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shibe-myths · 1 year

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Forgotten Tales: Lich Gate

Genre Tag(s): High Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Epic Tragedy in the making, Horror, Found Family, Myths & Legends, LGBTQ+

Rating: 18+

Warning(s): Violence, Body Horror, Crude Humor, Loss, Strong Language, Descriptive Gore, Implied Potion Abuse, sexually suggestive scenes, Romantic Scenes, Intrusive thoughts, Alcohol consumption, Mind Control, Demonic Horses, War.

Description:

The world, born from the Titaness Vita’s bloated corpse, is dying. The Cycle of Rebirth is coming to a close and bringing with it, the end of the world. To the East- an army led by the Lich Queen waits in the shadows of the Fell Mountains. In the Forests of Old, a new god will soon awaken- born of madness and despair. Who hopes to defeat an ancient foe once more arisen from the grips of death. And, to the West, where sand and mist reign…strange mirages of a history long lost are starting to reappear on the horizon. But how does this all affect you?

Well…

That's up to you to decide my Forgotten Friend.

1. A chance to choose your own appearance (be that: Species, flesh, hair, and build). Or you can go totally default!

2. Romance and/or befriend a multitude of Villains and Heroes! Even a walking-talking red flag!

3. Witness the End of the World- and maybe save it before it all goes to shit! Or don’t! I’m not your mom! Demo Link: Set for release in January!

+ Personality Stats

For the time being, the Forgotten One’s Personality has three CORE personality options that are based on their dialogue and internal monologue choices. Somewhat similar to Dragon Age 2. Your Personality will slowly start to stack over time with whichever core that you, the player favors. And by the end of the Demo, whichever of the three Core personalities that the player chooses the most will become set for the remainder of the game! The effects of the player character’s personality will usually be seen in the case of flavor text, specialized dialogue, internal dialogue, and character commentary.

Note: The player’s personality (both primary and secondary) will have nothing to do with how the player flirts or reacts to being flirted with by the various Romantic Interests.

Primary Personalities.

Charmed: This one can bluff, bargain, and bemuse their way through most social situations in life. But! Be careful not to come off as too cocky- else you’ll find yourself thrown.

Diplomatic: A person who is slow to offense and is quick to calm any situation when it comes to their words. Tactful, this one gains the ability to maneuver most situations with a calm head. But, don’t let others see you as too much of a pushover.

Fighter: You like to pull the first punch and shove yourself right into the thick of a fight, don’t you? Well, this is the core personality for you! Aggressive and more than willing to confront those around you. Just… be sure not to cause too much strife, yeah? Otherwise, you might find yourself all alone.

Dialogue for each of the Core Personalities will appear as follows: [Charmed] "Hello Sers, let’s put down the flaming swords now and use those poor- unused minds of yours, no?" A trick of the tongue and a beaming smile has them eating out of the palm of your hand.

[Diplomatic] "Let's just take a moment to calm down, yes?" hands raised, sweet, unassuming. Easy pickings if not for the overwhelming sense of magic. It's a miracle that the bandit takes a chance to listen.

[Fighter] You throw a punch, striking the poor fellow right in the gut. No questions asked.

Secondary Personalities.

While the main three personality options will take precedent, the MC's Personality can also be further affected by the following secondary personality traits:

Helpful: A person who would sooner help than hinder. Sympathetic, let us hope that no one puts the entire world on your shoulders.

Sarcastic: This one takes the piss out of everything and everyone. Jokes and smiles follow quick at hand. However, remember, there is always a time or place for everything. Even assholery.

Tearful: Some of us just want to play the crybaby. Overly empathetic and stressed. This one lets it ALL out. Just hope that you gain SOME backbone when the time comes.

Blunt: Straight to the point. They don’t have the time to mince words on bullshit like small talk. They’ve got places to be thank you very much.

Aloof: Emotions are not the easiest to come by for this one. Whether from trauma or disinterest they keep their heart well off their sleeve.

Dark: Morbid, ill thinker, it does not matter. This one has embraced the shadows from whence they came. Fatalist. But unfortunately, not everyone’s cup of tea.

Example: [Charmed][Dark] "Oh, how lovely. One guess what that stain might be..."

[Diplomatic][Tearful] You can already feel the tears on the edge of your vision, blurring the world as the mage pauses to take it all in. ‘Ser, please…’

[Fighter][Helpful] ‘The victims of this atrocity will be avenged. You have my sword.’

“You mean your word?"

‘No.’ Note: As mentioned before, the Forgotten One’s Personality will eventually set once the demo has been complete. However, there will be chances to change... for better or worse.

+ Romance

Within the demo for Lich Gate the MC has a chance to meet all Seven of the possible romance options. The Following is a quick array of character sheets for the possible Main Romances. Spoilers ahead.

❅The Lady in armor❅

Name: Lamis Bashar

Alias: Lady B (By associates), The ALMOST Sultana (By Laz), Lami (intimate relations.)

Gender: Female (not customizable)

Pronouns: She/Her

Age Range: Mid to late thirties

Species: Human

Class: General (close combat)

Weapon: A crook’d spear.

Personality: Noble | Austere | Passionate | Stubborn

Romance Option: Yes. However, Lamis is only romanceable towards those who are male or male presenting.

Romance Style: Hot and Cold

Appearance: Tall, almost impossibly so, lady B stands just shy of 7ft/213.36cm. With a swimmer’s build and a lancer’s training it is no surprise that the lady hides a muscular physique beneath her many layers of roughspun silk and armor. Drenched in fine jewels. She possesses calf-length caramel hair kept in a tight braid, dull yellow eyes, olive skin, and dramatic kohl lining her eyes and that of her lips.

Description: Wandering the kingdoms of Edalehan and Ibereli with her merry band of misfits, the lady spends much of her days foregoing her royal duties for the call of adventure. Believing that she may do more good for the people out there in the thick of it over that of a throne room. It is yet unknown whether or not she’s bitten off more than she can chew.

But, good luck telling her that.

The first romance option (technically the second) that the Player will meet during their journey. Lady B, born Lamis Bashar, is the great-granddaughter of the prior Sultana and an unknown consort - now the leader of a mercenary band. She finds the player lost upon the roads to ruin and takes pity, bringing them into her guild without so much as a second thought. She spends much of Lich Gate’s beginning aiding the MC in regaining their lost memories.

Notes:

Both Lady B and Bernie are distant cousins, hence the similar eye colors

Lady B owns a Pogona Lizard named Princess. Princess lives within her sleeve and will sometimes rest atop her shoulders; judging those around her.

☼The Noble knight☼

Name: Ser Bernadette Emili Regis Narcissus Ingle of Noble House Bulgari

Alias: Bernie, B.B. (by Laz), Berns (Laz), Princeling (Laz)

Gender: Nonbinary, born AMAB.

Pronoun: They/Them

Age range: Mid-Twenties

Species: ‘Human’

Class: Cavalier

Weapon: Sword and Shield.

Personality: Honest | Kind | Romantic | Naive

Romance Option: Yes. Bernie is Romanceable to a player of any gender. However, they prefer good-nature MCs.

Romance Style: Flustered and drowning in courtly romance.

Appearance: Shoulder length dreads beaded with jewels, heavy brows, fine, lightly calloused umber skin, a broad nose, pale gold eyes, and a lithe build. Somewhat akin to that of a fencer. Standing at 5’8”/172.72cm, they make up for their rather average appearance with that of heavy armor that is more ceremonial rather than practical. And beneath their eyes is a thick line of kohl.

Description: The eldest twin of the noble house Bulgari, Bernadette is next in line to inherit the throne of the Bridge Isles. It’s just too bad that Bernie does not desire to take the crown until they’ve accomplished an impossible feat worthy of House Bulgari. No matter how much their family has claimed otherwise, Bernadette has set themself with the task of saving the day- just like their ancestors had before the rise of magic. Even if it kills them.

Bernie has spent the past year wandering the continent in search of a cause worthy enough for them to champion. With minimal success. It isn’t until they meet the mysterious stranger that they might have found a cause worthy enough for the title of Sovereign.

Notes:

Bernadette is a twin, both they and Josephine (their sibling) have equal right to the throne due to the circumstances of their birth. However, thanks to Josie’s insanely poor health, Bernie is expected to take over once they return from their little ‘adventure’.

Both Lady B and Bernie are distant cousins thanks to their great grandmothers both being married and having issue (children) with the same person: The Ghost of Bulgari.

⚘The Serpent⚘

Name: Lazarus (male), Lazaria (female) Attor

Alias: Snake (Lady B), Laz (commonly), Drunk wyrm (Amyntas)

Gender: Customizable (Male or Female)

Pronoun: He/They (male), She/They (female)

Age range: Early Thirties

Species: Naga

Class: Rogue

Weapon: Talons and poison

Personality: Drunkard | Sarcastic | Observant | Nosy

Romance Option: Yes. Laz is Romanceable to a player of any gender. They can also stay as a friend with benefits if the Player so chooses.

Romance Style: Hot and Heavy (Friends with Benefits), Devoted and Willing (Romance)

Appearance: Damn near twenty feet in length, Laz is the very example of their serpentine lineage. With bright green eyes, scales varying from the deepest of bronze to the brightest of emerald, three taloned fingers, fangs, and ochre flesh. They are almost a menace in comparison to the rest of the companions. A warrior’s physique despite their preference for cloak and dagger. The Serpent is distressingly quick despite their size.

Fem!Laz tends to wear a tightly wrapped emerald breast band and matching headscarf. While her male counterpart only wears an emerald cloak.

Description: A child of the sands, not much is known about Laz's past. If asked they will come up with an outlandish story on the spot. Never the same tale. They will never tell the truth- no matter how much booze they've been plied with. Besides, who wants to think of the past when the present is already here?

A spymaster for the Sultanate, Laz spends much of the day drunk. Plying the lonely with affection in exchange for the juiciest of gossip. It isn't until Lady B and her mysterious stranger walk into their tavern, that Laz is forced to give up their life of luxury for something more...

Daring...

Notes:

Laz’ work leaves them knowing far too much about their compatriots. Whether or not they’ll use this to their advantage is a given.

Laz has two separate romance routes.

ღThe Rangerღ

Name: Amyntas. Hunter of the Corvi

Alias: Amyn (Intimate), Amy pronounced Ah-me (Laz), Bird boy (Laz and ???)

Gender: Male (Not Customizable)

Pronoun: He/Him

Age range: Late thirties-early forties

Species: Aveles

Class: Ranger

Weapon: Bow and Arrow

Personality: Stoic | Romantic | Stubborn | Inexperienced

Romance Option: Yes. Amyntas is only Romanceable towards a female or femme representing nonbinary player.

Romance Style: Nervous Affection born from inexperience

Appearance: Squarely standing at 5’5”/165.1cm, the Aveles hunter is quite plain for a member of his species. With jet black hair feathers, silvery white skin, and a scrawny frame. He isn’t much of a threat at first glance. However, don’t let him fool you, Amyntas is a prolific hunter for his clan and WILL use that knowledge against you. A real David versus goliath type. He dresses in heavy woolen cloaks, lengthy scarves, and mix match leather armor of various origins. Much of which barely seems to fit the young harpy. Interestingly, Amyntas has made a habit of enchanting

Whatever he has lying around really. And all of which he enchants as he goes to keep himself whole while he stalks the Fell mountains.

Description: Born amongst the follies of war between that of the various tribes of the Aveles and that of the Fallen children of the mountains, Amyntas was raised in a precarious environment where any moment might be your last. Constantly forced on the verge of life and death, the hunter has taken it upon himself to do the unimaginable- abandon his clan in favor of ending the life of the Lich Queen and her generals.

Whether or not he'll survive is entirely up to you. Notes:

Amyntas technically knows ‘about’ the player character’s possible past before they lost their memories. However, they do not know just WHO the Player is once they meet.

Amyntas is easy to ‘flirt’ with, however they are hard to romance within a first playthrough as they tend to defer towards other possible romance options..

◍The Plagued Warrior◍

Name: The Bishop

Alias: Bishie-boy (Laz), War Boy! (Laz), Bore (Laz), Bish (Laz and others)

Gender: Male, (technically The Bishop should be classified as Genderfluid since he can change his appearance at will. However, he prefers presenting as Male.)

Pronouns: He/Him

Age Range: Unknown, appears to be somewhere within his late twenties

Species: Godling

Class: Berserker

Weapon: A magically soul-bound ax twice his size.

Personality: Polite | Intelligent | Blood thirsty | Sneaky

Romance Option: Yes. The Bishop only has a sexual or romantic interest in Men or Male presenting individuals.

Romance Style: Transactional (In the beginning), Doting (Near the end).

Appearance: The Godling of War is one who is the very definition of a short king, standing just shy of 5'/152cms. He is probably the shortest Romance option to be had in the game. Save for a one night stand that the MC can take part in. A powerful man built like a tank, The Bishop possesses pale skin, waist length auburn hair, eight eyes, four arms, and two sets of horns. Honestly, he makes for quite the silhouette, especially with his habit of dressing in the finest of cheaply put together bandit leather armor beneath a priest's robe.

Description: Left to walk the earth after his untimely death thanks to the rise of magic. The Bishop has made it his mission to take over the role of the god who fell so that he could rise. Such is the life of a young godling. But, unfortunately for the Spider blooded man, he was not the only such being born for his role. With seven other contenders for his throne, the bishop is forced to hunt and consume his kin, one-by-one so that he may achieve godhood. It has been a long and arduous road laid ahead of him, yet he must go on. And maybe, with just a little push from the MC he might reach his goal.

Notes:

The Bishop does not remember his original name before he became a godling, only that he was once a war-monk who served under the divine hand of the Flaming Sword.

Bishop does not enjoy flirting, finding it to be beneath him, however he WILL flirt with the MC if it means getting what he wants. (AND THEN FALLS IN LOVE LIKE A FOOOL)

♬The Muse of Saltus♬

Name: Indigo Montoya

Alias: Indie (Laz), The Siren of Saltus (professionally)

Gender: Genderfluid (Normally female presenting)

Pronouns: Fluid (She tends to present as She/Her. But will accept being called by any pronoun.)

Age Range: Early twenties

Species: Mermaid

Class: Bard

Weapon: A dagger, her voice, and a golden rapier

Personality: Adoring | Vivacious | Passionate | Flirty

Romance Option: Yes. Indigo is only available towards those who are female or female presenting.

Romance Style: Lighthearted and Fun

Appearance: The siren of the sea is the very example of her species. With vibrant purple-grey skin, deep black eyes, elegant tail ripped in two, a curvy frame, and an even more striking head of kelp braided indigo-dyed hair. The lass will always try her best to stand out. Being just over 8'/243cm in her true form (much of which is situated in her tail.) Indigo usually starts to underwhelm people when it comes to her land-dweller form, 5'3"/160cm. Montoya tends to wear the same thing: a pair of gloves to hide her talons and a loose white tunic. Only the gods will know if the wild child ever wears underwear.

Description: Sirens tend to have a harsh life, one destined for ridicule and shame. Yet, the Siren of Saltus has made it her mission to take over the world stage and to gain the begrudging respect of ALL who meet her. Whether or not she'll succeed is entirely up in the air at this point.

Notes:

Indigo does flirt with any MC (no matter their presentation) however she is only interested in romancing women (or female presenting individuals).

Oftentimes Indigo will play songs during time spent in camp. She can be asked to teach the MC how to play one of three instruments. That being: Tambura, Flute, or the Oud.

❥The Dream Lover❥

Name: Perierat

Alias: Peri (Laz), ancient one (epithet), Rat (Laz).

Gender: Agender

Pronouns: Ne/Nem

Age Range: Unknown, presents as early thirties.

Species: Titan

Class: Sorcerer.

Weapon: A dagger and magestone

Personality: Possessive | Pliant | Passionate | Patient

Romance Option: Yes. Peri is a very... protective romance option. To the point that I STRONGLY suggest NOT romancing anyone else when romancing Peri. Or at least, do so at your own risk. (If you plan on romancing another option I strongly suggest Laz or Bishop as Peri brings out a different side of the two.)

Romance Style: Terrifying and bloody (when romancing another as well as them.), Devoted worshiper (when only romancing them)

Appearance: The titan born is fairly nondescript, forgettable almost. Standing at nearly 5'9/175cms, with chest length gingery-blonde hair, white eyes, dark tawny skin, and large molten antlers atop their head. With a penchant towards flowy, murder-husbandy robes. It's difficult to describe Perierat without revealing too much.

Description: Spoilers. Sorry.

Notes:

Peri is behind a great deal of the events that make up the story of Lich Gate. Giving any more details may spoil some rather LARGE parts of the story. Sorry, sorry, sorry!!!

Obsessed with the MC, Peri owns a giant Huntsman spider named after them. Their 'baby' tends to make webs within their antlers Which Peri finds to be QUITE stylish.

Soooo…. Good luck! And if you've made it all the way to here... Well, may the gods be ever in your favor!

#lichupdate #lichgate #lich gate #progress update #interactive fiction #choice of games #if games #if game #demo announcement #romance options #forgotten tales

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shibieswrites · 1 year

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Forgotten Tales: Lich Gate

Genre Tag(s): High Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Epic Tragedy in the making, Horror, Found Family, Myths & Legends, LGBTQ+

Rating: 18+

Description: The world, born from the Titaness Vita’s bloated corpse, is dying. The Cycle of Rebirth is coming to a close and bringing with it, the end of the world. To the East- an army led by the Lich Queen waits in the shadows of the Fell Mountains. In the Forests of Old, a new god will soon awaken- born of madness and despair. Who hopes to defeat an ancient foe once more arisen from the grips of death. And, to the West, where sand and mist reign…strange mirages of a history long lost are starting to reappear on the horizon. But how does this all affect you?

Well…

That's up to you to decide my Forgotten Friend.

1. A chance to choose your own appearance (be that: Species, flesh, hair, and build). Or you can go totally default!

2. Romance and/or befriend a multitude of Villains and Heroes! Even a walking-talking red flag!

3. Witness the End of the World- and maybe save it before it all goes to shit! Or don’t! I’m not your mom!

Demo Link: Set for release in January!

+ Personality Stats

Note: The player’s personality (both primary and secondary) will have nothing to do with how the player flirts or reacts to being flirted with by the various Romantic Interests.

Primary Personalities.

Charmed: This one can bluff, bargain, and bemuse their way through most social situations in life. But! Be careful not to come off as too cocky- else you’ll find yourself thrown. Diplomatic: A person who is slow to offense and is quick to calm any situation when it comes to their words. Tactful, this one gains the ability to maneuver most situations with a calm head. But, don’t let others see you as too much of a pushover. Fighter: You like to pull the first punch and shove yourself right into the thick of a fight, don’t you? Well, this is the core personality for you! Aggressive and more than willing to confront those around you. Just… be sure not to cause too much strife, yeah? Otherwise, you might find yourself all alone.

Dialogue for each of the Core Personalities will appear as follows:

[Charmed] "Hello Sers, let’s put down the flaming swords now and use those poor- unused minds of yours, no?" A trick of the tongue and a beaming smile has them eating out of the palm of your hand.

[Fighter] You throw a punch, striking the poor fellow right in the gut. No questions asked.

Secondary Personalities.

While the main three personality options will take precedent, the MC's Personality can also be further affected by the following secondary personality traits:

Helpful: A person who would sooner help than hinder. Sympathetic, let us hope that no one puts the entire world on your shoulders. Sarcastic: This one takes the piss out of everything and everyone. Jokes and smiles follow quick at hand. However, remember, there is always a time or place for everything. Even assholery. Tearful: Some of us just want to play the crybaby. Overly empathetic and stressed. This one lets it ALL out. Just hope that you gain SOME backbone when the time comes. Blunt: Straight to the point. They don’t have the time to mince words on bullshit like small talk. They’ve got places to be thank you very much. Aloof: Emotions are not the easiest to come by for this one. Whether from trauma or disinterest they keep their heart well off their sleeve. Dark: Morbid, ill thinker, it does not matter. This one has embraced the shadows from whence they came. Fatalist. But unfortunately, not everyone’s cup of tea.

Dialogue for Personalities will appear as follows:

[Charmed][Dark] "Oh, how lovely. One guess what that stain might be..."

[Diplomatic][Tearful] You can already feel the tears on the edge of your vision, blurring the world as the mage pauses to take it all in. ‘Ser, please…’

[Fighter][Helpful] ‘The victims of this atrocity will be avenged. You have my sword.’ “You mean your word?" ‘No.’

Note: As mentioned before, the Forgotten One’s Personality will eventually set once the demo has been complete. However, there will be chances to change... for better or worse.

+ Romance

Within the demo for Lich Gate, the MC has a chance to meet all Seven of the possible romance options as well as three of the Secondary Romances. The following is a quick character sheet for the possible Main Romances. Spoilers ahead.

❅The Lady in armor❅

Name: Lamis Bashar Alias: Lady B (By associates), The ALMOST Sultana (By Laz), Lami (intimate relations.) Gender: Female (not customizable) Pronouns: She/Her Age Range: Mid to late thirties Species: Human Class: General (Warrior Subclass - close combat) Weapon: A crook’d spear.

Personality: Noble | Austere | Passionate | Stubborn Romance Option: Yes. However, Lamis is only romanceable towards those who are male or male presenting. Romance Style: Hot and Cold

But, good luck telling her that.

The first romance option (technically the second) that the Player will meet during their journey. Lady B, born Lamis Bashar, is the great-granddaughter of the prior Sultana and a minor consort of little importance - now the leader of a mercenary band. She finds the player lost upon the roads to ruin and takes pity, bringing them into her guild without so much as a second thought. She spends much of Lich Gate’s beginning aiding the MC in regaining their lost memories.

Notes:

Both Lady B and Bernie are distant cousins, hence the similar eye colors

Lady B owns a Pogona Lizard named Princess. Princess lives within her sleeve and will sometimes rest atop her shoulders; judging those around her.

☼The Noble knight☼

Name: Ser Bernadette Emili Regis Narcissus Ingle of Noble House Bulgari Alias: Bernie, B.B. (by Laz), Berns (Laz) Gender: Nonbinary, born AMAB. Pronoun: They/Them Age range: Mid-Twenties Species: ‘Human’ Class: Cavalier (warrior/mage subclass) Weapon: Sword and Shield.

Personality: Honest | Kind | Romantic | Naive Romance Option: Yes. Bernie is Romanceable to a player of any gender. However, they prefer good-nature MCs. Romance Style: Flustered and drowning in courtly romance.

Notes:

Both Lady B and Bernie are distant cousins thanks to their great grandmothers both being married and having issue (children) with the same person: The Ghost of Bulgari.

⚘The Serpent⚘

Name: Lazarus (male), Lazaria (female) Attor Alias: Snake (Lady B), Laz (commonly) Gender: Customizable (Male or Female) Pronoun: He/They (male), She/They (female) Age range: Early Thirties Species: Naga Class: Spy (rogue/mage subclass) Weapon: Talons and poison

Personality: Drunkard | Sarcastic | Observant | Nosy Romance Option: Yes. Laz is Romanceable to a player of any gender. They can also stay as a friend with benefits if the Player so chooses. Romance Style: Hot and Heavy (Friends with Benefits), Devoted and Willing (Romance)

Fem!Laz tends to wear a tightly wrapped emerald breast band and matching headscarf. While her male counterpart only wears an emerald cloak.

Daring...

Notes:

Laz’ work leaves them knowing far too much about their compatriots. Whether or not they’ll use this to their advantage is a given.

Laz has two separate romance routes.

ღThe Rangerღ

Name: Amyntas. Hunter of the Corvi Alias: Amyn (Intimate), Amy pronounced Ah-me (Laz), Bird (Laz and ???) Gender: Male Pronoun: He/him Age range: Late thirties-early forties Species: Aveles Class: Ranger (rogue/warrior subclass) Weapon: Bow and Arrow

Personality: Stoic | Romantic | Stubborn | Inexperienced Romance Option: Yes. Amyntas is only Romanceable towards a female or femme representing nonbinary player. Romance Style: Nervous Affection born from inexperience

Whatever he has lying around really. And all of which he enchants as he goes to keep himself whole while he stalks the Fell mountains.

Whether or not he'll survive is entirely up to you. Notes:

Amyntas technically knows ‘about’ the player character’s possible past before they lost their memories. However, they do not know just WHO the Player is once they meet.

Amyntas is easy to ‘flirt’ with, however they are hard to romance within a first playthrough as they tend to defer towards other possible romance options..

◍The plagued Warrior◍

Name: The Bishop Alias: Bishie-boy (Laz), War Boy! (Laz), Bore (Laz), Bish (Laz and others) Gender: Male, (technically The Bishop should be classified as Genderfluid since he can change his appearance at will. However, he prefers presenting as Male.) Pronouns: He/him Age Range: Unknown, appears to be somewhere within his late twenties Species: Godling Class: Berserker (warrior subclass - trainer) Weapon: A magically soul-bound ax twice his size.

Personality: Polite | Intelligent | Blood thirsty | Sneaky Romance Option: Yes. The Bishop only has a sexual or romantic interest in Men or Male presenting individuals. Romance Style: Transactional (In the beginning), Doting (Near the end).

Notes:

The Bishop does not remember his original name before he became a godling, only that he was once a war-monk who served under the divine hand of the Flaming Sword.

Bishop does not enjoy flirting, finding it to be beneath him, however he WILL flirt with the MC if it means getting what he wants. (AND THEN FALLS IN LOVE LIKE A FOOOL)

♬The Muse of Saltus♬

Name: Indigo Montoya Alias: Indie (Laz), The Siren of Saltus (professionally) Gender: Genderfluid (Normally female presenting) Pronouns: Fluid (She tends to present as she/her. But will accept being called by any pronoun.) Age Range: Early twenties Species: Mermaid Class: Bard (Rogue subclass) Weapon: A dagger, her voice, and a golden rapier

Personality: Adoring | Vivacious | Passionate | Flirty Romance Option: Yes. Indigo is only available towards those who are female or female presenting. Romance Style: Lighthearted and Fun

Notes:

Indigo does flirt with any MC (no matter their presentation) however she is only interested in romancing women (or female presenting individuals).

Oftentimes Indigo will play songs during time spent in camp. She can be asked to teach the MC how to play one of three instruments. That being: Tambura, Flute, or the Oud.

❥The Dream Lover❥

Name: Perierat Alias: Peri (Laz), ancient one (epithet), Rat (Laz). Gender: Agender Pronouns: Ne/Nem Age Range: Unknown, presents as early thirties. Species: Titan Class: Sorcerer. (Mage subclass - Trainer) Weapon: A dagger and magestone

Personality: Possessive | Pliant | Passionate | Patient Romance Option: Yes. Peri is a very... protective romance option. To the point that I STRONGLY suggest NOT romancing anyone else when romancing Peri. Or at least, do so at your own risk. (If you plan on romancing another option I strongly suggest Laz or Bishop as Peri brings out a different side of the two.) Romance Style: Terrifying and bloody (when romancing another as well as them.), Devoted worshiper (when only romancing them)

Description: Spoilers. Sorry.

Notes:

Peri is behind a great deal of the events that make up the story of Lich Gate. Giving any more details may spoil some rather LARGE parts of the story. Sorry, sorry, sorry!!!

Obsessed with the MC, Peri owns a giant Huntsman spider named after them. Their 'baby' tends to make webs within their antlers Which Peri finds to be QUITE stylish.

+Classes

There are a total of eight classes available to the player throughout the story of Lich Gate. The base class of Dancer, three classes that encompass the main three archetypes of fantasy (mage, rogue, warrior), a singular subclass for each of those classes (Sorcerer, Berserker, Shadebound), and a singular Masterclass known as Muse.

