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blowflyfag · 14 days

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WWF RAW MAGAZINE: JUNE 2001

The RAW Interview

By Keith Elliot Greenberg

The Extreme Truth

Paul Heyman Pulls No Punches as he Reveals the Roots of “Hardcore”

(Part One)

Not long ago, World Wrestling Federation fans were astonished to turn on Raw Is War, and see none other than Paul Heyman sitting in the commentator’s chair. Since 1993, Heyman–also known as Paul E. Dangerously–had been the brains behind Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), an organization known for outrageous storylines and thrilling action. Through the years, some of the most gifted performers in the business–among them, Mick “Mankind” foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Chris Benoit, Tazz and the Dudleyz–got their seasoning in ECW, and many believe that the renegade group helped inspire the World Wrestling Federation’s edgy age of “Attitude.”

For much of the last year, Heyman struggled to keep his promotion alive, sometimes with the help of World Wrestling Federation-provided talent on his shows. But in early 2001, he realized he’d fought as hard as he could. When Jerry “The King” Lawler walked away from the World Wrestling Federation, Heyman found himself calling matches of the Federation, alongside Jim “J.R.” Ross.

RAW Magazine: Tell me about when you discovered that you’d be replacing Jerry Lawler on Raw Is War.

Paul Heyman: Actually, I thought it was a rib on me when they asked me to do it. I had no desire to be on camera. I get a much bigger thrill being behind the scenes. And I think the fact that I kept myself off camera so much in my own promotion is a testament to the fact that I truly don’t want to be an on-air personality. I was negotiating with the World Wrestling Federation when the company released Stacy Carter (The Kat), and her husband Jerry Lawler walked out on her behalf. When they told me they wanted me to sit in the commentator’s chair, I didn’t believe it. I haven’t been a commentator since October 1991, when I was in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). And I just couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to put a fat, bald, 35-year-old Jew on the air. It didn’t make sense to me… until 8:57 p.m., when they sent me out to the ring.

[“When the decision was made to take all wrestling stuff off Turner Broadcasting, I knew that, despite our efforts, the death knell was sounding for ECW. The fight was over. It was time to call it a day, and join the World Wrestling Federation.”]

RAW: In the weeks leading to your appearance on Raw, there were rumors about your last-ditch efforts to save ECW. How did you finally decide that it was time to come to the World Wrestling Federation?

Heyman: I’ve been a longtime acquaintance of the McMahon family. It’s kind of like in the movie Almost Famous. I B.S.’ed my way into the back of Madison Square Garden right after my 14th birthday. When ECW ran into bad times, there was so much support from the World Wrestling Federation, offers of advice, talent and promotion from the very top of the organization all the way down to just people volunteering production services on their off-hours. It was a no-brainer for me. WCW was never even a consideration because, quite honestly, they were structured to fail. Had WCW been taken off the Turner networks, we hoped we might be able to replace them. But when the decision was made to take all wrestling off Turner Broadcasting, I knew that, despite our efforts, the death knell was sounding on ECW. The fight was over. It was time to call it a day, and join the World Wrestling Federation.

RAW: Just as, in the 1950s, when Antonio Rocca popularized the flying head scissors and Gorgeous George opened the door to gimmick performers, many fans believe that in the 1990s, the ECW attitude influenced the World Wrestling Federation attitude. Do you concur with that?

Heyman: I would say that it was smart business on everybody’s part to be influenced by us, and study what we were doing right and incorporate it into their own product. We had something very, very special, and it was working. It was creating a situation where we had the most rabidly loyal fan base that many in this industry ever saw. We didn’t have the media exposure to market and promote our product the way the other guys did. So, to me, they were smart to beat us to the punch and bring it to a wider audience. If not, it would have enabled ECW a better wing at the ball in capturing any percentage of market share.

RAW: Back in 1994, there were people in the World Wrestling Federation who look at the ECW product, and said, “That stuff’s too hardcore. That may work in a bingo hall in Philadelphia, but on a national level no one’s gonna buy it.” I’m sure you heard those comments. So what compelled you to keep pushing the envelope without fear that it was going to explode in your face?

Heyman: We listened to the audience, and the audience was digging it. So we just kept on pushing it because they wanted us to.

RAW: How did you end up in the dressing room at 14 years old?

Heyman: When I was 13 years old, I’d go to Madison Square Garden with my zoom lens, take pictures of the matches, and then trade those photos with people all over the country. It was an expensive hobby because I had to reproduce so many pictures. So I started putting together a newsletter with everyone’s photos and match results. I was having a blast, the time of my life, and I wanted to get some interviews. I was tired of taking zoom-lens pictures with the ropes in the way. I wanted to go backstage and take photos of the wrestlers there. Now, I might have had pimples and braces, but I also had a deep voice. And I B.S.’ed my way on the telephone, and finally got a hold of Vince McMahon, Sr. [father of current owner Vince McMahon]. He arranged for me to get a press pass for Madison Square Garden. I just acted like I belonged, and I guess they believed that I did. I gave a picture of Andre the Giant that I had taken to Vince, Sr., and he gave me $50 for it. And every month after that, I showed up with my press pass and got in. I ended up getting to know everybody, and just became part of the scene.

RAW: Did you always believe in your heart that you’d be in the World Wrestling Federation at some point?

Heyman: I never really thought about it. I’ve never taken the time to sit down and wonder what comes next. I see TV executives do that all the time, and I hate their guts for it because they’ll make decisions that are based on future political ramifications instead of what’s right for their organizations. I just wanted to put 100 percent into whatever I did. So I never really thought that I would end up here. It’s been close several times through my career. But for one reason or another, I always ended up doing something else. I have a different perspective coming here at age 35 than I would have had if I came here when I was 24. I’m glad I had a chance to grow up outside the structure of the WWF because it enables me, at 35, to bring an old man’s experience but a young man’s enthusiasm to the table.

RAW: When did you make the transition from being a photographer to being a participant?

Heyman: I was editing one of the wrestling magazines in 1985 and 1986. And I also was doing work at [New York nightclub] Studio 54, doing publicity, promotions and producing shows–kind of like ECW. IN April 1986, Studio closed due to insurance problems. Suddenly I found myself out of work, so I began working on independent wrestling shows in the Northeast. In January 1987, I started working at the old wrestling territory in Florida. From there, I went to Memphis. And from there I went to the [now-defunct] American Wrestling Alliance (AWA). Everything just took off like a rocket for me.

RAW: It’s one thing to take pictures at ringside, it’s another thing to take bumps in the ring. How did you learn to make that change?

Heyman: I didn’t learn how to do it at all. I loved performing. It was a fantasy come true. And I just went out there and did it with no formal training, figuring things out along the way–like a real schmuck.

RAW: It’s no secret that, back in the days of the regional wrestling territories, some promoters didn’t treat the fans like they were intelligent. Did you learn from their mistakes?

Heyman: ECW was a very fan-friendly promotion. We believed in talking to and with our audience instead of at them and thinking that we were above them. I didn’t buy into the mentality some other promoters had.

RAW: In Memphis in 1987, you were involved in a very famous altercation with the man you replaced in the World Wrestling Federation, Jerry Lawler.

Heyman: It was the first time Lawler lost a hair match. I was Austin Idol’s manager and, in the middle of his match with Lawler, Tommy Rich–who had been hiding under the ring all day–came out and gave Lawler a piledriver after the referee got knocked on his ass. And Idol pinned Lawler. Then, they let me into the cage, and we proceeded to shave the head of the hometown hero, Jerry “the King” Lawler.

RAW: And the fans really seemed ready to riot?

Heyman: They did. It took us 45 minutes to get out of the cage. The cops couldn’t get to us, and we couldn't get out of the cage. People were literally climbing the cage to get in. And Tommy Rich was swinging a chair to bat them down. I was just 21 years old and stupid–I thought it was the greatest thing in the world. Meanwhile, I’m starting to realize, “Hey, why are the cops standing all the way back there? And why haven't they gotten to the ring yet?” And I realized it was because they couldn’t get to us. I was too excited to be scared.

RAW: And it was Tommy Rich who helped get you into the AWA?

Heyman: Yeah, he got a job there and mentioned that there was this young guy he knew who no one had seen on a national level. The AWA was on [TV] daily on ESPN at the time. The Gagnes [AWA owners Verne and Greg Gagne] were hesitant to use me because I'd been a photographer.

RAW: Why was that a problem? Did they think that you weren’t a professional manager?

Heyman: I really can’t identify the mindset, simply because I’m happy to state that in my life, I don’t think that I’ve ever been that stupid.

So I said to them, “Here’s what I'll do” I’ll buy a ticket to the TV tapings on my own. And if you like my shtick, give me back the plane ticket money and tell me that I have a job. If you don’t, I'll pack my bags and leave; the ticket’s on me and thank you for the opportunity.”

[“We brought in Sabu, then Tazz, and then Tommy Dreamer… (ECW) just gave the people a quality show, and it caught on. We could see the movement gaining momentum, and I decided to stick with it.”]

RAW: So you go out there, and you get heat?

Heyman: Yeah, kinda.

RAW: So did the Gagnes say, “Fine, you can stay”?

Heyman: Yeah, I walked to the dressing room, was handed my plane ticket money and told, “You got a job.”

RAW: Then you got national exposure?

Heyman: Yes.

RAW: And that led to you appearing in ECW?

Heyman: Right, I left Verne [Gagne] right before New Year’s Eve in ‘87, and spent the next 10 months working a little bit for Jerry Blackwell’s promotion in Georgia. Then I was Eddie Gilbert’s assistant booker in Alabama, while i was booking a new promotion out of Chicago called Windy City Wrestling. In WCW, Tully [Blanchard] and Arn [Anderson] had just left for the World Wrestling Federation, and the new Midnight Express [Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane] needed someone new to work with. So I came in with the Original Midnight Express [Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose, who’d previously used the name} for a Midnight vs. Midnight feud. And we started there the day that Ted Turner took over the company.

RAW: But what was significant about that was that fans weren’t sure if this was a storyline or the real thing. The announcers had said, “These guys [Condrey and Rose] don’t even work for WCW.”

Heyman: Very much. It was a lot like the things we did in ECW. Fans weren’t sure where the story ended and reality began.

RAW: Let’s hear about the roots of ECW.

Heyman: In 1993, my old friend Eddie Gilbert was living in Philadelphia, putting together Eastern Championship Wrestling with Tod Gordon. Eddie asked me to come down a few days a month and help him produce promos and teach some guys different interview skills and stuff like that. I always loved to work with talent. When Eddie and Tod had a falling out, Tod was left in a bad jam. And he asked me as a favor to help him. I came in and took over the creative end on September 18, 1993. And he asked me if I would do it a little longer while he got his legs underneath him. And I started producing characters like the Public Enemy. We brought in Sabu, then Taz, and then Tommy Dreamer. And we gave a young announcer named Joey Styles his first exposure and turned Shane Douglas into “The Franchise.” We just gave the people a quality show, and it caught on. We could just see the movement gaining momentum, and I decided to stick with it.

RAW: How did Eastern Championship Wrestling become Extreme Championship Wrestling?

Heyman: Even after the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) ended its close association with WCW, the NWA continued to exist. It was mainly a group of small promoters around the country. And there were some members of the board of the NWA who kept trying to stop ECW’s progress. So the decision was made in 1994 to promote the next NWA world heavyweight championship tournament at the ECW Arena [in Philadelphia]. And the decision was made that Shane Douglas would get the belt. At that time, we made the decision that the NWA was truly a dead organization, and this was our chance to do something that we’d never done. We would declare the past dead and say, “This Is a whole new beginning. We’re gonna break all the conventions and trash all the rules. And look out world, here we come.” We took the risk of alienating ourselves from the rest of the wrestling industry, which we did.

Shane beat Too Cold Scorpio in the final. And then he threw down the NWA title in the ring. He didn’t throw it into a garbage can, as many people later claimed. And [NWA president] Dennis Coralluzzo came in the back and asked what was going on. We said Shane was the champion, whether he wanted him to be champion or not.

When out TV show aired, he was introduced as our new ECW champion. But we weren’t Eastern Championship Wrestling anymore, and we weren’t the NWA. We were Extreme Championship Wrestling. And the way the business would be propelled into the future would now be labeled “extreme.”

[Part Two of the Paul Heyman interview will appear in the July issue of RAW Magazine, on sale June 26.]

#paul heyman #magazine transcript #magazine scan

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weshney · 1 year

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Okay, Guys, So I was recently in Texas on a family vacation and a puppy ran in front of our car late at night. We did not hit him, but it definitely made us notice he was there!

He was covered in mange and straight up not doing well, so we scooped him up and stayed up all night taking care of him. Apart from keeping him inside our makeshift fenced yard, we fed him, gave him a dawn dish soap bath, and slathered him in half a jar of coconut oil to take care of his 100+ fleas.

He never once tried to bite or hurt us during this process. Which is impressive considering that he whimpered every time he scratched his own skin.

Within the hour post-bath he went from reasonably skittish to begging for belly rubs, wagging his tail, and no longer trying to escape.

We were so happy, but also stressed. Because, as it turns out, most of the animal shelters in the area are high kill shelters. I'm talking, a dog is in threat of euthanasia within THREE DAYS of being accepted at the shelters.

All the websites everywhere direct you to the 311 animal control line. Which is the line for the high kill shelter. It was heavily implied, when we talked to them, that he would be killed right away if they took him.

We were disgusted. I nearly cried. We were ready to ditch our whole vacation and rent a car to drive him the 36 hours home and get him treated.

At the last minute, my brother did a Hail Mary post on Facebook.

And God's Dogs answered.

I'm not even shitting you.

The no-kill, highly rated rescue was called God's Dogs.

We saved him. He got treatment right away, both for mange and a tick borne disease, and THREE DAYS later was placed with a foster family.

The exact amount of time it would have taken the city sponsored shelter to kill him.

When we dropped him off, we saw the kennels. They were nice, and the dogs very healthy.

The owner is a nurse with a huge heart.

So what I'm really getting at, is that not only does this rescue majorly deserve donations for the work they do, but they will actually transport the dogs they save all over the US for just their normal $250 adoption fee. So even if you live out of state, you can still adopt from them!!!

They're currently trying to open a vet clinic on site to treat the dogs, give vaccinations and spay/neuter sooner and more cheaply. They're about halfway through their 100k dollar goal, but I bet Tumblr could really wipe that out of the water.

What do you say Guys?

Can we show them how much this work matters?

And if you live in the area, PLEASE consider adopting a dog from the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services.

Their name is quite the fucking misnomer.

They literally have 2 month old PUPPIES on their euthanasia list at the time I'm writing this post that could be killed as early as TOMORROW.

For a complete list of dogs set to be euthanized (most within the week of being obtained), refer to my other post.

#puppy #shelter #animal rescue #pet adoption #please help #crowdfunding #tw disturbing photos #tw animal cruelty #personal story #god's dogs #please reblog #please share #need help

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oxiosa · 2 years

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Oxi, my turn to ask for cute hc older brother Tincho with his little brothers! 🥺

Hi Kai! I don’t think I have much, but I’ll try my best!

First things first, I don’t think Martín got to spend all that much time with Sebas and Dani. Yes, they visited often and they were the neighbors with which he got to spend the most time, especially once he became a Viceroyalty and Antonio threw them under his care. But still, I don’t think they spend that much time together. I hc baby tans can’t spend a whole lot of time away from their land and people, so Sebas and Dani’s visits were brief. They did try to make the most of it, however ♥

Martín is bossy and dominating by nature, and he was even as a child. So even at a young age I’m sure he assumed this “big brother” role, he’ll naturally shift to the role of a leader. You know how there’s always this one kid that drags the rest around and gets them in trouble, well that was Martín. His confidence is magnetic, he really sells off the “I know better, just trust me” even when he doesn’t. Little Dani and Sebas totally bought his act, you know how younger kids tend to be struck and rely blindly on older kids. Which was exactly what Martín wanted, he highly enjoyed being looked up to. So yeah, he kinda went “Follow me!” and then dragged them into all sorts of trouble. Martín is reckless, so I’m sure he made a lot of dumb choices that must have almost costed them their lives, but he did look out for Dani and Sebas during their crazy shenanigans. He did get them in trouble, but he also made sure they got out of them. As I said, he was protective of his babies, there is no way he was ditching them! They trusted him, big brother couldn’t let them down!

Martín dragged them into a lot of adventures aka TROUBLE. Tincho tried to be a good boy, but he struggled A LOT and failed most of the time. Tincho is curious and prideful and chaotic, which is a terrible mix - especially for a child. Yes, he did try to be on his best behavior, but there was only so much Martín-ness he could suppress. Trying to be still and quiet just made his chaoticness itch more and more. And hey, you know what they say: when the cat’s away, mice will play. There was no harm in letting loose when Antonio wasn’t around, right? He could indulge in his Martín-ness while his dad wasn’t around aka most of the time.

I don’t have any specific scenario. I just can see this vague imagen of them sneaking into the kitchen and stealing treats and being off on adventures, both in the city and wilderness. They’d face the wildlife and climb trees and swim in rivers and just have fun without any fear or worry. They were young and reckless and foolish and unsupervised, and the world was theirs.

I like to think they made blanket forts and Martín got to tell stories, particularly scary ones! I think Tincho isn’t the sort to scare easily, and he enjoyed the attention of Dani and Sebas hanging on to his every word. Of course, that also meant Dani and Sebas would be scared at night and would cling to him in bed, so he got to cuddle his baby bros which definitely was a bonus.

Now, despite his bossy personality, I think Martín was surprisingly sweet and gentle with both Dani and Sebas. Martín was very protective of them and didn’t hesitate to step up for them. I think he must have fought other children whenever they teased his baby brothers, and might have even took a bullet for them and blame himself whenever they go in trouble (ex: maybe one of them breaks a jar, well don’t worry, big bro Tincho’s got you, he’ll boldly claim he was the one to break it). He babied them a lot, which I think resulted in them being a little bit of cry-babies. Sebas particularly, since I hc Martín and Sebas got to spend more time together and the reason for this is quite simple: Montevideo is closer to Buenos Aires than Asunción. I think I already explained this hc before, but I think Sebitas was pretty much Martín’s shadow until he was annexed to Brazil. Spending time with Luciano, he who saw him as an equal rather than a baby bro, made Sebas mature A LOT. By the time he returned to Martín, he wasn’t this little baby who needed clodding and I think this was a harsh reality Martín refused to accept. This was quite a headache for Sebas, who didn’t want to be seen as a baby but as a peer, and I think might have caused some headbutting between the two.

#it isn't that long but tumblr is dumb about posts with multiple paragraphs #Im sorry for taking so long kai!! brarg week is just around the corner and I am waaaay far behind :’D #latin hetalia #lh: argentina

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devilsskettle · 2 years

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i mean it is insane behavior to marry someone you just met because they’re mistaking you for someone else but sebastian does make a real effort at rationalizing that decision, which is more than you can say for any of the other characters in the play besides viola, who has to stay very cognizant of not being too insane in public for her own well-being

#he also very much DID ditch antonio #like the play frames it as a mix up because viola didn’t recognize him but sebastian still did ditch him and didn’t meet him like he agreed #anyway #olivia seems normal at first but she’s also a fucking weirdo #she lets feste hang around and lets toby do whatever he wants and gets really intense about everything she feels #when she mourns her brother it’s a seven year affair of no visitors and committed depression #when she meets a guy she likes she decides she’s in love with him and chases him all around town and tries to marry him immediately #she’s very competent and like sebastian says can hold command of her household etc #but does she though. this whole business with malvolio happened right under her nose. feste is right she’s the fool!#love her but she is the fool #muppet behavior. she’s played by miss piggy in the muppets version that exists in my brain #twelfth night

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unlimitedhorsepower · 2 years

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i dont know if they ever intend to tell us anything about ryans backstory because its not necessarily important to his character and it could be enough for us to know that he used to disobey his parents to go see his girlfriend of the time instead, and that he alludes to karinas parents being nice in a way that makes me think his own parents arent like that

but because hes an amalgamation of kotetsus and barnabys traits in a lot of ways, ive built my own ideal reality. also, this was supposed to be a really short post but its actually unnecessarily long and rambling and actually has little to do with his backstory in the end, and tumblr will cut it off thankfully.

its my blog and i post whatever i want, including my stream of consciousness thoughts. here. have this ryan figurine i think about on a regular basis

in my mind he would be from a well-off enough family and he wouldve started his career as a child and the hero work wasnt his topmost wish always. nowadays hes obviously rich, but i often think about KOW the rising saying that he likes to study tax plans and is good at buying in bulk...

anyhow, i think it would be fitting if his parents were kinda lacking in the parenting department. why did he become the wandering gravity prince? did he not want to stay with them, he never really talks about them even when its topical, they dont seem important to him. hes looking for a place to not get backstabbed and his first instinct is go to sternbild after a devastating injury and not like, show up at home for a bit at least?

kotetsus mom is still around and we know shes nice and doing the most really, and kotetsu has a brother who supports him too. kotetsu also is a very normal person without particular talents. in contrast, as we know, barnaby lost his parents who were busy but cared about him, and he was then raised by maverick who only wanted to use him and never cared about him.

barnaby is also a virtuoso in so many things, what is he not good at? he can have himself a perfect celebrity persona and do so many things so well. he was smart even as a kid. kotetsu, on the other hand, has no particular talents, however, he scored himself an eventual wife and a best friend for life (antonio!) when he was still in high school.

sure, he does dumb stuff all the time, but hes a decent guy who can make people laugh. hes well-liked enough, and he has a penchant for making genuine human connection even (and because of) his meddlesome nature. barnaby has difficulties making friends, in contrast. and if were absolutely honest, ryan is much more like kotetsu in the sense that underneath all of his ego that gets in the way of everything, hes actually a relatively normal guy with no particular talents beyond being extremely loud and proud about himself. without his ego he pretty much has nothing.

every day he wakes up and pretends to have both the positive traits of barnaby and kotetsu, when actually he kind of has both of their negative traits. his motto, too, is about believing in himself. as long as he believes hes perfect, then he can convince others of it too.

so hes a little bit like barnaby, who has a very likable and nice public image to supplement his shortcomings as a person who has difficulties connecting with people... but he goes beyond and above and makes no distinction between who he really is and what his “public image” is. his ego is Him, because its all he really has, and it gets in the way of genuine human connections.

again, in his schedule he is noted that he “had a pleasant time” at an event with a lot of celebrities, but theyre just his acquantaices. he keeps giving his number out to women, takes a woman home from a date and getting texted that the vibe was off, and he just goes okey-dokey and continues unbothered and arranges an another date

but then his buddy hero partner karina is about to DITCH him for kotetsu just like barnaby did (not that he cares. it was his master plan btw) and hes ready to flee the city immediately and cries.

does that really seem like a man who has a lot of genuine friends, like kotetsu has for example?

no... ryan has a lot of surface-level acquantaices and so on. hes well-liked enough, but the image he projects is absolutely insufferable and doesnt seem genuine (despite it being genuine, because he really just is like that), which also has made people consider him a rival to a degree it seems they arranged for gregory to cause ryan to lose control of his power.

in the scene where he loses control, hes wearing civilian clothes. was he invited to a hangout with the heroes at the monument he was crushed under? it certainly wasnt during his work, but his co-workers are in their hero costumes. it would also explain ryans preoccupation with being betrayed, which implies to me a more active role than just leaving him to be crushed to death under rubble.

even barnaby, in the rising, suspects ryan of being involved with the villain plot, which ryan catches on and brings up himself and acts unbothered about- he doesnt mind, he gets it a lot, it seems. he would know this, too, because hes good at reading people.

anyhow, attention is what he wants, and attention is what he gets... he doesnt even mind if the attention is a bit negative.

like kotetsu, hes kind of meddlesome with other people, but hes also the type to claim all credit (even for things he didnt do), like when at the end of rising the announces its his idea that barnaby and kotetsu should work together.

anyway, i think this all would perfectly fit in my fantasy of ryans parents not being really explicitly awful but maybe they just didnt care enough so ryan never received an adequate amount of attention and parental guidance, and ended up like this.

barnaby is an only child, and kotetsu has a brother who he is on good terms with...

ryan could be an only child (as he never mentions anything related to a sibling as far as i know, but some information is so hard to get. i wish i could read japanese), but i think it would be interesting if he had a sibling, and for no particular reasons, the sibling was always just a little bit better than ryan.

maybe they were smarter and had more realistic dreams (ryans wish is being the only number one. thats not even a wish. why did he even become a hero? i would say it was for attention. a guy with no life plans, really), or something, but it doesnt matter. losing in his parents eyes to something boring and cringe like a well-paying office job or a doctor or something. but thats something just for additional comedic purposes for me personally bc i think itd fit for him to be an only child

i also like to entertain the idea his parents wouldve pushed him into the entertainment field and i do love the idea that he was involved in a lot of things (like modeling etc) before ending up becoming a hero, which wouldve been one of his first choices he made for himself

hes not a bad person by all means, but to me at least before rising he more cared about the fame and attention part and people thinking hes an awesome person. theyll appreciate him then.

but then he learned about the power of friendship and now he can better focus on being a good person in the way he knows how to be (extremely meddlesome and getting into your personal business but nonetheless hes doing his best)

he definitely was like that as a kid too, you know how some kids are just so nosy? i also like to think he was the type of kid who just makes up outrageous lies and cant even tell why, which he stopped doing as an older teen and moved into exaggerating his life instead

i think hes always been really outgoing and the class clown-type who causes problems at school but like most kids who act like that, he was trying to get attention because he was going through something

and lets face it, hes kind of weird with how over-the-top he is. his apartment has black marble and leather and gold and he has frescoes of himself on his walls... this sort of eccentricity doesnt just happen overnight, im sure hes always been a little bit like that

but its harder to get bullied when you just tell everyone youre awesome with utmost confidence. kids dont really know how to react to something like that, its pretty easy to convince people youre cool as long as you can just act the part (source: me). you can get all of your weird traits excused if you own them and act like its the most natural thing (even if it wont stop people talking behind your back) anyway i think that deep down he knows that hes nothing special and has known since he was a kid but this lifestyle of his isnt something he can back down from. hes perfect because he says so and if he admitted otherwise it would be equivalent to getting executed.

he made his bed now he has to lie in it. but hey its a nice bed with silk sheets and damn he looks good

#i wrote this a few days ago here have it #ryan goldsmith #tiger and bunny

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somedayonbroadway · 4 years

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Have you ever done oe thought about a Bandstand AU? Because I'm now obsessed.

