#don’t even try it. Orin used her like that after killing all her men

[spinosaurusenjoyer]

The way people shit their pants over even a single mention of Cazador being a victim too and yet shipping Minthara with Orin her fucking SAer is fine and funny, and weird shit with Wyll and Mizora and the player fucking Mizora is fine and dandy Wyll should get over it… it tells me everything I need to know sometimes lmfao.

[fandom626]

female seymour in wlw little shop

i’ve been sitting on this idea for so long so i’m caving and posting about it.

in general terms: female seymour krelborn in little shop of horrors. every other aspect of the plot is exactly the same.

getting a little more specific:

audrey is still a girl, and the dynamic between her and seymour will remain romantic.

seymour’s pining would of course be more ‘audrey only thinks of me as a friend, she only dates men’ instead of ‘i’m a dweeb audrey wouldn’t want to be with me’.

audrey secretly does wish to be with seymour, but is unable to realize due to her internalized homophobia. she comes to the realization of wanting to be with seymour in suddenly seymour.

orin can tell seymour is (very obviously) pining after audrey, and that fuels his hatred and abuse toward both girls. he’s cruel and physical with audrey because it makes seymour upset, and handsy with seymour because it makes her uncomfortable (orin’s definitely an ‘i can turn you’ kind of guy).

mushnik is sleazy and gross (not that that’s new) and is extremely misogynistic and pushes both girls around, but especially seymour.

fixing obvious problems (in the music):

prologue through WSKID- no changes.

ya never know- simple pronoun changes.

somewhere that’s green- “and i dream of a place, where we can get away at last” //: “and a sweet little guy, like...well...like seymour”. /// the rest of the pronouns stay he/him/his because at this point, audrey still can only see herself with a man, though she dreams for him to be just like seymour.

closed for reno and dentist- no changes.

mushnik and son- (literally my fav changes because i think it would make the whole song so funny) simple pronoun changes throughout the song. /// “how would you like to be me kid? how would you like to be my own adopted girl” /// basically every time ‘son’ is used replace with ‘kid’ and ‘boy’ with ‘girl’ EXCEPT for the phrase ‘mushnik and son’ which will remain the same. imagine the first time mushnik says it, “...so i’m proposing be my kid! mushnik... *looks seymour up and down and grimaces* ...and son”. seymour, merely overwhelmed with the prospect of a father agrees despite ‘son’ being in the new shop name. /// the rest of the song remains consistent with new changes, except the lines “so come kiss me quick/please don’t make me sick” sang by seymour and mushnik respectively, will be switched as to further heighten mushniks misogynist nature, as well as clarify that mushnik does not and never will see seymour as a daughter, or respect her as a woman.

feed me (git it!)- two-ey calls seymour by several pet name throughout the song, one of which can replace the ‘boy’ used in the beginning, or could be simply replaced by girl or gal. /// later on, “come on kid, what’ll it be? boys? *slight pause* *then said knowingly, in a smug sort of way* girls? one particular girl how bout that audrey?”. /// orin’s dialogue doesn’t change when he comes back with audrey, but it is clear that is being especially cruel because of seymours presence. he knows that it makes seymour uncomfortable, and emphasizes words like slut to get under seymours skin. he keeps eye contact with seymour when he slaps audrey, as if taunting seymour that she does nothing to stand up for audrey.

now (just the gas)- this song is peak creepy and grossness of orin’s characterization. orin already gets off on others pain, and paired with his habit of sexual harassment towards seymour, makes for an extremely uncomfortable scene for the audience, but also gives even more solid evidence that we believe orin should be killed. /// orin’s mask ‘getting stuck’ is (now) just a ploy to try and get seymour close enough to touch, but the longer he argues with seymour to ‘help him’ get the mask off, he becomes incoherent and the rest of the song proceeds as usual.

act 1 finale through call back in the morning- no changes.

