#i would however like the roses to survive being hosted... i see what looks like a tussock caterpillar which i know can eat oak

[autistic-shaiapouf]

Not only is my mini rose actually alive still after I put it outside, but it's also hosting a whole bunch of bugs ☺️💕

[gaybananabread]

✷˖⁠⑅How to Cheer Up an Eddie⑅˖⁠✷

~Soooooo yeah: I’m back to fandom bouncing. Today’s obsession is Venom, and Eddie DEFINITELY needs a good wrecking. I might possibly go back to being consistent, but who knows? This is a lot longer than I meant it to be, but womp. If these goobers interest you, I hope you Enjoy!~

Lee: Eddie Brock

Ler: Venom

Summary: Venom’s eating habits are hard to curve. When a particularly gruesome snack gets under Eddie’s skin, Venom decides to cheer up his favorite host. Thanks to a cheesy rom-com, he knows exactly how to do it.

Warnings: mentions of Venom chomping somebody, brief descriptions of blood, pretty much just movie-typical stuff. This is a tickle fic, so if you don’t like that, scroll away!!

Venom’s appetite was insatiable: it was the one thing Eddie knew for certain. Even after a full “meal,” the symbiote would whine for tater tots and heads not even ten minutes later. He didn’t need that much food to survive, but it felt good when he ate.

Unfortunately for Venom, Eddie was rather strict about his diet.

There was to be no eating Eddie’s leftovers, people’s pets, random chickens, and NO eating people. That last one pissed Venom off to no end. So, like any reasonable toddler, Venom whined about it whenever possible.

“BUT EDDIEEEE! I’M SO HUNGRY! JUST A QUICK BITE?” Slinking out from Eddie’s shoulder, Venom nudged his host’s hand with his physical form. Of course, he wasn’t talking about chocolates or chicken.

“No, V. Cletus was an exception; the rule still stands.” Eddie didn’t even look away from his laptop screen, tapping away at the keys as he worked on his latest article. It was a pain in the ass to scrounge up the details, but he’d finally managed to get enough info for a story.

“BULLSHIT! HOW IS IT FAIR THAT ONE ASSHOLE IS OKAY, BUT NONE OF THE OTHERS COUNT?!” Venom bit Eddie’s wrist, making the man cuss and shake him off. How could a thousands-of-years-old symbiote act like such a child?

“I- you know that was different! Also, ow!” Pointing to his latest bite mark, Eddie scowled at the symbiote. As soon as he pointed it out, however, Venom healed it; it was like it never happened.

“I DON’T SEE ANYTHING.” Eddie flipped him off before going back to his laptop, hoping to ignore the whining. Venom wasn’t having it. “OH, I SEE. CLETUS WAS OKAY BECAUSE HE MESSED WITH ANNE. ONLY BAD GUYS WHO MAKE YOU PISSY ARE FOOD.”

Eddie slammed his laptop shut, glaring daggers at the symbiote. Venom took that as a positive sign, resting his head on his host’s wrist. It was a terrifying attempt at puppy-dog eyes, but it told Eddie the one thing he didn’t wanna hear: he wasn't gonna get anything done until V had some food.

“Fine, you shithead! We’ll go on patrol for ten minutes, grab some chicken and chocolate, and come back. No longer.”

-

About half an hour later, Eddie was wondering why he even tried. They’d grabbed some chocolate from Mrs. Chen, but Venom swore he’d heard something on the way back. So, there they were, perched on a rooftop as they waited for some sign of what the symbiote had picked up.

After a few minutes of silence, the back door to one of the sketchy-looking shops opened. A young boy, maybe eight or nine, was roughly pushed forward towards a black SUV. He looked scared, dirty, and alone.

A burning anger rose in Eddie’s chest when he realized what was happening.

Those evil bastards… He bonded even farther into Venom’s mindset, letting the feeling overtake him. V noticed immediately.

“THEM?”

“Them.”

-

After they’d dropped the boy off at the police station, Eddie made sure they went straight home. After a very long shower, he’d managed to convince Venom to quiet down long enough for him to work on the article.

Staring at the near-blank document, Eddie’s fingers tapped idly on the space bar. The case, the case, the case. A tech giant had been covering up some shady dealings in Vermont. Shady dealings…

Eddie’s mind wandered back to their patrol, specifically to the part where Venom had his meal. The fuckheads deserved it, no doubt, but…god, had it been bloody. Smashing, ripping, tearing, screaming, head-chomping…

Groaning, Eddie rubbed his temples and shut his laptop; he needed a break.

Trudging over to the fridge, Eddie grabbed out some whipped cream - that shit made everything better.

After squirting a decent helping into his mouth, he leaned against the cool metal of his fridge. Who needs to process their emotions when you’ve got Ready Whip and self-doubt?

While he usually enjoyed mocking Eddie’s little moods, Venom knew this one was decently serious. More importantly, his actions had upset Eddie. That needed to be fixed, whether they liked it or not.

Coming back out in his physical form, Venom nuzzled his head against Eddie’s shoulder. It wasn’t much, but he was trying. “EDDIE?”

“Hmm?” The man huffed, opening his eyes to stare down at his partner in sorta-crime. There was still a small bit of whipped cream in his stubble; Venom had to resist the strong urge to tease him about it.

“YOU LOOK…DEPRESSED.” That got a chuckle out of the man, but not much else. He was just overwhelmed, and he knew Venom could sense it.

“...WANNA WATCH SHITTY ROM-COMS?”

“...yeah.”

-

Eddie sighed as the rom-com played, barely paying attention to it. He’d never seen that one before, but he couldn’t get his mind off the violence from earlier; if it wasn’t the goons’ deaths, it was the treatment of the little boy. There was no guarantee the police would do their jobs correctly…

Venom, on the other hand, was totally into it. There was just something about seeing two humans stumble around and act like lovey-dovey fools for an hour that put him in a good mood.

When he looked over at Eddie, however, his joy lessened. The movie was supposed to be making Eddie happy, not just him.

“EDDIE, WHY ARE YOU IGNORING THESE JOKES? YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE LAUGHING.” Coming out as a floating head once again, Venom nuzzled Eddie’s shoulder. He shrugged, brushing off his own emotions.

“I-I dunno, V. Don’t worry about it.” Yeah, right - like Venom was gonna listen to that. Taking advantage of their bond, Venom peeked at what Eddie was feeling. It sent a rare feeling coursing through the symbiote’s system: guilt.

“I…APOLOGIZE FOR UNSETTLING YOU. I GOT MESSY.” Eddie whipped his head down to look at Venom, his eyes going wide. Did he just…apologize for something? Without prompting? Holy shit…

“Uh…thanks, Venom. I appreciate it.” Knowing it would make the little menace feel better, Eddie scratched Venom’s head.

A low, pleased grumble left the creature as he enjoyed the touch. While he did appreciate the affection, he was supposed to be making Eddie feel better.

Suddenly, Eddie tensed, freezing his fingers in place. Venom looked up to see what was wrong, but his host’s eyes were trained on the screen.

The woman on screen had grabbed the man’s phone and was holding it above her head; she was taller than him, so he couldn’t reach it. So, the man reached out and…started touching her sides? The motions made no sense to Venom, but as the woman started to laugh, he felt Eddie heat up.

Venom immediately assumed it was arousal, but Eddie didn’t seem to be desiring anything. He seemed more…giddy. Maybe longing for something? The symbiote was thoroughly confused.

“EDDIE? WHY IS THAT WOMAN LAUGHING? DO YOU LIKE IT?” Eddie’s cheeks burned, his eyes darting away from both the screen and Venom. His answer was muffled and flustered.

“She’s getting…it’s a human response to touch. Involuntary shit, and…” His voice trailed off, almost as if he was unable to finish his sentence.

Venom’s grin, if possible, widened. That was the same thing Eddie had done when Venom asked about why humans kissed; he was eager, embarrassed, and wanting something he couldn't ask for.

“SO IT’S A GOOD THING.” The fact that it was worded as a statement, not a question, kind of scared Eddie. Venom had that tone he used whenever he was about to be a shit; based on their conversation, it wasn’t hard to guess how.

“Venom, wait-” Before Eddie could think to push the symbiote away, he felt the familiar sensation of Venom spreading across his arms. But…only his arms. What was he doing?

“THE MAN DID IT LIKE THIS.” Suddenly, Eddie felt wiggling fingers on his sides; it took everything he had to suppress his giggles. When he looked down, he saw…his own hands tickling him. Venom was seriously making him tickle himself. Worst of all, it was working.

“V-Vehee! Get offa me!” Eddie twisted his torso around, trying to shake the feelings off. Venom was persistent, keeping at least five wiggling claws on him at all times.

“I CAN’T GET OFF OF YOU, EDDIE. I’D DIE, AND YOU’D BE A LOSER,” Venom teased, raking Eddie’s own fingers down his sides. Using his fluid, he added just a bit of a point to each fingertip, making it tickle even more.

“Thahat- that’s not whahat I meant!” A few little titters slipped out as the tickling increased. How the fuck was it working?! Gargalesis on yourself wasn’t supposed to be possible! Though, Venom technically was another being with his own consciousness…fuck.

Deciding to be an asshole, Venom tapped into Eddie’s thoughts. The man typically didn't enjoy it, but he figured it would be a special exception.

The very first thing Venom felt was extreme giddiness. It made the symbiote chuckle; Eddie really did love the touch.

Digging deeper, Venom go past the “oh shit oh fuck oh that tickles” and “I’m gonna fucking kill him” to find the more sensitive thoughts. “Please don’t go for my ribs, please don’t go for my ribs, PLEASE don’t go for my ribs!”

So, naturally, Venom went for his ribs.

“OhohOHOHO SHIIIIIIIHIHIT! SHIHIT!” Eddie squealed, arching his back and kicking his feet out. It wasn’t fair: being forced to tickle himself, and not being able to do a single thing to stop it. It was…well, it wasn’t awful.

Oh shit. Eddie knew he fucked up the second those words crossed his mind.

“WHAT’S THAT, EDDIE? IT ISN’T AWFUL?” Venom chuckled, leaning his floating head to whisper in Eddie’s ear. That was just adding insult to injury. “DOES THAT MEAN YOU DO LIKE THIS?”

Eddie scrunched his shoulders, trying desperately to evade the tickles. He knew it was pointless, but he couldn’t just sit there. Well, he could’ve, but he’d never have heard the end of it from Venom.

“N-NOHOHOHO! IHI DOHOHOHON’T!” Eddie lied through his teeth, or more accurately, his giant smile. It was so horribly unfair; then again, so was his life.

“HMM. LIAR.” Getting an idea, Venom shifted his pointy mouth to Eddie’s neck, nibbling ever-so-gently on the sensitive skin. If he couldn’t get Eddie to say it himself, maybe he could provide some gentle, torturous motivation.

“Wha- KYAAAH! FUHUHUHUCK! V-VEHEHENOM!” He squealed, tossing his head back and just laughing his heart out. Eddie knew there was no point in resisting; Venom would just come up with another way to kill him, and he wasn’t keen on figuring out how creative the symbiote could get.

“WHAT’S WRONG, EDDIE? DOES IT TICKLE? ” Venom cooed, continuing to nibble up and down his sensitive neck. At the same time, he forced Eddie’s hands to dig into his ribs, clawing and pinching at the bones. “YOU HUMANS ARE SO FRAGILE, SO SENSITIVE. I’D NEVER HAVE THIS PROBLEM.”

While the symbiote was lying, he knew Eddie was too lost in laughter to notice. It was nice to see his human laughing so freely, even if he did have to force it out of the moody fucker.

“VEHEHEE! IHIHI’M GOHOHONNA DIHIHIHIE!” Putting his whole self into it, Eddie thrashed and fought against Venom’s control. It didn’t work, of course, but he still tried.

“NO, YOU’RE NOT. EVEN IF YOU WERE, I’D HEAL YOU.” Venom was just playing dirty now. I mean, he was playing dirty the entire time, but that much teasing was just uncalled for. At least, that’s what Eddie thought.

Wanting to push his host’s limits, Venom sent a tendril out from Eddie’s shoulder and ran it down his back. Once it reached the bottom, he wiggled it against Eddie’s hip bones.

That officially did the man in.

“OHOHOHO MYHY- HAHAHAHAHA!” Eddie cut himself off with a fit of hysterical laughter, the sound dipping out for a moment. When he managed to breathe again, his laugh was loud, raw, and unrestrained. Venom could listen to it for ages.

“NOHOHO MOHAHAHAHAHORE! MEHEHERCY! MEHERCYHYHYHY!” Slamming one of his feet on the ground, Eddie tapped out in the only way he could.

Venom reluctantly stopped, pulling himself off of his host’s arms; he instead nuzzled his head into Eddie’s neck.

Panting and giggling, Eddie tried to regain his composure. His whole torso was buzzing from the touch, phantom tickles still keeping his nerves alight.

“J-Jehehesus fuhuhucking Chrihist, V…” The man ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly wiped from all the laughing and thrashing. While that had been incredibly intense, it helped ease his mind. He actually felt a lot better than he had before the silliness.

They sat in semi-silence for a minute, the only sound being Eddie’s slightly labored breathing as he pulled himself together. It was nice, almost lulling the exhausted man to sleep. That was until Venom decided to break the silence.

“EDDIE?”

“Whahat?”

“YOU’RE HAPPY NOW, YES?” Venom grunted, nudging Eddie’s chin; he wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt his human. He loved hearing the man’s crazy laughter, but he knew he could go a bit too far sometimes.

Eddie thought about that. He was in their home, smiling and dazed, with a symbiote who cared for him had just finished tickling him to death just to cheer him up.

He was warm, safe, and finally not alone. He was part of something that, while flawed, was still the best thing that had ever happened to him; his answer was clear.

Eddie reached an arm up to scratch beneath Venom’s chin, sighing softly.

“...yeah, V. I’m happy.”

[roomsofbooks257]

The Thorns of Death

Tamaki always looked forward to seeing his crush everyday. He was absolutely smitten by him. He would always daydream about them falling in love. Kyoya, the only person Tamaki loved. Tamaki could always count on Kyoya to help him with anything: homework, host themes, how to be a lot more dramatic. Tamaki thought that he couldn’t survive without him.

Kyoya however, never seemed to have a romantic interest in anyone. Tamaki found it very odd that he never had an interest in romance, but thought that he might’ve liked someone (he hoped that Kyoya would love him back). Kyoya was always focused on his work or on the host club. He told Tamaki when he asked about his love life: “I don’t have time for romance; even if I did, I wouldn’t want to date at all.”

It was a Friday afternoon when Tamaki felt like he needed to cough a little bit. He excused himself from the room and went out to the hall. He coughed for a little bit and something came out of his mouth, it was a flower petal. He was shocked. He had no idea how a flower petal had gotten into his lungs. He decided to put the petal into his pocket and walked back into the room.

After a little while, Tamaki felt that same coughing feeling again. He went back to the hall and kept coughing for a minute. Three petals came out of his mouth. He felt that this was odd and still disregarded it.

It wasn’t until two weeks later that any of the hosts started to become suspicious of Tamaki having to keep going into the hallway during hosting time. Haruhi, Honey and Mori were the first few people to notice what was going on. Haruhi walked up to Tamaki: “Tamaki, are you okay? You’ve been walking out of the room a lot while hosting.” Tamaki was taken aback by Haruhi noticing what he was doing. “I’m okay,” Tamaki said a little worried. “Tami-chan, come have cake with Usa-Chan, and me!” Honey exclaimed. He grabbed Tamaki’s hand and dragged him to the mini table in the corner of the music room.

It was another week of coughing before Tamaki felt stabbing pains in his chest. The twins and Kyoya were very concerned for him and insisted that he needed to go to the doctor. Tamaki didn’t want to go, but Mori told him that his pain was abnormal. When he arrived at the doctor’s office, he told the doctor about the chest pains and coughing that had been happening for weeks. The doctor gave him an x-ray to give him a proper diagnosis. The doctor came back into the room with a worried expression on his face. “You have a rare disease called Hanahaki. It’s a disease when flowers grow in your lungs. This happens when the romantic love you feel towards another person is unrequited. You could possibly die from suffocation with the flowers in your lungs,” the doctor told him. Tamaki was shocked and sad. “Is there a cure?” he asked. “Surgery is the only way to get the flowers out of your lungs. The only side affect of surgery is that you’ll never romantically love that person again. Otherwise the is not a cure,” the doctor explained. Tamaki was sad about the possible option. He didn’t want to stop loving Kyoya, but the news he received was morbid. He decided to not go through with surgery.

He kept feeling the pains in his chest, like thorns were ripping through his lungs. Flowers were being hacked up. They weren’t just petals anymore, but full flowers. He felt the flowers get stuck in his throat when coughing them up. Roses, Tulips, Daisies, Lillie’s and many more flowers came out of his throat. The roses were the most painful to come out. They had thorns that would scratch him and cause some blood to come out with them. One day, Tamaki went out into the hall to have another coughing fit away from everyone. He fell onto the marble floors with a loud crack. The host club rushed out to see what was going on. They saw Tamaki on the floor with blood rushing out of his head. They all gasped. Mori picked him up and they rushed to the hospital. Everyone was terrified that Tamaki was hurt. It was a few minutes before they heard anything from the doctors. They were all told that Tamaki was dead. He had broken a part of his skull, the flowers in his lungs suffocated him and many more odd things were happening with the flowers. They all started weeping. They kept crying for hours and hours. None of them ever thought that he would die with flowers killing him. They decided to close down the Host Club, because none of them could bear with the memories of Tamaki.

After Tamaki’s funeral, Kyoya was given a letter that was addressed to him:

Dear Kyoya,

I couldn’t bare to tell the host club about my diagnosis from my doctor. I died of Hanahaki disease. Flowers kept growing in my lungs. The pain was unbearable. I kept coughing them up everyday. With these flowers came the blood. I coughed up a lot of blood along with them. Roses hurt the worst. The thorns would scratch and tear my throat. The thorns broke through my lungs and made me hurt even worse. Yesterday I found out that one of the roses was wrapping itself around my heart and was slowly crushing it. Along with that, a part of my stomach was also being pierced and crushed. My back and my stomach made my wounds look like I was just stabbed when I went to school with the stems of Roses and tulips were sticking out of my body.