Okay, so I was obsessed with Bandstand for a good six months after they performed at the Tonys. Kid you not, it was the only thing I listened to. For six months straight. And it still hasn’t gotten old.

Quick rant:

Corey Cott deserves a Tony.

Laura Osnes deserves a Tony.

The show deserved to at least be nominated for best musical, if not win the whole thing.

Dear Evan Hansen is great.

But it is nothing compared to Bandstand.

(Also, DEH won best orchestrations against Great Comet… like… what? Did the judges even see that show? DEH had like… a violin, a piano and a couple guitars. It hardly had orchestrations. Great Comet is a ****ing masterpiece of complex, insane music.)

End rant.

Anyways.

Bandstand AU

Characters

Jack Kelly — Donny Novitski (Piano)

Katherine Plumber — Julia Trojan (Singer)

David Jacobs — Wayne Wright (trombone)

Spot Conlon — Davy Zlatic (bass)

Racetrack Higgins — Jimmy Campbell (saxophone)

Crutchie Morris — Johny Simpson (drums)

Albert DaSilva — Nick Radel (trumpet)

Joseph Pulitzer — June Adams

Medda Larkin — Oliver

Bryan Denton — Jo

Specs — Michael “Rubber” Trojan

Okay, so…

Newly back home, Jack Kelly is having difficulty adjusting to life after the war. After losing his best friend from friendly fire, he’s guilt ridden. The minute Jack gets home, he’s bombarded with propaganda that everything would go back to the way it was before. He doesn’t believe that as he is now jobless, is struggling for money, is struggling hard with insomnia and PTSD.

As a composer, vocalist, accordion player and pianist, Jack begins to go to old clubs he used to perform at, only to find he’d been easily replaced. Finding an old friend, Medda, for whom he’d worked with before, he manages to secure gigs at weddings, getting slim money, just enough to eat and pay rent.

After a few weeks, he finds himself slowly losing it. He hears stories of soldiers’ funerals. Those guys came back fine a while ago.

They needed a way to make it stop.

Jack is on the verge of a breakdown. He can’t go a night without a drink. He can’t stop thinking about the war. About Specs.

He can’t get it out of his head.

He’s a genius and he knows it. He’s been musically inclined his whole life. He started playing when he was seven and he started composing when he was nine. And here he is, fifteen years later, still playing weddings. No one’s giving him a job. No one seems to care that he’s struggling or needs to play because if he can’t play, there’s nothing left for him.

But he hears about a contest on the radio. A contest for a swing band to compete in a contest as a tribute to the troops just back from the war.

In a moment of clarity, Jack decides that he’s going to put together a band made up of his fellow vets to shoot for fame and fortune, to show the vets that made it home that there’s hope for them.

So he takes a name that he remembers his best friend mentioned at one time, and he goes out to find a man about to play a gig at a club named Antonio Higgins who Specs had used to call Racer. Racer is a sax player, now studying to be a lawyer. While Race does try to send him away, he realizes that he might need this as much as Jack did and once he finds out that Specs is dead, he can’t say no. He’s doing this for Specs.

Race leads him to find more musicians who served. Spot, David, Crutchie and Albert.

Race doesn’t trust anyone.

Spot is an alcoholic, cracking jokes to get through the day as best he can.

David is OCD. He has clear schedules and plans out every minute of his day.

Albert is a control freak. He’s constantly irritated and just wants everything to be done the right way and for things to work out.

Crutchie lost a leg in the war as well as receiving brain damage in an accident that sent his vehicle flipping three times while he was in the war

Not all of them get along at first. But, for the sack of all of the vets that are losing hope in a post war world where there’s no place for them, they keep it together.

They get through their first gig together. All is well for about two minutes as Race tells Jack he’s glad he decided to play with him and Spot jokes around with Crutchie after Crutchie tells the guys about his meds and how they slow him down, asking him how much slower he can get without being put in reverse. Crutchie is very slow and goofy most of the time, unable to truly remember the events that occurred overseas, but he is a monster on drums. He doesn’t mind the jokes, in fact, he takes a liking to Spot.

It’s after this that Jack tells Albert he needs to come down off the ceiling while playing his solo, claiming that it’s selfish and out of line. Albert argues with him, sparking a bit of tension between the rest of the group. Albert then announced he has a chance to play with Dwight Anson Orchestra. Davey explains that Jack needs to work around his schedule. Albert says that they need to get paid.

Jack shoots back that the gigs they get are where and when they are going to play and he promises to try and give more of an advance in the future.

Once the others leave, Spot with Crutchie, trying to joke with him as he’s taken a liking to the youngest kid of the group, Race approaches Jack and tries to gently explain to him that he needs to learn how to talk to people if he’s gonna be a band leader. This sparks a small argument, almost leading to Race giving up and leaving, only resulting in Jack admitting that he has to do this for Specs.

He explains that Specs’s death was friendly fire and that he’d promised Specs should anything happen to him, he’d check in on his wife. Race advises Jack not to tell Specs’s wife how he died and tells him not to go to trial unless he was prepared to lose. Then he leaves, promising to see Jack for their next gig on Sunday.

So Jack goes to talk to Specs’s wife.

Katherine Plumber.

He knocks on the door before chickening out and turning to leave.

But he’s not quite fast enough.

Katherine laughs at him, accusing him of being too old for ding dong ditch. Jack laughs and shyly walks back, introducing himself as Spencer’s friend. Katherine’s smile fades and she asks him more questions, resulting in Jack telling her he has some pictures that might be of interest to her. Katherine invites him over for dinner.

Explaining to her father the situation, Joseph Pulitzer (yes, he’s very nice in this one. Deal with it.) he agrees to the dinner, telling Katherine that they won’t be great hosts. He tells Katherine to be careful and not to pry, that if Jack wants to tell her more information about Specs, he would.

So Katherine tries to respect the boundaries.

Katherine explains to her father that she feels selfish because sometimes she wishes she could be the same person she was before and that she doesn’t want to be defined as a Gold Star Wife. She used to have a life and she used to be somebody.

She pulls herself together when the knock on the door comes.

Joe welcomes Jack inside and Jack thanks him for his kindness while Katherine jokes that he works hard at being nice and explains that her mother is away visiting her grandparents.

While getting to know each other a little, Jack learns that Katherine can sing but she only sings a church and jokes that if he wanted to hear her sing, he’d have to go to a service. Katherine learns that Jack lost his parents when he was very young and has fended for himself ever since.

Eventually, they get around to looking at the pictures Jack brought. He tries to make the memories light.

But Katherine can’t help but ask if Jack was there when he’d died.

Jack tells her yes.

And Katherine can’t take it. So she excuses herself before dinner has even begun, leaving Jack and Joe to have dinner alone.

That Sunday, Jack finds himself at church, watching Katherine sing beautifully in front of an entire gathering of people.

He catches her afterwards, asking why she didn’t tell him that she got to perform the big finale. He then asks her if she’d like to see him and his band play that night, eventually convincing her that it might be fun.

Joe encourages her to go, telling her that she hasn’t been out since her husband had died. So she goes.

After watching their set, Katherine is surprised to be invited up onstage to sing a standard. She’s incredibly nervous, forgetting the bridge of the song but finishing strong with some encouragement from Jack. She meets the boys. She takes a liking to all of them, telling Davey that his family should be proud, joking along with Spot, immediately wanting to protect Crutchie, much like Spot does.

Jack tells them that he wants to win for the guys who got nothing.

Katherine asks him if he means Specs. And he tries to take it back but she runs off, upset. And Racer tells the guys that she has every right to be a part of this band as she lost her husband in the war. The guys tell Jack that he should try to get Katherine to sing with them.

So he goes to her work the next day. She tries to send him away, claiming she doesn’t need to be saved. Jack counters. “What if I do?” And then he sings her First Steps First before inviting her to rehearsal that night walking away. Katherine tells him on his way out that she’ll be there, on the condition that Jack tells her more about Specs.

At rehearsal, things are a little tense. Katherine quickly finds that Race tries his best to stay out of confrontation, David is constantly questioning Jack’s harmonies and chord progressions, Spot is always drunk, Crutchie is often confused, and Albert is hard to rely on. Katherine loosens up the tension as much as she can, learning the music and getting to know all the boys. She loves talking to Crutchie. She constantly takes Spot’s drinks from his hands and offers him coffee and water. She tries to get Race to open up and Davey to loosen up, while also somehow getting on Albert’s good side.

She finds that once they’re all playing together, things seem a little easier, like they all get along and work well together.

They play at a club in town called Medda’s, playing a song Jack hopes to be a winning song called “You Deserve It”. It’s snappy and catchy and all the boys really enjoy it. After this, Medda asks the band to play the next night and Jack and Kath celebrate with drinks.

Jack then asks Katherine if she’d be willing to take on a stage name, Kathy Pulitzer, saying it had a better ring to it than Katherine Plumber. Katherine doesn’t like this and leaves, unable to handle the idea of losing another part of Specs.

Jack follows her, apologizing after Katherine breaks, crying about how she’ll never see her husband’s body or get to say goodbye.

Jack promises to give her answers if she comes back to the band. So they go tell the guys they have another gig.

The next night, after escorting a very drunk Spot home, Jack expresses his worries that Spot will be wasted on the night of the competition to which Albert replies he has bigger problems and reveals he’d been rehearsing with Dwight Anson and thinks they might have a better song. He leaves, telling Jack he’d be playing with the band that had the better song.

Jack walks Katherine home, angry and scared and exhausted knowing he can’t sleep. He tells Katherine that if it were Specs, he’d be saying how they’d be winning this thing, on their way to New York in some Pullman cars, living the dream.

Katherine shows Jack a poem she’d written that makes Jack feel better. After promising — mostly — not to tease, Jack asks Katherine if he can look through more of her poems. Reluctantly, Katherine agrees.

The next day, Jack returns Katherine’s book with a new song, word for word lyrics to one of Katherine’s poems. He explains that this is the song they need to win. Katherine is hesitant but agrees to sing it.

Going to the contest, the band wins easily, hitting the judges hard with a song with a true story and one that many were too scared to tell.

Ecstatic, the band has a moment of victory before reality sets in.

They’re told that no one is paying for them to get to New York. They’re responsible for travel and getting there doesn’t guarantee them a spot on the broadcast. Jack and Race try to argue, telling them that they have to help them get there because everyone just heard them win, to which one of the producers replies that hardly anyone was listening.

And if no one saw it, it never happened.

(That moment gets me every ****ing time. The lights go out and a spotlight hits every single one of the boys. It hurts so bad.)

Their arguments get nowhere. And they’re left with this crippling news.

Jack falls to the ground in mental and emotional agony. The guys are arguing and getting worked up but Katherine is holding onto Jack, trying to make sure he’s alright.

Jack finally stands and tells them that they’re going to that contest. They have to make it there anyway they can and they’ll take every gig they can get because they have a right to respect.

And all the guys agree.

They’re done fighting for their country. It’s time to fight for themselves.

They take every gig offered to them, writing new songs and winning the hearts of their hometown (Cleveland). They even write a song about their hometown. Everyone adores it.

Jack and Katherine are closer than ever, Jack telling Katherine all the stories about Specs he can remember. He tells her one of his favorite memories of Specs which was when they were playing with some other cats in the army. Specs was playing the drums so fast, telling everyone to go faster and faster until finally he looked at Jack and just told him to sing. And Jack did. It was less of a song than a battle call.

When they write their new song, they begin to perform it everywhere they can as their town loves the song that’s all about them. While they do this, a certain club owner overheard the band talking about making enough money to get to New York. And Miss Medda hatches a scheme.

She asks the band to play more often for more pay and gets the rest of the town in on the game. Jack doesn’t realize what she’s doing.

Davey admits to Albert that his wife kicked him out. Albert offers up his home, igniting the first selfless act any of the others had ever seen from him.

Katherine tried to get Spot to give up the bottle. He refuses.

Spot starts massaging Crutchie’s back every now and then to help him relax and make him feel better after his injury.

In the midst of all of this, Katherine explains to Jack that she has to quit her job in order to make sure she could be at the contest. She says she’d be taking all the overtime and lipsticks as she could before then. She tells Jack how she lied about her mother being away to visit family and how she walked out on her and her father years ago.

And she says she wants to know what happens to Specs.

Unable to keep dodging the question, Jack breaks. He loses it, telling her that she couldn't understand. He’s crying as he recounts every detail in his brain, telling her how it happened, how it was his fault that his best friend was dead.

And Katherine runs away from him, horrified at what she’d just heard.

She doesn’t show up to the gig the next night.

Jack confides in Race who tells him that he’s letting this girl slip away from him. Jack tries to joke about Race not chasing after any pretty girls even though he has plenty of girls lining up to get a kiss from him after shows. Race says that he thought a smart guy like Jack would’ve had him figured out already.

Race lost his partner in the war.

Suddenly, things make a lot more sense.

Katherine stays home with her father, sobbing, explaining that it was Jack’s fault her husband was dead. But Pulitzer tells her that there aren’t reasons for what happens. Everything just happens. He tells her the only thing that matters is what she does next.

Katherine writes a poem and shows it to Jack the next day, apologizing even though Jack says she has nothing to apologize for. She says the same thing goes to him. She explains that she doesn’t know and cannot understand what happened in the frontlines. And this poem was for Jack and the boys.

Jack sets it to music knowing this song is too real and genuine to be played for an audience. So they change the lyrics.

This is the song Katherine would have sung if Specs had come home.

After performing this song for the first at Medda’s, Jack stands up to tell the audience that they won’t make it to New York, getting emotional and telling them that he was no hero and that the wrong guy made it home from the war. Medda stops him and explains to him he doesn’t need NBC when he has Cleveland. She hands him seven tickets to the Cleveland Limited. Pullman Cars. First class.

Jack literally breaks into tears and hugs Medda as tightly as he possibly can.

The band’s going to New York.

Jack gears up the guys for a successful contest while being awestruck and exploring New York City. Jack walks Katherine back to her room after a night exploring. They stop themselves from going into her room together after they both admit there’s more than just friendship between them.

They part ways that night, promising to see each other in the morning.

The next day, they go through preliminaries and are told they’ll be on the broadcast. Jack and Katherine sign the contract and the whole band celebrates until the next night when no one can seem to find Racer.

When Race arrives, two minutes before they’re on, he explains that Jack and Katherine signed away the rights to their own song and would be no more than walk ons if they won.

This just about breaks Jack.

Spot suggests leaving. The rest of the guys agree.

But Jack asks Katherine if she remembers all the original lyrics to Welcome Home, the poem she’d written for her boys.

She says yes.

And they know what they have to do for the soldiers out there to know they’re not alone.

They get on stage and they blow it up.

Crutchie starts the drums. Jack tells him to go faster. Faster. Faster.

Then he looks at Katherine. And he tells her to sing.

Charlie made it home.

Most of him at least .

Had three operations,

But the pain has not decreased .

Al learned to survive.

Means you never trust .

Once you see the worst in man,

Then how do you adjust?

Sean, he cracks a joke.

Claims to be alright .

Drinks a fifth of vodka

In his kitchen every night

And I stand here trying

Like mother Mary

With my private burden

Of grief to carry

Welcome home my boys

Welcome home my sons

Welcome home my husband

Welcome home my love

Welcome home

David’s never free.

Schedules out his day.

Filling every minute

Just to keep the ghosts away .

He could never get

Back the life he had .

Faced with raising kids

Who did not recognize their dad .

Tony made it back to town

Four months ago

Lives to tell the things

No one could bear to know

Keeps his guard up now

A lot goes undiscussed

Focuses on fighting

What he finds unjust

Welcome home my boys

Welcome home my sons

Welcome home my husband

Welcome home my love

Welcome home

Jack, he does his best,

Trying to pretend

What he doesn't talk about

Won't matter in the end

Jack, he made it home

But thinks it wasn't fair

How he made it out

But left his buddy there

Jack, he doesn't sleep

Because the nightmares come

Jack looks for an answer,

Jack, he looks for absolution,

And I'd give up anything

If I could give him some

And I stand here helpless

My arms extended

Knowing full well, darling,

Your war's not ended

Welcome home

Welcome home my husband

Welcome home my love

Welcome home

Welcome home my boys

Welcome home my sons

Welcome home my husband

Welcome home my love

Welcome home

It’s the most honest performance these men have ever given.

Months later, Jack and the band walk out of a movie theatre, joking about how good Dwight Anson Orchestra looked while Sinatra sang their song.

And some girls run up to them, asking for an autograph.

Jack gives them one, telling them to bring their father who served backstage at their next concert.

And then they leave.

They have a gig to get to.

What do you guys think? Wanna see any specific scenes?

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yinyangswings · 4 years

Text

Single Parent AU

So I was kind of inspired by @musicfeedsmysoul12 headcanon of the Havenfall is for Lover’s MC being a single mother. As I also like that AU I decided to give it a go. I tried to keep it as different as I could to musicfeedsmysoul12‘s which is here.

It’s a bit long so I’m placing them in the Read Below

Mackenzie

The kid is a 9 year old non-binary kid who has a minor seizure condition. Their parents' whereabouts are unknown. They were taken in and adopted by MC. They love MC and her family for taking them in, though sometimes they wonder if they’re a burden for MC.

It is later discovered that their parents are part of Code Black, but abandoned them due to their condition. They have a hard time forgiving them for that.

Mac can sense when they are going to have a seizure. If she’s nearby she’ll make sure they know to lie down. MC is super appreciative of it.

She did this even before MC knew about her being a werewolf

Mac is really nervous at first to date MC because of them. Not because she’s dating someone with a kid, she doesn’t mind that. But because she doesn’t want the kid to think that she’s taking her away from them.

Mac asks JD for advice so she doesn’t misgender them.

Hugely appreciated by them.

Beau makes off handed threats towards the kid. It doesn’t end well.

Not even the Beast is amused by that. And she doesn’t even like the kid.

They and Mackenzie bond over comic books. Mac is so pleased to have another person to geek out on comics with.

Do they cosplay? Hell yeah!!!

While both MC and Mac are good parents, Mac is definitely the stricter one of the two. Though she’s not as good as MC is against the puppy-dog eyes.

Especially when the triplets and them use it against her in the future.

Mac’s parents absolutely love them. They are their first grandchild. Doesn’t matter if they aren’t biologically related. GRANDCHILD.

Annabelle loves the kid and is a protective older sister.

No one messes with them. No. One.

Damien is protective of them too, though he shows it more in a ‘I’m annoyed older brother’ kind of way.

He may act annoyed to have them following him around, especially if Annabelle is nearby, but threaten them and there is one angry werewolf glaring and growling at whoever is dumb enough to do it.

They call her Mom in the middle of the third season. They get the biggest hug from Mac, to the point they don’t think Mac is going to let go anytime soon.

That protectiveness is ten-fold after that. No one gets close to that kid without Mac knowing.

When Grace comes back, she tries to bring them to Code Black, but they vehemently refuse. They’re already where they want to be and are home. They are even more adamant about it when they find out their bio parents are a part of the Code Black.

This does cause a bit of tension because they don’t know what their parents are capable of, and whether or not they’ve unintentionally endangered the entire town. And they’re terrified that MC and Mac will leave them eventually because of their condition.

Mac is quick to reject that idea, and says as far as she’s concerned, they’re part of her family. Her pack. They aren’t going anywhere.

Elmer gets used to seeing them coming into the station while MC is working, bringing dinner for Mac, because their mom worries.

He finds it extremely cute and he usually chats with them if they wind up waiting for Mac

They are super excited when they find out MC is having kids. And they’ll be the best big sibling. Granted they did not take into account the werewolf genes. Seriously, they are the oldest of the siblings and still the shortest. They are not amused.

They are perfectly fine with getting bitten and becoming a werewolf. This is their pack, of course they want to be fully a part of it. They don’t know how the whole medical condition would play into it though, so they’re waiting a little bit and researching.

Diego

The kid is a 10 month old little girl that looks exactly like MC. She’s the result of a one-night stand for MC and the father doesn’t want anything to do with her. He’ll pay child support and that’s about it (and even that is like pulling teeth).

Grace insists she’s the favorite aunt (though MC likes to point out she’s the only aunt).

Diego is her doctor, though she does have a pediatric doctor to go to. His necklace is a favorite thing to latch onto by the curious 10 month old. And she has quite the grip.

She also really likes his sunglasses. It’s only after Diego is revealed to be a vampire to MC that he lets her actually hold onto them. Now they are almost always covered in baby drool.

Diego takes longer to accept being with MC because he worries about endangering MC and her daughter, but the 10 month old is apparently just as stubborn as her mother and really likes Diego and makes her opinions known.

MC found it adorable and hilarious the first time she made him hold her where it wasn’t a check-up. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Dada is her first word, directed at Diego. The vampire basically breaks down when she says that.

Because Diego doesn’t need to sleep, he tends to be the one who gets to her first if she wakes up at night.

He sings lullabies to her in Spanish.

