’t know how to make it stop. I should be happy that I have progressed so much. There was a time when I had panic attacks daily. Where I would need to cut myself so I could calm down and get some rest. I’ve come so far… but I have to wonder if all of these little things that I can manage will always be there. Because even if they are little, and even if I can manage it… anxiety effects my life every single day. I eat a cheese burger and the first thing I think about is that I’m going to have a heart attack. I’m always feeling my body for cancer.

Sometimes I think talking to someone wouldn’t hurt. Learning different coping mechanisms…. Its definitely something I consider more often then not. Maybe it’s a good time to find the motivation so I can continue to better myself.

[ruffoverthinksthings]

The anon got me really liking freddie and chad could you maybe do some more headcannon

REALLY long list down here, couldn’t chop it up somewhere stylish because they all run into one another, so here goes:

Chad and Freddie increasingly spend a lot of time in the kitchen, at cafes, or restaurants talking, enjoying good food, and working out their own personal issues through humour, wit, and sarcasm. Food, baking, and cooking quickly become their key bonding activity/excuse to hang out with each other, especially as Chad realizes how incredibly therapeutic it can be, and as part of him expanding his horizons and seeing how he can improve his personality to something deeper, more stable, and less vapid and based on uncontrollable things like how other people perceive him.

Through being on the receiving end of Freddie’s sarcasm and friendly jabs, Chad eventually develops a very self-deprecating sense of humour about himself. He uses it as a coping mechanism to come to the terms with the fact that he was once that shallow and dumb, and though he’s still not on Ben’s level of “Manliness” nor will he ever be, he’s much better than before and he honestly enjoys making people laugh.

He can get REALLY dark though. He’s not afraid of making jokes about his depression during his First String of Bad Break-Ups, Ever, the existential crises he had, and dramatic backslides that were not funny at the moment but looking back on them, he treats much less seriously and with comedy, both as therapy and as a way to make talking about it easier in public, to his therapist, and to himself.

Though Freddie honestly laughs at the jokes, she can’t help but feel sad about them a lot of the times when she really thinks about what he said after the good times fade. There’s a lot of nights where Chad cracks a joke about himself, and later, in private and oftentimes over beignets, Freddie makes sure to ask him if he needs to talk about it in a much less comedic, more serious manner.

The same goes with Chad with Freddie’s issues and her black comedy jokes about her shitty childhood, especially the misadventures in voodoo and shadow cards, though she’s much more guarded and hostile than Chad ever is because her traumas were acquired at a much earlier age, and the Isle does not a culture conducive to talking about your feelings and weaknesses.

One of the big landmark moments of their relationship is when, one day, out of the blue, Freddie finds herself talking about the first time she screwed up with her shadow cards and ended up temporarily losing one of her few childhood friends--Claudia, daughter of Frollo (Hunchback of Notre Dame). She attempts to make it funny as always, but when Chad isn’t laughing because he can see right through the self-deprecation and sees that the loss has deeply affected her to this day, even if Claudia and her eventually made up when they got older.

“I thought I’d lost her forever,” Freddie jokes, her voice wavering. “I kinda did: a few year’s ‘forever’ for a 6 year old.”

And for one of the few times in her life, she breaks into uncontrollable tears.

And for the second time in her life, she has someone who’s more than willing to hug her and tell her to let it all out, first one being Claudia.

Freddie is actually the one to have fallen in love with Chad, and was the one to confess to him. There was no “Big Moment” where her opinion of him changed forever to the romantic, but the ones she does remember include the time Chad invited her up stage during a Comedy Night and made a comedic but also heartfelt thank you to Freddie for showing her “how to laugh at how much of a fuckboy I was and still am,” before he hugs her; that time they were at the Tourney field late at night, and Chad (legitimately) helped her with how to do a backswing with a Tourney stick and they got REALLY close to each other and his rippling muscles; and the one time that Freddie was going through a really bad day thanks to FG’s special class on forgiveness (specifically, their parents), and when she goes into the kitchen, there’s Chad, just sprinkling sugar on some beignets.

“Chad...? The hell are you doing?”

“Making beignets,” he replies. “What’s it look like? Distributing illegal drugs under the guise of delicious baked goods?”

Freddie snorts and smiles. “Can I have some?”

Chad slides it over. “It’s all yours. Had a feeling you could use some, after that class.”