However, that does not mean that those are the only classes to be seen in the game. Several of your companions and enemies may possess classes unavailable to the Forgotten Hero.

No matter what class you possess, you will possess the ability to shadow-walk. Shadow-walking allows the Forgotten Hero to vanish from view and bounce about the battlefield. The playable Classes are as follows: Dancer (Base class) You are a jack of all trades, yet a master of none. As a Dancer, your choice of weapons includes:

Magestone (magic conduit)

Court sword/Axe (weapons can be changed)

Dagger

Bow and arrows.

After the Dancer class, as you play the game, you can become a master of either the three archetypical classes (Mage, Warrior, Rogue) or all of the above (Muse).

+Subclasses

Mage (Dancer Subclass)

You are a servant of the titaness' blood. Able to summon Hell beasts, flames, and the mysteries of the other.

As a Mage, your weapons include:

Magestone

Dagger (for rituals)

Familiar

Note: familiars can be bound to those of any class, however, it requires a certain artifact.

Sorcerer (Mage Subclass) You are a master of the titaness' blood. Able to bend the world to your imagination.

As a Sorcerer, your weapons include:

Legendary Magestone

Dagger of the Archmage

Warrior (Dancer Subclass) A servant of the blade. You are the challenge.

As a Warrior, your weapons include:

Be that a sword, ax, or hammer.

Shield

Note: You can acquire potions that allow you to ignore pain and exhaustion. However, watch your wounds.

Berserker (Warrior Subclass) You are a master of the blade and rage. Only a fool won't fear your shade.

As a Berserker, your weapons include:

Legendary weapon (Ax, sword, hammer)

Rage mode

Note: you no longer need potions to enter rage mode.

Rogue (Dancer Subclass) The child bound in shade. The mystery and the wild are your friends.

As a rogue, you weapons include:

Bow and arrows

Daggers

Mask of Mercy.

Note: The mask will be received at the end of the demo.

Shadebound (Rogue Subclass) Master of shadows and blood.

As a Shadebound, your weapons include:

Legendary Bow and Arrow

Legendary Shade dagger

Mask of the fallen Night.

+Masterclass

Note: This final class is exceedingly difficult to achieve in your first playthrough. And should only be attempted by either min/maxing combat training (not recommended) or replaying Forgotten Tales: Lich Gate with a boon.

Muse (Dancer Final Class.) Master of the blade, shade, and Mage.

Boons can be gifted to the player at the start of a new game, as long as you have completed Lich Gate once before. Unfortunately, Min/Maxers will not receive the Boons gifted at the end of the game and will instead only have the Legendary weapons of each class. As a Boon Muse, your weapons include:

Bow of the old wood

Blade of the Hollow

Magestone of Lugh

Mask of the Forgotten

+Stats

Throughout the game, the player will, at times, face many different forms of Stat checks. Be they in quests, puzzles, or special encounters. It will greatly affect how the ending of that scene will turn out. And while I will never penalize players for most of their actions (and will always allow there to be several different ways to beat a certain obstacle). There will be areas that benefit from certain stats.

Note: This file gets a LOT longer after this)

Character Stats Pretty self explanatory, these are the stats most effected throughout the story.

Stamina

Strength

Dexterity

Willpower

Magic

Intelligence

Species stats Because the Forgotten hero does have a closable base species, their will be special dialogue and checks for each of the available races. These races include:

Humans. Lepus Homni, meaning “Rabbit Folk” in the old tongue, later shortened to Homni or ‘Human’ in the new one. One of the most numerous and oldest of the sentient races found within Tormundale, humanity has dominated the earth for hundreds of thousands of years. The only race that is possibly older, being the Gavanthi.

Acorvi. Children born from Humans and Aveles. The Acorvi bears a stronger semblance to their avian lineage than that of humans. A rarity amongst the half-breeds. With a mix of feathers and hair atop their heads and black, burning eyes. They are oft- much smaller than both of their parents, seldom reaching 5’ (152 cm) in height. The children of the sky and earth also tend to weigh more than their Aveles parents, bones no longer hollow. Their legs, plantigrade, and colorings are one of the few things that they take fully after their human half.

Drakes. Drākaromí Noct, meaning “Dragonspawn of the Night” in the common tongue, are those born of the Dragon-Shifter, Pires and their (normally) humanoid mates. Often left to dwell in their Draconic parents caves with their (usually) human mothers. Most never know what dwells beyond the Fell-Mountains. Others, loyal wholly to their mothers, may join them in neighboring Edalehan and Ibereli. Hopeful of joining a society that already hates them for existing.

Nag'i. Children of the Serpensa Homni, meaning “Snake folk” in the common tongue, or the Naga in their own are the children of the West. Born from the remnants of an unknown snake goddess and the lost tribes of the sands, some time after the She-Dragon's infamous hunt. These children of the dwellers of the sands, marshes, and courts live a life of hunts and idle intrigues.

Merrow The children of Mermaids and Humans. Merrow children are born with human-like skin, teeth, fertility, and the good fortune of NOT having to rip their bodies in two just to walk the earth. But, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a bit of their Mermaid blood unseen within their form. Merrow also possesses wide, glowing eyes, webbed fingers and toes, sharp ears, a mermaid’s lungs, and the devilish reputation. Most Merrow are born of Humans and Kelp Sirens. Though a child born between a human and Ocean Siren isn’t that uncommon.

Class stats Depending on the class chosen by the player, there will be special options (dialogue and routes) available. Please look at the Classes part of this doc for more information about the various classes to be found within Forgotten Tales: Lich Gate

Relationship Stats Throughout the course of this game, you can grow closer or farther apart with various members of your party. These relationships can change how certain scenes/dialogue options can turn out. please look at the relationship part of this doc for more information on the various Main romance members.

Pertaining to the secondary romance partners, only certain scenes and dialogue options will change.

Soooo…. Good luck! And if you've made it all the way to here... Well, may the gods be ever in your favor!

#forgotten tales #lichgate #lich gate #choice of games #interactive fiction #if: intro #cyoa #interactive novel #announcment #lichgate if

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mythicamagic · 3 years

Note

"You couldn't handle me even if I came with instructions."

Okay, curiosity got the better of me, and even though there are so many good prompts to choose, I settled with this one. There is no telling which way it will go, but it sounds amusing! Have fun! ^_^

Decided to do something different with this involving mind reading, hope you like.

----

Becoming privy to Sesshoumaru's thoughts happened about as unexpectedly as one would think. Having returned from the future after three years, Kagome had figured the amount of weirdness in her life would scale back a bit. The jewel was gone, and everyone was enjoying their 'happily ever afters' so surely she could finally gain some semblance of normalcy in the past, right?

'Irritating…'

Kagome shifted, sneaking a glance at the Daiyoukai as he sat at the base of a tree. His voice resounded inside her mind, seemingly without his knowledge or consent. He was eyeing something flitting about mid-air. A fly, she suspected.

Golden eyes shifted, slit pupils keen. A hand blurred, catching the thing between forefinger and thumb.

'Die.'

Green light shone out from between his fingers, successfully killing his 'prey.'

Kagome supposed it was somewhat comforting to know that his thoughts were about the same as whatever words he deigned to speak aloud. The psychic ability she'd gained only applied to Sesshoumaru, and had happened one random day when she'd been fighting a demon.

Between one moment and the next- a presence had warmed her side as he'd deflected an attack meant for her. This had resulted in sharp, static red youki swallowing their forms briefly- Sesshoumaru's energy rushing through her system. It had stolen Kagome's breath and sent her heart thundering.

A second later, she'd started hearing his thoughts. Most startling of all, they'd begun with something completely unexpected;

'I will keep you safe, foolish miko.'

Biting her lip, Kagome snuck another glance at him- only to find Sesshoumaru gazing back. Squeaking, she focused on her forgotten work, roughly weaving a basket with a little more force than necessary.

"Are you alright, Kagome?" Sango asked, sitting beside her on the grassy hill as they prepared a few herbs and useful things for Kaede.

"Fine! Totally f-"

'Her scent is erratic, yet the woman continues to sneak glances at me. How odd. Is she becoming interested in this one? It is long overdue.'

"What?" Kagome questioned out loud, feeling Sango’s perplexed stare. The heat of another pair of eyes warmed the nape of her neck.

'Hn, I have not sensed her pine for the Half Breed in many months after their breakup. It is possible she is looking for another male. The miko is not promiscuous enough to trifle with me. She requires...a lasting bond.'

Biting her lip, Kagome's eyes burned with want to look at him again.

'Could I keep a miko? She is not like others. They usually despise my kind- and I do not care for them. But this bratty, fiery woman has proven herself through her dealings with the Jewel and the Spider. Mn...the thought of having her should not stir my blood so,' he sighed in her mind. 'Perhaps once I accept my interest in her, the vivid fantasies will stop.'

What fantasies? she wondered.

Kagome really should not have asked, because somehow a lewd mental image of herself was projected from his head directly into her gawking brain.

Standing quickly, skirts swaying about her thighs- Kagome forced a smile. "I-I forgot to do something earlier! Sorry Sango, I'll finish up with you later."

Hurrying down the hill, she stiffened upon hearing a silky voice trail after her inside her mind.

'Why is she leaving? This is unacceptable. She takes her mouth-watering scent with her,' he seemed to pause contemplatively. 'Must your retreating form be so pleasing to the eye, Kagome?'

Kagome flushed red, feeling the urge to cover her ass while running from the unexpected thoughts. However, she kept her hands at her side- a weird thrill of excitement racing down her spine.

Like a radio broadcast sounding out from a speaker- the further she ran, the dimmer his velvety voice became.

---

Emerging from Kaede's hut a few days later, Kagome fussed with her new clothing. Miko robes felt somewhat uncomfortable, but Kaede had insisted she at least try getting used to wearing them for a few days.

She honestly couldn't imagine walking around in such garments as a permanent uniform. They reminded her too much of someone else.

'No.'

Kagome jerked, freezing in place and pretending to fiddle with her collar, trying to secretly glance around for the elusive Daiyouaki.

'...Those robes do not suit her. What's more- her light scent is muddied with unnecessary feelings. Those clothes make you self-conscious, do they not, miko? Take them off.'

Blinking, Kagome's heart warmed slightly inside her chest. He could read her so easily? He...cared about how she felt?

"And those pants cover her long legs. Disgusting. You are the one who forced me into appreciating a woman's thighs, miko. Bare them to me again.'

Hissing a short breath through her teeth, Kagome whipped her head to one side- spying Sesshoumaru lingering by a hut about 40 yards away. He stiffened, blatantly surprised she'd pinpointed his location so easily.

'Could she sense me?'

Blushing, Kagome cleared her throat and gave a slight wave, before disappearing back inside the hut. She wanted to test something, and the fluttering inside her lower stomach was getting too prominent to ignore.

---

Stepping out after a quick wardrobe change, Kagome pretended not to notice him again, fiddling with her cute modern outfit. She felt more at ease in her home wear, and the voice in her head seemed to agree.

'That is much better…' Sesshoumaru's tone slid into that of curiosity. 'You feel mischievous, miko? Now why is that? I sense your fluttering excitement.'

Raised her arms above her head nonchalantly, Kagome arched her back as she stretched.

'What…?' the thinness of his tone almost made her grin ferally. 'What...are those?'

Kagome had never intended to wear them. In fact, she'd stuffed them deep inside the depths of her backpack because Yuka, Eri and Ayumi had taken it upon themselves to buy her something 'sexy' for her bad boyfriend and Souta had innocently walked into her room one day while she was packing. She hadn't had the heart to tell her friends she'd broken up with Inuyasha a long while ago.

She had no need for black lacy thigh highs, complete with suspender garter belts resting enticingly on her thighs. Or at least, she hadn't until today. Kagome stretched with a little more exaggeration, letting out a breathy sigh as her pleated skirt hitched up, exposing more of her toned legs to his gaze.

A terribly loud noise deafened her hearing like a clap of rumbling thunder, heralding a storm. Kagome realised a little belatedly that it hadn't been contained to the privacy of Sesshoumaru's mind- the growl rippling through the space between them.

He stood much closer than expected, golden eyes pinning her in place.

"Oh- hi there, Sesshoumaru," Kagome hid her surprise behind a smile. "Something wrong?"

The Daiyoukai's burning, orange eyes searched her face. Slowly, they dimmed back into gold, as he realised there was nothing appropriate he could say.

'Do you know what you are doing, little minx? Or are you completely unaware of how badly I desire those thighs wrapped around my waist?'

"Nothing," he said out loud, face completely devoid of expression.

Kagome arched a brow. He had a damn good poker face.

"Well...okay," she lifted a shoulder, taking a few steps away. "But you know, if something was bothering you, it would be better all round to just tell me. I'm not a mind reader."

Mild intrigue flickered. "I do not think you would appreciate knowing my innermost thoughts."

"Try me."

Sesshoumaru's lips curved, his blank expression cracking into something more honest and imperfect. Human, almost, in its raw appetite- the demon circling around her slowly like a predator. "The dark hungering of an inuyoukai is not something that pure and pretty miko's could stomach," he uttered.

Kagome took a breath, keeping to her bravado. Because if she didn't keep her courage, the thoughts she'd heard so clearly inside her mind would remain exactly that- formless. Never touching reality.

And that felt like a shame.

"Maybe not all of them could, but I've journeyed across Japan with a perverted con-artist and been kidnapped by dark and terrible demons much bigger than you," she hummed, keeping eye contact. "And I'm not promiscuous or anything, but I'm not a prude either. Given the right person, even I can get a little...hungry."

She heard a sharp in-take of breath. Sesshoumaru stopped, lingering in close proximity as his voice dropped into something downright sinful. "How surprising."

Kagome lifted a shoulder. "Not really, but judging by your hesitancy to share anything on your mind- maybe my 'dark hungering' would be too much for you."

Golden eyes flashed. "Preposterous."

"No, no- I think it's true," she gave an impish smile. "You couldn't handle me even if I came with instructions."

This seemed to snap his carefully constructed facade of control. Sesshoumaru's claws snapped out, fingers trembling as they gripped her hair. A fierce breeze lashed around them as Kagome realised he'd collected white energy around their forms- speeding them out of sight into the lush forest. Away from the safety of witnesses. None could save her now.

Sesshoumaru bore down over her, neck craned, mouth hovering close. It was sharp teeth that brushed her parted lips first.

'I will have you- strange, enticing, annoying woman.'

Kagome shuddered, blue eyes darkened as her thighs rubbed together. Her hands met silken robes, gliding up into silky hair as his arm swooped down, hooking beneath her knees.

While their lips crashed together and Sesshoumaru held her aloft- Kagome smiled and wordlessly obliged by wrapping her thighs around his lean waist, giggling as the taciturn demon inwardly purred.

#Sesshoumaru x Kagome #Sesskag #asks

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theprologues · 3 years

Text

SUBMISSION - Grammys performance symbolism, part two

So, with those reservations safely out of the way, and a warning to readers NOT to hurt themselves by getting their hopes up again …

What aspects of Taylor’s Grammy’s performance made me think there might be light at the end of the tunnel for Kaylor?

First, Taylor’s blue and gold performance dress. “Deep blue but you painted me golden” is a line from Dancing With Our Hands Tied, a song that is widely assumed to be about the night of Kissgate. It’s a song where Taylor talks about how miserable (“deep blue”) she was after the collapse of her relationship with Diana and her public reputation in 2013. She describes how her new lover, Karlie, brought her back to life and lit her up with the glow of a new, true love. She painted her golden. But then they were caught in an intimate moment at Kissgate, and Taylor panicked. Her fears and anxieties threatened to drown her, and though she and her new lover tried to dance through the catastrophe, they eventually came to realize they were doing so with their hands tied. They had no hope of swimming to the surface together and breaking free. They could only have done so if Taylor had stood firm and owned their love in the moment, instead of setting in motion the bearding contracts that would change everything. (This is what she means when she says that “if I could dance with you again”, she would “kiss” and “hold” her lover, instead of presumably backing away. If she could do the moment over, she would claim Karlie as her lover, and hold her hand for the world to see, through hell or high water.)

Though it’s a depressing motif in DWOHT, Taylor has, interestingly, returned to this imagery of a golden tie several times in other songs, painting it in a much more positive light. Most recently, the Willow music video explores this, visually representing the “single thread of gold that tied me to you” which Taylor sings about in Invisible String. Both IS and Willow are happy songs, which describe their lovers as being tied together by fate. “Wherever you go, I’ll follow,” Taylor sings in Willow. In DWOHT, the lovers followed each other to a place of deepest blue. The bottom of the ocean, under the waves, where they couldn’t breathe. In Willow they follow each other to freedom.

That freedom is represented in the Willow music video by the open cabin door the lovers step through at the end of the video. Taylor incorporates this door into the Willow section of her Grammy’s performance, performing first in the open doorway and then stepping through it to perform with her band out in the open.

But returning to the blue and gold dress. This is not only a very Karlie motif which keeps recurring in her art (often to postitve effect). It’s also a representation of Taylor finding happiness WITHIN the closet. It’s talking about how her partner’s love helps her to bear the depression being in the closet, and fearing exposure, causes her. The fact that Taylor chooses to wear this dress throughout her performance, with no costume changes, suggests a) she is still in the closet, and b) she is still with Karlie, and still considers her love to be such a lifeline.

If Toe was real and Taylor was happy with him, she could have chosen to wear an all-gold dress for the occasion. If Kaylor was over and she had decided to return to the closet, she could have communicated that by wearing all blue. If Kaylor was over and so far in the past she had moved on with someone new, there was no need to evoke the motif at all. She could simply have laid claim to another color, or worn another prairie type dress to fit the aesthetic. And yet, she didn’t. Why not, if not to communicate what I said above?

What else is worth considering, in Taylor’s medley? Well, there’s the cabin setting. Taylor and Karlie famously took a trip to Big Sur forest and stayed in a cabin together in 2014, where Karlie was the first person to hear 1989 in full. They took many photos on the trip, including one captioned with “on the way home” (a lyric from You Are In Love, which talks about hearing love in the silence) and one of the two of them looking up at a fallen tree. A VERY similar looking tree appears in the Cardigan music video, and the slanted, moss-covered roof Taylor opens the medley lying on also looks a lot like this tree. Again, curious that she would call back to this if she and Karlie have separated.

Moving on. Taylor opens the medley singing on the roof, looking straight up into the camera. When we pull back we see the stage around set to that of a starry night. Taylor is thus cast as the romantic, the star-gazer. She also calls back to another lyric Kaylors have previously tied to Karlie - “up on the roof with a schoolgirl crush”. It’s been repeatedly tied to Karlie and Taylor’s attendance at the Victoria Secret show after-party. Again, why evoke imagery so tied to the early, happy days of this relationship?

We then move through a progression of events that sees her hiding inside with friends, before eventually stepping out into the light. That all reads like a visual interpretation of her relationship with Karlie, from her early loneliness and lovestruck dreaming, to the happiness she finds within her little hideaway, to her eventual decision to step out of it and claim her lover. The medley ends on a repetition of “that’s my man”, seemingly hinting that Taylor’s freedom is tied up in her ability to finally say those words.

What else? Well, there are the Ivy allusions. Taylor’s cabin covered in greenery can’t help but evoke the lyrics of Ivy - “my house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I’m covered in you”. Ivy is widely interpreted as a sapphic song about two women finding love despite their commitments to men. Another line in the song “he’s in the room, your opal eyes are all I wish to see, he wants what’s only yours” is alluded to in Taylor’s choice of opal jewelry on the night. What a weird thing to draw attention to, if you’re not secretly in love with a woman while parading a beard around in public. We’re also told in the song that “he” (possibly the same man, possibly another) wants to burn the house of the Ivy lovers down. Jerk just so happened to announce the baby’s birth on this night, in what felt like an attempt to undermine Taylor’s joy. Hmm. Curious.

You know what else is curious? Taylor’s choice of outfit for the Grammys red carpet. Not only is the floral dress very reminiscent of a floral ensemble Karlie wore to cover a June (pride month) issue of Spanish Vogue. (Cover subtitled, “flowers of change”.) It’s also by the designer Oscar de la Renta. Taylor and Karlie famously attended one of his shows together early on in their relationship. They sat in the front row looking very cozy, while Taylor refused to answer questions about why she was there and reportedly giggled “my publicist will be mad at me”. Hmm.

Taylor has also worn Oscar de la Renta on numerous occasions while out with Karlie, including most famously at the Met Gala. That iconic pale pink gown that she was buried in the Look What You Made Me Do music video? That was an Oscar de la Renta. There are many interpretations of the scene in the video, but it’s worth noting that Taylor is buried alive in it (which could be interpreted as a metaphor for being closeted) and that in a video all about her various revenge fantasies, she depicts herself crawling back up out of this grave. She views coming back to life and walking away from the flaming wreckage of her past with Big Machine as the ultimate revenge. At the end of the video she clips her own wings while all the past iterations of her argue amongst themselves. This would seem to suggest that she can defeat her enemies but she can’t defeat herself, because she can’t outrun her past, and until then she will always be doomed to self-sabotage. Nevertheless, this Taylor (lurking in the background bedecked in peaced-out palm tree print) is in a much better position than the Taylor who opened the video as a zombie corpse. She’s on the surface and has some hope of freedome, at last. This is a theme we see carried through in the following video, where Taylor goes one-on-one against herself and eventually breaks free.

Long story short? Taylor wearing such a floral, literally blooming dress from THIS designer, of all people, suggests she may finally be about to rise again. The aborted coming out apparently planned for the Lover era (and thus seeded during the Rep era) may finally be a go?

Again, I’m very reluctant to get people’s hopes up here. But it’s hard to look at this dress and not think of that June (Pride month) floral magazine cover. Or of the Spade riddle, “Why worry? She blooms in June.” Or of the fact that Taylor’s stunts are often loudest before the end. She acknowledged Calvin and hugged him at an awards show before he was booted out of the narrative and Tom H appeared to replace him. (Something like ten days or so after the “split”, if I remember right?) And the inconsistencies of the Toe timeline speak for themselves. There was speculation - unpopular though it was - among Kaylors in the Rep era that guessed Taylor wouldn’t come out until 2021 / 2022. It seemed a world away at the time but who knows? Maybe this was always the plan. Maybe this is all “part of the fucking story”, even the parts that seem ugly or counterproductive. A lot can change in a couple of months in Hollywood, and with Taylor in particular. By June, it’s possible we COULD be looking at a vastly different landscape. Maybe this was one last hurrah for the Toes. Many of them are just harmless fans taking Taylor at her word, after all.

Only time will tell, and I don’t blame Kaylors for checking out. This isn’t healthy, especially for those of us who are gay ourselves, and can’t help but feel a personal connection to Taylor’s journey out of the closet. We know what a big deal it would be. But for those who still want to hope … It’s just possible Taylor has a plan, and this is the dark night before the dawn.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Pro: I added the photos and the bolded parts. Love symbolism. This was truly a spectacular performance. Awesome submission anon!!

#submission #submitted by anonymous

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petri808 · 3 years

Text

And That’s How We Became a Legend...

Bakudeku alpha/omega fantasy AU written on Twitter based on this idea: I plan to clean it up and post it on AO3 later :)

Think of the story as an origin to the Bridegroom’s Oak.

The old alpha worn with time sat his grandpup on his knee. “Shall I tell you a bedtime story?”

“Yes!” The green-eyed child beamed brightly.

“Very well. Once upon a time...”

In his tiny village, Izuku Midoriya was just born to be unlucky in love. As a tiny male omega he was at the bottom of the marriage pool because alphas preferred buxom stock with firm child bearing hips, as they called it, so a skinny choice like him would never get chosen. He wasn’t ugly... many even called him cute with his curly green hair and bright emerald eyes. But cute didn’t guarantee a brood. Izuku was more fated to be a lonely servant or a whelping docent for another family. His poor mother could only look on in sadness at her sons pain.

So, by the time he’d reached adulthood, Izuku stayed mostly to himself on their small farm. Tending the crops his mother would sell to support them. During heat cycles, the lowly omega locked himself away and made due through the tears and desire he alone could soothe.

There was one thing he could do to bring himself some happiness. With little to no friends, the forest became his second refuge. When chores were completed, Izuku would wander the dense woodlands surrounding the village, or trek the nearby mountain and its hidden waterfall. He loved the peace and quiet even the remote and darkest areas because it wasn’t any worse than the loneliness he felt in his own home. There was always a chance of running into a wolf or other animal, but so far they stayed clear. Perhaps even predators thought he wasn’t worthy a kill or pitied the omega. Some say animals can sense such sullen energies. That’s okay, at least he could commune with his thoughts in these woods to the sounds of birds chirping or bullfrogs croaking.

Of all the areas he’d roamed, there was one particular tree he loved. An old oak tree, twisted and worn who’s trunk was so large Izuku couldn’t wrap his arms around it. The top branches melded with the canopy high above his head, and during spring and summer it’s leaves sheltered all that rested beneath it. He spent many a day resting at its base.

In its trunk was a deep hollow, weathered by time and the creatures that once created it. Perhaps a squirrel or woodpecker, who knew but the gods who watched over these forests. For Izuku, this hollow became a treasure chest where he could write about anything and hide away those words in a journal that only he would read. He poured his heart out into that notebook. All his pains and anguish, of forlornly outlooks, and heartaches desiring but one thing in this world... a family of his own. The omega in him wept to fulfill its purpose.

This journal allowed him to bury his sadness so when he went home he could put on a brave face for his mother. ‘I’ll be okay,’ Izuku would smile brightly at the woman. ‘I have you’ and I have my forest... fear of making her sad was the only thing keeping Izuku going.

Then one day in his eighteenth Spring, Izuku ventured out to his tree as he often would to vent. This season always left him saddened for it represented new beginnings and new life, something he believed he would never experience. But once he reached the tree, he immediately noticed something amiss. Izuku always tightly wrapped his journal in a thick bear skin to keep the weather from reaching it, and made sure it was pushed as far into the hollow too. But not only was it too close to the edge, the wrapping was messy as if re-bound hastily.

Izuku growled. People were so irritating! His refuge was violated and it left him feeling vulnerable. Now he would need to find a new hiding place! He pulled the journal out and inspected it to see if anything else was wrong with it. It better not be damaged! But his eyes zero in on a ripped piece of parchment that was folded and tucked into the first page of the notebook. The intruder had left him a note?! Why?! He unfolded it, eyes widening, and moisture gathering as he read the poorly written words someone had left behind.

‘Damn runt you sound like a mess, what the fuck happened after I left? If this is who I think it is and based on the simpering rambles and scent I think I’m right, be here at high noon each day so I can find you.’

The letter lowered in Izuku’s hand as he processed its contents. Who was this mystery person and why did they want to find him again? They seemed to know who he was just based off his words. He had vague memories of a possibility, but after all these years had chalked it up to an imaginary friend for a lonely three year-old. Plus it made little sense since a three year-old couldn’t write, so how would this stranger know he tended to talk a lot or ramble?! His brows furrowed, or it could be a trap. Slavers were not unknown in these parts, which was why only alphas tended to roam the woods or hunted. But Izuku wouldn’t make for a great prize either. This was certainly intriguing to say the least. The prospect of someone wanting him too good an opportunity to pass up. Though he was no fool.

The next day, Izuku trekked early to the tree and hid away in the brush. He wanted to see just who this stranger was, but if it was someone he didn’t recognize, he’d slip away again. As he waited, he wrote in his journal, chronicling the whole situation. His emotions, how the pangs of loneliness and longing for love fueled his curiosity as well as anxieties to sit there and unravel the mystery.