suddenly seymour- (they’re getting together finally!!!) overall simple prounoun changes throughout (mostly when audrey is singing about seymour) /// *seymour accepting she won’t be with audrey because she thinks audrey doesn’t love her in the same way* “sweet understanding, seymour’s your...friend.” *audrey feeling sad that seymour didn’t take their relationship farther, thinks she misread the situation* “sweet understanding, seymour’s my...friend.” /// personally i think “tell me this feeling will last till forever...for losers like i’ve been it’s so hard to say” make SO MUCH more sense for both audrey and seymour when they are both women. seymour is hoping that she will stay with audrey, that the feeling of love and understanding is not fleeting. audrey is scared of the new relationship, never having been with a person who cares for her, let alone a woman. /// both sing “the girl that’s inside me” /// “seymour’s my/your girl” AND THEY KISS OFC

supper time- no changes.

the meek shall inherit- simple pronoun changes.

sominex through finale- no changes.

and that’s all i got! if anyone has any questions or suggestions i’d love to hear them as this idea has been in my head for so long!

[thran-duils]

Rise For Your King

TITLE: Rise For Your King PAIRING: Reader/AU King!Castiel SUMMARY:  The reader was betrothed to the Prince but when a neighboring King decides to dole out justice to your future father in law, he destroys the royal family, leaving you with the two youngest Princesses. The mage king takes an immediate liking to you, letting you live. What will you do with this opportunity?WORDS: 1,492

Part 2 || MASTERPOST || Fanfic masterpost

The screams were continuing outside and you were being hurried along by our handmaid. The neighboring kingdom had come to capture the capitol of Bidueiro to take out the king and overthrow. The king was supposed to be your father in law in a month’s time. Was.

“Hurry, Y/N!” Aideen hissed at you as she tugged you along down the stone staircase to the passage that would lead out of the castle and to a boat.

Your heart was racing and it was hard to see your footing with only a torch to light your way. The passage had not been lit today considering they didn’t believe it would be needed. How wrong they were.

There were two soldiers with the pair of you, following closely behind, their swords drawn.

Turning a corner, you came face to face with a group of soldiers and they were marked with the gold hand of their mage king. You let out a scream, unable to stop yourself, recoiling quickly.

It was quick. Their hands on you, pulling you to them and them slaughtering the soldiers with the two of you. You tried to wrench away from the one who had a hold on you and you were met swiftly with the back of a hand almost causing you to lose your footing.

“How dare you!” Aideen hissed at them and you would have kissed her cheeks for her fierceness if you were able. She was not wavering or cowering. “That is the Princess of Bidueiro!”

“Not yet as we understand,” another one off to the side snorted. “And I’m sure she will find her dear Prince Davin slain by the true king.”

You swallowed sharply, forcing back the tears that were threatening to show. You had not known Prince Davin for very long – a month and a half at best – but you had had a connection with him. Which is more than someone could ask in an arranged marriage. And now that he was gone… who would protect you? You were going to die. What use were you to these men? Let alone to the mage king?

“Then I should die with him.”

Your voice sounded far off, like it wasn’t you speaking.

Aideen gasped quietly beside you and you heard her try to move to you but she was yanked back.

The man who had spoken sauntered over, peering at you through his mask. He tipped the mask up and smiled down at you, giving you a good look at his face.

“I don’t think that’s going to be the case, dear. I was told to bring you to the throne room.”

His smile was unkind and you felt a chill pass through you.

<> <> <>

Queen Birgit had been killed by one of the soldiers when she refused to allow them into the chambers of the youngest children and had tried to take one of the swords. She had managed to kill one of the enemy soldiers before she was stabbed straight through. Her body was laying at the steps to the throne having been brought in. Your eyes were trained down the stairs to her body. The throne was empty close by.

The two youngest children – twins, both three years old – were hiding in yours and Aideen’s skirts. They had been born a decade after Bron, the first females Queen Birgit had given to King Orin. Aideen and you were trying to shield them from seeing their mother’s body but it was pointless, really. They had seen it already and were crying softly. They had always been quiet and it was natural that they would take this grief in the same manner.