For a moment, Freddie stares at him, dumbfounded and struck by a serious case of deja vu.

Chad smiles. “Come on, get yourself some puffed delicious! I was totally kidding about the drugs thing, by the way, don’t try to snort the sugar off.” He cringes. “Trust me.”

Because Freddie is still suffering from a whole host of issues and a toxic culture growing up, she either strongly denies or is unable to accurately label the feelings she’s got, that she is definitely falling in love with this man.

[ukresinboundsurfacing]

Cycle touring with young children is hugely enjoyable

Josie with her two daughters and son in Holland

" ‘Ahhh, this is the life!’ I hear them sigh as I toil away at the helm"

After spending so much of the year shut up in school it’s amazing to see how fast Jack and the girls adapt to living outside for several weeks on the trot

Josie Dew is an English touring cyclist, author and cook.

Although a caterer by profession she frequently takes long cycle trips and then writes a humorous travelogue detailing her experiences. She lives near Portsmouth, England. She has two daughters and a son.

In this blog Josie shares with us her experiences of cycle touring with her three young children. 

Getting kids started young

As I’ve cycled all my life it’s perhaps only natural that I’ve brought my three children up on bikes.

Even before they were born they were used to the meditative motion of cycling. I cycled every day through all three pregnancies up until a few hours before I pushed them out into my multi-wheeled world.

From babies to current ages they’ve experienced a mixed medley of bike child seats, bike trailers, trailer-bikes, FollowMe ‘tandems’, balance bikes, Islabikes, Nihola cargo trikes, Circe tandem and Triplet.

One of the most important things for children is to spend as much time outside as possible. Cycling helps them to have daily exercise and fresh air in their lungs. It clears their heads and lightens their moods. Some say it’s too dangerous to go cycling with children on our roads and though it could be a lot better, the health and happy-making benefits far outweigh the risks.  

“ All the time there is that exhilarating feeling of freedom and uncertainty and spontaneity. ”

- Josie Dew

Getting ready for long distance cycling holidays  

During last year’s school holidays I rode 300 miles around the Channel Islands and 642 zig-zagging windy miles across northern France and Belgium to Holland with my three young children.

This summer (after cycling around the coast of the Isle of Wight and the Solent Way and The Devon Coast to Coast) we rode 410 miles around the Netherlands. These are a few of many longer-range cycling missions that we have been on in recent years.

My husband Gary (a carpenter) always stays home as he prefers building to bicycles (and to have a nice bit of peace and quiet). So I brace myself for impact, the summer school holidays tend to be six weeks of non-stop busy-ness and activity, during which I scarcely have time to take a breath.

I load up the panniers and trailer to the gunwales with a wild assortment of camping clobber (sleeping bags, swimming kit, buckets, balls, toys etc) and ride onto the ferry to our new exotic land (even if in reality it’s not, it still feels exotic after cycling back and forth to school for month after month along the same stretches of road).

How we cycle together as a family

My eldest, Molly, who is 12, rides her own bike when we go touring. Daisy (8 years) and Jack (5 years) ride aboard my Circe Helios Triplet. Not that Jack or Daisy put in much pedalling effort mind you. They tend to like hoisting their legs up over their handlebars, and reclining back in a relaxing sunbathing manner using the luggage bungee'd on the rack as a comfy backrest. ‘Ahhh, this is the life!’ I hear them sigh as I toil away at the helm. 

Last year on our Jersey-Guernsey and France to Holland escapade all four of us fitted on the same bike (me at the front, Molly in the middle, Daisy on Seat three and Jack in the trailer).

The advantage of the whole heap of us being on one bike means that all three offspring are safely tucked in close to me on the road and travelling at the same speed. It’s an unwieldy 14-foot-long articulated monster of a machine. It is very fun to ride, as long as the younger cycling party don’t sway around too much or decide to have a major altercation mid-flight down a steep hill. This can result in a lot of turbulence making handling tricky in the extreme.

“ ‘Ahhh, this is the life!’ I hear them sigh as I toil away at the helm. ”

- Josie Dew

Getting used to touring with children 

The first time I went off on a month-long adventure with my young brood Jack wasn’t yet one and I did wonder whether I could cope without Gary’s extra pair of hands. But sometimes you’ve just got to plunge headfirst into things come what may. If you dither and dally and decide not to go then that’s a lot of chances of fun and frolics and memories lost down the drain.