He hears the cracking of fallen branch litter and sure enough a form rounds the tree. Izuku’s heartbeat paused in recognition of the platinum blonde hair, and once the man turned to where he could see ruby red eyes glaring, he knew exactly who it was. His imaginary friend! But this was no child’s fantasy, for the virile male standing beside the tree was as real as the blood in Izuku’s veins flowing south.

“Come out,” the man commanded. “I can smell you.”

Izuku stepped out with the journal clutched to his chest and walked slowly towards the alpha.

“By the gods, you’re still as tiny as I remember,” the male snickered. “Do you even remember me?”

“I thought I’d made you up,” Izuku stammered.

The man came closer, grabbing the omega by the chin. “Oh, I’m very real.”

Izuku swallowed thickly, “what do you want from me?”

“What was promised,” the alpha responded. “You may be weak, but your scent was the only thing that calmed me as a child, so our mothers arranged for our betrothal at your 18th yr.”

Though a true statement, being called weak still upset Izuku. He pulled his face away from the alphas grip. “You need not pity me. I release you to choose a more suitable dame if you feel I am too weak.” Never mind the fact his mother has never mentioned him being betrothed!

“Tch! I don’t want another and your writings speak of family desire. What fool would refuse my offer to give them what they long for?!”

The tears well up in Izuku’s eyes. “I don’t even know your name.” And so many more questions ripple through his mind. Why hadn’t his mother said anything? Why had this man disappeared all this time? How did he even find him here?! Because this tree wasn’t even close to the village.

“You called me Kacchan cause you couldn’t say my name back then. But my family name is Bakugou.”

Izuku shook his head with all his thoughts and confusion. “Still, why wasn’t I told?!” He looked dead straight at the man, “and why’d you leave the village in the first place?!”

“Tch, fool, like I had a choice! I was five! This village is small so my parents moved to a bigger township with better opportunities.”

“But you could have kept in touch...” Tears now fall freely. “All my life I was so lonely. If I’d known you existed I would’ve had hope!”

“Look, I can’t help—“

“Don’t!” The omega roared cutting the alpha off. “So many nights I thought of ending my misery. How would you feel if you’d come back to find me dead?!”

The alpha snarled. “I can’t fucking change the past! Screwed up or not, at least I’m here now!”

But when the omega flinched and a flurry of fearful pheromones hit the alphas nose he stopped and took a deep inhale to calm himself. “Izuku, I’m here now, that’s all I can do to start things over. So, will you accept my proposal or not?”

Izuku hung his head, how could he say no?

To say no would mean throwing away the best chance he’s had for the life he’s craved. An opportunity to have a family, a sire for the pups he desired to bear. This alpha was a perfect specimen, and Izuku would be a fool to turn him down. But all his life, he’d only known disappointment. What if this turned out to be too good to be true? This alpha would take him away from all he’d known, granted he wasn’t happy there, but what of his mother? As a widower she had no one to care for her in old age. What if he couldn’t bear pups? Would this alpha cast him away for another? To go from loneliness to heartbreak? Which would be worse? And on top of that, he doesn’t know this man, or at least doesn’t remember much. The memories are vague, children playing, maybe some bullying, that’s all. He didn’t hate nor love him... yet.

But he could grow to love this alpha.

This Kacchan has a wondrous scent of spice and power brimming from within. He’ll produce fine pups for sure.

“Are you really sure you want me?” Izuku’s voice was meek and full of hesitation. “Nobody else has ever wanted me before.”

The alpha sighed. “Nobody makes me do what I don’t want to. I’m here by choice.”

“But look at me.” Izuku gestured at his body. “People say I won’t be able to carry a litter, I’m too small. You even called me weak. Why take a chance on me when surely you could find better?”

“Pfft, ignore these foolish villagers. In the larger cities I have seen many just like you do perfectly fine. Have produced perfect broods. These small-minded fools know not about such things and only believe in superstition. Give your answer now for I grow tired of this banter.”

After a brief pause, Izuku decided to accept his fate, whatever that may be. The alpha wanted him and only him. If in the end it doesn’t work out, at least he got to experience what he’d longed for, and that was better than never having to at all.

“Okay Kacchan. I accept.”

“Good. Then we shall pack up your things and travel to my home post haste. I’ve arranged for a horse and cart to transport everything, so you won’t need to return.”

“What of my mother? I-I cannot leave her alone.”

“She’ll come with us as a docent. You’ll need help to raise our pups.”

True to his word, the alpha took the Midoriya’s back to a sprawling estate located a four days journey away. The Bakugou clan had done well for itself in the fifteen years since they’d left the tiny remote village. On the property, the alphas parents lived in one home, a second was built for the young couple, while Izuku’s mother had a smaller one next to theirs. There was a farm and ranching enterprise along with trade that Bakugou senior engaged in to grow their wealth.

“Wow...” Izuku’s eyes lit up as he walked in. “It’s so much bigger than back home.”

Through the long journey, Izuku caught up on many of the questions that plagued him, such as how his mother thought when the Bakugou’s left the arrangement had been canceled, so that’s why she never mentioned it. But the alpha he knew now as Katsuki had never forgotten about him.

A beautiful nest had already been prepared and scented for the omega. It would need to wait until their formal ceremony took place the following day, but Izuku was just excited this was taking place. All the pain of the last fifteen years dissolved away in that moment. He turned to his alpha with tears streaming down his face and his scent filling the air of lavender wildflowers. It’s been so long since Izuku released a happy scent, even he’d forgotten what it was like. His eyes twinkled, crinkled in delight. “It’s so beautiful Kacchan, like in a fairytale.”

The alphas eyes roll back as he purred from his omegas pheromones filling their new home. He pulled Izuku to his broad chest. “That’s the scent I remember. The scent I loved as a child. How could anyone not snatch you up just for that?”

“Maybe because no one else has smelled it?”

Such a statement makes the alpha growl low from happiness, his chest rumbling with content. “Good.” He tipped Izuku’s chin up, red eyes boring down as he swept away tears. This scent belonged to him alone. “It’s all I wanna smell from now on. No more sadness or fear, understood?”

Izuku nodded his head as he smile grew. “Yes, my alpha.”

Katsuki placed a long, lingering kiss on the omegas lips that made Izuku’s heartbeat soar. For such a large male, the alpha was gentle with him. He knew the man had a fiery side, but Katsuki also knew how to love....

As autumn leaves made an entrance, tiny cries broke the air as two newborn pups came into their world. The pregnancy had been a bit difficult for the tiny omega, but with the support of his mate and family, Izuku accomplished everything he’d been told would never come to pass.

“Kacchan...” the omega, flushed with exhaustion, but beamed with pride, and shed tears of joy as he rested his head against his alpha’s supportive hand.

“See, I told you those villagers were fools.” Katsuki smiled, while lovingly soothing his omega. “You gave me two beautiful pups.”

“I love you Kacchan...”

“And they lived happily ever after,” the old alpha stated. “The end.”

“But grandpa, that’s nothing like the stories.”

“What do you mean?”

“Izuku didn’t leave a letter in the tree, a-and he knew Katsuki as a kid.”

“Well, you see over many, many Springs the true story was lost and all that remained is the story of an alpha finding an omegas sad love letter. People thought if that omega could get lucky, maybe I can too and began leaving letters in the tree. Today, the tradition continues.”

“Then how do you know the true story?”

“Izuku had green eyes right?”

“Yeah, like me!”

“Because he’s your great, great, great grandpa.”

#bakudeku #bakudeku fan fic #bakudeku fan fiction #bkdk #katsudeku #ktdk #angst with happy ending #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #alpha/omega

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mystrade-reading-club · 4 years

Text

Ramdon AU

The lovely people on the server suggested these random AUs, but we are happy to add to it.

Uncanny by @justusmice, E, 87k

He'd read fairy tales when he was a kid, had read myths, heard snippets of folklore. Now and then he'd hear weird rumours on the streets of uncanny things that he'd dismissed as the drugged out ravings of hallucinating junkies, but now he was wondering what he'd missed, and if they really had seen things. Greg Lestrade had always considered himself an ordinary bloke, not prone to flights of fantasy. When he is kidnapped from the streets of London and wakes in a dungeon, he must reevaluate everything he thought he knew about the world, and about himself.

The Lydia Chronicles by @out-there-tmblr, 3 fics: E 33k + E 31k + M 11k

Instinct told him that Captain Gregory Lestrade was a man he could trust. But how could this pirate, who had just stormed his ship, be a true man of honour? Captive on the high seas, with nowhere to run, curiously Mycroft Holmes had never felt more free. If he returned to rigid society he'd become an old man's unwilling spouse. If he stayed with Lestrade, the captain had made it abundantly clear he would become his more than willing lover…

Men of the Howve by @odamaki, T, 8k

“Do you wine and dine all of your victims?” Mycroft asks archly.His host clucks his tongue, “Only the comely ones,” he teases and Mycroft horrifies himself by blushing all the way around the back of his neck. One doesn’t go about expecting flirtation from robbers in the woods.

Dark Things Happen at the Turn of the Year by @odamaki, T, 7k but this is just one chapter, so about 1,3k

Mystrade Genielock

The Bad Bridesmaid by @out-there-tmblr, G, 11k

"My wedding is ruined and my marriage is going to fail. And it’s all your fault!"As a Geneva-based political consultant, Mycroft Holmes has it all: influence, money, success, a sleek and toned body and a string of sexy lovers. He's almost forgotten his previous self: Mikey Holmes, a plain and pudgy boy, later an awkward and clumsy teenager. Until a wedding invitation arrives requesting (demanding!) his presence as chief bridesmaid at his younger brother Sherlock's upcoming nuptials.Mycroft's barely been back in England before he's accidentally injured the groom and been caught in a compromising position with his future brother-in-law's best man!With the wedding of the year about to be doomed, Mycroft has no time to waste – especially with sexy detective and best man Greg Lestrade on hand to help...

Written in Skin by @vulpesmellifera, M, 26k

It’s a lot like leafing through pages in a large picture book, or watching life being lived on the other side of a window. The glass is clear, but still a barrier. Objects are out of reach, though the acts that unfold can tug at your heart or spark a forest fire of rage. Or encourage a person to engender a certain numbness of feeling. Mycroft Holmes lives a quiet, steady life. He works. He paints. He takes walks. It’s what he does to ignore the flurry of partnering around him. Whether it’s the biological drive to mash two bodies together, or the religious dictum of the salvation in finding one’s Devotee, it’s not for him. It won't ever be for him.Until the day he meets a blind man in the park.The world will never be the same.

Let Sleeping Dragons Lie by @MerHums

“Do I make you nervous?”“You're a bloody dragon, and you're talking to me and I came here to kill you, of course you make me nervous!” --- In which Greg is a knight who can't do his job, and Mycroft is a shape shifting dragon who made the wrong witch angry. Humor, romance, and chess playing ensues.

Mara's Mercy by @mottlemoth, E, 62k

[Medieval Fantasy Mystrade] Gregori is on the run from his old life in Cyrodiil—and he could have picked a better place than Skyrim. Captured as a suspected rebel, he faces the headman's axe. A series of staggering events then dramatically alter his fortunes. The quiet town of Falkreath isn't all that it seems, and neither is the Breton bookseller Greg meets on the road. The clever and interesting Mycroft is hiding a secret—but then, so is Greg. As they journey towards Whiterun together, and their friendship grows closer, their secrets must all come to light.

Everyone has a ghost story by @Eva, T 16k

Greg said he would help before he knew what that entailed: a haunted house, a summer long forgotten, and a friend who'd needed his help before they'd even met.

Shave and a Haircut - Two Bits by @bitemebat, G, 3k

A bedraggled stranger wanders into Mycroft's shop after hours.

One Night by @bitemebat, E, 8k

Written for a prompt from "Sherlock Rare Pair Bingo".The prompt was "alternate professions", and I've chosen Greg & Mycroft as my pairing.

Twice Shy by @ewebie, E, 37k

It was a marriage of convenience. In a time when Greg Lestrade, as the second born son, was more than likely to be parcelled off in an arranged marriage with a perfect stranger, the offer of security and independence wasn’t one he could turn down. Maybe slightly lacking in romance, Mycroft’s proposal was simple and pragmatic. Engagement: short. Marriage: mutually beneficial.

The Difference Between Misfortune and Calamity by @ewebie , T, 6k

“The difference between a misfortune and a calamity is this: If Gladstone fell into the Thames, it would be a misfortune. But if someone dragged him out again, that would be a calamity.” ~ Benjamin Disraeli There were a great many things to wonder about Greg Lestrade. Sure he was a workhorse, rather unsinkable, charming, and a bit of a flirt. But more than anything, it made no logical sense that he often found himself where he was...

November Mystrade 2018 by @topicabo, E, 19k but this is just one chapter, so about 0.8k

The book he’d brought last time, he’d at least been familiar with. But he’s never read this one. Too farfetched for his taste, and barely any academic value to be found. He’s no idea if it’s any good. But it feels appropriate, somehow. He’s in a fantastical situation – it only seems right to choose a fantastical story to match.

What random AU you’d suggest?

#mystrade #Mystrade fanfiction #mystrade reading club #random AU

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hp-creatures · 3 years

Text

Masterlist | 2020 HP CREATURES Quarantine Comeback Fest

This fest is called many things, but there’s only one awesome masterlist! I hope you enjoyed taking part!

GEN

Title: go with peace and love Author/Artist: cjmasim Pairing: Gen Creature: Ghost Summary: "We're going to walk away now, slowly, and give you one last chance to join us. If you choose not to, then you'll return to the realm of the living once you can no longer see us, and that is where you will remain for eternity. "Fred nods, standing firm in his decision. He's coming home to George, and for the foreseeable future, that's all he needs. -Or: Fred refuses to leave George all alone, so he becomes a ghost. (go with peace and love) Title: From the Oblivion Author: paulamcg Pairing: Gen Creature: Hag Summary: In July 1996 Tonks is coerced into reliving moments shared with Sirius, Lupin and Amelia Bones. (From the Oblivion)

HET

Title: And the World Slept on Author: prophet_of_troy Pairing: Cedric Diggory/Luna Lovegood Creature: Ghost Summary: It was just a story; a silly, romantic notion circulating through Hogwart's halls. She just wanted to know if it was true, but she found more than she expected. (And The World Slept On) Title: His Chosen Queen Author/Artist: articcat621 Pairing: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Creature: Vampire Summary: When Hermione is chosen to be sacrificed to the Vampire Lord, she thinks that her life is over. (His Chosen Queen) Title: Thestral Therapy Author/Artist: crochetaway Pairing: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Creature: Thestral Summary: Hermione goes back to Hogwarts after the war, but when every student refuses to get onto the Thestral drawn carriages, she decides it's up to her to help the school heal. (Thestral Therapy) Title: All Fuzzy Author/Artist: aetherios Pairing: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy Creature: Wrackspurts Word Count/Art Medium: 3.5k words, Digital Rating: T Summary: Wrackspurts had the uncanny ability to make your brain go all fuzzy. But then again, maybe a little fuzz is exactly what Hermione and Draco need to finally come to their senses. (All Fuzzy)

Title: Time and Tide Author/Artist: Misdemeanor1331 Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger Creature: Selkie Summary: While ferrying a message for the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione Granger is caught by jaded Death Eater, Draco Malfoy. Unlikely and unwilling allies, the pair begin a cross-country journey where their survival depends on learning when to stand strong against the elements’ fury, and when it’s acceptable to erode. (Time and Tide)

Title: symphonies of stars Author/Artist: Jolybird Pairing: George/Luna Creature: Werewolf Summary:When Luna discovers a mysterious series of animal deaths' around the full moon while on a research trip in Wigtownshire, she calls in her friends for backup. What they discover is more than they bargained for but, above all, no matter what, they have each other. (symphonies of stars)

FEMSLASH

Title: Could it be the Reason Author/Artist: SiriuslyThatBitch Pairing: Pansy/Hermione Creature: Fae Summary: Women who go wandering in the woods, even unwillingly, will always find more than they bargained for. (Could it be the Reason)

SLASH

Title: Last Ditch Effort Author/Artist: RoonilWazlibMalfoy Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy Creature: Vampire Summary: Severus Snape made a last ditch effort to save Harry Potter's life but at a very high cost. How will Harry cope with his new life and how will those around him react? (Last Ditch Effort) Title: A Fine Pair of Aurors Author/Artist: enchanted_jae Pairing: Harry/Draco Creature: Cat & Bunny Summary of Fic: Potter has no survival instincts, and Draco suffers the consequences. (A fine pair of Aurors) Title: When Death Comes Calling Author: MysticKitten42 Pairing: Harry / Draco Creature: Death (Grim Reaper) Summary: It's All Hallows' Eve and as Harry investigates a string of seemingly related deaths, there's one he hopes to prevent. He looks over Harry's shoulder and Harry turns too. They both see it, the dark translucent figure making its way to shore. (When Death Comes Calling) Title: Bitten Author/Artist: mean_whale Pairing: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Creature: werewolf Summary: The morning after the full moon, Remus has a feeling that Sirius is hurt. When Lily tells him that Sirius never returned from his mission, Remus knows that Sirius is in trouble, and he's the only one who can find Sirius before it's too late. (Bitten) Title: My Dog Will Always Come Through Author/Artist: MoonCat457 | MoonCat457writing Pairing: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin Creature: Crup Summary: Seeing how happy James and Lily are now that they have baby Harry, Sirius wants to add to the family he and Remus have, too. So when Hagrid finds a litter of crup puppies abandoned in the Forbidden Forest, Sirius does his best to convince Remus that they should adopt one. (My Dog Will Always Come Through) Title: the forest, dark and deep Author/Artist: Evandar Pairing: Xenophilius Lovegood/Lucius Malfoy Creature: Thestrals Summary: Lucius and Xeno reunite after a summer apart. (the forest, dark and deep) Title: A Familiar's Permission Author/Artist: Evandar Pairing: Lord Voldemort/Severus Snape, one-sided Nagini/Lord Voldemort Creature: Basilisk/Nagini Summary: Nagini observes a meeting between Marvolo and one of his servants. (A Familiar's Permission)

THREESOME

Title: Take Two Author/Artist: MoonlitMarauder Pairing: Teddy Lupin/Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter Creature: Vampire Summary: Teddy Lupin’s wildest fantasy comes true, and it just so happens to also be his second chance at living a fulfilling life. (Take Two) Title: Taste of Home Author/Artist: maraudersaffair Pairing: Remus/Draco/Severus Creature: Werewolf Summary: Remus wants to complete his pack. He doesn't realise Draco is the answer. Draco wants to shag a couple of fit older men. (Taste of Home) Title: The Silver Arrows Consulting Agency Author/Artist: Aneiria Prompt: She hunts monsters for a living. It would be really bad for business if clients found out she had fallen in love with one. Pairing: Hermione / Draco / Theo Creature: werewolves Summary: After the war and a frustrating career with the Ministry of Magic, Hermione Granger now hunts dark werewolves for a living. It would be really bad for business if clients found out she had fallen in love with not one - but two of the very creatures she chases down for work. (the silver arrows consulting agency) Title: Spooky Situation Author/Artist: aleysiasnape Pairing: Lucius Malfoy/Hermione Granger/Severus Snape Creature: Vampire Summary: An accident with a cauldron on Halloween lands Hermione in a spooky situation with a pair of vampires. (spooky situation)

#fest 2020 #creatures fest #creatures fest 2020 #harry potter creatures #harry potter fandom #magical creatures #mod post #masterlist #fest: hp-creatures #fest masterlist

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jwillowwolf · 3 years

Text

Magic and Miracles - Chapter 2

Sanders Sides Big Bang fic, Chapter 2!

< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter > | Masterlist

Summary: “Did you really teach yourself magic?”

“Yes. I learnt from whatever books it could find on the subject.”

Janus nodded. “Impressive."

Warning/s: food mention, fantasy racism.

Characters: Logan, Remy, OC, Virgil, Roman, Remus, Patton, Janus.

Tag List: @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-please-come-back

Read on AO3

2 | Getting to Know You

Logan followed the group just barely as he found himself constantly distracted by his surroundings. The paintings, tapestries, vases, and statues, there seemed to be nearly no blank spaces anywhere, yet it didn’t feel cluttered at all. Everything was remarkable and expensive looking. And eye-catching.

In fact, he didn’t notice when the group had stopped moving and walked right into Virgil, which caused him to stumble backwards. Thankfully, Virgil caught him before he fell onto his butt.

“Careful where you’re walking, Lo. you don’t want to end up walking into a door,” Remy remarked from the front of the group.

Logan blushed. “Sorry.”

Virgil just helped him to his feet and nodded.

“Okay, now please pay attention. This hall has all your rooms and this one,” Remy pointed to the first door on the right. “Is mine. They’re all identical and I couldn't be bothered to assign them to you, so take your pick. Everyone has an hour to get settled then we meet back here in the hall for a tour. Good? Good. Farewell.”

And with that, he retreated into his room. Roman chose the room beside Remy’s and Remus took the one beside him, then Patton took the last room on the right side. Virgil took the first room on the left, which left Janus, Logan, and Willow in the hallway.

“Um, thanks, for earlier. With explaining the last-names thing,” Willow said.

Logan nodded. “It was no problem.”

“You would be surprised how many people find it problematic to understand non-humans,” Janus remarked.

“Well, I have no such prejudices. Also, thank you for calling out Roman’s behaviour.”

“Of course. I can’t stand elves who believe themselves higher than everyone.”

“You can’t stand elves in general,” Willow muttered.

“And for good reason. Have you seen Roman?”

Willow winced. “Remus was nice… kind of.”

“She called you a dog.”

“It’s a common mistake.”

“You’re too forgiving.”

Willow rolled her eyes and turned to Logan. “They’re such a hypocrite.”

Janus huffed. “I’m right here.”

“You’re being mean though, so I’m ignoring you.”

Janus rolled their eyes then also turned their attention to Logan. “Did you really teach yourself magic?”

“Yes. I learnt from whatever books it could find on the subject.”

Janus nodded. “Impressive. How did you manage to find a tome that explained pronunciation?”

“I didn’t. I sort of figured that part out from watching the testing ceremonies.”

“In that case, why not replicate the simple performances other mages made beforehand? It’s not against any rules to do the same spell sequence as someone else.”

“I didn’t want to waste the opportunity. Perhaps it was a bit… over the top to do the spell I did, but I managed to leave an impression.”

Janus smirked. “I suppose that’s a good reason. Anyway, it looks like we’re the last to pick rooms. I’m taking the one on the end, see you both later.”

With that, the trio split up into their rooms. Janus taking the one at the end on the left, and Willow leaving the choice between the two doors between Janus and Virgil’s rooms for Logan to choose between. He chose the one next to Virgil’s, allowing Willow to have the room closer to Janus.

Inside the room, there was a queen-sized bed with four tall wooden posts that suspended a silky blue canopy. There was a dresser, a wardrobe, a writing desk, and a half-empty bookshelf. The books didn’t seem to be anything special. Logan’s bag was already on his bed. He only now realised that he’d left it in the carriage. One of the staff members must have brought it here. Thank goodness they brought it to the right room.

Wait, that was his bag, right?

He double-checked the contents and sighed in relief that it was indeed his bag. After that slight scare, he began unpacking his things and sorting the room just how he wanted it. He was delighted to find some fresh blank papers on the writing desk and a few sharp pencils too.

Forty-five minutes later, everything was organised just the way that Logan wanted and he was… bored out of his mind. He flopped down onto the bed and was distracted for a few moments by how incredibly soft it was. After that novelty wore off though, he found himself bored again and stared up at the blue canopy.

His mind once again thought of how frightening this was. He was truly out of his depth with the complexities and splendour of high society. Perhaps there are some books he can find on the subject to help him. ‘How To Fit In With The Upper Class’

He got up from bed to check if there was such a book, or at least something similar, on the shelf. To his dismay, there seemed to only be fictional novels and a dictionary. He’d need to ask Everleigh about looking out for something at the library. Was there a library here? Remy said that they’d have a tour later so he supposed he’d find out then. Wait, when was that tour?

He checked the clock and noticed that… barely three minutes had passed since he went to lie on the bed. Darn it, there were still at least ten minutes to kill before the tour.

He could have read the fiction novels, but honestly, none of the summaries seemed very appealing. He wondered if he could write something but he didn’t have anything to write. Trying to take a nap was pointless so he found himself just sitting on his windowsill.

The view was rather breathtaking actually. Below there was an array of cobblestone paths, lined with green shrubbery, some of which were dotted with white, pink, and purple buds. There was a hedge in front of the iron fence that lined the property, and beyond that was the dark spruce forest that grew high and looked thick and full of secrets.

Logan wondered briefly what secrets really were hidden there in the forest. Creatures? Monsters? Come to think of it, what was hidden here in the manor. Sure, the students had been permitted to explore the entire estate, but Remy had said that they couldn’t go to the tower. What was in that tower? Books full of forbidden knowledge? A porthole to another realm? A gnome that could turn thread into gold?

No, that was stupid, gnomes don’t like being indoors and surely the Royal Family wouldn’t keep anyone hostage in their private estate. But still, what could be there? It must be something important if even Remy wouldn’t let them know what it was.

“Okay, Tour Time, come on out or get left behind!” Remy called from the hallway, causing Logan to practically fall back into reality as he fell off the windowsill.

He groaned in pain as he got up then went out into the hallway to find Remy and the others waiting for him.

“Alrighty, we’ll begin here. This is the east wing, also known as the guest wing. This particular hallway has been cleaned up for us to use this year so please respect your rooms. The other bedrooms are locked so don’t bother looking at what is inside of them. Now if we go this way...”

The tour lasted for three hours and was mostly without interruption as everyone seemed awestruck by the magnificent manor. Logan was glad not to be alone in his awe as they went through the many different halls and passages. There were countless bedrooms in the east and west wings, private bathrooms on the first floor, several studies, sitting rooms, a library [that Logan clocked for later], extensive several acres of gardens, a ballroom, and a large dining hall fit for royalty, which is where they finished the tour to eat lunch.

There was a variety of smoked meats, fresh loaves of bread, tossed salad, a platter of cheese, and lemonade to wash it all down. Logan didn’t know what half of the meats were but tried a little bit of each. He found that he preferred sticking to the familiar beef slices for his lunch and enjoyed them in the form of a little sandwich.

He noted that while Virgil ate the simple sandwich like him, Roman, Remus, and Patton seemed to prefer the salad, while Willow and Janus ate more meat. Willow preferring theirs medium rare while Janus had used some magic to cook theirs further. Logan wondered if this was to do with their race. Willow was part wolf while Janus was part dragon, making them both somewhat carnivores, so craving a lot of meat seemed reasonable. Maybe he could ask about it later if they didn’t mind.

They had certainly seemed the friendliest to him so far, apart from Patton of course. But Patton seemed the type of person who made friends with everyone. Janus, as Willow had implied earlier, was acting cold towards the twins, and Roman seemed to be returning the same cold energy towards everyone apart from Patton. He even seemed cold to Remus, but more in an annoyed sibling fashion. Remus himself seemed indifferent to everyone, just happily chatting with Pat and sometimes blurting inappropriate thoughts. Willow looked still a bit shy though not nearly as tense as this morning, and Virgil was being silent and mysterious as ever.

“Now that lunch is done, let’s have an icebreaker,” Remy suggested.

“It seems quite warm in here, are you sure the ice needs to be broken?” Patton asked.

Everyone was silent for a moment, either cringing or holding back a laugh. Remy looked like that comment had physically pained him as he stared at Patton.

