#i won't say rhea did nothing wrong though

[demeterdefence]

been thinking a lot about how lore olympus really just could not fathom the concept of found family, it absolutely HAD to have a traditional blood-related family for the ending which is just ... so rachel honestly lmao we really should have known.

there were a lot of instances in the series where it almost seemed like rachel went out of her way to paint biological families as inherently dysfunctional, or at least not all they're cracked up to be - aphrodite is disdained by ares' family, zeus and hera are constantly arguing / zeus is constantly unfaithful, rhea and ouranos are an abusive marriage that begets three wildly traumatized sons, etc and so forth. that's not to say all families were bad or flawed (whether that was a choice or rachel spent so little time on them it just didn't come up) but the end result is that there were a lot of broken biological families in the series.

i think rachel wanted to demonstrate that you do not have to stick with an abusive family if they hurt you - that blood is not the defining aspect of family and bonds, that you can make your own and build your own family. i think rachel thought she was writing that, with how hades hates his dad and how persephone distances herself from demeter (who did nothing wrong but anyways.) the problem is, she absolutely does not follow through with it. at the end of the day, rachel is going to prioritize blood bonds and biological children over found family, because to her, that's the only family that counts.

like, hades raised thanatos from childhood and abuses the fuck out of him, completely traumatizes the god of death to the point thanatos is genuinely afraid of hades. thanatos is mocked, derided, scorned, and scoffed at by hades, constantly. thanatos did not have a CHOICE in who raised him, his mother abandoned him into hades' care. and hades does not for a single moment let up on how resentful he is about it. when thanatos finally admits that he only had hades as a parental figure (or ANY kind of family, tbh), hades turns it into how that affects him, how it makes him feel. after, we get two jokes about how hades is thanatos' dad now, and the last scene we ever get of thanatos is that "sometimes hades talks to him." thanatos never shows up in hades' daydreams of a family, he never shows up as a person who is important to hades. for centuries, hades was in charge of raising thanatos, not once does he ever appear in any of hades' dreams or wants regarding family. not biological family, so fuck off.

more to the point, the narrative makes it explicit to us that hades can't have children - it's brought up three times specifically, to drive the point home that hades wants children, he's definitely tried to have children, and it just won't happen. melinoe was seen as a way around that, and i won't lie, compared to rachel's usual hamfisted approaches, it wasn't the worst idea to have. but by the end of the series, it's shown that oh, nope, hades can have children (only with persephone though) and also they look like him, because biological bonds are everything. you know who doesn't count? dionysus, who was kidnapped from his dad and raised as a pet project for persephone. the kid helps her conquer winter or whatever the fuck that plot point was, but because he's not their biological child, hades and persephone ditch him after the final battle and throw him his old mom back to get rid of him.

biological children aren't a bad thing and it's not a bad thing to want or have them, but it's so fucking telling that hades and persephone have multiple people in their lives who should be considered family, and are picked up and discarded summarily once their use is over. dionysus was their proxy kid, and we literally do not see hades interact with him except maybe twice. thanatos gets absolutely trounced and i'll never not be angry about that. i don't even know what's going on with persephone's half brother, but he shows up for a single panel in the finale and then disappears.

wouldn't it have been so powerful if hades, an abuse victim, decided to be the father thanatos deserved? wouldn't it have been more in line with the supposed message of the story if hades and persephone opened their homes to people who once felt like them, abandoned and unwanted? at the very least, couldn't they have shown love to the people in their lives who sacrificed so much and put up with so much from them? what exactly is the measure of a family in lore olympus? we can't control who births us, but we can control the hurt we ourselves give, and the love we share, and that would have been an infinitely better ending for the two most selfish characters to show their growth. another disappointing pin in an already massively disappointing ending.

[fantasyinvader]

Is Shez evil?

The thought occurred to me last night, but I think it's worth discussing. Do we play as an evil character in Hopes? Now, the Hopes!Devs did say that the war wasn't a matter of good vs evil and that it's all a matter of perspective. However, they also said that Hopes wasn't meant to replace Houses, and therefore we can apply the morality of Houses to it.

Shez is implied to be from Shambhala, making them an Agarthan. We all know that the Fodlan games use Buddhist symbolism, and Agartha is where the Asura's were banished by the Bodhisattva when they became drunk on their own power and from there they wage war against the Bodhisattva and the benevolent devas. Tellingly, Shez's unique final class is Asura, cementing this idea.

When I was looking up stuff concerning the Asuras and their world, I found this.

Nichiren defines the characteristic of (The world of the Asuras) as “perverse,” or more literally, “fawning and crooked.” Out of extreme pride or a sense of superiority, people in this condition tend to conceal their real motives and flatter others to win praise. While outwardly courteous, however, they inwardly look down on others. Such a person’s self-image is distorted and unbalanced, colored by extreme pride or a sense of superiority; the self is perceived as extremely large and important, and others as small and unimportant. Those who remain in this state ultimately do harm to themselves through their own conceit.

There was something about this that really hit with Shez. Shez's motivation is to get revenge on Byleth for wiping out their former mercenary unit. It seems like a normal motivation, but Shez also has quotes where they talk about how what happened to them is just the nature of the profession. These quotes make Shez come across as hypocritical. But the nature of the Asura realm would suggest that Shez is just putting on a metaphorical mask, saying things that sound nice while keeping their true motives hidden. It's still on Shez on whether or not they go after Byleth, and Arval not letting go of this motivation, attacking Byleth that leads to Arval's own downfall.

