#loved when he was an evil little freak but then he just immediately regained his memories :/ too easy!!

[howdyboh]

he should have been evil. just a little. as a threat

[papergirllife]

Cloud Nine

Dong Sicheng

Mature content

Sub!Sicheng x Dom! Reader

warnings : unprotected sex, dacryphilia, edging, face riding, oral sex, 69, etc.

word count : 2.1k

Newly weds on a honeymoon at Maldives.

The scent of the salty sea greets you when your boyfriend, correction, newly wed husband, Sicheng opens the doors of the balcony of your suite, the sun rays hitting his golden skin perfectly as a light breeze blows in.

“I’m so glad we picked Maldives for our honeymoon, the time zone would be perfect for avoiding my mom’s phone calls,” Sicheng says with a shake of his head and a small smile, recalling how his mom was keen on having a grandchild, brining it up to you ever since the wedding night. Sicheng does want kids, or preferably kid, but the thought of spending his 20s with a child wasn’t his idea of utilizing his youth, and you totally agree with him, cringing at the thought of changing diapers in your 20s, glad that he’s not the type to push you for children.

“Your mom would be so upset when she finds out I’m on the pill, she thought it was the lack of privacy that discouraged us to have some quality time,” you said with a snicker, thinking back of the times when you and Sicheng did it in utmost silence when the two of you were back in his home town for q a visit after the wedding.

“She just doesn’t know how much of a freak are you,” Sicheng said in a voice octaves lower close to your ear, when did he get this close to you? You swear he was two feet away just now. Then you feel a familiar hand lingering up the hem of your sundress, dangerously close to the swell of your butt.

“I know you’re hungry for me, mister, but I’d like to have dinner first, the meal on the plane left me starving, it was barely enough,” you complained, a hand on his chest, stopping him from going any further.

“I told you to fly first class, business is just roomier, not much difference compared to economy,” Sicheng said as he led you out of the suite, a hand securely wrapped around your waist.q

“I just wanted to save some money,” you said in a huff, rubbing your rumbling stomach, regretting that you didn’t take your husband’s advice.

“Well, just don’t hold back afterwards, order whatever you want,” Sicheng said before booping your nose with his finger, leading you to the dining hall after the click of your hotel suite door.

“I think I should be getting my dessert now,” Sicheng said after pulling you into your suite in a haste, hands cupped around your cheeks, his face was mere centimetres away from yours, you could see his pupils blown wide at the thought of the things he'd like to do to you.

“Can I have a present first?” you said while batting your eyes at him, your voice sickly sweet, tempting him to submit.

“What does my dearest wife want?” Sicheng said while sitting onto the edge of the comfy bed, opening his legs to let you climb onto his lap.

“I want to be on top,” you said with an evil twinkle in your eyes before reaching a hand out to push him flat onto the bed.

“Just one round,” Sicheng bargained, he really wanted to hear you screaming his name, but that can wait, after all, you did give him your hand in marriage, it's only fair that there's give and take in a relationship.

You jumped in glee hearing his permission, immediately letting your hands wander to his chest, only to unbutton the white top he's wearing, nails playfully scratching at his chest lightly until the last button goes off, revealing his honey skin and perky nipples, hard from your teasing and the exposure of the chilly night breeze from the crack of the balcony door.

You let your hips circle on top of his crotch as you leant down to connect your lips to his, a hand lightly pinching his right nipple before rolling it gently in between your fingers, doing the same to the one on the left.

“Fuck,” Sicheng swears in between your attack on his lips, giving you the opportunity to slide your tongue into his mouth, dominating the kiss. You decided to pour oil into the fire by grinding your hips onto his crotch harder, feeling the sudden wake of his hardness, eliciting a moan in your throat when you think of how well he’s going to fill you up.

You got up from his lap to pull off your dress, revealing you in a matching set of red lingerie, your ego inflating when you see the awe in Sicheng’s eyes.

“Strip, baby,” you ordered Sicheng.

Obedient to your words, he immediately got up to pull off his pants along with his underwear, his cock slapping against his abs once it was free from its confinements, hissing at the feeling of the cold air.

“Good boy,” you said as you sat yourself back into his lap, the lace of your panties digging into the sensitive skin of his cock, a perfect combination of pain and pleasure, but he coos at the feeling of your warm wetness, relieving a tiny bit of his desperation.

“What do you want baby? Do you want my mouth? Or my pussy? I'll let you choose,” you offered, but as your husband, Sicheng knows there will always be a catch, “but with a price of course, prove to me you’re my good boy and I'll give you what you desire,” you bargained.

“Anything for me to be inside you, please,” Sicheng added the last part, knowing you love hearing him beg.

“I want to ride your pretty face, boy, and don’t disappoint,” you said before getting off of him and taking off your panties, manoeuvring yourself on top of his face.

You were going to glance down to check if Sicheng was okay, but when he saw your perfectly slicked pussy, he was hungry for a taste, lowering your hips hastily onto his mouth, getting a surprised moan out of you at the feeling of his wet tongue invading your warm cavern.

“Yes, just like that baby, you're doing so well,” you said as you grind onto his mouth lightly, tossing your head back when you felt him adding two of his fingers into the mix, expertly locating your sweet spot after a few tries.

“Baby, yes, right there, don't stop,” you said breathlessly, which encouraged him to thrust his fingers harder and setting the pace faster, chasing your release of sweet juices.

Since he was making you feel so good, you decided to reward him. You leant down to take his cock into your mouth, letting the head of his dick hit the back of your throat as your hand slid down to fondle one of his balls, which made him moan into your pussy, fuck, you aren't going to last long if he keeps it up.

You realese his cock from your mouth after nearly a minute, a hand sliding down to your clit, rubbing quick circles over the sensitive nub, assisting Sicheng in pushing you over the edge.

When his tongue replaced your fingers, he sucked on your clit expertly, successfully giving you an earth shattering orgasm, his name tumbling from your lips like a mantra, your toes curling and a whine escaping your lips at the oversensitivity, your juices gushing out in a steady flow into Sicheng’s awaiting mouth.

You slid off Sicheng’s face once you rode out your orgasm, gulping down breathes of air to ready yourself for what you have planned next.

After regaining a bit of your strength, you positioned yourself above Sicheng, a hand combing through his messed up locks with a sinister smile on your face, knowing well that you’re going to strip him boneless tonight.

Your hand travelled southwards to his cock, gripping it rather harshly in your fist at the tip of his head, making Sicheng’s head fall back onto the pillow from the overstimulation, a breathy gasp of your name leaving his swollen lips.

“I'm not finished with you yet, baby,” you reminded him tauntingly, before you lifted yourself up to down onto his cock, filling yourself up deliciously, thankful for the slight stretch he had given you beforehand.

“Fuck!” Sicheng cursed when he finally felt your warm walls engulfing his length, you felt so tight around him, and the little clenches that you're giving him was making him lightheaded, pleasure clouding his head.

You smirked at his reaction, pleased to see that it won't take too much to wreck him tonight.

You set a slow pace, letting yourself feel every ridge and vein that decorates his cock, after a few pumps, you decided to up your game, quickening your pace, bouncing on his cock as quick as your legs allowed, the whole room was filled with the sound of your butt clapping down onto his thighs, saying a silent apology to the room next to your bed’s. You could feel the tip hitting against your sweet spot, if it weren't for the fact that you constantly reminded yourself that you rarely get to top, you would've came already, but you want to seize this opportunity to see how far can Sicheng submit to you.

You let your hands wander to his erected nipples, pinching them which got a cry out of him, distracting him from enjoying the view of your tits bouncing right in his eyesight perfectly, he reached up to release your bra, letting your boobs fall out and bounce wildly. Just as he wanted to reach out to hold onto one of your boobs, you slapped his hand away.

“You'll get to touch when you prove to me you’re my good boy,” you said before leaving him hanging completely, letting his dick slide out of you in a rather comical pop after feeling a slight twitch inside you, a sign that he was about to cum soon.

Sicheng whined at the sudden loss of pleasure, “Please, I've been nothing but your good boy, please let me cum,” Sicheng begged.

“Be patient, baby, all good things come to those who wait,” you said while caressing his face gently.

You crawled to Sicheng's spread legs, a hand wrapping around his cock, setting an average pace, occasionally stopping to swipe at his bulging red tip that's craving for release. You bent your neck down to take one of his balls into your mouth, licking and sucking gently, the warmth of your mouth made Sicheng's legs twitch, a constricted moan of your name followed by.

You hummed around his ball in approval before switching to the other one, the most sensitive parts of his body, he didn't want to disobey you, but he could feel his release creeping up on him.

Just when he decided to fuck everything and receive whatever punishment you were going to give him, you suddenly clasped your thumb and your index finger around the head of his cock, restricting him from his sweet release.

“Fuck! Please, please let me cum, I'll do anything for you afterwards, please,” Sicheng begged, you looked up to observe his face, glee when you saw tears streaming down his face, his hands fisting the sheets.

“Aw, baby, was that too much? I just want to give you the best orgasm ever. What's your colour?” you asked, making sure he's alright.

“Green,” Sicheng replied immediately, his voice hoarse.

“Can I continue? You can cum inside me,” you said while brushing his bangs away from his eyes, you want to engrain the look he has on now, so fragile, so docile, just for you.

“Yes, please, just want to cum, inside you,” Sicheng said, no longer able to form a complete sentence as you have reduced him to your personal sex doll.

“Okay,” you said before reaching for his cock to slide into your entrance, once more filling you up deliciously.

You rocked your hips against his, positioning his head to your sweet spot before bouncing on his dick relentlessly, sliding a hand down your clit to stimulate yourself, chasing your highs together, knowing that Sicheng wouldn't be able to hold on any longer.

With a rough thrust of his hips, a deep piston that hit your g spot, you and Sicheng were pushed over the edge, a mix of a whine and a groan sounded in Sicheng's throat while you screamed his name, cumming onto his cock, the action made your walls clench around Sicheng, milking him for all he has, large spurts of warm cum painting your walls white.

When your orgasm subsided, you crashed onto Sicheng's chest, feeling the fatigue settling into your limbs. When you were about to manoeuvre yourself off of him, Sicheng held you closer.

“Don't move, let's stay like this,” he said in a raspy voice.

“Okay, goodnight Sicheng.”

“Goodnight, love.”

Needless to say, you are very much looking forward to the next few days of your honeymoon.

[mcheang]

Lila looks through Marinette bag and steals Tikki thinking she's a doll. She wants to pass Tikki off as a gift from Ladybug to the class. Tikki gets back at Lila. Bonus: Adrien, and Chloe both recognize Tikki and both figure out that Marinette is Ladybug. Chloe redemption.

What a lovely surprise

No bonus

Lila was planning to steal Marinette’s phone. Instead she found a Ladybug doll and lots of sweets. Wow...baker girl needs to lay off the candy.

Well, if she can’t have Marinette’s phone, she might as well steal her doll. Who even keeps dolls at their age?

It would be so easy to humiliate Marinette for her baby toy. But that wasn’t Lila’s style. She liked a challenge.

Cue Tikki overhearing Lila’s plan to pass her off as a gift from Ladybug.

As if.

While Lila was bragging about the present Ladybug gave her and how she adores it, Tikki escapes after making sure there was something left behind that could substitute her weight and size.

As Lila opened her bag to her eager listeners, out crawled out a swarm of ladybugs.

Now, the miraculous cure is seen as a red wind, you don’t really feel the sensation of crawling legs, nor can you closely see the swarm of ladybugs.

But this...a mass of red bugs...is just gross.

Everyone screamed, even Lila. She squealed and jumped, flinging her bag far from her. “Get it off me! Get it off me!”

Kim: Wth!!!

Alya: what kind of present was that?

Adrien: Ladybug would never give that as a present. Besides, I think Lila is just as surprised as the rest of us.

Lila: of course I’m surprised! That was not the present. It was a toy Ladybug! Not a swarm of ladybugs.

Turning to glare at Marinette. “Did you do this?”

Alya: why would Marinette do this?

Lila: I saw her admiring my toy and we all know Marinette has a habit of stealing phones. Check her purse.

Tikki quickly phased out of the purse.

Everyone just saw candy.

Kim: can I have the chocolate bar?

Rose: Lila, you need to apologize to Marinette!

Lila gritted her teeth. “I’m sorry.”

Alya: but who stole Lila’s toy and replaced it with...ladybugs?

Alix:...maybe the surprise was like a lucky charm. Able to burst into ladybugs?

Max: a little warning would have been nice

Alya: I don’t think so. Ladybug would never do this to her best friend. Someone must have stolen the real gift and replaced it with this...loveliness....

Horrible word for a group of ladybugs that creep the hell out of you. Thank god they were flying off already.

Mylène: but how could someone transfer that much ladybugs? No way.

Adrien: maybe Ladybug sent them as a warning.

He had advised Marinette to leave Lila alone and she had agreed. Adrien didn’t believe for a second Marinette would prank Lila. But for Lila to go after her, maybe she had stolen from Marinette and was trying to frame her now for something gone wrong.

Careful with his wording, Adrien sweetly said, “after all, on our first day, Lila told me she had important things to tell me about Ladybug. But then who showed up but Lady Luck herself, scolding Lila for just announcing ‘their best friend relationship’ to the world. We all know how Ladybug likes her privacy. I don’t think your best friend is happy with you, Lila.”

Adrien’s words worked. Ladybug did value her privacy...but for her to send such a créepy warning to her best friend just didn’t add up. Unless...

Nino: are you even best friends with Ladybug?

Ivan: you don’t have any proof. Ladybug herself never said so. You are as much Ladybug’s self-proclaimed best friend as Chloé is!

Chloé filed her nails, not bothering to raise her head. “Except everyone knows Ladybug trusts me with a miraculous. But can Lila say she is Rena Rouge when we know she is Volpina?”

Lila scrambled to regain control. “Of course I’m Rena! Volpina was my akumatized form.”

Alya: except weren’t you supposed to be in Achu during Heroes’ Day?

Lila: Pegasus brought me back.

Max: Pegasus didn’t even show up for battle. Logic would agree Ladybug would have wanted as much heroes as possible against Scarlet Moth’s army.

Juleka: not to mention, Chloé wasn’t exactly Ladybug’s first choice for a bee heroine. Accidents happen. But we all know Ladybug would want a hero who could keep a secret. And no offense Lila, but you suck at them.

Rose: not that we don’t enjoy celebrity gossip.

Alix: if they were ever true.

Lila saw she was being cornered and immediately burst into fake tears and ran away.

Kim: so to be clear, we’re not going to believe Lila anymore, right?

Alix: yup.

Max: affirmative

Marinette: finally

Lila came back with Ms Bustier, who scolded the class for bullying Lila. The class protested that Lila was a liar

Bustier: oh so you didn’t corner her until she burst out crying?

Alya: she accused Marinette of stealing some toy but Marinette was innocent! She’s been lying to us about everything!

Bustier: now, Lila, you can’t just accuse people without evidence.

Lila: she’s jealous of me!

Bustier: that’s not evidence.

Lila continued to sob.

Bustier sighed, “Perhaps I should call your mother and ask her to take you home.”

The tears miraculously vanished. “No. I don’t want to be a bother. I am a grown girl. I can handle my own problems.”

Bustier: good. Now class, turn to chapter 7....

Ivan: hey if Lila was lying about everything, doesn’t that mean she was playing truant?

Bustier: interrupting is rude, Ivan. Besides, I have her mother’s signed note and emails

Max: how do you know those are not forged and fake?

Nathaniel: did you even call Mrs Rossi to confirm?

Bustier: is that really necessary?

Sabrina: if you didn’t do that, you would be breaking protocol and would be held partially responsible for not doing your job

Bustier: this is ridiculous. Class is in session now, not court.

Chloé: I wonder if the school board would be interested in making an inspection of the akuma class.

Everyone turned to stare at Chloé.

Marinette: you do remember that you cause most akumas right?

Chloé shrugged. “If I’m the bad seed, then Ms Bustier is the one who watered the evil tree.”

Adrien: i thought you liked Ms Bustier

Chloé: that was before she ignored Lila sexually harassing you!

Nino: what?

Adrien: i wouldn’t say harass...

Chloé: you also wouldn’t say your father was an overprotective control freak who neglects you emotionally

Cue silence as Adrien sputters and the class agrees with Chloé.

Chloé: since you would accuse me and Dupain-Cheng for being biased.... illustrator, when Lila touches Adrien, is Adrien standing tall or leaning away.

Nathaniel: he was leaning away. Lila does seem to have no concept of personal boundaries

Marinette: why didn’t you stop her then?

Nathaniel shrugged. “I told Lila off in private. And it was just one time. I never saw her doing it again because Adrien doesn’t always stand close to her.”

Sabrina: I have the photos to prove Adrien minds Lila invading his space.

Chloé: so Miss Liar is guilty of deception, truancy, and sexual harassment. And is our favorite teacher honestly going to wait for an inspector to yell at her for not doing her job?

Under the pressuring stares, Bustier broke. “Fine. Lila, go to the principal’s office.”

Chloé: who says she’ll obey?

Bustier: Marinette, go with Lila.

Marinette: but she always twists my words!

Alya: why can’t Chloé go? The principal always listens to her

Chloé: I’m busy.

Marinette: what happened to doing this for Adrien?

Chloé: ugh. Fine. You people are ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous and hopeless without me.

Lila promptly got expelled. Her mother was called. The usual punishments happen. Even as Lila pointed out the principal was biased, the evidence of Chloe’s accusations were undeniable.

Later, Marinette asked what all that was about.

Tikki: oh she stole me so I had decided to teach her a lesson. Don’t mess with ladybugs.

At Agreste Mansion,

Adrien: so if you felt like it, you could summon a clowder of cats?

Plagg: yup. Much more preferable than actual plagues. Of course the target would be scratched and bitten by many wild cats, but this is already much more merciful than my previous punishments for offenders.

[intheticklecloset]

Just For a Minute (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

At this point I’m pretty sure I’ve read every MHA tickle fic there is on Tumblr. I LOVE this anime so freaking much; it’s become an obsession at this point. Help me. XD’

Note: This fic is not part of the 12 Days of Ficmas.

Shoutout to the Anon who wanted to see lee Bakugou and ler Kirishima! Your request didn’t match the criteria I set up for the 12 Days fics (and I had already written this before your ask came in), but I see you! :D

~

Bakugou grunted when Kirishima nudged his side. To his credit, he didn’t flinch, but his whole body tensed, and the redhead noticed.

Kiri looked at him sideways. “Hey, man.” A smirk appeared. “You ticklish?”

Bakugou said nothing at first; only sat very still and appeared as if he were concentrating on something. Then he muttered under his breath, “I don’t like it. So don’t even think about it.”

Surprised that he hadn’t outright denied it, Kiri’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, really? No way!”

“Don’t get excited, idiot,” Bakugou growled, finally turning to glare at his friend. “I said I don’t like it.”

Kiri nudged Bakugou’s shoulder this time. “Come on, dude. We never hear you laugh.”

“I laugh all the time, moron.”

“I mean really laugh. None of that evil I’m-going-to-destroy-the-world nonsense.”

“Forget it.”

Kirishima looked across to Kaminari, and the two exchanged a brief nod. Bakugou was on his feet in an instant, but both boys tackled him right back onto the couch.

“Get off!” Bakugou yelled, sounding as angry as ever. He pushed at both of them, managing to succeed in getting Kaminari off him while Kirishima merely hardened his body so he was immovable and pushed the blonde down to the floor. Bakugou growled and sparks began to appear in his palms, but Kiri stopped him.

“Ah-ah, Bakugou! You can’t do that; you’ll blow up the whole living room and get in trouble with Mr. Aizawa.”

Bakugou growled, still struggling. “I said I don’t like it! Let me go!”

“Come onnn,” Kiri whined. “Just for a minute.”

“No!”

Kaminari reappeared. “Here, you pin him down with your quirk. I’ll do the rest.”

“Idiots! Let me go!” Bakugou shouted, fighting every step of the way as Kiri climbed off of him to reposition himself behind the blonde’s head, bringing his arms up and pinning them down firmly while Kaminari straddled their explosive friend. “Wait!”

Then Bakugou was biting down hard on his lip, using every ounce of strength he had to keep himself in control. Kaminari’s fingers skittered all over his ribs and stomach, forcing him to twitch and struggle to get away, but it was useless.