Once he finds out (through Victor) that MC has a daughter, Antonio makes it very clear to Victor and the other lackies to stay away from the infant. It’s not like she can protect herself and he wouldn’t go that low to get revenge on Diego.

Grace has a really hard time trusting her niece alone with Diego after she returns. Diego understands it, but it doesn’t make it any less painful.

Her crying for him from Grace’s arms does not make it easier either. MC sneaks her out for some ‘daddy time’ with Diego, something both of them enjoy.

There is a temporary truce when she gets a really bad fever and MC convinces Grace to let Diego check on her. She’s not thrilled, but her love for her niece overrides her distrust of vampires.

Dracula begins to have an interest in the girl when he’s looking for and locates Diego. She looks so much like a woman who had managed to escape his clutches centuries ago.

This terrifies Diego. He debates leaving them to protect MC and her, though he realizes quickly that Dracula will try and take her whether he’s there or not if he decides she’s worth his time.

Dracula makes comments about making her a future bride when she’s older which pisses Diego off and terrifies him.

When they’re on the run from Dracula, they run into her biological father. He makes several choice comments to MC about their daughter, implying that it’s likely the little girl isn’t even his to start off with. Diego gets really, really angry at that.

Dracula uses her as bait against Diego and MC.

She likes Eva a lot. First meeting with Antonio after everything that had happened in season 1-2, she pukes on him.

And Diego laughs about it every chance he remembers.

MC struggles a lot with not drinking her daughter's blood right after she becomes a vampire.

It terrifies her with the very idea of accidentally killing her daughter for her blood. Diego is vigilant and ensures the two aren’t alone together after MC is transformed for a little while.

Playing ‘doctor’ with Diego when she’s a little older, which means Diego has to endure being wrapped up like a mummy with toilet paper. MC finds it adorable.

Spike is rather protective of her and incredibly patient with her for being a hellhound.

They are both adorable together and heart attack inducing when Spike occasionally teleports with her holding onto him.

First time that happened sent both Diego and MC into hysterics.

When she’s older, she says she wants to be a doctor. No, Diego doesn’t cry.

Much...he gets choked up a bit about it.

Diego and MC agree to let her choose when she’s old enough if she wants to be changed into a vampire.

The kid is a spunky 7 year old girl who was adopted by MC. MC and her mother were in a relationship but her mother died in an accident. MC took her in after the grandparents and father stated they didn’t want custody of her. The father was because he had a new family, the grandparents because their daughter died going to pick her up.

She has severe abandonment issues over this.

She hides those issues through sarcasm.

Her favorite color is pink, but she yearns to have a leather jacket like JD. She eventually gets one and it’s her favorite thing ever.

JD gives her the nickname Punky Pink, or PP for short. She does not approve of the abbreviation.

JD tries to keep everything with MC as casual as possible and tries to not be a parent. Because this is MC and she has a kid. And they are not a good parental figure. At all.

That is evident with her coming to the bowling alley after school and the amount of trouble they get both of them in.

She loves their wings. JD HAS WINGS. HOW COOL IS THAT?!

She was very, very disappointed that the books have misrepresented them.

You’re supposed to have a goat head. And cloven hooves.

Who says I don’t have the hooves?

Those boots.

She makes a report about JD for school. Thankfully it was a creative writing project so no one really suspected she was telling the truth.

It did result in a teacher conference however. JD was very amused when they found out through MC.

JD has the paper framed and keeps it in their room.

Her mother’s grandparents are complete jerks to her, and say they wished she had died instead of her mother which just breaks her. And it pisses JD off.

They make sure to let those assholes know what they think of ditching that little girl. Doesn’t even care if they get in trouble with Mac.

After that, they take her on a really long drive on their motorcycle, and they talk about people being jerks, but that doesn’t define her or them. And she has MC that loves her to death and everyone in town who loves her too.

JD is usually just called ‘JD’ by her, though this is usually met with confusion

“We need to call your guardian.”

“Well there’s Mom and JD? Which one do you want?”

“Is JD your other mom or your dad?”

“Yes.”

She doesn’t put up with misgendering bullshit and has gotten into fistfights at school for it. She doesn’t get into trouble with MC for it though and JD is very touched over it.

Hikari and Grace battle on who is the best aunt.

It does not help when Gwen joins in.

The Facestealers wind up being nightmare fuel for the seven year old, and she has to sleep curled up to MC for several days. One day she falls asleep and just clings to JD, who at first tries to get her off of them, but basically relents when she winds up having a death grip on their sleeve. Only time Razi doesn’t get annoyed and scolds JD for not doing work.

Nessie is enraged with the girl and MC getting in the way of her and JD. She attempts to kill her and MC because of her belief that both of them are taking JD from her.

Lucifer takes an interest in her and manages to talk to her once without JD or MC present. She had been out exploring when he found her. JD is not happy when they find out, because Lucifer makes sure they know he was near her and close enough to where he could touch her.

JD almost has a panic attack and gets really angry, scaring her and making her think she’s done something wrong and that they’ll leave because of it. It takes several people to convince her that that’s not the case and that they aren’t angry at her.

JD makes it very clear afterwards to their dad. He’s not allowed near her. Not now, not ever. Do not touch her, do not look at her. There will be hell to pay if he comes near her again.

She panics when JD gives up their freedom for MC. Like she’s curled up in her bedroom, crying.

Rip Van Winkle did not know who he was messing with when she fell under the spell right in front of JD. Pure burning chaos.

Razi

The kid is an eight year old girl who is deaf. She is of Asian descent. MC had been dating her father before he died in an accident when she was six. Her mother had passed away years before, and with no other direct blood relations, MC adopts her so she doesn’t become another statistic in the system. Though she can’t hear, she knows sign language and can read lips. MC and Grace learned how to do it when MC was with her father. The others in HifL learn as well.

JD learns the words that an eight year old probably shouldn’t know. They state it’s good for her to learn the colorful language too. Razi is not amused.

Because she’s deaf, Jonas’s music doesn’t affect her, which is a relief to MC and Razi. Though it does lead to a few panicked moments in later seasons, such as when Baba Yaga makes her appearance.

She ships MC and Razi so hard.

She and JD make bets on who cracks first. JD now owes her several boxes of candy.

She has a personality like Mabel Pines which is both hilarious and tiring for Razi and MC

She gets along with Razi pretty well.

She’s always trying to play matchmaker for MC

She had already been calling MC ‘Mom’ for a little bit prior to the beginning of the whole series, but started calling Razi ‘Dad’ respectfully in Season 3. No. Razi doesn’t cry. He swears he doesn’t cry.

He does. He totally does and JD has photo evidence.

JD offers to babysit her a lot so MC and Razi can have alone time. Usually they say no, but JD figures what Razi and MC don’t know/notice, won’t hurt them. They usually go around town on their motorcycle with her. They make sure she wears a helmet of course. Because safety!

Razi is terrified about Baba Yaga ever going after her. Cue him finding out who Baba Yaga is and how many times she was left alone unknowingly with the child eater.

He does not take it well to say the least.

It is revealed that her mother was a kitsune who fell in love and married a human but was later killed, and she takes after her mother in regard to a long time span. She is unable to transform into a kitsune, she will live much longer than any human, and aging will slow down once she reaches adulthood.

This is a relief to the Nassar family, especially Razi, as they won’t have to see her grow old and die, because it is something that he wouldn’t be able to handle.

Roshni and Rahim love to tease Razi with how protective he is over the girl

Roshni convinces Rahim to put fake press on tattoos on the side of the girl’s face and says she took her first tattoo like a champ just to mess with Razi. Razi nearly has a heart attack.

Roshni and Rahim are the best aunt and uncle.

She is the best big sister to Roxie. Very protective of her and is usually following her around everywhere.

Maybe not as protective as Razi is to the both of them, but dang close.

Vanessa

A two year old bio boy for MC. She had been in a relationship with him, but unfortunately he was killed by a mugging gone bad. He’s a very quiet boy, to the point where people don’t notice him until he makes a sound.

MC is really protective of him.

He is a very curious boy, and tends to wander a lot. He’s also in that phase where he tries to taste everything.

Which has Vanessa panicking because she has way too many things that are deadly that he keeps trying to put in his mouth, Oh God.

And she hasn’t really had to deal with kids, at least that young. At least not in a long time. And now she has to protect this boy and his mom. Stress galore. So she isn’t sure about this relationship

Equally MC isn’t sure about being with a woman who literally hunts mythical creatures and endangering herself and possibly MC and her kid

They do begin to bond by Vanessa introducing him to anime and manga. She keeps it completely age appropriate and he seems to enjoy it.

She pledges to protect him and MC from the Dracula brides.

Eventually she gets the hang of parenting, though she still leaves a lot of it to MC

Antonio

The kid is a ten year old boy who was adopted by MC. His parents were not good people and he was pretty much abandoned by them. He is very protective of MC and Grace and has anxiety with them possibly leaving him.

He promises Grace to look after MC, even though he’s ten and has the strength of a wet noodle.

Antonio did NOT know that MC was a guardian to a kid. Heck the kid was asleep in the back of the truck when Antonio kidnapped MC in the first place.

This complicates things quite a bit. He can’t go through with this. If he couldn’t face Eva if he used MC’s blood to resurrect her, Eva would never forgive him for orphaning a kid.

Igor becomes very interested with the boy initially, not realizing he’s adopted. If Antonio isn’t going to kill MC because he grew a conscience, the boy should be fair game.

Igor’s threat against him lessens once he realizes that the boy is not blood related to MC. Doesn’t mean he’s not below using him as bait against MC and later on Antonio. Antonio is not pleased.

He is sarcastic as hell and doesn’t mind making digs on how old Antonio is, despite the fact Antonio is perfectly aware of how things work in the modern era.

He found some of Antonio’s attempts at making movies. He will not name names or give any hint of his resources. Much to Antonio’s displeasure.

Diego finds this hilarious. So does Eva.

He’s really patient with Eva and doesn’t mind showing her what or how technologies work. Unlike Antonio, she’s been dead for 500 years. Kind of a big technological gap to learn from.

When MC’s blood is poisoned, he offers Antonio his blood in the meantime.

Antonio rejects the offer, even though he appreciates the sentiment.

Antonio is in charge of answering questions about history later on. This is both a good thing, but also a bad thing when the textbooks get something wrong. MC has to remind both of them that ‘my mom’s vampire boyfriend’ is not a resource to use in papers.

“This is completely inaccurate. What research did this ‘author’ use and where did they get it?? It’s total crap.”

“Remind me to not show you any books about the explorers. Especially Cortes.”

“Why?”

“Er...no reason.”

Thankfully word gets around pretty quickly and Frankenstein as well as the Cult of Blood leave him alone for the most part. The Cult of Blood snatches him along with MC, but that is basically to keep her compliant.

He doesn’t like Victor at all. Don’t ask him why, he just doesn’t.

Antonio is protective of the kid, even though they act like mortal enemies in the beginning. It’s like Diego and Antonio, only if Diego was shorter and can’t speak a lick of Spanish.

They run into his parents unintentionally and he sees them before anyone else. He hides the fact he spots them, but wanders away to have a chat. It goes about as well as to be expected.

It results in him getting a smack across the face from a very angry mom and a warning from the dad. MC is not happy when he gets back to them with scratch marks across his face.

It takes MC quite a long time to convince Antonio that he can’t kill them, even if they’ve earned it.

Antonio will say things in Spanish around him just to mess with him. It’s fun until the kid starts learning Spanish. And then he has to explain to MC why she was informed that he called the kid an ass.

He blames Diego, who neither confirms nor denies it

After Igor, Frankenstein, The Master, Cult of Blood, and Benedict he tells Antonio he needs a really good vampire therapist.

He’s only half-joking

He also thinks he might need to start making a will at the rate this is going because he doesn’t know if he’ll make it to age 15.

He says this as a joke, but that absolutely terrifies Antonio.

Antonio pretty much plans for the kid to become a vampire when he’s a little older.

#lovestruck #lovestruck headcanons #havenfall is for lovers #jordan jd davies #diego escalona #makenzie hunt #razi nassar #antonio vasquez #vanessa helsing #jamfics

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ngame989 · 5 years

Text

“Enough” - TGG SVTFOE Fanfic Collection Ch. 11

Writing: @ngame989

Art: @toxicpsychox

Musical Arrangement: @ubercelloczar

Editing: @ubercelloczar, @seddm

Alternate fic links - FFnet, AO3

Summary: Star, Marco, Tom, and Janna reflect on their pasts, arrive at a crossroads in the present, and make decisions about their futures when Echo Creek Academy hosts a dance with an uncannily familiar theme.

Comic Page

Masterpost

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy New Year! This is a very special chapter, slightly breaking the tradition of having its poster be a Polaroid photo (though one of those will be coming soon lol). Also, this was inspired by an actual real life event, Google the date for yourself. MASSIVE thanks to my friend @ubercelloczar for the musical arrangement - I can’t embed it partway through so I’ll just link it when the time comes. Hope you enjoy!

Red. All these years, and she was just now realizing how little red there was in her expansive collection of outfits. Star could probably count on one hand the number of times she’d worn anything in that color besides Marco’s oversized hoodies. Though for all intents and purposes she’d moved into Marco’s room over a year ago, most of her clothes were still kept in her old room at Angie’s insistence. You leave pajamas in the mailbox ONE TIME and suddenly everyone’s all “please use a closet, Star.” Her fingers fondly brushed over the fabrics of dozens of dresses and skirts she owned. The turquoise with the narwhal? Timeless classic, though a bit worse for wear after so many life or death incidents on Mewni. Purple with suspenders? Eh, not so much… for whatever reason she just hadn’t felt like wearing that in a while. Her sleeveless sky blue dress, on the other hand, had made its way back into her rotation after the dimensions cleaved. Why, she couldn’t say, though she tended to skip the leg warmers these days. The pink overalls with the cute skirt were one of her favorite buys on Earthni - the perfect blend of dimensional fashions.

Minutes passed as she reminisced, her wardrobe a library unveiling its stories as her eyes roved its contents. One random winter night came to mind at the sight of her rarely used fuzzy yellow jammies. The heater had been on the fritz, so she and Marco had cuddled up even closer than normal. Her brain had been too frozen to think straight at the time, but in hindsight it was one of her favorite memories - spending all night watching movies with family, hot cocoa by the gallon, and holding Marco tight did more to warm her soul than any heater ever could. Some more notable memories were captured in the attire too, like the lavender dress she’d planned to wear to her first school dance before ditching it to resurrect a clown; the Love Sentence concert tee she’d made; her green dinosaur dress, captured forever on that fateful photo strip.

Experiences shared with Marco stood out among the rest - they usually did anyway, but tonight perhaps more than most, and for good reason. She’d once obsessed over a tattered, stinky hoodie of his as a source of calm and stability for some of the harshest weeks in her life, but tonight she felt like she was at her highest point. When her eyes finally spotted her target, the reason she had even been rummaging around an old closet and choking on enough dust to fell an adult warnicorn, her small, nostalgic smile stretched into a wide grin laden with too many emotions to count. If there’s any night to wear red, this is it, Star thought as she slipped into the silky dress awaiting her.

After all, she and Marco were once again going to a Blood Moon Ball.

Six Weeks Earlier

“Not sure if we’ll be able to pull this off, Diaz. They’ve got us surrounded.” Steam rolled out of Star’s mouth with the words, threatening to give away their location. She shivered despite the warm pink fleece she wore; the wind today was so chilly that even Marco had donned a winter jacket over his hoodie. They were in the midst of a battle, nay, an all-out war. We’ve got one, maybe two dozen? We’re doomed.

Where Star faltered, Marco’s resolve was firm. “Our only option is a last stand. I can lead a strong forward assault and draw fire long enough for you to flank their offense.” They’d found a secure location with solid cover, but it severely limited their scouting ability. Marco lowered his hood and stole a glance above the metal behind them, ducking back down instantly. Snow had already accumulated on his lashes and glittered softly in the sunlight, but Star couldn’t afford to linger on that image. It was do or die.

He took her hands and pulled her close, almost touching their noses. “If I don’t make it, Star, I want you to take care of Nachos for me, OK?” He scooped up his armful of snowballs and moved into position.

She theatrically reached out a hand towards him right as he got to the threshold of safety. “I’ll never forget you Marcoooo…” she whispered loudly. The pair giggled as Star grabbed her ammunition. “Alright, enough of that. Ready?”

“Ready.”

Marco dashed around the playground slide and into the fray. Right as Star followed, she heard him yelp and fall into the soft snow coating the playground, three enemy combatants hovering over him and pelting him mercilessly. “Marco!” Star yelled and trudged over with the gleeful cheers of their enemy ringing in her ears. “Speak to me, Marco! Don’t leave me!”

“Star… Remember me...” He grunted and let his head drop into the snow.

“Noooooooooo!” With one final breath, she flopped on top of him and accepted death by a thousand snowballs.

One extra large hunk of snow, far too large to have been thrown by any of the kids, exploded on Star’s back and coated her entirely in soft white fluff. Star heard the warm rumble of Antonio’s hearty chuckles at his successful finishing blow. “Alright, kiddos, your families are here. Have a happy break!” His beefy hand grabbed Star’s own and easily hefted her to her feet before doing the same for Marco. How the heck he was OK in the cold with just an ear-flappy-hat and his usual flannel shirt, she’d never know.

Star dusted herself off and watched the children skip through the snow - a much smaller group than usual, since it was the last evening shift before Christumpmasday break. Most were eager to return to their families, though Star had to help two little girls finish building their snowlizard and take a few pictures before they were willing to leave without bursting into tears; in their defense, it was a ridiculously cute and fun snowlizard. And with that, it was finally holiday break time!

As they walked back to the Center with Antonio, Star took in the sight of the campus covered in fresh snow. The sparkling white planes draped across the pristine Earth architecture contrasted with the raw, natural aesthetic of snow and ice intermingled with remnants of a once-thriving Mewman village, but it all blended together into something unique and beautiful. She caught Marco transfixed with a goofy smile on his face, in awe of her as much as she was with the world, and her cheeks flushed a tiny bit more than they’d already done in the cold. The crunch of snow underfoot and the gentle whooshing of the wind as they swung their joined hands back and forth were the only sounds disturbing this peaceful, perfect moment.

“Merry Christumpmasday, Antonio!” Star shouted as she gave her boss-slash-friend a big hug, and he laughed and returned the gesture with enough strength to lift both Star and Marco off the ground a little.

“Same to you two. Thanks again for staying late, I feel bad about keeping anyone here like this. My husband’s still out of town until tomorrow so home, work, it’s all the same to me, personally. Wish your whole family the best for me.” After saying their goodbyes, Star and Marco walked back out into the cold where their ride was waiting.

“Hey, girl” Marco’s voice was tender as he adjusted Nachos’ cute winter cap and stroked her back. As he was testing his foothold to make sure he wouldn’t slip and faceplant while trying to hop on, Antonio peeked his head out the door.

“Wait, before you go… an elderly lady gave me this flier for some kinda dance.” He scratched his chin through his beard. “Dunno why she brought it here of all places, but since I had it, I thought I might as well pass it along.”

“Oh, is it for that big dance the high school is throwing for all the teens in town?” Marco asked.

“Seems so. Maybe she just got confused about what kinds of kids it was for,” Antonio said, lightly chuckling. “January 30, it says, and it’s an all-nighter; that’s quite the shindig. If Earthni parties are anything like my high school days, it’s probably best I give you the whole next day off,” he said with a wink and a smirk.

All night dance? Even the Bounce Lounge was rarely that crazy - what was so special about this? Antonio handed the flier to Star and Marco who took hold of the other side of it, moving it between them as they gaped in shock at its contents.

“No way, there’s no way, what the-” she and Marco muttered in perfect unison. “Are you- seeing this? It can’t- how did-” They started and stopped as their attempts to stop copying each other canceled each other out.

Marco blinked a few more times to finally pry his eyes away from the page. “Well, eclipses do happen pretty often on Earth, I guess...” They both glanced incredulously back and forth between each other and the flier before the tension in their shoulders finally dropped. An unspoken agreement had been made: they might as well give this dance a shot. Star took one last look at the flier before hopping on Nachos, stuffing it into her jacket and wrapping her arms around Marco’s midriff for the ride home, its words emblazoned in her mind.

January 30-31, 2018. Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse Extravaganza at Echo Creek Academy! Come dance under the red light of the lunar eclipse!

***

Present Day

“OK, Diaz, let’s see what you’ve got. Sweat prevention, check,” he noted with a quick whiff of his armpits. “Outfit, check.” Bright red dress shirt, sharp black jacket, sleek black tie. Marco posed in the bathroom mirror a few times, getting everything in order for a night he’d been looking forward to for months. “Hair, check.” It was just his usual style, but it never hurt to make sure it was ready to go. Looking good, Diaz.

His stare lingered in their bedroom mirror for a moment too long as thoughts began racing through his mind. Was he nervous? Marco Diaz, nervous for a big night with the girl he loved? More often than not Star was his reason not to be nervous about anything, but this was their first big formal dance as a couple and he did have a pretty dicey history with those. And what were the odds that it was on the night of the Blood Moon again? He wasn’t exactly worried about the curse, per se - there was some caveat or another in demon lore that the Blood Moon could only impart its curse when shining through a special Underworld crystal, the very same one embedded in the roof of the Lucitor ballroom years ago, Relicor had assured them. And it’s not like it even did anything bad to them in the first place, right? Marco still stood by his own words - it was all baloney. Still though, it did leave him with a decision to make. He experimentally put on his Día de Los Muertos mask and turned his head a bit. Should he?

“I don’t think I ever told you how cute you look in that mask.” He’d gotten pretty good about anticipating Star’s sudden appearances but had been caught up in his own mind enough that he still jumped a bit, much to her amusement. “Buuuuuuuut…” she drawled as she swiftly stepped forward and snatched it off his head. “I like your face more.” She grinned and pinched his cheek before they both stopped to truly look at each other. They hadn’t seen each other’s outfits ahead of time but as always they’d been on the same page. “I like the rest of you, too,” she muttered, biting her lip. Marco felt his cheeks turn the same color as his shirt at the comment, but also at her own appearance. Two wavy strands of hair in front of her ears framed her adorable face, though her hair had otherwise been left down as normal. Her red dress had a lone heart clasp on one shoulder, a pattern of moons and stars on a dark band circling the waist, a knee-length wavy skirt that gently swished as she rocked back and forth, and black high heels.

“Wow,” he uttered.

“You like it?” Star asked hopefully. “I thought, well, I didn’t want to go too over-the-top and wear the old Blood Moon Ball outfit but I still wanted to fit the theme so-”

“You’re beautiful,” Marco stated. Not that she’d needed to be wearing an incredible evening dress for him to think that, and he knew she knew that too, but she was still making him a bit dizzy right now. “Wait-” he stopped her when she tried to move in for a kiss, leaning back to their nightstand. He grabbed her horns and gently placed them on her head, brushing a wayward strand of hair back into place. “Perfect.” He leaned forward to kiss her, seeing her doing the same as his eyelids closed, and-

“Mijos!” Star and Marco’s eyes opened, freezing in place so close together that her breath tickled his lips, staring at each other for a second before turning towards the door. Daaaaad. “Oh, sorry, did we interrupt a moment?” We? Rafael stepped aside to reveal all their parents, plus Eclipsa and Globgor, crammed into the hallway. Star took Marco’s hand as they separated.

“Eeeee!” Eclipsa squealed in delight. “You two are absolutely precious. Come downstairs, loves, we must take your picture.”

“I’ve got two backup rolls of film!” Angie chimed in as Moon herded them all down the stairs and out of the way.

