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crystalelemental · 9 months

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Unit Teambuilding - Variety Mallow

I am someone prone to pettiness. We know this. Remember Victor? I remember Victor. And while I generally have tried to be more fair, sometimes there is a line. Shiinotic is that line. I’m sorry, I hate this thing. Morelull was such a cute mushroom design, and it evolves into this gross alien mushroom with a diaper. And it’s a variety scout of all things. I’m not a big fan of Mallow either so this whole sync pair just rubs me entirely the wrong way. Everything about this bothers me.

Okay, I’m done complaining. Moving on.

General Overview Mallow is a Grass-type support who focuses on special attack and crit. +4 special attack, +2 crit, +1 accuracy. It’s fine, but 1MP means not capping crit unless 3/5, don’t you love that in a support? Moreover, no way to cap special attack. X Sp Def All gives bulk, and Shielded on grid makes it mixed bulk. Giga Drain is survival, and her gimmick is recovering HP when hitting a paralyzed opponent, which she sets up with Stun Spore. She also debuffs attack when she hits a paralyzed foe with a healing move, and can debuff special attack too from her grid. So to sum up, she’s a paralysis unit with good personal healing, that can debuff both offenses, and rapid-fire buff specially offensive sync pairs.

You ready for the windfall?

Champion Stadium isn’t happening. Unless you’re on-type, Vampire Tanks don’t work. Her debuffs only work with paralysis, which removes the ability to work with other status options, unlike V!Agatha who could use any status. Nothing spreads, so no AoE para or debuffing. A 3-bar move on a slow support is not good, and her solutions for gauge are not placed well, so they rarely come in. Grid heavily demands Team Sharp Entry for her to cap crit if literally nothing else, and it sharply cuts into her energy reserves. Her self-healing is going to be only okay, dependent on her damage and the passive recovery of hitting a paralyzed opponent, the latter condition of which slows down her rotations. Her team healing is locked only to Synchro Healing, a decent skill for supporting DPS units, but otherwise hogs sync for herself. While her Gauntlet utility is fairly high, combining strong self-healing, debuffing of both offenses, and boosting both defenses for survival, Mallow is fairly slow acting at the role.

I feel like V!Mallow is going to be decent for people who care a lot about Gauntlet streaks, but broadly not as useful. Very similar to Kiawe, she feels like a pair that has broad, far-reaching utility, but functionally is only better than stuff you likely have for a handful of niche situations.

EX and Move Level? Support, so EX encouraged. Support, so 3/5 required to do much of anything frankly. Mallow’s basic skills are...okay, but not exceptional. You lose full buffing of crit and team healing with 3/5, but you retain the pretty significant buff from her trainer move.

Team 1: V!Mallow, Erika, Blaine/Tech Ninetales I am trying, admittedly very hard, to make something stupid work. V!Mallow quickly caps out offenses, more or less, and supplements Erika’s defensive bulk, while debuffing offenses of the foe when paralyzed. Given that Erika’s sync condition is paralysis, this is a decent match, just add some Sun. I’m probably aiming too low for Erika to succeed with, but let’s all just pretend a moment shall we?

Team 2: V!Mallow, Clair, Lucas/Winona Another that’s probably aiming way too low, but Clair actually gets most of what she wants from Mallow’s single trainer move. Mallow even paralyzes, which is one of Clair’s big multipliers. You can add in Dragon Zone, or if you’re aiming a bit cheaper, Winona for Rain.

Team 3: V!Mallow, Lance, Lucian Alternatively, V!Mallow can support 3/5 Lance pretty well, thanks to the specific buff combination she provides. She patches up accuracy, saving an expensive node, and his Ramp Up 2/Critical Eye can cover what’s missing. It does nothing for his sync, but Hyper Beam DPS is never a truly bad call. Lucian has to be mentioned at least once. As a guy who buffs team speed while debuffing special defense, he’s ideal to partner with Mallow, who sustains in part off her absorption effect, and is otherwise painfully slow.

Team 4: V!Mallow, P!Serena, Anni N The last thing I’ll mention is Mallow’s debuffs. Mercifully, they are consistent, pending the foe is paralyzed. Palentine’s Serena offers speed for the team, and an AoE paralysis, while the debuffs and fast-acting setup is great for Anni N.

Final Thoughts Just like with Kiawe, Variety Mallow feels like an odd niche pair that exists to fill in for very specific picks. Clair is the notable one. Fixing accuracy, buffing needed sp atk/crit in one move, and applying paralysis solves for a lot. V!Mallow is legitimately the next best thing after SS Kris. Presumably, base Erika also appreciates her, and the +1 accuracy with near full buff support makes her a surprise partner to Lance.

But that’s kinda it. Niche utility does not a worthwhile limited pair make. It’s a notable step above Kiawe. But we are like three days from datamine. Save your gems. Whatever’s coming next month is going to be anniversary bait, there is absolutely no way they can’t outdo this.

#unit teambuilding #variety mallow

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thornyrose463 · 1 year

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Jack Frost (Once Upon a Time one-shot)

This is a Once Upon a Time (ABC TV show) one-shot. The gifs are not mine. I found them here on tumblr. All credit goes to the rightful owners.

Summary: A curse transports Jacqueline “Jack” Frost and other fairytale characters to the real world town of Storybrooke, Maine.

Rating: T

Warning: Swearing

Cast

Madison Iseman as Jacqueline "Jack" Frost/Jacqueline “Jack” Blanchard

Max Charles as Matthew Frost

Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard

Lana Parrilla as Regina Mills/the Evil Queen/the Good Queen

Meghan Ory as Red Riding Hood/Ruby Lucas

Beverley Elliott as Granny

David Anders as Victor Frankenstein/Dr. Whale

Jared Gilmore as young Henry Mills

Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan

Gijs Blom as Alexander "Alex" Van Helsing

Colin O'Donoghue as Killian Jones/Captain Hook

Andrew J. West as adult Henry Mills

Author's note

I borrowed some plot elements from the movie Rise of the Guardians, but Jack is not completely based on the character from that movie. I threw in some of my own ideas as well. This is not a Once Upon a Time and Rise of the Guardians crossover.

Jack is immortal, she has a dark blue hooded sweatshirt with frost on it, she is fun-loving, and she is a winter spirit, but that is where the similarities between her and the character from Rise of the Guardians end. She has a brother instead of a sister, she can't fly, she doesn't have a wooden staff, she is brought back to life by the Greek gods rather than the Man in the Moon, and she does not require belief in order to be seen. Everyone can see her.

Jacqueline Frost and her younger brother, Matthew, were born to Oliver and Elizabeth Frost and lived in a village in the Enchanted Forest. They were ordinary people and lived ordinary lives.

Jack insisted on being called Jack. She hated being called Jacqueline.

When Jack was 15 and Matthew was 10, he wanted to go ice skating, and she went with him because she didn't think that was safe for him to go alone. They didn't know how thin the ice was until it started to crack.

"It's okay, Matthew." Jack said. "Don't look down. Just look at me."

Jack had fair skin and blue eyes. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was parted in the middle and reached her chest. She was 5 foot 2. She had a slim build. She was wearing brown elbow-length wool gloves, a white long-sleeved blouse with a smocked elastic waistline and a v-shaped neckline with a double layered ruffle trim, a brown floor-length skirt, and a brown hooded cloak that was made of wool and reached a few inches above her knees. The hood was down.

Jack was kind, caring, friendly, and compassionate. She would be willing to make sacrifices for those she cared about. She had a soft spot for children and liked to have snowball fights with them. She always won snowball fights. No one ever beat her. She was gentle and generous, but she also had a mischievous side. She frequently played tricks on people. Her tricks were harmless. She enjoyed telling jokes and making people laugh. She was fun-loving and sometimes acted like a child trapped in the body of a teenager.

Jack slowly reached down and removed the second of two ice skates, leaving her barefoot on the surface of the frozen pond.

Matthew stood in his ice skates, rooted to the spot. A spider's web of cracks emanated from where he stood.

"Jack, I'm scared," Matthew whimpered. The ice below him splintered some more. He wobbled as it started to separate.

Matthew had fair skin, brown eyes, and short, straight brown hair. He was wearing brown elbow-length wool gloves, a white linen shirt with long sleeves and a collar with long pointy edges tucked into brown pants, a brown wool vest with three buttons, a black leather belt with a silver rectangular buckle, and a brown hooded cloak that was made of wool and reached a few inches above his knees. The hood was down.

Matthew looked like Oliver. Jack looked like Elizabeth.

"I know, I know, but you're going to be all right. You're not going to fall in. We're going to have a little fun instead." Jack said.

"No, we're not!" Matthew yelled.

"Would I trick you?" Jack asked.

Matthew was fighting back tears. "Yes! You love to play tricks!"

"I won't play tricks on you this time, I promise. You're going to be fine. You have to trust me." Jack said.

There was a brief pause, then Matthew smiled through his fear.

"Do you want to play a game?" Jack asked playfully. “We're going to play Hopscotch, like we do every day!”

Matthew looked more reassured.

"It's as easy as...One...Whoa." Jack showed Matthew the first leap, making silly faces for him, almost losing her balance but managing to catch herself. He laughed.

"Two..." Jack jumped.

"Three!" Jack turned to Matthew with her arms stretched horizontally to the sides.

"All right..." Jack reached down to pick up a long stick that was on the ice. She extended it towards Matthew. "Now it's your turn."

Matthew looked down. He was trying to gather his courage.

Jack started counting to three, never breaking her gaze with Matthew. "One..."

Matthew hopped, wobbling, but catching his balance.

"That's it!" Jack yelled.

Jack continued counting. "Two..."

Matthew continued hopping. The stick Jack was holding was just beyond his reach.

Jack finished counting. "Three."

Matthew grabbed the stick, and Jack pulled him off the ice and onto the grassy hill. She looked up to see that he was safe, smiled, and then plunged into the dark, cold water.

"Jack!" Matthew yelled.

Jack had saved her brother at the cost of her own life. The Greek gods, seeing her selfless act of heroism and sacrifice, revived her and transformed her into a winter spirit. When she rose up from the frozen pond, she discovered that she was immortal and had stopped aging, had the power to control snow, ice, and frost, and that everyone she had ever known was dead. Grief-stricken by the loss of her parents and brother, she left the village she once called home. She became a nomad and wondered around the Enchanted Forest, never staying in one place for very long.

Because Jack was a winter spirit, she was technically both alive and dead. Her body worked like a human's body, except her reproductive organs and the section of her brain that was in charge of controlling her body temperature. Her reproductive organs shut down after she transformed into a winter spirit, and therefore, she was incapable of having children. She was not affected by changes in temperature. She did not sweat, nor did she shiver. She could be outside when it was extremely hot without suffering from heat exhaustion and could be outside in the freezing cold without getting frostbite. The weather outside had no effect on her whatsoever.

When Jack first encountered Rumpelstiltskin, she became wary of him and refused to make any deals with him. She had heard that making deals with the Dark One came with a price, and she wasn't willing to pay it.

Jack became good friends with Snow White, Prince Charming, Red Riding Hood, and Red Riding Hood's grandmother, Widow Lucas, who insisted that she call her Granny.

Jack frequently played tricks on the Evil Queen, which annoyed her. The Evil Queen's guards attempted to capture Jack on numerous occasions, but she always managed to outsmart them and evade capture.

Jack had been captured by one of Regina's guards.

"I finally caught you." He gloated.

"Don't be so sure." Jack told him.

Jack was wearing a brown leather vest with four buttons, a dark blue long-sleeved blouse with a smocked elastic waistline and a v-shaped neckline with a double layered ruffle trim, and brown pants tucked into brown knee-length leather boots. The vest was unbuttoned. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was down.

Jack took a deep breath and then exhaled. Ice came out of her mouth, breaking the ropes that were binding her hands in half. Once she was free from the ropes, she shot ice out of her hands and froze the guard's feet to the ground. The ice wouldn't hold him for long, but it would give her enough time to run away from him.

Prince Charming was riding through the forest on a horse. He came upon a glass coffin. Snow White was surrounded by the seven dwarves.

Charming jumped down from his horse and approached the group.