“N-No, this is—” Bakugou ground out, every word sounding like it pained him to speak it. A single bark of laughter escaped him before he regained control. “This is harassment! Get off, you idiots!”

“Just let it out, Bakugou. You know you want to~” Teased Kiri from behind him, but his words only made the blonde angrier.

“I do not! Dang it, let me go!”

Then Kaminari found a spot – right at the top of his ribs, beneath his underarms – and Bakugou giggled. Instantly his face went beet red, even as his mirth continued to spill over despite his best efforts. “N-No! Idiots, l-let me go, or I swear I’ll—!” Fingers moved up into his underarms, making him lose control even further, giggles being pulled out of him whether he liked it or not. He thrashed beneath his captors, face nearly unrecognizable for how red it had become. “Gah! S-Stop it! Seriously, I d-don’t--!”

“Ugh, stop fighting it,” Kirishima said, shifting so his knees were pinning Bakugou’s arms down now. Eager to get in on the fun, he scribbled in the blonde’s underarms while Kaminari returned to his ribs and sides.

“Knock it off!” Bakugou demanded, still struggling as much as possible. He managed to make Kaminari lose his balance a couple of times, but ultimately he was still trapped.

The two captors looked at each other again, and again came to a silent agreement. In the next instant Kaminari was untucking Bakugou’s shirt and sliding his hands underneath while Kirishima slipped his wiggling fingers underneath his short sleeves.

Bakugou jolted. “Nohohohohohohoho!” Soft, reluctant laughter poured from him freely now, and his body reacted more by squirming than anything else at this point. He squeezed his eyes shut to block out their grinning faces, but then immediately opened them again. Nope. Not doing that. “Agh! S-Stahahahahahap you mohohohohorons!”

“But it’s nice to hear you laughing, Bakugou,” Kaminari replied with a smile.

Kiri nodded. “Yeah! You’re always so grumpy and serious. It’s good to see you lighten up a little.”

“F-Fricking get ohohohohoff of me!” Bakugou managed between snickers. “I swear I’ll k-kihihihill you bohohohoth! Stahahahahap!”

“Uh…guys?”

The new voice made all three of them freeze and turn. Deku had entered the living room, looking completely perplexed and a little flustered. He looked first at Bakugou, then Kaminari, then Kirishima, and back to the first again. “W-What…what’s going on?”

“What does it look like, Midoriya?” Kiri scoffed good-naturedly. “You should know.”

“B-But…um…” Deku met Bakugou’s eyes for the briefest of moments before the blonde turned his face away, obviously blushing furiously from embarrassment. “He doesn’t…he doesn’t like it, you know? Are you sure it’s a good idea?”

That nerd was defending him now, dang it. Bakugou hated this. He hated it with every fiber of his being. Deku knowing he was ticklish was one thing. They’d grown up together; it was practically inevitable. But this? Having two of his classmates find out and then use it against him? This was a living nightmare.

“We just want to hear him laugh for a change,” Kaminari replied.

“Yeah! Oh, hey, Midoriya – you two grew up together, right?” Kiri asked, grinning. “Want to give us some tips?”

Suddenly Bakugou was struggling again, kicking and pushing against his two captors with renewed vigor, hoping that their being distracted would also mean they were off-guard. This was true for Kaminari, who toppled off of him with a yelp of surprise, but the same couldn’t be said for Kirishima, who continued to hold him down firmly like an immovable boulder.

“Dang it, spiky hair! Let me up already!” Bakugou yelled, keeping himself curled up so he could kick Kaminari away again if he needed to.

Deku frowned. He could tell his friend was really uncomfortable and embarrassed, but he didn’t know what to say to get Kirishima to let him go. “Listen, I know it would be nice to see Kacchan smile and laugh for once, but…it’s not worth making him hate you later, you know? Believe me, being on the receiving end of his wrath is not…not fun.”

Bakugou dared a glance back at Deku and was surprised to find him looking just as unhappy as he felt right now. Suddenly he had flashbacks to all the times growing up where the nerd would follow him around everywhere like a puppy – both before and after he got his quirk – always there to have his back and offer encouragement, even though Bakugou had never asked for it.

And here he was again – years later – doing the exact same thing. Defending him, trying to protect him, even though Bakugou never asked and never wanted it in the first place. Even though he had put Deku through so much torment over the years.

“UGH.” Bakugou growled loudly, letting his legs fall back to the floor in resignation, rolling his eyes. “FINE. Look, I hate this. I hate it. But if it will get you idiots to leave me the heck alone – and as long as you swear not to breathe a word of this to anyone – then fine. Just do it. Get it over with already.”

“K-Kacchan…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself!” Bakugou snapped. “Just tell them and get on with it.”

Deku hesitated, but eventually the expectant looks from Kirishima and Kaminari coupled with the resigned face of his childhood friend made him cave, if nothing else just so Bakugou could be relieved of his suffering.

“I-It’s, um…y-you gotta…” Deku sighed, kneeling down beside them. “Here. Like this.” He didn’t dare look at Bakugou as he curled his hands into fists and drilled his knuckles into either side of the blonde’s ribcage.

“AAAGH!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!” Laughter exploded from Bakugou, his struggling coming back twice as strong as before. The atomic teen blushed so hard it spread to his ears and neck, but he couldn’t stop laughing, and Deku found he suddenly couldn’t stop smiling, either.

“Whoa! Dude, let me try!” Kaminari exclaimed, repeating what Deku did and making Bakugou unleash a new round of hysterics.

“GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Me, too!” Kirishima reached over to repeat the action.

Bakugou writhed, lost in ticklish agony. “AHAHAHAHALL RIGHT ENOHOHOHOHOUGH ALREADYHEHEHEHE!! STAHAHAHAHAHAP!!”

“Just one minute,” Kirishima replied, beaming. “I promise.”

“NAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU IHIHIHIHIHIDIOTS!!” Bakugou shrieked and thrashed and dug his heels into the floor, but none of it saved him, and he was blushing so hard Deku wondered if he could even breathe. “FRICKING STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!! YOU GOT WHAHAHAHAHAT YOU WAHAHAHAHAHANTED!!”

“What about here?” Kaminari asked, knuckling into the spot that had made Bakugou break the first time, and the blonde dissolved into silent laughter.

“All right, that’s enough,” Kirishima announced, climbing off of his friend’s arms. Kaminari hopped off as well, leaving Bakugou to curl up in a ball and catch his breath.

Deku sat back, watching his friend with a worried expression on his face. His heart was pounding. He had no idea what Bakugou would do to any of them now that he was free, and it terrified him. “Kacchan—”

“Shut up,” Bakugou growled, though he didn’t turn to face any of them. “Not a word. Not a single. Word. Understand me?”

“We won’t tell anyone,” Kirishima said with a nod.

Kaminari concurred. “We promise.”

“Definitely,” Deku added, feeling the need to reaffirm the vow he’d already made years ago.

Bakugou was silent for a long while. Then he took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and sat up, climbing back up to where he’d been seated on the couch not five minutes ago. He snatched up his textbook and glared at its contents. “Ugh. Where were we?”

[shorkbrian]

May I get a darling that’s trying to kill their yandere? Maybe trying to strangle them in their sleep or poisoning their food, blantantly trying to stab them when the yandere back is turned, hell maybe trying to piss the yandere off so much the yan accidentally kills them.

One character I can see this with is Shouto.

Like he just loves his darling so much, he’ll put up with quite a lot. Of course, after his darling poisons him for the first time, he’s understandably upset. The man would come up with some kind of punishment for his darling to endure, and then make sure there’s nothing in his house that they have access to that could possibly be slipped into his food.

When he wakes up gasping for breathe, sheets wrapped around his neck tightly, his darling pulling on the ends, Shouto would be shaken and hurt, having to use his fire to burn the sheet to a crisp so he could breathe. Why is there such hostility from the one he loves? He’s keeping them together, making sure the world can’t hurt them. Once again, he’ll punish them. Maybe he’ll use the same punishment as last time, or he’ll come up with a new one, something that hurts worse. The next night, he ties his darling’s hands to the head board, forcing them to let him lay his head across their chest.

It would take the darling a few months to work up the courage to attack him after the most recent punishment. Shouto sees this as them accepting his love, becoming more comfortable with him in their new home. One night he excuses himself from the dinner table, wandering into the kitchen to fetch salt for his steak. He hears the creak of the floor, knows that means his darling is nearby, so he turns to ask what they need. The knife in their hand makes him stop what he’s doing..... was his darling intending to stab him? His question was answered when they rushed forward, knife raised and aimed for his chest. He sighed as he side-stepped the attack easily. Did his darling forget he was a pro-hero? This punishment would be worse than the last two combined, simply because he made his darling beg this time. They were thoroughly subdued when he was done, sobbing into his neck as he held them close to his side. From then on, his darling was forced to sit in his lap, not allowed to touch the cutlery. They could only struggle as Shouto force-fed them, giving their side a pinch if they refused to open their mouth. 

He would almost break when his darling would freak out in the middle of making love. Everything would be going fine, they would be reciprocating like he had taught (trained) them to, not resisting, letting out pleasing little whimpers and whines as he touched them. But when he slid inside, his darling thrashed, began screaming and sobbing about how horrible Shouto was, how evil he was. It was so confusing, Shouto trying his best to shush them, comfort them so his heart wouldn’t hurt listening to them sob out their hatred of him. He would immediately run a hot bath, gather his darling into his arms and sit the both of them down in the tub, holding them to his chest and pressing their face to his neck as he uttered comforting words.

During one such tantrum, his darling had struck him, given a hearty slap of their hand across his face. It had hurt, but not as much as when they screamed out his similarity to his father. That made him snap. Within a second, Shouto had his hands at their throat, tight enough that their esophagus was immediately crushed, their words cut off. “I’m nothing like him.” he seethed, watching as their hands scratched at his own crushing grip, desperate for air. It was only when his darling passed out did Shouto realize how right they were. His father had never hesitated when hurting his mother. 

After that, Shouto broke down, crying as he cuddled his darling to his chest, pressing an apology to each kiss into their hair, tears running down his face, composure lost. He had lost his cool, and in that moment became similar to the man he despised most. His darling regained consciousness to Shouto sobbing into their neck, stroking their hair as he tried to calm himself down.

In the weeks that followed, every time Shouto caught sight of the hand-shaped bruises around his darlings neck, he’d pull them into a tender hug, his apologies incessant as he placed soft, fluttery kisses against their neck. 

He could forgive his darling if they yelled or shouted at him, if they tried to poison his food or strangle him in his sleep. But he would never be able to forgive himself if he acted like his father

[izzyfandoms]

Buy One, Get Six Free

(Thomas and Remy have been together for a while now, and it’s going well, but there’s one problem. Remy doesn’t know that Thomas has sides. 

What happens when Thomas finally tells him the truth? How will Remy react? And will Remy love the sides as much as they love him?)

SHIPS: Sleepmas, Losleep, Sleepality, Rosleep, Sleepxiety, Sleepceit, Dukesleep

WARNINGS: Sympathetic Deceit, Sympathetic Remus, Remus says some mildly sexual/gory things but nothing actually happens

TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @ajdraws0430 @phantomofthesanderssides @creativity-killed-thekitten @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @emo-disaster @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgromlin

Masterpost

Thomas bit his lip, pacing back and forth across the living room floor and wringing his hands. He routinely checked the clock, watching the seconds tick by, getting closer and closer to 2pm. His stomach filled with dread as the sides all watched him walk, a strange mixture of excitement, neutrality, and downright terror.

“Okay… but, like, what if he freaks out?” Virgil spoke up suddenly. “This is a bad idea, one of the worst ideas we’ve ever had. Why are we doing this? We’re just gonna ruin everything. He’s gonna think we’re super weird and dump Thomas immediately, and then we’ll be alone forever.”

Thomas made a pained sound, as did Roman, and Logan sighed.

“Virgil, we don’t know that,” He said calmly. “And, based on prior behaviour, I doubt Remy will react like that. It is more likely that he’ll be confused than anything else. Besides, communication is a necessity in any long-term relationship, it would be unhealthy to keep this from him for much longer.”

Patton nodded eagerly. “Yeah, and Remy loves Thomas, he’s not gonna leave him just ‘cos of this!”

Virgil didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t say anything else, silently chewing his thumb as he sat at the foot of the stairs.

“Do you think he’ll wanna fuck us, too?” Remus grinned, practically bouncing up and down on the spot, and Roman gasped beside him, kicking his brother in the shin.

“Don’t be crude, oh, evil twin of mine, we should focus on the romance!” Roman said. “And, besides, you’re the ugly one, anyway.”

Before this could escalate into a full-on brawl – which it likely would have, given how most arguments with the twins turned out – Deceit intervened, two extra arms appearing at his waist, stretching out and pushing the brothers apart. Fortunately, Thomas was too busy stressing out to notice, or he might have actually thrown up.

All of a sudden, they heard a knock at the door – three raps, and then the doorbell rang.

It was Remy.

Logan straightened up, adjusting his tie. “We’re sticking to the plan,” He said, leaving no room for disagreement. “We’ll all sink out, and then, when Thomas cues us, I will appear, and we will explain the situation to Remy. If he is agreeable, Patton can appear, too, and possibly Roman. We do not want to overwhelm him.”

The doorbell rang again, and Thomas rushed over to the door. He looked back at his sides, watching them all sink out – some wishing him good luck, but most just disappearing without a word – before opening it, and coming face-to-face with his boyfriend.

“’Sup, babe,” Remy greeted, before his brow pinched together, and he tilted his head. “You look stressed. You good?”

“Yup!” Thomas answered, his voice just a little too high, and not convincing either of them.

Remy nodded slowly. “Uh huh… sure. You wanna talk about it?”

“Later.”

His boyfriend didn’t look like he believed that, either, despite it being the honest truth, but he didn’t press, instead lifting the two to-go cups in his hands.

“I brought coffee.”

Thomas smiled genuinely as Remy handed him the cup, taking a large sip with a content sigh, and stepping to the side so his boyfriend could enter the apartment. There were a few moments of silence, and that was when Thomas noticed that Remy was staring at him.

“What?”

Remy let out an exaggerated gasp. “Wow, I’m out here looking like a snack and you’re just not going to kiss me? Rude.”

Thomas couldn’t help but laugh, leaning down and pecking his (short) boyfriend on the lips. When he pulled back, Remy gave him one of those soft smiles that made his heart do cartwheels in his chest (and maybe Patton was doing cartwheels in the mindscape, too, there was really no way to tell).

Remy took Thomas’s hand, tracing random shapes across his palm with his finger.  

“So,” He began. “Are you gonna tell me what’s up, or am I gonna have to guess?”

Thomas tried not to panic and freeze at the question, he really did, but Remy noticed anyway, looking back up at him with concern.

“I need to tell you something,” Thomas admitted. “It’s nothing bad, it’s just… there’s something about me that you need to know, and you’re probably gonna want to sit down for this.”

He led Remy over to the couch, and they both sat down.

“I, uh…” Thomas trailed off. He sighed; this was going to be hard to explain. “Just- um…”  

He waved his hand, deciding to just rip off the band-aid, without any preamble, and Logan rose up in his usual spot. Remy jolted so hard he almost fell off the sofa, and Thomas only just managed to catch his sunglasses in time, as they’d slipped right off his face. He tried to hand them back, but Remy wasn’t paying attention to him, instead, he was staring at Logan, wide-eyed and perplexed.

After a moment or two, Remy began to look back and forth between Thomas and Logan, as if comparing them, and they waited patiently for him to finish.

“Okay, uh…” Remy said, running his fingers through his hair, messing it up even further. “What?”

Thomas wanted to fix it for him, to pull him close and reassure him that he wasn’t insane, but he was worried that Remy wouldn’t react well, so he resorted to just staring at him instead.

“I am Logan, it is nice to finally meet you,” Logan introduced himself, stepping forward and holding out his hand for Remy to shake.

Remy did so almost immediately, wanting to check if Logan was really there, and looking rather startled when he realised that he was, in fact, real. His hand was soft, just like Thomas’s, though a little bit cooler, and Remy’s touch lingered as he found himself wanting to just keep holding that hand and never let go (like he often felt with Thomas).

Logan’s face had turned pink by the time that Remy pulled away, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure.

“I am one of Thomas’s sides, the physical representation of his logical thinking and knowledge.”

Remy nodded along as if he understood. “Uh huh, okay… what does that mean?”

“I’ve found that comparing our situation to that of Riley’s in the movie ‘Inside Out’ is the easiest way to explain it to others,” Logan explained. “Just, instead of emotions, we represent more complex concepts such as Logic, Morality and Creativity.”

“Is that why you made me watch Inside Out with you last week?” Remy glanced at Thomas, and his boyfriend gave him a slightly sheepish smile and a nod.

“You’re taking this remarkably well,” Thomas commented.

Remy shrugged. “This isn’t the craziest shit I’ve ever seen.”

“It isn’t?”

“I’ll tell you ‘bout it later, babe,” Remy said, patting Thomas’s arm. “So, how many sides are there?”

Logan took a step closer. “Right now, there are six of u-”

Before he could finish that sentence, both Patton and Roman popped up in their usual spots, making Remy jump, though he didn’t look nearly as startled as he had when Logan had first appeared. They both looked ecstatic, and, frankly, lovestruck.

“Hi, I’m Patton!”  

Patton looked like he wanted to hug Remy – and he did, desperately – but he didn’t want to overwhelm him, so he stayed by the curtains. Roman, apparently, had no such qualms, rushing forward and taking Remy’s hands in his own. This was the first time he was seeing Remy with his own two eyes (not just through Thomas’s), and he was too gay to think straight.

“Oh, my stars, you’re gorgeous!” Roman breathed, and, before he could stop himself, he continued with: “I’m in love with you.”

For a moment, Remy looked surprised, and then his expression melted into the soft smile that he usually reserved just for Thomas. In any other situation, Remy looking at someone else like that would have made Thomas feel jealous, but Roman wasn’t really ‘someone else’, was he? He was a part of Thomas, and if Remy could love Thomas as a whole, which he did, very much, he could love all his different parts, too.

Things were going to be okay.

***

“I do not have any feelings or emotions; I am only in a relationship with you because Thomas is. It just makes logical sense,” Logan said matter-of-factly, adjusting his glasses.

“Sure,” Remy said. “Does that mean you want me to get out of your lap?”

Logan instantly tightened his grip around Remy’s waist, pulling him closer. “Of course not.”

Remy smirked, tilting his head up to look at him. “Aww, does that mean you love me?”

“I do not feel love.”

Remy pouted, and, even though Logan knew it was fake, he still immediately had the urge to take it back, so the smile that he adored would return.

“Okay, fine, I love you,” He admitted.

One of Remy’s hands reached up to carefully cradle Logan’s face, the other resting in the centre of his chest, over his tie – ready to, at any moment, use it to pull Logan closer and capture his lips in a kiss, as he often did.

“I love you, too,” Remy smiled. “My shooting star.”

Logan’s cheeks reddened at the nickname – just like he knew they would – and Remy’s smile widened.

“You’re adorable,” He said.

“Falsehood.”  

“You are,” Remy insisted, sitting up straighter so they were almost nose-to-nose, bumping Logan’s glasses. “You.” Kiss. “Are.” Kiss. “Adorable.”

He then kissed him again, this one lingering longer, before Remy finally pulled back. Logan couldn’t help but chase his lips, and Remy smirked again, making Logan blush just a little bit more.

“See,” Remy tucked a stray strand of hair behind Logan’s ear. “Adorable.”  

***

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Now try this one,” Patton beamed, holding out another cookie just in front of Remy’s lips.

Remy opened his mouth obediently, taking a bite and chewing it slowly.  

He and Patton had spent the last few hours baking a variety of sweet treats in Thomas’s kitchen. If you asked Patton, he would say that it was a team effort. If you asked Remy, however, he would say that Patton had done most of the work, as Remy had no idea how to bake. He wasn’t complaining, though, not in the slightest, especially not when Patton came up behind him, covering Remy’s hands with his own to guide him.

Remy swallowed. “It’s good,” He said. “Sweet.” And then he grinned. “Though not as sweet as you, sugar.”

Patton giggled, delighted.

“Not too sweet?” He asked.

“Never.”

Patton laughed again, poking Remy’s nose. “I was talking about the cookie, silly!”

“Oh, yeah, they’re good, too.”

“Do you think Thomas will like them?” Patton asked.