Marco looked at Star, who was goofily smiling at him as she squeezed his hand. It wasn’t that he minded being affectionate with Star around friends and family - heck, his own parents were still the most overtly lovey-dovey couple in the house - but he couldn’t help a bit of embarrassment when they were the center of attention like that. After double checking to make sure they had everything they needed, the pair headed out and walked down the stairs together to the oohs and aahs of their families. Star’s parents merely watched while Marco’s both wielded cameras, snapping pictures fervently. Nachos wasn’t due for another few minutes, so they decided to just endure the gauntlet.

“Didn’t think a sort-of-school dance was such a big deal,” Star murmured. Eclipsa sat down on the arm of the couch next to Globgor while Moon daintily folded her hands in her lap on the opposite side with River squished between her and the size-shifter.

“Well, when Marco left for Mewni, we were worried he’d never get to have a prom,” Angie cheerily responded, having evidently heard Star’s comment. “This is basically the same thing, though. Raf, honey, remember our prom?”

“Oh, yes, it was delightful,” he said, finally lowering the camera and turning to address the others on the couch. “We had actually just broken up that morning and went separately, but your mother just happened to walk directly into me as the slow music started and we ended up waltzing the night away. That was the last time we had to get back together.” How many details about my parents have I missed? Marco wondered to himself, before realizing he likely didn’t want to know quite a few of them and shuddering a bit. Still, it was better than being endlessly fawned over, so Marco stood perfectly still and shut his mouth.

Eclipsa set a hand on Globgor’s shoulder, smiling fondly. “Globgor and I met at a dance too! Well, not quite a ‘dance’, I suppose... he twirled me out of the way of an assassin’s arrow, and I swept him off his feet, but the principle seems about the same to me.”

“I was about to eat a guard until she blasted me to the ground. She cast a spell on me in more ways than one.” Globgor laughed. “Though the literal one was very painful,” he added seriously.

“Well, River and I had been to our share of Silver Bell Balls and other royal festivities,” Moon chimed in. “Though when I was Star’s age we weren’t together yet, and I was very focused on the kingdom by the time things were calm enough to enjoy them properly…”

“And now our little girl is going to big fancy galas with a handsome young man. Next thing you know she’ll be setting out on her own, never needing her parents again!” River wailed, clutching Moon’s arm. Well, the diversion was good while it lasted.

“River, please,” Moon gently chided. “You two are quite the adorable couple, though. Though I never wished to interfere in your personal affairs on Mewni, I am certainly glad things eventually worked out as well as they did.”

Eclipsa strolled over and enveloped both of them in a hug. “You two look positively astonishing together,” she cooed before releasing them to take them in one at a time. “Star, darling, you’re as stunning as I’ve ever seen you. And Marco...” She paused, placing her hands on his shoulders. Her purple eyes were laden with unbridled affection as they looked him up and down, her lips turning upward in as sincere a smile as he’d seen her display. “Marco, you sweet young man… You’re quite lucky to have each other, you know. Perhaps it’s not my place to say, but I’m so proud of how you’ve grown these past few years. Now have fun tonight, this is great practice for a certain other first dance I see in your future,” she finished with a wink, causing his blush to return with a vengeance.

“Picture time!” Rafael singsonged, getting up close and flashing a camera near Marco’s face. “Do some fun poses! Give the people what they want! We are not going to miss any more of our son’s major life moments!” His voice was filled with determination to the point of sounding angry, and Marco’s eyes widened in part sympathy, part stark terror. Minutes flew by as Star and Marco supplied their families’ demands, exhausting both the traditional prom shots and their signature poses: back-to-back, too cool for school, Star pinching his cheeks, drowning in a monster’s stomach acid… the list seemed endless, and though goofing around with Star was always fun, he’d been anticipating the dance so long that every second of delay felt like torture. Finally, Marco breathed a sigh of relief when his dad moaned in dismay at the camera clicking without anything happening; he was out of film.

“Oh dear, only one left,” Angie echoed. “Let’s get a nice one of a kiss. Don’t be shy.”

“Well, Marco? Shall we?” Star threw him a flirtatious grin, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He opened his mouth to respond with a quip of his own when he heard wheels screeching to a stop outside. Sweet freedom. “Well, that’s our ride!” Marco stated a bit too forcefully, breaking away from Star and heading towards the door to greet Nachos. Flying in on a dragoncycle would be a major departure from whatever prom fantasies about picking up Jackie in a limo he’d had as a kid, but he still wanted to do something special with a traditional flair. She snorted and cackled when the door opened and revealed his grand prom surprise: Nachos with a top hat and bow tie.

“Marco, what did you do to her?”

“Well, it’s prom, so our ride needs to be the fanciest it can be,” he giggled as she rolled her eyes. “Only the best for you, m’la-”

When Star’s lips cut him off sweetly as she tugged him closer, suddenly Marco didn’t mind staying a little bit longer, and the snap of his mother’s camera seemed to agree.

***

Chaos. Compared to any dance Star had been to before, this was the best kind of chaos. The energetic beat of the electronic music thrummed in her ears as her hips swayed and arms waved in the air. She wasn’t sure exactly how many people had shown up, but the gymnasium of Echo Creek Academy was more packed than she’d ever seen it. Still, it wasn’t so cramped that she had no room to get her groove on; when her butt bumped into Marco beside her, it was by choice as she slyly grinned at her boyfriend in his red shirt, now sans jacket. He smirked back at her and set his feet in place, slicing his hands wildly through the air. “I thought you didn’t like the sword-hand dance,” Star loudly spoke into his ear, though it was a whisper relative to the volume of the music and crowd.

“Yeah, but if everyone else is gonna do it anyway, I might as well own it.” They locked eyes as she began to mirror him, mimicking his karate poses in time with the music. He abruptly grabbed both her hands and swung them up and down, laughing as they just shook everything they had without a care in the world. She yanked him towards her and spun them both around, their backs flush against each other as they kept bouncing to the rhythm.

“Woop, woop! Starco in da HOUSE!” Ponyhead stuck her horn between them, forcing them apart as she floated up and down.

Tom also made his way beside them, drink in hand. “Anyone else want punch?” He lowered the plastic cups he’d been levitating over the crowd into Star and Marco’s hands, and Pony’s tongue. “Gotta say, this is pretty good punch. What kind of blood is it? Centaur? Unicorn? Oooooh, I’ve heard that giraffigator blood is hot these days.”

Marco eyed his cup warily. “What the heck is a giraffigat-”

“WHAT’S THIS ‘BOUT UNICORN BLOOD?” Pony screamed, getting up in Tom’s face.

Star quickly separated them, holding her hands up to try and ease her friends. “Guys, guys, there’s no actual blood in it, I think it’s just citrus.” Well, she was fairly sure. She took one trial sip, tasting the sweet flavor of- “Wait, yep, this is blood,” she said disgustedly after she spit it back into the cup.

“More for me, then,” Tom said nonchalantly, as he snatched Marco’s cup and took another swig while Pony floated in circles grumbling. It seemed like the DJ was taking a break from the upbeat dancing music for now, so the group made their way to the outskirts of the gymnasium where they’d left their belongings. Star laid down on the bleachers, resting her head on Marco’s lap after he’d put his jacket back on and sat down. He stroked her hair with his thumb as they relaxed after an intense hour of dancing. It struck her that this was actually the first time she’d ever truly had carefree fun at a formal dance. The original Blood Moon Ball left her with very mixed feelings to say the least, and her one experience with an Earth dance had been a bit of a disaster even though she didn’t actually go. Time had largely expunged the lingering venom she’d directed at herself for her relationship mistakes after returning to Mewni, leaving some life lessons and fond memories; but even some enjoyable fiery dances with Tom didn’t change the fact that the Silver Bell Balls were stuffy political dramafests. She reached up and intertwined her fingers with Marco’s, squeezing his hand and beaming at him - this was more like it.

“You know, I will say, this DJ is killing it tonight,” Pony said as she returned. “I was kinda expectin’ something lame but this is the best party I’ve been to since the Bounce Lounge closed.” Star nodded in agreement.

Tom leaned back and crossed his legs a few rows below them, taking a sip from his second cup so far. “Oh, yeah, I know him, he’s actually the cousin of my old anger management coach. His name’s Kim H. Brian.”

“I thought your coach’s name was Brian,” Marco responded.

“Yeah, Brian Brian.”

“Get outta t- wait, the Kim H. Brian?” Star bolted up at Marco’s words and they stared at each other incredulously.

“The producer of Love Sentence’s most controversial album, Prison Breakup?” Star and Marco said simultaneously.

“That’s the one,” Tom said, chuckling a bit. “Only you two could still say entire sentences at the same time without a demonic curse.” He stared into his drink for a few seconds, his visage suddenly becoming completely somber. All three eyes closed as he took a deep breath before floating up and sitting next to the couple. “Look, about the whole Blood Moon thing-”

Hold on, was he still in a twist about this? “Tom, it’s fine!” Star said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We broke the Curse, you apologized, it’s all good.”

“I know, but it’s not that- after we went to the Severing Stone, deep down I knew that the Curse wasn’t why you two had those feelings, but I just kept pretending because I still liked you, Star. If I hadn’t been so caught up in that, maybe it wouldn’t have taken so damn long to sort our mess out. I know it doesn’t matter anymore, but… I guess the dance just got me thinking again about friendship and love and stuff. So if you’re OK with it, I actually asked Kim to do a little something special for you two later, to help give you the Blood Moon Ball you deserve,” he finished with a toothy smile.

Star’s eyes started to mist up; Tom had always been supportive of Star and Marco since they’d all sorted themselves out, but it never failed to move her. Star lunged forward, wrapping herself around him in a bear hug, and Marco followed suit. “Toooooom, that’s so sweet!”

“Yeah, man, that’s really-” Marco was stopped by the sudden intrusion of Ponyhead into their little moment.

“Hey, Lucitor, do you know where Janna went? I’ve been TRYING to ask her for the hot deets on totally eligible bachelors here. You know, name, height, bank account balance: the usual business. So anyway she hasn’t been, like, responding at all and I’m starting to worry I might not be able to score a good enough rebound to make Seahorse see that he made the biggest mistake of his life letting me dump him!”

Marco nodded toward the still-in-progress group hug. “Little busy?”

“Yeah, whatever, save your huggy feeltime for later, this is im-por-tant.”

“OK, fine,” Tom said, extricating himself from the embrace. “I haven’t seen her for a while but I can help look. It’s Janna, so she’s probably just splicing some gargoyle DNA to a class hamster or something.”

“Last I saw, she was by the old photobooth.”

Wait, that had survived? Star and Marco exchanged shocked glances at the thought of the site of their first kiss having survived the whole way to Earthni.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Marco asked. Star grinned and nodded, grabbing his hand to run off and make even more memories.

***

Janna Ordonia had never been more scared in her entire life. Okay, maybe that time a monster guy exploded into dust a few feet in front of her was more viscerally terrifying, but Janna was used to freakiness and death even before she’d spent so much time in the literal Underworld. Tonight, though? The pit in her stomach that left her unable to speak, unable to think, was something almost alien to her. She had so much unique expertise in dealing with all things mystical and macabre that it took something completely and utterly human to faze her, and now she found herself staring in a mirror struggling to cope.

Janna Ordonia had caught feelings.

She’d always known she had a thing for the spooky and supernatural, so an attraction to a half-demon with two horns, three eyes, and purple skin was basically inevitable. It hadn’t bothered her like this when she’d had a casual fling with a talking skeleton years ago, either. The only logical conclusion she could draw was that whatever she was feeling now was a different beast altogether. The night had started out so pleasantly: the Lucitors had invited her over for a casual dinner beforehand - whatever meat the Underworld used for burgers was damn good - and they’d taken the carriage together to the dance afterwards.

It just made practical sense, it didn’t mean anything, I don’t WANT it to mean anything. Some variant of this refrain had been repeating in her mind a lot lately, but staring at her own reflection, it felt thinner with every passing second. If it was true, she probably wouldn’t even be here now; she could be doing way cooler things with the night of an ultra-rare eclipse than drinking cheap punch and shuffling awkwardly on the dance floor to chart-topping pop trash. But Tom had seemed excited at the prospect, and the next thing she knew she had picked out a simple black dress with pink highlights - hell, it was even Tom’s nonjudgmental support that had given her the confidence to wear her secret favorite color more in the first place. One way or another, everything seemed to circle back to one simple fact. Each day spent learning about the Underworld and adventuring in its depths was obviously worthwhile on its own merits, but it was always better with him. If she couldn’t stop this storm brewing inside, then the only thing left was to take control of it on her own terms. Well, this is it, Janna. You have a serious crush on Tom Lucitor.

By the time her mind had finished processing its own confession, she’d already made her way back to the gym and meandered to a vacant corner to watch idly by herself, not unlike how she’d spent most of the dance so far. They’d arrived from the Underworld fashionably late and it had only taken a few minutes for Janna to ditch her friends and hide while she moped about her feelings, but of course as soon as she wanted company again there was none to be found. She huffed and pulled out her phone, switching between a few games to occupy the time.

“Hey.” She looked up to find Tom holding two glasses. “Anything fun going on in this empty corner?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty intense over here. Some dust bunnies got in a street fight.” She smirked and stole one of his glasses, raising it to her lips for a sip.

“Wait, don’t, that’s-” It tasted funny, fruity and sweet but with a metallic tang. “Blood.” Ah. She considered it for a moment before deciding to take another sip. She’d had worse. “Anyway, where have you been? We basically haven’t seen you since we got here.”

“Oh, you know, nowhere and everywhere. It’s what I do,” she deflected. “Where’re the others?” Star and Ponyhead were forces of nature when it came to stealing the spotlight, so Janna figured they were her best shot at getting through the night with minimal awkwardness.

“We were taking a break and then they ran off to a photobooth. I still don’t really get the hype, but you know how it is with them.”

“Yeah, it’s gross.”

“Yep…” They both fell silent, continuing to drink what was supposedly some kind of real blood punch as the dance droned on in the background. “Hey, so, uh, can we talk for a sec? About… us?”

She tried her damnedest to suppress the unexpected surge of conflicting emotions, burying her face in her cup until she thought she could reliably answer. One time, when they were in elementary school, she’d poured milk down Marco’s shirt at lunch and a few other girls had teased her, insisting that meant Janna had a crush on him. She never really understood that connection - she just kinda liked pranking Marco - but the taunts had gotten to her. There was a sort of pride she felt in being inscrutable, an enigma that could only be unraveled on her own terms. Had he figured her out so easily when she herself had been in denial? A mumbled “uh, sure” was the best she could as she ran through the last few months in her head trying to figure out if she’d betrayed her feelings.

“It’s pretty loud in here, can we head outside?” Janna only nodded in response, her own racing thoughts drowning out her surroundings. The DJ was announcing some kind of special song request as the gym doors closed behind them and they stepped out into the chilly winter air. “Oh, right, um-” Tom quickly took his jacket off, handing it to her. “Since it’s cold, and I can make my own fire, and-”

“Thanks,” she gruffly said, putting her arms through it. Damn him. She was cold, and he was being thoughtful and helpful, but it only made the upcoming conversation even more difficult for her to have. One hand idly pawed through the enchanted storage compartment she’d fitted in her dress (even in formalwear, she considered function most important). Damnit, she’d left her entire arsenal at home, save for a prototype glass bottle that would harmlessly evaporate on impact, which was filled with some leftover antigravity potion - no easy way out of this, then.

“No problemo,” he drawled, pointing finger guns at her before jamming both hands into his pockets and staring at the ground. “Since Star and I broke up, I’ve been trying really hard to just be my own person. Heck, you’re the one that showed me that’s what I needed to focus on. I had no clue what I was doing.... Honestly, I still don’t.” He paused again, turning back towards the school. “Being here, it just makes it hard to ignore how things have been kinda, you know, weird lately, between…” A little fireball coming off his finger zigzagged back and forth between them.

Why was he so insistent on bringing this up? “Look, Tom, we don’t have to-”

He turned back towards her “Yes, Janna, I think we do! If we don’t deal with it now it’s only going to get worse, and I don’t- I can’t-”

“Dude, drop it, OK? Let’s just go back inside so we can-”

“NO!” A puff of flame shot out of his head but quickly dissipated, leaving only a lingering sizzle and water in his eyes. “I can’t do this anymore! I like you, Janna. I really like you, and it’s screwing everything up.” ...wha? There were a few hundred possible ways Janna thought to respond, but none even made it beyond a guttural yelp in her throat, so Tom continued unabated. “I know you’re you, and you can stay really chill about stuff even when you care a lot, but I can’t, OK? You’re clever and fearless and everything’s more fun with you. You’re one of my best friends and that’s why I couldn’t keep doing this without telling you even if I’m probably making a complete idiot of myself right now.” Every second that Janna remained utterly paralyzed on the spot left Tom’s eyeliner even more streaked as his tears rained down, each tiny splash hissing on the cold pavement and melting the nearby snow and ice. “Yeah, OK, I get it. Look, forget I said anything, I just want to still be friends, OK? I- I totally get if you want some space for a while, so I’ll just- alright, bye.” He wiped off his face with his sleeve and turned around, floating off the ground and flying back into the building, leaving Janna alone on the sidewalk.

The oncoming shivers in Janna’s spine provided the final push to lift the dense fog clouding her mind. He’d just confessed to her, he had a crush on her, and she’d basically just snapped his heart in two. Pangs of guilt and sorrow and joy all ganged up on her; was this how bad things had been for Star and Marco? She almost felt sorry for ribbing them about their romantic struggles now. At this point the only thing left to do was to find Tom, so she sprinted into the building after him, braving the fray of the dance floor once more.

Can’t be that hard to spot a tall set of horns with three eyes. Even though there were all sorts of monsters in attendance, there were very few demons, but that didn’t seem to help her locate him. He wasn’t responding to her texts either, ugh! As Janna kept looking around, she realized she didn’t recognize anyone here. She’d left Echo Creek Academy at the same time as Marco but didn’t go to college, nor had she spent a ton of time with Mewni’s teenage population before the Cleaving. The Underworld was what she knew best; it was where she’d felt most at home, even with two whole dimensions merged together, and that realization spurred her to keep searching. Janna barged through another door into the hallway and rounded a corner, instantly colliding with someone.

“Ex-CUSE me! Watch your freaking face before I pulv-” Ponyhead shouted, shaking her hair back into place after being bumped into the locker. “Oh, it’s you, girl! Where you been? And is that Tom’s jac-”

“Tom. Have you seen him?”

“Oh, I see how it is, first Starco gets their own flipping song and runs outside to go boink under the moonlight or whatever, then my boyfriend runs off to sell a toaster or whatever, then Tom comes in here all moody and doesn’t want to talk to me, and now you’re abandoning me too? I feel like I’ve barely been around you guys lately, why does no one want to spend time with Ponyhead?”

“Wait, didn’t you dump- never mind, Pony, this is important, OK? I seriously blew it, I need to talk to him-”

“Hey, woah, is there some drama going on here? Shoot, why didn’t you say so? OK, so, he was floating around in circles out here for a bit. I came out here to do my bi-hourly makeup check just a minute ago and I do believe he was going back into the gym, mmhm, yes, that is where he was. Go do whatchu gotta do and give me the juicy deets after, mmkay?” Ponyhead winked and whacked Janna on the back with her horn.

Janna ran back into the gym and finally spotted Tom standing in the center of the floor, uninterestedly swaying back and forth to the beat of some crooning couple’s ballad. When his eyes met hers, his gaze became visibly pained as he turned to walk away. “Tom!” Her pleading shout was emphatic enough to keep him from running, but it also attracted an audience and left her standing there, too uncomfortable to speak.

Janna put one foot forward, then another, then another, willing herself forward against her better judgment. She’d frankly had enough: enough talking about her feelings, enough uncertainty about her own relationships, enough giving a single damn about “what-if”s. There’d be plenty of time later to tell him he was her best friend too, to assuage his doubts, and to put more meaningful words to her own feelings, but for now, she had settled on a course of action that began with reaching into her pocket to pull out the lone potion bottle within.

“Uh, Janna, what-” Tom stammered, a different kind of concern than the one he’d been stewing in all night bubbling up in his expression as the crowd backed up slightly. Some tiny voice in the back of her mind registered that they seemed nervous to the point of being frightened, and that comforting feeling pushed her to do the one last thing she needed to do. Before he could react, she slammed the bottle to the ground at her feet and felt the weak antigravity effect take hold. Janna closed the last few steps of distance to Tom, firmly grabbed both his shoulders, and kicked off the ground, crashing her lips into his as she hovered a few inches off the dance floor. Tom unconsciously did the same, letting her momentum carry both of them into the air until the confused, but cheering, audience was beneath them.

As he started to return the kiss, he hesitantly placed one arm on her waist and another behind her back to keep them from drifting apart, and Janna wasn’t sure she’d ever felt so secure.

***

Alright, that’s the last of them. Marco finished carefully stacking the photo strips in Star’s bag while he waited for her to return from the restroom. The photobooth had thankfully been a much more fun and much less emotionally exhausting experience this time around, though a very smug Ben Photino had still greeted them when they were done, $650 richer than before.

Now’s my chance, Star thought as she snuck up and affectionately pounced on Marco from behind. Nearly everything about tonight had been perfect so far - just her, Marco, and their friends getting a night of dancing and partying she wasn’t sure she’d ever forget. For so much of her life, it had seemed like nothing important could ever happen without a sizable dose of drama and conflict; by comparison, this all seemed like a dream, and she didn’t want to wake up anytime soon. Speaking of her friends, though… “Hey, where are the others?” She felt a bit guilty over ditching everyone else to go back to the booth for corn knows how much time, but she was certain they wouldn’t have gone too far.

“Not sure,” Marco responded, craning his neck and spotting a tuft of pink spiky hair and two brown horns across the gym. Why was he heading for the exit?

Marco started to lead the way across the gym floor when the sound system screeched with audio feedback and boomed with the sound of tapping a microphone. “Echo Creek, are we having fun tonight?” the DJ, Kim H. Brian, asked the cheering crowd. “We’re gonna keep this party flowing, but right now we have a very special song for all the soulmates out there, so get ready to twist and twirl your special guy or girl.” Star and Marco tentatively stopped in their tracks.

“Is that-” Marco started.

“What Tom was talking about?” Star finished. “We have to get him before he misses it!” What did you do this time, Tom?

(LINK TO AUDIO)

They had made it to the center of the dance floor when the lights dimmed and tinted red. It was obviously from a stage light, but the effect still flooded them with the same hopes and wants and fears from their run-ins with the Blood Moon. Marco gently smiled and took the lead, keeping one hand in hers and tugging her closer with the other on her waist. Piano chords opened the piece - a slow waltz - and Star and Marco were taking their first steps when the cello started to play a hauntingly familiar melody. It struck them both at the same time - this was the same tune that had played when they danced under the light of the Blood Moon only a few months into her friendship. Their moves grew more daring and flashy as the song went on, spinning and swaying to the rhythm.

“I always forget how good a dancer you are, Marco” Star dreamily sighed when he spun her around and dipped her down.

“My grandma taught me. She says that the only right way to dance is the fun way,” Marco laughed, lingering for half a second too long as the music swelled around them. Somewhere in those blue eyes sparkling with only love for him, he’d lost track of the world around them. Only after he noticed how the blonde curls in front of her ears shimmered in the red light did he snap back to reality and continue the dance, much to Star’s amusement.

“That’s good, because it’s always fun with you.” They stepped in harmony, slowly rotating as they box stepped to the same waltz that had once been a source of apprehension. Star took her hand off his shoulder and lifted it to his face, rubbing her thumb over his cheek. She knew the contours of his face inside and out, could describe every last detail of all the facial hairs that he’d given silly names, could picture every last one of the warm and loving ways his soothing chocolate gaze could pierce her soul, yet it didn’t stop her from being completely enraptured by it now. That intimate knowledge informed her when even the most trivial thing was out of place, which is why she decided to flick a spot just under his mole. “You had a fleck of corn.”