All three princes and the king had been killed, the mage king’s forces too powerful; himself too powerful for that matter.

You didn’t dare look out the windows to see the blood flowing in the street.

Dipping down, you pulled Gwyinth away from your skirts and wiped at her tears. “It’s going to be alright. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you,” you vowed to her quietly.

“Quite a big promise to making coming from such a young woman,” one of the soldiers gibed, causing the soldier next to him to chortle.

You threw a glare up at them, noting the sparkle of amusement in the green eyes of the one who had teased you. You would have to do something rotten to him later.

Gwyinth sniffled, “They hurt us?”

“No!” you exclaimed, brushing her hair away from her face, moving your attention back to her.

“But, mommy…” Oriana whimpered, her face still pressed against Aideen’s legs, but eyeing you.

What could you say to them that would comfort them about that?

Before you could think, the door to the throne room was pushed open and the soldier near you, grabbed your arm and yanked you to your feet. “Stand for your king.”

You bit back the words that he wasn’t your king, fearing the retaliation.

The soldiers parted, falling to their knees as the mage king strode, his head held high. You felt your breath catch seeing him for the first time in the flesh. His armor was magnificent, gleaming silver but it was hard to ignore the splatter of blood staining it. His helmet was tucked under his arm, his face exposed.

He… he was stunning. He was supposedly centuries old and yet looked exquisite. His eyes – the color of ice – were focused ahead on one of the soldiers standing down by the bottom of the stairs, near Queen Birgit.

Stopping in front of his soldier, his eyes flicked down to the queen before training back on the soldier.

“I know you wanted her alive but she resisted. Killed Daer,” the man informed him. You watched the king’s eyes run over him and the soldier shifted uncomfortably. Although he towered over the king before him, he was obviously threatened by his presence and possible anger.

The king was quiet for a few moments before he cocked an eyebrow and responded, “Pity. She would have been an asset to moving forward. Not to mention her beauty.”

Suddenly, his eyes were on the small group of you still alive and his gaze zeroed in on you. His eyes were mesmerizing. Holding out his helmet for the soldier to take, he moved up the stairs towards the group of you after the soldier had done so.

There was electricity between the two of you and you tried to ignore it. You wondered if it was his magic radiating off of him. Gwyinth’s hold tightened on you from behind and she pushed more of the fabric from your gown to her face.

The king was staring you down, ignoring the others with you. His eyes trailed down your face, to your lips and further down. You felt heat creeping up your neck at the way he was admiring you so freely, without humility and modesty.

“I do not even know how to address you,” his voice came out, gravelly and low. His eyes were on yours again and there was a tug of a smirk at the corner of his lips. “Lady? Certainly not Princess. Unless there was a ceremony I am unaware of.”

When you didn’t respond, the green-eyed soldier next to you hissed, “Answer his majesty, girl!”

The king held up a hand and said, “No need for that. She’s simply still in shock. Let’s not push her too much.” To you, he continued, “I am sorry for your loss, Lady Y/N. It’s truly disheartening for me that King Orin had to interfere where he was not welcome and get his entire kingdom taken and captured. But, he made his choice and now the debt has been paid.”

His eyes moved down towards Gwyinth and Oriana and he smiled softly. “Good to know some of the royal family survived.” The two moved closer to you and Aideen and you saw amusement flickering in his eyes.

“I am happy you were fortunate enough to be standing in front of me, my lady,” Castiel addressed you once more. He was paying no heed to Aideen, knowing well she was of no importance to him based off of her chain around her neck, marking her as a servant. “It’s an honor to be in the presence of such beauty.”

You felt your heart flutter at the words and immediately felt ashamed. This man had killed your fiancé. Had taken the kingdom you were to inherit. Killed your future family in law. You shouldn’t feel weak in the knees around him.

Finally, the king turned back to face the room.

The man next to you announced, “Rise for your king. King Castiel.”