"You're too late," Doc said sadly.

Charming looked at the glass coffin that was beside Doc. His breath hitched, and his mouth went dry as he rushed forward with a look of disbelief on his face. "No." His eyes were wide with fear as he stared down at his true love. "No!" He yelled as he looked at her expressionless face. His eyes filled up with tears.

"Open it." Charming demanded.

The dwarves looked at Charming with pity in their eyes and didn't move.

Grumpy had a solemn look on his face. "I'm sorry. She's gone."

Charming turned to the dwarves. "At least let me say goodbye."

The dwarves removed the coffin's lid.

A strong gust of wind came when Charming kissed Snow, blowing the dwarves back a few feet.

The dwarves stared at each other in wonder.

Snow's eyes opened, and a loud gasp escaped her as she sat up.

Snow looked at Charming with a loving smile. Her chest heaved as she drew air in. "You…You found me."

"Did you ever doubt I would?" Charming asked, giving Snow a crooked grin as he brushed some hair behind her ear.

"Truthfully? The glass coffin gave me pause." Snow said, cupping Charming's cheek.

"Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you." Charming said.

"Do you promise?" Snow asked.

"I do." Charming said.

It was Snow and Charming's wedding day.

"And do you, Snow White, promise to take this man to be your husband, and love him for all eternity?" The bishop asked.

"I do.” Snow said.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The bishop said.

Jack was sitting in the front row. She was wearing dark blue high-heeled pumps and a long-sleeved dark blue dress with a square neckline and a floor-length skirt that flared at the hips with a small train. The train had a snowflake pattern on it. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was down.

The audience cheered as the newlyweds kissed.

Thunder boomed. Lightning flashed through the stain glass windows. The doors at the far end of the ballroom flew open. The cheering stopped.

"Sorry I'm late." Regina walked into the ballroom. Three of Charming's guards rushed towards her. She waved her hands at them, throwing them up in the air and right through the stained-glass windows.

"It's the queen! Run!" Doc yelled.

Snow drew Charming's sword and pointed it at Regina. "She's not a queen anymore. She's nothing more than an evil witch!"

Before Snow could take another step towards Regina, Charming blocked her. "No, no, no. Don't stoop to her level. There's no need. She's powerless now."

Charming took his sword out of Snow's hand and turned to face Regina, who was smiling malevolently.

"I will not let you ruin this wedding. You're wasting your time. You've already lost." Charming said.

Regina spoke in a deceptively sweet tone. "I'm not here to ruin anything. On the contrary, dear, I've come to give you a gift."

"We want nothing from you." Snow said.

"But you shall have it. My gift to you is this happy, happy day. Enjoy it, because tomorrow is the beginning of the end." Regina said.

More guards rushed towards Regina. She held her ground as they surrounded her, swords drawn.

"For tomorrow, my real work begins. You've made your vows. Now I make mine." Regina looked directly at Snow and Charming. "I shall destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do."

Regina started to walk away.

"Hey!" Charming yelled, throwing his sword at Regina. Just when the sword was about to hit her, a puff of smoke enveloped her, and she disappeared. The sword slammed into the floor, lodging itself in the wood.

While Jack was visiting Red and Granny's cottage in the woods, she discovered that they were werewolves.

Due to her age, Granny's werewolf curse had faded, and she no longer had to shapeshift during the full moon. However, she retained some wolf-like characteristics, such as a keen sense of smell.

"What is it, Red?" Jack asked, glancing at her friend, who was looking around anxiously.

Jack was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved blouse with a smocked elastic waistline and a v-shaped neckline with a double layered ruffle trim, a brown floor-length skirt, and brown knee-length boots. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was down.

Red frowned. "Something's not right. The air feels wrong, and it's too quiet."

Granny sniffed the air. "I can smell magic."

Jack, Red, and Granny turned around and saw a cloud of purple smoke coming towards them.

"What the hell is that?" Jack asked.

"I don't know." Granny sounded scared.

The smoke engulfed Jack, Red, and Granny.

Storybrooke, Maine

2011

It turned out that the cloud of purple smoke was a curse cast by the Evil Queen. Regina's curse had erased everyone's memories, and they were living false lives.

Snow White was known as Mary Margaret Blanchard, a teacher at Storybrooke Elementary School.

Jack Frost was known as Jacqueline Blanchard, the adoptive daughter of Mary Margaret Blanchard.

This was the story Mary Margaret and Jack were led to believe: Jack was left on the side of the road but didn't get to stay in a foster care home. For years, no one ever found her. Mary Margaret found her sleeping in the woods when she was 14. Mary Margaret took guardianship of Jack, and they had been with each other ever since. The story was untrue, but they didn't know that.

Jack believed that she was an ordinary 15 year old girl and not an immortal being who looked 15 but was actually over 200 years old.

Jack attended Storybrooke Secondary School and was in the tenth grade.

Jack had been stripped of her powers.

On Saturday morning, Mary Margaret was in her kitchen, making breakfast.

Jack walked into the kitchen and smiled at Mary Margaret. "Good morning."

Jack was wearing an unbuttoned dark blue denim jacket, a black t-shirt, dark blue denim jeans, and black ankle-length boots. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was tied up in a high ponytail.

Mary Margaret smiled back. "Good morning."

Mary Margaret put two plates of bacon and scrambled eggs on the table, then she poured milk into two glasses.

Mary Margaret and Jack sat down at the table and started eating.

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Mary Margaret asked.

Tonight, Jack was going on a date for the first time ever. A guy in her science class had asked her to see a movie with him, and she had said yes.

Mary Margaret also had a date tonight. She was going to have dinner with Dr. Whale at Granny's Bed & Breakfast.

"A little bit." Jack said.

Mary Margaret and Jack finished eating and put their dishes away.

Mary Margaret was on her date with Dr. Whale.

"So, tell me more about this volunteer outreach program the hospital is doing." Mary Margaret told Dr. Whale.

Dr. Whale wasn't paying any attention to Mary Margaret. His focus was on the scantily clad waitress, Ruby Lucas, who was clearing a table behind them.

Mary Margaret noticed that Dr. Whale wasn't paying any attention to her. She turned her head to see him looking at Ruby's butt.

Ruby finished clearing the table and picked up a tray. She walked towards Dr. Whale and Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret caught Ruby's attention. "Ruby?"

Ruby turned around while holding the tray in the air with one hand.

"Yes, Mary Margaret?" Ruby asked.

Mary Margaret spoke sadly. "Check, please."

After her date, Jack stormed into Mary Margaret's apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"I'm guessing your date didn't go well." Mary Margaret said.

"No, it certainly didn't. I showed up at the theatre and saw him kissing another girl. The only reason he asked me to go on a date with him was to make her jealous." Jack said.

"My date didn't go well either. Dr. Whale was ogling Ruby the whole time and wasn't paying any attention to what I was saying." Mary Margaret said.

"Bastard," Jack muttered.

On Tuesday morning, Jack woke up in her room in Mary Margaret's apartment, gasping.

Light blue paint covered the walls, a darker blue stripe running around the perimeter of the room. The bed was made of a simple wrought iron with a white comforter. A whitewash armoire stood to the left of the window, a similarly-styled desk to the right.

Jack slowly sat up in her bed, looking around her room. She'd just had another strange dream about having ice powers.

Mary Margaret had left earlier that morning to go to a staff meeting, so she hadn't heard Jack gasp.

Jack got out of bed, got dressed, brushed her hair, and walked into the kitchen.

Jack ate a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, grabbed her black messenger bag from behind the door and slung the strap over her shoulder, and walked to school.

Storybrooke Secondary School was within walking distance of Mary Margaret's apartment.

After school, Jack walked into Granny's Bed & Breakfast. She waved at Granny and Ruby, who were behind the counter, and found a booth to sit in.

Ruby smiled, walking up to Jack. "Hi, Jack. What can I get you?"

"I'll have a hot chocolate with cinnamon, please." Jack said.

Jack was wearing an unzipped black leather jacket, a dark blue t-shirt, black denim jeans, and black ankle-length leather boots. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was down.

"Coming right up." Ruby said, writing in her notepad and then walking into the kitchen.

"Here's your hot chocolate." Ruby said, setting a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon in front of Jack.

Jack smiled. "Thanks, Ruby."

Ruby walked over to the counter to serve some other customers.

Henry Mills, the adoptive son of Regina Mills, took a seat across from Jack.

"Jack, come with me. There's someone I want you to meet." Henry stood up, and Jack cautiously followed his lead. Having never spoken to him much before, this was an unexpected turn of events.

Jack followed Henry out of the diner and to the park. He led her to a bench with a blonde woman sitting on it. Jack recognized her as the woman who had come into town a few days ago.

Henry smiled, sitting down on the bench beside Emma. "Jack, this is my real mom, Emma Swan. Mom, this is Jacqueline Blanchard. She prefers to be called Jack. She's going to help you believe."

"Believe what?" Jack frowned, then she looked at Emma. "It's nice to meet you, but I have no idea what I'm doing here. The kid said to follow him, and for some reason, I did."

Emma laughed. "How do you think I ended up here? I live in Boston."

Henry took a book out of his bag and opened it. "Okay, Jack, here's your story. You're not really Jack Blanchard. You're Jack Frost, an immortal being with ice powers."

Jack's eyes widened, and she was too shocked to speak, because what Henry was saying brought back the memories of what had happened in her dreams.

Henry looked up at Jack once he finished reading her story from the book, right up until the moment the purple cloud engulfed her, Red, and Granny. "You know I'm telling the truth, don't you? You've been having dreams about this."

Jack nodded, speechless.

"I…I have to go." Jack ran home before Henry or Emma could stop her.

A few days passed, during which Jack kept to herself as much as possible, then Emma showed up at Granny's Bed & Breakfast while she was eating lunch.

"Henry's in a coma." Emma informed Jack.

Emma and Jack ran out of the diner and headed to the hospital.

Jack had grown close to Henry and considered him a friend.

Regina was standing next to Henry's bed.

Dr. Whale read Henry's chart and let out a sad sigh. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

The heart monitor indicated that Henry's heart had stopped beating.

Crying, Emma leaned down, whispered “goodbye”, and kissed Henry's forehead.

A circle of distorted light spread from Henry, getting bigger. As it passed through Jack, she regained all her memories from the Enchanted Forest. Before she could blink, the light was gone, spreading through the town to return everyone's memories.

2012

Jack dropped out of school and got her G.E.D. Since she was no longer cursed, she had no reason to stay in school. She never liked going to school. It bored her.

Jack got her powers back.

Mary Margaret legally adopted Jack, but Jack decided to keep the last name Frost rather than changing her last name to Blanchard. Mary Margaret respected her decision.

Even though Jack and Mary Margaret were pretty close in age, Mary Margaret still considered herself to be Jack's parent. However, she didn't treat Jack like a child. She treated Jack like an adult and let her make her own decisions.

David moved in with Mary Margaret and Jack and became Jack's adoptive father.

On November 10th, Mary Margaret handed Jack a box wrapped in white wrapping paper. "Happy birthday."

Jack opened the box. There was a dark blue hooded sweatshirt inside of it.

Jack smiled at Mary Margaret. "Thank you."

The second Jack touched the sweatshirt and took it out of the box, frost collected around the ring of the collar.

Jack put the sweatshirt on. It was very comfortable. She was going to wear it a lot.

"You're welcome." Mary Margaret said.

David handed Jack a box wrapped in dark blue wrapping paper. "Happy birthday."

Jack opened the box. There was a silver necklace in the shape of a snowflake inside of it.

Jack smiled at David. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." David said.

Jack and Henry were playing in the snow on a December afternoon.

Jack was wearing her dark blue hooded sweatshirt with frost collecting around the ring of the collar, dark blue denim jeans, and brown knee-length boots. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was down.

Henry had a sneaky grin on his face.

"Gotcha!" Henry yelled, hitting Jack in the face with a snowball.

"Oh, it is on!" Jack yelled. She reached down and grabbed a handful of snow from off the ground. With her palm open, she used her magic to form the perfect snowball. She then puckered her lips and blew onto it with her icy breath, turning it a light shade of blue. It went flying through the air and hit Henry in the back of the head, knocking him face first into the ground.