When I used to go on extended bike tours alone pre-children, the cycling was the tiring part, the camping the relaxing bit. Now it’s the other way round. Although cycling such a long bike that weighs a ton is hard work, everything is packed up, everyone is on board, we are on the move.

It’s the end-of-the-day part that wears me into the ground. Trying to keep morale high when tiredness and tetchiness sets in to young legs and minds; looking for somewhere to camp; putting up a big tent (all the more tricky – and comical - in high winds or pouring rain); unpacking a multitude of bags; dealing with mechanical problems; washing clothes for four by hand; trying to keep an eye on all three children when they run off in three different directions; trying to cook for us all on a tiny camping stove without burning the tent down. 

Why I take my children on cycling trips abroad 

When you cycle in another country with three children on a bicycle (or bicycles) you can’t help thinking about the things that could conceivably go wrong and ticking them off in your mind. But I try not to dwell on the bad and look for the good; the fun, the camping, the living outside, the new places, the new faces, being on the move, life ‘on the road’.

All the time there is that exhilarating feeling of freedom and uncertainty and spontaneity. The not knowing exactly where we are going every day, who we are going to meet, what we’re going to eat or where we are going to sleep (I’m not one for booking ahead).

Plus, after spending so much of the year shut up in school it’s amazing to see how fast Jack and the girls adapt to living outside for several weeks on the trot. They become attuned to the nuances of the weather, have an awareness of the position of the sun and its usefulness for navigation and telling the time of day. And they even become quite efficient at reading maps (I’ve never used Sat Nav).

They also seem to gain more confidence and independence – learning about foreign ways or customs or money or rushing off to play with children they’ve just met – be they French, Dutch, Danish, German, Swiss, Swedish despite not having a common language between them.

It’s not a holiday in the usual sense but it is hugely enjoyable most of the time. It’s certainly always memorable.

Read more blogs on bikes and bits from Josie

Cycling

Lifestyle

Young people

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8239590 https://www.sustrans.org.uk/blog/cycle-touring-young-children-hugely-enjoyable via IFTTT

[martimorrison-blog]

Courting Mistakes.

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Relying on the Middle East, he put down the 2003 intrusion of Iraq as probably the worst selection ever before created in the record of the nation, as well as mentioned secure zones ought to possess been actually produced within Syria and also purchased by the United States' Basin allies. You shed focus when you stay in the past times, when you keep the luggage from all the failures you've made in your lifestyle. The second oversight several companies create is actually to disregard and in some way miss the education and learning of the essential importance of advertising. Always remember, regardless of how many blunders you create or just how slow-moving you advance, you are actually still way ahead of every person who isn't really attempting. The No 2 error that a lot of Foreign exchange investors produce is actually to begin increasing up on a shedding trade as well as, once more, they make this mistake for precisely the same factor. There are others who refuse to accept the oversights that they carry out and also criticize them on others. The key is actually to keep moving as well as pass over each personal real estate committing oversight that you make, particularly early on! The particular errors our experts will certainly consider in this particular post are: They do not correctly established their Job, They claim they'll blog about anything, They over commitment and also under supply, They do not create the most ideal they can, and They only think they are actually earning $4. Identify that every person which efficiently journeys a fulfilling job path creates oversights at one time or yet another. However, lots of property owners create a series of oversights when that comes to getting and installing this kind from home windows and also a few of these oversights are actually likewise listed below. This will inform the medical facility or even surgery to the act concerned as well as they will certainly have the ability to make certain that the same oversights to not occur again. They tried that, discovered what would certainly create this far better the following opportunity, made the renovations and also maintained practicing. Grammatical blunders give a really bad impression as well as it carries out certainly not matter if you are off a technical background or otherwise. The right method from adjustment is performed by passing the diary entry in such a way whereby the improvement is created by giving result to the submitted entry that has to have been passed. But when you do, put in the time to go through the examination procedure so you may pick up from it and after that allow this go, understanding that you can certainly not transform the result or the collection from conditions where the oversight was developed. Sadly, many females aiming to receive their ex-spouse back make a number of blunders that wind up ruining their odds. Oversights massage therapy therapists typically create are to either come under a routine where they supply the exact same massage therapy time and time again, or even to disregard the client's ask for stress/ concentration as well as rather simply concentrate on just what the therapist thinks is crucial. The finest thing to carry out is accept it and also try to produce up for this; not asking forgiveness for a blunder is another blunder when you create a mistake. Each opportunity you think about an error you have actually created, this is actually as if you are actually creating that blunder all around again. The third error is that as quickly as the company experiences a tough time, they cut their marketing spending plan and also pull inside their layer like a turtle. And also if you perform have a person in your lifestyle who is attempting to keep you coming from moving as well as forgetting on, understand that this is their very own world they are actually creating and that they may delight in securing those emotions and thought and feelings from previous oversights over you.

