#he last saw them when Luna was around 4 - he was 12 - and then his dad died and Niflheim started going at Galahd harder

[cafeinthemoon]

Ruins - Part XVIII

Chapter 18

Wordcount 2,3k

Title Part XVIII

Fandom Shuumatsu no Valkyrie / Record of Ragnarok

Previous chapters 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17

Symbols ⭕ . ➕. 💛

Warnings: none

Tagging @holdyourwine @lilacshouko @shirayuki-ayumi (If you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just leave a comment on this chapter or send an ask or a message)

N. A.: So... its been a while lol First, let me tell you that this time I've spent without posting on social media was important, because I was really tired. I was stressed from work, I started college and was worried about all of this, so I barely had the time or the energy to sit in front of the notebook and write something, or even edit my drafts. I was feeling saturated from it, and sensed that if I continued to do it, the results, that is, the next chapters of my ffs, would be trash. I hope you understand this time.

This chapter is like a transition, and that's why it's short compared to others. The next one we will finally have the process of marriage and the rest, which I've been wanting to work on for too long! Now I'm really excited for that! So have this brief update and I see you in the next one :)

You didn’t wait until they approached your spot, neither you said anything to express your surprise: once you laid your eyes on them, you let go of Hades’ hand and, without waiting to see if he was going to follow you, you started running toward the group. There was no mistake: there you had your parents, your sisters and your niece, all of them marveled by the vision of the Gardens and cheered up by the fact that you were the first person they met once they crossed the Gates.

Your happiness deepened when you reached them at last: they were all well dressed and had refreshed expressions, indicating that, as much as your own travel to those lands, theirs was far from tiring despite the distance between Valhalla and Midgard.

As a little child who were left in a neighbor’s house for an entire day, once you saw your mother, you passed straight by a surprised Hermes and threw yourself in her arms. All the thoughts, anxieties and expectations you carried that morning came back at once, and you just started to cry.

– Mom – you mumbled – Is that really you, mom?

Though she responded to your gesture with equal emotion, even she was surprised with all those tears.

– My baby! – she laughed – You’ve missed us this much?

– You have no idea – you whispered back, now looking into her eyes.

Your father, who was watching everything with diversion, approached you two, and you opened your arms to hug him too.

– Y/n-chan, is it just me or are you a bit taller since the last time we’ve saw you? – he joked, putting his hand upon your head – What have they been feeding you?

You laughed until you were breathless: not only you’ve long passed the period of growth, but you were also the shortest among your sisters for most of your lives, and that has been a matter of interest for your father since you were, in fact, little. You used to get angry with this in the beginning, but later you’ve learned to send the provocation back to him, just like you did that time.

– Well, maybe you’ve became shorter, dad. It’s just a matter of perspective!

Everyone laughed, and you finally turned to your sisters.

Luna, who, just like you, shared physical resemblance with your mother, was dressed in blue and had her hair tied in a single, long braid; Helena, who was more like your father, had a pair of big eyes glowing with all the things she was seeing, and a curly hair left untied, spreading around her shoulders, where she had a rosy shawl to protect her against the evening’s breeze. Though she was way younger than you, she has passed you in height, and everything indicated that she would keep growing.

Luna was the one holding Ellie, your niece, and the baby let out a sequence of little screams when you arrived, eager to get your attention. She started laughing when you took her in your arms and the girls came to hug you.

– How are you doing, girls? – you asked between the hugs – You’ve never looked so beautiful!

– The same could be said about you – it was Helena’s calm response.

You laughed.

– They have really good cosmetics around here!

– I’m willing to try them, then! – Luna commented, enthusiastic.

Still holding the baby, you finally turned to Hermes.

– Thank you so much for bringing them here, Hermes-sama. It’s the best gift you’ve ever gave to me.

The gods’ messenger, always in his composed manners, nodded.

– I was just doing my job, y/n-san.

Ellie was the first to see when Hades approached, pointing at him with a curious expression. You turned and immediately felt the heat coming up to your cheeks: you’ve got so excited when you saw your relatives that you just left him behind, and only then you realized that this wasn’t the most appropriate thing to do, for despite being his bride and having built a strong, intimate bond with him, you were still human and he was a god, and that could be seen as offensive for anyone who would hear of this.

With this in mind, you stepped ahead and were going to apologize for your behavior, but you had no chance, for you were no longer the focus of the group: while Luna and Helena stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and fear, your parents, immediately understanding they had another divine being before them, bowed their heads in respect.

You soon took the responsibility of doing the presentations.

– So… This is Hades-sama, from Greece – you spoke in a low, shy manner – He’s the King of the Underworld and, as Hermes-sama might have informed you, my future husband.

Hades, now by your side, smiled with sympathy.

– It’s a beautiful family you have, y/n – and, approaching your parents and putting one hand on each one’s shoulders, – You are the family of my future wife. You bow to no one.

Their faces brightened up at those words, said in a soft, comforting tone, and you felt a sort of pride with the scene: if there was any chance of your family not accepting your relationship or not trusting him – after all, that marriage meant taking you away from them and to Hellheim – it disappeared the moment they were treated with genuine respect. You mother, in particular, was satisfied with what she was seeing, which you noticed in the clear message you’ve caught in her eyes: being the responsible for three girls who would soon start their own lives out of her guardianship, it was only natural that the kind of people with whom they’d chose to live was among her biggest worries, and, whatever she was expecting in this sense, to see one of her girls becoming a god’s wife was beyond her imagination; but, if you were happy with this, she wouldn’t ask for more.

Hades greeted your sisters with manners that reminded you of the old gentlemen you used to see in important events at your city, nodding and making brief comments about their beauty. You and the girls always made fun of this, because the old – and, many times, uninteresting – men were the only ones who would behave like this, but having that polite, handsome man making use of those manners without the affectation typical of those other ones convinced them of the honesty of his words, and that left them ecstatic.

Finally, he turned to you and to your niece, who has been observing him with attentive eyes since he arrived and had no problems in being picked up by him, laughing and stretching her little arms to the stranger who received those gestures with diversion.

– And this is my niece, Ellie – you introduced the baby while passing her to his hands; and, with a playful smile, – I guess she likes you!

– Me or my earring? – he asked in return, laughing as he tried to keep the girl’s hand away from his ear; and, to her, – Your curiosity surpasses my expectations, little one!

Though Ellie clearly didn’t understand what curiosity or expectations meant, she seemed to enjoy being held by Hades more than by yourself, because, after playing with her for a moment, she refused to return to you when you tried to pick her back, provoking everyone’s laughter.

And, as expected, your mother was the first to verbalize her opinion on this.

– You have a way with small children, my Lord! That’s surprising, to say the least!

Hades turned to her with a sort of prideful, nostalgic smile.

– I am the eldest of four brothers – he let Ellie hold his index finger – I still remember when each of them were just like Ellie-chan.

Hermes, who was observing everything in silence, was the first to reply that time.

– Let’s pray that this conversation never reaches Poseidon-sama’s ears, uncle.

– I agree with you, Hermes-sama – you, the only human there who met Poseidon, completed with a clever smile.

***

Hermes led your family to rooms on the wing of the apprentices on the human lodge, so that you would stay close to them for the entire period of their stay. It was established that, while your parents would have one room for themselves, your sisters and the baby would stay in a contiguous one, both located on the floor under your own room; to access them, you’d only need to walk down the stairs and cross a corridor for a few meters.

Just like the apprentices, they were all allowed to visit the Gardens and take their meals at the common room, and they enjoyed each opportunity in that sense. Well, actually, your parents decided to turn their stay at the blessed lands into a second honeymoon, something that was first pointed out by Helena and confirmed by you and Luna when you saw them walking with their hands entwined in the Gardens in the next morning of their arrival; your sisters, on their turn, had no difficulties in making friends with the other girls, particularly with Heracles’ disciples, so that later he came to express his contentment in knowing this, stating that you were lucky to have such excellent siblings.

***

Those days spent in the company of your beloved ones were the happiest since your arrival at the divine lands: having your relatives and the man you loved in the same place, and seeing them getting along, was more than your could ask for, even when you knew it wouldn’t last forever.

About this, you already have established your opinion, which was discussed later.

You were taking care of your flowers at the Green House. Your garden, by the way, was growing larger, and that only added to your contentment.

That afternoon, you were upon a small staircase, watering the flowers above your table, when you heard the door opening; you recognized the visitor’s steps and smiled.

– You’re late – you warned him as you walked down the stairs and put the watering can on the floor, beside the table, then crossed your arms to pretend irritation – We were supposed to to take a walk at the Gardens… but this was half an hour ago.

Hades, who was in fact the visitor, walked around the table and stopped by your side, surrounding you with his arms.

– Will you forgive me for this small crime, little one, if I reveal my reasons to you?

You shrugged.

– You can try.

As you imagined, he was with your parents.

– We’ve spent a wonderful time together – he explained – During which interesting conversations happened.

Your face heated up with that.

– Well, if these conversations didn’t include my parents narrating embarrassing episodes of my childhood that I intended to keep out of your knowledge, it’s okay for me.

This caused laughter from your partner, who replied that he then preferred to stay silent about the topics of the said conversations.

***

You had your arms leaning on the wood guardrail as your eyes followed the stream passing under the bridge. The murmur of the water, as sweet as the first time you heard it, was now like the music from a dream, from a memory you’ve long lost and then happily retrieved: yes, you were revisiting the places of the garden where you met for the second time, and now you were in the middle of that bridge where you had your first conversation about your dreams. Those events happened months ago, but to you it hasn’t been more than a few days, and the emotions you’ve experienced that day were vivid inside you.

Apparently, Hades had similar feelings towards it, and he showed it to you: you felt his fingers brushing your hair, then his hands bringing you closer, for a hug.

– Your mood seems lighter now that you have your family here, my y/n – he kissed the top of your head – The time you’ve spent with Heracles was really worth it.

– Indeed, it was – you murmured, passing your arms around his waist – Honestly, I feel even better now that they’re here. If I was scared by all the reasons I’ve told you before, now I know that it was silly of me to be afraid. There’s only room for happiness in my heart these days. Heracles-sama taught me to value the time I have with them instead of concentrating in the future days, in a time when they won’t be with me. And this is what I’m trying to do right now.

– A wise choice – Hades commented – And, judging by what I’ve learned from your parents, they must have the same view on this question. Have you already talked to them about it?

You sighed and moved away from his hug.

– Not yet. I know I have to do this, and they’re probably waiting for something of this type, but I’m still nervous about taking the first step.

– Well, if this helps, you can try to find a chance to bring out the subject during an informal moment. You know, sitting around a table and discuss things like a meeting between monarchs is quite stressful.

You turned to him with a frown.

– This is something stressful for you? – and, with a giggle, – You never told me that!

His lips stretched in a smirk in response.

– There are a few things I still haven’t told you, my girl. For example… – you felt his hand surrounding your waist and bring you back to him – I was sent straight to our future when I saw you holding your niece in your arms. You created such a beautiful scene together.

Your cheeks heated up.

– Our future? Are you talking about…? – you gasped – Hades, we will have a long time to think about this, don’t you think?

The god approached his lips from your ear, as if his next words shouldn’t be heard by anyone but you.

– I do. But there’s nothing wrong in speaking about this right now.

Part XIX

[bamababygirl7]

🥰💞 I was tagged by the awesome and super gorgeous @angelsleaze

1. Are you named after anyone?

I wasn’t named after anyone. My name is pretty unique (I’m pretty sure my parents were on drugs lol)

2. Last time you cried?

Yesterday when I saw a post from @mister-s0013 about a 4 year old dying after an exorcism so I googled it and found way too many cases of this happening. Children are my soft spot.

3. Do you have/want kids?

I am a proud boy mom 💙💙💙 I wanted a little girl so badly, but after having nieces, I am so thankful that I didn’t have a daughter. I think they come out of the womb with an attitude lol

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Me sarcastic??? NEVER lol

5. What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their sense of humor (if they have a dark sense of humor and/or love memes, they are automatically my bestie) Also, one of the first things I notice is how their mind works. I am drawn to people who are brutally honest like me (don’t just tell me what I want to hear) and who are passionate about certain things but not judgmental and like to discuss different subjects even if we don’t agree on them because I learn a lot from listening to different perspectives on subjects. (I’m a huge nerd and love learning)

6. What's your eye color?

My eyes are hazel. They are usually more green, but it depends on what I’m wearing, and they can get really blue when I cry.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

I like both. It really just depends on my mood. I love being scared, but not when I’m all by myself. I love movies with twists. I get bored with predictability (probably because I’m so random and impulsive lol)

8. Special talents?

NSFW answer 😈😈😈

SFW answer 😇😇😇 I think I’m pretty good at coming up with ideas and designing the shirts and tumblers that I make. I like my things to be unique, so I can’t bring myself to buy premade designs on Etsy (even though it would cut the time of making things in half 🤦🏼‍♀️)

9. Where were you born?

In the hospital.

10. What are your hobbies?

COLORING 💓💓💓 Collecting stuffies, Designing and making shirts, tumblers, paddles, keychains, etc… Listening to music, Reading, Watching Disney movies and anything that has to do with GLITTER ✨

11. Have any pets?

I have the sweetest doggy in the whole wide world named Luna.

12. What sports do you play or have you played?

I was a cheerleader 😬

13. How tall are you?

I am 5’6”

14. Favorite subject in school?

My favorite subject in highschool was Bible (I went to a Christian school, not by choice. I begged my mom to let me go to public school and she refused 🙄🙄🙄) because I loved aggravating my Bible teacher by asking a million random questions that would distract him from his boring lectures. (ie… Is it a sin to have oral sex before I’m married? Is it a sin to take shrooms that we find growing naturally in the cow pasture? etc.) And if his answer was yes, I always asked for an explanation as to why. He would always divert from his planned lecture and answer my questions (the class was very appreciative lol)

15. Dream job?

I actually do what I love now… designing and making things. Although, it would be nice to get paid just to sit around and color with glitter pens all day lol. Due to getting pregnant as a teenager (Thanks mom for refusing to discuss sex other than to say NO sex until you are married 🙄🙄🙄) I could no longer go away to college like intended to become an attorney, so I stayed in the town I lived in and got my degree in Accounting. 10/10 do NOT recommend (It is super boring and due to ADHD I can’t sit at a desk and deal with numbers all day everyday and during tax season, everybody and their momma wants you to do their taxes for free and get them back thousands of dollars 😂🤣😂) Long story short, life is too short to be stuck in a job that makes you miserable, so I am super thankful to be doing what I love❣️

Tagging these lovely folks (No pressure if you don't want to participate) @missathesiren @pure-hell2 @drinkyourmilf @dominant-dominion @thebeardiswriting @anotherboredaustralian @mister-s0013 @c4c4ine @iecholouder @nerdy-boytoy @naughtybeardedguy

[flareflarerp]

I posted 12,007 times in 2022

That's 4,566 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (0%)

11,950 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@everythingfox

@duran301

@an-immortal

I tagged 169 of my posts in 2022

#youtube - 31 posts

#my little pony - 21 posts

#mlp - 17 posts

#friendship is magic - 17 posts

#cute - 17 posts

#oc - 16 posts

#princess luna - 14 posts

#art - 14 posts

#equestria daily - 13 posts

#fluttershy - 13 posts

Longest Tag: 70 characters

#this user strongly supports the safety and well being of jewish people

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

IS HE FINALLY DEAD?! DID HE SERIOUSLY DELETE HIS ACCOUNTS?! OH MY FUCKING GOD! No this isn’t true! @duran301 just informed me!

@chromaslip

@a-spoonful-of-generosity

@ask-chrysalis

Please tell me this is true folks! That redmix is gone!!!

12 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

#4

Well @duran301 and I are a couple. Love this dorky kirin :3 pssst don’t tell nox or chroma oh shit too late

13 notes - Posted June 19, 2022

#3

ITS HERE!!!!!

19 notes - Posted July 30, 2022

#2

Coming out of music retirement????

Yes I know. 7 years! I have been not been making music under this name since my denature from making music under this name and yes it’s been a long one. But under my new name Cyberhound I’ve mature in a big way when it comes to producing and making music. But as of recent I miss making music under this name, well ever since @oroichonno asked me how life has been after I left and it’s been fun. Been able to get my life sort of back together as some of you saw that one post of me falling off the wagon yet again. But I’m fine now.  But even talking about it in Discord with @nox-lunarwing . It makes me miss it even more but I have to let everyone new that I’ve met only for the past couple years....My music had a short life. 2 Years. No budget. Half the time I was drunk or bored making the music I made under this name. But Now under my plan for my distributor, DistroKid. I can release music for Two artists name so I don’t know. Is it time? Will anyone actually listen?  If I do choose to upload my old music I want to let you all know right off the back so I don’t need to as Nox put, ‘Let them beforehand, so you don’t have to tap the sign’. I will not be releasing new music under this name. This is just my whole Discography for everyone to listen to on every platform.  I will be also remastering all the songs so you can hear it as I wanted you to hear it. I did have an idea for one last heavy metal/hard rock album (The only genre I make now) that revolved around old MLP horror blogs (i.e. Lil Miss Rarity ((Yes, i know that blog is still active)), Ask Murdershy, Ask Pinkamena, you know the blogs MindlessGonzo did dubs for 10 years ago on his channel when I was a teenager and we were all obsessed with lol) called ‘The Equestrian Nightmares’. (Yes a parody of the Ice Nine Kills Song, ‘The American Nightmare’ but with all MLP). But I don’t know. Even if @lil-mizz-jay (sorry for the tag jay, you can ignored this if you want) or anyone would think about it I might not do it and scrap it unless I got backed for it. It sounds too cringe right now and tbh it’s best to keep Flare retired but it’s a constant dilemma for me. The ‘What If’s. If you would like to see me return let me know. 

23 notes - Posted August 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

So It’s HAPPENING!!!!!

Yep I am coming out of retirement! (Thank you @lil-mizz-jay & everyone for the kind words ^^) I know very exciting!