Henry burst into laughter, then a snowball fight began.

"You are so getting it, Frostbite!" Henry yelled, tossing snowballs at Jack.

In the end, Jack emerged victorious.

"You should have known better than to start a snowball fight with a winter spirit." Jack said.

During the missing year, Jack met her true love, Alexander Van Helsing, the only child of Abraham Van Helsing, the most legendary vampire hunter in the Enchanted Forest. He hadn't been affected by Regina's curse. Instead of being sent to Storybrooke, he remained in the Enchanted Forest. Like her, he appeared to be 15 years old but was actually over 200 years old. He was a vampire. He was immortal, could not age, and was sterile and could not have biological children. On his 15th birthday, the infamous vampire Count Vladimir Dracula came after his family with the intent of getting revenge on Abraham for killing his beloved fiancée, Mina Murray, who was a vampire. Dracula forced Abraham to watch him drain his wife dry and turned his son into the thing he hated most — a vampire. Abraham killed Dracula by stabbing him in the heart with a wooden stake and then tried to kill Alexander, but Alexander survived and ended up draining his father dry because he was a newly turned vampire and didn't know how to control his bloodlust. After the death of his parents, he obtained a blue and silver daylight ring, a piece of jewelry with a lapis lazuli gemstone that was enchanted and allowed vampires to walk in the sun without bursting into flames, and searched for other vampires who could help him learn to control his newfound thirst for human blood and his newfound supernatural abilities — super strength, super speed, the ability to instantly heal from any injury, enhanced senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch, and the ability to read and control a human's mind.

Jack nicknamed Alexander Alex and took him to Storybrooke with her. She moved out of David and Mary Margaret's apartment, and she and Alex got their own apartment. She and Alex got married, but she decided to keep the last name Frost rather than changing it to Van Helsing. He respected her decision.

May 18, 2018

Regina decided to bring all of the realms to Storybrooke so that everyone could be together. Mary Margaret and David brought it upon themselves to give Regina a coronation and make her the queen of the United Realms.

When Regina commented on the absence of Emma, Killian, Jack, and Alex, Mary Margaret said, "The babies were probably fussy."

Jack ran into the room, carrying her and Alex's adoptive son, Elijah Van Helsing, a baby boy with fair skin, tufts of short brown hair, and green eyes. He was wrapped in a dark blue blanket with frost patterns on it. Shortly after she and Alex adopted Elijah, she had gotten Emma to use her magic to transform her dark blue hooded sweatshirt into a baby blanket.

Jack was wearing the silver snowflake-shaped necklace David gave her, silver high-heeled sandals, and a floor-length dark blue dress with spaghetti straps, a v-neck, and a bedazzled waistband. The dress showed a hint of cleavage. Her curly whitish-blonde hair was gathered at the nape of her neck in a low bun, save for the two wisps of hair that framed her face. Her wedding ring was on her right hand. It was a beautiful ring — a simple silver band with a round dark blue jewel in the middle.

Alex, Emma, and Killian were right behind Jack.

Emma and Killian were right behind Alex.

Emma wore her red leather jacket over her dress. She was carrying a diaper bag.

Killian was carrying his and Emma’s daughter, Hope Swan-Jones.

"Sorry we're late." Alex said.

Alex had a Dutch accent.

Alex had fair skin, blue eyes, and short, straight brown hair. He was 5 foot 10. He was clean-shaven. His body was slender but muscular. He was wearing a black suit, a white dress shirt, a black necktie, and black dress shoes with black laces. His silver wedding ring was on his right hand, and his daylight ring was on his left hand. He was carrying a diaper bag.

Emma walked over to Henry and told him to lend his stepfather a hand. Killian teased that it was a tired joke in their household. Even after all this time, the couple was still flirty with each other.

Throughout Regina's crowning as the Good Queen, Emma and Killian held their child with love in their eyes, and so did Jack and Alex.

THE END

#fanfiction

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shepherds-of-haven · 3 years

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No thoughts, just the Shepherds playing monopoly

I could have sworn I answered this before, but apparently not! Get ready for some chaos...

Blade: he is peak... him when playing Monopoly, because he keeps insisting on playing it like a war game and waging guerilla tactics against his competitors in order to bankrupt their “forces” and claim their land as his own. No one knows if he’s doing it out of malicious compliance from being forced to play, or if he’s sincerely, earnestly unable to play a game without making it about battle and violence. Anyway, he won one time and was silently insufferable about it--nothing is more irritating than the Commander’s stoic face looking just slightly smug without him saying anything--so no one wants to play with him anymore, which suits him just fine because then he can stay a champion without having to constantly defend his title. He also has fairly bad luck when it comes to gambling, so the dice seem to conspire to screw him over quite a lot.

Trouble: he gets excited and jubilant to play every time, but hits a breaking point when the other players start playing “dirty” and not “playing fair”--IE using tactics and techniques that he can’t keep up with or manipulating him. Then it’s the time for Rage and shouting and violence and indignation. He insists on keeping a “judge” or referee around whenever they play so the referee can comment on whether or not certain moves are fair and allowed, but he always ends up bullying the ref and yelling at them, too, leading once to tears on Shery’s part, which led to Briony and Ayla getting into an all-out brawl with him. He won that fight, but has never won a single game of Monopoly. Still, his dogged determination to keep playing never wavers. More on his violence in the other entries.

Tallys: she played with them one time before realizing how unhinged they all were. Here’s part of her journal entry for that day: Never before had I contemplated what a thread-thin line it is that separates us from the demons. Each of us possesses the power to bring an entire city to its knees, and it would not take very much to tip us over that precipice. Even a mere game is enough to tempt us to the path of darkness. Pride cometh before a fall, and I fear we are all balancing precariously on the edge of a knife.

Long story short: she has the smarts to win, but it’s just not worth it.

Shery: she is actually very competent at Monopoly and is good enough strategically to keep up with Red, Lavinet, and Riel, sometimes showing an unpredictable streak of merciless logic. However, she tends to feel bad about rubbing things in or making others feel bad, so she sometimes quietly makes wrong moves and mistakes towards the end of the game. Riel called her out on it once, and she admitted she likes commiserating with everyone and having fun with them instead of winning, because everyone loathes the victor lol. But she could destroy at Monopoly if she wanted to! She puts on a pot of calming tea whenever they decide to play, but assures everyone it’s caffeinated lol. Regardless, it never helps...

Riel: he is not allowed to play with them. He is horrible with Monopoly. But not in that he’s bad... in that he’s way too good. And competitive. And ruthless. And the whole “he can think twelve steps ahead of everyone else” intelligence and analytical skill is combined with an insufferably condescending attitude (not even really on purpose... that’s just how he is). Imagine having an opponent who absolutely destroys you every time you play with him-- sometimes yawning while you play, sometimes sighing and explaining to you what exact moves you could have made to actually put up a fight against him or even have a chance of winning, and exactly what you did to go wrong. Imagine buying a Monopoly property and glancing across the table at Riel, who looks like:

One time Trouble physically reached across the table, grabbed him by the shirtfront, and dragged him across the board game to throttle him. The worst part about it was that, when it upset the game pieces and overturned the board, Riel commented that he had memorized every piece position and each player's money exactly, so there was no need to stop the game. Another time, Ayla actually stood and gave him a black eye for buying Reading Railroad when she had been saving up for it (well, it was really when he answered, “I know.”). This violence shocked Riel--who had never really been physically hurt by another person before--so deeply that he didn’t speak for the rest of the game. However, he still won, even with only one good eye.

After that, it was decided that Riel can only play the game through a proxy, and to cap him further, that person has to make half of the decisions while Riel is allowed to suggest the other half, with no discussion between the two of them. Unfortunately for Riel, the only person who would want to be his proxy turned out to be Caine, whose blithe spiritual resilience and enjoyment of winning allowed him to withstand Riel’s controlling demeanor. However, he also drives Riel insane because he’s 12 and makes the unpredictable moves of a 12-year-old boy.

Chase: Truth be told, he never learned how to play Monopoly or what the point of the game is, because any time anyone tries to explain game rules to him longer than five seconds, his eyes glaze over, or he even get bored and wanders off. Now he plays only to amuse himself by trolling the others; his favorite past time is to replace other players’ pieces with stupid things and see how long it takes for them to notice. The thimble becomes a button, the dog becomes a nut, and etc. Interestingly, he has extremely good luck, and whether by cheating or fortune, he can make the dice roll to any number he wants. Briony, Lavinet, and Red regularly bribe him to help them out with important rolls; thus, another rule has been instated that he can only roll another player’s dice once per game. Typically, they bribe him with more stuff to replace their game pieces with.

Red: he has a strategic mind to rival Riel’s, but he lacks the desire to crush his enemy under his bootheel in order to win at all costs. He tries to make it light-hearted and good, wholesome fun, but it never really goes that way. Still, somehow things work in his favor anyway, and he can cheerfully go, “Oh, I can buy Park Place!” as if just realizing it, an attitude which drives most others crazy. After Riel, he is technically in second place for most games won; he would be tied with Shery if she actually won the games she was in the position to without pretending to lose. However, everyone else being so competitive has made him reluctant to play, so typically he can only be persuaded to if everyone is extra nice to him and promises not to scream to the gods for the others to drop dead on the spot.

Ayla: you might think Trouble is the likeliest to flip over the game board/table, but it’s actually Ayla. She gets easily confused and irritated, bending over the pieces and scratching her head furiously like “wtf is going on??” This makes her angrier, and when Riel starts to gloat, she’s lunging across the table and having to be held back by Briony or Blade; one time she even tried to bite him. She doesn’t even want to play nowadays, but can’t stand to be left out. When she's not so angry the room is spinning, she does alright, and generally can do second or third-best if Riel or Lavinet are not involved (for some reason she does better against Red or Shery).

Halek: are you joking? you think he would play an hours-long game with those maniacs? as soon as he hears the rattle of the game board, he dissipates into the air like smoke

Briony: Briony’s got the spirit of things, but she’s not quite cut out for Monopoly. She keeps trying to bend the rules to work on teams with other people, proposing combining their finances and working together to win the game, like “yay okay let’s be allies ❤!!!” This works out in her favor like 50% of the time; sometimes someone like Red or Shery agrees, even though that’s not really how you play, and they might win; sometimes she gets absolutely burned, notably once by Lavinet, because her partner will then betray her in some way. This drives her to hysterical tears, but otherwise, she can generally handle losing with a smile and a desire to keep the peace. However, she can get riled up when the others get riled up, like “okay Trouble stop yelling and settle down, you’re going to knock over Shery’s tea...” *Trouble knocks over Shery’s tea* *Briony tackles him* “I SAID SETTLE DOWN!”

Lavinet: Behind Riel, Red, and Shery, she’s the best at the game, since Monopoly is fairly similar to the work she does for the fiefdom. She’s also the best at manipulating the others and occasionally even flirting her way to Pennsylvania Ave. She doesn’t care about winning as much as the others--she is very good at dismissing any loss as “just a game” or “it’s not that important, darling”--but is a smug winner just like the rest of them, unleashing her ojou-sama laugh at the moment of her impending victory. Trouble once described that laugh as “the shrieking of a thousand harpies”. Other than that, though, she’s a fairly normal player, though she barely bats an eye at the violent extremes everyone else takes it to.

#Shepherds of Haven #monopoly #board game #silly #all characters #anon

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prvtbugsbuggins · 3 years

Text

Caboose and his ungodly amount of sisters.

A post for both my reference and for you all to enjoy.

The idea of Military Alphabet being used as names was inspired by Red Battalion, Blue Regiment by @tinfoil-jones. It's a great fic u guys plz.

More stuff under the cut.

Caboose and his sisters were all taken from a pool of war orphans during the great war. All of them had their homes glassed and barely escaped with their lives. The oldest at the time was little more than a small kid, so many of them don't remember having parents or a life before they were taken into the SPARTAN III program. For all they know, this was all normal to them.

Indiana was the oldest and was the one to remember what parental love was all about, so she was the one who kept an eye on everyone else and did her best to be sure that they had love while growing up. Their training was extremely harsh and she made sure it was as fair as it could be.