The room did so in unison, even the castle staff and court that the soldiers had managed to capture. You didn’t have to see Castiel’s face to know that he looked satisfied.

You, on the other hand, were anxious.

~~~

CASTIEL TAGS: @prince-halfblood, @splendidcas, @klaineaholic, @letsthedogpackandthecats, @alexastacio, @winchesterforever12 @seirensou  @tacos-and-trenchcoats @the-amaranthine @intheir-dreams @study-me-misha @marisayouass @demonicguardianangel @afanofmanystuffs 

[skidrowflorist]

since you reblogged that post about asks, what are some headcanons you have about audrey's healing process post-theatrical ending? i really liked what you wrote about her finding a good circle of friends and telling seymour he was the one who encouraged her to love herself. there's a lot of hope for audrey imo. the healing process wouldn't be quick or easy, but i do think it would be possible with the proper support system.

ooc;; hey there! thanks for asking! there’s certainly a lot to say about a topic like this.

first of all, i agree that there’s a lot of hope for audrey in the theatrical ending and also that recovery would be … well, a rocky road at best.

i’ve previously talked about some facets of her recovery HERE (warning for abuse/trauma mentions and sexual content), but a lot of what i said there is still important to this conversation, so let’s hit a highlight from that post.

while seymour is the man who saved audrey, he’s also the reason she was almost killed, and the man who killed her ex. audrey wouldn’t ever say she wished orin was still around, but it scares her that she didn’t know seymour was capable of malice like that, and when you’re a girl who’s had a string of abusive exes and things are finally going right for you, it starts to feel like the good spot you’re in isn’t REAL, and that things will get bad again. so you look at seymour a little nervously.

this is the most important part to consider when looking at how her recovery might be stunted. the man she’s living with could definitely be a huge source of comfort for her, and a stabilizing force in the midst of her trauma, but he is also dangerously close to provoking that same trauma, in a way. until she can make peace with what seymour has done, she can’t use him as a support, and trust is going to be difficult. it would take a long time for audrey to even explain this to seymour, and so after the initial joy of escape and of marriage, the doubt starts to creep in, and lets say it’s a few weeks before it comes to a head and she confesses what she’s been thinking. 

this would probably crush seymour to hear, and confirm his own self-worth doubts. he ISN’T good enough for audrey, and he’s done too many terrible things. how could he expect her to look past that. maybe he panics and tries to be even more insistent and affectionate, but it only has the negative effect of scaring audrey. so then he says that he’ll leave. he won’t ever make her be with him if it isn’t what she wants. he’ll go someplace far away and never so much as bother her again. but it makes audrey physically ill to even think of that, and she begs him to stay. 

now the fear that he might leave is terribly real in her mind, and she needs someone to care for her, so she promises she’ll get better and that all the wrong feelings will go away and she’ll be GOOD. she says something just like that: “i’ll be good” and now it’s seymour’s turn to be terrified. he doesn’t want her to ever say a thing like that, like she said to men to get them to stop hurting her. 

it’s a bad night all around. but it’s the first step toward real healing. now they see exactly all it is that they have to overcome. and before audrey can pull the pieces of herself together, she needs her husband and best friend’s support. step one is to reconcile with seymour’s past. to make brief what could be a truly MASSIVE story, most of the healing that needs to happen between seymour and audrey is discussed in the aforementioned post.

moving on from that, the next most important thing is gaining friends. this, again, is something i’ve discussed (in the post you mention in your ask!) so we can make this brief too. seymour is an encouraging force for her to find other friends, but ultimately it’s audrey’s thirst for companionship that gets her out into the neighborhood.