Hanahaki disease happens when a person is I love but the one they love doesn’t feel the same. The person I was in love with was you.

I’ll never love anyone else but you Kyoya.

Always and Forever yours,

Tamaki Suoh.

Kyoya cried. He felt a sadness that had never hit him before. He went to sleep crying, as the image of Tamaki stayed in his mind

[bipercabeth]

48 for percabeth! I hope u feel better about the show

Annabeth has known that Percy was going to die from the moment she met him. Four summers. Best case scenario. 

Twelve-year-old Annabeth wasn’t particularly concerned about falling in love with the trouble-making son of Poseidon who drooled in his sleep. Freshly sixteen Annabeth sometimes wishes she had opted for the quiet life some children of Athena prefer: strategize, keep your head down, live a comfortable and unremarkable life. She hardly would’ve crossed paths with Percy outside of the occasional class or Capture the Flag. He and Grover could’ve found someone else to be their best friend, or maybe they would’ve bonded as a pair. And Annabeth would have kept her distance from Percy in the name of self-preservation, knowing they would only have four bittersweet summers together at best. 

The summer before the Titan War is not the best case scenario. Percy is hardly ever at camp except for quests and Kronos-related meetings. He chooses to spend what they both know is his last of their four measly summers away from Annabeth. Grover is nowhere to be found, Thalia is with the Hunters, Luke is hosting the Titan Lord, and Annabeth feels more like a scared little girl than she has in a long time. At least she isn’t the runaway. That title fell to Percy. 

It feels like an insult to Annabeth’s love for Percy to wish they hadn’t met. She is so much better for having loved him. For loving him—present tense. But she says this while he’s still here. His smile may not be directed at her that often, but he still smiles. Sometimes Annabeth can even stomach the jealousy of Rachel being the cause of that smile, because at least someone is giving him joy before this all goes to shit. When it does, maybe Annabeth will understand what it means to wish him away, if only to end the pain of having known and lost a person like Percy Jackson. 

The feeling isn’t new. Annabeth’s gut has twisted in previous conversations where someone would bring up high school and college plans. Percy would talk animatedly about getting his license at sixteen, and Annabeth was left with a dry mouth she could not twist into a smile. He would beam at Beckendorf’s plans to attend NYU in the fall and make the older boy promise to swing by Sally’s sometime. Even Beckendorf, who had never heard the full Great Prophecy, could not stop the microexpression of pity. 

When Annabeth first heard the prophecy, it was too much for her ten year old mind. There was no face to connect to the doomed fate, no cursed blade to reap the hero’s soul. Sometimes her young brain conjured an image of Thalia, but that was a nightmare of its own. Every night, Annabeth would watch Olympus fall at the hands of someone she hoped never to know. 

She still gets those nightmares, only the visuals have improved. Percy is in every single one of them, saving or razing Olympus depending on the night. He never survives. You cannot outrun fate. Annabeth has tried. 

Still, she is a daughter of Athena, and Athena always has a plan. When Percy dies, Annabeth will fall to pieces. In a lucky string of events, she might fall alongside him. It’s a war, after all. But she has a sneaking suspicion that she will outlive him. She has a plan for this as well. The shroud they made when he was stranded on Calypso’s island was nice and communal, leagues ahead of the one the Ares cabin shroud that still makes Annabeth’s blood boil. But deep in her soul, Annabeth knows that she alone will make his shroud. Just as she’ll burn it; just as she’ll care for Sally in his stead; just as she will lay blue roses on his headstone every time she’s in the neighborhood; just as she’ll be there for Grover, for Clarisse, for all of camp when he’s gone. She will do it alone. Annabeth held the sky, once. She will shoulder this as well. How much heavier could losing her best friend be than the weight of the world? In her anticipation, they feel the same. 

She will build a monument for him, something to last the ages as he was supposed to, as permanent as the love he has given her. It will overlook the gods on Olympus, a reminder of the boy they failed. The boy who was too good for them all. Regardless of how the war goes, this will always be true. 

He was never built to last. Nothing good ever can, and he’s been burning the candle at both ends for a while now. He was meant to burn bright, not long. 

Annabeth sits in the dark of the Big House rec room, the only quiet space now that camp is in full war preparation. Well, the only quiet space apart from the beach, but Annabeth knows the smell of salt air and the sound of waves will be her undoing. That is another key feature of her plan: never go to the ocean again. 

She curls her knees into her chest, feeling every inch the child that she is. But children are not supposed to have plans for their best friend dying. Children are not supposed to have their first kiss out of fear that said best friend will die before their four summers are up. 

The door opens, throwing the room into harsh shadows and blinding light. 

“Um.” Annabeth can’t see who’s talking, but she’d know his voice anywhere. “Chiron said there was a war council meeting today.” 

She raises a hand to block out the light and give her eyes time to adjust. “Yeah, later.” To Annabeth’s horror, her voice is hoarse. Her throat is clogged with tears. 

Percy’s sneakers stop shifting in the carpet. “Are, uh... are you okay?” 

He sounds hesitant to ask, like he’s expecting vitriol to spew from Annabeth’s mouth. And, in fairness, sometimes it does. But Annabeth doesn’t have vitriol in her right now. The awareness that she does not have many days left with Percy is painfully acute. To spend them angry feels like a waste. 

“No, I’m not.” By now her eyes have adjusted to the light, and she looks at him through bleary eyes. 

Percy stills when he sees her face, looking ready to bolt. He points to the door. “Do you want me to...?”

Annabeth sniffles. “I don’t want to be alone.” 

What breaks her is how quickly he is by her side. For all their faults, it is the one thing she can count on. As long as she lets him, Percy will come to Annabeth when she’s hurting.

She doesn’t tell him how deeply that statement is carved into her, that she is carved from loneliness the same way he is carved from guilt—the pitfalls of pride and loyalty. 

A kid carved from loneliness cannot plan to be held the way that Percy holds Annabeth. Such a selfless love was unfathomable as a little girl; how could she ever have accounted for it? He just... holds her. He doesn’t try to talk or look at her face. He’s just there, unwaveringly. It kills Annabeth to know he won’t always be. It hurts to be with him, but it will hurt so much more to be without him. 

The dam breaks, and Annabeth sobs into Percy’s shoulder. He’s taller than her now, grown only to be cut down young. Still, he is steadfast, grounded, secure in his roots. The way a towering oak has no reason to fear a chainsaw until the cutting has already begun. 

“You’re my best friend,” she tells him, because she’s not sure she’s ever said it and it’s something he deserves to hear. “No matter what, you’re my best friend.” 

Percy strokes a gentle hand along the back of Annabeth’s head. “And you’re mine,” he assures her. He doesn’t say you’re my best friend too. Just you’re mine. As if the fact doesn’t haunt her. She is his, irrevocably. 

A gentle knock at the door interrupts them. Annabeth recognizes Silena’s quiet footfalls and almost withdraws from Percy, but he makes no move to. 

Silena’s voice is soft, not smug like Annabeth expects. “War council in fifteen. Figured I’d give you two a heads up.” 

Annabeth meets her eyes over Percy’s shoulder. “Thanks.” 

The older girl ducks her head in something resembling shame. “It’s the least I can do.” She leaves. 

“How much longer?” Percy asks when the door clicks shut. It isn’t an impatient question. In fact, Annabeth doesn’t know exactly what he’s asking. 

She gives an honest answer. “However long we have left.” And the sun begins to set on the fourth summer. 

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH48

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

-----

Chapter 48: Star Death Reality Show (XXXI) {cw: misgendering}

"Will Qi Leren be alright?" Dr. Lu, who had already run away, looked at Du Yue behind him in a panic and murmured in a low voice, "I have a bad feeling."

"Qianbei will be fine," Du Yue said confidently.

"No, let's go down and have a look. If he’s in trouble, we can help," Dr. Lu said.

"Okay, let's go." Du Yue was fine with it.

The two people studied the route to find the safest passage. Dr. Lu's sense of direction was bad, and Du Yue wasn’t much better. Two headless flies wandered around the institute and accidentally found intermittent blood on the ground.

The two walked along the blood trail, and finally found the injured Lara in a hidden room. Her injury wasn’t serious, but her spirit was not good. After seeing Du Yue and Dr. Lu, she was silent for a long time, and her voice was hoarse as she asked: "Have you seen Jing Siyu and Jing Sixue?"

The two shook their heads, and Lara sighed: "I'm afraid they’re in danger."

Lara told them what had happened after they ran away. Jing Siyu and Jing Sixue disappeared quickly, but Janet, Alex and Lara were together. They’d had an argument because Francis had been parasitized by an octopus. Janet strongly suspected that Lara was parasitized, and Lara would naturally not admit to such false accusations. During the argument, they met Leviathan, who had been thrown off by Qi Leren once before.

Janet, who was the closest to Leviathan, was the first to be killed. Alex tried to escape, but Leviathan jumped up again. Alex, who was eager to get rid of it, tried to push Lara out, and even stabbed Lara with a dagger. However, Lara had a strong will to survive. She took the dagger regardless of her injury and stabbed Alex’s vitals with a knife. She hid in a room, locked the door, and crawled away from the vents.

After that, Lara tenaciously fled the whole way, and finally came here and met Du Yue and Dr. Lu.

"We also met the monster, and Qi Leren led it away. Here's the thing..." Dr. Lu plainly told the story again, and finally asked, "We’re going to find Qi Leren. Would you like to join us?"

Lara touched the wound on her hand and nodded firmly: "Let's go."

This time, all three people were in a heavy mood. Especially after seeing the incomplete bodies of Jing Siyu and Jing Sixue, Lara cried sadly and asked aloud, "Are we the only ones left? Is Qi still alive?"

Janet and Alex had undoubtedly died by Leviathan's mouth, as well as Jing Siyu and Jing Siyue. Francis, Annie, Mark and Xue Jiahui were all parasitized. He Yi became Leviathan’s host. Only four of them had survived, and among them, Qi Leren’s life and death were still uncertain.

"Of course he’s still alive!" Dr. Lu said firmly. "He must still be alive!"

　　&&&

In the vast underground ice palace.

"Prophet, are you awake?" A blindfolded woman stood up from the chair of carved ice and respectfully saluted him. The ice and snow maids who were responsible for guarding the underground ice palace also bent over in salute.

"Soothsayer? Is it your rotation today?" asked the Prophet.

"It should have been the Iillusionist’s turn, but he had something to do, so we changed it," the Soothsayer replied.

"How is that boy recently?" When it came to the Illusionist, the Prophet's tone was clearly casual.

"Not bad, I heard that he made an interesting new friend, and he played tricks on others all day long." The Soothsayer smiled and asked again, "This time, you slept for a much shorter time than expected. Is something wrong?"

"It's not an accident." The Prophet frowned and looked up at the dome of ice and snow, but his line of sight seemed to pass through the thick layer of ice and look at the vast universe.

The blindfolded Soothsayer could not see his expression at the moment, but she could feel his inner unrest.

"Someone has discovered their original force, and that force is biased towards us," said the Prophet.

The Soothsayer breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and said, "Isn't this a good thing? Although it’s only the first step, it’s always ahead of the other sentient beings on the starting line. Maybe it will eventually condense a half-field or even a field."

It was only the first step to discover one's original force, and it would take some difficult self-testing to condense a half-field, but this already meant that this person was about to embark on a road different from ordinary players. Any master at the field level started from this first step. Although most people would fall in the long road of experience, everyone who had reached the field level had terrible strength.

The Prophet sighed faintly: "It’s too early to talk about field condensation... Although I’m optimistic about him, I didn’t expect it to be so fast. This may not be a good thing for him. There are still too many problems in his body that have not been solved."

The Soothsayer asked curiously, "Do you know that man? What is his original force?"

The Prophet sensed the new force full of vigor and hope, and gently spoke the answer:

"Rebirth."

　　&&&

In the deep underground glacier wrapped in eternal cold, the temperature was 60 degrees below zero. When human beings were exposed to this environment, it only took a few minutes for the blood in the nose and ears to be unable to maintain circulation because of the cold, and the cells would quickly die.

This underground world without light seemed destined to be forgotten in the cold.

Crushed skull, whole body fracture, ruptured organs, internal and external bleeding... Worse than that, when falling from that height, the speed would return to zero at the moment of contact with the ground, and the body would be deformed instantly under the huge force of the impact. Even the space alien Leviathan, whose vitality was extremely terrible, was seriously injured after falling and fell into a deep sleep.

To say nothing of a human being.

Death was the only outcome.

But suddenly, something moved in the ruinous "tomb" created from broken ice.

And then moved again.

Qi Leren felt as if he was in an icy hell. Every time he breathed, thousands of ice needles punctured his internal organs crazily, which made him feel miserable. He couldn't even think of why he felt so painful and cold, or where he was.

Under this inhuman pain, he only felt that he didn't want to live any longer, but he couldn't even die.

Breathing returned, heartbeat returned, he still couldn't open his eyes, he could only move with all his might. The stones and ice blocks on his arms also moved and collapsed violently, and his sound echoed in the lifeless darkness.

Qi Leren's consciousness gradually returned, and he remembered who he was, but he still didn't realize where he was. He complained crazily in his mind that the air conditioner in his room was too cold, and that he had even accidentally fallen from the bed, and now he couldn't move.

But how could it hurt so much? It was like all his bones were broken.

Qi Leren's confused thinking leaped illogically. He saw many things, and the broken pictures rampaged in front of his eyes, but they just passed away. All he remembered was that he saw a pair of blue eyes.

Blue eyes.

Ning Zhou.

The name suddenly appeared in Qi Leren’s, which was like a spell to unlock the seal on his memories. Countless heavy memories were bearing down, which were more painful than the rose thorn stuck in his heart.

He was going to find Ning Zhou, and he was going to bring him back.

Qi Leren finally recalled his mission, and he began to struggle, struggling to get up from the tomb built from broken ice. Just turning over exhausted his strength, and he had to lie prone on the ground and breathe for a while, only to recover his strength slowly.

He noticed the time. It has been twenty hours since he’d fallen from the ice cliff. It was ten o'clock on the fifth night. The fifth day’s Best of the Day had already been announced, but he didn't know who it was. At the same time, his privacy time has been reset with the new day day, and he had another ten hours.

If you fell from such a high place, the tracking camera should be damaged. If not, the low temperature here should make it unable to work normally. But just to be on the safe side, turn it off.

"Turn off the camera." Qi Leren squeezed his voice out of his dry throat, and coughed wildly as soon as he finished speaking. His mouth was full of the fishy sweetness of blood, which made Qi Leren feel queasy.

Suddenly there was a light sound in the dark, as if a stone had been pushed down.

Qi Leren immediately took out a flashlight from the item bar and shone it in the direction of the sound.

Not far away, there is a mound of rocks and crushed ice, and a tentacle was slowly sticking out from the inside, which was extremely slow and seems to be seriously injured.

That thing wasn't dead yet? Or did it sense the breath of the living again and wake up from hibernation?

Qi Leren struggled from the ground. Although he was mysteriously resurrected, his left hand, which was bitten off by Leviathan, still didn't grow back. If he tried this again, he would only die.

But fortunately, he had a key item that had cooled down.

When the Prophet's Heart was used again, Qi Leren felt subtly different from the last time. The phantom angel falling from the sky came to him and took him away from the terrible world to the carefree Garden of Eden. Under the cover of God's grace, he didn't need to worry, and he didn't feel fear. The world was like sand in his hand, and he could easily knead it into the shape he wanted.

Heavy rocks and ice were pushed away with a flick, exposing Leviathan lying on the ground dying. This horrible monster had a red eye, and this huge eyeball was full of ferocious madness.

There was an invisible giant clock behind him, and the pointer walked quickly. As long as it finished three laps, the power he borrowed would be like the chime of midnight, dissipating all magic.

He had to hurry.

Qi Leren held out his hand and raised his palm in the void. Leviathan floated and began to roar and struggle, but this degree of resistance had no effect before the original force. Moving the palm of his hand slowly, Qi Leren felt that he could easily knead it into pieces, just like what he did to Mark's octopus.

But this was not the only way. Qi Leren felt the mystery of time and carefully explored its secret. A mysterious feeling emerged in his heart. He rubbed his fingers and the sands of time slowly flowed down in his hands.

Leviathan floating in the air as if it had been cast in magic. Its shell was rapidly aging, coated with a layer of rust, and finally it seems to be petrified. Its body was full of cracks, and finally it turned into powder like beach sand, which sprinkled to the ground slowly, leaving a golden treasure chest and a round sphere.

Qi Leren waved his hand, and these two things fell into his hands. The treasure chest was opened, which was an item.

[Lucky Revolver: There are six slots in this gun’s chamber, one of which is loaded with a bullet. Shooting at one's own temple can give one minute of absolute defense within a radius of 500 meters around the locked target, but the absolute defense is invalid for this bullet. Even if you are lucky, God will only give you five minutes. If you are not afraid of death, you can continue for another minute. Locked target: not set.]

Qi Leren immediately decided that this was of no use to him, because he would blow his head off with the first shot, and unless it was matched with S/L, it was a waste.

Disappointed, he looked at the other object, which was an eyeball as big as a bowl. The scarlet pupil seemed familiar. It was called [Leviathan's Eyeball].

What was this thing? There wasn’t even a brief introductory description, which reminded Qi Leren of another prop without a brief introduction, namely, the "Scepter of Hell", which Maria had entrusted him to give to the Prophet.

Time was running out, and the clock representing his time limit only had half a rotation left. The translucent wings behind the Qi Leren lifted him, flying over the deep underground glacier, crossing the collapsed ice tunnel, flying all the way along the coming road, and returning to the iron door at the entrance before time ran out.

"Qi Leren? You’re still alive? That’s great!" "Qianbei! Are you alright? Qianbei! How did you grow wings!" "Qi, are you alright?" The three people wandering around the door with flashlights rushed up in surprise at the sight of Qi Leren.

Prophet's Heart’s time was up, and Qi Leren landed on the ground. After the sacred power retreated, he sat down weakly and walked out of the underground ice cave with the help of the three panicking people.

"It's okay, it's all taken care of. Just in case, we should quickly leave here, seal the exits, and wait for rescue." Although Qi Leren was still in the aftershocks of coming back from the dead, his mind was clear, and he clearly commanded the three people. He was worried about whether there were any octopuses hatching in the research institute, but he was afraid to say it now, for fear that after his mouth moved, his good luck would run out.