I have already started the process of re-mastering & distributing all my old music through my new distributor, ‘DistroKid’ Once I have all the links set up I’ll make another post to all of them :). This has been a dream ever since I started making music with this name but never had money to make it come true and it’s finally coming true for me so excuse while I grab a tissue for this. 

Do Be Warned! My older stuff will sound off and like a bunch of noise but look at the release date before you judge me. I was a drunk idiot back then in 2014, but some of them have their moments but you have the right to your opinion just giving you all some warning.

Before you ask @a-spoonful-of-generosity & @diamond-tiara-4-serving-spoon Yes all the DiamondSpoon albums (Including the dark sides) will be released out there as well.

Well Flare Flare, Where Will All Your Music Be Released?

Why I’m glad you ask. They will be released to the following services: Spotify iTunes Apple Music YouTube Music Amazon Music Soundtrack For Twitch & if you have a service you’d like for me to add it too (If available), then I’ll add it. I already have my Discography available on my Bandcamp & my Soundcloud (Some tracks are missing and the person I made it for would like for to not be released anywhere else and I am respecting their decision).   What About This ‘New Album’? Well.....I have done some thinking on it and I have decided to make it cause I wanted to make something like that before but couldn’t cause of no budget. It will be Heavy Metal (Like Very Heavy Jay, Prepare LMR for that lol. So much heavy metal screaming coming for this). I don’t think you guys know how heavy. So let me provide you this song to give you a hint on how heavy it will be. It will be covering some the horror ponies: Lil Miss Rarity (majority of the album is about), Murdershy, Pinkamenia. Also, if anyone has my doubts of my screaming abilities, Here is an example of my screaming (I come in at timestamp 1:40). Here is another example of my screaming. So I will be brining my A game to this. Plus, I’ve matured very much when it comes to making music so this album will be LIT! The album will be name, ‘The Equestrian Night Mares’ and I want a seasonal release date but I don’t know when (definitely not this year. Too many projects going on). But It’s so good to be finally be back. Welcome new followers from Jay’s. To my current followers....Flare Flare is BACK! Let’s headbang!

24 notes - Posted August 9, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[feuqueerfire]

23.5 Degrees Ep 1 - 8 Live Blogging

I've been wanting a MilkLove series since I watched Bad Buddy in early 2022 and now I finally get to watch it! I'm excited, I've liked the gifs and clips I've seen on social media. It's a regular high school drama but I can enjoy those when done well, so I'm hoping it's charming.

I wanted to watch more of this show while it was on air but it was exam season, so I avoided watching anything that was airing, but now I'll watch up to the first 8 episodes and watch the last few eps (9-12) as they air.

Ep 1 (Apr 27)

1-1

It makes me so giddy already hehe

So what is the family dynamic? Is Alpha the older sister, Ongsa's the younger one, it's their parents, and Aylin is the cousin who's living with them?

Also, I wonder if Love rode that motorcycle? it was going through narrow spaces and such

1-2

so ridiculous lol Ongsa fainted looking at Sun's face

Aw, poor loser Ongsa

leave her alone or I'll start killing you creeps

Euro's character + Sun to the rescue

omg in the comments, people were talking about how they can't believe they're at the age when the main characters are their age... meanwhile, I was like oh? 10th grade? so young! T.T I'm at the age when I'm the same age as the older BL characters because they're mostly still in uni or uni age lol

1-3

I believe Sun's family are gonna be cute and nice

smiley moon :)

oh the shadow on Ongsa's IG makes it seems like she's a guy

pls Ongsa spiraling after sending "Goodnight" which reads as flirty is hilarious

not a fan of the yelling necessarily

1-4

Aylin giving advice

loll Alpha and her friends fucking up the bullies. I saw a tiktok of this

Earth that revolves around the sun

oh noo, not shy guy Earth

I knew a lot about this episode already, so nothing was really surprising but it's cute so far! Lots and lots of space motifs

Ep 2: Universe Club (Apr 28)

2-1

I'm so confused about when people came to Bangkok, like I thought they moved here just a month ago? How is Alpha already the school president and famous in the school and stuff?

Aw, Earth isn't answering Sun's messages?

loll Earth's cuteness aggression

oh, yknow I thought they might mention period cramps or smth to cover up Earth's screaming in the bathroom in ep 1 but they didn't, so I thought maybe the show isn't gonna mention periods but indeed Aylin came to get a pad from Ongsa

2-2

yaas lesbian teachers

it's kinda funny that I've never been spoiled about this Astronomy Club curse, does it play a part in the show after this ep?

Aylin and Luna are so cute, my ViewJune !

pls not Sun talking to Ongsa about Earth

Ongsa digging herself into a deeper hole

purposefully throwing away phone into the trash is wild lmfao

2-3

bird poo T.T

ahhh "exploring space by yourself can be lonely. Want to explore it with me?" romance

pls "I'm talk to Earth" all her friends: "huh? a guy?!" lesbian Sun hehe

2-4

pls Earth having no access to a good electronic device, Sun thinking Earth went MIA and dumped her, Teacher Bambam falling down the stairs and ending up at the hospital, supposed curse strong af

more trans lesbian teachers but one of them is crazy about Astronomy Club and would withstand bodily harm to get it running lmfao i love them

2-4

yaas phone acquired

lol so cute Sun holding a grudge

loll wiggling enough to fall off the bed, reminds me of Pat in Ep 7 Bad Buddy squeezing nong nao doll to death + Tinn wiggling on his bed a few times in My School President

Aw, Chaeron and Tinh going out of their way to buy a protective amulet for Ongsa

ah, P'Ton Ongsa's ex-bf. I knew this already but if I didn't, I too would've been shocked

Also I've learned hapless means unfortunate/having no luck. I knew the word before but didn't quite know that that's what it meant

Ep 3: UFO (Apr 29)

3-1

they dated only for 3 days, i'm crying

oh lmfao that's too long apparently + he got broken up with

okay, so last year Alpha was still at this house and school? While Ongsa came for Songkran and then went back to Phuket

everybody in this fucking school is obsessed with recording everything

girl became the treasurer for gay reasons and now has to get money from ppl

these ppl gotta leave Onsga aloneeee, she doesn't even like Ton pls

3-2

I hope Mawin/Tinh happens

Alpha is younger than Ton?

oh this is the event where lots of them are at school at night and there's an Onsga-Sun hug

oww Aylin wants to meet her alien friends so bad T.T "Someone like you with many friends wouldn't understand"

pls this basketball

3-3

not Tinh broadcasting him breaking into the school like girl

please 2 instances of falling over each other onto the ground lmao

not Ton's fandom lightstick, plssss

everybody running in different directions in the school reminds me of Alice In Borderland kinda when they played Tag in that apartment but the situations are so different lol

hug

my poor Aylin who didn't meet her friend

Alien-Moon friendship

gonna take a brief break from 23.5 to watch the Alice In Borderland S2 game in ep 3/4 Jack of Hearts, guess the symbol on your collar.

mini-break to blog about AoB oops but I forgot who the jack is, I keep thinking it's the blue shirt guy but that's too obvious and the emo guy is also obvious, but it feels like it's one of them?

Ah, indeed it is one of those two and I guess it's the emo guy since they're pushing the blue shirt guy to be a more obvious Jack?

so funny when his partner kills himself and he's like whelp, I've lost my partner. Seems like I'm screwed.

oh yeah, I remember what happened now. kinda corny but sure, fun enough

back to 23.5 oops

3-4

lol Alpha giving out punishments but also doing Mawin a little favour by making Tinh his assistant

oof, losing the basketball game as expected

ah, Charoen now knows Onsga likes Sun

Ep 4: (Apr 29/30)

4-1

Charoen Immediately calls Tinh to tell him Ongsa likes Sun lmfao

4-2

ahh Sun's heart beating fast when hugging and thinking of hugging Ongsa heh

Luna (June) and her bambi pretty eyes are sooo cute

4-3

Aylin excitedly following after Ongsa when friends knock on the door aww

Sun also makes an appearance and Onsga’s brain breaks

4-4

yaas fortune tellers

I loveee how cute the "I'm going to buy water" "i'm coming with you" "annoying human Phi" "i'm coming na~" Aylin-Luna part is, I had a tiktok I liked with it

Ongsa having a sudden strike of bravery as she tells Sun's fortune omg?

"To my Sun, from your Earth" omg ?!

I hope Ongsa actually confesses and doesn't just say that she knows Earth who told her to do this or something

I think I wish that love was juuuust a teeny bit better of an actor? Make her lines seem slightly more natural cuz most people are doing well and she's doing well too but it sometimes feels like she's acting rather than being the character Sun. But it might also have to do with her character and the script giving her lines that make it feel like her sentences aren't genuine.

The show reminds me of My School President, which makes sense since they're high school shows, and this one reminds me of that one ep when they had to do the club fair and set up that "cafe" thing.

Started doing 1.25x from part 4-4, oops.

Ep 5: The Gift (Apr 30)

5-1

oof, yeah, I started watching this ep Immediately after ep 4 but indeed she says the delivery guy just left it with her rip. okay I'll do my episode stuff like reblogging gifs before I watch ep 5

aww poor Onsga ot being able to talk to Sun as her real self

5-2

Luna defending Aylin from some bullies

why are Luna and Aylin so cuteeeee

5-3

man, Sun was clearly giving you an out, why say "see you" instead of "sorry" smhh

This is so frustrating because Sun literally gave Ongsa an out but Ongsa said she'd be there (as Earth) without any plans of how to make that happen and now Sun's sad on her birthday :(

5-4

aw man Sun :(

It's just frustrating that Ongsa as Earth keeps giving Sun hope because Sun will be heartbroken one way or another because Earth straight up doesn’t exist aghhh

“It’s tough human but you must keep going.”

idk if it’s because the show is picking up or because i’m watching on 1.25x speed but it has definitely become more watchable and it doesn’t take me a whole day to get through one ep lol

Ep 6: The Apocolypse (Apr 30)

i haven't watched the previews but according to someone's post and BE podcast vibes, it seems like Ongsa's gonna get found out by Sun?

6-1

idk I'm on Dear's side like Earth is hiding something for sure (in that... he doesn't exist)

ah, I hope Mawin and Tinh comes to fruition fr

Luna's face so funny as Aylin's telling her the whole story

6-2

Luna (and Aylin) instigating lmfao I know they're tired

we know Earth is just Ongsa and she doesn't have malicious intentions but Sun, girl, you're getting catfished and your trust in Earth is misplaced, it's probably good that you have friends and seniors looking out for you lol

Luna and Aylin, I fawking love you

hold onnnn what is this mood, like I've been annoyed at the Earth secret just dragging on but ahh now Sun kabadoning Ongsa and being like "you want me to get mad?" is so fun

almost telling Sun so many times but alas

ahhh it's been like Ongsa turn off your notifs/your phone or you're gonna get caught by Sun texting you for a few episodes now and finally indeed it's the reason.

I hope Sun gets to be mad and sad and frustrated and is allowed to lash out because this sucks, and I want her to be able to show emotions other than niceness and kindness (+ some sadness at Earth not showing up to her party). let's give her some Depth but also idk... feels like I haven't seen many Angsty eps or moments around social media for this show

6-3

aw man

Sun really gave Ongsa so much opportunity to explain but like.. what even is there to explain, I guess

I think I need to gain more empathy fr because how are you as a 16 year old just... leaving without informing anybody and not picking up anybody's calls just to wallow? Tell your friends/family that you're just gonna hang out outside or pick up their calls to let them know that you're not dead even when you're going through something. This irritated me recently in I Fly Towards You the drama with the ML's younger brother as well.

I don't want Sun to get cool and be chill too fast !! Feel more angry and upset and betrayed!

"It's good that Ongsa is Earth" nooooo, not yet !

6-4

Aylin worries so much for Ongsa in this state ahh

ooof, I don't want Sun to be the one who acts normal and rational and kind and reaches out first and is understanding with little to no effort from Ongsa's end beyond wallowing in her self-pity

Sun literally having to beg and run after Ongsa to get her to talk to her, don't piss me offffff

I don't remember when this happened in the show but the people on BE Podcast were saying that Ongsa sent a photo of something from her room (her ceiling with lights?) to Sun and that's how she was gonna get caught. Anyway, the phone notifications were another massive way to get caught and seems that was the way they went.

I can't believe it took 20 minutes of show (no joke, like 10 mins of part 3 and 10 mins of part 4) before they made up and are now getting to know each other again agh. And we see so much of Ongsa's devastation but barely anything from Sun and she's the one who has to chase after Ongsa smhh It's as if Sun isn't a real character for real, she has no emotions or agency or function beyond being somebody pretty and nice who Ongsa likes.

I do get her fear and anxiety that she's a girl and Sun's a girl and she doesn't know how they could ever work it out but I think I'd be more receptive to her feelings in this scenario if Ongsa didn't hurt Sun repeatedly and then Sun have to take the initiative to patch it up.

Ep 7: The Overhead Sun (Apr 30)

7-1

lol awkward Ongsa and Sun

heh the phone screen scene

Ongsa and Sun flirting across the classroom while Chaeron and Tinh are arguing about who's a demon

plss talking about taking it slow but now Sun wants to stay over for the night and wear Ongsa's clothes while hers are in the wash

not Sun running away when asked about whether they're girlfriends lmfao

7-2

Luna and Alpha together really are just so older girls and friends lol

Ton is just so over-the-top, I'm dead. Also, I knowwww that guys will use -kha when speaking with girls sometimes to like either flirt or to idk seem social or whatever but in my head, it's usually just like oh he's a girl <3 except this time i'm like yes... Ton is indeed using -kha to batter up the girls... esp the way the translation is using honey/sweetheart/etc to indicate what his use of -kha means

heh they've successfully made Sun jealous

also, I didn't realize this stuff was in ep 7, idk why I thought it was ep 8

getting a makeup ad but it's a cute scene

7-3

pls awkward ending to the almost kiss lol

and it ending with Ongsa escaping to go home

Ton gtfooo and cant even publicly admit whether he's hitting on Ongsa smhh he's fr laying it on thick this ep

lolll the iconic scene I've seen on twitter/tiktok where Ongsa's like yeah Sun's acting weird today ig she doesn't like my makeup

"I like this team" "Me too" Aylin-Luna are gonna be the fucking death of me

7-4

loll lesbian Phi announcing she's single as PR

the friend group is sooo good at poking Ongsa and Sun lol all working together to make Sun as jealous as possible

loll possessiveness

so public

heh so Ton was indeed in on it

this was a pretty cute and happy episode, wonder what the next 5 eps will be? since the Earth this is over with and they're now also girlfriends.

It's also an endearing episode and we get to see angry/jealous Sun and I wish... these emotions were present last week so that she could properly be angry at Ongsa. whelp

Ep 8: The Starry Night (May 1)

8-1

ah, so this ep is gonna be about how to behave in a relationship and maybe working on Ongsa's self-esteem

Merit Tiffin Box just reminded me that we also used to call lunch at school "tiffin" I wonder what it means?

"Tiffin is a South Asian English word for a type of meal. It refers to a light breakfast or a light tea-time meal at about 3 p.m., consisting of typical tea-time foods. In certain parts of India, it can also refer to the midday luncheon or, in some regions of the Indian subcontinent, a between-meal snack." ohhh interesting, it was usually lunch for school but it wasn't as heavy as like actual lunch that I used to eat after going home lol

I too wonder about the appeals of kissing tbh

8-2

hehe Nida and Bambam

make a move? idk what that entails but it makes sense that Sun would want it since she was the one who chased Ongsa after finding out she was Earth + asked her to be her gf last ep as well

pls let Sun watch her action movie in peace, Enough Pausing

lol Sun's gotta be doing this on purpose aw is she nervous about kissing

hehe Sun in the bathroom

8-3

hehe now Aylin has taken to throwing paper balls at Luna

meteor shower Aylin-Luna date let's gooo

I already know Mawin's gonna be rejected cuz of a post on Twitter aughh i don't wanna watch :(

pls them looking through the little windows on the door is so funny

Ton smh making up pitiful scenarios about Chaeron in this head

8-4

watching the meteor shower in pairs you say?

Nida trying her best while Bambam's casual and oblivious plss

omg Aylin already with the I Love U in morse code ahh very fast

cheek kiss hehe

pls not Chaeron swearing at Ton

Ton, let go of her arm!!

we're not gonna get Mawin and Ton right, i'm not into them

joy and happiness that MilkLove have a pretty good kiss cuz people (including me) were afraid that it'd be awkward/dead fish

Thoughts so far:

I caught up!

The show is cute but I don't know if I did a good thing by deciding to start it when there are still 4 eps left. It's a cute high school show, which might be a better binge than watching 45-55 mins a week because it may not keep my interest. I don't know, we'll see.

I find Ongsa-Sun to be cute but I don't feel like I have an emotional connection to them.

On the other hand, I'm quite invested in Aylin-Luna and love Aylin! It's especially fun because I became Obsessed with ViewJune after seeing a few edits from 10YT of them being enemies and then friends? I was shipping them and retweeting their edits and stuff and then !! the ship actually materialized in this show, that's wild (first spotted in Dangerous Romance but idk if they even really happened there lol), especially because they weren't supposed to be in this at all (instead GeminiFourth were gonna be the side ship). I guess many people other than me were also into their chemistry in 10YT. Like I didn't even watch the show, didn't know anything about them but still was hooked on twitter and tiktok edits.

We still have a third of the show left, I wonder what it'll be about. I think I saw something about a scholarship mentioned? Going abroad?

[moeitsu]

Number 7 pls!!

Also, who is that in your profile? If ya don’t mind me asking.

My profile pic is of Tamino Amir. He’s a Belgian-Egyptian artist and makes beautiful music. I would recommend him to anyone. I saw him live in February with Mitski and literally cried the entire time. He’s also drop dead gorgeous the man literally looks like a god.

I’m rambling.

Number 7: what tattoos i have and their meaning.

I’m actually really happy you asked that one because I have so many tattoos and i love them ALL!

Okay, I have 12 tattoos. I’ll try to keep it short tho.