But at the same time, Shez doesn't lose their power like what happens to Byleth at the end of Flower. They don't stop being an Asura. They will still support Edelgard even though her path is supposed to be immoral according to Houses. Shez can confirm that Edelgard is oppressing the commoners under her rule, but unlike Byleth won't lead the BE in opposing her. Their influence on Claude ultimately leads to Claude going down a similar path, meaning it's because of Shez that Claude kills Rhea as he gives into his own hatred. Even with Dimitri, Shez had no problem when Dimitri and company's motives for the war changed to revenge, and Dimitri then continues the war after the defeat of Edelgard and Thales in order to punish the Empire. Then there's Shez's whole “I'm just a merc” gig, he's saying he's nothing more than someone paid to kill others regardless of morality.

With this in mind, we can make a judgement call. Shez, despite appearances, isn't a moral person. Shez might believe that this war is morally ambiguous, who is right or wrong a matter of perspective, but they're someone who kills for money as well as using the war for revenge which could put them into immoral territory, as they're willing to facilitate the suffering of others for their own goals, a big no-no in Buddhism. They don't care if they're the aggressor or playing defence. They're not amoral, ignorant of and not influenced by morality, like Byleth starts off as and from that they end up poisoning Fodlan. Because Shez shows up as the lords flee Kostas, they don't meet Byleth at Remire. They don't lead the lords to a better Fodlan, they just help them fight a war that's not even over at the end of the route.

Shez might appear to be nice, but we should have known better after Edelgard. As to whether they're evil, evil is defined as being “profoundly immoral.” Shez killing Byleth and by extension Sothis, living up to being an Asura, would push them into being evil, and their POV goes against the morality of Houses. That, and the Asura realm is called one of the four evil paths.

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 10

Spoilers for GW up to Ch 10 below.

STORY

Now Claude's taking Ls in the Kingdom too.

I love how much they always try to drum up sympathy for Randolph when the man's only character trait is "I want to murder people to gain personal status." And then he also has the gall to act like he's better than the people defending themselves when he goes to kill them.

I never really put that much thought into him before, but yeah he's kinda just a piece of shit, isn't he? Low key one of the worst human beings in the game.

They should've made it Fredinand or like Linhardt's dad or someone likeable.

Funny seeing Claude play Edelgard like a fiddle though. His army is fine, and hers is crushed lamo.

Haha, Fleche is back to her vengeance act. It's gonna be funny if a tiny girl child is a final boss.

The same conversation with Jeralt and Bylethas I saw elsewhere, I think. Yeah, here comes the sword again.

I love how they make Rhea out to be such a big deal, but literally no one gives a shit that they declared war on her. Like, pick one, game. You either have Claude be an unpopular ruler or Rhea actually be a problem.

Raphael called it right. Commoners don't give a shit. So Edelgard getting everyone killed over noble squabbles.

Hilda kinda seems like the Kingdom stan here. She's always the one upset about it.

Claude is such an idiot. I cannot take him seriously. Claiming he wants to spare lives moments after sacrificing Randolph and wanting to wipe a church no one gives a shit about off the map. Am I supposed to take this seriously?

Haha, Arval said he can think for both of them when I had Shez say she's more brawn than brain lamo. And Shez believes it too, omg. Shez is great. I need a comedy show with them.

Oh, nice! Looks like another single-battle map. BC, honestly, I got Spiritfarer for Christmas and I'm DYING to play it, but need to finish this first.

BASE/SIDE BATTLES

Lamo, Arval just said trying to unify different people under one king is dumb, won't work, and looks forward to the day humanity moves beyond it.

LORENZ/IGNATZ/RAPHAEL PARALOGUE

So is this the paralogue that's going to rewrite it so Lorenz's dad did nothing wrong? Given the description, I'm betting it's that.

Ignatz is being awkward around Lorenz now that he's been promoted.

Gloucester evades all of Lorenz's questions about these bandits.

And now Lorenz is demanding Raphael do what Ignatz did and is upset he's so casual lamo.

So are they making it so his dad wasn't the one who ordered the hit that killed Raphael's parents? Lol. This game really likes whitewashing some of these guys, but Glouster's probably the worst offender.

Let me take a wild guess. TWSITD.

It's really a shame that Raphael is such a one-note character. It would've been interesting if he had more in-depth conversations with the rest of the cast who were unable to move beyond trauma.

IGNATZ & LEONIE B SUPPORT

Their one and only support.

They're hunting and the deer only has one arrow. So they try to figure out who successfully shot the deer.

They both hit the same place. Mystery solved.

LORENZ & CONSTANCE C SUPPORT

This one should be better.

Constance is challenging a cat to a staring contest. Yes, this one is already better.

Lamo, he says he would've considered her as a wife if she restored her house. But withdraws because she's a weirdo. (I mean, no loss?)

Constance gets back at him by saying she'd never consider him lol.

Now they're arguing over who's house is more noble.

Much more entertaining.

SHEZ & RAPAEL B SUPPORT

It's about food.

It's nice to see Raphael actually have passion about something instead of just repeating "meat!" over and over.