“In my defense, your dad’s cooking is really messy.”

“Yeah… it was cute, though. Like you had a second mole.” Something had changed in the waltz from what they remembered, a different theme slowly building until it led into a refrain that was entirely new yet somehow familiar in a way neither could place. It was a vibrant, comforting melody that felt right for them. Star shifted her hands to the back of his neck as the distance closed between them. Though Marco had grown noticeably taller than her, in her heels she found herself at nearly eye level with him as she rested her forehead on his.

Marco’s arms slithered around her waist, holding her tight as their lively waltz morphed into intimate, formless swaying. “This- this is really nice.”

“Yeah… I love it. I love you, Marco.” She paused a moment, leaning back to get a clear view of as much of him as she could; even after a year and a half of being together and years of friendship before that, she was still giddy over how much she truly loved every bit of him. “Nothing’s ever going to change that.”

“I love you too, Star. I’m not going anywhere.” Their hands joined once more as they resumed their spirited dance, their devotion to one another vaulting their joy to new heights. Neither cared about elegance or form anymore; their steps and spins and lifts came from the deepest places within, as if their very souls were mingling in the air above. Plucked strings accentuated the song as it grew calmer and entered what Marco was fairly sure was its final verse. A bittersweet sensation bubbled up from within his chest; he’d had plenty of moments with Star that he’d never wanted to end, but this one seemed to have an extra significance attached. The final chord of the waltz rung out, the pair both freezing in place in their final waltz pose, stunned at the beauty of what had just transpired.

The crowd’s clapping broke finally them out of their trance. “Woah,” they breathed out in unison. In her breathless state, Star idly wondered if the applause was for them, but she realized how silly that was as the full breadth of the outside world slowly trickled back into her senses. Shortly after, the dance went back to normal; had it been a dream? No, of course not, it had literally just happened mere seconds ago, but the impact it had on them felt otherworldly.

Returning from the daze, Marco finally recalled their goal of finding Tom, and the extent to which Marco wanted to crush Tom in a thankful hug and blubber into his shoulder gave it an additional sense of urgency. He turned to her with a determined look, and had it returned. “We should find Tom.” They went to the gym exit, but it was blocked by... Miss Skullnick.

“Oh, it’s you. Nice to see you, Star,” she saccharinely sneered. “Don’t be trying anything funny, you hear me? We’ve already had four couples’ ‘incidents’.”

A shiver ran through Star at the involuntary thought of Miss Skullnick catching her and Marco in a more... private moment, but she quickly brushed it aside for her own sanity. “Skullzy, we’re just trying to find our friend,” she whined.

“Well, too bad, you can’t use this door. The sidewalk somehow melted and completely iced over, and I don’t wanna be sued for liability!”

“C’mon, Star,” Marco said. “We can just go out the front door.” She was still indignant, but acquiesced and followed Marco into the main building and through a hallway. They rounded the corner to the main entrance and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of Ponyhead passionately making out with Seahorse.

“Pony?!?” Star shouted.

“Oh, um, why hello Star and Earth Turd!”

“Greetings!” Seahorse added in his usual monotone chipper voice.

Star slapped her hand to her forehead. “I thought you broke up ‘for really-realz’ this time, Pony?”

“Well, yes, mmhmm, I do believe that is how I described the sequence of events that occurred. But then, well, you know how it is with him… we made up while y’all went off to take a bazillion pictures or whatever. That weird old human lady that kinda looks like a troll caught us while we were-”

“Pony!” Star yelled, cutting her off in shock. Really, though, the most surprising part was that Ponyhead had been responsible for only one of the so-called “couple’s incidents.”

“Lilacia gave a very high satisfaction rating to the Reflectacorp™ line of vibrating-”

Marco stepped in and clamping Seahorse’s mouth shut before they could be traumatized any further. Star rolled her eyes and took Marco’s hand once more, heading past the other couple towards the front door.

“Fine, I see how it is. C’mon, Seahorse, let’s go get freak-ay on the dance floor!”

“Reflectacorp™ disco technology allows you to boogie and/or woogie risk-free, guarantee-!”

The double doors shut behind Star and Marco as they stepped out into the cold. They walked around the building towards the gym and saw that Miss Skullnick had been telling the truth; but there was no one else in sight, only the snowflakes gently drifting through the air and a full moon above in the night sky. Star still wanted to get back to her friends, but the tranquil scene gave her pause as she stood beside him. Something had been subtly gnawing at her all night - though it’d been on her mind longer than that, if she was honest with herself. “Hey Marco?”

“Yeah?”

“When Eclipsa said earlier about ‘another dance’...” She swallowed, letting the implication hang between them. “Do you think that’s something that will happen?”

He glanced at her quizzically until the meaning sank in and his heart skipped a beat. Was she- did she- is she asking… His eyes blinked rapidly once, twice, three times while he processed the gravity of the question. But his surprise quickly dissolved; after all, he’d been thinking about it too. Maybe he hadn’t drawn that specific connection, but how many times tonight alone had he beheld the wonderful girl beside him and remarked to himself that he’d be happy with her for the rest of his life? He swiveled around to stand in front of her, taking both of her hands into his own. “If you want it to, then I know it will, someday.”

She sighed happily, lacing her fingers through his. It wasn’t even the first time they’d declared their love with permanence, but no matter how far they went, they couldn’t help but be concerned about how the other felt about the next step. “Didn’t a lot of people usually wait until they’re, like, 30 to get married on Earth?”

“A lot of them, yeah,” he admitted, “but, I dunno, I don’t really care about that.”

“Me neither,” she asserted, happily beaming at him.

“So we just… let it happen when we’re ready, I guess.”

“Mmhmm,” Star hummed, feeling a warmth deep inside that combated the chill prickling her skin. One of her hands left his and tangled itself in his hair, as her gaze fondly roved the face she hoped to see as long as she lived before finally settling on his lips. He had the same idea, leaning forward and sweetly kissing her. Their lips were a bit chapped from the cold, but it didn’t bother either of them; this signified something far more than physical gratification. She pressed them closer together until there was no distance left between them, the dual friction of his soft, inviting lips moving against hers and her silky dress rubbing on the coarse fabric of his jacket thrummed through her entire body.

When they separated, his eyes scanned the sky for a moment before sheepishly turning back downwards. “Huh,” he murmured.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s stupid.” Star raised an eyebrow insistently, the pair still in each other’s arms. “It’s just, I thought that maybe- maybe the Blood Moon would be shining, or our cheekmarks would glow or something. It’s dumb, I know-”

“Well, that does happen to us a lot,” she conceded. “But I’m pretty sure the eclipse isn’t supposed to start until, like, 3 AM.” “Have you ever thought about when we broke the Curse?”

“What do you mean?”

Star stepped away from their embrace, folding her arms and stuffing her frigid hands under her armpits as she frustratedly tried to piece together her complicated thoughts. “Like, when we were in the Severing Stone, I remember it took us back to the Blood Moon Ball and we started dancing… what happened after that? If it never changed how we feel, what was even the point?”

Marco shrugged; when he’d finally accepted his feelings once and for all, he’d dismissed the entire concept of the Curse as bogus, but since then he had considered it in some new lights. “If it was actually a curse, I’m glad we got rid of it, but… looking back, I’m kinda glad that the Blood Moon Ball went like it did. That was one of the first times I saw how special you are to me.”

“Same. Plus, that’s where I learned you dance good,” she growled with a smirk. “But still… sometimes I wonder if I told you I loved you while we were in there. Because I did love you then, you know. Even if I was trying to push it away.”

“Maybe we’ll never know.”

“I guess I’ll just have to tell you every chance I get from now on, then, because you’re stuck with me, Diaz.”

“So long as we both shall live. Do you accept?” He asked with a cheeky grin.

Her laughter, bubbly and playful and sincere all at once, was answer enough for Marco. Not one to be outdone, though, Star carefully lowered herself onto one knee, lowering her head and closing her eyes solemnly before looking back up at him. “I dooOOOH-” She shrieked as the icy sidewalk took its toll and sent her toppling sideways. Marco reacted quickly, stopping her from hitting the ground and helping her to her feet. “Maaaaybe we should go inside now.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he responded, draping his jacket over both their shoulders like a cape. “Still have to thank Tom.” She clung to him as they hurried back around the school and into its shelter from the cold - even shared body heat and emotional warmth could only do so much. Although they’d removed whatever eternal supernatural soul-binding curse the Blood Moon may have bestowed, Marco mused, they’d still shared a tender first dance and grown as partners under its light, once upon a time. Perhaps, in a roundabout way, it had always been a blessing, too. In a sense, they’d just cleaved their own souls together again with only a simple promise. No magic, no curses, just Star Butterfly and Marco Diaz... and that was more than enough.

They stepped back into the gym, ready for the hours of partying ahead of them, and were greeted by the sight of Janna and Tom floating in the air locked in a passionate kiss. Star and Marco’s eyeballs both nearly bugged out of their heads as their eyes whipped back and forth between each other and the spectacle in front of them, leaving them with only one possible response.

“WHAT THE-”

#starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #jantom #tgg svtfoe #fanfic

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monsterfuneral · 4 years

Text

monster live reacts to interview with the vampire

Alright I'm about to watch Interview With the Vampire for the first time and I'm gonna live react to it (in one post so I don't blog people's dashboards).

I don't know anything about this movie so :)

A new - Indicates when something new has happened.

---

- Let me see that fucking scientologist!!!

- WAIT CHRISTIAN SLATER'S IN THIS?! WH-

- I like this *very* dramatic music playing

- ...I don't think I've ever seen Christian in anything other than Heathers so.

- (When Louis turn on the lights) WHY IS HE SO VEINY LMAO.

Okay edward cullen

Ah yes vampire backstory

- Poor guy 😔

- OH SHIT IT'S THE BLONDE BITCH. IS THIS LESTAT??

- Oh shit he's about to get a little sucky sucky... Shit nvm she's dead

OH SHIT WE FLYIN

He's just taking a little swim. Literally how did he survive.

- Oh shit hes back

Just kiss already, fuck dude

- OH. He's a quick little guy, just a little cuddle with my pal

Bleed on his ass. Oh shit he's into it

Oh shit he's turning into a werewolf.

HIS VAMPIRE WHAT. He's got new ass eyes.

WHAT THE FUCK THE STATUE'S EYES ARE MOVING

- "Coffins are unfortunately a necessity" am I the only one who's like... Totally okay with the idea of sleeping in a coffin or

- Lestat is really pretty 😳

- Oh he's god a nifty little thumb thing, that's very epic of him.

- HE REALLY JUST FUCKING CAUGHT THAY DAMN RAT AND IS NOW EATING IT....

He shook that damn rat out like it was a bottle

- Doggies

READ HER THOUGHTS WHAT

- Oh shit they taking the dogs for walkies

Sir you have lipstick on your nose

NOOOO THE DOGS.

- Oh shit he's mad

LESTAT'S LAUGH LMAO WHAT THE FUCK

- He is fucking hungry. All those chickens gone to waste.

Oh shit

- He's such an asshole omg

OH HE'S MAD

- Oh shit he's giving him the hand. Louis is NOT having Lestat's dramatics right now

- Oh shit THE CRAWFISHNOOOO

Oh shit she's dead. Poor girl :(

- Yes love arson

Lestat is SO DRAMATIC "PERFECT! PERFECT! JUST BURN THE WHOLE PLACE DOWN!" I think that's what he's doing sir.

LMAO "OH SHUT UP LOUIS, COME HERE!" yeah get his ass Lestat

- Oh a cemetery:) this is nice

- Lestat's only moods are: overly dramatic, horny.

Also I absolutely refuse to believe this man is straight

YO THOSE FUCKING CHEEKS ARE *STRAINING* IN THOSE PANTS

- Just me and my big happy vampire family :)

Aww wait okay that's actually kinda cute. Just two dad's spoiling their daughter :) I'm sure nothing bad at all will happen.

LMAOOOOOO "Claudia! Now who will get to finish your dress? A little practicalities, remember, never in your home" AND THE LITTLE HAND SLAPS LMAO. I fucking love him.

AWWW HER LITTLE COFFIN IS SO CUTE

(NOOO MY DRAFT DIDN'T SAVE AND DELETED A FEW THINGS I SAID)

- Anyway, I'm at the part where Claudia is upset over Lestat treating her like a doll. Which I can't blame her, I wouldn't be too pleased about it either if this was how I was treated for the past 30 years.

Oh shit she's throwing the dolls away.

THERE'S SO MANY OMG

Oh shit there's a body on the bed. Lestat is not happy, oh shit he's shaking her around.

LESTAT CALM DOWN DAMN

- Oh shit she's cutting her hair off. You know what you fucking go, stand up for yourself.

It (short hair) actually looks pretty good, we love that for her.

OH SHIT NVM IT'S BACK SHE IS ANGRY

- I do not blame her at all. Even though she was sick her whole life was still robbed from her, I compl understand the rage, this is an amazing performance.

LESTAT SHUT UP! YOU FUCKING DID THIS DUDE.

OH SHIT SHE'S FUCKING CUTTING HIS ASS

- He just pulled a David line "you will never grow old, and you will never die"

- Louis is such a sweetheart. I love him so much. (I love lestat too he's just a bitch)

- Poor Claudia. She deserved to be happy.

"my love..." 🤢 What.

- Lestat's fucking dramatic piano playing JSWJRKEK

- Lestat is really just Klaus Mikaelson with less rage (maybe)

I feel like she's got a devious little plan.

"we forgive each other then?" He just wants someone to love him man...

OH MY GOD DID SHE JIST DRUG HIM LMAO

OH NO IT'S BC THEY'RE DEAD

OH SHIT!! SHE JUST FUCKING SLIT HIS THROAT! You know even though I love Lestat. I'm proud of Claudia.

"good night, sweet prince" get his ass

- I'm glad she's doing research though, she deserves to know what she is.

- AWW BIRDIES

- Uh oh he god ding dong ditched.

I'm making a prediction right now: Lestat isn't dead.

choking his ass out fuck. That corpse was dirty as hell but I assume I was right and it was Lestat.

I knew it. He is a little leather bastard now.

- OH SHIT SET HIS ASS ON FIRE

HE'S FLYING WHILE ON FIRE LMAO

Louis you fucking go, king shit.

- Claudia is quite the artist. Shit dude.

They're in paris now :) I have a tiktok for this, will post afterwards.

- I'm so glad they're both happy. I'm sure it totally won't be ruined or anything :)

- Oh shit new Vampire?? Just me and my new pal syncing up

I LEGIT THOUGHT HE WAS ABOUT TO GO THROUGH THE WALL LMAO

OH NVM HE'S JUST DANCING UP IT

- WHO IS THAT 👀

nvm I don't like him he gives me bad vibes.

- Vampire party?

Just a play nvm.

Oh shit this is fucked up. Hey guys I don't think she's apart of his.

Nvm she might be idk. (she wasn’t)

YOU KNOW WHAT I HAVE A GIF FOR THIS FEEDING SCENE IN THE PLAY

- The dress Claudia is wearing is very pretty though

- THE WAY HE REACTED TO THE OTHER BITE MARKS ON THE KID'S HAND LMAO

- I don't trust this guy.

Oh shit old ass. 400

Oh shit they have what we do in the shadows rules.

- Poor Claudia.

- Oh shit she's going to the doll store 😔

- I AM SHOCKED I JUST REALIZED THIS GUY IS ANTONIO BANDERAS LMAO

Me listening to this guy talk: wait that Antonio Banderas?...

Me: there's no way *starts looking it up*

Me when I look at the cast list, now covering my mouth: ....it's Antonio Banderas....

Louis better not fall for this shit. Claudia needs you dude.

Tbh I wish my nails looked as good as Louis'

- That sidewalk is so fucking skinny man.

- Who's the lady...

Oh shit Claudia 😔 poor thing. She doesn't deserve all this pain.

Oh shit he's gonna do it.

Oh shit he's doing it.

OH SHIT HE DID IT.

- Poor Louis 😔 this story is just a "I feel bad for everyone" kinda story huh.

WHAT THE FUCKWHY ARE YOU KISSING HIM HUUUH????? 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

- NOOOO WHAT'S HAPPENING

CLAUDIA NOOO

WHAT IS HAPPENING

This is very not epic of them.

Oh shit are they in like a sun trap or something, like in what we do in the shadows

DNWKSLSK I WAS RIGHT. I'm a fucking genius.

Oh no 😔 poor Claudia man.

- Oh Armand is actually helping. That's very epic of him. Scared it's 100% too late for Claudia though.

NOOOOOO

Poor Claudia 😔 you'll be missed AND POOR LOUIS THAT WAS HIS ONLY FAMILY >:( angry.

I would say at least Claudia's freed but literally to where... :( I hope she's somewhere happier.

- His eyes are so red omg.

AWW HE'S CRYING

- GET YOUR REVENGE BB

Ooo it was very pleasing to watch that liquid pour down those fancy steps

- YEAH BITCH GET YOUR REVENGE LIGHT THOSE ASSHOLES UP

OH MY GOD???? HE FUCKIN CUT HER HEAD OFF WOOOO. GET THEIR ASSES LOUIS!

This vest on him? Iconic.

OH FUCK JUST CHOPPED THROUGH HIS ASS LIKE NOTHING

YOU GO LOUIS. ICONIC. AMAZING.

- LMAO THE WAY HE THREW HIMSELF INTO THE WINDOW OF THE CARRIAGE

- Oh Louis 😔

- Now he's all alone this is so sad :(

- He’s a movie nerd, understandable.

- He's so pretty

- WAIT OLD DEATH???👀👀👀👀 L-lestat?....

Body in the vines.

Bats :).

AAAAAAA I KNEW IT

HE LITERALLY CAN NOT DIE. HOW IS HE ALIVE.

You look a little decrepit my man

"still beautiful Louis" *cries*

THE WAY HE SCOOTS AWAY LMAO

"the more I wanted you" just admit you were in love with him, loser.

"become the old Lestat" well I don't think we need that. Love you though :)

- Mans really just said "but louis I wanna be traumatized too :("

OH SHIT CHOKING HIM ALL THE WAY UP TO THE CEILING

- Oh he's got a nice car though :)

- LESTAT LET HIM GO HE'S DRIVING

HE'S SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN I LOVE HIM

THE END

I really liked it :) a little weird how they made Claudia and Louis’ relationship seem romantic, I didn’t like that, and well some other things too but, you know.

#monster watches

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weaselsmuses-aa · 4 years

Text

Typhoon Island Villager HCS [final]

Emma

Age: 21

Island occupation: Island Representative. Though she’s called a shady representative by many.

Sexuality: Bi.

Friends: All of her villagers of course! (though she does have her favorites, namely Punchy, Antonio and Bamikins.)

Very hard working. Is almost always running form one side of the island with new ideas for how to improve things

When she isn’t terraforming, pathing or planting, she’s hanging out with Punchy and her friends.

A gracious host, according to her. She wants all guests to check in with her first and foremost. Gets a little grumpy when someone doesn’t follow that rule.

Terrorizing Isabelle is her hobby, gets her through the day.

Loves rain, storms and fog the most.

Favorite season is winter. (Totally not because she can make the whole month of december about her.)

Has been bickering with Isabelle so long she’s accidentally befriended her. (easier to torment her that way)

Rumored to be good friends/has close ties with Redd. (How else did he get here?)

House has an incredibly ominous vibe. Something about it just isn’t quite right.

Is a great asset when you’re friends with her, when you aren’t though....

Almost always with Antonio and Bam (Three musketeers vibe) or Punchy.,

Doesn’t get along with Julian too well. Almost always yelling at him/swearing at him under her breath.

Misses sloppy furniture damnit.

“ I don’t know about the missing people or the blood, stop asking about it.”

Bellionare.

Punchy

Age: 23

Island occupation: Professional Slacker. (sometimes he’ll help Emma garden and clean the beach though)

Sexuality: Bi at best.

Friends: Bob [bff], Kid Cat, Beau, Antonio, Weasel, Stitches. && ofc Emma.

The FavoriteTM.

Representative’s Pet.

Probably dating Emma

Absolute precious sweetheart

Naive, lazy, but can be sarcastic and snarky when you know him well enough.

Huge heart.

Snacks on snacks on snacks on snacks

Can be a cry baby at times.

Very affectionate with his friends

Usually seen in his yard, by the playground or in Emma’s orchard.

Favorite color is blue, Favorite activity is sunbathing and naps

You look in his home and you’ll be able to tell how much of a favorite he is.

Has nothing but good things to say about Emma. (Seriously shes all he talks about.)

Kind of scared of Bam. He doesn’t get along with him well, for ...obvious reasons.

Popular but didn’t ask to be. He’s just sweet and easy to love!

Really loves cherries. A lot. Seriously. Fastest way to the little kittys heart.

Also pretty good friends with Monsun key’s Lapis, asks about her sometimes.

Bam

Age: 20

Island Occupation: Has a part time job at the museum dusting and helping out with the fossils.

Sexuality: Pretty het.

Friends: Emma, Ky, Swiss, Antonio, Kid Cat, Beau, Cheri, Getting to know Lucky.

Big brother vibes with a pretty bad temper if you know how to strike a nerve.

Best friends with the Island Rep and Antonio

Seems to be the island’s favorite target for teasing.

Gets along well with everyone …….except Punchy and Bob.

Avidly and openly does not like Punchy, its most likely due to jealousy. It’s also rumored the reason his his very blatant crush on Emma

Only person he likes less than Punchy is Bob as he is quote ‘an asshole’. (Its usually just Bob returning the favor though for Bam being a dick to Punchy).

Usually seen working out on the Beach, doing Yoga in the square, or taking walks. Really loves the Light house, the orchards and the Playground.

Known to be a little overbearing with his attitude problems when he doesn’t like someone. (He’s been seen walking around punchy’s house,and has hit him on a few occasions)

Is either your friend and super nice, or doesn’t like you and can be a dick.

Hangs out with Cheri and Beau a lot when his two right hand pals aren’t available.

Secretly wishes Brewster would come open a shop.

Beau

Age: 22

Sexuality: Pan.

Island occupation: Got a part time gardening position from Lief. Also helps the nooklings arrange their shop displays.

Friends: Topaz, Emma, Ky, Punchy, Bam, Stitches, Lucky, Julian

Sleepy eyed sweetheart.

Very Peaceful and kind, doesn’t like to see anyone fighting and wants everyone to get along.

Definitely the type to always say yes.

Rustic mountain town vibe. Really likes nature and long hikes.

Favorite season is winter.

Best friend’s are Topaz, Punchy, and Bam.

Talks to Blathers and Celeste a lot, very interested in natural history and astronomy.

Goal is to be good friends with everyone on the island. The only one he’s having trouble with is Antonio. He can’t quite figure him out yet.

Likes to have Tea with the island rep on Sundays.

Always wanted to be like the reindeer he’s seen on TV. He admires the lifestyle and aesthetic despite being an antelope.

Has a baby blanket he’s very attached to.

Loves kids, and babysits Kid cat and stitches often, he thinks they’re very sweet.

Plants trees, flowers and shrubs a lot. He really wants to make the island feel more woodsy.

Favorite spot is the museum, orchards and star gazing spot.

Julian

Age: 28

Sexuality: Gay Trans Icon.

Island occupation: He worked at the able sisters for a little while but they had to let him go because he went overboard and tried to control everything. He’s thinking about applying at brewsters.

Friends: Kyanite! Topaz, Beau, Cheri, Punchy & Bob (sorta)

Narcissitic, Dramatic and self obsessed.

Only thing he loves more than himself, is a good book and singing.

Really loves to look good, and is constantly indecisive about what he wears.

Has an aesthetic and will NOT let you mess with it. Seriously, don’t give him furniture, he’ll give it away.