1. “Spirit Lead Me” on my bicep. This was my 1st tattoo I got for my 18th bday. It’s from Psalm 143. I’m not really a religious person anymore, but I still appreciate the message. The whole verse is “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Show me what you want me to do, and let your gentle spirit lead me in the right path.”

2. A small bouquet of flowers on my hip. This one doesn’t have much meaning. It was a last minute tattoo i got because my friend was getting one and the artist was really chill and was like “you want one too?” And i just said sure and let him pick the art. Looking back, i don’t know why i did that😂

3. A Luna moth on my shoulder. I’ve always considered myself more of a moth than a butterfly, if that makes any sense. I took a picture of a Luna moth was i was 16 and i was obsessed with them ever since. Fun fact: the day i got it tattooed i got a Snapchat memory that i took that moth photo 3 years ago on the same day. It was just meant to be.

4. The master sword from Legend of Zelda on my arm. This one is kinda self explanatory. I just fucking love the games. I played my first was i was 9 years old and it became my entire personality for the rest of my life.

5. A soot sprite on my ankle. This one also doesn’t really have a meaning. A friend of mine had finished her tattoo apprenticeship and was doing small pieces on people as practice. So i asked her to practice on me and she gave me a cute little soot sprite.

6. “Set your heart ablaze” on my rib cage. I got this after the demon slayer movie. It’s one of my favorite animes, and Rengoku was such an important character to me.

7. An evil eye with a tear drop under the back of my neck. I’ve always worn the evil eye since i was young. I don’t remember when i started or why, but I’ve always had a necklace or a keychain or earrings with it on. I liked the idea of it on my back bc in my mind it wards off any negativity that people might send me when my back is turned.

8. A cecropia moth on my other shoulder. Not so much meaning behind this one. My other shoulder felt naked and i wanted to add symmetry with another insect. I chose the cecropia moth bc I found one in the woods one time and I felt like some kind of woodland fairy. It was literally the size of my hand.

9. 333. It’s my Angel number. I see it everywhere, and at least once a day. I was also born on the 3rd day of the 9th month and 3 was always a prevalent number growing up. (I was on bus #3. My childhood apt was #3. Me and my sibs make 3, ect)

10. A maple seed. I got this tattoo for my current partner. We’ve been together 7 years and on our second date we walked a nature trail and we had talked about watching the notebook later and I made a comment about “how romantic would it be if we kissed in the rain”, it was not raining that day. So he picked up handfuls of maple seeds and threw them in the air. They rained around us and he kissed me under them. It’s probably one of my favorite memories.

11. Peter Rabbit hugging his momma. This tattoo was dedicated to my mom. My nursery as a baby was Peter Rabbit themed, and I still have a lot of the decorations still in my room 24 years later :’) I also love my mom a lot.

12. A heart locket with my childhood cat in the frame. Pretty self explanatory. It was dedicated in his memory. He was literally the best cat ever and i miss him everyday. He passed on my 19th bday.

Thank you so much for asking Anon!!! I really enjoyed diving into this :)

[lunarchristina]

😍HELLA CUTE QUESTIONS😍

Who's the last person you held hands with?

Are you outgoing or shy?

Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Are you easy to get along with?

If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

What kind of people are you attracted to?

Do you think you'll be in a relationship two months from now?

Who's on your mind?

Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

What does the most recent text that you sent say?

What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

Do you like it when people play with your hair?

Do you believe in luck and miracles?

What good thing happened this fall?

Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

Do you think there is life on other planets?

Do you still talk to your first crush?

Do you like bubble baths?

Do you like your neighbors?

What are your bad habits?

Where would you like to travel?

Do you have trust issues?

Favorite part of your daily routine?

What is your favorite part of your body?

What do you do when you wake up?

Who are you most comfortable around?

Do you ever want to get married?

Is your hair long enough for a ponytail?

I have so many asks to get to I apologize it took me so long to answer!! I’ve just been really busy😂

1. My husband 🤍

2. Honestly it depends on who I’m around!

3. My husband, my cats when I get off of work later this afternoon, and my beagle Luna when I go to my moms house for Thanksgiving!

4. I definitely think so!!!

5. The person I love* absolutely, Jake has several times! 😂

6. My husband because he’s kind hearted, honest, intelligent, not afraid to speak his mind and tell you when he disagrees with you, he’s loyal, and very caring. He’s always doing sweet things for me!!

7. Absolutely! I’m married lol so forevermore 💗

8. No one at the moment 😂

9. Not really

10. My husband

11. “Yeah I saw that! Lol”

12. Oh my gosh this is a hard one. I LOVE music 😭

a. you are enough -sleeping at last

b. ocean eyes -billie eilish

c. big ideas -arctic monkeys

d. young volcanoes -FOB

e. <maybe> it’s my fault -willow

13.Yesssss!

14.definitely

15. I got married to the love of my life! And I got a raise at work!

16. Absolutely 💗

17. Yeah

18. Helllll no 😂

19. most def🤍

20. haven’t really met many of them. my next door neighbor yes, she’s a sweetheart. the rest are okay i guess.

21. overthinking myself into a bad mood. stressing out about things i can’t control. being very hard on myself.

22. MAINE!!! And several of its surrounding states. GRACELAND! The Grand Canyon. Santa Claus, IN. Gatlinburg,TN. Arizona so I can drive down Route 66 😍 And several other places.

23. With certain people yes.

24. Climbing into bed at night 😂 Or driving home from work 💗

25. My hair or my curves 🥰

26. Check my phone, use the bathroom, feed the cats, get ready for work😂

27. Jacobbbb💗

28. I just did!! November 19th and it was the best day of my entire life 🥰🤍

29. Yessss.

[charlottedabookworm]

Digging through my fic doc while writing responses and found this snippet of that OracleBlood!Nyx thing that I am hopefully not writing (but my impulse control is shit so, you know) 

There’s silence after Regis’ words, the lift smoothly descending downwards, and Nyx sighs.

 “Your Majesty, let me...” He’s reaching for the man’s roughly bandaged hand before the King can say anything, letting the gifts inherent in his father’s line – gifts that he rarely used – come forth.

 It’s the work of moments to stem the bleeding and cleanse the poison, well-practised with these sorts of injuries during his childhood, for all that he doesn’t use his gifts unless necessary these days, though he can’t do anything for the blood loss.

 “What?” He turns his head slightly to see Princess Lunafreya staring at him in shock, even as he works to ease the burden of the Wall on Regis’ magic. The King is also slightly wide-eyed, the two royals with him knowing where healing magic came from.

Nyx smirks at the Princess – at the grown woman who had once been the baby that his aunt had placed in his arms, who had once been the little girl who had been his shadow whenever he’d visited, who he had last seen trying not cry when she was four years old. “Hey, little cousin. Long time no see.” 

[dbnightingale24]

Last Chance At Redemption

Chapter 29

~~

THE FINAL CHAPTER!! I can’t believe it's actually here?? I’m kinda sad cause I really loved writing this, but I’m also happy cause I’ve been stressing about the ending lol. I hope you all enjoy and love this ending and thank you for reading along!!!

Warnings: Fluff, Happiness, Swearing, Dialogue Heavy....I think that’s it?

Word Count: 1601

Song(s) That Inspired This Chapter:

POV - Ariana Grande

Hallelujah - Paramore

Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab For Cutie

Malibu - Miley Cyrus

I do not give consent for my works/stories to be posted elsewhere. 

~~

Previous Chapters:

Chapter 1 ,Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5 ,Chapter 6 ,Chapter 7,Chapter 8 ,Chapter 9 ,Chapter 10 , Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 , Chapter 15 , [Deleted Scene] Let’s Try Something Different, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18 , Chapter 19 (part 1), Chapter 19 (part 2), Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22 , Chapter 23 , Chapter 24, Chapter 25 , Chapter 26, Chapter 27, Chapter 28,

~~

6 Years Later

Ransom scowled to himself as he saw the ink from his pen start to fade. He knew he should’ve brought more than one with him, but he had no time to search for another. He was always the last one ready to leave and he hated being the one everyone picked on the most.

A soccer ball hit his ankle as he tried to make a mental note of how he wanted to finish the chapter he was working on. “Dad! You promised!” Luna scowled, arms folded across her chest.

“Yeah Dad, you promised,” Abigail smirked, taking a seat next to Ransom on the park bench he was sitting on, parking the stroller, holding their son to the side. Both Sampson and their corgi, Clover, laid down right at her feet.

Ransom had followed through on his declaration on their wedding night. In fact he fucked twins into Abigail’s pussy.

“I’m coming sweetheart,” he called to Luna before looking around the park, “where’s your sister?”

“I’m right here!” Alice laughed, making her way around the trail for the second time.

“How the fuck does she have so much energy?” Ransom muttered, watching her dart around with the biggest smile on her face.

“She took a nap,” Abigail laughed, “and watch your language. Tyler is sleeping,” she chided softly before looking over at the sleeping baby in the stroller.

“Exactly, he’s sleeping. He’ll be fine,” Ransom scoffed.

“Hugh-”

“What? I’m good about not cursing in front of the kids. You have to admit that I’ve gotten much better.”

“Be that as it may, I still don’t want you cursing around them while they’re sleeping,” she smiled.

Soon after they came back from their honeymoon, Abigail discovered she was pregnant and they were both excited. However, when she learned that she was pregnant with twins, panic set in. Hard.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Ransom tried to tell her, placing his hand on hers during the car ride home.

“How?! How is it going to be fine, Hugh?! We’ve never had children and now we’re having two at once! What the...we don’t know what we’re doing! How the hell are we supposed to raise two kids at once?!”

“We’ll figure it out,” Ransom shrugged, turning into their driveway.

“We can’t just ‘figure it out’, Hugh! How are we supposed to...it’s us!”

“Exactly,” he smiled as he turned off the car. “It’s us. We know what not to do. As long as we stick with that, we’ll be okay. We can do this and we’re gonna be good at it.”

“When did you become the calm one?”

“The moment you said ‘I do’” he laughed as he got out of the car.

The talk calmed Abigail down for a while. However, the closer they got to the due date, the more her breakdowns started to happen and Ransom was running out of ideas to keep her calm.

“What about Sampson?” Abigail sniffed.

“What about him?” Ransom sighed, running his hand through his hair.

“What if his death scars them and they hate us?”

“Where the fuck did that even come from? Abs-”

“It’s not like he’s brand new!”

“Baby, you’re always the first one to tell me that nothing is meant to last on this earth forever. Isn’t that what you said when Great Nana died?”

“SHE WAS OLD, HUGH! SHE WAS HARLAN’S MOTHER!”

“Okay okay, just calm down. What can I do-”

“Literally nothing. It’s fine...I’m fine. I’m just having a day. E very thing is fine.”

“Every thing isn’t-”

“Just leave it,” she snapped with a sigh. “It’s been a long day and I’m tired. I’m sorry and I love you. I’m gonna go lay down.”

So, Ransom did what any frightened man would do. He fixed the situation.

“You bought-”

“I didn’t buy anything cause you’d kill me and I don’t need that shit right now. I adopted a corgi. Name her whatever you want.”

“Hugh-”

“If anything happens to Sampson before they’re ready, at least they’ll have another dog to help soften the blow.”

“But-”

“Abigail, I love you with all of my heart and I always will, but if you come up with another hypothetical situation, I will throw myself off of the roof of this house.”

And that settled it.

Two months later they welcomed twins and they decided to name them one apiece.

“Luna is pretty! I love it!” Abigail cooed as Ransom held the newborn in his arms.

“Then there’s Alice-”

“Don’t start, ‘Alice In Wonderland’ is my favorite book!”

“It’s a boring name.”

“Yeah well, when you push a baby out through your dick, you can name our children whatever you want. Until then, be happy you got to name one of them and shut up.”

“Oh? You want more kids?”

“You want more kids,” she smirked, catching his small smile out of the corner of her eye.

She hadn’t been wrong. As soon as the girls were four, Ransom started getting on her case about another child.

“We don’t have enough on our plates?” Abigail laughed, eyes not leaving the computer as she went over the numbers for the restaurant.

“Of course we do, but we can fit more on it!”

“Hugh, we have two girls, a restaurant, and a publishing company that keep us more than busy. Plus, with Taylor and Jeff coming over with Harper almost every weekend, we have more than enough to keep us occupied! Another baby is not the best idea right now.”

“It’ll be fine,” Ransom cooed, resting his hand on her upper thigh, which Abigail quickly slapped away. “Fine, but we should have another one.”

“Yeah yeah, quiet down you,” she laughed, shaking her head.

Abigail had been able to keep him at bay until their most recent New Year. The kids were with her grandparents and Ransom’s most recent book had become a #1 best seller.

He couldn’t keep his drunken hands off of her that night, which is how they ended up with three children.

“You better get out there, we have to leave for dinner at Lisa’s in almost an hour,” Abigail smirked.

“Why do we have to go to Lisa’s again?”

“Because she just opened her store and it’s her first big thing she's done since leaving Todd.  She needs our support. She’s scared and it helps to have family and friends around.”

“Do Taylor and Jeff count as friends? They still hate her.”

“Not as much as they used to,” Abigail chuckled. “Plus, Heidi is gonna be there with her new man and the girls, so I’m fairly sure she could use all the support possible.”

“I think I preferred it when you hated everyone in your family.”

“I bet you do,” Abigail laughed, “go play soccer with your daughters. They’ve been patiently waiting for you.”

“I guess they have,” he smiled at Luna, who was standing in the middle of the park with her arms folded like usual. “Lets have another one,” Ransom smiled.

“Have another what?”

“Another kid!” Ransom laughed.

“What the fuck do you see asleep in the stroller, Hugh?!”

“Ooo! Mommy, you said a bad word!” Alice chimed, as she approached the back of the bench.

“Yeah Mommy, you said a bad word,” Ransom smirked and Abigail had to fight herself to keep from flipping him off.

“Go play, now,” she scoffed.

“Yeah fine, but we’re talking about this later,” Ransom smiled before getting up kicking the ball to Luna, Alice at his heels.

As Abigail watched her family play, both of the dogs resting by her feet, she couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face. She had the world with a man she never thought she could have it with. All of the stress, worry, pain, and fear had been worth it. He had been worth it. Abigail watched her family play knowing that she’d have the quirky fairy tale for the rest of her life. She’d have heaven on earth with Ransom for the rest of her life.

The End.

**

@goldenfightergir , @princess-evans-addict, @jeremyrennermakesmesmile, @sweetflowerdreams, @whxre4cevans, @itsbrittany425, @jennmurawski13

[fedonciadale]

20 Opening Lines Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have fewer than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag some people to take part.

I was tagged by the lovely @heyjude19-writing! Thanks! If you love Dramione check their fics!

1. He did not like the way Rhuarc looked at him as if he had never seen him before. (A musician’s fate, Wheel of Time, my Asmodemption fic, has been my headcanon for years, finally started writing it!)

2. Even though she was so small, Harry could see that her wings fluttered in panic as she tried to escape the rubber band that had twisted around her ankle. (The Perils of Fairy Dust, Dramione, finished, long fic, just needs the epilogue, I need to decide which PoV to take for that!)

3. “It’s just the jitters, Hermione,” said Ginny. “I almost ran away to New Zealand a week before my wedding with Harry.” (Only you – Or the only time Hermione believed in divination, Dramione, oneshot, written for the Dramione RomCom fest the sequel)

4. The glittering sparks descended on Leo Malfoy-Granger and stuck to his skin giving him a distinctly fairy look. (The Narrow Escape of Antony Goldstein, Dramione, finished, 4 chapter, Mutually beneficial Universe, written for the DHr Monsterfucking Mini Fest 2021)

5. Pansy had done it. (The Perks of Casting a Patronus, Panville, long fic, finished, Phoenix Potion Universe)

6. Harry waited to tell the news to the others until Hermione had left. (An unexpected wedding guest, Dramione, Mutually beneficial Universe, 3 chapters)

7. When Harry entered the kitchen of Grimmauld place, he saw Ron was already awake despite the early hour. (The Phoenix Potion, novel-length fic, Dramione, Panville, Bluna, my favourite baby)

8. As if one mark wasn’t enough (Surprise Soulmates, Dramione, 3 chapters, box_of_chocolates with beautiful art by @hiyasdoodles)

9. Personal points were the reason why Pansy’s feelings were very mixed, when she was paired with Theo for the night patrol. (Skirting the Carrows’ decrees, Panville oneshot)

10. Samwell tried not to gawk too openly. (Judicatrix, Jonsa, long fic, Historical AU)

11. Draco’s boss came into his office before he had finished his morning coffee, but there was no use giving not so subtle hints that it was too early in the morning - not with Luna Lovegood. (Tylwyth Teg - Fairies on a Welsh Mountain, Dramione, oneshot, written for the Mad Frankenstein Fest, art by @ernestine88)

12. They sat in a nice muggle restaurant. (Mutually beneficial, Dramione, Oneshot, written for Happy Birthday Mr Malfoy)

13. The howling wolves came nearer every night. (Words from the Heart, Jonsa, one shot)

14. Jon held his fosterfather’s hand in despair. (Habits of the Freefolk, Jonsa, canonbent AU, 15 chapters)

15. The letter would have to be short so as not to raise suspicion. (To hide a secret, Jonsa oneshot).

16. Jon returned in spring. (Frail, Jonsa oneshot)

17. The Queen had been in a fit for half a day, so that everybody had tread carefully, especially Sansa’s father, Ned Stark, Hand of the king and the regent of the seven kingdoms. (Sweet Poison, Nedsei and Jonsa, oneshot very AU)

18. The lords were in a “wedding mood” as Sansa called it to herself. (A thousand eyes and one, Jonsa, oneshot)

19. Jon woke with a start. (To go South, Jonsa, long fic, my Jonsa baby)

20. When he greeted Tyrion from the shadows at the window when his brother entered the room his voice sounded still raspy and did not sound like himself at all. (Fire touched, Jonsa, Braime, 10 chapters)

I must admit, I don’t see any pattern apart from the fact that I seem to just dive into the story. lol.