“Just for that, you’re up first, Patty.”

“Oh, um, what are we doing?”

“We’re going to go around and share a fun little fact about ourselves,” Remy explained.

“Alrighty, well, I like frogs. Sometimes, my brother and I go to the marshes and catch a few to just look at them.” Patton stated.

“You have a brother?” Remus asked.

Patton nodded. “Yeah, my little brother Morgan. He’s twelve and likes frogs almost as much as me.”

“That’s so cool. My brother isn’t even remotely interested in what I like.” Remus sighed.

“That’s because you like gory stories about seafaring hooligans,” Roman said.

“They’re not hooligans, they’re pirates. And I’m going to become one someday.” Remus declared.

Patton cocked his head to the side. “Oh?”

“At least I’d want to do the sailing part, I’ll leave the plunder and pillaging to the others. Unless I get bored,” Remus shrugged.

“I suppose we can accept that as your fact, Remus,” Remy said. “You wanna go next, Rome?”

“Roman, and yes, I shall. I am the best swordsman among the nobility. In fact, I’m to be knighted once I come of age,” Roman declared.

“You need to do an incredible deed to become a knight,” Janus pointed out.

Roman huffed. “Well, I will have you know that my great deed was saving the crown prince himself. Single-handedly.”

Virgil snorted at that.

Roman sneered at him. “And what do you find so amusing, Stormy Knight?”

“You lying about 1, becoming a knight and 2, saving the prince. Everyone knows he’s kept protected in the castle so that no one even knows his face. There's not even a remote chance that you’ve met him.”

“Well, I have. He’s actually quite handsome and much more sophisticated than any one of you. He even personally told me about his idea for this school.”

Virgil just shook his head with amusement.

“I agree with Virgil, you’re lying through your teeth. I suppose we’ll all just have to assume you’re nothing important.” Janus declared.

Roman glared at them. “I am the heir of Lycrest Isle, therefore future governor of the Eastern Ocean. I am a very important person, if not the most important here.”

Janus smirked. “Yet you’re so boring you have to lie about yourself.”

“You-”

“Can go next, Janus, since you’re so eager to speak,” Remy interrupted, steeping between the elf and dragon just in case.

“Alright then. Well, I am known in Evergreen Valley as close to royalty, since I am not only a dragon shifter but also the song of the western governor, Declan the fearless.” Janus stated.

“Cool story kid. Wolfie, you’re up.” Remy announced, ignoring the growing tension between Roman and Janus.

“Um, I grew up with Janus, my eight cousins and two younger siblings, with who I am very close,” Willow said.

“I thought you were part of a pack?” Remus said.

“I am. My pack includes my biological family, and many cousins who I was raised alongside,” Willow explained. “What did you think being a part of a pack meant?”

“Well, if you are a part of a pack, then how did you grow up with Janus?”

“I fostered with the Redrunner pack for most of my childhood,” Janus clarified.

“Oh, so you guys are like childhood friends?” Patton asked.

Willow nodded. “Yep.”

Roman looked over to Willow and said. “I’m sorry.”

“For…?”

“How long you’ve had to stand them.”

“Hey!” Janus snapped. “That is a direct attack against my character.”

“And calling me a liar isn’t?”

“Virgil called you a liar, I only agreed with him.”

“Don’t drag me into this.”

“Yeah, can’t you fight your own battles, Dragon?”

“You want to fight me, Elf?”

“Okay, no, that is where I draw the line,” Remy said in a booming voice that instantly silenced the two teens. “You don’t have to like each other, or get along that well, but there will be no physical fighting while you are under my care. In fact, if I see any of you harm each other, then I’ll send you straight home, no excuses. Am I understood?”

“Yes sir,” everyone replied.

“Great, well, that’s enough fun bonding time for today, I suppose. You can all go back to your rooms now.”

And so, that marked the end of Logan’s interactions with his class for the day, since he went straight to bed once he returned to his room. He had not gotten much sleep the night before due to nerves and excitement, so after everything that had happened, he was more than ready to drift away to dreamland.

Now that he had met his classmates, and gotten to know them if only briefly, he sorely hoped that they wouldn’t cause any disturbances to his learning magic. He didn’t want to fail the second test because of some argumentative teens taking up class time. He would be taking the test alone anyway, so he supposed that it wouldn’t affect him if they all failed. But really, he hoped that was the only fight he’d have to witness this year...

---

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll be posting two chapters a day until the full fic is up, so if you want to be tagged, you can just ask.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the chapter if you wouldn't mind commenting. Thanks again for reading! Here's hoping you have a magical day 💜

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israltale · 3 years

Text

Discarded Apple

Nightmare sat in front of the tree, as always, a book in hand. Dream was down in the strange village, with all those damnable villagers. They were so nice to his twin brother, but horrible to him, because he was the Guardian of Negative Emotions. He sighed, his eye-lights getting blurry. Why wasn’t he allowed to be happy? Why do they have to torture him?

The villagers hated him, attacking the little guardian once he stepped foot into their village, even if he only wants to get a book for him to read. Each and every day….

Nightmare shook his hurting skull. When he went down, the villagers attacked him, when they came to the tree they attacked him… He sighed softly.

Nightmare never could tell Dream, he tried once…. Dream was mad at him for lying, because the villagers were so nice. Yes they were, but only to him.

Nightmare looked down to the book. He loved fantasy stories the most. ‘Please stop….’ Nightmare blinked. There was a voice in his head that was not his own. Was the poor little guardian that badly injured?

Is he going insane now?

Nightmare was so sure he was going crazy, only for him to notice some villagers. They were laughing and kicking something? “What a fat, ugly rat.” One laughed loudly.

Nightmare put the book aside, slowly getting up. He was sure to get badly hurt again, but whatever they found to torture… He couldn’t let it suffer.

Nightmare hesitated a second, before taking a deep breath and starting to go down to where the villager kids laughed and hit something.

“Hahahahaha, die already!” Nightmare blinked, he finally could see what they were attacking.

It was a little hatchling, a small dragon. But how? DreamTale had no dragons.

Nightmare shook his skull. There was no time to think about that now, the hatchling needed help! He looked around, needing to find something, so he could scare them away. His magic would fail him on that for sure.

Nightmare found something he could use, picking up some stones.

“Leave it alone!” He yelled to get their attention. The teenager turned to him, not paying attention to the scaled youngling, they harassed for a long time.

“Look it’s that negative fucker.” one said with a deep grin, turning to him. They want to beat him up again, like they always do when they see Nightmare.

He held up a Stone he would throw at them, the little dragon weakly looking up to see the skeleton trying to help them.

Nightmare couldn’t defend them for long, the teens beating him up brutally. He was lying on the grass, his left arm broken, a few cracks on his skull and a lot of bruises.

He sucked in one unnecessary breath, before he slowly and painfully got up. He needed to look after the hatchling, it was badly injured after all. His body was hurt a lot, but he carefully made his way to the little green dragon.

“I’m so sorry.” He said softly, kneeling down to it. The little creature was weak and severely hurt, he would not be able to save it.

‘It’s okay… Thank you for trying’ He could hear their voice in his mind.

‘Would you… be so kind and bring me… back home?’ He blinked.

“Home to where?” It raised its little head weakly.

‘IsralTale… I want to see the High-Priestess…. before I leave this world…’ Nightmare looked back to the tree, but decided that he needed to do this.

“I will bring you there.” He carefully picked it up.

‘Let me…. try to open… a path…. High… Priestess can… send you… back home then…’ Nightmare smiled sadly at it.

“Alright.” He felt something tickle him, before an unstable and weak portal opened a path to a forest. Nightmare looked back again, before taking all his courage and stepping through the portal, before it collapsed.

“Wow.” He said amazed, never had he seen such a green forest, but he had read about it.

His amazement only lasted a short span, as he felt the little dragon dust in his arms. “No… nononononono.” He sank to his knees, this little help to get him here had finished off the small child.

Tears were running down his skull as he only had their dust and its little soul left.

Nightmare had cried for a while, before he carefully took the soul. He needed to bring them to the High-Priestess, but he needed to be very careful. Or so Nightmare thought, but as soon as he wanted to take the soul, his own grasped it and absorbed the remaining power.

The young deity gasped in shock as the magic of the dragon hatchling infiltrated his own. His bones burned in agony. As much as Nightmare tried not to sink down and double over in pain, he couldn’t help it.

His soul burned, his bones ached and his skull felt like it would explode any second now. The whole world seemed to grow sharper and more colourful, his sight seemed to reach even further than normal, while he felt like something was growing out of his skull.

“Please… make it stop…” Nightmare whimpered in pain. He curled into a ball, his body throbbing in pain. The small deity feared to pass out and for worse to happen to him.

“Don’t fear. You’ll be safe from now on. Morning sky watching over all.” He could hear a female voice singing softly in the distance.

“Deep inside so silently, my heart will speak. Deep inside of me. Memories flickering and shimmering on…. endlessly.”

Nightmare felt his pain slowly subside, not sure why, but the more he listened to the female voice, the more the burning passed.

The sun slowly set already when Nightmare felt able to move his body again. He couldn’t say how much time had passed in his own AU.

Nightmare got up slowly, feeling weird, but he needed to find the High-Priestess. Strangely enough, he knew where to go, maybe it was the soul of the hatchling telling him.

Nightmare went through the forest, ignoring the looming fog closing around him. Just as he thought he got lost, the fog slowly disappeared, only to open the view to a crystal clear lake. Some gemstones grew around it, which was fascinating since he had never seen gemstones grow like plants before.

The lake was surrounded by strange trees with purple leaves, blue coloured fruits in the form of crescent moons hanging on the branches. There was a woman sitting on the soft grass, her eyes closed, her face raised to the soft pale moonlight.

Nightmare slowly came closer, only to stop in shock when he saw himself. He blinked in confusion. Two little purple horns were growing out of his skull, his eye-lights had changed as well. They were still purple but had now this significant sign of a reptile in them.

“You are not from this AU.” He jumped as the woman spoke softly. “N… No.. I’m not… I…” She smiled sadly at him. “I know, you wanted to bring the little lost hatchling… but you seem to have absorbed his remaining power.”

Nightmare slowly walked over to her. “What… happened to me?” The woman in a dress, that was growing into purple, looked at him, patting the grass next to her. Nightmare sat down beside her. “Your body changed to accommodate to the magic of a dragon.” Nightmare blinked.

“So… this is my form now?” The woman nodded, petting his skull a bit. “Sadly yes. I don’t know if you want to return to your former Timeline like this.” She said, before blinking. “Oh excuse my rudeness. I am called Millenia.”

The two of them talked a bit longer, until it was already pretty late, close to the rising sun. Nightmare was asleep, as Millenia carefully got up and went to the lake. She got out her trusty black and golden coloured ocarina, before she started to greet the rising sun with a little play on her instrument.

The little guardian jumped awake when he heard a bird's screeching, echo through the forest. Confused, he looked around. Nightmare blinked in surprise.

The gemstones around the lake where glowing in sync of her play. “This is amazing!” He ran to the gemstones to watch them glow. But then he dared to look into the clear water, what he saw there was almost breaking his soul. He saw how his AU, his home, slowly vanished.

“NO! DREAM!” Millenia hugged the little hybrid close to her. “I’m so sorry, little one. But do not fear for your brother, I can sense him somewhere in this AU.” She reassured softly. “R…really?” Millenia nodded.

“Yes, he is here, but losing both deities made your timeline unstable.” She explained, petting his skull. The sun had already risen as she took the newborn dragon hybrid to her home. It was a simple house, deep in the forest.

“Miss Millenia? Are all houses made of crystals and jewels?” Millenia chuckled. “Yes, because it is what we can grow naturally with our magic.” She answered, opening the door to her home. “It is not much, little one.” She said softly.

“Why are you living alone, so far away from the others?” Millenia smiled, she began to cook something for them. “There are certain reasons… I choose to separate myself from the main city, especially with my duty as High-Priestess.”

Nightmare was staring out of the window. He had tried to figure things out after they had some food.

“Miss Millenia?” He turned to the woman, sitting in a simple wooden chair. “Yes, little one?” She said, looking to him, she was fixing his pants for him, because he needed some adjustments to the new little tail he had gained.

“My name… Nightmare… it doesn’t really fit to me anymore… Do you have any suggestions?” Millenia looked at him. “I do.” She replied gently, finishing her work. “We have a special name for the nights here. How about Alure then?” Nightmare perked up.

This name rang with his soul, he immediately liked it. “Miss Millenia… where can I live?” Millenia handed him his pants. “For now you can live with me here, there is not much but it should be plenty for us both.” She offered softly.

Alure put on his pants before he hugged the woman. He felt like he had found a dear friend for himself. It felt already much better than back in his own AU, where he had struggled so hard.

“Arisa.” The door to her home opened and a skeleton with three scars in his skull entered. Millenia walked over to him. “How is it over there?” She asked gingerly. “Bad… He is going insane.” The skeleton whispered, before he noticed the little hybrid sitting on her bed.

“What…?” Millenia looked behind her. “He is from another AU, trying to return a lost hatchling… sadly the little child did not make it and he accidentally absorbed its soul.” He looked at the small hybrid.

“So are we going to start working on the Vicinity of Chaos?” Millenia sighed. “We have to.. if it is really that bad, we will need to make a home for those who will lose their’s soon.” Alure blinked confused.

The other skeleton, who is called Cobra, introduced himself as the Priestess personal guard. “So that is the basic of all the Trouble.” Alure looked down. Millenia’s seclusion was due to her brother ascending the throne and starting to talk about a purge.

He wanted everyone gone who was not a pure blooded dragon, the only exception was his own personal guard Reeve, Cobra’s brother.

“The High-Priestess abandoned the king and tore the kingdom with that in two. The Vicinity of Order and this still in development place… The Vicinity of Chaos.” Cobra explained. Millenia stood near the window.

“I shall see to it that I will set this place as soon as possible.” She said. Cobra looked at Alure. “Please assist her and make sure she takes breaks. Arisa is overworking herself constantly.” Alure nodded.

“I will!” He now had a mission, assisting the woman who took him in after he had lost his brother and his AU.

#DarkMillenia #IsralTale #dragonhybrids #Alure #Passive!Nightmare

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opalescent-cheetah · 3 years

Text

I Don’t Know What To Do (About This Dream And You), 5/5 - Methydoll

Summary: Baseball players and mythical beings are a potent combination. After Crystal catches her eye on the baseball field, Nicky makes a decision that turns her entire world upside down. Meanwhile, Crystal is caught in a mysterious dreamscape, chasing a creature with eyes like liquid gold.

Inspired by these songs: “She’s So High” - Tal Bachman; “Digital Love” - Daft Punk; “Baby” - Francesca Blanchard

Chapter Summary: A confession, a rescue, and a revelation.

A/N: Final chapter of my fic for @cobblestaubrey ! Happy holidays!!

Ao3 // Previous Chapter

Chapter 5 - Nicky

Crystal is back.

Nicky can see her silhouette, outlined by the moon. She’s standing at the edge of a forest, looking around.

Looking for me.

It’s almost physically painful, running away from Crystal when all Nicky wants to do is sweep her up into her wings and embrace her, but she knows it’s for the greater good. She isn’t sure how she’d live with herself if Crystal found out the truth.

But intrigue and infatuation pull her closer, even if every shred of logic shrieks at her to stop.

She darts between the trees, a moon-pale shadow, her movements masked by the rustling of the breeze as it caresses the canopy. There’s nothing wrong with admiring Crystal from afar, watching over her like a guardian angel. Crystal doesn’t even need to know she’s there.

Stopping a few trees away, Nicky settles into the branches, digging her sharp talons into wood. Too late, she realises how flimsy the branch is - the wood is hollow with rot, and before she can comprehend what’s happening, it breaks with a sickening crack.

Her wings knock the surrounding trees as she tries to catch wind and she tumbles, her feathers scraping against rough bark, the space too cramped for her to fly. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Crystal stiffen, and realises with a sinking stomach that her cover is blown.

But this means too much to Nicky for her to give up so easily. She scrambles to her feet as soon as she hits the ground and runs, as fast as she can, to the edge of the forest. Her gangly, birdlike legs are awkward, and she constantly finds herself tripping over her own talons.

It doesn’t help that Crystal is a baseball player, with sharp reflexes and hard muscles. Nicky lunges upwards, beating her wings against the cool night air, but it’s already too late.

She feels warm hands wrap around her ankles, ripping her from the sky. With a hard thud, she and Crystal tumble to the ground, rolling to a stop in the soft grass. It takes Nicky a moment to realise that Crystal is on top of her, her beautiful face mere inches away, effectively pinning her to the ground.

Her breathless admiration gives way to terror almost immediately. Growling, she tries to push Crystal aside, but Crystal has been hardened by years of athleticism, and she doesn’t budge.

“Get off of me,” Nicky snarls, thrashing beneath Crystal’s grip.

The edges of Crystal’s eyes are softened with nervousness, but her dark pupils are steely, unwavering.

“No,” she replies. “Not unless you tell me who you are, and why I’m here, and-- and just answer my questions, okay?”

“What if I say no?”

“Then you’ll be stuck here,” Crystal says resolutely.

Nicky isn’t sure what’s worse: having to bare her soul to the one girl she wanted to hide it from, or being pinned beneath her for the rest of the night, her heart hammering so hard she’s sure Crystal can feel it through her ribs.

“Fine,” she mutters, finally relenting. “Let me up, and we’ll talk.”

“Don’t fly away,” Crystal warns, tentatively letting Nicky stand. She grabs her wing immediately, her body tense with nervousness.

Nicky rolls her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere. I don’t think I can, anyway - you’ve probably bruised half of my back.”

“Sorry,” Crystal murmurs, sounding genuinely apologetic, and Nicky softens. She lets Crystal lead her up the hill to sit beneath the clear night sky, the breeze washing over them in gentle waves.

Up here, her eyes are pools of starlight.

Nicky wants to melt into them like chocolate. Briefly, she lets herself imagine what could happen if she let Crystal see every facet of herself; would Crystal wrap her up in her arms, hold her close and tell her she loved her regardless? Or would she run away like all the others, refusing to ever look back?

As nice as it is to imagine that Crystal could be an exception, Nicky is not going to take that chance.

“So what did you want to know?” she asks, her voice hard-edged and rough, when the silence between them has stretched on too long.

Crystal frowns. “Why am I here? Did you really heal me that night? Is that - is that why I keep seeing you?”

“Slow down, one question at a time,” Nicky mutters. “We have all night, you know.”

“Sorry.”

Nicky exhales slowly, knowing she shouldn’t be so harsh. But it feels impossible to let her walls down after so many years of reinforcing them.

Just tell her enough to satisfy her. Nothing more.

“Yeah, that was me,” she finally says. “And yes. That’s why we have a psychic connection now. This place is my dreamscape.” She gestures vaguely at the rolling hills surrounding them.

“So I’m in your mind?”

Nicky nods.

“Wow,” Crystal murmurs, sounding awed. “Wait, but why did you heal me that night? Are you, like, my guardian angel or something?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Nicky says. It’s easier to simply agree.

Crystal smiles, and it kindles the fire in Nicky’s chest. Her sweet expression vanishes just as quickly, though, replaced by a contemplative frown.

“So who are you? And why do you look like my friend Nicky?”

“I can take many forms,” Nicky says, lying through her teeth. “This ‘Nicky’ character must be at the forefront of your mind, so your subconscious has created me in her image.”

“In your dreamscape?”

“Our minds are psychically connected,” Nicky reminds her. “They, uh… they work in tandem.”

Crystal frowns, her brow creased in thought.

“Alright,” she finally says. “I guess that makes sense.”

Nicky almost lets out a sigh of relief. She’s safe, for now.

“So why did you choose me?” Crystal asks. “Aiden didn’t get a guardian angel when she was hurt.”

“Uh…” Nicky falters. “You’re special.”

“Me?” Crystal scoffs. “Alright, I’ll take it.”

Yes, you, Nicky thinks. You’re the most special person to me.

Stars above, when did I become so cheesy?

They lapse in and out of comfortable silences and taut conversations. Nicky almost feels content, sitting here beside Crystal, even though her veins still thrum with a quiet worry. She spends the night admiring Crystal out of the corner of her eye, watching the way her lips move and how her skin seems to glow in the moonlight.

She hates that she has to lie, hates feeling like she’s on the edge of a thousand-foot drop, but if that’s what it takes to spend more nights like this with Crystal, she would do it time and time again.

Crystal is already out on the field, her back turned, when Nicky arrives. Her fluffy curls bounce beneath her cap as she stumbles, trying - and failing - to juggle three baseballs.

She doesn’t notice as Nicky strides up behind her to rest a casual hand on her shoulder. Crystal yelps, leaping away, and Nicky dissolves into laughter.

“Hi,” Crystal gasps, breaking into a giddy, lopsided grin. “I thought you were, like, some murderer or something.”

“Quite the opposite,” Nicky smirks, aching when she realises that Crystal may never know how true that is. “What are you up to? Training for the circus?”

“Something like that.” Crystal tosses a ball at Nicky, laughing when she drops it. “I see we have quite a bit to work on.”

Nicky rolls her eyes good-humouredly, bending down to pick up the baseball. “Oh, shut up, you.”

Crystal walks with her to get a bat, laughing and chatting the entire way, and Nicky can’t help but wonder what’s given her this sudden boost of confidence. When they met at the cafe, she was bubbly and talkative, but somehow more reserved, as though she was brushing the water’s surface with her fingertips. Today, it feels like Crystal has dived right in - into whatever they have, into the growing spark that sizzles between their twin smiles.

“Do you know how to hold the bat?” Crystal asks, picking one up and twirling it in her hands.

“No,” Nicky admits. “Like I said, I don’t do much sport.”

“That’s no problem. Here, catch.” Crystal tosses the bat to Nicky, who haphazardly catches it. “I’ll show you how.”

Her gentle, encouraging smile lights a fire behind Nicky’s ribs. Or maybe it’s the way her freckles seem to glitter in the light, or how her beautiful curls frame her sun-dappled face. Nicky swallows heavily, trying to dispel the flames.

Of course, it doesn’t work. It never does.

They return to the field, standing in the open air and golden sunlight. Crystal’s smile seems to shine beneath the shade of her baseball cap.

“Alright,” she says, “show me how you think it’s done.”

Nicky racks her brain, trying - and failing - to remember how Crystal held the bat during her games. She never did pay attention to the technicalities, she realises. She was too busy admiring Crystal.

Crystal giggles at her awkward attempt and steps behind her, looping her arms around Nicky’s.

Nicky’s breath hitches as one of her mind’s wild fantasies suddenly comes true. She knows Crystal is only being helpful, but something about this still feels so intimate. She can feel Crystal’s heartbeat against her back, feel her warmth where their bodies touch. Their arms brush, Crystal’s hands finding Nicky’s, her skin as soft as feathers.

Crystal gently adjusts Nicky’s grip, and the bat is suddenly much more comfortable to hold. Nicky can feel Crystal’s smile against her neck.

But she doesn’t pull away. Her hands linger, turning Nicky’s skin to fire everywhere they touch.

When Crystal speaks, her voice is low, quiet, her breath soft against Nicky’s ear.

“You know,” she murmurs, “I met my guardian angel in my dreams.”

Nicky swallows heavily.

“Did you now?”

“Yeah.” She traces the back of Nicky’s hand with her thumb before she begins to move away, the tips of her fingers trailing along Nicky’s arm. “She looked like you.”

Her voice is tinged with something that sounds like awe, and it puts Nicky at ease. Even so, she can’t help but be disappointed when Crystal steps back. The air feels far too empty, hollow with the loss of contact.

“Oh,” is all that Nicky can think to say.

She forgets how to breathe when Crystal moves to face her, her eyes smoldering. Nicky has never seen her look so intense, and yet so nervous; her eyes spark with a thousand flames, but her anxiety is written into every line in her face, in the slight tremble of her lips.

“She said she wore your face because you’re always at the forefront of my mind,” Crystal adds breathily, her eyes never leaving Nicky’s. “And she’s right. I think about you a lot, Nicky. I think you’re--” she falters, clearly losing her nerve. “I think you’re wonderful. And I’d like to keep getting to know you better, if you’ll have me.”

This isn’t real.

There is no way this is real.

If her heart weren’t slamming into her ribs at a hundred miles an hour, Nicky would be amused by the fact that Crystal used their dreamscape conversation to ask her out. But instead, it’s all she can do to stand, frozen, gaping wordlessly at Crystal.

Not even in her wildest dreams did Nicky envision their outing today going like this. It’s better than anything she ever imagined.

Crystal, clearly unnerved by Nicky’s lack of a response, seems to retreat back into her shell.

“I’m sorry,” she stammers, backing away from Nicky, her eyes seeking out the shivering grass. “I’m sorry, that was too forward, I shouldn’t have--”

Rushing forward, Nicky interrupts her by pressing their lips together, fireworks bursting in her chest the moment she makes contact. Crystal stiffens for the briefest moment before she relaxes into Nicky’s arms, twining her hands in her hair.

“I think about you all the time too,” Nicky gasps as they pull away. “And I think - I think it would be lovely to keep getting to know you.”

Crystal breaks into the most beautiful smile, radiant with their shared happiness. “You mean that?”

“I’ve never meant anything more.”

Crystal giggles joyously, pulling Nicky in for another kiss. This one is slower, more passionate, easy with the lifted weight of their confessions.

“This is the most exciting game of baseball I’ve ever played,” Crystal laughs against Nicky’s lips.

Later, warm with lingering touches and golden sunlight, they retreat to the shade of the dugout. It’s almost as though there’s a magnetic force between them now; it ensures they are always touching, even if it’s something as small as the gentle brush of fingertips or the bumping of shoulders as they walk.

Crystal is still chatting and smiling as she stoops to get their water, but something gives Nicky pause.

She can sense someone - or something. She forces herself to tune Crystal out and focus: her powers, suppressed as they are by her human disguise, have picked up on a dwindling life force. The dull ache of suffering thrums in her chest, forcing her to take a deep breath.

“Are you okay?” Crystal asks, sounding concerned. “Do you - do you want some water?” She holds out a bottle and Nicky takes it gratefully. In the brief silence that follows, she hears a small, shaky noise, one withering with the last shreds of hope.

“Did you hear that?” she tries, hoping Crystal won’t think she’s going insane.

“Hear what?”

“I think that… I think there’s something here.” She doesn’t elaborate; instead, she drops to her knees and begins looking around.

It doesn’t take her long to find the source of the noise. Reaching beneath the bench, she carefully picks up a tiny, shivering bird, its downy feathers matted with dust and grime. It smells of sickness, of pain and suffering. As she cups it in her hands, Nicky can feel its life force fading away, disappearing faster with every passing second.

“Oh no,” Crystal gasps. “Poor baby.”

“It’s dying,” Nicky whispers, half to herself. She strokes its tiny head, her mind whirling. She could save it - isn’t that precisely what she’s good for? - but that would mean exposing herself to Crystal, and Nicky doesn’t think she can bear the pain of losing her. Not so soon.

But is it worth sacrificing this life? The bird has barely seen the world beyond its nest. Its feathers are still soft with chick-fluff, and its wings have hardly tasted freedom. It has its whole life ahead of it, and Nicky would never forgive herself if she let it die.

Her heart twists, already breaking at the edges, but her mind is made. She knows what she has to do.

“Crystal, I - I can save it.” She hesitates, voice trembling, pretending not to notice how tears are beginning to collect in her eyes. “But if you never want to see me again after this…” I will miss you forever. “I understand.”