Du Yue had great strength, and single handedly carried Qi Leren, who had lost his arm, on his back. He listened to the three people say what had happened after they’d split up, learning that after discovering that the other people had become Leviathan's food, the three people had come to the bottom of the institute to look for Qi Leren. They went in several times, but the temperature inside was horribly low. Unlike Qi Leren who had been blessed by the holy light, they finally had to retreat, worried that Qi Leren was dead.

Qi Leren didn't say that he and Leviathan had fallen off the ice cliff together, only that Leviathan had fallen off, and that he was injured and unconscious for a long time but didn't die. Finally, God blessed him and gave him strength to return to them.

Dr. Lu and Du Yue were very embarrassed, but Lara was very moved. She took Qi Leren's remaining right hand and sincerely said, "When we go back, introduce me to your teachings. I’m willing to be baptized."

Qi Leren, who had no intention of preaching at all, was in a distressing situation. One atheist has destroyed the worldviews of another atheist through acting skills and unscientific miracles—maybe more than one. Should he be sealed as a saint or something?

They left the underground research institute, blocked the exit, left the basement, and returned to the surface. The night was bright and the whole land was covered with white snow and ice. Lara, who was the first to leave the room, pointed to the sky in surprise and shouted: "Look, what is that!"

The three people raised their heads and looked at the approaching black spots.

"Is it... Is the rescue coming?" Dr. Lu was excited.

"Great." Qi Leren also breathed a sigh of relief. The copy was coming to an end, and they could return to the Nightmare World soon.

The spacecraft was getting closer and closer, and before long, they would be able to board the spacecraft safely and leave, but the spacecraft was slow to land. The four people waited anxiously, just like waiting for a late plane.

"It seems like something’s wrong." Lara stood up and looked at more and more spacecrafts that had no intention of landing. "What are they waiting for?"

A thought flashed through Qi Leren's mind: "Are they a civilian spacecrafts?"

"No, these are..." Lara said, her voice stopping abruptly.

A beam more dazzling than sunlight converged on the muzzle of the spacecraft, and the terrible energy was aimed at this planet!

Stunned, the four people watched the devastating attack on the plane beneath their feet, and they couldn't help feeling shocked. They had never thought that, after escaping death from a horrible space alien, they would finally die at the hands of their own people. In order to prevent the octopus from spreading, the army gave up the idea of a rescue landing and blasted the whole planet to pieces at a safe distance, where there was no risk of contact.

At the last second in this copy world, Qi Leren and the others were judged to have completed the task requirement of "surviving until the army arrived", and left the world in the light of the blast.

-----

Editor’s Notes: Obviously those items can only have positive results, right?

As a bonus for the end of this arc, BMBL wrote a collection of the program audience’s reactions on her Weibo. They’re posted as images so I can’t easily throw them into an mtl, but here’s the link for anyone who wants to take a stab at it: https://weibo.com/1741082525/F4b6D7Upr

-----

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

[zeravmeta]

nasuverse/dr stuff still exists rent free in my head as a treasure trove of concepts so not only am i imagining kamukura in fgo but also naegi because of the absolute shenanigan's that would entail (long self indulgent crossover post ahead)

ok so something that's incredibly important to understand abt makoto fucking naegi is that he’s a walking plot device breaker because his bad luck works at the meta narrative level across dr. he survived the first game specifically because of the bad luck that would come from suffering through the deaths of his friends, and later on managed to defeat junko because of his optimism and belief in others BUT ALSO because it would lead him to being the most wanted person on the planet for stopping humanity’s downfall. 

to kinda expand off the loosely defined cinematic universe this makes from previous posts, naegi entering chaldea would work out pretty much the same way it did for guda bc he’s an average dude being put into extraordinary circumstances. UNLIKE guda, however, naegi is actually incredibly sharp without realizing it and also has an extremely unbreakable willpower while simultaneously being gods funny little man which would translate to chaos but Worse for chaldea. There's also the dynamic with izuru which would be incredibly hilarious bc to most of chaldea they'd see izuru as this above it all prick since most wouldn't actually Know His Deal and for those that do they just pity him but since naegi is an unpredictable enigma he’d be one of the handful of people who izuru consciously seeks out and actually does get along with izuru, leading to the staff relegating him to “the difficult person handler”.

he’d def get along with the main chaldea quartet but romani would probably look to him on how to handle izuru at certain points bc of romani’s guilt in these types of situations. what would really spice up the dynamic here is that naegi would actually pick up on romani hiding something very early on and slowly work towards uncovering it. There’d also be how much like izuru was targeted by rando mages, so would naegi, but his bad luck would constantly protect him from whatever fucked up magics a mage tries to use on him specifically because it would keep him alive to experience the grand order and the lostbelts. 

now for actual servant parallels that come to mind, i feel like the obvious answer is edmond but the supremely sexy answer is siegfried because both of them are hugely self sacrificial characters who are defined by how their bad luck ruined their life. THE THING IS THOUGH that siegfrieds misfortune is what always kills him and leads others to tragedy, but it would 100% be overpowered by naegi’s own bad luck specifically bc it’s that much more powerful (and the total opposite: naegi’s luck leaves him with tragedy but ensures he can survive) and would keep them alive. naegi is someone who carries tragedy on his back and runs a marathon with it because he can’t stop going forward so coupled with his optimism he’d def get along supremely well with siegfried and probs inspire him the way sieg did in apo. Actually one of naegi’s most consistent character traits is the fact that he 100% trusts shady bitches way more than normal people (considering he forgave kirigiri for setting him up like twice, gets along decently well with genocider and decided to save class 77 regardless of their crimes) so you stick him next to any evil bitch (clown quartet) / expressionless badass (arjuna, altera, scath, etc) and he’s basically good. ALSO i wouldn't say its all peaches and roses bc nasuverse defines the act of being a hero as being someone who has blood on their hands and naegi is a staunch believer in ‘no reason is good enough to kill ever’ so he’d def have some struggle with heroes who are proud of their lives if it were particularly gruesome but he also wouldn't preach to them about it since he ultimately respects others choices on the matter.

When naegi would come to chaldea with izuru, he’d probably fly to the wayside to the drama with izuru/romani initially, but then take a more proactive step in making sure they actually resolved the grand order (actually, the combination of izuru and naegi’s bad luck might even ensure olga doesn't get deep fried in singularity f, which would directly lead to alien god being more proactive about their hosts in part 2 what bad luck lmao). naegi isn’t someone who would ever struggle with his humanity, but rather he’s someone who seeks to understand the humanity within others. Its why he saved ultimate despair regardless, why he didn't want junko to kill herself, he’s someone who always reaches out and tries to understand in his own imperfect way. being the ultimate hope doesn't mean that he lacks despair, but rather he can carry that with him without being crushed by it, and a mission to save humanity would be right up his alley. But when the lostbelts roll around, he’d definitely struggle with the idea of destroying other worlds. But much like he did with the killing game, he would never forget them. He would take that pain, and continue to move because what else could he do. 

[74demonking]

Chapter 2

-Kellen-

The sun had not yet risen when Kelln woke the following morning. He had stayed awake late into the night trying to narrow down what it was that was troubling him, yet he was no closer to identifying what it was that had him so vexed. Regardless, he did not wish to put off his visit to Imperium, to this powerful Queen. To have another Hell realm as an ally would be a benefit. If he could at least keep her from coming to war with them, that would be the least he could hope for. Kellen rarely aimed for the least of anything, and that was true in this instance as well.

Grae had been tasked with ensuring that they would be welcomed and procuring the necessary gifts that were customary when dignitaries came on such diplomatic visits. Kellen had no worries that these had both been seen to. At least those items were not ones that he would have to attend to; his focus could be solely on the new Queen and ensuring that the first impression was perfect. For her to have assumed the throne and subjugated both of the powerful males she had, she had to be quite the female. That made her a female Kellen was very interested in.

Kellen selected his black suit carefully, along with the fur trimmed cape that would go over it. Refined in its cut and fit, but exuded power in the intricate embroidery that decorated the front. Once clothing was set aside, Kellen started his grooming, his almost black eyes carefully studying every small detail about himself in the mirror as he did. Nothing was too small to escape his notice this morning, this meeting was too important of a meeting. He would not let anything go wrong with it. Not. One. Thing.

-Grae-

The velvet box sat on his desk. The gift had been carefully chosen by one of the courtesans whom he implicitly trusted. As always, he had been entrusted with procuring the gift to be presented, and for some reason he had gotten the impression that Kellen wanted to particularly impress the Queen that they were going to visit. Maybe the King had decided to give up his lecherous ways? There was always hope. It would certainly make life easier. However, from what he had heard of Queen Gabrielle, she was not an easy nor meek woman. Grae already liked her.

He had heard from a fae that Kellen was dressing in his customary black, so Grae dressed to match in a black morning coat, vest, and trousers. A black ascot was tied formally at the neck of his shirt and secured with a diamond pin. Formal, but not so much so as to outshine the King. Grae liked his head on his shoulders and wanted to keep it there.

Before going to meet Kellen, Grae raised the lid of the velvet box. The courtesan had done wonderfully, the piece was perfect. Before sending her on the task, Grae had been able to make some discreet inquiries of those who had met the Queen and discovered that she was more of a warrior Queen than a prissy one, something he was still looking forward to seeing Kellen handle. Rarely was she seen in gowns when not receiving formal guests or hosting formal functions; more often than not, she was in fighting leathers and could almost be mistaken for one of her legion, if it were not for her height, which was diminutive. It was based on that he had given instructions to the courtesan to find something unique, not overly flashy, and something that would represent their realm more than impress with the value.

Within the box lay a necklace, the center of which was crescent moon shaped, the points facing upwards. A large oval cabochon of Uffernium Opal was in the center, two smaller circular cabochons on either side more towards the points of the crescent. There were no other stones, and the metal was silver rather than golden colored. If the Queen was anything like her reputation, then this would be much more to the female’s liking than the normal diamond encrusted gaudy pieces that they had bequeathed in the past.

-Kellen-

Kellen had just finished dressing and having his groomsman gnome adjust all the details of his outfit when there was a knock at his chamber door. He was sure it was Grae so he called for him to enter. It was getting close to the time they were to go to Imperium, and while he would have liked to go earlier, he also knew that showing up too early would not give the correct impression either.

“Let me see it,” Kellen ordered when he saw the deep burgundy velvet box that Grae bore. He was anxious to not only know what had been chosen, but also to know how the Queen would receive it.

When Grae lifted the lid, Kellen’s brows knit together in confusion. Surely this was not what his top advisor had decided was what should be given to the Queen. It would not fit her station! It would be an insult and embarrass him. What could Grae have been thinking?

“Is this a joke? Something to break the mood because you know I am unusually tense regarding this visit?” Kellen asked, trying not to swat away the dark fae that was putting the last touches on his jacket. His expression was one of clear displeasure and his voice was the exclamation mark on that.

-Grae-

So, it was clear the King had not done his homework. It was a good thing he had, but why Kellen hadn’t confused him. For some reason this visit seemed to mean more to the King than others that they went on purely for diplomatic or curiosity reasons. Grae found it hard to understand why then Kellen wouldn’t have asked about the Queen and known that the normal gifts would not be her style.

“No, it is not a joke.” Grae watched Kellen’s features darken, as well as the room slightly, at his response. He continued undaunted, “however, in my inquiries regarding Queen Gabrielle, the normal jewel and diamond encrusted pieces would not be to her liking. She rarely is seen in a gown or with her tiara on. More often she is in leathers, or human clothes and with her guard or the other Horsemen. In truth, I was more inclined to give her a blade than jewelry, but was not sure I’d survive your reaction to seeing that. The gift is for this woman to appreciate that you have looked into who she is, or at least for me to have since you did not know what I did.” The last dig was possibly a bit much since Kellen’s features were still clouded with confusion, but since the darkness had lifted from the room, Grae was pretty sure he was no longer about to kill him.

-Kellen-

“I thought that to be all rumor, or that when she ascended to the throne that had changed. I did not consider that it would not have.” Kellen’s eyes remained on the piece; a piece that was perfect for the woman it was intended for, Grae had done well. He, however, had not and it bothered him that his advisor had interpreted the intel they had received better than he had.

“I was wrong, this is the perfect gift.” His eyes rose from the necklace to look at Grae, “and skipping the blade was a smart move. Giving her a blade at first meeting might be a bit presumptive. We might save that for the second meeting.” His expression softened and he gave a slightly weary smile. Now he was more troubled than before. It was not like him to mess up. He could not ruin this.

“Grae, what is wrong with me?” He demanded finally. When his advisor looked at him warily and confused he continued, “I was up late into the night. Something is nagging at me about this visit. And now, you have better judged someone that we are going to meet than I have. So, I ask again, what is wrong with me?”

-Grae-

“Leave us.” Grae’s chin rose definitely and an air of authority came to his voice. The two fae flitting about putting the finishing touches on both of them exited the room quickly. A wave of Kellen’s hands and the doors closed and were locked so that no one could come in.

“You are afraid you might finally meet your equal.” For the first time in their long friendship and working relationship, Grae saw surprise on Kellen’s face. “Come now, you must have realized it, Kellen.”

Grae closed the velvet box and set it on a nearby table then turned back to his friend to talk. “There are few beings in creation that have the same type of power as you, most of them male. I’m not sure we’ve run into a female that has even been close, outside of the Greeks and you’ve pissed all of them off. But, Gabrielle, she could be and I think you don’t know how to handle that.” He was frank with his friend. He’d wondered how Kellen would handle it. Not well would be the answer.

-Kellen-

Kellen scoffed and turned away. “Don’t be absurd.” But Grae wasn’t, and that is what bothered Kellen more than anything. It was quite possible he was right. Then what would happen? What if she was as powerful as he? Or, if she was more powerful? Was that what had been nagging at him?

He began to pace, his fists clenching and unclenching as he did. Grae smartly stayed off to the side and observed. “If she is as powerful then we must secure her as an ally. We have a war already Grae and I cannot support one if she can bring to bear the kind of power I can. If she would stand at our side, well that would give us a tactical advantage. Yes, it would help us greatly and increase our standing in the realms.” Kellen nodded, starting to resolve things in his head.

-Grae-

“And if she is as beautiful as they say?” Grae brought Kellen to a full stop with one sentence. Had his friend really not considered that, or worse not gotten that intel from whoever was providing it to him?

“Powerful and beautiful. You are going to tell me that you haven’t even considered that, my KING?” Now he was prodding Kellen to see how the other male would react. If Gabrielle was powerful and Kellen was going to be playing a romantic game with her, it could lead them to complete ruin.

-Kellen-

His back was to Grae, but Kellen didn’t need to be facing him to know the look on his face and why he’d asked the question. “Then she will be as beautiful as they say.” He was lying to both of them and he knew it.

Turning, he faced Grae. “We are not going there in order to romance her, if that is what you are thinking.” It was true, it was not the reason for the visit. What he didn’t say was that if she lived up to everything that he’d heard about her that romancing her would be a pleasure, and one he would take very seriously. However, whether the petite woman he’d heard so much about was worth all of the praise that had been heaped upon her was still yet to be seen, and Kellen was skeptical.

“We are going there to find out exactly who and what she is. I’m also hoping to see Lucifer and Abbadon on leashes.” A smirk came to Kellen’s lips as he considered even the thought of that, not that he could get lucky enough to see either male in that position. “And we’re also going to make sure that she knows the power that resides within Uffern as well.” Kellen’s face sombered. “If she is not as powerful as they say, then we don’t want her thinking that her badass reputation gives her the right to try to come in here and boss us around. I believe it is now time, let us go and see exactly who this Queen Gabrielle is.”

@74hybridangel

@kellencythraul

[cyoza]

1. :(

Helllooooo

I’m so so so sorry this has taken me so long. At first I couldn’t find my footing with this request and didn’t wanna just rewrite what i’ve already done so it took me a while to figure out how I should go about it and then it got super hectic at work and I’ve only managed like 3 days off in the last month so long story short, its been a Time. 

But I felt like this is a bit of an angle I haven’t done yet. It kinda follows on from another fic I have (Part 1: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674324 and Part 3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28674324/chapters/74814246 ) but you shouldn’t need to read that one to get this one (I hope) so I hope you can enjoy it and I realise the actual request isn’t in it but I will be doing a second (or third if you’ve read the first one) part with a little smut. I just realise it’s been a long time and didn’t want to make it longer.  

Anyway, thank you for your request! Enjoy the first half! 

‘I cant’t do anything right.’ 

- 

By the time Dick had let himself into the Tower that evening, it was purely the power of God that got him through the door. It had been a long night on patrol and his body was really feeling the effects of it. 

He ignored the ever present dull throb in this chest as he crossed the threshold and hung his jacket and backpack on the coat stand. 

It had been 5 years since Kory’s death and although managing it had gotten easier, the pain was still as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. It had taken him a while after her death to get his head on straight; a few years of a while. It wasn’t until Donna essentially hosted an intervention that had felt the need to kick himself into shape. 

‘Is this what Kory would have wanted for you?’ She had said, pity coating her words. 

And she was right. Dick had become nothing but a disgusting shadow of his former self, and Kory would have been ashamed of him. So he had begun therapy, upon Donna’s suggestion, and slowly but surely returned to the leader the team all needed. 

His heart still clenched every time he saw something that he knew she would have loved and the holidays were always difficult but it now felt like he could survive day to day without her physical presence. 

He always made sure that it was clear that although Kory wasn’t with them physically, her spirit was always present in their life. And he honestly believed it was. Whenever he was having a difficult day and he would get a comforting whiff of her perfume, there was something in him that knew it was her doing it. He wasn’t sure when the time had come where any memory of her stopped feeling like a personal attack on him, but he was glad it had happened. There was no way he could continue to exist the way he was. Slogging through each day with no end in sight; every reminder of her setting him on fire. 

Now, it finally felt like he was healing. 

It was 2am before Dick had finished his nighttime routine and his head hit the pillow but the sensation couldn’t have been more welcome. It wasn’t long before his mind began to switch off and he fell into unconsciousness...

- 

Dick opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of his childhood kitchen. The sudden nostalgic surroundings had his heartbeat drumming in his ears. 