I think I’ll pick this one as my fav: “It’s just the jitters, Hermione,” said Ginny. “I almost ran away to New Zealand a week before my wedding with Harry.” 

It’s dialogue (my strength), and I think it sets the light hearted mood of the fic quite well. My second fav is The howling wolves came nearer every night. for the same reason. It sets the slightly eerie mood of the fic.

I tag @kyliafanfiction @butterflydm @undeadlilies @incognitotoro @periwinkle39 @niffizzle @kallypsowrites @cappymightwrite and anyone who wants to play!

[hd-fan-fair]

THE MASTERLIST OF H/D SEX FAIR 2020 FANWORKS

View the full list on [AO3] or under the cut below!

( Fanwork posted in chronological order by type )

ART

1. How hard can it be? (Digital Comic, Mature) Summary: 

Harry and Draco have to stay over at their friends' places for a few weeks, since the renovation of the Grimmauld Place hadn't been completed by the time they were back from their honeymoon. That creates a slight issue with being intimate but the newlyweds are nothing if not creative...

2. Revelio! (Digital, Teen and Up) Summary:

It's that time of year again for Witch Weekly's annual charity event! By popular demand, this year they have prepared a calendar featuring the sexiest studs in the Wizarding World. Gracing the cover in style, the Hogwarts staff is represented by none other than DADA Professor Harry Potter and Potions Professor Draco Malfoy. Grab one before they're gone! Reserve your copy by owl today!

3. Handling Dragons (Digital, Teen and Up) Summary:

Harry brought over dragons to Hogwarts for a new Triwizard Tournament or for a class. Draco is hopelessly turned on by the resident Professor or Hogwarts Medic. Draco wants his dragon tickled by Harry. Unknown to him, Draco is the only dragon Harry wants to manhandle.

4. I plan on getting very wet. (Digital, Mature) Summary:

When they arrived at their private beach holiday, they didn't expect it to rain all the time. Oh well, boys can still find a way to have fun.

5. The Dragon's Boy (Digital Comic, Explicit) Summary:

Harry is chosen to be the next sacrifice to the dragon, but it turns out this dragon is interested in Harry for entirely different reasons.

6. The Art of Trust (Digital, Mature) Summary:

One piece of rope offers what Harry and Draco seek the most from each other.

7. (Intimidating) Brand New World (Digital Comic, Mature) Summary:

Draco's nervously perusing a sex shop for the first time when he sees a flash of dark hair across the store. He'd know it anywhere, but why is Potter here? And what on earth is in that box he's buying? Years of uptight parenting from his parents have left him woefully lacking in knowledge about his newfound interests. Potter's always been rather uncaring of public opinion, perhaps he could be the one to help Draco figure it all out...

ART & FIC

8. as much a light as a flame (6303, Explicit) Summary:

His mother paints a wolf on his chest, its eyes bracketing his heart, and its muzzle pointed towards his groin. His aunt fills in the spaces around his waist and ribs with symbols he's lost the meaning of in the wash of whatever plant had been mixed in with the steam. They move after her brush leaves his skin, turning from incomprehensible marks to his name to wolf to home to hunt and then back to misunderstanding again.

His legs are painted in patterned bands, starting from his ankles and ending at his upper thighs. His groin is left unmarked, the pale and empty skin meant to leave no doubt of the Claim once he makes it.

9. Starkissed (32631, Explicit) Summary:

“Your tattoos!” The intruder says, boldly stepping over Ron’s chaise and crossing in front of Hermione to get to Harry, eyes wide and hungry. Harry immediately sits up, pulling the towel draped across the back of his chair down over his shoulders.   “No! Don’t cover them. They’re beautiful.” Harry hopes an indulgent trip abroad will help shake him out of the doldrums of his life. What he finds once he gets to Venice is more than he ever expected.

  PODFIC

10. Infuse With Affection, Enchant With Love by bafflinghaze (1.5 Hours, Teen and Up) Summary:

It starts with Draco making protective pendants for himself, his parents, and his friends, after the war. Something that would watch their backs—and their fronts—as people spat on them in the streets and hexed them in the alleyways. Draco gets better at it, does a course on it, and takes enough commissions for charmed jewellery that he eventually opens his own shop.

But Harry doesn’t know any of this. So when he sees Malfoy in a shop of charmed necklaces, he immediately tries his best to uncover Malfoy’s machinations.

11. Things Worth Paying For (1.5 Hours, Explicit) Summary:

After leaving post-war Britain for Paris, Draco is finally happy, with friends and a job he loves, But then his newest client turns out to be Harry Potter, and everything changes.

  FIC

12. Three Wishes (10161, Explicit) Summary:

Draco meets his fairy godmother and is granted three wishes. Unfortunately, they all keep coming back to the same thing.

********** Pop! 

"Oh, wow," Vince says, and is that sarcasm Draco hears? "I never saw that coming."

"What?" Draco opens his eyes. He's prepared for the theatrics of the puffs of smoke—Vince, despite the sudden career change, was never blessed with an overactive imagination—but what he was not prepared for was the sight of Harry Potter, bare-chested and dressed in arseless chaps, his hands bound and mouth wrapped around a ball gag while lying face down on Draco's sofa.

13. H.A.G.S. (Hogwarts Alliance for Gender and Sexuality) (9517, Explicit) Summary:

When Hermione decides Hogwarts needs a LGBTQIA+ club, of course Ron and Harry are roped into helping. After a rocky start, Harry begins seeing the club as an opportunity to educate students and celebrate diversity and sexuality at Hogwarts. He also starts seeing it as an opportunity to snog Draco Malfoy.

14. You Don't Know Me (Like You Used To) (33106, Explicit) Summary:

"Buy me a drink as compensation for maiming me?" he asks.

"And why the hell would I do that?" It’s a perfectly valid question. A drink invitation from Harry Potter is about as likely of a scenario as me streaking down Piccadilly in broad daylight. Consider me completely thrown off.

Sometimes it only takes a week to change everything. The story of how twenty-five-year-old Draco Malfoy hit one Harry Potter with a door and knocked both of their lives into somewhere entirely new.

15. the best treasure is up Harry’s arse (2891, Explicit) Summary:

Harry and Draco probably had a tumultuous time getting together, filled with angst and denial and pining and brooding. However, this is not that story. Here, Draco makes Harry come (more than once).

16. Breakin' the Rules (3146, Teen and Up) Summary:

Harry and Draco are Auror partners. They're in a relationship that they've been forced to keep secret due to relationships between Aurors being forbidden. Harry is okay with this, as he hasn't come out to anyone other than Draco, but after a mission goes awry, their relationship is exposed.

17. The HogShagMan (31685, Mature) Summary:

Professor Potter is called upon to teach the first-ever official course on Magical Sexual Relations at Hogwarts and, in the process, must navigate the pitfalls of relationship-building, the nefarious schemings of those entrusted with school funding, and the uneven tempers of his boss and several co-workers. Clearly, only ‘the’ Harry Potter can pull it all off.

18. Let's not wait for France (17714, Teen and Up) Summary:

All Harry had wanted from his Eighth year at Hogwarts was a little peace and a little privacy but, from the moment that he stepped onto Platform 9 3/4, it was obvious that nothing was ever going to be that easy.

An accidental bond with Malfoy that resulted in them having to stay together at all times was the final straw.

Things couldn't be worse. So much to a quiet year in Hogwarts.

19. Take All That You See (19666, Teen and Up) Summary:

Draco Malfoy has only two goals for his eighth year are Hogwarts: 1) stay as invisible as possible, and 2) get enough NEWTs to be accepted at a university abroad and get the hell out of the UK. Everything is going according to plan until he is unceremoniously outed by the Daily Prophet and subsequently disowned.

Finding himself the unexpected focus of unwanted attention and harassment, he is suddenly dependent on the good will and protection of the last people he would have expected — Harry Potter and his gang of do-gooder Gryffindors (plus Luna Lovegood). With his world turned upside down, how will Draco make it through the rest of the year? And worse still, as he grows closer and closer to Harry, how will he get out with his heart intact?

20. True Children Still (34240, Explicit) Summary:

After years of dancing around each other, Draco and Harry have finally begun to date, though they're taking things slow. They've got enough to figure out as it is, and the last thing Harry needs is an unexpected introduction to desires he's not quite ready to face.

21. Asking For A Friend? (13734, Explicit) Summary:

Asking for a friend? Don't be shy! I'm Genna Russ with advice! Draco Malfoy, drag queen and agony aunt for the Daily Prophet, is very happy with his life. He loves his job. He loves his drag queen persona. And he loves the fact that the wider Wizarding world doesn't know who is offering them sassy advice with their morning news.

When he starts receiving letters from one Harry Potter – letters that are too racy to publish – he does the only thing he can do: he replies. His carefully constructed secret life is at risk of being blown wide open, but he just can't help himself. Draco never did have any self-control where the Prat Who Lived was concerned.

22. All I Have to Do (9575, Explicit) Summary:

The Patented Daydream Charm (Adult Edition) allows you to enter a top-quality, highly realistic thirty-minute sexual fantasy. Solitude and privacy spells advised.

Or: Draco finally has some alone time; Harry just needs to nip in for a book.

23. Take My Wonder (3949, Explicit) Summary:

Harry Potter is the author of very well-written children's text books. Joshua Starkweather is the author of not-so-well-written erotic fiction. Only one person knows that they are one and the same.

24. (There Is Nothing) More Than This (5431, Explicit) Summary:

Harry Potter returns home past midnight, distressed and anxious about the multiple murder case that he is leading. His husband Draco looks after him, comforting Harry with his hands, his mouth and his unwavering love.

25. the space between (what you want and what you need) (13601, Mature) Summary:

As a specialist Healer in dark magic, Draco has had his fair share of difficult cases and awkward patients. Still, nothing has prepared him for a curse-paralysed Harry Potter.

26. Walk in the sun (18233, Explicit) Summary:

Harry is perfectly content with the life he built for himself; simple and private, it helps him heal the wounds from the war. He then accepts to go out with one of Neville’s acquaintances, never expecting that decision would bring him back to his obsession for Draco Malfoy.

“That was his cue. Had Harry stopped to think about his situation, he could have left. Malfoy was nibbling at his neck, he had his hand down his pants. All things considered, a disaster incoming. And yet, his feet still refused to move. After all, he was not the stop-to-think-of-consequences kind of guy.”

(Features drunken confessions, bathrooms, a lot of smut, sexy pictures, panties, cats and only one bed)

27. You Need to Just Do Whatever You Want (7998, General) Summary:

Draco's confused when he receives a manual explaining his magical inheritance. Being a veela would be good (at least he would be prettier), and a vampire would have been fine (another excuse to hide himself in the Manor). But a descendant of the God of Love, complete with arrows and a love quota? Now that's just bonkers.

A story in which Draco is Cupid (sort of).

28. Under my Skin (8258, Explicit) Summary:

One year after the war and after Hogwarts restorations, Harry is back at school to finally finish his education. He wasn't expecting McGonagall to assign him to protect Draco Malfoy, in case he was bullied during the classes. Although really just wants to relax on his last year in Hogwarts, he'd seen how Draco had changed at the trials. He knew being around him would be easy enough... Wouldn't it?

29. Glory, glory! (16898, Explicit) Summary:

It's 2005 and Harry has recently purchased a new mobile phone so he can easily keep in touch with his friends. Little did he know that the Muggle technology would lead him down a path of self discovery and safe exploration that would lead him into the soft recesses of the last person he ever expected. As it turns out, very good things can be found in the dark.

30. Husbandly Duties (2108, Explicit) Summary:

Draco and Harry leave their wedding after-party early for some quality one-on-one time.

31. Sex, Relationships & Love (3873, Mature) Summary:

Draco Malfoy runs an anonymous sex advice column in the Witch Weekly magazine and gets hundreds of letters asking him for advice on sex, love and relationships. How was he to know that the advice he had given in response to one of those letters would result in Harry Potter showing up at his flat at 6 in the morning?

32. Disparate (6022, Teen and Up) Summary:

Ever since he went to Hogwarts, Draco realized that he wasn't quite the same as the others.

Or: Draco Malfoy over the years as he tries to understand and accept his sexuality.

33. Silver Scales in Pools of Green (26603, Explicit) Summary:

Draco is one of the last sirens of the seas, who escaped to the human world looking for friendship and food, but captivity found him instead. For seven years, he's gotten used to his life as human entertainment, and prides himself in his ability to make humans fall in step to his song.

That is, until everything falls apart when he has an audience with green eyes...

34. It's So Hard (9170, Explicit) Summary:

Draco has posed for some interesting photos, and it is currently making things very... hard for Harry.

35. On Your Shore (35113, Mature) Summary:

Clearing out a remote house full of cursed collectibles in the Outer Hebrides? Not a problem for an experienced curse breaker like Harry Potter. Spending a week with the straight, happily-married man that he’s starting to have feelings for? And sharing a bed with him at night? Surely Harry can handle that, too. But both the house and Draco Malfoy have secrets to uncover, and Harry might be in deeper water than he thought.

36. A Little Less Broken (6417, Mature) Summary:

After the war Draco thought he would never feel again. But a mix of revenge gone wrong and Harry Potter, might help him to feel just a little less broken.

37. Always (20147, Explicit) Summary:

In which Draco is the (in)famous erotica writer H.J. Belladonna, writing successful scandalous novel after successful scandalous novel and hiding his true identity, and Harry is questioning his sexuality after reading one of Belladonna’s books. Until ten years after the war their paths cross again, and Harry doesn’t only question his sexuality, but also the meaning of his obsession with Draco Malfoy.

“You look like something my cat dragged in,“ Blaise said from the sofa. Draco’s sofa, in Draco’s tiny flat. “You don’t have a cat, because you’re too vain, Blaise. A cat would get hair all over your expensive clothes,“ Draco replied and then ignored Blaise in favor of going into the kitchen to get some hot sweet tea into his system. Maybe that would make his day better, even if it had just started and the potential for disaster was high. Blaise followed him. “I’ll take one too.“ “You can’t use my home as your personal hotel, Blaise,“ Draco said, but he was already grabbing two cups out of the cupboard. He was too tired to use magic, after writing the whole night, he felt like all the magic had been absorbed by his parchment. Some of his sanity maybe too.

38. Absurd. (3773, Explicit) Summary:

When Draco discovers a kink that Harry's been hiding from him, he has no choice but to explore said kink, right? Right.

39. For Want Of Five Minutes (And a Locked Door) (4333, Mature) Summary:

It’s hard enough to get five minutes to yourself in a house of five kids, nevermind getting five minutes with your boyfriend for anything else.

40. Let Out the Beast (9649, Explicit) Summary:

In the wizarding world where alphas are looked down upon for their lack of control and unseemly aggression, it is generally accepted that they are not allowed to work in places like schools and hospitals where their nature could risk the people there. When Draco Malfoy suddenly shows up at Hogwarts smelling strongly like an alpha, Harry is beyond baffled. The fact that no one else seems to catch his scent only adds to his confusion. But, of course, the most puzzling part is how Harry’s body reacts to that scent.

41. Flowers, Dildos and Other Courtship Gifts (15853, Teen and Up) Summary:

Harry Potter is the Ministry's star auror trainee, and Draco Malfoy is the cute florist in Diagon Alley who Harry stares at through the window during lunch breaks and leaves. That's all they are and all they would ever be. (Really.) Until Harry accidentally mails Draco an autumn themed dildo (among others). Cue: bad planning, owl kidnapping, and flangst.

Or two emotional gay disasters fall in love in the middle of autumn.

42. he touched me, so I live to know (4729, Mature) Summary:

Five times Harry Potter is unsure about touching someone and one time he isn’t.

43. cut my name into your lip (6321, Explicit) Summary:

Harry can't take it anymore. Seriously. If Malfoy chews on the end of his quill/licks his spoon/sucks on the papercut on his finger one more time, Harry's going to put an end to it.

44. Realities, Unfurling (45487, Mature) Summary:

Draco Malfoy is released from Azkaban into a changed world.

45. The Delicate Balance of Light and Shade (13288, Explicit) Summary:

With the war finally over, Harry tries to find his own path in a world where he is free to make his own choice. On a holiday in France, he unexpectedly falls in love with art and painting. Returning to Hogwarts to help rebuild it, he is paired up with Draco Malfoy to restore the Room of Requirement - and unexpectedly falls in love with Draco. When the rebuilding efforts are done, Harry disappears.

Years later, Draco goes to Muggle London at Pansy's suggestion to visit an art gallery. The name of the Muggle artist is unknown to Draco, but the subject of the erotic paintings is shockingly familiar: it's Draco himself. It's time to confront the past and make some long-due confessions.

46. Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) (9181, Explicit) Summary:

Sex is hard to come by when you're 40 and have kids.

Or: Five times Harry and Draco tried and failed to have sex and one time they were successful.

47. The Spoiling of Sex From Enthusiastic Ignorance (6079, Explicit) Summary:

Draco is going to lose his virginity, so help him god, and he's going to lose it to one Harry Potter. Why? Because of his big cock, his status as The Top Five Quidditch Players in England, and Witch Weekly's Most-Eligible Bachelor for eight years straight. At least that's what he tells himself. Too bad first times rarely go as one plans, and now Harry is looking miserable and Draco doesn’t understand why.

48. you killed me on the moon (4906, Explicit) Summary:

'You barely know me. We do not know each other.’

‘Beyond this overwhelming need to submit to you, completely and utterly?’ Potter raises his eyebrows, stretching his scar. ‘Beyond this bone-deep awareness that you are made for me, and I for you? That our destiny was written in the stars, in the very foundation of our known world?’

An A/B/O Royalty!AU wherein a desperate Slytherin prince faces a proposal from the conquering Gryffindor king.

49. i just want your extra time and your... (9058, Explicit) Summary:

Ron should know better than to speak Latin in a magical library. If he’d just left well enough alone, instead of trying to badger Malfoy for the details of his newest novel, Harry wouldn’t have to listen to all of this chatter about how bloody decent Malfoy is, and he wouldn’t be dealing with all of these...feelings. Really, it’s all Ron’s fault that Harry’s mind is stuck on Malfoy like this again.