“What?” Crystal blinks at her, confused. “Nicky, why - why would I--”

As Crystal trails off into confusion, Nicky lets her disguise melt away. She feels silvery feathers poke through her skin as her arms shift into brilliant wings, her veins thrumming with an ancient power.

“Holy shit,” Crystal gasps, but Nicky pretends not to hear. She isn’t ready to face her yet.

Instead, she focuses on the little bird. You poor thing, she thinks, cradling it in her feathers. You don’t deserve to suffer like this.

Inhaling deeply, she draws the bird’s sickness into her body, taking its pain as her own and relieving it of its suffering. Her feathers, normally so sleek and shiny, turn limp, and a wave of fevered fatigue washes over her. She exhales once the deed is done, placing the bird back on the bench, where it chirps happily at her.

“You’re welcome, buddy,” she mumbles, smiling softly at it. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

“Holy shit,” Crystal says again. Nicky, bracing herself for the heartbreak, forces herself to finally face her.

But when she finally meets Crystal’s eyes, she doesn’t see fear or revulsion. Instead, her bright eyes shimmer with… awe?

Nicky can’t be seeing this right.

She blinks, but Crystal’s expression doesn’t change. Her face shines with a shocked delight, with disbelief, with a childlike wonder.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” she squeals. “That was you the entire time?”

“You mean in your dreams?”

“Yes! And in my room - you healed me?”

Nicky nods slowly.

“Okay, that’s slightly creepy, but also, like, the coolest thing ever,” Crystal says, squealing again, before she seems to hesitate.

This is it, Nicky thinks despondently. Time to say good-bye.

“Wait,” Crystal murmurs, “what about everything you said the other night? About being my guardian angel? Are you actually an angel?”

“No, no, I was - that was a lie,” Nicky mumbles. “I’m a caladrius.”

“A what now?”

There’s no point in hiding anymore. Nicky bares her soul to Crystal, sharing every detail from her ancestral magic to the friends she’d lost when she’d showed them her true form. Crystal listens, rapt, her eyes bright with an unwavering interest.

“And that’s why I always ran away from you,” Nicky concludes. “So if you want to leave too, I… I understand.”

“Why in the world would I want to do that?” Crystal asks, sounding appalled. “All your old friends are idiots. This is literally the coolest thing that has ever happened to me, you know.”

“Really?”

“I mean, it’s not every day you realise your girlfriend is a cal-- a cala--”

“Caladrius,” Nicky supplies, amused. The word girlfriend rings in her ears, still too good to be true. And yet, here she is, sitting in her true form across from the girl she loves, and Crystal is staying.

“Yeah, that.” Crystal giggles. “I mean, only a fool wouldn’t see how epic you are. If anything, I like you even more now that I know you’re, like, magical.”

Nicky feels herself flush at that statement.

“Well,” she says, trying to play it cool, “I’m even more epic when I’m not carrying bird sickness. Wanna help me get rid of it?”

“How do you do that?”

“I just have to fly around for a bit and dispel it. A couple laps of the field should do… just make sure there’s no one out there, would you?”

“Aye aye!” Crystal says, grinning impishly as she mock-salutes. She darts out of the dugout, leaving Nicky alone with the freshly-healed little bird.

“I guess I ought to thank you, eh?” she chuckles, gently stroking its head. It chirps cheerfully at her in response, leaning into her touch. It’s still covered in grime - that’s something Nicky’s powers can’t take away - but its eyes are gleaming with new life and vigour.

Nicky can’t help but wonder where it will go from here. It’s not even fully grown, and she worries that it will only meet a worse fate if she leaves it alone.

“Coast is clear!” Crystal’s voice chimes in.

“Crystal, do you think we should keep the bird?”

Crystal shrugs. “I mean - if you want to, I guess?”

“I do,” Nicky decides. “Here, hold it.” She passes Crystal the tiny bird, which tumbles and rolls about in her hands.

Crystal giggles, and Nicky can see her own adoration for the tiny creature reflected in Crystal’s eyes.

“Let’s name it Jan,” she pipes up.

Nicky snorts incredulously. “Jan? As in our friend Jan?”

“Yeah! Don’t you think it fits? Look at its funky little face.” Crystal pats the top of its head. “Also, isn’t Jan, like, the whole reason we know each other?”

“I mean… yeah, actually, I guess she is,” Nicky muses, thinking back to that first game. She’d only gone to watch Jan, and now here she is, discussing the name of their new baby bird with Crystal.

“And, uh, she kinda convinced me to, you know, confess to you today,” Crystal adds. “So I feel like we should name this bird Jan, in her honour.”

“Alright,” Nicky agrees, smiling bemusedly. “I think she’d find that pretty cute.”

“Jan will think it’s the cutest thing in the world,” Crystal promises. “Now go and get rid of your bird sickness before someone barges in on us.”

Nicky laughs, swatting her lightly. “Alright, alright, I’m going.”

She takes off, wind whistling through her feathers. Slowly, she feels the sickness shed itself from her body, dissipating into the warm summer air. With every beat of her wings, she feels revitalised, the fever and fatigue slipping into nothingness until all that’s left is a beautiful, brilliant joy.

Feeling herself again, Nicky does a series of loops in the air, her heart soaring higher than her wings can take her. She can’t remember the last time she felt so carefree, so happy. After all, here she is, revelling in a taste of freedom whilst Crystal - her girlfriend - and tiny Jan watch her.

When she lands, she disguises herself once again before leaning in to give Crystal a kiss, delighting in the knowledge that she will be able to do this again, and again, and again.

#tysm for reading!!#rpdr fanfiction #nicky doll #crystal methyd #methydoll #crystal x nicky #songfic #mythical au #baseball au #fluff #opal writes

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the-fiction-witch · 4 years

Text

NSFW 100 : Newt

1. What’s the dirtiest thought you’ve ever had about a total stranger?

I don’t think of strangers that much… likely the first time I saw y/n and I kinda went ‘ “dam...boobs!”

2. Do you prefer sex at night, in the morning, mid-afternoon, or NOW?

At night, while the other boys are sleeping even if it means we have to be a little quieter so we don’t wake anyone else

3. What’s your favourite way to be seduced?

I don’t need seducing just kinda point or poke me

4. What’s the dirtiest fantasy you’ve had at work?

Well… I had one about bending y/n over a planter while everyone was at lunch

5. How would you dominate your boss sexually if given the chance?

No thank you, Alby or Zart either I would you rather not.

6. What do you do when you get horny in public?

Uhh… Usually take my hoodie off and wrap it around my waist so knowone sees any issues that arise.

7. Have you ever masturbated in a public bathroom?

Uuuuuuuuuuhhh…. No.

okay maybe once… or twice, before y/n became my girlfriend and she walked around the glade in… shorts.

8. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve thought about while touching yourself?

Being chained in the med jacks, with y/n.

9. What’s the strangest prop you’ve used to get yourself off?

A pole from the gardens, I am not explaining how I used it!

10. Do you remember the first time you felt aroused?

It was once the night y/n arrived in the glade I had never felt about sex before I saw her but most of the day I was taking care of her and the other jobs I had to do so by the time I got back in my hammock I noticed it

11. Who gave you your first orgasm?

Me.

12. Do you remember what that first orgasm felt like?

Like an explosion of repressed urges and tension. Like when you stretch and crack a bone that's been annoying for like a week.

13. Have you ever had sex with someone whose name you never knew?

Nope.

14. What’s your favourite thing about a quickie?

The sneakiness and the fact everyones happy and satisfied before we run off to do whatever we still have to do

15. What the most sexually daring thing you’ve ever done?

Sex on the watch tower… Im still surprised we did that, and that we didn’t get caught

16. Have you ever fantasized about fucking one of your teachers?

No! Definitely not. Then again I don’t remember them… so maybe I did

17. Do you ever mentally strip strangers just for kicks?

Well… not strangers. Just y/n.

18. And then imagine, in dirty detail, what it would be like to fuck them?

Maybe, if already honry then yeah but again only y/n and even more once I didn’t have to imagine what she was hiding from me anymore just remember what she looks like without her cute clothes.

19. Have you ever kissed someone of the same sex?

Once. In dares, It was minho… not that bad actually kissing a guy better than I expected.

20. What inspires you to make the first move?

Gally did he told me if I didn't he was going to so I had to so I jumped into action and made her a picnic in the woods and I asked if I could kiss her and she said yes from there we were a couple

21. In your opinion, what does it mean to be good in bed?

It makes your partner happy and satisfied.

22. Have you ever cheated on a boyfriend or girlfriend because you just couldn’t help yourself?

No never! I would never betray y/n

23. Have you ever pushed the boundaries of fidelity to the brink and then retreated just for the rush?

No! Why would I ever want anyone but y/n, plus the only other girl is teresa… she’s nice but not for me she’s attractive sure but i'm not attracted to her plus thomas likes her and I couldn’t do that to him or to y/n

24. Do you have a go-to masturbation fantasy?

Y/n cuddling close in my bed and playing with me instead of my hand

25. What kind of porn turns you on?

I’m not sure what is classed as porn? Is listening to y/n touch herself through her bedroom wall classed as porn? If so YES!

26. Have you ever had sex with your eyes closed?

A couple times but not on purpose sometimes it's just already dark so I can barely see anyway, or when I shut my eyes because I got a little overwhelmed

27. Have you ever blindfolded or handcuffed your partner?

Well… she kinda blindfolds me sometimes and ties me up to the bed a little

28. Does naughty talk get you aroused?

It does so so much especially if she whispered

29. Are you sure about that, my dirty little forest nymph of a sex goddess?

I am very very sure

30. What’s the dirtiest thing someone’s ever said to you during sex?

Properly “I’m going to cum my dirty little girly”

31. Have you ever watched another couple get it on without them knowing?

By accident yes. Accidently watched minho and thomas having sex in there hammock I didn’t mean to it just kinda happened

32. Have you ever watched another couple have sex with their permission?

No! Because that's creepy

33. How would you respond if a couple approached you to be their “third”?

Uhhhhhh no thank you.

34. What’s the most flattering thing someone’s said about your naked body?

“Your such a beautiful boy” It still makes me blushy

35. When’s the last time you had a vivid sex dream?

Probably last week, they get worse when I’ve been drinking

36. What do you think an orgy would be like?

Awkward. There are two girls and sixty boys. I don’t think it would go well. I’d rather just nuzzle in y/ns bed with her let everyone else have the orgy

37. Have you ever propositioned a total stranger?

Nope, and I don’t think I’ll ever want to

38. What does your ideal one-night stand look like?

A nice dinner then a snuggle up in y/n’s bed and a sexy night until we cuddle up all night and wake up in the morning.

39. How long does it take you to get yourself off, on average?

About half an hour depending what is being done to me

40. What’s the weirdest thing that turns you on?

Stroking, stroking hair and stroking skin just the whole thing in general

41. Have you ever had a naughty dream about a close friend or family member?

No! Only ever about y/n

42. Have you ever woken up humping your pillow?

So many times more times then I like to admit mostly before y/n started fooling around with me

43. When’s the last time you orgasmed in your sleep?

Yesterday… y/n was spooning and she kept wiping her butt on me so… I couldn’t help it

44. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you while hooking up?

I may have… cum on y/n’s stomach the first time she let me touch her boobs. That was embarrassing

45. Do you like touching yourself in front of the people you sleep with?

I wouldn’t mind if she wanted me too but I tent to keep it a little bit of a secret that I still touch myself, even if everytime she’s caught me she lets me have sex with her

46. What’s the dirtiest text you’ve ever sent or received?

Y/n sent me a note while I was working that said if I cleaned her room for her she’d suck my dick… needless to say her room was spotless.

47. Do you prefer professional or amateur porn?

Uhhhh I guess watching y/n shower is kinda amateur porn.

48. What’s your favourite blowjob technique?

A Lot of tongue and a lot of sucking

49. If you had to pick, would you be a dominatrix or a submissive?

Submissive… she’s better incharge of me

50. Is there anything you won’t do in bed?

Nothing to do with bodily fluids… just ewwwwww!

51. What’s your dirtiest sexual fantasy?

Being locked up all day and letting y/n do whatever she wants to me for the whole day

52. How many people have you slept with?

One. Just my sweet little y/n

53. Where’s the weirdest place you’ve had sex?

The pond in the woods.

54. What’s your favourite part of Y/n’s body?

Her boobs.. And of course her personality, but definitely boobs

55. Have you ever had anal sex?

No!! And I don’t want to try! We don’t have lube in the glade! I don’t wanna try it will hurt somebody

56. If you could choose what Y/n was wearing right now, what would you choose?

My hoodie and her little panties or those tiny little shorts

57. Where on your body is your favourite place to be touched?

My hips I have a weird fascination with being touched and rubbed on my hips

58. If you could have sex anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Somewhere cosy and privet I don’t care where

59. When did you first had sex?

After Y/n had been here a year

60. What’s the best sex you’ve ever had?

The first time with y/n its the best ever!

61. What’s your favourite position?

Being ridden! I love it so much

62. Have you ever been caught having sex?

By Zart yes. Twice to be fair we were in the garden shed

63. Do you watch porn?

I watch Y/n

64. What kind of porn do you watch?

Y/n. I watch Y/n.

65. How often do you masturbate?

Twice a day… unless I get some sex

66. Name a sex position you’d like to try?

Reverse cowgirl! Pleeeease! I wanna try so hard

67. Do you prefer to give or receive?

Give! I will give as much as y/n wants me too but if there if an offer to be receiving I will do anything I’m asked

68. Have you ever been skinny dipping?

Yep in the pond in the woods

69. What’s the most sex you’ve had in a day?

Twelve on our day off anniversary

70. Are you loud or quiet during sex?

Quiet when we are trying to be sneaky but loud when we wanna make the glade here us

71. Have you ever tried using food during foreplay?

Never… seems sticky and gross

72. What’s the first thing that sexually attracts you to someone?

The personality of course… Boobs help second

73. Would you say you have any fetishes?

I like being restrained

74. When it comes to BDSM, how far have you gone/would go?

Tieing up, and maybe a little biting but that's about all

75. What’s your favourite toy?

Rope.... I like rope a lot

76. Do you ever read erotic fiction?

No… but I’m curious

77. Have you joined the mile high club?

No But I want to, we have fooled around in the tallest tree we could find but I want more the world will hear us!

78. Do you think you could take off Y/n underwear with no hands?

I have… many times. I normally use my mouth

79. Would you say you’re kinky?

Kinda…

80. Do you enjoy shower sex?

Yes! I love shower sex! Or shower watching… anything to do with showers I am onboard!

81. Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever masturbated?

The Garden shed.

82. Do you like to be spanked?

Well… Maybe sometimes.

83. Have you ever fantasised about someone else during sex?

No! Of course not! Why would I want to

84. If y/n caught you masturbating, would you stop or would you finish?

I would stop if she wanted too, but normally if I get caught she takes over or finishes me off in another ways

85. Have you ever had an inappropriate crush?

Not really, just on y/n

86. Have you ever cried or fallen asleep during sex?

I cried the first time I was so embarrassed I came so early and because of how good it felt inside y/n but only asleep after

87. Do you prefer eye contact or not during sex?

I love Eye contact so much it feels so nice when you have eye contact

88. Do you like to kiss during sex?

Kisses always

89. Do you get tired after sex?

So sleepy once I’ve cum but that's perfect for cuddles

90. How many positions do you think you’ve tried?

Most of them I guess

91. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sex?

Other then before I lost my virginity, But once we did it the first time after that I think it was about three days

92. How high is your sex drive?

Very very high!

93. What’s a surefire way to turn you on?

Ask

94. Sex with lights on or lights off?

Candles on...

95. Do you like dirty talk?

Very Very Very much!

96. Do you prefer one night stands or longer-term sexual partners?

Long term always

97. Do you prefer to be on top or bottom?

Bottom!!

98.Rough or romantic?

Romantically rough

99. Quickie or marathon session?

Marathon all of the day off!

100. What’s the best thing about our sex life?

The amazing love of you my beautiful girl.

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sweetc2020 · 4 years

Text

weird asks that say a lot from @julietgiulia

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? Coffee mugs

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? Chocolate

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? Neither

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? Shy, conscientious, perfectionist

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? Glasses

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? All contributors

7. earbuds or headphones? Earbuddies :)

8. movies or tv shows? Movies

9. favourite smell in the summer? Hot soil, flowering plants, fruit and needle trees, post rain, towel after ocean swim, wind through car window driving through forest(ed highway)

10. game you were best at in p.e.? Hockey, soccer, california kickball, high jump and arm hang?

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? Usually oatmeal or millet with omegas, fruit and oat milk or avocado bagel with black pepper and nutritional yeast

12. name of your favourite playlist? A nice mix for ness

13. lanyard or key ring? Key ring

14. favourite non-chocolate candy? Licorice, candied fennel or anise seeds

15. favourite book you read as a school assignment? Les miserables, The thief lord, The cellist of Sarajevo - off the top

16. most comfortable position to sit in? Slumpy posture, one leg over or under the other, knee tuck or apple sauce

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? Hiking boots or black sambas

18. ideal weather? Sunny after rain a little windy

19. sleeping position? No pillow usually on my left or on my back or front with one leg bent

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? Notebook or notes app

21. obsession from childhood? Fairies and making homes

22. role model? Opa

23. strange habits? Not sure what qualifies as strange

24. favourite crystal? Not really into them but maybe jade or quartz

25. first song you remember hearing? I turned out a punk or something by Joe Strummer

26. favourite activity to do in warm weather? Backpacking

27. favourite activity to do in cold weather? Cuddling, snowy adventuring, dancing

28. five songs to describe you? Hazel (bob dylan), Planted a thought (arthur russell), Junie (solange), Corridor of dreams (the cleaners from venus), Even cowgirls get the blues (emmylou harris)

29. best way to bond with you? Quality time, presence, care, spontaneity / silly curiousity

30. places that you find sacred? Oma and Opa’s yard and greenhouse, forest, Veluwe, ocean

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? Floral dress, nice earrings with sambas and sweatshirt or hiking boots, wool socks and over shirt, with shorts and tank top

32. top five favourite vines? Fresh avocado is the only one that comes to mind

33. most used phrase in your phone? Yay sweet and or That’s funny

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? Can’t think of any

35. average time you fall asleep? 2am

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? Probably one of those justgirlythings ones here or Fb I have no idea

37. suitcase or duffel bag? Suitcase

38. lemonade or tea? Tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? Lemon tart

40. weirdest thing to ever happen to you at your school? High school - Maybe bear spray yoe evac? authority figure telling me what I was wearing was inappropriate? psych teacher crying in class? Post sec - Tiktok famous boy makes a tiktok of me knitting in psych class? boy crushing steals my textbook just to get me to go to his car so he can return it to me?

41. last person you texted? Daisy 🌼

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? BOTH

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? Hoodie

44. favourite scent for soap? Rose, patchouli, rosemary, lavendar, mint, etc.

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? Fantasy

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? Naked

47. favourite type of cheese? Cashew cheese or if I could brie

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? White nectarine but there are so many to try!

49. what saying or quote do you live by? “She walked with her entire body as if to gain momentum for an event in which her entire body would participate.” - Anaïs Nin (A spy in the house of love)

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? Probably my kid best friend

51. current stresses? Health issues, unstable income

52. favorite font? Freight rn

53. what is the current state of your hands? Coffee shakes

54. what did you learn from your first job? Hundreds of PLU’s, how to pack groceries, how messy and wasteful people are, that everyone should have to do a customer service job in their lifetime, how really great and awful people are, that I shouldn’t let other people’s stresses make me feel like I should be stressed, that quitting is good sometimes

55. favourite fairy tale? The six swans, Vasalisa the wise, Baba yaga, Bluebeard, Rumpelstiltskin, The red shoes, The velvet ribbon, Goldilocks and the three bears, and many many more

56. favourite tradition? Writing letters and cards, dressing up for halloween, celebrating birthdays

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? Eating disorder, depression and heartbreak (although these are things I still need to keep being overcome)

58. four talents you’re proud of having? Writing, taking notes, learning about my body, feeling for what resonates

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? Heyo, how bout that!

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? Nausicaä of the valley of the wind (hayao miyazaki)

61. favourite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? Recently found on my Tumblr feed from a book waiting on my shelf: “I want to believe, walking those aimless nights, that I was praying. For what I’m still not sure. But I always felt it was just ahead of me. That if I walked far enough, long enough, I would find it–perhaps even hold it up, like a tongue at the end of its word.” - Ocean Vuong (On earth we’re briefly gorgeous)

62. seven characters you relate to? In no particular order, not long thought out: 1) Sabina (A spy in the house of love), 2) Elio (Call me by your name), 3) Patti (Just kids), 4) Sally (The ruby in the smoke), 5) Camille (Un amour de jeunesse), 6) Dani (Midsommar), 7) Orla (Derry Girls)

63. five songs that would play in your club? I follow rivers - the magician remix (lykke li), JA! (bizzey), Gasolina (daddy yankee), Nice for what (drake), This must be the place - naive melody (talking heads) / love my way (psychedelic furs)

64. favourite website from your childhood? Myscene, Club penguin - those free gaming websites

65. any permanent scars? A few on my face from tables and my dog, one on my knee from flip flops on a boat launch, a few burns here and there that probably aren’t permanent

66. favourite flower(s)? Always changing, echinacea and yellow roses rn

67. good luck charms? Change on the ground, nice earrings, well worn shoes, spotting flowers or animals

68. worst flavour of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? Cream of mushroom

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? Popped in my head, maybe not the most fun - the flower bud in the centres of apple tree fruiting spurs make the king fruit (the biggest and best apple from each spur) and if you pick the king blossom then all the surrounding blossoms will be bigger and better

70. left or right handed? Right

71. least favourite pattern? Galaxy?

72. worst subject? Economics

73. favourite weird flavour combo? Miso and apple, blueberries and coconut curry, orange juice and beer (I don't know if its really possible to find a “weird” combo maybe it’s more like “not found in my culture”)

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? 5 if 0 is no pain (I don't think I’ve been above 8.5)

75. when did you lose your first tooth? No idea

76. what’s your favourite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? Gnocchi or boerenkool

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? Flowering plants

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? Station coffee

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? School id

80. earth tones or jewel tones? Earth

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? I don't think I have much experience with either

82. pc or console? I cannot either way

83. writing or drawing? This is my kryptonite question

84. podcasts or talk radio? Podcasts if I had to choose

84. barbie or polly pocket? Polly pocket

85. fairy tales or mythology? Mythology (stories are linked more)

86. cookies or cupcakes? Cookies

87. your greatest fear? My health issues keep accumulating and getting worse forever

88. your greatest wish? My health issues resolve

89. who would you put before everyone else? Myself, Suzmom or Marleymoon

90. luckiest mistake? Choosing mini school, don't regret it but maybe not the best decision

91. boxes or bags? Bags

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? Sunlight and rocksalt lamps

93. nicknames? Ness, nessie, nessa, bean, bear, benjamin, kindje, sweet pea

94. favourite season? Late spring or late summer

95. favourite app on your phone? Flo, Spotify, Google maps, notes, weather, find my

96. desktop background? Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? 7+

98. favourite historical era? I love revolutions and renaissances but all of em have hard times and good times

#questions #mine

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archadianskies · 5 years

Text

the shrike to your sharp and glorious thorn

@dbhrarepairs Sunday Day 7: Free Day; Fantasy + Supernatural; RK900/Simon

It is an unspoken rule: you are safe in Jericho. There are no ranks, no royalty, and certainly no witch hunters. Simon’s worked hard to keep it this way for five years now and strives to ensure it will stay as such in the years to come. It is, by all accounts, but a humble bakery in a bustling integrated town and it’s not the biggest nor the fanciest, not by far. But for Simon it’s home. Literally. He and his twin brother Daniel live upstairs.

Jericho’s reputation means it has its fair share of interesting patrons, most of whom Simon has eventually befriended. Most notable are those from the castle: Royal Scholar Joshua, Royal Protector North, and the princes themselves; Prince Leopold and Prince Markus. Not that Simon ever set out to sell to castlefolk but apparently no one makes berry loaves quite like he does or so Prince Markus says- something something his magic imbues baked goods with emotional properties.

The Autumn Harvest Festival is soon to be upon them and Simon is kept busy, so busy he’s enlisted the help of fellow baker Kara and her little daughter Alice. She even manages to ensnare her towering husband Luther to help by heaving sacks of flour freshly packed at the mill and bring them to the bakery. King Carl will throw a grand celebration that will last all week, and the town will near triple in size as visitors flock in from out of town. It’s exhausting work but incredible money and Simon knows he can’t pass it up. He’ll spend the next week deep in preparation.

It’s one sunny afternoon, tempered by a breeze carrying the chilling promise of winter, that a new customer wanders into Jericho. It’s too early to be tourists and it’s too late to be a regular patron.

“Hello, welcome to Jericho.” Simon greets the older, greying man. He has tired warm eyes, his face weathered by time but also slashed with curious scars. “What can I get for you sir?”

“I uh, I’m new here. Me an’ my boys just moved in, just outside of town by the forest.”

“Oh! You bought the hunter’s cottage.” Simon smiles warmly. “I’m glad. It’d been empty for so long now and it’s at such a lovely location.”

“Heard a lot about this place.” He mumbles gruffly, scratching his nape. “My sons, they’re…different. ‘Specially the younger one. I just wanted to suss this place out before bringin’ ‘em in.”

“They’re safe here at Jericho. No judgement, no hunters.” Simon vows solemnly. “They can eat here and my brother is a potions master so they’ll have plenty to drink of whatever their heart needs.”

“Hank Anderson.” The man introduces himself, and when Simon shakes his calloused hand he sees ropey scars all over it too.

“Simon Lambert.”

“I know I’m a bit late for the morning loaves but you got anything heartier? Meatier?” Hank looks around, curiously inspecting this and that.

“I still have a beef steak and peppercorn pie, how does that sound?” Simon offers, and Hank breaks into a grin.

“Sounds perfect.”

*~*~*

North perches up on the counter, plucking a blueberry tart and dropping a couple of coins into the till. “Saw that the hunter’s lodge was bought last week.” Her speech is muffled by her chewing. “A family?”

“Yes, a father and his sons.” Simon sighs and sweeps a few crumbs off the counter, trying to shoo her off to no avail. “I met him the other day, he seems nice. Curiously covered in scars though.”

“A soldier? A knight?” North guesses, expression piqued with interest. “Another hunter?”

“I don’t ask questions here.” Simon reminds her lightly, pouring her a glass of chipper tonic to boost her afternoon mood. “I hope to meet his sons soon. Maybe Alice will have a playmate, the dear girl’s been so lonely.”

“Hey, you got any of the cinnamon scrolls left?” She nearly tips over the counter in her attempt to peek behind, and Simon lunges to steady her.

“North!”

“Well do ya?” She grins at him, puffing a lock of hair from her face. Her magic emanates from her, an aura like wildfire, and sets her brown eyes ablaze. He rolls his eyes.

“I do. Two to go like usual?”

“Yeah if I don’t feed Josh he’ll just work til he passes out. Or try and eat his books, I dunno.” She drops more coins into the till as Simon carefully places the sticky scrolls in wax paper. “Tell me about the new family when you meet them, okay? I’m pretty curious. And y’know, doin’ my job. If he’s some shady guy then the Fam needs to know.”

“Will do.” He promises, handing her the scrolls and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Take care and say hello to Josh for me.”