Here are the siblings, from oldest to youngest. Once they were old enough to leave the program, all of them chose their own names. Caboose was chosen as the last name, and all of them keep it as a sign of solidarity.

Name: Indiana ‘Indy’ Carnation Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant General

Armor Color: Dark brown and tan

Designation: INDIA

Description: Freckled pale skin with green eyes and red hair that she keeps short. Absolutely stacked. 9Ft tall even. Is missing a leg but has a cool cyborg one to replace it. Defacto ‘leader’ of the Spartan Siblings and tends to call the shots. Is high enough rank to make sure her siblings are treated well no matter where they end up.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works mostly with Holly.

---

Name: Holiday ‘Holly’ Yuletide Caboose

Rank: Major General

Armor Color: Green and Red

Designation: HOTEL

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and black hair that she keeps long. 8’11’’ tall. Is built more slender but can still break your neck. Is the one who usually keeps track of all the siblings and makes sure they are okay. Organizes the yearly get together.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works mostly with Indiana.

---

Name: Winter Solstice Caboose

Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 5

Armor Color: White and Winter-mint Green

Designation: WHISKEY

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and white-blonde hair that she keeps short. 7’9’’ tall. Is built more slender and is stupidly flexible, giving her a rep as an escape artist.

Currently: Alive and still in active duty. Works as a battlefield tactician and invents war-games for training purposes.

---

Name: Tango Rio Caboose

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Armor Color: Black and White

Designation: TANGO

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and blonde hair that was kept short. Was more short and squat but absolutely stacked. 8 ft tall even. Used to bench press actual benches with people on it.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Vicky Ableton Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Teal and Pink

Designation: VICTOR

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and hair that’s always in a different color done in a ‘fluff hawk’ hairstyle. 8Ft tall even and built more slender. Is faster than the other siblings in terms of speed.

Currently: Alive and retired. Currently works as a DJ and plays for raves while making her own music.

---

Name: Sierra Nevada Caboose

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Armor Color: Tan and Gold

Designation: SIERRA

Description: Rust colored skin with black eyes and black hair kept long. 8’5’’ tall and was more focused on martial arts, so she was rather slender. Could one inch punch people across a room.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Charlie Beatrix Caboose

Rank: Sergeant Major

Armor Color: Green and Brown

Designation: CHARLIE

Description: Warm dark skin with brown eyes and black hair kept short. Built more chubby and squat at 8’6’’ tall. Can hug you to death though, so be careful. Used to be able to pick up cars so the wheels could get changed faster.

Currently: Alive and retired. Writes and illustrates children's books based off stories she told Caboose when he was little.

---

Name: Luna Moonbeam Caboose

Rank: Sergeant Major

Armor Color: Black and Blue

Designation: LIMA

Description: Pale skin with pale blue eyes and pale blonde hair kept long. Just pale, lol. 7’11’’ tall and built slender and trim. Is really good at psychology and has a knack for motivating people without them realizing it. Takes active interest in troop morale and writes papers on how to improve it.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Works as a drill sergeant and her teams perform better because she gives them all lollipops when they do a good job.

---

Name: Juliet Romeo Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Yellow and Green

Designation: JULIET

Description: Freckled pale skin with brown eyes and blonde hair kept long. Built like a muscular country farm-girl at 8’7’’ tall. Can pick up fully grown cattle and move them where they need to go.

Currently: Alive and retired. Works on a farm where she raises various livestock with her wife. Caboose gets to name all the baby animals born on said farm.

---

Name: Fox (Foxy) Trot Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Orange and Black

Designation: FOXTROT

Description: Tan skin with blue eyes and red hair kept short. More wiry and slender than most other sisters and stuck more to stealth tactics than outright assault. 7’10’’ tall.

Currently: MIA. Last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Echo Echo Caboose

Rank: First Lieutenant

Armor Color: Dark Blue and light Blue

Designation: ECHO

Description: Dark skin with brown eyes and black hair kept short. Quite muscular and built at 8’6’’ tall. Usually specialized in hand to hand combat and liked to use knives and other bladed weapons.

Currently: MIA. Last seen scouting uncharted territory.

---

Name: Ollie Oxenfree Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Pink and White

Designation: OSCAR

Description: Pale skin with brown eyes and black hair, kept short. Is more slender and built more for stealth and misdirection type of combat. 8’4’’ tall and can pluck your heart out of your rib-cage if need be.

Currently: Alive and retired. Works as a therapist and specializes in PTSD traumas.

---

Name: November Showers Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Armor Color: Dark Red and Orange

Designation: NOVEMBER

Description: Tan skin with brown eyes and orange hair kept short. Is built like a bruiser at a good 8’10’’ tall and a body to put bodybuilders to shame. Likes to count how many teeth she can knock out of someone’s head with one punch.

Currently: MIA. Was last seen on Reach.

---

Name: Kiki Piña Colada Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Light Pink and Light Yellow

Designation: KILO

Description: The smallest sister at 7’8’’ tall and slender. Pale skin with blue eyes and pink/blonde hair kept long. Enjoys looking pretty but is scarily good at assassinations. Likes to use her unassuming looks against people. Has beaten up selfish lovers.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Trains special forces troops.

---

Name: Bravo Blue Caboose

Rank: Lieutenant General

Armor Color: Blue and Black

Designation: BRAVO

Description: Pale skin with blue eyes and brown hair kept short in a buzz cut. Likes piercings and body mods. Has an unbelievable pain tolerance and likes to freak out her recruits using it. 8’10’’ tall and built like a linebacker. Sometimes will stand there and let people attack her and laugh at their attempts to hurt her. Will kill you if you make her siblings cry.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Works on top secret things that are secret. It’s mostly boring stuff, like paperwork. She hates it.

---

Name: Quinn Sable Caboose

Rank: Captain

Armor Color: Grey and Purple

Designation: QUEBEC

Description: Tan skin with green eyes and brown hair kept short. Tends to dye tips of hair purple. Is covered in tattoos. Is very muscular and big at 8’7’’ tall and can pop someone’s head off their body like a grape. Makes a newsletter for all her siblings so they know what’s going on with each other.

Currently: Alive and in active duty. Trains forces in how to work together as a team and not die.

---

Name: Zelda Triforce Caboose

Rank: Captain

Armor Color: Dark green and Light Blue.

Designation: ZULU

Description: Dark skin with brown eyes and long dreads dyed in a wide range of colors. Built to be trim and slender. Could choke you out with her legs. Is 8ft tall even. Probably has ADHD and is very excitable.

Currently: Alive and retired. Currently makes VR video games and programs for a living.

---

Name: Michael Jaybird Caboose

Rank: Major

Armor Color: Blue (the best blue)

Designation: MIKE

Description: It’s Caboose, our boy. 7Ft tall even with brown hair, blue eyes, and is built like a brick house. Gives the softest hugs, though.

Currently: Alive and in a mix of active duty and ‘retired’. Pets dinosaurs and plays ‘games’ with his squad.

---

If possible they all try to meet up together at least once a year and they actively send letters to each other. They will call if close enough, but since everyone is doing something different, it's unlikely that two siblings would be on a planet together at the same time. All of them are extremely protective over each other, especially to Caboose since he is the baby. Despite some being retired, they still have and wear their armor because it's so ingrained in themselves. Eventually many more will decide to retire and pursue other interests once they figure out what they like.

Also all of them have a barcode tattooed on them somewhere. Not for evil purposes, but because it's easier to scan a code that can't be removed and make sure you aren't going to kill your Spartan by accidently giving them a medication they are allergic to.

Feel free to use if you like as well. I will be using this as a reference for my own works, lol.

#rvb #red vs blue #caboose #Michael j caboose #caboose's 17 sisters #spartan!caboose #best siblings #for me and other people #mostly so i don't fuck up when I write #caboose is the literal baby #all of them are eccentric in their own ways #you can't help to be that when you've been raised from toddler stage to be warriors #the yearly get together is a real fun party tho #it goes on for days

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novelconcepts · 3 years

Note

FOUND IT!!! Consider this an official ask for 3 and 14 combined! #wheee

smiling into a kiss and play wrestling

Having a best friend again is strange. She’d gone so long imagining the phrase as a sort of neon sign staked firmly in the past: Best Friend, already spoken for. Eddie had always been it; no other volunteers need apply.

But Eddie’s gone now, out of her life, living out wherever his might go in another country altogether, and Dani finds the position has--slowly, without really planning for it--been filled once more. Not that she planned for it. Not that could ever could have.

She didn’t come to Bly looking for Jamie, and if you’d told her the gardener who refused to so much as meet her eyes, much less introduce herself, would become the most important person in her life--well. Life is full of surprises.

There is so little of Eddie in Jamie, she sometimes wonders how both could have occupied the same shape in her heart. Sometimes wonders how Eddie--who prized cleanliness, routine work hours, dinners at his mother’s once a week--would look at Jamie, if he could see her. Jamie, all tousled hair, happiest with a cigarette between her teeth and both hands buried in soil. Jamie, who has never kept a nine-to-five, never craved Sunday afternoons with her parents, never looks at Dani like she expects firm posture, bright smile, neat clothes.

They couldn’t possibly be more different--and yet, somehow, Jamie is her best friend. Unfair to think it, maybe, but she might be the best friend Dani’s ever had. Her sense of humor is dark, her vocabulary wallpapered with curse words and shorn letters; she smells of nicotine and sunscreen, dresses in wrinkled flannels and torn jeans. Where Eddie looped an arm around her shoulders, Jamie nudges her with bony elbows; where Eddie pressed his lips to her temple, Jamie leans carefully away. Different, in every measure.

And it isn’t that she likes Jamie more. That wouldn’t be fair--not after so many years in Eddie’s company. It’s just that when Jamie looks at her, eyes bright, dirt smudged on one cheek, sometimes, she feels...

“You’re thinking,” Jamie observes. She doesn’t say it the way Eddie would--the way he always pointed out when she was clenching her fist under the table, or picking at her nails, his voice edged with concern bordering on condescension. Her voice is light, her lips curved in a small smile.

Eddie never quite smiled at her like that. Or, if he did, it didn't pluck the same chord in her stomach. Not that that matters. Not that that affects the sincerity of friendship.

Not that it’s making her feel weirdly flushed this afternoon.

“Am I not allowed to think?” she asks. The sun, she thinks, is responsible for the goofy smile on her face. The heat of the day, which stretches on and on the way only early July knows how.

“Not arguing,” Jamie says. “One of us ought to.”

She’s on her knees, pulling weeds, her face shining with sweat. There’s something about days like this--afternoons where the kids are occupied helping Owen bake cookies, leaving Dani to nurse a glass of water and pleasantly-meandering conversation--that feels almost too good to be allowed. Eddie would have wanted to do something with a day like this: hike, or clear up the yard, or go visit family.

Jamie, on the other hand, pushes to her feet and surveys the bed she’s spent all day working. “Think that’s good enough for a break. Here, budge over.”

Dani obediently scoots to the edge of her seat, amused when Jamie flops down half in her lap. A year of working at the manor, and Jamie’s gone from a woman who couldn’t make eye contact to save her life to this: gangly limbs tossed haphazardly over Dani’s, sweat-slick skin sticking where it lands against Dani’s shoulder. It’s too hot for cozying up like this, but she can’t seem to convince herself to push Jamie away.

“There,” Jamie sighs, tilting her head back against the plastic of the lawn chair. “Christ, feels good just to breathe.”

“You breathe,” Dani says, “and I’ll think. Together, we make an almost-functional human being.”

“Almost,” Jamie says wryly. Her hand loops around Dani’s, teasing the sweating glass out of her grip long enough to take a sip. Dani nudges her.

“Could get you one of your own, if you ever learned to ask politely.”

“Don’t like me polite,” Jamie says with a shrug. “My brand is prickly-yet-charming, and we both know I’m your favorite for it.”

“Technically,” Dani corrects, “Flora is my favorite. Mainly because she doesn’t make me remind her to say please.”

“Please,” Jamie says without missing a beat, “keep pretending you aren’t captivated by my winning personality.”