50. The Kisses Don’t Count, If No One Else Knows (41492, Explicit) Summary:

Minister for Magic Harry Potter does not love his job. The one bright point in his life is his secret relationship with Quidditch Super Star Draco Malfoy. When they're 'outed' by a peeping tom with a camera, Harry has to decide what's really important.

51. You Do Your Body Work, I Feel My Pulse Working Overtime (1627, Explicit) Summary:

Harry did not have an addiction to watching Draco masturbate on camera. He could stop any time he wanted to. Really.

52. Right Romantic Setting (6266, Explicit) Summary:

On the twelfth day of their romantic relationship, Draco and Harry take Albus, Scorpius and Rose on a weekend trip to Muggle London that Ron and Hermione were supposed to lead. At the fully-booked hotel where they'll be staying for the night, they're surprised to discover that their rather plain room has only one bed. It's definitely not the right romantic setting for their first night together but, as Draco comes to realise, there's good in taking things slow.

53. Portrait of a Marriage (130627, Mature) Summary:

Harry didn't want to marry Malfoy, he really didn't, but he also does want this house and Malfoy looked so smug and well - now they are married, and the house still doesn't like him, and Malfoy only looks more smug.

Draco didn't want to marry Potter, he really didn't, but he also does want this house and he never seems to be capable of escaping Potter anyway, so if he is already doomed to being married off he might as well decide for himself what he is worth, sign the papers and ignore everything wrong with that plan until physically no longer possible.

54. Regardless of desire, life hands you who you are (29803, Explicit) Summary:

When Draco finds himself wrongly accused – of course it's Potter who swoops in to save the day. Isn't it always Potter?

[sapphire374]

Soy Sol: Chapter 16 (Invisible String)

Wattpad Link

Ch.1 / Ch.2 / Ch.3 / Ch.4 / Ch.5 / Ch.6 / Ch.7 / Ch.8 / Ch.9 / Ch.10 / Ch.11 / Ch.12 / Ch.13 / Ch.14 / Ch.15 / Ch.17

It’s the day of the competition. The gang gathers at the competition’s building. Jazmín holds her tablet in the air, recording every moment for her channel. Half of them are at the building while the other half are still at the hotel. “Luna, are you coming with us?” Yam asks. “I’ll catch up I just forgot my necklace,” Luna yelped. She rushed to her hotel room and grabbed the necklace off the nightstand. When she heads out, she slips and falls.

When Luna gets back up, she sees a bloody scratch on her knee. A woman from the guest relations desk comes running towards her, “oh you poor thing, you have hurt yourself,” she says. “Yeah, but it’s okay I’ll be fine,” Luna comments. “Oh, don’t be modest, you need help. Well my name is Alice Balsano,” the lady says. That’s when it hits Luna, it’s Matteo’s mom. No wonder her face looked so familiar for Luna. “Oh um nice to meet you, I’m Luna,” Luna sticks out her hand and Ms. Balsano shakes it.

“Oh, I can’t believe I’m meeting the infamous Luna. You look just as beautiful as how Matteo described you. Here I’ll quickly get the ice bucket and wrap your knee up in a bandage. You’ll be at the competition in no time.” Mrs. Balsano guides Luna to a nearby chair and elevates her leg. She was able to find a worker and tell them of the situation. They waited together for the concierge to come back with the ice and bandages.

“It’s a pleasure getting to know you, Luna. My son, he’ll probably hate me for saying this but he really loves you. He’s truly in love, I’ve never seen him like this ever before,” she confided. “I appreciate all the information, but Matteo and I are in a rough patch right now. I don’t feel comfortable talking about it,” Luna admits.

“I know, he told me but Luna, if you don’t mind me asking, I’m confused. If you forgave him and know he did all those mistakes, well I know my son can make stupid decisions sometimes but we’re all human, then why are you still upset at him?” Mrs. Balsano questions curiously.

“I’m not upset at him, it’s just that we always end up in some conflict or drama. Since we deal with so many issues together, I couldn’t help but think maybe we’re not compatible. Maybe we’re not meant to be together,” Luna confesses. “This isn’t me saying for you to get back with my son because that’s right, you should be the one to make that decision on your own, but I will give you some advice for life. In any relationship you’re in, you will always encounter conflicts and issues no matter what. Life is not perfect and this isn’t something you can avoid. For example, my husband and I just had a silly argument about the broken steering wheel in our car. It’s normal but I still love him and always will. That’s how true love is, going through different obstacles but life still bringing you back to that one person. It’s okay if you go through things as long as you go through it together with your partner. Going through hardships isn’t something you can avoid with anyone but at least you can go through them with the person you love.”

Luna stayed quiet for a moment. She couldn’t help but realize that Ms. Balsano had a point. That all relationships aren’t perfect but it’s worth it when you’re with the one you love most. “You’re right. It’s like an invisible string, I keep going back to him because we’re meant to be together.” The worker arrives with the bandage, ice, and wipe. They clean off the wound and wrap her knee. Luna grabs her backpack with skates and runs away. She returns right after to give her thanks. “Oh, I forgot to say thank you Mrs. Balsano, that was great advice. Also, thanks guys for the bandages and stuff,” Luna waves goodbye and runs to the competition building. “Good luck on the competition,” Mrs. Balsano yells out.

Luna arrives just in time to get dressed. “Luna where were you? Everyone was worried,” Nina stated. “Yeah, I got worried that maybe Tino and Cato kidnapped you too,” Simón joked.

“Don’t worry, I’m here and better than ever,” Luna exclaims. The gang is all dressed up in their attire. They all hold hands waiting for their name to be called next. Luna holds Matteo’s hand to his surprise, which leads to a beaming expression.

The announcer calls for the Jam and Roller. Simón, Nico, and Yam all walk on the stage and align themselves for the performance. The skating team enter the rink and get into positions. Juliana views from the corner and shows how proud she is of them. They truly worked really hard for this moment and prepared more than ever. The stakes are high knowing they all have to win for the Jam and Roller.

When the Roller Band begins to sing, Luna starts off with her routine. The plot is that the members are all statues in a museum and Luna is the one who wakes them all up. As she glides around every member, they all start skating doing the tricks. Nina sees them all from the audience and nostalgia rushes over her seeing how some of the tricks were ones they use to do back then. Luna and Matteo nod at each other before doing the Fire Serpent.

Gastón and Matteo lift Emilia and Ámbar up in the air as Luna’s turn comes up where she does a triple axle spin around them. The team’s choreography stuns the audience and everyone is in awe. Once the team finishes, they get a standing ovation.

They enter backstage again all chanting the words “Jam and Roller!” They all high five each other as Juliana enters. “You guys, whatever score you all get tonight just know I’m extremely proud of you all. You guys got together and worked hard like never before to save the Jam and Roller.” They all go in a group hug. Luna takes Matteo to the side and try to talk to him in private.

“Look Matteo, recently I’ve been confused on why we always end up running into some stupid drama or conflict. That’s why I needed my space but then a good friend gave me some incredible advice and that is this will always happen. Crazy obstacles that will try to break us apart but we have what the infamous Taylor would say, our invisible string always makes my path cross into yours. We’re meant to be,” Luna exclaims.

“You have no idea how fast my heart is beating right now. Whoever gave you that advice, I owe them my life. Luna, I love you and always will. Nothing is going to stop me from loving you. I was an idiot and didn’t listen to you but that doesn’t mean we’re incompatible. That just means it’s another conflict we shall have to resolve together. I will always say that you are La Luna but you shine like the sun. You bring forth light to my world and now I can’t live without it,” Matteo declares.

“Matteo I’m sorry too, in being a little harsh and avoiding you. I shouldn’t have run away from my problems and instead face them,” Luna apologizes. “Luna te amo, mi chica delivery,” Matteo proclaims. “Te amo, mi chico fresa.” Luna and Matteo press their lips against each other. She holds his neck while he holds her waist. Their kiss feels like it lasts forever.

“Should we interrupt them saying they’ve called the team up to hear the results,” Gastón asks Nina. “I think we should just let them be. They’ve gone through enough already,” Nina chuckles.

The Jam and Roller enter the rink all holding hands waiting for the scores to be called out. The presenter announces that…….

The Jam and Roller is the WINNER! The whole gang don’t stop screaming their cheers of joy and jump up and down. “Okay I think now is when we should interrupt them,” Gastón exclaims to Nina. He heads to Luna and Matteo and tell them the great news. Luna is blushed and feels embarrassed knowing Gastón had let them in their long kiss instead of telling them to go to the rink.

They all celebrate winning the prize money and having the Jam and Roller saved. A mysterious man approaches Luna though and hands her a card. “I saw what you did out there. It was impressive. How would you feel if I offered you a spot in our Olympic team?” Luna is shocked with the news the strange man has presented to her. Matteo nods to Luna. “It’s your dream Luna, you love skating,” Matteo stated. “I’ll consider it.” Luna responds and takes the card the man handed to her. The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that she can compete sometimes while at other times accompany Matteo to his concerts. They would just have to manage their schedules for each other but it’s doable.

Jim and Ramiro all hug Yam. “At least we got to share our last times seeing each other on a happy note,” Jim suggested. “Don’t forget to facetime us at least twice a day and tell us how it’s all going okay,” Ramiro said. Yam nodded while wiping the tears falling on her face, she has to leave to Los Angeles right when they arrive back to Buenos Aires. “Don’t worry guys, nothing will separate us we’ll always stay united forever.”

Later that evening

“Close your eyes,” Matteo says. “But I do have them closed,” Luna whines. “No, I still see you peaking,” Matteo chuckles. He guides Luna, who has a bandana wrapped around her eyes, to a beach. When he takes the blindfold off, there’s a table with food nicely placed on top. He even included some strawberries and medialunas on the side. Her favorite dish is laid nicely as the main course and the table is beside the sea. The area is surrounded with canopies and fairy lights. It all looks like a dream.

“Wow Matteo, this all looks so beautiful,” Luna in awe with the whole place. Matteo faces her and says his speech.

“Luna, from the moment I met you and we bumped in Cancun, my life hasn’t been the same ever since. You have come into my life like a hurricane, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. You changed everything and made me the man I am today. I have been so lucky to be in your presence and got to see that beautiful smile every day. You are the sun roller skating around all of Buenos Aires, your unmistakable presence has everyone blown away, including me. (Matteo gradually gets on one knee) I knew for the longest that I want to spend every second of every minute of every day of my life with you. That has never changed, but I want it for sure. I want you to know that I will always be here for you. So, Luna Valente, would you be the sun, or should I say the moon to my night sky?” Luna gasps seeing Matteo propose. She covers her mouth in shock and doesn’t stop crying. She nods. “Yes! Yes! Yes,” she screams out. He carries her in bridal style while spinning her around and round.

Gastón and Nina come out from behind the bushes. Gastón is holding a camcorder and filmed everything. When Matteo lets go of Luna, she is surprised to see them two there. “Oh wow Gastón, I didn’t know you turned into Jazmín,” Luna joked. “No, I did him the favor of videotaping everything since he wanted this memory saved. I, of course, said yes since now I have actual evidence of him crying. He always bragged about how he ‘never cries,’” Gastón jokes. “Oh and Mr. Balsano how did you know I was going to say yes?” Luna questions.

“It’s too late to back out now Mrs. Balsano, plus I knew you couldn’t resist the charm,” Matteo chuckled. Gastón starts zooming in on Matteo. “Oh please bud, you’re over here crying a river of tears more than Luna. Yeah, some irresistible charm I see,” Gastón laughs.

They all group together for a hug as a family. The rest of the Jam and Roller gang interrupt their celebration and join them in the fun. “Also Matteo, how did you get my dad’s permission to propose?” Luna asks.

“Let’s just say your mom had to do a lot of convincing for me,” Matteo responds.

[melodyalanaroster]

To answer some Fanfic Questions...

So, this is my response to @broxklynn‘s post... I decided to make this its own post... So that It can be properly answered.

1. How and why did you start to write? Is there some kind of story behind it?

I started writing in general when I was in elementary school... Back when I just had a Platform 9 3/4 journal, not many friends, recess, and a desire to immerse myself in the world of Harry Potter. I enjoyed writing, and even joined the Writer’s Club in High School (but I eventually left to join Anime Club and Divergent Thinking Society). As for writing MCL fanfiction, I began writing Sam’s and Alana’s stories as early as when I first got into the fandom, back in 2013. Alana’s story started out as “A Fresh Start”, had a one shot called “When I Wake”, then turned into “Let The Dawn Be Broken”, and is now “The Melancholy Of Melody Alana Roster”. The final product barely has any hints of the first 3... In fact, Sam’s story, “Fighting Darkness”, has been completely debunked due to what I’ve decided to canonize in “The Melancholy Of Melody Alana Roster”. Writing MCL fanfiction has been a major help in distracting me from the depression that was caused by family issues, severe abuse, Stockholm Syndrome, my mom’s disease and her death, as well as working at several shitty jobs. Writing has helped me escape reality and keep myself sane enough to not be a black hole of hate, anger, and sadness to my friends and boyfriend.

2. What do you struggle the most with your writing?

There are 2 major things I struggle with... 1 is Timing. I often set deadlines for myself that I never meet and it makes me so frustrated that I miss them... There are currently things in my drafts that were meant to be “Holiday Specials” for Valentine’s Day and Halloween 2020 that are still unfinished... It makes me feel like I’m letting my readers down, when its more of me letting myself down... The other thing is Inspiration. Because I hate my job, I often think about Alana’s story in an effort to not be completely consumed by the fact that I do hate my work... Due to that, I often come up with ideas for my story that I think are FANTASTIC for my story... But, by the time I get home, I’m either in too much pain or too tired to write, or I’ve forgotten the ideas...

3. What is your favorite genre to write?

I love writing Romance with a bit of Slice of Life and a hint of Action/Adventure... 

4. Slowburn or “Flame”/PWP?

Slow burn any day.

5. How do you overcome writer’s block?

If I absolutely can’t write... I work on other stuff I need to do... Typically, something around the house, or something online I need to do... I also look for cool stuff to add to wish lists... I’ll occasionally play videogames or read comic books... In an effort to subvert writer’s block, I like having multiple chapters in my drafts at once. If I’m not in the mood to work on one chapter, I can work on a different one.

6. What kind of thing you dislike the most, when reading a fanfiction? (for example: particular plot, grammar mistakes)

One thing that makes me upset (and it makes me madder when I do this) is misspelling... Especially when it looks like its almost blatant... You have autocorrect, USE IT! Or when a fanfic is so awful, yet the author acts like their work is a gift from god... I don’t mind a “bad” fanfiction... Hell, the concept of “My Immortal” is so bad that its hilarious... But Fifty Shades did a lot of damage and E.L. James acts like she’s bigger than Jesus... Seriously, she wrote Twilight fanfiction, changed some minor details and names, people who have no knowledge of BDSM ate it up, and she acts like she’s a “Sex and Relationship Guru”...

7. What’s the biggest issue for you, when writing a Beemoov fanfiction?

The biggest issue for me is finding out when to allow for Beemoov’s writing and placement to take place in my story. I don’t like a lot of the events of UL and LL, so I’m often finding myself in a position where I have to watch video playthroughs and go “Okay, how can I omit this character, but keep this scene?”. I’ve had to do that A LOT with Alexy and Rosalaya.... Although, to a certain extent, I’ll often cut their scenes out altogether. I really hate what Beemoov did to them. They were great characters in HSL, but became utter shit in UL and stayed shit in LL. To make up for Beemoov’s writing style, I’ve created my own characters, added in old characters (like Kentin and Armin), added in bits from the manga (like Viktor, Severina and their fathers), and gone off on my own storyline. The Melancholy Of Melody Alana Roster is close to MCL at times, but often veers off onto its own road.

8. Have you ever created a character based on person in real life? (celebrity, someone that you know, etc)

YES!!! A LOT of characters in my story are based on real people! Alana’s step-father, Nate Films, is closely based on Nathan Fillion. A lot of her family members are based on members of my own family, just changed a bit to fit the story. Lynne Roster, Alana’s mom, is what I had always dreamed my own mom would be... Hell, Alana’s cat, Sylvester, is based on my own childhood cat, Luna.

9. How do you feel about your own characters? Do you think of them as your babies or have rather love-hate relationship with them? (And, do you have favorite one?)

I love most of my characters. I do hate 3 in particular... But, you’re supposed to hate, or at least not respect, them... That’s why I poured my hatred into them... Those 3 are Carol, Kai and Azrael. Carol has aspects of my abuser in her. You’ll see more of her when I finally post the HSL related chapters... And understand what I mean... Kai is based on one of my real life cousins that I’ve not been happy with for years (the one who my bf has deemed “the family failure”). You mainly see him in the Cousin Mels chapters, and in the Christmas Special... Azrael is the one who is seen the most in the UL chapters, and she is a main adversary for Alana. She is the one who broke her the most, the one who ended Alana’s relationship with Nathaniel, the one who truly traumatized her. As for ones I love... The one I love the most is Alana... I know, she’s a reflection of me, so that’s kind of vain... But, she’s a part of me. When I do finish her story and am at the point where I need to say “Goodbye”, it will hurt....

10. Enemies-to-lovers or friends/bestfriends-to lovers?

Definitely friends/best friends to lovers. I also like toying with what happens when best friends turn to lovers, but circumstance parts them and one moves on...

11. Is it easy for you to get inside your character’s head? Can you empathize with them? Is there’s some similarities between you and your main character?

It is VERY easy for me to get into Alana’s head... Like I said in #9, she is a reflection of me. She looks and acts like how I’d like to in a lot of situations... Her life is more interesting, traumatized, and more well off than mine... But, she is still me in major ways...

12. Who has been the biggest supporter of your writing?

Definitely my boyfriend. He doesn’t really understand the game itself... But, he likes how happy it makes me and he respects how much of my heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears that I’ve poured into writing my story. He loves listening to me read passages from it to him while I’m working. He gives me advice and his opinion is highly valued... My family knows I’m writing a large story, and have seen some of the images that I’ve gotten commissioned, but they don’t really know or care about the game. They do respect the fact that I am writing. They love the fact that I’m slightly following in my mom’s footsteps in that regard (she wrote 3 books and several poems). My online friends have been very supportive as well! I’m constantly updating them on what I’ve worked on each day in my Discord Server and the words of encouragement always help.