SHEZ & IGNATZ B SUPPORT

You know, going through supports has made me realize that Golden Deer probably has my overall least favorite cast.

Ignatz has an older brother. He likes his brother at least.

Ignatz is finally talking about how he doesn't love being a knight. He really didn't have much of anything going on removing that conflict.

It's nice to hear Ignatz have his own convictions to become a knight. He's getting more sides to him, which is good.

SHEZ & HOLST B SUPPORT

Holst sneaks with Shez into enemy territory. He's doing it because scouts are going missing. Shez is impressed someone of his status is doing that.

LYSITHEA & RAPHAEL B SUPPORT

Lysithea studied too long and is out after dark. Gets scared by noises. She runs into Raphael and they talk about strengths and weaknesses.

The weird noises she heard wasn't Raphael.

MARIANNE & HILDA PARALOGUE

Marianne needs help from Shez organizing because she sucks at it.

Wow, Hilda not only volunteered to help Marianne clean up the mess, but also to do the scouting mission they were supposed to go on all by herself. It's love.

Hilda doesn't show up for awhile, so they get worried and go to check on her. Given that it dumps me to prepare for the battle next, I'm thinking that was a good call.

Not my favorite paralogue. I had to fight Ingrid :(

They talk about Marianne's typical issues.

It has very "safe" shipping dialogue throughout.

MAIN BATTLE

I don't want to invade the Kingdom. Especially since it makes no sense for Claude to do so.

Hahahahaha, lamo, you deserve it Claude. Fleche raised an army to fight him. Seeing this tiny girl as the final boss is going to be hysterical.

Oh, Arval and Shez stuff. I almost forgot Arval existed. They've got bad feelings. I'm guessing it's because Byleth is fused with Sothis.

Ok guys, I restarted this chapter over and over trying to recruit Byleth, but Claude just stands there in one seized area and won't move until Byleth reaches him - even when no one else is around.

I really just want to be done with this playthrough to be honest (there are so many other games I want to play right now), so I'm not going to bother with recruiting Byleth. I'll try in SB, but the only one I'm going to put any real effort in is AG.

Seeing Fleche as a final boss is funny.

I'm guessing we don't fight Jeralt if you recruit successfully. Got a cool cut scene for not bothering though!

So Byleth doesn't join you because you kill Jeralt, I'm assuming. Though, Byleth doesn't seem to have any issue joining Edelgard when she plays a role in that lamo.

Also, gotta say, I love how there's a chapter you can't use the lords. And for Edelgard and Claude it's because they randomly just don't fight that chapter. For Dimitri, it's epic story reasons lol.

Aw, shit, did Byleth just kill Judith?? That sucks. Oh well. Not restarting. This 3 route thing is too much. I just want to play this again, but one route only.

You know, after Claude's dumbfuckery throughout this route, he kinda deserves this lamo.

So who is it in SB and AG that dies?

Byleth so callous about Jeralt's death. Far cry from the crying in Houses, a bit sad actually.

It's kinda funny that Judith died because Fleche went on another rampage. I'm going to miss seeing her around though.

Is whoever dies in AG bad enough that I should push through and recruit Byleth? I may look that up to give me the proper motivation, but that could backfire if it's someone I don't care enough, but I'm having a hard time thinking of a single character I don't care enough about. Even like Sylvain's dad would make me too sad for Sylvain and I couldn't do it.

Aww, Arval is upset for Shez.

So is Sothis and Byleth merging merging or something?

xxxx

[dmclemblems]

Honestly golden wildfire would have fucked like hell with the negative character development story direction if it was in character. But they squandered a cool idea by replacing Claude with a slitger body double copying off el-chan

Yeah, it's sad that they had plenty to work with and didn't use it. If they used parts of his character that already existed and just made it more extreme as the story went on and we got a Claude a bit similar to early AM Dimitri, depending on how they went about it I could get behind that. If he had a downward spiral for some reason, it would've been more interesting than the random excuses and actions.

What would've been nice for me would be if he had a part of the story where he lost all trust and thought he had to keep going for his dream only to realize he'd done it all wrong and had to make up for it. With how GW does it, everyone just accepts how he goes about everything once the Randolph situation is over with. Suddenly nobody forces him to look at his actions and retrace his steps.

Hell, they even could've used Claude's manipulation to have him pretend to be on board with Edelgard and manipulate her into a battle that he knew would get her killed. Basically form that alliance with her, gain enough of her trust and then give her "useful leads" that end up putting her in jeopardy. Even in Houses he takes advantage of people, but I'd actually like seeing him do it to an enemy with bad intentions. She's threatening his goal, and if he really thinks it's a selfless dream (like he considers it in Houses), wouldn't someone threatening it be "bad" to him since he thinks of his goals as peaceful and life changing?

Personally I'm super not against a "darker" Claude, but like you said, I'd want it to be in character. I don't want it to be there for nothing but shock value where we're only made to question him. For example, even though Dimitri was a lot more cruel in the first part of AM, typically I found myself agreeing with him because he was still logical. He wasn't just brainless and stupid. The things he said still made sense and he still killed out of anger from things like people stealing from innocents.