Dani laughs. “Oh, is that what I am?”

“Mm.” Jamie takes another sip, reaches over her to set the glass down on the table, closes her eyes. “S’what you were all pensive about just now, I’m sure. How entranced you are with my witty banter.”

“Entranced,” Dani repeats.

“Beguiled. Mesmerized. Drunk with adoration.” Jamie’s face is pink, a bead of sweat neatly lining her upper lip. Dani only realizes she’s staring a fortunate beat before Jamie rolls her head to the left, peering at her with lazy amusement. “Go on. Tell me how much you love me.”

“Love how ridiculous you can be, maybe.” And how sweet, and how unquestioningly soft, though she doesn’t see a need to put that into words--or a way to do it without sounding entirely out of her head. The heat, she thinks, is absolutely getting to her.

It’s the heat, making her want suddenly to slide an arm between the plastic back of the chair and the cotton of Jamie’s tank top, pulling her even closer. The heat, making her want to displace the normal back-and-forth ease of friendship with something else entirely.

She’s had a best friend before. She’s never quite wanted to do with Eddie what she is, more and more, thinking about with Jamie curled up beside her.

Distract, she thinks, because Jamie is still watching her with that half-lidded expression she gets when the sun is particularly bright, the day’s work has been well-tended, and Dani’s shoulder is a cushion beneath her head. More and more, it’s been feeling like a dangerous sort of moment, Jamie’s face lingering near the crook of her neck. Jamie’s breath coasting down the neckline of her dress. Jamie’s smile sweeter than should be allowed, given the grumpy way she slouches around the grounds.

“Thinking,” Jamie says, her voice almost soft. Dani shakes her head.

“It’s not illegal.”

“Is,” Jamie says, “if you’re gonna just stare at me all googly-eyed while you do it. C’mon, what gives? Is today some holiday I’ve forgotten?” She sits up a little straighter, her face comic in its sudden concern. “Shit, Poppins, it’s not your birthday.”

She almost wants to say it is, just to watch Jamie turn fascinating new shades of maroon. “No--just--it’s hot.”

Jamie sags back with palpable relief. Her arm is freckled, Dani notices, beyond the norm; the summer is drawing all sorts of secrets from her skin, and it’s suddenly painfully tempting, the urge to trace her nail along these newfound constellations.

Distract, she thinks again, more urgently this time. Without thinking it through, without considering the consequences, she dips two fingers into the glass of water and flicks the still-cool moisture directly into Jamie’s face.

Jamie, to her credit, hardly jumps. She’s just blinking at Dani like their conversation has taken an unanticipated left turn into another language, water dripping from the end of her nose.

“Okay,” she says. “If that’s how we’re playing it.”

Her arm reaches across without hesitation, replicating Dani’s playbook: two fingers dipped, flicked, landing back in her lap as Dani sputters.

“You got me in the eye.”

“Cooled you off, though?” Jamie asks, almost politely. Dani laughs, and suddenly, it’s war. There’s barely enough room on the chair for the both of them to sit like adults, much less to squirm around, hips knocking, legs tangled up as the remainder of the glass finds its way--droplet by droplet--into Jamie’s face, down Dani’s neck, sometimes missing entirely and disappearing into the sizzling summer air.

Dani is ultimately the victor, an upset decided when she grasps the glass--now containing maybe two inches of water--and upends it directly over Jamie’s head. She’s laughing almost too hard to breathe, particularly when Jamie gives a firm shake of her hair, looking like a rumpled dog after a bath.

“That,” Jamie says in a low, dangerous tone, “cannot stand.”

She’s up before Dani can stop her, sprinting toward the garden hose uncoiled in the grass. Dani twists in her seat, knees drawn up to her chest, arms extended.

“Don’t you dare!”

“All’s fair,” Jamie says, almost apologetically, depressing the trigger.

They are, Dani notes somewhere in the back of her mind, full-grown adult women. They are thirty years old, gainfully employed, responsible for the upkeep of an entire house and the well-being of two small children.

They are also now chasing one another across the lawn, Dani sopping wet, Jamie laughing so hard she nearly trips over her own feet taking a corner too fast. The hose is growing more and more tangled by the minute as she dashes in a zig-zag pattern, periodically firing a jet of water over her shoulder, and Dani has no prayer of catching up--not with her shoes squelching, slipping on wet grass, her lungs clenched around a soundless jag of laughter.

Adults, she thinks, as Jamie makes the insurmountable error of trying to bolt past her like a quarterback dodging a tackle; she makes a successful leap over the tangled hose, but forgets at the last second to factor in the edge of the lawn chair. Dani has her around the middle before she can dart out of reach, the both of them tumbling over in a cackling heap of grass clippings, puddled hose water, freckled limbs.

They’re rolling, shouting wordlessly around giggles, Dani struggling to pry the hose out of Jamie’s hands. It’s harder than it looks; Jamie is small, but strong in an annoyingly wiry sort of way. Even when Dani manages to get her onto her back, the water is inescapable, dousing in short jets across her chest, down her arms, pooling awkwardly between them.

“You are,” she laughs, “a child.”

“Could a child do this?” Jamie replies, jerking upward at the hips with unexpected force. Dani rocks up with her, one hand grasping the sodden front of Jamie’s shirt for balance, and drops back down without budging from her seat. Jamie releases an oof as her back makes rough contact with the ground again, giggling too hard to successfully shove Dani over.

“Yes, actually, I think a child would be exactly that effective,” Dani informs her. Her body has never felt quite this alive, her muscles aching with the effort of an unplanned run. Jamie, chest heaving for breath, is practically glowing.

“Just want to remind you,” Jamie says, “you did start this.”

“Does that mean I win?” If she hasn’t, she can’t imagine it would feel any better than this: straddling Jamie’s hips in the soft grass, cool water seeping down her back, her dress sticking pleasantly to warm skin. Jamie allows the hose to drop from her grip at last, her head tipped back, eyes closed.

“Call it a draw.”

“What if I wanted to win?” She slides a hand up without thinking, pinning Jamie by the wrist before she can decide to take up her watery weapon again. Jamie draws a deep breath, face flushed, grinning.

“Guess you’d have to work harder for it.”

Children, Dani thinks--but suddenly, it doesn’t feel childish anymore. Suddenly, she’s overly aware of her dress rucked high around her thighs, of how short Jamie’s shorts really are, how her body is considerably less obscured than usual with her shirt plastered to her frame. Suddenly, she’s aware of Jamie’s hand flexing against the grass, pinned beside her head with a loose enough grip to break--though Jamie isn’t breaking it. Isn’t even trying.

Jamie is, instead, gazing up at her with hair mussed, eyes bright. Jamie, whose free hand is sliding up to rest along the curve of Dani’s hip.

She’s Dani’s best friend, like he was, but this doesn’t feel like it belongs in the same category as late-night stories swapped by the fire, or letting each other steal the vegetables the other doesn’t care for off their plate. This feels like a category all its own: the way Jamie licks her lips as Dani’s head lowers, the way Dani’s fingers graze the freckles painting her wrist on the way up to notching her palm against Jamie’s.

Her hair is wet, and Jamie’s face is sweaty, and there’s so little romance to the whole picture, it takes her by surprise. She’s always thought there should be talking before a thing like this, at least--a decision made on equal footing.

“I don’t have to,” she says, even as Jamie is saying, “Do you want to?”

Children would laugh again, go back to wrestling, go back to how it all felt just a few minutes before. They are not, Dani notes as she lowers her head--as Jamie shifts up at the shoulders to meet her--children.

She’s hyper-aware of all of it now: the sun beating against her shoulders, the hand Jamie is using to grip the back of her dress, the exact angle of Jamie’s mouth parting beneath her own. Her tongue is gentle, brushing Jamie’s, and the sound Jamie makes into her is anything but.

She’s smiling, she realizes, so hard, it hurts--that deep, wonderful hurt of laughing too hard for too long, of slipping in the grass and landing in a heap with someone who couldn’t help catching her on the way down. She’s grinning into Jamie even as she’s kissing her, even as she’s letting her body stretch out to press Jamie more firmly against the damp ground.

And Jamie, fingers curled between her own, making soft sounds of appreciation into the kiss, is grinning right back.

“This was your plan all along,” she accuses, brushing the hair from Dani’s eyes when they break for a breath. “Awful lot of work, for a kiss.”

“All’s fair?” Dani suggests--and she genuinely, honestly cannot decide which she likes more: the way Jamie kisses, or the way Jamie kisses and laughs at the same time. All of it, she feels, goes a country mile beyond best friends. All of it goes a country mile beyond anything she could ever have dreamed up, walking away from him the way she did.

It couldn’t possibly be more different.

#fanfiction #ficlet #the haunting of bly manor #dani x jamie #damie #physical affection tag #bit of an AU route solely to capture the Light and Airy of it all #but I'd say it suits any version of 'em

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pumpkinspice-prouvaire · 2 years

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hi i think it's fair to assume you like enjolras

so okay

why do you like him? what are traits/qualities of his that make you like him as a character? i genuinely want to know

i've been trying to find arguments to kinda force myself to like him and not just hate on him for no reason because im sure he's an interesting character, but i just can't bring myself to like him. idk why. maybe someone who likes him might make me see beyond what i see.

thanks in advance, also love your blog :D

hey anon! Thank u v much I’m glad you like the blog I’m sorry this took forever xo

yes it is fair to assume I like Enjolras, I am not very subtle about it lolll.

Please note that I have not read the brick in a good.........Seven years ish? A long time, anyways. And also I am by no means an expert on analysing text/characters, genuinely when it comes to a lot of my favourite books/characters it’s just “I enjoyed myself and I like their vibe” lmao

that said, I’ve really tried here lolll pls no one bully me.

I think the reason I’m personally such a fan is because he has a lot of character traits that I personally wish I had more of sometimes? The charisma, the self-assuredness, the idealism, the determination and decisiveness. All very good character traits. He’s compassionate, but he’s also a pretty ruthless person if it means going after something he wants. But it’s cool bc even when he’s at his most ‘terrible’ it’s in the service of a better world for the people around him and the people who will come after. He genuinely think he’s doing the right thing, and he isn’t afraid to sacrifice himself or his morality if he thinks it’ll go towards achieving the goal of Les Amis.

Also I love the fact that he just....Admires the people around him so much? His interactions with Combeferre at the barricade, the entire ‘Enjolras and his lieutenants’ chapter where he’s able to individually select the best person for each job based on their respective strengths (minus Grantaire, but hey that isn’t exactly his fault let’s be real), the way he talks about Feuilly at the barricades. He knows the people around him, the comrades he’s working with. Apart from when he let Marius be a leader of the barricade bestie wtf were you thinking (/j). And I think it’s really nice that we can take this and turn it into “Enjolras really loves and admires his friends” and/or “Enjolras respects his comrades and recognises their importance to the cause”- It’s def one of my favourite things about him.

Also I live for the scene where he fights with Gavroche- He’s canonically a giant dork and I think that’s really sexy of him (and so does Victor Hugo and he will remind you every page with Enjolras on it)

He gets a lot of amazing, intense scenes and lines in general as well which I think just makes for a really fun character. The execution of Le Cabuc, “your friends have just shot you” to Javert after the National Guard execute Jehan, “The 19th century is great but the 20th century will be happy” (makes me go OOF every time), “Love, thine is the future”, his DEATH scene???? Honestly it’s kind of sad that most of his ‘big’ scenes didn’t really make it into the musical because they are missing some great action

also I just like his vibe

That said, I feel for you if you can’t get into him, since so much of the fandom content, especially for the Les Amis side, is centred around him (and since I haven’t done him much justice with my rambly mess of an answer lmao). It’s stange since he’s such a minor character in the book and even more so in the musical, but that’s the power of a shippable twink I guess.

If you want some recs for fics etc where he isn’t there/isn’t a main character, let me know and I’ll do my best to help!