Remy tilted his head, his sunglasses slipping down his nose – revealing his distractingly gorgeous baby blue eyes – as he gave Patton an amused look. His hair flopped to one side, and Patton reached out to fix it.  

“I’m pretty sure you know him better than I do, hon.”

“That’s true,” Patton said, before popping the rest of the cookie into his mouth. He chewed slowly, before smiling again. “I think Thomas will like them.”

***

Thomas flung the front door open, smiling when Remy stepped inside, immediately taking Thomas’s hand, squeezing it, and planting a kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek.

“Morning, babe,” He greeted.

“Hey,” Thomas said. “I’ve gotta get back to work now – Logan and Roman are helping me with a new video idea – but Virgil’s out, so you can hang out with him, for now.”

Remy grinned, taking off his sunglasses and placing them on top of his head, knowing full well that Virgil was weak for his eyes, and intending on taking full advantage of that fact. To be fair, all of them loved Remy’s eyes, and, upon seeing them, Thomas couldn’t help but lean down and kiss him properly.

When they pulled apart, Remy stepped around him, into the apartment, strolling over to the couch, where Virgil lay, scrolling through his phone. It didn’t really make sense that Virgil had a phone, but nothing about the sides ever really made sense, so Remy chose not to question it, instead flopping into Virgil’s lap without warning, grinning when the anxious side instinctively sat up, wrapping his arms around him.

“Mornin’, handsome.”

Remy’s smile widened as Virgil’s face turned pink. He remained flustered for another moment or two, before he calmed himself down and rolled his eyes.

“Not a very accurate compliment, babe.”

Remy shushed him, covering Virgil’s mouth with his finger. “Nope, nuh-uh – you can’t insult my boyfriend like that. I won’t allow it.”

Virgil snorted, taking Remy’s hand away from his face and intertwining their fingers.  

“Are you just here to keep me distracted so I don’t keep bothering Thomas about the new video idea?” He asked dryly.

“I’m here because I wanna snuggle with my very gorgeous boyfriend,” Remy corrected, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the tip of Virgil’s nose. “And also make out with him. Any distraction from bugging Thomas is just a bonus.”

Virgil rolled his eyes again. “You’ve got seven boyfriends, why choose to sit on my lap?”

“Technically, I only have one boyfriend.”

“Wow, big word. Logan would be so proud of you.”

Remy poked Virgil’s shoulder. “Don’t be rude. And I’m sitting in your lap because I love you and I want to, plus you’re, like, super warm.”

“We’re all warm.” There was a beat. “I love you, too.”

Remy grinned again. “Great. Wanna make out?”

***

Remy absent-mindedly scrolled through his phone. Thomas was upstairs, looking for something, and would likely remain there for another few minutes, at least, so his boyfriend was just looking for a way to pass the time.  

Then, suddenly, he heard the familiar whooshing sound that meant a side had just risen up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw light blue, and a bespectacled man standing by the curtains. Remy snorted quietly.

“You know that doesn’t work on me, darlin’.”

Deceit pouted – a very Patton-like expression, most likely deliberate – and then crossed his arms in a manner that was decidedly not Patton, which would have given him away, if Remy hadn’t already seen through his disguise.

“What did I do wrong this time?”

Remy looked up from his phone, giving Deceit a once-over. He then shrugged. “I dunno. You’re just… different, I guess.”

Deceit sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and, in the blink of an eye, he was back to his normal snake-like self, his hat in his hand. He placed it on his head, but, before he could say anything else, Remy had jumped off the couch, reaching up on his tiptoes and plucking the hat back off his head with a grin. He only just managed to run his fingers through Deceit’s hair, which made the lying side smile, as, even though he was the shortest side, Remy was still much shorter than him, which was, honestly, adorable.  

“You’re cuter without the hat,” Remy teased, placing it on his own head. “It looks better on me.”

And how was Deceit supposed to not kiss him when he looked like that? Wearing Deceit’s hat and grinning up at him in that way reserved just for them.

He didn’t get the chance to, though, as Remy kissed him first, standing up on his tiptoes and wrapping his arms around Deceit’s neck. Remy tugged him as close as possible, humming quietly against Deceit’s lips.

***

The moment Remy stepped into the apartment, he was swept off his feet, scooped up into Roman’s arms, and twirled around – once, twice, thrice. Remy’s sunglasses almost fell to the ground, but he caught them just in time, tucking them onto his t-shirt collar.

“How are you, on this fine morning, my radiant Sleeping Beauty?”

Remy sighed, wrapping one arm around Roman’s neck, the other hand clutching his half-empty coffee cup.  

“Ugh, the barista at Starbucks was, like, so rude to me, this morning,” He complained, pouting slightly, but relaxing. “She just kept glaring at me.”

Roman clicked his tongue, but he couldn’t help but grin.  

“Would you like me to fight her for you, my love?” He offered.

Remy snorted. “I’m pretty sure the cops would get called if you showed up at Starbucks with your sword, Prince Charming. Thomas would end up behind bars, and then who would take me into their arms and kiss me every day?”

“That’s the real tragedy,” Roman said, leaning closer to kiss Remy.

“Get a room!” Virgil shouted from the couch.

“You’re just jealous that Remy loves me more,” Roman joked.

Remy stretched his legs, reclining in Roman’s arms. He grinned. “Now, now, boys… there’s enough of me to go around. Besides, I don’t pick favourites.” He paused for a moment. “And, if I had to, I’d pick Thomas.”

Roman stuck his tongue out at Virgil, who rolled his eyes.

“Come on,” Remy smiled at Virgil over Roman’s shoulder. “Aren’t you gonna come give me a kiss, too, gorgeous?”

***

If he had been with anybody else, Remy would have scowled at the loss of his sunglasses. But he was with Remus, and he was used to this, so instead he just smiled, tilting his head up to meet his boyfriend’s eyes.

Remus dropped the sunglasses on the couch beside them, grabbing Remy’s face – a little roughly, but not hard enough to hurt.

“I want to steal your eyes.”

This probably would’ve alarmed Remy, but he was used to this kind of language from Remus, so instead he just laughed quietly, poking Remus’s shoulder.

“I think I’d rather you didn’t, pumpkin,” Remy said. “I kinda need them. How else am I supposed to admire your gorgeous face?”

Remus nodded, humming. “Good point.”  

He ran one finger down the side of Remy’s face, the other hand holding his face in place as he stared into Remy’s eyes. Perhaps this should’ve been uncomfortable, but how could Remy feel anything but comfort when he was curled up in Remus’s lap, half under a blanket, with some horror movie that neither of them were paying attention to playing in the background.

“I’m gonna copy them,” Remus decided finally.

“Copy them?”

Remus nodded eagerly, his thumb resting just below Remy’s left eye. “Uh huh! I’m gonna make copies of your eyes that I can keep with me even when you’re not around.” Suddenly, he gasped, and then grinned. “I wonder what they’ll taste like.”

Remy wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

Remus took that as a compliment, as Remy knew he would.  

“Thanks!” He exclaimed, one hand moving to squeeze Remy’s waist, before pulling him into a predictably messy kiss.

***

Remy hadn’t meant to stop in the middle of the hallway, but he was distracted very easily, and, after pausing mid-step to read a text, he ended up standing there for almost five minutes. He didn’t look up when he heard footsteps behind him, and when he felt a hand on the small of his back, he knew exactly who it was.

“Hey, babe,” Remy greeted, his eyes remaining on his phone screen. “Just one sec, I’m arguing with my mom.”

“How can you always tell when it’s me?” Thomas asked.  

Remy shrugged, finishing his text, before stuffing his phone back into his pocket. He then turned and wrapped his arms around Thomas’s neck.

“I dunno,” He said. “It’s just… obvious.”

“What, have you got like a… sixth sense for it, or something?” Thomas joked.

Remy laughed. “Nah, I’m just perceptive like that.”

He then kissed Thomas, quick and soft, before pulling back slightly. There was a beat, and then Thomas grinned, a glint that screamed either Remus or Roman – there wasn’t time for Remy to decipher it – in his eyes. Before Remy could question it, Thomas dipped him with a laugh that was absolutely Remy’s favourite sound.  

He kissed him again and again and again and then once more on his neck to make him laugh.

“Did Roman tell you to do that?” Remy asked, his sunglasses slipping to reveal eyes that were so bright and happy that Thomas’s heart felt just a little too big for his ribcage.

“I can decide to do things on my own, you know,” Thomas teased.

Remy raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, fine,” Thomas admitted. “But Roman wasn’t actually the only one telling me to do that.”

“I’m sure.”

A moment passed, and then Thomas’s smile softened. “I love you so much, we all do.”

“I know,” Remy said, one hand moving up to cradle Thomas’s face. “I love you, too.”

[the-edge-of-great]

19. “I’m going to protect you.” Juke & the guys || for @starrybumbles​, @wldflwrskyee, and anon

-----

So, there’s this guy.

Man, actually. He’s old—super old, like twenty-five—with a receding hairline and dulling gray eyes. He shows up one day in October, completely out of the blue. Julie sees him a lot around school, usually milling about the hallways in regular clothes. At first, she thinks he’s a confused parent, lost trying to find the front office. After she sees him every day for a week, she considers him a janitor. But then, where is his uniform? His mop? His custodian supply cart? And he doesn’t speak to anyone in the halls like the other janitors do. No one makes an effort toward him, either. He’s weird; Julie can’t figure him out.

On Monday, one week after she first began seeing him, he makes his first move. He’s standing right outside of the music room. Julie doesn’t see him until she’s turning to leave with Flynn falling into step next to her, and he’s standing right in the doorway. Her classmates are filing into the hall, oblivious. Passing right through him. Julie stops in her tracks.

She thinks, another ghost? She can see another ghost?

He’s friendly when she passes. “Hello,” he says, all grin. “Great singing in there. Sounded beautiful.”

She smiles to be polite—realizing too late that she doesn’t have to react to him; as far as he knows, she can’t see ghosts! But the damage is done, she can tell. His face lights up when she reacts to him, and really, her heart aches. Who knows how long he’s been dead? What if she’s the first person to see him since he became a ghost?

On Tuesday, he’s walking with her in the halls, chatting about famous composers ranging from Beethoven to Queen. She’s pretending not to hear him and picking up her pace, hoping to lose him in the crowd. He never disappears; ghosts are fast.

Wednesday, she sees him at home. At home! She’s eating dinner with her family that evening, listening to Carlos tell a crazy story about defeating the Big Kids in a playground baseball game. Something behind him catches her eye: a face. A whole face—the man from school! He disappears as soon as they lock eyes.

For the rest of the night, she doesn’t feel right.

Thursday after school, in the midst of band practice, something knocks on the studio doors. The guys aren’t bothered—confused more than anything—but Julie jumps. Her microphone slips out of her hand. That has to be him, right? Does she confront him? What if he’s evil, like Caleb? What if he means harm? What if he’s a demon?

Reggie is closest; he fazes through the door, his top half disappearing outside. When he returns, he shrugs. “Nothing’s out there.”

“Sounded like a raccoon,” Luke says.

“Raccoons don’t knock, dude,” Alex argues.

“But they can, can’t they?” Reggie says. “With their little hands.”

Julie barely hears them. He came to her house.

“Why would a raccoon knock on a door?” Alex asks.

“I don’t know, Alex! Maybe after a life of crime, they want to do something nice for once!” Reggie defended.

She doesn’t notice Luke’s moved in front of her, but then he takes her hand, and she jolts back to reality. “Julie?” he says softly. He’s frowning at her, eyebrows drawn with concern and eyes sweeping over her. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a guy at school,” she explains slowly. “A ghost guy.”

Luke frowns. She can see the muscles in his jaw clench. “What do you mean a ghost guy?” he repeats slowly.

Friday morning, Julie is flanked by her band. They start off as her own personal bodyguards, walking with her through the halls in a formation that would rival the secret service and pretending to question anyone who got close, as if their words could actually be heard by someone other than her.

But then… she loses Alex to the gym when he sees Dirty Candy practicing a routine—he promises to be back after this song!

And then… she loses Reggie to the band room where—she notices in only a glimpse as they pass—a group of kids are absolutely shredding it on the saxophone.

By her music period, the only one remaining is Luke.

“I should’ve known you’d be the last one standing,” she jokes into her phone. “Actually, the only thing I was sure of was that we’d lose Reggie before lunch.”

“I bet Alex that Reggie would disappear much quicker,” Luke says. They share a smile.

Julie leans against her locker, hugging her books to her chest and scanning the hallway. “I’m kind of freaked by all of this,” she admits. “I thought the only ghosts I had to worry about were you guys.”

Luke shrugs. “We figured you could just see all ghosts. There are people like that, apparently.”

“I wonder if they get harassed too.”

“Julie,” he says, suddenly serious as he turns to her, “listen. This guy isn’t going to keep harassing you, okay?”

“But how are we supposed to stop a ghost?”

“I don’t know yet, but trust me.” He leans close, takes her hand in his, and smiles. “I’m going to protect you, alright?”

She chuckles. “My hero.”

By the middle of class, Alex has found his way back. They’re standing along the wall, a few rows behind Julie. Reggie arrives ten minutes later. Julie can hear him gushing about how cool Dungeons and Dragons is now. She laughs under her breath.

To close the class out, Julie takes a seat at the piano. She plays a cover of a song, an upbeat pop melody that everybody except the three 90s ghosts in the back recognize. Then, the bell rings, and the class spills into the hallway. Everything seems okay.

Until it isn’t.

“Beautiful song,” he says, appearing right behind her.

Julie scrambles to her feet. She moves around the piano quickly, dragging her hand along the lid and putting as much distance between her and him as possible.

Luke is there, immediately. “Hey man,” he says, blocking Julie. “What’s your deal?”

“Yeah,” Alex agrees. He leans on Luke’s shoulder. “We don’t like when weirdos follow our friend around.”

The guy apologizes quickly. “It’s just—” he explains. “She’s the first person who’s seen me since I’ve died.”

“Join the club dude,” Reggie says. He’s in the back with Julie, arms crossed over his chest. “Doesn’t mean you can be creepy.”

“Do you like music?” Julie asks suddenly.

He tries stretching his neck to see her over Luke and Alex, but they don’t budge. “Love it,” he answers, glaring at them. “I was in a world renowned jazz band when I died. We were on tour.”

Alex looks back at Julie. She smiles at him. After a moment, he smiles back.

“Well, we know a place you can be seen by lifers and still play music,” he says. “It’s great.”

The guy raises an eyebrow. “… Really?”

That weekend, the guys come home late. Too late. Julie’s been on TikTok for hours, laying on the couch in the studio, trying to distract herself. They took the guy from school to Caleb’s nightclub tonight. Alex spoke with Willie, and they were able to get him close. Not too close, apparently—Julie made them swear they weren’t putting themselves in danger for this. They just had to get in and get out. According to Alex, it’s supposed to be easy.

Finally coming home at midnight doesn’t feel easy.

“Where were you!” she cries before they’ve regained their footing. She leaves her phone on the couch and storms at them. “It’s midnight! You left at nine! What happened!”

“Shh Julie it’s midnight,” Reggie says. “You’ll wake the neighbors.” When she glares at him, he jumps behind Luke.

“Chill out, okay?” Luke says, catching her arms. “It took a little longer than we expected, but the important thing is we’re okay, and that guy won’t bother you anymore.”

Julie huffs. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Yeah,” Alex agrees with a nod. “He’s in a better place now.”

“Is he, though?” Reggie asks.

Luke snorts. “He thinks he is.”

Julie sighs. She covers the hand still wrapped around her arm. “Thanks, guys.”

“You don’t have to thank us,” Alex says. He’s grinning. “We’re family, right?”

“Oh!” Reggie steps out from behind Luke. “Group hug?”

Julie chuckles. “Well actually, I think it’s time for me to go to be—”

Luke yanks her forward suddenly. She staggers and falls into his chest, and his arms envelope her instantly. She smiles against him; being able to hug has been the greatest upgrade. He kisses her forehead and she hugs him tighter as butterflies flutter in her stomach.

“We have your back, Julie,” Luke mumbles into her hair.

Seconds later, Alex and Reggie are wrapping their arms around Luke and Julie. She’s enclosed in a blanket of warmth, even if they themselves provide no heat. We have your back, Julie. His words echo. She believes it; of course she believes it. She has no reason not to.

“With us,” he continues, holding her tighter, “you’re safe.”

[nightwingmyboi]

Pt 1) I'm ngl, if this Ric Grayson arc ends with Dick finally going off on the rest of the batfam for only showing him affection when they need something, it will almost be worth it. You mentioned in the meta about his relationship with the batfam that to recover from the gunshot he cut every one off (ngl, I stopped reading as soon as his memories were wiped), and I think that means now is the perfect time (or when his memories finally return fully next issue) for him to blow up

Pt 2) I want him to go off on Bruce for never seeming satisfied with what he does. I want him to go off on Tim for running away when everything was going to shit while Bruce was stuck in time (there's evidence that he remembers pre reboot stuff with that one panel that has torque and tarantula and him proposing to Babs so I'm going to say that's all still canon). I want him to lose his shit with Babs for constantly being mad at him when he's trying so hard (I love Babs, but this is annoying)

Pt 3) when he gets his memories back I want him to finally blow up. Like??? His life has been in a constant state of falling apart since he became Nightwing (hell, even before that), but he still always put others first. And now Roy is dead, Donna is evil, Wally is who knows where after killing Roy, Jason and Bruce are back on the outs, etc, etc and people were saying they need him back to fix things when he's recovering from being shot in the head. If they let him point this out, the Ric arc

Pt 4) will have been validated in my eyes. Still fucking terrible writing wise, execution (I was excited for Talon! Dick but christ what I read of it was bad), one of the worst decisions they've made recently, and they've made a bunch of bad ones, but it will be validated in its existence to me.

Yeah, Dick takes a lot of crap from the members of his family; a lot of the things you listed are things that I am very much not a fan of, lmao. And I’d even add that, with the Ric stuff you mention, it wasn’t even that Dick “cut everyone off” so that he could recover; I should have made this clearer--Bruce and the rest of the family should take a lot of the blame for pushing Dick away. See, initially, Dick was open to the idea of getting to know his family. He visited the manor and then Bruce, impatient with the lack of progress Dick was making on regaining his memories, decided to take Dick down to the Batcave, show him the Nightwing suit (that still had the freaking blood from the gunshot wound on it Jesus Christ), and traumatize Dick with the video of him getting shot in the head in order to stir up some memories. Alfred and Damian help Bruce do this:

Nightwing: Rebirth Annual #2

And Dick is obviously horrified. After this, why in the world would Dick want to be Nightwing? Why would he want to associate with his “family”? Staying away from the manor wasn’t Dick cutting out people in his life who cared for him and were trying to help him; it was about, in Dick’s mind, staying away from people who were willing to hurt him, people who cared more about his utility and how they needed him to be Nightwing then they cared about his safety and wellbeing. It was a desperate move to protect himself from people he could no longer trust. It is clear that implanted false memories and other brainwashing was done from the very beginning (by the doctor Bruce specifically hired no less) in order to ensure that “Ric” would not be comfortable with Bruce and would be inclined to leave, but it was Bruce’s actions that had Dick running literally right into his brainwasher’s arms: 

It’s also not even like afterwards Dick hid himself in some unknown location, completely out of contact. Barbara easily tracked Dick down to talk. And yet, when Barbara talks to him, she doesn’t ask Dick if he’s alright. She just tells him that they want him to regain his memories (umm...yeah you’ve made that clear), comments that he’s not acting like himself, and tells him to come back to the manor. So...it’s all about what the family wants. Dick says no, and there are zero attempts at a compromise. Maybe the family could have used the millions of dollars at its disposal to set Dick up elsewhere outside the manor so he doesn’t have to, uh, live in a cab? Maybe they could agree to occasional check-ins instead of the overbearing babysitting they were suggesting, that Dick is uncomfortable with? Maybe they could ask Dick what he wants? But, no. As soon as Dick doesn’t do exactly what they want him to, he’s on his own. People talk about how this arc is making Dick look bad, but beyond that, really it's making all of the family look like uncaring, selfish assholes. 

