#okay i think i caved for gentle moments to kind of get a feel for their dynamic first and foremost? because that'd be cute

[selfsabotaqe]

*       ♡     ◞      closed starter      ╱    for @womansound .

he barely shut an eye all night. perhaps courtesy of the jet lag resulting from their flight across the atlantic, that seemed the most likely explanation. but maybe it could be traced back to the hint of nerves settling into his stomach at the thought of their wedding. they must have been healthy nerves, butterflies of elation at taking the next step. so he told himself. and rather than attempting to find more sleep, he stood near the edge of the balcony to watch the outstretched views of a sea of blue, waves crashing against the rocky coastline of greece.   “ morning, sleepyhead. ”   his gaze did not need to waver to know who joined him as he heard the creaking of the balcony doors. hand reached for hers as he drew her closer, lips gently placed against her temple.   “ how did you sleep? ”   it was preferable she got a little better sleep than he did, considering her maid of honour had taken it upon herself to set a strict agenda for their first day on the island. to ensure they got in as much wedding preparation as humanly possible. he found himself a little less concerned with that, only plans he had for himself this morning being exploration of the breakfast buffet. and to wallow in the current moment for a little longer, before the remainder of the wedding party would undoubtedly spoil the peace and quiet.

[jaewritesfic]

Melon AU Part 4

Cass is quietly adamant that her new cling-on be taken to the Batcave, no matter the concerns Bruce raises.

If he's honest, his protests fall a little flat even to his own ears. The fact of the matter is that he looks at the midnight apparition she holds and just…can't bring himself to fight very hard.

The creature clings to her like a desperate child, claws curled into her cape in a way that's bound to leave holes. Bruce hasn't caught so much as a glimpse of the face since it grabbed onto Cass, head resolutely tucked into her shoulder. That long sinuous tail is wrapped around her waist and down one leg as if the slightest disconnect could wrench them fully apart.

She was right, it's scared and it needs help.

Bruce almost thinks convincing Commissioner Gordon to lift the police barricade at the end of the alley will be the difficult part, but he's proven wrong. Gordon is more than happy to foist the situation off onto the Bat colony, it's just a matter of figuring out actual transport.

It's not that Bruce doesn't want the creature in the Batmobile. It's that nobody is sure the creature will respond well to someone other than Cass being in proximity to it.

Bruce may be feeling distinctly sympathetic, but he's still not comfortable leaving his daughter totally alone with something strange, unknown and dangerous.

He doesn't want Cass alone with it - them. They probably won't respond well to anyone but Cass being close enough to be in a car with them.

Ultimately this culminates in Bruce pulling the Batmobile around and trying to be very. Very. Quiet.

The shadow creature hasn't raised their head from Cass’s shoulder once, so hopefully as she climbs in the back with her clingy cargo they won't notice they're not alone.

…nobody is going to claim this is a good or creative plan. It's kind of just the only option they can think of.

The creature clicks and whines as she climbs in, aware and nervous about the enclosed space probably, but they don't raise their head or move.

If anything they just wind themselves around Cass a little tighter.

“Shhhh,” Cass hushes gently. “Car. Take us to safe place. I promise.”

Bruce is used to her cowl enough to be able to tell she's glancing at him in the rear view mirror.

Thankfully, the Batmobile can autopilot to the cave. His presence is solely because he refuses to leave her alone with their new…guest. That means he can sign at her.

Did you get a better look at the injuries?

She shakes her head minutely. Hm. Bruce had feared that was the answer, considering how fast the creature had plastered themselves to her.

Do they seem to be losing a lot of blood?

A tiny shrug. Not a yes, not a no. Bleeding, but not gushing. Or maybe she's not sure how much without a visual, though if it was egregious she'd feel it even with the suit.

The heat of it, the slickness.

Bruce decides the shrug is a tentative good sign.

“Let's play questions,” Cass says suddenly, hands rubbing gentle, comforting back and forth patterns against a back so dark it looks like a void. “Nothing scary. Get to know you questions.”

There's no answer, but it doesn't seem to faze her. Of course not. She's Cass.

“Will you play? Tap once yes,” she says softly, tapping the creature's back with her index finger once, “And twice for no. No is okay. You can say no.”

There's a long moment where Bruce watches them in the rear view and nothing happens. Then Cass's cowl shifts in the way that means she's smiling.

“Thank you. Pronouns first, okay? One for she-”

She taps once.

“Two for he-”

She taps twice.

“Three for- oh. Thank you. Good boy. I'm she.”

The rest of the family exposes themselves as listening, quiet murmurs and exclamations over the comms at the new knowledge that their creature considers himself male.

Bruce isn't surprised that his kids have been listening with baited breath.

“From Gotham? One for yes, two for no.”

She hums softly, going back to petting his back gently.

“Me neither at first. Home now, like the back of my hand. Can show you all the best spots. Like burgers?”

There's a long pause. Bruce suspects the creature is having a hard time believing she's talking about and proposing such casual topics.

Eventually she smiles again. “Me too. Will buy you Batburger, I promise. Nectar of the gods.”

An odd little vibration goes through her new friend, audible as well as visible. It seems almost like a weak laugh.

“....bets on shadow noodle’s favorite Batburger order?” Dick asks over comms.

Bruce purses his lips not to huff in amusement. They're almost to the cave, he'd like to stay incognito until then. He wouldn't want to alarm any shadow noodles.

Masterpost

[silassinclair]

Michael's Girl PT. 1 \\ PolyLostBoys + Michael x Reader

Summary: Michael's girlfriend wishes to become a vampire too after learning how Michael was tricked into becoming one. So he takes her to see David and the other Lost Boys.

CW: Kind of a cliffhanger, Vampires, Crying (Left the summary pretty vague for you guys, this’ll be a multi part series <3)

🖤 → Next Part

"So you're telling me that four guys who live in a cave fed you blood and turned you into a vampire?"

Michael rubbed a hand down his sweaty face, of course you wouldn't believe him. You're probably thinking this is some excuse for why he's been ghosting you lately.

Nodding Michael held your hand to his chest. "Yes yes that's exactly what happened. I would never lie to you okay! Yes I've been keeping the truth from you but that isn't exactly lying."

Giving him an open mouthed stare you slowly nod as if he were insane. "And you expect me to believe this... Why?"

Your boyfriend groans and throws his hands up in defeat letting your hand go. "God dammit! Just... Just believe me alright! Why would I lie to you about this? I'm in deep shit and I'm telling you because I care about you and I know you're worried about me and mad. You wanted an explanation so here it is."

Sighing in defeat you bite the inside of your cheek in thought. Looking back on it now Michael has been pretty... vampiric so to say. The sunglasses, angry demeanor, going out only at night and not eating as much. There was no way he'd go so far just to back up some silly lie/excuse.

"Can you prove it?" You ask with the quirk of your eyebrow. Michael ponders for a quick moment then smiles.

"Okay, but you gotta promise not to get scared alright?" He says and holds both your hands in his. Giving him a nod you give him a light upturn of your lips in reassurance.

"Of course, I could never be afraid of you."

Satisfied with your answer Michael shuts his eyes. Carefully you watch his features. Your eyes widen as you notice his eyebrows and face structure become sharper and more defined. Fangs poke through the gap of his lips. And when he opens his eyes you gasp in shock. Hs baby blue eyes are now a violent, predatory shade of yellow. A venomous color that screams danger. But you aren't afraid.

Your hand cradles Michael's vampiric face. "It's true... What you said. I'm sorry I doubted you love. I'm not afraid of you... So don't worry okay?"

Michaels vampire features morphed away back to his gentle human ones. Seeing a gentle smile grow on your boyfriend's face you can't help but smile too. He pulls you into a hug, his face in your neck. You feel him take a large intake of air.

"Thank you thank you thank you baby. Mmm my God I don't deserve you... also you smell pretty good." He mumbles into the soft flesh of your nape. Feeling a shiver go up your spine you gently caress his hair.

"If you ever feel hungry I wouldn't find if you took a bite Michael." You wink at him. But immediately the boy pulls himself away from you and looks at you with worried eyes.

"Baby don't say that.. You know I would never want to hurt you." The brunette's bottom lip juts out as he pouts, not liking the sound of him feeding off of you in the future.

"Well my boyfriend has to eat one way or another right? Can't let these guns shrink." A dopey smirk is plastered on your face as you squish his bicep muscles. Michael groans.

"Ugh stop."

Michael pulls you into his lap as he sits back on his bed. His Mom, grandpa, and Sam were all out right now so you and Michael had the place all to yourselves. You were lucky you got to convince your parents to let you go to California. Telling them you wanted to go to school there, and saying that living with Michael would cheapen things convinced them. But in reality you just wanted to get out of your home and move in with your boyfriend.

"So why did you wanna become a vampire? This means you can't go out into the sun right?" Worry laces your tone. You didn't understand why Michael would make such a brash decision, plus you two only recently arrived in Santa Carla.

Michael looks to be in thought. A frown pulls on his face as his hold around you tightens in the slightest, "I was sort of tricked. Those guys challenged me, taunted me, played me like a fucking fiddle. I was pretty stoned too which clouded my judgement. Then they hand me this bedazzled bottle of wine saying to drink it if I wanted to be like them. Sleep all day, party all nigh, never grow old-"

You felt anger build up in you, anger towards the men who dared trick Michael into falling into this curse. For using him when he was vulnerable, for cursing him with eternal life and him being doomed to watch you die one day.

"Pause." You cut in. "You're gonna be immortal now?" Your eyebrows furrow. "This means... This means we can't grow old together Michael. You can't go out in the sun with me or-or do anything like that. You're gonna watch me die." Your mood tanked so fast. Eyes welled up with tears as Michael shushed you and held your face to his chest.

"I know baby I know. But there's no way out of this now. Soon I'll be a full vampire and have to... I'll have to leave home. I'll have to run away and leave you, Mom, Sammy, Grandpa. I'll be a killer." Michael seems to have already accepted his fate, his curse of everlasting life on Earth. But you were in shambles. Unless...

"Michael."

He looks down at you and caresses your soft, tear stained cheek. "Yes beautiful?"

"Turn me into a vampire too."

The brunette jerks up in shock. His hands hold your elbows close to him as his eyes look into your own, all seriousness in his gaze. "Would you really do that? Just to be with me forever?"

You give him a firm nod. "I'm serious Michael. You're it for me, and I love you more than anything. I'll gladly love you forever if I may..." With the palm of your hand you wipe a tear that falls from your eye. Michael tilts your chin up with his index finger to look into your eyes once again.

"Y/n. You have to be absolutely sure about this. And I'm sure as hell that I want to be by your side forever. But I need to know if you really want to do this. You'll have to go into hiding, eat people, never go into the sun again."

His face forms into a look of despair, he's 100% sure you'll refuse now. "Do you really want to suffer with me?"

Instead of giving him a verbal answer you pull him in by his collar and kiss him on the lips. A groan of pleasure leaves his lips.

"I-I'll take that as a yes." He mutters as you continue your onslaught of affection, littering his neck with kisses. You draw back from him momentarily.

"Michael." You stop your affections and pull him up from his bed. "Take me to that cave. Where you said it all happened."

Your boyfriend nods and he leads you downstairs. Quickly slipping on your shoes you head outside with Michael where he mounts his bike. Like usual you sit behind him and wrap your arms around him securely.

"Because it's night they probably won't be at the cave. So we're gonna go to the boardwalk first alright?" He says as he revs his engine then zooms off down the driveway. Nodding, you rest your head against the back of his shoulder.

.

.

Under a streetlamp by the red painted seawall are four motor bikes. Standing by each bike is the owner of which. The night was still young but the four vampires settled for just chilling and talking by their bikes on the boardwalk.

"So as I was saying," Paul rambled on, "Movie sequels always suck ass because movie companies always wanna choke an extra buck out of the audience by using a great movie as their tool. Like take uhh... Jaws for example. The first movie was cool and original but because it was successful they think making more will make them more money. It does but like, they rush the production so much to the point that the movie sucks ass."

Dwayne looks at his brother like he's got no skin on. "Since when did you get so intellectual?"

Paul just shrugs and puts his arm around his taller brother. "I always have it in me, it's just that I'm not stoned today. Sober me is a different dude."

The tall brunette sighs. "Of course. How could I forget."

Marko meanwhile is playing with a rubric’s cube that some teenager dropped earlier and David smokes as he watches his curly haired brother try to solve the puzzle.

"Marko I don't think you have enough smarts in your pea brain to solve that." David says while blowing his smoke with a sly smirk. Marko only growls in frustration.

"Oh shuttup man! Great now I messed up, fuck you." Marko throws the cube onto the sandy beach behind him.

Today was slow. The boys were still well fed from yesterday's hunt and the fact that it was a weekday only made everything slower. No one on the boardwalk started a fight for the boys to jump in on. So the four of them are bored and left with nothing to do.

"This is boring." Paul says when he finishes with his movie rant that left Dwayne thinking.

"You can say that again Pauly." Marko groans but an imaginary lightbulb blinks on above his head. He sits up straight from his once slouched postion.

"I know what we can do! We can pay Michael a visit and annoy the shit out of him!"

David smirks, "Oh I like that. Well let's ride boys-"

The sound of a motor bike catches their enhanced hearing.

"Speak of the devil, there he is! I thought he'd never want to willingly see us again." Paul says with a wide grin. He waves to Michael but lowers his hand when he notices someone else on the back of his bike.

Michael pulls his bike up next to where the other four are parked. Kicking out his kickstand he gets off. He then offers his hand to you off your seat which you gently take.

David looks at Michael and then you.

“Who’s this supposed to be Michael?” David says. His expression is unreadable. The leader of the pack has always been by far the most mysterious of the four. And rather unpredictable too.

Michael puts hid arm around your waist and you lean into his side. You look at the four boys, no, men. Vampire men. They are all dressed wildly and you assume that influenced Michael into getting that earring. Not that you’re mad though, it’s pretty sexy actually.

“This is my girlfriend, Y/n.” You feel Michael kiss the top of your head. For a moment you forget that there are four dangerous vampires in front of you because of Michael’s peaceful presence. But the good feeling washes away when one of the vampires speak up.