BFF is Ky.

He also gets along with Beau and Cheri. He can appreciate Beau’s simple pleasures in life, and his kindness. Cheri and him relate on pop culture and music.

Gossips constantly, cannot keep a secret to save his life, and only wants to know your business to talk about it.

Very loving friend once your’e close to him, and will likely only break his ‘peaceful’ face, for a friend. Pissing him off is hard to decipher most of the time, as he finds it beneath him to show ‘savage’ emotions.

Claims to be magic, but no one knows if he actually is, or he just uses his species to say that.

Usually seen in the square seeking attention, following others to eavesdrop, or at home either inside, or in his yard reading or writing.

Doesn’t seem to get along with Spinel too well. He tried to be friends with her but when it didn’t work out he just decided to mess with her for fun.

Dreads double visits from Ky and her girlfriend. As they mess with his lights until they break. Blames Spinel for encouraging it.

Very curious about Lucky and Stitches but kind of creeped out by them. He snoops on them when given the chances to do so though.

Loves the stargazing spot and Ky’s picnic area. He does enjoy a good stroll on the beach too when he isn’t shopping for stuff.

Cannot be without attention for too long, he will shove himself into your conversations, your day, and the town square and tell you gossip or start singing.

Wishes there were more people on the island that he could relate to.

Cheri

Age: 22

Sexuality: She like gurls

Island occupation: Has a part time job doing island clean up for Tom on the weekends. Thinking about asking the nooks to get her a part time job at the shop.

Friends: Pearl (Monsun key), Marina (Monsun key), Emma, Lapis (monsun key), Weasel , Bam, Bob, Julian, Punchy (they bonded over music recently), Lucky (slowly but surely shes giving her lots of gifts and being in general sweet and cheri cant okay.)

Zero bullshit tolerance.

Sarcastic, snarky and loud, but a very loyal friend

Rap, Rock and Metal are her life

House so red you will forget what other colors are.

Rumored that she’s got an album, no one on the island knows if what she says is true.

Good friends with Bam, Bob and Julian.

Usually in the square Jamming or Hanging out on the Beach.

Pretty good friends with the Island Representative, isn’t really into all the gossip about her.

Thinks Kid Cat is cute, but also isn’t big on watching kids, so you know.

Good friends with Weasel, likes to talk to them every once and a while.

Literally don’t start an argument with her, you WILL lose.

‘ im a bad bitch, you cant kill me’

What the hell is stitches? What the fuck happened to lucky? IS anyone going to actually acknowledge how fucked up this is?? hello???

All concerns aside, she thinks both stitches and lucky are very sweet but seriously wtf.

Rapping in the square with her friends is the shit for her okay. She loves it. Has asked Emma to throw a rapping party to which she replied ‘eh.’

Leather jackets and cool clothes are just as important as looking cute as hell!

Talks about Raymond moving like it was the best thing to happen to mankind, and his existence on typhoon island like a bad dream. (she still holdin a grudge)

Antonio

Age: He....wont tell. well guess 25

Sexuality: Doesn’t talk about it.

Island occupation: Typhoon Island ditch digger.......he digs the graves. At least thats his supposed job. He’s seen some shit. Surely.

Friends: Emma, Bam, Swiss, Bob, Stitches, Lucky, Ky

One does not simply get rid of him

Is he all there or is he not?

Vacant stare

Either ramblings of insanity or way too meddling

Everyone calls him crazy but….he knows all the dirty laundry.

Usually in the square….listening..and watching

Favorite Song is K.K. Dirge

Digs the graves for the grave yard and probably puts up the missing signs.

Always seems to pop up out of nowhere. At the most..unnerving moments.

One of the least social, yet most involved somehow.

What are you hiding antonio?

Bob

Age: 24

Sexuality: Bi.

Island occupation: Doesn’t have one. Works booorring. Give him some games and food any day.

Friends: Punchy (BFF), Emma, Lapis (Monsun Key), Weasel, Kid cat, Stitches, Lucky, Beau is okay

Absolute Meme-er

BFF is Punchy

Constant jokes, no matter his mood. Is he serious? Is he not? good luck figuring that out.

The popular kid on the island, but he doesn’t really care.

Also good pals with Swiss.

Give him a dare and he will do it. Every time

Older than the island rep and talks about it alot like its a personality trait.

Play fights you.

Sarcasm for days.

Affectionately bullies you softly

Annoys Antonio for laughs

Pisses Bam off on purpose (they dont get along)

Favorite spot is the playground , the pool and the beach.

Thinks stitches and lucky are super friggin cool. So what if they’re a little weird? That’s what makes them so awesome.

Affectionately messes with cheri when shes’ trying to sing or rap in the square.

Kind of avoids julian because he doesn’t like how he talks down to him

Got kicked out of nooks cranny a couple times. Who even knows why.

Kid cat

Age: 12

Friends: Stitches, Emma, Weasel, Ky, Punchy, Bob, Bam, Antonio, Lucky, Beau, Cheri. (So like everyone.)

Is, as his name would suggest, A kid.

Absolute trash heap of a house. Like He actually lives like this?

The island rep felt bad for him and built him a nice bed. He’s very attached to it.

Best friend’s are Bam, Kody and Weasel.

Sees Bam as a big brother.

Wants everyone on the island to be friends.

Considers himself a super hero, always wants to be the one to save the day and help people with their problems.

Hangs out on the playground, claims the jungle gym as his ‘base’.

If he isn’t there he hangs out in the square trying to spread his ‘heroisms’

Wide eyed optimist

NARUTO RUNNING AROUND YOU.

Is probably going to stay up past his bed time. Whos going to stop him

Claims the ninja turtles live under his house.

Misses Raymond. Says the island is ‘missing its dad’

Stitches

Age: Ageless, but comes off as a 6-10 year old

Island occupation: Doing whatever Emma tells him.

Friends: Emma, Punchy, Topaz, Kid Cat, Weasel, Beau, Lucky, Bob

A mash up of many different bears and animals before him. All of whom met an untimely end by the hands of the creature.

Is not aware of how he came to be, and it is in Emma’s best interest to keep it that way. She will make sure you don’t tell him.

Can’t see very well, and can’t speak. Instead is telepathic, and can speak in sign language if need be. You will be able to hear his voice, but his mouth will never move.

Doesn’t come out of his house too terribly often, and is not allowed out after dark.

Favorite activity is playing pretend! He loves his toys and his blocks, and sometimes will go over to kid cats or weasels to play pretend with them.

Refers to the island representative as a mother, which .....disturbs and disconcerns most.

really close with lucky. They relate on a lot of....similar misfortunes. They can also speak to each other privately through mystical means without interruption or eavesdropping from others.

Is as name would suggest, stitched up. Sometimes the seams come undone and his stuffing comes out. (Yes hes actually full of ...just stuffing.) stuffin’!

Seems to be alive by sheer paranormal means. There is nothing in him keeping him ticking biologically.

Wants to be friends with isabelle, but notices he frightens her, so he avoids town hall.

Favorite spots are his room, the picnic by kys house, and the playground. (He wants to learn the monkeybars!)

Really looks up to Punchy, and wants him to help teach him the ways of the world....though punchy may NOT be the best rolemodel.

Afraid of Bam and Antonio, but is put under their care often.

Lucky

Age: ......we aren’t sure. Shes been dead a while. The only one who might know is emma.

Island occupation: Haunting the island after dark. (She’d help out if anyone would hire her.)

Friends: Stitches, Emma, Bob, Beau, Swiss

Is as ‘luck’ would have it, dead. She’s a spirit.

Rumored first victim of the typhoon island serial killer. She’s been dead a while, as her house would show, she’s not had the privilege of living for quite some time now.

Her bandages are a permanent feature, and theres a rumor floating around that without it, there wouldn’t be much left to her---besides those piercing haunting eyes of course.

Has a very sweet, soft spoken voice. Almost as quiet as a distant whisper.

Very good friends with Emma. Follows her around almost....an unnatural amount. Almost as if...she’s got some sort of attachment to her.

Has a grave in her back yard, which was not naturally there prior. Seems to have dug it herself. A comfort thing perhaps since to present knowledge she was never given proper burial.

A very kind dog, and very helpful if you give her the chance and look past her....otherworldly appearance.

Loves stitches like a baby brother, almost always hanging out with him more than anyone else, will protect him feircly.

Self conscious about her state of being dead, just wants to make friends and live a happy afterlife since hers was taken from her.

Loves gardening, though all her flowers turn into black roses....or die.

Favorite spot is the graveyard, the forest, and Emma’s orchards.

Thinks her and Isabelle would get along good! If....Isabelle didn’t run away from her.

Really loves K.K. Slider concerts. Always wants to be the first to attend them. Can he see her though? She’s not sure sometimes.

#HCs #;Typhoon Isle #(Interests);Emma #IT IS DONE.

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enniewritesathing · 5 years

Photo

5 Character Facts - Brian Antonio Fizgerald

1. Brian is a Residented Nurse (RN) at Samaritan Valley Hospital, specializing in the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Department (and whereever he is needed). He decided to become a nurse back in high school, during career day, but also for personal reasons. It stems from after staying with John and Noelle after being kicked out by his aunt (permanently), and shown him the love that he needed and the want of ultimately giving back to them. And out of bit of spite, not becoming what his family wanted him to be. Brian graduated early from San Myshuno University with Honors with a B.S. in Nursing. He’s contemplating on returning to school for his Masters’ but he doesn’t want to deal with more student loan and all of the burnouts/breakdowns he went through before. Which, relatable.

2. Doesn’t have a clear fashion choice. If he thinks he’ll look good in it, he’ll absolutely try it on and rock it. Accessories? Yes. (He’s very fond of hoop earrings.) Make up? No problem. Heels? He’ll walk like he’s a runway model. Brian just looks good??

3. Comes from a nutjob family. There’s conspiracy theorists, and then there’s the Fitzgeralds as a whole. They are essentially extreme survivalists; there were many a time that Brian has been chucked out into the woods with nothing but a swiss knife, a map, and a bottle of water and was tasked to find his way back home or at least, ‘civilization’. His family disowned him after he’d pretty much murdered his grandfather during a forced hunting trip and guised it as a boar attack -- which did happen (mainly it was protecting its babies) and while his grandfather begged him to save him from it, Brian decided he’d had enough of being with his family. Brian did kill the boar, but “woops bad shot”. He wasn’t charged or anything like that, but he faked sheer incompetence with handing the gun. (He’s an amazing shot, but 🤔...) After that, he was disowned and forced to live far away from them with a negligent aunt; and after meeting John... well, that’s history. He has a complicated relationship with himself and his past; he’d rather not think about it. tl;dr -- Brian murked his granddad but he got away with it! :D

the only thing that’s binding him to his family is his last name and well, he’s gonna ditch that

4. Brian loves to fence! He started in high school around his sophomore year as a goof. It’s a nice change of pace from track and field/cross country. Plus, get to do some Zorro shit. Turns out, he’s a quick learner and it’s one of those talents that’s unexpected? Then again, he’s scary good with a knife due to #3. His favorite discipline is sabre, followed by foil and épée. Sabre is where he excels due to his sheer speed, but foil is where he is most graceful. It’s also where he sort of puts on an arrogant air, and is especially flamoboyant and sharp in his salute. He most certainly studied the blade. A running joke of mine is I’m gonna do fencing poses but uhhh lol

5. Believe it or not... he loves to watch anime and read manga. He’s lowkey on this, but recently he’s been coming out of his shell? He uses this as sort of a distraction point with his younger patients, asking if they watch any of it, what show, fav character, etc. Brian has expressed interest in cosplaying and even going to cons, but never the time or place (all of the big cons are in San Myshuno and it’s quite a drive from Willow Creek.) Brian’s more of the slice of life and shojo kind of guy, but he isn’t adverse to shonen (he likes shorter series than the ones that run for a million years). He’s been successful in getting John to watch some with him -- the mainstream animes anyway, the niche ones... well, they’re pretty niche.

Bonus:

6. Likes to read “trashy” romance novels, and his fav sub genre of that is supernatural. Often gets John to read the really bonker parts and it always ends with disbelief and/or laughing fits.

#ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #oc: brian #ask meme #i may do spaghetti's lol #but yeah... brian... has gone through some shit #he's still sweet don't get me wrong but he still has his moments where his past sort of rear it's ugly head #he is very protective of his younger patients -- especially if he senses if something is 'off' or if they straight up tell him #there's probably more i wanna possibly talk about but... this is i think good?

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dontcallmecarrie · 6 years

Note

Something that'd be interesting to see is your take on Fury becoming more proactive in Tony's childhood. Him seeing Howard's lack of parenting/interaction and Obadiah creeping in on Tony and deciding that it would be better if he got involved with Tony instead.

I assume you’re talking about Watch The Power Fold, feat. Obadiah’s being Palpatine 2.0 and influencing Tony? The one that wasn’t meant to be a happy AU, except my brain can’t do angst and cue fixit that’ll give everyone headaches down the road? Under the cut, because it went from ‘fixit’ to ‘fixit that grew legs and plot and fuck this is another fic now isn’t it’ pretty damn fast.

Nick Fury hadn’t intended to, is the thing. Howard had been very, very firm about keeping his son out of SHIELD, and Fury hadn’t disagreed, given the nature of what they got up to sometimes. Not when the kid had grown on him [even if he wouldn’t admit it under pain of death].

He’d seen Tony grow up, had seen him around when he was in the mansion working with Howard, had heard Howard’s talking warmly of his son. Nick Fury’d seen Tony grow up more than his father did, actually, what with working security for the family of the cofounder of SHIELD while Howard was away on business, or searching for Captain America.

So, yes, the kid’d grown on him, so what? Only thing is, the more time goes on, the busier things get, and…the more some things don’t sit right with Fury. Specifically, while Howard had done his best to keep his family and SHIELD separate, he had a bad habit of taking his work home when it came to Stark Industries, and that’s where things get…dicey.

Fury can’t explain just why Obadiah Stane rubs him wrong, just that he does. It makes sense that the man’s trying to ingratiate himself to Howard’s family, what with working with them and all, and his background checks out, but. Something doesn’t sit right with Fury, plain and simple. The way Obadiah’s set himself up as a fun uncle figure isn’t actually suspicious, after all: the one time he’d brought it up, both Peggy and Howard had joked about his being too paranoid.

In one life, he’d avoid approaching Tony until decades later. Here, however…

He’d been suspicious, before the accident. Afterwards, however? The situation’s got him gritting his teeth but trying to still respect Howard’s wishes, right up until the only other adult figure in the kid’s life that isn’t Obadiah has a heart attack, not six months after the accident.

By now, Fury’s the Director of SHIELD, he’s got better things to do than worry about how Tony was dealing with things. [Right?]

…then he sees the way Obadiah’s got some very shady friends who are this close to going on a watch list, and the way he’s acting around Tony, and goes, “fuck it, sorry Howard but your kid’s better off as my apprentice than that fucker’s pawn”.

Here, Fury is really, really blunt in his interference with Obadiah’s machinations. Instead of Tony leaning on Obie [and thus playing right into his hands], here, Fury basically barges in and drags him off.

Well, no; more like bribes him off, because where Obie would’ve gone “do you know what your father used to say?”, Fury’s just there and going “hey kid we’ve got some of your dad’s notes from his other job, you interested?” which, combined with Tony having seen him around the mansion as a kid, means Tony decides to check it out.

That the one-eyed guy’s got some stories to tell about his dad really, really helps, too. As does the fact that his dad apparently helped found a vague yet menacing government agency, and even if it hurts that he never knew, Tony still wants to learn more, and Fury is more than willing to deliver. Add to that a bunch of cool-looking projects, and adults who treat him as a slightly short coworker, and Tony’s basically hooked; even if Obie wanted him to ditch, he wouldn’t.

Sure, it eats up a huge chunk of time, and Tony’s slightly sorry that he can’t spend as much time with Obie anymore, but…he’s learning things, so there’s that? Between wrapping up his doctorates, gearing up to become the CEO of his dad’s company, and this, he’s booked, but it’s worth it. He’s learning about international politics from the inside, seeing actual spies doing their thing and getting ideas for optimizing weapon designs, and the list just goes on because Tony winds up as Fury’s apprentice. [Somehow.]

From the head honcho himself, Tony’s learning to be The Spy, learns about watching his back to keep it from being stabbed, about how good people are few and far between, about the value of blackmail and how to keep an ear on the ground. Life lessons that aren’t what some would like to impart, but invaluable in survival when swimming with sharks.

Much like Howard, dealing with the intelligence community takes a toll on Tony. Unlike Howard, however, Tony got some coping mechanisms drilled into his head early on in the game, because Fury’d already seen one Stark become an alcoholic, no need to add to that number. Also, Tony’s not as obsessed with searching for Captain America, there’s that, too, and that JARVIS can watch his back is invaluable to his peace of mind.

He’s also taken to using a pseudonym in SHIELD, just in case. Well, that, and also because the comparisons to Howard are really, really getting on his nerves [plus the rumors of nepotism can fuck right off]. As far as aliases go, Antonio Carbonell may sound pretty damn obvious, but between contact lenses and switching up accents, nobody not in the know’s caught on so far.

All in all, Tony’s basically following in his father’s footsteps, set to inherit both Stark Industries and a very high post in SHIELD if he keeps it up. He’s not under Obie’s thumb, and in fact isn’t actually as trusting as he might have been otherwise, so the man can’t do as much double-dealing as he might have otherwise. Sure, Tony’s pretty damn busy, and that people on occasion tend to compare him to Howard even more than they might have otherwise tends to get on his nerves, but otherwise? Tony’s not complaining.

On the other hand, Nick Fury got quite a bit of criticism for doing what he did, roping Tony into SHIELD and making him his apprentice. Some of the higher-ups also knew about Howard’s not wanting to involve his family, and that Fury chose Tony, aka the media’s favorite person, to be a possible future head of SHIELD was not exactly a popular choice. Some thought he was taking advantage of the situation, forcing a grieving orphan and molding him to basically fill his father’s shoes, and…well, they’re not wrong per se. Not like they could do anything about it, though; Fury’s too high up the chain, after all.

…the critics shut up after the Merchant of Death first made his appearance.

And here’s where the headache component starts to kick in, because Fury took Tony in under his wing, after he lost not just his parents but Jarvis as well. Here, Tony’s spent over a year learning the ropes from the best. Here, the Merchant of Death is honest-to-goodness pretty damn terrifying, actually.

Moments like that, it’s pretty damn easy to tell why Nick Fury chose him as his apprentice, early rumors of nepotism be damned.

Time goes by, Tony gets older, and things keep escalating as his clearance goes up. He’s pretty damn busy nowadays, but sometimes there’s projects that catch his eye that get mentioned in his dad’s notes, and that’s the story of how he invents a new element in a SHIELD bunker while running on four hours of sleep and seventeen cups of coffee.

Time passes, and Fury’s only slightly regretful of the way things’ve panned out: Tony’s quite a bit more jaded than in canon, having Seen Some Shit while working in SHIELD, but…still better than being under Obadiah’s thumb, right? Sure, he got sucked into SHIELD exactly the way Howard had been trying to avoid, but…fuck he’s regretting it.

Part of said regret comes from the headache he gets from…well. See, in one life Tony had Uncle Obie to lean on. Here, however, Fury kinda took his place, only he’s genuinely invested in Tony’s life. What that means is, Nick Fury maaybe might have kind of adopted Tony, in a sense. Just a little, though, more like Tony’s his favorite the same way Coulson has his with Barton and Romanov. [yeah, right]

Speaking of which: man does that matchup give everyone migraines. Clint and Tony met pretty early on, and got into a snark-off after Clint made a crack about Tony’s age and Tony made a crack about Clint’s arrows and somehow that ended up with them commandeering a gun range, several prototypes, and geeking out over blast radii. By the time Natasha enters the picture, just the mention of Barton and Stark has the quartermaster groaning. With Natasha, however, Tony reveals just how unnervingly good he is at masks, weirding out everyone else in the room and their team-up quickly becomes a favorite for deep cover missions.

…not that it happens all that often, however. After all, Tony’s got a company to run, and in SHIELD he’s been on the administrative track since Day One, rather than on the field. It still happens with enough regularity to give everyone else headaches, though.

By the time we’ve reached Afghanistan, Tony’s been the Merchant of Death for years, and is also secretly the Assistant Deputy Director of SHIELD, which is pretty high up the chain. Main reason he’s not even higher is because of the time commitment; he’s pretty damn busy as is, and he refuses to be Howard. 2.0 with a shitty work-life balance. He’s sick of being compared to the man, and that Obie doesn’t approve of his work outside SI means he’s acutely aware of the parallels.

Afghanistan still happens. Only here, it’s because he’s heard rumors of his company double-dealing, and Tony Stark’s weapons demo had been planned as a front for Antonio Carbonell to look into things.

…suffice it is to say, his kidnapping throws a huge wrench into the works.

Especially because Tony’s not a civilian; he’s Seen Some Shit in SHIELD, after all. He’s had RTI training, has run support on ops that’ve gone to shit, so he’s prepared. Mostly. [Waterboarding still sucks, though, and the arc reactor’s installation was…not fun.]

Still, could’ve been worse. At least he’s still got both eyes intact. Plus he managed to escape, and even managed to drag Yinsen out too. [He’d do well in SHIELD.]

Even better, however, is the intel he got from the shitshow, and that’s also the story of how Obadiah Stane disappears mysteriously less than a month later. Or, rather, no; died in a plane crash, right. Good riddance, even if Tony still felt a pang of…something, when he’d learned about the betrayal.

[…Fury may or may not have tapped Coulson to handle it personally.]

Iron Man still exists. Only here, Tony sticks to the cards, because he is intimately aware of the value of secrecy, what with having worked with a shadowy government agency for half his life now, and he learned from the best. Sometimes it’s JARVIS that’s piloting the suit, because Tony’s busy enough as is between his work at Stark Industries, and career at SHIELD.

Time goes on, and when the palladium thing comes up, Tony bolts to his new element as an option, and is very relieved when it works. However, he still steps down as CEO of SI, because between Stark Industries, SHIELD, and Iron Man, he’s clocking an average of four hours of sleep and, again, he’s not Howard, he wants a sane work-life balance.

Time goes on, and canon gets summarily derailed. Dealing with Vanko was a headache, though on the plus side his long, long experience with bureaucracy and government organizations means Tony’s keeping Iron Man out of military hands was a snap. Plus the face Natasha made, when she saw him as Tony and not Antonio, was worth it, even if it also meant she wouldn’t go easy on him the next time they sparred…oh, yeah, and he was also tapped to be a consultant for the Avengers Initiative, but what were the odds of that happening?

Steve’s reaction to looking into Howard’s file, and then Tony’s, was…interesting.

Once he starts to get a read on the situation, he makes assumptions. Assumptions that Tony does not appreciate at all, because excuse you, Rogers, just because he copied some of his old man’s career moves doesn’t mean he’s Howard 2.0, fuck you very much.

Suffice it is to say, they don’t exactly get along very well at first.

Tony hates being compared to Howard, especially since he’d taken great pains to make his career in SHIELD his own. Literally the only reason Steve knows about the Tony Stark = Antonio Carbonell thing is because of his being an Avenger, plus good luck hiding the familiarity he has with Clint and Natasha. But Tony manages to be professional; kinda hard not to, after the long, long list of assholes he’s had to work with over the years. If he could deal with Ward’s being a self-entitled prick, no way is he going to let some supersoldier cramp his style, nope.

Bruce’s biggest concern in all this is the discovery that he got in when he was 17, but Tony hand-waved it with a “working with Fury’s more fun than the guy who almost got me killed” that did not, in fact, comfort anyone else in the room. [Oops.]