When you defeat Randolph, he makes a completely sound argument about why he won't let Randolph go. When he confronts Byleth about revenge, he reminds them that they also sought out their enemies who had killed Jeralt and it was no different. With Claude we get half assed excuses for him doing... dumb things. Like, invading Faerghus doesn't give him a darker story. It's just meaningless and wasn't like him. His reasons for killing Rhea were all based on maybes and nothing concrete, so simply because he didn't like that Fodlan respected her, she had to die (and because if they killed her, Edelgard might stop fighting Leicester, so he basically sacrifices someone else who did him no harm and never wronged him to save himself and others, which again, isn't like him).

Overall it just feels like a wasted story to me? They had so many things they could do and plenty of ways to make Claude questionable without throwing all sense out the window. The fact that even Dimitri in the first part of AM, at his absolute worst still has completely sound logic, but Claude in a state where he's fine if not doing pretty well is completely lacking in logic despite being one of the smartest characters imo says a lot about how the writers treated GW. Dimitri was cruel, but he was logical. Claude was cruel but he made no sense.

[lananiscorner]

If you had to guess, why are Edelstans so desperate in trying to defend their waifu's honor despite her being a fictional character and therefore won't respond let alone appreciate their defense? I know parasocial relationships are one hell of a drug but you'd think they would stop trying to double down and fulfill a self fulfilling prophecy of thinking they are racists who justify imperialism and genocide.

Thanks for your ask, anon. Please keep in mind that everything below the cut is just my own personal interpretation of what's happening here, based on my time in this fandom. There's a fair chance I might be wrong about the conclusions I'm drawing, but anyway, here's my 2 cents:

I think the parasocial relationship aspect is definitely a big part of it, but at least as far as the western parts of her stan base are concerned, it also feels a lot like there's a lot of personal baggage attached. I mean, from what I have seen in my year in this fandom so far:

Most Edel/Byleth art/fic involves female Byleth. Male Byleth might as well not exist, even though picking male Byleth rather than female Byleth changes absolutely nothing about their support line or ending and I'm not even sure if it changes any of their explore/event dialogue, but I don't recall any instance where it did during my playthroughs.

Her other supports and paired endings with male characters exist in-game only, apparently. I've seen maybe like... 5 pieces of Edel/Hubert art in the fe3h tag over the course of this year and that's it.

Stanning for Edel usually is accompanied by relentless bashing of Rhea and the church.

"She's sapphic and cute and she wants to hold your hand while obliterating the oppressive church--what's not to love?" is how I've seen multiple of her stans describe their reasons for liking her in a nutshell.

One of the common claims from Edel stans against her critics is that we are homophobic, hating on her for being wlw... which... the only time I ever see Edel's sexuality brought up in Edel critic circles, is annoyance at stans trying to erase her canonical bisexuality.

Some of the animosity against the church is definitely a problem of the localization (which actively made Rhea and the church look more sus in several instances), but a lot of it to me reads like it was written by people who were hurt in RL by assholes who wield religion as an oppressive tool (which it doesn't have to be--affirming churches do exist!), and for whom Edel with all her church smashing and queerness is just the ultimate, cathartic, projecting power fantasy.

And here's the problem with projecting: when you project onto another person or a character, any attack on them feels like an attack on you, personally. It's the fallacy of "they called Edel a racist imperialist + I stan Edel for being an anti-religion queer queen = they called me a racist imperialist = they called me a sinner = they are just like the people who hate me for being queer and having beef with religion", which... is not a great feeling. I've been there myself (not with Edel, but with other characters in other franchises) and learning how to take a step back from that line of thinking and looking at what people are actually saying rather than what you are hearing is one of the most important life skills you can learn in any context. I don't think I've ever seen any Edel critic call her stans racist/imperialist for liking her, but rather for trying to justify her actions, which... yeah, if you're trying to justify racism/imperialism, that is bound to happen. You can like (even love) a character without trying to rationalize away their flaws.

Two examples: Hubert is the best character on CF imo, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go around saying "well actually he had no choice but to kill and bribe people behind Edelgard's back and they were trying to uphold an abusive system so they probably deserved it anyway". Man straight up bribed and murdered people so his queen could succeed--cool motive, flawless execution, still murder. Likewise, Felix is my second-favorite character in all of Azure Moon, but there'll be a cold day in Aillel before you see me trying to excuse his misoginy or his dehumanizing language towards Dimitri and Dedue. I understand and sympathize with the cause for his behavior, but I do not condone it or try to justify it away as something necessary or good.

And sadly, I don't think this fallacy thinking of some (most?) of Edel's stans will change, unless:

the RL people making the arguments change, and/or

their RL experiences change, and/or

IntSys gives us some unproblematic, unapologetically gay/lesbian representation.

It is hard to self-reflect when you are hurting and clinging to what litle representation you can find. In an ideal world, the next original FE game release would include unmistakably queer characters of multiple orientations, who are not also racist imperialists, so every Edel stan who gets really reactionary about criticism of her can look and those and go "oh hey, people don't hate on me for stanning Sappho FE--maybe the beef they had with me really wasn't about me being a sinner, but Edel being someone who invaded and forcibly annexed two sovereign nations and did her best to eradicate an entire race of sentient beings".

Maybe that day will come. Maybe it won't. In the meantime, I will happily keep blocking those of her stans, who try to justify racism, imperialism, and ableism, so that I can have a pleasant fandom experience that won't leave me bitter and exhausted every time I check the tags.