He scanned the room briefly, landing on a figure sat at the distressed oak table that sent his heart rate thumping so fast, it would probably be heard as a hum. Although she had her back to him, he would recognise the cloud of scarlet curls even if he’d been blindfolded. 

He felt his knees give way as they buckled to the ground, the cold tile thwacking against them but he never felt the pain come. 

‘Kory?’ Her name came out as a breath of disbelief. 

Dick watched as she rose from the table and  turned to face him. He felt as if everything was suspended in the air as he gazed on her face for the first time in 5 years. Liquid sprung to his eyes as he observed her, her frame becoming distorted by the tears. He quickly blinked to get rid of them, not willing to give up the sight of her. 

‘Hello, Richard.’ 

He felt a sob bubble up from the sound of her melodic voice. 

She wore a strappy blackcurrant, chiffon, floor length gown and she’d never looked so beautiful. She could have been wearing a bin bag for all he cared and looked just as beautiful. 

‘Wh-what-’ He swallowed. Where could he even begin? 

‘Come sit with me.’

She swished over to him appearing to glide in slow motion. He felt his heart shoot through the ceiling as he felt her fingers slide through his own and she led him leisurely to the oak table before she made her way to sit on her own chair. She folded her arms on the table, saying nothing as she merely looked at him, a soft smile gracing her face. Dick had never felt a silence so intensely.

‘What’s happening?’ He asked, the ability to speak coming to him as a surprise. 

‘It’s a long story.’ She waved his question off casually, as if this was an everyday occurrence. ‘Aren’t you happy to see me?’ 

‘Of course!’ He reached forward to clutch her hands. ‘I’m just-.’ 

‘Confused.’ She interrupted. ‘I know.’ 

Dick felt the distant flash of irritation he always got when she interrupted him, his throat tightening at the long missed emotion. 

‘Well, aren’t you going to show me around?’ She deflected, her eyes twinking in a way that made his stomach churn. 

She stood to make her way to the framed picture of a 5 year old him holding a crab as his mother stood behind him that sat on the granite countertops. Dick felt a familiar, separate pang in his chest at the sight of the photograph. The picture encapsulated one of his favourite days; he couldn’t remember a time where he’d laughed more than he had that day. 

‘What’s the story behind this one?’ She questioned, picking it up with a gentle grin. 

Dick had a funny suspicion he had already relayed the events of that particular day to her before but he simply sighed and began to regale her with the story of how he had gotten bitten by a crab. 

‘Um yeah, it was a trip to the beach. We had a really good day actually -’ 

‘Dick.’ 

He was interrupted by Kory who placed the photograph back onto the counter and came to stand in front of him. She grasped both of his hands in hers and pulled him up so they stood toe to toe. 

‘Relax, please.’ She told him, releasing one of his hands to cup his cheek. 

Though he revelled in the feel of her lithe fingers against his skin, he still couldn’t quite believe what was happening. 

‘How can I relax, Kory?’ He asked rhetorically. ‘I have no idea what’s happening. Am I asleep? Cos this feels like a little more than just a dream. You feel so real but yet I’m afraid to touch you in case you disappear.’ 

The hand that was still on Dick’s came up to join the other so his face was bracketed in her palms. 

‘I’m here with you, Richard.’ She said with conviction. ‘I’m not going to disappear. For now, at least, okay?’ 

‘How do you know?’ 

‘Because I just do.’ A mischievous glint appeared in her eye. ‘Kiss me, if you don’t believe me.’ 

Dick felt his heart lighten, just as she’d intended it to but he couldn’t stop the sliver of skepticism that pulled at him. Still, he figured whatever was going to happen couldn’t have been worse than the 5 years he’d already experienced. 

So, he wrapped his arms around her waist and did as she’d asked. However, instead of being met with the low buzz of his alarm clock, sure enough, it was Kory’s lips that he had met. The velvety feel of her lips under his own had him feeling like he could have burst into song. Forgotten were the last 5 years of disappointing early mornings and soulless late nights. 

All he could be was there with her. 

His skin blazed with heat as Kory’s arms travelled up his own and across his chest to land at his shoulders, her fingers sifting through the hair at the nape of his neck. The gentle tug she gave it prompted a gentle moan but left Dick feeling bereft when she pulled away from the kiss slowly to peer at him through glazed eyes. 

‘I’ve missed you so much, Dick.’ Her voice sounded thick with emotion. ‘So much.’ 

Dick felt his own throat tighten. 

‘I missed you too.’ Never had truer words been spoken. ‘You have no idea how much I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry, Kory. I’m sorry I let you go. I’m sorry I-’ 

‘Don’t worry about that now.’ She told him, her eyes shining with intensity. ‘Just kiss me.’ 

He didn’t need to be told twice.

[tcstu]

January’s Honorable Mentions

This month’s piece generated some incredible stories. I chose this work of art believing there were numerous tales buried within it, and I was not disappointed. Each entry took a completely different perspective on what is happening in this scene. If you enjoy one of the Honorable Mentions below, please let the writer know. I’m sure they would love to hear from you.

As a reminder, I celebrated the new year by featuring one of my favorite artists, @hydraart​​. If you’ve been following this contest, you may remember that this artist was also featured in January of 2019 and 2020. This seems to now be a New Year’s tradition, and I am happy to be able to continue it this year. If you would like to see the pieces previously featured by this artist, you can view them here:

January 2020

May 2019

January 2019

The piece for this month was titled, “Hide and Seek.” Here it is along with the Honorable Mentions for this month:

(These entries are listed in the order they were received and do not reflect a system of ranking.)

Untitled

Written by: @emilyelizabethfowl​

Ten

She couldn’t tell whether the breeze she felt came from nature or from Its wings.

Nine

At least she didn’t have to worry about the smell betraying her hiding spot.

Eight

Sound, however, was a different matter entirely.

Seven

But her legs were starting to feel numb…

Six

It certainly wouldn’t hurt to move them, just a little, would it?

Five

Just a teeny tiny little bit…

Four

Slowly, carefully, she stretched her left leg.

Three

Then, bringing it back, she stretched out her right one.

Two

But she did it too fast, too carelessly.

One

Losing balance, she fell down. Her elbow knocked into the giant sheet of metal she was hiding under, the sound carrying far.  

Zero

Barely seconds later, giant talons dented the metal, ripping it away easily.

Found you!

Aw, shucks.

She stood up, turning to face the creature.

“Best three out of five?” she offered.

It’s already past your bedtime. A deal is a deal.

Ah well. It was worth a try. She climbed the creature’s back, clinging tightly to the feathers longer than she was tall.

She’d win their next game for sure!

“Eleanor And The Great Bird”

Written by: @evanthenerd83​

“Do not move,” Eleanor whispers to herself, thin frame curled inward.

The flapping of wings drowns out her panicked breathing. Dust swirls around. Bits and pieces rain down, and they sound like bullet casings striking metal.

Eleanor could recognize the sound anywhere. It is as familiar as her grandfather’s wartime movies. Black and white visions of the dead.

“Do not move,” Eleanor reminds herself, eyes scanning the words scratched into the steel.

The great bird passes overhead, and the entire shard shakes with its might. She bites her lip. A moment of terrible silence.

It is circling around. Coming back.

“Do… not… move,” Eleanor repeats, unaware that it doesn’t matter.

The shelter is just a jagged piece of roof. It isn’t big enough to hide her, not all of her. Not her shadow.

And unfortunately, the sun is burning in her direction.

The great bird has locked on.

The great bird makes one last turn…

Sit Com

Created by @daalseth​ ( Doug Aalseth )

"Ma!!" came the anguished cry.

"What is it?" replied his mother, her voice drenched in fatigue.

"Billy smashed up my 172 scale model Medieval Human Village."

"Now Tommy..."

"It wasn't me," shouted Billy. "I wouldn't do nothing with your stupid model."

"Yes it was," shouted Tommy waving his wing at the table. "That's your feather laying right there."

"Nuh-huh."

"Uh-huh."

"Nuh-huh."

Their mother rubbed a talon against her throbbing forehead. It was going to be a long day. Maybe it was time to just kick the little bastards out of the nest? She looked at the two chicks arguing. "No," she said softly, "I'll give it one more day."

“Whatever It Takes”

Written by: @winterrose42​

I dug my fingers deep into the ground as I curled tighter into myself, squeezing my eyes shut in a vain effort to concentrate. This had to work- in the end it’s all I could do, whatever God that’s left forgive me. I could feel the beast looming impossibly large behind me, breath wuffing over the ruined plains like winds before a storm. A low growl thundered from its throat and I dug harder even as my fingernails protested and bent from the dirt being shoved underneath them. I couldn’t fail. I had to find them, and to do that I needed to make it out alive. To do that…

I felt it suddenly, claws slicing easily into the dirt deep enough that I’m sure someone could make a bomb shelter of it later. The tips of its heavy wings brushed the uneven ground, dragging stone and steel along as they swayed in rest. Feeling the pull of its head was the worst; it had seen me that much I knew, darting from toppled building to ruined tower to hastily put up shelter as  fast as my legs could carry me had not been fast enough. It’s great shriek had nearly deafened me as it shook the earth landing just a few yards away from where I had crouched. The few warriors who had gathered to head off the beast- they all knew in their hearts they hadn’t a chance of making it.

That’s what I kept telling myself as the beast’s arm raised and came crashing down to sweep away fallen debris and lean to steel sheets and scattered weapons, armor and men alike, leaving them to try and bury themselves yet again. Collect their wits and reorganize perhaps. I couldn’t afford to give them that chance. Setting everything in motion the wings swept back, the arms came up, the eyes focused forward, sharp beak opening wide with vocal chords straining to make its signature call- and so it was done.

All at once I severed the connection, feeling impossibly small and weak and useless once again as the ground shook like an earthquake with the speed at which the beast fell, screaming its indignation at being puppeted for as long as it had, intelligent eyes snapping forward to those running for better cover, myself sitting still and forgotten for the moment in light of more easily accessed prey. I covered my ears and closed my eyes, whispering out a prayer of forgiveness to carry on the artificial wind for those who cared to hear it.

Eventually the shaking ceased, noise quieted, beast placated if only for a moment making it possible to crawl out and stand up though I dared not turn around. Sticking to the irrational belief that my imagined carnage was worse and therefore I was absolved of blame I squared my shoulders and turned west.

I had survived and would continue to do so through whatever means necessary. I would survive. And I would find them.

Maran-do

Written by: @spoldhamindieauthor​ (S.P. Oldham)

Maran huddled beneath the toppled roof of a ruined dwelling, sitting now upon the ground, broken and battered. All of the buildings in this tiny hamlet told a similar story; one of destruction and wrath.

Maran heaved a silent sigh. He had sent out Maran-do, his mind partner, when the day was still bright, her task to bring down anyone he had not dispatched. Very few would be daring enough to try to evade her. It would take a remarkable being indeed to slip past Maran-do unnoticed, avoiding her wicked talons. He had never known it happen yet.

Maran-do hung in the air now like a dark, oppressive shadow. She had been the foretelling of death for so many souls, Maran had long since stopped counting.

He had never imagined she would foretell his own death, too. Maran frowned, trying to recall such a thing happening before. What could possibly cause a mind-partner to turn upon its host? It was unheard of.

He knew the tiniest movement would be enough to alert her to his whereabouts. Resisting the urge to break cover and run, Maran struggled with ordering his thoughts. That was the biggest problem. Maran-do was inside his head as well as outside it. She knew his own mind better than he knew it himself.

How could he possibly escape? Wherever he went, Maran-do would go with him. Why had she turned on him? In a rare moment of self-pity, Maran gave a sniff.

It was enough. He could feel the air outside shifting, darkness looming over his hiding place like an unstoppable, oncoming storm. For the briefest instant, Maran felt the terror and utter helplessness so many had known before.

A large talon tapped impatiently before him. Inside his head, the words ‘Come out, come out, wherever you are’ blossomed into life like clouds of puffed smoke, Maran-do taunting him with his own phrase.

“Why?” Maran breathed, “Why do you turn upon me?”

More words of smoke, ‘I am to be mind-partner to a greater one than you, little Maran,’ using the childhood endearment, ‘Your mind is weak. You take much pleasure from death and killing. I belong to a greater mind than yours,’ she repeated.

She raised her foot. Maran flinched as, above him, the beams and planks of the rough wooden roof began to splinter. Instinctively he crouched, making himself smaller, as if he could avoid being crushed.

He had just enough time to wonder how she could survive without his mind to host her. Then he was gone; snuffed out like a bare candle in a blizzard.

Maran-do stretched her wings, letting out a silent shriek as her head turned to the west. A new host awaited her, a new name forming in her mind even as she rose from the earth. A path of flight was shown to her fathomless mind, stretching like an umbilical cord across the skies.

Maran was dead.

So was Maran-do.

Tethered

Written by: @wildler

I heard the spirits before I saw them—their strangled moans carrying through the smoke-stained air. Carys whinnied beneath me, her ears twitching in all directions.

“Easy girl,” I murmured, stroking her neck. “Only a little further. Should be the next clearing.”

The sound continued, growing stronger as we pushed closer to where the village was rumoured to be. I tugged the hood of my cloak from my head, sweat sticking my hair to my neck. It seemed my limited healing skills had arrived too late to be of use—but my other skills—well, perhaps I would return to the king with something more substantial than rumours at last.

We entered the clearing, the devastation hitting me like a sword to the gut. Homes had been scalped, gutted and burned. Their charred remains left crumbling into the earth. Spirits inhabited the ruins. Flickers of human outlines that cried out as they relived their violent, final moments of existence. Their fear keeping them tethered to this plane.

I dismounted Carys and pressed my hands to the ground, shuddering as the sweat on my neck turned cold. A haze of panic blanketed the site like thick smoke, making it impossible to get a sense of the events leading to its ruin. I sank my fingers into the soil and focused my will, trying again.

Sounds and smells came rushing at me, distorted screams on a hot jet of air. My eyes sprang open to find the spirits staring in eerie silence, their gaze passing right through me to something on the horizon.

I heard the presence before I saw it—a monstrous shriek carried on a blast of flame.  It was an end too terrifying and binding to escape.

And so, I relive it again.

[theparanormalperiodical]

The REAL Story Behind The Crooked Man And The 7 Other Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes With *Even More* Disturbing Backstories

It was 4 years ago that we first met the Crooked Man.

With a *sickening* reveal via rottweiler fit for the latest season of Rupaul’s Drag Race, the suited gentleman staggered his way from The Conjuring 2 (2016) into our nightmares.

But his ashy undertones, gnashing teeth, and general aura of “I’m a demon, or something, which means I have no real motive apart from wanting to kill you” isn’t the only thing that fits the film far too well.

The Conjuring universe is the definition of ‘based on a true story’. And the Crooked Man fits the brief.

In the opening scenes of the film we see lovable and bulliable Billy stutter through a nursery rhyme:

There was a crooked man, and he went a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile; He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all liv'd together in a little crooked house.

Accompanied by a totally-cursed-i-mean-just-look-at-it zoetrope (it’s a bit like a mini projector that shows you a moving cartoon), Billy introduces us to one of the handful of extra entities terrorising London’s most haunted house. You can discover more about the true story of 284 Green Street which inspired The Conjuring 2 here. 

But Billy also introduces us to a real nursery rhyme inherent in British culture - and British history.

Yes, the nursery rhyme, like many, is based on dark and twisted reality softened for a bedtime story. And amongst this history was a real person. Unfortunately, the Crooked Man is not the only fairy tale monster or nursery rhyme entity that will be haunting your dreams.

Are y’all tucked in?

The Crooked Man

The nursery rhyme was first told sometime in the 17th century during the reign of King Charles I. But the Crooked Man was not the Stuart King - it was allegedly inspired by Scottish general Sir Alexander Leslie and the covenant he signed.

The covenant secured religious and political freedom for Scotland despite prevailing animosity between the English and the Scottish.

The crooked stile is the awkward alliance between the two parliaments and the crooked house refers to the collective union the Scottish and English lived together in. But the ‘crooked’ part works on another level, too.

The great recoinage of late 17th century meant sixpences - which feature in the rhyme - were made of very thin silver and thus easy to bend.

An alternative origins story links it back to Lavenham, a village in Suffolk (England). The half-timbered houses leaned at off angles as if supporting each other, creating a crooked aesthetic that matches the nursery rhyme.

The Pied Piper Of Hamelin

I distinctly remember hearing the story of the Pied Piper when I was about 7 years old. I was there, sat crossed-legged on the wooden floor in assembly and listening to the headteacher tell us the tale of the musical maverick with an overhead projector.

I remember it being far more nostalgic and not so traumatising.

The story goes that sometime in the 13th century a peculiar man dressed in brightly-coloured clothes (pied clothing) was hired by the town to rid them of the rats with his pipe-playing abilities. Hamelin had been suffering from an infestation that would threaten the locals with the plague. The piper was to play his pipe, entice the rats with his magical music, and lead them to a river where they would promptly drown.

He was hired and he did the job - but they didn’t pay up.

The piper couldn’t exactly refund his services. Instead, he sought vengeance, luring away the children of the town with his magical pipe. He waited until Saint John and Paul’s day where the adults would be in the church, dressed in green like a hunter, and played his pipe. The children of the village swarmed to him, all 130 of them, following him out of the town and into a cave. Three were unable to follow due to being blind and deaf and thus told the villagers what had happened.

The real story:

Some versions of the story claimed he made them walk into a river, others claim he returned them after payment. But what we do know for sure is that there is a street in Hamelin called Bungelosenstrasse. On this street - ‘the street without drums’ according to translation - the children were seen last. No music and no dancing is allowed on this road.

Bluebeard

We open on a typical Medieval scene: a powerful and wealthy man is looking for a young wife to replace the last one who mysteriously went missing. Bluebeard’s been through quite a few women, actually, but it’s his latest bae that stars in this story. Bluebeard marries his neighbour’s daughter and goes on a business trip.

He tells her he can stay alone in their house but she cannot open a certain door.

Of course, she opens the door and finds the corpses of his ex-wives. Her and her sisters band together to kill Bluebeard, showering themselves with a wealthy inheritance.

The real story:

This tragic tale of murder and mystery is unfortunately all too true.