*~*~*

When Hank visits the next day, there’s a huge dog at his side. It’s easily the size of Alice, and should it stand on its hind legs Simon knows it would probably see eye to eye with Luther himself. The bakery isn’t too full, but it isn’t empty either and the customers eye the canine warily. “This is err, this is Connor.” Hank gestures at the canine who immediately sits and offers what Simon thinks is a rather cute doggy smile.

“Can I pat him? PLEASE?” Alice pipes up, peeking from behind Simon. “He looks SO fluffy!”

“He is fluffy, little Miss.” Hank chuckles. “Go right ahead.”

Alice darts out from behind him and rushes to the dog, immediately sinking her hands into his fur. “Hiiiiii Connor! I’m Alice!” Connor responds by flopping down and rolling over, showing his belly as his tail swishes side to side happily.

“You know,” Simon comes around to stand beside Hank, arms crossed, “I thought you said you were going to bring your sons here. There was no mention of a very large but very cute dog. What breed is he? Goodness he seems like a hunting mastiff and wolf hybrid.”

“...We’ll go with that, yeah. I never really did know.” Hank shrugs, grin a little self-conscious. “I didn’t raise ‘em, I sorta...just...took them in. They needed a home and someone to care for them.”

“Them?” Simon echoes, brows raised. “There’s another?”

“Uh yeah, there’s two of ‘em. This one is Connor, the other is Ronan. He’s not too good with people yet he’s sorta jus’ hiding until he gets used to this new place.”

“Two sons and two dogs, goodness me.” Simon laughs. “Well, feel free to take a seat and choose something to eat. I’ll pour you some of Danny’s restful tea.”

He loses himself to the humdrum of work, occasionally glancing over to where Hank is sitting on a bench by the window, his dog becoming a bed for Alice as she naps then and there atop his fluffy fur. It’s a steady trickle of customers, and plenty of soft amused smiles are coaxed from them when they see the little girl and the very large dog. The afternoon passes by, mellow and golden like time trapped in honey, and all too soon he’s counting the coins in the till and Kara is sweeping the floor.

“Ah shit, I’m so sorry I guess I dozed off.” Hank chuckles, smile sheepish as he scratches his nape and stifles a yawn. “Guess that tea worked, huh?”

“I’m glad it did.” Simon smiles, bending to run his hand through Connor’s fur now he’s no longer handling foods. “You’ve been so well behaved, Connor, what a good boy.” He tweaks the tip of his ear playfully and the dog chuffs in response, squirming and wriggling until its sitting upright at attention.

“Connor! I got you a snack!” Alice’s voice calls out sweetly, and she hurries from the kitchens holding a tray of meat scraps left from the beef pies. All too late does Simon see the knife teetering on the tray, and how Alice’s foot catches on the broom as Kara sweeps.

“Alice-!”

There’s a blur, something dark and fast, inhumanely fast knocking Simon over and lunging for Alice and when Simon’s senses catch up to him, there’s a very naked young man holding her with one arm, and holding the knife in his other hand.

“Connor!” Hank nearly upends the table in his rush to cross the distance, and the very naked young man seems to belatedly notice he’s caught the knife blade-side in his hand. There’s blood running in rivulets from his grasp, there’s meat scraps all over the floor, and there’s a distressed girl in his hold who suddenly bursts into tears.

“Alice! Oh Alice!” Kara retrieves her daughter, and Simon still isn’t sure what is happening is actually happening.

“...Your dog is your son.” Simon manages at last. Hank’s shrugging out of his coat and wrapping it around the very naked young man.

“...Err, yeah.”

“...I’ll get some bandages and salve.” He declares, and just leaves for upstairs.

With Kara and Alice sent home, Simon closes the bakery more for his own sanity than to keep it from prying eyes. He just needs time to process this, that’s all. He’s a witch, Jericho has always been a safe haven for witches whose magic had been exploited by the humans for a decade before King Carl’s adopted witch son fought hard for the right to be equal. Jericho has seen all sorts of magic users, even those with daemons, but this? This is magic he’s never encountered before.

When the initial shock has faded, and Connor’s in a set of Danny’s clothes with his palm tended to and healed, Simon decides the right thing to do is pack some leftover meat pie and walk the Andersons back to their cottage and hear them out. There is no judgement in Jericho, afterall, and Simon likes to learn about his patrons.

“I uhh,” Hank sighs, scratching his beard and looking over at Connor. “I used to live in the neighbouring kingdom. My son Cole and I got into a nasty carriage accident in winter. He’d just turned six, love and light of my life. I rushed him to the closest healer but he’d been out with his friends, using red ice crystals.”

Simon winced. Red ice was a byproduct of common potion-making; red quartz that had its power depleted, but when heated by regular human flame and inhaled, could give the human user intense and vivid highs using the distorted remnants of magic. As much as the King tried to control it, especially since his own flesh and blood son was addicted to it, it’s still rampant in the kingdom. Simon remembers that well, and he also remembers befriending Prince Leo and listening to his sorrows and letting him weep and rage and just be. He recalls the withdrawals but he also recalls the bud of hope blossoming into friendship, friendship between a witch and a human. Red ice destroyed lives, but only if people failed to nurture those under its power.

“There was a witch who came to my aid and though they tried their best, worked for hours trying to heal Cole, he passed away.” There’s great sorrow there, a gaping chasm of grief Simon cannot ever comprehend. He reaches out and gently squeezes Hank’s shoulder.

“And then Hank found my brother and I.” Connor pipes up with a small smile. “We were being trained to become attack dogs by witch hunters.” The smile vanishes. “It was...a very cold, cruel upbringing. I was given to Hank as a trial to see if I could be weaponised by humans.”

“Didn’t sit right with me, seeing someone reduced to a dog meant to just obey without question.” Hank says gruffly, shaking his head. “I could see he was something more. When Ronan came along I just knew I had to give them a better chance.”

“It took us a while to find ourselves.” Connor confesses, his smile returning though it’s tinged with sadness. “We were mindless attack dogs for a while still, until we could break out of our conditioning.”

“And you’re more human than some sorry sods I’ve dealt with.” Hank grumbles, eliciting a laugh from Connor.

“Oh! I-” He smiles brightly, not bothering to finish his sentence before he breaks into a run and starts to strip off his borrowed clothes, near tripping flat on his face when he shucks off the boots. Connor leaps forward fluidly and then there’s the large brown shaggy wolf bounding ahead, playfully tackling an even larger, even darker wolf. The two roughhouse enthusiastically, oblivious to the way Hank rolls his eyes as he and Simon make their way down the path to the cottage, the abandoned clothes draped over Hank’s arm. When they’re close enough, the darker wolf sits bolts upright, Connor still pinned under him. He sniffs the air and then focuses his startling grey eyes on Simon.

“Ronan, this is Simon.” Hank says slowly, grasping Simon’s elbow to stop him. A sliver of fear pinches Simon’s spine as he realises his muzzle is stained with blood. Connor wriggles beneath him, managing to butt his brother on the underside of his jaw with his head. It breaks Ronan’s stare, and he nips at Connor to chide him. Hank’s grip on Simon’s elbow is strong, and he guides him forward very slowly. Ronan snaps to attention again, eyes locked on him. Simon takes a deep breath, uncovering the pie and holding it out.

“I’m the baker at Jericho.” A pause, voice soft. “And I’m a witch. I thought I’d come introduce myself, since I met your father and your brother earlier today.”

“You’ve been hunting, haven’t you boy?” Hank’s voice turns warm and fond, and he steps ahead of Simon to reach out and gently muss the fur between Ronan’s ears. The wolf noses his cheek affectionately, chuffing in reply. “Yeah you stink of raw meat. Did you leave some for your brother? Of course you did, I know you did.” He laughs as Ronan presses his nose to his neck before resting his large head on Hank’s shoulder. “Alright alright, round the back and wash up. Simon’s come all the way from town with a very nice pie for us.”

Where Connor is all warm browns and soft friendly smiles, Ronan is cold greys and reserved observations. He is, as Hank noted, wary and sussing things out. They share the pie, and they converse, with Ronan making the occasional comment. Simon keeps the conversation honest and light, giving as much as Hank had given. He talks about a loving family before their magic manifested and being turned out on the streets and becoming a kitchenhand. Of learning how his emotions could be infused into foods made with his own hands, of how Danny could do the same with liquids. Nights spent feeding each other hopes and dreams and comfort. Ronan watches him with interest, brows creased. To steer the conversation away from darker thoughts he tells them about all the early mistakes, how Danny had forgotten to feed the yeast so the dough didn’t rise enough and when Simon baked it it tasted of bitter annoyance. They all share a laugh, and Simon notes with amusement the Anderson brothers tip their head back to laugh just like their father only their teeth are far more sharp.

“Ah it’s late, I must head home. There’s dough to prepare before bed.” Simon stands to excuse himself, and Ronan stands immediately after.

“I’ll walk you home.” He falters a little when they all blink at him in surprise. “It’s dark, and the roads are dangerous at night.”

“Well.” Simon smiles. “I guess I’ll be the safest traveler in the kingdom tonight.”

It’s true. There certainly can’t be any traveler safer than he, not with a giant wolf padding by his side. Ronan is hyper alert, sniffing the air and looking this way and that, striding just a little ahead of Simon to scout the area. Where Connor can vaguely pass off as a large crossbreed, there’s no mistaking Ronan and his hulking form. They aren’t affected by the moon as told by those old tales, no their form is more akin to putting on another set of clothes, Connor had told him. It’s simply another way to be.

When they reach the town gates, Simon turns to his personal guard with a smile.

“Thank you for being such a gentleman, Ronan, I do appreciate it.” He reaches out without thinking, surprising the both of them when he gently pats his head. “I hope you visit Jericho soon.”

He visits him the very next day, in fact. Even as a human, he’s taller than most and cuts an imposing, intimidating figure. Ronan enters the bakery hesitantly, still unsure, still trying to find his feet amongst humans. A pair of young women dart him glances and smiles, giggling to themselves and whispering furiously as their cheeks pink with blush. Simon agrees that yes, Ronan is rather handsome, though he’ll never say it aloud.

“Hello Ronan.” He greets with a bright smile. “It’s good to see you.”

“I...wanted to see you. And Jericho.” He adds almost as an afterthought, and Simon ducks his head with a laugh.

“And here you are.” He gestures at one of the empty tables. “Take a seat, I'll bring you something to eat and drink.”

There’s a lull in customers so Simon takes a seat opposite Ronan, cup of tea in hand.

“You mention your brother working here but I haven’t seen him.” Ronan comments, looking around.

“Danny works for one of the court officials most of the week, so he just prepares the brews on the weekends.” Simon explains, taking a sip of his favourite warm and calming tea. “Most people come here to buy breads and don’t tend to stay and eat so it’s not like we really ever run out.”

“So it’s mostly you?”

“Yes. I love it here.” Simon smiles. “It’s my own little place. It brings me joy when people enjoy my food and that in turn helps me make more food for them to enjoy.”

*~*~*

It becomes a routine, having at least one Anderson, if not all three, visit him at least every second day. Simon ends up setting a large meat pie aside every time, so he can drop by after closing and off them the ‘leftover’, and once the pie is eaten Ronan will walk him home. He takes great comfort in his company, the large hulking wolf a warm presence at his side and Simon does indeed feel much safer even if Danny complains of him reeking of dog. With the festival drawing ever closer, Hank and Connor are employed by the guards as part of extra security measures meaning Ronan is often the only one at home after Simon finishes closing the bakery. Not that he minds, since little by little Ronan’s opening up to him and the conversation flows easier, is less stilted and hesitant. He finds himself looking forward to their time together, and revels in each little personal victory whenever he manages to coax a smile or an ever elusive laugh from the other man.

He sends Kara and Alice home just as the sun dips below the horizon. The festival is in two days time and at the end of each day the bakery is completely empty of goods as people stock up. It’s a good feeling, a feeling of pride and accomplishment that also translates into flavourful, rich foods with every new batch Simon makes. The regulars know that the sweetest, happiest pastries must be bought just before the festival when Simon’s riding the giddy feeling of anticipation and excitement. He can’t fault them; it’s true, after all. He makes sure to set aside a whole basket of goods for the royal family, and this time he also sets side a richly stewed mushroom and beef pie with spices baked into the crust for the Andersons. The bell above the door tinkles, and heavy footsteps plod into the bakery.

“I’m sorry but we’re closed!” Simon calls out, wandering back from the storage room. There’s a gang of broad muscular men led by a severe looking man in black robes.

“Oh we know.” He smirks, and his eyes are cold as ice. “So this is Jericho, hm? A filthy little rats nest for all the rats to scurry to.”

“Everyone is welcome here in Jericho,” Simon says firmly. “Even witch hunters. So long as you leave your prejudices at the door.”

They laugh at that, and the leader steps closer and closer to Simon. “You think you’re safe here? That just because you’ve made fancy rules we’re supposed to obey them? Your kind are meant to serve us.”

“And this bakery does indeed serve bread to humans.” Simon points out lightly with a faint smile. “As it does to witches.”

“Not anymore.” The man snarls and backhands Simon before grabbing him by the throat. “Just because the King adopted a filthy witch doesn’t make it all better. Your kind will never be equal to us.”

He claws at the man’s hand, trying to gasp for air. His henchmen laugh and begin to smash the chairs against the tables, against the shelves, against the windows. Simon manages to kick his assailant square in the chest, causing him to stumble back and let him go. It only enrages him further and Simon’s vision bursts into stars as the man punches him to the ground. A boot plants itself on his head, pressing him down onto the floor and Simon watches helplessly as the men ransack his beloved bakery and ruin the next day’s preparations. He thanks the Fates he locked the storage before stepping out, and that he’d sent Kara and Alice home already.

“Captain Perkins! We have to go!” One of the men shout, and there’s a commotion as they all rush to leave. Captain Perkins stares down at Simon like he’s stepped in filth, sneering at him before pulling his foot back and kicking him in the stomach.

“This isn’t over yet, vermin.”

It’s fine. It’s alright. No one else got hurt. The gift basket for the royal family is safe and sound, and for all the destruction the men didn’t even think to steal the money from the till. Though Simon supposes this wasn’t for monetary gain at all. He sits up gingerly and then properly vomits red, his head spinning and his stomach sore. His vision still pulses with lights, his jaw aches and his limbs don’t want to listen to him. It takes him four tries to get to his feet, and he only succeeds because he scoots ever so slowly over to the counter. His palms are shredded from the broken glass but he’s upright now, and somehow, somehow all he can think of is that he’s late and Ronan will be waiting. So he gathers his travelling cloak, places the pie very carefully into a basket, and leaves through the back door.

It’s fine, everything is fine and Simon’s not sure if it’s magic or just his own stubbornness that takes what just happened and locks it in a box, throws away the key, and buries it in a grave. He has a cemetery for events like these, like his parents throwing him out with Danny when their powers manifested, like being chased from their town, like the time Danny got sick with fever and almost died and said the most horrible things to try and get him to leave so he wouldn’t fall ill too. It’s fine. It’s gone.

A big dark wolf bounds out from the forest behind the hunter’s cottage, its gait springy and joyful before it turns into an urgent run as Simon limps down the path. He clumsily tugs at his travelling cloak as Ronan shivers back upright, his face a mask of horror as Simon hands him his cloak so he isn’t standing there naked.

“Simon-!”

“Ronan it’s cold, wear this.”

“You’re bleeding, you’re-!” He pulls him into his arms suddenly, sniffing and nosing him and Simon tries to batt him away in surprise.

“You smell like a hunter. A witch hunter-” Ronan decides whole sentences are too much for the moment and simply scoops Simon up into his arms and rushes him inside, ignoring his protests. He sets him down on a chair in the kitchen. “Wait, I’ll get Hank’s healing kit.”

Simon feels a little embarrassed. He’s fine after all. Oh and the pie is fine, he discovers triumphantly as he places the basket on the table and unearths the lovely creation still wrapped in a tea towel. Just needs a bit of time in the oven, and it’ll be ready for dinner.

“Simon what happened?” Ronan demands, reappearing with a small chest in his hands and proper clothes on his body. “You reek of witch hunters and blood and- and- something else. Something familiar but I can’t place it.”

The chest is placed on the table, Ronan glancing at the pie briefly before he opens the kit and fishes out a small bottle and some gauze. Gently, ever so gently, he daubs tonic on Simon’s injuries.

“Simon? Please talk to me.” There’s a plea in his tone, panic in those stormy grey eyes that Simon’s always fancied were beautiful.

“Oh um,” his tongue feels thick and heavy in his mouth like he’s stuffed it full of flour. “Um. A band of witch hunters ransacked Jericho and destroyed all my furniture and they ruined my festival preparations but it’s ok I saved your dinner.”

There’s a moment, a pause, a long drawn out pause as Ronan looks at him in utter horror.

“What?”

“Oh and the gift basket I prepared for the Manfreds, that’s alright too. And the till. They didn’t take any money and no one was hurt so it’s okay. It’s fine.”

“You were hurt, Simon!” Ronan near shouts at him, panic leaking into his voice. “They hurt you!”

“I’m okay. I sent Kara and Alice home before they arrived. A shame about the bakery though, they really did just...break...everything…” It takes him far too long to realise he’s crying, that tears are running down his cheeks and he’s gasping for breath and his stomach still feels tight and raw. “They destroyed everything and I won’t have anything ready for the festival and we really needed the money, I was going to buy Danny a new cloak and a pretty bonnet for Alice’s birthday and-” He’s sobbing now, and the physical pain somehow feels right, too, a rightful mixture of heartache and a stomach ache and a jaw ache and a headache. Ronan’s still looking at him in horror, and then he’s leaning forward and wrapping Simon up in his arms and Simon nearly howls with sorrow as he cries and cries and cries.

He’s not sure how much time passes but the door is kicked open and Connor leaps through in his wolf form before scrambling back into a more humanoid form. His teeth are still wrong, his ears still a little pointed and tufty. “I smelled blood! I smelled witch hunters! Simon what happened?!”

“That’s exactly what happened.” Ronan snaps, though the anger isn’t directed at Connor at all. Simon manages some sort of noise, a confirmation of sorts as he clings to Ronan, cheek mushed on his shoulder. He’s tired but he’s fine. Everything’s fine.

Hank huffs and puffs into the cottage a short while after, throwing Connor’s clothes to the side the moment he sees Simon’s sorry self.

“Shit, Simon! What the fuck happened?!”

“Captain Perkins.” Simon recalls belatedly. “The witch hunters- one of them called the leader Captain Perkins.”

Connor and Ronan freeze, eyes wide.

“Perkins oh that sick motherfucker.” Hank curses, rage in his eyes. “He did this to you?”

“He destroyed Jericho too.” Ronan adds curtly, lips pulled back in a snarl. “And he made sure to do it a day before the Festival.”

“Um, I did manage to save dinner though?” Simon gestures at the pie.

“...Simon, that’s-”

“Very kind of you.” Connor says gently. “I’ll get the oven going. Dad, can you make tea?”

“Err, right. Yeah. I can make tea.”

“It’s best if you get out of these clothes and into some clean ones.” Ronan helps him up and Simon’s legs are as wobbly as a newborn foal. Spots wink in and out of his vision and he winces, clinging to Ronan tightly. “It’s ok, I’ve got you. I’ve got you Simon.”

They have pie while he wears Ronan’s clothes and they sip tea Hank made and all the while Connor and Ronan exchange venomous glances, seemingly having an entire conversation without words. Or maybe they did use words. Simon really can’t concentrate. He’s given something purple to drink and very gently guided to a large bed and heavy quilts are tucked over him and he thinks someone brushes his hair back from his face and kisses his temple but he’s not sure if that really happened or just something he wishes happened to him. Simon sleeps and he doesn’t dream of anything.

When he wakes it’s late, far too late for baking loaves and pastries, and it should horrify him but if there’s no functioning bakery then it’s really not a problem is it? There’s a bowl of fruits and a glass of juice on the bedside table along with a note telling him to stay here and rest. Alright. He can do that. What else is there to do, anyway? He nibbles on blueberries and some apple slices, drinks the glass of sweet peach juice and then slumps back under the quilts. He sleeps and dreams of picnicking under starlight with a large dark wolf curled at his side.

When he wakes again it’s late, so late the sun is long gone below the horizon and the nightly chill has filled the house. A wolf’s howl breaks through the quiet, joined by another a moment later. Simon smiles sleepily, testing his feet on the floorboards and finding being upright agrees with him again. Snagging his cloak from the stand, he wraps it around himself before stepping outside. He can see Connor and Ronan in the distance, heads tipped back as they howl in harmony. They turn to look at him, their movement as one, before Connor breaks away and runs back into the forest. Ronan remains still, unmoving, like a statue carved of granite. Simon sighs. He has to do all the work around here apparently. Closing the distance between them, Simon realises he may not have the nose of a wolf but Ronan reeks of blood. When he’s close enough, he can see the wolf stained in red, not just on the muzzle but all over his entire body as if he’s soaked himself in it. Which he has, probably, and a hysterical little giggle escapes Simon when he realises this is the fate of Captain Perkins.

“I see you and your brother went hunting tonight.” Simon reaches out slowly and runs his hand along the side of his muzzle, the fur wet and sticky with fresh blood. “Tasty?” The wolf pulls back its lips in a snarl of disgust, huffing his disagreement and Simon laughs. “No, witch-hunters probably taste foul. All that hate in their veins rotting them away. Best you didn’t feast on them.” He’s trembling- from fear or exhilaration he’s not sure. Maybe both? Quite possibly both. It’s the thrill of exhilaration that leads him to wrap his arms around the wolf’s neck and he doesn’t even mind the blood. “Thank you. Now he’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”

There’s a rush of magic, a thrum so strong he feels it in his bones and all at once he’s embracing Ronan in his human form. He wraps him up in his cloak. “You really ought to have waited until we were inside you silly dog.” He scolds lightly, lips curved up in a teasing smile.

“My brother and I run hot, it takes a lot for us to feel cold.” Ronan mumbles, his mouth still stained red. “It’s you who should still be inside.”

“I’ll go back in a second.” He takes a moment to fuss over him, to slick back his dark hair damp with sweat and blood so it doesn’t stick to his face. “Really though, thank you.”

“Hank has made sure to notify the King himself, and Jericho will be rebuilt. His Majesty granted you access to the royal kitchens so you can still bake while your bakery is reconstructed.” Ronan speaks so earnestly Simon feels overwhelmed tears prick his eyes.

“Does the King know what happened to Captain Perkins?”

“...He fell to beasts in the forest. He shouldn’t have tried to travel after nightfall.” Ronan says lightly, a grin twitching at his lips.

“It’s because he didn’t have a guardian at his side.” Simon quips. “Otherwise he’d have been the safest traveller in all the kingdoms.”

Ronan looks at him with such fondness, leaning in to bump their noses together in a gesture that strikes Simon as rather puppylike.

“I’ll protect you, Simon. If you’ll let me.”

Simon doesn’t answer right away, taking a moment just to admire Ronan Anderson under the bright moonlight naked as the day he was born save for Simon’s travelling cloak. He knows he should feel horrified. The brothers are, in some way, monsters to be feared. There’s something humorous about all this, though, about everything that’s happened, that’s led to where they are right this very moment. It’s a funny little turn of events, and he chooses to see it that way, chooses to bury another box and in that box is the fear that should have been felt.

He realises he loves him in a monstrous way, that all this feels right and sanctified and just. He presses his mouth to his, and their first kiss tastes of death and victory at all once.

“I’d like that very much.”

#dbh simon #rk900 #hank anderson #dbh connor #detroit: become human #dbh kara #dbh alice #tw blood #tw gore #dbhrarepairs #annie writes: dbh #sorry for the lateness fam i was at my parents' place this weekend #today's song is Shrike by Hozier

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katrou1894-blog · 4 years

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Frozen 2 Movie Review (No Spoilers Until Partly Through)

*All rights to this photo belong to Walt Disney Studios Hi Everyone!

Welcome back to Katie’s Messy Little Blog! I want to do something different (again) for this blog post. A movie review!

I, like many others, flocked to the movie theater the weekend before Thanksgiving to see the greatly anticipated Frozen II. (Sorry it took me so long to get this review out btw. The end of November and beginning of December has been super busy! 😅 )

[FYI the first half of this blog will be spoiler-free, so it is safe to read the first half of my blog if you haven’t seen the movie yet and you don’t want spoilers. It will be super obvious when we hit the spoiler part of the blog 😉]

I’m going to start by sharing, I LOVED this movie! I think it is one of the best films that Disney has produced this decade! (Not quite the best because I actually think that spot belongs to Coco, but this would be a close second!) Although Frozen II is a sequel, it really didn’t feel like one to me. Frozen II, of course, has the same cast of characters (with a couple of great additions like Lieutenant Mattias and Bruni), but this film also had almost an entirely different feel to it than its predecessor. Everything from the high fantasy elements of the film to the (at least in my opinion) much more mature soundtrack felt very different, but “good different.”

Frozen II also did an excellent job of tying the two films together. There are quite a few specific call back to the first film, both serious and humorous, which makes the jump from the first to the second film much smoother than it might have been without these specific references. Plus the storyline of Frozen II really is just a continuation of the first film, full of plausible and likely next steps for each of the characters.

Other then plotline, I also really loved some deeper Nordic cultural references and influences that Frozen II includes, the absolutely gorgeous animation (seriously one of the visually prettiest movies I have ever seen!) and the incredible, heartfelt and meaningful music. I could go on about all of these topics for a bit, but I strongly encourage you to go out and see the film and see what I mean for yourself!

SPOILER WARNING!!!!

(If you read past this section and you haven’t seen the film yet it is your own fault that you got Frozen II spoilers 😉 You have been warned.) For those of you who have seen Frozen II or to those of you who don’t care about reading about spoilers, welcome to the spoiler section of this blog! I am going to start my spoiler section by sharing my only real complaint about the film.

Frozen II leaves some VERY IMPORTANT sections of the film unclear. They chose to vaguely tell/hint at major reveals, leaving (I believe) many moviegoers somewhat confused until they later explain what happened in the film. There are two key moments, in particular, in which this happens.

The first being when Elsa awakens the spirits of the forest. This supposedly occurs at the very end of Elsa’s song, “Into the Unknown,” when she reaches out to the phantom voice that has been calling to her and she conjures the weird floating, ice-diamond, element symbols throughout Arendelle. Although this scene was showcased in promotional materials for the film, I was still very confused by this moment until Elsa tells Anna a few minutes later (after the entire population of Arendelle is evacuated to the nearby cliffs) that she had summoned the spirits of the forest (okay…). Admittedly, upon the second viewing of this film (Yes, I have seen it twice already. Judge all you want, I am content with my life choices. 😂) this series of events made much more sense because through the course of “Into the Unknown” Elsa actually dances/interacts with each of the elemental spirits which (at best) hints at Elsa potentially awakening the spirits. (I guess…) I think this really didn’t make sense the first time around because the film hadn’t yet explained what the water horse, hopping flame, the rock giants and the gust of wind were (it had only implied). So (I believe) between the overall vagueness of the scene and the lack of prior explanation of what the spirits are that’s why at least I was (perhaps many others were too) scratching my head at this point.

The other key moment that was unclear was when Elsa discovers that she is the fifth spirit. This occurs during Elsa’s other show stopper tune, “Show Yourself.” I really just don’t think this scene is very clear because one moment Elsa is in the large ice room surrounded by images of her memories, then she is singing with one of her mother’s images. (Who turns out to be the voice calling her?? Also unclear about this, however, the actress who voices Queen Iduna for Frozen II, Evan Rachel Wood, is credited for singing this song so I guess so??) Then suddenly the elemental shape appears (which not so discreetly is in the shape of a snowflake (We all see what you did there Disney)), Elsa steps into the center of this shape, and then she gets, yet another, dramatic makeover while she is singing an epic song. Don’t get me wrong, this is a stunning sequence and a super cool moment, but other then the makeover, a giddy face by Elsa, and a glowing snowflake, but there is no direct explanation on what is happening in this scene until about 20 minutes later when Elsa explains it to Anna. When I first saw this scene I guessed that they were trying to imply that Elsa is the fifth spirit, but it just wasn’t clear.