[yetanotherreader]

Useful—3

Genre: College AU

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Y/N Y/L/N, slight Dean x Lisa

Summary: The school's most popular boy wants to be friends with Y/N, out of the blue. It definitely doesn't have anything to do with her hot best friend, though.

Word Count (For the chapter): 2,712

Warnings (For the chapter): None.

[For some reason, some of the tags aren't working. I'm sorry about that.]

[[ Also I'm sorry for the no Read More thingy because it doesn't happen on the phone app :-(]]

Useful Masterlist

Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Mondays.

You dreaded them. For some reason, they were never good. They were sleepy, tiring and grumpy and unfortunately you couldn't do shit about it. You always had to wake up extra early for a hopefully refreshing shower, take the supposed-to-be small bus ride to the uni, which just got longer because of the Monday traffic and run to the lecture hall, only to have the professor glaring at you for coming late to the class.

Mondays.

Today was no different. You woke up extra early, took a hopefully refreshing shower, took the supposed-to-be small bus ride—WHICH was surprisingly not as long as always—and still ran to the lecture hall. Fxckin' tiring mess. The sleepless sleep still showed in your eyes and you would have given anything to have an extra hour for it that morning. But well, same old—Mondays. 

And suddenly, today was different.

"Come on…" A group of annoyed whines were heard from the lecture room just as you entered the hallway.

"What's wrong?" You asked a very pissed Rhea, or was she Akira?

"Morning classes got cancelled. We woke up for nothing."

Honestly.. what the fxck was wrong with the university? Mumbling and whining to yourself, you made your way to the cafeteria, maybe some coffee would help. Tried enjoying the warm sunshine on your face, keyword: tried, as you slowed down your steps near the playground. Or maybe you could just sit in the sun and make the most out of your oh-so-lovely Monday morning? Taking a seat in the bleachers, you decided on reading the book you were, at that time, reading.

Just halfway through the chapter— "Good morning, nerd. I see you're doing some fun stuff over here." You sighed, not wanting to get into any kind of argument at that particular time, or day- or life.

"You're back at it, aren't you?" You looked up at the still smirking Dean, dressed in his black and blue football jersey. A sight for sore eyes.

"Back at what?"

"Being a dick?" You looked back at the book still tired, "Look, Winchester, I'm so not in the brightest Monday sunshine mood right now. Don't bother."

"And here I thought we were friends." He sighed feigning sadness as he turned around to make his way back to the other side of the ground.

"You're here for practice?" He turned back to you, grinning adorably, just as you rolled your eyes.

"Yep but it doesn't start until at least a couple hours."

"Why so early here then?"

"Apparently, there's an emergency board meeting that all the HODs need to attend. So, delayed."

"Oh...that is why" You concluded why your classes got cancelled, "God. Don't you just hate it how they don't inform us about anything beforehand." You groaned.

"Not having the best morning?" He chuckled, as you gestured him to take a seat next to you.

"Nah. I'm the happiest I could ever be," You said with a yawn, "Should we go to the cafeteria before I die or we just let me die?"

"You're such a mood," He laughed toothily shaking his head, "Let us."

Sitting in the cafeteria, you sip on your coffee awkwardly trying to ignore the very obvious gazes of the people around you. You couldn't even make out how Dean looked so unfazed by all the attention, or maybe—obviously, he was used to it.

"You know," Dean started, seemingly, figuring out your awkwardness to ease the tension, "You could have just asked me on a date instead."

You chuckled, thankful for some words, "You wish, Winchester."

"Honestly...I don't" He said winning a laugh out of you.

Time flew by quickly, filled with laughter, corny jokes and sassy remarks with you not even realizing that all that attention didn't bother you anymore. Quite honestly, you didn't even realize they were there. To your surprise, you really did enjoy a Monday morning. 

"Oh," Dean exclaimed as his phone buzzed, "Totally lost track of time. It was fun, but Y/N, I gotta hurry now. I'm late."

"Well I still have an hour to kill. Good luck with the practice."

"Oh yeah, there's still an hour to the class," Dean said as he hurried, "You wanna come see the game?"

"Oh, no no. I don't understand it. I'll rather read my book here."

"Nerd," he smiled at you, "Alright then, see you in the class."

"Yeah" You smiled back, as he went. Maybe Dean wasn't all that bad after all.

You just started with the chapter, again, that you were rudely interrupted... again.

"Look who's trying to get some attention, there. Whatcha think guys? What does she think of Dean's charity? That he got the hots for her or something?" You flinched at the ear-piercing group of laughter came from the direction.

"Tss. Geez, Cassie, mind toning down that screechi- sweet laugh a lil bit? Kinda trying to concentrate." You gave her a sweet smile and turned back to your work.

"Hey, Y/N. How's you? Long time no see." She came and sat where Dean sat not even a couple minutes ago.

"Was doing just good." You muttered as you kept your eyes in your book.

"You were? Obviously, you were," she started taking ahold of Dean's cup, playing with it, "Y/N, stop trying, darling. Dean is very out of league for you. I'm saying for your good."

"Sweets. You know the only reason I'm replying to you, Cassie, is just because it's rude not to?" You looked up at her at annoyed, managing a sarcastically polite smile, "Now if you could excuse me, I'm kinda in the middle of something.