There are many alleged origins of the folktale. Let’s start with the Medieval ruler of Brittany, Conomor the Cursed: his new wife agreed to marry him to prevent him from invading her father’s lands but accidentally walked in on a room full of his dead, old wives. She was visited by their ghosts who warn him if she falls pregnant, he will kill her, preventing a prophecy that claims he will be killed by his own son.

She gets knocked up, gives birth, and then she gets her block knocked off.

An alternative inspiration could be a similarly brutal figure: Gilles de Rais (15th century). He was accused of murdering approximately 140 children who suddenly went missing in the Nantes countryside. He was condemned to death and executed in 1440.

Snow White

It’s one of the most popular fairytales of all time.

The story goes that a queen gives birth to a baby girl but dies in childbirth. The king’s new wife is wicked and vain, asking her magic mirror ‘who is the fairest one of all?’ on a daily basis. When the child turns seven, the mirror changes its answer from the queen to the child, Snow White (yeah, that’s weird). The queen hires a huntsman to kill Snow White, but she begs for mercy and says she will live in the woods and he can pretend he killed her.

She finds shelter in a cottage belonging to seven dwarfs who agree to let her stay as a maid until the evil queen asks the mirror her favourite question. It claims Snow White is still alive and the fairest of them all. She goes through several methods of attempting to kill Snow until she falls into a deep coma. The dwarfs host a funeral, a prince comes along, and he, uhhh, kisses what he assumed to be a corpse and she is awakened.

They then get hitched but don’t invite the queen to the wedding. The queen asks the mirror yet again the identity of the fairest, assuming Snow is well and truly deceased but the mirror breaks the bad news to her again. The queen tries to kill her once more but Snow’s hubby forces her to wear red-hot iron slippers and dance in them until she dies.

There’s a lot going on here.

But rather than unpacking everything that's wrong with all of this *gestures to everything*, let’s just get to the dark reality beneath it all.

The real story:

The inspiration is generally deemed to be Margaretha von Walbeck, a young woman who had a terrible relationship with her stepmother. She was forced to move to Brussels and fell in love with Phillip II of Spain, a romance not popular with her parents.

Suddenly, however, Margaretha died. Rumour has it she was poisoned.

Another detail of her life also links her to Snow White: her father’s copper mines were often filled with child labourers whose growth was stunted by working in them, mirroring the ‘dwarves’ in the story.

But Margaretha is not the only contender: Maria Sophia Margaretha Catharina Freifräulein von Erthal *inhale* also hated her stepmother. This - and the fact that her stepmother was given a mirror as a gift by her husband - also ties her to Snow White.

Hansel And Gretel

It’s possibly the most simple fairy tale up for discussion: a brother and sister are sent out to the woods by their father. The mother asked for him to send them away so they can survive a famine. But Hansel uses stones to trace their steps back home. One day, however, he uses crumbs. They get eaten by the local wildlife, so the kids get lost.

They then discover a witch's house, a gingerbread cottage. She lures ‘em in, fattens up Hansel, and prepares to feast on his flesh. The kids plot against her, throw her in the oven, and steal her stuff before heading back to live with their father.

Okay, so maybe this one isn’t based on a true story. It’s based on true stories. Yep - plural.

The real story:

Child abandonment and infanticide was pretty common during plagues, famines, and all other circumstances of poverty. In fact, this particular tale is believed to come from the Great Famine which stretched across Europe from 1315 to 1317. Child abandonment surged during this time.

Rapunzel

Turns out Disney lopped off a lot of Rapunzel’s real story to make it a family friendly movie. Yep, this is a weird one.

A pregnant woman begins to crave a kind of salad leaf (Campanula rapunculus, also called rapunzel) in the garden of the house next door. He goes out to nick it but is caught by the homeowner - a witch. She says he can take the rapunzel, but in return he must give her the child once it is born.

The witch raises Rapunzel as her own but locks her away in a tower when she is 12 to protect her from the outside world.

A prince eventually rocks up and decides to climb her immensely long hair. Unknown, probably PG-13 and probably not consensual acts happen. Still, given it's the medieval era they agree to get hitched after escaping.

The witch discovers her plan, cuts off her hair, exiles Rapunzel, and uses the locks as bait for the prince before throwing him to the briar roses below where he is promptly blinded. Rapunzel gives birth to twins and the prince finds her, identifying her only by her voice. Her tears restore his voice.

The real story:

Being kidnapped or being kept hidden away from the rest of the world is pretty common, well, all of the time. But Saint Barabara, a Greek saint, was the main inspiration for the tale.

She was locked away in a tower in Turkey in the third century by her father in an attempt to protect her Christianity. But her Pagan father’s efforts did not succeed and she discovered the ways of Jesus. She escaped but she was eventually caught by her father who then tortured and beheaded her.

Religious intolerance, y’all.

Beauty And The Beast

Time for another Disney classic with a heavily edited plotline.

The father of a family seeks shelter in a grand palace during a storm. In the morning before he leaves he takes a rose from the garden but is caught by a beast who threatens to kill him for nicking a flower. But the beast agrees not to kill him if his daughter takes his place instead.

The daughter moves to the palace but asks to go see her family for a week. She is then convinced by her sisters to stay at home. A magic mirror then reveals the beast is dying because she isn’t with him. She returns to him and her love breaks the curse that makes him appear so monstrous.

The real story:

Petrus Gonsalvus (1637-1618) was born with hypertrichosis. This meant he had a thick layer of hair all over his body - his physical difference didn’t go down very well. He was kept as a ‘wild man’ in a cage and fed raw meat.

When he was 10 years old he was gifted to the king of france. But he wasn’t kept as a ‘beast’. He was educated like a nobleman and was taught to read, write, and speak three different languages. He was then married off to the daughter of a court servant.

He was married to her for over 40 years and they had seven children together.

(Aww.)

Three Blind Mice

Three blind mice, three blind mice, See how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the farmer’s wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?

The real story:

It's one of those nursery rhymes you grow up with - and 17 years later you realise how traumatic it actually is.

This nursery rhyme can be traced back to the reign of Bloody Mary (16th century) who had a tricky relationship with Protestants. And by that I mean she burnt them alive, hence the nickname.

The three blind mice represented three Protestant bishops who may have been blinded before their execution or spiritually blind for following Catholicism. Another reference to Queen Mary was her as a farmer’s wife.

Her husband, Philip of Spain, owned several estates and thus was technically a farmer.

Welp, there goes your childhood.

If you liked this post go on and like and reblog. Go on, share your love for my amazing talents with the world!

And if you want to read an article about the paranormal every weekend then you best be hitting follow!

See you next week, kiddos. Sleep tight.

[angelkurenai]

Imagine Sebastian organising an event to raise money for a good cause and wanting to ask you, a famous singer and his not-so-secret crush, to sing but being too afraid too. So his manager does so as a surprise for him.

“And are the guests' seats ready? Did you check the numbers once more? Maria told me some of them have brought more than two plus members with them while others barely one, is that going to cause some kind of confusion with the seats?”

Sebastian had to keep himself from running his fingers through his hair for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Not that could get that carried away with the warning looks his manager gave him, seriously how did the man even do that? Every single time, he seemed to appear out of thin air as if he was lurking around every single corner of the huge place just to make sure Sebastian was presentable and had everything under control. Not that part of him wasn't thankful for that too, he more than was. He couldn't look a mess, he was practically the host, organizing everything along with his team, and he had to look his absolute best despite how hard his nerves were making it for him to. It was as expected both exciting, exhilarating even, and nerve wracking to the fullest.

He was happy with how many people had showed up, the vast majority of them celebrities and people with wealth that could really help and a serious amount of money could be raised and a lot people would benefit from that, and of course terrified because of how much organizing the whole event still needed and he wanted everything to be perfect. Had it not been for his manager and friends he didn't know if he'd be able to pull it all off. Especially if they kept running into problems like the one at the moment.

“Everything has been sorted out, sir. It is nothing we had not anticipated, nothing to worry about.” the young woman didn't know the kind of relief her words brought to him but he'd forever be thankful “Tables and numbers set out and are right now being handed to the guests. Once they enter the main dining hall the waiters will escort them slowly but surely.”

“And the food? I have the feeling some arrived earlier, will that be an issue?”

“No, not at all. The first course is being prepared as we speak and by the point everyone's finished with their drinks and gets escorted to their table, it will be ready and in place.” she smiled, her words sounding more melodic than the actual music playing in the background “And we have plenty of time until that happens so if you'd like to, we could go one more time over the details of the auction later? Come in to check if you'd like?”

Sebastian's lips parted, ready to speak, but it wasn't even a few seconds before someone else beat him at it. Whether he was thankful for that or not he still had no idea.

“Only if he wants to be smacked right in the head with a- What's Scarlett's bag? Loui Vuitton? That.” it was no surprise when he turned to see Anthony alongside Chris, giving him a look which he tried to roll his eyes at but failed brushing off.

“Maybe Elizabeth's will do better? Looks heavier and with those stones, it'll hurt worse.” Chris suggested with a smirk, making Anthony nod his head.

“Why don't you try surviving trying to take their purses from them before planning on how to use them as a weapon against me hm?” it didn't mean that a funny banter wouldn't make things better.

“Hey, I ain't gonna need a purse to begin with. If I wanna kick you to get some sense into that brain of yours, I can get creative.” Anthony said casually but truth was that Sebastian could picture all the ways that could go wrong at the moment – because he didn't doubt for a second that he would do as threatened – and he really couldn't afford to.

“Rose, I'll come meet with you later. If you could go find Josh, I'll come find you guys later.” he said to the young woman, who was thankfully fast to nod and get back to work, allowing him to dedicate his full attention to his friends that he realized were not only the two men but were also joined by the two fore-mentioned ladies “I hope you understand I'm doing this only for the sake of my team's efforts and keeping you guys from starting another war in here.”

“Uh technically that would only be him.” Scarlett shrugged, pointing at Chris who rolled his eyes “And I don't think that it was the plan here. You haven't stopped even for five minutes, you know that?”

“I don't understand what you're trying to say, Scarlett.” he mumbled, quickly snatching a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and all in what seemed like a blink of an eye downed more than half of it.

“That.” Elizabeth spoke up “That is what she's trying to say. You've been practically running around non-stop. You need to catch a break, this, after all, is for a good cause and a chance to be around friends. Just relax and enjoy this! You're supposed to feel happy too, not just your guests.”

“She's got a point there. You look like you're on the verge of a beak-down. You haven't stopped to calm down even for five minutes man!” Anthony nearly exclaimed.

“That's nonsense. I have stopped for-” he paused, frowning in thought “I must have-”

“No, no you haven't.” Chris said matter-of-factly “Stop trying to remember a moment, cause there was none. Now however you have it. Cause it's either that or a food war right after the auction is done.”

“Oh speaking of the auction, you organized that too?” Chris asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“All of it, yes. Thankfully that was the easiest part, many of the guests tonight were glad to donate precious pieces they had.”

“You mean you're not one of the pieces too?” Anthony looked at him with all the shock he could muster “Damn, then you're not gonna earn lots of money pal, I'm sorry. Might do something but not much. No, no I'm serious- Imagine what would happen if you actually put yourself up for auction. A night with Sebastian Stan! No, even better, a night in Sebastian Stan's bed. Who wouldn't wanna put money on that?”

Everyone laughed “Sorry to disappoint. I hope they'll earn enough money from the rest. It goes without saying that I'm waiting for you guys to do the same too.” Sebastian gave his friends a look.

“See? Always using me! Whether it be for my money or my body, this man gives no care about what I feel.” Chris said almost a little too seriously, taking a big of his drink and easily making the rest of his friends burst into laughter.

“And that is the first easy smile we see tonight. See what we mean?” Scarlett said with a more soft and even sad smile that Sebastian couldn't help but nod his head at.

“I know an I really appreciate you guys being here for that. It's just until this get a bit more settled that I will be able to fully relax.” he sighed “Besides that, though, how are you guys enjoying the night?”

“I'm not one to easily admit this, but damn you Stan, you've done an incredible job! I'm definitely taking some of this later home, I'm warning you.” Anthony tapped his glass with his drink, making his friend chuckle and nod his head.

“Don't worry, I've got you. I've already made sure to keep a bottle or two for you.”

“No, really, everything's amazing. And we're barely halfway through. I mean-” the smile grew on Chris' lips in a way that Sebastian didn't want to know the meaning behind “Besides the drinks or the décor or everything else, the music is incredible too! You've got some big names singing tonight I see?”

“Yeah uh-” he cleared his throat, playing with his glass for a couple seconds too long “I had a hand in that. Though I mostly just contacted the first singers that came to my mind.”

“Really?” Chris raised an eyebrow, sharing a look with Anthony who was trying to hide his smile behind his drink “Because we haven't see (Y/n) tonight. I mean, I expected it would expect her to be singing the opening songs, and the ones in the middle and the ones in the end. And really this would most likely turn into a small concert.”

“Why would you say-” Sebastian started in a small, low voice, with a frown.

It make Chris scoff and smirk though “Why? Because your playlist consists of only her songs, that's why. I'm surprised you even remembered the names of the singers here tonight enough to call them. To you there is no greatest singer than her!”

“I swear, I came prepared for him to be a mess of nerves because of her but she's not even around!”

“Honestly it would only be hours upon hours upon hours of her on that stage and us listening to her because he'd be too carried away to remember to get her to stop or move on with the event.” Scarlett said with a smirk of her own.

“That is, you mean, if he ever remembered that there are guests in the room. I bet you, he'd just listen to her music and look at her like a lovesick puppy!” Anthony added, making everyone but Sebastian laugh.

“Oh please, he'd forget his own name! There is no way he'd remember why we're here, that's totally irrelevant. No surprise she's not here, would he even know how to speak if he had to ask her?” Elizabeth grinned and the rest laughed once more except Sebastian who pursed his lips.

He could utter a full sentence if he wanted to, thank you very much. After a lot of practice, sure, and he'd definitely need like an hour or so to prepare himself before he called you but he knew he'd be able to do it. Even if he had tried doing so and always backed from the phone every single time. It was better if they didn't know that.

“Forget his name? Maybe forget how to breathe better yet! We'd have to call a freaking ambulance here. He'd never have been this close to her, isn't it?”

“Oh but there was that red carpet, she was standing at the other end and I swear to you when they made eye-contact he almost faint-”

“Hey!” Sebastian exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly but the music was still pleasantly loud enough to cover up for him “Enough, alright? Enough. You've had your fun, even if I don't understand where all this is coming from. I- I don't- That is not how things happened. For one.” he cleared his throat even though a bit awkwardly “And for another, it just... didn't come up. There were other great artists who wanted to be part of this that I thought it would be good to give them a chance. Some of them are new in the business too, it would do good. And besides, you complain that I- I talk too much about her and listen only to her music, that I make you listen to it- Even though you have to admit you like it too. So I thought that maybe I'd do you guys a favor. That's all.” he shrugged and it was so believable that he'd easily say this was the best acting he'd done in his entire life. He looked so unbothered about it that he could definitely congratulate himself for it if it came to that. But his friends didn't have to know that.

Just like they didn't need to know that he'd been trying to gather up the courage to speak to you but he always got too nervous to go further with his plans. They knew very well about his crush on your, much as he denied it more often than he could count, there was no need to make things worse.

A moment of silence followed after his small rant and he didn't know if he was thankful or not, not when his friends kept sharing looks with one another until Anthony spoke up “I call b-fucking-s. Man, are you trying to convince yourself or what? Cause there is no changing our opinions, that's for sure.”

And yet, just as he was about to reply he didn't get the opportunity to, it seemed like the universe did not want him to win this argument. Probably never in his life.

“Sshh” Scarlett looked at something behind his back “I get the feeling he'll want to hear this next song out.”

Even the smallest “What?” he managed to mutter seemed to have been swallowed by the loud applauding and the fact that his entire world swirled when Scarlett made him turn before it all came to an absolute horrifying yet the most beautiful halt.

“This is a man's world.

This is a man's world.

But it would be nothing, nothing.

Without w woman or a girl.”

“Oh hey, look, it's not-the-love-of-your-life.” Anthony teased, chuckling. But it felt merely like an echo in his ears, very far away from him, as he felt more and more pulled into your mere presence. Your singing easily able to help create a world only for him at the moment.

“He's not replying, is he ok?” Chris asked after a good few second because they had indeed already passed and he had not even realized it.

You were there. You were trully there, looking like something straight out of his dreams. But he wasn't dreaming, it was all real. You were standing on the small stage and singing and goodness you looked stunning but it took his breath away even more when he realized you looked at him and your smile got even bigger. Was he smiling too? He didn't know, he couldn't think and he most certainly didn't care. You were there and while he was struggling to breathe, though that could be the bow-tie's fault too, it felt like the most beautiful feeling in the world to feel his heart beating in that way.

The rest of the world vanished and for all his nerves, for all his fears, it felt so much worth it. Even more than that. Holding your gaze, for real, for long enough, felt good and it felt right.

.

..

...

“Uh is he alright? Is he- Is he gonna pass out or something? Seems like his legs are not holding him well, I think.” Chris asked with a frown.

“Oh he better not. That suit is worth over a good thousand dollars, he is the host and he has things to see to.” Sebastian's manager said sternly “I invited her over because I was sick and tired of him staring at his phone with her number like a kicked puppy wanting its owner back. But that doesn't mean he's gonna mess things up now. Later, once it's all over, he can fanboy all he wants. Or ask her to marry him. Whichever.”

“Somehow-” Anthony snickered “I think we should all better start looking for wedding gifts people.”

[ladyideal]

Ficmas~ Day 22

Pairing: John Kennex x Detective!Reader

Word Count: 1365

Warnings: Uh. Mild jealousy.

Summary: You and John go to a party hosted by the Captain.

Requested By: @writerdee1701

A/n: wow 22nd already. December really flies by fast.

"So how was Angry 101?" You asked, greeting John as he stepped out of  his group therapy session. 

"I feel good, better. All thanks to you," The detective planted an affectionate kiss on your cheek. 

You grinned, avoiding Dorian's curious glance. "Come on. We've only got half an hour to change, and get our ass over to the Captain's party."

"Thirty seven minutes and forty two seconds," Your MX piped up. 