#answered #long post #i've agonised over this over ages bc i wanted to do my boi justice lmao #but fuck it POST

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tsugarubecker · 3 years

Text

Rewatching Love, Victor season 2 and all I can think as I’m watching is that Benji is cooonstantly putting his own feelings aside and instead striving to put himself in Victor’s shoes and empathize with Victor. Victor, for his part, gladly takes that from Benji and then proceeds to fail to put himself in Benji’s shoes in return. (We’ll leave Benji’s issue with conflict avoidance/not stating what he wants aside for a second but we’ll get to that shortly.)

Long-ass post, prepare yourself :P

Example exchange: in ep 6 after Isabel is so nice to Rahim and Benji fails to be #stoked about it, Benji comes up to Victor at the coffee shop the next day and says something like hey, sorry I wasn’t supportive when you were so excited that your mom was being nice to Rahim. And Victor just goes thanks for saying so yeah she was really being nice to him and I think we made some real progress yesterday!

Like. Okay. rewind noises

Let’s do that whole exchange over again but in the way a healthy couple would, shall we?

Benji: Hey Victor. I’m sorry I wasn’t supportive yesterday when you were excited about your mom. I know you wanted me to be excited with you. Can I tell you a little bit about my own feelings around your mom?

Victor: of course you can.

Benji: Okay. To be honest, I feel really hurt when your mom gives me the cold shoulder. And that’s been something I’ve been dealing with for a while now. So, as much as I want to be supportive of you and excited for you when you see her seeming like she’s making some progress, it’s hard for me. Because it would hurt for me to get my hopes up that she’ll treat me better, only to be disappointed.

Victor: Damn. Wow. I’m so glad you told me how you feel about that. That makes a ton of sense. I would really like your support, because I love my mom and this whole thing with her is hard for me, but I understand now why it would be painful and complicated for you to get too excited. Now I get it. Thanks for telling me. I’ll keep that in mind when I bring it up to you from now on and we can navigate all of it together.

fast forward noises OOC cause I just wrote that as I thought about what I would say in a similar situation, but you get the idea.

Returning to Benji for a sec. I’m a cliiiiinically conflict avoidant person, and I recognize a lot of myself in Benji. He doesn’t want to take up space. He makes funny stories and jokes out of his trauma (strip club, crashing car into Wendys). He doesn’t stand up for himself even if he has a legitimate reason to be upset - he finds reasonable reasons to apologize for his part in the situation and tries to make amends. (Certainly not always a bad thing, just can definitely be a conflict avoidant thing.) I mean, we saw him behaving this way even in s1. Think about on their anniversary when Derek said “can we just go catch that show” and Benji said “you go ahead, I’ll catch up” instead of “hey, I know you don’t care about anniversaries but I do. This means a lot to me. I want to spend time together.”

So yeah, Benji has some serious issues with avoiding talking about his own feelings, standing up for himself, etc if it basically doesn’t “go with the flow” of what the other person is thinking or feeling. Conflict avoidant. He doesn’t want to rock the boat. I don’t know why, yet. I don’t think we as the audience know why at this point, but I hope the writers will get into it. Probably isn’t “because alcoholism” - rather, I think the alcoholism is another symptom of the same issue.

Victor, for his part (and I’ve touched on this in another post), probably has spent so much of his life being the fixer for his family that he kind of unconsciously latches on to people who will give him a break from that and take care of him (think Simon, for instance??? Lol). And he forgets that it’s not black or white, it’s not one or the other: care or be cared for. In a relationship it goes both ways. I really think he got this massive crush on Benji, put him on a pedestal, made him out to be perfect; almost saw him as kind of a savior. Someone who could come, sweep him up, and make everything okay. Fulfill all his fantasies. Victor doesn’t seem to see Benji as a real person yet. And he doesn’t seem to realize that he needs to proactively take care of Benji, not just let Benji keep taking care of him. That they need to meet each other halfway.

And speaking of avoidant people, Victor does seem to have a pattern with this behavior doesn’t he? Dates Mia -> not working out -> run to someone who is new and seems perfect. Dates Benji -> things are complicated and hard -> oh look a handsome boy who is wonderful in every way (runs to someone who is new and seems perfect) (and will fix all his problems). Boy needs to stop running off to the next person who’s gonna “fix all his problems”. He needs to invest in his current partner. He needs to invest in being the one to care about his partner, being the one to put in the effort. Not just being the one to be cared for. He needs to stop waiting for someone to come sweep him up and fix all his problems. It’s not realistic, Victor. Get yer shit together & learn how to be a better bf. For reals. Smh

That went off on a little tangent lol, but honestly, at the end of the day, none of this is really even either of these guys’ faults - yes Victor puts Benji on a pedestal and is just beginning to see him as a real person with complexity and flaws, but to be fair Benji basically did the same thing: put Victor on a pedestal. “I broke up with him. I just want to be with someone where I can be myself and that’s enough. That’s how you make me feel, Victor.” = a really similar pattern to what we’ve seen Victor do. Relationship failing, abandon ship for the shiny, new, and better-seeming option. I’m not saying that that’s always the wrong choice. I don’t think that it is. But I am saying that both Benji and Victor are experiencing something very natural: having big crushes, letting infatuation and rose-tinted glasses go to their head, and then experiencing whiplash when their partner isn’t perfect. Honestly I think we’ve all been there to some extent.

At least in s3, now that they’ve seen some low times and their rose-tinted glasses are off, they should get a chance to create a deeper bond if they choose to do that (I feel confident that they eventually will). Benji needs to own his conflict avoidance and start advocating for his wants, needs, and feelings. Victor needs to recognize that although Benji seemed like a dream boy and is way more experienced yada yada, he’s not there to save or take care of Victor - he’s just a person, who also needs to be taken care of sometimes, and Victor needs to meet him halfway in their relationship and do that for him. They need to be able to exchange care as equals.

There I fixed their whole relationship you’re welcome afhffjhgfgjfgjg

(…….oh god I just realized how the writers are gonna have Victor figure out that sometimes he needs to take care of Benji too, and it’s totally gonna be bc Benji relapses with alcohol. Probably. Sounds like a TV-show move, doesn’t it?)

#not me wondering if I’m gonna write a fix it fic for this convo now #oh dang I……. I might just #or actually I think I’m gonna write another scene from s2 but from Benji’s perspective….. hmmm. someone hold me to this #also am I processing the things I’m learning in therapy through these fictional characters? you bet your ass #venji #victor salazar #benji campbell #love victor spoilers #love victor #lv spoiler #love victor season 2 spoilers #love victor season 2 #love victor analysis

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reds-fluff-extravaganza · 2 years

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Hi there! I saw the most recent hop/reader headcannon you posted on your other blog as I was going through tumblr, and I also saw that you were considering putting it in oneshot form on here so i figured I’d make a formal request for it if that’s okay! Love your writing and I hope you have an amazing day/night!!!

This is the one for those wondering

You were new to the Galar region, as you came from the Unova region. You were here on an internship for Professor Sonia. Even if it was only for a short while, you were still rather nervous about being away from your home region, family and friends, especially since this would be the longest you’ve been away from your loved ones.

You looked up at the building in front of you, looking back down at your town map. Yep, this was the place. You walked up the door and knocked. A few moments later, a lady opened the door. She had ginger hair which was put up in a ponytail, fair skin, and turquoise colored eyes. She was wearing a tan colored trench coat, a teal shirt and light blue skinny jeans. It took you a moment, but you recognized her as Sonia.

“Hello, you must be Y/n.” She said, looking at you with a smile on her face. You nodded.

“Yeah, I sure am. It’s nice to meet you, Sonia.”

“And you as well. Come on in, Y/n.” Sonia moved to the side to let you into the lab. You walked inside and looked around a bit, turning around to face Sonia again.

“This is amazing, Sonia!”

“Isn’t it?”

“Absolutely!” You went to say something else, but you were interrupted by someone else,

“Is this our new assistant?” A purple haired male approached you. You were surprised you hadn’t seen him yet. You took a moment to examine him, and you realized who this was. He was in the championship cup with his rival Gloria/Victor (you choose!). You may not be a trainer, but you actually enjoy watching battles on the TV and such.

“They sure are! This is Y/n.”

“Y/N? It’s nice to meet you, I’m Hop!”

“It’s nice to meet you as well. I actually saw your battle in the championship cup.”

“Haha, you saw that?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“I think you were amazing! I may be a trainer, I only have Servine, I’m not much of a battler. I like to see other trainer battles.”

“Thanks, Y/n.”

“You’re welcome.” You and Hop walked back over to where he was. The two of you chatting here and there during work.

“Hey, Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“Since you’re new to the region, how about I be your little tour guide?”

“You would do that for me?”

“Of course! Unlike my brother, I actually have a sense of direction.” You chuckled a bit at his words.

“Alright, I’ll take you up on your offer, Hop.”

“Sweet! Then tomorrow we’ll go exploring around the Galar region!”

“Alright, sounds good.” You smiled faintly and you two went back to work. You both continued your work, until it was time to go home for the day. You said your goodbyes and headed back to your temporary home.

Once there, you called up your folks and told them all about your first day, meeting Sonia and Hop, how nice they were, and a little bit about what you were doing. They were both proud of you and happy that you were doing what you loved. You talked for a little bit until you started getting tired. You said goodnight and got ready for bed, falling asleep not too long after lying down in bed.

-timeskip to the next day-

You were already up and moving, which was a surprise to you since you tend to sleep in a bit. You were sure it was because of nerves, and the fact that Hop was going to show you around the region. You were now waiting at the nearby cafe, eating (breakfast food of choice) while you waited for Hop.

“Wow, that looks pretty good, Y/n. I may have to get one of those.” You heard a voice say to you. You looked up to see Hop sitting across from you. You smiled softly and nodded.

“It is really good. You should try it sometime.”

“Whenever you’re ready to go, we’ll head out.”

“But aren’t you hungry?”

“Oh, I already ate before I left.”

“Alright then.” You shrugged and soon finished up your breakfast and you both got up.

“Alright, where to first?” You asked as you walked out the cafe.

“Oh! How about we check out the wild area?”

“The wild area..? Sure, let’s go.” Hop nodded and the two of you took a Corviknight taxi over to the wild area. Once you stepped out, you looked around, seeing many different wild pokemon around.

“Is the place I’m thinking of? Where Pokemon can become giant?”

“You mean Dynamaxing? Yeah, you can find pokemon here who dynamax!” Your eyes lit up a bit as his words.

“Do you think we’ll see any?”

“We might!”

“Well what are we waiting for?!” You grabbed Hop’s wrist and dragged him along. You explored the wild area for several hours, documenting any and all dynamax pokemon you encountered, as well as some Galar pokemon you’ve never seen until now.

“This was really fun, Hop!”

“It sure was, but there is one other place I would like to show you before we have to call it a night.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah! I want to show you Ballonlea and the glimwood tangle, especially with how close to night it’s getting.”

“Sure, let’s go!”

-timeskip to Ballonlea-

You looked around in awe at all the beautiful lights as you entered Ballonlea. It looked like something you would see out of a fairytale!

“This is so pretty!”

“It sure is.” Hop smiled as he walked up beside you. “I like to come here sometimes during the evenings after work, and admire the pretty scenery.”

“I don’t blame you, I would do the same.” You sat down on one of the mushroom chairs.

“Do you feel less nervous about coming to Galar now?” You had to think for a moment before you answered,

“Actually, yeah. I do feel better about coming here. Thanks, Hop.”

“Of course, Y/n. It’s no problem.”

“How about we explore a little more after work tomorrow?”

“Sure, sounds great!”

“Alright, sounds like a plan.”

#pokemon #sfw #anonymous #hop #hop/reader #hop x reader #x reader #reader insert #fluff oneshot #fluff #x reader oneshot #oneshot

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dragonotaku-justineverything · 3 years

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jaune sempai au) jaune teaches pyrrha a very important lesson. never get in a fight with a guy who has infinite aura because at that point there's no winner in the fight, only a survivor. still to make up for the "loss" jaune does offer to take her out for some lunch in town.

Loss... was something that Pyrrha Nikos hadn’t experienced in a long time. For years, she’d won any fight she’d participated in. Formal tournament for glory and fame or friendly spar for training, she’d always come out on top.

And now she was on her knees on the area floor of Professor Goodwitch’s classroom completely spent and panting, her aura in the red for the first time in years, and too tired to even get up past her knees.