She stood up rolling her eyes as you spoke up again, "And well, don't worry. I'm no threat. Dean and me, nope. Not happening. Also, stop acting like he's your property. The guy's got a life of his own to live, about time, you get one for yourself too."

Before she could retaliate, you made your way out of the door, leaving her processing what you said. Not gonna say that you had got bad blood with her but you had got bad blood with her. Honestly, you wouldn't give two flying shits about her if she wasn't the one with the brilliant idea of throwing you into the pool on your very first day. And if that wasn't enough, she had the nerve to bully you about it for the next few months too. Initially you ignored for a long time, hoping she would end it herself, but was she one to? When you had enough of her shit, all it took, then, was one punch to the wall and an angry 'next time it won't be the wall' for her to stop. Not that she ever was a trouble for you later, but you were her glare dart ever since. You were kinda looking forward to her passing out of the college— one year without her unnecessary glares and hushed whispers but she just had to get a year back for her last year. Oh, your life. 

Practice was tiring, and since they had gotten just one hour for it, they didn't even get any breaks. On top of that, Dean might have sprained his neck. Maybe Y/N's bad day was contagious. Maybe she passed it to him.

Y/N. The thought of her bringing a faint smile on his lips. Damn, she was awesome. He wondered why she kept to herself, her personality sure would get her a lot of friends. That morning, Dean had actually enjoyed himself after a long time. He'd been so lonely for the past few months, he had almost forgotten how to laugh like he did today. She could be an amazing friend. Not to mention, he was still not over how she helped him back at Jo's without even mentioning it once today. Y/N was a good person, he could say that. Mysterious, but nice. He hoped that they actually became really good friends.

His eyes wandered to find her sitting by herself, in a corner as he made his way into the almost empty classroom, "This seat taken?"

She looked up from the book and, for once, smiled, "Hey..yes..no, please sit."

He smiled in return as he sat down beside her, lowly groaning in pain.

"You okay, there?"

"Yeah, I don't know, I think neck strain."

"Oh, geez. Want some help?"

He chuckled humorously, "And what will you do to make it better?"

"Well, they do say I have magic hands." She chuckled in response too, getting up to stand behind him. She started lightly massaging his neck and shoulders, pressing her fingers to his shoulder blades whilst her thumbs worked on his neck. She did the motion a few times as she felt his muscles relax, his knots loosening. He felt himself relaxing, the pain still there but better. How was she always good at whatever she was doing? She stopped her movements abruptly, as he realized a loud moan escaped his lips, only to burst out laughing the next second, "God, Winchester, what the hell?" sounding a little embarrassed.

"S-sorry. Damn it, your fault. What can I say, you do have magic hands." He laughed out, too.

The day went by quite fast after that. They didn't cross paths post the class again. It was the last lecture when Dean met with Cas and Jo. Finally.

"Hey!" Jo chirped as she came after the class, and hugged Dean from behind, Cas copying the action, "Dude?"

"Hey, strangers." Dean said, not in any mood to have a happy-go-lucky conversation with them.

"What's wrong?" Cas asked, clueless. Jo elbowed his ribs gently.

"What's wrong? Nothing." Dean walked ahead, rolling his eyes as the two of them followed him.

"Dean, come on. We're sorry, okay?"

"Well, don't be. Not that it matters anyway." Dean said coming to a stop, "What? You guys didn't go somewhere private, again?"

"Okay, first of all, stop taunting us, jerk. And second of all, we're sorry. We didn't mean to-"

"First of all, don't copy Sammy. And second of all, I called you two how many times, Joanna?"

"What can we do to make it up to you? Jo is right Dean, we're genuinely sorry. We just had a tiring night, so we slept in. Really really tiring." said Cas, blushing a shade of pink, as Dean's lips lifted in a very surprised smile.

"So...you finally, finally did it?" He looked from Cas to Jo grinning, "So you finally did our virgin angel, huh?"

"Shut up" she grumbled, trying to stifle a laugh of her own, blushing a few shades herself, "What about you and the specsy?"

"Who? Y/N? What about us?"

"Don't act innocent, De. Coffee dates and massage and all, huh." She said, cocking her brow, piquing Cas' interest in the conversation too, "Didn't think you'd go for her."

"We're just friends," said Dean, thinking about it from all the angles, "I think."

"You think?"

Dean shrugged, unable to come with a proper answer.

The rest of the day went pretty okay for him. Cas and Jo finally did spend time with him but it wasn't like before at all. They were different and he expected this, as much as he shipped them. They were a couple now, dynamics changed. He wasn't the same for them like earlier, he was the lesser priority. And single.

"So, you're telling me you're single?" You said, surprising yourself with the subtle, unnoticeable relief you felt. Dean and you had bonded pretty well over the past couple of months. You had never thought you two were ever going to be friends, but he was nicer than he made himself look. You learned a few things about him, and about the first day dare too. Oh boi, weren't you just ready to whack his butt with a spoon.

"Yeah. Well, that sounded judgy, Y/N."

You grinned apologetic, "Hee, sorry. It's just it's hard to believe is all."