13. How do you handle criticism?

Not well. Due to the abuse and family issues mentioned in #1, for a good amount of my life, I’ve gotten nothing but harsh criticism... So, now that I’m away from all that, at 26 years old, I’m just now getting to a point where I’m starting to take it better... But, I’ve got a long way to go.

14. Do you like giving your characters trauma? Why/why not?

I hate sounding like a sadist... But, I’m going to anyway, so fuck it... Yes. I have done awful things to Alana over the years. In A Fresh Start, she got sexually assaulted and ostracized. In When I Wake, she gets into a car crash, put into a coma, and in her dream state murdered by Francis in front of Nathaniel. In Let The Dawn Be Broken, the plan was for her to end a war. In “The Melancholy of Melody Alana Roster”, her childhood cat dies, her mom gets sick, she gets abused by Carol, her best friends get ripped away from her for a bit, she gets sent to a country halfway around the world alone, she gets assaulted and ultimately turned into a weapon of mass destruction.... I’ve even thought of killing her mom off at one point... But decided against it...

Now, granted, A Fresh Start and Let The Dawn Be Broken never saw completion, but happy endings were planned for them...

I do this, all while giving Alana happy endings in each story because “If Alana can go through utter hell and make it through, then so can I.”... I know, I’m “god” in that regard and I can control how Alana’s life is.... But, the fact that in my writing, she ends up standing tall, happy, with everything she wants, after everything she goes through does make me feel better.... 

15. Are you proud of yourself? When you look at first piece you wrote and compare it to the latest one?

Yes. If you look at A Fresh Start, you can tell it was written by someone fresh out of High School. There’s no real depth to it. Let The Dawn Be Broken isn’t much better... But, The Melancholy of Melody Alana Roster has become my magnum opus. It is the largest piece I have EVER written, and will probably remain the largest piece I write. I am very proud of what I have created... And when its last word is written, and I am ready to get it made for it’s place on my shelf, I will feel very bittersweet about it... That being said, my original plan for a sequel involving Nathaniel’s and Alana’s daughter, Aurora, has been discarded. I don’t believe Aurora could ever have as much of my heart that her parents do...

And there you have it! Some insight into my world, writing, and history!

[jobrookekarev]

First Lines

Rules: List the first line of your last 20 stories (if you have less, list them all). See if you can find any patterns and choose your favorite opening line. Tag your favorite authors.

Tagged by @pagingevilspawn 

So I haven’t written 20 Stories for Grey’s, I’ve written 18 + a few prompts so here are all of them.

1. Easter Eggs: Summary: Jo and Alex spend Easter with their friends in Meredith's backyard as their daughter, Helena, has her first Easter egg hunt.

“You're so cute, aren't you pretty girl, yes you look so pretty in your fancy dress, yes you do,” Jo cooed as she tickled her fingers over Helena’s belly.

2. The Batter Always Taste Better: Summary: Jo comes home to see Alex baking cake and steals a taste for herself and her baby.

Jo walked through the door of the house and was greeted with the wonderful and excited squeals of her seven-month-old baby girl.

3. Little Moon: Summary: Jo knew from the moment she held Luna’s hand that she had to protect her from becoming the foster kid that she was. So Jo adopts Lina and this is their lives together as Mama and Little Moon.

Jo had been standing between the NICU incubators as she waited for Hayes to get out of surgery with Luna.

4. Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby: Summary: Alex takes Jo home after she divorces Paul and watches over her for the best he can.

“God, I wish he was dead,” Jo said her voice was full of pain and she looked like she was about to cry as her expression contorted into a grimace.

5. I Remember it All Too Well: Summary: Alex knew from the moment he signed the divorce papers that leaving Jo and Seattle was the worst mistake of his life. As Alex works his way back to Seattle, he sees Jo again four times before she allows him back into her life. 

Or the four times Alex saw Jo after their divorce, and the one time they finally got back together with her, plus a soft epilogue.

Alex was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. It was spaghetti night which means twice the mess as usual nights as he dumped the first jar of spaghetti sauce into the huge pot on the stove.

6. Card Sharks: Summary: Jo Plays Uno with Zola and Ellis but has to calls Alex over for help because they’re both card sharks and she’s losing badly.

“Hey Alex, can you come here for a sec?” Jo called to him as Alex looked up from where he was putting the frozen pizzas in the oven.

7. I Can See Us Twisted in Bedsheets: Summary: A year after he left, Jo and Alex sleep together in a hotel room after they kiss at a wedding reception.

When their eyes met across the room at the wedding reception the only thing that Alex could see was Jo.

8. He’s Wrapped Around Her Finger: Summary: While Jo’s sleeping Alex gets to know his newborn daughter and settles into the role of Dad.

“Helena Meredith Karev born on November 26th at 5:36 am at 21 inches long and weighing at 8 lb 15 oz., just 1 oz short of 9 lb,” Alex announced as he spoke to Meredith on the phone.

9. Be My Snowy Valentine: Summary: Jo and Alex spend Valentine’s Day in the snow with their daughter.

“Look Daddy’s making us a Snowman,” Jo said as she pointed Alex out to Helena from where he was crouched down in the snow rolling a ball around the yard.

10.  Falling Because of You: Summary: Jo and Alex are doing their best to keep her pregnancy under wraps until Jo faints in the OR and their exciting secret slowly gets out to everyone.

Jo was in her happy place. Many surgeons had a favorite procedure or OR that they liked and for Jo, it was this.

11. I’m Helpless!: Summary: Jo tells Alex she’s pregnant at their engagement party. Based off of the pictures from the deleted scene back in season 14 of the engagement party Jo and Alex had at Grey-Sloan. 

Jo wrapped her arms around Alex’s shoulders as they listened to Kimmie sing.

12. Sweet Preteen: Summary: When Zola acts out at her Birthday party and yells at Ellis. Meredith decides to present her with Derek’s ferry boat scrub cap in the hopes that it will remind her of the girl Meredith and Derek love.  

Meredith looked around the backyard and smiled.

13.  A Little Something Extra: Summary: Jo and Alex agree to babysit Scout for the weekend and after spending the weekend with him they wonder what it would be like to have a baby of their own.

“Hey,” Jo said, bouncing up to the nurse’s station like a little ball of sunshine.

14. Safe and Sound: Summary: Jo and Alex figure out they’re the same blood type, as they figure out what blood type their baby will be. Yet they never thought it would come in handy until Alex ends up in the ER. 

Alex was standing at the nurses’ station holding his tablet and looking over his Post-OP charts when all of a sudden Jo flung herself into his arms.

15. Close Your Eyes, and We’re Somewhere Else: Summary: Alex sees how burnt out Jo is becoming because of the pandemic and decides to whisk her away to a cabin in the snowy Cascade mountains for Christmas. There they enjoy the snow and lazy days watching Christmas movies and on Christmas day, they each get each other something very special. 

“If you could book a flight tomorrow for anywhere in the world, where would you go?” Alex asked, looking up at her for the first time since they sat down to eat dinner.

16. Little Turkey: Summary: Jo and Alex celebrate Thanksgiving with everybody in Meredith’s backyard and Jo tries to induce labor.

Jo pushed open the gate to Meredith’s backyard and was greeted with the sight of the socially distant Thanksgiving dinner in full swing.

17. The Carousel: Summary: During a family trip to the zoo, Bailey and Zola ask to ride the carousel. The carousel where Meredith’s world fell apart. Yet, when faced with the bad memories of her childhood, Meredith is determined to make happy memories for her children.

Meredith forgot. She forgot that there was a carousel at the zoo.

18. Two of a Kind and More Than a Street Kid Could Ask For: Summary: Alex comes home to find Jo crying and they realize that they’ve both come a long way from where they were when they were kids.

Alex slid open the door to the loft and undid the tie. 

I am tagging no one, (Because this took a lot of time and effort and I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to do it) but who ever wants to do this can!

[cakesunflower]

Reach For You [Dad!Calum AU] Ch. 21

Previous Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20

Chapter 21

SHE WAS TRYING to suppress her smile, failing to do as her green eyes remained on an uncharacteristically jittery Calum. He was switching between pacing the exam room to observing the medical poster of a fetus developing stuck on the wall. He seemed almost out of place, acquainting himself with his surroundings, and Aspen kept her attention on him rather than thinking about her full bladder and how she couldn’t wait to use the bathroom after the appointment was over.

Her eyes drew to the way he stood, arms crossed to bring attention to his tattooed arms, but she was more focused on the way his right foot bounced in anticipation, dark eyes intently taking in the poster in front of him. He was almost studying it. Tentatively, fighting the smile threatening to grow as she asked, “Cal, all good?”

“Hmm?” Calum blinked, eyebrows high as he turned to look at her where she sat in the upright exam chair. “Yeah, yeah,” he assured, pulling away to take the few steps towards her. It was early in the morning, both of them in their comfortable sweats, wanting to get into the clinic as early as possible after dropping Luna off at Rich’s house with the vague excuse of having errands to run. No one knew where they were, wanting the absolute confirmation from the experts before telling anyone the life changing news. Calum stood next to her, left hand resting on top of the chair as he smiled down at Aspen. “Just, y’know—” He grinned breathlessly, the light ever present in his eyes. “Excited.”

That only served to widen Aspen’s grin, squeezing his hand. She was excited herself, of course, despite already doing this already. But this time it was with Calum—and before last year, Aspen never thought she would be here again with him. Having his hand to hold this time around brought a different sense of excitement as well as tranquility as opposed the downright fear she had when she found out she was pregnant with Luna. Five years ago, Aspen had been dealing with a breakup she hadn’t entirely saw coming and had her mom and Jodie accompanying her to her doctor appointments.

This time around, the walls of the exam room didn’t feel as though they were closing in, and the ultrasound machine didn’t look terrifying like it had back then. Aspen understood this was a first time experience for Calum, being there right from the beginning from the moment he found out about the pregnancy, but it was also a first for Aspen, too. Because now, the fear of being a single mom wasn’t numbing her. Now, she had her partner right by her side, looking just as elated as she felt. She wasn’t alone, didn’t have to worry about doing this by herself. The past couldn’t be changed, but the future continued to be bright.

“Good morning, Miss Russo.” The two of them turned their heads towards the ultrasound technician entering the room, a smile on her face as she looked towards the couple. “How are we doing today?”

“Great,” Aspen smiled, sitting up slightly as the woman, Dr. Lang, read over her chart on the tablet in her hand. “How’re you?”

“I’m good, thank you.” Dr. Land came over to the side of where the ultrasound machine was stationed, setting the tablet down. Warm brown eyes on them, she continued, “According to your chart, this isn’t your first rodeo.” She was already reaching for the gel as she gestured for Aspen to lay back. “But just a reminder—this’ll be cold.”

Aspen nodded, already aware, as she lifted her loose shirt up so Dr. Lang could squeeze the blue gel onto her abdomen, smiling at Calum as he grasped her hand. She could feel his excitement, nervousness, ever observant eyes watching as Dr. Lang switched on the machine, humming to life, and grabbed the wand before bringing it over to Aspen’s abdomen. “Let’s see how far along you are,” Dr. Land murmured, eyes intently on the black and white warbled screen as she spread the gel around with the wand.

Turning her head, Aspen looked at the familiar screen as well, feeling her heart slowly picking up its pace at the anticipation that buzzed ever cell in her body. She was early along, Aspen knew, not expecting to see anything decently sized quite yet, but any indication of something actually being there was enough. 

She caught Dr. Lang’s lips twitching upwards into a small smile before using her free hand to point at the screen as she said, “There it is.”

Both Aspen and Calum’s eyes followed her finger, and Aspen’s breath caught at the sight of the small, tiny little thing that would grow over the next nine months. It was small, though only a little bigger than when she had her first ultrasound with Luna—that had been at almost five weeks, which was really early, causing Aspen to have a transvaginal ultrasound and finding out she was not a fan of those. This little one, however, seemed somewhat passed five weeks. But it was there, clearly visible, clearly going to eventually become a baby. Her and Calum’s baby.

Aspen turned her head just a bit to look at Calum, to watch his features change as the reality of the situation settled in his head. She watched the way his dark eyes stared at the screen, unable to tear them away even as they began glassing over, lips parting to let out a heavy breath he’d probably been holding in without even knowing. The grasp his hand had on hers grew tighter, as if he was trying to ground himself from getting too lost in the wonder of how his life was once again about to change.

And, yeah, the confirmation of having a second kid was enough to make Aspen cry in its own right, but to see Calum get so emotional over it was what really brought the tears to Aspen’s eyes. To see the utter happiness, wonder, and awe he held so expressively, unapologetically, had her heart soaring as he whispered, “Oh, wow.”

Then, he heard it.

Strong and faint, the unmistakable sound of a heartbeat echoed from the ultrasound machine, and Calum nearly felt his knees give out as the sound reached his ears. His grip on Aspen’s hand grew tighter, if possible, throat drying as he held his breath to focus on nothing but that wonderful, incredible sound. It was warbling and quick, but a heartbeat nonetheless. His baby’s heartbeat. Calum could feel his own racing within his chest, but damn it if he paid it any mind. The only heartbeat that mattered was this baby’s.

“That’s the heartbeat.” Dr. Lang chuckled gently as she leaned just a bit closer to the screen, pressing a few keys on the keyboard. “It looks like you’re about seven weeks along.” A lot further along than Aspen had assumed, and while she worked in a medical clinic, she apparently was shit at listening to her own body when it came to the schedule of her period. Ah, well. “I’m going to need you to hold your breath for a few seconds so I can capture some quick images, alright?”

Aspen nodded, managing to snap out of her reverie of joy, waiting for Dr. Lang’s signal. It didn’t take long, and soon enough the images were captured and Dr. Lang was wiping the gel off Aspen’s abdomen as they were being printed. As Aspen sat up, lowering her shirt, Dr. Lang took the images and handed them over, smiling as she said, “Congratulations, Mom and Dad.”

Calum took the sonograms, unable to tear his gaze away from them, the awe heavy in his voice as he absently responded, “Thank you.”

He barely even registered what Dr. Lang was saying, informing Aspen of when her next appointment would be and repeating things Aspen already knew yet she still listened intently. But Calum was too lost in the black and white picture he held in his hand. Calum knew he should be listening to Dr. Lang to be well informed as well, especially given that this was his first time being by his pregnant girlfriend’s side. And he tried, he really did, but he was so fucking elated to focus on anything but the sonogram.

Calum vaguely heard Dr. Lang bid her goodbye, telling them they were good to go, still in a daze until Aspen dangled her legs over the side of the exam table and looked up at Calum. “Hey, Calum—come back.” His eyes met hers and Aspen smiled knowingly, gaze briefly flickering to the sonogram before chuckling breathily, “It’s crazy, right?”

He let out a slow breath, the sound seeming too loud to his own ears as his brown eyes once again looked at Aspen’s. She was watching him quietly, and the drumming of his heart was overwhelming as his throat worked. “Is it stupid of me to say that I feel wholly unprepared to be a dad?”

Aspen’s eyebrows raised at his words, giving a curious tilt of her head as she silently asked him to elaborate. He was a great dad. The best she knew—even if she was a little biased. “I just—” Calum inhaled deeply, glancing down at the images once more before offering a sheepish smile. “I never learned how to change a diaper or—I mean, holding Tahir was the first time I held a baby in, like, I couldn’t even tell you how long.” Aspen’s lips quirked up slightly as she remembered when they’d visited Rich and Laila a few months ago to see Aspen’s new nephew. “I’m just scared, I guess, that I’m gonna be totally useless when the baby comes because I’ll be so damn lost.”

She had to fight the urge from totally cooing at him, wondering if it was inappropriate to find his nervousness so endearing. But Aspen could see how badly Calum wanted this, a second chance to be a dad from the start, and she wanted to desperately ease his fears. “You think you’re the first guy who’s nervous about taking care of a newborn?” she mused, grasping his free hand in hers. “This is all a part of getting ready to have a baby; I’d say you’re on the right track,” she added with a fond chuckle. Aspen squeezed his hand, reassuring, “We’re in this together. You’ll learn and you’ll adapt and I’ll be here to help you.”

The appreciation lightened the weight that had settled in his eyes, rubbing her hand with the back of his thumb as he gave a shake of his head. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one helping you through the pregnancy?”

Aspen smirked, knowing herself too well, knowing if this was anything like the first time around, just how weird and crazy her cravings and mood and everything in between will be. “Don’t worry—you will,” she reassured him knowingly, catching the raise of his eyebrows as she got off the exam table.

As Calum drove, thumb tapping on the steering wheel as he took them to Rich’s place to pick up Luna, he spoke up. “You know, I was serious about us getting a new place,” he said, reminding Aspen of his words from yesterday after hearing the news of her pregnancy. “We don’t have room for a baby in the apartment.”

“I know,” Aspen sighed, leaning back in her seat. Her home had been perfect for when it was just her and Luna. Calum had basically moved in, never spending the night at his own apartment in the city, only venturing to New York when he had business. Other than that, he was at her apartment, which had become his, equipped with almost all of his belongings and Duke. He was right. They were going to need another room for the baby, and while all the planning may seem premature, Aspen would be lying if she said it wasn’t already in the back of her mind, long before since she found out she was pregnant. Moving into a new place, one that was both hers and Calum’s, was something she’d been wanting to do for a while.

She nibbled on her lower lip, a question that swam in her head when she thought about this resurfacing as she glanced at Calum’s profile. “Do you still wanna stay in town?”