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How To Get rid of Regrets, Disappointments & Mistakes.

I told them that it was an oversight on my component as well as it would never ever take place again as long as I operated there. Badly written material, which is certainly not effectively optimised, is actually also an error that could negatively affect your SEO-effectiveness. Add fresh, cost-free web content to your site such as most recent posts, internet devices, as well as prices estimate with a single item from code! Open up interaction is a need to and this is actually usually the most awful courting mistake you could make. Certainly, mistakes are good for our team - they make our team who our experts are actually as well as typically make up our most beneficial treasures of wisdom as well as knowledge. Understand that your challenge along with your children' blunders is in simple fact an image from your difficulty handling your very own oversights; recognize this and also manage your own problems first. You could talk to RI Legal representative David Slepkow through heading to Rhode Isle Loved ones Rule Legal representative or even by calling him at 401-437-1100. The most ideal technique to prevent sensation like you created the wrong choice or missed a wonderful option is actually making certain you are actually going into the procedure with a firm understanding on what that indicates to come to be a home owner. One of one of the most typical automobile garage oversights vehicle owners make is cannot give enough info about the trouble. Right now you recognize exactly what they were actually performing to your website if you have been actually dedicating any from the above pointed out blunders and also were naive concerning their impact. If you have any queries pertaining to where by and how to use yellow pages online free (click the next site), you can get in touch with us at our own webpage. The right strategy from improvement is actually done by passing the diary entrance in such a way through which the adjustment is created through providing result to the uploaded entrance that needs to possess been passed. But when you do, put in the time to undergo the evaluation procedure so you may learn from it then let this go, understanding that you can certainly not modify the outcome or even the collection from scenarios in which the blunder was made. However, a lot of women aiming to acquire their ex-spouse back create a number of oversights that find yourself spoiling their opportunities. Blunders massage specialists generally create are actually to either fall under a routine where they provide the exact same massage therapy over and over again, or even to dismiss the client's ask for pressure/ emphasis and also as an alternative simply concentrate on exactly what the counselor experiences is necessary. The best factor to carry out is accept it as well as test to produce up for it; certainly not asking forgiveness for an error is yet another mistake when you create a blunder. Each opportunity you consider a mistake you've created, this is actually as if you are actually creating that mistake around once again. The 3rd mistake is actually that as soon as the provider experiences a difficult time, they cut their marketing budget and pull inside their layer like a turtle. And also if you perform possess an individual in your life that is actually attempting to maintain you coming from removaling and neglecting on, understand that this is their own planet they are making and also they may delight in holding those sensations and thoughts of previous mistakes over you. Even when the parts appear to match, there are going to be identifiable sign that an oversight was actually produced after owning the car. If you do not record identity fraud concerns early, you are in for a globe from pain as you try to obtain your monetary life back so as. Yet, this is actually certainly not the blunders that our company make that define us; it is actually just how our company prefer to get the items of our lives after these blunders and move on. The blunders that our company create as Foreign exchange investors are normally nothing much more than an instance from permitting feeling to creep right into our trading selections. Various other kings allow their priests create their oversights for all of them, however Louis emphasized creating the significant oversights individually. Those initial thirty few seconds of talk with a female are actually vital, and one mistake can easily wreck your opportunities from obtaining anywhere with her. She possessed an unrivaled gift, especially marker in palm, from pressing huge blunders in to small options. Yet when I create the very same oversight two times (and also I confess, this takes place more often than I will like), that's when I am actually really tough on myself. Yet since, virtual, nobody is foolproof, this is regularly needed to reposition previous events so as to reveal that this or that mistake was certainly not made, or that this or even that imaginary victory in fact happened. Anybody which possesses ever before had the nerve to go out into the globe as well as perform something understands there are just pair of kinds of errors: ones our company can recoup coming from as well as ones we could not bounce back coming from. To locate the most ideal answers to oversights when setting up marble flooring tiles pointed out in this particular write-up, you can do therefore listed below. And also without fail, ONE HUNDRED% of the amount of time, I created the inspection costs back in renegotiations with the resident. That is actually consistently sensible to figure out and also remedy the errors just before the final accounts for the year are made. Oversight from legislation is actually a defense that the unlawful defendant misinterpreted or was unaware of the regulation as it existed at the time. Due to the fact that he wants our company to know and obtain several experiences in lifestyle, mistakes are real present coming from God that he has actually given us. Dating oversights of this attribute often cause misunderstanding and going out with could even finish below. Undoubtedly, blunders benefit our team - they make us who our company are actually and commonly make up our very most valuable treasures of understanding as well as understanding. Understand that your problem along with your kids' blunders remains in fact a reflection from your challenge coping with your own oversights; be aware of this and cope with your very own issues initially. You may call RI Attorney David Slepkow by heading to Rhode Isle Loved ones Law Lawyer or even through calling him at 401-437-1100. The third common auto repair service mistake automobile proprietors make is actually not being accessible for dialogue along with the mechanic concerning the repair procedure. Poor selections or even flawed procedures can easily occasionally bring about errors, yet that does not indicate that every bad result is an oversight. Instead of wallowing on the mistake you have actually created, focus on just what you can do to fix the issue. This is actually very important and ought to be actually meticulously looked at when making a training course especially created you, and also as your physical body and also physical disorder modifications therefore need to your program. . After that there are actually the exclusive mistakes that some folks carry around for a life-time; their dirty little bit of tips. Yet our company performed not accomplish what our experts wished, and also severe blunders were actually made in attempting to do this. Our experts will receive to the bottom from this, and I am going to take whatever action is actually called for A local business owner are going to really must function harder as a result of the absence of a company identity. When somebody rifles via your rubbish can easily looking for credit history card statements or even exactly what have you, the majority of folks picture identification fraud as one thing that develops. Utilizing terms including click here" or learn more" in internal hyperlinks is actually a major error since the internet search engine fail to recognize just what the webpage being actually linked is actually everything about. I have grown to think that our experts are all perfect just the way our experts are which features our errors. These kids live in two different places-one area where they have the affection and also assistance from their dad (moms and dads), and also one more where they think that if their mistakes were uncovered, they would be undeserving from that love. I am actually just an older business owner as well as a quite knowledgeable businessman which created every blunder in the book as well as may identify one when I observe one.