That aside, about how I want this arc to conclude...it would be nice, as readers, to see Dick finally put his foot down and stand up for himself a little. But honestly? Him going off on everyone like you describe? I feel like that would be out of character. I could maybe see Dick telling off Batman, but I can’t even imagine Dick truly blowing up at Damian or Tim, or really even Barbara. People really over exaggerate Dick’s temper a lot; in reality, it usually takes very extreme circumstances, and often an insane amount of stress and/or brainwashing to make Dick lash out. Bruce is one of the few people that can make Dick lose his temper, so maybe. But I also think that when Dick is truly upset and emotionally compromised, his first move is to go somewhere to be alone. He doesn’t tend to lash out; he tends to retreat and isolate himself if he’s able. You’ll often see him hole himself in his apartment when everything becomes too much. Two good examples of this are in Joker’s Last Laugh and in the Outsiders. After Dick kills the Joker, he immediately retreats to his apartment to be alone, and likewise after Donna dies, he spends months isolated from his friends in Bludhaven: 

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files

And not only all that, but I really don’t think Dick yelling at everyone would be cathartic for him. If he did something like that, he’d feel terrible and guilty about it. He’d apologize. And I really don’t want him to have to apologize for anything in the aftermath of all this horrible stuff he’s been through. I don’t want any of the responsibility for making things right to be put on his shoulders. Though he’ll probably feel the need to try to fix things anyway, I’d actually prefer him to just...stay away from the family. Not avoid them, but let them be the ones to reach out to him for a change. Especially recently, Dick has had to do all the emotional work in his relationships; it would be so gratifying to have his friends and family put the work in on their own and be the ones to initiate so Dick doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting. 

And hey, I’d love even more for one of the numerous friends he used to have to step in and stand up for him instead, so he doesn’t have to. If the rest of the Titans were not currently being put through depressing arcs themselves (or being dead, RIP Roy), I think they definitely would’ve knocked some heads together. I think the only possible solution...is Uncle Clark coming to the rescue! Surely if Superman knew what was going on, he’d come down to the cave and give a good old fashioned tongue lashing to Batman for his pseudo-nephew’s sake! I’m not caught up with the Superman comics so idk what he’s up to rn, but please tell me this can happen and if not let me dream.

Thanks for the ask! I feel your pain, was pretty disappointed with Talon Dick. I really want to just reach into the comics and wrap Dick up in a blanket or something, give him rest!

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

♫ Surfing on a soundwave, Swinging through the stars, Take a left at your intestine, Take your second right past mars!

On the Magic School smelly space bus! ♫

SPOILERS for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #2!

This is a comic where, the longer I sit with a particular issue, the more I’m like, ‘yeah. Yeah. YEAH.’

It’s dense in a way that invites the reader to go through it multiple times, and rewards additional readthroughs.

Also, it helps that the art is FREAKING AMAZING.

Seriously. Evely and Lopes should draw and color everything, forever, always.

(I will honestly be shocked if they don’t get an Eisner nom for this book.)

Anyways, all of this to say: Another issue that I enjoyed. It has one of the most genuinely sweet Supergirl moments I’ve seen in the comics in a good long while.

So, if you’re looking for a quick thumbs up/thumbs down rating, thumbs up!

If you’d like some SPECIFICS, though...

THE STORY

King is an evil genius because we don’t pick up where we left off--rather, we start in the midst of the Space Bus journey.

There is technically a Big Action Scene, but I was honestly surprised by how...casually? the story progressed.

Essentially: Kara and Ruthye are forced to travel by bus because 1.) Krem stole Kara’s rocket and 2.) this corner of the universe doesn’t have the right stars, so Kara’s still recovering from being under a red sun for an extended period of time.

The bus makes occasional stops; they encounter a space dragon; Kara takes some Red Kryptonite and saves the day; they eventually arrive on a planet with a yellow sun. 

And again, all of this occurs with a kind of...breezy ease that I was not expecting at all.

I assumed that the space dragon fight would make up the final moments of the issue, after having built up the problem to a point where Kara needed to intervene.

But, noooope. The space dragon happens somewhere in the middle, which helps sell the central idea that this is simply Kara’s life. She’s been there, done that. She’s a badass who takes it all in stride.

But! Important to note! Ruthye still marvels at the sight of Kara taking out the space dragon, as well she should, because:

OH MY GOD. THE aRT.

There’s only so many times I can say, ‘it’s phenomenal, it’s gorgeous, it’s stunning’ before sounding like a broken record.

But it is. It truly is. This is the prettiest monthly book on the stands right now.

(Realizing I’ve been spelling Ruthye wrong this entire time, maybe? IDK. Apologies if I have.)

It’s in the final moments of the book that we learn what transpired after Krem shot Kara and Krypto and fled: Kara managed to get Krypto and Ruthye to a healer, and then passed out for a week. 

Ruthye and Kara recovered, buuuuut...

Krypto is still very near death because the arrow was poisoned.

The healer can’t treat him until he has a sample of the poison.

Which Krem has.

(See where this is going?)

So! Kara regains her powers! Ruthye has a super on her side! KRYPTO’S LIFE HANGS IN THE BALANCE!

Gimme. Issue. 3. STAT.

THE CHARACTERS

Very much enjoyed Ruthye in this issue!

There’s a really tricky balancing act you gotta pull off when writing child characters; you don’t want to just write them as tiny adults, but you also don’t want to be obnoxious or cloying in trying to write ‘true-to-age.’

King gives himself a bit of a cheat, by setting her up as a rock farmer from a...what would you call it. An old-fashioned planet? And thus the kind of character who had to ‘grow up fast’ and behaves more maturely than your typical pre-teen might.

BUT! IMPORTANTLY! This is tempered by placing Ruthye in situations where her (understandable) ignorance is challenged/put to the test. Like, yes, she is mature, and well-spoken, and utterly tenacious, but she’s also out of her depth, and still in need of help and guidance.

(Which is how we get to The Best Scene which I’ll get to in just a sec.)

TL;DR - this issue has really sold me on Ruthye as our POV character and I am officially Invested in the relationship between her and Kara.

Speaking of...

It’s KARA-CTERIZATION TIME!

So, okay. There’s some ‘eh’ stuff in this one, but, BUT!

We got the goods again.

And by ‘goods’ I mean this:

Whatever other nitpicks I have (and I do! Have one! Which I’ll get to!) THIS. This right here! This is Supergirl. This is Kara.

And what a beautiful line to introduce this moment:

“And it began--as most things begin when you’re dealing with Supergirl--with a moment of kindness.”

It’s the same gentle concern we saw in the previous issue, where Kara knelt down to address Ruthye eye-to-eye. 

Here, Kara’s facial expression, and the way she takes Ruthye’s hands and shows her what to do...

It’s just. SO SWEET.

Ahhhhh it’s so good. :D

So good! In fact! That the above scene offsets my one complaint, which is that Kara came off as harsh, IMO, when addressing the bus passengers, looking for Red K. 

Other good stuff from this particular portion of the book: we get Kryptonese (maybe? I think?) And a mention of Kara’s mother being strict about certain things, which is in keeping with the 2000s series version of Alura.

Ruthye also asks if Kara ever tried to avenge the death of her family/culture and she says no; Ruthye says that she heard a lifetime of regret in Kara’s response, which I suppose could be read one of two ways:

1.) That she regrets her choice not to avenge them, or 2.) that she regrets not having the option to avenge them, as there was no one person to punch, no single action that could rectify the destruction of the entire planet.

I personally prefer the second reading.

Which I suppose contradicts the recent-ish “Killers of Krypton” arc, but who knows what is and isn’t canon anymore, honestly. XD

As for the rest of the issue! I found myself thinking of a Grant Morrison interview, actually.

Morrison apparently met a Superman cosplayer at a con and that’s when the character clicked for them: “[The superman cosplayer] was so in the character, but what really got me was the way he was sitting. It was this absolutely relaxed pose with one knee up and the arm bent over, and that’s what broke Superman for me. Suddenly I realized that Superman wouldn’t be a poser, he wouldn’t be a Muscle Beach steroid guy; he’d actually be completely relaxed because nothing could hurt him. He could be so open and friendly to everyone because no one can punch him or hurt him. He can’t get a cold, or be damaged by anything you’re carrying or wearing. For me that was the power of that, whether you want to frame it as magical or not, it actually informed the stories I wanted to write. I felt I understood him in a way I hadn’t until that moment.”

That’s always stuck with me, the idea that Clark would be the most at-ease, chill guy you'd ever talk to.

And THAT, I think, is what we’re seeing here with Kara. That at-ease-ness.

But in a way that is distinct from Clark! In the above quote, it’s clear that Morrison thinks it’s Clark’s powers that are the reason he can be so relaxed and at ease.

But Kara is de-powered here. So why is she so chill?

Because Kara is an alien.

Kara’s in her element, here. She’s used to space travel, she knows the ins-and-outs, she’s not shocked by any of the weird stuff they encounter on their journey. 

Love it. LOVE. IT.

I am SO GLAD that King decided to go with Kara being the wizened mentor, as opposed to the naïve kid learning to be tough. It’s a much more interesting angle, IMO.

Also NO MENTION OF RIVALRY BETWEEN KARA AND CLARK. WOO. LET’S KEEP THIS ROLLIN’.

Alright, last, but certainly not least:

THE GOOD BOY! KRYPTO!

When I tell you I stress-read this entire comic first thing in the morning...XD

And I am STILL stressed. And a little sad that Krypto doesn’t get to go on another space adventure but! This is MIGHTY PREFERABLE to what I *thought* was going to happen, which is that Krypto would die from his injuries, and Kara would likewise be out for revenge. 

Fortunately, that is not the case! 

So like, the stakes?!?! Suddenly sky high. Find that dirtbag Krem and GET THAT POISON BACK TO THE HEALER!!

ART and MISC. STUFF THAT I LOVE

I generally don’t like to post entire pages of a comic, or panels without context, but the...reach? of this blog is extremely limited so. I think we’ll be okay. XD

So, alright! Some moments that I particularly enjoyed!

One of the panels that Mat Lopes shared early on! 

I want this lettered version on a mug.

(Also she looks very ’Grace Kelly-ish’ here.)

Love Kara’s facial expression and her line about space travel being more fun when you can fly.

From the same portion of the book--such a neat detail that Kara keeps her cash in her sleeve!

Another set of panels that I think Tom King shared a few months back.

Love Kara’s little smirk, and the, “I’m wearing a big yellow S on my chest, and a very fashionable red skirt.”

It IS fashionable. WE SUPPORT THE SKIRT, IN THIS HOUSE.

Also the slrrrrrrp. XD

It’s good.

Okay, 1.) VERY COOL SCI-FI DESIGN and 2.) that line is great. “Can you feel it, Ruthye? We’re getting closer. The stars are changing.”

Mmmm, them good cosmic Kara vibes.

Kara’s attitude about the Red K here is fun, like, ‘WELP, sometimes you turn into a monster, sometimes you don’t!’ but again, the line is what gets me.

“Did my hair move?”

“I do not believe so.”

XD

Honestly? I could post the whole comic here. Evely’s vision of ‘public transit, but space’ is just so immediately...not ‘real’, necessarily, because there’s such a fantastical element to it all, but it is fully realized. I think I used the phrase ‘lived-in’ and that’s it--this world feels like it has always existed; every grimy nook and cranny, every rando space bus traveler.

And Mat Lopes’ colors!

There are like, five distinct color palettes at work in this issue, and Lopes handles them all masterfully.

I think my favorite is the...I’ll call it ‘ethereal space aquarium’ lighting in the bus as they view the space dragon.

The glow and the shadows and the blues and pinks...

GGGGGGGGAAAHHHHHHHHHH so goooooooood

So, yeah. :D

I am very much enjoying this weird, wild ride with small, precocious Ruthye and wizened, crusty Kara. XD There’s some stuff that I don’t *love* but my goodness, it could be a lot worse!

Let us end on the beautiful title page:

[chasitity]

Our theory about Ranboo's Enderwalk

This is a long article with 1200+ words. It contains spoilers of several DSMP lore streams, including the one on 4.23.

We are DSMP fans who gather in a group chat, discuss the lore, share ideas, and watch streams together. The "three stages" theory was originally stated month ago by C431, one of us, when Puffy and Fundy saw "Ran". As the lore develops, more clues have appeared, allowing us to improve and confirm this theory.

DSMP C! Ranboo timeline

Organized by C431 in 2021.04.21. About 13000 letters are in the original article; I, Lotus, only translated a few paragraphs.

"My memory isn't good as my friends thought; I had my ways to remember things. Thus, the timeline isn't exactly accurate, but I indeed include all the essential details. "– C431.

Annotation:

"Three states of Ranboo" is a personal theory. There are multiple clues in Ranboo's streams, but CC! Ranboo hasn't confirmed yet.

"Boo": A state of Enderwalk. He can be easily confused with CC!Ranboo, usually appears in normal streams which contain small parts of lore. He cares little about his family; hyperactive, liking to prank, going along for the ride when something happens, even mocking others. He might be responsible for the dreamlike, illusionary "prison visit". He seems to be closely related to Dream, and has full, consistent memory.

"Ran": A state of Enderwalk. Silent, passive, similar to a real Enderman. He begins to show himself more recently, learning how to act as a human/Ranboo. He helps Ranboo in the shadows.

"Ranboo": He always appears in lore. Polite, cares about friendship. He wants to help his friends, avoiding harm. He prefers people instead of sides, yet he becomes slightly extreme for protecting his family. He really loves Michael.

For more information, please read this reddit page: https://www.reddit.com/r/dreamsmp/comments/l6p3ex/we_have_already_seen_ranboos_white_side_on_his/

-One day, Philza noticed that Ranboo was (probably Boo) using a strange language (Ender/Alien Language) talking to Fundy. He messages Ranboo for his location, yet receiving answers in Ender, making him confused. He talked to Ranboo again when they met in the front yard of his house; Ranboo still talked in Ender, then saying, "I just realized you probably couldn't understand Ender, well this is certainly awkward!"

-Meanwhile, something was going on between Ranboo and Foolish. Foolish wasn't happy about the conversation between Ranboo and Fundy, for Fundy knows nothing about Ender; he was being teased without realizing it. Foolish replied Ranboo in Galactic Alphabet/Enchantment language, saying, "Everything coming out of your mouth are lies" (something similar). Ranboo ignored Foolish, then was found wandering around Church Prime by Philza. He appeared as someone who just woke up after being hit by Philza, asking him why they are here.

-CaptainPuffy and Fundy witnessed a weird Ranboo around L'Manhole. He wandered around without any words, did not pay attention to anyone, picking and placing grass blocks. Puffy tried to talk with this "Enderman-like" Ranboo ("Ran"), only to found out that she couldn't move when staring at him. Puffy and Fundy freaked out when Ran disappeared within a second; it seems that he teleported away.

-During a "normal" stream, a super active Ranboo, aka Boo, suddenly stated that he needs to do something strange. He then searched for certain items, placing them in his inventory by some order, repeating several words; the first letter of these items and words formed "He is in control of me". Then he regained consciousness, wondering why his inventory was in a mess and went back to his tasks after arranging it.

The signs on the second floor's wall were removed and replaced by mocking and suggests finding the fourth memory book. Ranboo ignored it.

-Ranboo went to Enderwalk state (Ran) during his investigations about reviving Tommy. He silently went to Dream's Attachment Hall, then woke up Ranboo. Ranboo noticed that "he had never been in this place", yet he started to murmur sentences, everyone's conversations during the final war. Ranboo knew that Dream has a "revive book", realizing such power will only hurt others. Evil would again spread across this land. He wanted Dream dead, yet unwilling to kill with his own hands.

-Foolish came to Ranboo (which, unfortunately, was Boo), trying to sell his shulker box and rent in the long-term. Boo realized that Foolish was using him, for if he accepts the deal and the shulker box went missing, only "Ranboo" will lost interest and has to take action. Boo managed to scam Foolish, gaining a mansion and a favour from the god of Totems.

-Boo included Michael when listing his pets. He does not see Michael as his son.

The summaries below is written by Lotus.

-Ranboo was killed by Dream (twice) and Punz (once) when he first joined the SMP. This might be the hint of "Ran", "Boo", and "Ranboo".

-Boo appears more often recently. The title will usually be capitalized when he does, for instance, "THE PLAN FOR RICHES". He is the one who burns George's house down.

Boo likes explosion and lava. He might be a ghast.

-Ran starts to appear. We inferred: in Tubbo's stream "Building Snowchester Defences", Ran showed himself and talked. His tone was lower, much quieter than usual, but he jokes a lot (unlike "Ranboo"). He only spoke if Tubbo started a topic first. Ran hummed a lot, tending to play with himself, and screaming with the same pitch; we assume that he was learning and practicing Ranboo's behaviour.

As for Ranboo's lore stream on 4.23…

The idea of "Boo, one of the Enderwalk states, frequently appears during "regular" streams, pretending to be Ranboo" is proven when Foolish mentioned their deal. Ranboo did not remember it at all. Then some "lessons" appeared in his mind, making Ranboo frustrated.

We deduced that "Ran" is trying to protect Ranboo, for the first four "lessons" were more like guidance. Then Boo stepped in, showing him a book with "DO NOT LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE". Ranboo once ignored his request, and now he forced Ranboo to look for the fourth memory book.

After being refused by Sam, Ranboo came back home and tried to turn into Enderwalk state by harming himself with water. He thought he only has ONE Enderwalk state. Such action immediately angers Ran; we can hear the furious Enderman roar in the end.

Chinry, one of us, found out the relationships between the "lesson numbers", which is 14, 27, 53, 67, and 94. However, we are still organizing our informations, I'll probably post them later.

That's all! Thank you for reading this! I am not a native English speaker, so I apologize for any grammar/wording mistakes. Please, leave your ideas and thoughts below!

[purplerose244]

Peacefully

Here for this year’s Ninjago Secret Santa! Man I love this event, thank you a lot @coco-jaguar for organizing it once again! ❤ Hi @davisisacommonname, I’m your secret santa! Here’s you gift, I hope you like it! 😊😊

Merry Christmas and happy festivitites!! 💕💕

Summary: It’s a day like others, just without the usual mayhem shaking the entire city. A time to think of less stressful possibilities.

“So, what did we learn today?”

“That dares are stupid?” As they got back inside the monastery, finally escaping the chilling winter air, Nya raised a gigantic eyebrow at the green ninja. At which the mighty leader seemed to shrink the littlest bit. “… that dares involving the master of lighting putting lights on the tree using spinjitzu, resorting in him entangling himself into the wires and making every single bulb explode by electrification, are stupid?”

“There you go.” The master of water sighed loudly. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised it happened.” Despite the nonchalance of this blondie, the brand-new lights that they had been forced to buy and how she was probably the only one irritated about it – especially since Kai had been laughing hysterically for ten minutes straight afterwards –, she smiled.

Lloyd mimicked her, probably sensing he was not in mortal danger anymore, taking off scarf and hat. His golden locks puffed up as soon as the headpiece was off.

“Does the fact that I lost against Cole count as enough punishment?”

“Mhm?”

“I bet with him it was going to be Kai the first to cause an incident, he was supposed to be the one to take the bet. Now I’m in debt of one week of chores.” Another eyebrow was raised, less furious, more judging. “What? I’m trying to catch up, apparently the guys used to bet on everything when they first formed the team, from who was going to be the green ninja, to who was going to be the first to find out the identity of Samurai X! Like, I’m that prophesied green savior, and I knew about your little escapades.” Nya couldn’t help the little smirk. Ironically, the green ninja did turn out to be the first to discover the truth. “I could’ve won two times already, I wanna keep up now.”

They stepped into the kitchen, hearing faraway sounds. The others were most likely elsewhere putting up less expendable decorations. Nya was already looking towards the stove, thinking of nothing other than hot chocolate. Knowing Lloyd, they were on the same page.

“Okay, that’s uselessly prideful and kind of adorable, but this better not turn into a gambling addiction little one.”

“Nya, my father was the king of the Underworld. Is there really a worse evil than that?”

She couldn’t argue back.

Lost in thoughts about something warm to melt her frozen bones, she almost jumped when the sudden scribble came to her ears, and one extremely peaceful whistling that they were all too accustomed to at this point. In the living room right next, sitting on the sofa with the television uncharacteristically switched off, was Cole. Eyes on a random notebook he had on his knees, a pencil in the air, wearing that ridiculous sweater Jay found at the mall with muscled arms drawn over the sleeves – such a miracle of an ugly sweater.

He looked extremely taken by his activity, munching the end of the pencil every once in a while. Seeing their official lifter so calm and captured by whatever mindless activity had forced him to sit down was curious. It did happen before, but lately it got rarer. It was always a nice view.