Aspen figured he heard the apprehension in her voice by the furrow in his eyebrows as he glanced at her briefly. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know,” Aspen mumbled, suddenly feeling foolish for bringing it up. But it needed to be discussed—or clarified, at least. “I mean, I know when you first got here, we talked about custody when it came to co-parenting but obviously that’s not an issue anymore. But are you alright with living in Jersey? Permanently? ‘Cause I know your friends and family are in L.A. and—”

“Stop, Aspen.” Calum let out a soft chuckle, the car stopped at a ted light as he looked at her. There was a gentleness in his eyes that relaxed her, especially as he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. Gaze meeting hers, he said, “You, Luna, & this little one are my family. And, honestly, I wouldn’t wanna raise my kids there. Staying here is what I want. It’s perfect.”

Aspen felt her heart practically soar in the confines of her chest, eyebrows raising in mild incredulity as she took in a breath. “Really?” She didn’t want him to feel like he was giving anything up. But one look at him, and Aspen knew it was a ridiculous thought to even consider. 

“Really,” he returned with a smile, having to turn his attention back on the road as the light turned green. “I love it here with you. Wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.”

The smile on Aspen’s face widened, heart drumming happily in her chest as she leaned over to press a kiss to Calum’s cheek. He grinned, leaning into her touch, eyes on the road as she settled back in her seat, back against the door so she could look at Calum, unabashedly admiring him. The smile danced on his lips, left hand on the wheel and right still holding hers, the radio in the background playing a familiar song she didn’t care about. Too busy admiring the man next to her, a warmth settling in the pit of her stomach happily. 

Aspen’s left hand settled on her stomach, rolling her smiling lips into her mouth as she welcomed the thought of their lives changing forever all over again. She was only seven weeks along, but she couldn’t wait to meet this little nugget. 

*****

Keeping their mouths shut for the next few weeks had been unbearable. All Calum had wanted to do was, ridiculously enough, scream from the rooftops that he was having another baby. To share the pure joy that had been consuming him from the moment he had found out. But both he and Aspen had agreed that they wouldn’t say anything, wouldn’t tell anyone, until the first trimester was over. Calum followed her lead on it, on everything, really. 

Especially when her cravings kicked in, almost immediately, whether it be for a strange, frankly disgusting, combination of salt and vinegar chips with marshmallow fluff or he had to make a trip to the twenty-four hour McDonalds ten minutes away so she could indulge her Big Mac craving. Her cravings weren’t all of the time, starting a little while after the first ultrasound, but whenever they came up, Calum was quick to accommodate them. And look away when it was a bit too gross for his own stomach.

He also felt guilty when her morning sickness kicked in, typically getting up early in the morning and Calum waking up soon after by the sounds of her throwing up. He’d follow her into the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the tub with his hand pulling back her hair and the other rubbing at her back and offering whatever support he could. And Calum admired her for just getting right back up after flushing the toilet, only uttering a quiet grunt before brushing her teeth and pulling Calum back to bed. She was a real trooper in Calum’s eyes, and it had only just started.

Calum shut the cabinet that was designated for snacks, having just gone on a grocery run with Luna, stocking up on all of their favorite snacks—plus the list of things Aspen had asked him to get in case her cravings started acting up. A few feet away, he heard her ever so familiar voice call out, “Calum, you home?”

“Yeah,” he responded, walking out of the kitchen to see her toe off her sneakers, still in her scrubs, raising his eyebrows at the excited grin that was on her face. “What?” he asked with an amused chuckle.

She stopped where she stood, turning sideways so her profile was to him, and Calum watched as she lifted the hem of her scrub top and claimed through her grin, “I think it might be time we start telling people.”

Aspen lowered her chin and eyes, and Calum followed her gaze before his eyes widened at the sight before him, heart jumping into his throat as he immediately picked up on what she wanted him to notice. He did, instantly, and it was one of the best sights he’d ever seen.

A bump. A small, beautiful bump that someone like Calum, who was so intimately familiar with Aspen’s body, noticed right away. It sent his heart racing, feeling himself freeze for the briefest moment before he stumbled forward—it seemed like he’d been doing that often, in terms of Aspen and this pregnancy. She caught him every time.

“Stop,” Calum all but gasped, eyes wide as he approached his beaming girlfriend, hands reaching forward to caress the bump. Aspen giggled softly as his hand came in contact with her skin, rubbing it, thinking of the life that’s growing inside of her. The mere thought of it was overwhelming, robbing Calum of his breath in the best way. He couldn’t wait until he was holding the baby in his arms. Wide, awed eyes raising to meet Aspen’s, Calum whispered, “You’re showing.”

“I know,” Aspen responded, an excited squeak in her voice as she bounced on her heels giddily. “I mean, with Luna, I didn’t start until, like, twelve weeks. But this little one already wants to make him—or her—self known.”

Calum let out a slow breath, giving her growing belly some more rubs before bringing her shirt down, not that he really wanted to, and wrapping his arms around her to pull her close. Raising an eyebrow, his brown eyes met Aspen’s green, and Calum asked, “You wanna tell people?”

She nodded, smile ever present. “I mean, yeah.” Her hands were on his biceps, giving them an excited squeeze. Tilting her head, Aspen continued knowingly, “I know you’re dying to tell the boys.”

“Only if you’re ready to tell people,” Calum quickly assured. He didn’t want to somehow pressure her, knowing she had said she’d wanted to wait until the first trimester was over. They still had a few more weeks until then, and Calum was willing to see it through. Even if it did mean holding off on telling the boys.

“Yes, I am,” Aspen answered, smile bright. Beautiful. With a giggle and a squeeze to his arms once more, she added, “Time we spread the joy.”

*****

The boys, of course, didn’t live on the east coast. They had gone back to California a few months back, but that never stopped them from FaceTiming or even hopping on a plane over just because they had the means to and could. And since Ashton’s birthday happened to be coming up, Calum was thrilled to know the birthday man wanted to spend it with his closest friends in New York. 

The day after the boys arrived, just a few days before Ashton’s birthday, the group of them met up for dinner in the city after setting Luna up with a sitter. Aspen wanted for the guys to know through her and Calum telling them, rather than them seeing it, so she made sure to wear a blouse that didn’t fit too tightly, hiding the bump under the loose material. The excitement fluttered around Aspen’s stomach, feeling as though no matter how many people they told it to, the news wouldn’t seem any less exciting.

The two of them had told Aspen’s family, being responded to with thrilled cheers and excitement—some tears on Aspen’s mom’s part as well. Then phone calls had been made to Mali and Calum’s parents, and Aspen would be lying if she said it wasn’t trippy when they were telling Calum’s parents. There had been a twisting in her stomach, kind of nauseous, prompting Aspen to grasp Calum’s hand tightly as they delivered the news. And it was fucking weird, telling them through FaceTime as her own mind flashed with images of when she was in that position years ago. Sitting with Joy, being utterly terrified of being pregnant without it ever being the plan, and then being told to get the hell out of town in a more subdued, patronizing way.

This time around, though, there had been exclaims of happiness and excitement on their end, and while Aspen had briefly felt like she’d been transported into an alternate universe, she acknowledged the relief and joy she felt at their reaction. It was good. It was how everything should have been from the start.

“There they are,” Calum pointed out as they entered the restaurant, catching sight of the guys sitting at a round table towards the middle of the restaurant. Which was a surprise, them being on time for once. 

Aspen saw them easily, too, smiling up at Calum as they made their way over and asked him, “You ready?”

The smile on his face was answer enough.

They greeted the boys with hugs before settling down, picking up their menus and catching up as the waitress came by to take their drink orders. And while the men read off their specific alcoholic drink, Aspen merely smiled at the waitress and said, “Just a water for me, thank you.”

Across from her, Luke scrunched his face up disapprovingly. “Aw, come on, Aspen. You can’t leave us hanging like that—get a real drink.”

Aspen felt the laugh bubble past her, exchanging a brief look with Calum before telling the blonde with a shake of her head, “I can’t.” So what if she wanted to tease it just a tiny bit?

“Nah, none of that,” Michael cut in, shaking his head as well as he sat to her left. “I hear they’ve got good margaritas here; that’s right up your alley.”

She laughed, the amusement bringing the smile onto her face as well as the simmering anticipation of breaking the news. Really, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face even if she tried, especially taking in account how the boys had absolutely no idea. “No, seriously, guys,” Calum spoke up this time, his own knowing smile tilting at his lips as he looked at his best friends, adopting as much of a serious tone as he could allow himself before adding pointedly, “She can’t.”

It didn’t click, not that either of them expected it to. But Aspen did note the furrow in each of their eyebrows, frowning in confusion as they looked between the couple. Aspen desperately wanted to just announce it, but this was Calum’s moment—he would be the one to tell his best friends that he was about to become a father for the second time. Under the table, her hand grasped his, a single squeeze indicating that it was time, and the words spilled out of his mouth before he could even comprehend it.

His grin was wide, the happiness absolutely glowing, as he announced, “Aspen’s pregnant.”

The three men fell into a brief, stupefied silence. Green, blue, and hazel eyes gaped at them, absolutely stunned by the news, processing it through the noise of the buzzing restaurant. Aspen and Calum watched them, waited patiently, hearts drumming and smiles growing as Ashton was the first to break the silence with a dumbfounded, “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Aspen laughed, her cheeks beginning to ache from how much she was smiling. “Gonna have another Hood by January.”

Calum looked at her, eyes warm and smile brilliant, giving her hand a squeeze as he said, “Best birthday present I could’ve asked for.”

The boys snapped out of it then, startling the couple with their enthusiastic cheers, earning some looks from other patrons as they got up from their seats to step around the table to hug both Aspen and Calum. They let go of each other’s hands to receive the hugs, Aspen grinning against Luke and then Michael and then Ashton, each voicing their incredulous happiness and excitement for becoming uncles all over again. They didn’t at all care about how loud they were being, their enthusiasm taking over, ignorant to the few looks they had received.

“This is—wow, holy shit,” Michael laughed, green eyes bright and wide as he grinned at his friends. “Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?”

Calum clicked his tongue, leaning back in the chair as his left arm draped on top of Aspen’s chair. “Not for another few weeks,” he informed them, speaking through his smile as he looked at his friends. “Place your bets, boys.”

“Name ’em after me,” Ashton grinned dimply, earning an amused snort from Aspen as Ashton laughed at her. “What? Ashton for a boy, Ashley for a girl.”

Calum scoffed as Aspen shot the hazel eyed man a smirk, raising her eyebrows at him as she said, “If the baby’s named after you, you’re automatically the one changing the diapers. I don’t make the rules.”

Laughter rounded the table as Ashton scrunched his face up, shaking his head in protest as Calum jumped in. “Oi, no—I’ll be on diaper duty.” Finger poking at Aspen’s shoulder, arm still around the chair, Calum pouted at her, “Don’t be giving my job to someone else.”

Luke shook his head in amusement. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so excited to change a shitty diaper.”

“You kidding?” Calum’s smile was wide, biting down on his lower lip as his dark eyes met Aspen’s green. The sincerity was present, his following words relevant to both the diapers as well as the excitement that enveloped them. “I can’t wait.”

--

tags: @irwinkitten @loveroflrh @sweetcherrymike @astroashtonio @softforcal @meetashthere @novacanecalum @captain-what-is-going-on @angelbbycal @singt0mecalum @hopelessxcynic @lfwallscouldtalk @bodhi-black @findingliam-o @softlrh @calntynes @calumsmermaid @erikamarie41 @quintodosuniversos @longlastingdaydream @babylon-corgis @lukehemmingsunflower @imfuckin10plybud @pastelpapermoons @conquerwhatliesahead92 @rotten-kandy @neigcthood @ohhmuke @old-zeppelin-shirt @5sos-and-hessa @trustmeimawhalebiologist​ @vxlentinecal​ @pettybassists​ @vaporshawn​ @lu-my-golden-boi​ @visualm3nte​ @isabella-mae13​ @dontjinx-it​ @lifeakaharry​ @neonweeknds​ @antisocialbandmate​ @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave​ @calpalbby​ @grreatgooglymoogly​ @sunnysidesblog​ @miahelizaaabeth​ @madelynerin​ @dramallamawithsparkles​ @kaytiebug14​ @hoodskillerqueen​ @bitchinbabylon​ @empathycth​ @xhaileyreneex​ @inlovehoodx​ @aestheticrelated​ @bloodlinecal​ @sublimehood​ @madbomb​ @raabiac​ @britnicole11​ @outofmylimitcal​ @wildflower-cth​ @bloodmoonashton​ @vxidhood​ @wildflowergrae​

[nemrut]

Epic Seven - Balance Adjustment Patch 02.09.2021

So, some interesting units getting adjustments there.

Don't care much about ML Ravi since I do not have her. I'll be honest, I didn't think she needed a buff, but then again, I rarely saw her, so maybe she did.

Her S1 now inflicts injuries, which is interesting enough. Her S2 now gives her a CR push and her S3 gets stronger the more people die, although it only stacks up to three times.

It looks like a pretty good buff, should make her more annoying, at least, although it was never fun fighting an ML Ravi even before this buff. Now, the longer the fight goes on, she will do increasingly more dmg, cycle faster, have an easier time reviving teammates who also revive with more health. So yeah, looks good, too bad I do not have her.

Luna is more interesting to me, because I have her, and she is almost at max mola. I got her when she was first released and back then, Luna was the wyvern queen, and you basically used her everywhere. Lab, wyvern, grinding and even PVP arena. She was cycled out rather soonish though, what with the Commander Lorina SC, who could do her job in PVE better and more reliably and a lot of units who were way better in PVP. At the latest, Luna was unfeasible for Wyvern 13, so, with that, she lost her last useful job. She can be used for one of the expeditions, and many do, but it was mainly people making use of a unit they already had. No one was going to build Luna specifically for expeditions, and even there, Lorina could do a better job imo.

That said, her updates. Her S1 had always been unreliable due to the RNG factor. If she attacked multiple times, it was great and if she didn't, it kinda sucked. Now, she can soulburn ten souls to increase the number of attacks to the maximum amount, which is actually pretty solid. It firmly locks her in as a hero you have to manually control though, since the SB is very important.

Her S2 now always gives crit hit chance by 30, no matter her HP and also additionally 30% crit hit resistance, which is new, as a modicum of protection. Guess pairing her with Diene is now even better than ever. The ATK and Def increase modifiers are the same as always, depending on her health.

Her S3 now penetrates defense by 50%, and she gains an additional five souls if the enemy is defeated. Seeing that the attack always attacks using an advantageous element, having the 50% def penetrating on top of that is pretty song.

On paper, the buffs are looking good, even if they are not going overboard or anything. I am doubting we are entering a Luna renaissance where she will be dominating the meta, but at the very least, it seems like she will be feasible. Personally, I would probably be building her like a bruiser herself, so she would have decent hp and def. Beefy counter build with her EE which gives CR push still seems feasible, especially since she now is less likely to be hit by a critical attack and her S3 now hits a lot harder, making it dangerous to ignore her if she can snipe a unit. She probably can't kill a full health bruiser but since she isn't very fast, by the time it is her turn, the enemy would ideally have accumulated some dmg and it should be enough to finish someone off at least. So, I am interesting to see how this goes. Always feel bad for benching a unit with so many mola investments, so all the better if she becomes viable again.

I do have Kawerik, but I never really used him, and I only fought him a handful of times, so I don't know if this moving stealth from one attack to another and is going to do much, but the attack buff on his EE seems like it would make him better at least.

Same with Mort, never really used him, but I might try him out. SB moved on his S1 so he can apply def break for two turns which is always useful.

His S2 now always gives him a 30% chance to counterattack and his chance to activate his blessing has increased by 10% to 50%, which is fair enough.

His S3 now deals 5 % more injury, 20% in total every time he uses his skill and it deals more dmg.

So yeah, I don't know if this will make him good or worth using but it does make him better, no doubt.

I am also part of the tiny minority of Epic Seven players which is 99.5% of the player base who has never used Roaming Warrior Leo. His buffs seem to make him better, both as a unit in general and to do his job as a bomber, but it really depends on the bomb mechanic being feasible now. With Summer Iseria coming out with bombs as well, could be that they work very well together, making RW Leo a meta unit of sorts but that is very hard to say before seeing Summer Iseria and the new improved bomb mechanics in play.

Ice Dominiel got a pretty significant rework though. Her S1 now can stun and has an SB with which it has a 100% guarantee to stun with only ten souls which is pretty good. Furhtermore, her S2 is now a passive with a 35% of triggering after an ally is hit by a critical attack as opposed to always when she activated it but it is actually a huge improvement because now she doesn't need to go first to activate it. I actually tried Dominiel before, and her reflect barrier strength was based on her atk. That meant, not only did she need a lot of speed so that she could go before the enemy dmg dealers, she also needed a solid atk base since otherwise her reflect barrier would be worthless. So you needed her with high speed, attack but also HP and DEF since her play style revolves around being hit by the enemy and reflecting the dmg back at them and ideally, she kinda needs to survive for that. She also wanted effectiveness for her S3 stuns.

That's a lot of stats for a unit whose stats were already not great, since she is a 4 star. But now, well, now she doesn't need ATK and speed anymore. Now she just wants HP, Def, and maybe effect resistance and some effectiveness. Now she just needs to say alive on your team before she grants your whole team a reflect barrier, one that is based on an ally's max health by the way, which means that if she is paired with soul weavers, knights and bruisers, that's going to make it hurt at least somewhat for enemy attackers. Landy, Arby, SSB and others now have to actively watch out for her.

On paper, at least. Oh, her S3 now also decreases combat readiness by 15 % and gives her increased speed for two turns, even compensating for the loss of speed due to the new gear requirements. I am rather excited for her, since I always liked the idea of killing the enemy with reflected dmg.

Lastly, Mercedes. Now, the only time I used Mercedes was in the first few days of playing epic seven before I replaced her and never looked back.

Her S1 now increases her CR by 15% which is neat. Her s2 now also has a 70 chance to dispel one buff and if she has increased Attack her s2 attacks again. This attack also deals more dmg the fewer enemies there are. Her s3 increases attack of all allies and does more dmg than normal with a critical hit.

Overall, this definitely looks like a buff to result in a stronger Mercedes but I am kinda doubting this will lead to a Meta feasible Mercedes. Maybe the increased dmg and functionality will result in her becoming used more often in RTA or arena, her s2 being able to attack twice and remove one buff from every enemy each time alongside more dmg overall seems to be good on paper at least.