so now she has a loving husband and a good circle of friends. she’s still struggling with physical intimacy sometimes, and panics a little when people shout near her. she gets sick watching friends’ husbands get drunk at parties because the inebriation reminds her of orin and others like him. after one such party (which she asked seymour to leave early because she was feeling  ‘under the weather’) she undresses and has a breakdown in their bedroom when she sees an old scar. she begs seymour not to do what they do, not to drink and get loud and laugh too hard and touch too carelessly. he promises.

some days are better than others. recovery is never just a straight path to ‘better,’ and audrey knows this, but it doesn’t make the bad days any easier. she doesn’t let herself shrink back into her fear, though. she keeps talking to seymour when something feels wrong, even if it feels silly or stupid. seymour never laughs at her or condescends to her, and slowly she starts to feel more comfortable and more confident talking about how she feels and what she needs. eventually she feels like there’s one good friend she can share her deeper feelings with, and that helps too, in its way, but she’ll never be able to explain the truth about what happened to orin, or the doubts she used to have about seymour. no one would understand, and if they did, think of the danger to seymour! so the only one who she can say absolutely anything to is seymour. as long as she keeps opening up and using the support that’s there, she keeps improving.

about 8 or 9 months into their marriage, audrey becomes pregnant. she’s always wanted kids, and she’s so excited to finally get the chance to be a mother. soon she starts thinking, though, about how nothing will be exactly like she’d imagined. no matter how much she loves her child, she’ll never be able to be entirely honest with them about her life, and neither will seymour. she’s realizing the weight of the secret they have now, and how only they two will ever fully understand the horror that audrey ii wrought on them. 

she has a month of bad days, sad, distant, and aching for honesty. she’s never asked seymour to tell anyone about what happened to them, but she thinks it’s not so crazy a thought when the alternative is living in silence, never quite truthful with all their friends and loved ones. seymour doesn’t know what to say. he can see this is truly killing her, but the risks are so great. if her friends don’t believe her, people will think audrey’s crazy, and she’ll probably lose their friendship. if they do believe her, then seymour has to live forever with the fact that they know he’s a murderer. he begs audrey not to do it, and tells her that maybe what they ought to do is just … forget what happened. maybe all they’ve been through is too much to ask of anyone to cope with, and they’d be better off pretending it was all some horrible dream.

they spend a few weeks like that, trying to tell themselves that they’ll never speak of it again, and that once that becomes habit, soon it’ll just be gone from their minds. this obviously doesn’t work for long, considering seymour’s semi-celebrity status being directly connected to audrey ii. their illusion keeps getting shattered by casual mentions of his work. so they stop pretending, and truth be told, they were tired of pretending anyway. it was just exhausting. 

i think a lot of different things about what could come next, but never quite settle on anything. it seems too dark to imagine they never find peace. it’s not in keeping with the original story. maybe they do tell their children, and having this small outlet is enough. maybe they tell their friends, and those friends learn to accept this bizarre history, and audrey and seymour can finally be authentically themselves with them. maybe it’s this release that finally lets audrey heal the wounds left by skid row. the memory never goes away, but the pain connected with it might.

if you have thoughts about what might happen to them, or if anyone else does, i would love to hear them! :)

[dragon-moms]

Entry 108 - Gloria

Today I realized I lost.

Our meeting had been dragging on this morning. Estuary was being much too verbose about the chances of a human hiding in Cerulia. The whole idea was ridiculous, and she seemed determined to completely get herself, and all Blues, off the potential hook for all this. The Queen just listened intently while I tried not to roll my eyes.

“...and based on what we know of human magic, they have not attempted any magic focused on invading aquatic areas,” Estuary said. “During the war especially, they seemed determined to travel across it, on their boats. Thus it seems very unlikely that…”