It was funny how you two became good friends so soon. You were not really one for friends. For a long time, you'd been alone, convincing yourself you liked the quiet. Although you did, it was undeniable how loneliness got to you every time you wanted to talk to someone about something going on in your life, a bad day or even something as normal as your new favorite TV show. It sucked, now that you were admitting to yourself. It sucked how you had no one to talk to. It sucked how you couldn't even complain about it to anyone. And it sucked to spend your weekends alone in your dark room, trying to distract yourself with a book or fanfic, pretending that it was all okay.

And now here you were. Not in a dark room, not alone and not pretending. Here you were actually talking to someone about the random-est things on the planet, laughing with him and actually enjoying yourself. You both still weren't on the we-tell-each-other-everything stage and you highly doubted you ever were going to be but it was still nice. Yeah maybe you hadn't told him shit about yourself yet, but he was still the closest you'd ever been to someone in years. You had Lisa and you cared about her, you did. But where was it written that the person you care about would care about you the same way too? You were never in the list of her priorities, never even close. But she trusted you, and that's why you were...friends? You didn't know exactly. She would come to you after a break up or when she was having a bad day. You had helped her so much, for so many years, it became your instinct to do it. She had friends, she was loved and she had a life you would never. She was Lisa Braeden. She was she, and you were...you. Plain, dull, unattractive Y/N. That's it. That was you in three words. And honestly, you didn't mind. You had come terms with it a long time ago, terms with no one caring about you.

Until two months ago. Dean was a good friend. He was nice, sweet, protective and funny. And most importantly, he...cared. He would tell you jokes on Monday mornings, give you ice pack when your clumsy ass ran into the closed door and invite you for movies with his friends which you always refused to. When Dean realized you didn't like going out with strangers, he invited you over for a movie night to his place. It was, maybe, the sweetest thing someone had ever done for you. He made you snacks and then you guys talked about random things the entire night only to pass out on the couch later. After that, it had become your Friday night tradition.

And with all these sweet things, could you blame yourself for starting to feel something more for him than you should? You, very well, knew this would never happen. Dean had a type, a taste in girls and you were far from that. You had too few/many curves than what looked beautiful, you didn't have the most beautiful hair or skin and you were not pretty. Simple. He would never feel for you. And you, too, only had a silly little crush on him, which would go with time. Right?

You woke up, cuddled with a warm figure on the couch, head under the blanket. You struggled to pop your head out of the covers and once you did, you were met with a beautifully freckled face sleeping soundly. He looked so peaceful that you never wanted to wake him up. Your eyes just briefly glanced at his plump lips, wondering what it would be like to touch them or maybe, feel them against your own? And in a matter of seconds, your eyes were back at the blanket, hiding your little secret you kept from yourself. A secret only your late night or early morning self knew, which you would conveniently deny to yourself later during the day. A secret you would pass off as nothing but your sleepy head's made up story.

Nothing, but a story.

___________

Chapter 4

A/N: Alright, I don't know how it turned out. It took me more than a week for this chapter, and I couldn't even think of anything. I'd write a few sentences and close the document. A writer's block, I think. Well anyway, I didn't have anything in mind so it's mostly a filler chapter which I somehow used to make the little-st progress in the story. Mostly their friendship. I think I'll make it stronger before I do the shit I have planned. Please don't hate me for the chapter coz I already do :')💔

Tag list:

@bi-danvers0 @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester @itsjaybro16 @mml232 @blablatiti @stilltoomuchafangirl @bat-shark-repellant @bluebell-24 @shortwinchester @always-money-in-the-banana-stand @soullessbabee @ima-be-a-mongoose

[maxheadley]

Part 1; The Fairy Lights

Autumn was welcomed for two reasons; the slight shift of the weather changing from heat to cold, and the long-awaited day where two beloved, infamous star-crossed lovers wedded. Everyone was on their toes, anticipating the grand union, and not a single soul stopped for a second.

As morning arrived, Sebastian woke to the patterns of footsteps, going back and forth in the hallway of Creedence's home. He sighed, wishing they'd stop for just a split second, and give him a minute of silence. The last fews days were busy preparing for his wedding and it almost seemed like the world would never halt. Silence was a wish he would fail to receive.

He kicked off the stark white comforter and turned on his side, sliding a muscular arm under his fluffy pillow. His dark hair dangling dangerously close to his eyes, he pushed them away. He stared at the bare walls of his old bedroom. He recently moved his items into the master bedroom of Ben and his's newly built cottage (courtesy of the Fey folk). He left one item on the nightstand. The one thing he cared enough to leave with him that night. A picture of him, his brothers and sisters and his grandmother. The family he hardly knew except Creedence and Julissa. The family he came to know, the family he would've never traded for the world despite any faults or any bad luck following them. Or the corruption that followed a couple of them.

He ran his fingertips across the nine faces of his family, erasing a film of gathered dust off the glass. Sebastian stood at Creedence's side, snugly in the middle of Creedence, and Ambrosia. His smile was as bright as the sun as were the others. He had never known happiness like he did and rekindling the broken parts of his family helped and finding the love of his life wasn't bad at all. It was great. Too bad not everyone could see Sebastian achieve his goal he dreamt of since he was twelve. He thought of Alura trapped in the confines of chains, deeply hidden among the cells of Glessica's Castle's personal prison. Probably half driven out of her mind having nothing to do and no one to speak to except the shadows across the walls. And then he thought of Alexander, his twin but drastically different brother, who walked the forests of the Dark Fey. He had become trapped in misery, grief, and turmoil and wondered off to the darkest place he could escape to. Like those who are like him, encased in darkness and unfaltering misery, slowly destroying whatever light and love that fought inside them.