Nya looked at the green ninja, who pointed at the kitchen with his thumb, right where the mugs where. She nodded, and went to take place next to the master of earth.

Who jumped right away, giving her a look.

“What the…? You’re back already? I didn’t hear you get in.”

“Wow, you don’t say!” From the kitchen the blonde’s voice erupted. “It’s almost like we’re ninja or something, unbelievable!” It followed accurate noises made by mouth, and if they knew him – and after years they absolutely did – then the little brat was probably mimicking an explosion coming out of his head – he was hanging around Jay a little too much.

Nya giggled, while the master of earth rolled his eyes with a little grin.

“Nice to hear you’re all in a good mood after our little blackout. You got the lights?”

“All done. Sorry about the scare, but it looked like you were in your own world.” She tilted her head, looking around. The living room was getting more festive, but it missed at least half the holly. “Didn’t you guys finish while we were gone?”

“We were going to, then something came up and we can’t really continue until Zane comes back to the shop… Kai accidentally set the tree on fire while you two were gone.” Her loud facepalm spoke louder than any of them. “I think Wu is still giving him an earful as he did with Jay as we speak … and before you ask Lloyd, Jay made a mess before Kai. So I still won the bet.”

“Aww, for once that I actually need Hot Shot to cause a mess!” The green ninja came out of the kitchen, the kettle starting to heat up into the kitchen, pout clearly in sight. For being their brave leader and the strongest ninja of all, he was still kind of a kid – although in all honesty, weren’t they all? “Anyway, what got you so into it that you forgot how to hear?” He walked until he was behind the couch, leaning over the master of earth’s shoulder and smiling. “Hey, that’s pretty cool! I didn’t know you could draw!” His surprised tone came out sincerely, especially since it felt like forever since they had found each other in this weird family. Finding new details was always a shock.

Nya scooted closer as well, smiling at the familiar shading of the chicken drawn onto the paper, with the real one sleeping over a pillow in front of the tv.

“You still have a nice touch. I haven’t seen you do it ever since it was just the four of you in action, and this little evil brat was in some random snake prison.” Lloyd mouthed an ‘oohhh’ of understand as why he didn’t remember. “To be more specific, I’m pretty sure it was back when instead of listening to my research about the Serpentine, you guys have tried to poison me with perfume.” Good thing no villain knew about her little Achilles hill.

Cole snorted, pressing his eraser on the corner of the paper.

“You were telling complicated stuff to that airhead that is your brother, to the guy that was lookin at your in awe while trying his hardest to ask you out, and to a nindroid. A robot. You can’t really blame us.”

“What’s your excuse then?” The master of earth raised his piece.

“I’m pretty freaking good at this.” Nya snorted. Again, no arguments here. “You know… I’ve been thinking about those times. And it’s not like it was easier, but I guess we didn’t really know how much things could become complicated and return back then.” Cole looked over the drawing, shrugging. “But I’m in vein of taking something back from there, exactly because we don’t know when we could get called into action again. It’s little, but it’s still mine… I felt silly like that this morning.” He grinned of that introverted nature that, despite years, was still a part of him.

And it was okay. It was great even. Nya gave him a shoulder.

“Hey, it’s not silly, it’s good.”

“Yeah! All of us should do something other than fighting.” Lloyd chimed in, dropping next to Cole on the other side, smiling. “Like for example, even though it’s been a pretty shady part of my life, I kinda miss PE back at Darkley’s. Moving just for the sake of moving. We should play sometimes, not because of training, it could be fun… or Nya could annihilate us, whichever comes first.”

“I’m not that competit-” The master of water blinked twice, shaken by the quickest flashback of her life. “… no wait scratch that, I totally am.”

Cole snickered, tapping the notebook with his pencil.

“Besides having as a golden rule to never put the blacksmith brothers against each other-” It could be the time Ninjago actually managed to get completely destroyed for good. “I would be down for that, why not? No sparring or anything, just a friendly match of whatever. I didn’t even get to do that as a kid, dad would always say that I could risk putting muscles where a dancer didn’t need them…” He flexed one arm, the massive hill pulling up the drawing onto the sleeve. He grinned with satisfaction. “How about football? I’ve always wanted to try football!” Oh for whatever reason other than having the strength to tackle a mountain?

“Absolutely!” Lloyd nodded eagerly. “Let’s do it! Oh, and soccer too, Brad and I used to try that a lot when we were kids!” He seemed to absolutely glow and the perspective, and it was kinda sad that such a simple reality represented an actual opportunity for him.

Before Nya could get lost into more self-deprecating depressive thoughts, and the fact that not even one of them had a normal childhood except maybe for Jay – and considering the still not so clear Cliff Gordon erased reality affair that was still up to discussion –, there was a loud whistle coming from the kitchen. The green ninja immediately sprouted into action, sprinting towards the sound. As soon as Cole decided to put down his drawing, seeing as the chicken had woken up to go bother someone – bet on Kai –, the blondie came back with three steaming mugs, giving to them all.

The master of water held up hers – a blue one with a storm cloud on it saying ‘Too tide to talk’ –, smiling at the distinct bitter scent of black cocoa. They knew each other tastes way too well.

“Sounds good to me. I also fancy basketball, so I’m down for that.”

“Nice! Mm, but how about other hobbies? Nya?” Cole took his time to take a generous sip from his mug that was literally dripping because of the amount of marshmallow – covering slightly the orange surface with ‘I’m a grounded person, like my coffee’ written on it –, while the gray ninja frowned a little. “Anything you would like to regain? You never really stopped with engineering so I’m guessing that’s out of the way.”

“Yeah, but,” She hummed, tracing the warm cup with her fingers. “That wasn’t a hobby or something I liked to do, not at first at least. It was just like Samurai X, a way to show you guys I could do what you did, even better. It grew on me, but it’s kinda work too, I’m proud of it but nowhere near as passionate as Jay or Cyrus Borg could be.” It was all about her tendency of holding onto the things she excelled at after all, the one obstacle that had almost cost her the true potential of her element. Despite her steps forward, putting a difference between liking to be good at something and liking it was still a little complicated. Then again… “… maybe painting?”

Cole grinned in surprise, Lloyd raised his head from his cup showing an impressive chocolate mustache – along with that black mug saying ‘It’s morning so you green and bear it’… and yes those mugs were all Jay’s presents.

“Whoa, where did that come from?”

“Yeah no offence, but you never stroke me as the artistic type.”

“None taken, it’s not exactly something that I feel it belongs to me, but maybe that’s why I used to like it. Because it was so far I didn’t have to think too much about it.” Nya smiled, taking another sip. “Remember the second Steep of Wisdom Wu opened in the middle of Ninjago City? To attract more customers I decided to work on a mural, right on the side. I don’t even know why, I just bought paint, brushes and a suit and started.”

“Oohh, I remember the one!” Lloyd snapped his fingers, the marshmallow in his cocoa shaking in the movement. “It was the one with the big majestic Wu serving the customer, I thought he hired an artist for it! That was cool!”

“You’re not saying it just because you’re my little brother, right?”

“Oh no, if it was ugly I would make a manifest all about it exactly because I’m your little brother. Brotherly code, smack talk every time it’s possible.” And then he fist bumped with his earthly brother nearby, wearing that same stupid grin. “But seriously, you were good at it. We finally have some free time to our hands, maybe it could be a good time for a new work. We still need the mural of that Day of the Departed where Cole turned back human after all, since those monks decided they had ‘lost the harmony of the inspiration’.” No one had been happy with leaving that important adventure behind – too bad they were in a monastery, a place of peace.

Cole hummed mindlessly, munching a marshmallow.

“Tell you what, how about we buy drawing and painting materials together for Christmas shopping?” He chugged down his drink, releasing a very satisfied sigh before leaning his back softly over the couch. “It’s usually Zane or Pix, we could take over for once and no, don’t give me that look water lily, it’s not for buying an extra cake and yes, do give me that look greenie, if you come along we’re so escaping and get to the sweet shop.” And there it came, another fist bump.

She had signed up for this.

She had signed up for this the moment she had let herself being overtaken by a bunch of skeletons, a past hit on her pride that to this day made her want to take a bone and break it in halves every time she thought about it – sports were going to be massacres, she was kinda looking forwards to it.

“I’m bringing leashes for you two vampires with sweet teeth, but it’s not a bad idea. And I like the mall in this period, it could even bring some inspiration as to what to paint.”

“How did you decide the first time?”

“I just thought of a simple design to get more clients.” Nya finished her drink, giving her eyes to a very curious looking blonde, thinking that it had been so long. It had always been so long, every single time she reevoked a part of her life, even though she was still so young. It was that eventful. “I worked on that project all day… but after it melted under the sun, it got ruined because of the wind and a lightning decided to strike it right in the middle, I just splashed it with all the colors I had and spinjitzued the heck out of it.”

“… rage, the mark of an artist.” Lloyd snickered, then he froze, suddenly beaming at the two. “Hey, why don’t you two work on something together? Cole makes the drawing and you paint it, it could be like a Christmas gift or something!”

Nya popped her mouth opened. How did they never think of that? How did they never while they had been battling villain after villain after villain after- Oh, there was the answer.

She turned to the master of earth, who looked just as engaged with the idea, if not more.

“Heck yeah, let’s do it! I can sketch a few ideas!”

“I do have colors I never got to try last time…”

“And I know mom got a few old frames that didn’t get accepted by the museum, I’m sure we can find a good one for this.” Lloyd grinned, scratching his cheek. “It’s almost weird putting up a plan for something other than defeating evilness…”

“Maybe, doesn’t make it any less good.” Cole winked at the two of them, looking inspired. And it was so good to see her brothers so high-spirited, and being happy with them. “… aha, I got one!” The master of earth hurried to the notebook, scrabbling quickly while the green ninja leaned his chin over his shoulder to see better, and the master of water did the same with her elbow on the other side. There was no other noise besides the pencil moving, and the suddenly more vivid voice of the rest of their family not too far away.

Peace was an abstract concept, it was in her life at least. But at least this moment, this situation, this instant, for Nya this was hers. And she wanted to make the most of it.

“… is that Jay getting entangled into the Christmas lights while doing spinjitzu?”

“Yeah? Is that the ‘should I punch you now or later for stupidity’ frown?”

“Nah, it’s the ‘what shade of color better depict bad life decisions’ frown.”

[trensu]

Episode 48: The One where JGY and SS Host a Pity Party and Everyone Wishes They Hadn't

The show just dunks us right into yunmeng bro feelings again

jc's all should i get on my knees and thank you?

and wwx is like i never wanted your thanks

and now jc is just spilling his insecurities all over the place

Blah wwx was always better than him blah blah everyone liked wwx more blah blah DADDY ISSUES blah blah blah

and wwx just looks more and more hurt as all this bitterness is pouring out of his little brother 😞

i mean even jl was like hey uncle, maybe don't do that???

lwj is glaring at jc the whole time ofc

and jc gets so mad he tries to start a physical fight EVEN THO HE HAS A GAPING STAB WOUND IN THE CHEST

which is actually quite hilarious if you ignore how utterly heartbreaking the yunmeng bros relationship is

thankfully jl and lxc hold him back (not that he could've gone very far bc again GAPING STAB WOUND)

and ofc lwj has to throw in his two cents

lwj: clan leader jiang. Discretion

oh lwj, a man of few words

Oh no, ohno, oh nooooo, jc’s starting on their oath oh god

“YOU SAID THAT I WOULD BE THE CLAN LEADER AND YOU WOULD BE MY SUBORDINATE. YOU WOULD ASSIST ME FOR LIFE”

“SO WHAT IF THE TWIN JADES OF GUSU ARE THERE. WE WERE THE TWIN HEROES OF YUNMENG”

*GROSS SOBBING*

CAN I TOO GET A GAPING STAB WOUND IN THE CHEST BC I'M PRETTY SURE THAT WOULD HURT LESS

OH GOD WWX'S EYES ARE ALL RED

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING. YOU TREAT ME LIKE A LITTLE FOOL."

OH THIS HURTS SO MUCH

that last bit, tho. i can't even hold that against him bc wwx DID lie to him. he DID neglect to trust him and his judgement. 

he took jc's choice away and made it for him, and that's not cool. 

and, like, i get it, I do bc i would probably want to do the same thing wwx did if i were in a similar situation with my own siblings

BUT STILL

jc: shouldn't i hate you? can't i hate you?

WHICH REALLY JUST TELLS ME THAT HE DOESN'T HATE WWX

HE WOULD NOT BE THIS TORN UP, THIS TEARFUL MESS, IF HE DIDN'T STILL LOVE HIS BROTHER AND WANT HIM BACK

this whole time jc is inching towards wwx, getting closer and closer until he's close enough to punch him if he wanted

Jc does make a sudden sharp movement towards wwx 

Which obvs has lwj jolting forward to protect wwx

But wwx IMMEDIATELY puts a hand on lwj's knee

jin ling darts forward to hold his uncle and is like, hanguang jun, my uncle's hurt!!

BC JC IS THE ONLY NOT EVIL AND/OR DEAD FAMILY HE HAS LEFT 

AND EVEN JL KNOWS THAT LWJ IS SO VERY WILLING TO HURT ANYONE WHO HURTS WWX

I AM HAVING TOO MANY EMOTIONS

jc's angry and hurting and is like i'm not afraid of lwj, come at me bro

lwj GLARES at him, brow furrowed and mouth pinched

jc: why? why wwx? why didn't you tell me?

oh god, he's not even yelling anymore, he's just fucking crying and i'm crying and there's just wet icky tears everywhere

wwx takes a shuddery breath and tells him it's bc he didn't want to see him like this

JC: you said i would be clan leader and you would be my subordinate. you would assist me for life. you'd never betray the jiang clan. you said it yourself

HE'S NOT YELLING. HE'S NOT EVEN ANGRY

his voice is weak, and shaky, and weepy and he's just so, so hurt

AND I'M A SOBBING MESS

and wwx swallows passed the lump in his throat but his voice still sounds a bit raw when he speaks

wwx: i'm sorry. i broke my promise.

FUCK 

FUCKING HELL

MY YUNMENG BROS

jc: we've reached this point. i don't need your apology now. i'm not that delicate

STFU JC, YOU BALD-FACED LIAR, "NOT THAT DELICATE" 

YOU'RE AS MUCH OF A SOBBING WRECK RN AS I AM

GET A THERAPIST JC

"NOT THAT DELICATE" I'M GONNA PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE IS WHAT I'M GONNA DO. GOD. NOT THAT DELICATE

JC: i'm sorry

*sobsobsobsob* MY YUNMENG BROS

wwx: don't apologize to me. that's what i owed the jiang clan.

here wwx closes the distance between them to place a hand on his brother's arm

HUG HIM GOD DAMN IT, LET MY YUNMENG BROS HAVE A PROPER HUG

wwx: as for this matter, please don't keep it in your heart.

and he goes on to say smth like i know you probably won't let go, but it's water under the bridge, that was all stuff that happened in my past life

AND THEN HE REACHES UP AND GENTLY WIPES AWAY JC'S TEARS WITH HIS THUMB

AND GIVES HIM A SWEET LITTLE SMILE

AND I'M DYING. MY HEART HURTS SO MUCH I'M DYING

I SHOULD'VE KEPT A BOX OF TISSUES NEAR ME, MY SLEEVES ARE ALL SNOTTY AND DISGUSTING NOW, DAMN IT ALL

AND THAT WAS ONLY THE FIRST 10 MIN OF THE EPISODE WTF

I’VE BEEN REDUCED TO A SNIFFLING WEEPING MESS IN 10MIN FLAT WTF 

yunmeng bro moment ends (thank god) and we cut to the next scene where nhs is oh so conveniently regaining consciousness

now all the diggers are screaming to remind us that oh yeah, there's like Plot Stuff here, it's not just about the yunmeng bros

ss gives jgy some meds bc he's hurt or smth, who gives a damn

our boys follow jgy back to the dig site for Plot Reasons

and SURPRISE!! we have nmj's no-longer-headless dead body!!

lwj and wwx look at each other like WTF??

oooooh boy, nhs gave jgy the dirtiest look

wwx is being Clever again and pointing out Plot Relevant Things 

ss gets all offended and holds wwx at sword point 

but there's lwj with bichen in its scabbard, one step in front of him and ready to block anything ss sends their way bc lwj is not gonna let wwx get hurt if he can help it

ss is all like wwx you set him up! And wwx’s face is like, i aint even bovvered

wwx: i'm saying this with all modesty, but if i were the one who set him up, i'm afraid he wouldn't have just gotten one arm hurt

HOT DAMN

LOVE MY SUNSHINE BOY

and here my sunshine boy is being all Clever again and laying out all the facts and explaining how there's a 3rd party involved in all this

LOLOLOL HE'S REALLY PLAYING THIS UP FOR JGY TOO

he's like, there might be a predator behind you, the guy who's been spying on you this whole time...HE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE HUMAN

oh wwx, so Dramatic™

but hey it's working bc jgy looks spooked as hell

LOLOLOL

HE SEES JGY START FREAKING OUT AND HE LOOKS OVER TO LWJ AND GRINS AT HIM LIKE, HEY LAN ZHAN, SEE WHAT I DID, LOL, I SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF THIS LOSER, DID YOU SEE? 

oh, now wwx and jc are bound by the wrists but not lwj, for some reason? 

Which, rude, why deny lwj the chance to be tied up? Let him try new experiences! What if he likes to be tied up? 

NOW HE’LL NEVER KNOW BC YOU DIDN’T LET HIM TRY IT

jgy and ss have a moment that i don't care about but i have to mention it

bc RIGHT AFTER we see our precious beautiful sunshine boy lean WAY into lwj's space to talk shit about them

like, seriously, just a couple inches more, and wwx would be resting his cheek on lwj's shoulder 

IT'S WONDERFUL AND I WISH HE'D GET EVEN CLOSER

shockingly, lwj is NOT as distracted as i would be having wwx that close 

bc he's studying ss and SUDDENLY SEES HE'S GOT THE HUNDRED-HOLES CURSE ON HIM 

which btw, EWW?? THAT'S THE GROSSEST THING EVER 

I REALLY WISH THEY'D STOP SHOWING IT SO MUCH BC IT MAKES MY SKIN CRAWL

he tells ss to turn around to get a better look and wwx sees it too!! he's like, IT WAS YOU!!!

and for the audience's benefit, nhs goes to lxc and is all what's going on???

lxc and jc gives some exposition about blah blah blah stuff we know about already

amidst all this we keep getting shots of wwx looking stunned and hurt (but still oh-so-beautiful)

wwx: jgy, i didn't do anything against you back then. we were not even that familiar. you wanted to kill jzx. why did you push that on me?

HE LOOKS SO HURT AND ANGRY AND CONFUSED BC WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE HIM? WHY DID JGY HAVE TO USE HIM??

and lwj is watching wwx while he shouts this and god how can he stand watching his soulmate be hurt over and over and over again?? HOW DOES HE COPE?

jgy does a mini Rant of Evil Explanation and ss does a rant about classism

which, if said by literally anybody else, i'd say hm, yes, you have a point 

but bc it's said by ss, a spineless coward who never takes responsibility for his own actions, i'm like STFU SS

omg lolololol

ss: would i have been swept out of lan clan like a pile of leaves [if I were highborn]??

AND ICE PRINCE LWJ ANSWERS ALMOST BEFORE SS COULD FINISH ASKING

lwj: Yes.

AND THEN HE LOOKS SS DEAD IN THE EYE

lwj: betrayers won't be tolerated by the lan clan

HELL FUCKING YEAH

YOU WEREN'T KICKED OUT BC YOU WERE LOW-BORN, SS

YOU WERE KICKED OUT BC YOU'RE A TRAITOROUS COWARD

and like, i need to point out that lwj is sitting cross legged on the ground right now (along with wwx, ofc) and ss is standing over him while ranting

and YET, the way lwj holds himself and the way he speaks, does in no way indicate that he's at a disadvantage here

dude's unflappable. JADE OF LAN, INDEED

ss is like i am so sick of your condescending attitude

then he's like just bc i made that one little mistake you could never forgive me!!

FUCKING EXCUSE ME??? 

LITTLE? LITTLE MISTAKE??? 

HOW MANY PEOPLE DIED BC OF YOU SS?

HOW MANY DIED BC YOU BETRAYED THEM??

ss continues to rant and starts to go off his rocker

and then wwx starts to laugh but it's not a happy laugh

it is, in fact, a laugh very similar to the laugh we heard in The One where the Moonlit Rooftop Betrays Us

ss is like, what's so funny???

wwx: nothing. i just didn't expect...