…okay, I can see this AU going one of two ways:

Either Tony finds out about HYDRA a lot earlier [he doesn’t trust many people, has a powerful AI watching his back, and access to SHIELD’s databases. You do the math], thus derailing the events of The Winter Soldier. It’s a mess, mind, but it gets taken care of early on in canon.

or,

Tony’s basically front and center for the clusterfuck that happens when the Winter Soldier shows up. [exploring this one because cue angst]

Because this was Fury we’re talking about. Fury, who stepped in and basically adopted him after he’d lost his parents, lost Jarvis, was one of the few people in his life who hadn’t betrayed him—Fury, who’s been reported dead, killed by the Winter Solider.

Suffice it is to say, Tony is not about to take that lying down.

When Steve’s just reeling from the ‘trust no one’ thing, Tony barges in, nodding tersely to Natasha and a hair away from going Merchant of Death on everyone. [They couldn’t have gotten rid of him if they’d tried.] The group ends up having an AI looking out for them, and the more time goes on the more personal it gets, because of obvious reasons. Tony ends up kind of copying T’Challa re: ‘hunting down the Winter Soldier because of a dead father figure’, and Tony only gets scarier as shit goes down.

As in: Steve’d been taken aback, when he’d first learned of how shady SHIELD really was. The way Tony’d iced over, was playing with fire with a familiar ease and barking orders over encrypted comms, didn’t exactly help, either. Even if it was pretty damn useful at times, because turns out Antonio Carbonell’s position in the SHIELD chain of command means he’s hearing some really interesting things, and that he’s also the CEO of Stark Industries means it takes all of one (1) phone call to get Sam’s wings without ruffling any feathers.

All in all, a good ally. Even if the parallels are basically smacking everyone in the face at this point, because Tony may have hated being compared to his father but there was no denying that there was a Stark involved in SHIELD for the entirety of its existence. That he’d been adopted mentored by Fury’s only the icing on the cake, really.

So when the HYDRA reveal happens, well…

Tony goes scarily silent, after hearing Zola. Then, he wordlessly unloads a full three clips into the servers, and Steve and Natasha get a front row seat to a pissed-off Iron Man doing what he does best. There’s probably some poetic irony in Tony helping burn what his father created, but nobody involved really cares for it.

With Tony on hand, stopping Project Insight’s a hell of a lot easier. Also, the collateral damage is reduced. If that means JARVIS helped filter out the innocents from being burned, or if the Iron Legion’s picking up everyone who’s not HYDRA, is up to you; no matter what, though, it is a mess and a nightmare in regards to paperwork. Silver lining to this mess, though: Tony’s learning about how his parents really died, and subsequent lashing out, means he’s mostly made his peace with the Winter Soldier.

…mostly. It’ll take some time, anyway, but at least Tony’s not liable to blast him next time he sees him, which, combined with how he’s asked JARVIS to help Steve look for the guy, means it’s as good as it’s going to get for now, probably. [It helps that Fury survived.]

…kinda ran out of steam there. Oh, before I forget:

The events of IM3 either don’t happen, or go down differently, because as far as targets go, good fucking luck getting to him: his involvement in SHIELD means he’s paranoid af, just like Fury [learned from the best, after all].

JARVIS here’s even more powerful, what with Tony trusting him to watch his back when swimming with sharks, and is thus also a tad more Skynet than most’d be comfortable with. So’s the Iron Legion.

If, by some stroke of sheer dumb luck Kilian still manages to get to Tony, well…RIP, dude, for pissing off the Merchant of Death [and Fury’s kid, not that either Fury or Tony’ll admit it]

Also, Tony’s PTSD isn’t as big a thing here, what with his not being a civilian and Fury having made sure he’d learned healthy coping mechanisms early on.

If it ever comes up, he’d be bffs with Sharon Carter, what with the ‘my parental figure helped found SHIELD and didn’t want me involved’ thing, as well as the ‘changed my name so my achievements are of my own merit’ thing.

Steve’d look at the two, and facepalm forever.

Peggy Carter was actually one of the ones who disapproved of Fury’s bringing Tony into SHIELD; she was in the ‘you’re taking advantage of a grieving orphan to fill his father’s shoes, wtf is wrong with you’ camp. She wasn’t vocal about it, and never said anything to Tony, but she side-eyed Fury right up to her retirement. She did call to apologize after the Obadiah reveal, though, and Fury managed to have his “I fucking told you so” moment. [Ha. Who’s paranoid now?]

People that know about Tony Stark = Antonio Carbonell are few and far between; I’m talking Nick Fury, probably Phil Coulson because he was there in the early days when Tony snapped after one too many mentions of Howard Stark, and promptly hacked into the systems to change his name because is That Petty. For the most part, though, it’s on a need-to-know basis, and most people really don’t. [Not sure if HYDRA knew; if they did, it took them a while to figure it out.].

No, Tony’s not Fury’s kid in all but name, what’re you talking about? So what if Tony takes after him sometimes, he’s his mentor for crying out loud! Of fucking course he’s going to pick up some things!

No, Fury didn’t adopt Howard’s kid, what the fuck kind of bullshit question is that? No, it’s not like the little shit grew on him, nope, it’s not like he’s fond of that pain in the ass or anything. That he was even pissier than usual when he went MIA’s a complete and utter coincidence, really.

...aka really pushing the family dynamic here.

uh-oh the more I think of it the more things it’d derail brain no

#I got an ask!#fic ideas #fic idea #Watch The Power Fold #behind the scenes #My fic #my brain did a thing #gdi brain #Naught replies #replies

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oxiosa · 3 years

Note

You’ve asked me this before but because of that post I will now uno reverse card and ask for more of YOUR hcs about trouble kid Martin and stepmom Chiara, pretty please 🙏

Your wish is my command~

I imagine the first time they met was completely accidental and very awkward on Chiara’s side. She had been dating Antonio for a few weeks when he invited her over to his place, and maybe they were getting a little too cosy on the couch when the front door opened and a fucking kid came in. Chiara was shocked, to put in mildly, but the kid barely spared them a look and an unimpressed “what’s up” before walking past them. Chiara turned to Antonio silently asking for an explanation. Oh yeah, Antonio had forgotten to mention! He has a son :D

As months went by and things with Antonio got serious, I think Chiara was the one to insist on properly meeting Martín. She had meet him by passing in a rather awkward situation but Antonio had never introduced them. So they decide to organise dinner at Antonio’s place.

Tincho was neither impressed or interested on meeting Chiara. She seem a little better than the young women his father usually went for, but he knew she wouldn’t last – none of the others had. So he pretty much didn’t bother. I imagine Chiara prepared a very nice dinner so they could start all over with the right foot, and Martín pretty much went “Nah, pass. I already have plans, I’m going to Sebas’ place” and ditched them. Which of course didn’t leave the best of impressions.

I think Chiara was surprised to learn how young Martín was. Tincho always was a tall kid which made him look a little older than he already was. Also, with the way Antonio had spoken of him and the freedom and independence he gave the kid she was expecting a teen.

When Antonio and Chiara got married, she moved in and the nightmare begun :)

She was the one to put order in the house. Antonio kinda had the life of a young bachelor; he spent most of his time at work, came home late, didn’t have much work for house work. Martincito, being a kid, wasn’t very helpful either (quite the opposite), so it was pretty messy. Not just in dirty, but also as in “there’s barely food in the fridge, no one is taking out the trash, no one did the dishes, there are piles and piles of dirty clothes by the washing machine, the junk mail keeps piling up, etc etc”. She was not living in a dump, so upon her arrival things had to change.

One of the many things that had to change was Martín’s lack of respect. She had a very harsh approach at first that didn’t work out at all. She was very aggressive and abrasive at first, which only pushed Martín further away; the more she pressed on him, the more he rebelled against her. She made it her mission to put some order and respect in this house, set a bunch of rules Martín didn’t follow nor appreciate. It kinda turned into a cold war in which Chiara set rules, Tincho broke them, and she took away his privileges. She went through his things, confiscated shit, locked the front door and windows. I even imagine she went as far as taking Tincho’s bedroom door’s key and handle so he couldn’t shut himself in. All sort of shit that only aggravated wild Martín. To him, she was the Evil Stepmother.

I think Chiara didn’t have the whole picture when she moved in and started handling Martín. She had Antonio’s side of the story in which there was no issue, so Martín seemed like a nightmare of a stepson for no reason whatsoever. Antonio was a nice sweet guy, she couldn’t imagine why his son was terrible except that maybe he was a spawn of the devil. But as time progressed, she got to see first-hand how Tincho was pretty much raising himself and she begun to understand the source of his anger. I think the realisation hit close to her heart; Chiara had lived something similar, she had been a lonely neglected child angry at the world as well. She knew how Martín felt, saw herself mirrored in him, so it became personal. At first it had been about teaching this brat about respect and authority, but now it was about making it right by this kid. She felt a need to show him love and care and to give him the attention he needed, to teach him in return there were rules and an authority he needed respect so he could grow to be a better person.

She became very invested on getting closer to Tincho. She tried a different approach, tried to be smarter about it. She was still stern and harsh, but instead of butting heads with Martín she decided to remain a wall; she didn’t actively push against him, but she didn’t bulge either. She didn’t force Martín back into his place like she had tried before, instead she let him figure out on his own that there was no way past her and her rules - even if that took him slamming his head into her wall a thousand times. It was about waiting until Tinchito tired himself out and learnt to listen. It was not easy, but it had better results. Whenever Martín did as was expected of him, she rewarded him returning the privileges she had taken one by one. The peak of the rewards was her trust: she basically challenged Tinchito not to let her down, to show her he could be a good boy and play by the rules.

Martín was far more receptive to this approach, if a little distrustful at first, as if he thought she was luring him into a trap. He was not used to an adult keeping tabs on him, least of an adult asking about his day, interest, etc. He was a little hard to win, but at the end of the day he craved the attention Chiara was offering.

As I said on the post that started all these, Chiara signed him into rugby. Tincho was very reluctant at first, and the only way to get him to go was by bribing him. Chiara watches the whole thing: she sat by the bleachers with the posture of a lady and calmly observed as her stepson got turned into mush. Once it was over and Tinchito returned to her, exhausted and in pain and covered in mud, she invited him some well-earned ice cream (it kinda became their thing). I think this was one of the main milestones for Tinchito’s taming. It gave him an outlet to his energy, it gave him a team and sense of belonging, and it also taught him values, as it happens with sports. This made him a lot easier to handle, which resulted in a smoother reception to the boundaries Chiara set.

I really like the hc that she taught him how to cook. I imagine one day she caught Tincho cooking some lunch and was very much unimpressed. She asked what he normally cooked when his dad wasn’t home (aka most of the time), and she basically had to sit down upon learning this kid has been living of frozen food re-heated in the oven and pasta and junk food and the sort of thing a kid would pick for dinner if left to their devices. She threw whatever shitty frozen thing Martín was making and cooked for him, demanding he paid careful attention.

Chiara is the only one who has ever seen Martín show his true feeling about Antonio, the only one who has seen him cry about it. Maybe it was during some event Antonio missed; Chiara was there, saw the way Martín’s eyes searched for his dad and how his face fell when she told him he couldn’t make it in time. Martín tried to shrug it off, told her it was ok, he was used to it and anyways Tincho liked Chiara better, the two of them had more fun together without Antonio, all of this while his eyes filled up with tears and his smile trembled. She hugged him, let him sob like a baby on her chest while she petted his hair and kissed his crown.

She was also the one who forced Antonio to be around for his son. When she married him, she wanted to make a home and that included having Antonio in the picture. She didn’t always succeeded, but she tried.

And well then there's the one we already said: she spotted right away Tinchito's eye trailed after other boys rather than girls, also was the one who installed some sense of fashion once he was over his awkward teenage phase.

And those are kinda the ones I have, I wouldn’t mind if anyone wanted to add some more :D

#it's not much but it's honest work #brarg #family au

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sureuncertainty · 6 years

Text

A Dark And Stormy Night: Ch 4

Overview: A modern day retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, reimagined as a ghost story in an old mansion in the middle of nowhere.

Words: 2200

Warnings: nothing really comes to mind

Author’s Note: The part where more gay shit happens. Previous chapters: one, two three Ao3 link

To be honest, Antonio and Sebastian were not worried enough about the fact that the large front doors to the mansion were completely unlocked. After knocking a few times, they tried the doors and to their surprise, they swung right open.

“Hello? Anybody there?” Their voices echoed in the rather large entryway as the three men stomped their boots and shivered in the relative warmth and dryness of the house. Staring around, they saw that it was clearly very old, but seemingly well enough maintained.

“Someone has to be living here,” Alonso said, his voice trailing off as he examined the entryway. “Otherwise, why would it be so clean? But why was the door unlocked?”

Antonio and Sebastian glanced sideways at each other, shrugging.

“Why are you not concerned about this?”

“Sir, maybe we should focus on finding a phone or something,” Sebastian said slowly. “Or we try and find the owner of this house.”

“It’s very quiet,” Antonio muttered, glancing around uneasily. “I’m not sure how much I like this, guys.” He subtly slipped his hand into Sebastian’s, but Alonso didn’t even notice. He was too busy examining every inch of the place. The ceiling was tall, there was a tall coat rack next to the door, and it led off into a large hallway with blue patterned carpeting.

“Do you think Fernanda’s going to be okay?” Alonso said nervously as they made their way into the hallway, not bothering to take off their sopping wet shoes. “I’m beginning to wonder if letting her wait in the car was not the best idea…”

“She’s in the car,” Antonio said. “She’ll be fine. It’s not like the car is any more likely to be struck by lightning than this rickety old house.”

“Why did I even bring her…” Alonso lamented. “I wanted to give her poor mother a break… the child is the definition of a handful…. But I don’t know why I thought it would be a good idea to bring her along on a business trip. And now she could get hurt, and it’s all my fault. I really am a pretty terrible excuse for a father, aren’t I?”

Sebastian sighed. “No, you’re not. You’re doing what you think is best. Also she has Stephanie waiting in the car as well.”

“Passed out drunk in the car you mean,” Antonio put in.

They had passed the hallway now and entered into a large dining room. Several tall portraits hung on every wall, and the almost comically large table was spread before them, empty except for placemats. A large chandelier hung above the table, and it was very dark, and just slightly foreboding. Alonso felt a strange chill go through his body, and he shivered ostensibly.

“Are you… okay, sir?” Sebastian asked, glancing sideways at him.

Alonso straightened. “I’m fine.”

“This place is pretty impressive if you think about it,” Antonio mentioned. “I wonder if there’s a way to turn on the lights.”

“Maybe whoever lives here just isn’t home,” Sebastian suggested. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind some visitors.”

“Or perhaps he’s waiting to catch us…” Alonso said. “Waiting to jump out and accuse us of intruding, and call the cops on us! Also the longer we dawdle here without fixing the van, the longer we are away from Chicago.

“The storm is still strong,” Antonio pointed out. “We’d never make it to Chicago regardless. If we’d stopped at the rest stop like I suggested…”

“Or not taken your stupid, clearly faulty shortcut…” Sebastian continued.

“Enough!” Alonso said. “I feel terrible enough as it is without you two making me feel even more awful. I know, it’s my fault we’re stuck here and it’s my fault that Fernanda came as well. I don’t need you to remind me, all right?”

To his mild surprise, Sebastian and Antonio shut up.

“Here, look there’s another room off to the left,” Alonso said, motioning for the others to follow him into the side hallway, and into a larger sitting room of sorts. This room was actually lit, with an old fashioned lantern sitting on the table, and a few candles on shelves nearby. Several large couches sat nearby, and the carpet was lush. It seemed like the pinnacle of luxury.

“This is insane…” Alonso muttered.

“Hello?” Sebastian called out. “Is anyone here? Anyone at all who can help us?”

Invisible, Ariel observed their conversation with only the smallest hint of amusement, one eyebrow raised skeptically. Still not sure why Prospero couldn’t seem to bear to confront the men himself, of course, it was up to Ariel to do everything. He sighed without breath, closed his eyes, and reluctantly made his way towards the three men, waving an invisible hand above Alonso’s head.

Alonso suddenly yawned widely.

“I’m suddenly… quite sleepy…” he murmured, finding his way to one of the couches and sinking down into its plush pillows. “It’s been… quite a long night. Perhaps I should just rest here for a while, and then when I awaken, we can…we can figure out what to do… find the owner of this house and borrow a telephone or something…”

He closed his eyes, and within seconds, had passed out and was so fast asleep that he was already snoring profusely.

Sebastian and Antonio stared at their fast asleep boss.

“That’s… weird,” Sebastian said quietly.

“I can never fall asleep that quickly…” Antonio said, with a hint of jealousy. “But how can the man sleep at a time like this? We have to figure out something! Find someone! There’s gotta be someone in this house, the door wasn’t just randomly unlocked.”

“Unless…” Sebastian said, staring at the candle and the lamplight, which cast eerie shadows on the wall. “I don’t know, Tony, I’m getting a very very weird feeling about all of this. It’s very unsettling, you know? It almost feels like…” He trailed off.

“What?! What does it almost feel like? Sebastian, get a grip on yourself!” Antonio grabbed his boyfriend’s arms. “This isn’t some… some weird ghost story, okay? Everything’s fine! Everything’s normal!” He forced a laugh but it seemed like he was trying to convince himself.

“Hey. Calm down.”

“I am calm! You’re the one who’s freaking out about… unsettling houses or whatever. This house might be unsettling but it’s also pretty damn expensive. There’s literally no way someone would just leave a giant mansion like this in the middle of nowhere to be abandoned. And someone must have lit the candles and the lamp! There’s literally no way we are the only ones in this house, okay?”

“Yeah, but you gotta admit, it seems like the beginning of a horror story or something…” Sebastian said. “How abandoned the place seems… how Alonso just fell asleep like that… You gotta admit this is mildly terrifying.”

He was acting braver than he actually was, Antonio could tell. He put his arm around Sebastian and squeezed him tightly.

“We’re okay, all right? We are totally okay. Alonso’s just tired. It is the middle of the night, and he had been driving for a long time. I really don’t blame him. There are no such things as ghosts, Sebastian, and I can’t believe I’m explaining this to you…”

“Hey, you’re scared too,” Sebastian accused.

Antonio glanced around the lavishly furnished sitting room. “This place is seriously impressive,” he said. “It’s huge. If someone’s here, maybe they’re just like… upstairs or something. We haven’t even found a staircase yet. This place is positively massive.”

“Probably not as big as Alonso’s house,” Sebastian said, glancing sideways at the man, sprawled out on the couch, his mouth agape. “He’s crazy rich, you know. C.E.O. is a pretty lucrative position.”

“Oh, and you’re one to talk, Mr. Second in Command,” Antonio said. “Alonso’s been great to you, he treats you amazingly.”

“Keeps everything for himself more like,” Sebastian said. “I’ve worked for him for nearly six years now and what do I have to show for it? It took me forever to even get this far! And just because I’m his assistant doesn’t mean I enjoy any of the benefits he does. I’ve worked hard for this company, if anything, I’m the one who should be the C.E.O., not him.”

“Why are we even talking about him?” Antonio said, with a trace of bitterness. “What did he ever do for us, huh? Him and his stupid no office romance policy. Constantly having to hide… act like we’re nothing more than coworkers.”

Sebastian glanced sideways towards his boyfriend. “Well… he’s not awake now, is he? And no one does seem to be around…”

“God, Sebastian, is now really the time?” Antonio said, glancing around nervously. “What if he wakes up?”

Sebastian took a step closer towards the slightly shorter Antonio, placing his hand on his shoulder and tracing it down his arm slowly. “Come on, I need a distraction… Besides I haven’t been able to kiss you this entire trip, do you know what kind of torture that is?”

Antonio really didn’t need as much convincing as he let on, and so he didn’t protest when Sebastian leaned down and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

They pulled apart, and Antonio stared at him for a few seconds, before giving in. It was as if a dam had broken within him, and all of the feelings he’d been suppressing and pushing back for so long flowed forth… It was as if all of the stresses and fears of this mysterious mansion, the strangeness of it all, and the stress of the business trip melted away as he leaned forward and kissed Sebastian again. It had been far too long since the two of them had been able to be in any way affectionate towards each other, lest Alonso discover their hidden romance. God, Antonio had missed it.

They began to kiss harder and more passionately, as Sebastian pushed Antonio onto a second couch, straddling him, and bending down to lightly kiss his jawbone. Antonio moaned softly, trying to remain as quiet as possible, so as not to accidently awaken Alonso. Then Sebastian leaned in, very close to Antonio’s ear.

“Let’s just ditch Alonso,” he whispered.

Antonio’s eyes flew open, and he sat up slightly, much of the passion he’d been feeling died away at the mention of Alonso’s name. “Wh-what?”

“Ditch him. Leave him here. It doesn’t matter. We go back to the car, wait till the storm dies down and then we can get outta here. Say he, I dunno, died in the car crash or something.”

“What are you…?”

“I can be the new C.E.O. and we’ll be rich and finally be able to stop hiding our relationship.”

Antonio considered this. It didn’t sound half bad.

“I suppose… that’s not a terrible plan… but what about Fernanda? She’s sixteen years old. Is she really ready to lose a father?”

“Does it really seem like Fernanda loves her father very much?” Sebastian said. “I mean look at how she talks to him.”

“Yeah, but all teenagers are like that,” Antonio said. “Deep down I’m sure she cares about him, how could she not?”

“She’ll manage, I’m sure. If she even managed to wait in the car like we told her to. Knowing her she’s probably come barging into the house already.”

Antonio wanted to do what Sebastian was suggesting. He, too, was quite tired of Alonso breathing down their necks all the time, living in fear of him finding out about their forbidden relationship.

“No office romance is such a stupid policy anyway…” Antonio said. “I mean, what kind of policy is that? If people are working together, of course they’re gonna hit it off!”

“Exactly! He’s leaving us no choice with his ridiculous work policies. I’d be a far better C.E.O. regardless, you know I would, you know me!”

“That’s true… also it was Alonso’s fault we even ended up in this mess in the first place. If he hadn’t taken the shortcut or stopped at that rest stop, we’d still be on our way to Chicago and none of this would have ever happened! It’s his fault, so he’s the one who should have to pay the penalty.”

“Seriously! What a total jerk! That’s what we can just tell people. We tried to warn him, you know, we couldn’t help it. Come on, let’s go!”

“All right. All right.” Antonio got up, slipping his hand into Sebastian’s, squeezing it tightly. “Let’s go before he wakes up.”

Ariel, who had been watching, invisible from behind the couch on which Alonso lay with very little amusement on his face (but relieved they weren’t making out anymore), sighed again, leaning forward to whisper something in Alonso’s ear.

Alonso sat up groggily.

“Hm? What? What’s going on?”

Antonio and Sebastian froze.

“We were just, uh, going to check and see if someone was home!” Antonio said quickly.

Sebastian nodded, noticing Alonso glance at their hands, their fingers locked together. Seb quickly pulled his hand apart from his boyfriend’s. “Uhhh, Antonio was scared.”

“Well, that’s quite enough dallying, I’m coming with you, I’m feeling much more refreshed now,” Alonso said, yawning and stretching before standing up.

“You were asleep for maybe ten minutes…” Antonio muttered, too quietly for Alonso to hear him.

“Come on,” Alonso said. “There’s gotta be someone here we can find. I refuse to believe that nobody lives here. Let’s go.”

Antonio and Sebastian glanced at each other helplessly, before following Alonso out of the room.