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When I say you can track my mental state through my AO3, this is what I mean:

Skull rock in the middle of the night: Three unstable young adults actively encourage eachother's bad behaviour and addictions, yell a lot and make out some. They don't die, but that's only because gods are fucking bitches who love irony. Or something like that.

„Fuck, Anthony, it's eating Vladivoj's face off!“ A child's face is melted away by undiluted bleach. Anthony Tremaine does not wish to be there.

Claudine Frollo: A gang leader drops a cult leader's daughter she, ehm, liberated at her boyfriend's illegal bar. Said boyfriend agrees to take the girl in without a moment of hesitation. No one is stabbed (on screen). (Well except for Frollo but he had it coming.)

Harriet Hook: Mentally unwell black widow falls for a disgraced lord and a run-away daughter of human trafficker in one afternoon. She also forgets to scold her younger sister for blowing up the school labs. Again.

Payments on Lost Revenge: The Captain and the first mate barely manage to give out some money and some death threats before inevitably getting distracted. No one dies (on-screen). The crew did not ask to witness this, thank you for asking (they say, gathering on the pier to watch the drama).

Hook-up from Hell: The Isle kids have jealousy issues and a dire need of therapy. Everyone is having an Awful time: I mean, even Tremaine saloon closed. That's how you know shit got real.

Holy fire: Claudine Frollo commits patricide and overall displays a whole range of healthy coping mechanisms. No one is going to say a word.

Wedding on Lost Revenge: Get drunk, get high, mourn the loss of the one (1) shot at freedom you ever had, get married. Wonderful idea ❤️

...And I better stop here.

Anyway.