An aide burst into the Council chambers, panting hard. “Your highness, excuse me, your highness, but…”

“Take your time,” the Queen said.

The aide took a moment to breathe. “A group of adjudicators from Orin is coming this way. They say they have the human royal and those protecting her.”

“Have you seen this human?” the Queen asked.

“They have a little cage, and something is in the cage, but I did not take a close look,” the aide said. “I hurried with the news.”

The Queen nodded. “We shall see this group of adjudicators immediately. Estuary, we shall continue your report if it still seems necessary.”

“Yes, your highness,” Estuary said, and sat down.

Me, I was just sitting there, trying not to dig my claws into the edge of my desk. This couldn’t be true. They must have found someone else.

Soon, Pike, fucking Pike, walked in. He had a huge grin on his face. He was flanked by two other adjudicators, a Red with a staff and a Black. In the Black’s claws was a cage.

And in the cage was a human wearing a little Red dragon costume.

Philly.

“Hey, your highness,” Pike said, grinning. “We came as fast as we could. We got something for you.”

“What is your name?” the Queen asked.

“Oh, like, yeah, of course. Sorry. Pike, of the Orin Outpost. This is Vira and Yorland. And we got that human you’re looking for and stuff.”

Yorland, the Black, stepped forward with the cage. I saw Philly look around the room. She actively tried not to look at me. Nice of her to try not to incriminate me.

The Queen gave Philly one of her looks, like she was looking right through her. I saw Philly tremble a little. “You are the human royal.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Philly said, but her voice was trembling. “I’m just… just a…”

“She said she was,” Pike said. “When we were fighting with everyone hiding her.”

Everyone hiding her. And fighting with them. I gritted my teeth. All the other Councils were silent, watching, unsure what to do.

“Tell us the truth,” the Queen said.

Philly took a breath. “I hear you’re a good Queen,” she said. “And my loyalty is much more to you than to any human. But I need… I need you to promise me you’re not going to hurt anyone else.”

“Anyone else?” Pike said, chuckling. “You and yours killed one of my men. Don’t go acting like we’ve done anything.”

“Is that true?” Baal asked.

Pike was about to answer, but the Red, Vira, was clearly frustrated and broke in. “Yes. Gerald died in the fight. From some very strange magic. He was a good adjudicator.”

The Queen looked back to Philly. “What do you have to say to this?”

“That was an accident… and they attacked first… and… look, I will do whatever you want, just promise me the two dragons you captured will not be harmed,” Philly said. “They didn’t do the killing. Please, just keep them safe. Please. I’ll… I’ll go back to the tower, or you can kill me, or whatever you want, but just keep them safe.”

“If blood has already been spilt, why are we even listening to this human?” Baal demanded. “She should be executed, and her fellow conspirators.”

“Isn’t it… well, I mean, isn’t it weird that the human just swore loyalty to you, though?” Boron said. “At least, I think that’s what the human said. Shouldn’t we investigate this?”

“I do swear loyalty,” Philly said. “I… yes… my Mom is loyal to you and I want to be too, I promise.”

“Your mother is a human Queen,” Baal said.

“Not that mother… my… I mean...” Philly said, her words failing her.

“There are other prisoners?” the Queen asked.

“Yeah. We, you know, figured they were more dangerous than the little human, so we sent them to get locked up in the prisons,” Pike said. “But I’m sure you could interrogate them and stuff. Uh, your highness.”

“What are their names?” Haramond asked.

“Uh, Merry and Myrmidon. They’re, like, a couple,” Pike said.

I felt acid on my tongue as I tried to keep my composure.

The Queen turned to one of her aides. “Put these adjudicators up for the night. We will need full reports from them. And make sure the human is locked up somewhere under constant guard.”

An aide nodded. “If you three will follow me,” they said, motioning them out of the room.

The Queen turned to me, looking at me intently. She could see all my secrets, surely. She then turned to the rest of the Council. “We shall attempt to determine the validity of these claims. However, we believe it unlikely that there was a second human being kept hidden. We shall expect all of you to come with a plan based on the new reality of this situation when we meet this evening. Until then, you are dismissed.” With that, the Queen gathered her aides and left.