“You’ve been hiding this hottie from us Michael? She the reason why you make up shitty excuses to head home sooner~?” A tall blonde taunts. The curly haired blonde next to him pats him on the back.

Michael stiffens. “Well as a matter of fact, yes.” He says firmly. “But there’s something else you guys have to know, we can’t talk about it here though.” Michael sends a look to the platinum blonde.

“Sure Michael. Let’s take this back to the cave yeah? Bring your little girlfriend with ya too, if she isn’t scared”

Unimpressed you fire back, “You four don’t scare me. If anything I thought you were all groupies for Rob Halford from Judas Priest.”

An eruption of laughter comes from the two blondes. The one brunette smiles while the leader just smirks.

“Yeah. She’s coming along, right Michael?” The way he says his name makes Michael shiver. Uncertainty washes over Michael. He looks to you and you two silently communicate. His eyes ask if you're absolutely sure about going through with this.

Your only response is a simple nod.

"Let's get going before it gets too bright out now yeah?" You say and get back on Michael's bike. The four vampires share a look, suspicion.

"Yeah. Let's." The platinum blonde smiles. "My name's David by the way. Just so you know what to scream later sweetness." David says and winks in your direction. Michael mounts his bike and says nothing.

All six of you drive away. David leading everyone to the location of the cave by Hudson’s Bluff.

[taeloke]

Overanalyzing 4KOTA Chapter 142 instead of just waiting for more info (1/2?)

Honestly? I'm writing King's side of this separately, because it's about time I started talking about him here l and I know I can go on forever about him. That field of over-analysis needs its own house. I would go off about him first but then I'd forget his kids entirely and I don't want to do that to them... Speaking of--

So silly. So precious. Berte is so Helbram-coded and I'm sure that's intentional resemblance.

You know...I wonder which of their traits were inherited from Diane's parents. Probably the golden hair on almost half of them at least. Sixtus and Tioreh's pink hair looks more like a genetic mutation...unless their hair color is inherited from the leaf color of the Sacred Tree? That's possible too.

Diane seems less energetic since becoming a mother. She's settled down and has been shown to be gentle more often than bubbly, which was the impression she gave me in the original series. I'm assuming she hasn't fought since entering the Fairy Realm, too. She's put the stress of the Holy War behind her, and I'm happy that she seems content with her lots of babies. I wonder if she'll get to hear about Dolores once the current issues are over. I'm sure hearing she's Nasiens's adoptive big sister will be a shock. Diane deserves to know that.

The way Tioreh says this makes me suspect Puck is the one behind Nasiens and Myrtel's switcheroo. He must really love that "prank" in that case. Regardless of who was behind it, though, that's actually fucked up. A fairy trolled their own king by swapping their first child with a human, probably knowing exactly what issues both kids would be put in. I can't call this just a prank. I love King to death, but his people are their own kind of awful...

For this moment, let's glance back at how she reacted to that news at first.

Tioreh must have been suspecting this the whole time Nasiens was here, but this reveal may be the moment she started to seriously believe it, if not when Nasiens admitted to feeling healthier in the Fairy Realm. After this, she started to open up about her siblings more and telling Nasiens that he's like them--especially like Phao. All of this is stuff that Nasiens didn't know about since he met her two years ago. All of the tension in this family over Nasiens and Myrtel has been building up for so long...and right now we're watching it all cave in. I'm sure King and Diane had good intentions for hiding the truth, but hiding it's not working anymore.

And Diane knows it's not working anymore. I'm stuck on her asking "Is that bad for you?" Why is she asking that of all things? Is that what King and Diane were so worried about when they decided to never come out about this? Did they think their kids would be upset with having a human for an older brother?

Okay, but maybe that's not all that they considered. Maybe they got worried about how their people outside of their family would react to their theories being confirmed. If that happened, as unfortunate as it is, Mertyl would probably get more ostracized than he was. With that in mind, I'm sure his parents made that choice to protect him from some of the problems he'd inevitably go through. It's a nice thought that way, but this was still a bad call. They made too many assumptions of their own kids' feelings.

In other news...Phao was lurking... Now they're all gonna know and clear up this misunderstanding with their parents, right?

Anyway, I feel like I've written too much for one post, so I'll go on about the rest of the chapter tomorrow. Closing this part with this:

myrtel peek

[chaedomi]

Hellooo hope you are doing well, I am not quite sure if you are taking requests but if you are could you please write yandere Satan or Lucifer from obey me •-•.

𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍'𝐒 𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ✦ om

gn!reader x lucifer, satan (yandere / separate), implied violence, minor spoilers (?), unhealthy relationships. ꨄ — masterlist

QUITE THE interesting individual you were… There was kindness in you, to whoever treated you well and deserved it. Then there was a mean streak to you, quickly shutting up the offender with your bluntness and sharp tongue. There were times you were great company, people choosing to seek you out during their moments of loneliness. And of course, you had your annoying moments where people are filled with the urge to chuck you out the nearest window.  Sometimes you are like a ray of sunshine and open to everyone, and sometimes you were… emotionally constipated. There’s no doubt you would gain attention, some more than others.

LUCIFER

Really? Really? Is this what it’s going to be like now? Okay. It could be ANYONE else he could have chosen to view as a potential lover. Perhaps someone who held a noble status to their name, or someone powerful (to which you are)... But, NO, the person his heart decided to flutter for was you, the human who had him suffer quite many migraines on their first stay, the human that had spiked his anger into a violent bloodlust, the human who couldn’t stop prying into matters that didn’t concern them, the human that somehow turned minor inconveniences into life-threatening situations. As you can tell, LUCIFER was anything but pleased when he finally sorted out that odd feeling he had whenever he was near you.

Everyone saw it, whereas you experienced it, how passive-aggressive his actions became. He’s still pretty much the same, except for the fact that whenever he addresses you, there is a tone in his voice as though he’s accusing or blaming you for something. And you being you decided to talk to him about it, trying to search out a way to fix whatever offended him somehow… which deepened the warm feeling he harbored for you, and made him crankier. Even Diavolo and Barbatos had to tread carefully around him for a few days…

He eventually caved in to the feeling, accepting that yes, this is how it will be from now on. However, it’s not for the reason that you think it is, him getting frustrated of continuously avoiding the problem. There’s this bubbling rage that creeps up in his chest whenever you direct your gentleness to anyone other than him. Forbid that he catches you doing it to his brothers or even worse, Solomon.

Whatever Lucifer desires, he will get it. Those words of course also apply to you as well, bluntly stating it to you in another font on the night you made a pact with him. So, do as you want, scream, cry, or kick at him, he will not budge. He will even somehow find a way around the power of the pact, exploiting it and twisting it to his benefit. Lucifer understands your reaction, indeed no one will be happy in this situation, but do beware, he does not have the best patience. If you go too far, he will give you a reason as to why so many are petrified of his existence and inflict punishment. Hmm… your fault for capturing his attention like this.

SATAN

You had struck so many emotions in him that SATAN was on edge for a long while. He was akin to a ticking time bomb and became very unpredictable. Just the slightest things had him spewing fire from rage; he practically reverted to his former self, the violent and spiteful person that was first transported into Devildom. He couldn’t understand why he felt this way toward you… a more extreme emotion mixing with the fondness he already held for you. He’s studied it so many times, reading various books or whatever could help him cope with what he’s going through. But not one book provided him with a satisfactory answer, and it drove him crazy.

It took the assistance of Asmodeus, who took pity on how much of a mess he looked, and Leviathan who was able to link his behavior to a famous fictional character trait. Satan finally gets the answer to his problem, and he’s so amused. It would explain a lot, actually. There’s no surprise when word gets around that he has threatened the life out of someone for simply displeasing him. However, his rage for that will NEVER compare to the FURY he feels toward someone who even dares to approach and cross the boundaries he placed on you. He wants to be let loose and throw HELL on that person. He would have never thought that he valued you this much.

He’s very much aware that his tendencies are abnormal. But, he’s a demon, why should he entirely care about what’s wrong or not? Some part of you is very grateful that you are not fully exposed to his more demonic side. Far too many times than you’d like to count have you witnessed his rage and him giving into it, especially when it revolved around you. It will always send a shiver down your spine…

Nevertheless, even though Satan does not necessarily expose his anger to you, the way he begins to vibrate from the wrath coursing through his blood, or the way his veins pop out on his forehead when you try to take your stand is as equally as terrifying… Satan is usually patient with you, his anger fizzling out most times by your voice alone. But, on topics such as these when you disagree with what he does, he cannot help but extend a bit of his cruel nature to you. Eventually, you gave up and accepted your predicament. Lucifer was already bad in his own way, why the hell would you choose to test the waters with The Avatar of Wrath?

©chaedomi. please do not modify, edit, copy or reproduce any of the works published.

[llannasvsp]

Dragons Rising Season 2, Episode 3: Beyond the Phantasm Cave

We are baaaack!! Honestly, I like spreading out my rewatch because I binged all 10 in one sitting. Spreading out my rewatch makes the excitement last longer. Not that I'm running out of excitement. I will never get over this season and it's not even done AGH. ANYWAY. On to the episode!

So, Cinder is Link from Zelda?

You feel the gong what?

Jordana and Cinder beef so real.

Awh, Kai. Glad they didn't forget his anger issues.

Arin is definitely not okay.

LLOYD MEDITATED ALL DAY AGHHH POOR GUY.

Lloyd has every right to be upset and frustrated right now.

Little source dragons!

OH MY GOSH the Netflix subtitles tell us which source dragon symbols correspond with the element!???!?

LIFE SYMBNOL CLAIMS LLOYD EVEROYNE. LIFE SYMBOL. DID ANYONE KNOW THIS?!?! YHHELLO. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME LEARNING OF THIS SO THIS IS A GENUIINE REACTION OH. MYGOSH.

Soooo Strength is a hater.

"He is no ordinary mortal". Okayyy so are we going to talk about him literally having Dragon heritage???

LEVITATING LLOYD CLIP!

Once again, Sam is literally serving. He portrays anxiety so well.

KAI + WYLDFYRE CLIP!

I am literally obsessed with this moment between them. Wyldfyre doesn't want to be left out. Kai wants her to stay safe and be okay. He's so kind and gentle with her. I love them.

I gotta admit, I'm an elemental mech hater.

"Would Master Wu take us on a mission based off of half understood dreams?" Oh he absolutely would.

KAI ASKING FROHICKY TO WATCH OVER WYLDFYRE RAGH.

I don't know how I feel about the Cloud Kingdom having a motor buuuut okay.

They really decided that this was the episode to upload clips from.

I love this moment because it addresses that Lloyd is doubting himself, it acknowledges that Lloyd and Nya have been through way too much stuff, and it shows us that Lloyd does not want to put Arin and Sora through something horrific. He doesn't want them to experience "the horrors" too young like he did.

Kai being mad that Wyldfyre stowed away but not in like an angry way but in a "I don't want you getting hurt" way is just sooooo.

Sora is so right to be concerned. I would be too if I were her.

I get what Sora was trying to do with the grappling hooks, but I also feel like this isn't going to bode well for Arin. She made his thing something "cooler" because their elemental powers are involved.

EWWW TENTACLES.

AGHH Arin and Sora complete each other my hearrrt.

Okayyy so visions.

Arin: Fear of letting his parents down. Guilt that he "replaced" them with the ninja.

Sora: Something to do with Imperium?? I don't really understand hers I'm gonna be so honest.

Lloyd: Being an inadequate teacher. Leading everyone to their destruction. "You will never be good enough." Dang.

Nya: Jay not remembering her.

Wyldfyre: The wasting thing that's talked about later.

KAI: WE DON'T FREAKING GET TO SEE IT. LET US SEE IT.

I feel like we just need to remember all of their fears because it's absolutely going to be important to all of them later.

"I know the real Jay could never forget me." Oh, honey. Don't say that.

Egalt is ugly.

GRRR THIS EPISODE IS AMAZING.

I think we didn't see Kai's vision because they're going to bring it back later. I know some people are saying that it was of a corrupted version of himself, and honestly, I'd say that's a very likely assumption, given his history. He used to have a lust for power, and maybe he still does, it's just more subdued. If anything were to happen to him (pretend we haven't seen ep10 yet), he could likely succumb to that temptation for power.

ALSO I'm such a Lloyd "life" truther, so learning that it was the LIFE DRAGON who claimed him?!??!? Yes. I'm so excited to expand more on that.

[wordy-little-witch]

Buggy should get to do Crocodiles nails and it should be a very comforting experience for both of them. For Crocodile because not only does he feel handsome in his body after transitioning to a point that made him comfortable, but he also now feels like this finally gives him the ability to enjoy something again that he had mixed feelings about when he hadn’t transitioned yet, beautiful, dark and harsh colors coating nails on a hand that felt too feminine in a way he couldn’t describe yet.

Buggy just likes to sit crosslegged between crocodiles legs on the couch, back touching his chest, as he instructs the man to lay his remaining hand to rest his hand in his lap and Buggy gets to debate with himself wether today a sharp crimson color or a more subtle, velvety plum kind of tone would be more applicable.

This originally was just about little!Buggy but honestly Buggy is such a fashionista that when he has finally widdled Crocodile down and proven that, yes, it actually DOES look really good, he probably could even convince him to do this once or twice a week

… That being said Buggy, age eleven doing Shanks nails with some polish they looted from the last marines and Roger walking into the room like “…. what’s going on here?” “C-Captain!?” “We… I … Buggy and I…. We were doing our nails- I ASKED HIM TO HONESTLY AND-“

“Me next.”

Cue Roger walking around with an incredibly amateurish and not specifically color matched manicure for the next few days or so.

Okay but honestly? I'm in love with this. Little! Buggy probably would have fun spa days with his crew, where they all do each other's nails and hair, and he's THRIVING there it's fun and he can stim and wriggle and laugh and it's amazing. Maybe the first time Crocodile caves is after a few times where he's joined them, maybe something about the gathering in question is Off or Buggy's struggling to drop. The Logia user makes a semi-rash decision.

"Here," he rumbles, reaching a hand out to tap Buggy's shoulder. "Don't make me regret this, brat."