And the reason for this was her partner’s older brother, dressed in armor and sword drawn standing in front of her. There wasn’t a single dent in his Aura. That wasn’t because she’d been unable to hit him, she had done so dozens of times. It was because no matter how much or how fast she knocked his Aura down, he got it back up just as quickly. She’d been stunned when she saw that after ten minutes of fighting and numerous blows, Jaune Arc was still at 100% and smiling happily, just enjoying their match.

That wasn’t the only issue Pyrrha had against him. He’d also been quite a skilled fighter with just his simple sword and shield. The only blows she landed were because of her higher agility and flexibility, as well as using Milo’s rifle form. His strength had been far superior to her own, so her swordplay had simply been defensive for the most part. Then she tried going for a ring out when she noticed she couldn’t beat him with lowering his Aura, but he was almost unmovable!

Professor Goodwitch turned the lights back up and stepped into the ring. “And the victor is Jaune Arc.” The rest of the class was staring at them in shock at what they had just witnessed. The famous Invincible Girl Pyrrha Nikos hadn’t been able to do anything to faze this third year student. All she could do was get worn down and exhausted by her opponent over the course of half an hour.

Jaune sheathed his blade and collapsed his shield before walking over to her. “I have to say you have immense skill Ms. Nikos, far more than I do. However fighting me isn’t really a fair fight for most, and I realize that so I’m sorry, but I hope this can be a lesson for every student here.” Jaune looked up from Pyrrha to the stunned looks of the watching audience. “There is always going to be someone stronger than you individually, or the perfect opposite match to you. Greater strength comes in the bonds you have with those you fight with, be they your partner, your teammates, or just fellow Huntsmen. People to cover your weaknesses and have your back will always be just as important as personal strength.”

“Well said Mr. Arc, now if you would kindly leave the teaching to me.” Glynda stood with her arms crossed, a little miffed as Jaune had said almost exactly what she was going to.

Jaune chuckled awkwardly. “Hehe, sorry Professor. Did you need me for anything else today?”

“I could use another proctor to do more matches at once, but you are free to leave if you wish to.”

“Oh sure, I’ll stay and help then! No problem at all Professor. Let me just help Pyrrha to the locker rooms.” Glynda nodded and Jaune turned back to Pyrrha who was shakily trying to get to her feet. “Here let me help you.”

Pyrrha looked up to see Jaune offering his gloved hand to her. She looked past his hand and up to his face. A warm smile seemed to go perfectly with his golden hair and sapphire eyes. Pyrrha felt the world fade a bit and it was just the two of them alone together. She swallowed a little and reached out to take his hand, unaware of the heat in her face that wasn’t just from her exerting herself in their fight anymore. He was so gentle as he pulled her up to her feet and helped support her as he led her off to the locker rooms. Is this really the same man she just fought?

“Hey I’m genuinely really sorry about the whole unfair fight set up, but Professor Goodwitch asked me for my help today. Joan’s probably not gonna be too happy about me fighting her partner huh? I’ll make it up to you both though! How about I take you and your team out to lunch or something in Vale this weekend to apologize?”

Pyrrha was so lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t even noticed he was still speaking to her until he asked that last question. “O-oh! S-sure. That sounds grand.” She didn’t take her eyes off his blue ones the entire time.

“Great! I’ll set it up with Joan tonight! You okay from here?”

Pyrrha wasn’t sure what he meant until she looked around and saw they were standing outside the female locker rooms. “O-oh. Yes, I believe so.” She gently pulled away from his hold and stood on her own two feet, although still shaking a bit.

“Awesome. That was seriously a great fight back there. I’d like to spar again with you sometime in the future. Well, I’ll catch you later Ms. Nikos, I gotta head back and help Professor Goodwitch. You take care now!”

Pyrrha watched Jaune’s retreating back, her face still red and her heart still pumping. She let out a soft “T-thank you” to no one before she slipped into the locker rooms.

#rwby #jaune arc #pyrrha nikos #jaune sempai au #ask #sfw #noneatnonedotcom

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littleoddwriter · 3 years

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Hiya! Your prompt list interested me and I would like to request you a Zsaszmask story with Dialogue Prompt n°5 "I wasn't sure your remembered me". Plot: During a fight with a rival gang, Victor gets knocked out and suffered amnesia. It hurts Roman who tried everything to help him. Angst+happy ending would be nice. I am sure it will be brilliant as always! Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

Remember Me | Roman Sionis x Victor Zsasz | ZsaszMask

Hiya! <3 Thank you so much for this delightful request! It's totally run away from me, istg (it's over 4k words long, rip). I really hope you enjoy what I've done with it!

summary; see above.

notes; Angst with Happy Ending; Amnesia; Hospitals; Recovery; Mentions of Murder and Fantasies of it; Mentions of having been stabbed and shot; probably bad depiction of how hospitals and such work despite the medical dramas i've watched.

Stupid fucking rival gangs. He wished he could kill them all over again.

Stupid fucking Victor Zsasz. He was always so fucking loyal and protective.

Fucking hell!

Fuck!

Roman was fuming; his blood was still boiling, thrumming through his body in high speed, making him tremble. Although to be fair, he wasn’t entirely sure that he was only shaking because of his rage. It might have also been caused by the fear that’s settled deep into his bones.

Fear! He, Roman Beauvais Sionis, the notorious Black Mask – scared! It was laughable, really.

It would’ve been laughable if it hadn’t been for the fact that Victor’s blood was all over his clothes.

It would’ve been laughable if it hadn’t been for the fact that Zsasz was lying on the hospital bed, wires and tubes attached to him, looking so lifeless.

Because yes, it was scary, indeed.

Roman thought even the cruellest people in the world would agree that the uncertainty of whether or not the person you cared about the most was coming back to you at all or not, warranted such feelings of fear. It was perfectly fine.

If only it didn’t feel so wrong.

If only he didn’t feel like ripping his own heart out, so he could make these emotions stop.

That’s one of the many reasons that he despised just how close he was to Victor, how close he let him get.

He’s always known that someday, he may as well lose him one way or another.

And then what?

He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know.

The strangest thing of all to him, in this very moment that he’s been sitting on the hospital chair next to Victor’s bed, was that he hasn’t left that spot even once so far. He was too scared to move. He felt as though the second his eyes left Zsasz’s shape, he would suddenly disappear. Because right now, he was still here. He was still alive, if only just barely, but he was still here.

He hadn’t even dared to change his clothes, the dried blood making them crusty and uncomfortable. It was disgusting and under any other circumstances he would have gone to change the second he had been out of danger.

Yet, here he was.

If only Zsasz knew just how much he actually cared about him.

Thinking about it though, he probably did. He seemed to know Roman better than he knew himself. Sometimes that scared him, but most of the time it only lit this raging fire inside him. He couldn’t stand the way he depended on this one person.

It was dangerous.

He couldn’t help himself, though. He’s tried before, but every time it led him right back to Zsasz. A strange pull kept hold of him, not letting him get out of Victor’s magnetic field under any circumstances.

Roman knew that Zsasz would probably say that it was some kind of fate thing. Destiny. They were meant to be together from the day they’d been born, only to wreak havoc on Gotham the way they’ve been doing ever since.

It was kind of charming, really, that Victor was so set on his theories about the universe. Sionis never questioned that Zsasz might have a point, considering that his purpose was to free all these birds from their cages, but he often failed to extent his belief in Victor’s theories to themselves.

Until now, at least.

The way he’s been feeling since Victor got knocked out, stabbed, and shot made him unsure of everything, now.

Because it truly felt as though with the very real notion of possibly losing his Victor, he’s suddenly felt so lost. Incomplete. It was as though with every action the rival gang’s taken, another part’s been ripped out of his body, his heart – his very soul.

It was absolutely horrific and now he could only hope that Zsasz would wake up again, without any permanent damages. He didn’t know what he would do if there were any at all. Would he rage? Mourn? Kill? He just hoped he’d never have to find out at all.

Several weeks later – fifty-six days, in fact – Roman sat in his chair beside Victor’s bed, like he’s done day and night since it had first happened.

Of course, he had changed out of his clothes after the first night, showered and slept, but he’s done it all in Zsasz’s hospital room. He didn’t dare leave him.

All business was done over the phone, or by meetings in Victor’s room. It wasn’t the most convenient situation. It also left him exposed, seemingly weak, and he’s made certain that they all knew that if they so much as thought of him as any less dangerous and cruel, they’d be dead faceless men. They seemed to have taken his threats seriously enough. At least nothing has come up so far.

After a while, Roman has started to hold Victor’s right hand in both of his, stroking his thumb over his palm, his wrist – tracing the only scar he found there. He even talked to him. The doctors have said that often times it helped to talk to a coma patient, that they’ve woken up earlier than expected – or at all – when they’ve been spoken to. So he had muttered about the incident that even got them there in the first place, but as time has passed, he just started talking about everything and nothing.

In rare moments of sentimentality, he’d even go on about how much he missed Victor, how scared he felt, even after weeks. Maybe especially because it’s been weeks – almost two months– now. He was so afraid that perhaps Zsasz wouldn’t wake up after all. The doctors have certainly never given him a clear answer.

Lost in his musing, he felt Victor’s hand, which has been still enveloped by both of his, twitch.

He immediately held completely still, not even breathing, as he looked at Zsasz curiously, expectantly.

“Zsasz?” he rasped, sounding so small to his own ears that he cringed internally.

The hand twitched again, fingers clenching and releasing around Roman’s hand.

“Victor, hey. Come back to me, hm?” he spoke softly, a nervous smile twisting his mouth upward.

After a few more moments, Victor’s eyes fluttered open. Slowly, he seemed to adjust to the bright lights in the room. Clearing his throat and groaning quietly, he sluggishly turned his head to the side, his eyes meeting Roman’s.

As soon as he had taken him in, Victor’s eyes widened.

Roman felt confusion coursing through him.

Zsasz looked – scared? Confused as well? He certainly didn’t look very happy to see Roman alive and well next to him.

“Who are you?”

The world seemed to stop around Roman; his heart was pounding, feeling it in his throat. He was kidding. He had to be.

“Excuse me?” Roman inquired instead, giving Zsasz a chance out of this uncalled for joke.

“Who are you?” Victor repeated, his voice still hoarse and broken, but louder. He looked so genuine, too.

An icy chill settled in Roman’s stomach, spreading through his entire body.

“Now’s really not the time for jokes, Mr. Zsasz,” Sionis reprimanded him, trying once more to make Victor react differently and say he’s only been kidding after all, before he called a doctor in panic.

But then Victor pried his hand out of Roman’s tight grip and said, “I’m really not joking, sir.”

Okay, maybe he really wasn’t, because Victor’s certainly never called him ‘sir’ outside of sex; even then, it was a rare occurrence.

Sionis took a deep breath and then leaned over to press the call-button, hoping the doctors – who were all on his pay roll, of course – would have an answer that was at least mildly satisfactory.

No such luck, though.

The doctors came in and asked Roman to step outside first, so they could check Victor over.

In front of his room, Sionis started pacing, running his hands through his hair in frustration, anxiety, and rage. He was trying so hard not to explode; it made him tremble all over again. He felt exactly like he had when they had first come into the hospital nearly two months ago.

This was just a really bad fucking nightmare. It had to be.

When the doctor and his nurses were done checking him over, they asked Roman back into the room. He’s kept his distance now, not daring to come any closer to Victor, his Victor.

“You said you don’t know who this is?” the doctor – whatshisname – inquired calmly, looking at Victor, but pointing at Roman.

“Yeah, no idea,” Victor replied, his voice started to sound clearer, which only made it so much worse for Roman when he couldn’t detect any underlying inflection that may have told him that this really was just a prank after all.

“But you do know who you are, correct? Do you know your name?” the doctor continued, looking at Roman, a hint of fear in his eyes. He hated it. He wanted to gouge them out, so he didn’t have to see the fear anymore. Instead, he just looked away, staring at Victor intently.

“I know who I am, yeah. Name’s Victor Zsasz.”

“Alright. Could you tell me what year we have, Mr. Zsasz?”