#my writing #the tempest #shakespeare #shakespeare fanfic #the tempest fanfic #fanfiction #my fanfiction

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theshatteredrose · 6 years

Text

Someone Worth Saving - Octopath Traveller Fanfiction

Summary: Therion overhears someone talking about an apothecary at the tavern. An apothecary that was feisty. An apothecary that they trapped. He knew immediately who they were talking about. And that infuriated him…

Pairings: Therion/Alfyn

Warnings: Mild violence, Therion being a badass

AN: Ah, my first foray into OT fanfiction and it’s a GiD. Not surprising, honestly. And I may have gotten a bit carried away with this. Just a little. Also, honestly, it’s a bit self-indulgent. I just really wanted to write Therion essentially losing his shit and saving Alfyn. Can you really blame me? That said, this is my first attempt at OT fanfiction, so go easy on me? And I hope you enjoy reading~

Ao3 | Wattpad | FFNet

~*~*~*~*~*~

After promising the each of their travelling companions that they would return to the inn before midnight, everyone turned to go their separate ways. It was something they always did upon entering a new town or village. Spread out, do their own thing for the first day, and then figure out what they needed to do together on the second.

As he ensured that his back was safely set upon his shoulder, Alfyn turned to look at the man who was coincidentally heading in the same direction as he. “So, Therion, what you got planned for the day?”

Therion shrugged. “The usual.”

The usual meant picking the pockets of the rich or, as more often the case, the really annoying. It depended on what mood Therion was in. Honestly, Alfyn wasn’t overly fond of the fact that Therion would attempt to pick the pocket of nearly everyone they met, even those he tried to help! But Therion would always bribe him with herbs and nuts that he supposedly found.

Therion knows how to butter him up, that’s for sure!

“We’ll meet at the tavern like we usually do?” Alfyn asked, though he was fairly certain he knew the answer.

“Sure,” Therion replied simply as he turned to head down a back alleyway.

Yup, he was right.

“Well then, I promise to be there before the sun goes down, so you had better be there, too!” Alfyn said cheerfully as he hurried down another but stilled to wav an arm in the air.

Even from this distance, he could see Therion snort and roll his eyes. But he didn’t immediately protest, so that meant he was in agreement. Therion’s way of communication was very on the non-verbal side of things, but Alfyn was observant. He had worked out most of his travelling partner’s quirks. Not all, mind. There’s still a lot of mystery to Therion. And that was fine. If Therion wanted him to know, he’d let him know in his own time.

No sense in prying.

“Oh, pardon me, good sir.”

Startled by the unfamiliar voice, Alfyn immediately stopped in his tracks. He looked to his right to find a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. Brown hair that was slightly dishevelled, and his face was rather drawn and pale. He nervously twisted a blue cap in his hands as he looked expectantly at him.

“I can’t help but notice your knapsack. Are you an apothecary?” he asked.

Alfyn smiled brightly and nodded his head. “That’s right. What can I do for you?”

The man’s shoulders seemed to sag with relief. He, however, tensed a second later and drew in a slow breath. “It’s my son,” he finally said. “A fever with a rash. Medicine isn’t working. I’m at my wit’s end. I know you must be busy, but could you-?”

“Of course,” Alfyn immediately interrupted, earning a look of surprise from the man. “I’ll be more than happy to look over your son.”

“Thank goodness,” the man said as he sighed with relief. “Please, this way. My name’s Antonio, by the way.”

Alfyn smiled as he followed the nervous but grateful man. “And you can call me Alfyn.”

The two walked in silence, Alfyn following Antonio to a two-storied brick house. It had a medium size fence surrounding the residence, and a rather unusual front garden that were made up of yellow roses. Really quite beautiful and striking.

Antonio ushered Alfyn down a small stone pathway leading to the front porch of the building. He opened the front door and motioned for Alfyn to step inside first. And he did, without hesitation. Though he had to admit that there was a little voice in the back of his head telling him to stay cautious. That voice sounded similar to Therion’s, however.

“Where’s your son?” Alfyn immediately asked, eager to get to work.

“He’s sleeping, thankfully, which was the only reason I was able to sneak out,” Antonio explained with a hushed voice. He pressed a finger to his lips and motioned toward a closed door behind him with a tilt of his head.

The door he indicated had a small wooden name tag, with the name of Bradley engraved on it. That was obviously his son’s room.

“Let us sit down and discuss my son’s symptoms?” Antonio suggested, his voice still quiet. “And tea? Making tea is relaxing for me.”

Alfyn smiled warmly. “Of course,” he said simply.

Antonio smiled at him again before he ushered him to a small table with two chairs. “Sit, sit. I’ll make us both some tea right away.”

As Alfyn sat down, Antonio hurried toward a room that had to be the kitchen area. Now by himself, he found himself studying his surroundings. The place was well-kept, homely even. Though he did notice a few areas and pieces of furniture that was covered in dust. That could be explained away, however. Too busy looking after his son to even consider cleaning. Perfectly reasonable.

A moment later, Antonio returned with a tray of tea and biscuits. He placed the trap upon the table and carefully picked up a cup and saucer to present to him.

“Careful now, the tea is very hot,” Antonio warned as he set the cup in front of Alfyn.

“Ah, thank you very much,” Alfyn said politely in return.

Not wanting to be rude, Alfyn carefully picked the delicate teacup and took a cautionary slip to ensure he wouldn’t burn himself. But as soon as the warm liquid touched the back of his throat, he winced and pulled the cup away from his lips.

The tea was bitter, but that wasn't what made him react. There was something else added to the tea. Milk. Honey...Sleepweed.

His tea had been drugged…?

"Is there something the matter?" Antonio asked him with a confused frown. "Was the tea too hot? I did warn you now."

Aflyn swallowed thickly as he tried to stop his hand from shaking when he placed his tea cup back upon the table in front of him. He thankfully didn't take a large gulp of his tea where the sleepweed would take immediate effect. But there appeared to be a heavy dose of the weed in the tea and he drank enough that unless he took some precautions in the next minute, he was going to succumb to the effects.

He needed to escape.

Or at least make a scene.

Without a word of warning, Alfyn jumped to his feet while he simultaneously hoisted his bag upon his shoulder. As the chair he had sat on crashed to the floor loudly, he spun on his heel and ran for the front door. His sudden reaction was surprising, but as Antonio shouted for some unseen figures to appear, it didn't seem unexpected.

The door was thankfully unlocked as Alfyn barrelled into it. He threw it open and jumped down the small flight of stairs. The sleepweed affects were truly starting to take effect, causing Aflyn to stagger in his steps. But he continued to push himself forward. He didn’t know why they attempted to drug him or why someone seemed to be chasing him. What he did know that he had to escape.

A sudden and sharp pain in his right leg caused him to crash to the ground. Hard. Despite the dizzying effects of the sleepweed indicating that he was on the verge of falling asleep, Alfyn rolled onto his side and stared down at his leg. Where a well-positioned arrow could be seen protruding from his boot.

They had actually used an arrow to trip him up. They were serious.

As his vision blurred to the state of near incomprehensibly, Alfyn grabbed his bag and in a last ditched attempt to leave some sign, some evidence of his presence here, pushed his bag under a thick flowery bush that sprung up from the stone cobbled road. Hoping that it will somehow gain his travelling companions attention.

At the sound of boots thundering against the stone ground behind him, Alfyn’s vision greyed out before everything went black and he fell unconscious.

… … … … …

Therion impatiently tapped his fingers on the bar counter. After he had his fill picking the pockets of those he could safely get away with (and those who’s mere existence just pissed him off for some reason), he had gotten bored of roaming the streets. So he had wound up at the tavern sooner than expected.

He hoped that Alfyn would turn up soon, though. He was getting nothing out of these people.

They had always tried to visit the tavern on the first night they visited a new place. It allowed for Therion to gather any useful information. Alfyn was a chatter box when he was drinking though. More so than he was normally, but Therion had found a way to use to his advantage. Some people were more forthcoming with information when they believed they were chatting innocently with an apothecary.

“Ah, Therion, waiting for Alfyn again, yes?”

Though he recognised the voice, Therion still paused in his impatience to look over his shoulder. “Primrose,” he greeted simply as the dancer slipped onto a stool next to him. Not Alfyn’s seat, mind, but on the other side of him.

“Oh, Alfyn isn’t here yet? How unusual for him,” Primrose noted.

Actually, it was. Alfyn enjoyed a spot of mead, as he would always say, far more than any of their companions. To be late to a drinking session was unusual. But…nothing to be alarmed about. Alfyn could handle himself. Sure he was too kind for his own good, and it was going to get him into trouble one day…

Damn it, Therion muttered as he finished his drink. He needed to go looking for him now. Just to settle his own mind. The far too friendly medicine man was likely chatting it away with some wayward waif and had forgotten the time.

“Man, wasn’t expecting that apothecary to put up a fight like that.”

Therion paused as a voice from across the bar caught his attention. He glanced over his shoulder once more to watch two rather scruffy men walked into the tavern. One had blond hair hidden under a weather worn cap, while the other had greasy brown hair that was slicked back from the man’s face.

“Tried to escape, too. Luckily we had overdosed him on sleepweed, otherwise he might have actually gotten away. I could have handled him, mind. Still, lanky with orange hair and a whiz at making salves? Going to be rolling in the cash!”

Apothecary?

“He was easy to trap, anyway. He walked right into it. A sick kid with a fever? Believed it right away! What a chump, I tell ya!”

That…that had to be Alfyn…

The anger he felt was both chilling but raging. Freezing cold and boiling hot.

The next thing he knew, Therion had pushed himself up from his stool, the object crashing to the floor loudly behind him, and he stalked his way over to that boasting bastard. In a single swift movement, he pulled a knife from his waist band, gripped it tightly as he lifted it over his head, only to bring it down swiftly and embedding the sharp blade into the back of the bastard's hand. Pinning it to the bar counter.

As the man made a sound that was a mixture of a gasp of surprise and a howl of pain, Therion grabbed him harshly by his hair and ripped his head back as he simultaneously revealed another knife from his clothes. With his hand gripping the man's greasy hair in a white-knuckle grip, he brought the second knife against his neck. The blade but a hair's breadth away.

He didn't move it though. Didn't drag it against the vulnerable skin.

He wanted to, though. He wanted to so badly, it was almost frightening. But there was another force stronger that was holding him back. He needed the man to talk. If he didn't talk now, tell him where Alfyn was, his voice would never be heard again.

He would never be heard from again.

"You have ten seconds to tell me what you did with that apothecary or you will never talk again. And to show you that I'm serious, you now have five seconds," Therion hissed in a tone that was so chilling that he briefly wondered if it really was coming from him.

The other man, whom the one he held at knife had been boasting with, abruptly stood up from his stool. He had one hand on the counter to balance himself while the other reached toward his coat. Now doubt reaching for a weapon of his own.

Therion sent him a scathing glare of annoyance, ready to briefly remove the knife that was edging closer toward the first man’s throat.

Before he could reveal whatever weapon he had holstered and before Therion himself could react, a figure in red appeared behind the second man. And a knife was embedded on the back of his hand, pinning it to the counter just like Therion had done. And like the man he currently held captive, he bellowed an annoying sound of pain and surprise.

“Now, gentlemen,” a smooth but chilling voice chided. “We just want some information. No need to get violent with us.”

Primrose stood behind the second man, she, too, holding him at knife point. She caught Therion’s gaze for a moment and nodded. And Therion nodded back. She, too, had overheard them. And she, too, was furious.

Now, time to get some information.

“Start talking,” Therion ordered as he tightened his grip on the man’s greasy hair. “That apothecary with orange hair. Where is he?”

In contrast to the man’s previous boastings, his voice now was jittery and high pitched with fear. “H-he’s at the house with the yellow rose garden. Th-that’s where the deals take place.”

“Deals? What deals?” Therion demanded, though his heart sank into his chest in anticipation of the answer.

“Apothecaries get ya a lot of money, y-ya know?”

Damn it, that was what he had feared.

“They’re going to sell him?” Therion hissed.

“He’s already been sold.”

Fucking damn it!

Therion immediately lifted his gaze from the man he was interrogating to look at Primrose. Though her expression stayed stoic, her eyes held a sense of fear mixed with anger. Something Therion believed his own eyes held.

There was no time to deal with these two. They needed to find Alfyn. Now.

Therion abruptly released his hold on the man and turned on his heel. He sprinted for the door and knew that Primrose was right behind him. As they both practically barrelled out into the streets, they paused only briefly to regard each other.

“Alfyn is too pure for the life of forced servitude,” Primrose said simply. Her eyes were chillingly cold with protectiveness and her lips were drawn tight into a frown.

And she was right.

“Go,” she urged suddenly. “Go to the house they mentioned. I will inform the others. But you need to find him. Now.”

Tch, didn’t need to tell him twice.

Without exchanging another word, they both turned in opposite directions, Primrose toward the inn, while Therion headed deeper into the town. He remembered seeing a house with yellow roses during his first wanderings of the town.

As he ran in the direction he believed that house was in, he noticed that Ophilia and H’aanit were up ahead. Linde with them, of course. And in Ophilia’s hands was a familiar knapsack,

“Therion!” Ophilia’s voice called to him. “We found Alfyn’s bag and-”

“Is he inside the house?” Therion demanded as he skidded to a halt before the two. “Have you looked inside?”

Ophilia was stunned into silence while H’aanit regarded him curiously. Before she could question him, the sound of horses trotting and wooden wheels rolling over stones and gravel interrupted. Therion felt a chill of fear wash over him as he turned to look to the house. He didn’t immediately see anything of note, until he spied a horse driven carriage pull up in a small, dimly lit alleyway behind the house with yellow roses.

It was a sturdy wooden wagon. The carriage also crafted from wood with thick material acting as curtains and covering up the back of the cart of which was actually a door also made of wood. Other than the opening in the back, there were no windows to be seen. That wasn’t good. The wood was strong, the beams purposefully broad. Even the jailer’s wagon had fewer reinforcements.

From the house appeared two men. No, three. Two decked out in black, one of them carrying someone dressed in green with telling messy hair over his shoulder.

Therion watched with his heart in his throat as one of the muscle bound henchman harshly threw Alfyn into the back of the carriage. He then pulled the curtains closed and tied the two ends together in thick twine.

“That was Alfyn!” Ophilia gasped as the carriage suddenly pulled away sharply.

The carriage was moving toward the outskirts of town. The horses at a full gallop. Therion had no chance of chasing after them. But the roads of the town were winding. There was still a chance.

The rooftops.

Therion spun around on his heel in order to find a way to scramble his way onto the rooftops. Instead his gaze fell on the other members of their traveling party. Primrose had managed to gather Cyrus, Olberic, and Tressa. But it was Olberic that he was looking at.

“Olberic, give me a boost!” Therion ordered as he headed straight toward the warrior.

Olberic didn’t ask any questions. His face was stoic as he leaned forward, to allow Therion to get a foothold on his hands and with very little effort, all but launched him toward the rooftops.

Therion landed on the awing of the roof and a second later he was running, without any concern of his own safety, over the roofing tiles, effortlessly jumping from one house to another.

“They’ll likely head for the backroads!” Cyrus informed him as he skittered over another rooftop. “Far easier for them to make a quick retreat without rousing suspicions!”

Right. He’ll take the quickest path there.

The sun was setting. They didn’t have much time. He couldn’t afford to let them get away under the cover of night.

As Therion landed on the roof of a small, red bricked house, he paused to catch his breath. He looked frantically to see if Cyrus was right in his deduction, and felt a sharp pain of panic when he didn’t see the carriage anywhere.

But a moment later, he saw it. Racing toward him.

Cyrus was right. As he usually was. But he was right. And that meant that Therion was able to get in front of the carriage. But stopping it won’t be as easy as stepping out in front of it. Not only was that completely stupid, they’d likely just run over him. It could also the possibility of losing Alfyn’s trail completely.

He won’t let that happen.

That carriage driver was going to be in for one hell of a surprise.

As he pulled out his knife from his waistband, Therion crouched down on the awning of the roof. He waited, his heart pounding in his ears, as the carriage raced closer. He had to time it perfectly.

Just before the carriage reached him, he jumped.

And he landed heavily on the roof of the carriage.

He stabbed the knife into the wood to ensure that he didn’t fall off. His landing was loud, so was likely to be noticed by the driver, but that didn’t matter. Let them know. It wouldn’t change a thing.

It took Therion just a second to balance himself and find the rhythm of the jostling of a moving carriage. He released his knife as he pushed forward, to the front of the carriage. As he had expected, the driver (rather drivers) had noticed something untoward and were attempting to make the horses to run faster in hopes of shoving him off.

It was too late for them to do anything.

“Give me that,” Therion snarled as he kicked one of the men in the ribs, and kicked him off the side of the cart while he grabbed for the reins. The other man tried to interfere, so Therion countered by kicking him in the ribs and off the moving cart, too. He was pretty sure that one of them struck a tree when they fell off.

They deserved more honestly, but there were other concerns to deal with at present. He’d find them later to inflict more punishment upon them. That was if the others didn’t get their hands on them first. He was certainly they would quickly figure out they were the drivers of this particular carriage.

After a bit of wrangling with the reins, the horses finally slowed their pace eventually to a trot. Good enough for Therion to release the reins and turned his attention to the carriage behind him. Thankfully, there was a door located here, too. To no doubt ensure that security of the contents inside.

The lock on the door was barely a hindrance as Therion forced open the door.

Though the setting sun didn’t offer the best of lighting, it was enough to illuminate the interior of the carriage. And to reveal the form of Alfyn, lying on his side with thick, coarse rope binding his arms and legs. He appeared to be gagged, too.

As the light flooded in around him, Alfyn tilted his head back to look up at him. He looked fearful for a moment before he recognised him.

The look of relief in his eyes was something Therion wasn’t going to be able to forget for quite some time.

Therion immediately threw himself into the carriage. He dropped to his knees by Alfyn’s side, helped him to sit up before he quickly cut the ropes binding Alfyn’s arms and wrist. And as they fell away, Alfyn ripped the gag from his mouth and suddenly turned to him, and hastily threw his arms around his neck in a hug.

Therion instantly froze with his arms out to his sides as Alfyn pressed his face against his neck. He soon responded, however, but wrapping his own arms around Alfyn, holding him tight. Actually hugging him.

Slowly, Alfyn pulled back and placed his hands on Therion’s shoulders. “Hey, your timing is impeccable,” he said meekly. No, tiredly. Even his smile of relief held a tinge of weariness to it.

It was only then that Therion realised that Alfyn’s cheek had a thin gash, from his cheek bone to his jawline. The blood was caked and dry, but Therion still gingerly, carefully touched Alfyn’s cheek with his hand. A sense of protective anger immediately bubbled in his chest.

“They hurt you…” he murmured.

Alfyn managed a half smile. “I fought back, ya see. They didn’t appreciate that too much.”

“What else did they do?” Therion demanded, though his sharp tone was more out of sheer protectiveness than anything else.

Alfyn sighed and motioned down to his right leg, promptly forcing Therion to realise that his ankles were still bound. And as he quickly cut away the ropes, he could see a tear in Alfyn’s boot. And there were flakes of dried blood to be seen.

“An arrow,” Alfyn murmured. “Can’t run away if ya can’t walk, right?”

There was that chillingly hot rage again. At those responsible. They hurt Alfyn. Shot him with an arrow. Bound him in rope. Sold him. That was…infuriating.

As Alfyn hugged him again, Therion found himself pushing aside his rage to instead wrap his arms around Alfyn once more. Feeling Alfyn in his arms did little to ease his anger, but it did bring home the realisation that he had managed to get to him in time. That he had found him. And that now he was going to make sure that he was safe.

He was…the relief he felt was almost overwhelming.

“I knew you would find me,” Alfyn whispered as he pressed his face into Therion’s scarf. “I wasn’t sure how you would, but I knew you would.”

Therion sighed as he subconsciously tightened his hold on Alfyn. “…Let’s get you back to the inn,” he said simply.

After Alfyn was safely back at the inn, he was going to grab Olberic and H’aanit. And they were going to go hunting…

… … … … …

Alfyn wearily sat down on his bed at the inn. Thick bandages were wound tightly around his right ankle and leg, while another small bandage adorned his cheek where a knife was taken to it with a threat.

After Therion had freed him from that carriage and aided him in walking because of the injury to his leg, they had met up with the rest of their travelling companions half way.

Primrose was the first to reach them. She had framed his face with her hands as she looked him over, looked into his eyes. Cyrus was the next to reach them, immediately pressing himself against Alfyn’s other side to help him walk without placing pressure on his injured leg. They were followed quickly by Olberic, H’annit, Ophilia, and Tressa. All of them huddling around him, asking him questions, essentially talking over the top of each other.

But Alfyn could easily hear and see their concern.

They all had been so worried. Worried for him. They didn’t know the full extent of his circumstances, and he didn’t either. They just knew that he was in danger. And that they needed to help him.

He felt guilty that he worried them so much. And he felt somewhat awkward as the fussed over him without hesitation as they helped him back to the inn. Poor Ophilia appeared to be on the verge of crying. She held the tears in, even as she helped to bandaged his injuries. Alfyn still felt guilty about worrying her, everyone so much.

He found himself repeatedly apologising for worrying everyone. It wasn’t his fault, he understood that. But the apologises just kept coming. So he was thankful that Cyrus spoke up, suggesting while leaving little room to argue, that Alfyn should head to his room and get some rest. They’ll speak more on the subject in the morning. But for now, Alfyn just needed to rest for a bit.

What an ordeal. It honestly felt so surreal now that it was over.

That man, that Antonio…he was one heck of an actor. He looked and sounded so convincing. He obviously done something like that before. Which was honestly terrifying to think about. About other apothecaries who had been lured in with the belief of helping someone, only to be drugged and trapped, to be sold to the highest bidder.

That could have been him. If Therion didn’t show up when he did.

He owed Therion his life, didn’t he?

Alfyn was pulled from his thoughts when Therion walked into their shared room at the inn. He paused to shut the door tightly behind him, ensuring that the lock was in place before he turned to regard him.

“Therion…”

“You should try to get some rest,” Therion said as he walked to the window and harshly drew the blinds shut.

Alfyn nodded his head idly, but stayed where he sat. Instead continued to watch Therion as he subtly inspected the room, ensuring that everything was locked and secured. For Alfyn’s sake, as well as his own.

“You know, Therion…” Alfyn started, not entirely sure of what he wanted or needed to say. “That was…scary, what happened today. I admit that. And…I don’t think I can even begin to thank you for what you did. Shucks, I’m kinda bummed I didn’t see you in action. You must have looked amazing, huh?”

“Don’t mention it,” Therion suddenly said as he turned to face him.

Alfyn shook his head. “No, I need to-”

“It won’t happen again,” Therion said firmly as he moved to stand in front of him.

Alfyn had to smile. But that smile slipped from his lips as Therion suddenly pushed him down onto the bed and leaned over him, his hands on either side of his head, and his legs on either side of his hips. Alfyn flopped back onto the bed, and stared up at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t afraid, but confused. And a bit intrigued.

“From now on, if you want to do a house visit, I’m going with you,” Therion stated. It wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of fact.

Alfyn blinked, somewhat surprised by the determination and protectiveness in Therion’s words and eyes. But a smile slipped across his lips a moment later at the sense of security he felt by Therion’s words.

“Shucks, Therion, that…sounds nice,” Alfyn murmured as he raised his hands to gently frame Therion’s face.

He half expected Therion to pull away. But he didn’t. He continued to stare down at him with an intensity he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Even when Therion lowered his face toward his, Alfyn gently guiding him so their lips met perfectly, he still couldn’t quite work out what it was that Therion held in his eyes. Interest? Protectiveness? Fondness? Attraction?

As Therion kissed him, lowering his body atop of his and pressing him firmly into the mattress of the bed, Alfyn realised that it didn’t really mutter what it was exactly. Maybe all of the above. What did matter was that he enjoyed the feeling of Therion next to him, against him, kissing him.

One thing was certain – he was glad to have met Therion.

#octopath traveler #alfyn #therion #alfion #fanfiction #guys in distress

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