"Thanks Sofia, but you might want to shut it. John here is known for blowing up MXs," You shook your head, trying not to laugh. "Your suit's in the back. We can change at my place."

"You've thought of everything."

John was like that. After losing his girlfriend and betrayed, you understood he was a lot more careful with romantic relationships. So it was quite a surprise when he came up to you with a gift: 

His phone number and a piece of bubblegum.

No one said that in the precinct that co workers couldn't date one another. Clearly, the Captain didn't mind either. Secretly, you wondered if she too was rooting for you and Kennex. But he took it slow at first like you wanted. 

"So how do I look?" You finished the last of your makeup and hair. 

"Beautiful," John adjusted his tie one more time before putting on his blazer. "You sure this isn't a casual event?"

"Yes, I'm sure," You nodded. "I don't think the captain would appreciate us going there with jeans and a t-shirt."

"Correct," Dorian emerged, looking the same as he's always been. "We should get going, John."

"Don't forget the wine!"

"Can I take a sip from it before we leave?"

"Don't you dare, John."

The car ride was mostly silent. It had been a great eight months together, and you honestly hoped that he would be the one. Yet despite all the honesty and transparency within the relationship, something was being held back. Understandably so, John was very reluctant in talking about the day when his team went down, and he himself rounded up in a seventeen month coma.

You wanted to help him as much as you could, as a partner and now significant other would. However, you trusted him. There must be something deeper connected to the attacks that he was keeping you in the dark. 

To protect you? Probably. 

Children sleeping

Snow is softly falling

Dreams are calling

Likes bells in the distance

We were dreamers

Not so long ago

But one by one

We all had to grow up

"Have you always wanted to join the force as a kid?" You asked, shutting the car door behind you and bundling your scarf tighter around your neck. 

"Fight the bad guys," John nodded, stepping in front of the front door. 

Knock knock. 

"Detectives! So glad you could make it. Come in, come in. It's freezing out there," An unfamiliar man opened the door. 

With a round of thanks, you and the group trudged in, making sure to keep the snow out and not into the house. Once within, you rubbed your hands together, taking in the grandeur of the entryway and the chatters from within. 

"Detectives, Dorian, Sofia, hope the drive wasn't too bad," A rather proud looking Captain Maldonado appeared by her husband. 

"Happy holiday, Captain. Thank you for inviting us," You greeted as your boyfriend handed over the bottle of red wine. 

"Oh! A present, you shouldn't have," Her husband turned it over in his hands. "Look at this, sweetie, pinot noir. Perfect with finger food and snacks."

"Please make yourselves at home," Maldonado smiled, thanking you for the gift and leaving to greet the next set of guests that walked in from behind. 

"Wow, look at that. At least half of the precinct is here," You mumbled. 

People and their MXs milled about, most with a glass of alcohol in hand. With a glance, you recognized some. The Christmas tree stood in the distant corner, quietly flickering through its light sequence. The dining table was filled with snacks of all sorts from crackers to fruit. Furthermore, you swore you could smell hot chocolate, eggnog, and an assortment of other festivity drinks. 

"Want something to drink?" John darkly spoke, frowning when he saw Richard among the crowd.

"Yeah. A hard apple cider if they have some. If not, hot chocolate works too," You mumbled, greeting some of those that waved at you.

"Oh Y/L/N, I didn't know you got invited too. Come here by yourself?" Richard swaggered up to you.

Taking a step back, you shook your head. "Not quite. John came with me."

"Kennex?" He laughed. "Did you not hear? His whole team got killed, while he survived.  Don't you think something fishy happened there? You could do so much better. What do you say we go, fish some fish?"

"No thanks. I'm here with my boyfriend. Enjoy the party, Paul," You roughly brushed past him, ignoring his surprised squawk. "And maybe grow a pair, jerk."

He was interested in you, way before John did. Despite his good standing as an officer, his personality was nowhere near as nice. When John returned to the force, his jealousy inflated his ego. You didn't quite like him. He was just a dick.

"Paul giving you troubles?" Your boyfriend reemerged by your side, handing over your mug of cider and eyeing the other detective.

"No more than usual. He's been crabby ever since you started taking interest in me. Didn't help that Stahl started giving me the stink eye every time I mention you in anything." You snorted, taking a long draught.

"And speak of the devil, here she comes," He indicated at the detective approaching. 

"Detective Kennex," She smiled, then falling slightly at you. "Detective Y/L/N. Good to see you two here. How's the eggnog?"

"Bland, rum could be stronger," John answered.

Before the blonde could answer, the White Elephant gift exchange was starting. Politely excusing you and himself, John practically dragged you away from her after watching you give her death daggers.

"Jealous much?"

"Hmph. Being a Chrome, genetically modified won't give her all the upper hand," You grumbled, placing your presents into the center and drawing two numbers. 

Fourth and ninth.

"Let's see what's in store this year." 

As more people gathered around, Maldonado cleared her throat. "White Elephant rules are still the same. 3 steals, and the present is out. Understood?"

All heads nodded. 

"If you may start, Jenks."

You watched with a smug grin as the first person chose yours, before being stolen by the second, and then stolen again by John who went fourth. Good thing you bought the present while on a grocery run, or he would've known what it was. When it was your turn, you gave everyone a death glare, clinging onto your present, daring anyone to challenge you.

Wisely, no one did.

"Not giving it up?" He teased as you teared it open, revealing an advent calendar full of chocolates. 

"Fuck no."

He laughed. "Save some for me alright?"

"No promises."

As the party dwindled and people left, you and John thank the Captain once more before heading home. "That was fun."

"Sure was."

As you got out of the car, you realized that you forgot to grab John's gift on the way out. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you grab your advent on the way out? I can't find-. Oh here it is," You fished out the gift and frowned at the lack of chocolates within. "Who ate all the advent calendar chocolates?"

In the silence, you turned to him, jaw dropping at the sight in front. 

"What chocolate?" The detective quickly swiped away the last remnant of chocolate on the edges of his mouth. "I didn't see any chocolate."

You rose an eyebrow, and grinned. "So you, Detective Kennex, is saying that despite the incriminating evidence on your hand and face, that you've not seen nor tasted any chocolate."

"Yes, Detective Y/L/N. That is correct."

"And that you are knowingly lying to an officer of the law."

"Sounds right," And before you could retort a smart ass reply, pulled you in for a kiss. "Happy Holidays."

Believe in what you feel inside

And give your dreams the wings to fly

You have everything you need

If you just believe

Eats Everything: @asraime @aspiring-ginger @bluesclues-1234 @mournthewicked @ladylizzieofdarbyshire @lykxzandlove @also-fangirlinsweden @keijibum @groovyfluxie @mysoulshideaway @fandom-imagination-ss @mayday1284 @supergeekfangirl @sayanythingcreations​ @your-sparklywinnercollection​

Urban: @yueci @fandomsfeelsandfamily @justa-traaash

[s-and-n-writes]

stolen smiles and little black lies

crimson and bluebell: part one 

summary: 

Marinette Rossi is tired of everything: from Lila's constant berating and Madame Rossi's preferential care of her 'angel-like' daughter, to how everyone at school (even Alya) seems to believe her evil stepsister over her.

It's like she's Cinderella, except without the fairy godmother and the happy ending. She doesn't even have a prince.

Or so she thinks.

Between the appearance of a new boy who seems to have captured her heart, and a gala run by her fashion idol Gabriel Agreste, Marinette hopes for an escape the constant ignorance, workload, and bullying she endures, and get a blissful life of her own.

With the help of one tiny god and a meow-velous partner, she might finally get a chance, but not everything is that simple.

They say ladybugs are lucky, so will being the elusive Ladybug bring Marinette the luck she oh-so-desperately needs?

quick links: 

| next chapter >

| miraculous masterlist | series masterlist | 

a/n: first chapter’s up! i hope you guys like it! if you wanna be part of the taglist for this, shoot me a message! :) 

It’s dawn when Marinette’s alarm rings.

The sun peaks through the attic window, frail rays treacherously passing through the glass as Marinette hits snooze for the third time.

She’s late, as usual, but that’s no surprise. 

By the time the sky swells with pink, and the silver stars littering the morning sky fade, Marinette’s alarm has gone off a fourth time, the shrill ringing and flashing salmon-red of the numbers cutting through the silence of the morning, as the girl in question finally wakes.

The pink sky changes into the warm undertones of peach and the rising sun peaks further out from the mountains when Marinette is ready. She ties back her midnight-blue locks of hair into twin tails on either side of her head with the two once-red bands she’d once found discarded in front of Lie-La Lila’s room. 

Lost, forgotten, discarded.

The words seem to sum her up perfectly. 

She heads down to the kitchen just as the peach sky cools into blue, the sun rising overhead to begin the new day, and she smiles as she gazes for a minute down the hallway window to the cobblestone streets below. 

The grin on her face quickly shifts into a frown once she heads into the kitchen.

Fortunately, preparation for breakfast finishes up quicker than usual, and the lovely smell of fresh-baked croissants waft through the house. Marinette takes this time to glance at her phone, a well treasured gift after months of working at the bakery. The phone is in no way one of the best, and certainly can’t compare to Chloe’s, but Marinette is happy with it, so the cracked screen and the faded case are overlooked.

It must be the croissants that make Madame Rossi to come downstairs, dark bags fresh under her eyes. Marinette feels sorry for her, knowing her long days and longer nights at the embassy, so she merely smiles as Madame Rossi sits into one of the dining room chairs, slumping gracefully on the cool-white tabletop. 

The embassy job pays well, though, and the house they are in proves that.

“Morning Madame,” Marinette says, pushing towards Madame Rossi a croissant laid delicately onto the new white plates. 

Lila’s mother is certainly her favorite Rossi, since Lila has some...tendencies that Marinette doesn’t like. Especially when they’re being used towards her, as they often are.

But even if Madame Rossi was the most tolerable of the Rossi family, Marinette knows that she has flaws. 

Madame tilts her head as she glances at the croissant, and then at Marinette, accepting the plate with a tired smile. 

“Good morning Marinette,” she says, nibbling gently on the croissant. “Have you seen Lila yet?”

Marinette bites her lip in frustration at the woman’s blatant love of her daughter. If Madame Rossi had truly wanted to see it, she would’ve found the holes in Lila’s fake personality years ago. 

 “N-no Madame,” she stutters. The topic of Lila always seems to make Marinette nervous, since the girl in question could be listening from anywhere. 

And since Marinette has had many an experience with calling Lila out, usually ending with purple-ish bruises covering inches of her skin, she does not want to make the same mistake again.

But it’s then that Lila appears in the living room, fake smile on par with the rest of her demeanor and carrying a small brown bag. Marinette notices how Madame Rossi immediately brightens: her skin glows, her eyes happily crinkle at the edges, and a smile replaces her forlorn frown.

It’s almost enough to make Marinette jealous. Lila has someone to lean on, someone who loves her, when she has no one. 

Marinette’s not blind. She’s seen how Madame Rossi looks when Lila comes into the room, versus her. She knows she’s adopted (as if the hair didn’t give it all away). It’s an unspoken truth in the family, and even if Marinette doesn’t know who her birth parents are, she supposes she’s ok with her family right now. 

Or at least, she hopes she is. 

Because she has no one else. 

Madame Rossi feeds her and clothes her, yes, but deep down Marinette knows she’s a burden; one that has to prove her worth to stay. It doesn’t matter that she works harder, or has a better personality, because Lila will always be painted as an angel in Madame Rossi’s eyes, and Marinette as the weight that the Rossi family shoulders.

Lila, however, is the variable that creates chaos for Marinette, as she spins and weaves lies like an intricate blanket to her advantage. Marinette is a pawn on her chess board, barely surviving as Lila throws obstacle after obstacle at her. After all, Marinette can still count the times Lila has been nice to her on one hand, even if the hand has no fingers.

“Good morning, Mother!” Lila greets, her perfect smile stretching across her face.

But Marinette had been there long enough. She always saw the flaws: the slight twitch in Lila’s eye, the scowl before the smirk, the smirk before the smile.

“Good morning Lila, dear, how are you? Did you get a good night’s rest?” Madame Rossi questions, the concern and genuine love clearly visible in her eyes. 

Marinette refrains from biting her already-bruised lip yet again, and walks towards the kitchen for a well-needed breath of fresh air. 

“I slept well, Mother,” Lila replies from the dining room, voice visibly louder to let Marinette hear, “Well, as well as I could, since Marinette’s snores drifted from the attic,”

“Oh dear,” Madame Rossi responds, turning around briefly to glance at Marinette with a look of despondency.

“I just get so tired when I don’t get my beauty rest. And God knows I need it, what with the insomnia the doctor diagnosed. I already look horrible!” Lila groans, adding in a perfectly timed yawn at the center of her sentence.

Ah yes. Marinette can perfectly remember the fake doctor’s visit, the fake doctor herself, and the fake insomnia Lila created.

“Lila, don’t say that about yourself. You are the most beautiful girl, and the best daughter. Insomnia is merely a setback that you can get over, just like anything else” Madame Rossi fondly says, “and as for your tiredness, perhaps you can take a nap after school today. Marinette can do your chores,”

Once again, Madame Rossi has perfectly catered to Lila’s needs, unknowingly belittling Marinette. After all, Lila is the real master around the Rossi household, dragging all others around like puppets on strings.

“Marinette, are you okay with that?” Lila questions, her eyes full of concern. If Marinette was new around the house, she might’ve allowed herself to believe her. But Marinette is not new; she’s been here for years, and she knows Lila too well. Her slightly narrowed hershey brown eyes and almost-sympathetic furrowed brows scream ‘do it or else!’, an obvious indicator that she has to agree.

Otherwise, things won’t end well...

“Yes, that is perfectly fine Lila, um, please go upstairs and rest,” Marinette says, adding on an ‘after breakfast of course’ after Lila subtly glares at her (likely thinking it’s a ploy to shoo her away). 

Lila smiles, and takes a seat at the large dinner table, crossing her legs and placing her hands over her lap. 

“Wonderful! Thank you Mother!” she smiles. “Now Marinette, where is my croissant?”

“Ah, uh, right here,” Marinette says, avoiding eye contact as she passes the croissant to Lila. Lila smirks in reply, and glances at her mother.

“So…” Lila pauses, considering how to proceed with small-talk, “how’s the er-the embassy?” 

“Doing well!” Madame Rossi smiles. “I actually have an event next week that I’d love for you girls to come to!” 

“Mom, I’m not quite sure I’m free…” Lila frowns. “But go ahead, tell me what it is,”

Marinette steps into the kitchen, listening intently as she brews a pot of coffee. The hot liquid nearly burns the pads of her fingers as she pours it into three cups, but it’s nothing she hasn’t felt before.

“Ah, well, there’s a gala that Gabriel Agreste is hosting,” Madame Rossi explains, taking a bite of her croissant.

“Gabriel Agreste, right?” Lila smirks, eyes training on Marinette, “I assume this is for, perhaps, new fashion designers? Maybe he wants to, um, I don’t know, scope out an intern?” 

The bluenette on the other side of the room twitches as she rubs her hands together, barely containing her excitement.

“Yes!” Madame Rossi grins, “You’re so smart Lila. Maybe we should move you up a grade-”

“Er-um, when would this be, um Madame?” Marinette cuts in. 

Madame Rossi raises an eyebrow. “Hold on Marinette. I’m not quite done explaining yet. No need to get so impatient,” 

“Yea,” Lila shrills evilly, glancing between her mother and her so-called sister as she quickly formulates a plan, “Hold on, Marinette. She’s just getting started,” 

There’s a double meaning behind Lila’s words, like the sharp edge of a sword being pressed against Marinette’s neck, quickly drawing out blood the color of cherry-red roses. It’s a warning, that Lila is the one just getting started, not Madame Rossi. 

Marinette chooses to shrink back, and stay silent in the moment, fear of Lila winning over her genuine excitement. 

Like always.

She’s used to it though. It’s ok.

Madame Rossi ignores Marinette’s suddenly startled breathing, and continues with her explanation. 

“The embassy has to get involved because this could make headlines, since Monsieur Agreste invited many of the world’s most famous fashion designers. If France gains tourists because of this, it could boost our economy,” Madame Rossi says as Marinette brings a pot of coffee to her. 

“That’s so exciting Mom!” Lila (fake) smiles. 

“I’m glad you think so!” Madame Rossi replies, “We have to host a two day program welcoming all of these people to Paris. Monsieur Agreste himself will be there! There’s, um, there’s a welcoming ceremony, then a formal dinner, and finally, oh uh, finally… actually I’ll get back to you on the last thing,”

“No prob!” Lila smiles. Marinette rolls her eyes in retaliation before Lila can see. 

“Anyways, I wanted to invite you girls! So many people are bringing their children. The head of the embassy’s bringing her daughter, my boss and her daughter and her son are coming, not to mention Monsieur Agreste’s son, and I thought-” 

“Hold on,” Lila interrupts. “Adrien Agreste will be there? THE ADRIEN AGRESTE?!”

“Yes, he will be,” Madame Rossi laughs, “Eager, are you?” 

“Er-no, he, well, he’s just, uh, really popular you know? It could really boost my career, in um, fashion designing,” Lila covers, smoothly altering her voice to sound desperate and longing.

“You want to be a fashion designer?” Madame Rossi smiles, genuine tears in her eyes. She wipes them away with the back of her hand and sighs, “You’ve never told me, darling!” 

“Never came up!” Lila laughs uneasily, paling as she clenches her fists to veil the irritation hidden inside her. 

Marinette’s lip has turned pale, a gash running through the side that she continues to bite. It’s a reserve for all her anger, mainly at Lila. She’d have to steal some of Alya’s preppy-red lipstick when she gets to school, to cover up the bruise.

“Lila, um, you don’t mind me asking, but who is Adrien Agreste?” Marinette cuts in, failing to follow the conversation. 

Lila doesn’t have to reply, since her mocking grin answers for her, and so does Madame Rossi. 

“Didn’t you want to be a designer, like Lila?” she asks, frowning disapprovingly. 

“I-uh, yes,” Marinette stumbles, picking at the edge of her shirt. It’s a new one that she just made over the weekend, one she can’t wait to show to Alya, but by how often she picks at the seams, the dress will dissolve into thin lines of string before school even starts. She walks over to the dining table and sits down across from Madame Rossi.