It's the start of a frequent occurrence. Buggy, big or little, enjoys working with his hands and the focus can help him calm down and relax when he's a little too tightly wound. Sometimes Mihawk will give him a chance to do his nails, too - and Buggy hates that he thinks it, but he really prefers Croc's hands when he's regressed. The size difference and semi-gruff/semi-gentle way he offers it just takes Buggy to those precious few years when he truly felt safe and loved and it's only reinforced when they care about him so much. Mihawk is refreshingly new, but Crocodile is comfortingly familiar.

Speaking of familiar and the past, however, that bit with Shanks and Buggy? They really would. I have the weirdest suspicion they both swiped some bottles from the same place, and convened later on like "look what u got for yo-OHHHH!!!!"

They're up late, doing each other's nails by lantern light, trying to stay quiet but struggling between the giggling and excitement. And they both freeze when the door swings open.

"What are you boys doing up so late- oh. What's going on here?"

And Buggy chokes a little, so Shanks dives headfirst into babbling explanations, trying to take the prospective heat off of Buggy, both a little scared and-

Roger grins. "Can I be next?"

They blink, dumbfounded. But they nod. He settles down with an exaggerated groan onto the floor, complaining about his "old man bones", getting giggles from his boys. They look over the bottles, and Roger decides one can have a hand each - make it fair, he claims. Shanks does some solid color on each nail of his delegated hand, tongue out as he adds random embellishments. Buggy takes a few moments longer before he does a neutral coat, then carefully does his best at a mix between french tips and a wave pattern with white and blue. On the ring finger, he giggles nefariously to himself as he takes a toothpick and adds a red flower.

It's messy, not professional in the slightest but Roger wears it proudly, even if he choked on air when he saw Buggy's handiwork, threatening to noogie the kid when his nails dried.

((Bonus points, someone on the crew tried to make a snarky teasing remark to Buggy for his bright nails One (1) Time the next day. Shanks lunged into the exchange to gush about his own nails. Roger then got involved too, showing off his nails. Then he decided to "make it a crew bonding experience!!" The next island they docked at, he demanded they get "nail paints. All the nail paint!!"

"It's nail polish, captain."

"All the nail polish!!!!"

It's weird at first, but it becomes fun when everyone finally relaxes. Buggy turns out to be one of the best with the brushes, and the others let him practice on them frequently. It's a rare spot of harmless fun))

((Bonus points, the sentiment spreads to the Whitebeards too after one battle where Roger cries because the fight chipped his manicure and he begged Buggy to fix it. Sitting around the fire, Buggy just plops into his captain's lap, holds the man's hand in his own lap, and works on fixing it. Whitebeard chuckles warmly about it, and the captains make conversation about it. Newgate then drops a casual question of "do you accept new clients, little blue?"

So Buggy winds up getting passed over lap to lap, starting with whitebeard and including many others. Izou and he get into a spirited conversation about color theory and beauty tips.

He's very happy that Teach hard passed on it, and to this day he doesn't know if it was genuine disinterest or if the other declined due to the absolutely murderous waves of Haki coming from Shanks every time he got within several feet of Buggy. Regardless, he is grateful)).

Just. Buggy being a little fashionista and tiny Diva, Big or Little and the cuteness that ensues and just AAAAAAA

(Also whatever you do, don't imagine Buggy, regressed, laying on his tummy, kicking his feet and concentrating so hard while he carefully paints Ritchie's claws. Don't think about Buggy going Puppy's claws so they match and getting guavawani kisses during the whole thing which results in giggle fits and a messy but happy clown. Don't do it, buddy. You might die-))

[zukosdualdao]

still feel the spin / hurts when i remember (i never wanna feel it again)

zutara month, day 14: exposed, @zutaramonth

summary: the night they return from the boiling rock, zuko breaks away from the group and falls back into an old pattern. katara catches him.

warnings: references to abuse and ozai trying to kill zuko, dissociation, and self-harm via firebending. please read carefully, mind the warnings, and take a step back if needed. <3

other notes: title taken from control by zoe wees. don't ask katara why she went looking for him to tell him dinner was ready she doesn't have to answer such questions! (she did, in fact, notice him missing, and wanted to check on him, despite herself.)

The night they return from the Boiling Rock, Zuko watches with a smile as Katara and Sokka hug their father, relieved for them that he’s okay, and that Zuko could help in this.

There’s another feeling wriggling in the back of his mind, though—something more complicated, sick with grief that might morph back into that festering, dark kind of anger if he lets it, and he breaks awake from the group as soon as he gets the chance, with them not noticing as introductions are made and Sokka begins to recount the story.

Shaking his head, he makes for the quarters where Sokka first took him when he arrived at The Western Air Temple. The group tends to sleep together, huddled up with a fire between them for warmth, and Zuko’s taken to doing the same, but this is one place he knows he’ll be alone.

Taking a deep breath, he sits down on the bed there. Katara and Sokka were so happy to see their father, so relieved, and in turn, Hakoda’s love for them was clearly etched into his features. 

Zuko remembers, in a flash, the last time he saw his own father, only weeks ago. The fear clawing at him even as he drew his swords at his father’s threats. That beat before Ozai tried to strike him down with lightning, the electricity working through him as he redirected it.

The knowledge that his father really would kill him.

Zuko doesn’t want anger to rule him anymore, and he’s afraid if he lets himself feel this too deeply, that’s what it will become. 

His chest feels empty, caved in, scooped out. It’s easier, better, he thinks, to let it become muted, to let his feelings die as he swallows them down. Dazedly, almost unconsciously, he lifts his left hand and summons a small flame, grazing it against the palm of his other hand. 

It takes more to burn a firebender than it does others, both because of their hot-blooded natures and because of resistance training. More heat, more intent, more desire—

He feels the heat growing against his palm more than he logically understands it. There’s a swell of pain, a bright searing point, but he only feels hollow.

“What are you doing?”

Zuko whips his head to see Katara staring at him in the doorway, eyes wide and surprised and maybe concerned, her expression so open, like she’s forgotten, for a moment, that she hates him.

She takes a long step forward before pausing.

“I—nothing,” he lies, extinguishing his flame and curling the fingers of his right palm against the shiny red skin there. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows it should hurt, but what he most feels is shame at the being caught, being exposed like this.

It's not something he does very often. Usually, he has a better handle on it. Knows better than to let his fire grow so strong.

Katara stands stock-still for another few seconds before she’s shaking her head, eyes closed, and huffing out a breath. She approaches him, sitting down on the bed beside him, and opens her waterskin, calling her bending water to her before taking his hands in her own.

Zuko inhales sharply, coming back to himself, as the water soothes his burned skin and draws out the pain, leaving only his blank palm behind. It had gone deep. If it weren’t for her, the fire probably would have left behind a scar.

Another one.

“You shouldn’t hurt your—” Katara starts in a quiet voice, almost kind of gentle, like she’s worried she might spook him. Then, she remembers herself. With her brow drawn, Katara then looks at him, her eyes hard and piercing once more. “Don’t do that again,” she says. “You’re Aang’s firebending teacher,” she reminds him. “We can’t afford for you to be hurt, and he can’t learn anything like that from you.”

Zuko nods, just once. She turns to leave, stopping at the doorway without looking back.

“Dinner is ready,” Katara says before walking away without waiting for his response.

With his hands pressed against his knees, Zuko waits another moment. Then, he stands, limbs feeling rigid, and follows her out.

[mochiwrites]

“Grian, please–”

“No Mumbo! You don't get it!”

Mumbo sighed softly. “..you're right. I don't. So please, Grian, just tell me.” He looked at the avian with worried eyes.

“I killed you!” Grian burst out. “With my bare hands!” He was crying, tear stains on his cheeks.

“Grian–”

“And I didn't even feel bad!” Grian hiccuped, clutching himself. “How... how can you love somebody that did that to you..?”

Do with that what you will ;]

do with that what you will, you say? 👀 okay! I meant to get to this a lot sooner whoops

“Oh, G…” his voice trails off very quietly as he takes a step toward the shaking avian. He’s watching Grian’s expression very carefully, seeing the way his face falls and caves in from guilt and his tears.

Mumbo can count the number of times he’s seen Grian cry on one hand. He knows the other isn’t really a crier, not unless his emotions truly overwhelm him. He hasn’t seen Grian cry often, but each time it still makes his chest ache just as much as the first time it did.

Grian stiffens in his arms as Mumbo embraces him, holding him close. Comfortingly, Mumbo runs his hand along the space between Grian’s wings, a touch that is gentle. “Mumbo..?” Grian stammers in response, his confusion clear in his voice.

“If you think I’ve held any of that against you, you’re rather silly, mate,” Mumbo murmurs to him. He lets out a little awkward chuckle, “I mean, I know I wasn’t the most dangerous guy in that game, but honestly I didn’t feel all that bad about blowing people up with the end crystals.”

It’s probably the first time he’s admitted it to anyone that wasn’t his ceiling in the middle of the night, but he thinks it’s only fair. Grian is being open, being vulnerable with him. It’s only right that Mumbo gives that same vulnerability back.

Grian huffs a little, and Mumbo feels his hands clutch at the fabric of his suit jacket. “Blowing people up and stabbing my boyfriend are two very different things, Mumbo,” Grian returns.

“Probably,” Mumbo weakly laughs. “But I had a point I’m trying to make here, Gri.” He holds him a little closer, a little tighter. Grian molds against him easily, pressing farther against Mumbo, face still wet with tears and body still trembling. “You might have killed me, but given the circumstances I think it was a little warranted? I mean, I did go after you first.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Grian mumbles against him.

“Hmm, maybe not in the long run,” Mumbo hums. “But like I said, everything that happened? I don’t hold any of it against you. I know you, Grian. I know that you’re a lovable menace, and incredibly pesky. You prank people for fun and a good laugh, but when it goes too far you do whatever you can to help them out. You’re a rather kind person.”

Grian buries his face into Mumbo’s shoulder as he holds him tighter. He’s trembling in Mumbo’s arms all over again, and Mumbo can feel a slight dampness on his shoulder.

“I think we can both agree that those games are statistical errors and shouldn’t be counted,” Mumbo jokes. He gets a muffled laugh from Grian. He smiles. “I know you, G. And that’s why I love you. I’ve never once held anything you did in that game against you. In fact I think I forgave you the moment we got back to Hermitcraft, honestly.”

“I don’t deserve it,” Grian mutters to him, and Mumbo shakes his head.

“I think you do.” He moves to press a kiss to Grian’s hair. “And I’ll say it however many times I need to until you believe it yourself.”

Grian melts against him, pressing as close as he possibly can. “You’re a spoon,” he says.

Mumbo laughs at that, offering Grian another little kiss. “So I’ve been told!”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[vishnavishivaa]

Ch 3- Hopes and Wishes ( Kaavyam )

@vibishalakshman and I are backkk!

*****

Vishva was in a hurry to get home. His cousin, Suresh, had let slip that Jeevika would be at his house with Kaamaakshi that day, and he wanted to see her, especially after the long day he had, coupled with a bad feeling of something big coming his way, case wise.

He rushed in through the door, hastily taking off his shoes. His sister smirked at him and made an excuse to leave at that moment, exiting into the kitchen and leaving him alone with Jeevika.

*”Vishva! Hey,” she smiled softly, her sweet voice like nectar to his tensed self. He automatically relaxed, leaning into the couch next to her, just needing to be close.

"Hello, Jeevika," he said softly. He ran his eyes over her face, wondering how it was possible for any woman to look this beautiful.

“Are you okay?”

Her gentle concern filled his heart with delight, her warm gray eyes making him smile in delight almost. 

“I am… now.”

Her small smile melted his heart instantly. He would do anything for her to be his- but he'd rather he suffer without her than make her suffer with him.

“Home, hmm?” She smiled softly. “You know, this home is like home to me too?” 

He brightened. Was it really?

"You're practically family, Jeevika." He whispered. Oh, if only he could really make her family.

“Really? Practically family? Akka and Anna have been pushing me to move in, actually,” she blushed.

Oh, he'd love it if she moved in! But could he really see her every day at home and resist the urge to take her into his arms and kiss her?

*”I don’t want to push myself into living here though, Vishva. I would be a burden for you all,” she said sadly, diverting him from his work stress with purposeful words that made him suddenly realize what she was doing.

"A burden? Why would it be a burden?" He asked, confused. When had Jeevika ever been a burden to him or his family?

“No no, I’m not saying you think of me as one. I am saying, what if I become one?” She said softly. “I love being here, but what if you three get bored of me? What then?”

"We could never get bored of you," he said firmly, "You don't get bored of family. That's not how it works."

She smiled softly. 

“I’m glad you think of me so, Vishva,” she reached out to pat his hand. “Now tell me, what’s bothering you. You can’t hide from family, right?”

He gave her a tired smile. "Just a bad feeling about work." He frowned, "I need to talk to Varun to see if he feels the same."

“He will be here soon, he said,” Jeevika responded. “He has just gone to get me chocolate ice cream. I was craving, and.."

"And Varun can never resist you." He said with a knowing smile.

“Best friend’s charm,” she giggled softly. “Hey, I am making him peach cobbler in return, so…”

"Would I like some? Absolutely." He smiled. Jeevika was, in his not so humble opinion, the absolute best at cooking. He would never turn down food from her.

“I kept you in mind before offering it for him too,” she laughed. “It will be enough for the whole group of us.”

"Good. Akka and Anna will get mad otherwise."

“Okay so, I have been thinking to do a food drive to raise money for the cancer patients at the Apollo cancer ward. What do you think?”

"I think that's a great idea." He said, smiling at her kindness.

“Will you help?” She looked at him with such beautifully hopeful eyes. How could he deny her?

"Of course I will." He said softly. More time with Jeevika and helping people in need? He would never refuse.

She smiled at him and was about to ask something, when of course someone interrupted. 

“Jeevi!”

“Yes Anna?” Jeevika turned to Aakaash, who had just come out of his room, or man cave as Vishva teased him. 

“Will you ask the designer to come for the event? I want to thank her for such a perfect suit. Really, it fits like a glove.”

Vishva laughed at his brother. "Finally decided to make an appearance?"

Jeevika smiled at him, elbowing Vishva. "I already planned to, Anna."