AND HE'S GETTING TEARY HERE EVEN AS HE LAUGHS

WWX: i didn't expect you to get so many people killed just for...just for this

HE LOOKS SO DISILLUSIONED

MY POOR PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY

THE WORLD KEEPS DISAPPOINTING HIM

omg i want to RING JGY'S NECK WITH ZIDIAN

HE'S GETTING ALL UP IN WWX'S FACE

TELLING HIM THAT NO MATTER HOW KIND OR CHIVALROUS HE IS, HE WILL ALWAYS BE BLAMED FOR ANY BAD THING THAT HAPPENS, THAT NO ONE WILL EVER BELIEVE OR TRUST HIM

FUCK YOU JGY I HATE YOU SO MUCH

MY POOR SUNSHINE BOY IS TREMBLING WITH RAGE

bc he knows it's true. ppl really ARE always going to suspect the yiling patriarch.

oooh, jc just defended his brother! sort of.

But it has the unfortunate side effect of drawing jgy’s attention

so now jgy is cutting into jc

god jgy talks a lot. stfu jgy.

wwx has been teary eyed on and off this entire episode so far but hasn't actually cried

but jgy is now belittling all of jc's work, all the effort he put in to rebuilding lotus pier, implying that he wouldn't have been able to do if not for wwx

and that's the breaking point, that's what makes wwx finally shed a tear.

lwj is watching wwx, as always, and sees wwx cry

he must feel utterly helpless

ooooh, MY CLEVER SUNSHINE BOY

EVEN AMIDST ALL THIS TERRIBLE EMOTIONAL PAIN, HE PICKED UP ON JGY'S TRIGGER WORD(S)

wwx: just a "son of a whore" made you talk so much

oooh jgy tries to leave but wwx stops him in his tracks by asking him how he killed nmj

and then he's like "aren't you afraid?"

CHILLS, MAN, I'M GETTING CHILLS AT HOW HE DELIVERS THIS

SO CALM, COOL AND COLLECTED YET TINGED WITH A THREAT

jgy: afraid of what? (lol he whirls around angrily like the Drama queen he is)

wwx leans forward and looks him dead in the eye

wwx: afraid of him coming back to you

AND THE SMIRK HE WEARS

THAT'S THE SMIRK OF THE YILING PATRIARCH 

He smirks and leans back against the pillar, all easy and relaxed while jgy looks freaked the fuck out

and then

THEN

WWX STARTS TO WHISTLE

RESENTFUL ENERGY COMES IN TO STROKE AT JGY'S ARM ALL MENACINGLY

I'M GETTING CHILLS ALL OVER 

THIS IS SUCH A BADASS MOVE ON WWX'S PART

and also, holy shit do i enjoy those close up shots of wwx's eyes and his beautiful beautiful lips

the sound team did a great job making those whistles sound super eerie, btw

i can't get over how cool and confident wwx looks here

he's not worried or bothered AT ALL, this is him doing what he does best

Wait, do i have a competency kink…?

LOL JGY JUST GOT BITCHSLAPPED BY RESENTFUL ENERGY, LOVE IT

wwx has stopped whistling now, which is unfortunate bc that means no more extreme close-ups on wwx's gorgeous features

jgy: yiling patriarch, you're worthy of your title, aren't you?

YOU’RE DAMN RIGHT HE IS!

Okay yeah, i guess i have a competency kink now, THANKS A LOT WWX

FUCKING SU SHE JUST TRIED STABBING WWX

LWJ TO THE RESCUE, HELL YEAH

OUR MAN HANGUANG JUN LEAPS TO HIS FEET AND NOT ONLY BLOCKS THE STRIKE

HE FREAKING SLICES SU SHE'S WEAK ASS SWORD IN TWO 

THEN FOLLOWS UP WITH A SLICE AT SU SHE'S WRIST

I LOVE YOU HANGUANG JUN

Lwj calmly goes over to wwx and slices off the ropes that were keeping his wrists tied and does the same to jc

wwx goes up to jgy (who's held at sword point by lxc) and calmly takes his weapons

wwx: jgy, hand it over. it's not of much use in your hands.

with a deceivingly dainty clink, Plot Device 3 rolls out of jgy's sleeve and into his hand

then he lets it fall to the ground bc he's a petty bitch that way

we get to see wwx being all Smart Detective and revealing just how long jgy has been planning all this 

jgy’s all like even between me and xy we could only create Plot Device 3 half as powerful as Plot Device 2

LOLOL THAT'S BC THE TWO OF YOU ARE WORTHLESS HACKS.

WWX HAS MORE SKILL AND TALENT IN HIS PINKY FINGER THAN THE BOTH OF YOU COMBINED

man there's a lot of Plot Exposition happening and lxc is having Feelings about it.

DON'T FUCKING LOWER YOUR SWORD LXC WHAT ARE YOU DOING

look lxc, i don't mean to sound cruel or heartless or whatever, but omg i do NOT CARE about your complicated Emotions right now

NOT WHEN IT'S GIVING JGY THE OPENING TO MANIPULATE AN ESCAPE

jgy is now being like "oh, i was wrong" and acting all pitiful and TOTALLY PLAYING LXC FOR A FOOL (AGAIN)

wwx: hey, jgy, can't we stop talking? let's just fight? can we just start killing each other?

LOLOLOLOLOL 

HE TOTALLY SAW THAT JGY WAS MANIPULATING THE SITUATION AGAIN AND IS LIKE, NOPE, NOT DOING THAT AGAIN

LESS WORDS MORE SWORDS PLZ

LIKE, MY BOY IS JUST DONE. HE IS DONE WITH THIS. LET'S GET TO THE FIGHT NOW THX.

jgy ignores this and keeps talking to lxc AND OMG WWX'S FAAAAACE IS CRACKING ME UP 

GOD WORDS ARE NOT GONNA DO IT JUSTICE

HE JUST LOOKS AT JGY FOR A SECOND LIKE, SRSLY BRO? BEFORE ROLLING HIS EYES AND SCRUNCHING UP HIS EYEBROWS LIKE "CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THIS GUY, JFC"

IT'S SO FREAKING FUNNY OMG

meanwhile jgy continues to throw a pity party that no one likes and the episode ends

There really wasn’t much wangxian time in this episode, fucking jgy and ss decided to HOG ALL THE SCREEN TIME, THOSE PATHETIC WHINY ASSHOLES

but we got a lot of Yungmeng Bros which was painful but waaaay better than anything jgy or ss has to offer

Return to Masterpost

[matth1w]

I was wondering if you could write this: Imagine being Lucifer's younger sister sent down by God to be Lucis guardian angel. Lucifer and you doesn't quite like each other until one day, you in a human form, you got shot three times in the heart because you used yourself as shield for Lucifer because he was supposed to be the one getting shot.

Angele Dei

Pairing: Platonic Lucifer Morningstar & Sister Reader

Summary: Lucifer and you don’t exactly get along. You’re his little sister. And now, your Father has sent you down to be his guardian angel. As annoying as you are, Lucifer doesn’t realize just how much he loves you until he loses you.

Warnings: Angst, Death, Blood, Guns

Rating: All

Word Count: 2,634

Note: I changed canon a bit in regard to angel vulnerability. A little bit of switching POV from you to Lucifer in the beginning but then goes to 3rd person.

Tags: @accio-boys Thank you so much for your trust in me and patience, love! I hope you enjoy it!! 💕

Lucifer frowned as you walked into Lux. He could feel your presence and sighed, pushing his drink away.

He spotted you easily, your human form never changed and you knew how to dress to fit in.

Poor unlucky soul, he thought. You always took your job as guardian angel so seriously.

Dad always praised you as the best. You were younger than Lucifer -- significantly, as your Father had only created you after he made humans. You were to be a guardian angel to humans during their times of need -- to protect them from evil, others wishing to do them harm, or even themselves. You guarded thousands through the millennia. From kings and queens, to peasants and everyday humans.

And now, some LA socialite. Maybe you were trying to save someone from too much tanning. He chuckled. He found your role to be silly, ludicrous even. If humans were supposed to have free will like Dad said, why should angels like yourself intervene. Isn’t that what got him into so much trouble?

***

You scanned the club from your view up above. It was a nice place. You’ll give your brother that. During your time, you had seen many nightclubs. Most not nearly as nice as this.

You were weary to say the least. You knew Lucifer had never much liked you. You understood that he respected the humans. You did so too, in your own way though. And that’s what brought you down here.

You watched the comfortably crowded club. Seeing the people dancing to the music. The music- wait? Yep. Definitely devil references. Your brother, you shook your head.

‘Might as well say hi,’ you thought. Looking for him, more intentionally, you saw him sitting alone on a couch. Full drink pushed away and... yep. He was definitely shooting you a dirty look. So much for a happy family reunion.

As you made your way through the crowd, you shrugged off partners wanting to dance. Some of which were quite handsy. Crushing one man’s hand ever so too hard was satisfying.

After all this time, you never understood why men thought they had some sort of superiority over women.

***

Lucifer watched as you descended the stairs. Unfortunately his daggered look hadn’t scared you off.

He did however, find it humorous when you painfully squeezed the hand of some overly confident grease ball.

“Nice job, sis”, he murmured to himself.

The good feelings didn’t stay long as you plopped down beside him without a word.

***

You decided to forgo the pleasantries and sat down next to Lucifer.

He looked somewhat disgruntled. ‘Too bad’ you thought.

“Not happy to see me, brother?” You asked. Somewhat genuinely as a little sister and somewhat teasingly at his unhappy aura.

He huffed, “Just surprised. Can’t you let your little special human enjoy the night?”

You frowned. “Nope. And well...” you fiddled with your fingers then summoned bravery.

“I’m not here for a human.” You held your brother’s eyes as he stared at you, working through what you said.

Lucifer’s eyebrows raised as he understood. He scoffed.

“What Dad think I can’t handle things myself? He already sent Amenadiel down, who failed might I add. What makes you think you can bring me back to that prison?”

You looked at your brother with sadness despite how his venomous tone hurt you.

“Luci, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to protect you.”

He scrunched his face.

“I’m still an angel, Y/N. And your older brother. What makes you think I need protecting?”

You sighed, trying to understand his defensiveness and weariness about your father’s interference with his life.

You knew Lucifer wouldn’t trust you on your words alone. But for the time being he would simply have to trust you.

You shrugged, trying to seem non-threatening and casual as you settled in next to him.

— — —

Gradually, during your time with Lucifer, he warmed up to you. Realized you weren’t so bad and he actually enjoyed your company.

You were much more easygoing than Amenadiel and seemed more than happy to not talk about Heaven or Dad.

You even gave him insight into Chloe’s actions that Lucifer was constantly still too thick to figure out. And she liked you. Everyone did. You had a calming presence.

While Lucifer could make people want to spill their desires, you had a much softer approach. You made people feel comforted. You were warm, welcoming, and nonjudgmental.

— — —

You threw your hands into the air, feeling exhilarated by the wind blowing across your fingertips.

Lucifer had taken you around to see the sites at your request and now you were driving home through the hills. The highway was nearly barren as the sun was setting, pleasantly warming your skin.

You now understood why he opted for the corvette. Going fast, wind in your face, it felt like flying.

You were so excited you shouted such.

Lucifer laughed with you but you got more serious as you remembered.

“Do you miss them Luci?” You asked, turning to your brother in your seat as he slowed down so he could respond without shouting.

He pursed his lips and you wondered for a moment if you stepped too far. He clicked his tongue then answered.

“I sometimes reminisce about my time in heaven. But I don’t miss my wings. And not what they represent.”

You frowned.

“Why? Why did you throw them away?”

He slammed on his brakes and looked at you incredulously.

“They reminded me too much of dear old Dad’s punishment. It felt like...” he sighed, voice quieting, “Like they were mocking me.”

You stayed silent at that. It made sense. Your time as guardian for so many made you familiar with their self-torturous coping methods and reasoning. Maybe all the time trapped in Hell made Lucifer adopt some of those himself.

“Luc, so you think you deserved it?”

He clenched his jaw and looked away from you. Down at the ground. Like he was envisioning the dreadful place itself.

He met your eyes with an ocean of emotions before he gave you a large smile.

“Enough of that, yeah?” He turned around in his seat again and adjusted his mirror.

“I know a lovely ice cream shop a few blocks away that rolls up the ice cream. Quite delicious.”

You took his words for what they were and nodded, not wanting to push him away.

“That sounds great.”

— — —

You giggled as Lucifer looked at you with confusion as you took the cookies into his bedroom. You beckoned him as you plopped down onto his bed with your legs criss crossed.

You handed him a cookie as he sat and stuffed one into your mouth.

“Has anyone ever told you that your furniture is terribly uncomfortable?”

Lucifer laughed as he chewed on the treat.

“I don’t think anyone has”

You shook your head, grabbing two more cookies.

“Well, as family, I have to tell you. I know you’re going for the whole mysterious bachelor vibe but,” you gestured with the cookies.

“Get some freaking more comfy couches. It’s like sitting on a rock.”

You finally put the cookie in Lucifer’s open hand and plopped the other into your mouth.

“Duly noted,” he chuckled before he ate the second cookie.

You two kept munching on cookies, you taking them out two at a time. One for him, one for you. And of course, being a little sister, you had to pull an extended cookie away from his hand and stuff both in your mouth while making a face at him.

This was nice, you thought after you two had finished the box. It was like having your brother back. Like old times.

The elevator chimed as you wiped your mouth and you gave Lucifer a silly look.

“Oooooh, is that Chloe?” you leaned in to whisper.

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t expecting the Detective. It’s probably Maze. Or Amenadiel.”

You smiled and he shouted, “Y/N and I are in here!”

A man’s voice answered.

“What a surprise. Another woman in Lucifer Morningstar’s bed.”

The bitterness was clear in his voice.

You looked at Lucifer, offended on behalf of your brother and confused as to just who this man was.

Lucifer shot you a quick look, silently telling you to stay there before he stood up.

You saw him look the man up and down as he stood in the doorway and clenched his jaw.

“I suggest you put that silly toy away and leave while I still have patience.”

You perked up, this didn’t sound good.

The man barked out a forced, bile-filled laugh.

“Oh I’m not going anywhere you pompous bastard.”

Lucifer huffed, seemingly more annoyed than worried. But… he didn’t know what you knew. You had to act.

You saw as he stepped forward and knew what would happen if he stepped down.

You pounced from the bed, pushing him out of the doorway and met the eyes of the man who stood before you. Your eyes moved down to the recoiling gun in his hand before you stumbled back.

Your hands immediately went to your chest as Lucifer looked down at you in horror as he regained his balance.

Everything slowed and blurred as you felt Lucifer grab you as your body crumpled. He roared, sending the blur of the man crashing into the shelves behind him, his body crunching in all the wrong ways.

Your mouth hung open as you saw the scene unfold before you before your head was turned to your brother’s fear-stricken face above you.

“Y/N?? Why? How? Oh God, no no no!”

You felt him shaking you as your eyes began to droop.

“Dad!” Lucifer shouted, throwing his head back as he wildly screamed into the ceiling.

“Dad! Dad?”

He shook you again, eyes wild.

“Y/N, what happened? Why did that hurt you?”

You tried to respond but couldn’t move your mouth.

Lucifer tore his eyes away from you again, scanning the air above desperately. “Dad! You can’t just let her- she wasn’t supposed to- is this why you sent her down here??”

You chuckled, though you just ended up spitting up blood.

“Dad didn’t send me, Luci. I...” you groaned, is this how humans felt when they got shot?

“I came of my own free will.” You smiled and Lucifer looked sadly down at you, his face crossed with a sad smile.

“I saw that Chloe made you vulnerable. And I knew I had to come protect you.”

You cringed as pain tore through you and you mustered your strength. He had to know.

“Da- Dad did the same to me. It’s love, Luci. Love makes you vulnerable.”

“Y/N, no, shush, I-“, he begged.

You nodded, your eyes weighing heavier. “It’s okay, Luci. I’m ready. I’ve helped plenty and I’m glad...”

You took a breath, struggling but determined to get the words out.

“I... could save you.”

Your eyes fluttered closed and you smiled one last time with your final breath.

Lucifer grabbed you tighter, shaking you,

“NO!,” he desperately commanded. “Y/N! No!”

He shook you harder as your body fell limp and held you tight.

“Dad! Dad!!” Lucifer shouted as he tore his eyes away from your body, pain making his voice hoarse as he cried into the sky.  

“No!” He yelled, voice booming with rage. “You did this. For what?”

“For what, Dad? So you could teach me something, huh? Let your own child die for some stupid lesson?” He brought your body to his chest and stood, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Lucifer looked around desperately. “Maze?” He shouted.

“Detective?”

“Brother??” He cried. His shouts coming out as sobs as he looked down at you in his arms. Blood pooling and dripping from your body onto the floor and into his clothes.

What seemed like an hour later, the elevator dinged again. Lucifer paid it no mind. Broken and staring emptily at your face.

Guilt and uncontrollable rage coursing through his body.

“Lucifer, where—“

Maze stopped in her tracks as she looked on stunned. She didn’t have to ask. Didn’t want to ask.

“Lucifer,” she stepped forward, able to see the pain he was being tortured through. But he sent a look to her, eyes burning red, that showed that without a doubt, she was not to move another step closer. She met his eyes then turned towards the balcony, storming out.

A few moments later, she put away the phone she had been speaking into and Amenadiel appeared in front of her.

He stared at his siblings. Lucifer broken and his sister… he fell to his knees at the sight. Crying at the now cold body of his little sister. You seemed so small and weak.

He couldn’t understand why his Father had let such a thing happen to you. You were so innocent. Dedicating your life to helping others. It wasn’t fair.

Amenadiel swallowed his feelings and made his way to Lucifer. He met his eyes, they were impossibly cold - dark and hollow. He leaned down to take your body into his arms and nodded at his brother.

Lucifer looked away, a snarl on his lips. Amenadiel walked out back to the balcony and looked at Maze with sadness before he closed his eyes and unfurled his wings.

— — —

Lucifer sat alone in Lux looking like the personification of mourning. Beard growing out, eyes bloodshot with deep bags under them. Cigarette burning from his lips and body more alcohol than blood.

He had barricaded himself in. Pushing away any and everyone who tried to comfort him. Maze took care of the closure of Lux and keeping people from trying to get in.

He refused to go upstairs. He couldn’t. Not when he had so many memories with you there in your short time together. Sharing drinks and teaching you how to play the piano. You giving him advice on what to wear to impress Chloe. Sharing cookies on his bed. And then…

He let the cigarette fall from his lips entirely and took a pull from the bottle in front of him.

For weeks he had been like this. 

Alone

Shifting from anger to sadness to guilt and back again. Time didn’t matter to him or his wounds. Every time he closed his eyes he saw you. Looking up at him, blood staining your lips, pouring onto your shirt. Light draining from your eyes.

He threw the bottle across the room. But there was no sound of its shattering. When he looked up, he thought he was hallucinating. You were standing before him, arm lifted, holding the bottle. Looking as bright as ever.

“Hey, Luci”

He stared at you. Dumbfounded and scared to move a muscle in case you disappeared.

“How? Did Dad…?” He stuttered, voice barely above a whisper and coarse from its disuse for anything other than crying and yelling.

You shook your head and laughed, turning the bottle over in your hands and taking a step forward.

“Actually, no. It was… Mom.”

“Mum? But I sent her…”, Lucifer stood up from his place. So slow. Still so scared you were just a figure of his imagination. Maybe he was in Hell.

You stayed though. Stepping forward another step with a sad smile.

“Love finds a way.”

Your older brother looked at you and smiled, a sob falling from his mouth. He rushed towards you and pulled you in for a bone crunching hug. Breathing you in, holding you so tight like he was scared to ever let you go again.

You let tears fall from your eyes as you held onto him just as tight. A stream of emotions overflowed from both of you but one soared high above the rest.

Love.