Now, in defense of this scene, I really am not sure how they could have made it more clear other than maybe Elsa saying to herself, “Of course, it was me all along!” However, I understand why the filmmakers may not have wanted to do this since it would seem quite narcissistic if Elsa had stated this, especially at this exact moment. Nonetheless, this scene did lose some of its power because of the lack of clarity.

I will also say that the overall spirit plotline/origin story is very vague and it leaves me with quite a few questions, specifically about the spirits. I am willing to, for the most part, overlook most of this vagueness because I did overall enjoy the film that much and I think that Disney is really striving for a different kind of storyline with this film because of the spirits and high fantasy elements. [However, if Disney actually answers my questions about the spirits (especially more on why Elsa is a spirit) I would not be opposed to a Frozen III. Assuming, of course, that they stay true to their commitment to high-quality storytelling. Seriously Disney, please don’t just make Frozen III for the money. If you do it well then you can both make great art and make a ton of money.]

Okay, now that I have shared my only real frustration with Frozen II, I want to get back to sharing about the film’s strengths.

The character development in this film is truly amazing! The majority of the film’s focus was, of course, on Elsa and Anna, but there was some really great character development for the beloved side characters in the Frozen gang. Both Olaf and Kristoff really grew in this film and took some maybe slightly unexpected, but interesting and crucial roles within the film.

Olaf in this film is “growing up” and “maturing” which leads him to ask a bunch of questions, to research, and to essentially become a walking and talking fun fact machine. Olaf represents children that have endless questions about the world and how everything works. I love that this is the direction that the filmmakers chose to progress Olaf’s character. Plus they use Olaf’s curiosity of life as an important vessel of key information that the film needs to explain in order for other parts of the film to make sense. This primarily being the concept that “water has memory” which Olaf shares with the group and keeps insisting on throughout the film. (And which he turns out to be right about, at least according to the film.)

[Also I really love Olaf’s silly line, “Samantha?” Towards the beginning of his song “When I Am Older.” It has been reported that Josh Gad, the actor who voices Olaf, did, in fact, improvise this line and the filmmakers loved it so much that it stayed in the film. However, I am burning with the question of Who is Samantha??? For now, I choose to believe that it must be the name of the promised, but not delivered upon, girlfriend of Olaf which was suggested during early discussions of the film who clearly was cut from the end result. ‍💁 ] Kristoff also has some truly incredible character development himself! Kristoff has always had an interesting role within the world of Frozen. He starts off as the brutish, but lovably dorky companion of Anna in her original search for her sister, then through the course of their journey he turns into the true love interest for Anna (leaving Hans already not looking super great before he reveals he is evil). Essentially, this is his entire arch for the first film. Naturally, Frozen II deals with Kristoff’s next character steps. It was absolutely no surprise to me that Kristoff spends the majority of the new film attempting to propose to Anna, however, what is so revolutionary about Kristoff in this film is both his open expression of emotion (since society has for generations and generations told men the bull crap that it “it isn’t manly to have emotions”), the fact that he doesn’t actually journey with Anna through the entirety of her journey and that Kristoff is also extremely supportive of Anna and he really doesn’t try to “save her.”

Kristoff has this amazing love ballad, “Lost in the Woods“ about halfway through the film. I love this scene for two reasons. Firstly, because this is a scene where Kristoff is free to express his emotions and frustrations. Secondly, because this scene is ridiculously funny! Kristoff sings in the woods with the help of his reindeer friends (especially Sven). This song pokes fun at pretty much every boy band ever and every weird and overly dramatic music video ever. Plus, I love the subtle hint at Queen’s famous “Bohemian Rhapsody” music video where Kristoff and his reindeer friend’s heads are highlighted on a black background.

I also love the fact that Kristoff very much has his own journey in this film. He is left behind by Anna, Elsa, and Olaf for the majority of the primary adventure of the film. Now, to be fair, the group (or at least Anna) didn’t want to leave Kristoff behind and the only reason why he was left behind was his own fault because of his weird proposal scheme with a bunch of reindeer. Yet, Kristoff’s alone time allows for his dramatic, but powerful emotional expression. This separation from the rest of the group also allows for Kristoff’s key positioning towards the end of the film in which he is able to help Anna in her mission to destroy the damn.

Kristoff’s unique positioning in the film not only allows him to help Anna destroy things, but it also allows for a subtle, but powerful moment in film history. It is not very often that a female lead is “allowed” by a male lead to go off and just be able to do what she needs to do without the male questioning her. Kristoff in this epic battle sequence does not question Anna at all. He allows her to take control of the situation and supports her in her efforts. This is HUGE! Now, don’t get me wrong, there are other films that have allowed for this before, but not many.

Kristoff also gets huge kudos for delivering (at least in my opinion) the best line in the film. After Anna apologizes for leaving him behind on their journey, Kristoff states, “My love is not fragile.” I love that Disney chose, in this moment of potential conflict, to show the strength of love and a solid relationship, rather than show a potentially distracting fight. I hope this moment will sink into young children’s heads and hopefully help them understand what a healthy and strong relationship could look like.

Anna also has a powerful and interesting journey in this film. Anna is incredibly protective of Elsa throughout the majority of the film. It is clear that Anna is struggling with a massive amount of change that she is facing in the film and she desperately wants to cling to her strong bonds (which she finally got at the end of the first film). Anna is this sort of overprotective, semi-controlling mess throughout the majority of the movie and it isn’t until she loses a couple of these dear bonds that she starts to face and accept her new reality of change. This leads me into possibly my favorite part of the movie, Anna’s song “The Next Right Thing.” This song is directly after Anna loses both Elsa and Olaf, two of the people (I guess I and counting a snowman as a person in this…) that she is most close to. I LOVE the fact that Disney actually dared to create a song about grief and the realities of loss. This is such a powerful and honest song about grief and the grief process. Anna mourns and struggles to find motivation to go on, yet still keeps stepping forward (both metaphorically and physically). This song acknowledges so many of the thoughts and struggles of losing loved ones, but also the active choice to keep pressing on, to do “the next right thing.” This scene is so full of meaning! Everything from the fact that Anna is trying to find her way through a cold wet cave through the course of this scene (stumbling towards the light at the end of the tunnel), to the fact that her costume changes slightly at this point, she loses her purple cape which she wears through the majority of the film and is now left in her black dress (a morning dress perhaps?), to the deeply meaningful lyrics. This is, by far, one of the most powerful scenes in the film and I so deeply value that Disney included this scene about such a difficult topic in such a high profile film. This scene (at least for me) made an already good movie, into a great one. A movie full of meaning and one that genuinely reflects life in many ways. Another favorite aspect of Frozen II that I really love is that each of the major characters in this film goes on their own paths of discovery. I have already discussed most of them. Olaf deals with “growing up” and how to process the world around him. Kristoff struggles with his emotions and feelings of rejection (although he is not actually being rejected, but sometimes we can feel like that even when it is not true). Anna struggles through her co-dependent nature and loss of control. Actually, looking at all of these major themes in the film really makes it quite clear to me that Frozen II is not only an enjoyable film but is also a very mature one.

Now, I’m sure most of you have noticed by now that I haven’t yet discussed Elsa’s journey in this film. I have saved this one for last primarily because Elsa’s journey is, of course, the primary journey of the film, but also because this is the journey that resonated the most with me personally. Elsa experiences this call, one that in the film is literal, but in real life can be a concept that might deeply resonates with some people as this kind of internal call. At the heart of Elsa’s call is the call for deeper meaning and a greater purpose in life. A call “Into the Unknown” of our lives. A craving to go out there and do what we are meant to do. I love that a children’s film brings up this “call.” I know (although I don’t have voices in my head) I personally have experienced a similar kind of craving to go out and do what I am “meant to do.” I believe that this very much can and does exists, although maybe not everyone has it or listens to it. I love that Disney also chose to include this kind of call in a children’s film. Perhaps this will help people to better understand this concept and help to motivate those who hear it, to pursue it. (Such as a young writer working on pursuing her dreams 😉 )

Before I conclude this blog post, I would love to just bring up a few short notable mentions of various other things that I really loved about Frozen II.

1. First off, I deeply appreciate that Disney did NOT take the “long thought to be dead parents are suddenly alive” approach in this film. This is done just a little too often in children’s film and I don’t like it (although some do it better than others, How to Train Your Dragon 2 for example I believe did an excellent job with bringing the long lost mom back, but I digress...). If Disney had taken this approach then it would have totally ruined the blow of the parent’s death in the first film. Plus it would have personally really pissed me off. Primarily because why would parents (especially ones that really needed to be there for their children (particularly a child with special needs) and their kingdom) just not come back? Or at least fight and work their butts off in order to get back to their loved ones? It just wouldn’t have made sense and I am really glad that Disney did not take this root. If anything they confirmed that Anna and Elsa’s parents did, in fact, die at sea. This is tragic, yes, but necessary. (I’m also a firm believer in the concept that the mentor has to die in order for the protagonist to grow to the point they need to be. Frankly, Anna and Elsa’s parents had to die in order for both of them to grow.)

2. I also love the fact that Anna and Elsa don’t actually stay together at the end of the film. They both have larger responsibilities/calling that they have to tend to. Although they, of course, love each other, sometimes physically staying in the same place as your loved ones hold you back from what you are capable of. The end of the film also shows a good example of how to stay connected even when you don’t live together anymore.

3. Okay, this one isn’t directly connected to the film actually because it is about one of the songs that got cut from the final product. So if you listen to the full Frozen II Deluxe Edition of the album (Available on Spotify if you are wondering) then you will come across the song “I Seek the Truth.” I have found this song quite delightful and I highly encourage people to go check it out! This song has intriguing lyrics and gorgeous music. It doesn’t quite have the powerhouse quality that “Into the Unknown” and “Show Yourself” have (which I am guessing is the main reason why this song was cut), but it does have a clever tune, plus it is very enjoyable and meaningful (at least in my opinion).

Overall I LOVED Frozen II and I am super excited for it to join the Disney library. The film is both highly enjoyable and deeply meaningful. Kudos to Disney for yet another masterpiece!

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freechoicedreamer · 4 years

Text

Body and Soul (Ch. 5)

AO3

Opening Theme

“The black-winged Oneiroi, Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos are the sons of Hypnos, god of sleep, and Nyx, goddess of night. The three brothers live in the Underworld caves from where they emerge each night like bats. They pass through two gates of horn and ivory, symbolizing dreams sent from the gods and dreams that are meaningless. Each brother has a distinct ability that set them apart from one another.

Morpheus, the strongest of the three, is considered the leader of the group. He appears in the dreams of kings and is able to take on the image of humans to give messages from the gods. His name means ‘shape’.

Phobetor, the god of nightmares, also has the ability to appear in dreams; however, he shows up in the form of an animal or even a monster. He often plays on people’s greatest fears. His real name amongst the gods is Icelus, meaning ‘semblance’ or appearance. The word ‘phobia’ comes from his name and means extreme fear.

The last of the brothers, Phantasos, is the god of unreal dreams. He represents objects seen in dreams as a message from the gods, appearing as symbols such as rocks, wood, earth or even water. These symbols have deeply spirituous meanings. Phantasos also rules over good dreams, the exact opposite of his brother, Phobetor; despite this, his dreams are usually meant to confuse people. The word “fantasy” comes from his name.” [Ref]

Storybrooke suburb, Wish Henry's new home

Henry and Violet fantasized so much about their first night in the new house...

In another - more romantic and relaxed - context, it might have happened as Violet and he had imagined, but it happened as it had to, with the intensity that precedes the outcomes of high uncertainty - which imprinted to their first night the quality of unforgettable. All in all, he is grateful to Sir Morgan for allowing his daughter to spend the night before going to the Shelters in the new house he had just assembled and equipped. He recalls that about 3 days ago he was visited by his mother, accompanied by Luna and Missy – the three former residents of the house before it was disassembled, shrunk, shipped from Heart Island, and reassembled near the Enchanted Forest. It is now in the suburbs of Storybrooke, relatively close to Wish Snow’s Castle, where he and his mother were planning to open, hopefully soon, the United Realms Conservatory & Humanities College.

“What a change of plans…” he shrugs.

…

"You see, the layout of walls is a bit different in relation to how it used to be according to your sketches, and I have changed the fireplace, but structurally it's the same house you lived on the Island, Mom..."

“It’s perfect, Henry, you imposed your personality and style on it and the house has become a functional and extremely charming cottage. I'm really glad you're having - you're giving yourself - the opportunity of living a more 'normal' life, typical for a young adult your age. I am grateful to Regina for creating the United Realms in a format that allows the integration of kingdoms in many aspects. That has released you from rigid formalities of royalty responsibilities and duties. They have their perks but they would hamper your youth with protocols, ceremonials and conventions. As a young adult you must own your independence, taking on every opportunity and doing everything you want to do without being submitted to obligations and commitments. That doesn't mean you aren't cut out for a relationship or are undatable, on the contrary — it means that you are capable of standing on your own two feet, for loving yourself, loving what you do and with whom…. And that, quite frankly, is one of the most attractive traits anyone can possess.”

“Thanks, Mom, for encouraging me to persuade my dreams and for being you, for being alive after everything... for having come back thus restoring my true beliver essence... I- I love you so much, Mom…” he confesses almost crying.

“Oh, come here, let me hold you... I love you too, Henry, with all my heart. I have a lot of regrets in my life, but all in all, being your mother is one of the best things that could ever happen to me, together with the opportunity of being here with you again, witnessing you walking your own path with freedom, discovering love in your own pace... I mean, compared to my experience, when I was your age - three years younger, more precisely. Your father was in his mid-thirties when we got married but I was too young and too naïve... As a piece of advise, son, just be happy with Violet without pushing your boundaries too much. Do yourself a favor and let go of any specific romantic timelines you have set for yourself. Don’t stress yourself – or her - with deadlines. You are both only in the first quarter of life; wherever you are at right now, embrace the hell out of it. You will end up in the right place at the right time, some way or another. Don’t force the process — just enjoy the beauty of pairing off at a relatively young age. If your relationship lasts, you don’t just get to grow old together, you get to grow up together too, and that is beautiful. If don’t, that will be beautiful too, and you will part ways as best friends.”

“I’ll give it a lot of thought and consideration Mom. I confess that I was starting to think that I could have some kind of obligation towards Violet as the heir of one of the Realms, as a kind of King in standby, you know?”

“Forget about that. You will be studying what you love, hopefully at the soon to be UR University. I’m so glad you will be able to go after your dream of dedicating your life to Education. That will prepare you to serve your people more as an Educator – which I believe is the best way to govern. Most importantly, and as your mother I couldn’t wish you better than that, you will grow as a free man, enjoying the modernity of the Land without Magic but at the same time inserted into the fantastic reality of the world with magic... Now, changing the subject… look over there, Luna and Missy have already found their corner, or rather their new corners. Oh, they are so cute, look at them, all nested on their new pillows...”

"They can come live here after the babies are born, just say, Mom."

“It may be… thanks for the offer, Henry, but let's see how everything will evolve. Despite the uncertainties ahead, Killian and I are thinking of moving to a bigger house, so it can be up to Luna and Missy to decide, maybe alternate the seasons, a little with you, a little with me. The fact is, anyway, we'll be close, we'll be practically neighbors...”

…

"Morning, Henry," a sleepy Violet arrives in the living room coming from the bedroom. “Hmm, what a great night you and I had and ah... what a strange dream I have just had…”

“Good dream, I hope,” Henry says hugging and kissing his girlfriend. “Want to talk about it now or should we go have breakfast first? It is still early and the gatherings will start a few hours from now, we have plenty of time.”

“We can talk during breakfast… First, I prefer to enjoy with you this quiet moment, just the two of us without worrying about what will happen this afternoon, or tomorrow, or after ...”

“Great idea, ah… everything is so new here, you and I will have to figure out the utensils and stuff in the kitchen!” he chuckles walking towards the kitchen island.

…

Violet and Henry love each other as a young man and a young woman in their early twenties love each other. In a traditional sense their relationship couldn’t be described by words referring to ‘the world shifting for two blessed soul mates’. Their love story is, in many ways, ordinary and maybe even a little boring in terms of the same old receipt: they have met, dated, fallen in love, and eventually decided ‘this is the person who I want to share a life with’ . As 20-somethings, they are just fresh new members of adult society and haven't had it all figured out — they are in a state of turbulence, change and growth, which means that even deciding what to have for breakfast can sometimes seem like a life-altering decision and that is okay, that’s the way it should be.

“Violet now is the time in your life to make decisions — right or wrong — that suit your preference: tea of coffee?” Henry can finally ask, after laughing a lot.

“I want pancakes with coffee after making love with you again, let’s go Henry” she takes his hand, laughing, and runs off pulling him toward the bedroom.

…

“I’m in love with this bed, and with this room…” Two condoms later, tossed around the corner of the floor, Violet says absently, hugging Henry, two healthy and young bodies wrapped under warm covers.

“I’m in love with you, my lilac flower…” Henry replies with a tender kiss.

“Always a romantic…” She closes her eyes but, all of a sudden, she becomes somber, remembering the vivid dream she had.

Sensing Violet’s change of mood, Henry asks gently, “want to talk about your dream now?”

“Yeah…. I’m not sure if I got it right, I saw three flying bats coming from a cave towards the Forest, and it was the Enchanted Forest of the United Realms because they flew over this cabin and continued into the woods. They turned to me and saw me too. I noticed that they had human heads. One of them smiled at me, the others just nodded and kept flying.”

“Weird… Dreams are always very mysterious.” Henry ponders. “We all dream... Even a person like me, who is not a ‘sleepy-head’, will spend about a third of his/her life asleep. It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

“What do we do in this third? Apart from these fragments, we know nothing of what we do in the spiritual world. Much of what we are there is perceived in dreams, but only in the form of these weak surface-ripples. I think that it is so fascinating, the more I think the more I’m convinced that I choose the right career: Psychology. I want to understand, Henry, I want to learn how to interpret these messages from the deep sleep. They might represent an important experience lived unconsciously. In our present situation, they can be relevant to defeat the rebel souls...”

Enchanted Countryside, Zelena's farmhouse

Puff!!

Zelena and Chad appear in the kitchen where Alice and Robyn are having breakfast.

"Mother!!" Robyn screams in alarm. "What a fright!"

"Sorry, my dear," Zelena tries to comfort her daughter. "We still need to perfect the transport between the kitchen of my house in Portland and the kitchen of this house, perhaps installing some sort of alarm announcing that we are coming... Persephone didn't think of everything ...."

“Sorry Robyn. We could have called; you know… despite the fact that the United Realms do not “exist” for the United States and is hidden by magic, telephony between the two worlds, weirdly and mysteriously, works!” Chad turns to Zelena, jokingly.

"It’s alright, I've calmed down ..." Robyn composes herself and invites her stepfather and mother to sit down to have breakfast with them. “How are things in that normal world of yours? Here they are changing pretty fast…” she asks them.

“Nothing is normal anymore, Robyn, or the unusual is the normality nowadays no matter in what world we are. Perhaps, all considered, you have your threatens more under control than we have ours, at least you can talk to gods and travel between different plans of matter keeping an awareness of what you do, what you say, what happens.”

“Not always,” Alice corrects him sipping her tea, “we sleep and dream and… forget… I was just mentioning to Robyn my last dream, of which I just remember parts.”

“Was it a significant dream?” Zelena asks with interest. “We’ve got to pay more attention these days to any kind of dream we may remember, after what Lavender told us about Morpheus and his brothers…”

“It may be,” Alice answers reticent, “because I saw two wolves and one girl running in a field and three bats flying over them, following them from the sky, but that is all. I do remember when Papa told us about werewolves being good receivers of the gods’ messages sent through dreams. I wish I could know more about the wolves and the girl but at least I do remember a lot of the other part of my dream, we could try to figure out more hidden messages based on these images...”

“Let’s do that, I’ve learned to interpret dreams with Glinda, a long time ago…” Zelena suggests.

Sighing, Alice concentrates deeply and starts.

“Right… I was comfortably sitting in the crown of a leafy tree and felt emotionally supported by it. I was contemplating a crystal before me and stayed there, staring at this crystal for a long time until I felt like the crystal led me to the point of turning away my attention from it, of abstracting my attention from it in the same way we abstract our attention from a thought, although it was still there. I didn’t see the crystal with my eyes anymore but I knew it was still there. At that moment, I felt a strong pull coming from the tree, as if it was trying to call my attention by treating me like a family member whispering: Sister, sister, remember that your roots are my roots… And… that was my dream - its plot is relatively short but it caused such a strong impact on me that I just can’t stop thinking about it. ”

“I see…” Zelena says after a long pause when everybody thought about Alice’s dream. “Let’s divide your dream in two parts. The first one is related to the tree. We know that your mother was a Tree Nymph and that is manifested in you by your ability to control and manipulate plants. Did you know that, Chad?”

“No, you never mentioned that part to me… What is a Tree Nymph, by the way?”

“Well, in short, what I know is what Emm told us from the time she lived on Hearty Island and used to watch our life unfolding here – and you correct me, Alice, if I’m wrong. The tree-nymphs treated each other as sisters while one took the role of mother – which could eventually be passed down to other Nymphs. For instance, Alice’s mother, Gothel, was the daughter of Flora, who passed her role to Gothel when she died. They used to be largely solitary creatures, sticking to their own kind rather than interact with humans. Despite this, Gothel decided that she wanted to be a part of the human world - which didn’t went so well as she imagined, actually it was a complete disaster and resulted in the rest of the Tree Nymphs being killed, except Gothel, who started to plot her revenge against mankind and you know the rest of the story. After Gothel’s death, Alice became her natural heirs, I guess, although she chose to embrace her human side, passed by her father. Actually, Key’s genes have proved to be extremely strong since Alice didn't inherit the Tree Nymphs turquoise skin tone and green-ish hair, which Gothel used to hide with her magic ability to glamour herself. That said, this part of your dream, Alice, seems to me very clear and simple. Technically, in general if we dream about trees we might be currently working on our self development. However, a tree in your dream, my sweet Alice, might also represent your family ties and your connection to your family members and relatives. The Tree in your dream was probably trying to awaken your dormant nature linked to the plant world, probably because you will need it soon.”

“I’ll do that, if I have to,” Alice states solemnly.

“Alice,” Robyn says good humored, trying to ease her wife’s mood, “then your name would be Mother Alice, what do you think?”

“I think I’d rather be the mother of a cute little baby, but as I said, I’ll embrace the legacy of my origin if I have to.”

“Now, let’s move to the most enigmatic part of your dream, Alice.” Zelena calls back. “You had before you a crystal, but this crystal taught you to look through it physically and also not physically. In a way after having used your eyes, you stopped using them for contemplation, although your eyes were wide open. This psychical knowledge came through the fact that you had eliminated the crystal from your vision. The same effect would be achieved eliminating anything, say… a color, which you had seen before you, so that you no longer would see it, although it would be still there before you.”

“Mom…” Robyn enters the conversation. “I think I get it! The message was implying that we may eliminate thoughts which we have had in some past moment of our life but would rise up later in the form of memories.”

“That could be, aye…” Alice nods. “We eliminate such thoughts, we throw them out of our consciousness, like a dream that does not stays in a waking consciousness.”

“Alice, my dear, I got it!” Zelena explains. “Your dream was teaching you how to discover within you the capacity to transcend the boundaries of your spatial body, so that you no longer live within these boundaries.”

“Wow!” Chad exclaims, “I’m impressed with how long you went with your line of thought, Zelena, but do you really believe this is the right way to interpret Alice’s dream?”

“I agree with Chad, I’m not sure if I followed your last conclusion, Zelena…” Alice mumbles, a bit frustrated.

“May I give you my two cents?” Chad reluctantly and tentatively asks.

“Sure, your point of view is welcome and important,” Alice encourages him, “go ahead…”

“My idea kind of goes in the same direction of Zelena’s, but in a more simplified way. It seems that you’ve been taught how you could participate in the life of the whole world with another perspective. That is, we ordinarily perceive the world as our environment from the limited aspect of its physical phenomena. It’s something that happens quite frequently with me since I got to know Zelena and a range of new worlds that came with her. Only that in your case, it’s like the difference between being asleep and being awake, as in our ordinary perceptions we are limited to the experiences which we always have during our waking state of consciousness.”

“You’re doing great, my love!” Zelena compliments her husband proudly, “I think you’ve got the central point. Alice’s dream pointed to something which can be compared with a recollection of that state of existence in which we live when we are asleep, from the moment of falling asleep to the moment of waking up, but it is a recollection which rises up in a completely clear state of consciousness.”

“Wait a minute!! Wait a minute!!” Robyn shouts. “Perhaps this part of Alice’s dream had the only purpose of triggering me! My mind and my dreams!! You are missing one point: the crystal, what would the crystal represent? It could be Regina’s heart! Do you want to know why? I’ll tell you. Now that we are talking about dreams, I’ve just remembered my dream this last night. I dreamed of my father, I met him, I’ve been meeting him too, I do remember now. Oh my, I just can’t believe it! I need to call Roland; he was in my dream too!!” Robyn stands up to pick up her phone and goes to the living room, to talk with her brother.

…

A few minutes later, Robyn comes back ecstatic, with a smiling face.

“Roland didn’t remember, initially, but I asked him to reproduce Alice’s experience, starting with acknowledging that there was something he had seen - but wasn't seeing anymore, although it was left in his consciousness. Then he had to bring it to his waking state. He did as I told him…”

“And then…?” Alice asks, since Robin remained silent.

“He remembered! He remembered being with me and our father, Robin Locksley Hood!” She finally exclaims with misty eyes.

“And what happened in this meeting, my dear?” Zelena tries to push Robyn’ memory.

“We just stayed there, hugging and crying, the three of us. My father cried a lot, said we both grew up so much, said he's really proud of us, and now I want to cry too…” she says, sniffing.

“Oh, come here, my love,” Alice stands up and hugs her wife, kissing all over her face with affection, saying between kisses, “we're going to sort this out, look, we just need a new perspective, a new angle to approach this problem.” She takes off Robyn’s glasses, to wipe away the tears that have clouded its lenses and at the same time to kiss her wife more properly. “Your father’s souls is preserved in Regina’s heart, we're going to find a way to sort this out, together, okay?”

Robyn nodded and her sobs slowly waned, but she remained for a while cuddled with Alice while Chad and Zelena were delighted by the two young women’s display of affection. All of a sudden, they are brought back from their thoughts by Chad, who clears his throat before starting to speak.

“I know I’m not versed in magic, I know this might be a crazy idea, but I’ve seen enough crazy things happening to venture and verbalize out loud another one. Then, just think about it…. What if someone figured out a way to allow Robin Hood’s soul, somehow, to inhabit the clone of Wish Robin? Would that be possible? If all Wizards and Magic practitioners and maybe also the gods figured out a way to preserve Wish Robin’s life in the process?”

…

Many minutes later, after an absolute silence of Zelena, Robyn and Alice, again lost in thoughts, this time to process Chad’s idea, Zelena finally opens her eyes with a large smile: “Chad, my precious hubby Chad, love of my life, Chad, you came up with the most brilliant idea of the day…!!”