Sebastian hadn't known Alexander very well or really been close to Alura, but nonetheless he wished they'd witness their brother marry. He did ask if Anazul would release Alura for the hour of his wedding but obviously to no avail and none of the Fey could track down Alexander. He suspected his twin brother wouldn't want to be found, so he cloaked himself to remain untraceable and among the shadows of what he loss. Sadly.

He jumped, straight out of his reverie, when a knock sounded on his door. He cleared his throat and yelled. "Yeah? Come in!"

The door opened, revealing his brother standing there, one hand snaked around the doorknob and one hand holding the head of his cane. Creedence looked older and younger at the same time. He suffered a loss of his own. His wife committed suicide not wanting to live without her husband and without knowing he'd be resurrected. Though, unlike Alexander, Creedence had children to stay for. He couldn't wander off and leave it all behind. That'd be a mistake.

His hair was wet, probably from his shower, and his unusually thin, body was draped in an oversized black bathrobe tied at his waist. "Hey, Bash." Creedence's pale face broke out into a radiant smile, one which reached his eyes. Sebastian noticed for the first time in an age.

It brought his own smile to play. "Hey, Dee. If you thought you were going to wake me up, you've mistaken. The footsteps of others woke me up." He joked, sitting up and stretching his back. A couple cracks later, he was standing up and striding over to his brother. "Although, I appreciate the gesture."

"You know just because it's your wedding day doesn't mean you-" Creedence began, but Sebastian enveloped him into a huge bear hug. Creedence's laugh erupted into his ear and Sebastian couldn't help the grin that flew onto his face when they broke apart. "I'm going to miss living with you, Dee."

"I can't say that I won't miss you living here either. I know Cres and Reli will be different, but sometimes change is inevitable." Creedence beckoned to the working servants preparing the last of the decorations and tailoring for the children's attire. Not one of the servants bothered to take a break to glance at Creedence and Sebastian. He didn't blame them. One misstep could poke Crescent's skin or cause an unnecessary rip in one of the papier mache balls (used to cover the lights). No one wanted anything to go wrong at this point and Crescent would probably lit the seamstress on fire if she stabbed him with a needle. He hated needles.

"How are you holding up?" Sebastian asked, leaning over the iron railing and watching the seamstress tailor the last bits of material for Crescent's silver blazer. Crescent was staring at the rain splattered window unregistering anything else around him. Sebastian would have to have a thorough talk to his nephew once he had the chance.

Creedence put his free hand on Sebastian's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm excited. Truly." He smiled at his little brother. "I can't believe my little brother, my Bash is getting married this evening!"

"It is a shock? Isn't it? I can hardly believe it myself." Sebastian smiled, putting one hand in his hair. "Do you think Ben is doing well? I mean he's probably still asleep, but I mean all the wedding events and preparations have been a bit stressful. Do you think he's okay?"

"Ben's a tough cookie. He's unapologetically unafraid."

"You know, sometimes you can be too."

Creedence shrugged, pressing off the railing and stepped back. "I think we all can be, Bash."

Ben tried on his suit a thousand and one times since Rhea finished up the last of the silver detailing on the cuffs and collar of his blazer. He admired the way the suit did not make him appear too large nor too scrawny. It was exactly the right fit and shape for someone with his condition. Later, he'd confidently stand on the dais, waiting for his beloved, and have his stolen little moments of glory finally. He now stood in front of the extremely large wall mirror of his bathroom. He ran his freshly cleaned hands across the top of the white, silky like fabric smoothing any riffs.

He smiled. "Damn, I look good."

"You are the definition of handsome!" said the soft voice of his best friend, Ambrosia. He saw her appear in the reflection of the mirror at his side. She stood about five inches shorter, barely reaching his shoulder. She had one hand over her protruding stomach. She was beginning to show. Her second pregnancy wasn't as fast paced as her first for some strange reason. He couldn't help but have his heterochromic eyes drawn to the small baby bump hidden beneath a deep maroon soft fabric. But he said nothing onto the contrary. Instead, focusing on her words.

"Ah! Don't let Michael hear you say that. You know how jealous he gets!" Ben grinned, meeting her eyes in the mirror.

"Oh. Whatever." Ambrosia chuckled, gently pushing him. He barely stumbled and laughed. "Are you ready to be officially united with Sebastian?" Ambrosia added, her emerald-gold cat slitted eyes gleaming deviously.

"It's been a longtime coming.." Ben began, but trailed off. He stared at the reflection of Ambrosia. Before Michael, before Magnus, before Sebastian, he'd thought he'd be married off to Ambrosia procreating and leading the Wolf Pack. But God and Legend had other plans apparently. His destiny taking a broad turn for the best. He picked up after a couple of seconds because Ambrosia inquired more. "I thought you were the one I'd be married to one day. I never expected to fall for your brother. I didn't know he existed til about two years ago before I found out our memories of anytime before that were erased. But I wouldn't change a thing between you and me, nor me and Sebastian. I am happy our lives worked out this way. We're both happy."

Ambrosia's lips spread into a smile. "It's no lie you are happiest at his side. I think that's most important."

Ben could only smile, too.