“Then you should know,” Madame Rossi says, pointing her nose upwards with a raised eyebrow. It’s often like this: the morning starts out with a kinder Madame Rossi, and as the day goes on, she continues to pile disapproving stares and hidden anger on her lesser daughter: Marinette. 

“Anyway, the whole program is next weekend, and I’d love for you both to come!” Madame Rossi says, clasping her anticipatingly. 

“Of course Mom. I’ll definitely support you. It’s a shame that Marinette can’t come though,” Lila pouts. 

Marinette’s fists both clench, her eyes widening at the prospect to miss a meeting with the famous fashion designer himself, “I-uh-” 

“Marinette, is this true?” Madame Rossi asks, raising a slight eyebrow, “Why?” 

“Some sort of field trip for art club, I think,” Lila cuts in, smiling sweetly at Marinette, “Right Marinette?” 

Lila throws a pointed look at the girl, eyes calculatingly tracing across her face. It was another warning, far more powerful than the last, a signal that if Marinette doesn’t follow, there will be consequences. 

But Marinette is tired; tired of the constant warnings, tired of the beratings, tired of the girl she doesn’t want to call her sister, tired of the woman who keeps favorites, tired of… well, everything. 

“Sorry, n-no,” Marinette stutters quietly.

“What?” Lila smiles, turning to raise an eyebrow at Marinette. Lila’s aura of masked evil radiates against her, pushing, pulling, threatening, hurti-

“I’m saying no,” Marinette , hidden confidence rising to the surface like shiny, opaque bubbles. “I don’t have an art club field trip. I’m free,”

If Lila snarls, Madame Rossi doesn’t notice, instead choosing to take a sip of her coffee and dusting her hands gently on her royal-blue blouse. 

“Great!” she smiles, “I’ll tell them that both of you are coming,” 

Unusual silence falls onto the dining room, broken only by Madame Rossi’s quiet humming. It’s atypical in only the fact that Lila never spares a moment by not talking to her mother; she often decides to leave or escape in a different way. 

The tension is thick, and every moment Madame Rossi looks away is another one that Lila uses to visually throw daggers at Marinette.

But Madame Rossi leaves before she recognizes the obvious shift of the room, pushing dishes in the sink and heading out the door with only a feeble au revoir! 

“Au revoir, Mother!” Lila calls back, smoke nearly coming out of her ears as she desperately tried to keep the anger out of her voice. 

Marinette’s confidence dissipates quickly as she regains her shyness and vulnerability. It’s a shame because it’s at that moment that Lila attacks.

“Listen, you filthy scum of a sister,” Lila sneers, clenching her fists. Marinette struggles to not shiver, to not show the telltale signs of fear.

It seems, however, that Lila already knows. 

“If it weren’t for my amazing ability to somehow tolerate you, not to mention my mother’s strange liking of you, you’d be gone, do you understand?” Lila hurls at Marinette. Marinette, despite her will to not break, flinches.

Lila smiles cruelly. “That’s better, Mari-brat,” 

She studies Marinette’s features. “Alright, fine. You can come to the whole embassy fiasco,”

With carefully timed smirk overtaking her features, Lila leans in close, inches away from Marinette. “But stay away from Adrien. He’s mine,” 

Lila backs away from the table, slamming her chair into it and cracking the edges of glass. Lila’s glass mug full of coffee lands on the floor, quickly  shattering into a million different pieces as the contents inside stain the carpet a less-than-beautiful shade of walnut brown. 

Marinette gasps, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth afterwards, and observing the damage.

“But don’t think I’ve gone soft,” Lila grins, “I guess you’ll be the one that tells Mother about how you tragically destroyed her glass table, and her carpet!”

Marinette knows that Madame Rossi will be furious. Even if the table isn’t as tragically destroyed as Lila had said, the coffee spill is sure to anger her. 

If she’s really mad, she might ground Marinette into staying at home the days that they went to the embassy, and while Lila frolicked with her idols, Marinette would be at home. 

But that’s not the highlight of it all. Marinette had almost thought that Lila was finally changing for the better. 

Almost. 

“Well, I’m off to school!” Lila says, continuing to smirk. “Have fun cleaning up the mess you made!” 

She leaves with a final look at Marinette, slamming the door behind her.

Based on the gleam in Lila’s eye, Marinette’s due for some black and blue sometime soon. 

quick links: | next chapter >

a/n: next chapter should come soon! if you liked it, perhaps like this post, or reblog, or comment :) enjoy your day! 

taglist: 

i’ll be tagging the people that i had tagged before, along with a couple others who liked the masterlist for this series. if you don’t want to get tagged, i’m very sorry! just shoot me a private message, and i’ll take you off the tags. if you do want to get tagged, just tell me with a private message or an ask and i’ll add you to the taglist. thank you! 

@reddragonofemeraldflame  @nomiegnome  @18markers @katbab @emmathedestroyer @bluesesameseed @cyborgcandy @karukofox21 @magnificentcrapposts​ @miraculouslylee​

[thirsthourdemon]

What does happiness look like?

Includes: Kuroo

Genre: Angst, a tad of fluff

Warnings: cheating?

A/N: Mwuah Happy? What happy?

Cold and trembling, he was submerged into the freezing water up to his collar bones. Head resting on the dull coloured wall tiles of his bathroom, kuroo stared aimlessly at the edge of his tub. Chapped lips and a bored gaze on his pale face that night. Why cant we just be happy? To be obliviously happy. What did happiness even look like anymore? Was he even worthy of happiness?

These questions constantly seep their way into his head and like the overthinker he was, he’d spend hours remaining in the cold water pondering on when he was every going to see the light again. Bathing for decency. As he stood up from his position, he sneaked a peek at the autumn sky in the small compact window on top of his bathroom. Though his body was telling him to quickly cover himself, he simply took his time wearing clothes, still dazed. The moaning and groaning of his stomach, though not new, did not fell into deaf ears as he had thought to walked over to the local ramen shop to get something to eat. It wasn’t foreign for him to feel that as he had been doing that for a while. Eating just to survive. He pockets his keys and looks over at the jersey he was supposedly proud of. Framed with a picture of his previous volleyball team beside it. The smile he has on his face with the sweat dripping down his brow. Staying alive just for the sake of being alive.

What face will he make when he sees what happiness looks like again? The clicking of the door echoed telling him that he could go already. Once again taking his time, he admired the view of the night all the while not noticing the fumbling bike about to crash at him. In a swift moment he had barely moved aside as the bike had coming crashing into the pile of garbage cans. The loud crash scaring the kittens that have been concealing themselves using the bins and bags. “Im fi-hay-ne” she slurs through her loud announcement of her state while trying to pick herself up from the rubble.

“I wasn’t asking-“ “Well that’s mean! Didn’t your mother teach you to help those who needed it?” She banters while patting herself to rid of the dirt, though that did nothing to the stench that she now had on her. “You dont seem like you need help though...” his voice was in between a low growl and mumble. “Ha?! Look at this boy! Not even helping a lady! Who raised you?” She starts grumbling, picking up her bike and trying to get back on, ultimately failing. The night was so dark that only the light post was illuminating the way, looking at the ill mannered girl, he had finally gotten a good look of her face.

Scrunched up nose with stars for eyes, clearly scratched and a bit of filth layed on her soft cheeks. Her brows furrowed to the center and sweat glistening on her forehead. Cutting through his admiring thoughts” Then let me help you. My apartment is near by” he utters, seemingly regretting this but accepting the situation when she turns to him with a toothy grin and runs close him.

She smelled of garbage and oil, amusing him though she starts rambling about her day.

Wow she actually thinks I care...Hmmm...when will she even stop talking? At least she’s not awkward, I guess? What is she even talking about? “-So there I was right? He was trying to talk me into letting him eat me while I was on my period. Calling me his little ketchup packet-“ “HAHAHAHAHAHA WHAT?!” A hyena like laughter emits from his lips. When was the last time he even laughed like this? His grabbed onto his sides and cackled the night away. The night, the moment he looked at her...

His eyes relaxed and a small smile to his dry lips, that was the face he had when he had finally seen what happiness looked like again.

The face he had made everyday since then.

“Tetsu! Look at the kitten mugs! We should get some! It looks great!” “Y/N, we dont need-“ “LOOK! They even have nekoma themed mugs! And fukurodani ones! These are great! Did you know I actually went to fukurodani?” Her blabber was a tune that was constantly stuck to his head now. Watching her bring the mugs to the counter, he quickly hands his card to the register without her protest...well up until “I could have handled that yknow?” Another one of her famous complaints. Who knew happiness was a small woman in an old jacket and was as aggressive as a chihuahua?

“Fine, then you can buy the tea, kitten?” The raven offered as she feels her cheeks grow warm at the nickname. “Of course Im paying for tea, idiot!” Hurriedly grabbing her shopping bag and walking to the entrance that kuroo had opened for her. Walking side by side while munching on the weird convenience store they had both decided on.

“I like these! We should buy more next time, no?” Gasping at the delicious snack.

“Make yourself at home...” “Will do, sir~” she enters his apartment so casually and places the mugs down. Plopping down on her, self-proclaimed, spot while the rooster haired male had set up his kitchen for some tea she sets up the show they were going to watch. Spotting some packets of convenience store food, the smaller girl stared at them and started arising from her seat.

Kuroo felt small arms wrap around his waist and a cheek to his back. “Tetsu...” “Yes, kitten?” Replying with a teasing voice however regretting it as soon the male realizes what was happening. “I told you not to eat convenience store food anymore!” She scolds. Sigh It was a sight to behold. A 6ft tall man saying sorry to a smaller female, who was not even his lover, scolding him of not taking better care of himself. Though after all has been said and done she brings him to a cuddle on the couch. “Im just scolding you because I lov- ehem I..aughh I mean be-cause... you aren’t taking care of yourself again...you idiot” The last part sounding almost like a whisper. He was safe, content and most of all happy.

Recalling the questions he once had in his head.

Who knew happiness looked like her? An aggressive small girl who was way too confident.

A certain warm light to her eyes. Brow always dripping with sweat. She was fierce and weirdly competitive in things that don’t really matter.

‘Who could eat the most mochi?’ ‘Who could finish their tea first?’ Most of which the former captain would entertain. Happiness looked like her whenever she would run after the birds at the park and giggle at their “Cowardice” to face her.

Happiness sounded like her odd stories and her voice shouting at the store owner to haggle with her. She was happiness. She was his happiness.

He knew in himself that he liked her of course. Through his ups and downs they were together. The convincing him to go to classes. Y/N constantly riding up to his apartment just so she made sure he would actually go. Her constant “Good morning”...the...

“Tetsu, come on. It’s a great day to go to do something after classes!”

“OI! WHAT ARE YOU EATING?! You think rice is cheap? Ha?! Eat the food I made! No more instant noodles!”

“It’s okay. Let it all out. Im here. Your feelings are valid, okay?”

“Hey tetsu, I bought some Grilled Salted Mackerel pike!”

Until it became...

“Kitten! Let’s go to the beach!”

“Hey! Eat your food! It’ll get cold yknow?”

“Chibi-chan! You can’t even catch up!”

“Do you need help with that one? Here you do it like this...”

“Y/N, kenma said we’re meeting up at the cafe near the station. Wanna get ready at 10?”

“Hey shut the fuck up! She can wear whatever she wants. You’re just a pervert if you think you’re allowed to cat call her just for wearing clothes, ass hole”

Coming back to his younger, more passionate self. The happiest and the best version of himself, he thought that through this he was at least worthy and deserving of being loved by her.

However not everything is perfect. There were days where Y/N couldn’t even stop by. She was tired and she needed to rest for herself. Kuroo understand that but lately she was a bit too busy.

Was she busy? He wouldn’t have doubter her if...he hadnt..He saw her walking out of campus with a guy that day. More specifically the school’s counseling president.. She was so nice. Nice to everyone. Even to people like that. She was even nice to him. Him. He wasn’t even anybody. He was nothing and she was everything. He hated to think about it but...Maybe she just did that out of pity. She’s so nice that she would do that. Who was he?

Who was he to be important? He wasn’t a president of anything. He was just himself. Was he even worthy enough that she takes care of him to such an extent? What could he do for her though?

The sudden creak of the door alerts him, his sharp eyes meet Y/N’s frame holding a bouquet of flowers. “Oh hey can you help with these? The guys at the committee bought them for me as thanks but I honestly like gardens more hahaha Still sweet though” Taking off her shoes and handing him the big bouquet of red to pink roses. He could have done much better. She didn’t even like their stupid bouquet.

“There’s a green house tea house thing close to my university. Wanna go then? I mean Im going to be dropping some stuff off at my locker so-“ “Really?! Sure!” An excited squeal came from her lips while she stepped in and occupied the majority of the couch in a deflated or one might say tired pose.

“Please pick from our flower charms!” The host to the tea shop announcing enthusiastically at the duo. Normally the two would have picked different flowers however captivated by certain flowers with bright pink petals that point to the sky. Cyclamens with small papers which read “Fight for your love”.

Just like fortune cookies.

Well what do you know? Passionate love then? What a coincidence due to the situation. To fight for your love.

Being seated at their booth, both had looked around the place. Clumsily piled high with beautiful plants and the sun light almost seemed too perfectly placed. Y/N looked as if she belonged there. With the flora decorating her, one would have considered her a fairy. “You look...N-nice...kitten” stuttering to even find the right things to say.

Under the table...

She had gently inched her small fingertips to touch his calloused ones. Holding at least a portion of her hand. Soft ,comforting and happy. When the tea had arrived Kuroo had only taken a small sip until he rejected the floral drink completely. “You know Chrysanthemums actually means Loyalty and patience? It’s really cool!” With the tea’s edge to her slightly parted lips, the young female had taken a quiet sip.

She enjoys the date with her hand completely clasped in his under the table. Shoulders touching and giggling at whatever kuroo was showing her on his phone. It was literal paradise. Beautiful flora, wonderful food and amazing her. It was perfection in a moment. The sun’s afternoon light striped through her hair and a portion of her cheek. Magic.

It was all until she had started squirming and gripping his hand tighter. “T-tesu...I ughh...I like someone. It’s this guy and...he...I think he might be the one, tetsu! He buys tea with me and holds me like Im home...”

So he was right. He was correct this time. He was so used to being wrong that right now being right felt like a punishment. Tetsuro though that he was the only one who he did those things with. So right and so wrong at the same time.

The little glimmer of happiness in him slightly fading.

He was just there because she pitied him.

He hated it but he didn’t say that, he couldn’t. He had his signature grin on as he knuckles her hair he says something along the lines of “You! You’re going to scare him off! Hahaha! You’re so stubborn too, chibi-chan!”

The laughter was sweet as the tea he had refused to drink. A few moments later the male had left saying that he had to relieve himself though he barely drank anything.

1: 02 PM

3: 27 PM

“Miss, would you like me to sit with-“ “Oh? Oh! No! Sorry! Im actually with someone. Im just waiting for him”

“Oh sorry! I thought you were alone”

6: 12 PM

8: 45 PM

“Umm...miss, we’re actually going to close now”

...

“Hello? Tetsu-“ “This number cannot be reached. Please try again-“

“UGH! I am so kicking his ass when I see him! Ditching me like that!...” Shuffling to gather her things and hurriedly asking for the bill. She leaves the moment she’s cleared and in search of the rooster head male.

Meanwhile the male was in the library ever since. Trying to simply clear his head. Trying to understand what had just happened. Recalling the exact moment that you weren’t his anymore. When a woman in a skimpy outfit had cat called him when he was about to leave. Something about how he looked well hung. Livid, he grabbed her to the side which she obliged in.

This was wrong.

Though why would he care? He was always wrong. The one moment where he was correct he was also wrong. He clenched his fist and forcibly bit his lips.

He was cringing at all of this. Y/N was supposed to be his and yet...She had to choose...and she chose someone who deserved her love.

The disgusting moans of the woman he was making out with at the alley way. Hungry, disgusted and furious. His touches were rough and almost hurting her.

Again, why would he care? Y/N didn’t even like him! He was only taken care of out of pity! He was nothing! All he was...was wrong.

Empty and wrong.

He took it all out on the innocent girl’s cunt. Kuroo called out for her. Her nickname.

Grasping and groaning ‘kitten’. Balls deep in this bitch he picked up from the street when his phone started ringing.

The light of his screen illuminating them.

On the other side of this though...Y/N was walking to his apartment to see if he was there. Also just as livid. Tear stained. Her mascara smudged. No longer looking like a fresh flower. A wilted yellow carnation to her hair while her hands fumbled with her phone. She felt betrayed. She felt useless. It took so much for her to even confess! She had to time everything! To the hand holding and intimate touches.

Even rejecting the council president because of him!

He was a jerk! Why would he even invite her to a date if he was just going to ditch her?

Was she the one in the wrong this time though? Did he even like her? Why would he just invite her?

Did she misunderstand? Were they just friends?...

Finally confessing to him and he just-...mid step. Her head just momentarily looking to the side, to the alleyway. When a familiar figure was illuminated by a screen’s light in his pocket. A familiar figure with a familiar ring tone in a foreign situation. The flower on her hair dropping to her worn out shoes.

It was like a blink. Like a flicker of the light. It was at least just 2 seconds when she saw it.

There he was. Frustrated, grinning, calling out for his ‘kitten’ and balls deep in a girl she has never even seen before.

Taglist: @boosyboo9206 @kuroos-babie @yamaguchi-stan @janellion @cthuroo (thank you for helping me I love you) @my-mass-hysteria @zoppzoop

[colemacgrathtkz]

Crashed Course

Previously. Next.

Disclaimer: Another long one but be warned.

[Six days after "Ah, memories", Blight manor]

As previously discussed, Luz held a sort of human crash course for her friends. Before they could meet her mother, she wanted to share as much about the human realm as possible. Willow, Gus, and Amity learned all they would. From currency to anime, most days, it seemed more like an excuse to hang out. Once, Willow and Gus couldn't appear. In light of this, Amity suggested holding the session at the manor. Luz didn't see anything wrong with that. Today's topic, the acceptable way to dance to "Bette Davis eyes". It was mostly her waving her arms in the air. However, her green haired host snatched her beanie during the lesson. Amity offered her a "teacher" a trade. They would take a break, in exchange for the cap. After agreeing, Blight etiquette called for getting the guest a drink. While she was away, Luz's "partner" had something to say.