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time 3x01 “The Heart of the Truest Believer” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05 1x06 1x07 1x08 1x09 1x10 1x111x12 1x13 1x14 1x15 1x16 1x17 1x18 1x19 1x20 1x21 1x22 2x01 2x02 2x032x04 2x05 2x06 2x07 2x08 2x09 2x10 2x11 2x12 2x13 2x14 2x152x16 2x17 2x18 2x19 2x20 2x21 2x22

Well, here we are. Season 3! And we are in Neverland! And Peter Pan is an evil little sucker. And Rumple has some emotional connection that we don’t know about. Plus a lot of fighting, evil mermaids, flying, and some things going on in the EF. This episode deals heavily with the idea of belief and believing, so I think we’ll be seeing a lot of that in this story arc. So batten down the hatches, we’ve got an unbelievable season ahead (see what I did there? Huh? Huh? Whatever.)!

Summary: While Emma tries to dissuade her parents, Regina, and Hook from tearing each other apart, Henry encounters a scared Lost Boy on Neverland and reminds him of the power of belief. In the Enchanted Forest, Neal goes to his father’s castle to figure out what’s going on with Emma.

Opening: Henry and Peter Pan flying.

New Characters: 

Peter Pan: Although we don’t know he’s Peter Pan until the end; he finds Henry when he’s running away from the Lost Boys and pretends to be another scared boy. My only problem with this is that the actor playing Pan looks at least 16, so him pretending to be scared to an 11-year-old Henry is a little odd. Maybe it’s supposed to be believable because Felix (Lost Boy Leader’s name according to the credits) is creepy as fuck. Also, why are the Lost Boys so old? Wasn’t the whole point of coming to Neverland to never grow up and be a kid forever? Wendy (in the Disney version) wanted to go there because she was being kicked out of the nursery because she was almost 13. So why are the Lost Boys teenagers? This makes no sense to me. But I digress. Henry tells him how Pan sent people to kidnap and the boy tells him if Pan sent for him he wants him for something. The basic gist of this whole ‘game’ is that Pan is pretending, he wants to make sure that Henry’s belief in magic(?) is real, and tricks him into using pixie dust in order to fly. Only then does Pan reveal himself to Henry and that he basically needs him because he has the heart of the truest believer. And then, in the most menacing way, he calls the Lost Boys and says they’re going to play. Yikes! What has Henry got himself into?

Character Observations:

Emma: We start with Emma giving birth to Henry 11 years ago. Her leg is shackled to the hospital bed and there is a prison guard watching over her. She absolutely refuses to see the baby when it’s born and says she can’t be a mother. But she’s absolutely devastated. We then move to the Jolly Roger where they are going through the portal, a true picture of a mother going after her son. Mary Margaret and David try to cheer her up, but instead, she blames them for giving her hope, for telling her that life is a fairy tale when that’s not her experience, and she can only go off of her experiences when saving Henry. She is just letting them have it while trying to keep herself together, and it’s some of the best acting I’ve seen Jennifer Morrison do on this show. She is so tired of the optimism that David and Mary Margaret have about everything and just wants them to realize that so many bad things have happened to them and to deal with that.  But they refuse to deal with reality and still hold on to hope, aggravating Emma even more. Gold comes out, now dressed like Rumple, and tells everyone that he is going to get Henry back. Emma, still upset from her talk with her parents, wants to know why Gold doesn’t think she can get Henry back. He tells her she doesn’t believe in her parents, magic, or herself. Emma says she’s pretty sure she believes in magic after everything they’ve seen, and that’s exactly the point. She only believes in what’s in front of her, she can’t talk a leap of faith without evidence, and since Neverland runs on imagination, that’s not going to fly. He basically tells her she’s the same person who came to Storybrooke and she can’t do anything without a little hand holding. Emma takes her stress out Sarah Connor style by doing pull ups down in the crew’s quarters, delighting Hook to no end. Hook gives her Bae’s old cutlass to fight with. They toast to Neal with some rum before their lovely moment is interrupted by a mermaid attack.  Everyone attacks them in different ways, but Mary Margaret and Emma catch one in a net and decide to bring it on board the ship. Everything starts going to hell when they bring her aboard. She calls a storm and everyone starts arguing with each other. You can see that Emma is finding this very strange and that this isn’t normal fighting. Regina finally turns the mermaid into a wooden statue and Emma is freaking the fuck out, especially because a wall of water comes at them after she does that. Emma and Hook are desperately trying to regain control of the ship while Mary Margaret and Regina duke it out. Hook and David end up fighting as well and Emma finally realizes that their fighting is causing the storm. She can’t get their attention, so, in a leap of faith, she jumps off the ship, which probably would’ve gotten them to stop fighting even without the rigging that flies off and hits her in the head, knocking her out under the water. Luckily, everyone works together to save her, and they get her back on the ship and she doesn’t have any type of head injury (not even a bruise!). But their working together gets the storm to stop and Emma gets in an ‘I told you so’ after she coughs up the water that could have drowned her. They finally make it onto Neverland and Emma goes into leader mode. She even admits that she was wrong and Gold was right about belief. Her parents think there’s a right way to find Henry, but Emma wants them to be who they are and do whatever it takes, no matter the consequences to save Henry and just cooperate with each other. Regina questions Emma’s role as something other than the Savior. She tells Regina she is a mother and their leader. She’s pretty much had enough of Regina’s lip and basically tells her to keep out of her way as they try to save Henry. They head off into the jungles of Neverland. So Emma has finally accepted her role as Henry’s mother and is finally taking a leadership role instead of letting everything just fall in her lap. We’ll see how she fares with Henry’s other mother.

Gold: He’s not very helpful to anyone. He does decide to dress more Enchanted Forest appropriate by wearing his crocodile skin outfit. He tells Emma that he’ll be the one to get Henry back since she doesn’t have enough belief. His speech borders on religious when he talks about taking a leap of faith (something Emma does later by jumping into the water and Henry does with the pixie dust), and then he vanishes from the ship, leaving his cane behind (I guess being back in a magical place makes it so he doesn’t need his cane anymore).  First he comes across the carnage that is Greg and Tamara. She is still alive so he makes it so she can tell him what happened to Henry. Tamara tells him that Henry ran, and then tries to justify her actions by saying she didn’t know she was working for Pan. She also apologizes for killing Neal. She asks for his forgiveness and Gold is done with this. He almost looks like he’s sympathetic to her plight, but then rips out her heart and crushes it. Bye bye, Tamara. You really did get what you deserved. He wanders around the island until he senses Felix nearby and tells him to come out. Felix addresses him as Rumplestiltskin and Gold does his little Rumple hand gesture with the biggest expression of disdain on his face. It’s hilarious. Felix tells him Pan welcomes him to the island and is happy to see him again. So now we know that Pan and Rumple have some sort of past together. What it is remains to be seen. Gold finds it hard to believe Pan wants him there. Felix tells him as long as he’s not there for the boy, he’s welcome, otherwise he’s Pan’s enemy. So I guess he’s Pan’s enemy.  Gold tells him nothing’s changed then. So I guess they’re already enemies. Felix tells him he won’t survive against Pan. Gold isn’t particularly disturbed by this. He’s more concerned about how many Lost Boys he can take with him when he goes down. Gold thinks their confrontation is over until Felix throws him a straw doll which instantly reduces Gold to tears. Holy crap! Who knew Gold could be so emotional when it didn’t have to do with Belle or Neal? Felix says something about things they haven’t thought about in years having the ability to make them cry, so I’m assuming his doll has something to do with Gold’s childhood. Felix leaves Gold crying over the doll in the middle of the jungle. Well that took a turn.

Regina: Annoying as ever, she immediately lays into Hook for the ship slowing down, and if he didn’t realize what the purpose of their trip was, it was to go rescue Henry (because they went through a portal just for the hell of it?). Like this whole conversation is completely ridiculous. Then she tells Hook about how Greg called her a villain, which she seems incredulous about (does she really not think she’s a villain, she is the Evil Queen after all), and that Greg said villains don’t get happy endings. Hook and Regina reflect on this and how they might have been wasting their lives if that’s true. Didn’t they have a similar conversation when they were below the library in The Evil Queen? Where Hook asked if their pursuit of vengeance was basically an ending and not a beginning? So, Regina doesn’t see herself as a villain, and she continues this belief throughout their journey. When the mermaids are attacking, she’s not a villain by sending fireballs after them. When Emma and Mary Margaret capture one, she yells at her (and is not above torturing her) for information, eventually causing a fight between herself and Mary Margaret (Regina wants to kill her or torture her for information, whereas Mary Margaret wants to free her), and Regina turns the mermaid into a wooden statue satisfied that that will end the storm. Except it brings a huge tidal wave upon them instead. She seems genuinely shocked that this plan didn’t work. Listen to Emma and think things through, Regina!!! Always thinking in the short term and never looking at the whole picture. Mary Margaret and Regina continue to go at it with each other (involving an actual fistfight between the two of them) and Regina, once again, plays the victim when Mary Margaret tells her to stop ruining her life. When Emma jumps off the ship she tells Mary Margaret she can’t see her in the storm to bring her back up. But they all end up working together to save Emma which stops the storm. Once they dock, Regina says she can fix the Jolly Roger and they can go with Hook’s original plan, but Emma tells her to save her magic and says that Pan already knows they’re there. Emma makes a moving speech about believing in each other and Regina poo poos this as her wanting them all to be friends. That’s not even close to what she said. Emma says they just need to be who they are to succeed and she calls Regina a villain in this speech. Regina keeps a very cool facade when Emma goes on about being a mother and their leader (both roles that are usually Regina’s forte), but seems to be on board when they go further into the jungle.

David/Mary Margaret: I just want to roll my eyes at their optimism like Emma does. Their unwavering belief that everything will work out is very annoying. They are genuinely shocked that Emma doesn’t share their optimism. You can see that Mary Margaret is doing all she can to not dissolve into tears when she tells Emma that her experience is all she has to go on and she could share some of her wisdom with her. But Emma reminds them that they are the same age with the same amount of experience. Ok, I see where Emma is coming from, but being the same age does not give them the same level of experience. They both have different experiences that they can both learn from. Mary Margaret is doing everything she can to placate Emma, but Emma is pissed off. Mary Margaret tells her that the moment she lets go of her belief the moment things will ultimately get worse (how much worse can it get? You’ve already been cursed, lost your daughter, Johanna was killed, and now your grandson has been kidnapped?). I’d be frustrated too.  David and Mary Margaret are trying to control the ship when the mermaids attack, and David’s the first to do something useful by making explosives and shooting the mermaids with the mini cannons (I will not be capsized by fish). And he looks hot doing it. Whew! Mary Margaret gets the idea to catch the mermaids, I’m not really sure what the thought process there was. Later on she thinks that talking to them and seeing if they can make some sort of deal with them will work, but all in all, the capturing a mermaid plan basically almost killed them all. When questioning the mermaid, David first goes from the yell and threaten approach (even bringing a sword to her throat, and Mary Margaret looks horrified at this), while Mary Margaret thinks that killing them with kindness is the way to go (she thinks they are scared of Pan and doing his bidding, even though Hook tells her mermaids are liars and just want to kill them). Regina continues to try and kill the mermaid even though everyone else tells her not to and she brings on a huge tidal wave when she turns her into wood. Mary Margaret blames Regina who doesn’t think this is her fault. She wants her to undo the spell and Regina calls Mary Margaret a naive princess, so Mary Margaret punches her! Damn girl! Get out all that pent up frustration! They continue punching each other so David goes to break them up, but Hook tells him to let them fight because he needs him to help with the ship, but he uses a derogatory term for women and David punches him. So now they’re fighting. He even tries to stab Hook with his own hook. Talk about cold blooded. They finally all get their acts together when Emma jumps in the water to stop them from fighting. Mary Margaret and David are terrified.  They all work together, with David jumping into the water to save her and the others pulling them up with rope. Once on the island, Emma tells them all they need to work together and David and Mary Margaret don’t want to work with Regina and Hook. I’m confused as to why they think they’re there then if they weren’t all going to work with each other. David wants to do things the right way (which is what exactly?), but Emma says they just need to be heroes while Regina is a villain and Hook is a pirate. They need those skills to get Henry back. When Emma says her skill is being a mother, Mary Margaret gets the proudest look on her face. Like Emma’s finally understanding what being a parent is all about. And then after she tells Regina to either help or get out of her way, David is the first to follow with a proud daddy smirk on his face.

Henry: Basically, he’s running from the Lost Boys. He has belief in magic and flies. And now Peter Pan and the Lost Boys have him surrounded.

Greg/Tamara: They know they’re in Neverland because it’s the mother lode of magic. They want to destroy it. Henry asks them who they work for that works on Neverland, but Greg says it’s none of his business. The Home Office takes care of them. Henry wonders how they’ll get back home once they destroy magic, but Greg is deep into the ‘it doesn’t matter as long as it gets done’ belief to worry about little things like getting home. They immediately realize something is wrong when their communicator is filled with sand. Tamara even wonders if it’s a toy and Henry remarks that it’s a good thing they don’t ask questions. Greg just gets angry while Tamara starts getting worried. Greg builds a fire to send a signal, but Tamara thinks the broken communicator was intentional. That’s when the Lost Boys emerge. They tell Greg and Tamara they’re the Home Office, and Tamara is getting really frightened now that they know the Home Office is run by teenagers. Henry clarifies that they’re the Lost Boys. Henry’s confused as to why the Lost Boys want to destroy magic, and Greg reminds him that that was their mission. Felix tells him they only told him what he wanted to hear so they could get Henry. Tamara finally gets some balls and asks how they’re getting home and Felix tells her they aren’t getting home. Greg tells them they aren’t getting Henry, but Felix summons the Shadow who rips Greg’s shadow from his body and kills him. Tamara tells Henry to run and gets shot with an arrow from a Lost Boy. Now, I have to admit, I really didn’t like Greg, but this was an awful way for him to die. After everything he went through as a kid he just wanted some justification in destroying magic, and unfortunately, he found the wrong organization who just used him for their own means.  Tamara manages not to die right off the bat and is found by Rumple later. He heals her so she can tell him where Henry went. She apologizes for everything and asks him for forgiveness over what she did to Neal. But Rumple don’t play that game and takes her heart and crushes it.  RIP Greg and Tamara, you will not be missed in the slightest.

Neal/Mulan: Ugh! I really wish Neal was just dead and I didn’t have to deal with all this. First off, we get no explanation about how they rescued Phillip from the wraith, he’s just there with them. Neal wakes up and is bandaged pretty modernly for being in the EF. Mulan immediately thinks he’s lying about being from the EF since he’s wearing clothes like Emma and Snow did. Which makes no sense because she knows about the curse and how they were all from the EF, so of course he’d be wearing modern clothes if he was from the same place they were. Once Mulan mentions Emma and Snow, Neal wants them to help him find her because Emma’s in danger. He also mentions Henry and Aurora quickly comes to the conclusion that he’s Henry’s father. Mulan questions how Neal got there, but he explains about the portal. He tells her they’re all considered fairy tale characters, or legends. When Aurora can’t make contact she thinks the worst. Neal realizes he needs to go to his father’s castle and reveals his father is the Dark One. Mulan and Neal have a deep discussion about why Emma never mentioned him when she was there. Neal says he broke her heart and then never came back for her even though he loved her and he regrets it. He claims he didn’t try because he didn’t want to be rejected. Or, maybe because you were engaged to Tamara up until she shot you? Seriously, what is up with all the Neal retconning. He didn’t want to risk seeing his father so he let Emma go to jail for him and then didn’t ever look for her once the curse broke because he’d moved on and still didn’t want to deal with his father. This whole still loving Emma thing is bullshit! Mulan seems to understand his regret more than she should. Still wondering if she’s in love with Phillip or Aurora. They get to the castle and Neal realizes that someone is there because they left out a goblet of wine. Then an arrow comes shooting near his head and Robin Hook makes his entrance. Neal is in disbelief. He tells Robin he can have the castle, he just needs to find something first and Robin believes he is the son of the Dark One, because who would admit to that if they weren’t.  He also tells Neal that Rumplestiltskin spared his life and Neal wants him to help him find whatever he needs to pay for that debt. Neal is looking for something magical that his father would have hidden away. Neal finds his father’s old cane, swings it around, and uncovers a magical cabinet. Convenient. Neal claims it’s blood magic that made it so he could uncloak the cabinet. Neal finds a crystal ball and laments about how he’s been running from magic most of his life and now it’s the only thing that can help him. Boo hoo. But he can’t make the crystal ball work. Like your father said, you have to believe. Mulan tells him he needs to think of Emma and not a place. And when he does he recognizes that she’s in Neverland. Uh oh!

Questions:

I get having a guard while Emma is giving birth, but shackled? I’ve given birth three times and trying to move without help after you’ve given birth is almost near impossible. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t break the cuff with the sheer force that is necessary to give birth.

With the way Henry fell out of that portal (and that he couldn’t brace himself since his hands are tied), shouldn’t he have broken something? That was a pretty high fall from the portal. 

Why didn’t Greg and Tamara’s portal spit them out in water since they went into it in water?

Why does Regina ask Hook about the ship slowing down? He hasn’t cast anchor, it’s not a car, it doesn’t just slow down. That’s not how it works. If Hook hasn’t put the anchor down then the ship is slowing down most likely due to lack of wind, or the fact that they just shot out of a portal, not because of anything he’s doing.

How is Aurora’s dress not shredded by now? She’s in the same dress that she was wearing in Broken.

Why is Aurora’s first reaction to not being able to reach Henry in her dream that he’s in trouble and not that he’s not asleep?

How does Neal a) know about his father’s castle (he left the EF before Rumplestiltskin owned a castle), and b) know where this castle is?

Doesn’t wearing a bag crossed over where Neal just got shot hurt? He’s acting like he was never shot at all.

Anyone else think David’s face is a little too close to the mini cannon? I was afraid he was going to at least burn his eyebrows off.

Why are Mary Margaret and Regina still wearing their suit jackets in the middle of a storm? Emma took off her turtleneck and David rolled up his sleeves. Having that extra soaking layer must suck.

First of all, Robin Hood says he arrived at Rumple’s castle shortly after the curse (I’m assuming after it ended) to find it already looted by thieves. Did it get looted after Rumple was taken captive by Snow and Charming?  Secondly, why did he decide to go back to Rumple’s castle after he was tortured and nearly killed the last time he was there? Did he know Rumple had been imprisoned beforehand?

I thought Felix was with the Lost Boys chasing Henry. Did he decide to take a break when they discovered Gold was on the island?

Where did Mary Margaret’s bow and quiver full of arrows come from? She only had a backpack when she came aboard the Jolly Roger in And Straight on ‘Til Morning.

Why is David questioning working with Regina and Hook to get Henry back? They all made the journey to Neverland. Were they just going to leave Regina and Hook on the ship?

Observations:

The lights flicker when Emma gives birth to Henry. The last time we saw this was in the Pilot. It seems this is a manifestation of Emma’s magic in our world.

It looks like Gold lost all the gray in his hair when he had his wardrobe change.

Apparently getting your shadow ripped from you will kill you.

Snow didn’t teach Aurora how to control the dreams and walk the dream world. Henry had the amulet that Gold gave him that let him control things (and David later broke). Not that they ever used it after the first dream.

Neal explains how portals work. You have to think about the place you want to go to.

I don’t know if it’s because of the difference between filming a live ship and then greenscreening a background when filming the actors, but the ship looks like it’s barely moving when it’s just a ship shot, and then it’s speeding along when you see the water behind the actors.

Robin Hood is played by a different actor than when we last saw him in Lacey.

I’ve decided that the forest that we saw in Cora’s bubble must be Sherwood Forest, as that’s the only explanation for Robin Hood to still be in the EF, and why he hasn’t aged.

So that’s the season premiere for season 3! We are officially in Neverland. We don’t even see Storybrooke. And we have to deal with characters we don’t particularly care for in the Enchanted Forest (although I like the smarminess of this Robin Hood). We’ll see how this all comes together. Some other thoughts: Regina is still Evil Queen Bitch. She seems to have learned nothing from her brushes with death just that morning. David and Mary Margaret also seem to think that if they just do the right thing then everything will be alright, when we’ve yet to see that work out for them. Emma is the only one who seems to have made any growth by calling herself Henry’s mother and finally taking a leadership role in finding him. And Hook just fancies Emma when she’s not yelling at him.

Please leave comments and reblog! Let me know if you’d like to be tagged in future reviews.

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[devilrising]

Fallen Draco, Pt. 5

This story follows a prompt by @mymindsmadness

Summary: AU where Draco is a fallen angel, and the way he gets his wings back is by guiding Harry in defeating Voldemort, but it all goes wrong when Draco starts falling in love with Harry.

Word Count (Part 5): 2,817

Word Count (Total): 14,995

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Mentions of abuse/torture (non-graphic).