“You read my mind, baby sister. Vaalu, you just came home da. How was your day?” Aakaash looked at Vishva in concern, just as Kaamaakshi came out. 

“Well, dinner is almost done,” she smiled softly. “We are having peas pulao, and Jeevi’s potato karamadhu.”

"Nothing, Anna, don't worry. And I'm starving, so let's go eat!" He said cheerfully.

****

Vishva frowned, tensed as he heard the details of the case. His bad feeling had inteunsified that morning, despite seeing Jeevika’s lovely face.

He looked up as Varun walked in, sighing in relief.

"Varun!" He called him over.

Varun walked towards Vishva, frowning at his friend’s tense frame. 

“What happened? You were smiling this morning at the house?”

"Do you have...a bad feeling that something is going to come up?" He asked, rubbing his forehead. It had slowly turned into somewhat of a headache for him.

“I did, actually…” Varun said slowly. “What’s going on?”

He shook his head. "I don't know... the Commissioner wanted us to take a case and I've been feeling off about it. He just handed me the file, I've yet to look in it. Didn't want to start without you."

“I’m here, let’s do this.” 

Varun sat next to Vishva, the latter opening the file, and both reading the details, horrified.

"So our uneasiness was justified." He groaned.

"You bet it was."

“Let’s start then, Varun,” Vishva said, taking over once more, focused completely.

****

Pandimaa poured over her recent designs, crumpling the paper and throwing it away. Her room was filled with various pictures: dresses, awards, designs- all interspersed with pictures of her foster brother and Aakaash from when she was in college.

The sound of the shop opening reached her ears. She had to go and attend to a customer it seems. 

She walked out, only to hear a familiar voice say, “are we at the right place, Jeevi?”

“Yes Akka, I am sure of it,” came a sweet voice.

Her eyebrows furrowed. It almost sounded like Kaamaakshi- the girl was only a year younger than her, born three years after Aakaash. They had shared a lot of classes together.

"Welcome to Authentic Madurai, how may I help you?" She asked sweetly.

Kaamaakshi’s eyes widened. 

“Pandimaa? Is that you?”

So it was Kaamaakshi. She smiled and invited them inside. "Considering your shock, I'm going to guess your friend brought you here?"

“She did. Pandimaa, this is Jeevika. Jeevi, this is Pandimaa, you would have heard about her from Anna,” said Kaamaakshi frankly. 

“I have indeed! It’s a pleasure to meet you. Aakaash Anna loved the suit!” Jeevika said. “It was I who ordered it for him. He keeps… forgetting, apparently.”

She sounded incredibly skeptical when she said that.

Pandimaa blushed. "He might have just wanted you to do it." She said, "Do you want some tea?"

“That would be lovely,” Kaamaakshi smiled. 

“He absolutely did, so that he can make me order Vishva and Varun’s too,” Jeevika said. “He does not have an assistant, so I basically seem to have become a fusion of people for these two siblings.”

Pandimaa laughed, pouring them some green tea. "How are you both?"

“We are good. How are you? Where have you been?” Kaamaakshi said. “Anna kept searching for you. He was nearing the thought of asking Vishva to find you.”

Nandhini's heart melted. He'd searched for her? Really? She had assumed he would have moved on after a while. Hoped, really.

"An anonymous person got me in touch with my birth family in college and I moved away." She said. "I finished most of my education abroad and then moved to Madurai to start my own fashion business. I managed to get back in touch with Anna but not... not Aakaash."

“Do you want to get back in touch with Anna? Becoming the CEO made him have to shift into private numbers and emails,” Kaamaakshi said apologetically. “But he did try to find you. Jeevi even knows all about it.”

Pandimaa bit her lip softly. "I don't want to interrupt his life if it's going fine without me," she said firmly, "But if he wants me, then yes."

“He always wants you,” Jeevika said. “I have heard a lot about you from him in our late night Maggi sessions.”

So clearly he and Jeevika were close. She figured as much from the internet, which hinted at potential romances between Jeevika and someone in the family but Pandimaa had paid it no mind. People commonly speculated whom celebrities were dating.

"I'd love to reconnect with him then," she smiled, a text on her phone gaining her attention.

“Then come for our event? Let Anna meet you as a surprise from Jeevi and I?” Kaamaakshi said, pulling out the invite.

"Hm?" She said, shooting a quick reply after frowning. "Oh! Yes, I'd love to."

“Here you go. The dress code is inside,” smiled Kaamaakshi. “Let’s exchange numbers, and Jeevi and I will get going.”

Pandimaa smiled and nodded before handing over her phone. "Just type your number in. And I have Jeevika's too, from when she placed the order."

Kaamaakshi typed the digits in, saving her number and smiling. 

“Send me a text, yes?”

"Sure," she nodded, shooting her a quick 'Hi'.

“It was good to see you, Pandu,” Kaamaakshi smiled, hugging her gently. “Let’s go, Jeevi.”

Jeevika smiled and said her own goodbyes before both left, arms linked and giggling about something like best friends do.

Pandimaa smiled down at the invitation and opened up to see the dress code. Oh, she could work with this.

****

@vibishalakshman @thelekhikawrites @nspwriteups @whippersnappersbookworm @ragkee @chemicalmindedlotus @dr-scribbler @willkatfanfromasia @balladedutempsjadis @freeunknownwasteland @ramcharanobsessed @gemmusings @vijaysena @thirst4light @hollogramhallucination @chiyaanvikram @moon-880 @sakhiiii @thereader-radhika @ambidextrousarcher @celestesinsight @yehsahihai @thegleamingmoon @dumdaradumdaradum @rang-lo @yehsahihai @ragkee sorry to all those I forgot to tag!  Let me know your thoughts.  

[donnetellotheturtle]

Protector

Chapter 5

Decisions

Hugo was silent as they moved through the long tunnel. Their torch crackling and the dirt under their feet were the only sounds in there.

What happened to Donella? She wasn’t one to go down without a fight. Did they overtake her? Why didn’t she even look at him? It was like he was invisible. That hurt a lot.

“Four eyes?” Varian asked.

Hugo looked over.

“You okay?”

Hugo forced a smile on his face. “Oh yeah…yeah im fine.”

“Are you still mad at me for tricking you?” Varian asked.

“What? No. I…its been a long night. Lets just find a place to sleep.”

Varian still looked nervous. There was something he was thinking that Hugo wanted to understand. He usually liked the way Varians mind worked. But not when he looked so scared and nervous. Not when he was afraid and being chased.

“Varian I…” Hugo began. But where to begin? With the fact that he was a witch? The fact that Donella was his mom? The fact that he was the one who saved him with an explosion that he couldn’t repeat if he tried? No. No Varian would hate him. Varian hated witches. He made that quite clear.

The feeling of magic sparking and burning already badly hurt skin on his thighs only confirmed the thoughts.

That was until Varian came over and grabbed his hand out of his pocket. “What’s wrong, Hugo?” He said it so gently. It made Hugo’s stomach churn. “whatever it is, we can handle it. Together.”

He looked over and saw Nuru leaning against the wall, fully immersed in her book, trying to give them some semblance of privacy.

“I…” Hugos magic calmed in Varians hand. Just holding the other boys hand made him calm. Made his magic calm. He couldn’t do this. He wouldn’t put Varian in danger. He was dangerous. His magic was dangerous. A deep sense of panic gripped his chest.

“I cant.” He pulled his hand out of Varians.

“Can’t what?”

“I…im not who you think I am.”

“Hugo I don’t understand.”

“you’ll be safer with Nuru…not around me.”

“Hugo…” Varians voice was so gentle, so kind. “You can tell me anything.”

“I can’t.” hugos voice betrayed him. The deep sense of panic in his throat, in his chest. In his hands. The magic pooled into them and made them red hot.

Nuru stood, putting a hand on Varians shoulder. “Lets just give him a minute, okay? He’ll catch up with us.”

Varian sighed. “Don’t keep me waiting too long…please.”

Hugo just nodded as Nuru led him off down the cave. Farther and farther down until he couldn’t see the light of the torch.

Then he heard it.

Footsteps he’d learned to listen for since he was a kid. Heavy and intentional. Cyrus.

Hugo’s panic was only getting worse and Cyrus-why did it have to be fucking Cyrus-was coming. He was probably just like Donella. Under some kind of strange spell. He couldn’t even move his feet with how the panic gripped him.

He was right. Cyrus, big and intentional and burly in his armor walked towards him with a small light. Magic. Cyrus didn’t use magic.

“Boy.” It was the many voices again. Like what he heard the first night those goop monsters attacked. Only this time they were coming out of Cyrus’s mouth.

“Where is he?”

Hugo took a deep breath. “Why would I tell you that?”

“He stole what is mine.”

Hugo shook his head. “…You’re the protector of that place. Right?”

“Correct…If you brought him to me I could put something in it for you. Your magic. It is…explosive.”

“How did you-“

“I know all magic’s. I know how to take it away. Bring the boy and you will be rewarded.”

The worst part was, Hugo wanted to accept the deal. He wanted this magic gone. He wanted to be normal.

“I will be waiting at the river docks until tomorrows dawn. Should you decide to take my deal. If you do not however…I will hunt you and the boy to the ends of the earth.”

There was a long moment while him and the thing possessing Cyrus’s body stared at each other.

The words tumbled out of Hugos mouth. “Can you really…just take it away?”

“only if you comply.”

“And…and what will happen to Varian? Once it’s gone?”

“Nothing permanent…you have until dawn tomorrow.”

Cyrus turned. God Hugo wished he could go and hug Cyrus. Just like he used to when he was a kid, and Cyrus would hold him tight in his arms and make everything feel alright again.

Instead, Hugo collapsed to his knees, the surge of magic that released was bright. Too bright. He shielded his eyes.

When he opened them, in front of him was a small translucent mouse. It lit up the room with how bright it was.

“What…” The mouse crawled up into his hands. Hugo sniffled, hugging it close. “What should I do? I just…I want this to be over…I want…I want to go home.”

The little mouse blinked at him. He wanted to go home to his sleeping bag and the shared tent.

He also wanted to go home to Varian. Stupid Varian with his goggles and laugh and more kindness in a single sentence than he’d ever experienced in his life. Stupid Varian with such a smart brain that he thought of getting a sample. Who would think of that?

Stupid, stupid Hugo for thinking he ever had a goddamn chance. Not with someone as good as him. Not when he has so much magic his own father tried to kill him over it.

Hugo sobbed. The little mouse couldn’t say anything but it was comforting not to be alone in this place.

After a moment, he calmed himself and looked at the little mouse.

“You need a name, don’t you?”

It squeaked in response. Hugo thought for a second.

“how about…Oliva?”

Oliva seemed to like that name as she squeaked happily and climbed into Hugo’s coat pocket.

“So Oliva, what do we do?”

--

Varian had been quiet since they left Hugo in the cave. Nuru didn’t like it.

“…You know he just needs a couple minutes…he’ll be right back.”

Varian looked at her. “…What do you know about him?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Back at the tavern…you two were acting like you’d met before…you know something about him? Don’t you?”

Nuru looked to the side before answering. “Its not my place to tell.”

Varian rubbed his face. “What is your place? …who are you, Nuru?”

Nuru rubbed her arm. “As I told you, I’m a wizard from Estelle.”

“And why are you here? Helping us?”

“I cant tell you most things but I can tell you it’s the last mission before I become queen.”

“Queen? You’re a…”

“Yeah. Im royalty.” Nuru didn’t look extremely happy about that. “We should keep going.”

“no we’re not leaving it at that. That answers nothing about what I asked. Just…I need someone to tell me the truth here. Hugo…Hugo is being weird. I want to help him but I don’t know how.”

“Maybe you should start with channeling that magic.” Nuru said. “You didn’t see it. I doubt Hugo saw it…but I did.”

“What do you mean?”

“In the tavern. The way you thought. The way your kind works. It reeks of the eternal library. You’re the youngest alchemist to work for a royal family and your formulas are used all around the seven kingdoms. Varian I think that comes from your magic.”

“My magic is…my brain?” Varian questioned.

“That’s my running theory. Its very hard to prove though considering it’s not an obvious one…but, Varian you could be the most amazing wizard of this age if you put that mind to work in Estelle.”

“Nuru…”

“Just think about it, Varian. It makes sense.”

Varian shook his head. “I earned everything I know. And you think I was just given it cause of my mom?”

“That’s not what I was saying.”

“Sounded like it!” Varian took a deep breath. “…Lets keep going.”

Nuru sighed and the two walked in silence for a couple more minutes before they heard footsteps.

“Guys!” Hugos voice called out. Varian immediately brightened. As soon as he saw Hugo he ran to him, tackling him in a tight hug.

“Hey goggles. You miss me?”

Varian blushed, pulling away. “pfft no!”

“Boys let’s keep moving. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be stuck in this cave all night.” Nuru said.

Hugo moved to walk ahead when Varian took his hand. Hugo blushed a little.

“Don’t go away again…okay?” Varian asked quietly.

“Are you okay?”

Varian’s eyes flickered to the ground as they walked, then at Hugo. “…you’ve been my only constant the last couple days…I want to keep it that way, if that’s alright?”

Hugo softened and nodded, squeezing Varian’s hand. Oliva poked her head out of his pocket. Varian brightened at the little mouse.

“Oh my god where did you find her?” He asked as he offered a hand. Oliva climbed up onto it. Hugo quickly noticed the mouse wasn’t translucent anymore. Now she looked like a real mouse, not one born out of magic. “She’s so cute!”

“I named her Oliva.” Hugo said with a smile.

“That’s so cute.”

Nuru giggled softly. “You boys are adorable together…I think I see an exit.” She pointed up ahead. There was a latter, the top being a trap door.

Nuru climbed first with the torch. Then Varian, then Hugo. They were in an abandoned mill in a cave.

“Okay…not the best place to be.” Varian muttered. “We should try to get back to town.”

The conversation with Cyrus…not Cyrus. The protector in Cyrus’s body was gnawing at Hugo. But the feeling of Varian’s hand in his made it a little easier to deal with. It helped that he no longer felt like he was going to explode at any moment.

The three walked in quiet.