His brows furrowed, deep in thought, and then, “2002.” Fuck.

The doctor stopped short, Roman’s hands clenched into tight fists, the leather of his gloves squeaking audibly in the all too quiet room.

“I’m sorry to say it, but it is actually 2019. Do you have any idea why you’re in the hospital at all?”

Victor’s eyes widened again, just like when he’s spotted Roman for the first time a little while ago.

“That can’t be right. No, I don’t remember that. What the hell’s going on, Doc? What did you do to me?” The last part was directed at Roman, who felt as though his heart’s been stabbed, ripped out and stomped on with those words and the accusatory delivery of them.

“Mr. Sionis, I’d have to ask you to wait outside until I’m done here, please,” the doctor said.

Without another word and as if he was on autopilot, Roman let himself out of the room and sat down in the chair in front of it, burying his head in his hands. This couldn’t possibly be true. He had to wake up from this horrible nightmare, soon. He just had to.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor stepped back outside.

“Mr. Sionis, it looks as though Mr. Zsasz suffers from amnesia. It was most likely caused by the blow to his head.”

“But he’ll be fine, right? Amnesia is only temporary. Right?” Roman hated that he couldn’t hide the anxiety he felt, the utter dread.

“Not always. We’d have to do some more tests, CTs and such, to make sure. After that I can disclose more certain information to you. Would that be alright?”

Sionis sighed, frustrated, “Yes. Do whatever you’ve got to, as long as it’ll help bring him back to normal.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll go and order the tests right now. I’d suggest that you go home now. I’ll call you as soon as I’ve got any new information, but it certainly wouldn’t do any good to confuse Mr. Zsasz even further now, when we barely know what’s really going on. Alright? I promise to be fast.”

“You better be,” Roman muttered and turned to leave the hospital, his driver waiting a couple of blocks away from it.

Normally, he’d have been raging now, throwing things, spitting into doctors faces, cussing them out – but he couldn’t.

He was in shock.

He could barely process the reality of what was even happening.

He felt so alone.

Two days later, in which he might’ve gone a little mad, really, his doctor finally called him. When he’s come in to see him, he’s told him that Victor did indeed only suffer from temporary memory loss. Unfortunately, such amnesia was quite unpredictable and it could be a few days, weeks, months, or even years until all memories were back.

Still, the good news were that the doctor has managed to warm up Zsasz to the idea of going back to living with Roman, after assuring him that it’s been this way for many years, now. To that Victor had first asked if he was gay, because apparently at that point in his life, Zsasz hadn’t had a clue about his sexuality, or that he could truly like anyone at all.

All of this was utterly ridiculous to Roman.

How can a person just lose access to such a big portion of their life, of their identity, essentially?

The same day that Roman’s received the news, he was also allowed to take Victor back home with him, already. Apparently his wounds had healed a great deal, while he’d been out, and so the rest could be done from home. Additionally, it’d be extremely beneficial to bringing his memories back if he was surrounded by things so familiar to him.

Roman hoped it worked fast.

“I had your old room prepared for you,” Roman commented when they’ve finally arrived back at the penthouse.

Victor was holding himself up with a hand on the wall. He hadn’t liked when Roman touched him and offered him to support him. Sionis couldn’t really find words for just how much he’s hated that.

“’Old room’? What’s with my new one?” Victor asked, almost looking like a caged animal, when their eyes met.

“Well, I had thought you wouldn’t want to sleep in one bed with me, right now,” Roman replied, hoping he’d catch on without needing him to spell it out for him.

Realisation dawned on him quickly, a slight pink tint to his cheeks. “Right.”

“Exactly. Anyway, so this is your room, there’s an en-suite bathroom, through that door,” Roman explained, showing Victor around. He was glad that he was such a natural at these things, it eased him a little, bringing back some much needed familiarity.

“Huh, compared to the shithole I used to live in, this is really luxerias.”

“Luxurious,” Roman corrected him without thinking.

“Uh-huh, whatever,” Victor just muttered darkly.

“Dinner will be ready at 6pm sharp. Until then you can- I don’t know, stay in bed, I suppose. If you should need anything, or you’re having an emergency you can either call for my staff, or me; whichever you prefer.” Fuck, Roman really hated just how much he cared about this asshole. He’d never do this for anyone else. If it had been anyone else, Roman would have dropped them – killed them – the second they had to have been rushed to the fucking hospital.

“Okay. Thanks, Mr. Sionis,” Zsasz said, gingerly sitting down on his bed.

“Just call me Roman, Zsasz.” Or boss, he added in his mind, but didn’t dare to speak it.

When he left Victor’s room, he stalked into his own, silent tears gathered in his eyes and ran down his cheeks.

He just wanted his Victor back.

Dinner was awkward to say the least. Victor sat in his usual place at the head of the table, to Roman’s right, and he ate just like he always did – like a fucking pig. But he didn’t talk to Roman at all, even when he had tried to start up a conversation. Instead, he only side-eyed him, looking suspicious of him. It enraged Roman.

In the morning, Victor didn’t show up for breakfast.

After a few minutes of waiting for him to come, Roman got up to look after Zsasz. His first thoughts had been that perhaps something’s gone wrong and Victor died in his sleep, but when he opened the door to his room – after knocking first, of course, he wasn’t a savage after all – Zsasz glared at him so darkly that an unpleasant shiver ran down Roman’s spine.

So he didn’t try to force him out if he didn’t want to. His doctor had told him to give him time and be patient with him, so he tried his fucking best to do exactly that. It was really fucking hard, though. He hoped that Zsasz would at least appreciate his efforts properly, when he was all his again.

In the end, Victor hasn’t come out of his room at all that day. It was extremely frustrating to Roman, who proceeded to trash his own room at night, when it had all just come to a head for him. He didn’t care if Victor could hear him scream and throw things, destroying them.

The day after, Victor sat at the breakfast table first, to Roman’s surprise. Sionis didn’t say anything, even though he so desperately wanted to make a snide remark, but he wasn’t willing to take the risk of having Zsasz lock himself into his room, again.

“The doc said that showing me some things could jog my memory,” Victor rasped eventually, when Roman had been ready to get up and leave.

“I know. So you’re willing to do that?” He only received a nod in response.

For a moment, Roman mulled it over, thinking about what he could show Victor to help him remember his life the best and the fastest.

Then it hit him.

Zsasz didn’t remember him. Well, maybe he would if he saw Roman wearing his Black Mask in the club they’ve first met, when Galante introduced them to each other.

“Alright, I’ve got something to show you. I’ll just make a phone call and we could go, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, alright.”

Roman had made sure that Victor wouldn’t see him in the Black Mask until they were to re-enact their first meeting – only that this time they’d be all by themselves.

He really hoped this worked.

Roman told Zsasz to stand in the same spot he’s stood when Black Mask had first stridden in to greet Galante. Just like he’s done with Sionis since, he’d stood leaned against a pillar. Usually his arms would be behind his back, but it would put too much strain on the still tender wounds on his abdomen, so he just let them dangle at his sides. Roman felt a painful tug on his heart strings. He had missed seeing Victor like this.

“Wait here,” he instructed Zsasz, who just nodded.

Then Roman went back to the car and got out his Black Mask and put it on.

“If this doesn’t fucking work…,” he muttered gloomily, before he opened the empty club’s door to walk in, like he’s done all those sixteen years ago.

As much as he hated admitting it, he was lucky that the mask gave him such a sense of security and protection, so that whenever he wore it, he practically became a different person. It made it a lot easier to hold himself with all the extravagance and intent that he’s displayed over a decade and a half ago (and every other day before all this), too.

He watched Victor like a hawk as he marched up to him, and Zsasz’s gaze was just as sharp and piercing as was his.

Black Mask stopped right in front of Zsasz, only a few inches away. He tilted his head a little, and gruffly inquired, “Anything at all, Mr. Zsasz?”

Victor swallowed thickly; Roman could see the way his throat worked around it. Then his eyes widened again, just like in the hospital, but this time recognition lied underneath his sharp gaze.

“Black Mask,” he whispered, a grin spread on his face, showing off his two beautiful golden teeth.

Sionis inhaled sharply. “I wasn’t sure you remembered me,” he rasped, a soft, sad inflection coming along with it.

“I’m so sorry, boss.” Victor lifted his hands and cupped the mask with them, oh, so gently. He’s always known to be careful with it. Then he stroked his thumbs over the seams and the roughly textured leather, a wonder in his eyes that Roman’s missed seeing more than he’d ever dare to admit.

“It wasn’t your fault, Mr. Zsasz,” Black Mask said, his voice strained from holding back. He didn’t know just how much Victor remembered now. They obviously haven’t been more than employer and employee from the get-go.

But fuck, he wanted to hold him close and kiss him so badly. It’s been far too long since and all the hospital stress has made him desperate for the assurance that Victor wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Still, he just stood there, watching Zsasz marvel at his mask for a while. Victor’s always loved his mask, and Roman couldn’t ever deny him from admiring it, when it was such a boost to his ego as well.

When it felt as though fifteen minutes must have passed, Roman got a little impatient, though. Victor’s not said anything since and he needed to know what other memories he’s gotten back; so he asked, “What else do you remember?”

Zsasz’s eyes were glazed over a little, having gotten completely lost in his own little world.

Under the mask, Roman smiled.

“Hm, I remember the Bertinelli Massacre,” the way he talked – it was a testament to just how far away into his mind he’s just gone, his voice sounded so light, pondering, Roman loved it, “And I remember you coming to Galante afterwards and buying my contract from him. How I became your exclusive assassin and later right-hand man. I remember how nervous you were about opening the club after your parents had just kicked you out. I remember how ecstatic you were when it had all started to work out in your favour, the way it should have.”

He paused.

Roman almost thought that had been it. They would have to wait for everything else to come back, too. And then who knew how long it’d take?

But then Victor continued with a smile on his face, “I remember the first time we’ve gotten each other off after I freed someone for you. And how you avoided me afterwards for a little while, so angry that you’ve given in to your urges. Then I remember how we just went from there. How we share a bed now, even though you hated it so much at first, but you can’t sleep anymore when I’m not there. And I remember just how close you are to owning Gotham the way you were always meant to do.” Zsasz ended it by kissing the mask’s teeth, like he would do so often.

Roman’s breath audibly stuttered. He wrapped his arms around Victor’s waist, careful not to squeeze, just holding onto him gently.

“Take my mask off,” he commanded.

With a cute little pout, Victor did as he was told and gently took off Roman’s Black Mask, setting it down on the table beside them. As soon as he’s done that, Roman captured Victor’s pretty, plush lips in a searing kiss that conveyed all the emotions that have plagued him for almost two months then. Zsasz reciprocated it just as enthusiastically, cupping Roman’s face in his hands. They both groaned into the kiss.

Their mouths open, Roman immediately plunged his tongue into his partner’s mouth, tasting and exploring him again after so long. It may have been the most amazing and intoxicating thing he’s ever experienced.

After a couple of minutes, they separated, although their noses still brushed against one another, their lips just barely apart at all.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you so much, baby,” Roman murmured, pressing another small kiss to Victor’s slack lips.

Zsasz smiled, “I know. I missed you, too. I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.”

“Shut the fuck up, it wasn’t your fault, ‘kay? I’m just glad you’re back and all mine again. You are, aren’t you, Victor? All mine?”

“I sure am, boss. All yours. Only yours.”

Roman smiled, kissing Victor once more, a relieved sigh leaving him. He was beyond happy he’s gotten him back. He truly had no idea what he would have done if that hadn’t happened. Those past two months had been the worst of his entire life, he was sure of it.

“Never do that to me again. You hear me?”

“Never. I promise.”

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#tw hospital #tw recovery #tw amnesia #angst with a happy ending #roman sionis #roman sionis fanfiction #victor zsasz #victor zsasz fanfiction #zsaszmask #zsaszmask fanfic #harley quinn birds of prey #birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #mlm ship #mlm fanfic #mlm fiction #i cant believe this took me all day #i've sat on this for the past-- 8 or 9 hours #i sure hope it was worth it lol #gonna try to write one more fic and upload that before bed <3

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