Everyone else was in an uproar immediately. I couldn’t even talk, I was so angry and full of acid. I didn’t even care of it looked suspicious. I had to get out of there.

I grabbed my things and hurried to my room in the dorms. I closed the door.

“FUCK!” I screamed, spraying acid over the wall. And then I’d already dealt the damage, so I spit again, and again, coating it, hearing it sizzle against stone, until I calmed down the tiniest bit and started fumbling for my pipe.

Even Grass didn’t really help.

I was staring at a piece of parchment a long time later, trying to think of a proposal that sounded reasonable and didn’t send my friend’s daughter off to die, when I heard a voice.

“Finally!”

I looked around. I knew that voice. “Dagger?”

Dagger materialized over my bedding. Eir angles were especially sharp. “Do you know how big this place is? I’ve been wandering forever… I thought I’d just follow the signs to the Council chamber but you were already gone… such a pain…”

“How are you here?” I asked.

“I’m bound to my sibling, remember?” Dagger said, sighing. “So they got their tail thrown in jail, so I get to be in jail too. Well, I guess I can move around. But I’m still trapped here. I’m just glad you were in range.”

“So it really is Merry and Myrmidon down there…” I said.

“Yeah. So get them out already. I want to get back to our place and stop playing messenger. You would not believe how many times Merry has asked me to check on Philly. I still have to find her, too...”

“I’ll probably know where she is after tonight’s meeting. I’ll tell you if you come back by,” I said.

“Okay, sure.” Dagger looked at the burnt wall. “You okay, Gloria?”

“Not really, no,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter.”

“It matters,” Dagger said. “I mean, I would like to let it matter, if you’ll let me… you always let my feelings matter…”

“Yeah…” I said. I looked down at all my half-written proposals. “I’m just going to be honest. I don’t know how I’m going to get them out, Dagger. I don’t know if I can.”

“Oh,” Dagger said. “Well, if they deconstruct Myrmidon, at least then I won’t be bound to them anymore. That’d be nice…” Ey thought about it for a moment. “I’d… probably miss them a little, but…”

I set my head on the desk. “I just think I lost. The moment they got found, I lost. I should have been doing more. I don’t know what else I could have done.”

Dagger floated there, thinking. “So… you’re going to let them die, or rot in jail, then?”

“I’m not going to LET them. I can’t do anything.”

“I mean, surely you can…”

“I can’t do anything!” I yelled, turning to em so fast that my face brushed against em, sending a chill through me.

Eir eyes started glowing.

“Fuck…” I said. “Not now…”

In a flash, I was in the past. I was crying. There was blood on my claws. And there, beside me, was Maude.

“I can’t do anything!” the past me cried. “I can’t… everything I do is wrong! I just hurt… look at me!”

“Glory…” Past Maude said, at a loss.

“He won’t let me leave… he just… but I can’t just… he’s Flare’s father, my Egg’s father, I can’t just…”

“Glory, I know…” she said, trying to embrace me. Past me shoved her away.

“Find someone better than me… you… I’ve ruined you enough…”

“You haven’t ruined anything, Glory… you just… this is just one round you’ve lost… you haven’t lost the war… it’s just time to regroup, right?” Past Maude tried to hug me again.

This time, Past me let her, sobbing.

“Flare is worth anything, right?” Past Maude said softly. “Your Egg is worth anything, right?”

Past Me nodded. I nodded too.

“You just have find a different anything to sacrifice than… than this. Than life with Guster… right…?”

And then I was back in the dorm, and Dagger was on the floor, unconscious.

I sat there, unable to move to wake em. Ey didn’t like when I did that anyway.

“A different anything to sacrifice…” I said to myself.

“I hate those things…” Dagger said, waking up. “My head…”

“I just need to find a different anything,” I said. “I… maybe I can do that.”

“Yeah…” Dagger said softly.

I looked to em. “Thanks… for that.”

“Sure,” ey said. “Though it seemed like a bad memory…”

“It was… but… maybe I’m just not putting enough up for sacrifice,” I said.

Dagger nodded like ey didn’t feel like ey got it.

But I got it.

I put forward the safest plan I could at the meeting. And I started listening. And planning.

I can still do this. I just have to be willing to burn anything I have to.

I’ve done it before. I can do it again.