Varian noticed that Hugos mind was working overtime again. He had hoped the little bit of space given would keep this from happening again. He hated seeing Hugo so quiet. It wasn’t like him. but last time he asked about it Hugo freaked out. maybe he was still mad about him tricking him…or worse.

“Hugo?”

“Yeah?”

“Is now a good time to talk about earlier? In the cave?”

Hugo didn’t say anything for a moment, then nodded. “Whats up?”

“…Do you get those a lot? The panic attacks?”

“I…yeah.” Hugo had never heard it described that way. Thinking back, most of the time when his magic was going haywire it was because he was panicking.

“I get them too…”

Hugo had never known about that. He looked at Varian confused.

“Not that I’ve had time for it these days.” Varian sighed. “I mostly just work through them until they go away…how long have you been dealing with them?”

Hugo thought about it for a second. “All my life, basically…”

Varian nodded, not pushing the conversation further. Hugo counted himself lucky. The three slipped into silence again as they made their way into the deep woods.

“We’re pretty far away from town.” Nuru said. “We should make camp.”

“Cant you just teleport us?” Hugo asked.

She rolled her eyes. “No. im not that powerful.”

Hugo had a snarky remark but saying it would give away his magical imposition to Varian. He huffed and crossed his arms.

“Okay. I can make a campfire.” Varian said.

Finally, Hugo would get to sleep under the stars.

< >

Read this on A03!

[starlitangels]

Lighthouse

Avior’s back and I have to celebrate! That lighthouse line punched me right in the gut so here we go! 2.2k words

—

“Two Years” Ago...

“Well what can I say—kissing you makes me think all kinds of things. Some of them are even nice,” Avior said. He chuckled—a sound that I wished I could bottle and get drunk on—and leaned in close to kiss me again. His hand found the hem of my shirt. “Can I put my hands on your skin?”

“Please,” I pleaded quietly.

His hand dodged underneath, sliding up until his palm was splayed out on my chest. Directly over my racing heart. His other arm was cradling my shoulder blades and holding me close to him.

I was absolutely drowning in him, and I had no qualms about it. I’d kissed him first—and he let me. After so long of the two of us alone and testy around one another, having him under my hands and against my lips and surrounding me on all sides, I was addicted and I needed more.

I had no idea what the internal anatomy of a demon’s physical form might be like, but he had a heart. I could feel it pounding through his hand’s barrier and against my own body.

He leaned, bending me backward. His arm across my shoulder blades shifted to cushion my head so it wouldn’t hit the rock. “Is this okay?” he asked.

I nodded frantically into his hands. “More than okay. Please,” I breathed.

He set me down on the obsidian ground and sat up. His golden eyes, glittering in the firelight, drank in the sight of me.

With one swift twist of one arm, he removed his black polo shirt and practically fell down on top of me, catching himself a hair’s breadth before colliding with me.

—

Avior peeled his eyes open. The human he’d been trapped with was tucked against his side, his arm loosely held in their hands. He stared at the way the fire of the hellscape set their bare skin glistening with a gentle shine.

Not sure how he’d fallen asleep with his heart still pounding in his chest the way it was, he phased his arm through their fingers and got off the bed he’d summoned from thin air when things had turned too heated for simply making out on the rocky ground.

He stood in one fluid motion and left the little cave the two of them had been carving out a little base for themselves in.

He needed to think. And for that, he needed a walk. He’d rather be adrift in his astral form in Aria, alone, for a good long think, but that couldn’t happen now. So he’d make due.

Avior, despite being a demon, had never been good at emotions. Particularly his own. He’d had a tendency to push them aside in favor of logic and objectivity. He’d been astounded the first time the human here with him had met his gaze and his chest felt warm when they actually smiled at him.

He’d nearly fallen off the edge of the Second Circle when he actually understood that he was legitimately in love with them.

He kept walking. The farther away he got from them, the more confusion eddied in the whirlpool of his spiraling thoughts. Sure, a demon could detect magic—especially human Cores—from farther away than a human could.

But why could he still feel their Core as if they were walking right beside him?

He twisted in a slow circle. He was alone.

If he closed his eyes, he could... he could feel the distance between them. He could sense the human’s Core at its true distance.

But the moment he’d placed his hand over their heart earlier... something shifted. Humans and demons couldn’t bridge. Bridging required Threads and a Core. Which demons didn’t have. And yet... the effect of the shift was something he could only assume was similar.

Their Spellsong met his, sensed his melody, and immediately took up a perfect harmony. The notes winding around one another indelibly.

“I’ll never be able to let them go,” he breathed, realization dawning on him. Love was too shallow a word for these newfound emotions. Circinus had told him about how deeply demons felt emotional attachments. Avior had always brushed them off—believing that wasn’t really a situation he’d ever particularly encounter.

And, oh, was he wrong.

That harmony winding around his magic, drawing him back to the human still asleep on the bed his magic was holding in place... it was familiar, almost.

The dancing of their two Spellsongs together felt like Aria.

Their magic singing along with his twinkled against him like home.

Like starlight on his skin.

Avior released a breath he’d been holding and leaned against a pillar of onyx, staring through the smoke toward where the sky should be.

Starlight, starlight, starlight... his mind spiraled.

My starlight.

—

“One Year” Ago...

Avior stood at the opening in the Meridian. Looking out at his human. His starlight. No matter where he went in the hellscape, their harmony to his melody always pulled him back here. He could always feel them.

He knew that was probably because, physically, their bodies really weren’t far from one another. His suspended mere inches away in the fabric of the Meridian from where they were walking somewhere. It was just his mind that felt like he’d wandered miles away into the Ninth Circle or back up to their little base in the First Circle.

The base he’d carved out into a little hovel. Better than a cave, but not a home. The cave had been almost a home with his starlight in it. Now... now the blazing hot hellscape was cold and emptier than it had ever been.

He sighed and swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

Adrift. He was set adrift after he pushed them out of the Meridian with all the magic he had left. A ship pushed by waves and currents with no desire to resume its proper course. Neither knowing nor caring where the shore was anymore.

His starlight’s harmony beckoned him again. A beam of light splitting the fog.

A lighthouse guiding him home.

Home... a home he couldn’t reach. His home was his starlight, and they’d been ripped away from him. He’d done it to protect them and was facing the consequences. Alone. Exhausted. Devastated.

He sank to his knees on the black stone ground and closed his eyes. You’re safe, you’re free. That’s enough, he said to himself. Again. He’d repeated it like a mantra for what must have been a year now. The effectiveness of the thought was starting to wear off.

He pressed his hand against the gap in the Meridian. Feeling that driving force push him back. As always. He could still feel them through it. His magic could reach through. Wrap around them. But the force pushing him back would drag them back into the trap with him.

And as much as he longed to see them again... he couldn’t do that to them.

Curling up into a ball in front of the window to Elegy, he comforted himself in the memory of them. 

The grumpy look on their face the first time they were injured and he offered to heal them. The light in their eyes as they actually started trusting each other. The soft, but dry chap of their lips when they kissed him for the first time and the way it lit his whole body on fire. The hammering beat of their heart under his hand as he kissed them back. That moment their two Spellsongs met and wove together. The pool of molten gold he’d made when despair had been hanging heavily in their heart and he had to try to lift them out of it with distraction. It had worked. That “night” was burned into his memory. The joy singing between the two of them. The intimacy unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.

Their last night in the cave together. The quartz stars in the ceiling. Believing they’d be free together. The quiet love filling the space.

Avior forced himself to only remember the good things. He didn’t let himself remember any of the bad.

He wished it made him feel better.

Their Spellsong’s harmony to his was still there. Ringing through the hellscape.

But Avior himself was empty. 

The emotions he’d always pushed aside as a young demon only interested in logic and facts had never left him empty before losing his starlight. He’d thought he was entirely emotionally fulfilled before ending up trapped in the Meridian.

Now, he was in an emotional void that must have paralleled the physical one his body was hanging in, suspended as it was in the weave between worlds.

He choked out a sob.

—

“A Few Days” Ago...

Dissonance. Musical dissonance.

It felt wrong. Setting Avior’s teeth on edge.

They were back. He’d broken down. He’d caved in. Brought them back. Pulled them into the Meridian with a broken heart and a chasm of loneliness yawning open within him.

But their harmony that he’d been depending on for two years was wrong now. They hadn’t had any memory of him before, when they were out in the real world. The Meridian had kept those memories. But their harmony had still been singing with his.

Now, though, facing him, looking confused, their vague curiosity brushing over his empathic senses—their Spellsong felt wrong against his. Like an out-of-tune clarinet or violin squeaking instead of playing the right notes. Or, instead of a one-three-five harmony, their harmony was trying to be a half-step above and it sounded jarring. Making the roots of Avior’s teeth vibrate uncomfortably.

“What’s this? A visitor to my glorious hovel? However did such a boon come my way?” he asked sarcastically. The mask of the prickly, snarky demon falling into place. Protecting them from the past they once shared with him. Protecting him from breaking down again. “Oh wait. I brought you here.”

Their emotions turned a bit icy. Defensive. Protecting themselves from someone made of sharp edges and willing to be cutting.

Avior’s heart broke again. Into even more pieces.

Like the lighthouse beam he’d been following while adrift at sea was flickering. No longer a steady, swinging beam. Wavering. Unstable.

Unreliable for making his way home.

He couldn’t go home. Home wasn’t there anymore. Their memories of him were gone. Their perfect harmony to his melody was set in the wrong key. Everything was wrong. Rubbing him the wrong way.

Avior kept the mask on. He’d do what he had to in order to get free of the trap and then...

Then what? When they were both free, what would he do?

Would he love them enough to let them go? Or would he break and tell them everything? Could he even be strong enough to let them go, memories of their time together gone?

One step at a time, he reminded himself. That would have to be a bridge he crossed when he got to it. He’d spent his life trying to think several steps ahead. This time, though, he simply couldn’t. There were too many variables to even try to factor in.

—

Present...

“You... you really remember? All of our time together?” Avior asked breathlessly.

I nodded. “Like the memories never left. Like I never forgot.”

His gold eyes were warm in the chill Dahlia December night. “And how... how do you feel about that?”

I took a few steps closer and pulled him in. He met the kiss I placed on his lips with fervent desperation. Like he was drowning and I was air for him to breathe. Demons didn’t actually need to breathe but the simile’s point was the same.

—

Perfect harmony. It was back. The lighthouse beam burned bright and strong, drawing Avior in and guiding him home. A home he could reach again. A home waiting for him.

No longer adrift, hopelessly lost at sea.

He was with his starlight again. Cradled in the steady beam of their lighthouse to his senses.

Even as his starlight wandered the grounds of the academy stadium, searching for survivors after the shade disaster, he could feel them. The same way he had the first time he found their Core’s resonance lingering around him. Like they were right next to him, despite being much farther away.

He carried survivors back and forth from the grounds to the triage stations. The vague auras of other demons danced at his senses. Department employees, he assumed. Helping with the disaster. He wasn’t among their number, but no one questioned his presence. There was too much going on to care about credentials. And help was help.

His starlight’s magic led him to each and every wounded human they found until the grounds and the stadium were clear.

Now it’s time to get out of here, he thought, following his lighthouse one last time to where they were tiredly plodding back toward the main gathering of people on their own after Avior’s last survivor run.

He slid to a stop in bloodstained grass.

The tired smile they gave him warmed his heart. Their Spellsongs singing in perfect harmony again.

[the-hilda-librarians-wife]

Sketchbook Week Day 1 - Backstage

Summary: Johanna didn’t really care for her daughter’s favourite singer. In her opinion, the songs were just a tad too aggressive, too loud, and all too capable of filling her young mind with ideas that her mother didn’t really think needed enforcement. So, obviously, Johanna wasn’t too thrilled to know that KAiSA would be performing in Trolberg.

But it would make her daughter so happy and it would just be one night, wouldn’t it? One night, and she’d never have to think about that woman again

Notes: Written for @sketchbookweek Day 1 - First Meeting (or is it? 😏)

Okay my friends, the premise here is: what if they were narrative foils in every universe?

Btw the genre of music that I’m picturing for Kaisa here is like a mix of AViVA (obviously - that’s the singer who Kaisa’s stage name is inspired by), PVRIS and Ashnikko. In case anyone wants to understand the tone a bit better since I can’t describe music for my life, I just went ahead and made a playlist for the type of song she’d sing in this verse, in case you’re curious: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3V01wHaO6ALuhPbNC8r0tU?si=1248165be2914be8

Read it on ao3

For her twelfth birthday, Johanna got her daughter good earphones. She’d resisted against doing so for a while, arguing that the girl might isolate herself even more if given the opportunity, but she’d eventually relented. Both because she trusted Hilda, and she knew that it was normal and even healthy for teenagers to not be as attached to their parents as they grew into this new phase of their life, and because she could not stand it anymore. Because even if the reason behind her resistance had been wanting Hilda to spend time with her and not shut herself off, she couldn’t (and wouldn’t) stop the girl from listening to the music she liked. And she did. All the time.

Johanna had always been partial to country and folk. She liked the type of song that made her feel calm, like she was floating, like she was resting her body on a field of wildflowers and being told folk tales by gentle elders. She liked the songs about falling in love, the ones that made her feel hopeful that there might be someone out there even for her.  

Hilda, however, did not. Hilda liked fast paced and energetic songs that were made to be screamed to in dimly lit places. The ones that made the structure of their building quake when she turned the volume too high. She liked the kind of song you associate with unruly teenagers running around at night, graffiting walls, raising their middle fingers to any and everyone who dared to judge them.

She was particularly fond of one specific singer, a woman that went by the stage name of KAiSA. Well, fond was probably not the best way to describe it. Hilda all but idolised her, knowing by heart exactly what was going on in her artistic life at any given moment, asking for her merch at any festive occasion and listening to her songs minutes after they were released. Johanna supposed Hilda finally had a solid reason to venerate her, now. After all, it was the realisation that Johanna had her lyrics memorised that made her decide that enough was enough and she was going to get her child some headphones. 