Two artifacts are getting some changes as well. Merciless Glutton which to my knowledge was a more or less useless artifact so far, is changing to increasing single attack dmg by 16% which is pretty good. And when defeating an enemy with a single attack, it increases the CR of all allies except the caster by 12%. Honestly, this is definitely an improvement and on first glance, I kinda want to give this artifact to Luna. I don't know if I have it, tbh, but if I do, I will definitely try it with Luna. Ravi would also benefit from this. Basically warriors with single target attacks who are on counter sets will benefit the most from this. Okay, upon checking, I do not have this artifact. That's a bummer but good for those who have.

Now, Secret Art Storm Sword is confusing me a bit. It says that the effect to grant increased atk to the caster is 100% but that is only the case if you have max limitbroken the artifact which is definitely not the case for most people. So, I am assuming this will still be the case and the text here just was talking about a max limitbroken artifact.

Or, will it change so that the increased atk will always happen but the value which is increased by limitbreaking the artifact is the CR push?

Either way, the artifact was pretty solid on Celine and I don't think on anyone else and CR push can only help there. I still need like 4 more copies of it to make it actually useful because so far, it rarely triggers.

Overall, not my most wanted units who got overworked but some interesting stuff. Hope this all works out positively. The Violet buff for example has proven to be frustrating since the bugger is everywhere and is dodging like crazy. It's no fun fighting him. He is way better than Riolet now.

[popculturebuffet]

Loud House Reviews: The Purrfect Gig

The Sam/Luna trilogy comes to an end here, as we get to the most recent of their now annual episodes, each so far produced and aired toward the end of the season. That being said like last season Sam had at least one apperance before this as I saw her in the thumbnail to “Deep Cuts”, the OTHER Lunacentric episode this season. And while it sounded bad to me at first looking into it.. no. The writers, for the most part, gave almost every kid two episodes a piece, and last season gave each 3, so to the writers credit they TRY to ballance out who gets episodes.  

The exceptions are Lincoln, who has around 5 that don’t also feature the girls as a whole, and 2 of those are with Lana, Lori who has 4, 2 of them shared and justifed as she’s possibly leaving for College next season and thus her episodes outside of one focus ont hat, and Lana and Lola: Lana has 3, and Lola has 2, and both have one together. And really even with those imballances it’s really impressive the show juggles 14 leads, with the parents themselves getting 2 this year too, along with Clyde, not counting his ones with Lincoln. | And that’s WITH the baffling decision this season to have the first 5 episodes be “With THe Cassagrandes”, i.e. 5 episodes of the Casagrandes that are counted as loud house episode that weren’t produced over at the sister show for some reason. And I have nothing against the Cassagrandes, what i’ve seen it’s not a bad show: I already have gone on about how much I love bobby, and I also love CJ and new comer Sam. I love the fact it has plenty of representation and a diffrent kind of big family, I love the theme song and I love the fact Melissa Joan Heart is on it because she’s terrific and spent the last decade really not picking her roles well. She was the lead in Holiday in Handcuffs, aka the movie where she kidnaps Mario Lopez and holds him at gunpoint to pretend to be her fiance until he gets Stockholm syndrome for really flimsy reasons. But I dont’ feel i’ts fair to the show to wedge it into another show’s spot: The Cassagrande-Santiago clan has shown up in 2 half hour loud houses and 2 15 minute eps. The kids watching KNOW these characters, and reception of the loudest mission was positive enough to get a spinoff made. You don’t need to spend a huge amount of another show’s episode order to promote a show kids will likely watch because it has characters from a show that airs all the time and is uber popular and has a similar humor style, and fans of the Loud House will at least try becuase they like the mothership and have known was coming for years now. This show HAD an audience going in. I watched both American Dad and the Clevland Show because it was from the same crew as family guy which I liked at the time. Granted American Dad had a decent stretch and Clevland Show .. had David LYnch as a recurring cast member I guess? Seriously david, this and not gravity falls? The point is it feels insulting that they felt the need to try and promote the show more, and all they did was take up episodes of the loud house and confuse children, and possibly turn viewers off a show they would’ve watched anyways. And if your wondering why I took such a massive detour it’s simple: Other than noticing the fact they’ve been specifically making sure each sibling gets more than one spotlight episode, shared or not, and this dumb decision.. Season 4 isn’t THAT much diffrent than Season 3. It carries on plots started there  (Lori heading towards college, Luann and Luna’s relationship), but otherwise it’s basically just more shipping and shenanigans. But really. .that’s far from a bad thing, as I consider season 3 a highwater mark for the show, and it introduced a lot of neat new elements (Lynn’s Table, Stella, Leni having a job) that are still prevelant in season 4. It’s not bad and it’s even more understandable given that next season, every character is growing a year (thank you press releases), meaning they have tons of new plots to explore, and large status quo shifts with Lincoln going to middle school, which out of the four schools shown is so far the most underdeveloped and will need development, and Lori possibly moving out of the house and going to college, among many other things that have me chomping at the bit for next season. But that’s probably a few months away so for now, it’s time to get back on focus and with everything else out of the way, the actual review of this episode starts under the cut. 

We open with Luna sitting in bed sighing when her poster of Mick Swagger starts talking to her. Whatever she’s smoking I could really use some. Depression is a bitch. Anyways, her drug induced hallucination of her hero starts talking to her. I haven’t really talked about Mick yet since the show uses him sporadically but he’s exactly what you’d expect; The show’s version of Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger, only slightly younger.. maybe. I dunno. Maybe he’s been around since the 60′s and is just a timelord. Or a groovy robot. Or has a dorian grey thing going on. We haven’t really gotten into Dino Spimoni situation yet where Luna helps her idol and has to help him reunite with a partner or convince him to stop faking his death. Just a reminder that Hey Arnold is great and that if you think it’s odd his crooner dean martin based idol got talked out of faking his death by a 12 year old, keep in mind he also tracked down the daughter his vitamise neighbor gave up so she could go to america and have a better life, helped convince his neighbors not divorce, and had to save his pig from being eaten in a revolutionary war reinactment. Hey Arnold was far weirder than I remembered and i’m here for it.  Anyways, Hallucination Mick asks if Luna is coming to his concert this weekend, and she HOPES so she just dosen’t have the money for  VIP pass to meet the actual version and do drugs with the actual mick swagger for a change. He says you never know when opportunity will come a knockin and it does in the form of the McBrides! Clyde’s dad’s Howard, the skinny one voiced by national treasure Micheal McDonald and Wayne Brady whose also great.. and i’m not just saying that because i’ve seen this. Don’t be absurddddd....

Howard and Harold are Clyde’s dads... and while Clarence and Steven Universe beat them to having Gay parents in a children’s cartoon, their still the first interacial gay couple in a children’s cartoon, and on a nicktoon period, and even if they weren’t either of those it’d still be fucking great. Anyways the two are nice characters, while i haven’t seen EVERY ep with them their a loving couple, nice parents, and treat the loud kids as their own.. granted that goes too far in one episode, but still, thems good people.  Anyway Howards having a panic attack, respect, and as his husband calms him down, we find out why: the mcbrides are going to pick up nana for the annual family reunion, and their catsitter cancled. Hence Howard’s freakout and Harold worrying about the 20 pounds of amish potato salad in the trunk. So naturally their hoping someone can watch their cats, Cleopawtra and Nefurtiti for the day, and them going to the louds makes sense, both for the obvious of the Louds being their closest friends in the neighborhood, and the not so obvious of a previous episode I haven’t seen having established the older kids as the best babysitters in royal woods, meaning that in addition to knowing them they have skill and this likely isn’t the first time. Luna, not thinking about herself, admits Lori went to hit the golf course early and Leni is at work, a nice way to explaning why it’s Luna that gets the job: She was there and it was implied by the fact she was getting high and talking to her hallucination that Luann isn’t, so most of the other options they’d have without some reservations are gone with no contrivance necessary.  Anyways Luna’s Drug Fueld hallucination,  points out money can be exchanged for goods and services, such as VIP passes, and also mentions sam already has hers. Either Luna’s forgot or her hallucination can use her phone. Either is probable, and is backed up by Hallucination Sam, before both start playing their guitars and Luna air guitars with them. I”m unsuprsied by all of this. She offers and the McBrides take her up on it immeditley. I do like that it avoids the “I don’t know if your up to this” cliche that always happens in these types of scenarios, the McBrides have no reason not to trust her, so they just.. do. Hell Harold only sets out one rule: don’t invite anyone over.. and it’s not even because he dosen’t trust Luna to have anyone over or anything like that, he just knows the cats get anxious with a crowd, though their therapist is working with them on that. And of course the two rich men with a single child have a cat therapist. I would too if I were rich. Harold and Clyde throw and unconcious Howard into the car and their off, they’ll be back at 6. And TOTALLY won’t be home hours early for hyjinks. Totally.  Luna arrives to find a massive binder on feline care. Someone went to the Amy Santiago school of binders. It says to feed the cats at 10 sharp.. and it’s 10:02. Luna tries feeding them but the cats instead attack her in a full on psycotic rage and dump food all over her, so dinners on her. 

Anyways, Luna then tries walking the cats which goes as well as you’d expect.. not because she had to put harneses on cats and expect them to do anything at a certain time, but because they pull hard. I can relate to that with my dog.. not my cat. He just goes wherever he wants because he’s old and kind of an asshole.  Anyways, with the cats now messy from running over a guy with a cake, because of course, Luna looks up what to do next which is.. give.. them a bath. 

Who.. who does that. I know their messy, but use a rag or something. No animal likes being bathed but cats, esepcially one who this episodes shows aren’t declawed (And rightfully so but still), do not LIKE being bathed. Granted they wouldn’t like being cleaned off with a rag or something either, but it still feels less cruel to both them and any prospective babysitter to just hold one down and wipe it off then find the other and repeat. Look witht he walking thing I can see why someone would, in their case because their probably too skittish to let their cats wonder around, and in some cases because said cat is young. But this.. this even for a comedy contrivance is stupid. It’s not the worst uninetional cat abuse i’ve seen in media, Elmyra exists and the mother of the lead of get fuzzy tried putting her cat on a vegetarian diet, which Rob, said lead and a staunch vegetarian himself, not only found concerning but gave said cat the money for takeout.. keep in mind in this strip cats can talk and walk upright. Also I miss when Get Fuzzy was both daily and good. So Luna naturally ends up in the bathtub, soaked and depressed and not sure what to do when her friendly neighborhood sign that the drugs haven’t worn off yet comes by and tells her to shape up if she wants to go to the show with Sam. This gives Luna a great idea. LIke a Zack MOrris great idea it involves breaking the rules.. unlike a Zack Morris idea, it dosen’t involve sexual harassment or a zany scheme. She decides to call Sam, since she’s apparently great with cats and given we saw how she was with chickens last time, not a real stretch. She also pops Mick’s bubble which.. hurts him.. somehow. I dunno.  Anyway cut to Sam arriving. She arrived fast because she was picking a new character up from his gamer’s club meeting: Her brother Simon, who’d been mentioned in side materials but makes his first apperance here. I like him, he has a neat design and i’ts nice to give sam a family life of her own, and he’s a nice if glued to his not-nintendo switch kid. Frankly I hope he and LIncoln meet at some point. I mean he has an opening in his friend group starting next season there’s no way Rusty passes 5th grade. And even if he somehow does, it’s not like adding another member is too much of a stretch given, once they got past courting her, the rest of his group warmly welcomed stella in and it’d be an intresting dynamic having his sister’s girlfriend’s brother in the group. Also if your wondering if i’ll ever stop finding ways to bash rusty in these reviews even when he’s entirely absent..

Anyways, Luna slams the door in the kids face, which he takes in stride , and explains the situation, and after fred fliintstonning him is taken off the table, go with “Sneak him past the cats”. It works because cats never look up at the backs of a gay teenage couple sneaking a small child inside. Luna decides to leave Simon in the entertainment room while she and Sam watch the cats and he finds Clyde’s VR gear and asks to try it on, with Luna reluctantly agreeing as long as he’s careful.. which as far as we see.. yeah he entirely is. The Sharpe’s are good people. 

Cue a montage! Sam helps luna scrub the cats, with brushes as they should’ve done minute one, put them through spa type pampering which is also a call back to the first time we saw the McBride’s house in the series, take selfies, and then sing the cats to sleep, in a really sweet and really well sung lullaby, notable for being the first time Sam’s sung on the show and Allyson Stoner, who I haven’t mentioned but should’ve before this shame on me, does a terrific job and has done a terrific job as Sam in general. Luna thianks her for the help, Sam says no sweat they get to see the show together, and Sam ducks out... before realizing she forgot something. Her wallet... no wait she has that.. OH SHIT HER BROTHER. And before she can get him DOUBLE OH SHIT THE MCBRIDES ARE BACK.  Harold is grumbling about the potato salad... apparenlty Aunt Brenda brought some and wasn’t supposed to. I do like how both McBride dads have their own quirks:While Harold IS the more rational one, he can slip up just like anyone can. Luna prepares to leave.. only to realize oh shit her girlfriend’s brothers in the house still. Her not all complex scheme! She fakes having left something behind to get him out, and once sam calls comes up with a plan: Sneak Simon around back. Sam sneaks around with the bush she ducked into, and we get one of my faviorite tropes: A scooby doo doors sequence! Also the dads speak in unison. Dawww. We also get an adorable bit of Sam gesturing for Luna to hand her the boy. I couldn’t find a gif of it sadly, and I would’ve credited it, but I did find 50 tons of creepy Sam X LIncoln fanart. Just.. why. Why exactly. Why do you do this to me tumblr. And to be clear I have ZERO issue with shipping a character whose sexuality isn’t fully confirmed as just gay in canon with a male character, Bi and Pan representation is important. It’s why I get annoyed at the people who throw a hissy fit any time Della Duck is shipped with Launchpad. Here though I do because it feels like this ship is ENTIRELY a troll, especially since LIncoln has 80 other options, not at all including the icky incest ones, and that I cut and dry have every problem with, and is being done soley to annoy people who ship sam and Luna and are finally enjoying some gay/bi representation on children’s television. If this is a troll then kindly 

Thank you John. So anyways Sam does grab the boy and nearly gets him out the door.. only for the mcbrides to run into their bisexual catsitter shoving a small chubby child out their kitchen window only to have a lesbian fall out into their kitchen. Naturally Howard faints again and Harold is displeased... probably because his husband fainted again.. and you know the shenangians in his kitchen. The only time shenanigans are allowed in that kitchen are when Clyde is sleeping at a friends house for the night and only on the table dammit. They got reinforced oak for a reason.  We cut to the boys playing, which is a nice touch: Clyde being a nice kid dosen’t mind sharing, Simon has similar intrests, and the only time we’ve seen him be eh on sharing is letting Lincoln borrow his new console.. and he not only felt BAD for not wanting him to borrow it and having to try and get it back, but he only did so because the Loud house is insanley chaotic and understandbly he wasn’t sure it’d get back to him safetly. His dad’s rasied him well, he’s a good boy once he got past his ‘Stalking his friends older sister” phase and got into his “anything besides that “ phase.  Luna comes clean to the McBrides and.. Harold appricates the honesty. And both are impressed with how well they took them, with Sam and Luna giving each other credit. So instead of getting upset, especially since Luna was both honest and only called in Sam for help and Simon was an unexpected guest and they both did a fantastic job, they offer to split the money instead. Sam, in a really sweet gesture, then gives Luna her half with no hesitation or prompting from her girlfriend, Luna gives her a cheek smooch and they hug. Then Luna acciently wakes the cats, and we end on the girls singing the cats, Simon and the McBrides all to sleep. Also Luna’s hallucination is alsleep.. those drugs wore off hours ago after all.  Final Thoughts:  A really fantastic setup. Once again the show shows it’s slowly gained talent for taking stock plots (in this case a babysitting episode) and making them actually intresting, mostly by having the characters behave reasonably. While it didn’t really expand Sam’s character, it didn’t really need to , the previous ep with her having fleshed her out as a sweet, kind girl with a talent for animals, and Simon is a wonderful addition to the series massive cast of side characters that , unlike some additions , will hopefully show up again. Seriously half the reason I bitch about Rusty is that the show is great at making charcters, and improving them after a few bumpy episodes as seen with Clyde, Lori and Luann, but yet still uses him and dosen’t make him any funnier, while I can name handfuls of characters who either need more apperances (Girl Jordan) Or haven’t shown up again at all (Carol Pingery, Rocky, Maggie). And that’s not even all of them obviously, but my point stands. But given he’s the brother of one of the main characters girlfriend and would fit in with the main character well, I have a feeling we’ll see simon again at some point.  I also really liked seeing the McBrides, mostly because I haven’t seen many of their episodes, and found them to be delightful, helped by having wonderful va’s behind them as standard for the show and great chemsitry and it was a nice bonus to have the shows two main gay couples interact, without it feeling at all forced, and neither did Sam’s inclusion. And while we haven’t gotten a full on kiss with Sam and Luna, which really they should, CN beat them again on that, the cheek kiss and hug was still very sweet, as is the episode really. It’s funny, heartwarming, and really enjoyable. While itd osen’t have as much emotional weight as the last two eps, I like that it didn’t: For once the conflict was low key but understandable and now Sam and Luna are a full couple, they can just do cute couple shit and get into wacky shenanigans like any other couple on this show without any angst attached. It’s really nice. It also shows that no, a couple being together isn’t boring fuck off will they or won’t they, but i’ve ranted enough about stuff unrelated to this episode. I really liked it and hope to come back to these two someday.  For now as I sign off Pride Month is far from over... as next up I have multiple things planned, but one of the biggest is a FIVE PART series on Red Action and Enid from OK KO. Yes FIVE. All 3 of their romantic eps, and Red’s first two for proper context both for the finale, which uses both episodes as part of the plot, and for a proper view of her character arc and to ease readers into the series better. So be there for that, and a donald duck birthday celebration, and until then, later days!