***

4th April, 1998

A day later and the bone-wings still weigh me down. The hideous jut of bone extending from my shoulder blades casts a grey tone to the rest of me. At least most of the blood and synovial fluid has washed off. None of my clothes sit on my back properly, and Potter has had to cut holes into them. He can seal them up again with a couple of charms, but it’s still an annoying and complicated process. And I’m becoming rather bored. Sitting at Grimmauld Place—as I’ve heard Potter call it—with nothing to do but stare at my family-tree tapestry and reread all of the books for the hundredth time.

I sigh. Wishing I had something else to do, I pack up the drawing room and traverse the stairs. I pace across the landing and into my room, where I allow myself to flop unceremoniously onto my bed. The tension between Potter and I has decreased a little bit, but it is still a raging torrent that could be cut by an axe. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m still on my various medications, drinking eight Potions each morning. At least I can’t actually feel the bone extending from my skin. The jarred skeleton of wings catches on almost everything I pass. I frequently hit them against walls and doors, my skin snagging whenever I reach behind myself for something.

“You ready to go?” A voice calls out from the corridor. My door is pushed open and I stare as Potter’s head of black hair comes into view. “I’ll take that as a no,” he snarls, annoyed.

“I didn’t know we were going anywhere?!” I leap to my feet and cross the room to stand in front of my mirror. I took Potter’s advice, grudgingly, and ordered some more furniture. Most of it has arrived by now—muggle postage is a drag, but I couldn’t buy from magical shops as I’m supposed to be back in the Manor and couldn’t risk being seen—for which I am incredibly grateful for. I catch his eye in the reflection, vivid green staring back at me. He nods, and I start to cast a network Glamours. Soon, my face is twisted beyond recognition. I’ve decided to replicate the work that he did the night I escaped from St Mungo’s. My skin is once again cool tone and covered in freckles and random red splotches. I watch in amazement as my wings melt away too, hidden by a cloud of air that isn’t there.

Turning away from the mirror, Potter nods an approving head and waves his wand over himself. The signature lightning bolt scar removes itself, as well as the black hair, which fades to sandy brown once again. The eyes stay though.

“Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“You’ll see.”

“Thank you greatly, kind sir.”

That draws a startled laugh from him, which he quickly covers with a cough. I smile to myself though, glad that I can still extract a reaction from him. Even if it isn’t a snarl or a punch.

***

I should’ve stayed at his house. I am not used to being out in public, people swarming everywhere. If it was muggle London again it probably would’ve been fine, but no. We are in Diagon fucking Alley. I curse under my breath as soon as I recognise the cobbled streets and exotic displays in the windows.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Dragging my here!”

“Calm down, Malfoy. No one knows it’s you, you’re Glamoured.”

“They will if you keep saying my name…” I murmur under my breath. He is correct, again. He’s doing that a lot lately. Mind you, that still doesn’t mean that I want to be here. I would much rather jump off a cliff than be spotted in public.

“What are we doing here anyway?” I ask, hands curling into fists on my waist.

“Shopping.” He pauses thoughtfully. “And I’d stop doing that if I were you.”

My mouth drops open. “Doing what?”

“That,” he says, pointing to me like it’s obvious. It isn’t. “Your mannerisms will give you away,” he sighs.

“My manne- Oh.” My hands instantly drop to my sides, facing morphing into an odd expression. Potter fixes me a weird look before letting a grin spread across his face.

“Much better, Draidan.”

“Draidan?” Oh. “It is rather, Peter.” I can see a glint in his emerald eyes at the name I chose for him.

“I see how it is, Draidan. I use your first name, yet you’re insistent on my last.”

I blush furiously for absolutely no reason at all. “It’s you that’s weird. We don’t use first names.”

“True. Very true, Draidan,” Potter says pensively. I can’t help but notice that my name is being repeated a lot. He is clearly testing it out, seeing how his mouth forms around it, how it feels in his mouth. ‘Peter’ feels very similar to ‘Potter’, so I refrain from saying it.

“Follow me,” he commands. His hand finds my elbow and he drags me away from the public Apparition point and down the cobbled street. I yank my arm back, but he clutched onto it again, his fingers wrapped around my wrist.

“Keep it there. Public façades, remember?” Right. We are boyfriends in public again, just like when I escaped St Mungo’s.

“Fine,” I huff. “If you tell me where we are going.”

Potter sighs. “Even though I got you new clothes yesterday, your situation requires a bit more help.”

“Explain.”

“You need to see Professor Parsons.

***

Professor Parsons, as it turns out, is an elderly wizard who specialises in Magical Creatures and Their Transformations. He is essentially a replacement for the shit job the Ministry does and the rude people who serve said creatures. And now I’m one, standing in front of his beechwood, meticulous desk.

“Good afternoon, young sirs. How may I help you?”

“Hello, Professor Parsons, this is Draidan.” Potter gestures to me. “He is the one in question today.” In question? Honestly, he really needs to learn how to phrase things more respectfully.

“What are we doing for him today?”

“He’s a fallen angel, and his wings have just reappeared,” Potter explains. Parsons face drains of colour, his eyebrows tight and drawn.

He reaches for my wrist and tugs me forward. His long, grey beard tickles at the back of my head and neck as he spins me around. Potter watches on, hand in his right pocket. The elderly man starts to feel up my back, searching for something. I’m sure he’s found it when he digs hard into the skin and finds bone beneath his fingers. He slips them up further, reaching where I know the wings should stick out of my back. Parsons sighs behind me.

“You’re under some altering charm, aren’t you?”

“Glamour,” I confess.

“Do you mind removing it?”

“Uh- Yeah, sorry.”

“Just around your back then?”

“Uh.” I turn to Potter, silently asking if that’s a good idea. I personally don’t see much problem—except for the family crest burned into my lower back, the one he freaked out about yesterday—but he might. He seems to think on it for a moment before nodding.

“I’ll remove it,” he states, coming up in front of me with his wand drawn. I spin around so my backs to him as Parsons moves away. Potter’s magic washes over my back, warm and tingly, making the skeletal wings reappear. But my skin doesn’t change colour. I must admit, begrudgingly, that that’s a rather clever and complicated bit of magic.

“Ah,” Parsons mumbles as he sees the jarred and garish bones. “I see.”

Biting back a retort of ‘of course you see now, he just made them visible!’ I turn back around to face Potter.

“I can immediately see a problem, gents.”

“Which is?” I ask as I clench my hands.

“How did you fall?”

“Oh um. It’s a rather- dark reason.”

“That’s what I feared,” he says pensively. “There’s nothing I can do for you lad.”

“How come?!”

“If you lost them because of an evil presence, you can only regain them—and survive—if you remove that evil and replace it with good. It seems you’ve already started, by the state of the wings.”

“By the state? They could be worse than this?” Potter asks. I glare at him.

“Of course. I’ve seen ones falling apart and chipped everywhere.”

“Wow,” I whisper.

“Anyway boys, I can’t do anything to help except give you some pain potions.”

“We’ll take them,” Potter instantly says. I turn to him, a horrified look on my face.

I cross the small gap between us and murmur to him quietly, “I have no gold. Father has it all locked away.” My face blushes furiously. Money is not something I talk about.

“I will.”

“But-”

“Nope. Not a word of protest.” He walks over to the counter at the back of the room where Parsons is collecting an array of different coloured bottles. “How much?” He gestures to all of them.

“120 galleons,” Parsons replies, a smug look on his face.

“For four bottles?” Potter inquires, hand reaching into his left pocket.

“That’s correct.”

“What about 100?”

“Hmm.” The greedy bastard thinks about it, calculating in his head. “That’ll do nicely.” He nods, sliding the bottles across the counter and towards Potter. “Here you go, lad.”

“Thank you, Professor.”

Potter scoops the four bottles up as he passes the coins over. Parsons carefully counts them all out, smiling when he’s done. “Have a nice day,” he calls out as I’m being dragged out of the little shop. The day has quickly come to a close, the sun setting and streaking the sky with reds and pinks.

“Merlin that was expensive!” I exclaim.

“Well, if it helps the pain at all, it's worth it.”

“I’m glad you think so…” I mumble.

***

5th April, 1998

Potter comes running up the stairs, barging into the drawing room.

“Okay there?” I inquire, only semi-mocking.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That you know some of their plans?!”

“Wha-?” Oh. “Uh- Yeah. I might’ve heard some of them. My father didn’t really like me knowing much though.”

“Anything is better than nothing!”

“Okay then,” I exhale. “Better get some parchment.”

“Fuck parchment!” Potter curses. Instead, he pulls out a small muggle notebook and what I think is a pen. “Muggles have it so much easier.”

“What do you know?” He starts asking questions.

I take a moment to breathe. “They have plans for an attack in May.”

“May? Where?”

“You won’t like it…”

“Tell me anyway.”

“The Unspeakable’s department.”

“The what?! They’re mad.”

“Absolutely,” I nod in agreement.

“Do you know an exact date?”

“I think I was told, but I don’t quite remember. All I know, is that it’s early May.”

“Early May, Unspeakable Department. Got it.” He checks over everything, making sure it’s correct. “Do you know anything else?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” I concede. “I know how they think though, if you’d like to hear that?”

“If it’ll help me figure out their strategies, that would be great.”

“Okay.” I pause. “Hold on. Who are you giving this information to?”

“Don’t know yet,” he confesses. “Probably Hermione.”

“Granger?! You still talk to her?”

“Of course I do!”

“Isn’t she at school? Actually, why aren’t you at Hogwarts?”

“No. Ron, Hermione, and I are all out.” He pauses, and a devilish grin covers his face. “And to save the world, of course.”

“I actually can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.” I mock, laughing despite myself.

“Ha-ha Malfoy,” He taunts, thumping me on the shoulder. I splutter, caught by surprise at the contact. I think this is the first time we’ve ever touched. I don’t think we’ve even knocked into each other. I don’t know how that makes me feel.

“In all seriousness though, I dropped out to find horcruxes,” Potter confesses.

I gasp. “He was right!”

“What do you mean ‘he was right’?”

“The Dark Lord mentioned something about you hunting horcruxes. Said they were hidden in such dangerous locations, and hidden by ridiculously fierce guardians, that you’d never succeed.”

“Wow.” Potter looks stunned. “Do you know anything else?”

“I tried to figure out some of the locations, but I couldn’t think of anything. I’m sorry, but I have no idea where they could be.”

“That’s okay, you’ve helped enough,” he says. “I’d best be going, give this info to someone who can do something about it.”

I nod absently, suddenly plunged deep into thought. As he stands up and paces across the room, footsteps loud and dominating in the silence, I’m drawn out of my mind.

“Oh, and Potter?”

“Yeah, Malfoy?”

“Actually- don’t worry about it.”

***

I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. It’s been just over a month since I learned of father’s and the Dark Lord’s plans. Nightmares keep me up at night still, and I’m growing sick of waking up in a cold sweat. The potions Potter bought from Professor Parsons remove all sense of pain, but they were incredibly expensive, and I only have a limited amount. I don’t know how I’ll cope when they run out. After all, there is no book or guide on how to become a ‘risen angel’ as Potter has dubbed it. I think it has a nice ring to it, although I’ll never tell him that.

That’s another odd thing. I no longer feel like I want to shove his head in twenty-four/seven, but only eighteen/four. It’s a strange sensation, but at least I can now get up for food without worrying about him killing me. I spent countless hours going over the various scenarios in my mind. Would he use the Killing Curse? A more creative spell? A weapon? There’s no point pondering over this anymore though, as I no longer fear my death is coming from him. Instead, the constant pressure of the possibility of my father or an angry Dark Lord haunts me.

“Malfoy?”

“Yeah?” I call out from my bedroom, where I’m trying to paint the walls.

“Could you help with dinner?”

Oh. He’s never asked for my help before. But he’s helped me a lot… “I guess so. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“Okay, thanks!”

Sighing, I finish the line of navy blue paint and place the roller down cautiously. The last thing I want is paint all over the floors—even though I have them covered in plastic, I can still see a disaster waiting to happen.

I race down the stairs, carefully avoiding the creaking steps, and reach the ground floor. The house elf heads still make me nauseous, but I’ve gotten better at ignoring them entirely. Footsteps echoing as I walk through the stone door and into the kitchen, I can smell what must be dinner. I think it’s chicken, but my sense of smell has been really messed up recently. It must have something to do with the pain potions, but I’m not entirely sure.

“Oh great, you’re here,” Potter says, passing the spoon to me so I can stir the gravy as soon as I’m in sight. He grins as I take it up, starting to stir it around the pot as if it were a cauldron.

“This is fairly easy,” I state, catching a whiff of the rich gravy—although slightly off.

“Yeah, I figured you’d like it. It’s a lot like Potions.” Potter opens a weird cupboard, pulling the lid so that it’s parallel to the ground. It makes an odd whoosh as it’s opened, and heat swarms out of it. I watch intrigued as he pulls out a tray of chicken. I was right about that at least.

“What is that?” I ask, curious about the muggle contraption. Because it has to be muggle. Wizards would never create something so strange.

“It’s an oven,” he explains. “It cooks food using a fan and a heat source.”

“Oh,” I say. “That kind of makes sense.”

We keep cooking in silence, and soon we have the dining table set and wine ready to be poured—technically I am under the muggle drinking age, but everyone in the Wizarding community starts drinking around fifteen. I take my usual seat at the left of the head, and Potter takes the seat opposite me. Neither of us want to fill the most important seat at the table, although I imagine our reasons are different. I don’t want to sit there because that was always my father’s seat. I assume that Potter sits opposite me to show that he isn’t above me—that we are equals. He does a lot of things with that in mind, I think. Even though we are both in rather shit situations right now, we have somehow come up with a method to the madness. One that allows us to be ourselves, and to live another day.

***

A/N: Thank you for being patient with the uploading of this part. I am sorry it’s a little late! Please let me know if you want to be tagged. Xx

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[greekgeek21]

The Codependency Competition Ch.4

Ok, for starters, don't worry! I won't make Annabeth mean, I'll just make is clear that Percy is utterly and completely whipped. Or maybe I won't. Who knows? You just have to read to find out. And I'm sorry if this chapter seems more like a script. I had a small case of writers block.

Now, I think that's it, so comment, like, and follow! Happy reading!

– your author

ΩΩΩ

Ok, so Percy was half-right. Annabeth DID wait until they were both home to act, but not in the way he had expected.

As soon as he had closed the front door, he was immediately pushed up against it again. Annabeth was kissing him fiercely, and it took a second for him to respond, but Percy ended up kissing her back just as passionately. In the end, Annabeth was the one to pull them apart (but not before they had ended up on the couch).

"What was that?!" Percy asked, eyebrows raised.

"I love you," Annabeth said, breathless.

"Ok, I love you, too, but WHAT WAS THAT?" he asked again.

Annabeth sighed and moved so she was sitting next to him, "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to not do that at school today?"

Ok, not what I was expecting. But not necessarily bad, Percy thought.

"I do know, but I thought you would be pissed at me for doing what I did at lunch today," he said before he could stop himself from bringing it up.

"Oh, I am. But I needed to do that more," Annabeth replied.

And she was mad, but she had known to expect something in retaliation for doing what she did that morning. Annabeth couldn't really blame him for wanting pay-back, even if it was completely evil. Even so, he was most definitely going to be paying for what he did. She couldn't just LET him do that without getting him back for it! And just like she usually does, Annabeth had a plan.

"Oh, good. I was starting to get wor–" Percy was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open.

"Mr. McShizzle-Bad-Boy-Supreme is in the house!"

"Leo," Percy and Annabeth sighed in unison.

"And us!" Piper exclaimed.

When they actually looked, Percy and Annabeth saw that Leo, Calypso, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and Thalia were all barging into their apartment. That's one thing you can also expect from demigods: no manners.

"Oh, well, just come on it, guys!" Annabeth exclaimed with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

"It's not like you're interrupting or anything!" Percy said the same way.

"Thanks!" Thalia said.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look, "What do you want?"

"We just wanted to check in on you guys. See how you're doing without each other," Piper answered.

"Yeah, right. You wanted to see if we've cracked yet," Percy said.

"Well..." Jason said.

Thalia didn't have any such hesitation with admitting their true intentions, though, "I would never pass up a chance to see my little cuz suffer!"

"Well, you will be sorely disappointed because we are still keeping the secret with ease!" Annabeth cut quickly.

"Is that right?" Frank asked.

"Yes," Percy replied simply.

"Ok! Now where's the food? Papa's hungry!" Leo exclaimed, marching off to the kitchen.

The topic of their challenge was never brought up again for the rest of the night. The demigods and titaness just enjoyed spending time together. However, they couldn't stay together for long, because of the monsters. Having that many monster-attractors in one place was just asking for an attack of momentous proportions. So, the group enjoyed some dinner, and then they left.

Sally and Paul had decided to go out on a date that night, so they had only come home for a little while to get ready, and then they had left, trusting Annabeth and Percy enough to leave them home alone.

"Oh! I forgot to mention that Mike, Jack, and Chloe are gonna be coming over tomorrow to hang out. If you don't want them finding out, then you should probably stay out of the apartment after school," Percy said as they were getting ready for bed that night.

"Ok. Goodnight," Annabeth answered simply, crawling into bed.

"That's it? Nothing else?" he exclaimed incredulously.

"Yep! Love you," she said.

"Love you, too," Percy said, accepting he wasn't going to get anything else out of his girlfriend, and climbing into bed as well.

ΩΩΩ

The next day at school, Percy was on edge the entire time. He was expecting Annabeth to retaliate sooner. But when she didn't, that just made him get even more suspicious. It is never good to let your  guard down when you're in a competition with Annabeth Chase. He learned that the hard way.

So, he was still on edge when he was walking home with his friends.

"Is it weird that we haven't been to your house yet?" Chloe asked.

"Not really. Nobody from school but Paul has been to my apartment," Percy answered, shrugging.

Jack shook his head, "It still feels so weird to hear you call Mr. Blofis Paul."

"He is his step-father," Chloe pointed out as they were going up the elevator.

"Whatever, all I care about is seeing what's inside of the famous Percy Jackson's apartment," Mike said.

Percy just rolled his eyes. He wasn't that popular. It was bad enough having people treat him like he was the next Hercules at camp, and now he has to deal with it at school, too. It almost makes him wish he was back to being picked-on by Nancy Bobofit in the sixth grade! Almost.

"Welcome to my humble home!" Percy said dramatically, opening the door and widening his arms.

"Wow, it's very...homey," Mike said.

"I guess..." Percy dragged out his words.

His friends started to inspect everything in the living room, which doubled as the entrance room. They looked at all of the pictures of younger Percy, as a baby and as a demigod. Percy started to panic when he saw Jack looking at a picture of him, Grover, and Annabeth just after their first quest. They were all covered in dirt and scrapes, but they were also all grinning like idiots. That tended to happen when you had just prevented a major war between the gods.

Just as he was about to try and explain why there was a picture of him with Annabeth Chase, Jack moved on to another picture, not evening mentioning anything. Apparently his friends weren't that observant. It probably also helped that they hadn't really been close enough to Annabeth to realize that she was the same person in the picture.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Percy asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Movie and snacks?" Mike suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Percy exclaimed, hopping up to grab food from the kitchen.

"Anything involving food sounds good to you, Seaweed Brain!"

That single sentence caused everyone to freeze. Standing under the entrance to the hall, was Annabeth Chase. In one of Percy's shirts no less! Don't be getting the wrong idea though, she had shorts on under there.

"Um–uh," Percy stammered.

"Very intelligent, Perseus," Annabeth laughed.

"Um, Percy? Why is there a girl in your house, wearing your shirt?" Jack asked, being the first one out of Percy's friends to regain the use of his voice.

But he never got an answer because suddenly, Mike broke out of his shock and yelled, "That's freaking Annabeth Chase!"

ΩΩΩ

Yes, I'm leaving you on a cliffhanger! Mwahaha!!! And maybe I won't write for another chapter for an entire week. Or maybe I'll update tomorrow. Only I know! I wanted to–and I could've–make this chapter longer, but I just thought that this was the perfect opportunity to keep you on the edge of your seats in anticipation. Or something like that...

My amazing beta has helped me where I fall short, so they deserve a BIG shoutout. Thanks, JJ! Ao3: nightskywithrainbows.

Anyway, comment, like, and follow! I hope you enjoyed this, and happy reading!

– your author

chapter 5 :)