Empress Luz: "Are sure about this? She turned on you in seconds."

Luz: "She was afraid of you and doesn't remember it. We're fine now. Besides, what kind of teacher would I be if I gave up on my student?"

Empress Luz: "Your first date ended with us erasing her memory. This is basically your second chance. Don't bring up any nasty memories."

 She tried to answer the voice in her head, but Amity walked in at that moment.

Amity: "Two glasses, just for us."

She sat down on the davenport(sofa), right besides Luz. 

Something to notice was the actual new haircut. Her Blight amor returned to style from day one. Short, but without the ponytail on top. Luz was stuck between her accomplice and her inamorata. She looked for anything to ease the tension. A quick observation might distract her "suspicious mind" 

Luz: "So, you got rid of all your plants. You and Willow have a fight, again?"

Amity: "You were tied to a chair, by Willow, with my house's greenery. I just figured you'd prefer not having anything to worry about in your class here. I don't want to trigger any nasty memories for my you. "

Empress Luz: "She knows! Check our drink!"

Luz: "What about that one?"

The moment Amity turned her head, Noceda slipped something into her own drink. After surviving on the streets and avoiding poisoning attempts on the Isles, she learned a thing or two about self preservation. She merely poured a harmless potion meant to detect any "unusual" ingredients. She kept some of her own concoction on her, at all times.

Amity: "That's a mirror. And that's you getting busted."

Busted.

Amity: "I promise, it's just sparkling apple blood. But if you don't want it, I could take it. I'll check it for poison or whatever you had in mind?"

The latina quickly swiped her glass back.

Luz: "It's OK! It's just this isn't what you usually do."

Amity: "Is that so bad?"

She scooched closer and placed on hand on Luz's. Almost startled by this, the human chugged her drink and tried to get some distance. Normally, this stuff wouldn't bother her. But she knew full well her "partner in crime" could switch gears with her, at any moment.

Luz: "Say, how bout I teach you, what makes a good anime opening? Guess class is still in session."

Both her hands were held in that moment and Amity brought her face up close and personal. This was, once again, a high class manor with just the two of them.

Amity: "Amity Blight? What do you think about that?"

Were her eyes always this big?

Luz: "Your name? What about it?"

Amity: "Do you like it?"

What was in that drink?!

Luz: "Sure, I like it. Listen, maybe you should..."

Amity: " What about 'Amity Noceda-Blight'? Do you like the sound of that?"

Luz felt her heart skip a beat. Which was funny, considering Amity's head was now buried in her chest. Things were baffling as they are.

Luz: "It's a little early to start talking about that, isn't it? I mean, we're still pretty young."

Amity: "You haven't thought about it?"

Luz: "...."

Amity: "I've thinking about what meeting your mom means. I'm amazed that you can be so open, at times. 'You done things I could never do.' And that was before all this... monster staff life. But you've really proven yourself. And I think the others will see that, too, someday. So, don't go lying to me now, ok?"

Luz: "I haven't lied to you, preciosa. You can breathe easy about that."

After heaving a sigh, Amity just let herself flop on top of Luz. She didn't lift her head up one bit. Being so... affectionate wasn't a usual habit of Amity's. And yet, there she was being oddly "cuddly". The human underneath only cared about one thing at that moment. Rubbing her girlfriend's back and hoping that moment wouldn't end.

It had been a while since she'd felt truly happy.

Unfortunately, Amity was sent flying by a shockwave of red energy. The manor's resident found herself pinned to the wall.

Empress Luz: "Luz Noceda, your lovesick otter pup. You can fool her, but not me!"

The Empress snatched control from Luz. Now, she could only watch.

Amity crushed something in her hand and smoke began to engulf the room. The black smoke screen disrupted her captor's concentration. Blinded by the haze, she focused on a new sensation on her hands. Something was beginning to grow on palms of her hands. A black orb engulf each finger until it looked like she had bowling balls for fists.

The Empress made a beeline for the door, from memory. She barged through and raced for the gates. But her escape was cut off by giant tree roots. While they rose from the ground, hooded interlopers surrounded their target. Agents kept running around her. Randomly changing directions and yet never crashing into each other. She tried counting but lost track at 28. Luz would take a few hits from ones that managed to get close. Most of them were just advanced illusions. However, she noticed the footprints in the dirt gave her an opportunity. Using her feet, she made makeshift glyphs. Ironically,a ring of fire gave her enough of breather to make a pillar of ice. The Empress used the pillar like an elevator. She immediately got to work on smashing her new "weights" against the icy floor. Just as they were about to crack, an abomination grabbed the one of her right hand. Amity's creation had hitched a ride up with her.

Empress Luz: "Let me go!"

She smashed her left restraint to pieces and wasted no time firing a fire blast. The abomination was destroyed. But the heat from the surrounding flames and her attack did her pillar in. It crumbled to pieces underneath her. She was sent tumbling down  to her waiting captors. As she tried to get up, two of them struck her just behind her knees. Sending her falling right on top of two well placed plant glyphs. The roots entangled her legs. Just as she was about to use her free hand, thick vines swirled completely around her left arm. They had her fingers immobilized. The greenery sprouted flowers and blew their petals in her face. That had to be Willow under that hood. Attempting to free her other arm, another abomination gripped her right arm. Blinded by the petals, she couldn't see something fly straight for her face. Whatever it was, it pinched her nose and held on for dear life. It wasn't hard to figure out what they had in mind. She tried to shake it, but to no avail. She was about as trapped as a human could be. Despite shaking her head violently, she felt some land right on head.

King: "Take this, I command as your ruler! The king of demons!"

Luz: "King?!"

She slipped up the moment she heard her boo boo buddy's voice. King dove his paw into her mouth with the payload. A small squishy like ball was introduced. He wrapped himself behind her head. He had to make sure she didn't spit it out.

After a few moments, she swallowed it. Right on cue, everyone let go and regrouped. Finally, she could see the hand of her former mentor scurrying away. But before she could do anything, the marble burst and released a orange vapor. Every one watched her cough some of it up. She smashed her last restraint and tried to tear the roots on her legs. Unfortunately, the potion finally kicked in. Her vision became blurry and her head fogged up.

Luz: "Oh, goodbye muscle control..."

She flopped face first into the dirt.

Everyone cautiously approached her. Amity was the first to reach her. She lifted her girlfriend's softly snoring head and put it on her lap.

Amity: "She's out cold."

As she wiped dirt off Noceda's face, the illusions were undone and everyone removed their hoods.

Eda, Lilith, Willow, Gus, Emira and Edric. King returned to Eda's side.

Eda: "Nice job, honor roll. It looks like we can work together."

Tonight was a tough mission. But they only wanted people who they trusted to bring in Luz alive. The most of the damage was kept to the front of the estate. The Blights agreed to be the ones who moved Luz to their secret base. Emira and Edric didn't want to clean up the mess in the yard. Eda collected some drool in a green bottle.

Things were finally setting into motion.

[Bonus]

[The 2 nights before, convention center]

Amity had received a request for a meeting. The catch was she come alone, without telling Luz. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have bothered with this. But recognized the handwriting. Eda, the owl lady, was finally making an appearance.

Eda: "Yo, class rep! It's been a while."

Amity: "Hi, it's nice to see you again. But why the secrecy? I thought you would have wanted to see Luz? Did you heal your curse, yet?"

Right then, Eda activated a plant glyph under the "New Coven" leader. As Amity struggled to get free, the owl lady poked and prodded the young witch's face.

Eda: "Sorry about that, kiddo. I had to be sure. I couldn't fall for the same trick, like the other twerps."

Unsure of what she meant, Amity simply gave her elder the floor.

Eda: "I can't stay for long, so I'll be quick. You and her other friends got caught in your little scheme. My former student messed with your memories. I know you wouldn't believe me without them. But my guess is she only left the good stuff. Hate to break it to you kid, but no relationship's a honeymoon forever."

Amity: "What are you talking about?"

A small blue vial was presented to her.

Eda: "Want to see if I'm right? A little something to turn you into a living lie detector. Just take some of this and look for a pulse."

An unconvinced look of a Blight might have reminded someone of old times.

Eda: "Come here, class act. There's something I want to show you."

Author's note:

This one reminds me of a certain movie fight.

I meant to upload this one, last week. Oops

[talietikasero]

Stability

Random prompt from 8/11 [finished 8/16]: rewrite the Strive ending / create an alternate epilogue [to line up with my story project]. I may or may not rewrite the whole thing for fun lmao.

[Main story preview here (contains 6 scenes)] // [Chapter 1 now on AO3]

"I guess... that's what they meant..." She let out between huffs. Both the voice in her head and the former Sanctus Maximus Populi said the same thing regarding her potential ability.

“When the time comes, with your seed, you hold the power to save or destroy the world.”

“You can prevent the end of it all.”

Energy drained, she fought off the sluggish pace her body was moving. Looking over to her partner, she noticed he was barely hanging on to his life, staying incredibly still, and trying to regulate his breathing while facing down. While her body contained the [Scales of Juno], he had the [Flame of Corruption] ripped out from his, reverting him to a human. "On second thought, don't move." Once she closed the distance between them, she knelt and put her arms around him. Face against the scuffed leather sleeve, and she struggled to hold her emotions in. "H-hey..." Voice cracking, she lowly muttered between sniffles, "please, don't go..."

"..."

"You... you stayed true to... your word about... a-about..."

"..."

"Fighting to... s-save the world..."

"If the world was going to disappear tomorrow... What would you do today?"

"What kind of a question is that? Stop whatever's ending the world or die trying."

Her embrace tightened as tears ran down her face. "Human, Gear, or neither. The world still needs you."

With drooped ears and saddened eyes, the wolf spirit whined. Its host and companion soothed it by scratching behind its ears and reassuring the worst had come to pass. "(It's okay, Rei. We're still alive.)." She whispered to the spirit in her native tongue. Another whine followed by a lick to the side of her face, Giovanna patted Rei's forehead. "What? Are you worried about me? I'm okay, I swear." She winced as another sharp pain ran through her body. "Ouch..." Her superior, the President, placed a hand on her shoulder. Half-expecting him to say she's no longer needed, she began, "I'm sorry-..."

"None of that." Vernon's voice was firm; however, it sounded... fatherly. He may have his doubts about the agent, but he knew she was more than capable of the job. Facing off against an unstoppable force, she did prove she's worth giving a higher position. "I can tell what you were thinking, but you're not being let go. You take as much time as you need off, Gio. Goldlewis, Erica, and I will await your return."

Saddened at the loss of someone he could consider a friend, the time traveler meekly looked down at the minty green and white guitar he held in his hands. This entire time he was unaware of her true identity. If he had to lose someone like her, it didn't have to be this way. Regardless of if she recalled who he was and why he was important to her in the first place, false memory or not. He threw away his chance to return home a while ago, and now he felt that it would've been for nothing had he gone through with it. "It shouldn't have ended like this... Megumi." Axl softly said under his breath.

After regaining control over his body and revealing the wicked goddess's weak point, the vampiric samurai pierced the ground a few centimeters with his sword. He kneeled to show his appreciation for defeating the evil force that used him as a puppet. Now, he could see why his master was fascinated by the will of a single person. This same person was stripped of his powers and still faced death head-on. "May you rest for now. The next time we meet, it won't be as enemies, but acquaintances." Drawing his blade from the ground, Nagoriyuki sheathed it and took his leave.

The King of Illyria – his lifelong rival and their son-in-law – made his way over to them, stopping a few feet short to maintain distance. "It's finally over. They're gone. We can... we can go home now." Part of him wanted to hold a hand out to help him stand, yet he held back and deemed that action unnecessary. Ky's spirits rose once he noticed the man in front of him was taking steady deep breaths -- body slowly moving to show signs of life.

Right hand maintaining its grip on the Outrage's handle, his free hand lightly grasped one of hers. Face still downward, a weak smile formed. "...You think so?"

She couldn't believe it. He's hanging by a thread and using what energy he should be saving to answer her with a question of his own.

"I know so."

The past three weeks were a blur. From the day she woke up and adjusted to this new world to the present, where she aided in bringing down a god. She never would've guessed that any of these events could've transpired. In the days leading up to September 2016, she was a terminally ill scientist who refused any life-saving alternative to live past what little time she had left, insisting she spent it with her significant other. Fast forward to December 2187, and she was brought back to life and became the partner of humanity's savior -- the very same person, albeit for the last time.

_____

The next day, another patient was checked into the hospital. This time there wasn’t a commotion caused by bringing his unconscious form bursting through the front doors. She wasn’t strong enough to carry him in her arms like he held her – that’s what the gurney from the airship’s infirmary wing was for.

“I have a request. May I stay here until he recovers? I… I don’t want to leave him.”

Three days later, word had reached his family that he's – miraculously and defying all odds – alive. His refusal to follow the light after what had happened was attributed to his stubborn nature. The Grim Reaper knocked at his door, and he slammed it shut in their face. Occupying the same bed, in the same patient room as her around a month ago, the now de-powered hero lay hooked up to the vitals system.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Hard to say, but he'll pull through. He did wake up this morning, so there's something, yeah?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but has anyone seen my mother? About my height, short red hair with white underneath, and wearing a blue leather jacket? She hasn't been seen since everyone returned."

"She's in the room and hasn't left at all. I had someone stop by the house and bring her spare clothes since she spent the last four days here."

"Oh, thank god." The queen was relieved to know her mother's whereabouts. She respected her parents' privacy by not asking if she was able to go in.

---

Ring-ring. Ring-ring. Ring-ring-ring.

Sighing in aggravation, she answered her phone. There was only one person she kept in contact with these past few days. "What do you want now? He's still not up, so stop cal-..."

"I was going to ask something else. I'm going to regret this, but are you still angry?"

"You're a smart man to keep your distance from me, but a dumbass to ask that. Of course, I am! You ruined our lives with your 'self-righteousness' and nearly brought another apocalypse."

"...Aria, I understand your rage. If only I could rewind time and prevent your illness. I shouldn't have forcibly converted him and disappeared with your sleep capsule. It wasn't my intention to have our research weaponized, but I was figuratively and literally held at gunpoint to hand it over to the US Government. I should've known better and anticipated that Chaos -- erm, the Original's creation would sabotage your activation. Your screams still haunt me... and... I'm... I'm sorry."

"Asuka."

"I can't fix this by excessively apologizing and listing off my crimes, but I hope everything goes well for you and Frederick."

"Whatever. Enjoy the moon, or don't." She ended the call before her former friend could reply. "Asshole." Aria slumped back in the chair and opened her book to the page she left off. "We should've launched you into the sun."

"Oh my. And I thought 'Sol' was a hothead. You're pretty harsh, you know that? It's more frightening than I-No on a good day." Jack-O's voice rang through. Capable of feeling and expressing emotions herself, the Valentine was taken aback at what she heard during their calls. "If possible, can we listen to his show sometime? Please?"

"...Okay."

"Thank you. ~"

---

Forty minutes after the heated conversation, a groggy voice broke the silence.

"Is the... afterlife a sterile... hospital room?" Frederick's eyes were half-open, staring directly at the ceiling.

Aria closed what she was reading and placed it on the counter. Ignoring the monitors that once kept track of her, she looked over his body to see minimal damage sustained. "Looks like you've still got some of that healing factor. Or you're just too hardheaded to die."

He slightly turned his head to face her. "Heh. Probably both."

Running a hand through his now short hair, her lips curved into an unsure smile. "Welcome back to the land of the living?"

"This doesn't look like heaven. If you're my welcome guide, then I'll stay." His body was still sore, but he extended his arm out for her to hold his hand. The warmth from the fire magic still dwelling within them made their contact feel safer.

"I should've worn that jumpsuit and halo." Her inner voice's reaction was an exaggerated throat clear. "But if I did," she held a finger to her temple, "I don't think she would've appreciated that."

"I would've been mildly annoyed at best. Mildly annoyed yet honored that you'd wear it because of what you did."

"You're really pissed off at Asuka, aren't you?"

"How much did you hear?"

"All of it. Didn't know you were capable of that."

"I felt like you after the second day." He took that as a friendly poke at his history. "Since you've saved the world for the last time, are you still up for that 'alternate life' you mentioned the other night? We don't have to stay at Ky and Dizzy's. They can arrange something for us."

His ears perked up at the suggestion. Did she remind him about his statement regarding them settling down? Having survived an act of God, living a quiet life together a few minutes out from the capital didn't sound like a terrible idea. "What did you have in mind?"

"A fair-sized home, nothing too big or small, probably just down the way from their place. I don't want to throw everything away and live in seclusion. We're way out of our own time, but we finally have a family, people who care about us, and we care about them in return. Unless you have a better idea?"

"I'm fine with anything. Can't imagine I'd be able to go out much or at all because I'm officially a dead man."

"Not too long ago, I was a dead woman walking. Besides, the world thinks that Sol Badguy is dead, not Frederick Bulsara."

"Point there. You know, now that I think about it, this situation is just like a month ago."

"With you in my place, but I didn't have to be dragged in? This is the same room where I spent my time recovering. It was also -..."

"Where you got your new start."

"Y-yeah. That's exactly it. This is where I woke up to my new life! Not as Justice, or Jack-O, but as myself. That same day, I met our daughter and her husband, and then I saw you again. Just this time... I've been here since you were checked in. Everyone tried to get me to leave, but I refused."

He noticed the duffel bag placed near the door. There was a pant leg hanging over one side of the unzipped bag, and next to it were two pairs of footwear. "Way to tug at the old heartstrings. Stubborn as always, aren't you?" If he were honest with himself, he wanted to do the same when she was still unconscious. He had the feeling that the IRMC staff wouldn't have thought about asking him to leave the premises, even though he almost kicked the doors clean off the first time.

"One of my best qualities." She winked at him, giggling at her remark.

"Hey, Aria."

"Hm?"

He slowly sat up despite the mild pain, leaning over to bring her in for a hug. "Thank you."

Aria returned the motion, both holding onto each other, not wanting to let go. She had felt incomplete up until this moment. Preventing the end was a combined effort, and she couldn’t be any happier to have been a part of that team.

A sense of déjà vu, the song playing on the radio had neared its end.

You are all I long for All I worship and adore In other words, please be true In other words...

"I love you."