“Ah…, thanks, I guess?” he smiles timidly.

“I totally agree,” Alice completes excited. “We are living souls experiencing life in physical bodies. Robin Hood is still a living soul preserved in Regina’s heart. He is not a rebel soul condemned to hell, he is a Light being. He was saved by the magic of Love when he was hit by Zeus’ Crystal. That crystal had the power to disintegrate his soul but it didn’t. Then… All of us can live consciously outside our bodies – that is what happens in our dreams, and that means that Robin’s soul is not only in Regina’s heart - Robyn and Roland’s dreams are proof of that. That means that, when Regina sleeps, and she says she meets him in her dreams, he also projects his soul to the dream world the same way she does!”

“Exactly…” Zelena keeps Alice’s line of thought, “We will have a long way to go with this information, we can, to begin with, find out what our soul passes through when our body is in a state of repose, when it has no perceptions and no manifestations of the will, as if the soul were no longer contained within it. If we learn the experiences of the soul outside the body, from the moment of falling asleep to the moment of waking up, we may learn how to put in practice part of Chad’s suggestion. The other part, related to the cloning issue, will be another challenge.”

“Mom, that would be a dream come true,” Robyn says, still crying. “I know we need to prepare for the gatherings this afternoon, I know we have to face thousands of evil enemies, I know the perils of even thinking about touching the cloned bodies, but I swear I will study this possibility from any possible angle. In the Shelter Alice and I are going to be, there will be hundreds of books about magic and stuff, I’ll dive on them…”

“Where are you going to stay?” Chad asks.

“Gideon’s castle,” Alice answers. “It used to be Rumple’s castle and it has the most important archive of ancient books about Magic. I’ll be there with you, Robyn; we will study this subject in depth.”

“What about you, Chad? Are you going back to Portland?”

“No Robyn, no way. I brought my computer case and the internet works perfectly fine here, the signal is great. By the way, all electromagnetic waves generated there are captured perfectly right here, I've tested a lot of media and they all worked. So I'll stay where my wife is, helping out as much as possible. I can work from home; I don't need to be physically in the office in Portland. Eventually, if need be, I’ll come here to the farm house using your car since you will be on your Shelter, and then will go to Portland through the portal, remember Persephone gave me a transport amulet too. But I intend to stay here. Imagine the constant panic state I would be in by the other side, not knowing what might be happening here with all of you? I already feel a part of this world, you know? Considering how many times Zelena and I stay here, it won’t be a surprise if my body has also been cloned."

“You should stay here with me, always,” Zelena tells him seriously and protectively.

"You are welcome and very dear," Robyn hugs him, thrilled. "I love you, Chad, very, very much, and I thank you for making my mother so happy and for coming up with such wonderful ideas like the one you had today..."

Enchanted Countryside, Oz, Red and Dorothy's farmhouse

In the Kingdom of Oz, all Munchkins will be clustered in the Emerald Palace; the children of Group A and their parents will be hosted by the Witches of North and East; and the 30 largest residences will host, each, circa of 15-20 people from groups B and C. In this context, ever since they woke up, before dawn, Red and Dorothy have been involved with the latest preparations to turn their 3-bedroom home into a mini-shelter for group C people.

“So let's make the final check, Ruby,” Dorothy calls her wife: “External walls completely magically protected…”

“Check!”

“5 communication devices; 2 weeks stock fireplace wood; 2 weeks of toilet paper, soap and shampoo; bed and table linen; home stereo system; 4 tv screens; 2 week stocked freezer; daily movie popcorn stock; eclectic playlists…”

“Check! Check! Check! Check! Check! And Check! Slow down, please…” Red asks smiling.

“Right… On the first floor, which has 1 bathroom and 1 toilet, 3 people will be in the living and dining rooms, using 1 sleeping bag and 2 sofas; 2 more will stay in the office in 2 sleeping bags.”

“Check!” Red exclaims.

“On the second floor: 6 people distributed in the 2 guest bedrooms, sharing 1 bathroom, and 3 in our suite, where we put an extra sofa bed, sharing our bathroom. In total, 15 people, wow...!”

“Check! Woman, it will be fun…” Red sighs and rolls her eyes, with a bit of sarcasm. “Talking about fun and not fun, I have an urgent priority right now, which is to call Snow and David…”

“About?”

“About the dream, the werewolf dream, remember I told you this morning?” Red says from the kitchen, where she went to pick up the phone.

“Yeah, you mentioned…”

“It’s important, really, really, important… we didn’t have time to talk about it because we had to finish the arrangements for the gathering, but now I can’t postpone it anymore…”

“Snow? Oh, hi! Yeah, we are all on a frenzy, really crazy, yeah, I know… hard to tell you but we are doing the best we can, things are practically sorted out here at home. Yeah… we are ready to receive 13 guests, can you imagine that? Well, we’ll see... But, you know, I’m not calling to report our daily activities, I wish I could talk to you with free time but we are actually running against time. I’m calling because of that. I need to ask you a favor because I received a message from the gods. Yeah… exactly… Morpheus met me this night; he came to me as a werewolf. Actually, when we met, he appeared at first as a bat, he and his two brothers. I was with Wish Red, we were both in our werewolves personas running in a field, and there was also a girl with us, she looked familiar, but I didn’t recognize her, or at least not yet, now that I’m remembering her face. Anyway, the 3 bats split, as did the 3 of us, that is Wish Red, me and the girl. Each of us followed one of the bats, and my bat happened to be Morpheus, who shape shifted to a magnificent werewolf, really beautiful. But I digress, let’s go to his message – it was kind of encrypted, you know? I’ll tell you what he told me, but we will need a team of experts to interpret it more properly... ... ... Ah, okay, I’ll wait.”

“What happened?” asks Dorothy, who sat next to Red, paying full attention to what she is telling Snow.

“She is calling David to listen too, and they will record my message… Oh, hi David, okay, I’ll put on speaker so that Dorothy will listen to you too.”

After Dorothy greets them and they greet her back, they all shut up for Red to prepare herself to narrate her dream. Ruby breathes deeply, concentrates, and breathes in and out again, slowly, as if to re enter her dreamy state and, almost in a trance, starts to describe her dream as if she was witnessing it happening all over again:

“As a werewolf, I will start by saying that my dreams are always vivid so I can remember them quite accurately. That said let’s move to the dream. At first, after presenting himself as Morpheus, he started to pursue me, as if coming to me. He told me, always running and inducing me to run too, that it would do me good if I understood that the best stance for me would be for him to come and devour me, metaphorically, because that might pointed to transformation of the self - of myself. He kept explaining that the symbolism of the wolf relates, equally, to negative - evil, and to positive - spiritual aspects.”

“The wolf is usually understood as the reflection of humans, with their aggression, impulses and weakness in sexual restraint. According to Morpheus, the wild, the forest to where we ran, symbolized the unconscious and indicated wrong impulses such as greed, urges and dissatisfaction. He then explained that for us, in the United Realms, in what we are about to embark as soon as Phase 2 starts, we must pay attention to 3 wolves symbolisms.”

“The first is related to the predatory nature of our antagonists, the rebel souls. They don’t want our bodies, actually, the bloodthirsty beasts want our souls – a soul for a soul. The second wolf symbolism states that a wolf can have a positive and a negative connotation. On the good side, the wolf suggests leadership, deep connection with instincts of guidance, the ability to endure struggle and intelligence – we will need the leadership of those that know more closely how to deal with Pan and Wish Pan and then he strictly mentioned Killian and Wish Killian. More than anyone in the United Realms, they know the flip side of the coin, which alludes to both Pans’ greed and malicious aspects that may not yet have been recognized. So this part of the message is specially for the two Killians: they must look to Pans’ trickery, remembering that their ultimate goal is to sneak up into innocent little children. Morpheus is concerned because of the turbulent vibrations sensed by him, last night, in the dream world. They were generated by the souls of Pan and Cruella, as well as Wish Pan and Wish Cruella, in the wildest sexual activities he has ever sensed. He said that the two pairings potentiated their evil strength when they synchronized a ritual of perverted sexual activities in the Underworld and in the Upperworld.”

“Finally, the third symbolism: taking me by surprise, while I was processing what he had just told me, he literally attacked me. He then explained that his bite suggested some type of betrayal. He said that we should pay attention, as the time progresses in the shelters, if someone appears with a mark of bite in the hand: that may imply that the rebel souls are stopping our progress. If that happens, we must engage on psychological dynamics to kind of integrate the wolf within ourselves. This part of the message, he said, is particularly to Archie but Wish Jiminy, the Cricket, may help him: he must supervise therapeutic activities in the shelters for people to work on their own darkness, to become more friendly with their inner wolf, suggesting a close bond with their instincts, a deep connection with the wild and their shadows. We must not fear our own shadows, because the rebel souls want us to fear them and will try to push us. Even if the diabolic souls can't initially incarnate in the cloned bodies, if they find any unlocked telluric crossing points they may cross the barriers that separate the Underworld from the United Realms and stand between us like ghosts trying to psychologically destabilize us. Their goal is for us to die, they want us wild and crazy. They want our clones and they need us dead. Therefore, it is good for us if we notice, in time to react, a mark of bite in someone’s arm or hand - it will disappear when the person, or those directly related to the marked person, harmonize their inner self.”

…

“That, my dear friends, was my dream…” Awakened from her self-induced trance, Red sighs and takes Dorothy's hands, kissing them sweetly before closing her teary eyes.

Enchanted Countryside, Wish Red and Wish Mulan's farmhouse

"Definitely, this Elderly Shelter became very charming and cozy; the 10 seniors in this part of the Enchanted Countryside will be very well accommodated here," an exhausted Wish Mulan throws herself on the living room sofa, talking to her wife, Wish Red, still silent and glum. In an attempt to get her out of her trance, Mulan asks, “Red, have you seen my Grandma lately?”

“Hah? Ah… yeah, I saw Jiminy and Grandmother Fa on the porch swing. He was taking a nap in her apron pocket while she hummed some Chinese song… Why?”

“Because I want to make sure that they fixed the mess in their room. It is not because their room is relatively small - so they will not share it with anyone else - that they have to keep their things on the floor, totally cluttered. But since they're kind of resting, we better let it go; at least I hope Jiminy is having sweet dreams..."

“I know you want me to share my dream, and I will. I was trying to process it, to digest it first. But it is time for me to share it not only with you, but with the heads of Operation B&S.”

…

Wish Mulan and Wish Red called Wish Emma and asked her to assemble as many leaders as she could for a virtual meeting, despite the absolutely busy time for everyone. This way, as Red's first dream claimed the direct intervention of the two Killians, Emm managed to put them in line, as well as Emma, Wish Regina, Liam Senior, Nemo and Ursula. They are all currently talking to Wish Red, using their recently delivered 3D communication devices. After a few introductions, Red has already started her narrative.

“The bat that addressed me worked on my fears taking me into a nightmare. He asked me to resist the urge to get out of the dream, he begged me to not wake up and then he became a monstrous animal - not because of its shape itself, but because of the vibration of his voice that aroused in me an extreme fear. I don't know how Phobetor, this is how he introduced himself, detected the vibration that would cause so much dread to my fine, sensitive, ears, but he used it quite skillfully, I must say.”

“This is so Phobetor like,” Ursula mumbles, “he could have spared you and got to the point without so much drama..."

“Yeah, he was pyrotechnic… but, anyway,” Red continues, “Phobetor did nothing to me directly, but induced the sensations as if he were doing. What I can say is that, somehow, I’m not sure if in a sexual context or not, he got under my skin. It was something that you know it when you feel it, if you know what I mean. It was not an attraction, or affinity, or a blissful roller coaster which can quickly break down all your coping strategies, it was more like the feeling of a madness knocking, of panicked horror. I resisted, in my mind I didn’t want to open myself to him, and then I found myself at a crossroads where the choice of way was hardly in my control… I ask you to pay attention to the crossroads because this was the central point of my dream.”

“You see, I love my independence, my freedom, I’m always in control of my actions, and that paralyzing feeling that overwhelmed me in the crossroads was horrible, it was really hard for me to cope…” she starts to relieve the feeling. Wish Mulan takes her wife’s hand, to placate her and calmly transmit self-confidence for her to go on. Taking a sip of her glass of water, Red proceeds to dig into the reminiscences of her dream which are the parts she has been given the mission to transmit.

“My defenses tried to kick in and make me regain what I could feel like the ground under my feet. It got to the worst point when he started to whisper ‘feel it, don’t resist it, don’t be dragged along, Red…’ I kicked and screamed and howled and raged at the world because it was given to me such a nightmare until I started to accept whatever he wanted me to feel or to know. From that moment, I felt like learning to breathing again, and just after that, he transmuted back to his original form, to his bat self and his voice started to vibrate in a soothing frequency. He then gave me two keys for all of us, especially to think about, to discuss in the shelters during meetings and meditation, but also valid to those who will be in the open fields, in more combative work. The first key was related to one of the ways on the crossroads. He said:

"Be prepared to face your fears and to not try to find solace in the other, and that is particularly true in terms of the gender aspect of your fears. It would be good to you all to work on that aspect, during the time in the shelters. Specifically, to work on inner exercises, so that you will be able to stay together tolerating so many people confined in small places without conflict. Work on the following.” And she pauses before continuing.

“For the men I say: seek and recognize the feminine in yourselves, not in the women you are close to, but in yourselves... and for the women I say: do not seek the masculine in men but assume the masculine in yourselves. That is important because, for defending yourselves from the fear and from the rebel souls you must learn about the other gender within you. You unconsciously put (project) your unknown self onto another person, usually of the other gender. What you experience when these dynamics that I am suggesting are enacted is a strong emotional reaction to another person. You might be irritated, repulsed, ticked off, but mostly, for better or worse, you might learn to accept and to fall in love. You cannot help it because you are a slave of what you need in your soul – and what your soul needs, what all souls need, is LOVE.”

Red pauses to think, to remember the detailed description of the next key.

“The second key is related to the other direction at the crossroads. According to him, the less comfortable one, because it is the spirit’s way. He said about that:

“Welcome to your brave soul’s battle in its adventure of connecting to spirit. It goes beyond ego and in this path the trans-personal, the spiritual dimension opens up to you. There is a riddle that I want you to discuss during your group dynamics sessions: The part that you take over from the devil – joy – leads you into adventure. I propose you to think on this statement in the context of relationships based on the following challenge: do not resist the pull of your emotions, make room for your love and hate and all the shades in between them, without allowing the emotional storms to take over. Be careful, though, when practicing these exercises. Make sure you have monitors and support. Most important, however, is that you are always exploring and learning about yourselves. You are always reaching for and touching on an aspect of yourselves in the other. These may be an awkward and raw experience of your souls’ journey towards your feminine and masculine sides.”

“At this point”, Red opens her eyes in search of the two Killians and the two Emmas, “Phobetor was quite specific about the need to address this message to the four of you, Killian and Key, Emma and Emm, because, according to him, the combination of your vibrational frequencies, two Survivors, one Savior and one Aligner corresponds, with an opposite polarity, to the exact vibrational energy of the two evil couples, Wish Pan-Wish Cruella, and Pan-Cruella, combined. So, it’s important that you keep what I’m going to say in mind.”

Speaking softly in Wish Regina's ear, unbeknownst to others, Liam Senior comments: “poor brothers of mine, what a heavy load has been reserved for them…” In reflection, Regina takes his hand to her lips to kiss it while whispers, "I'm glad you were spared of this mission, my dear."

“For you, Killian and Key,” Red continues, “Phobetor asked me to say, as a key to help you defeat your opponents: “It is bitter for the most masculine man to accept his femininity, since it appears ridiculous to him, powerless and tawdry”. And for you, Emmas, he said: “A woman’s experience will be different, but in most cases she will also struggle with her acceptance of the masculine within herself. This is when love can turn into hate because this ‘he’ may be so dominant, so controlling, so violent, so insensitive and yet these qualities may lie dormant in the woman’s psyche, unbeknownst to her, but usually experienced by others .”

Nemo, who was recording while listening carefully to Phobetor messages, looks at Ursula and smiles significantly at the demigoddess that has already stolen his heart: “What he is basically saying, though in other words, is that the feminine in man is bound up with evil…..the masculine in the woman is bound up with evil. Not an easy statement to swallow…”

Also smiling, Ursula replies: “Therefore people hate to accept their own other.”

…

After the meeting, the two Killians and two Emmas, who were together in the loft, remain silent for a while, dealing with the messages, processing their meaning, absorbing their intensity. Hope, Missy and Luna are taking a nap in the mezzanine and after this meeting Emma and Hope will puff to Snow White’s Castle and Emm, Missy and Luna will move to Wish Snow White’s Castle in another puff. The brothers will remain together in Storybrooke, working on front combat arrangements.

Breaking the silence, Emm stands up rubbing her belly while heading to the kitchen to drink water:

“I’m feeling that my struggle in recognizing the masculine in me will be softened by two little boys, they will help me... Key, don't ask me how I know, as I could not explain, but deep in my soul I'm feeling that we are bringing two boys to the world..."

Enchanted Forest border, Split Regina and Wish Robin's home

“Coralline! Where are you, my dear, we are late to take you to your Shelter and then we have to be back to receive our 40 guests of group C before heading straight to our base, in our castle!” Split Regina shouts throughout the east corridor of her mansion.

“Regina! I found her!” Robin shouts from the west corridor.

…

“There you are… oh, my sweet child, what is happening? You have been crying, oh Cora…” her mother asks, concerned.

“Mom, Dad, I’m scared…” Cora shrugs and hugs her mother.

“Hush! It’s okay, my love, it’s okay…” Regina hugs her back. “It may become a little scary sometimes, but fear not, it will be fun. You remember the Summer School with all your friends, don’t you? Then, it will be as fun as then, just this time with more people.”

“What if I need to talk to you? What if I learn something in my dreams and need to talk to you and Dad?

“We have the communicators, Cora,” Robin says, “you can ask the monitors and call us anytime you need, and we promise we will visit you. Your mom has magic and can puff us anytime. Besides, there will be minivans circulating between shelters, we are organizing a lot of tours to take people to and from one shelter to another, and Chynna will be working on puffing people too, especially to take the parents of preteens – which is your case, to visit their kids. It’ll be alright, honey, I promise.”

“Dad, you promise the Enchanted Forest’ animals are protected by Mom’s spell? Pretty please, Dad? It’s so important…” Cora asks almost begging.

“Sure, little love, pretty promise,” Robin assures her. “But why are you saying it is so important, I mean, of course it is but… why saying that now?”

“Because… of my dream last night,” she hugs tighter her father and mother.

With the abstracted look of those who make mathematical calculations and deductions, Regina finally understands. "It was you the girl Red ran into her dream ... it was you Coralline! Robin, have you read the emails, or have you heard the voice mails?"

“No Regina, I saw them but haven’t had the time to stop by them… What you mean by Red’s dream?”

“There are three gods of dreams,” Regina starts to explain as the three head to the living room, to sit down and relax while they talk. “Their names are Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos…”

“That I knew, that I’ve read,” Robin cuts her, “the part that the Fairies said that Morpheus and his two brothers would send messages through dreams… Oh! I see…”

“Exactly,” Regina continues. They have already sent their messages. We knew the first two, transmitted to Red and Wish Red in their werewolves’ persona – those messages are about those dreams.”

“I saw them!” Cora exclaims. “The werewolves were in my dream, and bats! At first, three bats, then just one!”

“Those bats are the gods of the dreams, my sweet child. The one that talked to you was probably Phantasos…”

“Yes, I know, he said his name. Want to hear my dream?”

“Of course we do, do you mind if I take note?” Regina asks, already puffing a notebook and a pencil.

“We can record,” Cora smiles, “better than writing,” she winks and puffs a microphone and a tablet herself.

“Right,” Regina smiles proudly.

“Okay, Mom, Dad, Hi everyone…” Cora tests the microphone and starts:

“So… here goes my dream: Phantasos was very gentle with me. He introduced himself and asked me to pay attention to the story he would tell. And then, when I was awake I should repeat the story to you…”

Cora pauses the microphone to add: “I was going to tell you this morning, Mom, but you were in a hurry working with the preparations here, in our house, and Dad was running with the staff for the Ministry of Forest and Wildlife… then I didn’t want to interrupt you. The thing is, while I was waiting, I thought on the dream and I started to get a little sad with the story and a bit scared.”

“Oh, come here, my sweet love,” her father gets close and hugs her, “now we are listening; you may proceed with your tale.”

“Okay,” she presses the record button.

“We went into the woods; I walked and he followed me, always flying close to me - he is a bat with a man’s face. We did a small journey through the forest until we stopped in a clearing, and there he told me the story. He said:

Beware of the woods, of the wolves in the forest and don’t fear the witches, neither the wolves neither the forest. Once upon a time there was a little girl that was born in the woods. Her mother and father died when she was born, trying to protect her against the Black Fairy. Her mother was a witch, a good woman, as well as her father; he was a great hunter and also a werewolf. They almost managed to protect their precious little baby, but the very vicious Black Fairy defeated them and took the baby with her to a very distant realm where time runs really fast. Do you know why she wanted to take the baby with her?

He asked. And I said, ‘no’.

Then, he continued, I will tell you, it was because that little girl was born with a special gift, a very rare and special magic and the Black Fairy wanted to use her magic to do the same evil things Cruella and Wish Cruella are doing now, she wanted to control the animals.

At that, I asked him: ‘I’m the little girl, isn’t it ?’ And he answered:

Yes, you are, and I’m here to reveal to you how special your magic is: you have a magic that enables you to connect with the forest animals, especially the wolves; they can share with you their joy and pain, their knowledge and their visions. You just need to develop your potential and you will be able to communicate with them. In this journey, you can be helped by a young woman, Alice Jones, who also has a strong connection with elements of the forest – in her case, she is learning to connect with the trees, because of her mother’s origin. The two of you will have a special mission one of these days: you should work together - you, Alice and your inner wolfA - to locate, in the woods, the hidden places to where the bad souls took some cloned bodies that weren’t isolated by the Fairies potion.

Your magic may help to protect many animals from Wish Cruella’s dark magic, because she will try to control them.

That was my dream.”

At that, Cora switches off her microphone and looks with expectant eyes to her parents.

“You won't be alone in this mission of yours,” Regina states positively. “I’ll be right there, by your side.”

“Me too; we’ll take the Merry Men with us if necessary. No way will my sweet little girl be out there working her magic unassisted.” Robin promises Regina and Cora.

“It’ll be alright, Mom, Dad, I just need you both by my side. So… what you think of my story?”

“I think, Cora, that yours is a beautiful story. It is profoundly important for you to know your origin, it is important for me and, I’m sure, for your father. We love you even more now, if that is possible, knowing how much loved you were by your biological parents, who sacrificed their lives trying to protect you. I will just say that I understand their sacrifice, and I promise to honor their memory protecting you with my life.” Regina says.

“There is no need to die, Mom”, Cora, the one that should be comforted, comforts her mother. “I promise, everything will be just fine.”

“I hope you are right…” Robin whispers, apprehensive.

Storybrooke, Wish Apprentice's home

“Jack,” Wish Granny asks the Apprentice, “Why the hell is this door, connecting nowhere to no place, in the middle of the main living room of our Home? We are planning a masquerade for tonight, to attract good vibes to the B&S operation, to wish full success to all the Light and Love missions that begin today, and to enhance our focus on the supporting work that is our responsibility. And then, look at what we find as soon as we wake up: this door placed in a way to hinder our ballet steps!” She laughs out loud just imagining their coreography.

“You should know, Janet,” Jack answers good-tempered. “Haven’t you seen this portal in operation?”

“No, she hasn’t,” Granny approaches them. “I have seen it working a couple of times while my wish sister here was lost in her wish realm... I remember once, when it took the Arendelle people to their home. Ah, later, it was used to transport the Camelot people and… oh, yes, and also the Merry Men with Roland, back to the Enchanted Forest, that is, the old Enchanted Forest, not the Wish Realm Enchanted Forest, neither the second Enchanted Forest. For god’s sake, just one of the multi Enchanted Forests that there were out there and… you know what? Whatever, all of that is a completely useless nonsense seen from nowadays perspective with all realms reunited in just one dimension. Which means: Janet’s question is absolutely pertinent. So… Why the hell is this portal needed now, Jack?”

“I brought it back to our ballroom this morning,” Jack explains, “because of my dream last night…”

“Another dream, really? In future books of History today will be known as the Day of the Dreams…” Moe, who was fiddling with the office computer to read the news in the UR Today webpage, run by Sidney, enters the conversation. Actually, he was playing Solitaire in one tab, reading the news in another, and listening to the Lucas sisters gossiping in the background. They talked about all gatherings happening along the day with more precision than the news on the internet – the new communication devices are already proving to be really useful.

“You want to know about my dream or prefer to complain?” Jack walks to the armchair close to the frontal window. For a blind man he deals with the darkness of vision as if guided by other eyes, eyes that see beyond the material plane without losing mastery over space, depth, and physical obstacles along the way.

“Of course we do want to hear you,” Brennan and Gepetto, who were in the adjoining parlor playing chess, appear and sit next to him.

“So, let’s call Johanna,” Wish Granny walks towards the kitchen, “she was so inspired by the beautiful bouquet of flowers that Moe presented her this morning that decided to work her magic confectionery to our delight. I think she is baking cakes for the masquerade but I’m sure she will want to hear Jack’s dream. Johanna!! Here, my dear, come here to listen to a fantastic story!”

…

“Is everybody here?” Jack asks already knowing the answer.

They all nod while the old Apprentice concentrates in his preparation to share the most important news of his life.

“It was actually quite a simple dream, you know.” He starts modestly. “I met the real owner of this house, my old Master and forever Sorcerer, Merlin, and my non-wish Apprentice brother, Jack,” he chuckles. “Well, they asked me to bring the portal from the basement to the living room - I confess that my magic was a bit rusty to carry a portal of such importance, but I managed to without any damage or accident…”

“You could have asked for help, do that next time you need to carry such a masterpiece carved in wood,” Gepetto offered.

“Ah, thank you my friend, I will. But so, they asked to bring the portal back to the living room because where they live now, in the Elysium Fields, they are organizing a small group, a petit comité of souls, to come here for a short visit. They plan to remain among us during a couple of days, one week, hopefully, helping us to deal with the evil souls and their evil alive friends. The door will serve as their gateway. Before they come, they still need to sort out a few things, such as who is coming, since they will have a limited number of passports…”

No one moves or says a word, all paralyzed by the enormity of what Jack has just revealed. Some of the elders sketch a start of question, but give up, jaws dropped, mouths open, dumbfounded. Finally, one of them creates the courage to ask.

“Passports? What does it mean?” Brennan asks.

“The gods will grant them a number of temporarily densified bodies but they can perform the densifying magic for a limited number of souls, so a densified body is what I’m calling a passport.”

“When are the souls coming, Jack?” Moe wonders, thinking on his unforgettable daughter.

“That I don’t know yet, I guess it could be anytime from now…”

"And is there anything we will have to do? I mean, keep the portal open if they come without sending a prior signal...?" Johanna risks another question.

"They didn’t mention anything, Johanna, but I believe it won't be necessary. We just have to wait. Maybe it will do us good and, indirectly, do them good, too, that we keep our agenda as previously planned. Tonight, for example, we will have our masquerade, I want to taste your famous cakes, by the way. And if we feel willing to, we should dance around the portal. Everything should remain as you had planned before, only that you had not yet included the portal in the middle of the dance floor. The best we can do, I believe, is to keep our vibes as positive as possible. The rest is up to the Light souls and to the gods...

#Body and Soul #Chapter 5

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