That didn’t mean she had to be happy about it, however. She had only caved because those had been extreme circumstances and Johanna had begun to fear for her sanity if she had to be submitted to one more electronic chorus or guitar solo. But the idea that she now didn’t even know what Hilda was listening to didn’t please her. To put it simply, and Johanna saw no reason why she shouldn’t, KAiSA was a bad influence. Not that she seemed to actively do anything reprehensible, at least not from the very surface level research Johanna had done. But her lyrics, all about rejecting expectations and choosing your own path, never failed to make Johanna cringe and fear for what messages were coming across from them.

Not that she was wrong, per se. Heavens knew where Johanna would be if she hadn’t painstakingly detached herself from the life her parents wanted for her. Johanna just decidedly didn’t think that Hilda needed a push in that direction. The girl was lovely, of course, and Johanna loved her with her entire being. Maybe even more, if that was even possible. But she’d been growing up, and they didn’t always see eye to eye. She knew her daughter hid things from her. She knew the unwavering trust and companionship from her childhood was fading away. And Johanna knew it was fair, because she wasn’t at all perfect and it would be selfish of her to expect her daughter to think of her like so. But she was still trying, and didn’t know what good that was if Hilda reverenced a voice in her ears telling her to rebel and cut herself away from any strings.

Which was why Johanna found herself in a precarious tightrope when her daughter approached her with her best puppy eyes one evening. 

“Darling…” Johanna sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose after Hilda had shown her what was on her cellphone screen. “You know how I feel about this singer.”

Hilda seemed completely unsurprised by the argument. She did know, after all. 

“But mum-” She whined with practised stubbornness. “What are the odds that she’d ever come to Trolberg? It’s probably a one time only thing, I’ll never have the chance to go to one of her concerts again! Please, mum! Frida is dying to go as well, I wouldn’t be alone!”

Johanna sighed, knowing it was a lost battle and unsurprised that Frida would be with her daughter in this. The girls’ parents had been very worried recently, noticing changes in her behaviour that they had no idea how to handle. She’d been, according to them, speaking back to them and disobeying a lot more often than she used to, staying up late and ignoring them. It wasn’t exactly a hard thing for her to be more disobedient than she’d previously been, since Frida’s track record was one of following their wishes to a t, but it still meant there had been a shift.

Now, Johanna wasn’t exactly sure the situation was dire like they made it out to be. Considering what she knew about her upbringing, it was just as likely that Frida had just decided she wanted to be treated more like a person and less like a show animal, and Johanna had never seen her be anything short of sweet and polite. But either way, the two of them had also noticed a link between their daughter’s behaviour and her growing attachment to a certain artist. 

“But would Frida’s parents’ allow her to go?” She asked, even though it was more of a rhetorical question and they both knew it. Hilda looked shyly at her feet. 

“They might if you let me.” The girl answered in a small voice, and Johanna groaned. She’d really been put between a rock and a hard place with this one. 

If she didn’t allow Hilda to go, the girl would no doubt hold that against her for the longest time, and Johanna was already aware that her daughter was quickly piling up complaints against her that she couldn’t even imagine. It’d be better to not add another one, especially one this big, to the list. On the other hand, there was no way she would allow Hilda to go to such an event unaccompanied save for a friend whose well-being would also be Johanna’s responsibility, apparently. 

She rubbed at her temples, regretting her next words even before they left her mouth.

“Fine. We’ll buy the tickets.” The smile Hilda shot her was almost blinding in its brightness. “On one condition.”

“Anything!”

Her light immediately dimmed with Johanna’s next words, but not as much as she’d expected, and not enough to make her feel bad.

“I’m coming along with you.”

…......

The venue was an abandoned warehouse on Trolberg harbour, because of course it was. The subversive and avant-garde youth would never be seen gathering at, say, a club or a stadium like their boring parents, no sir. Johanna had to bite back a groan when she put the address on her map app days before the concert, just to have an idea of what she’d be dealing with. She hoped there had been some semblance of an inspection at the building before, but she highly doubted it. Certainly, being somewhere that wasn’t structurally sound was part of the fun. That sounded like just the kind of thing those types would say. 

When the day arrived, Johanna drove to the harbour with two hyperactive pre-teens on the back of her car. Neither of them had talked about anything else for the past week, and as much as Johanna was not looking forward to being squeezed between screaming strangers for two hours, at least after this it would be over. And at least, she reminded herself as her daughter jumped out of the car - parked neatly in a spot directly in front of the venue, which had been miraculously free - and took her best friend’s hand to pull her along, Hilda was happy and would have good memories of a fun night while being safe.

They’d arrived early. Johanna hadn’t wanted to risk anything stopping them from getting in, knowing Hilda would be beyond heartbroken, and the girl had been doing nothing but waiting for that moment all day (all month), anyway. So there were still people standing outside the warehouse, either waiting on the rest of their groups to arrive or killing time before being inside the venue officially. It was… odd. The warehouse was exactly what one would expect, ink peeling away from the walls - courtesy of the salty and humid air - and rusting gates. But the fans were not. She’d expected to see some standardisation, an army of moody teens and young adults, dressed in black and sporting sharp looks, the kind of person you figure would make you have nightmares just for kicks and laugh about it behind your back. The kind of person that made Johanna sing along when Hilda played that Teenagers song in the car, who really did scare the living shit out of her. 

And sure, there were some of those. Mostly confined to a group of giggling girls that couldn't be over seventeen. But the rest of them… Johanna couldn’t figure out a pattern for the life of her. The ages seemed to range from younger than Hilda and Frida to way older than Johanna. People she would categorise as shy nerds, standing quietly near the walls, queer elders who carried themselves with confidence having a smoke (or just a conversation) before coming inside, even a group roughly Johanna’s age that looked like they’d just come out of an important office meeting that could very well have been an email.

It was… not what Johanna had expected.

The girls took it all in with the enthusiasm of children to whom this was the height of nightlife, of course. They insisted they go inside right away, preening when many of the adults nearby gave them thumbs ups or friendly waves at the sight of them, cooing about how sweet it was to have younger fans present among themselves. Johanna clutched her purse tighter. 

A buff looking woman with a hard face and grey hair arranged tightly into a bun was controlling the entrance. It was clearly just her face rather than an attempt to intimidate, though, because as soon as Johanna showed her the three tickets she made her best effort to put on a smile - she didn’t look as if her face was used to doing that - and opened up the gate for them. They cringed at the sound, being reminded that abandoned clearly meant nobody had bothered oiling the thing in quite a long time, but they were immediately distracted by a vision of the inside.

It wasn’t just an empty space. There had been a structure built inside. They couldn’t see very far, since a wooden wall had been put up to make something like a corridor parallel to the front of the building. The wall was covered in art, each next to an instagram or twitter username, most of it either variations or clearly inspired by KAiSA’s album and singles art covers. The spaces that weren’t filled by the fan drawings had verses of lyrics, tossed around at random like out of context poetry. There was little time to analyse it, however, because as soon as they’d stepped inside a cheery voice greeted them. “Thanks, Agnes! And hello, you three!” Said a sun kissed woman with dark curls and wearing a merch shirt that matched Frida’s. She was on her feet behind a wooden stand, making Johanna wonder for a moment if this was where they’d be selling their products. The hypothesis didn’t really make a lot of sense when you took into consideration that there were no signs of shirts, hoodies or CDs anywhere near, though. “I’m Adeline, here to handle any accommodations you might need. We asked you guys about it during the ticket sales fill out form, but we have extras of everything, in case anyone else wants. How can we make this experience more comfortable for you?”

It was clearly trained, a mould that shaped the speech each time. But it was clearly genuine and even in the low lighting of the warehouse they could see the gentleness of Adeline’s eyes and the soft smile on her face. None of them knew how to react for a moment - they hadn’t really given much thought to what that question had been doing in the questionnaire, but had answered automatically. It wasn’t like it ever made any difference what was answered in those kinds of forms. The first to have any sort of reaction was Frida, who stepped up to the stand with fidgeting hands.

“I… am autistic?” She said, the unusual situation making her wonder if this was really what she was supposed to be doing. Adeline, however, only opened up a wider smile.

“Cool, me too! We have so much in common already.” She quipped, gesturing between their matching t shirts, a black garment with a golden hexagon print and a purple diamond in the middle. “Any sensory issues? We have earbuds and dark glasses, though I will let you know that there won’t be any harsh lights, anyway. Boss hates them.”

Frida only managed to gape, staring at the woman in disbelief for a couple of seconds. Adeline only smiled back gently, giving her all the time she needed to answer. When she eventually shook herself out of it, she asked for the earbuds, and Hilda stepped up and asked if she could have a pair as well. Both of them got them (Hilda’s were black and Frida’s were purple, of course), and when Adeline directed that blinding smile to Johanna to ask her if she could help her out with any accommodations, Johanna’s negative answer was a lot less certain then it ought to have been.

Adeline bid them goodbye and wished them a lovely concert, but not before pointing to the other edge of the corridor, where there were plenty of chairs, a couple of fans (the ‘wind making’ type, not the ‘screaming their devotion’ type) and what looked like noise cancelling headphones, as well as a drinking fountain, telling them to feel free to lounge around before the concert began and to head there if it ever felt like they needed a break. And not before telling them to come to her if they figured she could help in any way, of course. 

They walked away just as someone else arrived to ask if their partner could have a chair for when they could no longer stand up during the concert, leaving the woman to her job. Hilda looked more energetic than ever, and Frida matched the sentient even if she looked… touched, and more pensive than usual. Johanna followed the girls past the passage that took them to the other side of the wooden wall. The stage had clearly been built for that occasion, and the more obsessive fans (the ‘screaming their devotion’ type, this time) were already sitting down on their own towels or standing close to it, making a barrier. The girls weren’t too upset by it, however, pleased about still being able to stay at a short distance from their idol. It wasn’t like they were going to attempt to touch her, anyway, they were both far too polite and respectful for that. 

Other than the stage, the fans, and the pit, the place didn’t really live up to what Johanna had imagined. There was no trash on the ground, no scents that alerted her to illicit activities happening nearby, no screaming (at least not yet). The lights were soft, just like Adeline had promised, the warehouse’s white lamps having been covered by some sort of transparent purple filter to make them emit a much softer lilac glow. The speakers were already on, and while the show hadn’t begun, they seemed to be playing an ambience noise at a low volume. And it was classical music. 

Had they walked into the wrong place?

It took no time at all for Johanna to feel like an outsider. She’d been expecting it, of course, but she’d also expected to have to keep Hilda and Frida as outsiders as well in order to protect them. Instead, the two girls soon found easy conversation with a group of college students that were standing near their chosen spot, sharing stories about how they’d found out about KAiSA’s music and become followers. Seeing absolutely no reason why she should interfere on the perfectly innocent interaction, especially not when they got into the topic of what their routine was like at college and seemed to be giving a shot at converting the two girls to the STEMS, Johanna simply stood near them, feeling awkward, silly, and a lot older than she actually was. 

And then it happened. The moment everyone there was waiting for with such fierce anxiety that no amount of mingling with pleasant strangers could make them forget about. The lights over them dimmed even further. The ones above the stage got a shade brighter. A voice with a heavy accent - which Johanna only barely recognized from all of the songs blasting from her daughter’s computer, different as it was when it was just talking normally - bid them good evening through the speakers and everyone began to scream.

And onto the stage walked the most beautiful woman Johanna had ever seen.

…......

The concert itself wasn’t as much of an expectation breaker as everything else so far had been. Johanna had been forced to listen to a huge part (if not all) of KAiSA’s work, after all. Even if she did have to admit that whenever Kaisa stopped singing, whenever she interacted with the audience or introduced a song, she was far… softer than Johanna had expected. There was an edge of shyness to her that however many concerts she’d performed in so far hadn’t been able to erase. A lot of gratitude, too. She wasn’t insecure, but she didn’t act like she was proud of herself for being there, for having carved out that space for herself with nothing but pure talent and dedication. Rather she acted like that place was a gift, like that night was an opportunity given to her by everyone who had ever taken the time to press play on her songs. Johanna didn’t much care for the guitar riffs, for the middle fingers at some parts which she could only guess who they were aimed at, wasn’t too particularly impressed by the way that the singer’s dancing seemed to begin and end at shoving her torso forward to make her black and purple hair fall all over her face.

And yet, Johanna must have been just as entranced as any of the undying fans on the floor with her.

The woman had something magnetic about her. Something magical. Her style, for one - black wide leg jeans, doc martens, a loose black tee shirt with something long sleeved with black and white stripes underneath - reminded Johanna that ‘dressed like a rockstar’ was a thing. Even if Hilda had insisted many many times that KAiSA’s genre was pop rock and indie rock, still Johanna couldn’t see the difference since there was a rock somewhere in the name. There was also the way she put her hair back into place after doing one of her moves, the way that she carded her finger through it and made the mess worse, yet it always looked better. There was the way she looked so pleased when the crows shouted her lyrics, eyes flashing with genuine emotion as if she didn’t do that every week, as if she wasn’t a global phenomenon on the rise. There was the awkward smile she’d flash when she decided to try cracking a joke in between performances, the surprise on her face when people would laugh at it and not at her, as if this wasn’t her stage, her kingdom, and they weren’t all just happy to be able to be a part of it. 

Two hours went by, somehow. Johanna was pretty sure they must still be in the first twenty minutes of the concert when the singer was giving her last farewells and acknowledgements, listing every single member of the crew (many people cheered when she said Adeline’s name) and thanking the audience once again. She turned her back to them to take a selfie with them all - not that she managed, some people around the edges still didn’t make it in - and told them they were a lovely audience. 

And then, it was over.

It should have been over. People were promptly heading out the way they came, out of the warehouse and into the night, with goofy grins and memories of an evening well spent.

Except Johanna let herself get roped into something stupid. 

…......

“Come on, you saw how she is!” Hilda had said. “Fans do this all the time! The worst we can get is a ‘no’!”

Johanna had had to survive the pressure of two pairs of puppy eyes pleading with her. They hadn’t even moved from their spot near the stage, even as people walked past them. It was a terrible idea. Sure, a normal thing for young fans to do, but Johanna was neither young nor a fan, and she really should have put a halt to this idea the moment it came up.

But it was just once, and Hilda was right in the end. They weren’t going to break into anywhere, just make an attempt. If they faced a locked door or got told to fuck right off, well, they’d have tried and no harm would have been done. And Hilda would be so thrilled if it did go well. Johanna had had her hands tied, really. If she, for once in her life, did the unexpected thing and helped her daughter and her best friend onto the stage, right before climbing herself, then it could be blamed on the adrenaline and Hilda’s influence. Nothing to do with the way that light caught in the singer’s eyes.

They were so quick about it that nobody else saw them. The three of them quickly snuck behind the stage’s curtains, going the same way that KAiSA had appeared and after the show, disappeared. There was a corridor, there, dimly lit and empty save for a technician working at what looked like a sound table. Everything inside Johanna was yelling at her to ask him if they could go in a bit further, maybe accidentally bump into a rising star if they got lucky, but he paid them no mind and she discovered she was too much of a coward to risk it. They tip-toed along the corridor, pretending they weren’t doing so, of course (looking casual was the key), and reached a door. An unlocked door.

Hilda opened it, naturally. She was by far the bravest one out of them, and it gave the other two some peace of mind knowing that they could always tell themselves they were just following Hilda along. Couldn’t let the girl go wandering off all by herself, now, could they? And just when they had forgotten that that structure that had been built inside the warehouse didn’t, in fact, belong to it, they were faced with the vast empty space of all that was left of it, a high ceiling and that same peeling wall they’d found out in front. Only one thing occupied the space, and it was a trailer in characteristic black and purple colours. 

The girls gasped. It was almost too good to be true.

Would have been, too. If one boulder of a man hadn’t been standing directly in front of the trailer’s steps, and if his head didn’t immediately snap at them at the sound of two teenagers’ excitement. 

They held their breaths. Johanna put her hands on both of their shoulders, just in case they needed to bolt quickly. The man - tall, as has already been established, dark skinned with thick eyebrows and a tailored suit - met each of their eyes. And then, after stepping closer to them, he stood up straighter, took a deep breath and opened a smile.

“Hello there!” Said the gentle giant, sounding a lot cheerier and more welcoming than he had any right to. “I’m Eldrid. Fans, I’m assuming?”

They nodded. Even Johanna. If felt like anything other than that simple gesture would require a muscle that had been locked in fear.

“Well, she doesn’t usually see fans after shows. Tired, and all. But would you like me to see what I can do for you?”

They were once again too stunned to do anything but nod. 

“Great! One moment, please.”

Rather than going to the trailer to ask, he picked up a walkie talkie from his suit’s pockets. His voice lost no hints of that gentleness when he spoke. 

“Hey! We have two young fans and an-” He squinted at Johanna like he was asking her a question. “Adult supervisor here. Do you think they could…?”

Johanna snapped out of it long enough to mouth the word ‘mother’ at him, at which he brought a hand to his chest and made a cooing sound. The moment barely lasted a second, though, because they soon heard the voice that answered through his communicator and it was decidedly not the singer’s.

“Children, you say?” Said what sounded like an elderly woman. “Well, let me see. My dear would you… oh, is that so… in that case-”

Someone was talking to the elder in the background. It didn’t take a genius to guess who.

“Yes, let them in!” Chirped the voice. “She’d love to meet them.”

Eldrid beamed, looking as happy for them as they themselves were. Or, well, maybe even happier. It hadn’t sunk in just yet that this was actually happening.

But it was. And they were greeted at the door of the trailer by the owner of the unfamiliar voice they’d heard, a lady with wrinkles and round glasses and a head of hair like a fluffy cloud. She offered them a kind smile, which they were all three too stunned to truly appreciate, before stepping aside and allowing them into a space that looked like a secret room that bookish children daydreamed about finding in libraries. It was cosy, with a kitchenette to one side, a couch and a beanbag in the middle and a built-in bunk bed. There was also a little corner that was very clearly meant for work, with a couple of instruments on the wall as well as an open laptop and a microphone. Books stacked on every available surface, including the kitchen counter, and there was a scent of lavender in the air. Most of the lighting came from fairy lights hung all around, and the walls were decorated with drawings and stickers that could have been taken from a children’s fairytale compilation.

The scene before them made a very stark contrast with the rockstar staring at them with a barely noticeable blush and a careful smile.

Hilda was the first to break. “Holy shit.” She breathed, meaning Johanna immediately also snapped out of it to chasten her. “Miss Kaisa, hi! Thank you for having us, we’re such huge fans!”

With the first barrier already brought down by her friend, Frida managed to take a step forward and open a beaming smile. “Yes! The show was fantastic, we can’t thank you enough!”

Looking very much like she had no idea how to handle the situation (which didn’t mean she didn’t seem pleased, her blush growing a shade darker), Kaisa walked closer to them.

“Is that so? Ah, you’re way too kind.”

“No, we’re not! We mean it, really.” Hilda insisted, her tongue loosening up at thrush of having her idol not a metre away from her. “Mum only came to keep an eye on us, and even &lt;em>she</em> enjoyed it! Didn’t you, mum?”

Suddenly every set of eyes in the room - trailer - turned to her, and Johanna was keenly aware of it. Especially KAiSA’s. Those storm grey eyes locked on her and a spark immediately shot down her spine. 

What was that word she’d thought when she saw her for the first time?

Ah, yes. Magnetic.

That checked out. 

“I- yes! Yes, very much. It was a riot! An absolute banger of a time.”

Jesus Christ Johanna shut the fuck up-

The singer’s smile turned genuine suddenly.

“I’m happy to hear you think so!” She said. Neither of them were aware of the elderly woman looking between the two of them with an eyebrow raised. “I always like it when someone leaves happier than they expected to. You’re certainly not the first parent to accompany their kids to one of my concerts, and I have to say I really admire all of you.”

Johanna was good with people. She dealt with them on the regular for her job, interpreting the most overly complex instructions and appeasing the more difficult clients; she made small talk with strangers on the grocery line, she got on well with all the parents during Sparrow Scouts meeting. Yet somehow in that moment she felt like she had a net total of zero social skills under her belt, all of her cool suddenly evaporated under the heat of a hundred little fairy lights. 

“I- well- you do?”

“Of course!” The corners of her thin lips quirked up even higher. She’d walked onstage with dark purple lipstick, Johanna was sure. There was nothing left of it now, even if there had been when she’d left the stage. Not that Johanna had been paying attention to that. “The younger fans are always so lovely. And it’s endearing that you care about both their safety and their happiness so much that you’re willing to tag along to something you won’t really enjoy.”

She was sure her cheeks must be nearing the colour of her sweater. Which, damn, why was she wearing &lt;em>that</em>? She was at a concert, for heaven’s sake, couldn’t she at least have made the slightest effort to be in anything other than her everyday clothes? She looked like she was going to Starbucks. But it was too late to do anything about that now.

“I- I- I- did enjoy it, though!” And what was it with her that she couldn’t stop stammering? Her only saving grace was that a celebrity like her was probably used to a lot worse. She was still looking kindly at her, patiently waiting for her to speak with her hands folded in front of herself. She’d removed the black tshirt, leaving only the black and white striped garment over her torso and oh &lt;em>gosh</em> it was a tank top, Johanna could see a patch of her belly if she so much as lowered her gaze for a single second- “Like Hilda said, I didn’t expect to. But you’re truly really talented!”

It looked like Kaisa was going to thank her for it again, but Johanna was spared from having to continue embarrassing herself by Hilda, who had apparently gotten sick of her mother getting all of the attention. The elderly woman was biting back a smirk behind them, having closed the door. 

“If it’s not too much trouble-” Kaisa’s eyes went back to the child, widening a bit like she’d forgotten she was there. “Could we have your autograph? And maybe a picture?”

“Of course!” She said immediately. “If only I had- oh, thank you, Tildy!”

The woman had stepped up to Kaisa and given her a notebook and a pen, which none of the other people present had a single clue where she’d taken from. After taking the items from her hands, the singer kept a hand on her arm, covered by a woollen cardigan because apparently Johanna wasn’t the only one not abiding by concert dressing codes, and smiled at them.

“I should probably introduce her! This is Matilda. She’s my agent, and most importantly, my mother.”

The look that Matilda sent her daughter, apparently, was one of pure adoration, even though said daughter had now lowered her gaze to the notebook in order to find a blank page. All three of them ‘aw’ed at the scene, though if she was being honest with herself, Johanna felt something unpleasant stir within herself, like guilt rearing its ugly head and nudging insistently at her ribcage. It was becoming all too clear for her, and all too quickly, that she’d made all sorts of assumptions about the woman in front of her and that at least half of them didn’t come close to being the truth. Driving here a few hours earlier, she never would have expected someone who sang lines like ’fuck your oily slick truths, fuck your sugar sweet lies, I’d be my own martyr before letting you be the reason I die’ to also sweetly introduce her elderly mother like she was her precious treasure.

Johanna knew where this all stemmed from, of course. Trying so hard to be perfect and irreproachable all your life will mess you up on the occasions when you find out that people who do not censor themselves like that can, in fact, be just as kind and smart and responsible without bordering on anxiety attacks at the thought of doing something others deem ‘wrong’-

“What do you want me to write?” Kaisa’s voice cut through Johanna’s frankly concerning train of thought. Some feelings should only be set loose in places like home and therapy and definitely not concert backstages. 

The singer had lowered herself down on one knee, which with her stature (Johanna noticed that even if her presence onstage was so enthralling that you couldn’t tell it then, the woman was actually quite short) made it so the kids stood taller than her. The two of them were apparently on the verge of vibrating at having her so near.

“Just your name would be perfect, miss!”

Kaisa lifted an eyebrow at Frida, and Johanna was afraid that she’d question the way the girl had called her (which Johanna knew to be because of her parents’ insistence on politeness and formality), before she tilted her head to the side. “Are you sure? I always feel so weird giving people bits of paper with just my name. It feels so self centred. I mean, I’ll give it to you if it’s what you really want, sure, but… just let me know if I can do anything else.”

Both Frida and Hilda looked at each other, surprised and also thoughtful about how to use the given opportunity. Johanna knew she should have stayed out of it, but the words left her mouth on her own accord.

“Why don’t you make them a doodle of something?”

All three of them turned to her. She thought she actually saw the rockstar look sheepish. 

“Honestly, I can’t really draw.” 

“That’s the fun, though.” Johanna smiled, trying to look far more confident than she was actually feeling as she tried to convince someone who had been on the billboard top 100 for the past three years of her silly idea. “Doesn’t have to be good. It’s just something for them to remember you by.”

If Kaisa expected to have allies in the two fans, she was certainly disappointed when they both smiled brightly at her, excited with the idea. She sighed, resigned, and beckoned them further inside the trailer, where she promptly let herself fall down to the beanbag and gestured for them to settle on the couch. Only Tildy remained standing, looking at the scene with a twinkle in her eyes. 

“Alright, then. What are you guys called?”

Though she was focusing all her attention on the notebook in front of her, she still smiled when the girls introduced themselves. “Those are beautiful names.” She said without looking up. “Our names all kind of sound alike a bit, don’t you think? We didn’t get very original with the vowels there.”

“Wait, so Kaisa is actually your name?” Johanna asked, and apparently it was the wrong thing to do, because Hilda looked at her like she was about to die, Frida very pointedly did not look at her but there was clear mortification on her face and Kaisa… well, Kaisa looked amused.

“Yep!” She said, exaggerating the ‘p’ sound with a pop. “My stage name is just a stylization, but that is actually my birth name.”

The singer continued watching her, so Johanna hummed in understanding and nodded. It must not have been the reaction she had been expecting, because the mirth faded out of her eyes just a notch as she turned them black to the notebook. 

“Oh, this is so embarrassing.” She huffed before ripping the page and offering it to Hilda, who took it in her hands like it was made of pure diamond. “Hope you’re happy, young lady. You can actually ruin my reputation with this.”

It was all Hilda could do not to jump out of the couch and run around in excitement. “Thank you so much! I love it!” She said as soon as it was safe in her hands. After a second of squinting, she added. “Just, uh, what… what is it?”

Johanna looked over her daughter’s shoulder at the piece of paper. In a fancy cursive handwriting, Kaisa had written her stage name at the top of the page, and then underneath it, a short sentence. It read ‘From the Trolberg concert on 19/11/2023. To Hilda. Love your hair!’

And then, besides it, there was a stick figure with an uneven circle for its head, a triangle on top of it, and a bigger triangle for its torso. 

“It’s… an elf.” Kaisa said after deliberation. “Alfur the elf.” 

Tildy snorted from her post a few steps away from them, and Hilda smiled even brighter. 

“It’s really great!” Hilda said, and bless her soul, she probably believed it.

“Don’t lie in front of your mum, kid, she might think I'm a bad influence.”

Luckily, Kaisa had already turned to her second sheet of paper, so she was distracted from the distinct silence of three people biting their tongues.

When she gave Frida her own sheet, which was accepted with just as much reverence, it had a similar dedication but instead of an elf, there was a creature with pointy ears, a tail, and what looked like an attempt at wings. It was hard to tell, but there wasn’t much else that the bigger triangles sprouting from the oval body could be.

“It’s a catowl.” Kaisa said before even being asked. “Since it doesn’t exist, you can’t tell me my drawing doesn’t look like one.”

An eyebrow lifted, Johanna asked. “Implying that elves do exist?”

“Oh, we have a cynic in our hands, do we?” Kaisa answered with a smirk. The girls were still practically trembling with excitement, and were likely about to see if they’d lucked out and could also ask for a picture, when Tildy swooped in and asked them if they’d like to take a look at the recording apparel at the trailer. They jumped at the chance, of course, so the agent took them to the music corner of the space and began giving them a tour through the music creating process, leaving the two women alone. As alone as one they could be inside a trailer, of course.

“I don’t suppose you would like an autograph, would you?” Kaisa grinned playfully. It made Johanna blush something fierce; she hadn’t considered, so far, how it would feel to be the sole focus of the singer’s attention. It felt like what she imagined standing too close to a star must be like. 

“That- no, I don’t need it.” She answered and then immediately bit her cheek, noticing what that must sound like. “Not that I don’t- I just don’t want to give you any trouble- oh, bother!”

To her infinite relief, Kaisa threw her head back and laughed. The fact that the gesture exposed her pale neck didn’t help Johanna’s predicament in the least, but if it meant she hadn’t taken offence then Johanna would take it. 

“Johanna, I’m only teasing.” Though the words were softly spoken, Tildy still heard them all the way from the other corner of the trailer, bit her lip, and turned back to what she had been showing the girls. Neither of them realised it. “Trust me, I would not want to live in a world where everybody was my fan.”

The mother nodded, gulping when Kaisa got up with a graceful movement just to sit back down again by her side on the couch. She splayed herself, draping her low back over her side’s armrest and spreading her legs, making herself comfortable. Johanna wasn’t looking. Johanna was very pointedly not looking.

“You are great, though. Even I can recognize that and I don’t know anything about music.”

Kaisa flicked her wrist and looked away in what she recognized to be an ‘oh, stop it’ gesture. If Johanna’s brain had been making better use of its blood supply, she probably would have put together a sentence that said ‘sorry for barging into your post concert rest, and thank you for being so lovely with the girls’ in some shape of form. But her mind had a lot going on just keeping Johanna rational at that moment, so she only managed to follow Kaisa’s cues. 

“So, what do you do, if I may ask?”

You may ask absolutely anything. No, bad thought. Answer like a normal person.

“I’m a graphic designer.”

Yes, that’s better. Normal person, normal answer. Good job, Johanna.

Kaisa’s eyes widened as she lifted both eyebrows. “You’re an artist? Did you ask me to draw something for them just out of sheer sadistic satisfaction?”

“Maybe I just wanted to see if there was something you weren’t good at.”

No, Johanna! she mentally took herself by the shoulders and shook hard. Too forward! You’re being creepy to the celebrity!

She was about to apologise when the glee in Kaisa’s face made it clear she wouldn’t have to. It might just be Johanna’s mind seeing what it wanted to, but the singer’s face seemed to gain a bit of colour.

“Well, it’s good to know Hilda has someone who can give her actually good drawings, at least. Are they both yours?”

Johanna sighed, relieved she apparently hadn’t overstepped. She’d have to reel herself in, though. Heavens knew what kind of terrifying situation strangers put someone like Kaisa through every day of her life just for doing her job. She was determined to not be one of them. 

“No, just Hilda. Frida is her best friend.”

Kaisa smiled sweetly, glancing over at them. Unfortunately, they could see that Tildy had finished showing them the instruments they brought everywhere and the apparels in the recording booth, and were coming back to join them.

It made Johanna start, to realise that her daughter coming back so that she wouldn’t be alone with an artist she supposedly hated was an unfortunately situation for her.

Oh, there was no way this could end well.

“You must be a great mother. Bringing not only your daughter but taking responsibility for her friend as well, I mean. Most parents I’ve met wouldn’t do that. “

She was saved from having to begin what would no doubt be one of the most stuttery sentences in her life by the teens coming back with Tildy in tow. They didn’t remain for long, though it was a lot longer than they’d expected to coming in since not only did they get their pictures, but also were offered tea. After that, they were off, thanking the musician in every way they knew of, just to watch her blush and insist that it was nothing. Just as the door to the trailer was closing, Johanna’s eyes met Kaisa’s one last time. She wanted to say something, something that went beyond thanking her for the experience and the availability, but her mouth wouldn’t even open. She thought Kaisa understood, though, because the last thing she saw before Eldrid was guiding them out was Kaisa’s shy smile. 

…......

“Do you still think she’s bad influence, mum?”

They were out into the cold night air, walking to their mercifully close parking slot. Johanna almost didn’t register the question, lost in thought as she was, but she was, first and foremost, a mother. Anything Hilda said would always be considered to have the highest level of importance to her brain.

Images of Kaisa flashed before Johanna’s eyes. Her smile, her hair, her twinkling grey eyes, the melody of her voice when it wasn’t shouting at a microphone.

Johanna bit her bottom lip. It was a good thing she was never going to see the singer again. Otherwise, this could become a problem for her. A very big one. 

She pretended to think her answer through, making the appropriate humming noises as she started the engine. 

“I might have been… overly critical.” She declared, pretending like there weren’t butterflies in her belly still. “She’s alright”

In the back of the car, Hilda and Frida shared a victorious look and smirked to themselves.

…......

“You got lucky she didn’t notice it, my dear.”

Kaisa stopped pouring the soup Tildy had made them into her bowl to look at her. The woman was watching her serenely from her claimed spot at the kitchen counter.

“Notice what?”

She smirked. “You said her name before she’d introduced herself.”

“Shit.”

[punk-pandame]

ok for the violence asks, if u may <3

worst blorboficiation,

a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom (sasuke unless u want to talk about other/or more than one)

you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

i have chosen violence

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom UUGHHH this hard cause i only ship him with naruto and i see sns as a very switch-vers relationship... okay, i'll try. in the context of sns... - sasuke would never bottom because: he spent years in caves with a guy who wanted to steal his body. his brother violated his mind with the tsukuyomi. he's had his eyes surgically removed and replaced. he had a curse mark non-consensually bitten onto his neck. his likely first experience with penetration was haku turning his lil genin ass into a pincushion. i can't imagine sasuke would ever want to let someone inside him, in any sense of the word, after all that. being penetrated is a very vulnerable thing, most of those positions leave you with little control over what's happening. i don't think sasuke would appreciate that. he'd need the control that comes with topping. - sasuke would never top because: he's bottom-coded, truly. he's the yin, he's receptive to other's opinions, he was willing to at least feign interest in letting orochimaru take his body, he accepted the curse mark, he's often portrayed in the more feminine role when cast beside naruto, etc. etc. etc. also, remember how he plunged his hand through his best friend's chest that one time? remember how he spent years of his life becoming one of the strongest people on earth? i can easily imagine that having some kind of psychological effect on sasuke's sexuality. i can imagine him seeing his body as a weapon and not trusting himself to stay gentle in the heat of the moment. he can, obviously, but the amount of worries and concerns it comes with makes it unenjoyable. once he opens up a bit, he'd take to bottoming like a fish to water.

13. worst blorboficiation KAKASHI. i feel like people focus too hard on one aspect of his personality or another when he's got so much going on. he's actually so complex. yes he's the sopping wet puppy in a cardboard box but he also is an attack animal who will go fucking apeshit if you come for his pack members. he's got multiple overlapping traumas that get repeatedly hashed out in the text and at some times very few coping mechanisms. woobify him all you want but he's still a kage-level fighter long before he gets the title (that he didn't even want but still did a great job with!). they made him teach children. like you have SO MUCH to work with why are you only focusing on his stats or his teaching methods like 😩

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like... orochimaru XD the dude's fucked seven ways to sunday but he's just such a compelling villain to me. i especially like to think of him pre-naruto, as a young adult still being broken by the world and by war and his toxic relationship with tsunade and solidifying into the creepy fuckin snake we see later. he's also genuinely one of the funniest characters in the show to me, especially if you consider what he's up to in boruto. which is fucking?? nothing?? lmfao like he's got a kid (or maybe a few) and tenzou babysits him and taka is there?? idk man it's hilarious tho.

[gcldfanged]

Things you said I wouldn't understand.

It must've been the first time Tseng had seen him just... go empty. Completely numb, almost like a fugue state taking over, narrowing all of his sensory input to whatever was happening in front of him, in that second. Eyes little more than two matte pools of nara ink, not truly focused on one specific thing, but sliding around- floor to ceiling, his blood misted forearm still gripping his service pistol. The mangled, caved in pile of meat, teeth, and tongue that the agent had essentially bludgeoned with the butt of his handgun.

Their witness was still alive... maybe. Spasms making the body jerk like a marionette on twisted strings. Perhaps the last few signals of neurons firing off as the body began to shut down after going into shock.

Jae-hyo heard Tseng's voice but it felt so distant, the rapid and sharp snaps of his thumb and forefinger in front of his nose, a hard jostle to his right shoulder.

"Whip, look at me!"

Yoon nearly jumps out of his skin, turning with strangely open and dismayed expression like a small child about to be scolded by their guardian.

"What?"

The question tumbles out like he'd only just misheard his superior in the moment- What was that, Boss? Like they were discussing what Tseng was going to order for takeout that night.

"What the hell happened?"

What could he even say? He almost laughed at the options.

Sorry, Boss, I guess I hit him a little too hard-

Hey, he's the one who headbutted my gun. Twenty-five times.

Jae's expression darkens as he pushes Tseng against the wall, the blood-speckled muzzle of his gun disturbingly close to his superior's chin due to the position of his hands.

"You said you trusted me, right-" he states more than asks, searching his superior's expression for confirmation of this fact. There's a dark intensity making his eyes look crazed, yet there's a kind of vulnerability to them.

"So, trust me now."

Don't ask questions. Please.

"What about the girl?"

Jae's pauses, having forgotten entirely about the more corpse than person lying on the sofa. Her eyes were closed, but even through the makeup caked on her face, they both knew she was young. Too young.

"We're leaving."

The incredulous shock on his superior's face is like a needle twisted inside of his heart.

"She's an addict, Tseng! Or did you think someone can manage to nap through what we did?" Jae-hyo demands, gesturing at the bodies they'd left all over the penthouse suite.

"You can't do anything for her. So drop it."

He can feel the elder man's presence dogging his footsteps as they leave, both of them walking at a slower pace to better blend in with the other suits milling around in the foyer.

Not now, not now-

The double doors swing open and the heels of Yoon's shoes echo into the brisk night air, the rapid 'tac-tac-tac' of Tseng's not far behind.

"So, that's it?"

Rolling his eyes, Jae pivots on his heel and faces his partner in crime.

"Yeah. That's it. Drag her to a hospital if you really wanna, but she's gonna be back out on the street once she leaves. This is reality, okay? Why do you think they never try to run away or report shit to Public Security? I told you, just... drop it. You wouldn't be able to understand even if I told you."

"Understand what? Then talk to me, help me understand-"

He's expecting a firm hand to yank him back, but what he gets is too gentle, the weight of a hand against his shoulder trying to keep him from walking away. Somehow that's even worse, a sudden spike of white-hot anger makes his eyes fly open and slap Tseng's arm away as though scalded by a flat iron.

"The next time you touch me, you're losing that hand," he warns, backing away slowly, but with his head raised and his chest out- As though challenging the other man to approach him. He doesn't take his eyes off of Tseng until he's certain he can lose him in the back alleys, exhaling a rough breath.

How could he understand what he hasn't lived through- It was impossible, like trying to teach a dog how to use silverware. There was no point. The concerned expression softening the other Turk's features made him want to throw up, rip his skin off and roll around in a vat of salt, douse himself in gasoline and light a match.

The resentment, the anger, the disdain- That he could take, just not pity. He's rather eat his own hand than let some asshole get all watery-eyed and weepy over something that happened every damn day and yet the world continued to spin, money continued to change hands, and the privileged few sated their greasy hungers on those who never had the illusion of choice.

[titansofgotham]

“You Are Never Alone.”

CONTAINS A SCENE FROM 4x06

Plot: Kory reaches out to Gar when she notices that there’s something wrong.

There was something wrong. Kory could feel it when she saw Gar leaning over the table across the room. She approached him, hoping that he was okay. With just one look, she automatically knew that he wasn’t. He was pale- as if he was going to be sick.

Kory: “Are you okay?”

He looked around, feeling slightly delirious and full of anxiety from the vision. His heart was still racing- practically pounding in his eardrums- once his eyes met Kory.

Kory: “You don’t look so good.”

Gar: “Yeah, I don’t.. feel so good.”

Kory: “Why don’t you go lie down and get some rest?”

Gar: “No, it’s okay. I’m just gonna get some fresh air.”

Gar was always gentle and kind, but he had a kind of stubbornness to him that not even HE could deny.

Kory: “Would you like some company?”

He gave her a soft smile then pulled Kory into a tight yet loving embrace. Kory knew that it had been a while since they shared a hug like this, so it was definitely needed- for both of them.

Gar: “It’s okay. It’s been happening to me all day.”

She watched as he grabbed his jacket and walked out of the room. Worry filled her heart and water slowly began to fill her eyes.

~

“Gar must know that I care. He has to know that he can talk to me”, Kory thought to herself as ten minutes go by. She decided to go outside and look for him. Not a moment too soon, as she was standing outside the entrance of S.T.A.R. LABS, she sees Gar with a coffee in his hand. He seemed very shaky as he stared up at the sky at the Blood Moon that was disappearing.

Kory: “Let’s talk in the RV.”

Gar: “Okay.”

Gar began drinking his coffee as both they went in the RV to talk alone. They were both greeted by Krypto then Kory poured herself a glass of water.

She sat across from Gar, waiting for him to just.. open up.

Kory: “Gar, what’s going on?”

Gar: “Ever since we came to Metropolis, very strange and scary things have happened to me. I told Rachel a bit about it; how I’ve seen a tree of animal bones.. under a Red sky. I told Jinx that a tree of bones spoke to me. She called that place ‘The Red’. Creepy, huh?”

Kory: “What is ‘The Red’?”

Gar: “Jinx said it was a place of great power.”

Kory: “Does this place connect you to your animal side?”

Gar: “Possibly. It’s not just ‘The Red’ I’ve had visions of.”

Kory: “What else?”

Gar: “Today, I had not one- but two visions. It looked like a cave collapsing. Before I came back here, I saw this strange man. I didn’t think anything of him until- he said, ‘When the tower splits in half, go to The Red.’ It scared the Hell out of me, and then he just vanished.”

Kory: “A cave collapsing?”

Gar: “Looked like some sort of temple. There were two big statues- Ravens.”

Kory: “Do you know where this place is?”

Gar: “Wish I did. God, Kory. I’m going crazy. Conner’s right. I’m- straight up losing my mind. I feel so.. alone.”

Kory got up from where she was sitting and sat right next to him.

Kory: “You’re not alone. Gar, you are never alone.”

This time, Kory initiated the hug. She listened as he was slightly trembling, still shaken by the strange man he saw who gave him the ominous warning.

Suddenly, the peaceful silence was broken by her phone ringing. She looked at her phone to see a text from Dick saying, “We need your help.”

Kory: “Duty calls. I’ll let you have a few moments alone. Okay?”

Gar: “Thanks, Kory.”

Kory: “For what?”

Gar: “Listening.”